It feel so robotic right?

Automation in marketing requires certain finesse so it doesn’t come across as robotic and stilted.

The idea of automation is to remove the work that needs to be done by human hands. And sometimes, when it comes to your marketing – automation can be seen as the enemy.

But it doesn’t have to be – and quite frankly, it’s just the opposite if done correctly.

Fundamentally, marketing is how potential customers interact with your brand or product so it’s important that your marketing is infused with emotion.

Building out marketing campaigns takes time. Social media, cold calls, email marketing. It will take hours and hours of work before leads even start rolling in, and you will constantly be tweaking your strategy.

So let’s start with this simple concept.

Email Marketing Automation. It’s a great way to turn your potential customers into warm leads who will eventually become customers.

“How do I do it?” You’re not the first to ask, so don’t feel silly.

Here’s the official definition: email automation is the process by which a company or agency creates an email sequence in order to move customers from an email opt-in to a purchase in a timely fashion.

There are a number of different ways to set these up using different types of software – everything from MailChimp to ConvertKit and sophisticated software like InfusionSoft. What system you use depends on the stage of your business.

The benefits of email automation are boundless, but there are a few key reasons why email automation is worth every penny invested.

INCREASE REVENUE

Show us a business owner that doesn’t want to make more money and we’ll give you $1,000 (disclaimer: we will not actually give you $1,000). That was said for effect.

Increasing revenue is an important part of growing your business and keeping the wheels moving. Research has shown that companies which use automation in their lead generation process saw a 10 per cent increase in revenue over a period of 6 to 9 months.

Automated sequences, or drip campaigns, often receive a higher open rate and click through rate. The more frequently someone sees your promotion, the more likely they are to buy into your product or service.

Having a series of emails gives you a better chance to making sales at various points of the sequence.

REDUCE YOUR MARKETING COSTS

Large marketing teams have long been a staple in corporate offices. For smaller businesses, it’s nearly impossible to have a marketing team capable of generating leads every day.

What is possible, however, is to have one person helping you work on your marketing on a need-by-need basis. This is how most small companies reach the capability to scale.

Having one person create various email sequences for various campaigns that you’re running in your business is a fool-proof way to cut the time spent on marketing efforts, and ergo, the cost.

This money can then be re-invested in other aspects of your business’ marketing to try and create a broad-base lead generation solution.

According to Forrester Research, using email automation creates 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% less of a cost.

OPPORTUNITY TO ANALYZE

When more time is invested in planning and setting emails up as an automated response, it leaves your team or yourself, more time to actually analyze the results of the emails.

The best marketing tactics or plans, come from careful analysis of results from previous campaigns.

Giving yourself time to look over results and understand them, means you can find iterations of your marketing plan that can produce even better results in the future.

Make sure that you’re using a system that allows detailed reporting so that you can really see what’s happening in your marketing strategy.

IMPROVES WORKFLOW

Marketing is a big kettle of fish – there is so much to get done in so few hours.

Automation serves a huge role in improving workflow in the marketing team so that leads are being generated without a huge amount of work. There’s nothing better than a well-oiled marketing machine that works on its own and takes the burden off the team.

MORE SPACE FOR CREATIVITY

This may be the most important aspect of setting up an automated email marketing system.

Taking time out of the input process means that the marketing person or team has more time to create, to think and to postulate.

Out of these moments, the best marketing tactics are born.

Most brilliant ideas sometimes come when watching television or reading a book. By fostering creativity, you have the potential to produce million-dollar campaigns.

So set yourself a challenge – create a series of automated emails and see what it does for your sales.

The post 5 reasons to automate your emails appeared first on HER Magazine ™.

It’s the difference between spending thousands of dollars a month on Google advertising, and spending a minimal amount every month to grow traffic in the long run.

The challenge for any business is growing traffic to your website without having to pay for  search engine optimization (SEO) or expensive pay-per-click advertising.

Studies have proven that for most websites, organic traffic converts much better than traffic from other sources.

There are countless ways to increase your organic traffic.

But wait!!!!

There’s a cost – your time.

If you have time to invest in your website, increasing your organic traffic is a walk in the park with these few simple steps.

Write for the human, not the search engine

Working with our marketing clients on a daily basis has opened me up to a lifetime of the question, “How does SEO actually work?

It’s a great question, and one that truly only Google has the answer to!

When you optimize your content for people and not for Google algorithm, it pays off in the long run.

The idea here is that whenever you are writing content for your website, other websites or your social media channels, you should be creating educational and useful content that will draw your potential customers to you

This will, over time, naturally increase your SEO and establish your website as the go-to source for people who have a particular problem that you are discussing.

Stuffing your website with keywords is not going to pay off; make sure you are writing useful content that Google will thank you for in the long run.

If need be, hire a professional writer to help you create dynamite content.

Use those long-tail keywords

Okay, sure. In the previous point I’ve said you should be writing for humans and not “keyword stuffing”, so now I’m telling you to use keywords – have I gone insane?

The answer is no.

Using long-tail keywords is important in establishing your website as the go-to destination for your particular niche or service.

According to marketing expert, Neil Patel, a few years ago Amazon made 57% of its sales from long-tail keywords.

It’s important to target long-tail keywords so that over time you can get into Google’s top 10 for associated keywords.

The question then is, how does one find long-tail keywords?

Head over to Google AdWords Keyword planner and throw in your main keywords. Next, click on the “get ideas” button and the “keyword ideas” tab.

Then, search high-volume keywords that get at least 1000 monthly searches and then find the long-tail variations.

Copy those keywords and then find the longer variations in a tool like KeywordTool.io and voila – your list of recommended long-tail keywords.

Happy searching!

Read more about creating organic traffic inside HER Magazine. Access May’s issue, by downloading our magazine in iTunes or Google Play.

The post How To Create Organic Traffic appeared first on HER Magazine ™.

It became somewhat like an addiction.

Post on Facebook. Boost the post. Sit back and watch the likes roll in.

For a young woman experimenting with running ads for her business, it was a perfectly acceptable practice to boost posts.

But unfortunately, for any business serious about using Facebook ads as a direct way to make more sales or collect more leads, a boosted post does little more than boost one’s ego.

Most businesses that I speak to about their marketing tell me the same thing: “Why yes, I run Facebook ads”.

I ask them: “So what type of ads are you setting up?”

They reply: “Oh, I just boosted the post”.

Most business owners are unaware that there’s an entire world of Facebook ads that have the potential to actually drive real business.

When you pump $100 into boosted post, you’re telling Facebook that you care solely about the reactions. You’re basically saying that you just want people to like, like, like, without actually truly engaging with your business.

And without inviting them into a sales funnel – what good is that?

Facebook is much bigger than most businesses realize.

Here’s a list of all the types of ads you can create through Facebook ads manager:

1. Promote your page
2. Reach people near your business
3. Increase brand awareness
4. Increase your reach
5. Send people to a destination on or off Facebook
6. Get installs of your app
7. Raise attendance at your event
8. Get video views
9. Collect leads for your business
10. Increase conversions on your website
11. Increase engagement in your app
12. Get people to claim your offer
13. Promote a product catalogue
14. Get people to visit your shops

Like I said, much more than a boosted post.

As a social media marketer, there are probably six ad types on that list that I use on a daily basis, in order to specifically achieve results for the businesses I work for.

It’s all about your objective.

If you’re looking to send people to a sales page, you would create a number 5 – a great visual leading back to a killer lead page where you can make a direct sale.

If you have a very high value service or product, you can collect leads for your business (number 9), and Facebook will optimize your ad in order to collect a qualified lead for your particular product or service.

Brick and mortar business? No problem, says Facebook. Choose number 2 and you can target anyone within 3 miles of your business.

Sure, these are a little more complicated to actually set up than a boosted post, given you have to follow a set of strict guidelines established by Facebook (hint: just because your graphic works for a page likes ad, does not mean that it will work for a local awareness), but the results are astronomically more relevant.
Let’s put it this way – each ad is optimized for a different objective and Facebook will do anything in its power (within reason) to help you achieve this objective.

Read more about why pumping up Facebook posts is a waste of money inside HER Magazine. Access April’s issue by downloading our magazine in iTunes or Google Play.

The post Don’t just Boost me Baby appeared first on HER Magazine ™.

Ever since Rosie the Riveter became a cultural icon for working women everywhere, it has been a consistent march towards equality.

Despite the fact that women earn less money on the dollar than men, women are continually changing the workforce on a monumental level.

Traditionally male-dominated industries are being shaken to the core every day.

According to Shelley Langan, the Director of a tree maintenance company in Australia, working in a male-dominated industry has been interesting and challenging at the same time.

“I started this company 17 years ago with my then husband,” Shelley says.

“We divorced and I ended up with the business.” “The only qualifications I had were secretarial. It was a choice of either sink or swim, and I chose to swim.”

Langan said people had a definite first impression when they heard she was in the industry.

“People’s first impression for me was to put on a mini skirt and show some cleavage and I will get the quotes, and would get the job,” she says in an interview with HER magazine.

“I chose to throw on some knee-length shorts minus the cleavage and bring back good old-fashioned customer service. I had never quoted a tree removal or prune before, so I had a lot to learn.”

Like many other women who run their own business, Langan found her competitors to be huge challenge.

“They wanted me gone and didn’t care how they got rid of me,” she said. “I had one company constantly call me wanting to buy my equipment so I would be out of the industry.”

“In the end they were the ones who kept me going. I thought if they were that desperate to get rid of me, they were going to have to work harder than that. They eventually gave up.”

Langan says there are mixed reactions when she answers the phone at her office. After all, she is a woman in a male-dominated industry.

Read the full article inside HER Magazine. Access March’s issue by downloading our magazine in iTunes or Google Play.

Downloading our app is super simple. Here’s how:

The post Breaking Barriers appeared first on HER Magazine ™.

What Madeleine Albright forgot to mention in her famous quote is that there is also a special section reserved in heaven for women who champion other women – like Erin Bagwell.

The daring entrepreneur and filmmaker cares deeply about her fellow women.

Her film Dream, Girl is a phenomenal expose into the treatment of women in our society.

Since trading in the corporate life for  filmmaking, it’s been an incredible ride for Erin. Not only has she created a company with an all female film crew, an online platform for modern women that made its way to the White House, she also made an impression on Oprah Winfrey and was featured on #SuperSoul100. She even met the global icon.

“So we were at the O Studios and we had all these beautiful long tables. Itt was gorgeous, there was champagne,” Erin recalls of her experience.

“We were all taking our seats and Oprah comes into the room and everyone’s eyes are glued to her, like a fairy kind of floating, and I have a sleeve of tattoos on my arm, and she came over to my table, and she b-lined for me…

“She grabbed my arm and was like, ‘oh my god, what are these, girl?’ and most of the women in the room were like older spiritual teachers and none of them had tattoos so I stood out.

“And I kind of blacked out, I don’t even remember what I said to her, I just remember her touching my arm.”

Erin credits her take-no-prisoners attitude to her assertive mother.

“I feel like my entrepreneurial journey was 25 years in the making,” Erin says. “My mom was a major influence in my life… she knew what she wanted.”

Erin began her career in the advertising industry working with start-ups. This, she says, was formative in her early career.

“I really loved being in advertising,” she says in an interview with HER magazine. “I really saw what start-up life was like.”

Erin says the job taught her a lot of lessons about company culture.

“I think it’s really important when you’re a young person to understand that you can create your own company culture,” she says.

Before long, Erin went from start-up life to landing in corporate. She says the company was behind the times and during her tenure, she was sexually harassed – an issue Erin explored in her film.

Erin found out she was being paid half of what her manager was making, but was doing his work, managing his team.

One night as she was walking home from the Barclays Centre with her husband; she began crying about how much she hated her 9 to 5 with such an archaic company.

At the time – she was working on her blog, Feminist Wednesday, but working on it as a side hustle was not satisfying her.

That night – almost in an instant – she decided to quit her job and launch herself into the unknown. Sitting in her living room, the newly unemployed Erin had one of those elusive “a-ha” moments.

A documentary about female entrepreneurs. And so Dream, Girl was born.

Read more about Erin Bagwell’s “Dream, Girl” inside HER Magazine, plus actionable tips from Bagwell, herself. Access March’s issue by downloading our magazine in iTunes or Google Play.

The post Becoming a Dream Girl – Redefining What it Means To Be A Dreamer appeared first on HER Magazine ™.

It’s undeniable that naturally, we are warriors who instinctively know how to get it done. Our bodies know how to fully recover after giving birth to our babies.

When it comes to providing for our household, we always make sure there’s food on the table.

But our financial future? That takes a major back seat.

On average women live five years longer than their male counterparts. Most women alive today will make it until their mid 80’s.

Despite the longer life, less than one-quarter of women surveyed by Raskin Global are confident they have enough money to live comfortably during retirement.

And rightly so.

Women take more time off throughout their careers than men to take care of their children and parents.

On top of that, women only make on average 78% of what their male counterparts make. That means not only do women live longer, but they have less money and less resources to work with during their retirement years.

So what now? Don’t give me the problem, without the solution.

Forget solely depending on government subsidized retirement benefits. It’s time to take control and save for your own future. Yes, even if you have a husband.

We talked to Bessie Hassan, Money Expert at Finder of Australia , a website dedicated to helping people navigate hard decisions like insurance and finance says women are less adept at negotiation, which in turn majorly impacts their financial future.

“Our research found that 51% of women don’t negotiate for a lower interest rate on their home loan compared to just 41% of men,” she says.

“As a result, a greater proportion of men (21%) had refinanced their mortgage compared to just 16% of women.”

Hassan says the earlier you start planning for retirement, the better.

Enter the Compound Effect

“It’s important that women get into good financial habits early on so they can set themselves up comfortably for their twilight years,” she advises.

“This could mean locking funds away in a term deposit or other high-interest savings accounts, investing in property or other financial instruments such as shares or bonds, consolidating debt or cutting back on unnecessary costs.”

“Realistically, women should start to plan for their retirement during their 40s and 50s, however the time at which they should start preparing for retirement depends on their personal situation.

How many kids or dependents do you have?

What’s your income level?

And what do you want out of your retirement? These are all important questions to analyze the answers to.

Read the full article inside HER Magazine. Access February’s issue by downloading our magazine in iTunes or Google Play.

The post The Retirement Puzzle appeared first on HER Magazine ™.

As the game-changing Chief Executive Officer of The Messenger Group, Messenger completely revolutionized the publishing industry in Australia.

With print magazines dying at an unprecedented rate, it took an extreme force to cut through and create a new product worthy of inspiring young people.

Her multimedia business and lifestyle platform – The Collective Hub – comprises of a print magazine (distributed in 37 countries, no less), an online news site and an event agency.

For Messenger, disruption is an important cornerstone of her business. Business would be, she says, boring without it.

“Disruption is great for the business landscape generally as it pushes everyone to do things better. It’s incredible for the consumer because they get a better deal or product and it proves that you don’t always need to be big, with lots of money and resources behind you, to make a significant impact on an industry or the world, which is a huge win for the emerging entrepreneur,” Messenger tells HER Magazine.

“Personally, I do like to break a few rules – within the bounds of the law, of course – and I’m more talking about breaking mindsets and challenging the status quo in business in search of fresh ideas and better results.

“I have never been one to sit back and accept that there is only one way to do things.”

Messenger believes it is important to push yourself out of your comfort zone.

“Life rolls by and can easily get gobbled up by work and family situations good and bad, so if you are passionate about pushing yourself, then you need to check in with yourself regularly about your goals and put checks and balances in place to ensure you are moving forward,” she says.

“For me, I check-in with myself on about 10 different measures every single day.”

“There are also seasons in life when you decide to focus on something else rather than your own personal disruption and I think that is fine too – you need to stop and celebrate the wins and give your mind a break at times; it can’t be pushed its limits all of the time – that isn’t healthy.

“From a business perspective, the trick is to create a culture of curiosity where it’s not only safe, but is expected that people will challenge the status quo naturally, without it being one of their KPIs.”

Messenger’s vision in life is profound. Her goals include moving individuals and corporations to change the way they think, proving there is more than any one way to do things. She has managed to spark the entrepreneurial spirit in millions of people worldwide and helped people create a defined and clear recipe for success.

Read my full interview with Lisa Messenger inside HER Magazine. Access January’s issue by downloading our magazine in iTunes or Google Play.

The post Daring and Disruptive with Lisa Messenger appeared first on HER Magazine ™.

Social media transforms into a flurry of motivational quotes and any conversation you have around the dinner table is about the illusive and ever-important resolution.

Funnily enough, according to the University of Scranton Journal of Clinical Psychology, only 8 % of people each year are actually successful in achieving their resolutions.

Perhaps you are one of those mythical creatures spoken about only in fables who actually achieves their New Years resolution, or perhaps you – like the majority of humans – allow your resolutions to fall by the wayside way before the Easter eggs begin to line the shelves at the shopping malls.

So why do we almost always fail at living out our dreams to the fullest potential when we date stamp them with a January 1st label?

Too hard to get to the gym every day – and too easy to stay in the same job and never change.

These commonly held truths are so widespread they have almost become a cliché.

Personal development Coach Nancie Vito has been helping people with their goal setting since the giant ball in Times Square dropped ushering in 2009.

Every new year since that time, she has helped people create strong goals and achieve them.

Her biggest tip: create a goal that is meaningful to you.

“You will be more likely to reach it if you are intrinsically motivated and truly excited about it,” Vito says.

“If you find yourself creating the same resolution each year because you didn’t keep it in previous years, develop an intention that truly motivates you.

“It’s often better to avoid the “shoulds” — those things you only think you need to do, someone else wants you to do or mainstream society indicates you’re supposed to do.

“After creating your intention, develop a plan with an actionable step that you can take immediately.

“If you find yourself getting off track, consider your why behind it. No matter the reason, coming back to your original motivating factor will be helpful.”

Intentions are important when it comes to the new year. Personal development coach Cassie Parks believes in intentions over goals.

She teaches her students that you do not have to wait until the new year to set intentions for your life.

“I teach my clients to constantly be setting intentions so it’s not just important in the New Year,” she says.

“If you want something to change and be different in your life, start today.

“It’s the putting it off that subtly tells your brain, “this can wait” and I believe that is a big reason so many New Years Resolutions are over within the first few weeks to month.”

Understanding that intentions can be set at any time of the year is a big factor in determining your success.

Should you fall off the bandwagon, there is no better time than the present to jump back on, rather than waiting for another Monday.

Parks says there are many differences between setting a goal and an intention.

“A goal often doesn’t stretch someone enough to make a big lasting change,” she says.

“For example if your goal is to lose 50 pounds and that’s it you’re not focused on the whole change. You’re simply focused on the goal.

“To continue with this example, you also come up with a plan which means you might decided you’re going to work out three times a week and possibly go on some sort of diet.

“Nothing on the inside is changing. There’s no focus on who you will be when you are 50 pounds lighter and why you want that.

“It often comes as pushing away from something, not liking the way you look or the way your clothes fit.

“When you set and intention you are moving toward something.

“In this example it might be looking and feeling good. It might be being healthier. When you start to focus on that, you can start to move toward that intention.

“You also might start making other choices as yo focus on living your intention of looking better and feeling better.

“One of my client just released 30 pounds easily when she decided to dress like her future self.

“Her intention is to train 100 coaches and advisors from her institute. When she decided to dress like the head of the institute other things easily started falling into place and the weight released itself.

“An intention is a determination to act. A goal is a target. When you set the intention to act a certain way you start doing that.”

Parks says the best way to make sure your goal sticks is to look at the bigger picture.

“My best advice for sticking to your intentions is to set an intention for a whole life,” she says.

“Instead of setting one intention at a time, set aside some time to get clear on the life you want and set the intention for that.

“You can name that life if you want to help guide you to it each and every day.

“We are whole beings and when you set the intention for a whole life that lights you up, I’ve seen in my clients and myself, it’s much easier to stick to your intentions.

“You are creating something.

“Additionally when you set a life intention, I coach my clients to five years out. That way they are growing into their life and can give themselves permission to take small steps every day.

“This keeps you from getting frustrated and giving up when things don’t happen as fast as you want.”

Duda Jadrijevic happens to take a more spiritual approach to goal-setting. The Buddhist transformational coach looks at the why of goal-setting to make it more meaningful.

“Why do you want what you want?” she asks.

“Because it will make you feel good. So what makes you feel good?”

Jadrijevic recommends creating a vision board of images that make you feel happy.

“This can be a house on the cliffs, a woman playing with money, a man romantically holding a woman in the sea, a woman overlooking the sea, writing on her laptop,” Jadrijevic says.

“These images reflect the feeling that you want to get from your goals.”

“Write a list of all your achievements so far. You will get surprised at how much you have already have.

“It will also remind you of the fact that you don’t owe anything to anyone, only to yourself.

“Then you approach to create a list of what you want to achieve in 2017.

“Only after acknowledging what you have done, can you genuinely and realistically create a list of things you want to achieve and your why will change.”

The post Why Most of us Fail at Resolutions appeared first on HER Magazine ™.

Before you have the chance to say a single word about yourself to a potential employer, there are a myriad of things being said about you.

At the click of a few buttons, your potential employer or client has access to your digital world – who you hang with on weekends, your incessant food photo obsession on Instagram and even what music you listen to. Rethinking some choices? You are being Googled and undoubtedly judged.

Our Staff Writer Bianca Bartucciotto interviewed one of the biggest branding experts and reveals how you can brand YOU, and why it’s vital to your bottom line in business. GO here to access our exclusive premium content in this month’s issue of HER Magazine 

Need it in Google Play? Go here. Access our October’s issue for FREE for a limited time.

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