Weekly newsletter brought to your inbox every Wednesday, by your friends at Elite Blog Academy®—full of valuable marketing tips, tricks and inspiration to help you keep pushing forward when the days get long. 

FEATURED READS

Do you know who you’re talking to?

Feeling like your marketing messages are falling flat? You might be missing a key ingredient: understanding your audience.

If you close your eyes and imagine your dream customer, who do you see? Is it a clear picture of a person you know well, a friend you know as intimately as you know yourself? Or is it more nebulous? A fuzzy approximation of who you think your audience might be?

It may be scary to zero in on ONE person in your messaging, but the truth is if you’re not doing that and instead trying to appeal to everyone, you’re going to appeal to no one. Find out the exact steps to determine who you’re talking to in this week’s blog post—and then share the end result with us by replying to this email!

POWER MOVES

Optimize for voice search

If you’re an online entrepreneur you’ve likely heard all about SEO (search engine optimization). But gone are the days of typing out search queries. 

The rise of voice assistants like Siri and Alexa has ushered in a new era of "conversational search." To stay ahead of the curve, your business needs to be optimized for voice search. So how do you do this?

Keywords: Think Natural Language

People speak differently than they type.

Forget keyword stuffing; focus on long-tail keywords that mimic natural conversation. Instead of "best laptops," aim for "what are the best laptops for students?" This way, your website content surfaces when users ask questions relevant to your offerings.

Local is the New Global (for some)

If your business has a physical location, local SEO becomes even more critical for voice search. 

Optimize your Google My Business profile and ensure your website includes relevant location information. People often use voice search for "near me" queries, so make sure your business is discoverable.

Content is King (and Queen)

Voice assistants prioritize concise, informative answers. 

Craft website content that directly addresses user queries and is optimized for mobile viewing (since most voice searches happen on smartphones). Bullet points, short paragraphs, and clear headings make your content easily digestible for both humans and AI assistants.

Think Conversationally

Write the way people talk!  

Use natural language and avoid overly technical jargon. Imagine you're explaining your product or service to a friend in a clear and engaging way. This conversational approach makes your content more discoverable through voice search.

By following these steps, you can unlock the power of voice search optimization and ensure your business is visible amidst all the changes in the digital landscape.

Remember, the key is to anticipate how people ask questions and provide clear, concise answers that resonate with both search engines and real users. So speak up, optimize and get ready to be found!

WE’VE GOT TO TELL YOU ABOUT

The end of an era

In case you missed it, Ruth is sunsetting her original brand, Living Well Spending Less. The brand is closing its doors at the end of the month. Grab the final copies of the Living Well Planner or all of the digital products at a major discount HERE.

Follow us on Instagram

If you’re looking for high-level online marketing and business strategy, you’ll want to follow Ruth’s brand new business Instagram account. It’s for serious online business owners, content creators and digital markets who want to go beyond the basics—and the content is already SO good!

MINDSET MATTERS

We all know the struggle. Your 9-5 loads you with last-minute requests, your family pulls you in all directions and inspiration seems to follow everyone else but you. 

But here's the truth: as an online marketing entrepreneur, your time is your most valuable resource.

So, stop wasting it by letting other people's priorities become your priorities.

Saying "no" isn't selfish, it's strategic. Everyone appreciates clear communication. If you work with clients, set realistic deadlines, and stick to them. It's okay to explain that their request needs to be set for a future date to maintain quality and efficiency. Don’t overcommit yourself in work or your personal life because you are afraid to say no.

Block out time in your calendar specifically dedicated to your top priorities. Treat these slots with the same reverence you would an important meeting. This ensures you make progress on the projects that truly move the needle for your business.

You can't (and shouldn't) do it all. Identify tasks that can be delegated to freelancers or virtual assistants. This frees up your precious time for the high-impact activities only you can tackle.

Every task, email and social media notification vying for your attention is a potential time robber. Learn to ruthlessly prioritize. Ask yourself: "Does this directly contribute to my big goals?" If the answer is no—delegate, reschedule or (gasp!) delete.

Building a thriving online marketing business demands focus and intentionality. By guarding your time fiercely and prioritizing your own agenda, you'll be well on your way to growing a thriving business. 

SHE MEANS BUSINESS

Recently we hosted an in-person workshop with our Powerhouse students. One of the sessions was focused on setting Wildy Important Goals for their businesses, and then how to reverse engineer those goals to make them feel more achievable.

And our Powerhouses dug deep! There were SO many massive realizations that happened in the room during this exercise but one really stands out.

Heidi Saldana runs a business called Move with HPA for Dancers. 

Heidi has been a dancer all her life. Dancing has always been essential to her; it’s how she expresses herself, connects with the world, and worships God. She knew that not being able to dance would be devastating to her mind, body and spirit.

But, like so many dancers, that was becoming a very real possibility for her and she was desperate to find a solution not only for herself but for her fellow dancers. Something that wasn’t more medication or another surgery. And that is how her business was born, which is amazing right?

And Heidi has been doing AMAZING in her business. But when she sat down to write down real number goals for her business she almost immediately hit a wall. What WAS the revenue number she was aiming for in her business? What was possible?

It was then she realized that she had always struggled with coming up with metrics to measure to determine how things were going because she didn’t have a specific target she was aiming for. 

Well, during this 30-minute exercise, she realized what she really wanted was to produce her own Broadway show. And being from that world, she knew exactly how much that would take. 

So that became her Wildly Important Goal for the next 3 years. To make enough money to produce her show. 

From there, she was able to reverse-engineer her goals and break them down into specific milestones. And pretty soon she had a challenging, but clear path laid out for exactly what she would need to do to make enough money for her Wildly Important Goal. 

There is SO much that she has implemented in the past couple of years but for her, this was a piece she always skipped but realized that while her business was doing well, it was not growing as quickly as she would have liked because she had not set a specific target to aim for.

Seeing her face light up and excited to dig in and kick it up a few gears (at 6 months pregnant no less!) after finding this clarity was such an inspiration and reminder of why we do these things.

Can you relate to Heidi? Do you ultimately know what your Wildy Important Goal is in your business? Do you know exactly how much money you want to make in the next three years and how you plan to do it?

If not, you would be a great fit for the EBA Powerhouse program where every week we help students work through roadblocks just like this one. Sign up for our free training, Firestarter, HERE to learn more and get started today! 

MARKETING FUN FACT

Did you know emojis are now considered a legitimate form of communication in marketing? Studies show emails with emojis in the subject line have a 25% higher open rate. So don't be afraid to add a smiley or two to grab attention!