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

Finding your voice online

If you’re putting out content without a plan or definitive voice, you’re doing it wrong. But the good news is that it’s easy to get back on the right track.

When EBA® founder, Ruth Soukup, launched her first blog, Living Well Spending Less, she fell into that same trap. She spent the first six months posting when the urge struck about whatever topic she felt was relevant at the time. She didn’t have an editorial calendar, but even worse she didn’t have any intention behind what she was putting out to the world. 

She wasn’t writing with a purpose and her content wasn’t landing the way it had the potential to.

But when she did gain focus, she started an editorial calendar and became much more intentional with her writing. In the process, she learned 3 big things about her voice as a “brand new blogger” and we’re going to share them with you in today’s post from the EBA blog vault, How to Find Your Voice as a Blogger.

POWER MOVES

Personalizing your email strategy

Your email list is your secret weapon to connecting with your audience, and nothing levels up your list (and brand) more than email segmentation. 

When you split your contacts into groups based on what they like, how they behave, or other factors, you can create personalized campaigns that hit your audience's needs. The perks? Better engagement rates, clearer communication and a big improvement in your email marketing performance.

List segmentation lets you target your communications and increase the relevancy of your content since you’re able to tailor the messaging to the exact audience it’s intended for. This will help increase your open and click-through rates, and ultimately bring in more sales. Without it you’ll be sending generic (maybe even blah) emails to your whole list—emails that are bound to get lost in their inboxes.

So what are some ways to segment your list?

• Demographics: Divide your subscribers based on demographic characteristics such as age, gender, location, income level or occupation. This allows you to create targeted content that resonates with each group's unique preferences and needs.

• Interests and preferences: Allow subscribers to self-segment by expressing their interests and preferences during the signup process. Use this information to categorize subscribers into specific interest groups, and then send targeted content aligned with their preferences.

• Engagement level: Segment subscribers based on their level of engagement with your emails. This could include segments for highly engaged subscribers who consistently open and click through your emails, moderately engaged subscribers, and those who rarely engage. Tailoring your content and frequency based on engagement levels can improve overall email performance.

• Purchase history: If you sell products or services, segment your list based on past purchase behaviors. This allows you to send personalized recommendations, exclusive offers or product updates tailored to each subscriber's preferences and buying patterns.

• Customer lifecycle: Segment your list based on where subscribers are in the customer journey. This could include new leads, prospects, first-time customers, repeat purchasers, and loyal advocates. Tailoring your messaging to each stage helps nurture leads, drive conversions and enhance customer loyalty.

In today's world, everyone wants things personalized to their own needs, and that's why breaking your email list into different groups isn't just a good idea—it's a must. In a recent survey, 88% of marketers saw their personalization efforts bring growth to their brand!

You’re going to benefit from getting personal, really connecting with your audience and making those bonds that stick. 

Whether you're brand new to online business or you've been at it for a while, getting smart with email segmentation is the key to emails that really stand out and make an impact on your brand.

WE’VE GOT TO TELL YOU ABOUT

t(Ruth)bombs delivered weekly

If you haven’t signed up yet—consider this your sign to sign up for Ruth’s personal newsletter—t(Ruth)bombs. It’s full of inspiration, motivation and definitely a few truth bombs along the way (hence the name!). Get on the list HERE or by clicking the button below!

The all-in-one for your online business

We’ve partnered with our friends at ClickFunnels to bring you an exclusive 30-day free trial of their winning software. It’s the software engineered to help you get the people who visit you online to convert and become loyal customers. Learn more and claim your trial HERE.

MINDSET MATTERS

Transformative power in journaling

Keeping a success journal can be a game-changer for nurturing the right business mindset.

Daily journaling can transform the way you think about your business and is very simple to put into practice. All you need to do is set aside a few minutes each day to journal your thoughts, reflections and anything notable about your business (wins, losses, lessons, etc.)

Not only will this help you to process the day and focus on the good that came out of it, but your journal can become a great tool for your business. Journaling can help you evolve into the entrepreneur your business needs to get to the next level.

Here are five of the top benefits of keeping a success journal:

1. Clarity and focus: It’s your space to get all of those ideas, goals and strategies that are swirling around in your head onto paper. Writing it down will bring clarity to which things really matter and help you to create a plan to make them happen. 

2. Reflection and learning: By revisiting past journal entries, you’ll have the chance to see your own wisdom through the ups and downs of your business. It’s a chance to see your evolution as an entrepreneur and appreciate all you’ve been through and the lessons and wins along the way.  

3. Mindset boost: Celebrating the good each day is an immediate mindset boost, and your journal will help you on the hard days to come too. By documenting your wins, moments of gratitude and lessons learned, you'll have this resource to go back to and celebrate what you’ve overcome in the past or all the good you’ve done.  

4. Idea generator: Giving yourself permission to write down your thoughts as they come is where creativity thrives. There’s no such thing as a bad idea here, let them flow and see what takes shape.

5. Progress tracker: Your success journal is a memoir of your entrepreneurial journey, reminding you of how far you've come and firing up your engines for the road ahead. When the days are feeling really long and you feel like you’re spinning your wheels—looking back at daily reminders of all you’ve accomplished will help push you to keep going.

Journaling could be the boost your business mindset needs, fueling it with clarity, wisdom, positivity, innovation and an unwavering commitment to progress. Set aside a few minutes today to get started and let us know how it goes!

SHE MEANS BUSINESS

Charlene DeLoach of Total Toy Creative originally started her business so she wouldn’t have to hire a nanny or put her kids in daycare. And as her kids have grown, she has appreciated having the flexibility needed to be able to attend school concerts, sporting events and those parent-teacher conference days without having to beg for time off. But her biggest driving force, ultimately, was to make a difference. 

But her journey was not easy. She battled imposter syndrome, especially in the beginning, and that was fueled by a couple of people in her life who were not so supportive. And those voices almost got her to quit. 

She had spent two decades on the typical, traditional career path before becoming a stay-at-home 'mommy blogger'. But as she grew, so did the internet, and she started to realize what was possible for her and her growing business.

Perhaps one of her earliest and most impactful moments was when she realized that she DID have drive. Her drive until that point had just, as she put it, “been hidden behind a lack of direction.” Once she found that direction, her drive was in full force. 

That kind of direction comes from programs like the original Elite Blog Academy® course and now even more so, the Powerhouse program. 

Since joining our programs, Charlene has gone into business for herself and is now confident that she does have something worth sharing that other people want and need because people ARE seeking her out and buying from her. She now knows that her path does not need to be a traditional career path. She can do something for herself to support her family that she truly finds fulfilling. 

And perhaps the most rewarding is that her journey is actually inspiring her kids to be entrepreneurs, to think outside the box and to try something new. 

Charlene is now preparing to launch TWO separate courses, as well as an academy. She has been running VIP days and building her knowledge of sales funnels which has resulted in tripling her income in one year. How amazing is that?

When asked her advice to others thinking about starting their own business, Charlene shared:

“Whether the voice in your own head tells you to stop, or that authority figures tell you to quit or that you don't have what it takes, listen to your own inner voice and find your belief that you CAN do it regardless of whether you have a cheering squad or not. You will find your squad, and your inner power if you believe and don't give up.”

If you, like Charlene, have a dream to start a business but feel like you lack direction, we invite you to sign up for our newest training, Firestarter: 3 Red Hot Secrets for Building an Online Business in 2024 that No One is Talking About. Click HERE to have it sent your way and watch on your own time! 

MARKETING FUN FACT

Content marketing costs over 60% less than traditional marketing and can generate over 3x as many leads. This makes it a preferred choice for many companies looking to maximize their marketing budget while achieving substantial results.