Business Websites Masterclass
I love having a website! I think they are super powerful tools because you own it, control it, and can do so many things to create income with your own website. Sign up and instantly gain access to my Free Business Websites Masterclass all about strategic business websites and what elements you should include to ensure your traffic converts into potential customers.
Work With Me
My process for most clients begins with an assessment, then we launch a new website, then we move on to digital marketing. That’s typically how clients work with me. Watch the video below for a quick overview. Contact me to get started today with business and marketing support. You can also learn more about my services on my Youtube channel.
Best WooCommerce Shipping Plugin
If you’re shipping physical products from your e-commerce web shop, you want to find the right shipping plugin for your business. I tried a bunch of options and ultimately went with the stamps shipping plugin for WooCommerce.
Fast & Easy Video Marketing
So you’ll notice in my latest videos are all around one minute long. I’m testing out an easy marketing strategy for 90 days to see how it goes. I’m filming using the Instagram Story settings and the video is automatically cut off at 60 seconds! This forces me to think on my feet and just share from stream of conscious. These videos are far from perfect but they do allow people to get a feel for my personality, my humor, and whether or not they like me instantly or not. If they do, they’re likely to follow me and become part of my audience. After filming, I save the video to my phone and crop it. Then I send it to my computer. Next I upload it to Youtube. You can also upload from phone to Youtube if your accounts are set up to do that. Next I share the Youtube video link to my LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Groups, and I share the actual video file on Instagram and upload it to a blog article on my website (like here) Cross Posting Strategy This strategy allows me to cross promote on multiple platforms and it really doesn’t take much time. The videos take 60 seconds each to film, about one minute to edit and upload, and another few minutes to add a description with keywords. I basically batch one week’s worth of videos at a time. Get more tips and find marketing help on my blog and on my Youtube channel.
Better Than WordPress?
“Where have the purple crystal aliens hidden Adelle?” you may be wondering as you scan the title of this article. And it’s true, I do love WordPress SOOOO much and am typically 111% loyal to the CMS website builder that gives me mad scientist flex as a website designer and allows me to build powerful SEO websites overnight for authors, writers and business owners. But there’s always room for more tools in my toolbox, especially when they prove their worth. This is a smart and easy website building tool for authors, speakers, coaches and other entrepreneurs growing an audience and a business online. In many respects, this website tool is actually easier and better than WordPress for many business owners. The templates are so easy to use and it’s affordable to get started at just $39/month.* So for that price, you’ll be able to build your own website. *(prices subject to change, please check their website for current pricing) DIY website builder with high-converting templates The company also offers done for you website design services. If you like their templates, that could also be a good option. Though honestly for their done for you website price I recommend contacting me first, because I’ll build you a much more customized website with absolutely better SEO and devoted support. I offer longterm tech support a la carte, without monthly fees – though you’re welcome to retain me to skip to the front of the line! My services typically cost less over time because I don’t charge monthly fees. Most importantly to my clients is the outstanding value I provide from my 25 years of web design experience which translates into tons of added value in: For me BUSINESS = LOVE My language of love is business, tbh. If it’s yours too, let’s connect!
Brand Photography or AI Business Portraits?
I’ve been pondering which topic related to AI I wanted to dive into first and I finally decided: Photography or AI for business photos? TBH (to be honest), I’m often surprised that so few (if any) of my friends, family or network ask me questions about emerging technology. As someone who’s been surfing the web longer than almost everyone on earth, I certainly have my opinions. And they’re formed from over 25 years of hands-on experience using online technology as a webmaster, hosting reseller, email manager, email marketing manager, digital advertising agency and youtuber. So I definitely noticed when people in my Facebook networking groups started mentioning various AI services they were taking advantage. These “early birds,” as I call them, adopting AI technology hoping to carve out a profitable niche before saturation occurs. So anyway, beyond chatgpt, AI art became a huge topic as more and more AI images exploded across social media featuring people’s faces morphed into angels, fairies, warriors, demons, etc. Photography or AI So then after that craze died down, I started seeing people posting in Facebook groups about how satisfied they were with their new AI portraits for business. I get it. The images were cheap to produce. They looked decent. They did the job. These AI business portraits made people look more professional than the original images (casual headshots and phone selfies) and therefore instantly more attractive to potential buyers with an AI portrait vs a selfie. So if you’re on a budget and just starting out, AI business photos may be your only option. I can understand that. However, I have had such AMAZING experiences working with professional brand photographers on Maui that I encourage and recommend other business owners to pursue brand portraits with a creative professional in your area. I didn’t expect the confidence boost I felt when I received my brand photo gallery. Seeing my planning and vision so clearly executed in crisp sparkling imaged created by my photographer breathed new life into my business. Truly. My brand photos gave me a strong visual foundation for social media marketing content and youtube video thumbnails. Previously I was really limited and using uninspiring stock photos of “business women” to try to connect with my audience. (scroll to the bottom of my IG to see!) My brand photography experience with Brittney Baker Photography was so good that it also started an irresistible desire in me to schedule brand shoots at least three times per year! That way, I always have enough rotating images for my digital marketing campaigns and my images always feel fresh yet on brand. I highly recommend finding at least two brand photographers in your area that you adore and working with them consistently to achieve a cohesive brand look over a few years. After you find your photography team, here are some of my tips for making the most of your business brand shoot. Preparing For a Brand Photo Shoot There is no required agenda for a brand photo shoot. I chose to bring props (feather boa, bubble machine, pineapple, etc). I got professional hair and makeup services and I picked outfits that matched my brand colors. You may want to get a mani/pedi or a spa facial or massage beforehand. Whatever your prep process is, I encourage you to take time to be intentional for your photo shoot. Planning for your shoot can help you get photos that you really love. So what will you choose – AI image or real photography?
Easy Payments + Upsells + Affiliates
Why I use and love ThriveCart for collecting payments in my business. First I’ll say that I have used Paypal for years and have no real complaints. As a basic payment collection service for digital payments, Paypal’s invoicing works well for me and I’ve used it for two businesses of my own. The payments are smooth and it connects to my bank account without any trouble. It’s also easy to set up for multiple businesses, though you do have to create separate accounts for each business. However what Paypal lacks in sophistication is where Thrivecart shines. Thrivecart allows me to instantly set up essential custom payment options including: One-time Fee, Subscription, Split Pay, or Pay Your Own Price. I’m also an avid WooCommerce user and I know from experience that WooCommerce doesn’t provide these options built-in (or easily). Some of these functions require a premium paid plugin, like for the ‘pay your own price’ or subscription models. So as far as being easy to use and giving the best options for customizing product sales, ThriveCart crushes Paypal and WooCommerce in this department. ThriveCart’s Subscription Payment Options: ThriveCart’s Choose Your Own Price Payment: You can also offer trial periods for memberships, masterminds and other offers that you want to give customers a sneek-peek so they can “try before they buy.” However, to clarify – Thrivecart is a payment processor just like WooCommerce, so it does still connect to Paypal or Stripe to ultimately receive and hold your income. Think of Thrivecart and WooCommerce as middle-agents between you and Paypal/Stripe. You don’t need them, they are tools that enable you to create a more customized shopping cart experience for your offers. Beyond the excellent ability to customize payments for any type of digital or physical product, it also allows me to visually design the checkout pages with an easy drag & drop editor. It was easy to add my brand colors and logo and to customize my upsells with an image. On that subject, another huge benefit choosing Thrivecart for business payments is its ability to add an upsell to another product. For example, I can offer a signed copy of my book for $15 as an upsell or my $37 Strategic Website Planner or 1:1 Coaching at a VIP Price. HOW MANY DIGITAL PLANNERS & OTHER UPSELLS HAVE I BOUGHT FROM MY COACHES? LOL – THEY WORK! Everything is very easy to setup, manage, duplicate, etc. You can also add affiliates easily so that your products are bringing in more sales and it’s easy to track and pay out your referral partners. Check the website and see if they’re offering the lifetime license, that’s what I use. Oh, actually I upgraded to PRO because that was the right fit for my business. Although this qualifies as a business tax expense, it’s important that you only choose products that you can truly afford to spend money on for your business. Don’t take a write-off for a high-conversion payment tool like Thrivecart if you’re not earning enough monthly income to justify the expense. You can always use Paypal or Stripe or Square for now and level up to ThriveCart once your business has reached consistent income, like I did! Watch this video to learn about ThriveCart’s Pro vs Basic account features. This article contains affiliate links to products that I use and proudly partner with. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. I appreciate your support.
4 Free Months of (The Best) WordPress Hosting
Fly July is here! Get 4 months free on new yearly plans. Use discount FLYJULY23 – click here to purchase now and use the code at checkout! Read this article where I explain why Flywheel is my favorite WordPress hosting service in 20 years of hosting websites. This article contains affiliate links to products that I use and proudly partner with. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. I appreciate your support.
My Business Email Goes to Spam
I’m supposed to be the techie problem solver yet that doesn’t mean I’m immune to technology problems, unfortunately. I wish it did… So when I formulated Adelle Brianne LLC in 2019 to get my business in proper order for taxes and all that jazz, I created a new email address. A free gmail address seemed suitable. I had the knowledge to set up a domain branded account but honestly felt the benefits weren’t worth the hassle at the time, so I stuck with my gmail account. Fast forward. It’s 2023. I connect with a potential client, have a great discovery call, and I send a followup email with their proposal. Crickets. I don’t hear from them in a week. I email again. No response. Finally 10 days later I send a text message to the client. “Hey, I emailed my proposal last week. Checking that you received it?” “No, I never got it. I was wondering about it..” “Oh wow, can you check spam folder? Maybe it’s in there.” “It was in there!!! I’ll reply today. Thanks for msg me.” Soooooo true story, that has happened more than once in the past year. This week it happened again. A client of mine from a few years back emailed my personal email account (which I previously used for business emails so many contacts still use that email to reach me) so I forwarded it to my business gmail. Then I replied. Crickets. So I email the client this week from my personal email account and she replies right away. Unfortunately she already hired someone else for the work because a week went by and she didn’t hear from me. My email was in her spam box. My business email goes to people’s spam instead of inbox. I don’t know why. I’ve tried to fix it but it’s still happening. I’ve lost business from nice clients and that’s frustrating. My solution? I think it’s time to get Google Business email for my business. It’s time to accept it. I’ve loved free GMAIL for so long and yet I really need my clients to receive my emails…. so the bummer is I’ve got create another NEW email account and get my clients to reach out to my there instead of all these other email accounts. Wish me luck, lol! You can save 10% on your own Business Email account – I use and recommend Google Workspace. Save 10% on your first year – use coupon code W334PT33E6FVV7C for the basic $6/month plan for code VARXNQ7P6M993AC for Google Workspace Business Standard Plan ($12/month). Each Google Workspace coupon code provides 10% off the first year on either Business Starter or Standard plans. Have you had any similar challenges? Drop a comment below or on my Instagram post about this.
How to Hire a Web Designer
12 tips for hiring a website designer.
