You’re a busy coach, consultant, creative or other service business owner and you need every marketing effort to count.

 You don’t have time OR money to waste on things that don’t deliver results. That’s why you study what’s working out there by:

•         Investing in online courses
•         Attending events
•         Reading blogs
•         Listening to podcasts
•         Buying books
•         And so much more…

 You’re looking for that secret formula that will help you finally super-charge your business growth with a marketing strategy that delivers results.

 It’s so tempting to imagine that simply following someone else’s step-by-step system will help you achieve their same results.

 But trying to squeeze yourself into someone else’s system doesn’t typically work out, especially when you go to implement the system…

 … and you’re frustrated with your disappointing results.

 It’s not your fault!

Those step-by-step systems can be a good strategy for some people. But there is a lot that goes into making them work.

To really make them work, you need to know things like:

•         Who you serve
•         What they care about
•         Why you are the best person to help them
•         What they want to buy from you
•         What your message is
•         How you can best reach them

 And that’s just for starters. Without these critical inputs, no step-by-step system will ever work.

 Instead of looking for a magic formula, I view marketing as a science lab. I am always running a test to see what works, what doesn’t and what can be improved.

And after more than 18 years designing and running marketing campaigns of all shapes and sizes (including 7+ figure Fortune 100s to scrappy solopreneurs), I’ve come to view marketing as a place to test things out and see what works.

Let me show you how to get started with your own marketing experiments with these three easy steps you can take today to see huge payoffs in your marketing efforts:

•         Track Everything
•         Talk With Real People
•         Test Everything

Step 1: Track Everything

In my last blog post, I talked a lot about how you can easily start tracking without any fancy analytics systems.

 I’ve also created this Simple Marketing Metrics Guide to help you focus on the right areas to track. (Grab your free Simple Marketing Metrics Guide here).

 You need to inspect what you expect.

If you’re spending time or money on any marketing effort, you need to track what you get back from that effort. This is one of the biggest breakdowns I see with my clients and the industry as a whole.

Without tracking, you’ll end up spinning your wheels trying all sorts of great-sounding marketing tactics… but you won’t have any idea what is actually delivering paying clients to your door.

Here’s the truth: you can never improve anything if you’re not tracking it.

But it doesn’t have to become your full-time job. With the Simple Marketing Metrics Guide, you can get started in just a few minutes.

Step 2: Talk With Real People

If you want to know any ‘secrets’ to creating killer marketing strategies, this is it:

Get out of your house and Talk with REAL PEOPLE.

 I guarantee this – if you’re trying to create a product, service or marketing strategy with just you + your computer, it will fail 99% of the time.

 (I actually don’t know anyone in that 1%, but I’ll leave a little wiggle room just in case…)

 It’s so easy to hide behind a computer screen trying to think our way into a perfect offer, message or strategy.

 But it just doesn’t work.

 The only thing that I’ve EVER seen work in all my 18+ years doing marketing professionally is to ask great questions and really listen to what potential clients are saying.

Doing this gives you valuable insights to create products or services that serve what your customers really need and want, not what you’ve decided is what they want. (Remember, the New Coke?) Without real world input, you may not have a market for your thing and you’re wasting a lot of time and effort.

You can start with a simple Facebook or LinkedIn post or even just an email to friends that says:

Hi Friends,

As you know I [insert what you do] and I need to do some research on a new business idea I’m thinking about (nothing for sale – just looking for input).

Do you know anyone who [insert your dream client criteria] and is available to chat with me in the next week? It would help me out so much.

Thanks!

[your name]

One of my clients did this just last week and within hours had nine amazing people to interview. From those interviews, she discovered there was a huge need for what she wanted to create. Then based on her potential client insights, we completely redesigned her signature offer, her sales page and her pitch.

And the best part? One of her interviewees is already interested in hiring her once the program is available. How’s that for results?

Step 3: Test Everything

Testing is a critical part of custom-designing a marketing strategy that truly pays off for your business.

Whenever you start marketing something for your business, you will NOT get it right on your first try. It may perform well, but I promise there are improvements you can make. There’s always going to be improvements.

And sometimes it’s the smallest things that improve your performance (and pay off big for your marketing).

Let me give you an example from my own business.

Example: Landing Page Test

(Click each graphic to see a larger size)

These are 2 versions of a landing page I had for a webinar back in January 2015. The purple version far outperformed the blue version, with the purple version ending up with an overall conversion rate around 45%.

You will notice a few differences on the landing pages, such as what I say on the button text, the headlines and the overall color.

Don’t be scared off trying to figure this out – I have a lot of experience running multivariate tests. You don’t have to test as many things as I am here – just start simply.

Next time you run any sort of opt-in (for an event, ad, webinar, lead magnet, etc…) simply test out 2 versions of your landing page and just change 1 main variable on each landing page such as:

•         Color
•         Font
•         Button text
•         Headline
•         Call to action
•         Bonus
•         Photo
•         Or any of the text

Just don’t try to test too many things the first time out. Start small and begin to build your testing muscles.

Before you know it, you’ll have a lot of insights about what your audience responds well to and what they totally ignore.

The first time I did a webinar, my opt-in rate was less than 10%. Now, I run anywhere from 40 – 65%, depending on the day of the week, time and message.

In fact, when I ran an opt-in page for the replay of this webinar using everything I'd learned in running tests on the 2 pages above, I had a conversion rate of 61.11%. Not bad after just a week or so of testing, right?

Not sure how to run these types of tests?

There are many tools you can use – including many WordPress themes + plugins, LeadPages (which is what I use), Landing Page Monkey and even your email provider.

Bottom line – don’t be scared off by this step. This is how you start to make your marketing work FOR you.  You may not need to run a test like this, but I’m sure there’s something in your business you could be testing right now (even if it's just how you introduce yourself to new people you meet!).

Let me know!

I’d love to know what you’re going to do after reading this blog post. Comment below with the first thing you’re going to do to massively increase your marketing results.

Want more?

Marketing funnels really can be your hustle-free way to a sold out business. When marketing funnels are done correctly they connect you with the best people, and takes those people on a transformational journey to how you can really be a big part of their life, their business.

Take this fast and free quiz to find out what kind of marketing funnel is right for you and your business.