The current unemployment numbers are so mind-blowing that they are hard to wrap our minds around. The sheer numbers of jobs being lost, industries being decimated, and people in extreme financial duress can’t be understated. At the same time we’re this terrifying financial news, we’re also hearing from people who own businesses, work for others, or would like to live their lives as normally as they can during this time. Then, we hear the opposite argument which is, now is the wrong time to sell. What’s a person supposed to do if they’re: ethical, trying to eat, trying to pay bills, trying help other people, trying to help themselves, and not be a douche? This episode tackles how to sell your products during the Covid-19 pandemic and step up for yourself and others during this difficult time.
*In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please read my disclosure here.*
Thinking about starting a blog?
It’s pretty simple to do and cheap! Start with Siteground and WordPress.org. With this winning combination you’ll own your own website by the end of the day. And, Siteground has easy to follow tutorials to help you with setting up your site. Also, don’t forget to grab 120 Awesome Blog Ideas from Ruth Soukup’s Elite Blog Academy today.
Show Resource
Are you wondering if it’s possible to make money online with your blog/vlog/podcast/or online community? Do you keep getting stuck on getting started and aren’t sure where to begin? Grab the free tool kit “Do It Ugly” today. I’ve made thousands launching my projects “ugly” and refined them as I went. You can do this too! The “Do It Ugly” toolkit shares how to get started with your new digital project and how to get started making money online.
Perfect doesn’t get paid, done does.
Text the following phrase: moneyhungry to extension 66866 and get ongoing access to all the free resources that I share with the Money Hungry community.
Listen to the Show
Show Notes
For those of you who sell products as a side-hustle or as your main source of income things right now can feel really confusing. You’ve probably heard the following:
- Everyone is broke
- No one is buying
- You’re insensitive for trying to sell something.
What in the hell are you supposed to do? For those of us in the US here are the numbers:
- 325 million US citizens
- 30 million filed for unemployment
- 295 Million people who have some some source of income
- The reality is that most entrepreneurs, most smaller entrepreneurs need to connect with a tiny fraction of the population in order to make enough sales to make a difference to them…depending on the type of business or product that they’re selling
- By the way, I’ve been crazy broke during previous Recessions, including one where I supported my mom and I on part-time Starbucks money and student loans. But, at the same time that I was broke, other people had money.
- The reality is the following:
- Money is always flowing, but it’s flowing different. Credit to my friend Amanda Abella creator of Persuade to Profit for that quote.
- Real talk: there will always be people with or without money.
- However, there is an art to selling your goods and services during hard times and if you’re getting pushback, people are getting pissed at you here are some actions to take.
- Check your copy-Basically, check the language that you’re using to market your goods and services. DO NOT use your family members for this. Instead, do quick surveys via your social media to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t work when sharing what you’re selling.
- Who is your avatar? Are you just selling to sell to anyone vs. selling to a well-defined and well-thought out set of people who would be attracted to your goods and services.
- I don’t eat KETO Foods, pitching KETO products to me is a waste of time.
- Find the communities where your ideal client exists.
- Be of service
- Make it clear who you are and what you do via your social media profiles
Ask yourself-Are your selling what people want…right now? Here are some examples of what I mean.
- Crystal Hammond from Sew So Fab teaches people how to sew. She now is teaching people how to sew masks and is also selling PRE-MADE and custom masks. She used social media, word of mouth, and sold to her friends, many of which have large online communities.
- Kayla Sloan creator of the course $10KVA teaches would be virtual assistants how to get their businesses up and running as well as attracting clients. Given the unprecedented move of business online in the past two months, I expect the need for virtual assistant services to pick up as businesses look for personnel to help them with their virtual business needs.
- A local paint company here in Denver shot a commercial showing a family safe inside while making a point that they paint the outside of homes. This commercial communicated a respect for current social distancing trends, the fact they were still in business, and the type of service that they offered in less than a 1 minute add. It was very affective.
- Restaurants pivoting to allowing customers to call for pick up or delivery orders. Also, creating meal kits/grocery boxes etc. I plan on ordering a fruit and veggie box from a local business it costs $20 a week or I could order the $30 a week box that includes two alcoholic beverages. I still have to eat and get groceries, but I have NO DESIRE to go grocery shopping to do it. Or, to go as infrequently as possible. This business meets me where I am, enables me to support a local business and the price is pretty decent.
- Tools or content products-These are the products that allow people to do things faster, trains them in a skill quicker or has been created with the idea of making some aspect of their life better.
- Treats-People still want their nails done, cute hair, etc. For those people who people who prefer to stay home, I’ve seen an uptick in advertising for stick on manicures such as Color Street and Mani Me. Romances, my ebooks are growing in sales.
- When I was crazy broke I would still get a small coffee, buy a thrift store romance, etc.
- Don’t get in your future customer or client’s wallets. I heard this once from LaTisha Styles and it stuck with me. The idea is, you don’t know what people will prioritize and it’s not your business to know either.
- Do create tiers to your offerings so that they can work with or purchase your goods and services at an investment level that works for them.
- Example of My Products:
- Free content-Via my blog and podcast also I run webinars, workshops, and participate in online conferences as well.
- Inexpensive products-My ebooks make me money every single month. They range in price from .99 to $3.99 currently.
- Membership community-I’m launching that next week and the cost will be $37 a month. Will share more at the end of the show.
- Make Money with Ebooks Course sales-Right now the courses range in price from $197-$647. I’m pausing the availability of those courses until early fall because I’m focusing on my new product.
- Business Coaching-$1497-1797
- Basically, you can meet me where you are financially.
- Along with your product tiers, offer payment plans whenever appropriate
- Side-note: I’ve continued to email my romance email list weekly since the shutdown. They are wonderful and I get responses after every single email. And, my books sales have gone up.
- Example of My Products:
- I’ve had a number of conversations with other full-time and part-time entrepreneurs and they’ve said the following:
- Sales are up
- If you need to pivot your product/offering/marketing DO IT
- They aren’t changing their pricing and avoid giving deep discounts
- People who’ve built a healthy email list, online presence and community are well positioned to sell at this time…without being a douche.
- Don’t pretend the pandemic isn’t happening. It is.
- Remember what it’s like to be a customer and that customers have a choice. They can always say “no” to whatever you’re selling.
Make Money with Ebooks Academy
For the past couple of years I’ve focused on helping entrepreneurs sell what they already know. It is one of my favorite things to do to help encourage, inspire, and engage with entrepreneurs who are nervous about putting their products/goods/and services that they would like to share with the world.
One of my favorite ways to support content creators is to help them write and sell their first ebook in order to elevate their brand, make passive income, and assert their expertise.
In fact, you could say that I’m obsessed with ebooks and self-publishing in general.
However, the longer I ran my self-publishing course, the more I discovered that there were certain issues that kept coming up over and over again.
- Perfectionism-Some of the students just were afraid to start and needed more coaxing from me and the course community.
- Self-Doubt-Some writers had people in their lives who put down their book idea and they needed more time to work through how that made them feel. That negative feedback affected their ability to start.
- Time-Many of these would be authors had limited time but needed ongoing support and accountability in order to get their books done. They also needed more time to engage with the content that I was sharing with them.
- Fear-The closer they got to completing their books, the more the next steps in their self-publishing journey
So, I started brainstorming and working on what it would look like to have a space where:
- Future authors are supported through their writing fears
- Future authors can work at a pace that works with their current life and still moves them towards getting their books finally done.
- Future authors were a part of a community that uplifted them every time they engaged with other writers. No negativity allowed.
- Future authors are connected with expects throughout the year who help breakdown:
- The craft of writing
- How to market their books
- SEO
- Email marketing and more
Here’s the thing, the community I’m dreaming of doesn’t exist yet. So, I’ve decided to start it and I need your help as I put it together.
And, one other thing, I plan on launching this community starting next week.
For more information you can email me at: michelleismoneyhungry@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram at michelleismoneyhungry. Or, DM me on Twitter @MichLovesMoney
Latest posts by Michelle (see all)
- How Work Policies Against Black Women Birthed a Love of the Soft Life - 20 March, 2024
- How Taylor Swift’s IP Victory Could Change the Business of Music - 28 February, 2024
- Why Don’t More Personal Finance Content Creators Talk About Policy - 16 January, 2024
Leave a Reply