TOC #99: Spilling Some Serious BTL Secrets....
(Nov 15, 2022) 3 Ways To Organically Market Your Business (As Told By Someone Who Is Not A Marketer)
It's me… hi. I'm the problem, it's me!
JK, no problems here—especially in Sara's case, considering I'm the solution to the number-one problem she needed to be solved: the struggle between her desire to do all the things and her desire to actually live a balanced life.
If you've been a TOC reader for a while, you may have read that Sara hired a new business manager… 👀 ahem, that's me. Consider this your formal introduction! 😏
So, hey! Mostly everyone in my life calls me Liz. However, in Sara's natural against-the-grain fashion, she has always called me Elizabeth.
Approximately 2 months ago, I sent Sara an audio message (because, yes, I am a fellow queen of leaving voice notes long enough to be podcast episodes for all my friends) complaining about how I wanted to quit my day job due to the stress of grad school, internship, and mom-ing, and that I was going to start working at Instacart.
Not even 2 minutes later, a lovely photo from 2012 prom (aka Sara's contact photo) came across my screen.
In one of what she calls her ‘aggressive pep talks’ (aka 10 minutes of love-filled bullying), she told me that she would absolutely not be allowing me to work at Instacart, no ma'am no sir, and that she would be hiring me as her Executive Director instead.
My first thought was: how could I resist?!
Then my second thought was: how the h-e-double-hockey-sticks am I qualified for this position… literally at all…???
Sara is incredibly talented for several reasons, one of them being her way with words. She's very persuasive.
(Read: It's hard to argue with her.)
She was my first BFF, mostly because we were born two months apart and spent every Monday through Friday together with my grandmother for the first three years of our lives, but also because she is the extrovert to my introvert, the yin to my yang, the best to my friend.
And that is exactly why I'm uniquely qualified for this position! I may not be qualified to manage a business, but I sure am qualified to manage Sara.
& while we're talking qualifications, I might as well give you the resume run down (this isn't an About page, so I'm safe from Sara's wrath):
I have a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology, and I'm currently pursuing my Masters of Social Work.
So, similar to Sara—who, in case you're unfamiliar, always says this because she always brings up her stupid amount of degrees (can you blame her?!)—I have a degree in everything but marketing.
Although I may not have your standard run-of-the-mill business knowledge or the support of a formal marketing education, I have a PhD in understanding Sara's beautiful and chaotic Capricorn brain.
(Capricorn sun, Capricorn moon, and Virgo Rising, hence her bountiful motivation and energy. I want a bottle of whatever she's got.)
November 1st marked my one month anniversary with BTL (cheers!), so I figured I'd share with you few things I've learned in this short time span working for my bestie:
Dubsado needs an immediate facelift, their formatting couldn't be any less aesthetically pleasing
Airtable and Milanote are my new BFFs for all things organization
Stripe and Kajabi are intimidating AF
Creating anything on Canva is a new form of entertainment for me (seriously, I get way too excited when I see this on my to-do list Monday mornings)
Sara is an absolute QUEEN for managing all of this backend stuff and running the show solo - I mean, seriously, I have no idea how she does it! (No wonder why she wanted to hire her cousin 😏)
Now, before we get into today's marketing tip—yes, there will still be one, of course; I know how the TOC works—I have a BTL secret to share with you 👀
Because I'm responsible for all of the back-end stuff, I'm one of the only people who knows about this.
…but what's the fun in that?! So, I'm spilling the beans.
Sara has been sending a weekly newsletter for almost 100 weeks straight (!!!) and, as you damn well know, her email list is her favorite platform, and her subscribers are her favorite people. So, she's planning a little sumthin sumthin to celebrate with you.
Side note: don't ya hate when creators say they have something in the works but they don't give you the tea? Like, SPIT IT OUT.
Honey, here at BTL, we always want our tea PIPING hot, & I'm here to give it to you.
Sara's bringing back Site Series® for the last time in 2022, for an extremely limited time—and not the fake ass “limited time” that other course creators say. She's legit only bringing it back for a matter of days, then that fat daddy course is going back on the BTL Library shelves for months.
But that's not the tea.
The TEA is that she's offering it for $100 OFF—and she's offering world's most flexible payment plan: 12 payments of $100!!!
Say whaaaaat?!
Site Series® for only $100 a month? ARE YOU ACTUALLY F-ING KIDDING ME.
That's the deal of the century—talk about Christmas coming early!
(Well, to be honest, Christmas did already hit Sara's living room the second Halloween ended, with not one but two trees up, lit, and decorated… buuuut I had to wait to sneak in here while she was away at the Showit Spark conference to share this lil secret gift with you.)
In order to get access to the discount, all you have to do is open the TOC next Tuesday morning, and you'll be greeted with (imaginary) confetti & the link to purchase Site Series® for as low as $100/mo. 🤯
You'll read all about what's included in the course next week, so I won't bother going over that rn, but I *will* end on this note: that's not the only party favor she's including in her 100 TOC celebration, so even if you're all set on Site Series®, you're not gonna want to miss next Tuesday's Table of Contents.
(You didn't hear this from me, but I happen to know that there will be other sales, giveaways, and maybe even a cash prize… so… 👀)
Buuut enough about all that 😏 Let's get into today's TOC!
3 Ways To Organically Market Your Business (As Told By Someone Who Is Not A Marketer)
#1 - SEO
I know y'all know good and well about Search Engine Optimization if you've been following Sara along for a while, but in case you need a reminder—it's important. It makes your website more visible.
Learning how to use keywords in an efficient way will help you outrank competition on Google, show up in search results, and get more traffic.
Sounds like a dream come true, right?
#2 - Blog
Blog, baby, just freaking blog.
Blogging is an excellent way to integrate keywords that your users are already searching for. It's a task you've definitely got to stop ignoring, if you're at all interested in showing up on your dream client's Google results page.
Blogs are forever searchable, living in this mystical land known as the cloud.
…which is why it's important to create posts with longevity, so they are always searchable with relatable, personable content.
(If you're looking for an example, Google “are Tonic Site Shop templates worth it”—you might see a familiar URL coming in at that top-dog spot.)
(Feel free to also Google “how to create content for your ideal client”—same familiar face'll greet ya.)
#3 - Email
Take advantage of email marketing. Here's a free, in-depth, 5-day training all about how to do it.
(Or check out the TOC archives and scroll back to #78 to read through Sara's series all about getting started with email marketing!)
& yep, you guessed it—all of these strategies (and so much more!) are covered in Site Series® 😏
>> And, if I may—another spoiler alert!—Sara is giving away a FREE 60-minute strategy call ($500 value!) to everyone who purchases on Tuesday Nov 22nd!
If that just made you go “oh frick yes, I'm so in” - you'll want to add the event to your calendar so you don't miss this awesome bonus, because it's while the $100 off sale is valid through Cyber Monday, you'll only have til Tuesday November 22nd at midnight EST to take advantage of the free call bonus!
Site Series® students who got access to this VIP bonus last time around have been using their calls for website copy audits, email marketing assistance, blog strategy brainstorming, 1:1 mentorship, and more—I've been listenin' in and am legit so impressed by the level of value (and by the amount of tips miss girl is able to pack into a one-hour session).
Long story long (as Sara would say): you won't want to miss out.
If you're hoping to work with Sara one-on-one, just an FYI—I'll tell it to ya straight: she's a booked and busy gal, and she won't be taking on any new website copywriting projects until March 2023.
(I mean, if it were up to her, she'd take on every project known to man, because her extroverted ass just wants to meet and connect with people all day long, but as her manager, I quite literally forbid her from doing any more work. Calendar = full.)
BUT! If you're feeling antsy and don't wanna wait, you're gonna want to snag her formula for writing website copy & finagle a DIY moment—she poured everything into her Wicked Easy Web Copy Guide and you will love it.
I know she told you about it last week, but I'm gonna go ahead and tell you again, because as someone who didn't know a thing about website copy before, this collection of resources helped me fully understand all of it. 👇🏼
Here's what's included:
Helpful Website Copy Resources Master List
Target Audience Development Workbook
Website Copy Checklist (complete with a step-by-step guide of what to put on every single page of your website, including Home, About, Services, Blog, Contact, Single Product Page, Resources, Portfolio, and 404 Error, as well as a list of SEO best practices for each page)
Easy-To-Edit, Fill-In-The-Blank Website Copy Template
The Ultimate How-To Overview, explaining how to write every section of every page, organized in the exact template that you'll use to draft your copy
[70+ minutes of training] Page-Specific Website Walkthrough Videos (to show you how to put all of the tips in action!)
Now, don't tell Sara I told you, but…
She's only 100 email subscribers away from her ultimate 2022 goal, and sending this to your friends to help her reach it would be the best end-of-year—and birthday!—gift.
(Her birthday is New Year's Eve, and she absolutely hates it, because… duh. She wants to be celebrated, and everyone else just wants to kiss their partners at midnight. So, understandable.)
Thank you so much for reading my first-ever (but hopefully not last!) email newsletter! Sara will be back next week for her 100th TOC PARTAYYY and I can't wait for you to see what else—besides our little Site Series® secret—she has in store 👀
Hi, I’m Sara Noel—website copywriter and marketing mentor for creatives, copywriters, and all-around cool people. Thanks for reading this edition of the Tuesday Table of Contents! If you like my content and you want even more BTL in your life, here are a few ways you can connect with me:
Check out my services. I write website copy, sales pages, email sequences, blog posts, and brand messaging guides for entrepreneurs of all kinds! Maybe you’re my next favorite client. ;)
Read my blog. It’s home to everything from copywriting tips, to marketing education, to freelance advice, to portfolio-worthy projects… if you like this newsletter, you’ll love the blog. Here’s a quick roundup of my most popular posts.
Sign up for my web copy course. Actually, it’s not *only* about website copywriting—I also teach modules on copywriting basics, developing your target audience, search engine optimization, blogging, and email marketing.
Enlist me as your mentor. I have an entire in-depth blog post about my one-on-one consulting process for new and aspiring copywriters, if you’re interested in having a big-sis-style mentor to help you grow your freelance copywriting business & get results.
To get in touch with me directly, send me a DM or email sara@betweenthelinescopy.com. Have a great day!