The problem with linear thinking
Plus counter intuitive marketing & tips for researching your audience
Welcome to Connectable #015 đ§âđ€âđ§
I am so thrilled to have you here!
I want to help your business succeed. I want to inspire change. I want you to question your current processes and align yourself with the needs of your audience/community. I want you to attract the right people, solve the right problem and create superfans.
The medium? Email.
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Nothing but chaos
Itâs been a difficult week for a lot of us Iâm sure. My heart sits heavy as I think about the state of the world. For a while I didnât feel like creating content or thinking about my work in any capacity, it seemed so insignificant - it still does. I also thought about not commenting on the news in this newsletter but then that seemed even stranger.
My newsletter, my work, itâs all about connection, itâs about the fundamental desire we have to form community. When I thought about this I found some strength to go on because when the world is on fire, what matters more than anything is community and being there for each other. So I hope you all find a chance to be there for your loved ones, your community, both personal and business, share stories with each other and take action in any way you can.
The feedbackâs inâŠ
So far Iâve had some great feedback on my email Welcome Sequence Guide and itâs been so nice hearing how helpful itâs been in altering your perspective as well as your planning and writing habitsâthatâs some wonderful news!
âI loved your Welcome Email Sequence guide! It was chock-full of information and context you need when approaching this behemoth of an email sequence. It's not just raw info but things you can actually apply right away.â
If you havenât checked it out yet, do so HERE!
The problem with linear thinking
It seems reasonable to assume that if you improve every part of your business, your overall results will also improve. More leads, more sales, more opens means your running a better business right?
Hereâs the problem with this linear thinking: you start to believe that every lead, every sale and every open is theoretically doing the same thing for your business.
Itâs very possible that you can be increasing your leads, sales and opens but overall, your business is still not performing better.
In this case, itâs crucial to examine your overall systems and âthe wayâ you do things.
The thing about linear thinking is that youâre examining all parts independently. Itâs one thing, then the next, then the next and so on. In reality, we need to think about how each part interacts with the otherânot only how each element connects, but also the relationship between each node.
Every one of the three elements of a successful businessâawareness, engagement and conversionâneeds to be present, without any one of these 3 elements, you fall short.
âItâs the way the parts fit together that determine the performance of the system, not how they perform taken separately.â - Dr. Ackoff
As such, you canât optimise each element separately without taking all the other parts of the system into account.
Where should you start when looking to optimise your systems? Ask yourself: what does success look like for your business?
AndrĂ© and Shawn for example, say that their business is successful âwhen it produces happy customers.â
âFor us, âhappyâ is a meaningful distinction. Thereâs a world of difference between generating a customer (through any means possible to maximize sales), and a very specific customer who feels an emotional pull to want to interact with us more intimately (through our courses, emails, workshops, and free trainings). Happy customers donât want refunds and are also more inclined to purchase more (and more) over time.â
So, every time you consider making a small change in your business system ask yourself, how will this impact what makes my business a success?
Fancy a deeper dive into systems theory? Read this!
Something awesome of the week đ
Last week Amanda posted this wonderful list of counterintuitive marketing strategies which encouraged readers to re-think their marketing strategies. As you may know by now, I love shaking things up and questioning old-school strategies. Here are my favourite from her list:
Give away valuable information. Sounds simple right - but many marketers are still set on only teasing value, hoping a sale will be made quicker. But offering up âknock-my-socks-offâ value for free, builds some damn good trust - which becomes essential in making a prospect buy from you eventuallyâalways be in it for the long term.
Anything worth doing takes timeânarrow your focus to sustain your growth. The example given is to master only one marketing channel, or one content type, and make it excellent before expanding. I would also add, start with attracting and keeping a small group of superfans, donât go straight for a mass, luke-warm audience, because without a solid foundation, your house will soon collapse.
Get involved with free PR (permissionless co-marketing). By freely marketing and promoting othersâ work with a âno-strings-attachedâ sentiment, you set yourself up as more trustworthy, credible and perhaps, more importantly, open yourself up to a whole lot of great collaboration for the future.
Check out the rest of her list here.
Article of the Week đ
23 Ways to do Audience Research (and Better Understand Your Customers)
- Katelyn Bourgoin
According to a massive study by CoSChedule, 65% of marketers report doing audience research ârarely or never.â
And a recent study by CX Network revealed that 63% of consumers think marketers are âtrying to sell them things they donât need.â
Soooo, yeah, Iâd go check out this value-packed article and dig into new ways to research your audience so you can stand out and make a real difference!
Tweets(perations) đŠ
Thatâs all for this week, thanks so much for the support.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please give it a like or share it with your friends/on Twitter. Iâm still a newbie, so any help would be awesome! đ
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If you have any questions, want to say hi, or want to feature in my Q & As - my DMs are always open @LisanneNausner.
Have a fabulous week full of connection!
- Lisanne đ»