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If you’ve been looking at your website or thinking of creating your website and would love to know how to best set it up and have a strategy behind it that will help lead people to your online program, you’ll want to hear this episode.

Today we have an incredible guest, Jess Freeman from Jess Creatives, award-winning web strategist and designer who helps health and wellness coaches get better clients. 

What we’re talking about is the strategy of how you can use your website and the content on your website, as well as what content you’re putting out there, as you encourage people to join your online program.

Here’s what we covered:

• The real purpose of your site (and how it will differentiate you!)
• Jess shared the top website mistakes that she commonly sees in the health and wellness industry (including how not to overwhelm your website visitors!)
• Where the website and our content fits throughout the customer launch journey (you need to first get clear on that customer journey!)
• The common question of how much content to give away (give people information that they need before they would join the program!)
• How to approach our website during the 4 launch phases (and what to do with our content during these phases!)

Understanding how your website and content fits into your business from stage to stage helps you align with how you’re developing, releasing, launching and closing your online programs over and over again.

About Jess

Jessica Freeman is an award-winning web strategist and designer that helps health and wellness coaches get better clients. Jess has been featured in over 50 publications and websites, and is the host of The Digital Lounge podcast. Jess lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband, Aaron, and their dog, Morgan.

You can find her online here: jesscreatives.com or on Instagram: @jesscreatives

If you enjoyed this podcast, you may enjoy these 3 other podcast episodes that can help you start to create your customer journey:

• • Ep. 05: Do I need an email list to launch an online program
  • Ep. 06: How to Grow an Email List as a Health Practitioner
  • Ep. 29: The Launch Process

Prefer reading? Here’s the transcript below

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Stephanie: Welcome everyone to another episode. I’m so glad that you’re here with me and I have an incredible guest here with me today. You guys are going to love her and you’re gonna have 4000 follow up questions. So I’ll make sure that you know where to find her at the end of this episode and in all of our show notes. So I have Jess here with me from Jess Creatives. Welcome.

Jess: Hey, thank you for having me. I am excited to be here today.

Stephanie: Yes and we’re so pumped that you’re here. I think my audience has so many questions around this subject. So can we just start by you telling us a little more about your business and what you do?

Jess: Yeah. So as Stephanie said, I’m Jess and I run Jess Creatives. I’m a graphic and web designer and strategist. And I work with with primarily those in the health and wellness industry. Most of my work revolves around creating websites, getting clear on your message online. But I also do a little bit of branding. I have designed books that are published on Amazon, I do some email opt in design, all that kind of fun stuff. But like I said, most of it is around websites. I am obsessed with helping people get clear on their messaging and making sure that their website is actually helping their business. And it’s not just kind of standing there, doing nothing.

So I used to work with all types of businesses and then I really narrowed down to females and those in the service based businesses. In the last year or two, I’ve really narrowed down to the health and wellness industry, and this was in large part because I have myself always been really health conscious and I just love the industry itself. I work out all the time. And honestly, part of that is because I have grown up as a type one diabetic and so I’ve always just been very aware of all things health related.

A very dear friend of mine really encouraged me to make that my story, make my story a bigger part of my brand online. I just found when I was looking at clients that I loved to work with in the past, they were those in the health and wellness industry. And I think it’s just this passion that I have, and I am passionate about you guys getting your message out there and helping your clients and patients. So, you know, that’s kind of how I like came into this industry. And it’s been super fun. I think health and wellness coaches are some of the coolest people and I’m not just saying that.

Top Common Mistakes on Health Websites

 

Stephanie: Wow, thank you. I wasn’t going to lead with this question. But since you spend so much time on health, with health and wellness professionals and on their websites, as we know, when we specialize in a certain area, we really get to know it super well. And so Jess I would say that you probably have seen a lot of mess. And so can you just share with us maybe like your top mistakes right off the bat that you see so commonly in our industry that we do with our websites, that we can just go and change today. Like what do you need to make sure that we’re not doing, that we’re probably doing just because we get stuck in our own way or whatever.

Jess: Yeah, so the very first thing I would say is go pull up the homepage of your website. And if it says anything about like, ‘Helping you live your healthiest life’, I need you to change that. That could mean anything. You could be a dietitian, you could be a doctor, you can be a health coach, you could be selling essential oils, you could be selling shakeology, like, there’s a wide number of things that that could mean. So I need you to be super, super specific, like, ‘I help IBS patients feel better’. ‘I help XYZ by XYZ’. You need to be super, super clear. This is something a lot of coaches in the health and wellness industry, they just are like, ‘I help you live a healthy, happy life’.

Stephanie: It’s a little vague…

Jess: Yeah, it’s a little vague, guys. And then the other thing is just having way too many calls to action. I know y’all have, like a lot of resources for people. You’ve got, you know, your programs, you’ve got your one to one services, you’ve got your opt ins, maybe a Facebook group. You got a lot of things, because you guys are smart, and I know that. But you’re overwhelming your people.

I’m not saying go delete your Facebook, that’s not what I’m saying. But when people come to me, and they’re like, “No one’s joining my email list, or no one’s joining my Facebook group.” And I’m like, “Well, let me look at your website”. And then I look and there’s 17 buttons in a two inch space. Or the Facebook Join button. You know, like, here’s my Facebook community, Come join the other 200 people. I’m like, okay, but it’s at the bottom of your about page, under 17 other buttons and 17 different paragraphs, like what’s getting lost.

So figure out, what do you want people to do? I always tell my clients, if people only did one thing on your website? If they came for two minutes, and they did one thing, what would you want them to do? Is that to join your Facebook group or join your list or hire you. Make that the most obvious. Again, I’m not saying you can’t have all these things, or that you you need to only have one offer. It’s just make what your main goal is, the most obvious thing.

Stephanie: Yes, totally. I love that. And I feel like we’ve all suffered from that. So if you’re suffering from that now, do not worry, you are not alone. We have all had way too many call to actions. And they’re all in our head, and we just put them on our website.

It’s just another reason why, you know, you maybe shouldn’t DIY your website. Maybe hire a professional. But yeah, that’s great. That’s super helpful. And we want to get really clear on that.

So in today’s episode, we’re kind of just jumping right in, guys. But in today’s episode, Jess and I have some real fun planned, where we’re going to talk about where her expertise comes in of that website strategy and content strategy, and aligns with us developing and launching our online programs, which I know some of my clients will be listening. This is such a good one for you, as well as anyone who’s thinking of creating an online program, or anyone who has one where you have to think about your launch process.

So Jess, what you’re just talking about with the website makes me think about the customer journey, where we have to map out our customer journey. And when Jess is saying one thing, guys, they come to your website, and there is one thing.

You need to get clear on what your customer journey is. First, where they’re going to learn about you. So where they’re going to know you. But then this journey on your website or through your content, or as we’re going to talk about in a second with launch, is for them to actually like you, trust you, and then buy from you. They don’t just find you on Instagram and give you cash. There is a process so that people can actually trust you and like you and prefer you and want to buy from you. So that button on your website has to do with your customer journey.

Now today, we’re going to talk specifically about those of us that are running and launching online programs. I just did an episode recently, you can go back and find it, called The Launch Process.

There are four phases that I map out in The Leveraged Practice of the launch. And so those phases are pre-launch, launch, post-launch, and what I call the in-between. I go much more deeper into the launch process and those different phases in that episode. So if you want to learn more about the launch process, go and listen to the episode after this one,. Or you can pause this and come back over here when you’re done.

But what we’re going to talk about is where the website and where our content fits throughout that customer launch journey specifically, okay, which I think is such an interesting thing. So again, what we’re talking about is the strategy of how you’re using your website and the content on your website, as well as what content you’re putting out there as you encourage people to join an online program.

Online Program Pre-launch and Your Website

 

Now Jess the first phase is pre-launch. So this is before we open enrollment, and I’m calling launch when the doors are open, and you’re actually allowing people to sign up for the program. So before you ask people to sign up for the program, you have to do something before that. If you met someone new, and they were like, “Hey, I’m Stephanie, give me $1,000. And let’s work together.” You’d be like, “Oh, that’s intense. I’m out of here, you weirdo”.

But there has to be this conversation. There has to be this experience of getting to know each other before you open enrollment and say, “Hey, join my program”. And so that’s what we call a pre-launch, that nurture, that warming up.

So Jess, can you tell us a little bit about where you feel someone’s website, the purpose of their website, or even tools and tips you have for the website if they are in a pre-launch? So they haven’t opened enrollment yet to their program. What kinds of things do we have to know about that?

Jess: Yeah, so the website really serves as our credibility. I know that there are a lot of people in the health and wellness industry that are frustrated by random people on Instagram giving out really bad health advice. I see it every week when you guys share these memes and you’re like, this is really bad. Stop listening to random people on Instagram. You need to work with a registered dietitian. You need to work with certified people, not just random Samantha, who likes to read health books.

So your website is serving as that credibility, because we want to make sure that people know that they can trust you, because then they’ll buy from you. So we want to be driving people to the website. And during that pre-launch, I’m assuming most of your clients and audience, Stephanie, are going to be using like an email funnel as part of that pre-launch and leading up to launch to help sell.

So that means we’re going to need to start getting people on our email list. Now we don’t want to just be like, “Hey, join my email list”.

Stephanie: No, don’t do that.

Jess: Please don’t, that’s boring. Let’s not do that. This is an okay time to use a pop up of some sort where they can slide in, you do the exit intent. Which means the pop up doesn’t show until you start to leave the website. You can do just a normal pop up if you want. I would do kind of a delayed one so it doesn’t show up for like 10 to 15 seconds. I’m not a huge fan of pop ups. I don’t think a lot of people are. But there’s also a lot of research that shows they actually do work.

Stephanie: Yeah and I love the one that you just described, that’s kind of like the not-rude pop up where it pops up when you go to leave. So you as you go up – we had one on my website for a while – where you go to hover on the X. As soon as that arrow goes up there, the pop up shows up. If you guys have ever experienced it, it’s supposed to be like that. So that’s kind of like the anti-rude pop up.

So that’s a good one. And so you’re saying that we can use that pop up to bring people into our list. So if we’re not opening enrollment that pop up is going to direct them to some kind of valuable download that would relate to the topic that they’re going to be launching soon, right?

Jess: Yes, yeah. So make sure it is related to your offer that you’re about to launch. Like, you want to make sure it’s really, really related. And that you’re… well this is getting away from the actual website and giving you marketing advice, make sure your funnel, that your email sequence after they opt in is also related and is going to help provide value and educate them before you start to pitch them your new product. Don’t just have the opt in – whether it’s a pop up or not – don’t just have the opt in and then they just sit on your list for six weeks and then you’re like, “Hey, I got this program”. And they’re like, “Wait, what? Like Yeah, who you are? Did I opt into this?”

Stephanie: So that’s helpful. So without me and Jess going down the rabbit hole of two hours of talking about freebies, because we probably could, that’s the idea.

So I think the the bottom line here Jess, which is so important and so helpful for us to understand, is we still can use our website to engage and connect with potential customers that might sign up for our program in two weeks, or six weeks, or whatever, by starting a conversation with them, capturing their email, and then continuing that conversation before we open up doors.

So we’re not just sitting around and waiting to open the doors to our program. We’re also not just opening the doors to our program, right? There is this opportunity to say hi to people, have conversations, like Jess said, like allow them to trust us. And so how we’re going to use our website in that marketing process is potentially with a pop up there.

Pre-launch Content

 

And then Jess, would you do anything at the bottom of a blog post? So we’ve done this over the years, we’ve put opt ins in the middle of our blog posts or at the end of our blog post. But is there anything that we would specifically do with our blog posts, whether that’s in the bottom of our blog posts, or even we can start to talk about the content in our blog posts. Whether you’re doing a blog, or a podcast, or a written blog, whatever that is. How do we incorporate that blog role, that blog content into this pre-launch where we don’t have anything open for enrollment?

Jess: Yes. So this is definitely in the pre-launch. This is when you want to start creating content that also is related to that offer. This is super important, because this is again, you’re going to start driving traffic to your website, and you’re providing that value in the blogs or podcasts or video, whatever. And then also have that opt in.

And like you mentioned, Stephanie, not just at the bottom of the post, but that’s okay. But depending on the length of it, you also want to have one in the middle of the post, especially if it’s a long blog post.

Or if you’re like me, I get my podcast transcribed. So depending on the length of the episode, it could be pretty long, I suppose. So I will have an opt in in the middle of the post also. Because someone may, you know, start to scroll down a little bit to start to read the transcript and then realize like, “Okay, this is really long, maybe I’ll just listen to the episode.” But I want to catch their attention and be like, “Hey, there’s an opt in right here. Like I have this free resource for you.”

So yeah, again, make sure the content is related to your offer, and you’re starting to educate them. This is where it’s important to know the awareness of your audience. Are they aware of their problem? Or are they not? Because a lot of times people think oh, like everyone knows, this is their problem. Sometimes people don’t know that the reason you know, they can’t lose weight. They think it’s XYZ. You have to make them aware of, no, it’s really this problem. So knowing that awareness is super important, because that’s how you position your content and honestly, also the copy on your website in general.

Stephanie: I like thinking about that Jess and I like to teach it in a way that there’s like one big problem. Like let’s say, I want to lose weight, or I’m not comfortable in my body or whatever. I like to use IBS, because it’s my area of expertise. But in IBS, it’s I want to get rid of my digestive symptoms, right. I want to get rid of my symptoms. I don’t want symptoms anymore. So that’s the big problem. And then there’s these other problems.

I feel like that’s what you’re talking about when you’re talking about the awareness or the reasons why they’re dealing with that problem. Like there’s all these other things that come underneath the problem.

So for my people, for IBS specifically, it can be like my other problems are, I always have to know where the closest bathroom is. Or I can’t work out anymore. Or I’m afraid of food and I don’t know what to eat, . Or I don’t know what my triggers are and so I don’t eat anything. There’s all these other problems, sub problems, or as you’re saying Jess, like reasons underneath that. I love how you call it awareness that we have to start talking about with people. And that’s what our blog content or video content or whatever can be leading up to the actual launches, talking about these things. Is that right?

Jess: Yes, yes,and making sure. Because if they don’t know why they’re even having these problems, or why they aren’t successful in reaching their goals, you have to start teaching them that. But some people you may know that your audience is aware of why, they’re like, “I can’t stay consistent with my meal plan. Like that’s the issue.” Well then, you don’t need to talk about, here’s why. You need to say, ‘Here, we’re going to talk about different solutions.”

And obviously, it can get tricky with your content, because you want it to be valuable and educational, and not just fluffy. Not just like, Okay, this was a very vague post that didn’t teach me anything. It is a fine line between being educational and showing them or kind of talking to them about solutions, without giving away all the content in your actual program.

Stephanie: Yeah. Well, we could use a couple of examples here. So a couple of examples helps us kind of connect it right. So for me, for example, my program is about IBS. It’s for people to get rid of symptoms.

So what I need people to believe, or what I need to talk about before is that one, they need to kind of understand what the FODMAP diet is, right, because I do a little bit of FODMAP in my program. And so I can educate kind of on the research behind that. Or I can share some stories of how it’s worked for other people.

The other part, though, is that I really need people to believe and understand that they can identify their triggers, and that it’s not just getting relief for IBS. It’s not just like going on an elimination diet for the rest of their lives. But that in order for them to feel well and comfortable in their bodies and get those results, what they need to go do is to identify the foods that are causing those symptoms.

And so when I get someone to say, “Yes, I need to identify the foods that are causing these symptoms.” then I can say, “All right, here’s a program that step by step helps you reduce symptoms, but then also helps you identify your triggers.” So that’s an example of what comes before.

And so sometimes it’s the concept. It’s FODMAPs, or intuitive eating, or a particular approach, or diet or protocol or a thing that you’re using. And then sometimes it’s more about, not just that protocol, but like the thing that you need them to believe, right? Where it’s like, “Okay, so I want to get rid of my symptoms, what do I need to do that?” Well, you need to help people understand they need to identify their triggers. They don’t need to go, you know, do an elimination diet. So Jess, some of that content could be like, myth busting or something, right? Like kind of talking to things that don’t really work or that we’re doing the opposite of?

Jess: Yes, that’s a huge part of the content before a pre-launch, is myth-busting, getting past these limiting beliefs. And just making sure people are aware of like, oh, like Stephanie’s approach, it really can work.

Stephanie: Yeah, that’s what I need. Yeah, you want people to say, “That’s what I need. How do I do that?” And you’re like, “Hey, yes, that’s why I made this program for you.” So fantastic. So that’s helpful.

So let’s now think about, so we just thought about pre-launch, right? So remember what that pre-launch is, is that’s before you ask people to enroll in your program, before enrollment is open, before the cart is open.

If you are someone who’s doing an evergreen program – an evergreen means people can always enroll – you still need to go through the customer journey. You still need to have a launch journey with your content. Even if it’s always for sale, you’re not going to just flash sale it in everyone’s face all the time, you’re still going to need to create content, and use your website in a way that moves people through that journey before you ask them to buy.

So I just want to make sure that I’m clear that no matter how often you sell your program, every single day, or two times a year, that we still are thinking about this launch process and launch journey. So thank you for helping us to understand how our website and our content can play a role in the pre-launch.

Online Program Launch and Your Website

 

If we can move into the actual launch now. So this is when enrollment is open. What should we be doing with our website? When enrollment is open? Is there a Hello bar, a pop up? Does the homepage change? Like what are we doing when we are enrolling? And let’s say we’re someone who enrolls for seven days, like every quarter or something like that? Like, what do we need to know about our website when we have a program for sale?

Jess: Yeah, so definitely Hello bar is a great idea. Super great idea. If you want to go as far as to like redo or like redirect to your homepage, you can. It’s not something that you have to do, because you may still have other people who want to work with you one on one if you offer that, or look at other resources you may have available. So if you don’t want to lose all of the people or confuse people’s like, “I’m trying to go to the home page, why am I just being directly taken to the sales page?” That’s not a requirement.

But usually on the homepage – I’m not going to say every time – but usually, you will have a few different calls to action like, here read the blog, check out my services, check out my program, whatever. This is a great time, if you don’t already, to have a large call to action to the program during launch. It could be right on the top banner, you can add like a new button, you can swap out one of those things. So instead of directing people to your blog, direct them over to the program instead.

I always tell people that your website should be something that evolves not just in terms of like, “Oh, every three years, I’m going to evolve and like redesign it.” No, like you should have different goals every quarter, maybe even every month, but at least every quarter. So maybe quarter four your goal is, “I’m going to launch this program.” Quarter one 2020, “I’m going to just really work on growing my email list.” And then quarter two you have another goal.

They can be maybe every other quarter that you’re launching, and that’s fine. But you should be able to easily update and kind of just tweak your website. So you can swap out those calls to action on your homepage. So you don’t have to just leave that to be always directing people to your services.

Like if you have three different packages, that’s kind of a common layout is like three different calls to action. Three different buttons are like, here’s my group program, here’s this one service and here’s the other service, you know.

So if you are in that launch, swap one of those out for the program, and then after the launch, you can swap it back to whatever it was before. Or if it’s the new quarter after your launch, then, “Okay, what’s my goal for quarter four to grow my list? Okay, now I’m going to put a freebie on the link on my homepage because that’s my goal right now. So a lot of people treat their website like it’s a static brochure.

Stephanie: And what about pop ups? We were talking about pop ups for the freebie during a launch? Do we do a pop up straight to the program? Or do we keep that freebie up there? Or do we just take the pop up down and put a Hello bar.

And for those of you that don’t know what a Hello bar is, a Hello bar is – I don’t know if I can explain this properly -but it’s basically just a bar at the top of your website. Like it’s a band of color that stretches from one side to the other, like a narrow bar that says something and it’s clickable.

Jess: So it could be like, you know, ‘The Leveraged Practice Workshop is open for winter enrollment. Sign up here’. You know, it’s like that kind of a call to action up there that could be for a freebie or a thing. So in regards to those things are we doing, my understanding is we don’t do a Hello bar and a pop up. That’s a lot. But like when we be just not doing a pop up and we prefer a Hello bar. Have you seen any differences in response rates to those?

I would not do the pop up during launch. I think most people associate a pop up with opting in, not a pop up to click and go to my sales page. That’s where the Hello bar would come in handy. And if anybody listening is on Squarespace, it’s called the announcement bar. And it’s again, just that bar that sits at the very top of your website, and you can click on it, and it’ll take them to the sales page. So this is a great time to make like an announcement. I know a lot of people, unfortunately, just use their announcement bar like all the time. Just kind of like rotate it out. I don’t recommend doing that. Just because like it’s going to lose its effectiveness.

Stephanie: It’s power. Yeah, I like that.

Jess: But I will say during launch, you have your Hello bar or whatever you’re using up at the top, make sure it stands out. And actually the colour red actually calls people to take action on. The psychology of the colour red. That’s actually why if you notice a lot of fast food restaurants, their branding has red. Not all, but most. It’s because it encourages people to move quickly. That’s why. So I’m getting nerdy about it.

Launch Content

 

Stephanie: Interesting. Cool. I love it. Okay, awesome. So let’s move back to content now. So you guys can see the pattern. We’re doing website and content. So we’re in the launch phase. This is confusing for some people. Jess, so we’re in the launch. We want people to buy our program. Your doors are open, I’m going to say somewhere between seven to 10 days. Not super long, but maybe a week or a little more than a week.

And so Jess one of the questions I get from my clients is like, do I publish content at this time? Like What do I do with in regards to articles, videos, podcast episodes, like that kind of thing? What do I do when my doors are open for my content.

Jess: I definitely recommend still like if you were posting, let’s say every Wednesday, a new podcast episode, still post that Wednesday. Because in that intro of your podcast, you can be like, “Hey, guys, today enrollment is open for The Leveraged Practice Workshop. So make sure you go sign up. Enrollment closes, one week from today.” And then you can also add, “If you’re listening to this after enrollment has closed…” You can send them to another page or to stay tuned for next launch or you know, whatever.

But I definitely think, be sure that you are still posting that week, because you never know. What if someone followed you on Instagram, like that morning? Yeah. I mean, that’s a bad example. Because then you are probably talking about your launch on Instagram also. Yeah, you never know how someone or when they’re coming across you or when they’re finding you.

So a better example would be like, what if someone is just scrolling through iTunes, and they somehow come across you and you have a new episode today? And then they listen to that and you mentioned your workshop? Now, honestly, it’s kind of a low chance that they would buy from you since they just found you. But you never know.

Yeah, I mean, today, I was scrolling through Twitter, and saw someone’s posts that they’re doing this webinar that you have to pay to go to. And I was like, I follow this person. I’ve never seen their content and it’s only $20 I’ll do it. I wasn’t in their launch sequence. I wasn’t actively engaged with them. But I saw one thing and it caught my eye. I was interested, it sounded like something I needed and I bought it. So you never know.

Stephanie: And so Jess how about the actual content that we’re putting out? So if we’re writing a weekly blog post, or podcast or video, we put that content out weekly. Should that content be different since we’re in the middle of launch? Like should we cater that content around a specific topic area, or around our product or program or like is there anything that we should be putting in that content that you’re thinking?

Jess: I think this is a really important time to hit home on the pain points and that myth again. Like something that’s really really, people always have, like they get mixed up about you know, IBS. Some people will use this chance to be like, all about my program. I don’t really want to listen to an entire podcast where you just dissect your entire program. So I think this is a really good time to hit home on their biggest pain point and really kind of paint the picture of we can solve these problems. There is a solution to feeling good and living with IBS.

Stephanie: So motivational and inspiring. The other thing I’d love to give an example. So one of the articles that we published during a launch in the fall that directly related to sales was on that the low FODMAP diet is not for your family. So this is like a pain point that I identify that I think that I need to challenge people on.

So if there’s anything that, like you were just saying Jess, like the myths need to be busted, like the beliefs need to be changed. For me this one, I wouldn’t have guessed it, but it resulted in sales, because I was trying to connect with people about that particular thing and challenge them on it and say like, “Now’s the time to make a change. Stop just being on an elimination diet”, because that’s what I’m preachy about in that businesses. I’m like – oh my gosh, I’m not going to go down a rabbit hole guys with FODMAPs.

But that, just as an example, that article was ‘The Low FODMAP Diet is Not For Your Family’. And then I rolled through a post that talked about what you would guess, it’s just the title was really catchy, the concept was catchy, but it rolled through that the low FODMAP diet is temporary, you cannot just eliminate your food forever.

And it’s also really challenging to have a family with babies and partners and all kinds of people in your house while you’re on a very restrictive diet. It’s really hard and you don’t have to be, so it’s time to do this. And so it kind of challenged and gave a real strong call to action and also presented some things that maybe people didn’t really think about. When they thought about it they were like,”Well shoot, you know what? It’s time.” And so that’s an example of a piece of content that can do some of what I think you’re saying Jess.

Jess: Yeah, and the reason that is perfect is because you identified why someone might look at your program and say, “Hmm, but…” I can literally imagine some woman sitting at your computer, pulling up your sales page and being like, “I mean, this looks great. But my whole family’s not going to do the FODMAP diet.”

Stephanie: Yeah, that’s true.

Jess: You identified what’s a reason that someone might not buy this program and then you identified, “Well, good news, your family doesn’t have to do it.”

Stephanie: Yeah, love that. So let’s pause there, because that’s such a good point. So whether you are posting on Instagram, you are writing a piece of content, like wherever you’re putting content out in the world, overcoming obstacles, like helping people who are curious and thinking about it, but are hesitating for whatever reason, you have to know those obstacles.

It’s one of the reasons why in my program, The Leveraged Practice Workshop where I help people create and launch their online program, we really focus on getting that first version out in the world. As soon as possible. My program is eight weeks. So you get in there, you build it, you launch it, because we learn so much by launching that you just can’t learn by continuing to not run your program.

And so in the launch part of your job is to collect these reasons. To get on the phone and have conversations with people about why they’re not buying. To send an email after the launch is over, in the post launch phase, about why didn’t you buy?.

We need to know these obstacles so that your content, like Jess is saying overcomes these obstacles and helps people with them. So that’s such a good point. Thank you for driving that home.

What Ongoing Content to Create

 

Okay, cool. So we have done our launch. And we did our pre-launch. And so let’s just talk about just our website and our content, if there’s anything else that we need to know, on an ongoing basis. Well not right before launch, maybe our launch doors are closed, what should that ongoing content be during what I call the post launch phase and then the in between launches? What should we be doing there with our website and with our content? Like, what’s the purpose of it? And why is it there? And what do we do with it?

Jess: So we still want to be creating content, even between launches, because again, we’re still building awareness. You’ll be driving traffic from Instagram, or Facebook or even through Google, because you can optimize your content. So it’ll show up in Google eventually, you want to drive that traffic and keep people aware of your content, because it takes on average seven times for someone to interact with you or like see something before they are more likely to buy. Seven times.

So if you are not giving them value and educating them between launches, you’re gonna have to work a lot harder to get those sales. And so just keep posting, keep driving traffic, and make sure you don’t take down your sales page about your program. Like don’t just completely hide it, because you’re not launching, just put up an opt in box on that sales page, like remove the buy button. And instead put an opt in box and say, ‘Registration is closed. Sign up to be notified the next time it’s open. But you could also in the meantime, grab this freebie that’s related to your program’. And then also, ‘I’ll let you know when it’s open again’.

So make sure you’re still driving that traffic, building credibility, building authority in your industry, because again, I know you guys get really, really annoyed by all the false health news going around on Instagram, and all that bad advice. So you want to build your credibility. And you need to do that through having a professional looking website and in writing content or producing if you’re doing video or podcasting. That’s going to build that authority and show that you know what you’re talking about.

Stephanie: Okay, so I love that, that Jess is really hitting home that our content and our website is helping us to build authority, which is part of what we need people to do, which is to trust us to buy from us, right?

Can you answer the question that everybody has and I get constantly about, like what is too much information to give away? Like people want to know what that content is? Like, what am I putting on my website? What is that content that I’m putting out in a blog or a video or a podcast? Or even on anywhere I’m putting out content? Like, what do I give away? What do I talk about? How do I not just give it all away, everything that’s in my program? Do you have any kind of final tips for us when it comes to like creating that content and crafting it, what we actually are giving away?

Jess: The great part about creating a program is that you are making a resource available that is very comprehensive, in like this one solution. And that way, people don’t have to go all around the internet finding like, “Okay, so this is the FODMAP diet and this is okay, so Stephanie taught me this and then Abby taught me this.” You’re making a resource available that is comprehensive, and they don’t have to go everywhere.

So don’t be afraid to provide value. No, you don’t have to write blogs that share all the information that’s inside your course. You don’t have to do that. But think about like, what do people need to know? Or what are their concerns before they enroll in your course? So just giving them helpful advice. So like, Stephanie could, you know, push blogs about like, eating out while dealing with IBS or eating out while on the FODMAP diet?

And if it’s something you cover in your course, then you can do it not- and I don’t want to say in a vague way – but like sometimes, it could be just like, here are like three restaurants like chain restaurants, that would be really easy for you to eat at. And then you don’t have to dive deep into what specifically to eat. You could be like, hey, like Olive Garden and Chipotle, you know, whatever.

Stephanie: So giving people those like, quick wins of like, “Hey, if I follow the advice in this article, I actually am not going to get symptoms. This chick knows what she’s talking about.” Right?

So having a few tips, a few strategies that are actually getting people to get closer to that, I hear you saying. Is part of it being consistent is part of it?

I just wanted to mention that one of the important things that you’re talking about Jess with the content is that we are always putting out content, we’re trying to be helpful. Oh, the great thing that you just said was, we’re trying to give people information that they need before they would join the program, as well as what kinds of things do people need to learn about? And we can continue to use some of those ideas that you were mentioning before, right? That was like myth-busting and giving some reviews and that kind of stuff.

But the other thing I just wanted to say, which is really more about the product that you’re selling, and this comes into creating and crafting the right online program, is that in a world where there’s so much information for free, there’s very little that you can say that’s like not really out there, right?

What you’re selling in an online program is your perspective, your insight and your way of doing things. A step by step pathway, do this first, do this second, do this third. And what I think the most important thing, where we’re seeing online education as a whole, especially online health education, go to is support.

You know, the difference between reading a bunch of blog posts or listening to all my podcast episodes is that you’re actually going through a step by step framework with what comes first, second, third, and fourth. But you’re also getting feedback, you’re also getting support, you can also ask questions, this is why these like self study DIY programs, they’re just small and inexpensive and not the same anymore.

We’re seeing the online education industry change, in that we’re creating more programs. They can still be leveraged, you can still put lots of people in them, make lots of money, don’t worry. It’s not passive, but you can still accomplish the goals you want with it. But there’s more support. And there’s different resources and tools and ways of learning than reading a blog post or watching a video, right?

So I just wanted to go on a tangent there with the product because as Jess is talking about content, as we’re talking about what content to put out, you do need to make sure that you’ve developed a great product. You’ve developed a great online program that people are getting results from, and there’s more than just articles in it. I think for all of us to think about in the future of online education, education as a whole, that’s an important part.

And that’s why you hear me talk about creating the right online program, and including all these features, and doing all this stuff so much on this podcast that you’re sick of me by now.

But thank you for speaking a little bit to the tips of the content. And I think those are all important things to think about. What do people need to know before? How do we give them quick wins? How do we give them some experiences with us that help us to be trustworthy, so that when we open the doors again, people are ready for that kind of thing? So thank you so much for being here. That is it for my questions.

Is there anything else Jess that you really want us to know about the strategy that comes behind our website and our content? I mean, I feel like just the concept of putting strategy behind your website and your content and not just, you know, throwing something up and seeing how it works, is so good. So is there anything else that you want us to remember or think about as we end today, and any action steps that people can take right away?

Jess: Yeah. So just to kind of reiterate what I said earlier, because I just want to drive this home, is your website is not a static brochure. You really, really need to actually utilize it, and use that in a way to build authority and trust. And there are a lot of things things you can do on your website to do that and Stephanie and I could sit here and talk for another two hours about that. But I will not.

But really think about what do you want people to do? And it again, it doesn’t have to be forever. What do you want them to do this month? Do you have a workshop coming up? Do you have a launch coming up?

Think about that and adjust things on your website. That doesn’t mean you have to redesign your page, it could be as simple as adding a button on the homepage. So go look at your website, and think about, ‘okay, looking at this, is this what I want people to do right now? If I have a workshop that I’m putting on next week? Is it obvious?” Like if someone comes to your website for five seconds, is it obvious what is it that you do and who for? Is it obvious what next step you want them to take?

Stephanie: Perfect. I love that. I think that that is the one biggest takeaway from today. There’s lots that you can come back and listen to. But really make sure that you’re clear with that call to action. What do you want people to do? I love that. And it’s for your homepage and every page on your website.

So thank you so much for giving us that gift of be less overwhelming. And thank you for sharing everything that you have and aligning it with The Leveraged Practice launch phases so that we can really help people understand how that website and content fits into their business from stage to stage as they’re developing, releasing, launching and closing their online programs over and over again. So I really appreciate you being here with us and sharing all of your insight.

Jess: Of course, I am happy to be on here. And like Stephanie said, if you have questions, you can reach out. I’m happy to field any questions

Stephanie: Perfect. And so where can everybody find you if they want to follow you more or learn more from you.

Jess: So I am on Instagram @JessCreatives and my website is JessCreatives.com.

Stephanie: Perfect, easy simply that’s where you can find Jess. And as always, I hope that you found this episode really helpful. You can find me on Instagram or at TheLeveragedPractice.com. I’d love to get your insight on what you found helpful, if you have any additional questions and if stuff like that is helpful for you. This podcast is all about helping you figure out how to create and deliver and launch over and over again your online programs. If you have any ideas or suggestions or feedback, I’m happy to hear it. Alright everyone, I will meet you back here next time.