Automatically Clean Up Your Mac Desktop

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Is your Mac’s desktop full of files and folders that you said you’ll clean later, but just couldn’t get to it? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a free, yet automated solution to clean up your Mac desktop?

I’m telling you right now, there is. And it’s already built-in your Mac…

For most people, their desktop is the temporary holding space of files and documents. But because we’re all busy (lazy), we suddenly realize one day our desktop is so messy it’s impossible to find what you’re looking for. Then we make a vow to clean this again next time.

What if I tell you that you can keep your desktop clean — free from any files and folders forever — in just 5 minutes? Keep reading…

Most articles I found online about this topic either fall into these three buckets:

  1. Tips and tricks to organize your files into folders
  2. Use the new feature called Stacks in macOS Mojave
  3. Copy all documents/files and dump them into a new folder

I’m not going to cover any one of those.

No, this article is about how you can automatically clean up your Mac’s desktop and transfer them into a separate folder of your choosing.

Yes, all automated. You set this up once, and you’ll always have a clean desktop on your Mac.

Added Bonus: Bring Your Files with You

Do you have an existing Dropbox account? A Google Drive storage? Or a OneDrive account?

With this method, you can automatically move all your files from your desktop to a designated folder in these services. This way, you don’t have to subscribe for extra iCloud storage, yet be able to access all your files with you.

Follow these step-by-step instructions and you’ll always have a clean desktop. And have you heard of the productivity benefits of having a clear desktop?

6 Steps to Automatically Clean Up Your Desktop Mac

1. Open the Automator app

As the name implies, the Automator app can automate stuff for you after you set it up. In our case, we want to clean up our desktop by simply moving them to another folder.

Press ‘command + space’ at the same time to bring up the Spotlight Search. Then type in Automator. Hit enter.

Open the Automator app

Now, don’t worry. Even if you haven’t used this before, I’ll walk you through this step-by-step.

You should see a screen that looks like this…

Automator App

2. Choose Folder Actions

That popup screen will now close and you’ll be inside the app itself.

Create a new Folder Action in the Automator App

3. Choose the desktop folder at the top

Click on the ‘Choose folder’ selection, then click on ‘Other…’

(This will be the “source” folder)

A separate finder window will open. Scroll down the left sidebar and choose the desktop.

Choose desktop in the Folder Action

4. Add the ‘Move Finder Items’ action

Click on the search bar in the actions column (second column) and start type ‘move.’

This will filter the actions. You will then see the ‘Move Finder Items.’

Now, go ahead and drag that into the main screen.

Add 'move finder items'

5. Select the folder you want the files to be transferred to

Let’s say you want to move it to your Dropbox folder.

(This will be the “destination” folder)

Click on the ‘Desktop’ icon under the Move Finder Items. A list of folders will show up…

Choose your destination folder

Most likely, your Dropbox folder isn’t listed here. So, just click on ‘Other…’ and a finder window will open up again, just like before.

Select your Dropbox folder (or create a subfolder, which I recommend).

Finally, click on ‘Choose’ to save. You should have something that looks like this…

Automator app: final folder action

Again, you can use any folder in your Mac here.

6. Save your work

Now, it’s time to save your work.

Press ‘command + s’ at the same time to bring up the save dialogue.

Type in a name, then hit ‘Save.’

Save the workflow

And you’re all done.

Conclusion

What will happen now is that every time you save a file on your desktop — take screenshot, downloaded a file from your email, or copying a folder from a USB drive — they will not be stored in your desktop anymore. They will automatically be moved to the folder you selected.

Note: Existing files on your desktop will not be affected. Only the new ones. So, if you want to clean up your current desktop, just move them manually to the folder you chose.

To summarize…

  • Start by creating the automation (steps 1 & 2)
  • All files you add to a certain folder, e.g. desktop (step 3)…
  • Gets added to a folder of your choosing (steps 4 & 5)
  • Save the automation to have it run automatically (step 6)

With this, you will always have a clean desktop.

The best part is you can do this for any folder you want.

In my case, I created two Folder Action automations to move my files from my desktop and downloads folder into their own respective folders inside Google Drive. I am subscribed to a Google for Business account so it makes sense for me to add it there.

Plus, I get the benefit of having all my files accessible anywhere I go. Once these files are inside my Google Drive folder, it automatically syncs to my account. So, even if I’m on my mobile, or using a separate computer, I can get access to these files.

Again, you can do this with Dropbox, OneDrive, or maybe even just inside a folder that is not your desktop.

How does it feel to have a clean desktop? I’d love to know. Let me know in the comments below…

Holistic Digital Marketing Strategy and Why You Need One

board with post it notes

Have you ever tried selling something? What was the first thing you did? Who were the first few people you tried selling to?

Your family. Your close friends. Maybe even your relatives.

Then you posted on your social media accounts to go beyond your close circle.

You created Facebook page for your product and started posting and selling there.

Then, nobody seems to respond to your posts except your family and friends.

Sure, you get likes every once in a while. But you still haven’t sold anything outside your own circle.

You’ve hit a wall.

After going through your list of potential buyers (friends and family), you don’t have anyone else to sell to.

But you believe in your product so much. You don’t want to just give up. So, you research online and find that advertising might solve your problem.

You run some ads on Facebook. But after a couple of days, you still haven’t made much progress.

Doubts creep in.

You start thinking that maybe your product isn’t that good. Maybe you’re not meant to sell. You’re just not good at it.

You’re not alone.

Majority of small and medium businesses are in the same situation as you. While there are revenues coming in, they aren’t enough to warrant hiring new people or investing in other activities.

A lot of big brands also started out like that. Apple started selling to their family and friends. HP, which also started in their garage, sold to their inner circle first.

But they found a way to get more customers to grow their revenues. To scale. To become who they are today.

What they did differently

What the successful brands did differently is that they applied a holistic strategy — one that allowed them to continuously sell and grow their business.

They became successful because, in one form or another, they used a holistic strategy and not just string together a couple of activities.

When it comes to digital marketing, that holistic strategy means having a way to fill your marketing and sales funnel automatically.

Let me explain that below.

The Marketing and Sales Funnel

Your marketing and sales funnel, or simply funnel, is a visual framework that allows you to see how every activity ties in together, and what metrics you should keep an eye out for.

The funnel is composed of 3 parts: prospects, leads, and customers.

1. Prospects

These are people who may or may not be interested.

Following the story a while ago, these are people whom you spoke with initially to share more about your product.

In digital marketing, these usually comprise your website’s visitors and engaged audience on social media.

Activities you need to focus on at this stage should convert these prospects/visitors to the next stage.

2. Leads

Leads in digital marketing are people who are somewhat interested, more engaged, may or may not be ready to buy now.

After your initial conversation, you’ll find out if they are the right fit for you or not. You learn more about them, what they like and dislike. You get some feedback so you can further improve your product, messaging, and approach to selling.

The key indicator for leads (vs prospects) is that these group of people gave their contact information to you. You have the ability (and hopefully, permission) to reach out to them about what you do and what you sell. You know a little bit about them through your interactions with them.

The activities you should be focusing here are to nurture these people — through education — to buy from you later on.

3. Customers

These are people who have bought from you. People who were willing to trade in their hard-earned money for your product (or service).

They didn’t do it because you’re the one selling it (maybe if it’s your mom); rather, they bought from you because they believed in you and how it can benefit their life.

To be successful in business today, you don’t end a relationship when someone pays you. You continue this relationship, get to know them more, ask for feedback. You can ask your best customers for referrals, give them exclusive perks for being loyal, and many more.

How Does the a Holistic Strategy Fit in with the Funnel

As you noticed, the typical journey of an entrepreneur moves from talking to the prospects, to leads, then to customers. This is the same for other big, successful businesses as well.

The only difference is that they don’t stop doing one activity in exchange for the next.

A holistic strategy allows you to create a sustainable business.

The Problem: Non-scalable Activities

Let’s go back to our story earlier. When you first got your product, you were so excited. You believed in it so much. You started selling to your inner circle. Some bought. Some didn’t. But that didn’t stop you.

You went beyond your inner circle. You reached out to your acquaintances. You spoke with people you don’t know, started running some ads, and got a few inquiries.

While this approach goes through the funnel (prospecting, lead nurturing, closing), whenever you switch to the next activity, you stop doing the other one.

And that’s what’s hurting you and your business.

You didn’t spend time on activities that are sustainable. Those activities that do the hard work for you, even if you’re taking a vacation.

The Solution: Scalable Activities

Scalable activities in digital marketing are things you do that yield results now, tomorrow, and years into the future.

Compare this with non-scalable things, where once you stop doing them, results stop coming in.

Typically, advertising is a non-scalable activity. The moment you stop pouring in money, results will stop coming in. A great example of a scalable activity is blogging or content creation.

Below are steps you can take to make sure that you invest in scalable activities, while at the same time, bring you quick wins as well.

1. Start blogging and create content

This activity supports the entire funnel — from prospects, to leads, to customers. You can create content to attract people who don’t know you, provide more information about your product, answer FAQs, and provide user guides.

Use a content pillar approach when creating content. It’s an efficient and effective way to repurpose your content. And don’t forget to share them on social media and in your email list.

If you don’t have any content to attract new people, engage with your audience, and help existing customers, where would this leave you?

You’ll plateau quickly, just like in our story.

Why?

Without content targeted to the different stages of the funnel, the only thing you have left is your product. And when you’re left with something you can’t change, you start discounting just to be able to sell. Lower and lower. Until you don’t make a profit anymore.

In addition, when you lower your prices, the only people who will see it and/or take notice of it are already the people who know you. Remember the funnel? If you don’t fill the top of the funnel with new prospects, you won’t get new leads and customers. What will end up happening is your existing customers will see the discounts. They will switch over to the lower price and, eventually, you will lose all your margins.

Finally, look at your business from a larger perspective. There are a lot of people who don’t know you, care about you and your product. If the only thing you post on your social media accounts are how awesome your product is, eventually, no one’s going to listen to you anymore.

As a sidetone, this is one of the reasons one organic posts by Pages on Facebook keeps declining. Marketers keep abusing the platform. Users get irritated. This leads to a bad experience for them. And Facebook doesn’t want that.

The funnel has stood the test of time for a reason — you keep filling the top with new prospects. This will give you the chance to test your messaging, get more feedback, and more importantly, grow your business.

Your strategy has to consist of address the 3 parts — how to get more prospects/visitors, how to get more leads, and how to get more customers. Jumping from one stage to another or simply focusing on one is ineffective.

2. Create landing pages

Landing pages allow you to capture contact information. And from our definition above, that’s the way you generate leads for your business. It’s composed of two parts: (1) a copy that explains what you’re offering and (2) a form that people fill-in.

You can use this across the entire funnel as well. You just change the contents of it depending on your goal.

For example, you can have a white paper on a specific topic that you can use as your lead generation offer. Here’s an example of me doing just that.

Download Full Suite Case Study

Most businesses only have a contact us page as their sole landing page. This is also the reason why they aren’t growing.

Landing pages typically have a 1% conversion rate. For every 100 visits you get to your contact us page, you only convert 1 of them. How often do you think people visit your contact us page? Now imagine the amount of traffic you need to reach your goals?

So, what do you need to do? Create more marketing offers and put them on landing pages. Distribute them on social media, add calls-to-action (CTAs) all over your website like the example I have above.

3. Setup lead nurturing campaigns

Lead nurturing is a marketing activity that moves a lead from one stage to another. It does this by sending (mostly) automated content usually though email that educates the lead about the company, its products/services, and how it can benefit them.

Lead nurturing campaigns always add value.

The only way to add value is to be helpful. Being helpful is not about talking about your products and your promos. It’s all about the customers and how you can help make their lives better.

If you’re selling computers, you don’t focus on the specs like the memory and screen size. Apple is a great example of a company that focuses on the benefits you get when you buy one of their Macs.

There are two problems with creating lead nurturing campaigns. First, you need to know the product/service in detail in order to craft the correct sequence and copy.

Next is it takes hard work. You need content — the helpful and educational type. Unfortunately a lot of marketers don’t invest in knowing what they are selling.

This is the main reason why the only emails that gets sent out are promotional emails and discounting. There’s not even an ounce of copy except for variations of “buy one get one” or “hurry, we have a sale that ends on (insert date here).”

So, What Are You Going to Do Next?

Whether you are new in digital marketing, or an expert, it’s essential that you apply a holistic digital marketing strategy. While you may choose to “focus” on one aspect of the funnel, the fact that you know that there’s a next part in the strategy will help you develop better campaigns.

By using a holistic digital marketing strategy, you can avoid problems most organizations are facing today — declining sales despite tons of promotions. If you have a way to continually fill the top of your funnel, convert them into leads, and nurture them into customers, results will come in.

And as a bonus, you’ll know which parts of your funnel is not working, then find a way to fix it!

Are you using a holistic digital marketing strategy in your organization? Let me know in the comments below.

How to Repurpose Content

Two ways to repurpose content

Content repurposing is a marketing tactic separates newbies from the experts. It’s at the heart of the content pillar approach.

Did you ever find yourself staring at a blank screen waiting for inspiration to strike?

Creating content is a must in today’s hyper-competitive markets. But, creating any content isn’t enough.

For organizations who (rightly) believed that content is the only thing that can separate them from their competitors, they put tremendous pressure on their marketers to create new content.

But without a holistic digital marketing strategy, or a framework to follow, creating content can be difficult once you exhausted the basics.

This is where content repurposing comes in.

Two Ways to Repurpose Content

If you aren’t familiar with the concept, you can review what content repurposing here.

Also, the best and most effective way to repurpose content is by using a content pillar approach.

Why? You’ll find out below.

With that out of the way, let’s start with an example.

Let’s say you want to create an eBook — The Ultimate Guide to XYZ. This is an example of a content pillar, a significant piece of content that you can break down into smaller pieces of content.

You’ll most likely start outlining what your eBook is all about…

  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1
  • Chapter 2
  • Chapter 3
  • Chapter 4
  • Conclusion

Then, it’s time to actually write the eBook. Below are two ways you can do this.

1. Creating the Content Pillar Option 1: Small to Big

The first way to create a content pillar is to start from the small assets and work your way to form the big one.

As you may already know, each section (or chapter) in the eBook can become its own individual article.

So, instead of writing the entire eBook first, you focus on publishing the first chapter, i.e. the first article. Then, work your way towards the next one, and the next.

This methods allows you to generate interest quickly, and get some initial feedback.

It gives you material to be able to share on social media, email, and everywhere else. It also helps with SEO since you’re churning out new content for your blog.

Follow this strategy until you complete all the chapters you need. Once you have them, put it all together to create the eBook.

You will, of course, have to edit some parts of it to make it flow better.

2. Creating the Content Pillar Option 1: Big to Small

The second way to repurpose content is to create the content pillar first, then break it down into smaller pieces.

Basically, you do everything behind the scenes, then release them to the public in one massive campaign.

One way to go about it is you first launch the eBook through a landing page. You then share this across all your social media accounts and email list.

Then, each day, you release one of the articles with a CTA to the landing page.

Or if you’re doing this already, you can first host a webinar. Then, as soon as you get signups, you release 1 to 2 articles to entice the registrants that this is what you’ll cover in the webinar. After the webinar is done, you release the eBook landing page, and schedule out the rest of the articles.

Again, there are countless ways to do this.

However, I recommend using this option only if…

  1. You already have existing content pillars
  2. You already have a regular publishing schedule and this is simply a new tactic you’re implementing.

The main reason for this is there are more benefits for your organization when you go for option 1.

You already know Google and other search engines love new content. So, if you wait for your content pillar to finish, which would probably take several weeks, and you don’t have anything going out of your blog, you’re already behind your competitors who regularly publish something.

In addition, if you don’t have anything new to share, i.e. something educational and helpful, you won’t have anything engaging to share on your social media and email list.

You’d be left with promos and discounts and talking about your products. And we all know that no one really cares about that.

Don’t Forget to Do This After Repurposing Your Content

This is very important that it’s worth mentioning it here.

Once you’re done repurposing your content, regardless of the method you used, don’t forget to distribute it everywhere.

Post the individual articles on social media several times. Me, depending on the article, I post it at least 10 different ways. I use the title and the link; a sentence or two with a link; an image with a quote; and many more variations.

I also send this out to my email subscribers (which you are welcome to join here, by the way).

If it’s relevant, I also include it in the respective lead nurturing campaigns.

I also create several calls-to-action and add it all over my website. This CTA is linked to my landing page, where people can download the eBook I just created.

If you’re unfamiliar about CTAs and landing pages, you can read about how they work together in the typical online conversion path.

What’s Next

Depending on your resources, you can continue with repurposing into other formats or you can stop here.

For example, if you have the resources, you can turn each article into a video. You can then share this to your social media accounts.

You can also use this video and embed it into each article. This is a tactic that you can use to increase your SEO rankings.

And if you’re using video, don’t forget to take advantage of both vertical and horizontal modes. Then add subtitles or captions as well.

You can also create a lead nurturing campaign about this entire topic. For example, you can write an email for each article and link back to it. You can also offer this as a 5-day email bootcamp that discusses about that particular topic.

The ways you can repurpose are virtually endless.

That’s why I strongly recommend using a content pillar approach then repurposing it, instead of an ad-hoc writing where you simply focus on keywords.

Have you tried content repurposing before? If you’re having trouble thinking of how to repurpose your existing content, or simply don’t know where to start, let me know in the comments below. I’d be glad to help out!

Quick Start Guide: How to Create a Lead Nurturing Campaign

Create a Simple Lead Nurturing Campaign Using the Buyer's Journey

Creating lead nurturing campaigns is one of the things you need to master if you want to succeed in email marketing. In this post, I’ll show you how you can create a lead nurturing campaign.

So be warned, this will be a very long post.

For the purpose of this post, let’s use a local pet store with an e-commerce site as the hero in this story. 

Also, this is just one way to setup a lead nurturing campaign. 

Quick Recap: What Is Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing is the process of moving your leads down the funnel until they become a customer by sending them non-salesy and educational content – usually through email.

It is marketing’s way of supplementing the sales process but works at the subconscious level — meaning, if done right, people won’t know they’ve been nurtured into buying something.

Another way to think about lead nurturing is it’s the process of giving and giving and giving with the hopes of getting something later on.

That giving is the valuable and helpful content delivered via emails and the getting is the sale that happens later on.

Preparatory Points

Before we go into detail on how to create a lead nurturing campaign, let’s go through a couple of preparatory points. That way, we are on the same page.

1. Lead nurturing is not another tactic you do to sell

Let’s get this out of the way — if you plan to use email marketing to sell your products/services, you’ll most likely fail.

And by selling here, I mean what most Philippine organizations do — talk solely about their products/services thinking that that is valuable in of itself.

People don’t buy something because they want to buy it.

They buy stuff to solve their problems and/or get something out of it. Keep this in mind as we go through the article.

Also, if you want to learn more about solving problems, make sure you read commandment 1 of the 10 Commandments for Effective Digital Marketing.

2. Lead nurturing is commonly done through email

You can use other contact information apart from email, but remember choosing other contact information might require some specialized software.

For example, you can use phone numbers (like how messaging apps require you to enter your mobile numbers) or social account logins (like login in via Facebook, Google, etc.)

Email marketing software is more common as compared to messenger bots.

Using other types require some form of software development as well.

3. To gather email addresses, you need to give away something of value first

This article won’t matter if you don’t have any leads to nurture in the first place. Research more on lead generation strategies and tactics.

Learn more about what goes into a typical online conversion pathmarketing offer, landing pages, and thank you pages. Then, come back here to create your lead nurturing campaign.

How to Create a Lead Nurturing Campaign

Step 1: Decide on What to Sell

The first step in creating a lead nurturing campaign is to decide on what specific product/service that you want to sell.

This is the easiest part. 

Just choose one then move to the next step.

For our example, we’ll choose to sell the Royal Canin Dog Food.

Step 2: List FAQs / Common Objections

The next step is to list down frequently asked questions and common objections from your customers for the product/service you chose. Then, write a 1-2 sentence answer to it.

Go straight to the point.

Don’t be clever here.

If you are removed from the operations or don’t have customers yet, this will be a little bit difficult. But try not to spend too much time here.

I wrote about this in a previous post saying that you can create content in as little as 30 minutes. For our pet store, some FAQs for the Royal Canin Dog Food are as follows:

  • Costs — How much does it cost? Why does it cost that much?
  • Value — Is this worth my money?
  • Objections — What makes this different from the other dog food that only costs 50% less?

Write out the answers to these questions and objections.

Step 3: Determine Your Audience

This next step is to determine who the product/service you chose is for. Every organization has different products/services to offer. Not all of them are for everybody.

In this step, just list down who do you think the product/service is for. No need to get technical here nor spend a lot of time.

For our example, the targeted audience for pet parents who wants only the best for their dog in terms of nutrition and a balanced diet.

Step 4: Segment Your Audience

Segmentation is key to email marketing success.

What are the different stages, goals, budgets, industries, or frustrations these people have?

In the previous step, you defined your audience. Now, think of the different stages they go through, or what different goals they might have.

Below are two ways you can apply this step. Remember, our audience is a pet parent who wants the best food in terms of nutrition for their dogs:

Example 1: Different Stages Within the Audience

  1. Puppy
    • Before you get the puppy
    • After you get the puppy
  2. Growth
  3. Maturity

Example 2: Different Goals Within the Audience 

  1. Switch to a better, higher quality dog food
    • Due to allergies
    • More nutrition for active dogs
  2. Special diet

From the two examples above, I’m pretty sure you realized that at each stage/goal, there are multiple ways the pet store can address these problems.

For example, before getting the puppy, there are countless questions you can answer:

  1. What do you have to do to prepare your house?
  2. What do you need to know beforehand? 

When you have the puppy…

  1. How do you introduce it to other members?
  2. What if you have another dog?
  3. What if you have a baby?

When you do this exercise for your organization, you don’t need to answer all of them right now, nor address all of them at this point.

Just take note of them so you can create content for them in the future.

Step 5: What Related Content Can You Giveaway

The final step is to decide what related content you can give away in exchange for their email address.

Remember, lead nurturing campaigns are usually sent via emails. In order for you to build your email list, you need something to offer that is valuable to them.

And let’s be clear, your “signup for my newsletter to receive exciting offers” isn’t really valuable. This is what marketers rely on, and one of the most ineffective tactics in email marketing

Using the information we already have, you can come up with these content to giveaway:

  • Dog Food Wars: Pros and Cons of Popular Food Diets
  • How to Switch Dog Foods / How to Transition Your Dog to Another Dog Food

No need to come up with an elaborate process here.

Open up Pages/Word/Google Doc, include your logo in the header, then start typing away.

A one-page checklist is enough. 

Once you’re done, export it as a PDF and you have your marketing offer.

The trick here is to cast a wide enough net that you don’t exclude a lot of people.

Pro Tip #1: Since we’re starting out, we are targeting people here who are at the top of the funnel. These are the people who are in stage 1 or 2 of the 5 stages of awareness.

And if I haven’t repeated this enough, lead nurturing campaigns are designed to move the lead down to the next stage in your marketing and sales funnel. 

This may take a while or may take a combination of multiple campaigns. So, don’t expect immediate results.

Putting them all together

Here’s the cool part about the exercise you went through a while ago. Every step you took in the previous section comes into play here.

To recap, here’s what you did:

  1. Decide what to sell
  2. List FAQs / common objections
  3. Determine your audience
  4. Segment your audience
  5. Decide what related content to give away

The exciting part here is that everything you need to create the lead nurturing campaign is already done. You’re just now going to set it up — starting from the bottom.

You already have your marketing offer created. Now, all you need to do is to enable your leads to download them. Here’s what you do.

1. Create a Thank You Page

Now that you have your PDF offer, it’s time to create a thank you page.

A thank you page is a special type of page on your website where people can access your marketing offers. That’s why this is the first step in our lead nurturing process. You can read more about thank you pages in my previous article.

How you create them differs depending on what you use or plan to use. In my case, I’m using Thrive Themes. It’s a conversion-focused theme that allows me to create and design landing pages/thank you pages with ease.

You can also use standalone landing page builders like Instapage.

Or if your email marketing software already offers it, use the built-in landing page builder. For example, if you are using ConvertKit, you can do it there without the need for any special software.

Keep this simple for now. Add a link or button to enable download of your PDF. That way, when people click on it, they can download the PDF you just made.

Here’s an example of a simple thank you page I made…

Example of Thank You Page

After publishing this page, take note of its URL. You’re going to use it in the next steps.

Pro Tip #2: Add a noindex tag to this page so that no one can accidentally stumble upon this page from search engines.

Pro Tip #3: When you have your next offer, add a call-to-action here to keep the user engaged. Think of it as the next logical step in your sales process. So if they downloaded a “checklist on pros and cons of the different dog food diets,” your next offer could be something like “the science behind dry dog food and why it’s the best diet for your dogs.” You create a call-to-action and put it in the thank you page so that they “keep converting” and engaging with you. 

2. Create a Thank You Email

A thank you email is a supplement to the thank you page. It is basically a confirmation of the action that your user just took. For example, if it’s to download a checklist, it’s an email that does two things:

  1. Thank them for downloading the checklist; and,
  2. Allowing them to download the checklist

You can either use a direct download link in the email or use the URL for the thank you page instead. That way, people go back to your site again to download the offer.

I always go for the latter option because I can include a follow-up offer on my thank you page. We’ll talk about that in some future article.

3. Create a Landing Page

You can read more about landing pages here.

In that article, I shared the 9 key elements of an effective landing page and why landing pages are a must if you want to start generating more leads.

4. Create a Call-to-Action (CTA)

A call-to-action in digital marketing is a way for marketers to link to their marketing offers. Essentially, it’s a link that points to a landing page.

It can be as simple as “subscribe now” or “download this eBook.”

There are best practices for crafting the copy of CTAs and there are multiple variations you can use — from plain-text links to images, or placements like sidebar, homepage, within the blog posts, etc.

Here’s an example of an image CTA…

Download Full Suite Case Study

I just add this to relevant blog posts (like this one you’re reading), add a link, and you’re good to go. 

Go ahead, try clicking on it to see how it works. You’ll be redirected to a landing page. 

5. Distribute

Distribution is a step that is often neglected by marketers. After all, you cannot nurture any leads if you don’t get any leads in the first place.

For some, this is what they do.

They create an awesome marketing offer, they post it once on their social media accounts and forget about it.

Just remember this: not everyone can and will see what you post today. 10 weeks from now, your offer would still be valuable (I hope). But by then, no one has seen/heard about you and your offer.

Don’t forget to keep sharing / posting about the offer you worked so hard to create.

Another way to distribute your marketing offer is to put them all over your website. For example, if you browse different pages of my site, I have placed multiple CTAs for the Case Study I made.

You can also go back to your previous blog posts and add them there as links, like what I did above.

Just keep in mind that it has to be natural.

6. Create Your Lead Nurturing Emails

This step depends on your email marketing software of choice. 

I currently use ConvertKit. There are other alternatives out there from simple ones like MailChimp and the ones packed with features like InfusionSoft or HubSpot. 

All you do is write the emails

You can either be fancy — use the templates or create your own — or be simple and just write it out in plain text and add minimal formatting like bold, bullets, and headers. 

Let’s say you created a PDF checklist for 10 signs you need to change your dog food now. 

Here’s how your emails might look like…

Email 1: Thank you email

Thank the person for downloading your checklist. Ask them if they have questions to simply reply to the email, call you, visit your store, or follow you on social media. 

Email 2:  Segmentation email

Ask them how they find the checklist, whether it’s valuable or not. Then, ask your segmenting question with a couple of options.

For example: Do you own a…?

  1. puppy
  2. adult
  3. mature dog.

When they click on one, now you know which ones they have.

Email 3-5: FAQ email

Since you segmented people in the previous step, now you can easily send targeted content to them. 

In the earlier step, you listed down your FAQs. Now, it’s time to tailor that depending on which segment they fall under. 

For example, a puppy owner would have different needs, wants, and problems than an owner of a mature dog. 

So, create 3 sets of FAQs that send when people click on the segment they are in. Meaning, if they indicated they are a puppy owner, you send them FAQs that might include “is it time to feed my puppy dry food?” or something like that. 

But if it’s a mature dog owner, your FAQ email might include information about diets and what older dogs need that may not have crossed their mind. 

Pro Tip: Use the one or two sentence answers you made to cover this section. Then, link back to your other articles where you answered the questions more thoroughly. This way, your email won’t be too long. And if people wants to read more, they can simply click through it. 


Which brings me to the next step…

BONUS: Create Supplemental Content

This is an optional step since it isn’t part of the lead nurturing campaign itself. This is, however, an important step for more effective distribution.

The more places you can showcase your marketing offer, the better.

Basically, this step is to create more blog posts related to the topic so you have more chances of linking the landing page of your PDF.

If you noticed, throughout this article, I have tons of links to my other articles. If I don’t write blog posts like this, then I won’t be able to link to my other articles — or in your case, the marketing offer.

So, what are you going to do next

In this article, you’ve learned a step-by-step process on how to create a simple lead nurturing campaign using tools you are most probably already using.

“Subscribe to my newsletter” is a lousy call-to-action that no longer works. It is also often used ineffectively. If you want to increase your email list, aka generate new leads, it’s time to offer something of real value.

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below.

Customer Focus: What Does It Mean and How to Really Focus on Your Customers

Does your organization have a customer focus culture

I’m currently waiting inside a Globe store waiting for my number to be called. So far, it’s only been a few minutes, it’s a weekend, and there are a couple of people here already.

I know I’ll be in here at least 30 minutes.

So, I thought, why not use this time to start writing an article about putting customers first.

If you read any about us section of any website, you will see some variation of customer focus. You’d read phrases like customer-oriented, put our customers first, prioritize customers, or the classic, the customer is king.

As is often the case, it’s always easy to say (or write) something than do it.

So, what exactly is customer focus?

How to Know If My Company Is Customer Focused?

  1. Do you have an FAQ section on your website?
  2. Do you have an onboarding/welcome series?
  3. Do you have a unified database of customer information?

What Is Customer Focus

Customer focus is putting the experience of the customer first above everything else . This means meeting customer needs across the different stages they go through from purchase down to disposal.

It’s worth noting that that definition above includes everything your organization does that affects customer satisfaction — which is pretty much every business unit and department from marketing and sales, customer service, and even accounting and billing.

One particular tool that can help you develop a customer focus strategy is using the buyer utility map from the Blue Ocean Strategy. It helps you enter a mindset that is centered around customer needs and expectations.

According to HubSpot, customer expectations today are higher today than last year (or 10 years ago). This indicates that great customer service can become a competitive advantage.

Does your organization have a customer focus strategy?

3 Simple Questions to Ask Yourself Whether You Have a Customer Focus Culture in Your Organization

1. Does your organization have an FAQ section on your website?

One of the things customers look at when trying to purchase something is the FAQ section of your website.

And if they don’t ask, do not assume that they don’t want to fulfill this need.

Every single buyer wants to know the basic information, or at least find it very quickly should the need arises. If you don’t know this already, potential buyers are over 80% of the buying cycle before they get in touch with a salesperson from your company.

If you don’t have content that helps them in their research process, you’re guaranteed to lose them to your competitors who are investing in educational and helpful content.

Let’s say you sell clothes online. Some FAQs that your customers might want to know are the following:

  • How long is the delivery
  • Is there a delivery fee? How much?
  • What if the clothes don’t fit? Can I return them / exchange them?
  • If I return an item, do I have to pay for shipping? Where do I send it back?

Pro Tip: Once you have answers to these FAQs, create a page on your website if you haven’t already. Place them all there. Make it prominent so your customers can find it easily. After they purchase, include the top 3-5 FAQs in an email, then link back to the page itself.

By doing this, you are helping them find the information that they need. You make it easy for them to do business with you. You’re not hiding anything from them. This increases trust.

An organization that is focused on their customers will make it easy for their customers to get what they want or need.

Ariel (click to tweet)

2. Do you have an onboarding/welcome email series?

After buying something from you, a customer will have a lot of questions. Doubts can also creep in the form of buyer’s remorse.

The only way to fight this and create a better experience for your customers is to be there every step of the way.

The easiest way to do this is through a series of email (and/or any communication channel like SMS, on-site messages, notifications on your phone, etc).

The series is all about getting your new customers up-to-speed on your product/service.

Pro Tip: Create an onboarding/welcome email series. It’s usually 3-5 emails spaced a few days apart and differs per organization. Following the tip from the previous section, you can include your FAQs here. You can also use this series to further let them know that they made the right decision to buy from you.

By doing this, you reduce the chance of them thinking of returning your product or trying to get out of the contract. You also make it easier for them to adapt and be more productive.

For example, in the technology world, this is called the “Aha moment.” For Facebook, it’s getting 7 friends in 10 days

That’s why when you create an account with them, you’ll see notifications and UX designs on the app/website asking you to add friends, or do some other tasks. This is all part of their onboarding series to help you get up-to-speed with Facebook and avoid you from never using it again.

3. Do you have a unified database of customer information?

Contact management is one of the operational tactics most organizations fail at. This unified database is the “single source of truth” about your customers.

Oftentimes, marketing has multiple lists. Sales has a CRM. Customer service/support has a ticket system. Accounting has another software.

This is one of the reasons why customers get passed around when asking for help or support in something. They call customer service about an issue with their billing, then they transfer them to accounting, then transfer them back to sales.

An organization that is focused on their customers will make it easy for their customers to get what they want or need.

Of course, the followup question is this, “is it updated?” Does everyone who interacts with customers use or have access to this?

The best practice here is this database contains the exact timeline of the person — from the website visits prior the purchase, the items they purchased, how much, the tickets they submitted for support, and all other information.

That way, when they call customer service or @mentioned someone from the marketing team, they won’t reply with “please send us an email” or make them go through hoops just to get a quick answer to their question/problem.

Pro Tip: There is a lot of modern software that does this yet doesn’t break the bank. The most important part here is that the people who interact with customers or handles customer data have access to it. This makes the customer experience seamless.

Just ask yourself this question, “do you enjoy waiting on the phone or getting passed around multiple departments?”

Lastly, make sure that everyone actually uses it and updates the information as needed. Most of the time, you can add notes so that when people look at it, it’s easy to get a quick grasp of what’s happening with the account. And an important part here is to ensure there’s alignment among the different departments, especially around definitions like buying stages (lead, MQL, SQLs, etc.).

So, What Are You Going to Do Next

Putting your customers first is easier said than done. In most organizations, these words are merely lip service.

Don’t be one of those organizations.

Build (or change) your internal processes to make it easy for your customers, not your employees.

  1. Make it easy for your customers to find important and relevant information about you, the products/services they bought, and anything else that can help them trust you quicker.
  2. Continue to build a relationship with your customer — even after purchasing from you. Your customers aren’t stupid. If you don’t nurture this relationship further, they’ll find this somewhere else (your competitors).
  3. A focus on customers means their experience is prioritized over internal systems and legacy processes. If something is not making it easy for your customers, like refunds or support, change the process behind the scenes to make it easier for your customer.

Does your organization claim that the customer is king? Is this actually true? Do your daily operations support this? Let me know in the comments below!

What Is Lead Nurturing: How to Stop Selling Yet Get Amazing Results

What is Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing is the process of sending automated emails to people in your email list that meets certain conditions with the main goal of making them take action.

Lead nurturing comes after lead generation. It’s part of the second pillar of effective email marketing, which is lead management.

What is Lead Nurturing? 

Lead nurturing in digital marketing is a tactic where you send automated, but highly-relevant, emails (or other forms of communication) with the end goal of making influencing them to take an action. 

With modern technology, this is actually not limited to emails anymore. Some organizations use chatbots, SMS, and other messaging tools to nurture their leads. For the purpose of this article, I’ll just use email; but whatever you can do with email, you can do with other types of communication channel.

If you ever bought something online, or subscribed to a newsletter, or signed up for a course or content download, you have probably experienced lead nurturing yourself — whether or not it was effective, that’s another topic.

The Current State of Lead Nurturing and It Needs to Change

When you gave your email address (along with other information) to these companies, what was the first email you receive? Most probably, it’s some sort of a thank you email.

But then, the next email you receive is all about them — about how great they are and how they start selling you things right away.

This is the biggest reason why a lot of marketers fail at email marketing. They don’t know how to nurture the leads properly. Sure, some people will buy right now. But most won’t.

Related: Biggest Reason Digital Marketing Campaigns Fail

If your organization is doing this exact same thing, don’t worry. You’re normal. Because 99% of organizations are like this, it’s so easy to stand out.

Just stop selling.

That’s right. Do not sell.

I went through this issue in detail when I discussed the buyer’s journey. If you’re not familiar with the topic, read it until you understand it. Mastering the buyer’s journey is probably one of the things that separate mediocre marketers from the great ones. Another great resource is the different stages of awareness to understand why you should not sell to people right away.

What People Are Actually Looking For

Your customers are looking for something to solve a problem/need/want. While you may think your products/services are the greatest and can actually help them, your customers don’t think of you that way.

From their perspective, if you don’t add value and just ask for their money, that’s what they’re going to think of you — that you only care about their money.

Not them. Just their money.

It’s worth reading that paragraph again.

Ask yourself this question: “Would you want to do business with someone who only wants your money?”

And if you think that you’re the only choice out there, just remember that no industry is safe from competition. While your customers “might not” have any choice now, the moment a new competitor offers a similar product, they’ll just switch over in the blink of an eye.

So, What Are You Going to Do Next?

Implement a lead nurturing sequence that is educational in nature. Stop selling. Add value. After you do that, then and only then will you have the right to sell to them.

And if your prospects and leads don’t buy now, you don’t stop with the lead nurturing emails. Continue adding value to their lives. This is the basics of the online conversion path.

Here are 3 lead nurturing examples from companies you can copy. I broke down that they did great and what they can further improve on.

In addition, you might want to review your arsenal as a digital marketer. Did you know that there are 12 different types of marketing email you can send?

Since majority of companies start selling right away, it’s so easy to stand out.

Do you need help with creating lead nurturing campaigns for your company? Let me know in the comments below.