Seven Habits Of High-Performing Store Owners

As I sit down to write this, I’m about to embark on an 8 week journey with a group of fellow ecommerce entrepreneurs on our annual Reliable Revenue course. It’s a unique journey compared to our ongoing Inner Circle membership (where the trainings are regularly updated to reflect the changing landscape of ecommerce) , because it will be two months of very focused and intensive work. Students implement the strategies weekly, and by the end of 8 weeks they’ve put in place a system that consistently drives revenue to their online stores so that they can focus less on selling, and more on what they need to grow their businesses.

And so this year I’ve really been pondering how to empower our members to maximize their success. What I’ve learned in the past 15 years of teaching is that there are a handful of habits that seem to really predict whether a store will thrive.  And these aren’t advanced tactics, they’re habits that every single one of us can build, regardless of our stage in business.

So I’m really excited to share these with you. The following insights are meant to help you, and especially our Reliable Revenue participants. Apply them strategically to your e-commerce endeavors and your ROI will continue to grow.

Listen to the podcast HERE or scroll down to get the seven transformative habits that can propel your ecommerce business to the next level.

Habit 1: Attention to Detail 

The first difference I see between store owners who get a lot out of this training, and those who seem to be just treading water, is attention to detail. They intentionally set aside time to watch the lessons, and make sure that they implement the training that week. And they don’t multitask while doing it; they set themselves up for success by giving themselves the time and space to focus on one thing at a time, and get the work done. They finish that one thing, and make sure it’s done right, before they move onto the next.

Habit 2: Manage Expectations

Success is a marathon, not a sprint. The first time you try anything new, it’s never going to be your best outcome. And it’s probably the case that anything in life that you’ve achieved and felt very proud of didn’t happen overnight, and wasn’t handed to you on a silver platter. You put one foot in front of the other, persisted through challenges, and little by little achieved your goals.

When I say that a key habit to success is “managing expectations,” I mean both mentally and monetarily. Nobody likes to talk about it, but building a successful online business costs money. And it just isn’t realistic to think that you’re going to get a return on that investment in a matter of weeks. There will be times when you feel like you’re losing money – and you might be – but that’s part of the process. Running out of patience, or feeling like you’ve failed because your store isn’t further along after three years, is generally a symptom of poorly managed expectations.

When you accept that the road to achieving your goals may be long and winding, you’re better able to enjoy the little wins along the way. It’s about trusting the process and knowing that every step, no matter how small, is a step forward in your journey.

Habit 3: Break It Down To Beat Overwhelm

Even the most overwhelming projects become manageable when divided into smaller, bite-sized pieces. The truth is, when we take on big projects in our businesses, we may not even be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But that shouldn’t stand in the way of getting started. When you find yourself spinning in circles are unable to move forward because the task seems so big – break it down into more manageable pieces.

For example, which seems more doable: building a welcome email series, or deciding how many emails should go in a welcome series? The latter, right? It’s just a decision. And once you’ve made a decision, the next step will become much clearer. So the next time you sit down to do something that’s big and scary, don’t try to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

Habit 4: Define Success

This is a big one, and so many people don’t do this. When you don’t take the time to define what success looks like, it’s a little like getting in the car and driving without a destination. So your first question shouldn’t be “how do I do this?” it should be “what do I want this to look like when it’s done?”.

By defining your end goal, you create a roadmap that guides your decisions and strategies, ensuring every effort is aligned with your ultimate objective. Like a beacon, a clear definition of success will keep you focused and driven even when you encounter obstacles.

Habit 5: Be a Problem Solver

Life is full of mysteries, but one thing you can count on is that you will run into obstacles. You are guaranteed to come across some challenge that you think is too hard for you.

But successful store owners don’t immediately seek help at the first sign of trouble. They do the heavy lifting themselves. For example, if you’re watching a Reliable Revenue training, and you feel lost halfway through, pause for a moment, then keep watching until the end. Make notes, jot down your questions, take a deep breath, and then watch again. Stop and start the lesson if you need to and break it down into steps. Each time you’re able to solve some of your own problems, you build confidence and faith in yourself.

Search Google if you have to, even if it’s a technical thing that seems beyond you. Finding a YouTube How-To video and learning how to do something yourself that you never thought you could is empowering. Whereas getting outside help immediately can lead to feeling that you’re dependent on someone else to move you forward. Successful store owners take responsibility for their own success.

Habit 6: Be Tenacious

Time and time again, I see store owners quit too soon. They say they’ve “tried everything” but in reality they’ve tried something for a few weeks, gotten discouraged, and abandoned that strategy for a new one. They swear it just didn’t work for them, when their only mistake was giving it too little time. 

But if they had just stuck with that first thing for three months instead of three weeks, they might have really gotten the hang of it and started to see results. When you quit too soon, you end up wasting a lot of time and learning nothing. 

So give yourself some grace, and don’t give up so easily. Learning something new takes time, but when you’re tenacious you keep adding tools to your toolbox. 

Habit 7: Master Before You Multiply

This one is hard for so many people. But remember – you’re not born with habits, you build them.

The last habit is to master one thing before you move on to the next. You’re so much better off making what you already have perform at 100% than leaving it at 70 and adding something else into the mix. When you allow yourself to pause and perfect, you build  a strong foundation that will support your business’s future growth and resilience.

This is why so many Reliable Revenue alumni come back and do the course every year. They’re refining their systems. They know it works, but they’re committed to making it better rather than leaving it on autopilot and moving on. There are a lot of ways to win the race, but I guarantee that if you don’t pause and perfect 1 or 2 things that are working for you, you’ll end up with a lot of underperforming strategies and the terrible feeling that you missed out on your golden egg.

To Recap:

The 7 Habits of Successful Store Owners

1. Take the time to do the work, and focus on it 100%
2. Learn to manage your expectations, and celebrate small wins along the way
3. Break big projects down into smaller, more manageable pieces
4. Define what success looks like before you start
5. Build confidence by becoming a problem solver
6. Don’t quit too soon
7. Perfect one thing before you move on to the next

These seven habits are more than just practices; they’re the building blocks of a successful e-commerce business. Embrace these 7 winning habits and watch your business soar.

RELATED LINKS:

Want Better Results? Do This First.

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/want-better-results-do-this-first-episode-128/

How Long Will It Take You To Reach Your Goals?

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/how-long-will-it-take-to-reach-your-goals-episode-203/

Here’s What To Do Differently In 2024

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/heres-what-to-do-differently-next-year-episode-195/

How To Reach Your BIG Goals This Year

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/2024-how-to-reach-your-big-goals-this-year-episode-197/

A Winning Pricing Strategy For Your Ecommerce Store

There’s one thing that every store owner should do right now, early in the year. I’ve talked about this before – but right now is the very best time to set yourself up for more profit this year.

In this post, we’re delving into how we set product prices in ecommerce, and I’ll share a pricing strategy that most store owners don’t use. Once you understand how it works and start implementing it in your store, you’ll have the potential to be much more profitable. And you’ll have the confidence to pay yourself, hire help, and make the investments in your business that will lead to long-term stability and growth.

Listen to the podcast HERE or read on to open the door to increased profit.

Don’t Make This Mistake!

Most people have their own system for setting retail prices. Many store owners use a target gross margin percentage, and apply that markup evenly to every item in their store. Others simply set their retail prices at a multiple of the cost of the product.

Even though these strategies seem solid, it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be profitable.
It’s completely possible that you could find yourself losing money every month, because the actual profit in dollars and cents is not enough to cover your expenses. OR you could be accidentally setting a cap on a given product’s profit.

So many store owners struggle with cash flow. And when you have to let employees go, or cut your ad budget, or can’t pay your bills, it takes an emotional toll. It’s embarrassing and exhausting, because it can feel like a reflection of our abilities.

It’s About Dollars, Not Percentages

When most store owners set prices, they’re often looking only at margin percentages or simplistic markups, but getting strategic with your pricing is more nuanced than inputting cost into a standard equation that “feels” right.

Instead of using a markup formula, try setting your prices based on Margin Contribution dollars. You decide on a minimum amount of Margin Contribution revenue your products must generate.

When each product must contribute a minimum profit in dollars, you can avoid costly pricing mistakes and meet your minimum Margin Contribution by bundling products together or even eliminating products that don’t generate enough profit.

The Pitfalls of Pricing: Karen’t Story

In Episode 166 I talked to Karen Steuer, a long time client, and owner of Tangled Roots Herbal, who has been struggling with cash flow for some time. It’s worth a listen. Fortunately Karen was keeping her financial information up to date, which allowed me to help her take control of her money problem. It’s nearly impossible to troubleshoot cash flow problems if you don’t have your numbers in order and readily available.

Karen’t gross margin was 48.8%, so roughly double her cost, but she still wasn’t covering her monthly expenses. So while she assumed her pricing strategy was “standard” and therefore sufficient, it was draining all the profit out of her business.

You Can’t Afford To Sell Anything For $10

Let’s say you make or purchase a product for $2.50, and your standard practice is to double that and sell it for $5. So each time you sell this product, you’re contributing just $2.50 to your margin. Sell 100 of them? You do all the work to ship those hundred orders, and you’ve only kept $250 for next month’s expenses.

So let’s say you quadruple it and sell it for $10. After 100 orders, you’ve still only got $750 to cover next month. For most businesses, that’s just not enough. I’m not saying you can’t sell $10 products, but I am saying you must consider either bundling them or up-selling something else so that your total order value makes it worthwhile.

What Does It Cost You To Wake Up Every Day?

What does it really cost you to run your store? What is the monthly cost of your Shopify site, your email platform and other apps you need, your shipping materials, your employees, etc? Take a look at all of your monthly expenses and divide that number by 30. That’s the cost of just waking up each day and having an online store.

So if your monthly “run rate” is $6,000, then your daily “wake up” rate is $200. Your sales need to generate more than that number each day to be profitable.

Don’t Forget Yourself

If you’re going to take the time to sit down and implement this strategy, you really must include compensation for yourself. Even if you’re not paying yourself yet. This amount needs to be included if you are to price your products in a way that will get your business to the level you want it to be eventually, where you can hire things out and grow a team. Say you’d like eventually to pay yourself $3k per month. You’ll need to add $100 per day to your margin contribution. Build a pool of margin into your business that will allow you to get help when you’re ready for it.

5 Steps To More Profitable Pricing

1.Set up a call with your bookkeeper, OR if you don’t have one, review your income statement for the last 3-4 months and note your gross profit. This is the  money you have to pay your monthly expenses

2. Compare your monthly expenses to your current gross profit margin. Are they close, or is there a big gap?

3. Jot down your “wake up rate” somewhere you can easily reference it, like a sticky note on your laptop or bulletin board. This number is your new goal.

4. Go back and review your pricing. Consider which products you could add a dollar here or there to in order to boost your profit margin.

5. Consider your unique selling proposition – what is it about you or your product that makes it different from every other product your customers could be purchasing. What are the things people value? What problems do your products solve? You’ll (probably) never be able to compete on price, but you will add value either in the uniqueness of your product, the ease which you provide it to your customers, or even you as a person they want to support. How can you present your product differently so that this value is clear to your website visitors, and you get the sale?

Strategic pricing is about more than just covering costs – it’s about maximizing your business’s profitability sustainably. If you’re still scratching your head, check out this quick video that I made. In it, you’ll learn how to:

• Calculate the amount of margin you need in $
• Set your minimum viable average order value (so you can pay yourself)
• Change your pricing strategy to set yourself up for success

This strategy really will get you closer to earning a paycheck, or having the confidence to hire out the things that will allow your business to reach new heights. I know that chatting about the dollars and cents in our ecommerce stores can feel like a hairy, scary thing…I’ve been there.

But if you’re ready to get off the rollercoaster, there’s never a better time to set yourself up for more profit than early in the year. Spend an hour reviewing your pricing. It might be your most profitable hour of the year.

RELATED LINKS:

The Secret To Getting Paid

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-secret-to-getting-paid/

A Lesson On Fixing Your Cash Flow

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/a-lesson-on-fixing-your-cash-flow-episode-166/

Grow Up Your Business And Get More Profit

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/grow-up-your-business-get-more-profit-episode-77/

Gross Profit: Will You Take Charge And Pay Yourself More?

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/gross-profit-will-you-take-charge-and-pay-yourself-more-episode-188/

I want to introduce you to Sarah Stenzhorn, who is one of the most steady, humble, and helpful members of our Reliable Revenue program, and now an Inner Circle ecommerce coach. When Sarah speaks, I listen because she really is wise and consistent, and her business success story is nothing short of extraordinary.

In just three years, Sarah has built the kind of ecommerce business that most of us only dream of. And today she’s letting us in on the key strategies that really powered her success.

Get ready for some eye-opening insights – it’s not what you’d typically expect. Click HERE to learn from Sarah’s journey on our podcast, or read on for more.

Riches In The Niches: How Sarah Landed On Pet Cremation Jewelry

Sarah considers herself an entrepreneur first, but she’s also a pet lover. When she happened upon cremation jewelry (tiny, wearable containers for a loved one’s ashes) after a beloved dog died, she had a hunch she was on to something. So rather than purchasing just one, she bought 200 of them and listed them on eBay.

After they sold out within a week, Sarah was convinced that she’d stumbled upon a highly marketable product. Cremation jewelry can be used for any type of ashes, but Sarah knew that if she could serve an audience of fellow pet-lovers, she could corner the market.

Go Big Or Go Home: Investing In Accountability

Sarah was still working a full-time job when she started her business, but when her website sales surpassed her salary, she knew it was time to get serious. She decided that if she made a big investment in her business, it would keep her accountable, so she made the leap to join our Reliable Revenue program.

“If I’m going to spend this money, then I know darn well, I’m going to show up every single week. I’m going to do whatever that assignment is for that week.”

Sarah’s goal that year was to double her revenue–and she BEAT it–taking her sales from $160k to $360k in a matter of months.

Sarah’s Secret Weapon(s)

One of the most valuable parts of the Reliable Revenue program is “the playbook”, a month-by-month spreadsheet that students fill out with their key metrics. Sarah says this data tracking had a huge impact on her sales. The playbook gave her clear insight both into what was working, and how far she’d come. Whereas in the past Sarah might have beat herself up thinking that she was off track or missing her goals, she was able to see a clear line of progress.

The other game-changing part of the program for Sarah was implementing a welcome automation and sending weekly mini-campaigns. She says that showing up consistently for her subscribers has been invaluable. In fact, a whopping 38% of her revenue comes from her new lead and welcome flow.

How?

She tested, tested, and tested some more until she had found the winning combination. She didn’t rely on her feelings, she trusted the numbers. Once she knew what worked, she was confident that she could spend more on ads to drive more traffic to her site, and was actually able to predict her revenue based on that.

Consistency = Confidence

By putting her head down, doing the work, and tracking her Reliable Revenue numbers, Sarah found the confidence to really get behind her business and put the gas on driving traffic. She stopped worrying about what everyone else was doing, and focused on her own store. After that things really started to snowball.

Sarah’s Advice To Her Younger Self

Sarah has been able to build the business she has always dreamed of, but she’s worked incredibly hard along the way. She says if she could go back in time, she would remember her “why” – that she started her business so that she could captain her own ship. And that none of it is worth it if she works to the point of burnout. So these days Sarah makes sure to take breaks, unplug completely, and let her Reliable Revenue automations do the heavy lifting.

So what’s Next?

Now that Sarah’s business is humming along, she’s been able to hire out her social media content creation, and next she’ll outsource customer service. And her big goal? A commercial space so she can get out of her house!

Sarah’s story is a testament to the impact of the Reliable Revenue program. And her success really exemplifies how commitment and consistency drive real growth.

Ready to start your own journey of transformation? The Reliable Revenue course will get started again this March. Whether you’re newly launched or are looking to scale your existing ecommerce store, this program offers the tools, insights, and community support you need. Remember, like Sarah, you have the potential to turn your business dreams into tangible achievements.

Let’s make your business the next big success story. Click HERE to learn more about the course and start your journey to reliable revenue.

RELATED LINKS:

See Sarah’s website here: www.sarahandessie.com

We’re Getting Consistent Revenue Now

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/were-getting-consistent-revenue-now-episode-202/

Make Your Business Run Without You

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/make-your-business-run-without-you-heres-how-episode-201/

How To Reach Your Big Goals in 2024

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/how-to-reach-your-big-goals-in-2024-episode-194/

Consistent Revenue Now

Last summer I spoke with Danielle Beauregard, owner of Fusion By Design Collars, about how she transformed her business last year. During the conversation she said “We’re getting consistent revenue now,” and the confidence in her voice made me smile.

Danielle had participated in my Reliable Revenue program in January. It is an eight week course combined with coaching, designed to get store owners bringing in predictable, reliable revenue that they can count on every month.

We only run the program once a year, and every year more store owners walk away with consistent sales and a clear plan of how they’ll grow their sales in a way that feels like they’re in control.

We’re about to start Reliable Revenue for 2024. I know this program works, and I believe every store owner should get these strategies in place so they can get set up for reliable sales every day. I thought you might like to hear what happens in the 8 weeks we work together from a member’s perspective.

Keep reading or CLICK HERE to listen

Dog Collars. But Make Them Fabulous.

Danielle makes and sells dog collars and leashes in Ottawa, Ontario. But not just any collars. Her gem-encrusted, leather works of art fetch between $300 and $700 EACH. And customers love her products. So much, in fact, that she and her staff were recently able to move out of her home and into their own workshop.

As a member of the Inner Circle, Danielle knew that building an email list was important, but she had let that fall to the bottom of her neverending to-do list. As her business crept steadily past six figures, she had a sneaking suspicion that she was leaving money on the table by not sending emails. And that nagging feeling that all e-commerce store owners have that the rug could be yanked out from underneath us at any moment. If Facebook went down, if our accounts got hacked, how would we reach our customers? Would we even have a business anymore?

“You don’t own your website, you don’t own your e-commerce platform, you certainly don’t own your assets that are on Facebook or Instagram. And I was relying heavily, heavily on social media at the time to get the bulk of our revenue.”

So last January Danielle made the eight-week commitment to join Reliable Revenue and put the systems in place that would allow her to quit working so hard for each and every sale.

A year later she was a true believer in the power of consistent email marketing.

Reliable Revenue: A Transformational Marketing Strategy

Straight out of the gate, Danielle says the course helped her confidence because she gained insights into her metrics. Numbers that she had once thought meant she was failing, she learned were indicators of her strength as a product seller at her price point and niche.

But what she found most valuable was the accountability the community and coaches provided.

“…had it been a self-study type course where you just bought the course and were left to your own devices, it would probably still be sitting there unopened in all honesty.”

With the help of her class cohort and group mentors, Danielle was able to get the work down in a matter of hours each week. She would dedicate an hour each day, or a Monday morning, to putting the pieces in place. And when she got stuck, she was able to hire group coaches to quickly tackle anything that fell outside of her skill set.

I Wish I Had Done It Three Years Ago

Danielle’s hard work and consistency paid off. Big time. Results were incremental, but over time she has come to realize that the rumors are true – email converts better than any other source of website traffic. Seven times better, as a matter of fact. And now she’s sending regular email campaigns and enjoying the revenue that she knows she’ll generate with each and every one.

What surprised her most was that she doesn’t have to “hard sell” in those campaigns, either. By sending a mix of helpful, educational content, special offers, and regular events, Danielle knows that she’s providing value to her subscribers. And they reward her with purchases, in turn.

“So I now have my playbook, I know what events work, I know where most of my sales are coming from. We’re fairly consistent in our monthly revenue now.”

Danielle acknowledges that while her business was doing well, she was missing some critical infrastructure that would have made scaling her sales very difficult. In fact, she says that the systems she put in place during Reliable Revenue have completely changed her ad strategy. Rather than chasing after sales, Danielle now focuses on building her email list. Because she knows that once she pays for a customer to visit her site and subscribe, she can spend time educating and warming them up to an eventual purchase. It’s a kind of confidence that allows her to focus on what’s next, knowing that her marketing system is working behind the scenes, 24-7, to bring in sales she can count on.

Is Reliable Revenue Right For Your Business?

I’m sharing Danielle’s story with you because I know what it feels like when you’re working really hard, and getting inconsistent results. I remember feeling like I couldn’t really count on my income. Like I could only pay myself if my business was doing really, really well. And often I worried that was never going to happen.

What I know now is that the strategies I used when I was developing the Reliable Revenue system gave me the confidence to set up my pay on auto deposit. I stopped waiting till Friday to see if it was “safe” for me to pay myself.

And I really want that for you, too.

This year, before we start the Reliable Revenue 2024 course, I’ve decided to create a free mini course that will show you how Reliable Revenue works. The course is four short videos that will give you an idea of what the program is like, and what you will learn.

I want you to see what’s possible for you, and this mini course will show what you’ll need to do, not only to protect what you’ve built, but also how to grow your sales and be more profitable without spending a fortune on ads.

I encourage you to get these free lessons today. I promise you, you’ll learn strategies that will get you more sales, and make you a confident business owner.

“The Secret to Generating Reliable Revenue” is free for you

RELATED LINKS:

Learn more about Reliable Revenue: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/reliable-revenue/

Make Sales In Your Jammies: Meet Sam

Have you ever dreamed of making money without getting out of bed? What if I told you that was absolutely possible? And I’m not even joking.

In 2022, I sat down with Sam Gilhooley, owner of Magnetics, and a student of our Reliable Revenue course who did exactly that (although not by choice). This is such an amazing story, because Sam, who sells magnetic therapy products for horses and dogs, had only recently implemented our Reliable Revenue marketing system when tragedy struck and landed her in bed for seventeen months.

Keep reading Sam’s story or CLICK HERE to listen

Magnetics’ Humble Beginnings

Sam started Magnetics in 2013, and despite working a full time job, had built a pretty solid business. Her products were a hit with customers, she had a lot of social proof in the form of shares and testimonials, and her social media engagement was impressive by any standards. But she was still working “in” her business, managing her own customer service and order fulfillment herself.

Trading The Tape Gun for Teamwork

Sam has always been more of a strategic thinker, and knew that she wanted to build a Brand, not work for a business. Even though she didn’t feel completely ready, she finally “put down the tape gun” as we say and found a fulfillment center to ship orders. And while Sam loves her customers, she knew that she was not the best one to be dealing with questions, returns, or lost packages. So she hired one of her customers to take over customer service and never looked back.

Once she had a little more time, Sam decided to enroll in Reliable Revenue [LINK], an 8-week course we offer to help ecommerce store owners implement a proven, repeatable marketing system so that they can get clarity and grow their sales. She had started out selling on 3 platforms – Amazon, eBay, and her own website. Reliable Revenue helped her let go of the other two platforms so that she could put all of her efforts into marketing and growing her web sales.

We sometimes joke that this system will have you making sales in your sleep…Sam had no idea how true this would be until tragedy struck, and it was her Reliable Revenue system that saved her bacon.

How Outsourcing + Automation Saved Sam’s Business

In the months before her illness, Sam followed the course to the letter, even though she was feeling hesitant to implement things like discount pop-ups and weekly emails to her subscribers. She started collecting email addresses, and implemented several email automations (like an Abandoned Cart Flow) that were set to run around the clock with no extra effort on her part. She was already beginning to see results when a scary incident at a trade event turned into six weeks of medical investigation that did nothing to explain Sam’s sudden vertigo, hearing loss, and neurological symptoms.

While her illness remained a mystery, her doctor advised her to remain in bed. Even though Sam had outsourced a lot of tasks, she couldn’t have continued managing things if she wanted to, her symptoms were so severe.

Sam was terrified that Magnetics would sink in her absence, although she stuck with both her customer service employee and fulfillment center, and kept her social media ads running. What she couldn’t have foreseen was that those Reliable Revenue systems were already humming along in the background, keeping things running seamlessly even without her involvement. And so, miraculously, with little to no effort on her part, Magnetics didn’t just stay afloat…it GREW. By 55%, no less.

Her paid ads were sending traffic, her pop-up was popping, her list was growing, and her cash register kept chiming as if nothing had changed at all. And in the meantime, Sam was getting closer to understanding what had happened to her, and inching slowly towards recovery. Even without doing a thing, Sam was still earning a paycheck from her business.

Sam works around animals, so naturally she’s always getting bitten by something. But when she began to do some research, she realized that a strange-looking bug bite from years before could explain nearly all of her symptoms. She had Lyme Disease, and it had attacked her nervous system to the point of incapacitation.

Thankfully, she found a specialist who could help her, and slowly, but surely Sam’s brain began to come back online. She regained her ability to read, and finally started feeling like herself again. After seventeen months of bed rest, Sam had seen the capacity of her automated marketing system to make her business bulletproof…and she was now ready to take it to new heights.

From Bed Rest to Business Boss

In the years since her health crisis, Sam has relied on her favorite business principles of “simplicity, automation, cost management, outsourcing, and team building.” She re-enrolled in Reliable Revenue to implement even more automations to her system, and she is focused on optimizing her website and driving traffic by outsourcing as much as she can to apps or employees. She has also doubled down on email marketing and engaging her customers organically.

And now?

She’s proud to say that Magnetics’ revenue is well into the multi-six figures. All while leaving her time to take on a new project – helping others who suffer from Lyme disease. 

Real Talk: Why Your Business Needs a Reliable Revenue System

While I wouldn’t wish Sam’s misfortune on anyone, her story is truly a testament to the resilience automated systems and outsourcing can create for your business. She couldn’t have known at the time, but the work Sam put in during the months before her health crisis made all the difference when she needed them most. Even if you don’t plan to stay in bed for seventeen months, the Reliable Revenue system is something every single ecommerce store owner should be implementing. You can learn more about it here.

Sam was able to pay herself for 17 months while she was unable to work:

Basically, it was because she had done the work we teach in Reliable Revenue before she got sick.

We only offer this program once a year, and I truly believe that every store owner should do this work.

This year, before we start the Reliable Revenue 2024 course, I’ve decided to create a free mini course that will show you how Reliable Revenue works, and what it’s like as we work together to implement the lessons.

 The course is four short videos that will give you an idea of what the program is like, and what you will learn.

I want you to see what’s possible for you, and this mini course will show what you’ll need to do, not only to protect what you’ve built, but also how to grow your sales and be more profitable without spending a fortune on ads.

I encourage you to get these free lessons when they launch on February 11th. I promise you, you’ll learn strategies that will get you more sales, and make you a confident business owner.

“The Secret to Generating Reliable Revenue” is free for you, and will be delivered on Feb 11th!

RELATED LINKS:

See Sam’s website here: Magnetixtherapy.com

Connect with Sam about Lyme Disease: https://www.facebook.com/livingwithlyme.co.uk

Learn more about Reliable Revenue: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/reliable-revenue

SIX TIPS FOR STAYING OUT OF SPAM

On February 1st, 2024, the world is going to change for anyone who sends regular emails to their subscribers. And so today I’m sitting down with our resident Klaviyo and Shopify expert, Claudia Howard. She’s going to explain what’s changing, and walk us through what we’ll need to do to stay compliant.

Listen HERE or keep reading to find out how you can keep your campaigns out of your subscribers’ spam folders.

Understanding the New Requirements

You’ve probably noticed that your inbox is filling up faster and faster lately, and much of what you’re receiving is spam, or worse…malicious phishing emails. So in an attempt to reduce some of the chaos, Google and Yahoo are cracking down on abusive senders. This is actually GOOD for ecommerce marketers, because once the changes go into effect, our subscribers’ inboxes will be much less cluttered (and our emails more likely to be read).

BUT

Only if we take the following steps to verify our sending domains. It’s not hard, but grab a pen because you need to get this taken care of right away.

Who Needs to Comply and Why?

The new rules specify that any marketers sending 5k or more bulk emails a day must be compliant. But even if this isn’t you yet, this is the best practice to follow and will ensure that you don’t accidentally get yourself on the naughty list.

The Deal With Deliverability: What’s A Deliverability Score?

We often talk about email marketing as the one communication channel that you “own”. But did you know that email service providers like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc. have their own algorithms? Each sender is assigned a “deliverability score” based on your recipients’ behavior – how many unsubscribes are you getting, how many spam complaints? What are your click rates?

Obviously, you want your email subscribers to see your beautiful campaigns. But they definitely won’t if you end up in their spam folders! So here are our six recommendations to stay out of Spam folders and in Google and Klaviyo’s good graces.

6 Tips For Staying Out of Spam

1. Double-check that the “from” email address you’re using is your own domain. In other words, not “yourname@gmail dot com” but “hello@yourstorename dot com” or similar.

2. If it’s not, change it!

3. Set up your “dedicated sending domain” sometimes called your “branded sending domain”. It improves your branding in the “from” address in the inbox by removing the sent “via klaviyomail.com” disclaimer. This is setup by using the guide in your Klaviyo account to edit your DNS settings at your domain registrar.

4. Set up a DMARC authentication policy on your domain to keep spammers from “spoofing” you. This authenticates the email is coming from your domain. It enhances email security by preventing unauthorized use of your domain, reduces phishing and improves deliverability. Set this up by editing your DNS settings at your domain registrar. Here’s a link to a free DMARC record generator.

5. Make it easier to unsubscribe by adding an “unsubscribe” button to the bottom of all of your campaigns.

6. Keep spam complaints low – the acceptable threshold for inboxes is 3 per 1000. Use Klaviyo’s benchmark and deliverability reports to monitor your spam complaints and if they exceed the threshold take steps to reduce them. Steps include list cleaning and segmentation.

If any of the above tips has your head spinning, Claudia is an expert on Store Tasker, and for just $95 she’ll get your account set up and in ship shape. This is money so well spent, because once these changes go into effect on February 1st, you can really hurt your sales by failing to comply.

Claudia has already made a training for this and it’s in the Inner Circle classroom, but if you’re not a member yet, we’ve made it publicly available. Just go to www.thesocialsalesgirls.com/stayoutofspam enter your email address and we’ll send you the checklist.

AND…if you have any ecommerce store owner friends, please forward them this post! I really don’t want anyone losing sales just because they didn’t know about these new requirements, or how to comply with them.

Email is so important. In fact, we tell our members that at LEAST 30% of their revenue should be coming from email. So set aside some time, go through our tutorial, and we’ll get through this together!