Sure, generating leads for your business is nice and all. 

I mean, who doesn’t want that? 

But have you ever thought about what happens after you’ve got your organic social strategy, Facebook ads and all of the things down pat? 

Where are you sending people to? Your website? 

And if so, is that website optimised to turn those people into customers and clients?

That’s what we cover in today’s episode of The Course Cartel website. 

Louise Henry runs Solopreneur Sidekick, where she teaches service providers how to build client winning websites with zero tech overwhelm. In this episode, she gives us a simple sales funnel that all service providers can set up and use to start generating those leads and sales on auto pilot. Sounds pretty good to me!

So, let’s dive in!

Listen On: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Here are a few of the things we cover:

• The biggest mistakes that people make when it comes to creating a killer website
• How to set up a simple sales funnel to generate leads and sales
• What a lead magnet is and how to create one that people (really!) want
• How to set up an automated series of emails to develop a relationship with your customers and clients
• How to set up a process for customers and clients to book discovery calls on autopilot
• The importance of testimonials and social proof
• How to set up the tech with zero overwhelm

Now, one thing that I promised in this episode is that I would include some screenshots in the shownotes of my first attempt at a website – it is everything that you SHOULDN’T do. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the first (truely awful) iteration, but here is the one after and it’s the only image I have of it! How disappointing. It was slightly better and more on-brand than the first website, but not by much. 

Guys, don’t be me and make all of the websites mistakes in the book when starting out. 

Transcript

STEVIE: In this episode, I’m talking to Louise from Solopreneur Sidekick all about exactly what goes into building a client winning website, aka one that generates leads and sales on autopilot for service providers. If that is you, this episode is for you.

Today we are talking about something that goes hand in hand with all things social media and traffic generation, which is the marketing term for generating leads, generating customers and clients. And that is what you do always send them to once you have actually gotten that traffic for your business. What I mean by that is that you could be running all of the Facebook ads in the world, you could be doing all of the organic social media in the world. But if you’re not sending those people to a place where they’re likely to actually take action and vocal buy from me, you are wasting your goddamn time. 

Before we kick off a series next week, all about Facebook ads, I wanted to start with this particular episode. Now I have brought on an expert on this subject Louise from Solopreneur Sidekick. And we’re going to be talking all about how to build a client winning website as a service provider. Anyone that sells their expertise professionals, coaches, consultants, service providers, I know that there is a lot of you that listen to this particular podcast episode. And it’s not really spoken about as much as it is for eCommerce, how important it is to have a website that actually converts the people that visit it into customers and clients. That is what we are talking about in today’s episode. I’m actually going to leave the intro here so that I’m not banging on. And I’m going to get straight into the episode because there is some gold. Now guys, if you want the shownotes for this episode, make sure you head over to steviesayssocial.com/72. You can grab them there.
And a quick little request. I don’t normally ask for reviews on the podcast, but I’m going to ask right now. I would absolutely love it. If you would head over to Apple Podcasts. Subscribe number one if you haven’t already to be notified when the episodes go live every Tuesday. And leave me a quick rating and a review. I will be checking them this week and they will absolutely make my day. I know all of the podcasters say that but they would if you left one. Alright guys, let’s get into today’s episode. I hope you enjoy it. 

STEVIE: Hey, Louise, welcome to the podcast.

LOUISE: Hey, thank you so much for having me back again.

STEVIE: Yes, do you know that you are the first and only Stevie says social podcast guests that have ever been on the podcast twice?

LOUISE: Oh, my goodness, it is an honor.

STEVIE: Now for those that don’t know, Louise was on the podcast about I would say about a year ago because it was when we were over in Bali. And I actually stayed in Louise and Nathan in their house when I was staying over in Bali while they were away. And we did a podcast all about YouTube I don’t have the number. But if you want to know about all of the things YouTube, go back and check that episode out because it is a good one. But today we are talking about something a little bit different, which is really your jam Louise, which is all about how to build a client winning website for service-based business.I’m super keen to dive into all things related to that because you are the Square Space Queen I here.

LOUISE: Thank you so much. I’ll take it.

STEVIE: For those that don’t actually know you, you’re doing some very cool things at the moment, both you know, professionally, but also what you’re doing with your personal life and kind of gallivanting around the world. Maybe let everyone know a little bit about you and what you’re doing.

LOUISE: For sure.Hi, everyone. My name is Louise, and my business is called Solopreneur sidekick, where I help entrepreneurs with the tech side of their online business. To make it as simple and stress-free as possible. My specialty is helping service based entrepreneurs, DIY client winning websites. That’s where I spend the majority of my time and I have an online program. And that’s how I work with clients. 

And but Oh, and then I share a ton of free tutorials as well over on my YouTube channel, which is what we chatted about last time. And but we basically built this online business, which allows us to travel the world full time, which has been really fun. We lived in Bali for three and a half years. And we did more of the expat type lifestyle. But once my fiance joined me in the business, then we were both locations independent and we decided to take off and travel. We’ve been in Mexico for the past four or five months now. 

And about to head to America to travel there. After that. We want to go back to some tropical for a little bit go back to the Caribbean. I miss I honestly, I’m such an island girl at heart.  do miss that. We’re going to go spend some time on an island somewhere not sure which one and then head over to Europe just basically, being able to see the world and work as long as we have our laptops and Wi-Fi, we’re pretty much good to go.

STEVIE: Your life sucks. I’m actually, slightly jealous as I sit here eight months and three weeks pregnant. The next time I’m going to be able to get on a plane will be with a screaming baby. But you know,

LOUISE: We’re kind of opposites at the moment. 

STEVIE: I know, How is that happen anyway. Alright, that is very, very cool. And I know a lot of people will be inspired by that story. And it’s definitely not over for me, I definitely have plans of doing something similar with a little tucker in a year. Oh,

LOUISE: I can imagine you’re going to have the cutest Instagram ever while you travel the world with your little one. It’s gonna be cute.

STEVIE: Alright, let’s stop to websites because I’ve actually got a series of podcasts coming out, the next episode. And then the next couple of episodes on that on Facebook ads and Facebook ads is one of the sexiest topics going everyone wants to know how to master it and is incredibly frustrated by them as well. But one thing that I want to be really clear on before we dive into that series, for everybody listening is that if you don’t have your online home, sorted, your website and have that converting? 

Well, then all of the Facebook ads in the world are basically keeping money down the drain. I think it’s a really good time to have you on the podcast, Louise. And I guess to kick-off, what I want to know is one of the biggest mistakes that you see people make when they go about building a website because I have my own thoughts on this. And I would really be curious on yours.

LOUISE: For sure. I think the biggest mistake hands down. And this is one that I made for the first year in my business, I didn’t quite understand all of the marketing pieces that you should be having running behind the scenes, right. I think the biggest mistake people make is that they’re creating these brochure styles. 

Static websites that don’t have a funnel running in the background don’t have email marketing built-in. And the reason I feel this is important is that there’s actually a stat that says 98% of the first-time website, visitors are not going to be ready to buy from you. It’s super important that you capture that email and that you nurture that customer and are able to turn them into a client.

STEVIE: And I think that’s something that a lot of eCommerce store owners at least know about, theoretically, whether they’re doing it or not, they really say the importance of having a website that converts because all of the marketing people tell them how important it is.

But when it comes to a service Facebook website, when you know you’re selling services, or you’re looking to generate leads, I don’t think it’s something that is as spoken about. And, I think they’re the ones I don’t know if you see this as well, but they’re the ones that really end up with that brochure style website.

LOUISE: Exactly. No, you’re spot on. That’s why that’s actually, you know, the type of customer that I work with now. I just put all my focus into helping coaches and service-based entrepreneurs with this side of things that they can set up a funnel and really have their website working for them. Because for many people, it’s kind of they get a pretty website up and then they don’t get any traffic to it. And they don’t get any customers that way, either.

STEVIE: It’s on the internet. And nobody ever sees it and looks pretty

LOUISE: Exactly.

STEVIE: What are some of the things that people need to have on their website as a space business in order to get those leads?

LOUISE: I can give an example of a very simple funnel. Does that sound good?

STEVIE: Because I think even the word funnel, I think scares people, you know, you kind of think it needs to be a big complex thing with a whole heap of moving parts. But hopefully, it doesn’t need to be.

LOUISE: It doesn’t need to be that at all when you hear that word, I picture so many different streams, many different customers, and upsides and downsides, and all sorts of stuff. And it can actually be super simple. For service-based entrepreneurs, the one that I recommend is just create something really awesome that your ideal client would like. And you know, called This is called a lead magnet, opt-in freebie any of those types of terms, but all referring to the same thing. 

I would say designed something like that. And really service-based entrepreneurs, you can just get started with one. And it can be a simple PDF that you make look nice using Canva. And then from there, what I recommend you do is you have an automated email sequence that pitches, a booking and a discovery call with you. 

And what’s cool is you can automate this process where you’re just waking up each morning, and you have free discovery calls booked in with you.I think this is one of the easiest ways because it really just requires, you know, an email marketing platform, a freebie, and then something to book these calls. But I’m sure we can get into the tech side, too. 

STEVIE: Totally.one of the I know a lot of people get stuck when it comes to the lead magnet side of things. Because of the question, I know, I get a lot because I actually took quite a lot about lead magnets and my hashtags on the answer program. And the question I always get is, what on earth do I offer as a lead magnet? 

And I think from my end, the biggest mistake that I see students make is that they try to put a 52-page book in a lead magnet, and then they get overwhelmed by the thought of it and then they don’t actually end up doing it. And then nothing ever happens. Do you have any tips around how to brainstorm what would be a killer lead magnet for your website? 

LOUISE:  Totally. I think I would, cut that overwhelm. And just make it really simple for yourself a one-pager or two pagers, a checklist, something like that. I like to think of what someone needs to have accomplished before they come and work with you. And build my lead magnet around that. And then it just really need it does need to be super enticing, though. It has to be something you know, in your industry that they really want to know, in order for them to actually take action and give you their email address for it.

STEVIE: I’ve actually got a podcasting course coming up. And my lead magnet for that, just as an example is the ultimate podcasting equipment checklist. Because I know, the number one question people ask me is what microphone to use? 

And that’s kind of an example of that, hey, it’s a quick win. It’s not giving them everything. But it’s giving them the first step before they actually would think about starting a podcast and doing a podcasting course.

LOUISE: Exactly.that’s a great way to frame it.  What is the biggest question you get from you know, your ideal clients? What is that question that comes up over and over again? And just keep in mind that it can be simple. And I think often, you know, we think because we’re used to the knowledge and because we know it, and we’re talking about it all the time. 

We think it’s so basic, but think about where your clients? And for them, you know, knowing what microphone to use is like, Oh, my gosh, you know, that’s such valuable information. 

STEVIE: Totally. You go from lead magnet into an automated email sequence. So where does the lead magnet sit? Is it a pop up on your website? Or is it site dedicated page? Or how does it work?

LOUISE: I would recommend that you put this everywhere, it’s honestly, it’s in many places on my website, I have it in my top navigation bar. I have it in my footer on my blog sidebar within my blogs, honestly. You know, it actually doesn’t look overstuffed because there’s a lot on your site. 

STEVIE: Yeah. 

LOUISE: But I think it’s one of your main priorities, if not, the number one priority of your site is to get them on your email list and get them in some sort of funnel. It can go everywhere. I also have a pop up as well.

STEVIE: It’s in a lot of places.

LOUISE: Yeah.

STEVIE: And what is the process when you go from a lead magnet into an email sequence? Because that sounds overwhelming. Can that be simple as well?

LOUISE: That can absolutely be simple. And you really don’t need much for it. For example, one of the tech tools that is my absolute favorite is Squarespace that’s quite an easy DIY Website Builder that people can use, and they have email marketing built-in. 

all you need is you need a platform that will allow you to collect emails and get in touch with them. But really, you just need a signup form. You just need first name, email, and then you’ll have text beside it, get this freebie here. And that’s it. And that’s going to start the email sequence

STEVIE: I didn’t know that Squarespace. I started off on Squarespace, which guys if you just want a simple, sexy, stylish website, I actually was able to build one myself, which really says a lot.

LOUISE: I did it in Squarespace.

STEVIE: But I didn’t realize that I had email built-in.

LOUISE: It’s a newer thing that they’ve just added in. But a lot of my clients like that, because then they can just keep it all in one place. 

STEVIE: That’s very cool.

STEVIE: Okay, somebody has opted into a lead magnet, they are getting some emails, what emails do they need to get? And then what is the end result? it to send emails, and then you stop or what is the process once you’ve got them on your website and into your lead magnet?

LOUISE:Once they type in their name and email, what you want is you want to send out an email right away that delivers that freebie, this is also good because it gets them to engage with one of your emails, and then means that you’re less likely to fall into the spam folder, for example. And you’re going to get them in there, you’re going to send out that email immediately. And then I would do a few days later. 

And a few days later after that. And basically what you’re doing is you’re building up that know like and trust factor, which we know is important. You’re going to introduce yourself, and you’re also going to pitch more value. just provide more value for free. And then after that you’re going to share with them what your service is, and let them know that they can just click a button and go ahead and schedule themselves. A free discovery call with you.

STEVIE: How does that work?

LOUISE: Normally I do YouTube videos where I can be like, and then you click here. 

STEVIE: Because I think it sounds so straightforward, obviously within it, but when you’re saying, you know, you can book a call, you have you put like, Is there a phone number there? Or is that what is the next step? And there’s some really cool tools I know. And I bet you’ve got a few up your sleeve. But people just started writing this stuff, right? Yes, yes.

LOUISE: Okay. this is one of my best tips for you because it’s going to save you so much time. Basically, there’s software out there, which syncs with your calendar, and it allows people to go in and automatically book in their free discovery call with you. There are two tools, there’s one called acuity scheduling, and there’s one called Callendly, both are fantastic. acuity has a nice integration with Squarespace. 

If you do end up going that route, it’s really nice and easy to hook that up. But basically, someone will go to a page, and then they’re going to select the time that they want to book in your calendar, basically, they’ll type in their name, email, and they will get a confirmation and you will as well. You’ll get an email. And it will say that someone just booked in a free discovery call with you. 

And you will have already determined when your hours are when you’re free to take these calls. And because it syncs with your calendar, then, you know if you booked something else, and you don’t have to worry about someone booking it. And so this is just a fantastic tool, because it completely cuts the whole back and forth, what time works for you? 

It is best for you. So you’re pretty much you’re cutting that out completely.And also for those of us with online businesses, and we’re working with people in different time zones. So on that first step, it also asks them for their time zone and takes care of that headache, which is a huge, huge headache. and problem solved.

STEVIE: That’s awesome. Because I think that really solves that. Because I think a lot of the time, it’s cool, I don’t want to have a website, that’s abortion, but how do I actually get people to call the number on my website, or whatever. And I guess it’s almost realizing that it’s not something that happens straight away. It’s every other type of marketing where you actually need to get people to know you, you trust you actually kind of, you know, provide value upfront. 

And then finally, when they’re kind of at a point where they’re you know, this person knows what they’re talking about when you make an offer, but still not even the final offer. It’s just, let’s have a chat about whatever it is, and then it’s up to you to kind of convert on the front. That’s pretty much the process, right?

LOUISE: That’s basically it. And this just true. Even if you have a service-based business, you have to follow those same marketing principles. And this is going to make things much easier. And then on top of that, once you’ve gone through this process, let’s say, you know, they don’t go ahead with booking a discovery call with you, that’s totally fine. From there, they are on your email list. You can keep in touch with those people. And when you do have more openings, you can reach back out. You’re building up your customer base at the same time.

STEVIE: That is actually one question that I know comes up a lot. What do you do after those emails, and they don’t take the discovery cold, you put them into your weekly, you know, value-based newsletter? Is that what she recommends?

LOUISE: Yep, exactly. I just I would you know, recommend that you keep it simple, just do this one, welcome sequence, have that setup and then after that, they go into your newsletter in case they you know, need more nurturing, they need to get to know you better. Totally still valuable to have them on that list. 

STEVIE: Love it. That is so cool. Okay, so say someone comes to your website, and then not quite ready to opt into the lead magnet? Or is there anything else besides the lead magnet that you need to have on your website in order to convert clients?

LOUISE: Totally, of course, they are. Also, you know, they’re going to be those that aren’t ready for that. And then they’re also going to be those that are just ready to go and straight. buy with you. She’s great. Those customers are fantastic. I definitely think that you need to have a few elements on there that will really help you book clients. 

I think one of the biggest mistakes that people make is they put way too much information on their site. they make it overwhelming for people.clarity is definitely an issue. And then I think people get confused where you know it because it’s your website, it’s kinda is natural to want to talk about you. But you have to reframe it from the perspective of the ideal client. And with each piece of content on their thinking, you know, what’s in it for them? Basically, I would say, do you see that a lot? I see that all the time. 

STEVIE: And I actually made that mistake with my first couple of websites, actually, until I realized the importance of that as well. Do you have any examples around that? Because I think that can be one of those things where people get it, theoretically, but they don’t actually understand in practice, 

LOUISE: For sure.it would be for example, on your About Me page, yes. He just going into a story about you and where you’re from, and where you studied what you’ve done, you know, and it’s a long story. And I absolutely love sharing the personal side as well. And I think that is super important. But it’s more in relation to how you help that person. It’s like, okay, I had this experience, and that is relevant to you. Because XYZ your About Me page is definitely one.

STEVIE: I think the About me pages, the perfect example. I love that you said that because that was exactly me, my first about page was  This is me, this is what I’ve done. And then the way that it’s kind of structured now is it’s still telling a story. But the subtle difference is that it’s almost the transformation this is where I was. 

And this is a copywriting technique, probably more than anything. But this is where I was, this is what changed. This is where well, this is where I am now. And I can help you with the same transformation even as simple as having things testimonials on the about page that support that.

LOUISE: Exactly, that’s one of those things. Such a good point about the testimonials I say those are one of the most important factors on your website. And they need to go everywhere as well. That’s kind of your freebie. opt-in testimonials are another one that I think should go everywhere. 

STEVIE: Do you know, this is completely not website related, Louis, I’m probably putting a little bit but it can be really hard to get the testimonials that actually more than somebody saying, they look great to work with and blah, blah, blah, you know what I mean? 

It can be quite difficult to get, I don’t know, testimonials field website that really lets the word for it, I guess convincing in terms of the way that this structured? Have you found that I didn’t know I really got painful now in terms of the testimonials? Let me know where you were before? Let me know, kind of what you were thinking before you worked with me? And then what the transformation was after 

LOUISE: Totally, 

STEVIE: A lot better than just saying, Oh, you know, they were really great to work with. Thank you very much.

LOUISE: That’s a good point by default, you will often get testimonials that I love Stevie, she’s the best. 

STEVIE: Yeah.

LOUISE: Okay, yes, thank you. But you do need more than that. I do the exact same thing as you I have a questionnaire with very specific questions where I’m trying to pull out basically the quotable moments and it really does need to be very results-driven. So I try and ask them you know, exactly the before and after, okay, what was your biggest problem? How did that get solved? 

Are there any, tangible results from this, you know, for you, you could be Oh, I help this person, increase their Instagram followers by 5000. You know that’s a much stronger testimonial than just the fact that you’re awesome.

STEVIE: Which is totally true. But I actually see coaches, some coaches do this really well, they’ll have an actual page on their website that’s dedicated to proof and praise, and it’s full of Olympic testimonials. 

And I actually need to do that at some point, because I don’t actually, I don’t think I’m good at actually showcasing them and putting them on the website. And especially, you know, if you’re running Facebook ads, and people are coming to your website call then, you know, that’s the difference between them. Having that initial trust in me and not. Right.

LOUISE: Exactly, they are so important. And you know, there are a few different ways you can do this. You can have just quotes from people, you could do a few different case studies as well. We’re giving people more detail about, you know, that particular client situation and demonstrating the before and after,

STEVIE: I think they are effective. I am always(inaudible). 

LOUISE: Yeah.

STEVIE: Yeah.

LOUISE: Same, same. Totally. And especially when you see, you know, those results that people are achieving, you’re Okay, cool, you know, there’s enough people that they’ve helped achieve that. They can definitely help me as well. 

STEVIE: You can put that in your sequence to Hey if that’s awesome.

LOUISE: Definitely. 

STEVIE: Love it. 

LOUISE: Definitely. 

STEVIE: Okay, Is all of this possible to do yourself? I don’t know. It sounds simple. But how do you connect the tech collect? How do you set up email automation? How do you do all of the things? Because if your background is not in this stuff, it can seem overwhelming, honest opinion. Can you do this stuff yourself?

LOUISE: I think I think you totally can have, however, that being said, I did feel that it was a lot faster and easier. I created a step by step program for it, honestly, because of all the different moving pieces. And it’s kind of funny, I teach, I share. So, not I share, I sell a DIY course. Yes, your DIY thing, but I still recommend that you follow the detailed instructions for all the moving pieces so that, you know you’re not stressed out and trying to search for the answers on Google For hours on it. 

STEVIE: Which is literally what I do for the first. I think the first thing that people do when they decide they want to start a website, so they want to start a business? Okay, cool. I’m going to start a website. And then they go down the rabbit hole of trying to build a website. 

This is case study what I did for the first month of deciding I wanted to start a business and I created somehow, managed band together this brochure style looks semi-decent website, I actually will find a screenshot of it and put it in the show night skies, though two versions, that was one that was a red Stevie says Social version. And then there was the new version one was really ugly. And one was Anyway, I digress. But it’s fun.

LOUISE: I can’t wait to see it.

STEVIE: But it was exactly, I live the classic mistakes that you say I don’t have it be a brochure style website, make sure that you put testimonials on that make sure that you have an email automation sequence, but I just didn’t have any of that. But I was proud of it. And you don’t know what you don’t know. Right. I think having a step by step is super helpful.

LOUISE: I was also found, you know, it can be hard to see those mistakes when it’s you, you know, I actually include support in my course that I can go through and I can give them feedback as they’re creating it. 

And then I also put together quite a few hacks as well. The design side can be very difficult when someone just dives in, and they’ve never done it before. I guide with that and try and give them as much as many simple hacks as I can so that they can actually it’s DIY with a bit of help, basically. 

STEVIE: That’s awesome. And guys, if anyone wants to get their hands on Louise’s DIY website, and I think you’re looking at doing it, a sort of it, upgrade option for people that want a little bit more support as well. Head to the current episode, which is steviesayssocial.com/72.t and there’ll be a link for that day our doors open at the moment or closed.

LOUISE: Yes, they are. They are open and when this goes live, I’m going to also have a special live as well.

STEVIE: Ah, love it. Very cool.

STEVIE: Where can people find you if they want to know more about getting their own website or the things? Where can they find you 

LOUISE: Totally you can come and find me at solopreneursidekick.com and also on YouTube at Solopreneur sidekick? I have a ton of free tech tutorials that will get you started that will show you okay yes, I can do this techie stuff in my business. I have over 100 videos now that you can dial 

STEVIE: This is awesome guys. I learned new things every day from your video. Is there so practical? Kudos to you.

LOUISE: That’s sweet. I’m so glad.

STEVIE: Thank you so much for sharing everything, Louise I appreciate it.

LOUISE: Thank you so much for having me again as a second guest on house.

STEVIE: Guys, if you want to check out my disgusting old website if you want the link to Lisa’s course head steviesayssocial.com/72.And if you enjoyed this episode, make sure you subscribe. There’s a series coming on Facebook ads, and next week, subscribe to make sure you notified when that drops and I will see you next week.

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