Master Modern Marketing Podcast - Marketing Audit & Coaching Call, Featuring Clint Clarkson, Founder of eLearning Alchemy

In today's episode, we speak with Clint Clarkson, Founder, eLearning Alchemy. 

The purpose of this episode is to conduct a marketing audit of eLearning Alchemy and have a live coaching call with Clint. We discuss the many things that are great with his business, and the opportunities for improvement. 

Below is a summary of the marketing audit and live coaching call: 

Strengths: Website, social, and promotion:

1) Comic - The L & D Comic Series is outstanding. We are most impressed that Clint tested various marketing tactics for 5-week periods to test what resonated best with his market. It was the 5th comic in the 5 comic series where he noticed a surge in engagement. He committed to doing 5 more and as they say, the rest is history. Comic #100 is complete and being released shortly.

2) Podcast - The eLearning Podcast is a long-form style of content where Clint can go deep into e-Learning strategies and share his philosophies. Podcasting is a long-game strategy but this has a lot of potential as the company grows.

3) Thought leadership - Though Clint doesn't see himself as a thought leader, through his speaking and social media presence he has positioned himself as an expert and someone that can facilitate discussion and engagement.

4) Linkedin - Clint has amassed close to 14,000 followers on LinkedIn. While the exact number of followers isn't important, the fact that he is building an audience is significant.

In many cases, creating content is easy, it is finding a message and medium that resonates with the market that is the challenge. Clint is in the enviable position of having high engagement plus a large audience

5) Twitter presence - Similar to our comments with LinkedIn, Clint has a strong presence on Twitter and has many engaging discussions and Twitter chats to date. 

Opportunities for Improvement:

1) Website Technical Overview (speed/content, etc.):

NOTE: As of recording this podcast, Clint's website wasn't completed but it was within one week of being live. 

• HubSpot Website Grader: https://website.grader.com/results/elearningalchemy.com
• GT Metrix - https://gtmetrix.com/reports/elearningalchemy.com/vCWb6iXI
• Website speed is critical

• Compress EVERY image on your site. Use free tools like www.tinypng.com.
• Use no image sliders. Period. 
• Use compression optimization plugins. See the top 5 plugins.
• Delete unused plugins. They are not necessary and add weight to your site.   

2) Analytics: 

• Add Facebook Pixel (Read this for sure Hootsuite blog post). You will need a Facebook ad account but you don't need to run adds until you are ready. 
• Ensure Google Analytics is installed

• Add conversion tracking Read https://optinmonster.com/google-analytics-101-how-to-track-your-conversions-step-by-step/

• Funnelytics - This is a FREE campaign mapping tool, and it is very helpful for mapping out your marketing strategy. 

3) Lead Prospecting: 

• Sales Navigator - This tool can be helpful to target the right type of prospects. Learn more from LinkedIn here.
• You are going to need some sort of CRM email mgmt. system. Farmers Marketing uses HubSpot's growth suite. It gives you a lot of functionality at a reasonable price for a small business. https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/growth-suite. Click on 'starter'. Many of the tools they offer, such as their CRM, are free. 

4) Campaign Set-up

• Jeff Walker's 21-day Launch Formula - One this I really like about the Product Launch Formula is it teaches you how to treat new initiatives, campaigns, products, or services, like a big deal. If you published a book you wouldn't just float it out there. You would have a full launch campaign. This strategy can be applied in many areas of your business. 
• Build your 'value ladder'. Where do leads become customers? Is there a clear path that a prospect would take? What would they buy first? What would they buy next? Etc. 

5) Overall Philosophies:

• The Googles and Facebooks of the world, want to provide a positive experience for their users. At a high level, those that run good businesses and provide what the market wants, get rewarded (more exposure and lower overall advertising costs). 
• Don't ever try to trick Google, Facebook, or the market. 
• Always ask 'Who Cares?'. If the answer is no one, then don't communicate it. Find a way to get people to care or find ones that do. For example, doing a month of native LinkedIn videos could be tiresome if they are sales pitches, but, if they are filled with fun and insightful commentary on a specific comic, for example, people likely would care. 
• What does your brand stand for and what do you offer the world? Do your website and everything you create clearly communicate that? Check out Building a Brand Story by Donald Miller. It is an excellent book that will walk you through challenging yourself about what your business stands for. 
• Website promotion - Outside of announcing it is new, most, if not all people, won't care. In short, promoting your new website just highlights what you have to offer, and doesn't speak to your client's pain points - unless there is some new functionality that is really valuable to them.

If you enjoyed the Master Modern Marketing podcast, please subscribe, rate and review the show.

You can also keep in contact with the show sponsor, Farmers Marketing, at www.FarmersMarketing.ca, or www.facebook.com/farmersmktng.

To be a guest on the Master Modern Marketing podcast, and get a FREE marketing audit and LIVE coaching call, please apply HERE!