Hi podcast fam. I'm so excited for today's episode. Oh my goodness. I got a really awesome question in my DM. And I was like, Ooh, I have to create an episode on this because I know if one person in my communities asking this man, Are wondering this. And so she had asked me, Michelle, I would love your thoughts on the current buying market. I feel like it's harder this year than it has been before and people aren't buying at least. That's what I think, curious what your thoughts are. And I was like, Ooh, this is so juicy. So we're going to dive right in and I'm going to give you guys today, the marketing trends that are happening right now. In marketing in the online space and things to be aware of and things to start implementing into your business, to stay up with the marketing trends, because here's the thing we work in the digital space. Things evolve and they evolve quickly. And so it's up to us to stay up on the, up and up. And I I'll be so transparent. You guys, the way in which business runs these days is so different than last year is so different than the year before, even five years ago, when I started my business, it is so different. Yes. Post about selfie and like get clients from that. It doesn't work like that anymore. And, well, I don't believe it's harder. I do believe it's just grown and buyers are buying differently and that's the reality of it. And so we're going to break that down today. It's going to be so good. Get ready. Get your notebooks. If you're driving. Doing stuff in the kitchen, you can't get your notebook, come back to this episode and jot these things down because it's going to be so good. And ultimately, if you want more buyers, you want more people in your world. You want things to feel easier. We're going to want to start to implement these things. So first and foremost, something that's huge in marketing is having an online committee. Not just people that are watching you, but a community, something that your people feel a part of. And I don't mean like that. You have to have a Facebook community. That's a place to start. But even with your Instagram, if Instagram is the only place that you're marketing, we want to be intentional about people wanting to be there, feeling like they're a part of something with you. And I think what many of us can get caught up in is making our Instagram. This place that's just about us, but really it's a we thing. It's an us thing. And if you were to watch me closely on Instagram, whether you do or not, you're listening here, chances are that you are. If you're not, you can follow me at Michelle Harshman and it's to send me a message. I want to connect with you and welcome you to my community. The biggest thing is it's a wee thing. And you guys hear me say that on the podcast, this podcast, isn't about me. It's about us. We're in this to get there. This is you guys are my community and I love you. And I say these things one, because they're true. And they're from the bottom of my heart, but two, I want you to feel like you're a part of something, whether you ever invest in me or not, I care about you and your business and your growth, and I'm here for you. Do you see how that has you feeling? And you trust me because I care about you because each and every one of you listening is a human being. And I care about you. And therefore I'm very intentional about cultivating a true community of people that want to be here. And therefore, I invite you to do the same because online communities are huge. We want to give people a reason to want to be in your world, but more importantly, we want them to feel like they're a part of something. And this takes intention on our end. It takes a lot of intense. And so I'm going to go over a couple of places. You can do this first. If you have a Facebook community, disclaimer, as I said, you don't need one. I have one, you guys know this, I'll pop the link in the show notes so you can join there. I am in there every single day, post and value. I do live Q and A's every single month is it's a fun time in there. If you don't have one, you don't need one. But if you do have a Facebook community, the biggest thing I will say is nurture the hecka. For some reason, we feel like if we create something, then we're owed something, but we're not owed anything. We have to give a reason for people to want to be there. It's not up to our community to converse with us. It's not up to them to hold the vibe of the community. It's up to you, the leader, and the moment you realize how much power you have in that, you'll actually be better at cultivating a community that people actually want to be a part of. So inside of a Facebook group, the content and you showing up, it's gotta be const. It's gotta be constant and it can't be just about you. I would be very intentional about giving value and give your people what they want, solve their problems. Show up in their post, the answers to their questions. Go live, give value, be real, be open, be vulnerable. Share your story, share your truths, ask them for feedback on things and listen, listen to your community. When they give you feedback and create from. And tell them that the community's theirs and show up for it with so many of us do. We're like, ah, I created this community and no one's showing up. So I'm just not going to do anything about. Well building a real solid community of people that are like, I love being here and I feel safe and supported, and I just like want to be in your world, takes intention and time, but it starts with you cultivating and creating that safe space for your people. Another way to do this outside of Instagram is podcast. If you've been wanting to start a podcast, follow the nudge, literally follow the nudge. I had wanted to start this podcast for, for. And like now four years later, four or five years later now I started it and I wish I kept saying, I wish she would have started it sooner, but this was the perfect timing. This was when I was meant to start it. Right. But right now, if you've been wanting to start a podcast, I highly recommend creating one because the value that you can give your community on a podcast is endless. I am like every single time I recorded, I am so excited to give you guys like the most value and it like lights me up. So never be afraid to create the things you ultimately want to create. When I say never be afraid, I don't mean it's not going to be scary launching this thing. There was fear and there was uncertainty and unknown, but it's mine and it's yours and it's ours. And now there's this beautiful community here where you can come and learn and be in my world whenever you choose to. And that's an amazing thing. Therefore, my communities continually grow. And when it comes to podcasting, we want to give people a reason to come back. So this is where make it super valuable. Give them the answers to their questions and our problems. Do fun giveaways, build your community. And when it comes to Instagram, if Instagram is where your marketing right now, and you don't have any other platforms, that's fine. It doesn't like you don't need a hundred platforms. I don't believe that you do. I want you to be intentional with your Instagram and really be mindful that it's not just about you, because if it is just about you, then I'm probably not going to feel a part of a community. And you're just someone that I'm kind of watching. If I'm choosing to stay and watch you. And this is where have fun with your community, ask their feedback on business and life thing. TV shows food, fashion, whatever it is about you that you want to share and open up to them, do fun. Question boxes, share them anonymously, be intentional and give them a reason to want to be there. And again, value solve their problems in your content. I will never be somebody that says, like, don't share everything. I'm like share everything, give all the value because when you're solving people's problems in your content, No matter where you're sharing it, even in your emails, it doesn't matter where you're sharing it. And like, holy crap, she just gave me so much for free. A Metro is like to hire her. No, give it, give it. Many of you are here because you know, I'm going to give you the truth and I'm not going to hold back because I want you to have that for free because you're a part of my community. And I love you. And I want to see you succeed. Whether you ever invest in me or not, you guys know this about me. So you keep coming back. It's intention. So be really intentional about caring for your people. Having conversations with them, replying to people. When people DM, you answer them, have conversations. I said this in my program, I'm in, if you're not in there, literally that programs all about cultivating community that always buys. We dive into this on such a deep level. You can DM me for the link. That program is now positive. It is such a good program. What I had said inside of that program was that when it comes to your community, the intentionality behind it will change everything. When you're intentional about cultivating something beyond just you. You will be amazed at what happens when you actually think about your people and you think about they want what they want and why they're there. Yes. Selling is serving, sell all the things I'm not saying to not sell while doing this, always sell we're here to make money, of course, but also being intentional about where your people are watching you and like, why would they want to come back? Give people a reason to want to come back. Include them. Next thing, when we think about marketing live video and webinars and audio. This is kind of self-explanatory, but this isn't going anywhere when it comes to marketing. I mean, you guys see the app. Do you see Tik TOK? You see the reels stories, like stories on Instagram and Facebook. I don't really use my Facebook stories. Just want to be transparent here. I don't really use my public Facebook for business, but when it comes to stories, that's the number one way that people are consuming content still, still, that's still number one. And so audio is huge. Live video is huge. Webinars are huge audio converts, plain and simple. So when we learn from you live, we feel like we know you more and there's room for human error and non perfection, which as the consumer brings my guard down, when you're not perfect and you don't have your shit together, I'm like, Ooh, I connect with you. So many of my new clients have come from the podcast. And that is literally just proof that you guys are connecting with me because now you're hearing me so much and you can hear my flaws and the realness. And I mess up on my words and I I'm human just like you. And therefore we connect on such a deep level because of the audio happening here. So give this to your community, the real news. And start to connect with them on a deeper level B. So excuse my language. So fucking yourself and unapologetically messy when you're on video. And this is huge when it comes to creating a community and cultivating a community that always buys cause they'll connect with you because you're so authentic and real, they won't be able to help themselves, but love you and want to come back. So audio. Is huge. The next one is improving content experience. You guys have heard me say this before post with purpose, post with intentionality. And I always like to say, I might be going against the grain of what you may have heard, but I'm going to stick to it. I always like to say less is more and don't just post a post. I think it's important to be consistent. Um, social media, for sure. You guys know where to find me, you know, where I'm at, you know how to consume my content. That's on purpose. I want to be intentional about that and the same for you. But with digital marketing evolving, we do want to be mindful of the content we're creating with intention visuals. Now. More than ever photos, branding, infographic stories, story slides, it matters. And it's going to continually matter when it comes to content experience and we as consumers have more control than ever of what we consume. Right. We have the access to pop-up blockers, the mute button, the ability to just swipe and click off of you. So create content with intention and always think about the content experience of what you're sharing. This is really important when it comes to mind. The next one is repurposing content across channels. Repurposing is gold and you've probably heard to repurpose before, but we can all be better at this myself included. And the more I as a consumer hear consistent message this stems back to me, one associating you with your core message. But to now there's another thing that's like, ah, like when I, when I really think about the problem I'm sitting and I know Michelle can be the one to solve. You decide what I know you for. So by repurposing content and all different ways, this allows me to continue seeing you and also allows me to associate you consistently with what you do and what this does too. When you repurpose it extends the longevity of your content, which is a beautiful thing. You don't have to keep cranking out new content like repurpose. The next one is value. I just said this earlier. I have said to my clients before, like I will continually drill those into people until they're blue in the face, because value is king value and solving the problem of what your dream client is sitting in in your content will always put you ahead. And your people and new people will always be. Because for free, you're giving so much value and they will pay more just to be in your world and have the support and accountability to now implement. I'll give you guys an example in my Facebook community, highly recommend getting inside of there. I have many women that have joined my coaching and offers because they've consumed so much of my free content in particular live trainings inside of that group, whether they watch them live or they just joined the group and they were able to find them and connect. There are now like Michelle was like, I know, you know what you're doing, and I've gotten so much from your free trainings. Like, I just want to be in your world. I will like you. And this is a thing like that. Not many people talk about when people like you, they will buy from you. So be yourself, give to us, give the value, solve the problems. I'm kinda like you more. And I'm not going to feel like you're just out here for yourself, which is part of cultivating a community. It's us it, do we, your people, I don't care how many people are watching your stories or liking your posts. We're not talking about vanity metrics. If there are people. And I know that there are, there are people watching you consistently show up for them, show up for them. And next is no vague marketing when it comes to. Marketing and wanting more people to buy. Please stop being vague in your marketing. It is not helping your community or yourselves. When we say things like it's going to be magnificent and magical. I, as the consumer have no idea what that means. I'm going to shoot you straight. I love those words and our industry loves, loves picking up words and like attaching to. It happens all the time. I'm sure you guys are aware of this. You see buzzwords happening in our industry, but here's the thing. If you just tell me about it's magical, your program is magical DMU to join or link in my bio. I'm like, I have no idea what that means. And these are words they're fine to use. I'm not saying that you can't use these words, but I want you to go deeper. I need as the consumer, I need to know what the results. How much proximity do I get with you as the client? What's the framework, what's the problem. It solves. I need to know these things to buy your people, want to know these things. So stop being vague and be clear and explain your offers. And then the last one is vulnerability and being real, which we touched on a little bit, and this kind of goes without saying. But it's trending. Let's be real. It's trending more than ever with the digital marketing marketing space growing. We want to connect with hue. Men's we want real raw, authentic. I want you to say the truth, things that most people aren't saying, and this is going to create massive connection with your community and something. I always like to ask my. And my clients and feel free to write this down and use this in your content. What are you not saying? And what are you avoiding saying and sharing because that's going to be juicy. That's going to be juicy content, and that's also going to differentiate you at word. It was hard for me to say, that's also going to differentiate you. There we go from the masses, from the people in your niche, because you're gonna be different. You're not gonna sound the same as ever. And as I've said on a previous episode, like if you're feeling like you're sounding like everyone mute, use that mute button, stop consuming so much and get in touch with yourself, your realness, what you're here to do, what you believe in, because I'm sure it's different than what other people think. And this will be huge for standing out and having people come to you and being different. This is huge. And mark. So this is the top things that I'm seeing in marketing right now that have shifted a bit and things to be mindful of. It's always evolving and something. I always say to my clients, I don't want to pour this into you. When you see something working in your marketing, people are reaching out. People are applying from something. You did note that that's data. And that's really powerful because now you know who, when I did this or when I said this, or when I posted about this, this worked, it worked so compound. What's working. What we tend to do is we don't keep track of these things. And then we like keep trying all these other things. And I'm not saying to not try new things, but here's the thing when you know, something worked. Do it again and again and again, and replicated because if your people are responding to it, they'll continue to respond to it. And that's really important when it comes to selling and marketing and just understanding your consumers. We as business owners want to understand our consumers and how they move and what makes them move. So this is really important. And last thing, you guys already know this, but I'm gonna tell you because it's really. If you're not in my Facebook community, I highly recommend that you join it. The wealthy, sustainable, and scalable entrepreneur. And I'm going to link it. As I mentioned earlier today in the show notes, you can also get access to it from the bio and my Instagram, or you can search it on Facebook and you can join so much value in there. And that's the place where I'm really taking feedback and asking questions for what you want me to record on this podcast here. As you guys know, this is your community. This is your pod. And I'm going to show up for you. And lastly, I did just say lastly, but lastly, lastly, PPS, you guys know there's a giveaway happening right now. If you share the podcast on your stories, wireless. And when you're done listening and tag me, this enters you into when our next giveaway of a 30 minute one-on-one coaching call, which is insane. This is $500 plus value. And the more you share, the more points you get, and I will be announcing the winner in the next couple of weeks. I cannot wait to see you in the next episode.