Happy Wednesday my Fabulous Fashionistas!
♮“Through this journey of discovery In finding you and finding me…”♮
Ever seen the show Half And Half? I watched that show religiously when it was on air and just loved that theme song and its fitting because today’s post is certainly about a journey of discovery and finding you, my follower.
I’m so excited to share with you today my journey through the Traffic Secrets Challenge. This is a sponsored conversation but I’m so incredibly grateful for the experience and I hope you keep on reading.
So I was asked to be part of the Russell Brunson Traffic Secrets Challenge. If you don’t know who Russell Brunson is he is a serious marketing guru and in his new book Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers he shares some major direct marketing techniques that will allow you to grow your dream followers, be ahead of the pack and see opportunities where others don’t. He has built his brand on sharing with folks, like you and me, how to master evergreen traffic strategies to reach your dream audience.
As a blogger and content creator I, of course, want my content to be seen... and by lots of people. But not just any people, the right people, who excited about fashion, and sustainable fashion and shoes and coffee. We can’t forget the coffee. Lol. But I, like many content creators, have struggled to find that “secret sauce” to see the growth and engagement we would like to see.
The goal, I think, of any influencer, no matter the platform, is to meet the needs of their followers. Yes, I love fashion but I also like to think that you do too. I mean you could go anywhere on the web but you take time to stop by my blog. I want you to enjoy your visit.
This challenge came at a time where, with all that has been going on, I feel that having a platform is much more that showing you beautiful clothes (though I will still do so) but to use my voice and share myself more as well. Where I have always struggled as an influencer and blogger is deciding how much of my voice I should share with you. What if you don’t like it? What if I lose a follower? What if what I say exposes one of my vulnerabilities?
But what Russell says in Traffic Secrets is “I believe that the people who are willing to discuss their journeys instead of trying to front themselves as the “next big thin” are going to win”. I want to win, don’t you? A win for me is my words and content helping someone else. Because ultimately someone will see themselves in my journey and that is what they will be drawn to and follow me.
What this journey through the Traffic Secrets Challenge has taught me is that I started writing this blog looking for a community. It started out, in 2014, as a community of people who loved shoes as much as I do. Now, in 2020, I’m still looking for shoe lovers but as my life has evolved so has my need and the needs of my community. And I can’t attract my dream community if I’m muting my voice. Because in truth I’m part of my dream community.
In the book, Russell says to have a clear vision of who your audience is and pass everything through that perspective. He even says name them. So my dream follower is named Simone and she is a working mom on a budget who loves to shop and wants to be on trend but doesn’t want to constantly hear her husband’s mouth about how much she spends on clothes. She wants to be eco-conscious but it has to be budget-friendly.
During the Traffic Secrets Challenge, Russell charged me (through the book of course) with reaching out to my audience, my Simone, and asking you what do you want and need from me. And I did. Through this exercise it has become quite clear that my pivot to discussing sustainable fashion was and is what you want from me.
I began the pivot to discussing sustainable fashion subtly on the blog not because I became a sustainable fashionista on purpose. It was out of necessity. I was in debt, didn’t have a lot of cash, had been evicted from my apartment and living with my parents so most of my clothes were in storage. I still had a lot of baby weight on from having my son so most of the clothes I had with me no longer fit and as I neared the end of my maternity leave I needed new work clothes. One of the only places that had clothes that were of good quality that I could afford was an online consignment thrift shop where I spent under $50 buck and got 3 outfits, including a pair of shoes, that I wore and re-styled on repeat.
In the process of that I started to learn more about consignment and sustainable fashion and how the consignment space had made sustainability in fashion more affordable. As a mom to two littles I wanted to do my part to leave them a world that is safe for them to not just live in but thrive in. But I also didn't have alot of money so it had to fit into my budget. And through this challenge I learned you affordable, sustainable fashion to so… sustainable fashion is here to stay along with supporting women owned and Black owned businesses, continuing to talk about shoes, mental health and wellness and coffee. Did I mention coffee?
One of the biggest problems that most bloggers and content creators face isn’t creating amazing content. We work really hard to create engaging stories, share incredible pictures and introduce you to amazing brands. The struggle is getting their future followers to discover that they even exist. The biggest complaint I hear in the Facebook groups I’m in is around building followers and engagement since the algorithm has changed and its because we don’t understand this one essential skill: the art and science of getting our followers to find us.
In Traffic Secrets, this translates to knowing where my followers are, being where they are and building relationships with them. And for a long time my relationship with my followers has been surface - more focused on transactions not wanting to reveal my whole self - lest you don’t like me. That strategy has hurt my growth in many ways.
But you live and you learn (and then you get Luvs. Sorry I couldn’t resist a mom joke lol). So look at this as a the beginning of a courtship as I learn more about you and you learn more about me. And as I share more of my journey with you and I learn more about what you need my hope is that we will grow together and have something special.
Its so interesting how things often things fall into place. Right at the time where I wrote the post Releasing my Voice, and nervous about its potential reception, the Traffic Secrets Challenge came to me. Reading Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers has confirmed and affirmed for me that you can’t let fear stop you, Russell Brunson and his success is proof of that. The fact of the matter is that I need to be more open with my followers and to use my platform to speak to things that are a pain point for me because it is most likely a pain point for you too. It just so happens that in the process of doing that, along with the other strategies Russell outlines, I’ll build my dream community. I’m excited.
Happy Shopping!
Your Friend,
The Fabulous Shoe Maven
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Russell Brunson.
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