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EP 205: What’s Working In Traffic & Analytics With Rita Barry

The Nitty-Gritty:

  • Why Rita Barry chose to focus on helping clients understand the numbers when it comes to their website traffic
  • The mistakes small business owners make that prevent them from taking advantage of the information they have
  • The first step Rita takes with every new client
  • Why Rita maps the customer journey and how it helps her make recommendations to clients
  • What Rita looks for when she opens up her clients’ Google Analytics dashboards

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Let’s cut to the chase: how confident are you in your ability to understand what’s going on with your website traffic?

When was the last time you even logged into Google Analytics or your stats dashboard? Do you know where your traffic is coming from and what traffic sources produce the most email subscribers or sales?

Do you know what blog posts bring in the most revenue? Do you know what social media platforms actually drive traffic to your website (or just which ones you think drive traffic)? Do you know the process a new customer goes through from the moment they hit your website to the moment they make a purchase?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions, dear listener, you’re not alone.

The truth is that I don’t know the answers to most of these questions, either. I have a good idea of where our traffic comes from and how new subscribers get on our email list.

But I could be doing a lot more to equip myself with the knowledge I need to make better decisions and smarter investments.

Today, I’ve got a special interview with Rita Barry.

Rita is the founder of a marketing agency that specializes in helping their clients understand the metrics and analytics behind their businesses so they can make the most of the information they have.

As with the rest of our “What’s Working” series, instead of asking Rita what works for her, I ask what’s working as she helps her clients navigate the world of conversion rates, website traffic, sales funnels, and buyer journeys.

Rita and I talk about how to approach Google Analytics (hint: it’s not a Magic 8 ball), how she chooses what metrics to track for her clients, and why she focuses on mapping the customer journey in every client engagement. Plus, we also unpack a lot of the shame and overwhelm can come along for a ride when you dig into your numbers.

Have you made an important decision in your business because you got real with the numbers? Have you discovered a new opportunity right under your nose when you examined your traffic, profit margin, or conversion rate? We want to hear about it!

Share your story on Instagram and tag me, @tara_mcmullin and use the hashtag #explorewhatworks.

Now, let’s find out what’s working in traffic and analytics!

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EP 299: How To Design Your Own Sales System

EP 299: How To Design Your Own Sales System

This week, I’ve got 4 more stories to share with you from small business owners who have intentionally done things their own way when it comes to sales and selling. They’ve found what truly works for them–even if it bucks the prevailing wisdom or would make a bro marketing expert role his or her eyes.

These stories come from business coach Ashley Gartland, marketing expert Amy Lippmann, designer Mel Richards, and work reinvention coach Lydia Lee.

Listen for how they incorporated these same considerations into finding their own unique sales systems. They designed their systems with personal values, strong relationships, reduced anxiety, and agency in mind.

EP 298: Creating A Less Harmful Sales System with Wanderwell Founder Kate Strathmann

EP 298: Creating A Less Harmful Sales System with Wanderwell Founder Kate Strathmann

This show is called What Works for a reason.

Sometimes it’s a declaration: this is what worked for this small business. And often, it’s a question, “What works?”

Today’s episode is very much a question, many questions, really:

What works when it comes to selling when you want to avoid manipulative or exploitative practices?

What works when your values conflict with many of the best practices of selling online but you still want people to buy your stuff?

What works when it comes to sales in a business that is actively anti-racist and anti-capitalist?

And even more bluntly: Can you even sell things without causing harm or perpetuating harmful systems?

My friend Kate Strathmann is the founder of Wanderwell, a bookkeeping and consulting firm that grows thriving businesses while investigating new models for being in business.

Recently, Kate took a bit of a detour from how she’s used to building her business, which is 90% referral based and fueled by deep relationship- and community-building. She decided to offer a small group program called the Equitable Business Incubator as a way of exploring anti-capitalist business practices and how they apply to the small businesses we’re building.

To fill the program, Kate need to sell differently.

Which led her to asking the question: Can you even sell things as a anti-capitalist?

While that might not be your specific question, I have a feeling that you too have wondering how you can effectively sell your offers without causing harm, perpetuating harmful systems, or damaging relationships. And that’s why I knew Kate and I needed to explore this topic on the show.

This is a conversation about what a kinder, less harmful sales process could look like—and it probably contains more questions than answers. But I’m confident those questions can help you find the answers that are right for you and the sales system that you want to build to make your business stronger.

We start out by defining what we’re really talking about when we talk about capitalism and anti-capitalism. Then, Kate shares how the Equitable Business Incubator came to be and how she ended up selling it. And then we dig into what makes many of the sales formulas and best practices being taught today problematic—and how to think differently to create your own alternative practices.

Now, let’s take a look at what works for creating less harmful sales systems!

EP 297: Selling A New Program With Proof To Product Founder Katie Hunt

EP 297: Selling A New Program With Proof To Product Founder Katie Hunt

Today’s guest is Katie Hunt—who is a member of the former group and serves the latter group.

Katie is the founder of Proof To Product, which helps creative entrepreneurs run and grow thriving product-based businesses. She works with designers, illustrators, and artists to help them develop in-demand product lines and get them sold in stores all over the world.

Not long after the pandemic threw her business and the industry she serves for a major loop, Katie and her team launched Proof To Product Labs to provide a completely digital, ongoing support opportunity for business owners when they needed it most.

And that launch was a smash.

Katie and I get into all of the nuts and bolts of how she adjusted the offer to meet the moment and how she warmed up her audience before the campaign, as well as the exact mix of emails, podcast ads, and social media content she used to sell the offer when it went live. We also talk about how she sees the sales system evolving in the future and how the offer has been received now that people are using it!

What Works offers in-depth, well-researched content that strips away the hype of the 21st-century economy. Whether you love the podcast, the articles, or the Instagram content, we’d love your support.