84. How to transition to an online business
Can you thrive online without breaking the bank? 🏦 Hosts Phil and Lauren know so. In this practical episode, our hosts break down the musts of a successful online business, from conference calls to marketing tactics, so you can transition online with ease. If your business has been affected by recent times, have a listen—and your business might change in a way you never expected.
Episode transcription
Phil
Well, hello, welcome to Brand Therapy, the podcast where we help you position and build and promote your brand. I'm Phil.
Lauren
And I'm Lauren.
Phil
And we are so happy you are here. Today's topic is interesting. You know, on this podcast, we talk about your brands. I use the term brand and business interchangeably. And one of the themes not unique to our conversations, but really all across the internet, as people have scrambled to figure out what to do. One of those topics has been, we've got a business that heavily relies on being together or having people together in real life, how do we transition this thing online?
So we thought it would be good to dedicate an entire episode just the two of us having our casual chats, as we've done more recently, and you listeners have seemed to enjoy it. So we're going to talk about that today maybe some ideas, tips, ways, considerations, examples on how to transition a business that might be more focused on in person engagements, how you can start to do some of those things online. Sound good?
Lauren
I mean, it sounds great to me.
Phil:
Do do you have any initial thoughts on this big, wide open idea?
Lauren
Yeah, I do. So I think as a starting point of discussion, we should talk about why a business might want to transition to online.
Phil
Great.
Lauren:
Well, do you have any preliminary thoughts?
Phil
I do. And I'll just be totally upfront and honest as I normally am. I have been and you have been relatively unaffected by current events related to a international pandemics suffered by the world.
Lauren:
Not even relatively, completely unaffected.
Phil:
In fact, business has actually grown. And I feel weird saying that out loud because it's not something I'm publicizing out of respect for the people who are struggling right now. And I have very close friends that have lost businesses and gone bankrupt. We made this transition. You know, we're lucky, because no one knew that this was coming down the line.
But I think just based on lifestyle choices and efficiencies, which you and I both value, we made the transition online. We've been using Zoom for three years. We don't do meetings in person, because it's inefficient. We both used to live in LA, where people love getting together. Hey, let's get happy hour. Let's meet up in real life. Is that convenient for you? No, it's not to me, for me, because we meet for an hour and you spend two hours in traffic to get to a one hour meeting and literally, you've lost the day. It's the two of us and we've got to run a tight show to be able to accommodate the type of projects we have.
When you think about early March, right? We went into a little bit of a panic mode. We called Brad business advisor, Brad Brad, what do we do? It was like, well, we don't know how businesses are going to be affected by this. We certainly didn't know. But for us, we've had our three best months of business in our history.
So I guess I'm not saying that to brag, but it does sound good out loud. Ah, I'm not saying it to brag, but saying it because unlike a lot of businesses, we've been affected by it. But we have been, I would say one of our initiatives has been to help people who have been affected by it.
I mean, we've had lots of phone calls. We've helped a lot of people navigate these tricky territories. So we've got lots to share today, for some of you that are less clear on how to make that transition.
Lauren
Yeah, so I seriously think that depending on your business, there is complete freedom, if you can give value to people without requiring an office, without requiring a space, and basically, if you can make money with an internet connection and a computer, you will always be able to thrive in uncertain times. And you will still be able to provide value to others. I think that's kind of the ideal situation to strive for.
Phil
And what are some of the hang ups? Why do people think that things need to happen in real life?
Lauren
I don't know.
Phil:
Well, okay, but so we've had a few clients say to us, oh, what do you mean, you're not based in the Chicago area? That's unfortunate, that's where I'm based. What have we said to those people?
Lauren
Well, we say and it's true that we don't have any office and we work completely remotely because it allows us to eliminate unnecessary overhead, keep our prices at a good place and really be as efficient as possible by having more time freed up to work with people around the world.
Phil
I think it's a good answer.
Lauren
Pretty compelling argument if you ask me.
Phil:
Yeah, I think it's a good answer.
Lauren:
And I seriously think that while Zoom can't ever fully replace the in person experience, it sure comes close. It does come really, really close. Modern technology allows you to develop relationships with people without meeting them. And so of course, like meeting someone in person, there's a feeling of their essence and it can be easier to connect with them. But I don't know, I think Zoom comes pretty close, don't you think?
Phil:
Yeah. And I think there is something to be said about Zoom fatigue is now this new coined term, but at the same time, weren't people more fatigued by traffic and commutes? You know, you kind of have to pick your battles. And I think now's the time for creativity. The most important thing is how do you get creative about this.
So there's a few anecdotes and a few stories of speakers, motivational speakers, an audience that we've helped and branded a lot of people. Many people are out of work, because gigs aren't happening in real life. And I've witnessed some interesting pivots and creative pivots and evolutions in this time. Virtual Training has now become something, virtual event. And by the way, it's not an easy, just a simple substitute. There's a lot of work that goes into the technology behind a virtual event. My friend Jenny Melrose coveted her event From in person where people had to literally flights booked in March in two weeks, turned her event from in person to online in two weeks.
And I got to tell you something, the event was amazing. I went to a virtual happy hour with a glass of white wine in hand. We got clients from that event, a shout out to sweet Katie, Sophia. I mean, Amy, I have people in my courses. I met some amazing people at that event, I think my best compliment to Jenny Melrose after the event, I said, I think the online event was just as good as it would have been in person. And that's not an easy feat, because I think there's also a sense that as soon as something becomes online, it feels less valuable. I don't think it's necessarily the truth. But do you have any ideas on how we would address that if someone's trying to address the fact that the online version is not less valuable?
Lauren:
I think that something seems more valuable when there's a set process and consistency. So, if someone was thinking about transitioning their business to be fully online, the first thing that I would recommend is to instill confidence through consistent visuals, clear copy, and a clear process of how to work together or how to buy your product. That to me is the first thing because if someone looks or appears scattered, or disheveled in real life, you question their ability to deliver on what you're thinking of hiring them for, the exact same thing online. If you look put together, if you look crisp, if you've got a clear tone of voice and an easy like way to comprehend and envision yourself working with that person. I just feel like the guesswork is kind of taken out.
Phil
I think so much of this is communication, communicating expectations, process, structure, the more guesswork you can take out of something, the more clarity your customer will have and confidence that you can deliver. That applies to events and to services. I don't know if you have any creative examples of people pivoting to online, but I have one that comes to mind. And I've seen a few people make this pivot. And we even blogged about it right? You and I did a kind of emergency Live back in March and we talked about pivoting and what to do in this tricky time. If anyone wants to watch or listen to that it was a podcast episode that we did live. And it was a live stream that's on our blog, philpallen.co/resources.
But, still my favorite pivot is of someone that you could never imagine it being possible that they could pivot online. And that person is an Olympic athlete, a bobsledder. Is that a word, bobsledder?
Lauren
Sounds right to me.
Phil
Get this, someone who can't physically perform or train, their vocation, their expertise. She created, very early on, an Airbnb, online experience. And it's still alive. It's still there. It's called my Olympic journey from the back of a bobsled. And she's based in LA. Her name is Lauren. And she was a 2018 Olympic medalist and a 2020 world champion in the sport of bobsled. In this experience, which is I think, $35 per person. She has over 100 reviews. Like Is that cool?
She says, here's what you can expect about my life going from board meetings and conference calls to bobsled helmets and Olympic dreams. We'll connect from our homes for introductions, set goals for our time together. She shares her journey. She shows some of the gear. She talks about overcoming adversity. She shows her Olympic medal. She does a q&a at the end. It's so cool. And the reviews are glowing. They're almost over 100 positive reviews from this experience. I mean, isn't that cool?
Lauren
It's incredible. It's so brilliant.
Phil
If she can do this, you can do it, I think. And so it just takes some creativity.
Lauren
Yeah, for sure. I also think that if you can, and really everyone should be able to do this, no matter what their businesses. I think that what you said about communication is so critical. And whether you work with clients or just general customers, I really think to transition online, you need to have Slack or some kind of messenger or a live chat, so that people or your customer feel closer to you.
Phil
Absolutely. And there's tons of apps and technology. I mean, if you weren't using Zoom before this, you certainly are now. But there are other tools again, like I even feel weird talking about them because to me, they're common sense. But for a lot of people they're not.
Maybe we even break down how our setup is and how we use each app. So Zoom is for calls. And by the way, we don't set the expectation that every Zoom call is a video call, our brand audits our video calls, and our first look of brand identities when we're ready to show someone their first concept of their logo, we usually did those as videos. But otherwise we let people know this is audio only. And it doesn't make a big difference for me because I show up in bed head to any call. That's just me. That's not what you're paying for. But what about women who have to put on makeup?
I think it's a courtesy to not expect for every call to be video.
Lauren:
Agreed. I always will ask female clients if they want the call to be video, because especially during the lockdown, women couldn't get their hair done. I was thinking, gosh, if you've got gray hair coming in, and everyone you're talking to is wanting a video call, that's terrible. It can make someone feel really self conscious unnecessarily. So no pressure for video. It is helpful in a special, you know, situation like a brand audit, as you mentioned, Phil, just because you can feel a little closer to the person and see them while they're being vulnerable, but other than that, I don't think video is critical at all.
Phil
I agree. We use Asana as our project management software, and we use a plugin called Everhour which enables contractors and our team members to actually time themselves when working on tasks and they don't send me paper invoices. Instead, I can look at the end of the month and see how much they've worked to pay them accordingly. And that enables us to also report so accurately down to the minute to our clients on where we're at with retainers and project statuses. So those are our go-tos.
Lauren
Oh, one thing I want to add about Asana is that I think it's done wonders for communication within our team, because instead of having to start a formal email every time you want to talk with someone or check in on something, everything is siloed in Asana in a very good way. So I feel it becomes more about the work and less about the kind of dance of working with coworkers. If that makes sense.
Phil
It does.
Phil
So we're talking about transitioning, let's take a little break from that conversation a little pause and let our listeners know what we have for them this week.
Lauren
So this week on the blog, we have really cool and really necessary blog post, in our opinion. It's five nonprofit marketing tips. Now, if you work for a charity or if you even have your own nonprofit, we really compiled our favorite tips of all time so that you can stand out on social media without breaking the bank.
This is also applicable to people who aren't in the nonprofit industry, but just don't really have funds necessarily to invest into social media and branding. So we hope that it'll be a really good resource for our listeners.
Phil
Yes. I think a lot of people are gonna love this blog post. Should we also talk about the course launch?
Lauren
Oh, yeah.
Phil
Okay, so we just launched Instagram Mastery. Honestly, I love this course. I love all of our courses, but this one is special. This is teaching people how to ace all four verticals of Instagram. So we're talking feed, stories, Live and IGTV. Really, almost like you have to think about each one as their own social media platforms. Also, this course took me over 100 hours to make so I'm really proud of how it turned out. And we had a really successful launch last week, we are really super thrilled about this, and I'd love for you to check it out. It is philp.al/instagram and you can use the promo code therapy50 to get 50% off. This course is for everyone. And I think you'll love it.
Lauren
I remember you saying that people with quadruple the Instagram following you have, have purchased this course. So if that's not an indicator that this course is for everyone, I don't know what it is.
Phil:
Yes, there are people that have taken this course that Have more followers than me that have found it to be useful, right? The way that we approach content, the way that we help busy people make sense of this platform and utilize all of the opportunities that exist for people to build, position, and grow their brands. So brand50 will get you 50% off that promo code worked for our podcast listeners, and I hope you check it out.
Lauren
Fantastic.
Phil
Should we get back to our conversation about the transition?
Lauren
Yeah, let's do it.
Phil
Now back to our conversation. I'm just kind of outlining some of these tools, so people can understand how we use them differently. So the next one would be Slack. And we use Slack whenever we need to talk about something. So for example, we wouldn't rely solely on Asana comments on a task, Slack being more like an Instant Messenger is better for when we want to discuss something not only internally.
So with our team, for example, our clients don't have access to our contractors, our designers, website creators, Lauren and I are the points of contact for any kind of project. So we talk to our own team on slack. We also talk to our clients on Slack, we try to get them unless they're radically opposed to the idea. We tried to get them over to Slack on to a Slack channel, a private Slack channel between them and between us. And that's where we show updates where we talk about things. And I love Slack for that reason to be able to use it from a computer to be able to use it from your phone. It's designed really well.
Lauren
Totally, it's the best and it is just, I think anything you can do to eliminate emails is a good thing. So it's just been like a godsend for that reason.
Phil
Why do you think things take so much longer with email? Why would you leave email if people are comfortable over there? I think that the minutes add up. And I think sending an email takes way longer than sending a quick message on Slack.
Lauren
I think there's a formality that you can't shake off an email. Because the tone you write is so important. So if you were to email a client or message a client to check in, on, you know, their brand identity feedback, if you if you don't preface with Hi, hope you're having a nice week, just wanted to check in on this. Like, if you were just gonna be like, do you have any updates on the brand identity feedback, and that was the only email you sent. I feel it could be very problematic and feel pointed. Whereas Slack as a messenger app is more playful, so I think you can just save a lot of time.
Phil:
I agree. Well, we've talked a little bit about the business setup, at least how it works for us. A business has been solely online for years. I'm in Mexico right now. You're in Vancouver, we're literally across the world vertically in North America. Even though this podcast makes it sound like we are sitting together in the same room, we found a way to make it work to be able to work online. What about here's to kind of change course a little bit.
So if we think about businesses that are struggling, I'm probably curious about how to continue gaining momentum online. I think about conferences, yes, conferences can switch to being online. We've talked about how to handle objections to pricing, right? If something's online, people might feel like it's less valuable. How do you address that? What about a charity? So a charity that's used to fundraisers in person that might be getting lost in the shuffle?
So this is an interesting kind of controversial thing to bring up. Right now. The world is in turmoil. You've got obvious charities that come to mind, health organizations, if I think about the UK, I think about the NHS, for example. Right? They're getting a lot of attention at the charity level. Right? So how, what about other organizations that are not immediately representative of current events, discussions? How do they stand out?
Lauren
Well, it's not going to be easy. I think, if you've got compelling data, use that data. So for example, if you're running a cancer research nonprofit, use that data to remind people of the magnitude of the problem you're trying to solve. And if you can't use data, because maybe your charity or nonprofit is more community focused, then use storytelling.
I think really the easiest way to promote your cause is to have guest takeovers with different audiences because then you'll be solving a problem by populating your social media feeds like someone else is basically doing the work instead of you by having a guest, which is great. And then as well, if you've got a guest taking over, then your organization will be exposed to all their audience so you'll be getting broader reach.
Phil:
I think that's so funny. I wrote down unique storytelling opportunities. That's literally my notes. Because if you think about it, charities and businesses, there's always going to be someone bigger and better and richer, and access to more resources. You know, there's always going to be someone bigger. So competition is different, right? Because now if you're online, geography isn't a unique factor, right? It doesn't really matter where you are physically. So the competition is differ and there's always going to be bigger players.
So this is kind of where niching down is important and telling a different story is important. You don't want to just piggyback from someone bigger, or try and copy someone else, because imitators are never going to be better than the originator. Right? Focus on unique storytelling opportunities, work with what you have is your point, right? Don't try and reinvent the wheel.
But just take a minute and go, what do we have? We don't have data. Maybe we have some case studies of lives that have really been affected positively by our work. Get a picture of that person, get them on Zoom and record it. I don't care what you got to do, but tell that story in a compelling way.
Imagine you have children, right, and it's bedtime story time. You want your child to fall asleep, but at the same time you want them to enjoy your story. How do you tell that story? What are the conventions you follow to grab their attention and keep them interested, you know, that's kind of like storytelling at a very basic level that we can all relate to as, like a young person. How do you keep someone interested, compelled, engaged? I'm always telling people, when you stop and notice something, I need you to not just operate like a consumer and go, Oh, this is nice and keep scrolling.
I need you to notice that you notice them, be a marketer, be a savvy marketer, when something stops you in your tracks. It could be an ad, it could be a social media post. You know what I do, I save it, either take a screenshot of it and put it in a folder in a platform like Dropmark, or on Facebook, you can actually save posts.
So for example, I spent five minutes looking at a Facebook ad this morning and then clicking on the landing page. I wasn't about to buy it, but I saved it because I thought you know what, this guy grabbed my attention or this girl grabbed my attention. I'm going to reference this when I need to write my next Facebook ad. Notice you noticing things.
And I think just my last point on this, is technology will always change and evolve. But storytelling, the human component of this will never change, it will never change. So that's what you really need to lean on.
Lauren:
Couldn't agree more.
Phil:
I guess there's also an argument here that geography, yes, it used to be a unique or, you know, a common thread that might connect people. But it's also kind of exciting that it's not a limiter anymore, either. Geography won't limit you. Maybe there were people who couldn't come to your event before, because of the time or because of the geography and the need to travel.
Maybe brands need to be expanding their horizons, and maybe it is a less expensive offering slightly, since there is that thing of, oh, well, if it's online, it's not quite as valuable even though I disagree with it. Maybe you consider that in the pricing of your offering product or service you bring down the price slightly, but know that you can cast a wider net now. I don't know, that's food for thought.
Lauren
You know, it might sound like I'm angry, but it's not. I'm passionate. I think that it's so easy when you're marketing to think about all the things you want to say. It's like, what do we want to communicate? What do we want to blast out? What is it that we want to say? And people don't think about what others want to hear? And that to me is the real that's I get so mad. When I check my inbox, and I have brands that I love, blasting me with information that I can tell was them checking off a list and not thinking about what me as the subscriber wants to see, or what I might find interesting, can be really off putting.
So something that I would just really encourage people to think about is, pay attention to what your audience is responding to. If you're going to DMS, read those DMS and really, really take them to heart and think about what the audience wants from you, not what you want to say.
Phil:
It's a really good point. And I think it's a good reminder, because we get a little bit caught out, especially in moments of vulnerability and scariness and change. We get a little bit too caught up in our heads, our own heads, like what do we want? What do we need to survive? The minute you flip it over and make it about them, that's when you have the basis for a really strong, compelling argument, product or service. And at that point, right, when you start to communicate for them and their needs, even advertising might not even be necessary.
Lauren:
Totally.
Phil
I can't believe we've talked for almost half an hour already. Time flies when you're having a fun little conversation. I'm super curious to hear what you listener are thinking in this moment of time. I know we've kind of given a little throw down of our perspective on this. We've talked about tech, we've talked about different types of businesses, some creative examples of taking your business from in person to online. We'd love to hear from you. Yes, you. You've taken the time to listen to us. We would love to hear from you. We're on social media, I’m @philpallen.
Lauren:
I'm @thelaurenmoore.
Phil
#brandtherapy to continue the conversation. And if you've enjoyed this episode, let us know. Some of you, shout out to Louise, sent me a message yesterday and said, “Phil, I love this week's podcast episode” and I love when you love our episodes. Send us a DM to let us know you're listening. If you enjoyed this as well, it would help us a lot if you head over to the iTunes Store and leave us a five star review because it helps other people discover this podcast that we work really hard to make.
We appreciate you listening. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this. If you've made any kind of pivots or evolutions of your brand in these difficult times, we'd love to hear about it. And, you know, we'll be back with a new episode next week.
Phil:
Thanks for hanging out with us right here on Brand Therapy. I'm Phil.
Lauren:
And I'm Lauren and we will be back with you soon.
