How To Create A Marketing Offer That Works: Rachel Miller - AI and Traffic Strategy

Speaker 1 0:05

this is the beyond the story podcast , a show that goes way beyond the story . And now sebastian rachel . Welcome to the show .

Speaker 2 0:26

Thank you so much , Sebastian . It's great to be here .

Speaker 1 0:28

It's great to be here . It's great to have you . It's great to be here . It's great to be here too , on my own show . It's great to have you here . I know we were trying to figure out where we initially connected . So , for our listeners' sake , rachel and I met earlier this morning at Starbucks .

Speaker 1 0:40

We wish it's always this big mystery of this , because we're in this hyper connected world of social media , which kind of sucks because , um , and you interact so often in a profile you kind of forget where did that start yes , yes , exactly , but uh , you posted , uh the other day that you were looking to get on podcast , and as frequently as I like to joke that no one cares that you're looking to get on podcast , you actually did really well with that post , so I retract my statement from the record there , because you said you booked like 100 interviews with just that post on here .

Speaker 2 1:20

We booked over 100 . We're doing like seven a day right now . It's insane . But yeah , we're trying to raise SEO . So one of the things people don't realize is that with podcasting , like you teach people how to do podcasting , so you know the amazing gift it is to be on a podcast or to host a podcast , because you get SEO juice and we're starting a new business and we need incoming links to my business . So typically I don't like do a lot of podcasts Cause I'm like been there , done that , like you know that's I don't own my own , so it's kind of like that world's a different world , if that makes sense .

Speaker 1 1:55

And so I tried to own my own .

Speaker 2 1:57

I have my family . I couldn't , I couldn't manage it . Maybe I need somebody like you to help me , but anyways , um .

Speaker 1 2:02

I did your words .

Speaker 2 2:04

Yeah , my words , my words . Okay , if you're thinking about starting a podcast , do not try to do it on your like I did . I flashed and burned . It was great podcast . We got lots of people watching it and then I couldn't maintain the dang thing and I peaced out . I prayed mercy , that's a testimonial from Really , if you're going to start one , do it right and don't do it like I did .

Speaker 1 2:24

I echo those sentiments .

Speaker 2 2:27

So so , yeah , so I , I , I went on and I need SEO juice . So now I'm like what's the easiest and fastest way to get SEO juice to my new business ? And I need incoming links . And the fastest way to get verified incoming links is through people with podcast episodes . You can get the links in the show notes is through people with podcast episodes . You can get the links in the show notes and then also like on the YouTube channel , which now leaves us potentially up to four incoming links per podcast episode we're on , which is huge for a brand new website . We think , oh , if we just make the website , people come , it's not like that . Google needs to see incoming links to verify that you're a real website before they ever rank you . And so here we are , we're doing podcasts and we're having fun .

Speaker 1 3:08

You heard it right here . That's a little marketing one , a little SEO 101 for you . If you may be wondering how in the world Google actually finds you and recognizes you , so love that .

Speaker 2 3:17

Get on some podcasts .

Speaker 1 3:19

Great way to kick things off here . So let's back up a little bit to the beginning of the story , where things all started . And the beginning of the story is subjective and you can define what that moment is . But where did the story begin ? I know I want to talk a little bit about your little work-life balance type deal , and there's nothing little about it by any stretch of the imagination at all . You have six children and let's kind of unpack how all of this came to be with both . Let's just call it life and business .

Speaker 2 3:52

Okay . So for those who can't see me on a picture screen , you got to watch it on the YouTube or wherever he's got it Because you get to see my actual , like office , which is like a 10 by 10 , little bit bigger than a closet not really bigger than a closet , so but it has a window . So we're going to call it a win . I work from home and I've got six kids and we've been able to bring in over $10 million in revenue to my companies , and we've done that while still being at home , while still being with my kids , while still making a massive impact , and I'm really , really grateful for that opportunity . And but to where you ? Your question like , where are you now ? But where did what did you get there ?

Speaker 2 4:30

I probably started a lot like a lot of you , where you have an idea of something that you're going to want to change , like there's a problem in the world , there's a person you want to help , or you even just want to just change your own life circumstance , and so you have this idea you're going to go create something . Well , for me , I didn't have any resources , like we're talking . I had , like no resources . My car was broken in my driveway and I would walk by it because we couldn't afford the transmission repair , like I was stuck at home , no resources . It was bad . So what I had to do was say , well , what resources do I have access to ? I have access to my brain , I can think , I can talk . I can talk a lot and I can type .

Speaker 2 5:14

So I began connecting with people online , first through a website and then , once I made my website , then I created programs like courses and guidebooks and and eBooks , and then from there we created like a membership site and from there , next thing you know , we added another product , another product . Most of my products have been in the information space because I tried doing e-commerce . That meant that my kitchen became an Amazon warehouse and that was not pleasant for my family . So we went to information because I just didn't require like impact on my life and you don't need inventory , you don't need to buy things , you don't need to ship things . You can do it from your 10 by 10 office . So here I am .

Speaker 1 5:56

So so help me understand how that all works . If somebody you know , if someone's like I'm trying to figure out a business solution , I know a lot of stuff , but I don't have a product or a service or anything . What does that look like ? To make something like that become a reality ?

Speaker 2 6:08

So you need to think what is the problem that I'm going to solve for someone and how can I make that problem solved for them in a consumable content piece . So what I like to do is put like a lead magnet out so I'll make something like a checklist . So one of at this point guys I have , like I have a collecting problem , so I collect a lot of businesses . So one of my businesses has a lot of camping and a lot of RV stuff on that website . It's actually a DIY home site . But our most profitable niche inside our DIY home is like DIY RV living and so like live in your RV home . So that site I can make a checklist of things that you need to do to winterize your RV . If you're going to be living in it in the winter , I can make that checklist and that's great . And , guys , I don't even live in an RV in the winter . So I actually use AI to help create that checklist because I don't know what they need to do . I make the checklist , then I verify the information and I put it out there and I post it as like a lead magnet . Hey , if you're having problems with your RV in the wintertime , maybe this winterizing checklist will help you stay warm and toasty this winter and they can go to that checklist . Give me their email . They get the checklist for free .

Speaker 2 7:25

Now I know something about that user . I know they love RVs . I know that they're worried about winter . I know they're . They're probably like they might be interested in a winterizing , like products for their RV . So I now can follow up with them with . Here's your products to buy that will help you to winterize your RV . Or here's an RV community that you can join of people who love RVs that you can now be part of this membership . Or I can find somebody else who's selling like hip camp and they have like a sponsored , like a partnership deal where if I get somebody to sign up and put their RV onto a spot it's like Airbnb but it's for campsites and put their RV onto a spot it's like Airbnb but it's for campsites and if I can put somebody signs up and parks their RV , I get a percentage of whatever that person paid to rent that space . So there's lots of different ways I can now make traffic from that audience , but I have to start with a little problem that I can solve for someone .

Speaker 1 8:20

So does that little problem often convert into a larger paying client ? Because I've never seen that happen . I do a lot of similar marketing with content freebies if you will but I've always found that Free stuff equals free people that want more free stuff . So how have you been able to solve that mystery ? You have to nurture them to a purchase .

Speaker 2 8:42

So one of the people that I worked with she's well , she's not the insurance broker , she doesn't own the brokerage , it's her husband's brokerage and she's like the office manager for his insurance brokerage and there's a fire coming to , a wildfire coming in her town and she's like , oh crap , there's a wildfire coming . What can I do as the insurance broker manager to capitalize on this ? Which I mean it sounds kind of sketchy , but at the same time , she wants to make a difference and she wants to love and serve and sell to her neighbors . So she posted two different lead magnets . One lead magnet was , or list builder , whatever you want to call those . One lead magnet was or list builder , whatever you want to call those . One lead magnet is how to prepare a grab and go bag . So what things do you need that you can put in your grab and go bag right now ? Stick it in your car and if the fire turns and starts running towards your house , you pick up your kids , get in the car and you just go . You don't need to worry about anything else . You got your grab and go bag . So she had one lead magnet , which is things you need for your grab and go bag . The other lead magnet is things you can do to protect your house so that if the fire gets close , it's less likely to cause damage to your home . Things like hose off your roof I don't know what other get the debris away from the side of your house . I don't know what all her list has , but she created those two different lead magnets . She then posted those into her neighborhood Facebook groups .

Speaker 2 10:02

Now , what does an insurance agent need for them to make money ? They need the list of the local people . They need a way to follow up with the local people . They need , like , a relationship with that person so they're not starting cold when they're like talking to a stranger about insurance . And they also want to know that that person so they're not starting cold when they're like talking to a stranger about insurance . And they also want to know that that person , like what their motivations are .

Speaker 2 10:26

The person , when she gets somebody on the list and they're signed up on the list of I need the grab and go bag , she knows that they care more about their family than they do their possessions . So they're probably going to be more interested in , say , life insurance . They're probably going to be more interested in , maybe car insurance . They probably might be more interested in saving money the person who's more interested in saving the roof of their house . They probably are less interested in the other things . So now they're probably a legacy person and they're probably interested in whole life insurance because how can I use my insurance as an investment ? They're concerned with their property and investment .

Speaker 2 11:02

So she now has two different motivations . She can start a conversation with her person and then convert them to a buyer . So she actually will bring the people who are the lead magnet of grab and go bags . She might have a coffee chat with all of those people because when they come together they recognize oh , here's another mom who's at the same stage of life that I'm in . And she might have a coffee chat with all of those people because when they come together they recognize oh , here's another mom who's at the same stage of life that I'm in .

Speaker 2 11:25

And she might have a different , like meet and greet at a wine tasting with the group of people who were protecting the roof of my house . Because those people it's different , different clientele . She's now going to have a face to face conversation with them . But how does she start that face to face conversation and how does she break that ice ? How does she even find out who they are in her town ? She doesn't know who they are . She did that with the list builder and she smashed it out of the park . She got the whole town to sign up .

Speaker 1 11:49

Very cool . So that's kind of like that's kind of like offline to online , online to offline . You know connection as well too . So hyperlocal , yeah , want to . So hyperlocal , yeah . So what's been the primary focus of your business outside of you know a marketing company Like what ? What has been the core focus ? To take you from my my car's broken , I don't even have a car and I can't fix it to doing over $10 million in business ?

Speaker 2 12:09

We build your audience . If you don't have an audience , you have no one to sell to . You don't know what you even want to sell If you don't have a person there on the other end of the screen to buy from you .

Speaker 1 12:17

And how have you been able to audience you ?

Speaker 2 12:19

can tell them anything .

Speaker 1 12:19

Sure , and how have you been able to do that ?

Speaker 2 12:21

Um , my primary way of growing , like we grew our website to 10 million page views a month . We used social media and we use SEO . Um , that was my first website I ever built . Then we went on to build another one . We use Pinterest , primarily with that one , and also Facebook and then again SEO . We used YouTube . We've used I've grown over 4 million followers across social media channels .

Speaker 2 12:45

And what's been growing audience , cause if you have 4 million people following you , it's really easy to sell to them , cause you just ask them what can I do to help you today ? Create the problem , the solution to their problem , and then create a follow-up sequence . It's not enough to just have a list builder . You have to have a follow-up sequence and you have to connect all the dots together in order to have like a business .

Speaker 1 13:06

And what has been that core ? Offer , your core , like offering of your business , that you've been able to scale it to 10 million .

Speaker 2 13:13

Well , each business has a different core offer . So , like the preschool site has one offer , the DIY site has another offer , my coaching program has a different offer , my books have a different offer . So I don't want to guess what my audience wants . I want to find out what they need . So often we think if we come up with a perfect offer , then they'll be there to buy , and what I've done instead was I find the people .

Speaker 2 13:41

I give them lots and lots and lots of little offers and say , okay , where are they biting ? Are more people ? Would I make more money if I was doing a wealth whole life insurance and like the protect your investments and take your investments and then multiply that ? Like as a financial insurance broker ? Yeah , there's more money in that type of insurance , but maybe there's more people who are trying to protect . Just get out of the house quick . So , like you might want to go , even though that's a lesser of a paycheck for the insurance agent , there might be more people there . So you want to go to where your people are and solve the problem they currently have , instead of trying to solve the problem you think they're having with the solution you want to create for them . I tend to start with my people first .

Speaker 1 14:26

Love it . So you've got six children . That's quite the nest , if you will , of little birdies running around .

Speaker 2 14:35

So what they're bigger than me now .

Speaker 1 14:39

How old are they ?

Speaker 2 14:42

My oldest is , I think , almost six foot now , and my youngest is a whole hand bigger than me , so he likes to put his armpit in my face .

Speaker 1 14:49

No , not . How tall are they ? How old are they ?

Speaker 2 14:53

I'm sorry . They're teenagers , so they range from 13 to 17 and there's six in there because the youngest three are all the same age .

Speaker 1 15:00

So six teenagers . God bless you , Wowza . So does your husband stay at home and work as well ?

Speaker 2 15:07

No , he , uh , he's a it project manager director . It director for a city .

Speaker 1 15:12

And he hasn't ran away from home yet .

Speaker 2 15:14

Not yet . Actually , he is a runner . He's the ultra marathon runner , so he runs like a hundred miles a week , I think . Maybe sometimes 200 miles a week . It's Uh , we used to homeschool for a little bit . I'm not really a great homeschooling mom , but it looks like I'll be homeschooling one of my kids next year , so we're just playing it by ear . One kid's struggling at school . So you know , you got to do what you got to do .

Speaker 1 15:35

Well , one , one one's way better than six . I mean six . You may run away from home .

Speaker 2 15:51

Sometimes I might , but thankfully . Like , imagine this I couldn't have a real job because , what and I'm an ambitious person I can't have a job with a house full of kids . So I had to create my own alternate reality , a little bit like okay , the world is telling me you're not hireable . The world is telling me you have no experience . The world is telling me you dah , dah , dah , dah , dah , and I'm like dude , I'm not going to take that narrative , I'm going to make my own story . The world is telling me you dah , dah , dah , dah , dah , and I'm like dude , I'm not going to take that narrative , I'm going to make my own story . World is telling me women don't run big companies . It's true they don't , but like gosh , darn it , I am . So stand , stand back , um , so you want to create your own narrative . Don't let other people's stories of , or even their limitations of , what could go wrong stop you from taking your next best action .

Speaker 1 16:27

Yeah , absolutely . Let's talk about your speaking business a little bit as a fellow speaker . How did you start doing all that and what's going on with that these days ?

Speaker 2 16:36

I've mostly taken a break actually in the last two years , from last year and a half from speaking because one of my kids started having epilepsy , so it's made it harder for me to travel Sure , but before then I was speaking on stages . Like I said , I'm with Matthew McConaughey at one stage , tony Robbins multiple times , dean Graziosi I've spoken at Funnel Hacking Live . I've spoken for ClickFunnels , kajabi Unate I think I've done some . For Teachable I've done a bunch .

Speaker 1 17:04

Are you going to get back into it ?

Speaker 2 17:06

Well , we're doing podcasts right now and I might get back into it . It's a little bit more complicated when you have a kid with medical needs .

Speaker 1 17:14

Yeah , it 100% is , so hats off for making that a priority . Obviously , that's the the sole most important part that's on there . So you said that you're working on some AI stuff right now , too . What's what's on the docket here for 2024 ? What are you excited about ?

Speaker 2 17:31

With . What I love is that we often think we have to create all these assets for our audience . We have to create social media posts , we have to create a lead magnet , like the page . We have to design it , we have to put it into a funnel , sales funnel software . Then we have to connect the email server . We have to write the emails , like .

Speaker 2 17:47

All of that sounds like a lot of work , especially when Rachel's saying you have to make a lot of offers because you don't know which one your people want . You're going to need to make like I don't know 50 offers or 15 at minimum offers , because I guarantee you five of them are going to completely flop . And what if they're your first five offers and you just didn't realize it's the next five that are the so-so ones , and the next five after that are the bonko crazy ones . Everybody's going to go crazy and buy all of them , but you don't know that until you make 15 . And so for me , each I used to make a sales funnel and the sales content . So I'd make like all the social media posts on Facebook , all the social media posts for Pinterest , all the social media posts for Twitter , all the social media posts for all of these places . I have videos now for YouTube .

Speaker 2 18:32

I'd make all of this content and then I'd make the funnel , which would be the lead magnet white page , put it on an offer page , have an upsell page , a downsell page . And then I was like , why am I doing it so hard ? So I made templates for myself and templates were like , okay , we sped it up a little bit , but like , okay , so you made what was a week process down to eight hours , but still really painful . And then we decided to do it with AI . So I can now make a funnel , all the social media to promote it , the product , the sales page , the ads , the delivery page , and I can have it hooked up in as little as four minutes . And it's eight button pushes . If I wanted to just make zero customizations , I can do it in as little as four minutes , and it's eight button pushes . If I wanted to just make zero customizations , I can do it in as little as four minutes .

Speaker 1 19:13

Now , Very cool , and when's that going live ?

Speaker 2 19:15

Oh , it's live right now oh it is . Page wheel Yep , we built it and that's what we're doing SEO for , because no one knows it exists .

Speaker 1 19:22

Love it . We'll be sure to include a link in the show notes here so people can check that out and find out what it's all about . I know that that is the most painful experience for a marketer is creating all that stuff , because it's an absolute time suck . In addition to you know your computer crashes or whatever the other things can come about while doing that .

Speaker 2 19:41

The average person takes about 33 minutes , but not average about . We actually tested it . We saw the data . They take 33 minutes , but if you're fast you can get it faster than 33 .

Speaker 1 19:52

Very cool . Well , I mean , this is where AI comes in , and it is extremely useful when it's a tool and we can buy some of our time back by being able to leverage it on here . I don't know that . You know , AI taking over the world , regardless of what the headlines have to say , is going to be completely necessary or useful .

Speaker 2 20:10

But AI with a human .

Speaker 1 20:12

Correct AI with a human well , that's exactly what I've said A tool to be able to assist humans to do their job better , to create solutions that are easier , faster and get you there quicker .

Speaker 1 20:23

I'm all a fan for Well . It's been great to chat with you , Rachel , and connect with you here . I'm glad that I made the list of 100 podcasts . I'm exhausted just thinking about it , but I love that and I've absolutely learned a ton from you and I'm going to utilize that for people and help people really better understand that if you're looking to really make some sort of organic SEO imprint , a podcast way to do it and I've I've learned that . I learned that just by default , because if I go Google myself , um , my name shows up a lot because of other people's content , and then I right , and if I pull my name up in Apple podcast , sure , my shows show up , but the other shows that I've been on show up too , which I think is really cool , and Apple is indexed very well and Spotify is indexed very well and the rest of the listening platform . So thanks for opening my eyes that I already knew that , but sometimes we need that gentle nudge and reminder .

Speaker 2 21:16

It's the most powerful way to grow your SEO . It's like literally the most powerful way . So they're like roll up your sleeves , girl . We got this and , frankly , it makes me almost want to become a podcast person again . But , like I said , I know I couldn't do it alone . So that's why , if your audience is listening right now and they're thinking , oh , I want the SEO game or I want to have a podcast because I want to have the audience , you can't have a business without an audience . Like Rachel was talking about how you'd have this lead system , well that's great . But if without the person , it doesn't work , the it doesn't work . The podcast will give you the person . The podcast will give you the SEO juice . The podcast is like a door and , yeah , they need that door , so they should contact you .

Speaker 1 21:54

I love that . We'll make sure we include that in your email with the episode link to send out to everybody , for sure , for sure . Any final thoughts for our listeners , rachel .

Speaker 2 22:01

Just that they can do it Wherever they are . Just take one step forward . So a lot of times you see a big business and you think , oh , I , it's so far out there or I need to plan on how to get there . No , you just take the next step that's right in front of you and then you take the next step and the next step .

Speaker 1 22:16

Massive action solves the majority of our problems , doesn't it ?

Speaker 2 22:19

Yeah , it does .

Speaker 1 22:21

Rachel Miller , I appreciate your time . Thanks again for being on the show .

Speaker 2 22:24

Have a great day .

Speaker 1 22:25

You too . Until next time , friends . Thanks , great day you too . Until next time , friends . Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story podcast . We sure do appreciate it . If you haven't done so already , make sure you're subscribed to the show . This way , you'll get updates as new episodes become available . If you feel so inclined , please leave us a review . We sure do appreciate it . Signing off from the podcast LaunchLabcom Studios . We'll talk to you next time .