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Alright. Welcome everyone to another edition of webinar Wednesday.

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It really is great to be with everyone here today, and we have an awesome crowd of attendees.

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Really glad you guys could take the time,

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to join us today.

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We have a lot of great updates to share with you, a really good tip of the week, and we should have, enough time to take some questions

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as well.

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If this is your first time joining us, welcome.

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I am Jason there on the left, and we're lucky to be joined by David Rockland, the digital strategist here

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at Brilliant Directories. Dave, thanks for taking the time to join us today. Yeah.

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Glad to be back once again.

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I know everybody's kind of trying to figure out how to fill their time, but, we've got a really great presentation coming up, with some really great tips that I really think, you can take to your own websites and that are very actionable.

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So looking forward to that. Likewise.

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Really good tip that we coming up today. Thanks for putting that one together.

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I always like to mention if you're not already part of our Facebook group, please join us there.

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You can head on over to brilliantdirectories.com/Facebook.

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I see really constructive and productive discussions and conversations

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happening in there. Some people people asking how to questions.

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Some people trying to elevate,

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the direction that they're taking their membership community.

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So if we're in between webinars and something pops in your mind that you want to ask, head on over to brilliantdirectories.com/facebook

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and we can always continue the conversations there.

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And I see a lot of new names and faces here today, so welcome to all of you.

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You know, Webinar Wednesday is a great platform to talk about strategies

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for both learning the software better and then using those features to help grow your online community.

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You know, it's really easy to launch a website today, but having good practices and good strategies in place to foster and nurture the growth

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of your member base is really important.

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So some things we can talk about here, of course, increasing traffic and more awareness for your site and bringing more,

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members and potential members,

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to your site,

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converting those visitors into members.

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And actually, the tip of the week that David's put together for us is really good and really touches on that topic.

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And one of my favorites, I think, is the most important is simple,

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website navigation,

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clear calls to action so that your visitors know where to go and how to find stuff.

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Just a side note there, far too often we see sites that are heavily cluttered and in some cases that works really well.

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But, from what I've seen for the most part, a simple clear calls to action,

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are most effective in getting people to take action on your site.

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So if you have questions on any of these things or anything related to growing your online community, we'll try to get to as many questions as we can today.

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Alright.

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And before we dive into that tip of the week, you know, thankfully our team here, we're we're already remote,

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so everyone is already, you know, working from home or a nearby office that they have separately.

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And we've been able to maintain productivity here at Brilliant Directories, not only from the development side, but also from the support side.

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We're still handling support tickets as usual.

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So, you know, rest assured that our team is here for you as, normal.

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With that said, we've had an unbelievable amount

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of updates that are being pushed,

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the last during the last thirty days. I'm gonna share a couple of the noteworthy ones here today.

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I actually had to hold back,

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from adding these.

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If you join us in in the webinars every two weeks, you know that we have a small handful

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of updates to share. In this case, it's a large handful.

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It's a good bundle here.

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So I'll try to go through these relatively, quickly, but I'll try my best to explain,

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them as well.

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The first one here at the top of the list, I think everyone should add this to their post single sidebar.

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What it's going to do, we've created a very

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simple

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sidebar widget

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that will show related posts

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based on the detail page that you're on. And let me show you a simple example here.

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So here is our demo Bootstrap demo site, and I've placed this widget,

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in the sidebar here. So what we're seeing

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is by default there are real no settings for this widget.

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We did our best just to make placing this widget on pages, you know, work the best in the most,

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scenarios.

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So what it's gonna do, it's gonna show up to five

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matching results. So what is it going to match?

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It's going to first try to match

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additional posts by the same user

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for the same post type.

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For example, if it's you're looking at an event, it's gonna find more events from John Doe, and it's also gonna try to the to match the category for that post type.

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So,

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let's say it's family events. So it's gonna show that.

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Now if there's only two from John, John Doe, who posted, in events

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for,

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family events.

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Then it's going to look for other event posts by John Doe.

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And then after that, it's gonna look for just event posts in the same category, not necessarily by the member whose page you're on.

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And then it's going to look for just same same the same post, more events, but it doesn't matter what the category is.

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So it's gonna attempt to put five posts here in the sidebar.

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And let me tell you what the name of this widget is.

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So if we go to the toolbox and we go to sidebar manager,

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and you go to post single page,

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what you can do is search for the word, related.

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And it's this one right here, bootstrap theme display related post by category.

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And if you wanna take a minute, you can go ahead and add that to your sidebar and see,

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if you'd like it there. Alright. The next one is the ability to

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edit the subscriptions your members already have.

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So in the Facebook group, we saw a lot of questions.

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You know, how do I how do I pause my member's subscription or,

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how do I change it? And our answer has always been, you need to stop the subscription

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and you need to start a brand new one for that member.

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Well, the good news is we heard you guys and now there really is a simple way to,

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edit an existing subscription that the single member is on.

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And the most important thing I think here is you can change the next bill date.

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So you can kind of push their next bill date further in the future if you're trying to give them some free credits or free time,

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or you're just doing some kind of a forgiveness.

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Maybe they've been past due multiple months and you're just trying to start anew with them.

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So you don't have to do the whole stopping of a subscription

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and starting it. So let me show you where, you can edit that as well.

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So let's just start in the dashboard.

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Let's go here to transaction histories.

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Okay. So here is just a sample site with sample transaction history. So let's look at this member

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and go to his payment history.

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There is a subscriptions tab when you're looking at an individual member's

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account detail page.

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And when they have an active subscription, so these are the subscriptions the member is on, it could be one, it could be multiple, what you can do is you can go to the actions drop down here and there is an option to edit subscription.

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You'll only see this if it's still an active subscription.

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So if we click edit subscription,

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we can do a few things.

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One, we can change the amount that they're paying.

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So maybe they were thinking about canceling and, you know, we we said we'll give them a small discount.

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Maybe now they'll pay $7 per month.

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Or you told them that if if they wanna upgrade to yearly, you know, you can change the billing cycle as well, and maybe they're gonna pay $90 for the year.

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And what you can do is change the next bill date for the future. So you can tell them, okay.

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You know, we'll we'll move your next bill date two months, so you'll get these next two months for free.

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Your next bill date, you know, whatever, will be June 30.

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And then the system will also tell you if the person has, you know, some past due payments.

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And basically, it's asking if you wanna forgive these for the person.

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So generally, if you're updating someone's subscription, you you're talking to them on the phone, you know, you're you're emailing with them,

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in most cases, you'll wanna forgive them and just, say yes,

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delete the older, past due invoices.

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Or you could keep them active and say no, and the person will have the the new subscription edited with the future bill date, and they'll still have their previous invoices.

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And what's also really nice here is you can leave some internal admin notes for yourself.

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So maybe you could write the reason why you're modifying the subscription

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so that you and your staff have kind of like a historical record of what happened in this case.

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So that's available to everyone there.

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And also what's nice is it up here in the top right, you can kind of see a snapshot

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of what this current subscription is. So in this case, it's $9.99 monthly and the current next,

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payment date is on,

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04/22.

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Alright.

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If you guys have been following the webinars the last, you know, few months since the beginning of the year, we're putting more things in place,

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to kind of give you a little bit more control over

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your landing pages. We've added the hero section,

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and and some other things.

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The the tables for your static pages so you can put, text and images side by side.

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What we've added now is the ability to add call to action buttons

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on those hero sections. So let me kinda show you what what I'm referring to there.

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So

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you can create a landing page. You can have a hero section with a title, additional text.

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Now without any coding, you can actually set a call to action button here, and let me show you exactly where you can do that.

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So let's go to edit web pages,

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and I'll just choose what page here.

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And

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actually this section has grown quite a bit, the hero section settings.

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We're actually going to move this later in the future to be one of the more main tabs here so it's kind of easier to see all the options

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available. But if you scroll down, so of course you can enable it or disable the hero section,

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you can have the image. But over here, the CTA link URL,

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link text, you can choose the button color that correspond to the,

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the six color settings that you have for buttons in your design settings.

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And then you can choose the button size, normal, large, or extra large.

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So it's really easy to add a call to action button here now,

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on your static web pages. Also, if you've converted

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a member search results page

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into its own static page.

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Of course, you can have a hero section for that, and you can also have a call to action link, on those pages as well.

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So static pages,

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member search results pages that you've converted to static pages.

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And actually,

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something that's coming soon,

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and I'll show you, it's down here.

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I'm gonna turn your post category pages into their own static pages and have a hero section for them as well.

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So if you wanted to, for example,

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your events, your family events category,

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you can have, it's coming soon, the ability to create its own hero section title, add custom content, and, of course,

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it'll have the ability to have its own call to action link as well.

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Alright.

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Moving on.

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This one is huge. This next one.

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The ability to identify members by the forms they have submitted or not submitted

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on your site. This is actually phase two now of a larger project.

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Phase one was just saving behind the scenes in the database which members are submitting which forms on your site.

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Let me show you what this has the ability to do for you.

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So if you go to your search members page,

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you're gonna have two new search fields here. And we just released this.

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I think we're gonna make, some updates to this to make it even more phenomenal.

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But,

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these fields here, form submitted

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and forms not submitted.

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So what's really cool here is you can search for forms.

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Maybe it's their, listing additional details form. Maybe it's the,

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create a coupon post form.

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You can check, which members have submitted certain forms or you can search for which members have not submitted certain forms,

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and then you can conduct a search.

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So if you wanna find all the members, for example, who have not

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yet published,

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a blog article, for example, or a member article on your site. So,

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we can come and you can search for, I think it's called feature,

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or a job listing, let's say, featured jobs. So this is the name of the form.

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So I can then search

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for all the members who have not posted a job listing. And in this case, here are all the members.

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Now what's really cool is when you have the export members add on, you can then export this list,

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you can then email them, maybe you want to start a specific campaign

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based on, you know, members who have done certain actions on your site with regards to forms.

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But now you have the ability to

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basically know what kind of activity members have done on your site or lack of activity

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based on the forms they've submitted on, through your site.

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So this should give you a lot more control to segment and find members who have or have not performed certain actions.

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The phase three of this,

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is going to actually be

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when you do a search with any of this criteria,

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what we wanna do is create a bulk action so that you can actually save that list as a smart list in your database here, and then use that smart list when you're sending newsletters

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here

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in the email section. So come to your search members page,

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do a filter for a certain group of members, turn them into a Smart List, and then when you're sending your newsletters,

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being able to select which Smart List to include

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or exclude,

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from your newsletter campaigns.

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So hopefully we'll have that in the next few months,

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but again that should give you full control over better segmenting of your members with those Smart Lists.

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This add on, it's also been highly requested the ability to email

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payment reminders

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to your members

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as well as auto emails when they are past due and they miss payment.

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This add on is technically available

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now.

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However, we're doing an official release, and let me show you the link here.

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We're doing an official release,

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to,

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make it available really for everyone and the VIP

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add ons club members,

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May 1. Right now we're doing some pilot tests with some beta testers.

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So we have that working right now.

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And then May 1, potentially sooner, depending on how the beta tests work,

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depending on how the

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beta test work, this add on will be officially released, to everyone in the VIP add ons club or anyone who wants,

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this add on individually. And it really does add a higher level

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of, engagement power between your website's billing and your members.

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And let me show you some of the settings that are available with this.

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So when you have this enabled,

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if you go to your transactions

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history tab, you'll see this new,

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button here which says billing email settings.

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And I kinda covered this in the previous webinar, but just mentioned it here since we're closer to an official release.

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So what you can do is you can choose

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when members get automatically emailed based on certain billing actions.

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So when a new payment is received,

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do you wanna email the member or not? So,

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that's there. Upcoming payment reminders, you can do that here.

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And what's really cool about the upcoming is you can choose how many days before you want that email to go out.

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And then of course there's three past due payment reminders.

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So maybe someone's not getting the message or they don't get the first one.

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You can actually choose which days to send up to three different past due,

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reminder emails and that should really help shore up,

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some collections that are actually due to your organization by your members.

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Another nice touch is if you have the downloadable invoices add on, you can certainly include a copy of that invoice,

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with those auto emails that are going out.

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And then lastly, you can edit the default templates that we've created for you.

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Let me just show you one of them. Let's do the past due number one.

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So this is kind of the default template for

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past due renewal notice one. It would have their name here. We apologize for this inconvenience.

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So you have access to these email templates.

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You could use the defaults or you can add your own personal touch to them as you see fit.

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So I'll keep you guys updated in the Facebook group when it's officially released.

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We have it in the beta test program right now. It's going really, really well.

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And actually, one of my favorite things about this that that I didn't mention yet

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is you as the admin of a site can get a daily digest sent to your inbox about how many payments were collected

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on that day, how many past due people you have on that specific date, and how many upcoming payments you have as well.

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So as the admin of the site, this add on is gonna give you an amazing daily digest that you can wake up to and actually see the financial

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activity and health of your site.

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That's great, Jason. Brenda is asking how many emails

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can be sent out by the system each day?

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So by obviously sending emails is limited resource.

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Your site can send up to 1,500

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emails

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per day by default that's provided to everyone.

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If you're starting to surpass

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that 1,500

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emails

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per day, you can connect your own SendGrid account. You go to SendGrid.com.

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I think they have plans starting at, like, $19 a month.

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With that, you won't have any daily send limits within your Brilliant Directories site,

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and you'll just pay whatever the SendGrid fees are for sending emails, and they actually have some of the,

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most affordable and nominal nominal rates,

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for sending emails in this format.

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Excellent. And then before we move on, we have one more question from a long time BD user,

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Ghassan. He says he's had his site for

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about four or five years,

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and he's wondering if all of these updates are automatically installed and if he'll get them applied to his site automatically.

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Okay. That's a really good question.

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So, actually, about four or five years ago, there was a big switch from what we call classic Brilliant Directories to Bootstrap Brilliant Directories.

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I think only about 2% of our users are still on classic versions of Brilliant Directories, and it's mainly because they did highly high high level customizations,

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and they don't want to migrate because you do need to migrate some of your code to Bootstrap.

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But if he's already on Bootstrap,

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the best thing to do is just come on over to your dashboard area and click on the check for updates button.

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And really, this isn't gonna make any front end changes to your site.

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What it's actually gonna do is add tables and columns into your MySQL database, your local database, that will unlock a lot of the functionality for the new settings that are available.

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So when in doubt, check for updates. You can click that button as many times as you like.

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Nothing nothing bad is gonna come from that.

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And if you ever have doubts, Hassan, you can email the support team if something should be there, but it's not there on your site, and they can help you navigate finding that setting for you on your specific site.

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Excellent. And then lastly, before we move on,

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Matt Brooks is, is joining us.

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He's watching in, and he just wanted to mention really quick that even if you don't have the new,

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billing email reminders add on once it's released, we do still have the option to manually send out those, those reminder emails to individual members.

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That's a great point.

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So for all those email templates that I just showed you for those, you know, five or six different email actions, the add on is to automatically send those emails to members.

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However, everyone has access to those email templates.

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And what's more is when you're in the transaction history tab,

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based on the tab you're in, for example, payment received, upcoming payment,

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past due,

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you actually, under the actions for that individual

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invoice for that member, there is a send email notification

304
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option here. So,

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without the add on, you still have the ability to send, you know, one off emails to members.

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And probably if you're a smaller organization, you don't really have high levels of, finance activity.

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That should be enough for you is to do this.

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Maybe you just have a couple people who are past due every week. It's certainly manageable.

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But once you surpass having dozens of of people that need the these emails sent to them, that's a good option to, opt for the the billing reminder emails.

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Alright.

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And

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lastly here,

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let me see if Ryan's on this this call with us because he was specifically asking about this

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from the Facebook group. Yep. Ryan's here. Ryan, you were asking we did have new,

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toolbar options in the text editor in the admin area.

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And, we were just waiting to get those moved to the front end of the site.

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So when you're creating blog posts, you can have things like tables,

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and the new line height. And what's really important is clear formatting.

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Let me show you what what that can do for you guys. So let me start in the admin area here.

320
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So let's just talk about the text editor here for a second.

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So what we have here, the three things that are newly added is the clear formatting. So

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if you we've gotten a lot of tickets.

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People are copying and pasting, you know, their articles that they're writing in Microsoft Word,

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and it's just copying a bunch of extra formatting from Microsoft Word into the editor.

325
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And it's impossible to get rid of,

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unless you go into the code view and you do all this funky stuff. So,

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what you can do is and let's just,

328
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kind of

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play with this here.

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So, you know, let's say you copy and paste from somewhere.

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You can just highlight all your text,

332
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And then you'll see this icon here. It says clear formatting.

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What that's gonna do is basically reset all the text back to plain text. So it's really helpful.

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Everyone should know about this setting. And we're back to normal here.

335
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And then from here, you can start fresh and really adding the intentional styling that you want for the different text elements.

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We covered tables in the previous webinar, but this has been,

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we've gotten great reviews about this so far, being able to add tables, onto your pages.

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And with the tables,

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you can line up text, you can line up images,

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you can move,

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the column widths to be larger or greater than than one another.

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So there's a lot of good control here.

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But we had only added these in the admin area so we can get some feedback and make sure everything is working properly.

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Good news. Everything is working properly.

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So moving on. Now on the front end of your sites when you're logged in

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as, for example, the blog contributor,

347
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if you go to,

348
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the text editors here,

349
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you now also have these options.

350
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Over here, we can see the clear formatting.

351
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So if you're writing your articles, you know, in a Google Doc or Microsoft Word and you need to just reset the formatting, you can certainly use this.

352
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And then what's really helpful here is now you have the option for tables

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as well.

354
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So when you're writing your blog post, maybe you wanna do comparison charts, things like that.

355
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You can easily create these tables and rows and columns,

356
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just add a a bit more rich content to your article post. So, you have that here now.

357
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Alright. And I know I'm covering a lot of stuff. Just trying to go fast because of time here. But,

358
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some things that are coming soon that I'm really excited to show you guys.

359
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Small things, but really high value.

360
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First one, the ability to add a color overlay

361
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for your hero images.

362
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And we're gonna start this one just on the home page image, and then later we'll move it to the static web pages and the pages for search results and things like that.

363
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Let me show you what a color overlay is.

364
00:25:04.930 --> 00:25:05.430
So,

365
00:25:06.210 --> 00:25:08.390
you know, we get a lot of

366
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questions about what's the perfect image to use on the home page, and we have best practices, like don't use images that have a lot of white blank space on them, or don't use images that the text is built into the images because it'll never render correctly on different screen sizes.

367
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But another thing that's important is the contrast of the title text

368
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on the background that it's sitting on. So here's an example. We have white font and

369
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this image here, it's basically

370
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very light background. So in most cases, it's kinda hard to read that text.

371
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So what you can do now, or it's coming soon actually,

372
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in your homepage layout

373
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search settings you're gonna have what's called an overlay color. So I'll just set this to black,

374
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and then you could choose the visibility like how strong that overlay is gonna be on top of the image.

375
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I'll just set it to six,

376
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and

377
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save the changes,

378
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and we'll refresh.

379
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So now we can see it's kind of like added a shadow on top of the background image, which creates a much better contrast,

380
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for the text that it's sitting on.

381
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So you might use black, you might use, you know, whatever complementing colors you need to,

382
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that create that good contrast

383
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between the background image and the text that it's sitting on top of.

384
00:26:35.649 --> 00:26:43.165
But if you're having readability issues because of that color contrast issue, this overlay is definitely going to solve that for you.

385
00:26:45.785 --> 00:26:52.425
And we are creating more options for global options for the streaming widgets that display on your homepage.

386
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So if you're streaming your events or coupons or articles or top level

387
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categories,

388
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the global options have been limited up up to now.

389
00:27:00.370 --> 00:27:04.870
You could just choose the background color and the font color for the post title.

390
00:27:05.090 --> 00:27:07.990
Let me show you some new settings that will be released soon.

391
00:27:10.145 --> 00:27:15.365
So you'll still have the streaming widget background color and the the font color for it here.

392
00:27:16.065 --> 00:27:19.924
The view all button that shows in the top right of the streaming widgets,

393
00:27:20.225 --> 00:27:29.930
you'll be able to choose which button color based on your design settings you'd like those to be, or you can choose to hide that view all button altogether.

394
00:27:30.230 --> 00:27:31.850
You can choose not to display

395
00:27:33.110 --> 00:27:37.290
it. Also, global settings for the streaming widgets, you can choose the aspect ratio.

396
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Sixteen nine is a rectangle. That's the default.

397
00:27:41.745 --> 00:27:48.225
Or you can toggle it and switch it to one to one, which would be a square shape for your streaming widgets.

398
00:27:48.225 --> 00:27:50.405
So, again, just depending on your design,

399
00:27:51.539 --> 00:27:55.559
and, you know, how many you have in a row, you can choose the ones that you like best.

400
00:27:56.179 --> 00:27:57.080
And then lastly,

401
00:27:57.539 --> 00:28:03.080
you can choose if the image, the post image is going to cover the entire area from corner to corner,

402
00:28:03.685 --> 00:28:04.745
Or if the images

403
00:28:05.045 --> 00:28:10.585
are, kind of like an odd size, maybe they're tall and skinny or, you know, short rectangles,

404
00:28:11.125 --> 00:28:14.265
you can definitely choose fit within space. So

405
00:28:14.565 --> 00:28:21.520
it won't show the image corner to corner, it'll just contain it within the allotted space, for that specific element.

406
00:28:21.520 --> 00:28:22.020
So,

407
00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:24.320
it'll be nice when these are available.

408
00:28:24.320 --> 00:28:27.600
We can play around with it and see, how you guys work with that.

409
00:28:27.600 --> 00:28:29.840
I think this square is going to be the biggest thing here.

410
00:28:29.840 --> 00:28:35.985
It's going to be really cool to see square shapes rather than rectangles, again, depending on your preference for your site.

411
00:28:36.605 --> 00:28:38.865
Okay. This one is also really nice,

412
00:28:39.245 --> 00:28:43.905
displaying the profile photo on mobile. So let me show you what that is.

413
00:28:44.285 --> 00:28:46.785
We're all familiar with the desktop view,

414
00:28:47.269 --> 00:28:50.070
And if we look here, we can see it says, you know, welcome.

415
00:28:50.070 --> 00:28:55.130
Well, this is not John Smith, but we can see here that there's a tiny profile photo here.

416
00:28:55.830 --> 00:29:00.010
Up until now, when you went into mobile view, there was an icon available

417
00:29:01.105 --> 00:29:03.924
next to the my account just like the menu.

418
00:29:04.784 --> 00:29:07.044
The icon is a text label.

419
00:29:07.664 --> 00:29:08.164
So,

420
00:29:08.625 --> 00:29:14.005
what the update is going to do is if the if the member does have a profile photo uploaded,

421
00:29:14.650 --> 00:29:22.270
instead of the icon, it will show the profile photo just to personalize it a bit more so this person really knows to click here

422
00:29:22.890 --> 00:29:24.030
for their account,

423
00:29:24.410 --> 00:29:30.030
information while they're browsing on mobile. If they happen to not have a profile photo uploaded,

424
00:29:30.544 --> 00:29:33.505
this will just stay as an icon as it currently is.

425
00:29:33.505 --> 00:29:39.684
So, this will just be a nice update for your members and it should provide a better mobile experience for them as well.

426
00:29:41.105 --> 00:29:41.424
Alright.

427
00:29:41.424 --> 00:29:47.200
The next one here we did cover ability to turn your post category pages into their own custom,

428
00:29:48.060 --> 00:29:53.600
static pages where you can have hero sections and custom content. So maybe you have, products

429
00:29:53.900 --> 00:29:58.160
and a category is furniture. You can definitely create a beautiful landing page for,

430
00:29:59.045 --> 00:30:02.585
the category furniture in for the post type, products.

431
00:30:03.605 --> 00:30:05.045
Okay. This one is actually,

432
00:30:05.365 --> 00:30:08.105
it's also been mentioned in the Facebook group a couple times.

433
00:30:08.485 --> 00:30:13.945
When you're writing a review for a member, it does ask you to enter a name and an email address.

434
00:30:14.700 --> 00:30:19.200
The update is going to be if the if you happen to be logged into the site already,

435
00:30:19.580 --> 00:30:21.760
it's not gonna require you to enter,

436
00:30:22.299 --> 00:30:24.220
an email and a name.

437
00:30:24.220 --> 00:30:28.825
It's it already knows what your email is and what your name is because it knows that you're a logged in user.

438
00:30:29.365 --> 00:30:32.505
So again, if that should just create a more streamlined experience,

439
00:30:32.965 --> 00:30:38.665
for logged in members when they're writing reviews for other members on your site. So,

440
00:30:39.365 --> 00:30:42.505
lots of updates there. I know I just mentioned a mouthful.

441
00:30:42.600 --> 00:30:45.179
Thanks for hanging in there with us guys during these.

442
00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:47.580
And today's tip of the week,

443
00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:52.700
David spent a good amount of time putting this together, and I think it really covers something important

444
00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:53.980
and,

445
00:30:54.520 --> 00:31:01.955
a really good way to engage people who are kind of on the fence of your service or product or or your membership program.

446
00:31:02.414 --> 00:31:06.595
So today we're gonna talk about the four best practices for offering free

447
00:31:06.975 --> 00:31:10.674
membership trials, to prospective members and users.

448
00:31:11.470 --> 00:31:20.850
So, Dave, tell us a little bit about why you thought this was important for today and and some of the amazing things you discovered because I know this one is chock full of, some good stats for us as well.

449
00:31:21.390 --> 00:31:25.710
Yeah. It's always fun and interesting looking at numbers. So, we made sure to include some,

450
00:31:26.485 --> 00:31:30.424
pretty interesting statistics in this presentation, which we'll get into in a little bit.

451
00:31:30.644 --> 00:31:36.345
I think at a surface level, most of us understand why providing a free trial could be useful.

452
00:31:36.485 --> 00:31:38.985
You know, when we have the opportunity as as

453
00:31:39.720 --> 00:31:40.220
consumers

454
00:31:40.520 --> 00:31:43.179
to test out a product before committing to buy it,

455
00:31:43.559 --> 00:31:47.960
it eases a lot of our nerves. But that's kind of looking at it at, at a surface level.

456
00:31:47.960 --> 00:32:00.675
So, hopefully, with this presentation, we'll be able to dive in a little bit, and, you can understand exactly why offering a free trial could be beneficial for your membership site and how you can actually get the most out of it because

457
00:32:01.135 --> 00:32:05.635
anybody can offer a free trial. But if you're not, pushing people towards it or

458
00:32:05.935 --> 00:32:08.755
optimizing certain things on your site or in your marketing,

459
00:32:09.270 --> 00:32:12.730
then the efforts being put into the free trial

460
00:32:13.190 --> 00:32:14.230
could be going to waste.

461
00:32:14.230 --> 00:32:20.730
So, hopefully, with this presentation, you'll be able to get some good actionable ideas to implement into your website, into your marketing,

462
00:32:21.430 --> 00:32:23.290
into your customer support.

463
00:32:23.585 --> 00:32:28.805
And so first of all, let's go over again why offering a free trial is beneficial.

464
00:32:29.585 --> 00:32:36.930
Again, at the surface level, we understand as consumers, it's good to test out a product before having to, to actually purchase it.

465
00:32:37.010 --> 00:32:40.790
It eases our nerves a little bit, but it also shows the consumer

466
00:32:41.490 --> 00:32:42.470
that the organization

467
00:32:42.850 --> 00:32:45.590
offering the free trial can be trusted.

468
00:32:45.810 --> 00:32:51.190
It gives the consumer a chance to, really kind of kick the tires a little bit before committing

469
00:32:51.525 --> 00:32:55.785
to the purchase. And it also lets the user or the customer

470
00:32:56.565 --> 00:33:02.425
compare your service against others. So if you're pretty confident in, in your service or

471
00:33:02.805 --> 00:33:13.250
if you have a lot of competitors in your industry or your field, then providing a free trial might be beneficial because it allows consumers who may initially have wanted to go with one of your competitors

472
00:33:13.870 --> 00:33:16.770
to at least test out your product or service,

473
00:33:17.150 --> 00:33:24.975
see exactly what it is you're offering, and if it offers anything different or better that they're looking for compared to some of your competitors.

474
00:33:25.595 --> 00:33:27.135
Another really beneficial,

475
00:33:27.915 --> 00:33:37.135
aspect of offering free trials is that you do get more people using your website, and so that provides an opportunity for you to collect more feedback from users.

476
00:33:37.429 --> 00:33:39.049
This feedback could be related

477
00:33:39.750 --> 00:33:41.929
to your marketing or your communication

478
00:33:42.630 --> 00:33:43.450
on your website.

479
00:33:43.510 --> 00:33:48.890
Maybe they're not exactly sure what it is you offer, what the benefits are to purchasing a membership.

480
00:33:49.190 --> 00:33:52.490
So that could give you a better idea of how to better communicate your offerings.

481
00:33:52.894 --> 00:33:59.634
They could also be wanting more features or maybe they you have features included that a lot of people may not find beneficial,

482
00:34:00.095 --> 00:34:03.875
so you may wanna scale those back a little bit. There's a lot of ways to collect,

483
00:34:04.654 --> 00:34:07.235
really useful feedback from even more users

484
00:34:07.610 --> 00:34:11.390
if you're allowing more people to, to use your service for

485
00:34:11.850 --> 00:34:14.030
free, at least initially with the trial.

486
00:34:14.409 --> 00:34:17.230
It also gives you the opportunity to offer incentives

487
00:34:18.090 --> 00:34:21.310
right after people begin their free trial. So

488
00:34:21.614 --> 00:34:23.475
if you're not offering a free trial

489
00:34:23.855 --> 00:34:29.715
and people come to your website and they only have the opportunity to purchase a membership or

490
00:34:30.335 --> 00:34:32.514
not use your site at all, not become a member,

491
00:34:33.455 --> 00:34:36.319
then you kind of lose out on a lot of opportunity

492
00:34:37.579 --> 00:34:43.839
to market some promotional offers to them to make it more worth their while to, to commit to a purchase.

493
00:34:44.219 --> 00:34:50.994
So, you know, when somebody signs up for a free trial, they get limited access to your website for a certain period of time for free.

494
00:34:51.135 --> 00:34:52.434
But during that time,

495
00:34:52.815 --> 00:34:54.434
you have a better ability

496
00:34:54.734 --> 00:34:59.075
to send promotional offers to them and try to convert them into a paying customer.

497
00:34:59.214 --> 00:35:01.944
Just wanted to mention one thing about the chance to offer incentives,

498
00:35:03.190 --> 00:35:05.670
on your point number four here, David. Mhmm.

499
00:35:06.070 --> 00:35:15.935
You know, Barbara from from Shark Tank, one of the sharks on the TV show Shark Tank, she she said once when when she was coming up in real estate in New York, she was relentless.

500
00:35:16.155 --> 00:35:19.935
She knew that when she had someone that was a a real prospect,

501
00:35:20.475 --> 00:35:22.635
that she would talk to them as much as possible.

502
00:35:22.635 --> 00:35:28.175
She said, if they're not talking to me and I'm not the one giving them the advice, they're talking to,

503
00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:29.819
my competitor.

504
00:35:31.319 --> 00:35:39.020
So the when you say chance to offer incentives here, it's actually a chance not only to offer incentives, but to continue the conversation

505
00:35:39.640 --> 00:35:42.220
and and dialogue and engagement with someone,

506
00:35:42.545 --> 00:35:43.765
who's on the fence.

507
00:35:44.065 --> 00:35:51.425
So you can influence them more the more you you have their ear, or through emails or through the messaging on your site.

508
00:35:51.425 --> 00:36:00.500
So really the chance to offer more incentives is also the chance to direct and influence their decision making as well because now you have their attention for that much longer.

509
00:36:00.560 --> 00:36:02.339
So I just wanted to mention that.

510
00:36:02.720 --> 00:36:03.839
That's a really great point.

511
00:36:03.839 --> 00:36:08.180
That actually ties directly into, point number three, which we'll get into later,

512
00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:11.785
in this presentation, but that's that's a really good thing to mention up front.

513
00:36:12.325 --> 00:36:15.305
And then lastly, free trials, they have been proven

514
00:36:15.845 --> 00:36:17.625
almost regardless of industry

515
00:36:18.005 --> 00:36:20.025
to increase your conversion rates.

516
00:36:20.885 --> 00:36:25.350
So, yeah, this presentation, it does tie in with the free trial period add on.

517
00:36:26.130 --> 00:36:28.790
Basically, the way that add on works, it allows you to set,

518
00:36:29.490 --> 00:36:31.110
a number of days

519
00:36:31.490 --> 00:36:33.670
that certain membership plans

520
00:36:33.970 --> 00:36:38.434
can have a free trial available to them. So it's done on a per membership level basis.

521
00:36:38.894 --> 00:36:42.994
You just type in the number of free days that you want to, to provide

522
00:36:43.535 --> 00:36:44.434
members with.

523
00:36:44.815 --> 00:36:47.474
And, currently, the way the add on works

524
00:36:47.775 --> 00:36:51.795
is it does require users to put in their credit card upfront

525
00:36:52.390 --> 00:36:54.410
even though they won't initially be charged.

526
00:36:54.710 --> 00:36:55.530
But this way,

527
00:36:55.910 --> 00:37:00.650
you'll have their credit card info on file. And so if they don't cancel their account

528
00:37:01.109 --> 00:37:03.690
prior to the free trial expiring,

529
00:37:04.230 --> 00:37:05.850
their credit card will automatically

530
00:37:06.575 --> 00:37:09.954
be billed for, for the membership plan that they're registered into.

531
00:37:10.654 --> 00:37:14.035
We do have a update planned in the future,

532
00:37:14.654 --> 00:37:20.280
which would give you the option to collect the credit card on the initial sign up or not collect it.

533
00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:21.260
There's benefits

534
00:37:21.560 --> 00:37:22.460
and cons

535
00:37:22.760 --> 00:37:25.580
to both options, which we'll also get into

536
00:37:25.960 --> 00:37:29.580
in this, presentation, but I just wanted to mention that upfront.

537
00:37:29.720 --> 00:37:31.820
So, keep that in the back of your mind.

538
00:37:32.440 --> 00:37:35.500
So best practice number one, create a sense

539
00:37:35.845 --> 00:37:37.145
of urgency. So

540
00:37:37.525 --> 00:37:44.805
when somebody signs up for a free trial, it automatically puts a time frame on that user's decision making process.

541
00:37:44.805 --> 00:37:45.605
They know, okay.

542
00:37:45.605 --> 00:37:51.710
I have this amount of time before in the current scenario before my credit card is billed.

543
00:37:51.710 --> 00:37:55.650
So let's test out this website. Let's see what it has to offer,

544
00:37:55.950 --> 00:37:57.890
and let me make my decision quickly.

545
00:37:58.190 --> 00:38:01.010
So it creates a very important sense of urgency.

546
00:38:02.190 --> 00:38:05.250
Now as for the average trial period length,

547
00:38:05.964 --> 00:38:09.905
as I mentioned with the add on, you do have the ability to choose

548
00:38:10.365 --> 00:38:14.464
how many days to provide members for free. So

549
00:38:14.765 --> 00:38:19.505
the average trial period, and this is across all software as a service

550
00:38:20.140 --> 00:38:20.640
providers,

551
00:38:21.100 --> 00:38:27.600
membership websites being one of them, the average trial period is between fourteen and twenty nine days.

552
00:38:27.980 --> 00:38:29.920
The optimal length, again, across

553
00:38:30.380 --> 00:38:30.880
all

554
00:38:31.260 --> 00:38:32.160
SaaS platforms,

555
00:38:32.694 --> 00:38:34.055
is typically fourteen days.

556
00:38:34.055 --> 00:38:39.115
Now this can vary depending on what features you have to offer, what industry you're targeting,

557
00:38:39.815 --> 00:38:43.515
but optimal length is typically tends to be about two weeks.

558
00:38:43.815 --> 00:38:45.835
And going into some statistics here,

559
00:38:46.230 --> 00:38:47.210
89%

560
00:38:47.350 --> 00:38:52.810
of SaaS companies, again, software as a service membership sites being won, 89% of them

561
00:38:53.110 --> 00:38:54.630
see a 50%

562
00:38:54.630 --> 00:39:00.790
conversion rate within thirty days of users beginning a trial. That's a huge conversion rate.

563
00:39:00.790 --> 00:39:03.475
So it kind of hammers home the point,

564
00:39:04.255 --> 00:39:08.755
that we all kind of know initially in that free trials give us an ability

565
00:39:09.135 --> 00:39:10.435
to test out a product

566
00:39:10.735 --> 00:39:11.235
before

567
00:39:11.615 --> 00:39:15.250
actually needing to commit a financial payment for it.

568
00:39:15.790 --> 00:39:18.369
The next statistic, 67%

569
00:39:18.589 --> 00:39:19.329
of those

570
00:39:19.950 --> 00:39:20.910
89%

571
00:39:20.910 --> 00:39:22.690
software as a service companies

572
00:39:23.150 --> 00:39:27.250
saw those conversions within the first fourteen days. So this gets into,

573
00:39:27.695 --> 00:39:31.395
that optimal length of about fourteen days. The majority,

574
00:39:31.935 --> 00:39:34.915
tend to see a conversion rate within those first fourteen days.

575
00:39:35.615 --> 00:39:43.930
Going a little bit further, determining how long of a trial to offer, you don't wanna offer too long of a trial because then people might end up forgetting about it.

576
00:39:43.990 --> 00:39:48.890
And if you provide too long of a period, that also reduces that sense of urgency.

577
00:39:48.950 --> 00:39:54.810
So it's kind of a bit of a balance that you wanna have, and there's a couple ways that you can determine

578
00:39:55.285 --> 00:39:57.385
how long of a trial to offer.

579
00:39:57.765 --> 00:40:02.105
So you need to look at your target demographic, your target industry,

580
00:40:02.805 --> 00:40:04.665
what service you're providing

581
00:40:05.125 --> 00:40:06.425
alongside your memberships,

582
00:40:07.125 --> 00:40:10.105
and ask yourself how long does it typically take

583
00:40:10.460 --> 00:40:14.059
for a member to achieve a result or get a quick win on your website.

584
00:40:14.059 --> 00:40:17.200
So whether that's receiving a lead or

585
00:40:17.500 --> 00:40:20.880
seeing their business profile live on your website,

586
00:40:21.259 --> 00:40:21.759
whatever

587
00:40:22.299 --> 00:40:24.160
a little goal may be for them,

588
00:40:24.539 --> 00:40:26.079
how long would that

589
00:40:26.415 --> 00:40:31.315
typically take them? How long would it take them to fill out and complete their profile?

590
00:40:31.855 --> 00:40:34.255
How many features do you have available to them?

591
00:40:34.255 --> 00:40:40.515
Is there a lot of things for them to explore on your site, or is it pretty standard and and pretty well confined?

592
00:40:41.480 --> 00:40:43.400
And then also, what's the length of your membership?

593
00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:46.059
Are you charging people monthly, or are you charging them annually?

594
00:40:46.520 --> 00:40:51.799
If you're charging them monthly, then you might wanna provide them with a seven day or a fourteen day free trial.

595
00:40:51.799 --> 00:40:53.900
Whereas if you're charging them annually,

596
00:40:54.200 --> 00:40:57.115
maybe you wanna provide them with a thirty day free trial.

597
00:40:57.494 --> 00:40:59.915
So there's a few different factors to consider.

598
00:41:00.295 --> 00:41:07.335
It can vary, but going back to the optimal length, typically, if you're unsure, you might just wanna start at fourteen days.

599
00:41:07.335 --> 00:41:09.755
It it that seems to strike a pretty good balance.

600
00:41:10.370 --> 00:41:15.270
Those are some really good points, and I really like your point about giving them small wins,

601
00:41:15.570 --> 00:41:21.030
so they feel like they're accomplishing something on the platform or they're actually getting something back reciprocated

602
00:41:21.410 --> 00:41:22.310
back to them.

603
00:41:22.695 --> 00:41:28.635
And then also in addition to that is how can you make your product or service more of a sticky service or,

604
00:41:28.935 --> 00:41:30.775
like a high switching cost, you know.

605
00:41:30.775 --> 00:41:34.315
Get them to add all their images or get them to complete their profile.

606
00:41:34.700 --> 00:41:43.760
If you can find ways to make them not want to leave or not abandon the work they've done during their free trial, that's gonna help assist with converting,

607
00:41:44.220 --> 00:41:44.720
larger,

608
00:41:45.260 --> 00:41:54.405
majority of those free trial users into paid members because just emotionally, they feel connected to what they've done on your site, and it's gonna be harder for them,

609
00:41:54.705 --> 00:41:58.165
to wanna leave. So find ways to make your product sticky,

610
00:41:58.625 --> 00:42:05.350
and create that emotional connection so they don't wanna abandon what they've created once the trial comes, to an end.

611
00:42:05.650 --> 00:42:06.130
Precisely.

612
00:42:06.130 --> 00:42:12.130
And this is just a simple graph showing the average conversion rate depending on the length of free trial.

613
00:42:12.130 --> 00:42:16.545
So you can see again fourteen days right in the middle seems to be kind of the sweet spot.

614
00:42:17.984 --> 00:42:26.964
So now the idea of whether to capture a credit card upon the beginning of a trial or not require a credit card.

615
00:42:27.184 --> 00:42:28.085
As I mentioned,

616
00:42:28.385 --> 00:42:29.765
by default currently,

617
00:42:30.390 --> 00:42:32.569
as of 04/08/2020,

618
00:42:32.869 --> 00:42:40.809
the add on does require members or potential members to input their credit card information when they're signing up for a free trial.

619
00:42:40.950 --> 00:42:46.605
In the future, we'll have an we'll release an update where you can choose whether or not to require a credit card.

620
00:42:46.605 --> 00:42:48.065
As I mentioned, there's benefits,

621
00:42:48.685 --> 00:42:50.385
and downsides to both.

622
00:42:50.765 --> 00:42:56.145
So this is another kind of option that you'll need to weigh depending on the market that you're targeting.

623
00:42:56.445 --> 00:42:59.185
But to kind of compare and contrast the two,

624
00:42:59.970 --> 00:43:01.430
when you do require

625
00:43:01.890 --> 00:43:08.210
a credit card, so when somebody's signing up for a trial and before they even start the trial, you require credit card.

626
00:43:08.210 --> 00:43:12.470
Doesn't mean that they're gonna be charged right away. It just means that you have it on file.

627
00:43:13.315 --> 00:43:14.695
That type of free trial

628
00:43:15.155 --> 00:43:15.655
converts

629
00:43:16.115 --> 00:43:19.735
typically little more than half a percent of website visitors

630
00:43:20.195 --> 00:43:21.495
into paying customers.

631
00:43:22.035 --> 00:43:29.480
So when a website visitor comes to your website and you do require a credit card when they're beginning their trial,

632
00:43:29.940 --> 00:43:36.359
typically, about half a percent of them will go through their trial and then become a paying customer.

633
00:43:36.500 --> 00:43:39.000
Whereas if you don't require a credit card,

634
00:43:39.540 --> 00:43:44.695
that, conversion rate about doubles, goes up to about 1.2%.

635
00:43:45.875 --> 00:43:52.695
As for converting visitors into just trial users, so this isn't considering whether or not they become customers,

636
00:43:53.589 --> 00:43:56.329
but just whether or not they become trial users.

637
00:43:56.550 --> 00:44:03.210
When they do when you do require a credit card, typically have about a 2% conversion rate, whereas without a credit card,

638
00:44:03.670 --> 00:44:09.290
that conversion rate goes up by a multiple of five. You typically see a conversion rate of about

639
00:44:09.645 --> 00:44:11.585
10% of website visitors

640
00:44:11.885 --> 00:44:12.865
converting to

641
00:44:13.165 --> 00:44:16.465
trial users when you don't require a credit card, and that makes sense.

642
00:44:16.525 --> 00:44:20.225
As consumers, we probably would be more likely to

643
00:44:20.605 --> 00:44:21.985
sign up for a free trial

644
00:44:22.525 --> 00:44:26.790
if, we didn't need to initially apply our credit card number,

645
00:44:27.250 --> 00:44:29.750
whereas we might be a little bit more hesitant

646
00:44:30.130 --> 00:44:32.710
if we did need to provide the credit card upfront.

647
00:44:33.410 --> 00:44:36.805
However, with that being said, requiring a credit card upfront,

648
00:44:37.265 --> 00:44:39.684
you'll typically see about a 50%

649
00:44:40.305 --> 00:44:40.805
conversion

650
00:44:41.105 --> 00:44:47.045
rate from a trial user to a paying customer, and that again, it makes sense. People who

651
00:44:47.670 --> 00:44:54.089
are willing to put in their credit card information when they're starting a trial, they probably already have a pretty good idea of what your website offers,

652
00:44:54.710 --> 00:44:57.530
what they're gonna get out of it, and they're probably already

653
00:44:57.990 --> 00:45:03.045
mostly convinced. They just need that final push to get them across the finish line.

654
00:45:03.185 --> 00:45:09.365
Whereas if you don't require a credit card, that conversion rate drops substantially down to about 15%

655
00:45:09.665 --> 00:45:12.405
of trial users converting into a paying customer.

656
00:45:12.785 --> 00:45:16.565
So that's another thing to consider. And going along with that statistic,

657
00:45:17.160 --> 00:45:18.780
requiring a credit card upfront,

658
00:45:19.160 --> 00:45:23.819
it puts less strain on you to provide customer service to these trial users because

659
00:45:24.119 --> 00:45:30.745
you do have a slightly lower conversion rate of website visitors to trial users when you do require credit cards.

660
00:45:30.745 --> 00:45:31.805
So you're gonna have slightly

661
00:45:32.425 --> 00:45:34.045
less trial users,

662
00:45:34.585 --> 00:45:38.445
which would, reduce the strain on you to provide customer service

663
00:45:38.745 --> 00:45:41.805
to those people because you have less users that you're servicing

664
00:45:42.119 --> 00:45:51.319
compared to whereas if you don't require a credit card, you're gonna have more people signing up, which means you probably are going to be providing a little bit more customer service to them.

665
00:45:51.319 --> 00:45:52.460
So that's another,

666
00:45:53.000 --> 00:45:53.819
pretty important

667
00:45:54.215 --> 00:45:57.015
aspect to consider. How much time available do you have?

668
00:45:57.015 --> 00:46:00.135
Is it just you managing the entire community? Do you have,

669
00:46:00.695 --> 00:46:03.495
employees or partners helping you out with that?

670
00:46:03.495 --> 00:46:12.520
That can be an important aspect to consider, figuring out how much time you have available to dedicate to customer support and customer service overall.

671
00:46:13.300 --> 00:46:13.800
And

672
00:46:14.180 --> 00:46:15.640
the final thing to consider,

673
00:46:16.099 --> 00:46:18.920
probably not as important as time management,

674
00:46:19.585 --> 00:46:21.845
but it does also play into time management,

675
00:46:22.225 --> 00:46:24.645
is when you require that credit card upfront,

676
00:46:25.265 --> 00:46:29.365
that credit card's already on file. So when that free trial expires,

677
00:46:30.305 --> 00:46:32.460
their credit card will automatically be billed.

678
00:46:32.540 --> 00:46:38.960
There's no need for you to follow-up with them to get that credit card number and then to close the sale.

679
00:46:39.180 --> 00:46:41.920
Because their credit card's already on file, it's all done automatically.

680
00:46:42.619 --> 00:46:43.119
Whereas,

681
00:46:43.500 --> 00:46:48.785
if they don't have a credit card on file as a trial user, you then have

682
00:46:49.165 --> 00:46:49.744
to either

683
00:46:50.365 --> 00:46:51.345
send out more

684
00:46:51.645 --> 00:47:01.585
email reminders to them or maybe follow-up with them personally over the phone, asking them for a credit card number so that they can upgrade to a full fledged

685
00:47:01.920 --> 00:47:02.420
member.

686
00:47:02.880 --> 00:47:08.819
So, some important aspects to consider, again, benefits and downsides with both aspects.

687
00:47:09.359 --> 00:47:13.859
And, this is just this is probably going to be more of, a personal decision

688
00:47:14.205 --> 00:47:17.985
rather than kind of a hard and true kind of one way or the other.

689
00:47:18.605 --> 00:47:22.845
And best practice number three, this goes into what Jason was saying,

690
00:47:23.325 --> 00:47:25.265
previously at the start of this presentation

691
00:47:25.805 --> 00:47:30.500
about kind of offering the absolute best customer service you you possibly can,

692
00:47:30.800 --> 00:47:34.020
showing them that you're better than your competitors and staying top of mind,

693
00:47:34.320 --> 00:47:36.260
is to onboard your trial users

694
00:47:36.560 --> 00:47:38.660
as if they're already paying customers.

695
00:47:39.440 --> 00:47:40.900
You wanna be able to provide

696
00:47:41.360 --> 00:47:47.665
the best customer support you can to all of your users, including the users who are on free trials.

697
00:47:48.125 --> 00:47:49.665
Now the free trial users,

698
00:47:49.965 --> 00:47:52.945
they may become paying customers and they may not.

699
00:47:53.485 --> 00:48:00.570
But if you're providing them with the best possible support you can, you're increasing the likelihood that they will become paying customers.

700
00:48:01.350 --> 00:48:04.310
We've got another statistic here. 86%

701
00:48:04.310 --> 00:48:06.490
of buyers are willing to pay more

702
00:48:06.950 --> 00:48:08.970
for an excellent customer experience.

703
00:48:09.670 --> 00:48:12.885
I think most of us would probably agree with that,

704
00:48:13.525 --> 00:48:15.465
number just from a personal standpoint.

705
00:48:16.005 --> 00:48:17.705
If we're if we have two companies

706
00:48:18.005 --> 00:48:21.145
that we're choosing between and one of them has

707
00:48:21.525 --> 00:48:25.065
phenomenal through the roof customer service like we've never seen before

708
00:48:25.539 --> 00:48:28.039
and another one is just kind of standard or substandard,

709
00:48:28.420 --> 00:48:32.500
I think we'd all be willing to pay a little bit extra for that increased customer service.

710
00:48:32.500 --> 00:48:34.119
It also gives us a better feeling

711
00:48:34.660 --> 00:48:37.880
and and trust towards that that company that provides

712
00:48:38.259 --> 00:48:39.079
better customer,

713
00:48:39.700 --> 00:48:40.200
service.

714
00:48:40.965 --> 00:48:41.465
So

715
00:48:41.845 --> 00:48:50.745
some other things that you can do to help with this onboarding process to keep these free trial users engaged and to keep your website top of mind

716
00:48:51.125 --> 00:48:53.945
is to send them a getting started checklist email.

717
00:48:54.680 --> 00:48:57.820
So by default, there's a lot of default email templates,

718
00:48:58.440 --> 00:49:01.900
that are sent out to members with the Brilliant Directories system,

719
00:49:03.320 --> 00:49:03.820
but

720
00:49:04.360 --> 00:49:08.540
you can always add additional emails. You can edit the default templates.

721
00:49:09.474 --> 00:49:13.575
And a great thing to do is to initially send them a checklist of things

722
00:49:13.954 --> 00:49:16.855
to do on your website with their brand new account.

723
00:49:17.395 --> 00:49:19.655
So you can in that checklist, you can include

724
00:49:20.035 --> 00:49:21.015
steps to

725
00:49:21.474 --> 00:49:25.240
add a profile logo, add their business details to their profile,

726
00:49:25.619 --> 00:49:27.320
maybe publish a piece of content.

727
00:49:27.540 --> 00:49:32.119
Whatever it is you want them to do on your website, you can include those call to actions

728
00:49:32.580 --> 00:49:33.880
in these welcome emails.

729
00:49:34.660 --> 00:49:40.895
Explain to them how they can get closer and to that quick win that you want them to experience or have on your site.

730
00:49:41.035 --> 00:49:42.734
And then also include the ways,

731
00:49:43.115 --> 00:49:44.095
that, again,

732
00:49:44.395 --> 00:49:54.839
make their profile or their subscription a little bit more sticky and harder to leave once they've already got the ball rolling, with setting up their profile and other settings, that are available to them.

733
00:49:54.839 --> 00:49:58.220
Exactly. Like that next point, some helpful tips, emails

734
00:49:58.599 --> 00:50:02.300
on how those how these users can get the most out of their membership.

735
00:50:02.920 --> 00:50:10.755
You don't wanna leave it up to them to kind of figure out what to do next after they create their account, where to go, how to do something.

736
00:50:10.815 --> 00:50:15.635
Give them direct steps so that they can, they can get that that initial win quickly.

737
00:50:16.175 --> 00:50:17.955
And then another thing to keep in mind

738
00:50:18.255 --> 00:50:22.000
is, you can include promotional offers in your welcome emails.

739
00:50:22.000 --> 00:50:24.579
You don't wanna bombard them with promotional offers,

740
00:50:25.200 --> 00:50:30.740
but having promotional offers in your welcome emails can lift revenue by about 30%

741
00:50:30.799 --> 00:50:34.019
on average in the, software as a service industry.

742
00:50:34.795 --> 00:50:38.315
Everyone likes a good deal even if it's a discount on your first month or your first,

743
00:50:38.795 --> 00:50:40.635
cycle of of payments as well,

744
00:50:40.955 --> 00:50:44.655
just to help enough to help people get, over the over that hump.

745
00:50:45.435 --> 00:50:49.775
Exactly. Yeah. And going back to call to actions, you wanna include these calls to actions.

746
00:50:49.860 --> 00:50:50.580
They can be anything.

747
00:50:50.580 --> 00:50:55.400
It could be to follow you follow your, your website on Facebook or or Twitter or Instagram.

748
00:50:55.780 --> 00:51:00.200
It could be to get them to publish their first piece of content to complete their profile.

749
00:51:00.500 --> 00:51:04.920
Whatever it is you want them to to do, include those CTAs in your welcome emails.

750
00:51:05.405 --> 00:51:09.345
And, another great tip, try not to post just general

751
00:51:09.964 --> 00:51:10.464
content,

752
00:51:11.244 --> 00:51:11.744
either

753
00:51:12.125 --> 00:51:13.025
on your site

754
00:51:13.484 --> 00:51:15.665
or in your emails to your members.

755
00:51:16.045 --> 00:51:19.744
Try to customize them a little bit. Customize those default email templates.

756
00:51:20.130 --> 00:51:21.670
Make them better apply

757
00:51:22.130 --> 00:51:24.549
to, to your members and directly address

758
00:51:25.089 --> 00:51:28.549
exactly what it is they're looking to get out of your website.

759
00:51:29.089 --> 00:51:36.255
The default email templates that the Brilliant Directory system has that all your websites have, they're great for general purpose,

760
00:51:36.795 --> 00:51:39.215
but they're kind of one size fits all emails.

761
00:51:39.595 --> 00:51:42.975
So you might wanna dive into some of those default email templates

762
00:51:43.355 --> 00:51:48.655
and just change some of the verbiage a little bit, make them a little bit more personal, and, relate better

763
00:51:49.150 --> 00:51:51.170
to your members and the target industry.

764
00:51:51.870 --> 00:51:53.170
90% of consumers

765
00:51:53.870 --> 00:51:56.290
find custom content useful. I think that's,

766
00:51:56.670 --> 00:51:57.570
a pretty obvious

767
00:51:57.950 --> 00:51:58.450
statistic.

768
00:51:58.510 --> 00:52:05.325
We'd rather see content that relates directly to us rather than just kind of being fed just kind of general content.

769
00:52:05.704 --> 00:52:08.045
Dave, I wanna touch on something. I saw a couple,

770
00:52:08.664 --> 00:52:16.440
examples of you know, on our home page, we put things like, again, like streaming events and coupons and our top level categories, and that and that stuff is fine.

771
00:52:16.520 --> 00:52:23.420
If you're an organization and and it's more like, it's a private member organization, it's not really about a searchable business directory.

772
00:52:23.960 --> 00:52:28.700
What I've seen a couple sites do is something like this. They'll use their article slider.

773
00:52:28.805 --> 00:52:33.465
This is just an example here, but the articles in here aren't necessarily news articles.

774
00:52:33.765 --> 00:52:36.265
They link to articles that explain how,

775
00:52:36.725 --> 00:52:43.705
the program works, you know, how our membership program works, 10 reasons why you'll love us, is our community a good fit for you.

776
00:52:43.970 --> 00:52:50.069
Things that really answer a lot of FAQs or frequently asked questions about someone who's browsing or considering joining,

777
00:52:50.529 --> 00:52:51.269
the website.

778
00:52:51.329 --> 00:53:00.735
So just wanted to help people think a little bit out of the box that, you know, some of the things on your home page don't necessarily need to be about just about content, but about,

779
00:53:01.355 --> 00:53:06.715
what your membership program and membership community is about and how people can get more information.

780
00:53:06.715 --> 00:53:07.615
Then, of course,

781
00:53:07.915 --> 00:53:10.815
when you have pages like this, it does,

782
00:53:11.595 --> 00:53:12.655
increase curiosity.

783
00:53:13.355 --> 00:53:16.530
And in these articles that you write about, you know,

784
00:53:17.150 --> 00:53:22.750
more about your community, you can have call to action buttons that says, wondering if it's a good fit for you?

785
00:53:22.750 --> 00:53:24.589
Try a fourteen day free trial.

786
00:53:24.589 --> 00:53:30.385
So as you're feeding them information about what your mission is, what you stand for, who your community serves,

787
00:53:30.685 --> 00:53:31.905
at the end of all those

788
00:53:32.205 --> 00:53:33.425
snippets of text,

789
00:53:33.725 --> 00:53:35.665
you can have those calls to action,

790
00:53:36.685 --> 00:53:42.065
that that can help elicit getting more people into your top funnel of the free trials,

791
00:53:42.445 --> 00:53:46.180
that you're offering. So just some things to consider as you want to k.

792
00:53:46.420 --> 00:53:54.180
Get people to pages where they can learn about you, not just see what the end user experience is, but what's behind the curtain as well.

793
00:53:54.180 --> 00:53:54.680
So,

794
00:53:55.060 --> 00:53:56.760
just wanted to share that as well.

795
00:53:57.865 --> 00:53:59.965
It's a great example. That goes into,

796
00:54:00.505 --> 00:54:04.845
building trust with between the member or the potential member and the website

797
00:54:05.225 --> 00:54:10.505
and, also establishing, I think, even more credibility for your website. We had one last point.

798
00:54:10.505 --> 00:54:11.645
Make yourself available.

799
00:54:12.069 --> 00:54:15.849
Have a contact page on your site. Include a contact form.

800
00:54:16.470 --> 00:54:17.690
This lets users

801
00:54:17.990 --> 00:54:24.250
voice their concerns and frustrations rather than posting on message boards, which you have no control over.

802
00:54:25.055 --> 00:54:27.395
It lets them ask questions directly to you.

803
00:54:27.455 --> 00:54:33.475
You get to receive feedback from people, better understand what they're looking for, maybe what things you could be addressing better.

804
00:54:33.695 --> 00:54:35.555
And then also adding a phone number,

805
00:54:35.855 --> 00:54:40.990
if you're really stretched thin on time, that may be a difficult thing to do.

806
00:54:41.369 --> 00:54:44.270
But just having a phone number listed on the site

807
00:54:44.970 --> 00:54:46.350
adds a lot of credibility,

808
00:54:46.890 --> 00:54:48.490
to your organization as a whole.

809
00:54:48.490 --> 00:54:53.885
It lets people know that there's real people behind it, managing it, that you're accessible,

810
00:54:54.185 --> 00:54:57.165
that, it's not just kind of somebody who set up this

811
00:54:57.465 --> 00:55:03.485
this, this website hoping to make some residual income on the side, and they kind of never deal with it.

812
00:55:04.025 --> 00:55:06.809
It it adds a lot of of trust.

813
00:55:07.190 --> 00:55:09.849
So that that's a really big tip to consider.

814
00:55:10.390 --> 00:55:14.730
And lastly, we've talked about this in plenty of previous webinars,

815
00:55:15.030 --> 00:55:17.770
but adding a live chat feature to your website as well,

816
00:55:18.375 --> 00:55:20.475
there's a lot of great platforms.

817
00:55:21.255 --> 00:55:24.615
You can even do Facebook Messenger chat. There's other,

818
00:55:25.335 --> 00:55:26.155
other independent,

819
00:55:26.935 --> 00:55:28.395
live chat applications

820
00:55:28.775 --> 00:55:31.095
like live chat. I think it's livechat.com

821
00:55:31.095 --> 00:55:32.875
or livechatinc.com

822
00:55:33.050 --> 00:55:35.230
where you basically just copy and paste the script

823
00:55:35.609 --> 00:55:38.670
into your, into your website and it adds the chat feature.

824
00:55:38.730 --> 00:55:41.470
You log in and you can live chat with website visitors.

825
00:55:41.770 --> 00:55:44.270
That's another great way and and that's another alternative.

826
00:55:44.970 --> 00:55:48.985
Maybe if you don't wanna provide a phone number, at least you're showing that you're available

827
00:55:49.445 --> 00:55:51.545
for direct communication that way.

828
00:55:52.245 --> 00:55:52.745
Alright.

829
00:55:53.125 --> 00:55:56.585
Last best practice number four, prioritizing your marketing effort.

830
00:55:57.045 --> 00:56:03.940
So we do focus a lot on marketing aspects, marketing tactics, and and these webinars in the Facebook group, of course.

831
00:56:04.080 --> 00:56:07.220
But when you're providing a free trial, you really do wanna,

832
00:56:08.000 --> 00:56:11.940
focus a lot on your marketing efforts for those trials.

833
00:56:12.714 --> 00:56:15.375
Another statistic here, we got a lot of stats on this page.

834
00:56:16.075 --> 00:56:17.615
Almost 65%

835
00:56:17.675 --> 00:56:19.694
of a little bit under 65%

836
00:56:19.994 --> 00:56:22.494
of software as a service companies say that marketing

837
00:56:22.954 --> 00:56:27.454
is the best way to convert trial users into paying customers, more so

838
00:56:27.890 --> 00:56:33.190
than just, you know, typical run of the mill sales tactics like trying to call them up on the phone.

839
00:56:33.330 --> 00:56:36.950
The the biggest thing I think with the marketing aspect is just staying top of mind,

840
00:56:37.730 --> 00:56:39.670
staying top of mind and reinforcing,

841
00:56:40.210 --> 00:56:41.510
you know, whatever points,

842
00:56:41.895 --> 00:56:46.795
it is you're trying to get across to them that you can make their life easier or,

843
00:56:47.655 --> 00:56:51.435
help help them achieve whatever goals it is that they're looking for.

844
00:56:51.655 --> 00:56:56.475
Marketing is a great way to to reinforce all those things and hammer those points home,

845
00:56:57.000 --> 00:57:02.380
to your free trial users and hopefully push them across that finish line to convert into a paying customer.

846
00:57:03.080 --> 00:57:07.660
Another great tip to aid in that is to add testimonials to your website,

847
00:57:07.960 --> 00:57:12.925
to your emails, social media. Really, any anywhere you can add testimonials,

848
00:57:13.625 --> 00:57:17.065
you you should. Testimonials have almost a 90%

849
00:57:17.065 --> 00:57:19.005
effectiveness rating when it comes to,

850
00:57:19.625 --> 00:57:20.125
marketing

851
00:57:20.505 --> 00:57:21.005
efforts

852
00:57:21.465 --> 00:57:23.965
for, for software as a service companies.

853
00:57:24.470 --> 00:57:27.369
I know we're we're saying software as a service companies a lot.

854
00:57:27.910 --> 00:57:29.690
Many of you may not think of

855
00:57:29.990 --> 00:57:32.069
what you're doing as software as a service.

856
00:57:32.069 --> 00:57:36.569
It's really kind of just an umbrella term for a company that provides an online service.

857
00:57:36.630 --> 00:57:42.005
Your membership directory is obviously an online service. So, just kind of think of it that way.

858
00:57:42.224 --> 00:57:43.365
But testimonials

859
00:57:43.744 --> 00:57:49.105
are a phenomenal marketing tool. You can sprinkle them all across your website on your home page.

860
00:57:49.105 --> 00:57:52.805
You can add a couple on your about us page, on your contact page.

861
00:57:53.700 --> 00:58:00.760
Every once in a while, you can throw out a a testimonial that you've received on your Facebook page, your Instagram,

862
00:58:01.140 --> 00:58:04.840
maybe like an Instagram story if you have an Instagram account for your website.

863
00:58:05.140 --> 00:58:14.805
And the final thing is and we've mentioned this so many times in previous webinars, content really is king when it comes to marketing, and video

864
00:58:15.425 --> 00:58:19.045
is increasingly becoming the most important type of content.

865
00:58:19.505 --> 00:58:21.125
I know video can be kind of

866
00:58:21.500 --> 00:58:23.040
intimidating to get into.

867
00:58:23.980 --> 00:58:27.359
You don't need to you don't really don't need anything complicated to start.

868
00:58:27.420 --> 00:58:31.980
You could either do a screen share. You could do you could record a video on your smartphone.

869
00:58:31.980 --> 00:58:36.079
We I think almost all of us have smartphones now with great cameras.

870
00:58:36.805 --> 00:58:41.145
You can record simple videos on your phone. You can even edit videos on your phones now.

871
00:58:41.525 --> 00:58:42.025
So

872
00:58:42.405 --> 00:58:47.145
I really highly recommend trying at least to get into producing

873
00:58:47.445 --> 00:58:48.825
even just simple videos.

874
00:58:49.800 --> 00:58:50.780
They're more engaging

875
00:58:51.080 --> 00:58:52.540
than sharing articles,

876
00:58:53.160 --> 00:58:56.300
or images. Of course, you should do all of that as well.

877
00:58:56.600 --> 00:59:01.160
But 78% of people now watch videos online weekly, and about 55%

878
00:59:01.160 --> 00:59:03.660
of people watch videos online every single day.

879
00:59:04.215 --> 00:59:05.435
They're much more engaging.

880
00:59:05.735 --> 00:59:07.115
They're easier to consume.

881
00:59:07.735 --> 00:59:09.095
You can listen to a video.

882
00:59:09.095 --> 00:59:12.455
You know, if you're driving, you may not need to watch it, but you can listen to it.

883
00:59:12.455 --> 00:59:15.115
You know, if you're cooking, you can have the video on in the background.

884
00:59:15.655 --> 00:59:18.555
It's it's just a much more digestible form of content

885
00:59:18.990 --> 00:59:21.090
rather than only producing articles.

886
00:59:21.550 --> 00:59:23.410
So you can make your own simple videos.

887
00:59:23.550 --> 00:59:28.130
And another great tip is to incorporate into your video content

888
00:59:28.830 --> 00:59:33.090
is to throw those video those, customer testimonials in there, the member testimonials.

889
00:59:33.725 --> 00:59:38.785
If you know for a fact you have this one member is just ecstatic

890
00:59:39.165 --> 00:59:40.385
about your website

891
00:59:40.685 --> 00:59:44.305
and everything it is that you're doing, you can ask them for a video testimonial.

892
00:59:45.085 --> 00:59:50.490
You can provide them with, maybe, like, a big discount on their membership or give them a little bit of an incentive

893
00:59:50.790 --> 00:59:51.850
to record themselves

894
00:59:52.230 --> 00:59:53.450
talking about your company.

895
00:59:53.750 --> 00:59:58.170
It can be, you know, fifteen seconds. It could be a minute, but a video testimonial

896
00:59:58.470 --> 01:00:03.765
really goes a long way. It goes a lot further than, than just a normal text

897
01:00:04.145 --> 01:00:08.565
testimonial because this way, people can actually see who it is that's giving the testimonial.

898
01:00:09.025 --> 01:00:10.145
They can kind of put,

899
01:00:10.705 --> 01:00:14.465
put a face and an identity to the the words that they're saying.

900
01:00:14.465 --> 01:00:16.579
So that that's a really good tip there.

901
01:00:17.039 --> 01:00:19.460
So that's all the slides that we have for this presentation.

902
01:00:19.680 --> 01:00:22.099
I did also wanna mention, because I know

903
01:00:22.400 --> 01:00:28.980
this whole presentation is focused around the free trial period add on, if you don't have the add on, you can still take

904
01:00:29.385 --> 01:00:33.885
almost all of these tips to your website anyway and your marketing efforts.

905
01:00:34.345 --> 01:00:37.645
A great workaround would be to provide a,

906
01:00:38.185 --> 01:00:39.565
a free membership level

907
01:00:39.945 --> 01:00:41.245
with limited functionality.

908
01:00:41.785 --> 01:00:43.465
Now, of course, you don't have that,

909
01:00:44.200 --> 01:00:47.740
that kind of time frame that you would have with a free trial period,

910
01:00:48.200 --> 01:00:50.060
but you can still provide,

911
01:00:50.760 --> 01:00:55.880
a free membership level with limited functionality. That way you at least get people in the door.

912
01:00:55.880 --> 01:00:58.780
They get an idea of kind of how the accounts works,

913
01:00:59.244 --> 01:01:03.744
what they would be able to do if they unlocked more of those premium features if they were to upgrade,

914
01:01:04.045 --> 01:01:07.085
and and you capture their contact information and all that stuff.

915
01:01:07.085 --> 01:01:15.690
So if you go about it that way without having the add on, you can still take a lot of these tips and apply them to, to a free membership level as well.

916
01:01:16.309 --> 01:01:19.109
That's awesome, David. These are some stats I wasn't aware of.

917
01:01:19.109 --> 01:01:22.569
It's it's really good that you put this together. It puts things in perspective,

918
01:01:23.910 --> 01:01:26.645
on where we should prioritize our time,

919
01:01:27.825 --> 01:01:28.565
and energy.

920
01:01:28.945 --> 01:01:32.485
And in this graph here, you know, it says just under 65%

921
01:01:32.865 --> 01:01:34.085
should be around marketing.

922
01:01:34.545 --> 01:01:35.845
When you're doing marketing,

923
01:01:36.145 --> 01:01:44.130
you're and I think what David was was mentioning is you're creating that brand awareness, and you're creating that sense that you, your organization,

924
01:01:44.510 --> 01:01:45.490
is the authority

925
01:01:46.270 --> 01:01:48.130
on in the industry or,

926
01:01:48.510 --> 01:01:49.730
in the niche that you're

927
01:01:50.270 --> 01:01:55.035
trying to service. So with those marketing efforts, you we always go to websites. We're like, wow.

928
01:01:55.035 --> 01:01:56.395
These guys have been around forever.

929
01:01:56.395 --> 01:01:59.375
Look at how many blog articles they have, and they have this and that.

930
01:01:59.515 --> 01:02:05.500
They're what they're doing is they're flexing their marketing muscles, and they're showing you that they are the industry leaders.

931
01:02:05.500 --> 01:02:12.140
Now a lot of us have limited resources, so we're not gonna create hundreds and hundreds of blog articles and videos and things like that.

932
01:02:12.140 --> 01:02:13.440
So what we need to do

933
01:02:13.740 --> 01:02:18.400
is find out what lead magnets, and they're called lead magnets, what things

934
01:02:18.779 --> 01:02:19.519
will have

935
01:02:19.895 --> 01:02:20.935
the highest value?

936
01:02:20.935 --> 01:02:26.234
What's the minimal amount of content we can create that will have the highest emotional impact

937
01:02:26.535 --> 01:02:27.275
on somebody's

938
01:02:28.935 --> 01:02:29.435
perception

939
01:02:30.055 --> 01:02:31.115
of your organization?

940
01:02:32.369 --> 01:02:39.029
So that's where, you know, creating, like, ebooks, like, you know, with guides and and 10 tips, you know, for this and that,

941
01:02:39.329 --> 01:02:47.569
and creating these ebooks that, you know, provide really good pieces of and nuggets of information that people in your industry really want.

942
01:02:47.569 --> 01:02:50.455
You just need a handful of those and some good landing pages,

943
01:02:51.155 --> 01:02:55.415
and that should be enough to build a marketing campaign around those lead magnets.

944
01:02:55.715 --> 01:02:59.175
So you use your time wisely. You're using your resources wisely.

945
01:02:59.235 --> 01:03:01.175
You don't need hundreds of blog articles.

946
01:03:01.430 --> 01:03:05.990
Maybe you just need five or 10 or, you know, just under a dozen, whatever it is.

947
01:03:05.990 --> 01:03:11.690
But then those are working for you behind the scenes to build that brand awareness and credibility and authority

948
01:03:12.070 --> 01:03:13.110
within your industry.

949
01:03:13.110 --> 01:03:19.595
So you can work smarter, not harder when it comes to content and let the content do the work for you.

950
01:03:19.595 --> 01:03:24.155
You just need to be ready with your free trials or your free membership sign up option.

951
01:03:24.155 --> 01:03:31.375
Or if you're not offering anything for free, just the ability for them to submit an application form that they're interested in joining your organization

952
01:03:31.820 --> 01:03:32.880
so you can capture,

953
01:03:33.420 --> 01:03:34.240
that information

954
01:03:34.780 --> 01:03:35.760
from the potential,

955
01:03:36.220 --> 01:03:37.440
member or subscriber,

956
01:03:38.140 --> 01:03:42.320
of your service. So, David, great presentation. Thank you for putting this together.

957
01:03:42.380 --> 01:03:44.000
I'm sure some people have questions,

958
01:03:44.380 --> 01:03:48.545
about the free trials. But what we'll do right now is pass it over to you guys.

959
01:03:48.765 --> 01:03:52.625
You can use the raise your hand feature if you wanna ask a question about free trials,

960
01:03:53.325 --> 01:03:58.065
or about your site. We'll see if we can get to a couple questions and help you guys out.

961
01:03:58.390 --> 01:03:59.350
And one last,

962
01:04:00.070 --> 01:04:15.204
tip I do wanna mention when it comes to as you touched on, kind of balancing your time, you know, if maybe you're a one man team or or you don't have a lot of experience in content creation, you can make up for that by really exceeding expectations in other areas like customer service, for example.

963
01:04:15.744 --> 01:04:17.585
So it's kind of a balancing act.

964
01:04:17.585 --> 01:04:22.005
Some things you may do better than others, but find your weaknesses and try to counterbalance those.

965
01:04:22.460 --> 01:04:27.279
It's a great point. Yeah. Play to your strengths and counterbalance your weaknesses.

966
01:04:28.140 --> 01:04:33.519
Alright. Allison has her hand up. Let me unmute you here, Allison. How are you today?

967
01:04:33.819 --> 01:04:37.335
I'm good. How are you guys? Good. Good. How'd you like the presentation so far today?

968
01:04:37.655 --> 01:04:41.275
It was pretty good. Okay. Great. Great. And what's your question for us?

969
01:04:41.655 --> 01:04:42.955
So if you're

970
01:04:43.895 --> 01:04:46.555
starting starting out to build the site and

971
01:04:46.935 --> 01:04:50.220
you haven't put your users on and you haven't put your members on,

972
01:04:50.780 --> 01:04:55.660
And I'm all about offering the free trial, but, you know, what comes first, the chicken or the egg?

973
01:04:55.660 --> 01:04:59.119
So we've gotta be able to offer the free trial and also be able

974
01:04:59.580 --> 01:05:01.760
to deliver on what we're offering to deliver.

975
01:05:02.300 --> 01:05:07.944
But we need those members on so that we can also get the users on, and we need those users so we can get our members on.

976
01:05:08.244 --> 01:05:12.904
Perfect. So what what this this is the number one question that we hear.

977
01:05:12.964 --> 01:05:15.545
So I'll try to simplify it for you.

978
01:05:15.684 --> 01:05:19.865
Essentially, what you're building is a marketplace similar to Uber for car rides.

979
01:05:20.220 --> 01:05:26.960
There's no point in having a bunch of drivers in a city or riders in a city if there's no drivers to to meet that demand.

980
01:05:27.420 --> 01:05:34.800
So when it comes when it comes to an online marketplace and when you're just starting out, the best practice is actually,

981
01:05:35.605 --> 01:05:37.785
you can choose either side of the marketplace.

982
01:05:38.565 --> 01:05:40.345
But choose one side of the marketplace

983
01:05:40.885 --> 01:05:43.145
and create a lead magnet to start gathering

984
01:05:43.685 --> 01:05:44.505
those subscribers.

985
01:05:46.245 --> 01:05:48.505
You know, create basically a secondary

986
01:05:50.700 --> 01:05:51.200
magnet

987
01:05:51.500 --> 01:05:57.660
that gets you their email address, gets you their name, gets them to set up a basic profile, and you're gonna give them something.

988
01:05:57.660 --> 01:06:02.800
You have to figure out what that is. It's gonna be an ebook. It's gonna be access to a webinar.

989
01:06:02.860 --> 01:06:08.365
It's gonna be something of value, and you're gonna start building that half of your marketplace.

990
01:06:09.305 --> 01:06:11.165
Once you feel like you have, you know,

991
01:06:11.705 --> 01:06:15.945
a good number of people there, it could be it could be 20. It could be 200.

992
01:06:15.945 --> 01:06:19.485
It really depends on what market you're going after. When you feel you have,

993
01:06:20.470 --> 01:06:22.250
you know, a good amount of people there,

994
01:06:22.710 --> 01:06:23.210
then

995
01:06:23.590 --> 01:06:25.850
the real plan that you have for your project,

996
01:06:26.150 --> 01:06:29.030
you can then go to the second half of the marketplace and say, hey.

997
01:06:29.030 --> 01:06:31.450
Connect with, you know, this side of our marketplace.

998
01:06:31.510 --> 01:06:34.175
We now have these people in in our marketplace.

999
01:06:34.275 --> 01:06:37.855
So you need to do something to get the first part of your marketplace

1000
01:06:38.315 --> 01:06:38.815
going.

1001
01:06:38.875 --> 01:06:43.935
So when we started Brilliant Directories, you know, more than ten years ago, our first directory

1002
01:06:44.395 --> 01:06:46.895
was, a directory of interior designers.

1003
01:06:47.450 --> 01:06:51.710
And we were gonna connect them with leads of people who needed to work with interior designers.

1004
01:06:52.090 --> 01:06:54.030
But pre launch, before we launched,

1005
01:06:54.570 --> 01:07:01.230
we just had a landing page, and it said, a new website to promote your interior design services is coming soon.

1006
01:07:01.755 --> 01:07:07.135
We have early bird free, whatever. You know, fill out this form to let us know you're interested.

1007
01:07:07.755 --> 01:07:11.535
We didn't have an ebook or anything. And we went into LinkedIn groups and,

1008
01:07:12.474 --> 01:07:16.020
we started, you know, sharing that. And we got, you hundreds

1009
01:07:16.320 --> 01:07:17.060
of designers

1010
01:07:18.800 --> 01:07:21.060
to fill out that form on a landing page.

1011
01:07:21.280 --> 01:07:25.920
And once the site was ready, because we didn't even have the platform at that point, we were still building it.

1012
01:07:25.920 --> 01:07:31.220
But once it was ready, we then emailed all those people saying, hey, come back to the site and create your profile.

1013
01:07:32.214 --> 01:07:35.595
And and then once they had their profiles there now,

1014
01:07:36.055 --> 01:07:40.795
we started doing Google Ads. At that time, it was just that was our strategy

1015
01:07:41.095 --> 01:07:46.315
to get consumers to come to the site, and we would sell the leads of the consumers to the designers.

1016
01:07:46.790 --> 01:07:51.210
And it was really it it worked out really well, but we have to get those designers registered

1017
01:07:51.510 --> 01:07:53.510
first. Now we could have done it the other way.

1018
01:07:53.510 --> 01:08:05.515
We could have went after the people who needed designers, you know, homeowners and things like that and said, you know, if you want design tips, you know, fill out this form and we'll we'll get them to you and we could have gone that route as well.

1019
01:08:05.575 --> 01:08:12.214
And then we would just flip it and we'd go after the designers and say, look, we got all these consumers that are hungry to get connected with designers.

1020
01:08:12.214 --> 01:08:15.915
So really just focus on one aspect of your marketplace first.

1021
01:08:17.060 --> 01:08:17.880
And then alternatively,

1022
01:08:19.300 --> 01:08:25.620
what you could do, and we do recommend this quite often, is go ahead and add your first hundred members into the site first.

1023
01:08:25.620 --> 01:08:30.680
But do it manually or, you know, import them, but make sure the profiles are really well decorated.

1024
01:08:31.055 --> 01:08:38.675
And then email them and tell them that you found them noteworthy professionals in the industry, and you've added them to your exclusive list on the website.

1025
01:08:40.255 --> 01:08:44.760
And just give it to them for free because they're basically helping you populate your site,

1026
01:08:45.719 --> 01:08:49.880
to begin with. So just manually add beautiful images, make it really high quality.

1027
01:08:49.880 --> 01:08:51.019
Now you got a hundred,

1028
01:08:52.119 --> 01:08:55.659
profiles in there, and then you can go after the second half of your marketplace.

1029
01:08:56.279 --> 01:08:57.159
And then Okay.

1030
01:08:57.239 --> 01:09:03.695
Another strategy, one more thing, and this is a really common pit fall is when people are setting up their directory sites,

1031
01:09:04.314 --> 01:09:09.375
especially if we're searching for, you know, local businesses, whether it's all businesses or specific industry,

1032
01:09:09.675 --> 01:09:11.854
they add too many member categories.

1033
01:09:12.314 --> 01:09:12.814
So

1034
01:09:13.590 --> 01:09:25.189
every everything that you unlock on your site, whether it's adding more categories or also offering classifieds, coupons, events, and all the other stuff you can list, everything you add makes more work for you starting out.

1035
01:09:25.189 --> 01:09:29.825
So that means that you're gonna have to work extra hard to fill those sections of your site.

1036
01:09:30.125 --> 01:09:32.705
So try to cut back as much as you can,

1037
01:09:33.245 --> 01:09:34.145
edit it out,

1038
01:09:34.685 --> 01:09:37.345
start smaller, and just make a quality

1039
01:09:37.725 --> 01:09:39.505
site first with less.

1040
01:09:39.805 --> 01:09:53.599
And then as you grow, you can unlock more post types and you can add more categories later because then you can use your energy more efficiently in filling those limited categories with members rather than trying to fill hundreds of categories with members.

1041
01:09:54.285 --> 01:09:58.705
Okay. You think that it kinda plays the same way if you're dealing in b to b?

1042
01:09:59.005 --> 01:10:02.844
And it's not really I'm not marketing the consumers. I'm it's business to business.

1043
01:10:02.844 --> 01:10:05.025
So do you think there's any difference in that?

1044
01:10:05.485 --> 01:10:09.940
Consumer is always a little bit a little bit different, but I think that the the points still apply.

1045
01:10:10.240 --> 01:10:13.760
You know, you don't want to create a bunch of empty sections on your site.

1046
01:10:13.760 --> 01:10:17.460
So even if it's b to b, just limit the number of categories.

1047
01:10:17.680 --> 01:10:21.620
I don't know what your what the focus of your site is, but just know that

1048
01:10:22.240 --> 01:10:30.645
the smaller you make your site to start, the better your energy will will go towards filling those and really making those good resources rather than being sparse

1049
01:10:31.025 --> 01:10:33.205
and and and just being kind of thin.

1050
01:10:33.665 --> 01:10:35.744
Okay. Alright. Well, I'll take your advice.

1051
01:10:35.744 --> 01:10:39.045
I'll take the classifieds off because we had added some custom features.

1052
01:10:39.489 --> 01:10:41.969
That'll probably be more important than that. Yeah.

1053
01:10:41.969 --> 01:10:50.630
So, like, if you're start if you're doing, like, a a searchable business directory plus, like, you're gonna have events and articles and all that stuff, I would just pick one or two maximum

1054
01:10:51.010 --> 01:10:56.235
additional types of content people can search for because, again, you're just gonna be creating more work for yourself,

1055
01:10:56.695 --> 01:11:00.155
in the beginning stages. So just just some food for thought there.

1056
01:11:00.295 --> 01:11:04.795
And more simple for the member signing up so they're not overwhelmed with all the different options.

1057
01:11:05.015 --> 01:11:05.515
Exactly.

1058
01:11:05.575 --> 01:11:09.510
And what's really cool about Brilliant Directories is they don't know you're using Brilliant Directories.

1059
01:11:09.590 --> 01:11:11.190
Six months from now, you can say, hey.

1060
01:11:11.190 --> 01:11:16.389
We we just released classifieds, and they think you just thanks to you know, and all you did was click a button.

1061
01:11:16.389 --> 01:11:22.550
So you can make it into a big newsletter release as you unlock the features that are built into your Brilliant Directories site.

1062
01:11:22.550 --> 01:11:27.255
That's that's really the best way to go. Okay. Good point. Alright. Thanks. Thanks, Allison.

1063
01:11:27.635 --> 01:11:32.595
Alright. Good good common question there. Alright. Brenda. I see Brenda's got her hand up.

1064
01:11:32.595 --> 01:11:33.655
How are you doing, Brenda?

1065
01:11:34.675 --> 01:11:39.575
It looks like Brenda sent in a question in the chat. She's asking

1066
01:11:40.200 --> 01:11:41.580
about website backups.

1067
01:11:41.880 --> 01:11:47.100
She just wants to make sure that, that we have backups available for all Burlington Directories websites.

1068
01:11:47.560 --> 01:11:49.500
Absolutely. That's a really great question.

1069
01:11:49.880 --> 01:11:53.580
So just by default, we do for every BD website,

1070
01:11:54.075 --> 01:11:59.055
we do have a one day backup. So we everyone has a backup from the last twenty four hours,

1071
01:11:59.594 --> 01:12:01.215
always from the previous date.

1072
01:12:01.594 --> 01:12:04.015
If you have the fourteen day website backups,

1073
01:12:04.555 --> 01:12:07.195
add on, obviously saving backups are resource intensive.

1074
01:12:07.195 --> 01:12:11.420
So when you have that add on, we have fourteen consecutive days

1075
01:12:11.800 --> 01:12:13.320
of backups of your site.

1076
01:12:13.320 --> 01:12:18.700
So if you maybe you didn't pay attention to your site for a couple days, something went awry or incorrect,

1077
01:12:19.080 --> 01:12:21.000
we'll have fourteen individual days.

1078
01:12:21.000 --> 01:12:25.545
And in some cases, we can just pick and choose specific things that you'd like to back up.

1079
01:12:25.545 --> 01:12:27.324
Maybe you just wanna back up,

1080
01:12:27.625 --> 01:12:31.085
your blog articles or or a rest a restoration of,

1081
01:12:31.465 --> 01:12:34.445
your member reviews or something. So that that's an option.

1082
01:12:34.664 --> 01:12:41.020
And then lastly, everyone also does have a one month snapshot backup of their site.

1083
01:12:41.239 --> 01:12:43.400
So if we're towards the end of a month,

1084
01:12:43.880 --> 01:12:50.380
if you needed a restore from further back and you didn't have the fourteen day backups, you'd have a choice of the last twenty four hours

1085
01:12:50.715 --> 01:12:53.215
or, the previous month's backup.

1086
01:12:53.675 --> 01:13:00.655
We're also working on tools that will that with the fourteen day backup add on, it will put the power in your hands to

1087
01:13:01.035 --> 01:13:07.489
restore and backup many of the areas of your site on your own without having to email our support team,

1088
01:13:07.790 --> 01:13:08.750
to assist with that.

1089
01:13:08.750 --> 01:13:15.410
So what we're learning from this process, a lot of people, you know, email us from time to time to do backup restores.

1090
01:13:15.630 --> 01:13:19.545
We're making note of that process our team is doing to do those restore

1091
01:13:20.245 --> 01:13:25.465
backups of certain elements of the site, and we're gonna turn that into kind of like a,

1092
01:13:26.485 --> 01:13:27.065
a portal

1093
01:13:27.445 --> 01:13:32.165
or a module where you can do your own restore backups in the near near future.

1094
01:13:32.165 --> 01:13:36.889
So we're listening to some of the feedback, and hopefully, we'll have that later this year as well.

1095
01:13:37.110 --> 01:13:37.610
Alright.

1096
01:13:39.110 --> 01:13:40.489
Lois. How you doing, Lois?

1097
01:13:41.030 --> 01:13:45.449
Hi. It's Louise. Louise. I apologize, Louise. How are you today? Oh, that's okay.

1098
01:13:45.765 --> 01:13:50.005
I'm great. How are you? Good. Good. Thank you. Thank you. Where are you calling from?

1099
01:13:50.005 --> 01:13:51.545
Calling from Beechburg, Ontario.

1100
01:13:52.085 --> 01:13:58.425
Okay. Great. And what's your question for us today? On my website, the bookkeepersdirectory.com,

1101
01:13:58.645 --> 01:14:00.344
on some of the menu items,

1102
01:14:00.920 --> 01:14:01.420
I

1103
01:14:01.720 --> 01:14:04.860
was trying to figure out how to have the pull down menu.

1104
01:14:05.960 --> 01:14:08.160
Yep. If you go to the home page Uh-huh.

1105
01:14:08.760 --> 01:14:10.380
The tab that says businesses

1106
01:14:10.680 --> 01:14:12.300
has a pull down menu.

1107
01:14:12.760 --> 01:14:13.260
K.

1108
01:14:13.985 --> 01:14:17.045
How do I get that on bookkeepers and courses

1109
01:14:17.665 --> 01:14:19.685
on that menu bar across the top?

1110
01:14:23.105 --> 01:14:26.965
That menu there. I'd like it on bookkeepers as well as courses.

1111
01:14:28.159 --> 01:14:29.540
The the drop down menu?

1112
01:14:30.239 --> 01:14:30.739
Yes.

1113
01:14:31.040 --> 01:14:33.520
Oh, great question. It's really, really easy.

1114
01:14:33.520 --> 01:14:36.260
Do you know what pages you'd like to add under bookkeepers

1115
01:14:37.440 --> 01:14:38.260
as links?

1116
01:14:40.265 --> 01:14:45.145
Not yet, but I'll tell you what. I'll I'll make it real I'll make it real simple for you here.

1117
01:14:45.145 --> 01:14:48.605
So if you go to toolbox and to your menu manager.

1118
01:14:49.385 --> 01:14:52.685
Uh-huh. We're gonna edit your main menu here, the first one.

1119
01:14:53.889 --> 01:15:02.369
So what's really cool is you can see with this little green icon which one of the menus have, like, a drop down if when you're gonna hover over it.

1120
01:15:02.369 --> 01:15:08.789
So what you can do is if you scroll down and click on new link, and I'm just gonna call this, new link

1121
01:15:09.545 --> 01:15:13.085
one, and I will just link this to your home page just temporarily.

1122
01:15:13.145 --> 01:15:15.645
All you have to do is drag this up,

1123
01:15:16.105 --> 01:15:18.685
and then you could just nest it underneath

1124
01:15:19.545 --> 01:15:20.045
here.

1125
01:15:20.425 --> 01:15:23.485
And then once once you have it there, let me just save the changes.

1126
01:15:25.620 --> 01:15:30.440
Once it's there, it's it's actually a lot easier once it's there because you can click on actions,

1127
01:15:30.980 --> 01:15:34.520
clone menu items. So it's just gonna clone this one here,

1128
01:15:35.300 --> 01:15:37.800
and just click yes. And this way,

1129
01:15:41.145 --> 01:15:42.425
it adds it right there.

1130
01:15:42.425 --> 01:15:46.844
You don't have to do all that scrolling up and down, so you can just quickly clone it.

1131
01:15:48.264 --> 01:15:51.385
It's closing these green things, but click this green thing again.

1132
01:15:51.385 --> 01:15:54.960
Now we have three links here without having to do all that scrolling.

1133
01:15:54.960 --> 01:15:59.619
So the first one that you want under there, you just create new link. And then, of course,

1134
01:16:00.480 --> 01:16:02.480
you can change this to whatever you want.

1135
01:16:02.480 --> 01:16:07.139
And, of course, really important, link it to the correct page that you wanna link it to.

1136
01:16:08.045 --> 01:16:13.565
Okay. Okay? Okay. So that's all you have to do is just nest them underneath. Just drag them.

1137
01:16:14.284 --> 01:16:17.804
So I'll go ahead and delete do you want me to keep these here or delete these? Sure.

1138
01:16:17.804 --> 01:16:21.570
You can keep those there. Okay. That okay. I'll just do one, two, and three.

1139
01:16:21.650 --> 01:16:23.909
And then you could follow the same thing for your courses.

1140
01:16:25.090 --> 01:16:26.310
Okay. Okay.

1141
01:16:27.570 --> 01:16:28.610
Thank you. The,

1142
01:16:29.489 --> 01:16:32.790
the Facebook share buttons on the header,

1143
01:16:33.329 --> 01:16:34.935
how do you move them up there?

1144
01:16:35.415 --> 01:16:39.675
That's also a really good question. So this one would be in the design settings.

1145
01:16:40.855 --> 01:16:41.835
And, basically,

1146
01:16:42.695 --> 01:16:45.035
this search module that you have up here,

1147
01:16:45.575 --> 01:16:49.115
you can choose if you wanna have social media links there instead.

1148
01:16:50.090 --> 01:16:51.309
Where you would do that

1149
01:16:51.610 --> 01:16:56.670
is under your design settings, under the header design tab or module.

1150
01:16:57.449 --> 01:17:00.270
Over here where it says show header search,

1151
01:17:01.449 --> 01:17:02.349
one of them

1152
01:17:04.094 --> 01:17:06.675
is show social media links instead.

1153
01:17:07.135 --> 01:17:11.795
So it's gonna swap that out, the search module up there with your social media links.

1154
01:17:12.094 --> 01:17:13.474
Do you wanna save that?

1155
01:17:14.094 --> 01:17:15.890
Sure. Thank you. K.

1156
01:17:16.590 --> 01:17:18.690
Let's see what that looks like on your site.

1157
01:17:22.270 --> 01:17:26.290
So that's that's what it looks like, with the buttons here, the social icons.

1158
01:17:27.070 --> 01:17:27.570
Okay.

1159
01:17:27.975 --> 01:17:28.475
Alright.

1160
01:17:29.175 --> 01:17:33.355
Alright. Good questions there from a Lois. Definitely active on her site.

1161
01:17:33.815 --> 01:17:37.435
And, let's see if we can take one more, question here

1162
01:17:38.295 --> 01:17:39.594
from our friend, Roy.

1163
01:17:40.030 --> 01:17:41.330
Roy, how are you today?

1164
01:17:41.950 --> 01:17:44.210
I'm very well. Thank you very much, Jason. Yes.

1165
01:17:45.230 --> 01:17:48.690
And I've been trying to get a logo icon to display

1166
01:17:49.150 --> 01:17:49.630
on,

1167
01:17:50.030 --> 01:17:51.410
my mobile phone,

1168
01:17:52.695 --> 01:17:57.415
in such a way that it it it, mimics in terms of size and, and,

1169
01:17:58.215 --> 01:17:58.715
readability

1170
01:17:59.095 --> 01:18:01.355
the sort of things that you get from

1171
01:18:01.655 --> 01:18:03.915
Facebook and WhatsApp and that sort of business.

1172
01:18:04.295 --> 01:18:07.010
And I've got a symbol, a letter q,

1173
01:18:07.390 --> 01:18:09.330
and and I put this into the,

1174
01:18:10.430 --> 01:18:10.930
favicon,

1175
01:18:11.950 --> 01:18:14.050
position in in the general settings.

1176
01:18:14.430 --> 01:18:16.130
And it displays on,

1177
01:18:17.550 --> 01:18:19.890
an Android tablet that I've got,

1178
01:18:20.645 --> 01:18:22.505
just exactly as I wanted to.

1179
01:18:22.805 --> 01:18:26.745
I can't get that to to work on on an iPhone.

1180
01:18:27.605 --> 01:18:32.505
So the when you're adding a website to your home screen, whether you're on an iPhone or an Android device,

1181
01:18:33.380 --> 01:18:36.120
sometimes it may default to the favicon,

1182
01:18:36.820 --> 01:18:39.720
but both those operating systems prefer to use,

1183
01:18:40.580 --> 01:18:43.960
specified icons specific for that function.

1184
01:18:44.820 --> 01:18:50.505
So you really don't wanna use the favicon, especially because favicons think the standard size is only 16 by 16 pixels.

1185
01:18:51.045 --> 01:18:56.344
So if that's being used for a home screen icon for a website, it's not gonna look good.

1186
01:18:56.965 --> 01:19:01.145
So I'm adding this link to the chat to question that's on Stack Overflow.

1187
01:19:01.969 --> 01:19:05.610
If you scroll down a little bit, you'll see the top answer with a green check mark next to it.

1188
01:19:05.610 --> 01:19:06.949
It has 27 upvotes.

1189
01:19:07.250 --> 01:19:11.670
You'll see some code in there. Some of those lines reference Apple icons.

1190
01:19:11.810 --> 01:19:13.909
Others reference shortcut icons.

1191
01:19:14.449 --> 01:19:18.805
That should be the code that you wanna use. That's those shortcut icon,

1192
01:19:19.665 --> 01:19:20.645
lines of code,

1193
01:19:20.945 --> 01:19:24.085
I think, are what Android uses, whereas Apple uses,

1194
01:19:24.545 --> 01:19:25.525
separate ones.

1195
01:19:25.825 --> 01:19:28.785
So give that a shot, and, I I think that might work.

1196
01:19:28.785 --> 01:19:32.460
Just make sure that you have those icons uploaded to your media manager and then,

1197
01:19:33.020 --> 01:19:33.520
replacing

1198
01:19:33.980 --> 01:19:39.680
the links in the sample code with the actual image URLs that you have uploaded for your icons.

1199
01:19:39.900 --> 01:19:41.840
We found it right here, David. So,

1200
01:19:42.860 --> 01:19:44.060
thanks for looking into that.

1201
01:19:44.060 --> 01:19:48.080
But, yeah, there's lots of different devices out there, and they all have different requirements.

1202
01:19:48.140 --> 01:19:50.335
But I think this is a good this is a great share here.

1203
01:19:50.335 --> 01:19:53.155
And of course, if you're looking at this guys, the href,

1204
01:19:53.695 --> 01:19:56.514
that's where you would put the link to your image, here.

1205
01:19:57.775 --> 01:19:59.074
Alright. So,

1206
01:20:00.255 --> 01:20:02.995
I think that'll wrap it up for us here today.

1207
01:20:03.340 --> 01:20:10.080
On behalf of, myself, David, and the Brilliant Directories family, it's great, that you were able to join us today.

1208
01:20:10.300 --> 01:20:13.500
If we didn't get to your question, please join us in the Facebook group.

1209
01:20:13.500 --> 01:20:16.780
You can go to brilliantdirectories.com/facebook,

1210
01:20:16.780 --> 01:20:17.760
and we can continue

1211
01:20:18.115 --> 01:20:18.855
the discussions,

1212
01:20:19.395 --> 01:20:19.895
there.

1213
01:20:20.275 --> 01:20:28.055
So, we'll see you guys in two weeks, for the next webinar, and we'll see you instantly in the Facebook group if you have additional questions.

1214
01:20:28.195 --> 01:20:31.255
So have a great day, guys, and a brilliant week. Take care.