This is the second piece in our series on business models online. Last time we introduced Marie Forleo and talked about how she built her business, this time we look into Marie’s content marketing and social media strategies, and how she monetizes online…
Content Marketing Strategy
In our last post in this series, we talked about how Marie struck a pivotal moment in her business when she realised the importance of consistency for her overall results. In terms of content marketing strategy, this is now more important than ever for any online business owner who wants to maintain and grow an audience in what is now a very crowded market.
Marie TV is the content that she is best known for and this comes out every Tuesday. Marie will either interview an expert guest or will tackle topics herself. Consistently these videos feature; bumpers at each end, calls to action and URL redirects to her YouTube channel. Marie’s YouTube channel has a huge following on its own, but the show is also posted as a blog post to her website so that subscribers there also receive notice of new content.
Perhaps the most important ingredient of Marie’s content is her own authentic brand of sage advice, blended with a sense of humour. Marie TV comes across as a genuine and heartfelt show, aiming to give something valuable to viewers. The content of her shows is relevant to her target audience and is always presented in an interesting way. (How do we know it’s relevant and of interest to her audience? Check out the comments sections on any of her posts!).
Here’s a quick summary of the lessons you can take away from Marie’s content marketing strategy:
- Be original and be true to yourself in any content you produce.
- Have a consistent content calendar.
- Be consistent with branding.
- Use calls to action in all content.
- Present relevant material of interest to your target audience.
- Have fun with it!
Social Media
Marie’s largest social media following is on her Facebook page where she has more than 200,000 followers. She also has a large Twitter following of around 112,000.
Here is what we notice about Marie on social media:
- Her posts are largely content-centred with a few well-chosen image quotes thrown in.
- She doesn’t post links to anything she sells or is promoting very often – these links are usually found on her blog posts or videos, which she posts links to.
- She posts regularly but not a lot – once or twice a day. (Of course as she is very well-known, people will seek out her posts. Someone starting out may want to post 4-6 times per day to improve visibility).
- Her posts are appropriate to the social platform they are targeting, not just blanket scheduling of the same post over different platforms. For example, you can see the same content has been posted in some cases on Facebook and Twitter, however the text of the post has been changed or the image size has been changed to be optimized for the target platform.
- Her branding is consistent across social platforms and her website.
- Her social profiles are all complete including links to relevant sites. (Many people make the mistake of not doing this!).
How does Marie monetize?
Given all of this great content that Marie delivers for free, how does she monetize her business? Well, that’s one of the great things about her free content, she delivers enough valuable information that her followers get to know her and start to search for something more… and when they do, they find B-School (her online business school for entrepreneurs), her books, her copywriting course or her live events. She is also in demand as a keynote speaker.
One of the strengths of what Marie offers is that she keeps it simple. As entrepreneurs it can be tempting to jump onto every new opportunity that comes along, but Marie has a clear offering that is easy for visitors to understand and follows a clear path for how to get there. She has built up one sales funnel at a time and focused on getting that right before developing something new.
Marie Forleo is a brilliant example of a solopreneur who has really nailed it online and become a legitimate entrepreneur with a thriving business. By focusing on delivering quality content, being authentic and keeping it simple, she has not only developed a strong following, but built an entire village of raving fans who help to share her story (us included).
Don’t miss the next article in this series, when we continue delving into successful online business models with lessons from Brendan Burchard…
We have built the “Marie Forleo model” for many entrepreneurs.
We build a WordPress website, then a follow up funnel and email plan, then content marketing with an online TV show or podcast, then a membership program. We can help you with all or any of these items. Go here to set up a no obligations strategy call with Heather Porter – our Co-Founder and “From Website to Raving Community” expert.