• Email Marketing Services
  • Website Services
  • Business Development for the Green Industry
  • Extras
    • Katie’s Books
    • Great Garden Speakers
  • Blog
    • Email
    • Instagram

The Garden Of Words

Business Marketing Tech for Busy Bees

  • Home
  • About
  • Services
    • Website Services
    • Email Marketing Services
    • Business Development for the Green Industry
  • Portfolio
  • Contact

December 17, 2020 By Kaite Elzer-Peters

Tell Me What you Want

I had a really great day last Saturday. 

Why?  I saw a sign pointing to a fish fry and I followed it. 

Arriving onsite was like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 

At least, it was for this girl who misses people and new experiences. 

And, let’s be real, for someone who just enjoys a good fish fry. 

This is a picture of the sign. It was very simple.

“If you want fried fish turn here,” is what it said, essentially.

Now, when I GOT to the fish fry, I found a whole lot more. Cool people, fresh eggs, a vendor market, nice chatting, a nice English professor and a backyard farmer.

It was great! All of it! I think I made a few new friends. During COVID.

All because of a simple, clear sign with a simple, clear directive.

“Want fish? Turn here.”

Tell me what you want what you really really want

I’m writing this because the fish fry sign demonstrates what an uncomplicated, clear, un-ambiguous CTA (Call to action) can do for you and your business, and, because, even though I hope you take a break over the holidays, I’m sure that your brain will wander to your business. I’d like it to wander here:

When someone visits your website, what action do you most want them to take after visiting?

This is your “Most Desired Response,” or MDR.

What do you want to do next, or if they don’t do the MDR? That is your Second most Desired Response, or your SDR.

Look at your website. Is your MDR clear? Do you ask them to take action high up on your homepage? Do all signs point to that?

Do you tell them where to go? What to do?

(Want fried fish? Turn here.)

Is it easy for potential customers to find the entrance to the path you most want them to walk down or do they have to hunt around for it? 

Or are there too many choices? Is there extra info on there they don’t need in order to make a decision to sign up, learn more, etc? 

Possible MDRs
You probably want website visitors to:

  • Book a talk
  • Sign up for your email list
  • Buy a plant online
  • Sign up for a wholesale account
  • Buy a plant in the store
  • Share something on social media
  • Sign up for an online course
  • Request a web review
  • Request a quote

And then, secondarily, you might want them to find more info on the particular type of service they might want, if you offer several different services. 

Tell them what you want what you really really want

Everything is a big ol’ hassle right now. Everyone is also overstimulated, overcommitted, and tired. 

“Fish Fry Today.” I was driving along at 40 mph. I had less than a second to register that sign and turn around. If I had to read “Fish Fry and plants and eggs and bling and smoothies today and every Saturday” I would have kept going. Too much information. Too much to think about. 

How can you make it easy for your customers to get what they want? 

Start with the MDR and SDR and go from there. 

The Yard Doc is IN!

Team GOW launched this pretty and functional website for our client Carol Bailey. She is pivoting her business to offer more digital and in person consultations, so we helped her create an online space that funnels people right to her menu of options. She’s using Acuity Scheduling connected to PayPal (for people to pay via credit card) and it’s super simple for people to schedule time and pay for it on the spot. No invoicing. No back and forth. Just “I choose this time, here’s my money, talk soon.” If they don’t want that but want to stay in her orbit they can sign up for her once monthly newsletter. We love working with Carol and are so excited for her!

Visit Carol’s Site

Favorite Links & Tools

Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite links, tools, and tips from 2020.

Calculator Soup
 A NIFTY tool to help you eyeball all KINDS of calculations for business or home. (This does not constitute financial advice. It’s simply a tool to help you ballpark things like margin

Facebook Delinter
(Is Facebook pulling and old image when you try to share a page? This tool will help.)

HEX Color Code from an Image Tool
Never guess how to match your link colors to your branding again. 

Make web links open where you want them to open

Google Doc Quick Start

Favorite book I read this year

Book I’m looking forward to next year

The best coffee cake you can buy online
(Disclosure: I do their holiday email marketing each year, but I’ve eaten thousands of pieces of coffee cake and I’m reeeeeeeally picky. Theirs always wins.)

Holiday Hours

I hope you get some real time off with no emails and no phone calls. Everyone needs a chance to re-set before 2021 because guys, gardening isn’t slowing down.

Here’s some info to know about our upcoming time off if you’re a current GOW client or interested in working with us. 

Year-End Holidays

  • Katie out of the office December 19-January 3, Katie’s assistant, Mallary, managing inbox while offices are open.
  • Offices closed December 23 –  December 27, December 30-January 3
  • Katie on call for red phone service client emergencies when office is closed.

Pivot!
Need a change in the new year?  Grab a discovery call time slot here.

Happiest of holidays to you. See you on the flip side!

Filed Under: FREE STUFF, LIFE AS A FREELANCER, MARKETING YOURSELF, NEWSLETTER, OFFICE SUPPLIES, Uncategorized, WORK LIFE BALANCE

« Ecommerce Website – thegardenersworkshop.com
Best If Used By … »

Know what you want? Confused, but think I can help?

Click HERE to sign up for a free discovery call. Or email me.

Book Now

Schedule a Call

Click here: gardenofwords.as.me

or email her at katie@mygardenofwords.com

Quick Links

  • Email Marketing Services
  • Website Services
  • Business Development for the Green Industry
  • Extras
    • Katie’s Books
    • Great Garden Speakers
  • Blog

Stay updated!

Get the somewhat every other week GOW newsletter always with a seemingly random but surprisingly relevant business story and helpful links.

The Garden of Words Instagram

thegardenofwordsagency

thegardenofwordsagency
This might as well be Katie's life motto. When liv This might as well be Katie's life motto. When living with her parents during an extended period at the beginning of the pandemic she wrote out an SOP for cohabitating. That's how much she doesn't enjoy trying to read people's minds. ⁠
🍓⁠
"Asking" is not a four letter word, but many people have been raised to believe it is. ⁠
🍓⁠
What would be different in your business or your life if you asked for something instead of expecting it?⁠
⁠
#quote #thoughtoftheday #bigask #boldask #motivation #motivationalquotes
It's almost June, which means in 5ish weeks, half It's almost June, which means in 5ish weeks, half the year is gone. (Hello, WHAT?)⁠
Instead of lots of "how to" tips this week, we're sharing quotes, sayings, and info that shaped our thinking so far in 2022. ⁠
🌱⁠
This entire quote is, "The truth has legs; it always stands. When everything else in the room has blown up or dissolved away, the only thing left standing will always be the truth. Since that’s where you’re gonna end up anyway, you might as well just start there.” ⁠
🌱⁠
If I (Katie) were to choose one quote to sum up the first part of the year, it's this one. Does it resonate with you? What would you do differently if you started from what you know to be true about your business our yourself? ⁠
#quote #quotes #truth #inspiration #marketing #business #worklife #workingfromhome #workfromhome #remotework
It's so easy, as business owners, to just try to m It's so easy, as business owners, to just try to make it to the end of the day, the end of the week, the end of the month, the end of the year, the next project launch, the next conference. ⁠
⁠
That's not enough, though. ⁠
⁠
One of Katie's favorite quotes is "Survival is insufficient." It's from Star Trek Voyager S6E2, but is also famous for being the epigraph in Emily St. John Mandel, book "Station Eleven." The Traveling Symphony, the performing group the book centers around, adopts it as their motto in a post apocalyptic world. ⁠
⁠
Survival is insufficient. ⁠

Art, beauty, movement are necessary, too. 

We challenge readers and followers to think about how we can lift up ourselves and others in moving from surviving to thriving. 

⁠
Are you great at starting projects but have a roug Are you great at starting projects but have a rough time finishing? Maybe you're afraid to hit "send" on that marketing email. Perhaps you can write content all day, but when it comes to MailChimp, you're stuck. Maybe you have your website copy and pictures pulled together but don't know what to do next. Maybe your website is built, but you don't know which words to use.⁠
⁠
We can help! ⁠
⁠
Grab a call spot & we'll chat with you about "Last Mile Services," a.k.a. getting your project across the finish line. ⁠
⁠
Link in bio to schedule a call.⁠
Load More Follow on Instagram

Katie’s Personal Instagram

katie_gardenofwords

katie_gardenofwords
I planned to paint last night and I did it anyway. I planned to paint last night and I did it anyway. And I’m glad I did. God there’s so much awful shit in this world.
One thing about May is that there are always Magno One thing about May is that there are always Magnolias. 📸: @plaidmoose
Thank God the second time was a charm on this one Thank God the second time was a charm on this one because the first time was a literal unmitigated disaster! But very pleased how this version turned out! 
#gouache #gouachepainting #housepainting #houseportrait
Summer’s here! Summer’s here!
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Helpful Pages

Website Services

Email Marketing Services

Business Development Services

contact info
Call Katie (317) 313-8366 or email her at katie@mygardenofwords.com

The Garden of Words, LLC

  • 407 Kelly Road
  • Wilmington, NC 28409

Copyright 2022 · TheGardenOfWords.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy