TikTok made me buy it...

IN THIS EMAIL:

📱 HOW SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CHANGED THE GAME WHEN IT COMES TO SELLING: there’s a whole new set of rules.
💥 THE MAIN SALES TACTIC I USE IN MY BIZ: with lots of examples of it.
🛒 EVERYTHING I ORDERED ON AMAZON CAUSE TIKTOK MADE ME BUY IT: you know, just in case you wanna order it all too.

SOCIAL MEDIA HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED
WHAT IT MEANS TO “SELL” ONLINE
And honestly: a lot of the info out there about selling is based on outdated tactics that old, self-important white dudes popularized 😵

I’ve got a lot of feelings about this “how to sell” topic, but I’m trying to keep things light and tight today.

So I wanna make 3 main points:

1. Social media has necessitated that we all redefine and relearn how to sell our shit.

Selling looks different now, it sounds different now, and it’s changing faster than any of us can keep track of. TikTok, in particular, is literally reshaping retail industries and creating insane opportunities that didn’t exist only 2 or 3 years ago.

2. If you currently hate selling [or think you’re bad at it] it’s probably because you think you need to be using all the outdated tactics I’m gonna lay out for you below. Nope! You get to sell however you want to, and I swear: there is a formula that will feel easy, breezy and fun for you. You just have to find it.

3. I’ve only used ONE main sales tactic to sell over a million dollars of services and digital products...and I’m gonna teach you all about it so you can start using it too.

SOME SELLING ADVICE I WANT TO DIE
Basically: STOP doing all this shit⬇️

Honestly, if you wanna skip this whole damn section, all of my advice can be summed up with these two statements: MAKE BUYING SHIT FROM YOU DEAD FUCKING EASY and treat people like grown ups.

Boom.

That’s it.

99.5% of business owners mess this up.

But here’s some specific shit I think you need to stop doing ASAP when it comes to selling:

➡️ Making me get on a call to “learn more”: I barely wanna get on a call with you when I know abso-fucking-lutely everything about the thing I wanna buy and already like you. If you think I’m going to voluntarily zoom it up with you JUST to get more information about your offer, haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Uhm, no.

➡️ Offering me too many choices [and confusing me]: Oh, ok: I can buy your luxe or your platinum or your gold or your silver or your bronze package? And they all have 1:1 calls with you? But the bronze and the silver have 1:1 calls only on leap years and during daylight savings? And the luxe and platinum package have calls with you only during J months? And some calls have video recordings but some also have AI generated summaries and notes?Yeah, byyyyyyye. I actually clicked off your site before I even made it to silver.🤷🏻‍♀️

➡️ Not sharing your prices: If your price is not front and center, I’m immediately done. And not only am I done, I’m also angry at you, and probably unfollowing you too.

Hiding your pricing is a ridiculously outdated practice IMHO and honestly, I’m just gonna say it: I think it’s kinda manipulative. Here’s why: by making me get on a call with you in order to reveal your pricing, you’re trying to direct and control my emotions and response to your price rather than just let me process it however the hell I’d like.

And here’s some more truth: I’m legit not hearing ANYTHING you say on this “big reveal” call until you tell me what your stupid price is. This super uncomfortable sitch that you put us in is almost like there’s a bomb sitting in the middle of the room. We’re both staring at it cause we know it’s gonna go off, and until it does, I can’t focus on anything else.

Also: the idea that your time is so NOT valuable, you’d be willing to get on a call with someone who may not even be in the same universe as you are when it comes to pricing/investement is beyond insane to me.

Treat people like grown ass adults and tell us what your price is, por favor.

➡️ Only sharing a pricing guide if I sign up for your email list: For some reason, I mostly see graphic and web designers do this…you have to hand over your email address for the privilege of getting their pricing guide.

Here’s what I do, I give you my email, get the pricing guide, and then immediately unsubscribe cause you’ve already made me angry.

➡️ Following up with me more than twice: I appreciate when people follow-up with me cause, in general, I suck at getting back to people. However, I think more than 2 follow-ups starts to get kinda weird. More than 3 is DEF weird and anything beyond that I’m going to be thinking about filing a police report.

**Now that I’ve ranted about all the shit I don’t think you should be doing, let’s talk about the main tactic I’ve used to sell over a million dollars worth of services in my biz….

THIS IS THE ONLY SALES TACTIC I THINK YOU NEED TO MASTER:
“Selling without selling”

When I’m thinking about sales, I break things down into 2 simple main categories: straight up selling and “selling without selling.”

The one you’re currently worried about, terrified of and tend to avoid at all costs? That’s straight up selling.

Simply put: that’s you going on social media and basically saying: here’s the thing I’m selling, here’s how much it costs, do you wanna buy it?

But 99.9% of the time in my biz, I’m actually doing the second one: “selling without selling.”

OK, so what in the actual fuck is “selling without selling?”

This basically means: using language, stories and subtle [and sometimes not so subtle] cues with your audience that allow them to connect the dots on their own about everything you have for sale.

Now lemme be RHOBH C-R-Y-S-T-A-L clear: there is nothing wrong with “straight up selling” and, in fact, it’s a verrrrry important part of your business.

So this is not a permission slip to not do that.

But “selling without selling” is so damn effective…and I’ve gotten so good at it…it’s kinda just become my default state of being on social media.

Let me give you some specific examples:

➡️ This post on Instagram is “selling” the idea of you getting on THIS very email list hurrrr that you’re already on, cause you’re smart like that.

In that post, I’m sharing the insane results I’ve seen in my biz since launching this email, and just by seeing those stats you’re likely thinking: shit, if this bitch has a 75% or 80% open rate, I wanna see what this thing is all about! I’m also sharing valuable info for you in case you wanna launch an email or revamp an existing one [which is one of the keys to selling without selling: also offering value while you do it].

Now I do have ONE line at the end encouraging ppl to join my email, but a ton of ppl would have joined anyway even without it. And the average biz owner would have probably written that post with some variation of this basic bitch approach: I launched an email! You should sign up! It’s so great! I’m so excited! Yay!

In addition to me “selling without selling” how kickass my weekly emails are, if you’re also someone thinking about working with me or joining our new [One] Membership, you could very possibly be thinking: Daym! Now I def wanna work with Erica cause look at the sort of results she gets!? So I’m also “selling without selling” the idea that when you work with me, I’m going to give you ideas like this email one that will also get insane results, but FOR YOU.

Do you see how strategic all this shit can be?

➡️ This email from a few weeks ago was titled: Exactly how I’m reinventing the membership model.

Now there was an insane amount of value in that email for anyone reading it, whether they wanna do a membership or not. I was sharing exactly how I come up with industry disrupting ideas [and how you can too]. I was also sharing really specific examples of how I was using my industry disrupting ideas framework for coming up with specific things that we are doing in [One].

You got to see the process of my thinking and strategizing, how I came up with the ideas, how we’re doing things differently in our membership and way the hell more.

Again, there was wall to wall value for any biz owner who took the time to read it.

ANNNNND the entire time, I was also “selling without selling” the idea that y-o-u should also be in [One].

With every lesson I shared in that email, that “coded” message⬆️ was there right below the surface [NOTE: none of this is meant to be about manipulation or tricking anyone…IMHO I think using this technique is clever AF].

SOME MORE EXAMPLES OF “SELLING WITHOUT SELLING”:

✅ Showing BTS video of the Canva doc you’re putting together for a new program.
✅ Saying things like “I had SUCH interesting convos this week with all of my 1:1 clients. Here was the biggest takeaway.”
✅ Showing a daily itinerary with things like: “prep for my kickoff call for my new BE BOP BOOP program tomorrow [we only have 1 spot left!].”
✅ Screenshots of you on zoom calls with clients [or even with your team prepping for a launch].
✅ A screenshot of a funny message between you and a client with text that says: “When it comes to my clients I have pretty shitty boundaries…most of them become my bff” [with their permission, of course].
✅ Mentioning the name of your product or offer OFTEN when you’re sharing on social or teaching a lesson [even just MENTIONING the name of it a lot gets your audience curious about it].

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN YOU’RE
“SELLING WITHOUT SELLING”
Cause you need to master this shit too, boo…

➡️ This practice is not really the sort of thing that I can give you a checklist for, because it honestly encompasses so many different types of content, stories and language. I like to think of it more as a “state of being” for me now on social. i.e. I’m almost never NOT doing it.

➡️ It’s ABSOLUTELY a skill that you need to develop and practice over time. The more “selling without selling” you do, the better you get at it and I swear: you will for sure reach a point where you don’t even need to think about it anymore

➡️ Most of the time your audience won’t even realize you’re doing it: This is why I find showing up on social media and selling every day dead easy. 

➡️ The most effective “selling without selling” moves on social are the ones that also deliver mad value. It’s the best of both worlds: for anyone who’s interested in hiring you or buying from you, they’re picking up those undercover sales vibes. And for anyone who’s not really interested in spending cash money RN, they’re STILL excited to be a part of it all cause they’re getting so much value from what you’re sharing.

In summary: I think it’s VERY friggin worthwhile to start making “selling without selling” an important part of your everyday practice on social media. Start thinking about it more, trying to incorporate it as much as possible and use it as an important tool in your biz toolbox.

HERE ARE LINKS TO EVERYTHING TIKTOK MADE ME BUY
Though keep in mind I haven’t tried any of it yet!

Every time I go back to LA from Mexico City, one of the things I MOST look forward to is placing my Amazon order the day before I arrive so my boxes are waiting for me when I pull in from the airport.

Here’s all the shit that was included in the $853.53 “TikTok made me bu it” order I shared about above [I will report back once I’ve unboxed it all and tried it]:

**These are affiliate links, FYI-zers⬇️

🛒 Bluetooth speaker & charger [it has a strong magnet that displays your phone in a cool way…perfect for the bathroom counter].
🛒 Rearview mirror phone mount [for recording content in the car].
🛒 Chunky gold signet ring
🛒 Insta360 web cam [Now that I have a gigantic monitor for my computer that’s changed my entire life, I needed to buy a webcam. I heard about this camera from my friend Marina and it kinda seems like the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life].
🛒 Tap Secret dry shampoo [this is a cool powder tap thing that some chick on the Tok was raving about].
🛒 Hane’s womens Nano t-shirt [3 separate TikTok influencers said this was the perfect white tee and it’s under $10. I’m gonna try it, and if I like it I will order more before coming back].
🛒 Crewneck batwing sweater [recommended by Grace Atwood].
🛒 Country Life: Homes of the Catskills Mountains & Hudson Valley [getting ready for our NY move, natch].
🛒 Bulk Tahitian vanilla bean pods [I really wanna get fully back on the plant based train—uhm, right after Courage Bagels. I got these so I can make my friend Nicolette’s vanilla bean cashew creamer].
🛒 iPhone crossbody wallet [my Bandolier one broke 😵].
🛒 High waisted baggy mom jeans in white [1. I got two sizes cause I’m not sure how they will fit. 2. I wear white jeans allll year long].
🛒 Two piece loungewear set in gray
🛒 Long denim coat [a la Taylor Swift]
🛒 Oversized chunky reading glasses
🛒 Leather bandana [look, I’m pretty sure this is for ppl who ride motorcycles…I am not one of those. But I have an outfit idea with this and wanna try it].
🛒 True Lime [Look, it’s been many years since I’ve had a Diet Coke, but I simply can’t control myself anymore. I want to try a super “crispy” one like Kristen] and I’ve decided: this trip is when I’m doing it.