The best Marketing advice EVER
~ Over the past year I have been collecting marketing ideas. These notes are from articles, blogs, and posts that I find in a variety of places. These notes are my take-a-ways. I don’t necessarily pratice all of these concepts, but they serve as a guide to keep my marketing on track.
Answer their questions, Meet their needs, and Help solve their problems.
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Decision
Connect the message with the cares, wants, needs, and desires of its target audience.
I had no IDEA that networking was a THING when I started my business.
SURE, I wanted more REFERRALS but I thought that FIRST I had to do GREAT work for clients and IF I WAS AMAZING, they would REFER ME… I WAS WRONG! >>>>> I didn’t know that people are HAPPY TO REFER business to you but there are a few requirements to get GREAT REFERRALS:
- You have to be a great presence and add value in every interaction.
- People trust you because you are an expert in your field
- You have TOP of mind AWARENESS with people who know you
- You have a great likability factor and people relate to you.
- ASK FOR REFERRALS… Make it EASY for people to refer you.
- Make proactive introductions to people in your network
- HAVE meaningful conversations with the people in your life.
Your customers won’t care about what you have to offer until you tell them what’s at stake.
• People don’t buy things because of who they are.
•They buy because of who they want to become.
•Don’t sell the product. Sell the Transformation.
Show your clients the value you can bring.
•Assess their needs.
•Quote the Price
•Offer multiple options with varying price points.
•Explain the value in each option.
10 Mistakes you make while on a Journey of Creating your personal brand.
- Trying to pretend something that doesn’t match your brand’s core value.
- Not knowing the real difference between Marketing & Personal Branding.
- Playing too safe among the competitors to reach a larger number of audiences.
- Today’s world needs simplicity, not imitating the bigger brands in the industry.
- Sharing too much personal information.
- Posting the same content on all social media platforms and not researching the type of audience on each. Each platform has its audience.
- Poor visuals and blurry videos make it difficult for customers to connect with your brand.
- Not using existing customers and their stories as a source to attract new customers.
- Showing too many benefits and confusing customers about which one it targets more.
- Not posting too many engaging content pieces whether relating to marketing a product or service or creating personal branding.
In messaging, clarity makes everything else possible:
- being clever
- creating intrigue
- drawing analogies
- building actual trust
- evoking real emotion
- attracting the right buyers
- influencing buying behaviors
- truly anything else you can think of.
Without clarity, you’re misunderstood.
These 3 things that make your message attract more buyers…
1.) PERSPECTIVE
You don’t create a message for you…it’s for your buyers! Make sure you look at the world from THEIR perspective before you decide on the right message.
2.) CONTEXT
Context — the underlying circumstances that affect your buyer’s mindset — is critical to understand. Be warned! You cannot make this up! (Well…you can, but then your message will repel rather than attract.)
3.) FEELINGS
Messages that attract evoke all the feels. To tap into buyer emotion, take the context and go deeper.
Learn the words and phrases your audience uses to describe how specific circumstances make them feel. Then apply those words to what you say and how you say it! Especially in B2B, messaging is often surface-level. Do a little work, and it’s way easier to stand out and attract more buyers.
People buy from people they know, like and trust
People will do anything for those that . . . .
- encourage their dreams,
- justify their failures,
- allay their fears,
- confirm their suspicions,
- and help them throw rocks at their enemies.
27 words from Blair Warren that changed my life…
- Don’t make the box all about you.
- Make it about your customer.
- The problems they have.
- The pain points they experience.
- What they care about.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THEM. Not you.
- Action: differentiate (or die)
- Action: show up consistently
- Action: make sharing gratifying
- Action: show risk of doing nothing
- Action: make it feel personal
Study your buyers
Test *then* invest
Context is king
Niches build riches
Trust comes before growth
👉 I never feel fully comfortable. That’s a good thing.
The single best thing I’ve learned how to do is find comfort in discomfort. It happens by taking calculated risks.
👉 Opportunity is everywhere. You only have to know how to find it.
For what I do – product marketing…specifically clear messaging – there’s more opportunity than qualified people to help. The challenge? Most are unaware they have a messaging problem.
👉 The biggest waste of time and energy is a focus on competition.
I’ve wasted too much time worrying about what others are doing.
Once I flipped the script and looked at great messaging people as allies in the fight for message clarity, a few things happened.
1.) I made new friends.
2.) I got more referrals.
3.) I had more time.
👉 I am not for everyone…and that’s ok.
That cost me business. And those lost opportunities are way bigger wins than signing misaligned clients.
👉 Those who say being consistent and disciplined is what makes you most successful are right.
I’m still learning to be more of both. Right now, they happen in spurts that represent the most successful points of my business to date.
👉 $$$ alone isn’t a win. The right client is.
Early on, I’d get excited by a big contract. Now I get excited by the right client. It’s why every engagement I do starts with a low-cost test run.
The Message Clarity session is a clear messaging workshop where we get to the essence of your offering. I’ve been told the result is worth at least 5x the price. But, what I get from that is worth more: confidence client fit is 100% right BEFORE we both make a bigger commitment.
👉 Pricing is all about two things.
1.) Unwavering belief in both the offering and its ability to deliver results.
I’m a true believer in my offerings. And, I couldn’t be successful if I wasn’t. When you truly believe in your offering, pricing becomes about just one thing:
2.) The guts to go higher.
👉 You’ll never see yourself the way others see you.
How we view ourselves is usually way different from how others see us. Once you recognize this and believe what you consistently hear about your work — for better or for worse — you’re in a better place to live up to your potential.
👉 This has been the best move of my career, but I wouldn’t have been as successful had I jumped earlier.
For all the talk of entrepreneurship, there’s nothing that beats experience. I can deliver what I deliver because I’ve perfected the approach. That took a LOT of time.
How to network:
- Create content
- Publish it into the world
- Attract like-minded people
- Build long-lasting relationships
If you’re doing 1 & 2, but not seeing 3 & 4?
Analyze your content through the eyes of your audience.
Does it help them learn something new?
Does it teach the reader anything of value?
Does it challenge their preconceived notions?
Be honest with yourself.
If the answer is no, switch it up.
Always Ask…
WHAT IS IT? (The Content)
Define what your product or service is. Go into detail.
WHAT DOES IT DO?
Clarifies your marketing.
Establishes your message or product.
Attracts customers
Sells your message/product
Educates and Informs
Compliments existing branding
Attracts new customers
Reassures existing or previous customers
Gives your company & product credibility
Establishes or redefines your product or service
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Visual branding creates recognition
Increases customers
It educates your customer
Creates new business opportunities
Creates customer awareness
New customers mean additional profits
Returning customers also increase profits
Increases your business’s credibility
Encourages your customers to want to do business with you
7 habits that got me to multi-6 figures in 24 months:
- Relentless networking (outbound)
- Consistent posting (inbound)
- Proving work, skill & competence
- Asking for referrals & testimonials
- 1 offer, 1 avatar, 1 platform (to start off)
- Selling transformations, not services
- Documenting everything
Bonus: Take time off to rest and reflect both energetically and physically.
Easier said than done, but don’t complicate it.
Big businesses, start small.
Cut the crap and focus on what matters.
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