TL;DR: I had an existential crisis and I don't know if I want to podcast anymore. I'm taking a hiatus from podcasting while I decide if it still fits in to my life. As I've always said, content creation is a full time job in big businesses. Right now, I create content that isn't as strategic or well-prepared. I don't mind creating, but I'm not willing to give the content the marketing time it needs to grow. Thank you all for listening. Get out there and Start Marketing. Music: Tuesday by...

How to prepare a strategic marketing plan for your small business.Cooler temps are approaching and that means that the hustle and bustle of marketing through the holidays is upon us. But, before we get too caught up in having an amazing fourth quarter, we need to reflect on our efforts this year and prepare for strategic marketing in 2023. In order to avoid starting the new year doing the same ol' same ol' that may not even be working for us, or starting the new year doing spaghetti...

Use these three small business marketing strategies instead of social media.Social media isn't the only way to promote your small business, gain brand awareness and increase visibility for your products and services. There are other free alternatives to social media. Learn about: RedditPublic RelationsUser Generated Content and how to execute each marketing strategy to increase branding and awareness for your business. Music: Tuesday by Sascha Ende, Music.io

Learn how to move your target audience from a cold lead to a sale. If you're struggling to convert leads into sales, today's episode is for you. We talk about how to reverse engineer a path to "yes". This is really just moving backward through the sales journey your customers go through to make sure you have content that addresses each phase and creates confidence to help move them to the next phase of the sale. Each phase of the sales process creates an opportunity for you to have marketing...

Learn how to create videos that engage your target audience for your small business. Do you ever wonder how someone's videos get people to stop scrolling and actually watch them let alone engage? There's a few easy things you can do to help stop the scroll and get your target audience to pay attention: Research your audienceAnswer one questionBullet list your pointsCreate intrigueUse text Learn how to create videos that will engage your target audience and get more eyes on the content you...

Learn how to create content pillars to keep your content on-brand.Creating content can feel overwhelming when you don't know what to talk about. Using content pillars helps: Create cohesive on-brand messagesKeeps you relevant to your target audienceHelps build your authority and trustMakes you more efficient in your creation processHelps move your target audience toward a sale It's a fast easy exercise to do that has a lot of benefit. Music: Tuesday, by Sascha Ende, Music.io

Learn how to make your content more visible with keyword research.You spend a lot of time creating content that doesn't get a lot of visibility or engagement. What can you do to change that? Conduct keyword research. Use Google searchesUse WikipediaUse Uber Suggest/Google Search Console Build your keywords and phrases into your content on your website, Google Business Profile, social media, hashtags and blogs. Publish consistently and over time, your content will gain visibility. Music:...

Five free marketing strategies that are not Facebook or Instagram. I get asked pretty frequently what free alternatives are out there for marketing that aren't social media marketing. While social media marketing is tried and true, it's a big ask to do organically for small businesses or solopreneurs. Content may be king, but if you don't have the time to do everything the algorithm wants you to do, you're stuck spinning your wheels creating content that gets little to no visibility but takes...

Learn how to tell if your marketing is successful.I get asked two questions frequently: What's the best free way to market my business?How do I know if my marketing is successful? Marketing should support, not distract from your business goals. There are three simple steps to measuring the effectiveness of your marketing: Create a sub-goal for each strategy that's tied to your business goal for the year.Track each strategy but understanding costs and utilizing pixels/unique identifiersSet a...

Why having a website for your small business is critical to reaching your target audience.It's tempting to use social media as a stand-in for your website. But it's dangerous to build an audience on rented land. Why? Because if the algorithm changes or the platform goes away, so does your hard-earned audience. Using a website is critical because: You own the brand aestheticYou own the data You own the audienceYou control the messagingYou can ask for the sale Music: Tuesday by Sascha Ende,...

Learn how to create lead magnets to grow your email list for your small business.I didn't understand the mechanics of how to deliver a lead magnet when I wanted to start my email list. So today, I break down how to get started and what kinds of lead magnets you can consider. Key takeaways: Develop your strategyDesign your lead magnetDeliver your lead magnet Of course, my favorite email provider is Flodesk. Use my link to sign up and receive a discount on this amazing platform. This is an...

Learn how to do email marketing well for your small business.Email marketing can generate high ROI for your business - $42 for every $1 spent! That's huge! But how do you do email marketing well? Get the opt-in - don't find yourself blacklisted or violating CAN-SPAM lawsUse a good email marketing system like FlodeskCreate a welcome emailFollow the 80/20 ruleCreate a calendar to stay ahead of the game Email marketing will help you with visibility among your target audience. Music: Tuesday by...

Create partnerships that boost visibility for your small business.Today we talk about one of my favorite free marketing strategies: borrowing audiences and creating partnerships. This is a great, inexpensive way to boost your visibility to your target audience, but does take time to build. Here's what you want to do: first, you want to cultivate a relationship: help share their content, volunteer to fill in gaps that they advertise for, be active in their audiencesOnce you've cultivated a...

Learn why your small business needs a marketing budget and how to create one.To grow a business, you need income or influence. You'll either pay to reach your target audience through advertising or you need influence; a network that allows you to reach them organically. What is a recommended marketing budget? For B2B: 2-5% of gross revenue For B2C: 5-10% of gross revenue How to build your budget: research your industryset clear goalsknow what you should spend on each marketing...

Learn how consistent marketing increases ROI for your small business. Today we're talking about consistency and using a marketing plan to keep you consistent. Marketing requires 7-10 touches with your target audience before they take action. If you're not consistent or not frequent enough, you're starting that cycle over every time you reach your target audience. Key takeaways: block time to create consistencycreate a mini marketing plan to be effective during that timealign your goals and...

Learn how to increase the effectiveness of your small business marketing in one simple step.This week's quick win is identifying your target audience. Marketing is about getting the right people at the right time in the right place with the right message for your products or services. Knowing your target audience will help you do all of those things and make you more effective and efficient in marketing your small business. You can identify your target audience by: conducting interviews with...

Learn how to implement the story brand framework from a certified guide.If you believe in the power of story brand as much as I do, you'll be excited for this practical action-oriented episode about how to implement the story brand framework. Key Takeaways: Use the story brand frame work on your website, social media, emails, and all marketing materialsStart with your homepage to implementUse your story brand script to brainstorm and plan your contentBegin with the transformation your...

Learn about the story brand framework to craft messaging that converts your target audience.I am so hyped for this episode! The story brand framework can revolutionize your business. It's so powerful it can help you: Reposition yourself in the marketIncrease your ROIClarify your target audience This framework is authentic and easy to follow. Key Takeaways: You must know your target audience wellStorybrand attracts the right clients and repels the wrong onesStorybrand can make you more...

Content creation burnoutThis week, I'm burned out on content creation. I'm wondering where it fits in to my business and if it's even worth it. I'm so burned out, I didn't even realize my mic wasn't plugged in for my recording. And, I couldn't even bring myself to re-do the episode. The question I want to ask is: Is it fair for marketing experts and coaches to tell you to "just create content"? I don't think it is. It's well intentioned advice because content really is king. But content...

Learn from a small business owner about how to successfully market your business for growth.How do you grow your business to six figures? Nicka Johnson, owner of Budget to Success shares her marketing strategies and tactics. Spoiler alert, she could basically host this podcast! She's embodied all the strategic lessons we've talked about and used her tenacious spirit and drive to succeed to implement them and grow her business to six figures during the pandemic. Key Takeaways: Exhaust free...

For a podcast called "Start Marketing" you might wonder why I actually stopped marketing my business. Spoiler alert: I started a rebrand process and determined there was much more strategy work to be done behind the scenes in order to make it meaningful. This week I use my monthly marketing update to pull back the curtain and explain: Why a logo change should never just be a logo change How I reframed my positioning in the marketplace The framework I used to create more powerful...

Learn about digital and targeted advertising that gets results for your small business. How should you execute digital ads? According to today's guest, you shouldn't. Yes, you should be doing them because they're a great, trackable way to generate leads for your business, but if you're not a digital ad expert, you should be hiring someone to run campaigns for you. Key Takeaways: Your budget needs to be large enough to generate enough leads that it will be meaningful to your...

Learn about targeted advertising for your small business. If you don't have money to invest in advertising, don't start a business. It's a bold claim made by today's guest, David McBee. But, it's not an incorrect statement. You have to have two things to grow a business: income or influence. It can take years to grow organic influence. Most small businesses believe they're going to generate leads and sales from digital marketing or targeted advertising. But in order to make money, you have...

This week's episode is a hot seat coaching session with Jenna Reich of https://jennareich.com (Jenna Reich Photography. ) I had so much fun and I am so invested in what Jenna's doing because it resonates with me as a mom. I tried to keep this to 30 minutes, but just couldn't! Learn how to position your business and create messages that convert your target audience. Jenna is a documentary photographer; instead of meeting your family in a meadow at golden hour, she comes to your home and...