Jim welcomes fellow marketing expert Brooks Smothers in a deep discussion all about marketing for small business. Consider this episode your Marketing 101 course for solopreneurs, content creators, or any small business owner. We're taking a deep dive into all the different types of marketing, and which strategies work best for creators, service providers, or any online business. Learn the importance of developing a marketing strategy, and where to begin. Brooks provides a thorough breakdown defining the difference between branding, advertising, marketing and sales. You'll discover the importance of developing your brand story, and refining your niche, with great examples and tips for getting started. Spoiler alert: Your brand is not your logo. GUEST BIO: Brooks Smothers grew up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. He has camped in the American West for as long as he can remember, from backpacking trips, car camping, van life (1978 VW Camper Bus traveled through 37 states and 1 US Territory), a tent trailer and now to a travel trailer — he’s experienced it. He has crisscrossed the United States by road seven different times and all via different routes. Plus, he has traveled and seen all 50 states. Professionally, he is a Social Media Director with a background in graphic design and visual journalism. He understands the importance of branding, and using the power of storytelling in content marketing. Connect With Brooks: RV Out West https://www.rvoutwest.com/ RESOURCES MENTIONED The Five Whys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_whys Dot Cards https://dotcards.net/ How I Built This with Guy Raz https://www.guyraz.com/ Recommended Reading Let My People Go Surfing https://amzn.to/3Vz4Nf8 Zombie Loyalists, Peter Shankman https://amzn.to/4cz6hw3 Guerrilla Marketing, Jay Conrad Levinson https://amzn.to/43CMSGk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE RV ENTREPRENEUR⁠https://therventrepreneur.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join the RVE community on Facebook!⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/therventrepreneurcommunity Connect with RVE on all your favorite socialshttps://therventrepreneur.com/connect⁠⁠ Got questions or comments for our hosts? Leave us a voice message! ⁠https://therventrepreneur.com/voicemail⁠ (NOTE: Audio submitted may be published on the podcast unless specifically requested otherwise.) Got a great story or tips to share with RVE Listeners? Complete our Guest Intake Form:⁠https://therventrepreneur.com/guestform ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The RV Entrepreneur is presented by RV Life – Tools that Make Camping Simplehttps://rvlife.com You May Also Like: The RV Life Podcasthttps://podcast.rvlife.com/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rve/message