Speaker 1 • 0:00 - 0:06 • 97%
I hate marketing. I hate this. I hate putting it in my calendar. I don't enjoy it. Right?
Speaker 1 • 0:06 - 0:26 • 98%
If you don't like it at all, it's sucking the life out of you because you're doing something that you hate to do. Marketing doesn't have to feel that way, you guys. Marketing does not have to be this negative thing that you have to do in order to grow your business. Marketing can actually feel really good. Marketing can actually be fun even if you're not a marketer or don't like marketing.
Speaker 1 • 0:31 - 0:57 • 96%
Hey, Itaylee. I am here for another 321 321 of marketing. I do these 32 ones as sort of quick hitters that, uh, hopefully will inspire, educate, allow you to take some quick action as a small business owner or solopreneur. So today's topic, which I think will resonate with a lot of you, is my marketing is sucking the life out of me. K?
Speaker 1 • 0:57 - 0:58 • 98%
I wanna talk about that.
Speaker 2 • 0:58 - 0:58 • 75%
Does that resonate with you? Marketing is sucking the life out of
Speaker 1 • 0:58 - 1:25 • 95%
you as a small sometimes feels like marketing sucking the life out of me too. For me, it's just lack of time, and it's not really been sucking the life out of me. Um, I actually really love marketing. It's that not being able to do it causes me so much stress that that sucks the life out of me. That's different, though, for a lot of my clients.
Speaker 1 • 1:25 - 1:45 • 96%
It's not about not having the time to do it, although that is generally, uh, true. Right? But there's also some other things that are causing it to really feel like it's, like, literally sucking the life out of you. This 3, 2, 1 is gonna go 3 ways to know that it's stuck in the life out of you. And you know what?
Speaker 1 • 1:45 - 2:10 • 96%
Like, really, I think we already know if it is or if it isn't, but I'm gonna give you 3 ways to know. Number 2, briefings to do to help it or stop it to alleviate the suck. Right? Um, and the last one is a mindset shift, one mindset shift that can change this for you. Alright.
Speaker 1 • 2:10 - 2:25 • 94%
So let's get started with this 3, 2, 1 for small business marketing. Okay. Uh, 3 ways to know if your marketing is sucking the life out of you. Uh, number 1, I hate marketing. Right?
Speaker 1 • 2:25 - 2:35 • 98%
Like, if you are constantly every time you have to sit down to do it, you're like, oh my god. I hate this. I hate this. I hate doing this. I hate this.
Speaker 1 • 2:35 - 2:46 • 96%
I hate putting it on my calendar. I don't enjoy it. Right? If you don't like it at all, it's sucking the life out of you because you're doing something that you hate to do. Right?
Speaker 1 • 2:46 - 3:06 • 99%
Marketing doesn't have to feel that way, you guys. Marketing does not have to be this negative thing that you have to do in order to grow your business. Marketing can actually feel really good. Marketing can actually be fun even if you're not a marketer or don't like marketing. And so, you know, that's the promise of my business is marketing that feels good.
Speaker 1 • 3:06 - 3:19 • 98%
We talk about brand strategies. Um, one of the parts of a brand strategy is the promise to your customers, and my promise is that marketing, you know, can feel good. Right? Um, and we just need to figure out how to make it feel good for you. Okay.
Speaker 1 • 3:19 - 3:27 • 99%
Number 2 is you're not getting results. So you're on this, like, hamster wheel. Like, you you don't mind doing it. Like, you're doing the work. Right?
Speaker 1 • 3:28 - 3:33 • 98%
But you're on this, like, hamster wheel. It's like, I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing lots of stuff, but I'm not getting any results.
Speaker 1 • 3:33 - 3:55 • 97%
And so it's, like, literally, like, sucking the life out of me because it's, like, so defeating so defeating to put this much effort into something and get nowhere. So that's not good. So if if that's you, this is the podcast for you to be listening to. Okay. Uh, number 3 is if you are continually putting it off.
Speaker 1 • 3:55 - 4:09 • 98%
Right? If you don't see the value in your marketing that, like, when you increase or improve or become more efficient or effective or whatever at your marketing, your results go up. Right? Your clients are happier. You're you're, you know, getting more people in the door.
Speaker 1 • 4:09 - 4:21 • 98%
You're fully booked. All of these things. Like, if you're not, um, getting results, like I said, it will cause you to put it off. Right? If you're putting it off all the time, means you're not being consistent.
Speaker 1 • 4:21 - 4:38 • 97%
If you're not being consistent, you're not gonna get results. I'm here to tell you, there really is no one and done in marketing. Man, I know a lot of us wish that there was. It was like, I'm gonna do my marketing on Monday, and then I'm gonna be done, and I'm not gonna worry about it again till next Monday. Maybe.
Speaker 1 • 4:38 - 5:01 • 97%
Maybe. Um, but what you do next Monday might not be exactly you did last Monday. Right? And or maybe it is, but then you push it off, and then you're 2 weeks away 2 weeks out of not doing your marketing, then you, you know, people stop thinking about you. You're stop you're not top of mind anymore, then 3 weeks goes on, then you're starting from scratch again, and so you keep putting it off.
Speaker 1 • 5:01 - 5:06 • 97%
It's, like, on your to do list, but it keeps falling. You know? You're a small business owner. Right? You're a solopreneur.
Speaker 1 • 5:07 - 5:24 • 98%
You're putting out fires. You're putting out fires. You're probably doing more of what you love to do, like creating, like me, like, I absolutely love creating. I love coming up with ideas, processes, uh, ways for for small businesses to be more successful. I love to innovate.
Speaker 1 • 5:25 - 5:41 • 97%
Right? That's my favorite, actually, even more than marketing even though I'm a marketer. Right? Um, so I spend like, I want to spend more of my time doing that. Now for you, maybe it's making, uh, crochet crop tops like my daughter who's opening a business soon.
Speaker 1 • 5:41 - 6:01 • 97%
Right? Um, or it could be, you know, you like do people's hair or you like to coach people in a certain thing or you like to, um, you know, be a natural path. Whatever it is, that's where you wanna put your time. That's you're working in your business then. If you're not working on your business, figuring out what is it that is gonna work on my marketing?
Speaker 1 • 6:01 - 6:21 • 99%
What is the high level plan here? Where am I going? If you don't have that, you're gonna keep putting it off. And, unfortunately, for those of us who tend to allow marketing to drop to the bottom of our to do list and really sometimes never get to the top, it is detrimental to your small business. Like, you need to be out there.
Speaker 1 • 6:21 - 6:37 • 98%
You need to be doing stuff. And one of the biggest things that I find, and I had done it too, is sometimes as small business owners, um, we get a little burnout. Right? And I'm not talking about the burnout where you end up in the hospital. I mean, that's really serious.
Speaker 1 • 6:37 - 6:46 • 98%
Um, I'm talking about, like, we just get tired. Like, we're just tired. We just need a break sometimes. Right? And so we start putting off some of the stuff that we know is really important to your business.
Speaker 1 • 6:46 - 6:57 • 99%
What is the number one way that your business is going to grow? You're gonna have customers buying stuff. Right? And so marketing isn't just acquiring those customers. It's not just attracting them to your business.
Speaker 1 • 6:57 - 7:07 • 99%
It's also keeping them. It's also making sure that they have the right prices, the right products. You have the right portfolio mix. Like, marketing is all of that stuff. Um, it's not just social media.
Speaker 1 • 7:07 - 7:28 • 98%
Um, and so we need to we can't be putting it off because it literally is everything that had to do with our customers other than the making of the product. Right? Um, it's not accounting, but it's like, what is the journey with you? How are you gonna get them to go from buying once to buying multiple times? Like, how are you gonna stay connected with them?
Speaker 1 • 7:28 - 7:40 • 98%
How are you gonna encourage them to give you reviews? How are you going to, um, encourage them to refer their friends? How are you gonna, um, make sure that they're really happy with your service? Right? All of that is marketing.
Speaker 1 • 7:40 - 8:08 • 98%
And then how are you gonna bring them to your doors, like your your real doors, your physical doors, or your virtual doors? Right? Like, how are you gonna get them? So if you're putting all of that stuff off, that's really detrimental to your growth and longevity as a business. If you are defining marketing as only social media and you're maybe doing all that other stuff, right, but you're not promoting your business, trying to attract new people to it, that's also detrimental.
Speaker 1 • 8:09 - 8:36 • 98%
And I know that's what a lot of people think of when they think of marketing is just like, how do I attract people? Right? And sometimes you might be putting off one part of marketing, that attraction side, but you might be doing all the rest, but that's really dangerous, right, because you're only working with the customers that you have. And so you're never gonna be able to get past, like, the the growth plateau that you might have hit. If you are constantly putting it off, it could be because one of those things is that you don't have a plan that is working.
Speaker 1 • 8:36 - 8:36 • 99%
Right?
Speaker 3 • 8:36 - 8:37 • 99%
You might need
Speaker 1 • 8:37 - 8:48 • 97%
a plan that is working for you. And if you don't know what that plan is, then maybe you need to try some stuff, test some stuff. That's 3. So 3 ways to know. You hate it, you're not getting results, and you keep on putting it off.
Speaker 1 • 8:48 - 8:56 • 95%
K? So that is sucking the life at you. It's not giving you life. It's not breathing life into your business. It's literally, like, 2 things to do about it.
Speaker 1 • 8:56 - 9:16 • 98%
2 things to do about it. There's so many things you can do about it, you guys, but I wanna give you 2, like, quick actions. Number 1 is you need to start assessing what you're already doing. So you need to look at what you're doing and figure out, is that giving me the result that I want? Because if it is because you're not getting results that you're not prioritizing it, that you don't like it.
Speaker 1 • 9:16 - 9:27 • 97%
Right? You need to understand. Don't do stuff that isn't working. Now if you're not getting results, let's say you're doing Instagram. You're doing lots of stuff on Instagram, and you're not getting results.
Speaker 1 • 9:27 - 9:42 • 98%
It might not be Instagram that's the problem. Instagram is a great way for small business owners to get out there and for small businesses and solopreneurs to get out there and be seen. Right? It could be that you're not you don't have a strategy for Instagram that's working. It could be that your messaging is off.
Speaker 1 • 9:42 - 10:00 • 98%
It could be you don't have the right people following you. There could be multiple reasons why one tactic that you're doing isn't working. So it's like, I want you to take the time, write down all the stuff that you're doing, figure out which ones are working, which ones aren't working, and then you wanna dissect. Why aren't they working? What's not working about it?
Speaker 1 • 10:00 - 10:07 • 95%
Right? And and that could be hard for you. Right? You know? Like like, if we take the Instagram example, Instagram is not working for you.
Speaker 1 • 10:07 - 10:13 • 96%
What are you gonna do about it? It? Create a plan. Right? Maybe Instagram is not working because you don't actually have a brand strategy yet.
Speaker 1 • 10:13 - 10:22 • 99%
Like, you don't know how you stand out. You don't know who you're trying to attract. You don't know what you should be saying. You don't know how you should be saying it. You're not, like, connected to the brand of your business.
Speaker 1 • 10:22 - 10:29 • 98%
Right? Well, then nothing is gonna be working for you. So you could you could assess Instagram. You could assess Facebook. You could assess all the things.
Speaker 1 • 10:29 - 10:50 • 97%
The only thing that might be working for you is if you have a great big sign in a great location, and people are coming in your door because they see it. But if you're doing digital marketing, email marketing, all that stuff, and you don't understand who you are or what your brand is, you don't have that clarity, that could be the problem. Right? So you're gonna take the time you're gonna assess. If you have a great brand and you feel strongly about your brand and it's still not working, why?
Speaker 1 • 10:50 - 11:10 • 97%
If you don't know, get some education. Start looking at other people who are succeeding in that area. If we take Instagram as example, just because somebody looks like they're doing well on Instagram does not mean they're doing well on Instagram. What I mean is they could have a ton of followers. They could have a lot of engagement, and that is awesome.
Speaker 1 • 11:10 - 11:27 • 98%
Right? And you might wanna do that. But if they aren't making any money off Instagram and their goal on Instagram is to make money, then it's not working for them. And so it's really hard to know if, you know, somebody in your space is doing really well or not doing well. But for you, it's important.
Speaker 1 • 11:27 - 11:31 • 98%
Establish what you're doing. Is it working? Is it not? Right? Do you need to delete it?
Speaker 1 • 11:31 - 11:36 • 98%
Like, don't do it anymore. Do you need to tweak it? Right? Or, um, do
Speaker 3 • 11:36 - 11:36 • 99%
you need to do more
Speaker 1 • 11:36 - 11:43 • 98%
of it? Like, maybe it's just not working because you posted once, and you're like, uh, Instagram doesn't work. Well, you know what? Gotta post more than once. You know what?
Speaker 1 • 11:43 - 12:01 • 98%
People have a very short attention span, and they don't care about you that much. So, like, you gotta be out there. Right? The number 2 thing you can do is you need to start playing to your strengths and interests. So there isn't just one way to grow a business.
Speaker 1 • 12:01 - 12:31 • 97%
K? There is multiple, multiple ways to be seen. Yes. There are some things that might work better than others, but you are far better off doing something that you're good at, that you enjoy to try to attract people to your business, we're talking promotion right now, than something that you don't like, people can see right through it. If you are going on Instagram and you're dancing up a storm and you're doing all this stuff and you absolutely loathe it, you feel silly, You never know what to say.
Speaker 1 • 12:31 - 12:39 • 98%
You never know what to do. You never, like you don't wanna point. You just you just feel inauthentic. Um, people can see that, and so it's not gonna work. It's not gonna work.
Speaker 1 • 12:39 - 12:54 • 99%
What will work is if you figure out what are you good at that could help you on your marketing journey. Are you good at talking to people? You're good at forming relationships. Well, that's gonna change then. That's gonna change how you approach each of the channels that you decide to be in.
Speaker 1 • 12:54 - 12:59 • 97%
And by a channel, I mean, Facebook's a channel. Instagram's a channel. Email marketing is a channel. Your website's a channel. Right?
Speaker 1 • 12:59 - 13:17 • 97%
It's all the different marketing channels. It might affect that. Right? Uh, so identify where are you strong and where do you have an interest, and then try to create something you can do consistently where that interest and strength could be used. Consistency is far more important.
Speaker 1 • 13:17 - 13:21 • 99%
Oh my gosh. There's so many things you can do. You know what? I'm gonna give you another thing. I'm gonna give you another thing.
Speaker 1 • 13:21 - 13:54 • 98%
Um, don't do too much. Don't do too much. So, generally, if you are not enjoying your marketing, you're stretching yourself too thin. And if you are just one person shop, right, or if you are the sole person doing your marketing or you have a very, like, little bit of help, um, and you are spreading yourself too thin, probably what is happening is you're not really doing super well on any of the channels. So it's almost like you've gotta pick where you're gonna focus your efforts and be really consistent there.
Speaker 1 • 13:55 - 14:07 • 98%
It's far better than trying, like, trying to be everything. Right? Um, so that's the third one. Another one is stop trying to be everything to everyone. You gotta identify your ideal clients.
Speaker 1 • 14:07 - 14:18 • 97%
Right? You gotta know who you're talking to. That will change things if you're talking to exactly who need to talk to, saying what you need to say. It's a lot easier, a lot quicker, um, and you're gonna get better results. Right?
Speaker 1 • 14:18 - 14:28 • 97%
That's where I'm gonna stop at things you can do. So, really, it's about assessing what you have done in the past. Is it working? Is it not working? It's playing up to your interest and strengths.
Speaker 1 • 14:29 - 14:46 • 97%
It's stop trying to, uh, be an octopus. Stop trying to do everything and doing it poorly. Choose one thing and do it really well. Own it, and then move on once you own that space and you're actually seeing results in that space. And, um, really know your customers.
Speaker 1 • 14:46 - 15:00 • 96%
Know your customers so so that you can market to 1 person. Build a buyer persona. Buyer persona. That is a fictional character, um, that represents all your ideal customers so that you just have to market to 1 person. When you're marketing to 1 person, you get better results.
Speaker 1 • 15:00 - 15:13 • 98%
And then the last one, which is a given, which is, like, the basis of all effective marketing, build a freaking brand strategy. Build your brand strategy. You have got to do it. It changes the game. So so that's, like, 5 things.
Speaker 1 • 15:13 - 15:36 • 97%
It's supposed to be 2, but it's fine. Um, okay. So the last thing is what is the mindset shift that you can have that will take you from, um, having marketing suck the life out of you to feeling good about your marketing. The mindset shift is this. I want you to start defining marketing as helping.
Speaker 1 • 15:36 - 16:01 • 98%
So marketing is no longer pushing, no longer selling, it's no longer hosting, it's helping. Your job as the marketer for your business is to help those people who are the ideal customers for you, who you can help with your product or service. Right? Help them to find you and choose you. Because if you don't help them to find you and choose you, they're going to find somebody else and choose somebody else.
Speaker 1 • 16:01 - 16:28 • 98%
And if you truly believe that your product or service or offer is superior or can help them more or can help them in a way that is gonna be more effective or that they would be better off with what you are selling, then you are doing them a disservice by not helping them to find you. Hopefully, that makes sense. You are here to help them find you and help them choose. And, actually, not choose you. Choose whether or not what you are offering is the right thing for them.
Speaker 1 • 16:28 - 16:52 • 99%
That's it. You need to help them find you and help them make the decision. Your job is to make their decision making easy. If you are not the right person or not the right business, not the right coach, not the right therapist, not the right product, whatever, help them through your marketing to be able to, like, eliminate you from their choice. You do not want people buying what you are selling if they are not the right person.
Speaker 1 • 16:52 - 17:24 • 99%
No amount of money is worth that to me. No amount of money is worth having somebody who does not want what I'm selling, does not need what I'm selling, will not benefit from what I'm selling, will not feel good about buying what I'm selling. No amount of money that they're gonna pay me is worth the bad feelings that I would have having taken somebody's money who is not gonna see the benefit, and 2, the negative price that you could possibly get from that. So you wanna know where bad reviews come from? It's that poor fit.
Speaker 1 • 17:24 - 17:38 • 98%
The customer has chosen the wrong product or service, generally, unless your product or service is crap. Like, if your service is crap, your product is crap, I'm not talking to you. Like, you've got a crappy product. There's not much I can do to help you. You can get people, but they're not gonna stay.
Speaker 1 • 17:38 - 17:59 • 98%
Right? But if you really believe in what you're selling, but the wrong person has bought it, they're gonna give you a bad review because they're not gonna get what they want out of it because they're not the right fit. So your job is to help the right people to find you and help the right people to make a decision. That's it. And that's what marketing is, like, from the attraction perspective.
Speaker 1 • 17:59 - 18:16 • 98%
Right? And so you need to shift that mindset from, like, I gotta do my marketing to it's time to help somebody to get the answer or the solution they need. It's time to help them. I know, um, if you're following this show, you are definitely art led. Uh, you care about helping people.
Speaker 1 • 18:16 - 18:52 • 97%
And so I think that this mind shift will help you to sort out your marketing so that you can be consistent, so that you do show up, so that, um, you are creating content, posts, signage, sponsorships, promotions, campaigns, whatever it is that you are gonna end up doing. You're doing it from a place of I want to help the right people define me and to make a decision of whether I'm the right fit for them. Alright, my friends. So, hopefully, you can take something out of that to stop the suck. Stop the suck and, um, breathe life into your marketing again.
Speaker 1 • 18:52 - 18:56 • 88%
Again, this is Haley Bowen, and, uh, uh, I'll see you
Speaker 2 • 19:01 - 19:01 • 99%
next time.
