EPISODE 08

Decoding marketing in simple terms

When it comes to marketing your business in order to create clients – you want it to feel more light and less confusing, right?

Join me as I unravel the complexity of putting together a solid marketing strategy, so you can confidently take action and grow your business.

show transcript

Hey, friends. You know I’m always thinking on ways to demystify business. And recently I thought of a couple more simple ways to describe how to approach marketing because when it comes to marketing your business in order to create clients, it can feel heavy, overwhelming, confusing. Right? So I had a client once who was an expert in nonverbal communication.

Such an interesting field. And she shared that once you really know this, you can instantly read people’s body language. It’s like unlocking a superpower or learning a new language. And that’s sort of what I feel inspired to do to kind of decode marketing for solo business owners so that you can translate everything you hear and all that noise you hear in the online business world when it comes to people talking about marketing tactics, trends, and strategies. And so that you can know how to make sense of it and how to apply it to you and create a tailored and effective marketing strategy.

You know, the truth is there are no real secrets to success because it’s all out there in the mountains of information that you can find via Google, YouTube, podcasts, Instagram, etcetera. The information is out there, but you need to know how to translate it and apply it. The truth is there are many paths to success. So how do you clarify and identify which path to take? How do you ensure that the actions that you’re taking are strategic versus random?

So in this episode, this may actually be one of my most valuable episodes yet. I’m going to give you a sort of mini masterclass on marketing and how I view it. You know, one of the things that kinda bothers me is there seems to be this conflicting desire and resentment towards people who do what I do, business and marketing coaches. On the one hand, the desire is, please, please just tell me what to do, and gosh, the relief that that would bring. Right?

And on the other hand, there is a resentment, like, don’t tell me what to do. And I think that that resentment comes from a few different sources, From feeling like you’re taking orders or not in control or feeling like your creativity, intuition, and freedom is being taken away when you’re told what to do. And from being given a one size fits all solution, a solution that may not be suited to your unique business or business stage or not suited to your unique strengths and talents, neurodivergent qualities to your time and budget, or many other things. But the answer to all of this is creating a marketing strategy that’s based on 3 things, system, status, and self. A system and and that’s where I talk about the 5 key elements of a solid marketing strategy, which is a flexible and timeless framework, not a cookie cutter plan.

And I’ll explain that more in a few minutes. And then status, meaning what is the status of the marketing landscape right now? What are the current trends and tactics? What is working in marketing and in your niche right now? Because this changes month to month and year to year.

And self. Looking at all the tactics, taking into consideration what’s working. Not that you have to follow trends, but it is worth a look and worth considering. And then selecting tactics that are suited to you and putting them together in a system that I will describe more in a moment. But before I go on, does this make sense so far?

It’s not a cookie cutter approach. It factors in both self and status as key considerations. When I work with my 1 on 1 clients, the strategy is not just given to them. It’s custom, and it’s co created, and it factors in these key considerations. So what’s the system?

I call this the 5 key elements of a solid marketing strategy. And if you have all 5, you put yourself in the best possible position to create a consistent flow of clients. Now the reason why I talk about it this way, the 5 key elements, it’s not because I’m trying to stuff you into a rigid 5 point plan. It’s not because I’m trying to trick you into believing that this is easy. Running a business, marketing, this is not easy stuff.

And you don’t hear that too often from people like me, but it’s true. Success can be made more simple, but it’s not easy. I talk about the 5 key elements because it provides a simple way to wrap your head around it. So it’s simple to understand but not necessarily easy to implement. Let me give you an example.

So the first key element is build, and this is where you have a core content type and slowly build a body of work. A core content type can be a blog, vlog, or podcast. So basically a long form content type that effectively demonstrates your expertise and point of view. So this is simple to understand, but not necessarily easy to implement. Okay.

It does take work to implement a core content type, but the ROI is there. It’s worth it. And check out episode 1 where I talk more about the power of having a core content type. The second key element is reach. Your marketing strategy needs to contain ways to reach and get in front of new people so they know you exist.

New people outside of your existing audience, followers, subscribers, network, There are different ways to say that. A reach tactic can be going to a networking event. That is a simple way to reach new people, make new connections, and for people to become aware of you. Now if you hate networking, that is not the right reach tactic for you. There are tons of reach tactics to choose from.

You know, you could do a guest podcast and reach new people that way. You could focus on SEO. There are lots of tactics, so look at both what’s working and what will work for you. But make sure you choose something. Ideally, a few things.

Okay? So we want a plan that is ambitious, but achievable. The 3rd key element is gather. So once you get in front of people and get their attention, you want to collect them or invite them into a container such as an email list or closed online community where you can nurture them, which is the 4th key element. Nurture.

Okay? Building relationships and trust, staying visible and top of mind with the people that you have gathered, staying top of mind with them until they’re ready to buy. And finally, the 5th key element which is sample. And this is about providing free or low cost ways for people to get a sample or a taste of you. Things like workshops or lead magnets, trial periods for memberships, etcetera.

So that’s the broad overview. In the most simple terms, your marketing strategy needs to include a way to create awareness so people know you exist and a way to build trust, a way to stay in touch and top of mind, and opportunities for people to get a real sense of you in a low risk way. So I use the word reach, but you might hear someone else use the word attract, but we’re talking about the same thing. I might talk about bringing people into your world, and someone else might use the phrase bringing people into your funnel or top of funnel content. It’s really the same principle.

So reach new people, create awareness, then make sure you stay in touch with them, nurture and build trust, and finally create opportunities for people to get a real sample or sense of you. Those are the key elements of a solid marketing strategy. That’s the system. And when combined with status and self, that is how you put together the best possible plan. When marketing plans fail, it could be because you don’t have a plan that is right for you, you don’t follow the plan, or you give up too soon.

Of course, on a more foundational level, you do need more than just slick marketing to succeed. You need a strong offer, an online presence, a clear niche and message. There are many pieces of the business puzzle to put together. As I said earlier, it’s not easy building and running a business, but I do hope that today’s episode has made it a little more simple to understand how to approach your marketing and how people talk about it. Speak soon.

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