Ask an Anchor: PART 2 - WTF is Marketing?
/Today, Sarah invited her friend Tricia Mogensen to bring her social media expertise to the newsletter to answer Marketing Overwhelm's question. Sarah and Tricia got together to talk their answers in more detail. We hope you enjoy it!
In this conversation, we talk about:
Staying in your zone of genius
Tricia’s example is that her zone of genius is being able to see the big-picture vision, and for a long time, she did everything to make that vision a reality. She got to the point where she was making enough money but had no time. She decided only to do things that made her excited to go to work and hired out the rest.
Sarah agreed and added that delegating isn’t just restricted to business tasks -- you could hire a housekeeper! The time you would spend vacuuming could go toward clients or something else, like going for a walk outside.
Remember: Most people who start a business are generally better at starting their business than following through. It's hard to be the big-picture CEO and be the implementer. In the early stages of business, you may have to be both, but don’t beat yourself up if you get to a breaking point and need help. It’s more than ok to focus on doing the things that you feel best doing in your business. You don’t need to do it all forever.
Internal systems are the best marketing
If you get clients coming in, but you can't deliver on your product or service because you don't have reliable systems in place, the clients won't stay
Start with making sure your clients/customers are really happy by following through on your promises
Marketing shouldn’t make you hate life
If you’re scrambling to come up with ideas and implement every day, marketing feels exhausting
Tricia says that if you’re following a roadmap that you put together ahead of time, it should be pretty easy to implement (either yourself or with an assistant)
Tricia’s advice for building a marketing strategy:
Start with a great product/service and customer service.
Once you’re good internally and want more customers, build the marketing roadmap.
Don’t get overwhelmed by thinking you have to talk to everyone on every platform. Each platform is different and has different qualities. If you want people to come to your website? Pinterest. If you want to build and engage with your audience? Instagram (Tricia says to use Planoly or Later). If you want to produce and share video? Facebook.
Ask yourself: What is the goal? And who do I want to talk to? Once those answers are clear, look at the platforms you want to use and reverse engineer the goal on each platform.
Tricia’s rules for marketing and business
Be consistent and know your ideal customer. (If your ideal customer is ‘everyone,’ you’re off base. Try again.)
Once you know your ideal customer, set the tone through copy and photos -- you will attract the type of people who like the images/words you use
Thank you for joining us, Tricia! Visit her website and Instagram to say “Hi!” and follow her work. And give our conversation a listen for even more insights on marketing, social media, and running your business.
Dear Anchor & Orbit,
I’m having a lot of trouble with marketing. Everything expected of me as a person, along with the platforms and ever-changing algorithm, leaves me exhausted. It feels competitive and like a beauty contest without a lot of depth. What others are doing (selling themselves to sell a product) is out of my comfort zone. And, the stakes seem so high - “sink or swim” paralyzes me.
The fear is that if I’m not engaging with my “community” all the time, or not looking absolutely perfect, nothing I do will ever be enough. Some people seem so comfortable in their skin when they’re talking to a camera, and I can’t imagine ever getting to that point.
Alternately, I get tired and frustrated when I step into that zone, but my efforts don’t move the needle. Then I stop engaging with it altogether. That triggers a cycle of feeling like a failure daily and trying to “psych myself up” to get back in the game.
My products sell reasonably well online, and even better when I engage with real people (selling my products in-person is fun and easy!) In that moment, in real life, I have the chance to tell my story directly to my customers and see that the value of my product is immediately understood. I can’t seem to replicate that feeling online.
Any advice or guidance would be appreciated.
-Marketing Overwhelm
Dear Marketing Overwhelm,
First off, thanks for this amazing question. I come across many business owners who feel this way. SO you’re not alone. The good news is there are easy ways to get these feelings organized and streamlined, so you don’t feel this way about marketing your fantastic business!
Hi, tricia!
When reading your question, one big idea jumped out at me -- I think you might be overwhelmed and overworked and that’s negatively impacting your mindset towards marketing on Instagram. You’re doing ALL the things for your business, and that’s a lot to handle. It might be time to delegate.
The overwhelmed marketer is an unhappy marketer
Since you’re doing all the things, it’s hard to shift your mindset around marketing. Mental and creative blocks caused by having to manage everything in your business can strike a heavy blow to your marketing. Having some extra breathing room will allow you to look at things clearly and objectively. Feeling like you hate Instagram probably comes from not having enough time to understand it fully and use it to your advantage. So how do you get more time and bust through those blocks?
I always tell my clients: “Stay in your zone of genius.” To run a business effectively, you’ll need to learn how to delegate what you're not enjoying OR what you’re not good at! If marketing is something you don’t enjoy, then the best option is to find a way to bring someone onto your team who understands your brand. If you’re a solopreneur and you are your brand (i.e., your face is part of what you’re selling) then you can hire a creative to create content for you in a way that includes you in the digital files without you having to do it all alone.
Other things to consider delegating:
Copywriting
Photography
Video
Scheduling your social media posts
Outreach and engagement
Building a team so you can stay in your genius zone
When you can effectively delegate and outsource areas of your business that are draining you, it allows your mindset towards marketing to SHIFT! Because if you’ve chosen the right people to work with, they should inspire you and help you to see your business and marketing through fresh eyes. Whether you hire someone to do the marketing or something else so you can spend more time on marketing yourself, delegating is a game-changer.
So you may be asking yourself, “How do I find people I can trust with my brand who understand my vision?” The best place to look is on social media. Doing a little digging in a hashtag can easily give you 100s of candidates within minutes. If you’re looking for a virtual assistant, try searching with the hashtag #virtualassistant. Or if you’re looking for a social media manager, try #socialmediamanager. Start scanning the ‘gram to see if anyone looks like a good fit.
And if you want someone local, try asking some businesses in your town for referrals! Or even better post something on your social media to let people know that you’re hiring...you probably have loyal fans that love your brand and can fill your gaps.
My advice for you is to start with at least one area you want to outsource so you can build momentum with your marketing. Photography and social media management is a significant first step.
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I hope this helps and I can’t wait to see how much you grow within the next few months!
Tricia
Social Media Consultant
