SOMETHING TO BE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT
We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.
Charles Kingsley via Frederick Woodruff
Welcome back to Week 12 of the miniMBA—the penultimate in this series. We've entered the final section of the program - Experience, and this week is all about amplifying our messaging, connecting with our consumers, and converting sales. And enthusiasm is key to this lesson. It is one of my 5E's of marketing that I teach, not only in your messaging, but how you actually amplify your message. If you're burdening your business executing marketing and sales strategies that aren't creatively fulfilling you're never going to reach your potential for growth. You can hear Luis Mojica and I speak about this in our conversation about how we relate to our business.
If you are just joining us, you can catch up on the previous lessons here.
Have you been finding these lessons valuable? Registration for the Business Growth Program is now open. You can find out more about the program here.
Looking forward to continued learning in 2023!
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AMPLIFY CONNECT CONVERT
In this last section, Experience, we've identified the key relationships we need to grow, including customers, strategic partners, and our network. We've taken the time to write messaging that connects. We've identified the key marketing and sales metrics to meet our financial goals. It is time to decide how to amplify our message and build our marketing and sales systems. But first, I'm going to repeat what I just said:
We've identified the key relationships we need to grow: customers, strategic partners, and our network. We've taken the time to write messaging that connects. We've identified the key marketing and sales metrics to meet our financial goals.
You never ever want to set marketing and sales tactics without understanding all of those things first. If you find yourself reacting to what you think you should be doing because everyone else is or just picking random tactics because you read about them somewhere, you're creating a disjointed marketing and sales strategy that will never produce what you need it to produce to see your vision.
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TACTICS FOLLOW METRICS, PSYCHOGRAPHICS, AND VALUES
This newsletter will not tell you what marketing and sales tactics should make up your marketing and sales systems because tactics are not a one size fits all. Instead, what you do is look at what you are trying to achieve: more impressions? more newsletter subscribers? increased conversion? increased average order value? increased repeat customer rate? increased new customers? and many more. Each of these usually requires its own unique marketing and sales tactics. That is step one.
Step two is we go back to the psychographics we identified in Week 9 to consider how our customers relate to all of the online and IRL opportunities we could consider. Are our customers really using TikTok to find companies they trust, or are we just having FOMO that if we aren't there, we're missing out? If we know our customers on a deeper level and consider their mindsets and habits, we have a clearer idea of how they want to connect with us.
Step three is we consider our own values. Where do we align philosophically with all of the opportunities we have to connect online and IRL? This brings us back to ENTHUSIASM. We mistakenly believe that because we're integrated into the system of capitalism, we have to break our own boundaries to make money. It is a victim-based mindset that thrives in entrepreneurship which is often why we point the finger at capitalism instead of how we choose to behave within the system of capitalism. Instead, we must let our values and enthusiasm guide our choices. The marriage of our values and our customer's psychographics creates the best opportunities for connection.
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THE EXPANDED CONTENT CALENDAR & ANALYTICS TRACKING
Once we've brainstormed what we want to do to amplify our messaging, our content calendar allows us to systematize our efforts. But most content calendars fall short. We map out social channels and newsletters, but because we still need to go through the three steps above, we need to recognize all of the opportunities we need to prioritize to meet our marketing and sales goals and how all of those efforts relate to each other throughout the year. Are we doing enough? Are we trying to do too much? We can't tell if we don't map it out first. Content calendars should include all of the IRL opportunities, all of our strategic partnership opportunities, all of our affiliate efforts, etc., etc., etc.
Once you've set that annual calendar, you need to track your efforts monthly. Are you meeting the goals you set, or do you need to adjust? Your monthly tracking should mirror your content calendar, and every effort should be measured. Without tracking, there's no reflection. Without reflection, there's no growth :)
And with that, we have come full circle to the very first week of this miniMBA—The Review. The first 11 Weeks have set us up for this moment; to put ourselves out into the world. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. There are no shortcuts; there are no magic pills or silver bullets. The current state of e-commerce validates that for better or worse. For better, for sure, even though a lot of you out there are experiencing the pain of realizing it's not as formulaic as modern media and business experts made it seem! Each step is necessary to build the foundation to thrive and endure the marathon that is entrepreneurship.
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YOUR HOMEWORK
- Audit your platforms. Do they align with the three steps above?
- Create a brain dump. Go through the three steps above and list out all of the opportunities that align with those three steps.
- Map it out. Create your own monthly content calendar at least a year in advance! Yes, if you're mapping out your financial goals a year in advance, your marketing and sales strategies and tactics should also be mapped out a year in advance. Not that you can't update it throughout the year, but if you want to move away from reactionary entrepreneurship, you must lay a long-term foundation.
- Track it. Every month, review your efforts and document it. What is actually happening versus what did you think would happen? How are you using that information to move forward?
- Stick to it. Unlike most of the empty promises made in modern marketing and sales, this is a long game. You need to be consistent and build a moment. You need to give things time to work.
Good luck! We'll see you here next Wednesday (or Thursday :)) for Week 13: Graduation!!! If you have a colleague who should join us, they can sign up here.
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REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR THE BUSINESS GROWTH PROGRAM
If you've been following along with the bite-sized lessons from this miniMBA, now you can join us for the full program launching in January. This is the 9th year of the program, and you can find out more details here and read the full Program Manual here.
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