Are you focusing on what you do best?

This makes me smile.

A beautiful depiction of friendship, support and joy. Also makes me think about community and support in our businesses.

I've been really honing in on what I do best. I'll say it now: I'm a Director. I'm not a web designer, a graphic designer, a photographer or even a social media guru; I just know a ton of amazing people who are. I'm a strategist. I can look at a business and tell them the missing marketing elements that make the most sense and organize the right people to get the job done.

So what am I saying?

I encourage you to:

Hone in on what your best at and surround yourself with a team of support that can do what you cannot.

This isn't some new finding. Great CEO's are great because they know what they don't know and can spot awesome talent in others. As an entrepreneur, get into the same mindset and show us all what you do best and create an amazing business with happy clients.

-Arica

image lovingly shared from @taramilktea

Throw Out Your New Year's Resolutions

Stepping into a new year has most people looking forward to a fresh start and the opportunity to make changes in their personal and professional life. When it comes to business, the types of changes I'm interested in are the ones that will bump up the bottom line for my clients and myself. 

This post is not about New Year's resolutions, it's about transformations. 

Over the past 6 months, I've been transitioning from an in-house Director of Marketing for a single company to a Marketing Consultant/Coach with multiple clients. It was a personal choice and something I've always dreamed of - being my own boss and making my own way. Probably the reason I'm attracted to small business owners. There is something special and inspiring about a person who has the drive, courage and determination to put it all on the line in order to make their dreams a reality.

"People sabotage themselves because the alternative is to put themselves into the world as someone who knows what they are doing." - Seth Godin.

The great Mr. Godin perfectly put into words what holds many of us back from reaching our full potential. Fear. I force myself to be acutely aware of this and have been taking steps since the end of last year to rethink how I am shaping my business. For me, this means putting myself out there in situations that I (as an introvert) am very uncomfortable with. I know that this is how I will grow and become the person that I want to be.  This is why my word for 2017 is: BRAVE. 

When you run your own business, you must be brave. Being brave can mean many things. Maybe it's gathering up all of your inner strength to say yes to a public speaking opportunity or it can also be as simple as taking a hard look at your methods/processes and trying something new. 

I encourage and challenge you to throw out that list of New Year's resolutions and instead find your one word for this year. Let it become a part of a personal mantra to help push you towards positive change for yourself and your business. You can do this!

You can do this!!!

Cheers to a transformative and exciting 2017!

-Arica

Get People to Read Your Content

A great headline reveals the benefit of the main content.

It's natural for us to describe the features of what the post is about, but what would your reader really care about? WIFM. No that's not a radio station… WIFM is a little marketing acronym for "What's in it for me?" This means that instead of describing the features, we'd talk about benefits. Benefits solve a problem while features just describe characteristics

TIP: Ask yourself, "How will this content benefit my reader?" Will it provide inspiration, education or something else? 

In fact, I realized that initially, I wrote a really terrible title for this blog post. I started off with "How to Write a Headline". Yes, my plan was to educate my readers with tips on writing a headline, but if I step out of my shoes, that just sounds like work.

What I was doing was describing what my content would be about but that doesn't really tell my reader what’s in it for them and why they should take the time to read my post. So I thought about it. What problem am I trying to solve? Well, my goal is to help readers get their content read so they can create awareness about their awesome products and/or services. Light bulb! My title would be: "Get People to Read Your Content".

If you are writing at all, your main goal should be to get people to read it. :)

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Are you a procrastinator when it comes to writing blog posts?

This might help...

1. Write a single sentence of what the content should convey or what specific action you want your reader to take. This will help guide your content.

2. Write the main content for your post. Stick with 300 words or less and 3-4 sentences max per paragraph.

3. Add some visuals, highlight a rhetorical question, quote or quick tip. 

4. Go back into the content and determine the true benefit for your reader. Using six words or less, you'll have your blog title. 

Happy blogging!

-Arica

5 Questions I Ask to Craft a Winning Marketing Strategy

Have you ever been so excited and ready to start selling your product or service, but didn't know how to put all of your ideas into action?

Have you searched online for marketing plan templates and strategy suggestions?

For me it's all about following a formula for all of my marketing efforts. It gets the process moving in a forward direction for me and my client.

My formula to begin crafting a killer marketing strategy begins with these FIVE KEY QUESTIONS:

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1. Can you describe the current situation of your business?

The first part if this discussion develops the building blocks for a standard situational analysis. The information will be placed into to a SWOT matrix (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).

2. What types of marketing are you already doing, if any? 

This information will help me to determine what assets are already available and what needs to be created to support the strategy.

3. What type of results are you looking for in your marketing? Grow a social following, drive more customers into a retail storefront, gain new leads for a sales team? 

Of course, in most cases the goal is to increase sales, but it's important to lay it all out there to help determine tactics for our strategy. 

4. Can you describe your target audience? 

This is one of the most important questions. Without understanding who your ideal customer is (a buyer persona), how can you properly determine what type of marketing tactics and messaging to use? A business may have just a few or many personas depending on the type of product or service they offer. I find it helpful to focus on the top three. 

5. What are your resources in terms of time and budget?

Understanding how involved a client will be for the implementation of marketing tactics is important to know ahead of time. In some cases, my clients prefer that I carry out most of the efforts. On the flip side, some have an internal team who I consult and support. A clear budget is necessary, but this doesn't mean you need a large one to have a successful marketing strategy. The budget should always aligned with goals to provide the best possible return on investment.

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Happy Strategizing!

- Arica