January 2, 2024 • 15 mins
005: Unlock the power of purpose to be more efficient, effective and engaging with your small business marketing. Drawing inspiration from Simon Sinek's insights, I'll guide you through the significance of the 'why' in your small business, ensuring that your marketing efforts resonate with your target market. A good purpose statement isn’t necessarily about saving the world; it's about distilling your driving force into a clear, actionable purpose that informs every decision you make, especially in marketing! Get ready because, by the end of this episode, you'll have a practical exercise and a handy worksheet to crystallise your business's purpose and tips on applying your business purpose to your marketing.
Download the worksheet here: https://marketingondemand.co/purpose
View the full episode show notes and transcript here: https://marketingondemand.co/podcast
Got a topic you want me to cover? Share your ideas here: https://marketingondemand.co/contact
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Welcome to the Small Business Marketing Huddle.
Our show is all about takingaction.
We equip you with the marketingknowledge and confidence you
need to make real progress.
So let's huddle up and listenin to the latest episode with
your host, Lily Richmond.
Lily Richmond (00:31):
Hey, this is Lily .
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
If you're already subscribed tothe show, thank you so much.
You definitely make the Huddlean awesome space to be, and if
this is your first time here,don't forget to hit the
subscribe button, because today,like in every episode, I'm
going to cover a marketing topicthat I really think you have to
(00:54):
learn if you want to masteryour marketing.
Now, make sure you listen untilthe end, because I'm also going
to share a brainstormingexercise and worksheet that is
going to help you define yourbusiness purpose and three
immediate actions you can taketo use that purpose in your
marketing activities.
So let's get straight into it.
(01:15):
In today's episode, I am goingto talk all about purpose, and
there are three reasons I wantto teach you about purpose in
this episode.
Firstly, it's the new year,right, it is a great time to
really refocus on why you're inbusiness and really what you
(01:36):
need to do to achieve yourvision of success over the long
term.
It's always a great time toreflect and plan ahead.
Second, you might be thinkingabout a new business idea and
you're going to take the plungeand you're going to get started
on that, and that is superexciting, but there is no better
place to start than by definingyour purpose first.
(01:57):
And the third reason I'm goingto talk about purpose today is
that it really does touch allparts of your business,
including your marketing.
That is the one surefire way tobe clear and consistent in your
marketing so that you canconnect with your target market
and you deliver on what youpromise.
So today I'm going to teach yousome simple ways to focus on
(02:20):
your why, because for yourmarketing to be successful, your
why needs to come before thewhat the doing aspect of your
business.
So what does it mean to have apurpose for your business?
To my mind, no one describespurpose better than Simon Sinek,
if you've not come across him.
He's an author, aninspirational speaker and
(02:45):
generally a bit of a guru onbusiness leadership, and Sinek
says that people don't buy whatyou do.
They buy why you do it, and tome, this really is the perfect
definition of what purpose is,and there is a great video it's
a TEDx talk explaining this inmore detail, if this is really
(03:09):
piqued your interest, and I havedropped a link to that video in
the show notes, so be sure tocheck that out if you're
interested in finding out more.
So purpose requires you to thinkabout why your business exists.
And if you think it exists togive yourself a paycheck or make
you loads of money, then youdefinitely need to think more
about your purpose, becausethose results that you achieve,
(03:33):
the money that you make and thesuccess that you achieve, is an
outcome of delivering a businesswhich has a purpose.
Okay, so that's kind of anoutcome or a result of doing a
great job running a business andultimately, you're going to be
more successful and you're goingto make more money if you're
clear on what your purpose is,because it makes your business
(03:55):
more compelling and moretrustworthy to your consumers.
Now you might be thinking, boyoh boy, this is all corporate
theory, I don't need that, I'm asolopreneur, or my business is
really small.
Well, I'm here to change yourperspective and challenge your
thinking on that.
(04:15):
I would say it is just asimportant for a small business
to be clear on its purpose.
And why is that?
Well, I think of it in terms ofthree E's It'll make you more
efficient, it'll make you moreengaging and it is definitely
going to make you more effective.
And that's not just for yourmarketing, that's going to be
(04:38):
across your whole business.
And how will it do that?
Well, let's start with how itmakes your business more
efficient.
If you know what your purposeis, then you know exactly what
you and your team if you haveone should be doing every single
day.
You're going to save a load oftime.
You're going to save a load ofmoney and resources Because
(05:00):
you're going to start weedingout activities that are not
helping you drive towards whatthat purpose is.
You'll be focused, focused,focused, and this definitely
applies across all of yourmarketing activities.
Now, if you can describe andbelieve deeply in your purpose,
(05:20):
it makes you more engaging.
Your customer can understandyour business really clearly and
they get the underlying reasonwhy you exist beyond making
money, and they'll connect withthat.
It makes you immediately moretrustworthy if you're doing
something for a greater purposethan just a means to an end
making money.
Having a clear purpose alsomeans that the marketing you do
(05:43):
is going to be way more engaging, because every piece that you
put out into the world will andshould link back to that purpose
and it will be consistent.
Now you don't have to say inyour marketing what your purpose
is, but you need to make surethat your marketing helps you
achieve that purpose.
And finally, having a clearpurpose makes your business more
(06:06):
effective Because you're morelikely to achieve the results
you want by being efficient andengaging right.
The results of your marketingefforts are going to be better
Because you'll prioritize andspend wisely, you'll focus on
the right activities for yourbusiness, and the activities you
do will, in themselves, beimmediately more engaging and
(06:28):
enable you to connect with yourtarget market.
Now, before I share a way tocome up with your purpose, I
want to put out there that yourbusiness does not have to save
the world.
There is a lot of chatter, andthere has been a lot of chatter
in the business world aboutbeing a purpose led business and
that you have to have a purposethat connects to a greater good
(06:50):
in society and that you'll hear, to help save the world, and
that's very noble.
And there are plenty ofbusinesses out there that, just
by their very nature of whatthey do, they can do that and
that's great, but it isn't forevery business.
You know it goes without sayingthat we have to all be good
citizens and we have to do ourbit for our communities and our
(07:12):
environment, but it doesn't meanthat your purpose has to be
driven in that particulardirection.
More than anything, your purposehas got to be believable and
it's really got to be authenticand it's got to fit your
business and what you offer.
You have to believe it, firstand foremost because if you
(07:33):
don't, well then it's not right.
But also, consumers are savvy,they're pretty smart and they
will see right through it.
So be honest and be authentic.
So let's use some examples.
Right, if you're a dry cleaningbusiness, your purpose might be
enabling my community to looktheir best every day.
Or if you run something like apizza takeout service, it might
(07:57):
be delivering the hottest,freshest pizza seven days a week
.
See how it has to fit yourbusiness and what you do.
And it's got to be inspiringright.
That's the idea of purpose.
And even if I share what mypurpose is for my business, if
marketing on demand, my purposeis to help small business owners
make better marketing decisions.
That's what gets me up in themorning and everything I do is
(08:21):
geared around how I help smallbusiness owners make those
better marketing decisions.
So how are you going to come upwith a purpose that is just
right for your business?
After the break, I'll give yousome specific questions and
tasks for you to bring thatpurpose to life.
Okay, so are you ready todevise a meaningful purpose to
(08:46):
guide your business?
I've created a handy workbookfor this exercise because I
appreciate you might want tothink more deeply about these
questions and take your time,and you might not be in a place
or a space where you can writedown the questions that I'm
going to ask you, so you can getthe workbook at
marketingondemandco Slashpurpose.
(09:08):
So what I want you to do isbrainstorm the answers to these
five questions.
Number one why are you runningyour business and go deeper than
to make money?
What's the greater, deepermeaning for running your
business?
Why did you start in the firstplace?
Number two what are you andyour team, if you have one,
(09:31):
passionate about?
What are the passions that yourteam and you have about running
that business?
What do you care about?
Number three what does yourcommunity or the wider world in
which you operate need?
Now, that's in relation to whatyour business offers.
And number four what is yourbusiness good at?
(09:51):
What are you known for?
And number five how do youcreate value for your customers
Meanwhile making profitabilityfor your business?
So those are the five questions.
Once you've brainstormed thoseyou know, take some time over
them you might want to jot downa lot of ideas and you might
want to come back to it, but nowthat you've answered these five
(10:12):
questions, you can use theoutputs to create a one sentence
purpose statement that inspiresyour community and taps into
your passion and strengths andvalue creation at the same time.
Now, a good way to come up withthe sentence is to start it
with I get out of bed every dayand make a difference by if
(10:36):
you're a solopreneur, forexample, or self-employed, or if
you have a team you could startit with we come to work every
day to make a difference byfilling the blank.
Okay, so that gives you an ideaabout how you can structure the
sentence.
Keep it really short.
Super, super short is better.
(10:56):
So those are the five questionsand how you can create your
purpose statement.
Now, finally, how does thisapply to your marketing?
You're thinking.
Here are three things that Iknow that you can do to embed
purpose into your marketingright away, as soon as you've
defined it.
Number one what elements ofyour customer experience do you
(11:17):
need to change to live up toyour purpose?
Using our pizza takeout companyexample, are you really using
the freshest ingredients?
How easy is it for a customerto order?
How do you make sure yourpizzas stay hot?
If this is what your purpose is, could your packaging be
improved to retain the heat?
See how purpose touches allaspects of your business, and
(11:38):
that includes your marketing theway you answer the phones, your
email campaigns, how they'restructured, what information you
share.
If you write blog posts, forexample, how does that connect
back to the purpose?
Are you blogging about topicsthat relate back to that, or are
you going totally off-piste andtalking about something totally
unrelated to your business?
(11:59):
Bring it back to purpose.
So that's how purpose can helpyou really improve your customer
experience.
Number two identify all of themarketing touchpoints that you
have and where you can start toinclude some of that purpose
messaging into it.
Think about things like yoursocial media bios, your website,
(12:20):
email footers, brochures.
These are just some of theexamples.
Now, I said earlier that youdon't actually have to include
your actual purpose statement inyour messaging.
That's not required, but youneed to get the intent behind
that purpose into your messaging.
It's the how.
So how do you bring thatpurpose to life?
(12:40):
Number three and finally reviewthe next.
I would suggest 60 days atleast of your marketing activity
.
If you've got that much plannedin advance, is it aligned to
your purpose?
What do you need to change inorder for you to bring that
purpose to life in yourmarketing campaigns that you're
running?
Is there messaging that needsto change?
Are there activities thatyou're doing right now that no
(13:01):
longer fit because you've comeup with something and you think
actually my purpose doesn'treally align with what my
marketing activity is?
Is there something missing?
Are there new ideas andopportunities that you've
actually thought of as a resultof that brainstorming that you
could put into your plan?
So those are three quick andeasy things that you can go away
and do to start implementingpurpose into your marketing as
(13:23):
well.
Wow, we, there is really a lotfor you to take away and digest
from this episode.
I appreciate that, and don'tforget to make this really super
easy for yourself.
Pop over to my website and graba copy of the workbook so you
can work through thebrainstorming and the actions
I've just shared, and you canget that at marketingondemandco
(13:45):
slash purpose.
Thank you so much for beingpart of the huddle today.
I really do hope you got somevalue out of this episode and
it's motivated you to go andthink more about the purpose of
your business and how importantit is, and making sure that you
connect with your customers andyou're consistent all the time.
(14:07):
Now don't forget to hitsubscribe, because next time I'm
actually going to kick off aseries of episodes that are all
designed to tackle where tostart with your marketing.
It's quite possible that you'reabout to, or have just started,
a new business, and I thoughtthis would be a perfect way to
support you in the new year,since you might be brimming with
new business ideas, especiallyif you've set some resolutions
(14:30):
of things that you are going todo this year.
So you don't want to miss thatnext episode and that's first
one is going to drop on the weekcommencing the 15th of January.
Thank you so much for listeningand I'll catch you at the next
episode of the Small BusinessMarketing Huddle.
Now for the legal jargon.
(14:55):
This podcast is for informationand education purposes only.
We make no business performanceclaims or guarantees in the
information shared.
The podcast content is generalin nature and does not
constitute advice for yourunique business situation.
Welcome to the Small Business Marketing Huddle.
Our show is all about takingaction.
We equip you with the marketingknowledge and confidence you
need to make real progress.
So let's huddle up and listenin to the latest episode with
your host, Lily Richmond.
Lily Richmond (00:31):
Hey, this is Lily .
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
If you're already subscribed tothe show, thank you so much.
You definitely make the Huddlean awesome space to be, and if
this is your first time here,don't forget to hit the
subscribe button, because today,like in every episode, I'm
going to cover a marketing topicthat I really think you have to
(00:54):
learn if you want to masteryour marketing.
Now, make sure you listen untilthe end, because I'm also going
to share a brainstormingexercise and worksheet that is
going to help you define yourbusiness purpose and three
immediate actions you can taketo use that purpose in your
marketing activities.
So let's get straight into it.
(01:15):
In today's episode, I am goingto talk all about purpose, and
there are three reasons I wantto teach you about purpose in
this episode.
Firstly, it's the new year,right, it is a great time to
really refocus on why you're inbusiness and really what you
(01:36):
need to do to achieve yourvision of success over the long
term.
It's always a great time toreflect and plan ahead.
Second, you might be thinkingabout a new business idea and
you're going to take the plungeand you're going to get started
on that, and that is superexciting, but there is no better
place to start than by definingyour purpose first.
(01:57):
And the third reason I'm goingto talk about purpose today is
that it really does touch allparts of your business,
including your marketing.
That is the one surefire way tobe clear and consistent in your
marketing so that you canconnect with your target market
and you deliver on what youpromise.
So today I'm going to teach yousome simple ways to focus on
(02:20):
your why, because for yourmarketing to be successful, your
why needs to come before thewhat the doing aspect of your
business.
So what does it mean to have apurpose for your business?
To my mind, no one describespurpose better than Simon Sinek,
if you've not come across him.
He's an author, aninspirational speaker and
(02:45):
generally a bit of a guru onbusiness leadership, and Sinek
says that people don't buy whatyou do.
They buy why you do it, and tome, this really is the perfect
definition of what purpose is,and there is a great video it's
a TEDx talk explaining this inmore detail, if this is really
(03:09):
piqued your interest, and I havedropped a link to that video in
the show notes, so be sure tocheck that out if you're
interested in finding out more.
So purpose requires you to thinkabout why your business exists.
And if you think it exists togive yourself a paycheck or make
you loads of money, then youdefinitely need to think more
about your purpose, becausethose results that you achieve,
(03:33):
the money that you make and thesuccess that you achieve, is an
outcome of delivering a businesswhich has a purpose.
Okay, so that's kind of anoutcome or a result of doing a
great job running a business andultimately, you're going to be
more successful and you're goingto make more money if you're
clear on what your purpose is,because it makes your business
(03:55):
more compelling and moretrustworthy to your consumers.
Now you might be thinking, boyoh boy, this is all corporate
theory, I don't need that, I'm asolopreneur, or my business is
really small.
Well, I'm here to change yourperspective and challenge your
thinking on that.
(04:15):
I would say it is just asimportant for a small business
to be clear on its purpose.
And why is that?
Well, I think of it in terms ofthree E's It'll make you more
efficient, it'll make you moreengaging and it is definitely
going to make you more effective.
And that's not just for yourmarketing, that's going to be
(04:38):
across your whole business.
And how will it do that?
Well, let's start with how itmakes your business more
efficient.
If you know what your purposeis, then you know exactly what
you and your team if you haveone should be doing every single
day.
You're going to save a load oftime.
You're going to save a load ofmoney and resources Because
(05:00):
you're going to start weedingout activities that are not
helping you drive towards whatthat purpose is.
You'll be focused, focused,focused, and this definitely
applies across all of yourmarketing activities.
Now, if you can describe andbelieve deeply in your purpose,
(05:20):
it makes you more engaging.
Your customer can understandyour business really clearly and
they get the underlying reasonwhy you exist beyond making
money, and they'll connect withthat.
It makes you immediately moretrustworthy if you're doing
something for a greater purposethan just a means to an end
making money.
Having a clear purpose alsomeans that the marketing you do
(05:43):
is going to be way more engaging, because every piece that you
put out into the world will andshould link back to that purpose
and it will be consistent.
Now you don't have to say inyour marketing what your purpose
is, but you need to make surethat your marketing helps you
achieve that purpose.
And finally, having a clearpurpose makes your business more
(06:06):
effective Because you're morelikely to achieve the results
you want by being efficient andengaging right.
The results of your marketingefforts are going to be better
Because you'll prioritize andspend wisely, you'll focus on
the right activities for yourbusiness, and the activities you
do will, in themselves, beimmediately more engaging and
(06:28):
enable you to connect with yourtarget market.
Now, before I share a way tocome up with your purpose, I
want to put out there that yourbusiness does not have to save
the world.
There is a lot of chatter, andthere has been a lot of chatter
in the business world aboutbeing a purpose led business and
that you have to have a purposethat connects to a greater good
(06:50):
in society and that you'll hear, to help save the world, and
that's very noble.
And there are plenty ofbusinesses out there that, just
by their very nature of whatthey do, they can do that and
that's great, but it isn't forevery business.
You know it goes without sayingthat we have to all be good
citizens and we have to do ourbit for our communities and our
(07:12):
environment, but it doesn't meanthat your purpose has to be
driven in that particulardirection.
More than anything, your purposehas got to be believable and
it's really got to be authenticand it's got to fit your
business and what you offer.
You have to believe it, firstand foremost because if you
(07:33):
don't, well then it's not right.
But also, consumers are savvy,they're pretty smart and they
will see right through it.
So be honest and be authentic.
So let's use some examples.
Right, if you're a dry cleaningbusiness, your purpose might be
enabling my community to looktheir best every day.
Or if you run something like apizza takeout service, it might
(07:57):
be delivering the hottest,freshest pizza seven days a week
.
See how it has to fit yourbusiness and what you do.
And it's got to be inspiringright.
That's the idea of purpose.
And even if I share what mypurpose is for my business, if
marketing on demand, my purposeis to help small business owners
make better marketing decisions.
That's what gets me up in themorning and everything I do is
(08:21):
geared around how I help smallbusiness owners make those
better marketing decisions.
So how are you going to come upwith a purpose that is just
right for your business?
After the break, I'll give yousome specific questions and
tasks for you to bring thatpurpose to life.
Okay, so are you ready todevise a meaningful purpose to
(08:46):
guide your business?
I've created a handy workbookfor this exercise because I
appreciate you might want tothink more deeply about these
questions and take your time,and you might not be in a place
or a space where you can writedown the questions that I'm
going to ask you, so you can getthe workbook at
marketingondemandco Slashpurpose.
(09:08):
So what I want you to do isbrainstorm the answers to these
five questions.
Number one why are you runningyour business and go deeper than
to make money?
What's the greater, deepermeaning for running your
business?
Why did you start in the firstplace?
Number two what are you andyour team, if you have one,
(09:31):
passionate about?
What are the passions that yourteam and you have about running
that business?
What do you care about?
Number three what does yourcommunity or the wider world in
which you operate need?
Now, that's in relation to whatyour business offers.
And number four what is yourbusiness good at?
(09:51):
What are you known for?
And number five how do youcreate value for your customers
Meanwhile making profitabilityfor your business?
So those are the five questions.
Once you've brainstormed thoseyou know, take some time over
them you might want to jot downa lot of ideas and you might
want to come back to it, but nowthat you've answered these five
(10:12):
questions, you can use theoutputs to create a one sentence
purpose statement that inspiresyour community and taps into
your passion and strengths andvalue creation at the same time.
Now, a good way to come up withthe sentence is to start it
with I get out of bed every dayand make a difference by if
(10:36):
you're a solopreneur, forexample, or self-employed, or if
you have a team you could startit with we come to work every
day to make a difference byfilling the blank.
Okay, so that gives you an ideaabout how you can structure the
sentence.
Keep it really short.
Super, super short is better.
(10:56):
So those are the five questionsand how you can create your
purpose statement.
Now, finally, how does thisapply to your marketing?
You're thinking.
Here are three things that Iknow that you can do to embed
purpose into your marketingright away, as soon as you've
defined it.
Number one what elements ofyour customer experience do you
(11:17):
need to change to live up toyour purpose?
Using our pizza takeout companyexample, are you really using
the freshest ingredients?
How easy is it for a customerto order?
How do you make sure yourpizzas stay hot?
If this is what your purpose is, could your packaging be
improved to retain the heat?
See how purpose touches allaspects of your business, and
(11:38):
that includes your marketing theway you answer the phones, your
email campaigns, how they'restructured, what information you
share.
If you write blog posts, forexample, how does that connect
back to the purpose?
Are you blogging about topicsthat relate back to that, or are
you going totally off-piste andtalking about something totally
unrelated to your business?
(11:59):
Bring it back to purpose.
So that's how purpose can helpyou really improve your customer
experience.
Number two identify all of themarketing touchpoints that you
have and where you can start toinclude some of that purpose
messaging into it.
Think about things like yoursocial media bios, your website,
(12:20):
email footers, brochures.
These are just some of theexamples.
Now, I said earlier that youdon't actually have to include
your actual purpose statement inyour messaging.
That's not required, but youneed to get the intent behind
that purpose into your messaging.
It's the how.
So how do you bring thatpurpose to life?
(12:40):
Number three and finally reviewthe next.
I would suggest 60 days atleast of your marketing activity
.
If you've got that much plannedin advance, is it aligned to
your purpose?
What do you need to change inorder for you to bring that
purpose to life in yourmarketing campaigns that you're
running?
Is there messaging that needsto change?
Are there activities thatyou're doing right now that no
(13:01):
longer fit because you've comeup with something and you think
actually my purpose doesn'treally align with what my
marketing activity is?
Is there something missing?
Are there new ideas andopportunities that you've
actually thought of as a resultof that brainstorming that you
could put into your plan?
So those are three quick andeasy things that you can go away
and do to start implementingpurpose into your marketing as
(13:23):
well.
Wow, we, there is really a lotfor you to take away and digest
from this episode.
I appreciate that, and don'tforget to make this really super
easy for yourself.
Pop over to my website and graba copy of the workbook so you
can work through thebrainstorming and the actions
I've just shared, and you canget that at marketingondemandco
(13:45):
slash purpose.
Thank you so much for beingpart of the huddle today.
I really do hope you got somevalue out of this episode and
it's motivated you to go andthink more about the purpose of
your business and how importantit is, and making sure that you
connect with your customers andyou're consistent all the time.
(14:07):
Now don't forget to hitsubscribe, because next time I'm
actually going to kick off aseries of episodes that are all
designed to tackle where tostart with your marketing.
It's quite possible that you'reabout to, or have just started,
a new business, and I thoughtthis would be a perfect way to
support you in the new year,since you might be brimming with
new business ideas, especiallyif you've set some resolutions
(14:30):
of things that you are going todo this year.
So you don't want to miss thatnext episode and that's first
one is going to drop on the weekcommencing the 15th of January.
Thank you so much for listeningand I'll catch you at the next
episode of the Small BusinessMarketing Huddle.
Now for the legal jargon.
(14:55):
This podcast is for informationand education purposes only.
We make no business performanceclaims or guarantees in the
information shared.
The podcast content is generalin nature and does not
constitute advice for yourunique business situation.
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Monster: BTK
'Monster: BTK', the newest installment in the 'Monster' franchise, reveals the true story of the Wichita, Kansas serial killer who murdered at least 10 people between 1974 and 1991. Known by the moniker, BTK – Bind Torture Kill, his notoriety was bolstered by the taunting letters he sent to police, and the chilling phone calls he made to media outlets. BTK's identity was finally revealed in 2005 to the shock of his family, his community, and the world. He was the serial killer next door. From Tenderfoot TV & iHeartPodcasts, this is 'Monster: BTK'.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.