February 23, 2025 • 44 mins
This episode explores the importance of anchor content and how to achieve consistent marketing without feeling overwhelmed. The discussion includes strategies for avoiding shiny object syndrome, simplifying marketing efforts, and finding joy in content creation.
• Understanding anchor content as a marketing strategy
• The impact of shiny object syndrome on marketing efforts
• Simplifying content efforts by focusing on strengths
• Establishing a cadence for consistent output
• The value of conducting regular marketing audits
• Encouragement to embrace boring marketing for effective results
• Taking time to identify what resonates personally in marketing
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Tiny Marketing.
This is Sarah Noelle Block, andthis is a podcast that helps
B2B service businesses do morewith less.
Learn lean, actionable, organicmarketing strategies you can
implement today.
No fluff, just powerful growthtactics that work.
Ready to scale smarter?
Hit that subscribe button andstart growing your business with
(00:20):
tiny marketing growing yourbusiness with tiny marketing.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hello, hello everyone .
This is episode 125, and I'mSarah Noelle Block.
You're watching or listening tothe Tiny Marketing Show.
I want to thank you so much forbeing here today and cue you up
for the topic we're talkingabout.
So lately, inside of the TinyMarketing Club, I've been
getting a lot of questions abouthow I'm able to create so much
(00:48):
content and I'm posting everyday on LinkedIn.
I have my weekly newsletter, Ihave my podcast, I have the
YouTube show, and people thatare not from my world they're
not in marketing, they're soloconsultants.
They're solo in marketing,they're solo consultants,
they're solo fractionals they'rewondering how they can do the
(01:09):
same thing.
So I just wanted to let you inon a little secret I'm not doing
that much.
What you really need to do ifyou want to show up consistently
, you want to build yourvisibility, but it's only you,
because for me, it is only me.
So I am the one who's editingmy podcast, I'm the one who's
(01:31):
posting it on YouTube, I'm theone who is breaking it up into
little teachable moments foremails and social media.
And here's the secret on how todo it.
When it's only you have ananchor content, you need to have
one thing that you are willingto commit to creating on a
regular basis, and that onething will feed everything else.
(01:54):
So it might seem like I'm doinga ton of work.
From the outside it looks likethat, but what I'm actually
doing is committing to that onething.
I'm producing a show a week andthat is that.
From there, I take that showand break it down into little
teaching moments that I'll shareon LinkedIn, that I'll share in
(02:17):
my email newsletter or I'llexpand on it for a master class
or a paid training.
So that's what's reallyhappening behind the scenes For
anybody who is watching me andwondering how I'm doing it all
(02:39):
and I get that comment a lot,and that's the reason I'm
bringing it up, because from theinside it doesn't feel like I'm
doing it all, but from theoutside it does.
So I just want you to know I'mnot.
I'm not creating tons ofcontent.
I'm creating one thing and I amleveraging it to in as many
(03:00):
possible ways that I can, andthis is completely possible for
you, and it doesn't have to looklike a weekly show, like I can,
and this is completely possiblefor you, and it doesn't have to
look like a weekly show like Ihave.
Maybe you have less time thanthat.
It could look like a monthlytraining.
It could look like a quarterlynetworking group.
It can look a lot of differentways.
So I just want to cue thisconversation up to help you
(03:24):
understand that you don't haveto chase what other people are
doing.
You don't have to chase whatI'm doing because from the
outside it looks different thanit does from the inside, and you
need to do what works best foryou and that is what's going to
get you ahead.
The best marketing is boringmarketing.
(03:45):
It's consistency.
You can do that.
That is well within your reach,and I hope that this episode
with Carolyn Crawford, wherewe're talking about creating
anchor content, boring marketingand how to kick shiny object
syndrome out of your marketing,helps you understand that it
(04:06):
looks different from the outsidethan what's really happening on
the inside, and what I'm doingis very possible for you too.
I hope you enjoy this one.
Hey, hey, hey, carolyn, can youintroduce yourself to the
audience?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yes, thank you.
First of all, thank you so muchfor having me.
My name is Carolyn Crawford.
I'm the founder of CultivateCommunications.
We are a company that helpsbusinesses align their business
objectives with their marketingthrough holistic marketing
solutions.
So a lot of businesses thatfeel like they are just being
very much overlooked by theirmarketing or they're just
(04:45):
nothing's really working forthem, we're the place to go to
really help kind of clear outanything blocking them and get
them integrated in holisticmarketing strategies that really
align with their salesobjectives.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, we speak the same language, definitely speak
the same language.
Definitely we're digging inreal hard today on something
that I talk about a lot, andthat how to avoid shiny object
syndrome when it comes tomarketing.
A lot of the people who listento this show are factionals or
(05:20):
consultants, they're solobusinesses or one person
marketing department and theyhave well, either they
themselves are feeling this orthey have presidents coming down
at them and say I saw X doingthis.
Why aren't we doing that?
Maybe you're on Instagram andyou're seeing someone doing
(05:41):
something You're like why aren'tI doing that?
It's so easy for us to chase,chase that and test something
new out before ever seeingwhat's actually working for us
in the first place, so I'mexcited about it.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I'm so excited to dive into it because, to
everything you were saying, likethat was my entire career
before starting Cultivate, andthis is and that is why I
started Cultivate because I waslike this is a problem Like the
one.
The second, you said one person, marketing departments.
I was like, oh my God.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah me, that's me Exactly.
Yeah, I feel you.
That was me for seven years andit was a struggle.
I had seven company presidentswho are coming to me and seeing
what other people are doing andasking me hey, can we test this
out?
But let's first talk about thepitfalls, when either someone is
(06:41):
coming to us to do this or westart thinking that we need to
be doing whatever else is doing,what can happen?
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Oh gosh.
Well, I think, like exactlywhat you were saying.
Like we start to think that weshould be doing something
someone else is doing, like theshoulds are the killers.
Like I should be doing this, Ishould be doing that, just
because you see someone else doit and you see them're seeing
them far down the line by thetime you actually see them right
(07:28):
as an example.
Someone could have been doingsomething for years and finally
it's taking off.
So I think, like what thedisconnect, especially if you're
getting you're getting fire?
Like people are breathing firedown your neck because they
should.
You want, like the presidents ofthe companies want something,
and like they're not patientwith the results, like that's
(07:51):
very difficult to explain.
It takes time and marketingtakes time and people because of
that, like people think thatthey're doing something wrong.
So therefore they're like oh mygosh, I'm doing something wrong
, let me try this or let me trythat.
So they constantly startpivoting and this is where the
vicious cycle starts to comeinto play, because you're either
(08:13):
constantly pivoting, so youdon't really know what's working
and what's not.
You're just seeing, okay,you're just feeling like nothing
is working, and when you'recopying what someone else is
doing like they could have avery different audience, they
could have a different systemset up when it comes to their
sales process.
There's actually a lot offactors that kind of come into
(08:34):
play, and so the shoulds arereally what spikes the cycle and
it keeps you ungrounded interms of what really is going to
work for your business andtherefore all the strategies
that you create.
You actually just throw out thestrategy, throw the strategies
out the window and you're justthrowing spaghetti on the wall.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
ultimately, is what happens yeah, I, I want to talk
about that for a second, in that, when you are looking at what
someone else is doing and youthink that you need to be doing
it too, you're.
It's the iceberg perspective.
You're seeing the tip of theiceberg.
You're seeing what they allowyou to see.
(09:14):
You're not seeing the behindthe scenes.
The ad spend, the back-endstrategies that we all have
happening.
You're only seeing seeing oh,look at that cool Instagram post
or look at that ad or man, theyget a lot of comments on
LinkedIn or their podcast seemsto be blowing up, but you're not
(09:37):
seeing any of the back endthat's making that actually work
.
So you're testing things fromthe iceberg perspective, where
you're only seeing the partsthey're allowing you to see.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
A hundred percent.
I couldn't have said it bettermyself because and it's true,
like I would say too, especiallyon the ad send piece, right,
like people see ads posted likethis is a perfect example of
like a vicious cycle.
It's like you see ads posted,you see people showing their
results from their ads even ourmarketers showing results from
the ads and you don't see thefailed ad spend something that's
(10:21):
working, and you think like,okay and like and it's
interesting.
This is the challenge withmarketing.
Right, like it can feel likeit's so simple, because, like it
can be very logical and it'sjust okay, post on social media,
post on this.
But there really is a scienceto it and every business is
different.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, and they are also filtering completely.
So while they're telling youthe successes that happened from
it, yeah, they're not talkingabout the same as yours.
They're only telling you theirrevenue numbers every single
(11:06):
time, so it makes you feel likeyou're failing when you're not.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
For sure, and it's like a one-upmanship,
essentially.
That starts to happen.
It's crazy, it's crazy.
So, yes, I would say that thoseare the pitfalls, I mean, and
there's probably more.
But I think, like, when you arecaught up in the shoulds, you
are very vulnerable to a lot ofgimmicks because you're going to
(11:31):
get bombarded with people whosay I can give you X leads in so
many days, or I can make you Xamount of followers, or whatever
, whatever it is, and that'slike that's just the evolution
of the industry right now.
There's so many templates, somany proven strategies and it,
(11:52):
it, it ends up kind of doing alot more harm than good, even
though, like, yes, it's in, itwas invented to help people and
and and boost people up and kindof like, take some of the load
off.
But, at the end of the day, ifyou're doing it from a place
where you're just like I shouldbe doing this, you're not
actually focusing on what isright for your business.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, yeah.
And I just want to grab ontoone more thing that you said
before we move on to the nextpoint and that if you are trying
something out and then bouncingto the next thing and you're
not taking enough time toactually see if it works, I use
a rule of thumb on that and thatI allow myself to experiment
(12:37):
with one thing.
A quarter gives me 90 days totest it out.
It's enough time to see if,like, the trajectory is going
the right way.
I could immediately see it'snot.
But I've been through that full90 days to see what direction I
see it going in the future andhonestly, some things take years
(12:58):
to see the true value of it,like this podcast, for example.
The first two years all of thevalue that I got from my podcast
was the people that I met, thebiz, dev opportunities because
it's an interview style podcastand referral partners, like
(13:19):
people who I became friends withand turned into referral
partners.
But I had next to no listenersfor a long time.
I could get like 30 an episodeand it took years for me to
build enough momentum with myshow for it to eventually turn
into a nurture content wherepeople were coming to my sales
(13:42):
call and saying, hey, I've beenlistening to the show and then
eventually it became a discoverytype of content where people
learned I existed in the firstplace because of it.
But it takes a long time to seesomething through and see if
it's working For sure A hundredpercent.
So let's say you're one ofthose people who are chasing
(14:06):
what other people are doing andyou're getting super excited and
you're like, yay, I'm going totry this.
And now you're overwhelmed.
What's the first thing that youshould do when you start to
feel overwhelmed with yourmarketing.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yeah, first thing is to stop marketing, which a lot
of people don't like the answerfor.
But it is true, like you, whenI'm overwhelmed, for instance,
powering through and gettinginto more of a vicious cycle
just makes me more overwhelmed.
It's just like that snowballeffect, right?
(14:39):
So when I'm overwhelmed, I needto take a second and I need to
say, okay, what's really goingon?
How can I simplify this?
Because when you're overwhelmedlike overwhelmed starts because
you just have so much that youfeel that you have to do that
you're just like then it startsto get you into analysis,
paralysis, so you have to.
(15:00):
The only way to to get out ofthat is not necessarily to power
through.
Sometimes you can, depending onwhat it is Right.
Sometimes it's like there's apiece of your mind that's like
OK, this feels like a lot, andyou can talk yourself out of it
and be like actually it's not,but that's like a skill set to
kind of nurture.
But ultimately, when someone'sso overwhelmed with their
(15:21):
marketing and they're likenothing is working, I'm putting
all my energy, I'm on everyfreaking platform, I'm doing all
the things Right they.
The only way to really getclear is to stop, take a break,
take a breather, not saying doit for long, but like, just stop
(15:42):
.
It's OK to stop.
And then do an, be real withyourself, do an audit what is
not working for you, what isworking and what's kind of you
want it to work, but it's justnot really hitting the point
right now or it's just notreally getting the results that
you want.
Really identify and be very,very honest with yourself.
(16:04):
Where are you putting your time, money and energy into?
What are you getting back inreturn?
Is there any benefit?
Even if the benefit of is Ijust like doing it, that's a
great benefit.
You know any.
Just really really being honestwith yourself and what do you
hate doing?
That's also a big one, becausepeople I do, I've done this
(16:25):
Right, exactly.
There are so many things thatI'm like I just I don't like
doing this.
Why am I doing it?
And then I had to cut it and soand people are afraid to cut
things.
So when you're overwhelmed withmarketing, first step is to
take a step back.
Be really real.
Find out what, what's not, whatdo you like, what do you hate,
and then cut.
(16:46):
Like cut, be vicious in yourcutting?
I do not, because here's thething if you are doing too much
and you don't like it, likeyou're basically half-assing all
these things.
Why not focus on things that youreally, really want to see get
off the ground?
(17:06):
So your podcast is a perfectexample.
I would imagine, if you'reanything like me, because I have
had this feeling with yourpodcast at some point,
especially in those early days,you were like, why am I doing
this?
Is this really working out?
Is this really like I'm onlygetting 30 people listening,
like it's not really benefiting,like whatever.
But you stuck with it.
(17:27):
If I had to make an assumption,because you there was a part of
you that really loved it andloved doing, or you saw a bigger
purpose for whatever, right allthese stuck with it because I
saw the early benefits.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Like this is a great way to meet people exactly that
and that's a great benefit.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Right, and that's a perfect example, because it's
not so.
You were expanding your network, but it wasn't directly tying
back to sales, right, orpotentially not.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, I mean it did tie back to sales, but it was
through referrals with theguests rather than right now, so
not right.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Right, exactly, and obviously people started because
they're like OK, I want more, Iwant these listeners to buy
from me.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Right, not always.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
That's not always how like the snowball effect works.
It's oh, it's kind of it'sthrough someone else's network
and then eventually it starts tobe a machine for you.
But perfect example, right,like it was a great way for you
to meet people, it was notharming you, you liked it enough
to do it and you couldrepurpose the content and have
it fuel other things.
(18:35):
And I think that's what peopleneed to pay attention to is what
can I do that?
I really enjoy doing that.
Maybe it takes a little bit oftime like producing a podcast
takes time every week but howmuch it gives to other things
that could help your marketingis a really good benefit.
(18:55):
So I think that's really whereyou just start to kind of
dissect, saying okay, I reallylike I had a client once.
She was on everything.
She was defeated by marketingand she, by the time I met with
her, she was just so.
She really was just depleted.
She was like I'm on everything,my business is just failing.
I know I'm doing emails, I'm onTwitter, I'm on Instagram, I'm
(19:18):
on LinkedIn all of the socialmedia platform, like, like all
of the things.
This is back when Twitter wasTwitter, not X, but I and she
was writing blogs and like alsoproducing blogs for like outside
publications, things like that.
And I said and she was veryfrustrated and so during our
(19:39):
session I was like, what do youactually like to do?
She's like, well, I really likeI like writing articles.
I mean, I came from journalismand I really love writing
articles.
I'm like, okay, then we'regoing to cut everything else.
And then I said what do you?
What kind of platform do youlike to be on most?
Like what?
Which one are you naturally on?
She said Instagram.
(19:59):
I said, okay, that's yoursocial media platform.
You're going to cut everythingelse out.
Then I said for she has anemail list, but not wasn't
getting any upticks.
I'm like you're going torepurpose the blog into emails
and then into your social mediaposts.
Within one month she literallycut her market.
At first she was veryoverwhelmed because she was.
(20:22):
She was like how can I cutthings?
Because people are so afraid tocut things.
And within one month she cuther marketing by 50 percent at
least and then immediatelystarted seeing an uptick in her
engagement.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Well, she could actually produce something
worthwhile because she had thetime, and that blog or guest
bloggingging, whatever she endedup going with is her anchor.
And exactly, little contentbabies that see the other things
that exactly we love thecontent baby.
Oh my gosh, this, this show ismy.
(20:59):
Yes, little content babies,totally.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
A hundred percent, yeah, and she started to enjoy
it too, and I think that reallymade a difference.
And then, because she was doingthings that were very
intentional, it created morebrand consistency.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah, that makes sense.
And because she was justcreating the one thing and then
making it work for the other,like repurposing it so it worked
for the other platforms, hermessaging is going to be the
same across everything.
It's a matter of reformattingit so it works for that platform
(21:38):
.
I'm with you, I'm all on, allright there.
I'm saying yes, yes, yes,nothing along, okay.
So last thing, what is thestrategy that works when you
have a limited bandwidth?
Let's say you're a soloentrepreneur.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
I would say keep it simple, right?
Exactly what we were justtalking about.
What's going to produce content?
Babies, you know, make thembabies, right?
And for some and it's going tovary, right, there are some
people who go double down onInstagram because, and like,
they love it and it works outfor them.
There are others who hateInstagram and that's not the
(22:25):
approach for you, right?
So it's like, don't feel likeyou have to do something because
you know it can be successful.
So, just, I would start simpleand really determine OK, what is
realistic for me to execute,given my limited resources,
whether that's time, money orenergy, and then what's going to
(22:45):
be what's going to have a lotmore longevity to it.
So, again, going back to apodcast, you can literally start
a podcast with no money if youreally wanted to.
All you need is a computer andZoom and like the cost of a Zoom
membership, if you really wantor voice notes in your phone,
whatever, like if you reallywant to be scrappy about it,
like there are ways to start apodcast as an example.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Right Jenna Kutcher's podcast.
Originally she was justrecording on her phone.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
That's yeah, exactly, exactly.
So I, you can, I think it's amatter I would say keep it
simple and keep that in mindacross the board.
Simple and keep that in mindacross the board.
But then, when it comes tofiguring out specifically, like
what is it that I should do Payattention to when you feel most
(23:32):
confident talking about yourbusiness or the things that you
talk about?
So, for instance, I personallyprefer to chat with people.
So, that's why I started my ownpodcast, because I can talk with
people.
I can talk to people all daylong about marketing.
It's like a whole situation.
So I was like that's a reallynatural initiative for me to
(23:53):
take from my brand.
Obviously, here are all theother benefits that can come
with it, but this was this was amedium that I felt comfortable.
In the case of that client,right, she didn't feel
comfortable.
She was.
She was doing YouTube videosbut had to read off of the
script because she wasuncomfortable with her video.
She was uncomfortablevideotaping herself.
Yeah, I said that's not amedium you should do that.
(24:13):
You should work on right now,like maybe later, you never know
, but like right now.
No, so writing was what wascomfortable for her.
So you have to determine, like,how do you best communicate?
And it does vary by person.
Not everyone wants you.
Don't need to hop on reelsevery single day if that's not
(24:34):
something you're comfortablewith.
It's worse to do something thatgoes so against your natural
rhythm and force yourself to doit because, people, it's just
not natural and it's notengaging for the person
listening or watching or readingyeah, the other person can feel
that this doesn't feel right toyou, that it feels totally to
you one thousand percent.
(24:56):
One thousand percent.
So I would say understand howyou best communicate.
What makes makes you excited,what makes you comfortable.
If you want to speak, start apodcast or be on podcast or
whatever you know, whatever thatlooks like for you, the only
(25:19):
way to do it is by reallyunderstanding who you are, what
you like to do, what feelscomfortable, even if it's a
little scary at first.
There's a difference, likethere's a difference between it?
Yeah, Everything is scary.
So, like sure, Even if you'recomfortable with like speaking
and writing, like when I firstlaunched my podcast, it was very
, very scary.
(25:40):
I was like what am I doing?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
You should see my early videos.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Oh, my my god, I can only imagine right like look,
they're all findable, I love it.
Yeah, no, I'm.
Then I'm gonna go back, farback to the early days of tiny
marketing that was like.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
My secret is that whenever I feel bad about my
content, I look at creators thatare doing amazing things, and I
look at their earliest stuffSmart, top two at one time that
is actually so smart when you'rehaving like a down day, just
again, like that iceberg.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Like, yeah, that's part of their iceberg.
Like, yeah, maybe they have atop podcast now, but before they
maybe got two hits a week, yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
It really does make me feel better.
I'm like okay, well, I'm themat that point, that's okay.
They're, it is okay it is okay.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Here's the thing to also remember when you're
growing a business and whenyou're building a brand.
Brand is about repetition.
So the and like you can't justlike launch something tomorrow
and let that be it.
The brands out there, we'regood, it's.
It doesn't work like that it's.
You have to constantly hitpeople over the head with what
(26:55):
you, what you're about, whatyou're selling, and the offers
may evolve as usual, but youknow, or not at all, it's
totally up to you.
But you have to continuouslyhit people over the head with
your messaging, what you'reabout, who you are, and that is
brand building.
And so that it really all theonly way to grow is through the
(27:17):
snowball effect.
Yeah, some people acceleratetheir path because maybe they
have their venture backed orjust have limited, unlimited
resources or connections,whatever it may be, and you just
you have to cut that part out.
Like you can't think aboutbuilding your brand in
comparison to some, to thosetypes of people, because it's
(27:40):
going to just make you feel likeyou're doing something wrong
when you're not.
Ultimately, marketing is aboutyou can yell across the street
to someone.
That's marketing you and Italking right now is basically
marketing right, like, yeah, itdoesn't.
I think that's why I like goingback to, like, my first point.
Like, when it comes to yourstrategy, just keep it super
simple, as long as you'recommunicating your brand, who
(28:00):
you are, what you do, how peoplecan reach out to you.
Yeah, there are tactics thatwork better than others, but
just remembering that coreprinciple and then determining
what works best for you and thenstarting small, because how you
scale up is by establishingyour baseline what's feasible to
do for the least amount ofbudget, time, energy, whatever
(28:23):
that looks like for you, andthen, once you feel like you're
in a good groove, expand on that.
Ok, maybe we're.
Maybe go from voice notesrecording to a video podcast you
know what I mean.
Like that as one example toexpand.
Or maybe go from posting onLinkedIn to getting on TikTok,
like there.
Again, it's going to vary, butthere that's how you start to
(28:46):
expand and then build yourstrategy.
But start small, keep it simple, determine what's going to have
the most longevity and be thatanchor, or I like to call it a
content driver, for to deliverthose content babies, you know,
and and again, it's just whatcan, what can you keep going in
repetition and what can you havefun with.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, I want to add on that, when you're first
starting this journey, choosethe cadence that you can be
consistent with and it's okay ifyou're choosing like your
anchor is going to be once aquarter or once a month.
Once you get in the groove ofit, you can expand it.
(29:28):
Like this podcast was bi-weeklyfor years and then, as I
started to get my footing andunderstand what I was doing, I
moved it up to weekly and thenagain, as I was getting my
groove with that, I moved it upand added like the video
component of it.
But I didn't do it all at once,I just I said I do bi-weekly
(29:53):
and I committed to that until Iwas able to expand.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Yeah, exactly, that's a great point too, too, yeah,
one hundred percent, one hundredpercent.
Do what feels, do what is mostrealistic, and even if that's,
like you said, twice a month,maybe even monthly, if you
really got to do it like don'tgo starting out like every
single day I'm going to beposted on social media.
When you have a post, it likeif you have no other resources
(30:19):
to support you with that, youknow, like post once a week.
Yeah, consistency really is keywith marketing and that's
because that's how therepetition happens, and so
whatever you know you can beconsistent with is the most
important.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, and once you've chosen that cadence, pick a
medium, that or format thatwould work for that cadence.
Like I said, once a quarter,you couldn't do a podcast once a
quarter, so don't pick that.
But you could do a secretpodcast where it's like a
capsule of podcast episodes thatyou're delivering at one time.
So the cadence needs to matchthe format.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
So the cadence needs to match the format, but that's
every single day to really see alot of traction.
Instagram you have a little bitmore flexibility and wiggle
room because of just the way thealgorithm works.
Granted, I haven't been on X ina while because that's not my
preferred platform, but that youknow, just as one example of
like, or like a monthlynewsletter or you know, just I
(31:36):
just I don't know.
I love, I love the idea of like.
You know, just I just I don'tknow, I love I love the idea of
like.
You know, a capsule thing, likeif you're going to do something
quarterly, what does that reallylook like?
And so if you're going to do it, go out with a bang.
If you're going to do it atthat cadence, you know, like
save your energy.
Let's just say you want todeliver report every quarter,
white paper every quarter, ok,most of your energy is going to
(31:57):
go into creating that piece ofcontent.
That's long form, but thatpiece of content can feed
everything else for the nextquarter.
So and that's another, just oneother example, right where that
capsule podcast, like you said,which is an awesome idea for
anyone who wants to take that itis, you know it can feed other
(32:18):
things or not, if you reallychoose not to, but like, don't,
like, like exactly this point ofyou know pick what, pick the
format that's really going towork and be realistic about it
and see how, again, you canstretch that as best as possible
without adding too much more toyour plate.
Stretch that as best aspossible without adding too much
more to your plate.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yeah, and with all of these examples that we've
talked about, that are more likequarterly, they're also lead
generators.
So what you're choosing ishelping you on multiple levels,
like top to bottom of funnel.
Because one you're choosing acadence where you know you're
(33:00):
doing like, let's see, say, thesecret podcast, for example.
Anytime you have a secretpodcast, someone has to enter
their email in order to accessit.
So you're getting leads thatway and that would feed your
email list where your newsletteris going out.
And if you're doing a capsulepodcast, let's say you have six
episodes in there on a certaintopic all of those you can find
(33:23):
little micro teaching momentsthat you can expand on in social
media or in your emails, thatwill feed directly back to that
secret podcast where you'regetting more subscribers.
So it all plays together.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
For sure A hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
So real quick, before we wrap up.
Before we were talking aboutoverwhelm and you were.
You mentioned a client that youhad that was just like
frustrated because theirmarketing wasn't working for
them and they they didn't knowwhat to do.
They felt like their businesswas failing.
So there was definitely pointsin my career that I have felt
(34:03):
that way and what I did is Istarted tracking.
I just put an air tabletogether and all of the
connection calls I'd have I'dtrack.
Where did those conversationsstart, how did I meet them and
what did they turn into.
So then eventually I did it.
For like 30 days I had a reportthat told me what was my most
(34:25):
profitable channels these arethe ones that are turning into
sales and then I just hung outthere.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
I love that.
Yeah, that's a great idea, forsure, yeah it's definitely keep
track.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Great idea, for sure.
Yeah, it's like definitely keeptrack, and then you know how,
like what channels, equal money.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
Mm, hmm, for sure.
And the direct correlation Ilove that.
That's a fantastic idea.
I think I'm a huge believer,like I love a good audit every
single quarter.
I mean again, like you could doan audit however frequently,
but I prefer to do them on likea quarterly basis as like an all
encompassing one.
Like I do this for my clients,I do this for myself like every
(35:05):
single quarter.
Do that audit and, like youknow, keep track of like maybe
it doesn't again for 30 days, tokeep track of something like
that.
That's really beneficial.
That may be challenging to do ona quarterly basis kind of thing
, because that's a lot, but evenjust that alone, even if you
did it for a week, you know,just seeing like where am I
seeing some upticks?
Or even paying attention to,like your patterns of like, how
(35:29):
am I when I, when I feel, whendo I feel most inspired?
I say this to a lot of peoplewhen you struggle to create
content, for instance, becausethey're just they don't know
what to talk about.
I'm like how do you feel aftera client call?
Or how do you feel after you'retalking on a podcast or someone
else in marketing where there'slike the pressure is off.
Yeah, drop, use Airtable.
(35:51):
Take those notes.
And I have like, for instance,I have an Airtable because I've.
I struggle with the same thingsthat other businesses struggle,
because it's hard when you'rein it for yourself, right.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Yeah, it's really hard, exactly when it's you.
It's so hard.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
And this is the benefit of like having
outsourced help or just hiringsome sort of help to kind of be
that sort of third partyperspective for you.
But I would say you know likeit, all these challenges are
very common but for me, like Irealized, I struggled with like
maintaining consistency withwhat am I posting on a regular
(36:30):
basis?
What do I feel like eventalking about?
Like I'll just get in my headabout it, right, I started
keeping track from an air tableof all, or like even my apple
notes or whatever, all theserandom ideas that I would have
because I'd have them afterconversations or randomly at two
in the morning or whatever.
I looked at my air tablerecently and I have enough, for
(36:52):
if I posted every single day forthe next year, I have enough
content.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
That's because I don't post.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
That's another issue I'm working through, but that's
where I'm like okay, how do Ikeep it simple?
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yeah, and you said like, take note of when you're
feeling most creative orinspired, just batch it all at
that time.
I almost always write all of mysocial media posts at the same
time and then just schedule themout throughout the week, so it
looks like I'm always on, butI'm not Totally.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
A hundred percent.
Yeah, exactly, automatedschedulers are like the best.
Automations are a game changer.
Systems and processes are ahuge game changer in marketing
as well.
Even though it feels verycomplicated, it's really not,
and especially if you leverage,outsource team members like, uh,
like, virtual assistants, forinstance, that it's a great way,
(37:49):
like getting systems andprocesses set up to where you
can dump your inspiration.
They can expand on it, um, orput, or at least organize it for
you.
You, you finish up whateverthat looks like, assuming you
have the resources to do so orif you're solo, you know, you
you batch it all, take a second,go back to it, fine tune it and
(38:11):
then post it.
You know like there's so manyways to go about it, and that's
one of the reasons why I lovemarketing, because there are
just so many ways to communicateand and take these ideas in
your head and and get them outin the world.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
Yeah, marketing is fun.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Frustrating some days , but mostly fun.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
So you have an offer for the audience.
Can you tell them what it is?
I do.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Yes, so I would love to offer your audience a steep
discounts over 60% discount onmy marketing momentum session.
So this is essentially 90minutes and you walk away with a
90 day marketing plan.
Essentially, what this does iswe really drill down like what
(38:58):
are the core blocks preventingyou from being consistent with
your marketing?
And this is perfect for thesolo business owner, because
they that is really where youget so overwhelmed.
Sometimes the blocks are not amarketing problem, sometimes
they're an operational problem,sometimes they're a mindset
problem.
There's so many ways that it canlike impact you, especially
(39:19):
when you're on your own, and sothis is going to clear all of
that out and really set up thosesystems and processes in place,
give you that creativemotivation and ideas and
basically a content plan.
If that's what comes out of it,it really varies person by
person, so it's really a hightouch.
What is going to make the mostimpact for you for the next 90
(39:41):
days?
And I'd love to offer youraudience that discount of over
60% for $1.99 total for thatsingle session, and just use the
discount code TINY24.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
That is a no-brainer, so go and do that.
That is a no brainer, so go anddo that.
We'll put the link in the shownotes along with that promo code
, so no one forgets.
Thank you Amazing.
Thank you so much.
This is so fun.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
And you mentioned Instagram, so is that your
channel of choice in?
But I'm this month I, because,again I I had to clear my own
blocks and set up my own systemsand processes for marketing.
So in November we'rereactivating, um, our new, our,
our, um oh my gosh our Instagramaccount.
So that's going to be mostactive now okay, there you go.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Go follow her on Instagram, because this is going
out a munch a little yeah, bythen I'll have contact so thanks
, and I'll put her link forLinkedIn too, just in case she's
still active over there.
All right, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for tuning in to hearmine and Caroline's
(40:57):
conversation about how to stopchasing shiny object syndrome
and choose boring marketing overcomparing yourself to everyone
else on the outside, because,remember, you're only seeing
what they want you to see.
There's a whole lot going onbehind the scenes that no one
(41:20):
wants you to see, so don'tcompare yourself to anyone else.
You're only getting the shinybits.
You're only getting thefiltered version.
You do you and you createmarketing that feels good to you
and just leverage the shit outof it.
That's all you need to do.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Thank you for tuning into myshow and spending 40 minutes
(41:44):
with me.
If you enjoyed this episode,please like, share, subscribe
and comment, and let yourfriends know about the Tiny
Marketing Show.
Every time you mention it, youtag me in it.
It makes my day, but it alsoadds new listeners and viewers
(42:05):
to this tiny show.
That could every single week,and I appreciate you.
I'll see you next week.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
You love all things tiny marketing.
Head down to the show notespage and sign up for the wait
list to join the Tiny marketingclub, where you get to work
one-on-one with me withtrainings, feedback and pop-up
coaching that will help youscale your marketing as a B2B
(42:32):
service business.
So I'll see you over in theclub.
Welcome to Tiny Marketing.
This is Sarah Noelle Block, andthis is a podcast that helps
B2B service businesses do morewith less.
Learn lean, actionable, organicmarketing strategies you can
implement today.
No fluff, just powerful growthtactics that work.
Ready to scale smarter?
Hit that subscribe button andstart growing your business with
(00:20):
tiny marketing growing yourbusiness with tiny marketing.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hello, hello everyone .
This is episode 125, and I'mSarah Noelle Block.
You're watching or listening tothe Tiny Marketing Show.
I want to thank you so much forbeing here today and cue you up
for the topic we're talkingabout.
So lately, inside of the TinyMarketing Club, I've been
getting a lot of questions abouthow I'm able to create so much
(00:48):
content and I'm posting everyday on LinkedIn.
I have my weekly newsletter, Ihave my podcast, I have the
YouTube show, and people thatare not from my world they're
not in marketing, they're soloconsultants.
They're solo in marketing,they're solo consultants,
they're solo fractionals they'rewondering how they can do the
(01:09):
same thing.
So I just wanted to let you inon a little secret I'm not doing
that much.
What you really need to do ifyou want to show up consistently
, you want to build yourvisibility, but it's only you,
because for me, it is only me.
So I am the one who's editingmy podcast, I'm the one who's
(01:31):
posting it on YouTube, I'm theone who is breaking it up into
little teachable moments foremails and social media.
And here's the secret on how todo it.
When it's only you have ananchor content, you need to have
one thing that you are willingto commit to creating on a
regular basis, and that onething will feed everything else.
(01:54):
So it might seem like I'm doinga ton of work.
From the outside it looks likethat, but what I'm actually
doing is committing to that onething.
I'm producing a show a week andthat is that.
From there, I take that showand break it down into little
teaching moments that I'll shareon LinkedIn, that I'll share in
(02:17):
my email newsletter or I'llexpand on it for a master class
or a paid training.
So that's what's reallyhappening behind the scenes For
anybody who is watching me andwondering how I'm doing it all
(02:39):
and I get that comment a lot,and that's the reason I'm
bringing it up, because from theinside it doesn't feel like I'm
doing it all, but from theoutside it does.
So I just want you to know I'mnot.
I'm not creating tons ofcontent.
I'm creating one thing and I amleveraging it to in as many
(03:00):
possible ways that I can, andthis is completely possible for
you, and it doesn't have to looklike a weekly show, like I can,
and this is completely possiblefor you, and it doesn't have to
look like a weekly show like Ihave.
Maybe you have less time thanthat.
It could look like a monthlytraining.
It could look like a quarterlynetworking group.
It can look a lot of differentways.
So I just want to cue thisconversation up to help you
(03:24):
understand that you don't haveto chase what other people are
doing.
You don't have to chase whatI'm doing because from the
outside it looks different thanit does from the inside, and you
need to do what works best foryou and that is what's going to
get you ahead.
The best marketing is boringmarketing.
(03:45):
It's consistency.
You can do that.
That is well within your reach,and I hope that this episode
with Carolyn Crawford, wherewe're talking about creating
anchor content, boring marketingand how to kick shiny object
syndrome out of your marketing,helps you understand that it
(04:06):
looks different from the outsidethan what's really happening on
the inside, and what I'm doingis very possible for you too.
I hope you enjoy this one.
Hey, hey, hey, carolyn, can youintroduce yourself to the
audience?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yes, thank you.
First of all, thank you so muchfor having me.
My name is Carolyn Crawford.
I'm the founder of CultivateCommunications.
We are a company that helpsbusinesses align their business
objectives with their marketingthrough holistic marketing
solutions.
So a lot of businesses thatfeel like they are just being
very much overlooked by theirmarketing or they're just
(04:45):
nothing's really working forthem, we're the place to go to
really help kind of clear outanything blocking them and get
them integrated in holisticmarketing strategies that really
align with their salesobjectives.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, we speak the same language, definitely speak
the same language.
Definitely we're digging inreal hard today on something
that I talk about a lot, andthat how to avoid shiny object
syndrome when it comes tomarketing.
A lot of the people who listento this show are factionals or
(05:20):
consultants, they're solobusinesses or one person
marketing department and theyhave well, either they
themselves are feeling this orthey have presidents coming down
at them and say I saw X doingthis.
Why aren't we doing that?
Maybe you're on Instagram andyou're seeing someone doing
(05:41):
something You're like why aren'tI doing that?
It's so easy for us to chase,chase that and test something
new out before ever seeingwhat's actually working for us
in the first place, so I'mexcited about it.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I'm so excited to dive into it because, to
everything you were saying, likethat was my entire career
before starting Cultivate, andthis is and that is why I
started Cultivate because I waslike this is a problem Like the
one.
The second, you said one person, marketing departments.
I was like, oh my God.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah me, that's me Exactly.
Yeah, I feel you.
That was me for seven years andit was a struggle.
I had seven company presidentswho are coming to me and seeing
what other people are doing andasking me hey, can we test this
out?
But let's first talk about thepitfalls, when either someone is
(06:41):
coming to us to do this or westart thinking that we need to
be doing whatever else is doing,what can happen?
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Oh gosh.
Well, I think, like exactlywhat you were saying.
Like we start to think that weshould be doing something
someone else is doing, like theshoulds are the killers.
Like I should be doing this, Ishould be doing that, just
because you see someone else doit and you see them're seeing
them far down the line by thetime you actually see them right
(07:28):
as an example.
Someone could have been doingsomething for years and finally
it's taking off.
So I think, like what thedisconnect, especially if you're
getting you're getting fire?
Like people are breathing firedown your neck because they
should.
You want, like the presidents ofthe companies want something,
and like they're not patientwith the results, like that's
(07:51):
very difficult to explain.
It takes time and marketingtakes time and people because of
that, like people think thatthey're doing something wrong.
So therefore they're like oh mygosh, I'm doing something wrong
, let me try this or let me trythat.
So they constantly startpivoting and this is where the
vicious cycle starts to comeinto play, because you're either
(08:13):
constantly pivoting, so youdon't really know what's working
and what's not.
You're just seeing, okay,you're just feeling like nothing
is working, and when you'recopying what someone else is
doing like they could have avery different audience, they
could have a different systemset up when it comes to their
sales process.
There's actually a lot offactors that kind of come into
(08:34):
play, and so the shoulds arereally what spikes the cycle and
it keeps you ungrounded interms of what really is going to
work for your business andtherefore all the strategies
that you create.
You actually just throw out thestrategy, throw the strategies
out the window and you're justthrowing spaghetti on the wall.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
ultimately, is what happens yeah, I, I want to talk
about that for a second, in that, when you are looking at what
someone else is doing and youthink that you need to be doing
it too, you're.
It's the iceberg perspective.
You're seeing the tip of theiceberg.
You're seeing what they allowyou to see.
(09:14):
You're not seeing the behindthe scenes.
The ad spend, the back-endstrategies that we all have
happening.
You're only seeing seeing oh,look at that cool Instagram post
or look at that ad or man, theyget a lot of comments on
LinkedIn or their podcast seemsto be blowing up, but you're not
(09:37):
seeing any of the back endthat's making that actually work
.
So you're testing things fromthe iceberg perspective, where
you're only seeing the partsthey're allowing you to see.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
A hundred percent.
I couldn't have said it bettermyself because and it's true,
like I would say too, especiallyon the ad send piece, right,
like people see ads posted likethis is a perfect example of
like a vicious cycle.
It's like you see ads posted,you see people showing their
results from their ads even ourmarketers showing results from
the ads and you don't see thefailed ad spend something that's
(10:21):
working, and you think like,okay and like and it's
interesting.
This is the challenge withmarketing.
Right, like it can feel likeit's so simple, because, like it
can be very logical and it'sjust okay, post on social media,
post on this.
But there really is a scienceto it and every business is
different.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, and they are also filtering completely.
So while they're telling youthe successes that happened from
it, yeah, they're not talkingabout the same as yours.
They're only telling you theirrevenue numbers every single
(11:06):
time, so it makes you feel likeyou're failing when you're not.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
For sure, and it's like a one-upmanship,
essentially.
That starts to happen.
It's crazy, it's crazy.
So, yes, I would say that thoseare the pitfalls, I mean, and
there's probably more.
But I think, like, when you arecaught up in the shoulds, you
are very vulnerable to a lot ofgimmicks because you're going to
(11:31):
get bombarded with people whosay I can give you X leads in so
many days, or I can make you Xamount of followers, or whatever
, whatever it is, and that'slike that's just the evolution
of the industry right now.
There's so many templates, somany proven strategies and it,
(11:52):
it, it ends up kind of doing alot more harm than good, even
though, like, yes, it's in, itwas invented to help people and
and and boost people up and kindof like, take some of the load
off.
But, at the end of the day, ifyou're doing it from a place
where you're just like I shouldbe doing this, you're not
actually focusing on what isright for your business.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, yeah.
And I just want to grab ontoone more thing that you said
before we move on to the nextpoint and that if you are trying
something out and then bouncingto the next thing and you're
not taking enough time toactually see if it works, I use
a rule of thumb on that and thatI allow myself to experiment
(12:37):
with one thing.
A quarter gives me 90 days totest it out.
It's enough time to see if,like, the trajectory is going
the right way.
I could immediately see it'snot.
But I've been through that full90 days to see what direction I
see it going in the future andhonestly, some things take years
(12:58):
to see the true value of it,like this podcast, for example.
The first two years all of thevalue that I got from my podcast
was the people that I met, thebiz, dev opportunities because
it's an interview style podcastand referral partners, like
(13:19):
people who I became friends withand turned into referral
partners.
But I had next to no listenersfor a long time.
I could get like 30 an episodeand it took years for me to
build enough momentum with myshow for it to eventually turn
into a nurture content wherepeople were coming to my sales
(13:42):
call and saying, hey, I've beenlistening to the show and then
eventually it became a discoverytype of content where people
learned I existed in the firstplace because of it.
But it takes a long time to seesomething through and see if
it's working For sure A hundredpercent.
So let's say you're one ofthose people who are chasing
(14:06):
what other people are doing andyou're getting super excited and
you're like, yay, I'm going totry this.
And now you're overwhelmed.
What's the first thing that youshould do when you start to
feel overwhelmed with yourmarketing.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yeah, first thing is to stop marketing, which a lot
of people don't like the answerfor.
But it is true, like you, whenI'm overwhelmed, for instance,
powering through and gettinginto more of a vicious cycle
just makes me more overwhelmed.
It's just like that snowballeffect, right?
(14:39):
So when I'm overwhelmed, I needto take a second and I need to
say, okay, what's really goingon?
How can I simplify this?
Because when you're overwhelmedlike overwhelmed starts because
you just have so much that youfeel that you have to do that
you're just like then it startsto get you into analysis,
paralysis, so you have to.
(15:00):
The only way to to get out ofthat is not necessarily to power
through.
Sometimes you can, depending onwhat it is Right.
Sometimes it's like there's apiece of your mind that's like
OK, this feels like a lot, andyou can talk yourself out of it
and be like actually it's not,but that's like a skill set to
kind of nurture.
But ultimately, when someone'sso overwhelmed with their
(15:21):
marketing and they're likenothing is working, I'm putting
all my energy, I'm on everyfreaking platform, I'm doing all
the things Right they.
The only way to really getclear is to stop, take a break,
take a breather, not saying doit for long, but like, just stop
(15:42):
.
It's OK to stop.
And then do an, be real withyourself, do an audit what is
not working for you, what isworking and what's kind of you
want it to work, but it's justnot really hitting the point
right now or it's just notreally getting the results that
you want.
Really identify and be very,very honest with yourself.
(16:04):
Where are you putting your time, money and energy into?
What are you getting back inreturn?
Is there any benefit?
Even if the benefit of is Ijust like doing it, that's a
great benefit.
You know any.
Just really really being honestwith yourself and what do you
hate doing?
That's also a big one, becausepeople I do, I've done this
(16:25):
Right, exactly.
There are so many things thatI'm like I just I don't like
doing this.
Why am I doing it?
And then I had to cut it and soand people are afraid to cut
things.
So when you're overwhelmed withmarketing, first step is to
take a step back.
Be really real.
Find out what, what's not, whatdo you like, what do you hate,
and then cut.
(16:46):
Like cut, be vicious in yourcutting?
I do not, because here's thething if you are doing too much
and you don't like it, likeyou're basically half-assing all
these things.
Why not focus on things that youreally, really want to see get
off the ground?
(17:06):
So your podcast is a perfectexample.
I would imagine, if you'reanything like me, because I have
had this feeling with yourpodcast at some point,
especially in those early days,you were like, why am I doing
this?
Is this really working out?
Is this really like I'm onlygetting 30 people listening,
like it's not really benefiting,like whatever.
But you stuck with it.
(17:27):
If I had to make an assumption,because you there was a part of
you that really loved it andloved doing, or you saw a bigger
purpose for whatever, right allthese stuck with it because I
saw the early benefits.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Like this is a great way to meet people exactly that
and that's a great benefit.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Right, and that's a perfect example, because it's
not so.
You were expanding your network, but it wasn't directly tying
back to sales, right, orpotentially not.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, I mean it did tie back to sales, but it was
through referrals with theguests rather than right now, so
not right.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Right, exactly, and obviously people started because
they're like OK, I want more, Iwant these listeners to buy
from me.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Right, not always.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
That's not always how like the snowball effect works.
It's oh, it's kind of it'sthrough someone else's network
and then eventually it starts tobe a machine for you.
But perfect example, right,like it was a great way for you
to meet people, it was notharming you, you liked it enough
to do it and you couldrepurpose the content and have
it fuel other things.
(18:35):
And I think that's what peopleneed to pay attention to is what
can I do that?
I really enjoy doing that.
Maybe it takes a little bit oftime like producing a podcast
takes time every week but howmuch it gives to other things
that could help your marketingis a really good benefit.
(18:55):
So I think that's really whereyou just start to kind of
dissect, saying okay, I reallylike I had a client once.
She was on everything.
She was defeated by marketingand she, by the time I met with
her, she was just so.
She really was just depleted.
She was like I'm on everything,my business is just failing.
I know I'm doing emails, I'm onTwitter, I'm on Instagram, I'm
(19:18):
on LinkedIn all of the socialmedia platform, like, like all
of the things.
This is back when Twitter wasTwitter, not X, but I and she
was writing blogs and like alsoproducing blogs for like outside
publications, things like that.
And I said and she was veryfrustrated and so during our
(19:39):
session I was like, what do youactually like to do?
She's like, well, I really likeI like writing articles.
I mean, I came from journalismand I really love writing
articles.
I'm like, okay, then we'regoing to cut everything else.
And then I said what do you?
What kind of platform do youlike to be on most?
Like what?
Which one are you naturally on?
She said Instagram.
(19:59):
I said, okay, that's yoursocial media platform.
You're going to cut everythingelse out.
Then I said for she has anemail list, but not wasn't
getting any upticks.
I'm like you're going torepurpose the blog into emails
and then into your social mediaposts.
Within one month she literallycut her market.
At first she was veryoverwhelmed because she was.
(20:22):
She was like how can I cutthings?
Because people are so afraid tocut things.
And within one month she cuther marketing by 50 percent at
least and then immediatelystarted seeing an uptick in her
engagement.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Well, she could actually produce something
worthwhile because she had thetime, and that blog or guest
bloggingging, whatever she endedup going with is her anchor.
And exactly, little contentbabies that see the other things
that exactly we love thecontent baby.
Oh my gosh, this, this show ismy.
(20:59):
Yes, little content babies,totally.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
A hundred percent, yeah, and she started to enjoy
it too, and I think that reallymade a difference.
And then, because she was doingthings that were very
intentional, it created morebrand consistency.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah, that makes sense.
And because she was justcreating the one thing and then
making it work for the other,like repurposing it so it worked
for the other platforms, hermessaging is going to be the
same across everything.
It's a matter of reformattingit so it works for that platform
(21:38):
.
I'm with you, I'm all on, allright there.
I'm saying yes, yes, yes,nothing along, okay.
So last thing, what is thestrategy that works when you
have a limited bandwidth?
Let's say you're a soloentrepreneur.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
I would say keep it simple, right?
Exactly what we were justtalking about.
What's going to produce content?
Babies, you know, make thembabies, right?
And for some and it's going tovary, right, there are some
people who go double down onInstagram because, and like,
they love it and it works outfor them.
There are others who hateInstagram and that's not the
(22:25):
approach for you, right?
So it's like, don't feel likeyou have to do something because
you know it can be successful.
So, just, I would start simpleand really determine OK, what is
realistic for me to execute,given my limited resources,
whether that's time, money orenergy, and then what's going to
(22:45):
be what's going to have a lotmore longevity to it.
So, again, going back to apodcast, you can literally start
a podcast with no money if youreally wanted to.
All you need is a computer andZoom and like the cost of a Zoom
membership, if you really wantor voice notes in your phone,
whatever, like if you reallywant to be scrappy about it,
like there are ways to start apodcast as an example.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Right Jenna Kutcher's podcast.
Originally she was justrecording on her phone.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
That's yeah, exactly, exactly.
So I, you can, I think it's amatter I would say keep it
simple and keep that in mindacross the board.
Simple and keep that in mindacross the board.
But then, when it comes tofiguring out specifically, like
what is it that I should do Payattention to when you feel most
(23:32):
confident talking about yourbusiness or the things that you
talk about?
So, for instance, I personallyprefer to chat with people.
So, that's why I started my ownpodcast, because I can talk with
people.
I can talk to people all daylong about marketing.
It's like a whole situation.
So I was like that's a reallynatural initiative for me to
(23:53):
take from my brand.
Obviously, here are all theother benefits that can come
with it, but this was this was amedium that I felt comfortable.
In the case of that client,right, she didn't feel
comfortable.
She was.
She was doing YouTube videosbut had to read off of the
script because she wasuncomfortable with her video.
She was uncomfortablevideotaping herself.
Yeah, I said that's not amedium you should do that.
(24:13):
You should work on right now,like maybe later, you never know
, but like right now.
No, so writing was what wascomfortable for her.
So you have to determine, like,how do you best communicate?
And it does vary by person.
Not everyone wants you.
Don't need to hop on reelsevery single day if that's not
(24:34):
something you're comfortablewith.
It's worse to do something thatgoes so against your natural
rhythm and force yourself to doit because, people, it's just
not natural and it's notengaging for the person
listening or watching or readingyeah, the other person can feel
that this doesn't feel right toyou, that it feels totally to
you one thousand percent.
(24:56):
One thousand percent.
So I would say understand howyou best communicate.
What makes makes you excited,what makes you comfortable.
If you want to speak, start apodcast or be on podcast or
whatever you know, whatever thatlooks like for you, the only
(25:19):
way to do it is by reallyunderstanding who you are, what
you like to do, what feelscomfortable, even if it's a
little scary at first.
There's a difference, likethere's a difference between it?
Yeah, Everything is scary.
So, like sure, Even if you'recomfortable with like speaking
and writing, like when I firstlaunched my podcast, it was very
, very scary.
(25:40):
I was like what am I doing?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
You should see my early videos.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Oh, my my god, I can only imagine right like look,
they're all findable, I love it.
Yeah, no, I'm.
Then I'm gonna go back, farback to the early days of tiny
marketing that was like.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
My secret is that whenever I feel bad about my
content, I look at creators thatare doing amazing things, and I
look at their earliest stuffSmart, top two at one time that
is actually so smart when you'rehaving like a down day, just
again, like that iceberg.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Like, yeah, that's part of their iceberg.
Like, yeah, maybe they have atop podcast now, but before they
maybe got two hits a week, yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
It really does make me feel better.
I'm like okay, well, I'm themat that point, that's okay.
They're, it is okay it is okay.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Here's the thing to also remember when you're
growing a business and whenyou're building a brand.
Brand is about repetition.
So the and like you can't justlike launch something tomorrow
and let that be it.
The brands out there, we'regood, it's.
It doesn't work like that it's.
You have to constantly hitpeople over the head with what
(26:55):
you, what you're about, whatyou're selling, and the offers
may evolve as usual, but youknow, or not at all, it's
totally up to you.
But you have to continuouslyhit people over the head with
your messaging, what you'reabout, who you are, and that is
brand building.
And so that it really all theonly way to grow is through the
(27:17):
snowball effect.
Yeah, some people acceleratetheir path because maybe they
have their venture backed orjust have limited, unlimited
resources or connections,whatever it may be, and you just
you have to cut that part out.
Like you can't think aboutbuilding your brand in
comparison to some, to thosetypes of people, because it's
(27:40):
going to just make you feel likeyou're doing something wrong
when you're not.
Ultimately, marketing is aboutyou can yell across the street
to someone.
That's marketing you and Italking right now is basically
marketing right, like, yeah, itdoesn't.
I think that's why I like goingback to, like, my first point.
Like, when it comes to yourstrategy, just keep it super
simple, as long as you'recommunicating your brand, who
(28:00):
you are, what you do, how peoplecan reach out to you.
Yeah, there are tactics thatwork better than others, but
just remembering that coreprinciple and then determining
what works best for you and thenstarting small, because how you
scale up is by establishingyour baseline what's feasible to
do for the least amount ofbudget, time, energy, whatever
(28:23):
that looks like for you, andthen, once you feel like you're
in a good groove, expand on that.
Ok, maybe we're.
Maybe go from voice notesrecording to a video podcast you
know what I mean.
Like that as one example toexpand.
Or maybe go from posting onLinkedIn to getting on TikTok,
like there.
Again, it's going to vary, butthere that's how you start to
(28:46):
expand and then build yourstrategy.
But start small, keep it simple, determine what's going to have
the most longevity and be thatanchor, or I like to call it a
content driver, for to deliverthose content babies, you know,
and and again, it's just whatcan, what can you keep going in
repetition and what can you havefun with.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, I want to add on that, when you're first
starting this journey, choosethe cadence that you can be
consistent with and it's okay ifyou're choosing like your
anchor is going to be once aquarter or once a month.
Once you get in the groove ofit, you can expand it.
(29:28):
Like this podcast was bi-weeklyfor years and then, as I
started to get my footing andunderstand what I was doing, I
moved it up to weekly and thenagain, as I was getting my
groove with that, I moved it upand added like the video
component of it.
But I didn't do it all at once,I just I said I do bi-weekly
(29:53):
and I committed to that until Iwas able to expand.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Yeah, exactly, that's a great point too, too, yeah,
one hundred percent, one hundredpercent.
Do what feels, do what is mostrealistic, and even if that's,
like you said, twice a month,maybe even monthly, if you
really got to do it like don'tgo starting out like every
single day I'm going to beposted on social media.
When you have a post, it likeif you have no other resources
(30:19):
to support you with that, youknow, like post once a week.
Yeah, consistency really is keywith marketing and that's
because that's how therepetition happens, and so
whatever you know you can beconsistent with is the most
important.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, and once you've chosen that cadence, pick a
medium, that or format thatwould work for that cadence.
Like I said, once a quarter,you couldn't do a podcast once a
quarter, so don't pick that.
But you could do a secretpodcast where it's like a
capsule of podcast episodes thatyou're delivering at one time.
So the cadence needs to matchthe format.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
So the cadence needs to match the format, but that's
every single day to really see alot of traction.
Instagram you have a little bitmore flexibility and wiggle
room because of just the way thealgorithm works.
Granted, I haven't been on X ina while because that's not my
preferred platform, but that youknow, just as one example of
like, or like a monthlynewsletter or you know, just I
(31:36):
just I don't know.
I love, I love the idea of like.
You know, just I just I don'tknow, I love I love the idea of
like.
You know, a capsule thing, likeif you're going to do something
quarterly, what does that reallylook like?
And so if you're going to do it, go out with a bang.
If you're going to do it atthat cadence, you know, like
save your energy.
Let's just say you want todeliver report every quarter,
white paper every quarter, ok,most of your energy is going to
(31:57):
go into creating that piece ofcontent.
That's long form, but thatpiece of content can feed
everything else for the nextquarter.
So and that's another, just oneother example, right where that
capsule podcast, like you said,which is an awesome idea for
anyone who wants to take that itis, you know it can feed other
(32:18):
things or not, if you reallychoose not to, but like, don't,
like, like exactly this point ofyou know pick what, pick the
format that's really going towork and be realistic about it
and see how, again, you canstretch that as best as possible
without adding too much more toyour plate.
Stretch that as best aspossible without adding too much
more to your plate.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yeah, and with all of these examples that we've
talked about, that are more likequarterly, they're also lead
generators.
So what you're choosing ishelping you on multiple levels,
like top to bottom of funnel.
Because one you're choosing acadence where you know you're
(33:00):
doing like, let's see, say, thesecret podcast, for example.
Anytime you have a secretpodcast, someone has to enter
their email in order to accessit.
So you're getting leads thatway and that would feed your
email list where your newsletteris going out.
And if you're doing a capsulepodcast, let's say you have six
episodes in there on a certaintopic all of those you can find
(33:23):
little micro teaching momentsthat you can expand on in social
media or in your emails, thatwill feed directly back to that
secret podcast where you'regetting more subscribers.
So it all plays together.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
For sure A hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
So real quick, before we wrap up.
Before we were talking aboutoverwhelm and you were.
You mentioned a client that youhad that was just like
frustrated because theirmarketing wasn't working for
them and they they didn't knowwhat to do.
They felt like their businesswas failing.
So there was definitely pointsin my career that I have felt
(34:03):
that way and what I did is Istarted tracking.
I just put an air tabletogether and all of the
connection calls I'd have I'dtrack.
Where did those conversationsstart, how did I meet them and
what did they turn into.
So then eventually I did it.
For like 30 days I had a reportthat told me what was my most
(34:25):
profitable channels these arethe ones that are turning into
sales and then I just hung outthere.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
I love that.
Yeah, that's a great idea, forsure, yeah it's definitely keep
track.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Great idea, for sure.
Yeah, it's like definitely keeptrack, and then you know how,
like what channels, equal money.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
Mm, hmm, for sure.
And the direct correlation Ilove that.
That's a fantastic idea.
I think I'm a huge believer,like I love a good audit every
single quarter.
I mean again, like you could doan audit however frequently,
but I prefer to do them on likea quarterly basis as like an all
encompassing one.
Like I do this for my clients,I do this for myself like every
(35:05):
single quarter.
Do that audit and, like youknow, keep track of like maybe
it doesn't again for 30 days, tokeep track of something like
that.
That's really beneficial.
That may be challenging to do ona quarterly basis kind of thing
, because that's a lot, but evenjust that alone, even if you
did it for a week, you know,just seeing like where am I
seeing some upticks?
Or even paying attention to,like your patterns of like, how
(35:29):
am I when I, when I feel, whendo I feel most inspired?
I say this to a lot of peoplewhen you struggle to create
content, for instance, becausethey're just they don't know
what to talk about.
I'm like how do you feel aftera client call?
Or how do you feel after you'retalking on a podcast or someone
else in marketing where there'slike the pressure is off.
Yeah, drop, use Airtable.
(35:51):
Take those notes.
And I have like, for instance,I have an Airtable because I've.
I struggle with the same thingsthat other businesses struggle,
because it's hard when you'rein it for yourself, right.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Yeah, it's really hard, exactly when it's you.
It's so hard.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
And this is the benefit of like having
outsourced help or just hiringsome sort of help to kind of be
that sort of third partyperspective for you.
But I would say you know likeit, all these challenges are
very common but for me, like Irealized, I struggled with like
maintaining consistency withwhat am I posting on a regular
(36:30):
basis?
What do I feel like eventalking about?
Like I'll just get in my headabout it, right, I started
keeping track from an air tableof all, or like even my apple
notes or whatever, all theserandom ideas that I would have
because I'd have them afterconversations or randomly at two
in the morning or whatever.
I looked at my air tablerecently and I have enough, for
(36:52):
if I posted every single day forthe next year, I have enough
content.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
That's because I don't post.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
That's another issue I'm working through, but that's
where I'm like okay, how do Ikeep it simple?
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yeah, and you said like, take note of when you're
feeling most creative orinspired, just batch it all at
that time.
I almost always write all of mysocial media posts at the same
time and then just schedule themout throughout the week, so it
looks like I'm always on, butI'm not Totally.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
A hundred percent.
Yeah, exactly, automatedschedulers are like the best.
Automations are a game changer.
Systems and processes are ahuge game changer in marketing
as well.
Even though it feels verycomplicated, it's really not,
and especially if you leverage,outsource team members like, uh,
like, virtual assistants, forinstance, that it's a great way,
(37:49):
like getting systems andprocesses set up to where you
can dump your inspiration.
They can expand on it, um, orput, or at least organize it for
you.
You, you finish up whateverthat looks like, assuming you
have the resources to do so orif you're solo, you know, you
you batch it all, take a second,go back to it, fine tune it and
(38:11):
then post it.
You know like there's so manyways to go about it, and that's
one of the reasons why I lovemarketing, because there are
just so many ways to communicateand and take these ideas in
your head and and get them outin the world.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
Yeah, marketing is fun.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Frustrating some days , but mostly fun.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
So you have an offer for the audience.
Can you tell them what it is?
I do.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Yes, so I would love to offer your audience a steep
discounts over 60% discount onmy marketing momentum session.
So this is essentially 90minutes and you walk away with a
90 day marketing plan.
Essentially, what this does iswe really drill down like what
(38:58):
are the core blocks preventingyou from being consistent with
your marketing?
And this is perfect for thesolo business owner, because
they that is really where youget so overwhelmed.
Sometimes the blocks are not amarketing problem, sometimes
they're an operational problem,sometimes they're a mindset
problem.
There's so many ways that it canlike impact you, especially
(39:19):
when you're on your own, and sothis is going to clear all of
that out and really set up thosesystems and processes in place,
give you that creativemotivation and ideas and
basically a content plan.
If that's what comes out of it,it really varies person by
person, so it's really a hightouch.
What is going to make the mostimpact for you for the next 90
(39:41):
days?
And I'd love to offer youraudience that discount of over
60% for $1.99 total for thatsingle session, and just use the
discount code TINY24.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
That is a no-brainer, so go and do that.
That is a no brainer, so go anddo that.
We'll put the link in the shownotes along with that promo code
, so no one forgets.
Thank you Amazing.
Thank you so much.
This is so fun.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
And you mentioned Instagram, so is that your
channel of choice in?
But I'm this month I, because,again I I had to clear my own
blocks and set up my own systemsand processes for marketing.
So in November we'rereactivating, um, our new, our,
our, um oh my gosh our Instagramaccount.
So that's going to be mostactive now okay, there you go.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Go follow her on Instagram, because this is going
out a munch a little yeah, bythen I'll have contact so thanks
, and I'll put her link forLinkedIn too, just in case she's
still active over there.
All right, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for tuning in to hearmine and Caroline's
(40:57):
conversation about how to stopchasing shiny object syndrome
and choose boring marketing overcomparing yourself to everyone
else on the outside, because,remember, you're only seeing
what they want you to see.
There's a whole lot going onbehind the scenes that no one
(41:20):
wants you to see, so don'tcompare yourself to anyone else.
You're only getting the shinybits.
You're only getting thefiltered version.
You do you and you createmarketing that feels good to you
and just leverage the shit outof it.
That's all you need to do.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Thank you for tuning into myshow and spending 40 minutes
(41:44):
with me.
If you enjoyed this episode,please like, share, subscribe
and comment, and let yourfriends know about the Tiny
Marketing Show.
Every time you mention it, youtag me in it.
It makes my day, but it alsoadds new listeners and viewers
(42:05):
to this tiny show.
That could every single week,and I appreciate you.
I'll see you next week.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
You love all things tiny marketing.
Head down to the show notespage and sign up for the wait
list to join the Tiny marketingclub, where you get to work
one-on-one with me withtrainings, feedback and pop-up
coaching that will help youscale your marketing as a B2B
(42:32):
service business.
So I'll see you over in theclub.
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