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Learn more about Carla: https:/www.carlareeves.com/
Connect on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reevescarla/
Explore Coaching with Carla: https://bookme.name/carlareeves/lite/explore-coaching
Connect on IG: https://www.instagram.com/kcummingsaz/
https://www.instagram/radiantmarketing/
Connect on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karencummingsaz/
Learn more about Carla: https:/www.carlareeves.com/
Connect on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reevescarla/
Explore Coaching with Carla: https://bookme.name/carlareeves/lite/explore-coaching
I'm Karla Reeves, and this is Differently. Whether you feel stuck in survival, navigating a change or seeking more for your life, may this podcast be your weekly nudge to take a risk to build a life that is uniquely bold, authentic and in alignment with your deepest values. After a decade of coaching individuals from corporate leaders to creative artists to multi-million dollar CEOs I'm convinced we are far closer than we realize to what we deeply desire, and it's a willingness to do differently that can change everything. My very good friend, karen Cummings joins us again today. You may remember her if you listened to her first episode three mindset shifts that changed my life. She has been a client of mine and I have been a client of hers, but today we turn the tables to look at the role mindset plays in marketing her area of expertise. She has such a refreshing approach and actually helped me make a mindset shift. Right during our conversation today, karen helps us explore the mindset traps that can hinder our marketing efforts and the shifts that can lead to growth and increased impact. And don't worry if you don't have a marketing challenge. I think you can transfer the concepts to just about any area of your life where your mindset or limiting beliefs are tripping you up. Karen founded Radiant Marketing in 2015, inspired by her mission to bring possibilities to life for entrepreneurs when it comes to digital marketing, lead generation, content creation and more. She is passionate about balancing creativity with research and data backed strategies to help health brands across the country grow their businesses. She infuses her passion and her values into everything that they do inside of Radiant Marketing and their culture, and I can tell you first hand experience it reflects in everything they do. Get ready to dive into the three common mindset traps that may be holding you back and what you can do to shift your results this year. Be on the lookout for which mindset trap resonates most with you and which mindset shift do you think could be helpful in your marketing journey this year.
Speaker 1:Karen Cummings, welcome to Differently. Hello Karla, thank you for having me again. I'm so excited that you're back and for people listening. You can go back to Karen's first episode, which was in March of 2022, and it was three mindset shifts that changed my life. So that was a client spotlight. So Karen and I have a multi-dimensional relationship. She's been a client of mine, I've been a client of hers and over a lot of years now we have built a really beautiful friendship that I am so deeply grateful for. So this conversation is extra special, and today we're talking marketing. Karen, tell us a little bit about your business and what we're going to be talking about today.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, first, I just have to say to you I love how the last episode we did was about the mindset shifts you helped me achieve and today we're kind of talking more about marketing mindset shifts. I feel like it's obviously, as you can tell, ties into the work that you've done with me too, but I think these marketing mindset shifts are so important for people to consider as entrepreneurs because it kind of changes your whole outlook on marketing. But I love that I started Radiant Marketing in 2015. So I've had a small team since then. I'm also a mom of two little ones.
Speaker 2:I have a five almost six year old and a two and a half year old, and my husband and I bought a trailer a couple years ago and we've traveled around the US to a variety of really amazing places. So it's really important to me to kind of have that balance between joy, adventure, play and, of course, you know, work and achievement and accomplishment and growing a team and all that good stuff. So we are focused on health and wellness brands and we do all digital marketing aspects. So we really do work in the branding space, lead generation, lead progression and sales enablement, and all of it brings me great joy, so I'm very excited to talk about marketing today with you, carla.
Speaker 1:Well, it's been so fun for me to have this window into watching your business over the years, because I feel like it's grown so much, like you've grown so much and your business has grown so much, and when you began to focus on the health and wellness area, I saw you make some really big changes in even the culture in your company and the creative things that you're doing with your employees. So I'd love for you to share just a tidbit about that before we dive into the marketing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, thank you for saying that, and I think it's something that has felt super aligned for me as an individual and now as our agency, to be focused in the health space, because it is a priority for all of us as individuals on the team and has been a priority in my life personally and with my family and my husband. So I love that we're able to work with brands that are creating positive change in the world through health, and there's a lot of things that I think, like you said, we've shifted or added in our business to make sure we are prioritizing mental health and well-being with our team, the ways that we're working, the workloads that we have, all of that. So I think it all definitely is intricately tied together and feels very complete and fun and whole, and I definitely like being in this space.
Speaker 1:So good, so good. I know how your team adores you and I just really respect the way that you have integrated your values into sort of every facet of your business. So when we're thinking about like, mindset sort of finds its way into every facet of our life and I'm excited to talk about the role that it plays inside of marketing. So, from your perspective, how does mindset play a role when we think about marketing our businesses?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think and a lot of what we're talking about today, I think, applies to all businesses, but more heavily to the solepreneurs, the smaller businesses that are so much more connected to their brand, what their brand is about, the story behind it. So I think a couple of mindset, misconceptions or common traps that I have seen over the years having done this now for 10 plus years comes down to a couple of different things. The first one is that no one wants to hear what I have to say. I think that definitely ties into the imposter syndrome, but having that mindset prevents you from sharing your message. And then another one that ties closely to that but is a little bit different, is that idea of, like marketing, being pushy or salesy or icky and I just don't want to do it. So again prevents you from getting your message out there or makes it harder for you to communicate more directly the things that you want your audience to do, that next step action for them to take and kind of muddles the message a little bit. And a third one would be overthinking, I think, as recovering perfectionists, it's hard to avoid the trap of trying to get something to a point where you feel like it's perfect, but instead really trying to shift your focus to progress over perfection. So if you get stuck in that perfection trap, just like the others, it prevents you from pushing things out into the world that could be benefiting the people that you created your brand for to begin with.
Speaker 2:And then the fourth one is the trap mindset, thought, feeling of having to do it all. I think we all are familiar with the idea that there's like a million different things we could be doing with our marketing, and a lot of us tend to think we need to be doing it all, and so we become quickly overwhelmed or we sacrifice the quality and the value of what we're doing because we're trying to do it in so many different places and so many different ways. We want to be on Facebook, we want to be on Instagram, we want to do email marketing, we got to do videos and podcasts and events and webinars. So I think that's a big common one too, especially as technology becomes more and more prominent and AI is getting introduced to a variety of different marketing aspects of businesses. But all of these, in the end, are going to either prevent you from moving forward and getting your message out there, or they're going to reduce the quality and the value that you're providing with the marketing that you're doing.
Speaker 1:Well, I can check the box. I think on all of those At some point or another, or maybe all at the same time. What's the impact of these that you run into in working with small businesses?
Speaker 2:I think there's a couple of big things, the first one being that I think the biggest impact is inaction, right?
Speaker 2:So if we feel like we don't deserve to be talking about what we want to be talking about, if we feel like it's not good enough to share yet, if we feel like it feels icky or salesy, like we're just not going to do it and there's going to be a lot less information out there for people to grab on to and learn about your brand, engage with your brand, take the action you want them to take and eventually be what's required to grow your business, so it's definitely going to prevent growth.
Speaker 2:And then I think the second thing is overwhelm, which, again, can a lot of times lead to inaction. You're just like there's too much to do, there's so many places I need to be. I'm just feeling really overwhelmed and, as a result, I'm not going to do anything. Or, like I said, that compromising of quality, like oh, I need to post on all seven different social channels, so let's just clone this message over even though it's like a little bit of a different audience here and we're just kind of lowering the quality of what we could be producing because we're just trying to produce it for everything and do everything at once.
Speaker 1:And then do people just get to a point of either overwhelm, like you said, or a point to where they really want to make that traction in their business, or they want to have that consistency in their marketing that they just have not been able to achieve, like what's the state of mind that they typically reach out to you and, like you know, like finally ready to actually hire, support and help around this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think there's a couple of reasons we see people reaching out to us.
Speaker 2:The first would be you know that they recognize they can't do it all and that they do need a team to support them.
Speaker 2:Or they need additional resources or expertise that they aren't specialized in, because you know they started their business whether that's a service they're providing, that they're passionate about a healthcare provider or a mental health professional or a coach or whatever it is and that's their area of expertise, and they know that they need to lean on other resources to help them accomplish what they want to accomplish. And another reason would be that they're just not getting the results that they want to be getting right. So they might feel like they are doing enough, or they're doing all the things and they're still not getting the results. Or they might recognize, you know, for these other reasons, I'm not doing all the things I should be doing and, of course, I'm not getting the results that I want to. So I definitely think it's, you know, having those initial conversations with businesses because they want to be driving better results and a lot of times they want to be doing a better job in general with that communication and the branding that goes along with that.
Speaker 1:So how do we start to shift this, how do we start to change our mindset around this so that we can make the traction that we want to make? Because I know for myself like when I've been willing to like ask for support in my business or hand something over the reward of that is so high. And even just recently I hired somebody to start doing some writing for my business and that has alleviated so much time for me and so much pressure. But I couldn't see that. I mean, I knew, I knew, I knew I wanted some support, but I really couldn't see the how big the reward was before hiring. But now I just I really, I think for the first time in my business feel like what it really is like to have good, good support in one particular area that can really free me up to work on other parts of my business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so a couple of things.
Speaker 2:You know, I think there are a few mindset shifts to make. I also just want to call out a really important thing, and the example you just shared is that I think, as solo perduers are, the value that we contribute to our marketing is really in the story that that we're bringing to the table with our brand and the results that we're getting for our clients. So I think it's really important that you infuse that into your content as you pass it off to somebody else, and that process was really, was really thorough, and you're the copywriter you're using. I think ties that in really nicely. There's a lot of things that I think we want to keep our hands on or stay involved in as the business owners, so that we don't lose touch with the pieces of marketing that are the most powerful. In this case, with yours as an example, it's the results and how people are talking about what you're able to accomplish with them. I think that that's a really important piece to consider as you outsource to freelancers or agencies. Is that your role? You still have a very important role to play in marketing. You'll never or at least initially, as a smaller organization especially be completely disconnected from that, but there is so much value, like you said, in getting that support where you can really continue to focus your energy on the things that bring you joy, that you feel really good about and good at, and then you can lean on those resources to support you in the other areas.
Speaker 2:And, I think, a couple of things that mindset shifts because you had asked me before this call if people could transform one thing about their thinking. I wrote down two things because I couldn't just pick one, but the first one is just like everything I feel like you teach your clients as well, and anything in life that applies to marketing as well, is do what brings you joy. So there's like a thousand different things you can be doing for marketing, and if it's going to be something that just does not feel aligned with who you are as a person or what you like to do, then there's a much higher chance you're not going to do it, you're not going to stick with it, you're not going to be consistent. It's going to be that thing on your list that you want to push every time you see it. So, granted, there will be aspects of things you need to get outside of your comfort zone a little bit, but you can narrow it down.
Speaker 2:So if you hate writing copy, let's look at video as an alternative. Is there a way for us to leverage Instagram reels versus writing long post copies? So there's definitely a lot of attention you can give to the tactics you're using. That will bring you more joy and make you much more likely to stick to what you need to be doing to get your message out there and grow your business.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that message so much and I'm curious if people listening if that surprises you do what brings you joy, right.
Speaker 1:But there's so much power in that because I feel like if we're not doing that, if we are out of alignment with what we're doing, like somehow that is translated right and it makes me think of when I used to be on Instagram and I know I've told you, but it was just, it felt icky to me and I felt I never felt like I was able to translate the deep, important work that I was doing with people onto a post of some kind and it just felt it just never felt right and I would be on Instagram scrolling, scrolling and you know, like it would kind of leave me in a bad headspace when I got off and I thought I don't want to have my clients have to come on Instagram to find me for that reason.
Speaker 1:There were so many different little reasons why it didn't feel aligned for me, but I was so afraid to get off Instagram. I mean, here I had a podcast like that's crazy to get off Instagram and not use it to promote your podcast. But I got to a point where I just knew, in order to bring alignment. I needed to at least experiment and give it a try and it's been the greatest thing. Like I may go back on it sometime, like I feel like I have a whole different perspective about what that could look like, but that was a really important step and it was, you know, kind of what you said, like following my joy, yeah.
Speaker 2:I know we've had conversations about that in the past as well, and I think it's such a great example of how you could discern what makes the most sense for you and your business, and I think you leaving Instagram and really embracing podcasting and going that direction has proven to be so much more fruitful and just so much more enjoyable, which really marketing. I know I'm biased, but marketing could and should be enjoyable. There's so much to love about it. And that leads me to my second thing. When you told me to pick one and I picked two. But my second shift that I recommend to people consider when it comes to how they're viewing marketing and this kind of, came years ago through some of the content I was following with Marie Forleo.
Speaker 2:But this idea that if you aren't effectively marketing your brand, then you're doing a disservice to those that you care about the most, which is your customers why you created this to begin with. So, yes, there is a possibility that your message and what you're doing is not going to appeal to everybody, and that is good and fine, but there's people out there that need to hear what you have to say and if you're not doing your marketing, then you're doing them a disservice. You're keeping something from them, you're stealing from them the possibilities of enhancing or up leveling their life or their business, or whatever it is that your product or service serves. So I think that's a really big mindset shift to consider is that leave behind that feeling of the ickiness, the salesiness that nobody wants to hear this, and really remember those individuals that you created your brand for, and not getting that message out is really going to be hurting them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're right, because if we're hiding, there was something I heard, I think I read in a book. It was like something about a lifeguard and she was a new lifeguard and she had to go up in that seat or chair on the beach and be high up there and it was kind of like, oh, I don't really like being up here, I don't really like being noticed up here. And the point was really like if someone needs you on that beach, they won't be able to find you if you're not somewhere where they can see you. And I think it's the same way with marketing.
Speaker 1:And I mean, just the last couple of weeks I've noticed in my email I mean just I'm sure everybody has seen it over the holidays just email after email after email, even from some of my favorite stores or things like that. But I don't unsubscribe, I still love them, and if I don't want to see them I just sort of remove them. But I don't feel overwhelmed by it and I'm definitely reminded like, oh yeah, maybe I do want to check out this one, what they have. I think that's it's really opened my eyes that an email once a month is not enough, which is what I used to do.
Speaker 2:I love that life, for example, and it just makes me think of tying that to marketing as the idea of search and optimization. So if someone, your perfect person, is out there looking for the solution you have to offer, they go to Google, they search for a solution to their problem and they're nowhere to be found and, for all we know, the content of what could have been on that article you didn't create could have been exactly what they were looking for. That would have reached them in a dire time of need. So I love that example because I think that's so true. As you're producing and creating this valuable content, you're both pushing it out to those individuals, but they're looking for it from you and they need you, and so it's so important to create that consistent communication. And again, the channel you choose, even the frequency.
Speaker 2:So it might make sense for some people to do once a month, but, as you've found, and a lot of businesses find, you need to do a little bit more than that. But really that's something you can test and try as you move forward with your strategy is start simple, and that's something I wanted to emphasize on. This call, too, is adopt our mindset going into 2024, we're simple as best, let's do less, and so if that's what you need to get started I'm going to commit to doing it this many times a month because that feels doable and realistic to me Then by all means start somewhere. Do that, and if you're seeing you're getting a little traction, but not quite as much traction as you want, then let's try two times a month or let's try adding in something extra or special or a little bit different, so that we can see that progress we want to be making towards the goals that we've set for ourselves.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm so glad you said that, because I did it once a month or twice a month for many, many years and that was perfect for that stage in my business and I love that you tailor whatever you're doing to the person that you're working. There's no one size fits all. It kind of depends on so many different factors, it sounds like. So, as we're in a new year, what could we be thinking about in the space of doing differently this year? What are some creative or ideas that you might have for us? Are things you're seeing or things you're excited about?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think I like to talk about this in a way that relates back to how we structure our services too. So I would encourage you to look at marketing in kind of three different buckets as you go into the 2024 year. You've got your branding, which is the identity, the messaging, the look and feel, the kind of story of your business, of your brand. And then you've got the lead generation. So do you have new contacts coming into your systems, growing your community, that are really the lifeblood of new business and growth? And then you've got like that progression sort of sales enablement side. So once you've got these people in your community, how are you engaging with them to move them through to the point of purchase or consultation or whatever that kind of next final step is before they become customers? So when you bucket it out that way, it gives you a clearer picture of where you might potentially want to focus your time in 2024.
Speaker 2:I would say that most of us have revenue based goals and, while branding is incredibly important and you want to have a solid foundation there, simply focusing your entire year on branding may not get you to where you want to be. So know that in implementing initiatives, in lead generation and progression. You're innately and organically building your brand and focusing on the branding aspects as well. So, looking at, do I need to generate more leads or do I have a really good community and database that I could be nurturing and engaging and converting already? And that kind of helps you split your focus and determine where your resources should be going in the new year. And something to think about, too, is really setting those goals right now. So establishing your baselines where are you at today and where do you want to be at the end of the year? Most of us have those revenue goals. So if you're trying to set some revenue goals, where are you at with your revenue now? Where do you want to be at the end of the year? And then backtracking, creating that plan to help you get there. So if it is a revenue goal, it's obviously going to be based on sales, new customers how many do you need to get to accomplish that and then, of course, thinking about how marketing helps you achieve that.
Speaker 2:So if we use like a super oversimplified example, say you're at 100,000 in revenue now. You want to get to 200,000 by the end of the year. You've got these nice $10,000 packages. So you need to sell 10 packages to get to where you want to be. And you know that you've got a great community, you've got a lot of contacts, you've got some really good engagement with existing subscribers.
Speaker 2:So you want to focus 2024 on building that communication with your existing contacts and say, maybe your email marketing, maybe doing some events that reengage and get them to connect more deeply with your brand, and that's really where you want to focus the majority of your effort in 2024. Alternatively, if you have this sales goal 10 packages and you don't have a community, then your effort should really be focused more heavily on the lead generation side. How can you get in front of more contacts, more prospects, and get them to take that first step with your brand? So that might be digital channels like advertising, content creation for your blog, but also could be networking, speaking at different events, collaborating or co-marketing with partners or other businesses that also market to your audience.
Speaker 1:So Guesting on podcasts. I think those are, yeah, for example, coming on Carla's podcast. I love that.
Speaker 2:So I think again just circling back to the idea of doing everything you can to really keep it simple and auditing the opportunities and possible solutions with the lens of joy. So if you are looking at lead generation and you're like I have no idea where to start with advertising I don't have the resources to outsource this right now then maybe advertising is not where you want to be, but you do know that you really love writing and you've got some really good questions that have come from clients in the past that you know would help other people. Like let's get those questions into an article or into a video and onto your website so those resources are available for those that are searching for them and you're drawing them in with that content. So really looking at all of the possibilities and narrowing it down to the things that are going to bring you the most joy to create, to stick with and to help you achieve these goals.
Speaker 1:So when you're, I mean I think that's where you, like your company, comes in.
Speaker 1:So valuable is having this conversation, Like I know I've sat down with you before in your solutions call, which we'll talk about, but because sometimes I get lost in some of these words, right, but when you walked me through it, like you make it really tangible for me and I feel like you look to also like what are, what are your strengths and what are the things that you do well and what are the things that maybe have create generated business in the past. And let's do, let's do that and and or or. I know when, when we met, it was like you, you, you could see what excited me, you could see when I lit up about something, and I think that is so important. When we think about I had one question when we think about progression to purchase, that is really kind of the journey between somebody just really finding you to making a purchase of some kind, right, so that's like those touch points in between which could be what kinds of things? Like your email, for sure, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it could be really anything, because it's from the moment that they initially engage with your brand to the point of becoming a customer. So engaging with your brand could mean something as simple as they start listening to your podcast. So they haven't even necessarily quote, unquote, converted as a lead, you don't know who that listener is yet but they've been introduced to your brand, they're starting to consume some of your content, they're realizing that they like what they're hearing and then it kind of progresses from there so that they might subscribe to your podcast. And then they start getting notifications of new episodes and they're listening to all those episodes and on those episodes you're saying check out my website. I have a complimentary call. I invite you to to. You know, partake in that. So they go to your website, they fill out that form and then it goes from there.
Speaker 2:So there's, you know, there's so many different paths that people can take and us as consumers, we know, right, like you start, you get introduced to brands in different ways. You have a, oftentimes, especially if it's a more expensive purchase. You have a lot of touch points where you're exploring different options. You're doing your research, you're going to social, you're asking friends. So the idea here is really understanding your audience. You know who you're trying to attract, because that in itself will give you a lot of information about where you, where you could be, and what type of information you could be sharing. But also, along with that, making sure that you are are putting in place different resources and tools and content to address those different stages and those different touch points, so that they feel connected to your brand, they can see the value that you have to offer and, eventually, you know they're encouraged to and motivated to take action.
Speaker 1:Well, and I like that you said. You know, like, you put me in the frame of mind of like, think about when I'm consuming, when I find somebody that I love or I listen to their podcast, then I'm like listening to like 10 or 20 of their podcast, right, and then I might want to go find another piece of their content, like I'm so excited you reminded me that I'm so excited on that end to find more things that are of value. And sometimes, from a business owner standpoint, like you, like one of your mind sets, that gets in the way right, as we think we're being salesy or pushy, but we're actually serving and I know that's what you always say we're serving that client. We're not forcing them to take the next step, we're not forcing them to, you know, make a larger purchase over time, but we're giving them the opportunity to do that in a way that serves them and that helps me so much to think about it from that standpoint.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love that example, carla, and I also feel like you hit on such an important point that we often forget, which is a lot of times we need to tell people what that next step is, and I think when we're so close to our business, we're kind of assuming that they know oh, they can call me or they can do this.
Speaker 2:But it's so important to incorporate those you know calls to action in the content you're creating, because, because a lot of times they don't know, and when you're giving them that very specific direction, it makes it so much easier for them to take that action, because really that's your job, right is to guide them to where they should be next.
Speaker 2:So, if you're whether that's recommending another episode, if they're listening to something on the podcast, or if that is pushing them to a promotion you have running right now or an event you have coming up, I know I am always thankful and consider those things when I'm listening to something or re consuming something from a brand. That I love is when they're like, oh, don't forget, we have our event and like, oh, I did not know you had that event coming up, I'm going to go check it out. So, yeah, I think that's a really important point too is that it may seem like it's like these things are given, but it is so important that research shows that the more times you remind people or prompt people of what they could do next, the more likely you are to get, you know, more action and engagement.
Speaker 1:Well, and you've helped me so many times in this, but this is where having somebody like you on your you know team of your business to help you remember those things, because I just feel too close sometimes, I feel like I have blind spots and I need somebody like you in my corner to remind me of those things.
Speaker 1:So I think that's just another huge value that you bring. One of the goals that I have in my business and you and I have talked about this is to like I have these communities, which is the listeners of the podcast, and then, like my email community right, that has been around for even longer than the podcast, I guess, and so I see these like merging a little bit more. And you're going to be so proud of me. But you told me a long time ago, or you gave me, the idea to do like a downloadable from a podcast episode, and my next podcast is going to have its very first download downloadable tool, and so I'm very excited to do more of those, and the other great idea that you gave me that I loved was to host an event for listeners, and so that's something I'm excited about doing this year. But, yes, so so fun to think about these things.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, I'm so proud of you. Thank you for sharing that. You are including that download. I would see it when I listen to the next episode. But I and I appreciate you changing your wording from I told you to do this to I suggested. But I love that you took that recommendation and the event recommendation.
Speaker 2:But I think something important to think about here too is because you and I talked about this a little bit before the call as well is sometimes we have, we have, you know, our, our big community. They're, all you know, part of the Carla brand of followers of what you're doing, but they may be in different spaces and we don't necessarily need to pull them into other spaces if that's not their thing. You know, if I, if I, listen to podcasts, because I love podcasts and that's how I'm going to consume my information, that's how I'm going to find the things that I love like, then that's great. We will serve you there. If that's, you know where you are. You know, focusing your marketing efforts is in podcasts. And then you've got an email community. Like I love emails, I love expecting this email. I, you know, on a Monday morning, this, this insightful, you know, beautiful information that you share, but I'm not going to listen to a podcast, maybe.
Speaker 2:So I think that when you're looking at the different things that you're doing, it's okay to have audience audiences in different, you know, on different channels that don't cross over and I think, if that is the case, it's more so looking at how do you again continue to kind of engage them, offer them more value and keep them moving through so that they are eventually encouraged to take that final action with you. So what you did is perfect. You're not trying to get them over to the email list necessarily. You're giving them this beautiful download in the podcast episode itself so that they can access that resource from the place that they already are, or you know they like to consume information. So I think that's perfect. And that's definitely something to think about is how, how you're engaging with these different audiences and how you're continuing to offer them value and the way that they're going to receive it, and you know the best way they're going to receive it and actually engage with it so you just gave me a mindset shift.
Speaker 1:So that's going to be my mindset shift going into the year is that I don't need to think about like. I have this vision of this, you know, community being one, but why do I? That's not really. That doesn't need to be there and really the bigger goal is just to serve them and give value where they are and where they like to hang out not necessarily where I want them to hang out. I like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I think that's it's. And again, you know, I think that we're using you as an example, and you and you enjoy sending your e-notes, you enjoy doing the podcast, so it kind of makes sense for you to have these two communities, where for others, it might make more sense that they're really just focused on one channel over another. But because you've established these, I think it's so important to yes, like you said continue to serve them, how they've kind of already expressed to you they want to hear from you, and the way that they're already following you. So I think that's really important to keep that in mind, and that is something to think about.
Speaker 2:And something I always recommend is continuing to get this kind of feedback from your, your contacts and your customers clients as well is is, you know, staying connected to them to understand where they see the value and what you're offering, how you could be of service to them and really continue to get new ideas from the people that are the ones you want to be serving to begin with. So I think that a lot of times, business owners neglect to keep that feedback loop in place. So they you know obviously we're also busy. There's so many things for us to do but I do think this is such a critical element to successful marketing is having those conversations with your, with your clients, so that you know, so that's informing your future marketing decisions and the messages you're sharing and where you're spending your time and what's going to drive the greatest impact for you and for your customers that's been a game changer for me, like doing that research, and so that's a component of the work that you're doing with people.
Speaker 1:do you want to speak to that a little bit?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So that is definitely a big part of what we do in our work with our clients. So we have kind of two phases that we do. We have the first phase, which is what we call our diagnostic phase brand-anely, generationally progression and sales enablement. So we do a deep dive into that research and developing these things, uncovering those insights and presenting those types of opportunities for our clients. And then we move into our signature programs where we're actually implementing those ideas and moving forward with an annual plan on how to achieve the goals that we've outlined.
Speaker 2:But one of the things that we do also offer we were offering earlier this year and we're opening back up for your listeners, karla was our solutions call. So we've been offering these one-hour calls where we're diving into some of that detail so we can establish a base understanding of the brands that we're speaking with and then we're defining that primary objective. So again, is it branding? Is it lead gen? Is it lead progression? Is it more heavy on the sales enablement side, where you might have a sales team and they just don't have the resources they need to help facilitate and hold effective conversations? So we might look at that aspect specifically and then any potential blocks or barriers in accomplishing that objective. So we'll kind of dig into is it budget, is it time, is it expertise? And then we can at the end of the call after the call, provide some resources there as well.
Speaker 2:But then we explore those possible solutions. So we know your objective, we're going to outline some options, kind of highlight the ones we feel are going to be most effective, based on what you're trying to accomplish, and then we're going to overlay that joy lens and say which of these really speak to you, which of these would you really want to move forward with. So we're kind of narrowing from the best practices, proven processes, strategy side with the marketing, and then you're coming in with your like ooh, this one speaks to me, I want to be doing that, this one no interest whatsoever, let's not put that on the calendar just yet. And then we help to work through a little bit of a roadmap on the call. And then we deliver a little bit more robust game plan after the call that outlines those specific tactics.
Speaker 2:You know hours, you know estimated hours, needed resources to consider timeline and those types of things. And then you can run with that. You can do, you know, you can use it on your own kind of take that information, pick through it and decide what makes the most sense for you. But hopefully by the end of the call you'll be infusing some really great ideas into the conversation. You're thinking for 2024. And then you'll walk away after with that nice little roadmap that you can decide.
Speaker 1:you know what you want to do with from there. Amazing, and is there a cost for that call?
Speaker 2:Not right now, not for Carlos listeners, you guys, usually it's $250, but it's complimentary.
Speaker 1:We did this just a few few months ago I think it was. Um, you guys, this call is gold. I can't say enough about Karen and her team. Like, that call was for one. She gave me something to do ahead of time, so they had some information to work with before we got on the call. And then they showed up and had, I mean, uh, sort of a slide deck that we worked through Some of it. We kind of workshopped on the call.
Speaker 1:I you gave me so many ideas on that call and a plan that followed up that you're absolutely right that I'm still integrating some of those ideas that you talked about, and it was just so incredibly valuable. So if you've been thinking about wanting to do some new things for your business in the area of your marketing, I can't encourage you enough. Um, karen and her team, I just adore you guys and you do such good work, so have fun with that. We'll put the link in the show notes. Um, yes, that's it. That's a great ad, karen. Anything else that we didn't touch on that you want to make sure we do?
Speaker 2:You know I think we covered everything that we had set out to cover on this call. I think just wrapping with that reminder of you know, if you are neglecting your marketing, you're neglecting your community. You, you have an obligation to get your information out there to the people that you can serve and and and change. And I know you know all of the businesses that we've worked with are are were created for a specific reason they're elevating individuals lives or elevating organizations which elevate individuals lives. There's so much positive impact we can be making with the businesses we've created and if we're neglecting our marketing, we're not having that impact. So I think that it's so important to go into marketing with the mindset of of serving those that that you created your brand for, and doing it with joy.
Speaker 1:I love that and just get it. I know for me it's like I've just had to get out of my own way over and, over and over again so that I can get out an important message to other people, and so get the support you need to get out of the way and, if it's not your strength, get people around you like Karen, that can support you and and you can do what you love and are strong at, and they can do what they're amazing at. So, karen, thank you so much for sharing your, your, your radiant marketing with us and your expertise and wisdom. I know there's so many gems we're going to take away, and remember that solutions call link will be in the show notes. Check that out. Thank you, karen, so much for being here.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me, Carla. This was really fun. I enjoyed this conversation.
Speaker 1:Hey, thanks for tuning into this episode of differently. I hope it stirred your thinking and I invite you to take one inspired action from something that stood out to you. If you want to hear more conversations like this, be sure to hit follow on your favorite podcast app, and if this episode could impact someone you know, please help us spread the word and pass it along. Remember new episodes drop weekly. See you next week.