Melanie
Monday Morning Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Esther of IPA Group, bringing premier online promotion to your business.
Esther
And Melanie of STOMP Social Media Training, who empowers business owners to manage social media and marketing for themselves. Welcome back to another episode of the Monday morning marketing podcast. Today we're joined by Sarah Noel Block, Founder of Tiny Marketing, and we're talking about marketing systems for tiny teams and tiny budgets. Welcome, Sarah.
Sarah
Thanks for having me.
Esther
We are so glad to have you here. Now, tiny budgets is something that we all have these days, let's be honest. So it couldn't have come at a more opportune time for you to join us and talk about this. So take it away. Why do you focus your efforts on those with tiny teams and tiny budgets?
Sarah
That's my home right there, because I have only ever been in a position where I'm working with the scrappiest of resources. I was a marketing director for a seven company group, but I was one person. I was a one person marketing department, and I needed to figure out how to do that. When I have seven presidents breathing down my neck, what do I do? I have to meet so many different goals. So that's why I built up the framework that I did around tiny marketing, and now I do that for small businesses.
Melanie
I've got to ask, Sarah. As a business model, it doesn't sound massively profitable because smaller teams normally wouldn't have a huge amount of money. So how do you counteract having a smaller amount of money available basically to making your business model profitable?
Sarah
My own, that's such a good question. They actually have much bigger budgets than you would expect. I'm often working with Zero. They have no marketing department, and it's the sales team that reaches out to me, or operations that's like, We need to figure something out because we don't have it in-house. Those are the people I'm usually working with. They have the budget for it, but they don't have any systems in place. They don't have a framework. They don't have anything to rely on. They come to me to build that out.
Melanie
You're like an outsourced marketing department?
Sarah
Yeah, exactly. I create a little pod for them.
Melanie
Okay.
Esther
And how do we, as solopreneurs and people with one to five employees, get to a point where we can do it all? Because let's face it, we are doing it all, but we don't. We're drowning. We feel like we're just so tiny and so tiny we're not going to grow the business. How do we get to the point where we can really believe that, yes, we may be tiny, but we are mighty?
Sarah
Yeah. So I love that you asked that question. Even though I don't get an opportunity to work with those solopreneurs that often done with you services, I love to teach them because these systems are especially perfect for them. What you really need to do is focus on that one perfect customer and build out a super streamlined system that will work for them. If you look at your favourite person that you love working with and just interview them, ask them how they figured out you existed in the first place, what problem they were going through that triggered them to search for a solution, and basically what their customer journey was to get to working with you and then replicate it because it is very likely that similar people with similar problems are going to go through those same phases, and you don't have to be everywhere and doing everything.
Melanie
I just want to comment. You have one of the nicest voices I've heard on this podcast in a while.
Sarah
I have never heard anyone say that. Thank you.
Melanie
It's one of those ones you could just go to sleep listening. I feel relaxed just talking to you.
Sarah
Thank you.
Melanie
So, Sarah, when people approach you and they're looking for this outsource support, is there any particular areas that they're looking for? Or is it more of a general, they don't know what they're looking for? Either way, how do you help people poke across the same message when they're trying to approach another brand or service?
Sarah
Yeah. So usually they come to me and they're like, I have no freaking idea what I'm supposed to be doing to market my business. I've been relying on referrals, they're drying up, and I actually have to do something now. I have to be proactive. I like to start off with what I call a strategic story, and that's starting with that ideal customer avatar, building that out and their journey. And then you go into a hybrid messaging and content strategy, so you know exactly what to say, where to say it, and how to say it. So your plan is super streamlined. It's what you can handle, but it's also hyper-focused on that ideal person, and then it makes it a lot easier. I like to start there. It's a good foundation.
Esther
It's interesting that you say start with one ideal customer because a lot of people that Melanie and I both work with or know, usually come and say, Well, I have four main streams that I announce to, or I have all these different types of people that can buy from me. So why do you encourage people to start with the one? Why not just start with the four to begin with?
Sarah
Oh, it's so much easier to start with the one. Think of it this way. If you can hyper focus what you're talking about for that one person, it should be the one that's the most profitable. Where are you making the most money from? You want to replicate that person, right? You want to clone them.
Esther
Absolutely.
Sarah
So start there. Yeah, start there and get that down pat before you start expanding into the three others. The three others might be awesome, but start with the one, hone that, master that service and that marketing plan before you expand.
Melanie
So does that mean because you're doing the one at a time, it sounds like you're almost niching straight from the beginning? Is that what you're hoping people should do?
Sarah
I think that it'll make it a lot easier for them if they were to niche right away. All you'd have to Really do-.
Melanie
See, I said it the American way, and she said it the European way. You just can't win, can you?
Sarah
Is that a thing...
Esther
I was wondering what you were talking about.
Sarah
Honestly, I've heard it both ways, and I'm like... I just like, that's the way I've always said it. I didn't realise, though.
Esther
I would say niche. Is it tomato or tomato? There we're going to disagree completely.
Sarah
Oh, my gosh. That's so funny.
Esther
It's definitely niche.
Sarah
I don't even remember what I was talking about anymore. Oh, yeah. If you-
Esther
Niching.
Sarah
Think about it this way. How simple is it? If you could go to LinkedIn Navigator, let's say you're a B2B business, and you can put in all of the categories of that ideal customer and find a giant list of potential leads that these are people that you've already served and you can show them case studies and your success rate with those clients. It's so much freaking easier to do it that way and then expand.
Esther
Okay. So you mentioned LinkedIn there, and would you recommend any specific tools or—because we're talking systems. Systems include your tools, it includes your background information being fed in and stuff. So what tools would you recommend to use when using LinkedIn? Do you think, okay, let me just niche that question down a bit more. Do you think people should be paying for the LinkedIn platform?
Sarah
Navigator? No, they don't have to at first. As you're growing, it's nice getting that information and being able to pull a lead list down and know exactly who you should be reaching out to, but you don't need to pay for it right away. You can just go in the search bar and start searching for similar or go to your ideal customer's profile and see similar. Who else have people looked at in there? And that'll give you a good idea too. Linkedin Navigator is nice because you can see the size of the business, which is what makes it a lot easier for me because you can reverse engineer. These are the prices that people would be paying annually to work with me. This is the size of business that it needs to be to be able to afford that, so that makes it easier, but you can start off free.
Melanie
Okay. I wanted to ask now, systems can also include how you remind yourself, how you have a diary system as well. And because you collaborate with these other teams, do you use stuff like Google Calendar and work through that on Google Docs? Because this is a whole new area that people also have to learn to adapt and adopt as part of their everyday business. So how much knowledge are we meant to know in order to streamline our business?
Sarah
I mean, I'm obsessed with tech. I'm a chronic beta tester, so I'm always adding new tech and probably new tech I don't need just because I find it fun to test it out. But if I were to give a first step MarTech deck to someone who wanted to start their marketing, I would start with a project management tool, and there's really, really cheap ones out there that you can use. You can use Trello, and I think it's like $10 a month. But you want to be able to systemize those processes, the things that you're creating pretty consistently with your marketing, templatize it. So you have those checklists and the people that are assigned to those, let's say you're working with a freelancer to write something or edit your podcast or whatever, they can be automatically added as the owner of that task and the due date set. Templatize makes it so much faster. So project management tool first on my list for a tech deck. And then email marketing. All your money is made in your email, on your email list, your subscriber list. So 100% get an email marketing platform. And you can also go super inexpensive with that. I use Flodesk, and I pay $20 a month and it's unlimited subscribers. So that's a deal and a half. I think it's 40 now, but I do have a promo code because I was a beta tester. That's why I have it so cheap. It's a beta tester. So: email, project management, and your website, you want that. I like Squarespace, also cheap, also easy.
Melanie
And it's a great place to start. It doesn't have to be where you end up, but when you initially start a business, you have such a small budget and it's still so important to have a website. I actually recommend to people, especially brand new start-ups, don't throw 20 grand at a website.
Sarah
No.
Melanie
If you don't even know if your business is going to be in existence after the website has been built. You can just be a very basic one initially and give yourself a year or two to get some money in the budget, and then you can go and get a proper one done.
Sarah
Yeah, it's like $20 a month, I think, for Squarespace. They have tonnes of templates, or you could even buy a template and customise it. So it can still be really an awesome website without having to spend a lot of money. You mentioned Google Suite. I definitely use Google Suite for everything and collaborating with my clients. They have a tonne of upgrades lately, so you can get approvals on there. Let's say you're a copywriter, they can approve straight in Google Suite now and there's so much you can do. Yeah.
Esther
I love how tech is adapting to our needs as well as us to theirs, because a few years ago, nobody was using Zoom, and now everybody knows what Zoom is and how to get on.
Sarah
Yeah, you can't not go to Zoom now. Google Docs has integrated with Google Meets, so you can have a live walkthrough of whatever you're creating in that Doc 2 with your client. That makes it so much easier.
Esther
Yeah, and it's all included in that one software system, which is majority free. You don't even have to pay for Zoom webinars and etc, all of the other things that could cost you more money. So, tiny budgets can remain, can grow while you're growing your business without having to pay out for all these tech things just because everybody else is using them.
Sarah
Yeah, keep it as minimal as possible. Just the things that you absolutely need.
Melanie
There's one very old fashioned tool that I hope stays a bit longer, although there is a bit of a warning that it's going to be going soon, and that's the dictate to word. I know some people hate writing blogs, but heck, if you've got a concept in your head and you want to, you can't be bothered to just sit down and write it, you can actually sit in front of your laptop, put some headphones in, and you can dictate to word. Marie Claire, our friend Marie Claire, she uses it a lot, and there was a rumour earlier on this year. It was on its way out, so I really hope not. There's all sorts of tools you can use as long as ChatGPT amongst others. So you're as much giving people ideas what tools to use, training on the tools to use, and then helping them build the strategies on top. Is that, in essence, what you're bottling up?
Sarah
Yeah. It starts with building out that foundation and creating a streamlined marketing plan. But then how do you automate it? How do you outsource the pieces that you need to outsource on a budget? It doesn't have to be complicated. You can be scrappy.
Esther
I love that because a lot of people think if it's not perfect, it's not... There's no point in doing it. If it's not the whole system, if it's not the four or the five customer avatars then why even bother? There's a lot of people that cling to that method, whereas others are like, done is better than perfect. So where would you fall between those two?
Sarah
Done is better than perfect. Nobody cares about perfect anyway. Nobody likes perfect. Think about how these polished corporate videos, people are completely turned off by them. They would rather you pull up your phone and be off centre and talking directly to you than these polished videos.
Melanie
you're more memorable making an ass of yourself, aren't you?
Sarah
You are, but also you feel more personable. You're an actual human, and it's not like this corporate BS that nobody is interested in. They want to know you.
Melanie
With this all in mind, do you feel that the products or services do better with this outsourced, streamlined strategy/marketing? And do you feel that there's enough people looking at... I keep asking two questions, but she gets in quick. The other thing is that I assume you're not just focusing on just social media. You're looking at press releases and trade shows and that stuff.
Sarah
Yeah, I actually just wrapped up a strategic story for a client last night, and we look at events that they should be speaking at and the strategies on how to get those, the people in the audience to convert to email subscribers, podcasting, your email strategy, the whole she bang because it's really just about getting people to become aware that you exist and then trust that you can solve their problem. You have to look at the whole holistically. You have to look at it holistically, not just social media. Social media, I could not care a lot. I don't care about social media.
Esther
You heard it here first.
Sarah
I think partnerships are so much-.
Esther
Social media is not-.
Sarah
No, it's not the end all. Partnerships matter so much more. You can get in front of your customers by partnering with the right people like this. You're chatting with me, I'm providing value for your audience and getting in front of new people that are similar to mine. Then my audience will get to know you because I'll be promoting your podcast. But that works with webinars and guest blogging and so many things. It's just a great way to expand. You don't need to be on social all the time.
Esther
Collaboration is definitely better than competition.
Sarah
Yeah.
Melanie
One thing I've worked out in over 180 podcasts is talking to people and even speaking to yourself, speaking out loud about what you do, whether it's a product or a service. This has been massively useful to me. For a start, we don't know everything. Even though we are considered experts in our field, we don't know everything. And I learn so much from speaking to people like yourself. Or it's reaffirming because sometimes you're thinking, Well, it sounds right, but I'm not sure. So I think just even if you feel you need a bit of a boost in your confidence or you just need to speak to a peer to get some fresh ideas, I think bringing somebody in such as yourself, Sarah, will be transformative. It's made such an impact to my business.
Sarah
That is a really great point. I have a podcast, too, and I interview people on there. The biggest benefit for me is meeting friends that do the same thing that I do, and I can bounce ideas off of. When you're working by yourself, it's really lonely and you don't have that community that you had when you were working for a corporation and you had a department to talk to. So it's a great way to build that community.
Esther
Yeah. So, Sarah, how do people get in touch with you and find out more about what you do and what you offer and how to work with you?
Sarah
Yeah. So I'm on LinkedIn. That's the only channel I hang out on. But also I'm giving you a landing page, sarahnoelblock.com/mmm, and they can find all my links there. And I'm also giving away my DIY customer avatar bundle and journey creator. So you'll be able to create your own ideal customer and their journey with this bundle, and they'll be a 100% discount on that page.
Melanie
Wow.
Esther
Brilliant. That will be going out on all our socials, because we're everywhere. And it'll be on the show notes as well.
Melanie
And in our email list.
Esther
And going on to our email list.
Sarah
Where the money is made.
Esther
Yes. Its going out to our email list. And just one last question. When are we appearing on your podcast?
Sarah
Whenever you want.
Esther
I'm putting you on the spot.
Melanie
Oh my God. Would you stop it?
Sarah
No, I think you guys would be great.
Esther
If you don't ask, you don't get.
Melanie
I have to take her every twice the second time to apologise.
Esther
Yeah. Thank you so much, Sarah, for being on with us today. That's all we have time for. But we will be back next week with more Monday Morning Marketing podcast. And don't forget to go and grab Sarah's download and her freebie. That's it for now. See you next week. Bye-bye.
Melanie
Bye, guys. Have a great week.
Esther
So when is the podcast then?
Sarah
I'll send you the link for it when I send you the link, the landing page link. So definitely.
Melanie
Great.
Esther
Brilliant.
Melanie
We like ganging up on other people's podcasts.
Sarah
I mean, it's the easiest way to expand your reach on your podcast. If they're listening to mine, they'll go to yours.
Melanie
Absolutely.
Esther
I love it.
Melanie
That's the way it works, it's the way it should work.
Sarah
Yeah. I don't think I ever mentioned it.
