29: Fan Favorites: Tiny Marketing's Best of 2022

Fan Favorites

[00:00:00] Sarah Noel Block: If you are brand new to the Tiny Marketing Show, this is a great episode to start with, I'm sharing clips from our most popular episodes in 2022. You'll hear clips from our five most loved episodes with amazing marketers and virtual assistants who will teach you how to be a successful marketer without a ton of money, resources, or time.

[00:00:20] Sarah Noel Block: Here we go. We're gonna start with number five, copywriting That Converts Strategy and Research with Josh Garofalo. In this episode, he taught us the foundation of good copywriting, how to start from a good foundation so you can create amazing copy from that point on. And we're highlighting a few little pieces from that, such as how to create compelling copy that actually converts and how to build the roots of your copywriting so you don't wanna miss.

[00:00:53] Josh Garofalo: Now as you progress, what you start to realize is the foundation of good copy is not your ability to [00:01:00] come up. interesting or quirky ways of saying things. It's rooted in fundamental research, so you know, who are the competitors, like what makes up this category your ideal prospect? Who are they? Who else are they considering at the time?

[00:01:14] Josh Garofalo: Why are they looking for the solution right now? What was that triggering event? You know, which criteria are they considering and how do they prioritize that criteria? These are all questions that you actually need answers to if you wanna. Compelling copy that that moves a needle. So what do you think the key is to writing compelling copy that actually converts?

[00:01:37] Josh Garofalo: So, I mean, I think I've answered some of this and that it's definitely everything that comes before the words, the words part is actually not that hard once you've done. That work. In fact, I always know that I haven't done enough research when the word part is really hard. When I'm not sure what to say and how to say it, it means I haven't done enough research yet and, and I'm trying to get creative like Mad Men style, which is not the way.[00:02:00] 

[00:02:00] Josh Garofalo: That's not the way. Good. Copy's actually written

[00:02:07] Sarah Noel Block: number four on our. Is annual strategic business planning with Bob Stanke. He is a great front of the show. He has created some amazing content with me. He's been a podcast guest twice and he is written blog posts for tiny marketing. And in this episode he taught us how to create a strategic plan annually.

[00:02:32] Sarah Noel Block: So you could still be agile while still having a plan in place. You wanna look at it one quarter at a time. We're highlighting two clips from this episode. , can you tell me first, before we get into the Agile part of it, why is it important to create strategic plans annually? Yeah, I think, and I think there's a trade off there, so I, I think it's important to look at years in a hole.

[00:02:57] Sarah Noel Block: I think that's 

[00:02:57] Bob Stanke: important. I think it's important to have some sort of [00:03:00] vision or goal of what's to come in in the next year. I would also make the argument that you can set up a basic idea or template of what next year could look like. , but that's my whole play. My whole play is in order for you to be truly agile in your marketing, you need to really focus on what's directly in front of you.

[00:03:18] Bob Stanke: You shouldn't be worried too much about what paid media campaigns you're gonna be running in October, unless your business specifically is based around, you know, some seasonal trends and things like that. Yes, you can make the argument that's important to look that far in advance, but I think in general, just knowing what things you wanna try to accomplish is probably about as far as you should go with the 12 month window.

[00:03:39] Bob Stanke: So this is really just kind of a way to really just hone in and focus on, you know, one specific thing. So what I. Teach or, or when I talk to my peers or, or even my team, I talk about this approach of 1, 2, 3. So you start at the top one, what's one goal? What's one thing that we want to achieve this year?

[00:03:57] Bob Stanke: And really treat it as a goal. It's not an initiative [00:04:00] yet, it's just a goal. So for the sake of today's argument, let's use a really simple one. Let's say you want to grow your opt-in list here. Maybe it's your newsletter subscription list. Let's just say that's your, And I think me and you, Sarah will agree that that is an incredibly important thing for marketing department.

[00:04:14] Bob Stanke: Steve, build your, build your email list, right? So that's your goal. Now don't make that too metric driven yet. Just let's set a a standard goal. We want to grow our email subscription list, our newsletter subscription list. Step two is, is to define two initiatives around that that work up towards that one goal.

[00:04:31] Bob Stanke: So for sake of this example, let's say one is, uh, we're gonna focus on our content marketing efforts, right? Content drives organic traffic, which should lead to signups, you know, things like that. Maybe the second half is, uh, we're gonna run some paid media and some brand campaigns throughout the year.

[00:04:48] Bob Stanke: Right? And we're gonna draw attention to our email newsletter, opt-in, right? So those are your two pillar initiatives that you're gonna work on. . Then underneath those two, you have three tactics. [00:05:00] Okay? So you have goal two initiatives and three tactics for each one. So the tactics might be, for example, under the content marketing, maybe it's, um, you know, I'm gonna work on my keyword research.

[00:05:10] Bob Stanke: I'm gonna really, you know, hone in on using the right keywords, uh, optimizing my keywords. Second one, maybe I'm gonna publish content on my website, blogs or whatever. On a very consistent basis, maybe two a week or something like that. And maybe the third initiative is, you know, to tidy up some SEO or whatever it might be.

[00:05:27] Bob Stanke: Anything that's related to content marketing, your first initiative, and really focus on those three tactics. And then same on the other side for the brand campaign, the paid media, you have three separate tactics under there as well. So that's kind of the 1, 2, 3 approach. I like it because it's bite size, it gives you a good goal.

[00:05:44] Bob Stanke: It breaks out pretty simply. And if you've selected your tactics right, and. Those should ladder up to meet your goal if you've thought about it correctly. So, and if you have a, a larger marketing team, you can create a couple of these, right? Because chances are your marketing team probably has [00:06:00] specialized disciplines within marketing.

[00:06:02] Bob Stanke: So set up a 1, 2, 3 for the different, you know, types of, uh, initiatives that you want to tackle, goals you want to tackle, and give them to the individuals on your team. Here you go. Here's your 1, 2, 3 plan for next year.

[00:06:19] Sarah Noel Block: Number three on our list, seven types of cold emails you should send with Laura. Low pitch in this episode, she taught us how she built her entire business through cold pitching, and honestly, that is something I am terrified of. I hate cold pitching, but after talking to her, I felt a lot more comfortable with it, and I can't wait to start using the strategies that we're highlighting in this episode for my own business.

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[00:06:46] Sarah Noel Block: So let's hear from Laura. So the seven types of cold sales emails that you can send, tell me all about 'em. 

[00:06:58] Laura Lopuch: Yeah, so [00:07:00] the one that everybody kind of thinks of, of course when you say cold email, is the cold sales email, which is really, you know, like getting a new client from a cold email. And that's like just one of seven different types.

[00:07:14] Laura Lopuch: So there's also the guest post pitch cold email, the webinar, pitch cold email. The workshop, cold email, the podcast, cold email. Let's see the ask an expert opinion, the ask an expert to share, and then you've got your cold sales email. So we're up to seven. And actually as a bonus, there could be an eighth, which is set up like an affiliate partnership.

[00:07:39] Laura Lopuch: Cold pitch email with someone that you don't know, say like we had never met, and I was like, Hey, Sarah, like, I think your audience would really love, you know, this thing that I'm doing, would you like to set up an affiliate partnership? That could be a cold email? Because really I'm asking you a stranger to take the action that I would like you to take, which is [00:08:00] say yes to me and not hit, delete or get distracted.

[00:08:04] Laura Lopuch: All those other things that you could potentially do when you're reading an email. So tell me, what is the magic secret sauce that makes a cold email? Uh, it doesn't turn the person off that you're emailing. That's such a good question, Anne. It's one that everybody's doesn't. Remember to answer. So really it's a simple like take yourself outta your shoes cuz you don't actually matter in the equation.

[00:08:32] Laura Lopuch: And then step outta your shoes and answer the question in your, in your cold email reader's mind, which is what's in it for me. And it's like a natural human question. Yeah. You filter every request you get through it. I'm sure you filtered a request through that same framework today, even probably in the last like 15 minutes, I'm sure.

[00:08:50] Laura Lopuch: No, you're right. I do do that. , you want me to add your link to my blog? What's in it for me? , right? Why should I care? Right . So once you start to like [00:09:00] approach your cold email from the viewpoint of that question and how can you answer it for your cold email? Suddenly you don't actually really matter. To be brutally honest, it all matters about what's your reader's problem and what's the potential solution that you could maybe be the solution for that problem.

[00:09:21] Laura Lopuch: You're really just a solution to their problem, and the rest of the stuff doesn't matter. They don't really care about you unless you can provide a solution. First of all. and also as long as you know of their problem, that also helps you kind of sidestep that laziness of like, Hey, I need to sell you. I need to sell you.

[00:09:43] Laura Lopuch: And hey, you have a problem. Let me help you. Kind of like back in the day, , when we used to go to movies before Covid remember, like, you'd be like, yeah, I don't, I'm not familiar with before. Covid,[00:10:00] 

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[00:10:00] Laura Lopuch: Number two, clarity and copywriting with Heather or Heather gave us a freaking masterclass on how to create perfect copywriting, and her big thing is clarity. Make sure youre as clear as possible because clear is kind. We're highlighting two clips from that episode, so let's listen to Heather. But how do you do it?

[00:10:31] Laura Lopuch: How do you get more clear in your copywriting? 

[00:10:34] Heather Orr: Yeah. Uh, well, as a conversion copywriter, my job is to write copy that performs and not copy. That only sounds good. Mm-hmm. . So to do that, I need to identify the messages that are most likely to convert a. a visitor on a specific page say, and the order in which that visitor needs to see the message sounding good, can make a brand seem more likable and trustworthy.

[00:10:59] Heather Orr: And then what I [00:11:00] do also for clarity, just because it's so important, it's like the baseline for copywriting that after you like write a final draft, You wanna like go through and edit it for Clarity or what? Copy Hackers calls Sweep for clarity. Mm-hmm. . So just, you just read through your entire draft and usually I'll read it out loud because for some reason you can catch issues easier when you read it out loud rather than just reading it in your mind.

[00:11:29] Heather Orr: Yeah. If you stumble 

[00:11:30] Sarah Noel Block: over a word as you're reading it, you're like, well that should probably not be there. I shouldn't be stumbling over that word.

[00:11:40] Sarah Noel Block: The last episode we will be highlighting today and number one of 2022 was the Power of Delegation with Molly Rose Speed. In this episode, she taught us how to outsource. When you're a solopreneur, so many solopreneurs believe that they don't have the resources [00:12:00] or the time. The ability to outsource, but you can.

[00:12:04] Sarah Noel Block: Your first hire should be a virtual assistant, and she tells us exactly how to do that, how to find a virtual assistant, and what tasks you should be delegating. So let's hear from Molly. 

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[00:12:16] Molly Rose Speed: And the pain that these preneurs go through before they realize like just taking the step to outsourcing is huge.

[00:12:30] Molly Rose Speed: Like they're just paralyzed and they end up hating their businesses. A lot of people close before they can find this opportunity or this solution. So what is the first thing that people should. , think about delegating. So this is different for everyone. I find that you probably know the things that you hate to do every day.

[00:12:48] Molly Rose Speed: Like for most of us, managing email, managing the inbox is a huge bear, right? We log in, yeah, there's only junk. You know something really easy an admin can do is go in and clean all that al before you even wake up in the [00:13:00] morning. Um, but really what you should do is write down all the things that you do.

[00:13:04] Molly Rose Speed: Everything that you do in. Day for, gotta say a couple weeks. If you have kind of a fast moving business, if it's slow and it's part-time, spend a month doing this and then come back to it and really take a look at all the things you actually have to do. So what can entrepreneurs expect when they begin to outsource?

[00:13:22] Molly Rose Speed: Backing up before you, as you're getting ready to outsource? Kind of, it's scary for people. We, we do a lot of just even coaching around just letting go, right? We've been doing this in our business. For a long time on our own. So understanding kind of what you just said and having people that are experts in something do it for you.

[00:13:40] Molly Rose Speed: It's using the term, again, their zone genius and you can be doing yours. So kind of just getting your feet wet with that and, and letting them do it their way is super important. And I think the other big thing to look out for and make sure you have on point is really solid communication when you. . One of the big things that we coach on and [00:14:00] make sure we overcome from the very beginning is communication and having one channel to delegate.

[00:14:07] Molly Rose Speed: So whether you are using a project management tool like Asana or Slack or something like that, that's where that goes. And then you have an SOS channel, you know, for if they really need to get ahold of you, they can text you or give you a phone.

[00:14:25] Sarah Noel Block: In this episode, you learn the value of outsourcing, how to write copy that sells how to create action plans for agile marketing, and how to get more clients through cold emails. If you enjoyed this episode, tell your friends, so more people learn about the tiny marketing. In the meantime, follow me on LinkedIn at Sara Noelle block and sign up for my popular newsletter@saranoelleblock.com.

[00:14:50] Sarah Noel Block: You'll be the first to hear about new episodes, resource roundups, and special deals before anyone else. So see you next time, friends.[00:15:00] 

[00:15:03]Sarah Noel Block: Hello and thank you for joining Tiny Marketing. I help tiny marketing departments create consistent content that builds trust with their. Done for you content marketing sarahnoelblock.com. Don't forget to follow right and review the podcast on your favorite podcast app. See you next time, friends.