Weekly-ish notes on navigating big change

marketing

How to focus on your Right People, to make more sales and create more effective marketing (free worksheet included)

Get more buyers by focusing on the RIGHT people. This is the heart of effective marketing - speak directly to the person who is going to love (and want) what you sell. Remember, you’re not trying to convince anyone, you’re giving (compelling!) info to interested people. But how do you figure out who that person is? Are you limiting yourself by just focusing in on one set of Right People? And how do you find out where they are? In this episode we’ll discuss Why focusing on your Right People IS scary (and why you need to do it anyway) How to find the people + be where they are. 5 questions to get closer to your people Want to focus on YOUR Right People? Apply what you learned in today’s episode with a free worksheet (and today's transcript!) Get them both at TaraSwiger.com/podcast117/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Get more buyers by focusing on the RIGHT people.

This is the heart of effective marketing – speak directly to the person who is going to love (and want) what you sell. Remember, you’re not trying to convince anyone, you’re giving (compelling!) info to interested people.

But how do you figure out who that person is? Are you limiting yourself by just focusing in on one set of Right People? And how do you find out where they are?

In this episode we’ll discuss

  • Why focusing on your Right People IS scary (and why you need to do it anyway)
  • How to find the people + be where they are.
  • 5 questions to get closer to your people

Want to focus on YOUR Right People? Apply what you learned in today’s episode with a free worksheet (and today's transcript!).Grab it here.

How to listen

  • You can subscribe to it on iTunes (If you do, leave a review!)
  • You can listen to it using the player above or download it.
  • Subscribe or listen via Stitcher (or subscribe in whatever you use for podcasts – just search “Explore Your Enthusiasm” and it should pop up!).

Find all the podcast episodes here.

How to set (realistic) marketing expectations

If you spend all the time and energy to properly launch your next product: What can you expect to happen? How can you set realistic and yet inspiring sales goals? Today we're going to cover how exactly to set your expectations for any of your marketing activities. Listen in at TaraSwiger.com/podcast105

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

If you spend all the time and energy to properly launch your next product: What can you expect to happen? How can you set realistic and yet inspiring sales goals?

Today we're going to cover how exactly to set your expectations for any of your marketing activities.

Links mentioned:

 

How to listen

  • You can listen to it using the player above or download it.
  • You can subscribe to it on iTunes (If you do, leave a review!)
  • Subscribe or listen via Stitcher (or subscribe in whatever you use for podcasts – just search “Explore Your Enthusiasm” and it should pop up!).

Find all the podcast episodes here.

Get a FREE worksheet to help you improve your marketing when you sign up below!

How to make time for marketing

You're busy making products, photographing, listing, and (hopefully) shipping orders - how do you find the time to also do marketing? In today's episode, we tackle the problem of never having time for marketing. We cover: How you know if you're doing "enough" marketing How a plan saves time Batching your tasks Using what you already have

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

You're busy making products, photographing, listing, and (hopefully) shipping orders – how do you find the time to also do marketing? In today's episode, we tackle the problem of never having time for marketing.

We cover:

  • How you know if you're doing “enough” marketing
  • How a plan saves time
  • Batching your tasks
  • Using what you already have

Links mentioned:

Who has time for marketing? Making a plan will save you tons of time.

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How to listen

  • You can subscribe to it on iTunes (If you do, leave a review!)
  • You can listen to it using the player above or download it.
  • Subscribe or listen via Stitcher (or subscribe in whatever you use for podcasts – just search “Explore Your Enthusiasm” and it should pop up!).

Find all the podcast episodes here.

Sign up below to get a FREE e-course on making your marketing more effective! No matter how much time you have for marketing, it's important to focus on improving its effectiveness.

 

How to stop feeling weird talking about your work

How do I describe what it is I do? How do I talk about my work? This is the question we nearly all have. Here's what you need to do to talk about your work effectively AND the key to feeling more comfortable. Click through for your free worksheet!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

How do I describe what it is I do? How do I talk about my work?

This is the question we nearly all have. (If you've figured this out and feel 100% confident talking about your work, email me immediately and tell me your secret sauce).

Even though I've been doing this for 6 years (and have been running my own business for over 10 years!), I struggle with how to talk about my work every day. In every sales page I write, in every conversation I have, and in every byline I submit to a magazine or book.

I don't know that this question ever goes away, but you certainly can get better at talking about your work. In this episode we'll cover what you need to do to talk about your work effectively AND the key to feeling more comfortable. 

Learn to talk about your work sans awkwardness w/ a FREE worksheet from @TaraSwiger:

Click To Tweet

How to listen

  • You can subscribe to it on iTunes (If you do, leave a review!)
  • You can listen to it using the player above or download it.
  • Subscribe or listen via Stitcher (or subscribe in whatever you use for podcasts – just search “Explore Your Enthusiasm” and it should pop up!).

Find all the podcast episodes here.

To apply this to your own business, fill out this worksheet and stop feeling weird talking about your work today!

Stop Creating (Marketing) Distractions – a free worksheet to help you focus your marketing

You can make your marketing more effective with making one easy switch: Chose one thing, and plan all your marketing around it, for 2-4 weeks. It sounds easy, but it's also easy to get distracted! So how do you pick your focus and avoid distractions? And how does this make your marketing more effective? Listen in to learn more, and get the FREE worksheet, at TaraSwiger.com/podcast102/.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

You can make your marketing more effective with making one easy switch: Chose one thing, and plan all your marketing around it, for 2-4 weeks.

It sounds easy, but it's also easy to get distracted! So how do you pick your focus and avoid distractions? And how does this make your marketing more effective?

Listen in to learn more, and click here for your free worksheet: How To Avoid Marketing Distraction (You'll also get the podcast transcript!)

Getting distracted on social media? @TaraSwiger has a free worksheet to help you focus your efforts:

Click To Tweet

How to listen

  • You can subscribe to it on iTunes (If you do, leave a review!)
  • You can listen to it using the player above or download it.
  • Subscribe or listen via Stitcher (or subscribe in whatever you use for podcasts – just search “Explore Your Enthusiasm” and it should pop up!).

Find all the podcast episodes here.

Don’t be afraid to be a real person

When you try to market your products online, do you struggle to find a way to sound like a real person? Do you worry about sounding too casual, or turning into a robot in your quest to sound professional? Let's talk about the ways to avoid that and sound like a real person in your online interactions. More at TaraSwiger.com.

This weekend I'm teaching about marketing, so I've been thinking about a lot (even more than usual, and I wrote a whole book on it…so it's a LOT).

As I say in my book: Marketing is simply communication with a purpose – the purpose is to help people who will love your thing understand that they will, in fact, love your thing.

The purpose of marketing is to help people who will love your thing understand that they'll love it.

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But speaking with that purpose, sharing with that with that purpose, can make us feel awkward and stilted. So we either skip it all together (and no one knows we sell anything! And no one buys it!) or we get weird and sound like a robot.

This week on the podcast, we dove deep into how to fix this, how to sound (and feel!) like a real person online. It's not easy. I know. It's easy to feel like you have to be formal, or fancy (“professional”), or that you're NOT being genuine if you're also trying to sell something.

But I've overcome this struggle myself and worked with hundreds of makers and artists as they've overcome it. It just takes practice (lots of practice) and intention (paying attention to what you're doing and why).

If this is something you struggle with, you can listen in to the full episode (and learn the 4 steps to sounding more like a person) or you can watch my live recording here. You can also find it on iTunes, Stitcher, or just search for “Explore Your Enthusiasm” in whatever app you use for podcasts!

 

How about you? Do you struggle to sound like yourself online? Or do you feel good about it?

 

 

Fit all of your marketing pieces together

Blogs, newsletter, Twitter, Instagram… does your marketing work together, or is it random and fractured? In today's episode you'll learn: What most people are doing wrong with their marketing How to make your marketing both easier and more effective An example, from a real student, of fitting it together.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Blogs, newsletter, Twitter, Instagram… does your marketing work together, or is it random and fractured? In today's episode you'll learn:

  • What most people are doing wrong with their marketing
  • How to make your marketing both easier and more effective
  • An example, from a real student, of fitting it together.

Remember – we're going to be diving deep into this TODAY in the webinar. Register here.

 

How to listen

  • You can subscribe to it on iTunes (If you do, leave a review!)
  • You can listen to it using the player above or download it.
  • Subscribe or listen via Stitcher (or subscribe in whatever you use for podcasts – just search “Explore Your Enthusiasm” and it should pop up!).

Find all the podcast episodes here.

How to fit all of your marketing pieces together

Blog. Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. It can be overwhelming to figure out how to fit all these little pieces together into one cohesive marketing puzzle. Let's talk about how to do that, on TaraSwiger.com.

Blog.
Twitter.
Facebook.
Instagram.
Pinterest.
Emails.

How are you spreading the word about your work? How are you connecting with possible customers? If you’re like nearly everyone I work with, you’re using quite a few tools, but you feel like you should be using EVEN MORE – like you can never do enough or be in enough places.

This week on the podcast I’m sharing the story of how I helped one of the Starship Captains fit her marketing puzzle together. While I was broadcasting it on Periscope (I record and broadcast these a whole week early – follow me there to catch it early!), I got comments saying: OMG, I need to do this for my own business! I need to piece it all together.

So I’m super happy to announce that I am teaching exactly this, tomorrow! In a webinar with TNNA (The National NeedleArts Association), we’ll cover your newsletter, blog and social media and come up with a plan for fitting them all together. (Webinar = online workshop, that you can attend wherever you are!)

If you're in the yarn world (you have a yarn shop, you make yarn, you design with yarn), this webinar is for you. We're going to address how to fit your blog, newsletter, and social media together into one EFFECTIVE puzzle, that brings customers to your door.

You can register here:

http://www.tnna.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=773927

Once you register, tweet me and tell me your questions – what do you hope we cover?

A live online workshop w/ @taraswiger + #tnna on fitting together your marketing puzzle! I’m in!

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Marketing Burnout: How to avoid it and deal with it.

Launching stuff, talking about your product for a sustained period of time, is hard. It can be draining to talk about your work, especially when it feels like you're talking about yourself all the time. The result is Marketing Burnout. You're sick of talking about your work. You feel like you're repeating yourself. You worry you're annoying people. In this episode I share three ways to avoid Marketing Burnout and one way to handle it when you experience it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Launching stuff, talking about your product for a sustained period of time, is hard. It can be draining to talk about your work, especially when it feels like you're talking about yourself all the time.

The result is Marketing Burnout. You're sick of talking about your work. You feel like you're repeating yourself. You worry you're annoying people.

In this episode I share three ways to avoid Marketing Burnout and one way to handle it when you experience it. 

Resources

 

 

How to listen

Find all the podcast episodes here.

Step up YOUR marketing game with a free e-course! Sign up below!

 

How to be “authentic” without being a hot mess

In today's episode, we'll talk about how to be authentic in your marketing without coming across like a hot mess. On TaraSwiger.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

How can you be a real person  and not be a hot mess, on social media?

In this episode, inspired by something Caitlin Bacher said at Schoolhouse Craft, I'm going to give you three questions to answer, so you can figure it out once and for all. These questions will help you develop your strategy and connect with your customers, without sounding like either a robot (boring!) or oversharing (ew!). 

How to listen

Find all the podcast episodes here.

Bring more authenticity into YOUR marketing messages with my free e-course! Sign up below to get it!

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