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Class Introduction

Lesson 1 from: Create a Marketing Plan & Grow Your Standout Business

Tara McMullin

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Lesson Info

1. Class Introduction

Lesson Info

Class Introduction

First, I want to talk to you about junk food. I love junk food. Do you guys love junk food? I mean, especially like a doughnut, like that? It makes my mouth water just to think about it. And you know how sometimes you're really hungry, you know, maybe you've put in an extra long day in your home office as I am wont to do, and you've forgotten to eat lunch, Sean hates it when I have forgotten to eat lunch. You know, because you're in the groove, you're creating things, you're doing the work, you're talking to clients, and all of a sudden, it is 4 pm and you have not eaten since breakfast. And in that moment, we are all prone to choosing the doughnut, right? Or for me, a couple of years ago, it was Maple Bacon Potato Chips. Kettle makes these amazing Maple Bacon Potato Chips that are like barbecue chips on steroids, they are so good. And so, you know, it would be 4 pm, I'd forgotten to eat lunch. Sean doesn't off for another couple of hours, dinner is far in the future at 4 pm, at least ...

in my household. And so, I would reach for this bag of Maple Bacon Potato Chips, and I would just, you know, just a couple, right? Just so that I'm not so hungry anymore. And by the time I realized what was going on, I'd eaten at least half the bag, right? We know how this goes. And so no, I wasn't hungry anymore but I also didn't feel very good. I felt kind of like that. In fact, other than the long hair, that could be a picture of me regretting the binge of Maple Bacon Potato Chips that I had just eaten because it makes you feel like crap, right? When you eat junk food when you're hungry, it makes you feel bad, it zaps your energy, it does not put you in the best position for anything, really. And you don't want to feel like this. You want to feel like this, right? You want to feel like your body is a vessel for everything you want to create in the world, you want to feel like your brain is firing on all cylinders, and junk food just doesn't cut it when you're hungry, or really any time. It's good for fun, but it's not good for that real nutritional value that you need to be like that. And how does this relate to marketing? Well, you know, I see a lot of hungry business owners out there and they're hungry for a lot of good things. They're hungry to get noticed, they're hungry to stand out, they're hungry to lead a movement, they have a deep hunger to be of service to people that they care about with ideas, and services, and products that they're passion about. But mostly, they're hungry for the next sale. And they get in this cycle, where they do the work, they get really hungry, and then they reach for the junk food of the business world. And that's all of those marketing tactics, they're really just trivial ways of getting attention. It's all the end-runs around the Facebook algorithm, it's all the tricks to get people to sign up for your email list. It's all the latest fads of, you know, be on this app, or that app, or this social media platform, right? And we chase these things, and we devour until we are literally sick. And our bodies, our business bodies are broken down. And still, we're not getting the attention that we want, we're not getting the customers that we want. And why? Because we've chosen these junk food ways of growing our businesses, marketing our products and services, instead of creating a sustainable, strategic marketing system for the work that we really love. That's what we're going to do in this class. We are going to create a sustainable, strategic marketing system for your business, so that you don't get so hungry. Or so that your hunger can really be focused on the productive things. You know, being hungry to serve people, being hungry to connect the right people with your products and services , and not the hunger that causes you to reach out for those junk food tactics. Now this class is perfect for you if you've been in business for a year or more, and are hungry for more. That good kind of hunger, right? If you're new to business, this will work too but I'm kind of working from the assumption that you've been around the block a couple of times, you've sold some stuff, you know who your customers are. That's what we're going to be working from. We've got other classes that are a little more focused on a beginner aspect. This is for the next step up. This class is also perfect for you if you have a product or service that you want to sell. Good? Are we good on that one? Yeah. Okay, great. It's also perfect for you if you've struggled to reproduce successful marketing campaigns. So you know those times when you get lucky, or you feel like, "Wow, that went really well, I'm going to do that again?" And it doesn't work out so well? Yeah. So if that's been your situation where, "I get lucky every so often but I don't know how to reproduce those results," this is going to be really helpful for you. You're going to be better able to analyze the marketing campaigns that do work, and the marketing campaigns that don't work, and use all of that information to create that reproducible system in the future. And this class is perfect for you if you always feel a bit behind with your marketing. Where you always feel like you're running to catch up instead of being ahead of the game. Does that sound…yeah . Okay. We've got lots of nodding heads here in the audience. Now, by the end of this class, you'll have 12 months of marketing campaigns planned out. Now we're actually going to accomplish that in about the first hour and a half. So if you can only tune in for the first segment or so, you are in luck. We're going to start with that bird's eye view and really focus on that 12-month calendar first. By the end of this class, you're also going to have a system for creating each campaign that you can use again and again. So we are really focused on a marketing system here. Not a specific set of tactics, not a how to, but building a system that then you can apply to the tactics that you like, to the product or services that you're developing, so that it can always be personalized for you, but it then it's also always a system that you can reproduce. And by the end of this class, you're going to have the confidence that the time, energy and money you're spending to market your business is actually paying off. No more of that work, work, work, work, work, work, work, just to feel like, "Oh, God I don't know if that actually worked or not." That is what we're here to stop. Now before we dive in, I want to tell you a little bit more about me. My name's Tara Gentile, as I said, and I have been at this online business, marketing businesses, games since 2009. Right now my focus is 100% on our new business owner… new economy business association called CoCommercial. It's a network where business owners like you and actually, a whole bunch of you right here, come together, talk to each other about what's real, what's actually working, the ups, the downs, the challenges, the hurdles, and actually find out from other business owners, you know, how to get through those things. I'm also the host of Profit. Power. Pursuit, which is a podcast that I co-produce here with the folks at CreativeLive where we focus on getting into the nitty-gritty of how small businesses actually work, and grow, and thrive. My degree is in religious studies, not in business and the reason I tell you that is because I don't want you to think, "Oh, Tara, that's fine for you, you've got an MBA." No. I do not. And I probably never will. What I'm teaching you here today has been learned through a lot of trial and error, a lot of hard work, and a lot of deep interests in exactly what I'm teaching. So I don't want you to think that I'm repeating something that God, you know, talked to me in an ivory tower that doesn't apply to what you're really doing. This stuff is grass roots kind of business education. Also, I'm an introvert. So, again, I don't want you to think that, "Oh Tara, that's fine and good for you, look how outgoing you are, look how comfortable you are just talking to people, and doing this CreativeLive thing, but I can't do it, I'm an introvert." No, no, no, no, no. that does not fly here. I am a hardcore introvert. I may be outgoing and I might have fun talking on stage, but I do not love all of the other, you know, kind of networking things, meeting new people, it's all very scary to me. But, I can do it and everything that I'm about to teach you over the course of this class is also introvert-friendly. There's a way to do it that works for you. And finally, just a fun fact, I started bouldering a couple of weeks ago. So if you're a rock climber, if you're a boulderer I would love to hear from you. I suck at it right now. I cannot even make it more than like 10 feet, but I'm really enjoying it. Now here's what we're going to work through over the next 13 lessons. As I said, were going to start with a bird's eye view of your marketing plan. We're going to start by mapping out 12 months of marketing campaigns. That doesn't mean 12 marketing campaigns for you. It might mean three, it might mean six, it might mean four. We're going to talk about how to tell the difference. Once we have that mapped out from the bird's eye view, then we're going to start narrowing in. We're going to start gathering information, getting what we need, so that we can plan out a single campaign from start to finish. From warm up, to close, to follow up. And then, we're going to figure out how to analyze your results. We're going to set goals so that you know exactly what works, what didn't work, what you need to differently next time.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials

Tara Gentile - 12 Month Marketing Calendar
Tara Gentile - Implementation Month

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Tara Gentile - Campaign Building Blocks
Tara Gentile - Create a Marketing Plan Workbook
Tara Gentile - E-mail Marketing Templates
Tara Gentile - Sales Page Templates

Ratings and Reviews

Sharon
 

Tara, the information you delivered in this class is invaluable. I am in the launching stage of my business, and I know I need to market my business and services and I know I need to write a plan, but I didn't know how to do it. Instagram, content upgrades, Facebook, email marketing, webinars, blogging, etc. etc., I know it all. But I just couldn't get my head around how to truly use marketing campaigns for my business, and especially for my services, to reach my ideal client, help my ideal client and to reach my ideal income. You explained the why behind marketing campaigns and you showed us how to create a marketing campaign from A to Z. The whole sha-bang! You gave me the knowledge and inspiration in how to market my services, how many people I ideally want to reach and above all, a framework I can use time and time again to create a marketing campaign. I purchased the class right after seeing the live broadcast so I can use this class for planning all my next marketing campaigns. You clarified a lot and I am much more confident (and so much more less stressed haha) in creating a marketing campaign plan that works for my business and services. I learned a lot! Thank you! P.S. Love the hot seats.

Susan Best Jones
 

Tara, I love your creative live events I always learn so much and this time was the same. Perfect timing on this info, it is exactly what I need right now and I feel confident that I can do it! I joined CoCommercial and am excited about that. Thank you, Tara.

MaryAnn
 

This class is well worth the time! Tara does an excellent job of not only providing a step by step system for creating a marketing campaign, but she provides clear context and insights along the way. This is important so that you're not just going through the motions and crossing your fingers that your marketing will work. She helps you understand the strategy behind the scenes so you can get the most out of the work you put in. I highly recommend this course to anyone considering doing their own marketing, or people who are already doing their own marketing and want to feel more empowered and get better results.

Student Work

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