Marketing yourself or your ideas can be tough. I bet most of you would cringe if put on the spot to write a short bio about yourself. Marketing something you are emotionally invested in can be uncomfortable and confusing. Yet, it is crucial for getting noticed.
If you are working toward living the van life (or any form of financial freedom), chances are you will need to develop a product or service somewhere along the way and market it. The need for marketing is inevitable. If you haven’t figured that out yet, bookmark this page, go try to start a business without an ounce of marketing, and then come back to this article for some helpful marketing tips.
Knowing about basic marketing principles is useful in today’s world. I studied marketing because I was interested in the psychology behind it. It is fascinating. Yet, when it comes to implementing a marketing strategy, it can often feel sleazy and manipulative.
Unfortunately, that stops a lot of people from focusing on marketing at all.
Associating marketing with manipulation is correct (to some extent) but also harmful. Like most things in life, marketing falls on a spectrum. Interestingly, the only way to present ideas into the world with absolutely zero hints of manipulation is to randomize the entire process. The moment you decide to do something for a reason, you are automatically in the gray area (or in this case, some shade of orange).
The Case for Smart Marketing
The gray is the area that entrepreneurs and small business owners must learn to work in.
On one end of the spectrum, you can use smart marketing techniques to present information in a useful way. This helps your potential clients navigate the information you are providing and make a smart, informed decision. This is good, natural marketing.
On the other end of the spectrum, you can use manipulative marketing techniques to present misleading bits of information. This confuses your potential clients and causes them to make rash decisions not based on the truth. This is sleazy. Do not be this person. Nobody likes this person.
My intention in making the case for marketing is to make you feel more secure in creating a smart marketing strategy for yourself. There are many great ideas in the world that nobody ever finds because they have terrible marketing strategies. On the flip side, there are many eh ideas and manipulative people out there that steal the spotlight because they focus on strong marketing strategies.
I want to help correct that!
If you’re the type of person to throw together a website, landing page, app, blog, presentation – whatever! – and think, shrug, good enough, you’re missing a key piece of what will make all of that work worth it. I created this essential marketing checklist to help strengthen your ideas and increase your visibility. Keep it handy so you can refer to it as often as you need.
As you read through these, put on your good-guy marketing cap, and imagine what you could tweak in your own marketing strategy to strengthen your ideas.
1. Branding
Ask yourself: How do I want people to remember me?
Creating a branding strategy can be complex because the goal is to be as memorable as you can in a way that adds to your overall message. You don’t want to add a bunch of flashy things just because they catch someone’s attention. Poor branding is equivalent to what PowerPoint presentations were in the ’90s. In short: distracting and silly.
To strengthen your branding, focus on the following elements:
- Consistent color scheme – pick a few colors and stick to them
- Consistent imagery – if all of your images were side-by-side, would they look good together?
- Memorable branding theme – use similar elements throughout your site so people can easily recognize what they’re looking at
- Strong logo association & recall – invest into a high-quality logo and then use that logo consistently
- No distracting elements – everything should have a purpose and a reason
2. Marketing Message
Ask yourself: Could someone understand the service/product I’m offering within 30 seconds?
The “elevator pitch” is a common association with the marketing message. I’m not a huge subscriber to the elevator pitch technique, but I do think it’s a good guideline for crafting your message. Essentially, you want to be as clear as possible about what you’re offering.
To strengthen your marketing message, focus on the following elements:
- Target market – who is your ideal audience? (Hint: “everyone” is the wrong answer)
- Problem/solution presentation – make it clear what gap you’re filling
- Proven results (testimonials) – showcase genuine reviews of people who trust and enjoy your product or service
- Differentiation from competitors – clearly state what makes you different from other options on the market
- Value proposition – clearly state the value you are providing
- Market segmentation – make sure you’re showing relevant information to the right audience
3. Client Conversion
Ask yourself: Is it easy for a first-time visitor to become a client/customer?
The point of marketing is to increase your visibility and, ultimately, convert those views into something – it could be clients, customers, subscribers, or members. A business exists only when goods or services are exchanged for payment. People are willing to pay for something that will bring them value. Make it easy for them to purchase what you’re offering.
To strengthen your client conversion, focus on the following elements:
- Clear and consistent call to action – what do you want your viewers to do when they come to your website? Click a button? Subscribe? Book a session? Communicate it clearly and use consistent language everywhere on your site.
- Straightforward conversion method – don’t make people jump through hoops, make the process simple
- Options to get in touch – people like transparency and they like knowing their questions will be answered. Give them a few different ways to reach you so they can start to build up trust.
- Clear expectations – if you want someone to click a button or visit a page, make sure they know exactly what to expect before they click on it
4. Functionality
Ask yourself: Does everything work the way it’s supposed to?
There’s nothing more frustrating than a site that has broken links and seems glitchy. It creates a very poor first impression and can break trust easily. Visitors to your site expect everything to work properly just like visitors to a movie theatre expect the movie to play without glitches.
To strengthen your functionality, focus on the following elements:
- All links work properly – actually click through all of the links on your own website. Try them in different browsers. Submit forms. Make sure all links lead where you expect.
- User flow makes sense – someone who has never visited your site should be able to navigate it with ease
- Responsive design – test your website on your desktop and phone. It’s unacceptable to have a website not optimized for mobile these days.
Final Thoughts
Your website should tell a story. The more compelling the story and the more personable the storyteller, the more people will be excited to experience what you have to offer.
Marketing yourself does not need to be scary. Without marketing, you are robbing the world of the value you can add. Even if you are not going to dedicate a large portion of your resources to marketing, at the very least go through this checklist and consider how you can strengthen them.
You can also download this checklist as a PDF to have by your side:
Fully Tailored Website Consulting
Now for an example of real-life marketing in the wild… 😉
If you want to take your marketing to the next level, I offer professional website consulting to small business owners and entrepreneurs. In your assessment, I go through a similar checklist and provide an in-depth analysis of each element. I provide ideas on how to improve, encouragement in areas you are excelling in, and suggestions for what to focus on. Ultimately, you can focus on the important parts with the confidence that your time is being invested wisely.
Visit my consulting page for more details and for access to the order form.
I am happy to answer your questions about this checklist, marketing strategies, custom consulting solutions, and anything else you can think of. Comment below or get in touch and let’s get this conversation started.
The world deserves to know about you!
