Your First Marketing Moves: Where Every Solopreneur Should Begin

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Today, we’re diving into a topic that keeps business owners awake at night almost as effectively as a triple espresso: marketing. It’s the puzzle that everyone loves to hate…until they get some expert guidance. And that’s exactly what we have for you today! Meet Donna Amos, the mastermind behind The Marketing Blueprint: From Planning to Profit and owner of Solopreneur Solutions, LLC. 

Donna has over 30 years of marketing experience. She’s worked with thousands of clients, helping them turn marketing mayhem into clear, actionable strategies. But don’t worry, Donna’s no textbook talker. She’s known for translating complex concepts into plain English, often with a dash of humor. 

We discuss things like:

• Unique challenges and opportunities solopreneurs face compared to larger businesses
• How traditional methods like print media or direct mail fit into today's digital-heavy landscape
• How solopreneurs can leverage AI effectively 
• Key foundational marketing steps that new entrepreneurs should prioritize
• How solopreneurs can better understand and connect with their ideal audience
• How to differentiate yourself in a crowded market
• Universal marketing strategies or principles that every business should adopt
• Budget-friendly marketing strategies for maximum impact

We discuss all of this plus so much more, so be sure to tune in!

Like the show? We'd love it if you'd leave a 5-star review!

Connect with Donna Amos

• Visit solopreneursllc.com
• Connect with Donna on LinkedIn

Favorite Quote About Success:

"The future is simply infinite possibility waiting to happen. What it waits on is human imagination to crystallize its possibility." - Leland Kaiser

Being a solopreneur is awesome but it’s not easy. It's hard to get noticed. Most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone...until now. LifeStarr's SoloSuite Intro gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one-person business. 

So, if you are lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, or are having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even just lonely running a company of one, click here to check out SoloSuite Intro!

About Donna Amos

Donna Amos founded Solopreneur Solutions in 2008. They specialize in working with small businesses across United States to help them get to the first page on major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing for their related keywords in their service area.

Over the last 16 years, they have worked with small business owners in some of the most competitive markets in the United States. Through their continuous training, experience and trial/error, they have developed a proven marketing system that has been getting consistent results for their clients and getting them to the top of search engines and increasing their monthly leads.

Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on Apple Podcasts Thanks!

Transcript

Carly Ries: 00:00

Our topic for today is one of the most critical yet often overlooked aspects of solopreneur success, and that is lead nurturing. As a solopreneur, your leads are more than just names on a list. They're potential partners, loyal clients, and future advocates for your brand. But here's the thing. If you're not actively nurturing those connections, you're missing out on all the full potential of your network and the lasting relationships that can help take your business to the next level.

Carly Ries: 00:28

In this episode, Joe and I quickly discuss all of this and points to start nurturing those leads today. So grab a cup of coffee, get comfortable, and let's talk about how you can start building a community around your business, one thoughtful interaction at a time. You're listening to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for those just taking the bold step or even just thinking about taking that step into the world of solo entrepreneurship. My name is Carly Ries, and my co host Joe Rando and I are your guides to navigating this crazy, but awesome journey as a company of 1. We take pride in being part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all aspects of solopreneurship that has empowered and educated countless solopreneurs looking to build a business that resonates with their life's ambitions.

Carly Ries: 01:16

We help people work to live, not live to work. And if you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the show for you. So if you're eager to gain valuable insights from industry experts on running a business the right way the first time around or want to learn from the missteps of solopreneurs who've paved the way before you, then stick around. We've got your back because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. Joe, we talk to solopreneurs all the time, and one of the things we ask them is, how are you nurturing your leads?

Carly Ries: 01:48

And a lot of times you get a deer in headlights look like, what are you talking about? I reach out to them, and then I don't hear back, so I send a follow-up email. And then maybe I'll poke them again 3 months, and it's like, woah. You're not communicating with your leads once you convert them into leads. And this is such a common mistake solopreneurs make, and it's such a good low hanging fruit to course correct on.

Carly Ries: 02:15

But, Joe, I know you're waiting to say your your 4 favorite words. And so I want you to kick this episode off with that so we can lead with this is in mind.

Joe Rando: 02:26

Just get this out of the way. It's just, to me, this summed it up, and I think I see it missing a lot. But in terms of lead nurturing, in terms of, marketing and sales, it starts with 2 steps.

Joe Rando: 02:43

You build trust and you inspire action, but you do it in that order. You have to build trust before you start trying to get them to do things. Because if I come to you and ask you to do something before you trust me, it's going to be like, Let me get out of here. I just want to get out of here. I don't know what this person's all about.

Joe Rando: 03:02

So that's what I always say. I will continue to say that. And I know that I'll never see everybody doing it because I get too many Inmails and emails saying, hire me, hire me, hire me. And, it doesn't work. So that's out of the way.

Carly Ries: 03:21

Okay. Out of the way. So how do you do that? if we're talking specifically, a lot of people think straight email, you can converse with your leads through various forms.

Carly Ries: 03:32

Joe just mentioned LinkedIn. You could also do it through, email, like I said, other social channels. But essentially, you just kinda wanna have various touch points with your audience. 1 on 1 communication, make it feel like you are talking directly to them, not a big group, and start simply by helping them. Offer a free website review, but don't don't put them down in the offer.

Carly Ries: 03:54

I also on LinkedIn get messages like, oh, I noticed your website, which by the way expired a few years ago. I noticed your website is missing this, this, and this, and it kinda puts people down and it's like, that's not gonna help. But if you approach people just with really, good intentions and a strong desire to be like, hey, check out this piece of content I have. Just wanna let you know, it's a calendar that I put together. You might find it helpful.

Carly Ries: 04:17

Hope you're having a great day. Don't ask for anything in return and do this multiple times. Think of resources, think of tips, whether it's a newsletter, whatever, they can really engage your audience and just prove that you're there to solve their problems. Once you build that trust, that's when you can start sneaking in some of the asks. So just for example, we have an event called solopreneur problem solvers as well as one called solopreneur success sessions.

Carly Ries: 04:46

These are free events. They are just for solopreneurs. We genuinely love putting them on. We meet wonderful people through these events. But at the end, I send out a follow-up email just being like, hey, quick question.

Carly Ries: 05:00

We are so glad you're enjoying these free events. Can we ask you a favor? Are you interested in leaving a 5 star review for a podcast or something like that? But build that trust first. the way that so many marketers refer to it is you have to date somebody before you propose.

Carly Ries: 05:18

So date your customers, get to know them, let them get to know you, and then you can propose. And then once you propose, you can actually get married and close that sale. you say build trust, inspire action. I say, don't jump into marriage on the first date. Anything you wanna add, Joe?

Joe Rando: 05:40

Yeah. My dad asked my mother to marry him after a week of dating.

Carly Ries: 05:44

they're an to a rule. Thank you very much. And that's possible.

Joe Rando: 05:48

Yeah. I do have a few things to add there. So, ways of building trust. Okay? You can offer them useful content, like you said, but, doing things like sharing your real stories, whether you're doing that, on a social post, if you connect to them on social media or an email where you just kind of talk about something that's personal that applies to your business and what people do in a newsletter maybe, using video to communicate.

Joe Rando: 06:20

I don't love it, but it's just becoming a way to communicate that builds more trust because, you know, we look at people's faces, look at their body language, and we learn more about them than just either reading their words or even just hearing their words. So video is a good way to build trust and therefore, you know, nurture leads, people that are thinking about, maybe you're thinking about trying to get to do business with. You know, social proof is another thing you can use in your lead nurturing process. So you're sending out a series of emails after somebody engages. One of them could just be, you know, talking about some, again, in a story form is great, but, you know, talking about somebody that you've helped in your business and just kind of explaining, telling an interesting story about how they went from this bad situation to this good situation and how you did it.

Joe Rando: 07:11

Another one, you know, we had said Marcus Sheridan on the podcast. Put pricing on your website. You know, I'm assuming you have a website and put your pricing. If you don't have a price, if it's something that varies depending on what you offer, put a price range. Give people a clue because you know what?

Joe Rando: 07:33

I go to a site and I look and I say, There's no price. And I go, do I wanna carve out half an hour of my day to get on a Zoom call with somebody that I don't know to then find out that it's got an extra 0 on it from what I can spend, and now I feel like an idiot and I wasted that time. So, you know, you're not gonna lose anybody that really needs what you do by putting your prices. You're only gonna get rid of the people that are gonna waste your time and their time. So I just have to do a little rant there on that one.

Carly Ries: 08:09

Yeah. No. I like it. But as you could see, there are so many ways to build this trust and inspire that action. The one thing I wanna point out is we're talking about lead nurturing, but I just have to mention your nurturing does not end once they become a client or customer.

Carly Ries: 08:24

In fact, that's kinda where you're just beginning because if you can nurture your clients and your customers and take care of them throughout the whole process, even post purchase, they'll be more likely to recommend your company, give you those 5 star reviews, all of that. So we're talking about lead nurturing, but that is just the beginning. So make sure you have a plan in place for post purchase nurturing.

Joe Rando: 08:47

Yeah. I call that, onboarding. Right? So onboarding and then nurturing from there and, making that a good experience, and then you take a customer and make them into an evangelist.

Carly Ries: 08:56

Yep. So those are our 2¢ for today. Joe, any more cents?

Joe Rando: 09:01

Just in terms of once you get this nurturing going, don't forget the inspire action part.

Joe Rando: 09:08

Offer one thing, use calls to action, focus on benefits, not features, using that social proof, limited time offers. you know, those kinds of things can really take somebody who you've built trust with and inspire them to take the next step.

Carly Ries: 09:24

Yep. Love it. Well said. Well, folks, we hope you enjoyed this very short episode. As always, please leave that 5 star review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, subscribe on YouTube, and we will see you next week.

Carly Ries: 09:39

You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com