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Who is Johanna?

Johanna Baker-Dowdell is the owner and manager of Strawberry Communications. We've been chatting on twitter for quite a while and I really trust the information she provides. She has a lot of practical industry experience and is one of the best people I know to deliver this ebook to Aussie small business.

The content

How do I get started?

In this chapter, Johanna lists a number of questions that a business owner should ask before seeking promotional opportunities. These were very similar to the ones recommended in Marketing School, but are a lot simpler.

Write an attention-grabbing media release

I really liked this chapter. Many products I've read discussed the importance of press releases, but didn't explain how to create an effective one. She:

• gave tips on writing a create media release
• Provided a media release template

After reading this chapter, I decide to enquire about her media release services. I'm convinced that she could help me grow my business,

Use the media

She initially recommended that you start with the local media. This is similar to the concept of bloggers guest posting on the smaller blogs. It creates a sort of snowball effect until eventually, the big names take notice of you. I plan to target the local media initially so this chapter was really handy.

Social media

I really appreciated how Johanna emphazied that social networking was about relationships. She could have easily hyped it up like other products.

She focused on three social networking sites:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Each section was only 2-3 pages long but it gave enough information for you to ascertain whether a platform fit with your business goals.

The final chapters focused on:

• Email marketing
• Giveaways and competitions
• Strategic alliances

These are concepts that many social media users may already be quite familiar with. I appreciated how she simplified the information for an audience that isn't as web savvy.

What I liked:

It was a lot broader than most books

A lot of the books I read seem to JUST focus on social media. I liked how she focused on other methods of promoting your business

It was easily digestible

This contained enough information to absorb in one sitting. It made me feel confident enough to promote my site through other methods.

What annoyed me:

The following are minor annoyances, but these are the problems I see a lot of first-time ebook authors use. I hope that Johanna doesn't mind me using her awesome ebook as an example:

• Its short. The font size is larger than most ebooks I've read and I felt like this was unnecessary. Many people worry about meeting a minimum page length but most don't care. They just want good content, which she provided.
• She should have moved the bio to the end of the book. While it is useful to know more about the author, I prefer a short bio at the start and then use the end bio to encourage the reader to check out other content.

The content is really solid. I would have actually used this product as a free ebook to promote my services, but I know that Johanna already has a lot of happy clients.

My verdict:

I really liked this ebook, but it is too basic for most of my readers. I would only recommend it to those who have very little understanding of media releases and social media. For that audience though, it will revolutionize the way you look at promotion.

Click here to buy it now.

Ths books tagline is "thriving as an artist without selling out."

Now, I'm not an artist. This book didn't resonate with me. It still had very solid information that will help those who want to find new ways of selling your art. In The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money, Zoe details how you can use the internet to build a network of supports so you can escape the starving artist mentality.

Chapter one: Introduction

It may see weird to focus so much on the introduction, but this really appealed to me as a freelance blogger. I don't see my writing as art but I have still had a lot of trouble charging for what I love. I really appreciated how Zoe emphasised that your income isn't a reflection of your talents.

Only your talent as a marketer is measured by the money you make. We’re going to redefine marketing as sharing your story with your people.

I love this quote and it really changed how I looked at marketing. Despite all my efforts online, I still feel like talking about myself too much is wrong. This definition has given me the confidence to share my story with the right people.

Chapter two: Strategy

Zoe used the analogy of viewing your website as an online studio. She focused on how to create a space that respects your creative personality.

Find your people.

Social media is a concept that most bloggers know a lot about. However, the analogy she used would also apply to those selling their art offline. She used the heart, mouth, limbs and ears analogy to convey how to connect via conversations.

• Your heart is the home base of your online presence as an artist.
  e.g., your personal website or your Etsy shop
• Your mouth is made up of the platforms where you connect and share your story with a global network.
  e.g., your blog, Twitter, or YouTube
• Your limbs are the di!erent branches where you show and sell your work.
  e.g., your Flickr collection or your
  RedBubble store
• Your ears are the places you go to learn what’s useful, new, or exciting in your areas of interest.
  e.g., Twitter, other artist blogs, or a Facebook group

She reiterates that this is a long term plan - which is something I also tell my clients. The concepts are really easy to understand and would really appeal to those trying to sell their art.

There was two other things that I enjoyed in this chapter:

• Unlike other books targeting niche blogs, Zoe actually ensures that every example is related to the art niche.
• She recommends using Social media as an anti marketing approach

Chapter three: Tactics

Put your work on display.

She did a comprehensive analysis of the different methods of showing your work. The main options were:

• Personal website
• Print on demand services
• Online gallery services.

She discuss multiple options for each oneand included the pros, cons, financial considerations, tips and action plans. This may not necessarily provide the reader with a definite solution, but gives more than enough information to do their own research. It was really easy to understand.

Starting a blog

A lot of time is dedicated to this. As Chris writes a number of unconventional guides for different audiences, I would have appreciated a free general guide to setting up a blog so I dont have to read similar information repeated. I understand that I'm different in reading everything that Chris releases, and that his target audience would really appreciate the very specific examples given.

Chapter four: putting it all together

Creation + interaction= the value of social media

In this chapter, she talks about:

• Spreading the news
• Launching your site
• Getting paid
• Expanding your empire
• Membership site

These were already topics that I was quite familiar with but I can see how it would be so useful for my artist friends. They might research blogging and social media, but not advanced web monetization and online public relations.

My Verdict:

If you are an artist struggling to understand social media, this book is a must read. There is no book that could explain the concepts better than in Art and Money. However I wouldn't recommend buying this just because you are a fan of Chris. It is excellent quality but isn't relevant to non artists and would most likely cover information you already know.

Click here to buy it today

Initially, I was going to do this Marketing School review like my others. Usually I pull out of favourite  quotes, talk about how it helped me and then rave about why I love the product author so much. I was half way through this review and was getting annoyed because I wanted to do the assignments as I was writing it.

So - this is a combination review. I will be raving about Naomi Dunford as usual, but I will also be reviewing my own Ittybiz.

Part 1: Marketing Concepts

I really liked how she talked about the concepts before the strategies. I've often gotten the two confused and this prevented me from getting anywhere with my marketing strategy. Her informal way of explaining things really helped understand things in the broader marketing sense.

Definition of Marketing

 Naomi kindly defined marketing in typical Ittybiz style:

The stuff you do that makes people buy your stuff.

Now, based on my experience, the first step is helping people find your stuff. The second is finding out why people buyer your stuff. She explained this in the next chaper.

 People buy stuff because they want it.

People don’t buy stuff because they don’t trust it.

Figuring Out the Goal of Your Marketing

The goal of your marketing is conversions and there are three ones you should be considering.

• Short term conversions are what you want them to do right now.
• Medium term conversions are what you want them to do later.
• Long term conversions are what you want them to do in the future.

Assignment: List five conversion goals for each time frame

Short

• Get people to download one of my free ebooks
• Get them to sign up to a mailing list
• Get them to connect with me on a social media site
• Get them to sign up for free e-course
• Get them to sign up for my RSS feed

Medium

• Get them to hire me for my lower priced consulting package
• Get them to buy one of my entry level products
• Get them to join a membership site
• Get them to participate in a teleconference
• Get them to sign up for someone elses expensive program through my link

Long

• Get them to sign up for my offline seminar
• Get them to order a consulting package
• Get them to order an offline product
• Get them to order a print book
• Get them to join a year long course

My thoughts:

This assignment was really useful. I knew what my all my goals were and had them listed, but had no organization beyond this. Now I can change how I structure my information, and improve the usability of my site according to certain conversion goals.

Figuring Out What Rocks and What Sucks

Good marketing is about finding what’s good for your customers and your business. That’s it. 

She suggested that the best way to do this, was to do a SWOT Analysis of your business. This section was quite comprehensive and really helped me understand this in a small business setting.

Strengths:

• I have connections to a number of high profile friends
• I am familiar with many of the infoproducts, and creators, in this niche
• I have an established social media presence
• I know the right people to help me 

Weaknesses:

• I am recovering from anxiety which limits the amount of time I can devote to projects
• I have a pretty severe family situation that is consuming most of my free time
• I only have the bare bones of a website/email list up due to time constraints
• I'm poor. This limits the amount of money to invest in business
• I have no practical business experience. This may impact on how businesses perceive me

Opportunities:

• Many of my friends would be willing to promote me and my work should I ask
• I meet a lot of small business people at networking events who seem genuinely impressed with my knowledge
• Their is no-one that is offering the service I'm looking at specializing in.
• I know there is a defininite need locally for my social media services

Threats:

•  There are a lot of people in a similar situation as me without the time constraints.
• There are a lot of people establishing themselves as social media consultants local
• Now that I'm getting a profile, some of my actions are being copied

Unique Selling Proposition

Your USP is the answer to the question, “Why should I buy from you?” The problem most people have when planning their marketing strategy is that they answer the first part of that question – “why should I buy?” – without addressing the second part – “from you?”

Assignment: Create 20 potential USP you could use in your specific business

1. I focus on promoting other people more than myself
2. I target smaller businesses
3. I provide pdf reports that you can keep and refer to later
4. I have to take some time off from my business for travelling
5. I am very involved in charities
6. I have anxiety - which leads to my thought processes being really creative at times
7. I got my job through twitter
8. I provide solutions that you can DIY
9. I write really long posts
10. I get my blog posts professionally edited by someone else
11. I would be one of the only people offering one of my services
12. I provide free DIY solutions on my site, but its not customized to individuals circumstances
13. I used to be more, so I understand how to make an impression on a really tight budget
14. I'll be able to explain business concepts in simple terms, as I built it up myself
15. I have a tourism blog so could target that industry
16. I could specifically target Australian small business
17. I could be one of the few people advertising offline
18. I would be one of the few bloggers offering an online media room
19. If I cant do something, I know the person who can.
20. I deliver my reports within a week of ordering

Identifying Your Target Market

Your target demographic is your version of perfection. These are the people who are begging for your product or service. They have money to spend and they want to spend it on you. Maybe they don’t know it yet, but you do, and that’s all that counts.

Naomi gave three parts of this assignment. The first was describing your perfect customer. I did this elsewhere, as I didn't want to clutter up this analysis. T. he second was providing 12 values. Again, I'd rather not clutter. The final was decided on ideal locations to find your audience.

Target locations:

• Geelong
• Melbourne
• Sydney
• Twitter
• Problogger community

Branding

Things to consider as part of your branding:

• The logo of your site
• Your workflow (specifically, the order process
• The language you use
• How you act on your social media presence

So - I want to brand myself as someone who makes social media, simple. This means I want my branding to be very simple and very usable.

So - I need to figure out how to brand my following online hangouts:

• Twitter
• Facebook Fan Page
• Flickr
• My blog
• My email newsletters
• The emails I send out
• Youtube
• Linked in
• Online chat platforms
• Forums

I also have to brand the follow offline sources:

• Business cards
• Stationary
• My phone message

These are the aspects that need to be consistent across multiple sources:

• The logo
• The tagline
• The colours
• The minimalist, simple concepts

So - I have identified the following tasks to do:

• Buy a nice font and create a graphic for relevant sidebar headings. Rather than go with a cool, grungy font get something simple.
• Redo my Logo. Do it in lowercase black text, and have a simple image. Find this image on graphicriver.net
• Create a simple tagline
• Have very short, but sharp, sales pages.
• Create systems to simplify the order process. This means I will create paypal instant payment options or allow payments  to be processed via e-junkie. That means I can automatically give them an opportunity to put people on advance discount lists as well as send out the relevant questions/kits. I'll give them instructions on where to send it and will email them throughout the process with an ETA of one week.

Part 2: Marketing Strategies

Advertising

I didn't understand the difference between marketing strategies. I got advertising confused with PR and word of mouth. Naomi pointed the three

• You pay for advertising. If someone just says nice things about you on their blog, they’re just saying nice things about you on their blog.
• Advertising involves a concrete, tangible ad. Whether it’s paper or radio script or a jpg of a banner ad, advertising involves a THING, as opposed to a concept. (This is often called a creative in print and web media.) Nonconcrete stuff falls under the purview of public relations or word of mouth.
• There are as many different kinds of advertising as there are media, plus about 3000 more.

In this chapter, she covered three kinds of advertising:

• PayPer Click
• Banner adds
• Print

It wouldn't be fair on Naomi to talk about the other important informati on covered in this chapter. If you are spending more than $50 on advertising, then this chapter alone could save you a bucketload of money. Its that good. I learnt so much and can't wait to start testing.

Emails, E-Newsletters, Newsletter

In this section, she shared 2 pages of tips on how to create a really awesome campaign. I can't do an in depth  lest I reveal everything in Marketing School, but there was one concept that really stood out for me.

Make it very clear what people get.

 Most people don't bother to do this. They'll tell you to sign up for your list and they'll even provide a killer incentive, but they don't give an actual reason for you to do so. This is so obvious and makes segmentation so much easier. Some ideas of what to give:

• Offer them discounts on future products.
• Offer regular tips, which may include the occasional promotional offer

I put up an email list the day I read this. It is very simple and has a simple call to action - sign up to hear when I release a free product. So far, I have two subcribers. Not bad when I'm not doing any active marketing efforts.

PR

Naomi talked about how, with PR, any press release you issue should be newsworthy

Newsworthy means “worthy of news”. It means that whatever you’re trying to convince the press to cover is interesting or important enough that people should. be reading about it with their morning latte. So the first test to put your PR piece to be through is the have-I-read-about-anything-like-this-in-the-press test. If nothing like this is in the press, it’s not worth going in the press.

 Now, this is the bit where I disagreed slightly. I'm a huge fan of David Meerman Scott and found this quote about online media rooms:

So I want you to do something that many traditional PR people think is nuts. I want you to design your online media room for your buyers. By building a media room that targets buyers, you will not only enhance those pages as a powerful marketing tool, you will also make a better media site for journalists.

Its up to you where you stand. I believe it is worth providing a mixture of newsworthy items as well as information that purely interest your buyers.

I plan to outsource the writing of press releases to my friends. I will be going with one person because she promotes a lot of the releases she writes via social media channels.

Sponsorship

Naomi gave three cautions regarding sponsorship:

• Be very, very careful about who or what you sponsor.
• Be very, very careful about why you’re sponsoring.
• Be very, very careful about what you get.

This is very practical information. I have other motivations for sponsorship though:

• Brand alignment. You may want to be seen at the same level as other brands
• For PR purposes.

I would recommend you read this chapter very careful and also look up other information regarding this.

Word of Mouth

In an ittybiz sized business, word of mouth is the easiest, cheapest, most effective, and most efficient way to get new customers and clients, hands down. It is the winner.

She gives simple tips on how you can encourage word of mouth. Here are some ideas I came up with based on this chapter

• Publicly thank people. This is something I do often. I will credit someone for inspiring me with an idea and frequently link out to others. 
• Do something worth talking about. For me, this could be promoting my best articles on twitter and linking specific friends to them.

Social Media

Naomi didn't share any secret goal to help you make your riches via social media. She did say this:

Well, there’s no hard and fast rule, and there’s no guarantee of success and you have to work at it for a really, really long time. But if you do it right, you don’t have to invest any money.

I've had some considerable success on social media sites. My main suggestion is to provide as much help to others as possible. This encourages word of mouth and, because most people are very social media savvy, they know how to share the story with as many people as possible.

She did share one tip, however, that will make me reconsider my use of twitter:

Watch out for too much private interchange

This is a problem I have, but I never really considered it before. I don't like adding people to chat messengers as I only use those for select friends. I check email infrequently and that would interrupt the flow of conversation.

It made me realize that I have to come up with a solution for my excessive private interchange. I try to DM where possible, but sometimes the other person isn't following me. I would really appreciate any suggestions on this.

Blogging

She spoke about how blogging is overated for most business and that it can be a big time suck. She did explain the benefits. I like blogging more for the community rather than business aspect.

The biggest mistake I see ittybiz owners make with their blogs is putting all of their energy into the free samples, and none into bactually making and selling cool stuff.

I agree with this as free samples will be a major part of my strategy. But I have two other motives:

• develop social proof. I want to be able to report that my products were downloaded x amount of times when I release paid products
• I will be including affiliate links in each one, so will still be earning an income.

Part 3: 100 Ways to get people to buy your shit instead of someone elses shit

Naomi gave 100 tips that expanded on some of the stuff she previously spoke about. I'll be sharing four of the tips that really resonated with me.

Be a fun person at a networking event. Talk to people like a real human being.

Usually when I meet people at networking events, I don't talk about my business unless prompted. I'll tell them that I'm a freelance blogger and that I work at Think Tank Media, but I rarely dive in and talk about what I do. I've sometimes told people that I'm just here to meet cool people. This alienates the schmoozer, but has led to me making a lot of friends.

This has accidentally led to me getting promoted a fair bit via word of mouth. This suits me, as it means I can let others do the promoting in the right context.

Promote other people

This is something I always do. Most of my guest posts are raving about someone else. On twitter, I'm usually referring people to someone else. This has helped me get a reputation of someone that is able to help. It also has the benefit of having people promote me in return. It creates a very community atmosphere and again, can lead to more word of mouth promotion.

Brand everything you own

Well, not everything. Close, though. Make sure that your Twitter page, facebook, LinkedIn, and any other online tools you use are consistent with your online brand.

I've brainstormed branding ideas earlier in this post but I really underestimated the amount of places that I'd need to be branding myself. 

Bring business cards everywhere.

I've yet to even get business cards, but this is something I'd definitely agree with. I meet a lot of people when bushwalking and travelling via public transport and this is a great way to get additional leads with no effort.

My Verdict

Marketing School is seriously under priced for the amount of value you get out of it. I've read dozens of marketing books and Marketing School helped me so much more. It has the potential to save small business thousands of dollars, and earn them considerably more.

Click here to buy it today