Marketing

Quick Announcement:
New Rule for Asking Questions: Members are now allowed to ask only one question. To earn the privilege of asking another question, they must demonstrate that they have taken action based on the previous guidance or information provided.

Shift from Information to Action: In 2024, there is a shift in focus from information dissemination to action. Chris Do emphasizes that he will prioritize reviewing and providing feedback on the actions that members are taking, rather than just discussing ideas.

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Quick summary: AI integration, LinkedIn optimization, client targeting, lead generation, and event participation, aiming to improve overall business performance and effectiveness.

Top 4 Highlights

1. Incorporate AI Tools for Enhanced Productivity:
  - Explore and integrate AI tools to enhance understanding, productivity, and real-time editing of sales pages.

2. LinkedIn Profile Enhancement:
    - Use AI tools to rewrite and simplify LinkedIn profiles.
    - Post clarity and readability for the reader.
    - Focus on image quality and audience identification.
    - Refine customer persona for better lead generation.

3. Lead Generation and Business Growth Strategies:
    - Double down on generating leads from existing categories.
    - Leverage email, social media, and referrals for growth.
    - Address challenges posed by the post-pandemic economy.

4. Securing Speaking Slots at Live Events:
    - Explore alternative strategies like teaming up with a prominent individual.
    - Consider creating a Youtube video or submitting a case study.
    - Record a video pitch or sample talk for event organizers.

Resources:
AuthoredUp: https://authoredup.com/
Glasp: https://glasp.co/
Dave's Office Hours - "Make Content Effortlessly with AI with Dave Katague": https://thefutur.com/membership/pro-library/make-content-effortlessly-with-ai-with-dave-katague

Chris Do Prompts:

1. Reflection on Past Successes:
   - "List your top three most successful projects. What common attributes did these clients share?"
   - "Think about a project you really enjoyed. What made this client or project stand out?"
2. Analyzing Client Characteristics:
   - "Describe your ideal client. What industry are they in? What are their main challenges and needs?"
   - "If you could choose, what kind of projects or problems would you solve every day?"
3. Financial Viability and Market Demand:
   - "Research and list niches you are interested in. What is the market size and potential for each?"
   - "For each niche, identify potential clients. Are they actively seeking design solutions? How urgent are their needs?"
4. Understanding Client Mindset:
   - "Imagine yourself in your client’s shoes. What are their top priorities and decision-making factors?"
   - "What fears or hesitations might these clients have about hiring a designer?"
5. Unique Value Proposition (UVP):
   - "What unique skills or perspectives do you bring to the table that others might not?"
   - "How does your design approach specifically address the needs of your ideal client?"
6. Realistic Persona Building:
   - "Create a detailed persona of your ideal client. Include demographics, psychographics, and their typical day."
   - "What are the communication preferences and platforms commonly used by your ideal client?"
7. Testing and Feedback:
   - "Choose a potential niche. Reach out to potential clients for informational interviews. What insights did you gain?"
   - "Based on your research, are there adjustments needed in your approach to better serve this audience?"

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For the next Pro Call we are looking for 4 experts:

1. Cold Outreach and Emails:
If you've rocked at reaching out to folks using emails or bought email lists, share your success for the next call.

2. Paid Ads Whizzes:
If you're a champ at running ads, whether on Google or Facebook, and it helped you grow your audience.

3. Content Strategy Pros:
If your LinkedIn, YouTube, or Instagram content strategy brought in leads that boosted your business.

4. DM Masters:
Whether you're great at chatting in person at events or nailing virtual outreach, tell us if you've got the DM game.

Let us know via Circle DM to Andres

Highlights:
Transitioning From Content Producer to Strategic Partner:
   - Focus on building trust with clients.
   - Understand clients' goals to provide valuable services.
   - Implement sales strategies by educating clients of the value of your product.
   - Identify and leverage compelling events in your sales approach.
   - Invest in content marketing, such as articles and videos, to attract clients.
   - Ensure online visibility and make products more exciting for clients.
   - Develop the skill of asking probing questions to understand client problems.
   - Relate clients' issues to the buyer's journey for a better understanding.
   - Gauge clients' pain points and their willingness to invest in solutions.
   - Strive to become a strategic advisor by understanding clients' business objectives.
   - Learn about decision-making processes in clients' businesses.
   - Position yourself as a valuable partner by facilitating strategic discussions.

Education vs. Simplicity in Business Success:

   - Assess if there's potential in simplifying your business model.
   - Innovate in teaching or duplicating successful approaches.
   - Reflect on motivations and tactics for financial success.
   - Focus on enhancing services and operations rather than adding complexity.
   - Simplify offers and ensure clear communication within the team.
   - Invest in marketing strategies to stand out in your category.

Join Chris as he coaches Pro members with challenges, including time management, organizing and marketing masterminds, how to help students who work in industries threatened by AI, and how to onboard high-ticket clients.
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Time Management Resource: Rich Webz

Mastermind Resource: Taki Moore

Visual Effects Resource: Zach King

Project Management Resources: Practical Project Management and OpSys

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In this workshop, Made By James will be giving you all the tools you need to nurture your relationships and upsell your services and products to an established audience of buyers. There is a reason that the world's top creatives rave about their newsletter! It is a great source of income and integral to building trust in your brand… After this session you will wish you started a newsletter sooner.James Martin, AKA Made By James, is the owner of a brand and animation studio based in the UK called Baby Giant Design Co. He has amassed an online audience of hundreds of thousands across multiple platforms and he has over 320K followers on instagram alone. He is a designer that helps other designers and his mission is simple, he is here to help alleviate the daily struggles of creative humans through honest and engaging educational content.

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Benefits of Growing Your Newsletter

Your email list is one of the most valuable assets for any business or personal brand. Some key benefitsinclude:

You own your audience. Unlike social media where you're on "rented land", your email list cannot be taken away from you.

Email drives more conversions than other channels.** According to research, email marketing consistently converts better than any other digital marketing channel like search or social media.

It allows you to build value and nurture relationships.** By providing useful, valuable content on a consistent basis, a newsletter helps prove your expertise while strengthening connections with your audience.

It's a direct line of communication. You have a direct channel to reach your entire audience that doesn't depend on algorithms. This allows you to promote your products, services, launches and more directly.

It can become a profitable ecosystem. With the right cadence of both free and premium offers, a newsletter allows you to build a self-sustaining business through repeated customer interactions over time.

Keys to Newsletter Success

The keys to growing a successful newsletter include:

Provide value first, sell second. About 80-90% of your newsletter content should be free value and ideas. Selling should make up a small minority to build trust.

Consistently deliver high-quality, useful content. Take the time to craft content that truly helps and educates readers with industry insights, tips, lessons learned and other expertise.

Build it as a relationship, not just a broadcast. Take the time to engage and respond to readers to nurture the connections and foster goodwill over time.

Get readers onto your list through lead magnets. Offer valuable free downloads, checklists, templates etc. in exchange for an email opt-in to begin the relationship.

Use cadence strategically. Vary your frequency and content types (e.g. weekly, biweekly) and strategically weave in premium offers at optimal points in this rhythm.

Framework for Growing Your List

The following steps will help grow an engaged subscriber base over time:

1. Create a Lead Magnet. Develop a valuable free asset (guide, template etc.) to entice opt-ins.

2. Drive Traffic to an Opt-in Page. Promote your lead magnet on social media, your website or blog to generate interest and capture leads.

3. Welcome & Onboard New Subscribers. Send a welcome series to introduce yourself and contextualize future emails.

4. Deliver Consistent Valuable Content. Share high-quality industry insights, lessons learned, tutorials etc. on a frequent cadence (e.g. weekly).

5. Weave in Strategic Offers. At appropriate cadence intervals, promote premium offers by building perceived value first over time.

6. Nurture Relationships. Engage readers through personal touches like thank you notes, reader polls and comments.  

7. Measure & Refine.** Analyze open and click rates plus conversion data to optimize and test new content/offer strategies.

Action Steps

1. Brainstorm 3-5 ideas for a valuable lead magnet you could offer readers for opt-ins.

2. Draft a welcome series outline to introduce your brand's voice and value to new subscribers.

3. Map out content topics and a publishing schedule for the next 3 months of your newsletter.

4. Research email marketing best practices and analytics tools to measure engagement over time.

5. Interview successful entrepreneurs about how they strategically nurture reader relationships.

I'm nearing my token limit. Please let me know if you would like me to continue or have any other feedback.

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The shortcut is a process that helps photographers and filmmakers land their dream clients, the fast way.

Something that's very common with these high net worth people. They spend an incredible amount of money on coaches and advisors.

How to turn strangers into friends and friends into customers by asking for their permission versus bombarding them with irrelevant ads. How you can get people to pay attention by asking. This is a break down from a book written by Seth Godin named “Permission Marketing”.

Chris Do does a keynote on growing leads through inbound video marketing.

Mo Ismail leads a call driving the value and importance of producing online video content

Pro Members guide this session by asking questions to Chris Do.

Ben Burns gives a Facebook ads overview and tips for positiong your Facebook ad to capture the right audience.

Greg Gunn gives a presentation on the methods and mistakes the Futur learned with their email marketing strategy.

Chris Do answers a pro member's question about having one marketing strategy that effectively attracts 3 different industries.