Episode 245: Why You Should Invest in Marketing With Alicia Branham
We are talking all things marketing -- now if your hair just stood up on end … or you're thinking you already know everything there is about marketing … or you can chat GPT your way through, I want you to hang on to your hats and glasses and listen to today's conversation.
Alicia Branham is the marketing powerhouse with a story beyond business savvy. Her journey reflects adaptability and determination, traits cultivated during her formative years when her parents uprooted her to Uruguay.
Navigating the challenges of a new language and culture, Alicia not only embraced the unfamiliar but thrived in it. This early experience laid the foundation for her ability to connect with diverse audiences and approach marketing from a truly global perspective.
What you're going to hear today is a story of a woman who figured out how important marketing was by working for a company that was very unsexy -- but also very pivotal to your shower this morning.
And the reason it is so important to invest in marketing, is that it is SO LOUD now. I think it’s the loudest time it's ever been in history. And we must be able to stand out so that the people who are looking for us and need our help are going to be able to find us.
Journey to marketing
Alicia blends her creative side with her passion for helping people. She helps brands crush their visual presence with her background in design and marketing.
When she started, she ran an in-house marketing department for a large valve manufacturer. It was the sort of behind the scenes – or your wall – reason that people have clean water in their faucets and can bathe their babies. She learned what it entails to buy an American-made product and the pressures put on people requesting her services to help them succeed.
“They're looking for resources, they're looking for help. And so I love being that on every level to my people,” says Alicia.
She works with a lot of second- and third-generation businesses to freshen up or rebrand their services to help them gain recognition in their industry.
“At some point, you have to care about how you look and represent yourself to the world, even if you are a small business,” says Alicia. “It's no different than walking out of the house and running a brush through your hair and putting on some clean clothes.”
Invest in marketing plan
Alicia says the one thing she wished more business owners did is to create a marketing plan for themselves – no matter what product or service they provide. How are you going to attract any new business and grow if you don't invest in your business's marketing plan?
“Wouldn't you want someone that maybe specializes in your industry to bring you some new insights and some new data … and help your business really stand out? A lot of people think that they have to do it alone,” says Alicia. “You don’t.”
Alicia says many business owners feel the need to take the burden on themselves because they think they can’t afford it. But there are so many options for assistance to help businesses grow and get help.
“If you're not a specialist in a specific area, why on Earth are you going to keep trying to do something that's not your jam? It's going to take ten times it long, and what's going to happen is that you're going to spend time working in your business when you should be working on your business,” says Alicia.
She points to using contractors who can help fill a need. One of the first people Alicia hired was a bookkeeper.
“I understand that we're all got this do-it-ourselves mentality. We're going to wear 55 hats, but at the end of the day, that does not work for your business as long-term growth, because what's going to happen to you as a human? Burnt out. Done. Spent. And wanting to quit.”
Alicia says a mistake she made in her business was not getting her monthly numbers. Alicia says her life changed when she started looking at her numbers. It also makes you a stronger business owner, even if you're a solopreneur, it gives you all the tools and the information that you need to make educated decisions.
Knowing how much money the business uses each month makes it possible to save in case everything stops – hello emergency or pandemic – and if the numbers start to slow down, maybe pulling a months’ worth of those funds and directing them towards marketing can stop the slowdown.
Getting started with marketing
If you’re looking to start investing in marketing, the first step is to really understand your end user, your client, or your customer and the spaces they occupy.
“What's your message? What are you trying to get across? Who are you trying to attract? And then start building a conversation around your clients ... providing value in the form of either blog posts or articles,” says Alicia.
“Marketing and just everything in general is just is changed so much, but you shouldn't be afraid of it.”
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