Hey, love. Episode 429 starts right now. I am The Stacey Harris, social media strategist, and trainer, over here at Hit the Mic with The Stacey Harris, and also the CEO, founder, and lead strategist over at Uncommonly More, a digital marketing agency for female leaders ready to make a big impact in the world. I’m so excited I really get to say that from now on. A few episodes ago, I’m going to say a couple months ago now, I announced the launch of Uncommonly More. There will be more stuff coming very soon, including the reveal of the brand and the social channels and all of that. We’re also in the midst of a complete rebrand here at The Stacey Harris, so lots of branding fun happening, and I’m really excited to share it with you as soon as we can.
Before we get too far down the road of today’s episode, I want to talk about the end of the year. I know, it’s crazy. There is one week left in 2018, and that’s really what drew me to talk about today’s episode. We’re talking about the marketing lessons that I want you to take from 2018 into 2019 because this is a time of change, a time of evolution, and I want you to be maximizing it. I want it to not be something that is sort of hopping from one trend to another because I don’t think that serves your goals, but instead speaks really directly to the impact you’re trying to have. So that’s what we’re going to talk about because it is a time of what happened and what’s ahead.
So we’re going to dig into that. Before we dig into that, though, 2019 is bringing a lot of change. A lot, a lot of change. One of those changes happen two weeks from today with the complete revamp, and essentially a relaunch, of Hit the Mic Backstage, the next step to this podcast, including a training library full of strategy and how-to focused content for all of your content, email, and social media marketing needs. Along with that sort of flip of the switch that’s going to bring in the new training library, there’s a small price increase happening. So you have … Here is your two weeks notice. The great news is, with price increases with Hit the Mic Backstage, whatever price you join at, you keep, you retain for the lifetime of your membership. We do not roll out price increases to our existing members.
This means, to this day, we have members who joined us at $50 per year when we launched. We have members who pay $9. We have members who pay $25. And on the flip side of that, some annual members who pay the 99 and the 250. You could join us at 40 before the price goes up to 97. Yeah, it’s a big one this time, so be sure to reserve your spot. You can cancel absolutely anytime. This is not sort of a you have to be there for a year. There’s no longterm contract. But like I said, we have people who’ve been there since they paid $50 join us, so clearly you’re going to want to stay, but I’d love to have you join us.
In addition to that, the thing you’re going to hear me talking about alongside that over the next couple of weeks is our live event happening in New York City. On February 6th, we are bringing together a group of leaders, 10 women, to build their 90 day marketing plans together. There’s not going to be me dispensing content and then you leaving and doing something. We’re literally going to work through the workbook live during the day. I’m going to feed you. I’m going to give you all the supplies you may need to complete this effort. All you need to bring is you. I do suggest bringing like your laptop or something in case you want to look at some numbers when we’re making decisions, but yeah. We’re limiting it to 10 people, so you’re going to want to reserve your ticket now.
The two pay option, the payment plan option, does go away January 1st. Between you and me and the wall here, I hope to have the event totally sold out by January 1st, so I would absolutely love it if you were one of those 10 people who join us in New York on February 6th, which, P.S., is a week before my birthday, so we will be doing some celebrating while I’m in New York. Okay, guys? So be ready. Be Ready.
All right. So what do you say we actually get into today’s show?
That’s enough sort of like here’s what’s happening. Let’s get into today’s show. The things I want to talk about today are probably going to be evolutions for you instead of revolutions for you, which quite frankly is how you should be doing it. I say that as somebody who’s in the midst of sort of like major shifts in what I’m doing and how I’m presenting it, but still, it’s an evolution. I’m not burning anything down, I’m just updating it. I’m just making it better. I’m evolving it to its next version. We think about this a lot in tech. Every version of the iPhone is not revolutionary. In fact, for the most part, they’re fairly evolutionary, and that’s how it should be. That’s what keeps us growing without a sort of losing our footing. Okay?
So thing number one, and you’ve, if you’ve listened to the show for any amount of time, you’ve heard me say this roughly 487,000 times, but I don’t think it’s ever been more important than it is now because in every corner of the Internet it’s getting more crowded. There are more voices, and nothing cuts through the noise quicker than clarity. So be really super clear on who you’re talking to, because the people you’re talking to will be able to self-identify really, really quickly if you are really, really clear that you’re speaking to them. Not everybody. Not all the people trying to do all the things. Your people.
This is something that, doing this work, sitting down as I mapped out 2019, is why we’re doing things like raising the price for Backstage, changing all of the content in the content library, changing the way we structure our offerings, changing the fact that … the splitting of the two brands, shifting from everything being under The Stacey Harris to really having a full agency that’s separated from The Stacey Harris. Even hosting a live event, literally, it all comes from sitting down and going, okay, who am I talking to? Can I dig deeper? And you know what’s funny? Is every time I do this, I think there’s no possible way I could dig any deeper than I did this time, and then I do it again and I dig deeper, and it works.
And so even if you’ve done this a thousand times, which I seriously don’t believe you, but even if you’ve done this a thousand times and you swear you can’t get any clearer on who your people are or the language they’re using or what their needs are or how they’re talking about them, do it anyways. It will shift the success, not just that you have, but that they have, because it will be so easy for them to go, “Oh, hey, this is what I’m looking for. I didn’t even realize it, but this is what I’m looking for.” Okay? So get really stupid super clear on who you serve.
Number two thing, I want you to start doing less but better. Now, oftentimes, it is proposed from marketing experts around the world that you need to be all the places all the time, and I don’t find that to be hugely valuable. I find it valuable for somebody like me to have at least a baseline presence in most, if not all places, but I do this for a living. You don’t. Okay? So I want you instead to choose two social channels, to choose one content piece, and to use your email to speak to those other pieces. This is not about creating a special email on a special piece of content that’s blog and video and podcast or audio, and then being in every single social channel. That’s not sustainable. It’s impossible for you to provide real value in that many places with any kind of consistency.
So instead, choose how you create content. Repurpose that content into social pieces for two networks. Use your email list to send traffic to that piece of content. That’s it. Like really-really, that’s it. I want you to do those things really well. Until you’re doing those things really well, don’t think about adding something else. Now, this doesn’t mean that you can’t also have a podcast, but I want you to first do these core things really, really masterfully. Then add, okay? So instead of going wide, we’re going deep. That’s what I want for you in 2019.
As we shift into the next one, I want you to sort of understand that this less but better is what allows you to do this next step, and that’s be really consistent with your messaging. When we do the workshop stuff, we did the virtual one earlier this month, what’s so funny to me is pulling this idea that you’re going to figure out the one thing you’re selling that month and that’s what you’re going to talk about. As I did my end of the year sort of strategy calls with our one-on-one clients, and when I broke down what we’re going to be promoted with our agency clients, every time we run into this, “Well, but I have all of these offerings.” Well, great. I don’t care. We’re going to sell one of them this month.
Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t sell the other things. That doesn’t mean they’re not available. In fact, selling one thing will help us sell the other things because it gets us traction because we’ve built trust and a consistent message. So even if we’ve built trust and are consistently selling a program, or a course, let’s say, it doesn’t mean we’re not booking one-on-one calls. In fact, talking about our course will give us traffic and an audience that wants one-on-one. This happens all the time with clients who we build launch strategies for. We’ll build them a launch strategy, and regardless of the results from their actual program launch, they always net one-on-one clients every single time because they’re getting visible. They’re getting out there, and some people just prefer to work one-on-one.
So look at getting really consistent and really, really clear with your messaging each and every month. What’s the one thing I’m selling right now? What are the three things I sell overall? If you look at my offerings, and the umbrella they sit in will be changing as we go into 2019, but the offerings will remain the same. We’ve got Backstage, we’ve got … And really, we’ve got this podcast. Then we’ve got Backstage. Then we’ve got BAM, which is the VIP mastermind kind of level. We’re adding in Backstage Live, which is obviously the in-person workshops. We’ve got VIP days where it’s in-person but one-on-one. Those are again shifting a little bit in 2019. We’re changing some of the ways we do that, but that’s there. Me building you a strategy, it’s a done for you strategy. Again, we’re shifting that a little bit in 2019, but the offering is still there, and then done for you services for my team. That’s all the offerings I have from one end of the spectrum to the other.
On paper, that’s a lot of offerings, but when I sell one thing, when I talk about one piece, it sells all the pieces because they’re all essentially the same offering, they’re just for you depending on where you are in your journey from problem to solution, problem being I have no digital marketing presence, solution being we run a digital marketing presence for you. When you first start, you go to the podcast, and then you go Backstage, and then you go Backstage Live, or maybe you go to BAM. Those pieces can be moved around. Then we take it a step further and we start giving you more and more, as you’ve worked to a place where you’re ready for it.
This came up in Erica’s episode last week where we’re talking about the offerings are just about figuring out where you are in the journey and putting you there. This is something that Tara Newman over at The Bold Leadership Revolution is talking a lot about, this idea of getting away from transactional offerings, getting away from I sell you this widget and then we’re done, and instead working your customers through a journey. That’s what I want you to be doing. And when you have a consistent message, you’re able to sell all the things even when you’re just selling one thing. But when you take a step back and you look at what’s the one thing I’m selling, it gets a whole lot easier to actually be consistent with what’s the messaging this month. All right?
The final thing, again, wraps right up into that, is I want you to know the why for every single post. Now, the why could be I’m trying to sell you a widget. The why could be I want you to attend my live event. The why could be I want you to buy these shoes. The why could be I want you to work with me one-on-one. The why could also be I want you to engage with my story. The why could also be I want you to trust me more. The why could also be I want to make you laugh. The why could also be I want you to listen to this podcast or download this thing or opt in for this thing or attend this thing. I don’t care what the why is, as long as it then leads to another why that leads to another why that leads to another why that is ultimately you generating revenue.
But I don’t want there to be a single thing that you put out in 2019, social, email, blog post, handwritten note, newsletter, carrier pigeon or smoke signal, that you don’t know why you’re doing it, that it doesn’t have an actual purpose, because when you stop creating for the sake of creating, when you stop creating because that’s what you’re supposed to do, you will find that what you create actually gets consumed, actually gets results, and that’s what I want for you in 2019. All right?
All right, so there you have it. Wrapping it up. Those were our marketing lessons. Again, get super clear on your who. Who are you talking to? I want you to start doing less but better. I want you to be super consistent with your messaging, and I want you to know the why behind every single thing you put out marketing material wise in 2019. I’ll be honest with you. This comes down to we’re putting together workbooks right now for our February event, and as I write out the process we’re working through, as I write out where the blanks fall, I know exactly why that piece is there. I know exactly why the front cover looks like the front cover. I know exactly why the back cover is a very specific message. I want you to be that clear to. All right?
Speaking of the February event, I want you to come to join us in New York City. I’m so excited. So New York, even though I’m firmly a West Coast girl and not at any point going to be full-time in New York City, as of right now in my life, it’s hands down my favorite place to work, to get in and do this kind of stuff. It’s super energizing for me, and I absolutely love it. There’s this weird ability to people without peopling that really fuels me in New York City, and so I’m super excited. Although, when I’m in New York, I will be peopling like crazy because we’re going to be hosting this event. I’m doing a VIP day, which I think is already booked. We’re waiting for final confirmation, but I think is already booked, otherwise I will let you guys know if you want it. I’m attending another event, and of course, I will be visiting with lots of friends while I’m in the city.
But I want to see you in person, live for a full day. Let’s build your 90 day marketing plan and really teach you how to do this over and over and over and over and over again so that you never, ever, ever, ever, ever post something without knowing why again. All right? Don’t forget, once again, backstage prices go up in two weeks, so if you’re not yet a member, come join us, and that’s all I’ve got for you.
The next time I talk to you, it will be 2019. I hope you are having a wonderful end of 2018. If you are celebrating the holidays, happy holidays. If you are not, happy it’s quiet because a lot of people are, so enjoy. I will talk to you very soon. Thank you so much for another amazing year of this podcast. I’m so excited for 2019. I genuinely cannot contain myself. I’ll see you next year.
Thanks for joining us for another episode of Hit the Mic with The Stacey Harris. Want to keep the show going? Join us Backstage. Join us at hitthemicbackstage.com right now for just $1 and get access to everything you need to know to make your social media rock.
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