Introducing THE EDGE

I always like to mix things up with my own marketing. And perhaps you do, too.

The problem is that we often are so busy that we don’t realize that we need to refresh our strategies. For instance, I only realized last week that my own lead magnet is officially one year old. Yikes! I am currently working on creating a new lead magnet and will prioritize updating my lead magnets more often.

What can you expect from THE EDGE Newsletter?

First, my mission is to not over-complicate things. You have enough on your plate without a dense newsletter that will give you heavy marketing lessons that will take a long time to comprehend let alone implement.

I’m all about getting information fast and then putting it to work fast.

That’s not to say I won’t share marketing tips that will be thoughtful and challenging. I intend to do that. But for now, this newsletter will be divided into four parts:

The Leading Edge: Focusing on YOU, leadership & authority building

The Sharper Edge: Focusing on your business, sharpening the axe to get things done

The Cutting Edge: Focusing on your environment, productivity tools/hacks, and de-cluttering your space

And... just for fun, The Italian Edge. I'm a foodie. I love to cook and enjoy testing new recipes. I'll include some of my favorites in this section.

Congratulations for filling your tank.

You’re going to receive a lot of good ideas for free!

You want to be seen as the authority. You want high value prospective clients to not only understand your competencies but feel as though it would be a huge win for them to be accepted by you as a client.

How do you get there?

In the book, Authority Marketing: How to Leverage 7 Pillars of Thought Leadership to Make Competition Irrelevant, authors Adam Witty and Rusty Shelton describe authority marketing in this way: Authority occurs when someone takes the right steps to combine stand-out, trustworthy expertise in his or her field with the kind of high visibility you might often associate with a celebrity. When that happens, the expert’s name becomes synonymous with the field he or she works in—which of course provides an incalculable advantage over competitors.

Let’s unpack that.

“Right steps…” First, if you’re not engaged in creating any content at all, then that’s the first step to take. You need to decide what type of content marketing will work for you. Check out the excellent book, Epic Content Marketing, Second Edition: Break through the Clutter with a Different Story, Get the Most Out of Your Content, and Build a Community in Web3 by Joe Pulizzi and Brian Piper. It clearly defines the different types of content marketing and will give you three key insights into each one.

Second, once you create any type of content to demonstrate your authority, you need to promote it on more than one channel.

Example: Let’s say you wrote a killer blog post demonstrating your expertise. Do you hit “publish” and go on to the next task?

Not if you want your authority to gain traction.

Instead, take that blog post and re-imagine it in different ways:

• Take small pieces of your blog post and create social media updates from it
• Use key points to create a LinkedIn Carousel (PDF). Highlight that carousel on your profile page as a Featured post.
• Create a webinar from the blog post

Those are just a few ideas. You can do much more. Just don’t create content and only use it once.

We’ll unpack more in the next edition. :-)

Years ago, I was a dating coach for single women over 40. Although I felt as though I understood their dating challenges since married late in life, I still wanted to ensure I was on track.

One activity that I liked to do was what I called “field research.”

My husband was aware of this and thankfully supported me. I attended an event for older singles to see what I could learn. I chatted up several men and was honest with them. I wasn’t looking for love, but information. ;-)

I would ask a lot of questions and then listen. It was amazing. I discovered many older men had some of the same problems that older women had—mainly, trying to live up to unrealistic standards that have been set by our culture. One man bemoaned the fact that although he didn’t look like Brad Pitt, he was a good father, a good provider, and treated women with respect. But he felt as though he often was rejected before even getting out of the gate because he wasn’t handsome enough.

Whatever business you have, consider doing your own field research. Although I’m a fairly well-read person and thought I knew my target audience’s pain points, I still was surprised when I stopped to listen to someone from that target audience.

Questions to elicit insights:

• “When was the last time you bought/hired a product/service in (your industry or profession)?”
• “Can you tell me about your experience? Were you satisfied with the process?’
• “What were some of the areas of friction in the process?”
• And although some may think this is overused, “How did that make you feel?”
• “What could the business have done differently that would have improved your experience?”

?

Asking questions and then listening will give you more insights than hiring an expensive marketing research company, trust me. You’re the one in charge of your business and therefore, you have more skin in the game than anyone else.

Have fun with this! These sorts of conversations are great for casual networking events or fun activities like a barbecue or baseball game. Keep it light. You don’t necessarily need every minute detail to glean important information.

Bonus Tip: Conducting field research live allows you to pay attention to body language. Notice if someone frowns, shows irritation, or has a big smile. Follow up on those observations as you draw out more insights.

Don’t forget to carry a notebook with you at all times. You never know when a good field research opportunity may appear!

Current obsession: EasyBib (h/t Robert Rose , "This Old Marketing" podcast)

As a ghostwriter for non-fiction books, I have researched and written my share of footnotes.

But what do I do when my client has a boatload of references and I need to cite them in the book with a valid citation style?

EasyBib to the rescue! This free resource allows you to plug in a URL of a web article and create a citation to use as a footnote in the MLA style (Modern Language Association).

If you want a citation in the Chicago style or APA, you’ll have to subscribe and pay a monthly fee.?They have over 7,000 styles to choose from once you upgrade from the free service.

If you do use it for free, you’ll have to watch an ad before moving on to the next window that has the citation. But it’s worth it. I’ve been able to do at least 3 citations before having to watch another ad.

If you have a student in the house, let them know. It can make their own research papers a little less painful as they list their references.

I don’t know if I will always add this, but I’m going to today.

Because hey… I was raised in a family of boisterous, lovable Italians who knew how to make the most amazing meatballs in their sleep. Of course, I was destined to become a foodie.

So, I’ll share some of my favorite recipes and/or current obsessions, here.

It’s summertime! And you know what that means…

LEMONS!

I adore lemons. Yes, they can be overpowering in certain dishes, so a little can go a long way. But one of my absolute favorite recipes is Lemon Curd.

It’s very easy to make. Just make sure you’re constantly stirring it while it’s cooking on the stove. It doesn’t take long to thicken.

Here is the recipe I use: Ina Garten’s Lemon Curd

My favorite way to use lemon curd is a few dollops in my Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries on top. Divine.

I also have used lemon curd in baked goods like cookies.

One more recipe:

Lemon Pasta is courtesy of the most adorable older Italian man I’ve seen… he reminds me of one of my great-uncles. His name is Pasquale Sciarappa. You’ll love him.

The only thing I added to the above simple recipe was two cloves of garlic, lightly sauteed. I think lemon-garlic is a great combo.

Buon appetito!

The Content Edge

New Blog Post: 7 Sizzling Authority Marketing Strategies for Financial Advisors

New Video: 3 Common Obstacles for Business Wannabe Authors

That's all, folks! That word... "folks"... Brings back memories of the Warner Bros. cartoons. Does anyone use that word, anymore?

Build your authority. Grow your business.

#financialadvisor #financialadvisormarketing #marketing

For more information about what we do, visit www.maryrosemaguire.com.