This was one of the most helpful reads I've done in a LONG time. It's the first time I come across "relationship marketing" and it makes sooo much sense. If someone is young and at the very start of their journey, how can they enter the awareness stage? Especially if they don't have many contacts in the space. Curious to hear your take on this!
I'm so glad this was helpful! And the best way to enter the awareness stage if you have a young business is to not try and do too much at once. you don't have to be on the biggest stages or know the industry leaders to start! When I started my business I found people who were at about the same stage as I was, and were working with the same audiences but in non-competitive ways and we helped each other by bringing our (very small) audiences together and each one of us talking to them as a whole. And over the years we've grown together and now those audiences are much bigger. But there are other people out there who are at your level or 1 step ahead of you who you can get started with building up a network. And then you all will grow together and, as you get a few months experience under your belt, you'll be in a position to reach out to folks who are a few steps ahead of you who can then help accelerate your growth.
that’s a great answer and it reassures me in that I am doing that, especially on Substack. I do feel like I should be further ahead and sometimes not doing enough but maybe I am just a bit impatient 😅 thanks so much Michelle❤️ it can be frustrating to experience slow growth but it’s part of the journey
I completely understand that feeling! Getting your feet under you and underway always takes more time than we want, and getting that foundation in place to become a force multiplier as you go is (imo) a good use of time (even if frustrating in the moment) compared to throwing your time into a bunch of randomness that won't build on itself.
wow wow wow, this was such an enlightening read. it gives me this beautiful renewed feeling of hope about what marketing gets to actually be, and it feels super wholesome and heartfelt. digital marketing has always felt a touch off to me and i think this really really hits the nail on the head for why. thank you for all of your incredibly thoughtful and empowering mini books!
The idea of saying something that "productively haunts" someone instead of teaching them everything upfront is a different goal than most content advice pushes. Most of what I see optimizes for being remembered as helpful, not for being remembered, period.
I think there's some nuance that's helpful to talk through here, because the goal here is to be helpful and valuable.
When you're relationship marketing your prospective clients are usually experienced and know more than the basics, so the type of content you're talking about isn't always helpful because they've probably already tried that advice and for whatever reason (usually because they've outgrown it) are not seeing the results and they are looking to figure out why.
So in this case we're going deeper and pointing out why those basics didn't work (or, more commonly, have stopped working as they advance), and then once you've done that, moving on to the engagement stage of marketing where you're helping them define and understand why it didn't work.
So you're being helpful by diagnosing and helping them define the complex problem they're facing, which customers at that level find deeply helpful and valuable because they are very confused as to why what they're doing isn't working. But that is a different kind of helpful than the solving that traditional content marketing does because it's a different type of client.
That distinction actually clarifies it for me — it's not "less helpful," it's helpful at a different layer of the problem. Diagnosing why the basics stopped working is a different skill than teaching the basics in the first place.
Great question and honestly it depends on your market and who you are trying to reach! A "borrowed audience" can be anything from a 1:1 introduction if your goal is to meet c-suite leaders at large corps, to guest teaching inside masterminds and memberships if you're trying to reach experienced entrepreneurs, to guesting on a webinar hosted by a software company all of your prospective clients use, to lunch and learns if you're trying to meet employees inside a business, to podcast interviews and even something like this where you collab on a mini-book!
You are right it can be! But with lots of intentionality involved, aka knowing exactly who is a good match and who is not, it can be done in win/win ways that are pretty efficient and take less time than content. But the planning and intentionality around it are key!
I apreciate this mini book. I am in the process of trying to create my own fractional CMO consultancy business, and had the same idea. Try to connect with the right people and offer real value. But I ahve been scared to get out and place myself in those spaces, and try to have real conversations. This gives me a framework for what to say.
This was one of the most helpful reads I've done in a LONG time. It's the first time I come across "relationship marketing" and it makes sooo much sense. If someone is young and at the very start of their journey, how can they enter the awareness stage? Especially if they don't have many contacts in the space. Curious to hear your take on this!
I'm so glad this was helpful! And the best way to enter the awareness stage if you have a young business is to not try and do too much at once. you don't have to be on the biggest stages or know the industry leaders to start! When I started my business I found people who were at about the same stage as I was, and were working with the same audiences but in non-competitive ways and we helped each other by bringing our (very small) audiences together and each one of us talking to them as a whole. And over the years we've grown together and now those audiences are much bigger. But there are other people out there who are at your level or 1 step ahead of you who you can get started with building up a network. And then you all will grow together and, as you get a few months experience under your belt, you'll be in a position to reach out to folks who are a few steps ahead of you who can then help accelerate your growth.
that’s a great answer and it reassures me in that I am doing that, especially on Substack. I do feel like I should be further ahead and sometimes not doing enough but maybe I am just a bit impatient 😅 thanks so much Michelle❤️ it can be frustrating to experience slow growth but it’s part of the journey
I completely understand that feeling! Getting your feet under you and underway always takes more time than we want, and getting that foundation in place to become a force multiplier as you go is (imo) a good use of time (even if frustrating in the moment) compared to throwing your time into a bunch of randomness that won't build on itself.
wow wow wow, this was such an enlightening read. it gives me this beautiful renewed feeling of hope about what marketing gets to actually be, and it feels super wholesome and heartfelt. digital marketing has always felt a touch off to me and i think this really really hits the nail on the head for why. thank you for all of your incredibly thoughtful and empowering mini books!
thanks so much for reading! And yes, digital marketing is all the rage but for high-ticket services, it’s only a small part of the process.
The idea of saying something that "productively haunts" someone instead of teaching them everything upfront is a different goal than most content advice pushes. Most of what I see optimizes for being remembered as helpful, not for being remembered, period.
I think there's some nuance that's helpful to talk through here, because the goal here is to be helpful and valuable.
When you're relationship marketing your prospective clients are usually experienced and know more than the basics, so the type of content you're talking about isn't always helpful because they've probably already tried that advice and for whatever reason (usually because they've outgrown it) are not seeing the results and they are looking to figure out why.
So in this case we're going deeper and pointing out why those basics didn't work (or, more commonly, have stopped working as they advance), and then once you've done that, moving on to the engagement stage of marketing where you're helping them define and understand why it didn't work.
So you're being helpful by diagnosing and helping them define the complex problem they're facing, which customers at that level find deeply helpful and valuable because they are very confused as to why what they're doing isn't working. But that is a different kind of helpful than the solving that traditional content marketing does because it's a different type of client.
That distinction actually clarifies it for me — it's not "less helpful," it's helpful at a different layer of the problem. Diagnosing why the basics stopped working is a different skill than teaching the basics in the first place.
the "trust transfer" is so real. Question-- What's your tip for things those ideal groups of people in step 1?
Great question and honestly it depends on your market and who you are trying to reach! A "borrowed audience" can be anything from a 1:1 introduction if your goal is to meet c-suite leaders at large corps, to guest teaching inside masterminds and memberships if you're trying to reach experienced entrepreneurs, to guesting on a webinar hosted by a software company all of your prospective clients use, to lunch and learns if you're trying to meet employees inside a business, to podcast interviews and even something like this where you collab on a mini-book!
This! What’s tricky is establishing those relationships in the beginning.
You are right it can be! But with lots of intentionality involved, aka knowing exactly who is a good match and who is not, it can be done in win/win ways that are pretty efficient and take less time than content. But the planning and intentionality around it are key!
I apreciate this mini book. I am in the process of trying to create my own fractional CMO consultancy business, and had the same idea. Try to connect with the right people and offer real value. But I ahve been scared to get out and place myself in those spaces, and try to have real conversations. This gives me a framework for what to say.
So true. And maybe even more important today due to AI.
Another one I’m looking forward to!