This week on The Whin Big Podcast, Katie speaks with Jen Cadger, founder of Belter Marketing.
In this week’s episode, Katie and Jen chat about finding the balance between traditional and digital marketing strategies, running a free Facebook challenge, and using a bigger picture approach to your marketing will help you with your overall business goals.
Today's episode is sponsored by the Instagram MOT. This 20-point checklist and free training are freshly updated, so get stuck in to find out if your profile is fit for purpose or needs some attention! Click on the big yellow button below to get started right away.
Nine months of Belter Marketing
Jen’s worked in marketing for around twenty years and has been part of various organisations, sectors and industries. Jen wanted to go it alone to help business owners understand the benefits of marketing for their businesses. The shift in motivation – and perspective – that the global pandemic brought about helped Jen decide to take the plunge and go self-employed.
Chartered Marketer credentials
Jen has been a Chartered Marketer for ten years and wears this title with pride. For Jen, the accreditation means a very visible pat on the back for all the hard work she’s put in to become accredited. She also finds it a quick and valuable way to help people who don’t know her understand her expertise and the value she’ll add by working together.
“There’s a strong network out there by being part of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. I use it regularly to get different perspectives.” – Jen
The advantage of having a squiggly-line career
Jen has niched into providing marketing for service-based businesses. She likes to look at the bigger picture in a client’s marketing journey – and doesn’t find product marketing offers the integrated, holistic approach that she enjoys.
Jen describes her career up to now as taking a ‘squiggly line’. She ran her own service-based franchise for a number of years whilst working in marketing for the financial sector. Whilst her career might look squiggly on the outside, her two constant passions were working in service-oriented businesses and her work in marketing.
The importance of finding a balance across all of life
When Katie asked Jen what she loves about owning her own business it all comes back to autonomy and balance. Over the past 12 years, she’s tried every possible option for bringing balance to her work and family life – including working part-time, being a stay at home mum and changing careers.
“I have two kids, and I spent a lot of years trying to ‘have it all. After 12 years of doing that, I’ve come to the conclusion; it’s not attainable. Being self-employed allows me to have that balance.” – Jen
The character traits of self-employed people
Katie and Jen talk about the benefits of working for yourself. Both love the flexibility of choosing your own schedule and project work, and both love the challenges that come from autonomy. When Katie talked about finding a balance between her desire to shift things up a gear or move into something new, she has recognised that she’s now in a place with The Whin where she can put one service or offer on hold while she does that. She no longer feels the need to change the whole thing and start afresh.
Jen relates to this well and puts this down to one of the core characteristics of self-employed people – a desire to keep learning and growing.
The four Ps of marketing
Katie’s curious to learn more about how Jen markets Belter Marketing and attracts more clients. It doesn’t boil down to one single activity or action for Jen. She describes herself as a traditional marketer and prefers to look at a much wider picture for her business.
To illustrate what she means, she talks about the 4 Ps of marketing – product, price, place and promotion.
Jen feels that most business owners focus primarily on ‘promotion’, but she’s keen to see people look more at the other 3 Ps to broaden their thinking.
“Marketing can feel overwhelming. There are so many different types of promotion for your business and you can be more strategic when you think about how your marketing fits into your overall business goals.” – Jen
How Jen uses the four Ps for Belter Marketing
Jen gives a quick overview of how Jen uses the four Ps in her own business
Jen’s approach to this is in going back to understanding what her customers are really looking for. She focuses on the benefits of her services, what problems she solves for them and how people will access them.
She demonstrates how the four Ps work for her using her 1:1 coaching service as an example
Product
Jen created her 1:1 coaching package to address the feedback her customers gave her. It’s evolved in collaboration with existing clients and her community.
Worked this way, Jen knows the results she offers will always be better because it’s rooted in solving her customer’s problems.
“Marketing can feel overwhelming. There are so many different types of promotion for your business and you can be more strategic when you think about how your marketing fits into your overall business goals.” – Jen
Place
This is more than the logical place the product/service takes place. Jen uses Zoom for 1:1 coaching but wants to keep flexible to future proof her business and to continue to meet her customer’s needs.
There may be opportunities to choose a different approach to place and Jen’s leaning toward a more blended strategy – but once again, this will be steered by her clients’ preferences, not the other way round.
Pricing
Another piece of the overall bigger picture, pricing can feel tricky for most business owners. For Jane it’s been a struggle to find the right pricing point because she provides value for her client, and there’s an expectation of being paid well for that. Finding the spot where it’s right for both of you is vital.
“Pricing ties in with who you are as a person and what your thoughts, values and goals are. For me, it has to feel fair.” – Jen
Jen advises spending time working out your ideal client’s approach to budget and money is essential. She focuses on what kind of service potential clients are looking for. Are they giving off an indication of being willing to pay for the value – and the time and expertise you offer, or are they looking for something cheap and cheerful.
Promotion
Unsurprisingly, Jen doesn’t focus on one type of promotion for her business goals. She takes everything she’s learned from pricing, place and product to create promotions and campaigns aligned with her overall business goals.
As a more traditional marketer, she can find the concept of ‘being visible’ challenging and finds it frustrating that pictures of her kids or pets get more engagement than any other posts. But these are all things she’s working out. Her primary digital marketing efforts centre around Facebook, LinkedIn, her monthly blog and monthly email.
Measuring your marketing metrics
Jen and Katie talk about pulling everything together to build momentum. This leads Jen onto one of the exercises she talks about regularly: choosing the metrics (e.g. reach, web analytics, follower increase, subscriber numbers) you want to see growth in. She suggests putting it in a spreadsheet and noticing how things are working for you – or not working for you.
Running an online challenge
Jen’s running a free three-day challenge in her Facebook group. She’s pulled together so much of her experience into three valuable days of marketing learning – and action. The idea is that business owners will learn more about three specific marketing activities and have the guidance and support to put their new knowledge into place. Will help business owners learn more about getting in the right mindset to tackle their marketing.
What’s on Jen’s business bookshelf?
Jen’s been struggling to find the time to read Simon Sinek’s *Start with Why and recommends listening to the Ted Talks instead if you’re pushed for time.
*Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
This was a great reminder that every business has to start somewhere and that running your own business is bloody hard work! Phil’s insight was really useful for Jen’s business development.
*Excerpts from Experts: Marketing a compendium edited by Fortune Hill Media
A weighty book full of valuable insight, advice and resources from the UK’s will marketing leaders. The compendium was written and collated during the global pandemic to raise funds for NHS charities. Jen thinks this book is an essential book for every business owner to tap into.
Keep the conversation going with Jen and Belter Marketing
Connect with Jen: LinkedIn
Join the 3-day challenge in the Facebook group.
Belter Marketing website
Resources from this episode of The Whin Big Podcast
This week Katie talks about this book:
*Messy: How to be Creative and Resilient in a Tidy-Minded World by Tim Harford
A note about affiliate links:
* Links marked with a star are affiliate links to Bookshop.org. When you buy through these links, a small portion of the cost of the book goes to support your local bookshop, and a small amount comes to The Whin. So the books won’t cost you any extra!
