Just over a week ago Newcastle Assembly Rooms hosted #ATOMICON19, the first of no doubt many (#ATOMICON20 is already open for bookings so get your early bird tickets here while you can… www.atomicon.co.uk ); a conference aimed at all types of businesses, and centred around content & digital marketing.
To say the day felt like a week (in a good way!) would be no understatement.
A wide array of speakers, breakout sessions and networking opportunities throughout the day made for a jam-packed agenda, quality output and much scribbling of pens!
There were a few key points I took away from the event that I think
Introduction by Andrew & Pete (of AndrewandPete.com)
A humorous but way too real reminder of what many of us go through in business; our Catch 22’s or, in other words, our repetitive brain ‘chunter’ when we think something is just way too far outside our comfort zone & scary.
For example, I have no time for marketing….. because there’s too much to do, and I can’t afford to outsource…… because I can’t raise my prices as my clients will be unhappy…. and I just couldn’t fire my current clients and get better ones (where’s the business sense in that?!), which means I’ve got no time for marketing….. (you get the gist…)
In actual fact, by facing these fears, we can grow our businesses exponentially. By trying something different, assessing the possible (worst?) outcomes, ensuring there’s a back-up plan & checking proof of evidence beforehand, we can actually totally change the impetus of our business and create growth that may not have been imaginable previously.
Victoria Fleming – Superstar Selling
As always, a highly charged presentation from sales queen Victoria, whose opening statement was that perhaps to our surprise, and despite our denials, we are all actually salespeople. We talk to people all the time about our skills and services, putting the lid on any comment we might make to say that we’re just not that good at selling.
Is our marketing actually stopping us from selling, because we’re too scared to sell? Because we don’t want to be seen as pushy, or under-hand?
Where marketing gives you tactics & a plan of action, selling gives you the choice and control of who you want to build your business relationship with.
Key takeaway point – “Sales” is simply ‘proactive conversation with purpose’; something we do every day
Teresa Heath-Wareing – High Converting Sales Webinars
An enlightening presentation regarding the process of creating a webinar through…
- Pre-webinar preparations – picking your topic, advertising, conveying what the benefits are, using an email sequence & landing page
- The live webinar – setting the scene & the expectations, delivery, making sure you include an offer, give some background. Teach the what & why, not the how; give takeaway points and tips at each stage so there is value in the webinar. Share case studies & examples
- Making the offer – invite them to your offer, what it would mean to them (what value are you offering), what is their investment and what happens next. Questions and call to action
- Post-webinar – follow up with emails containing the sales prompt & replay, plus go to those who haven’t watched live & tell them about the offer.
Key takeaway point – ensure you deliver value, don’t be afraid of offering a sale at the end of the webinar and don’t apologise for doing it.
Dan Knowlton – How to Sell with Social Video without Feeling Stupid
What Dan & his brother Lloyd don’t know about video marketing seems not worth knowing!
Dan tied this presentation into the more traditional marketing awareness funnel (Awareness, Consideration, Purchase), which was music to my ears, making the point that you need to ensure you have content to fill each element of the funnel, not just one.
Awareness could be centred around educating and inspiring the audience, providing entertainment, opinion pieces and interviews
Consideration could focus on why you would provide a solution better than a competitor. Step into your customers’ shoes & ask yourself who would they want to go with; what content would appeal most to them; what case studies & examples would work best to show the value of what you offer. FAQ’s also work well here
Purchase would help to reinforce your credibility, with clear concise calls to action, and make it easy for the viewer to take action.
Have a process – plan (funnel position, topic, intro, points & outro), practice, shoot, edit, promote
Key takeaway point – audit your content. Where does it fit in the funnel & is your content evenly spread across the funnel elements?
Breakout Q&A session with Christine Gritmon
Plenty of tips from Christine about how to make more time for marketing your own business; vital to keep your pipeline flowing.
- Do the content you actually enjoy, then you won’t procrastinate!
- FAQ’s – get a list of 10. These can then produce perhaps 2 months worth of content.
- Repurpose your content
- Time Block for content creation, batch create content
- Make time to up skill, learn and continuously develop yourself
- Make regular live engagements
- Diarise recurring content types for ease
- Schedule
Key takeaway point – your marketing is as important as your clients. Without marketing your business you are not demonstrating what value you could bring to potential customers and not filling your pipeline sales.
Ian Anderson Gray – Going Live with Confidence
Whether you are desktop or mobile, going ‘
Ian gave tips on equipment and requirements to make going live simple, easy & not as scary as many of us think!
- Check your upload speed (not download)
- Start with a clip lapel mic (cheap but a good try before you buy option)
- By a backdrop
- Warm up your voice before you start (yes, we all had a go at this one!)
- Use Instagram stories to start with as they only last 15 seconds long & don’t han about for a lifetime!
- The 5 P’s of Live Video – Planning, Pre-promotion, Production, Post promotion, (Re)Purposing
Key takeaway point – your upload speed is vital for going Live. Ensure you check it every time you go live.
Chris Ducker – The Business of You; Build Your Brand Online and Unleash the Influencer
Building, Marketing & Monetizing your Personal Brand:
- Build who you really are, don’t compare & be self-aware
- Focus on what you are good at, outsource what you’re not good at
- How do you stand out? By standing up – voice your opinions, tell people about you & show them you’re good at what you do
- Build a personal brand statement
- Become somebody’s ‘favourite’, ie. ‘go to’ solution provider
- Work on your Dream Customer, get into the
nitty gritty – their age, where they are in their lives, what’s their #1 problem - Build real relationships – first create content you think they want to see or hear; they will eventually start telling you what they want. You reply with the content that they want!
- Answer questions, solve problems
- Engage person to person
Monetizing – you must be seen to be selling every day. Doesn’t have to be in your face, but telling people why they should be watching you or why you should be their ‘favourite’. Do this by…
- Coaching & consulting
- Affiliate marketing
- Digital products (courses, pdf’s, email courses)
- Memberships
- Live events
- Charging what you or your product is worth – don’t apologise
Key takeaway point – your personal brand statement will tell people exactly what you can do for them; the benefit you bring and what result they can expect. (I’m off to work on that one!)
So a jam-packed day (& yes that all happened in one day!) for sure. #Atomicon20 tickets are already on sale and the line-up for next year is even more incredible. Jump on to Andrew & Pete’s Atomicon website to see for yourself & perhaps we’ll see each other there next year.
For now, I’m off to plan and spend time marketing my own business to keep my pipeline healthy. Hopefully what I’ve shared will help your businesses too. If it does, let me know. If it doesn’t tell me why!
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