ericaminadev - The Mina Company

Do I Need a Marketing Agency?

June 12, 2023

As a savvy business owner, you might be pondering if you need a marketing agency to propel your marketing goals forward. Well, let’s dive into this and uncover the truth! Here’s the lowdown on whether hiring a marketing agency is the game-changer your business needs.

do i need a marketing agency - why to hire a marketing agency

Let’s Talk Marketing Goals

First things first, before you make any decisions, it’s crucial to have a crystal-clear vision of your marketing goals. What’s the ultimate objective you want to conquer? Do you seek to enhance brand awareness, reel in more leads, or catapult sales? Once you’ve defined your marketing goals, you can gauge whether partnering with a marketing agency will be the catalyst for your success.

Expertise: In-House or Outsourced?

Now, let’s ponder a pertinent point: Does your team possess the marketing expertise required to execute your master plan? If you find yourself lacking the necessary skills or resources, fear not! A marketing agency can swoop in and provide the expertise you need to transform your dreams into reality. Think Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – specialized knowledge that can take your business to new heights.

Cracking the Marketing Budget Code

Ah, the age-old question: How much moolah can you allocate to your marketing endeavors? Your marketing budget holds great sway over the decision to hire a marketing agency. If your resources are on the slimmer side, a full-service marketing agency may not be financially feasible. However, if your budget can stretch a bit further, an agency can work their magic and deliver a comprehensive marketing strategy that encompasses an array of services like social media marketing, content marketing, and email marketing.

(P.S. – if budget is a limiting factor, we have a solution for you! Check out our Marketing Agency School program, where you can hire up-and-coming talent who have been vetted and trained by our expert team!)

The Time and Resource Conundrum

Let’s face it, marketing can be a demanding endeavor that gobbles up time and resources like a ravenous beast. If you find yourself stretched thin in these areas, a marketing agency can ride in on a white horse and take the reins. They’ll tackle the day-to-day marketing tasks that demand attention – crafting captivating content, wrangling social media accounts, and executing eye-catching ad campaigns. With their support, you’ll have the freedom to focus on other crucial aspects of your business.

Results, Results, Results!

So, let’s have a heart-to-heart: Are you dissatisfied with the results your current marketing efforts are yielding? If the answer is a resounding “yes,” then it’s high time to contemplate a partnership with a marketing agency. These seasoned professionals can pinpoint the weak spots in your strategy and concoct a tailored plan to remedy those shortcomings. Say goodbye to lackluster outcomes and hello to the stellar results you’ve been longing for!

Wrapping it All Up

In conclusion, whether or not you need a marketing agency hinges on a multitude of factors unique to your business. If you possess a clear understanding of your marketing goals, lack in-house expertise, boast a budget that allows for it, and yearn for better results, enlisting the aid of a marketing agency could be your secret weapon. Remember, though, to conduct thorough research and select a reputable, professional agency that aligns with your vision (hopefully that means us!). With the right partner by your side, there’s no limit to what you can achieve!

Sources: https://www.constantcontact.com/blog/hire-a-marketing-firm/

https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/when-and-why-should-i-hire-a-marketing-agency-for-my-small/439703

https://blog.hubspot.com/insiders/should-i-hire-a-marketing-agency

Marketing

The Truth About Using AI in Your Business & Marketing

May 31, 2023

AI…the two letters you’ve probably heard way too many times recently! We know it’s all the rage right now, but listen closely; it’s for good reason! As a marketing agency, we have been diving head-first into the world of marketing AI and how we can use it to help not only ourselves but our clients as well. Today, let’s chat about some of the basics:

-Identifying & shifting your mindset around AI

-Basic marketing copy & how AI can help

-How you can use AI for admin & business support

Mindset:

When you hear the term “AI,” do you want to just plug your ears and pretend it doesn’t exist? We get it! AI can feel inaccessible for a lot of industries, but we’re here to tell you it’s not. We often hear peoples’ hesitations around things like plagiarism, inaccessibility, or feeling overwhelmed by it all, which are all valid concerns that can be squashed once you fully understand how these technologies work.

Our top tip to get started: identify what feels hard in your business & what you hate to do and find an AI platform to help you with those things! Look for platforms that are specific for your niche or the tasks you’re hoping to accomplish, there are AI platforms designed specifically for almost every industry and need so you’ll surely find something to take advantage of.

We also recommend using multiple platforms; different platforms have different abilities and benefits, so it’s useful to play around and see how you can mix and match the content you’re creating.

Marketing:

So, how can you use AI to help with your marketing? The sky is the limit!

One great place to free up time is by using AI for landing pages or website updates – whenever your business shifts (which it does constantly, right?), AI can be a tool to make those updates so much simpler and more efficient for you.

Launches are another incredibly time-consuming task that can be sped up significantly by using AI. When you launch a new product, service, or program, there is a LOT of copy that needs to be created (think: email marketing, social media captions, ad copy, website updates), and AI can easily pull all the pieces together.

If you’re an agency owner who is fearful of what AI may mean for your business, don’t be afraid; we as marketers can do things faster and increase our productivity by harnessing the power of AI, so no, it’s not putting marketers out of work! Plus, it’s saving our clients time and money as well. Win-win!

Business:

Now, let’s take a look at how AI can help you on the business front! AI can do a lot of tasks that you might typically hire a VA for, saving you major time and payroll costs. Here are a few examples of what we’ve used it for: job descriptions & titles, outlines, refining drafts, email responses, task management, business forecasting, and so much more!

Tips:

We’ll be honest with you, getting the most out of AI takes some practice! You have to teach the software how to serve you best and iterate; it likely won’t be perfect on the first try, so keep adding nuances and specifications to get what you’re wanting out of it. (Hot tip: once you’ve gotten the software to create what you were looking for, ask it “How should I prompt you in the future to write XYZ like this?” so you can save yourself even more time next time!)

One last note before we leave you: you can’t just set it and forget it – AI still takes some oversight, editing, and finessing in order for it to turn out right, so make sure you’re still putting in the work on your end, too!

Platforms we recommend:

ChatGPT

Perplexity

Grammarly

Tune in to the podcast to hear more and learn tips and tricks on how to use AI in your marketing!

Tune in now!

Business Development

How to Gain Time Freedom

May 18, 2023

Time freedom is not found, it’s gained! That means yes, you have to put in WORK to acquire it – and that’s what we’re talking about today.

The very first step towards time freedom is fully understanding your finances – you need to be clear on how much your business is making and how much your expenses are, otherwise you can’t make a plan for all the mini milestones that allow you to build your business. Understanding when you can afford to hire a contractor & how much margin you need to make that happen helps you to plan for your growth and map out your trajectory to get there.

Your first hire should be someone who has complementary skills to yours, meaning they can pick up the slack where you might tend to struggle! Come up with a list of things you’re not good at or don’t enjoy doing (pro tip: luteal phase is a great time to do this!!), list out how much time those things typically take you, and do a financial forecast to come up with how much extra revenue you need to hire that extra person.

Once you have that first person, your next hire should be a mini you – that’s what allows you to step back even further and take time off when you need or want to. Train them behind the scenes to do things similar to how you would do them so you can seamlessly hand off tasks and it’ll feel like you didn’t skip a beat.

You have to forecast and plan for your dreams – otherwise, they’ll live and die on a Pinterest board. Tune into the full episode for details on how to plan and execute the life you’ve been desiring as a business owner so you can stop trading so much of your time for money!

Tune in now!

Business Development

Tips for Running a Business While Being a Mom

May 11, 2023

Mom, wife, friend, boss, business owner…all the titles and roles can make your head spin! Our family just had 2 months of back-to-back kid sicknesses (yes, 2 whole months!!) that forced me into taking a step back in my business…but the only way I was able to do that is by following a few exercises to simplify my business that I lean into when it gets overwhelming.

First things first, focus on the people in your life that need you – those sick babies need your love and attention and you deserve a little TLC yourself! Step into that role and outsource anything else you can in your business that it’s not critical YOU do yourself (side note: this is why SOPs are so important!).

If you’re a solopreneur or don’t have the ability to outsource, simplification looks like only focusing on the tasks that directly bring you money. It’s OK to hit pause on the things that don’t currently bring you a ton of revenue – you can always push play once life slows down a bit. But for the time being, you need to keep making money while opening up some space in your life, so focusing on your money-makers is where it’s at.

This is why it’s so important to make it a priority to start building up a support team so you have the flexibility to step back when you need to – if it’s just you, it can be a lot trickier to take a step back!

The main takeaway that I want you to leave with is that times of necessary “mom duty” require you to streamline, focus on the revenue, and put your attention on you and your babies.

If you want to build a team that supports this kind of lifestyle, reach out! I offer a few different coaching opportunities to help you build your team and business processes so you can have a business that doesn’t require YOU to be in it day in and day out.

Tune in now!

Business Development Marketing

Why You Should Consider Hiring a Part-Time CMO

May 8, 2023

From the very beginning, all I’ve wanted to do is serve business owners – I hear from a lot of female entrepreneurs and business owners when we release these podcast episodes, and we came up with this new service offering from the feedback I’ve been receiving from YOU. So – let me tell you why you should consider hiring a part-time CMO.

We’ve noticed over the last several months that many of the businesses we serve are getting hit pretty hard by the wavering state of the economy. We’ve seen consumers start holding a little tighter to their wallets and it’s been impacting some of our clients in ways that make them need to reevaluate how they’re spending their own marketing dollars. And guess what? We encourage that! (What? A marketing agency telling people it’s OK to trim back on marketing?!) The one thing we want to make sure of is that you’re doing this smartly and strategically and that you’re not cutting off your sources of clients (because that’s what will pull you OUT of the financial struggle!).

We want to come alongside you and help you figure out what you should do based on your budget, team, & resources so you’re not stuck paying a marketing agency to do every little thing. Enter: our new monthly CMO service.

We can create a strategic plan of how to get things done given the resources you have and help hold your feet to the fire to make sure it’s *actually* getting done. Our monthly CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) service helps answer questions like:

-Can you show me examples of how this should look?

-How do I do XYZ?

-Will you take a look at what we’ve put together and provide feedback/suggestions?

-Who on my team should I delegate this task to?

-What is the wisest way to spend my marketing budget this month?

We’ll meet with business owners (and their teams!) 2 times per month to help answer questions, make plans, and pull all the pieces together so you can execute your own marketing. It’s truly like hiring an expert-level CMO without having to put another person on payroll!

Let us help you tap into the resources you have & utilize them most effectively. Learn more on our website or message us on social media to hear the deets!

Tune in now!

Business Development

The Business Owner’s Crash Course to Cyclical Alignment

May 4, 2023

FINALLY, all this juicy goodness that’s been living in my brain is out in the world!! This course has existed in my head for over a year now because I KNOW it’s something the world of female business ownership needs, and I finally found the time to put it all together into a self-paced super-course for YOU.

I learned about cyclical alignment from a past coach several years ago and I’ve always worked with business coaches, but those worlds always seemed to live very separately – until I had an “aha” moment when I realized how truly intertwined those two worlds are!

Understanding how you deal with work and life situations based on what your hormones are doing is CRITICAL to building the life, business, and relationships you want; they’re all intertwined whether we like it or not!

I believe that as a business owner, you have a responsibility to show up as your best self and you can’t do that if you’re not honoring your energy. That’s why I created this course, to allow you to step into your best self both in business and in life.

This incredible, self-paced course covers:

Cycle alignment basics
Exercises to dream BIG
Planning & applying dreams to your business
How your financials & promotions support your dreams
Creating a task/to-do list based on your cycle phases
25+ page interactive workbook to piece your own plan together
BONUS: my monthly checklist & CEO day plan

Tune in to learn more & hear how I apply these concepts to my own everyday life – I promise, it’s a game-changer!

Tune in now!

Business Development

Tips to Regulate Anxiety as a Business Owner

May 1, 2023

Being on the other side of your evolution is awesome, but getting there is extremely anxiety-provoking!

I often go into an anxiety spiral when I’m staring down a scary scenario in my business – it feels like it’s going to be the end of me, but it never is. We’re often told to go for our big dreams and get uncomfortable, but do we talk about how to support ourselves and one another in that discomfort? Additionally, are we talking about what happens when taking those risks doesn’t turn out how we planned?

I’ve experienced that discomfort and anxiety a lot over the last few months, and I’ve developed a toolbelt that helps get me through & regulate my system. Here’s what has helped me in this quest to go big while battling the anxiety that arises:

-Getting alone time

-Soaking in a tub or float tank

-Movement (I highly recommend buti yoga!)

-Meditation

-Reduce your cell phone usage

-Hemp seed oil & magnesium

-List making (do, dump, delegate)

-Looking to future excitements

This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, but these are the things that really helped regulate me and get me through these last few months. Save this in your back pocket to bust out when you feel your body reacting to stressful situations.

Tune in now!

Marketing

2023 Social Media Tips from Marketing Professionals

April 27, 2023

Today we’re joined by Mimi, our social media lead at The Mina Company, who is sharing her latest tips and updating us on the recent changes to the social media landscape.

In the last several months there have been some BIG changes in social media, especially the Instagram algorithm update in September that impacted views & engagement for creators and businesses across the board. To help combat the negative implications that these changes could have, Mimi shared a few ideas to boost engagement:

Prioritize original audio & content over jumping on a trend (Tip: keep original audio less than 30 seconds!)
Engagement is key; use CTAs and incentivize people to interact with your account
The big numbers don’t matter as much as you think they do; going viral is overrated compared to gaining a slow, steady, loyal following

We’re also learning the importance of growing in your individual niche rather than accumulating a mass following, as this leads to more actual growth in your business at the end of the day! In this episode, Mimi shared 3 tips to get started on social media if you’re a business just starting out or just starting to take the world of social media marketing seriously.

At the end of the day, we want to help you optimize how you use social media (and the time you spend creating content!) by focusing on what works, who you are, and what YOU like to do (because yes, that matters!).

Tune in for more tips and strategies to navigate the 2023 social media world!

Tune in now!

Business Development Marketing

How to Plan a Marketing Promotions Calendar

April 24, 2023

Have you ever sat down to plan out your sales, promotions, or events and ended up just staring at a blank screen for hours? Or, better yet, have you never even tried to plan ahead and have just been winging it every time?

how to plan a marketing promotions calendar

Friend, this is your chance to reduce that anxiety and set yourself up for success by planning promotions for the next quarter or year ahead of time! Promotions go hand-in-hand to support your financials, a.k.a. how your business continues to live, so they’re an essential part of any successful business.

We encourage people to plan their promotions a little differently than you might think; rather than basing it solely on financial goals, we recommend planning the specific dates of your promotions around your personal life – if your calendar is packed, you won’t have time to dedicate to that promotion to make it run smoothly. Plan financials first so you have a roadmap of how you can support those goals, but use your personal life and cyclical map to guide the specifics – you’ll be amazed at how smoothly it can come together!

Tune in to learn how to identify your marketing platforms, set deadlines, plan it out week by week, and put it in your calendar to set yourself up for your best year yet.

Tune in now!

Download our Marketing Promotions Planner: https://bit.ly/promo-planner

Download our Financial Forecasting Guide: https://bit.ly/fin-forecast

Business Development

Normalizing Failure as a Business Owner

April 20, 2023

We all make mistakes, and talking about them (which is rare in our society) makes them take less hold over our lives. In order to grow, you have to fail and make mistakes and there’s no reason we should hide those things!

failure as a business owner steps to recover

I believe in failing hard and failing fast – when I fail, I want to fail while striving for something big and awesome. My business and I have had a lot of failures recently and it’s because we’re stretching and striving for growth and, as much as the failures suck, we’re able to pick ourselves back up and keep going. No, I’m not superwoman – I just decided I’m not going to be so hard on myself and instead I’m going just pivot and move forward. The decision to pivot doesn’t happen overnight, you need to process the hurt for a minute and decide how to move forward.

Here are the steps I follow to help me find how and where to pivot after a failure:

-Take care of your body

-Movement

-Have people around you who you trust

-Realize we all have to fail

-Know & analyze your finances

-It’s OK to just take the day

Listen in, give yourself some grace, and try these tips out to overcome your next failure because guess what? It’ll come whether you like it or not!

Tune in now!