Is creating content really worth the time and trouble for small business owners? Here’s why it works, why it’s hard and how to make it manageable.

Social media marketing is an excellent strategy for building your brand and connecting with the right people – but only if you have a plan. Without one, it’s easy to fall into the trap of posting for the sake of it, chasing likes without any real outcome. This blogpost explains how to make your social media marketing work harder for you.

Small business owners benefit most from Gen AI’s capabilities. When it comes to using Gen AI in Marketing, with a bit of confidence and curiosity, you can create content, generate images and even define campaign activity from a well-crafted prompt.

To be effective with content creation, you must ensure every piece, whether a blogpost, video or podcast episode, serves a strategic purpose. And the best way to ensure you do this is to think strategically and plan ahead.

I share what I know about LinkedIn’s algorithm, how I try to tame it and how you can leverage it for your small business. I also provide some useful resources to help deepen your knowledge.

Are you considering starting your own business? Perhaps you want to better establish your Marketing function? Maybe you need to shake up how you approach your Marketing? Then check out my three-part video series, taking you through the steps to start your Marketing with the best foot forward!

There’s a natural tension with Gen AI when it comes to creating strategic marketing content and messaging. The Marketing profession moulds you to lead with authenticity for the benefit of building the best relationships with your customers. Here's an honest and open view of my journey with Gen AI and its impact on my values, ethics and integrity when working with clients.

One of my aims when consulting with clients is to help take the complexity out of Marketing - as well as the fear and the jargon. Complexities often take the form of questions when I partner with a small business. I share 10 real-life complexities my clients to date have typically needed help with; they didn’t know the answers, and why they came to me for help.

Repurposing your marketing content is a clever way of maximising what you've got when you have limited time and budget - whether you're a small business or freelancer, and be it old or new content.

Email marketing can be a valuable strategy to speak to clients, colleagues and potential customers directly to build relationships and generate enquiries for your service or product. So how do e-Newsletters fit into this strategy and how can you get started?

Upskilling your existing team members can be a game-changer and for most of my clients, this balance of outsourced Marketing support and team input with effective upskilling is what they need to drive their business forward.

The expertise and support I offer small business owners is broad. To give you a flavour, I’ve outlined the marketing leadership, management and direction I’ve provided to my current clients over the last 2-3 months.

Knowing which marketing strategies to adopt can be tricky – there are multiple factors to consider first. By using the right ones you elevate your messaging and communicate more effectively with your target audience, ensuring your marketing makes an impact, in line with your business objectives.

Why is structure important when it comes to Marketing? Without it you’ll confuse your audience by marketing sporadically. You’ll also work in isolation of your business objectives so you won’t generate long term success - whatever that looks like to your business.

If you’ve not created a marketing strategy before it can appear daunting, especially if you don’t know what goes in “it” and why. If you get it right it will drive your marketing efforts and activities in line with your business objectives.

What is the biggest marketing mistake? Here’s to marketing campaign ‘fails’, day-to-day oversights and the biggest marketing mistake a small business can make…

Marketing consulting can be an invaluable resource for small businesses looking to develop and execute effective marketing strategies, maximise their impact and ROI, and steer their business towards long-term success and growth.

As of March 2023, Maisey Marketing has a new brand identity. The re-brand brings clarity, confidence and clear messaging for small businesses seeking marketing direction and support.

Producing an integrated marketing campaign that delivers your messaging in a unified way, using the right marketing strategies, adds power to your communications and makes an impact - from the view point of your customer.

It’s not a trick question or used to make anyone feel uncomfortable - it helps people reflect. Equally not everyone has an answer, otherwise they wouldn’t need marketing consultancy/support.

A quote that acts as a reminder - to put your customer first, not customers.

By delivering a unified message across your channels to your target audience, you effectively communicate and market your brand at every phase of their journey.

How can freelancers manage their personal brand and effectively market what they do? Here are my recommendations and quick wins for anyone new to freelancing or those more experienced and looking for some fresh ideas.

If the pressure kicks in and you don’t have a structured approach to posting to social media, you’ll find yourself tweeting and posting anything and everything without thought to your followers or the purpose of your business. This isn’t quality content and it’s brand damaging. So stop.

Spotted a wonderful quote that beautifully describes marketing as a function.

What makes you look for a product or service? If you give this some thought you’ll realise it’s because you have a problem and you need help to solve it. And yet, many small businesses take to market promoting ‘what’ they offer, rather than demonstrating ‘how’ it can help their target audience.

Not only does your marketing strategy underpin your tactics but it supports an agile approach to marketing your business - you can make decisions in a timely manner and make the right decisions with strategic direction.

Client advocacy is a powerful marketing strategy to adopt. Here are three reasons why you should consider it as part of your strategic toolkit.

With tactical marketing you don't know if something new - outside of "what you've always done" - will work until you try; the more you try new things, the more you learn from them.

What is a buyer persona? Why are they important for Marketing? How do they support Sales and Customer Service? A buyer persona can be gold dust, especially if content marketing is identified as a key marketing strategy for your business.

A quote for every artist with creativity at their core, and to all those striving to be more creative day by day.

Writing for the web - why does it matter? Because people read stuff on the web differently to that in print. Here are the five things I do to write user-friendly content and some top tips from my colleagues.

Last year I applied to be a Girls' Network Mentor - to share my skills and experience with a young woman who might not benefit from this support otherwise. The Girl’s Network is a charity that connects young women from least advantaged communities with professional female mentors who inspire and empower them to thrive.

Is there a need for employers to reflect on how their teams are communicating, internally and externally? Or should we all take individual responsibility for how we communicate and decide on what channel is appropriate for the message we want to deliver?

An effective marketing strategy aligns what you want to achieve as a business, how the marketing function will get you there and the tactical strategies you're going to use.

Small businesses are working harder than ever to generate new sales with potential customers, retain their current client base and build engagement. So how does creating content help?

All small businesses need to be agile but they should never lose sight of their vision, mission and value proposition; these are fundamental in determining and delivering effective, targeted and relevant marketing to your audience.

I’m anxious yet calm, worried yet focused, unsure yet driven. Mixed emotions that are hard to describe and I reckon everyone is feeling similar things – personally and professionally.

Blogging is versatile enough to adopt to educate, inform and/or entertain your audience, particularly when done on a regular basis and as part of a campaign. Top level, you are striving to highlight why your clients and potential customers need your product/service.

“Today I’m confident, independent and happy, I’m proud of who I am. Friends and family surround me with empowerment, belief and support …”

You create the opportunities to learn, develop and move up the ladder, they don’t always fall in your lap in Starbucks.

I recall in early January writing a blogpost I felt very strongly about. Not to say I don’t fully anymore, more my view has changed.

There are several definitions in that old Google when you search for “What is marketing?”

My definition: Marketing is effectively sharing what a business or person does and why their product or service is of value.

Those days in between Xmas and New Year. If you did Xmas right you wouldn’t have known what day it was and your body clock would have shifted enough that you woke up around 10am.

I’m working with a couple of clients who have not used Twitter before; they’re unsure of how the platform works or how to leverage it to raise brand awareness. I’m also mentoring someone new to the world of marketing and advising how they can use Twitter to help build their professional profile.

I read a lot of blogposts on LinkedIn and Twitter about these three subjects. Topical posts include the debate on in-house vs agency marketing, the need for digital transformation, how marketing can align with good customer service, what your recruitment process look like, how you can build a culture for millennials, is beer, beanbags and ping pong enough…? 

Week three, day two of being self-employed. Day one of blogging on my behalf, not that of another brand. Both activities relatively new to me, unknown; yet exciting in equal measure.