245. Why You Should Invest in Marketing With Alicia Branham

We are talking all things marketing -- now, if your hair just stood up on end … or you're thinking you already know everything there is about marketing … or you can chat GPT your way through,  I want you to hang on to your hats and glasses and listen to today's conversation. Alicia Branham, the marketing powerhouse with a story beyond business savvy. Her journey reflects adaptability and determination, traits cultivated during her formative years when her parents uprooted her to Uruguay. Navigating the challenges of a new language and culture, Alicia not only embraced the unfamiliar but thrived in it. This early experience laid the foundation for her ability to connect with diverse audiences and approach marketing from a truly global perspective. And the reason it is so important to invest in marketing, it is SO LOUD now. We must be able to stand out so that the people who are looking for us and need our help are going to be able to find us. Alicia helps brands crush their visual presence with her background in design and marketing.  When she started, she ran an in-house marketing department for a large valve manufacturer. It was the sort of behind the scenes – or your wall – reason that people have clean water in their faucets and can bathe their babies. She learned what it entails to buy an American-made product and the pressures put on people requesting her services to help them succeed. She works with a lot of second- and third-generation businesses to freshen up or rebrand their services to help them gain recognition in their industry.  “At some point, you have to care about how you look and represent yourself to the world, even if you are a small business,” says Alicia. “It's no different than walking out of the house and running a brush through your hair and putting on some clean clothes.” Alicia says the one thing she wished more business owners did is to create a marketing plan for themselves – no matter what product or service they provide. How are you going to attract any new business and grow if you don't invest in your business's marketing plan?  “Wouldn't you want someone that maybe specializes in your industry to bring you some new insights and some new data … and help your business really stand out? A lot of people think that they have to do it alone,” says Alicia. “You don’t.” She points to using contractors, who can help fill a need. One of the first people Alicia hired was a bookkeeper. Alicia says a mistake she made in her business was not getting her monthly numbers. Alicia says her life changed when she started looking at her numbers. It also makes you a stronger business owner, even if you're a solopreneur, it gives you all the tools and the information that you need to make educated decisions. If you’re looking to start investing in marketing, the first step is to really understand your end user, your client or your customer and the spaces they occupy. “What's your message? What are you trying to get across? Who are you trying to attract? And then start building a conversation around your clients ... providing value in the form of either blog posts or articles,” says Alicia. “Marketing and just everything in general is just is changed so much, but you shouldn't be afraid of it.” Connect with Alicia Branham: https://www.aliciabranham.com and https://www.getbran.com  Other GoG episodes you might want to check out: Test That Marketing Tactic to Accelerate Your Business https://sarahwalton.com/test-marketing/  Marketing Not Working? Human Design Could Help https://sarahwalton.com/human-design-adriana/  You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton   Thank you so much for listening. I’m so honored that you’re here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking “Write a review.” Then we’ll get to inspire even more people! (If you’re not sure how to leave a review, you can watch this quick tutorial.) #MarketingStrategies #MarketingExpert #MarketingManagement #MarketingConsultant #BusinessMarketing #AskExpert #SalesCoach #WomenInBusiness