Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
As a small business owner, you need to be a lot of things to make your business go—but you don't have to be a marketer alone. Join host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, Brand Production Coordinator, as they explore what it really takes to market your business. Even if marketing's not your thing! You'll hear from small business leaders just like you along with industry experts as they share their stories, challenges, and best advice to get real results. This is the 2x Webby Award Honoree Be A Marketer podcast!
Dave Charest: Today on episode six of the Be a Marketer podcast, you'll hear from a leadership coach that encourages getting clear on your end game so that you can move in alignment with what you want your destiny to be. And I'm sharing some examples of businesses that created simple yet remarkable customer experiences. This is the Be a Marketer podcast. B a Marketer my name is Dave Charost, director of small business success at Constant Contact, and I've been helping small business owners like you make sense of online marketing for over 16 years. You can be a marketer, and I'm here to help. Well, hello. Hello, friend, and thank you once again for joining me for another episode of the Be a Marketer podcast. As always, a pleasure to have you here. I have a question for you. You know, how do you create a great experience for your customers? Now, you've probably heard me talk about this a few times now, and I really think this is the big opportunity for small businesses because you create these moments that make people want to talk and feel good about doing business with you. And so I wanted to share a few examples with you as some things that have happened to me recently, just so you can understand that, you know, the ideas don't have to be complex. They can be simple things that just actually come across as remarkable because they're not something that everybody does. And they may be like, no brainer things when you hear me talk about them, but they're things that made me pay attention and had my family talking about them as well, or my friends or whoever I was with at a particular moment. And so the first up is, you know, my daughters, they're in college, and they're at that age where they have to get their wisdom teeth taken out. And so we had those girls had a break, you know, over the semester time there, and so we had these appointments scheduled. Long story. Only one of them actually had their wisdom teeth taken out. We'll share that at another time. But there's actually something that good that came out of that because we paid upfront for whatever we needed to pay for. One of them didn't go through, and they right away refunded the money, which was also a great experience. But one of the things that I wasn't really expecting, or neither of us were, or any of us were, for that matter, was at the end of the surgery for my one daughter that did finish at the end, they gave us a whole gallon of ice cream. They had her choose, you know, what her favorite flavor was. And then they sent us home with a gallon and I remember when I had my wisdom teeth taken out back in the, you know, many, many moons ago. It wasn't something that happened, of course. And this was remarkable because, one, it was a full gallon of ice cream, and it wasn't like the store brand. It was like a name brand gallon of ice cream. And it was remarkable because it was like, oh, hey, that's really cool and thoughtful. And we weren't expecting it. And it wasn't like it was a small thing of ice cream or the little, you know, pint of ice cream, a full gallon of ice cream to send her home with, which was, I thought, Washington, really cool. And again, something I'm talking about with you here today. So a simple thing that went a long way and made us really feel good about the experience that we had at that particular oral surgeon's office. Another thing that I thought was really interesting. Over the holiday time, I was looking for gifts for some friends and some folks on my team, and I wanted to send something that came from one of our customers. And you may remember the gindos spice of life from a previous episode. And weve spoken with them before, and they make these really delicious fresh hot sauces. And so I figured id get a couple gift sets for some people as gifts. And there was a section in the ordering process that allowed me to write a little note to the person who was receiving the gift. Now, what I was expecting was for that to be printed out and put on a card and sent within the gift when people receive them. But what was interesting is when I got a picture from one of the people that had received that as a gift, there was a picture of the note and it was a handwritten note that I had put in there. And I thought, whoa, that's a really nice touch. And I wasn't expecting it, but it made me, again, pay attention and be like, ah, that's really cool. I'm actually glad it was handwritten versus being one of those what I thought was going to happen, which would be printed out of. And then another time I was out to dinner with a friend and we decided to split a few items and we got, like, a salad and a pizza. And I've been to many places that, hey, we're going to split this, and you're asking for spare plates and you're scraping off the food. You're going to eat on one plate and you put it on another. And we said, hey, we're going to split this salad and we're going to split this other thing. And when they brought out the salad. They came out on two plates. They split it for us. Again, something so simple and maybe a no brainer to many of you listening here today. But that's all it needs to be to create this great experience, something simple that today, many people aren't expecting. And so I'll leave you with this thought is, what can you do? What can you think about in the experience that you offer your customers, whether that's online or in person? But what are those little things that you can do to wow your customers? And like I said, it doesn't have to be complex. It could be something simple. So that's what I'd like you to think about. Well, friends, speaking of great experiences, I'm sure you'll be wowed by our guest today. Sherelle Jackson is a keynote speaker, leadership coach, business consultant, and a constant contact customer. Pulling from her 35 years of experience as a chief financial and operating officer, she's led organizations ranging from 3.5 million to $400 million in revenue. Now, she began her STJ consulting services because she recognized that many small businesses couldn't afford a high performing chief financial and operating officer. And as a result of that, they were limited in their ability to grow and scale their businesses and ultimately achieve the highest level of success that they desired. Sherelle believes that small businesses should have access to the same things that larger businesses have. And that's part of why she does what she does today. And I know that's something that we can get behind here at constant contact. Now, I asked Sherrill if starting a business was something she always wanted to do, and she candidly explained why it took her so long. Let's pick up the conversation there.
Scharrell Jackson: Absolutely. It's something that I always wanted to do, but the primary reason why I didn't do it was because of fear. I was a single mom raising three kids in a high performing role, making substantially great money. I was afraid. And so I felt that corporate America was really something that was. Was definite, not understanding that I was limiting myself by fear. And part of what I do as a consultant and leadership coach and speaker is really deal with leaders like myself that are leading with a level of fear, with some underlying insecurity, and ultimately not reaching the highest level success that they're capable of, even if the checkbook looks like they are.
Dave Charest: Yeah. Well, how did you get there? Right. Fear thing is a big thing that I think a lot of people even listening to this podcast will go through. I mean, it's things that, personally, I go through all the time. Right. Even doing things that I know I'm pretty good at. Right. But it's like you're taking that step and you're taking a chance on yourself. What got you over that fear?
Scharrell Jackson: You know, candidly, I think that it's a misnomer for us to think that we actually get over fear. We don't actually get over fear. We learn how to move in spite of the fear. And so one of the things that I heard some time ago by a real great friend, Smith, is that. And the quote doesn't belong to her, but it's a quote that she shared with me that I live with and speak on, and that's that fear can have a voice but not a vote. The bottom line is, I've learned how to live in fear and move in alignment with what I want my destiny to be. And so what caused me to move in that space is, as I mentioned once, I said yes to Jesus and that I was going to live a life of purpose, then that meant I was going to do it in spite of the fear. So, in other words, I'm doing it afraid. And so I encourage business leaders to do that, to understand that it doesn't matter if we don't have everything that we need. We have the ability to get everything we need by a myriad of things that we could do right, our tribe, our bench support, coaches, things of that nature. But to answer your question, I didn't get over the fear. That would be a story. I learned how to live with fear and do it afraid. In other words, I'm exercising courage in the midst of fear.
Dave Charest: I love that. Reframe, to think of it. And quite frankly, I never really kind of thought about it that way. So I love that. Thank you.
Scharrell Jackson: You're welcome.
Dave Charest: What has year one been like for you?
Scharrell Jackson: It's been phenomenal. It's definitely been a truth teller in that the fears that I had were primarily around economics. Right. You get a standard paycheck every month. You think that that is the indicator of your success. But what I realized is that all I needed to do was be who I am. Wherever I go, I am. And therefore, I took what I was contributing in other organizations, growing them, scaling them, making people hundreds of millions of dollars, and decided to do it for myself as I serve other business leaders who also need to have an opportunity to create wealth for themselves and their team members. And so it's been phenomenal. I exceeded my projections. I've seen wonders with my clients in terms of their ability to grow and scale and learn how to decision within their business in alignment with what their true end game is. And it's just been fabulous. And so I'm glad that I took the leap. In fact, I think about, wow, what took me so long? Oh, yeah, fear. So it's been fabulous.
Dave Charest: Trey, when you think about moving to this place where you taking that chance on yourself, you're doing those things like, what are some of the main things that you've learned right out of the gate about just taking that step?
Scharrell Jackson: I think the first thing is that you need to get clear on what your destiny is, your end game. And for me, that is different from your goals. Oftentimes we lead our lives based on transaction. I have a goal to be married or have children, to make x number of dollars, own a home, a dog, to lose weight, whatever that looks like, as opposed to really lining your life up with what your goals are, in alignment with your destiny for your life. And so the steps that I needed to take and that I encourage the individuals that I have the privilege of serving is that first we need to get clarity on exactly who it is that we want to be and where it is that we want to end up. And I frame that as your destiny or your end game. Once you are clear, for example, I know what my destiny and my end game is. And once I'm clear on that, then you learn how to decision in alignment with your destiny or your end game. So the reason why I'm taking this is because it positions me an opportunity to create impact. And one of the things within my destiny is impact. I won't do things that are disaligned. One of the things in my destiny is low to no stress. So if someone invites me to do something that I know will bring me stress, I exercise boundaries, and the answer is no. So the bottom line is we can break that down into every area of our life. But first you have to get clear, and then you need to learn how to decision in alignment with your end game. Once you are clear that you must decision in alignment, then we begin to work on the strategy of execution. And then there are a myriad of pillars that you have to implement in your leadership game. Because ultimately, this is about how we're leading our lives, right. And so then we start to work through those pillars of leadership to make sure that ultimately, we don't just get to the Super bowl, but we win the game. And so we start to work on those. Your bench strength, your tools, right. Your strategy of execution, your technological innovation, knowing when to pivot and a myriad of other pillars within leadership that I work with leaders on.
Dave Charest: Gotcha. Gotcha. So, you know, I want to talk a little bit about just that, right? Leaning into strengths and stuff like that. So when it comes to running your business personally, like, what would you say your strengths are?
Scharrell Jackson: I think when it comes to running my business, the greatest strength is that I'm open to change and I'm a continuous learner and I'm not leaning in on the 35 years of success and the accolades and awards and the resume. You know, I think that what we need to do as entrepreneurs is that we need to know that we're only as successful as the tribe around us. We must give people permission to tell us the truth about ourselves, and we constantly have to be working on our gaps and opportunities for improvement versus the things that we're great at. And so that's really what helps me to continue to catapult forward is the fact that I'm always leaning in on how can get better. And then I'm looking to make sure that I have the bench, which is one of those pillars, right. Strength of individuals who care enough about me to risk the relationship to ensure that I succeed. In other words, they're going to tell me the things that I don't want to hear. And it constantly requires me to level up.
Dave Charest: Yeah, well, it's good to have those people, I mean, talk to me a little bit about that, I think, so often. Right. We can. Well, one thing, right, small business owner, you're doing this on your own. One of the reasons we started this podcast is because we've heard from people feeling like, you know, like, oh, who do you turn to? Where do you go? How do you actually hear from other small business owners that are actually going through those same things? And so when you think about that, how do you find those people to help you fill those gaps? What's your process to do that?
Scharrell Jackson: That's an excellent question. I think the first thing, just to comment on your first statement around entrepreneurs feeling like they need to do it alone. I don't know one successful person, and we all, and I don't mean personally, but we all have this insight on the lives of successful people, athletes, the president, individuals in entertainment, those individuals of influence. There isn't one person out there that doesn't have a coach. Even the president has the chief of staff, the vice president. Every single superstar athlete has a coach. Every single significant leader has a coach. I think the thing that we need to do away with is this idea that as entrepreneurs, we need to do it all. That is the first ingredient for the recipe of failure. I believe that as entrepreneurs, we need to utilize the tool that you're even providing, Dave. And we need to seek to learn and build our bench. And this is how you build it, by reaching out beyond your sphere of influence to the extent you don't have individuals in front of you in alignment with where you want to go or where your destiny is. So for me, when I'm choosing my bench, the individuals who are supporting me internally and externally are individuals who are where I want to be. So when I'm looking at my marketing and who's managing my constant contact, then I'm looking at a marketing person that when I bring an idea, they're going to look to me when it's not a good idea and say, that sounds awesome. However, we're going to be going in this direction. Or when I'm looking at my accountant, they're not necessarily reporting the numbers, but they're walking me through the forecast to get me to the next level. When I'm trying to decide as a business leader, I have a business coach who has the acronyms above mine to make sure that I can go to the next level. So the building of the bench is based on us having the criteria in alignment with people who are better than us or have greater skill or intellectual capital, business acumen that we don't have. And oftentimes, I'll say this ego comes with entrepreneurship. And so we have to be able to lay that down and set the pride aside and make sure that we align ourselves with individuals that can move us forward. Once we do that, the assignment of who's on your bench becomes easy. We just have to open our eyes to find people who can bring something to our organization that we don't already possess. And we need to be able to self assess and be aware of what we really can't do versus what we've been doing. And that's a significant gap often.
Dave Charest: Wow. Wow. The point of clarity that you're speaking of and knowing what your purpose is and what you're doing, and, I mean, I think I've seen this just personally in my own life, just sometimes making a decision on where it is that you're trying to go, it helps all the other pieces kind of align and put you in the place. And I've heard this multiple times in these conversations that we've been having with other owners as well. And I love to hear you kind of reiterate that and put it in so eloquently as you have, take us through, what does a typical day look like then, for your business?
Scharrell Jackson: So I have a couple of offerings within my business. First, I'm a keynote speaker. And so if I am looking to do a speaking engagement, then those are organizations that are reaching out, that are looking for a speaker who goes beyond the five keys to success, the seven habits of leadership. They're looking for someone who could really meet the individuals where they are. And where we started was we talked about the fact that everybody has fear, and fear stems from insecurity. And ultimately we have the desire to really be the fullest potential of who we're capable of being, which I define as our destiny or end game. And so when we're talking about me doing speaking engagements, I'm typically approached by organizations that are looking to level up and provide their audience not only with motivation and inspiration, but authenticity. That's going to give them with tangible tools where they can move their leadership game forward. Those days are phenomenal because that's the gift that God gave me, coupled with the educational and the business experience to back it up. And so those are wonderful days. Days when I have an opportunity to do a podcast like this, or an opportunity to go before people and speak primarily on leadership, diversity, inclusion and belonging, or speaking specifically to women on how to break that glass ceiling and their journey to the top, and how to ultimately achieve their destiny and amplify their vote, their voice. So I have three main topics that I speak on. The other thing is that I'm a leadership coach. So as a leadership coach, that's typically my day. Every day I start my morning depending on what side of the nation my clients are sitting, and we sit down and we talk about the strategies of execution based on where my clients are to get them where they want to be. And so I have small businesses, entrepreneurs that are smaller and less than a million. I have some that are larger businesses that are up to 400 million. Their challenges appear to be different, but fundamentally they're always the same. We're doubting our ability to make the right decision. We're evaluating whether or not we have the right policies and procedures in place. We want to know if we can scale, are we prepared for economic trends and changes, and do we have the bench strength to get us to the next level? And so, depending on where I am with my client, we have conversations around what their original need is, and then from there it grows. My clients are always getting challenged in homework that they have to do. I am not a therapist I am a business consultant and a leadership coach. And so we work through where some of their leadership challenges are. And then I challenge them to level up. Then, like I said, they have homework. And then on the business consulting side, not only am I coaching my clients, but in many instances I am inside of the business helping them solve the problems that keep them up at night. So whether or not they're having some accounting issues and maybe we need to look at the numbers and reposition them so that they can grow the revenue or more importantly, net income on a cash basis, maybe they're having some problems with their bench. And I need to help them identify the talent to get them to the next level. Because we've discovered what got you here may not necessarily get you there. Maybe they don't have the right policies and procedures in order to really grow and scale the business. So I'm going in and I'm helping them look at the processes and procedures, the workflow, in order to create a higher level of efficiency within the organization and identify the steps, maybe even some of the technological tools that we may need in order to create more efficiency in the organization. And then we look at things like constant contact provides, which is what is your marketing strategy? What is the strategy to build the business? How are you identifying your clients and your client acquisition strategy? What's the retention strategy to maintain those clients? What are we doing to nurture them? How are we looking at when we actually need to turn clients over because they're no longer profitable, are no longer a good fit for the business? And then what are the tools that we're using to do drip campaigns, marketing campaigns, social media. And so all of that is part of building a business. Everything from our people, our processing, our client, our employees experiences and our technology. And so I work with my clients, depending on where they are, to ensure that they have a bulletproof process in play in order to have a sustainable business model and continue to soar, regardless of what's going on in the economy. And so I meet them where they are, depending on who the client is and what the client need is.
Dave Charest: I love that. I love that. When you think about all this work that you've done over the years, both in the corporate level and then now moving into, you know, what you're doing with your own business, what's the biggest thing you've learned over the years that really helps you today?
Scharrell Jackson: I think the biggest thing that I've learned that has helped me today is that I need to give myself some grace. First and foremost, I think one of the things about entrepreneurs is that we are all high achievers, and as entrepreneurs, we are the primary repository of the pressure that we place on ourselves. We are the person that is depositing that pressure more than anybody else. And so I have learned that I need to give myself grace because I'm qualified, and, you know, because I am qualified, that my ability to do things in warp speed is not reasonable, a reasonable expectation of myself. So I think that's one thing. The other thing that I have learned is that relationships are what's most important. I think that as a business leader, it's very important that we never take advantage of relationships, mismanage or disregard them, whether it be unintentional or not. That is an area that I had to learn late in my career because I was too busy moving at a warp speed to even understand the critical nature and the important component of relationships. So I think that relationships are very important internally and externally. And when I say that, I think that that would boil down to also the other thing that's most important is that inclusion and belonging is the number one requirement to be as successful as you possibly can in running a business. I worked in an environment that primarily was male dominated and caucasian. And as an African American, I was not included, and I never felt like I belonged. And that impacts someone's ability to operate at their highest level, even if I did always, you know, get great performance reviews and great recognition. When you are at your best, you give your best. So I can imagine how much better I could have been, even though I was making hundreds of millions of dollars for organization and creating a net income that was, you know, indescribable. But the bottom line is that when we lead, we need to think about and be considerate of each person that we're working with without judgment. And I think that that's important. And I'll throw one other thing. As leaders, we have a responsibility to pay it forward. And so I think I've also learned that in as much as I lead, I have a responsibility to make sure that I'm pouring into somebody else so that they then can pour into somebody else. Because ultimately, we create better business and better people when we do that.
Dave Charest: Love all of that. What can you tell me about leadership in heels?
Scharrell Jackson: So, leadership in heels is an organization that I started over seven years ago, basically on a fluke. I've been speaking probably about eight or ten years. Then back then, typically when I speak, I would talk about being a leader in heels, because I've always worked in a male dominated environment. I started working very early, manufacturing, distribution, construction, real estate, professional services, all male dominated environments. And so what I really wanted to do was to reach the women who were struggling with maintaining the femininity of who they are and operating like a boss in who they are. And so I framed many of my talks a leader in heels, because that's who I am to. I'm a very feminine woman. I like being a girl, but I'm still a boss. And I know how to work the room and get stuff done just like a man in my own female way. And so as a result of that, when I would have these talks at different organizations that would invite me to speak, there would be an overwhelming response. But I needed to get back to the office and run my business. And someone challenged me with, you know, you really should start your own speaker series. So I said, well, I'll do one. You know, invite a few people in the community, and then I'll go back to work. So I threw an event called leadership in hills and expected about 25 people to show up. And lo and behold, hundreds of people came. And as a result of that, the first event was, what's behind the makeup, the brand uu. And it was a place to provide a safe space for leaders to come peel back the mask and deal with the authenticity and transparency that impact matters of the heartland, their mind, personally, professionally, and in the community. And because of that and our ability to deal with things authentically, people are able to be vulnerable. And what happens in vulnerability is you build trust and then you begin to grow. And so individuals were really learning. They were motivated, they were inspired. And when the event was over, they asked when was the next one? And so now here we are eight years later doing leadership meals. So I do those three times a year. They're fabulous. And we actually have one coming up on March 2. So I don't know where you are, but I wish you could come.
Dave Charest: Amazing. No? I love it. How many people are you looking at this year?
Scharrell Jackson: We're looking at about 150 people in the local event. This one is going to be in celebration of women's history month. Courageous women going where leaders are afraid to go. We have a panel of dynamic, courageous women who have broken the glass ceiling, who have operated in the sphere of being single moms in male dominated environments, dealing with cancer, challenges with their children, not being wanted in these environments where they're learning how to communicate as women, and then they're making organizations millions of dollars, and they're very successful, and they're doing it while they're afraid. And so it's going to be a very authentic organizational meeting for men and women to come, because I believe when we're all together, we recognize that we're better together. So it's going to be fabulous. On March 2 at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach, 11:00 it's the lunches. So that's my pitch.
Dave Charest: All right. I love it. I love it. We'll include some details for people to find out more about that, too. I think that'll be great. So a few things that I hear you talking about, ways you're talking, I mean, there's so many things here, but I'm going to focus on, you know, you mentioned relationships and how important those are. You also mentioned the people that you surround yourself, and I've also heard you mentioned community. And so this kind of gets us into that discussion of, like, marketing and just community in general. Right. And so I'm curious as to, you know, how often are you working on marketing your business?
Scharrell Jackson: I'm working on marketing my business every single day. I think that it is important that we first of all know what we're offering and what our target client is, as opposed to just throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing where it falls. And so I'm working on getting clear again. Remember, I told you I believe that the primary pillar of leadership is clarity. And every time you're executing on something, you need to be clear. Don't just jump into it and just start without having clarity. And so first the clarity is who is my target market and who am I serving, so that when I'm building out my database and constant contact, that my database consists of those individuals who need my service. The other thing is that when I'm working on my business every day, I'm working on how can I serve? Not what can I sell? You know, the most important thing I believe is that we're serving our clients and we're meeting the need of the client because it's really not about us. The goal of being great in sales and marketing, and I don't mean from a manipulative or an inauthentic way, is to know that you have something of value that will benefit others. And so when I'm speaking to individuals and I find that there's a way that I can support them, then I have an offering to see how I can support them. So I believe that we market daily, and then there's just different types of marketing that we exercise depending on what our strategy of execution is.
Dave Charest: So I got two questions here. Im going to start with the clarity piece that youre talking about, then I want to get to specifically what youre doing in terms of marketing. But one, you mentioned the clarity piece, and its something that youve talked about in terms of understanding who it is that your target is and all of that. And as someone who speaks about that regularly and talking about the clarity piece, how difficult was it for you to actually do that for yourself?
Scharrell Jackson: Very, it was very difficult for me to get clear on who my target client is. And the reason why it was difficult is because I was looking at how I had been executing on identifying my client historically versus what it is that I'm offering and who it aligns with. And so when I really started to look at who is my target client, in other words, who needs what I have to offer and what is the benefit of them utilizing my services. And once I understood what are my services and then that means who is it that will benefit from my services, then I was able to determine who is my avatar, who is my client, who is my target client, and then what is their need and why are they the best client for me. And so that process, to be honest with you, Dave, I really buckled down to do that work because prior to that, it was a database sending out e blast social media, just the normal thing that everybody is doing that doesn't create a unique identifier. And now I'm literally in the midst of really honing in on that. And then I'll be reframing my website, reframing my media kit, reframing the version message out to the community so that the individuals who have the need that I can meet, then those will be the people that will be my target. But I have to sit down and do that work. And honestly, it was about just concentrated time where that was my primary focus. I literally decided that I was going to take four days and just dedicate to that. Otherwise it's a sprinkle here, there, and it's a drip campaign, and you can't really effectively notch your business and market if you don't have a clear strategy.
Dave Charest: I love where you're going here with this because I think that's, I was recently having this conversation similarly, where you have to choose, because once you choose and you have a niche or you have who you're targeting, it really informs everything that you do. And so having done that work, and to your point of, you're kind of just going through the motions of the other stuff but not really making progress. How do you see your marketing changing based on what you now know or where you've decided to focus?
Scharrell Jackson: The way I see my marketing changing based on what I know now about who my target audience is and what I have to offer is that I'm going to be intentional. In other words, I am not trying to reach everybody in the nation and hope that I get somebody. I am seeking to reach those individuals who are looking to move from fearful to courageous. And so those are individuals that are sitting in particular seats and I need to meet them where they are. So my strategy of execution first is to not do what I feel is slimy sales, but really do an offering to the community of leaders that are looking to reach their destiny and then be able to walk them through how I can can support them on that journey. And that's whether I'm a keynote speaker, a leadership coach, or a business consultant. So it's intentional marketing and then it's identifying those individuals that tend to sit in those particular roles. So that again, I'm not just sending out some e blast to a thousand people. It could be targeted. When I'm looking at providing organizations on how to create a culture of inclusion and belonging, I am specifically looking to reach those CEO's or head of diversity and inclusion that are interested in that and more importantly, those organizations that lack diversity. If I am looking to work with leaders in order to help them solve the problems that are keeping them up at night, then I'm intentionally going to be looking at those CEO's of organizations that are driving organizations that may be having challenges and or entrepreneurs of small businesses who are looking to grow their business. And they have a technical talent, but they really don't have the business acronyms to execute on finance and operations. And the same thing goes with those individuals that are looking for a leadership coach. So it's very intentional in terms of my who, entrepreneurs, CEO's, females, leaders of diverse and inclusive organizations, leaders of organizations that seek diversity and inclusion.
Dave Charest: Gotcha. So talk to me a little bit about then how you're using, you know, you've been using constant contact and how you're using it today to help you reach those goals.
Scharrell Jackson: So one of the things about constant contact is that when I'm sending out, let's just say for a leadership in heels event, I've been using constant contact for years now. The great thing about it is that I'm able to bifurcate my attendees to events by event, which is great because I could do targeted marketing. And thank you to those individuals and for me, everything is not about selling. It's about letting people know that I appreciate them. It's about nurturing those relationships. It's about inviting them into private events because they have participated. And so I use constant contact not only for a full database, but by segmented, targeted marketing campaigns depending on who those clients are. And then I'm able to classify the clients as well in constant contact by client type or prospect type. There are individuals that might be leads, there are individuals that might be referrals, they're individuals that might already be clients, individuals that may be prospects. And so I'm able to actually categorize those clients based on potential type. And then I'm able to look at them by industry if they are in specific industries. And so what I do is I actually maximize constant contact in order to be able to bifurcate my clients and segment them, prospects or referrals in the various buckets that I need. So that when I'm marketing, I'm not going to be marketing an Lih attribute attendee to hire me as someone to do some keynote speaking when they were attendee, that is in college. Right. And they don't even have a business. And so by using constant contact and maximizing all of the fields that's available, it really allows me to segment my marketing and be more strategic in my approach so that my marketing campaigns have a strategy of execution as opposed to again, throwing spaghetti on the wall.
Dave Charest: Yeah, I love hearing you say that and really making it real because I think one of the things that we're always focused on, like look, the number one thing you can do if you really want to start improving what you're doing from the standpoint of using constant contact is thinking about segmenting who it is that you're talking to. And so it's great to hear. How many lists would you say that you have these days?
Scharrell Jackson: Well, to be candid with you, I actually have somebody working on database management right now in order to, I also think it's important that you clean your list up. So we manage our bounce backs all the time. We look at how many people are open in the emails, I look at my click and my read ratios so that we then can further bifurcate it. So if there's individuals who are reading it, then those become hotter leads than individuals that are cold, that are not. And then we also look at those leads so that if people are not opening the email, then we don't need to wait for you to unsubscribe. We'll unsubscribe you ourselves. And so I would say when I start to look at all of those lists, gosh, Dave, I have a number of lists. I can't even tell you with all sheer accuracy how many lists I have, because I have lists by industry. I have lists by categorical and other words, if they're a prospect, a lead, a client, an attendee. I have certain lists by event type for leadership in heels, individuals who've attended specific events. I have a number, but I can tell you it's a lot good.
Dave Charest: Listen, you know, I think it's great that you're doing that, because I think particularly nowadays too, people are more and more demanding in terms of, like, how people are communicating with them. And if they feel as though you don't know who they are or they're getting the wrong information from you, it's very easy. Easy for them to write you off. And building those relationships and having people feel as though that you are speaking to them directly is so important, especially today, when you think about constant contact, what would you say is your favorite feature?
Scharrell Jackson: So I am. Now that I'm in full time entrepreneurship, I'm really looking to level up my utilization of the constant contact. I mean, customer relationship management. It's just, it's important. It really is. It's very important. I think the thing I like the most are the analytics. Being able to understand the value of the context and the opportunity to level up the utilization of the information that I have. So when there are individuals that are not opening, then I literally will go through those analytics and see, like I said, how many are open, how many are forwarding, how many people are not opening it, how many people are unsubscribing. I like the ability to create the segmented list also, because then I'm able to do more intentional marketing. For example, the individuals who just attended my event in November, I'm looking to send out an e blast specifically to them versus to all of the individuals who have attended an LIH event. They will also get an email, but I want to send one to the November attendees, thanking them for joining me in November, inviting them to join me on March 2 in our next event, and inviting them to participate in a special raffle or something, you know. So I like the ability to look at the analytics, to be able to understand the data and the utilization, and then to hone in on where I need to create some improvement and set some targets too. Like, I want my open rate to grow, right? Or my click rate to grow. And then also paying attention to my unsubscribes. I actually like that feature because, and so as I see that, especially if it's individual names that I'm familiar with, then I want to make sure that I can reach out to those individuals that I might have a relationship with to find out whether or not it was too many emails or what happened, things of that nature. So I like a lot of features, but I guess it would be the analytics would be the primary feature and.
Dave Charest: I'm glad that you're taking advantage of those things and using them in that way because that's what they're there for. Right. Which is really great. What would you say would be your number one tip for a similar business using constant contact?
Scharrell Jackson: I think the first thing I would say for a business that wants to use constant contact as a primary marketing tool is that they get clear on their strategy. Do not just use it to load names and push emails because people don't want to read. To use it to actually segment your database into whatever works for your business. There's a myriad of ways to do segmentation and then have targeted marketing strategies, especially in your email drip campaigns that are personalized to the customers and have follow up. Have a follow up process so that once those customers do reach back to you, you have a way to continue to touch them and you don't lose what was a cold lead that eventually became warm and it goes back cold. So I think that with constant contact that I encourage people to fully populate the data first because as you grow your business, you may then want to start doing things like creating text messages. So you want to make sure that you're getting cell phone numbers, make sure that you have the first and last name and that you're bifurcating those names in constant contact so that you can personalize the email and say, hi, Dave, versus, you know, his full name. I also would say that you are charting and looking at those analytics and if you don't know how to use it, do the tutorial. That's one of the other things that I would say and reach out to constant contact. And then I would also say, really take the time to get clear. Like I started on your marketing strategy and how you want to use it, and then reach out to somebody who can support you on this journey so that you can maximize the opportunity and yield a high return early versus is late in the game.
Dave Charest: I love that you mentioned text marketing and I wanted to ask you a couple of questions. There. Are you using it currently now or if you're not. How are you thinking about it? Because it's relatively new for people and particularly small businesses having access to that. How are you thinking about it?
Scharrell Jackson: Absolutely. We are looking to utilize it. We're looking to digitize our process as much as we can and to make things more personal as much as we can. So our events, for example, are people register for the events on eventbrite and so we are looking to capture cell phone numbers so that we can send reminders via cell phone because people just like to do things on their phone. It's just a lot easier. So capturing that information again so you can scale and you have a sustainable model versus going back later. I believe in one point of entry, one time, not going back to the client, updating it, other than if there's revisions with more information because we didn't fully populate it. So I haven't maximized that utilization of the text messages, but it definitely is in my q two strategy.
Dave Charest: Gotcha. What would be your best piece of business advice for anybody else listening?
Scharrell Jackson: I think the best piece of business advice for anybody listening, to be honest with you, is make sure that you have individuals on your bench that can fill in the gaps that you can't because you are one person and you cannot do it. All the goals and objectives that you have for your business are attainable. Just make sure that you have the right people walking alongside of you to ensure that you don't just get to the game, but that you actually win the championship.
Dave Charest: Well, friend, let's recap some items from that discussion. Number one, get clear on your end game. What is it that you want to accomplish and why? Once you have clarity, it's easier to make strategic decisions that are in alignment with getting you there. Number two, fill your bench with the right people. Remember, you can't do it all on your own. So you need to find those people that will not only share your passion, but fill the gaps in your skillset and complement your strengths. And number three, get clear on your marketing strategy. Don't just load names into your constant contact account. Segment your contacts into specific lists so that you can target more effectively. And so that brings us to our action item for today. So if you haven't already, take a moment to write down at least three groupings of contacts to create those segmented lists. Remember, breaking your overall contact list into smaller lists that make sense for your business is likely the number one way you can start improving your results. PS. If you're not sure where to start, constant contact automatically creates some pre-built segments for you based on your contact's engagement. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Be a Marketer podcast. If you have questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you. You can email me directly at dave.charest@constantcontact.com. If you did enjoy today's episode, please take a moment to leave us a review. Your honest feedback will help other small business marketers like yourself find the show. Well friend, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and continued success to you and your business.