Episode 180: Marketing you may never have tried
“I've never heard of that before.” In today's episode, Fiona talks about two important types of marketing that often get left behind or just not covered at all. Tune in!
Topics discussed in this episode:
Introduction
Fiona's background in marketing
Marketing for your small business
Figurehead Marketing
Examples of Figurehead Marketing
Internal Marketing
Examples of Internal Marketing
Conclusion
Get in touch with My Daily Business Coach
Resources and Recommendations mentioned in this episode:
Lisa Gorman
Natasha Morgan
Tom Chapman
David Bromley
I think if I'm honest, the way that marketing has changed over, especially the last 10 years with the increase of social media or the launch, really of social media. I think people sometimes confuse marketing with sales quite often, and good marketing can result in sales, but it can also result in brand loyalty, brand awareness. A lot of other things may lead to sales and conversion, but also are just building this loyalty and this recognition.
Hello and welcome to episode 180 of the My Daily Business Coach podcast. My name's Fiona Killackey. I am the host of this podcast. I'm also a business coach, an author speaker, a mom, a wife, and all these other good things. But today I am going to be here with you on a coaching episode, and that's really where we dive deep into one kind of area of business. And hopefully, you learn something and you take a few tactics or ideas or just inspiration that you can use in your business immediately. So before we get stuck into that, I just want to remind you that marketing feels like small business, which is our kind of bigger course, and we've had so, so many people go through that and just really change the way that they're thinking about brand and marketing is always open. So quite often we get DMS saying, when will you open up again?
It's always there. It's always available. You can buy it at marketingforyoursmallbusiness.com or you can go to the mydailybusinesscoach.com/shop website and find it there as well. We will be launching the coaching component of the course. So there's the course. It's just a standalone online course. You can do it anytime again, just check it all out at marketingforyoursmallbusiness.com. But we also have a nine-week coaching addition to the course, and we run that a couple of times a year, and that's where you do the course in your own time. And then you come each week. So you sort of module one, come to the coaching for module one, module two, come to the coaching for module two, and so on for nine weeks. And we do launch that twice a year. If you already have the course, it is actually cheaper for you to have bought the course and then sign up for the coaching because we do offer current students a discounted rate on the coaching package.
So if you are interested in marketing this year, if this is something you really want to understand and get clear on how to put together a really strategic marketing plan, then definitely check that out, marketingforyoursmallbusiness.com. Or as I said, you can find a whole lot of other courses at mydailybusinesscoach.com/shop. Also before we get into today's episode, which actually has a lot to do with marketing on that note, I want to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of this beautiful land in which I live and record this podcast here. The Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded. And I also pay my respects and a huge warm welcome to any other indigenous Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people that may be tuning in from other parts of the world. All right, I will get on with today's coaching episode.
So as I pointed out in the introduction just now, I have been running a course and also a live workshop marketing for your small business for years. And that is because my career has predominantly been in marketing. So I started, I don't even wanna say like 20 something years ago. The very first job I worked in was an AD agency in London. I was the kind of executive assistant to the director doing all sorts of jobs with advertising and selling things. Before that actually, I worked in call centers and was always awarded wine on a Friday from the British Gas and TXU team in the UK. And I came back to Australia, I worked in the ads department of the newspaper here, and I moved into magazines where I was the editor and a huge part of that was actually working with the sales team on getting the right brands in and looking at how to market within the pages of the magazine.
It was largely a magazine that needed, like most of them, ads to survive. And so it was a huge part. And then I moved into online marketing, moved into book publishing, and all sorts of things. And I've worked predominantly in content and marketing and brand for more than two decades now. And so when I work with people on their marketing, I think if I'm honest, the way that marketing has changed over, especially the last 10 years with the increase of social media, the launch really of social media, I think people sometimes confuse marketing with sales quite often and good marketing can result in sales, but it can also result in brand loyalty, brand awareness, a whole lot of other things that may lead to sales and conversion, but also are just building this loyalty and this recognition forever over time.
That's what you want. Long-term loyalty, repeat customers, people, turning other people into advocates, people being advocates, making other people aware of your brand. I mean, there's so much there, but one of the things that I work on with people all the time is to create a marketing system and a marketing plan that aligns with their values. I'm definitely not that person. Who's like, these are the 27 emails you need to send this is the exact 90-day runway. This is exactly the way I do it. It's not how I work at all. I really do think that marketing has to have a human approach to it. And it has to be aligned with your values and your values and beliefs may be very different from mine. So it has to be aligned to your business and where your business and your brand want to be in the future.
So it's kind of the first point, but today, I wanted to talk about two parts of marketing that regardless of how you do your marketing and which channels you decide to use are super important. And also they're quite often forgotten, maybe is the wrong word because some people, when I talk to them, they're like, “I've never heard of that before.” And it's never occurred to me to do that before, which is not right or wrong. It's just a fact. And so I thought I would talk about those two types of marketing that often get left behind or just not covered at all. So if you have a pen and paper handy or whatever you use to take notes, feel free to pause and jot down these two types of marketing. Then I'm just gonna, going to tell you now, and then kind of any notes or ideas that come up.
And of course, you'll be able to find the transcript for this over at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/180. And this is episode 180. So the two kinds of areas that I wanted to talk about today are figurehead marketing. So figure, head as one word, Figurehead Marketing, and then Internal Marketing. So you can just draw up two columns if you feel so inclined. And so what are they? Well, Figurehead Marketing as the name kind of implies is the marketing around the figurehead of the business. So that is usually the CFO, the fan founder, or co-founders depending on how the business is set up. It might be the managing director. It could be the creative director, but usually, there is somebody. And I don't wanna say at the top, because quite often we are playing in a level playing field, but usually, it is the person that started the business or somebody very senior in the business.
And so Figurehead Marketing is really about the human approach. So who is behind the business? What are the origin stories? Why should I buy into this? What are your values and beliefs? What's the reason behind this? What influences you? What, what inspires you? And quite often, this can be something that just doesn't come up. Now, I need to preface this by saying that if you have not been doing this, there is a question that I want you to ask yourself. And this is something I ask clients quite often. When we talk about this and in the marketing for your small business course, it comes up as well. Do you intend to sell your business? So is there an exit strategy at some point? And if that is sort of within the next few years, then figurehead marketing may not be a top priority because you wanna think about if you are the face of your brand, if you are the person people expect to see and you leave the business, quite often, the company that's coming to buy, it will need you to do an extended kind of earn-out period.
Now I am definitely not like a broker for businesses, and I'm sure there are people out there listening who are like, “I'm a business broker.” This is exactly how it works or doesn't work. But in my experience, and what I've seen in the marketplace is that when somebody is the face of the business and where there is a huge amount of Figurehead Marketing, and then they go to sell, sometimes there'll be an extended earn-out period. So that might mean that you are then contractually obligated to stay with the business for a certain amount of years until that sort of association between you and the brand has kind of diluted somewhat. So if you think about Australian brands at brands like Gorman with Lisa Gorman's face for so long. I think she's out of that brand. Now, even though another company actually owned the majority of Gorman, she was very much the face, the name, the story, similarly, where I used to work actually at MIMCO, even though MIMCO had actually had another person at the helm for years and years, the lack of Figurehead Marketing around there had meant that people, even when I was working there, they'd still be like, “Oh, okay.”
So you work under the original founder. And I was like, “no.” She left the business years ago. Like she sold the business more than 10 years ago. And so there was still this perception that figurehead was associated with that brand. So that's just kind of a roundabout kind of elongated preface of saying you are going to be listening to me talking about Figurehead Marketing and why it's so important. But if you are planning to sell your business, then look at Figurehead Marketing at potentially what else you could be doing in that space rather than you necessarily. So with that said, if you are not planning to sell your business and the majority of companies that I work with are not planning to sell it. This is something they have a huge amount of purpose and passion in, and they wanna be in there for the long term.
We are talking about Figurehead Marketing with them and quite often it'll be like, I can just see this sort of sense of dread, like, “am I gonna have to get my face out there more? Am I gonna have to do selfies or stories?” Or always be on Instagram, I've got so many other things to be doing, or does that mean, what does that actually mean? And so what I tell them is that figurehead marketing really humanizes your business. Now we have seen a massive increase in people wanting to know the story behind the business, definitely over the last 20 years that I've worked in marketing, but more so even with the pandemic, I mean, people want to buy more and more locally. Sometimes they're doing that out of necessity because of, you know, freight issues, supply chain issues.
But also people are really wanting to know, like, what is your company's stance on this cause, or, or this thing that's happened? Or what do you think about, X, Y, Z. I mean, so many things have come up as a result of this pandemic. And as a result of all of us in the world, going through a similar thing which doesn't happen very often. And so figurehead marketing is really about looking at the figurehead of the business and looking at, are you regularly putting that person, whether that's you, or whether you're working in the business and you're listening to this podcast, are you putting out the figurehead? As, “here is our brand, this is what we believe in. This is why we started this business.” This is our kind of incredible origin story.
The amount of times that I'm working with people and they tell me, how they started the business or why they started, or what was the catalyst? And I'm like, “This is an incredible story.” Where is that story? Because maybe they're a very established business. It's not on their about us page. It's not on you. Any of the stuff in the footer, it's not easily found when you Google them or kosher them or put it into any search engine. They're not talking about it regularly on their social media. They're not talking about it in welcome email sequences. And so you've got this sort of pot of, I don't wanna say a pot of gold, cause that just makes it sound like salesy and sleazy, but this incredible kind of connection point and this pool of connection opportunity.
And yet it's not being told. And so that is the first place to start to look at. What is the origin story for your business? What is the figurehead story? Like? Were you a lawyer and you absolutely hated it. And then you moved into this totally different creative career, or perhaps, you went through some sort of tragedy that then it struck you that there's a massive gap in the market for X, Y, Z. And so you created it, perhaps, you had a really poor experience with another brand and you're like, I could do that better. And you did, perhaps you came into, I don't know, maybe a great uncle that you never even existed died and left you some money. And you were like, this is my chance to get out of a job. I don't like to start a business. Like there are so many ways that you could have started your business, but that origin story can often be the point of connection between you and your audience.
We've all done it. We've all sort of heard about somebody starting some sort of business, whether it's a product or service and been like, that's all I want to show my support and that support might be through sales and conversion, but it could be also just be through as a journalist, I have heard so many incredible stories and I'm like, “Oh, I need to write about them. I need to contact them” or, Hey, I need to like to bring them onto the podcast. So that is one of the first things to think about: what is your origin story? That is a really easy place to start with figurehead marketing and things like, are we bringing that origin story to life? Are we putting it into our marketing collateral and to our brand collateral into our onboarding? And are we using things like photos?
I know that sounds so simple, but again, I have been a journalist, both full-time and on the side for a long time, I kind of always feel weird saying journalistic cause a journalist to me is always like a news anchor. I have been a writer. So I used to write, I used to have a column in the main newspaper here. I used to always write a big feature in your articles on Sunday, like lift outs, both here and also in the UK and in the United Arab Emirates and in Japan. And I've written all over the world. But the point is that quite often, when I was researching people or say I needed to do, I don't know, a gift guide or a feature on, I don't know, women who have started a business when they are on maternity leave, I would try to find this information out.
And one of the quickest ways was to go to a brand and then go to their about page. And I still see it today. So many people use a third-person tense when they're doing an about us page, which is fine, but like putting some humanity into it. Don't put, we are a small group of digital marketers who want to change the game. You're not telling me who you are. There's no link to your team. There are no photos. There is nothing to be like, this is actually human. This is not a robot that I'm buying from. And so look at your origin story as a first point of figurehead marketing and look at one, are we even telling it, do even the people that work with me understand the origin story. And then are we creating this into a really visual and appealing and human storytelling opportunity through our about page with images or video content.
Now, I don't know if she even listens to this podcast, but a friend of mine. And she has been a client as well, Natasha Morgan, who has this incredible property in Daylesford, which is actually on the market right now called Oak and Monkey Puzzle. Quite often when people are sort of talking to me about their homepage or video content and sort of really wanting to create an emotional connection, I will send them a link to Natasha Morgan's video, which is this really just beautiful video, all about why Natasha moved from the city to the country and what she wanted to create at Oak and Monkey Puzzle. And she definitely created what she wanted to create. And so you can find that at natashamorgancom.au, and if you just scroll down, I believe there is a video by Tom Chapman and it's simple, but it's beautifully done and it's not sometimes people are also like, “Oh my gosh, to do this, we would have to have this huge crew and everything else.”
And I think what that shows you is that it's figurehead marketing done really well in a way that aligns with Natasha's values and beliefs, and it really draws on your emotion. And so that is often what is missing from about pages and from figurehead marketing in general because it's just not being done. So one of the first ways to get started, like I said, is to look at your origin story and then look at how you're promoting that origin story and telling that story throughout your different marketing channels, whether that's your about us page, whether it's your Instagram bio, whether it's your LinkedIn, whether it's taking a video and, and chopping that up for all the different channels, whether it is an email sequence when people sign up to buy something or download a freebie that they're understanding who is behind this business, and why, why did you start the business?
It's really a way of connecting. And whenever I talk about marketing with people, I'm like, forget all the stuff about funnels and just all the like stuff that could be really scary for people that are just getting started or even just have never really sat down and thought about their marketing strategy, is to really just think, how can I connect with people? That's all marketing is, it is the connection, and there are different channels and there are different mediums to do that. But ultimately it is about creating a connection. And one of the best ways to do that is with figurehead marketing. So how do you do this? Well, firstly, you think about what are the brand goals? What are we trying to do long-term? And this might be where you go back to your kind of tagline or your mission and vision and values, and really be thinking like, where do we wanna be?
What are we trying to build here? Like why did I start this business, that sort of thing? And then, write that down, write down any kind of notes or ideas or, thoughts or, visuals that you, and then the next thing you wanna think about is in the short term, in the next, say 12 months, six to 12 months, even if you want is what are the business goals? What are we trying to do? And so you might think about our brand goals. I'm trying to figure it out. So the other one, our brand goals are to make these ethically produced candles that are sold all over the world and are the go-to for, let's say at market hotels globally. And so you might be like, “okay, why is that important?” Oh, because we know that the scent that we are using is, I don't know, does something to the brain and helps people de-stress.
And we, that if more people can de-stress, the world is in a better shape. I know this is kind of weird. I'm just like literally making it up on the spot. So let's just say, that's your long term, your short term is we want to increase our candle sales globally. We wanna hit, let's say the US market. And so we are trying to increase conversion from the US to whatever it is we're trying to increase sales. And we would really like to be in three hotel chains in the US by the end of whatever year you're looking at. So then you'd be like, “Okay, who is the audience for these” who is the audience, particularly in the US, because you're trying to get into the US territory. And so you're like, “Okay, let's break this down.” Let's have a look at who is kind of our key audiences there, the hotel groups, then there are also just commercial trades, such as facial companies and skincare and kind of upmarket kind of salons and places like that.
And then there is the general consumer and where are they going to buy it from outside of our store? Maybe we wanna get into one of the bigger boutique kinds of cosmetics and, and skincare companies in the US as well. And so that is just a really quick summary, but you might look at, okay, what if our brand goals, what are we trying to do? Why are we trying to do it? Then what are our business goals? What are we trying to do? Let's put some key dates around them and some metrics that we can actually look at: who are the audience groups, what are the key segments that we're trying to go after? And then what I would try and get people to do then is think about, kind of, I call it your top 20 list.
And so think of those sectors and come up with 20. So you've got five sectors, ideally that you're looking at. And then you wanna come up with 20, a list of 20 brands, podcasts, media that fit under each of those. So say in this weird example that I've given you, not weird, but just probably not well-considered if you would be like, “Okay, hotel groups are one.” Another group maybe, as I said, the facials kind of skincare high end, another one might be high-end retail. And another one might be, kind of, let's say, interior stylists, like the people who are, or interior designers, the people who are kind of, working on the overall aesthetic, the overall feel of hotels and retail industry and retail experiences. And then your fifth group may well be media, small business, or entrepreneur media.
And so you're like, “Okay, I've got these groups.” And then you wanna look at what are key things that are happening in that industry? So there might be key podcasts that people listen to in that industry. It might be key events that you would potentially be the figurehead could speak of in that industry. It could be brands that you could collaborate with. It could be all sorts of things. And so you sort of have these five sectors and you have a list of 20 names or people or brands or whatever under each of them. And essentially you're getting a list of a hundred to look at. And as a, we're talking about figurehead marketing to really look at and be like, okay, well, how could we bring in our origin story, our brand story into this, the look is this amazing podcast that people in the small business world or people in the interior design world listen to, or, Hey, there's this podcast that I know that hotel groups are listening to, or there's this podcast that I know that they've interviewed the likes of this, who are the top stylist that looking after these hotels.
And they are kind of the decision-makers. Let's say which candles are gonna come into which places, this is just an example, but so you can start seeing, could my origin story fit really well on one of those podcasts? Yes, it could. So, okay. Let's pitch the figurehead. And so that's really like a very quick overview of how figurehead marketing can work. And then of course, when you're pitching, you wanna make sure that you have things like the biography ready, and you're happy with it and always have a short and a longer biography. You also wanna make sure that you've got a range of publishable or pub, media-ready images so that they're high quality, their 300 DPI. They are in line with the sort of aesthetic of wherever you're pitching to. You wanna make sure that you've got a headshot that you've got a full-length shot in there, and you wanna make sure that you've also got in their kind of key talking points.
So in your pitch always wanna, whether you're going onto a podcast, whether you're going to, pitch this figurehead to a panel or to be a keynote speaker or to somehow be involved in an event or pitching them to the media, you wanna make sure that there's always kind of angles or hooks or just sort of talking points that they are ready, whether that's you or somebody else in the business to talk about. And quite often your origin story is a perfect thing to include in there, cuz it's like, “Okay, this is how we are different.” This is where I differ from other people in my industry. And so that is kind of figurehead marketing. And over time you wanna look at the analysis of the figurehead being out there doing what we hoped might be brand awareness. It could be changing the narrative about your business because I don't know if X or Y has happened and you wanna sort of change the narrative.
It could just be, sales, not just, but it could, that's a huge part of it, but it could be sales. It could be okay. Can we have a look at the person in charge of the business who has been talking more on different podcasts or has been on the media or, even taking it in a huge way would be, putting out a book and that, massive type of PR that comes from a book? So that is an example of a type of marketing that people don't do enough of. And I think also with figurehead marketing people sometimes think, well, I don't have a team. It's just me. And it's like, that's fine. You just need one person. It's the figurehead. So you could have a look at, okay, what am I doing each month to get myself out there?
And it could just be simple things. It doesn't have to be a huge pitch. It doesn't have to be bigger than Ben Hur. It just needs to be something that you're doing consistently. If you are building this up and again, going back to the start, if you are not gonna sell your business, this is definitely something that can increase the connections for your audience, increase the chance that they remember what your brand is. Because we remember people's stories. We don't necessarily always remember which tower company we were looking at on Instagram, but we remember the story, the origins of that's why she started that tower company or that's why he started it. I started it. And so figurehead marketing is just incredible. I have seen it firsthand in my own business. I've seen it in other businesses where, when they've really looked at, okay, who is the figurehead?
What are we trying to get across with the brand? And how can we do that through panels, through the promotion of that figurehead in different marketing ways, then I've just seen so many good things happen to that brand because people are invested? They're more invested in it, cuz they're like, “they're so lovely. Or they're funny. Or they went through the same heartbreak that I did or we are social beings.” We are always trying to tap into one another. We do it all the time. Whether we start talking to somebody randomly in the supermarket because they're wearing the same sneakers as us or their kid has the same spiderman t-shirt on or something or whether it is through deep connections that we've had with people for years. We are always as humans trying to find connections and figurehead marketing is a really great way of doing that.
So if you're not already doing it in your business, look at the next year and think about, are there a couple of events that I could talk about? Is there a couple of panels that I'd love to be on? Am I really passionate about one area of the sector? And maybe I could talk to people about that. And again, it doesn't even need to be an event. You could create your own event or you could create a Facebook live or, something else, some other way of getting the figurehead marketing out there. So that is number one. And number two, the second type that I wanted to talk about today that I think people sort of failing to really plan for. I think more people that I would say are unaware or haven't really thought about the figurehead market, but I think this next one, people are aware of it more I would say, but they just don't do it.
So. And what is it? It is internal marketing. So internal marketing is pretty much as it sounds. It's the marketing within a business. So often, and this is exactly the same with values as well. People come up with their brand values and they're all externally facing. They are not internal. So I talk about this so often on this podcast. And so often with my clients as well, your values need to be aligned both externally and internally. And so often they're not seeing things like a really easy one, female empowerment. We see that all the time with all these brands. We stand behind women and go for equality. And which is amazing. Yes. However, they are not doing that internally. So they don't have flexible work environments and let's face it. Women do. And people who identify as women do the bulk of caring for children, they do the bulk of caring for elderly parents.
They do the bulk of caring in the community. So they are often in need of more flexible work environments than other genders. I'm probably going to get somebody sending me some sort of DM to tell me that that's wrong, but I do believe in that. And in my own life, I have seen that. So that's the first thing. But the second thing that I often see with these companies that come out and say, “we're all about female empowerment is that they don't do things like domestic violence leave,” which here in Australia is a massive issue for women. I'm not gonna get on my high horse, but it's an issue really for men to figure out in this country because we are still seeing women being murdered every single week. But I digress. My point was that much like values where there is not as much emphasis put on.
How does the value align internally in the business marketing is also like that we do all this marketing outside the business, making sure that people think X, Y, Z, about our brand, that we're coming across in the right way? And yet internally we are not doing things like really making sure that our onboarding shows people who are coming into the business, what does a brand stand for? What are we all about? What simple stuff like our brand colors, our brand fonts, our brand tone of voice, and then other things. So making sure that it's a fun place to work, that there are considerations given to people as humans that are coming in and working for you in your business. So why do we need to do internal marketing? Well, as I've kind of touched on, people are your best asset and we need to make sure that we retain those good people, especially great staff.
I mean, we are seeing here in Australia because we've basically locked our borders for, I don't even know. I think I saw something on the news today that was like 700 days and not allowed people in what we are seeing. And I've seen it so many times with a lot of clients where there's just this huge pool of employees that are able to basically pick and choose whatever job they want at whatever salary they want. It is really an employee market right now because we are not having people come in and come to Australia for work. And so we just don't have the level of competition that we are used to having pre-pandemic. And so now, it's harder to find staff because there are so many jobs going and there are not as many skilled staff as we are used to because Australia tends to get a huge amount of people from overseas coming in and working here.
And we don't have that at the moment. And so your internal marketing is an opportunity for you to create a really great culture at work. A really great team at work who love coming in, who are engaged in the job, in the brand. And so what are the kinds of ways that you do internal marketing? Well, it could be as simple as a welcome breakfast when somebody comes to start or a welcome lunch or a cupcake on their birthday, or, just things like making sure that if you are a product-based business that you are showing everybody in the business, why we've done this range, what's the collection all about, what's the thought behind it? How did we come up with this? What kind of textiles are we using? What sort of prints are we using? And making sure that everyone in the company gets to see that not just the marketing team or the design, making sure that your warehouse staff get to know that because this is all engagement, you are marketing within the business.
First I've said it before on this podcast. But years ago I went for a job, which was actually my last full-time employment role. I ended up as head of marketing there, but when I was in kind of the interview stage and it was for a different role in the company, it was talking to somebody at the company and they were saying, “What would you wanna know about their business before you started?” And I was like, well, you've told me that you've got like 600 staff. What did they think of the business? Like, what do they think of working at this company? Because you often forget when you have staff, whether it's one person or it's 600, they are going to places, maybe not as much as they did pre-pandemic, but they're going out.
People are like, where do you work? They're saying where they work. Then the next question is always, “What's that like,” whatever comes outta their mouth is a form of marketing. Whether you like it or not, it's just as important, perhaps more so than a customer review. That's on your Google, my business, or on your website, whatever they say is coming out as a kind of gospel to the people around them. So you wanna make sure that you are creating a really great place to work and you are marketing to the people that work with you as well as externally, of course. And so, as I said, it's an employee's kind of playground at the moment. I have seen jobs out there for what I used to do, head of marketing, where they're, they're like a hundred to $150,000 more than the average was two years ago before the pandemic.
So people are expecting a lot and there are fewer people to go around. So if you can create an amazing workplace and part of that is good internal marketing, you are more likely to attract those people and then retain them. And so you wanna get to know your staff as well. And internal marketing is a great way to do that. So that stuff like their days and done in a nice way, not like we are monitoring you, but there's also things like getting together for lunch. I remember years and years ago, like, when I was way back at fashion journal days, the artist David Bromley invited us, and this would've been like very early two thousand invited us to the studio. And there were a bunch of people working for him. And they were like, come and have lunch with us.
And we sort of sit down every Friday. I think it was. And you know, we sit and we have lunch together and we cook together and we kind of do this sort of amazing pot lunch. And it was so great. I was like, “Wow, I've never seen a workplace where they sit down everything,” tools down, everyone sits and have opera lunch together and proper tablecloth. And it was just beautiful. And I remember thinking, and still like, 20 years later, I still don't see that happen in very many places. And of course, we've had COVID, but we see them quite often and I've gone in and consulted places, our staff just going out by themselves to get lunch. And maybe that's fine, four outta the five days, but one day a week, it would be so nice to sit down and all chat over lunch.
People bring things in, it doesn't need to be an expensive thing. People can bring in a dish each or maybe two people can go together and get one dish. And so it's just a way of coming together and bonding and connection. Going back to that idea that I tried to talk about with figurehead marketing, that marketing is connection. And so internal marketing is how do I connect with the people that are working for me or with me? And so who can do this? Well, anyone in the business could start internal marketing, but usually, it's going to be the MD, the CEO, the general manager, the brand manager, or the marketing manager. If you've got one and sometimes the HR, if you are big enough that you have an HR person in your internal team, then maybe it'd be something you sit down and you're like, Hey, I wanna start doing more internal marketing.
I wanna think about what marketers would make people feel connected to at work. And then how can we do that? So again, I've mentioned a few ideas, but some others that you might wanna think about would be welcome packs. So again, it doesn't need to be expensive quite often. I mean, if you're a product-based business, this is just like a no-brainer. You could be taking a certain amount of your stock or your sample stock and using it as a welcome gift or ideally looking at your projected range that you're buying and, and making sure that there's a certain amount for staff. So if we've got 10 staff, it's like, cool, all right, let's order another 10 or another 20 because we're gonna expand cuz your business is doing so well. Cuz everyone loves what they're doing.
And so you order that and that's part of your welcome pack. A welcome pack can also be something unrelated. So if you're in the service base, it could be a book. It could be a book that really helped you start your business or maybe a book that really inspired you. And so a book can be so affordable these days, even beyond that, it could just be a handwritten note. I remember talking to somebody I know pretty well. And he still went out of business ages ago now it must be 15, 12, or maybe 12 years ago. And he started a business and I went to see him and I was kinda like, “you've got so many staff now.” And he was saying, “yeah, I do.” And I think he has like, I don't know, maybe like, let's say 50.
And so I was talking to him about his staff and I was like, are you like the scary boss? And he was like, “I don't think so.” But he's like, but I kind of feel bad that sometimes people only see me when there's a problem. And I was like, do you do anything when they start like, do you have lunch with them? Do you have a cup of tea with them? Do you like to write them a note? And he's like, “no.” And I was like, “why wouldn't you just write a note?” I mean, I know 50 people is a lot, but not all 50 were hired in the same year. And so you say you've got like five people starting in a year. That's only once every two months. And so writing a note, like a handwritten letter, even a card that just says, I'm so excited that you join the team.
Can't wait to get to know you welcome. That means so much. That is a perfect example of internal marketing that is not done enough anywhere near enough. Like we just sort of think, well we are paying them this much. They've got all these extra perks. We're giving them a job. That's our job done. It's like, no you wanna, from the first time they come in, you wanna give them a great experience just in the same way that when you talk about your customers or your clients, you wanna give them a great experience as well. And so it could be welcome packs. It could be that just the onboarding, like making sure that the onboarding is done well, that you have tutorial videos that people know like where they're gonna sit, that people know where the toilets are. Like just stuff like this. That is just, especially in small businesses.
I think when it's a bigger business, you kind of has some sort of system or you have like a checklist that HR needs to go through. But often with small businesses, we can just sort of get used to things and not think about the person who's starting with us and how nervous they might be and what we could do to make it a really great experience. So kind of onboarding values alignment, again, as I talked about, not just externally, but internally. So if you are in the interview being like, “yeah, we are so great.” We're all about female empowerment, making sure that that's actually carried through when that person starts. And in general, all across the whole, you know, team, this is internal marketing transparency, a big part of internal marketing, don't be hiding everything behind closed tours. Yes. There might be some things that people don't need to know, but quite often, I'll work with companies and they're like, “I guess we don't really share that with the company with the rest of the staff.”
And I'm like, “Is there a reason?” And they're like, “No, we just never thought to do it.” So that sort of stuff can be internal marketing. You know, internal marketing also just makes it a fun place to work, who doesn't love to get a handwritten note anytime, but especially on your first day or to be like, what, we've all decided we're gonna go out for breakfast today to welcome you. Or we're all gonna get on a Zoom call. And we've arranged for everyone to get, I don't know, $10 in their PayPal account to go and order a coffee so they can come and have a nice coffee and maybe a croissant or something. And we're all gonna have a breakfast Zoom meeting. It doesn't need to be this big elaborate thing. Internal marketing can just be small acts that are done consistently that make people feel engaged and connected again, that word to your business, just like figurehead marketing can help people find connections.
Internal marketing can really help people feel engaged in what they're doing and when you've got engaged, staff. So many things are possible. So that is just kind of a quick overview. Maybe not that quick, actually on the two kinds of marketing types that I just don't see being done that often by people or by brands and by business owners. So the first was figurehead marketing and the second was internal marketing. So I hope that has given you some food for thought, some creative ideas for your own business. And just a reminder, as I said at the start, these sorts of things go in-depth in the marketing for your small business course. And so again, that is available anytime at marketingforyoursmallbusiness.com and we will be opening the doors in March to the nine-week course and coaching program. So you can make sure that you're not just buying a course, that you're actually doing it.
And then, delivering and showcasing your marketing plans to the rest of the group, which can be a little scary, but it can also be really a huge lever in keeping you accountable. And so that you, you actually do create a marketing plan and you not just create it, but you share it and get feedback from other people and including myself. So that is it for today's coaching episode. As I mentioned before, you can find the full transcript over at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/180. And as this is the last episode in February, I just wanted to let people know that we are putting up our prices for 1 on 1 coaching. If you're interested in that and you book before the end of February. So that is the 28th of the second 2022. You will be entitled to use the old prices. Anyone that's booking after the 1st of March will be charged at the new rates, thank you so much for listening and I'll see you next time. Bye. Thanks for listening to the My Daily Business Coach podcast. If you wanna get in touch, you can do that at mydailybusinesscoach.com or hit me up on Instagram @mydailybusinesscoach.
