I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Dawn Foster, owner of D Foster Marketing Consulting, on my podcast Hourly to Exit. 🎧 We delved into all things branding, marketing, and scaling businesses.

Here are some highlights from our discussion:

🌟 Dawn emphasized the importance of understanding that branding is more than just a logo or a trademark. It's about evoking emotion and creating a consistent experience for your audience.

🚀 We explored strategies for scaling a business while maintaining a personal touch. Dawn shared her two-phase approach, focusing on both client service and her own role in the business.

🤝 Dawn also offered valuable insights into the challenges faced by business owners inundated with marketing advice and the importance of personalized solutions tailored to each unique business.

📈 Plus, Dawn unveiled her latest offering: a free diagnostic tool to help businesses identify their next steps in branding and marketing. Check it out on her website: https://www.dfostermarketing.com

🔗 Want to stay connected with Dawn and dive deeper into the world of branding and marketing? Connect with her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnpfoster

More About Our Guest:

Dawn Foster, CEO of D. Foster Marketing, is a seasoned expert in the world of branding and marketing. For almost 20 years, she has worked with and led both large and small marketing teams to build brands and marketing strategies that span the globe. She has been recognized as an Austin Woman’s Way Business Awards Finalist and listed among the Most Influential Black Women on LinkedIn. Dawn’s achievements also include being an Under 30 CEO, receiving the Graphic Design USA American In House Design Award, being featured in Quotable Magazine, and contributing expertise to renowned platforms like Marketing Sherpa and Thrive Global. 

She has been a valued Branding and Marketing Panelist, mentoring through business accelerator programs Additionally, having served as a Board Member of The Nourish Foundation, Dawn is dedicated to giving back and supporting aspiring talent, having personally mentored dozens of individuals and played a pivotal role in launching and sustaining 120+ brands. Dawn is an unapologetic branding and marketing nerd, with a passion for research, analytics, and great storytelling through words and images. She is passionate about helping business owners build and evolve their businesses with the right branding and marketing strategies and tactics. 

She has helped transform businesses and business owners into powerhouses through research, strategic planning and content development, education, and empowerment so that they can achieve success and reach their goals. As a business owner, her goal is to see others win, support her community, and do what she loves.

Connect with Dawn:

• Website
• LinkedIn

Connect with Erin to learn how to use intellectual property to increase your income and impact. hourlytoexit.com/podcast.

Erin's LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/

Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos

Music credit: Yes She Can by Tiny Music

A Team Dklutr production

Erin Austin: Hello, Dawn.

Welcome to Hourly

The Exit.

Hello.

Dawn Foster: Happy to

be here.

Erin Austin: Yeah, I'm

very excited to be here.

We can't get enough

marketing and branding

advice.

So I know the audience

will be very interested in

what you have to share today.

But before we get started,

would you introduce

yourself to our

Dawn Foster: audience?

Sure.

So I'm Dawn.

I'm the owner of D Foster

Marketing Consulting.

We are a branding and

marketing consulting

firm, but we also function

as a full service agency

and yada yada.

What that means is we are

strategists.

We'll tell you who,

what, when, where, why,

and how, when it comes to

your branding and marketing.

And then if you don't know

how to execute it, we can do

that as well.

We're a team of creatives.

Erin Austin: Fantastic.

How long have you been in

business?

Dawn Foster: We are turning

six this year.

Well, congratulations.

That thank you.

Erin Austin: Fantastic.

Well, we are near neighbors,

I guess, know, when you're

online, you could get to

know people from anywhere

in the world, but we are

both, in the DC metro area.

And so we are currently

struggling through a.

Snowstorm here, but, we hope

that it is a sunny day.

So that is lovely.

So I'd love to get to know

who your ideal client is and

how do they know, like,

I need to go talk to Don.

So my ideal client

is I'll give some, I guess

the unexpected aspects of the

type of client that we are

looking for.

And that's the business owner.

Not only are you either new

and starting something, or

you've been at it for a

while, you've seen some

success, and you're ready

to hand off your branding

and marketing efforts to

a team of people rather

than bringing someone

in house.

What's really important to

us for our clients is we

want you to care about what

you do just as much as we do.

We absolutely attached to

the business that we're

supporting all of our clients.

Some way, somehow we

can either get behind the

mission or who that business

serves at the end of the day.

we want our clients to

have that same passion

about what they're doing,

why they're doing it.

And we want them to

be thirsty to learn.

We are always here to share

what we're doing, why

we're doing it.

And we want our business owners

to understand that, because

I believe that the more you

understand about single

aspect of your business,

you're a better business owner.

Each piece of the puzzle

somehow connects

to another piece of your

business.

So the more you know,

the better decisions

you can

make.

Erin Austin: Yeah, I agree

with that.

I will say, like, one of

the things I'm struggling

with lately is feeling like,

you know, as a soloist, like,

feeling like I do have to,

like, learn all these things

that aren't my particular

expertise, like marketing,

for instance, and how to

balance, okay, getting to know

just enough I can make.

You know, decisions that

make sense versus like

really getting into the weeds.

and, uh, so I can stay in my

zone of genius, which is not

marketing.

And, but still, there's so

many, podcasts and resources

and email newsletters,

Alyssa, they're all about how

to be a better.

And how do we, kind of dig

through the weeds of all

that detail, stay of at the,

mile high level and still be

a responsible business owner.

I know there's a needle of a

thread there.

Is that a question

for me?

Erin Austin: Well, I guess

I'll say that I imagine

that you get.

Clients who feel

overwhelmed by the amount

of information about how to

be a better marketer that

they get all the time.

And maybe that's why they

come to you because they're

overwhelmed by that.

So,

Dawn Foster: yes, I see a

few different things.

One of the.

Tricky things about the space

that I'm in is the information

about what I do and how I do

it that is at the fingertips

of everyone.

We're in a digital age

where you can ask the

internets anything.

But the tricky thing is, is

that I've been in this space

for 20 years.

And I know that works.

What works for a yoga

studio may not work for a

business coach.

I know that those two

things don't the branding

and marketing tactics

for both.

It's not created equal.

Every business has a different

budget, a different

audience, different

bandwidth.

All the circumstances

are different.

So that information

that everyone is getting,

it's not a one size fits

all deal.

so information overload,

yes, that is a thing.

People come to us, ooh, we see

people come to us because they

thought they knew what they

were doing.

We hear it isn't working

very often.

People come to us with what

they think they need, but

usually they need something

different.

But They're diagnosing

themselves, like you don't

go to a doctor and tell the

doctor, I know this is

what I have, just give me a

prescription, that doctor is

going to tell you based on

all of their experience,

what the issue is, and then

make their recommendation.

That's what we do.

So we see both sides of it.

People who.

Think they know everything.

And then people who understand

like, okay, I tried this.

Come help.

Help me, please.

Erin Austin: I can imagine

that that is an issue.

You know, this is an audience

of experts and that, you Mr.

Google, everyone seems

to have an idea about

what they need.

And that self diagnosis is a

huge problem.

I mean, it even happens

as a lawyer.

Well, someone said, well, I

just need this.

I'm like, don't know if

that's the case or not, and

I can't, you know, or they

just want to give you enough

information, on an as needed

basis in order to, keep the

bill down or something

like that.

It's like, you can't do that.

You yeah, you see the whole

picture and then we can

tell you how we move forward

from there.

So, yeah.

Well, speaking of the

interwebs and AI, how is that

affecting what you do and,

the industry generally

marketers generally?

Dawn Foster: So I'm cleaning

up my answer.

I have, like I said, I've

been doing this for 20 years.

And I've seen trends of when

something in the branding

and marketing space pops

up, everyone gets excited

about it.

And I've started to

learn, okay, what's going to

stick, what's going to be a

trend and how those shifts

come about.

first there were three big

trends that I'm sure every

business owner is aware of.

First, when social started

being the buzz.

And then everyone

realized that socials

overcrowded and then you saw

people popping up saying,

Oh, you need SEO SEO SEO.

And now AI is here.

And while they I do

think there is value in it.

I don't think that it's

not going to go away.

And I say it's here as if it

wasn't here before, but.

Stay with me.

It's the hot new thing.

There's value in it.

It's not going to go away.

It's really how it's used.

And I tell my business

owners use AI, but make

sure you're cautious about

it because at the end of the

day, it's still a machine.

And that machine is also

taught what we feed it.

So you have to think about all

the things that come along with

human behavior.

Good, bad, and ugly that this

machine is spitting back

out to you.

So I tell business

owners, if you want to use

it, go ahead and use it as

a first draft.

Use it to get ideas flowing,

but don't let it be what's

running your business.

Check it, make sure it still

has your voice.

And that's why it should

only be a first draft

because now we're talking

about branding.

When a computer spits out the

excitement and zest and joy

that comes from me, a computer

is not going to spit that out.

So I tell business

owners, use it as a first

draft, make it your own.

Use it as a tool for your

business.

Don't let it run your

business.

That is

Erin Austin: great advice.

And of course, it's the

same advice.

I get intellectual

property perspective

that where people are

really worried about, you

is going to take over.

They're going to start,

writings, take my stuff and

write something with it.

And at the end of the day,

What comes out of AI is not

protectable intellectual

property.

And two, it doesn't know

the nuance.

It doesn't have your expertise.

It doesn't have your voice.

It can't read the room and

change tactics, like all the

things that we can do

as humans.

And so as an expert, we

shouldn't worry about being.

Placed by ai, so long as we

really are an expert, we're

just an extra pair of hands

churning out, something, then

yeah, we might get replaced.

But if we really are

an expert that brings

our, years of expertise, our

relationships, all those

things that come with us as

human beings, then we're

not gonna be replaced by ai.

So, I know there's a

lot of worry about that.

Dawn Foster: I agree with

that a hundred percent.

Very well said.

Erin Austin: So let's go

into branding.

There's another IP issue

with branding that I have

a beef with.

And when you may or may not

agree and that people that,

the trademark is like the

thing, like if I have

the perfect trademark or

the perfect logo, then

that's my branding.

Tell me what you think

of that.

Dawn Foster: You know, you

are a good person to

know because here's what I

tell people.

They'll ask me a question

about what we've created

and I say, get with

the lawyer.

I'm not a lawyer.

Here's what I've seen.

Here's what I think, but I'm

not a lawyer.

Don't tap into me for

Absolutely not.

Especially with law and

legal matters.

Don't listen to me.

I always say if I have an

issue with my car, I'm not

going to call you Aaron,

because you are not a mechanic.

Please don't.

You know,

Erin Austin: I'm stuck

right now, so you definitely

don't want to.

I'm going

to call a mechanic

and get someone that knows to

tell me the answer, because

at the end of the day, I'd be

very irritated if something

happens.

I'd be kicking myself because

duh, I asked.

Someone that's not a

mechanic about mechanical

issues.

Erin Austin: Good.

And so from a marketing

perspective, I'll say what

I say, as a lawyer, a non

marketer, but with respect to

the trademarks and, you

listeners here are people who

have corporate clients selling

Coca Cola, or, FedEx services

or hamburgers.

They're selling their

expertise.

Right?

So what I get as an IP

lawyer, people will come to

me and say, they make a

equivalency between brand

and trademark.

They're like, Oh, I've got my

fancy logo and I've got this,

Name that's just this

killer name and I've got my

trademark on it and they think,

okay, that's my brand and

tell me, are they the same?

Dawn Foster: Oh, no,

they're not the same at all.

A brand consists of so

many different things, even

outside of the logo.

And once I explain what

those things are, I'll give

an example.

A brand is not just your logo.

It's everything that your

brand evokes emotionally.

So it's the type of

photography you use, how

you treat it, the words that

you use, what your brand

sounds like.

Is it snarky?

Is it educational?

Think about the brands you

interact with every day.

When you've truly created

a brand.

Best case scenario, and

you see it with your big

brands, your Targets, your

Under Armour's, your Nike.

Anytime you can see some type

of advertising that that

company has done, and you

don't even see the logo,

that is when they have

done a good job branding.

Oh, that is so

Erin Austin: good.

That is so

Dawn Foster: good.

You know a Subaru

commercial before they

even show you the Subaru,

because it's got that

feeling.

They have branded

themselves.

So now you know what to expect

from that company because

they're very consistent with

how they treat their visuals,

the type of characters

they cast, the language they

use, all of that, you know

what you're getting with

that company and the logo

is just the cherry on top.

And

Erin Austin: so I didn't

ask you this before, but

have you worked with law firms,

for instance, or accounting

firms or service

providers?

And how does that show up?

kind of a boring company

Dawn Foster: like that.

In terms of how we've

branded them?

Oh, I don't think it's

boring at all.

Well, part of that is because

I love branding and marketing.

It's never boring to me.

There's always something new

and fresh.

And like I said, every

business owner that

we've worked with, they're

unique in their own way.

so the law firms

that we've worked with,

absolutely not boring at

all because they've created

a brand that was specific

to them, the clients that

they serve.

we've had an acupuncturist

and his brand was totally

every business.

Their mission, their vision,

their values, their core

pillars are all different.

And who they serve is

different.

So the combination of

those things is always going

to present something new

and exciting.

Because you've got that fused

with providing a solution for

the problem you solve.

That never gets dull.

Erin Austin: That's great.

Do you have a favorite way

that you work with people?

Is it all kind of custom?

Do you have packages?

Like how do you work

with people?

Dawn Foster: Everything

is, we have standard

services we provide.

but I always say we're here

to help as much or as little

as people may need us.

We work with clients and

we typically create, for our

new business owners, we

typically do a brand

mood board to dictate

the look and feel before

we even get to the logo.

Then we do logo, then we

do copywriting.

here's some clues here of

the process of building

a brand.

Yes.

So brand mood board, logo,

copywriting, and then we

outline a website and

then stand that website up.

For businesses that have

been in existence for

a while, we're constantly,

we do a lot of service,

we do a lot, we provide

services for service based

businesses.

And that's because our

sweet spot is that content

creation, that relationship

building, connecting the

dots between your brand and

your target.

We create assets that

really resonate with the target

audience and who you serve.

Erin Austin: That's

wonderful.

Yeah.

I love that.

Well, you know, this is

a very meta.

Podcast.

And so it is about having

that hourly to exit journey

specifically for female

founders with expertise based

businesses.

You and I happen to

be female founders of

expertise based businesses.

So when you think about

scaling your business, like

how have you done that?

Or what are you thinking

about doing in your business

to help scale?

So I've got a

Dawn Foster: two phase

approach that I'm working on.

And who knows what's

after that.

I always think about when

I scale my business, one

of the things that I know I

want to stay true to as I

continue to build, there

are certain things that I

don't want to lose sight of.

And that's the individual

service.

We provide our clients

every client.

We want them to feel like

the only thing we're doing

is sitting and taking care of

their company.

I want to scale to a

point where we can continue

to do that for as many.

Businesses as possible, but

I don't want to get too

large where we lose that

personal touch.

I'm a people first person

and that flows through

my company as well.

I always want our clients

to feel priority to us.

The second phase is what

I personally am going to do.

I love branding and marketing,

but the every day of it, I

still want to have some type

of touch point to it, but the

managing of.

My creatives and my

strategists.

I want to, at some point, I

want to be more on a beach than

doing that.

So my plan is

Because I like the thought

process, because

everything is really

people driven.

To do more speaking and

education from the

psychological point of

branding and marketing and

do thought leadership

there to help New businesses,

aspiring minds, people wanting

to build companies,

understand how we behave as

humans and how that dictates

what a brand is going

to develop into, how to

market, etc.

So that's my

Erin Austin: plan.

Oh, that's interesting.

So education and maybe group

coaching or memberships,

like how do you see that

Dawn Foster: playing out?

In a perfect world.

So, so here's what

I envision.

Three weeks of the month,

I'm in another country, but

then I come back here.

Erin Austin: Time out!

But then

Dawn Foster: I come back

for a week, I visit family,

friends, I'm on a stage for

one of those days talking

to people.

Ooh, maybe I'll write a book.

That's new to the list.

But something very, lot

more casual where I can

still serve.

I can still educate,

but really live life.

I feel like life is about

living in addition to

being here and working.

Well,

if you were to be

able to travel the world,

that means that you have set

up processes and systems

and models and templates

and all the things in your

business so that your team

can run without you hanging out

right there.

Yes.

That important to you from

the beginning or is that

something that you developed

into over time?

Dawn Foster: You know, I

developed into that because I

started and it was just me and

I realized that I'm limited to

what I can do and the number

of businesses I can support

if I don't grow bigger.

so I think it was year two

that I realized I need to start

bringing some people on to

help me achieve this mission

of mine.

Erin Austin: That's

pretty quick.

That was a great, I

mean, some of us, myself

included, can go for a long

time just, you know,

doing that.

1 on 1 kind of just me being

an expert doing all the things

before we kind of figure out,

like, you know, what, this

really isn't sustainable and

I need to start developing

some systems, bringing in

a team and developing

some other revenue stream.

So.

That is fantastic.

Well speaking, if you have

made the business so

independent from you, that

sounds like it could be

set up to be sold someday.

Is that something

that you have thought

Dawn Foster: about?

I would definitely be

open to that.

I definitely would.

But I also know that

when the idea floats around

in my brain about how.

magnificent this could be.

I do know that if I sold it, I

would not want to let go of

our mission.

It would have to be to

someone that absolutely

connects with what we do,

what we're trying to

accomplish, who we're trying

to serve, what we want

to give back to the world.

So if that opportunity

presents itself, Yeah.

I'd be happy to have the

conversation.

Erin Austin: Yeah.

That's fantastic.

The only thing I'm going to

just put in your brain is

that, you know, let's say you

just settle the highest bidder

and then you take all that

money and you do whatever the

mission is that you want to

do, you know, kind of achieve

a mission.

You

Dawn Foster: are absolutely

right.

That makes me feel like I can

make some more money in this.

Erin Austin: Yes.

I like to remind women

that, we can use our

businesses to do good,

or we can use our money

to do good.

There's more than one way

to do good.

Right.

Yes.

And so by maximizing the

value of our businesses,

then we also.

Can achieve our missions

in that way as well.

I'm going to think

Dawn Foster: of that.

You're a smart person.

I like talking.

Erin Austin: So I know

that you have a new offer.

I'd love you to tell

the audience about it.

Sure.

Dawn Foster: So we recently

launched a free diagnosis.

Um, and it's for

the business owner that

has been at it for a while.

They've seen some success.

They're growing, but

they're having trouble getting

over that hump until

the next level of things.

So our free diagnostic

tells business owners.

What's next when it comes

to their branding and

marketing will let you know

if branding and marketing is

going to help you get to that

next level.

And if you're doing

everything great, it can

put that off the table and

then you can start exploring

other.

that you may be needing

to invest in your company

to help grow.

that's a free download, a

free call that we have to talk

business owners through it.

And that is on our website,

bfostermarketing.

com.

Erin Austin: Fantastic.

See, yeah, it's your website.

Do you hang out anywhere

else online?

Or is that the best place

to find you?

Dawn Foster: LinkedIn is

my social media platform

of choice.

I get pretty chatty

over there.

I can be found at linkedin.

com slash n slash Don P.

Foster.

Erin Austin: Okay.

so your whole name is Don P.

Foster.

Okay.

Got it.

Yes.

Dawn Foster: Yeah.

I know you can find my

company, but the bricks

come off on my personal

LinkedIn page.

Erin Austin: Yes.

honestly, I think a lot

of us have.

trying navigate the personal

LinkedIn page versus

the business LinkedIn

page and how much to do

with 1 versus the other.

But, yeah, the personal

1, I think is definitely the

best way to interact there.

Yeah, well, this has been

wonderful.

Thank you.

So much done.

We will have links in the

show notes to find you

and to your offer and to.

LinkedIn and it has been

a pleasure to have you today

and thank you for, talking to

the audience.

Thank

Dawn Foster: you for

having me.