Are you being intentional in your marketing? This week, we're kicking off a brand new series on the podcast all about marketing with intention. Our first guest, Tayler Cusick-Hollman joins us to help lay the foundation of intentionality with crafting a marketing plan. After watching entrepreneurs with small marketing budgets struggle, Tayler developed Enji, a marketing solution for small businesses. Listen in as she shares how to prioritize your marketing efforts, determine your channels, and market with intention!

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Mentioned in this Episode

Click to Convert by Inkpot Creative

Expanding Your Business through Virtual Summits with KP & Jessie of Inkpot Creative

Connect with Tayler

Website: enji.co

Instagram: instagram.com/enji_co

Facebook: facebook.com/enjimarketing

Podcast: prettyokaypodcast.com/

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCXUQ06KoBdHN91sFu-NSV4Q

Hello.

2

Hello.

3

And welcome back to the business

first creatives podcast guys.

4

This is the first episode

in a brand new series.

5

And if you've listened to my

previous episode about how I

6

build these series, I did this.

7

Completely different, completely

wrong, depending on how you look at it.

8

Instead of interviewing a few people

like I normally do and be like,

9

Oh, that would make a good series.

10

Let me just add one

more person to the mix.

11

Guys, I planned this series

from beginning to end.

12

And now it has eight fucking people in it.

13

This is why I don't plan a series.

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Okay.

15

Eight people.

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I have invited for this series, which

is the marketing with intention series.

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And first up is our girl Taylor.

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I am going to let her introduce herself.

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She is amazing.

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Um, and we're also going

to talk about some tech.

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You guys know, I love to talk about tech.

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So Taylor, welcome to the podcast and

give the audience an introduction.

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Tayler: Thank you so much for having me.

24

I mean, first off, y'all like

we, uh, we immediately bonded

25

over our mutual love of rainbows.

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So I, you know, Colie's

wearing rainbow glasses.

27

I have a rainbow shirt on.

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I ski in a rainbow jacket.

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We are, we are simpatico on

the rainbow front, but my

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name is Tayler Cusick-Hollman

and I'm the founder of Enji.

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My background is in small business

marketing consulting, and I've

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been doing that since 2015.

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And because my like,

Corner of the universe.

34

I hang out with way too many boys

and way too many boys in technology.

35

When I really realized, Hey, there's

this, there's this really existential

36

problem that small business owners who

have to do their own marketing have.

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And so my brain went to, I'll

create some software, right?

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So, um, hi, that's where,

that's how we got to the whole

39

tech startup founder title.

40

But I mean, really over the course of

my time being self employed because

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I'm a terrible corporate employee,

all of my, like, heart and soul has

42

been pouring into different ways

that I can make marketing happen.

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Way less shitty for the people who have

to do it for themselves because it is

44

so important to each of our businesses

And it's so emotionally loaded With all

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of these things on top of it just taking

so much of the time that we all don't

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feel like we have and so that's why I

wake up every day and I'm like how do

47

I make this even just a little bit more

accessible and a little bit easier and

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faster for folks so that's what you'll

find me tippy tapping at my computer

49

for way too long every day minus when

I'm downhill mountain biking or skiing.

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Colie: Yeah, I mean, so

Taylor enjoys the outdoors.

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That is where we parted ways, guys.

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She started talking about her

love of skiing and I was like,

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okay, we are no longer friends.

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Let's move on with this podcast interview.

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I mean, everybody knows I'm definitely

not an outdoorsy person, but guys, the

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reason that Taylor is here is because in

the rest of this series, you are going

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to hear from from some really amazing

small business owners who are going to

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tell you about the different kinds of

marketing that can help your business.

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But Taylor is here to like,

kickstart this whole thing.

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I have listened to Taylor on three

different podcast episodes recently.

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She and I were also both part of Click

to Convert, which was an online marketing

62

summit put on by Inkpot Creative, who

have also been on this podcast before.

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But I remember listening

to her presentation in that

64

summit and I was like, Oh.

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I should invite Taylor to the podcast.

66

And y'all know me, if I don't make

a note, I don't remember that shit.

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So then it was like three weeks later when

I heard her on someone else's podcast.

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I don't remember who the first one

was, but then she was on Jordan Gill's

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and you guys know, I love Jordan.

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Jordan's been on this podcast.

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And I was like, okay, no,

Taylor should come on.

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Oh, now I remember whose podcast it was.

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You were on the Kara report.

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Kara happens to be my blog writer.

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And I was like, that was

when I sent you the message.

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Do you want to come be on my podcast?

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But guys, what Taylor has talked

about on other people's podcasts

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is marketing by accident and how

we have to get us all to stop.

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But before we talk about that topic,

Taylor, I want to talk about the

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importance of marketing for small

business owners in the first place.

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Because I feel like none of us jump

into entrepreneurship with ease.

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any fucking clue of how much marketing

is going to play a role in our business.

83

So let's just start with like, I don't

know if we want to start with some

84

numbers, but like if we are talking

about a hundred percent of the time that

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you spend in your business, doing your

marketing, doing your communicating,

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doing the actual service that you

provide, doing your bookkeeping, all

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the pieces of the puzzle, How much

should we be devoting to our marketing?

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And I know that it's going to

vary, but how much should we

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be devoting to our marketing?

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Tayler: You know, I have to, I have

to start my answer with, it's the

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biggest bait and switch of all time.

92

When you start your own business

and you're like, I am going

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to, I'm going to bake cakes.

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That's what my, like I'm going

to spend my time in the kitchen

95

doing this thing that I love.

96

And then all of a sudden it's like,

97

you're going to spend your time, Looking

at your accounting software and tracking

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down invoices and trying to get people

to understand that you even exist so

99

that you can bake said cakes, right?

100

It is just, it's this really amazing

opportunity that, and, I mean,

101

it's a big like jump that we all

take to start our own businesses.

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And there's just so much of it

that we are so in the dark about.

103

And marketing is a huge piece of that.

104

So my, my answer to your question of

how much time should we be spending

105

on marketing is I'm going to give

you like a very non answer answer.

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And that's, and that's however

much time you can dedicate to it.

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And, you know, I talk to small

business owners, like it's my job.

108

I mean, it kind of is my job, but.

109

One of the questions that we ask in

the marketing strategy questionnaire,

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that's a part of how someone

creates their marketing strategy in

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Engie, is how much, how many hours

per week do you have to work on

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marketing, to dedicate to marketing?

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And I can't remember the exact percentage,

but it's like, it's over or about a

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third of small business owners who

have answered that questionnaire tell

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us they have one to two hours a week.

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And I think that that is so important.

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For everyone to know, because most

people, when I ask them that question

118

in real life, or at least I can see

their face, they make this face.

119

They're like, I have like an hour or

two a week, and they're really kind

120

of embarrassed or ashamed to say

that number because it is so small.

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That's kind of the norm.

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You know, every once in a while I meet

someone who says, I have more like four

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to six hours a week, but it is so rare.

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So, so rare that I ever talked to someone

who says, Oh yeah, I have like 20 hours

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a week that I can work on my marketing.

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Cause if that's the case, then that

business has probably already gotten

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to a certain point where they've been

able to outsource other components.

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Right.

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And so then they, as the business

owner can spend the majority of

130

their time doing strategic things.

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But for those of us who are in the

weeds, It is not a lot of time.

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And so it's whenever someone is

sitting there and trying to decide

133

how much time, finger quote,

should they spend on marketing?

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The answer is however much time you

can protect, like fiercely protect.

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And if it's, you know, If you don't

give yourself a realistic number, then

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it just becomes this vicious cycle.

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Like, you bit off more than you can

chew and then you feel like shit

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because you didn't actually do it.

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And then you're like, why do I

do marketing in the first place?

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It makes me feel terrible

and I don't get, right?

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So don't spiral.

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Be realistic with yourself and then

just commit to that amount of time

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that you said you would commit to.

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Colie: I mean, but Taylor, you

bring up a very good point.

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It's however much time you

can commit and protect.

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Because the thing is, you don't

want to say that you have an hour

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or even two hours, and then a week

goes by and you've done no marketing.

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Because I don't, I don't

know what your phrase is.

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I'm going to tell you what mine

is, and then you can kick back with

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what your, what your similar phrase

is, because all of us have got one.

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I say you market today for you in 90 days.

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Yeah.

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She's shaking her head.

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Yes, guys.

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So.

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You, you're marketing now, and if you

don't market this week, you're probably

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not going to see an immediate change.

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If you don't market next week, same thing.

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But I can tell you guys from personal

experience this year, you guys all know,

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I barely worked for a whole quarter.

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I'm now feeling the fact that I didn't

market very much in Q1 or Q2 of this year.

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Like now is where I would usually

get the fruits of my marketing labor

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from like the end of Q1 into Q2.

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And lo and behold, I am here.

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And there is no one beating down my door.

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And so protecting that time and making

sure that you're doing, even though I had

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a really good excuse for not doing it.

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I mean, and I was, I even say this,

Taylor, there was marketing being done.

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It just wasn't being done by me.

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I mean, but it wasn't the kind of

marketing that I would normally do

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that actually brings in the clients.

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But protecting that time, making sure

that you are keeping to that time every

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single week in order to do your marketing

activities is one of the best things

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that you can do for your business.

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But let's talk about marketing

activities because there are

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so many in so little time.

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So how does one decide, I've got two

hours this week, how should I spend

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that time marketing my business?

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How does one decide that?

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Tayler: You know It's not as complicated

as everybody thinks because strategy is

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this like this word that is so loaded and

it feels so big and complicated you you

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go to the you go to Google and you try to

figure out what it means and you're like I

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am I'm more confused now than when I was,

when I was typing my question to Google.

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So the way kind of to quickly

piggyback off of what you said

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and how, how do we explain the

importance of marketing over time?

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I, if you take nothing else away

from me in this conversation today,

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I want you to remember this phrase,

marketing is like farming, right?

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It's exactly what you said,

if you don't dedicate.

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yourself and some of your time to the

action of like planting a seed, taking

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care of said seed, making sure said

seed is protected from the elements.

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You won't have anything to

harvest come the time that you

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are hungry and need food, right?

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So marketing is like farming.

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But when you are trying to figure

out what are you going to do in

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that one or two hours a week that

you have, the most important thing

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is to think of what are your goals?

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Because if you don't have

goals, then you are just totally

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marketing by accident, right?

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You're just waking up every, every

day and winging it or flying by the

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seat of your pants or, you know, every

other cliche that you can come up with.

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And so it starts by looking at your

goals, And then creating a sort of

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plan that works backward from there.

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And for most people, the place

that they get stuck is figuring out

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where am I going to do my marketing?

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Now there are some really core

marketing channels, right?

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Those are the places that you can

do your marketing that are very

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consistent in some industries.

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And in the creative entrepreneur space,

we're talking about social media,

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we're talking about email marketing,

We're talking about referrals.

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and Pinterest usually, and

then blogging and SEO, right?

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Like those are kind of the core five.

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Do you agree with that?

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Colie: I do.

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And I just want to interject that

in this series, we are going to hear

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from experts to talk about all of

those, except social media guys.

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I purposely left social media off

because I feel like when it comes to

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marketing, everybody talks about social

media and I've had so many social media

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marketing experts on this podcast.

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I wanted to make sure that you

guys really heard about, like

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she said, of referral marketing.

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We're also going to talk

about affiliate marketing.

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We're gonna talk about the kinds

of marketing that maybe you didn't

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know exist, because the world

just always talks about Instagram,

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and Instagram is not marketing.

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Tayler: Nope.

226

It is not.

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It is not marketing.

228

It's, it's one of the things you

can do to market your business,

229

but it is not those marketing

and Instagram are not synonymous.

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They're not one in the same thing.

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So when it comes to figuring out,

okay, strategically, what am I

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going to do with this like precious

little bit of time that I have?

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Most people in one or two hours

a week only have the capacity

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to do anything significant on

like three marketing channels.

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And I don't typically include

referrals in those three because

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it's not something that you have

to give even monthly attention to.

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Right?

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Like you're going to do what you

need by going to networking groups

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and being a part of communities and

serving your clients really, really

240

well so that they want to refer you.

241

But so when we're talking about the other

things, most people can only do three.

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And so the way that I like to look

at someone's sort of monthly calendar

243

is We want to create a routine.

244

We want to create a pattern that

becomes familiar over time because

245

familiar things become easy to do.

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And so if we're going to kind

of talk about an example where

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someone's doing blogging, social

media, and email marketing.

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like to, my approach is to start with the

heavy lift to use a totally corporate,

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I fucking hate that I use that term now.

250

It's so corporate.

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Colie: I mean, I keep hearing low lift

recently though, and I'm like, oh my God.

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Can we talk more about low lift?

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But I'm with you Taylor.

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I'm with you.

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Tayler: So if you're just listening,

I totally rolled my eyes as I was

256

like saying, Oh, it's a heavy lift.

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Uh, but this is why having business

partners who have done a lot more time on

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the corporate world is a bad influence.

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Colie: Mm-Hmm?

260

Tayler: Choose your friends wisely folks.

261

Um, but so the, for a lot of people

blogging is the thing that's going to

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take more time for, for most people,

cause y'all hate writing, but we have

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AI copywriters now, so no one has an

excuse, but so I like to start week

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one, you're going to write a blog post.

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And the reason I say you have no excuse

now because of AI copywriters is you, an

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AI copywriter will literally draft a six

to 800 word blog post for you in seconds.

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And so even if you spend another 30

minutes revising it, adding things,

268

deleting things, and then, you

know, the 10, 15 minutes it takes

269

to put it in your, in your website,

in your blog and get it published,

270

like you can do that now in an hour.

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Colie: Mm-Hmm.

272

Tayler: So that's what I

like to do with week one.

273

Then week two and four.

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I like to suggest that people

schedule social media content because

275

now you've got your blog, you can

repurpose that across, you know,

276

the content that you're scheduling.

277

You can work in the other things.

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You know, most people are not

trying to crank out five reels

279

a week or more and like, right.

280

So if you're just posting a couple of

times, if you're just showing up, like

281

popping up and down, like, Hi, I'm here.

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I'm here.

283

Then you can do that.

284

You can schedule one or two weeks

of content in an hour or two.

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And then that third week.

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is where you're going to sit

down and you're going to schedule

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some email newsletters to go out.

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And then you're just going to

lather, rinse, repeat on this cycle.

289

And it becomes something that's very

intentional because you're showing up

290

on the three core channels that are

a part of your marketing strategy.

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And you're staying top of mind with folks

in all of those places rather than like,

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I haven't, I haven't done anything yet.

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I should probably blast out an

email newsletter because no one's

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heard from me there in four months.

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Like that's.

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That's the, like, the exact opposite

of what we're talking about here.

297

Colie: Yeah, and I just want to say

a couple things that have come up

298

in like the many podcast episodes

that I have recorded related to this

299

marketing idea of different channels.

300

Guys, number one, You probably have a very

small handful of people that are going to

301

see what you post on every single channel.

302

So please don't be afraid of repeating

yourself or talking about the same topic

303

or the same content on all three channels,

because the people that are following

304

you on Instagram are probably not the

same people that are on your email list

305

are probably not the same people that

are going to go to your blog naturally.

306

Like you're going to get organic

traffic to your blog, but.

307

People on your email newsletter

are not going to know that you

308

wrote a blog unless you tell them.

309

Like, no one is searching your website

every week to be like, Ah, did Colie

310

write a new blog post this week?

311

Let me come see.

312

So you also have like, once you've done

that hard labor, For whatever your core

313

piece of content is, you mentioned a

blog post, Taylor, and I love that.

314

Mine happens to be the podcast.

315

So if I've put all my effort into

this podcast episode, that is whatever

316

the topic is, whatever the idea is,

I can then use that for the other

317

pieces that you were talking about.

318

So guys, I'm going to say your low lift is

that once you have done the heavy lift for

319

the blog, the low lift is just taking the

same shit that you've already talked about

320

and sprinkling it around like glitter.

321

Tayler: Yeah, you know, yeah, I take

longer form Instagram content that

322

performed decent, and I legit just

turn that into an email newsletter.

323

Because it's about the same length, right?

324

I'm not one of those people

that's going to write an actual

325

novel in their email newsletters.

326

That's not my personal style.

327

But a long Instagram caption

with a couple, you know, graphics

328

or photos, I'm throughout it.

329

That is a very robust email newsletter.

330

So like the marketers are shameless

about doing this and there's

331

something someone at some point told.

332

Small business owners that every

piece of content needs to be unique.

333

Like that's bullshit.

334

Like be smart like the professional

marketers who are repurposing

335

all of their shit all of the

336

Colie: Time.

337

Yes.

338

And I mean, that's not to say

that whatever you produce this

339

month, which is July of 2024, you

can't reuse that in January as

340

long as it's not time sensitive.

341

Now guys, if you write about summer

shit in July, please don't repurpose

342

that in January when it's the middle of

winter for those of us in North America.

343

Like, please don't do that.

344

But other than that, like

the things that you do now.

345

You are going to be able

to use it in the future.

346

You are also going to be able

to change it in the future.

347

If you write something now and it

doesn't land, figure out why it didn't

348

land, and do it better next time.

349

Tayler: Mic drop.

350

Colie: Mic drop.

351

I know, are we done, Taylor?

352

I mean, do you wanna, do you

wanna have a cocktail on, on our,

353

uh, for the rest of our time?

354

Okay, so we've talked about how you

get started in your time, and I don't

355

want to glaze over the AI part that

you've mentioned, because you mentioned

356

that the AI blog writers can get

something done for us within seconds.

357

But Taylor, I never find that

what AI spits out for me is good.

358

So what is it that I have

to do to get it postable?

359

And believe me, this is a trick

question because I know the answer.

360

Tayler: Okay, cool.

361

Cause I was like, I was literally

thinking, so my answer is going to

362

sound like an asshole answer, but

because this is a loaded question,

363

it won't be an asshole answer.

364

So one of the sort of phrases that I

talk about in When I'm talking about AI

365

copywriters is trash in equals trash out.

366

Colie: Mm hmm.

367

Tayler: And so this is the new skill

that we all need to be honing is the

368

ability for us to prompt an AI chatbot,

an AI copywriter, An AI image generator,

369

because if we don't prompt it well,

then we did not set it up for success.

370

It's just how it is.

371

Like, these AI everything,

it's not actually smart.

372

It's just math being done at an insane

scale, and it is guessing what the

373

next likely word is, as it's writing,

based on what you prompted it.

374

Right?

375

So, if you want an AI copywriter to give

you a really good draft, like, without

376

you having to go, Oh my god, this is,

I should start totally over again.

377

There's a couple things

that it needs to understand.

378

The first is, it needs to understand

what its role is in all of this.

379

Right.

380

So, you know, if you're using, there's

a, there's a, I'm going to do like a

381

little bit of a shameless plug here.

382

There's a difference between how you would

prompt something like chat GPT or Jasper

383

to write for you and how you would need to

prompt NG's AI copywriter, because I, have

384

set things up so that you can be a little

bit more lazy because I've done like the

385

technical work behind the scenes for you.

386

So that being said, if you're, if you're

starting from scratch and you want to

387

learn the skill, cause it is important

to me that people learn the skill.

388

It needs to understand what its role is.

389

So the, this is the, you are a

helpful marketing assistant, right?

390

Like that's.

391

That's what that is.

392

You need to tell it what, what function

is it trying to serve or fulfill.

393

Then it needs to understand

what its goal is.

394

So you are a helpful marketing

assistant with the goal of

395

writing a 1000 word blog post.

396

Okay.

397

So now you've given it, you've

oriented it as to this is the mission.

398

Right?

399

That I want you to accomplish.

400

Then you need to give it context.

401

You need to give it

details to work off of.

402

Because if you don't, it will just

go out onto the internet and look for

403

things and say, is this what you wanted?

404

And most of the time you're

gonna be like, That's dog shit.

405

That's terrible.

406

And also the internet is a big

scary place and it's gonna come

407

up with like crazy shit, right?

408

Like, so you want to give it context

and like bring those constraints in a

409

little bit more so that it's staying,

it's really staying in its lane.

410

And then lastly, you want it to

understand what's the voice that it needs.

411

How does it need to sound, right?

412

Brand voice has become more and

more of a topic of conversation

413

because of AI copywriters.

414

And I'm glad, like the copywriter in

me is like, thank goodness people are

415

starting to understand the importance of

these like fundamental marketing pieces.

416

But, you know, you need to be able to

communicate how you want it to sound.

417

Are you dry and sarcastic or

are you like soft kid gloves?

418

I'm so warm and approachable and I'm like

the kindest human on the planet, right?

419

Like.

420

You need to teach it these things.

421

And over time, if you're using

one platform like Chad, GPT, it

422

will learn these things, but you

have to constantly coach it right.

423

With something like Enji, we've

taken out that responsibility because

424

we know everyone's fighting time.

425

And we're like.

426

Everyone just needs the, the lowest

lift possible to get something done.

427

But that's how you get a not

shitty draft from an AI copywriter.

428

And that's how it really

can save you time.

429

Colie: Yeah, I always feel like you

should also take it and treat your,

430

I mean, and actually I didn't say

this, Don Richardson said it, but it's

431

like the best thing that I've heard.

432

Your chat GPT, or I should say anything

that's publicly available on the internet.

433

So chat GPT, Claude, all of those,

treat them like they're an intern.

434

Treat them like they are capable, but you

have to tell them what you need and want.

435

And when they give you something

that's unacceptable, you don't

436

tell an intern, Oh, okay.

437

Thanks for trying.

438

And then you spend hours fixing it.

439

Do you do that?

440

No, you tell them what's

wrong with it and tell them.

441

Try again.

442

And so if everybody could just approach

their AI copywriter in that manner,

443

that is how you get better drafts.

444

Now, when it gives you something that's

unacceptable, it's like the same thing

445

as a photographer training their editor.

446

You have to tell them how what they did

was different than what you expected.

447

And the whole thing about training your

AI, like things like Engie, or when

448

you get something that's very specific

to write, like a specific blog or a

449

specific email, someone like Taylor.

450

was behind the scenes, basically telling

it what an appropriate output would

451

be for an email, telling them what

an appropriate output for a blog is.

452

I mean, ChatGPG doesn't automatically

know what you find appropriate for a blog.

453

So again, you have to

train her, him, and him.

454

Whatever it

455

Tayler: They.

456

Colie: It, yeah, whatever pronoun.

457

Actually, you know what?

458

Maybe we, maybe someone

should ask ChatGPT what

459

Tayler: its pronouns are.

460

Colie: what are their pronouns?

461

Tayler: be curious.

462

But you know, this is one of the reasons

why I know a lot of people are concerned

463

Even if they won't publicly admit

it, that AI is coming for their job.

464

It's only going to come for your job.

465

If people somehow all of a sudden

become 100 percent accurate at

466

describing what it is they want.

467

Right.

468

And in the context of just this

conversation that we're having right

469

now, it's hard to, to communicate

exactly what it is you want.

470

Right.

471

And so dial the temperature down,

like no one has to freak out.

472

I mean, maybe copywriters need to

freak out a little bit about AI

473

Colie: need to freak out.

474

Tayler: No, cause it's just another tool.

475

Right.

476

But that's the, that's the only one where

I'm like, there's a direct line where

477

there are some people who are going to

be impacted by this in the short term.

478

Right.

479

But someone who designs websites,

or writes website copy, or is a

480

brand photographer, like, AI is

not coming for your job because

481

trash in, trash out, right?

482

Like, humans, humans are only

good at setting trash fires, and

483

so that's where we're at at this

484

Colie: No, and I mean, you and I

both know Cara and she recently wrote

485

a blog post for me where she used

the analogy of a Swiss Army knife.

486

And I read her draft and I

was like, Oh, that's cute.

487

And then I closed it and I

walked away and I came back and

488

I was like, no, absolutely not.

489

So then I removed the Swiss Army because

that's just not something that I would

490

reference again, guys, I'm not outdoorsy.

491

So I went in there and took five minutes.

492

To change it from Swiss army knife

to magical unicorn assistant.

493

I mean, clearly I had just interviewed

Emily Reagan, who will also be in

494

this series later down the road.

495

She talks about hiring magical

marketing assistants, but I changed

496

it to be my magical unicorn assistant

and I changed it in a few places and

497

I sent it back to Cara and I said,

Cara, I took away Swiss Army knife.

498

I would never say that.

499

I said, but can you go read it and make

sure that I didn't completely fuck it up.

500

And she read it and she's

like, no, that's great.

501

And she's like, I now, I mean, I will

never make a reference like that again.

502

I mean, great.

503

But I just wanted to, I'm not doing

this to call out my blog writer who,

504

by the way, is next week's guest.

505

I am doing it because even if you are

hiring a human, they still need to be

506

told when they are using an example of

something that you would personally.

507

Never say.

508

And one of the things that I

found out recently, I've seen so

509

many prompt, like buy my prompts.

510

And I was like, what exactly am I buying?

511

But now that I'm like really jumping

into AI, I'm like, oh, you're really

512

getting like the step by step from them

of how you get better drafts out of AI.

513

But someone the other day was like,

well, you should start by, you know,

514

what is a list of words that you use?

515

And I was like, How would I tell

somebody a list of words that I use?

516

I don't

517

Tayler: know, that's a hard question

for most people to answer, like,

518

what do you say, what do you not say?

519

They feel like very basic questions,

but As someone who has written a ton of

520

copy for people and has an intake form

where I would ask those things, like more

521

than half the time that section would

be left blank because it's just like,

522

I don't fucking know what I don't say.

523

Colie: I'm not going to leave

a blank anymore though, Taylor.

524

I'm going to take five different podcast

transcripts and feed it in a chat GPT and

525

say, chat GPT, what words do I use over

and over again when I interview my guests?

526

Bam.

527

Tayler: rainbows.

528

Unicorns.

529

Colie: Fuck!

530

I mean, I think of more of it than I use.

531

But, I mean, that's also

like the power of AI.

532

I mean, again, guys, nobody is saying

that you do it and it gives you something,

533

and in two seconds you hit publish.

534

But it gets you from a blank

page to somewhere that you feel

535

comfortable starting to edit.

536

And it takes, you know, if it would

normally take the average person a

537

couple hours to write a decent blog

post, it AI and other tools are

538

helping you get it done in that one

to two hours that Taylor asked you.

539

What kind of time do you have

every week to commit and protect

540

for your marketing activities?

541

Tayler: Yep.

542

And you know, speaking of, you know,

marketing with intention, that's,

543

that's, that's why we're here.

544

It's the overarching rainbow

to this conversation.

545

You know, I don't think that you can have

a conversation about intentional marketing

546

and just talk about strategy because

we don't do marketing for ourselves.

547

We do it for our people, right?

548

And so, one of the amazing things

that we all can do now using

549

AI is dive into our customer

insights like we never have before.

550

And I often talk about this, it's in my AI

and Marketing presentation, but you guys

551

are gonna get it here too, is You know, we

are all sitting on data sets and we don't

552

typically think that we're doing that.

553

But if you were to think of, okay, well,

if I took all of my inquiry emails.

554

And if I took all of my client reviews and

if I took all of the it's not you, it's me

555

emails of people that went in a different

direction and I fed them to an AI chatbot

556

and asked them for the common sentiments,

the common words and phrases, how much

557

fucking smarter would I be about how I

need to intentionally do my marketing?

558

Because now I understand

I am in my people's heads.

559

Right?

560

They're giving you the words, the phrases,

the emotional strings to pull on because

561

as humans, we don't have the time to

go through and like read all of these

562

things and try to find the patterns.

563

Like that's not, not a thing.

564

I'm not asking you to do that.

565

But what I am asking you to do is

use this new tool to help yourself

566

get way more intentional with

understanding who you're talking to.

567

target ideal customers and clients

are and what messages you need

568

to be putting in front of them.

569

Colie: Absolutely.

570

And the systems girl in me is going

to tell you, listen, guys, I know that

571

you guys see sometimes when people

like, oh, somebody said something kind

572

about me on Instagram, screenshot it.

573

I want you to take it one step further.

574

And I want you to copy and

paste the text into somewhere.

575

I'm going to suggest an air table

database, but a Google doc will work too.

576

You need to be putting all of these things

in a central location so that when you

577

are ready to do these marketing tasks and

ask an AI consultant, But to help you, you

578

have all of this stuff at your fingertips

so that you can, you know, work on your

579

customer insights, just like Taylor gave

us an example of now, because all of those

580

things are going to help you get better

at your marketing in less time, which

581

is the key to marketing with intention.

582

I mean, I can't give you more time.

583

I'm sorry.

584

Maybe if we lived close to each other

and like your kids were driving you up

585

a wall and I took your kids for an hour,

I could give you an hour, but that's

586

not going to happen for most people.

587

So we've got to get you better at

marketing and the time that you can

588

protect and commit to that activity

and then make sure that you're

589

actually doing it on an ongoing basis.

590

So Taylor, how do you make sure that

people are doing their marketing on an

591

ongoing basis and that they're not saying,

Oh, whoops, I didn't have time this week.

592

Maybe next week will be better.

593

Tayler: I mean, for those of you

who are watching the video, you are

594

experiencing facial expressions.

595

If you're listening, just know that

I like sighed and had a sad look on my

596

face because this This is one of the

things that I know, and it's very much

597

tied to the fact that, like, business,

businesses, and life, goes and life's

598

on us, and time gets taken away from us.

599

But what is, what the, like,

psychological thing that I feel like

600

I will be a bazillionaire if I figure

this out, is why for small businesses,

601

for small business owners, Right.

602

Why is marketing the can that

always gets kicked down the road?

603

For the dumbest reasons, right?

604

I have my hypotheses about it, but as

an example, you know, you've, you've sat

605

down and you're starting to write on,

you're starting to write a blog post, and

606

then one of your clients emails you, and

then you just, Totally shift gears and

607

you go down the rabbit hole and they're

like, Oh, can we actually get on a call?

608

And then boom there that

blog post isn't good.

609

It's not getting written There are

things like that that happen all of

610

the time and That's why at the very

start of this conversation, like you

611

have to protect that time, right?

612

Because if you let things overwrite

it, they will overwrite it.

613

And then that time is gone.

614

And so there is the only thing

that I can come up with is like,

615

it has to come from within you.

616

It has like, I am literally here.

617

Investing countless hours.

618

At this point, I've already been working

on ng for three and a half years.

619

Like, we've only been launched for

a little over a year, but you guys,

620

it takes like a fuck ton of time

to get a startup off the ground.

621

And way too much actual, like,

money from, like, projects.

622

My personal banking account and an

opportunity cause like I am literally

623

trying to create software That helps

small business owners fight time

624

like win their battle against time

but it's I have to do that because

625

Y'all kick the can down the road.

626

And so if someone knows the answer

to that question, then I would, I am

627

all ears here because like I said,

my hypotheses are that you're not

628

comfortable doing marketing, right?

629

Like your confidence level around

it is low enough that When something

630

else comes up, you're like, I'd

rather do that because that will make

631

me feel good for whatever reason.

632

That's my, my big hypothesis,

but when push comes to shove, I

633

can only lead the horse to water

and I can't get you to drink it.

634

And most people can't.

635

afford to have, like, all of their

marketing completely outsourced, right?

636

Like, that's the only way to truly

solve this problem right now.

637

And that's not an option

for a lot of folks.

638

So, it's, it's the one question

where I'm like, well, fuck if I know.

639

Because,

640

Colie: But I mean you're doing a

really good job of starting though

641

because I will say when you sign up

with Enji and you're setting up your

642

marketing plan, you're sending those

emails that are like, Hey, I mean,

643

it's helping you create your calendar.

644

And yes.

645

If you have something on your calendar,

and I know that you said it in one

646

of your onboarding emails, I'm pretty

sure it was, but like, if this doesn't

647

feel good to you, let's take it off and

choose something else that feels good.

648

So, I think that where people get

lost is, first of all, they don't

649

really have somebody telling them

what to do every step of the way.

650

Like, hey, if your plan is to use two

hours, these are my recommendations.

651

But you also give them the time

and space to say, if you don't

652

like any of these recommendations,

let's pick something else.

653

That's number one.

654

And then the second thing is once

you actually get into the groove of

655

things, I feel like clients seeing

results are what helped them get

656

motivated to do their marketing.

657

Cause someone like me, it wasn't

that I stopped marketing this year

658

because I didn't see the value in it

or that I didn't know how to do it.

659

Or that in most times I

can't commit the time to it.

660

It's just literally I was

physically unable to do it.

661

But like, once you figure out how

great marketing can be, and when

662

you market effectively, and when you

feel good marketing, it brings in the

663

clients that are very aligned with

whatever the services that you do.

664

Like that's where you get more motivated

to do the marketing versus that

665

other shit that like pulls you down.

666

Because We all say that we don't have

time to outsource our marketing, maybe

667

we don't have the budget, maybe we're

not in a place in our business, but like

668

bookkeeping is really that thing that

no one likes to do, and it's so mundane,

669

but like, bookkeeping is literally not a

revenue generating task in your business.

670

Marketing can be, marketing

671

Tayler: Marketing is.

672

Colie: and so, yeah.

673

I would just plead and beg everyone.

674

I understand that taking care

of your clients is usually that

675

top tier activity and I get it.

676

Taylor gets it.

677

I think everybody gets it, but you

also have to make sure that you're not

678

overburdening yourself with clients so

that you can still market for the new

679

clients that you need down the road.

680

Now, if you get five clients and you

work with those five clients every

681

single month and you don't need new

clients, I'm probably not talking to you.

682

I'm talking to the people who helped

five people this month, and you need

683

a different five people next month or

whatever it is that your number goal is.

684

Tayler: Yep.

685

Yep.

686

I know.

687

It's, You need to make the plan.

688

You need to do the plan, and then

you need to figure out how you can

689

do it more efficiently over time.

690

Right?

691

And so one of the things that I love

that you talked about kind of this.

692

You basically were talking about

positive reinforcement, right?

693

And seeing the fruits of your labor.

694

And one of the things that

no one does is track numbers.

695

And so that's why we have this fabulous

and pretty KPI dashboard for you to

696

track your numbers and, you know, we

celebrate KPI Day in the Engie community.

697

But that's one of the things, like,

you build the routine and then My hope

698

is is that NG is like the little tippy

tap on your shoulder that keeps you

699

at least aware that like hey You said

you're gonna do this and you didn't

700

Colie: Listen to your voice, Taylor.

701

Don't be shy.

702

Say it with your chest.

703

Hey girl, you said you

were going to do this.

704

Did you do this shit?

705

Check yes for yes and no for no.

706

And if you didn't, I'm going

to remind you again tomorrow.

707

Tayler: you know, I'm trying

to, you know, sometimes I

708

need, I tried to read the room.

709

I should build this in like, hey, do you

want Engie to talk to you like Taylor like

710

Colie: Oh my God, Taylor,

711

Tayler: do you want soft kid gloves?

712

Like the, oh, I understand

that life got in the way.

713

Maybe we can fit this in.

714

It's like, what the fuck, man?

715

Like, why didn't you do this?

716

So we could have, you know, we

could have a scale of things there.

717

But like

718

Colie: but I'm like, I really want to see

that in NG in like the next month or so.

719

Do you want tough love or do you

want me to be like that kind soul?

720

Yeah.

721

Tayler: exactly, exactly.

722

But, you know, the KPI is really, you

know, it's one of the features that I

723

have been surprised that so many people

are like, Latching onto and I'm it

724

makes me so so happy because it is how

you actually start to get better and

725

more intentional at marketing over time

because you see where your marketing

726

efforts are paying off and you are

seeing where it's a waste of time.

727

Of resource, and then you can ditch the

things that even if you were emotionally

728

attached to it, if they're not, if

at the end of the day, these numbers

729

are telling you the truth and that it

is not worth the time and money, then

730

you just have to walk away from it.

731

And that's how you get better over time.

732

And then the core of marketing is do

more of what works, but you have to know

733

what works in order to do more of it.

734

So, yeah, track your numbers, folks.

735

Colie: I mean, Taylor, I'm listening

to you and I'm feeling like a

736

lot of people need that tough

love with relation to Instagram.

737

I can't tell you the number of people,

and I am very clear with people.

738

I'm like, I don't book

people from Instagram.

739

Like, I do podcast stuff over there, but

I mean, I don't get people from Instagram.

740

But if you don't know where you're

getting your people from, You don't know

741

where to spend your time and energy.

742

I know where I get my people from.

743

I get my people from going in

other people's communities.

744

I get my people from podcasting

with guests, amazing people

745

like you, and getting to know

more people out in the world.

746

That is how I sell my systems.

747

I, people don't see me talking on

Instagram and automatically hire me.

748

That, that is not a thing.

749

But if I wasn't tracking.

750

where the clients and the

leads that I get come from.

751

I would never know that.

752

Hey, Instagram is not where it's at.

753

Now.

754

I also want people though.

755

I want to make sure that people aren't

just looking at that first step.

756

Cause I will say there are probably people

that find me on Instagram and then go

757

read my blog posts and do other things.

758

And you know, I don't want to shame that,

but like, if you're not getting people

759

from Instagram, I would really encourage

you to like, think of some other channels

760

that you can go beyond and experiment.

761

Think of it as a game.

762

What else can we do today in the

marketing world for my business?

763

Tayler: You know, and when people, I do

want people to think about their marketing

764

channels as a tiered system, right?

765

What is most important and most

impactful for your business and

766

getting you more inquiries and

what is at the bottom of that?

767

And so for you, it's like, yeah, I'm going

to show up on Instagram intermittently.

768

But it is not where I'm

like gonna dedicate a lot of

769

my energy and that's fine.

770

Like, you know, again, little things that

we have in Engie that made sense to me.

771

And then I'm like, very thankful

for conversations like this.

772

I'm like, cause I wasn't crazy

773

Colie: You went crazy, Taylor!

774

Tayler: I wasn't crazy, but you know,

at the bottom of a marketing strategy,

775

where you see your recommended channels,

if you click into a channel, you can.

776

Make the circle bigger or smaller because

I want people to be able to visually

777

represent what should be taking up more

of the oxygen in the room and living a

778

little bit more rent free in my brain

versus these other things that I'll just

779

let myself go through the motions on.

780

And so you do have to come up

with that hierarchy of things.

781

And for you, it's like.

782

Podcast is number one, and then I'm

going to guess email marketing is

783

number two and Instagram rounds it out.

784

And that's cool because you

can emotionally not be so damn

785

attached to the, the insatiable

monster that is social media.

786

Colie: Yeah.

787

And I mean, I would say for me

that regardless of how I'm getting

788

the people, my blogs have good

conversion rates themselves.

789

Like that gives them like a

bigger picture that they couldn't

790

like see on a podcast clearly.

791

Cause I mean, unless you're watching it

on a video, but even then I'm not like

792

showing you my computer or anything.

793

But I just, I feel like I just want

everybody to dedicate the time.

794

I want everybody to do the activities

and I want them to not forget to write

795

something about how it felt to them

doing it and or what the results were

796

like all three of those things need

to be part of when you are trying to

797

market your business with intention so

that you aren't just thinking about it.

798

Throwing things out and not kind

of figuring out how to pivot

799

and change your plan as you go.

800

Cause that's the other thing,

nothing in the business world

801

is set it and forget it.

802

Like I am just telling you,

dedicate a little time.

803

Now don't be changing your

strategy every week, guys.

804

Gosh, I felt like I did.

805

Taylor is just really

shaking her head now, guys.

806

I am not saying change your plan every

week, but I am saying have a plan.

807

Do it for a while.

808

And then if nothing is coming

of that, it is time for you to

809

reevaluate and move forward.

810

Tayler: Yep.

811

I second all of those things.

812

Colie: Okay, Taylor.

813

So we have said Enji like so many

times, and I honestly feel bad because

814

I didn't want it to sound like an

infomercial, even though we totally

815

could have made this an infomercial,

but now I feel like you should just give

816

us like a solid idea of what Enji is

and what it would do for your business.

817

And then a link where the

listening audience can learn more.

818

Tayler: Yeah.

819

You know, I, I never want

any, any opportunity that I

820

have to, to chat with folks.

821

I don't want it to be

an infomercial for Enji.

822

Colie: Well, I just felt like if we

like talked about at the beginning,

823

they'd be like, Oh, they're just going

to talk about her program, which I

824

mean, her program really nicely aligns

with everything that we talked about,

825

guys, I would know, but continue

826

Tayler: yes.

827

So Engie is marketing software for small

business owners who have to do their own

828

marketing, but are not marketing experts.

829

And the reason it's basically me as

a marketing consultant turned into

830

software So that you have someone.

831

Who's either slapping you across the

face or soft kid gloving you to like,

832

here's what you need to do, right?

833

I'm going to tell you,

to tell you what to do.

834

It's going to help you build a routine

and it's going to help you track your

835

progress so that you can get better at

this whole marketing experiment over time.

836

but the core of our tools is a marketing

strategy tool because all y'all are out

837

there just like operating without one.

838

And maybe, maybe you're like,

no, Taylor, I only have one.

839

Then my followup question is, Is it

documented or does it live in your head?

840

Colie: that part.

841

Tayler: Because if you can't share it with

other people, it's, you don't have one.

842

So you can create a marketing

strategy and then there are the

843

tools that you need to actually

start to do the marketing strategy.

844

Cause that, right?

845

Like you can't just have the plan.

846

You have to execute on the plan.

847

But you know, What I'm trying to build

that my big, my big swing of the biggest

848

baseball bat I could ever imagine.

849

And I'm so excited because as we're

recording this, we've started development

850

on the, you know, the second version

of our marketing strategy is I know.

851

What we need to do in order to build

something that everyone's like, is

852

Enji is moving to a place where we

are following the 80, 20 rule where

853

Engie is going to do 80 percent

of your marketing things for you.

854

So that, right.

855

Cause 80 percent done by someone else

is a hundred percent fucking awesome.

856

So that's what we're doing here.

857

Um, and so like the strategy is

going to not just be the plan.

858

Like it's going to then drop, Hey,

here's your marketing strategy.

859

We know your brand voice.

860

We've talked, like we've

created a social media plan.

861

We know your content buckets

and pacing and platforms.

862

Like when you click create your

strategy in the future, it's

863

going to drop a week's worth of.

864

Facebook posts that are already drafted on

your calendar attached to the scheduler.

865

So all you need to do is add

some media and approve it

866

and make some late revisions.

867

It's going to drop blog posts

that are relevant to your service

868

or product in the copywriter.

869

So again, you're just coming in

with the final pass on things.

870

And I'm really, I'm like sitting here

like so impatient about it because it's

871

going to take us like four months to

build all this if not more time because

872

it is such a, it is such a big swing.

873

But I am so amped to actually get it

to that point because I have talked

874

to too many small business owners.

875

I am a multi hyphenate

serial entrepreneur.

876

Most of my social circle

are also self employed.

877

And I know this is what we need in order

to survive this whole, I'm a one person

878

marketing department and I'm responsible.

879

And it's just one of the hats that I wear.

880

So if you want to try it

out in its current version,

881

it's still fucking awesome.

882

It'll be even better in the future, but

you can go to our website, which is E

883

N J I dot C O and you can do a free two

week trial there and scope everything

884

out and then join the community and be

along for the ride as we keep pushing

885

and building even better things.

886

Colie: Guys, I really hope that if you

take nothing away from this conversation,

887

you listen to the advice that Taylor and

I have both given you about protecting

888

the amount of time, whatever that time

is, and just making sure that whatever

889

marketing efforts you are doing, that

they feel good to you, they are in a way

890

going to bring you the clients that are

ideal for the services that you have,

891

and that you are also tracking those

efforts and the fruits of what happens

892

from those activities in some fashion.

893

Next week, Cara Duncan is

going to be on the podcast.

894

I mean, guys, this feels so good.

895

I don't think I've ever announced the

next guest ever on this podcast, but Cara

896

Duncan, who Taylor and I both know is

going to be here and she is going to be

897

talking about creating long term marketing

efforts in blogging and Pinterest.

898

And it is truly going to be a

continuation of this conversation

899

that I have with Taylor.

900

So please subscribe to the

podcast and make sure that you

901

get the episode when it drops.

902

Taylor, thank you so much for

joining me for this episode.

903

It was as amazing as I

envisioned in my head.

904

Tayler: Thank you so much for

having me and for creating a

905

safe space where I can say fuck

906

Colie: Ah, I mean, you know, I feel

like I got all my fucks in today.

907

It's great.

908

All right, everyone.

909

That's it for this episode.

910

See you next time.