Will the Marketing Mentorship Work for Me? Warning Signs it Won’t
The Marketing Mentorship that Downstage offers is a great DIY option for some people: there are online classes paired with 1-on-1 coaching. But… it’s not for everyone. No one wants to feel like they’ve put time, money, and effort into something that isn’t worthwhile. This blog post will lay out some red flags that will help you decide if this option is right for your brand.
Will the Marketing Mentorship Work for Me? Warning Signs it Won’t
There are a lot of coaching programs out there. And there are lots of online classes. The Marketing Mentorship offers both. But how can you be sure that the online classes aren’t going to be disorganized and leave you more confused than before? And how can you make sure the coaching is actually going to empower you tackle your marketing problems.
The fact of the matter is, it’s hard to know until you dive in. But time is your most important asset. So you don’t want to waste any of it. It could be costing you ticket sales, and more importantly, relationships with your audience.
I have spent an embarrassing amount of time and money on online courses. Because of this, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Business Made Simple platform as a way to get your issues within your business solved. Although many of the courses seemed like they’re geared towards small businesses, not arts-based businesses, or those in the more creative fields. So the one-one-one coaching you get with the Marketing Mentorship will be to make sure that you get the information tailored to you, plus have a marketing gal right there in your pocket to help you with strategy, copy, and implementation. Let’s dive in.
What is the Marketing Mentorship
First, let’s just talk about what the Marketing Mentorship entails.
A month with the Marketing Mentorship includes:
Customized Marketing Report
Business Made Simple on-demand courses
2 private coaching sessions with Annie Schiffmann
Personalized Backstage Area where you’ll find all of your files, links, and next steps
Performing Arts Entrepreneurs Membership
Business Made Simple Daily - 60 daily videos with business how-tos to build your brand
Monthly Live Q&As - including a 1-hour class with best-selling marketing authors (like Donald Miller and J. J. Peterson) and small group coaching with Annie Schiffmann
Whew! That’s a lot. So as you can see there is a combination of online courses, small group coaching, and private coaching each month. Now, let’s see if you’re a good fit for it.
1. Combination of Low Skills + Short on Time
If you don’t have a lot of time and you aren’t tech savvy, then this may not be the right plan for you. Although I work through with you what types of marketing assets to create, it’s your job to implement them. So, for example, if you can create a lead generator on your website.
If you aren’t able to do that on your own, it’s going to take you more time to learn. And that’s fine. I am happy to guide you through every step of that learning process. The only issue is if you have a big event, launch, or deadline that you need to reach.
As the Downstage Media Options chart shows, if you don’t have a lot of time and a lot of skills, then the Done For You option is a better one than the Do It Yourself option.
Sometimes I’ll recommend that if you have a big launch coming, or an opening of a show, that you have Downstage Media handle the marketing to get you ready quickly. It costs more, but the investment is usually worth it for clients when they see the difference that a professional can make versus them trying it themselves. Then, when they need ongoing help (like with email marketing and social media marketing, the kind of stuff that never ends), they work with Downstage to set up and fine tune those systems.
A still from Business Made Simple with a course hosted by Donald Miller, author of Building a StoryBrand.
2. Hard Time Working Independently
With the Marketing Mentorship, your Marketing Report will help you identify where to focus first and you’ll recommendations of courses within Business Made Simple to help you understand the whys and hows of each step of your plan.
Here’s the thing: you have to actually watch the courses. Unfortunately, the info doesn’t just leap into your brain the moment that you click Join Now. So, you have to invest the time to take the courses and do the homework before your Check In Session.
That said, I get it. Life happens. I am always prepared and ready to work through the material with you while we’re together. So if you don’t have some of the independent work done when we meet next, that’s okay.
But on the whole, if you’re not able to work independently, you’ll ultimately be taking up lots of time learning with me on the fly.
As a reminder, though, your Marketing Mentorship subscription includes a year of Business Made Simple, even if we don’t work that long together. And, could you get Business Made Simple without the Marketing Mentorship? You could. Details are here.
3. Hard Time Following Frameworks
Many creative people have a hard time believing that the work they do is actually a business. And that they are the CEO of their own company. And that as a business owner there are some basic frameworks, templates, and outlines that will work for what they do just as well as for a bakery. That can be hard to grasp because the kinds of businesses are so different.
I know, you are a wonderful, beautiful flower. And your work is unique and you are too.
That said, we’re going to be working through your marketing plan together and, believe it or not, there are basic systems that will also work for your business.
It’s not always easy to see those parallels, which is why the coaching helps. People will say, “I see how this works with an accountant. But how does it work with a freelance actor/musician?” I’ve been filtering business speak and business concepts through the lens of the arts for nearly a decade. I’ve seen it work for dozens of other brands. And it can work for you too. You just have to be amenable to looking at the work you do from a slightly different angle.
4. Difficulty Focusing on One Project
Okay, here’s another one that’s tricky with us creative types: it’s hard to pick one project to focus on. The best approach with this method of working is to take the overall brand and start there. Or, if that’s too hard (because you’re an actor / musician / corporate emcee / improv producer), then choose one of those things in between the slashes and start there. So, maybe you just want to start building your email list based off of your work as a corporate emcee.
With the Marketing Mentorship it’s best to understand the process with one project and then duplicate it with all of your other ones. If you try to get your messaging set with your actor stuff while also trying to build a lead generator for your musician stuff and creating a nurturing sequence for your improv show you’re going to get confused and then you’re going to get frustrated and then you’re going to get nowhere.
Decide if the Marketing Mentorship is Right for You
In this post, you’ve learned the pitfalls that most people run into with the Marketing Mentorship. Now that you have a clearer understanding you can make a sound decision as to what’s going to be a good fit for your marketing needs, budget, skill level, and time available. Need help deciding? Send me an email with any questions you have.
When you get this right you know that you can reach your marketing goals on your schedule and on your terms. Imagine how great it will be to learn a repeatable process to build your audience and spread the word about the work that you do.
