Hi cuties - Me again 😁 never letting you forget I exist 🤣 

We covered some marketing fundamentals last week. This week, we’ll build on that and cover where you should start.

Then in the weeks that follow, we’ll go through how to build from here, step-by-step, with plenty of ‘how’.

Legoooo.

Marketing Priorities by Stage

Where to start

You’re a startup founder, and you can’t do everything at once. You’ve got a small budget, a small team, and 5,000 hats to wear.

So where should you start when it comes to marketing?

The first thing you should do is build an audience of your target customers.

Why? Because…

• No one knows you yet, you’re not Salesforce or Nike

• No one trusts you yet

• Your product is probably duct-taped together or a meer dream in a Figma file

• You need their attention so you can start a conversation and get a feedback loop going

You can’t build a product for ICP/persona X without talking to a lot of them. You can’t sell to them without knowing them.

Knowing them literally (the actual people) and figuratively…knowing how they think, what they care about, what keeps them up at night.

Building an audience, you can activate

The most effective way to build an audience is through thought leadership. 

You can build thought leadership through -

• Social Media (click for how)

• Podcast guest appearances (click for how)

• Other speaking opportunities

• A newsletter

So picture this…

You start posting every week on social media, you get booked on a few notable podcasts, you’re authentic and consistent…

Over 6 months or so, you build an audience of 5,000+ real people who are your ICP/persona…

Over time, they get to know you…they like you…they start to trust you…when they think of your industry or niche…your name is one of the first things they think about next.

Kind of like I hope when you think of ‘go-to-market’ or ‘sales’ or ‘marketing’ you naturally think…JESS SCHULTZ. 😍 

Then you have 5,000+ people who like and trust you, ready to -

• Give you product feedback

• Give you insights into their challenges

• And eventually - to buy from you

At the earliest stages, your product probably can’t even support that many users or clients yet. This allows you to build that pipeline organically while you build the product. Then when you’re ready to scale, you can GO GO GO.

Attracting people to you vs chasing them. Doesn’t that sound better than spamming a bunch of people with cold outreach?

YOU are the golden ticket

YOU, my founder friend, are the golden ticket.

You had the guts and the courage to start a company. One of the hardest things to do. You are risking it all - your reputation, your finances, your personal life.

You signed up to climb Mount Everest.

And I know you wouldn’t do that unless you were super uber passionate about solving whatever problem you’re solving. Not unless you were super uber knowledgeable about your industry and niche.

That expertise, that passion, that story…THAT is what will get you customers and revenue.

All you have to do is share it. And in turn, you will build an audience that you can ACTIVATE into real $$.

That is step 1 - Build an audience.

And even if you’re already at $1-2mm in ARR, it’s never too late. Start now.

See ya next week for step 2! Adios amigos.

Want to learn more about how I help startups increase their revenue by 150-590%? 👀 

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With love and gratitude,