59 - Simplify Your Marketing: Do Less, Do It Better with Marketing Meg

Feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to be everywhere online? In this episode of Pep Talks, I'm joined by Meg Hudson - aka Marketing Meg - a marketing mentor who helps business owners cut through the noise and build a focused marketing strategy that actually works.

We get into why trying to do everything in your marketing is the fastest route to burnout and mediocrity, and what to do instead.

Whether you're a coach, consultant, or service-based business owner, this episode is packed with honest, practical advice on building a sustainable business you love.

In this episode we cover:

• Why being on every platform is killing your marketing results
• The one thing you should do before creating any content (hint: it's market research)
• How to use your ideal client's own words to write magnetic marketing copy
• Why discovery calls and market research calls are your secret weapon for finding dream clients
• Setting boundaries that protect your energy - and your business
• How to know when something isn't aligned for you (and why your gut always knows first)
• The mindset shift from "I have to" to "I get to" - and why it changes everything

Connect with Meg:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-hutson-marketing/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsmeghutson
• Free Monthly Marketing Meetup: first Tuesday of each month - free, fun, and actionable

If you love the podcast and you'd like to give a little something to say "thank you" you can buy me a coffee 🍵 by clicking here

Join me for FREE, live Clarity and Calm Journaling Circles (online every Tuesday at 8pm UK time) - click here to get your ticket

Book a FREE Action Filter call with me (limited availability):
Click here for more info and to book your call

Join my mailing list to get podcast episodes straight to your inbox each week - click here to sign up

Email me at sue@suerichardscoaching.co.uk

Connect with me:

On Instagram https://instagram.com/suerichards.coaching
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suerichardscoaching

Watch on YouTube here (only available for episodes 49 onwards) 

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Sue 1:00

Hello everybody, welcome back to Pep Talks. I have the gorgeous or marvellous, I should say, the marvellous Meg with me today. Meg is a marketing expert, so I'm gonna hand over to her for a full introduction because as I've just shared with Meg before we hit record, she knows herself better than I do. So I'm gonna ask her to introduce herself to you and then we'll dig into today's topic, which is all about simplifying marketing. So Meg.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Awesome. Thank you so much for having me, first of all. This is exciting. So, yes, I am Marketing Meg, is my brand that I'm trying to embrace more and more. I'm a marketing mentor, essentially. So I work with business owners who are just sick of trying to do everything because we are throwing so much pressure, aren't we? Like you have to do this, you have to do this, you have to do this. And if you don't do all of it, you're going to fail. But that's just not the reality. And so I'm very much there to sort of support business owners and motivate them to not do everything, just do a few things and do it really well, which is perfect for our topic today as well.

Sue 2:05

It is, and it's interesting because we I was just sharing with you, wasn't I, before this call, um, how things have evolved before we hit record, even uh, how things have evolved on my side of my business. And I'm very much about simplifying things too, and helping business owners simplify the actions that they're taking, some of that being marketing, but some of it being, you know, um, getting paperwork in order for anybody who might need paperwork for their particular business. But we're not really here to talk about me, but it's it's really lovely how actually what you offer and what I offer is so beautifully aligned in that we want to just hone it down to concentrate it down into the most impactful actions that we can take and make things feel a bit easier.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Definitely.

Sue 2:50

Um, so PEP talks. Pep stands for pa piece, ease, passion, and purpose. So I would love for you to share a little bit about what your passion and your purpose is, and then we'll dip into the peace and ease side of it a bit later. So what brought you to this space? Why are you so passionate about it? And how do you feel that you're fulfilling your purpose in the work you're doing?

SPEAKER_01 3:18

So, for me, if I'm really honest, it's not marketing that lights me up, it's business, and it's but specifically it's people being able to actually have a business that they really love and making it work. Because I think we've spoken about this before, but I left school when I was 16. I was a chronic illness things at the time. Um, and ended up starting a business with my mum. We opened a shop and we went into it very naive, as everyone does in business, I think, to a certain extent. And suddenly you're like, we need some customers. Like, where are we gonna make some money from? We've got all this stock, we've got a pretty shop, we need to sell some things. Um, and so that's kind of how I got into marketing. But it started from a love of business and a love of being able to do my own thing. And for me, I mean I was self-employed at 17, it makes me very unemployable. Like I've tried, but it's when you start out in that mindset. I then went into like the NHS and stuff, and nothing changes. Like nothing changes, and I love the fact that in business we can follow something that we're really passionate about, we can actually make an impact on other people's lives and love doing it and make money and you know have a great life around it. So that's kind of where my passion and my purpose, I suppose, started. Um, but for me, marketing is a vessel to be able to build businesses that we really love, and over time that's kind of grown into a love of marketing as well.

Sue 4:42

Yeah, yeah. And what what I really resonated with as you were sharing that is the idea that of flexibility and agility and being able to adapt to different life circumstances or different things that we get drawn to, um, which is I guess why your business has evolved in the way it has, and my business has evolved in the way it has. It's just allowing that sort of natural evolution to happen without things being pigeonholed. And I think when you're in corporate, that's what happens is this is your job, you do these things, and you don't really need to worry about what Sandra over there is doing because she's doing her things, and yeah, it's it's not it's not for you, it's not for me. That's why we're here, that's why we're chatting. Um, and sometimes the agility and flexibility piece can be quite challenging, but equally it's quite freeing, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 5:38

It is, and it's actually embracing being able to do that because I am really guilty of giving myself quite like a regimented schedule because I'm very much a planner, I need to have every day planned out. If something comes along and disrupts it, I really struggle. And so letting myself actually take bits of time off, like we're just talking, I've just been away this weekend, but to even taking a couple of days off for that, I'm like, oh, but you know, there's things I need to do, like I need to be planning this, I need to be doing that. And I'm like, no, just stop. Just like just let the business kind of work around life, yeah. And that's definitely I know that's something you do a lot of, right? But that's been a big learning curve for me because it's like there's always more to do. You never, you never run out of stuff to do as a business owner. There's always a never-ending list, isn't there?

Sue 6:24

Absolutely, and I think this is part of the problem of the ladies that I work with is that never-ending list is the thing that is sort of it's like a ball and chain round their leg. And because the list is so long, they don't even know which thing on the list to start with, and so they end up sort of in this spiral of overthinking and procrastinating and not actually moving forwards. Um, but yeah, I mean, I'm guilty of it too, right? I'm guilty of the whole like must work Monday to Friday, 9 till 5, must be looking like I'm being productive all of the time. Um I'm not quite like that now, but I have been there in the past. I'm much better now at um make in fact I I'm very good at blocking time out of my diary when I can see it's starting to get quite stacked. Like this week's a busy week for calls, and I could see that today and tomorrow particularly were going to be like crazy. So I was like, right, I'm blocking time out where I've got time. I'm gonna block it out now so nobody else can jump in my diary. Um and I think that's what we need to be we need to celebrate that rather than it being um something to beat ourselves with, we actually need to honour that and celebrate that we are self-employed, we get a choice over the decisions we make and the hours we work. And I might want to work on a Sunday because I've got stuff that's come up and I want to do it and I feel good about that, but that might mean taking Wednesday morning off, for example, I you know, um, which we're allowed to do. Um, and that is part of building a passion-led business, I think, is if we're constantly chained to our desk, where's the passion in that?

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Yeah, and you burn out so fast like that, don't you? Because it's an I have to. And I know it's like a classic mindset shift, isn't it? But really thinking I get to do this, not I have to do this. And like as a society, we're so guilty of being like, oh, it's work tomorrow. Oh, you know, oh, I have to get up for work. But I try really hard to like wake up and be like, I get to go and chat to these amazing people who are building the most incredible businesses, helping people, and like I get to just that's my work. Like, it's actually crazy when you think about it. So it's like appreciating it, isn't it? Yeah. Rather than giving yourself this box and telling yourself you have to fit in that. We can do whatever we like, it's our business.

Sue 8:39

Yeah, exactly. I was literally voice noting a client this morning telling her exactly that because she was almost asking me for permission to do something. Yeah, and um, I was like, it's not my it's not my business. You you know, I'm handing the permission back to you. This is my guidance, this is what I might recommend. But you get to choose whether you take those recommendations on board, you get to choose how you implement stuff. Um, so bringing it back to marketing for a moment, I know obviously you've just shared, and I know this anyway, that you're very much about simplifying marketing. And so I would love to you to just share a little bit with the listeners about what that looks like. Yeah. Tangibly, you know, how do we simplify our marketing and therefore bring a bit more ease to our marketing?

SPEAKER_01 9:27

So I think there's a habit or a kind of something we feel that we have to do when we start a business is to be on every social media platform, to start a newsletter, to be running some form of ads, like all of these things, but we're kind of jumping to the end. Like we're jumping to what we see these big businesses do. They've got entire marketing teams behind them, often like millions of pounds of budgets, all of this. We don't have that. You go into a business thinking, like maybe it's coaching, for example, and you go into it thinking, oh, I really love coaching. I could do that all the time if I was self-employed. You go in and you realize I need to find some clients, like I did with my shop. And you have to then sort of build marketing into that. So if you're trying to do everything, you are really going to achieve nothing. Um, and it's being brutal with yourself about that and actually starting at the beginning, like not going straight into being on every platform, sending five newsletters a week, doing all of these different things, running a podcast. You can't do everything. It's actually going, right? Well, who is my ideal client? Like that is so important and so people miss it. Who is that person that I really love working with that can pay me, that will get results. And then what is the offer that I need to build around that? And then looking at your messaging and then looking at your content, not going straight into I've got this business, I need to be posting about it, I need to be sending emails, I need to be running ads. Because that's when we go, marketing doesn't work for me. Or, you know, I'm doing all the right things, but it's not working. The reality is you're just doing everything, you're not necessarily doing it well. Um, and I've I've had to learn that lesson myself. Like when I started freelancing, I was trying to post like constantly on Instagram, sending these newsletters, going to all these networking groups, sending so many cold emails that I never got a single response to, like all of this stuff. And I was doing it terribly because I was being torn in so many directions. Yeah. So the simplest thing is to literally look and be like, what is actually working for me right now? And how can I make that even better and capitalize on that? And then start to build, build out rather than saying, if I copy and paste across these 10 different platforms, surely that will work.

Sue 11:37

Yeah. And it can become so overwhelming, can't it, when you've got all of those things on a tick list for every week of like Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, newsletter, networking. I mean, you'd never actually get any work done, would you? Because you'd be spending literally your entire time marketing and putting yourself out there and never actually serving any clients because there's no time left in, no time left and no energy left either, because all your energy has gone into spreading yourself so thin across everything, and not really, as you say, not really achieving anything is that is the same as I say with a lot of the clients I work with, spreading themselves so thin that all they're doing is treading water and not actually moving forwards. Um so if there was one tip you could give to somebody who is listening to this who wants to make their marketing easier, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Market research is really key because you really need to understand what your what your target audience needs, what they need to be hearing from you, but also where they are hanging out. You know, if you say to them, like, how do you digest information best? And if they say video content, if they all go, I just love watching videos, then your blog that you're spending hours on is an absolute waste of time. So asking people is really key. Because again, I spent I spent years thinking I had to put a blog on my website every week, and it took me so long. I'm not a long form writer, I am definitely a short form writer. So writing blogs was taking me so long, and that was even before AI was a thing. It never did anything for me at all because my audience aren't going on really and reading blogs, they are just consuming social media. So it's actually just ask people, is probably the simplest tip is like have those conversations, find out what people actually want, how they would like to hear from you, and start there.

Sue 13:34

Yeah. And the great thing behind market research is not only do you get market research in in um where to do your marketing, but you also get market research about what it is that they need from you, what their pain points are, what they're hoping for, why they're not investing, and it gives you marketing content as well, doesn't it? Because it gives you like the language that they're using. You can literally speak directly to the person who has had the market research call with you, who one assumes is your ideal client. Um, so they are such a useful investment of time and energy. Um, I found them really powerful for my own business. Um, I can't remember if I've shared about this on a podcast before or not, but most of my clients have come from market research calls. So, a bit like you, Meg and I met through a market research call for the listeners who don't already know. We literally met. I saw Meg post on LinkedIn, she was looking for some people to jump on market research calls, and I jumped on a call, and here we are now. What we've got to be nine months later. Yeah, nearly a year, I reckon. Yeah. Um, still connecting with each other, still in each other's audiences. Um, I come along to Meg's monthly marketing meetup every so often, which I know she's going to share about a bit later on in this call. Um, and that's such a lovely way to network as well, in a less networky fashion, if that makes sense. Um but yeah, I I do these market research calls which are blended with coaching. So you get everybody gets a benefit. I get the benefit of the people coming on the calls sharing stuff with me. The people on the calls get the benefit of me sharing my value and my wisdom with them. And they have literally, I would say, I'm getting probably about a 75% conversion rate on those at the moment. Um, so it's like you bring people into your world, they see how powerful your work is, you see how they see how you can help them, and then they're like, right, I want more of that. Um, and yet you've got the market research from them as well. So it's like if you're if you're listening to this and you're not currently doing market research, Meg's already shared it. I'm now backing that up as extra evidence here that this is a really powerful tool in your toolkit, and um you you really need to be bringing it on board if you're not already.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

It's so key. Yeah, and going back to your point about messaging as well, but it literally gives you the words to use and don't ignore that because we have like it's bias, I suppose, isn't it, in our mind of what we think people want, and we go out and we promote that and we talk about that, but they're not resonating. So if you do market research and you kind of kind of ignore a little bit the what the actual words they're using and just go back into your own language, which probably is your expert language that is not how your audience talks, then you're missing a trick. So, like you said before, it's so key. Actually listen, like really listen to those words, get the transcript and use it.

Sue 16:33

Absolutely. I mean, that's the key, isn't it? Now that we've got AI, that's exactly what I do is I take the transcript, I give it to AI, and I ask it to like pull out the pertinent points and pull out the language and then build on it with each call that I have. Because why would you not use AI for something like that? This is not AI creating stuff for you, which I'm a real strong believer that that's not the way to go, but it's taking content you already have and helping you analyse it and giving you really powerful data. Um, how do you bring peace and ease into your life alongside building your business?

SPEAKER_01 17:13

So I have to be very careful with this because, like I said, I've I've always had chronic illness of sort of, you know, that's been throughout my life, literally since I was four. And I have to be very careful. I've learned very much how to handle it, but I can't push myself too far. So I really do have to be careful that I have that balance. So I go for a daily walk. We've spoken about this before, but I always go for my daily walk. Um, sometimes it's not as long as it should be, like sometimes it's literally 10 minutes, but it's getting out of the house at my aim for an hour. So I always have an hour and a half in my dummy at lunchtime, when it's technically when I go for my walk. Um it does sometimes get filled with other things, I won't lie. But in theory, that's my time. Um, I do a lot less socializing outside of work than I used to, and that's not because I'm prioritizing work, it's just that I've realized I can't do everything. Um, so I'm actually very careful now. A lot of my friends live away. So I got to a point where I was every single weekend going to Bristol, going to Edinburgh, going to, you know, wherever. I don't do that now. Um, so it's very much one weekend a month for me, I will go away, and that is it. Um, so I just have a lot of I have a lot of peace in my life, I would say. There's a lot of people that I just don't really have in my life anymore because they didn't bring me peace. Um, and just being careful with my time and energy that I'm using it well. And that's for clients as well, right? Like if you work with clients who don't bring you good energy, don't feel good, don't feel like a good fit, maybe don't respect you fully, whatever it might be, that really, that really affects me. That's where I'll start waking up in the morning going, oh no, I've got to speak to that person today, and like I get all anxious, and it's just it's not good. So I think that's a lot of it having clients that really align.

Sue 18:55

Yeah, agreed. And and you touched on the energy piece there. And I I know you have chronic illness, um, but even for those of us that don't have anything other than just living in a neuro, neurotypical, neuro normal, I don't know what the words are, but in a in a body that isn't trying to fight itself in some way, shape, or form, honouring our energy and honouring our capacity uh is such a huge thing. And I think when you own your own business, and I am guilty of this historically, um, which is partly why I do what I do, a big part of why I do what I do, is that um we can push and push and push and push because we love it so much, and we're like, just a little bit more, just a little bit more, just a little bit more, just another half an hour, just a you know, and then all and then you burn out before um and burnout creeps up on you so slowly, um, and then it whacks you in the face, and you're like um and yeah, I mean I've closed my business down twice because I've been in that position. Um so I know full well what it's like to be in a passion-led business, and that passion then pushed you too far. Um, so knowing where your limits are and and honouring those, because you've just shared you've had to put some really strong but healthy boundaries in place to protect your energy, which ultimately protects you, but also protects your business. Because if you're not healthy, then your business is not healthy. We know this. Um, and actually, our health is the most important thing at the end of the day. We can have an amazing business, but if we're on our knees, then that's no good to anybody, really. Um, so you knowing where you hit your limit and then coming back from there, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Um, even though I need to say no, isn't it? It's having those boundaries, and that is hard. Like saying no is really hard. My thing's always been coffee chats with that. Um, and like I used to just say yes to all of them because I thought that's what you're supposed to do, and because someone will go, oh, let's explore synergies, which is just the worst word in the planet. I hate it. But as soon as someone says synergies, I'm like, there's gonna be no synergies because you use that word. Like, I can guarantee you. But you know, or they're like, Oh, I'd love to chat and see how you can help my clients. I'm like, I have never had anything from one of those calls, and as lovely as it is to chat to people, I got to a point where I was doing like 10, 15 more a week. And it was insane because I was just saying yes to everything. I was going to all these networking groups, everyone wants a one-to-one, and like in the love sweet possible, nothing comes from it. And often people just want something from you. Like people look at a marketer and they think she'll have lots of clients that could also be my clients. So saying no to those and just doing the ones that really align, not trying to do them straight away, saying, you know, this is my availability like next month or even the month after, that's been one of the hardest boundaries for me, but it's made so much difference.

Sue 21:53

Yeah. Yeah. And the boundaries around your friendships as well, because friends often, particularly if they're in an employed role, they don't get it. They don't get that we pour so much energy, mental, physical, and emotional energy, into our businesses that we often have less left over than you're when you're in a regular employed role. Now, I'm not saying that's the same for everybody who's employed, because I mean I've got a friend who is most definitely like it's it's her passion, she she throws everything at her employed role, and so there are people out there who are probably in a similar position to us, even though they're employed. But for the sake of like statistics, I would say that most people in employment do their work, go home, and then and then live their lives. Um, and that's not how it works when you're self employed, because everything blends and that the boundaries do get blurred. So honouring that you can't see your friends every weekend or you can't travel to see friends every week. Every weekend is powerful and vital at the same time. And that learning to say no is a huge, huge issue for many of my clients because we are my clients, myself included, and I think I can probably speak for you as well, highly ambitious, high achieving, intelligent women, but have also got people-pleasing tendencies and really want to help people. And the nurturing element of being a female comes in comes into play. And yeah, we need to learn to say no to honour our own needs. Because when we say no to something, it means we can say yes to something else.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Yeah. Even if that's resting or going for dinner with a friend, but it's it's always one or the other, isn't it?

Sue 23:48

Yeah. Yeah. And life and business come with compromises, and we have to choose which ones we're happy to compromise on and which ones we're not happy to compromise on. And the coffee chats is absolutely one that can be compromised on because, like you say, having the occasional coffee chat is really powerful and really impactful and can be really supportive of building a business. One for one, not feeling alone in building a business and just building relationships that might never go anywhere, but just building those supportive relationships, exactly. It's just a nice thing to do, exactly. Um, but we we need to be careful, like you say, 15 a week, that is that is mental. I've my calendarly, I've got so many like calendarly setups, and for coffee chats, I think I've got them set at like one a day, two a week as my max. Yeah, and only on certain days of the week. So I know that yes, I can have those, but somebody might have to wait because if my diary is already stacked, or if I've already got two coffee chats this week, then you're gonna have to wait till next week or or whenever. Um, and so we can put those structures and processes and systems in place to enable that to happen without us having to really try, without us feeling like we're saying no, because the the system is saying no, rather than us personally saying no. Yeah. Um so that yeah, I love all of that. Um, there was something that else that you touched on. Oh, something that came to mind, this market research thing. Um and you saying about when you're on a call and you you're like, oh god, it's that client again, that sort of tense energy that you get. Um, there's another reason to do market research calls, right? Because you've already got like, do I want to work with this person? Am I gonna offer them the opportunity to continue this working together, or shall we just leave it at the market research call stage?

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Yeah, let them show their real self without them knowing they are almost.

Sue 25:49

Exactly. And you both get a flavor for what it would be like to work together without it being a sales call, without, you know, without that whole discovery call energy, it's more of a a much well, it's a much more um it's a deeper approach because you're actually if you're blending it with some coaching work at the same time or giving some hints and tips or however you're doing it, they're getting it, they're getting a flavour of how you work. You're getting to feel how they might work with you, and you know, there and then on that call, do I want to pursue this any further?

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Yeah. I think it's so important to get a measure of how somebody is. And like I don't work with anybody without doing a discovery call or whatever, we have whatever we call it first, because I know everyone has their systems, they're like, oh, they can come in through this way and then they just sign up. I don't want to do that because I want to make sure that it is a good fit. Like I am a very certain way, like I will always make silly jokes. I will always, you know, there's ways that I enjoy working and I'm not willing to compromise. And so I'm actually um say test, but I sort of do test people on a call. I'll come in full of energy, and if they even give me the right, so what is it you do? I'm like, nope.

Sue 27:06

You know, in the back conversation then like for two reasons.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Firstly, if that's how you're gonna like react, and if that's kind of your energy, it's not gonna work. But also when people come in completely cold and they don't actually know what you do already, that is a problem, and it's often a problem either in your marketing or that they're just too early in their journey. Like I find that with it, like new connections on LinkedIn, for example, where we connect and they go, We need help with our marketing, call me on this number. And I'm like, No, tell me more, you know, tell me more. Um, but those very often end up being those ones that sort of give you this look because they don't know you, and that's quite key as well, is like building that relationship even before you have that discussion.

Sue 27:47

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, getting a couple, yeah, you want warm people on your calls, don't you, for sure? Yeah. Oh wow. Um okay, so um we've talked about peace and ease, we've talked about a passion and purpose. Um when do you know? I've got one more question and then we'll sort of wrap things up. So when do you know you're not feeling at peace in whatever it is you're doing, whether this be in your life or your business, what indicators or symptoms or signs do you get to know that you're not living or building a business that brings you peace?

SPEAKER_01 28:29

I feel like this is something I've had to work on a lot. A friend of mine a while ago, she lives in Thailand, so already doing like already a nice life. But she was like, I've just built my perfect life, I've built my dream life. And I was like, I don't know what that is for me. Like, I don't know what that looks like. And so I've actually had to do like quite a lot of work, I suppose, to try and not just work out what I actually want my life to look like, but to figure out, like you say, when things don't feel right, and it's just trusting your gut, I think, isn't it? It's that if I come off of a let's go back to the discovery calls, if I come off a call and I'm like, oh, this is really exciting, I really hope they go ahead because they're really cool, then that's obviously good. Whereas if I come off and I just feel a bit like something wasn't quite right, it's listening to that because generally it's not quite right. So I think it's literally listening to our gut, thinking, like, okay, for me, it's when my health gets worse as well. Like if I'm ending each day with an awful headache, then I'm like, I'm doing too much. I need to finish earlier, I need to put in that those blocks of time, like you said about, but actually listening to our bodies and listening to that anxiety and the feelings that come up.

Sue 29:37

Yeah, our body speaks so heavily to us, but so often we ignore it, don't we? And particularly, I think, when you're conscious of bringing money through the door because it's not coming into a regular salary and a regular wage, and you're thinking, well, that client, you know, they they might pay me, I don't know, five grand. That's five grand I wouldn't have, but I'm not sure whether I want to work with them. But but it might be five grand. That's where we have to really honour it because the money could be so tempting, and yet that that saying yes to that person may well mean that there's a dream person sitting over there that we just haven't quite connected with yet or not had deep enough conversations with yet, or whatever, who's waiting in the wings, and they they're the person who we come off the call and we're like, Yes, I really want to work with this person. So tuning into our body, in whatever way that looks, actually, it might not be on a discovery call, it might be as simple as do I need to go for a walk today? Do I need to drink more water today? Do I need to put my phone down for half an hour? You know, it's not necessarily the big things, but it might be those smaller things. Your body is always speaking to you, and we we need to learn if you're not already tuning into your body. Um we all need to learn to do that a bit more, I think, and trust our intuition and trust our gut and trust that we already know before our brain catches up, we do already know the answer.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Yeah. Um what is it for you? Like, how do you know when something's not aligned for you?

Sue 31:15

Um, I get a really strong hell yes these days, so I know I if it and if it's not a hell yes, then I know it's not aligned. Yeah, and it's interesting because I have acted on a couple of things this year that weren't hell yeses, and now I'm like, shouldn't have done that. Yeah. Thankfully, they weren't big investments. They were, and that's why I went for them because I was like, actually, for this amount of money, it's worth me testing this out and seeing there might be more to it than I'm feeling. Um, and then maybe I'll still be, because this thing is a you know, the one thing I'm thinking of is it is a longer-term investment, um, or a longer, yeah, one payment for a longer term thing. Um and maybe you know, in six months' time, something magical might come out of it. But right now I'm not feeling it. So um I should have probably trusted my guts. I'm not should. I could have trusted my gut a bit better then. Um, but yeah, I'm I'm getting quite experienced, I think, at going if this isn't if this doesn't tick every box and feel really, really good inside, then it's a no.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

Yeah. And it's like kind of like we were saying earlier, building a business is hard. Like no one's denying it's hard. So we need to at least be kind to ourselves in the things we can control. Like, we can't be like, I'll just take on any client because it pays the bills. Then you literally might as well go and get a job. Like, it's taking the advantages that we can, even though it is it is hard to build a business, otherwise, everyone would do it and we'd all be billionaires, right?

Sue 32:50

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Oh, I've loved this conversation. Um thank you so much for joining me, Meg. Um I know I've already asked you for one tip that you would give to people to simplify their marketing, but is there any one last message you'd like to share with the audience before I ask you to share how they can get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_01 33:14

So, two things. Firstly, don't feel like it's kind of what I said earlier, but don't feel like you should do everything. Like, there is so much pressure. And just know that, like me as a marketer, I don't do everything, like by any means. And when I've tried to, is when my business has been like less successful or whatever. Um, second thing I've now forgotten. Um let's say do what you enjoy. That's not what I was gonna say, but make sure that you actually are enjoying it and let your personality come across in your marketing and in everything you do, because that's why people connect with you and that's why they will come and work with you. So don't feel that you need to fit into some sort of box in any form, be entirely yourself, and that will help attract those dream clients that we talk about.

Sue 34:01

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, because people buy into your energy and your vibe, they're not buying you for your particular service, really. Yes, you can have a particular way of doing things or a slightly unique framework or whatever, but ultimately people, particularly in a service-based industry, they're buying the person because they have connected with you. Um so I love that. They need to know who you are to be able to connect with you.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Yeah, it's literally the first step of anything that I do with people is like, who are you? Like, not who do you think you should be, but who actually are you and how can you make that like really show up online so that you are bringing in the right people, not just not just anyone.

Sue 34:43

Yeah, amazing. I love that. Right. So, how can people connect with you? Um, and share a little bit more about your marketing meetup that you do as well, so that people, if they're interested, can come along and join you for that.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

Yeah, so LinkedIn and Instagram, they're my core platforms, talking about not doing everything, they are where I hang out. Um, so it's Meg Hudson on LinkedIn and it's it's Meg Hudson on Instagram. Um, please come and connect and say hi and tell me if you listen to this. Um, the marketing meetup, so it's usually first Tuesday of each month. Um, this is March right now. I don't know when this is going out, but in March it's going to be on the 31st, just because I'm going on holiday. Um, but usually first Tuesday of the month is an hour on a Tuesday lunchtime, and it's completely free. And the idea is that each each month we have a topic. So this month it is standing out online. Next month it's going to be thinking of ideas for your content. I do a little training at the start, and then we do a couple of breakout rooms. So in each one, you're meeting somebody new, like at least one person that you're meeting, and you've got core points to talk about that are around the topic. So the idea being you come in, you learn something, you meet new people, and then you've got a core action to take away with you. So it's actionable, it's working on the business, meeting new people, but not in a not in a cringe or formal way. It's it's silly, it's fun, but it's very actionable, is how I would describe it.

Sue 36:05

Yeah, I would describe it the same, having been to a few of them. Um, they are they are lovely, and I've made some really lovely connections through there as well as got some really valuable insights into improving my marketing as well. So um I would definitely recommend them to anybody who is looking for some sort of relaxed networking with some, as you say, working on your business and really nailing your marketing and getting it a little sharper. Amazing. I will share um Meg's links um down in the show notes. So whether you're watching this on YouTube or listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or even Amazon, I am on Amazon. Whether anybody listens on Amazon, I have no idea. Um it won't be very many people, but it will all be down in the show notes there. And I'll I'll also um pop Meg's link in to the monthly meetups so that if anybody wants to um sign up for those, they can do so via that link.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

Um thank you so much for having me. It's been fun.

Sue 37:02

It's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you for joining me, and I will see you very soon, I'm sure. Take care. Bye, everybody, on the podcast, and I'll be back with you next week.