The Beacon Way

Welcome to another gripping episode of The Beacon Way Podcast! This episode is the third of a four-part series, covering all things brand messaging. Our hosts, Adrienne Wilkerson and Jennifer Christensen, tackle the third topic of the series: “What problem does your product or service solve for your target audience?” and ”What makes you different from your competition?” We start by understanding how we can, and should, stand out in our industry. We learn how to identify desirable marketing channels, how we can remove our growth barriers, and how to solve problems without complicating things. We take a deep look at whether there can be a balance of price, speed, and quality and how you can evolve and interchange between the three. We are lucky enough to hear personal examples from Jen and Adrienne about the evolution of Beacon Media, how they created a business model based on their clients, and their core values of growth, scaling, and thriving.  Plus, we take a look at how, although it's frustrating, asking deeper and difficult questions sets you in good stead for the future. We hope you can join us!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Today’s episode covers question three: “What problem is your product or service solving?”
• Recognizing the difference between a pain point and problem-solving.
• How to be aware of your ego and the barriers it may place on your business.
• The business model Beacon Media uses as an example of how to recognize pain points.
• Identifying, and then deepening your understanding, of your customers' pain points.
• What to consider when solving your clients’ problems, and how you may be uncovering more problems during this process. 
• Why clients struggle with internal marketing or the internal side of sales.
• Understanding what makes your business unique and different from your competition.
• The importance of understanding your industry.
• The triangle of a balance of quality, speed, and price and some applicable examples.
• Niching in your company and the potential evolution.
• Deciding if you want to make money out of quality or quantity.
• How to be introspective about your company values and be successful from that.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

McDonald’s

Burger King

Wendy’s

Coca-Cola

Pepsi

Airbnb

Donna Karan

DKYN

Adrienne Wilkerson on LinkedIn

Adrienne Wilkerson on Twitter

Jennifer Christensen on LinkedIn

Jennifer Christensen on Twitter

Beacon Media + Marketing

Beacon Media + Marketing on Twitter

Beacon Media Email

Welcome to another exciting episode of The Beacon Way Podcast! This episode is the second of a four-part series, covering all things brand messaging. Our hosts, Adrienne Wilkerson and Jennifer Christensen tackle the second topic of the series: “Who is your target audience and why is it important to know them?” Despite being scary, we begin to understand the significance of asking tough questions. Luckily, Adrienne and Jen give us methods of dealing with the feedback and how, through research and breaking away from traditional methods, we can connect our passions with our target market's needs. Using this to go beneath our preconceived ideas of our target audience, we gain a deeper understanding of their pain points, what they care about, and how to solve their problems. Join us to put all this information together and begin to understand the importance of intentionality and authenticity when advancing our business and targeting our ideal audience. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• This is the second episode of a four-part series. 
• Today’s episode covers question two: “Who is your target audience and why is it important to know them?”  
• Where Jen starts the process of walking a client through identifying their target audience.
• Start by looking at your target audience's point of view and the problems you want to solve.
• Understanding your target audience's needs as interrelating to their issues.
• How to match your unique point of view to solve a problem for your target market.
• How people love to buy from someone they know, like, and trust.
• Solving marketing barriers by creating connections and niching down.
• The flaws of broadening your marketing messages. 
• What inspired Adrienne and Jennifer to break away from traditional marketing methods.
• Defining your target market and audience to better understand and fulfill your goals. 
• Why Jennifer advises staying away from politics and religion in your marketing. 
• Authentic messaging to deepen connections and advance your business.
• Identifying pain points and narrowing messaging down to meet these. 
• Forming a relationship with your clients and interviewing for feedback for improvement.
• The importance of research, watching trends, and networking.
• Adjusting your business based on feedback from clients and focus groups.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Adrienne Wilkerson on LinkedIn

Adrienne Wilkerson on Twitter

Jennifer Christensen on LinkedIn

Jennifer Christensen on Twitter

Beacon Media + Marketing

Beacon Media + Marketing on Twitter

Beacon Media Email

Welcome to a new and exciting episode of The Beacon Way Podcast! This episode is the first of a four-part series, covering all things brand messaging. Our hosts, Adrienne Wilkerson and Jennifer Christensen, ask the first big question of the series: “Who are you as a company?” They discuss the importance of being self-aware, sticking to your values, and practicing authenticity in all things related to your business. They go on to explain why you need to acknowledge and embrace your story to establish what your business stands for. Plus, we get a sneak peek into how Adrienne and Jen manage their business, Beacon Media + Marketing, and how they coach clients to discover their brand. From throwing away vanity numbers to asking yourself the hard questions, we hope you can join us for a constructive and informative episode! 

Key Points From This Episode:

• This is part one of a four-part series.
• Explaining the ideas of four questions for a company to ask about their brand messaging.
• Today’s episode covers question one: “Who are you as a company?”
• The importance of self-awareness, values, and authenticity.
• Why we need to remember our story and articulate it to our customers.
• The fear and downplaying of needing to make money when managing your business.
• The importance of having knowledge of what your company is worth. 
• The significance of asking yourself “What am I for?” and “What am I against?”
• How Pia Silva influenced Jen’s business journey.
• The questions Beacon Media + Marketing asks their clients to help them discover their brand.
• How and why Beacon Media + Marketing is against vanity numbers to build a marketing plan.
•  A brief look at part two: target markets. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Pia Silva

Badass Your Brand

Adrienne Wilkerson on LinkedIn

Adrienne Wilkerson on Twitter

Jennifer Christensen on LinkedIn

Jennifer Christensen on Twitter

Beacon Media + Marketing

Beacon Media + Marketing on Twitter

Beacon Media Email

Welcome back to part two of our conversation about the buying process! In the previous episode, we explored customer expectations throughout the buying process, so make sure to and check out Episode 6 to learn more about that. Today, we further expand on how a company should interact and create an important relationship with its customers during all stages of the buying process. We’ll guide you through the different stages that customers go through, from research all the way to purchasing a product/service, and take you on a personal tour of The Beacon Way’s business model as a perfect example of how to help your clients understand their customer's goals. Next, we give you a guide to begin your own customer support journey by looking at how The Beacon Way helps with identifying problems, providing examples, and removing barriers. Tune in today to learn how to cultivate personal relationships and values, all while providing consistency, transparency, and customer autonomy!

Key Points From This Episode:

• The aim of this podcast: identifying different stages of the marketing and buying process.
• The problem stage: a risky topic that feels furthest away from a company’s goal of purchase. 
• How educational content is provided when customers research their identified problems.
• Why customers need to be self-selecting without feeling forced to make decisions.
• How the Beacon Way can help identify problems,  provide examples, and remove barriers!
• The research and evaluation stage; the importance of consistency within your branding.  
• How, with your help, customers must move from identifying a problem to identifying a need. 
• Giving enough information and resources so customers independently choose your product. 
• The purchase stage: building a positive relationship and buying experience.
• The value of transparency, responding to reviews, and honesty about your target market.
• A look into how The Beacon Way helps you cultivate a personal relationship with clients. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Episode 6: What is the Customer Buying Process?

Adrienne Wilkerson on LinkedIn

Adrienne Wilkerson on Twitter

Jennifer Christensen on LinkedIn

Jennifer Christensen on Twitter

Beacon Media + Marketing

Beacon Media + Marketing on Twitter

Beacon Media Email

Is there a way you can get ahead in the world of digital marketing to ensure that you are your customers’ first choice? In this episode of The Beacon Way Podcast, we break down the five stages of the customer buying process. First, we discuss how you can grab your target market at the stage of them identifying a need for something. We then talk about how ensuring that the information you provide about your product makes the customer feel secure during the research phase of their purchase. Next, we give you tools to be their first choice when evaluating options before delving into the actual purchase of the product. Finally, we talk about the importance of the post-purchase follow-up service. Join us today to put your best digital foot forward!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Breaking down the stages of the customer buying process.
• One: identifying the problem. 
• Two: research. 
• Three: evaluating options. 
• Four: client making the purchase.
• Five: the post-purchase follow-up service. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Adrienne Wilkerson on LinkedIn

Adrienne Wilkerson on Twitter

Jennifer Christensen on LinkedIn

Jennifer Christensen on Twitter

Beacon Media + Marketing

Beacon Media + Marketing @beaconmm

Google review 

Facebook 

Clutch UpCity

Yelp

Welcome to another episode of The Beacon Way Podcast, a show that focuses on the current trends and the dynamic world of digital marketing for small businesses. Digital marketing has created many exciting avenues for businesses to reach potential clients, but what are the potential negative aspects of digital marketing? In today’s episode, we discuss the importance of identifying and removing barriers to digital marketing to help your business reach its full potential. We discuss breaking-down complex clients to their basic components, why it is important to focus marketing efforts, and some common challenges that businesses experience with digital marketing. We also learn how some barriers can be beneficial, how to cultivate connections with clients, lessons that Jennifer and Adrienne learned over their professional careers, and much more!  Tune in to learn insider tips and tricks and how to help your business reach its full potential with The Beacon Way Podcast!

Key Points From This Episode:

• How to solve complex problems by breaking them down into simple components.
• Jennifer gives us some examples of complex problems in the digital space.
• Why it is essential to address potential questions that potential clients might have.
• We find out some simple methods to increase trust with your customer base.
• The importance of focusing efforts on your ideal client and not everyone.
• Understanding who your client is in order to remove barriers.
• Some of the challenges that come with client retention.
• How some barriers can actually help you identify your ideal clients.
• Adrienne explains the financial and emotional costs associated with new and old clients.
• The lessons that Jennifer and Adrienne learned early in their career journeys. 
• Start your business from a general perspective and then identify the niche clients.
• Examples of the common barriers that businesses face in the service industry.
• Jennifer gives us some tips and tricks to breaking some simple barriers.
• More examples of common challenges that businesses are currently faced with.
• How breaking-down complex client needs visually to communicate concepts effectively.
• Adrienne explains the approach to cultivating connections with the clients.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Adrienne Wilkerson on LinkedIn

Adrienne Wilkerson on Twitter

Jennifer Christensen on LinkedIn

Jennifer Christensen on Twitter

Beacon Media + Marketing

The Beacon Way Email

Oftentimes with digital marketing, there’s a lack of human-to-human contact, but the connection with your potential clients is crucial when it comes to marketing. The Beacon Way ensures that you, as a company, cultivate conversations and connections with your ideal clients. Welcome back to another episode of The Beacon Way Podcast, this is our first episode talking specifically about The Beacon Way, what it is, and why we believe it's going to revolutionize and help a lot of amazing people and companies out there. Join us as we share more on the details of The Beacon Way, how to bring back human-to-human connection into digital marketing, how important your website is to convert visitors into clients, and so much more. Make sure not to miss out! Enjoy!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Jennifer shares more about the Beacon Way and how it helps cultivate connections with a company's ideal clients.
• How social media and digital marketing have transformed marketing as a whole.
• How bringing back human-to-human connection into digital marketing transforms the whole buying process.
• We discuss how the Beacon Way is formulated: tone, body language, and words.
• The most important things for clients to see or experience when visiting your website.
• Jennifer takes us through an example of how to evaluate your website.
• The importance of removing barriers to converting a visitor to a client on your website.
• We end with a recap of the important principles of cultivating connections with ideal clients.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Adrienne Wilkerson on LinkedIn

Adrienne Wilkerson on Twitter

Jennifer Christensen on LinkedIn

Jennifer Christensen on Twitter

Beacon Media + Marketing

Beacon Media + Marketing @beaconmm