March 6, 2023 Hi there, The button game is still going strong so we’re playing for another week! Playing this game only takes two steps… 1. Reply to this email with your guess of how many clicks The Button will get. 2. Click the button above (or don’t!) The Button If you guess exactly how many clicks The Button gets, you win! We have played this game the last two weeks and no one won which means our pool is now $200! And if more than one person guesses it exactly right, everyone who guessed it correctly wins $200! But if no one guesses it right, then the prize pool goes up next week. It will keep going up until someone guesses it exactly. Here are some rules about this game: 1. You don’t need to click to win. (That can make the guessing tricky, don’t you think?) 2. You DO have to send me your guess. 3. I have to receive it by Friday, February 24 at 5pm EST (you have five days to guess). I will track how many people click The Button this week. After you play the game, keep reading for some gardening advice – oops I mean marketing advice! But either way, we’re looking at new ways to grow your prospect list!!   Do you know your audience? And I mean do you really know them? What problems do they need to have solved? What problems do they have that they don’t even know they have? It’s common for us as business owners to speak to those who are already problem-aware – those who know they have a problem and know we can help solve it for them. But what about those who are uninformed? Imagine you have a garden. You water your plants, you have gates up to protect it from critters, and overall, it seems to grow pretty well. You would think you don’t have any problems with your gardening right?  But then one day, someone starts talking about the soil in the ground and everything they have done to improve it. They mention that it wasn’t until they started taking steps to improve their soil, to add compost, and to test it regularly, that they noticed a huge difference in the growth of their plants and in the quality of the fruit and vegetables they produced. At that moment, you would have gone from uninformed to problem-aware. You went from thinking you didn’t have a problem to realizing you may have a problem that you need help with. Your audience is made up of those who are problem-aware and those who don’t yet know they have a problem. Not only that, there are those outside your audience who are just waiting to become aware and will gladly become your aware audience… if only they knew. So this week, I want you to create a marketing campaign that lets your prospects know that they have a problem… and then you’re going to speak to the solution. Just like those who are unaware of the soil problem in their gardens, you need to address the problems you fix and share it in a way so that those who are unaware will then see that this problem is theirs too. Need help getting started? Here are some questions to ask yourself to get the ideas going: What problems do you solve and what are the solutions? How is life better for those who receive your solution? In what ways can people be unaware either of this problem or of the better life they could have? Once you can answer these questions, you should be able to get moving on your marketing campaign to speak to those who are uninformed. Speaking to your audience and your problem-aware prospects is important – but don’t ignore your uninformed prospects either  Since I spoke of gardening in hypothetical terms, now I want to know… Do you have a garden? Do you have a favorite plant, flower, or tree? This is a fun conversation to have with others because people don’t love a certain plant just because. They always have a reason or story behind it. If someone has a favorite tree, it’s often because of some childhood memory with that same type of tree. If someone loves a certain type of flower, it’s often because it reminds them of someone they care for. If someone loves a certain type of fruit or vegetable plant, it’s often because it’s either their favorite fruit or vegetable or because it was the first plant they ever grew so it feels nostalgic to them. A plant, flower, or tree is never just a plant, flower, or tree to someone else. So to get to know your audience by posting on social media or sending in an email: My favorite plant, flower, or tree is ____________ and that’s because ______________. Your comment section and inbox will be full of memories and hopefully beautiful pictures too!  24 Ways to Spend Your Marketing Budget Next Quarter – Want to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to marketing? Here are 24 ideas to help you make the most of your marketing budget! Read More 3 Steps to Create Your 2023 Marketing Calendar on TikTok – We may already be in March (how??) but it’s not too late to still hit this year with an effective marketing plan! Whether you’re new to TikTok or well versed in creating viral videos, these steps will help you plan out the rest of your year! Read More 4 Small Businesses on How They’re Changing Their Social Media Strategy in 2023 – You don’t have to be a huge company with a large social media team to have an effective social media presence – you just may need some tweaks to your strategy. These 4 businesses will show you how to do it. Read More The button game is still going strong so don’t forget to reply with your guess! Alex Branning Branning Group alex@branninggroup.com  Hey! Want to chat? My team and I are here to serve your needs and business! You can grab a free marketing strategy session phone call at |