For small business owners and entrepreneurs, just launching your product or service can be tough enough without the crash course in business 101. That’s when a little education can go along way. Cue Firepole Marketing.
“We teach marketing and general business principles to small business owners and entrepreneurs who are excellent at what they do – but lack the theoretical and strategic understanding of business and marketing – to help grow their businesses,” says President and CEO Danny Iny.
Danny, author of the Amazon best-selling book Engagement from Scratch! and the so-called “Freddy Krueger of blogging,” has been an entrepreneur since he quit school at 15 to start his first business. In 2013, he and the team at Firepole Marketing launched the Audience Business Masterclass to help fellow entrepreneurs learn how to build a successful online business.
Here, Danny shares his digital marketing insight.
Tell us about Firepole Marketing. What products and services do you offer? Who should be using them?
We teach small business owners and entrepreneurs how to grow and develop their businesses online through the Audience Business Masterclass and the Course Builder’s Laboratory, which are ideal for people starting out or looking to re-imagine their current businesses.
What are the most common frustrations or concerns your clients come to you with?
That the online world is too difficult to navigate. And between all of the social media platforms, technologies and software, and conflicting information from scores of teachers and instructors, they’re not wrong!
What do you think is the biggest misconception business owners have about marketing online?
That in order to do it you have to be sleazy and compromise your values. Most of our audience works with us because we prioritize the relationship-building aspect of marketing online – which can feel like a real breath of fresh air.
What advice do you find yourself repeating over and over again to brands on how they can boost traffic?
When you think you have a traffic problem, most of the time what you really have is a conversion problem. Traffic itself is easy (you can just buy it), but if that traffic isn’t converting into your list or community, then you’ve got a real problem. If conversions are great, traffic is not the issue.
What components do you think every smart online marketing strategy should include?
At a minimum, a good online strategy needs to include a thorough understanding of the market you’re going to be serving – particularly the ideal customer that you’re going to be working with. This is critical because it will fuel every other decision you make, from where you spend your advertising budget to the products and services you offer.
What tools or trends in online marketing do you think are overrated?
Overall, the emphasis on tactics over strategy is pretty overrated. You can try all of the tactics in the book – but unless they’re built on a solid marketing strategy and informed by the individuals in the market you want to serve, it’s like throwing water down a well.
What are some brands you think are doing online marketing right? What can we learn from them?
Curt Maly at Social Media Ad Genius is doing a fantastic job of really helping people identify how to bring social media strategies into their overall marketing plan.
Nathalie Sisson, the Suitcase Entrepreneur, knows her niche extremely well, and as a socially aware entrepreneur makes a huge difference in the lives of her followers and elsewhere.
Sophie Lizard of Be a Freelance Blogger has a no-nonsense approach to building a freelance business, and her fans and clients see major results.
What are some of your favorite online marketing tools today?
Ryan Levesque’s Survey Funnel Formula is one of the best ways to (profitably) get powerful insight into your audience.
Inbound Writer helps make the content you create resonate with your readers.