Hello, and welcome to season two of the Resilient Faith Online Show. Today we're going to kick off the season talking about the elephant in the room, marketing in a fragile economy. So stay tuned. This is going to be content-rich information. Welcome. I'm Arissa Shadrick, host of the Resilient Faith Online Show. I'm an online marketing coach and certified copywriter. In this podcast, you'll find a different perspective to the external and internal challenges we face as online content creators. Join me for some inspiration and practical tips as we create positive change online. To connect with me in my private Facebook group, go to marissachrick.com forward slash community. Hello, hello everyone. It is good to be back. Yes, we're launching season two. Season one came to a close. What I did was I broke up the podcast and I decided to create seasons for each year. And believe it or not, Resilient Faith Online podcast has been on for a year. For those of you that are wondering what this podcast is all about, I am an online marketing coach. I'm a certified You Are the Brand coach with Mike Kim, and I'm also a certified copywriter through Ray Edwards. And so I bring a lot of marketing tips for online entrepreneurs. Specifically, I have a heart for coaches because I am a coach and many of my clients are coaches, but I help people be able to become more visible online in a simple way. Simple marketing. And I know marketing can seem so difficult, especially in today's economy. And we're going to address that in just a minute. But in any event, this podcast will have elements of copywriting and business strategy. But I also want to deal with the internal challenges. You can have all the strategies, you can have everything figured out, you can have all the technology, all the resources, everything that you need, all the ads in place. But if your mindset is not right, something is going to be amiss. And so mindset is very, very important to help you be able to have a healthy mindset, a healthy perspective toward the things that you're creating, create that work-life balance that everyone is seeking, and be able to address those things like fear and insecurity and hopelessness and disappointment and when things don't go quite right. So it's a blend of the internal and external challenges that we face online. So with that said, welcome to season two. And today we're going to really unpack how we should market in today's fragile economy. A lot has gone on, right? I mean, we can't just not talk about it, right? People are saying, well, I don't know if I should invest in Facebook ads. I don't know. I'm not getting the return that I used to get before. Things are different. Okay, yeah, we said it. Things are different these days. We can look at history and see the longest economic expansion on record was during 2009 through 20. And that was right after the Great Recession. We had the Great Recession, if you remember, 2007, 2008 was not good years for a lot of people. And then we had a spike, and all of a sudden that came to a close when COVID hit. Now things opened up again, and people were starting to somewhat do business as usual. It depends on states, what's going on. There's still a lot of concern. I know where I live here, it's interesting because in Nevada, where I lived before, um, no one wore masks or anything anymore. It was just business as usual. And here it's very divided. It's very, very divided. You see some people taking extra precautions and other people don't. It's very divided. And with all the other things that are going on with the economy, with gas prices, all those things going on, people are a little nervous. And you can't blame them. It's hard to manage the unknown. Yet, if you're a person of faith, we know that the unknown is held carefully in God's hands. And we can trust God to take care of the unknown, take care of the future, take care of where we're headed. And so that is our comfort. That is where our strength comes from. But I can understand how some people can get angry, can feel a little displaced, can feel not seen, not heard, frustrated, because a lot is going on. And that's why I often say, if you're an online entrepreneur, there's a process of reflection, which I always promote journaling. That's where I get all my thoughts, feelings, my ups and downs, everything I record every day when I'm working. I record in my journal. I look back at my three wins for the previous day, what I'm trying to accomplish that aligns with my goals today. And I use that as a way to weed out anything toxic that can possibly prevent me from moving forward. And during that reflection, I assess how things are going. And I look to see how I can appear or show up online in a better way to help my community because I can tell that many people are struggling. So there's an element of reflection, then there's an element of adjustment. We adjust and then we test. And it goes on and on all over again. We reflect, we adjust, and we test. We reflect, we adjust and we test. And we begin to tweak things so that we can really help those people. If we have a solution for an audience, then we need to share what that solution is for them, right? So we're always reflecting and adjusting and testing. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to offer something different. Maybe you should, I don't know what your business is, but you should at least see if you can talk about it or approach it from a different angle because we don't want to appear insensitive. We want to meet our audience where they are, okay, and make them feel comfortable seen and heard. So here's the problem I've seen. A lot of online entrepreneurs are working hard, very, very hard to make up the difference for loss of revenue, for what happened during the pandemic. They're working very hard. Maybe they're working hard to build up that nest egg because they're not sure what's going to go on with the economy. People are working very hard, but I'm just going to say this: working hard isn't enough. Now I have nothing against working hard. My dad worked very, very hard. He worked for Pan Am. He got a job in Pan Am and he worked until he retired. He worked very hard. He worked long hours. He worked night shift. He worked weekends. He worked overtime. He wanted to provide everything he could for us, for his family, and he worked a lot. Working hard gave him the pension that he wanted, but when Pan Am went broke, a good portion of that pension was gone. So working hard did not guarantee the outcome he was expecting. And it just wasn't enough between that and Social Security to really have enough for other things. Fortunately, you know, I had him set up really well with insurance and all those other things to take care of his basic needs, but there wasn't anything more than that. And so there is an example of working hard is not enough. There's nothing wrong with working hard. And sometimes we have seasons when we have to work hard, but it shouldn't be the norm. Working hard doesn't guarantee that you won't experience a foreclosure of your home. Working hard doesn't guarantee unexpected debt. Working hard doesn't guarantee that you're going to be able to retire young. Working hard doesn't guarantee that you're going to be able to send your kids to college. Working hard doesn't guarantee that you're going to age comfortably. It doesn't. That's why each day we have to live in a way where we are content, where we are grateful, where we make the most of every opportunity, and that's scriptural. Make the most of every opportunity. Use wisdom, be a good steward of what we have, because we don't know what tomorrow may bring. And tomorrow we'll have the grace and God's mercy to be able to face tomorrow. But for today, we will say yes, I will praise the Lord, and we will just embrace all the good things that we have and use our sound mind to be able to reflect, adjust, and test. So some of this information came about through a survey that I did last month when I wasn't podcasting. I started reaching out to people, having some one-on-one calls, talking to them, and I realized that many people were feeling a little stressed. They were working hard, they weren't getting the results that they wanted, and there was frustration there. And that really breaks my heart because these are really good, good people working hard to make ends meet, and they can't. And that bothers me because it messes with their head, and then all of a sudden they they take it personally and they disqualify themselves from believing they could create something different, something extraordinary. And then they have the limiting belief that they have the doubt, they have the insecurity, and that doesn't help. That's a slippery slope in the other direction, right? So many of the problems in life can't be solved by money, but many problems can. There's nothing wrong with money and revenue, it's a tool. So when I saw this and I saw how people are just working so hard and they're trying to invest in these programs and trying to do all these things and be everywhere and they're exhausting themselves, you know, I thought I need to change what I'm doing a little bit to help people where they are today. And so that's why I want to help them turn their ideas, the ideas that they have, the place that they're at right now, trying to figure out whether they need to pivot, what they need to promote, what they need to distill, and help them turn that those ideas into one profitable reality and help them have that successful business that they're looking for. Because I know that they can impact the world with the content that they have, with the heart that they have. And so I am doubling down on that. And that's why this podcast, I'm going to continue to share both copy and marketing strategies, but also mindset because I feel it's very, very important. And that's why I called it Resilient Faith Online, because you have to be resilient. You have to be resilient and you have to have faith and have faith in yourself because you are extraordinary. So, you know, how do we do this? How do we market when the economy is so fragile? How do we do this? Well, the the first thing is you want to be able to show up differently. You don't want to necessarily market the way you did during the economic expansion when things were much easier, when Facebook's algorithm was easier, right? It's not as easy anymore. You don't want to market the same way. You may market in a very similar way with a slight tweak, but you want to be very aware of what's happening with your specific audience. So I was recently reminded of a uh diagram, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, by a friend of mine, John Meese. He has an incredible book, Survive and Thrive in Any Economy. Great book for you to grab and read. But in any event, um, he reminded me of this graph. I had forgotten about it. So Abraham Maslow lived between 1908 and 1970. He was an American psychologist, a university professor, and a researcher. So he created Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and they're the basic human needs, and it's shown like five levels. You see level five, which is basic needs, and then it goes four on top, three on top of that, two, and one at the very top. And so let me explain quickly what these are so you can get an understanding of this. These are basic human needs, and at the very foundation, you have the physiological needs, which is the food, the shelter, sleep, clothing, water, the things that we just need to survive, right? Number four, which is right above, is safety needs. And that would include personal security, feeling safe, right, employment, right? Because that provides a sense of financial security, resources, health, property, all of that falls under safety, which is number four. The third one, as we're going up, is love and belonging. That's where our human need is for friendship, intimacy, family, sense of connection, which is why many people join clubs and they join associations and groups and church to have that sense of belonging and connection. So love and belonging is right in the middle. It's number three as we're going from five, four, three. And then above that is esteem, which is respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, strength, freedom. This is why people go to college and get a degree, or why people get certified, right? Respect, self-esteem, status. Um, it's why people buy certain cars and homes and certain neighborhoods, recognition, strength, and freedom, right? Freedom is important to all of us. So that's under esteem. And then at the very top is self-actualization, the desire to become the most that you can be. And I would say that many people, especially people that are entrepreneurs and people that have a growth mindset, they want to be everything that they can be. They want to use their life as a means to either leave a legacy or be able to make a difference in the world, they want to create positive change, they want to be able to maximize all of their gifts, their talents, their knowledge, their experience, and be everything that they can be. Now, if you marketed before the pandemic to someone in self-actualization level, number one, people that wanted to be all that they can be, the education is great, they wanted to advance, they wanted to grow, maybe they wanted to start an online business. And then the pandemic hit, where do you suppose they ended up? They probably ended up in level four, which is safety and needs, personal security, employment, resources, health, property, maybe even level five: food, shelter, sleep, clothing, water. I mean, the shelves were empty, we had no toilet paper, we had no water, right? And so if we were marketing to people at the number one stage, self-actualization, and then all of a sudden, their human needs changed, their focus changed, they're thinking more about safety, health, they're thinking about water, they're thinking about all the things to protect their family, they're no longer in that self-actualization. They're now at that other level, the basic level five or four. And so if we continue to market and use words for a level where they're not there, it there's going to be a miss. I hope that makes sense. If you look at the graph and Google it, you'll be able to understand this a little better. We want to make sure we have our finger on the pulse of our market. The best way to do that is to ask questions and to check in with people and find out how they're doing. Get on some free one-on-one 15-minute calls and just find out, you know, how are things going? Reach out to your community in your email list and just see what are they saying, what's happening. Because we can't guess at this. We have to get it from our audience, from our market. So, one of the things that you can do then, once you know where they are, then you can still offer what you offer, but you're going to change the language a little bit because you don't want to appear insensitive. You want to meet them where they are and you want to use the type of words that shows that you see them, you hear them, you understand them, and you're there to serve them. So if we can think of those things and think how our product, how our solution to a problem is and see how can I reduce the complexity of this? Or how can I save them time? Or how can I improve this so it's simple? How can I do more hand holding on this so that they don't have to, you know, burn brain cells to figure it out on their own. You have so much knowledge. And I often share this with startups that are trying to figure out, you know, what type of business they want to start online. You have so much knowledge. I want you to think about the Library of Congress. That is, that's a Jefferson building. It is like the largest library in the world. It features works of 50 American painters, mosaic artists, sculptors. It has 164 million items in 470 languages and 838 miles of bookshelves. Had to look that up. That's big. It looks big and it is big. But you have knowledge. Think of yourself as a multi-story library full of knowledge. Now, granted, my knowledge and your knowledge, some of it is volumes. I mean, you literally can have one, two, three for volume one, volume two, volume three, volume four, because you're so knowledgeable in a certain area. Other things, maybe it's more like a textbook, right? You have knowledge, but it's not volumes of knowledge. Others can be like a short read or a paperback. You have some knowledge, but just a little bit. We all have that. So within your niche, with all the knowledge that you have and all the experience, because people don't want just more information anymore. That's why people don't finish digital products. They buy them and they sit there in the computer. People want more than just information. They want your wisdom, they want your to know the experience that you've had and how you can distill it and help them, how you can shorten the learning curve for them. They want wisdom and insight. And so when you think about the library, you think of all the information I have, this is what I normally sell, this is how I normally promoted it. But I I have this also in my library of knowledge. Maybe this is what I need to pull right now and serve this in a way that will meet them where they are. It's not that you're rebranding, it's not that you're pivoting to something else, it's just that you're approaching it from a different angle. So when you do that, you are serving your community, you're meeting them where they are. It's no different than let me compare it to parenting. If you're a parent, you parent your children differently when they're little, and you parent them differently when they're teenagers, and you parent them differently when they're adults. Now, I have mentioned before that my daughter and my granddaughter live with us, and uh my daughter is an adult. She has her own daughter, right? Our relationship has changed, but I needed to be sensitive to where she was in her life at the time to be able to still speak into her life, to still be a support, but in a different way. Am I still her mother? Yes. Is she still my daughter? Yes. Do I parent the same? No. Because it has changed. The market changes. And so once we understand this, that the market changes, and people say, Well, doesn't change? Well, yeah, it does. If you've ever bought real estate or you wanted to sell your house, one of the first questions people ask is, is it a buyer's market or is it a seller's market? Because it means different things depending on whether you're going to buy or sell, right? The market changes. And so in order for you to be able to continue to serve people, your customers, and show up online as a person that is sensitive and sees your audience and understands where they are, you do need a survey. You do need to check in with them. And then you need to adjust the wording so that you don't appear insensitive so that you can truly serve them because you do have the solution for their problem. So I hope that makes sense. And I think it's important for us moving forward, for all of us, myself included, and I've been doing this too. I've been doing some homework on the back end, and uh that's why I took a little short sabbatical to kind of think through these things, and I spent time on some one-on-one calls, and I have a better understanding now of my audience, but I'm not done yet. I'm still doing the same thing, asking questions all the time so that we can serve them properly and know what to serve first. Because in the end, I know you want to create positive change in the world. Otherwise, you wouldn't be listening to this podcast, right? I know that many people want to make a difference, but we can't throw everything at people. We can't go to our library of knowledge and grab all the books, put it in a cart, and push it at them. That's not gonna work, right? Even when you think about it, our sweet Jesus did the same thing. You know, he met each apostle where they were. Yet he challenged him, but he met them where they were, and he meets us where we are, right? Sometimes it would be easier for God to just speak out how we can fix everything, right? But there's a step-by-step process. There's some things that maybe we're not ready to know yet. There's some things maybe in your own accomplishments that it would have been better not to know that you were going to accomplish something because you would have been overwhelmed. Everything in its time, everything in its season. But if we stay focused on serving and helping people and listening and being courteous and maintaining integrity and really showing up in an authentic way from the heart, not the head, you're gonna make a difference. So I hope that helped. That is the kickoff for season two, and I had to address address this because it is the elephant in the room, and a lot of people are wondering what to do next. I think you just be you and just mark it from your heart and don't try to mark it from your head. If you want to connect with me, you can join me and my private Facebook group. I am sharing some videos in there, a series of videos. No matter when you listen to this, you'll be able to watch the archive videos. It's all about marketing. It touches a little bit on this, and you're welcome to join me. All you have to do is go to marissa shadrick.com forward slash community. So until next time, I hope you have a wonderful rest of the summer season and you're ready for fall, and you walk into this new season with a better spiritual perspective, mental perspective, and business perspective. So until next time, take care.