Back when Slow & Steady was still just a sparkle in my eye, before it was ever registered as a business or even had a name – I circulated a survey to every small business owner that I knew.
I had hunches about who I wanted to serve and how, but I wanted to hear from them.
The survey asked respondents to rank their top three marketing challenges, where they currently learn about marketing on the Internet, what words and titles they use to describe themselves…
Those survey results were permanently open in my tabs for a year (until I ran a subsequent survey) and informed just about everything I did in my business - offer design, messagings, content like blog posts and webinar topics…
Slow & Steady’s tagline, it’s never just marketing? That was a direct response to the multitude of responses I got on that survey with “confessions” that it wasn’t just marketing that felt hard, but all of the tender stuff that came along with visibility.
Strategy Roadmaps exist because “creating a marketing plan roadmap to achieve my goals” ranked as the #1 marketing challenge.
This blog post was written because consistency was #2.
The survey also taught me a lot about how chronic illness and neurodivergence shows up in business, which keeps my approach to working 1:1 with folks soft and flexible in order to be adaptable.
Because I WANT you to succeed and believe that you can no matter how your brain and body is wired!
And of course, I’m in active listening mode again this summer. I shared some of the interesting things that have come up in my customer interviews so far on this week’s episode of Personal Business.
These are just a couple of ways that audience and customer feedback can take shape and inform how you approach your offer design and marketing.
We’ll be talking about this and so much more in next week’s free, Just Enough Session. Join me and 20+ small business owners to learn more about how to use customer and audience insights to grow your business.
And if you can’t join live sign-up anyway! I’ll be sharing a video and audio-only replay so you can take it to go.
Until then, go slow and stay steady.
Amanda Laird
Growth Marketing Strategist and Founder, Slow & Steady Studio
PS: There are still a few Mini Maps available if you need just enough support to identify where you should be prioritizing your energy and effort to reach your goals this year!