Episode 94: Creativity & Content Marketing With Chris Marr

We are honored to be talking to the multi-award winning entrepreneur, Chris Marr. He believes content marketing is the only way to set business leaders free from the world of mediocre interruption marketing.  Chris is the Founder and driving force behind CMA, the UK’s largest membership organization of its time. He is raising the bar for talent curation, leadership, personal development, and community building. His pioneering work has changed the lives of hundreds of businesses, all through the power of Content Marketing. So, if you're wanting to learn all about content marketing then make sure to tun into to this special episode of Bella in Your Business. Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want To Miss: Always be learning and always be growing. Life is a journey of growth; figuring out who you are and becoming stronger and better. You can’t stop trying to develop your skills or philosophies and beliefs, you have to evolve. Basically, it is a deep understanding of your prospective customers and how they find and use the information to make a buying decision.  When you learn about content marketing, you are learning about how you have to market a business today. It is a set of techniques, skills and understanding of how to attract customers to your business in the new age of technology. Using all your resources available to access consumer behavior. You have to help people find you. Develop your unique voice and challenge your own education about your own business. Growth is important, you need to learn more and become an expert. And content marketing has a huge impact on your personal growth. It can be philosophical, strategic and also, very commercial. You have to learn how to implement it correctly to impact you and your business in a positive way. Is content marketing social media? No, it is not. Social media can come out after you have your website and business model set up. Create content that you own on your website that generates leads and sales first, then worry about social media marketing. They are not one in the same. How do you integrate content into the sales process? It’s being proactive and intentional with your content. Always be listening to what your customers are saying or asking you when you talk with them. Then when someone new contacts you, you can predict what they will say and you can have your answers ready. Or you can send them content as they go through their consideration stage to the purchase stage. It helps customers feel that they are doing it on their own time, but you are still helping to direct them through that journey a little faster. Show Highlights: Who was Chris before he started CMA? He has always been a very real and down to earth guy. But if you go back 10 years ago, he started as a manager at University of St. Andrews in Scotland as a straight-laced business-type manager for about a decade. Slowly, he branched out as he discovered himself as a square peg in a round hole. [2:00] In order to figure out what your voice is as a business owner, you have to figure out who you are. What do you and your business stand for? This voice connects with your content marketing. [6:00] How do different industries use what they have learned about content marketing to find their customer base? It boils down to sales in all industries. And you have to feel confident that it will drive your business forward. [12:00] Audio, Video, Written are your three major rich sources of content that will help buyers purchase your products faster. [15:15] What is the buyer's journey? It includes being a stranger contacting, considering and purchasing your product. [18:40] Examples of content marketing with videos and emails and how they have been working for Chris and Bella. [22:00]   Links Learn all about the CMA Live Conference with tons of amazing speakers that will help you learn more about content marketing at https://cmalive.co.uk/ Find out more about Chris and CMA at http://www.cmauk.co.uk Looking to contact Chris directly? He’d love to hear from you! Connect with him on Twitter - @ChrisMarr101 or email him at [email protected] Share The Show: Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review! Click this link – Bella In Your Business Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section Click on ‘Write a Review’ Transcript: Bella: This is episode 94 of Bella in Your Business. Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella's got your chute. Let's jump. Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta with Jump Consulting, and today I have an award-winning entrepreneur with us. Chris Marr believes that content marketing is the only way to set business leaders free from the world of mediocre interruption marketing. Chris is the founder and driving force behind CMA, the UK’s largest membership organization of its time. He has raised the bar on talent, curation, leadership, personal development, and community building. His pioneering work has changed the lives of hundreds of businesses, all through the power of content marketing. Welcome to the show, Chris. Chris: Thank you very much. That's a really nice intro. It’s always nice to hear it when it comes back to you. You think, “Do I really do all that?” Okay, yeah—it’s good. It’s a good sense check. Bella: I know, right? One of the coolest things about you, Chris, at least for me, is that you’re just a regular dude. I mean, if you guys are watching the video of this, you’ll see—he’s not stuffy. He’s just a regular dude. And Chris, I’ve actually been secretly following you longer than you probably know. You first came on my radar at your first CMA when my friend Kate McQuillin spoke, as well as Marcus Sheridan. Anyone associated with those two people is automatically cool in my book. I’ve been watching your CMA Lives, which we’ll definitely get to later on, because you’ve also had some other people that I follow speaking there. But before we get ahead of ourselves, I want to dial it back. I want to find out who was Chris Marr before you started CMA and everything you’re doing now. Chris: That’s an interesting question. You have to imagine it—if you’re watching the video, this will make sense. I’ll try to make it make sense for audio too. Right now, I’m wearing a cap and a Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt. I wear pretty much the same clothes every day, regardless of whether I’m speaking or meeting clients. I’m just me all the time. I’ve got a beard and tattoos—that’s just who I am. If you wind the clock back ten years or so, I started my first real job as a manager at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. It’s one of the most well-known universities across the world, and a lot of Americans go there. I started that job when I was 19 years old and worked there for ten years. I worked my way up into a leadership position, and I loved that job. But picture this—fully suited and booted, clean-shaven, short hair, polishing my shoes, business cards in my pocket. I was in business mode every single day for ten years. Now, it’s been over the last six to eight years that there’s been a slow discovery for me—from being a square peg in a round hole to realizing I can do whatever I want. I can run my business my way. I make the rules. It’s been a total shift from one end of the spectrum to the other. You can still be professional, do great work, make money—but you don’t have to wear a suit or work in an office. I never imagined this is where I’d be, but I’ve never felt more comfortable in my life. Bella: That’s amazing because I think a lot of our listeners can relate. We’re all figuring it out. Even now, you’ve got a grasp on what you’re doing, but you’re always learning and growing. We’re never quite done. Chris: Exactly. It’s a continual challenge to figure out who you are, to become stronger, to do better work, and to make a bigger impact. I’m continually questioning myself. Even this year, if we’d had this podcast twelve months ago, I would’ve had a massive shift since then. It’s about continually developing your skills, philosophy, and worldview. Especially as a marketer—this is the fastest-changing landscape in business. You can’t stop evolving and growing. It’s not about being different—it’s about being more you and doing your best work every day. Bella: Look at that, everybody—we’re six minutes in, and you already have a takeaway: always be learning and growing. I love how that parallels our own businesses. We’re going to talk about content marketing today, and in order to figure out your business voice, you have to know who you are and what you stand for. Would you agree with that? Chris: I agree. Content marketing is a journey. If you’ve never written a blog article, recorded a podcast, or filmed a video, that’s the start of your journey. People often want the silver bullet to grow their business, but they forget that content marketing has other benefits—developing your unique perspective, your voice, and your expertise. You might start writing and realize you don’t know as much as you thought, so you study more and become an expert. Content marketing brings personal and professional development. It impacts you as much as it impacts your business. Yes, it leads to results—customers, revenue—but it’s more than that. It’s liberating. It brings fun and excitement back into business. It has a philosophical, strategic, and commercial side. Many people misunderstand it, misapply it, and then say, “Content marketing doesn’t work.” But it does—if you understand it properly. Bella: I love that. Now for those just starting out—what is content marketing, exactly? Chris: At a high level, content marketing is how you have to market your business today.