e79 Lighthouse v Searchlight Marketing - Where Do You Need To Focus
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[00:00:00] Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Heads Together podcast. I'm your host, Gill Moakes. And this week's topic is one that is incredibly close to my heart, because when I got my head around this subject and really understood this, marketing, my business became so much easier. And I've been quite looking forward to pulling this episode together to share with you.
It's really quite a pivotal one and I think you're going to enjoy it. Let's dive in.
Welcome, welcome to the Heads Together podcast. I'm Gill Moakes and I am obsessed with cutting through the noise when it comes to growing your business. Each week, via intimate coaching conversations and inspirational [00:01:00] stories, I share what it really takes to get the results you want, in a way that feels right to you.
I am all about attracting higher ticket opportunities, building authentic relationships, and creating the abundant, full fat version of your dream business. How many of us have beavered away creating a light version of what we really want? The thing is, I honestly believe when you're outstanding at what you do, there is no limit to what you can achieve.
Are you ready to put our heads together and make it happen? Let's go.
Right.
We have dived headfirst into the world of marketing this week. I actually do love talking about marketing, I really do. And it's funny [00:02:00] because there are so many parts of marketing that I really detest. So for me, if you've been listening to this podcast for a while, or if you follow me anywhere else, you'll know that I'm all about marketing that feels good.
Feel good marketing. I don't want to do anything to market my business that feels in any way it to me. And I also don't want to burn myself out trying to replicate other people's complex marketing strategies and funnels and all of that stuff. I really believe in keeping marketing simple. Letting it be easy, letting it be light, but most of all making sure it feels good to you.
So I just really wanted to make sure that we have that as our precursor to this week's episode because all of those things really are a given. I'm never going to be the coach who insists [00:03:00] that you pick a particular marketing strategy. Because we're all different, we all have different personalities and we all have different types of marketing that are going to suit us better than others.
Now that doesn't mean that all of our marketing doesn't need to have those three eternal truths, Visibility, Lead Generation, Sales. If you're in business, those three things need to be happening for your marketing to be effective. You need some visibility platform. You need some way of generating leads.
In other words, asking people to raise their hand and indicate to you that they are interested potentially in becoming a client at some point or they're interested in what you have to say, or they're interested in what you have to sell. And then the sales process. So that's the last part of the marketing is those people who have raised their hand.
How do we then get them [00:04:00] to pay you for what you're offering? Providing it's of value and meets their needs. Simple, right? Simple. Doesn't get any more complicated than that. We love to make it more complicated than that, but actually, it isn't. It's those three things. But of course, there are a million and one different strategies that fall under those three headings.
And this is where... Marketing can get very complex, very overly onerous, very time consuming, and it can end up feeling really ick. This week, what I really want to talk to you about is the yin and yang of marketing, and this is the way I see it. And that is lighthouse marketing versus Searchlight Marketing.
And I use this metaphor really intentionally because it's really, it really does represent what I am [00:05:00] trying to get across here. These two different approaches to marketing, they fit beautifully together. So it isn't one or the other. But absolutely, there are times we focus more on one than the other, potentially.
And our work really is to find this balance between Lighthouse Marketing and Searchlight Marketing, because they've both got their own unique strengths. Let's start off by me, probably is going to be helpful for me to explain what I mean by lighthouse marketing and searchlight marketing. So if we take the lighthouse first, if you imagine your brand, your business as a lighthouse, okay, it's shining out brightly right over that vast sea of potential clients.
It's the visibility content. This podcast, for example, is lighthouse marketing. This is [00:06:00] visibility for me. It's funny to use the word visibility when I'm talking about something you're listening to, but you get my point. So visibility content is podcasts. It's YouTube channels, it's blogs, it's the social media profile content.
It's the stuff you put out there for the world to see. So this is about casting your net wide, actually. This is about trying to get your content, your opinions, your way of doing things in front of as many of your ideal clients as you can. That's the visibility part. That is the lighthouse. It's shining that light right out across the ocean.
And visibility really matters because that's what builds that trust. It's what really builds your authority in [00:07:00] the eyes of your idol clients, your authority, your credibility, right? It's the foundation. So when people see that being from your lighthouse consistently offering this really valuable content insights, that's when they start to trust you.
That's when you become their go to. And you know this yourself. Think about the people you follow, the people you trust to listen to, to watch, to read. The people you go back to time and time again are the people who consistently offer valuable content. They don't let you down. They, it really is this. Your go to source of expertise if we want to use that light analogy I can feel so many analogies coming on in this episode You're going to be so irritated by it by the end of it, but I was when I was thinking about this I was thinking oh Yeah, it's like [00:08:00] the difference between a tiny flickering candle and a towering beacon beautiful analogy another beautiful analogy I do like them.
Do you love my metaphors? But this is a good one. I think this is a good one. So I'm going to go with it. So this lighthouse marketing, this visibility piece is so important, but there's another side. There's a, there is a ying to the yang of marketing and. So now I want to explain to you what I mean by the searchlight marketing, okay?
This is you holding this searchlight, this flashlight, and actively looking for your potential clients, for the people that you think would be good to collaborate with, for the people who you think would make fantastic referral partners. So search like marketing is about actively seeking out and [00:09:00] then building relationships.
Yeah. One conversation at a time, often on social media. Social media is once I got my head around this, okay, I don't use social media, particularly as my lighthouse content.
I'm sure anyone who follows me knows that, it isn't where I'm consistently putting out value packed information. That's my podcast. That's my blog. That is my very occasional or not very occasional, reasonably consistent longer form LinkedIn posts that are really, valuable. Social media for me is not.
Generally speaking, Lighthouse Marketing, it's Searchlight Marketing. It's where I'm going to be the one looking for the [00:10:00] people that I want to actively connect with and actively and intentionally build a relationship with, right? Searchlight Marketing is about making connections. It's about nurturing them.
It's actually about getting across that you are a real person who genuinely cares about your ideal clients. Needs and their aspirations, you get to be the torch or flashlight for my friends across the pond, you get to be the torch guiding people. So this is another way you can use this analogy.
So one is you looking. Using the torch to look for people. The other one is that once you've started nurturing a relationship, you're holding your torch or flashlight to guide people through the darkness. So you're helping them find their way in a really personal way. And. As soon as you can [00:11:00] do that, that absolutely accelerates that building of the know and trust when you start engaging on a personal level with the people who follow you or the people in your audience or the people that you're connected to in your network and you start building those connections.
That's what turns people from the casual observer, the casual admirer, into a prospective client, into a loyal follower, supporter, whatever that looks like, whatever that timeline is like for someone actually being nurtured through all the way through to becoming a paying client. So a lot of people then, once they understand that there are these two types of marketing, the next question is, okay, so I get it, Jill.
I get that there are these two types. So where do I focus? What should I be focusing on? And of course the answer is both. You need both. It's the ying and the [00:12:00] yang. You need a seamless strategy that incorporates both the lighthouse marketing and the searchlight marketing. Because they each play a distinct role.
So the lighthouse marketing, this is your, like I say, your podcast, your YouTube, your blogs. It's that is your broadcasting of your message. It's what's establishing your authority. It's what is attracting like a broad audience of ideal clients. It's where you're casting your net wider and inviting people in to see what you're all about, inviting them to observe, to watch, read, listen.
To what you're doing, to your messaging, to your opinions, to your style, to the way you do business or to the way you serve your clients. It's it's really an invitation for people to come and experience and watch that, but that [00:13:00] isn't enough on its own. It isn't enough to just shine brightly. And this, I think, is the mistake that most people make.
They think that if they really nail their visibility content, so if they really are consistent putting out their blog posts, if they're really consistent putting out their weekly podcast, that's enough. It's not enough. It's not enough. It's essential to have a rid, to be putting out that weekly original content weekly, in my opinion is absolutely essential.
But it isn't enough either. You've also got to start connecting personally with your audience. And this is where the searchlight marketing comes in. So when you start really intentionally and thoughtfully engaging with other people's content, not just responding to comments on your own content either, when you start actually.
Using your search like to seek out [00:14:00] ideal clients, collaborators, and referral partners, that's when you are going to feel an absolute shift in what's happening in your business. When you start responding to. Comments on your social media and having real conversations and making that person feel seen and heard and remembering people's names and checking in on people to see how an event went that they were hosting.
For example, that is how you build. Meaningful relationships, and it happens one person at a time and we don't want actually I shouldn't say we, because that's too general. Some people don't want that to be the answer. They want it to be enough for them to be passive, for them to just work. Quietly in behind the scenes in their office, creating their content, putting that out into the world and for that to be enough.
But if you [00:15:00] are a coach, a consultant, creative, anyone with a higher ticket offer to sell or a suite of offers to sell, then. I'm sorry, it isn't going to be enough. You need to be building meaningful relationships with people. So you need both. You need the lighthouse, and you need the searchlight. In your marketing or repertoire.
Oh, I nearly rolled my R there. That was good. So you've got the lighthouse casting out that wide net, establishing your authority, and then you've got the searchlight building the deep personal connections that actually turn these people, these followers, these casual observers into prospects and then into clients.
So I really hope that this explanation of this perfect combination for marketing has got the thoughts turning in your mind, because [00:16:00] straight away, I want you to be, after you've listened to this episode, going away and thinking, okay, so what am I doing at the moment in both of those categories, what am I putting out there as lighthouse content?
Am I regularly blogging? Am I, do I have a podcast? Am I putting YouTube videos out? Am I using LinkedIn really well? As LinkedIn should be used, which is to put out really valuable content, ideally some long form, super valuable content. Maybe it's a LinkedIn newsletter or articles, but whatever it is that you choose as.
Your lighthouse marketing, the wider net spreading, do that consistently, do it well, offer massive value because that's where you're establishing that expertise. And then also start thinking, okay, so once [00:17:00] I've decided what that lighthouse marketing is for me, I should have mentioned another one, which is Substack.
Substack is a great platform as well for this. But once you've established what that is for you, then it's about thinking, okay, so now let me pick up that search light. Let me pick up that torch. Who am I actually going to look for and begin purposefully and intentionally engaging with? And this stops the mindless scrolling on social media.
And if you don't want to use social media, and I know a lot of people don't, a lot of us are really a little world weary with social media. That's okay, but you need to replace. That personal connection somehow. So are you doing it by email? Have you set up a community forum that you can invite people to and begin having these [00:18:00] really nurturing conversations where you take people that step further?
So it's really something to think about. What's your perfect combination of Lighthouse and Searchlight marketing? Cause it doesn't have to look like anyone else's. It has to feel good to you. I hope that has been helpful. Can I go do one more light pun? I hope that was an illuminating episode. Oh, that was a goodie.
Listen, if you did find this episode valuable, will you do me a humongous favor? Will you tell someone else about it? I would love to. Get in the ears of a more amazing people. So yeah, I would be so grateful if you would share this episode with a fellow changemaker and of course, if you [00:19:00] really loved it.
If you could head to Apple iTunes and give it a five star rating and a review, that would literally make my day. Okay, thank you so much for being with me again this week, and I will see you here again next week. Bye for now. I hope you enjoyed this episode and that getting our heads together this week has filled your mind with what's possible.
If you love the show, would you do me a massive favour please? Would you leave a 5 star rating on Apple Podcasts? It would really help me put more heads together, reach more ears and expand more minds. Until next week, bye for now.
