Last Friday I headed up to Dundee to kick off the year in the most spectacular fashion at the CMA Kick-Off 2017.
An event dedicated to achieving excellence in content marketing and planning the best business year.
A collection of short talks to motivate everyone in a cold, gloomy month.
But it was so much more than that.
It was also a meeting of the most warm-hearted, caring and awesome business people you could hope to meet.
Welcome to the CMA Kick-Off Event 2017!
The Content Marketing Academy, run by Chris Marr, is a company running an annual conference of the same name.
Chris is focused on getting the best and most entertaining speakers to his events. I’ve been to the last two TCMA conferences and you can read my reviews here:
- 6 Of The Best – The Content Marketing Academy 2015
- 20 Top Content Marketing Tips – TCMA 2016 Day 1
- 23 Expert Tips For Content Marketing Success – TCMA 2016 Day 2
Since August 2016 I’ve also been a member of the Content Marketing Academy Community, a membership group that is a support and learning community for those interested in content marketing. Most of the members are Scottish, though there are people there from all over the world.
The CMA Kick-Off 2017 was intended as a special event for members.
Last year this meant 12 people gathering in a room.
This year it was 70 people in a converted church!
My goal for the day was not just to listen to the accomplished speakers, but to meet, connect and reconnect with as many people as I could.
Weirdly, I managed this before getting to the venue in a strange way!
I had tweeted out a photo of my train ticket.
It just so happened that Dan Frydman of Inigo Media spotted my tweet and realised that we were sitting next to one another! I was pleased as he was on my “talk to” list – Inigo is a WordPress website agency based in Edinburgh. Dan introduced me to his colleague John, and we had a good chat about our field on the journey to Dundee.
CMA Kick-Off Talks
Ali McGill – The secret ingredient for customer success in 2017
Ali works in the customer experience (CX)field.
CX doesn’t have a good reputation in the UK – Carol Beer of Little Britain is seen as the role model.
Most businesses have a churn rate of 20% – they will lose in 1 in 5 customers every year. And that figure is increasing.
Ali explained that we get less curious as we get older. Kids will ask a lot of questions, but we’re conditioned in school to stop asking. Instead we guess. And we’re often wrong.
People actually like being asked how they feel or what we could improve on. It makes them feel valued and appreciated.
It may sound counter-intuitive but we should talk to those who complain about us (though there will always be a few people who don’t have any constructive criticism to make).
Very few people complain, anyway – most customers will just go somewhere else if their needs aren’t met.
Mike Morrison – Should You Start a Membership Site in 2017?
After sharing a story of working with Linda, a nightmare client, Mike Morrison decided he wanted to change his business model from the usual trading time for money.
What better than moving to a membership site model? Membership websites can be a highly lucrative enterprise, and The Membership Guys help businesses to succeed in this area.
Running a membership site is not for everyone, though.
Why do you want a membership site?
| Bad reasons to run a membership site | Good reasons to run a membership site |
|---|---|
| Get rich quick | Recurring revenue will bring stability & scalability |
| Follow the trend | Utilize all your skills |
| It sounds easy | Serve more people |
| My coach told me to | Bigger impact |
| Running out of ideas | Less stress and pressure |
What do you need for membership site success?
Don’t get sucked into the trap of thinking that making passive income requires no effort!
You will need:
- A paying market
- Hard work
- Consistency
- Passion
- Staying power (you may need to do this for 5-20 years)
- Commitment to deliver ongoing value
It’s not an option for the unsure or faint-hearted.
A great example of a highly successful membership site is Scott’s Bass Lessons.
This began out of necessity for change: guitarist Scott Devine was diagnosed with a condition called Focal Dystonia, reducing sensation in his fingertips. Realising that his playing career would be limited, Scott started accumulating his knowledge in the form of videos.
In 2010 his site was launched and it now has 50,000 members and makes $2m a year – with a little help from the Membership Guys!
If you’re interested in creating and running a membership site, investigate the Member Site Academy for tips, tutorials and community support.
Gavin Bell – Dominate 2017 with Facebook Advertising
Most of us at the event create our own content, but we’re not so good at distributing it.
Gavin spoke about Facebook ads and their powerful reach.
Running a successful ad campaign does require you to know your target market inside out.
Ways to target people on Facebook
- Age range
- Gender
- Interests
- Liked a specific page / watched a video
- Employer
- Job title
- Income (Facebook gets data on this from Experian)
Gary Vaynerchuk says that Facebook ads are underpriced currently. A campaign can start with as little as £1/day, and can be paused at any time.
It’s a great opportunity for small businesses to get ahead before the big boys sink their ad spend into Facebook.
Even if you pay someone else to set up your ads, it’s important to get informed. Gavin has put together a Facebook ads blueprint for anyone keen to get started.
Watch the video of Gavin’s talk:
Vicky Gunn – How to Craft a Content Plan that Works
Vicky changed careers from a high-powered job as an accountant to running two businesses – beach hut hire and pet care.
A year ago she didn’t have a content plan. In May 2016 she fashioned one after listening to Marcus Sheridan’s webinar on creating a content matrix.
Vicky celebrated the milestone of her 100th blog in December 2016, all down to a solid plan.
Many of her posts are based on the “They ask, you answer” method where she answers prospects’ questions.
We did a little exercise in groups to come up with questions for the Fin and Co hair salon on the following topics:
- Problems
- Comparison
- Reviews
- Best
- Cost
What has Vicky’s content marketing plan done for her business?
- Featured in the Top 10 Beach Huts of the year 2016
- Mentioned in the Daily Mail
- Increased beach hut bookings
- Guest bloggers asking to post on her blog
- Started monthly subscriptions
In honour of her success, Vicky was presented with an Outstanding Achievement award by Chris Marr. (Congrats Vicky!)
Col Gray – Superhero Branding
Col made the best entrance of the day as – faster than a speeding bullet – he bounded on stage as Superman!
All the more impressive as he’d been up late preparing and only had an hour’s sleep!
Channelling his comic book passion, he explained how branding and superheroes have a lot in common. The things that make superheroes awesome are also what make brands awesome.
What makes a good brand?
- Logo (think Superman’s iconic S symbol)
- Colours (Captain America: red, white & blue)
- Memorable (could you ever forget Batman? Thought not!)
- Message (Guardians of the Galaxy – clue’s in the name)
- Values (Wonder Woman embraces strength, sisterhood & feminism)
- Consistency (superhero costumes have hardly changed over the years)
Each brand should have its own tone of voice.
For example:
Witty and irreverent: it must be Spider-Man!
Fast-talking and sweary: who else but Deadpool!
We’re also fond of superheroes because of the stories they tell.
Stories evoke emotion. Emotion creates memories.
How to become a Branding Superhero
- Find your superpower – what is your greatest strength?
- What is your purpose?
- What is your personality?
- Make your costume – have some fun with it!
- Create stories – for people to remember you by.
I loved this talk, and it was definitely the one with the most impact on the day.
Check out Col’s blog which has the talk video.
For more branding wisdom, join Col’s new Facebook group, Rock Your Brand. He ‘s already got over 100 members in under a week!
Rod McMillan – Business Awards
Rod McMillan spoke about applying for awards in business. Rod is an ambassador for WeDO Scotland, and works as advisor and mentor.
We’re pretty reluctant to do so!
Why?
- Applications are seen as taking too much time and effort.
- The “I’m not good enough” mentality.
- Cynicism about awards ceremonies.
Rod encouraged us to throw our hats into the ring for awards. The application process isn’t as scary as you think, and not that many apply.
Two of the CMA Community, Gavin Bell and Cara Mackay, won WeDO Scotland awards in 2016 by doing just that.
For the benefits of awards, read: What Can Entering Awards Do For Your Business?
CMA Kick-Off Social
After the event, we were treated to food and drinks at Tonic Dundee, a modern bar near the venue.
Yummy burgers, chips and nachos were on the menu.
All in all, I spoke to at least 20 people, including ones I hadn’t met in person like Steve, Anne, Sarah-Jane, Martin, Yva, Mike, Dianne, Roger and Gareth.
I’ve found some common ground with members. It’s much easier to start a conversation in person than online.
There were many folk I didn’t say hi to, so I look forward to catching up at 2017’s Content Marketing Academy Conference in June!
I still have to catch up on viewing Vicky’s content plan – that’s something I would definitely like to implement.
Special thanks to Chris for organising the event – it was like a mini-conference – and Cara for planning the social.
Have you gained any insights from this write-up of the CMA Kick-Off?
Pay it forward and leave me a comment!
Great round-up of the CMA event Claire, and fab to see you in Dundee! Have a brilliant 2017!
Thanks Richard, you too! 🙂
To my shame, your book is still sitting on my shelf! Need a reading plan…
Claire really great round up of the CMA, some really great insights too thank you!
Thank you Carrie. What was your #1 takeaway?
Great round up, Claire! Enjoyed reading that 🙂 Look forward to catching up again soon!
Thanks Gavin – let me know if you’re putting your video in a blog or elsewhere. 🙂
I forget that it’s easier for us to meet being in the same city!
What a fab event it was Claire and it was great to meet you in real life too. There was so much value from all of the speakers and I’m already putting Vicky’s content planning exercise to good use. TCMA2017 is going to be amazing! I look forward to catching up with you there x
Thanks Anne – fab to see you too and loved your sparkly top! 🙂
Thanks for the round up Claire. Was great to meet you too, to share the journey and the burgers!
Thanks Dan – funny how that turned out, isn’t it? 🙂
Great post Claire and lovely to meet you on the day! Thanks for sharing some links to the content, it’s always good to be able to go over things again as there are always snippets of info that get missed the first time round 🙂
Thanks Steve – nice to see you too.
These write-ups are as much for my benefit as everyone else’s. I’d forget a lot if it wasn’t written down!
This is a great account of your day and the stuff you covered. Thanks! Isn’t marketing fascinating because ultimately it’s about people!
Thanks for commenting, Honey.
Absolutely – it’s always about people! Something we sometimes forget. 🙂
Hi Claire, sorry I’m late getting to this post. It sounds like a really friendly inclusive group.
A lot of relevant stuff for me, particularly the membership site, which is part of my business model for the IT elementary school.
Tony
This is a great account of your day and the stuff you covered. Thanks! Isn’t marketing fascinating because ultimately it’s about people! These articles are as much for my benefit as everyone else’s. I’d forget a lot if it wasn’t written down!