Creative Collaboration: Conversations with Veronica & Jillian

The SPIN Marketing Accelerator

Episode Summary

The episode featured Jillian interviewing Veronica about the Marketing Accelerator Program for solopreneurs, startups, and small businesses.

Episode Notes

Today, Veronica introduced her new Marketing Accelerator program designed to assist small businesses and solopreneurs without a dedicated marketing department. 

She walked us through the program's framework, which includes small cohorts, a blend of theory and practical implementation, personalized one-on-one sessions, and structured weekly meetings complete with homework. Participants can expect to gain clear insights into marketing strategies, partnerships, budgeting, and defining team roles. The program is set to begin in September and October 2024, with enthusiasm highlighted for its interactive and creative elements, designed to tailor closely to each participant's needs.

 

Mentioned in This Episode

https://spinideas.nl/marketing-accelerator-program

 

About Veronica Guguian: 

About Jillian Vorce: 

Credits

 

 

Episode Transcription

Jillian Vorce: Hello and welcome back. Or, thank you for joining us. If this is your first time listening to our podcast, this is episode 39. And today I'm quite excited, actually. We're going to talk about Veronica and Spinidea's new program called the marketing accelerator. So, I feel like Veronica has her chance to sit in the hot seat. And we're going to talk about one more time what the program is, why she built it, what it's about, who it's for, etcetera. I get to be in my most comfortable natural position, which is asking questions. And Veronica, you get to tell us all about the program. So first. Hello. How are you? What's happening? 


Veronica Guguian: Hey, Gillian. I'm good. What can I say? Enjoying this typical Dutch weather more. 


Jillian Vorce: Yeah, I know. 


Veronica Guguian: With rain. 


Jillian Vorce: I know. We're both having hair days, too. It's like. Oh, boy. Yeah. It happens. Yeah. 


Veronica Guguian: When you walk your dog in the rain, like, everything can happen with your hair. No control. 


Jillian Vorce: It happens. It happens. 


Veronica Guguian: Accept it and move on. 


Jillian Vorce: Yeah. So, okay, so, marketing accelerator program. So can we start off? I'm interested in what the genesis of it was like, where did the idea come from? Like, how did that come to be? 


Veronica Guguian: Was quite a long process, actually, because initially, it wasn't the marketing accelerator. Initially was the service I was offering to small clients. So maybe I should start. Everyone knows what I'm doing, but maybe they don't know my audience. So I do have a lot of solopreneurs or startups or businesses that have up to five employees. So very small businesses, they have some budget, but not a lot of budget, and they tend to do everything alone. And then I have bigger clients where we basically go and take over their marketing department. So specific parts of it and work with their marketing department. So now I'm going to focus on the first audience I just described, the solo brand members or coaches, or freelancers or entrepreneurs, basically the typical CES pairs or very small companies. 


Veronica Guguian: So we do have quite a lot of this type of people, especially in our online networking with spin events. And I was thinking, what can I offer them? Because clearly they can't afford to pay us to do everything. And it's not only us, they can't afford to pay someone to do that because the prices are higher, of course. So initially, I think it was in 20, even 17 or 18 after launching the business, where I launched a program called Marketing Buddy. So basically, I was working with entrepreneurs, and I was guiding them. It was, I'm going to use the word coaching, but it wasn't coaching because I wasn't coaching them. I was actually telling them what to do. It was more like consulting, advising, and I was trying to make it as accessible as possible to them. 


Veronica Guguian: I think the initial asking price when I launched it was €250 for a one-on-one with me and access to me via email and WhatsApp all the time. And then I realized it's not sustainable because, yeah, I'm not gonna even list all the reasons because there are tons of reasons. So I had to stop that one. And actually was going, was my best seller, as you can imagine. Yeah, but I was exhausted, and I didn't have time for anything. And, of course, people are gonna want more and more and perfectly understand the balance. So I did increase the price, but still, it wasn't sustainable long term. So I was like, how can I get this one and put it in a structure, in a way, in something to still provide the value and help them? 


Veronica Guguian: And then we tried the six months program, a very complex one that I realized no one is willing to actually stay three months, six months to do it. And then we kept on thinking about it. Actually, I dropped it afterward because I didn't have the mind space to think about it. And I was organizing a base conference and different other things. And one year ago I was, I came across some of the materials, and I was thinking, what can I do? How can I make it actually interesting? And looking at what happened and how I work with other clients and what do they need? I reinvented the program. So actually, what is left from the program is the core of it, the audience; we still kept the main, like, my purpose was to have the small entrepreneurs. So that is still there. 


Veronica Guguian: And the methodology, because it's based on the spin methodology, but the rest, everything was changed. So I will say that's the genesis, but it's kind of very different. So what we did now, basically, I sat down and I was thinking with my team, and I was thinking, what do they need? And, of course, they need to understand who they are, the audience, they need to choose their tactics, they need to understand sales, they need to understand paid advertisement, marketing, PR, all of these and strategic partnerships, people that can help them grow. And we put all of this in a package. So it's a six-week program. We work in small cohorts, like six to eight people, so I can actually have enough time and energy to provide that attention. And we start with some theory, and what they need to do, they go implement. 


Veronica Guguian: They have access to me, so they have six or 8 hours of one-on-one with me that they can use for a longer period, not only the accelerator. And then we're going to tap into the power of the cohort because when I'm explaining to someone, everyone is learning, and we're going to start creating partnerships or understanding, and we make the connections, and of course, they will have access to my network. So we're going to actively look at how we can make this happen. How can we help them? And I will put, actually, I'm going to dedicate a week also to sales, like proper sales, because especially these small companies, they don't know how to do sales. So, how should you structure that email? To whom should you write, and how should you do it? 


Veronica Guguian: So you have the marketing funnels, but also the sales funnels, and how do you, how these two work together and how to structure them. 


Jillian Vorce: Wow. Wow. So all of those kinds of categories that you talked about are structured over the course of the six-week program. Wow. 


Veronica Guguian: Yes. 


Jillian Vorce: Okay. Okay. And then what happens at the conclusion of the six weeks? 


Veronica Guguian: They will have, first of all, they will have clarity. They will stop wondering, what the heck should I do? They will have a plan for one year with what they need to do per day to achieve their goals, a very clear understanding of the partnerships, and also criteria to see when an opportunity comes to them. Should I take it or not? Sometimes. Sometimes, actually, it doesn't make sense to do that. Understanding of their budgets, understanding of their team, with whom they should work, and with whom they shouldn't work. And also, they will already start implementing. Because it's not a theory. We both know it's not about theory; it's actually the practice that you need. 


Jillian Vorce: Right. 


Veronica Guguian: We start implementing. I said, we choose the tools and they will start going ahead and doing everything. And hopefully also one sale or definitely the sales process with at least one prospect started, if not more interesting. 


Jillian Vorce: So it's fascinating. I'm also curious: How do you know what your role is versus how your team is incorporated into this program? Either in the delivery or in the support or in some other capacity? So, what's the role between or the difference between your role and your team? 


Veronica Guguian: So I'm the main, I'm, it's my concept so I will be the one teaching it if you want or being there guiding them and my team supports me in creating the materials, in making them nice in all the more techy parts of it. 


Jillian Vorce: Yeah, yeah. Okay. And then are you doing, is it all like a recurring meeting per week? Like an online Zoom group kind of thing or something. And then like homework or activities and exercises and like supporting work to supplement it. 


Veronica Guguian: We do meet once a week and I will make it on Monday because I do want to have it. For this to work, you need to take it seriously, and for you to take it seriously, you need to treat it as a business activity. So we're going to start Monday, and you know what you need to do. We discuss what you discovered and what you did, and then you start implementing. So you do your homework during the week; of course, it will not be the entire week. You need to work on this one because you'll still be able to run your normal business, but you do need to put in effort. And then we meet again on Monday. We analyze what you did. We answer questions because I know there will be questions. There are always questions. We give examples. 


Veronica Guguian: During the week you're still going to receive materials and then we move to the next step because it's like a circuit. You need to go to a to get to b to get to c and I. So you can't really have one without the other. 


Jillian Vorce: Yeah. 


Veronica Guguian: So we do have consistency, and you do need to allocate time per week, and it's up to you if you prefer to work a little bit each day or if you work better, you allocate half a day to do everything or. That's very personal. But you do need to; the whole idea in these six weeks is also for you to create a habit because you know what you need to do. And it's, we kept on talking about this during this podcast. 


Jillian Vorce: Yeah, sure. 


Veronica Guguian: It's, it's a habit. It's like any diet. You have six weeks, right, until you get the sugar out of your body or you. 


Jillian Vorce: Or get to the gym regularly. 


Veronica Guguian: That, yes, you do need it. You do need that consistency. And that's one of the things that we aim to achieve with this because if you keep on doing it, it's not so daunting anymore. You know what you do. And when you. You look at your calendar, and you see, oh, today I need to do this particular activity for my marketing. So you're already gonna have that because we're gonna create that during the program. 


Jillian Vorce: So the structure and then knowing what to do. So building. 


Veronica Guguian: You have no excuse. 


Jillian Vorce: Yeah. Okay. Okay. 


Veronica Guguian: And the beauty is, next year, you can take it and apply the same thing and do it yourself. 


Jillian Vorce: That's great. Now, you said it's a six-week program. So, there are cohorts. And six weeks. Are you then doing like a week off in between or a couple of weeks off in between? And how are you handling that? And then I'm also curious about the scheduling. 


Veronica Guguian: So are the cohorts, you mean. 


Jillian Vorce: Yeah, I'm just curious. Yeah. The time between the cohorts is there. Is that Predez determined? The reason I'm asking is also yes. If somebody is hearing this episode, for example, and they're interested in it, but they know that the next quarter is they're going to be traveling or they've got some other thing going on, but they would like to do it, like in the fall or something else. Is there an opportunity for people to sign up or register for different cohorts? 


Veronica Guguian: We have already announced one in September and October. Now we need to see a little bit if we want to keep it every other month or every three months. We are still, hey, we just launched it. We are still defining what's the best. And we do have a base conference in between. So it's very possible for October to actually move it to November because of that. But we do have one starting. So every two months and a half, we're going to have a cohort of. 


Jillian Vorce: Okay. A new one is starting. Okay, super. All right, let me think. So, what have I not asked you about so far? Or what other part of the program are you excited about? 


Veronica Guguian: Or. 


Jillian Vorce: Yeah, what did I not ask you? 


Veronica Guguian: Oh, that's hard. I'm the most excited about the meetings, because I do know the magic happens when we are in the meeting. So you do your homework, and we talk about it. Then, you'll have the AHA moment or the spark moment, or what you want to call it. And so how. Why I'm structuring it like that, and it is online via Zoom, is because of, and of course, we're going to have the accountability groups and everything to make sure you're doing it. But why I'm so excited about this online part is, that I run a lot of workshops for different scale-ups and for different incubators and accelerators. 


Veronica Guguian: So I do know the growth. The big peak happens when you're in a cohort, and you are just learning. Oh, this is how you did it, or this is how you apply that one. And you are just getting different perspectives and different ideas. And it's nice to work on one, and there are different accounts, but for the small ones, especially when you're growing, then it's when the creativity comes into place, and you have, oh, but still, I could do that, and I could speak with that person and I could. You turn things around, and you're just. I love that magic when people get inspired and creative, and they come up with crazy, fantastic ideas. 


Veronica Guguian: And that's actually the whole thing because how can you stand up when you are a small company and you don't have a big budget or almost an existing budget is actually by being creative and being, and this is what I believe in and what the spin methodology is all about. Like, let's find what makes you special, and let's create around that. This is what we're going to discover. And you can discover that not by going and copying, but by being inspired and also by discovering, oh, but I have this. Listening to other people's stories and what they do, and how they apply the same principle which is like a new world is opening for you. That's the most exciting part from my perspective. 


Jillian Vorce: Yeah, it sounds really great. It's a great experience because it's not just what you're teaching them, but it's also the tools and the frameworks and the materials that go with it, as well as being able to participate in, share with, and learn from this cohort, building these relationships, and I feel like that is a really great combination because they're getting it in different formats. It's a great opportunity for people to build relationships and kind of grow their businesses and learn all at the same time. So it really sounds really great. 


Veronica Guguian: Thank you. I'm very excited about it, and I did work a lot on it. So let's see. 


Jillian Vorce: All right, so I feel like if you already talked quite a bit about who this is ideal for, so anybody that's listening, if you're interested, if you're a coach or a consultant or a solopreneur, have a small business and you can use some support around marketing and sales. You also talked about sales, yes. Yeah. So it seems like that might be. It might be a good opportunity to check out the marketing accelerator and see what availability there is in the upcoming cohorts. So, we'll be sure to put that link right in the show notes so people can click on it and learn more. 


Veronica Guguian: And everything starts with a call with me. So we're gonna have a call and see if the program fits you and if it's what you need. So don't be scared. It's not like you go and you start committing. Let's have a call. And then, because I do need to make sure everyone is fitting, so. 


Jillian Vorce: Yes, that's a good idea. It's a good point. 


Veronica Guguian: Exactly. 


Jillian Vorce: So I wish you continued success with the marketing accelerator program. Yeah, I'll be excited to hear how it goes, the results, and so on. So, I'm happy we got to talk about this today. So congrats. And I remember when you were talking about it. I don't know which episode, but way back when, and now here it is. It's. It's not only launched, it's actually rolling. So, congrats to you for seeing that all the way through. 


Veronica Guguian: We are about to launch the first cohort. So very exciting. 


Jillian Vorce: Yeah, it's great. Thanks so much. Yeah, we'll see everyone next time. Cheers. 


Veronica Guguian: Have a good day, everyone. Bye.