Three Questions for Jacky Fitt

Jacky Fitt, award winning author, is asked about the creative process and marketing.

Jacky Fitt is an author, copywriter and entrepreneur. She is the author of the recently published ‘How to be in business’ and the award winning 'How to Get Inside Someone's Mind and Stay There’. I asked Jacky three questions curated just for her.

Question 1. What is a simple and effective way a small business can use marketing to grow?

Identifying value in what we do or produce, understanding why someone would part with cash to get it, and where we can find these people, is the basis of marketing for all businesses and good research is key.

Knowing the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘where’ of our market is swiftly followed by effectively managing our budget (time as well as money) and capacity (knowledge and resources).

As well as selling, a less tangible but equally important focus of marketing, should be about building trust and credibility. Let’s face it, do you buy from businesses you don’t trust?

A thoughtful, well-crafted brand identity that’s going to appeal to our target audience and a well-designed, fully functioning website that explains clearly the benefits of what we offer is important. Marketing also means tapping into our personal and professional networks to learn from them. Getting in front of our potential buyers and talking to them face-to-face remains a powerful tool for small business promotion, allied with careful selection of social media engagement; attending events; styles of advertising; leaning on supporters and champions to amplify our messages; watching and learning from our competitors efforts AND doing it better.

Fundamentally, good research is where it starts. Knowing who to talk to and how to successfully engage them will build growth.

Question 2. As a published author, what do you find to be the most challenging aspect of writing a book?

The first thing that comes to mind is that it’s a bit like a home extension, it takes far more time and is far trickier than you imagine. I am also guilty of continually wanting to amend what I have written to keep improving it. At some point you must let it go. Being visible means being vulnerable, so you must be confident and believe in your book.

Finally, it’s one thing to write a book and quite another to market it. With the advent of digital marketing many more of us can commit our ideas to print but it’s a crowded marketplace. Only a small minority of authors can rely on the backing and budget of a big publishing house with its attendant marketing team. Commercial self-publishing requires hours of personal resource to move the dial.

I would also add that finding a trusted publishing partner is of prime importance. Someone that offers experienced support to avoid the pitfalls of navigating a book’s publishing journey, which would include book and jacket design. I’m in the very lucky position of having the support of my business partner here at The Big Ideas Collective Ned Hoste who began his professional career in publishing and regularly guides people through the maze of decisions to create a high quality, commercial book.

Question 3. What advice would you give to someone with an idea who isn't sure how to turn it into a book or another form of media?

I’m always encouraging people to engage with others around their specialism and expertise. Simply starting out posting themed articles consistently on third-party platforms like LinkedIn or a specialist forum is a beginning. It’s a good way to gauge the appetite of readers. Creating a blog is another way to buildup ideas and an audience. Published earlier this year, my second book ‘How to Be in Business’ evolved from a web project I began in 2020 promoting free marketing guides in different languages for entrepreneurs around the world.

If you’re happy chatting, think about a podcast.

If you like being in front of a camera, could TikTok or Instagram fit the bill?

But, first and foremost, if we want to spread our ideas and build an audience, what we do, how and where is of little worth unless we get in front of the right people.

This brings me back to your first question and the fundamentals of any marketing and promotion. The important questions are always, “Who is my audience and where do they get their information?” 

When we know this, we’ll be better equipped to identify the right media channels that will work best to help promote our ideas to the people who’ll value them most.