EPS 81 - The Evolution of Branding and Marketing: Insights from Dawn Foster Transcript

Erin Austin: Hello, Dawn. Welcome to Hourly The Exit. Hello.

Dawn Foster: Happy to be here.

Erin Austin: Yeah, I'm very excited to be here. We can't get enough of marketing and branding advice. So I know the audience will be very interested in what you have to share today. But before we get started, would you introduce yourself to our audience?

Dawn Foster: Sure. So I'm Dawn. I'm the owner of D Foster Marketing Consulting. We are a branding and marketing consulting firm, but we also function as a full service agency and yada yada. What that means is we are strategists. We'll tell you who, what, when, where, why, and how, when it comes to your branding and marketing.

Dawn Foster: And then if you don't know how to execute it, we can do that as well. We're a team of creatives.

Erin Austin: Fantastic. How long have you been in business?

Dawn Foster: We are turning six this year. Well, congratulations. That thank you.

Erin Austin: Fantastic. Well, we are near neighbors, I guess, you know, in the,  , you know, when you're online, you know, you could get to know people from anywhere in the world, but we are both,  , in the DC metro area.

Erin Austin: And so we are currently struggling through a. Snowstorm here, but,  ,  , we, we hope that it is a sunny day. So that is lovely. So I'd love to get to know who your ideal client is and how do they know, like, I need to go talk to Don.

Dawn Foster: So my ideal client is I'll give some, I guess the unexpected aspects of the type of client that we are looking for.

Dawn Foster: And that's the business owner. Not only are you either new and starting something, or you've been at it for a while, you've seen some success, and you're ready to hand off your branding and marketing efforts to a team of people rather than bringing someone in house. What's really important to us for our clients is we want you to care about what you do just as much as we do.

Dawn Foster: We absolutely attached to the business that we're supporting all of our clients. Some way, somehow we can either get behind the mission or who that business serves at the end of the day. So we want our clients to have that same passion about what they're doing, why they're doing it. And we want them to be thirsty to learn.

Dawn Foster: We are always here to share what we're doing, why we're doing it. And we want our business owners to understand that, because I believe that the more you understand about every single aspect of your business, you're a better business owner. Each piece of the puzzle somehow connects to another piece of your business.

Dawn Foster: So the more you know, the better decisions you can

Erin Austin: make. Yeah, I agree with that. I will say, like, one of the things I'm struggling with lately is feeling like, you know, as a soloist, like, feeling like I do have to, like, learn all these things that aren't my particular expertise, like marketing, for instance, and how to balance, okay, getting to know just enough that I can make.

Erin Austin: You know, decisions that make sense versus like really getting into the weeds. And, and,  , so I can stay in my zone of genius, which is not marketing. And, but still, you know,  , kind of, you know, there's so many, you know, podcasts and resources and email newsletters, Alyssa, you know, they're all about how to be a better.

Erin Austin: And how do we, um, kind of dig through the weeds of all that detail, stay kind of at the, you know, mile high level and still be a responsible business owner. I know there's a, there's a needle of a thread there.

Dawn Foster: Is that a question for me?

Erin Austin: Well, I guess I'll say that I imagine that you get. Clients who feel overwhelmed by the amount of the, you know, of information about how to be a better marketer that they get all the time. And maybe that's why they come to you because they're overwhelmed by that. So,

Dawn Foster: yes, I see a few different things. One of the.

Dawn Foster: Tricky things about the space that I'm in is the information about what I do and how I do it that is at the fingertips of everyone. We're in a digital age where you can ask the internets anything. But the tricky thing is, is that I've been in this space for 20 years. And I know that works. What works for a yoga studio may not work for a business coach.

Dawn Foster: I know that those two things don't the the branding and marketing tactics for both. It's not created equal. Every business has a different budget, a different audience, different bandwidth. All the circumstances are different. So that information that everyone is getting, it's not a one size fits all deal.

Dawn Foster: Um, so information overload, yes, that is a thing. People come to us, ooh, we see people come to us because they thought they knew what they were doing. We hear it isn't working very often. People come to us with what they think they need, but usually they need something different. But They're diagnosing themselves, like you don't go to a doctor and tell the doctor, I know this is what I have, just give me a prescription, that doctor is going to tell you based on all of their experience, what the issue is, and then make their recommendation.

Dawn Foster: That's what we do. So we see both sides of it. People who. Think they know everything. And then people who understand like, okay, I tried this. Come help. Help me, please.

Erin Austin: I can imagine that that is an issue. You know, this is an audience of experts and that, you know, Mr. Google, everyone seems to have an idea about what they need.

Erin Austin: And that self diagnosis is a huge problem. I mean, it even happens as a lawyer. Well, someone said, well, I just need this. I'm like, I don't know if that's the case or not, and I can't, you know, or they just want to give you enough information, you know, on an as needed basis in order to, you know, keep the bill down or something like that.

Erin Austin: It's like, you can't do that. You know, yeah, you see the whole picture and then we can tell you how we move forward from there. So, yeah. Well, speaking of the interwebs and AI, you know, how is that affecting what you do and,  , the industry generally mark marketers generally?

Dawn Foster: So I'm cleaning up my answer. I have, like I said, I've been doing this for 20 years.

Dawn Foster: And I've seen trends of when something in the branding and marketing space pops up, everyone gets excited about it. And I've started to learn, okay, what's going to stick, what's going to be a trend and how those shifts come about. Um, first there were three big trends that I'm sure every business owner is aware of.

Dawn Foster: First, when social started being the buzz. And then everyone realized that socials overcrowded and then you saw people popping up saying, Oh, you need SEO SEO SEO. And now AI is here. And while they I do think there is value in it. I don't think that it's not going to go away. And I say it's here as if it wasn't here before, but.

Dawn Foster: Stay with me. It's the hot new thing. There's value in it. It's not going to go away. It's really how it's used. And I tell my business owners use AI, but make sure you're cautious about it because at the end of the day, it's still a machine. And that machine is also taught what we feed it. So you have to think about all the things that come along with human behavior.

Dawn Foster: Good, bad, and ugly that this machine is spitting back out to you. So I tell business owners, if you want to use it, go ahead and use it as a first draft. Use it to get ideas flowing, but don't let it be what's running your business. Check it, make sure it still has your voice. And that's why it should only be a first draft because now we're talking about branding.

Dawn Foster: When a computer spits out the, the, the excitement and zest and joy that comes from me, a computer is not going to spit that out. So I tell business owners, use it as a first draft, make it your own. Use it as a tool for your business. Don't let it run your business. That is

Erin Austin: great advice. And of course, it's the same advice.

Erin Austin: I get intellectual property perspective that where people are really worried about, you know, is going to take over. They're going to start, um, you know, writings, take my stuff and write something with it. And at the end of the day, you know. What comes out of AI is not protectable intellectual property.

Erin Austin: And two, um, it can't, you know, it doesn't know the nuance. It doesn't have your expertise. It doesn't have your voice. It can't read the room and change tactics, like all the things that we can do as humans. And so as, as an expert, you know, we shouldn't worry about being. Placed by ai, so long as we really are an expert, like we're just an extra pair of hands churning out, you know, something, then yeah, we might get replaced.

Erin Austin: But if we really are an expert that brings our, you know, years of expertise, um, you know, our relationships, our, you know, all those things that come with us as human beings, then we're not gonna be replaced by ai. So, I know there's a lot of worry about that.

Dawn Foster: I, I agree with that a hundred percent. Very well said.

Dawn Foster: So

Erin Austin: what, so we talk about branding. So let's go into branding. There's another IP issue with branding that I have a beef with. And when you may or may not agree and that people that, you know, the trademark is like the thing, like if I have the perfect trademark or the perfect logo, then that's my branding.

Erin Austin: Tell me what you think of that.

Dawn Foster: You know, you are a good person to know because here's what I tell people. They'll ask me a question about what we've created and I say, get with the lawyer. I'm not a lawyer. Here's what I've seen. Here's what I think, but I'm not a lawyer. Don't tap into me for Absolutely not.

Dawn Foster: Especially with law and legal matters. Don't listen to me. I always say if I have an issue with my car, I'm not going to call you Erin, because you are not a mechanic. Please don't. You know,

Erin Austin: I'm stuck right now, so you definitely don't want to. I'm going

Dawn Foster: to call a mechanic and get someone that knows to tell me the answer, because at the end of the day, I'd be very irritated if something happens.

Dawn Foster: I'd be kicking myself because d , I asked. Someone that's not a mechanic about mechanical issues.

Erin Austin: Good. And so from a marketing perspective, I'll say what I say,  , you know, as a lawyer, a non marketer, but with respect to the trademarks and, you know, the These listeners here are people who have corporate clients selling Coca Cola, or, you know, FedEx services or hamburgers.

Erin Austin: They're selling their expertise. Right? And so while the. The, and I find an undue amount of, of emphasis placed on the trademark when they're, you know, creating their business, you know, they'll talk about, you know, do I have IP? Like, Oh yes, I have a trademark. Oh, I'm like, well, what is it that you have that is actually providing value to your client?

Erin Austin: You know, where is it that, you know, certain terms of branding that sets you apart from your competitors? If you are an HR consultant, is it your trademark that's setting you apart from your other competitors? Or, you know, what is your branding? Like, the elevated sense of the word of branding that really sets you apart.

Erin Austin: I'd love to talk about that level of branding.

Dawn Foster: You said that's what you talk to them about? No.

Erin Austin: We'll start over again. We'll start over again. All right. So we're going to talk about this for a second to make sure we're on the same page and then we'll come back to it. So what I'm trying to ask you, so I'll ask it a different way, but basically what I find when I'm talking to people and they think that.

Erin Austin: Trademarks. And by that, I mean, the intellectual, you know, by the, you know, I don't have any here, but, you know, those marks with the are that is branding. Like, when they have that, then they have a brand and they equate, maybe that's the way I put it that too many people equate brand with trademarks and that it's a much bigger thing than just your trademark.

Erin Austin: If you agree with that, that's my question to you. I

Dawn Foster: had no clue people thought

Erin Austin: that. Oh gosh, maybe they asked me that because I'm the lawyer, but they go, you know, Oh, my brand is, you know, they, they do, they equate branding with trade. But it's obviously way bigger. Yeah. Let's

Dawn Foster: dig into that.

Erin Austin: Okay, so let's start over again.

Erin Austin: And we're starting,  , over, um, before I asked the question about branding. So we're starting over, um, before the trademarks. Okay. So what I get as an IP lawyer, people will come to me and say,  , they make a, a equivalency between brand and trademark. They're like, Oh, I've got my fancy logo and I've got this, Name that's just this killer name and I've got my trademark on it and they think, okay, that's my brand and tell me, are they the same?

Dawn Foster: Oh, no, they're not the same at all.

Dawn Foster: A brand consists of so many different things, even outside of the logo. And once I explain what those things are, I'll give an example. A brand is not just your logo. It's everything that your brand evokes emotionally. So it's the type of photography you use, how you treat it, the words that you use, what your brand sounds like.

Dawn Foster: Is it snarky? Is it educational? Think about the brands you interact with every day. When you've truly created a brand. Best case scenario, and you see it with your big brands, your Targets, your Under Armour's, your Nike. Anytime you can see some type of advertising that that company has done, and you don't even see the logo, that is when they have done a good job branding.

Dawn Foster: Oh, that is so

Erin Austin: good. That is so

Dawn Foster: good. You know a Subaru commercial before they even show you the Subaru, because it's got that feeling. They have branded themselves. So now you know what to expect from that company because they're very consistent with how they treat their visuals, the type of characters they cast,  , the language they use, all of that, you know what you're getting with that company and the logo is just the cherry on top.

Dawn Foster: And

Erin Austin: so I didn't ask you this before, but have you worked with law firms, for instance, or accounting firms or service providers? And how does that show up? You know, kind of a boring company

Dawn Foster: like that. In terms of how we've branded them? Oh, I don't think it's boring at all. Well, part of that is because I love branding and marketing.

Dawn Foster: It's never boring to me. There's always something new and fresh. And like I said, every business owner that we've worked with, they're unique in their own way. Um, so the law firms that we've worked with, absolutely not boring at all because they've created a brand that was specific to them, the clients that they serve.

Dawn Foster: Um, we've had an acupuncturist and his brand was totally every business. Their mission, their vision, their values, their core pillars are all different. And who they serve is different. So the combination of those things is always going to present something new and exciting. Because you've got that fused with providing a solution for the problem you solve.

Dawn Foster: That never gets dull.

Erin Austin: That's great. Do you have a favorite way that you work with people? Is it all kind of custom? Do you have packages? Like how do you work with people?

Dawn Foster: Everything is, we have standard services we provide. Um, but I always say we're here to help as much or as little as people may need us.

Dawn Foster: We work with clients and we typically create, for our new business owners, we typically do a brand mood board to dictate the look and feel before we even get to the logo. Then we do logo, then we do copywriting.  , here's some clues here of the process of building a brand. Yes. So brand mood board, logo, copywriting, and then we outline a website and then stand that website up.

Dawn Foster: For businesses that have been in existence for a while, we're constantly, we do a lot of service,  , we do a lot, we provide services for service based businesses. And that's because our sweet spot is that content creation, that relationship building, connecting the dots between your brand and your target.

Dawn Foster: We create assets that really resonate with the target audience and who you serve.

Erin Austin: That's wonderful. Yeah. I love that. Well, you know, this is a very meta. Podcast. And so it is about having that hourly to exit journey specifically for female founders with expertise based businesses. You and I happen to be female founders of expertise based businesses.

Erin Austin: So when you think about scaling your business, like how have you done that? Or what are you thinking about doing in your business to help scale? So I've got a

Dawn Foster: two phase approach that I'm working on. And who knows what's after that. I always think about when I scale my business, one of the things that I know I want to stay true to as I continue to build, there are certain things that I don't want to lose sight of.

Dawn Foster: And that's the individual service. We provide our clients every client. We want them to feel like the only thing we're doing is sitting and taking care of their company. I want to scale to a point where we can continue to do that for as many. Businesses as possible, but I don't want to get too large where we lose that personal touch.

Dawn Foster: I'm a people first person and that flows through my company as well. I always want our clients to feel priority to us. The second phase is what I personally am going to do. I love branding and marketing, but the every day of it, I still want to have some type of touch point to it, but the managing of. My creatives and my strategists.

Dawn Foster: I want to, at some point, I want to be more on a beach than doing that. So my plan is

Dawn Foster: Because I like the thought process, because everything is really people driven. To do more speaking and education from the psychological point of branding and marketing and do thought leadership there to help New businesses, aspiring minds, people wanting to build companies, understand how we behave as humans and how that dictates what a brand is going to develop into, how to market, etc.

Dawn Foster: So that's my

Erin Austin: plan. Oh, that's interesting. So education and maybe group coaching or memberships, like how do you see that

Dawn Foster: playing out? In a perfect world. So, so here's what I envision. Three weeks of the month, I'm in another country, but then I come back here.

Erin Austin: Time out! But then

Dawn Foster: I come back for a week, I visit family, friends, I'm on a stage for one of those days talking to people.

Dawn Foster: Ooh, maybe I'll write a book. That's new to the list. But something very, a lot more casual where I can still serve. I can still educate, but really live life. I feel like life is about living in addition to being here and working. Well,

Erin Austin: if you were to be able to travel the world, that means that you have set up processes and systems and models and templates and all the things in your business so that your team can run without you hanging out right there.

Erin Austin: Yes. That important to you from the beginning or is that something that you developed into over time?

Dawn Foster: You know, I developed into that because I started and it was just me and I realized that I'm limited to what I can do and the number of businesses I can support if I don't grow bigger. Um, so I think it was year two that I realized I need to start bringing some people on to help me achieve this mission of mine.

Erin Austin: That's pretty quick. That was a great, I mean,  , some of us, myself included, can go for a long time just, you know, doing that. 1 on 1 kind of just me being an expert doing all the things before we kind of figure out, like, you know, what, this really isn't sustainable and I need to start developing some systems, bringing in a team and,  , and developing some other revenue stream.

Erin Austin: So. That is fantastic. Well speaking, if you have made the business so independent from you, that sounds like it could be set up to be sold someday. Is that something that you have thought

Dawn Foster: about? I would definitely be open to that. I definitely would. But I also know that when the idea floats around in my brain about how.

Dawn Foster: magnificent this could be. Um, I do know that if I sold it, I would, I would not want to let go of our mission. It would have to be to someone that absolutely connects with what we do, what we're trying to accomplish, who we're trying to serve, the, what we want to give back to the world. So if that opportunity presents itself, Yeah.

Dawn Foster: I'd be happy to have the conversation.

Erin Austin: Yeah. That's fantastic. The only thing I'm going to just put in your brain is that, you know, let's say you just settle the highest bidder and then you take all that money and you do whatever the mission is that you want to do, you know, kind of achieve a mission. You

Dawn Foster: are absolutely right.

Dawn Foster: That makes me feel like I can make some more money in this.

Erin Austin: Yes. I like to remind women that, you know, that we can use our businesses to do good, or we can use our money to do good. There's more than one way to do good. Right. Yes. And so by maximizing the value of our businesses,  , then we also. Can achieve our missions in that way as well. So I'm going to think

Dawn Foster: of that.

Dawn Foster: You're a smart person. I like talking.

Erin Austin: So I know that you have a new offer. I'd love you to tell the audience about it. Sure.

Dawn Foster: So we recently launched a free diagnosis. Um, and it's for the business owner that has been at it for a while. They've seen some success. They're growing, but they're having trouble getting over that hump until the next level of things.

Dawn Foster: So our free diagnostic diagnostics tells business owners. What's next when it comes to their branding and marketing will let you know if branding and marketing is going to help you get to that next level. And if you're doing everything great, it can put that off the table and then you can start exploring other.

Dawn Foster: that you may be be needing to invest in your company to help grow. Um, that's a free download, a free call that we have to talk business owners through it. And that is on our website, bfostermarketing. com.

Erin Austin: Fantastic. See, yeah, it's your website. Do you hang out anywhere else online? Or is that the best place to find you?

Dawn Foster: LinkedIn is my social media platform of choice. I get pretty chatty over there. Um, I can be found at linkedin. com slash n slash Dawn P. Foster.

Erin Austin: Okay.  , so your whole name is Dawn P. Foster. Okay. Got it. Yes.

Dawn Foster: Yeah. I know you can find my company, but the bricks come off on my personal LinkedIn page.

Erin Austin: Yes. It's always a, I think, honestly, I think a lot of us have.

Erin Austin: You know, trying to to navigate the personal LinkedIn page versus the business LinkedIn page and how much to to do with 1 versus the other. But, yeah, the personal 1, I think is is definitely the best way to interact there. Yeah, well, this has been wonderful. Thank you. So much done. We will have links in the show notes to find you and to your offer and to.

Erin Austin: LinkedIn and,  , and it has been a pleasure to have you today and thank you for, for,  , talking to the audience.

Dawn Foster: Thank you for having me.