Renia (pronounced R-EE-n-a) Carsillo hates business silos and marketing hacks. So, she spends her days working with mid-size and small companies to integrate their business strategy with their impact strategy, design sustainable marketing frameworks, and find a growth cadence that works for their team and their lives. Renia believes founders are uniquely positioned to create a kinder, more equitable world. She is passionate about bringing C-level strategic support to the small and mid-size companies shaping their communities every day. Renia says, "Sustainable marketing is built on a solid business strategy. A solid business strategy is built on values-driven habits. Values-driven habits are built on healed/healing leaders. We can’t do these things separately. They’re all interconnected. ”
The Marketing Superpower Almost Nobody Has Anymore [Two on Tuesdays]
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Happy Tuesday, Reader! We've made it to the last of our 5 Principles of Sustainable Marketing: long-term thinking. In a zero-click digital world (and one where the phone in your pocket is competing for your attention even while you're standing in a physical room with actual people), the discipline of thinking in long-term story arcs has become a superpower precisely because almost nobody is doing it anymore. Marketing has become about optimizing for the next scroll, the next quarter, the next quick win. The businesses willing to build something over years, not weeks, are the ones that end up standing out simply because it’s so distinct from what everyone else is doing. The Story We Started Writing in 2013.I want to tell you about the longest story arc I've ever built, because we're about to reach its next chapter. The first time someone asked me to build something like The $250K Club was in 2013. I said not yet. We weren't ready. We didn't have the frameworks, the sustainable cash flow, or the systems that make a risky move survivable if it doesn't work. So instead of jumping, we spent the next decade building the foundation: the people and systems that would allow us the freedom to innovate. If you've been with us since November, you may already know where this story is headed. That's when we first told you about The $250K Club and why the fact that only 6.2% of women-owned businesses break past that revenue mark keeps me up at night. We've spent this past year building the foundation publicly, in front of you, instead of just announcing a finished thing. We couldn't skip to Innovation until People and Systems were solid. That's not caution for caution's sake. It's what makes a bold move survivable instead of reckless. Why This Principle Is the One I Still Struggle With.All 5 Principles of Sustainable Marketing are on display in this story: the cycles, the referrals, the heartbeat, and the values. But long-term thinking is the one that's honestly been hardest for me. Stepping back far enough to see the whole story arc, and trusting the time it takes for that arc to unfold, doesn't come naturally to me any more than it does for many of you. A decade+ is a long time to sit with a "not yet." But now it's time for that next step. This October, we're launching our first-ever live event to formally introduce The 6% Project and welcome our first $250K Club cohort into the world. It's a big, scary, bold move into territory we've never worked in before. But because we spent these past years building the people and systems first, we're not walking into it alone. We have a whole network of women ready to walk in with us. This week, ask yourself: What's the “not yet” you've been sitting with? What if you spent the next year building toward it sustainably (honoring your cycles, nurturing your relationships, and staying grounded in your values) instead of reaching for it before the foundation is ready? Until next time, Renia C. |
Renia Carsillo
Renia (pronounced R-EE-n-a) Carsillo hates business silos and marketing hacks. So, she spends her days working with mid-size and small companies to integrate their business strategy with their impact strategy, design sustainable marketing frameworks, and find a growth cadence that works for their team and their lives. Renia believes founders are uniquely positioned to create a kinder, more equitable world. She is passionate about bringing C-level strategic support to the small and mid-size companies shaping their communities every day. Renia says, "Sustainable marketing is built on a solid business strategy. A solid business strategy is built on values-driven habits. Values-driven habits are built on healed/healing leaders. We can’t do these things separately. They’re all interconnected. ”
Happy Tuesday, Reader! Last week, we talked about Sustainable Marketing Principle #3: marketing as the heartbeat of the company. This week, we're on Principle #2: build on a values-driven framework. A values-driven framework starts with getting clear on your 3-Core: your core values, your core beliefs, and the core communities you're built to serve. Get those three things right, and you have a foundation solid enough to stand on, no matter what’s happening around you. Many people view...
Happy Tuesday, Reader! Last week, we talked about Sustainable Marketing Principle #4: building an intentional word-of-mouth and referral strategy. This week, we're moving to Principle #3: marketing is the heartbeat of the company, not an appendage. While it’s often treated as an afterthought, sustainable marketing is part of a business's DNA, deeply aligned with its goal of service and its values. When it's disconnected from either, it stops working the way it should. Where I See This...
Happy Tuesday, Reader! My team and I have had the privilege of building Mrs. Grout's website three times now. Each version gets a little sharper, a little more polished, a little more them. With each iteration, the web work gets a little easier. Partly because we’ve gotten better at our job, but mostly because Mrs. Grout's reputation does most of the heavy lifting before a visitor ever lands on the site. Sustainable Marketing Builds a Reputation, Not Just a Website. Last week, we kicked off...