Jenny Hale

Creating a marketing strategy based on conversations and live events helps this social entrepreneur hit viral-status and raises international awareness for social issues online…without spending money on ads.

 

Jenny, owner of JH Marketing Results, is a visibility and marketing campaign consultant, helping entrepreneurs with cause, advocacy, “why”-based, and socially conscious businesses build social media awareness campaigns that skyrocket engagement, sales, and position business owners as change-maker influencers.

She has experience running multiple entrepreneurial ventures in half a dozen industries, including photography, modeling and acting, musician and band management, franchise and small business marketing consulting, and more.

As a young adult, she became very interested in advocacy work. Jenny found her passion through cause and awareness efforts with shelter animal adoption, Native American rights advocacy work, domestic violence awareness, and veteran and military family affairs.

Jenny started her first business at 19 years old. By 20, she expanded into marketing consulting, where she was able to help clients book out classes, move from part-time to full-time entrepreneurship, increase in-person event attendance drastically, and increase social media engagement by 50% in a month.

She branched out into PR and became a signed and freelance model and actress, which led to her love of the entertainment industry. By 21, she began managing bands and musicians, which led to booking clients as openers on world tours, live radio interviews, and features on local talk shows.

At 23, she became the youngest marketing director of an international program and began a strategy she had tested time and time again – building organic awareness campaigns that skyrocketed influencer status and thought leadership. Her campaigns went viral and reached millions overnight.

By 24, Jenny was recruited to become a college professor, teaching social media strategy to students in the United States. At 25, Jenny was interviewed by USA Weekly and named a social media expert.

She offers online courses that teach entrepreneurs and organizations how to build out social media campaigns for visibility, as well as works one-on-one with entrepreneurs to create customized, done-for-you awareness campaigns.

Where did the idea for JH Marketing Results come from?

I started consulting for small businesses at the age of 20 after my first business became successful in the first few months. I began my entrepreneurial journey at 19 as a professional portrait photographer. With my first booked out season under my belt, I started working with local mom and pop shops to increase their social media presence and sales. Years later, that consulting business has turned into an international venture, building social media campaigns to raise awareness, visibility, and sales, most often associated with cause and advocacy-based businesses. My past campaigns have gone viral, reaching millions in a day with some reaching almost half a million impressions organically in an hour.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

My day starts early in the morning with a heavy focus on online engagement. I create content, update social media, and begin planning various online events for myself and for my clients. I am constantly researching and connecting with those who have a big “why” for being in business and are using their platform to educate and create impact.

I also make an effort to do mindset and personal development work each day, including journaling, meditation, and affirmation work.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Working with cause and advocacy-based businesses is so inspiring. When I am bringing attention to an awareness effort, I work to brainstorm ideas that would create conversation around the topic. My go-to strategy is building online events that give a voice to audiences and create engagement. Then, I seek out partners and collaborators to help amplify this message. From there, I build an out-of-the-box marketing strategy to attract participants, create conversation around the topic, as well as encourage change and impact ideas.

I think it’s misleading to say that the only way to give back is through monetary means. While many entrepreneurs donate a portion of sales from profits, you can equally give back through raising awareness, sharing your own story through content, collecting donations, and starting conversations.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Consumers are showing through surveys and reports that they care about ethically-run companies and those who give back and do good. For example, 53% of customers surveyed would not invest in a company that does not actively support a good cause. 94% of consumers would switch brands to support a cause when factors like cost and product type were made equal. Consumers are pushing for companies to show that they are in business for more than a profit.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

I am a pre-planner. My marketing is already scheduled and created months in advance before an awareness month or campaign time period starts. With that level of organization, I am able to devote significant amount of time to marketing the events, gathering participants, and generating conversations for impact. This is how many of my events have gone viral. Since many entrepreneurs do not have a strategy in place for their marketing, or the time to implement one correctly, I build campaigns on a done-for-you, customized basis so they can focus on the rewards of creating successful conversation online and awareness to the work they believe in.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I was told as a kid to “never be too passionate” because I was just a “single person” and it would “frustrate” me to be unable to “fix” society’s problems. If I could go back and show my younger self where I’m at today, the lecture would be much different. I don’t believe that we are “just one person” and that we can’t create impact because of that. Instead, I believe that we can be the one person that creates change, leads the effort, and creates a community of empowerment. We can change lives, but we need to create the conversation to do so.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Going viral is all you need to get the visibility you want. This is just not true. You can go viral with a content post, video, or blog, but it’s what you do with that traffic after that converts to long-term success. So many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of excitement over “15-minutes of fame” from a viral status, but then fail to leverage that traffic for conversions. First, your content has to be tailored to your target audience. It’s great to go viral, but if it applies to the masses, then you’re not attracting the right people to your page to sell to down the road. Second, if you can’t keep that traffic engaged after, then you may lose them to the algorithm after they view the viral content. There has to be a strategy in place to move high volumes of traffic to other platforms, like email, to continue to build relationships. Going viral is not the solution to all your problems. A strategy and marketing plan to attract that traffic, keep them engaged, and eventually encourage them to purchase from you is the ultimate success.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Analyze your data. Every month you should be evaluating the content you released online and how it performed. The content that performed best should be re-purposed or similar content to that should be created. Most entrepreneurs feel the pressure to create new content daily, yet they aren’t making educated efforts to increase productivity and results through analyzing prior content.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Two of the big things in entrepreneurship that business owners put off due to “lack of time” is media outreach and using social media platforms that are conducive to networking. Two of the best things I’ve done to build my online businesses are actively pitching to podcast hosts, bloggers, reporters, conferences, etc. on a weekly basis, as well as leveraging the power of LinkedIn for collaboration opportunities and networking. These platforms are excellent for providing free traffic, referrals, collaborations, and new friendships.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Failing is a natural part of entrepreneurship. You learn from it, grow, and move to better outcomes. I’ve had failed launches, businesses that didn’t perform as well as others, and times without income. Welcome to the life of an entrepreneur! I’ve been an entrepreneur for my entire adult life and the failures I’ve had have led to businesses with better alignment. Adjust and keep going!

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I’m big on self-development, so a service that sent you daily mindset journaling prompts, a motivational video, and morning affirmations would be a wonderful investment as an entrepreneur and an easy-to-launch subscription service for someone out there!

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I recently spent money on self-development, including putting money towards hypnosis. Working with your subconscious mind to re-program past patterns has drastically changed my business and life. Your business grows into its best version when you are at your best version.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Recurpost is my go-to for scheduling social media content. The developers have created a way for you to re-purpose your content and schedule it to go out on repeat across multiple social media channels. It’s perfect for evergreen, repeatable content that is a staple in your marketing strategy.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Anything Jen Sincero is amazing for mindset work and overcoming limiting beliefs. She’s hilarious and enjoyable to read.

What is your favorite quote?

Mark Twain: “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Key Learnings:

• Customers are more likely to purchase from a business that supports a cause. Learn how incorporating advocacy and cause-based work into your business can create impact in your community and business.
• Creating a marketing strategy based on conversations and live events helps this social entrepreneur hit viral-status and raises international awareness for social issues online…without spending money on ads.
• You are not just “one person” who can’t create impact. You could be *the* one person that creates a conversation for change and awareness.

Connect:

Website: www.jhmarketingresults.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ResultsInaMonth
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ResultsinaMonth
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/ResultsInaMonth
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-hale