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Hey Brandi, what is marketing? 

This is one of the most confusing questions of all, so it's a great thing to get started with.

The AMA (American Marketing Association) defines marketing as:

Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Ugh. That's not helpful.

For me, marketing is the activities that we take to let people know our goods and services are available to meet their needs. It includes advertising, social media, networking, email newsletters, blogging, channel sales, referrals, media coverage/public relations, outbound prospecting, billboards, and car magnets.

Of course, things like your target audience and brand are important components of your marketing. If you think of your marketing like a lasagna, target audience is your noodles, and brand is the cheese. Without them, all you have is a pan of sauce.

That's why I focus on several components of marketing here at Hey Brandi – from figuring out who you should be selling to, to measuring the results of the work you're doing. It all comes together to make yourself a delicious, rich business dinner.