The FiddleSmart Marketing Story
Why I’m passionate about helping small businesses, what I believe about marketing, the values that guide me and how I ended up doing what I’m doing today
Hi I’m Mike Schuster,
Marketing Strategist, Consultant and Coach
Most business owners and entrepreneurs spend countless hours and waste a lot of money marketing their business … only to feel frustrated and deflated when their efforts don’t attract new customers or build more sales.
As a result, they end up chasing tactics, hacks and plug-and-play solutions that leave them always grinding and hustling for the next sale or transaction. Over time, it sucks the joy out of being in business. Maybe you can relate.
If so, I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve worked in almost every aspect of marketing from analyzing results to managing multi-million-dollar product lines and businesses. I’ve seen what works. And experienced what doesn’t.
To attract more customers (without relying on manipulating behavior) and sustainably grow your business, most businesses need to fix their marketing so it leads with strategy, uses data to help shape decisions, and focuses on the customer (not your company). I’m here to guide you every step of the way.
I so appreciate Mike’s ability to learn my story, my business goals, and my services
Mike Schuster with FiddleSmart Marketing has been instrumental in improving my business marketing. I knew I needed help but was floundering with a DIY approach that was not making an impact. I so appreciate Mike’s ability to learn my story, my business goals, and my services. He then invested a tremendous amount of tailored attention to clarify and organize my messaging to typical clients and to broaden my reach into other markets. Not only did he develop materials and content for me, but he also taught me ways to improve and revise my everyday communication with current and future clients. He continues to be a valuable partner as my business continues to grow!
- Heather Dean, Founder of Creative Across the Curriculum
Why I’m focused on helping small businesses
The livelihood of the communities in which we live is directly tied to the success or failure of its small businesses and entrepreneurs
(Plus, I don’t want to see another entrepreneur throw in the towel because the “business of growing their business” became more stressful than the corporate job they left to pursue the dream God laid on their heart.)
Marketing the FiddleSmart way
Strategy First. Customer Focused. Data Driven.
Strategy first. Leading with strategy means fixing the fundamentals before anything else. Having a solid foundation (driven by your message and offer) is the secret to building sustainable growth no matter the channels, platforms or tactics used.
Customer focused. Working on plans, budgets and campaigns, it’s easy to lose sight of the most important factor in business success … serving customers well. Keeping the customer at the center of every business decision leads to better strategies and results.
Data driven. Understanding business numbers, key metrics and results gives you valuable insights for shaping marketing strategy. It helps you prioritize key channels, uncover opportunities, and determine which activities influence critical business goals.
Ready to move past transactional marketing? And start combining these factors in a way that leads to sustainable, profitable growth for your company?
There’s a fine line between “selling” and “serving” when it comes to marketing. These are my
Guiding values
FAITH
The future is unknown. Choose to believe good things will happen when we serve customers and teams.
EXPLORATION
Ask questions. Observe. Dig into the details. Uncover the patterns. Create theories. And spark insights.
IMPROVEMENT
Always look for better ways of doing things. Find ways to break things down and rebuild them in new ways.
ACTION
Ideas alone don’t bring success. Take action. Even if it’s a small step. With each step, momentum builds.
INTEGRITY
No manipulation. No false hype. And always do what’s right … even if it hurts at the time.
Where I had chaos, Mike brought clarity
When I came to work with Mike I felt my coaching and speaking sides of my business lacked congruency of messaging and at times targeted different audiences. I wanted to align them with one clear message and create a workable way to help each aspect of my business support the other - speaking bringing in clients and clients bringing in speaking opportunities. Mike exceeded my expectations! Where I had chaos, Mike brought clarity. He helped me find the threads that tied them (speaking and coaching) all together and a strong marketing message that not only represents the core of what I do but is easy for others to grasp and act on.
- Paula Houlihan, Motivational Speaker and Coach
What influenced my views on marketing today
I’ve always had a knack for recognizing patterns. My mom tells a story about how, one day as a pretty young kid, I asked her if we were having company over. Curious, she asked why I wondered. And I replied that whenever she cleaned the house, someone came to visit.
You could say, with this gift for recognizing patterns, I’ve always been a consultant at heart. I enjoy uncovering the core issues influencing results. Creating order out of chaos is a fun challenge. And breaking down complex ideas in ways people can understand is natural to me.
But, even with those gifts, it took me 25 years to discover, develop and refine my strategy-first, customer-focused and data-driven approach to marketing. Working for family-owned companies in specialty, niche-markets gave me a breadth of experience in all things marketing … from analyzing results to developing product lines and turning around companies.
During a summer at Disney (while earning my Ducktorate Degree), I became passionate about building shareworthy customer experiences. And came to understand the growth potential of focusing on the customer.
I discovered the sales power of storytelling and data-driven marketing while managing product marketing strategies at The Franklin Mint.
And, for nearly 15 years, I combined them to establish, focus and facilitate strategies for the profitable growth of one of the sewing industry’s most iconic retailers, Nancy’s Notions.
Did I always get it right? No. And some of the failures shaped my approach as much, and maybe more, than the wins. You learn a lot when things don’t work out.
I worked through declines in business that were influenced by a loss of trust caused by overhyped claims that distorted the truth to get a sale. I came to understand firsthand the dangers of focusing decisions on sales and profit without considering the impact to the customer experience.
I realized you accomplish less as you increase the number of goals you’re working to achieve. And learned the hard way that you can dramatically improve some metrics and not see any significant change in annual sales.
Then, during a time of transition, God prompted me to make a shift. Bigger companies didn’t need me to share what I’ve learned and help them make more money.
And it was my job to help level the playing field for smaller businesses who are unable to hire a full-time marketing team and may not have the budgets a large agency requires. To share with them how marketing actually works.
To help them move beyond marketing for a transaction. And help them use marketing to communicate their value in a way that connects with their audience. Structure offers in ways that simplify choices. Build relationships. Establish trust. And build sustainable, long-term growth and profitability.
Memberships and Affiliations
Member, Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce
Board Member and Marketing Lead, Sun Prairie Civic Theatre
Member, Igniters Mentoring Community of Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur
Searching for tips you can use to grow your business?
I was one of 30 consultants who contributed to the book We Wish We Had Known: Everyday Tips from Consultants to Grow Your Business, published by the Madison Area Business Consultants.
Get your copy today!
More than a marketer and strategist
While I often geek out on marketing and communications, those interests are only one part of my life. There are other important things too, including:
FAITH
God is my source. I’m a steward of the talents and resources He provides. And I strive to be Spirit-led in every aspect of my life.
FAMILY
Married. Three kids who are growing up way too fast. And one dog. We live in Sun Prairie, Wis. Enjoy supporting each other’s activities, playing games and camping.
FUN
Outside of enjoying being a dad, you’ll find me hiking, camping, swimming, and playing around with photography. I’m also involved in community theatre and on stage at times.
The bottom line about marketing and business
Marketing’s gotten a bad rap. Too many players in the industry have focused on getting business through short-term wins that rely on manipulative tactics and a lot of false hype.
They’ve created a transaction economy. It erodes trust. Puts the focus on money. And makes the idea of promoting your business feel “dirty.”
It’s my mission to change that. I take a strategic approach to marketing and business. And believe the future belongs to the companies who put a strategic focus on serving customers with integrity.
Marketing seems complicated. But it gets easier with experience and practice. It’s really about eliminating roadblocks. Providing value. And making it as easy as possible for someone to know about you, buy from you and tell others about you too.
As a consultant and coach, I’m committed to providing you with the training, guidance and support you need to reach and serve more people through your business.