Hera Hub is excited to share Startup Stories of our members. We periodically interview incredible business women from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Our goal is to share our members’ wonderful stories with the public. Eva Jonnotta is a digital marketing consultant and manager. She provides communications, social media and content strategy that builds businesses.
Eva Jannotta is a cutting-edge content and social media marketing expert and the founder of Simply Put Strategies (SPS), a digital marketing company on a mission to provide first-class digital marketing services to women-owned businesses, mission-driven entrepreneurs and public figures who want to build flourishing and profitable communities and businesses by creating meaningful connections with clients and prospects.
Eva has been a member of Hera Hub Phoenix since December 2017.
What was the inspiration behind your business?
I knew I wanted to help people. My knack for planning, organizing information, and designing processes was evident. I first started a professional organizing business, but quickly realized it wasn’t the right fit for me. Then I began noticing a lot of businesswomen who did not have the time or energy to make the most of their online presence.
Although it’s well known that good relationships are key to building thriving businesses, it can be hard to build such relationships authentically and consistently online. One of my skills is connecting with people both on and offline. I’m basically really good at making friends online and offline.
I focused my organizational skills on strategic planning and promotion design, and put my connection skills to work on digital marketing!
Who are your clients and what do you do for them?
My clients are well-established woman-owned businesses. They have their audience, they know their brand voice, they are crystal-clear on how they are serving clients. Where my clients struggle is with execution – consistently connecting with their audience in a genuine way, and organizing, planning, and delivering marketing strategies.
I help my clients with everything from writing 280-character tweets to long-form blog content and emails to campaign design!
I function in these ways:
- worry transfer – taking marketing strategy and execution off my clients’ plates.
- accountability – making sure we have a plan and we’re sticking to it.
- creativity – brainstorming new ways to connect.
- knowledge base – staying abreast of rapidly changing digital marketing technology, and collecting and analyzing data from our marketing efforts to fuel future decisions.
What are your business’ values? How do they align with your personal values?
These are my company values and my personal relationship with each one!
#1 We are systematic and strategic – so many people reinvent the wheel each time they do a task (including me). But every time I take the time to create a process, my life is easier! I make this a priority in my professional and home life, and do the same for my clients.
#2 We hold ourselves accountable – everybody makes mistakes, and people (women especially) tend to be VERY hard on ourselves for messing up. I own up when I screw up and do my best to make it up, while at the same time being self-compassionate and forgiving. Sometimes that means listening to Dr. Kristin Neff’s guided meditations…
#3 We are candid – I love clear (read: blunt?) communication. Sometimes women struggle to express ourselves clearly without making excuses, getting defensive, or beating around the bush. I strive to communicate clearly, without ego, to my clients, colleagues, and friends. I always urge others to do the same. Sometimes it comes with a few tears. I cry easy and I have to accept that when I’m talking about something important, I’m probably going to tear up.
#4 Less is more – The online world is RELENTLESS, and can be very overwhelming. I have some qualms with the impact social media has, so I remind myself and my clients to prioritize quality over quantity, and to err on the side of doing less instead of more.
#5 Personally, I am a wannabe-minimalist and working towards reducing the waste I produce, so simplicity is an important part of my lifestyle. I also tend to get anxious, so I have learned to keep my calendar and the to-do list as simple as possible!
#6 – digital marketing is rarely (never?) a life-or-death situation. Let’s not take ourselves too seriously, okay?
How/Why did you choose your business name?
Actually, my dad chose my business name! It was back when I was professional organizing, and I like it because one of my personal values is simplicity, and I’m also a nerd for words and writing, so the idea of communication that is “simply put” appeals to me.
Thankfully it’s a general enough business name that when I switched from organizing to marketing I could keep the same name.
What do you love most about your work?
I looooove my clients. They are funny, generous and open-hearted. It makes me really happy to make their lives easier by doing what I’m good at.
What is the biggest challenge in running your own business?
MY OWN PSYCHE. At first when I heard that mindset is a crucial part of success I thought it was a bunch of hoo-ha. I thought if my clients loved me and paid me well then I wouldn’t have any problems (haha. Ha).
During my first hear of business, my anxiety got so bad I had to see a therapist! Thankfully it’s much better now, but self-doubt and limiting beliefs come up all the time.
The biggest challenge is accepting those feelings and not trying to change them OR read into them so much that I get derailed.
What are your/your business’ goals for the future?
I want to expand my services to include graphic design and sophisticated marketing analytics. I plan to do training in data science this year for that very reason. This will help me be of greater service to my clients.
I also want to work with bigger businesses so I can a) charge more, b) do more, and c) hire women to work for/with me.
My vision is to have a small team of 3-5 women working with me. We would serve a select number of well-paying, boutique clients who love our work and see tangible, bottom-line results from our services.
What advice would you give to a new entrepreneur?
1) Trust yourself. Everyone and their uncle will try to give you advice. It’s all well-meant and a lot of it is probably good advice, but that doesn’t mean it’s good advice FOR YOU.
2) Push yourself. You will have a lot of ideas, but your inner perfectionist will tell you “you can’t do that until you do X and Y first.” Well actually, YOU CAN. Try things. Launch before you feel ready (because you will never feel ready). Make things better as you go along. Don’t be afraid to STOP doing things that aren’t working.
Oh, and 3) get thee a group of supportive, ambitious women entrepreneur friends.
