Applications for my next Academy which starts in June 2024 are now open. Check out the Crone Academy page for details!
What is the Academy of Dangerous Dreamers?
Do you have a romantic dream of a simpler life and making a living from doing what you love? Do you need a bit of marketing support to help you get your message out there to the right people?
Or maybe you're an independent business or social enterprise who needs to be more focussed targeted and confident with your marketing and social media? Maybe you’ve pivoted in the Covid sh*t storm and need to take stock of your new markets and a clearer plan for how to connect with them?
Maybe you’re at a career crossroads and want to re-evaluate your ‘Why?’ Maybe you want to think about your personal brand and get over your horror of social media to help you in the next stage of your life?
Maybe you just need someone to MAKE YOU be more strategic with your marketing?
Hi I’m Justine, and I help good folk untangle the social media fog and get niche about their project and their audiences.
And I mean, really niche.
And here’s why. The most common reason why my clients come to me for help is they are struggling to FOCUS and wasting their time, energy and hard-earned money on the wrong things with the wrong people. And if there’s one thing a South Yorkshire lass hates, it’s wasting money.
After 26 years of working as a brand and content consultant for some of the most complex organisations in the world from BP to M&S, I've put my tried-and-tested process and tools into an Online Academy, so that I can help more individuals and businesses get niche and get their ideas out there to the specific tribes most likely to care.
And at a fraction of the cost of hiring me as a consultant.
The problem (pre Academy) - lack of focus
The world of social media is massive but your plan is vague (or, erm non-existent). Who should you be targeting? On what social media platform? With what type of content?
The solution (post Academy) - get niche
I’ll work with you to untangle the marketing and social media and marketing fog by working through three simple questions.
Can you answer them?
The Academy 3 steps
Over the last 26 years, I’ve developed a simple 3 step process to help people get niche, so you can do less social media, but in a more focused and enjoyable way. When your ‘why’ and your ‘who’ are aligned, you’ll find you’ll have much less resistance to your ‘how’.
Step 1. Find your ‘why’ (AND YOUR ‘WHY NOT’)
“I now have a clear purpose, a ‘why’ for my project.”
Dangerous Dreamer Cohort 1
It’s been over 10 years since Simon Sinek’s TED talk about the importance of Finding your ‘Why?’ “People don’t just buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.” And yet many organisations still miss the opportunity to capture the hearts of their audiences by failing to articulate it effectively.
In the Academy, Finding your ‘Why?’ is the first stage of creating a highly targeted brand and marketing strategy. Our starting point is YOU, and an exploration of what makes you, YOU; what you love, and the values you hold so you can create your own ‘Why?’ statement.
In this stage you will get clear on your ‘why’ for your project and create your own ‘ahaha story’ - how to articulate that lightbulb moment where your dream first took hold.
You will learn how to articulate your purpose in a way that inspires and focuses you, and that is guaranteed to chime with your target tribes.
(And confront your ‘Why Not!’…)
In stage 1, you’ll also have a sit down with those pesky demons that have been holding you back and develop some emergency medicine for when they come a knocking…
Below are just a few common demons shared by previous Dangerous Dreamers. Any bells ringing for you?
“We weren’t just learning how to market ourselves, but we were also learning about our misperceptions…having tea with your demons, you get underneath the bonnet of how we THINK about this stuff which is just BRILLIANT.”
Step 2. Find your ‘who’
”I now know who I need to target for Book Bench and how I reach them. The tribe mapping process is so rich with insight. It really helped me to think differently about my project as a concept, and will shape the whole way that it runs moving forward.”
Dangerous Dreamer Cohort 1
Mass media - targeting ‘everybody’ with ‘everything’ - is dead. Keep wildly chucking more stuff out there, hoping some of it sticks to someone, you won’t get heard above the noise...and you’ll probably kill yourself trying. I help you get focussed on just a few tribes that are most likely to care about the same things YOU really care about.
Learn my Tribe Mapping process and get a detailed understanding of the tribes who are most likely to care about your ‘why’ - who they are, where they are, what’s actually important to them, and how to get to them.
Pick a tribe to ‘go niche’ with and carry out in-depth research to find out about what they REALLY care about.
You can then use your Tribe Map to make smarter marketing and content decisions based on real insights, not assumptions. This will make your marketing more targeted, and prevent you from wasting your hard-earned money (and time) on the wrong things and the wrong platforms.
Step 3. Plan your ‘how’
“I now have a content plan and an approach I believe in, that has been well thought through.” Ali, Viewpoint Research and Dangerous Dreamer
Because your plan will align your ‘Why?’ with your ‘Who?’, it will feel easier, and you’ll be more motivated to actually do it. It will become clear which platform/s you actually need to upskill yourself in… and which you can park for now. Specifically you will:
Take away the tools to carry out a brand audit (if you have an existing brand) - an audit that measures how well your brand communicates your ‘Why’ and how well it connects with the real passions and needs of your audiences.
Create a brand brief that accurately reflects your ‘Why?’, your values and your tribes. So many organisations waste money through commissioning brand and marketing materials without a clear brief.
Create a content manifesto - a set of social media content guidelines to help you hit publish with confidence.
Start on a plan that you are 100% confident that you are able to deliver and can’t wait to get started on.
“Doing the research into my tribes and competitors made me realise I DO have something useful to contribute to discussions on social media.” Ali, Viewpoint Research and Dangerous Dreamer.
Know who and how to get the right people on board to help you deliver your message in the most cost and time efficient way.
”You helped me see which bits to do myself and which bits to give out (and who I needed and what to ask for!)” Maureen, Dangerous Dreamer Cohort 1.
A bit about me
26 years working in brand, marketing and copywriting for some of the most complex organisations in the world, from BP to M&S.
A passion for supporting social enterprise, small independents and sound people with shared values.
Ran my own social enterprise for seven years and was the University of Sheffield’s first Social Entrepreneur in Residence. I’m a Fellow of the School of Social Entrepreneurs and have set up and run several Start up and Accelerator incubators.
Awards include: 2019 Winner of The Star’s Award for Creativity for ‘outstanding contribution to creativity in Sheffield and beyond’; winner of Lord John Brown award for Innovation for a training programme for BP; featured in the most prestigious design award annual D&AD for copywriting for John Smedley; winner of Campaign of the Year in the National Housing Awards for a campaign that helped secure 6 million to combat isolation and loneliness in Sheffield.
After 26 years of working as a consultant, I’ve put my tried and tested process and tools online so I can help more people at a more affordable cost.
I’m autistic, dyscalculic and dyslexic, which, it turns out, is what helps gives my programme the ‘depth, detail, clarity and authenticity’ that Academists really appreciate.
What magic happens when you align your ‘why’ with your ‘who?’
Neil has worked successfully in the corporate world for over 30 years. Five years ago, he started learning wood turning as a hobby.
He now wants to explore a life where he can turn his passion for all things wood into something that will generate (even a small amount) towards the household expenses and move him one step closer towards the dream of a simpler life.
Here’s his description of the Academy approach and what great things can happen when you align your ‘Why?’ with your ‘Who?’
“The process gives you permission to be authentically YOU. ”
“Justine’s thinking is inspirational, and she brings it all to life with examples from her own practice and how to apply the tools. She really gets you thinking and gives you a quick ‘in’.”
Is the Academy for me?
Dangerous Dreamers come in many forms - the thing that unites us all is a passion for learning and our projects. Here are just a few of the types of people the Academy has helped so far.
The Pivoted Business/Taking Stock Dreamer
During the Covid crisis, it was amazing to witness how quickly so many businesses and social enterprises pivoted to survive. You might have come up with new ways of delivery, maybe creating an online offer. You might have reached out to new markets, new tribes, new ways of working. Now’s the time to take stock and look at what your message needs to be going forward - which tribes to target and how best to get to them. A new way of working demands a new way of marketing. My Academy will help you re-focus and come up with a HIGHLY TARGETED marketing and content strategy to get to the tribes you now actually WANT to reach. Now is the time to take stock (or at least renew your wedding vows) with your brand purpose.
The Can-Someone-Just-Make-Me-Do-It Please Dreamer
Accountability to ‘just do it’ is a big part of why the Academy works - having someone to hold your hand through the scary bits (actually make that several people!), to help you remember your own awesomeness when your confidence is flailing, or just to SHAME YOU into getting that blog finished! If you find marketing and social media keeps languishing at the bottom of your to do list, The Academy can help.
The Marketing Team Dreamer
Are you a member of a marketing team in a mid-large organisation, looking for personal development in all things ‘brand’? Marketing is often a function that is not understood by other areas of the organisation and it can be quite isolating. With the Academy you’ll be part of a tight group who you can openly share ideas and worries with - people who just ‘get it’. Maybe you want to help your organisation be more focussed on your ‘why’, or agree greater clarity over who your tribes actually are, and create the space away from the business to really get under the skin of them, then create a more focussed marketing strategy to help you reach them? In the Academy, you’ll meet some interesting people, learn a process that you can come back to time and time again, and learn more about how brand works.
The Hustle your Hobby Dreamer
Have you got a hobby or passion that you love? Maybe you’ve been toying with a romantic notion of making a living from it - even just in part? NOW is the time to get out that dream from the shoebox under your bed and take those first steps to making it happen.
When the world’s already gone to shit, what’s the worst that could happen?
The Screw it Let’s Do it Dreamer
Maybe you were furloughed and had a taste of what a simpler life could feel like? Or maybe you’ve been harbouring a secret notion for a while to jump ship and go it alone? There has NEVER been a better time to bid adieu to the rat race - even just in part - and explore an alternative future.
The What Next? Dreamer
Maybe you’re at a career crossroads - finally there’s light at the end of the tunnel, and you’re wondering what to do next and what your personal brand should be going forward? Maybe you want to set up a blog to catalogue favourite projects from your career so the learning isn’t lost. Maybe you need to consider your personal brand and take a more focussed approach?
Kickstart Scheme Dreamer
Maybe you’ve started on a Kickstart role in brand, marketing and social media. Or maybe you’ve recently left Uni and on the hunt for your dream job, but don’t seem to be getting anywhere. I run a Kickstart Academy for young people to help them hit the ground running in their new organisation. Contact me to find out more.
The Change the World Dreamer
Got an idea to make a difference in the world? Maybe it’s an idea for a local community project, or an audacious social enterprise to help solve some of society’s biggest problems? The people in power are looking for answers, and our fractured world has opened up the cracks for more exciting ideas from surprising places. NOW is the time to make your move.
Whatever your situation, NOW is the time to get a clear, actionable plan together to make it happen in a way that is authentically you.
“The Academy has really helped me structure my thinking and my planning. The method helps you be precise and targeted and stops you from being scattergun. ”
A few thoughts from some of our Dangerous Dreamer graduates…
The Reflective Dreamer
Miranda is 30 years into a successful career of placemaking across the Sheffield City Region. She wanted to take stock and bring together some of her favourite projects so that learnings were not lost and to celebrate some of the partnerships and people she’d really enjoyed working with. She knew she wanted to create a blog to do this, but didn’t have the confidence to go it alone. She also wanted to work out her personal brand on social media. Check out Miranda’s blog (with a readership of over 2000 already) https://www.mirandaplowden.com/
Slaying social media demons to create a blog to capture a 30 year career and create a personal brand for social media.
The Taking Stock Dreamer
Alistair is Managing Director of Viewpoint CIC a wonderful social enterprise based in Sheffield, Leeds and Doncaster. We’d already worked together on his ‘why’ and ‘who’ and had created a new brand and website, but he joined the Academy to create a strategy (and confidence/motivation) with his social media plan - that closely aligned his ‘why’ with his ‘who’. During the Academy we created a ‘quiet strategy’ and ‘content manifesto’ - a clear guide for the type of content that he felt (more) comfortable creating. Since the Academy, we have been working together 1-2-1 one day a month to keep his social media content moving. Ali has recently recruited a Kickstart placement to help him with his social media, who has also attended the Academy as part of his induction.
The Hustle your Hobby Dreamer
Maureen is recently retired and wanted to take her coaching skills out to support teacher wellbeing. She wasn’t sure where to start or what platforms or content to focus on to reach her audience. Following the tribe mapping research, she discovered that Facebook was the place where may teachers still ‘hung out’ and so we focussed her strategy on creating a closed Facebook group, where she could build trust before ‘selling’ her workshops and courses. She’s created lots of great free content, including vlogs and been enjoying herself too!
“Justine brings both breadth and depth to the question of how to effectively market a new venture- there is no skimming the surface here!”
Why are the number of places restricted?
I only accept between 4 and 5 people onto each Academy so I can work with them closely and give maximum support. I wanted to build a group where people can share ideas and genuinely support each other, in a space which feels safe and fun. Many online programmes imply a level of personalisation, when in fact they are one of hundreds, sometimes thousands of other learners. With mine, you actually get ME, PLUS four other weird and wonderful brains to help you with your project.
Here’s what a few of my first cohort said about what they got from their fellow Academists…
“Thank you SO much dear friend for our 1-2-1 yesterday. At long last I am clear where I am going and what I have to do to get there!”
“I now have a clear purpose, know who I need to target and how I reach them.”
Costings
I charge a sliding scale so that those who have slightly more money can support those who don’t have any at all. The Academy is my main source of income and due to disabilities, I only run up to 4 a year and limit each cohort to no more than 5 people.
An outline of suggested payment is featured below.
Established corporate businesses £2,000
Social enterprises, charities, start ups and scale ups £1,500
*CRONE CLUB MEMBERS SPECIAL OFFER FOR JUNE ACADEMY 2023 £1,250*
“I’ve come out of it with a plan for the next six months which I feel comfortable producing.”
