What you can expect when I work for (and with) you.
I speak with a lot of business owners and senior marketers. They are busy people. We often find in discussion there is a need for some element of marketing help, with specific projects or ongoing tasks which need the support of someone working “on” and not “in” the business.
Working “on” versus working “in” your business, it doesn’t read like a big distinction, but it really is!
Whether you are the Managing Director, the Marketing Director or one of the marketing or digital team, the truth is you are sucked into the day-to-day tasks of the role and into the culture and workings of the business. You are effectively “in” your business, doing lots of marketing “stuff” at speed and it is turning the cogs, moving the business forward. But it is very different to working “on” your business.
Hiring in a fresh thinker comes without the shackles of the day-to-day tasks. The outside help can apply a helicopter view. Choose the right hire, with the right experience and expertise, and they will work cleverly “on” your business, seeing clearly the issues and opportunities, and getting to probe and answer the critical questions which need resolution for your business success.
In marketing this external thinking might be a review of your strategy, generating some fresh insights from your customers, a proper competitor trawl, a digital ROI touch-point exercise, helping review your marketing organisational structure (the team!) or simply some new ideas for products or services.
The fact is hiring a capable marketing expert is a sound idea. It means you can address a specific task which you aren’t currently giving enough attention to, and it will give you a perspective, thinking and ideas you will not have heard.
And if you can find the right person, someone good, really good, who works with you, gives your project and issue real focus and doesn’t overcharge for their services, even better, a good hire!
One of my current clients is a fabulous company and an established brand but like many has been hit hard by the covid impact and successive lockdowns, is now in recovery mode (fortunately) and we have worked together on a marketing strategy and plans, which will bear them fruit this winter and into next year.
The interesting part is that whilst they feel close to their customer, they are so involved “in” their business, they have lost just a little of the market orientation (customer-focus) a business needs to continually seek to remain relevant and engage audiences. Whilst they are busy people, they have not buried their heads in the sand. They have hired (me), it is the right call and will pay dividends for them (I will make sure that happens, as I do for all my clients).
So, with me you get someone who works “on” (and not “in”) your business. You get a seriously experienced marketer with expertise across both strategic and operational marketing. You get a nice guy (I am told!) but don’t be fooled, the marketing advice will be challenging. I will say it in a constructive way but you can be sure it will be sharp and fit for purpose. I won’t act like a “consultant”, but a bright, informed marketing expert who is listening, observing, thinking, working for you and with you in presenting advice and recommendations which will improve your business and its performance, all through better marketing.