In my last post, we discussed how to know when it’s time to engage a marketing or creative professional. Now, we’re going to talk about where to start and how to determine the kind of relationship that may work best for you.
The diagram below is a simple representation of the general approaches you can take. The vertical axis represents your Budget, or how much you’re willing to spend. The horizontal axis represents your Media IQ – your level of understanding about Marketing, Design, Advertising and Technology.
1. LOW BUDGET, LOW MEDIA IQ (Check Yourself) – not quite sure what your needs are AND short on cash? There are plenty of free and low-cost resources available to you online and in the local library or bookstore to help you increase you Media IQ. Work out your requirements on paper first. Being as specific as possible in the beginning will save misunderstandings down the road.
Caveat: You should also raise your expectations about how much a marketing campaign will cost and how long it will take to see results. A campaign may take 6 – 12 months to yield results and pay for itself. Keep in mind, just as with most services – you get what you pay for!
2. LOW BUDGET, HIGH MEDIA IQ (Do It Yourself) – are you the kind of person who enjoys building their own web site, using Constant Contact, or using social media like Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter? You can save yourself some money by doing the work yourself.
Caveat: Keep in mind that doing these things can be time consuming, and while it may be fun to do as a hobby, doing them regularly (in addition to your other responsibilities) takes on a very different dimension!
3. HIGH BUDGET, LOW MEDIA IQ (Hire A Coach) – Seek a trusted advisor who understands your vision as well as the business of design. This consultant should be taking the time to educate you, not just doing things for you. Your goal is to be able to convey your ideas and your business’s philosophy and culture to creatives in language they can understand, so you’re getting the results you’re looking for.
Caveat: While you may have an adequate budget, you can waste a lot of time and money believing the wrong people. Dig beneath the flashy presentation (or overlook the less polished exterior) and take the time to find out if this individual (or company) has the competence and integrity you truly need to prepare you for long-term success.
4. HIGH BUDGET, HIGH MEDIA IQ (Build A Team) – This is where you want to be. When you have reliable creatives, treat them like partners and speak each other’s language, you will exceed your goals and enjoy the process while doing it.
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Randall D. Evans
1964-2013
This week, I will say goodbye to my friend Randy Evans.
Aside from being my fraternity brother, Randy was a fellow entrepreneur, a community leader and a family man who leaves behind a wife and 3 daughters. He was a respected accountant with a thriving practice, and he worked tirelessly to mentor young people on economics and business.
I didn’t see Randy every day, but we had the opportunity to talk periodically about business and social issues, sometimes at great length. One of the last things he said to me was, “we need to talk more often – we entrepreneurs need to stick together!”
So true.
Randy’s accounting firm will continue to thrive because of the care and attention he gave to his clients and staff. The wheels of business will continue to turn. But the loss of intellectual capital and social wealth on the part of his family and community cannot be replaced.
A personal trainer friend of mine always says, “your body is your most important business asset.” So many of us sacrifice our own well-being to manage the Crisis of the Day, but the fact is, you can’t help anyone if you don’t take care of yourself. Take a step back and examine your relationship with healthy eating, exercise and stress. Research them the way you do your prospective customers. Track them closely like you do your bottom line – because ultimately, they are. And seek the help and emotional support of your friends, family and peers. Because like Randy said, we do have to stick together!
Yes, that’s actually me…appearing as part of a feature article on “Generation X” entrepreneurs in the Washington Post Business section. I had been in business full-time for 2 years and had just turned 30! Where does the time go?
This month, I celebrate 18 years as a full-time entrepreneur. In that time, we’ve been on an economic roller coaster, and I’ve seen many businesses come and go. There have been times when I’ve experienced incredible exhuberance, and times when I’ve doubted whether I was on the right path at all.
During one of my “down” periods, I went to one of my trusted advisors and asked what I should do: Get a loan? Look for investors? Take a job? His answer – “Hustle More!”
I answered, “how can I possibly hustle more than I am right now?” But when I was honest with myself, I realized that it wasn’t how much I was doing, but how many of the right things I did that mattered. That meant focusing my attention on the activities that made me the most productive, profitable and fulfilled. It also meant surrounding yourself with people who support your vision, both emotionally and with needed resources.
Do you find yourself doing alot, but still feeling stuck? Examine what you’re doing, then contact us when you’re ready to get to a different place!
Forget about gold or diamonds – the rarest commodity on Earth these days is someone’s undivided attention! Between email, voicemail, Facebook, Twitter, the house, the spouse and the kids, it seems like everyone is overwhelmed and unable to focus.
I spend a large portion of my week convincing clients to either start, review, or complete projects that they know they need! Today’s emergency often prevents us from doing the very things that will prevent emergencies in the future.
In his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen R. Covey says that “Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”
Experience has taught me that there’s only one way to break this vicious cycle:
- Stop equating activity with productivity.
- Stop believing that nothing will change.
- Stop hesitating.
Instead, try this…
- Start Paying More Attention – so you can pay less money in mistakes and missed opportunities
- Start Believing Your Data – chances are, you already have all the information you need to make sound decisions; you may just need help collecting and analyzing it
- Start Listening to Your Customers – they will tell you everything you need to know, by word or action, about how to serve them better
- Start Valuing Good Design – there’s a difference between a cheap logo, brochure or web site and a good one. Don’t know the difference? Your customers do, even if they can’t articulate it
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Start Thinking Big – don’t shrink your dreams to fit your situation; expand your situation beyond your dreams!
Heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson once said, “everyone has a plan ’til they get punched in the mouth!”
My punch-in-the-mouth day was last spring when my web developer informed me that one of the sites on the server was hacked (“hacking” is when programmers force their way into a web site’s code with malicious intent). This should have been no problem; they had detected it early and it was an isolated incident. I informed the client that we had everything under control, then I went about my day.
By the next morning, it was a full-scale disaster.
All of the sites on that server had been attacked by people on the other side of the world, bent on disrupting my life and livelihood and those of my clients. Even worse, they had changed the administrative passwords on all the sites, so we couldn’t even get in to fix them. My phone was ringing off the hook and I had no answers.
The next 4 months were a true test of patience, resolve, skill and faith. I’ve learned more about the technology behind web hosting and security than I ever wanted to know. It strained my client and vendor relationships, and cost me time and money. In fact, it made me question everything I thought I knew about myself and my ability to run a business. I had disappointed a lot of people, and I was devastated.
As it turns out, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. It exposed some key weaknesses in my business and forced me to address things that would have gone unaddressed until the next disaster.
Here are some of the important lessons I learned during the ordeal:
Deliver Bad News Early
As Donald Porter, V.P. of British Airways said, “Customers don’t expect you to be perfect.They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.” It’s a hard thing to do, especially when people are upset and resources are limited. It’s especially hard when you can’t give a definitive date or time when the problem will be solved. But if business were easy, everybody would do it!
Know What Business You’re In
I thought I was in the design business, but I quickly found out that I was also in the Web Security business as well, which is something I hadn’t previously considered. But taking on the responsibility of web maintenance also meant being held accountable for keeping the sites functioning and safe.
Trust and Verify
When something like this happens, the knee-jerk reaction is to assign blame and make heads roll. However, business relationships aren’t always that simple. To make the right decision, I needed to know whether my vendor was honest and competent, so I did my own research. The more I found out about the situation, the more I realized that firing everybody was not the answer. We developed a plan for recovery from the situation and held them accountable for their part. We also implemented several security protocols to prevent this problem from happening again. Ultimately, it led to a more transparent relationship and a clearer understanding of their capabilities.
Accept the Consequences
Once the damage is done, not all relationships can be repaired. Unfortunately, we lost some clients because of what happened and the impact it had on their operation. In those cases, we had no choice but to accept their decision, assist them with a graceful transition, and learn the lesson.
Frankly, there are a lot of things I wish had happened differently; but in the end, we were all able to keep a serious setback from completely derailing our business, and we will be in a better position when (not if) the next challenge occurs.
What major setback have you been able to overcome in your life and business? What lessons did you take away from it? What did you gain from the experience?
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