In the earlier stages of building a business or organization, meetings and networking become a big part of your day. You’re looking to spread the message of what you do and find people to help through services or volunteering. It’s been no different in my entrepreneurial journey. I’ve enjoyed many cups of coffee learning about other businesses in the Des Moines metro and sharing my passion for what I do. Although meetings usually go well when they are specifically interested in my marketing or other services, there are times where I start to see 1 of 3 reasons they probably won’t hire me anytime soon. And honestly, I’m usually glad they don’t because I wouldn’t want either of us to feel as though we made a bad business decision. Whether you are thinking of sitting down with myself or another marketer, make sure you have these reasons aren’t holding you back from moving forward.  

Your Budget    
In a previous blog, I talked about the importance of having marketing in your business’s budget. Before you consider sitting down with myself or any other marketer, make sure you have a monthly amount you’re ready to invest (and yes, you definitely want to see it as an investment, more on that below). More times than not, I’ll get the question “what do you charge?” Although I have a lovely price sheet I’m happy to share, I usually reply with another question, “What is your budget?” If you don’t have that answer, any of my prices will give you sticker shock. I’m always willing to talk through any size budget and see if we can’t find the best bang for your business buck, but it’s better to have a budget set first.  

Your Time
Time is a precious commodity. It’s why many of us choose to start our own businesses - so we can spend more time doing what we love or with those we love. When you start an organization, you spend most of your time helping it grow, including all the marketing and communication. If you’re still in the early stages where you have the time to post on social media, send out emails, or create flyers, then you may not be ready to hire it out, and that’s ok. When those tasks start to go into the late hours of the night or the weekend, that’s when it’s time to find someone like myself. My job is to help you grow while making sure you have time to focus on other parts of your business or more personal time. 

Your Understanding
Maybe you’ve heard how important it is to be marketing your business. Maybe people have asked why don’t you have any marketing materials. Maybe you’ve never really seen the importance of marketing but feel like it’s something you’re “supposed to do” as a business owner. If that’s your reasoning for sitting down with a marketer, I can tell you now the conversation probably won’t go well. Just like you know the importance of your products or service offerings, marketers feel the same about what they are offering you. My goal has always been to provide small businesses and non-profits with budget-friendly and high-quality marketing that helps them achieve their goals. If I’m being honest, not fully understanding the importance of marketing is the biggest reason I don’t want someone to hire me. I want them to trust me and value what I bring to the table. I truly want to provide the best service I can and want to create a working relationship, not just a contract. When starting with a new client, I become one of their biggest cheerleaders because if I can’t get behind what they are about, then the marketing won’t be effective. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good conversation over coffee or lunch especially since Des Moines has so many great local spots. I also know that making the most of the other person’s time is also important. If you’d like to get together over coffee and get to know more about my business while I do the same for yours, great! I’m always looking to expand my network and have great people to refer to. If you truly think you’re ready to take the steps towards hiring out your marketing (or daily tasks - see my Virtual Assistant page), then let’s get a meeting on the calendar. ​

​Should I wait months before I write another blog post? Probably not. Will it happen? As long as I’m helping my awesome clients (like you, hopefully!) keep their social media and other marketing flowing, most likely. If you’re feeling inconsistent as I do about my blogging and posting, it might be time to rethink your marketing strategy. Whether it’s scheduling out time every week or finding space in the budget to hire help, don’t let your marketing have big gaps or worse, go stagnant. I'd be happy to see how I can help!
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As much as I’d like to promise a blog soon, my schedule says otherwise and my clients (and bank account) are glad.

It happened - a customer ranted on a review website about your company and gave you the lowest rating possible. Maybe they started by saying "Don't waste your money" or "Worst company ever!!!!" even with the multiple exclamation points to really get the message across. You might think this is the beginning of the end - but I promise it's not IF it's handled properly.

In one of my past positions, it was one of my responsibilities to monitor their reviews on various platforms. What I found is most of the time, people jump the gun with their complaints because it's in the heat of the moment and it's part of a domino effect going on in their life that you get the brunt of it. But first, let me take a step back.

I know as a consumer, if I'm not sure of a service or product, I check the reviews and go straight to the bad ones. I want to see what their complaint was but furthermore, what the company did to answer and resolve it. Don't think reviews will be swept under the rug because they can come back to haunt you.

If you're not already looking at reviews of your company, it's time to start. Consumers' trust in brands and celebrities is very low and nowadays they depend on the opinions of their peers. Even if you've never created an account, certain websites like Yelp, BBB, Google+, and even Facebook might already have something in place for your business because a customer decided to leave a review. Your top priority is to go in and claim these listings so you can start to gain some control over what's being portrayed about your company.

Once you'd done this or if you've already created these accounts, you need to monitor them, at least once a week. When this was part of my job description, I tried to set aside about an hour or two a week to go through all our accounts. Even if it's all good reviews, it's important to be proactive. A simple "Thanks for choosing us!" or "We're glad we could help with ___" goes a long way.

Now for the bad reviews. No matter how infuriating they may seem, how much you want to retaliate, stop and take a breath. First, you may not have been the actual source of their rage, but you are the endpoint that gets dumped on. It's important to do a little research about the customer and what really happened. Did you do everything possible to help the customer? Was this written before a resolution was found? Are you ACTUALLY at fault? Here's how I handled negative reviews:

1. Research: I sat with our Customer Service Manager and reviewed the customer's order. I also talked to the Representative who worked with the customer to get their side of the story as well. Since we had recorded phone calls, I had the benefit of hearing the tone of voice on both ends as well as take away any "he said/she said" moments.
2. Break It Down: I took each bad review a piece at a time to specifically address each issue. A lot of times, no matter how long their review was, my response was longer. I did it in a respectful way and apologized when necessary.  
3. Second Look: Before I posted it, I had both the Manager and the Owner (small company) look it over to make sure it covered all the issues and answered them properly and completely. If you're the top dog or a one-person show, it's still good to have another set of eyes (and perspective) look over your response. 

The best message to get across is that you did everything you could, you're continuing to work on the issue to find a proper resolution, apologize for dropping the ball if needed, and let them know how you're fixing it.

This might seem like a lot of work for one customer, but it's always worth it. Other customers will see that you are aware of what's going on in your company and want to make it right. No matter how bad the review, a great response can take that negative into a positive - and I've seen customers gained BECAUSE of a well-written response to a bad review!

A great resource for how to handle complaints is a book by Jay Baer called "Hug Your Haters." I highly recommend giving it a read.

If you read this and feel overwhelmed at the idea of adding another thing to do to your list, get in touch with me. I'd be happy to offer my services and experience!

When it comes to a freelancer, it’s important to have good communication on how you will set up payments. Make sure to ask what form of payment they prefer, but make sure it’s one you’re also comfortable with. Some may ask for a partial or whole fee up front, especially when starting out. If they have a contract (like any good freelancer should) make sure you understand the payment terms, including late fees. For instance, I charge all my clients through my Quickbooks program on the first of the month, with payment due in 10 business days. I make sure this is in my contract as well as communicated elsewhere to my clients so we are on the same page. If you’re having them produce Google ads, social media ads, and other types of advertising, make sure you’ve established how that will be paid for. Will the freelancer cover it and bill you for it or will you handle those fees directly? If they cover the cost, you can always ask for receipts for your tax purposes. 

If you’re hiring someone to do your marketing, it’s important to make sure you’re paying them a good rate. If you’re not sure what that looks like, there a few different websites that can help, like PayScale and Salary.com. Make sure their salary isn’t the whole marketing budget either - they need to know they have a budget to work with. There’s only so much you can do for free, and if you want them to produce great marketing, they’re going to need good resources. 

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Ultimately, if you don’t see the true value of marketing for your small business or non-profit, some of the numbers you come across may be hard to swallow. There will also be instances where it’s hard to show the true ROI - customers may take up to 12 touchpoints before they step foot in your business or call your number. It can also take up to 3 months to start to see results from website changes, social media campaign, or other digital marketing efforts. When you go in with the right expectations, whether DIY, hire, or freelance, you’ll see more success in your marketing efforts. Here’s to seeing your business/organization grow! 

Want to chat with me about how I could help your business? Drop me an email!

Social media scheduling tools are great.

You can plan a whole campaign in one day, and make adjustments when needed. It's like you never need to check the actual accounts. Then, you noticed you're losing a few followers, even though you're posts are getting shared, liked, and commented on. These few lost followers might not seem like much, but maybe you need to think about checking your notifications on the accounts. In fact, Microsoft reported that 74% of millennials perception improves for a company when they get a response through social media.  

As a one-person marketing team, I understand being pressed for time. Certain things take priority. Especially in a service industry, social media needs to start being one of them. Although I've used Hootsuite and currently use Buffer, I still make it appoint to check each channel individually. I look for comments, private messages, sharing, and even likes. It never takes long, so I check 2-3 times a day. Giving the time to say "thanks for sharing!" or replying to a comment helps continue to build on your high-quality customer service. Although I never directly work with the customers, I want to make sure that they know they can reach the company whether it's in a phone call or private message.  

One pet peeve I have as a consumer, who is also a marketing professional, is when a company asks you to tag them or use a special hashtag for a promotion or campaign then does nothing with it. If you ask your followers to do something specific and they take time to do it, please acknowledge them for it! A quick like or comment could mean the difference between brand loyalty or changing their perspective of your company.

Keep the engagement going - after all, it is called "social" media so be social! Think of it as one more outlet for customer service, positively advancing your customers' experience with your company and building a great reputation. 

Don't have time to schedule and monitor your business social media accounts? Let's chat!