Extremely frugal. Thrifty. Cash
conservative. These adjectives clearly describe the management and
owners of the companies who hire me.
When I kid my bosses about their cautious spending, they smile
since they know it's a compliment. Their companies are solid,
stable and the banks are knocking down their doors to lend,
especially in these tough economic times.
So why do they endure that monthly separation of incredibly hard
earned, bottom line, net profit to me? Because I'm the one who
makes all those things that you said we (as a company) should do,
but never accomplished, happen. I work with many companies, just
like yours, to assist them with the projects that are critical to
their future growth and profitability. Projects, which until I
came along, were put on the back burner waiting for the resources
to implement them.
So the next question of the frugal minded (my perfect) boss is,
“if we didn't have the resources to implement these projects in
the past, why would we have the resources to implement them
today?” The answer is quite simple – experience. I spent the last
fourteen years of my marketing career mastering the shoestring
budget. Which in retrospect, I think should be renamed the dental
floss budget.
This began early in my career when I realized that agencies, ad
agencies and P.R. agencies, were over-priced and over-rated. With
the majority of agencies, 80% to 90% of what you pay covers
expensive offices, office-staff, account managers, and don't
forget the salaries of the principals. Less than 20% of their
outrageous hourly rate goes to the creative talent that actually
works on your project.
As if the hourly rate wasn't high enough to begin with, all those
other layers, particularly account managers, get in the way of you
dealing directly with the person that puts the project together.
The account manager becomes a communication buffer driving up the
number of hours and ultimately the cost associated with each
project.
Working with agencies, I found, was the fastest way to exhaust my
already thin budget and have little to show for it. Don't get me
wrong, there is a place for agencies if you're Coke, Pepsi or Al
Gore attempting to sway public opinion. But when it comes to
industrial products and services, I just needed great marketing
tools that attracted attention and pre-sold the customer.
It didn't take long for me to discover and develop my own
creativity along with techniques and methods to cut the steps and
time to completion to a fraction. I quickly learned graphic
design, web design, and how to produce interactive CDs and
presentations. Now you may be skeptical of an analytical marketing
person who can access both the left and right sides of her gray
matter, so please allow me to present an example of my work.
Please visit the last website that I developed
www.brookfieldwire.com. I designed and launched the entire site
including placement on Internet search engines for less than 20%
of what an agency quoted.
My next step, in stretching a slim budget, is to identify all the
ways in which a product, service or technology can be promoted for
FREE. This involves a complex web of media relations and news
releases, e-mail, internet, tag-a-long direct mail, presenting
papers at industry tradeshows and conferences, referral programs
and good Ol' fashioned word of mouth.
On projects that go beyond my capabilities, I hire freelancers,
the same creative talent that the agencies use, without the
overhead. My overhead, by the way, is my home, which I share with
my husband, Greg, and two children. Greg is a free-lance plastic
product designer and will probably answer the phone if you call.
If you are the right boss for me, you've read this far because you
are concerned about future profitability or maybe you're just
enjoying my writing style. But, at the back of your mind, you're
thinking about your current team. You already have a marketing
manager, marketing department, or sales and marketing manager. By
adding me to you staff are your implying that they are not doing
their job? Do not view me as a marketing manager. I am a highly
experienced freelancer that your current staff can use to
accomplish the goals that you want to achieve. I am their ultimate
resource.
Interested?
If you have a product or service for which you would like to
generate activity, I would welcome the opportunity to meet with
you and your staff. After gaining an understanding of what you
would like to accomplish, I can present my portfolio of successful
programs that I have launched for other clients.
|
|
Economical
Website Design
Akron, Canton, Cleveland, OH
I work out of my home keeping my overhead to a minimum providing
economical website design that maximizes lead generation.
If you currently have a website and are looking to lower your
monthly expenses for website hosting, website maintenance, search
engine optimization or general updates, call me. I typically cut
my client's monthly web fees in half. |
Marketing on a
Shoestring? |
