Sometimes you have to strike out a few times before you hit a home run even after several base hits (don’t worry, that’s all I’ve got for sports analogies).  For several years I’ve wanted to start my own marketing agency, but I’ve not had a situation where I could live with little or no income while I established myself and gained clients. I’m still not independently wealthy, but it might be time for me to strike it out on my own.

I like to help organizations find their voice and engage with their customers in meaningful ways.  I’ve done this as an employee for one company at a time and now I want to help smaller organizations create strategic marketing plans that create results.  I’m not sure what will happen, but I’m starting to put it out there.

Over the years, I’ve worked for very large and small brands and gained a lot of knowledge and experience in non-traditional and inexpensive ways to engage customers and increase sales, customer count and basket size depending on the industry and the products.  I’ve worked for consumer product manufacturers and multi-unit retail organizations.  Unfortunately, there isn’t one single silver bullet in marketing, but with laser focus you can create a plan that is cost effective and delivers good ROI.

I really believe I’ve honed my skills in grassroots marketing, ambassador programs, social media marketing and content created to connect with customers in non-traditional ways.  I don’t have all of the great ideas, but I am inspired by everyone on the team and their take and can create an idea off of collaborative conversations.

In this time of social media boom, you can definitely execute a marketing plan with very little budget and with bigger budgets you can really have some fun and customize your message to different customers.

Finding your voice as a company is very important, you want to make sure all of your communications to the outside world feel like your brand and what your brand represents.  In most cases you want your brand to sound approachable and inclusive and not corporate and stuffy.  You also want to balance your content with fun and informative engagement, you don’t want your content to be all selling all the time.  Most people will stop listening to you pretty quickly.

We live in a world where everyone is bombarded by marketing messages everyday, it’s my job to figure out a way to help your brand stand out from the crowd and create one on one relationships with your customers.  If you create personal connections with your customers, they will in turn feel part of your brand and part of your tribe.  More and more people will want to be a part of your brand and your products.  Those are the best customers, they will turn into brand advocates for you.