In 1998, I worked as the internal communications manager at the Starbucks Support Center in Seattle. It was time for me to move on, when one day former co-workers from a magazine publishing house called to invite me to lunch. One was now the marketing director for a large medical center; the other the communications director. Over burgers and beer, they offered me a job as a consultant on a new web site they were developing that was going to be content heavy and patient-directed instead of inward-looking.


Serendipity happens. I threw out a number that seemed high. Without blinking they replied, "When can you start?"
Within two weeks I was writing, editing and recommending content as well as sitting in meetings discussing and developing the marketing and communications launch plans. Lewis Green Communications was born. Having lived and worked in Seattle for 15 years, word quickly spread. The phone rang. Soon I had both local and international clients. Growing a business is easy, I concluded. What's all this talk about how hard it is to get clients? Lesson learned: Sell value, not price or products and services. And start a business of a foundation of being well-known.
In 2003, a Connecticut client offered me a job as their VP of Marketing. Their company was struggling and needed lots of help. Because I grew up in New England and wanted to return, I took the job. Lewis Green Communications went away and I had an office with a door.
But not for long. In six months, the company laid off its entire staff, including me, and merged with another business.
Okay. No big deal. I founded a spin off of my earlier communications firm and called it L&G Business Solutions. We offered both internal and external communications, web site design and content development, and added direct marketing. After I started, failed and restarted using social media tools, we added social media and social networking to the mix. Seemed like the perfect mix for potential clients. Oops! Here comes reality to slap me in the face. Lesson Learned: Only offer services that your firm uses successfully.
Launching and growing a business in a region where no one knows your name is tough. It took four years turn the corner onto profitability avenue and then the economy went south. So far south that like other consultants, we are struggling to pay the fare to reach our destination.
Although we get good results for our clients and always succeed in growing their customer base, we can't afford to take our own advice. Cash flow is positive but can we risk spending it on marketing? And during the heavy discussions that followed, I re-read some of my blogs, thought papers and client marketing plans when it struck me: My clients hire us because we guaranty ROI. And we encourage all businesses to increase marketing during difficult times, but decrease spending on tools that don't deliver immediate results. We talk and write about growing businesses in difficult times. Time to step up and do the same for my business. Lesson learned: Take your own advice.
In January, we will launch a direct marketing campaign, aimed narrowly at 1,000 businesses located in six counties in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Every person identified on the marketing list is the key decision maker and every business represents the profile of our ideal client. Why is that important? Because marketing works best when it is narrowly targeted and segmented based on a business's ideal client or most valuable customer. Lesson Learned: Before doing any marketing, know specifically what your best client or customer looks like.
Why did we choose direct marketing to grow new business? We know based on research and experience that direct marketing delivers the highest return on investment relevant to other marketing tools, and that a well-planned campaign takes as little as three months to launch and complete. And when done correctly, ROI will be 10% or higher. (We have seen ROI as high as 25% during good economic times.) So for us, this is about quick growth and short-term results, melded within a long-term strategy that employs web site content, social media, social networking, published works and speaking appearances. Lesson learned: When things are tight, marketing is necessary. Grow or perish. The best strategy combines short-term and long-term tactics within an integrated marketing plan.
Building our own business is not as easy as building a client's business because it requires our own money and taking our own risks. But by spending our reserves and taking calculated risks, we become better marketing consultants because we experience the reluctance to spend and the worry over ROI that our clients feel. There is nothing better than empathy to make us understand our client's wants and needs as well as their concerns. Lesson Learned: Don't recommend anything that we don't do and whatever we recommend be sure that during these times costs and ROI are the key considerations.
Questions: What are you doing as a consultant or as a marketing person within a company to grow new customers? What works, what doesn't? What would you recommend for your own business, if you hired yourself as a consultant?
Author's Note: For those who may wonder what a successful marketing campaign looks like, at least in our eyes, it includes: two mailings, the first primarily offers content that explains why marketing is necessary during these times and tells stories about how L&G can make it happen; the second contains a reminder that waiting to pull the trigger on hiring a marketing firm is dangerous.
The mailings are combined with a carefully constructed public relations effort focused on our clients' successes and increased exposure through more presentations and speaking engagements. It also includes more guest blogging, increased social networking and face-to-face networking and a new book on the horizon. When possible, it includes telemarketing, which will increase response rates by at least 10%. Telemarketing also increases the costs of the campaign by a minimum of 100%. ROI will cover the increase, but if one needs to borrow to afford the telemarketing, pros and cons must be weighed carefully.