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Marketing Eye Small Business Marketing Articles
The Delicate Relationship we Develop with Our Employees
Feb 19, 2015 Written by Marketing Eye Dallas
As I made a personal call to each employee this week, I was pleasantly surprised by their reaction. Most were not disappointed that I was selling as they saw this as a natural progression in my career. They were disappointed that they would no longer be working for me. This made me think, what did I do right that made them feel this way, and can I do it again as I build a new staff at my next business.
Next week I will be 44. I don't feel old. I feel mentally sharp and physically fit. I juggle many things as a business owner, a mom a weekend athlete ( I just ran a half marathon two months ago). I just don't feel old. I have spent 15 years in corporate, owned and grown a business, beginning a new business. I feel I am finally hitting my stride in my career and can be seen as an expert in my field.
When they had finished, I paused.
They had reached a certain level, but couldn't quite make it to the next stage. In this case, ambition was greater than their ability to deliver upon their goals. The business person couldn't quite figure out what was holding them back.
But I could.
Dallas' Texas Instruments Inc, has leveraged the fast moving world of technology, focusing on innovation as the key ingredient to the company's growth.
Last year Texas Instruments launched new technology that sends vibrations from a smartphone to a smart watch when an email comes in. They have also developed a switch-controlled outdoor shower that uses little water and a talking toilet.
The things I didn't account for often became the biggest hurdles that I had to overcome. You soon realize when you expand internationally how little you really know about a place and the inherent differences that at times can make or break you.
When writing my business plan 9 years ago, I took many things into account like how the business would look in 10 years time, who we would employ, what services we would provide, and how we would expand into new markets.
But what I didn't take into account is how I would actually make it happen. You see, like many entrepreneurs, I have struggled with working in the business and trying to at the same time work "on" the business - never quite getting the mix right.
At long last, since I made some smart strategic business moves last year, including changing management, I have become the entrepreneur I always wanted to be. I am implementing our business plan that was written so long ago, and it feels really good. There is a sense of satisfaction that is growing deep inside me and I believe in every single thing that we are doing.
When I started Marketing Eye more than 9 years ago, I had a vision to be the world's best small business marketing firm. I dreamt that I would open offices all over the world that would sell marketing services backed by sophisticated technology platforms, media and education, to businesses that had revenues of $1 million to $200 million.
Primarily, the companies that would be ideal clients were one's that were entrepreneur-led, like me, and who had a dream to significantly grow their businesses and mostly be industry game-changers - although the latter wasn't exactly necessary.
In the early days, we had hurdles. The first was our own mind-set of being use to working with funded startups or medium to large corporations and shifting the way we interacted, engaged and nurtured our clients to success to cater for burgeoning SMB market.
It took time. More time than I ever imagined.
"Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations." —Peter Drucker
If you look at Steve Jobs and his role as a leader and marketer at Apple Inc., it's easy to see how the two roles work closely together. Without marketing, no-one would be any the wiser about Steve Jobs role at Apple Inc nor would we have had the opportunity to be captivated by his performances each time he launched a new product. Instead, we would simply wait for a product to be on the shelves and without all the "sizzle" we probably would never have been as enticed to stand in line and buy each product the minute it was launched.
Some leaders fail to see the value in marketing, and although they may have a role in the organisation that is responsible for certain outcomes, they may see it more as a sales related function which is why it often falls under this umbrella.
Smart, insightful, charismatic, thought leaders understand the value of marketing. They use it and often abuse it to become leaders that everyone follows. Rather than focus solely on a product or service marketing campaign, they use it to elevate their position in the market with a double edge sword, by at the same time ensuring that the company brand and positioning benefits from association.
3 Ways Leaders Use Marketing
I am continually amazed by the number of professional services, technology, manufacturing and logistics companies that fail to see the value in communicating via social media.
The question I pose to you is "how did you find this blog?" and "how do you now know the Marketing Eye brand?"
I know the answer - do you?
It was 8pm at night and as we boarded the plane at La Guardia Airport in New York, Maikayla (#24yrold), our 24 year old President of US Operations, started a conversation about the things we are not doing as a business to get clients.
Marketing Eye has gone from startup to multi-million dollar company in over a year of operations. The company provides SMB's with an ability to have a qualified outsourced marketing department for an investment that any business that has opened their doors can afford.
The goal post has changed from the original business plan of 1,000 clients over 5 years. Our sales targets have been moved by 2 years and now the entire team is in a spin working out how they will achieve this goal in 3 years.
It's an ambitious task, but one that is doable and if something is too easy, then it won't be as rewarding. Stretching ourselves and pushing limits, dreaming big and opening doors, is something that will keep everyone in the game.
Maikayla's thoughts:
Another weekend has just passed, and we went over the same old topic that keeps popping up; what do we want out of life and why do we do the things we do.
We read theories about entrepreneurs and what makes them tick; money, competition and passion. It's like a broken record that keeps on repeating itself. I for one wish that someone would come out with something a little different. Some piece of inspiration that is going to make me stop in my tracks and go "yeah!".
I am not an over-the-top passionate person - or at least that is my self-reflection. While I get up early each morning and race to the office, with a coffee and croissant from my local cafe on the way, its more a sign of routine than anything more "entrepreneurial". Meld that in with organized and fluent chaos, and big ideas followed by what seems like an endless stream of tactical plans - then you have me in one.
What I do have though is dreams - lots of them! In every aspect of life, I dream and its these dreams that push me to keep going day after day. But that still isn't getting to the route of things and the more I realize it - the more I see things from a different perspective.
The first point being that no two entrepreneurs are the same. We are all dealing with our own set of influencers and motivators that make us who we are. Just like no two people are the same and let's face it; what makes us different makes us beautiful.
It's been quite a roller-coaster of a year already and its only 7 weeks in. I am already exhausted. Everything imaginable has happened to me this year, but somehow exhilarated at the same time.
There have been so many changes; life, business and game. I feel like I have lived through so much, yet there is still so much more that I want to achieve.
Yesterday, I had the privilege of spending half an hour with a young entrepreneur by the name of Kylie Marie. She is inspiring, ambitious, energetic and ready to take on the world. I now know why older people liked spending time with me when I was new to business, because that energy is contagious. I couldn't help but smile and be totally inspired by what Kylie is doing and her fearlessness in business. Her brow bars, Browco Brow Bar, will be everywhere in the next year or so, along with her eyebrow products that are to die for.
The other day, a few of us from the Marketing Eye team were at a client meeting and they mentioned that they buy all of their employees an ipad for Christmas.
You should have seen my employees faces! They were green with envy. It was as if they had all been given ferraris.
I thought to myself, "that's really cool" but not for a second did I think that they received something worth more than what my employees in Atlanta received. Perception is an unbelievable thing and more and more, companies are being encouraged to "buy" their employees happiness.
Many new age companies, with venture-backed operations offer:
When a business starts a new calendar year with have a business strategy in place, supported by a sales and marketing plan - CEO's expect results.
But what if the results are not forthcoming? What if key people have read the strategy yet are not "making it happen"? As we near the end of January, many companies are realizing that targets are not being met, and while some may scratch their heads, the real leaders are taking action.
