A Reflection on the talent and skills needed to become an Entrepreneur in Marketing.
You Can Do It
I have arrived at my 10 year anniversary (2015) since launching my consulting business. A decade. Throughout this time I have had the ups and downs of most business owners. The high of earning a new client, and the low of a long term client changing direction. These are the growing pains of business. But I am still here. Still going. The majority of small business in the U.S. fail within the first 2 years. Over 80% fail within the first 5 years.
In one of my favorite pod-casts “The Art of Charm” a recent author cited my favorite - optimistic stat - that 30% more of business’ succeed when they take the time to plan, and stay gainfully employed (not worrying about income) while formulating and planning on launching their business. Examples include the woman who started the “Spanx” women’s body shape wear empire. She perfected her product over 2 years before launching. If she had gone to market with the imperfect first prototype she wouldn’t be successful today. Instead patience, time, and planning helped shape the perfect product.
"Marketing is made up of the ability to understand the client needs and
be the bridge to access
my industry with how to complete the tasks and execute them quickly and efficiently."
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My consulting business did start with a vision. The one you hear all the time. One day I will... start my own business. At the time of the idea, I was not employed in the traditional sense. I chose to put my corporate career leading marketing initiatives on hold and started my motherhood apprenticeship. I began raising kids. Three of them. My husband and I had a whole plan in place: how long I would stay home, the experience our kids would have, reading everyday to the kids amongst the chaos of childhood. . .
Original post date 2015. The Docstoc and Scribd stores have since closed. See me new e-commerce store and website at JoanneKleeMarketing.com
And all that did happen. My “gainful employment” was motherhood. But you never really get away from what you love to do. How can I make money doing what I love? How Can I start a Business?
The Making of An Entrepreneur Business Owner
Being able to start a business takes gusto, ideas and desire. But I would add to the list talent and training. Talent, contrary to popular belief is not always innate. The basics like the love of design or ability to draw well is only the beginning. The rest of the talent journey is indeed training. Gaining training in what you love will make you talented in your field. I would add that training in variety of fields and subjects also makes you diverse enough to serve a variety of clients. I always encourage interns and business freelancers to of course pursue what you love but learning about it builds on that natural talent.
Adding Flavor to your Business
In Marketing a wide variety of interests will make you incredibly well versed to serve you clients business industries. These are not required, but your personal interests add a unique flavor to the work you do. Interests include skills sets you have. The usual culprit example is graphic design - or the passion to draw and create. But I would argue these are talents. The skill is in the computer application and the learned elements.
What you draw, how you approach color, how you see the words and typography is the intersection of your talent and your craft.
"Add in the Business Management layer and you get the skills needed to run a business."
Business Skills Needed for Business
As a small business owner, and very specifically a marketer, you will need to have skills in the following areas:
- Basic Business Management
- Basic Accounting/Bookkeeping
See below for more on the why we needs these skills.
Business Interests that ADD VALUE to your Business
Now let's add the specific flavor to your business expertise. It is the same way a chef will search for ingredients that develop flavor, texture, and smells and colors to make THEIR cuisine unique. Your talents and interests add value to your clients and help Sell You. Your approach, your style, your unique perspective on the project.
My personal interests include:
- Color & Design Techniques
- Basic Psychology & Sociology
Some of the skills noted above are obvious right? Business English and the required writing skills for all those memos and marketing plans, emails to clients and if you are in advertising: typos, words phrases, inference, and let alone basic grammar - all count. Business Math to add it all up, word processing and databases for all our checklists and communications, and typing effectively, etc.
The Art of Business Communication
I would add Communication and Journalism since these type of skills teach you the art of business interaction. Many times it is not "what you say" but "how you say it." From person-to-person interactions to presenting in front of an audience or small group meeting at a table, this skill set helps you add value and feel comfortable in these scenarios.
Journalism helps you "keep it business." Journalism is a filter.
The art of researching whats needed for the task can bring out emotions as an employee. How are we impacting clients, how will we approach the negative market conditions, how will I tell my boss his idea is missing value? All these are legitimate business scenarios I have faced in my career. And one of the secrets to managing "keeping to the point" and not allowing the emotions in is to KEEP IT BUSINESS. Journalism helps you look at your work and remove the pieces that don't fit in the business aspects. It helps your work stay on point and clear in message.
So YES! Encourage your child to take theatre along side their business courses. Want good speakers in their office, then speaking and stage skills add tremendous value.
Why Art History: to understand the evolution of design and why certain elements work (and those that don’t). When you create, beyond the inspiration needed for new designs and approaches to an invitation, web design, and in your advertisement, it is important to have a grasp of the things that have worked and those that failed. Color and Design theory fall into the former. Art history lends itself into trend and staying on pulse with the industry. However the trend piece - I would argue - is easier than the history. Knowing the evolution of the industry lends to excellence.
Photography is HUGE in it's added value. You might have an image in mind, but you need to be able to understand how the audience “sees” that image (perception is reality), how are they approaching it, and how will your final image look on the page (the media/vehicle) you select. There are the photography concepts that work, and those that don’t. Most importantly is knowing the difference!
"I am not saying Branding is Marketing Religion, but it does relate." - Joanne
World Religion? Psychology? Sociology? Similarly to Art History, understanding of people and how we think is critical to Marketing the end product. Regardless of your religious views, if you are a Marketer you at least need to have a working knowledge of Historical Context on Religion, your target markets populations, and this will always help you with what not to do. Understanding the rich symbolism of secular and non-secular symbols. These play a role in our day to day lives and, as with Art and Photography, we have to understand when and how symbols take on a life of their own, a meaning of their own. Does this sound like branding? I am not saying Branding is Marketing Religion, but it does relate…. marketers and advertisers design symbols that take on their own meanings and evolve into an emotional recognition amongst customers and the public. That is branding. I guess it is our artistic religion.
Psychology and Sociology. Psychology is a good course to take in College for sanity sake. If you need to get thru life with perspective (which you do) take a psychology course. It will help you understand your parents, your neighbors, your partners in life AND business. It will save you arguments and grant you perspective. Trust me. It helps you gain trust with clients by gaining insights into how they think.
Sociology is another variable in psychology on our role as a group. Sociology is more of our society function and where we, you and I, fit into the puzzle. If you are marketing in Chicago versus Paw Paw Michigan, you better understand the sociology of that area and the demographics. How people relate will play a role in your campaign. If you are trying to drive traffic, the target markets actions are vital to your success.
As marketers we are researching all the time how people act, functions in their day to day lives. Data is being collected on us all the time in our rewards programs, grocery store membership cards and discount programs. This data tells us a story of the consumer, and we are developing new and exciting ways to market. But contrary to popular urban legend, the process of consumer habit changes is slow. You have to really live what the people do to understand them. Some sociology gives you this perspective.
Learn Something New Everyday
Lastly, your training never ends. Within all business industries are new trends. And new ways of doing business. The balance of this article covers briefly the value your skills and interests add to your business. Another - stay relevant key - is how "paying attention" allows you to keep the pulse of the industry, and stay on track with your industry.
Gaining Perspective
Successful business ownership, as I mentioned earlier, takes planning and commitment to developing a product. But you need the know how to make that product.
We humans are selfish. So selfish that we often think once we make our product, we are done. How often have customers said "I made it, we fixed the bugs, let's get our ads together." Nope.
I live by the phrase “I am on the outside looking in." For example: Consider when you are 'in' a situation, and imaging everything taking place in a box. I am outside your box, I have taken the lid off it and I am looking in.” Can you look into your product box? Do you see it from the outside?
Not as the product creator (see Branding as a Religion message connotation above) but as the user? As the voyeur? With a critical eye? As your customer would? Not only is it difficult to look outside yourself, but this is why we need the “outside the box” training of a variety of subjects AND interests to be successful. So we can be outside the box, and look in from a variety of perspectives.
Staying Relevant in Marketing and Industry Pulse - The History
Demographics and Consumer Behaviors
When I launched (was pushed into) my entrepreneurial business I was already a long time blog enthusiast. Almost like a voyeur with permission, I was reading about people's activities, their daily lives and their business growth and planning. When I started I would read blogs about collecting kids trinkets in an organized manner, about mothers struggles with children’s illnesses, mother's coping with the stress that is Motherhood. And, alongside my nursing boredom moments, I would keep on soaking up news with in Marketing, new logo trends, new advertising vehicles, successes and failures of businesses, and on and on because I just love the industry. And I am hooked on learning, like a junkie.
"I nurtured my content writing and kept exercising my creative copy writing muscle." - Joanne
Finally I started blogging mommy stuff. Researching stuff. When needing to get sleep and understand the rhythm of a babies daily routine, I researched it. That became a blog post, or 2, or 5. I researched tips, tricks, advice for new mothers. I wrote poems to nurture my emotional soul, and wrote uplifting advice to myself to get out of the waterfall of tears from mothering exhaustion. I also came across scores of bloggers who sold products online. I nurtured my content writing and kept exercising my creative copy writing muscle.
Employees who work 24 / 7
The internet is a 24/7 employee who is selling for you all day long 7 days a week - and not requiring time off for holidays or sick days. It is the ultimate sales tool. And several mommy bloggers claim hundreds and thousands of dollars of monthly income off their blogging.
While I am a consumer, I am not openly accepting of products and their advertisements. I catch myself getting sucked into reading a product plug. I have a critical eye. I research and comparison shop (obsessively) and read reviews to help drive my decision making. Baby bottles with “natural airways” to help with baby gas. New Sippy cups that promise no spills, but do spill… a lot. Ideas to manage the keepsakes of my sons childhood, and now all 3 kids memories. I apply this obsession to my business.
Facebook 2016 is very different from Facebook 2004.
I remember when Facebook Launched. I read articles and articles on the social media frenzy and the impact it would have on our lives. Bloggers wrote loads of articles on Facebook as a resource for getting their posts circulating amongst friends. As the advertisers who quickly jumped onboard with “banner ads” in the early newsfeed days.
"Each of these personal interests in Facebook and Twitter, was basically future research for todays business sense."
Then twitter two years later, early on being used as the “news source” with the #hashtag feature. Twitter was an excellent way of quickly getting the news fix without having to invest time into searching for articles and content.
Each of these personal interests, was basically future research for todays business sense. A consumer behavior. Granted my own behavior which allowed me to learn and stay in tune with marketing trends. Facebook notes, boosted posts, ads, and the almighty algorithm. I kept in touch with the evolution of these trends and I understand them as a marketing tool.
While Facebook and Twitter are two newer advertising vehicles, the old means of advertising didn’t change. Direct mail is still used, email marketing, survey’s in person and online, customer service resolutions, billboards, magazine ads, sponsorships and events - all the other ways we are used to getting messages. I kept experiencing the new (I’d argue the best way to learn) while having delivered on the traditional.
I started my DocStoc and Scribd document digital store fronts which has become my 24/7 employee. We have reached over 104,000 views by 2016 in Marketing and Event templates and forms for public purchase. And a successful 900% increase in social media related campaigns in 1 year. Alongside launching Twitter and Facebook pages to stay in touch with customers in the way they want to be communicated with.
Business Entrepreneur: MISSION POSSIBLE
Today managing a social media campaign for clients is possible. Using my Marketing Career background and aligning it with the new trends made business: MISSION POSSIBLE. Writing articles for clients or a content piece is possible. Gathering demographic data on a product and revitalizing a companies image is possible. Staying on trend with the industry and understanding the best vehicle to Market a product or business is critical to success. And using dynamic images that say so much is possible.
"Stay in touch with customers in the way they want to be communicated with." - Joanne
“Can you Help Us?”
A BUSINESS OWNERS DECISION
There are those moments in life when you have to take a chance. You will be given a chance to make an offer, help a friend, start something new and you have to decide - will I do it?
Multiply those questions with the pressure of delivering on what you promise. And that's is a big part of being a business owner. Delivery on what you promise, with quality and timeliness.
My first phone call came in. A former work associate was on a non-profit planning committee for a 400 person gala and their event planner walked of the job (taking another position in a company) 3 weeks before the event. “Can You Help Us?”
Delivery: On the promised product you already know how to make it.
Quality: Do your job exceptionally well.
Timeliness: Deliver quickly.
Within my world, Marketing is made up of the ability to understand the client need and bridge access to the industry with how to complete the tasks and execute them quickly and efficiently. Add in the Business Management layer and you get the skills needed to run a business.
The Entrepreneur Business Ownership Questions that Come Up
- How to research and target your market?
- What does a Marketing planning consist of?
- Contracts, fees & negotiations?
- Selecting Quality Vendors ?
- Networking - How to make it work for you ?
- Professional Organizations ?
- Trends - The Latest & Greatest ?
- The Information Superhighway- How to use it to your best advantage ?
So I mentioned the first phone call that came in.... “Can You Help Us?”
That was the decision moment. And a business was born.
Original post date 2015. The Docstoc and Scribd stores have since closed. See me new e-commerce store and website at JoanneKleeMarketing.com
