We're a non-profit niche social networking company serving a minority group. We are have a volunteer working on marketing our pending web social network app, however as CEO, I'm looking forward to hire an expert in web marketing tactics mainly to help make our launch a successful one.
The main role of the person is with helping us plan with our marketing strategies as well as helping us implement them. We are very hard pressed with resources, what's the best way to hire one which we can afford, at say a rate of $10/hr or even less. I really do not have trust in freelance websites because of the poor quality I've received from them so far.
I don't even know how to answer this.
Do you know what the difference between McDonalds and the local burger joint that is filing for bankruptcy is?
It's marketing.
McDonalds is worth billions of dollars not because of the quality of their food, but because of their marketing.
Marketing is not an expense. A janitor is an expense. Your computer is an expense. Marketing is an INVESTMENT.
Would you shop around for the cheapest heart surgeon? Of course not. Because you would likely end up dead.
Why, then, do you shop around for a marketing expert? Are you ok with your company going bankrupt? Is that worth the small savings to you?
No. Of course not.
Hire someone who is good at marketing. Hire someone who knows what they are doing. Buy yourself a Lamborghini with your profit the first quarter. Get a beach house in hawaii. Grab a yacht.
Or, try to find your business the cheapest heart surgeon you can and then spend the next five years wondering why such a solid business idea failed in the first 6 months.
I'm passionate about this exact topic because all those statistics you read about "70% of businesses failing in two years" are solely because of horrible marketing.
What a great question!
Nonprofits are always hard-pressed with resources - I understand your pain! It's rough when you're doing good work and desperately need the help of qualified marketing professionals...but barely have the funding to bring in a totally unqualified college student...or worse, an intern.
When it comes to looking at freelancers, you're right - it is difficult to decide which ones are qualified, much less trustworthy. And if you go to a site like eLance or Odesk, all too often the quality is low (as you've already experienced) or there is a language barrier that cannot be resolved.
However, your budget isn't quite as bad as it seems. As others have calculated, assuming a 40-hour workweek, you're looking at $400/week, $1600/month.
I'd recommend that you avoid hiring someone on a full-time basis, at least for now, and instead look at how you can make best use of that $1600. It might take a bit of time, but it would be well worth the investment to ensure that you have a solid marketing plan - ultimately if you have a strong marketing plan, that is what will help you with funding development, and may eventually yield enough funding to cover a more qualified employee.
For example, in the first month or two, you could hire an outside marketing consultant for a few hours to work with you to develop a plan. In another month, you might have the consultant train a staff member to implement some of the simpler strategies the consultant has recommended. In another month or two, you could have a new web site built (if that's needed). There are so many ways to wisely utilize the resources you have available that I think it would be better put to use with a good consultant who can guide you and help train your staff in the implementation strategies.
Some consultants may be willing to extend a discount on their regular rates for non-profits, especially if your cause speaks to them personally.
I would be more than happy to talk through some of these options with you and let you know how we can help, if it turns out to be a good fit on both sides.
As the others mentioned, marketing on a tight budget can be very challenging. But I have had success with tighter budgets than yours. Here's what I would consider.
1) Assuming a 40 hour week, you're budgeting $400/week, $1600/month. Rather than bring in a $10/hr level marketer, bring in a higher quality marketer for more pay and less hours. You would be amazed at what an experienced marketer can do in just a handful of hours.
2) Shift your expectations slightly from "strategy and implementing" to only "strategy". For a $50 Clarity call, you can get a strategist to get you started in the right direction. If you build a relationship with the strategist, you can check back in whenever you need the guidance.
3) Look at existing tools that you can leverage to help with implementation. Inbound marketing tools will help you establish a strong presence for relatively less effort. A Clarity expert can point out a few tools based on your requirements.
4) Lean on partner resources as much as you can. Sponsor content on their blogs. Contribute at their conferences. Leverage their existing channels and marketing resources to get your company out to a larger audience. This is one of the most cost effective steps you can take.
5) Find a way to open up more money for marketing in the future. You can have the best product or service in the world, but if no one knows about it, then what's the point?
I know you are looking to bring in a great marketing talent right now, but you might have to scratch and claw your way for a little while. I would strongly recommend getting on a call with a Clarity expert to discuss your requirements in more detail. They will save you a lot of time, money, and frustration in the long run.
If you would like to chat more, I'm here to help! Otherwise, give one of these fine experts who responded a chance.
Keep hustling!
To be perfectly honest, you're likely going to have a tough time hiring an expert with such limited budget. However, you might consider:
- trying a different freelance site (oDesk & elance are 2 of the more trusted ones) and be strict in vetting the freelancers - read reviews, ask for work samples, etc.
- hiring an intern from a university with a strong marketing program
- consuming the very extensive amount of free online content about marketing strategy, optimization, channel growth, etc. Check out HubSpot's free resources: library.hubspot.com
- putting 1-2 days' worth of that hourly budget toward a Clarity call with an expert who can give you guidance on your marketing strategy
If you'd like to go with the last option, let me know and I'd be happy to hop on a call & help out.
Best of luck!
$10 per hour might be enough for a college sophomore's part-time job. But as soon as that person graduates, they ought to jump ship because they'd never be able to live off of $80 per day -- let alone pay back $120,000 in tuition.
Honestly, that's not enough to hire anybody with relevant experience.
As a non-profit, you *may* qualify for Google grants which gets you $10,000.00 per month in free online advertising in the Google AdWords program. Not to be sniffed at. You may not even be able to spend it all.
If you do qualify, then find someone who can spend that money wisely for you who is interested in your cause and will likely work pro bono, and show you the return it gets you in a defined metric, like donations received or whatever.
If you're really smart about this you'll also get that party to commit to mentor your marketing person as part of the program, so you can take that knowledge in-house as well.
You need to know that what you spend comes back several times over (this is what I do for AdWords clients).
I'd be willing to help get you started and see how it goes if you do qualify for the grant.
Good luck!
I would advise don't look out for an affordable marketing expert, but look out for an expert that provides maximum benefit against the cost. I don't think hiring a freelancer may solve your purpose as marketing isn't just marketing, but much more than sum of its parts.
One way could be initiating discussion with marketing experts (Consultants, Agencies) and seek a proposal. I am assuming when you say "Web Marketing", you actually mean an "Integrated" marketing plan with lucid strategy and execution design.
I believe, platforms like Clarity, LinkedIn are good place to initiate discussion with experts and establish an association. Just make sure the resource is ready to invest enough time and energy to understand the situation (Both internal & external to your organization), and strives to design a strategy suited to your business.
Secondly, you need to be clear within yourself that marketing isn't sales, but an enabler to sales. In our experience working with clients across the globe, this is the basic understanding mistake that people carry in their mind.
Do feel free to reach out to me for any specific information that you may be looking at. Need more Clarity? I'm just a call away.
I was with you until $10 an hour. In my opinion, you will not be able to find a marketing expert for $10 an hour. You may be able to hire a marketing "expert," but not an actual one.
If your rate was a little more realistic, I'd consider hiring someone who does good marketing but lives in a state with not as high of a cost of living. You can save some money that way, but I don't think you'll be able to find anyone good for $10 per hour.
Freelance services like ours are not always over the top and expensive at all these days. You just have to find the right skilled marketing person to lead the way with some no traditional thinking.
Most social media cmapiagns cost next to nothing in relations to what things cost in the past with marketing actions.
A profeesional Wordpress blog built-out with content management should cost between $400.00 -$800.00 a month including cost of the site. This is all it cost for New Media Marketing Consultant to have you on the first page fist link organic results of all search engines.
If you have any questions please feel free to message me and view my profile for more options..
Thank You,
John Ciampa
Bloggers School Media
You do not want cheap marketing -- period. It's better to have someone do the work pro bono (which is not out of the question given that you are a nonprofit) than to be paying $10/hour for someone to help you launch. If they are cutting their rates for you, they are unlikely to be doing their best work. If they charge $10/hour normally, they are probably not very good marketers. A few other people who have answered this question have suggested college interns; this might be a solution for you but I'm not sure how well-versed they would be in the nonprofit world or the subject matter at hand. I would think it might be better to find a college student who's digitally savvy and passionate about your cause rather than one who happens to be majoring in marketing.
Another option is to consider using a site like VolunteerMatch or Catchafire, which are marketplaces for digital professionals looking to put their skills to nonprofit work.
Alternately, one or two Clarity calls with a nonprofit marketing expert might put you on the right track to handling your marketing yourself. I am happy to take a call if you are interested; I'm a marketer who is on multiple nonprofit boards.
Good luck!
For that rate, you could find someone to spend all day on social media. An intern for example. Use them to engage with people and start sharing content related to your business. Gain mindshare.
Other than that, you could use that money for very narrowly targeted ads on a budget.
A full-time marketer, marketing manager, CMO, etc. all are obviously going to cost you a lot more.
However. Let's back up for a moment. Do you know that you need a marketing expert full-time? What led you to this conclusion? Lack of visitors/users? There could be many reasons for that starting with your product market fit all the way down to the details in your website UX, message, branding, etc.
It may turn out that you just need a copywriter on a contract basis to help you with messaging.
It may turn out that you just need to use some ads more effectively.
Even without a full-time marketer, there are many things you can do yourself. There is a wealth of resources out there (GrowthHackers site, Clarity experts, myself included and the others commenting here) that could help you with a small strategy.
There are simple things that you and other employees can do on a regular basis, without too much time/distraction, that could drastically change your circumstances.
I notice people jump to thinking they "need" a full-time marketer right away. That "SEO" or "marketing" is to blame for slow or stalled growth. Startups can't compete with big companies, so why do we insist on trying? You need to switch up your tactics to stand out and compete.
Also, you said launch. What are you waiting on? You must start marketing now. Not after launch. Not after something is "ready" ... Nothing is ever "done" or "ready" btw. Start early. Even if it's simple. I've seen so many CEOs not even like their own company's page on Facebook and follow their own Twitter accounts. Yes, seriously.
I think you have some options, so the most important thing to do is not panic =)
I agree with all of the previous answers and would recommend you spending as much as you possibly can on a marketer.
True marketers care almost obsessively about making sure they can directly tie their efforts to results.
Marketers that confidently ask for a large amount of money do so because they confidently know they will generate a lot more.
Could you please tell me the nature of the social cause?
I, along with a network of other specialists provide marketing expertise to non-profits on a probono basis. I, myself am a marketing strategy expert but have consultants with me that can handle other areas. We dedicate around 50% of our time on probono work so depending on the social cause and our schedule, we may be able to help you.
Please feel free to inbox me.
Thanks.
If you are in Canada there is a program offered by The Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CAMC) and IRAP (Government of Canada agency) that helps small businesses to hire Certified Management Consultants (CMCs). They provide $5,000 in funding (which usually means 30-40 hours of a consultants time as the consultants provide a discounted rate through this program) and there is only a modest ($150?) administration cost to the client. Once you have been approved for the program the CAMC provides you with three consultants to interview and you are free to hire whichever you choose or to request another three choices. The link to the program is here http://www.cmc-canada.ca/provincial_institutes.cfm?Portal_ID=72
I would challenge you to reframe the question. I would lead with needs rather than price. It's a mistake to fit the price to the expert. It is far better to find the expert and adjust the scope to fit your budget. You can prioritize your needs and get the right help. As you grow and have more dollars you can then move through your priority list. I have seen business owners make the mistake of thinking they need help but can only afford to pay X. Those decisions end up being more costly than hiring someone who is good not cheap.
Many of us have loads of information on our website. Use your $10/hour to hire a staffer or intern to read all of the content we have published and apply it to your business.
As others have said, you would be better off applying for a marketer to work pro-bono on your project than asking them to do their job for $10.
You have gotten a lot of good advice. Regarding pro-Bono I just got back from donating an hour to an established charity that has a marketing person.
In my area there is a Meetup form Meetup.com that has an emphasis on Social Media, it meets once or twice a month with all levels from know nothing to expert. A wealth of information and some in that group have also donated services.
I have a membership site that helps those with a limited budget ($97 a month) Set up their foundations. Understanding keywords, setting up a WordPress site, setting up various social media platforms. As a bonus, one day a month I offer access to me, currently that's a 20 minute Skype call where I can answer your specific questions.
Whether you invest time yourself and utilize free resources as some have suggested, or utilize some of the other resources it is vital that you invest in marketing. I would also agree with others, that at $10 per hr you'll basically get an employee who can implement pieces of a plan but not much in the way of strategy or a plan.
First of all, I'm not sure if you can hire marketing experts under $10/hr that's any good. If you know how to pick, you may be able to find the right services. Another approach would be bartering with marketing experts looking for exposure.
What's wrong with the current volunteer anyway?
Also, what does your social network app do? Is it some kind of plugin on top of Facebook for charities?
At the end of the day you will always get what you pay for. When you start off your enterprise with the idea that you're going to try to get everything for free, yet of high-quality you are setting yourself up for failure. Consultants like myself will tell you time and time again that when you pay someone for a service you're not just giving them a stream of revenue you're confirming to them that you're committed to what you're doing and willing to invest in seeing your goals fulfilled. This goes along way in helping the consultant feel like they are doing something that's going to help you move your business or project forward and wasting on a pipe dream.
There's no question that small budgets are major obstacles. Marketing is an essential tool of business success and you must allocate a decent amount of funding to execute a strong marketing strategy. So whether you execute your own marketing strategy or hire a consultant you should be willing to take a minimum of 8-10% of your overall budget for marketing related tasks. If you start off looking for a minimum wage worker to manage a business essential function such as marketing you are positioning your nonprofit for failure because you will never get a seasoned pro for that price.
There are ways for you to have a fantastic marketing strategy on a small budget just make sure you hire a seasoned pro at a desirable fee to design and execute it.
Feel free to call me for some do-it-yourself tips.
Hi! I apologize for any possible bad responses you might have gotten.
My name is Humberto, an expert with both MBA and entrepreneurship experience. Ok, so Marketing in itself is in high demand because technically speaking anyone in business is in marketing. Being a nonprofit you are limited on budget. Consider checking out collaborative workspaces where sometimes they are willing to trade off services for services or exposure. Such as you can include a freelancers web link on your promotional marketing work done by him.
$10/hr is really really low. However marketing is not about hours but about thresholds being completed. A marketer can work one hour and be worth a weeks pay. What you would be better off is offering $400 a week for a period of time to a good marketer/growth hacker even if they work only 1-2 hours a day during the week. This way you'll have more chances in finding someone. Also, don't wait too long to begin your marketing efforts - a big mistake is waiting for product or service or in your case effort to begin a campaign.
Thank you! If you like my advice please follow me here
I love this question!
This is a creative solution for you to try out ;)
1. If you have the capabilities create your own SEO page/landing pages with just the right keywords. Have these landing pages 301 redirect to your own original website (assuming you have one).
2. Embed both a video (per landing/SEO page) and picture of eithe related context or screen shot of video.
3. Leverage Pinterest: their platform is a collection of hand picked topics and that is just what Google uses to rank its findings, if your landing page have good SEO and you pin the pin the images to Pinterest with good descriptions (as it would be searched for) your videos could be thus promoted as Pinterest shows high in google searches.
4. Have these landing pages focused as conversion: goal? Watch one or part of the video and go to YouTube for more or the rest. That way of your goal is monetization you capture views on YouTube and not just landing pages.
5. Have content description exactly as someone would search in your website about the video in mind and link it to YouTube.
This SEO tactic will increase both your websites traffic, but also YouTube views. :)
Tweak or create variations (a/b testing) of the landing pages to find the optimal design/wording/video for each targeted audience per landing/conversion page.
Best of luck! If you like my advice please follow me on Clarity. https://clarity.fm/humbertovalle
My hat is off to you for starting a non-profit. That's never easy, but hopefully it's rewarding.
If I were in your shoes, I'd look for someone with experience with the IndieGoGo crowdfunding platform to donate their time to help you with your launch, and gather some volunteers to write posts, tweets, Instagram pictures, etc. that generate excitement about what you're doing.
I say volunteers instead of $10/hour workers, for the same reason everyone else has said that - because you won't get high level help at that rate.
What you CAN do is pay for a Hootsuite Pro account that allows team members to write and schedule posts that won't go live until someone with more life experience and a better understanding of your brand can review them to make any edits or to delete the ones that don't match your brand identity.
If you really want to go cheap and find people to write the posts, you may find them on Fiverr.com, where you can hire people for specific gigs on an as-needed basis. Again, you'll only want them to post to Hootsuite in a way that can be monitored by a more senior spokesperson.
Take a look at LinkedIn for people who have expressed an interest in volunteering for the keywords that match what your nonprofit hopes to accomplish. They'll be there.
Another way to amplify your message is to join a program like Social Buzz Club, Triberr, or Empire Avenue that will let you add links to be reposted by others in those clubs. Club members pick and choose what they want to send out.
Best of luck to you, and look for those volunteers! They're out there!
Simple answer - Don't think in terms of $10/hour. You will never get anybody even remotely good for that amount. However, think of it in terms as a monthly fee of $2500 or a one-time fee of $25000 to a marketing expert. You can hire someone for the whole project or for a high monthly fee with just a few hours a month. You will get real value this way.
I hope this helps.
Best of Luck,
Mike
PS I may assist you as my time permits. Right now I am doing something that I haven't done for many years. I am actively soliciting new select clients due to selling one of my businesses and freeing myself up a little. But as you might expect, I am still very busy. That is how I like it.
TheLittleGuysWayToRiches.com
I've worked for non-profits many times over, directed non-profits, freelanced through them, and started my own (and been audited multiple times as well) non-profit.
One of the biggest mistakes non-profits make is expecting quality results for free, through volunteers, who, while they may have hearts of gold, don't have the vested interest in an NPO's success that a paid employee does. I can't tell you how many volunteers for different non-profits I've met who are misused, love what they do but feel misunderstood by their Board.
But to address your question directly, if you already have an online presence, you've "jumped the gun." Because the developer you'd work with would have to probably restructure messaging, branding, with blogging, SEO, and everything that goes into successful promotion.
Personally, for $10 per hour, I wouldn't trust results, either, because that person would a) always be looking for a higher-paying position or work to augment that income and need to survive, and not be too excited about doing the work knowing they could go to a local fast food restaurant or day labor facility and make more and possibly get health benefits as well. Freelance sites post people who are desperate for work, and need money to buy food. That's why they accept work for lower-than-professional pay wages. It would be like me paying someone $10 to help promote my business...and then being surprised that we didn't garner satisfactory results. You get what you pay for in most cases. My dentist charges what he's worth, as does my mechanic, my CPA, our lawyer, and so on. Why would a professional work for minimum wage or close to that if they're any good?
I would suggest re-examining why the pay must be so low and expectations higher. If pay must be low, whatever you'd get back at ten bucks per hour would be a blessing. I would petition the Board for respectable, professional level wages, work with a local agency (which would obviously balk at $10 per hour), try to do it myself if necessary, wait until more funds are available and budgeted, or simply wait until more prepared to launch.
We once got a phone call from a local area woman stating she wanted to start her own non-profit helping other non-profits with their internet marketing. Since she herself didn't build sites or program or design, she wanted someone to build their company site with the promise to potentially refer future work. Her budget was $200 total for a professional online presence. She didn't know what SEO was, didn't care, didn't want eCommerce because she saw no need for it, wasn't interested in blogging because it was "too much" work. When we tried to advise her to raise her budget for better quality results she simply hung up. Needless to say, her non-profit never launched successfully.
Give more to get more, expect more in return.
Best of luck to you.
Hi - I just came across this and noticed you wrote this years ago, so I really hope your business is going well!! If you need inexpensive yet expert marketing, design or small business consulting services, please consider my agency, Bloominari. We’ve been helping small business owners like yourself for years and we’d love to help you out. I also provide free project estimates! Just wanted to send you this info in case your sales aren’t exactly as high as you were hoping. Let me know if I can help you in any way and best of luck to you! http://www.bloominari.com/contact/request-project-quote
I just don't think you are even asking the right questions yet.
Are you comfortable with these first? What is the single very clear reason why customers will part with their hard earned cash in exchange for your service or product? What is your uniqueness that defines you within the competitive landscape?
I assume you understand your customers, and how they make decisions, what sources of information they will trust etc? this is not just demograhics but psychographic insights.
now if you have this, when you employ your marketer, you can discuss what your goals are and quantify them. do not abdicate this thinking, this is your start-up! now some forms of marketing are easy to measure in terms of impact. like a TV advert with a call centre number, placed before a certain soap-opera. you can see the increase call rate, measure the change in conversion rate, uptake etc. but lots of marketing is really hard to measure in terms of campaign outcome, (bill boards, and events and merchandizing) so I would suggest two key things.
Firstly, delegate and make him or her accountable for a well defined result over a sufficiently long period of time. Don't be lazy and say something like "$ million revenue in the first 6 months or $ 3 million of sales over 12 months. Instead, you know the your Revenue is actually driven somethig like this: total Nbr Customers x Ave Spend per Customer, but is that good enough? No of course not, instead you will think that total customers is actually broken down over time into Retained Customers - Lost Customers + New Customers and Ave Spend is a function of #of products, frequency of purchase, discounting
Marketing is key to all of these, and the way you incentivise and what you measure will make or break this key phase of your start-up. Measure only new customers, and I promise you you will see compaints being ignored and then existing customers leaving.
Now marketers will sell you a fine story, test this by getting him or her to assume some risk and put some skin in the game. that will keep them honest. reward performance, if they exceed your expectations in a valuable way (you don't want them generating 200 000 calls into your call centre which only has 10 people now do you?) then reward this with a nice variable component. a decent clever marketing person is worth their weight in gold, and will leap at the opportunity. unfortunately there are very few truly good marketers out there. think carefully of whereand how tio actually find good marketers (not your mother's best friend's daughter, not some dumb-ass recruiting agency, .....ha!!)
I have had my battles in this space, and it took me a while as an engineer to realise nowadays, many of the world’s problems are still seen as problems of reality alone, when in fact, if we understand that value has a component of intangibility, the major component of the problem is that of perception.
tell me how is it that a bottle of "spring water", intinsically no better than the water i get out of my tap at home, can sell for more than the equivalent cost of the same volume of gasoline? marketing brilliance!
check out my website where I have lots of free stuff on this. all free for you to use. call me if you need.
http://www.spark-sme-services.co.za/method/Strategy/Mob-StrategyIntangibleValue.html
Good luck
Ivan
I always hire a marketer (even freelance or part time) first, not last. A common failure in businesses is to think marketing is advertising. Marketing is many things, including if you even have a space you should bother trying to move into. Advertising is about telling the market what you do and why they should care, but a marketer will write that script.
You will get nothing for $10 an hour that will motivate anyone, including yourself. You should save this money. If your budget for the "pilot" is so low, your budget for the airplane will be nothing. As mentioned above, marketing is an investment that will drive your success or failure. Depending on your location you may find it lower cost (Boise versus Manhattan) but cost should not be your driver, it should be quality of output to reach your audience. As an interim thought, however, given you are non-profit, you may reach out to local universities for interns in marketing that will experiment with you as you experiment with them. Because you are non-profit, they may get some credits for the effort but you need to be aware they will produce based on their experience not that of a high quality "expert" marketer.
Better to pay $100 an hour and get it all done in 102 hours with someone competent that can give you the strategy in that amount of time. Let me know, I'm available.
Well, "expert" and $10 per hour simply don't go together. You don't need me to tell you that; but, since it's in your post...let's just make sure that we're comparing apples to apples.
Further, you want to be budgeting realistically for the project itself so that an hourly rate is not the focal point. That seems, for whatever reason, to be what’s most daunting to you. For example, many of my baseline projects fall in the $6,000 to $10,000 range.
Would you rather have an expert spend 30 hours to do what you need the right way and get you up and running in a few weeks, or use a $10/hour rate person to struggle around for 600 hours...battle the rework and/or issues of starting over from scratch...and lose all of that time in between as well?
We're talking about value. You're looking at only the price.
Fear seems to be the prevailing theme in your message. We all have been burned. You have a lot on your shoulders, and want to avoid that happening at this juncture. Of course, I understand.
If trust is really the main issue, any true and time-tested expert can provide testimonials and references as proof so that you know what you're getting. Because, in fairness, NPOs have money too. All operations and businesses have budgets, and need to be careful how they spend...not just nonprofits.
I work with NPOs and NGOs all over the world, in addition to my for-profit clients. I built a new business unit for the Red Cross in Chicago at an earlier stage of my career, and have worked with smaller nonprofits consistently through the years. I know them from the inside out.
There are always more donors, grants, and fundraising opportunities: perhaps even one in conjunction with the launch. Experience pays...use it.
For your Launch Plan, enlist someone who can help you do it right. You won't get a second chance.
Regardless of which direction you take, you MUST have a strong, effective website as your main point of presence. Obviously, this needs to be live before you start Launch Promotions.
Function is one thing → form (which grabs interest, prevents churn, and hopes to gain engagement, traction & conversion) is another. That occurs a with clear Brand Identity (far more than just a name & logo: http://strategygbd.co/brand-identity/).
Read that article, and this one >>> Conversions: Your 8-Second Secret (https://www.alignable.com/insights/conversions-your-8-second-secret). Then, let’s communicate further.
Oh, here's an extra Small Business Week perk: FREE blueprint to Boost Conversions with your STICKY Website! It's a super easy to digest & implement template designed specifically for quick use, big impact & effective results. → http://peakprofits.ontrapages.com/FreeBlueprint
Wishing you success! Let me know how it goes...
Simple answer here.
If you want someone that is going to grow your non profit, then you are going to have to give them a piece of the pie.
Evaluate your end goal, and see if you can give up equity for the right person.
First rule of Marketing a Non-Profit;
The only thing you can say to volunteers is "Thank You!"
Second;
Find your organizations Champion and have them contact radio stations, SBA, seminars, Kiwanis, Chamber of Commerce and speak.
Develop Your;
- 100 Year Goal; What will your organization be after you are gone
- Mantra; 3-4 words that are the core of your business
- Unique Selling Proposition / USP
Then once you have these completed, all for Free, then you can entice groups/people, to help fund your causes (ie Kiwanis donates a fund raiser to support your marketing for the year)
- Luckiest Entrepreneur
I know what you mean about freelance websites. It's challenging to find creative people for low compensation.
A college-level marketing intern would be my first shot for your needs. Perhaps reach out to volunteer networks to see who might be available. Maybe you can source someone through a corporate sponsor.
If you can find young talent, or an experienced person just starting out in their own business, they might be willing to help. Good luck!
This is an old question, but the answers are valuable to many today. Platforms such as Clarity have enabled many - startups and established companies alike - to get the best possible experts. Experts that they had no access to before; both location, cost and way of working would make it very hard to set up successful collaboration.
If your budget is very tight, then create (if you don't have it already) a company profile, prepare a list of questions, identify areas where you think I can help you best, share this information with me beforehand and schedule a 15-minute phone call with me.
I will prepare myself and during the call, we will go through concrete ideas, strategies and their execution in such a way that you can implement it now, with your current staff. It will be an eye opener for you and it will give you results. You will take your staff above and beyond what you thoughts they were capable of doing. Then, take it from there.
That's my promise! Will you schedule a call?
Ali M's advise is right on. Given you're a start-up, therefore, an entrepreneur, I add: YOU are the most "affordable marketing expert" your start-up can hire! In addition to that realization:
- How much marketing investment (that includes the overhead) can you afford in your 5-year business plan? Add 10% and go for it.
- Do you have a top marketing strategist on your advisory board? It's likely to be the best value for money you will be able to get.
Check with local University, students in Marketing, want to get money and to train what they study.
all the best
Val
A real marketing expert is usually not "affordable"
Some affordable marketing options may be with your local college - one with an MBA program. Talk to some professors and see if you company can be a project the class works on and provides you some ideas. It won't be expert - but it will be free.
If you cannot afford it - do you have time to study it?
Get clear on what you need - if you need overall strategy I am sure that there are plenty of people on this site that you can get 30 minutes to bounce some ideas off of..
If you need technical work completed - again maybe a paid internship. My son was paid $10/hour - but needed to be told what to do...
Good luck!
You have to pay people for their experience, not necessarily for their time! Perhaps hiring actively by vetting prospective consultants to ensure quality and credibility is best. Just like hiring an employee, the consultant has to be the right match for your needs. Review your expectations in advance with them. I would love to discuss this further with you if you would like support figuring out how to build your team as you decide what to outsource, etc. Organizational management is my thing! :-)
Understanding the role often eases the pressure on hiring team. You have said that main role of the person will be to formulate marketing strategies and implement them. So let us give a quick look on what strategic marketing is. Marketing is commonly misunderstood as an ostentatious term for advertising and promotion; in reality it is far more than that. This perception isn’t in many ways unreasonable, advertising and promotion are the major way in which most people are exposed to marketing. However, the term ‘marketing’ actually covers everything from company culture and positioning, through market research, new business/product development, advertising and promotion, PR (public/press relations), and arguably all of the sales and customer service functions as well;
i. It is systematic attempt to fulfil human desires by producing goods and services that people will buy.
ii. It is where the cutting edge of human nature meets the versatility of technology.
iii. Marketing-oriented companies help us discover desires we never knew we had, and ways of fulfilling them we never imagined could be invented.
Almost every marketing textbook has a different definition of the term “marketing.” The better definitions are focused upon customer orientation and satisfaction of customer needs.
a) The American Marketing Association (AMA) uses the following: “The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”
b) Philip Kotler uses, “Marketing is the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.”
c) The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), “Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably.”
In a January 1991, Regis McKenna published an article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) entitled “Marketing Is Everything.” In the article the McKenna states, “Marketing today is not a function; it is a way of doing business.” Indeed, we now call this the top level of Marketing – Marketing as a business philosophy. So yes, marketing is everything. It’s the process by which a company decides what it will sell, to whom, when & how and then does it!
This brings us to the second level of Marketing; Marketing as Strategy. This entails understanding the environment the business is operating in; customers, competitors, laws, regulations, etc. and planning marketing strategy to make the business a success. This second layer is about segmenting (S) the market, deciding which customers to target (T) and deciding what messages you want the targets to associate with you; what is called Positioning (P). The overall process is usually referred to as; segmentation-targeting-positioning (STP). Brands are now about image – or more correctly its perception, branding is a link between the attribute’s customers associate with a brand and how the brand owner wants the consumer to perceive the brand: the brand identity. Over time, or through poorly executed marketing or through societal changes in markets, a brand’s identity evolves gaining new attributes from the consumer’s perspective. Businesses do not undertake marketing activities alone. They face threats from competitors, and changes in the political, economic, social and technological aspects of the macro-environment. All of which have to be taken into account as a business tries to match its capabilities with the needs and wants of its target customers. An organisation that adopts the marketing concept accepts the needs of potential customers as the basis for its operations, and thus its success is dependent on satisfying those customer needs.
So to understand customers better – which as students striving to be better marketers we need to do, we should actually define what we mean by wants and needs, rather than just use such terms loosely; A “need” is a basic requirement that an individual has to satisfy to continue to exist. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is depicted as a five-level pyramid. The lowest level is associated with physiological needs, with the peak level being associated with self-actualisation needs, especially identity and purpose. The higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus when the lower needs in the pyramid are met. Once an individual has moved upwards to the next level, needs in the lower level will no longer be prioritized. If a lower set of needs is no longer being met, i.e. they are deficient; the individual will temporarily re-prioritize those needs by focusing attention on the unfulfilled needs but will not permanently regress to the lower level.
People have basic needs for food, shelter, affection, esteem, and self-development. Indeed, many of you should recognise a link here to the work of Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs in explaining human behaviour through needs motivation. In fact, many of these needs are created from human biology and the nature of social relationships, it is just that human society and marketers have evolved many different ways to satisfy these basic needs. All humans are different and have different needs based on age, sex, social position, work, social activities etc. As such each person’s span of needs is likely to be unique and this it follows that customer needs are, therefore, extremely broad.
A “want” is defined as having a strong desire for something but it not vital to continued existence. Consumer wants are shaped by social and cultural forces, the media and marketing activities of businesses as such a want is much more specific and goes beyond the basic to include aspirational values as well as the need satisfaction. Thus, whilst customer needs are broad, customer wants are usually quite narrow. Consider this example: Consumers need to eat when they are hungry. What they want to eat and in what kind of environment will vary enormously. For some, eating at McDonalds satisfies the need to meet hunger, others would not dream of eating at McDonalds or any other fast food restaurant. Some are perfectly happy with a microwaved ready-meal, others will only countenance a scratch cooked meal with organic ingredients. Equally there are those who are dissatisfied unless their food comes served alongside a bottle of fine Chablis or Claret or is served silver service by waiters in evening wear or must be ordered from menus written in French. Indeed it is this diversity of wants and needs that allows a variety of ‘solutions’ to be developed in any market and that directly leads to the need to think carefully about how and what can satisfy wants and needs. This leads onto another important concept – that of demand. Demand is a want for a specific product/service supported by the ability and willingness to pay for it, i.e. there is a market of customers who both want and can pay for the product/service. For example, many consumers around the globe want a Ferrari car, but relatively few are able and willing to actually buy one.
The concept of demand is absolutely fundamental to marketing, and is what much marketing research is actually aimed at; establishing the level of demand, and what Product Managers & Planners in many businesses spend their time trying to predict – patterns of demand and how they change as new products and services come to market and the needs/wants of the consumers and customers in the market evolve. Indeed the concept of demand is how we in marketing actually define a market – a group of potential customers with a shared need that can be satisfied through an exchange relationship to the mutual satisfaction of the potential customers and the supplier. Indeed, looking at this you should be able to see that this very neatly brings together the Marketing concept with more traditional views on exchange, utility, needs and wants. Businesses therefore have not only to make products that consumers want, but they also have to make them affordable to a sufficient number to create profitable demand. Businesses do not create customer needs or the social status in which customer needs are influenced. It is not Burger King or KFC that make people hungry, nor Budweiser or Coco-cola that make them thirsty.
However, businesses do try to influence demand by designing products and services that are;
i. Attractive
ii. Work well
iii. Are affordable
iv. Are available
From what we have looked at so far it should be evident that Marketing also fundamentally involves an exchange process, that is marketing involves two or more parties trading something of value with each other. If you go to a restaurant you exchange money for food and service. If we travel to another city and stay at a hotel, we exchange money or more commonly credit using a credit card, for the use of the room and services of the hotel. The meal and the services of the hotel & restaurant in these examples are products passed onto us in an exchange of money or credit.
So, to understand Marketing we need to understand the exchange process.
i. There must be two parties, each with unsatisfied needs or wants. This want, of course, could be money for the seller.
ii. Each must have something to offer. Marketing involves voluntary “exchange” relationships where both sides must be willing parties. Thus, a consumer who buys a soft drink in a vending machine for £1.00 must value the soft drink, available at that time and place, more than the money. Conversely, the vendor must value the money more. (It is interesting to note that money is, strictly speaking, not necessary for this exchange to take place. It is possible, although a bit weird, to exchange two ducks for a pair of shoes.)
iii. The parties must be able to communicate. This could be through a display in a store, an infomercial, or a posting on eBay.
iv. An exchange process exists when two or more parties benefit from trading something of value. Because of marketing, the buyer’s need for a certain product is satisfied, and the seller’s business is successful.
v. Marketing can contribute to the continuing improvement of a society’s overall standard of living.
So we can see that Marketing is said to have a positive effect on an economy and helps satisfy needs by bringing supplier and customer together, it facilitates the exchange transaction. This is as equally true of a charity as it is of a commercial business. A charity takes a donation and the exchange is the feeling of self-gratification the giver of the donation feels for giving. Effective marketing – at all three levels – can increase the value of this self-gratification in the eyes of the donator, e.g. making them feel they are making more of a difference, and thus marketing makes giving easier, i.e. marketing is a facilitator of the exchange by creating utility. Utility is a concept within economics that is related to marketing. Utility is a measure of the relative satisfaction from, or desirability of, consumption of various goods and services. Given this measure, one may speak meaningfully of increasing or decreasing utility, and thereby explain economic behaviour in terms of attempts to increase one’s utility. The Product and/or service and marketing of the product and/or service form the foundation of the exchange process and together they create a utility.
In marketing we define utility as the want-satisfying power of a good or service. Richard Buskirk has presented an idea that marketing is an activity that creates from, place, time and ownership utility;
1. Form utility: The usefulness of a product that results form its form; converting raw materials into finished products. Product planning and development activities create form utility.
2. Time utility: making a product available when consumers want to purchase it. After production goods are stored by the manufacturer, wholesalers, retailers, etc until such time, the demand of the product is created and such goods are made available to the customer at the time when they are needed or demanded.
3. Place utility: making a product available in a location convenient for customers, the flow of goods through different distribution channels from producer to consumer from the place of abundant to the place or where they are needed creates place utility.
4. Ownership utility: refers to the orderly transfer of legal title to the product and/or service/s from the seller to the buyer via a sales transaction. Goods may be lying in a reliable state with producer or the manufacturer or their agents until some other person needs them.
The production process creates form utility of a goods or service, whereas time, place, and ownership utility are created by the marketing function; it is the act of offering a goods or service, when (time utility), where (place utility) and via processes that make possession easy, e.g. price/distribution/purchasing terms (ownership utility). Think back to the point made above about how businesses try and increase demand; the four factors stated on how a business does this are ways of increasing the utility of the product/service. So, the greater the utility, the greater the demand and potentially the more successful the business.
Understanding the process of marketing now we will see what your marketing expert will need to formulate the strategies on.
Strategy is fundamentally about two things:
1. deciding where you want your business to go,
2. and deciding how to get there.
Indeed a strategic plan is often compared to planning a journey; you know where you want to go to and from where you are starting, how you chose to travel depends on the resources and timescales you have in which to complete the journey. This is what a business’s strategic plan does; it lays out where the business is heading for (targets/goals), where in currently is and what resources it intends to use, at what time, with what expected result, to get there.
A more complete definition is based on an understanding of competitive advantage, the mechanisms by which such advantage is created and communicated to the target audience. These are the objects of most corporate strategy:
Competitive advantage grows out of value a firm can create for its buyers that exceeds the firm’s cost of creating it. Value is what buyers are willing to pay, and superior value stems from offering lower prices than competitors for equivalent benefits or providing unique benefits that more than offset a higher price. There are two basic types of competitive advantage: cost leadership and differentiation.
– Michael Porter, Competitive Advantage.
A firm’s relative position within an industry is given by its choice of competitive advantage (cost leadership vs. differentiation) and its choice of competitive scope. Competitive scope distinguishes between firms targeting broad industry segments and firms focusing on a narrow segment. Generic strategies are useful because they characterize strategic positions at the simplest and broadest level. Porter maintains that achieving competitive advantage requires a firm to make a choice about the type and scope of its competitive advantage. There are different risks inherent in each generic strategy but being “all things to all people” is a sure recipe for mediocrity –getting “stuck in the middle”.
An alternative framework developed by Treacy and Wiersema (1995) predicates that a firm typically will choose to emphasize one of three “value disciplines”: product leadership, operational excellence, and customer intimacy. This framework is more in-tune with more advanced marketing concepts developed around the service dominant approach to marketing.
It is useful to think of strategy frameworks as having two components: internal and external analysis. The external analysis builds on an economics perspective of industry structure, and how a firm can make the most of competing in that structure. It emphasizes where a company should compete, and what is important when it does compete there. Porter’s Five Forces and Value Chain concepts comprise the main externally based framework. The external view helps inform strategic investments and decisions. Internal analysis, like core competence for example, is less based on industry structure and more in specific business operations and decisions. It emphasizes how a company should compete. The internal view is more appropriate for strategic organization and goal setting for the firm.
Porter’s focus on industry structure is a powerful means of analysing competitive advantage in itself, but it has been criticized for being too static in a world now driven by technological and social change. The internal analysis emphasizes building competencies, resources, and decision-making into a firm such that it continues to thrive in a changing environment, this has a close resonance with Porter’s value chain concept and with the Resource based view (RBV) of the firm .
Industry structure and positioning within the industry are the basis for models of competitive strategy promoted by Michael Porter. The “Five Forces” diagram captures the main idea of Porter’s theory of competitive advantage. The Five Forces define the rules of competition in any industry. Competitive strategy must grow out of a sophisticated understanding of the rules of competition that determine an industry’s attractiveness. Porter claims, “The ultimate aim of competitive strategy is to cope with and, ideally, to change those rules in the firm’s behaviour” (1985:4). The five forces determine industry profitability, and some industries may be more attractive than others. The crucial question in determining profitability is how much value firms can create for their buyers, and how much of this value will be captured or competed away. Industry structure determines who will capture the value. But a firm is not a complete prisoner of industry structure – firms can influence the five forces through their own strategies. The five forces framework highlights what is important and directs manager’s towards those aspects most important to long-term advantage.
The RBV framework is a relatively recent development that combines the internal (core competence) and external (industry structure) perspectives on strategy. Like the frameworks of core competence and capabilities, firms have quite different collections of physical and intangible assets and capabilities, which RBV calls resources. Competitive advantage is ultimately attributed to the ownership of a valuable resource. Resources are more broadly defined to be physical (e.g. property rights, capital), intangible (e.g. brand names, technological know-how), or organizational (e.g. routines or processes like lean manufacturing).
No two companies have the same resources because no two companies share the same set of experience, have acquired the same assets and skills, or built the same organisational culture. And unlike the core competence and capabilities frameworks, the value of the broadly defined resources is determined in the interplay with market forces; this has strong links with Porter’s Five Forces.
For a resource to be the basis of an effective strategy, it must pass several external market tests of its value. Collins and Montgomery (1995) offer a series of five tests for a valuable resource:
Inimitability – how hard is it for competitors to copy the resource? A company can stall imitation if the resource is (1) physically unique, (2) a consequence of path dependent development activities, (3) causally ambiguous (competitors don’t know what to imitate), or (4) a costly asset investment for a limited market, resulting in economic deterrence.
Durability – how quickly does the resource depreciate?
Appropriability – who captures the value that the resource creates: company, customers, distributors, suppliers, or employees?
Substitutability – can a unique resource be trumped by a different resource?
Competitive Superiority – is the resource really better relative to competitors?
Similarly, but from a more external, economics perspective, Peteraf (1993) proposes four theoretical conditions for competitive advantage to exist in an industry:
1. Heterogeneity of resources => rents exist
A basic assumption is that resource bundles and capabilities are heterogeneous across firms. This difference is manifested in two ways. First, firms with superior resources can earn Ricardian rents (profits) in competitive markets because they produce more efficiently than others. What is key is that the superior resource remains in limited supply, i.e. it is constrained in some manner. Second, firms with market power can earn monopoly profits from their resources by deliberately restricting output. Heterogeneity in monopoly models may result from differentiated products, intra-industry mobility barriers, or first-mover advantages, for example.
2. Ex-post limits to competition => rents sustained
Subsequent to a firm gaining a superior position and earning rents, there must be forces that limit competition for those rents (imitability and substitutability).
3. Imperfect mobility => rents sustained within the firm
Resources are imperfectly mobile if they cannot be traded, so they cannot be bid away from their employer; competitive advantage is sustained.
4. Ex-ante limits to competition => rents not offset by costs
Prior to the firm establishing its superior position, there must be limited competition for that position. Otherwise, the cost of getting there would offset the benefit of the resource or asset.
Taking the RBV Managers should build their strategies on resources that pass the above tests. In determining what valuable resources are, firms should look both at external industry conditions and at their internal capabilities – in essence an audit of both macro and micro-environments is still required but is processed via a different model that recognises that resources can come from anywhere in the value chain and can be physical assets, intangibles, or routines.
Because of the changing nature of the business environment and rapidly shifting needs of customers’ continuous improvement and upgrading of the resources is essential to prosper, indeed this casts the need to be able to manage ambiguity into centre stage, reflecting some of the lessons laid in Peters & Waterman, and Waterman. As such businesses must consider industry structure and dynamics when deciding which resources to invest in.
In Competing on the Edge, Eisenhardt & Brown (1998) advocate a strategy based on what they call “competing on the edge,” through combining elements of complexity theory with evolutionary theory. Theories that draw analogies between biological evolution and economics or business can be very satisfying: they explain the way things work in the real world, where analysis and planning is often a rarity. Moreover, they suggest that strategies based on flexibility, experimentation and continuous change and learning can be even more important than rigorous analysis and planning.
In Eisenhardt & Brown’s framework, firms develop a “semi-coherent strategic direction”. This requires them to create and maintain the right balance between order and chaos – firms can then successfully evolve and adapt to their unpredictable environment. In many regards this has overlaps with what many older strategic texts term ‘emergent strategy’. By competing at the “edge of chaos,” a firm creates an organization that can change and produce a continuous flow of competitive advantages that forms the “semi-coherent” direction. Firms are not hindered by too much planning or centralised control, but they have enough structure so that change can be organized to happen. By organising in this way, they promote an entrepreneurial and market-oriented business philosophy.
They successfully ‘evolve’, because they pursue a variety of moves – reacting to the evolutionary pressure of customers’ needs and in doing so make some mistakes but also relentlessly reinvent the business by discovering new growth opportunities. This strategy is characterized by being unpredictable, uncontrolled, and inefficient, but there is no denying it works. It’s important to note that firms should not just react well to change but must also do a good job of anticipating and leading change. In successful businesses, change is time-paced, or triggered by the passage of time rather than events.
In Built to Last, Collins and Porras (1994) outline habits of eighteen long-successful, visionary companies. Underlying the habits is an orientation towards evolutionary change: try a lot of stuff and keep what works. Evolutionary processes can be a powerful way to stimulate progress. Importantly, Collins and Porras also find that successful companies each have a core ideology that must be preserved throughout the progress. There is no one formula for the “right” set of core values, but it is important to have them. In strategy-speak, it is this core ideology that most fundamentally differentiates the firm from competitors, regardless of which market segments they get into.
Note there are close associations with the ‘core’ concept of branding and with the modern interpretation of what a business’s mission statement should stand for here, indeed they go on to state that they should be deeply held values that go beyond “vision statements” – they are mechanisms and systems that are built into the system over time. In marketing-speak these values should be a major part of a firm’s corporate positioning whose values need to be congruent with those of its products and services.
Attention to the core beliefs may sometimes defy short-term profit incentives or conventional business wisdom, but it is important to maintain them. Note: “maximize shareholder wealth” is not an adequate core ideology – it does not inspire people at all levels and provides little guidance.
The concept of hyper competition suggests that strategy should also involve the creative destruction of an opponent’s advantage; in some respects, this places a strong emphasis on SWOT analysis.
The primary goal of this new approach to strategy is disruption of the status quo, to seize the initiative through creating a series of temporary advantages. It is the speed and intensity of movement that characterizes hyper competition. From economic theory we know that there is no equilibrium as in perfect competition, and only temporary profits are possible in hyper competition markets.
This approach has seen the rise of several new trends in marketing such a ‘guerrilla’, ‘ambush’, ‘astro-turfing’, ‘viral’ and ‘stealth’ all of which are designed to create temporary advantages in markets. These approaches are described in Chapter Eight. It has also seen the rise of ‘game theory’ as a tool for analysing customers’ and competitors’ responses to a firm’s competitive moves; game theory attempts to mathematically capture behaviours in strategic situations and thus to predict scenarios of market macro-environment, thus enabling the key pivotal points for disruption to be identified.
Successful strategy in hypercompetitive markets is based on three elements:
1. Vision for how to disrupt a market
2. Key capabilities enabling speed and surprise in a wide range of actions
3. Disruptive tactics illuminated by game theory
There are three main alternatives to adopting a marketing orientation. These are the Sales orientation, the Production orientation, and the Product orientation.
1. Sales orientation: Some businesses see their main problem as selling more of the product or services which they already have available. They may therefore be expected to make full use of selling, pricing, promotion, and distribution skills (just like a marketing-orientated business). The difference is that a sale-orientated business pays little attention to customer needs and wants and does not try particularly hard to create suitable products or services.
2. Production orientation: A production-orientated business is said to be mainly concerned with making as many units as possible. By concentrating on producing maximum volumes, such a business aims to maximise profitability by exploiting economies of scale. In a production orientated business, the needs of customers are secondary compared with the need to increase output. Such an approach is probably most effective when a business operates in extremely high growth markets or where the potential for economies of scale is significant.
3. Product orientation: This is subtly different from a production orientation. Consider a business that is “obsessed” with its own products – perhaps even arrogant about how good they are. Their products may start out as fully up-to-date and technical leaders.
Once you have a plan based on what I have said so far you can hire a marketing expert to fulfil these needs. You have earlier said that you are very hard pressed on resources, so according to the needs of the market you are functioning in you have to balance your resources and distribute it equally so as to gain maximum profits and minimum losses.
If you are still not able to decide what to do, refer to the works of these marketing experts for a valuable insight that can change your business:
1. Hope Horner: Raised in Tennessee, now living in Southern California, Hope Horner has been featured as one of Inc.’s 25 Inspiring Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2017. Currently the CEO of Lemon light Media, an emerging video marketing company that’s winning kudos across the nation, Horner has shared her personal insights and stories -- many gleaned from her Pepperdine University beginnings and her three start-up ventures --through the biggest publishing platforms on the internet, including Entrepreneur and the Huffington Post.
2. Erin Berman: A self-described storyteller and brand strategist, Erin Berman founded Blackbeard Studios after consulting for dozens of start-ups and traveling to the farthest corners of the globe. Her fresh insights into company scalability -- fostered by effective, contemporary storytelling -- have made her a sought-after workshop presenter across the Bay Area. No stranger to Silicon Valley, Berman earned her master’s degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco.
3. Roy Raanani: As CEO and co-founder of Chorus.ai, which provides conversation intelligence for sales teams, Roy Raanani combines his engineering background with his passions for sales, customer success and marketing to leverage the power of artificial intelligence. Raanani has mastered the intersection of technology and marketing science to deliver a new take on targeting audiences and improving the sales process for companies of all sizes. His career has involved creating his own start-ups as well as advising on strategy and operations.
4. Mihael Mikek: Mihael Mikek is the founder and CEO of Celtra, a creative-management platform that helps companies create effective native and video ads as well as other formats that are targeted and relevant. His vision led to the development of a pioneering cloud-based SaaS platform that helps the largest global advertisers improve their creative. The company now powers advertising for two-thirds of the Fortune 500 companies and delivers ad experiences in more than 30 global markets per year.
5. Stacy Durand: Stacy Durand is the CEO of Media Design Group, a media-buying agency that prides itself on meeting audiences wherever they may be. Durand has said she sees herself as an energetic cheerleader for her company, helping her team stay creative, attentive, energetic and knowledgeable in order to zero in on a company's target audience with TV advertising in an ever-expanding world of streaming and smart devices.
6. Jørn Lyseggen: Jørn Lyseggen is the founder and CEO of Meltwater, a global leader in media intelligence. In 2008, Lyseggen founded MEST (Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology) in Accra, Ghana, on the belief that talent is everywhere, though opportunity is not. This belief has been the foundation for MEST, which is working to create work and wealth in Africa through a new generation of successful global software entrepreneurs on the continent.
7. Marcus Sheridan: When Marcus Sheridan saved his floundering swimming pool business after the dramatic economic crash of 2008, the New York Times dubbed him a web marketing guru. Sheridan’s powerful story of resilience inspired the book Mashable called the No. 1 marketing read in 2017, They Ask You Answer. Lovingly referred to as "The Sales Lion," Sheridan has displayed a digital marketing acumen that's becomes internationally well-known and has made him a trusted corporate brand advisor.
8. Jay Baer: One Jay Baer keynote is all it takes to understand why this New York Times best-selling author is a hit with audiences and readers. The founder of strategy consulting firm Convince & Convert, Baer consistently delivers trend-worthy and notable content across multiple channels as resources for business executives. In addition, he is an active venture capitalist looking for new places to invest.
9. Mari Smith: Mari Smith has become known as a digital marketing expert, training small business owners in the ways of building traffic, subscribers, clients, alliances, and targeted media attention. Smith has built these skills over the course of 10 years, with specialties in Facebook and Twitter. The Canada native travels to the United States regularly to present keynotes and training seminars and has shared a stage with notable figures like the Dalai Lama, former South African President F.W. de Klerk, and celebrity Paula Abdul.
10. Heidi Cohen: Heidi Cohen is arguably one of the most well-rounded marketers working today. Her expertise is not limited to one domain. From textiles to financial services to entertainment, Cohen has honed her skills into her Actionable Marketing Guide, a blog providing insights on social media, mobile, branding, public relations, and small business.
11. Andy Crestodina: Co-founder and strategic director of Orbit Media Studios, an award-winning Chicago-based web design company, Andy Crestodina specializes in content marketing, social media and analytics. Crestodina seeks to make each topic accessible. With more than 20 years of keynote speaking experience, Crestodina is consistently named a top presenter at prestigious events, including Content Marketing World's 2015 conference. He is also the author of Content Chemistry: An Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing, which addresses web marketing and theory in practice.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
It is almost impossible to get a professional marketer for that low price. Professionals have put in many years of service and possess many years of experience. It is likely no marketer would go that low. Mind you, it's a job to earn a living to the person and not charity work.
Freelancing, which you rejected is your only other option with the type of very low resources that is at your disposal. I have to agree with you that there are too many quacks in the name of freelancers on the web, but there is a solution. And this is to get freelancers only from vetted freelancing websites which tend to confirm that not only are the freelancers who they say they truly are, but their skills can also be vouched for due to tests and referrals that are verifiable by said website.
Also, it is advisable to link up with your fellow entrepreneurs who operste in thy same industry with limited resources to know the kind of human resources at their disposal which will be affordable for your young business. You can give me a call if you have more questions on this.
Hiring a marketing expert can be an important step in growing your startup, but it can also be challenging, especially if you have a limited budget. Here are some strategies you can use to find and hire an affordable marketing expert:
Look for recent graduates or junior-level professionals: Recent graduates or junior-level professionals may be more affordable than more experienced professionals and are often eager to gain experience and establish a reputation in the industry.
Utilize freelancers: Freelance marketing experts can be a cost-effective option for startups, as they typically charge lower rates than full-time employees and you can hire them for specific projects on a contract basis. Websites like Upwork, Freelancer and Fiverr can be a good place to find freelancers.
Leverage low-cost marketing techniques: Instead of hiring a full-time marketing expert, consider using low-cost marketing techniques such as social media marketing, content marketing, or email marketing. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google, and many more have robust advertising platforms. You can also use SEO optimization to improve your organic reach.
Hire remote workers: Hiring remote workers can also be a cost-effective option, as you can find professionals from anywhere in the world, which can help you to find more affordable talent.
Participate in Incubators or accelerators: Incubators and accelerators are programs that provide mentorship, resources, and funding to startups. Many of these programs also provide access to marketing experts and other professionals who can help startups develop their marketing strategies.
Consult with a mentor: If you have a mentor or advisor with experience in marketing, they can provide guidance and advice without the need to hire a marketing expert.
It's important to remember that the cost of hiring a marketing expert shouldn't be the only factor considered when making your decision. It's also crucial to have a clear understanding of your company goals, and align your hiring decision with those goals. It's also good to do thorough research on the marketing experts you are considering, and check their portfolios, references, and reviews before making a hiring decision.
I understand the importance of ensuring a successful launch for your non-profit niche social networking company, and I appreciate your commitment to finding an affordable marketing expert.
Here are some strategies to help you hire the right person within your budget:
Tap into Networks:
Leverage networks within the non-profit sector to find individuals who have gone through the marketing process and how they did this.
Attend industry events, conferences, or connect with non-profit communities to identify potential advisees.
Local University Partnerships:
Collaborate with local universities or colleges with marketing programs.
Explore internship programs or connect with professors who may recommend capable students.
Utilise Online Job Platforms with Screening:
Consider reputable job platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, or Glass-door.
Utilise their screening processes to filter candidates based on experience and expertise.
Engage with Marketing Communities:
Join online marketing communities and forums.
Seek recommendations from professionals who are passionate about contributing to meaningful causes. I am part of a few groups on Facebook who are full of people who can provide free answers and advice. Equally, co-founder, and other similar sites are very good for perhaps providing equity in exchange for a co-found who has a skillset in the area you are lacking in and has the same missions/values as your company.
Reach Out to Marketing Agencies:
Connect with marketing agencies that may offer discounted or pro bono services for non-profits.
Express your mission and inquire about potential collaborations.
Non-Profit Talent Matching Platforms:
Explore platforms specifically designed to connect non-profits with skilled volunteers.
Websites like Catchafire or Taproot Foundation can be valuable resources.
Clearly Define Roles and Expectations:
Clearly outline the responsibilities and expectations for the marketing expert.
This ensures alignment and helps the candidate understand the impact they can make.
Offer Flexible Work Arrangements:
Consider part-time or project-based arrangements to accommodate your budget.
Many experienced professionals may be open to contributing on a flexible schedule.
Leverage Personal and Professional Networks:
Ask for recommendations from your personal and professional networks.
Referrals often lead to finding trustworthy and competent individuals.
Interview and Assess Skills:
Conduct thorough interviews to assess the candidate's skills and understanding of your niche.
Request a portfolio or examples of past work to gauge their experience.
While cost is a crucial consideration, finding someone who resonates with your mission is equally vital. Emphasise your organisation's impact, and you may attract individuals who are genuinely passionate about contributing.
I hope these strategies guide you in finding a suitable marketing expert for your startup. If you need further assistance or have specific criteria in mind, feel free to reach out.
First you need to see their dedication for the work if they're working to help your company or he/she's just working for the money,
You should make an job hiring and post it online that's the fastest way to find one and you can choose from those applicant.
You can post it in social media where everyone is into webmarketing and there you can interview those who are interested for the job
And let say if their idea works they will get some bonus or let say a reward for making it.
