FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
If you have a budget, it's important for us to discuss what might be included in the project based on what you need or want. It's unfair to you for me to have a set rate for services where we haven't even discussed your needs. Marketing (and pricing) should ALWAYS be customized to a particular business situation because generic services will NEVER beat customized services for a specific market. That said, I can say from experience there's a program for any budget. We just have to work together to find the best mix for what you can afford. From my experience, when services such as email marketing or social media or web development are flat rate priced, the client is usually being over-charged. Putting a program together that includes multiple marketing activities even further stresses the need for a customized approach. Of course, you shouldn't be charged for services you don't need. But to be fair, both you and I need a clear picture of what will produce the results you want and expect. We both need a realistic assessment of the project and desired outcome. Do you need 5 hours a week on email marketing or 20? How are you following up? How often? What research goes into your social media posts? How much time is needed? Do they connect with your blog posts in any way? Are you linking to sales pages or landing pages? Are you trying to segment readers for branding, education, specific marketing or sales messages? Does any of the above connect with your SEO keyword targets or SEO work? With any advertising? With specific demographics or personas? Do you really just need more customers that are currently shopping for what you offer? Obviously video, graphics and other elements can come into play, too. After that and more is made clear, you can choose from a combination of services or single service that fits your budget and needs. But if I just slap a dollar amount on a generic service you will never know what you're really getting or why it still wasn't enough to produce the results you were expecting or needing.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
I start with an initial consultation and orientation based on the service requested. It usually evolves into me providing insightful observations for you during our conversation as I uncover many things you may not have considered before or fully understood. So you get a lot of insights and info (if you want it) before ever starting a project with me. From there we both determine if we're good fit for working together and there's no way to know that without covering a little more than just the basic details of your situation. We also look at some numbers in your business and I show you on a timeline how to double or triple your sales or profits (or both). If we decide to move forward, I offer a few scenarios on how we can proceed. It has to work for both us and there's always flexibility in the process. When we start there's a plan with a strategy and the supporting tactics and activities in the order needed to get the desired results. We can work through the plan together or I can do the work myself with updates to you. We review progress weekly or bi-monthly and adjust any details as needed to enhance results.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I went to college to major in graphic design, but eventually realized that the best graphic design still gets you nothing without marketing strategy and tactical implementation as the foundation. So I switched my studies to marketing, built my first website in 1998 and have been a marketer first ever since.