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116 Part II: Sharpening Your Marketing Focus

      Where to Turn for Help

                                 As your business grows, your marketing needs may exceed the time or the
                                 talent that you have to devote to producing your marketing materials. As you
                                 lift the weight off your own shoulders, here are some ways to get help:

                                    ߜ You can tap in-house, staff talent.
                                    ߜ You can turn to print shops or media ad departments for free or almost-

                                        free production services.
                                    ߜ You can hire freelancers, who are independent contractors available by

                                        the hour for short-term projects.
                                    ߜ You can hire an advertising or public relations agency to handle your

                                        work as a project or as part of an ongoing assignment.

               Tapping in-house talent

                                 Many entrepreneurs take the first step away from doing it all themselves by
                                 assigning the coordination of marketing functions to an employee or associate.

                                 When assigning the task to those already on or added to your payroll, weigh
                                 the following considerations.

                          Assigning the marketing task to a staff member

                                 As you add the role of marketing management to the responsibilities of an
                                 existing staff member or associate, here’s what you need to do:

                                    ߜ Write a job description and list qualifications for the ideal person to
                                        handle your marketing. Before assigning the task to a staff member, be
                                        sure that person meets the criteria.

                                    ߜ If the staff member doesn’t possess the expertise to perform the assign-
                                        ment well, consider what kind of training (and training costs) will be
                                        necessary.

                                    ߜ The staff person who will take on the marketing duties probably doesn’t
                                        have idle time in which to perform the new marketing assignment.
                                        Consider which current responsibilities you will shift, and to whom.

                                    ߜ Define what resources this person will require in order to do the job. You
                                        may need to invest in design or production-tracking software, subscrip-
                                        tions to professional publications, professional education, and support
                                        staff.
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