One Entrepreneur On Marketing: Isha Edwards

This is part of a series called "The Entrepreneurs on Marketing."  This interview is with Isha Edwards.

Regarding your approach to marketing, push or pull?

My approach to marketing is pull. More often than not, genuine demand guarantees sales and increases long-term customer relationships. More than half of my client base came through word-of-mouth. Maintaining a “sales dialogue” (versus monologue), which pull marketing perpetuates, and creating value remains an essential part of my exchange with clients.

What do you think about branding?

Out of all business facets, branding is vital. Vision, mission, purpose, goals, and values are best defined through the branding process. Brand first—before you launch. Refine your brand as you grow. Implement a brand-driven approach to establishing, operating, and growing a business.

How important is your personality to your brand?

Since you cannot separate a person from a good or service (this is especially true for entertainers, celebs, and public officials), personality management is mandatory. A personality can add value or impede a brand.

What are your top three ways to promote your business?

Publishing articles, event-planning, and participating on panels/hosting seminars and workshops are three natural, cost-effective ways that I promote my business.

Any final thoughts on marketing a business?

Marketing is only one of seven facets of business ownership, collectively known as a FAMMLIE Network (finance, accounting, management, marketing, legal, information systems/technology, economics plus networking). Marketing should be looked at in relation to all other facets of business. Marketing strategy should align with a company’s vision, mission, short or long-term goals and core values. Do not create a marketing plan or launch a marketing campaign without considering how it will impact each facet of business.

Among a myriad of talents, Isha Edwards is an idea catalyst for individuals and organizations across 12 industries including music, media, fashion, film, academia, professional services, and small business administration. Isha has 18 years of experience working with corporate and nonprofit organizations and 15 years of experience in business education. Her areas of expertise include brand-driven marketing, strategy, business development, business communication, leadership, education, and youth initiatives. For service inquiries or to learn more about Isha visit:: www.epicmeasures.com and www.ishaedwards.com.

One Entrepreneur On Marketing: Brennan White

This is part of a series called "The Entrepreneurs on Marketing."  This interview is with Brennan White.

Regarding your approach to marketing, push or pull?

Very much pull. Not only is our entire company built around the idea that pull marketing is the future of all marketing, but our entire business has been launched on less than $3,000 in marketing/advertising/pr expenditure. Our entire marketing model is based on creating the Black Hole of Service (an internal term), whereby our clients are so pleased with our work and so likely to recommend us that every single new deal comes to us, warmly. It all comes from the Pareto Principle and the obvious answer to the question, "why waste time and money getting cold leads?".

What do you think about branding? 

Besides actual delivery to your clients of whatever you're selling, branding is the #2 consideration. Assuming you provide an actually valuable product or service that is priced to add value to your clients/customers, creating a targeted brand is the single most important thing you can focus on.

What are your top three ways to promote your business? 

1. Focusing on improving your deliverables
2. Client Referrals
3. Successful examples of your work

What have been your keys to success when it comes to growing your on-line audience? 

We've chosen to almost completely ignore our online audience (which for a social media marketing agency seems odd at first glance). Very early on, we realized that the standard social media channels were going to become a turf war for "experts" even though the majority of the target market will not be looking at those channels for solutions. Our promotion and branding were based around this realization and the additional thought that our competitors will waste time/money/focus on owning social media channels (the obvious first thought in our space) and that the wasted resources on their end will allow us to provide better service at a better price point. Our branding reflects the reality that, when you've found us, you've found the Wunderkindt that have done nothing but focus on winning for our clients since Day One. These simple choices have led to massive success without focusing on an online audience.

Any final thoughts on marketing a business? 

• Never underestimate word of mouth (good and bad).
• Find your target market and ignore best practices that don't apply to them
• Invest in long term solutions to all problems

Brennan White is the Founder and Managing Director of Pandemic Labs, the most established dedicated social media marketing agency in the United States. Pandemic Labs works with international brands to help them drive awareness, demand, and revenue via online social channels. Brennan is personally interested in the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship, and philosophy and strongly believes in the Business Unification Theory.

One Entrepreneur On Marketing: Jeremy Schultz

This is part of a series called "The Entrepreneurs on Marketing."  This interview is with Jeremy Schultz.

Regarding your approach to marketing, push or pull?

I think any good marketing approach will both push and pull, and I do both. I use several media to push content to potential and current clients, including my website, e-newsletter, social media accounts and being published at Designorati.com, CreativePro.com and InDesign Magazine. I also work hard to build a good reputation around my brand and I am involved with the local Chamber of Commerce and other organizations so I can pull people toward my services.

What do you think about branding? 

I think branding is an essential part of life, and not just in a business sense. A brand is an essence, a personality—and that applies to people as well as businesses. We all have a personal brand. Businesses that consider a brand to be just a logo and a tagline miss the point that every aspect of the operation builds the brand. I have made a conscious decision to remain independent and develop “Jeremy Schultz” as a personal and business brand combined into one. This is the norm for other professionals like athletes and fashion designers, and the most elite people in any profession can make it work.

How important is your personality to your brand? 

Personality is vital to my brand because, as explained above, my brand defines me as a person as well as a business entity. My personal qualities—hard work, helpfulness, organization and goal-oriented thinking—define my business qualities too. I use social media to invite my clients and friends to know more about me personally, and I have deliberately not separated my business and social lives in social media—for example, I have a single Facebook profile for both friends and clients. My YouTube channel has videos of my son Will next to sneak peeks from Adobe events and tutorials about Flash. My goal is to show my personality in my branding efforts and allow clients to consider me a friend as well as a design resource.

What are your top three ways to promote your business? 

My top three methods to promote my business are (1) referrals, (2) community involvement and (3) networking. Great work tends to sprout opportunities indefinitely, and a lot of my business grows naturally from happy customers and friends who spread the word. I am very involved with local organizations, especially my local Chamber of Commerce, to assist the business community and make connections there. And I also have success with networking, but not in the usual sense of making acquaintances at networking events. I do that well and enjoy it, but where I am really successful is in nurturing my current network of friends and colleagues so I can be on top of new opportunities when they arise. It’s easier and more effective to build on an existing network than to create a new one, though everyone has to start somewhere.

Any final thoughts on marketing a business? 

Marketing a business is easier than it seems—all it takes is a good understanding of a market, developing a killer product and knowing how to communicate the benefits to that market. It’s the details—branding, design, media—that make things complicated and trip up businesses because they focus on these details and lose sight of the basic strategic components. That’s one reason I always recommend businesses leave those details to professionals like myself.

Jeremy Schultz is a creative professional who specializes in design and illustration for print and the web. Since 2000 he has worked as a graphic designer, web designer, illustrator, multimedia producer, copywriter and marketing strategist for clients including Miller Bottling Company, Cargill, Briggs Corporation, ITTA and Marriott. Jeremy is also active in the design industry as a writer and reviewer and collaborates with companies such as Adobe Systems, Pantone, O’Reilly and Peachpit Press. 

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