When we first started out we believed we would outshine our competitors in marketing by simply having a heartfelt story. Along with a story we thought if we hired the best graphic designers, the best writers, and the best salespeople, we’d surely get clients left to right. Were we wrong.
It doesn’t matter how much better your graphics are or whatever content you put out there. It doesn’t matter if you happen to land every sales call you make. You can’t possibly expect that all to last.
One thing you should know from here on out is that yes, you are replaceable. If you are focused on content and loyalty to keep you in business, my friends, stop right now and reassess. You are not much different than other agencies out there. And sadly, in business, loyalty still has an expiration date.
The Commodities in Marketing
- Copywriting.
Yes, there is AI and it doesn’t seem to us that companies care whether their blogs or written content comes from someone who wrote it first-hand or copied it straight from AI. If it’s getting published, that’s all that matters. That’s not a good thing. Do businesses need to recognize the importance of an expert copywriter who writes everything personally? Yes. Absolutely! Do they? Not all.
Your job is to make sure the person you work for, whoever your client may be, is aware of the value a real copywriter offers. Make sure they want you and don’t for a moment dismiss the idea that you write quality articles.
- Graphic Designing (and Website Development)
Go on Fiverr and you’ll see thousands of people offering design packages or one-time services for very cheap prices. With platforms that offer templates, like Canva, anyone can make a chic design. Not many business owners care for the fancy stuff or higher priced graphics and web design, but they should.
Again, you want to make sure the person that hires you on cares a lot about a high-quality site and graphics that stick to their branding and stand out as unique amongst the competition – ones that took thought. Nowadays, sites and social media can be subpar in effort, but to really stand out, your services are needed, valuable, and can help a business appear to viewers as more authentic, credible, and different than the rest.
- Being Great at Sales… Only
The reason we say only is because if you’re great at landing clients but not great at doing the work or delivering, you have a short shelf life. Better secure a contract now. However, if you do provide great work on top of getting clients easily, what matters most to you is who you choose as clients. That’s where you can really stretch the timeline of how long you work for and with someone.
If you take on any client just for the sake of their income, don’t do that. Money is nice and it’s the energy exchange for the work you provide, but you want to make sure you’re careful. Don’t be afraid to say no to someone who doesn’t value what you do.
Which brings us to our closing point: Be picky with who you choose to provide work for.
Never select someone just because you need the income. Of course, you will learn over time, but not every client is meant for you. Some just don’t care about what you offer than others. Find the others. Find the ones who know exactly what you do and why you do it. Let them fall in love with what your talents are. Give them samples of how your work is different than others out there. Show them their competitors and how all of them look the same just with different colors. Give them examples of why choosing you is worth every penny. And equally, they need to prove to you that they are worth every second of your time. Interviews are always on a two-way street. If you want to be valued, start by developing the self-worth now and learn to turn people away.
You’re not a charity case; you’re a business owner.