Magnus Marketing Blog

Well, the lucky streak ended for MagnusMG - such is consulting and go-to-market. My client engagements ended, all of them except two. Oh, does it suck - the loss of the stability, the loss of the predictable monthly income - I think they call it "cash flow". I actually wish I was married, so that I would have a husband who could provide the support while I rebuilt the business. Slightly sexist comment, but true.

I now find myself in the position of all of my clients - having to really "go to market" and find clients. I mean, this time, I have not only a THREE year history and a fan club of satisfied clients! I mean 3X Systems hired an internal Marketing Manager and Sales/Marketing VP - they are going to the next level - 50 demos is nothing to sneeze at, JobMachine was acquired by Arbita and doubled in size internally also - with full-time employees and extended services under the ACES division...a couple of others are project engagements that are ending with leads, meetings. I ended a project with a Business Intelligence firm and the Practice Manager was nearly gushing over the information I obtained. With very few exception, I think any of the people I worked with would say that I did not do the job or have an impact on the company. The ones who would say otherwise, they had strategy issues or in one case - salespeople that couldn't close. Uh, we are in the WORSE Recession in 30 years or more - I still paid for myself!!!

I have a very consistent track record of developing business, steering strategy, and finding tangible market opportunity. However, on this outing - I have to compete with unemployed people transitioning to new jobs, telemarketing agencies desperate for business, and companies with no money. I truly am disgusted by the firms I encounter who want to pay for a lead or pay commission only. How stupid and desperate anyone would be to work like that - it takes MONTHS, particularly in this environment to catch someone's attention - and the work involved. Today, it isn't a list or script, you need to research, target, message, position, call and follow up - email and phone - just because you get a meeting - doesn't mean its a sale. Amazingly, many of these firms pay consultants and office staff a salary, but won't pay a sales or marketing person a base or fees. Please folks, avoid wasting your time - unless they have a product or service that has a wide market and lots of interest - commission or pay-per-lead aint going to pay your bills. I damn to hell all those firms that started that bs trend. I want to see consultants get paid only when they deliver a project on a flat rate, lets see if that flies!

Those "success model" companies will fold pretty quickly because they are victims of their own cheapness. 1) They don't know or understand the market, 2) the salesguys own the client and can easily take the client to any other company, and 3) half the leads will never turn into any revenue. I wouldn't join a start-up prescribing to that model for any amount of money - yah, what money - they pay "equity"...you'll see nothing in return.

Anyway, so out to market I go - recreating my value proposition, messaging, email and calling companies that I like and think are interesting. I am hoping to find another AlphaPoint or 3X, maybe another reseller or mature small company that wants a solid pipeline. I am sure they are out there - somewhere and will be smart enough to work with a "quality" resource like me!

Recently, I had another article posted on the Fordyce Forum - which is linked to here. At least the Fordyce Forum recognizes that I have something valuable to contribute to business development - actually I wrote some commentary also on the Customer Collective - that is a great sales site also.

My respondent, as you can see, asked me how long "I worked a desk" and mis-interpreted my "carefully crafted" post. That article/post was developed from over 50 calls to staffing agencies, plus other calls to corporate recruiters and experience from the agencies I worked for in the past two years. My respondent who advocates cold calling and provided tremendous support for my post, unfortunately missed the point. You can't just make hundreds of calls looking for job orders, a job, to push a product unless you have something meaningful to say. Folks, the limited amount of employed professionals and decision-makers are BOMBARDED with communiques from a myriad of people, many of whom are selling the same products and services. You MUST find differentiation and it should not be just price oriented.

On a similiar note, a recruiting agency executive wrote a post on ERE seeking help for web copy as the company was launching a "new recruiting model". I wrote back and said, take a look at what I do and lets discuss what you need. Without even a phone call to discuss her situation, the executive replied - doesn't look like you do what I need. Uh, write compelling copy that will launch your recruiting model and get you business? Yah, I guess I don't do that - I am such a lousy copywriter and commmunicator that my clients are still getting appointments and leads even in the dead of summer in the middle of the worst recession in decades. OK.

Much like the technology resellers which caught on to the power of marketing and dedicated business development, the staffing agencies need to do the same thing. My respondent is right, it is about sales which isn't easy - it takes a lot of work, smarts, and perserverence to achieve business today.