A couple of months back, I had my Great Marketing Works work anniversary. I know this as lots and lots of people congratulated me on LinkedIn. Which I am forever grateful for.
But it all got me to thinking? After 8 years what had we done? So I started looking at it all.
How – the big question.
How many clients? More than 100.
How many training sessions and talks. More than 500.
How many consultancy gigs. More than a 1000.
How long did clients stay for ? Between 1 talk and 8 years!
Which sector did I get client from? More than 70% of our clients came from the education and training sectors. Ironically, for us, they were also the worst paying sector per client. But I do love education so...
So… How much a day? From £50 (once) to £5000 (once.) But with the public sector paying less and less each year. And the private sector paying more and more.
All interesting stuff BUT… None of this really informed me about me. It was just the business.
The What’s. The bigger questions.
But then I found an old piece of paper. On it I had written down answers to an exercise my mentor had set me many moons ago. I had kept this piece of paper on my wall but never really looked at it and I now had the chance to do the exercise again and compare and contrast my answers.
Was I really on track?
My simple suggestion is that you write down the answers to the questions below.
And then in a year or two (probably not 8) come back to them and do it again. Have you changed? Are you on track? Should you take a day off to celebrate or commiserate?
My mentor questions.
1. What activities do you like to be doing?
2. What skills would you like to be using?
3. What impact would you like to make?
4. Who would you like to work with?
5. What would you like to learn about?
6. What values would you like to live out?
7. What environment do you want to work in?
8. What would success look like to you?
These are my answers separated by the 8 years since I started Great Marketing Works.
1. What activities do you like to be doing?
2009: Talking, writing, doing tech stuff with big screens.
2017: Inspiring people. Talking with people. Being inspired myself.
2. What skills would you like to be using?
2009: NLP, public speaking and teaching.
2017: My talking skills, writing, marketing strategy around startups.
3. What impact would you like to make?
2009: On my bottom line and become slightly famous.
2017: On my family / personal life and health.
4. Who would you like to work with?
2009: Honest people, proactive people, front runners, creatives.
2017: People I like and respect and can go for a beer with.
5. What would you like to learn about?
2009: Google, PPC, Social, Mailchimp and Salesforce.
2017: Myself. How to raise my daughter well. AI. Probably coding and tech. And finances.
6. What values would you like to live out?
2009: Love, Respect and Creativity.
2017: Love, Creativity, Respect, Integrity. Kaizen if possible.
7. What environment do you want to work in?
2009: A fun one, a high tech one, a stable one.
2017: A warm one. A dry (ish) one. A safe one. A progressive one.
8. What would success look like to you?
2009: 2 houses, 2 offices, family living near the beach with a stable work environment.
2017: Living abroad, warm and safe, with a happy family, with no real money worries.
So had I changed that much?
Should I take a day off to celebrate or commiserate?
To commiserate: From the last 8 years.
- We never moved to the beach. But we did live near one for 4 months.
- I didn’t work with many front runners. But had some very cool clients.
- I got "ripped off" - a lot – so not all my clients or business partners were honest.
To celebrate: From the last 8 years.
- Became a paid public speaker and trainer.
- Touched the lives of over 50,000 people.
- Became an expert at digital marketing and social media.
- Co founded other businesses like Follogro and FFFlip.
- Went on the BBC many times – heck – so perhaps I became slightly famous.
- I did at one point have 2 houses and 2 offices.
- With my clients now I have a stable work environment.
So today I took the day off.
A HUGE thanks to all those who have been on the journey with me. Some of you as clients for Great Marketing Works. Some as friends and peers. Many of you as both.
All you have been part of it.
Thanks.
And thanks to you for reading this too. Now get something from it. Copy and paste the above questions and quickly do the exercise. Write down the answers to the questions above. Come back to it in a year and thank yourself for doing it.
