Do more with less: This is what marketers are asked to do after joining an early startup. British consultant Lucy Heskins knows for herself how irresistible this can be which is why her services can replace and complement marketing staff both at home. Either way, it often educates the organization about doing the job. “A lot of people don’t realize that marketing is a process of understanding your customers, creating the right channels to reach them and ultimately meeting their needs (profitability),” Oh, Blymy.
After acquiring “Spots and Stripes” at various startups, Heskins recently joined Big Lemon firm’s “Good for Tech” company as part-time head, but still provides his services to other teams as SAS and early-stage startup marketing consultant. If you’re a marketer yourself or are thinking of hiring someone, read on: he shares some strong insights with TechCrunch.
Usually, I work with startups in two ways. The first will be project-based. So for example, when they want to explore a potential new customer market or launch a freemium strategy. The other way is given to their marketer as a consultant or extension. Often I will work with marketers who have never worked in a startup and they can bounce ideas or strategies from me. This helps them learn and speed up the delivery of results.
I have very real pain/challenges/opportunities presented at an early stage especially in the early stages as an employee. I’ve come, helped change business models, explored things like freemium and replacement brands. It’s tough. So as a consultant I can pass on my lessons (and mistakes).
And I want to work with some great startups that are open to trying new things. Also, now after working on four startups, I have faced their pressures and can adjust my approach accordingly. Lots of plate spinning going on and I got it. In my experience, a few mistakes often start. The first is hiring a marketer very soon. I came to startups, thinking I was sitting at home setting up their functions.
