When it comes to career choices, trust your instincts. In January of last year I left the agency side of marketing to re-enter the corporate world. Company stability was a priority on my list. When a friend
asked me to join him at his start-up software company I was hesitant. While funded at the time, some of the executive management had a history of starting tech companies and selling them off. However, my friend assured me that this company was on a track of managed growth and I was impressed with the company’s president, who had a track record of growing successful companies.
Two months into the job there was a sudden change in regime. The board replaced the president and within two weeks the company direction turned 180 degrees. I saw red flags and started exploring other
employment opportunities. My friend implored me not to leave, promising that even if the company were sold, I would make plenty of money. The idea of possibly riding out the slow economy on the potential money I could make was appealing, but my instincts told me it was too good to be true.
So I forged on with my job search and was fortunate to land another job offer in a few weeks with a company that had been around for 15+ years and had managed to be successful while remaining small — real managed growth. I was at a crossroads where I could ride out the wave at the start-up or take a safe route with the other job. I decided to take the safe route and accept the other job.
Shortly thereafter the start-up company secured millions of dollars of additional funding. I immediately questioned if I had made the right decision. I was happy with my new position but also wondered if my
aversion to risk taking had been a mistake.
A few months ago my former company went under. No one made the fast dollar they had been banking on. I was relieved that I trusted my instincts and remembered that the economy, while improving, is still not what it used to be. I’m glad I followed my instincts to safer pastures.
Corrine Solomon, Marketing and Communications Manager, Time America Inc.
Metrics don’t lie! After trying to teach our business Web-best practices, we implemented a new metrics program for our online campaigns. The new metrics graphically illustrate what links visitors clicked on and give us a funnel analysis of where users dropped off the conversion path. Backed by hard data, our business was ready to listen and reevaluate the way they design their campaign landing pages.
Teri Ann Helfrich, Internet Marketing Manager, Becton Dickinson & Company, www.bd.com
For those of you who, like me, are riding the range as independents/freelancers/business owners, I urge you to stick by your guns financially speaking. Case in point: I have (or maybe by now it’s had) a small client in late ’03 for whom I wrote a monthly HTML newsletter.
Good project, good profitability, etc. I got a signed contract and a down payment before beginning the first issue — really did all the right things.
The problem came later when I loosened up my contractual terms and began releasing finished issues without being paid first as my own contract stipulated. By the time of only the second issue it was becoming obvious that this client would be a slow payer. I continued nonetheless. By the third issue it was already too late to stand on principle. Bottom line: I’m out almost $5,000 right now and even after a recent heart to heart with the President of the company, don’t feel particularly confident that I will EVER see that money. Worse yet, I can never get back the time that I spent doing work for free. If that happens, I have nobody but myself to blame. Contracts and agreements exist for a reason. It isn’t
mean to enforce them. Just fair.
Dan Regan, Vice President, The Lightbulb Lab Inc., danregan@comcast.net
I was reminded this year that PR is more than media relations and publicity. It is the long-term development, management, and maintenance of relationships that can affect your business. How did I
relearn this important lesson? Recently the phone rang with a new business opportunity. The prospect was interested in talking with me about handling PR for his company. He heard about me from someone who
once worked for me years ago. I had lost touch with her but she apparently still thought highly enough of me to refer me to this prospect. I located her and thanked her for her referral. The real lesson is this: treat
everyone with respect and manage your relationships because you never know where the people you touch will turn up. And you’ll probably never hear about the bad things being said about you. By the way, I got the business.
Harry Hoover, Managing Principal, Hoover Ink PR, www.hoover-ink.com
