Rolling Sands Consulting

Perfectionism vs. Excellence

We’re only human.
No one is perfect.
Live and Learn.

Platitudes we often repeat but do we really believe them? For me, these phrases only applied to other people for many years. As a perfectionist, I did not give myself the consideration that I granted others.

Several years ago, I ran a PPC campaign for a manager. It was part of the launch plan for a new product. He hadn’t yet tried this tactic and was ready for something new. We carefully chose keywords and bid amounts and then pressed the proverbial “GO” button with great excitement!

It soon became obvious that we weren’t connecting with the right people. Lots of clicks, very few leads.

Our keywords were simply too generic. We struggled to find more specific language relevant to the product…to no avail. It was time to redirect our efforts and resources.

I was disappointed and apologised for the failure, but the manager viewed our campaign as a successful experiment. It gave us a much better idea as to which of his products were suited to PPC campaigns.

That day, my focus began shifting from a goal of perfection to that of excellence. It has been a bumpy but much more rewarding road.

Everyone is a marketer…

…even if they can’t or don’t want to do marketing. Every person in your organisation can either promote or damage your brand.

Everyone has a part to play in building your brand and maintaining your reputation.

Ideally, everyone in your company knows, understands, and *buys into* your brand story. You build trust and enthusiasm with your *internal* stakeholders in much the same way as you do for your customers.

Be open-minded, transparent, fair, and accountable.
Ensure that everyone is held to those same standards.
Live your brand values. “Do as I do.”
Share success stories with the whole company, not just your customers/prospects.
- It’s amazing how many people miss the best work a company does because they are siloed in a role behind-the-scenes.
Make sure that everyone knows why they are important and how they contribute to company goals.
Encourage job shadowing to build trust and an understanding of how the whole company comes together to do what it does. They are all on the same team.

Once you have a great company culture, you might want to initiate a formal employee ambassador program, but there are pros and cons. The linked article below offers a nice, quick intro. Is this an untapped marketing resource or too much of a risk factor for your business?

https://spinsucks.com/communication/employee-brand-ambassador-program/

My journey from Physics to Marketing

Experimental Physics and Marketing are not as diametrically opposed as you might think.

How did I end up in marketing? The short answer is that I completed the course requirements and my research was nearing completion for my M.Sc. in Physics. Then life happened and put me on a different path.

It was devastating to give up on something that I had been dreaming about since I was a preteen. Science was (and still is) one of my passions. I want to know how things work. I was *so* close to my goal…but with my supervisor demanding more experiments before I could defend my thesis, combined with several other stresses in my life, I hit a wall.

I mourn the loss of those dreams. However, I cannot regret my decision because it was the best path forward. My mental health was more precious than a piece of paper.

I chose to do something completely different. I quickly landed a full-time job at Chapters Bookstore. (I love books!) This is where I got my first taste of marketing. I now have a new passion, Marketing Communications. I do research, planning, experiments, analysis, make discoveries and educate others every day. Not so different from my life as a scientist.