It is a no-brainer that digital businesses are thriving with the help of powerful social media strategies and marketing campaigns. Your online brand needs a robust marketing strategy that could yield profitable results. And in the list of marketing firms, we cannot miss covering Mavens & Moguls.
Mavens & Moguls is a global strategic marketing and consulting firm with experienced marketing professionals. The professionals at the company know well how to bring innovative ideas to the table while raising capital, conducting successful product launches, and creating innovative media strategies side by side.
We have covered the success story of Mavens & Moguls, and here it is for you.
The Story Behind Mavens & Moguls
I did not plan on starting a company. I always wanted to work for a large multi-national business and be a Fortune 500 CEO. As a student, I looked at leaders like Meg Whitman & Ursula Burns as my role models. I started my career on Wall Street in the 80s and had a successful career in Corporate America at companies like Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola. I worked at 3 different startups as the head of marketing.
I became an entrepreneur and leaped right after 9/11 when the company I worked for cut its marketing. I had nothing to lose. Being an entrepreneur provides me a platform to do work I genuinely enjoy and for people I respect. Like most entrepreneurs, I am working harder and longer than ever, and I have never been happier.
Working for yourself and building a business you started is gratifying. It has been a lot of fun, and I joke that I am an accidental entrepreneur. I knew I had made it as an entrepreneur when Harvard wrote 2 case studies on my business a few years after I started it; we were very early to pioneer sharing resources on the marketing front (before my company, it was only done with HR, legal and accounting/finance).
We are a network of seasoned marketing experts who can do anything a marketing department, market research shop, public relations firm, or ad agency does on an as-needed or outsourced basis. We help our clients find the right words and pictures to tell their stories in compelling ways to create interest. We have resources in major metro areas across the country and around the world.
Challenges That Made Mavens & Moguls Stand Out
Our biggest challenge early on was that the people you start with are not always the ones who grow with you. The hardest lesson I learned when I started my company is not getting rid of weak people earlier than I did in the first few years of my business. I spent more time managing them than finding new customers. I knew in my gut they were not up to snuff, but out of loyalty to them, I let them hang around much longer than they should have. It would have been better for everyone to let them go as soon as the signs arrived.
They became more insecure and threatened as we grew, which was not productive for the team. As soon as I let them go, the culture got more robust and the bar higher. “A” team people like to be surrounded by other stars. You should indeed hire slowly and fire quickly. I did not make that mistake again later, so I learned it well the first time. I wish I had known it even earlier, but lesson learned for sure!
Empowering Clients & Scaling Their Business With Social Media Strategies
Because social media and technology are 24/7, it is easy to get sucked into it, but I don’t let it drive my clients crazy; you do not need to be everywhere; it does not matter which platform you choose; just pick one or 2 that are authentic to you.
Social media has leveled the playing field; it is fast, cost-efficient, and has allowed small and midsized organizations, nonprofits, solopreneurs, etc. that can’t afford to shell out the big bucks for fancy ads or a celebrity campaign to reach their audience and influencers directly.
Professional services businesses like mine need to be on LinkedIn to be found. It adds credibility and transparency when you know the people you are meeting or working with knowledgeable people in common. LinkedIn has become more than an online resume or Rolodex; it is the foundation for building trusted relationships in the digital economy. If your customers do not use Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to find you, you do not need to prioritize them. LinkedIn matters the most, so that has always been and continues to be my priority.
I help clients ensure that all social media profiles and personas tell the same story; if you appear serious/buttoned up on one side and a comedian on another, it can be confusing and dilute your brand. Don’t spread yourself too thin on social; it should always look and sound like you and the brand you have built; whether yours is polished or more informal, chatty or academic, humorous or snarky, it is a way for your personality to come through.
Everyone is not going to like you/click, but for those who would be an excellent fit for you, make sure they feel and keep a connection and give them a reason to remember you so that when they need your help, they think of you first.
People do not remember facts and figures, but if you tell them a story that touches them emotionally, you get their attention, and they want to hear more. People need to be educated, informed, and entertained, so figure out how best to tell your story in a way that makes them pay attention and break through the noise, focusing on the benefits, not the features of your product/service.
Achieving Milestones Along The Way
I am very proud of our work for organizations across many categories and geographies over the past 20 years. We branded and launched a conference as part of the Sundance Film Festival to “invest in media that matters,” we created a significant fundraising opportunity for a nonprofit celebrating a milestone anniversary for helping people live productive lives with AIDS. We rebranded and renamed 2 social service agencies that help people with mental disabilities.
We rebranded and elevated the profile and awareness of a for-profit organization that is an intensive family- and community-based treatment program that focuses on addressing all environmental systems that impact chronic and violent juvenile offenders — their homes and families, schools and teachers, neighborhoods and friends.
These great organizations are better off today because of our work, which is incredibly fulfilling. However, the one client I am most proud of is an industrial products company based in New Orleans that we started working with just before Katrina and continued to work with them for years after.
Our work with them spanned many areas, and we were able to “keep the trains moving” post-Katrina when their most significant trade show of the year was happening, and they ended up as the belle of the ball there; our branding work for them helped them recruit great talent after the storm, the tag line we created for them helped them solidify their message, and in conjunction with the branding messages we developed for them, stand out from the pack of competitors. I grew up in New Orleans, so helping a local business means a lot to me, even though I have not lived there since college.
Quick Team Growth & Hardwork
When I started it, the team consisted of a handful of people I knew/worked with from previous lives. Everyone wore lots of hats, and we were running fast. As we grew, we reached into our networks to help us scale and build the team to 45. We have a strong culture, growth mindset, and no jerks policy, so we have weeded out high-maintenance folks. Everyone in the group comes from the industry, so our heads and hearts are much more aligned with our clients than a typical agency or consulting firm.
We are not professional PowerPoint makers; we have done the job as marketing and communication leaders, so our recommendations come from having been in our clients’ seats before. We are an extension of their team and spend their money the way they do, not as a vendor, so I think that is a compelling angle when they hire us. We do not see marketing as a necessary evil; we believe in the power of great brands and think all organizations, regardless of size or budget, deserve excellent marketing advice. Our passion comes through in our tagline and in everything we do.
Learning Throughout the Journey
I have found that building relationships drive my business, and technology supports them once they are solidified. Technology helps advance the conversation, but it will never replace the human interaction that builds trust over time. CRM tools are only as effective as the relationships you have created. We are all in the relationship business, after all. Didn’t Woody Allen say 80% of success is just showing up? It is a strategy that has worked for me.
If I have learned anything in my career as an entrepreneur, here are the lessons that have stuck with me:
- You do not exist today if you cannot be found online. You always need SEO because the whole point of having a website is to make it easy for customers to find you. Being invisible online is a terrible strategy, so ensuring your site is keyword-rich, mobile-friendly, loads quickly, and produces meaningful content today is the price of entry. That also happens to be an excellent foundation for effective SEO.
- Your home page is the most important to hook in prospective customers. If it does not load quickly or they do not see something that grabs their attention, the opportunity will be lost. It must include enough of your value proposition to start the conversation so they will click further to learn more about your product or service.
- The goal is to make the navigation intuitive and easy, so they follow the breadcrumbs to get their questions answered or solve problems when your brand foundation is strong. The metrics show that you shorten the sales cycle and people stay connected easily.
- Not getting what you want can lead you to magical outcomes, and you learn a lot more from failure than success in life. When things work well, you never really know why, but when there are problems, mistakes, or losses, you have a fundamental learning opportunity to see which assumptions were incorrect.
- That is the knowledge you will never forget again. The hard-fought lessons that come from age and experience are gold. Being in the trenches together is where I have met some of my best friends and colleagues, though those relationships are deep.
- Looking back at what you once thought was a failure can make you realize it was a blessing in disguise. Whether you were laid off, overlooked for the job, or did not get the total bonus you expected, as Winston Churchill said, failure is not fatal, and being resilient is what matters in life; you have to keep trying again.
- My definition of success changed once I left corporate life to become an entrepreneur. I realized I did not need to run a Fortune 500 company to be happy; I love building a small business and growing it successfully. Entrepreneurship is scary, but you can’t wait for the perfect time to act; you just have to course-correct as you get more feedback. Learn to get comfortable making decisions without excellent information.
- Entrepreneurs never give up on their beliefs; dreams can become a reality when you pursue them with intention and courage. When you learn from every setback, you make better mistakes over time, and in my experience, that is where you know the most known to do by doing. Course correct and pivot along the way; it makes for a fun path in life.
Looking Forward To The Future!
I have no idea where my business will be post-pandemic. Still, I am confident I have built a great foundation with exciting clients and colleagues who value communications and want to use marketing best practices to make a difference in the world. It has been a circuitous route to get here, but as Steve Jobs said, it is only looking backward where you can make real sense connecting the dots in life.
I believe I am on the right path and will follow it and see where it goes. The lessons from the pandemic that will stay with me include my gratitude and appreciation for the simplicity of good food, nature, my inner circle, essential products/services, and health. In my experience, the sayings are true: your network is your net worth, and your health is your wealth. Everything else is a distraction so stay focused on what matters most!
Social Champ wishes the entire team of Mavens & Moguls good luck and a successful journey ahead.
