Marketing on a Budget

This was easier said than done. Understandably, our employees are always tied up serving paying clients whose work comes first. We are bound contractually by service-level agreements to deliver in defined turn times. I had to use whoever had a free moment on a given day, so there was no consistency while I was trying to build and strengthen a brand. That led to quite a few revisions and lots of frustration. On top of that, the turn times for me were "when we get a break in the action." But how could I argue with putting our clients at the top of the priority list?

Yet, I had a sales team screaming for presentations, brochures, trade show materials, etc. There were also clients with the same demands of me because they need to promote our services to customers as their own.

The Solution

Thankfully, when he joined the company in 2008, CEO Ken Swanson agreed that we couldn't continue to grow our base of clients without dedicating time and effort to marketing (beyond what I could do with my own two hands). As a result, we decided to make Marketing a client of Affinity Express just like all the others we serve.

Today I work virtually with a dedicated team member in Manila. You've heard of Melchizedek Fernandez before and I can't say enough good things about his work and dedication. Yet, we have never met in person!

Placing Orders

I submit requests for new projects in our IDEA order management system anytime from anywhere. I can track the status, proof, upload and submit revisions in one easy-to-use portal. If and when files need to be updated six days or six months after they were created, I have what amounts to an archive of all my materials and just provide instructions referring to unique tracking numbers or file names.