There’s an old saying about being a “Jack of all trades, but a master of none.” I have come to find a slightly different saying to be more accurate:
A Jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.
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The needs of small businesses are diverse and complex. Our clients understand that Gladiator Consulting is made up of a team of skilled specialists, who each dedicate time to the client based on an assessment of their exact needs. The organizations we work with value our ability to address a wide range of marketing and business development demands, giving them the flexibility to prioritize an array of initiatives with the confidence that they will be performed by team members with the appropriate expertise.
For this reason, Gladiator is a better CMO than I will ever be. This sounds harsh and possibly disparaging of my own abilities, but it is the absolute truth.
I have an undergraduate degree in biology. Technically, you would be close to accurate if you called me a botanist. For me, nothing is more valuable or interesting than devising a hypothesis, conducting tests and experiments, measuring results and trying again. I get excited about planning, organization and continuous testing to improve performance. I delight in data and systems that are beneficial and applicable to real-world business challenges.
Because being a botanist does not exactly align with understanding how businesses work, developing effective marketing strategies, or identifying partnership opportunities, I decided to pursue an MBA from the University of Texas. Now, I have a better foundation and skill set for capturing business metrics, creating strategic plans, and implementing efficient processes to ensure goals are met. In addition, Gladiator Consulting provides me with the opportunity to work with dozens of companies in a diverse range of industries.
However, even with an MBA and years of marketing and business development experience under my belt, Gladiator Consulting is still a better CMO than I will ever be.
The most foundational component of marketing is a strong, relatable brand. If you asked me to design an ideal logo, it would be blue, symmetrical and most likely include an alphabetized grid of some sort. When I started Gladiator Consulting, I did not know what the words Serif and Sans Serif meant. Luckily, because we have a truly exceptional Art Director on the Gladiator team, we are able to develop designs for companies whose logos range from eponyms to chickens, stylized letters to descriptive words, triangles, circles, bridges, and yes—even a few designs that are symmetrical or include grids. Each logo is a foundational asset for our clients and whether we are starting from scratch or identifying ways to leverage an existing brand, the results are always better because of the specialized expertise of Gladiator Consulting’s graphic designers and brand managers.
The second most impactful marketing deliverable is a clear, concise and engaging website. When I think of “code,” I flash back to letter/number puzzles like the poor kid in “A Christmas Story” who discovered a message about drinking more Ovaltine. I am familiar with words like Java Script, CSS, C++, Ruby on Rails, and I even had to “write” a computer game in high school, but I am certainly not the person you want to build your website. I am, however, exactly the person you want doing research, customer interviews, competitive analysis and positioning to develop the perfect message for your website. Thankfully, Gladiator has website designers and developers on our team to bring that messaging to fruition. While I understand the importance of tracking website performance and conversion rates, I am glad that our team has User Experience experts to turn that messaging into an optimized user journey through the website.
These are just a couple of ways the Gladiator team has become something greater than the sum of our parts. While I lend my significant experience and provide leadership to the team, the exceptional group of talented people that have joined Gladiator make our services truly outstanding.
Many companies would like their marketing leader to not only develop and implement marketing strategy, but also perform business development functions, manage multiple social media accounts, create email campaigns, document company successes, plan events—and the list goes on.
Finding a single person with ALL of these skills would be like winning the lottery, or might make you wish you had so you could afford to pay them.
Gladiator Consulting provides:
- Business Analysis and Planning
- Strategic Marketing
- Branding/Graphic Design
- Website Development
- Social Media Marketing
- Event Planning
- Email Marketing
- Project Management
- Public Relations
- Marketing Content Creation
- Copywriting/Copyediting
- Metrics and Performance Improvement
We offer all of these skills and more, in packages designed to meet your organization’s individual needs, so you can grow, become more profitable, connect with more stakeholders, and chart your progress along the way. This diversified collection of quality services is what makes Gladiator such an incredible Chief Marketing Officer. If you’re interested in how we can help your company, schedule a free call.
