Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in marketing but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Tami Wloch, Social Media Director of Strategic & Creative Marketing, located in Lake Villa, IL, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Strategic & Creative Marketing is a 20yr old, full-service Marketing Firm that works with many industries. Our current digital clients include international supply chain companies, medical companies, law firms, restaurants, economic development agencies, & large governmental workforce development agencies.

We provide them with exceptional marketing services, including new websites, updated website pages, and managing their digital through paid social media ads, email funnels, LinkedIn business development funnels, print, video, OOH, OTT, & more.

Tell us about yourself

I've been in marketing for quite some time; going back to creating website pages before there were templates & you created an HTML doc for each web page. I have been consulting for S/C for many years as the Director of Social/Digital Media & I truly enjoy creating campaigns for clients & seeing an increase in their brand awareness and sales. It's especially satisfying when a client has tried lots of marketing previously without results, and then our tactics & execution deliver the engagement they are looking for.

I also teach classes around the world to business owners, teaching them the exact steps they need to take to get more sales thru social media (using free techniques). I love to be on a seminar stage & see the audience understand what they need to change and how to do it; it's very gratifying.

I have an amazing team of women who work with me that create outstanding content and graphics - they make my job so much easier. It's great to brainstorm with my team & then come up with unique, new ways to sell the customer's product or service.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

We just ran a webinar campaign for a client who only gave us about ten days to get attendees to a warehouse devices webinar. We utilized multiple tactics that brought 300 signups to the event!

A second accomplishment I'm proud of is for a new restaurant client - by the 3rd month of digital ads, we had doubled their customers on a night that was never busy before. All being said, though, I'm definitely most proud of my teaching seminars. I am on Advisory Panels for both Facebook Corp & LinkedIn Corp, so I get to learn what works the best on both platforms & teach that to others. It's very hard to be successful on these big platforms, so being able to guide business owners to have success on digital is fantastic!

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Hiring is always tough. I've had hires that couldn't do half of what they said they could do during an interview, so I've had to fire them. On the other hand, I just had an amazing new hire that had to leave due to family issues (so sad to see her go, but I completely understand). Bringing on a new person who can do a great job with their assignments and also fit in well with the rest of the team is incredibly difficult.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Hire someone before you think you need them. It's frightening to take on the debt of hiring someone, but it will free you up to sell your product/service to more new customers. It should grow your company much faster than if you kept doing it on your own.
  2. Get great Case Studies - new customers want to know that you've had past successes. So, even if you take on a new client at a rock-bottom price, being able to show you've succeeded is more important than making the most amount of money at the beginning.
  3. Fire customers that are a hassle! When you are starting out, every customer is important. But, if you have a customer that is taking up 80% of your time or is very difficult to work with, don't be afraid to let them go. It will give you more time to get more GREAT customers! Plus, a bad customer can jeopardize your employees as well - no one wants to work with a crabby person all the time.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://scmarketinginc.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SCMarketingInc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marketingbytami
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tami-wloch-a3b36914/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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