Biggest fuck up?
As an agency co-owner with no previous business running experience, you can imagine that there have been many learning opportunities! But in terms of relating to fellow marketers, that would be trying to be a Jack of all Trades.
When I started, I was a social media expert who wrote content and worked in SEO. That was not sustainable, as these became very specialist disciplines in their own right, so I had to choose. This was also the case with the agency. We used to be a “one-stop shop,” and that was diluting and devaluing the industry as a whole. So, while you think having the knowledge and “expertise” will make you desirable, you are diluting your worth by being a master of nothing.
Yes, knowing how the marketing mix mixes can give you the edge. Yes, learning how X tactic impacts Y is awesome. But knowing how to do a little of it all is pretty much worthless. Become a master of something.
Rant
My bugbear is that people still think that short-term fixes and gains will equal long-term success.
They are unwilling to invest in their foundations or build organic momentum to springboard from. For example, businesses plough money into PPC but haven’t invested in their SEO. They then end up in a co-dependent relationship with PPC, which becomes a more expensive addition for less and less return. Whereas, if they invested in SEO, they would start getting organic results and get more bang for their PPC buck. It is literally a win-win, but businesses and decision-makers get hung up on these quick “fixes” and don’t want to do the hard, long-term graft to build long-term loyalty with amazing ROI.
The worst thing is when a company operates like this while saying that they care about their customers. This way of thinking contradicts that completely. An un-optimised site is often not user-friendly or considers the needs of the customer. e.g. it’s hard to access by those that need additional support, such as screen readers.
Useful advice
The most useful piece of advice I have heard is “In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible” from Seth Godin.
Businesses are often too busy peeping over their neighbours’ fences to see what is going on rather than focusing on building their own houses with solid foundations. Stop looking for quick fixes to get ahead of your competitors; focus on your vision and goals, which should include building a long-standing brand with thoughts, opinions, and services/products to build customer loyalty and trust.