Balance

Balance.

Work Life, home life.  Spending, saving.  Making, buying.  Active, resting.

I find that balance is always something one tries to maintain, yet can always easily get out of whack – especially around the holidays.  A question I have drilled into myself to help is “what do you need to do vs. what do you want to do?”

The same can be said in your business related to marketing.  As we forge ahead in this unpredictable economy when the shoe seems to be able to drop at any moment, you need to hunker down and focus on what needs to get done, and usually there are different viewpoints throughout the organization of what that list contains.  Depending on who has the loudest voice/objection or is the squeakiest wheel typically wins, and balance is lost.

From personal experience, one of the first things to go when these discussions are going on, is marketing.  When compared to Operations, Finance, Sales…it is the least understood of its professional siblings and thus seemingly the easiest to cut.  However, if it is the first to go – so is the awareness of what it is you’re selling, producing and ultimately making money from.  Your teeter-totter just launched you (or your organization) off the ride and are now completely out of balance.

I’m not saying Marketing is the only thing keeping you in balance, but I am suggesting there may be another way that creates a win-win for everyone involved.

What if you could maintain the balance the company needs to run while cutting expenses?  Imagine you could pay for pure work product without any additional overhead.  What if you could keep your marketing running with a seasoned professional who understands the challenges you are facing, and knows how to both keep things running business as usual, as well as support or lead any strategic initiatives that could make the company thrive?

There is more than one way to…you know the rest.  Marketing, much like everything else in the world, has evolved.  You can get a bigger bang for your buck from a fractional resource because they tend to be so versatile!  Need someone temporarily for a new project, to fill in for maternity leave, or just to fill in between hiring?  Done.  Need someone who can help support a current team because they are at capacity, or they need a leader who can help advise, coach and mentor?  Done.  Perhaps it is so you can have strategic bench strength at the top and in the C-suite, but you don’t need or want it full time.  Done.

Balance is all about choices.  You have to make a conscious effort to maintain it, but recognize there is more than one way to do so, and often times the ways need to pivot.  As you approach the new year, I encourage you to look at how you are maintaining balance (if you are!), and if it is time to make a change and try something new to support your business, and your balance.

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