We were lucky to catch up with Christine Morse recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Christine, thanks for joining us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

Millions of dollars are spent on marketing and I am wondering why that same amount of effort is not spent internally, on operations and culture improvement?

Over the years, I have helped organizations double and sometimes triple the number of clients, inbound calls, and sales with our marketing services. Over and over I have watched the operations and internal culture crumble beneath the weight, so I started to use the same tactics on the internal teams as I did with the clients.

It was simple……treat your employees like clients. Many organizations still live by the rule of I pay you…..so just do your job. In my opinion, this is the root of all toxic environments.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I learned marketing and communications from some of the best mentors in Corporate America and am forever grateful for their wisdom. When I left that environment so I could start my own business (in 2009) I thought all businesses were “like ours”. I quickly realized that most businesses do not have layers of people, management, and leadership. Most businesses do not have an employee onboarding and retention process. Most businesses do not have a team of HR professionals and if they do, they are all deeply engrained within their “ways” of doing the work.

Don’t get me wrong, HR departments often are viewed as the police within the organization. The heavy hands that enforce policy and governance. It’s not their fault, it’s the way they were trained and the mold that has been developed for them. Many of them fit that mold just right and do a great job.

From what I have experienced, that mold needs to be adjusted. HR and Marketing need to become more aligned and there are numerous reasons for this which I hope to explain in upcoming questions.

For now, since this is about me, and it is my passion to make sure that the large, medium, and small organizations realize that your customers are just as important as your employees and if set up correctly, the employees can become advocates which increases sales.

I am not sure why I can’t ever take the easy road and this case it would be to keep growing my marketing agency. Growing sales, databases, and all of the goodness that is woven into that work. I do love that but cannot stand by and watch while so many people are being crushed by the weight and living each day in a toxic environment, full of bullies, and of people who are not embracing a team atmosphere. Once people hear how the internal teams can easily be symbiotic with one another, embrace the tools and systems that I propose, they will be able to keep their talented teams, attract like-minded people to their organization, and work in a place that thrives.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

When I opened my doors in 2009, I had money in my 401K that would have been able to sustain me after retirement. Now, I am building that nest-egg back up from ZERO and it is something that I have never told anyone so I am surprised that I am sharing it here, publicly. I think it’s because I want you to know the level of passion that I have for helping organizations to grow.

Sure, over the years, I have thought many times about “getting a job” but once you have managed your own business, it is not easy going back into a system that is controlled by others. A system that does not appreciate my unique gifts for new and innovative ideas. Most organizations want to hire me to “do the job”. Once I realized this reality, there was not going back. I had to move forward and be the best damn marketing agency around so I did. Then, Covid hit and I refused to enforce my agreements because our team could not gain any traction for our clients so I was not going to make them keep paying the monthly fees. Letting my team go was scary and letting my clients “go” was terrifying. Again, my 401K went back down to (nearly) ZERO.

Being a single mom of two kids, one child with disabilities, and one going off to college, it is a challenge to only “eat what I hunt”. Only income is what I go out and get and then maintain. This is not for the faint of heart, trust me. However, my passion to help others runs deep and going out to “get a job” instead of sharing my skills with clients would crush my soul. I cannot risk working within an organization that is toxic and not committed to concepts like “Rising Tides Float All Boats” which I feel to my core. The chance of finding a leader like me, is slim so I can’t take that chance. I am going to stay focused on building my marketing agency back up WITH the services of internal marketing for improved culture. Once again, I will be explaining what I can do for organizations and it will not be like others. I need to focus on education of HOW marketing tools can improve cultures. It makes butterflies in my stomach. It’s not a safe or secure path but it is a path I am on and I am GOING to win. Besides….I am 54 years old and not many companies hire people over 50 but we’ll save that conversation for another day.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social Media is how I have gained approximately 80% of my business and it is not easy but once you embrace it (instead of saying you hate it) and find the formula, it is a wonderful tool for communication. It helps you cast a net out to the world like no other tool.

It is best for organizations who have a story to tell and provide services that the public needs. It is not the best tool for manufacturing unless you are trying to attract talent but then, you need a story to tell which is typically a cause marketing campaign.

To find success, you need to be authentic, allow people to get to know your personality (or the vibe of the organization), tell a story, use words that capture the ideal clients’ eye, be consistent, develop a rhythm and cadence for posting with a well planned out editorial calendar. The rhythm and cadence should follow a path of knowledge sharing, behind the scenes, testimonials, spark, authority, more knowledge, and a soft sell. Then repeat….. knowledge sharing, behind the scenes, testimonials, spark, authority, more knowledge, and a soft sell.

Use short videos when you can, blogging for sharing knowledge, telling stories, and sharing thoughts that help change people’s lives. People like to get to know people. I see so many companies posting their sales and marketing speak over and over and over and then being frustrated, saying “social media is a waste of time”. This is frustrating to me.

Follow these steps, cast out your net, gently approach people that show interest, get to know them or ask for a quick zoom call to talk, get them gently into your sales funnel by giving them a gift of knowledge. The rest is the magic you work on the other clients you have gained. Simply follow the process, be kind and authentic, use the words they want to hear, provide value to your ideal clients, and close the sale. It’s that simple.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://avidmarketingalliance.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christine_avid/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AvidMarketingAlliance
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinemorse/