Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Schober

Hi Patrick, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I started my career as an editor in the Philadelphia area. I worked at a company that specialized in B2B newsletters, and I was responsible for covering Accounts Payable and Payroll, and I occasionally contributed copy on HR, IT, safety, and nonprofits.

Looking back, much of that experience was invaluable to where I am today. In addition to refining my abilities as a writer, that job taught me so much about business and the business world as a whole.

After a few years of editorial life, I transitioned into content marketing. And while my background in writing was incredibly useful, I found I had plenty to learn on the strategy side.

That first taste of agency life was a whirlwind, and it concluded with me being wordlessly laid off by someone I trusted.

It felt awful.

But that betrayal led me to take a risk and invest in myself by starting Poetica Marketing.

That was six years ago.

Today, I have the pleasure of working alongside my best friend and wife, who also serves as Poetica Marketing’s Events Coordinator, and we continue to learn and grow together as a team, as a business, and as a family.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Most definitely not. Actually, it seems like Poetica faces some sort of major challenge or shift every couple of years.

Our first 12 months were tumultuous. I was still getting my bearings as a marketer and salesman, but I was fortunate enough to partner with another solo marketer who took me under his wing and passed enough work my way to get myself established.

After a few years of working together, that relationship crumbled, and I found myself rebuilding the business without that partnership for support. It felt like starting over—but with the luxury of all the knowledge I’d acquired and an existing handful of clients.

When Regina, my wife and our Events Coordinator, eventually joined, we thought we had enough pieces in place to quickly build that side of the business.

And, to our credit, we had a number of big at-bats—but most of those deals fell through at the last second.

It was disheartening.

But that pressure forced us to revisit our entire sales process for the better.

We’ve since bounced back smarter, stronger, and more profitable than ever before, and now the next problem has arrived:

AI.

It’s a huge threat to content marketers everywhere.

So, now we’re actively exploring strategies to embrace AI while also building additional resilience into Poetica Marketing. AI is challenging so much of what we offer, and we’ll need to prepare for a hyper-competitive marketplace.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

Poetica Marketing is a content marketing and live events company based in Pittsburgh, PA, and our unique blend of capabilities means we help companies stand out both online and in person.

I started Poetica Marketing from humble beginnings—the phoenix in our logo is actually representative of my professional rebirth—and that’s given us a soft spot for helping small businesses grow quickly.

Some of our proudest achievements:

1. Developing an SEO strategy that helped a therapist’s office grow its clientele fast enough to double its team size
2. Helping a music store obliterate its all-time one-day sales record—with only four hours of work on our part
3. Consulting with a haunted house to develop a marketing strategy that caused it to temporarily run out of parking spaces

But I think the biggest thing that makes us different is our insistence on living our values. We focus heavily on donating 10 hours of our services every month to local nonprofits. That’s led us to some exciting projects involving things like:

1. Teaching low- and middle-income adults how to build marketing strategies for their small businesses
2. Helping foster children access free instruments and music lessons
3. Helping to stomp out hunger by eliminating food waste throughout the region

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?

There have been so many lessons. I think the hardest lesson I’ve learned is to charge what you’re worth.

I came out of the gate with prices way too low, and while that helped me win projects, it also crippled growth in other areas.

It also meant I built a book of business with prices that didn’t really make sense, and raising prices since then has always been a little painful.

And, to be honest, we’re probably still too low.

Don’t make my mistake.

Know your worth.

Charge for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.poeticamarketing.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poeticamarketing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PoeticaMarketing/

Image Credits

Dominique Murray Photography