We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica East a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?
Absolutely! Time off is important, even if it’s just a long weekend or a mental health day on a random Tuesday. I’ve found that I benefit from the time off in multiple ways.
Time to ignore my phone, trust my team to handle “it,” whatever that “it” may be, is essential to recharging my creative batteries. When I’m NOT thinking about a problem that needs to be solved is the exact time the perfect solution presents itself.
Secondly, the scarcity of my presence always seems to be the kick in the pants clients need to green-light a project they’ve been sitting on for weeks. Or months. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I take time for myself or my family, I come back to a slew of new and unexpected projects. Personal time has become part of my sales strategy.
Because I put so much time into my business, having time off is essential to reconnect with family and friends. My kids, especially, often don’t understand why I need to work so much. When we can take a shopping trip on a random Tuesday and not worry about the budget…that’s when they appreciate everything I do.
Lastly, leading by example is key to facilitating a healthy team. People who feel valued and appreciated do excellent work and are more likely to stick around. I regularly advise my team NOT to put in more hours than a “typical” work day. I also have no problems with my team working remotely, setting their own hours, and taking time off for themselves. Our clients receive better results when the team is rested, refreshed, and recharged.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
I got my start as a graphic designer in 2001, designing home and office products for a global paper company. I worked with licensors, overseas vendors, and dipped my toe into management before I was 25.
Worried that I had pigeonholed myself in product design, I took a position at a small marketing company in 2007. This is where my professional expansion really started. Because the team was so small, I was often thrown into marketing, event management, and public relations tasks that I felt were beyond my expertise. I learned how to do those tasks and do them well.
Looking for more stability and to officially spread my wings, I took a management position in 2008. This position let me flex all of my creative skills, with the added expectation of managing budgets and paying vendors. I found that I was working 60-80 hours per week so that management could take credit for most of my work. As a single mother with small children (at the time,) this wasn’t sustainable.
So I opened my own shop. Why work 80 hours for someone else on salary when you could work 80 hours for yourself and be paid based on how much you work? It was a no-brainer for me.
In 2012 I launched Noir Marketing and PR®.
Since its inception, I wanted Noir to be the partner agency I wish I’d had when I was running the marketing department: a PARTNER who can help with ALL OF THE THINGS. I found that most agencies did one or two things, so to get everything I needed to run the organization’s marketing efforts, I needed many suppliers. Many suppliers means more time managing those many suppliers and coordinating all of their collective efforts to support your brand. Time wasted is money lost.
Noir is the perfect partner for organizations because our skills encompass everything a team needs to support their brand’s marketing efforts. We manage and track all aspects of a project, from concept to completion, taking project management completely off our clients’ plate. Some of the things we do are:
• Graphic Design
• Web Design
• Public Relations / Crisis Communications
• Business Photography / Videography
• Event Planning and Management
• Signage
• Apparel
• Business Instruction
How did you build your audience on social media?
Maximizing social media starts with knowing your audience. Before we make recommendations to anyone we ask:
• Who is your customer / potential customer?
• Where are they? (what channels)
• What is the message / goal of communication?
Facebook isn’t the best channel for everyone (such as B2B clients.)
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Customer service.
Our hometown is oversaturated with creative firms and other one-off shops who focus only on web or video, etc. Amazing customer service has been key to building and maintaining our client roster. As silly as it sounds, I hear so many horror stories from people fleeing bad business relationships where they’ve been neglected, over-charged, and disrespected. I am truly baffled that firms treat their clients like that and expect to keep their business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://noirmarketingandpr.com/
- Instagram: @noirmarketing
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoirMarketingandPR
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/noir-marketing-and-pr/
- Twitter: @noir_pr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTv-LkbJYPKyQiuip9tIPiw
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/noir-marketing-and-pr-dayton
Image Credits
©Noir Marketing and PR®