Everybody loves my digital skills
I’ve worked in a lot of different companies in the past ten years…
Some of them good, some of them I’d rather forget and some of them have led to the consulting work I am doing now…
What have I found, working for so many companies in quite a few different roles?
Everybody loves my digital skills…
Nobody really understands what digital skills are…
Everybody has opinions about how a website should look, function and produce…
Nobody really plans projects properly, they think they do, but when reality sets in, they are left hanging…
Everybody works differently. It’s important to find clients that you work well with…
Nobody realises how much work goes into digital projects.
I’ve had people say to me on numerous times, SEO titles and meta writing won’t take long. They forget that it’s an art form in itself and there’s a lot of research that goes into writing SEO meta to make sure it actually works.
Or with websites, people saying the site is so slow. Yes, well it wouldn’t be if you had’ve scoped the project, trained the people using it, and assessed how much content you are actually going to produce and upload, properly from the start. It could be you have a crappy old WordPress site that has been managed by someone who was an afterthought…
Who didn’t really know what they were doing…
It is what it is, people.
Startups are just another term for smaller businesses in high growth who think they can reach unicorn status by pushing their workers to work like them, but not pay them the same as the founders. I get it. You want passionate people who can hustle…
But pay them for the long days, nights, weekends that they slave away for your company…
It’s 2023. People have options now.
People are still in silos about most things, especially when it comes to their employees range of skills…
A former manager was surprised when I mentioned that I could actually build them a new website and connect up all the marketing ops required for demand gen activities…
Or that I can run social media, and make it work…
Many business owners decide that they are the expert in everything and no matter what you suggest, they will decide to do it their way and it must be done immediately.
People, there’s a reason why you hire people to do things…
Let them do their jobs and focus your attention on relationship building, it’s what leaders are purported to do best…
Of course, leaders want to have input…
That makes sense, as you know your business best.
But when it comes to UX design, marketing operations, social media and demand gen, you should probably listen to the specialist you have hired to get it all done.
If something isn’t working, evaluate where it went sideways, instead of immediately pointing fingers. Most things are salvageable with a bit of tweaking…
And don’t forget to evaluate all your digital projects before you get started. It might take a bit of time, but it will be worth it in the long run…
What else have you found running or working for companies over the years?
