Unlocking AI's Potential for Small Marketing Teams with Expert Caroline Crawford

Caroline Crawford: 00:00:00

I think AI can be really helpful to

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give the marketers a leg up.

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So I use ai for instance, if I'm like,

okay, I've got ideas like my heart, my

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biggest challenge or what takes me the

longest is not the ideas, but it's how to

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piece it together to where it makes sense

for everyone else but me kind of thing.

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Right?

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Brett: Mm, that's good.

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And welcome to a new episode of

Digital Coffee Marketing Brew.

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I'm your host, Brett Geiser.

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Could please subscribe to this podcast

on all your favorite podcasting apps.

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does help with the rankings.

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And now you can leave a

comment on Spotify because.

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Why not?

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We love comments.

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Anyways, I have with me Caroline, and she

is a business leader and with aligning

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marketing initiatives effectively to

achieve overarching business goals.

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She is a seasoned marketer and

communication expert with a 13 year

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successful track record on blending

the vision, the visionary with.

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Just your business practices

and your sales goals.

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But this week as well, we're gonna

be talking about building a market

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team on a scrappy budget because

we're all on that plane ride of

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can you cut the marketing budget?

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Can you be as lean as possible?

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But welcome to the show, Caroline.

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Caroline Crawford: Thank

you so much for having me.

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I'm excited to be here.

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Brett: Yes.

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The first question is, all my guest

is, are you a coffee or tea drinker?

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Caroline Crawford: Ooh, I just

stopped drinking coffee a couple

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months ago, so I wa I think at heart

I am, I'm not a tea person very

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much, but I've now stopped it all.

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Brett: Stopped it all.

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So is it just like straight

water and that's all you do?

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Mostly

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Caroline Crawford: water.

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All.

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I've, now, I'm trying to

get on the matcha train.

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It's not working as well as coffee, but.

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Brett: Fair enough.

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I'm an old drinking person because Sure.

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I still love coffee, but

has be a specific coffee.

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Caroline Crawford: Yeah.

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What?

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What's the specific coffee?

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Brett: I usually go for

the more expensive ones.

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'cause they're actually better.

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Yeah.

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If I have to, I'll go to Starbucks,

but it's not never my first choice.

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It's always my.

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There's one, I don't know the area I'm in

and there's no other coffee shops around.

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Caroline Crawford: Perfect.

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Love that.

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Brett: Anyways, I gave a brief

summary of your expertise.

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Can you give our listeners a

little bit more about what you do?

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Caroline Crawford: Yeah, absolutely.

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So I've been in marketing

communications for 13 years.

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Like you said, I, throughout

my career, I just.

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Always had a very heavy hand in kind

of all the things with marketing, just

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and working with a lot of companies

that had a very dynamic marketing team.

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So they didn't have, it wasn't multiple

departments within the marketing team.

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It was a lot of the times myself,

maybe one or two other people, and.

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The size of the company

did not match that.

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So it was very interesting background.

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But about three and a half years ago,

actually, I think before, even before

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that, while I was still in-house, I

started to recognize the patterns and

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look at the patterns I was experiencing

in my career around marketing, the way

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businesses viewed marketing, treated

marketing and also the experiences I was

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having in-house as an in-house marketer.

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From outside marketers and that's

essentially what formed Cultivate.

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I really saw this gap that existed

between the way business leaders

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viewed marketing, but also the way

that marketing support was delivered.

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And so that's, I.

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What I'm now out here doing.

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And so ultimately, cultivate

communications specializes in developing

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and optimizing marketing functions

by aligning sales, marketing and

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brand to create effective strategies

and create and increase revenue,

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increase efficiencies across the team,

and then ultimately grow the brand.

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Brett: All right, so what are

some fundamental skills should.

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The leader of a scraping marketing team

or the market team should possess to

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ensure efficiency and effectiveness.

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Because we're all in that.

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Can you, and as always, businesses always

cut the marketing budget first, so how

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do you become efficient and effective?

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Caroline Crawford: Yeah, I think one,

first things first, be adaptable.

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'cause when you are in an environment

that is needing to be scrappy.

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You have to design everything in

a way, in the way you operate.

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To be adaptable, and nimble

as best as you possibly can.

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That said, you do have to create structure

in your marketing system, and I look at

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marketing from all angles, everything

under the marketing umbrella, umbrella.

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So the easiest way to do to work

with limited resources and be

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scrappy is to see how it all

connect connects together, right?

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And what that looks like is developing

marketing strategies where you can

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repurpose things, where content can work

for one channel and on multiple channels.

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Putting, identifying

and isolating sometimes.

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Pieces of your marketing puzzle that

are gonna take more time, effort,

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energy, money, whatever that looks

like, and using that to fuel other

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pieces of your marketing channel.

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So that, those are just a

couple ways to do that, but

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ultimately structure, having your.

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Team in place, being really aware of

what the priorities are and then saying

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back to the business leaders, especially

if you're the marketing team working

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with business leaders that may make

marketing a little bit more challenging

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for whatever reason, they may not

understand what goes on behind the scenes.

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It's really important for you to say,

we have all these other priorities.

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These are the processes

that we have in place, and.

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You keep throwing curve balls at us.

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So we need to either go back and put focus

for you on what's needed for marketing.

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And that way we can structure our

team a little bit better or we need

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to completely reprioritize some things

or operate a little bit differently.

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Brett: And on the content side,

is it more focusing on the

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evergreen content because that can.

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Be either repurposed or refreshed

a little bit more than just the

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seasonal or just the one-offs,

because I feel like budgets are kinda

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like, okay, what can I actually do?

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And Evergreen is usually the one that's

the easiest to repurpose and use.

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Longer than anything else.

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Caroline Crawford: Yeah, you

could look at it that way.

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I see any content that's created honestly

as an opportunity to potentially repurpose

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in some shape or form, as long as it's

still relevant to the brand and what

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the messaging is and things like that.

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But ultimately, when you're creating

content, even older campaigns

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and seasonal campaigns, there's

usually a core message there.

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That can then be repurposed.

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Obviously, if it's a seasonal campaign,

you did a winter campaign, let's

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say, and then you're now in summer,

some things have to be updated.

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But I think the Evergreen content is

great because you can squeeze a lot of

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juice out of one particular Evergreen

content, and it's just a matter of

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finding fresh ideas from that same thing.

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But I think it doesn't really,

to me, it doesn't really.

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It doesn't have to be either

or Evergreen or campaign.

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I think that's where the strategic

planning comes into play and

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the structure comes into play.

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Because if you know what's ahead, you can

understand how you can create content.

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So if you're planning a marketing

strategy where you are, again, let's

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say you're focused on an evergreen

campaign about how to create, how

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to maximize your marketing team.

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Whatever.

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What if you have a scrappy

marketing team, right?

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That's an, that can stand

alone as an evergreen content.

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But let's say, okay, December's coming

up, so how to then you can create

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additional content, leveraging the

first evergreen content that says,

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okay, how do you maximize your team?

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During vacation, heavy

vacation schedules or whatever.

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I'm just coming up with some random

examples, but there's ways to do that,

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and then even by vice versa, if you

created the winter thing first, I.

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You can then generalize

it to make it evergreen.

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So I think that there's, it's more

so what is the core message you're

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trying to convey and what's the core

value you're trying to get out there?

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And then I think you can get creative with

all the different ways to go about it.

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Brett: And how do you identify

and leverage the unique

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competitive advantages of a.

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Small marketing budget or a toned

down marketing budget depending on

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what's the size of your business.

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And is that also leveraging more ai?

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Because you're a small marketing team, AI

is prevalent and it's a little bit easier

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to use given that you have a small budget.

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Caroline Crawford: Yeah.

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I think AI can be really helpful

to give the marketers a leg up.

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So I use ai for instance, if I'm like,

okay, I've got ideas like my heart, my

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biggest challenge or what takes me the

longest is not the ideas, but it's how to.

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Piece it together to where it

makes sense for everyone else

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but me kind of thing, right?

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And so AI can be really helpful with that.

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AI can also present different ideas.

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It can lay out a strategy, it

can organize thoughts in term.

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And then of course there's always

arguments about whether or not AI

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should be used for generating content.

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I err on the side of best.

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You don't, if not, you vet it through.

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I think in terms of the competitive

advantages, the scrappier, the team

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every, yes, it's hard on the marketers,

but I think if you set up the right

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structure, if you really optimize it

correctly, the scrappier the team, the

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more connected they have to be to survive.

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So they have to serve.

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They have to be so connected

to the business leaders.

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They have to be so aware

of what's going on.

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They have to.

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Become a well-oiled machine because

they don't have room for error.

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They don't have a high margin of

just letting things fall to the

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wayside or things getting overlooked.

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They have to have, that's where

again, you optimize your team.

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It doesn't matter the size

of your team, you can op.

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I've operated with one or two people.

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I've operated with just myself

managing a very large team.

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Or, sorry, very large company.

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I think it's just, I think that's

where the competitive advantage

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could be is because if you connect.

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The greatest brands, the reason they

are getting so much attention, there's

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multiple reasons to be fair, but a huge

chunk of the reason if you really analyze

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it is they're showing up everywhere.

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And that's a challenge, right?

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Because you, if you are showing up

everywhere, it takes a lot of resources

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to really go heavy on some things.

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But if you refine your focus because

your team is scrappy, it makes you go.

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Do perform at that channel very

well, and then you can scale up

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from there and then get really smart

with how you scale up from there.

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But if you're looking at what other

brands that are doing that are essentially

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everywhere, they're doing the same thing

just on across the board on every channel.

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So they're just repurposing

a bunch of different things.

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So if you have that kind of mindset,

obviously maybe at a smaller scale, I'm

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not saying everyone should be everywhere.

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I think that's where you start to get

into this groove where, okay, everything's

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gonna be connected, and then let's get,

let's determine what our baseline is.

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Once we have that going, let's

introduce another channel.

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And then once we have that going, we

introduce another and then we just

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keep growing and growing from there.

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Brett: And is this part kind

of the part of importance of

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creating like a clear marketing

goal, marketing targets and goals?

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So you can like.

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Make your team efficient in delegation

because it's not, or yourself, because

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like you said, you've done it by yourself.

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Is it like that part of things?

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Because if you have a plan, it's easier

to effectively delegate you or your.

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Teammates or people under you?

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Caroline Crawford: Yeah, for sure.

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I think that's really the first step

because if you don't have that, then

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you're just come basically identifying

like, okay, here's an idea I have.

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Let's execute it, and it starts, and

that keeps happening over and over.

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So it starts to become very inefficient.

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But if you're like, okay, this is

our goal, these are our marketing

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goals, these are our sales goals,

these are our business goals, you

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can then be more intentional with

where you're putting your efforts.

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That then lend itself better to you

being able to plan ahead for things.

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So when I'm creating strategies,

I'm thinking ultimately,

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what's the bigger vision goal?

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What's our immediate short-term goal?

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So if someone, if a company's

'cause everyone wants more sales,

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everyone wants more brand awareness.

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But you do at some point, especially with

a scrappy budget, have to prioritize.

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So if let's just say sales is the first

budget that's gonna end, or sales is the

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first primary goal in the short term.

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That's gonna indicate what and

how and where you're putting

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your marketing efforts, right?

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So it's if you're doing sales,

but you're doing brand awareness

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campaigns, there's a disconnect, right?

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So that's how you start

planning accordingly.

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But I think having that strategy upfront

is going to be, it takes away so much

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of that guessing and that legwork.

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So then as.

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The process evolves.

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You can come together as a team with

the lead the business leaders and say,

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based on our goals, I don't think we

have the ability to, or I don't think

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it's worth our effort right now to do

a brand awareness campaign or, it's

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helps this shiny object syndrome that

really appears with marketing and

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allows you to maintain that focus.

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Brett: The other side of it is,

have you found some like cost

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effective tools or resources for

that scrapping marketing team?

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Because I feel like you're gonna need

tools, but you gotta pick and choose which

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tools will be effective for you have.

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Which ones have you found to be the

most cost effective for doing the job?

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Caroline Crawford: I think Clickup

is like any project management tool.

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You can really plan like those types

of like specific marketing tech tools,

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CL like a pro, any project management

system where you can really see what's

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ahead and pri easily prioritize.

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That is the best way.

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But I've done it in like Google

Sheets, I've planned it all out.

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All you really need, it doesn't

really matter what the specific.

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Tool you use as long as it, your

team is, as long as it's easily

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adoptable by your team, essentially.

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But you have to have the ability

to plan ahead and see what's coming

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down the pipeline for marketing and

also to give yourself the ability to

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see everything from a big picture.

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I like to plan my strategies,

like when I'm actually doing

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the specific planning of.

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What's going out when, what are

we talking about and kind of

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content outlines and all of that.

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I like to know what is happening with

every channel and what's happening with

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our offerings, what's happening with

other parts of the company in case that

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has to influence marketing in some way.

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Brett: And could it be, you said

Clickup, but could it be like

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notion or anything like that?

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Because Yeah, any type of

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Caroline Crawford: project

planning a tool for sure.

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I personally would just use Clickup.

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Brett: That's fair.

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The main thing from what I'm getting is

basically just being like super organized

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and knowing like you have a checklist

each day and actually doing it because

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the hard part of being organized is that

you actually have to do it each day and.

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Be organized.

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I think that's the hardest

part for a lot of people.

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Oh yeah, I got all this done.

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Wait, I have to do this

every week now or every day.

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This is not, I'm not gonna like this.

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Caroline Crawford: I know.

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That's the hardest part.

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And I would say and I've struggled with

that too, and I would say it's less even

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about here's the to-do list, check it

off, make sure you're maintaining it.

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Like that alone is a job.

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That's why project managers

exist because it's hard.

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I would say it's more

of the sentiment, right?

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It's how can you.

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Con strengthen connection and

communication amongst your

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team and awareness of what's

happening with the company.

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How you do that is going to be dependent

on the leader, dependent on the

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team, because everyone's different.

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Everyone organizes different,

like some people prefer p post-it

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notes as their to-do list, right?

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Like it's not about the

specifics necessarily, however.

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As the marketing leader, you should have

a very clear visibility to see what's

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happening with your team, to understand

what's coming, what's gonna be thrown at

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marketing and how that's all gonna impact.

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And then you can use tools like

Notion, you can use even Miro.

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Anything that can like.

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Where you can map out, or at least have,

okay, even if it's a whiteboard in your

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office, this is what's gonna happen

and this is what we need to plan for.

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And so there is a little bit of

that organization, but for the

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people who are really not organized,

it's, it really is how can you just

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stay in tune to what's going on?

309

: 00:17:14

So that's.

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: 00:17:15

Enhancing maybe some communications

with your team that's asking questions

311

: 00:17:20

around what's going on with the

rest of the business that's, just

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: 00:17:24

being proactive in some areas.

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: 00:17:27

Just to even if you're not acting

on it now, just to open your

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: 00:17:30

mind up to these other activities

that may impact marketing.

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: 00:17:36

Brett: And how important is it to have

diverse skill sets within your team?

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: 00:17:39

Because sometimes we're like, why

does everybody have the same skillset?

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: 00:17:42

I need people to actually do

different things that I can't do.

318

: 00:17:45

So how do you pick and choose that?

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: 00:17:47

Because it, it is difficult

to figure out unless you know

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: 00:17:50

somebody, their actual skill sets.

321

: 00:17:52

And I think that's the hardest part

is like, what can you effectively do?

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: 00:17:57

Don't tell me.

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: 00:17:58

Show me.

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: 00:17:59

Caroline Crawford: Yeah.

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: 00:17:59

That's a great question.

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: 00:18:00

I think it's.

327

: 00:18:02

Depend it.

328

: 00:18:03

I will say this, like it's, there's a

small caveat in that what you focus on is

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: 00:18:09

going to be a little bit different, right?

330

: 00:18:11

There are some companies where.

331

: 00:18:13

Design really isn't a

big deal for them, right?

332

: 00:18:17

But then there are some companies

where it is a really big deal.

333

: 00:18:19

So I think that's where some of

the caveats come into play is how

334

: 00:18:23

specialized do people really need to be.

335

: 00:18:26

But I would say that, again, going

back if you do tend, if you do create

336

: 00:18:32

a strategy and a plan ahead of time,

you have more of an ability to predict.

337

: 00:18:36

This is where I think.

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: 00:18:37

It is gonna take us a long time.

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: 00:18:40

So for instance, if you're planning

a team around and you know you're

340

: 00:18:43

gonna need some automations,

how savvy is your current team?

341

: 00:18:48

If you're working with a

bunch of generalists, for

342

: 00:18:51

instance, to try to do that?

343

: 00:18:53

Or is like maybe you're working

with a bunch of copywriters.

344

: 00:18:56

Is anyone willing or able to get into the

tech mindset and really build things out?

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: 00:19:03

I think it's really understanding what.

346

: 00:19:05

If everyone's generally quote unquote,

doing the same thing or have the

347

: 00:19:08

same skillset isolate what unique

qualities they have within your team.

348

: 00:19:16

And potentially diversify that team,

diversify their responsibilities

349

: 00:19:21

in some shape or form.

350

: 00:19:23

No one should be doing the same things.

351

: 00:19:25

If you have a scrappy team,

you can't afford to have

352

: 00:19:28

someone do two people doing.

353

: 00:19:30

I.

354

: 00:19:30

Same work, unless it's a heavy,

significantly heavy workload.

355

: 00:19:35

But that usually, that actually

creates more inefficiencies if you

356

: 00:19:39

have people doing the same thing.

357

: 00:19:40

So you've got two people creating

content for things that really can

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: 00:19:46

be consolidated and have you be the,

I'm gonna be the copy person, you're

359

: 00:19:50

gonna be the tech person, right?

360

: 00:19:52

So that's where you can diversify.

361

: 00:19:55

I think in terms of other

skill sets and actually hiring.

362

: 00:19:58

I, it really is a matter of how

specialized do they need to be, right?

363

: 00:20:03

If you want someone to really build very

advanced email automations within, you

364

: 00:20:09

are not able to give them direction,

then you need someone highly specialized.

365

: 00:20:14

But if you're able, if as a marketing

leader or business leader, you're able

366

: 00:20:18

to provide a little bit more creative

direction or guidance for them to execute.

367

: 00:20:24

They don't really need

to be that specialized.

368

: 00:20:26

They just need to be organized or be very

clear about what their responsibility

369

: 00:20:30

is and be willing to learn as they go.

370

: 00:20:34

Brett: And just to go along with

that, is it also the decision between

371

: 00:20:38

hiring full-time or contract because.

372

: 00:20:41

You may sometimes just need a really

short span of somebody, so you just

373

: 00:20:44

might wanna hire a contractor instead

of a full-time employee because

374

: 00:20:48

you may just want them to build out

and that's all you need them to do.

375

: 00:20:50

So how do you distinguish between

hiring the full-time person and just

376

: 00:20:54

hiring a freelancer slash contractor?

377

: 00:20:56

Caroline Crawford: Yeah, I think

that's also a great question.

378

: 00:20:58

I would say that more and more companies

are leaning towards contractors because.

379

: 00:21:04

Marketing, but like you said

at the beginning, marketing

380

: 00:21:06

budgets are the first to get cut.

381

: 00:21:08

The fir they get like the bottom

of the barrel budget so often.

382

: 00:21:13

So I'm seeing a lot of companies now

using virtual assistants, for instance,

383

: 00:21:18

and I think it goes back to the

earlier point of you have to understand

384

: 00:21:22

what hole you're filling, right?

385

: 00:21:23

If you.

386

: 00:21:25

Don't know what help you need and

sometimes you, we as marketers, because

387

: 00:21:30

there's so much, you're like, I just

need someone to help with everything.

388

: 00:21:33

I have no idea.

389

: 00:21:34

Especially when your budget's so small,

you just need one extra, like an extra

390

: 00:21:38

set of hands and you can do it that way.

391

: 00:21:41

And you could try to find a

generalist and in that case they

392

: 00:21:44

should probably be full time.

393

: 00:21:47

But I think if you're doing

something, if you're very clear

394

: 00:21:50

about what's getting done, you have

more freedom to say, you know what?

395

: 00:21:54

I think we just need this contractor for

X amount of time in a month, and they're

396

: 00:21:58

gonna focus on these primary tasks.

397

: 00:22:02

But I think it's just a matter of, I think

if you're looking to generalize people

398

: 00:22:06

more, it's gonna cost them more time.

399

: 00:22:09

So therefore they should

be more full-time.

400

: 00:22:11

And ideally you can hire in-house so

that they are completely dedicated

401

: 00:22:15

to you, but a lot of people are going

the contractor route and, working with

402

: 00:22:19

them as much as they have capacity or

setting up retainers with them to make

403

: 00:22:24

sure that they at least can deliver

specific things that are needed.

404

: 00:22:28

So you can either go the hourly route or

the retainer route with contractors a lot

405

: 00:22:33

of the time, and that's where it matter.

406

: 00:22:35

It's just a matter of how much.

407

: 00:22:38

How much support are you looking to fill?

408

: 00:22:41

Brett: What are some of the

common pitfalls to avoid when

409

: 00:22:42

building out that scrappy team?

410

: 00:22:44

Because some people maybe new, they're

like, I don't know how to build a team.

411

: 00:22:47

What should I look for and

please help me avoid it.

412

: 00:22:50

Caroline Crawford: Yeah, for sure.

413

: 00:22:52

And the, so there's so many pitfalls with

marketing, and that's the unfortunate

414

: 00:22:55

part about our industry, right?

415

: 00:22:57

There's a lot of people that

claim they can do things, and then

416

: 00:23:00

you get there and you're like.

417

: 00:23:02

This is not what I expected it to

be, or whatever that looks like.

418

: 00:23:07

And I think that's where, as the

leader, as the business leader

419

: 00:23:11

in particular, you have to be.

420

: 00:23:13

If you are not focused, then it

is much harder for you to discern.

421

: 00:23:18

I.

422

: 00:23:18

Between what's actually

gonna work and what isn't.

423

: 00:23:20

And marketing is one of those areas

where people are apprehensive around

424

: 00:23:24

what they're spending because the results

can sometimes be, feel very uncertain.

425

: 00:23:29

But I think when you're

hiring actual support, I.

426

: 00:23:32

One being extremely clear about what

the expectations are of that role.

427

: 00:23:38

Be very as organized as you can be.

428

: 00:23:41

So that way 'cause there's gonna be a

learning curve no matter what, doesn't

429

: 00:23:44

matter who you start with, right?

430

: 00:23:46

There's always somewhat some of

that catch up that they need to do.

431

: 00:23:50

The more you can be so crystal clear

about what your expectations are, what

432

: 00:23:55

the company is, what the offerings

are, what they're supposed to do.

433

: 00:23:59

The more that person has the

ability to find their place within

434

: 00:24:04

a system already that is in motion.

435

: 00:24:07

And so I think for, in terms of

avoiding specific pitfalls, look

436

: 00:24:11

for the red flags with hiring.

437

: 00:24:13

Look at assess, especially

in a creative environment.

438

: 00:24:16

Identify someone's work like, make

sure to look at a portfolio, make sure

439

: 00:24:21

that they have the, either a range of

styles or match a style that fits you.

440

: 00:24:27

And fits your aesthetic.

441

: 00:24:29

I think from a copy standpoint, right?

442

: 00:24:31

All of these kind of creative, same thing.

443

: 00:24:33

What do they have a range of tone?

444

: 00:24:35

Are they, are you looking for more

short, succinct copywriting or are

445

: 00:24:39

you looking for long form content?

446

: 00:24:41

There's some questions to ask yourself.

447

: 00:24:43

And then when it comes to the tech or

the generalist, it's that's where you

448

: 00:24:46

wanna find someone who's very organized

who has the ability to communicate.

449

: 00:24:52

Get those red flags out of the way.

450

: 00:24:54

If they show up late to the

interview, that's a red flag.

451

: 00:24:57

If they're not communicative

about things, that's a red flag.

452

: 00:25:01

Give them some, potentially

even some test projects, if

453

: 00:25:03

that's within reason, of course.

454

: 00:25:06

I think those are some

ways to avoid that unfor.

455

: 00:25:08

And then also too, be willing,

if you are hiring contractors,

456

: 00:25:12

at least be willing to.

457

: 00:25:15

Cut them if they're not working out and

I'm, I say that almost in a cutthroat

458

: 00:25:20

way, but at the same time, you're

just gonna waste more money if someone

459

: 00:25:24

really doesn't have the skillset or

the personality to be willing to learn.

460

: 00:25:30

So they have to be willing to learn

and adapt to what's gonna work for you.

461

: 00:25:34

Brett: And your boss is gonna

get mad at you saying, why are we

462

: 00:25:36

spending this much money on someone

that's not producing anything?

463

: 00:25:39

Caroline Crawford: Exactly.

464

: 00:25:39

They have to.

465

: 00:25:40

Here's the thing, I think more and more.

466

: 00:25:42

There are some people, like I don't always

hire unless I'm hiring for a very specific

467

: 00:25:47

thing that needs to be specialized.

468

: 00:25:49

More and more people are, or business

leaders are willing to work with

469

: 00:25:54

someone who has maybe a little

bit less experience or skillset.

470

: 00:26:00

But if their personality is one that

they're driven, they're ambitious,

471

: 00:26:05

they wanna learn, they're curious.

472

: 00:26:08

Those end up being the best

employees, and so I think.

473

: 00:26:13

There is that balance between what's

needed now, because sometimes you're

474

: 00:26:16

willing to shape someone, but then it

ends up costing you more to do that.

475

: 00:26:20

So it is a balance, but I think

just try to weed out the red

476

: 00:26:23

flags as best as you possibly can.

477

: 00:26:25

Brett: And what are some like

inspirational things to save people

478

: 00:26:28

going through this marketing budget?

479

: 00:26:30

Cut?

480

: 00:26:30

Because I'm pretty sure everybody's

I don't know how I'm gonna get

481

: 00:26:33

all this stuff done by myself

or with a very small team.

482

: 00:26:36

Caroline Crawford: This is so cliche, but

if there's a will, there's a way for sure.

483

: 00:26:39

And I think don't be afraid to cut things.

484

: 00:26:44

Don't be afraid to say, you know what?

485

: 00:26:46

We're gonna do this, but not right now.

486

: 00:26:49

Focus, identify.

487

: 00:26:50

The first thing is to

identify what is draining you?

488

: 00:26:53

What's draining your team?

489

: 00:26:55

What's draining your budget?

490

: 00:26:57

Is it worth it?

491

: 00:26:58

If it is, if you really see the long-term

vision, you need to optimize it.

492

: 00:27:02

If it's not right now,

then put it on pause.

493

: 00:27:06

You can always go back to something.

494

: 00:27:08

I think that's the first step and I think

that's the hardest step too, because I.

495

: 00:27:12

Especially when you're working

with business leaders that don't

496

: 00:27:15

understand marketing, they're

gonna throw everything at you.

497

: 00:27:18

They're gonna, marketing is the

catchall and they're not gonna

498

: 00:27:21

understand what they're doing.

499

: 00:27:23

So you really do need to I, I like to

use the approach of, I understand where.

500

: 00:27:29

What you're trying to accomplish,

here are the barriers that

501

: 00:27:32

we have to accomplish that.

502

: 00:27:34

This is my suggestion, become very

solution oriented in the process.

503

: 00:27:39

I think you have a right to say, we

just simply don't have the capacity.

504

: 00:27:43

You either give us more budget to

hire more hands, or you get, you

505

: 00:27:48

be the leader and you tell you

give us the focus that we need.

506

: 00:27:52

Brett: So basically what I'm

hearing is the power of No.

507

: 00:27:54

Caroline Crawford: The

power of No, absolutely.

508

: 00:27:57

Or the power of not right now is a

little bit more palatable for some.

509

: 00:28:04

Brett: Yeah, the PR answer, not right now.

510

: 00:28:06

Caroline Crawford: Yeah.

511

: 00:28:08

Brett: Anyways, people are listening

to this episode and wondering where

512

: 00:28:11

can they find you online to learn more?

513

: 00:28:13

Caroline Crawford: So I have

a website that has all the

514

: 00:28:16

information that they probably need.

515

: 00:28:17

So cultivate communications.com.

516

: 00:28:20

Cultivate is spelled a

little bit differently.

517

: 00:28:22

It's.

518

: 00:28:22

C-U-L-T-I-V-E-I-G-H-T.

519

: 00:28:26

I'm also on LinkedIn and

very active on LinkedIn.

520

: 00:28:29

So if they wanna add me, the

username is c Crawford 22.

521

: 00:28:33

Brett: All right.

522

: 00:28:33

Any final thoughts for listeners?

523

: 00:28:36

Caroline Crawford: Hang in there.

524

: 00:28:37

You got this.

525

: 00:28:39

Brett: Alright.

526

: 00:28:40

Thank you Caroline for joining Digital

Coffee Marketing Brew and sharing your

527

: 00:28:43

knowledge on just building a scrappy team

with a marketing, small marketing budget.

528

: 00:28:47

Caroline Crawford: Thank

you so much for having me.

529

: 00:28:48

It was, this was a blast

530

: 00:28:50

Brett: and thank you for listening.

531

: 00:28:51

As always, please subscribed

to this podcast on all your

532

: 00:28:54

favorite podcast at gaps.

533

: 00:28:55

You with Five star Review.

534

: 00:28:56

It really does help with the rankings.

535

: 00:28:57

Let me know how I am doing and join me

next week as I talk to another great

536

: 00:29:02

thought leader in the PR marketing.

537

: 00:29:04

Industry.

538

: 00:29:04

Alright guys.

539

: 00:29:05

Stay safe.

540

: 00:29:06

It's understanding your

small marketing budget.

541

: 00:29:08

Stay safe as well and stay sane

and see you next week later.