I met Vel at a networking event years ago here in Orlando. We instantly befriended and shared similar business and entrepreneurial stories to almost no end. Her history in working within Florida State government in the capital and working closely with elected officials to local community leaders was inspiring. I’ve always said that it’s not always about what you know, but who you know, and Vel is well-connected! In this brief 3 Question Interview you’ll get an idea of who she is and what Vasaj Communications has to offer in the way of small business marketing and public relations.
1: How do you define public relations different from what the initial naïve perception people may have of this type of service?
On this amazing journey as a public relations professional, I enjoy specializing in the art of transformation and helping businesses grow! The ever-expanding world of public relations largely impacts public opinion, financial performance, and business success. My personal definition of public relations serves at the critical core of my life’s work. I believe it’s the experience, leadership and collaborative approach that is required to be a catalyst for business growth, visibility, and longevity. The public relations approach may be unique to every business and individual, but its intrinsic value is unwavering in being an integral component of influence on industry.
2: With a $500 monthly budget for marketing, what would you suggest a small business owner do with that to increase their brand awareness?
A consultation with the potential client would be required to expertly recommend the most effective manner for building brand awareness. However, there are a couple of measures the business owner should consider before being able to establish a practical and effective approach to setting a marketing budget. First, the business owner needs to identify short and long-term objectives, consider the target market, and know and understand the needs of this audience, as much as possible. Having insight into the demographics (the statistical data of a population, especially those showing average age, income, education, etc.) and psychographics (the measure of the customers’ attitudes and interests) will help guide the campaign’s marketing vehicle and contribute to being able to adequately establish a budget. Secondly, the business owner must realize that as the depth and extent of business goals will vary from business to business, so will the range of professional experience, industry knowledge, and retainer fees vary for branding experts. Just as you would visit more than one car dealer if in the market for a new car, I suggest speaking to more than one marketing professional to find one that is a comfortable fit.
3: What’s the most challenging aspect of your job that most of your clients wouldn’t know from the outside looking in?
That’s a thoughtful question, Jean. I thoroughly enjoy supporting clients of different backgrounds and needs with media and government relations, press communications, author campaigns, messaging, social media management, event coordination, webinar creation, and a host of other branding mechanisms. However, what may not be glaringly obvious is that there is no cookie cutter approach to optimizing one’s brand, and even within the same industry, branding objectives differ. As a public relations professional, I believe it’s important to spend time getting to know the unique personality, business acumen, and mindset of each client, particularly if I’m going to write their talking points, digital messaging, or serve as a company spokesperson. I completely customize services to best fit the client’s overall need. To learn more about Vasaj Communications and our scope of services, visit www.vasajcommunications.com. I can be emailed directly at info@vasajcommunications.com.
When a new website is completed and launched, there is a great sense of relief and jubilation from my design firm. All the extra work we put into a project feels like it was so worth it. Almost like we could have done it for free had we been given the chance. Hearing how the client or group is so excited and hearing their praises gives us some great confidence and feedback that we met or exceeded their expectations. However the project actually isn’t completed at that point. I pull together all the staff members who were involved with the project for an exit interview.
In Corporate America when someone is let go from a job or moving to a new department, the sitting manager or HR representative will host a meeting with the employee that is moving to get their honest opinion on their soon to be previous role. Their asked to be candid and explain how they felt about their manager, job function, duties, achievements, and of course moral. The end of a design I feel should be the same in some aspects.
Some things to consider or talk about with your team or reflect on yourself would be:
Content: Was there enough content provided from the beginning? How much copy needed to be edited or rewritten? Did the client provide enough? Was I delivered or provided to us on time or when asked?
Budget: Was the client charged adequately for every deliverable we were tasked with. Did we find any areas in the project that could have been handled a different way that would have given us more services we could have offered? Does it seem like the client would have paid more for the same level of service?
Timeline: Did we beat our deadline? We’re we late and why? What were some factors that contributed to our timeline. How can we avoid any setbacks on our end or the clients going forward. We’re they’re new requests submitted that effected the timeline that was not accounted for?
Teamwork: Overall how did everyone work together? Did anyone feel like they didn’t get their opinions expressed or considered enough? Did everyone pull their weight? Did everyone feel they were given all they needed to complete their tasks? Was the communication across the team well enough or does it need improvement? What was the best medium for communication?
Customer Experience: Did the customer play a big enough role in the project. Were there enough options provided yet not too much to hinder a confident choice? Did all the team members have a chance to meet and/or talk to the client? We’re all of our responses timely? Did email communications go well, or could more phone calls iron out misunderstandings?
After reading through these I’m sure you may have wondered or even asked some of these questions to yourself after completing a project. It may seem a bit time-consuming but I promise you it’s worth the effort. It will help you avoid mistakes in your future projects while providing some self-examination to your firm and tactics. If you have some other points to add please do so in the comments below. As always we love hearing your opinions and contrary thoughts.
This week I’m publishing what I hope to be a series in video interviews with some of our partners and clients of Design Theory. Without them, there’s no us, and without them, we wouldn’t have learned so much. Let me explain… See one of our “theories” is that a client isn’t a one time sale, each of our clients are business relationships. Meaning, they’re with us for the long haul. We learn about them, they learn about us. We help them, they help us.
This interview with Avi is the start of showing or even being a bit more transparent with our business relationships. We asked Avi some questions that not many people know about him, his business, and what makes his brand so different from the rest. See for yourself in this short interview and let us know what you think.
