Introduction and Interview of Jenny Hale by David Wagstaff
This interview is a series of articles from entrepreneurs that I’m compiling with the goal to provide other business owners, and soon-to-be business owners, with a realistic view of what it takes to run a business, and some of the challenges commonly faced.
When reviewing applicants for the Entrepreneur’s Network, Jenny’s LinkedIn profile caught my attention. First, the background image was visually appealing with a professional logo JH Marketing Results. In my experience, creating a professional brand adds value and provides would-be customers with a bit of trust. Think about it – if you went into a retail store and they had zero branding, or if the store is a mess, it just isn’t appealing.
Today, so many of us who are entrepreneurs don’t require a significant physical presence, meaning what people see online is how they know us. Branding lets me know that the entrepreneur is serious about their business, has invested in it and intends to be around for a while.
In my first startup as founder, I invested in branding. After running the business and growing it for a few years, a couple of employees asked me if they could buy it. They mortgaged their homes to be able to buy the company. As a small consulting company, what were they buying? A significant part of what they were buying was the brand and brand assets, including the website. Yes, I also had customers and customer lists that were of value, but the brand was an important part of why they saw value. How many small consulting companies have something worth selling? If you want your company to have value, make sure your brand has value. Invest in it and protect its reputation.
Then I read, “Helping entrepreneurs . . . scale by creating done-for-you visibility campaigns strategies.” Each word has meaning and points to her business model and value proposition.
- Customer Segment: Entrepreneurs. Jenny is defining her customer segments / audience.
- Customer Segment refined: Scale. She is further defining her customers as businesses with large growth aspiration. She not trying to attract a lifestyle entrepreneur.
- Value proposition: She is looking for entrepreneurs who are busy and want to have the marketing done for them.
- Value proposition: Awareness, visibility and campaign strategy.
In about 13 words Jenny has quickly defined who her ideal customers are and what she will do for them. That’s brilliant. As entrepreneurs, we want to be as clear and concise. Jenny is a role model in understanding who she serves and what she does for them, as well as what problem she is solving for them.
I read further, and she gets even more specific in describing her customers. She is seeking to work only with female entrepreneurs (sorry guys), who are ready to grow past $5,000 a month in revenue. By being so specific, she hopes to be able to get the entrepreneurs to skyrocket their visibility and go viral.
Unlike many entrepreneurs, Jenny is very clear on who her target customer is and what they need from her.
She has examples of very fast results in 24 hours after implementation. I love stories of success. I occasionally hear entrepreneurs claim they can do just about anything, then I ask for some examples of when they have done that before, and they have no examples. Listen to the examples, they will help you understand what they have done and give you insights into how they helped other businesses.
When you’re hiring a business to help your business, it’s important to understand if they have done what you want them to do before.
David Wagstaff – Entrepreneur’s Network on LinkedIn Interview Article
What led you to become an entrepreneur?
Becoming an entrepreneur was not a plan, although I had been surrounded by it for years. My father was a consultant and I watched him work through a lot of my teenage years. I had always dabbled in the creative side – producing a newsletter for my neighborhood, inventing a new product, and writing books – but I didn’t think about doing it for money.
But when I was 19, I started posting my photography on my Facebook page. Pretty soon, I was getting requests from friends of friends to do photo sessions. It snowballed from there and within a few years, I had become a booked-out portrait photographer in my town. From there, I started a marketing consulting business, moved into musician and band management, worked as a freelance and signed professional model, started working as a freelance photojournalist, and continued to expand my businesses.
My clients were booking out classes, moving from part-time to full-time entrepreneurship, getting featured in magazines/radio shows/talk shows, and seeing massive social media growth. Now, I run a visibility consulting company, helping experienced and established online entrepreneurs reach their next level visibility in 30 days through massive marketing campaigns that combine public relations, social media, email marketing, collaborations, and more.
A brief description of your business and what are your aspirations for it?
JH Marketing Results focuses on done-for-you visibility marketing campaigns that include all marketing, PR, and social media content needed for a month-long strategy.
The campaigns focus around a single area of the entrepreneur’s expertise and blend all their marketing events and activities around positioning the entrepreneur as a thought-leader and influencer in their industry on that topic. The Results in a Month visibility package helps entrepreneurs skyrocket their know, like, and trust factor quickly so that they attract new audience members, engage current followers, and prime their community for future purchases.
What have you done with your business that you are proud of or that has worked really well?
I’ve been able to run campaigns that have
- Gone viral in a day (reached almost 4 million people on one platform organically)
- Started trending on the sidebar of social media
- Seen a 500% increase in organic engagement in weeks
- Increased live attendance by 200%
- Brought 100+ attendees to a single event live
Created a 60% increase in social media followers in a couple months
What were some of your biggest challenges along the way?
Challenges in running businesses pop up all the time. I think my challenges have evolved throughout the years. They started as lack of strategy and focus as a teenager, but now have turned into scaling challenges – technology skills, understanding web platforms to use, setting up systems, etc.
Have you overcome the challenges? If so how?
An entrepreneur’s biggest fault is refusing to invest in their business and themselves. I hire coaches, tech experts, and others who can do what I don’t do well, better than me. A good CEO doesn’t do everything – they do what they are good at and hire others to help with the rest. Swallowing your pride and finding money in your budget helps grow your business.
What have you learned and what would you like to share with other entrepreneurs?
Running a business with the intent of constantly promoting yourself and making money ruins relationships and trust with your audience. Building authenticity in your brand, providing value, and leading with the goal of changing lives can create the most impactful visibility and marketing campaigns.
Consider where you are in your business, where you want to be, and what you need to do to get there. If it’s overwhelming, hire it out. If you don’t know what to do, seek advice and guidance. Don’t stay stagnant and always be open to pushing yourself to new levels of success.
