Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Much of marketing is about impressions - I believe that you need to also take into account the impression your proposed new location will give your prospects.

You say you are in the Northeast. Is your HQ in:

- New York, New York
- Providence, Rhode Island
- Newark, New Jersey
- Hartford, Connecticut

Each of these cities carries some baggage, some good, some bad. And your potential clients will have some opinions about your company based on where you are located.

I call on advertising agencies on a regular basis, and rightly or wrongly, I have some preconcieved notions about the pricing, style, quality, financial strength, and focus of advertising agencies in:

- Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Atlanta, GA
- Miami, FL
- Dallas, TX


What type of impression do you want to project? In addition to labor market and corporate demographics - which market fits your style and image? Good luck!

Great advice above.

However, since you have been successful in building quite an empire from one location, perhaps a midwest/southern location would suit your client needs. Not so much as a place for them to walk in anytime, but to cover another timezone and have asisstance in servicing your clients.

Now, with that in mind, may I suggest a lucrative concept? Instead of building a whole new office, why not contract existing marketers in the various regions to handle certain accounts? For example, I am in Oklahoma City and can easily handle midwest/southern states. Gary (Vevolution) is in Texas and could aid in this as well. Pepperblue (Tim Pepper) and Amanda Vega are in Pheonix. JBtron (Jerry Berkowitz) is in Florida, Jim Deveau is in CT, SteveB is in CA...and so on. I don't think any of would turn our noses up to a comparable proposal to act as representatives/satellite affiliates for your network. Not only are we all MP experts, we speak/work together off-site and communicate very well.

Whre else can you find cross-country marketing professionals who know each other and have already helped establish the integrity of this forum and many other ventures?

Now, it doesn't HAVE to be us...it can be any organization you choose, but the concept is what I am pushing more than anything. No new buildings, no relocated employees, etc....just contracts, interviews, orientations and clients notifications.

Something to chew on....

I hope this helps!

Good Luck!

Reedjkr,

One thing that comes to mind for me is the barriers you face whenever you are working to do business across cultures. Having grown up a military brat way before the global economy I learned that trying to build relationships across the world requires some talent. It literally is an art form to build relationships and you must develop or either obtain this talent from with in the community of your interest. You must have workers with a greater sensitivity to serve or either people from those regions (North, South, East & West) who know the climate of their communities.

I think Jett makes a very good point. If you have *ME's (*Marketing Experts) strategically located across the country who know those areas where you want to successfully gain more clients you must become like a spider that can cast it's web across a larger area therefore creating a greater opportunity to reach more clients.

Your objective is to weigh more than what meets the eye. There's a lot more at stake as well as a lot more opportunity for you to gain out of the experience. Go for it but take the calculated risk. Is there anything else I can do for you?

Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE