In virtually every industry, the days of large bloated business models are becoming a thing of the past. Thanks to technology, a need for greater efficiency and the challenging economic times we're living in, virtual business models have become an ideal solution. More and more each day, businesses are forging partnerships with leaner and meaner organizations who can deliver top quality capabilities and talent at a value larger corporations simply cannot compete with.
In the marketing world, this is no different. The economy is slow, times are tough, but you still need to market your business. Without marketing, whatever the economic climate, you're pretty much a sitting duck. And when things are tight, that means doing more with less. It means stretching your marketing dollars as far as you can. Instead of cutting your marketing expenses down to the bone, you should be marketing smarter by eliminating waste and maximizing your budget.
Traditionally, the alternatives for marketing help have been extremely limited and deficient. You basically have had three choices:
1) Staff up your own experienced and diverse in-house marketing team and fund all of this overhead,
2) Find and manage a barrage of undependable, often inexperienced and non-marketing savvy freelancers or
3) Spend a small fortune on hiring a traditional advertising agency or graphic/web design firm.
Especially in a down economy like this, an alternative is desperately needed. Every business, large or small, is facing the same dilemma, and this goes for emerging technology companies as well.
Why not consider a virtual marketing company?
This new breed of marketing partner features a collaboration of experts, typically from a pool of ad agency and design firm expatriates, who have streamlined creative development, account service, production and even the billing process. A virtual marketing company is designed to really put the client's needs and interests first, while saving them money and eliminating all of the headaches that come with the old model. A virtual marketing company delivers the same caliber of soup to nuts capabilities (Print, Web/Interactive, Broadcast, Identity) of a traditional ad agency, but without the overhead, dog and pony show, bureaucracy, slow response and exorbitant cost.
A true virtual marketing firm eliminates, even despises the ways of the big Madison Avenue dinosaurs of the past. With great relief to the defectors (and clients), gone are the Armani suits, the extravagant offices and expensive lunches. In comes a more focused application of each expert's individual skill set, and most important, a new dedication to the efficient use of a client's marketing budget. There are no retainers, hourly rates or grossly inflated markups. There are also no agency of record agreements. The entire relationship is completely a la a carte and on a project-by-project flat fee basis. So the relationship is defined by the project and not the other way around.
A virtual marketing company is a network of expert-level designers, programmers, writers, photographers, video editors and other independent marketing professionals brought together and supervised by an internal management team. Professional talent is selected on an as-needed basis and custom-matched to each project by the internal team. As a client, you only pay for marketing services when they are being used for your project. This eliminates costly overhead and other staff expenses unrelated to your project, which no matter how much they deny it, traditional marketing firms are typically forced to integrate into your final bill. These virtual teams can be matched to your project for several reasons - budget, style and industry expertise. The project manager/internal team is your single point of contact. They provide consultation, strategy, creative direction, project management and all of the financial services including estimating and billing. One of the best attributes of going virtual is that you will NEVER see a junior staffer ever again. By its very definition, the virtual marketing company is made up of experts. What you see and deserve is what you get. Members of virtual-based business typically work from small offices, from home or from coffee shops, leveraging modern communication and collaboration tools to simplify operations and keep operating expenses to a minimum.
Clients in every industry have wised up. They have come to the realization that smoke and mirrors doesn't matter, substance does. They don't need to be wowed by the quantity of people in an organization, but the quality. They don't care about the façade; they care about the value and results you can bring to the table. If you want to cut costs and streamline efficiency without sacrificing quality, especially in these belt-tightening times, working with a virtual-based business could be your secret weapon.
Gregg P. Gantwarg is the President + CEO of Virtual Edge Collaborative, Pittsburgh's first and only virtual marketing firm. Visit virtualedgeonline.com virtualedgeonline.com, email
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