Consultants aren't always just another thing to manage.
One of the things that can make busy nonprofits or businesses with small teams hesitant to bring on someone to help them get stuff done is the fear of having SOMETHING ELSE to manage.
You’ll have to teach them all about you. You have to hover over their every typed word until you trust them.
(That is, if you EVER trust them.)
Many of the organizations I talk to assume that bringing in outside help means more chaos, not less. One more person to chase down, another thing to explain, another process to figure out together from scratch.
For exhausted and overworked teams it can feel like just another thing they have to hold onto and keep in the air.
But what if you worked with someone whose whole goal – besides helping you hit your communications goals – was to make your life easier, not harder?
So that’s kind of my whole thing.
My whole goal? Kind of like a doctor – first, do no harm. And to help me help you, I’ve spent the last 17 years developing processes that help me do just that.
Here’s a quick peek behind the curtain.
“Where do we start?” – You don’t have to tell me how to get started. Instead, I’ll guide you through the process. It all starts with a kick-off meeting where all you have to do is show up. (If it’s virtual, I can’t promise snacks, but I can promise you it’ll be funner than you think it should be).
“Tell me EVERYTHING” – Before I develop a plan, or write a single word that gets published (or even looks like it could get published), I want to learn all about who you are and what you do. I look at your past materials, audit your existing communications channels that I’ll be working with, and do a deep dive into your existing communications materials (even if I won’t be working with them). Clients are often surprised that I say I want to see everything. But I mean EVERYTHING. (I still fondly remember a client who took me at my word and mailed me about 5 years of their printed newsletter.)
“Here’s the situation.” - Together, we’ll review what I’ve learned, so I can get a sense of what you’d like to keep, what you’d like to change, and I’ll get a sense of what your planning process looks like, so I can align it with mine. (It doesn’t make sense if I say we should start planning communications for an event 2 months out if you’re already planning it now.)
“Predictability Rules” - Once we start developing materials (social, email, or something else), you’ll be able to predict the workflow. There’s consistent delivery (if we are doing social together, the messages for the next week will come on the same day, every week – unless one of us is on vacation, but I have a plan for that too), you’ll know what you need to do to review and get changes back to me, and we’ll both be on the same page for when something is ready to go or not.
(But also, let’s remember that sometimes? Life happens. And we can work around that.)
“What do YOU need?” - Some of my clients love editing in Google Drive. Some like Dropbox. And some? Their IT department doesn’t allow any off-site hosting, so we use a different tool entirely. As we work together, we’ll adjust the process to fit your needs, and we’ll update them as you grow - so they grow with you.
By the time we get to sending that first email, or posting that first week of social media content – the chaos? Already in the rearview mirror, because you’ve got a process in place with someone who is in your corner.
