What I Do
Three kinds of work. They usually arrive together: an organization that can't explain itself generally can't tell who to hire to fix it, either — and its website is often where the problem shows up first.
Finding What’s Authentically True
Seeing what your programs, services, and people add up to, then turning it into a message everyone can repeat.
A fifty-year-old nonprofit put it this way: "We do three different things, and we see how they fit together, but we can't explain it to anyone else."
You'll recognize this if you've said something like:
"We have a great story, but it's not connecting with the people we're trying to reach."
"Our founder story doesn't match what we do anymore."
"Our team explains us five different ways."
What happens. We start by agreeing on who makes the decisions, who needs to be consulted, and who needs to be brought along. Then I ask a lot of questions and hold off on answers until the people who matter have been heard. I get into how your organization works — financially and structurally — because that's usually where we discover messaging that builds a bridge between you and your audience. Along the way, I'll test some ideas that turn out to be wrong. Watching you explain why something doesn't fit often leads to a way of talking about it that does.
What you get. The words your leadership can say out loud, and a working document your staff, grant writers, and sales team can use. I’m allergic to deliverables that don’t get put into practice, so everything we create is built to be used. In the real world.
Building Your Marketing Function
Setting your marketing strategy, building the team to carry it out, and staying alongside you to measure what's working and adjust as results come in.
You'll recognize this if you've said something like:
"We're about to hire a marketing person, and we're not sure what to ask for."
"We've been through two agencies."
"We have four vendors, and none of them talk to each other."
"We have a plan, but we don't know if it's working."
What happens. We set the strategy together and work out what's best done in-house and what isn't. I write the roles, and I help you find and vet candidates and partners, because it’s hard to tell top-tier talent from top-tier interviewers.
Then I stay with you as the strategy goes into practice. We meet regularly to review results against the goals we set — what's working, what isn’t, and what we need to do about it — so the strategy evolves instead of sitting in a binder.
Why me. Back in my agency days, I sat on the vendor's side of the table. Over years of building deep client relationships, I found that I was spending more and more time on the client’s side of the table, helping them navigate internal and external marketing and communications challenges. I love that work, and it's the work I do now.
Planning Your Website
Specifying the website project before anyone bids, so you spend less and it doesn't derail.
One client sends people my way with this line: "If your website doesn't describe what you do, Jamie can help you fix it."
You'll recognize this if you've said something like:
"We got three quotes, and they're wildly different."
"The last rebuild took a year, and we still don't like it."
What happens. Before any developer bids, I work with your team to settle what the site needs to do: an approved sitemap, updated content, wireframes for the complex pages, a plan for redirecting old pages so you don't lose search traffic, and a specification developers can price accurately. Then I help you choose a developer and stay on your side through the build.
What it's worth. You spend less with your developer because the thinking is already done, and the project stays on track because everyone agreed on what it was before it started.
How Engagements Work
Defined projects, like a messaging platform or a website plan, have a fixed fee, a clear scope, and an end date.
I work with many of my clients on an ongoing basis, advising leadership, coaching team members, and adjusting the strategy as we learn. We can usually accomplish more through continual small adjustments than through projects alone.
Who Else Is Involved
Once the plan is set, most of the hands-on work — design, development, photography, video, advertising, and writing at volume — goes to people who specialize in it. I'll introduce you to partners I trust, so you're not starting from scratch.
Working with Agencies and Other Firms
I also work alongside agencies and consultants — through referrals, as part of their team, or behind their brand. A partner's clients stay theirs.
Get in Touch
If you’re still reading (God bless you), let’s chat. There is nothing I enjoy more than talking through a hard problem.