The Brand, The Blog, & The Blonde

Having recently returned from a national trade conference, I’m determined to put into action some of the “take-aways” from that event. But I often find myself time-challenged in doing this. So that’s when I consider delegating certain tasks.
 
The term “delegation” sometimes gets a bad rap.  The book ReWork warns that “with a small team, you need people who are going to do work, not delegate work. Everyone’s got to be producing. No one can be above the work.”  Even Webster’s says that delegation involves the assignment of a task “to one who is less senior than oneself.”  In a small business, I would agree with these terms to a certain extent. After all, as a business owner, I am entitled to delegate some less desirable tasks, like payroll, to someone else, right?  (Sorry, Mom, but you really do process payroll better than I could ever imagine.)
 
But instead of these definitions, I prefer to use the term entrust.  Certainly, as a small team, we do need everyone to work. But because of our size, there are often tasks, projects, even ideas that cannot move forward until I entrust them to someone else.
 
And that’s where I turned to my favorite blonde.  But since my lovely wife really had no strong desire to assist me in our ongoing marketing and branding efforts, I’ve had to look elsewhere. Marketing projects are some of my favorite undertakings.  They allow me to be creative, and let’s face it, they’re fun.  But, since I wear many hats (except that of payroll clerk) I cannot effectively accomplish all that I want, or need to do in these areas.
 
I have often entrusted many of these duties to some talented friends.  Greg Henderson, (@jgreghenderson) helped greatly in establishing the online, social media presence of  CustomXM.  Additonally, he has shared his marketing insight in this blog, and will continue to help me with special projects.
 
But I came to the realization that if I wanted a consistent, dedicated marketing plan for my company, I couldn’t do it alone.  I needed to delga…uh, entrust this to someone else. And that’s where another of my favorite blondes, Amy Bradley-Hole (@amybhole) came into play. Like so many of the talented communications professionals in Little Rock, I met Amy via Twitter. In this forum, Amy initially struck me as a mildly irreverent, overtly outrageous individual, with uncanny marketing skills.  I mean, if anyone can parlay stolen hotel pens into a successful marketing ploy, she must certainly have some talent.
 
Amy has a strong marketing background in the Hospitality industry. Given her Southern roots, her successes in that industry come as no surprise. More recently, she has become quite a social media maven, receiving rave reviews from her presentations on blogging and personal branding. And fortunately for me, Amy decided  a few weeks ago to take a chance by going out on her own as a branding/marketing coach.  And I decided I wanted to play on her team!
 
 
In short order, Amy has has outlined my “to do” lists, projects, and other tasks and will stay behind me until they are complete. (Hey, did I mention I already had a wife?) In a nutshell,  she will be my extended communications coach.  She will help us continue to develop our brand across all communications channels. Because you see, that’s what we do, we help folks communicate. And we’ve committed to doing a better job of it – both internally and externally.
 
So thanks for joining us here.  Stick around and you and I know you’ll have some fun, and possibly learn a thing or two.  I know I will, because I have a good coach.

  Paul Strack, President, CustomXM