Randalyn Hill and How to Manage Marketers
This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Randalyn Hill, the entrepreneur behind cre8tives.co, her personal business that helps companies grow their clientele. Before cre8tives she spent time managing marketers, and organizing freelancers. When I learned this, I knew she was a great person to ask about marketer managing.
You should definitely watch the video above, but here are some notes on what we covered.
Communication
We all know that one of the most important aspects of leadership is being able to communicate with those you are managing effectively. Randalyn quickly brought up how when she was first starting to manage, she wasn’t expecting just how clear and concise she had to be to make sure everything is up to standards. However, she also learned that you can give to MUCH guidance. She realized that some of her suggestions for both her employees and freelancers were preferential. It got to the point where she was kind of doing a lot of the actual work herself, drowning out the individualism of other people’s final products.
So where’s the balance? Randalyn found the best solution is going over the project she was outsourcing before anyone did any work on it. That way she could be as clear as possible about what she wanted, without having to edit over and over again and risk becoming too involved. She made sure her employees knew what the end goal was, so they could achieve it!
What’s Harder: Managing the Work, Or Doing the Work?
After hearing about just how difficult good communication can really be, I was interested to find out if Randalyn found managing people harder than actually doing the work, or if it was the other way around. Her answer was both! See, from her experience, both positions have challenges that make them more and less difficult than the other. For instance, when you have to make sure all the people under you are getting their work done, you need to focus on if they are feeling supported and valued. On the other hand, when you actually have to design the website or write the newsletter, you suddenly have to do all the creative work. If you enjoy helping others do the best work they can, then you may just find managing easier. If you find fulfillment in the creative process of copywriting or ad creation, actually being the employee might be easier for you.
Freelancers VS Employees
Near the end of the interview, Randalyn quickly broke down the difference between freelancers and regular employees. She mentioned that for most freelancers, their reputation is their career, so they tend to be always super punctual with emails and deadlines. Employees, however, might feel a bit more inclined to miss a deadline or two or show up late for work, as they have a bit more job security.
Make Something You’re Proud Of!
When asked if there was one piece of advice she would give to herself when she first started managing marketers, Randalyn shared just how important getting at least one thing done every day was. Whether it took you one try or fifty, if you can end the day with at least one project completed, you can walk away with a win. She said that as a manager, it is so important to instill this mindset within your employees. Sometimes that one successful ad they released yesterday is the only thing encouraging them to come back the next day and do it all over again. And personally, I think this is some advice that EVERYONE should take, no matter what you do for a living.
You can find Randalyn Hill on Instagram just by searching her name, or you can find her and all the projects she works on at her website, randalynhill.com.
