Today we have Jack Barron joining us to talk about his unconventional start in marketing – from first being a military man to then eventually entering the world of digital marketing.
He also shares the valuable lessons he has learned along the way and gives tips for any business owner. He talks about developing your network, building your reputation, and streamlining your business.
Episode Notes
Jack Barron is from Invoke Media, a digital marketing agency based in Manchester.
In this episode we talk about:
- How Jack started Invoke Media and what got him into this business
- Jack’s background as a DJ and putting up events
- Joining the Army
- How he got interested in an events management course and then went on to set up warehouse parties
- The stress of putting up events including marketing and planning
- Becoming a director in a marketing agency and working with a team
- Utilizing your existing network as much as possible when starting a business – referrals are free
- What Jack would have done differently in
his business
- Going back to “bread and butter”
- Not needing massive numbers to break even
- Listening to what other people say is important
- What made him go on his own and not work for anybody else
- What he would say to his younger self
- Working while at uni
- Building and growing up a network
- Feeling overwhelmed and regaining focus
- Maximising efficiency
- “Power naps” and using sleep as a tool
- Michael Sealey’s guided hypnosis
- Getting caffeine boosts and why it is a massive help
- Arianna Huffington (from Thrive Global) on circadian rhythms
- Not expanding too much and streamlining the business
- Why you should set up your day to become more productive
- Not having fixed work hours
- Jack’s actual recruitment process – using social media
- Soft skills and aligning your team’s way of thinking
- Taking clients on and “scoring” them – working with the right people
- Strategies for pricing services and scaling up
- Jack’s initial pricing model and his micro-realisations along the way
- Tips for anyone starting at the bottom
- Getting the right initial clients and doing good work to develop your network
- What Jack’s catalyst for recruiting employees was
- Keeping things simple as a core value
- Jack’s advertising advice to someone
starting up a business with a small budget
- Understanding your customers
- Looking at objectives
- Looking at pain points
- Looking at your customer’s sources of information
- Building a core audience of people
- Jack’s advice to someone about to enter the real world – get as much life experience as you can
- Expanding hospitality and recruitment at Invoke Media
- Offering personal coaching to small businesses to help business owners grow