Posted Under: Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Maria Ross, today’s guest under the “Our Heroes” series, has over a decade and a half of experience where she has seen all colors of marketing and business. After years of the Silicon Valley grind as a Director of Marketing, she moved to Seattle and worked remotely for her last employer. She did that job for a few months, before finally hanging out her own shingle as Red Slice and providing brand and marketing consulting to businesses big and small. She wasn’t getting to do the kind of work she wanted to do while working for technology companies, so she went off on her own. Let’s dig more…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

MR: I have over 16 years of experience in all aspects of marketing, including branding, advertising, field marketing, lead generation, events, messaging, press and analyst relations and communication planning. I am also a published lifestyle writer, wine columnist and actress. My unique creative talents combined with my business savvy on both the client and agency side enable me to see the whole picture in an innovative way.  Prior to launching my own consultancy I was the Director of Corporate Marketing at Savvion, a leader in Business Process Management (BPM) software. Previous to that, I was the Director of Global Campaigns for Business Objects (now part of SAP). I have held senior marketing roles at various Internet and technology companies and have done consumer marketing and branding work at Discovery Communications and Young & Laramore Advertising for clients such as Monster.com and Monsoon Car Audio. Early in my career I was a change management consultant for Accenture, where I worked with Fortune 1000 clients on training, communications and process/organizational redesign. I received a B.S in Marketing, with a minor in Spanish from Indiana University, Bloomington.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

MR: I got very jaded by the soul-less marketing I saw at B2B companies, especially technology companies and start-ups. Everyone seemed to WANT to connect with their customers the way Apple does, but no one wanted to take the chance to be bold, innovative – or even human or humorous – in their marketing messages.  They forgot that at the end of the day, they are still talking to human beings and need to give them a psychological reason to connect and buy. Also, many of those companies did not see the value that investing in a brand and brand strategy could bring long-term – they were so concerned with short-term fixes to boost quarterly profits or only cared about their exit strategy and not building a mission-driven organization. I knew that at some point I’d either want to go back to consumer marketing or go off on my own to do branding and marketing the way I thought it should be done. I saw that my company was going to have layoffs in the near future, and I banked on that as I built my messaging/website up on the side. Literally, the day they laid off the marketing team it was the day I sent an email announcing my new business to all of my contacts! {Now you know why I put the title – Layoff or Launch!?}

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare yourself for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

MR: Luckily, we had my husband’s corporate benefits to fall back on (corporate is not all bad!) We had already bought a house and had moved to a cheaper cost of living city (From San Francisco to Seattle) so the time was right to try my own gig and see what happened. I had to learn all about whether to create an LLC or Corporation, how to do Quickbooks, what my business tax responsibilities would be – and I did a lot of networking with entrepreneurial groups to get into that world. It’s like a whole subculture you know nothing about when you are in corporate.  But people are kind and very willing to share resources, tips and referrals.  The biggest challenge was getting used to not being in a collaborative environment. I’m an extrovert and most of the people I work with are virtual so that was tough. I made sure to get out of my home office to networking events (had to evaluate many groups and events before I found ones that were useful and valuable for me – it’s like dating, really!) and to meet new contacts, clients or partners for coffee. I also had to manage my time much differently than when I worked in corporate. I was always deadline-driven and organized but you have to make priorities when none exist. That takes some getting used to, so I tried different time-management techniques until I found what worked for me. But I’m still learning every day.

DD: What are your Top 5 or more tips for employees who want to be entrepreneurs but are hung up on something?

MR: 1) Craft a strong Brand Strategy, of course! Seriously, this is the biggest thing I can advise for entrepreneurs. Most can’t figure out what their “story” is or why customers should care. They need to focus their messaging on customer benefits, from the customer’s point of view and understand where they provide value. It’s not about what you want to tell or sell me; give me a reason to listen and buy. And communicate that brand clearly and consistently in everything you do.
2) Know your ideal audience intimately. Flesh out a customer profile (or 2 or 3 – no more than 3 niches to start) and make that person as real as possible. Give them a name, an occupation, interests, decide what magazines they read, clubs they belong to or websites they visit. Doing this will ensure you target your message and marketing to someone on a personal level instead of trying to be all things to all people (which will resonate with no one). It will also help you discover unique ways to get in front of them that you never even thought of.
3) Talk to experts: Pay for an hour of consulting with a lawyer and an accountant so you can set your business up the right way. It’ll be worth the investment to do this right from the start rather than realize you made a mistake later. You can still do lots on your own, but invest in getting an hour or two of expert advice in areas in which you are not strong.
4) Get a money management/billing system: Quickbooks works for me and it’s so much easier to manage things – saves a ton of time. You may have to take a class or consult with an expert for an hour or two but try to get off spreadsheets as soon as possible so you can focus on building your business and getting paid on time because you have accurate tracking.
5) Leverage your network: Ask for introductions, reconnect with old colleagues and keep everyone in the loop on your plans and progress. You never know where leads will come from and often they come from referrals. Always make sure your contacts have a good “elevator pitch” for what you do, for whom you do it, and what value you provide so they can spread the word correctly. Also don’t be afraid to reach out to business gurus or heroes for advice or an informational interview. I’ve had many of these with people who I found were doing things right and I wanted to learn their lessons and see how they did it. Many are happy to help.

DD: How are you now? Are you still in the same business, and how do you feel?

MR: Yes, my business model has morphed and shifted a bit as I’ve experimented with different price points, audience targets and staffing configurations. I’m still evolving this, but I feel after 2 years I have more answers than I did before. I tried some things that didn’t work out so well, I revamped my positioning and I’m still trying to determine who my ideal client is. But I’m much closer than when I started. Sometimes you just have to try different things. I’m also much more comfortable with the value I provide and the rates I charge – if you don’t value what you do, no one else will. I love helping businesses sort out their message, story and brand – so they can tell their story and attract the right people at the right time. Sometimes I feel like a Brand Doctor, making brands healthier!

DD: Thank you so much Maria! It is a pleasure to hear about your entrepreneurial journey from corporate marketing director to entrepreneur and founder of Red Slice, branding, marketing and communications consulting, musings and advice. I wish you the best of luck with Red Slice and thank you for telling me your story.

MR: Thank you, Devesh, for having an interest in my story and for supporting us entrepreneurs who just want to make a difference and break out of the 9 to 5 jail for a chance to be happy and do things on our own terms. I am happier than ever knowing that I work for what I believe in and I know that what goes on in my business is now literally MY business. I also wish you the best of luck.

DD: Maria Ross everyone, former corporate marketing director turned entrepreneur and business founder. I think her words sum up one of the biggest problems in today’s corporate world: “Everyone seemed to WANT to connect with their customers the way Apple does, but no one wanted to take the chance to be bold, innovative – or even human or humorous – in their marketing messages.  They forgot that at the end of the day, they are still talking to human beings and need to give them a psychological reason to connect and buy.” And with that, we close. Thanks Maria.