In summary, this digital marketing agency’s primary aim is to offer small businesses not yet in that “larger revenue” category a virtual chief marketing officer without the high salary, employment costs and long-term commitment. If you’ve been following Lindsey Wagnon Marketing for more than a few weeks, you may have noticed there’s been a lot of change around here lately. I wanted to share where this change is coming from and what our new marketing agency model is to keep our existing following in the loop and prevent any confusion on services, resources, contact methods and what exactly we do for business owners.

This is also one of those entrepreneurial journey posts that should make other business owners feel good about not always having it together at the beginning and making changes along the way. Aren’t we all!?

A little background: I started Lindsey Wagnon Marketing three years ago as a side hustle. You can read more about that here. A year ago, I left my corporate job and officially became a full-time freelance marketer. At that time I had one established client, a few single project clients coming and going and was suddenly onboarding three more monthly clients the same month I left my corporate marketing job. It was nuts.

The instantaneous intake of new clients shocked me. I had these pragmatic notions that once I left corporate I would probably spend a solid year slowly building the business into the marketing agency I wanted it to be. You know, that slow, painful early stage of all work and no return all those business podcasts warned me of.

Of course launching with that level of success is amazing and I know God had His hand in it 100% (tbh, it’s like He was giving me an early boost because he knew what 2020 was going to look like, ie dumpster ). The one drawback, however, was that I didn’t have that important time to build. I didn’t have a real onboarding process, I didn’t have materials to send out when someone showed interest in my services, I didn’t have my pricing finalized, I didn’t have clarity in what services I did and did not want to offer. Most of all, I didn’t have a vetting system to make sure the potential client and I were a good fit before signing the contract. No, I didn’t have any really bad eggs come along but I did have a lot of “I need to watch out for this, this, and this next time” mental notes happening.

I also noticed some key differences in male and female business owners. Mmm-hmmm. Wouldn’t you like to know my thoughts on that…(If you would, leave a comment below and maybe I’ll get brave enough to share 😉

What I did get those first few months was a lot of crash course learning as I suddenly had several clients to navigate and serve. It was a crazy, messy start that taught me more than any college business course ever could. It wasn’t what I expected but I wouldn’t change it.

Fast forward to March 2020 and COVID-19. I had already off-boarded some 6-month contracts with clients around January/February (some who were planning to renew, or so they told me) and had hopes that maybe I would spend March and April in CEO mode, finally taking some down time to revisit my agency model and make the changes I had in mind all along. BAM. Virus. Quarantine. Small business nightmare. Small business servicer’s nightmare (hi, that’s me.) Oh well, this is the break in business I wanted anyway!

With my husband at home on constant Zoom calls and Cora running around the house not quite young enough to take naps anymore and not quite old enough to sit and focus on anything for more than 30 minutes at a time (if we were lucky), it wasn’t the business owner brainstorming hiatus I originally envisioned. Still, I managed to squeeze in some focused hours to rethink my agency model, develop some critical customer service systems and materials, and completely revamp the website to reflect the new. It took me about four weeks to do what I probably could have accomplished in one week without all the distractions, but hey, it happened. Finally.

In a nutshell, I transformed Lindsey Wagnon Marketing from a more general marketing “do all the things” servicer to an exclusive, boutique-style marketing agency, targeting only a handful of small business owners/CEOs/Founders. The biggest change is in who I’m targeting and willing to work with. An agency partnership is designed to provide company owners with comprehensive marketing support at a higher price point than before. And, even if a potential client appears to be a good fit at first, my new onboarding procedure should give us both a solid expectation set and awareness of any potential struggles before a contract is ever signed.

I’m aiming for partnerships where I can fully own the business’ marketing and work alongside the company’s team members, but I also still provide a few key marketing services that line up with my passion to help small business owners get a handle on their marketing and make better decisions. Marketing audits and launch marketing are two services I feel strongly about and am happy to offer. Of course, consultations are still available too for those “I don’t know what to do, please just give me a game plan” customers.

You’ve probably picked up on the fact that my new agency model is not the best for super frugal or financially lean business scenarios. I love to coach and equip scrappy entrepreneurs, I just have to be careful I’m not letting my time get eaten up by eager consumers who can’t pay my bills. Another warning from those podcasts that is so applicable.

My solution to helping the shoestring budget business owner without undermining my value is The Marketing Plan Shop. A different audience with more startup marketing needs and little in the bank to invest in marketing. At The Shop, I’m building marketing resources and courses that I don’t see commonly available through other popular marketing sites at a price point even the leanest boss can afford.

In summary, Lindsey Wagnon Marketing is a boutique marketing agency with a virtual chief marketing officer making sure clients get focused, expert attention.

The Marketing Plan Shop is our resource hub for followers who need help, affordably.

If you’re reading between the lines, you can probably sense I’ve left a lot unsaid here. Partially out of avoiding controversy and partially because I don’t want to force you into a novel-length dissertation. I like getting to the point. But if you have specific questions or want to compare notes as a business owner, feel free to drop a question or affirmation in the comments. I’d love to continue the conversation!