Embark on an enthralling voyage through the career trajectory of Victoria Richardson, as she transitions from her humble beginnings in the dish machine industry to spearheading AI advancements in advertising. Navigate through the intricate landscape of marketing evolution, agency dynamics, and the delicate balance of empowering individuals in this captivating episode brimming with invaluable insights and a touch of glamour!
Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market Podcast.
- Victoria’s unexpected career path.
- Transitioning to AI advertising.
- Importance of partnership models.
- Building a business without burnout.
- Strategies for go-to-market evolution.
Resources:
Connect Victoria Richardson:
Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 05:37 – We had gotten a few different companies. They were rebranding, they were repositioning in the market. We really didn’t have anything to support salespeople. So they ended up hiring this agency to help them just generate leads so that they could do presentations and start to close clients. What we shortly found out was that really, that was the wrong model for us. We really weren’t set up in a way to support internal salespeople. We kind of needed to take it a little slower. And so we dissolved that team. It took about a year after that
- 21:55 – I think it’s important because things are obviously rapidly changing and especially with AI coming on, it’s like, you know, the greatest and now there’s other tools out there and there’s other systems. And so just kind of being flexible and experimental in what you do, I think is a really important lesson for any marketer. Networking I think is a really great thing. Again, I don’t subscribe to you can do everything alone or that you should do everything alone. I think building trusted networks and people that you can bounce ideas off of and people that you can leverage and refer to, I think is a really great thing to do as a marketer. And then the last thing I think is being resourced because, you know, as marketers, I think a lot of times we’re relied upon to be creative and we’re relied upon to come up with ideas and we’re relied upon to execute those ideas.
- 03:03 – Victoria: And so I quit without having anything lined up because I was like, I know I can’t do this. And so then I was in San Diego a few years ago and I got a call from a recruiter and it was for the job I’m in now. So he was like, is now a good time to talk? And I was like, yeah, I’ve only had two margaritas, it might as well.
Brian: Yeah. Perfect!
Victoria: Took an interview with him and then quickly like, you know, went through the interview process, got hired, and that was about two and a half years ago now, almost three years ago. And so I’m director of marketing at AI Advertising. So it’s fun because I’m on the brand side, but I’m in an agency. - 18:16 – But I think when it comes to like understanding what to work on, I had to have kind of a come to Jesus with myself because I want to do good at all of it. It’s not possible again, to do good at everything when you have too many things to do. And so I really look at what are the projects on my plate and what is the impact that it’s gonna have on the bottom line? Because I realized pretty quickly, like my social media, which is taking up hours of my week, is not actually bringing in any leads. It’s not actually closing any business. It’s actually not contributing to making money. And I’m spending a lot of time on it. And so that was something that I basically just dissolved because I was like at this point of where we are, we’re not big enough.
- 12:37 – But, you know, I think it naturally would get there without the financing, just because I think more and more people are realizing you’re gonna burn out if you’re all things to all people. And it’s a lot easier. You know, we were talking before the call, it’s a lot easier to bring your skills together and amplify what you do, and it’s so much more impactful with less stress because you’re not trying to learn SEO and do SEO and also do social and also do, you know, all of these other things. It’s like we understand businesses need all of these things. We also understand we can’t be that for every single business.