Do You Make a Living Working for Others in Marketing or Sales? Here's Why It Sucks
My humble opinion after 40-plus years in the trenches
My story today is about my 40-plus-year journey in sales and marketing, which provides some context for my background. I will rant a bit about the drudgery of working in corporate marketing and sales roles. Then, I’ll share a new use case I recently experienced and offer several suggestions for those struggling to find happiness in marketing for others.
My heart’s desire is to give you hope.
“The dragonfly brings dreams to reality and is the messenger of wisdom and enlightenment from other realms.” — Native American Proverb
Before I proceed, it’s true that many great marketing and sales professionals love their work and feel rewarded for it. With that, please forgive my bias.
Born to sell and market, and a role model father and hero
I was born into an entrepreneurial family. Because of that, I watched my father leave the corporate marketing realm when I was nine so that he could “be home every night with his three children.”
Clifford Jones, Jr., kept his word through my formative years. He was home every night, even if it was late coming home from his hotel and real estate business. When Dad walked away from his corporate gig, he knew he would forgo receiving a gold watch at the end of a soulless career spent marketing for soulless corporations.
However, walking away from the sanctity of corporate work wasn’t a cool thing to do in 1970. It was heretical, and many of my father’s peers and family thought he was irresponsible and nuts.
My father was my first hero. I got to watch him build a life as an entrepreneur long before Americans could pronounce or spell the word. He was a salesman who went on to become a world-class marketer in the hospitality industry.
After leaving his corporate gig behind, he became a part-owner and the general manager of a local resort in Laconia, New Hampshire, where I grew up. That’s where I witnessed him sharing the joy of his newest logo, marketing campaign, and promotions in his hotel restaurants.
Role models matter.
Sales and marketing must work together, or we’re screwed
It always cracked me up as a business consultant to see marketing slam the sales dogs, and sales dogs bitch about how lame the marketing department was generating qualified leads for them. It’s as if these two realms operate in parallel universes, utterly unaware of the sacred nature and byproduct when marketing aligns well with the sales engine.
My father understood that lesson well, and he passed it down to me. For me, selling and marketing go hand in hand, whether I'm working in the corporate world or building my small businesses.
After all, what good is great marketing when nobody can enroll a new client? And who the heck can sell well without the ability to generate quality leads and demand?
Very few people roaming the planet understand how to align the marketing and sales silos for high-performance results, and that’s how I made a living the last 20 years working as a consultant. But now that I’m retired from the mayhem and drudgery of consulting small businesses, I’m off to the races doing what I love.
More on that to come.
Massive empathy for younger people working in marketing and sales departments worldwide
Working in marketing and sales can be beneficial, but it can also be challenging or even detrimental to one's career. That’s because we can never do enough to please the boss.
Ever. Think about it.
The boss sets the goals. And it’s our job to hit or exceed them. And God forbid we fall short of the mark, regardless of whether it’s some corporate idiot who made that call.
Marketing and sales roles are among the most demanding for many reasons. In my experience, they are often thankless, with the occasional merit reward or overpriced, toxic sales incentive in destinations I equate with hell.
“In marketing, success is measured by metrics nobody trusts, for results nobody agrees on, to justify goals nobody remembers setting.”
The reason I have empathy for anyone reading this story and working in marketing or sales for others can be hell. I know because I’ve done it for decades. The primary saving grace for me is that I’ve done both for myself. That makes all the difference, and you can love what you do for work.
Discovering the art of life, and the business of art
After recently deciding to retire from my bus dev consulting work, I committed to focusing on my art business. I’ve been an amateur photographer since 1977. I’ve been a writer and author for decades.
However, I didn’t learn to paint until the pandemic locked us down and inside. I tapped my inner artist, learning to sketch, draw, and paint in various media, including digital.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
— Thomas Merton
A personal best after 40 years; a use case
Here’s the use case I promised. I set a personal best in marketing yesterday, having decided to focus on being an artist now that I’m not consulting clueless business owners who prioritize results over processes and data that produce them.
Granted, what I’m sharing is a very small sample, but it’s an extremely encouraging one for someone like me who struggles with Imposter Syndrome.
Campaign set up and launch
This past Sunday, I set up a Nextdoor profile for me and my business, Clifford Jones, LLC. “Art that warms the heart.” (I make this stuff up and have a blast playing with the words. I’ve always been this way.)
Then, I purchased a new domain and created a microsite for www.ArtbyCliffordJones.com. That will evolve into a full-blown site later this week.
I made one post on Nextdoor, which you can see here. The engagement fired me up.
I set up a small test ad campaign with a budget of $5 per day, totaling $150 per month.
It took about two hours of focused work. However, it was enjoyable because it was for myself, not for others.
Do what you love, and it won’t feel like work.
The early results
As of Monday before noon, the result was five inbound leads of inordinately high quality. The Ideal Customer Profile of the five is the same: women with dogs.
If I had conducted formal lead scoring for this campaign, these five leads would score 90 out of 100.
As of this morning, I got the first order.
What I market and sell these days, beyond mentoring
Here’s one example of the digital artwork I sell. It’s a digital photograph and post editing process, including Lightroom and Photoshop, that I use to add a painterly effect.
I’ve been working on this process for over five years, and only now, after approximately 10,000 hours, am I beginning to find my way. It’s a labor of love, and I lost track of time because of the love of work.
I’m not bragging as much as making a point
I am here to give you hope if you’re feeling the suck working in marketing and sales for others. You possess some of the most valuable skill sets to monetize for yourself.
The past two days have been two of the most personally rewarding payoffs after suffering the dread of doing marketing work/consulting for others, truly.
Why? Because marketing and sales for others mostly sucks. Nobody is ever satisfied with the work we do, are they?
Most of us are selling our souls for bi-weekly paychecks, wondering why we’re miserable. We can’t help the helpless who don’t understand our value.
The misery stems from failing to meet the endless, stupid expectations of founders, small business owners, corporate leaders, and other unconsciously incompetent humans who treat great marketing and sales professionals like Coyote poop.
Marketing could be the most thankless profession on the planet. If you work in marketing and sales, you know what I mean. And if you’re inclined to start a business that you love, and you feel consciously competent in both marketing and sales, let me leave you with this thought.
Go for it!
If you’re not building something that lights you up, you’re slowly burning out. Life is too short to keep marketing and selling for someone else’s dream. If you’ve got the skills, the soul, and the guts, bet on yourself. It’s the most rewarding sale you’ll ever make.
If you don’t feel you can do it alone, I’m here to serve as your mentor.
I’m an author, visual artist, facilitator, and strategic guide. Ask me how the Clarity S.H.I.F.T. Method™ helps founders, leaders, and professionals to overcome challenges and find clarity, purpose, meaning, and prosperity. Learn more at www.CliffordJones.