Thoughts on integrity

14 Aug

I have been trying to find some digital advertising specialists this week, and I’ve been a bit surprised by the responses.

I’ve either, a) had people put their hand up, then back down again when they find out what the job actually entails (nothing out of the ordinary, but it does require expert knowledge of how paid ads work in the Metaverse) OR b) I’ve had people reply to my queries literally right away saying “I’m just in a meeting, I’ll get back to you soon” or “you’ve sent quite a lot of info I’ll reply shortly”.

(There also seems to be a trend in people being okay with applying “fake it ‘til you make it” when charging out to clients?! To their credit, some said they wouldn’t want to be learning on the job)

⚠️ I do not require an immediate response. I actually do not want an immediate response!

If you are an expert in your field, you are probably (hopefully) BUSY and I want (even expect) you to seriously consider my query, and give it a well-thought-out response.

I want to know that I can trust the person I might be hiring (often on behalf of a client) and be able to trust that you’ve done your due diligence because this is me doing mine.

It would also be really awesome if you could send me some examples of how your work has helped your clients, or just talk about it a tiny bit!

Speaking of due diligence…

If you don’t ask me any questions, this is a major red flag for me 🚩
If I give you high-level info and you make assumptions 🚩
If you say “yeah, I can do that for you” without finding out what the job is… Nope 🚩
If you tell me my client needs to do XYZ in our first interaction, with no knowledge of their job, industry or niche 🚩🚩🚩
👍 It’s okay to admit you don’t know how to do something!
👎 It’s *not* okay to try to be a “jack of all trades” and actually be learning on the job, flailing and wasting your client’s time because you don’t know what you’re doing but you just really wanted/needed the work.
Be honest with yourself and your clients about your abilities! 👏🏽