Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly McInturff.
Kelly, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started off in an entry-level job in a small business answering phones, calculating payroll, scheduling clients, managing the office, anything, and everything! As I helped the business grow, I began to shed responsibilities that I didn’t love or couldn’t do as well as needed until I settled into a marketing/creative director/PR role. The entrepreneurial side of business intrigued me. Being able to set your own course for your business and work towards it was so exciting! The entrepreneurial bug bit hard. I was lucky in that when I started my business, my former employer kept me on as my client. From there, I have expanded to working with small businesses in all types of industry. My focus now is helping businesses find the right words to say to sell their products and services. I coach my clients on how to communicate effectively with prospective and current clients in order to grow their business.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not been a smooth road! I have made plenty of mistakes that have cost me business, money, and time. One particular mistake I made is that I oversold my services to a prospective client. I didn’t fully listen to what the client needed. Instead of offering a specific service to what he needed immediately, I offered him a list of things that I knew (or thought I knew) he needed. It scared him off. However, it was a great lesson for me!
If you are just starting your journey in entrepreneurship, don’t feel like you have to offer everything you can do at one time. There is always an opportunity to educate your clients on all of the services or products you provide, but make sure you listen to your customer on what THEY need first. Be really great at that one thing that your customer is coming to you for before you tell them about everything else you can do. Once they see how you solved their problem, they’ll come back for more!
We’d love to hear more about bird + hyssop marketing.
A lot of women are nervous to market their business because they don’t want to seem pushy. I help them find the right words to sell their products and services without sounding aggressive. Once they have a message they feel comfortable sharing, they are more confident in marketing their business. As a marketing coach and strategist, I work with businesses on their brand messaging to make sure that how they are talking about their business makes sense to their customer. I specialize and am certified in a marketing framework called StoryBrand which uses the elements of a story to create clear marketing messages that grow your business. This powerful tool has helped thousands of companies in all industries all over the world win in business. What sets me apart from marketing agencies is that I have experience in all areas of running a business, so I am able to take the brand message of a business and make sure it aligns the business in all areas – from the hiring process to employee retention and from social media to email marketing.
We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
I feel like the biggest barriers to female leadership today is our own lack of confidence. We as women tend to minimize our talents because we don’t want to come off as conceited. However, each of us has a unique talent that the world needs. I believe that if we as women are confident in who we are and what we have to offer, we won’t back down in business and we will lead other women to do the same.
Pricing:
- Website Content Audit $500
- Website Copy + Layout packages starting at $2500
- Marketing Strategy Session starting at $1500
Contact Info:
- Website: www.birdandhyssop.com
- Email: hello@birdandhyssop.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/birdandhyssop.com
Image Credit:
Brooke Holmes of bmarie Photography
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