At What Point Do You Fire A Marketing Rep?

[Lee]

Just curious to see what everyone thought about this?

Say you have hired someone for a marketing role, to drum up new business, make contacts with people in the industry etc etc, at what point do you decide that they should be let go?

Im torn on this one myself, on one side of the coin, the marketing side of me seems to think that a month or so of not making any new contacts becomes the point where the person becomes useless and should be let go, likewise, if they are only bringing the same companies to the table over and over again. However, from a business owners point of view, if someone is wasting time purely posting on boards, for my company less than they do for other companies, thats the point where they need to be fired.

Your thoughts on this? Where is the ideal line drawn in a situation such as this especially, if the person doing the marketing is in a salaried position?

Regards,

Lee

[JustMe]

Greetings:

Uhuh, if you're Lee's marketing rep right now, I'd be looking for new work.....



As a matter of fact, I NEED a marketing rep about now. Someone that can do things like, ooooh, hrmmmm, maybe post nice things on boards to keep me from looking like a jackass?

Yeah, that'd be nice right about now.

Lee's rep, whoever you are, if Lee fires you, let me know!

[Xstr8guy]

You have a marketing rep? Or are you talking about someone else's marketing rep? Hmm...

[Mamakity]

Sure busness is busness but I believe in chances. Maybe this person is getting heat from a different employer for this very reason and is trying o make that situation right too.

Give it some time. Talk to the employee, maybe this person has other troubles right now and needs some compassion. Or maybe, I'm too soft and this is why I suck at business.

[Mindy]

This is a hard question to answer. This is a hard business to break into and make contacts. Everything gets done sometimes at a snails pace.

Id say 6 months to make it or brake it!! There are lots of other varialbes but at some point the return on investment must be seen. If I even see the potential of the person turning into something great Id keep them on for an extented period of time but atsome point dead weight is dead weight!

I am learning the hard way how hard it is to find the right match for this kind of position!

Here is the best, When I am interviewing someone and I ask what qualifies them for the position half of them say well Im Gay and Like Porn. Oh Ok LOL!!!!

[basschick]

i guess it really depends, but it seems to me that a rep should bring in new people - or at least new ideas that will lead to new people. they should also wear your banner in their sig on the boards, so that your brand gets known.

of course, these days a lot of companies have part-time reps, and that makes it more confusing. and obviously if you work for two companies, you can have their button or banner in your sig standing out if there are two - but you can't have two on most boards.

if your rep is building enthusiasm in existing affiliates, that might make you money with the existing affiliates. that would make him/her worth a salary.

lee, without more information, it's impossible to answer this question. but 30 days seems like a long time not to bring in ANY new webmasters - is this rep sending webmaster traffic, at least?

JustMe - let's talk at the end of next week. i'm not sure if i'll be available, but i like your boyalley's retention and i like your responses to things that need doing

[Lee]

well Im Gay and Like Porn.

LMAO you know why thats funny? Because its so damned true LOL

The amount of people who think just because they watch porn and are gay they can market the stuff too

Im sorry but IMHO just because you know how to watch porn and are gay that doesnt make you a great marketing person.

It always amazes me when i see who some companies hire to do the marketing of their gay sites, just because someone is gay and 'appears' to know a lot of people on a board, that doesnt necessarily translate in to knowing a lot of business minded people, there is networking and there are business contacts. One type of person is easy to find, the other needs work, lots of it to find.

Regards,

Lee

[Lee]

lee, without more information, it's impossible to answer this question. but 30 days seems like a long time not to bring in ANY new webmasters - is this rep sending webmaster traffic, at least?

Well this was actually just a generalized question aimed at provoking a discussion because i happen to know of a few people who have been reading GWW lately tying to find a marketing rep for their gay products.

One of the reasons they have been looking is because their existing rep has been spending more time promoting her friends products than the companies she is supposedly being paid by to do marketing.

Regards,

Lee

[basschick]

lee, i totally agree. there are some nice people out there who love porn - but they don't know how to make people want to sell porn or a particular site. the two aren't related. besides, there are some people out there who aren't gay, and market gay sites very well. being gay isn't a passport to marketing to surfers or webmasters.

you know what i don't understand? why a gay company wouldn't want a rep who is active in the gay community but also active in the strt8 community. after all, str8 webmasters sometimes market gay porn. why miss a market?

[Lee]

Actually, as a side question i just thought of this..

Do you think a person posting on boards on a daily basis with a sig for the program they are working for is adequate for a marketing rep?

I know id be extremely pissed if i was paying someone a salary to post on a board all day.

Your thoughts?

Regards,

Lee

[basschick]

i know some part-time marketing reps, and i've never really been able to see it. i know of one program which isn't making any money because their rep is putting her other companies on the consoles and upsell page - which would be okay IF they were selling, but they aren't making a dime.

also how does a rep working more than one program respond when a thread comes up that says "Looking for sponsors with FHG's"? to have the most effect on people reading that thread, that rep should only mention one program.

if the rep is not pushing my program, i'd talk to her about what was happening. for me, that would not be a reasonable situation. i can't pay someone for simply lumping me in with several programs - my affiliates can do that.

One of the reasons they have been looking is because their existing rep has been spending more time promoting her friends products than the companies she is supposedly being paid by to do marketing.

[Lee]

why a gay company wouldn't want a rep who is active in the gay community but also active in the strt8 community. after all, str8 webmasters sometimes market gay porn. why miss a market?

Agreed totally!

But that being said, there are a few gay companies that simply dont understand the concept of cross demographic promotion.

in the last 4 or 5 years i honestly can only think of 1 large gay owned affiliate program that has promoted their products on predominantly promoted their program on straight resources too... Pride Bucks.

It would seem to me that Pride Bucks are grabbing a lot of potential business from other programs for doing this :thumbsup:

Regards,

Lee

[basschick]

depends on what they were hired to do. a marketing rep doesn't just get affiliates, they are their contact to the program. a rep finds out you need certain banners, or finds out what your special linking options are. a rep takes care of checks that went astray, and is the affiliates' personal link to the company.

what you are talking about is a board whore - although if you got someone well-known on the boards - sort of famous - to do this, it could be worth the money.

Actually, as a side question i just thought of this..

Do you think a person posting on boards on a daily basis with a sig for the program they are working for is adequate for a marketing rep?

I know id be extremely pissed if i was paying someone a salary to post on a board all day.

Your thoughts?

Regards,

Lee

[Dzinerbear]

That's a tough one. I think it depends on what kind of expectations were laid out initially.

Also, I've learned over the past year that not all marketing efforts produce immediate results. I started with MANcheck the middle of May 2004. One of the things I was supposed to do was bring in new webmasters. There was an initial flurry of activity in the first couple of months, but then very little for months after that. And the initial activity didn't amount to a lot financially. Then in January I met dalimili and he's made up for the whole year, along with a couple of others since then.

It takes a while to build contacts, to communicate with them, to make new contacts at trade shows, and don't forget, a new employee or rep has to climatize to you and your organization. I really wouldn't expect anything on a big scale for the first year.

dzinerbear

[Mamakity]

That's a tough one. I think it depends on what kind of expectations were laid out initially.

Also, I've learned over the past year that not all marketing efforts produce immediate results. I started with MANcheck the middle of May 2004. One of the things I was supposed to do was bring in new webmasters. There was an initial flurry of activity in the first couple of months, but then very little for months after that. And the initial activity didn't amount to a lot financially. Then in January I met dalimili and he's made up for the whole year, along with a couple of others since then.

It takes a while to build contacts, to communicate with them, to make new contacts at trade shows, and don't forget, a new employee or rep has to climatize to you and your organization. I really wouldn't expect anything on a big scale for the first year.

dzinerbear

Hmmm, I think I need a rep too OR a Dilimili. hehehe :goof: