From small business supporter to Marketing Consultant. How Danielle started her own marketing company.

Entrepreneurship is so much better with friends by your side! If you’ve ever been curious about how the small businesses in your community have gotten to where they are today, you are in the right place. In this series, you’ll get to meet your fellow YEG Entrepreneurs and hear their stories of launching a business, overcoming obstacles, and building a career they love.

Today, I’m sitting down with Danielle of Etched in Marketing. Pour a cup of coffee and join us as we learn more about her business journey.

Hi everyone! I’m Danielle, owner of  Etched in Marketing.

I work with local small businesses and entrepreneurs to help them to clarify and refine their marketing and communications strategies in a way that will make the best first impression, stand out, and be unforgettable. Through Etched In Marketing I provide services for online communications, marketing plan and strategy development and website design.

My passion is supporting small businesses. I love to discover new local gems both at home and while traveling, and it is this love for local businesses that led me to start Etched In Marketing. My vision is that all small businesses will have their brand etched in their customer’s minds.

Q. Tell us more about you! We’d love to know about your business today and the story of how you got there. 

I was born and raised in Edmonton. After graduating from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing, I worked in various positions across several different industries. While I had some jobs I really enjoyed, I always had in my mind that I wanted to start my own business.

While on my honeymoon on the east-coast, my husband and I were discovering all kinds of local gems that were a little too hidden. I kept telling my husband about ways they could increase their online visibility, and eventually he said that that was what I should do. Help local small businesses with their marketing and online communications so that others could discover all that they had to offer. This is what led to the start of Etched In Marketing.

Q. Let’s dive more into the specifics of your business. What products/services do you offer? What do you do for your clients that sets you apart?

At Etched In Marketing we offer marketing plan and strategy development, as well as online communication support which includes everything from helping businesses get started to the management of their social media and online communication, as well as live social media coverage of events. Additionally, we do offer website design services, and some one-on-one or team training for various platforms and online tools.

I’d say what sets us apart is our approach to what we do. It is really important to us to be able to support small businesses, this means making sure what we offer is affordable and that our packages have the flexibility to meet our client’s where they are at and deliver what they need to reach their goals.

Q. What are you most proud of in your work?

As a small business owner myself, I really take pride in having supported other local businesses through the tough times of the pandemic. While my clients span various industries, there is not a single one who didn’t need some type of extra support over the past two years, be it the ability to put their contract on hold while they waited to reopen, added communication support to regularly updated their clientele, or even the immediate addition of an online store so they could continue to sell products when they were closed to in-person shopping.

I understand how challenging and complicated it can be to juggle multiple tasks and projects at once, especially with the uncertainty we’ve faced during this time, so I really love that I was able to provide support however and wherever I could. Because of this work, I was able to help my clients not only survive but continue to grow through challenging times.

Q. What is one challenge you’ve overcome as a business owner, and what did you learn from it that you can share with others?

While I wouldn’t necessarily label it as a challenge I had to overcome, but definitely becoming a parent required a lot of changes with how I run my business. Just becoming a parent already requires a lot of learning, growth and continuous adjustments but doing it while being a business owner came with its own set of challenges.

While I did scale back on my workload, I wasn’t able to take a maternity leave. I am grateful that my husband has a flexible schedule and that he adjusted his work where he could to make time for me, plus we had some wonderful support from family and friends. But still, especially in that first year, it just never felt like there was enough time for baby, me and my business.

The biggest thing I learned though this change, was to be more patient. I learned to be more patient with myself in what I was asking of myself and to be patient with growing my business. Plus, there were many more lessons in patience along the way… But now that my daughter is almost two, I feel like we have a system in place and like there is a little bit more time in the day for everything that makes up who I am, including being a parent & a business owner.

Q. What is your favorite part of what you do? 

I love getting to know the story and people behind my client’s businesses, that is probably my favorite part. But I also really enjoy doing live event coverage! It is so much fun and a really unique creative challenge translating an in person experience into something others can see and enjoy online.

Q. What is one thing you do to set yourself up for success every week? 

I have lots of lists! I actually really love using Trello to map out projects and my week. The format works really well for me to visualize my workload and better prepare for what is coming up next. Plus with the scheduling and checklist features you get to cross things off as you go. And who doesn’t love crossing something off  a checklist!?

Q. What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

To not wait for things to be “perfect” before getting started. That at some point you need to just get started, and you can always make improvements as you go.

Q. Where can people find you to learn more?

Website: https://www.etchedinmarketing.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/etchedinmark/Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/ho0WQr