B2B Word on the Street: Community Service
This Week’s B2B Word on the Street is: COMMUNITY SERVICE
As a B2B Marketing professional, I believe the services our agency provides to our business clients can be applied effectively on behalf of charitable causes within our community. I know that when I look back over my career, it will be the work MLT Creative has done for charities like Genesis – A New Life, Positive Growth Boys Home, Heart-to-Hearts for Children’s Hospital and the Path Foundation that will mean the most to me.
We grow our business by helping our clients’ grow theirs, so it is a challenge to keep our pro-bono projects from sliding to the back burner. I think we have found the right balance between our paying clients and the volunteer work we do by following these guidelines:
1.) Treat charitable projects just as you do paying work. Assign a project manager, open a job number and schedule it in traffic with the same priority as other jobs.
2.) Be careful not to over commit. Focus on the one or two charities that you can manage within your regular workflow, and make a difference for them. You will become more familiar with their needs and be more effective with your efforts.
3.) Do great work for the charities you decide to help. It’s both satisfying and gratifying, because your staff will have made a positive difference working together as a team for a worthwhile cause.
I read once that some of the happiest people in retirement are nurses and fireman, because they can look back on their careers and know — without a doubt — that they made a positive difference. I want to have that same feeling of accomplishment when I retire, and I’d like the younger members of our staff to have it too.
Currently, MLT Creative is focused on helping Genesis – A New Life. They help homeless moms with newborn babies get healthcare, child care and job training as they work their way back to self-sufficiency. It is a rigorous and demanding program with a high degree of success for 15 years running, but they now have a serious lack of funding. Please visit their website at www.genesisshelter.com and consider making a donation. Thank you!
Billy Mitchell is the president and creative director of Atlanta-based B2B marketing firm MLT Creative. Located on the east side of Atlanta, GA, with a Northeast office in Rhode Island, Mitchell co-founded MLT Creative in 1984 along with partners Craig Lindberg and Glenn Taylor.
Known as the Idea Launch Pad™ for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative’s services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.