When Death Comes Knocking

Twelve weeks ago my day started with news that my business partner had died.

He’d been sick for years, so his death wasn’t completely unexpected. Still, it threw a monkey-wrench into some of the promises we’d been making to clients and prospects.

Regular readers know I’ve been running two companies for the past five years. My strategic marketing agency has been operated parallel to being a book development firm’s marketing arm.

It’s been an interesting challenge.

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This shift has seen me providing more retail marketing services and handling significantly more day-to-day functions. Robert supervised book editorial services, which made sense given his track record of authoring or editing 240+ books during a 45-year career.

And now he’s giving new meaning to the term “Ghostwriter”.

I know…I’m twisted.

I set up a scholarship for young authors, then reassured clients, suppliers and friends that nothing would change.

For decades I’ve also been writing, editing and ghostwriting, so shifting from marketing alone into focusing on editorial wasn’t as difficult as one might imagine.

Still, simultaneously doing everything in two businesses demands recalibration and a search for greater efficiencies.

Because despite one’s talent, there are still only 168 hours each week.

True, I’m capable of consulting while also providing authors editorial and marketing services. But that risks being stretched too thin and under-delivering for clients…an unacceptable option.

While figuring it all out, I’ve started exploring who can help handle some of the overload. The two company newsletters are being merged into one offering valuable advice in both strategic marketing and book development. The services Robert’s website offered are being blended into my online presence.

Not coincidentally, the two business’ marketing materials are also starting to reflect combined images and services, providing more cross-selling opportunities.

And though my crystal ball doesn’t always work (if it did, I’d be in Vegas right now!), I expect at some point everything will be combined under a single umbrella.

Here’s the thing: rebranding or merging a company is at best challenging. However, by making all stakeholders comfortable with all the names and logos and being transparent that changes are afoot, the probable transition of a company to a new name can go smoothly without customers wondering what happened or why they don’t know who you are.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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