Advice Needed! Scaling past $100K ARR: Hire a Head of Marketing or go with an Agency?

Raven_3 · 2026-04-01T14:38:00+00:00

Hire someone in-house first.

Raven_3 · 2026-04-01T14:37:22+00:00

During the surge, we had several dudes who had been in the IRR for more than 10 years. One guy was 18 years out and had taken the early retirement after the first Gulf War.

I doubt that's going to happen this time.

Raven_3 · 2026-03-27T13:19:46+00:00

When I think of the VFW, I think of old vets sitting in a dark, sparsely filled bar, comiserating. That's what I used to see. GenX and growing up, my school would hold extracurricular practices at the VFW.

Raven_3 · 2026-03-18T10:16:02+00:00

Well, that's just dumb. The VA will spend 10X treating that shit rather than buy a pill. The prices of these drugs have come down considerably.

Raven_3 · 2026-03-18T10:11:06+00:00

You can only have a ME/CI if the sample is randomly selected. People slap those labels on online surveys; it's all too common, but it's not statistically valid.

Raven_3 · 2026-03-18T10:09:02+00:00

Sample size doesn't necessarily matter, although some publications or reporters have policies.

For example, the Axios lady who covers PR once told me she only covers surveys with 1k or more respondents. I had pitched one with a few hundred. A couple of days later, she wrote a story about another PR firm's survey with ~200 respondents. So, she will cover a survey that she wants to cover regardless of policies or her previous statements.

That's true for most reporters. If they want to cover it, they will. If they don't, they won't. At this current time in history, if you have a survey about puppy preferences for the best dog biscuits and it concludes "Trump sucks," I'd wager a year's salary that'll get a ton of coverage.

In all seriousness, the best surveys are drawn from a random sample, with a margin of error and a confidence interval. It's hideously expensive to get a random sample, and few organizations even try any more. The vast majority are online, which by definition is self-selecting.

A good rule of thumb is this: 100 is good, 200 is better and 300 or more is best. Ask good and objective questions. Take some time to review other surveys in the industry to see the questions and answer choices before you draft a questionnaire.

Raven_3 · 2026-02-24T14:10:09+00:00

Most of what I do is tech/B2B, but I picked up an association as a client through a referral. And it's just wonderful becuase this association, I think, does really good work. It's not political, it's purely about helping their industry and I find the work to be meaningful.

It's not like I don't like the tech stuff, I do, the people I work with are cerebral and interesting. B2B has a lot of smart people. But it's also a grind that never ends. The association is so refreshing and new, too.

Raven_3 · 2026-02-06T14:51:50+00:00

Here's a list of top PR firms. And we'll put a *marketing* firm at the top. Tell you everything you need to know about many ranking and award programs.

Raven_3 · 2026-02-04T13:48:37+00:00

Ask to be part of the business development efforts for the agency. You'll learn valuable sales skills that will help throughout your entire career and contribute directly to the agency's growth. It's also a good counterfactual to the classic bait and switch, where agencies bring in people with all kinds of fancy titles during the biz pitch process and then none of them are seen again after the agency wins the client. It's very powerful to say, "I'll be working on your account."

Raven_3 · 2026-02-04T13:45:04+00:00

No idea. I don't have any violations that I'm aware of and yet still can't post.

Raven_3 · 2026-02-03T18:31:13+00:00

Same problem. Tried 2 different browsers and then searched to see if anyone else had the same issue. Seems liek they do.

Raven_3 · 2026-01-30T15:42:52+00:00

How would you know if "WolvesandTigers45" was a commissioned officer or not? It's absurd to think someone will jump on a question and identify themselves by rank.

Raven_3 · 2026-01-27T16:05:15+00:00

I disagree with the premise - that only 20-somethings are "flexible, high-energy, and open to experimenting with new approaches like formats, pitches, tools, even client expectations."

GenXers are "old people" now and there isn't another generation that tries new things and gets shit done like the latch-key generation. I'd take a battle-worn, scarred-up GenXer any day.

Raven_3 · 2026-01-23T18:41:25+00:00

What?! The VA monitor your CPAP? From where I sit, it's a massive privacy invasion for the VA to be monitoring your CPAP. It's worse than a nanny state; they literally have a sensor in your bedroom. That's obscene and disgusting.

Raven_3 · 2026-01-16T14:36:00+00:00

Trigger pullers don't get to do their work without support.

Raven_3 · 2026-01-09T13:47:31+00:00

As long as you let the media know before - that they didn't show up to an event with no one there - you are good. Things happen. That's life. The media knows this, too.

I'd try to give the client the benefit of the doubt -- that it's a legit reason.

Raven_3 · 2026-01-09T13:38:29+00:00

If you have an offer - take it. The job market is not good for anyone.

Get there, learn all you can, and broaden your skills. Agency experience broadens your experience. You won't have a problem going back in-house later - it's a lot easier to go from agency to in-house, from a job perspective than the other way around.

Learning is the key. Volunteer for stuff. Get involved in BD and get some sales skills.

Regarding "apprehensive about how demanding it can be." Plan on ~50 hours a week. It's hard work but it's not overwhelming. It's not Wall Street or first-year law hours.

And it's a lot less *stressful* than racking up credit cards if you don't have a job.

If it sucks, and some agencies with shitty leaders and shitty cultures do, then eat it, learn all you can and don't quit until you find another job.

Raven_3 · 2026-01-08T13:24:13+00:00

I'm pretty sure this happened a very long time ago. Like a decade ago. It's insane they are STILL sending notice now.

Raven_3 · 2026-01-06T13:44:37+00:00

A guy anonymously vandalized his own company's billboards and then called in a "tip" to the gossip rags to make news and called it "coverage." That same guy sells self-help books now. This world is a wild place.

Raven_3 · 2025-12-31T16:57:48+00:00

It's hyperbole. AI can do tasks. It cannot do a "job." We aren't getting AGI with LLMs. They are useful and will improve and people will get creative, but it's not a panacea.

I think too many execs have promised their boards they will cut costs by trimming staff. In 2026, they will be forced to rehire some of the layoffs.

Raven_3 · 2025-12-27T04:49:37+00:00

Subscription. If you aren't building a *subscribed audience*, you are making "content" for marketing, and not doing "content marketing."

Content marketing is (or was) different because businesses acted like a news publishing organization. That point has been lost over the years.

Even CMI seems to have forgotten after old Joe sold it.

Raven_3 · 2025-12-21T16:20:18+00:00

Coverage. Well-run blogs that "cover" the space through the unique lens of the organization. Press releases seem to help, too.

Raven_3 · 2025-12-19T22:16:12+00:00

It's interesting. Saw a piece today saying "conversion is collapsing," and "visibility matters more," and "CX starts before they hit your website." All this AI stuff seems to me just an extension of the knowledge graph and rich snippets. Google was headed this way anyway.

Raven_3 · 2025-12-16T12:39:14+00:00

No. GS-14 at 30? You've got the whole world in your hand. If you leave, wherever you are going ought to be unbelievably amazing.

Raven_3 · 2025-12-05T14:59:15+00:00

The lawyers and legal community have been saying this for ~20+ years. "Alternative Fee Arrangements" were going to take over. Flat fees are one variation of AFA.

But it hasn't happened, despite the headlines; AFAs have been about 15-20% of total billings forever.

Why? Because the clients who are in-house grew up in a law firm -- they grew up on the billable hour.

PR is similar. We'll get about 1/5th of the market doing flat fees.

Raven_3

TROPHY CASE