aboutabout meme freelance digital marketer.

A portrait of Katie Barber holding a camera
* Who I am

I've always worked in business. When I was a little girl, I worked in my family businesses. My Dad installed burglar alarms and my Grandma owned a small nursing home. As a kid I was often expected to take a phone call, hoover up some plaster dust or fetch a resident a cup of tea. I made my pocket money stripping cables, filling skips and helping old ladies get in and out of the stair lift. Self emloyment felt inevitable for me. I've seen how business is a vehicle of empowerment which can help draw life and society forward in so many ways. I'm head over heels in love with my own business and have only the deepest respect for my clients journeys and organisations.  I don't mind getting my hands dirty, and I know that sometimes my clients will need an all hands on deck approach and need me to go the extra mile.

* My education

I was fascinated by the internet and it's mechanics at an early age, and I still get "in the zone" fiddling about with it now. As a natural pattern recogniser and behavioural analyser - I found a love of cultural studies within my design education. Learning about why people were drew to certain aspects of culture and how the mass market can affect society blew my mind. Ever since I've been studying behavioural science, anthropology and culture. I still combine design ways of working with marketing practices and go through the ideation - mood board - initial idea - development stages with everything I do. Design has taught me an important lesson - the best work is the work that works, not the work I thought would work.

A pile of marketing textbooks
* My CV history

After temping, I secured a junior position at a silicon valley tech company, lucky for me this 'recession proof' large start up had an office right in my hometown. In this job, I learned the full extent of what marketing tech can achieve, I met a new friend I'd never seen in design - data. I spent hundreds of hours with my head deep in analytic softwares and CRM journeys. The marketing bug had completely hooked me and I became extremely driven and competitive. Within a nurturing environment where I could expand into whatever I was interested in, my boss allowed me to journey into social media. After this, I managed the digital arm of a full suite IT marketing and telemarketing agency. But it wasn't long before I decided to go it alone and build up my own business. I built up a client base that began with large local businesses such as law firms, estate agents and physiotherapy practices and has ended in working with large national consumer goods brands. I'm happiest working in a breadth of industries and business sizes - from your sole trader right up to your multinational corporation. I've found that lessons can be learned in the business operations of your local yoga studio that can be applicable to your corporate b2b softwares, you just need to look at things with the right lens. And so rather than niching down like many digital marketing pros, I deliberately keep my work broad for the benefit of my clients. Think about it - how can I help a sole trader move up to a 10 person business if I only work with sole traders? How can I advise my corporate clients on trends and reactivity if I'm not out there being reactive and creating trends with small businesses?

Honesty // growth // Understanding // analysis //
Honesty // growth // Understanding // analysis //
* My working style

I'm a good digital marketing manager, but I'm working towards becoming one of the best, most excellent marketing consultants in the UK. I work towards this by getting every client portfolio worthy results and learning as much as I can every day.  I'm analytical and competitive, so I am constantly reviewing results and trying to work out new ways forward. If something isn't working - I'm honest about it because it means something needs to change quickly. This may sound all a bit intense, don't worry, I hate stuffiness and like to keep it real in meetings. I pride myself on being easy and fun to work with first and foremost. If you're a big fan of corporate sheen and cufflinks, I'm probably not for you. I use a design thinking approach, which means I start with empathy for the customer and work our marketing strategy out from there. What I don't like? 👉 Just doing whatever the competitors are doing or working on stuff that keeps me busy but doesn't achieve anything!  I love working with clients who: are friendly and down to earth, have big goals and a lot of vision and are flexible - with a willingness to switch things up and try new things. 

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