Reflecting on growth this year at Murphy Marketing

It’s nearly the end of the year, and everyone is talking about and reflecting on how the last 11-ish months have gone. We’re no different – we want to be intentional as we think about and share our success, because we think it’s beautiful to see ourselves and others grow! Today we want to share how we measure success as a small marketing business, and whether you’re in marketing, leadership development, real estate, or accounting, we hope this framework will be helpful for you.

Profitability 

Everyone’s eyes are drawn to top-line revenue above any and everything else. It’s the easiest, flashiest way to talk and brag about your businesses’ success. But we’ve done a lot of internal work with the Profit First method, and with clients who use this method. What Profit First has shown us is that top-line revenue is just one data point among many. It’s easy to get whisked away into dreamland, excited over how much we’ve made…when really, that number isn’t usually accurate.
What we really need to look at consistently are our profits!

It doesn’t really matter how high our revenue is if our expenses are sucking those dollars away every month. But if our profits are stellar? That’s a great place to be. 

Customer value 

We love finding clients who are in it with us for the long-haul. Some of our dearest client relationships began with our smallest offerings – a brandscript review call or a copyediting service, and have slowly developed into long term partnerships. 

The value may not be apparent at first, but we would rather start small with a great client and pursue the relationship from there, than try to force big sales for a one and done client (although we love our one and done clients, too! ;). Not only is it more fun to develop a relationship and care for someone over a longer amount of time, but we’re  able to make a bigger impact. We know each other well enough to pivot as needed throughout the process of any given project, and that’s really where we see the most growth.

Our team 

The baseline for the Murphy Marketing team is excellence – that’s a value that’s expected. And we’re so grateful to have a team of people who make that an easy bottom line to uphold! 

Where we really shine and thrive as a team is in compassion and collaboration. 

Marketing without compassion is completely doable, and completely void of what we’re about at Murphy Marketing. Compassion is behind everything that we do – we care about our clients, and we care about our client’s clients! We constantly think about our “who” – why would someone want or need to read the words we’re writing, and will these words truly benefit them? If we don’t have a clear idea of who we’re serving, our marketing won’t reach the people we want to serve.
Collaboration is fully wrapped up in and connected to compassion, because compassion for our clients is what drives us to collaborate!
As we look back over the past year of our work, we can clearly see where collaboration took the front seat and our work was better for it. The more we talk throughout our workdays, bouncing ideas off of one another, and gaining inspiration, the stronger our work is. And the more we welcome our clients into the process, holding our work with an open hand and ready for feedback, the happier everyone will be in the end.

As you reflect on your 2022, I invite you to grab a sheet of paper, a hot cup of coffee, and work through these questions: 

1. What went well? 

2. What do I want to do more of? 

3. What didn’t go as well as you expected it to? 

4. What should I change next time?

5. What do I hope for my team in 2023? 

6. What do I hope for myself in 2023? 

Be well!