Over the years I’ve watched an interesting—if frustrating—scenario play out at numerous companies. Maybe you’ve seen it too? First, you take a talented, very hardworking woman who’s stretched almost to a breaking point by trying to do far more than humanly possible with very limited budget and resources. She works her butt off, accomplishes miracles considering the lack of resources, but eventually gets laid off anyway. Then, she’s replaced by a man who demands – and gets – twice or three times as many resources (and often a higher salary, too). With a lot fewer gymnastics and a lot less stress, he produces somewhat better results than she did and his managers congratulate themselves on “finally getting the right person in that position.” Good grief!

Here are five tips to help you to ask for and get the resources you need to do a great job. It’s easier than you think. Plus commanding an appropriate level of resources will help you not only produce better results, but also command more professional respect.

1) Start with the tools you need to do your job better and more efficiently
Would you berate a professional carpenter for being lazy or extravagant if he used a $300 hydraulic nail gun instead of a $10 hammer? Of course not! Having the right tool makes him much more efficient and valuable. If there is a tool or software package that would save you a lot of time or help you produce much better results, ask your boss for it. Even better: if possible just buy it, add it to your monthly expense report and tell your boss about the great results you’re getting after having taken the initiative.

2) Delegate! Just because you can do something yourself doesn’t mean you should
The more you focus on your higher level skills, the more valuable you will be and the more marketable experience you will build. If someone else in your office can make hotel reservations or order lunch without totally botching the task, delegate it to her and use the extra 20-30 minutes to review the strategic tasks on your to do list. The same goes for more skilled work. I’m currently teaching a junior team member in our office how to program HTML and delegating intranet updates and email projects to her. It’s a win for both of us – I’m creating a new resource to help with my workload and she’s building new, higher-level skills to boost her own marketability.

3) Find great vendors for specialized tasks
Let’s face it, a great vendor can often do work faster, better and more efficiently than you can. Don’t beat yourself up if someone could do a portion of your job better than you can. A specialist with the right training, the right tools and the right expertise ought to do a better job. Sure, you could design your own brochure. But if your only layout tool is Microsoft Word and it takes you four days to generate a design that isn’t grossly unprofessional, did you really save money by not hiring a talented, skilled designer?
When service providers contact you, take the time to speak with them about their services. Put together a file of vendor information so you have it ready when a project requires outside expertise or when your workload precludes your doing the project yourself. Building a strong network of vendors and service providers makes you more valuable and can be a great source of information about your industry and local market. The effort will benefit both you and your company.

4) Make your boss set priorities
Pssst! Here’s a secret: just because your boss tells you to do something doesn’t mean you automatically have to! Your work time is a finite resource – train your boss to use it wisely. If you already have 14 projects to do this week and your boss dumps two more on the stack, don’t just assume you have to struggle to try – and probably fail – to get everything done. Take a few minutes with your boss to outline the list of projects you’re working on and the time they will require then ask him or her to prioritize which have to be done and which can wait for later. This is a great time to suggest options for delegating some of the tasks to co-workers or to skilled vendors you’re conveniently already interviewed.

5) Practice asking!
If you’ve been afraid to ask for what you need for a long time, don’t expect the first time to be easy. Before you speak to your boss, take some time to practice the words, tone and spin you want to use in your discussion. Don’t beg. Don’t whine. Don’t apologize. Be as objective and confident as possible. Take on the attitude that you’re working with your boss to find the best solution for your department and your company. You don’t have to wing it either. Practice what you want to say in front of the mirror at home or in the car. You can even ask a friend to help you role play the interaction if you’re extra nervous.

And anyway, what’s the worst that can happen if you ask for the resources you need to do your job effectively? You could get fired, right? So what? Then, you could become the new hire at another company who walks in demanding adequate resources and a pay raise, gets them, and does a better job because of it. Hee, hee, hee! Go girl!

Last week at my day job I was awarded the company’s first Golden Hedgehog award for outstanding excellence in sales and marketing. It came with a cool foot-high lucite trophy and a gift certificate to yummy Morton’s. OK, I know it sounds pretty silly, but I was really touched. (A second Golden Hedgehog was awarded to the highest grossing sales rep of the year.)

In most companies the sales team gets all the glory and marketing’s contribution is generally overlooked, but this time my boss the VP of Marketing and the VPs of Sales decided to highlight my work. Even I was surprised to realize that a significant portion of our sales pipeline originated with lead generation programs I developed and implemented and that more than half of our deals this year were influenced by one of my marketing campaigns (either before or after the reps engaged with them).

I really enjoy my work. Our product is amazing. The people are wonderful - excellence is valued, teamwork is rewarded, and the no asshole policy is consistently applied at all levels. After seeing so many crummy, drama-filled startups, it feels wonderful to help build a winner.

I try to do a good job every day, but this year was really tough. Not only did we grow the company rapidly, but I also had to learn how to juggle taking care of a baby with working full time and endured an endless series of flu, colds, and stomach virus that the boy brought home from daycare. And surprise - got pregnant with baby number two!

This new year is already a roller coaster. I’m trying to get twice the usual number of programs organized this quarter so half of them can generate leads while I’m on maternity leave next quarter. It’s really, really hard and really, really fun.

P.S. If you’re wondering why our mascot is a hedgehog, it’s a Good to Great thing:
http://goodtogreat.com/lab/hedgehog/index.html

How do you know which Web developer to hire when there are so many options? Do you need a marketing consultant or graphic artist who knows how to program HTML or a programmer who can do some graphic art? The first step in selecting a vendor to develop your Web site is to decide what skill sets you need your vendor to have. Three factors shape this decision: 1) the skills of the employees at your company, 2) the skills of the vendors and consultants you already use, and 3) the design and functionality requirements of your new Web site.

Here are the fundamental areas of expertise that companies typically require for developing an effective Web site. First, evaluate what skill sets are available to you within your company. Then, you can establish clear vendor selection criteria based on the supplemental skills you need.

Strategic Marketing
A strong marketing strategy should guide all other aspects of your Web development process. It does not matter how lovely the graphic design is or how many clever features the site has if it does not clearly communicate your company’s fundamental brand messages and the benefits you offer customers. For maximum effectiveness and the highest return on your Web development investment, your Web marketing program should integrate with and support your overall marketing effort.

Graphic Design
The look and feel of your Web site is important. Ideally, it should not only be professional and attractive, but also blend with your offline collateral and other corporate materials. High quality graphic design is one of the best marketing investments small and mid-size companies can make. Quality design enhances a company’s credibility and the perceived quality of its products and services.

Web Design and User Interface Planning
Great graphic design is useless if the graphics are not well-adapted to the technical requirements of the Internet and the information on the site is poorly organized. It is important to plan how visitors will experience your site. Good Web design ensures that your pages load quickly and correctly across different types of Internet connection and browser combinations. Effective user interface planning ensures that visitors find the information they need quickly and easily.

Programming
Developers’ programming skills vary widely. Some firms offer only basic HTML and CGI scripting services. Others can provide custom application development, e-commerce implementation, and complex database programming. More is not always better where programming is concerned. Developers at both ends of the programming skills spectrum can create effective Web sites. It is the complexity of the features your site requires that will determine what level of programming expertise you require.

Copy Writing
You will need content for every page on your site — someone will have to write it! You can write it yourself. You can adapt offline marketing materials for some of the copy you will need. You can hire a writer to create all the copy you need from scratch.

Customer Service
You should feel comfortable with your Web vendors. It is entirely reasonable for you to expect them to explain the major aspects of your project in terms you can understand. Make sure you understand what is to be done and why each part of the project is important. There is a lot of competition in the market. If your vendor won’t deliver excellent service, there are plenty of others who will.

Exhibiting at trade shows and conferences can involve a huge investment—of both human and financial resources. Regardless of how simple or elaborate your display, a little pre-show preparation can make a big difference in the number and quality of the leads you collect. Here are four pre-show efforts that yield big lead dividends:

1) Pre-Show Marketing
Let people know you will be exhibiting at the show! Put a promo for the show, including your booth number, on your company home page. If possible, get a copy of the pre-registered attendee list. A postcard mailing to attendees about three weeks before the show is a cost-effective way to let people know who you are and where you will be. Sponsoring a contest or prize drawing at the show and promoting it on the postcard is a popular way to attract booth visitors. If you have an opt-in email list of your clients and prospects, you can send a digital postcard.

2) Pre-Show Selling
Trade shows offer an excellent opportunity for salespeople to meet customers and prospects. Many shows provide free admission tickets for exhibitors to distribute. Your sales team can invite their best customers and prospects to the show and offer them the free admission tickets. Also, have the team review the pre-registered attendee list. This allows them to identify promising prospects and to book appointments to meet with them at the show.

If you can prearrange multiple sales meetings to take place at the show, you can potentially save thousands of dollars in travel expenses and still have the benefit of face-to-face contact. Make sure you have some seating in your booth and plenty of coffee or soda for these meetings. If you expect to have many on-site meetings, consider adding a small meeting room to your booth. A 10′ × 20′ booth space can accommodate a comfortable meeting room without sacrificing too much exhibit space. Another alternative is to rent a meeting room off the show floor or in the hotel for these meetings. Meetings at these locations are more difficult to schedule, but the locations are more conducive to longer, in-depth meetings.

3) Pre-show (and On-site) Public Relations
Most trade shows and many conferences offer a wealth of press opportunities. Industry journalists frequently attend and report on major shows. If you request the list of pre-registered journalists from exhibitor relations, you or your public relations firm can try to schedule appointments to participate in media interviews at the show. Also, if you have any company news in the weeks before the show, you might consider delaying your news release and making your announcement at the show. Make sure to put your press kits in the show’s press room.

4) Pre-show Training
Is your booth staff trained to talk about your products and your company? Can they clearly explain your value proposition and the features and benefits of your product? Are they comfortable talking to strangers in a crowded exhibit hall? Use role-playing exercises to practice answering the most common questions the staff will encounter at the show. Also, make sure they completely understand how to collect business cards or swipe the badges of show attendees who are interested in your product.
Now that you have collected your leads, do not forget to follow up promptly within two to three weeks of the show. It is very easy to let this slide as your sales and marketing team members try to catch up on the work that accumulates while they are out of town at the show. Once again, pre-show planning can make a difference. You can even plan and prepare your follow-up campaign before the show.

When cash is tight and the burn rate is keeping the CFO awake at night, many companies start their belt tightening by eliminating their public relations program. Since PR efforts do not translate into immediate sales leads and publication lead times can be as long as 4-6 months, many startup executives mistakenly believe that eliminating public relations is an easy way to save money. Au contraire! Public relations is the glue that holds a strong marketing campaign together.

A well-executed public relations program is one of the most cost effective promotion programs a bootstrapping company can select – especially when implemented with support from inexpensive targeted direct marketing (email, postcards, and sales letters) and an integrated Web marketing program. In addition to helping build buzz about your company and products, a good PR campaign fuels Web traffic and generates fresh content for your Web site, collateral, and direct marketing pieces. The individual elements certainly don’t have to cost a fortune, but together they deliver much more bottom line value than any single effort.

It is true that working with a traditional PR firm can seem expensive. The minimum monthly fee for many firms that accept startup clients is around $5,000. This typically buys a few hours of consulting from an experienced account executive who manages your program and weekly editorial calendar monitoring and story pitching by a junior associate. Once your startup can afford a $5,000-$10,000 monthly retainer, a good public relations agency can offer outstanding value for your marketing program. Until then, here are a few tips for building your PR program on a tight budget:

1) Do it Yourself via Custom Targeting
Public relations isn’t rocket science and you don’t have to pitch every publication in the known universe to be effective. Target a set of 10-75 publications that cover your market segment and create your own press list. Read the most important publications regularly and familiarize yourself with the editors and reporters who cover stories in your industry. Visit the advertising sales sections of the publications’ Web sites to find their editorial calendars, lists of the features they are planning for upcoming issues. You can use these to pitch yourself as a resource or send relevant product information to the reporters working on stories related to your business.

When you have news, send each reporter on your press list a copy of your press release – call the most important contacts to make sure they received it and to ensure that you’re sending it to the right person. You can also distribute it via a wire service – the two major ones are PR Newswire and BusinessWire. You have to pay a nominal fee to join these services and a fee for each press release they distribute for you. Both services offer flexible programs to meet your distribution requirements. They also host regular “meet the journalist” events that are quite informative and help you get to know journalists in your geographic area. Business Wire’s Web site has exhaustive lists of the publications in their distribution circuits. This can be a very helpful resource for building your own press list.

Initially, bootstrapping your public relations program is a very time consuming process, but if you establish good systems you can manage it eventually.

2) Do it Yourself with Professional PR Tools
For roughly the cost of two or three months’ of public relations firm retainer fees you can subscribe to the press contact and editorial calendar resources that PR professionals use. Bacon’s and Lexis-Nexis both offer large databases of press contacts and editorial calendars. PR Newswire’s ProfNet service will email journalist info requests directly to you several times a day. Using professional tools obviously costs more than the complete bootstrapping approach, but it gives your PR program more reach, allows you to pitch stories more professionally, and takes much less time to manage. I used this technique quite successfully to generate quite a lot of press coverage for a small company in Silicon Valley. Working diligently a little each day resulted in press mentions in Time, CNN, The San Jose Mercury News, CNBC, the Wall Street Journal, and many regional and trade publications.

3) Find an Independent PR Consultant
Hiring a freelance PR professional is an excellent way to build a high quality public relations program with a smaller budget. Many freelancers are senior PR professionals with agency experience. Since they do not have the same overhead costs as the large PR firms, they can charge less for services. If your budget precludes even this option, you might find an independent consultant may at least be willing to develop a press kit and press list for you and periodically send you an editorial calendar opportunity list. You’ll save a bundle if you do your own editorial calendar pitching. Even if you decide to have the consultant do the pitching, you can save time and money by previewing the editorial calendars list and using your expertise in your industry to help target the most promising opportunities and eliminate the less promising ones. (Make sure the consultant has subscriptions to professional tools similar to the recommendations in #2.) You might have to shop around to find someone who is willing to offer bare bones services like this, but keep looking they’re out there.

4) Benefit from Other People’s Public Relations
Be sure to leverage you clients’ and partners’ PR resources. If you do a joint release, work with their PR firm to help get the message out. Many companies – especially other startups – are hungry for regular news and press coverage. Help their marketing and PR teams get coverage and it can help you, too.

5) Submit Your Own Material
Write articles in your area of expertise and give presentations to conferences that have press coverage. The more visible you are, the more likely a reporter will contact you for information. Make sure you put your press kit in the media room at each conference or trade show where you speak or exhibit.