I like to discuss non-proprietary issues about clients and projects I'm working on with a colleague who specializes in copywriting, Gregg Havass of Wordsperfect, Inc. As sole practitioners it's good to touch base with others who work in the same way to find, keep and help clients. He mentioned how he was working with someone to rewrite their corporate mission statement and brochure. When finished, they asked him who to hire for the design and new website. Then, they asked who to use for the photography. "I sometimes feel like a General Contractor," he said today. "I write the copy but then I point them towards all the other people they need to get their message out in the world."
As a GC, he's much like me. But I call myself a Creative Concierge(sm). I help my clients by finding the resources that I don't do myself. I wouldn't be able to create a database for one of the websites I design if my life depended on it. But I know great programmers who can. We work as a team. When I'm all done designing a direct mail postcard, I depend on a list house I trust to help with the mailing. And when the text for a website or brochure requires another marketing pro with whom to collaborate, I call Gregg.
Being a Creative Concierge is not being a Jack of All Trades, a Master of None. It's being the marketing go-to person with the skill set to get bigger projects accomplished with a trusted core of resources. Being a Creative Concierge is knowing my clients' needs sometimes before they do. I've been working with some of them so long I know their habits, their business cycle, some of their other vendors and often their clients. It's being able to do the things I love to do and do well, and carefully collaborating with others to fill in the pieces to get the job done.
