Digital Marketing Consultant @ Clementine Digital with Hannah Pybus

In her year one, Hannah’s been building Clementine Digital Marketing, her B2B digital marketing company that partners with small business clients as their trusted marketing department. Some of the things that Hannah and Blair discuss include why small cities and towns are a great place to start a business–specifically one that provides marketing consulting services, the importance of self-awareness–and listening to that voice saying "be yourself"–as a driver for the entrepreneurial spirit; and, how to grow a business without doing any advertising or promotion.

About Hannah Pybus

I have a passion for digital marketing but is also committed to being true to herself, which led me to start Clementine Digital Marketing, a B2B marketing consulting company that partners with small business clients–especially in the skilled trades sector–as their trusted marketing department. We collaborate with businesses to enhance their web visibility, increase online traffic, and capture more leads.

I created Clementine Digital with the goal of eliminating the confusion that comes with getting a business online: “I've ditched the acronyms and buzzwords in favour of accessible and clear language to foster a business relationship based on mutual understanding. That’s why I involve clients in the cultivation, execution, and analysis of their customized digital strategy to ensure total satisfaction.”

The Highlights and Hottest Takes 🔥

How Hannah Got the Client(s)

AK saw an M2T Collective booth at an AdClub of Toronto event where he introduced himself to the person…who happened to be one of the founders. And the rest is history. 

Hannah was working in a marketing communication agency in Cobourg, Ontario where she had the opportunity to take two clients from the agency. She left the agency (it was a friendly split) and these clients became hers, which was the start of Clementine Digital Marketing.

Mistake Made

Don’t make quantitative promises. Especially with social networks, like I’ll increase your followers by X in this time. Making your competitive advantage on quantitative outcomes like this is bound to fail.

Lesson Learned

There's more technology in digital marketing than you might expect. The hardest part of starting a digital marketing consulting business is there’s lots of technology involved that you need to set up, administer and troubleshoot. It can be confusing and has a learning curve that takes time.

Pro Tip

Learn clients inside and out. If you don’t understand them, their “why”, their values…just focusing on “doing the doing won’t help them”.

Segments

Hannah's Year 1ne @ Clementine Digital Marketing | 0:59-21:25

Clementine Digital is a digital marketing company that currently does social media marketing, website design, content marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google advertising for businesses in and around Cobourg (a town of 20,000 in Southern Ontario, 95km east of Toronto). Most of their current clients are in the skilled trades sector. They choose Clementine Digital because Hannah partners with them as a consultant–not an agency–to help them define their marketing communication needs, and then figure out how to make it happen:

“To figure out their idea, then to transform it into something actionable, there’s a step in there that takes trust and understanding that I’m committed to with them for the long-term.”

Running a digital marketing consulting business as a sole proprietor means most of the time in a week is spent working on client projects. Making time to work on the needs of the business is hard–which is a reason why there’s no website for Clementine Digital (at the time of recording). However, perhaps the hardest thing with this type of business is having to do marketing communication for yourself:

“It’s personal now. It’s hard to talk about yourself. I’ve got a barrier and I don’t know where it’s coming from.”

But Hannah’s not alone. There are many voices in her head–or “team members” if you will–that offer a “so much inspiration and ideas, but so little time”. To help with the time and growing the business, soon she plans to find partners for things like graphic design and advertising copywriting that’s not part of Hannah’s core strengths.

The Year 1ne of Starting a Business | 21:26-37:25

Hannah was working in a marketing communication agency in Cobourg where she had the opportunity to take two clients from the agency. (BTW it sounds like it was a mutually agreed to arrangement between Hannah, the agency, and the clients.) She left the agency, and these clients became hers which was the start of Clementine Digital Marketing.

Hannah did have some corporate experience, but she didn’t think the corporate lifestyle was for her:

“The interview process, writing a resume for a job description, it’s didn’t feel right for me. It just pushed me down so I thought maybe this process isn’t right for me.”

She had self-awareness about having trouble fitting into the corporate environment and structure, which gave her the confidence to take control and see what she could do on her own:

“If you’re not being rewarded for being your true self, then it might not be right. If it doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not right. I wanted to be myself.” 

The hardest part of starting a digital marketing consulting business is there’s lots of technology involved that you need to set up, administer and troubleshoot. It can be confusing and has a learning curve that takes time. “There’s still a lot you need to learn even using ‘simple’ drag-and-drop website builder software.” says Hannah. You need to be patient and resourceful to find what you need.

How has Hannah grown her business? This is one of the potential benefits to working in a smaller city or town…referrals from her first client:

“He’s well known and respected in the community. When he believes in something, he’ll tell the world.”

Things I've Learned in Year 1ne | 37:26-48:15

Maximize your resources to keep learning. It’s stressful if you leave social media for a few days as things can change. But there’s lots of helpful content that’s social media-based to help you catch up. Fill your feeds with this content. And beyond social networks, there’s always resources at your fingertips on the Internet to help you figure something out.

Learn clients inside and out. If you don’t understand them, their “why”, their values…just focusing on “doing the doing won’t help them”. Ask to be invited to meetings. Ask to talk to their customers.

It’s risky to chase trends and trying to be somebody else is risky. Know what you stand for so people will stick around, then figure how to (or not) connect to a trend so people might find you. “How did you find me? vs. Why did you stick around? are completely different things.

"Sure people can find you online, but if you don’t have a reason to stick around then they’re never going to see you again.”

Re(Sources)

• Connect with Hannah Pybus: LinkedIn | Instagram | Website
• Brands/organizations: George Brown College | Toronto Metropolitan University (used to be called Ryerson University) | Cobourg, Ontario
• Marketing and media tools: Google Ads | Google Business Profile | GoDaddy | WordPress | TikTok
• Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn | Website

Credits

• Created and Produced by Blair Smith
• Hosted by Blair Smith
• Mixed and Mastered by Ray Harripaul

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