We talk a lot about what is virtual.  Virtual this and virtual that.  All of this talk of “virtual” tends to apply to things that are intangible, but when it comes to a virtual marketing team, I see a slightly different application and one that may not make you all very happy.

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My last 15 years have been focused on start-ups that exit.  I build marketing teams that build categories and new ideas, and those ideas become attractive and get acquired.  When a company is acquired, there is a period of discovery and learning, followed by a period of consolidation in which teams are merged, which typically signals layoffs and the opportunity to create efficiencies.  What has been interesting for me is that, in almost every case, there are no layoffs because I tend to build extremely efficient teams through a truly virtual approach. I think you should try it.

To create a truly virtual marketing team, you have to understand three basic ideas:

1.        Hiring full-time is a last resort.

2.        Technology creates efficiency at scale.

3.        Experts are more efficient than generalists.

HIRING

When you decide to hire a new team member, you do so knowing they will be there for a long time.  You wait, and you wait before you decide to bring someone on because, well, it sucks to have to let people go.  I would much rather wait until the last minute and endure some discomfort and pain in scaling than hire someone, change strategy a year later, and be forced to make a change.  Why hire a full-time person when there are so many fractional and project-based resources to choose from?

In a start-up environment, you are hypothesizing and testing new ideas and strategies constantly to determine the best way to grow.  When you are trying out new ideas, you may need different skill sets to see results, so it makes more sense to hire people whose skills apply to the project at hand.  If you are focused on email, hire for that.  If you are running ads, hire for that.  If you are looking at events, hire for that.  The only constants are design and copywriting, and you can easily hire contractors to handle that as well.  I like to keep things flexible, at least in the early stages of a business, so I can ramp up, ramp down, or change direction based on what works and what the market is showing me. 

It’s like playing poker with an entire industry at once.  You read the other players, you see how the rest of the table is playing, and you refine your strategy based on that.  Once you know something works, and you need to scale that to the next level, you can always determine if you want to hire for that strategy at that time.  If that strategy is locked in, you hire.  Or you keep those flexible resources and simply maintain their place, shifting your attention to the next stage and letting them keep operating. 

TECHNOLOGY

The buzz around AI is well placed, and I personally use AI tools all day, every day.  I never use them to replace true strategic thinking.  I use them to accelerate the steps from ideation to fruition, thereby increasing efficiency.  I also never start with AI.  I start with technology tools that solve a problem and look at how they integrate AI.  Project management?  Start with a tool like Monday.com, and use the AI embedded in it.  Design?  Start with Canva or Figma and use the AI tools built in.  Strategy?  Start with your ideas, then plug them into Claude from Anthropic and work out the details.  Website development and sales enablement?  Jot down your thoughts, launch Gamma, and work with it until you have something you like, and then refine from there.  These tools allow a smaller team to operate like a large one, and reap the benefits of scale more efficiently.

EXPERTS OVER GENERALISTS

This is one that I had to change my thinking around.  At first, I wanted to say that hiring a generalist is a better strategy, but the more I think about it, the less convinced I am.  A generalist who is an expert at something can work, but you need experts when you mature.   When you do decide to hire, you want to hire someone who does that role better than you do.  That translates to an expert.  As the senior-most person on your team, your skills need to be close to expert level on a wide range of skills, and you want to bring in people who are ultimately better than you.   If they are contractors, they should be experts.  If they are FTE, they should be experts.  The price of hiring an expert on a contract basis is rarely different than hiring a generalist.  The price can differ if they are onshore, but when you factor in offshore, that levels the playing field.  I hate to say that hiring onshore isn't effective, because I want to hire people I used to work with, but the fact is that, as a start-up, you have to be cost-sensitive, and most people I know are properly compensated for their level of experience.   Not many people want to take a salary cut to work in a start-up.  It’s a real decision to be made.

HOW IT ALL WORKS OUT

When your start-up succeeds, scales, and grows, someone may try to acquire you.  During a due diligence process, the statement you want to hear is, “Wow – you did all that with only those people?” 

That’s the statement of wonder that comes from a large organization that forgot how to be efficient.  That becomes one of the reasons they keep you and your team.  They want to learn from you about how to be scrappy again, and not a bloated team full of generalists masquerading as experts.

Teaching a large organization to become more efficient is an awful lot of fun.  The shock and awe of teaching people how to work smarter and use the tools at our disposal is very fulfilling.  The organization operates more smoothly, and you can see the impact of your efforts in a very short time.  That’s the sort of impact you strive to have in an organization.

As you build your team and execute your strategy, keep in mind the principles of being smart, scrappy, and flexible.  Keep the team virtual as long as you can and reap the benefits while you grow your business, build your category, and see success come to fruition.

If you will be out and about this month, check out some of these upcoming events in the media, marketing and advertising space. Never forget that in-person networking is the best strategy for building and expanding your career…

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Sincerely,

Cory