Ep 25: Becoming an award-winning Key Person of Influence - with 2021 Agency Awards Winner, GEZ MCGUIRE.

In this episode, Donna is joined by Gez McGuire - an award-winning digital marketer and international marketing awards judge with over 20 years' experience in marketing. 

Gez is now working at the forefront of blending AI adoption and machine learning with human intelligence to deliver strategic digital marketing campaigns, and he is about to launch an exciting e-commerce brand in 2022.


Donna O'Toole is the Founder of August, and she has had the pleasure of supporting entrepreneurs, business leaders and teams to win the most prestigious awards in the world. She has seen, first-hand, how receiving awards and recognition has motivated teams, solved problems, supercharged brands and raised their profiles, helping businesses to grow and do even more good things for their employees, their industry and their community.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:09

Hi, I'm Donna at all and you're listening to my exclusive winning awards podcast. Over the years, I've had the pleasure of supporting entrepreneurs, business leaders and teams to win the most prestigious awards in the world. I've seen firsthand how receiving awards and recognition has motivated teams solve problems, supercharge brands and raise profiles, helping businesses to grow and do even more good things for their employees, their industry and their community. In this podcast, I'll be sharing valuable awards, insights, tips, and inspirational stories to make sure that you get the recognition that you deserve, so that you can go on and achieve your dreams. So what are you waiting for? It's time to start winning. Hello, and welcome to another episode of the winning awards podcast. Today, I have with me the lovely Jerry Maguire. Jeff is an award winning digital marketer and international marketing awards judge with over 20 years experience in marketing. He won the Best PPC campaign at this year's UK agency awards. And he was a finalist in the performance marketing awards, and UK Business Awards for marketing agency of the year Best Lead Generation campaign and best paid search campaign. Jess is now working at the forefront of blending AI adoption and machine learning with human intelligence to deliver strategic digital marketing campaigns. And he is about to launch an exciting ecommerce brand. So thank you for joining us, Jess, and congratulations on your amazing award wins this year. Thank you, Donna. It's lovely to be here. Oh, great. So you've obviously enjoyed a really successful year. And it's so good to see that you've been recognised really extensively actually for the work that you've been doing. So talk to us about your awards journey. What was the catalyst to you getting involved in the world of awards and tell our audience really about the journey so they can imagine what it'd be like for them? Sure. Well, if we go back, so 12 months, go for awards was the last thing on my mind. I listed the catalyst towards doing it was that I joined the business accelerator programme this time last year, and about a quarter for 2020 right in the middle of the whole pandemic decided that it would be good to invest in myself as what's called a key person of influence. And I went on this programme with a company called dent that do a KPI key person of influence accelerator programme. So accelerator, it takes about 12 months, it's quite involved. And there's a number of different modules in there. And when one of them being about increasing your profile, and when they started talking about awards as being something that could raise your profile, it seemed quite an obvious fit, even though, for years, because I've run my business for years, going for awards for something that I never actually placed any commercial value to. And I was quite incorrect with that, because I was just looking at it from the wrong angle. So when it became obvious to me that there was a good reason to go for awards, the next question was that have I got anything that's that I think would be award worthy. And luckily enough, I had some great case studies for last year. So as you know, I went on your awards accelerator at the beginning of this year in January. And it really opened my eyes to first of all, why to go for awards, how to go to them and how to put yourself in the best position to stand a chance of being shortlisted and win awards. Yes, you do have the case studies there. But really the catalyst for me was the penny dropped when it was really about having extra assets that that sit in your business and and being shortlist as a finalist and even winning awards. If you can't win awards, then they're great assets to have in your business because they're things that nobody can take away from you. And they do raise your product. Yeah, yeah. And they do raise your profile from the credibility from an authority perspective. So we'll probably talk about that a little bit later. But that it's that that was certainly the beginning of my journey with deciding to put myself forward and put my business forward for for psychiatry teachers. And I remember when we first met and you joined our accelerator programme and and you talked about one of your case studies. And I remember thinking, Wow, you've got some magic in here, if only you could see it, because actually the way that you were the way often as you know, and I know myself has been So when you're busy supporting your clients and you're working in the business, it's it's really hard to look objectively at those case studies and see the magic and see what you're doing and see really what that that big impact is that you've had on your business. And there was one in particular, I know that we we talked about, and I said, Yeah, this is it. This is this can you know, judges will love this, but you've got to know how to position it and put it forward to demonstrate that impact. So I don't know if that's one of the projects you've been winning for this year. Jazz? If you want to tell everyone a little bit about that? Of course, absolutely. It is. That case study is the one that actually won the award for me, I was actually shortlisted as a finalist in three of us, believe it or not. Yeah. And what's interesting about what you said there, though, is the fact that yes, you know, when you're doing producing good results, but it's only when I didn't realise the, shall I say the the real impact in until I started crafting the awards pitch. That's when I really got into the nuts and bolts of it, which might sound strange saying that I'm the one who delivered the all that stuff in the first place. However, like you say, you're dealing with so many things on an ongoing basis. Yeah. And you tend to look at it from a top level perspective. And but it's only when you really get into the nitty gritty of it, Do you realise the nuances involved in it and, and the impact that he had to that particular case study was for a care home group, and responsible for looking after their digital marketing campaigns, when we're talking about the likes of Google, for instance, when people are looking for a care home for one of their relatives. And there's a number of factors that come into that for from a strategy perspective. But if you can imagine last year, during the pandemic, the care home industry was absolutely devastated. Yeah, absolutely, you know, and this particular care home group, they had, you know, obviously, residents that were passing away faster than normal. And they also had to deal with people that were looking for care homes, for their relatives, because even though the pandemic was happening, people still needed to look for care homes, and it was becoming more important than ever, to position our particular client in the right way. So there was a lot of hurdles to overcome. But there was a lot of opportunity within those hurdles to do things very well. And if we delivered things very well, then we could get some, some great results for our clients, and not just for our client, but also for their clients. So the marriage of doing everything very well orchestrated in a really, really, really good case study that I was incredibly confident about. In terms of I know, I've got something here, I just didn't have a clue what to do. How to put it forward in the right way. And and that's what you taught me and and it was in valuable, because if I just gone gone Whoa, and come forward for awards, I'm certainly wouldn't have got the recognition that it did get. And I think what's frustrating for me is that so many people do do that. And then when they don't, when they don't realise that it's not that their case study or that their business isn't good enough, it's not that at all, it's just that it hasn't been communicated in a way that will fit the what the judges are specifically able to mark and looking for. Within that project. The other thing that I think is really important, and something that you have understood as well is timing is everything sometimes. So you know, your your work that you're doing with the care home group had been ongoing for quite a while. But as you've just pointed out, you had new challenges that were coming up, and that gave you new opportunities. And that in itself is a bit of a trigger for a good timing to put into awards. Because actually, you're putting that case study forward with actually not just this is just an ongoing project that we just do a year in, year out. But actually, we've helped these people, real human beings to overcome these really personal issues through the power of digital marketing by doing you know, x y, Zed and your strategy and everything. And I think that's where people often forget to look at their projects is actually from the real human impact side of things and the timing of those what's happening right now in the world and what makes you therefore, special at this time or stand out at this time? I forgot absolutely correct. I have a few standouts that the standout ability should we say I think is really important. Absolutely. Because, you know, the, the bigger impact you can have. Quickly when a judge reads your awards case study, the better and it's not you know, because And I'm saying that from from from the point of view that earlier on this year, I also put myself forward to be a judge in a big marketing awards. And that was accepted. So I can say this from the point of a judge, not just an entrant. And I know how important is for an awards pitch to blow well, to have a good story, but also for detail to be there. Because you know, all of the it's not just about saying, Look at all this amazing stuff we did, aren't we fantastic? Because you have to have the detail in there, the attention to details, everything, but it's also the way that narrative flows, the narrative has to flow in a very concise, proper way. Because as a judge, you're not just marking one award entry, you're marking, like some company. Yeah, and, you know, the ones that do well, are the ones that have the standout ability, have the detail, have a good case study, you know, it's an all rounded, you know, pitch. But it's not just that, I mean, I'm going into this detail, because I'm white, I think what you said earlier, is really important. But a lot of people just just go for an award and go, you know, I've got a great case study here, for whatever they they've done, and think that they can just put something forward, you can't use far more to it than that they're really really, I mean, even if I, even after I came on your accelerator, and I had, you know, oodles more knowledge than I had before. And you also helped me afterwards, with crafting, but with this particular case study, I kept on tweaking it, and tweaking it, and tweaking it, and tweaking and tweaking it, because I put it forward for about four different awards. And, you know, it's so, so important. But, you know, going back to the fact that what we're actually doing, the whole point of this from a commercial perspective, is that you're building, you know, building assets for the business, that you're kind of taken away. Yeah, and these assets are authority and credibility. So there's really is a real reason to, to do it properly. I always say once you're an award winner, you're always an award winning. Exactly, exactly. What's that recognition really meant for you this year, then just because we always say, you know, don't just throw yourself into any old awards competition. So you start working towards the awards competitions that will help you to meet your goals, and your business goals and your personal goals. So how do you think that the awards that you've been winning and shortlisted have they have they been able to help you to achieve any of your personal or business goals this year, they have been really impact is going to be from an ongoing basis, I mean, winning the award that we were shortlisted, as finalists, should we say, from the summer onwards, and when we won the award, it was, it's only been in the last month or so. So but what he has done by by by being able to share that story, across social media, LinkedIn, etc. And with different cohorts that I'm involved in different groups, then First of all, it's elevated me as an individual, from a, from an A, from a credibility and authority perspective. Absolutely. So my profile has has increased, which was the initial intent with all of this. From a business perspective, though, what, where I see the asset really being worked is when I start to sweat that asset in terms of, you know, really pushing it out there. First of all, every marketplace is crowded, so anything having an asset like that, well, first of all, helped me to, to, to, to, you know, be in front of other people that are pitching for the same business. But then also when, when new clients come on board, I'll have the ability to be able to sit my my prices, you know, the benchmark that's worthy of an award winner, rather than just somebody else coming? Oh, absolutely. Value people. What's the value of winning an award? And I say how long is a piece of string? It depends on what you do with it, you know, like you say, sweater, the more value it will have for your business. So some people win them, and they keep it completely internal. And there's actually value to their team, and there's motivational value, etc. and promote it. Outwardly, I noticed actually, Joe's you've been getting quite a lot of content out there in other publications as well. Since you've won your award, haven't you? I have yes about that. That's that's been linked as well, hasn't it? Yeah, well, I've been doing quite a lot of PR as well over the last 12 months as part of raising raising my personal profile. So yes, been getting a lot of content tight and getting pieces in lots of different obligations. One of which being the job, which is specific to marketing, and that's all being with, with a view to raising my profile. Of course now having this award winning on the back of too, it's a nice cherry on top. Because not only can I talk about all the different specifics in the different PR pieces that I'm putting out there, but I can top and tailor with by, you know, by saying award winning marketer through the door in a lot easier. It really does, it really does. But then in terms of in terms of an asset for the business as well. Moving forward, when I want to attract talent in terms of recruiting people to work within my business being an award winner is very helpful with that, because it helps to attract better better calibre of people. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. And when it comes time to do to do an m&a deal, whether I want to merge with a bigger agency, or, indeed, if I want to do an acquisition, the whole story and reason to listen to me is is greater than it would have been if I hadn't award an award. Yeah, definitely. And actually awards, I talked to investors, investors about this, in my quest for knowledge on what they consider valuable in a business, and when they're putting evaluation together. And actually, I was told that the awards go towards your different parts of evaluation for business and awards go towards your brand value. So essentially, you know, the higher up your brand awareness, and the bigger your profile, the higher your value will be attributed to that area. And awards are part of that. So it does very directly impact the value of your business. Like say, you know, you're not going to lose that once you've got it. So so next year, then just what what are you looking forward to doing them for your goals? And and what would your message be for anyone who's thinking, should I should I have I got a good Okay, survey, should I go forward? You know, what, what do you think? Okay, well, if I answered that, the second part of that first, if I may, because what would I say to anyone that's thinking, should I go for an award or not? But I'll be saying, absolutely, yes. But if you do do it the right way. But first of all, do you have something that you think is, is worthy of putting forward for an award, because you do have to have something that's worthy of it. So if you do have something that you believe, is worthy to put forward as an award, absolutely go for it, but don't just do it, you know, find that the best way to, to be able to go forward for awards, find out the right awards to go for, because there's a plethora of awards out there for every sector, and picking the right ones, that that are most applicable to your industry, or even, you know, if you've done work for in a particular sector, you might want to go for an award in that sector, so that you can have visibility to potential, you know, a whole cohort of other potential clients to go for, or to go after. But in terms of going for the award, you know, it is something that builds credibility and authority for you. And if you do it in the right way, and you learn how to how to pitch an award properly, then it's something that's it's a very valuable personal thing to do as well. And it does help you elevate your knowledge of what you're doing. Even more, funnily enough. Business Development. Yeah. So isn't it and so you build on that in your business 100%. And in terms of what my plans are for 2022, what was a couple of things, I'm lucky enough to have a really good base of clients and couple of clients, a couple of sectors, should we say, in particular, I'm getting business that that's coming to me on an ongoing basis. So as a result, I'm getting really good case studies, again, to put forward for more awards next year. Excellent, but I'm also launching an e commerce brand, quarter one next year. And, and part of the, you know, part of the motivation for doing that is that I've got such extensive knowledge in the digital marketing industry. And the fact that you know, e commerce has grown exponentially during the pandemic, and it's not about to drop it's it's, it's still in its infancy, believe it or not. And so it I found a nation, a sector that I'm particularly passionate about, and that I've actually went out and got an accreditation in us so that I could, you know, have some more authority within that as well. And when, when I launch it next year, the suite of of tools and strategies that I'm going to be using for that, believe it or not, I also developed some of them and learned some really strategic insights when I was marketing various e commerce pitches where I was a judge during the you know, in the last in the last couple of months. So being a judge actually helped me learn strict strategies that I thought were really, really valuable for, for the future. Absolutely. So, for 2022, it's going to be busy growing my digital marketing agency and launching and growing an e commerce brand. Fantastic, that is so good to hear jazz. And I wish you all the best of luck with that. And just in reply to what you were saying about, you know, finding the right awards that fit you, we've just actually developed a new tool, so anyone listening can go and have a go at this. And you can have a go just so it's the awards generator, okay, and you input your own data, and it responds by analysing that and then returning, first of all, what persona you are, and that's we've linked all of those to animals, but also then a list of awards that you could actually enter that fit the information that you've given. So it's a really good starting point for anyone who's looking to enter some general business awards to raise their profile as an entrepreneur or as a business. So I'm sure there'll be something there for you as well. Jesse should have a look at that. I shall, I shall Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing your your key person of influence journey and your award winning journey as well. And I hope I know that it's just going to continue to leaps and bounds for you and I, I hope our audience can take your example and and use it and apply it to their businesses in a way that can really help them to raise their profile and build their business brand as well. Oh, that's great. Well, I'm thank you for your mentioning Donna. It really, really helps. It really was valuable really helped a lot. So thank you, too. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for listening to this episode of my winning awards podcast. If you enjoyed it or found it helpful, please share it on Twitter and LinkedIn. And if you have any questions, please head over to crafted by auguste.com, where you can find out more about winning awards and contact me. On the website. You can also take our free awards test, which will identify your award strengths and tell you how likely you are to win. I really hope you've been able to take away some ideas today so that you can go ahead and win awards have an even bigger impact on the world and achieve your dreams.