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Marketing, social media, advertising

Kate

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The boss at my part time job was asking me for marketing advice. I had asked him if he was doing "a, b, and c" on his website and he said no. (Marketing is not in my job description, at all, it was more casual conversation, him asking what others I have worked for have done)

That night I went home and Googled local businesses in the same field and noticed NONE of them had this.

I typed out an email and sent it to about 35 businesses late last night. 12 hours later I have had 2 replies...

My dilemma is: the one person requested a price quote and "reference of the people I have helped."

The truth is, I just know I can help these people, I haven't actually helped anyone. I know the method works because it is simple and I know others have done similar things in different, yet similar businesses.

What would be a good way to handle this situation?

Also I did not offer this to the person I work for because I'm worried about conflict of interest... smart move or dumb move?
Thanks![emoji2]
 
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Kate

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Haha. It does seem that way, but actually, I work out of state and I emailed businesses near where I live. It also doesn't take clients from other people just helps them get more...
 

Writer

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Haha. It does seem that way, but actually, I work out of state and I emailed businesses near where I live. It also doesn't take clients from other people just helps them get more...

I am not an expert, but be careful for your reputation. After all you're proposing to do something against the guy that is currently paying you. (at least that's what I understand)
 
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throttleforward

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The boss at my part time job was asking me for marketing advice. I had asked him if he was doing "a, b, and c" on his website and he said no. (Marketing is not in my job description, at all, it was more casual conversation, him asking what others I have worked for have done)

That night I went home and Googled local businesses in the same field and noticed NONE of them had this.

I typed out an email and sent it to about 35 businesses late last night. 12 hours later I have had 2 replies...

My dilemma is: the one person requested a price quote and "reference of the people I have helped."

The truth is, I just know I can help these people, I haven't actually helped anyone. I know the method works because it is simple and I know others have done similar things in different, yet similar businesses.

What would be a good way to handle this situation?

Also I did not offer this to the person I work for because I'm worried about conflict of interest... smart move or dumb move?
Thanks![emoji2]
Try just being honest(ish) - say you do this for your current employer from another state/city for whom you work for remotely, and wanted to see if local businesses could benefit. Most small business owners care about results more than whether this is a side gig for you or not.
 

Kate

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I am not an expert, but be careful for your reputation. After all you're proposing to do something against the guy that is currently paying you. (at least that's what I understand)
True, but again, it's not really against him. I am not helping his "competitors", the businesses I have contacted are in complete different physical areas. He never gets people coming over the bridge to patronize his business... it's not that type of business
 

Davo

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Make sure you consult with your boss first before doing anything else with competitors as it may be seen as a conflict of interest, which could get you fired.

If you are confident it will bring results and won't be an issue, you may even be able to negotiate something for yourself and get given the all clear to work on the side.
 
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Kate

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Make sure you consult with your boss first before doing anything else with competitors as it may be seen as a conflict of interest, which could get you fired.

If you are confident it will bring results and won't be an issue, you may even be able to negotiate something for yourself and get given the all clear to work on the side.
I know he wouldn't have any issues with what I am doing, so long as I keep it away from his area, and probably not even if I did sell to people in his area, because it really wouldn't hurt him any more than someone visitin another businesses website would. But i understand what you are saying.

There are a few reasons I didn't offer to do what I am doing for him.

1. He wants me to teach him to do it (for free), he doesn't want me to do it for him. And I have no desire to teach anything, especially for free. I know this because of the original conversation we had and he was asking me how to do what I was saying, asking for exact methods... etc (I did give basics, but nothing in depth)

2. I feel like it would change the working relationship we have and that it will become less professional if i am doing a "side job" for him.

3. If this is successful in any capacity (if i got just 3 businesses to sign up), I would quit my current job(because I would be making barely any money, but more than I do at my job)... I'd by no means be "successful" but I'm basically just using this job as a way to pay my bills working just 2 days a week to make ends meet.
 

Kate

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How do you know your idea works?
I wish i could just be direct about what it is but... i know, Because it's not a new concept... it's not even a new concept in the general field- healthcare. But it is new for this niche of healthcare. Or at least it is not currently used in the areas local to me that I have checked...
 
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Davo

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1. Do it during the hours he is paying you for (not free). Is what you are going to teach proprietary or fairly easy to find with some ninja googling? If it can be found on google, then no need to keep it a secret and just teach him. It'll be a good experience/test.

2. It's not a side job if it you make it part of your job/KPI.

3. That's fine and I'm sure he would be thinking that anyway (you jumping ship soon). The point of being an entrepreneur (especially location independent you desire) is to work yourself out of a job.
 

tafy

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I agree that you should teach him on the working time, and you should go for it with the other clients that you have also.

If needed you can do the first few clients free or cheap aslong as they let you use their name, business and testimonial and a case study.
 

Kate

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1. Do it during the hours he is paying you for (not free). Is what you are going to teach proprietary or fairly easy to find with some ninja googling? If it can be found on google, then no need to keep it a secret and just teach him. It'll be a good experience/test.

2. It's not a side job if it you make it part of your job/KPI.

3. That's fine and I'm sure he would be thinking that anyway (you jumping ship soon). The point of being an entrepreneur (especially location independent you desire) is to work yourself out of a job.
With some "ninja googling" he could definitely figure out how to do it, as I already gave him the basic information. I don't think he will want to take the amount of time that would be required to learn a whole new skill set (I already have experience and know how from my personal ventures).

Thank you so much for your input. I will contact him and tell him that the convo he and i were having sparked an idea and I ran with it (he knows I am a current "wantrepreneur"). I will offer to show him (on the clock) or tell him I can just do it for him, if he would rather not spend the time.

Thanks again
 
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