Two Kinds of People

During a “previous life”, I was in sales for W.W. Grainger – an industrial supplies company. I helped businesses with their inventory and helped them find creative solutions to improve their business. Among the many, many items we kept in stock, safety products was one of the categories. And in helping businesses find safety solutions to best secure their workforce, there was an optional service that we could sometimes call upon – a free, voluntary OSHA audit. 

In case you aren’t in the manufacturing world, OSHA (Occupational Safey & Health Administration) is the company that inspects businesses to ensure they are using the proper safety practices to protect their workers. They often make visits after an accident to see if the company had taken proper precautions, and may even fine the business for not doing their part in protecting their employees. In addition, they also make proactive inspections of businesses and make recommendations (required ones) on how to improve their work safety. This is much more inclusive than desk workers can probably comprehend, checking things like volume of the manufacturing process to ensure the proper ear protection is provided and worn. It requires safety signs to draw the proper attention to dangers, safety vests for anyone working on the roads, proper harnessing for anyone working at heights, etc. 

So, as you can imagine, companies that do not have proper safety protocols in place – an OSHA visit can be quite expensive to get the safety of the organization up to snuff. However, there are many companies out there who take the safety of their work force very seriously and do everything within their power to protect their people. And, there are many people out there who take great lengths to strive to never see OSHA show up in their facility. One mentality is along the lines of “yes, please show me every way we can be a better company” and the other that thinks “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Some businesses welcomed the opportunity while others shrieked in terror of the thought, and some in-between.

Now that I’m in a vastly different profession, a marketing agency, I find the same 2 extremes in regards to a business’s current website and online presence. Some businesses come to us, imploringly, to see if there’s a way we can make their business website any better, and others think as long as it has their correct phone number on it, they are doing okay. I’m drawn to believe that these 2 extremes might exist in every type of industry. Please weigh in – I’d genuinely like a wider view on this.

I personally feel there is power in knowledge. I go to the dentist twice a year to find out if I have any cavities and for preventative measures – fully realizing that it will cost me money if they find any; but early detection will save me money in the long run. I have my taxes prepared by a professional each year to get an outside perspective on my business’s finances. And I want to know if anyone has a new idea on how to improve our business. I’ll be the first to admit that I would not appreciate a free audit from the IRS, but in general, I do want to know opportunities for growth.

In the digital world, If your website is not making you money, I believe it is broken. If you are not ranking well in search engine results (SEO), there’s a missed opportunity. If your advertising campaign is not proving a proper, calculable return on investment, there is improvement to be made. If you are not able to monetize your social media channels, it needs work. If any of these resonate with you, give us a call at 662-300-3910 for a free, voluntary consultation (no scary audits, promise!). No pressure, just free advice on how to make your website and marketing the best it can be.