In May, António Marcos, Carolina Santos, and Sandra De Sousa joined the Client Outreach department. Collectively, the Client Outreach team added 457 companies and 1,182 people to our database, updated 2,024 companies and 2,713 people, and sent out over 534 individual emails to producers, creative directors, marketing managers, and photo editors around the world.
In May, I continued my role in Production Outreach, where I focused on reconnecting with people who’ve previously utilized our production services. Since people who have already interacted with our production staff in some way are warm leads for us, we have a systematic process of emailing them to follow up and remind them of our services. We had a production capabilities call with Kestum Bilt, a Florida-based production company, discussing potential partnerships and collaboration opportunities for future projects. We successfully bid on and were awarded two projects in New York City with Momentum for American Express. Additionally, we connected with NY-based Atlantic Television to source photographers and bid on a project in Chicago for a large international gas client.
Last month, I moved to the Client Outreach department to focus on the “Publications” sector. My primary task was to analyze and update our database, specifically targeting companies without associated employees. I meticulously added missing data to reduce the number of these companies, significantly improving our database accuracy. In addition, I participated in team meetings where we analyzed edge cases and defined strategies to standardize the data, making it easier to characterize clients. I’ve also learned to use applications that make it easier to analyze company employees, such as Apollo or Rocket Reach.
My focus again last month was on OOO Replies. The main part of the job is to check people’s out-of-office emails and cross-reference the contact information from the email with that which we already have in our database. If there is any new information in the emails, I update the data record. Most of the updates are the same. When I come across a person that is working for a new company, I link them with that company. There are also a few cases of individuals who are on maternity leave or holiday, and usually then, they recommend someone from their company to contact while they are out of office. I check to see if we have existing data records for these contacts. If not, I look them up on LinkedIn to find the person’s role in the company. If they’re a good fit, I add them to our database.
My current Client Outreach role is working on the Healthcare: Pharmaceutical (Drug Company) vertical market. Additionally, Nicole and I had a capabilities call with the producers at Kestum Bilt.
I was the Librarian of agent/crew at the beginning of May. It was a huge challenge for me, and I ended up really enjoying it. Unfortunately, I only spent a week and four days in this role before moving to Clients, specifically the Oldest in WordPress role. At first, I found the new role complicated and had several meetings to understand better how the role worked. After the third week, it became easier to understand how the role worked and to make the required updates to our database. Now, I like being in this role too!
Last month we continued working with Cencora on a corporate portraiture project, handling significant post-production work. We also connected with the agency Mischief in New York City to recommend photographers for a billboard documentation project. My outreach for new clients focused on the vertical market of automotive brands. I developed a marketing piece featuring appropriate images from our photographers. I sent that campaign to 73 contacts at various automotive brands to highlight our capabilities and ask for a follow-up call/meeting to learn about upcoming projects the clients might have.
In May, I continued my responsibilities as a Client Outreach Librarian. This included: 1. meeting with the Client Outreach team to shed light on documentation as well as address questions and edge cases; 2. working on keeping Slide Documentation updated and understood by staff members; and 3. going through the Delete keyword list for Client records.
Beyond that, I helped welcome three new staff members in the Client Outreach department: Carolina, Sandra, and Antonio, and got them into separate Introduction calls during their start. I had regular weekly Librarian calls with Bill and regular Librarian Office Hours with the rest of the Client Outreach staff members to discuss records review, edge cases, and documentation. I met with Laura separately to discuss the Client Graduation Process and update the Slite documentation. Antonela from Agent Crew Outreach also joined in one of the Librarian Office Hours during May to share her experience and join in a Client Outreach discussion.
In the middle of May, I was asked to update the data on the connections we have at our potential Client Companies. In addition, we are responsible for contacting these people with the intention of recommending our member photographers for future work, as well as prospecting the photographic industry and its market. Hopefully, I’ve been able to establish a very successful contact, which turns out to be an excellent prospect for the company. Until then, my focus had been on Publications, including newspapers, magazines and so on.
At the end of the month, it was proposed that I invest my time in Agencies, where I focused on establishing contact with people within these agencies so that they can eventually become a production opportunity for the company.
In May, I began working on People’s profiles that work for Agencies. I started by verifying if the individuals were active, still employed at the same company, and if their job titles were promising prospects for Wonderful Machine. If the person had moved to a different company, I would evaluate their current employer and add it to our database if it wasn’t already included. I also checked for alternative emails to ensure proper communication. Additionally, I optimized existing profiles to provide clear and accurate information, maximizing our outcomes. This experience was fulfilling and allowed me to enhance my skills, preparing me for the future tasks ahead.
This last month, my role was in Verticals without People. This means that when we identify a Company without any associated personnel within one of our Vertical Markets, and we input details of at least one promising prospect within the company that we can reach out to. Additionally, I assess each company to determine their suitability for our company and our members.
In May, I continued researching Parent Companies. Parent Companies are usually large organizations with multiple locations or divisions that are good prospects for Wonderful Machine photographers. If we see in our research that a company has a Parent or a Child, following the path can often lead us to other valuable prospects.
Last month was highly productive. I successfully deployed the Vertical Market Application on the server using Render and continued to enhance its functionalities and design. Key improvements include the addition of buttons for clearing the current page and restarting the application from the beginning, as well as adding detailed descriptions for each vertical market. I also included a list of countries in the CSV file for regions selected by users.
In terms of vertical markets, I refined our spreadsheet to ensure it contains all current vertical markets, leaving notes to delete those no longer in use. Additionally, I added detailed descriptions for each market in the spreadsheet and identified over 20 potential new vertical markets using AI. I also pinpointed the largest companies within each of these new markets.
On the technical front, I maintained our Google Console by assigning staff to the appropriate groups according to our org chart and updating the staff list to reflect accurate job descriptions. I installed the necessary scripts for team members and provided tech support as needed.
Toward the end of the month, Petar began introducing me to the CommonHistory and Jenkintown websites, which I will take over managing from him.
This May, I started working on records for People who work at Brands. The process involved first updating the company to which the person is linked, and then updating the person who works for that company. Then, depending on whether the person still worked there or was unemployed, I sent an email briefly explaining what we do, while at the same time promoting one of our member photographers. If the person has changed jobs, I linked them to the new company and promoted a member who meets the company’s requirements. I made sure that all the information is accurate and up-to-date. While working on this role, I noticed that many of the people I worked on were unemployed. It was a pleasure to update some of the world’s largest brands and connect with people who work for them.
Last month, my main focus was updating companies within specific niche markets relevant to various types of photographers, known as Vertical Markets. I reviewed our list of vertical markets and their definitions to ensure that each vertical market includes a minimum of 25 companies in our database. As this process is still new and in its early stages, we are still considering new vertical markets to add to our list, and any staff member can contribute their suggestions.
Over the month of May, we continued to expand our list of vertical markets using AI, which assists in identifying potential markets that we might consider. After identifying these markets, we research at least 25 major companies globally within those sectors. Our CEO, Bill, and I then evaluate these markets and companies to determine their potential. If they pass our evaluation, our colleagues integrate them into our database and website.
In May, I found an exciting new challenge in the Client Outreach department. I had previously worked as the Librarian of the Agent/Crew Outreach team. In Client Outreach, I started by updating the oldest client profiles on our website, which gave me a great knowledge of client profiles but also raised a lot of questions for me. My colleagues were extremely helpful! I found this role fascinating, as I can explore more about each company’s children and parents. I approach each task with the curiosity of finding new leads that will serve our photographers. In addition, I evaluated each profile with the aim of maintaining the highest possible accuracy.
Last month, I took on the role of LinkedIn (Industries). My main focus was on our Google Sheet named Industries Tracker, where I kept track of the table dedicated to LinkedIn Industries. Starting with industries with the oldest reviewed date, I utilized Sales Navigator to find relevant companies for each industry. Through Sales Navigator, using filters such as number of followers and industry, I sought out leading companies in each sector to add to Daylite. Additionally, if there were already companies listed in Daylite for that industry, I would check if they were still relevant. Furthermore, after adding companies that I found promising for the Target Number, I verified if each company was still applicable.
Also, I added some new industries that were not previously listed in the Industries Tracker, which included Household and Institutional Furniture Manufacturing, Reupholstery and Furniture Repair, Wholesale Footwear and Transportation Programs. The process of searching for new industries required a bit more time as I had to compare all industries in Sales Navigator with those in the Industries Tracker one by one to see if LinkedIn had added any new industries.
In May, I held the position of Oldest Promoted. My duties primarily focused on assessing a particular photographer’s portfolio to identify their strengths and specialties. Following this evaluation, I was responsible for promoting a member photographer to a client who worked at a company that used the same type of imagery as the photographer. This promotion process typically included sending an introductory email that highlighted the photographer’s skills and past work. It was a role that demanded attention to detail to effectively portray each member’s specific talent to potential clients. It was very interesting to see all the types of photography our members specialize in.
Have questions about how we promote our photographers? Check out our Membership page. Want to know how you can get the most out of your Wonderful Machine membership? Check out our Jumpstart page or just reach out!