Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Cara Bedford, CEO with Infinite Marketing. Welcome.

Cara Bedford: Yeah, thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about infinite marketing, how you serving folks?

Cara Bedford: Yeah. So infinite marketing is a ecosystem of bright, talented marketing minds that come together where we do everything from high level strategy and branding down to, you know, putting your posts up on LinkedIn. So we really are that in why it’s called infinite is that one stop shop for marketing needs that really bridges the gap that we see in agencies or with fractional models that you kind of only get one or the other. And so we looked at it as building out this engine, this demand marketing engine that also looks at how we not only execute marketing, but build revenue growth in your business.

Lee Kantor: So is this kind of a two sided marketplace like a Fiverr, or is it a are you an agency that deploys talent?

Cara Bedford: So again, agency is a bad word in our book because the agency model is, in our opinion, antiquated. I mean, you you build the talent, you buy it and there’s this huge markup and it usually takes a lot of time. And so as I was a CMO of a company and a VP and a director, having to work with agencies as an internal resource, I found it really hard. And I found that a lot of the time, a lot of my time was educating them to do the work versus working with them effectively. And while I appreciate that there’s some really good agencies out there. You know, you kind of have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your Prince Charming. So. So for me, that’s why I built infinite is I built it because I saw this whole UN gap in the market of. I didn’t want to be in my role, this vendor manager. You know, I didn’t want to have the digital agency and the content agency and the design agency and the. And they were all these separate things. I wanted to have one place where I had one account person that I built a relationship with and really owned the outcomes with me and that we were able to, you know, think further ahead and work further ahead than just vendor relationship.

Lee Kantor: So who is the ideal client for you? Is it a brand or is it like who hires you?

Cara Bedford: Yeah. No problem. So we have clients all across North America. We service clients in many different industries. But I’d say our top three is in kind of scalable businesses. So we do a lot with like construction or construction adjacent because we are scalable marketing. So you can kind of, you know, work with the cycles. I think that’s been a really big opportunity and benefit again, against the agency model because you pay one retainer and that’s it for the month. But we scale up and down based on the amount of work that there is. Um, and then the other is tech. We have a lot of tech clients. This can be anywhere from like healthcare tech or, um, valley tech or tech startup. We do a lot there. Uh, and then our third is we work with a lot of nonprofits. We are a 90% female driven and female owned agency. Um, uh, sorry, ecosystem. I just said agency because you said it ecosystem. And so for us, our, our, uh, you know, our big drive is we want to make impacts in the world. And so, uh, a lot of our fractional CMOs, um, we do have like different preferred rates and partners and programs for our nonprofit clients.

Lee Kantor: So let’s walk through how you work with the nonprofit. So a nonprofit is coming to you because they have what kind of challenge, what’s the pain they’re having, where they got to get in touch with Cara and her team?

Cara Bedford: Yeah. No problem. So the nonprofits are usually coming to us because of either resource constraint or budget constraint, uh, hoping that we can look at those and solve, uh, both of those constraints for them, which we do, um, because we again, have that scalable model, we can work within their budget cycles and donor cycles. Uh, the non-profits also really love us because we build ROI in. So we build ROI in into our marketing plans. We believe that marketing and sales should work very closely and work hand in hand. And so for them, their donors and their fundraising teams, um, love working with us. And so we really create these, uh, developmental processes that marketing can drive, but also in support of, at the end of the day, you know, the dollars that are coming through the door to help them do the good in the world and make positive change.

Lee Kantor: So if this nonprofit out there is the marketing person on that team, your main contact, or are you working with kind of the senior leadership team or the president or the executive director?

Cara Bedford: Yeah, both. So a lot of the times we get hired by the CEO or CFO for fractional services. Um, nonprofits usually can’t pay a very large, you know, salary amount and they don’t want to take on the human capital risk. And so we’ll bring in a fractional CMO that’s working kind of more at the higher seeded level area, folding in their team with us. Uh, and building out, you know, that really solid, uh, team. Uh, a lot of the times the nonprofits, uh, depending on their size, they might not need full time strategy, right? They need a lot of that in the, in the, um, uh, you know, in the day to day execution. And then second, we will work with the directors. If they kind of have a team that they’re working with, um, internally, a CMO, they already have that strategy and they just need the execution. Then we’ll take that plan and we’ll price on it. So the really big difference is, is like, do you have a plan? Because we don’t do random acts of marketing here. So if you have a plan, then that’s great. If you don’t need a plan, then let’s get a plan in place and then we can figure out kind of the best way to, to serve our clients moving forward.

Lee Kantor: So now, is there an infinite marketing kind of philosophy or, um, kind of, uh, way of doing business and then your fractional people are deploying that or your fractional people kind of the thought leaders that go into any unique in your situation and you’re matching up the right person with the right opportunity.

Cara Bedford: Yeah. So we have over 600, um, people on our talent bench. Uh, we call it the talent bench because I live in Canada and it’s hockey. So my, my brain, it’s like you’re subbing in the defensive line or the offensive line. Um, and so our talent is fully mapped out to be matched based on industry expertise and budget expertise. And so we’re working and matching based on what that would look like. Um, whereas in a typical agency is like, who’s available, we’re not doing it that way because we’re infinite. Everybody is always available. So we’re really about building out the best matches for that team. Um, and what that team is going to need. So if it is fractional where they need that like high strategy person, then it’s going to execute with a team, either our team where we come in and we’re the full marketing department from top to bottom because, you know, you might not want that human capital risk or you might not want to have those, uh, additional, um, seats. We’re kind of like a 4 to 1 ratio. When you kind of think of it, you’re getting four people in this model for the price of one person’s salary. If you think traditional marketing. And so this way, there’s just a lot more flex for for the business. There’s a lot more flex for building the team. You’re not getting a lot of generalists. You’re getting deep seated specialists that really come in and work extremely efficiently because they are they’ve done it before. They’re not learning as they go. They’ve, um, the average tenure here is 15 years. So they, they’ve seen it all at this point.

Lee Kantor: So now when I’m working with infinite, am I, do I have that one point person? Like if I contract with a fractional I that fractional is now the quarterback and they’re deploying, oh, I need a, a content writer or I need a videographer, I need whatever I need. And then that’s all just kind of part of the, what you get when you work with infinite, you get access to all the talent.

Cara Bedford: Well, we’ve already we have already built the bench. So you’re not having the fractional saying, oh, let me go and find you all these vendors. Um, or hey, I’ve got, you know, I maybe have some great relationships with digital people, but here’s the plan. Now you go execute it. We’re really hand-holding from start to finish. And, um, you know, a lot of our clients have been with us since day one and has just continuously growing because we really take that approach, um, around making sure that our clients know that we are fully in with them. We’re in the trenches with them. We own the outcomes, we own the budgets, we own the ROI, we own the outcomes we own. You know, if you’re an iOS company, which we are as well, like if you have a vto and on that vto, you’ve got, you know, that really big market positioning and what that’s going to look like for you. And maybe it’s geographical expansion, like we’re, we are owning that, um, if you want us to. And so that’s, that’s the, I think a really big piece is a lot of our clients truly feel like our our team members are are their own.

Lee Kantor: So how do you attract and keep the team members? Like, what are you doing as an organization to, you know, keep that bench full and ready?

Cara Bedford: Uh, we work with really amazing clients. I think that’s a really big piece is, um, there’s other, uh, companies that kind of do a kind of a recruitment almost style like this and that isn’t us. Um, I spend a lot of time as the CEO of this company building very deep seated relationships with, uh, our potential clients. Uh, we say no to a lot of work. Um, so there’s work that will come through and it’s just not a fit. And, um, I’m 100% okay to say no to protect the talent bench and the effectiveness of the talent bench. Um, and so for us, it’s really about that match and, and creating that magic match and we protect our talent. I mean, one of the things I worked in agency before is you became a how many hours does it take? Like it just it’s everything is about how many hours and getting it at the lowest cost. And you just kind of start to feel very burnt out. Like the agency burnout is very real. And when you think about it, a lot of that burnout is women. And so for me, it was creating a safe space for these very highly talented people to land, um, and create what they create. And I’m so proud of my team. Like I watch what gets pushed out the door and, you know, our QA processes. I just, it’s, it’s amazing. It’s amazing what’s going out the door to these clients. Um, and what’s going into market for these clients, whether they’re an enterprise client or a startup, like the team really cares and truly cares about every little thing they touch. And I think that’s really important is there’s that aspect of empowerment. So you don’t get.

Lee Kantor: So how does talent that’s available right now get on your radar? What what are some things that talent could be doing to be, uh, kind of found by the infinite marketing folks?

Cara Bedford: Yeah. So we shop talent twice a year. You would, uh, put your resume in talent at infinite marketing.ca. Um, the, uh, kind of structure for that is, you know, we ask for either a portfolio or kind of what you’re working on, uh, some sort of cover letter about you is really great. Um, and so we kind of build it through there. We also shop on platform. Like we’re really good at indicating different platform people that as well. Um, work with us. We’ve got very high, um, relationships with different platforms where I either sit on boards for those platforms or I’m, uh, you know, part of an advocacy or customer advocacy committee. Um, and so for me, again, it’s really around the world has infinite talent and genius. You just kind of go find it. And so we’ve, uh, you know, infinite hasn’t been around forever, but I’ve been working in this style of model for over a decade now. And so with over a decade, you start to figure out some really great talent that you can build these teams with and make them feel empowered. And they truly are. They come in and, uh, you really have to have that entrepreneurial mindset to work here because you’re in charge, you’re in charge of the clients that you get to work on, the team you want to build. And without that, uh, you know, it just doesn’t work. And so we love people that have that, you know, abundance, you know, high strategy, um, high emotional intelligence, uh, build. And I think that’s, again, what sets us apart is we’re looking for tenure and we’re looking for people that really know their stuff. So.

Lee Kantor: So is there a story you can share that maybe illustrates how you work with someone, maybe share the challenge they came to you with and how you were able to help them get to a new level.

Cara Bedford: Sure. So, um, I’ll chat construction. Uh, so we work with the construction company. Um, we work with a bunch of construction companies, but the one I’m thinking of is a more, um, uh, design kind of build construction company. Uh, and they build, um, different buildings, whether it’s retrofits or, or brand new builds. Um, and they’re looking. They came to us saying, you know, we have this gap, we have marketing people that do the marketing, but it, it doesn’t feel together, like it’s not all driving in the same direction. We don’t know how to attribute it to revenue. We don’t know how to, um, you know, work with it to make it better. Um, everything is kind of, we’ve got these other vendors and these other vendors are also working and it’s just not streamlined and it’s not efficient and it’s not productive. And we spend all this money every year, but we don’t really know what we get for it. And so we took them through a session and our sessions are very affordable. So we’ll audit and session out depending on how large your business is, um, and what the needs are. If you’re looking for kind of that like 12 month overview or that six month overview, uh, we’ll do, uh, sessions from anywhere between 3 to 5000 or 7 to 10,000. If you’re looking for more, um, depending on the size and we’ll go in and we’ll audit everything and we audit for revenue, ROI efficiency.

Cara Bedford: Um, and, and really bring that out. So we did that, we did that, uh, audit for them in that plan. And uh, within three months, we were already seeing attributed marketing results. We were seeing the sales team being able to find collateral and get proposals faster out the door. Um, and we actually were able to calculate that through their new CRM because we were tracking activities that we helped them build. So we also built them a revops system and we were able to, to look at it and say that we were able to contribute to a 70% efficiency rating that they definitely did not have before. And so, um, that is a huge, a huge piece. And then at the end of the year, we also added in, uh, revenue. So, uh, we added in an additional while we were building foundation 18% revenue and looking to do a lot more, uh, as our, our continued relationship has grown. And so, uh, those are the types of pieces we’re, we’re talking about and looking at, if we’re talking kind of that, again, strategy level downward and they saved on, on human costs, right? Like they saved on salaries and different costs in that regard too. And so more efficient, less risk. Usually it’s a no brainer for a lot of companies to, to at least try the model now.

Lee Kantor: Is there any advice you can share for non-profits when it comes to marketing? Is there some low hanging fruit for non-profits that you see them, uh, not tapping into?

Cara Bedford: Oh yes. Please sync up your, um, I call it sales because my brain is very B2B, but your funding and your donor and your, your, your revenue engines sync that up with your marketing. And don’t just think of it in events and pretty postcards and, um, you know, really dig deep around the dollars that are being spent on, on those things and, and where in this day and age, you might be able to cut back, like you maybe don’t need to print a program for the event. Maybe it’s digital or maybe there’s an app for it. And I think what’s really neat is because I come from the tech world and did marketing for tech, we’re able to innovate a lot, um, in our processes for nonprofits as low hanging fruit and save the money, save the money so that they can take that money and, and use it for the cause that they’re doing, you know, whether that’s whatever it is for the impact they want to make in the world. And I think that is a really, they’re scared to go in and look under the hood. But then once they do, it’s actually usually really easy to, um, make all the ducks fly in the same direction. And right now, if you kind of don’t know, then you’re guessing and you’re doing random and random doesn’t help anybody in market or for your client base.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Cara Bedford: Um, so we are looking for amazing talent. We are looking for amazing clients. Um, we really from our, you know, our filter of the people we want to work with, we want to work with people who want to grow, grow their businesses or grow themselves. Uh, we want to work, um, you know, with companies across North America. So really good. If you’re looking to come into Canadian market or to branch out into American market because we have that expertise seated in both. So if you really are looking at that higher North American presence, um, and if you’re just tired of not knowing, you know, like if you’re tired of just not knowing what you’re getting for that spend as a CEO. I mean, I sit here and we do our own marketing and I hold my team accountable for every dollar spent for myself as well. Right? As, as the owner and CEO of the company. And so we’re taking the same care and same approach with your company. And so if that’s something that that interests you and you want to think about it in a different way than you’ve probably ever thought about marketing before, reach out.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Cara Bedford: Yeah, so you can find me on LinkedIn. So Cara Bedford, I’m very active on LinkedIn and love networking there. Or you can go to our website, infinite marketing and, and, uh, fill out a form.

Lee Kantor: Well, Cara, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Cara Bedford: Yeah. No problem. Thanks, Lee, for your time.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio