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Jillian Weston, Owner & Founder, Jillian's Circus

Jillian Weston: An Astute Digital Marketer Leading with Relatability and Empathy

The effectiveness of the leaders is mainly figured out by their ability to cooperatively work with their team and lead that team effectively to deliver great results. Learning how to teach and motivate people who have different values, goals, and motivations than you do, is tough. Leaders need to deal with a variety of people in the team. They need to have good soft skills to relate with all the people in the team. They need to empathize with people and bring out the best in them to drive organizational success.
Leaders who relate to the people in their team deliver remarkable results for the organizations as well as their clients. One such leader who has cultivated the art of relating to the people is Jillian Weston. Understanding people and becoming more empathetic has made her a better leader. She is the Owner/Founder of Jillian’s Circus. The company’s finely-honed balancing act identifies its clients’ goals and achieves them utilizing a wide array of online marketing tools.
Inspiring Employees to Meet Needs of the Clients
Jillian believes that as the owner of a digital marketing agency, it is important to create a strong foundation with the right pricing and service offering, hire motivated people with positive attitudes and natural skills, teach them how to do their specific job, and finally continue to teach, check-in and motivate each person in her company. On-going encouragement and education keep her employees current with their clients’ needs.
Being Competitive by Maintaining Solid Online Presence
Talking about the significance of digital marketing, Jillian mentions that it is impossible to reach your company’s full potential without digital marketing. The return on investment is insane. Digital marketing saves an incredible amount of time and money because the internet provides a place for people to do business anywhere in the world at any time without the expense of an office, staff, etc.
For example, a boutique might spend $10,000 on their online website, but that isn’t even close to what they would spend on rent, utilities, and staffing in just one year at a brick and motor location. And their website will last at least 3-5 years.
Another example she gives is of coaching. A coach can put their lessons online as videos or host them virtually, allowing more people to view/ attend each lesson and raising the amount of money they could earn. Scheduling individual appointments or having a physical classroom limits both your time and the number of people who attend each lesson.
Jillian states, “Even if you cannot sell your products/ services online, it must be said that maintaining a solid online presence is still relevant. The presence alone increases your opportunity to gain new business, increases customer loyalty, repeat business, and referrals; and allows you to stay competitive. Few business owners achieve success without a digital marketing strategy.”
Being Adaptable in Unprecedented Times
Everyone can agree that the Spring of 2020 was a difficult time for everyone due to the pandemic. However, it forced many businesses to realize that their business needs to adapt to this digital era. Jillian opines that if entrepreneurs did not know before, the pandemic showed them that they needed to energetically sell their goods and services online.
In any disaster, some industries suffer, and others benefit. Jillian’s Circus adapted by having employees work from home/ remotely and working with current and new clients on getting their business online as quickly as possible. Jillian states, “That’s all part of business- sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down and must find a way to adapt.”
Celebrating Success of Each Other
When it comes to driving an organization’s success, maintaining a positive work culture is essential. Jillian’s Circus strives for a positive work environment. Its training manual goes beyond basic skills/rules. It stresses inter-office relationships and collaborative strategies by encouraging a non-competitive environment, offering on-going training/team meetings, and hosting several parties every year for all employees and clients. Jillian’s Circus celebrates one another’s successes and provides incentives to reward excellence.
Besides, Jillian expresses, “If there is even one negative Ned/Nancy in your office- get them out!!! Like right now- stop reading and fire them. If you’re the person who is negative, then you need to stop because it’s killing your business.”
One Desired Change
If given a chance, one change that Jillian would bring in the way brands and people connect is to remove people’s skepticism when it comes to sales. She states, “Every business is in business because it fills a need. If there is something you need or want, and you hear about someone who has or can do it, then book a meeting with them to see if what they offer makes sense. If it does, move forward. If it doesn’t, let them know and thank them for their time.”
Creating Strong Base and Building on that
Jillian advises aspiring businesswomen to start by creating a strong base. She instructs, “Think about your client’s journey from hearing about your business to working with you for 10 years. Think about what they will see, what they will hear, what they will receive, etc. when they interact with your business and employees. Will they see a professional website? When they call how does someone answer? What does follow-up look like? If they walk into your office, is it comfortable? Then create a consistent, professional, branded flow every customer will experience.”
Creating Authority in Digital Marketing Space and Growing Like a Wildfire
Over the next 5 years, Jillian’s vision is to establish Jillian’s Circus as an authority in the digital marketing space, work on digital advocacy, and grow like wildfire.