Wendy Marlow

“I think I always knew that I wanted to run my own business, but my challenge was determining in just what.” shares Wendy Marlow, President of The Art of Marketing.

Back in 1997, her career in administration for a large health corporation was becoming less satisfying; some of her colleagues were being let go, and Wendy knew it was time to do some serious thinking about her future.

She started by reflecting on what she enjoyed in her current position. “I always made things happen behind the scenes and made other people look good, which when you think about it, is what I do today.” she chuckles.

Determining that her true interest was in marketing, Wendy proceeded to take formal marketing courses at Sheridan College. Always the oldest in her class at 40, she found herself achieving straight As and thoroughly enjoying the learning experience.

Armed with her certificate in marketing and sales, Wendy set about doing her research to find out what niche market was waiting for her expertise. She went to networking meetings, signed on for workshops and everywhere she went, asked questions.

She designed a short questionnaire and to encourage people to participate, rewarded them with a lottery ticket. Consistently small business owners shared that they were unsure how to promote themselves and Wendy found her target market.

Fast forward six years, and Wendy now has a roster of over 200 clients. This year, her business was awarded the Burlington Chamber of Commerce Award for Excellence, Small Business category, achieving a long term goal she had set for herself.

And it’s very clear that she loves what she is doing. Her face positively lights up when she describes her work. “ I often feel like a gardener, planting the seeds of an idea and watching my clients blossom and grow.”

She loves to watch her clients soar and succeed. When one of her clients won an award, she was more excited than he was, because she knew what an impact this award would have on his business. Likewise, she realizes that her recent award carries a certain cachet.

One of the challenges facing the small business owner is that they are so busy working in the business that they forget to market the business. Not everyone sets goals either, which as Wendy points out, makes it more difficult to celebrate the successes. She encourages new entrepreneurs to do their homework and research what they want to do.

“I’m always advising my clients that there are ways to market yourself without spending money.” reports Wendy “such as writing articles, networking, and volunteering.”

And Wendy is not adverse to volunteering herself. Take the Waves of Change project. When she got a call from a very professional-sounding twelve-year old asking for her help in teaching the students how to market their business idea, she was hooked. These enterprising grade 8 students decided to raise funds for the Tsunami Relief by selling bracelets. Not only did they sell all 3,500, raising over $11,000, but they received the National Award for Enterprising Spirit from the Bank of Montreal.

Clearly for Wendy, her clients’ success means she’s done her job well, and yes, she’s still behind the scenes making things happen.