Showing posts with label female candidates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label female candidates. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

If You're a Woman, Hire a Female consulting Team

OK, this will sound like shameless self-promotion, and so what? I run a female owned campaign consulting company. We don't work exclusively for women, but we do work for and with a lot of women and issues that women care about, like education. We can be as tough as the guys, but we understand how o tell a story effectively. Women are good at that. If you are a woman candidate running in 2017 or 2018, check us out; check out other female owned firms too. There aren't that many. For some insight into this subject, see Why Female Consultants Matter Right Now by Kate Maeder in Campaigns and Elections Magazine.

Maybe there should be more?



Friday, September 20, 2013

Everyone's a Campaign Consultant - Choose yours wisely

Have you noticed how many new campaign consultants pop up every year? Is this the hot new career move, or what? For you candidates or potential candidates out there, vet carefully.  Does your consultant have a track record? A winning one that is. Does he/she have experience in your type of race? Cost isn't everything. Winning is.

Why anyone wants to join this profession is beyond me. It's tough. It's fast. It can of course be heady and ego-boosting when your candidate wins. Are some consultants past thir sell-by date?

Age isn't the issue; recycled campaign ads, generic mail messages, lackluster attention to detail. Those can be clues. Sometimes the "Young and hungry" are going to give you better, more personalized service.  Sometimes it's the experienced team that specializes in your campaign. This cycle (2013) is set, but 2014 and beyond is just getting shaped up.

There is an art to campaigning. Less is more, and all that. If your message is more words than pictures, you may have a problem. If your signs are unreadable, you just wasted a bundle. How much is the commission (if any) your consultant adds to the cost of print, media or other materials? Is a flat fee a better deal?

And if you're a woman, consider a female consultant who "gets" your particular needs. Still ask all the pertinent questions. But women helping women is still a good thing in this male dominated world of politics.

Ask these questions and more at the beginning of the relationship. And you can always break up if the "fit" isn't right.