Ginger Allen started her first entrepreneurial enterprise, a mobile espresso business, at age 20. Since then, she has owned or co-owned a cleaning company; a real estate, mortgage and title company; a biomedical supply company; and, now, a marketing company. She is the founder of Your Marketing Liaison.
How long have you been in marketing, and what prompted you to launch your own business?
I have been in sales and marketing for more than 25 years. I started my company in Las Vegas four years ago after seeing medical and legal practices’ need for affordable outsourced marketing. Although we work with all types of businesses, we specialize in health care and law, both business-to-business and business-to-consumer.
We use all marketing means to serve our clients — public relations, social media, magazines, billboards, television, door-to-door (field marketing) and networking. We also arrange lunch and dinner meetings and open houses so our clients can get to know one another. Our business clients are unique — we find out who their target audiences are and tailor our strategies to best serve them.
Can you explain more about social media services?
You hear a lot about social media marketing but most of the businesses we speak to do not have a serious online marketing strategy and budget in place. This is still one of the most underutilized areas of advertising and one of the most cost effective. It is our mission to help our clients implement an online strategy into their business. We assist them with consistent branding across the major social media platforms.
How many people are on your team, and what unique talents do they bring?
I have eight people on my team — award-winning journalists and public relations specialists, online marketing specialists, field marketing representatives, social media content creators, a photographer and a student with a double major in marketing and hospitality who excels at whatever we assign to him. Because our market has a large demographic of Spanish-speaking businesses, we made sure several of our team members are bilingual.
What is the most important business lesson you’ve learned?
To value myself and the years of experience I bring to my clients. When you deal with a multitude of different client types, sometimes you can question your ability to guide a specific type of business. I have learned that business is business: Regardless of your service line or product, the foundations and strategies are similar.
As a volunteer, what has been your most rewarding project?
For the past two years, I have been a volunteer board member with the Clark County Medical Society Alliance. We have raised money for medical and nursing school student scholarships, veterans’ health services and local medical schools. This year, we’re raising money for University Medical Center’s pediatric unit. It’s an ongoing project that brings me great joy.
What’s the biggest issue facing Southern Nevada?
State-funded education tops my list. Las Vegas had 43 million visitors in 2016, but ranked 46th in education. Something is seriously wrong with that picture.
What’s your favorite place to have fun in Las Vegas?
Red Rock Canyon is one of our local natural wonders, and we love hiking all the different trails and breathing the fresh air. Getting back to nature and the outdoors always helps me to decompress.
If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?
Italy’s Amalfi Coast. The beauty of the rock cliffs meeting the sea, the amazing food and warm people make it an amazing place to visit or live.
Whom do you admire?
My mother. She was a military wife and then single mother who endured tremendous pressure raising three girls, and she never cracked. She raised us to believe the only thing to fear was fear itself and anything is possible if you are honest and you work hard. She is still my rock.
What is something that people might not know about you?
I have been sober for nine years and help people who suffer from addiction through education and awareness. I am on the Clark County Medical Society Alliance’s committee for promoting education and awareness to reduce opioid misuse and abuse. I also volunteer with There Is No Hero in Heroin Las Vegas, a grass-roots nonprofit group that provides sober living to people who need it. The organization saves lives every day.
Any advice you can offer companies seeking more exposure?
Brand marketing is key to any business, whether you’re a single-person operation building through networking or a multiperson business deploying social media, print, public relations or advertising. Your potential clients must know you exist and what you offer.
Anything else you want to tell us?
Finding balance and doing something you love matter as much as achieving financial success. Most of us won’t look back and say, “I wish I would have worked more.” But we may regret having missed out on travel, fun and time with family. So make those a priority too.