A small business marketing chat with a Wise Owl

Wise Owl Training is a family-run business offering Microsoft training at their centres in London and Manchester, at clients’ premises across the UK, and across the world online. They’ve also been my client for the past 15 months, so I thought I’d chat to owner Andy Brown about his approach to small business marketing.

Andy and his wife Jenny started Wise Owl Training in 1992, and today they employ a small team of people who are lovely, nerdy, kind geniuses. From the start, I have felt like a part of the team, and I was even invited along to the very fun Wise Owl Christmas do, which involved us firing arrows at each other at The Archetype in Manchester!

Just a bunch of owls (and me) firing arrows at each other in the name of festive fun! Andy is standing behind me in the black t-shirt.

There are a lot of things I really admire about how Wise Owl is run, but the thing that stands out is the absolute commitment by everyone to the people they deal with. Every piece of content Wise Owl puts out - training materials, tutorials on YouTube (they have over 150,000 subscribers to their channel), blog posts, newsletter - is subject to the highest standards of quality and value. It’s all about whether it is doing the right thing by the end user.

Andy and I actually often disagree on marketing tactics. He isn’t one to just do something because I think it’s a good idea, and I’m not one to take no for an answer if I truly believe in something! Fortunately, we communicate easily and openly with each other, and I appreciate Andy’s sense of adventure (provided whatever we try is actually beneficial to the audience).

I couldn’t wait to find out what Andy had to say in response to my questions, so here goes.

Andy, tell me about your marketing strategies over the years. What has worked and what hasn’t?

What’s worked has been SEO, providing an excellent product, and getting more work by word of mouth. Also publishing videos on YouTube! In the early days, we got some work by cold calling. What hasn’t worked has been almost any advertising we’ve ever tried.

Do you plan your marketing?

We do (did) have a marketing plan, and I’m a great believer in them – although I admit I find it hard to get round to doing it.

What advice would you give other small business owners to improve their marketing?

Unless you’re good at marketing and enjoy it, to find a good partner and outsource it.

Which elements of your marketing have you outsourced, and how did that come about?  

I saw a post from someone on Facebook, who sounded like she knew what she was talking about; and so it proved!

Andy (left) with sam and Jenny.

If you were given £10,000 to spend on your marketing, how would you spend it? 

Probably on redoing our website.

What would you do if you were magically given 3 hours extra a day?  

I would have killed for this before COVID-19, but now I wouldn’t need it.

Looking back over your time in business, is there anything you wish you'd done differently?  

Probably to have been more ambitious in the early days.

A few quickfire questions

Favourite social media platform: Facebook, I suppose, though not a big user

Recommend a business book: Felix Dennis – How to Get Rich (it may put you off trying!)

Recommend a podcast: No Such Thing As A Fish

Inspire us with a quote: You can do anything you like in life, as long as you want to enough

What one thing does the world of business need more or less of: Less government intervention

What's on your desk right now: My laptop (minimalist)

What device are you using to type your answers: A laptop

If you weren't a small business owner, what would you be? Probably an unhappy management consultant

Name 3 dream dinner guests (dead or alive): George Orwell, Barrack Obama, John Green

Early bird or night owl? Early bird

Worst job you've ever had: Cleaning up in a fishmongers – could never get the smell out

Where do you get your best ideas? Cycling or in the shower

Go check out the Wise Owl website (especially if you’re into things like Excel, Power BI, VBA and various reporting programs), and follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.