Having been tested on her ability of using Mailchimp as well as providing evidence of her high-quality email marketing services, Ellen Cole, Managing Director of the Little Seed Group in York has become the first Approved Mailchimp Partner in North Yorkshire.
Little Seed Group’s Story
Ellen set up her Marketing, PR and Social Media Agency after the last business she worked for closed suddenly. Having been given little notice and unable to find alternative employment in the short timeframe, Ellen decided to set up on her own and spent her last tenner on printing out personalised letters at the library and hand delivering them to food, drink and hospitality businesses across York. This risk proved successful as within two weeks she had a healthy roster of clients to her name and now has a waiting list of businesses willing to wait in order to access her services.
Ellen says “I was determined to make a go of running a business after many years of wanting to be an entrepreneur but lacking the confidence to pursue my dream. I lived in Acomb at the time and walked into the city centre where I handed out letters and spoke directly with the business owners, after this I made my way to several business parks and visited many hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses along the way. It was a really tiring day, but I am glad I did it.”
Unearthing a gap in the Market
A few years after Ellen established her business, she started to notice a pattern in that more SMEs and sole traders were getting in touch wanting to work with Ellen but not having the funds to invest in her services long-term.
Having identified an unmet business tech need, Ellen, who has a strong reputation in email and social media marketing, started creating several fully vetted training programmes to fill the void which many SMEs and sole traders were experiencing. During her time creating her training programmes Ellen felt it was vital to get the backing of the companies whose services she was going to train others in hence why she undertook Mailchimp’s rigorous Partner Programme in order to become an Approved Partner.
Ellen continues “Prior to becoming self-employed I worked in digital marketing and online public relations. I was confident in my skills, experience and knowledge in Mailchimp marketing, however having seen how many businesses had been rejected as a Mailchimp Partner, I wasn’t expecting to get far in the process. I didn’t hear back from Mailchimp for nearly eight weeks so assumed that I had been unsuccessful. It was a huge shock when the email came through congratulating me on my successful application and an even bigger surprise to hear that I was the first Approved Mailchimp Partner in North Yorkshire – I nearly dropped my cup of hot chocolate!”
Plans for the Future
Ellen’s success onto the programme means she has been recognised as a professional who consistently provides top quality e-marketing services; in addition to this she will be able to access exclusive resources for her clients and students; be able to use the Mailchimp branding in her training courses; be the first to be trained in new Mailchimp programmes as well as be provided with further co-marketing opportunities from the Mailchimp team.
Ellen says “I am so proud and thrilled to have been recognised as a person who offers high-quality Mailchimp services. Now I have the backing of Mailchimp, I am now going to put the finishing touches on my email marketing training courses and hope to bring them to market in Autumn 2019 so I can help more businesses become more confident with using Mailchimp within their organisation.”
