Caitlin Zigthor: Building Brands with Zigthor Marketing’s Creative Edge

Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business

I'm Caitlin Zigthor and I have always wanted to run my own business, ever since I was in high school. After 13+ years of working in-house for other companies, I decided to launch Zigthor Marketing.
Zigthor Marketing specializes in hands-on guidance and partnership for all of your marketing needs; allowing you and your team to focus on what you do best. Supporting small businesses in their everyday marketing goals is our passion. Everything from social media marketing, content creation, product marketing, and overall business development strategy is available to help you meet your business needs. 

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Who are your customers?

Small Business Owners and Medium-Sized Business Owners who need support in solving their company's everyday marketing problems. 

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What was your background prior to starting your own business?

I worked in-house for companies like Whole Foods Market and McAfee, and in industries like food, cannabis, fem-tech, and even briefly in the veterinarian space. 

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What made you take the leap to start your own business?

After a bit of a toxic breakup with my last corporate job, I remember sitting with my husband and saying to him "how far is this going to set me back from starting my own company?". He looked at me and said "maybe this is the origin point for your company!". I realized there was never going to be a "perfect" time to start my marketing firm and after 13+ years of marketing experience, I felt like I was ready. 

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Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Yes, as funny as it is, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur when I was appointed Chief Officer for my high school yearbook. I got a taste of running a business then, from selling ads to optimizing layouts, and I have wanted to get back to that feeling ever since. 

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What is the biggest challenge you have encountered along the way so far and what have you learned from it?

I learned the hard way not to work without a signed contract. One of my very first proposals the client wanted more and more proof that I could do the work (red flag). I ended up putting probably 15 hours into that client hoping it would result in a contract and revenue, but it never did. I learned to have a discovery call, but if anything takes me more than 5 hours, I need to see a signed contract. 

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What accomplishment are the most proud of to date in your business?

I am really proud of getting clients that haven't been referrals. I think without the referral, I know these clients worked with me purely based on my pitch, my proposal, and my work samples. There is something really refreshing and exciting in knowing you were picked for being proficient in your work. 

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Do you have any recent wins from the last year that you'd like to celebrate with our community?

A big win for me was joining Entrepenistas! About 9 months into starting my business, I was starting to feel like no one in my community understood what I was doing, how hard I was working, the pressures, etc. Finding this community has led me to meeting some really incredible people who inspire me and keep my head up during the tougher days of running a business. 

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What's next for your business? What can we expect to see over the next few years?

I am launching a "CMO For The Day" product package that should be coming in the next month or so to allow for new clients to try Zigthor Marketing out for a day to make sure they like working with me! I also recently got a few new clients so I will definitely be sharing that work online and hoping to increase my client list as well. 

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What is your top productivity tip?

Put on a 45 minute Youtube playlist or music set that you like, work as hard as you can for that time and then enjoy your 15 minute break. Timers save me from going bonkers on days where I have so much work to do.

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What is one thing you wish you had known when you started your Entreprenista journey?

I wish I had started reaching out more from Day 1! Everyone in this community is so kind and nice, I don't know what prevented me from just booking meetings and messaging other members immediately. 

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What is your favorite business tool or solution and why?

Fellow! This records all my meetings, types up my to-dos, and integrates perfectly into Google Calendar. 

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What advice do you have for aspiring Entreprenistas?

Just go for it. It will never be the perfect time, but if you can - go for it. 

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