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Committing to Success: Long-Term Strategies in Marketing

January 22, 2024 by Karen

Committing-to-Success-Long-Term-Strategies-in-Marketing-feature
Phoenix Business Radio
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Committing to Success: Long-Term Strategies in Marketing

Karen Nowicki brings together dynamic entrepreneurs Megan Ferguson, Founder of Back Court Marketing, Caitlin Penny, CEO of Copper Theory Creative, and Elizabeth Lowney, CEO of Creating Buzz PR, for a lively discussion on the intricacies of B2B collaboration and strategic networking. The guests share valuable insights into personal branding, social media marketing, and the importance of genuine partnerships within the entrepreneurial community. Highlighting the significance of quality over quantity in networking, they emphasize the alignment of business goals when seeking collaborative and referral partners.

The guests collectively explore the trends in digital marketing for 2024, common social media mistakes, and the commitment required for long-term marketing success. With a focus on professionalism, authentic representation, and the need for clear messaging in the competitive world of marketing and branding, tune in for expert insights to elevate your business presence! Backcourt-logo1

Backcourt Marketing provides social media marketing services for small to medium sized businesses who have at least one of the following goals: Reaching more customers online, raising revenue through online sales, expanding to a new audience, improving their brand, driving traffic to their website, creating influencer partnerships, or generating leads.

For business owners and marketing managers who are too swamped with wearing many other hats, we are the outsourced team they can hire to effectively run the business’ social media accounts.

Megan FergusonMegan Ferguson started Backcourt Marketing, a recent recipient of the State Forty Eight Foundation Grant, to help businesses that were under-utilizing social media platforms. She understands the roadblocks that stop business owners from effectively promoting their business to thousands of people online daily.

She took what she knew she is good at, her background in strategic marketing, out of the box campaigns, writing compelling content, and developed a business out of it. Megan comes from a background in sports journalism and sports marketing, having managed large scale accounts such as the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In her free time, you can find her at just about any Arizona sports matchup happening in the Valley.

Follow Backcourt Marketing on LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram.

Copper-Theory-Creative-LOGO

Copper Theory Creative is a full-service marketing agency based out of Phoenix, AZ. They specialize in personal branding and social media workshops, as well as everything else digital marketing! They help you make money by professionally amplifying your brand to represent your vision in business by refining, refreshing and revamping your brand in the digital marketplace.

Caitlin-Penny-Phoenix-Business-RadioArt has always played a major role in Caitlin Penny’s life. Everything she did growing up included some sort of artistic ability or activity. Caitlin Penny has been a graphic designer since 2010, and founded her business, Copper Theory Creative in 2016 at the age of 24. She was excited, and her dream of being her own boss was worth fighting for.

Copper Theory Creative has expanded into a full-service branding and design agency that has serviced over 100 businesses since 2016. They are your partner in business – helping you make money by professionally amplifying your brand to represent your vision in business.

They take a very personal approach with their process, and are excited to get to know you and why you started your business! Copper Theory helps established entrepreneurs take their business to the next level by refining, refreshing and revamping their brand in the digital marketplace.

As a female business owner, Caitlin has been lucky to find many amazing mentors along the way who inspired her to never give up. As the company grows, she never forgets the small business owners, clients, and supporters that have believed in her since day one. Her version of changing the world is making your brand be seen in the best way possible so you can change the world in your own way.

She recently received the Young Professional of the Year award from NAWBO and has been featured in Shout Out Arizona, CanvasRebel and United Colors of Design magazine. Caitlin is also an Arts Commissioner for the City of Chandler.

When she’s not designing, she loves hanging out with her pitbull Herbie, watching Harry Potter or listening to a good true crime podcast.

Connect with Caitlin on LinkedIn and follow Copper Theory Creative on Facebook, X and Instagram.

Creating Buzz PR is a boutique PR company specializing in creative storytelling to garner the publicity our clients need to grow and establish their reputations for success. We have had our clients in Forbes Magazine, Inc. Magazine, CBS News, ABC 15, USA Today, AZ Republic, Phoenix Business Journal, Phoenix Magazine, AZ Foothills, AZ Big Media, Modern Luxury, The Times publications and many more.

Elizabeth-Lowney-Phoenix-Business-RadioElizabeth Lowney was working for a fairly high-profile company in San Francisco, putting on a lot of corporate and charity events when a PR company there asked her to join them. She’s always been a writer, so she fell in love with that part of it – finding and telling the compelling stories of our clients.

That is still how she works now – telling an interesting story people want to read and putting on events people want to attend.

When Elizabeth moved to Arizona to be closer to family, she started over from scratch, not knowing anyone. She had a hugely successful run with one of her first clients, Superstition Meadery, who Elizabeth had in over ten media outlets nationally and locally in their first month. By month three,  She had grown their sales by 30% – just with publicity.

Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Tagged With: arizona marketing agency, Branding, crisis communications, marketing, marketing agency, personal branding, PR, Public Relations, publicity, reputation management, Social Media, Social media agency, social media marketing, social media tips, social media workshops

SIMON SAYS, LET’S TALK BUSINESS: Chris Weissman with TopRight

July 21, 2022 by Mike

Gwinnett Studio
Gwinnett Studio
SIMON SAYS, LET'S TALK BUSINESS: Chris Weissman with TopRight
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Chris Weissman and Al Simon

Chris Weissman/TopRight

TopRight is an Atlanta-based marketing agency focused on deepening the way customers care, listen, engage, buy, and ultimately stay. They accomplish this by crafting stories, told with ruthless consistency, and building strategies that bring them to life

Tagged With: al simon, business advice, business podcast, business radio, Business RadioX, Chris Weissman, marketing agency, sales coach, sales podcast, sales techniques, sales tips, sales trainer, Sandler Training, Sandler Training by Simon, Simon Says Lets Talk Business, simon says podcast, simon says radio, TopRight

Ashley Richards and Sherry Milia with E Squared Marketing

August 25, 2021 by Karen

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Phoenix Business Radio
Ashley Richards and Sherry Milia with E Squared Marketing
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Ashley Richards and Sherry Milia with E Squared Marketing

E Squared Marketing is a boutique digital marketing agency always willing to go the extra mile for our clients. Starting with a strategy tailor-made to fit your business’ unique needs, we’ll bring your customers an unforgettable online experience to grow your following, keep your business top of mind and distinguish you from your competitors. ESquaredLogo

With over a decade in marketing experience, our team brings a personal touch to everything we do while seamlessly executing winning strategies, the way that only a team of experts can.

Ashley-Richard-son-Phoenix-Business-RadioXAshley Richards is a dynamic and versatile marketing executive with 15 years of experience executing digital strategies to totally transform businesses.

Her past clients include large Fortune 500 companies, fitness facilities, physical therapy offices, and large shopping centers. Ashley’s extensive experience– combined with her passion for marketing–allow her to bring her clients tremendous success in the online world.

In 2017, Ashley launched E Squared Marketing to provide creative digital solutions and heightened value to small to medium-sized businesses. Whatever your needs, Ashley provides a fresh perspective and creative yet pragmatic leadership to lead your business to success.

Ashley is a graduate of the University of Phoenix and when she’s not working, you can find this Arizona native enjoying hikes with her husband of 10 years, Brandon, and their two adorable children, Ellie and Eli.

Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn.

Sherry-Milia-on-Phoenix-Business-RadioXSherry Milia is an Account Manager with E Squared Marketing and has been a member of the team for the past two years. Sherry is a native of Milwaukee, WI where she earned her MBA, with an emphasis in Marketing, from Marquette University.

With over 12 years of experience in medical sales followed by a career as the Marketing Director of a local non-profit, Sherry relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband and three children in 2014.

After being away from the workforce for nearly nine years, Sherry’s journey has had its own challenges. As a mom of her three children, one of which has special needs, Sherry navigates her role as a wife, mom, professional, and an individual living with an autoimmune disorder with grace.

She is thankful for the support and resources she has that give her the opportunity to share her talents both professionally and personally.

Follow E Squared Marketing on Facebook and Instagram.

Tagged With: digital marketing, digital marketing agency, marketing, marketing agency, social media marketing

Diversity Representation Matters E59

June 23, 2021 by Karen

Diversity-Representation-Matters-E59
Phoenix Business Radio
Diversity Representation Matters E59
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Diversity Representation Matters E59

Tune in to this deeply relevant and important conversation as the Tycoons welcome Tania Torres to the show. Tania discusses the lack of diversity in the marketing industry and what she’s doing to change that. Diversity representation should be the rule, not the exception. As a society, we should be showing more opportunities to our youth by better demonstrating diverse and successful role models.

Tania has a unique background that has shaped her work ethic and provided opportunities that she leveraged into a fulfilling and exciting career. She talks about lessons learned throughout her entrepreneurial journey, how she continues to challenge herself, and what the future holds.

tmc-logo

Torres Multicultural Communications (TMC) is the premiere multicultural marketing agency in the state of Arizona. Bringing together a staff that has over 100 years of experience, TMC delivers authentic solutions that keep today’s multicultural communities front and center. As an independent, women and minority-owned agency focusing on marketing, public relations, and outreach, TMC is an industry front runner in marketing that is representative of the diversity and innovation needed to lead.

TMC recognizes and anticipates the ever-changing demographic landscape of Phoenix and Arizona. The Hispanic and Latino population in Phoenix has surpassed 42 percent, which is a 12 percent increase from just 10 years ago. TMC is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of these individuals with culturally relevant messaging by having an extensive presence in the community for over a decade. In addition, TMC pushes beyond the numbers to see, understand, and listen to the voices behind the data. By using the voices of real community members and key stakeholders, TMC delivers content that is powerful and authentic. This messaging also builds trust with the community which is largely missing from other marketing agencies today.

TMC has a wide-ranging realm of expertise in working with local and national organizations in all three sectors: public, private, and government. With years of experience on large-scale projects, TMC pairs knowledge and expertise with a focus on the community to produce marketing solutions that work.

Tania-Torres-Diversity-Representation-MattersTania Torres is President and CEO of Torres Multicultural Communications (TMC), a woman and minority-owned marketing and public relations agency that brings authenticity to the multicultural marketplace.

Raised in west Phoenix, Tania is the daughter of immigrant parents and the first in her family to graduate from college. In 2009, she left a high-level post at a local ad agency to launch her own business. Twelve years later, she has grown her business to become the largest multicultural marketing agency in Arizona. Starting from the ground up, TMC now has a combined experience of over 100 years and millions in capitalized annual billings.

As a Latina entrepreneur, Tania also represents one of the fastest-growing segments of small businesses in Arizona, and the fastest-growing population in Phoenix. Tania intentionally opened her office in downtown Phoenix to remain embedded in the local community. It is from this office that she has grown and nurtured her bilingual team to build culturally relevant bridges from corporations to communities.

Tania has a proven history of expertise working with Fortune 500 and 100 companies, major non-profits on a local and national level, and government entities. Within the government sector, Tania has become a leader in several key transportation projects.

Follow Torres Multicultural Communications on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About the Show

Tycoons of Small Biz spotlights the true backbone of the American economy, the true tycoons of business in America… the owners, founders and CEO’s of small businesses. Join hosts,  Austin L Peterson, Landon Mance and the featured tycoons LIVE every Tuesday at 1 pm, right here on Business RadioX and your favorite podcast platform.

About Your Hosts

Autsin-Peterson-on-Phoenix-Business-RadioX

Austin Peterson is a Comprehensive Financial Planner and co-founder of Backbone Planning Partners in Scottsdale, AZ. Austin is a registered rep and investment advisor representative with Lincoln Financial Advisors. Prior to joining Lincoln Financial Advisors, Austin worked in a variety of roles in the financial services industry.

He began his career in financial services in the year 2000 as a personal financial advisor with Independent Capital Management in Santa Ana, CA. Austin then joined Pacific Life Insurance Company as an internal wholesaler for their variable annuity and mutual fund products. After Pacific Life, Austin formed his own financial planning company in Southern California that he built and ran for 6 years and eventually sold when he moved his family to Salt Lake City to pursue his MBA.

After he completed his MBA, Austin joined Crump Life Insurance where he filled a couple of different sales roles and eventually a management role throughout the five years he was with Crump. Most recently before joining Lincoln Financial Advisors in February 2015, Austin spent 2 years as a life insurance field wholesaler with Symetra Life Insurance Company. Austin is a Certified Financial Planner Professional and Chartered Life Underwriter. In 2021, Austin became a Certified Business Exit Consultant® (CBEC®) to help entrepreneurs plan to exit their businesses.

Austin and his wife of 23 years, Robin, have two children, AJ (21) and Ella (18) and they reside in Gilbert, Arizona. He is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts in French and of Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management with a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in sales and entrepreneurship.backbone-New-Logo

Connect with Austin on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

LandonHeadshot01

Landon Mance is a Financial Planner and co-founder of Backbone Planning Partners out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He rebranded his practice in 2020 to focus on serving small business owners after operating as Mance Wealth Management since 2015 when Landon broke off from a major bank and started his own “shop.”

Landon comes from a family of successful entrepreneurs and has a passion and excitement for serving the business community. This passion is what brought about the growth of Backbone Planning Partners to help business owners and their families. At Backbone Planning, we believe small business owners’ personal and business goals are intertwined, so we work with our clients to design a financial plan to support all aspects of their lives.

In 2019, Landon obtained the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation through the Exit Planning Institute. With this certification, Backbone Planning Partners assists business owners through an ownership transition while focusing on a positive outcome for their employees and meeting the business owner’s goals. Landon is also a member of the Business Intelligence Institute (BII) which is a collaborative group that shares tools, resources and personnel, and offers advanced level training and technical support to specifically serve business owners. In 2021, Landon became a Certified Business Exit Consultant® (CBEC®) to help entrepreneurs plan to exit their businesses by counseling owners about exit options, estimating the value of the business, preparing the business for exit and tax considerations.

Landon enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, stepson, and new baby twins. He grew up in sunny San Diego and loves visiting his family, playing a round of golf with friends, and many other outdoor activities. Landon tries to make a difference in the lives of children in Las Vegas as a part of the leadership team for a local non-profit. He regularly visits the children that we work with to remind himself of why it’s so important to, “be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

Landon received his B.S. from California State University Long Beach in business marketing and gets the rest of his education through the school of hard knocks via his business owner clients.

Connect with Landon on LinkedIn.

Austin Peterson and Landon Mance are registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a broker/dealer (member SIPC) and registered investment advisor. Insurance offered through Lincoln affiliates and other fine companies. Backbone Planning Partners is a marketing name for registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors. CRN-3640404-062121

Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. and its representatives do not provide legal or tax advice. You may want to consult a legal or tax advisor regarding any legal or tax information as it relates to your personal circumstances.

The content presented is for informational and educational purposes. The information covered and posted are views and opinions of the guests and not necessarily those of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.

Business RadioX® is a separate entity not affiliated with Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.

Tagged With: hispanic marketing agency, marketing agency, multicultural communications, multicultural communications agency, Multicultural Marketing

Arnold Huffman with Digital Yalo

May 17, 2021 by angishields

Yalo-feature
Atlanta Business Radio
Arnold Huffman with Digital Yalo
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OnPay-Banner

Arnold-Huffman-Digital-YaloSince graduating as a Chemical Engineer from CWRU in Cleveland, Arnold Huffman’s career has taken him on a long and winding journey to where he is now, the CEO of Yalo, a full service marketing agency based in Atlanta.

His long tenures at Accenture, SoftwareAG, and Rosetta shaped his business acumen and led to his founding of Yalo in 2012. Since then, he has built an award-winning marketing agency with a diverse staff in Atlanta, Cleveland, LA, Seattle, Philadelphia, Rochester and Raleigh, while partnering with clients in the UK, Canada and all across the US.

Arnold prides himself on exciting his clients with great work and building lasting partnerships. Away from the office, you’ll find him at a live music venue, on the basketball court or enjoying time with his wife and three children.

Follow Digital Yalo on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • What makes Digital Yalo different
  • The impact the pandemic had on the marketing industry
  • How Yalo supported their team during the pandemic
  • Yalo’s growth strategy
  • Yalo’s recent awards

About Our Sponsor

OnPay’sOnPay-Dots payroll services and HR software give you more time to focus on what’s most important. Rated “Excellent” by PC Magazine, we make it easy to pay employees fast, we automate all payroll taxes, and we even keep all your HR and benefits organized and compliant.

Our award-winning customer service includes an accuracy guarantee, deep integrations with popular accounting software, and we’ll even enter all your employee information for you — whether you have five employees or 500. Take a closer look to see all the ways we can save you time and money in the back office.

Follow OnPay on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter

Tagged With: Digital Yalo, marketing agency

IT Help Atlanta with Rick Higgins:  Marc Apple, Forward Push, and Al Simon, Sandler Training by Simon Inc.

April 27, 2020 by John Ray

Forward Push
IT Help Atlanta
IT Help Atlanta with Rick Higgins:  Marc Apple, Forward Push, and Al Simon, Sandler Training by Simon Inc.
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Forward Push
Clockwise from Upper Left: Marc Apple, Forward Push, Al Simon, Sandler Training, and Rick Higgins, Host of “IT Help Atlanta”

IT Help Atlanta with Rick Higgins:  Marc Apple, Forward Push, and Al Simon, Sandler Training by Simon Inc.

On this edition of “IT Help Atlanta,” Host Rick Higgins welcomed Marc Apple, Forward Push, to talk about digital marketing for businesses. Al Simon of Sandler Training also joined the show to discuss his sales consulting and training practice. “IT Help Atlanta” is brought to you by TeamLogic IT, your technology advisor.

Marc Apple, Forward Push

Forward Push
Marc Apple, Forward Push

Marc Apple is the Owner and Inbound Marketing Specialist with Forward Push. Forward Push is an award-winning marketing agency that believes that you don’t have to grow your company alone. Through a team of creative thinkers and analytic problem solvers, Forward Push is ready to challenge the status quo while staying rooted in the research.

The team accomplishes this through specializing in content-driven strategies for small and medium-sized businesses. Based on your unique needs, Forward Push creates a custom strategy that takes account for the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing and looks to future developments. This approach includes website design and development, social media management, blogging, video production, digital advertising and branding.

Through this, Forward Push optimizes your online presence and propels you to your goals by implementing, testing, and refining so your brand is always leading, not following. It’s the Forward Push way. Learn more about their process at forwardpush.com or get in touch directly with Marc by email.

Al Simon, Sandler Training by Simon Inc.

Al Simon, Sandler Training by Simon

Al Simon is the President of Sandler Training by Simon Inc.

Sandler trainers have already had highly successful careers as sales and management professionals, and now use the Sandler sales methodology in their mission to train and mentor others to be successful. Other companies employ trainers who may have never actually sold or managed.

The Sandler sales methodology fosters an attitude of leadership, rather than just emphasizing technique. Reinforcement training facilitates the development of new and empowering behaviors, attitudes, and sales skills, mapping a unique road map to lasting success.

Over 250 local training centers in major U.S. cities and more than 27 countries, plus materials translated into 20 languages, allow us to support our clients almost anywhere in the world, whether you’re a small to mid-sized company or a large organization.

For more information, go to Al’s website or contact Al directly at 770-622-7000.

About “IT Help Atlanta”

IT Help Atlanta
Rick Higgins, Host of “IT Help Atlanta”

“IT Help Atlanta” profiles small to mid-market businesses and highlights how those companies use technology to succeed. The host of “IT Help Atlanta” is Rick Higgins.

“IT Help Atlanta” is brought to you by TeamLogic IT, your managed services technology advisor specializing in cybersecurity, cloud and business continuity solutions. TeamLogic IT leverages cutting edge technology to solve all types of business problems.

For more information, email Rick directly or go to ITHelpAtlanta.com.

 

 

Show Transcript

Announcer: Broadcasting from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, it’s time for IT Help Atlanta, brought to you by TeamLogic IT, your technology advisor. Now, here’s your host, Rick Higgins.

Rick: Hey, good morning, everybody. And welcome to the IT Help Atlanta radio show, the show that profiles small, and medium-sized market businesses and highlights how those companies use technology to succeed. IT Help Atlanta is brought to you by TeamLogic IT, your managed services technology provider. Specializing in cybersecurity, cloud, and business continuity solutions, TeamLogic IT leverages cutting-edge technology to solve all types of business problems. Go to ithelpatlanta.com for audio archives of this show and to learn more about our sponsor, TeamLogic IT. I’m your host Rick Higgins. And today’s special guest is Marc Apple with Forward Push. Good morning, Marc.

Marc: Morning, Rick. How are you today?

Rick: Oh, man, I’m doing great. Thanks. I’m really glad to have you on the show. Marc, tell us who you are, and what do you do?

Marc: Sure. Thank you for having me. My name is Marc Apple, and I am the founder of Forward Push. We are a marketing agency that specializes in helping small businesses and startups to get back to doing what they love to do, which is typically their job, and they don’t have time for marketing. That’s where we fill in. We are their marketing agency.

Rick: And Marc, you guys are so much more than that. I know that a big part of what you do is website work. Could you drill into that or lean into that and talk to us about what you do with website and how that works with your marketing?

Marc: Sure. There’s a good percentage of our clients that come to us because they have a need, just like you said for a website. We all know nowadays that it’s one of the first things that people do. So, they search, they needed something, they have a problem, they go to the Internet, and you lead them to your website. And that’s where our engagement starts with our clients. But you’re right, it is so much more. After that website is built, what are you gonna put on that website so it keeps engaging people? And that’s really where our work comes in.

So, for the small business owners and the startups. We’re writing their monthly blogs for them. We are doing infographics, design work. We’re doing videos. We’re creating their email newsletters. We’re running their Google ads, their Facebook campaigns. So, it’s a full-service agency. And the idea is that the small business owner is super busy. They don’t have time to do all of these things or maybe just some of these things. So, they’re able to work with us because we love working with them. So, it’s a smaller scale operation on how we work with them, but it’s a long-term thinking and it gives them the ability to compete with the bigger players in the market.

Rick: So, that actually leads me into my next question. And you say you work primarily or maybe even exclusively with small businesses. But can a small or local business compete with large competitors?

Marc: A hundred percent. A hundred percent. We find that day in and day out. It’s certainly a long-term strategy because if you’re going up against a billion-dollar company in your industry, they’re spending money like water, but that doesn’t mean that you have to spend money like water as a small business owner. So, what we tend to do is take a really hyper-local focus. Most small businesses, for the most part, are working in their neighborhoods or in a metro city location. And while those bigger companies certainly are working in those metro locations, they tend to be focused on, for an example here, the whole country. And we know that people like doing business with people. So, when you take that local attitude and that strategy, combining that with the know, like, and trust of working with someone local that you can see, that you can talk to, you can go into their store, they can come to your location, it makes it almost very easy to compete because we have a very tight focus on where we’re attracting clients to our clients.

Rick: Well, you talk about not spending money like water, and I know for all the small business people out there, myself included, they really appreciate that. How as a small business owner should I determine what my marketing budget should be? Is there like an ideal metric for that?

Marc: There is. And typically, we’re looking probably in the 10 to 15% of annual gross as a marketing budget. And so that 10 to 15%, it can be a wide range. Certainly, when we’re working with a small business owner, I like to say that we’re not looking for a big check right away. That’s not even in our plan. Our idea is to start, not conservative so that you’re not doing anything, but start so that you can get some movement, start gaining traction on the low-hanging fruit, and then you can move up that scale to spend more because you’re actually making more.

Rick: Right. So, that 10 to 15%, you’re talking about gross of a startup company or does that carry forward into a mature small business?

Marc: Mature business as well. So, that’s for this annual sales…

Rick: Gotcha.

Marc: …is a good number to start at. Yeah.

Rick: Okay. Well, thanks for that. Thanks for diving deep on that. Hey, Marc, give us a success story. And it doesn’t have to be anything recent. I mean, something that you’re really proud of. Talk to us about how you help someone or solved a particular problem with someone.

Marc: I think what I’ll do is I’ll touch on a story of something that’s happened recently since we’re kind of going through this pandemic. And it’s sort of hoarding small business owners, you know, and businesses across the country, not only here in Atlanta. But we work with a healthcare provider that does elective surgery. And basically, as soon as the pandemic started, they had to shut down. They weren’t allowed to see prospective patients or even patients or even provide the surgery at their location. So, it was almost an immediate shutdown for them, which is devastating to them. We were able to offer telemedicine to them, but in a unique way. So, if you go to their website now, one of the first things you see is that you can text message the doctor. And this actually goes through a HIPAA-compliant system that we have for them. So, you’re not actually text-messaging the doctor’s actual cell phone. It’s through, again, a HIPAA server.

And the doctor is able to converse with the prospect or a patient as if it’s a text message conversation. But to even make it better and where we’re seeing the success is that he can do consultations. You actually can click a button on your phone and you’re able to open your camera and you can have an actual conversation with the doctor. You can show the doctor the part of your body that you’re talking about. You can upload images to them. So, the doctor is now able to do consultations when he actually can’t be physically in front of anyone. The best part of it is that his schedule is completely booked out for next month on the condition that we’re gonna be able to see patients next month. So, it’s finding those ways when there is something that’s facing us that’s a real stumbling block, it’s a roadblock, and saying, “Okay. Well, how can we sort of maintain business as usual in these times where it’s not so unusual?

Rick: My key takeaway on that particular answer was that you put the system on a HIPAA-compliant server. Could you talk more about that and why that’s important?

Marc: Sure. So, it’s important because it has to do with the regulations of the healthcare industry. And when you start to fill out a form, in this case, on a website that has to do with a medical practice, your information is either secure or it’s not secure. So, a HIPAA-compliant server where that information that the person puts into the form, and that can be anything from your name to your date of birth to even saying, “I have a pre-existing condition,” or, “I have this condition,” is sensitive information. So, when you hit submit, if that’s not secure, that information can be hacked. And it basically can be out there for anyone to see. So, a HIPAA-compliant server allows the information to be secure. And when it reaches the doctor, the endpoint, they also have it secured on their side as well when they’re replying. So, it has to do with security, it has to do with the patients, their confidence, and making sure that their information stays secure.

Rick: That’s great. And Marc, I appreciate that deeper dive on that aspect because, you know, obviously, the show is about you and your company. But, you know, as you got from the intro is we definitely want to talk about how companies like yourself are using technology and, in this case, it seems like special technology to serve your client base. So, thank you for that.

Marc: You’re welcome.

Rick: So, you know, as a marketing company, what… I know that you talk the talk, but do you walk the walk with what you do? I mean, how do you find your clients?

Marc: Yeah. We certainly do walk the walk and the talk 100%. One of my rules for Forward Push is that we won’t recommend anything to a client without doing it ourselves first. So, if a new technology comes along, we’re the guinea pig. I’ll invest the money in that platform, in that software, in that marketing tactic first to figure it out, to see how it works. What are the opportunities? So, we’re doing everything from blogging consistently. We have an email newsletter that goes out a couple of different times a month. I also have my own podcast that turns into a video podcast that we put out. We also do our own social media. So, all of the things that we offer to our clients we’re doing ourselves. And when we see a change in what we’re doing or, again, maybe there’s a new platform coming out, we’re shifting just as we would tell one of our clients to do, following best practices.

Rick: Do you wanna give a plug and promote your video podcast right here?

Marc: Sure. Thank you very much. It’s called “Your Marketing Minute.” And that can be found on YouTube and if you listen to audio on any of the podcast channels.

Rick: That’s great. I’m definitely gonna check that out.

Marc: Thank you.

Rick: Here’s an interesting question for you, Marc. It’s one that I always like to ask and what’s an aspect about your business that people don’t generally think about, but that you wish people would ask you about?

Marc: That’s good. I love that question, Rick. Thank you for asking that. I think one of the things is that we all have this perception that the internet is instant, and in some cases, it is. You’re gonna record this podcast today. It literally can be upon your website this afternoon, right? In real-time, this could be a live stream. You could write a blog post this afternoon, hit submit, and it’s live on your website. So, things are instant, right? You can go on Amazon. You practically can have your groceries in a couple of hours if you wanted to. So, it is instant. The flip side of it when you talk about for a small business and marketing is things aren’t that instant. Certainly, you can do the same thing. Write that blog post and hit submit for that small business website. It doesn’t mean that Google is gonna all of a sudden start driving traffic to it.

And that’s one of the biggest misconceptions that I usually end up speaking to our clients about is that these things do just take time. So, it’s not only the blogging example, but you could start a pay-per-click campaign today on Google or you could start a Facebook advertising campaign. It takes these powerful algorithms and these powerful companies to figure out how to serve your ad best. Even in Facebook, if you were to run advertising, for the first couple of weeks or so, and that’s sort of a general until it’s starting to get enough data, it actually says in the ad portal learning, meaning that it’s still trying to figure out who best to serve your ad to. All the while it’s charging you for this learning experience.

Rick: Yeah. So, this is the algorithm that’s saying that it’s learned? Is that what’s going on?

Marc: Yes. Yes. So, that’s what’s going on. And so that also happens on Google with pay-per-click. So, it’s the instant of, I’m running ads, but the actual conversions or starting to see sales can take some time because there’s a lot of things that go into play, so a lot of moving parts. And that’s one of the questions that I think, for me, that I have to kind of make sure small business owners understand. So, it’s not one I get asked often, but it’s one that I’m giving the answer often.

Rick: Got it. I’m gonna lean into that a little bit more. Full disclosure to the audience here, Marc and I are friends. We’ve been friends and business associates for some time now. And, Marc, I’ve heard you talk before about how important the local aspect of internet and website marketing is as compared to national stuff. And you mentioned I think the statistic was that 40% of website clicks are for localized searches. Could you talk about that?

Marc: Yeah. I think you’re talking about a stat that you and I were conversing about that last year of all the Google searches, so all the searches, 48% had some local intent.

Rick: There you go.

Marc: Yeah. What that means by local intent, somebody put in a city name. So, they put in Atlanta or they put in the zip code 30341 with whatever they were looking for. So, it might have been a Chinese restaurant, Chamblee, Georgia. It’s a local intent versus putting Chinese restaurant. The same thing looking for a managed service IT provider. If you’re not putting in that city or zip, the results that you’re going to see are gonna be kind of scattered for the most part. There are some instances where you will sort of get the best local results, but just even think about your own habits, Rick. Probably when you’re searching whether it is that Chinese restaurant or a new place to go out to or whatever it is, you’re probably including some type of localization characters to get the best results for you.

Rick: You’re right. I do. I don’t even think about it. I just type it in. I might even type in just my zip code.

Marc: Yeah. And we see that a lot. The other thing that people are starting to do is even take it one step further and Google sort of has been encouraging this is that you start to type in, you know, Chinese restaurant and it starts to tell you, “Near me, nearby,” and that’s because we’re all searching on our phones nowadays. And as you know best, this phone is connected to a GPS system that knows exactly where I’m standing. So, when you do that search, and you do the near me, nearby, it knows exactly where you are. And it will tell you how many feet away you are from that restaurant or how many miles away, right?

Rick: A little bit scary.

Marc: A little bit scary, but also quite useful for a small business owner to realize that this is how, you know, the most powerful search engine in the world, Google, is steering how people find you. And if you don’t have a website that’s built on local intent, you can start missing out. And that’s the scary thing as well. I would say that’s almost scarier than, you know, a giant GPS system knowing where you’re standing.

Rick: Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Marc, what do you like best about being a small business owner?

Marc: I like the independence of it. I come from a Fortune 500 background. I worked for some pretty big, well-known companies. And the reason I left it was, like, I kind of got fed up. I saw a lot of small business owners spending money with these big companies and not having success because they were sort of just another client. It’s different with me and how I act and how my team acts. So, for us, you know, every client we have, we know who their kids are, we know when their birthdays are, and we know a lot about their business. It kind of goes back to how we started this conversation, Rick. It’s like how we positioned Forward Push and the work we do is we are the marketing team for that small business. And that means that my team has to know sort of as much about the business as the owner does. And we’re working with a bunch of clients. So, for me, I just love knowing and working with a bunch of different business owners that all sort of have the same mentality. They all want success. That’s what every small business owner wants because they’re the ones writing the checks. When you start to work with the corporate clients, it’s just a person coming in there that’s got a spend budget that quarter, and they’re not really attached to the check. That’s the difference and that’s what makes me get up in the morning.

Rick: That’s great, Marc. That’s a great answer. Marc, tell the audience how to get in touch with you.

Marc: Yeah. The best place to find me is forwardpush.com. That’s our website. And if you’re on social media, all of our channels are under Forward Push.

Rick: That’s great. Marc, thank you so much for being a guest today on IT Help Atlanta. We really appreciate you. And folks, go to ithelpatlanta.com for audio archives of this show and learn more about our sponsor, TeamLogic IT. Go to forwardpush.com to learn more about Marc Apple and his wonderful company, Forward Push.


Tagged With: al simon, blogging, Branding, digital advertising, digital marketing, Forward Push, IT Help Atlanta, Marc Apple, marketing agency, Rick Higgins, Sales, sales training, sandler sales training, Sandler Training, Sandler Training by Simon, Sandler Training by Simon Inc., social media management, TeamLogic IT, website design

Peter Baron with Carabiner Communications, Denise Powell with DP Global Media and David Feldman with 3 Owl

December 2, 2019 by angishields

ABR-Feature-12-2
Atlanta Business Radio
Peter Baron with Carabiner Communications, Denise Powell with DP Global Media and David Feldman with 3 Owl
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ABR-Group-12-2

As Founder and Principal at Carabiner Communications, Peter Baron drives business development and also serves as a senior-level consultant,offering advice to clients in such areas as product positioning, leadgeneration and nurturing, digital marketing, and more.

Peter has the skills to recognize new trends and opportunities, helping companies to plan strategies accordingly. His client experience spans telecommunications, networking,healthcare technology, mobile computing, and a range of software solutions. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and PR from the University of Utah.

Follow Carabiner on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Denise Powell is an author, photographer, videographer,whose love for the written word and for capturing people and places on camera, have been passions of hers since childhood.

Her company, DP Global Media, Inc. is the creator and primary sponsor of International Unity Day 2019.

A graduate of Florida A&M University, with an MBA from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Denise is the author of Welcome to the A: A Smart ATLien’s Guide to Life in Metro-Atlanta.

Connect with Denise on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

David Feldman is the founder and creative director of 3 Owl, a brand, web, and content agency that creates nimble identities, elegant technologies, and beautiful tools that equip clients for success.

An accomplished guitarist and music-lover with an entrepreneurial mindset, he graduated from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School with a unique dual degree in business and music. He has since dedicated himself to supporting and growing Atlanta’s booming creative community.

“Atlanta has an exceptionally collaborative and imaginative culture,” he says. “I love this community, and I love how Atlantans come together as partners in our city’s unfinished creation.”

From 2008-2012, David was the business development and marketing director of Alliance Biomedical Research (now VitaLink), a clinical research firm founded by his father, Gregory J. Feldman, M.D. He rebranded ABR and helped grow the company into one of the world’s largest privately owned networks of clinical research sites.

David founded 3 Owl in 2015 with a team that includes some of Atlanta’s brightest creative professionals. The award-winning agency has helped build the brands and digital experiences of major Atlanta-based organizations including Mellow Mushroom, Mizuno USA, Emory University, and Center Stage Atlanta. Now a team of eight, the agency has already won many prestigious awards for brand identity, graphic design, and website design.

3 Owl is also the branding and design partner for ATL Collective, a nonprofit David co-founded to enrich Atlanta’s music community. The organization brings musicians together to perform live covers of classic albums at venues all over Atlanta. He is now the vice president of the organization’s board.

David is a frequent guest lecturer at Emory’s Goizueta Business School, The New School (Atlanta) — of which he was a founding faculty member — and General Assembly.

He lives with his wife Alisa and their two Labradoodles in a Cabbagetown loft.

Connect with David on LinkedIn and follow 3 Owl on Facebook and Instagram.

Questions and Topics in This Interview

  • What kinds of companies Carabiner Communications serves
  • What businesses can do to get ahead with their marketing and branding
  • The importance to your company of volunteerism and giving back
  • Advice to consider when working with a marketing firm
  • Where did the idea for International Unity come from?
  • Will International Unity be an annual event?
  • What does 3 Owl provide for it’s clients?
  • What makes 3 Owl stand out from other creative agencies?
  • Atlanta as a creative business hub
  • What is ATL Collective?

Tagged With: content marketing, Digital integrations, high growth, International Unity Day, life sciences, marketing agency, Public Relations, Strategic brand identity

Garrett Massey, Polyglot Labs

June 25, 2019 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio
North Fulton Business Radio
Garrett Massey, Polyglot Labs
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NFBR producer Diane Lasorda with Garrett Massey, Founder and President of Polyglot Labs

“North Fulton Business Radio,” Episode 144:  Garrett Massey, Polyglot Labs

Garrett Massey describes the custom websites and web applications his company, Polyglot Labs, designs for clients as he speaks with host John Ray on this edition of “North Fulton Business Radio.”

Garrett Massey, Founder and President, Polyglot Labs

Garrett Massey, Founder & President, Polyglot Labs

Polyglot Labs is a technology solutions company that works with speed and creativity to solve business challenges with technology smarts and likable personality. They do that through two specialized companies they call labs – Eyesore and Cortex Digital.

Eyesore builds awesome websites and digital marketing that make companies look good and drive business. Find Eyesore at eyesoreinc.com.

Cortex Digital innovates elegant, web-based solutions for back-end processes, databases, and systems that improve technology investments and business results. Find Cortex Digital at cortexdigitalinc.com.

Learn more about how their custom digital solutions can help you simplify processes, solve problems, and make your work and life better at www.polyglotlabs.com.

 

 

 

“North Fulton Business Radio” is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®, located inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with approximately $12.9 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Show Transcript

Intro: [00:00:07] Live from the Business RadioX Studio inside Renasant Bank, the bank that specializes in understanding you, it’s time for North Fulton Business Radio.

John Ray: [00:00:20] And hello again everyone. Welcome to another edition of North Fulton Business Radio. I’m John Ray, and we are coming to you from the Business RadioX Studio inside Renasant Bank. We love Renasant Bank and the great hosts they are for our studio location here in beautiful Alpharetta.

John Ray: [00:00:40] I want to welcome — we’ve got a great guest, and he’s a fun guest. He really is a fun guest, but I’m going to let him convince you of that, folks. Garrett Massey with Polyglot Labs. Garrett, it’s great to have you here.

Garrett Massey: [00:00:55] Thank you, sir.

John Ray: [00:00:56] So, you win the award. The Business RadioX Award that have just come up with for the most creative names for a company, right?

Garrett Massey: [00:01:05] Thank you.

John Ray: [00:01:05] You’ve got three different creative names for the different enterprises you’re involved with. Tell us about Polyglot Labs and what you do.

Garrett Massey: [00:01:14] Yeah, definitely, definitely. Well, Polyglot Labs is a technology solutions company that’s comprised of currently a couple of different labs, one called Eyesore and one called Cortex. Eyesore is a website design and development company that works with small and large businesses, as well as digital marketing agencies as a white-label partner to design and develop really good-looking websites. Cortex is an application development company that creates both web and mobile apps focused on solving some type of workflow, business process, issue, streamlining things, and making the end clients, as well as the business more money.

John Ray: [00:02:04] Cool. So, for those that already know you, this is a little bit of a change.

Garrett Massey: [00:02:09] It’s true.

John Ray: [00:02:09] So, you were originally Eyesore, and you’ve just changed the name of, let’s call it the mother company, to Polyglot Labs. And then, you’ve got two different business lines, and you’ve clearly defined those with these two names – Eyesore and Cortex Digital.

Garrett Massey: [00:02:26] Sure, sure.

John Ray: [00:02:27] I got all that right.

Garrett Massey: [00:02:28] You did.

John Ray: [00:02:29] Good.

Garrett Massey: [00:02:29] You did, you did. Yes.

John Ray: [00:02:30] Okay, cool.

Garrett Massey: [00:02:30] Our brand release was actually last Friday from Polyglot Labs. So, a few of our partners had heard the name prior to that point, but most of our clients and partners were not familiar with it. So, it gave us an opportunity to kind of branch out. We’re still doing the same types of work that we’ve done, but it gives us the ability to kind of focus our marketing efforts and really how we engage with our clients in kind of a more individual way.

John Ray: [00:03:00] Sure. So, I find it interesting that you call these two entities labs. Explain why.

Garrett Massey: [00:03:09] Yeah, definitely. So, we chose to use the terminology “labs” internally because we really liked the feel of an experimental approach. We do not come to the table with a solution that’s in our back pocket. We do not come to the table with a product off the shelf. We do come to the table with — it’s a process that we can use to hone in on what the best solution is for any particular client. What that’s done for us and for our clients is, really, it helps us hone in on what exactly they need, our client’s needs, and gives us the ability to do work that’s a little bit different every time. Kind of keeps our creative folks really engaged in the process because we’re not doing the same thing day in and day out. There’s always a little bit of a challenge there.

John Ray: [00:04:01] And you’re not, I guess, pushing product as it were, right, the term, but you’re not focused in on what your sacred elephants are-

Garrett Massey: [00:04:11] Sure.

John Ray: [00:04:12] … or sacred cows, or whatever animal that is. You’re really about looking at clients from what their needs are and what the problems they need solutions for as opposed to whatever you’ve got on the shelf now.

Garrett Massey: [00:04:29] Yeah, exactly, exactly. One of my favorite examples of that, I get probably two or three phone calls a week, this is anywhere from small business to large business, wanting an app. Everybody wants an app. And the first thing I do is try to talk them out of it because that is a profitable line of business for us, it’s shiny object for a lot of people, but it’s not a good fit for most scenarios. So, kind of taking that off the table, take a step back, and evaluating what folks really need gives us the ability to kind of help them nail down what will ultimately serve them the best.

John Ray: [00:05:09] And sometimes clients don’t know what they need, right?

Garrett Massey: [00:05:14] True.

John Ray: [00:05:14] So, you have to — that requires a little bit of a — it’s not that they are dumb or anything like that. It’s just that having that conversation and having that open inquiry as to, “Hey, we might not have everything on the shelf. So, let’s talk a little bit about what it is you’re trying to get to,” may help them clarify some things they really didn’t have a good handle on to begin with just because they hadn’t been asked the questions.

Garrett Massey: [00:05:40] Oh, yeah. Absolutely, absolutely. We believe in doing discovery up front is really, really key. We work with clients that have an amazing technical competency, and we were with folks that don’t. And they know a lot about their business, a lot about their problems, a lot about what they may think that they need from a technology solution, but we get to help them step through that process and why isn’t that being the best solution.

John Ray: [00:06:09] So, let’s talk a little bit, Garrett, about the Eyesore side of the business. So, Eyesore builds websites. That’s not like my teenager in the garage building with a website builder, right? It’s a little more complicated than that-

Garrett Massey: [00:06:29] It is.

John Ray: [00:06:29] … in terms of the kind of projects that you do.

Garrett Massey: [00:06:31] It is, it is. So, I started Eyesore two and a half years ago as a website design and development company, right. That’s kind of where we focused on. My background, at that point, had been in computer science. I’d just gotten out of college. So, I always had an interest in more complex projects. And we still do brochureware websites, buy page, about us, home page, contact us kind of deal because those do really serve an important purpose.

Garrett Massey: [00:07:00] We, also, develop more in-depth websites a lot of times for a lot of our marketing agency partners, other partners we serve as their technical team to help implement what their client ultimately needs. So, roughly, 60% to 70% of the work that we do on the Eyesore side of the world is in that white-label space where we’re partnering with a digital agency, a traditional marketing agency, video, event planning agencies to ultimately design and develop their clients’ projects. And that can look like a five-page website or that can look like a 12,000-page website that has a lot of custom functionality built in.

John Ray: [00:07:44] And for those that don’t know, that’s pretty common in the world of marketing agencies, digital agencies, that kind of thing to partner together. And so, you really come along as the highly technical side of a marketing agency that really don’t have any of those kind of folks typically, right?

Garrett Massey: [00:08:05] Sure, sure.

John Ray: [00:08:05] I mean, they’re more, I guess, right-brained kind of creative types, and they don’t have that technical expertise. You bring that to them.

Garrett Massey: [00:08:14] Definitely, definitely. The marketing agency, a lot of them, especially the Atlanta area, began to realize several years ago that it’s not in their client’s best interests, and it’s not in their best interest to keep everything in-house. So, the number of partnerships that we’ve seen, not only in just market agency hiring a developer to write a website or whatever, but video production, event production, AI, all the cool stuff that goes into a successful marketing campaign, they’re realizing, “Hey, we can partner somebody else, and we can kind of hone in and focus,” because there’s enough work for everybody to go around. And if they can partner with the best in the business to do each particular aspect of what they do, the end client ultimately gets a better product, a better experience, and it shows.

John Ray: [00:09:08] Folks, we’re speaking with Garrett Massey. And Garrett is the President and Founder of Polyglot Labs. Now, talk a little bit, if you would, about — I mean, it’s one thing for me to say you build a lot more sophisticated websites. It’s another thing to put that into something that our folks out there understand. Talk a little bit about maybe an example of some of the work you’ve done there.

Garrett Massey: [00:09:35] Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. On the Eyesore side, we’ve worked on many, many complex projects over the years on the website side of the world. One of my most memorable projects, one of the agencies that was employed by the US Military was hit up by the US Military to build a new website for the US 3rd Army, which is the army that is the combination of the Army, the Navy, the ,Marines the Air Force, all that stationed over in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, all the places that you really don’t want to be.

John Ray: [00:10:10] Oh wow.

Garrett Massey: [00:10:10] And they had a timeline of two weeks to build what turned out to be a 12,000-page website. So, we were able to successively not only design, and develop, and launch a website in that timeframe, we also had to learn an entirely new programming language and content management system to actually execute that project. So, it actually took two and a half weeks only because they held us up. It’s kind one of the more memorable projects on the website side of the world.

Garrett Massey: [00:10:46] On the application side of the world, gosh, we developed the application that the 2016 Democratic National Convention used to assign all of the hotel rooms to their delegates. So, it’s not just a matter of having 50 different delegation groups. It’s actually about a thousand. So, each stay, each lobbying group, the Kennedy family has a delegation. It’s kind of crazy. But prior to this solution that we developed being in place, they were actually planning all this using post-it notes. So, they’d have a big wall, and they would write down on the wall or on a post-it note the name of the delegation, how many attendees they had, and they would mark off the 5000 different hotels they had for that particular location for that year. And they would assign rooms based on post-it notes.

Garrett Massey: [00:11:43] So, we were actually able to come in and develop a web application that automated that entire process. It was so successful that they literally had to change the Democratic National Convention Committee’s passwords to get them out of it, so they could finalize the numbers. They had so much fun in their playing in different scenarios, figuring out, “Hey, put this group over here. That changes this and that.” So-

John Ray: [00:12:07] Wow.

Garrett Massey: [00:12:10] … kind of bringing it down to the small business side of the world, some of the applications we’ve developed really helped streamline processes in a little bit of a different way. One of my favorite examples, we have a relatively local client in the State of Georgia that is an in-home health care provider, and they have hundreds and hundreds of in-home health care providers that go out to people’s homes and assist assist their folks. They had a time clock system that would involve folks going to these people’s homes, picking up a landline, and calling in, and it would actually clock them in, and they’d call in again, and clock them out. Well, several years ago, this little a trend, not many people have landlines anymore.

Garrett Massey: [00:12:58] So, we developed a mobile app that the in-home health care providers were able to download on their phones, and go out, and actually clock in from the app, clock out from the app. We did a cool thing there. We planted a QR code in the folks’ homes, so you could scan it with the app, and it will clock you in. Well, QR codes can be copied, right. So, it wasn’t in the background, but it occurred, we actually grabbed their GPS coordinates at the same time that they scanned the QR code.

John Ray: [00:13:32] Oh boy.

Garrett Massey: [00:13:33] So, the first month it was running, we actually busted somebody checking in at McDonald’s, a few miles away from the patient’s home. So, that added a level of kind of validation-

John Ray: [00:13:48] Wow.

Garrett Massey: [00:13:48] … and type of feel to that. We also integrated in that particular application a series of text messages, a text messaging system setting. So, anytime there was an availability for a position, the folks in that particular area would receive text messages and all sorts of cool stuff.

John Ray: [00:14:05] So, for that client, you were solving a problem they didn’t know they had.

Garrett Massey: [00:14:10] Correct, correct. It was easier. It’s one point in time when the whole landline thing was relevant. They become less so, and they basically did not have the ability to clock in and clock out. And through developing this process, we kind of weeded out some folks that they didn’t necessarily knew that they had.

John Ray: [00:14:32] Yeah. Back to what we were saying earlier about bringing solutions to clients as opposed to the product off the shelf. The product off the shelf wouldn’t necessarily have solved that problem, right?

Garrett Massey: [00:14:43] No, it would not, it would not. And I mentioned earlier that we enjoy doing a discovery session on the front end of our projects. We get a good clean idea of what’s going on. We also like doing — and the word “agile” in my world, anyways, has been overused to death. It’s the idea of iteratively working on solving a problem in chunks of time called sprints, right. So, you’re kind of stepping through that process. We we enjoy taking elements from that process because we don’t want a client to be waiting 18 months for us to build something. We want to be able to put something out that has some value, that has some use, and then work with them to continue improving that because in 18 months, a lot can change in a business.

John Ray: [00:15:35] For sure.

Garrett Massey: [00:15:36] In three months, a lot can change in a business. So, the issues that may have been addressed at the very beginning of a project, a few months later may have changed or new ones may come to light.

John Ray: [00:15:50] We’re speaking with Garrett Massey. And Garret is the Founder and President of Polyglot Labs. So, I guess, the solutions, the applications that you develop come through the Cortex Digital side. I’m curious how that started because it’s interesting that if you’ve developed a pretty sophisticated business out of one that maybe for some companies is not so sophisticated, but you’ve developed a pretty high-end business in terms of the technology solutions you bring to the table.

Garrett Massey: [00:16:32] Sure, sure. There are a ton of folks out there that build websites. There are ton of folks out there that build websites really well.

John Ray: [00:16:39] And nothing against them by the way, right?

Garrett Massey: [00:16:41] Absolutely not, absolutely not. With my background, like I mentioned earlier, my undergrad is in Computer Science. So, when starting, I understood a lot of the theory that goes into what makes computer work, what makes good software work. And so, always had an interest in solving more complex problems. Very passionate about building excellent web presences that serve a need that we kind of meet a goal. But we had the opportunity early on to tackle some more in depth into the problems that our clients may have.

Garrett Massey: [00:17:16] And what it’s done for us on the Eyesore side is give us the ability to be a true technical partner to not only our agency partners but also our clients. We don’t have to give up because we ran into an issue that we can’t solve. We have a whole team of programmers. And that’s one of our kind of value-adds to our partners is we have an entire team of in-house developers. It’s not just one person. Solopreneurs in our space are great, but they run into the issue of being siloed away from everybody else. And, obviously, the internet kind of helps mitigate that. But at the end of the day, when you run into an issue, and you can lean over to someone sitting next to you and say, “Hey, what’s going on with this? Have you seen this before?” and work collaboratively to solve the issue, that gives an end client, really, a better product and a better experience because it’s all taken care of.

John Ray: [00:18:17] For sure, for sure. Now, I’m interested, and I’m sure our listeners are too because there’s always a search for talent, how do you get the programming talent you’re always looking for? Because there’s always a shortage of talent. So, how do you get the folks that you’re looking for? And here’s the real secret, how do you get them, if you’re headquartered in Griffin Georgia, because that’s where your headquarters is?

Garrett Massey: [00:18:46] Oh, yeah.

John Ray: [00:18:46] Right?

Garrett Massey: [00:18:47] Yeah.

John Ray: [00:18:47] So, I mean, you’ve got quite a few issues there. You have to address in building your business.

Garrett Massey: [00:18:53] Yeah. I remember the first time you and I met, you were shocked to learn that I had a problem-finding talent and programmers in Griffin, Georgia.

John Ray: [00:18:59] Right.

Garrett Massey: [00:18:59] Your mind was blown

John Ray: [00:19:01] My mind was blown. It still is.

Garrett Massey: [00:19:05] Griffin’s a really cool place but is not exactly Silicon Valley.

John Ray: [00:19:09] Right.

Garrett Massey: [00:19:10] And that actually has some unique benefits for us. So, to answer your first question on how we acquire talent, most of our folks, and we employed 15 or 16, folks something like that, most of our folks start out with us as interns, and they’re from the area or have an interest in living in the area. One of those recent fellows we hired lived up in North Georgia in a small town, wanted to live a little farther south in a small town. So, it worked out. But we try to keep a steady influx of paid interns in-house to give us the ability to, hey, they can do work for us that we don’t have to do, so that’s fantastic, but it gives us the ability to kind of get a true insight into folks as to how they work, what their strengths are, and whether or not they’d be a good fit to kind of keep on a little longer than just an intern.

John Ray: [00:20:08] Sure.

Garrett Massey: [00:20:10] So, most of our folks, as I mentioned, are kind of from our area or have a really strong interest in working in our area. We have some folks that live and work in Atlanta, but most of our folks are actually down in Griffin.

John Ray: [00:20:29] Pretty cool. So, I’m curious about what this split with Eyesore, with Cortex Digital, the split off that you have with these two that they’re still part of the same company, of course, Polyglot Labs, but why you thought that was necessary? Is it for marketing reasons solely or is there something else going on that makes sense?

Garrett Massey: [00:21:00] Yeah, definitely. So, we, really from day one, had two sides to our house. And there was overlap, and there still is overlap. We’ve always had what we call, at the time, a frontend and a backend side. Now, we call it kind of a digital presence side and a product development side. And even down our physical space. Half of our team is in one part of our offices, and the other half’s in the other, but there has always kind of been a logical distinction there.

Garrett Massey: [00:21:32] What we found back in the fall, we did a big survey of our clients, current and former clients, and asked them a handful of questions about what they like about us, what they don’t like, which was not too much, I’m proud of that, but then also kind of what the branding and messaging that we had in place for Eyesore kind of meant to them. And what we found was the types of products, and solutions, and services that we offer on what’s now the Eyesore side and what’s down the Cortex side really spoke to two different target audiences.

Garrett Massey: [00:22:16] And our goal with kind of the split from a marketing perspective was just that, it was for marketing purposes. Eyesore has a really, really fun personality. It’s really engaging and kind of creative. Cortex is fun and engaging as well, but it’s a little more buttoned up. It’s the branding that everybody will be seeing kind of roll out of the next several weeks. We’re coming up with stuff like whitepapers and you know.

John Ray: [00:22:48] Oh dear.

Garrett Massey: [00:22:49] Yeah, right?

John Ray: [00:22:51] That sounds pretty serious.

Garrett Massey: [00:22:52] It is, it is, it is.

John Ray: [00:22:54] Yeah.

Garrett Massey: [00:22:54] I work with a bunch of really, really smart people, thank goodness, but yes. So, the short answer to your question is yes, it was primarily for marketing purposes. Same team doing the same types of work, just spend a little bit differently.

John Ray: [00:23:09] Okay. So, I have to ask, do you spend most of your time on the buttoned-up side, or you over on the kind of wild and crazy side, Garrett? Which side are you on, buddy?

Garrett Massey: [00:23:21] I-

John Ray: [00:23:21] I’ve stopped [indiscernible].

Garrett Massey: [00:23:24] Yeah. No, in our offices, I bring chaos wherever I go.

John Ray: [00:23:29] Right.

Garrett Massey: [00:23:29] So, my personality is definitely more on the Eyesore side of the world, but I did tuck my shirt in for you today.

John Ray: [00:23:37] Well, thank you.

Garrett Massey: [00:23:37] Yeah.

John Ray: [00:23:40] We appreciate that. Though, seriously, I think you bring a lot of fun to your business. And I’d love for you to talk a little bit about that because that’s obviously part of keeping good employees, regardless of how attractive they are. I mean, because good people, whatever they do, will leave if they’re not having fun at what they do.

Garrett Massey: [00:24:08] Right, very right, yeah. Yeah, it’s — I think your question there is as how do we retain people and how is fun part of that.

John Ray: [00:24:18] Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Garrett Massey: [00:24:20] And it really is a huge, huge part. So, I think, the biggest thing is not forcing any of it. There’s not some master strategy that I put in place to make sure people have X amount of fun, so they’ll around twice as long or anything like that. Not anything that maniacal or well thought out. But I do believe that if people enjoy what they do, they feel valued, they feel like they’re part of a team, and they will stick around. The folks that that work made have made a conscious decision to work with us, and they are part of kind of building and defining that culture that we have.

Garrett Massey: [00:25:09] When we originally planned on kind of breaking out a piece of Eyesore and calling it something else, the idea of Polyglot Labs, of kind of a mother company was not really on our radar. It was not really part of that plan. But in kind of talking through and hashing out, started to realize that, hey, people are kind of seeing us kind of split into two different entities, and there was nothing juju or anything like that going on, but it’s still one that there was a division there. And our team is really, really close knit. We go to lunch together every day. We do all sorts of crazy stuff. We can talk to them on the radio every day.

John Ray: [00:25:50] Well, we’re not regulated by the FCC so-

Garrett Massey: [00:25:52] Sweet, yeah, yeah. That’s right, that’s right. I forgot about that.

John Ray: [00:25:56] Right. We’re a podcast network, buddy.

Garrett Massey: [00:25:56] Yeah, there you go.

John Ray: [00:25:56] So, okay.

Garrett Massey: [00:25:58] There you go. Well, in case my mom is listening.

John Ray: [00:26:00] Oh, okay, okay. Okay. Well, let’s button it up. Yeah, okay.

Garrett Massey: [00:26:05] Exactly, exactly. But the idea of Polyglot Labs came out of that kind of concern kind of consciousness of that being a thing. We wanted folks to feel like they’re still part of the same team because they are. Want to feel pride in kind of both sides of the business individually, but everybody is part of the same team. And so, I think that feeling is really pervasive in Polyglot, and that’s been a big success for us.

John Ray: [00:26:34] So, unlike the big tech companies we read about that they’ve installed a massage table, or a pinball machine, or free lunch, or whatever they’ve got, right, whatever happy stuff they’ve got, it’s really more about how you treat people. Imagine that.

Garrett Massey: [00:26:52] Right? Right?

John Ray: [00:26:52] Imagine that.

Garrett Massey: [00:26:53] Yeah. It’s-

John Ray: [00:26:54] What a revolutionary concept.

Garrett Massey: [00:26:56] I patented it, trademarked it, and own it.

John Ray: [00:26:58] Yeah.

Garrett Massey: [00:26:58] But, yeah. No, it really is. And we have a very strict no divas rule in our office. So, particularly in the programming world, there are a lot of kind of lone wolf types that are very proud of the way that they do things. We don’t allow that. So, that’s another kind of facet of kind of what loops everybody in together. Nobody’s afraid to go ask for help. Nobody’s siloed away. So, it’s a ton of these little small things really kind of add up to having an organization that everybody enjoys being a part of 99% of the time. There’s that 1% where we’ve gone to each other’s nerves, but that’s pretty minimal.

John Ray: [00:27:46] And you’ve got some pretty intense work you’re doing. I mean, you described this project you did for the Armed Forces that was a very compressed two-week project where if you don’t have that emotional bank account fully deposited with your employees, you’re going to have problems when it comes to projects like that.

Garrett Massey: [00:28:11] Yeah. It’s huge. The buy-in that we have is astronomical. And my job is to really make sure we don’t take that for granted.

John Ray: [00:28:23] And happy employees make for happy customers.

Garrett Massey: [00:28:25] They do.

John Ray: [00:28:27] Yeah.

Garrett Massey: [00:28:27] They do. It’s just like this big beautiful circle where everybody tries to make everybody else happy. Then, things just kind of work out.

John Ray: [00:28:34] That’s great, that’s great. Great story from Garrett Massey. He’s the Founder and President of Polyglot Labs in Griffin, beautiful Griffin, Georgia. And Griffin is beautiful. That’s not a throwaway line. It’s a pretty town. So, Griffin, for those that have heard what you had to say, would like to hear more from you, like to check you out, tell them how to do. How to be in touch?

Garrett Massey: [00:28:57] Definitely, definitely. You can check us out at polyglotlabs.com. So, a polyglot is someone that speaks in multiple languages, right, or a polyglot program, or somebody that works in multiple languages. So, polyglot, P-O-L-Y-G-L-O-T, polyglotlabs.com and all of our information is there.

John Ray: [00:29:17] Outstanding, Garrett, thanks for being with us.

Garrett Massey: [00:29:18] Thank you. Appreciate it.

John Ray: [00:29:19] Absolutely.

John Ray: [00:29:21] Folks, today, you’re more connected than ever, and whether it’s your friends, or your family, or your life, Renasant understands how you bank, offering the mobile banking services that you need. Renasant also knows that, sometimes, you need to speak to real people with real answers. And that’s why Renasant has more than 170 convenient locations throughout the South ready to serve you. For more information, go to renasantbank.com. That’s Renasant Bank understanding you. Member FDIC.

John Ray: [00:29:55] A reminder that you can listen to this show every Tuesday morning live at 11:30 a.m. Or if you miss any of our live shows, no problem. You can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, whatever your favorite podcast app is – Overcast happens to be mine – or go online at northfultonbusinessradio.com. Check out the archive of our old shows there. Got some great guests just like Garrett that we’ve had here today. Please also follow us on Twitter, on Facebook, North Fulton BRX. That’s North Fulton BRX.

John Ray: [00:30:39] So, for our guest, Garrett Massey of Polyglot Labs, easy for me to say, I’m John Ray. Join us next time here on North Fulton Business Radio.

Outro: [00:30:56] Today, you’re connected more than ever – your friends, your family, your life. And banking is what you do on your time anywhere you like. Renasant understands how you back, offering mobile banking services you need. At Renasant, we also understand that, sometimes, you need to speak to real people with real answers. That’s why Renasant has more than 170 convenient locations throughout the South ready to serve you. Renasant Bank, understanding you. Member FDIC.

Tagged With: Cortex, Cortex Digital, custom app, custom app development, custom application development, customer data, customer data analytics, Eyesore, Garrett Massey, Griffin, Griffin GA, integrated application development, intergrated applications, marketing agencies, marketing agency, Polyglot Labs, Technology Solutions, web developer, web development, Website Creation, website design, website development, websites

SIMON SAYS, LET’S TALK BUSINESS: Alexandra Radford with The Edge Agency and Joyce Bone with Anxiety-Free Selling

June 17, 2019 by Mike

Gwinnett Studio
Gwinnett Studio
SIMON SAYS, LET'S TALK BUSINESS: Alexandra Radford with The Edge Agency and Joyce Bone with Anxiety-Free Selling
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Alexandra Radford, Al Simon and Joyce Bone

Alexandra Radford/The Edge Agency

The Edge Agency brings peace to like-minded business professionals through a marketing partnership, creating and overseeing your brand, design and marketing strategy.

Alexandra Radford creates marketing plans and implements business strategies that bring attention and awareness to your business through networking opportunities, one-on-one client appointments, industry involvement, and public speaking to target audiences. These avenues serve to increase brand awareness, generate buzz and create opportunities for collaboration and growth.

Joyce Bone/Anxiety-Free Selling

Imagine selling without anxiety, without stress, and with no resistance to prospecting, following up, negotiating, or closing. What would stronger financial results do for you? A life without prospecting stress and more wins is possible. Most salespeople feel anxiety sometimes. Anxiety-Free Selling melts away any hesitancy to take the necessary daily actions resulting in you hitting your financial goals. No more missed forecasts!

Anxiety-Free Selling was developed by a salesperson like you who figured out how to overcome sales anxiety becoming a top salespeople as a result. Because of her success in overcoming sales anxiety, Joyce Bone decided to develop a program to help others overcome their anxiety so they too can flourish.

With persistence, the right mindset and focus any salesperson can crush their sales goals!

Tagged With: digital marketing agency, marketing agency, professional sales training, sales training, Sandler Training, Sandler Training by Simon, selling expert, Simon Says Lets Talk Business, the edge agency

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