More and more over the last few years I’ve been thinking about how I lead The Squad. It’s not something I ever thought about for the first 7-8 years. I can think of a few natural reasons why and other reasons based on my internal wiring.
Naturally, when there are just a few people to lead, then it follows that leadership doesn’t come to mind much. That’s especially true in a partnership where all the partners are involved in the day-to-day operations. That was pretty much us for the first several years. Another thing that squelched some of my leadership opportunity was an illness a few years back. When your mind is on survival it’s not on leadership.
Internally I’m wired to want to drive, produce, and go. If I had any leadership focus it probably came through in the way I tried to lead by action or the way I tried to energize the team around a common mission, vision, or big goal.
In recent years a few things have really propelled the way I think about leadership. Our annual owner’s retreat has been great breeding ground for getting my head up to 30,000 feet and out of the weeds. One output from the annual meeting in 2016 was a set of 8 Core Values.
Another thing that has helped me is watching others lead the way. One particular CEO that comes to mind is Scott Diamond over at Unified Technologies. I’ve watched from nearby as Scott has created Core Values, led through them, and created an amazing team and culture. They have also created amazing growth over the years.
Another leader who I’ve watched is Meg Panella over at Keller Williams Louisville East. Meg has taught me a lot about leverage when it comes to systems, training, and your team. There are several others, both local and some from a distance, that I’d love to mention. Maybe that’s a future blog. There are a few other leaders I’ve had the privilege of getting to know recently, and I’m watching and learning a lot from them along the way. Who are you watching? Better find them. Leadership is a lonely place.
Lastly, the biggest impact has been coaching. I spent some time working through X’s and O’s with the team at ActionCoach Louisville. I learned a lot about leading to our Core Values and Culture. It helped me work people onto and, frankly, off of the team over the past few years. It also gave us the initial tools to start documenting our business processes. More recently in the past 8 months, I’ve been blessed to work with Daniel Montgomery of Leadership Reality. Daniel approached me after launching his business around a year ago. He’s been instrumental in my personal development and helping me to learn my leadership style. I’m in the middle of creating a life plan with his guidance. Then we’ll be shifting to my leadership story: past, present, and future. This coming week, our entire team will be journeying with Daniel and his team through their Leadership Challenge workshop. Stay tuned for updates.
So there you have the history of my leadership of The Marketing Squad. And as I’ve reflected on it, I wanted to leave you with 10 philosophies that have developed over these last 10 years. Heck probably over the last 42 years if we’re being real.
My hope is that they help you form some of your own.
My goal is to begin sharing wins, insights, problems, and pains each week. If you’re a business owner or leader out there, my hope is that these will add value as you reflect on your own journey. I know none of us need more noise.
Every industry has them. Ours is no different.
Let’s talk about magic beans, jazz hands, and freelancers. We’ll tackle them one at a time and hopefully give you the insight you need to protect yourself from getting burned.
Let me first say that as the leader of this business, we don’t have it all figured out. We make mistakes. We miss some deadlines. We could improve our communication. We could innovate more.
What I will say is that our Core Values are either offended or exemplified through our actions as an agency. Our goal in all we do is to show the following values in not just our words but our actions:
In working with us, we want to know when we’re not living up to the standards we’ve set.
Just in the last few months we’ve encountered the following scenarios. These are all real life examples of clients getting the raw end of the deal.
Example 1 Jazz Hands — This is the agency that sells things then figures out how to do them on your time and your dime. As I mentioned earlier Disciplined Learners is one of our core values. We want to be learners and some projects not only require new learning but also some creative problem solving along the way. Recently, we’ve seen an agency sell ecommerce services and the end result was, um, lacking. You could clearly tell someone got in over their head and then bailed. When you ask questions of an agency like this, you’ll very likely get Jazz Hands. It’s the only way to distract long enough to keep you from figuring out they are in over their heads.
To contrast this, for years we turned down Ecommerce websites as we didn’t feel competent enough to handle them with confidence. We met a recent client and spent the beginning stages of our relationship fixing things that were broken and completing what was owed to them. I happen to know from first hand knowledge this particular agency that worked with them before us sells videos, ecommerce sites, and other services, and then tries to figure out how in the world to deliver said services after the fact. Please stop making our industry look bad.
Example 2 Freelancers — This might be the most dangerous one. With an agency they don’t often disappear, so you have some recourse to go back and work with them toward a mutually acceptable end result. I love the fact that people can start out the same way we did, with some bootstrap energy and a great bit of desire. Unfortunately, that’s some of what I see missing from freelancers and moonlighters. Before you hand your next website build over to someone who doesn’t understand hosting, plugins, or marketing automation software, think long and hard. Sure we all want to support a start up. All of us have a little affinity for the underdog. If you do decide to go this route make the decision based on the character of the person, not the price or deal they are offering. No overhead equals some sweet deals. Finding a freelancer can be a big win for the right startup or small business. If you’re established, then I may question the win.
Example 3 Magic Beans — Although I said freelancers are possibly the place where most might be burned, I believe that those peddling Magic Beans offend us the most. This is the digital marketing agency that talks big game. They use big words. They mystify things like SEO and analytics. They promise a lot and deliver far less.
This type of agency wars against transparency and truth. They act like measurable things are not measurable. They make simple things complicated to confuse you and create value that might not actually be there.
Find someone who will level with you. Someone you can trust. There is no man behind the curtain. Digital marketing is about strategy and execution with a bit of craft. It’s not rocket science. You can figure out many a things with a Google search, but that doesn’t mean you can create the strategy, execute, and measure in a rhythm and cadence that produces results.
That’s where working with a digital marketing agency comes in. Interested in learning more? Let’s connect.
Perfectionism is the enemy of progress and procrastination is its close cuz.
If you find yourself saying the following things, you might be procrastinating your digital marketing and without even realizing it. It happens to everyone. Heck it was happening to us and we run an agency. We do this type of work every day for around 25 partner clients in a multitude of different industries from B2B to B2C businesses. Yet procrastination and perfectionism still knock at our door.
Plans are great. Strategic ones are even better. That being said we’ve found that progress begets progress. Action is usually the quickest path to learning. One of my heroes and mentors in business, Peter J Daniels, says you can correct something but you can’t correct nothing. Let that sink in for a moment. It doesn’t take nearly as much effort to bring any task, idea, or project to a screeching halt, as it does to solve a problem, create something useful and hit publish. Did you hit publish?
Our 8 Core Values help our marketing agency balance out our desire to have a plan with our desire to take action. We lead our team to be Strategic Doers and Faithful Stewards but not at the expense of being Passionate Storytellers and Creative Problem Solvers. Even with a Core Value like learning, we added the phrase disciplined to create Disciplined Learners. We’ve seen plenty of unfocused learning in the digital space. You can drink from the knowledge firehose but never implement anything you learn and therefore never impact a business bottom line. But you did gain new knowledge, right?
We believe it starts with plans but we don’t believe in planning out too far into 2018. Are we an agile, lean startup agency? No. Not yet. But we do believe digital marketing is a mix of editorial planning, persona creation, and goal setting with a good dose of real-time media. If you’re making plans too far out in advance, you’re setting yourself up to waste a good bit of time. Things change rapidly with digital marketing and social media. So will your plans and reactions to what’s happening. You need a flexible approach with progress as your goal, not perfection.
Get better each week, each month, and each year. Sure there are setbacks along the way and no progress curve is without some steps backwards and downward spikes, however, in the end, progress and momentum are the keys to your success.
At times you have to press into the urgent, and circle back to the strategic. Sometimes opportunity is thrust upon us and we have to take advantage of it. Other times we must work the plan and wait for the results. Seize the opportunities but make the strategic plans along the way. It can be done.
If your marketing is too planned out, it will wreak of automation and people will tune it out. If you have no plan and shoot from the hip, you’ll struggle to get consistent results. Avoid both extremes. Again, the answer is in the middle. Make plans, take action, then measure, rinse and repeat. You’ve got this.
Whatever is the case, don’t let your marketing team be excusiologists. Encourage one another to try things and take action. Then at least you have something to measure.
Need help? We may have the ongoing digital marketing program for you. Many of our partner clients choose to outsource all or a portion of their inbound/digital marketing to The Squad. If you’re the next contestant on the Price is Right, then come on down.
Between copious amounts of holiday parties, last minute Christmas shopping, and simply trying to end the year strong it's all too easy to rush into the new year without even taking a glance back at 2017. As our team is preparing to take next week off to celebrate Christmas and recharge before 2018, we are taking some time to slow down and do a little reflection on the past year - most importantly, some changes that we've yet to announce officially to the world.
There's still a week left in the year so we won't tally the sales numbers yet (if you've got a proposal out there - 'tis the season for signing), but we can say that in 2017 we've pumped out some strong lead-generating websites and begun partnerships with companies who are poised for growth.
Additionally, our team has grown in every direction to keep up with the demand. Alea and Courtney joined our team at the beginning of the year and are now leading our partners' monthly programs as Directors of Partner Marketing.
Then in July, Michalah, Glenn, and Matt joined our team and Taylor became full time. Michalah is now our Content Manager, coordinating and writing a lot of the content that goes out the door. Glenn, Director of Client Development, has been building relationships and making an impact in our sales world. Matt brought a whole new range of web development skills to The Squad and continues to code websites with speed and precision. And Taylor has enabled us to take our video and photography to a whole new level.
In my book, that makes 2017 a great year.
But amidst all the growth has also come a bittersweet goodbye. In November Jay Stewart, a partner of the business since 2011, began a new chapter in life. Jay felt called to pursue his personal venture Razor Keep as well as to help local ministries, start-up business ventures, and business development projects through consulting.
Bryce, Jay, and Wayne came to an agreement to move Jay out of an ownership stake in The Squad, and give him the flexability to pursue his passions.
It would be amiss to say that the decision was easy, but as a company we are led by our mission to do good works and serve passionately, and we know that sometimes that means enabling team members to pursue new doors for the future.
Here's a little word from Jay on the transition:
"This decision is based on several things, but most important was working a deal that was going to be best for The Squad and Sarah and myself. I feel very blessed to have been a part of Bryce’s vision and to have played a role in building The Squad to where we are today. Even though I’ll no longer be an owner, I will always have a place in my heart for the vision and the "Squad family."
In this new chapter, Razor Keep is at the forefront of Jay's focus. Razor Keep is a new product, designed by Jay, to extend the life of razors and ensure a close and comfortable shave, especially for individuals with sensitive skin.
Even though it means a loss for us, we wholeheartedly support Jay's venture and new focus in life.
We are thankful for all that Jay has given to The Squad. When Bryce became ill with Lyme disease in 2012, Jay shifted into a leading role at The Squad and is one of the key reasons we are still here today. Jay will forever hold a special place in the history of The Squad.
Additionally, Sarah Stewart, Jay's wife, is still a major part of our team as our Office Administrator.
The best way to get in touch with Jay is by emailing him at jay@jaystewartconsulting.com.
As we go into 2018 we look forward to watching Jay's ventures succeed, and The Squad is gearing up for a year of continued growth and expansion.
The Squad 10 Year Anniversary Open House was a huge success, and we want to thank all those who came out, as well as everyone who sent congratulations over the past month but weren't able to make it to the open house.
From making new connections to eating burgers hot off the grill to throwing down on the ping pong table, it was a day full of good food, tons of fun, and great fellowship. If you missed it, check out these photos from throughout the day.
The morning crew enjoying donuts and coffee, with a Channel Partner presentation happening in the Large Conference Room.
We even rounded out the day with live music from some of our crew: Jay, Alea, Glenn, and Allison. If you're a fan of James Taylor, Fire and Rain, you'll love this this video of them playing/singing it.
In addition to ping pong, Mario Brothers, and live music, we also had an entertaining game of trivia going throughout the day. The challenge was to match each team member with an anonymous random fact - and even our own team had a hard time figuring out the answers.
For all those who participated, without further ado...
Many of you asked where various snacks, treats and beverages came from. Just in case you want to patronize any of the local brands, we created an easy list of links for your reference.
Morning
Lunch
Afternoon Hors d'oeuvre
In addition to having these rockin' eats throughout the day, we also gave away gift cards from three of the restaurants to some of our open house attendees. The winners of the gift cards are:
We kicked off the day with a "closer look at The Squad" for our Channel Partners. To all of our Channel Partners who were at that session or stopped by later in the day - Thank you! We appreciate your partnership and we're excited to see our relationships grow!
We equipped each of our Channel Partners with a kit stocked with items to enable them to share The Squad's story and capabilities. To those who couldn't make it, we'll be delivering the kits! They also have a few tangible treats in them.
As we prepped for the Open House, SquadTalks was on the agenda for the day. And our team was gearing up to share exciting information and news about the world of digital marketing, including inbound methodologies, 2018 trends, and what's happening in the digital ad space. Unfortunately, we were so busy having fun and connecting with people that we totally missed our SquadTalks opportunity.
To make up for it, we'll be planning future SquadTalk events in the coming months. We promise we'll invite you out to our place for coffee and talks on the digital marketing info you want to know.
Again, we want to thank all those who came out to our Open House! If you weren't able to make it, hopefully you'll have the opportunity to drop by our new office soon.
We are looking forward to another amazing 10 years of serving our wonderful clients, meeting people doing great work in Louisville, and hosting events that draw in the community!
If you haven't noticed, The Squad has grown a lot this summer. We've already introduced you to Glenn and Michalah, and today we want to introduce you to Matt, our newest Squad member and Web Developer.
Matt hails from the dark, cold lands that are Upstate New York. He moved to Kentucky for college and spent a few years in Lexington before making the move to Louisville. We of course wonder why it took him so long to get here, but we're happy have Matt join The Squad!
I was approached by TEKSystems with an opportunity as a Web Developer. Bryce and Wayne were kind enough to meet with me, and felt like I would be a good fit. Ever since, I've been making cool websites come to life, and learning a lot, and having fun!
How nice everyone is! Even though I've only been here for a couple of weeks, The Squad has made me feel settled and comfortable in my new role.
Playing video games is a big hobby. I have a gaming PC, a Playstation, a 3DS, and even my phone to keep me entertained. A night at the movies, or on Netflix, is also time well spent for me. When I feel like getting away from a screen, a novel, or graphic novel, will typically be my go to.
I love making websites look exactly as the designer had envisioned them, right down to the pixel. I also really like making animations, and other interactive elements, that make the user experience on a site even more enjoyable.
We are excited by the website development capabilities Matt brings to our team. If your business is in need of a new website, our team would love to get to know you and your business - start a conversation today!
If The Marketing Squad seems like a place you'd love to work, we're always looking for talented people to join our team. We aren't currently hiring for a specific role, but if you think you've got something special to add to The Squad, drop us a line.
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