IAM2196 – Understanding the Evolution of Marketing Practices

Title: Transcript - Tue, 06 Aug 2024 03:02:35 GMT

Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2024 03:02:35 GMT, Duration: [00:16:50.42]

[00:00:00.10] - Gresham Harkless

I think simplicity is everything. And I think where a lot of people struggle is they don't necessarily do a lot of work on the front end, to try to understand their messaging, be able to communicate that messaging so that when they do and create a website or they, kinda look for keywords for SEO or they're doing a pay per click campaign, that they have a real strong understanding on on who their target market is. Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast, and I wanted to share with you one of the episodes that I was a guest on for someone else's podcast. Podcast. I always talk about how important it is to build a media company. One of the next best things you could do is be on somebody else's media company. So I had the pleasure of being a guest on this podcast, and I wanted to share a little snippet with you because it would help support the eight business pillars we've really been trying to focus on with a lot more of our content and a lot more of the solo episodes that I'm doing. So make sure, of course, that you subscribe to our podcast, but, of course, you take some time out. Check out the show notes. Subscribe to the podcast that I've been featured on as well too, and get to learn about some of those eight business pillars and how you can continue to kinda leverage and build that up so you can go from builder to architect to, of course, rock star and luminary. So this is Greta signing out. I hope you enjoy this I am CEO special episode.

[00:01:20.79] - Heather Myklegard

Gresham, you said that you loved marketing, and I'm gonna guess that's specific to digital marketing. What is it that you love about it?

[00:01:30.29] - Gresham Harkless

For me, it's really the communication slash storytelling piece. And I think that every, entrepreneur, every CEO, every business owner has kind of like a story. Even if someone has exact same, services that they're providing for in comparison to another organization, there's something unique about how they do it, how they got started that to me is is motivational, it's inspirational, and it's something that I always try to kinda showcase in their products and services. And on my show, I call it the secret sauce. But I feel like we all kinda have some type of secret sauce or something that sets us apart and makes us unique and is a different way that we kinda even execute on the services that we provide. So from a marketing standpoint, I've always looked at how can you take that story, take the secret sauce the way that you do what you do, and showcase that to as many people as possible and try to communicate with them, let them know that you understand exactly what, their their pains are, what solutions you're providing. And that's how I kinda look at marketing. It's like using different tools and ingredients to kinda bridge that gap so that people truly understand what you do and and how you do it.

[00:02:40.00] - Jennifer Mulchandani

So, Gresh, what's your secret sauce?

[00:02:43.30] - Gresham Harkless

I think it's just that, journalist mindset. My secret sauce is all about, like, having and showcasing somebody else's talents and their gifts and asking questions, interviewing people to try to pull that out. I've always loved, you know, content and information has changed, you know, tremendously from, you know, the the the print newspapers that I used to do with, the clip art and all of those things to now doing blogs and podcast. So I think that the way that I've done it has been differently, but I I love to sit down and hear stories and and try to showcase that and put people in their best light so that people understand what they do.

[00:03:19.09] - Heather Myklegard

So I wanna dig a little bit deeper about the evolution of your marketing, you know, going from clip art to, you know, now you're doing a podcast. Talk to me more about how your marketing has evolved over the years.

[00:03:32.90] - Gresham Harkless

Yes. It's so funny. I I was talking with somebody, and I was saying that it it my marketing company has evolved with digital marketing in general. I think the first time I did, quote, unquote, digital marketing and didn't even have a business, I was in college and was just creating, like, a Facebook group to try to bring people. At that time, I was gonna go to law school, so bring pre law people together, to know about different events and things that were going on in in Washington, DC. And it's it's crazy to think, like, how much that has evolved as Facebook has evolved and how digital marketing platforms have evolved. And I think what I used to always say is that, you know, I do digital marketing, and that used see include Facebook, that it used to include good in a website. It used to include so many different aspects. Now because it's so broad and because each of the different platforms are so sophisticated, I've niched down more in terms of the services than anything else. So as, the platforms have evolved, as I've evolved and kinda understand exactly what I wanna do, it's been more of understanding, like, this is kind of our our laser focused way that we wanna try to help clients to build a foundation, and we don't necessarily wanna do these other aspects. We're not like a social media agency, for example, even though that plays a part in what it is that we do. We're aware of it, but we're not necessarily hanging our hat on that's exactly what we do. So it's all in trying to as they become a lot more sophisticated, understand what our lane is and really kinda stay, you know, true to that as much as possible.

[00:05:01.00] - Jennifer Mulchandani

Yeah. I I I love that, and I think it's interesting because, you know, there's agencies of every stripe. And I I say to I I said to somebody today, I said, you know, marketers, we have the same tool kit. You know? It's like, there's not, like, there's not a tool kit that you have that someone else doesn't have. It's it's how we deploy our tools, and it's which tools we sharpen the most. And, so I think it's interesting that you've chosen, to to niche down the way you have. So was that an easy evolution for you to to go in the direction where where you are now? Or was it out of just the tools that you most enjoyed using, or did you see that was that, like, an intentional market opportunity that you you latched onto?

[00:05:46.30] - Gresham Harkless

That's a a really great question. And I think it it kinda just happened, you know, organically over time. But I think too, when when you start to kinda, like, run the business, you also have to work on your mindset. And and that piece is kind of looking from more of an abundant mentality. And that's something that I've had to kinda work on a lot, and I think we all have to work on, you know, so much because I think as soon as you start a business, you just want to try to help as many people as possible. If somebody says, do you do, you know, x y and z? You're like, of course, I can try to do x y and z because I wanna help you out. But as you start to evolve and you start to work on certain projects, work with certain clients, you realize that, hey. This isn't necessarily what I wanna do. I wanna focus more on a, b, and c rather than, you know, x, y, and z. And I think that's probably definitely been a part of the process for me. And I think too, as you said, like, there's different agencies that have, you know, different ways that they deploy and execute on the different tools that they have. But you start to really know what you do better than anybody else, and you start to hear that from clients. You start to feel really at home and confident in what you're doing. And I think it takes time to get to get to that point. And I think it's always an evolving, you know, process. But I think for for us, it's really been about, understanding this is where and what type of service that I wanna grow more than anything else. It's not that we necessarily can't do certain things. It's just that we feel like we're, you know, the best or close to the best at, you know, what it is that we do, and we wanna lean more into that and get better. But, you have to be able to let go of things, which is definitely the biggest challenge when you start to kinda niche down.

[00:07:25.10] - Jennifer Mulchandani

I love I love that. So how far into your journey did you did that confidence become more evident to you where you felt like, this is my I'm an expert. When did you know that?

[00:07:41.00] - Gresham Harkless

You know, I feel like it's it's an ever evolving process. I I'm just, the I think my personality is always that there's always something I can get better at. So I see, like, the word expert or even I use the word CEO or, you know, whatever that might be, thought leader as something that is kinda like that carrot that you never ever reach. Because I feel if I reach that expert status, then that means that I can kinda rest on my laurels. But I think that if I'm always looking at it as somewhere that I can be, and and getting better, you know, every single day, then it's something that's more of a journey. And that's why as I've grown older, I've and, you know, experience, you know, business and and grown it, I've tried to have peace in that and knowing that it's not a destination. It's just a journey in general that really I feel at home with. So that's been, you know, part of it. But I think once you start to see, you know, successes with clients, you start to get more confidence. And I think that every level that you go to, there's gonna be some type of challenge that you have. And it's just a matter of kinda leaning on some of those successes, some of those wins to be able to kinda see that come to fruition.

[00:08:47.79] - Heather Myklegard

K. I'm gonna ask you an uncomfortable question. Are you afraid to spend money on marketing?

[00:08:53.89] - Gresham Harkless

No. I I'm not. But, I I think I'm a little biased, obviously, as part of, like, what I do. I think that what I try to be very, very, careful about doing is staying true to who I am and how I see the company going and not trying to replicate what somebody else is doing. I often say, and this could be definitely adopted to to marketing is, if you run your own ratio, never lose. And what I and the reason I say that is because just as, you know, Jennifer said, like, we have the same tools, but the way that you execute and and strategize with them and and deploy them is going to separate you. So I try to make sure that I pay attention to and respect, you know, the successes that people have, but you don't wanna, you know, get caught up in emulating that. Because I think that, there's a lot of, reward you get from being a first mover. And often when you see somebody deploy some type of marketing strategy and you try to replicate that, the the opportunities sometimes go on. So you have to be true, you know, to who you are and try to create your own strategy around that.

[00:10:02.00] - Jennifer Mulchandani

So I'd love to to sort of get you to dive a little bit into, you know, your your niche, your your, you know, your your web guide, your building sites, You're probably rebuilding sites that are dated. You're maybe brand new sites. You know, what's what's new and important in in web design that, you know, people need to know?

[00:10:27.29] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I think simplicity is everything. And I think where a lot of people struggle is they don't necessarily do a lot of work on the front end to try to understand their messaging, be able to communicate that messaging so that when they do and create a website or they, kinda look for keywords for SEO or they're doing a pay per click campaign that they have a real strong understanding on who their target market is, even what success is for them as an organization. And some people might think that that's, like, an extra step, but I think it manifests itself in the way that the website is designed. So for example, our screens, while they seem like they're getting bigger, they're actually getting smaller in comparison to being on, computers. So when you're thinking about, like, mobile devices and the way that people are interacting from that standpoint, you wanna be very, very specific about what it is that you do and how you do it. When you think about about from an SEO standpoint how people are searching, there's and I won't say the word because it'll definitely go off on me now, but there's smart devices all around us in how people are searching and finding, you know, ways that they want to know what it is that you do and for you to answer those questions. So when you're thinking of how you're solving those problems, you wanna kinda bridge that gap and do the work for them prior to, people kinda searching, you know, aimlessly for whatever whatever it is that you do. But, those are the two kinda biggest things that kinda come to mind. It's just, you know, that simplicity and and design and being able to kind of make sure that you are, translating your content and information for people that are searching for it. And I think that a lot of that happens not when you design a website. It happens before you design a website and that work that you do prior to that. So, those are the two or three biggest things that I think I can come to mind right now.

[00:12:23.10] - Heather Myklegard

Christian, is there anything about marketing that you find cringe worthy or any examples you've seen that leave you speechless?

[00:12:33.60] - Gresham Harkless

Yes. I I mean, I think we're in a we're in a place where in a time where there definitely is, still a large amount of people that have website, but there's still people that don't have websites. There's still, like, people that are completely against digital marketing. I remember, I worked for, the for a company, and I don't know. I probably won't say the name. But I worked for a company, and I remember doing, like, a lot of cold calls. And and I remember somebody telling me that, the Internet was a fad and that there was not gonna be Internet around, and I'm still on, you know, that that trend of, you know, needing a website and things like that. And so fast forward a lot of years, but I I still see websites that look like they have been created just as, like, an afterthought. They're not something that people see as their digital storefront. They're not something that people see as a way to communicate with their targeting clients. So, a lot of times, not having mobile friendly websites, not having you know, I'm I'm geeking out on more of the back end stuff, but looking at the title tag and meta description and that not being in place or even people having, more than, you know, having two hundred characters in their title tag. It to me, it it makes me cringe, and I'm sure search engines are cringing as well. But I think it's just some of those things where people have good intentions, but sometimes they just kinda DIY it, and they don't, you know, invest in those things that will help them to grow their business. And, one other big thing that, kind of, makes me cringe as well too is that, people feel as if marketing is in contention with word-of-mouth advertise word-of-mouth, referrals or opportunities. I I'm a big believer in that, you know, people and I've always heard that in order to be a millionaire, you need a certain amount of streams of income in order to do that. I think in order to build a successful business as well too, you want to make sure that you have multiple ways that you're able to bring in clients and opportunities as well. And I think that helps out in times like this. If you completely were I'm gonna go to face to face, you know, networking events, that has completely changed. So the best way to kinda quote, unquote combat that is to really have a, a diverse range of ways that you're able to kinda drive in clients and customers. And I think that I I it pains me to kinda see businesses that are, you know, kinda set in their ways, not willing to kinda try different things. And I think that, it kinda hurts, you know, those businesses organizations in the long run.

[00:15:01.70] - Jennifer Mulchandani

Yeah. So what is your do you have a rule of thumb? Or what do you say to a client who says, so how long will this website last me, or how often do I need to invest in in this, you know, brand asset?

[00:15:19.89] - Gresham Harkless

Yes. I usually say you you wanna really look at your website site probably around three to five years. And it doesn't necessarily mean that you want to have a redesign. You might just want to have a refresh. One of the things that we do, especially because we work with WordPress, is there's a lot of, updates and improvements to WordPress on, it seems like, a a daily basis where they're improving, like, kind of the features and opportunities there. A lot of times, if someone purchased a theme or they had a custom built theme, maybe three, four year five years ago, you could run into a situation where the website breaks. And when the website breaks, you can fix it. And it usually depends on a case by case basis, but sometimes that refresh will kind of take care of it. Not all designers and developers are created equal as well too. So understanding and and knowing kind of, like, the nuances of the behind the scenes of your website is absolutely huge. Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh again, and I hope you enjoyed that special episode of the I am CEO podcast. Just like I mentioned in the beginning, we're really trying to laser focus on these eight pillars to show you as a builder how you can leverage these eight pillars and really level up there so it helps to level up your business and organization. So hope you enjoy this episode. Definitely please check out the show notes so you can learn more about the pillar, learn more about the person that I guested on their episode, and, of course, learn more a little bit more about us as well too. This is Grass signing out. Hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.