Nick, What Do You Even Do?
I get asked all of the time, “what do you even do?” It seems like a simple question for most to answer, but for me it’s not so black & white. The great majority of people can answer simply by saying, “I’m an account executive for this company” or, “I work for this company as a blank.” For me, the lines are blurred because of the nature of my industry, and the route I plan to carve through it.
Simply stated, I am the owner of Whole Brain Digital LLC, an advertising and marketing agency that helps build businesses online. That description makes sense to many as soon as they hear the marketing and advertising keywords, but they still don’t understand what I do looking at the big picture. To help my friends, family and customers (current and potential) better understand, I wanted to write a brief post about my journey as an advertising and marketing consultant including what got me to where I am today.
My First Jobs.
Your Local Pool Kids.
My first job. A good high school friend and his family gave me the opportunity to work for their family business pool company. I started off working with my friend a few days a week, scrubbing and cleaning pool covers to make sure they were good to go for their clients the following fall/winter. It wasn’t the most glamorous job, but they paid more than fair for high school experience, and gave us the opportunity to work up with more responsibilities and jobs as we got older.
The best part of the job was definitely spending time with my friend Nick L. From the start of our relationship, we clicked over entrepreneurial ideas and inventions. Every day we went to work over the summer we would go from house-to-house brainstorming and just throwing out the craziest ideas for business ventures. I could go on and on about the ideas we had, but as you can tell, we never made anything of it…not to say that we won’t. I am appreciative of the time spent with him and his family, as I believe it truly helped reinforce the entrepreneurial mindset that I had from a young age.
Off To College #RecLife.
I went to Missouri State University and loved it from the very beginning. I was with a few friends from high school, joined a fraternity and was loving the college life. Through my involvement in the fraternity I was able to land a job as a fitness attendant at the Rec Center on campus. I was really good at cleaning things by then, so it was an easy move from the pool world to the fitness world. I worked there for about a year and a half before I landed a management position in February of 2016.
As a building manager I was responsible for the supervision and risk management of the Rec patrons and staff, as well as opening & closing, and enforcing all program policies and procedures. I loved my time at the Rec because I met so many people and was given the opportunity to be in a management position before leaving college.
Management.
My time at the Rec reinforced my feeling that a was a “people person” at heart. I loved connecting with colleagues and patrons, and it pushed me to pursue my Administrative management degree in the Missouri State University College of Business.
StepNpull.
I was really liking college around April of 2016, but I knew I needed an internship with real business experience. That pressure is what drove me to discover an internship listing for StepNpull that said exactly this…
Locally owned business, StepNpull, is looking for a marketing intern to build their social media presence and to survey current clients to identify sales factors such as
· How did the customer find out about StepNpull?
· What factor(s) persuaded them to purchase StepNpull?
· How satisfied are they with the product?
· Is it a good value (price point) for the benefit it provides?
15 hours a week, office is located in the eFactory which is on the BearLine. Flexible schedule around classes but within typical business hours. Strong communication and computer skills required. Experience with social media such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Open to marketing, communications and general business majors. Pay $xx an hour. Visit website to learn more – http://stepnpull.com/
I instantly fell in love with the business/product (I may have been a slight germaphobe at the time) and began doing my homework to try and land the position. The job sounded incredibly better than all of the other internship listings with strict hours and boring responsibilities. I felt as if the freedom and potential impact I could make was enormous. I did so much research over the company, I think my employers were slightly confused and had no choice but to give me the shot.
The position started in April and went until about August of that year. During my time at the internship it turned into much more than follow-ups but more marketing and social media work as that is what I saw a need for. In August, my employers asked if I was interested in staying with the company. I was pumped and gladly accepted the position…Since that day i have never looked back!
My time since then as StepNpull’s Digital Marketing Manager has truly shaped me into the Advertiser and Marketer I am today. My employers have been willing to experiment with different forms of paid advertising, implemented crucial analytics platforms, and diversified their selling platforms through many channels. My current roles and responsibilities include:
Design, build, and maintain social media presence (Graphic Design, Video Production)
Plan and execute all web, SEO/SEM, marketing database, and email strategies
Measure and report performance of all digital assets (Website, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google My Business) and assess against goals
Identify trends and insights, and optimize spend and performance based on the insights
Write content for the company website and other platforms
Create, publish, and monitor PPC advertising campaigns for Google & Amazon accounts
Business lead generation activities.
Missouri State Advertising Team.
After more time at StepNpull and higher level advertising and promotion classes at Missouri State, I applied and was accepted to the Universities Advertising Team. During my time on the team, my final semester in college, I learned more about myself as a person and advertising and marketing than I ever have. I was given the opportunity by my team to be Vice President and a presenter for the final pitch to the client. I could go into the details, but I think a huge thank you to all of my team members and teacher is enough. If you want to know about the impact that this had on my college career, just read this article, Leaving a Legacy: Melissa Burnett Reflects After 30 Years at MSU.
I’m More Scared Of Not Doing This, Than To Always Wonder, “What If.”
My time at Missouri State, past/current positions, plus loving/supporting friends and family have all pushed me to be where I am today. In February of this year I formed my own business, Whole Brain Digital LLC, as a Sole Proprietor.
I was tired of passing up on new opportunities because I didn’t have a business to work under, I knew from my experience that an LLC and it’s safety net was crucial for what I wanted to do as an entrepreneur.
I haven’t looked back since. I’m ignoring the mainstream route of getting a job, and doing it under my own brand. The basic startup costs of an Illinois LLC is around $250 dollars, Commerce Bank offers basically-free Business Checking, and my only cost per-month is my website builder and accounting software QuickBooks (Get 50% of your subscription by using my referral code.)
But, the life isn’t glamorous. You eat crappy food, sit at your computer all day working on client projects and get a little lonely doing it all by yourself. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want it any other way. My goals are to scale the business into something much larger than myself, employ friends & family, college interns and full-time employees. Thus creating a community that is able to build business at the same time as creating opportunities for others to learn about what they love to do.
I am very much appreciate of all friends, family, and others that show support by sending me leads, and engaging on social media. If you want to see a list of SOME of my current clients follow the button below.
But Really, What Do You Do?
Like I said before I am the owner of Whole Brain Digital LLC, an advertising and marketing agency that helps build businesses online. But on the real, I am a one man wrecking-crew when it comes to all things advertising & marketing strategy, design, management, and client relationships. Being a sole proprietor means you have to do it all…the invoicing, the design, the coding, the lead follow-up, the ad targeting…literally everything.
The Mission:
Whole Brain Digital LLC is dedicated to "providing creative and logical digital marketing and advertising solutions unique to each client."
The Vision:
Whole Brain Digital LLC "envisions creating dynamic and competitive digital solutions, so that businesses, brands, and personalities can focus on what they do best."
The Values:
We are committed to "creative design, innovation, optimization, relationship-building, and return-on-investment."
In order for you to better understand the services I offer, I can highlight them below. I break my services into two categories, left-brain and right-brain.
Left Brain
The analytical and logical side of your brain.
Left Brain services for all of your analytical and logical business needs! This includes quantitative insights based on your brand's digital channels.
The services in the Left Brain Include:
Search Engine Optimization
PPC
Email Marketing
Analytics
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
SEO is critical to the digital footprint of your business or brand. Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo reward entities with relevant keywords, links, and metadata relating to industries and target markets. Whole Brain Digital specializes in optimization to ensure your website visitors are staying longer, viewing more, and converting.
PAY-PER-CLICK
Capture and convert prospective customers and fans when they are looking for your business or brand in search engines. The Whole Brain Digital team is certified in Google AdWords & Mobile Search ensuring we know how to turn prospective customers into paying ones.
EMAIL MARKETING
Email is not dead. Email marketing is a low cost method to retarget past customers and engage people right in their inboxes. From appropriate headlines to powerful Call-To-Actions (CTAs) our team knows how & when to slide in the inbox (DMs?)
ANALYTICS
Who, what, when, why, and where are your customers discovering your business or brand? Tracking measurable data on websites, social media, and email ensure you are spending time and money on the right target market.
Right Brain
The creative and intuitive part of the brain
Right Brain services for all of your creative business needs! This includes qualitative insights based on your brand's industry and design services for your digital channels.
The services in the Right Brain Include:
Website Design
Graphic Design
Video production
Social media
WEBSITE DESIGN
Having a modern website is critical in today's digital landscape. Ensuring your customers can understand and navigate the layout and related content is essential. Whole Brain Digital LLC specializes in web design and is part of Squarespace's exclusive "Circle" reserved for industry experts and gurus.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Graphic design is an important tool used to convey your message! A great visual with the right colors will leave a memorable impression for potential customers. From the consultation, our team will execute the graphics and print materials needed for your business!
VIDEO PRODUCTION
Video content is here to stay. Visual storytelling is becoming more complex, creative, and it continues to change everyday. The rapid advancement of mobile technology has fueled the need for visual storytelling, no matter the industry. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube continue to morph into video-centric niches, ready for the taking. Whole Brain Digital has experience in video production ranging from product demonstrations to Livestreams broadcasted in real-time.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Engage your online visitors with writing and content that engages them and drives action. Social Media strategies without a clear call-to-action or defined message leaves your customers confused and leaving with more questions than they came with. Your brand image should be consistent and your message should add value to the target audience. Whole Brain Digital has extensive experience managing and advertising across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, and YouTube.
In the end, I love helping others build their businesses & personal brands. I hope we can work together someday…
Kind Regards,
Nicholas A. Simmonds
For more marketing tips and insights, follow Whole Brain Digital LLC on social media, and subscribe to The Brainstorm email list.
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