One quote that has stuck with me these past few years is “How you make your money is more important than how much you make.” (Gary Vaynerchuk) . For a long time I wanted to be an executive in some companies marketing department making six figures to work 3 hours a day then spending 5 hours in meetings and browsing facebook like 75% of corporate execs out there. I went to college originally with the intention of doing just that, I planned to graduate then get a safe job in some marketing department in Denver. I was the only student in my program however, which led to many struggles.

I couldn’t get into a single marketing class until my final semester so I would go back to my dorm room and work on facebook strategies. I started building a following on several facebook pages, and expanded myself out to learning some traditional marketing, then wordpress, then finally before I graduated I got into an advertising class with a real marketing/advertising professional. In that class I learned about the value of organic growth, and the power a real brand can have. I learned that marketing is not just tricking people into spending money on your products but instead that we are the communicators, and the customer’s advocates. We want to help them find the solution to their problems. Whether it is a product, service, or just some advice a marketer who is building a great brand grows through connecting with customers on a personal level. That connection allowed us to become a trusted friend, and ally to customers all over the world, and in the end this became the principle behind Media Poppy.

After graduation I had several interviews with companies in Colorado Springs, I would go into interviews and talks to companies who would charge their clients $4000 per month for SEO, and pay their employees $10 an hour. Each employee was required to manage 10-15 clients. I would say that this is when I decided that I didn’t want to be like that. All over the world we see business owners paying their employees the minimum, while working them to the maximum. To make it worse they would justify these prices by doing the worst possible practices a business could do. They would buy likes, links, and spend their customers money each month on shortcuts, and practices that would force their clients to never leave because those practices require a constant stream of money to maintain their ranks. This didn’t bring customers to business as much as inflate the ego of the CMOs who sent the checks to these companies. But later word would get out about one major company here in Colorado Springs doing so much damage to them that they were forced to rebrand move offices, and replace a large portion of their staff. They are still operating here in Colorado Springs today, but even after they had to increase wages, increase prices, and move their offices they have maintained their practices.

Several years ago the focus was all about having “x” amount of likes, or “y” ranking on google. Many companies still believe these numbers matter but more people every day are understanding the value of engagement and not using Social Media as just a advertising platform, but a community management platform. In the end the companies who understand that, will experience true organic growth. They will sell more, they will earn more respect, and they will become more than some faceless company. One of the reasons we created Media Poppy was to help companies be more than a brand, or a store but to become their customers friend and ally. That is why we are bringing the heart back into marketing every single day! There is no quick and easy path to being an amazing brand, it is a long and arduous process but it is a rewarding, and empowering journey to being a leader in your field. None of us started a business to take shortcuts we started businesses to change lives, nations, or the world. I would argue that only truly great brand can do those things.