Journey to $100 Million
1,008 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 16 ratingsAccelerate your entrepreneurial journey by learning from our mistakes instead of making them yourself.
Join Erik J. Olson and Kevin Daisey, the founders of Array Digital, through their ups and downs and lessons learned as they grow their digital marketing agency to $100 million in revenue. In each daily episode they'll discuss what's working now, and what's not. They'll share entrepreneurial and marketing tips and tricks picked up while becoming a dominant player in the ever changing digital marketing industry.
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Episodes
Digital Marketing Trends for 2020
February 27, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 6.59 MBErik recently put together an eBook titled Digital Marketing Trends for 2020 because digital marketing changes on basically a daily basis. Typically that happens on social media or in search and it can be overwhelming how fast and frequently the environment is changing. It’s practically a full-time job to keep track of the changes. Business owners don’t have time to be tracking what’s happening in digital marketing which is why you would hire an agency like us. So we’ve pared it down to the...
You Have To Do Video
February 26, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 3.65 MBIf you’re an entrepreneur and are the face of your business, you - as the business leader - need to be doing video. It should be part of your plan and your social media because you need to be getting your face out there. One of Kevin’s goals is to sit down interview-style with 12 people who are making moves in their industry to get lessons and learn things but at the same time, creating content. You can also do live streams; most social media platforms offer this option. Every Friday during ...
The Difficulty In Raising Rates
February 25, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 4.9 MBSomething we've found a little challenging is how to increase rates for our older clients. New customers don't really have an issue with our current rates and value proposition, but we have several clients that have been with us for years who pay lower rates. There are two main schools of thought when it comes to this: standardized pricing for everyone across the board or grandfather in older clients with lower rates. We have chosen to grandfather in older clients, and there are a couple o...
Kevin's High School Side Hustle
February 24, 2020 08:00 - 2 minutes - 3.11 MBIn this episode Kevin talks about the side hustle he had during high school. Kevin grew up in Chincoteague. It's a small island town on the coast of Virginia. The town is known for fishing, boating, and seafood. Kevin came up with the idea of catching and selling minnows. Minnows are tiny fish that are great bait for bigger fish. Growing up in the town that he did he saw the need for minnows in fishermen and boat captains. So, in the mornings before school he would create the traps for the...
The Problem Hiring Freelancers
February 23, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 4.23 MBBack in the day, when Erik first started his business, he worked as a freelancer. He kept his day job and worked on his business on nights and weekends. This meant he was working long hours almost seven days a week. As his business grew, and he got to the point where he was ready to hire help, he started by hiring a couple of freelancers, since that’s what he was familiar with. By this point his business had become his day job and he was now working typical business hours during the day. ...
Kevin Can't Stop Selling
February 22, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 4.4 MBKevin has a passion for sales. Since hiring our Business Development Manager, Glen, last year, Kevin has changed the way he approaches sales himself. Before he used to take on leads from every funnel, but these days he's focusing more on networking and his business profiles to get him personal referrals. He isn't focused as much on leads that come in through phone calls or through our website. Instead he is getting out there on the front lines and building relationships with business owners...
Undecided about a way forward? Ask your audience for their help
February 21, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 3.49 MBOne of the most helpful ways to find out what your audience wants from you or could benefit from is to ask them. You could ask them one-on-one or you could direct your question to your entire audience on social media. One way Erik likes to do this is by using Twitter Polls to ask for opinions which has been helpful in the process of writing his book. When you’re not sure what direction to take something, consider your audience. They’ll be happy to tell you if you ask them. — Erik J. Ols...
Use Perception to Your Advantage
February 20, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 4.74 MBKevin talked recently about expansion, applying for awards, getting yourself out there with video, etc. What this does is create buzz and build a perception within your local community or market. Plan things out and push things out to the masses. — Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meet...
Meeting the CEO of Morgan James Publishing
February 19, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 4.36 MBRecently Erik attended a fireside chat with the CEO of Morgan James Publishing. Morgan James is a New York based publisher but the CEO, David Hancock, lives near Erik in Virginia. Erik thought that was pretty interesting and during the talk he found out how that came to be. Essentially Mr. Hancock started his publishing business in Virginia but his customers believed a publisher should be based in New York City. So, he opened a location in New York and just like that his publishing business...
Always Be Expanding
February 18, 2020 08:00 - 2 minutes - 3.26 MBWhether or not you are experiencing expansion and growth, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be portraying that. You need to have a job/career page that lays out the job openings for jobs you would normally want to fill even if you are not actively searching for them. It gives people the perception that you are really growing and it’s that perception that helps you stand out and gets people to talk about you, driving business and sales. Other companies want to do business with companies that are sta...
Project Management Has Helped Erik Through The Years
February 17, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 5.07 MBIn this episode Erik talks about his experience being a PMP. PMP stands for Project Management Professional. It is a certification from a professional organization called the Project Management Institute (PMI). Erik got started with project management straight out of college when he became a construction project manager. He was paired with a more experienced project manager who showed him the ropes. He did that for a few years until he started working as a software developer. While worki...
Kevin’s First Business as a Kid
February 16, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 5.31 MBKevin’s first job was when he was about 10. A little backstory: his dad started his own business at 8 years old carving decoys that are used for duck hunting. It’s become a piece of art and a collectible so people pay a lot of money for them. He still does it to this day. When Kevin was little, he started to make his own too. When he was about 10, he would go to art shows with his dad and have his own work there. His stuff would sell out within an hour. That was his first business: making t...
Don't Just Connect on Social Media. Engage!
February 15, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 6.91 MBYou are probably on social media. A lot of people tend to accumulate followers or connections on social media and then don’t actually talk to them. They may post on their timeline and hope they see what they’re posting without any kind of engagement. On social media, people try to keep their connections at an arm’s length while still hoping these people will buy from them at some point in the near future. You must try to find some commonality between you and the individual. — Erik J. Olso...
Drip Campaign for New LinkedIn and Twitter Followers
February 14, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 6.53 MBHave you heard the phrase “drip email marketing”? This is when you provide your email to a company, brand, or influencers and they send you a series of emails over a specified amount of time. The idea here is that you are slowly building up the other person’s level of knowledge as far as what you do and how you can help them. We do that a bit with our own newsletter but Erik also wanted to do it through social media. Erik was able to be notified whenever he got a new follower on LinkedIn or...
Decide What Business You Want To Be In
February 13, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 3.41 MBWithin the first two years of working for himself Erik realized he didn’t really know what business he was in. As crazy as that sounds this seems to be a common problem with many new entrepreneurs. In the beginning when you’re just trying to put food on the table you will often take any work that comes your way as long as it coincides with your business somehow. In Erik's case he was a programmer at that time. He took on projects working in different coding languages that he wasn't really in...
Set Your Goals Just Out Of Reach
February 12, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 3.3 MBWhen setting goals for yourself people may tell you not to set them too high because they will be hard to achieve, you may fail, and you'll be disappointed in yourself. But, Kevin is here to tell you why you should do the opposite. We were recently talking about our revenue goals for the coming year and we were considering moving the goal down a bit because our initial goal seemed aggressive. However, we decided against it. In his book, The 10x Rule, Grant Cardone says to never move the ta...
Driving to Machipongo to Meet Someone Several Steps Ahead of Us
February 11, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 7.55 MBErik recently went to Machipongo, VA to meet with someone who he bumped into on LinkedIn who is significantly further ahead in his digital marketing career (about 10 years ahead). Erik drove over for lunch and they had a meeting that Erik found extremely valuable. He gained insight on things he might do a bit differently like organizational structure, the types of clients we acquire, and how to prove to our clients that we are truly adding value and not just spinning our wheels. When you’re...
Traveling for a Prospect: To Travel or Not To Travel
February 10, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 4.29 MBAt Array Digital, we don’t typically travel for sales. We don’t go to trade shows because that’s not our kind of marketing. But if we have a prospect that reaches out to us, Kevin is willing to do the traveling and take the meeting. This came up recently with a prospect that had done a lot of research prior to calling us and were very impressed by what we’re doing and our online presence. This was a good sign and things moved quickly. Before determining that we would travel for them, we nee...
Hardest Decision In Business: Hiring The First Employee
February 09, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 5.45 MBErik recalls the hardest decision he’s ever had to make in business, to date. That decision was hiring his first employee. Like most new entrepreneurs he found himself in a position where he was overwhelmed with work but he wasn't overwhelmed with cash. He knew and understood that hiring another person would mean that person would have to come before himself. He explained to his wife that he was getting ready to hire someone and that meant he would have to pay this person every two weeks an...
Apply for Awards
February 08, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 3.41 MB“If you qualify, apply.” --Zack Miller, author of Anomaly If you’re winning awards, it is PR, free media, and free marketing for your company and it shows that you are growing, your business is active, and that you’re doing a great job. People (customers) gravitate towards that kind of success, meaning more business for you. Plus, that gets you and your team fired up to keep doing and achieving. Apply for as many awards as you can. There are some that matter more and will make a bigger dif...
Losing A $15,000 Deal. Lesson Learned: Others Have Failed Too
February 07, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 4.1 MBWe are in the process of losing $15,000 a month in recurring revenue for a single client’s ad spend. We have been talking to them for a couple of weeks and it is imminent. As much as we don't like it there are a few important lessons that we learned from this: First and foremost, this client is a B2B company. That means they target other businesses as their customers. We specialize in B2C clients. That is our niche. It is very difficult to target business owners through online marketing. T...
Rely On No One
February 06, 2020 08:00 - 2 minutes - 2.47 MBAfter reading a call for more activities for entrepreneurs in Hampton Roads, Kevin thought to himself that it’s the responsibility of the entrepreneur to find things to get involved with in his or her own industry and area. So to say that you need more help and more ways to put yourself out there is bs; you can’t rely on your area and local organizations to find these opportunities for you. There are plenty of people who are successful with nothing and no one to fall back on. Don’t get caught...
Erik's Thoughts On Crowdfunding
February 05, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 3.72 MBA couple of months ago Erik posted on Twitter, asking his followers to ask him anything about starting a business or anything related to digital marketing. He received a question from Sean Burke, who works with him at Array Digital. The question was what he thought about using crowdfunding platforms to get a project started. Erik starts by saying he doesn't have a strong opinion either way on crowdfunding. Platforms like kickstarter.com offer aspiring entrepreneurs the ability to put out ...
Success Is Your Obligation
February 04, 2020 08:00 - 2 minutes - 2.53 MBKevin opens up this episode by quoting Grant Cardone, author of The 10x Rule, “Success is your obligation”. It is your duty, responsibility, and obligation to be successful. Your colleagues, your team, and your family all depend on you. You have to try and be successful in all aspects of your life. Failure is imminent, but after you fail you have to find new ways of doing things and you have to keep pushing. Success isn't everything but it's necessary in order for you to grow. If a company ...
How Guest-Hosting Benefits Both Parties
February 03, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 3.47 MBErik recently guest-hosted another podcast/flash briefing called The Instagram Stories by Daniel Hill. Daniel has done this in the past when he goes on vacation and either doesn’t want to record or can’t. It was, of course, great exposure for us but also for Daniel because he got exposure through our audience which he doesn’t always have access to. This is something that Erik has ripped off and replicated and so you will hear more and more often that we’ve invited guest hosts on the podcast...
Commit First, Figure It Out Later
February 02, 2020 08:00 - 2 minutes - 2.53 MBAlways commit, go right after it. There are a million excuses why you might not want to but just commit and then think about how you’ll pull it off right after. You won’t grow unless you jump on opportunities. It’s more likely that you’ll get to the next level if you overextend a bit. — Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer ...
2 Heads Are Better Than 1
February 01, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 5.41 MBYou’ve certainly heard the saying “2 heads are better than 1” and it certainly applies here at Array Digital. It’s better to grab a few heads and brainstorm on an issue than being isolated. It’s often easier to be creative with others participating in the brainstorming process. One of these meetings that we’ve recently implemented into the schedule is “21 Ideas” which was actually Glen’s idea. It’s a meeting on Friday afternoons and the idea is just to generate ideas for our clients that can...
Declare Yourself the Expert
January 31, 2020 08:00 - 2 minutes - 3.17 MBBe bold and declare yourself an expert even if you’re still learning in your field; this will force you to learn that much faster. If you say this to people, they’re going to believe what you say but you do need to back that up. I don’t know about you but marketing constantly changes so for us to be experts, we have to constantly be learning and studying. Just claim it and you will become the expert you dreamed of becoming. — Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepre...
Do I Need a Lawyer to Start a Business?
January 30, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 6.32 MBErik was recently asked, “do I need a lawyer to start a business?” It’s a good question because there’s a lot of questions when starting a business that go into the legality of what type of entity you’re trying to form whether that be an LLC, a sole proprietorship, etc. Erik recommends deferring all of that and not letting that tie you up. Granted, lawyers are very good when you need them but in the very beginning, you should not get a lawyer. Your focus should be on finding customers that ...
11 Tips to Own The Space in Your Market
January 29, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 5.73 MBYou want and need to be the company that people first think about when they hear something from your industry or about the product or service that you offer. Here are some tips and tactics we’ve used here at Array Digital to make that happen: 1. Create a bold mission statement. 2. Have an even bolder vision statement. 3. Think about doing a nonprofit giveaway. 4. Apply for awards. 5. Think about getting key board positions in your industry. 6. Start a podcast or flash briefing to talk ab...
Accidentally Calling Someone I Fired 2 Years Ago
January 28, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 6.71 MBRecently, Erik went to call a client from his car and he was using a voice prompt to do this. The client’s name is very similar to that of an employee who Erik had fired 2 years ago. So, of course, he ended up calling this person and Erik realized it as soon as the guy answered the phone. Instinctively, Erik wanted to just hang up but the guy probably had caller ID and would know it was him. It turns out that when Erik fired him, there were a lot of things going on in the guy’s personal l...
Using Virtual Assistants
January 27, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 3.39 MBHave you ever thought of using a virtual assistant for some of your everyday tasks? If not, you should consider using them for one-off tasks or tasks that your team is too experienced for. Take a look at the daily tasks you have and ask yourself if there are any that could be performed by a virtual assistant. Next, ask your team if there are any tasks that they do that they feel isn’t the best use of their time. Compile a list of all these tasks and find out how many hours it takes to compl...
Don't Let Anyone Block Your Work
January 26, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 6.87 MBHow many times has a client or customer hired you to do something but you’re actually dependent on them to get your work done? This happens all the time at Array, especially with new clients because at the beginning of a contract, we need access to many of their accounts and need them to approve our creative strategies. Sometimes if we don’t get it, we will be blocked and have to just keep reminding the client that we can’t do what they’re paying to do. Now, beyond that point in the project...
Hold An Event and Claim Your Spot in The Market
January 25, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 3.76 MBThink about the State of the Union address or Economic updates that banks and economists hold. We’re doing the same concept but we’re going to tell the local market about what’s going to be trending in digital marketing this year. This allows us to own this space and say that we are experts in digital marketing. Our event is going to hold between 150-200 people, we’re getting sponsors, we’re selling tickets but that’s not what matters to us. We want to position ourselves as experts, get in f...
How to Improve Your Customer Experience in Retail
January 24, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 7.9 MBErik’s wife, Lia, recently had a horrible shopping experience at JoAnn Fabrics and wanted to share all the things that go wrong so that you can avoid making these mistakes at your own retail establishments. So, Lia went in knowing exactly what she wanted to buy, coupons in hand knowing exactly how much she would end up paying. She presented the coupon to the cashier and the point of sales (POS) system was not set up to take off the discount automatically meaning the sales clerk would have to...
Revenue or Profit: Which is More Important?
January 23, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 7.21 MBToday, we’re talking about money. Which is more important to you: revenue or profit? Has it changed over time? In the beginning, when Erik was just getting started with freelancing, it was revenue. He just needed legitimate work so he could build up his portfolio. Once he was able to do that, he was able to parlay that into bigger clients with bigger budgets. Once he became a full-time employee of this freelancing gig (when he quit his day job), it was still about revenue. That all changed...
Knowing When a Prospect Is Not a Fit
January 22, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 6.79 MBOne of the things Erik focuses on in the sales process is validating if the prospect is a good fit for the company. In periods of time where there are a lot of potential clients and sales activity, it’s especially important to do this because you have to figure out who you’d work with best and let the others go. There are a couple tell-tale signs that tell us that they aren’t going to be a good fit for us. One of these signs is whenever someone emails us and asks “What’s the cheapest plan y...
I Want My $2
January 21, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 6.23 MBErik was a paperboy in his townhouse neighborhood when he was growing up. Now, his friend’s older brother also had a paper route but he didn’t want to have to ask the customers for money to pay for the newspapers, part of which he’d keep and the other part would be given to the newspaper company. So, the brother made a deal with Erik that if he did it for him, Erik could keep 10% of the total profit. Erik would take his 10% before even giving the money to the brother just in case he wasn’t wi...
How to Handle an Employee Whose Hearts Not in It
January 20, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 2.77 MBSeveral jobs ago, Erik was the manager of a group of software developers and there was one girl in particular there that everybody liked and was very good at her job. Erik could tell, however, that her heart wasn’t in it, she wanted something else out of her career and her life. Erik wanted to figure out what that thing was so he asked her to go with him for a walk because this isn’t the type of thing you ask in front of everyone. They sat on the picnic table and he asked her if her heart wa...
What's Late? Deliverables vs Random Tasks
January 19, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 6.59 MBLike many companies, we track everything we do around here. We use a task tracker called Asana. It’s important to keep a pulse on all of the work that needs to be done and whether it’s late or not. Even if something’s not going to be done on time, it’s important to manage the due dates. If there are no rules holding the individuals accountable, then they’re just going to keep building up until they’re no longer manageable. So, we put in a rule that there are no late tasks, everything is up t...
When You Can Remold the Reality of Your Situation
January 18, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 3.23 MBMany years ago when Erik worked for his last employer, he was given a project out of Boise, Idaho which was in real trouble. By the time he was assigned to the project, the customer was furious. Erik decided he was going to save this project. Everyone involved, the client and everyone at the agency said he’d have to fire the team in Boise and hire one in Norfolk, VA where the company was. So Erik went out and met the Boise team and it turns out, there was nothing wrong with them besides the ...
Be Flexible and Prepare for Change
January 17, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 2.83 MBRunning a business is very hard and nothing stays the same. You have to continually plan and be ready for change; the market could change, the economy could change, employees could leave, you try a marketing or sales effort and it fails. Never get complacent and think things won’t change. But change is a good thing, it means you’re growing, opening up new opportunities. With change, you’ll be met with new problems. You and your management team should be ready with processes for situations ...
The State of Digital Marketing Address
January 16, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 2.58 MBIn this episode Erik talks about a big event Array Digital has coming up soon. It's called the State of Digital Marketing Address and it's taking place February 20, 2020. We're pretty good at putting together a Meetup that takes place once a month in Norfolk, Virginia. It's called Marketers Anonymous and we’ve been putting it on for about a year and a half now. We usually have at least 40 local marketers attend these learning events where we talk about all things marketing. It’s a free even...
Thank Your Unhappy Customers
January 15, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 3.45 MBKevin starts this episode by quoting Bill Gates, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” Kevin wholeheartedly agrees. Kevin recounts how for years he steered clear of unhappy customers. Whenever someone became unhappy he tried to move away from them as fast as possible. Kevin likes everybody to be happy. Unhappy customers cause tension and problems and Kevin's just not a fan. Now when we have unhappy customers we have a full-on Lessons Learned meeting with the...
Should I Use A Contract For My First Gig?
January 14, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 4.54 MBIn this episode Erik talks about whether you should have a formal contract if you do freelance work. Erik admits that in the beginning of his freelance career he did not have a proper contract. He would email clients a proposal, they would agree are the terms, he would do the work, and then he would invoice them. Later, he became a little more sophisticated. He started printing out the proposals and he would have the client sign them before beginning the work. The simple process worked for ...
The Biggest Lesson Learned In Reaching $2M In Recurring Revenue
January 13, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 5.13 MBErik was recently asked what the biggest lesson learned was in getting to $2M a year in recurring revenue. Erik is not a big fan of questions like these because it forces you to generalize years of experiences and mistakes into one simple statement. It's almost impossible to do. However, he decided he would give it a shot. After thinking about it he decided that the common theme was to question everything. Question everything you do and question everything your industry does. We started ...
Do Not Compromise When Hiring an Employee
January 12, 2020 08:00 - 5 minutes - 5.18 MBHiring employees is a very important job that you have to do as the leader of your company in order to keep improving your company. If you’ve ever had a bad employee, coworker, or peer makes you realize you don’t want to take shortcuts on this process. We have a very well-defined hiring process here at Array Digital starting off with a phone call that essentially makes sure that every candidate has the basic skills required by that position. If that works out well, they come in for a face-t...
Stockholm Clients
January 11, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 7.76 MBWe have a special guest for today's episode. Kevin Griffin is the owner of Swift Kick - a software training and consulting company in Southeast Virginia. Have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? It's an interesting phenomenon that sometimes occurs to kidnapping victims. After weeks and months in captivity a victim may begin to form psychological alliances with the person who's holding them hostage. They will sometimes start to sympathize and become protective of their kidnapper, even if ...
The Power Of Goals
January 10, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 4.43 MBEarly in 2019 Erik made a resolution to run a thousand miles that year. He wasn't sure how he would do it but he calculated he would have to run two and 3/4 miles everyday. He decided he would run three miles a day to give himself a little bit of a buffer. That would put him about ahead about 80 miles which meant he would be done about a month before the year was over. It was really hard in the beginning. He had shin splints every day and his calves were really tight for about the first six ...
The Key To Rapid Business Growth
January 09, 2020 08:00 - 4 minutes - 10.2 MBToday, we have a guest host, Scott Baxter, the CEO of PlayYourCourt.com. For those unfamiliar with Scott’s website, it connects tennis players with other tennis players and tennis coaches. His advice is quick and super actionable. One of the things that helped in scaling his business was blocking out the excess noise and focusing on the things that matter to his business. It’s hard to take a step back and look at what really matters but it must be done. For every business, there are usu...