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
Properly Conducting a Lessons Learned Meeting
June 22, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 4.63 MBWhenever we lose a client, we hold a lessons learned meeting between all of the people who were involved in the project. On episode 158 of Journey to $100 Million, listen in is Erik explains how we have improved our lessons learned process by properly holding lessons learned meetings. What we used to do, is during these meetings, we would sit together with our team members for about an hour and a half, and all take notes in our notepads about the situation that caused us to lose a client. Af...
How to Finally Pursue Your Dream Clients
June 21, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 4.53 MBDo you have a list of your top prospects in the area you service? On episode 157 of The Journey to $100 Million Podcast, listen in as Kevin shares how Array Digital has recently developed a top 100 prospect list comprised of our dream clients. We filled this list with the best companies in our area that produce the most revenue, are the most recognized, and could benefit from the services that we provide. For years we felt these companies were out of reach and too big for us to go after, but ...
Being Aware of Emerging Trends in Your Industry
June 20, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 5.86 MBEvery once in a while there is a new platform that comes out and challenges the status quo. On episode 156 of Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik talks about a newly emerging platform taking social media by storm: Tik Tok. Tik Tok is not a major player quite yet, but the app is attracting a lot of attention. Tik Tok is a rebranding of an app called Music.ly, and is catering to a younger age group - mainly of the high school age range. This app is a way for people to make funny “skits” ...
The Key to Establishing Clarity Through Email Communication
June 19, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 4.63 MBHave you ever gotten an email from a client and you’re not exactly sure what they are trying to say or asking for? On episode 155 of Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik shares how he responds to these types of emails, and how these tactics can save you a great amount of time. This happens to us a decent amount at Array Digital where a client (or really anybody) will ask us a question, but in a vague way. When this happens, it is easy to be unsure about what is being asked of you, and m...
Deciding Whether to Take Risks or Do Nothing
June 18, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 6.13 MBHave you ever been in a situation where you feel like a train wreck is about to happen? Today on The Journey to $100 Million Podcast, listen in as Erik revisits a situation in which we had to make a game-time decision, and had to decide whether or not to take a big risk. One of our clients that had an e-commerce site had been having some issues. Black Friday was right around the corner, and we had to decide whether or not to try and improve the site before their biggest day of the year, or ju...
Let's Get Real ... Are You Really Working Your Hardest?
June 17, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 5.04 MBWhen you are thinking about your company and its goals - are you doing your job as a lifestyle? Are you working to live or living to work? Are trying to build something bigger than yourself? Or, are you just getting by? Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik explains the importance of going the extra mile while trying to grow a business. It is not easy to build a company, and it is going to require a little bit of extra work. If you want to build a company, a 9-5 work week just...
How Fundamental Professional Services Can Improve Your Business Performance
June 16, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 4.87 MBDo you have certain services that you wish every client had? Today on The Journey to $100 Million Podcast, listen in as Kevin talks about requiring fundamental professional services for each of your clients. We started requiring fundamental professional services about 6-8 months ago here at Array Digital. These professional services are ones that we include in every single contract or proposal that we send to a customer regardless of what other services that they may get from us. We do not do...
The Significance of Simplifying Your Offerings
June 15, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 6.5 MBOn a regular basis, we evaluate the services we provide to our clients. Around 6 months ago, we added a service which we called call-tracking. On today's episode of Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik explains why we recently stopped offering this service to our clients and prospects. Call-tracking is when you list a specific phone number that goes through a third party system on an ad/site page in order to understand where certain calls are coming from. Even though this number is diff...
When in Doubt, Pick up the Phone
June 14, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 6.4 MBWhen dealing with an unhappy client, how do you remedy the situation? On today's episode of Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin explains the difference in responding to a client that is unhappy via email vs. picking up the phone. When a conflict arises, it is easy to default to a simple email. An email is easy to shoot back, you are able to "take care" of the situation more quickly, and you are able to avoid the possibility of getting talked to in a not-so-nice manner. But, when you s...
The Perks of Going Live on Social Media
June 13, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 4.5 MBDo you ever go live on social media? Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik shares how and why he has just started going live on his social media platforms. Recently, Erik has been going live on Twitter and Instagram when he records episodes for this podcast. One big reason for this is due to the fact that when you go live, the algorithms allow you to get maximized exposure. That is what is so cool about going live: you get that big bang right off the bat. The algorithm rewards y...
Helping Previous Clients That Are No Longer a Fit
June 12, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 7.79 MBIn the past, Array Digital was involved with software development, web development, and even created mobile apps. Digital marketing has always been a part of what we do, but over the past couple of years we have switched to digital marketing 100%. Because of our previous work, we still have past clients calling us today to ask for services that we may no longer provide. Today on The Journey to $100 Million Podcast, listen in as Kevin shares the importance of helping out these past clients tha...
How to Take Control of Your SEO Value
June 11, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 5.72 MBAs you may already know, we recently hired a sales manager here at Array Digital. Because of this, Glen (our new sales manager) and Kevin are now doing the bulk of the day-to-day selling, freeing up a lot of Erik's time. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik shares with you what he plans to do with this free time. Erik figured this time would be best utilized by focusing on our marketing efforts for Array Digital. We are a digital marketing agency, but do not have a team member ...
Zack Miller: What Are You Watching on Netflix?
June 10, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 5.04 MBWhat are you watching on Netflix? You may think this is the most ridiculous question to be asking, but when you go to a networking event and meet someone for the first time, what do they ask you? Listen in on today’s special edition episode of Journey to $100 Million where guest host Zack Miller explains how you can stand out from the crowd! At these networking events you are most likely being asked “What do you do for a living?” or “What company do you work for?” and then you have to belt o...
Knowing When to Stick to Your Guns
June 09, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 4.19 MBToday on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin talks about a situation that comes up every now and then at Array Digital, and has always gotten us in trouble depending on which way we go. At Array Digital, we consider ourselves digital marketing experts. We spend a lot of time coming up with strategies for each client as we prepare to onboard them. But, every now and then, a client will insist on their own strategy that they have developed in-house. Typically, the problem with this is ...
Drop the Entitlement, No One Likes It
June 08, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 4.7 MBAt our office space here at Array Digital, there are very few open parking spots. We have 3 reserved spots that say they are reserved for Array Digital and our guests, but that's it. Listen in to Erik on today’s episode of Journey to $100 Million to learn why none of these spots are reserved specifically for Erik or Kevin. At the start of working at our current office space, Erik would park in the same spot every day. Because of this, some employees were passing on that parking spot even if t...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 11: Track Your Performance
June 07, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 7.59 MBToday on The Journey to $100 Million Podcast, listen in as Kevin shares the final step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization through investing in customer experience. Whenever you are dealing with clients, it is essential to understand how you are doing from their perspective. In step 11 of the customer experience process, you are able to track how you have been performing for your clients. To do this, we use a tool called net promoter score. This managemen...
Tracking the Services You're Contractually Obligated to Provide
June 06, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 6.67 MBNot too long ago, we lost a client because we were not properly tracking our deliverables with a set timeline. What we mean by a deliverable, is when we form a contract with a client, we say we are going to do a certain number of services, for a certain amount of money. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik explains the importance of tracking your deliverables, and streamlining communication. In this case, for a number of reasons, we were pushing our deliverables back until ever...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 10: Quarterly Business Reviews
June 05, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 5.62 MBToday on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin shares the tenth step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization through investing in customer experience. When at step 10, it is time to have a 90 day check-in with your client. At this step, the business owner or account manager should schedule a lunch with the client. Although it is a lunch, you do not want to just have lunch and chit-chat, but instead ensure that you accomplish the goal of having a producti...
The Importance of Honesty in the Workplace
June 04, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 6.06 MBHere at Array Digital we have several core values, with the first core value being honesty. The importance of honesty is that it is the foundation for everything else that is layered on top of it. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik explains the importance of honesty in the workplace, and shares a lesson learned of his own dealing with honesty. If you cannot trust an employee to be honest, everything else is going to fall a part. An employee that cannot be trusted, cannot be ...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 9: Ask for a Referral From Your Client
June 03, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 5.35 MBAfter you have done a good job for your client, it is time to trigger yourself to now ask them for something. Today on The Journey to $100 Million Podcast, listen in as Kevin shares the ninth step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization through investing in customer experience. At this point, we now know the client is happy, had a check in, gotten them a referral and so forth. If the client is not happy, you may not get to this step, or should skip this step a...
Your Client Bailed on Their Contract, Now What?
June 02, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 6.4 MBHave you ever had a client try to get out of a service contract? Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik explains how we handle clients that try to bail on their contracts. Currently when we sign new clients, they are signed on as a monthly client, and are required to make a 12-month minimum commitment. There have been some instances where clients have wanted to stop their service with us before their contract was over - and are looking for new ways to take care of these situation...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 8: Give Your Client a Referral
June 01, 2019 07:00 - 2 minutes - 4.05 MBOn today’s episode of Journey to $100 Million, Kevin shares the eighth step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization through investing in customer experience. At step 8, you have been servicing this client for a while. They’ve gotten to feel out your team (and vise versa), everyone knows the progress being made, and they are beginning to become more of a promoter. If everything is going smoothly, it is time to offer them some business by getting this client a r...
Special Edition: A SEO Car Ride with Erik and Kevin
May 31, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 8.17 MBHappy Friday everyone! Today on the Journey to $100 Million Podcast, we have a special treat for you. Erik AND Kevin on the same episode! In this episode, Erik and Kevin recorded a recent trip they took to Richmond, Virginia to visit some of our clients. On this drive, there was a lot of discussion on SEO and how it continually changes. Not only that, but they mention the SEO capabilities of YouTube and how Array Digital has continued to push into the media realm. Array Digital has morphed ...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 7: The 30-Day Check-In
May 30, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 5.79 MBDo you want to understand how you are performing for your newly signed clients? A 30-day check-in makes this possible! Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin shares the seventh step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization through investing in customer experience. A 30-day check-in could entail a stop into the client's office, a phone call, or even just grabbing lunch. This check-in will assist your organization in understanding what you may be d...
Knowing When to Inject Sales Messaging into Your Advertisements
May 29, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 6.77 MBWe do an awful lot of advertising and marketing for our own agency here at Array Digital. When you market for yourself, there's a concept of you can either "build brand equity" or you can "sell." Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik shares with you which direction you should head in. There are some companies that are 100% building brand equity, some that are 100% selling. What many don't realize, is that the key is to have a blend between the two. Recently, we have been consta...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 6: Exceeding Expectations
May 28, 2019 13:12 - 4 minutes - 6.09 MBAfter signing a new client, it is not only important to identify what that client's expectations are, but to exceed them. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin shares the sixth step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization through investing in customer experience. There are many different strategies to exceeding expectations with a client. You can do things like treating deliverables with urgency, surprise clients with extras, send hand written...
Cutting out Services We No Longer Need
May 27, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 5 MBRecently we have been using a CRM (customer relationship management) tool by the name of HubSpot. HubSpot is a great tool, but is more powerful than we currently need. What we need here at Array Digital is a CRM to solely track people, businesses, and deals. HubSpot has way more to offer than that, with amazing inbound marketing tools, as well as many more useful features. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik explains the need to cut out services that you do not need. These e...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 5: Onboarding New Clients
May 26, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 5.79 MBOnboarding is the one step where you absolutely cannot mess up. If mistakes are made, this new relationship you have just formed can get off to a rocky start. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in to Kevin as he shares the fifth step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization through investing in customer experience. When onboarding a new client, it is crucial to have an onboarding process in place for each department or team member involved. You must ensu...
Burning the Bridge with My Previous Employer: A Lesson Learned
May 25, 2019 07:00 - 6 minutes - 5.69 MBHave you ever had a really bad breakup in business? Have you ever burned a bridge? Today on The Journey to $100 Million Podcast, listen in on an experience Erik had with his previous employer that he still thinks about to this day. Erik was in a situation where he disagreed with how the last company he worked for was operating. Because of this, Erik and a co-worker made a decision that ended up burning the bridge with his previous employer. At the time, Erik felt that he was justified in do...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 4: Once Signed, the Real Work Begins
May 24, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 5.36 MBOnce you have signed a client, the real work begins! Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin shares the fourth step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization through investing in customer experience. You’ve worked your butt off: you’ve defined the ideal client, had the first interaction, and have decided to sign this client because they are a good fit. But, signing this client is just the beginning. Now it is time to start converting this client i...
Turning Negativity into a Positive Learning Experience
May 23, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 5.12 MBAfter a custom software development conference Erik spoke at a good while back, he heard an attendee talking negatively about him afterwards. This was due to the fact that Erik used to not utilize formal contracts for prospects back in the day, and instead just sent proposals to be signed. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik was able to grow and learn from this negativity, and make it a positive experience. Instead of getting angry or annoyed at what he overheard, Erik decid...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 3: Only Sign a Good Fit
May 22, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 4.14 MBIt is easy to get caught up in your sales process and excited in the moment after meeting with a prospect. That prospect may love your offerings and push for the deal, but that doesn’t always mean they are going to be a good fit. Today on Journey to $100 Million, Kevin shares the third step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization through investing in customer experience. It is essential to step back and reflect on these first interaction meetings after they...
Auditing Your Offerings and Services on a Regular Basis
May 21, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 4.68 MBWhile Erik was in China at his Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) conference, he learned a very important concept from the keynote speaker. Erik learned that over time, a lot of companies will continually innovate. This innovation allows for other companies to come in and swoop up business because they can satisfy those consumer needs at a lower cost (since they are not wasting as much money and time on innovation.) That got Erik thinking about Array Digital. Today on Journey to $100 Million,...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 2: First Interaction
May 20, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 4.71 MBCreating a promoter out of a client starts before a prospect even becomes a client. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin shares with you the second step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization by investing in customer experience. Your first interaction with a prospect sets the groundwork for how this client may think of you or your organization if they end up signing. It is always important to communicate how you are different, be transparent &...
Assessing Bank Statements in a Detailed Manner
May 19, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 4.17 MBWhile managing a young company, the last thing you need is to be wasting money. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik gives you tips on how you can thoroughly assess your bank statements. Every time a bank statement comes in, Erik makes sure to look at each transaction in great detail. This allows Erik to understand our spending, where our money is going, why it is going there, and allows us to see if any transactions are fraudulent or no longer needed. Listen in on today’s epis...
Investing in Customer Experience - Step 1: Define Your Ideal Client
May 18, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 3.12 MBIf you do not know who your ideal client is, how is it possible to convert those clients into promoters? Not only that, but how would you be able to give those clients the best experience possible? Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin shares with you the first step in his 11 step process on how you can foster growth in your organization by investing in customer experience. There are three main questions you should ask yourself when identifying your ideal client. Listen into to...
The Advantages of Having an Email and Text Message Distribution List
May 17, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 4.77 MBRecently we had been sending out newsletter emails, but we did not know where exactly these individuals came from, and how they were on our distribution list. We knew a lot of these people were friends and family, and wanted to clean that up because it costs money for each person in the system. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik shares with you our decision to build a concrete email distribution list, as well as adding text messaging to our process. We realized we were not ...
How Investing in Customer Experience Can Foster Growth
May 16, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 4.34 MBAre you converting your customers into promoters? On today's episode of Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin explains the importance of tracking your customers' journey with you, your staff, and your products/services. When doing this, it is important to remember that your customers' experience is the key to it all. When you are able to turn new customers into happy customers, that will turn into your organization receiving good reviews, as well gaining new business! Over the next c...
Maximizing Your Time While in a New Area
May 15, 2019 07:00 - 2 minutes - 2.29 MBErik and Kevin recently took a day trip to Richmond, VA to get lunch with a brand new client. While in Richmond, they decided to meet with not only that client, but a prospective client, as well as a social media influencer. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik shares the importance of cramming in as much as you possibly can when you are in a new city, region, anywhere! When you go out of town, you are only there for a short period of time, so if you are able to meet with multi...
The Importance of Client Kickoff Meetings Part 2
May 14, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 4.92 MBToday on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin shares the third step in our process when interacting with new clients: kickoff meetings. This is a very important step, because we are able to introduce our entire team to new clients. Kickoff meetings give us the opportunity to talk about the process we hope to implement, communicate the timeline of our campaigns, what we may need from them, and much more! During these kickoff meetings, we really get to understand the client, and more im...
How to Take Advantage of Unexpected Situations
May 13, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 5.04 MBWhile Erik and Kevin were standing in line for the bathroom on a plane ride to Orlando, an unexpected situation hit them by surprise. A random woman asked them about their Array Digital t-shirts, and from there an opportunity had risen. This woman happened to be a sales representative from Orlando in the billboard industry - and a great resource to potentially have. On today’s episode of Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik describes this situation he found himself in, and how he conque...
Identifying and Understanding Your Ideal Customer
May 12, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 3.41 MBWho is your ideal customer? Odds are, most people do not know the answer to this question. It even took us a long time to figure this out for us here at Array Digital. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin shows you the importance of identifying your ideal customer. To do this, it is essential to understand different buyer personas for your typical customer - while also creating different buyer personas for the multiple industries that you serve. Look at the customers you hav...
Sharing Positive and Negative Feedback with Your Team
May 11, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 4.22 MBIn the past, Erik explains how he used to not understand how he should handle negative feedback. In some cases, this negative feedback was bottled up - which doesn't allow your team to learn. Today on the Journey to $100 Million Podcast, listen in as Erik explains the importance of not only sharing positive feedback with your team members, but negative feedback as well. Harboring negative feedback can even harm the growth of your organization. Understanding negative feedback can help you impr...
The Power of Key Performance Indicators
May 10, 2019 07:00 - 3 minutes - 3.28 MBOn today's episode of Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin shares the importance of KPIs (key performance indicators) within our organization. About a year ago, KPIs were relatively foreign to us, and we had none in place. Since then, we have really dialed in with our KPIs for individuals, departments, services, and the company as a whole. KPIs have become very useful for us, but it took time to develop them correctly. These key performance indicators now allow us to see our progres...
Thanks to The Entrepreneurs' Organization, I've Been to China!
May 09, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 4.51 MBOn today's episode of Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik talks about his recent trip to China! Erik is on the board for the EO (Entrepreneurs' Organization) Southeast Virginia region. Every year, the global EO organization gets together in a different area for the global leadership conference - and this year it happened to be in China! Erik explains how amazing this experience was, and shows how beneficial it is to be a board member for a professional organization! That being said, t...
Setting Expectations for Our Onboarding Process
May 08, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 4.09 MBAre you setting the right onboarding expectations before you sign a new client? Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Kevin explains this is something we have struggled with in the past and improved upon. It is really easy to get excited when selling in front of a new prospect, but it is essential to ensure that you take some steps to put expectations and a timeline in your proposals. You must make sure the client understands the full process, how long it is going to take, and what t...
How Business Coaches Can Help Grow Your Organization
May 07, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 4.13 MBAs your career and business grows, you may think you can’t afford or even need a business coach. Today on Journey to $100 Million, listen in to Erik as he shares that isn’t the case. In the past year Erik has been working with award-winning business man, Zack Miller, to help grow our organization. Zack has given us a lot of ideas of things we could be doing that we are not already, and it has greatly helped move us forward. It doesn’t take up a whole lot of time, maybe an hour a week - and it...
The Importance of Tracking Your Deliverables: A Lesson Learned
May 06, 2019 07:00 - 5 minutes - 4.91 MBToday on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik shares a huge lesson learned for us here at Array Digital. We recently just lost a contract - but like any failure, we consider this to be feedback. We realized a big part of this loss was due to the fact that we were not properly tracking our deliverables. We were tracking the activities we were performing, but we were not tracking the deliverables, and when those deliverables were required. We learned that we must know the date that someth...
Introducing and Welcoming New Employees
May 05, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 4.58 MBAs we are welcoming new employees to the team, Erik writes out a CEO welcome letter to every new team member. In doing this, Erik is able to let them know why they were chosen for this highly-competitive position, sets expectations for the job, welcomes them to the team, and lists out Array Digital’s core values. Today on the Journey to $100 Million Podcast, listen in as Erik explains the importance of doing this as a leader and authority figure. Erik explains that every organization needs a ...
Knowing When and How to Ask for Business
May 04, 2019 07:00 - 4 minutes - 4.56 MBToday on Journey to $100 Million, listen in as Erik explains that when you give give give - you must ask for something at some point. If you are providing a service, product, or event (like we do with Marketers Anonymous) and never ask for anything - odds are you will not get very far. We realized that we were giving on a regular basis with Marketers Anonymous, but were never asking for a sale even though we were taking on a financial liability as well. Listen in on today's episode to learn w...