Customer Spotlight Archives - Page 4 of 13 - Interfanatic Digital Marketing with Web Site Maintenance & Design

Tenacity: D&G Paving – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

“To make our way, we must have firm resolve, persistence, tenacity.”
– Ralph Bunche

Ralph Bunche, an American icon and a great man to highlight during the waning days of Black History Month. Bunche used tenacity to make the world a better place, to the extent that he was honored by a Nobel Peace Prize. So I guess I should listen to his words when it comes to tenacity, eh?

Yup.

I’m working to be tenacious about the things that are important in 2021.

And I’m not alone. So is Dan Ash and his whole crew at D&G Paving.

2020 was rough on a lot of people. It was rough on a lot of businesses. It’s frustrating to watch the group you support through a lifetime of hard work go through tough times. But that’s what happened with D&G. With the world shutting down, paving projects were drying up, too. But, tenacity got them through.

It’s really important to remember that the people telling you the bad news are not responsible for the bad news. The people trying to help you are reacting best they can to the enemy: a pandemic disease. Don’t get angry with those trying to help you just because you don’t like what they’re saying.

Same with a business owner. It’s a tough situation when a business has to lay off workers. Nobody wants to do it. It’s not their fault.

It’s our nature as humans to find somebody to blame. But sometimes life just sucks. We get through it with tenacity. Not assigning blame.

Tenacity: An Interfanatic Quality

There are many times in any month I want to tell a customer what to do with themselves. (We all have one or two customers, am I right???) But, tenacious professionalism needs to win the day. It’s hard.

We don’t give up on jobs. We do our best to make everyone happy and produce results.

I’m taking Bunche’s words to heart: I’m going to resolve, persist, and keep tenacity as my asset. And I lead by example with my people. I have great people. Sometimes, we all need a reminder to push forth with tenacity.

D&G Paving: Tenacious Through Adversity

When things get tough, you can bail, or you can double down. Dan Ash doubles down.

Things were not brilliant for D&G at the beginning of last year. Their quality of work was up, their customers were satisfied, but the leads did not roll in as usual. For obvious reasons. As we all came to terms with the global pandemic, many of us were not as focused on the ADA compliance level of our parking lot. We were not as interested in sealing and striping, or getting our new concrete sidewalk paving project kicked off.

“D&G Paving tenaciously doubled down, they got the right help, and they’re back at it.”

Dan came to us. He knew we were the right choice because we redesigned D&G Paving’s website over a decade ago. It was time for a refresh of the site, and to get some leads rolling in.

We jumped in immediately with some serious Google Ads campaigns, and immediately got the leads coming in again. We worked through the summer on their ads, and the results were immediate.

When we were finally able to pin the team down, we got the content we needed and completed their most recent site redesign. We launched the new DandGPaving.com about a month ago.

It was a tough time for Ash and crew, and they could have given up. They could have thrown in the towel, as many of their competitors did. But they refused – D&G Paving tenaciously doubled down, they got the right help, and they’re back at it.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Power Search Advertising with $1,500 Monthly Ad Spend

When you need leads coming through your site now, the best way is to get a powerful Google Ads campaign (or many) running. We run ad campaigns of all budget sizes, but $1,500 is typically enough to ensure sufficient traffic to bring in the leads.

That can seem like a lot of money, but for many small businesses, it’s the sweet spot. Most of our competitors require a much higher ad spend just to get an appointment. We’ll deal with almost any budget. I take pride in that – in our ability to help businesses of all sizes and budgets.

Interfanatic: Still Here Because of Tenacity

Many of our competitors are gone. I recently heard a line in a TV show, “You know what the worst part of growing old is? So many of the people you’ve known all your life are gone…” We’ve known many of our competitors through the years, and most of them are gone. In this case, it’s not the worst thing about running a business. But it didn’t happen this way without tenacity. There have been many bumps. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work hard for our great clients.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Tenacity, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Last week’s image was one of immense beauty I was lucky enough to capture. This week’s is again a reflection upon the quality. You don’t climb a mountain if you quit. Despite the difficulty, you have to keep ascending. It’s not easy. It requires tenacity. You don’t survive without tenacity.

Tenacity: D&G Paving – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight Read More »

Humility: The Human Equation – Peter Getoff – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

“We must in strength and humility meet hate with love.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“In strength and humility meet hate with love”… It’s so easy to hate. Too easy. Too easy to assign minor differences major import. If we can humble ourselves to understand our opponent, we can find love for them, and turn them from opponent to friend.

In 2021, my goal is to understand people I disagree with. To have fewer opponents, realizing that we’re all in this together, and really we all want the same things.

In business, people come to us for help with a common opponent. We get customers who come to us struggling with a certain aspect of their business. They know we can be trusted to solve this problem; to relieve pressure from this opponent, so that they can better succeed in their business, with their struggle, their opponent, better understood. It is our task to approach their problem with humility, and to help them solve it for the long term.

A man who uses a similar approach of humility in all his dealings – a man I really love working with – is Peter Getoff. Peter is a psychotherapist, executive trainer and not-for-profit coach in Los Angeles. His calm, jovial demeanor is a blessing. And he comes at every situation with curiosity, and humility.

He has been an excellent student and client as we’ve worked to improve his site’s search presence. And you can only be an excellent student through humility.

Humility: An Interfanatic Quality

So often, we see a problem and we think, “ah, we’ve seen this before. We do this and this and that, and voila – all will be well again.” But sometimes when you go with that knee-jerk reaction, all goes horribly wrong. So instead, we’ve learned to employ systems and processes to hedge our bets. We take back-ups regularly just in case the problem is not all it seems.

And you have to do that when you’re dealing with complex technical systems. And indeed, the modern website is a complex technical system. If it appears to be simple, that just means we’re doing our job well.

So we do as Doctor King instructs. We seek out problems with strength of experience, and with a big fat dose of humility.

Peter Getoff: Bringing a Business into the Digital World, With Humility

Getoff has learned so much in just a few months. We went from taking over the most basic aspects of his digital presence to most recently launching a The Human Equation YouTube Channel for Peter. Definitely a work in progress, but my goodness what a difference.

“Peter Getoff’s humble manner and natural curiosity helps him to move his psychotherapy business, The Human Equation, forward.”

Here we have a successful guy who was working hard, but he realized his website wasn’t working for him. So he trusted us to help, and he went from having an ancient website to now having an important blog about tackling the homeless problem in Los Angeles and YouTube Channel. There’s still much to be done, but the labors are already bearing fruit.

Peter’s humble manner and natural curiosity helps him to move his business forward. Without Peter’s humility, he may well be stuck in the ancient ages with his business. He chooses to learn and to move forward, and it is our pleasure to help.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Power Year-Round SEO Monitoring / Monthly

We normally start with an Interfanatic Basic SEO Situation Report. We find out what keywords are important your business, and we find out how your site is performing for them.

That’s only the beginning. From there, we can recommend and even take actions for you to improve your site’s results in the search rankings. For those who find search performance critical to their business function, we monitor those results regularly: weekly, monthly, or at some other regular basis.

In this way, we’re able to track the performance of our suggestions and actions. It’s a very hands-on approach to SEO and website performance.

It is our pleasure to help your website improve.

Interfanatic: Approaching with Humility

We look to Dr. King for advice regularly. We see the wisdom in his words, advising us to approach with strength and humility. We’d be happy to do that for you. Just ask us.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Humility, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Whenever you think you’ve made something of beauty, you look up and you find humility.

Just another typical sunset in Southern California! I took this photograph a while ago now, and it reminds me of my mother’s words growing up that she learned from her father: “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in warning, sailors take warning.” The pastels in the sky that evening were unbelievable. It’s wonderful my humble phone camera were able to catch them. But the lesson is the sailor’s: approach the beast of the ocean with humility, and she can be a good mother. Bring too much arrogance, and you will be destroyed.

Humility: The Human Equation – Peter Getoff – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight Read More »

Quickness: Numismatic Literary Guild – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

“Quickness is the essence of war.”
– Sun Tzu

You’ve got to be quick. Sun Tzu saw the need fifteen hundred years ago just as we see it today.

A fast response will often win you the battle. I’ve found this in business, too. I see my best, most successful customers employ quickness – or rapidity – to earn and keep their businesses running.

I think of Ron Guth and his Executive Directorship of the Numismatic Literary Guild. He needed help quick, and we were able to step in and help. His customers, his membership, wants doing business to be quick and easy. So Ron did what he had to do to facilitate quick and easy business for his members.

As he was quick to respond, we endeavored to be quick in response to his need. And everybody got what they needed.

Quickness: An Interfanatic Quality

It’s not always easy to be nimble – to respond quickly. When the machinations are in place to keep the momentum of work in front of you going, it can be a difficult distraction to take on something new out of the blue.

Yet, we understand the importance of helping out quickly whenever we can. It has won us business. And once that high standard is set, we must keep pushing to keep the bar there. We have to keep responding quickly.

Quickness is a necessity in our business, despite the impermanence of its nature. So, we work to be quick.

And we’re not alone.

Quickness in Coin Books? Ron Guth Employs Quickness to Keep Membership Strong

Ron Guth is a major numismatic author. He’s written many books about coins and collecting through the years – major works, beautiful words. Great coin books.

So on top of his many businesses, he also is the Executive Director of the Numismatic Literary Guild. This is a task he takes seriously. Not only does he serve his hobby, he’s working with the many friends he has acquired through the years.

It was time for memberships to renew, and Ron needed help with his site. His new site! Unfortunately, the people that built it disappeared, as so often is the case. Luckily, Ron knew we were around, and we got him heading down the right track. Twice.

The result is smooth business operation for his guild, and happy members.

“Unfortunately, the people that built the website could not be reached. Luckily, Ron knows Interfanatic is around.”

It’s a great feeling to know that Ron trusts us when the chips are down. And it’s a great feeling when we can outperform our competitors. But hey, these are tough times, I just hope they’re okay.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Power Web Site Design & Production

Website production is about staying on track. We have systems and processes in place to keep things moving the right direction.

It’s also about quickly responding to difficulties that arise. Hackers, server issues, ISP issues, user issues. By having systems and processes in place, we can quickly and efficiently respond to threats or problems. It’s not always easy, but because we have over 20 years of experience, many things are easier. This ain’t our first rodeo.

If you need a quick fix for your website, that’s what we’re here for. We do projects of all sizes, all the time.

So next time you need something fixed quickly, think of us. We’re here to help.

Interfanatic: Down with the Quickness

Not every project has to be a multi-thousand dollar deal. We do hundred dollar fixes all the time. We take pride in our ability to get work done quickly. Just ask us.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Quickness, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

This is one of my favorite photographs of all time. It was a rainy day at Brands Hatch, and a lucky owner got to take Prost’s Ferrari F1 for a spin at lunchtime. The sound was glorious. The car twitched and wiggled around the damp English concrete, all the while screeching and screaming its glorious tune. That is a seriously quick car – at a seriously quick track.

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Diligence: VDB Coins – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

“…all things are accomplished by diligence and labor.”
– Menander

As things are in 2021, they were 2350 years ago, when Menandros wrote great thoughts: they present themselves in drama. Menander was a playwright, a poet, and a comedian in Greece almost 400 years before the death of Christ. We see aphorisms and axioms presented in our modern drama, be it Bridgerton or The Right Stuff or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel today, all reflecting aspects of the ancient human struggle.

Our problems are not new. Though this quote might be used by the Communist Xi to inspire his people to labor, we can also use it to reinforce our own work ethic.

Menander’s full quote is (undoubtedly a poor translation of the original Greek, but there we are), “He who labors diligently need never despair, for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor.”

I write now as this week I have labored diligently, to bring equity to my being. I have been afforded so much and must afford more, so I must labor diligently to pay for my space. To make a difference.

As it is with all of us: the human condition. And nobody understands that better than George Huber of VDB Coins. In the face of an ever-changing market, George labors diligently with his love of numismatics. He takes my recommendations and writes regularly on his website. The result is better positioning within the search engines.

As he labors diligently, we labor diligently for him.

Diligence: An Interfanatic Quality

It’s easy to work diligently when your customers are happy. It’s easy to work diligently when your customers appreciate your effort.

When things are not going well, we must dig down and keep working diligently until things are well again. When things are not going well, the motivation is to make them well. But when all is well, it’s important to keep on top of it – to keep things there, and going better.

George Huber of VDB Coins is Diligent

Selling coins is not always sexy. There’s a lot of cataloging, a lot of careful inspection, a great deal of labor that goes into a successful coin business. And, of course it can be dangerous. There are many fraudsters lurking, and storing inventory is itself a serious security issue.

To succeed, you must be diligent. And George is that. Especially in this age when everyone is vying for the attentions of the Internet, one must be diligent in their efforts.

We recommend writing and posting regularly to your site. Providing the search engines with regular, fresh, key-word rich, and most importantly valuable content is one way to get noticed and climb the ranks. Your content must be good – not spammy. You must provide information to your customers that they find valuable. But most important, you must be diligent about it. Don’t put it off – do it, and the results will come.

“The search engines reward George’s diligence, and we reward his diligence with our own.”

When George came to us a couple of years ago looking for a site redesign, we emphasized the importance of regular content updates. George loves his online coin shop, and he remains diligent in updating its content. The result is that he has increased his search position since the redesigned site launched in a couple of critical areas.

The search engines reward George’s diligence, and we reward his diligence with our own. The result is a solid website its business owner enjoys.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Basic Social Media Marketing

Social Media is ALL about diligence. You must post regularly, and you must interact with your followers continually.

It’s work. It’s hard work – not back-breaking, but certainly thoughtful work. Theorizing and enacting a lasting strategy of regular, constant posting takes work. It takes diligence.

If you don’t have the ability, we’re here to help. We can help you come up with a strategy and enact it. Interfanatic can even create content for you – content to use on your website, social media, email marketing – whatever!

We have managed some extremely successful social media campaigns for some major brands through the years. Interfanatic takes pride in our ability to work with budgets of all sizes.

If you need our assistance, it is our pleasure to help.

Interfanatic: Laboring with Diligence

We’ show up every day to do the tasks we and enjoy and the ones nobody enjoys. That’s our job. We do it, constantly, so that you don’t have to. We encourage you to, but if you’d rather, we can do that. Just ask us.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Diligence, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

I took this from a friend’s apartment, high within the Long Beach city skyline. On the left, the cranes of the Port of Los Angeles silhouetted against the Palos Verdes Peninsula, then the Wells Fargo building. As the sun sets on another day in the city, I’m thoughtful. I think about the people who show up and work diligently every day to make that town – and every town – go around. We live in a beautiful place. I’m blessed.

Diligence: VDB Coins – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight Read More »

Respect: Aero-Vac Alloys & Forge – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

“Respect is for those who deserve not demand it.”
– Paolo Cuelho

Respect is earned. This week, I’ll tell you about a man and his business who have definitely earned my respect. They should have yours, too.

The person I quote, Cuelho, is a respected writer. His colleagues respect him because they recognize the success he has achieved through doing well by perfecting his craft.

In other words, he has earned his deserved respect. His work demands it; he does not.

There are people in life you meet like that. Their work demands respect. Sometimes, you meet people that demand respect because they feel they deserve it. It is up to each of us to determine of a person or a business deservers or demands our respect.

And it is up to us to allow our work to demand respect for us.

Respect: An Interfanatic Quality

When we find good people to work with, we gladly give our respect. We pay it. And we work hard to ensure that the respect we pay is returned.

Because we know we can ask for respect all we want. We can ask for business all we want. But if we don’t earn respect, we don’t earn business.

Tim LuMaye at Aero-Vac Alloys & Forge – Where Respectable is an Understatement

Tim LuMaye has figured out how to run a business. His business is surviving the pandemic because he has built its reputation over years of hard work. He insists on quality and service for his customers. Engineers in the aerospace and energy industries aren’t always the easiest people to get along with. They’re demanding and run a tight ship – particularly if they’re doing government work – and they require honesty, transparency, and speed on a budget.

Tim has built Aero-Vac Alloys & Forge through the years by doing all of that, garnering huge respect from his customers and competitors along the way. Need an exotic titanium? I’ve got a guy for that. It’s Tim LuMaye, and his business is Aero-Vac Alloys & Forge, in Kamala, Washington.

“Luckily, through hard work…, we were … able to improve on an already exceptionally performing website.”

We redesigned and rebuilt the AVAF website over ten years ago with an emphasis on SEO. It began to work. Slowly at first, then after a long build, he has a steady stream of leads coming in through the site based on organic traffic alone.

So when he came to us last year for a complete redesign to include some new features, we knew we had a high bar to reach. We set it a decade ago.

Luckily, through hard work and vast experience, we were actually able to improve on an already exceptionally performing website. It was good timing, too, because the boost in organic traffic came just as Tim’s business should have been slowing down. Because we worked hard to ensure we did Tim’s project right, things were better than they could have been.

Normally, when you launch a redesigned site, you expect organic traffic to dip. That’s the norm. We managed to increase traffic on launch.

Interfanatic put in the extra effort because we respect Tim and what he and his staff have built. We honor their efforts with our own. Tim LuMaye has earned our respect through years of great relations.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Power Business Content Piece

One key to proper on-site SEO is ensuring keywords and keyphrases appear in good proportion on your site. If your site doesn’t have the keywords your customers seek, they won’t find your site. Search Engines won’t know your site is where your customers should go.

One way to ensure your site has those keywords sprinkled throughout is through continual content that features those keywords. Our talented writers don’t write drivel laced with keyword spamming; they provide truly valuable content your customers seek. We make sure the Search Engines know your website is the resource resource your customers are looking for.

Need some fresh content? We can help with that. We produce it, you approve it. Then, use your fresh content for your site, your social media, your emails, or all of it – whatever you think will get you business.

Interfanatic: Working to Deserve Respect

We don’t demand respect. We work for it. If you work for your respect, we should be an excellent addition to your team. Ask us.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Respect, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Trees live for years, witnessing the goofiness of their human counterparts, hopefully not being hurt by it, and lending their beauty and strength to us. I took this image one night close to sunset, near home. This tree has been on my block perhaps longer than my house – closing in on a century. The families and homes have changed around it. Its neighbors are new. It gets blasted by gale winds, it is rained upon, and it is baked by the warm California sun. Every day, every year. It is resilient against the cruelties of time and the cruelties of its neighbors. When I go before these trees, cursing the frawns they litter, I need to remember that they will outlast me. And if I don’t make a lasting impact, the will outlast the memory of me, too. That’s why we work hard in this digital, impermanent medium. To make a lasting impact on peoples businesses, their lives. We’re here to help.

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Honesty: ST Go – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

“Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.”
– Nelson Mandela

Integrity, honesty, and humility.

Half of the country right now is relieved, elated even. But half is frustrated and upset. Whether you believe the half that is frustrated and upset is right or not is irrelevant. They are our neighbors.

As I write, we now again have a voice that half of the country believes is one of integrity, honesty and humility. The half of the country that wanted so dearly to believe the lies is unhappy, as they thought their leader was one of integrity, honesty, and humility. He told them what they wanted to – needed to – hear. He told them he won the election and he would continue in his task. He did not.

Now that those lies are exposed, how will they move forward? As humans and as our neighbors, they still hear what they want to hear – just like I do.

“These people,” the universal descriptor of the bigot’s mouth, are my brothers and sisters. They are Americans. They don’t want to be guided.

As the frustrated half of the country watches the Biden inauguration go ahead, will they see that the people who have been feeding them lies – the people assuring them that Trump would have a second term – are dishonest, or, at the very least wrong?

Unity is difficult. Unity requires compromise. Compromise requires integrity, honesty, and humility. Compromise requires work. Compromise allows everyone to be part of the solution and share in it.

Madiba knew that. Well.

There is only one truth. There are not different versions of the truth. Subtle takes can interpret the truth differently, but in the end all we have is honesty as a way forward.

I think of Herair Garboushian, a man who built businesses on honesty. All of my clients built their business on honesty, but Herair has a charismatic way of presenting his business that is honest and profitable. ST Go is founded upon honesty. I respect that.

Honesty: An Interfanatic Quality

In the information age, as it has been for hundreds of years, honesty is difficult to trace. It is told by the people telling the story. If you disagree with their story, or you don’t want to hear it, you are less likely to believe it as the truth. If you can find common ground with their story, it feels honest and you may choose to go along with it.

Crafting the right message is paramount in this world of shades of reality and truth. It’s so difficult to find the truth amongst the lies. But we can help you craft your truth such that people want to go along with it.

We always strive to be honest because other actions are destined for failure. A lack of honesty in business is certain doom. So, we stick to the truth.

Herair Garboushian – Honesty in Business

I like working with Herair. One of the reasons I enjoy working with him is because he’s honest. He also, refreshingly, knows exactly what he wants – that makes things easier. But even better than that, he doesn’t beat around the bush: if it’s wrong, he’ll tell you. If it’s right, he’ll tell you.

And that’s how he built S T Go of Beverly Hills, a major skincare products corporation. He tells his customers how it is, and they appreciate that. Herair makes honest products. He uses honest ingredients. The results speak for themselves.

Herair is also a mover and shaker in the art world. And there, he also has a reputation as an honest business man. In the subjective world of modern art, the truth is as elusive as anywhere in the universe. He speaks to you about your truth toward art or a specific piece, and he uses that honest conversation to explore the art he offers.

“He tells his customers how it is, and they appreciate that. Herair makes honest products. He uses honest ingredients. The results speak for themselves.”

Herair Garboushian is where he is because he is honest.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic The Works Year-Round Local Marketing

Another place honesty is crucial: online reputation management. There are many bad apples or even competitors out there who will talk ill of your business. Of course, sometimes a good deal goes bad. It happens. It’s life, it’s business. But the way to address it isn’t to ignore or deny, it’s to engage and be honest. If you screw up – and people know, everyone does – just be honest about it.

We help you do that. We also help you get more positive reviews and help you fix or at least address the few negative ones that come in. You have to engage, you cannot ignore. Otherwise, the momentum due to unfortunate human nature, will be against you.

It’s our pleasure to help you put your best foot forward.

Interfanatic: Giving and Getting Honesty, the Best Way Forward

I’d love to help you with your business. But the only way we can work together productively is if we’re honest with each other. We may disagree at times, but you are the expert in your field. I honestly believe that. If I don’t, I’m unlikely to be able to work with you. And I do want to work with you.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Honesty, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

There’s something honest about a blue winter’s day. I photographed this from June Lake some years ago now. As I was looking through images for the social feed, I found this one, and there’s something brutally honest about it. It’s also beautifully romantic at the same time – perhaps because I took it from inside a warm room. True honesty is unforgiving, as are the mountain climes at times. Just like navigating this terrain, the best way forward for all of us is with commitment and honesty.

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Resolve: Hansen Wholesale – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

“Every obstacle yields to stern resolve.”
– Leonardo da Vinci

Stern resolve.

Goodness what a week.

In business, as in life, most often a stern resolve combined with communication will win the day. Not always. But most often.

We must be resolute in our beliefs, and yet we must communicate to understand where our beliefs may fall short. Our will is not always enough. Luck is important. Yes, we can do what we can to make our own luck, but fortune may be fickle. We must have the people on our side. Our constituents. Our clients, our customers. And to have people on our side, to succeed, we need luck, resolve, and the truth at our backs.

Resolve without truth may win the day, but it will not succeed when the truth comes out.

Resolve without luck will probably not succeed. Also, resolve without work will not succeed. You have to put in the effort, with truth and luck at your back.

And so, this week while we celebrate resolve, I think of Jeff Schreiber. There’s a man with resolve and all the things that need to go with it: truth, luck, and effort.

(Except that he’s a Jets fan. Unfortunately no amount of resolve will overcome that lot of luck.)

Resolve: An Interfanatic Quality

The most resolute person without the truth will fail. We saw that this week. The most resolute person without effort will fail – I see this all the time. The most resolute person with out luck will fail. It’s out there, but those are the people we don’t see. Hopefully perseverance combines with karma to make things right.

But even if you have luck and effort and truth, if you lack resolve your success will be short-lived. Until you stumble upon the next thing that trips your trigger.

When we start a project, we resolve to finish it.

Da Vinci needed resolve through his career. His masterworks are a testament to his resolve – even if his timetables were not. We’re not talking about that detail though, we’re talking about the finished product. And his finished products are phenoms. So are his many unfinished projects, but can you imagine what might have come from him if he’d had the resolve he needed to finish all his projects?

That’s why, it is my goal as a man of business to show you that our resolve can be your asset. We’re here to take on your project, and once we have taken it on, we’re here to complete it with you. Allow our resolve strengthen your business and bring you to a competitive place of plenty. It may take time, it will take time, but together we will get you to your goals.

Resolute Jeff Schreiber

A person we worked with who is resolute in achieving his goals, not just for himself, but for his people, is Jeff Schreiber, owner of Hansen Wholesale.

Ecommerce is a monster industry. Amazon is the elephant smothering the planet. Jeff’s Hansen Wholesale was the first business selling ceiling fans online, and despite the odds they’re still on top.

“Jeff works his tail off, and he knows what he’s doing is right. He runs an honest business.”

Jeff has all the pieces required to succeed. He refuses to give up. Schreiber is resolute of will to succeed against mounting odds. He has some luck on his side, Jeff works his tail off, and he knows what he’s doing is right. He runs an honest business.

As a result, Jeff is successful, against the odds. He resolved to take care of his people and his customers, and so he does.

When we got to work with Jeff on content creation, social media, search ads and email not long ago, it was a great pleasure. It’s always great to work with people like Jeff: resolute, and a person who surrounds himself with good, hard-working, resolute people.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Power Email Marketing

Email every hour is annoying. Email once a week might be annoying if you’re not doing it right. But sending an email every couple of weeks seems to be the Goldilocks answer for many businesses, given their customer engagement and their ability to produce useful content.

To do email right, you must have resolve. You can’t just wing it. Your customers will get annoyed. Your emails will end up in the spam folder, and nobody will look forward to reading them.

We’re here to help.

Interfanatic: Resolute

We will get through this. We will help you get through this. That’s our job.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Resolve, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Concrete pillars are resolute, holding the sky at bay. A cathedral is the ultimate personification of resolution to The Almighty. They stand for hundreds of years, fighting time with resolution. This cathedral, the Duomo of Milan, took about five hundred years to complete. You think your bathroom remodel requires will, how about that?

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Adaptability: Allen Berg Racing School – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

“Adaptability enforces creativity, and creativity is adaptability.”
– Pearl Zhu

This time we’re in requires adaptability. Many people resist adaptation under the auspice of not liking to be told what to do. They may not like that, but also likely: they don’t like change.

Change can be scary. But you either embrace it and go with it or resist. Resist you may with all your might, but the fact is you will have to adapt, at least on some level.

The Internet and of course digital marketing were completely different in 1999. I remember hearing about this new thing called Netscape Navigator while I was in college. Then hearing about this thing called Google. It was supposed to be better than AOL or Yahoo. It was certainly simpler.

And then came widened connectivity as people started to ditch modems. Then phones had internet connections, and people could text. Then facebook. And now, the current flavor of the month is…?

Through it, we had to adapt. We adapted as people. And here in this digital information realm especially, businesses that adapt can thrive. Others have tried to go too far and failed. But through it all is a major change in the way we find and process information.

If you refused to adapt, you might be okay. You may still get some calls from the Yellow Pages, but there are companies who thrive with tons of leads from nothing but social media. They adapted. They went with the change.

One such company who chose to adapt is Allen Berg Racing Schools. When I think of adapting, I always think of that fighter Allen, who insisted upon succeeding. He adapted, and in doing so put himself in a place to succeed.

Adaptability: An Interfanatic Quality

Adaptation is not unique to the business of the Internet. Adapting is almost always a difficult piece of progress. Adaptation requires compromise. Most people don’t like to compromise – they want to keep things the way they are, so they’re comfortable and know what to expect.

But there are some that relish the challenge. There are some people that recognize the need for change and for adaptation to that change. There are some who exploit changes with their ability to adapt. Others give up and fail. Those who succeed adapt.

For me, I enjoy doing what works. Unfortunately, there are many people of ill will who exploit what works to their advantage – but to the detriment of others. So, “what works” in our business unfortunately changes rapidly and regularly. And so we must adapt. The sooner we adapt, the sooner we’re back to what works.

Zhu explains that adaptability and creativity are one in the same. Being creative, bringing a creative approach to a problem is adapting to conquer it.

The Indomitable Spirit of Allen Berg, He Who Adapts to Succeed

The industry of motorsports racing schools is a difficult one. There have been many players, and most have fallen by the wayside as they struggled to adapt. Allen Berg marches on.

“Berg continues that success with what has become one of the largest open wheel racing school on the planet. He did it with adaptation.”

Allen Berg is a Canadian man who raced Formula One with Michael Schumacher. Well, even he would say that he raced in the same races with Schumacher, but not really with him. To succeed in Formula One, as in life, as in business, you must have a critical combination of skill, perseverance, and perhaps most important: luck.

Many people fail to acknowledge that last one. Luck is perhaps the most important factor. And yes, I’ve heard time and time again, “we make our own luck”, but the truth is we do what we can and others around us may help. There are plenty of great ideas and nearly successful people out there who are able to recognize the importance of luck. There are some extremely successful people who are unable or unwilling to recognize that luck played an important part in their success because they’d rather believe they did it all themselves.

Allen Berg is both. He made it to the top tier of motor racing, only to be stymied before further progress. But making it into Formula One is and always has been an incredible feat in itself.

Now, Berg continues that success with what has become one of the largest open wheel racing school on the planet. He did it with adaptation.

The plucky Berg would not be defeated. It is that determination that has made his own luck and helped his school to be successful. He continued to come up with creative ideas, to enlist the help of bright people, and to work hard until his school became the prominent one that it is.

So when he came to us years ago searching for new ways to adapt his website and his digital marketing to a changing world, it was a great honor and pleasure to consult and work with Allen Berg.

It’s easy for successful people to talk about their success. Now that Allen Berg has adapted to create success, he can tell you his story.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Power Site Production

Interfanatic‘s brand of website production requires constant adaptation. Adapting to the constantly changing digital environment of 2021 is demanding, but we’re up for the challenge. We do what works until it doesn’t, or until there is a better way. Then we add that better way into our systems, into our processes, and that becomes what works. Until it doesn’t, and then we adapt again. We’re always on the search for and implementation of what works.

But we do so slowly – not quickly abandoning what has worked. Sometimes what worked in the past will work again. Sometimes what seems like a better way forward is not after further testing and more experience. So we take our time to adapt – we adapt to do what is best, but not for the sake of change. We want our customers to trust our systems and processes.

I think that’s why we have built many great customer relationships through the decades.

Interfanatic: Continual Adaptation

2020 and 2021 surely require radical adaptation we as a people are not accustomed to. When adaptation is convenient and comfortable, we hardly notice how much things have changed. But when it is inconvenient and uncomfortable, our default as a society is to resist.

Sometimes the price of resistance is too great. At Interfanatic, we have grown comfortable being uncomfortable so that our customers don’t have to be – so our customers don’t even have to notice.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Adaptability, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

A sunrise of a new day. 2021 did not bring with it a clear, bright new future. 2021 will be hard. But hopefully, it has brought us all a renewed spirit to adapt, do what’s right, and understand that life will not always be as we wish it to be. But the more we work together, the better we can make it for ourselves, for those closest to us, and for everyone.

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Kindness: South Bay Beer & Wine Festival – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

“Let us learn to live with kindness, to love everyone, even when they do not love us.”
– Pope Francis

As we ring in the new year with expectations that times will continue to be tough, but with hope that perhaps they’ll be better than they were in 2020, it’s a great time to talk about beer and wine. And it’s always a great time to focus on kindness.

You think we’ve had a bad year (and we have) but look at Pope Francis’ tenure. What a bunch of stuff he’s had to deal with. And as politicians plot us against each other, force us to focus on differences rather than bringing us together, there is no better time for some spiritual guidance from a moral figure.

Yes, we sometimes have to be told things we don’t want to hear. Of course, we take in what we want to hear – it’s human nature. But we have to listen to things we don’t want to hear, too. To get from here to there, we need the whole truth, not just the portion we like.

And Pope Francis, Jesus’ representative on Earth, says we should focus on kindness and love toward all people, including those who don’t love us.

I’m not going to get into a deeply religious dissertation. But if you don’t want to hear that, you may need to examine your spiritual outlook.

Kindness: An Interfanatic Quality

We work so hard for our customers, we work so hard to show them kindness even when they don’t reciprocate.

We all have differences of opinion. Often, differences can be traced to poor communication. We work very hard to ensure excellent communication, but when that effort is not put back, relationships can break down. As I reflect on the years of clients, most of my memories are fond ones. But there have been a few that are not so fond.

The Pope reminds me to extend my kindness even to those who create unhappy instances. It’s difficult, but it’s crucial for us to do that not just in business but in all areas of life. We need understanding.

South Bay Beer & Wine Festival, brought about by Kindness

It’s hard not to think of Karen Greenberg when I recall kindnesses. Talk about a person who has had a rough year. 2020 may well have been remembered as the Year of the Karen had it not been for COVID-19. And there are few people in this world who are less of a Karen than Karen Greenberg.

Through one of her many charitable activities, Karen Green berg works on the South Bay Beer & Wine Festival. A charitable event of revelry and fun, but of course, not in 2020.

“…there are few people in this world who are less of a Karen than Karen Greenberg.”

Nonetheless, I think of Karen and how she brought us in to this project when it needed digital expertise and marketing help. I think of Karen when I think of kindness because that’s through and through what she is.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Power AI-Powered Social Marketing with Setup

Social media requires kindness. It requires reciprocation of kindness. When a person follows your account or likes your content, it is a knock on the door to reciprocate that kindness and build something together. Start small, but work to get larger.

Most people do not understand the work that goes into professional social media. Not only is it planning and massive labor, it is strategy and effort and creativity. Most people think of teenage girls clicking heart emojis, and they think, “that’s not hard”. But executing a complete social media strategy in concert with a larger digital marketing campaign takes dedication and work. And once the posts are done, you’re only just beginning. You must not only curate your feed, you must curate your interactions. You must reciprocate the kindness done to you, not hoard it like a digital miser.

Our AI-Powered Social Media service is an inexpensive way to produce quality content so you can spend more time reciprocating kindness and nurturing your followership. It reduces some of your work, so you can focus on the rest – hopefully, the fun part.

Interfanatic: Working on Kindness

I enjoy nurturing new relationships. Whether it’s through Social Media or through some other venue, a new relationship can be fun. And often, opening these doors begins with kindness, even with people with whom we do not completely agree.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Kindness, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

If you’re scratching your head, I don’t blame you. Sometimes my pictures fit the week’s Interfanatic Quality on the head, sometimes you have to think about it. In thinking of kindness, I was drawn to this beautiful chandelier from the Getty Villa because it reminds me how some bright lights of kindness are reflected and spread upon the many around. As a chandelier, kindness can be covered or it can be amplified. I wish to be more like this chandelier with the kindnesses done unto me.

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Loyalty: Carroll Smith Consulting, Inc. – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

“Loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I’ll like you’re not.”
– General Colin Powell

My apologies for the late post. I got tied up with the holidays. This post was intended for publishing 12/24.

Loyalty – the right kind of loyalty – earned, not given or bribed, is a beautiful thing. Some say it’s the most important thing.

As I reflect upon 21 years of Interfanatic, it’s hard to discount that latter thought. Twenty-one years ago, Carroll Smith came to me and said, “can you build me a website.” Then, seventeen years ago Carroll passed away, and my business shifted to his son, Chris. Chris wanted to change the terms a bit, and we did, but it works better for him now. We did what was required to ensure loyalty, because we’re loyal to our customer.

We give it to each other honestly, whether we think the other will like the opinion or not.

Loyalty: An Interfanatic Quality

Efficiency is ingrained. Of course, we have to constantly fight for it. Our business is on an entropic trend with efficiencies fighting inefficiencies on every front. Efficiency doesn’t have to be impersonal, but it does have to work.

We’re constantly on the lookout for ways to make things happen faster, simpler. Any time there’s a complicated process, we seek to simplify it. Our business is rife with new tasks, new processes, and these are not always beautifully efficient.

Over time, we hone new processes to make them simpler and more efficient. It helps us save time and money. And then we can pass that efficiency to our customers through savings.

CarrollSmith.com, the Result of Two-way Loyalty

As we enter 2021, I’m filled with pride and humility (at the same time – weird, I know) – that we’re still running CarrollSmith.com some twenty-two years later.

This is not an accident. It works this way because we both want it to be this way and because our arrangement works for both parties. The arrangement works both ways because we make sure it does. We make sure it does because we’re both loyal.

“We work together to ensure all goes well and all are happy, and we do it for loyalty.”

Chris honors his father’s work. We at Interfanatic honor his father’s work. We work together to ensure all goes well and all are happy, and we do it for loyalty.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Basic Weekly Email Marketing with Setup⁠

Nothing has the potential to inspire loyalty gently like email marketing done right. Nothing has the potential to piss customers off slowly, violently, like spam – email marketing done wrong.

Email marketing done right, email marketing done the Interfanatic way, is like most things worth doing – it’s hard work. You have to constantly strive to find and deliver value to your customers. Not through sales or promotions or making them spend money, but through informing them, helping them, teaching them what they want to know, but they didn’t know to ask you.

Keep it interesting, and you keep customers coming back. Let it be boring, or even worse, all about you, and watch those customers you earned run away.

Interfanatic: Inspiring Loyalty

I’m pleased with our relationship with Carroll Smith Consulting. And I know that any day, if I don’t keep working at it, if I don’t stay loyal, it could go away. As it could with our other clients who have been with us for decades. There’s always somebody trying to do better. That’s why we keep after it for our clients – to keep them improving, to keep them thinking, to help them. To make them wish to stay loyal.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Loyalty, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Ah, the vivacious blood-red heart. An eternal symbol of loyalty. Fill it with chocolate and you’ve got something that would keep me loyal. And what do you do when you need a great gift? Get them what you would want, of course. And so this was a gift for my wife, who has spent years putting up with me. I don’t know if it exactly inspired loyalty, but she didn’t leave me yet, so this was not the wrong answer apparently!

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