December 17, 2024 • 22 mins
Discover the secret to leveling the playing field for small businesses as we engage with Corey Clark, the visionary CEO and founder of Clark Co. Corey joins us to share his inspiring journey from the bustling world of global nonprofits and large corporations to establishing a marketing agency focused on empowering small businesses with customized marketing solutions. Learn how Corey’s innovative, data-driven strategies are giving small enterprises the tools they need to overcome budget limitations and keep pace with ever-evolving digital trends.
Personalized marketing is the key to standing out, and Corey’s agency is at the forefront of this approach. We explore how Clark Co's thorough client intake process uncovers unique challenges and opportunities, opening doors to tailored solutions that maximize ROI. Hear the success story of a physical therapy clinic that reshaped its marketing strategy, leading to significant expansion. Corey emphasizes the critical role of data in real-time strategy adjustments, ensuring businesses remain agile and competitive in a fast-paced market.
Corey also sheds light on the entrepreneurial mindset, highlighting the integration of quality data into marketing strategies to boost customer engagement and drive growth. Delve into the latest AI tools that help forge meaningful customer relationships and the importance of a positive entrepreneurial mindset. Corey shares efficient ways to connect, preferring LinkedIn and his company's ".co" domain, reinforcing the importance of strategic, cost-effective choices for small businesses. Join us for a conversation brimming with insights for anyone aspiring to elevate their business through strategic marketing.
How to connect with Clark?
Website: https://www.coreyclark.co/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamClarkAndCo/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clark-co/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TeamClarkAndCo
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everyone to the Firing the man podcast, a
show for anyone who wants to betheir own boss.
If you sit in a cubicle everyday and know you are capable of
more, then join us.
This show will help you build abusiness and grow your passive
income streams in just a fewshort hours per day.
And now your hosts, serialentrepreneurs David Shomer and
(00:22):
Ken Wilson.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome everyone to the Firing the man podcast.
Today we're joined by CoreyClark, the CEO and founder of
Clark Co, a marketing agencydedicated to empowering small
businesses through personalizedmarketing strategies.
With over 15 years ofexperience in the marketing
industry, corey has guidednumerous brands, small
(00:46):
businesses and nonprofits toachieving their marketing goals.
Today, we're going to be takinga deep dive into Corey's
background and marketing in 2024and beyond.
Welcome to the show, corey.
Thanks for having me.
Great to be here, absolutely.
So, to start things off, canyou share with our audience a
little bit about your backgroundand what inspired you to
(01:07):
transition from working withglobal nonprofits and large
corporations to founding ClarkCo in 2019?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Of course.
So my background of working inglobal nonprofits and large
corporations really gave me thisunique perspective on the power
of strategic marketing and howto create impact at scale.
However, I noticed that smallbusinesses and nonprofits you
know, not the large ones, butthe ones that are up and coming
and growing really oftenstruggle to access the same
(01:34):
level to tailored strategicsupport.
My motivation for foundingClark Co was rooted in wanting
to bring the same high quality,data-driven marketing and growth
strategies to smallerenterprises.
You know the ones that aretypically operating on limited
resources.
They don't have the sameaccessibility to large agencies.
You can think of the top fivethat are out there that really
(01:56):
serve as the large entities ofthe world and those are really
the ones you all look up to, andso through this, you know small
businesses really being theheartbeat of local communities.
I wanted to make it easier forthem but to level out the
playing field, especially from adigital marketing side, so that
they can compete and thrive.
So founding Tharkin Co wasreally my way of leveling that
(02:18):
playing field and supporting thesmall business community in a
meaningful way that hasgrassroots growth that really
makes lasting impacts oncommunities, and I just love
working with entrepreneurs.
At the end of the day, I mean,those are my people.
They're the ones where wecollaborate.
We talk back and forth, we'rehaving conversations that go so
beyond just marketing and sales,and it's really about sharing,
(02:41):
collaborating.
It's like having coworkers whenyou're in a corporation on
different cross-functional teamsand instead it's company A and
company B and we're both talkingabout similar challenges,
problems we encounter.
You know how do you handle anemployee who's not, you know,
working really well for you.
Maybe there's some challenges,maybe you need to hire an
(03:01):
employee and you haven't done ityet.
They're not sure what to do.
We just really collaborate welltogether to share these
insights.
And so I took all of that andsaid you know what I can do this
on the marketing side.
Let's give it a year and testit.
Here we are, five and a halfyears later and it's still
working, going well.
We've had hundreds of smallbusinesses.
We've worked with varyingcapacities and everybody has
(03:23):
grown, even through COVID, wherewe had a lot of really hard
time with the pandemic.
E-commerce businesses just tookoff, but they didn't know how
to sustain.
It was really hard for themwhen the growth got so
exponential Whether it's 5x, 10x, from where they were.
They suddenly were like oh gosh, what do I do?
How do I move forward?
I don't know who to work with.
(03:44):
They go to a big agency andthose folks say sorry, but your
budget's too small for us.
We can't work with you.
And it was that constantrejection reminding me that,
being on the corporate side,even in global nonprofits, we
had leverage.
We could take those agencies weworked with and say you know
what?
We're going to fire your teamon there.
We want to work with you as anagency, but we don't want to
(04:06):
work with the following peoplewho run your team and that's an
interesting place of power.
But small businesses have thattoo and can leverage it.
You get to pick and choose whoyou work with and who you
partner with.
Why not feel empowered to dothat and have a marketing
partner who thinks the same?
We're not here saying you knowwe're better than you or you
don't have enough budget for us.
(04:26):
We're like listen, let's worktogether.
What does it look like?
What are you trying to do?
What is your current budget?
What are your expectations?
But, most importantly, what areyour growth goals?
Where do you want to go in thenext year, the next two, the
next five?
What does that look like andhow can we make that happen
together?
That's really where I drivefrom.
This is the longest role I'veever held.
(04:47):
I bounced around a ton incorporate nonprofit because I
got sick of people and now Idon't have to because I get to
pick my co-workers co-workers inquotes every day, who I want to
work with, which is reallyrewarding.
It kept me up to the tag.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Awesome, awesome, well, very good.
So, talking about thispopulation of entrepreneurs that
you like to work with in smallbusinesses, what are some common
marketing challenges that theyface today?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
That's a great one.
I touched a little bit upon it.
There's pretty typicalchallenges that you see.
I think a lot of businessesface it, but small businesses
especially face budgetconstraints, rapidly evolving
digital trends and then thedifficulty of reaching their
target audience effectivelywithout wasted resources Such a
key right there.
(05:34):
So many people look atdifferent tactics and strategies
and say, oh, I can run andspend so much on ads per month,
but when you dive into it yourealize there's a ton of waste
For a small business.
That amount of waste, no matterwhat it is, can take a business
down of that size.
We're not the $100 millioncorporations that are out there
in the billion dollar ones,where a few thousand dollars
(05:57):
doesn't really make an impact onour bottom line as small
businesses.
That's a huge difference aboutwhether or not you can grow and
where you're going to go.
It could be making or breaking,having payroll hit for that
week.
It could be whether or notyou're going to add on another
person.
It could be whether you'regoing to go into a new service
or a product offering.
It makes a huge difference.
So from there, what I reallysee in with Clark Co is we tap
(06:20):
into these challenges.
We create tailored anddata-informed strategies that
maximize ROI, all based upon thegrowth goals, and that's a big
piece.
I talk about digital marketingmore as brave marketing because,
at the end of the day, in orderfor digital to be the most
effective for entrepreneurs andsmall business owners, it really
should be about growth.
It should be about where you'regoing, not just reaching the
(06:43):
masses and being everywhere.
It's really about being in theright place at the right time,
inefficiently, so that you haveless waste.
And then, at the end of the day, you're not mad at marketing.
You're not saying, well, whydidn't my Google ads work?
Or why didn't this work onAmazon for me?
Instead, you're looking at itwith data-informed decisions to
say, oh, I wasn't targeting theright people, maybe I didn't
(07:05):
understand my target audiencecorrectly, maybe I had the wrong
budget level because there'shigher competition on this
platform or area, or maybe youwere just pushing out so much
social media that you didn'trealize.
You're kind of just talking to ablank wall.
There was nobody really thereto listen and respond.
And you put in so much work andeffort and you're like this is
an amazing post and and thennobody responds.
(07:30):
That sort of rejection.
It hurts and it doesn't feelgreat, it takes us kind of down
a bit.
So we really flip it so thatway we can focus more on the
approach and ensuring everydollar spent supports their
growth, and then emphasizing oneducation.
There's so much marketingjargon and craziness that's out
there that it really can impactbusiness owners to understand
(07:53):
what it means, what we're doing,why we're doing it and how it
helps them on their growthjourney.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
That sounds great.
So, corey, as I was preppingfor this, I spent a good bit of
time on your website, and one ofthe things that I noticed is
that your agency emphasizespersonalized marketing
strategies.
So can you discuss yourapproach to developing these
strategies and how they differfrom typical marketing agencies?
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Of course, and it's a great question.
So our approach really is allabout customization and
efficiency.
We begin with conducting anin-depth client intake process
that really goes beyond justsurface level metrics, instead
really focusing on trulyunderstanding each client's
goals, their pain points, theiraudience and their market
(08:39):
dynamics.
Unlike a typical agency thatmight offer a standard, one size
fits all approach, we're highlyselective about the tools and
strategies we use, tailoringeach aspect to fit the specific
goals and budgets of the client.
So it's really about thedifference of how tailored needs
for partnerships between us,but also the actual marketing
(09:01):
that we implement and execute onat the same time.
So our process thinking is bothhigh-level business questions
and specific subsets ofquestions that really reveal
insights into each client'sunique challenges and
opportunities.
From there we craft a strategythat prioritizes high-impact,
cost-effective solutions,whether that's hyper-localized
(09:22):
SEO to reach customers in aspecific area or a content
marketing plan that maximizesROI by addressing exactly what
the client's audience caresabout.
And that's the big piece.
Right there is thatpersonalized really ensures that
every dollar spending marketingis optimized for growth and not
wasted on broad stroke tacticsthat don't deliver real results.
(09:43):
There's nothing worse thanspending money and it doesn't
deliver anything.
I can't fathom spending my ownmoney and having no results come
back, no real impact, so Itreat every client's dollar as
if it was vital, and that's howwe approach everything together.
So, in terms of execution, wereally leverage data to refine
(10:03):
and adopt our strategies in realtime, which allows clients to
see measurable outcomes withoutthe typical high spend.
There's no.
You have to wait six to ninemonths to see the results.
We should be seeing them in theimmediate future.
It may not be the next 30minutes, but we should be able
to tell something by thefollowing day, if not within a
couple of days.
Are we heading in the rightdirection with what our strategy
(10:25):
is?
Is it actually working?
We also prep and prepare forchanges of optimizations along
the way, so that we can stay onthat clear goal of where we're
trying to go, because the marketchanges, the market evolves,
tactics change, channels getupdates there's just different
elements that come into play,and we take all of that off of
our clients and give them thebenefit of a full service
(10:48):
marketing strategy that is muchmore agile, it's much more
personalized and it's abudget-friendly approach, and so
this sort of custom-built modelthat we have really ensures
that we're not only helpingclients achieve their growth
goals, but we're also providingan affordable, impactful
alternative to the larger, lessadaptable agency solutions that,
(11:09):
quite honestly, are becomingarchaic.
At this point, it's 2024, soonto be 2025.
We've got to get up with thetrends from a marketing agency
standpoint.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah, very nice, very nice.
So can you share a successstory from one of your clients
that you worked with?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, I think there's so many to choose from, but I
did think of one in particular.
So we've been working with thisphysical therapy clinic for
quite some time.
They're in a large metro area.
There's high, heavy competitionall around and when we first
started working together, theywere having an issue attracting
new clients.
Despite offering high qualitycare, very affordable, good
(11:49):
quality care, personalized,one-on-one approach Everything
you want.
When you think about having togo to PT, or whether it's
training for a marathon oranything coming up post-surgery,
you're running into issues withyour body.
Lots of different pieces comeinto that, like sciatica and
stuff.
There's huge issues we can havein our bodies.
So what they kept seeing wastheir marketing just wasn't
(12:11):
working.
They weren't able to figure outhow can they reach those new
clients, how can they get themattracted.
But when we peeled the layersback, we understood that when
you meet with them one-on-one,you feel that personalization,
you feel how involved they arein your healthcare plan, how
they want to make sure what theydo from the PT side fits you
(12:31):
and your lifestyle.
And we looked at them and saidwell, this is easy, this is what
we do for the marketing side,diving deeper, realized that
their website, their advertisingfrom Google ads, yelp ads and
other channels were allmisaligned.
They weren't talking to theright audience, they weren't
optimized in terms of like SEOcontent for their website,
(12:52):
building that into their ads,making sure everything was just
really robust and workingtogether.
So our strategy ended upresulting in a high demand for
them and they opened up a secondlocation within a year, and
that was something that wasn'tnecessarily top of mind as a
growth goal, but it became onebecause of the dynamic we could
create together.
And so this growth breaks notjust the leads that they needed,
(13:14):
but it also got them to thinklarger about how to grow their
business more to have a largerimpact on their local community.
And at the end of the day, Ismile so big because they make
me so happy that this happens.
We started with there's aproblem, we've got a solution,
we can get through this, andthen to see the outcome on the
other side and say now we'vebeen working together for years
(13:35):
and it's amazing to think thatthe second location is also
doing really well and there's apotential for a third.
So that growth sort of changeswith time and that's something
that fits really well with us,because we want that sustained,
long-term growth.
We want to make sure it's theright level and the right
attention that's needed perclient, so they're one of my
(13:55):
favorite ones.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Very nice, very nice.
And so what would you say aresome emerging trends in digital
marketing and how can yourclients or prospective clients
be prepared to leverage thesetrends?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah, yeah, great question.
So one of the trends and it'svery timely and it's a high
topic that I hear a lot aboutand I speak on it quite often is
the rise of AI driven marketingtools.
Ai is really great at helpingsmall businesses personalize
their customer interactions.
They can gain deeper insightsinto customer behavior without
(14:33):
extensive resources thatultimately cost them a ton of
time and money.
You know, every hour we have isa dollar.
You know, of some degree backto us as business owners.
So we're paying attention reallyto the growth of short form
video content, which isincreasingly popular on
platforms like TikTok.
You've got Instagram Reels andsuch, and we're really preparing
(14:55):
to help our clients leveragethese trends with targeted video
content strategies.
While exploring the AI toolsthat make data insights and
customer engagement much moreaccessible, it's really blending
that data together to make sureit's quality data, it's data
that we can trust, not just datathat came from somewhere and we
have no clue what the citationis, and really pulling that into
(15:17):
the strategy at the end of theday so that way we can leverage
it.
If we see that folks areresponding more to one type of
content versus the other, theyprefer one platform over the
other.
You know we can do more work inhere to say what are the real
trends.
Who are the people that areengaging with it?
The vanity numbers of the likesand comments look great, but
really what does that mean?
Do we reach the right people?
(15:38):
Do they align with our targetaudience for the client?
All of that comes togetherbecause our goal at the end of
the day is to help clients stayahead of the curve and integrate
these advancements that we seein the marketing and digital
space in ways that reallyenhance their customer
relationships and drive theirgrowth at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Very nice, very nice.
Well, this has been a reallygood insight into what you're
doing at Clark Co and marketingin 2024.
So at the end of every episode,we ask our guests the same four
questions.
We call this the fire round.
Are you ready?
I'm ready, as I can be.
(16:17):
All right.
What's your favorite?
Speaker 3 (16:19):
book oh, I have so many, but right now I've really
been into hook point how tostand out in a three second
world.
I think it's so relevant to allof these conversations for all
of us as entrepreneurs how doyou grasp somebody's attention
in three seconds?
It's pretty powerful.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Nice, Nice.
I'll have to add that to myreading list Number two what are
your hobbies?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I have so many hobbies, the biggest kind of
high level is just beingoutdoors.
It's the reason that got meback to New England.
I love being near the ocean andI love being near the mountains
, and all four seasons, so atany time you could find me going
to the ocean, sitting at thebeach, swimming.
I don't go super far in theocean because I am a little bit
afraid of like sharks and whatelse is out there, but in the
(17:04):
winter you can find me in themountains skiing.
You can find me hiking inbetween seasons, mountain biking
, cycling on the road Anythingthat gets me outside.
I get so inspired by nature andjust seeing how vast this world
is, which to me relates back tobusiness.
It's in what we create and grow.
There's no end to thepossibility of where we can go,
(17:25):
so anything outside is myfavorite.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Very nice.
What is one thing you do notmiss about working for the man?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Such a good one.
I do not missinter-departmental politics at
all.
It was the biggest waste oftime I remember sitting in this
meeting I'll share a quick storyon that and there had to have
been 50 of us in this physicalroom and half the room is
developers, the other half ismarketers.
So you already got a conflictbetween the two.
(17:56):
And I'll never forget one of thelead developers was just so mad
at how the project was goingdown and I wasn't the lead but I
felt this compelledness to justspeak up and just say, hey,
like what's going on here, howcan we actually work together
and make this function?
And I'll never forget thisperson was twice my age at the
time and they came to meafterwards and were like I
(18:17):
really appreciate that youlistened to me and you heard me.
I never get that in these callsand I hate going to them for
that reason.
And I said I understand youbetter now because I was a
little taken back by your energy.
I thought what are they mad at?
Did I do something?
Did somebody else do something?
Oh God, did like the VP dosomething like this could be
messy, you know we all kind ofhave these questions, so don't
(18:42):
miss any of that.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Very nice.
And last question what do youthink sets apart successful
entrepreneurs from those whogive up, fail or never get
started?
Great question.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
I think it's all about a positive mindset.
At the end of the day, noteverything is easy, Not
everything is achievable.
We're doing hard, good work.
So if you stay at a positivemindset and you stay focused on
what your goals are, for me it'sgrowth.
There's a certain growth levelI'd like to reach.
When I achieve it, I create thenext one, but along the way I'm
constantly creating new goals,new things that I can achieve,
(19:12):
and then celebrating the wins onthe way, Because it is really
lonely to be an entrepreneur atthe end of the day.
You know, I joke with my nieceswhen they ask me you know who's
your boss?
Well, I'm like well, you knowthe big man upstairs.
I'm like that's who I deal withfrom time to time, and that's
if you're a religious person byany means.
For, however, your viewpointsare for everyone.
But it's one of those where youkind of realize when you step
(19:34):
out of corporate, you're like oh, there isn't anybody above me.
I have to be that person, Ihave to create the culture, I
have to create the company.
You gotta do all this stuff.
And when you get frustrated andyou get down and you feel like
giving up and like you're afailure.
That's the fastest way to loseyour steam and to end things.
I've watched a lot of peoplejust be like you know what?
(19:54):
I'm going back to corporate, Ican't do it.
And I say to them I go.
There's nothing wrong with that,that's totally an acceptable
answer.
But it's all about your timingand your alignment with yourself
.
Do you feel like this is right?
Do you feel like you could domore?
Or do you really just feel likegiving up?
And there's no wrong answer?
There's no real judgment thatshould be given to any of that,
but it is up to that person atthe end of the day and I think
(20:15):
having a positive mindset acrossit, of saying you're going to
have some challenges.
There may be some bumps in theroad, but entrepreneurship is a
continual cycle.
There's ebbs and flows, highsand lows and everything in
between, and if you don't focuson what goes really well and
figure out how to solve whatdoesn't, it's going to take you
down pretty quick.
So definitely a good one.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Very good, and if people are interested in working
with your company, what wouldbe the best way to get in touch?
Speaker 3 (20:42):
The best sort of two formats to reach me would be
through my LinkedIn.
You can find me very easily.
It's linkedincom slashCorey-Clark-Strategist.
Or you can go to our website atcoreyclarkco.
We had to be fancy and do coinstead of com, because it was
thousands of dollars.
So as a small business, I liketo be efficient as well, but I
(21:03):
always like to call it outbecause it confuses folks from
time to time.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Perfect, and we'll link to all that in the show
notes.
Corey, I want to thank you forbeing a guest on the Firing the
man podcast and looking forwardto staying in touch.
Welcome everyone to the Firing the man podcast, a
show for anyone who wants to betheir own boss.
If you sit in a cubicle everyday and know you are capable of
more, then join us.
This show will help you build abusiness and grow your passive
income streams in just a fewshort hours per day.
And now your hosts, serialentrepreneurs David Shomer and
(00:22):
Ken Wilson.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome everyone to the Firing the man podcast.
Today we're joined by CoreyClark, the CEO and founder of
Clark Co, a marketing agencydedicated to empowering small
businesses through personalizedmarketing strategies.
With over 15 years ofexperience in the marketing
industry, corey has guidednumerous brands, small
(00:46):
businesses and nonprofits toachieving their marketing goals.
Today, we're going to be takinga deep dive into Corey's
background and marketing in 2024and beyond.
Welcome to the show, corey.
Thanks for having me.
Great to be here, absolutely.
So, to start things off, canyou share with our audience a
little bit about your backgroundand what inspired you to
(01:07):
transition from working withglobal nonprofits and large
corporations to founding ClarkCo in 2019?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Of course.
So my background of working inglobal nonprofits and large
corporations really gave me thisunique perspective on the power
of strategic marketing and howto create impact at scale.
However, I noticed that smallbusinesses and nonprofits you
know, not the large ones, butthe ones that are up and coming
and growing really oftenstruggle to access the same
(01:34):
level to tailored strategicsupport.
My motivation for foundingClark Co was rooted in wanting
to bring the same high quality,data-driven marketing and growth
strategies to smallerenterprises.
You know the ones that aretypically operating on limited
resources.
They don't have the sameaccessibility to large agencies.
You can think of the top fivethat are out there that really
(01:56):
serve as the large entities ofthe world and those are really
the ones you all look up to, andso through this, you know small
businesses really being theheartbeat of local communities.
I wanted to make it easier forthem but to level out the
playing field, especially from adigital marketing side, so that
they can compete and thrive.
So founding Tharkin Co wasreally my way of leveling that
(02:18):
playing field and supporting thesmall business community in a
meaningful way that hasgrassroots growth that really
makes lasting impacts oncommunities, and I just love
working with entrepreneurs.
At the end of the day, I mean,those are my people.
They're the ones where wecollaborate.
We talk back and forth, we'rehaving conversations that go so
beyond just marketing and sales,and it's really about sharing,
(02:41):
collaborating.
It's like having coworkers whenyou're in a corporation on
different cross-functional teamsand instead it's company A and
company B and we're both talkingabout similar challenges,
problems we encounter.
You know how do you handle anemployee who's not, you know,
working really well for you.
Maybe there's some challenges,maybe you need to hire an
(03:01):
employee and you haven't done ityet.
They're not sure what to do.
We just really collaborate welltogether to share these
insights.
And so I took all of that andsaid you know what I can do this
on the marketing side.
Let's give it a year and testit.
Here we are, five and a halfyears later and it's still
working, going well.
We've had hundreds of smallbusinesses.
We've worked with varyingcapacities and everybody has
(03:23):
grown, even through COVID, wherewe had a lot of really hard
time with the pandemic.
E-commerce businesses just tookoff, but they didn't know how
to sustain.
It was really hard for themwhen the growth got so
exponential Whether it's 5x, 10x, from where they were.
They suddenly were like oh gosh, what do I do?
How do I move forward?
I don't know who to work with.
(03:44):
They go to a big agency andthose folks say sorry, but your
budget's too small for us.
We can't work with you.
And it was that constantrejection reminding me that,
being on the corporate side,even in global nonprofits, we
had leverage.
We could take those agencies weworked with and say you know
what?
We're going to fire your teamon there.
We want to work with you as anagency, but we don't want to
(04:06):
work with the following peoplewho run your team and that's an
interesting place of power.
But small businesses have thattoo and can leverage it.
You get to pick and choose whoyou work with and who you
partner with.
Why not feel empowered to dothat and have a marketing
partner who thinks the same?
We're not here saying you knowwe're better than you or you
don't have enough budget for us.
(04:26):
We're like listen, let's worktogether.
What does it look like?
What are you trying to do?
What is your current budget?
What are your expectations?
But, most importantly, what areyour growth goals?
Where do you want to go in thenext year, the next two, the
next five?
What does that look like andhow can we make that happen
together?
That's really where I drivefrom.
This is the longest role I'veever held.
(04:47):
I bounced around a ton incorporate nonprofit because I
got sick of people and now Idon't have to because I get to
pick my co-workers co-workers inquotes every day, who I want to
work with, which is reallyrewarding.
It kept me up to the tag.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Awesome, awesome, well, very good.
So, talking about thispopulation of entrepreneurs that
you like to work with in smallbusinesses, what are some common
marketing challenges that theyface today?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
That's a great one.
I touched a little bit upon it.
There's pretty typicalchallenges that you see.
I think a lot of businessesface it, but small businesses
especially face budgetconstraints, rapidly evolving
digital trends and then thedifficulty of reaching their
target audience effectivelywithout wasted resources Such a
key right there.
(05:34):
So many people look atdifferent tactics and strategies
and say, oh, I can run andspend so much on ads per month,
but when you dive into it yourealize there's a ton of waste
For a small business.
That amount of waste, no matterwhat it is, can take a business
down of that size.
We're not the $100 millioncorporations that are out there
in the billion dollar ones,where a few thousand dollars
(05:57):
doesn't really make an impact onour bottom line as small
businesses.
That's a huge difference aboutwhether or not you can grow and
where you're going to go.
It could be making or breaking,having payroll hit for that
week.
It could be whether or notyou're going to add on another
person.
It could be whether you'regoing to go into a new service
or a product offering.
It makes a huge difference.
So from there, what I reallysee in with Clark Co is we tap
(06:20):
into these challenges.
We create tailored anddata-informed strategies that
maximize ROI, all based upon thegrowth goals, and that's a big
piece.
I talk about digital marketingmore as brave marketing because,
at the end of the day, in orderfor digital to be the most
effective for entrepreneurs andsmall business owners, it really
should be about growth.
It should be about where you'regoing, not just reaching the
(06:43):
masses and being everywhere.
It's really about being in theright place at the right time,
inefficiently, so that you haveless waste.
And then, at the end of the day, you're not mad at marketing.
You're not saying, well, whydidn't my Google ads work?
Or why didn't this work onAmazon for me?
Instead, you're looking at itwith data-informed decisions to
say, oh, I wasn't targeting theright people, maybe I didn't
(07:05):
understand my target audiencecorrectly, maybe I had the wrong
budget level because there'shigher competition on this
platform or area, or maybe youwere just pushing out so much
social media that you didn'trealize.
You're kind of just talking to ablank wall.
There was nobody really thereto listen and respond.
And you put in so much work andeffort and you're like this is
an amazing post and and thennobody responds.
(07:30):
That sort of rejection.
It hurts and it doesn't feelgreat, it takes us kind of down
a bit.
So we really flip it so thatway we can focus more on the
approach and ensuring everydollar spent supports their
growth, and then emphasizing oneducation.
There's so much marketingjargon and craziness that's out
there that it really can impactbusiness owners to understand
(07:53):
what it means, what we're doing,why we're doing it and how it
helps them on their growthjourney.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
That sounds great.
So, corey, as I was preppingfor this, I spent a good bit of
time on your website, and one ofthe things that I noticed is
that your agency emphasizespersonalized marketing
strategies.
So can you discuss yourapproach to developing these
strategies and how they differfrom typical marketing agencies?
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Of course, and it's a great question.
So our approach really is allabout customization and
efficiency.
We begin with conducting anin-depth client intake process
that really goes beyond justsurface level metrics, instead
really focusing on trulyunderstanding each client's
goals, their pain points, theiraudience and their market
(08:39):
dynamics.
Unlike a typical agency thatmight offer a standard, one size
fits all approach, we're highlyselective about the tools and
strategies we use, tailoringeach aspect to fit the specific
goals and budgets of the client.
So it's really about thedifference of how tailored needs
for partnerships between us,but also the actual marketing
(09:01):
that we implement and execute onat the same time.
So our process thinking is bothhigh-level business questions
and specific subsets ofquestions that really reveal
insights into each client'sunique challenges and
opportunities.
From there we craft a strategythat prioritizes high-impact,
cost-effective solutions,whether that's hyper-localized
(09:22):
SEO to reach customers in aspecific area or a content
marketing plan that maximizesROI by addressing exactly what
the client's audience caresabout.
And that's the big piece.
Right there is thatpersonalized really ensures that
every dollar spending marketingis optimized for growth and not
wasted on broad stroke tacticsthat don't deliver real results.
(09:43):
There's nothing worse thanspending money and it doesn't
deliver anything.
I can't fathom spending my ownmoney and having no results come
back, no real impact, so Itreat every client's dollar as
if it was vital, and that's howwe approach everything together.
So, in terms of execution, wereally leverage data to refine
(10:03):
and adopt our strategies in realtime, which allows clients to
see measurable outcomes withoutthe typical high spend.
There's no.
You have to wait six to ninemonths to see the results.
We should be seeing them in theimmediate future.
It may not be the next 30minutes, but we should be able
to tell something by thefollowing day, if not within a
couple of days.
Are we heading in the rightdirection with what our strategy
(10:25):
is?
Is it actually working?
We also prep and prepare forchanges of optimizations along
the way, so that we can stay onthat clear goal of where we're
trying to go, because the marketchanges, the market evolves,
tactics change, channels getupdates there's just different
elements that come into play,and we take all of that off of
our clients and give them thebenefit of a full service
(10:48):
marketing strategy that is muchmore agile, it's much more
personalized and it's abudget-friendly approach, and so
this sort of custom-built modelthat we have really ensures
that we're not only helpingclients achieve their growth
goals, but we're also providingan affordable, impactful
alternative to the larger, lessadaptable agency solutions that,
(11:09):
quite honestly, are becomingarchaic.
At this point, it's 2024, soonto be 2025.
We've got to get up with thetrends from a marketing agency
standpoint.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah, very nice, very nice.
So can you share a successstory from one of your clients
that you worked with?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, I think there's so many to choose from, but I
did think of one in particular.
So we've been working with thisphysical therapy clinic for
quite some time.
They're in a large metro area.
There's high, heavy competitionall around and when we first
started working together, theywere having an issue attracting
new clients.
Despite offering high qualitycare, very affordable, good
(11:49):
quality care, personalized,one-on-one approach Everything
you want.
When you think about having togo to PT, or whether it's
training for a marathon oranything coming up post-surgery,
you're running into issues withyour body.
Lots of different pieces comeinto that, like sciatica and
stuff.
There's huge issues we can havein our bodies.
So what they kept seeing wastheir marketing just wasn't
(12:11):
working.
They weren't able to figure outhow can they reach those new
clients, how can they get themattracted.
But when we peeled the layersback, we understood that when
you meet with them one-on-one,you feel that personalization,
you feel how involved they arein your healthcare plan, how
they want to make sure what theydo from the PT side fits you
(12:31):
and your lifestyle.
And we looked at them and saidwell, this is easy, this is what
we do for the marketing side,diving deeper, realized that
their website, their advertisingfrom Google ads, yelp ads and
other channels were allmisaligned.
They weren't talking to theright audience, they weren't
optimized in terms of like SEOcontent for their website,
(12:52):
building that into their ads,making sure everything was just
really robust and workingtogether.
So our strategy ended upresulting in a high demand for
them and they opened up a secondlocation within a year, and
that was something that wasn'tnecessarily top of mind as a
growth goal, but it became onebecause of the dynamic we could
create together.
And so this growth breaks notjust the leads that they needed,
(13:14):
but it also got them to thinklarger about how to grow their
business more to have a largerimpact on their local community.
And at the end of the day, Ismile so big because they make
me so happy that this happens.
We started with there's aproblem, we've got a solution,
we can get through this, andthen to see the outcome on the
other side and say now we'vebeen working together for years
(13:35):
and it's amazing to think thatthe second location is also
doing really well and there's apotential for a third.
So that growth sort of changeswith time and that's something
that fits really well with us,because we want that sustained,
long-term growth.
We want to make sure it's theright level and the right
attention that's needed perclient, so they're one of my
(13:55):
favorite ones.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Very nice, very nice.
And so what would you say aresome emerging trends in digital
marketing and how can yourclients or prospective clients
be prepared to leverage thesetrends?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah, yeah, great question.
So one of the trends and it'svery timely and it's a high
topic that I hear a lot aboutand I speak on it quite often is
the rise of AI driven marketingtools.
Ai is really great at helpingsmall businesses personalize
their customer interactions.
They can gain deeper insightsinto customer behavior without
(14:33):
extensive resources thatultimately cost them a ton of
time and money.
You know, every hour we have isa dollar.
You know, of some degree backto us as business owners.
So we're paying attention reallyto the growth of short form
video content, which isincreasingly popular on
platforms like TikTok.
You've got Instagram Reels andsuch, and we're really preparing
(14:55):
to help our clients leveragethese trends with targeted video
content strategies.
While exploring the AI toolsthat make data insights and
customer engagement much moreaccessible, it's really blending
that data together to make sureit's quality data, it's data
that we can trust, not just datathat came from somewhere and we
have no clue what the citationis, and really pulling that into
(15:17):
the strategy at the end of theday so that way we can leverage
it.
If we see that folks areresponding more to one type of
content versus the other, theyprefer one platform over the
other.
You know we can do more work inhere to say what are the real
trends.
Who are the people that areengaging with it?
The vanity numbers of the likesand comments look great, but
really what does that mean?
Do we reach the right people?
(15:38):
Do they align with our targetaudience for the client?
All of that comes togetherbecause our goal at the end of
the day is to help clients stayahead of the curve and integrate
these advancements that we seein the marketing and digital
space in ways that reallyenhance their customer
relationships and drive theirgrowth at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Very nice, very nice.
Well, this has been a reallygood insight into what you're
doing at Clark Co and marketingin 2024.
So at the end of every episode,we ask our guests the same four
questions.
We call this the fire round.
Are you ready?
I'm ready, as I can be.
(16:17):
All right.
What's your favorite?
Speaker 3 (16:19):
book oh, I have so many, but right now I've really
been into hook point how tostand out in a three second
world.
I think it's so relevant to allof these conversations for all
of us as entrepreneurs how doyou grasp somebody's attention
in three seconds?
It's pretty powerful.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Nice, Nice.
I'll have to add that to myreading list Number two what are
your hobbies?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I have so many hobbies, the biggest kind of
high level is just beingoutdoors.
It's the reason that got meback to New England.
I love being near the ocean andI love being near the mountains
, and all four seasons, so atany time you could find me going
to the ocean, sitting at thebeach, swimming.
I don't go super far in theocean because I am a little bit
afraid of like sharks and whatelse is out there, but in the
(17:04):
winter you can find me in themountains skiing.
You can find me hiking inbetween seasons, mountain biking
, cycling on the road Anythingthat gets me outside.
I get so inspired by nature andjust seeing how vast this world
is, which to me relates back tobusiness.
It's in what we create and grow.
There's no end to thepossibility of where we can go,
(17:25):
so anything outside is myfavorite.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Very nice.
What is one thing you do notmiss about working for the man?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Such a good one.
I do not missinter-departmental politics at
all.
It was the biggest waste oftime I remember sitting in this
meeting I'll share a quick storyon that and there had to have
been 50 of us in this physicalroom and half the room is
developers, the other half ismarketers.
So you already got a conflictbetween the two.
(17:56):
And I'll never forget one of thelead developers was just so mad
at how the project was goingdown and I wasn't the lead but I
felt this compelledness to justspeak up and just say, hey,
like what's going on here, howcan we actually work together
and make this function?
And I'll never forget thisperson was twice my age at the
time and they came to meafterwards and were like I
(18:17):
really appreciate that youlistened to me and you heard me.
I never get that in these callsand I hate going to them for
that reason.
And I said I understand youbetter now because I was a
little taken back by your energy.
I thought what are they mad at?
Did I do something?
Did somebody else do something?
Oh God, did like the VP dosomething like this could be
messy, you know we all kind ofhave these questions, so don't
(18:42):
miss any of that.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Very nice.
And last question what do youthink sets apart successful
entrepreneurs from those whogive up, fail or never get
started?
Great question.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
I think it's all about a positive mindset.
At the end of the day, noteverything is easy, Not
everything is achievable.
We're doing hard, good work.
So if you stay at a positivemindset and you stay focused on
what your goals are, for me it'sgrowth.
There's a certain growth levelI'd like to reach.
When I achieve it, I create thenext one, but along the way I'm
constantly creating new goals,new things that I can achieve,
(19:12):
and then celebrating the wins onthe way, Because it is really
lonely to be an entrepreneur atthe end of the day.
You know, I joke with my nieceswhen they ask me you know who's
your boss?
Well, I'm like well, you knowthe big man upstairs.
I'm like that's who I deal withfrom time to time, and that's
if you're a religious person byany means.
For, however, your viewpointsare for everyone.
But it's one of those where youkind of realize when you step
(19:34):
out of corporate, you're like oh, there isn't anybody above me.
I have to be that person, Ihave to create the culture, I
have to create the company.
You gotta do all this stuff.
And when you get frustrated andyou get down and you feel like
giving up and like you're afailure.
That's the fastest way to loseyour steam and to end things.
I've watched a lot of peoplejust be like you know what?
(19:54):
I'm going back to corporate, Ican't do it.
And I say to them I go.
There's nothing wrong with that,that's totally an acceptable
answer.
But it's all about your timingand your alignment with yourself
.
Do you feel like this is right?
Do you feel like you could domore?
Or do you really just feel likegiving up?
And there's no wrong answer?
There's no real judgment thatshould be given to any of that,
but it is up to that person atthe end of the day and I think
(20:15):
having a positive mindset acrossit, of saying you're going to
have some challenges.
There may be some bumps in theroad, but entrepreneurship is a
continual cycle.
There's ebbs and flows, highsand lows and everything in
between, and if you don't focuson what goes really well and
figure out how to solve whatdoesn't, it's going to take you
down pretty quick.
So definitely a good one.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Very good, and if people are interested in working
with your company, what wouldbe the best way to get in touch?
Speaker 3 (20:42):
The best sort of two formats to reach me would be
through my LinkedIn.
You can find me very easily.
It's linkedincom slashCorey-Clark-Strategist.
Or you can go to our website atcoreyclarkco.
We had to be fancy and do coinstead of com, because it was
thousands of dollars.
So as a small business, I liketo be efficient as well, but I
(21:03):
always like to call it outbecause it confuses folks from
time to time.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Perfect, and we'll link to all that in the show
notes.
Corey, I want to thank you forbeing a guest on the Firing the
man podcast and looking forwardto staying in touch.
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