About
One of the things I am asked most about is how/why I got into this business.
After several years working in retail management, I decided that the 9-5 grind (or often 7-7 grind) of brick and mortal retail wasn’t anything I wanted to pursue any longer, and I began to think about what else I could do to leverage the experience I’d accrued during the past 10 years. I got to talking with my good friend Pete Brand, (co-founder of Mindscape at Hanon McKendry) who has been in the web development/internet marketing industry for the past decade. Knowing my background of offline business management and marketing, he suggested I look into transferring those skills to the online world.
Marketing, in it’s purest form, can be defined as the art of reaching a specific group of people with a specific message. After a couple months of rigorous studying and absorbing anything and everything I could get my hands on, I began to look at websites in a totally different light. I immediately noticed that many (most, in fact) websites out there were not being optimized to fully take advantage of the multitude of opportunities that the Internet affords. So many companies were simply turning their sites live and hoping for the best, never fully grasping the ever-changing nature of their industry, the Internet, or the reason to even to have a website in the first place.
My original intention was to create a series of products catering to an underserved yet sizable market in the dating niche that I had discovered while doing research. It was after a series of casual discussions of my plan with Pete that he came back with something I’d NEVER expected. HE OFFERED ME A JOB AT MINDSCAPE!!
On the beach during the annual Mindscape company retreat to Anna Maria Island in Florida
My time working for Mindscape so far has been a truly enlightening experience for which I am eternally grateful. Literally every day I learn at least five new things – which makes it sound like I have a lot to learn – and it’s true! Ironically, that can be said of even the most respected ‘experts’ in this industry. If you don’t continue to expand what Pete calls your “Intellectual Capital,” it’s scary how fast you will fall behind those that do.
The thing that I like most about the work I do for Mindscape is that my efforts have an immediate benefit to the clients who hire Mindscape to help them improve their web presence – and I get to see those results first hand. Seeing the effects that my work had on the presidents and CMOs that I’ve routinely met with and instructed has given me a profound satisfaction I’d never really experienced before. Knowing that my work is going to improve the businesses and chances of success for others really puts the importance of what I do in a different light.
Even though I am continuing to work for Mindscape on a freelance basis and will do so as long as they’ll have me, I have decided to expand my operations in an effort to help as many companies as I can to get the most out of their web marketing endeavors.
Why did I create this blog?
I’ve created this blog for the benefit of exactly two people: Me and You (not necessarily in that order). One of the biggest reasons I wanted to do this was to provide value by way of sharing the knowledge I have on a variety of subjects – both in business – on and offline - and in life as a whole.
Other Stuff…
Birthday: February 18
Kids: Two: Elizabeth (10) and Thomas Quinn (1)
Interests/hobbies: Taking Pete’s money at poker (something that admitted has not been as easy as it once was – but no less satisfying nonetheless); Losing Pete’s money to Elizabeth at poker; Losing money to Pete on the golf course (I swear I don’t have a gambling problem); Writing; Web Design; Marketing; Kicking my dad’s ass at 9-ball; Getting my ass kicked by my dad at Ping Pong; Grand Rapids Griffins, Pro and College Football, NHL, Detroit Tigers, etc.
In Full Disclosure
Some of the links to various products and services here are affiliate links – which means that I will receive a commission if someone clicks the link and buys a product. While I may occasionally post links to products and services that I know nothing about, be assured that if I offer an endorsement or recommendation for a specific product or service, I mean it. I will NEVER deceptively promote a bad product. Furthermore, if I find at some point that I’ve unknowingly linked to a poor product or service, I will immediately remove it from my site.
