Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Arnold.
Hi Angela, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Growing up on the Gulf Coast of Texas, at times living in a trailer and in a garage, I had big dreams of fancy jobs and the ability to pay all my bills without struggle. After building a career in the fast-paced ad agency world and working for large multi-national corporations, I realized that the money was nice, but something was lacking.
I was hungry to start a marketing business to serve small businesses. I saw a serious lack of good, quality marketing that didn’t break the bank… and I came across plenty of agencies who were all too happy to squeeze every possible penny out of small businesses. This bothered me on a moral level and I knew there was a way to do it without taking advantage of people.
I’m a lifelong learner and optimizer, and I was stubbornly determined to do things differently. From our business structure to our values, everything is focused on serving our clients, improving their business, and ultimately, turning their own customers into raving fans.
When I started this, I didn’t know we would turn into an agency – I planned on just freelancing as myself. I only had the vision of “serve small businesses well”.
But work started coming in, so I brought in more people to help, which led to more work… and so we grew pretty quickly. Growth has been challenging, especially with cash flow. I bootstrapped everything and even downsized my apartment from 1200 sq. ft. to 400 sq. ft. to save money when we were just getting started.
Today, we have a core group of about 20 freelancers, and I’ll make my first full-time hire this year. Working with small businesses in a real and results-focused way has been so incredibly fulfilling. Entrepreneurship is an emotional rollercoaster, but so worth it.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
When I started, I didn’t have the vision to make this into an agency as we operate now. I felt like we retroactively fell into being an agency, bolting each piece and process along as we did so. If we’d started with “we’re an agency!” in mind from the beginning, I think things would have gone a lot smoother.
Hiring our first Account Manager was also difficult – previously, I’d been the only ‘face’ of the company, and clients like working with me (just like I like working with them). But in order to grow and serve more businesses, I had to bring in someone who could be the face and point of contact. Outsourcing what “you” do to someone else is hard! But luckily, she has been great, and our clients are better cared for than when I was trying to juggle everything.
The other struggle has been emotional and mental. For those of us that are more logical than emotional (guilty), this journey has been much more emotional than I would have thought. For small businesses, their business is their life, their livelihood, the future of their family. That’s very important! The pressure to do good work for them, especially across all our clients, can build. Managing and growing a team and process is also difficult. I’ve made lots of decisions that I had to change just weeks or months later. It’s very humbling!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Arnold Marketing Consultants?
We bring small businesses agency-level marketing at a price point they can afford.
Too many small businesses have been taken advantage of by gurus or specialists or wasted time and money with tacticians who couldn’t see the bigger business picture.
If someone approaches us and says they want to hire us to run Facebook Ads, we won’t do it. It has to fit into a broader marketing (and business) strategy – a single tactic won’t grow a business or work for the long term. We work to see the business goals, then develop a plan that will work… instead of recommending the newest, hottest thing.
The foundations of marketing and of digital marketing haven’t changed so much. Making real connections with your customers, with a product or service they really want, is what’s sustainable. Most small businesses don’t have the fundamentals down, so we work with them to make sure that’s running smoothly before we shoot for other avenues for growth.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
It takes a village – from our clients to our team, every person is important and everyone is responsible for good outcomes for the work we do.
Pricing:
- Total Marketing Strategy: $2500 – $8000
- Ongoing Marketing: $2000 – $4000 / month
Contact Info:
- Email: angela@arnoldmarketing.com
- Website: www.arnoldmarketing.com
