We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mike Rynart. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mike below.

Mike, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

For a long time, I had the pleasure of promoting Miami with TheMiamiGuide, a guide for Miami I started in 2010. The Miami Guide began by offering an online platform where visitors could view news and cultural events. The Miami Guide has now grown into a premier promotional vehicle for brands and events in Miami. We have the advantage of our large-scale social media presence with high exposure of over 300,000+ combined followers on all the main platforms.

I have found myself being asked to deliver more and more marketing and branding activity on behalf of my clients. In 2020, I got together with Banna Fakhoury and created a strategic partnership with Ocean Sky Media, a full-service hyperlocal marketing agency that specializes in helping local businesses grow and scale.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a web developer with 10+ years experience in user-centered design helping both startups and large companies create usable and engaging web experiences.

My background is in marketing communication, but Web development quickly became my clear career path, and along the way, I broadened my interests in online marketing.

I started working on the web in 1997, during Web1 which was read-only. People consumed static web pages that they navigated to from directories like Yahoo. Web1 was built on open protocols like HTML.

During Web2 (early 2000s-today) my passion and curiosity drove me to learn about the latest web trends and pushing me to create cutting-edge websites. I enjoy helping people to become more effective online and build incredible web experiences that grow their business and make everyday life better. I believe your website is still the most important tool you have for growing your business and your website has to be working for you.

We are a marketing extension of local small businesses, global brands, hospitality groups, businesses in the real estate sector as well local non-profit organizations such as the Miami Dade Sea Turtles organization. We provide brand, marketing and media promotion — from a big picture perspective to create your overall strategy. Recent clients include LiveNation – the future of the music business; Miami Dolphins – National Football League (NFL); Hilton Hotels; SLS Hotels – a leading lifestyle hospitality company; Shorecrest Construction – a leading high-end builder in South Florida; and Crudos – SoFlo favorite Asian-Latin restaurants.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Finding the right co-founder is possibly the most essential part of building a successful company – it can make or break a startup. Ideally, you’d want someone who has identical views and shares your passion because building a company requires serious commitment. My case is quite unique, three years ago, while expanding the Miami Guide with a podcast, I interviewed Banna Fakhoury, a Miami Native and Real Estate professional selling the Miami Lifestyle as a Sales Director for a Real Estate Management Agency. She had an incredible knowledge of sales and marketing,

One year later, I moved to Miami to start a Marketing Agency and it seemed natural to ask Banna involved as a cofounder due to her vast experience in sales and marketing. She had similar plans to start an agency and we ended up working on the idea together as co-founders — this marked the beginning of our strategic partnership with Ocean Sky Media, a full-service hyperlocal marketing agency that specializes in helping local businesses grow and scale.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Being active on social media is a huge part of most successful businesses. Social media marketing can help you generate leads, boost conversions, and increase brand awareness. But every entrepreneur knows how hard it is to find time and consistency to grow your social networks when working on your business.

Make sure you’re posting consistently — and posting content your audience wants to see. In addition, reply to your followers’ engagement, questions, comments and customer service issues so they know there’s a real human behind your brand.

Create content that informs, educates, entertains or inspires. Roughly 80% of your content should be non-promotional, with the other 20% reserved for your sales, events and special offers. Adjust your social media content to address various issues and be a source of help, inclusion and inspiration. Back your words with action so you’re followers know what you stand for — and what you’re doing to help your community.

When you first start a business, you might be handling your social media yourself. If you continue trying to DIY your social media, however, you’ll be taking time away from other aspects of running your business. Some businesses outsource the work to an agency or use a combination of in-house and external resources.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://themiamiguide.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/themiamiguide
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/themiamiguide
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/miamiguide
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/themiamiguide
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyxa3EpBJrLJNeiu6scWpsw