We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Renard Ragsdale a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Renard thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

So the year was 2010. After starting RDG in April of 2008, I was quickly greeted with the harsh reality of a historic global economic meltdown. All my plans and projections were quickly doused with a bucket of cold water and I was forced to re-assess my next steps. Though I never doubted my decision to strike out on my own, the first couple of years were “interesting” to say the least. As we were moving forward, it became clear to me that the greener pastures lay ahead in the form of forging longer-term relationships as opposed to one-off projects. We had become super-proficient in Adobe Flash (RIP) and at that time, display and rich media ads were the hot thing in digital marketing. After countless emails, phone calls, and LinkedIn DM’s, I finally connected with a couple of gentlemen that gave us a chance. Shout out to Justin Archer for replying to my cold email and passing me over to his teammates. Justin was based on the west coast at the time but he referred me to his Atlanta office co-workers to further the conversation. After a brief introduction, I was invited to come visit one of the hottest digital marketing agencies in the country to discuss capability and a possible partnership. The meeting went well and I was excited about the possibilities. However, a few weeks (maybe months?) went by and I heard nothing back. Oh well. Meanwhile, things in my personal life were going great! After dating the love of my life for ~10 years, my girlfriend and I finally decided to get married. We both love the Caribbean and decided to exchange our vows in Puerto Rico. We had to organize and plan every detail including venue selection, flight coordination for our parents, etc. The wedding went off without a hitch and while I was the happiest I had ever been on a personal level, I was more than worried about the future of RDG. TWIST: On the first night of our honeymoon, I received a phone call from Matt (Super shout out to Matt Silliman) informing me that they were ready to move forward ASAP! The opportunity that was presented was healthy enough to get me out of Suite 100 (my spare bedroom) and into a mid-town office in the Virginia Highlands. To this day, Matt has been an advocate and strategic partner for RDG and he is a big reason we made it through the lean years.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Sure thing. My name is Renard Ragsdale and I was born and raised in Atlanta, GA. I attended Florida A & M University and received a BA in graphic design. After graduation, I returned to Atlanta and worked for ~7 years at BKV advertising. In April 2008, I took the plunge to strike out on my own and start RDG (Ragsdale Design Group). I founded RDG on the principle of doing great work for brands and organizations whose values align with our own. We focus on User Experience and Web Development, Brand Development, Digital production, and Short-form video. We are vertical agnostic and have successfully helped companies across various industries. Because we are small, we have no choice but to be overly attentive to our client’s needs and insanely efficient. We’ve been at this since 2008 and the work we have created has significantly supported, enhanced, and impacted our client’s visibility. During our 14-year run, we have also been recognized 14 times with dotCOMM, Hermes, Muse, and Marcom awards. In fact, if there was an award given for the most agile agency, I wouldn’t hesitate to submit RDG!

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

That’s easy. Referrals from existing clients. I can honestly say that over the years, inbound referrals from past or existing clients have been the number one source for new business. I have always wanted to get to the point where we could put systems in place that could drive lots of warm leads monthly. However, we have found that digital marketing is strongly based on relationships and networking. The space we work in is super competitive and the most sought-after brands are constantly flooded with “salesy” approaches. We pride ourselves on being a flat organization that is grounded in creativity, work ethic, and humility. We treat every in-bound referral (big or small) like they are a Fortune 100 client and we feel they truly appreciate that. In turn, most of our clients effectively become evangelists for the RDG brand. Every company has its own special sauce but this approach has proved to be invaluable to us and how we operate.

 

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Our unique (and often under-estimated) blend of speed and attention to detail. On more than one occasion, we have met with companies that have had a bad experience with a digital marketing agency. They were either disappointed with the process, the communication, or the end results. I believe the vast majority of our past and current clients realize and appreciate the fact that we go the extra mile and take a personal interest in their company/business. The larger businesses are sometimes slow to buy into our capabilities. For cases like this, we embrace the “land and expand” mantra. We like to kick off with a smaller, less time-sensitive project or campaign to build trust.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rdgatl.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rdgatl/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rdgatl
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rdgatl
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/rdgatl

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