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

Alright, Christina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

My startup story has an unlikely beginning rooted in a personal lifestyle blog. To this day, I swear that running my blog taught me more than my business degree ever did.

Clic was born after years of running that blog—honing photography, copywriting, content curation, and social media skills that when I look back, set me up to launch my business successfully. The idea for Clic sparked when I decided I didn’t want to be the focus of the content anymore—but instead could use what I had learned in the digital realm to help businesses create valuable assets, essential to their overall online presence, that would set their business up for growth and success.

The launch of my business was a slow process, that mostly started through word-of-mouth. Before I even had a website, I picked up a few consistent contracting projects (mostly for monthly social media content curation) and cranked that work out on the weekends. At the time, I still worked full-time as a Brand Manager & Integrator for a successful website template company (whose templates I use to this day for projects through Clic). In my spare time, I targeted brands I loved, creating brand photos similar to those that I created for my blog to build a portfolio of photography work that aligned with who I wanted to reach through my business. Once I got my website up and running, I gifted those galleries to the companies asking only for a social tag if they decided to share or use the imagery. Several brands tagged the photos! This win, and various other small wins, inspired me to keep running down this idea that I could create one place for brands to garner both visual (brand photography) and verbal (copywriting and content curation) assets that could change the game for their business.

After several months of getting paid through my then side hustle, I decided I needed to get serious about bookkeeping and outsourced to a company to not only handle my business bookkeeping exclusively but also organize the past several months of income I had to ensure I was on track for tax season. I also contacted a lawyer to make sure my client contracts were squared away, integrated a CRM platform to manage invoicing for projects — and finally felt ready to officially launch.

There was no big announcement, just a business idea that showed proven ability to provide income, a strategic website, and a willingness to TELL people about my new venture. I exited my full-time job while my husband was deployed to Afghanistan (offering more time for me to build it and stay *extra* distracted during that season), and three years later I’m so glad I chose to take the risk, doubts and all.

Christina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, I’m Christina Griffin, founder of Clic. Wife to Mack, an Air Force Pilot, and dog mom to Rebel & Tiger. I spend any spare time I have with these three! I graduated from Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing Communications. I’ve always had a knack for the creative and all things writing, so my education paired with my interests helped steer my career early on and the ultimate launch of my business!

Through Clic, I have the opportunity to combine everything I love to do—create aesthetically pleasing brand photography, curate creative copy and content, AND put it all together through elevated website template customizations that establish an elevated online presence. Through my varied work experience early in the industry, I noticed that businesses would contract three separate companies to accomplish these tasks, but I knew I could offer it all, in-house, creating consistency and cohesion for business owners. This is really what sets Clic apart! When you can centralize your vision and execute your online presence through curated and intentional assets within one agency—the result produced is effective, efficient, and perfectly elevated!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for me isn’t what one would think or expect. Even though I run a digital business—the majority of my referrals come from past clients and good ole’ word of mouth. This is so special to me because I feel like there’s no higher compliment of my work, than someone else saying, “You have to work with Clic.” It’s truly an honor and I’m always extremely grateful and humbled to work with fellow business owners who love to uplift and share their positive experience with others!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

In my past work experience as a Brand Manager, a huge part of my role was figuring out how to surprise and delight customers as they interacted with the brand. This translated into my own business, and it’s really fun to offer stellar customer service and genuinely make people happy through the work I do. Each project is different, but I work to find ways to level up the client experience for every project I complete. This could look like offering a free website page design (or two!) that’s beyond the original scope, hopping on an extra call to chat through questions, or sending a handwritten thank you note and client gift upon project completion to express my sincere appreciation for the work. People love to work with people—and I find that making those people feel valued has been the most effective strategy to grow my client list. And not because that’s the goal. But because I want to produce an awesome experience for anyone willing to trust me with their online presence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cliccomm.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cliccomm/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cliccomm
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clic-comm/

Image Credits
Work Mock Ups — NA Dyst Photos — by Clic Christina 1 & 2 (& initial headshot provided) — by Cristy Cross Photography