Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ben Kalkman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ben, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner -and we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

In those early years of the business, I was a one-man show. I was working from home and taking care of my newborn son—Dad by day, business when I could fit it in, mostly at night. Things did not come easy, and I quickly discovered I needed to take on some additional work to afford to keep the lights on. I started working for a handyman as his assistant in the mornings to help pay the bills and did so for just over a year until I had enough clients I no longer needed to do the extra job. I often questioned what I was doing during this time and wondered if I had made the right choice to pursue my own business.

As things slowly grew, so did the amount of work, and I found myself in the next phase of the business– hiring help. I was a rookie at this business management stuff, and I must admit, I really had no idea how to hire. I was fortunate to have a great support group around me, and through those connections, I was able to locate our first employee, Aaron! I still remember going to his house– his mother greeted us with her amazing energy and welcoming spirit, only to yell in a loving motherly voice, “Aaron, get out here!” As Aaron came to the door, pale and sleep-deprived, gaming console hands still in position and dressed in all black, he muttered to the door with a, “Hey, what’s up.” I suggested the idea of him helping me with my work, and we agreed he would come to the shop the next day to check things out. And just like that, I had hired my first employee. No resume, no background checks, no interview process. A direct referral and a simple conversation, a seemingly simple method to what I later discovered, is a super important process.

You can learn more about our hiring process here: https://rocketmedia.com/about/hiring-process

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 context about your background?

I thought I was going to be an architect. That was my passion from my junior high days on. But, as fate would have it, I fell into Graphic Design during my college years and never looked back. I worked for a family business in the computer networking industry right out of college, perhaps the best opportunity I could have had to set me up for what was to come. The owner took me under his wing and helped me understand business, operations, sales, and marketing.

The early dot.com bust of the 2000s left me unemployed and on to my second career working for one of the big corporate giants of the world. An amazing company with wonderful opportunities, but with very military-like processes. A stifling environment for a creative mind with wild aspirations such as mine.

Then I received a call from a college friend to start our own business. It was a blind leap of faith into something I had no idea or understanding of what the future had in store for us. Yet, my wife and I took on this challenge and headed out west. I made mistakes and learned a ton that first year. My buddy and I had no business being in business, but we had a lot of fun and learned a few things. Because of poor choices on my part, we ended the business after about a year of giving things a go.

I found myself in my living room, deciding if we should go back into the workforce or keep on pursuing this seemingly silly dream. When the dust settled, we made the call to keep going with the dream. It was May 2nd, 2003. I still recall that day– the day Rocket Media was born.

Rocket Media was created to solve business problems through design. Initially, this was more print-based design work as the internet was not quite viable in 2003. However, very quickly, things changed and our focus was 100% on digital.

One of our first clients was in the home service industry, and our passion for serving this industry was born through that connection. We quickly became hyper-focused, and to this day, we primarily serve Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electrical companies, with the recent addition of Solar.

Rocket Media is a full-service marketing agency providing excellent website solutions that help tell our customers’ stories in a way that connects them to their ideal clients. We then market these companies through all of the various channels available today. We help take the complex world of marketing and make it easy for our clients to achieve their goals and grow their brands.

Unlike a lot of our competitors, we’re not here to take on the world. Our model is unique in that we’re only looking for a few of the right customers that match our values and desire to grow their businesses the right way. We prefer to go deep into the puzzles our clients have and build a partnership of trust and results. We are definitely not a fly-by-night agency as most of our clients have been with us for 5, 10, and even 15 years. You can’t sustain those kinds of partnerships without building amazing relationships, and those relationships are what I am most proud of.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Even before the pandemic, we had established a program we call, Rocket LOVE.

Rocket LOVE is how we take care of our team (employees) and, more importantly, our clients. The foundation of the program is based on the idea of a mint. You see, a mint is a simple gesture you can give someone without having expectations of reciprocation from the receiver of the mint—no strings attached, simple gestures or gifts that delight and show appreciation.

We are intentional with this program and plan it out several months in advance. However, there are many situations where life-changing moments happen, and we make sure we applauded those opportunities, too.

In addition to Rocket LOVE, we believe education, transparency, and great communication is the key to creating loyalty. One of our core values is “empower others through teaching, ” which shines through in how we help our clients understand our services, the market, and the ever-evolving world of marketing.

Any advice for managing a team?

People want to be around people they trust, like, and respect; work is basically the same. I find it so interesting when we initially hire someone and explain to them how we do things here at Rocket Media. I let them know that we’re going to be treating them like an adult unless they give us a reason not to. Initially, I’m sure that just sounds like words or a poster we have on the wall. I can usually tell who has been actually treated that way by their previous company, and who has not. As time goes on, the reality of what that means starts to take shape. We get comments like, “you mean I don’t have to ask permission to run a quick errand, I can just do it?” or “I can just go home when my work is done, or even just complete it tonight if I have personal things I need to do?” Yes, you’re an adult, and we’re not here to babysit your time or tie you to a chair. You know your responsibilities, and so long as you accomplish those, you are good.

Now the key here is spending the time to create clear expectations. What does done look like? By when? With what deliverables? Managing a team means setting the team up for success. You can NOT communicate enough what you expect and you can NOT provide enough details. The lack of these is where the cart falls apart in most organizations.

High morale comes from how you celebrate those accomplishments and how you hold others accountable. You must be vigilant as a leader to be on top of both ends of the spectrum and be consistent.

Finally, I will add, attitude is everything. As a leader, you choose what attitude you want to bring to your organization each and every day, as does your team. However, it’s amazing what influence the leader has on the general population of the team. Another core value for Rocket Media is “Choose the Right Attitude”, Clients can be rude. Budgets can be sparse. Timelines can be tight. You can’t choose your circumstances, but you can purposefully choose how to react to them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rocketmedia.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalkman/
• Twitter: @bkalkman
• Other: My purpose statement. To lead, by living a balanced and focused life, and caring enough to make a significant difference in all that I do.