We recently connected with Conor Douglas and have shared our conversation below.

Conor, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Being successful takes hard work and ambition. Those are the foundational elements for any person to become a success. More times than not, people have the ambition and are willing to put in the work. What I find to be a roadblock for most is the amount of time it takes to be successful. It doesn’t occur overnight and at times it can be discouraging. That combined with questioning yourself on whether or not what you’re doing is right.

If you’re able to mentally overcome the amount of time and roadblocks you can face on the path to becoming successful, you’ll typically end up further than where you wanted to be in the first place.

Conor, 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?

I started working in the advertising industry when I first graduated. I bounced around a few smaller agencies where I truly valued my time. I think there’s a misconception when it comes to working for agencies that don’t have the prominent name. The benefit of working for a smaller agency gave me the experience to not just work as an Account Manager, but also provided me with the skills and knowledge to work across various departments. Graphic Design, Copywriting, Production, Account Management, Project Management, Digital Marketing and Traditional Marketing. These are all different facets that most large ad agencies keep separated. The opportunity to learn how each one of these departments function separate AND together provided me with the tools to understand how everything works cohesively. It also gave me the chops to open up my own business and understand the pain points of not only my clients but those who work within my agency. Knowing what a graphic designer is thinking as opposed to what an account manager may think is important in making sure the final product is one that the client will be proud of and happy with.

Eventually, I was able to move on from working at these agencies and open up shop for myself. Thus, Astoria Advertising Company was born. With a strong concentration on the digital marketing services side including paid search, paid social, organic social, email marketing and analytics, I was able to address a lot of needs for businesses who were struggling during the COVID outbreak. There was a larger need for digital marketing services more than ever and I was able to step in and effectively keep a lot of small and medium sized businesses afloat by producing revenue through a source that had mostly been untapped for them.

I’m proud of the fact that I could not only step in and accomplish something for these businesses that hadn’t been done before but show that it could be consistent across different industries and verticals. There’s never a one size fits all solution, but if you are willing to get to know your customer and understand the process in which they operate you can tap into a foundational outline that typically works well for almost any business regardless of the industry. It takes that extra effort to really understand your client but also emphasize the fact that all facets of the business, including marketing, should be working cohesively to accomplish the goals set forth.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I’m really proud of this point. I had no seed funding, no capital, no lending in order to start my business. I earned it all myself from starting off by freelancing and contracting with various clients. I was able to save enough to start my own business and bring on account managers, graphic designers, copywriters, accountants and the like.

I truly did all of the work from the ground up, myself.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

While costs and overhead are important to monitor, I think making sure your team feels valued for their work is important. Don’t skimp on pay rate whether it be salary or hourly. Make sure you pay what’s commensurate to the work being done by your team and don’t be afraid to go a little above that. It build loyalty and it makes people WANT to stay with you. While it’s not all about money it is definitely a big factor, in my opinion. There also needs to be an understanding of work/life balance along with constantly communicating with your team to make sure you aren’t overworking them. Saying that you’re willing to step in and help, as the CEO of a company can go a long way with your team as they don’t look at you as just a boss. They view you as a colleague and someone who is willing to put in as much work as they are.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.astoriaadvertising.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astoriaadvertisingcompany/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Astoria-Advertising-Company-112398461108414
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/78736571/

Image Credits
Expertise (for badge)