We were lucky to catch up with Jacob Tegtman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jacob, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
Starting any business is inherently risky, at least when compared to the “stability” of a 9-5 job. I use the word “stability” in quotations there because there’s also inherent risk involved with trusting your future to someone else – your boss, your company, stockholders, board of directors, franchise, etc. Of course, we live in a world where trust is essential, so there’s nothing wrong with teaming up with people you love and respect to build a future suitable for all. However, when you reframe starting a business into the idea of “trusting yourself” with your future, it suddenly seems less risky. The fact is that each person, no matter how good they are instinctively puts themselves and their families first. So, it was risky to start a business. But it felt, at least to me, riskier not to get started. I knew that if I ever wanted to make the kind of money I wanted to make, and more importantly, to have the kind of freedom with time that I wanted, there wasn’t any other option available. I knew that I could trust myself to build the future that I wanted for myself. What I lost in stability, especially the first few years of owning a business, I made up for in opportunity.
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?
I own Third Loft Marketing, which has now been in business for roughly 6-years. So, we made it past the 5-year hurdle, and survived some very down economic times. We offer digital marketing services, with our expertise centered on SEO (search engine optimization). SEO is a constantly-changing field, and there are as many opinions on what works or doesn’t as their are SEO marketers. For us, it’s all about ROI for our clients. We do our best to estimate an ROI for them, based on website traffic increases and other digital metrics, or in the case of local service companies, calls coming in through their Google Listing. For many years I studied SEO, and passed on what I learned to my growing team. However, I often struggled with “imposter syndrome” for the first few years of my business, feeling that because there was always someone better out there than me (I enjoy SEO and marketing, but it isn’t everything to me, like it sometimes appears to be, for some), that my services weren’t worth what we were charging. Only as I’ve grown a little older do I now appreciate the feeling that I’m helping the people who hire us to live better and happier lives. I think that’s what we really sell: a sense of comfort to our clients, that they have professionals on their side, able and willing to help them grow their businesses. With this focus on others and feeling like we are making a difference, the feelings of an imposter syndrome have gone away.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
When I started Third Loft Marketing, I naturally developed several “service categories” that we offered to clients, based on my skill sets at the time. What was initially a helpful way of organizing soon devolved into rigidity, as I would think that they only way to grow the company and make money was to get more clients into one of those services “boxes.” Now, I realize that to make more money, you just have to make more money. What I mean by that is if you are willing to organize your business so that it runs efficiently, but then allow your creative thinking to completely ignore all of that organization and efficiency, you can often come up with some truly amazing ideas. Organization has helped me “fortify” my business at each new stage of growth, ensuring that we don’t fall backwards. But every new stage of “conquering”/ adding to our monthly income has come from being bold with “what-if” questions, and following where they lead me.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
For all ongoing clients, we keep in touch each month via detailed “monthly client updates.” Of course, I think every company reports to their clients on work accomplished for the month, and results. However, we try to take things a step further by providing additional attachments/ screenshots, explaining how their results for the month directly impact their business/ painting a picture of what it means for them in the future. Each client update is our chance to instill confidence in our clients that they chose correctly, by hiring us. And perhaps most importantly of all – at least to me – we thank our clients with a customized note each and every month, for trusting us with their business’ growth, and with the opportunity to play a role in their future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thirdloft.com/
