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

Alright, Tom thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?
I still send physical Christmas cards with personalized messages to my clients. I have over 60 clients and handwriting a personalized message on every card takes me a couple of days. In today’s age, companies usually send an e-card. I feel sending a physical card with a personalized message shows the client that you really care about their business.

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?
My name is Tom Nguyen, and I started Mr. Technique, a company that provides Web Design and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services. I started learning about web design in 2001 when I worked for a college buddy’s web design firm as a sales rep. While working there, I picked up web design tips from the company’s web designer.

In 2002, I created mrtechnique.com. The website was initially a personal website, but I used it as my canvas as I continued to learn about web design through reading books. By the fall of 2002, I was no longer working for my buddy’s web design company and picked up my first two clients as a freelancer. One of those clients was a former client of my buddy’s web design company.

In 2007, Mr. Technique officially became a business and Mr. Technique, Inc. was born. Initially, Mr. Technique only provided web design, and I was the only one working on client projects, but as I became better at SEO, the workload became too much for just myself to handle, so I had to hire a web developer, graphic designer, and assistant.

What sets my business apart from other businesses in my industry is that I still meet my clients in-person even with the COVID-19 pandemic going on.

I’m proud of the best web design awards Mr. Technique has won every year since 2014. Mr. Technique was at the top of Google for every Atlanta web design and SEO related keyword for several years before I decided to move it to St. Petersburg at the end of 2020.

When I changed Mr. Technique’s address and phone number on Google My Business (GMB), it received an immediate suspension. A GMB suspension is crippling to local businesses. Through following Google’s guidelines exactly, I had gotten Mr. Technique’s GMB listing reinstated about a month later. To be able to do this with no help was very gratifying.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
For several years, Google has been my best source of new clients. A requirement for top rankings on Google for my industry is discussing in detail the services my business provides. Lots of local business owners have problems doing this, but I don’t.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
At the end of 2010, I seriously considered closing Mr. Technique. I had problems getting new business, and I took a temp job as an admin assistant at a mortgage broker. While I was working that part-time job, I had picked up a couple of new clients. I started to get the entrepreneurial spirit back, and I started to look for new business. The temp job lasted for 8 months, and the company let me go around August 2011.

I was delighted because I felt like I could make Mr. Technique succeed if I improved my SEO skills, and I did, but it didn’t come easy. When I went back to working for myself full-time, I had struggled to pay myself a fixed amount each week. There were several weeks where I was saved by a miracle payment by a new or existing client.

The financial struggles eventually disappeared. In the next few years, through my SEO work (and a lot of luck), I took Mr. Technique to the top of all major search engines for all Atlanta web design related keywords. Mr. Technique has been in St. Petersburg, FL since the end of 2020, and I’ve slowly gotten new clients that are located in the Tampa Bay area. I say slowly because I’m not trying to get as many clients as I can. My goals is to make sure every one of our clients gets the attention that they need.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mrtechnique.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr.technique/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrtechnique
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mr-technique/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrtechnique
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Mrtechnique
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mr-technique-st-petersburg