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

Tyler, appreciate you joining us today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so 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?

Mr. Inkwells Tattoo & Piercing shop is set up like a collective. We all have our own individual job we do, and all those jobs work together to create the business. We are like a modern day “renaissance style workshop”, where we all work together to create the best possible art, body art in the case of Mr. Inkwells.

When it comes to building a team it’s all about having positions for each member that fit their skill set, and are something that they love to do. Basically, you want to have you and your team members doing something that they would enjoy doing whether they got paid for it our not.

On the topic of pay, you also need to ensure that the members of your team can not only survive, but thrive, no one wants to be a staving artist.

Another important point is giving them time away from the business. Just like a needy a relationship spending too much time doing something and not having your own time can lead to burnout and problems.

One of my last tips is making sure that being at work is fun. You want a good vibe, people that mess well, and just an overall positive environment.

In summary, if you want to build a dream team:

– Create jobs people like so much they would do it for free
-Pay them very well
-Give them a work/life balance
-Make the work environment desirable

At Mr. Inkwells Tattoo & Piercing all of these values are very important to us. We all love what we do, and we all work together to create amazing art. There are no “superstars” and we are all “superstars”.

That is why the shop logo is an octopus, and the shop is called Mr. Inkwells (a fictional character) and not named after an owner or employee. The octopus has 8 tentacles and that represents all of us working together. It takes a lot of work to be able to all work together like that, but when you do it, when you are all part of a whole amazing things happen.

An octopus can also change colors and shapes to blend in with its environment. And that’s what we can do all well. Whatever art someone wants to commission we can, drawing on all of our skills, make it happen. That is what Mr. Inkwells is , we all do our individual jobs, and that in turn helps the whole. For ourselves, our clients, and our legacy.

Tyler, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Mr. Inkwells Tattoo and Piercing Shop: California’s highest rated, most reviewed tattoo and piercing shop.

Live Free Die Well Podcast: A podcast made by entrepreneurs and artisans for entrepreneurs and artisans

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

We all think of marketing as paying for ads, business cards, etc. But, I have realized after years of experience in marketing that relevant content is the key in turning leads into long lasting clients.

Don’t get me wrong, you still need to drive traffic, capture customer information so you can re market to them later. But the linchpin in the digital marketing ecosystem is, content that is timely, relevant, and keeps them coming back.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Our reputation is built on every tattoo, product, podcast, etc. that we create. Then, asking our clients, customers, listeners, to review us, and making it easy for them to do so.

People trust people and their own eyes. If you are out there making amazing things and people are talking about it, you are going to have a reputation that shows it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mrinkwells.com/. https://livefreediewell.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr.inkwells/