We have been working with some family friends and business acquaintances over the past few months providing marketing and business development services. We have been listening to small businesses struggle as social media has been the go-to for marketing medium. However, small businesses are usually so entrenched in their business, they rarely take the time needed to evaluate and learn the evolution we are experiencing with marketing. This is where we hope to step in.
One of the most surprising clients we have acquired is a former marketing teacher with a Master’s Degree in Marketing and over 30 years marketing experience. After retiring from teaching, she took on her family farm and turned it into a thriving wedding/event business. The name of the business is Sampson’s Hollow. Within the business, she recognized the marketing aspect was suffering a bit as technology was not her strong suit. In that, she also realized she was too close to the business to get a good customer perspective. She asked my wife and I if we could assist her in taking over the marketing aspect of her business as we had an outside perspective of marketing businesses and could provide content marketing to assist with building her leads.
It was out of this, we realized there is a need for small businesses in this area (and beyond) to acquire marketing and business development services. As I started researching, I noticed there are only a few real marketing service companies available in East Tennessee which cater to small businesses. I have heard stories from business owners of acquiring marketing services with no real results. While this is a one sided statement, I understand some marketing firms are not truly listening to their customer needs. They are not delivering on the expectations of the business.
This is where I am bringing my customer service, creative passion, leadership, and managerial experience to assist small businesses with their marketing and business development needs. With over 15 years in customer service and business management, I have obtained a passion to listen to customer needs, requested feedback in what their expectations are of the services requested, and provided deliverables to assist in growing their business. While marketing services are going to be the main aspect of this business venture, I can also provide insight to inventory management, process development, project management, customer service, and sales. Because of my experience and education, I have developed a business which is focused on business development through marketing.
The business name is ‘black iris branding’. The lower case is intentional as we value your business over our own. I knew I wanted to use my name in the business, but make it subtle as my last name is the color ‘black’. I chose the iris flower because it is the Tennessee state flower and East Tennessee is where I reside. Also, the black iris stands out as what I consider one of the most beautiful colors in the iris flower family. The logo for black iris branding is the iris flower. With regards to this, irises have three large outer petals called falls, and three inner upright petals called standards. The standards within black iris branding represent customers first, business second, and self third. As a business owner or manager, if you set the culture and standard of customers first, your business will succeed. Often times when businesses fail, it is because of internal struggles of not finding the balance of running a business and providing exceptional customer service. You own a business to serve customers. The falls represent location, new customers, and loyal customers. The center fall represents the marker for a specific location on a digital map. The two side falls are in response to the location and standards, which equal loyal customers and new customers. The iris is also a symbol of hope, trust, and wisdom. These are all attributes we incorporate into our services at black iris branding. The iris inside the hexagon is a symbol of black iris branding being a connection between the business and the customer. As the hexagon is symbol of the unity of opposites, the representation for black iris branding is the binding of business and customer. “Realize potential” is a play on words as the iris is also a part of the eye. “Real eyes potential” represents the customer and how the customer sees your business. It also represents black iris branding seeing more for your business from a business development, marketing, and customer service standpoint.
This is a little bit about our development. We would love to hear from you!