Journey to $100 Million: Entrepreneurship & Digital Marketing

By Erik J. Olson & Kevin DaiseyBusiness Entrepreneurship Marketing Management

Journey to $100 Million: Entrepreneurship & Digital Marketing episodes

December 15, 2020 Continued Benefits Of Niching
At Array Digital, we have clients in 29 different industries which means we do have nice diversity among our clients but it also brings challenges.
But if you take the HVAC industry, for example, they all need the same things and their websites need the same features. You can certainly customize their websites but, on the backend, there is similarity among them which simplifies the process tremendously. We can predict what every single customer needs and get really good at doing that.
When you have a company that doesn’t niche and one that does, you really see the benefits of niching.
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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
4 min
December 14, 2020 The #1 Way We're Going To Hit Our 2021 Growth Plan
At the beginning of 2020, we decided we were going to double the revenue of our company in 2020. We started off strong, then a few things happened (COVID), and we’re going to miss that goal. We’ve had a pretty strong financial year but we missed our goal. It’s good that we didn’t give up on our goal even if it was a stretch goal but a goal doesn’t mean anything unless you put it in action.
We needed to be very clear about where this revenue was going to come from early on in the year. It’s not enough to just hope that more clients will come through. It takes serious action like hiring new salespeople, putting aside money for advertising, etc.
Erik is putting this plan into effect now for next year and you should think about actionable ways to attack your goals for next year. Without a plan first, you won’t get the results.
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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
6 min
December 13, 2020 Why We're Investing In Redecorating The Array Digital Office
Erik recently realized that the Array Digital office is kind of cobbled together. And what better time to redecorate than during COVID when no one is at the office?
We’ve expanded the lounge, created a wall to improve the desk layout, we’re going to paint, put down some area rugs, just give the place a general spruce up.
The office became the way it is because when Kevin and Erik first merged, they rented a Uhaul, took it to Kevin’s old office to load up all of his furniture, then to Erik’s old office to do the same, then brought it all to our current location. Then they got busy with work and never really evaluated whether the furniture made sense or not so that is exactly what they are doing now.
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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
—
Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
5 min
December 12, 2020 Should I Attend A General Networking Event Or One For My Niche?
Very early on after starting his own business, Erik started networking with local business owners and influencers. The problem with starting a new business is that a lot of new owners will not let their network know that they’ve started a new business. They keep it to themselves and it’s a mistake. You need to get out there and network both with people you know and people you don’t know.
There are many different networking events you can go to, some more generic in nature and others that are more specific to a particular niche. For us at Array Digital, Erik has concluded that it only makes sense to network with niche groups. We have niched down recently and we want to be targeting business owners in those 3 segments.
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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
—
Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
4 min
December 11, 2020 Update And Lessons Learned From Erik’s 2020 New Year's Resolutions
For the last 2 years, Erik got serious about New Year’s resolutions. In 2019, he decided he was going to run 1,000 miles in a year. He set his mind to that goal, determined how he was going to make it happen, and held himself publicly accountable by reporting on social media and within the company. Because of all that structure, he nailed it and got it done by Halloween, 2 months before the end of the year.
New Year’s resolutions are so often a thing that people say with a smirk, don’t make it measurable, and don’t do the steps needed to meet them. For any resolution, you need to have a plan, execute it, and hold yourself accountable.
Erik’s New Year’s resolutions for 2020 are as follows:
Kick ass at a Half Iron Man
Publish a book
Collect $2 million in revenue
Get to a monthly recurring revenue of $4 million
Listen to the episode to learn how Erik has fared on his New Year’s resolutions this year.
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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
—
Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
6 min
December 10, 2020 How Erik Started His Very 1st Web Project
Way back in the archives around 1998, Erik was a civil engineer working as a construction project manager. He came up with an idea for a website that would join homeowners who need work done on their house with contractors who wanted to do the work. Think Angie’s List.
But he didn’t know how to program so he had to teach himself. He used Microsoft FrontPage which would create a website. But he got stuck on the registration page so he ended up hiring a freelancer to help him create this site.
Erik obsessed over this website for a year and a half, spending nights and weekends learning everything he could on software development. He launched it in ‘99 annnndddd...nothing happened.
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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
—
Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
6 min
December 09, 2020 Reframing The Content Reuse Framework
A couple of years ago, when Erik started listening to GaryVee, he came out with a concept called the “Content Reuse Framework.” It was an 81-page slide deck showing exactly how he repurposes content.
Erik downloaded it and studied it pretty closely to understand how GaryVee was putting out all this content every day. GaryVee has been saying for years that no one - including himself - puts out enough content.
That is why we now film our podcast recording sessions and it can be formatted in different ways for different platforms. Video is key to repurposing content so we try to do everything through video now.
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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
—
Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
5 min
December 08, 2020 Erik Built A Website Called artsandcraftsfair.com But Hates Arts & Crafts
Erik had already created a website called measuredmile.com that was a concept similar to Angie’s List and was supposed to connect homeowners who need work done with contractors. It was a brilliant failure because he didn’t market it.
One year after Thanksgiving, he and his family went out to an arts & crafts fair and he saw a booth that was marketing their URL while very few others were. This was the early days of the Internet but hardly anyone was displaying a URL.
Erik had the idea to create a marketplace where vendors could post their wares and people could buy them. He built it out and it worked!
But, once again, he didn’t promote and market his products enough. He neglected the system and fewer and fewer vendors chose to upload their products there.
Lesson learned: Don't just build it; market it.
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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
—
Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
6 min
December 07, 2020 No Ma’am, I Do Not Recommend That Video
Back when Erik was in high school, his dad retired from the air force and opened a VCR shop. He ended up having 2 video stores and during the summers, nights, and weekends, Erik would work there until college.
One of the biggest lessons he learned was to be truthful with customers. For example, people would come up to him and ask, “Is this video any good?” They want his opinion. In that moment, he had a choice to make: 1) If he says he recommends it whether or not he’s seen or likes it, they are likely to rent the movie; or 2) If he tells them the truth that it’s a terrible movie, he may lose a sale.
He started off saying yes to everything but quickly changed his approach and gave his honest opinion. What he realized was that it didn’t have to be a yes or no situation. He could frame it to redirect the conversation to help them find something even better.
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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
—
Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
6 min
December 06, 2020 The Best Way To Excel As An Employee
If you’re an employee, if you can gain access to your leadership’s vision and strategy, then you could potentially give yourself a leg up for opportunities with that company. It allows you to align yourself with that future and fit that with where your company wants to go.
If you are an employer, do you have an outlet where you’re discussing your vision and your path? If not, you are not allowing your employees to have that leg up.
You could start with a monthly internal meeting or putting it into social media posts. Think of ways to get that message out to your employees.
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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
—
Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.
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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!
4 min