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Monarch Media Turns Five!
Monarch Media Turns Five: A Walk Down Memory Lane
As we celebrate Monarch’s five-year anniversary, we’d like for you to join us on a little walk down memory lane. This is our launch story, and we hope it will inspire others to pursue new possibilities, and to never give up.
It was a hot summer afternoon in July, and we decided to meet for lunch at Hula Hut. As the water lapped beneath us, we started brainstorming. Andrea had been looking for a new job for about four months and after numerous disappointments, a close friend told her she should consider being her own boss. This was an idea she hadn’t really thought about until she broadened her perspective to include a partner—Chellie. When we met for lunch that day, neither of us was sure how the conversation would go or if we were even ready for such a big leap. But, we were both willing to listen to each other and think about the idea of a different future. Three hours into lunch we had a rough business plan, which included services, rates, target markets and a launch date. When the ideas started flowing, we knew we had something worth pursuing. We left with a to-do list, which included determining a name, setting a meeting with a business advisor, researching the various business structures and educating ourselves on how to launch a business. It was a huge leap of faith for us both and before we left that first meeting we prayed. And we prayed a lot afterwards.
In August of 2011, we met with an advisor, determined we wanted to be an S Corp, landed on a name, completed paperwork, crossed our fingers and filed our corporation paperwork. Then we waited. One September 16, our letter of incorporation arrived and we were official, but we waited. We created a logo and a tagline, built a website, bought technology, met with potential clients—but still we waited. We still had day jobs that kept us busy, so evenings and weekends became focused on our new adventure. Like a newborn child that you protect from the outside world, we protected Monarch. We waited and prayed. God never put a roadblock in our path, and we took that as a green light. Around Thanksgiving of 2011, a job change came for Andrea. We flipped the switch and the website went live. Our business plan was put into action and Monarch took its first step. For six months, we set in motion a robust business development plan, busily meeting with professional friends and possible clients, seeking that first client that would trust our knowledge. We waited and prayed. We had some small clients in the beginning that helped us build revenue and by the summer of 2012, we found that larger client that gave us the momentum we needed to fully get off the ground. That fall we celebrated our first anniversary. Monarch was at a slow-paced run. We stayed at that pace for another eight months, adding small clients until we found another large client in the Summer of 2013. We celebrated our second anniversary, worked harder, and Monarch’s pace increased. As 2014 started, we added another larger client. We kept this pace for two years honing our skill set, further defining our market and services, streamlining processes and searching for the next client. As 2016 began, we added our fourth large client, and now Monarch is in marathon mode. We are in it for the long haul, the pace has been set and we are happy to reach the five-year mark.
Each day we feel blessed—enjoying incredible teamwork between the two of us and our clients as we continue to pursue this dream together. Thank you to all our clients who have trusted us over the past five years with your ideas, your magazines, and your revenue streams. We wouldn’t be here without you, and we are truly grateful for the friendships we have made along the way. Thank you to our mentors, friends, and colleagues who help us succeed. We have learned from each of you, and you have all made Monarch a better company. Thank you!
Leave a Lasting Impression
What is at the core of leaving a lasting impression? Customer Service. Good customer service leaves a positive impression, and bad customer service leaves a really long-lasting negative impression. It could mean the difference between keeping a client or losing a client. So how important is customer service as a small business owner? It should be one of your founding principles. It is at Monarch Media, and I have to give good customer service credit for helping us build and retain clients and advertisers.
And here’s a secret…it’s pretty easy to provide good customer service. I happened upon Marc Kramer’s article “7 Ways to Improve Your Customer Service,” so I gave it a read to see if there were areas I could improve on. What hit home to me was it’s not all about being nice and following-up, although both very important. In a world of sales, it comes down to a few more things–empathy, listening, guarantees, help and self-sacrifice. Marc goes into detail about each of these, and I know I’ll be incorporating these into my sales approach all the while keeping in mind that “it is all about the other person’s experience.”
I would encourage you to take a minute a read through his suggestions they might just help you keep a client or gain a new one!
Growing and Hiring – It’s a Matter of Principle
In our lead-up to Monarch’s fifth anniversary, we find ourselves in uncharted territory for our small company. We have tapped our resources, primarily staff, which consists of two and has consisted of two since we formed the business. So far, our workload has allowed us to keep two of the founding principles of our company in tact–-home offices and a flexible schedule to allow for time with our families.
Early this year, we juggled an increasing and more demanding workload. As we took on more business, we ran the numbers and made the leap to contract with a graphic designer to help keep things in balance—a great decision! But we find ourselves at another crossroads as we again consider growth. Adding another advertising sales client will put us in need-to-hire mode. Like any small business, we’ve struggled with the idea of hiring.
Now you might say we’ve already taken this step when we brought on graphic design help, but our company has two parts–publication design and sales. The design portion is project based and the work more easily divided. Sales assistance is a bigger challenge, finding the right talent willing to work on a continual, part-time basis with more oversight.
We happened upon the article, “3 Hiring Strategies for Small-Business Owners,” in the Austin Business Journal that offered some solid advice. From understanding a candidate’s motivators to communicating our culture, the hiring process starts with knowing the values we want to share with our employees. This article made us realize we need to focus on finding individuals who share Monarch’s core principles. So instead of thinking about hiring from the masses, we’re refocusing on a much smaller group of candidates–people that will actually reinforce our core principles.
With this newfound understanding, we are confident that when new clients make their way to us, we can continue expanding Monarch in much the same way it was formed!
Thinking About a Start-Up? Five Things to Consider
A recent article by Dana Manciagli, “5 Mistakes to Avoid When You Launch a New Business,” caught my attention as Monarch Media approaches its five-year anniversary this fall. I was curious to see if we experienced these five mistakes, and as it turns out we managed to do the opposite of each of them.
I encourage you to read Dana’s explanation for each of the following steps especially if you’re considering business ownership. They offer great insight into starting your business on a solid foundation.
- Preparing yourself out of existence
- Planning endless sources of revenue
- Establishing equal partnerships
- Relying on right-brained thinking
- Making money your prime motivator
Here’s how we applied each of these early on in Monarch Media’s formation.
Preparing Yourself Out of Existence
A business plan is a great way to bring the thoughts in your head into a map you can navigate. But don’t let that map become so overwhelming that you never launch. You’ve heard the old saying, “Give yourself enough time and you’ll talk yourself out of it.” That applies here. We set a launch date and worked towards it, never with the notion that we wouldn’t launch on the day we set, with the goal of having all the details in place to launch on that date. We set our launch six months out from our very first business brainstorm meeting.
Planning Endless Sources of Revenue
The scariest part of starting a new business is generating revenue. Before the first dollar is made, know where your revenue will come from and be financially prudent especially in the first year. Get good clients and do great work—that revenue stream will expand.
Establishing Equal Partnerships
There are two owners of Monarch Media, and we are equal partners. This doesn’t mean we think a like or have the same skill set. We have similar goals, but we think differently. We have different responsibilities that we established very early on based on our strengths. Guess what! It makes a difference.
Relying on Right-brained Thinking
It takes two “different people” to tango successfully, and it takes different people to make a company function well. I am left-brained, process-oriented, organized and a goal setter. Monarch’s cofounder, Andrea, possesses these qualities, but she is more in tune with her right brain, which brings a good balance to our partnership. She is a voice of reason in my structured world. I am the voice of logic in her creative world.
Making Money Your Prime Motivator
Money is a goal, but it’s not the only goal. We formed Monarch for flexibility. I’m not a fan of the term work-life balance, but it was a term we used when thinking about how Monarch would function. Our offices are in our homes. This arrangement allows us to avoid time wasted commuting, be available when our families need us, and keep our company overhead low. For me, this means I can volunteer with Girl Scouts twice a month and spend time with my child when she is home from school. These aspects are important to me and Monarch allows me this level of flexibility. When considering starting a business, know why you are forming your business—making money may not be the main reason.
If you’re thinking about entrepreneurship, I hope these tidbits will help as you take the first step. It hasn’t always been easy, but if you have a solid foundation in the beginning, it will carry you through.
— Chellie Thompson, CFO and Cofounder of Monarch Media
Working in Tandem: Does Your Magazine’s Content Drive Membership?
Ernie Smith’s article “How Your Magazine Reinforces Your Membership” in Association’s Now dives into how your association magazine can work in tandem to support your membership goals. Content is on everyone’s mind these days with so much content available, along with the best way to use it, display it, and share it. But first you should ask: Does the content within the pages of your magazine drive the association’s goals while engaging the members? You’ll likely think, “well of course it does!” But really, how do you know if this is happening? Poll your membership. Ask pointed questions regarding the content you provide them. Do they use it? How do they use? Is it shared? How is it shared? By asking a few simple questions, you will have a firmer grasp on the engagement level of your magazine’s content. If the results show your content is lacking, then allotting resources to seek the right content will benefit not only the members, but also the association by aligning content with goals.
Well-crafted Member Stories Add Value
In association publishing, two of the most important things are reaching members on a level that helps them see value (and renew their membership!) and inspiring them to continue interacting with the association. Just think if every member read every issue, renewed year after year and shared their positive experiences with a colleague, membership and readership would climb exponentially. And a growing readership, as we all know, garners more advertisers to support and enhance the association’s communications. Oftentimes though, we get caught up in the association news (data, conferences, etc.) and we forget how valuable the members are to each other. Their common experiences — their stories — resonate with each other as they find friends and mentors in business that can support their knowledge and growth. Associations Now published an article recently on How to Unearth Great Member Stories. In the article, author Joe Rominiecki shared five tips on how to bring “behind-the-scenes magic to make one member’s story meaningful to others.” While these are good rules of thumb for all journalists, the tips also provide a perfect step-by-step guide to getting more than good member testimonials, but truly great stories that provide a reader experience.
One of our clients, the Texas Self Storage Association, did just this in their latest issue. Members contributed their stories about how to handle crisis. As industry peers, they shared their stories of crisis and their solutions, providing more than just a checklist, but a way to connect to a fellow member’s experience. The take-away solutions and ideas had great impact when presented as a story from one member to another. And the association edited these stories into a well-crafted article — that “behind-the-scenes magic” Rominiecki was talking about!
It’s the power of an experience that adds value and keeps your members active, interested and involved. Providing those experiences in your editorial as well-crafted, member stories is one more way to retain and grow membership.
Happy Holidays!
What a wonderful year 2015 has been! Thank you to our clients, colleagues and friends who help to make our projects triumphant and our days merry! Monarch Media wishes you and yours a safe and happy holiday season!
Association Outsourcing Study
Monarch Media is made of 100-percent, association-experienced staff. Yep, we worked the long hours, wore more hats than we could count, and delivered a range of member services and benefits from trade shows and conferences to publications. And it was with this knowledge that Monarch Media was born. We looked at associations from the inside and decided that specialized and dedicated third-party vendors were needed — those who would help association staff to deliver superior member services.
According to the recent article published by Associations Now, roughly 80 percent of associations are looking to outside vendors to help accomplish their missions. This data comes from a newly released study from association management and services company SmithBucklin that looked at the types of functions, other than of the commonly outsourced audit and legal services, that associations are outsourcing. When asked how they currently used or planned to use outsourcing, respondents said the number-one reason was to gain access to specific skills, which was followed by supplementing in-house staff and saving money.
And of course we were pleased to hear that Monarch Media’s services were among the top services mentioned for outsourcing. The article states that “the services with the highest rate of outsourcing among respondents include graphic design, multimedia, and video, outsourced by 52 percent of the 360 U.S. association and professional society executives surveyed. This was followed by editorial and publishing (27 percent), advertising (27 percent), and membership technology (26 percent).”
The article also gave a three tips for establishing good working relationships with vendors: Be Candid. Prepare your team. Assign a champion. All great tips! Assigning a champion is an especially good idea and can take the outsourced relationship and turn it into a true partnership. We strive for those partnerships and we look forward to working with even more associations in the future.
Monarch Media Turns 4!
Today we pass another milestone in the history of Monarch Media! Four years ago today, our Certificate of Formation arrived from the Secretary of State. We took a deep breath and embarked on an uncertain entrepreneurial journey with the hope of finding the right clients to help us along our way. The first year was met with many challenges, but we navigated each one and grew in knowledge of ourselves, our industry and our small, growing business.
As we look back, we have many people to thank for offering guidance and encouragement—but above all we are thankful for our clients’ trust in us. To all of our clients over the last four years, thank you for giving Monarch Media the opportunity to work with you. Here’s to year #4, to you—our clients both past and present, and to those we have yet to meet! We look forward to serving you!
It Takes Planning To Unplug
We are in the full swing of summer, and hopefully you’ve already had a wonderful vacation or one is on the horizon. I had the opportunity to spend six days in Maui celebrating my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. We started planning nine months in advance so I could be away from my desk for five days! That may sound a little extreme, but my goal was to truly unplug and we have monthly magazines to promote and produce.
“The Work Life Balancing Act” written by Katie Bascus truly speaks to the need to be “away” from work. Bascus gives a few great pointers for maintaining a balance. “1) unplug; 2) fully engage in your downtime; and 3) use your energy wisely.”
I work from a home office, so the get-away-from-it-all challenge is a real challenge. I try to consciously balance my family/work time each day. At 5 p.m., I turn off my computer and I walk out of my office. This usually accomplishes both my ability to unplug and engage. And Bascus’ tip that I took full advantage of recently — “Go on vacation when you go on vacation!” To do that and feel great about it took some real planning. Good communication to our clients and colleagues made it a smooth week, not just for me, but for everyone.
I’ve realized that for me, balance really comes down to one thing – unplugging from technology. And it’s much easier to unplug when you plan for it, whether it’s evenings or a big vacation. I admit I was tethered to some parts of technology during my vacation, mainly text messages since we were traveling with a group of people. But by day two, I had completely stopped checking email and social media. I unplugged and it was wonderful. I was fully engaged with my surroundings and my family. It was an amazing vacation. (Check out my postcard-like photo. What a sunset!) I would encourage each of you to give it a try – plan to unplug, especially if you have a family. You might just like it. Have a great summer, friends!
— Chellie Thompson, Cofounder, Monarch Media & Consulting, Inc.