Entrepreneurship: Planning + Process = Profits

What kind of marketing agency picks Wichita, Kansas – a city very close to the geographic center of the continental United States, for its headquarters? How about an agency with 4 media buyers, providing everything marketing from traditional media buys to a full-range of digital services including online presence and reputation management, and serving an extremely diverse clientele. What kind of employees would choose to work for such an out-of-the-way agency? Could be people who enjoy a slower pace, a shorter work week, a culturally-rich/affordable life-style, extended benefits, and a five- or ten-minute commute to the office. Advantage Marketing strategizes with diverse client companies about what needs to happen with their businesses, collects a "lot of information," and develops a "lot of data" to determine when and where to place ads to reach the target client base. Customized, multiplatform marketing initiatives blend traditional marketing with newer, "personalized" digital plans. "bridging from one media to the next." Cori outlines a number of promotional targeting strategies she is excited about for the coming year. As an example, she expects a "boom" in OTT (over the top/subscription) and DTV-connected television, which allows focused zip code and contextual targeting and cross-device matching. Cori started her career as a sales rep in broadcast television. After 5 years, she joined an agency. After five years there, still not "settled," she started Advantage Marketing. Her partner, Amy Hoefer, who has a background in cable television, joined the agency in a year later. Cori believes that an in-depth understanding of media buying planning has been critical to her agency's growth and that it is important to establish and document processes to ensure scalability and continued organizational success In this interview, Cori explains the process she used to grow her agency fast – and increase its service offerings at the same time. In 2017, four years after agency started, Cori and Amy decided the best way to "grow" would be to acquire another agency. It wasn't something they wanted to do "on the fly." They selected a "great accountant" and a "great attorney," discussed with them their goals and objectives, and targeted a successful company whose owner wanted to retire. They signed the necessary non-disclosure agreements and requested and reviewed the company's client list and financials. Advantage had the capital to purchase the agency, but Amy has had a number of entrepreneurship classes, done a lot of research, and learned this: "Don't spend your own money. Get a loan." Makes sense. A "loan" leaves an intact "cushion" for dealing with daily business expenses. Cori took an SBDC (Small Business Development Center) Emerging Leaders Program last year to learn more about scaling her business, planning growth, and getting the agency's processes documented and in place. She relies on the SBA (Small Business Association) for valuable information on how to run her business and, interestingly, still gets periodic mentoring from the woman who owned the agency she bought. Cori can be reached on social media, on her company's website at: https://admarkict.com/ 0r by phone at: 316.729.0500.