The ADS Agency

📽 POLISHED v. REAL | Are we surprised to see that polished, highly produced videos comes in at 26% of what people want to see versus 34% wanting to see authentic, less produced videos? Not at all. In fact, we're actually surprised that differential isn't greater than what it is.

Well produced videos have their place, certainly, but few marketing budgets can withstand every video being professionally produced. Even if you can afford it, the stats show it should take a backseat to the amateur-produced cell phone video.

Why? Because we already know that a well produced video is going to be meticulously thought-out, scripted and made to be perfect. Amateur videos feel more real because they tend to be more on the fly, which feels like you're getting the real, unfiltered info + personality. It's more believable. Relatable. Even more attention-grabbing.

What say you? When do you want to see a polished video versus an amateur, cell-phone one?

Maintaining relevance in this new attention economy means rethinking the role of social, and not just within a marketing department—across an entire business.

Source: Sprout Social, Inc. | Full article: https://bit.ly/3XWx8cZ

is coming Wednesday the 19th, but events will be happening as early as the weekend before - Father's Day Weekend. Looking for something to do to celebrate ? Now's the time to start checking out events in your local area. If you're here in , Georgia like us, you should check out these events put on by Cobb County Georgia Branch NAACP:

FRI. 14 June: All White Party (6p-11p)
SAT. 15 June: Cultural Festival (10a-7p)
SUN. 16 June: Father's Day Salute to Our Heroes (2p-6p)

Location: Marietta Square Glover Park
For more info: [email protected], 770.425.5757. cobbnaacp.org

Juneteenth Events coming up in Cobb County

We work with a lot of businesses and alike. After all, every "smedium"-sized business started out as a who was the face of the company (i.e. a personal brand growing alongside a business brand). Whatever level you're at, the right testimonials can always help. Here are a few key things about testimonials we tell our clients to look for / consider:

⭐ Your ideal client. Consider the client you LOVE to work with the most (see our last post about that). Everyone would love more of them. They're profitable, they're a joy and a fun challenge to work with, etc. Get testimonials from them! It helps others see who you like to work with.

⭐ Think diversity. Let your testimonial photos display the range of diversity of people (and brands) you work with. Even if a client is providing a testimonial on behalf of a company, still consider that individual's ethnicity, gender, age. Are all your testimonials white males or black females? Switch it up! Make it a point to showcase the diversity of people you like to serve.

⭐ As far as brands go, consider recognition. If we saw a logo-row of brands you've served on your website, would we know who they are? Are they big names anyone could recognize like a Coke or Home Depot? Or if not, can you tell by the logo the type of business it is? Does it read healthcare, construction, municipalities? Consider how easy it would be for people to recognize the companies you showcase.

⭐ Asking for testimonials: a lot of people find this hard to do. Here's a great tip on how to get it: write it FOR them. Make it easy. Many of your best clients are MORE than willing to write a testimonial for you, but if they're not a writer, they're time-strapped (which is everyone), or they just don't know what you want them to say, write something that you feel pretty certain they'd sign off on. Then give them freedom to edit as they like. Most people are far better at editing a draft than starting with a blank screen.

There are more tips where that came from, but we're running out of room on this post. :) What questions do you have about getting testimonials for your business / brand?

The ADS Agency President Andrea TheoJohn enjoyed speaking to the WCR-Upstate ladies yesterday on and social media. Here’s one tip you can use for your own brand:

Consider your own ideal target. By “ideal” - we mean: who do you LOVE to work with the most? They are a joy to work with, they refer you all the time. They’re so GRATEFUL for the service you provided, so appreciative. And YOU felt like you truly helped and made a difference for them. It felt highly rewarding for you. They pay on time, they’re highly profitable, etc. You get the picture.

Write down the names of all the clients you’ve ever had like that. Wouldn’t you like 20 more of them this year? How about 100? Whatever your targets are, everything you do from a marketing perspective needs to be geared towards this target. Your website needs to speak to them - their motivations, their fears, their obstacles in the way towards working with you. Your social media, email - all of it.

Hope that helps. Have a great weekend!

The ADS Agency President, , is looking forward to speaking with the WCR-Upstate's event in tomorrow! She'll discuss:

💡The importance of building your

💡Maintaining your professional image

💡Leveraging in order to establish / maintain your reputation and local authority

Don your fascinators and see you there!

💪🏽Sometimes you’ve gotta take some things out to build back up! In the spirit of , we challenge you to:

🧹 CLARIFY: Reassess your goals (try to get it down to just 3 main ones to keep things simple). Are they aligned with your VISION of where you want to go? What’s really, truly important to you?

🧹 EDIT: Consider afresh the activities you’re doing on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. What’s not aligning? What are the distractions? What’s weighing you down? Cut that dead weight off. What’s not moving the needle for you towards your goals and what can be done about that?

🧹 ORGANIZE: Spend some time to reorganize your physical space you work in. Your digital space (email and files included). As our girl Marie Kondo says, does your space spark joy? Are your systems set up in a way that helps make your life easier?

🧹 SETUP: Reconsider your calendar setup. What needs to happen to align your goals with the way you invest your time? Your calendar needs space made for your priorities - so go back to the 3 goals you said was important in the first step and make sure you’re setting yourself up to take steps towards achieving that each week.

What tips do you have for spring cleaning in your business / otherwise? Would love to hear them!

🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌝 Here are your emojis. You're welcome! So did you get to see it today? Or were you too busy to be bothered?

If you fell in the too busy category, this quote's for you:

"What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare."
W.H. Davies

of the Day: one of the core tenets of marketing is learning how to stand out - in all the best ways possible. At a conference like , that can absolutely be done with what you wear! Bold colors. Big jewelry. If everyone else is wearing black pants, tennis shoes and tees, be the chick in red or that guy with the unique blazer.

In business, it’s the same. If all your competitors have an influencer-looking website, maybe yours should have a more small business boutique feel. If the business you come up against the most is using s*x appeal, go classy and shoot for business caz. If they’re zigging, consider zagging. That’s all we’re saying.

What’s one way you’ve been thinking about standing out lately?

In one swift window scene, you’ve got mountains to the left, a lake with fertile land surrounding it in the center and desert to the right. (Mountains and valleys and deserts 😱 oh my!)

Something about all that diversity of land in one viewpoint is thought provoking. Something inspiring about it - to witness 40K feet up in the air.

What if it represented the diversity in approach needed in your marketing?

⛰️ The Mountains: the 40K foot view. This is vision and the big picture. Where are we trying to go, what are we trying to accomplish?

🌳 The Fertile Valley: the nurture area. Where those we wish to serve most (our leads, prospects, future customers) are lured by the lush green grass and beautiful blue lake. It’s a promise. It’s a dream and at the same time, a real transformation they can have. It’s also the for you. This is growth. Scaling. Dreams realized.

🌵 The Desert: this one could represent so many things, but in this moment, let’s think of it as the journey to the promised land. Not easy. Can feel seemingly never-ending. At times you may wonder if you’ll make it to the other side. This is where the rubber hits the road. This is where the arduous but critical work of foundation building happens. Either it’s done right and you’re propelled to lush green lands or you abandon it too early and you’re left to whither to dust. Word to the wise: even if you must get lean in the process, it’s important to stay the course, trusting that your journey will be worth it.

The question is: are you prepared to outlast the desert? Are you prepared to endure it - tooled up for it, conditioned and ready for it? This is the essence of small and what we like to call businesses. There is always a desert before the oasis. Let’s make sure you’re ready for it.

Just musings. What do any of these symbols represent to you right now?

Heard about yet by Apple? Do you care / don’t care? Mildly interested? Find it fascinating?

Apple's launch of has sparked interest in spatial computing, a technology merging the digital and physical worlds. This will necessitate a shift in marketing from creating pre-defined experiences to building adaptable, user-driven ones. Marketers will need to provide the tools and environments for users to actively participate and co-create personalized experiences.

From embracing a product development mindset to designating special designers, brands must move quickly to win this new frontier of special computing.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3uGtJqi
✍️: AdAge
📸: Apple

It took a moment to think back to when my first Social Media Marketing World Conference was. Somehow, it seems as if I’ve been going for years. Well, I have! This would be Year 4. If it weren’t for the pandemic, this would be my 5th!

In early March of 2020, news of the world changing was beginning to descend upon the US. A good handful of us were brunching together when we heard the first reports released and I’ll never forget how we all looked around at each other like: 👀 “Are we supposed to be here??”

They cancelled the 2021 one, but I’ve been to every one ever since.

The best thing about SMMW is the people. That’s what keeps me coming back. The info is fantastic too and makes for a powerful duo: people and info.

This year’s conference had a heavy emphasis on AI as well as the human element of marketing. But a LOT of AI. 😁 Officially on our list, thanks to is to learn how to create a . If we can successfully make one for ourselves, we can certainly help our clients do it.

Also high on the list are LinkedIn newsletters, thanks to followed by a video content strategy per . Plenty more to consider weaving in this year.

What’s sounding interesting to you? How are you feeling about AI so far?

- Andrea 💚

We're looking for 50 new / aspiring business owners in the B2B (business-to-business) professional services space to interview for a course we're working on building. Professional services includes things like: legal services, logistics, finance, project management, event management, IT, etc. (anything that’s not product-based). These should be people who are considering how to better DIY their own marketing and branding starting out. This is for informational purposes only - just trying to build the best product possible. If this is you / you know someone that would be up for this, please send them our way. You can sign up for a time to speak directly with us here: https://bit.ly/50brandinginterviews

Thanks and we look forward to talking with you soon!

The story of this mug is amazing: this designer was chosen to craft a line of indigenous artwork exclusively for drinkware. We don’t know all the details on how this collaboration happened, but here are the lessons we’re extracting from it:

(1) Your gift will make way for you. Alison had no formal art training over a decade ago. She just had a passion and followed it.

(2) Authenticity can lead to your unique niche. She stayed true to her duplicitous heritage and upbringing - and that shows up in her work. That authenticity carved out a niche for her, which led to…

(3) Visibility + Opportunity. When you’re persistent with honing your craft, the fruits of that can make you “findable.” Googlable. Searchable. To the right brand, it makes you valuable.

So don’t worry so much about becoming an overnight success. Stop trying to copy what everyone else is doing. There’s a lot of value in doing it your way.

Keep shining Alison! We love this story immensely, and gunalchéesh (thank you) for being persistent with your gift! 💚💚🙏🏽

✳️ Share this with a small business owner you know: Catalyst 2024 will award over $200K in unrestricted grant support to early-stage organizations solving pressing issues in American communities. First round applications are due March 5, 2024 at 11:59 pm ET. READ MORE HERE: https://bit.ly/3vDRNtL

CTIA Wireless Foundation is hosting two webinars to provide an overview of Catalyst and answer applicant questions. Register for the sessions here:
January 30th at 9 a.m. PST: https://bit.ly/42cDU28
February 22nd at 12 p.m. PST: https://bit.ly/48A9Uzs

CTIA Wireless Foundation - Home CTIA Wireless Foundation initiates and oversees philanthropic programs that utilize wireless technology to help American communities.

Trying to figure out how to use AI to help you with your content? Love these tips:

How to use AI in the research phase of content marketing 👇

Step 1: Use AI to find content ideas
Step 2: Create a hub-and-spoke strategy from those content ideas
Step 3: Use AI for keyword research
Step 4: Use AI to write blog post outlines
Step 5: Review and apply your own topic knowledge
Step 6: Write!

AI processes data and streamlines tasks, while human ingenuity adds emotional depth and nuanced creativity for impactful strategies. Together, they create a dynamic and effective approach to stay ahead in the field.

✏️: Moz
📸: Unsplash

So elated for Artist Alison Bremner whose designs are all over Starbucks cups nationwide now! She says her latest collaboration for Starbucks was a dream project.

Alison said she was inspired by ancient traditions and modern coffee when she created these formline cups for the coffee chain and hopes the designs make people happy.

“The floral patterns merged with formline are an homage to my parents and their different upbringings, as well as the wallpaper collages I have enjoyed creating,” Alison shared.

Alison also said her first ever coffee drink was a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks and she’s been hooked ever since!

The cups are available nationwide at participating locations. [ Source: ]

Congrats Alison! We’re so proud of you!! 🎉🎉

YouTube for the win - AGAIN! Even teens are saying they prefer YouTube over a wildly popular platform like TikTok. Your market may not include teens, but if you're not looking into YouTube for your business (be it B2B, B2C or otherwise), you need to think about that again. https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/teens-prefer-youtube-to-tiktok-6514946/

A new venture represents great opportunity. An incredible challenge. An invitation to walk through to the unknown. The best of them are life-changing.

💡Hey there - here. From yesterday’s business mentoring session, my biggest takeaway was this: start small, move smart but THINK BIGGER. You don’t have to settle for mere survival and scraping by. Sometimes, that’s sadly all we feel we deserve. But what if you could build something that could change your life - forever? It’s scary to consider - but everything worth doing will challenge you. That’s part of the beautiful journey to NEXT. If your dreams don’t scare you - you’re probably not thinking big enough.

I’m excited to see how far my mentee Cassandra will get in this program. She has such fantastic energy everytime we meet and we always have marvelous brainstorming sessions together! - A

More than 60 works of art by 26 contemporary and designers are being exhibited in a new show at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport | Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport "This Land Calls Us Home: Indigenous Relationships with Southeastern Homelands" opened November 6 and will be in the gallery space of the T North Concourse for a year as part of the airport’s art program. Go see it!

Artists featured here:

🎨I See the Future: Jimmie Carole Fife (Muscogee Artist)

🎨Standing Peach Tree Mound Was Here: Shelley Patrick | (Muscogee Artist)

🎨Tela Wildoni's Sunrise: Madison Hye Long | .hye (Cherokee Photographer)

🎨Mvskoke Fusion: Phyllis Fife (Muscogee Artist)

🎨Wotkvlke, Raccoon Clan Bandolier Bag: Robin Fife Jenkins (Muscogee Artist)

PS - see some common names here? Fun Fact: The Fife Sisters of Oklahoma have been showing their art since the 1960s and have seen it all!

PPS - "This Land Calls Us Home" is presented by the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church (UMC) | , in collaboration with the UMC’s Native American Comprehensive Plan. The exhibition exemplifies a longstanding United Methodist commitment to Native American and Indigenous peoples.

The ADS Agency

Meet my lovely business mentee Cassandra! Last week, she graduated from ’s ACE Program (Aspiring Community Entrepreneurs) - a collaboration with . Every graduate was chosen from a pool of over 100 applicants for this first-time program at KSU and went through a 6 weeks business bootcamp with entrepreneurial professors and community business owners.

🎓 It was so HEARTWARMING to see everyone graduate! There was a first class commencement speech by Dr. Ike Reighard from MUST. People’s kids and spouses were there, even some moms were there cheering their graduates on. There were a few “That’s my baby!!” shouts mixed in with “There’s daddy!” screams from little toddlers. My own mentee’s daughter was there along with her mentor from another program. Such beautiful support in the room! The event inspired Cassandra’s daughter to look into a business degree for herself! I love that immensely.

💡Cassandra is working on a non-profit idea. We’re going to be working on flushing out her vision and approach to this dream of hers, but so far she knows she wants to help other single parents like her - specifically in the areas of effective communication with their kids, financial support resources to help make it possible for their kids to participate in sports or dance programs at school and non-judgmental, safe-space camaraderie with other single parents to serve as support throughout the year.

I’m excited to see how far we can get in our 11 weeks of this mentorship program together. Already rooting for her to win!! 🙌🏽🙌🏽

👋🏽 Hey there! Andrea with ADS here. I’m so excited to be participating as a mentor in ’s first ever ACE Program. ACE (Aspiring Community Entrepreneurs) is helping disadvantaged Metro Atlanta residents improve their lives by launching and growing their own business. It’s a partnership between KSU’s and and is a part of ’s Urban Poverty and Business Initiative - a network of universities and non-profits dedicated to facilitating among the nation’s most economically challenged neighborhoods.

In my next post, I’ll introduce you to my mentee who has such an intriguing idea for her own non-profit. See ya again soon!

-

Meet some of Georgia’s most newly certified MBEs (minority business enterprises). This was a great group to network with and we’re so excited to have The ADS Agency be a newly certified MBE business! 😍

Quick tip. the next time you feel yourself getting wordy (on a website, on a brochure, an email) - remember: people scan. Too much text gets ignored. Make sure your point gets across.

Users read about 20% of the words on a webpage, according to Nielsen Norman Group research. Learning to edit down your content can increase the chance that your words get read, however, the key is knowing when to sacrifice brevity for clarity.

So what’s ? GMSDC stands for the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council (GMSDC) - one of the many chapters of the - and it’s this state’s leading advocacy organization for development and .

✅ This is the entity that certifies firms (like ours!) and…

✅ …helps prepare us to engage as well as facilitate partnerships with corporations and governments in need of our goods / services.

✅ The org also advocates on behalf of our community in the halls of government and the overall community.

Many of our fellow minority entrepreneurial friends already knew this, but for those who didn’t, this is your nudge to learn more.

💚

🙌🏽🙌🏽 ADS just got upgraded!! We are so elated to finally be able to call ourselves an business! Thank you to the staff at GMSDC for setting our sights even higher. Pays to be in the room with excellence!

Today we heard stories of minority-owned businesses that have 3,000 employees globally and are making half a billion in revenue annually, of food product companies like Sublime Doughnuts who also have a cookie line and have contracts with major brands like the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and people who developed relationships with major construction brands like Brasfield & Gorrie, JE Dunn Construction and more. So GRATEFUL for these experiences and anecdotes of encouragement. This is just the shot of vision we needed - and at the right time, too. Cheers to all the other MBE inductees today. We’re excited about your future! 🎉🎉

- Andrea TheoJohn
ADS Founder

☕️ Do you love working out of cafes? Yay or Nay? Back at the beginnings of ADS, I used to think it was so cool to work out of cafes!! After years and years of corporate life, it was freeing and fun to just pick a quaint coffee shop and call that the office for the day, morning or afternoon. When I had to do it again recently while traveling (and also again when the power was out in the ‘hood!!), I caught myself expressing a disdain for it. “Ugh…a cafe??” And then I remembered these days when I delighted in the idea. Instantly changed my mood. (And also…how can you be mad in such an adorable place like this?!)

Perspective is everything! Whether you choose to see your situation as magical and amazing or beneath you and disdainful - you’re correct. Perception truly creates reality. And in fact, that’s one of the things we love the most at ADS: the wonderful power to shape perceptions. It’s a big part of what ’s all about. Cheers to better perspectives!


ADS Founder

For our friends, anybody else coming out to the Cobb Chamber / SelectCobb Hispanic Professionals Mixer tonight? The Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Latin American Association - Asociación Latinoamericana will be there. (No, we're not a Latinx company, but ALL professionals are welcome to come!). See ya there! To register: https://lnkd.in/dd9RgfYg