Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Philip VanDusen, Founder of Verhaal Brand Design, located in Maplewood, NJ, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I am the owner of a brand strategy and design agency called Verhaal Brand Design. We work with small-to-medium-sized businesses to help them leverage the power of design and branding to build their businesses and become a force to be reckoned with in their category.
Tell us about yourself
In my career, I've led creative teams on both the client-side and agency sides of the street— serving as VP of Design for PepsiCo and Old Navy and Executive Creative Director at the iconic branding firm Landor Associates. In my career, I've worked with a host of the Fortune 100, including P&G, Kraft Foods, Coca-Cola, Merck, Petsmart, Safeway, Chevron, Levi's Strauss & Co., Microsoft, Campbell’s, and Johnson & Johnson, among dozens of others.
Six years ago, I decided to leave the big-corporate side of things and start my own business. I am passionate about helping smaller businesses by adapting the branding methodologies that billion-dollar brands pay millions of dollars for, so my clients can leverage them to become stronger and more competitive.
At my core, I'm a teacher, and I take great pride and get great energy from acting as a 'brand sherpa' for my clients to help them climb mountains they didn't think they could.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
When I started my agency, I dove into content marketing to share what I knew and to attract clients to my business. I've published my industry-recognized newsletter "brand-muse" for over six years. I have built a YouTube channel with over 255k subscribers where I freely share my marketing, design, and entrepreneurial expertise with creative professionals and business owners.
I have viewers worldwide and have received hundreds of thousands of comments about how my videos have transformed people's careers and businesses. While I'm happy the content I created has filled my agency's new client pipeline since I started, I am most proud of the effect it has had on people's lives-most of whom I will never meet.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things for me in my business is delegating. So much of what I do is based on my brand, my decades of experience, and what I know and can share with others. While I can delegate more administrative tasks, like content repurposing and marketing activity for my agency, I can't clone myself. So my challenge is figuring out how to carve off as much as possible to delegate to others while maintaining the quality of my agency's intellectual product.'
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Use video in your business: Video is the future of all marketing. Long-form video, short-form video, it all matters. Video is the very best "pillar" content to start with in any business because it can be re-purposed into almost any form, from audiograms to carousels, podcasts, and blog posts. It is, hands down, the best form of marketing.
- If you are going to use social media to promote your business, don't try to be everywhere: you'll just end up showing up thinly and weakly. Pick a single platform and go deep into it. Put 100% of your effort into it for a year before expanding. But be sure to pick a social platform where your target customers hang out.
- Remember, people buy from people, not brands. No matter how big you get, prioritize the human part and the personality of the brand in everything you do. Don't become a "faceless" company. It's so easy to default to chat-bots and email. Make a real connection with your customers. Let them see your face and engage in real, honest conversation.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://philipvandusen.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/branddesignmasters
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipvandusen/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/philipvandusen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipvandusen/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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