Since winning the Hatching in June, Nick Stachurski, Ryan Sundberg and the team at Eightfold Marketing have been making some serious progress. A marketing company that strives to create unique content that tells a story, Eightfold has worked on campaigns for high profile, local clients.
Their portfolio includes companies like Douglas J, Courtesy Ford, Fantastic Finds and many more. Eightfold Marketing has made the most of the money won at the Hatching and has proved that, as they say on their website, “the secret behind great work, is hard work.”
Founded:
July 2013 by Nick Stachurski
Where the Idea Came From:
The idea for Eightfold came when Nick noticed there was a need in the local market that just wasn’t being met. He had always thought that marketing should be engaging and teach something rather than just be focused on sales. So, he just started providing services to the local market and the companies that used him started seeing results.
He’s always had a managerial mindset and a love for art. He wanted to focus on teaching the clients to teach the customer.
Problem they are trying to solve:
Simply put, there was a serious lack of engagement at the local level. And even though it wasn’t there, Nick knew it was possible to achieve if companies would take the time to learn what a client wanted to provide for their customers. There are many ways to help a client find a true brand and Nick calls this process soul searching; once you find it, you position the content around it.
To Nick, it seems people tend to enjoy engagement more than advertisements that yell at them or make them uncomfortable. “We try to understand what the customer enjoys, and find a true story to tell,” he says.
Exciting Opportunities in the Industry:
Eightfold is excited about the capabilities of digital marketing as a powerful tool. They provide digital platform strategies for all forms. The best part is we focus on the content not just the strategy, which tends to be overlooked.
Challenges:
As a startup, Eightfold says it’s been hard connecting with potential mentors that want to help other startups; though they’ve received a lot of help with this problem through The Hatch, Leap and Spartan Innovations.
It’s also been hard for Eightfold to help local companies realize that creativity can solve anything; that it’s not about the sale but about being creative and teaching your customers what they need. Eightfold believes once companies realize this – and also that it’s important to allocate a portion of their budget toward good content – their businesses will flourish.
How have they been overcoming this challenge?
Results.
Eightfold has been lucky to have customers that have trusted them and given them the opportunity to prove themselves. People are excited to work with them simply due to word of mouth.
Surprises in the Industry:
Nick has been surprised to see how many small businesses and startups think they can get to the next level without branding or marketing. He says, “It’s shocking. Your brand is your consumer base, if you don’t know it (the consumer base), how do you know who you’re selling to?”
Funding:
The Hatching has been their main source of funding and since winning a thousand dollars at the competition in June, they’ve spread that out and made it go far. They are currently looking for other funding opportunities.
The Future:
The next step for Eightfold Marketing is to develop the Lansing market while growing nationally. They want to put Lansing back on the map for strong companies, opportunities and entertainment through their marketing tactics.
Advice:
Nick’s advice to startups and future entrepreneurs is, “Be so excited and ecstatic about your idea and share it with everyone.” He says he’s met too many people that want to hide their idea until it’s perfect and that’s one of the biggest mistakes they can make since they never know who will be able to help them.
He also encourages other startups to join their local incubator. He’s had great success working with the Hatch and they’ve opened doors, built relationships and given him many opportunities.
Connect:
You can connect with Nick and the rest of the Eightfold Marketing team online, Follow them @EightfoldLLC, or Like them on Facebook
You are awesome!! so proud of you!