Interview with Co-founder, Luke – “I’m making a difference.”
A college student at Indiana University recently conducted an interview with our co-founder, Luke. She allowed us to post what she wrote on our blog and we hope that Luke’s responses can be helpful to other college students looking to get into the marketing and branding industry or those who just want to become entrepreneurs.
Luke Marr is a digital marketing and branding expert, who founded his Nashville-based company even though he was still in his senior year of college at the time. His company offers digital marketing, graphic design, videography, and web design services and is directed towards entrepreneurs who may not be able to afford a traditional marketing agency. I was able to sit down with him face-to-face on Sunday, February 16, 2014 and ask him a few questions about what he does.
It was extremely interesting to find out more information about the marketing industry and learn exactly how writing plays into it on an everyday basis. Luke is the Chief Visionary Officer, so he really focuses on company development, acquiring new clients, improving workflow and managing human resources. He is also in charge of producing video content. He loves the diversity of the projects that he gets to work on.
“Every day is different,” Marr offered, “I don’t punch a time clock, so I can be creative and work on projects in many different industries at the same time throughout the day. I love the fact that what we’re doing gives people the ability to advance their personal goals. I’m making a difference”.
However, his least favorite part of the job is also the freedom, because he often has to just make a decision and face the consequences without any sort of instruction manual. Dealing with people is also difficult because they all communicate in such different ways.
When it comes to writing, he composes emails, which he admits can be tricky sometimes because of the lack of an actual vocal tone, that are designed to persuade clients to either spend money on his services or add more services to their package. He also writes blog posts to establish credibility for his company and composes legal documents such as contracts and non-disclosure agreements.
When it comes to writing a good proposal, he says that the key is to be able to convey an entire idea in the shortest amount of words possible. “That’s one of the hardest parts for me,” Marr admitted, “I tend to write a TON of information”.
Rather than having a set code of ethics, his company operates based on core values. He has a lot of freedom to do whatever is necessary to help clients and increase business as long as he stays within those core values. As far as ethical issues go, he says that the most difficult aspect is making sure that he doesn’t promise something to a client that he can’t deliver, whether that’s pricing or the actual performance of a service.
To be successful in the marketing industry, he says that it’s more about experience than certification. Marr suggested, “Take any opportunities outside of school, even if it means sacrificing time allotted to coursework, to acquire that experience and make connections”. He said that people in the marketing industry get their jobs because of who they know, their experience and their drive, not necessarily their education.
Marr admitted, “But demonstrating your level of commitment and skills through a formal program, like college, is something of value.”
I feel as though I really learned a lot about the marketing industry and professional world that college doesn’t necessarily teach you. For example, he really highlighted the importance of networking and getting experience over making perfect grades in every class, though education is important as well. It was also good to know that professional writing is really utilized on a daily basis. Finally, it was really great to hear from someone who clearly loves what they do every day because that’s certainly what I want long-term from a career.
