Jonathan’s Thankful List for 2024

1. Recovering from a BIG downturn: Interest rates going up in 2022 caused a ton of marketing budgets to get slashed, so in Q1 2023 things went way down. It was wild how many just projects disappeared overnight – poof!
   
   BUT, we hung tough and now we’re busier than ever. And more than one client who had been laid off got a new job and hired us at their new company. 🙂
2. Focusing the agency on B2B lead gen. We took the leap and declared to the world that we’re focused on B2B lead gen. It’s been working out great to go deep instead of wide. And of course we can still keep doing great work for our existing B2C clients like USA Swimming. Speaking of, a highlight in 2024 was going to Indianapolis for the US Olympic Swimming Trials in Indianapolis.
3. I’m grateful for Marc Coty on our team being such a solid, reliable, and talented human. Our clients and I sleep well at night knowing he’s on the job. Thank you, Marc!
   
   Also, shout out to Faith Collins for her two, excellent years of service. We wish her all the best in seeing how being a manager treats her. 🙂
4. The SearchCon conference coming back after a multi-year hiatus and for them inviting me to speak. Thanks to Jim Kreinbrink for organizing! That local SEO community is great and it’s fun to connect with so many smart folks and to get inspiration and ideas.
5. Learning from others. Here’s what’s been awesome:
   • Mastermind group – so many good things, so much AI inspiration – shoutout to Rich, Dan, and Kevin for their contributions and support.
   • Quarterly or annual check-ins to catch up and trade tips
   • Online subscriptions to learning resources
   • Learning from two business coaches
   • Going to conferences
6. Finding best-in-class partners. When a client needs something related to what we do, for example HubSpot audits and fixes, I’m thankful for having amazing partners who help us punch above our weight.
7. Our hiring process and testing new things. We’ve got a well built out hiring process, and we’re still refining. If you want details, please let me know and I’ll send you our “secret” process when I document it. 🙂
8. Winning an award as having had one of the Top 50 ad ideas in Colorado. The recognition feels good and we’re happy to be able to feed exceptional creative fuel into the marketing engine.
9. Getting four really good client reviews, even from a client that moved on due to marketing budget cost cuts.
10. Personal: Family and friends. My daughter is thriving – and about to get her masters in functional medicine. I’m so proud of her! I’m thankful that my dad is hanging in there after hip surgery. And I’m thankful for my sister, her husband and their kids, and my work and personal friends, and for golf and skiing.

Cheers,

Jonathan