Member Spotlight: Pastimes Marketing

Member Spotlight by [Pastimes Marketing]

Provide us with a brief summary of your business’ services

We’re small business fanatics who love helping them thrive in Columbus and beyond. The best way we can do that is by creating strategic marketing plans to help fun small businesses achieve their growth goals, and enjoy the process. In addition, if time is an issue we can take the execution of those marketing tasks off their plates as well. After all, business leaders are busy and rarely have time or energy to wrap their arms around the beast that is marketing in this economic landscape, let alone if they also have to learn new skills like search engine optimization, social media content creation, pay-per-click management, or the back end of WordPress. It’s hard to be creative and have fun when you don’t fully understand all of your options and how to iterate and optimize!

Our clients tell us the true value of what we do is give them peace of mind that it’s all taken care of strategically for their business and painlessly for them as leaders.

Tell us about your company’s mission and values

Our mission is to eliminate confusion and instill confidence in small business leaders’ plans for growth through marketing.

• We work with integrity and transparency, being honest about what we can do in what amount of time.
• We communicate directly and constantly, so our clients never wonder what we’re working on or when it will be done.
• We work efficiently, ensuring our clients get more than what they pay for.
• We measure and pivot, encouraging an environment of learning and growth.
• We put everything we’ve got into every single project because we want to be proud of all of our work.

What are the services you use the most (or are looking forward to using) from the Columbus Chamber?

We’re excited to meet other members. For the same reason we are in this business together instead of alone, we know that we have a lot to learn from other experienced and creative business owners.

How do you stay engaged with trends that you see in your industry?

We are big media consumers. Not just marketing email newsletters and industry trend reports, but also existing in the world with a marketing mindset. Just like a chef might have a hard time enjoying a simple meal at home without analyzing what could make it better, we do the same with marketing, saving good ideas for later and considering how we could make it even better for our own clients. Marketing is everywhere.

What is your company culture like?

Pastimes Marketing is built on trust and independence. We know our team will get their work done and we don’t need to micromanage that. Unlimited PTO, work on your own schedule with the exception of client and team meetings, and rest when you need to. This allows us to pursue hobbies, manage family responsibilities, and live our personal lives in a more relaxed way that best suits us.

We value expertise and use each other for second opinions constantly. We each specialize in different aspects of marketing and are generally curious people who want to expand our skills, but we truly value each other and openly offer feedback and new ideas to make the work better. It’s a collaborative culture of building each other up so no one ever feels hurt when we do think the work could be improved. We put our egos aside and recognize that even when we didn’t see that edit initially, if our business partner is seeing it, likely our target audience is as well.

Our worldview outside of work is also very important to our business. We believe in equal rights for all, diversity, equity and inclusion, and climate change and medical science. We also often offer women-, queer-, and minority-owned businesses discounts on our services as a way to expand equity in the entrepreneurship space.

What does it take to be a successful employee at your company?

For now, it’s just the two of us, but when we do eventually hire, we want you to deliver your best work the first time. We offer a lot of flexibility and room for creativity and innovation, but that doesn’t replace grit and effort. We are in the Midwest after all. Hard work can be fun in our line of work, and yours, too.

What makes Columbus such a great place to do business?

Columbus is a great place to do business because there are so many other small peer businesses we can grow with. This fosters a community of try it, build it, experiment with it. It’s small enough to feel like a safe and affordable launch pad, but big enough to support a thriving business community.

Plus, as a remote-first business, we love the hundreds of coffee shops and libraries we can work from when we do need to come together.

Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572155636736
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pastimes-marketing/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallbizmarketingsomms/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pastimesmarketing/
Website: https://pastimesmarketing.com/