Gamification Marketing Company - Happy Birthday

It seems nearly impossible to believe that only a year has gone by since a casual conversation between Shannon and Kelly on a Friday afternoon about starting a company became gamification marketing company. It’s not just any gamification company that is born out of a conversation on a Friday (and over a weekend trip to the mountains), named on a Monday, logo and business structure built that week and taking clients two weeks later, but that’s been the way of things for our company from the start.
Since the days of having to explain to businesses why they would need a facebook page, twitter account, website, blog, video and advertising integration plan being met with blank stares to today where almost everyone sees this as a critical piece of their overall marketing strategy, we would like to think that we have blazed a path in Charlotte for helping businesses thrive in an otherwise unfriendly recession. We have seen first hand the ways that companies who had a small budget but big dreams have used social media to spread the word about their companies. We have assisted medium size businesses in creating social media campaigns designed to reward loyalty and deepen relationships with their clients.
The greatest gift that we have been given this year is the extraordinary talents of our creative staff. From the gorgeous logos of Kim Gajan and Kimberly Connolly-Wilner, the amazing websites of Carrie Rashid and the wonderful graphics from Chris Vince, we have the very best talent in Charlotte on staff. We have been blessed to have a team who have no problems with having a very high bar set and constantly exceeding expectations.
But we would be remiss if we didn’t mention a few people without whom paper blossom marketing would not be nearly the company we are today. Kyle Lee’s commitment to producing incredible artwork for our clients has been one of the most important factors in our success. After a career of working with Creative Loafing and the Observer, we are so lucky to have his talents for our clients everyday. Dan Donoghue’s ability to create any facebook app in a small amount of time and blow us away with them is perhaps one of the strongest parts of our marketing business. His coding talents are evident not only in the websites and iframes he creates, but in his ability to envision the future of social media. And Celeste Horton, who has been with us from the beginning and manages our business on a daily basis. Without her, our business might exist, but it is possible that none of our employees would ever get paid!
Birthdays make you think about the year behind and the year ahead, what you have gained and lost and what you want to see in the future. So, what have we learned? As anyone will tell you, the first year of business is brutal. We have had to learn how to separate business and personal relationships. Kelly had to have her laptop literally removed from her in order to keep her from working excessive amounts of hours and wearing her fingers to the nub. And as with any friendship and business partnership, we have walked the tightrope of success together and made it through to the other side.
There have been bad times, as there are in any business. We have found ourselves in situations with people who took advantage of us, but you might have to chalk that up to our willingness to always see the best in people. We’ve had the kinds of bumps in the road that you might expect such as working with people who did not have our best interests at heart, but we weathered those storms and came out the other side.
But there has been so much more positive than there could have ever been negative. We have been able to help over fifty businesses find their social media and marketing voices. We have seen the birth of many companies from concept through logo and branding, website creation, social media strategy and success. That truly is all the reward we could ever ask.
And through it all, we have had our friends and families there to support us. None of this would be possible were it not for the love and understanding of the people around us. For a year, we basically devoted ourselves to this business and growing it to what it is today. It was hard on everyone, but in the end, its success is every bit as much to do with those who gathered around us and held us up when we were down as it is with the work that we put into it.
Today, as we celebrate our very first birthday, we want to thank everyone who cheered us on, read our blogs, liked our pages, told friends about us and so much more. We are going to celebrate our own “March Madness” on gamification company marketing’s facebook page. The prize? A complete social media make over including a custom sidebar and landing page, three facebook apps, Linkedin integration, custom twitter page and so much more. We will also add links to your website to alert your fans of your new social media presence as well as assist you in gathering your fans to your new pages. This package is worth well over $1000 and one lucky company is getting all of it FREE!
Once you join on the facebook contest page, your company will go against other companies to see who can get the most fan support. Seeding will be chosen by vote and you will go head to head against the competition to see how many people LIKE your business until the last man standing! But hurry, you must enter your company by Monday, March 21st at 11:59 p.m.