Get an honest look at what it's really like to run a small business marketing agency in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from client shoots to our first TV commercial.
This week started with something I wasn't expecting. Every morning I sit down and read old journal entries from that same day in previous years. This time an entry from Sunday, February 28th, 2021 popped up, and it was the actual moment Launch Kit got its name.
I want to walk you through the whole week. The good, the boring, and the exciting parts of running a marketing agency in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
I always tell people Launch Kit started in 2020. That part is true. But the name Launch Kit didn't exist yet.
When I graduated college in the spring of 2020, I started taking on web design and photo video projects right away. I filed an LLC that same year, and since I had no idea what to call it, I named it Kamis Collection LLC. That was the official name for almost a full year.
Reading back through my notes from February 2021, I found pages of brainstormed names. Some of them were rough.
None of those made the cut. But somewhere in that list, Launch Kit showed up, and it stuck. We later filed it as a DBA with the state of Michigan.
Looking back, this is reason number whatever to keep a journal. You never know what you'll find a few years later.
This week we also got a small package that turned into a fun little unboxing on camera. An Elgato Facecam and a new microphone for our Google Meet calls and Loom videos.
I know it sounds small, but when most of your day is spent on video calls or recording quick Looms for clients, upgrading that setup actually matters. It's the kind of behind the scenes investment that doesn't show up in a portfolio but makes the day to day easier.
We wrapped up a two day shoot with Buist, a client based in Byron Center, Michigan, just south of Grand Rapids.
Buist isn't a marketing client of ours. We're not running their social media or their ads. Instead we work with them on what we call Content Studio projects. That means photo and video content on an as needed basis, built around their goal of sharing great stories.
That phrase actually lines up with our mission here at Launch Kit. We exist to help businesses share their story.
During this shoot we also tested something fun. I compared footage from a six thousand dollar Sony A7 setup with a Sigma 24-70 lens against a six hundred dollar DJI Osmo Pocket 3. Is the expensive setup worth it? Honestly, I'm still torn. The Osmo Pocket holds up better than people expect.
Every first Wednesday of the month, I meet with my chamber round table group. This week one of our members, Eric, who owns ZZZ Accounting here in town, spent ninety minutes walking us through QuickBooks and basic accounting for small business owners.
Right in the middle of tax season, when he's the busiest he'll be all year, he still showed up and shared real, useful knowledge. I thought I had a decent handle on QuickBooks already, but he pointed out a few things I'll be cleaning up in our own bookkeeping.
If you're a business owner, find a round table group. The value that comes from other owners sharing what they know is hard to put a price on.
Not everything about running a business is strategic planning and client work. Sometimes it's pasta sauce on the office carpet.
We turned it into a quick tutorial.
Running a business is rarely as clean as it looks from the outside. Sometimes you're solving real operational problems. Sometimes you're solving pasta stains.
We're getting close to launching a new website and brand for a client, Brendan McKellar of McKellar Construction. He's niching down and repositioning his business, and we've been building the new website and brand assets behind the scenes.
I put together a short teaser to build anticipation before the full rebrand reveal. The message behind it stuck with me too. Why be a jack of all trades when you can be a master of one. That's advice worth remembering, whether you're a contractor or a marketing agency.
The biggest new development this week came from Premier Roofing and Exteriors, a new marketing client of ours.
Premier is interested in running a television commercial, something we've never produced before. We're handling their monthly photo and video content, their social media, and their ad management, but this TV spot is a first for our agency.
We're still figuring out whether it will be a fifteen or thirty second spot. Right now I'm leaning toward thirty. It's new territory, and I won't pretend I have it all figured out yet. But that's part of running an agency. You take on the next challenge even when you don't know exactly how it's going to go.
This week had a little bit of everything. History, gear upgrades, client shoots, a QuickBooks lesson, a small mess, a big tease, and a brand new kind of project for our agency.
If you're building a business in Grand Rapids, Michigan, or anywhere else, I hope this gives you an honest look at what a real week actually looks like. Not the highlight reel version. The actual one.
