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A behind the scenes look at a week running a marketing agency in Grand Rapids Michigan. Morning routines, new client kickoffs, viral content strategy and lessons learned.
We all have those days. The ones where you feel like the world is happening to you instead of the other way around. This week at Launch Kit was a perfect example of that. But it also reminded me of something I come back to over and over again: the game never ends. And how you show up the morning after a rough day matters more than the rough day itself.
Here's what went down this week, what I learned, and a few things you can steal for your own business and content.
I want to start with a book that I think about literally every single day. It's The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek.
I first read it back in college and it didn't hit me. At that point, the game for me was just about making money. That's really all I thought about. But now at 27, five years into building Launch Kit, seven full time team members, an office, and 100 clients later, I've realized the lesson that everyone further along tries to tell you but you can't see until you get there.
There is more to it.
Your life is the infinite game. Each day is a new page in your story. And when you reach the end and look back at the book you wrote, what do you want that story to be?
Don't fall victim to playing little finite games. Goals and objectives are great for setting direction. But if you live in that gap of "I'll be happy when I get that promotion" or "I'll be happy when I get that house," you're just going to be constantly chasing the next thing.
Instead, fall in love with the average Tuesday afternoon. Find joy in the little things. Green juice. Making videos. Reading books. Whatever it is for you. You can be happy today and still be ambitious.
Monday started rough. I went to put on my trusty bag that I've carried every single day since I was a sophomore at Grand Valley and the strap broke. Ten years with that bag. It was a good ride.
Then it got worse:
None of it was in my control. Weather. A broken strap. An HVAC system I can't adjust. But it was a humble reminder that even when you're on top of things, some days just feel like the world is happening to you. And that's part of life.
The morning after a day like that, I have a simple routine that gets me back on the horse. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it works for me when I need it most.
The whole thing takes about 30 minutes. The point isn't that you need to copy my routine. The point is that when you feel out of control, find something that can right the ship for you quickly. A walk to the coffee shop. Five minutes of meditation. Journaling everything that's bouncing around in your head. There's no right or wrong answer. It's what works for you.
That video of me walking through the snow going home from the office turned into something I didn't expect. It hit 23,000 views on Instagram. Most of my posts get around 2,000. That's a 10x jump. And I edited the whole thing on my phone in the Instagram app. While on the toilet.
Here's what made it work:
All of these things boost your average view duration, which is the number one signal the algorithm uses to decide if your video gets pushed out to more people. Good topics plus these principles equals a much better shot at going viral. But it starts with the topic. You can apply all these techniques to a boring topic and it'll still flop.
Friday morning, Evan and I headed up to Rockford for our first production day with Kellermeier Plumbing, Heating, Cooling. They're a full package client for us: website, photo and video content, social media, Facebook ads, and Google ads.
First production days are always fun. There's a little bit of butterflies in the room because a lot of times it's people's first time making content for their business. We shot talking head videos at their office, then headed to a job site to capture B roll of their crew in action.
That B roll becomes an evergreen media library we can pull from for all sorts of future content. If you're a small business owner and you've never invested in building out a content library like this, it's one of the highest return things you can do for your marketing.
I'll close with this. I was listening to How I Built This on Saturday morning and Mark Cuban was talking with a young entrepreneur about market differentiation. His point was simple: you will never find success by being the best at copying someone else.
I fall victim to this all the time. I watch creators I admire and feel pulled to copy their style. But hearing Cuban say it out loud was the reminder I needed. Nobody is going to stop watching someone else because I copied them better.
You find success when you carve your own path. Draw inspiration from others, absolutely. But don't get caught up in it. Be you. Nobody can compete with you being you.
On that note, call it a week.
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