Ethos of Heroes: Saving businesses from bad website & marketing agencies

During a recent meeting a business owner he asked, "so what sets Hero Agency apart from the competition?"  I love answering this question because it affords an opportunity to call into question all kinds of assumptions that exist in the business world. "We don't have any competition", I replied. "website & marketing agencies that take care of their clients, that are honest about the work they can do, and that charge fair rates are not our competition. They're allies. There's room for all of us who do right in the market place."

"I'm sure that's true," I said, "but how they perceive us should inform how we see them. That's not naive, it's just non-conforming. Hero Agency isn't just a business - it's a way to correct something wrong in the marketplace. Branding and marketing agencies have a bad reputation right now. A lot of them are focused on sales rather than best practices and excellent service. Most of our clients come to us having already wasted tens of thousands of dollars working with 'marketing agencies' that are really just sales teams ran by slick talking entrepreneurs. These people over state their expertise, over promise their services, and then over charge while under delivering. Most of our clients come to us by referral from others we've already helped. Many are weary and gun-shy because someone has already taken advantage of them. Agencies that do that aren't our competition either, they're just the bad guys. We help our clients get away from them."