This coming October marks 2 years that Harness TechED (NOW Harness Digital Marketing) has been working with businesses on digital marketing. I have been blessed with a phenomenal team, great business partnerships, and an incredibly supportive family (Love you Beth and Snuggle Bunny).
So, why the name change?
When I originally started out, I did consulting with implementing technology in schools. This included IT and mostly iPads. I slowly left the education field and gravitated towards business. After much discussion with one of my business partners, Evan Youngblood, I decided to research digital marketing and see how I could turn it into a viable business model. For six months (and a lot of craft beer), I came up with a model that would give businesses results, create jobs in Southern Illinois, and give me something I could be proud to be a part of.
I reached out the SBDC (Small Business Development Center) in Carbondale at SIU. They were instrumental in helping me get started, growing my business, and giving me TOUGH LOVE. One of those “tough love” issues was the name, Harness TechED. They believed that my name was not a good fit for my business to grow or a good explanation of what our business did. Again, after much craft beer and planning, I went for it and the name Harness Digital Marketing was born.
DRUM ROLL PLEASE….Ted Gutierrez. THANK YOU TED!
My dream has always been to create jobs in Southern Illinois and give back to my community. In order to grow, I knew we had to grow outside of Southern Illinois. The best way to do that is to be as easily recognizable for the services we offer: Social Media Branding/Management, Email Marketing, WordPress SEO, and Digital Marketing Consulting.
The entire team at Harness Digital Marketing is very excited about the opportunities we have ahead of us and the opportunities to work with hundreds of small businesses, start-ups, and organizations. Without all their talents, skills, determination, and belief in what we do, there is NO way we would be providing these great services outside of Southern Illinois.
SOME OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
During the past 2 years we have:
- Worked with over 50 business
- Sent out over 50 email blasts to over 50,000 people
- Created and Posted over 18,000 posts across 5 different social media platforms
- Employed 9 people (3 Full-Time / 6 Part-Time)
- Worked with 10 Charities
- Donated $15,000 to charities/organizations
- …..brought smiles to millions!
I love what I do.
I love my team.
I love my community.
Thank you to EVERYONE who supported us. I can not thank you enough.
Tom Harness | @iTomHarness
Great post, Tom–hope your business continues to grow and improve!
Thanks Dave! I have really enjoyed getting to know you, your business (www.sinconline.net), and your team. I KNOW you will do well with yours and thank you for all the support. It is appreciated.
Congrats from a Tech-focused SBDC really far away from you!
Ryan, thank you from Southern Illinois. If we can ever be of help with training or just brainstorming, let us know. Have a wonderful weekend, sir.
Thank you for the kind words Tom. You have done a wonderful job filling a need for many businesses in Southern IL, created jobs, and mentored some future business leaders. Kudos to you and your vision, dedication, and perseverance.