Today we’d like to introduce you to Connor McNerney.
Hi Connor, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Maven Marketing Group started with a business plan from college. The original idea was to connect brands with influencers, an influencer marketing company. This proved difficult due to expectations of businesses and influencers not aligning and several other roadblocks. The pandemic laid the foundation for what Maven Marketing Group is today. Our lead Web Developer, CTO, was furloughed from his job in the construction industry, which opened the door to allow Maven to take another step. With Kolton, we could offer a service that every company needs to be a successful business: a website. Not just any website, though, a website with superior design elements that have a purpose. Specifically, we create websites that communicate with visitors and ensure they digest what they are looking for while on the site.
Fast forward to today, we are a full-stack digital marketing company with 4 locations across the country, two in the greater Chicagoland Metropolitan area, one in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and one in Scottsdale, Arizona, favorite location. I lead the Scottsdale office. We have had local success and are already working with Arizona-native companies like “Bottle Breacher” out of Tucson. Maven Marketing Group is quickly becoming a national brand, and we look forward to our growth in the future.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been fairly smooth?
Starting a business during the Pandemic has been no easy feat. Building our credibility has been one of the largest struggles we have faced.
To start, I negotiated a deal to get my team free office space for the first 6 months we were operating in exchange for a new website. We owe a great debt to Catherine at National Consortiums. She allowed us to get the ball rolling, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without her.
Getting our first large client was another struggle we have overcome. Within the first 6 months of business, we had the opportunity to pitch Equitable Financial Advisors. Equitable Financial Advisors is a fortune 500 company with one of the worst user experiences regarding web design in the insurance space. Some issues included 1-star reviews throughout their entire website about their poor website status, financial advisor websites leading to Chinese malware pages, and overall confusing design. We were blunt and honest and provided incredible insight and solutions to fix their ongoing web development issues.
We had the entire exec team at the meeting—some very prominent players in the insurance space. Naively we threw the Kitchen sink at them. We gave them the keys to the castle expecting in good faith we would be the ones to get the business. We learned that was a mistake. They took all of our ideas and implemented them poorly, I might add, and we have not heard from them since they told us we weren’t going to get the business. We spent countless hours on the proposal but had nothing to show. Or did we?
That experience taught us the art of pitching large companies. I’m sure our inexperience played a role in losing the business, but we have learned from our mistakes. Now we represent the founders of Life Storage, are partners with the national brand Warehouse Direct, and work directly with the largest pressure washer manufacturer in the United States, FNA-Group. I couldn’t be happier with our development, and we still email Equitable every month about how we can improve their web presence.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Maven Marketing Group?
Maven is not your typical web development company. Our company provides freelance digital marketing solutions across the United States (& the world) for companies needing a personal website designer, graphic designer, or digital marketing. All our work is done in the United States, which translates to superior web design. Maven allows business owners to access markets they have never been able to. We have a team of business professionals determined to be your catalyst for growth. From website design, hosting/maintenance, and marketing needs. Every website we build has a purpose behind it. Whether it be to build credibility for your brand, drive more sales through the website, or provide information to visitors, Maven is here for you.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Maven also acts as an incubator for college students who want to learn how to become an entrepreneur and start their businesses. We teach our summer hires always to try new things, and one of the most important lessons is to talk to your professors! My mentor is one of my college professors; this happened because I got out of my comfort zone and developed a relationship with him. Professors and teachers, in general, want to see you succeed. The easiest way to find a mentor is to speak with all your professors after class if you are in college. You will find great success in this and may find a friend along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mavenmgofficial.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mavenmg/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mavenmg
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mavenmg?lang=en
