Community Highlights: Meet Nicholas Peoples of Next Level Communications

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicholas Peoples.

Hi Nicholas, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My love for business comes from my mother. She has always been an entrepenuer as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are of her selling Mary Kay. My first job ever was helping my mother make holiday baskets, then taking them door to door in the neighborhood trying to sell them to the neighbors. This experience taught me how to control inventory, talk to people, and sell products.

In my teenage years I helped my mother build, launch, and manage her barbershop/salon. She purchased a struggling shop from her boss and turned it into the premier shop in the city. Here I learned how to actually run an everyday transactional business. I learned princibles of customer service, marketing, accounting, and administration. This is where I knew that I wanted to be a business student and eventual entrepenuer.

Having my first child at the age of 16 lit a different fire in my belly when it came to my perserverence. Being responsible for a child’s welfare has a way of movtivating a person. After high school I attended a community college studying for my undergraduate degree in business administration. Just before graduating, I ended up making a major lapse in judgement chasing a quick payday and ended up landing myself in prison for 5 years.

While in prison, I had a lot of time to reflect, not only on the choices that landed me there, but also on what my path forward would be. I knew that because I was losing 5 years of my life that I would need to hit the ground running when released if I was going to catch up to the rest of the world that was five years ahead. While locked up, I wrote my book “The Small Business Guide to Market Planning” which represented all of the studying that I had done in college before prison and the readings that I had done while in prison.

Upon arriving back in society in 2014, I didn’t waste any time. I self published my book, immediately got myself a job, and enrolled in school. In my free time, I also began executing a business plan that I had written in prison for a marketing consulting agency called Next Level Communications. Over the next 5 years, I finished my undergraduate degree, then my dual graduate degree, and I launched my company.

Today I spend most of my days consulting businesses of all sizes. I mostly provide marketing consulting, but I also consult on business growth strategy, and business model development. I specialize in digital marketing, automation soloutions, and process improvements.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not been completely smooth, but it has been a lot smoother than it would have been if I hadn’t started with a specific and consise plan. I am a huge advocate of going into anything with a strong plan first to give yourself a roadmap to follow along your journey. Some of the roadblocks that I have encountered include issues securing funding, problems finding the right team, difficulties navagating the new digital landscape, and lack of consistent business (income).

We’ve been impressed with Next Level Communications, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Next Level Commuinications is a business model where my company serves as the liasion between small business owners that need many marketing related services and the different local contractors that provide these services. We are essentially a one stop shop, a marketing department for hire. We can work with a small business owner and provide all of her marketing needs so she can focus on perfecting her product/service offering and scaling her business. Next Level Communications has the capability to capture attention, build awareness, earn trust, and drive sales all through storytelling about your business. We are currently developing customer relationship management services as well.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up I was an outgoing kid. I was always the one telling a joke or seeking some type of attention from my peers and superiors. I always loved music and entertainment. My first real dream as a kid was to be in the music business in some capactiy as my regular job. I also love basketball, philsophy, technology, and video games.

Pricing:

• Initial 1 hour consultation free
• Normal Consulting Services $50/hr.
• Start-up Simple Marketing Package $550
• Start-up Complete Marketing Package $1250
• Business Plan/Marketing Plan Starting at $250

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nicholaspeoples.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/just_pay_the_man/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552997711274
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574051910646