And here we are at the end of 2020. Last year’s reflections focused on time and community. At the end of 2019, we encouraged you to spend the first year of this new decade in community with others and in the company of those you love. Little did we know how life-altering 2020 would prove to be.

This is the year of the letter “I.” 2020 has not been idyllic, but it has been, for better or worse, impactful. First, it has been isolating. But, 2020 has illuminated how important people and community are, and how much we take for granted in our modernized world.

2020 highlighted the fact that we are all imperfect people who could use a little extra kindness and grace extended toward us.

It’s been a year of incredible innovation and imagination to say the least. How did this happen? Industrious people were required to slow down and indulge in the company of those closest to them while requiring others to be indefatigable in their care of others.

So we hope these reflections lift your spirits and provide hope and inspiration for a brighter 2021.

Chief Rocker Julie Porter

For me, 2020 was always going to be a monumental year. I anticipated significant changes in my personal life. But I never would have imagined how quickly and continuously my family would have to adjust our plans and expectations.

From a personal perspective:

My son graduated from high school during COVID. Bands of angels are singing that it happened. Then, his school, as did most others, adjusted their plans to provide a wonderful graduation celebration.

Yes, he also left the nest and began his freshman year of college. Now, he’s more than 1,000 miles away. No amount of planning could have prepared me for this. So I simply miss him. My heart yearns for his presence every single day. Yet, I am so proud of him. Of course, he has acclimated brilliantly to his school in a different state, even without the usual opportunities to build new relationships.   

Next, I quickly learned I should not quit my day job in favor of becoming an elementary school teacher. Actually, I would be awful (and miserable!) at it. My daughter, an extrovert, began learning online after Spring Break 2020. Homeschooling isn’t for either of us. As a result, I could never be more thankful for those blessed with the ability and passion for teaching.

And finally, my husband, employed with the same company for 19 years, left his job. That could be a whole blog post itself.

From a business perspective:

This year, I have marveled at the Front Porch Marketing team. Their talent, attitude, dedication, collaboration, innovation and work ethic are unmatched.

Honestly I don’t know what I have done to receive them as one of my many blessings. They are the best.

So 2020 was a reminder we need to let people do their thing. I often said to our team members, “You do you. I will do me. There is no judgment.”

Inspiration has come from business owners and leaders who pivoted, rebranded and/or valiantly stayed the course. Hence, I am grateful many have realized the power of branding and marketing in growing and saving their businesses.

Mid-March, I wasn’t sure what would happen to Front Porch Marketing. What would happen to our clients’ businesses? Where would new business come from?

Every year brings new lessons. 2019 was hard for my family because of a personal loss. It made us stronger ~ my family, my business and me. Thus, I am grateful for the strength I gained and could rely upon this year. Looking forward, I am hopeful for the opportunity 2021 holds. May we continue to be the light. Always find the joy.

Media Rock Christine Finnegan

2020 was a pivotal year in my life. To start, I had to take hold of my family’s well-being like never before. This was more about a mindset than physical acts, particularly with college-aged sons. Their emotional framework was dictated by how I was reacting to our world, as we knew it, changing seemingly overnight. 

Consequently, my sons and I operated as a unit and, as such, our already strong bond increased to a new level. So 2020 made me more resilient. I hold the ones I love closer and tighter. In some ways, I am going to miss the closeness the quarantine afforded my sons and me.

Rock Star Vanessa Hickman

One special outcome from the year is gratitude for all the things! Big things, small things and everything in-between. Bigger and better appreciation for simple creature comforts (toilet paper), ability to provide for our kids, travel and go to school.

Separation intensifies love, so my case-study of one validates absence makes the heart grow fonder. This year brought great appreciation for missed events, gatherings and people. It really put a spotlight on our priorities and was a reset on how and where we spend our time.

We are more grateful for our family, friends, community, healthcare providers, food suppliers, teachers, delivery drivers, and leaders than ever before.

We continue to be amazed by our community’s resilience, resourcefulness and ability to keep going with a positive attitude. It is always good when your blessings are bigger than your bummers and that is how we are wrapping up the year and to that we give thanks!

Rock Collector Alison Moreno

In such a turbulent year, I have found that being grateful for the small things helped me find more moments of peace. First, making a concerted effort to find joy in the everyday helped me to recognize I was able to spend extra time with family. I could learn new skills, enjoy being outside on a beautiful day and work with wonderful people. In these things I have found healing in gratitude and I am going into the new year knowing there is always good around us – we just have to look for it.

Intern Allison Corona Del Cid

2020 has been filled with challenges. But it has also been a true blessing to spend this year growing closer to my family, friends and faith. And I am truly appreciative of my FPM family and the joy they get from our clients’ successes. So here is to a new year! My biggest wish is for health, happiness and hope for all.

Swiss Army Rock Lea Ann Allen

2020 – the year that seems to have taken away so much from so many. On paper, it meant job loss, isolation, breast cancer and a pandemic. But I choose to acknowledge that this is the year I have realized a lifelong dream I never thought was possible. After a 30+ year career as a female creative, I am finally doing work that I am good at doing. And it is work that I love doing – for and with kind people who value me.

Now I work exclusively with women-owned businesses like Front Porch Marketing. Women have always been strong. This year, for the benefit those around them, women across the world have had to take on additional roles and shoulder heavier burdens. It surprises me not at all that women are persevering and creating work for others: recommending each other, lifting each other up and keeping each other afloat. In short, 2020 has been a year of incredible strength and resilience on everyone’s part.

Lil’ Rock Maria Gregorio

This year did not go according to plan. But, as Julie always says, “Be the light.” I choose to shine a light on the good things:

• My niece, Elise, was born in November. She’s a few weeks old and doing great.
• I have a job that I like and that I’m good at doing. (If someone told me as a kid that I would make a living with my creativity, I’m not sure I would have believed them.)
• I have great friends and family. They are all people with whom I can share the good stuff and the bad stuff.

I am grateful for what I have because it’s a lot. It’s a lot.

From All of Us on the Porch: Let Your Light Shine, Friends

Stay humble and kind.

Rock on.

Innovate. Inspire. Imagine.

With love in our hearts for our family, friends, clients, communities and country, we will thrive.

How can I write about September 11 – an event that I did not witness in person and yet simultaneously affected everyone?

Here on the Porch, I am known as an excellent writer. But, for this assignment, the words were not flowing like they usually do. I stared at a blank page for a while.

Everything I thought of writing sounded like empty platitudes. So, when words fail me, sometime lyrics come to mind. Maybe because songwriters are geniuses and that is what songs are supposed to do – stick in your mind forever and describe a moment in time perfectly.

New York Minute

New York Minute is a song by Don Henley and came from the album (aptly enough) The End of Innocence. To me, the song’s chorus describes the events of September 11, as well as its aftermath. One minute, I was getting ready for work at my on-campus job. The next minute my mom was talking to me on the phone, through tears, half a world away, telling me to be careful.

On the morning of September 11, my oldest friend in the world – Bella – was going to meet her friends for breakfast at the World Trade Center. The next minute she was running for her life. We have been friends for 20 years now. If she did meet her friends that day, Bella would have been a cool girl I used to know.

Later that fall, in one of my history classes, we had to talk as a group about a landmark event that touched everyone’s lives. For a previous generation, that discussion could have been about the Kennedy assassination or the Moon landing. For us, it was September 11.

A classmate shared an especially poignant story. His dad was a pilot. He was supposed to fly one of the planes that hit the Twin Towers that day. He switched flights with a colleague so he could attend his youngest son’s soccer game that morning.  

Left or Right

What is my point in sharing all these anecdotes? I’m not sure to be honest. I keep thinking about all these seemingly small moments in our everyday that when we look back on them, turn about to be a big fulcrum in the story of our lives. Points in time where the axis of our lives turns in a dramatic way. Running late, running early. Take the day off or go to work. Left, right.

I guess, my point is, we don’t know where these dramatic turns will be. We think its going to be the next big promotion or a move to a new city. And usually, its nothing like that. It is the small things that can alter the trajectory of our lives.

Turning Points

A chance encounter with a co-worker in the break room who could turn out to be the love of your life (my brother and his wife).

My dad getting juuuuuust a high enough score to pass the Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery test and join the U.S. Navy. His was one of only 150 spots reserved for Filipino citizens each year.

One night during my sophomore year, I took a call from a boy I “sorta kinda” knew in high school. A mutual friend said we should talk to each other. So we did. That one call turned into calls nearly everyday. He turned into my boyfriend. And then my husband. That was almost 20 years ago.

---

Of course, not every chance encounter or small movement is going to turn into something big. You simply don’t know. But, maybe, especially right now, we all should hold each other a little closer, a little tighter. Because everything can change.

In a New York minute.

The Rocker Spotlight Series interviews each rocker on the porch. To begin, Chief Rocker Julie Porter shares marketing insights. Let’s dive in and learn more about this incredible business leader.

Favorite Thing About Front Porch

My favorite thing about FPM is being my own boss and doing what I love for clients I love while taking care of my loves.

Misconceptions and Lessons Learned

The biggest misconception about marketing today is that it is cheap and fast. Furthermore, there are three key points: good, fast and cheap. Your marketing can be any two of these but never all three.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is don’t be the biggest barrier to your own success- get out of your way and get stuff done. However, if you can’t get something done, delegate it to the smart people around you.

What is Good Marketing?

Good marketing is elevating the customer experience, building personalized connections, adapting to technology evolution, attracting customers using inbound and outbound marketing, and more.

Culture On the Porch

Our culture is one of straight talk, true partnership and aligned values. Therefore, the team at FPM all regards their families as their highest priority, and we are servant leaders who believe in service to ourselves, team, families, clients, and the communities in which we live and work.

Julie’s Characteristics

I would describes myself as quirky, competitive, and anxious. If I could be anywhere in the world it would be in my living room playing a game with my family since Andrew leaves for college this fall.

Fun Fact about Julie

I got to work with Renee Russo inside the NYSE to celebrate a client’s IPO. I’ve also worked with the Flying Elvi, the skydiving team from the movie “Honeymoon in Vegas,” all over the country to celebrate a promotion for an international sunglass manufacturer.

Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed Julie Porter sharing her marketing insights!

In times of uncertainty, it can be easy to focus on the negatives. Economic downturn, job loss, and our loved ones getting sick are certainly reasons to be feeling distraught. While these feelings are normal, an important shift in our thinking is crucial to survive this fork-in-the-road and come back stronger than ever. There are positives of the pandemic that should be accounted for, and I am here to highlight these for you!

Positive #1: Experiencing and appreciating the little things

Now that we are all on house arrest, it gives us the opportunity to get outside more. Maybe you are getting to know your neighbors and even family members better. Yay for lawn happy hours! This positive of the pandemic has instilled in us a better sense of localism. It also helps us realize how interconnected we are and (hopefully) allows us to recover a sense of society.

Positive #2: We are more in touch with our networks!

A perfect example of this is my family’s weekly Zoom call. Before COVID, I wouldn’t hear from or see my family in Dallas for months at a time. This crisis has opened a new channel of communication for my family and allowed us to check up on each other frequently. We all have technology to thank for this!

Positive #3: Surprising effects on climate change

Another positive effect COVID-10 has had is fewer carbon emissions, potentially saving around 300 MILLION tons of carbon emissions per year. Not to mention all the other awesome benefits such as work/life balance and decreased traffic congestion! Air quality has improved in areas of lockdown, and carbon emissions are down in China. From February 3^rd to March 1^st they experienced a 25% decrease in emissions.

Positive #4: Our responses to future pandemics should improve

Our current situation has exposed shortcomings all around, including test kit accessibility and a faster global response. Taking what we have learned from this pandemic, there is all the more reason to be more prepared in the future.

Positive #5: It has encouraged altruism

Celebrities and athletes have made considerable donations to those taking a hit by the pandemic, and that is just naming a few. Some major health insurers have also promised to cover care and testing related to COVID-19. Our client Faith Family Academy has approached the the situation with immediacy, and teachers have made generous food donations for their students, as well as other restaurants such as Cane’s!

Overall, we don’t want to dismiss your normal and expected feelings of despair during difficult times. However, we also need to shed light on the positive opportunity the pandemic has presented us. Let’s turn a new leaf and embrace these positives today!

We once again find ourselves, think agility, at a new threshold as our state and country reemerge from quarantine and businesses are making decisions on their next step. The initial rush of the digital pivot is fading … the next opportunity is stamina and easing back into the new normal, whatever that may be.

However, before we start running that ball, let’s just pause and celebrate the WINS over the past five weeks.

With collaboration of the students, parents, administration and teachers, Faith Family Academy was able to continue to serve their student body food, technology and knowledge. They did not miss a beat. Faith Family Academy, you rock!

To Mister Sweeper, who continues to hire when so many are looking for employment AND keeping streets, parking lots and garages clean, an especially important job right now! Mister Sweeper, you rock!

Agility Rules!

To Corps Team Dallas, who continue to support clients in their hiring, pipeline and talent continuity plans, plus the virtual edition of “What We Love about Dallas,” was a go-to guide for entertainment this month! Corp Team Dallas, you rock!

Despite Big Al’s business being significantly hindered during shelter in place every week they have continue to give big with 100+ meal donations to first responders and the underserved community partners, like Family Gateway, Ronald McDonald House, Genesis Women’s Shelter and UTSW first responders. Big Al’s, you rock!

Essential workers that found a new way to safely do business, you rock!

Entrepreneurs who continue to forge ahead despite many unknowns with business and marketing plans, you rock!

Non-profits that are using creative means to serve their clients, you rock!

Therefore, Stay-at-home parents that are navigating new schedules and systems, you rock!

To the kids (especially seniors) that are mourning traditions missed, but are finding creative alternatives, you rock! 

Above all, all accomplishments, are worth cheering. Find reasons to celebrate and promote good news and good deeds. Recognize all the daily, tiny actions and choices that are keeping our community moving. If we did not catch you in this wrap up, know that we think you rock!

Teamwork is essential in so many aspects of our lives today. How many team hats are you wearing right now?

My kids’ closet shelves are scattered with different hats, jerseys and socks, for instance. I love all our different teams, whether its academic, spiritual, work, sport. We even call our family a team.

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie

Big agency life perk is the opportunity to join brands and marketing teams spanning different sizes, categories and geography. Joining new teams to reach goals is one of our favorite things. We are energized and inspired regularly by the talented, dedicated teams we partner with to achieve defined objectives.

Did you know that our Chief Rocker blares Boys of Fall by Kenny Chesney every day in her car during football season? The lyrics resonate with her for many reasons and because of the quotes by some of the greats at the end. Above all, her favorite quote is from Joe Namath: Life is a team game. It is the big game.

Effective teamwork is simultaneously simple and challenging.

We’ve rounded up nine factors that we link to team success. The folks that live and nurture these factors seem to achieve their targets effectively and consistently.

Nine factors of successful teams:

1. Clear and Defined Goals
2. Clear and Assigned Roles
3. Be and Stayed Organized
4. Respectful Interactions
5. Constantly Communicate
6. Equal Contributions
7. Support Each Other
8. Produce Quality Outputs
9. Have FUN!

My family invests a lot of time in sports, we are a football, basketball, soccer and baseball loving crew. Therefore, team sports organically have all these components – how convenient for parenting two preteen boys! Do your teams hit all the notes?

Teamwork rocks!

Marketing insights are ever changing in the year 2020. Front Porch Marketing is nine this month! To open our celebration, we thought it would be fitting to look at nine marketing insights to help grow your brand and top line. Are you on track for steady, long-term growth?

Nine Marketing Insights to Grow the Top Line

1. Brand architecture is paramount. Think of your brand like a pyramid and focus first and foremost on the base level. You can alter the other pieces and levels as needed, but the base must remain solid and stable. Need help designing that base? Start with a branding exercise.
2. Referrals are fabulous, but how do you grow them? According to a TrueSpace and Gallup study titled the Five Conditions Assessment, slow and steady (and a tight focus on your market), wins the race. “The project’s data shows that the tighter a company’s focus on its market, the stronger its revenue will be,” according to Charles Fred, TrueSpace chairman and chief executive.
3. Be consistent with your marketing. Shift your time frame and focus on long-term ROI, not just the instant gratification that comes with getting a flier or social media post out right now. For your brand’s long-term growth potential, consistency – in colors, words, logos, etc.- is key. Along those same lines, one single marketing campaign isn’t your silver bullet.
4. Blogging is alive and well. Choose your Medium (pun intended!) based upon your target audience’s preferences and vary your content to avoid direct product advertisement only, and blogging is still a huge piece of the inbound marketing trifecta.
5. Don’t underestimate the power of email marketing. Period. As the second piece of the trifecta, personalized email marketing is a direct, inexpensive and easy way to generate leads. Want to double down and double your leads? Of course, add automation.
6. Social media rounds out the trifecta. Social media’s influence has grown so much over the past nine years. With its ability to connect brand and audience through real-time interaction, social media is a hugely successful marketing tool. In other words, it is another avenue through which consistent, organic content can “give you wings” without exclusively hacking your own product. For instance, ask Red Bull.
7. The printed piece is not archaic. Direct mail, business cards, handouts and personalized birthday and holiday cards work. There is something timeless about printed pieces, particularly if your target audience tends towards paper over electronics.
8. No matter the size of your marketing budget, you can make your mark. For instance, social media, blogging and e-mail marketing mean anyone with a dream and a solid plan can connect with others quickly, easily, and cost-effectively. Don’t let minimal marketing dollars hold you back. Therefore, use the budget you do have effectively by building the right partnerships to execute solid marketing plans.
9. Teamwork makes the dream work. On the porch, we don’t take this lightly. In other words, we truly believe that to whom much is given, much is required. Giving back to our communities and supporting each other is a cornerstone of our personal and professional lives. Of course, make it a priority to connect with those around you.
   

Thanks for NINE FINE years!

Above all, we are only able to celebrate nine years on the Porch because of our clients, advocates, friends, family and team. A heartfelt thank you to each of you – past, present and future. Of course, we love what we do and are ready to rock with you this year!

Are you meeting customer expectations? We all know the importance of customer service when it comes to running a successful business. In this social media obsessed world we live in today and the age of instant feedback, excellent customer service can go a long way, but an excellent customer experience can go even further!

Until recently, the quality of product and service provided were the keys to winning customers and earning their business. But today, a new factor has come into play and that is providing the best customer experience.

A recent Walker study found that by the end of 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Customers will stay loyal based upon the experience and if you can’t keep up, they will move on (bye, bye).

Happy customers remain loyal customers.

Consider these statistics:

• 1 in 3 customers will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience.
• Research by American Express found that 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better experience.
• 49% of buyers have made impulse purchases after receiving a more personalized customer experience.
• Customers that rate companies with a high customer experience score spend 140% more and remain loyal for up to 6 years.

Customer experience (aka CX) is the biggest opportunity businesses have to reduce customer churn and increase revenues. The problem is, most businesses think of customer experience and customer service as one in the same when in reality, customer service is only part of the many pieces of customer experience.

Simply put, customer service is a single touch point with a brand, while customer experience includes every touchpoint a customer has with a brand from the first time they hear about you until after completing a purchase – basically the perception the customer has of a brand. While you may think your customer experience is one thing, the customer may see it as something completely different and that is what the actual customer experience is.

Managing customer perception should be the top priority for every business and having a strategy for customer experience is the best way to make that happen.

Customer expectations are rising.

The expectation is that every single interaction with a brand be the best that it can be.

Below are several strategies for creating a great customer experience:

1. Create a clear customer experience vision that is customer focused and can be communicated within your organization. This statement will act as the guiding principles and drives the behavior of your organization.
2. Understand who your customers are and you can get to know their needs and wants.
3. Connect emotionally with your customers.
4. Collect customer feedback. It’s the only way to know if you are delivering on your promise. Try using live chat tools, conduct a focus group or send an email with a follow-up survey. Hey, even pick up the phone, for instance. In other words, get feedback, share it with the team and fix what is broken.
5. Develop your team to the standards of your vision. Using the feedback collected from customers, identify the training needs for each member of your support team.
6. Use employee feedback to improve the customer experience. Because, it’s your team who are interacting the most with your customers so give them an opportunity to share their ideas.
7. Measure the results of your customer experience investment. There are several metrics available for tracking customer experience over time which include Customer Effort Score, Net Promoter Score, Customer Satisfaction Score and Time to Resolution. These tools allow you to track the success or failure of changes you implement that might affect your customers.

Customer expectations are at an all-time high and word spreads fast! The importance of the customer experience increases because the customer becomes even more empowered. Customer experience is an area that needs constant attention.

Because, a greater focus on customer experience strategy, businesses will see a reduction in customer churn and an increase in revenue growth.

Need help developing your customer experience strategy?

Practicing gratitude as a business leader can be challenging at times. Sometimes it is hard for business leaders to know what to be grateful for because of the many hats we wear, and the myriad of opportunities thrown our way each day. The big stuff often overshadows the tiny pieces of our everyday lives for which we should be grateful.

However, science has shown that regularly practicing gratitude makes you happier. Doing so makes you a better leader, which makes your team happier.

Want to be thankful at a time when it seems impossible?

Consider these things to find an attitude of gratitude:

1. Focus on the here and now. Ask yourself what you are grateful for this very minute. Perhaps it is that you made it safely to work or appreciating your computer didn’t choose this instant to crash.
2. Actively listen to a team member. Take time to truly listen to people when they talk to you, even though your mind is going a million different directions.
3. Each time you talk to a team member, thank them for something. It doesn’t have to be a big something. Acknowledge a nicety they did for a teammate or client. Say a simple thanks for sharing their thoughts with you. Let them know when they brighten your day.
4. Remember your “why.” Consider how the work you do benefits the people for whom you do it. Be thankful you have the opportunity to lead.
   

As a leader, go beyond. Go beyond yourself. Focus on showing thanks to others. Take it beyond Thanksgiving. Focus on practicing gratitude beyond this season of Thanksgiving.. Strive to live a life of gratitude, not just a season.

Julie Porter, Chief Rocker, is grateful for her precious family and their health, Texas high school football and the fabulous Front Porch Marketing team, clients and advocates. She tries to focus on showing gratitude to others daily as often as possible.

It is every business owner and leader’s goal to build a company that is both valuable and loved. It’s an easy goal to state; but not necessarily easy to realize.

Let’s take a look at 2019’s most valuable brands according to Forbes:

1. Apple
2. Google
3. Microsoft
4. Amazon
5. Facebook

And now here are the 2019 top five most loved brands according to Morning Consult:

1. Amazon – 4th most valuable
2. Google – 2nd most valuable
3. Netflix – 38th most valuable
4. Facebook – 5th most valuable
5. The Home Depot – 32nd most valuable
   

Note the crossover with the most valuable brands and most loved? That is a result of branding. So how do you create a company that is both valuable and loved?

You create an authentic brand.

Branding can mean different things to different people, so let’s clarify this and the value it can bring to your brand. Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from that of your competitors.

Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be. How clearly and consistently it’s delivered at every point of contact is vital to how strong the brand can become.A strong brand creates brand equity, which is one of the factors that can increase the financial value of a company.  

If your company invests in its brand, you can achieve and enjoy the following benefits, to name a few:

• Higher price points and less pricing pressure

• Greater market value
• Reduced competition

• Increased business opportunities (partnerships, licensing deals, acquisitions)

So how do you get there?

We say it all the time, strong brands don’t happen by accident. Investing in your brand requires taking a close look at who you are and what you stand for, and then committing to delivering on that promise at every touch point.

Your brand must be both differentiating and emotionally relevant. Ask yourself, what do you do? How do you do it? What makes you different? These answers are the seed for your brand story, which becomes the litmus test for everything you say and do as an organization.

If an experience has your company associated with it, then it offers a specific and meaningful promise. It’s what your target audience (both customers and prospects) should expect, and it’s the culmination of feelings they have after an experience with you.

If your brand consistently delivers on its promise, then your target audience will come to trust it, and trusted relationships develop into emotional bonds that are hard to break. This loyalty to your brand means greater business success and reduced competitive threat.

The process we use to draw out and solidify your brand and its story is an extremely valuable effort for stakeholders and employees alike. If your brand needs some direction, we can help!