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MobileUp is a Kansas-City based app development company, specializing in mobile apps for associations.
Tough Commerce is a B2B SaaS company for whom we crafted thought leadership, sales collateral, and case studies.
Billd is a $50M+ construction finance company for whom we managed the blog strategy and content for over 5 years.
blog excerpt:
how to establish core values | ceo world
When Google first emerged as a tech firm to be reckoned with, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin conceived an unofficial motto for the corporate code of conduct. A subtle jab at the corporate overlords of competing tech companies, this axiom was resonant, plain, and powerful:
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Don’t be evil.
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Internally, the motto was well-known, though never officially ‘on the books.’ Google later restructured, giving birth to its own parent company: Alphabet. At Alphabet, the new powers-that-be committed the phrase to print, but changed it to the comparatively toothless “Do the right thing.”
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Google’s core values don’t contain either phrase. And when you consider the bevy of allegations that the company “distastefully uses the personal information” of its users, you can’t help but wonder – is that breach symptomatic of their failure to adhere to this old, earnest motto?
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The now-abandoned motto seems to cast a shadow on the whole of the company when you read lines like: “Google has quietly dropped its “Don’t be evil” motto.” “While Google has deemphasized the motto over time…” Reading that, you can’t help but chuckle. The subtext is clear, if not a little disheartening. Perhaps power brings with it certain necessary evils? Having jettisoned the well-meaning maxim, one can’t help but think so.
blog excerpt:
how to tackle a pr crisis | advantage media blog
“If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi.”
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Bernice King—daughter of the late Martin Luther—posted that piping-hot quip to Twitter last year, prompting an internet-wide burst of applause. Her voice joined the collective roar of outrage that came after one very controversial Pepsi advertisement.
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In the ad, TV personality Kendall Jenner abandons a photoshoot to join what appears to be a race-related protest. After sauntering through the crowd, Jenner hands off a frosty can of Pepsi to a grim-faced police officer. He accepts it with a smile; the crowd cheers. In so doing, Pepsi and Jenner have effectively ended racial injustice.
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Commentators debated the presence of racial undertones in the ad, but the overt implication remained: Just one sip of Pepsi can solve whatever complex social problems lay at the root of protests and rallies! The ad was panned by critics, widely regarded as tone-deaf and pulled shortly after airing. Comments like Bernice King’s rang loud in the ears of distraught Pepsi executives, who shouldered the weight of intense public scrutiny and ridicule afterward.​
In today’s hyper-connected world, where every statement and action is written in the ink of the internet, careful reputation management is imperative to the livelihood of your business. The Pepsi ad debacle was just one of the many great PR blunders of 2017, but serves as a stellar case study in PR crises at large, offering lessons in what to do and what not to do in the wake of brand image catastrophe.
blog excerpt:
guide to the next recession | forbes books blog
At the start of 2018, whispers of a recession began wafting through the internet. Google queries for “next recession” have always trended comfortably low, but surged to an all-time high in June of this year. The graph below charts the term’s popularity on Google over the last 14 years, and the current spike is nothing if not ominous.
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A wave of gloomy “next recession forecasts” has since surfaced, with headlines like: Why Our Next Recession Will Be Severe; The Next Recession Is Really Gonna Suck; and Why The Next Recession Is Set To Reshape Our Economy. We’ve enjoyed 11 years of hearty economic expansion, but twilight is settling over that era.
We can always count on the past to provide us with insights about our future. There are several classic indicators that a recession is drawing near.
These include:​
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The inverted yield curve - Since we mere mortals aren’t as familiar with stockbroker jargon, we’ll break it down together. “The yield curve” has to do with government bonds. There are two types of government bonds: 10-years and 2-years. A “bond yield” is the amount of money that a bond pays to the person who originally purchased it. When you subtract the amount of money a 2-year bond yields from the amount of money that a 10-year bond yields, you get the “yield curve.”
blog excerpt:
guide to the labor shortage | billd blog
The words “labor” and “shortage” are inescapable in the construction industry lately. In 2021, the Associated Builders and Contractors Organization reported an additional 430,000 jobs needed to be filled to meet labor demands. This year, that number hiked up to… wait for it… 650,000. With a figure that can’t seem to stop growing, workers’ appetite for construction careers can’t seem to keep pace with the ravenous demand for labor. The industry is starved for workers, and it leaves some companies struggling to find talent.
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As a construction business owner, you may find yourself in that boat, wondering how to attract workers and renew the vitality of your company. In the service of answering that question, Billd gathered over twenty construction professionals at our latest Subcontractor Meetup. Luke Payne, Owner at Black Iron Dirt & Demolition, spearheaded the discussion, joined by Andee Hidalgo, Sarah Sagredo-Hammond and Ernie Adams who also contributed their perspectives.
We’ll go over some of the key insights harvested in this meetup, so that you’re better equipped to handle a labor shortage that can’t be solved by simply tossing up a few Help Wanted signs.
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Let’s explore how modern construction companies can go beyond salaries and traditional benefits to attract new workers and otherwise develop their workforce.
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​Culture may not be the first thing you think of when trying to beat the construction labor shortage, but creating an inviting culture is crucial to attracting applicants. Luke Payne believes that mistakes are going to happen in any industry. It’s critical for leaders to let their team know that mistakes, to a degree, are expected and will be met with tolerance, not punishment. It plays into the notion of embracing “failure” as a valuable lesson in how not to do something. Lessons like that sharpen your employee and shouldn’t be looked down on.
blog excerpt:
4 signs your business is growing too quickly | billd blog
There is a saying that “Contractors don’t starve to death, they eat themselves to death.” In other words, sometimes it’s not the absence of work that kills a sub, but piling it on. Still, the promise of “business growth” is everywhere. To a casual observer, it looks like everyone is ravenous for growth. Even at Billd, we talk about business growth a lot, but we want to take a moment to explore some key distinctions on the topic. Growth for the sake of it isn’t a universally good thing for business. In fact, unmanaged growth can have catastrophic consequences, especially in construction. At Billd, we champion the right type of growth, but we decided it was important to define what that means.
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In this article, we offer a counterpoint to the “growth at all costs” narrative. We’ll explore the signs you’re growing too quickly and the repercussions of poorly managed growth. To explore this topic, we recruited construction industry veteran Ernie Adams of 1 Priority Environmental Services to lend his perspective.
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A key sign you’re growing too quickly is when the hit ratio on the projects you bid vs. the projects you’re awarded is far too high. If you’re getting 50% of the projects you’re bidding, you’re bidding too low, and won’t be able to accommodate the work you’re being awarded. Not to mention, you’ll burn out your cash too fast.
Don’t bid low to indiscriminately win as many projects as possible. Bid with smart margins in mind (we’ll dive into this more below), then focus on solid delivery of what you’ve been rewarded.