It is November, which is the month of Thanksgiving. It is also November 2021, which marks the 25^th year since I started Yaney Marketing. If you would indulge me, I am going to step aside from my usual blog about marketing and do some reflecting back on the past two and a half decades in business during this month. Each week, I am going to talk about being thankful for the people and circumstances that have kept me doing what I have been doing all these years. Today, I am going to talk about my clients.

You cannot do what I do without clients and I have been blessed to have very good clients for the past 25 years. There are geniuses at work in these places. They solve complicated problems that most of us would take for granted. It has been a pleasure to get to know each of them well enough to be able to help tell their story. However, I did not start with the best business plan and I have learned as much about myself, how to run a business, how to be a boss and how to make it to 25 years by observing and copying what I see. Here is my story.

I started my business in the worst possible way you could ever do it: I quit my job without anywhere else to go. It was 1996 and I knew I was tired of working for someone else. I had reached a ceiling with my employer at the time and knew I would never climb any higher than where I had landed. So it was time to make a change. My wife was very supportive, in fact, very insistent that a change happen because she knew I was not happy doing what I was doing. So I quit my job.

I interviewed for several marketing management positions, always making it to the final round of the hiring process, but never quite getting the job. That is when I determined to do something: I would start my own business. I did not have to convince myself that I was a hard worker. So I purchased a computer, some design software and started calling companies out of the Yellow Pages (remember them?) until I found businesses that needed graphic design help. My intention was to be a support to marketing departments through design. I quickly found that they needed help beyond this, so I started offering a range of creative management services, such as directing photo shoots, serving as an outsourced art director, editing and writing, etc.

My first break came with a calendar company called Day Dream. I worked with them for one year until they went through a merger. During that time, I also picked up a new client; insurance industry publisher, Rough Notes. They put out a monthly magazine for insurance agents. I remember the very first photo shoot I did for them, driving to Madison, Wisconsin for an article on two insurance agents that looked like cartoon characters (one was nearly 7’ tall and the other was about 5’ nothing!) For the next four years, I managed all of their photo assignments, doing up to 100 photo shoots per year. Along the way I also picked up some other publishers and other insurance clients, such as Indiana Farmers and Schiff, Kreidler, Shell out of Cincinnati. Those connections led me to many other companies within the industry: Farm Bureau, TransAmerica, Foresters, to name a few.

After about five years, my business took a turn. Print communications was beginning to wane and electronic media was taking over. I also found myself in the role of marketing consultant, as I explored the common problem that many of my clients faced. The old way of marketing was starting to crumble and a more efficient way of marketing was emerging. The internet was beginning to grow rapidly. It was during this time that I began to work within the construction industry. Building was booming and construction companies were looking for ways to transition to the web and market their services. I started working with building materials supplier IMI. We built their first website in 2005 and quickly learned the power of a well-told story on electronic media. That led to many other building material suppliers and trade organizations that represented everything from crushed stone to drainage pipe. It was also during this time that I began to work with public utilities, mining companies, advanced manufacturing, pharmaceutical producers and suppliers, public health, and a smattering of nonprofit businesses such as museums, the Boy Scouts, youth sports, church-related charities, etc.

Here is the bottom line: I learned so much from each of these clients. My life is so much richer for being a part of their team. Helping them market their brands has broadened my understanding of the importance of what they do. The industries they represent are essential to our economy and way of life. The method in which they successfully operate is like fine art: the more you look at it, the more you see. I cannot cross a bridge without thinking about early morning concrete pours. I cannot enter a store, with its shelves full of products, and not see the automation that assembled and packaged it all up. I cannot hear about a natural disaster without thinking of how a property and casualty company is going to help rebuild a community – I’ve been there taking the photos, writing the story, seeing it all at work. The list goes on.

So I am taking time today to say thank you to my many clients – those who are presently working with me and those of years past. I learned so much from everyone who I represented along the way. Without you, Yaney Marketing would have only been an idea. You made it a reality. I am grateful for you!