Adam Scheid

Adam Scheid grew up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin as an advit Packers fan and cheese curd enthusiast. He began his marketing career at a very early age developing html websites in middle school and mastering graphic design projects. In High School, he enrolled in business classes and participated in state wide DECA marketing competitions winning many awards for his marketing projects throughout the state.

He continued his studies at the WP Carey School of business where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and a Certificate in International Business.

During his time there, he was the Director of Marketing as well as Director of Technology for the American Marketing Association at ASU which was the largest marketing club in the US at that time. He also was President of Marketing for a community service fraternity that engaged in volunteer projects throughout the local area.

While at WP Carey, he maintained several marketing internships including working for New Global Citizens, a Non Profit Organization helping children throughout the world, as well as Cramer-Krasselt, the 2nd largest independent advertising agency in the US.

After graduating from the University with honors, Adam held high level management positions at three separate digital marketing firms where he ran the majority of each company’s functions including: website design, website development, graphic design, social media management, social ads, Google Ads, content marketing, SEO, SEM, website maintenance, hosting and security, mobile development, branding (logos, labels, brand guidelines, etc.), client communications and so much more.

This depth of experience and knowledge allowed Adam to open up his own marketing agency that later merged with Alex Vere Nicol’s company to form The Brandsmen. The Brandsmen has now grown to one of the top rated marketing firms in the state of Colorado. The Brandsmen are now consistently awarded for their premier services and offerings all at the most competitive prices in the industry.

Where did the idea for The Brandsmen come from?

My business partner Alex Vere Nicoll and I were at a brewery in Vail, CO bringing to life our new digital branding and marketing venture. As most business owners know, naming a company in this digital day and age, it can be very difficult to differentiate yourself from the competition as most names and domain names are taken.

We wanted something that was unique in the industry that also described what we did in one simple word. Not an easy task… At the root of our conversation, we concluded that we are first and foremost branders. We recognized that there are firemen, policemen, fishermen, postmen, etc., so we thought why aren’t there “Brandsmen”. There was no other company name in that space; in fact so much so, it took Google a while to recognize our business name in search results and not suggest, “did you mean brands men” and hence “The Brandsmen” company name and profession was born.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I am a jack of all trades and therefore my day ranges widely from checking off predetermined tasks across a variety of digital mediums, solving the latest complex problem, helping / directing staff or learning new high level technical skills to add to our suite. I make my day productive by focusing on being diligent about organizing priorities and attacking those first.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Bringing ideas to life always starts with a great deal of research in order to answer questions like, what is the target audience, what are they interested in, what are the competitors doing, what is our client’s personal preferences, what unique styles, fonts, artwork & colors can we use to best express these ideas, and so much more. All of which will be utilized to cultivate a cohesive branded idea that can thrive within the marketplace.

What’s one trend that excites you?

The fact that digital marketing is the ultimate wild west. It is always changing and you need to stay on the latest trends with very high quality intentional work to influence actual tangible results for every unique client. If you don’t, there is someone who will do it better than you.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

I try to always prioritize what is most important for that day. I make sure to remind myself not to focus on the task I want to do but rather what I need to do. I also make sure to limit distractions especially with the constant stimulus of the digital world. I try to section off my day between work and life. If it is work hours, I will be hard at work no matter what. I am not transferring from one place to another, getting lost in social media or indulging in any other distractions.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Keep going, the hard work you are doing will pay off. There is no substitute for tenacity and integrity.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Even when you do what you love, not everything is going to be something you love to do.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Stay organized. Be objective.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Approach all client work with integrity and a genuine determination to produce great results. The digital marketing landscape is full of companies who are focused primarily on new sales. They view all clients as a set contract with an expiring shelf life and therefore spend most of their time worrying who the next client will be. In an industry saturated by this philosophy we have been able to rise above and grow our business through long term relationships and word of mouth. We have happy clients who are still with us from the very start over 8 years ago.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

We had hired an employee who had a great resume and interview to find out that it was falsified. This led to a negative work environment for a short time period. Once discovered, we quickly cut ties and improved our hiring process to be more detailed about references.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Social media like profile centric interface that connects into all video streaming services such as Netflix, Prime, Hulu, etc. You can then add friends, follow celebrities, create interest groups, post in the feed about shows and more. From there, you can activate portions of your watch history you wish for your profile to display and share it with your family and friends so they can see what you are watching or even specifically recommend your favorite shows.

The shows that you don’t personally have active streaming services for would show up gray and help to influence purchases of other streaming services to watch what your friends watched/recommended. You could also keep up with your friends on shows through knowing what episodes they are on and even comment under them while @mentioning your friend. You could even search for shows that have been watched by the most amount of friends. Showing you this is the most watched show by total friends you have added. Within this platform, it would connect all your services together in your own integrated profile interface so you could easily search across all the streaming service categories and shows so you don’t have to go into each one individually to choose what to watch.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

On food and fun in Mérida. You need to make sure you maintain a great work and life balance as a business owner to be truly successful in both.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Trello has become extremely useful for me to keep organized on all the tasks that I have and the priority of those tasks based on the flow of due dates.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Got a Problem, Get a Duck. It is my grandfather Arnie Johnson’s book dictating an inspirational story starting with humble beginnings all the way to a successful business career through tenacity and the American Dream.

What is your favorite quote?

“There is a destiny which makes us brothers; none goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own.“ — Edwin Markham

Key Learnings:

• There is no substitute for tenacity and integrity.
• Stay organized and objective.
• Prioritize what is more important instead of what you want to do.
• Limit distractions, when it is time to work, work.