Every day is rich with new opportunities to make a positive difference.
Jeannie Hill is the founder and digital marketing consultant at Hill Web Creations.
After enjoying several freelance gigs, she founded her company back in January of 2011. Her approach to creating digital marketing strategies is consultative. Every project starts with listening to the client, understanding their personal journey, what accomplishments are desired, and tons of research to come up with the best partnership plan.
She oversees digital marketing operations and leads off-site and on-site teams. She is also the head digital marketing consultant for multiple sites in the medical niche, regarded as an SEO/SEM specialist who loves the cutting-edge of solid search strategies. After nearly nine years as a business owner and freelancer in the digital marketing sphere, she looks for wins all around, loving the creative, details, case studies, and offering data-backed solutions.
Before founding her company, she traveled abroad with her family and was intrigued with the strength of diversity and cultural richness. As a digital marketing expert, Jeannie Hill often relies on her analytical acumen to identify new opportunities for business growth that align with a company’s passion, team participants, and market demand. Frequently regarded for her integral work ethic and ability to get past problems that have stumped others, Ms. Hill enjoys traveling, canoeing, ballroom dance, classic cars, history, time with friends/family, gardening and cooking.
Where did the idea for Hill Web Marketing come from?
After years of working in web development and helping several businesses maintain their website, it became apparent that getting found online was the prevailing need. My years in college included learning to code, and diagnosing technical computer glitches, with my first job at Hallmark Cards Headquarters.
After several freelance jobs including working with local health services, government agencies, and educational systems, my passion for business growth and removing barriers to project success brought me to focus on search engine optimization (SEO) and SEM. As it totally intrigues me, our scope of services in digital marketing broadens.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
My day typically begins with a cup of freshly-ground coffee and inspirational readings. I check in with my family and loved ones first since relationships are foremost in my world. Then, I check to see if there are any critical reports, alerts, or emails related to my priority contracts. I read and reply to my clients and business partners. I love research as it relates to cutting-edge digital marketing strategies, best practices, and above-the-ordinary site improvements to add value during my consulting sessions. Typically about seventy-five percent (75%) of the day was spent for work. I see to it that I can give value to my client’s website.
I depend heavily on my custom alert system and daily calendar to remind me of client goals, tasks, and my daily priorities.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I enjoy working in beta programs with Google, AMP, on GitHub, etc., where great communities of brilliant people share ideas and projects. So much of search is about understanding trends and how the future is shaping. Therefore, I look ahead and see how I can prepare clients to reach their goals before they need to be there.
When discussing ideas that form our decision-making process — every person’s opinion holds value. No one person should feel like the little guy in the room. We are quick to recognize each person’s expertise(s) so that we can reach conclusions with a general consensus that comes from a place of honoring and respecting each other. In stalemates, we prefer to be generous with time till we can reach agreement.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The explosive technology growth to use big data and semantics to better connect the product to the buyer in the digital space is intriguing. The use of machine learning to help humans find each other and real solutions is exciting. When we can both adapt to it, the opportunities it opens up to take a lead are staggering.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Express gratitude and smile a lot, because I mean it. I love learning and teaming up with other entrepreneurs. I believe that if you embrace challenges, new ideas, listen more than talk, and then get involved in discussions of value; there are exciting projects to take on where creative spurs success. The habit of contributing to others with a flexible approach means that at each day’s end, it feels well spent.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Success is not final; failure is not fatal. Share wins with everyone involved and help others to succeed. Every day is rich with new opportunities to make a positive difference. Step into them quickly with actions that provide long-term benefits. Remain flexible; learn from everyone.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Create worthy goals and then implement a good system to manage time and achieve them. Don’t sweat the small stuff that can slow you down. Recognize that the really big things in life are relational, not monetary. Carry the right measuring stick when evaluating successes.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.
Embrace the rewards of hard and smart work ethics that focus on quality service. For me, a happy client is the most rewarding aspect. We seek to build for the long-haul and keep the big picture in view. I think it is too easy to spend wasted hours on trying to find something like the magic marketing bullet.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
Making the choice to specialize became necessary as our work becomes more complex. I needed to recognize the clock and say no to lesser tasks more often so that priority projects were completed on time and without a struggle. While I loved the visual rewards of web design, making the decision early to give that work away meant that I could contribute more value.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Recognize how unique people are and encourage the right business partnerships. Build relational bridges before testing their strength. Focus more on nurturing relationships that controlling them. There is an art to people skills that involve the well-developed ability to create and sustain fruitful connections that give companies a significant competitive advantage.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I recently enjoyed a vacation with my family at 12-acre estate built in 1736 near Bridgeton, NJ on the Cohansey River. It was an elaborate home and grounds that lent hours of fun exploring, fishing, gaming, and sharing quality time. I would do it again in a heartbeat; the funds spent so that we could be together are pennies in view of our new lifetime-long memories.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Lately, it would be delving into the G Suite. By taking clients to the highest level that they could afford, we have lightened workloads, created more of a team environment, and empowered each participant. Work gets done faster, smarter, better.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
The newer edition of Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. Its concept of worrying less about your market competition inspires the freedom to create unique new “blue oceans” and is refreshing. He gets companies enthusiastic to “value innovation” and look beyond the status quo.
What is your favorite quote?
“Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity.”- Reed Markham
Who should we meet?
Joan Kennedy. Minnesota based 95-year-old Joan Kennedy is recognized as one of the oldest female motivational speakers in the United States, Joan has been a speaker for over forty years and continues to inspire and motivate women in business with her humor and wit.
Key learnings:
• Know what your business goals are, but focus on others to achieve them.
• Always put relationships before revenue.
• Embrace change and value innovation.
Connect:
Jeannie Hill on Twitter: @essentialskill
Jeannie Hill on Instagram:
Hill Web Creations on Facebook:
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.