I’m really excited for 2018. I have some very exciting news that I’ll share with you in a moment.
First, I want to tell you the context of how this news fits.
I started my company in March of 2011 after being fired from a PR firm.
I’m not upset about having been fired. It was better for both of us. They didn’t get me, I’m not designed to be an employee, and understanding how to use social media for business is much more complex than my employers were capable of in 2010.
For the last 6 years, I’ve been pursuing an ambitious dream of building the world’s greatest social media agency. Despite my many criticisms of social media and individual platforms, I’ve never given up hope in the promise of what a social business could become. I’ve always believed that businesses who weave social media into the DNA of their organization, will move more quickly, efficiently, effectively, and happily than those who do not.
We have grown, every year and this year was our best year yet! We’ve had the good fortune of keeping some of our best clients in the history of our agency. We’ve worked hard to do great work, and I’ve spent considerable energy growing my team, both in headcount, and in capabilities.
I love watching the progress of my team members, and some of the greatest moments of my career have been when they go above and beyond to create new and innovative ideas for us, and our clients. Seeing them synthesize new ideas from their training and individual initiative is nothing short of spectacular.
It has been such a privilege to lead this organization for the past 6 years.
Here’s the BIG news and what comes next…
True Voice Media has been acquired. We’re not ready to share the full details, but I can tell you a few things.
- I am joining the ownership team of this new agency.
- Our capabilities as an agency will more than double.
- We will be bringing our expertise to an agency with superior operations, a larger team, and an existing base of clients that we cannot wait to work with.
What does all of this mean?
Aside from the fact that we’ll be joining a bigger team to do the same work on a larger scale, I am going to be spending considerably more time on my own personal brand in order to expand our reach and bring in new opportunities.
Writing and speaking are two areas of my life and career that I am passionate about, and putting a greater emphasis on those two activities will ultimately contribute to our agency’s success. As part of this, I’m continuing to consolidate my online presence.
We all struggle in some way to balance our personal and professional lives. In some cases that’s a challenge of how we allocate our time. In other cases, it’s about how people see us. Our personal brands are not static inventions, but rather subjective opinions based entirely who you ask. My personal brand to my dad is undoubtedly different that someone who follows me on Twitter.
I’ve spent many years building website upon website to satisfy my need to explore various passions. I’ve struggled with the idea of co-mingling too many interests. However, I’ve realized that it is too difficult to maintain dozens of different websites and social profiles.
So, I’m narrowing everything to two home bases.
1. This website
jeffgibbard.com, will be my professional homepage. It is where I will communicate news and events about upcoming speaking engagements, and share my thoughts and opinions on the blog.
If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so here.
2. My other website
jeffgibbard.me where I will host, what I’m calling, The Variety Show.
The Variety Show is where I will discuss all of the interests I have outside of my core focus on Digital Marketing and Media. It’s a place to have candid discussions about dating, relationships, food, politics, comic books, and whatever else I want.
If you haven’t subscribed to that, and would like to see another side of me, you can do so here.
Stay tuned
If you’ve been holding out on subscribing, now is the time to make the move. I’m going to be sharing much more information about leadership, social business, marketing, sales, and more. You won’t want to miss it.
I’ll also be letting all of you know about a variety of other projects that I’m working on.
Thanks for being here with me through the journey.
Sincerely,
Jeff Gibbard