June – Innovator
Kevin Ehlinger, Founder of Th!nk Creative, is our Innovator Client this month! At Th!nk Creative they practice “Forward-Thinking Marketing”. They are a team of Certified Inbound Marketing Specialists and their strategic approach has proven to generate over 100% more visitors and 5-20 times more leads. Find out more about what Th!nk Creative can do for you and your business at www.thinkcreativedigital.com and learn more about Kevin when you read his answers to our questionnaire!
1) What would you like people to know about you and your business? As a creative entrepreneur who has worked with hundreds of companies, we can see opportunities where a company can maximize impact or do things smarter. We also work really closely with clients to make sure their marketing integrates with their sales process. After all, the whole goal of marketing should be to generate more sales.
2) Where did you get the idea for your business? When I sold a motivational catalog company I founded 12 years ago, I went back to my roots and launched Think Creative. I love the creative challenge and the difference we can make.
3) What makes your business unique? Our strategic creative edge! The right creative message in the right place can make a huge impact for companies with limited budgets. We call it BRAND RESCUE and we’re very good at it. We also offer services no one else does like Cinemation Videos, Social Media Management, and LinkedIn Lead Generation.
4) What is your ‘elevator speech’? We are creative, lead generation marketing specialists that help companies generate consistent revenue by giving their brand “personality”, then promoting it through web, social, video, mobile and more. And, we are good at what we do.
5) What are the keys to your success? “Never settle for ordinary”. Anybody can do ordinary. What we do is developing great ideas then executing them with consistently high quality.
6) What is the one piece of advice you’d like to give to others about running a business? 25% of your success will be how well you do your job, 75% will be how well you tell others about it. You need to be unique. For instance, there are lots of great mechanics who all got into business because they are dang good mechanics, but why do you choose one over another? Having a brand “personality” can set you apart.
7) How long have you been at OffiCenters? Which location? Olympic Place OffiCenter since January. Our prior 11 years were in St. Cloud.
8) How has your relationship with OffiCenters changed your business? It has allowed us to work closer with our Twin Cities clients and continue to grow our business. The flexibility and convenience of the multiple locations is ideal.
9) If you could work from anywhere under the sun, where would you choose? Hawaii, Caribbean, anywhere there is sand and waves!
10) Tweet, Blog, LinkedIn, Facebook? Twitter – @MarketIQGenius; Blog – www.thinkcreativedigital.com/blog/; LinkedIn – www.LinkedIn.com/in/kevinehlinger; Facebook – ThinkCreativeDigitalMarketing
11) What piece of technology can you not live without? Computer – it’s where most of our work is done. Brainstorming ideas I still do on paper.
12) What is one of your favorite quotes? “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” – Albert Einstein
13) Who has been an inspiration in your life? There are lots of people I admire – some as whole people others for unique qualities they possess or how they utilize the talents they are given. I take inspiration from all of them.
14) When you have 30 minutes of free time, how do you use it? I add to a journal of random, obscure thoughts, inventions, drawings, and ideas like – protecting my home with attack cows, riding wild turtles, or creating a twisted line of Barbie dolls (i.e. Geriatric Barbie, teeth come out, has a walker and her breasts are by her knees or Amputee Barbie, her legs pop off anyway). I’ve been keeping these over the last 15 years.
15) If you had a long weekend with unlimited funds, where would you go? To my private island in the Bahamas.
16) If you could be any fictional character, whom would you choose and why? Phileas Fogg – I like the idea of traveling around the world and having great adventures.
17) What is your favorite restaurant in Minnesota? Bug-A-Boo Bay in Alexandria. A cool atmosphere with great food.
18) What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life? For me it’s less about specific songs and more about groups – Cars, Pink Floyd, Jimmy Buffet, Willie Nelson, Monkees, Meat Loaf, Chorus Line & Rocky Horror soundtracks. I like variety.
19) If you could paint a picture what would you paint and why? Palm trees and ocean – when you see them in person you are just suddenly at peace.
20) What is the best way for people to find out more about you and your business? Visit our website at www.ThinkCreativeDigital.com or come to one of our free upcoming seminars where we share tips and ideas on how companies can market more effectively.
