How does a Marine go from infantry rifleman to digital mastermind? The same way most of us do, by learning at every step of the journey.
Founder of Spartan Media, Jeremy Knauff, knows what it means to learn from mistakes and drive results for his clients. With his ability to drive direct and measurable ROI from SEO and website redesign, Knauff is a leader in the digital industry.
Growing up in Spring Hill, Fla., Knauff moved out on his own at 16 and joined the Marines at 18. He started as a rifleman in an infantry platoon and was quickly given billet of company RTO because of his skills, knowledge, and capabilities. At that time, he also served as company training NCO and promoted to sergeant in three years. While completing his time in the service, he decided he wanted to start his company specializing in web design and development.
“I read every book I could find and studied the hell out of everything. I wanted to know all I could about web design and development” said Knauff about his time preparing to launch his first company in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, Knauff’s first company went under as a result of being in a small town and many companies not understanding the need for a website at that time.
Rather than feeling sorry for himself he picked himself up and found himself in an interview for a position, at least on paper, for which he was not qualified. As the interview started, he was told that they had likely already found the candidate they would choose for the position, but if he wanted to, they would still take a look at his portfolio. He obliged, and they began to review his work.
“They asked me questions about composition and design choices on some of the pieces. I couldn’t figure out why at first,” said Knauff.
He was hired on the spot. His answers were better than those that most people with a degree in art and design had given. This was why they continued to ask deep questions about his design choices. He continued to work and learn at that agency until he decided he was almost ready to branch out on his own again.
Before he felt confident enough to start a business for the second time, he wanted to brush up on his sales. He took a few sales positions and things went bad for him again. Knauff then decided that he needed to get back to web design, SEO, and the things he was best at.
Finding a partner whose company was floundering and desperately in need of help was a turning point for Knauff. He looked at their website, which was designed by a big named NYC agency and had cost upwards of $70K, and found many development and design issues that were costing the company sales. Within weeks of the redesign, the company began seeing a dramatic increase in sales, and in less than one year, made a deal with Hilton to place their products in all of the Hilton Garden Inns worldwide. He helped that company get back on their feet and achieve massive success. This is the reason that Knauff is passionate about his company. He sees that many agencies out there simply turn out a product that isn’t fully completed and functional. It works, but not as well as it could, and the clients don’t know the difference.
Knauff’s success at that company springboarded Spartan Media and laid the groundwork for the web design, SEO, social media, and content development company. More recently, Spartan was able to help a local architect land $26K in new business within two weeks of a website revamp and helped to update a 10 year old website for a home products eCommerce site that improved its conversion rate by 270% after the update.
He has recently set his sights on the construction industry for a unique reason.
“My father was a firefighter, and because they aren’t paid very much, most of those guys had a second job—and that was usually in construction,” said Knauff. “As a child, I spent many weekends on construction sites with my father, so I’ve done almost every type of construction project you can imagine – and I really enjoyed it. Although I didn’t pursue it as a career path, I’m fortunate to have several clients in the construction industry with Spartan Media. After the last real estate collapse, I saw a lot of hard working people lose everything. People who work in the trades are the backbone of America. I believe we must do better for them.”
Of things to come, he says, “We’re seeing signs that the construction industry is about to enjoy another boom, which will inevitably be followed by another correction. This time around, I want to help these people leverage that boom to grow and increase their market share, and perhaps more importantly, build a stronger, more defensible market position that will help them survive the next correction.”
Spartan is poised to grow in 2017 and is looking to hire veterans as part of its growth plan. Knauff said, “I know the work ethic of the veteran community. Hiring fellow veterans is always going to be part of Spartan’s growth plan, but in 2017 we are looking to spearhead this growth.”
___________________________
Landmark Life Coaching’s (www.landmarklifecoaching.com) Mission is to honorably and respectfully serve courageous groundbreakers and transitioning veterans to persevere in defining and executing their future by providing an atmosphere of comradery and trust that honors their dedication and commitment. This will empower our clients to feel whole, honored, respected and fulfilled in defining and living their life purpose.
Charlie Mike Podcast (www.charliemikepodcast.com) is where our Nations Combat Veteranpreneur’s talk about how they transformed their combat experience into a groundbreaking entrepreneurial success. We will discuss their experience in relation to what I have defined as their VisualReality; their personal vision of building a successful business leveraging their combat experience to bring the core strengths of a combat veteran into the entrepreneurial realm.
Dwayne Paro - Veterans Coach/Podcaster/Speaker/Writer