We have told Marisa and I’s story a couple of times, so if you’ve read it or seen the videos, skip down to the next paragraph because I’m going to do a very quick (I promise) recap. I have a Poli-Sci and Graphic Design degree which continues to push me on the research side of things and makes me an awesome designer as well. Marisa has her Masters in Literature and has been coding websites for over 14 years (although she thinks this makes her sound older) which makes her not only a coding genius but an awesome copywriter as well.
Ok, so why the recap?….I’ll tell you why.
Sometimes you get an amazing combination like burgers and fries, apple pie and ice cream, spaghetti and meatballs or, if you ask my 3 year old, peanut butter and jelly. Marisa and I are like any of those great combinations because we compliment each other so well. When we started the company, we focused first on building websites together, but knew that we were going to be able to grow into a full service marketing agency very quickly because of our unique skill sets.
Full Service Marketing from Combined Skills
Marisa’s skills lie in not only coding an awesome, easy to use, clean website but also in thinking through the logic of that site and how it will work. She can focus not only on SEO and digital campaigns moving forward, but also how it will grow and change with your business. One of my favorite questions Marisa always asks a client during our initial meetings is “Where do you see your business in 5 years?” Some people are surprised by this question but it is such an essential piece of knowledge when building your website. Your site should last longer than a year, even with all the constant changes to Google’s algorithms, because those changes within your business are essential to marketing it moving forward. Marisa’s skills in coding, digital advertising, writing and research help us continue to grow not only in our services but as a company constantly (even though she is not the biggest fan of change).
My skills also go beyond just my graphic design prowess. I have had the awesome ability to grow skills in both print and web design while working at previous companies. Another area that I have always found to be important has been to continue learning and development of marketing as it continues to change and shift with new technologies (research, research, research; not wasting that Political Science degree). That in-depth knowledge helps me to be able to put together campaigns and strategies for clients, making their “pretty designs” work for them as well as look great.
Our combination of skill sets that we both bring to the table has really helped to grow and expand our company. We have been able to add to our company each time we have hired someone new and hope to continue that with our next hire (yes we are currently looking). It has allowed us to work with companies and provide them full service so that they don’t have to piecemeal out their projects to various agencies. We have experience in not only websites and graphic design but Facebook and Google ads, email marketing, print marketing, social media strategy, consulting and management, as well as full campaign strategy. We love working with our clients to come up with their full strategy or help them through a couple of projects because in the end our clients and growing their business is why we started Hexcode Designs in the first place.