Long Beach Volunteer Day: Q4 2022
The Long Beach office did our volunteer day on Friday, November 18th. To learn more, visit the link here
Why I hired Enrique
Hey Enrique! You asked me to tell you why I hired you. I thought I’d turn it into a blog for the whole world to see, because ‘why not’? What I loved about your interview was your confidence. It was not the confidence of someone that can be off-putting (the “I’m so great confidence”), it’s the confidence of “Hey, I’m a human, you’re a human, let’s talk and enjoy this hour”. The fact you were your natural self meant a lot to me. Your behavior felt truly authentic. I respect that. You made everyone comfortable with your presence. When we said things that you perhaps didn’t agree with, you paused, you digested it, and you understood our perspective. I’m not saying you agreed with it, but at least you understood where we were coming from. And if you didn’t agree, I didn’t feel like you held it against us. It showed a maturity I really appreciated — an easy type of maturity with no drama, which is basically not that far off from just being an accepting, considerate person. You were open, and honest. You didn’t try and ‘play it cool’. Your attitude was just like “This sounds great! I hope I get this job!” It wasn’t like “This was a nice interview, there are a lot of factors for me to consider before I say more, but I hope we can figure it out”. While the latter may be what you hear in B-school or something, the former is much more real, and I love ‘real’. You were smart…you seemed hard working. But these things mattered less. I’d expect you were hard working if the interview was at all a reflection of how you’ve lived the past 20 or so years of your life. You seemed to approach life in a way where it’d be nearly impossible for you to NOT be smart and hard-working Basically, you checked all the “he’s a cool person” boxes. You were someone who we all thought “Hey, I’d like to invest in that guy! He’ll listen, he’ll appreciate it, and he’s got a great chance of being great” And that’s pretty much it! Or, as I said before, I hired you because you’re awesome! Hopefully others can learn from you! It had nothing to do with your experience, your college degree, or much of anything else besides who you are. Looking forward to the next few years. I’m positive you’ll rise up time and time again in this profession, and at Four15 Digital.
6 Places Perfect for Team Lunches in Downtown Long Beach, CA
Here at Four15 Digital, team lunches are a weekly ritual – half the time this team lunch is sponsored by Four15, and the other half are BYOL (bring your own lunch). While these team lunches are optional, all team members enjoy attending if they can, and utilize the time to get to know their coworkers better and connect on non-paid media-related topics. Furthermore, many of our team members are proud foodies and avid Yelp users. Over time, we’ve built quite the list of local eateries that are perfect for our team lunch outings. These restaurants are all open for lunch, can accommodate groups of 8-10, and can have your group seated, served, and finished eating within an hour if you’re in a time crunch. Here are some of our favorite places to go for lunch as a team in Downtown Long Beach, CA: For the Waterfront Views Fuego – Hotel Maya Located in Hotel Maya right along Queensway Bay, the views from this restaurant are breathtaking. We made a reservation for 8 people ahead of time, but reservations weren’t necessary – there was plenty of space available when we got there. The food was okay (a little on the pricey side) but what you’re really paying for is the stellar location. You’ll enjoy views of the water, the boats, the Queen Mary, and the city. Highly recommend sitting outdoors. For the Foodies Ammatoli Mediterranean Bites From the beautiful interior to the delicious cuisine, this restaurant is sure to please you and your team for a lunch out. They have outdoor seating but I recommend sitting indoors and taking in the lovely decor. Their freshly made pita bread and hummus is a must. I also recommend sharing appetizers here so everyone can try a few of the different traditional Mediterranean side dishes. As for the entrees: so tasty and the portions are huge. The Crowd Pleaser Yard House We all know this popular chain restaurant for good reason. With the size of their menu, Yard House is a go-to for large groups because it has something for everyone. They have a great selection of shareable appetizers as well. (I recommend the poke nachos!) What’s special about this particular location, in Shoreline Village, is you’ll get to enjoy views of the water and boats while sitting outdoors. The Best Bang for your Buck Congregation Alehouse A unique church-themed gastropub with a medieval aesthetic. Our group of 7 came here for a more casual lunch outing. Enjoy burgers and sandwiches under $10, gourmet sausages for $9, 10-inch artisan pizzas under $14, and sides under $5. Their happy hour is available all day long on Mondays. For the Ambiance The Social List Located on Retro Row (4th street), this restaurant is popular among trendy Long Beach locals. They have great shareable plates if your group enjoys sharing appetizers. For your main dish, choose from craft burgers, sandwiches, flatbreads, and more. This restaurant is a little smaller in size, so I wouldn’t recommend it for groups larger than 8. Come back for social hour for specials on beer and wine. Old Reliable King’s Fish House This restaurant & bar is conveniently right downstairs to our office – just take the elevator to the first floor and open the door to your left! The place has plenty of space for groups and a huge menu to choose from. Seafood lovers will especially love this one, but there are also classic steak options for those who don’t prefer fish. Shoutout to Steve the bartender – he’s fantastic. If your team is based in or near Downtown Long Beach, treat yourselves to lunch and try one of these places! Happy lunching!
Maintaining Poise in the Fire
Mental Strength is Akin to Physical Strength One of the greatest skills and muscles you can build in your career is the ability to maintain your attitude and work ethic under any condition. As a professional, you are demanded to produce and deliver by many stakeholders, whether that be your clients, colleagues, or superiors. It is your role to deliver on those promises, and sometimes that can be challenging. Knowing how to maintain your cool will not only serve you in being able to complete tasks timely and effectively, but also in preserving your mental health. Building the Muscle I like to think of mental fortitude as the mental version of the physical version of being physically strong. When you work out, you repeatedly stress the muscle, forcing it to grow. But, by putting your body through the physical stress and building your physical strength, you also build an equally powerful skill in the byproduct of mental strength. Mental strength will serve you in all areas of your life: in relationships, business endeavors, entrepreneurship (should you pursue that path), and dealing with difficult situations in all forms. It’s the mental version of “one more rep” as you would under a barbell at the gym. That capacity to keep moving forward is what allows you to reach your goals, both small and big. While the pain of doing that extra rep may seem excruciating in the moment, the glory of the success from your struggle is forever. That ability to continually show up compounds over time as you become stronger and stronger. You will learn to understand how to endure and how to do it well. By pushing your physical limits, you train your brain to withstand difficult situations and think clearly under pressure. These are the tools that will help you in the workplace to persevere and produce your best work, even when the work is long and tedious. It’s this version of “reps” in your professional career that will build the stepping stones to your success. Now, while not all of us are gym-goers, we can all take these cues to apply to our day-to-day. There is a great quote from a favorite author of mine that says “Discipline is freedom,” and I believe by following this philosophy, you can unlock your true potential in every aspect of your life. Stoicism and Work Stoicism is a valuable philosophical school of thought that is defined as: “The endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint.” While we are certainly not enduring physical pain working at our keyboards on a daily basis, we can take this thinking and apply it to how we navigate. This can be instrumental in removing your emotions to help you be more focused in completing your tasks, dealing with an upset coworker with whom you disagree, or maintaining course as a leader to signal to your team that everything is going to be alright, and things are under control. There’s nothing more unattractive in the workplace than a team member who is unable to regulate themselves in order to reach the common goal. Trials will be presented daily, so it is our responsibility to know how to navigate these obstacles in order to still get to the finish line. One of my favorite ways to think about how to comport oneself is to think of yourself as a mountain. The mountain is massive and immovable. It doesn’t matter if it is sunny, storming, a hurricane is coming–the mountain does not move. You must learn how to become a mountain of your own. When things are flying around the office, emails are at an all time high, urgent requests are made of you, you must remain calm and composed. Panicking will surely put you in a frazzle and both your work and mindset will suffer. It’s also important for you to be organized and have your own systems in place to minimize these events, but also to have a process to work through these situations. A Strong Mountain By building your mental muscles, you can be more equipped to tackle each day. Not every day will be a storm–most of them will be sunny. But, when the dark clouds start to loom, you will have the same attitude through and through. I challenge you take these tips to build yourself up in all areas of your life. It’s time to hunker down and dig your feet deeper in the dirt because nothing will be tougher than you. You are the mountain!
Consistent Work: Working Abroad
The Privilege of Globe Trotting As more and more people have the ability to work from home, the interest around taking your “remote working” really, really remote is ever-increasing. It’s becoming less rare and more expected by job hunters in the employee-catered market we are currently in. This perk is gaining traction, but is still limited to a minority of companies. If you are lucky to be at one of these companies who offers this, now is your opportunity to act. With this, workers are trekking to new lands with laptop in hand to explore outside of their “normal” working hours. From my recent trip to Mexico, here are some tips that will help you if you are thinking about getting on that plane: Establishing a Strong Work Ethic Some people forget that before you can travel and work out of French cafes by day and go out to Michelin Star restaurants by night–you have to actually be good at your job. Before you start packing your bag, I highly recommend you take an honest look at your performance within your role, what your relationship is with your boss and your team, and look at upcoming schedules. If you are drowning in work and need to catch up, chances are pretty good that you aren’t going to improve that much more being in another country in different time zones. It’s important to be in a good place with your workload before taking off. Next, your relationship with your boss and your peers is paramount to maintaining your success, no matter where you are. If you and your team do not have a mutual understanding about roles and responsibilities, it’s going to be even harder to do that while you are in different time zones. Equally, your relationship with your manager, likely who will be approving your time out, is the number one priority, as your communication with him/her will make or break your adventure. You should always be striving to do your best work–that’s a no brainer, but if that trust is not established with your superiors, it’s going to be a hard sell to request working abroad. Make sure they are aware of your efforts to build rapport with them. Their job is to make sure the business succeeds. If they believe your Instagram-driven “vacation” is going to jeopardize performance, the only pictures you’ll be taking of yourself are selfies from your couch. If you can establish a good foundation with your team and your workload, you’ll likely get the green light you are looking for. Time Zones Time zones are amazing for travel, but can also be a double-edged sword. It can mean having the ability to wake up at 10am local time and still making it to work at 9am, or it can mean an 11am start will have you working till 7:30pm every day while your team is getting off at normal time. Where you travel directly impacts what your days will look like, so this is the most important factor when choosing, especially if you need to be online at the same time as your colleagues. The upside if you are a night owl is being able to explore the night life, versus traveling west to let’s say, Hawaii, can put you three hours behind, requiring you to be up at 6am Hawaii time to start at 9am PST. If you want to travel somewhere specific and don’t think it’s going to work, maybe you should consider taking a real vacation to that destination. A logical way to cheat this is to look at destinations with +/- 1-2 hours difference where time may not impact you as much. You can still enjoy your downtime without much trouble. One way to look at this is to travel North and South from where you live and (mostly) line up with similar times. You can slice this any way you’d like, but having a game plan will save you a lot of headache (and sleep) later. Consistent Work Working out of foreign cafes sounds luxurious, but it’s not when you still have to hit deadlines and produce the same level of work irrespective of where you are. What’s more is that your ability to adapt to different environments and maintain the same level of productivity becomes critical. It doesn’t matter if you are in a room of crying babies–you need to be able to produce. You can practice this by going to cafes where you live and testing this out. There are many distractions in cafes: people talking, espresso machines going off, and plenty of background noise. Not to mention having a client call in a noisy room is certainly not a good look for your professionalism. You must be able to center yourself and your zen in any scenario to finish the task at hand. Having this skill to center yourself will help you execute what is needed in any environment. You may have the luxury of working out of a hotel room with good wifi–jackpot! That’s the golden goose. The main point to understand here is while you are given the flexibility to work abroad, you may not be afforded the same flexibility with your workload, so it’s imperative that you take this factor into consideration when planning. If this is not feasible, consider a different destination where you can make this happen. Conclusion While working abroad is a magnificent way to explore the beautiful world around us while maintaining a job we love, it comes with its own hurdles and challenges that we may not expect. With some logical reasoning and good planning, you can keep your sanity (and your job) and make your trip as seamless as possible. You also set yourself up for future success in requesting remote work in the future, now that you have established some data in your management’s eyes. I hope you find these helpful, and please have a croissant as you embrace the beautiful culture around you,
What is the experience as an intern at Four15 Digital?
Coming to Four15 Digital, there is a 90 Day Onboarding Plan for the intern to follow which is broken down into a week by week basis. The first week will mostly focus on getting comfortable with the different platforms for client communication, work queue, and most importantly gaining access to all platforms for the client’s you will be joining! What you can expect in the weeks following is going through training for Google, Facebook, and Microsoft to earn your certifications. As you become more familiar with the routine, you will start dipping your toes into client work and support the account manager with different client optimization tasks. I believe this facilitates quicker learning aside from training itself. This will help grow your knowledge about SEM even though you may not be sure how to execute the task at times, always ask your peers! Asking many questions and staying curious is the key to success as an intern. You aren’t expected to know everything as this internship is a time for learning. But if you have prior knowledge of SEM, that is a plus! As an intern, you will also help the account manager optimize the client’s account by performing optimization tasks on a weekly basis by performing tasks like performing keyword build, ad copy build, checking for recommendations as well as manage client budget. You will also have the opportunity to join client calls and assist in taking notes and action items that are needed to support the client’s business goals. I personally enjoy my time as a 90 Day Intern because I have experienced peers who are always willing to help and answer questions. In addition, what I also enjoy as an intern at Four15 is we also have a work-life balance here! We have our bi-weekly team lunches and occasional Four15 offsite which celebrates team bonding! This is a core value of our company which advocates for working hard and playing hard. Achieving balance between work and play creates harmony and motivates for individual growth. This experience as an intern is truly fulfilling and unforgettable, as the knowledge you learn will impact your future growth. Are you curious what it’s like to be at Four15 Digital? Come join the team and find out!
Increase Your Value in Your First 90 Days: Tips for New Team Members
There are lots of articles, books, and blogs about onboarding to a new job. At Four15 Digital, we also provide a ‘checklist of items’ for your first 90 days. We, and most companies, have the goal of making your onboarding really clear and rather regimented. This process basically takes the emphasis off ‘being you’ and onto performing basic job functions. To be clear, your goal at F15 and elsewhere should be, first and foremost, to complete that checklist! But don’t sell yourself short by buying into such a narrow view of things. You can have a huge impact right away beyond completing the list. The best employees will know this, and view their first 90 days as a chance to make their mark. Here are some thoughts from me during your first 90 days. Get Comfortable ASAP: Changing jobs is a huge change in your life. It may take you a few weeks/month/years to fully get comfortable. But, as a founder, it’s a huge plus if you can expedite this process as much as possible. I want to get to know the real you because you’re likely pretty awesome! And I don’t want to waste time working with you in a way that won’t be effective for you. Let’s get to work ASAP. We Don’t Expect You to Be Good at Your Job: I expect that you will lack hard skills relative to most of the team members that have been here 6+ months. Don’t stress on this at all. We’re only observing how quickly you learn, not how much you know….focusing on closing the gap, no matter how large it is. This is New to You, but Not Us: We’re all really excited to get some fresh faces in! We want to know your story, your strengths, weaknesses and everything about you. Getting to know team members breaks up any monotony in our day to day. So, when we say ‘we’re excited to have you here’, we mean it! It’s a great opportunity to take center stage. We’re All Just People Who’d Like Your Help: If you can figure out what your team members need (founders, manager, peers and direct reports) quickly, you’ve found a great opportunity to become very important. You can make everyone’s day better in one way or another. If you figure out what folks need, you’ll be in a great spot! You should spend time in your first 90 days truly figuring out how you can help. Speak Up: We want to hear from you! We’re not dough eyed, but there is always something we are hoping to learn from you. Did you just come from an agency? Great, what can we learn at F15 from that? Were you just working in a quick serve restaurant? Ok, what can we learn from that? Etc etc. We’re innovative, challenge the status quo (and each other) all the time, and more, but there’s still the desire to hear and learn different perspectives. We want to hear it! When you’re being onboarded to a company, the expectation (rightfully so) is the company puts more into you than you give back to them. But don’t let that cripple your ability to become important. The quicker you can be yourself, and establish yourself, the quicker you’ll be indispensable. Since hard-skill expectations are often quite low when you’re new, it’s easy to exceed expectations overall through your soft skills and just becoming part of the team and culture.
How Advertising Agencies Can Engage in Corporate Social Responsibility
What is Corporate Social Responsibility? Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethically oriented practices. Basically, CSR refers to the responsibility all businesses have to do good. There are 4 types of Corporate Social Responsibility: Environmental – Engaging in environmentally friendly practices and reducing your carbon footprint. Ethical – Treating employees fairly and complying with labor laws. Philanthropic – Donating money, products, or services (volunteering) to social causes, nonprofits, and the community. Economic – Making financial decisions that not only will result in maximizing profits for the business, but also will positively impact the environment, people, and society. Corporate Social Responsibility at Four15 Digital One of the ways we engage in CSR here at Four15 is by holding Volunteer Day every quarter. Volunteer Day is a day when all employees spend work hours outside of the office volunteering at a local nonprofit organization. In Q2 this year, our team in Walnut Creek volunteered at their local food bank packaging fruits, which will be distributed to low-income students, senior citizens, and other neighbors in the community. Our team members in Long Beach, all avid animal-lovers, volunteered at their local animal shelter by reading to dogs and cats, which helps socialize the animals to prepare them for adoption. Another way Four15 Digital engages in philanthropy is by managing the Google Ads account of a 501c3 nonprofit organization for free! After all, paid advertising is what we do best. Four15 manages Google search ads for a nonprofit dedicated to empowering underprivileged women and girls in Thailand, by providing free training, mentoring, and career guidance. Ways Advertising Agencies can Engage in CSR Establish a Volunteer Day of your own! Schedule a day for your team to volunteer at a local nonprofit together, or allow your team members to spend the day volunteering at a nonprofit of their choice. Ask your clients how they practice Corporate Social Responsibility. Encourage your clients to develop a CSR program, if they do not already have one. Manage Google ads for a nonprofit organization! Nonprofit organizations can apply for a Google Grant, which grants up to $10K per month for Google Search ads. Providing your services as professional advertisers can significantly help a nonprofit organization drive awareness, attract donations, and recruit volunteers through Google ads. An obvious one: Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Recycle bottles, cans, and any other recyclable materials, and go paperless! This is easy to do as the marketing world has already become very digital. 100% of any paperwork at Four15 is digital.
S.M.A.R.T Goals and Why Four15 Digital Recommends Them
Let’s get started, what are S.M.A.R.T Goals? S.M.A.R.T is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Four15 Digital recommends this common method that is used to form a better strategy when considering your goals for the future, and how you will get there. Specific To start, you want your goals to be as specific as possible. The goal is to clearly explain what you are trying to improve. Many people make the mistake of setting goals that are way too vague and end up making it harder to track their progress as they move towards their goals. Here are some examples of good and bad digital marketing goals: Good Examples: “This month I want to make create performance max campaigns” “I want to double lead generation sign-ups from last month” “I want to lower cost/conversion by 10% this quarter” Bad Examples: “I want to implement digital marketing” “I want to get more website traffic” “I want to get more clicks on landing pages” Measurable At Four15 Digital, we are constantly tracking results from campaigns and implementing digital strategy in order to optimize the account. For your goals to be measurable, they must be able to be tracked. These can be quantitative or qualitative. This is a very important part of setting your goals because if you can’t track your progress, you won’t know where you stand in your journey to success. For example, if you have a big goal that will take a year or two to accomplish, you should set up benchmarks along the way. Benchmarks will allow you to track your results and see where you can make improvements. Achievable The goals must be realistic. It is always nice to have an end goal in mind, but it might take a few steps to get there! If there hasn’t been any history of results that are close to your goal, it’s better to make the goals a little more realistic. The idea of setting a goal is to reach it. So, if you set up benchmark goals that are achievable and can be reached more often, you will feel motivated to keep reaching new goals. Relevant Relevant goals are essential because they must align with your business and what you are trying to achieve. For example, if your campaign objective is to achieve a “25% increase in website traffic”, you wouldn’t want to set a goal regarding conversions because it’s not relevant to your campaign goal. You want your goals to be relevant so the right actions take place. Time-Bound Now your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant. Now you need to set a realistic time frame for the goal to be reached. If you set your time frame too short, then your goals will not be achieved. If they are too long, then you will not be as productive since there won’t be any sense of urgency. Four15 Digital recommends asking questions about your goal and evaluating the amount of work that needs to be done will help you gauge the time frame that works for you.
What is culture and why is this important for employees at Four15 Digital?
Breakdown: What is culture? Culture is an overarching term that means embodiment of different attributes such as behavior, values or beliefs of a social group which sets apart from another group. You may think how does this apply to a company and why this is crucial? For incoming employees, culture shapes the working environment. Why is culture important to incoming employees? Workplace culture has great impact on employees’ performance – Positive working environment is the seed for employee’s growth and success. Employees become inspired and motivated to become top-performers. When employees succeed, this contributes to the company’s overall success. It’s a win-win situation for both! Having a positive culture impacts employees’ retention – Employees are satisfied and engaged with their working environment and are more likely to stay with the company long-term resulting in lower retention rate. What factors contribute to culture in a workplace? Mission, Vision, and Value – Having a strong set of core values, vision and mission for the workplace sets apart the company from another. Communication of these values to employees is crucial for strong culture within the company. When employees understand, believes and works toward the mission, this contributes to the company’s success. Workspace Environment – This varies from how offices are decorated or what objects are placed on employees’ desks. Office themes create the overall atmosphere of the company contributing to culture in the workplace. Leadership – Leaders within the company act as the role model for employees. Having a strong leadership who continuously communicates and demonstrates company values while instilling trust drives the company’s success. Communication – Openness to communication, having transparency and having different ways of communications ensure strong connection and collaboration between teams and leaders. What is culture like at Four15 Digital? Four15’s empowering mission statement is to motivate employees to be better every day, the company invests in employees’ growth so that this reflects in clients’ success and satisfaction. The vision of F15 is to make the working environment safe and fulfilling that allows employees to thrive. Coming into Four15 on Day 1, the atmosphere is refreshing and fulfilling because of the culture implemented by the organization. The employees’ enthusiasm to support their peers to succeed is evident. Open communication between employees and leaders gives a chance for everyone to give their best input and receive feedback. This ensures a strong connection with the team. Lastly, the diversity of personalities and backgrounds create meaningful experiences for team members to become closer and grow together. Our motto is “Work Hard, Play Hard” Indeed we do! Four15 Digital rewards employees for their hard work through bi-weekly team bonding lunches and team trips throughout various times of the year. Achieving balance between working hard and having fun is one of the organization’s core values. Cultivating a strong and positive culture within a company builds a sense of pride among employees. When employees feel proud to work for the company, business thrives and everyone wins collectively! A steadfast workplace culture sets apart a successful company apart from an average company.