Recently there have been some doubts raised about whether one does truly need 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in their field. That’s all well and good, but sorry, we’re not gonna change the name of our expert interviews to ‘8,433 Hours in 10 Minutes.’ So we move on.Today we’re gleaning the expertise from Logan Lenz, founder and chairman of Endagon, a full-service web development, management, and marketing agency.
Read on to learn about LL’s love for cleverness, Endagon’s commitment to its clients, and a running joke that finally wears Logan down by question #9.
The ‘Mission’ page on your site really conveys a strong sense of caring and unifying; much more so than one would expect to from a company that provides web marketing services. Is this what sets you guys apart?
I don’t think there is just one thing to pinpoint that sets us apart. While we certainly do possess a greater mission to improve worldwide communication and commerce, our main differentiator is our responsiveness and timeliness when our clients need it most. We actually care about our clients – and that speaks volumes.
Does your location in South Florida play a role in what you do? A lot of sand get trekked into the break room?
We certainly do have a lot of beach-goers and surfers on the team, but it’s not a requirement for everyone. The only requirement we have is to do something to move the needle for every client every single day. If you do that, I have no problem letting the team spend their days hanging out on the beach.
You guys believe in a world where “sharing is of the utmost importance,” but personally, as an only child, I struggle to even part with a Tic Tac. Any tips for me on how to share better?
With the evolution of social media in recent years, the term “sharing” has broadened to possess many more meanings. As a company, we strongly believe in transparency. Transparency fuels the sharing of content – whether personal or not. We predict that the future of commerce will be conducted behind individual personalities. If you aren’t “sharing” value with those around you, your identity will get lost in all of the noise.
Tell us a little bit about the staff at Endagon. What types of people are necessary for your success?
The most important attribute we look for at Endagon is cleverness. It’s a broad brush stroke way of saying “don’t work hard, work smart.” If you can invent ways for us to be more efficient and more valuable to our clients, you’re priceless to our team. It all stems from creativity and passion for what you do.
Your site’s ‘Team’ page says “We disagree. We fight. We party.” What do you guys fight about, how much sand is getting trekked into the break room? (running gag)
The above sentence is supposed to be a metaphor for how much we feel like a family. When you work in an office together all day for 5 days a week, you start to realize you see these people more often than your own family. It’s because of that that we can grow irritated with each other. Most often, this notion is directly referencing our weekly “Innovation” meetings that exist to come up with new ideas. The team members have no problem calling each other out and questioning these new ideas until they are completely bulletproof.
As a local company that offers web hosting, is it tough to compete with the giants in the industry that can afford Super Bowl ads?
It’s not difficult as long as that’s not your goal. We don’t LEAD with web hosting. It’s just another value-add that we possess for our clients. Therefore, we don’t market our individual services like web hosting. Instead we create relationships with potential clients and then give them the full menu of services to help them go “all-in.”
What are some keys to designing a great website?
The single most important key to web design is simplicity. Identify your most integral call-to-action and don’t detract your users from jumping through that hoop.
I noticed you’re big believers in Pinterest. So that site isn’t all about pictures of homemade cupcakes? How can setting up a Pinterest account benefit a business?
We’re not big believers in specifically Pinterest. We’re merely marketers that are forced to flock where the tribes go. If we feel a client can reach more people by doing something specific no matter where it is online, we’ll give it a try. Pinterest has just happened to become one of those trending networks that are generating a great deal of traffic and revenue for certain types of clients.
You also specialize in logo design and brand management. Can you tell us about your logo? I noticed there’s no — wait for it — sand in the break room in it.
Very clever. Do you want a job with Endagon? Hehe. The funny thing is that we don’t invest a lot in our own brand identity. Endagon has recently rolled out smaller more affordable services that stand on their own. In doing so, we focus more on those brand images and less on how people see the Endagon brand. We actually subtly altered our own logo when we redesigned our corporate website last year, but didn’t really emphasize the change. In fact, our company name is actually Endagon Innovations. We have a separate logo for that name, and we took down a website that focused on that name a few years ago. As I answer this question, I’m realizing that we should probably bring back that brand and website asap. Haha.
Want more Logan Lenz? Lucky you, we have links! Check out LoganLenz.com, follow him on Twitter @loganlenz, or peep Logan’s Google+ page.