Early on, we worked to develop core values that defined our approach: Care, Availability and Immediacy, Long-Term Focus, Entrepreneurial Mindset, and Borderline Too Much Fun. Always aiming to deliver the best digital marketing services possible, we firmly believe that these five guiding principles allow us to deliver better, faster, and more impactful results for our clients.
One of the most common questions that we get, though, is how does ‘Borderline Too Much Fun’ translate into the world of business? How does that contribute more to the Kzoom process than, say, something a little more serious? Recently, Mike Tiesenga sat down with Kzoom’s founder, Dan Martin, and that exact topic came up while discussing the company’s core values.
Dan: Borderline too much fun, like, yeah… some companies can go right there and be like, all right, I like zero. And so, like, care is very plain and it’s our top core value. It’s the one we’re most passionate about. So, of course, we’re drawn to paying the bills and providing well for our team, helping our customers, that kind of thing.
Dan: But I think I’d be ultimately unsatisfied to just do that. Sure, here’s your product. We just got paid. Here’s your bill. Here’s the check. It’s transactional. I think one of the biggest dreams that I have for Kzoom is that, long term, we’ll use it as a vehicle to build meaningful relationships with our clients.
Dan: To be a part of that is what you want, really, and if we get paid along the way to take care of our bills, cover our costs, and buy new equipment… that’s fun. And, yeah, you know, to have those creative resources to care for others around us, I don’t think there’s a bigger – or more fun – target as far as satisfaction and purpose in our lives, right?
As a roadmap to your company’s success, developing core values will guide your employees toward a unified vision. Where do you want your company to be in five years? Ten years? Twenty years? To realize that vision, you need to take a step back and ask yourself, ‘What tools and behaviors do we need to get us there?’
At Kzoom, we found it wasn’t hard to pinpoint what mattered to us but it was a challenge to put a name on them. Continuing their conversation from earlier, Mike and Dan discussed the topic in depth in the Kzoom podcast.
Dan: I think the best core values come from things that are true and real. They’re things you truly believe in and sometimes it’s a hard process to actually name them. But, if you ask me, my advice is to literally just start. Create that space and, you know, get outside of your regular routine.
Dan: You may need some help bringing them to light, like I had with my business coach. For Kzoom, I think the process was about a six-month time period. And, you know, if you had initially asked me to put some core values down on paper, I’d’ve been like, yeah, I can do this in an afternoon.
Dan: But the time that we took to develop those was so intentional. We named all five of them before going through and bringing order to them. Borderline Too Much Fun, as much as it’s part of our DNA, can’t be number one. If it’s number one, as far as priority, it displaces something that’s more important than it, like Care.
If you have a clear vision for your company’s future but need help developing core values or communicating it to your clients, the team at Kzoom can help. Whether you need video production to create an about us video, web design to take your presence online, or graphic design to create print pieces that speak to your brand’s values, our team can deliver.
With over twenty years of experience in the Kalamazoo area, we’ve worked closely with some of the biggest names in Southwest Michigan to build engaging print and digital marketing products. So, if you’re planning for your future, reach out to us today to learn how we can help you in the present.
Matt loves all-day cooking projects, holding one-sided conversations with his cat, and writing unreasonably large D&D campaigns. A fan of horror movies, he may have Kalamazoo’s largest (and only) collection of Laserdiscs.
Professionally, Matt brings 20 years of SEO, digital marketing, and copywriting experience to Kzoom and you may be seeing him around on your next website project!
