Building a Client Service and Growth Oriented Digital Marketing & Advertising Agency – Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Hey there, entrepreneurs. My name Sushant and welcome to Trep Talks Today I’m really excited to welcome Robb Fahrion to the show. Robb is the co-founder and partner of Flying V Group. Flying V Group is a digital marketing and advertising agency helping businesses across the globe to drive exceptional marketing ROI through end-to-end solutions that include paid advertising, SEO strategy, social media marketing, content creation, and website design.

And today I’m going to ask Robb a few questions about his entrepreneurial journey and some of the ways his business brings value to its clients. So Robb, welcome and thank you so much for joining me today at Trep Talks. Really appreciate your time.

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Yeah, no, thank you, uh, so much for having me on the show as a guest and, uh, really exci excited to share my story and, and hopefully provide some value to, uh, your listeners and viewers.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah, definitely. So let’s, uh, get right into it. Um, so you have a marketing agency. Um, can you share a little bit about your entrepreneurial story? What really, um, motivated you to start a marketing agency? 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Yeah, yeah. Marketing agency wasn’t necessarily the business that I envisioned myself starting. I think I was always entrepreneurial, um, just kind of by nature, starting side businesses in high school and figuring out ways to make a few extra bucks on the side and.

And, um, as I progressed, went through university and college and, and got into my career. Always kind of knew I wanted to start something of my own. You know, the be your own boss, control your own destiny, um, type of approach. And just the overall challenge too. You know, you see so many successful businesses.

You know, it’s like, how, how’d they get there? Right? How did they start from nothing and, and get to where they eventually end up. Um, so that was always very intriguing for me. But, uh, yeah, never really had something set in stone in terms of, okay, I know I wanna start this type of business, or even a particular lane either.

Um, kind of just came to marketing, uh, through work and through schooling and really liked the, uh, nature of marketing and advertising and the challenges. And, um, was starting a marketing agency. I mean, still to this day, it’s. It’s awesome because I feel like I’m working in so many different types of businesses, right?

So all the different clientele that we have, we’re not just one specific niche focus. Uh, so that presents new opportunity, new challenge every single day, um, with the type of businesses that we get to work with. But, uh, yeah, definitely a, a happenstance opportunity. Um, in terms of starting flying the group, um, we kind of saw.

A opportunity or a hole in the market in terms of the at least initial types of clientele that we wanted to serve, and actually was approached by a mentor of mine to help out his business. Um, really on the more technical side, so not necessarily even the marketing side. That conversation from, you know, helping him with his email and helping him with his website transition and obviously the marketing conversation and then it was kind of a.

That light bulb moment of, okay, how many individuals like him are out there that need this support in the digital space in general, right? So whether marketing it related, um, whatever else it may be. And, and he was a lawyer. And so, um, still to this day that, that professional service. Type field is, is one of our, our, uh, strongest niches that we do work within.

So yeah, it’s been a exciting journey and, and a lot of fun, a lot of challenges, a lot of hardships at the same time. Um, but at the end of the day, ultimately extremely rewarding. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: How, how many years has it been, and I know that you started, when you started your company, it was with some partners and, and, um, I believe you, at that time, you were still working.

Uh, can you share a little bit around, you know, just the idea, you know, uh, and, and, uh, um, just initial struggles of, of launching the business? 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Yeah. Yeah. So started 2015 was really when kind of the ball got rolling and started laying the foundation for Flying D Group. Um, at that point, that’s when wrangled my brother, uh, Tyler, he was working for Deloitte as an auditor.

And then a really good friend of mine, Brennan Smith, our other partner, um, he was kind of working in the same space. In terms of doing freelancing for social media content, social media advertising. And so kind of went to them and said, Hey, I think there’s an opportunity here, um, in this market kind of putting together an end to end, um, marketing advertising firm that could really help.

Get these types of businesses up to speed, um, with the digital space. And so we really kind of launched in beginning of 2016, January, 2016. And in early days, I mean, it was, it was glorified freelancing for sure. Right. Um, we didn’t have a lot of ex, we didn’t have any experience in terms of existing clients.

Um, Brendan had a few, but the work that he was doing was just very minor type stuff. Maybe running a Facebook page or social media page, whatever it might be. Um, and so early days was a lot of referral and networking and asking friends, family, Hey, do you know anybody that knows anybody that might need some support?

Um, giving away a lot of, doing a lot of free services up front, you know, just to kind of get some experience and, and, uh, name underneath our belt as a referral. But really it’s just kind of that brick by brick, you know, step by step mentality to where, you know, you do that one day, turns into a week, turns into a month, and then a year.

And you know, here we are now, six, seven years down the road. And, and obviously each of those, each of those experiences have, um, enabled us to get to where we’re at currently. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: So what. Products, uh, what services are you offering right now and how has it, you know, you said, you know, you started a business seven years ago.

How you, how have you seen digital marketing evolve over time? Um, are you helping your clients with the same kind of services? Uh, but it’s just those services evolved that you were doing six, seven years ago or the, the digital marketing landscape has, you know, kinda evolved in a completely 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: different way now.

Yeah. Good, good question. I’d say the service makeup is, is similar in that, you know, we’re, we’re designing websites, we’re working search engine optimization, paid media, buying, social media, et cetera. Um, but really when we first started it was very siloed. Um, to where, you know, we’d work on SEO for one client, social media for another.

Um, as time went on, we realized that these businesses really need, uh, support really from a consulting standpoint. So taking all of these different lanes that involve digital marketing, as, as you know, it’s so expansive, right? There’s so many different opportunities and types of services you can provide.

And, and for the client, it’s very overwhelming. What should we be doing? How should we be doing it? Should we be doing this with this or that? With that? And so what we started to realize is the real value in what we provide isn’t in the individual services, but it’s actually in our ability to create a strategy and a system and getting them into the proper channels.

And as well as multiple channels that are complimentary of one another to really create this system that’s gonna generate new interests, new leads, new revenue opportunities for their business. And so, um, I’d say today, you know, part of the big value that we provide is yes, we execute. So, okay, when we’re talking about the SEO work, the content writing, whatever it may be, we’re executing and, and actually getting that work done.

Um, but we’re getting more and more. Request for just individual consulting jobs to where we’ll come in and provide our consulting knowledge and expertise as well as when you are utilizing our services. A big chunk of what you get from a value perspective is that consultation. And so, you know, it’s really my job to put myself in the shoes of the ceo, the owner, the founder of that business, and think like a business person, not just like a marketer.

So, And that goes back to just the entrepreneurial spirit. I don’t, I don’t really consider myself a marketer per se. I’m a business person. I have an emphasis in marketing, and so I wanna understand how your business works, how it operates, um, what your customers care about, their pain points. Take that information, take what I know about building my own business and then utilize the marketing in ways that are gonna help business growth.

Um, and, and fit too. I think that’s important as well. A lot of times, you know, you, you can have great marketing agencies or companies, but if they don’t fit into kind of how the existing client works and operates, you can create some friction there and it might not be the ne the best fit. So, um, for us, yeah, fit’s important.

And then making sure that, you know, the understanding of, Hey, we’re not just gonna be doing, we’re not just gonna be task masters. We’re coming to the table to really, you know, be that hired gun and consultant as if you’re going to, you know, some big consulting company, uh, to make sure that you’re, you’re utilizing the proper channels for your business.

Definitely. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: I mean, I, I assume a, a big part of an agency when you work with a company is like, you’re kind of become. The CMO or the marketing extension of that business. Right. Because from, you know, as you were saying, you were helping professional services, businesses and things like that, that entrepreneur who’s, who’s not involved in marketing or who, who’s not an expert on in marketing, you know, when they probably come to you, they’re, they’re probably more, most.

Interested in, can you bring me new clients? Right. So is your discussion with these businesses when you’re talking to them, are they coming to you? Are, are they asking you, can you help me specifically with a CEO or social media? Or when they come to you, do they ask you, how can you help me bring new clients?

How do, can you share a little bit about that initial consultation? 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Yeah. I’d say it’s a mixed bag, right? So depending on the competency of the individual that’s coming to us, right? They might have a specific, you know, need or they have good background and understanding of the marketing and advertising work.

Um, so you definitely have that clientele that knows, Hey, we want to fill this specific gap that we have in our business with your services. Um, so you do have that, that inquiry. Um, but I’d say a majority is, you know, they want, they want leads for sure. They want new business opportunities. And so they’re coming to us as, Hey, you guys are the experts.

You know, let us know what it is you recommend that we should be doing. Um, now with that being said, I really look at our relationship with our clients as partnerships. So part of my job as well is to educate them what I know about marketing and advertising, because I also need them to understand how those pieces can fit into their business as well.

Um, I want to get up to speed as quickly as I can with understanding their businesses like they do, but at the end of the day, you know, there’s a lot of time that can’t be replaced to where okay, if they’ve been in the business 20, 30 years, whatever the number is, and they can start to understand the different things that I’m looking for, then they’re able to pass information to me a lot easier that we can utilize to improve campaigns.

I can pass information back through to them that they understand as well. Um, so I’d say that’s, that type of scenario is, is uh, a majority of our types of relationships because, you know, we want to build partnerships, right? Like we’re not the ch in the churn and burn game. We’re more white glove concierge.

Um, you’re gonna speak with myself, our partners, when you come to the table. Uh, kind of that top down approach. And because, you know, our knowledge and expertise is a big part of the value that we provide versus just the services. There’s a million different marketing companies, right, that can. Uh, do SEO work or content or whatever to varying degrees of success.

But I think where we differentiate ourselves is, um, we understand businesses. We’ve worked with tons of businesses. We have other businesses that myself own and operate outside of just the marketing and advertising firm. Um, so I think that’s where we’re really able to resonate. And so when we’re looking client fit, you know, having somebody that says, Hey, we’re gonna give you.

Um, the autonomy to come in and help guide our direction. Um, obviously assuming that we can generate results, um, but I’d say that’s where a majority of our queries do come from. Um, and it kind of goes back to the nature of a lot of the businesses that we work with as well. Uh, so like I talked about lawyers, we do a lot of work in healthcare, uh, a lot in insurance, real estate.

A lot of those businesses don’t have those internal marketing and advertising teams versus, you know, if you talk about like a SaaS company, we don’t do a ton of work in the SaaS space a lot of times because, you know, they have internal marketing departments and the director of marketing, marketing assistants and so on and so forth.

So, um, yeah, still a mixed bag though. That’s not to say that we don’t have. You know, the one-offs in terms of, Hey, we just want you to come in and supplement our team. From an SEO perspective, we definitely do get that, but even when we’re doing that, we’re also looking at, okay, well how can the SEO work we’re doing compliment the work that you know, your PTC team’s doing or whatever other channel, your social media marketing team, um, because we really believe that it’s a holistic marketing and advertising strategy that’s going to generate.

The best results. And so you need all of those pieces of the puzzle, um, working together to generate the best results. So to 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: me, it seems like you work with a certain kind of client type that has certain kind of a need. Um, I mean, what I heard was real estate lawyers, uh, some of these kind of like professional services kind of businesses.

Um, Can you share a little bit about, you know, what are the, some of the unique challenges that these kind of professors have and, and how, how do you specifically help them? Like what, what separates you from like any other marketing agency that would be helping these 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: businesses? Yeah. Another, another great question.

I think, I think there’s a couple things. So when you talk about like the financial markets and the healthcare markets, You’ve got a lot more red tape just in terms of what you can and cannot advertise, at least through paid media channels. So I think having an understanding of how to navigate those channels or how to supplement additional services like SEO content, writing with those paid strategies, knowing that it is a little bit more difficult or there are restrictions in terms of what you can and cannot target.

Um, so I think having that experience definitely allows us to get things up and running quicker and obviously be able to anticipate. Uh, challenges and problems that may arise with particular campaigns. So I think that’s the first piece. The second is that a lot of the items that we’re selling are high ticket, high priced items.

Um, so, you know, you’re not talking about a 10 to $15 online product or even book book or anything along those lines. You know, you’re talking about somebody moving their, um, financial portfolio from one advisor to another. You’re talking about someone looking at ways to refinance their mortgage. So those are, those are much more complicated transactions.

Um, just in terms of the types of clientele that we work with, uh, recently we’re working with a lawyer in, uh, fda, FDA law, right? So, The type of content and information and the messaging that we have to put out has to be very sophisticated. Um, because the buyers that we’re trying to attract tend to be sophisticated themselves.

Um, they understand what they’re looking for. They’re doing a lot of research on this, uh, before they’re making a buy-in decision or before they’re reaching out to start the process. So I think that’s where, you know, we’re not, we don’t get blinded by. You know, the short term wins. Obviously we wanna win as quickly as we possibly can, but we also know that it is a long journey and life cycle from a marketing and sales perspective.

And so we’re trying to really lay the groundwork for not just the first couple months we’re, we’re definitely doing that and we do expect to generate success early on. We’re also looking at it like, okay, we know the further out we get from commencement, just based on the type of clientele that we’re targeting, the more success we’re gonna have, assuming that we, uh, lay the groundwork properly, um, take the time to build out proper structure of search engine optimization, keyword targeting or content creation, or creating a more sophisticated ad campaign versus Okay, we’re just gonna throw a bunch of ads out there and.

See what sticks because our product, you know, there’s very low barrier in terms of price or entry, whatever it may be. So yeah, I’d say those are, those are kind of the two lanes in terms of challenges that we deal with on a regular basis. And that kind of goes back to how our business has shifted as well, is a lot of these, uh, clients, You can’t just provide one service because that won’t generate the results that they’re looking for.

You need, you know, the top of the funnel strategy. You need mid-funnel, you need bottom of the funnel. Um, and you need to ensure that you’re helping support, uh, their marketing initiatives across that entire customer lifecycle. Definitely. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Um, what are you excited about in digital marketing and advertising right now?

Um, like what is working well for clients? What are some of the challenges? And I’m asking this really in the context of, you know, there’s a lot of new things going on in marketing, advertising. Mm-hmm. I mean, you know, Facebook, a few years ago, Facebook ads, Google ads, you know, they used to work really well, Instagram ads.

But now you have all these new AI technologies coming in and, and also, you know, The algorithm changes and everything. Right. It seems like the landscape keeps on changing quite a bit. Yeah. Um, can you share a little bit about what’s going on? What are you, what is working right now for clients and what’s, what’s becoming more and more challenging?

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Yeah, good question. I think what’s becoming more challenging is that there’s so much more noise. So, you know, with ai, um, with just general efficiencies improving, you know, people are able to produce a lot more, a lot quicker. And so what that does is it just creates, uh, more consumption at faster rates.

But what we tend to also see is with that, the quality of consumption tends to decrease, like you’re saying, right? In terms of there’s been a lot of struggle with, Hey, how effective are Facebook ads, Instagram ads? Do we need to consider other channels? So that piece of the puzzle is actually exciting us from an agency standpoint, because I think it’s.

It’s kind of coming full circle in that the high quality marketing and advertising is effective and it’s always been effective. But I think even more so now, you know, the firms and agencies that really do spend the time to understand the market, understand the clientele, the customers, uh, strategically craft.

Advertisements, copywriting, content writing, um, those are going to win because it’s gonna be so much harder for, um, that to kind of rise to the, to the top through all of this noise. And so we’re looking at it as an opportunity, like are we leveraging certain tools and AI and what of, of course, we are. Yes.

But we’re just doing it to implement it into what’s our, our already existing process that we know is effective, that we know creates high quality marketing strategies, marketing content, and it’s allowing us to do it at a faster pace, yet still maintaining those quality control. Um, and so I think what you’re seeing is you are getting.

Unfortunately, you know, the marketing space, there’s, there’s a lot of, a lot of players, there’s a lot of imposters too, cuz the barrier of entry into the space is extremely low. So I think when you are coming to the table with a well thought out, um, strategically created strategy, um, that incorporates different departments and services and, uh, those have complimentary effects on one another.

Those are the types of campaigns that are just gonna generate results at that same velocity and pace, um, because they are the highest of quality versus just producing tons of content information without really a plan and saying, oh, we can do this now because we have ai. So, Kind of kinda, you got both ends of it, right?

You’re, you’re utilizing the new technology and whatnot. That’s obviously creating problems in the sense of noise and getting attention of those individuals, but you’re still able to get the attention of those VI individuals, assuming that you have that high quality marketing plan and strategy in place.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Definitely, I think, uh, quality will always matter. I, I don’t think, 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: no. Yeah. Yeah, I think at the, I was in, I was in a meeting today and by the end of the meeting we came up with, well, what are we gonna do? We’re gonna, we’re gonna send emails, right? Like one of the, one of the oldest digital marketing and advertising strategies in the book.

But, you know, at the end of the day, it works. It’s, it’s simple, it’s straightforward, you know, if you can create compelling emails that get in front of, you know, the right individuals, it’s, it’s a great way to generate new business. Even with all these new bells, whistles, features, ad campaign, platform types, um, yeah, a lot of times it’s still a simp simplistic quality that that plays extremely well across any industry and any type of effort.

Definitely. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Um, what do you think the future looks like? You know, right now the ki kind of the model is what it’s called, I think. Inbound marketing, right? Where you have created your messaging and people are finding it on the internet, and then they click on your link and they go on your website, try to find out about your products and services.

But with the whole ai, you know, advent of ai, it seems like the, the model is shifting more towards, you are asking a question with the, these AI models or, you know, uh, systems. And you are getting a very curated, very targeted answer to that question, to, to your specific question. Um, how does that change marketing?

Like if I ask, you know, let’s say in the future, I’m, I’m thinking, you know, uh, I go to a new city and I’m, I asked a very specific question. You know, I’m looking for, um, let’s say, An Italian restaurant that is not, not too expensive, but you know, has, uh, an outdoor seating and that kinda life. You know, right now it’s, you know, I have to go on Google and, you know, I, I’ll search and I’ll have different results and I, uh, do the research and find it out.

But then in the future, it’s like the system gives me, uh, uh, the perfect answer to my question. How do you, I mean, have you, do you think about, you know, how that’s going to change how marketing works? 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Yeah, it’s, it’s definitely an interesting dynamic, obviously, and I don’t think I have the perfect answer.

Um, I think it’s really gonna boil down to how much trust are you willing to put into AI as really the end all be all. Um, and so as time goes on and these. Technologies improve. We’ll obviously see how that plays out. Uh, but I think human nature still right now is okay. Yes. I’m gonna ask, you know, chat G p t or Bard or whatever it might be, a question.

You know, I think a lot of people are still gonna be looking at, okay, well let me go, let me go. Lemme go see if that answer is what I actually think, right? Versus just being tied to this robot or this AI machine without really making my own conscious decision. And so, yes, there’s definitely been a disruption in terms of, okay, what does AI mean for search?

What does it mean for. How people consume information. And I, and I think you’re, you’re definitely gonna get those people that, okay, they put something into, um, chat, G P T and whatever it says, you know, they take it, take it as the word. But I think just from a human nature standpoint, there still is that.

Want and desire to seek out information and learn and understand. And so I think that’s where AI still doesn’t completely do that a hundred percent of the way. Um, you know, you even heard some instances where you know it’s giving out some answers that aren’t even actually true, or maybe they’re not completely 100% accurate.

And the only way for you to know that that was the case is if you did, you know, your own follow up research. And so, so I think there is still that human element that’s comes into marketing at all times, right? No matter how much technology, no matter how much automation we can do, no matter what historical data might tell us.

At the end of the day, you’re still putting information in front of a human, and that human has emotions. There’s a billion different variables in terms of what decision they might make or how they might, you know, take that next step, whatever it may be. So I think that’s where. Marketers always, yes, you, you look at, okay, what exists in the marketplace?

How can I utilize it, number one. But then two, you always have to be ready for, well, it’s a dynamic market and anything can happen at any moment. So that’s kind of the approach that I’m taking. We’re, we’re utilizing AI for sure. Right. We’re helping it from a velocity standpoint. Like I talked about, there are certain activities that, you know, we feel it can get done quicker for sure, but.

For the more in-depth detailed type stuff like I was talking about earlier, we’ve found it still still does fall flat and there still is that human element that we need to inject. Or if we are working with a brand, we need to inject that founder or or CEO’s voice into the content that at the end of the day, the AI machine is, it’ll be tough for it to do that precisely.

Or we’ll need to inject, you know, additional information to give it more context around what we’re talking about or to personalize it. So, so yeah, it’s gonna be interesting. I don’t have a perfect answer for it. Um, we’re kinda taking it, you know, day by day, um, one step at a time, like I was talking about.

That’s kind of my mindset with a lot of different things. Um, and so, but it, it, it’s fascinating for sure. And I think, I think the worst thing you can do is being ignorant to it. Right, and, and saying, all right, well, it’s not gonna affect anything. That’s, that’s not true. We, it’s already affecting things.

It’s already changing the way people do things. But I think there’s still, there’s a long story to be told in terms of, okay, how exactly will that affect marketing? Um, and I, I still go back to, you know, a lot at the end of the day, as, as just general business principles, it’s, it’s people doing business with people, right?

At the end of the day, like, Yeah, you might be able to generate a lead via a chat bot, you know, 12 email sequence that took you five minutes to create. But if you get on that call with that individual and you don’t know how to communicate, you know, you’re, you’re gonna fall short. So, um, there’s definitely still gonna be that element.

Um, but I think we need to, you know, embrace it head on, figure out ways it works for us. But remember that, you know, things are changing and they change fast more, more so now than ever. Um, and we have to adjust as, as, uh, new information presents itself. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Definitely. I think that’s the biggest variable, you know, at the end of the day.

We are humans, we have emotions. We like to do business with people, other people whom we like. And I don’t think AI is definitely going to change, change that. I mean, you know, the human nature, I don’t think that’s gonna happen. Yeah. And, 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: and to, to give some people just to, to expound on like, so things we’re using it for right now, right?

Is, uh, variable testing. It’s great. Hey, I need 10 different variations of this headline. I need 10 different variations of this description. Um, it can, it can do certain content stuff depending on the depth, right? To where, okay, if we need to create, maybe it’s like location based pages from an seo for local SEO efforts, it can pump that out.

We still need to make tweaks and adjustments, right? Um, I know on like the dev side, people have been using it for troubleshooting, you know, errors and code and different things like that, but, Yeah, those are kind of the two use cases that we’re using it for as well as, as well as presenting it with information and, and seeing what its ideas are for improvement.

Um, I think topic ideation good as well. You know, everyone runs into writers blockers kinda, you know, gets stuck. Uh, you know, get, getting out of those cobwebs can be effective. So, yeah, those are just a few ways we’re using, using AI currently. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah, definitely to, for efficiency and to get, get you started because, you know, sometimes it’s, it’s really, uh, you get start in a place.

Can you share a little bit about your team? What, what does your team look like? Uh, cause you know, an agency is, is a team and 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Yeah, so, so we really saw all of our growth, um, post pandemic. Um, so March of 2020, that’s when, yeah. I mean, even. Three, four years later, after starting, we were still kind of in that spinning our tires and wheels and we were doing better, right?

But it was still more freelance. We had some, uh, contractors, partners, um, that we would leverage, but we just didn’t have any consistency in terms of project flow or, uh, ongoing retainer based clients. So it was difficult. Um, and so 2020 rolled around. Um, we had one employee at that time. And my business partners and I, we kind of looked at it, you know, Hey, we, we can go one of two directions.

Either we can kind of continue what we’ve been doing, which to that ex at that point in time, work was working okay, wasn’t great, wasn’t where really any of us wanted the business to be. Or, um, you know, in adversity you can, you can get more aggressive. And so I have a mentor of mine. I, um, I was in high school at the time, but I asked him about, you know, 20 2007, 2008, Financial crisis, and he’s a financial advisor.

And I, I asked him, I said, you know what, what’d you do during that time? Because I was calling him specifically about, you know, covid and everything that was happening there. We saw, we saw a pretty steep decline in 40, 45%. Like most people of our, um, our monthly revenue just wiped out within a few days. Um, and he said, you know, I, I, uh, I acted like everything was okay.

Uh, I wanted to get bigger, stronger, um, use it as an opportunity to wear, okay, when everyone’s running one direction, I’m gonna run the other. So we really took that to heart. And so what we did is, um, we made another hire for, you know, where I was getting a little stretched thin. We increased ad advertising budgets.

We in increased content output in terms of how much content we were creating. And so, um, we saw fast growth from 2020. And I mean, we’re still in that sprint through today. And so building out our agency, um, we’ve built everything remotely. Um, so we have an office here in Orange County. Uh, myself, my brother, we have one other individual salesperson that’s in Southern California.

Um, but the rest of our team is remote across the globe. Um, so yeah, we have 20 employees across, uh, eight, either eight or nine different countries, uh, south America, Asia, uh, Africa. We have content writers there. Um, Eastern Europe, uh, from a dev standpoint. So it really opened our mind in that, hey, there’s new ways of building businesses.

You don’t need to only hire people in your own backyard. There’s tons of incredible talent everywhere. Um, and not only that, but we didn’t really have, it was a great opportunity because it wasn’t like we could go meet them in an office or go to lunch and do the interview. Everything is obviously, as we’re communicating now.

Um, and I think that has allowed us to, um, one, become a more well-rounded agency. We get perspectives and, um, ideas from people with many different experiences across the globe. Um, we’re able to provide much more value, um, to our clients. Just in terms of the nature of our business model. You know, we don’t have huge overhead costs.

We don’t have huge offices. We’re able to move quickly, um, and efficiently, and that that value is passed directly through the offerings that we provide. And I think you’d, you’d be hard pressed to find, um, other groups. Not that they’re not out there, they are, that can provide as much value, um, underneath one roof that we can provide from web design, web development.

Uh, technical SEO experts, content SEO experts. Uh, we do paid media search, social programmatics, uh, social media, content creation, graphic design, um, and, and it’s all our team, which allows us to move quicker. Communication with clients is better. Um, and so yeah, it’s been. Uh, very fortunate. I’d say obviously the pandemic was very tumultuous time, but, you know, we saw it as an opportunity and, and, um, you know, kind of struck while the iron was hot and saw it as a great way for us to grow our business.

And, and we’ll continue with that model. Um, no one can convince me that you need to have a traditional business model in today’s day and age with the way things have progressed, especially after 2020. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah, that’s, that’s so interesting. I mean, technology has definitely made it so easy for working, uh, with a remote team.

And, uh, you all, it’s almost like, you know, it’s, it’s great for collaboration and everything and, and yet you still, um, hear news every day. You know, a business leader would make a comment that people have to come to office. To be honest, I think. 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Um, yeah, I, I don’t see the point of 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: it, but I, 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: I think when you hear that, that’s more of a reflection of the top, from the top down, right.

I think if you give your employees, regardless of where they are, um, one, the ability to the trust, um, the accountability, and then three, the tools to operate it can, they can work anywhere and so, We’ve never had an issue in terms of, from a performance standpoint because, you know, we almost have a better pulse on everything because of the technology that we’re leveraging and the communication that we have.

Um, you know, from Slack communication channels, from Jira project management and from. Our trust in our employees that they are going to do the work. They understand what we’re trying to accomplish. They’ve bought into, you know, our culture, which our culture is always, Hey, if you don’t know what you’re doing, just figure out a way to do something better for our clients.

Right? I mean, it’s almost. As simple as that. Um, our health is dictated by how successful our clients are, and so our team really buys into that. Um, you know, we create competition just internally in terms of everyone’s striving to, you know, produce incredible results. One after the next, after the next. And that culture has all been built remotely.

You know, we celebrate birthdays, we celebrate. Fridays on Slack channels. We’ve, you know, we have video conferencing on a monthly basis with everyone from all over. We’re sharing different cultural experiences, which is awesome. And again, it’s just, it’s a, a melting pot of ideas and information and, and different viewpoints, right?

One person sees it this way, another that way. Um, and again, that value just gets passed directly through to the clients. Um, and they’re able to see the rewards of that in the results that we’re generating. Um, and so, yeah, it’s just been a, been a fun experience. But I think, yeah, when you hear, oh, we need people in the office, it’s more, well, I don’t think you know how to instill that culture across a remote workforce.

And you don’t have the empathy or the understanding of, um, you know, where other people may be in their lives, their situations. So I think that’s something that’s allowed us to really thrive and flourish with this type of model and, and continuing with that model. So yeah, it’s been, it’s been a lot of fun.

Um, it’s created a lot of opportunity for a lot of people. Um, and, and yeah, it’s, it’s extremely rewarding as well. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: That’s, that’s, uh, really great. Um, This question is more from an entrepreneurship perspective. You know, every entrepreneurship is not easy. Every entrepreneur, you know, when, when they start, you usually have to struggle.

Usually they make mistakes. There are failures along the way. Um, in your own entrepreneurship journey, um, can you think of like, uh, a big mistake or a failure that you had to go through? Um, what was the lesson that you learned and what, uh, what is the lesson that other entrepreneurs can learn from your mistakes?

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Yeah, I think early on was saying yes too much. Um, I think a lot of people, especially when you think about, okay, I’m starting a new business, right? I can’t say no, I can’t say no to someone that wants me to do whatever it might be that they want you to do. Um, to this day, the first thing that we do when we get a new inquiry or you know, there’s a new opportunity is we vet.

For fit. And you know, if we don’t feel that that company organization, it might even be a specific individual if they don’t necessarily align or understand, you know, what we’re trying to all accomplish together as a team because hey, it’s our team with their team meshing into one, then you know, it might not be the best fit.

Or early on the issue I had was, Hey, can you do. You know, this type of website and we need this and this and this. And to be honest, we just didn’t have the capabilities. Or at the end of the day, the, the bandwidth that it would’ve required would mean that we are focusing so much time, energy, and effort on that One particular thing that we weren’t really well versed in.

It just stunted the growth across all the rest of the business. So it’s hard. It’s very hard, right? Because when you see an opportunity, you’re like, especially early on, you’re like, Hey, I’ll take revenue, I’ll take, I’ll take money anywhere I can get it. But at the same time, you gotta look at it from an opportunity cost standpoint.

And so early on, you know, like we probably took on website projects that were much, much too complicated, or maybe they were just too big in scope. To where, okay, I was spending now 90% of my day trying to, you know, figure out how to do this website configuration, whatever it might have been. And then here you are neglecting all the other areas of the business.

So, so I think that’s, that’s the biggest failure that I’ve had. Or just something that, you know, it’s okay to say no. Um, and I think people, they’ll respect you even more for that. And I mean, we’ve had instances where, hey, it wasn’t the right place or time for us as a business, but you know, hey, a a year down the road it was, and um, you know, they respect that you were honest and forthcoming early on.

Because at the end of the day, even if you do say yes and take that on, and they agree to do that work with you. It never ends up well. Right. Um, cuz either one of two things. Either you don’t spend 90% of your time on that particular project cause you want to work on other areas of the business, then the client gets frustrated.

Right. They’re like, well, why would you tell me that you could do this when, you know, either can’t do it or you can’t deliver it fast enough, whatever it may be. So, so yeah. I think the, the message there is it’s okay to say no, right? Uh, so understand what you can do, what you can’t do. Um, what bandwidth you have where, um, you may have gaps and, um, and stick to it.

And it’s tough, you know, and we still, I still get caught up in it, you know, even now you get a big fancy RFP that rolls through and yeah, let’s do all of it. And you gotta take a step back and say, Hey, um, we can do this piece of it, but not all of it. Would you be open to us just addressing that piece? And then they tell you either yes or no, and one way or the other, you know, at least you’re in a better position.

You know, than you were before. So yeah, I’d say, I’d say that’s the biggest, biggest piece 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: for me. Yeah, I mean, it’s a, it’s a delicate balance, right? At least especially as you said in the beginning when, you know, if you’re a new business owner and you’re looking for that business, you’re looking for that money to come in.

Um, and, and even if it’s not a great fit, you end up saying yes because you know you want that, uh, uh, that money to. To, to keep you. Uh, now we’re move our rapid fire segment, and in this segment I’m going ask you few quick questions

recommend for business professionals in 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: 2020 and why? Yeah, exactly. What to say. Uh, by Phil Jones, it’s a book about sales, copywriting, and language. And the smallest tweak to what you say and how you say it can create the biggest, most incredible results. Wow. Okay. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Very interesting. An innovative product or idea that you currently 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: feel excited about?

Oh gosh. Um, we are actually, not to say too much, but we are working on a tool leveraging AI that I think will, uh, dramatically change and improve our client offering. Okay. Um, can’t say too much yet. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Ok. So you don’t want to say whether 

it’s 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: an seo? I, I, I can’t, I can’t say anything more than that right now.

Yeah. Okay. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Uh, a business or productivity tool or software that you would recommend or a productivity tip? I know you mentioned et Yeah. 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Slack. Yeah, slack’s. Slack’s my favorite, right? I mean, even if I’m out from the office, I’m not, I can be. You know, looking at channels and have a pulse on everything that’s going on within the business.

Definitely. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Um, a startup or business that you think is currently doing great things? 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Startup or business Currently doing great things. Um, this is gonna be personal, but kinta. We use them for all of our hosting, uh, for our clients. They’re a remote team all over and they provide the best customer service and the best product bar none when it comes to web hosting.

Kinta. Okay. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yes. A peer entrepreneur or business person whom you look up to or someone who inspires you? 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Uh, that’s personal. My dad, um, my dad wasn’t an entrepreneur, but was a business person. And, um, just his day-to-day, uh, mentality and growth. Uh, guy started, he’s in wasted recycling. Sorry, this is more than a sentence, but, uh, he started driving trash trucks and he worked his way up and became the president of a, I think they were like 400, 500 million company over 30 years.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Wow. Very nice. You know, somebody was saying, I remember, um, uh, that everybody says that, you know, you should do or get into, uh, things that you’re passionate about, but, uh, I think it was, I’m forgetting the per name of that person, but he said, first you, um, First you, first you learn something like even if it’s, you know, this, doing something like, you know, picking up trash and you, you really become great at that.

And then, you know, the, the, the better you are at it, that brings passion 

into 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: the work. Yeah, and I mean, the one thing he always would tell me was his ability to relate, you know, to those guys that at the end of the day were driving trucks, picking up the trash because. He, he did that at one point, right?

So, um, as he progressed and got into the executive roles, he could relate with, you know, anyone within the organization because he was once in their shoes. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Definitely. Final question, best business advice you ever received or you would give to other entrepreneurs? 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Uh, the guy that reached out to me that kind of gave me that light bulb moment is a mentor of mine and I’d say it’s both business and life advice.

Um, he’s always been a mentor to me and he said, you owe me absolutely nothing, but just ensured that when someone comes and asks you for help, um, that can’t offer you anything, uh, you do all you can to help them. And so I think I’ve always taken that to heart and, um, it’s kept me open-minded and always willing to have conversations with anybody no matter who they may be.

Um, because I think building that network and offering to help and provide support for others that used to be in your shoes is just invaluable. And I truly believe that it, that it ends up coming full circle. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: That’s a, that’s a great advice. And I think, uh, Um, very, very valuable for all entrepreneurs because, uh, without the network, without getting to know other people.

And without, without helping others, I think, I think, uh, you can’t really succeed as an, as an entrepreneur, so, exactly. Great, great advice. Well, Robb, those were all the questions that I had. Really, really appreciate your time today. Thank you for sharing a little bit about your story, about your business, the, the product, the services that you offer, how you help, uh, other businesses, and, uh, yeah.

Thank you so much again for, for your time today and, uh, wish you all the very best, uh, in your business. 

Robb Fahrion of Flying V Group: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. It’s an absolute pleasure to be on. Um, and yeah, uh, I just really appreciate your time. Likewise. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Thank you so much.