Bringing you the best stories from Columbus business owners, cbuzz is presented by the Columbus Chamber in collaboration with the Columbus Dispatch and CD1025. Our host, local comedian Dan Swartwout, talks with entrepreneurs every other week in Columbus’ first business-focused podcast.
Anyone can build a website, but take note: not all websites are created equal.
Achieving that top spot in Google’s search display doesn’t happen with dumb luck – it takes a very different skills set, something that very few people have.
At your company, you may have the go-to creative as your webmaster. Or you may have a team of marketers that oversee your online presence. What about two former Ohio State University athletes?
At m2 Marketing, that’s exactly what you have. Not a bad team to have, right?
In 2004, Ryan Miller and Meg McCabe launched m2 Marketing, a Columbus-based marketing company dedicated to developing customized, cost-effective solutions through a variety of web-based products and other traditional marketing services. After attending graduate school at Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business, McCabe and Miller launched the company with the focus you’d imagine any Division One athlete to have.
“The things that I value the most is those core elements that literally were ingrained in me while I was at Ohio State, the things like time management, commitment, teamwork, effort, intensity, responsibility, accountability…[and] I think those translate into business life,” Miller says.
Originally, m2 started off just developing websites. It didn’t take long for McCabe and Miller to realize that in order to create to best possible digital presence, it was the intangibles – specifically the relationship with the customer – that brought the crème de la crème to the top.
“If you can envision 11 years ago, most of the business we came in contact with, their core focus was maybe updating their website,” Miller says, “so we started off just developing websites, and quickly we understood that the relationship with the client was always going to be key with us. And so developing those long-lasting relationships was just integral to the growth of our business.”
M2 Marketing brings an interesting blend of art and science – the art of creative design and appeal with the science of SEO, writing code and developing websites.
“I liked that instant gratification of being able to see what I’m developing, having some artwork and design into that and being able to use the left and right side of the brain,” McCabe says.
That ability to use the left and right side is something that makes m2 Marketing such a valuable asset, Ryan expressed.
“She’s one of the only people that I’ve known that actually can compete in both those areas and has that ability to think in two different ways which most people don’t, so it’s a very special trait which Megan possesses,” Ryan says.
Despite their athletic nature, the strains of entrepreneurship can take a toll on anyone – even Megan and Ryan. What most people don’t know is that Ryan, formerly a broadcast sports journalist with WBNS-10TV, is used to long hours. For Meg and him alike, the drive to succeed is matched only by the feeling of satisfaction from m2’s clients.
“It’s like scoring a touchdown,” Miller says “and when the client sees this that you’ve produced, there’s a euphoric moment for everyone involved on the team, so that’s what we try to do.”
Overall, the relationship couldn’t have formulated in a more encouraging way for Miller and McCabe, and it continues that way going forward.
“I say, well the way it works for me and Megan is, I let her make all the small decisions and I make the really, really big decisions. And so we’ve been in business for 11 years and we haven’t had a big decision to make yet. So that’s how we make it work. Kind of like a good marriage.”
Podcast (cbuzz): Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
