Recently, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Kayak Online Marketing was named as a finalist for the Breakout Business Award, awarded annually by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
It's given in recognition of local businesses that have not only achieved fantastic growth within their industry or market, but are generating a bit of "buzz" around the community.
At the risk of sounding cliché, we'll have to admit that it's a huge honor just to be put up for nomination. After all, hundreds of companies start up in Alberta every year, and the Internet marketing and creative services industry is one that isn't just crowded, but also incredibly competitive. To have so many of our clients and peers recognize that we are working hard and trying to distinguish ourselves really means a lot.
The award won't be given for a few weeks, since it's based on online voting, which is still open. But, we are hoping that Kayak has a fighting chance of coming away with the win – and either way, we feel extremely grateful to have even made it this far.
Why Our Business Made The Cut as a Finalist
In their profile of our company, the team at Small Business Week Calgary indicated that they decided to highlight our firm for a few different reasons, including:
Our incredible back story.
If you don't know where our business comes from, you might be surprised to find that the inspiration for Kayak can be found in a period of reflection that I undertook while battling stage IV cancer and the dramatic economic downturn simultaneously. I realized that I wasn't happy about where the online marketing industry was going, and that there was room for a company that would take a different, more client-centered approach. I can't think of a better way to have spent my recovery time than taking on this challenge and then refining it with the help of my team.
The success we've already gotten for ourselves, and our clients.
Although starting from next to nothing always leaves room for improvement, the fact that we've grown our revenue nearly 25 times in just two years says volumes about our work and our reputation – as does the average 600% increase in new leads that our clients have experienced. What's more, we know our best work is still to come!
A different way of seeing our industry.
The way most website designers, ad agencies and online marketing firms work is based on an old advertising agency model, where clients see mock-ups, get wined and dined, and then invoiced without any real thought to working through business-challenges together. Our approach is almost completely opposite to that. We build websites and marketing systems that generate new business leads from the web, and our only focus is on helping our clients get better bottom-line results.
Our commitment to ethical business practices.
Without putting too fine a point on it, we have seen firsthand that there are still a lot of snake oil salesmen around in the digital age, promising things like top search engine rankings and an instant social media following that they can't deliver on, at least ethically. One of our goals is to stamp these bad ideas out of the market, even if it means turning down work with companies that simply don't get that doing it right is the only way to succeed.
How You Can Get Involved
We couldn't have even made it this far in the award process without the help of all of our clients and friends, and we feel deep and sincere gratitude to every one of you for helping us see our vision through – being a finalist represents your success as much as ours.
*Update* Thank you for everyone who got involved and voted for Kayak. We look forward to growing together even more successfully in the years to come!
