Today we’d like to introduce you to Marc Apple.
Marc, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have always been a marketer. In high school, I started a monthly music and lifestyle magazine that featured interviews with the biggest bands of the day as well as keeping track with what was happening with the exploding and so to be mainstream skateboard scene.
My love of music led to me Atlanta where I worked for a major record label and various radio stations including 99X and 96 Rock, always in the marketing and promotion departments.
While in between radio jobs, I traveled the country spending my days in coffee houses talking to people about their work experiences and sharing mine. These conversations turned into a book about my time in the radio and record industry and how marketing could be used to influence sales.
My success in the Atlanta market was duplicated in other cities I worked in after leaving Atlanta including Colorado, Washington State, and California.
As a Marketing Director, I would come into contact with many small businesses that wanted to promote their services on the radio but couldn’t afford the opportunity. This always struck me as “unfair” and I decided to do something about it.
Forward Push was started in the San Francisco Bay Area with the mission of helping small businesses navigate the ever-changing internet. By that, I mean that I believe any small business should have the opportunity to compete against the bigger companies in their chosen profession. We bring a wall street way of thinking to the main street.
What started as working exclusively with California clients has expanded to clients all over the country. Not only through our teams in place in Nashville and now our home base in Atlanta, but through a dedicated plan of reaching as many small business owners across the country when they search online for marketing help.
My days are spent running the agency which means something different every day. The majority of my time in the office is spent talking to clients and others that want to work with us about their goals and how they can use digital marketing to reach them. I also spend a fair amount of time speaking with other local Atlanta creatives about what they are doing to help small businesses, learning about new technologies and ways that they are being used, and doing public speaking engagements.
Before launching Forward Push, I worked for some of the world’s biggest companies: Starbucks, CBS Radio, Clear Channel Radio, and more. In addition, I have spent a lifetime championing progressive solutions and creative problem solving, from the nationally distributed music and lifestyle magazine I started in high school to the success of my book (You Talkin To Me?: Thoughts and Observations on Marketing and Promotion) to my role as Vice President of Strategic Marketing for the American Marketing Association’s San Francisco chapter.
Through it all, my core values of hard work and thoughtful planning have remained constant — values that continue to resonate across the spectrum of businesses around the world.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Due to the nature of digital marketing, the biggest daily challenge is the ever-changing landscape of what works, what doesn’t work, and what’s new. When the agency stated, the biggest social media channel was MySpace and businesses were using email as their primary way to reach their customers. Now it’s Facebook and text messaging or chats.
This high-speed pace of change means I am constantly spending my time reading about new marketing solutions, talking to companies, and sitting in front of my computer participating in webinars and demos.
Please tell us about Forward Push.
Forward Push is a marketing agency that specializes in helping small businesses market their product and services.
We believe that a small business should not participate in marketing their business because they feel like they can’t compete or even worse feel like they can’t afford it. In both cases, they can. They just need someone that understands marketing and how to do it so they can spend time doing what they love – their job.
We specialize in the following marketing services:
– Website Design and Development
– Social Media Management
– Blogging
– Email Newsletters
– Videos
We are known for and what sets us apart is helping small businesses find ways to exceed on the internet. I am most proud of what our clients share in testimonials about our work. “Are you frustrated with your website or lack of visitors? Does your logo need a face-lift? Do you not have time to market your product/service online yourself? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you should take the time to talk with Marc Apple, CEO of Forward Push. He and his design/content creation team (yes, you actually get a team assigned to your company) have been fantastic.
They are very responsive to concerns and questions, get projects done on time, clearly understand what it takes to bring traffic to websites and how to create them to attract traffic. A creative group with a lot of talent, their organization and timeliness has made my experience nothing but stress-free. Marc is also excellent at working with startups to make the process affordable and help cut costs without sacrificing quality.” – Julie Stein, owner of The Poorpreneur in Marietta.
“I am grateful to have met Marc with Forward Push to update my website. I was not satisfied with my previous designer, Marc was prompt, very knowledgeable and most importantly, was there to answer any questions and concerns I had.” – Jeff Sidor, owner of Lily’s Cleaning in Austell.
“My website wasn’t working for me. While it looked fine, it wasn’t generating the business I thought it should. After speaking with Marc of Forward Push, he explained to me what the site was lacking and how he and his team would use the principals of inbound marketing to make it a success.
My new website now has videos of me explaining what I do, it tells a story to the reader of how I can help them, and it allows prospective clients an opportunity to contact me with one click. I couldn’t be happier with my new website and the marketing strategy we have in place for my small business.” Amy Kelley, owner of The Insurance Nana in Marietta.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have joined and participated in networking groups such as BNI earlier in my career. It has been a great way to learn from other local business owners about what they do and how they do their jobs.
Contact Info:
- Website: ForwardPush.com
- Phone: 678-310-5062
- Email: marc@forwardpush.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forwardpush/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forwardpush/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/forwardpush
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/forward-push-atlanta
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/c/ForwardPushSanFrancisco
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
