In this episode we have Charles Anderson. Charles was introduced to firearms when he lost a bet. True story. Then, in 2012, he started a personal blog to document his growing interest in firearms, which became the catalyst for the creation of GAT. Blending his love of firearms with his 20 years of experience in business development and venture capital experience, Charles officially founded GAT Marketing in 2014.

Leveraging his specialties in rebranding and evolving technologies, Charles grew GAT Marketing into the industry-embedded, full-service marketing agency it is today. Along the way, he took care to expand and balance his team to include professionals with differing viewpoints and levels of experience.

Charles, originally from New York, moved to Detroit in 2001, where he now lives with his sons Parker and Logan. As a member of the competitive shooting team “Team Tuff” and avid student, he attends and sponsors matches and courses regularly. He is involved in national and local trade events, at writers’ summits, and as a panel speaker for digital advertising events.

In this episode we discuss:

• Learning from his father’s business failure and having fear in starting a business because of it [5:13]
• What made him keep going in spite of failing in business multiple times [7:21]
• His journey to starting GAT Marketing and how he grew a following by blogging his interest in firearms [9:15]
• Why they help companies sell their products/services and not create/sell a product themselves [16:04]
• Assessing a company’s website and marketing strategy [17:25]
• Type of companies they work with [20:11]
• Advice for people trying to do their own digital marketing [23:00]
• Collecting customer leads when you have a physical store and how to convince people to give you their contact info [26:23]
• Best ways to get in touch [32:10]

Links to sources and tools

• Connect with GAT Marketing and Charles Anderson on LinkedIn:
• Personal LinkedIn: Http://www.linkedin.com/in/gatmarketing/
• Company LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/gat-marketing/
• Visit https://gatmarketing.com/ to learn more about their services

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