Apex Marketing & Design - Ad Agency, Marketing Consulting, SEO Services

Van Rowell

Owner/SEO Expert/Marketing Consultant

A Formal Background & History Of Apex Marketing & Design

Apex Marketing & Design is a full-service ad agency and marketing consultancy firm that specializes in helping small businesses identify and execute steps to grow their businesses and profits.

Exceptional industry knowledge, personal service and excellence are what set us apart from our competition.  Working relationships with various vendors and industry experts have been established to ensure the highest level of results are delivered in every area of service we provide.

As founder, my expertise has been focused on the Marketing, Advertising, Sales & Graphic Design arenas for over 15 years.  I have owned several successful small business ventures in partnership with my wife during that time and also gained valuable experience working in a large corporate environment as well.

I have experience and expertise in nearly every facet of the marketing industry including but not limited to advertising design, layout and implementation; promotion design, layout and implementation; public relations; web design; corporate image and logo design; direct mail; direct marketing; Internet marketing and search engine optimization; media buys and flight planning; marketing research, planning and consulting; corporate wear, specialty items and much more.

I reside in Florence, South Carolina with my beautiful wife Tracy. We have 2 sons (Rocky & Ace) and a third (Levi) due in December ‘09!

Since beginning in January of 2005, my company has worked with over 50 clients.  Some of which are listed on the site.  Read on for a quick story of how Apex Marketing & Design got its start.

Turning Setbacks Into Stepping Stones – Part I

In late 2004, I left my position as the full-time Marketing Director of a community bank in Florence, S.C. and accepted what seemed to be a better opportunity as the Director of Business Development for a mortgage brokering firm based in Charleston, S.C.  The plan was for me to open a branch in Florence and detail the development process so we could then duplicate it and open subsequent offices around the state of South Carolina.  The owner agreed to match my current salary plus additional commissions based on the entire operation’s production so I accepted what seemed to be a promising and lucrative offer. 

Little did I know the owner was a man of no integrity and after 6 short weeks – just as I was about to finalize leasing office space, setting up utilities and etc., the checks quit coming.  This immediately set off red flags and I started to panic when I remembered that I had failed to follow up and secure a signed contract outlining the promises he has made.  I did mention it a week or so earlier and he reassured me his lawyer was still reviewing it so I left it alone and forgot about it.

Life Lesson #8,991 – Always, Always, Always Get A Signed Contract FIRST
– no matter who you’re dealing with!

After 8 weeks had transpired he was suddenly never “available” to accept my calls and unwilling to meet in person so I knew I was in the middle of a “train wreck”!  Although I left the bank on great terms and burned no bridges, it was too late to go back so I found myself with no income, past due bills and no promising alternatives to look forward to.  That was not a good feeling considering we had just bought a new home and had our first son only 2 years earlier.

I’m a faithful believer in Jesus Christ and knew I should place my trust in Him - especially since He has proven Himself faithful to me too many times to count!  But the reality is that I found myself pretty terrified about the whole situation.  I ended up calling a good business friend in California (who is also a faithful believer) to vent my frustration and ask for advice.  Little did I know it would turn out to be a life altering call…

To my surprise, he insisted on sending me a check to cover all the income I had lost and catch my current bills up to date.  On top of that, he told me how he had recently started a business as a marketing consultant and encouraged me that I could easily set up the same type of business for myself.

He offered to send me all of his contracts for me to model along with some training materials that he knew would help me get things set up quickly & correctly.  I never would have attempted to venture out on my own and start such a business had it not been for his encouragement, belief in me and advice.  He reassured me that I did in fact already have the knowledge and experience necessary to make it happen.  My beautiful wife Tracy agreed and nurtured the seed my friend had planted in my mind by continuing to build me up, encourage me and offer any support she could.

So, armed with my friend’s advice and the complete support of my beautiful wife Tracy (along with votes of confidence from other close friends and family members), I officially founded Apex Marketing & Design in January of 2005.  Within 3 months, I had my first full-time retainer client (who is still my best client today) and a new chapter in my life was started!

Looking back, I can easily see how God completely provided and cared for me and my family in what seemed like devastating circumstances.  He used a true friend to sow multiple blessings into my family’s life and just like always, proved Himself faithful once again!  Thank you Tracy, Rod S. and most of all, Thank You Jesus!

Turning Setbacks Into Stepping Stones – Part II

As the economy started to affect more and more local businesses near the end of 2008, my client list started to diminish from companies either going out of business or forced to cut back on marketing.  As a marketing expert, scaling back your marketing efforts during a down economy is actually the opposite of what I would recommend; I realized some businesses simply had no other choice once their cash flow started to diminish.  I was aware of the changes but it hadn’t affected my business too much so I wasn’t overly concerned until April of 2009.  My company took a hard hit and I suddenly lost enough clients to erase over half my company’s monthly revenue.  Once again, I found myself in economic uncertainty.

Life Lesson #9,248 – Always prepare for winter while it’s still summer.  In other words, make sure you prepare for possible tough economic times while things are going great and profits are solid.  You never know what’s around the corner!  God even gave squirrels enough wisdom to practice this lesson so why do we think we are immune?!

To stay in business myself, I realized I quickly needed to find some new clients.  However, because of the down economy, finding new clients was nearly impossible even though business owners openly admitted they needed more effective ways to reach new customers and bring in more profits.

This forced me to look hard at every angle for some glimmer of hope.  I knew businesses were in desperate need of reaching new customers, but at the same time they were hesitant to invest in the usual marketing tactics they had used for years that suddenly weren’t returning the payoff they were looking for.  On the surface it looked like an impossible “Catch 22”, but in reality it was a tremendous opportunity waiting to be filled.

I realized one of the keys would be to find a service that nobody else was offering so I could corner the market so to speak.  Another key is that this “new” service would need to provide tremendous benefit and return to the client for their investment since no one was willing to gamble on traditional marketing even though they needed new customers and profits. 

When it comes to my business, I do all I can to stay on top so I’m always investing in my knowledge of various aspects of the marketing industry.  One evening while studying some newly released search engine optimization techniques, the “light” suddenly came on. 

SEO or search engine optimization was a proven way to drive free traffic to websites and increase sales when implemented correctly.  Thousands of businesses have used it for years to dominate certain mainstream markets online.  When it came to local businesses though, hardly anyone was taking advantage of this powerful marketing tool!

I had been offering professional SEO Services and Consulting on a very limited basis since 2007 but only had a handful of clients who were set up to sell on a national level.  In all this time, it never occurred to me that it could also benefit businesses at the local and state level as well.  I did some more research and also consulted with some other SEO experts who had already implemented local SEO services successfully for their clients.  What I learned amazed me!

They were helping their clients bring in masses of new leads & customers at the local and state level and in some cases doubling current sales or more!  I was already an expert level SEO specialist and knew everything necessary to implement successful campaigns for clients but I was missing some specialized and pretty expensive software to be able to start providing local SEO services myself.  I took a risk and got it immediately!  Now, I am one of only a few companies in the entire state of South Carolina (to my knowledge) that offer the highest level of professional and ethical SEO services available for small business, service professionals and non-profit organizations.

After conducting some initial research of feasibility and keyword search history, I can either confidently offer top search engine rankings to a company using my services or let them know that it isn’t a good fit for them or worth the investment risk at this time.  If it is a good fit and the market is ripe for the picking, a company using my services can completely dominate their market and/or area and secure top spots in the search engines for years to come!

Now more than ever, I know I can provide my clients with a higher ROI than my competition and most any other form of marketing they’ve ever used.  It’s a very rewarding feeling to be able to provide business owners as close to a “sure thing” as I’ve ever seen in my 15 years in marketing – especially when they need it most!

If you want to see the potential for your market and/or your area, contact me today.  Once you see the possible profit potential available for the taking, I know you’ll be just as excited as I am to help you beat your competition to it!

Sincerely,

Van Rowell

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843-260-7336