This is a part of a special series looking at how social media has impacted the lives of its users. This week, the story comes from Randy Milanovic.
It was 2009. The world was being thrown into a ‘downturn’, and my visual?communications?firm was starting to feel it. I was focused on my work and burning the candle at both ends.
That was of course, until I was admitted to emergency and received a stage IV cancer diagnosis. My doctors advised me to get my will in order.
10 days later I’d lost 60lbs, was skeletal, and struggled to remain conscious while suffering from excruciating pain.
On that 10th day, a man I’d recently met through my business visited me in hospital. As I lay in my hospital bed, he pulled up a chair next to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
Almost immediately I felt heat – as if he’d put a hot water bottle on it. He sat with his hand on my shoulder for what I imagined was around 6 hours. The heat steady and strong.
Each time I moved or tried to mumble a few words, he advised me to lay still and keep quiet. He said he was giving me energy.
While he sat there, I felt my mind drift?uncomfortably?downward. At roughly half way, very deep down, the pain disappeared.
For the first time since being admitted to emergency my mind?cleared – became sharp almost – and everything was silent.
I heard a voice ? my own ? boom into that silence,?“I haven’t accomplished enough yet.?
I agreed, and with that I began to drift back upwards. Back into the pain and into a battle for my life.
The Steps to Recovery
Upon surfacing, my visitor abruptly lifted his hand and matter-of-factly stated,??Well I?m done. I?d better get back and help my wife with the renovation.”
Many long months of chemotherapy, anti-bug cold rooms, and endless hours spent staring at the second hand of the clock on the wall, I was released from hospital.
Emaciated from my battle, with not enough strength to climb the stairs to my bedroom, I spent day and night on a recliner in my living room while my family tended to me, fed me, helped me to the washroom, kept the fevers cool and the room warm.
And I got a new puppy who would climb up and wrap himself over my shoulders, keeping my neck?delightfully?warm.
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With time, I became strong enough to leave the recliner. Using my mobile?phone, I studied. I was determined to return to work wiser (forever an entrepreneur) and rebuild by communications business.
Over the next 18 months, I improved my strength, continued to expand my knowledge of all things on the web, and began planning to make something of the new opportunity I had promised myself.
Not a gym-goer, I sought out alternate exercise options. Sure I could walk and even hike, which was a good start to?improving my health, while unfortunately doing almost nothing for my upper body fitness.
Being on the water in canoes and kayaks as a youth in BC, it wasn’t long before I eyed and purchased a pair of kayaks. Yes, a pair. I would encourage others to join me.
To this day, I extend invitations to family, colleagues, neighbours and even strangers to join me for a paddle. When on the water, I find we are all filled with peace and calm, and it is an incredible way to?recharge.
Life and New Beginnings
In late 2010, I was able to return to work, a few hours at first. My colleague and I?went door to door to generate new?business. We won enough work to stabilize.
That new work paid the bills but didn?t change anything. I didn?t see anything in those projects that would present opportunities to accomplish??more?, as had motivated me to survive the Cancer.
What would change things I believed, was a concept that was swirling around in my mind. One of how I might combine my twitter?account with my portfolio and blogging to attract new clients.
I then happened by a Forrester study that talked about Paid, Owned and Earned media.
And everything clicked.
I would focus on attracting new business in a downturn, simply by sharing knowledge.
A Google Adwords coupon arrived in the mail. A $20 crutch I felt I needed. I beefed up my website, started tweeting, and wrote about the new?business we?d recently earned via my blog.
A week or so later, we earned $12,000 in new business, for a return on my $20 investment of roughly 600x.
Along with that return came a realization that the Adwords weren’t needed.
Simultaneously aware of the unsellable position I’d put my small?communications?business in by making it about??me’, on the strength of?our initial Inbound success, I made the difficult decision to close my now 13-year old visual?communications?firm, and open Kayak Creative Services Inc. (KAYAK).
I then reinvested the $12,000 in a new hire, started writing content, eliminated Adwords, and very quickly earned close to $300,000 all entirely Inbound, this time generating roughly 25x my initial investment.
Refining the Model for Business and Life
We?d managed to institute an improved business model that included service and education along with projects over a term, eliminating the feast and?famine rollercoaster traditionally associated with creative businesses.
Central to the taming of the roller-coaster was the decision?to?engage and empower our clients to collaboratively work alongside us.
In effect, turning the traditional agency model of project-based services for a fee, into one of true ongoing collaboration where clients participate in all efforts, from content creation, to search optimization, and social engagement, through to campaign deployment.
Truthfully, the model hasn?t been a win for every client, though the vast majority have gone on to attract new?business generating millions of dollars in new business.
In late 2011, I was introduced to HubSpot?via?an article I came across. The company’s co-founders, having coined the term??Inbound”, had?developed a methodology that expanded my understanding of the concept.
I was an instant fan, consuming their material?voraciously.
At the same time, I began telling people about my online journey, convinced that SEO and content were merging, and in 2013, wrote my first book??Findability: Why Search Engine Optimization is Dying + 21 New Rules of Content Marketing?, which was the subject of a very complimentary article on?Forbes.com?by Jason DeMers.
Three months later, Google released their Hummingbird?algorithm, revealing that I?d been perfectly correct in my insights on the subject.
The book briefly saw position number one in Amazon’s Canadian and US stores, number 3 in Japan, and is currently available in a dozen languages via Kindle.
Past, Present, Future and Beyond
KAYAK was nominated for the 2013 Calgary Chamber of Commerce Small Business Awards, in both Breakout Business and Small Business of the Year categories.
We went on to become a finalist for both receiving coverage by the Calgary Herald, Financial Post, Rogers Media, Ottawa Citizen, and?numerous smaller media outlets.
Following that, I?ve gone on to write hundreds of articles on topics surrounding?marketing, business, social, seo, and creating premium lead capture websites that help our clients open real opportunities for business growth, believing in a give-and-you-shall-receive philosophy.
Now?three and a half years on, as a HubSpot Partner Agency, KAYAK is focused on a lead?generation, content marketing, and search optimization niche.
We’ve swiftly risen from unknown – passing local competitors – to become an internationally-recognized player in our field, attracting business from across North America and beyond.
More recently, I was nominated by E&Y for their Entrepreneur of the Year honours. (We’ll have to wait for October to know how far I make it.)
The next time I face my maker, I’m determined to look back over the wide range of successful ventures, careers launched and paddles enjoyed, thankful for my second chance and knowing I made the most of it.
And, if?you’re curious about my hospital room visitor, I did manage to corner him one day many months later. He offered this explanation to my pestering,?“Somebody did it for me.”
About the author:?Randy Milanovic is an entrepreneur, marketer, author, and blogger of online marketing, SEO & social engagement topics. ?He’s a stage IV Cancer Survivor, Social Media Today contributor, and advocate for client empowerment.
You can read more from Randy over at KAYAK, or connect with him on Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.