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Today's Business (yes, that's the name) finds a niche [NJBIZ (NJ)](NJBIZ (NJ) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Old-school service is a key to growth for digital marketing firm Even with the more than 20 employees Today's Business has, its trio of 26-year-old founders still handle 99 percent of the business development. Considering that, the geographic diversity of the digital marketing company's client portfolio - ranging from Edible Arrangements in Ohio to the Cleveland Cavaliers - speaks to just how far they're willing to go for the business. Tom Ottaiano, CEO; Billy Ash, chief digital officer; and Chaz Cervino, chief communications officer, have traveled the country - visiting trade shows and prospective clients - to the benefit of the Pine Brook-based firm. What started two and a half years ago as a $15,000 investment has become a $2 million company. Aside from big names like the Cavaliers, the roster of Today's Business clients includes at least 70 other companies - spanning the sports, medical, food distribution and real estate industries. Today's Business does social media monitoring and optimization for these clients, partly encompassed by its Web-based platform that provides up-todate analytics. "Our clients can log in and view all of their stats from our platform at any time, and email us to ask what's going on if they have questions," Ash said. "That's usually not what's going on (with competitors) in the digital landscape. "If you don't know what goes into the work, how do you know what to pay for it? We like to educate clients on exactly what we're doing and how many hours it takes us, so they know the value of it." Ottaiano added that the differentiation of his company - which also offers pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization and many of the same Web marketing tools as competitors - comes from not getting back to clients in two weeks, but in two hours. "There's nobody who is going to outwork us," he said. "And that comes from our sports background." Ottaiano and Cervino met through the football program at Long Island's Hofstra University. Ottaiano actually went on to play in the NFL for a short time, including with the New York Jets. So that explains the connections they forged with sports-related clients such as the Cavaliers. But how did this young trio secure a position as one of the most prominent digital marketing companies in the far-ff om-sportsrelated sector of real estate? "What we started to notice as we evolved our business is that we had to get ourselves involved in markets that weren't too heavily exposed to the digital areas," Ottaiano said. Sports clients knew how to reach fans through the Web; they just wanted to do more of it. But real estate clients needed some direction in social media efforts, which Today's Business was more than willing to facilitate. "We changed the game in a way," Ottaiano said. "We've added a concierge-type service for our clients, where we actually provide them one person that will handle (all of their options)." Ottaiano added that when Today's Business got started, it still had to convince some clients that having a strong social media presence was important. But the company's leaders agree thatthe timeshave changed. "(Now) we have to work to always be on the forefront of what's next," Cervino said. "Staying innovative is the hardest thing to do in this field. It's an ever-changing market." The biz in brief NAME: Today's Business LOCATION: Pine Brook CEO: Tom Ottaiano REVENUE: About $2 million EMPLOYEES: More than 20 ONE MORE THING: The CCO's basement, the CEO's kitchen table, a puny space above a Livingston restaurant and an 11,000-squarefoot Fairfield office all served as short-term headquarters for the company. E-mail to: [email protected] On Twitter: @reporterbrett (c) 2014 Journal Publications Inc. |