terri holley, ceo

Celebrating 15 years as a digital media marketer – ( I predate Twitter – wow!)

It has been 15 years since I walked away from a steady job with the federal government.  The yearning to fully utilize my skills in marketing and technology was way too strong.  As a typical entrepreneurial-type, I took a risk and jumped.  At first, it was scary, but, wow, it’s been worth every minute! I’ve met some incredible people, worked on some amazing projects, and “going to work” every day has simply been a blast!

I vividly remember the very first day in my new home office. 

I was terrified.  Hanging out a shingle and hoping for clients is not for the faint of heart.  Fortunately, shortly after establishing my business in 2007, social media began to emerge as an inexpensive and easy way to reach millions of prospective clients.  The first social tool I used was a blog.  I just happened to hear a story about blogging on NPR and thought I would give it a try.  Then came Facebook, then Twitter, and then, thankfully, my business began to grow.  And during that time, I realized I had discovered something really powerful.  Ten years later, I’ve been fortunate enough to assist hundreds of business owners to leverage the power of digital media.  Pretty incredible!

Growing a few online brands takes skills.

Along with running the day-to-day operations of Holley Creative, I own and operate two online brands. Revolution Gray, a beauty brand that caters to women over 50 began in 2007 and successfully grew from a single blog post to a global multi-channel network currently supported by thousands of online enthusiasts. The website currently receives regular mentions from national media outlets such as USA Today, The Huffington Post, AARP After 50, and Daily Finance. Good Keto Finds is my newest brand that experienced a 1000% audience growth during the first month of launch.

I am a well-seasoned, wise, and tech-savvy gal.

I have an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland at College Park (Go, TERPS!) and a graduate degree from The American University.  Like most folks around my age, today, my college degrees are worth nothing.  I spun out of “what others think I should be doing” to “what I was born to do” to start this business, and since then, I’ve led the exponential growth of three businesses.  How?

Learning how to cleverly, ingeniously, and strategically leverage digital media tools.

Over the last 15 years, there are have plenty of successes and challenges along the way.  I know what works and what doesn’t.  This saves my clients tons of time. Along with being an avid user of all the major social technologies, and an early adopter of just about every new tool that comes along, I am the producer and host of two podcasts, How to Rock Online Marketing Without Losing Your Cool and Social Media Voices, a long-running (retired) podcast that featured clients who were successful with growing their businesses by leveraging the social web. Many of the retired episodes can be heard on my current podcast.

I LOVE giving back. 

I am very passionate about giving back and helping others understand how to best use social technologies for the greater good.  My contributions include:

• Writing for Women Grow Business, recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the best marketing and social media blogs written by women.
• Serving as a subject matter expert at local and national conferences to engage in a robust conversation about social media and interactive marketing.
• Speaking at local events to discuss cyber civility and the use of social media among teens.

I have an evident track record of success.

Holley Creative and Revolution Gray are both successful due to the power of digital media marketing.  The principles I’ve used to grow my businesses are the same I use for my clients.  No loans. No grants. Just great marketing sense and the exceptional ability to leverage technology.

My collaborative partners rock.

It would be neat to say that I single-handedly handle all Holley Creative projects, but I don’t.  Holley Creative operates under the auspices of my fabulous collaborative partners, a talented, generous and smart group of graphic designers, developers, public relations pros, and branding specialists.  Autonomy coupled with collaboration lends itself to loving what we do and making our work that much better.  Check out two of my partners Tiffany Profet at By Masselyn and Susan Bishop at Unlocked Box.

Are you a startup, established business, entrepreneur, author, or mom and pop shop?  Are you looking for ways to organically build a community of enthusiasts around your brand, product or service?  The is an endless amount of opportunities at the intersection of marketing and technology. Let’s discover those opportunities together!