Today we’d like to introduce you to James Butterworth.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Studio III Marketing started in a small office in Beverly Hills in 2011, when a cosmetic dentist and a marketing guru partnered up to create a marketing company that could produce real results. They began to gather professionals from all walks of life to create a different type of company – focused more on results than buzz words or promises.
I was involved from the beginning of the company, initially in a consultation role. Some of the main principles of the company had started another venture called MedFax, https://medfax.com/corp/homepage (a multi-million dollar start-up based out of Montrose, CA), which rapidly has grown into a national player in the Medical Insurance Data Verification vertical.
There was a need for leadership in Studio III about 3-4 years ago, and having been involved from the beginning, I took on the role of Chief Operating Officer, and shortly thereafter, Chief Executive Officer.
Since that time, we have gone from 12 employees to 35, moved to much larger offices, taken on clients all across the United States, and have continued to grow, while never losing sight of what made our company different from the rest: quality, reliability, integrity.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Of course not, I don’t think anyone that has built a company from the bottom up would ever say that it was easy.
One of the biggest struggles was finding the right people. Looking for people that are honest, that treat their work with pride, that are constantly striving to improve their process – those people aren’t always easy to find. But we have had success in finding those people and we have never lost sight of the fact that this company isn’t carried on the backs of a few at the top – we rely completely on every single member of the team to pull their weight, which they do, and I am thankful every day for that, because our success is really the result of their work, not mine.
To start a business without any investment dollars was harrowing to say the least, and getting the company profitable, while maintaining the type of good quality people, performance and service that is Studio III’s hallmark, is almost impossible. That took years to accomplish.
Finally, putting together a creative team capable of consistently creating amazing designed and coded websites. This was a process years in the making, including everything from getting top-notch graphic designers to finding the right web developers that could meet the rigorous quality standards we set for ourselves.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Studio III Marketing – what should we know?
We are a full service online marketing company, meaning we create websites and run campaigns to drive traffic to websites through all online channels: SEO (Google primarily), Paid Search (Google Adwords, Social Media Ads), Social Media Marketing and Email marketing. We have primarily garnered clients in medical, although we are not limited to that area by any means – we just launched a new website for a great LA Yoga Studio, Red Diamond Yoga, that you can see here: https://www.reddiamondyoga.com/
Our process includes photography and video asset creation, and our site designs typically integrate beautiful photography and video taken by our team. Some examples are here:
http://www.biomedspa.com/
https://www.theroxburyinstitute.com/
http://www.drteitelbaum.com/
http://www.neuralanalytics.com/
https://www.deltaqualityelectric.com/
The two biggest differentiators from other marketing companies that we have dealt with are 1) design and code is far superior to our competitors, and 2) consistently we out-perform competition in SEO and Paid Search campaigns, getting more and more business for our clients every quarter.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My Business Partners, Matt Bartilson and Koroush Maddahi, both deserve credit for both providing me personally with the opportunity, as well as years of advice and counsel along the way.
The company team deserves more credit than anyone else, in my own opinion. Here are the principle players:
Matt Johnson, Chief Creative Officer, Partner: MJ, as he is known, was one of the first employees of Studio III and is personally responsible for most of our original SEO and Paid Search success. Since taking on the role of Chief Creative, he has elevated Studio III’s quality of design to a whole new level. He works directly with our Art Director, Andres Cuervo and their combined effort has created a continual stream of beautifully designed websites that truly stand out.
Jesus Lizama, CTO: Responding to an Ad for Studio III on Craigslist, Jesus joined Studio III as a self-taught web developer, and we had no idea how truly lucky we were in hiring him.
Jesus has moved up the ranks to be our CTO and is currently engaged in large-scale software solutions to boost our quality and level of service. There is no one on our team as selfless and dedicated as Jesus, who has his own origin story, having crossed the border with his mother at two years of age, to being the CTO of a multi-million dollar company before 30.
Chantelle Kennedy, Chief Administrative Officer. I can’t say enough about Chantelle, who is the backbone of Studio III and who keeps the wheels moving in the right direction all the time. She manages all accounts, billing, HR, office needs, and much more.
Jamie Woodworth, Chief Operating Officer: Jamie (not to be confused with myself) is the driving force of all projects moving through Studio III. She continually is driving herself and the Studio III staff toward better quality, better service, and she is relentless in her pursuit. I rely on her completely to ensure priority projects are handled well, and service to our clients is top-notch.
Caige Moore, Chief Accounts Officer: All of our clients require face-to-face or direct communication to ensure their needs are met, their business is always growing, and we are continuing to perform at the highest possible standards. Caige was the first Accounts Manager for Studio III, and is the overall executive in charge of this area, managing all 5 of his Accounts Teams to deliver the Studio III experience to every single one of our clientele.
He takes tremendous pride in his work and his integrity to his clients’ needs is second to none. We rely on him utterly to manage our clients directly and we would not be enjoying this success without Caige and his teams.
Brandon Pearson, Business Development: While I was very wary of hiring my best friend into the company, every day that goes by it is clear that this decision was the right one. He manages the sign-up process for all new clients, establishes strategic relationships and in general, manages to charm pretty much everyone around him. I still don’t know how he pulls it off, but he has been nothing but a wonderful addition to the team, and our success is also coincident with Brandon coming on board several years ago.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1800 S Brand Blvd., Suite 301
- Website: https://www.studio3marketing.com/
- Phone: 818-696-2162
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studioiiimarketing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/studio3marketing/
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
