Interview with Patrick King - Founder of Imagine

Patrick King is the founder of  Imagine -  a leading digital marketing and branding agency from Virginia, US. Patrick started as a graphic designer when he was a teen, and is passionate about marketing and the psychology behind it. In 2004 he founded Imagine and helps both small and large businesses to connect with their audience and market. 

In this interview, we invite you to discover Patrick as an individual and professional, 

 

Hi Patrick, please tell us a little about yourself. Your background and how did you come to this point?

I started Imagine, a digital marketing and branding agency, back in 2004. Since then, we’ve helped brands from small shops to Fortune 500 find their voice and use it to connect to their customers in meaningful ways.
Our process helps in every stage of the customer journey, from building initial awareness to conversion, then to empowering customers to become evangelists of the brand.

 

When and how did you start your business? Is there an interesting story here?

My story starts mare than thirty years ago, when I found a talent in art. Being from an entrepreneurial family, I was quickly introduced to graphic design – even before I knew it was a profession. In my teens, I fell in love with marketing and the psychology behind it. In my mid-twenties (in 2004), I made the leap from a freelance practitioner to creating my first agency. That turned out to also be my last agency, Imagine.

 

What do you think you’d be doing right now if your business didn’t exist?

I honestly don’t know. I’m a musician, so maybe I’d be doing something there. But I also like to eat, so maybe not music.
I guess I’d be in some sort of a role where I get to encourage people to think differently about things – setting the status quo on fire and re-imagining things. I’m sure that sounds corny but that’s where I have the most fun now.

 

What’s your technique for staying productive throughout the day?

Surprisingly, it comes from a concentration on doing less. I don’t do much billable work these days. Too many days behind a desk drains my energy and enthusiasm, and you can only grow a business but so far within the four walls of your office.
I also limit my obligations and emails to items that meet two criteria: it contributes to growing the business, and it’s something I’m skilled and passionate about. Anything else needs to go to someone else. I’ve become aggressive at delegating work and guiding my team instead of doing things on my own. I start each day with the top five short-term things that must be done that day – there really shouldn’t be more than that if those three things are meaningful. I then spend the rest of my time on the top three long-term projects.

 

How do you define “being successful”?

To me, the amount of success I have is directly tied to the amount of stuff I’m required to do. The less I’m obligated to and the more time I can be creative, experience the world and live on my own terms and schedule, the more successful I am.
There’s this stigma in business that the more active and busy a person is, the more successful they must be. I think that being overly busy is quite the opposite; either you’re tightly bound to someone else’s expectations or your own. Neither case looks much like success to me.

 

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

A lot. I write, record music (I play a bunch of different instruments), travel as much as possible and when I need to clear my head, I keep my motorcycle in pretty good shape.

 

What are your recommendations for a business or developer novice?

I guess there are two sides of the same coin. First, make sure that you truly love what you’re doing. I know it’s corny but those that obsess over their work are thinking about it and improving themselves while others aren’t. If you want to be truly great, you must be passionate.
On the other hand, you need balance. Don’t spend all your time on your craft. I know from first-hand experience that it can be easy to do it if you love it, but the off time is just as important.

Go out and find new experiences because it’s through those experiences that you find unique perspectives and new ways to solve problems.

I guess the advice is to build a palette of experiences. They’ll serve one another well.

 

Thanks for the interview Patrick, your experience and recommendations are inspiring and will help many in their business development processes or career. Wish you and Imagine good luck and hope to hear from you soon!

 

If you liked this interview and think Patrick and his team can help you reach your audience, then follow the instructions Patrick left for you: "Our tagline is “Doctors fight disease. Lawyers fight injustice. We fight ugly.” So, on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or Twitter, just look for the handle @wefightugly"