Aidan Demolli: Marketing And The Military… Go Hand In Hand?
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About Wakebone Creative
Aidan Demolli is the founder of Wakebone Creative, a photo and video production company located in San Diego, California.
Aidan feels he was fortunate to serve in the United States Marine Corps as an aviation Ordnance Tech on the FA/18 aircraft. He purchased his first camera in 2015 on one of his last deployments where he completely fell in love with the medium of photography. Fast forward three years later, Aidan made the jump to owning a production company specializing in photo and video production helping small and medium sized businesses raise their production level.
Aidan makes it clear he feels he’s been blessed to work and volunteer with a majority of veteran small businesses and nonprofits. Aidan is currently serving as one of the chapter leads for Bunker Labs, a National veteran non profit that provides veteran entrepreneurs with business resources and community, in San Diego, CA.
Aidan has lived in San Diego, CA since 2013 and proudly claims he likes to geek out on photography, marketing and business.
Aidan Demolli is the founder of Wakebone Creative, a photo and video production company located in San Diego, California.
Aidan feels he was fortunate to serve in the United States Marine Corps as an aviation Ordnance Tech on the FA/18 aircraft. He purchased his first camera in 2015 on one of his last deployments where he completely fell in love with the medium of photography. Fast forward three years later, Aidan made the jump to owning a production company specializing in photo and video production helping small and medium sized businesses raise their production level.
Aidan makes it clear he feels he’s been blessed to work and volunteer with a majority of veteran small businesses and nonprofits. Aidan is currently serving as one of the chapter leads for Bunker Labs, a National veteran non profit that provides veteran entrepreneurs with business resources and community, in San Diego, CA.
Aidan has lived in San Diego, CA since 2013 and proudly claims he likes to geek out on photography, marketing and business.
About Episode
- “Marketing and the military go hand in hand”
– was drawn to marketing because it’s like being in the military where they do different jobs every now and then - “The business is the representation of the work you do”
- drawn to the name Wakebone because he wanted to wear something cool
- Wakebone was just established last year. The business previously was known as Demolli Designs.
- Got out of high school and worked at a five-star restaurant while waiting to get into the military.
- “When you create something and people react to it…it’s cool to see.”
- “How fluid we have to be in marketing and how fluid we have to be in the military as well.”
- “Military helped me just stay positive in a lot of things”
- “The reason I love marketing is that it’s very creative. In the military, we were also very creative in finding solutions.”
- “One of the things I wasn’t prepared for was time management”
- One of my mantras is “Manage expectations.”
- “If you hire too fast, payroll will wipe you out.”
- “You can grow too fast and you can lose the whole thing.”
- “I have to bring in work to feed everyone.”
- “It’s an art of proposals.”
- “It feels like marketing changes like every week.”
- Tried virtual assistance before but we try to keep most processes in house
- “At the end of the day if we’re doing something that their idea I have to have the integrity to say if it is cringe.”
- Marketing Strategy: “If you do really good work people will want to work with you.”
- “Really tap into your veteran network.”
- Pricing: “Lower prices and bring in more work.”
- Meme marketing.
- Showcasing beautiful work.
- “Tasking one or two people on what are things we find interesting in our jobs and what do we wanna learn.”
- Was working as a military contractor
- “There’s going to be nights when you’re going to be making breakthroughs. So don’t stop when you’re making those breakthroughs.”
- “You’re sprinting all the time but hopefully, you’re also sprinting to different avenues.”
- “Keep adding to the toolbox of your media skills.”
- “There are so many stories to tell. Just being able to document that…”
- “Doing the podcast is a good exercise to do better conversations”
- Improves communication skills
- “Having the ability to process words…it forces you to appreciate meaningful stories”
- Always try to create a deeper connection
- Telling different stories is rewarding
- “You’re voice might be the catalyst for them to do that breakthrough”
- “It’s a hard roller coaster of a life and it’s hard to keep on keeping on.”
- “Being able to capture their stories is really an honor.”
- “One of the things I like about photography is being able to capture moments…Those moments of nostalgia are really powerful emotional tools.”
- Bought a Nikon on his last deployment.
- “Documenting life, seeing the response they give me, you feel very powerful. It’s really rewarding.”
- “I was doing a lot of dating profile pictures for people. Doing cheap photography for college students looking to help them get laid.”
- “The only KPI is sales”
- “Money is freedom”
- The 22 Amicable Laws
- Law of Resources
- “You need money to move the world”
Resources and Important Links
Aidan Demolli – Book: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
Aidan Demolli – Book: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
How you can listen and access the show
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