Today we’d like to introduce you to Eddie Ulrich.
Hi Eddie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
The “Fuzzy Duck” Story:
My career in creative marketing – and the name of our company – originated while growing up on a farm in southern Minnesota where I spent much of my time with a sketchpad and my imagination. Even as a young boy, my artistic ability led to small jobs like creating signs for the local grocery store or painting a logo on the side of a livestock trailer. This eventually led to a local farmer asking me to create a sign to advertise the ducklings he would be selling at an upcoming flea market.
Instead of simply painting “Ducklings For Sale” in red paint, I designed a sign featuring a cartoon image of a duck with “Fuzzy Ducks For Sale” in stylized lettering. The farmer wasn’t sure why but the sign attracted enough attention to not only sell all his ducklings but it also generated requests for more “Fuzzy Ducks” he might have back home. Even more interesting was the fact that there were plenty of “regular ducklings” still available from other farmers at the market.
Years later, while studying graphic design and advertising in college, I looked back on that project and finally realized what had made that sign so successful. I had given the product a distinctive name and combined it with a strong visual brand which made those ducklings different in the eyes and minds of the consumer. It was a eureka! moment for me and made me even more excited for my future career in marketing. So, when I started my freelance design business, I named it Fuzzy Duck in honor of my first client win!
Today, over 32 years later, Fuzzy Duck still focuses on delivering marketing wins to our small business clients.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
You can’t be around as long as Fuzzy Duck has and not face some business challenges. I think one of the most memorable for me was around 2009 when the economy was tough. My wife and I worked together at Fuzzy Duck at that point – we had all our eggs in one basket so to speak. We cut our personal expenses, tapped into our savings and stopped taking a pay check for almost a full year in order to keep our staff employed and stay afloat.
I think it’s important that we’ve faced and survived some of the same perils our small business clients face today. It gives us a better understanding of what they face and allows us to come up with better strategies when it comes to their marketing goals.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Name: Fuzzy Duck / Tagline: Your Creative Marketing Partner?
At Fuzzy Duck, we are passionate about small businesses – we believe they are the life blood of the economy and the communities they serve. But we also know how hard it is for small businesses to survive and thrive. One of the top reasons small businesses fail is ineffective or inconsistent marketing. That’s where we come in – by helping our clients establish effective and consistent marketing, we increase their chances of success.
Fuzzy Duck is exactly what our tagline says we are – a creative marketing partner. We help small businesses win by providing marketing support that’s completely customized to their specific needs, goals, and budget.
What makes us different is our 32+ years of experience and our unique approach. Before we dive into marketing strategy, we first ensure that our clients have the foundational elements in place, like branding, messaging, and a website that converts. Without these fundamentals, even the most brilliant marketing strategizing can fail to convert leads to sales. Our clients need an ROI on their marketing spend and this initial step helps increase that significantly.
We’re a small team but we know that we create big waves for our clients, and we also help educate and empower our clients by identifying things they could be doing for themselves – using internal resources. We don’t want them paying us for something they could be doing themselves. They may still choose to have us do it – but we want them to have that choice.
What makes you happy?
I know it may sound corny because it happens to be our mission statement – but helping small businesses win makes me very happy. It’s my passion. The people I get to do it with – they also make me happy. And finally – variety makes me happy. I love all the different clients we get to work with in so many industries – all with unique goals and challenges. I love creating unique solutions that lead to our clients’ wins.
Pricing:
- Perhaps more important than pricing is the variety of ways our clients can choose to engage with us.
- We customize each engagement to their specific situation and budget, finding a balance of value and cost-effectiveness.
- From project-based work to monthly retainers, we work with each client to establish priorities and timelines that make sense for their needs AND their budget.
Contact Info:
- Website: Get Swimming! www.fuzzyduck.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fuzzyduckgrams/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fuzzyduck/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fuzzy-duck-design/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Fuzzyduck
- Other: Share your story with us: [email protected]
