Archive for the ‘Entrepreneurship & Startup Life’ Category

Top 10 Reasons I’m Looking Forward to Digital Dealer (#DD11)

Author: Kristen | Published: September 28th, 2011 | Comments 0 | Retweet

Kristen Judd President 3 Birds Marketing

Sure, getting ready for Digital Dealer takes long hours and hard work, but we're planning to have fun at the show

These are busy days at 3 Birds Marketing. With the 11th Digital Dealer Conference just one week away, our office is flush with excitement and productivity. We are putting the finishing touches on new product releases, which we will be revealing at the show; marketing and promoting our presence as exhibitors;  and planning the logistics of getting our team and equipment to the event. All this in addition to supporting our customers in the attentive style to which they are accustomed and while getting several new staff members up to speed.  It is no small undertaking, but we are equal to the task.

At our booth this time (and that is Booth 1209, by the way), you will see many of the usual suspects, as well as some fresh faces.  We are bringing a great mixture of Digital Dealer veterans and first timers.  As we all prepare to head out west, we will be introducing the members of the 3 Birds traveling circus through this blog. Each person will offer their take on what they are most looking forward to about this leading industry event. For those who don’t know, Digital Dealer covers the latest technology and education on all things digital for automobile dealership personnel–including dealer principals, general managers, sales managers, internet directors, BDC/CRM managers, fixed operations directors, and everyone in between. This conference is particularly important to those interested in understanding and harnessing the most sophisticated technology and leading practices to maximize opportunities at their dealership.

I’m kicking things off with the top 10 reasons I’m looking forward to the Digital Dealer Conference next week.

10.   Long hours on the show floor followed by as many parties and concerts as we can fit in will seem like a veritable vacation after our push to get ready for the event. We may be running on pure adrenalin, coffee and IV drips of Full Throttle, but it’s show time! (more…)

We’re Home Here in Chapel Hill

Author: Kristen | Published: April 12th, 2011 | Comments 0 | Retweet

This past week has been a week of milestones, changes and transitions for us professionally and personally. We’ve had an anniversary, a bittersweet goodbye, a move, lots and lots of interviews and a photo shoot. To say that it has been a hectic time for us would be an understatement. What has come out of it for me has been the realization that Chapel Hill is now really our home as a company and as a family.

Early last week, Jeff Harrison, our database architect, approached me as I was about to bound up the stairs to my office and reminded me that we were rapidly approaching the one year anniversary of 3 Birds’ arrival in Chapel Hill.  One year in Chapel Hill, it feels both like a lifetime and the blink of an eye.

Our company has accomplished so much but there is so much more we are pushing to add to our offerings.  Somehow I suspect that that will always be the case.  We have already completed five releases of our platform and added hundreds of features to make our interface as intuitive and easy to use as possible.  We add new items to our developmental roadmap daily and we have a never-ending list of ideas for ways to extend our platform to add new solutions.

3 Birds Office Space

Building out our office space was a long road, but ultimately worthwhile

We completed a major construction initiative with our office space that, had we known going in what it was going to involve, we might have reconsidered before jumping in with both feet.  On the plus side, Layton now knows much more about pouring concrete, concrete floors and staining concrete than anyone outside of the concrete business should.  Now that we are comfortably settled in our new space though, we would not want to be anywhere else.

We have blossomed from a staff of five or six in a temporary office to a team twenty members strong in a fantastic permanent loft-style office a hop, skip and a jump away from UNC.  We’re still growing too.  I have been interviewing and tweeting non-stop for weeks to fill three positions in our Marketing Department.  Andretti Brown, our Creative Director, has also been on a hunt to find graphic designers who possess the rare combination of strong design skills, our unique aesthetic sensibility and coding abilities.  Our CTO, Chad Smith, is always looking out for developers to add to our team. Throughout our company, attitude and initiative are every bit as vital as education and experience.  Providing our customers with quality, high performing solutions and unparalleled customer support are the cornerstones of our business and we take care to select new team members who share our commitment in these areas.  Fortunately, the Research Triangle supplies us with a strong pool of talent. (more…)

Screw Resolutions. What Are You Going To Do When The Going Gets Tough?

Author: Kristen | Published: January 8th, 2011 | Comments 0 | Retweet

During that week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I thought about New Year’s Resolutions like many other people did and I thought about writing a blog post on the subject.   While I think that there is some value to the exercise and I have certainly set resolutions for myself many times, writing about this topic seemed trite.  I thought about how I might be able to craft a post that was about setting goals for the new year with a different spin or a take that didn’t sound like 90% of the other posts like it.  But as the end of the first week of January approached and I had nothing innovative to say, I began to think that my window of opportunity for this type of a post was closing.  My mind didn’t stop marinating on the subject though and it morphed into something bigger.  So here goes… (more…)

The Pros and Cons of Working With Your Spouse. The He Said, She Said Edition (Part 2)

Author: Kristen | Published: November 15th, 2010 | Comments 0 | Retweet

The first installment of this post focused on the unique challenges I have encountered working with my husband.

3 Pros of Working With Your Spouse

She Said

I had to wait until I was in the right frame of mind to complete this part of the piece. In all seriousness however, these are the three best parts about working with my husband:

1. Observing Professional Strengths First Hand

Before Layton and I worked together, we attended events related to our respective careers as a couple from time to time. These get-togethers gave us each a glimpse into how the other person was regarded professionally. I knew that Layton had developed a reputation within the automobile industry as a straight shooter who was extremely knowledgeable about technology and online marketing with a vision for the future and an unparalleled commitment to customer service. Layton’s refusal to sugar coat, while refreshing to some, has also had a way of ruffling feathers.  I didn’t really know what he did all day long other than that it involved a great deal of travel, countless hours on the telephone and lots of emails. Still, there is a difference between hearing praise for your husband from others and seeing him in action every day. (more…)

The Pros and Cons of Working With Your Spouse. The He Said, She Said Edition (Part 1)

Author: Kristen | Published: November 11th, 2010 | Comments 1 | Retweet

Layton and I are married and, together with the other members of our Management Committee, we run 3 Birds Marketing. At the risk of dating myself, I will disclose that, as of the end of October, Layton and I have been together for twenty years.  We have only been working together since founding 3 Birds about fifteen months ago.

Spend an hour with us and you’ll see that Layton and I are opposites in almost every way. He is conservative and I am liberal. He likes to go out and I tend to be more of a homebody. I like to go for long bike rides or runs while he would rather watch a football game and smoke a cigar. He loves good steaks, ribs, Philly cheesesteaks and burgers and I am practically a vegetarian. I painstakingly ease my way into a cold pool while he jumps right into the deep end. I could go on and on identifying all of the ways that we are polar opposites, but it’s easier to just let you fill in the blanks. Given our differences, Layton and I both recognize that we will probably always have to work harder than other couples to be in sync with one another. (more…)

I Learned (Almost) Everything I Need To Know About Business From Hell’s Angels

Author: Kristen | Published: October 5th, 2010 | Comments 5 | Retweet

If someone had told me two years ago, that I would soon be living in Chapel Hill and running an integrated marketing agency with Layton, I would have laughed at the notion. At that time, I was working with my best friends (who also happen to be the finest lawyers I know) at the San Francisco law office that we started together.

After 15 years as a criminal defense attorney, I still loved my job and my colleagues. We had forged a tight team that emphasized each member’s strengths and provided clients with vigorous representation and a great deal of personal attention. We were doing challenging legal work, getting great results for our clients and we were making good law. Through hard work, dedication and high professional standards, we had managed to establish a successful practice based exclusively on positive word of mouth and referrals in an extremely competitive legal marketplace.

When Layton proposed going into business together after the split with his partners at izmocars, I wasn’t looking to change careers. But, life had thrown us a curve ball and instead of leaning into it and taking the walk, we decided to swing for the fences. (more…)

Facebook & Twitter

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn YouTube

Request a Demo or Give us a call 877-285-1094

Copyright © 3 Birds Marketing 321 W Rosemary St, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Hours & Location  |  Contact Us  |  Job Opportunities  |  Site Map