She Launched It: A Digital Marketing Firm

Read on to learn all about a true trailblazer, and one of my first mentors

With my She Launched It series, I’m sharing the stories of female founders from all over the country to help guide and inspire other women entrepreneurs. I’m extra excited to bring you today’s subject because I’ve known her for over 15 years: Tara Seible of In the Green Marketing was my first boss way back when, and she taught me much of what I know about sales. I’m thrilled to report that these days, we’re both kicking butt and taking names. It’s incredible to be able to stay in touch and support each other after such a fun beginning to our relationship. That’s what women supporting women is all about.

In the Green is a full-service marketing agency that provides businesses with consulting, media planning, training, and more. Built on the foundation of Tara’s years of experience, the company focuses on strategy, analytics and ultimately providing a measurable return on investment for its clients. 

Connecting the Marketing Dots

I’ve always known Tara to be a forward thinker who doesn’t settle for the easy path. In the newspaper world where I first met her (2005), Tara led a groundbreaking sales team dedicated to digital ads for a Corporate, publicly-traded newspaper group and did so for over 16 years.. Keep in mind, this was before most people had even realized you could advertise digitally. 

Although she had loved and learned much from the first part of her career, Tara was beginning to feel the effects of burn out from long hours spent away from her family. She points to her fortieth birthday as a milestone that prompted some serious reflection.

“You start to take a step back and figure out what you want for the next few decades of your working life, and for me it was not what I was doing,” she remembers. 

After several clients encouraged her to start her own business, Tara made the leap into entrepreneurship early last year. The challenges she had faced bringing digital advertising into a traditional media space emboldened her to carry that same sense of daring creativity to a new field. Still, she acknowledges that making the decision to start her own business came with some apprehension:

“It really does take courage to start your own business, and I have a new respect and admiration for that now.” 

A lot of entrepreneurs identify lead generation and sales as their primary struggles.

Tara came into business ownership armed with expertise in these areas, but she didn’t take that as an excuse to sit back in her career. Instead, she chose to invest in coaching. “I’ve hired a coach, and spoken with others that have done the same thing and not regretted it,” she says. “I want to learn from people who have been doing this a lot longer than I have. That’s something I made as a choice for myself.”

I LOVE this mindset and am a firm believer in coaching as an investment. I strive to learn as much as possible for career advancement and personal development, and I take away tons from each coach. The really beautiful part? Now I get to pay it forward with my own sales coaching business, providing value to my clients the way that other coaches have provided value for me. 

Covid-19: Sink or just keep swimming

Tara officially registered her trade name last March, and was immediately faced with the unique obstacle of running a brand new business during the pandemic. She stayed afloat by giving herself periodic pep talks and choosing to push onward, adapting to changes in operations like anyone else. 

“Ultimately what I found was that a lot of people felt the same way; they wanted to be safe in how we interacted and respectful, but they still wanted to conduct business. So we didn’t do in-person calls, we did Zoom meetings. Of course, we know it’s not the same, for those of us that are extraverts,” she says with a smile. (Girl, yes.)  “But I found that businesses were wanting to plan and not just put themselves into perpetual pause mode. So that was how I managed: I just kept moving forward.”

What makes In the Green Marketing unique?

Tara works hard to provide a strategy-based, results-oriented approach, something her clients appreciate.

“Businesses need to hear that their dollars are working hard for them,” she observes. “They like that the ROI is at the forefront of the conversation. Managing that process is part of my whole business model, which is why I named the company In the Green; we want to make sure businesses are profitable in their marketing efforts and operating ‘in the green’ at all times. Let’s face it, that’s what we all want.”

Another thing that makes In the Green Marketing unique is Tara’s forward-thinking nature. In this way too, she’s always pushing onward, aiming to keep her business and her clients at the forefront of technology. Just take a quick look at the beaming testimonials her clients have given her to get an inside look at the impact she’s making.

“There have certainly been tons of changes in the last 15 years, and keeping up with those changes has been part of the fun for me. I really enjoy that and it makes it seem like less of a job and something I’m passionate about.”

What would you say to another woman considering launching her own business?

“Don’t be afraid to reach out to people that you know and trust that have been successful; not only in your specific area of interest, but in other areas, other successful women,” Tara advises. She notes gratefully that her mentors and counselors have predominantly been women, in all different stages of their careers. 

“I have been just in awe of and inspired by the people from my past that I’ve reached out to and perfect strangers I’ve reached out to, that have been willing to give me advice and help me open new doors. For them to take the time out of their day to help me just means the world.”

A beautiful and fitting final piece of advice from one of the women who has inspired me! 

Learn more about Tara and In the Green at https://inthegreenmktg.com.