People of 3nom: Aroon Duncanson, Marketing Director

 

Before joining 3nom as a Marketing Director, Aroon, who was born in Alaska but now enjoying ocean views from her condo in Florida, has marketed high-end fashion accessories, SPAs, pet products, modeling agencies, and even a plastic surgery practice. What does this have to do with IT, you may ask? A few important things you probably don’t expect. We asked Aroon this exact question, and she let us in on her best productivity tips and why 3nom’s business and recognition have grown in the past 4 months — despite the crisis.    

 

 

 

So Aroon, without further ado, what was the main thing you learned from your previous work with such a variety of businesses that now makes you successful at 3nom?

 

Everything I do now I learned through trial and error and facing all types of environments with my former marketing clients. But the main thing I learned is that thinking outside the box and bouncing ideas off your coworkers can lead to some amazing results. We do this almost every day, even while working remotely. 

 

 

 

You’ve had such a diverse set of clients under your belt before you joined 3nom — what sets 3nom apart from all the other businesses you worked with?

 

Well, most of the other businesses I’ve worked at were startups. They didn’t have any marketing activity that had happened prior. 3nom is a 15-year-old company, they’ve already done a lot, I’m not starting everything from scratch.

 

Another major difference, of course, is that it’s tech. You need to understand your product to market it, and I’ll admit it’s been a learning curve for sure. But everyone here is so helpful and nice. I feel like I know so much already, and I’ve only been here for four months. 

 

 

 

What did you discover about technology, then, that you didn’t know before?

 

Honestly, everything! For example, how many different ways there are for a business or a person to protect themselves from hackers and scammers. There are so many avenues and ways people can get into your system and steal your data. Of course, everyone has seen those Norton pop-ups at the bottom of your screen, but some of these traditional ways of protecting your data are quite outdated and there are many more new technologies that people don’t necessarily know about because they are not as mainstream, but they work so much better than the other stuff. Like the EDR, for example. 

 

Another example is email security, there is so much more to it than an average user realizes, we created a series of free webinars just to raise the awareness and help small businesses protect themselves. 

 

And then, of course, it’s the code. I don’t think I ever seriously contemplated that everything on the internet is strings of code. Have you? 

 

 

 

Now that you say it, it is pretty amazing! Is there a specific project or client that you are working on right now that gets you particularly excited?

 

3nom has recently launched an entirely new product called Presto API, a no-backend-development tool to create Rest APIs in minutes. What excites me the most about it is that it’s marketed separately and I’m targeting a completely different audience (developers), plus it’s super innovative. It’s exploding organically with people recording Youtube videos using it. It’s really fun and rewarding to see so much excitement from the target audience. 

 

Another thing that is fascinating to me right now is the EDR, the endpoint detection and response technology I referenced earlier. It’s the next level of protection for your computers and data, which is so relevant now. Our next webinar is going to be about that—stay tuned! 

 

 

 

Noted! Any life lessons you picked up from your 3nom colleagues in the past 4 months?

 

I don’t know if those are life lessons, but I experienced first-hand how important it is to understand exactly who your current market is to successfully reach other potential clients with the proper message. And it’s important to keep your team on the same page and updated with new projects and ideas. I’d say this would apply to the family too if we’re talking about life lessons, ha! 

 

 

 

What, in your opinion, makes 3nom the best Managed Service Provider (MSP) on the market. 

 

What makes 3nom so different from any other MSP on the market is how much they care about their clients. I talk to many of our clients to gather feedback and see how we can improve, and every single one of them has nothing but amazing things to say about the company. I’m still pretty new to the company too, so I feel like I am not that biased—and the level of commitment and care I’m seeing every day is truly amazing. 

 

As soon as someone has a problem, we’re on it. You aren’t talking to a computer or sitting on hold for 30 minutes. No. You have that 24/7 support and they are always there to help you. And if they need to be on the phone with you for half a day to solve whatever issue you are facing, they’ll be on the phone with you for half the day, no questions asked. It builds a relationship with each of our clients like I’ve never seen before; they know that someone is always there for them. 

 

Everyone from top management to developers genuinely cares about all of their clients and make sure that they’re getting everything they need, that they are protected, and that their business is safe. They don’t just do it for the money; every client is an actual person that they genuinely care about. That’s really cool. 

 

 

 

This feels particularly important in the socially distant world we are living in now — how do you keep this meaningful personal connection? And it seems like they figured out how to do it. 

 

 

 

Speaking of socially distancing, do you have any rituals, routines, or tricks that keep you productive and creative while working remotely? 

 

Well, I’ve always worked remotely, so it’s been a very easy transition for me. I love working from home. 

 

Going on a run in the morning is super important for me to start my day off energized and in a good mindset. It keeps me energized throughout the day and does change how productive I am. I try to do it a few times a week, at least. The same goes for eating healthy: eating pizza and burgers all week, I’m going to be so lazy and unmotivated to do anything. But if I’m being healthier and exercising, I just have so much more energy to get me through the day. These are very simple things that make a big difference.

 

And I keep track of everything that I do. I have this spreadsheet and everything I do every day goes on there. This also helps me track the things that I need to do and what I’ve done. With it, 

I know exactly what’s going on, what’s been done, what’s in the works, what I need to do. 

 

 

 

What does an owner of small or medium-sized business needs to know about their marketing to succeed? 

 

I can’t stress enough about how important social media is. I think most people are starting to get that now, but some older businesses have been around before social media became the status quo, so it may be harder for them to learn and adapt and start using those platforms. But everyone I’ve ever worked with gets a lot of business from social media. Most of their business comes from social media. 

 

The millennial generation is now stepping into their buying power, and we grew up with social media. The first thing we’ll do when we are considering a purchase or a company is look at their social media. And if they don’t have a social media presence, to my generation, it looks sketchy.  

 

And it’s important to understand that sometimes it’s a long-term game, especially for service providers. It takes a little longer to convert those followers into actual clients, but you can get tons of people interested. This is why you have to create content that is interesting and delivers value, to build that trust. And add a call to action so people know what to do with the information you are sharing! 

 

 

 

Those are fantastic tips, thank you for sharing your expertise! 

 

 

 

Have a question for Aroon about marketing or curious about one of the innovative products she mentioned? You can email her at aroon@3nom.com or get in touch with your 3nom consultant today!