About Agency 2525

The Experts Behind Your Success

Are you looking for a team that can transform your business potential into outstanding performance?

At Agency 2525, our philosophy is all about collaboration. We work with top-notch specialists to expand our capabilities and tailor our services to meet your specific needs, ensuring innovative and effective results.

Imagine having a mosaic of talents at your disposal, perfectly complementing your unique business requirements. Our network includes financial managers, social media strategists, paid ads specialists (PPC), printers, graphic designers, logo developers, website designers, web developers, Customer Relations Management (CRM) installers, Google Business Profile (GBP) optimizers, newsletter marketers, Direct Response masters, search engine optimizers (SEO), photographers, videographers, writers, content creators, coaches, human resources and recruiters, and more.

Each professional is carefully selected to seamlessly integrate with your strategic goals, enhancing our core offerings and aligning solutions with your objectives. By tapping into this diverse pool of talents, we ensure that no matter your project, we're ready to deliver.

Our collective expertise means we don't just offer support; we provide a comprehensive suite of services that dynamically respond to your business challenges and opportunities. Book our services today to experience the power of collaboration and take your business to new heights!

Shawn O'Hara with cross arms in a whit and blue flowery shirt, confident about business growth with the proper marketing strategy

Fractional Chief Marketer

I am Shawn O’Hara and I am fascinated by marketing and messaging. I started putting businesses online in 1995 when the World Wide Web was just beginning. Over time, I noticed a change and began to feel a disconnect in the web design and marketing industry.

A new client would come to us and we’d ask, “what do you want to say on the site, what makes you special?” They couldn't say, or what they said didn’t really cut it. “We’ve been in business for 25 years,” or “We have the largest fleet on the island.” In my gut, I knew these were features the customer did not care about but I didn't know how to articulate it.

Sometimes after we designed the website, they’d come back: “make the logo bigger” or “replace this photo,” thinking that is what would bring them more business. They were confused and missing the big picture of what the real problem was. I doubt any of them woke up in the morning saying “Today, I'm going to be mediocre.” But that's what their message conveyed.

We had one client, he had us do his website. Somebody else did his social media. Someone else did his newsletter marketing. Someone else did his video. Someone did his Google ads. Somebody looked after his print materials and somebody else was branding his location. He wouldn't bring us all together. There was no consistent messaging or coordination. What a waste of time and money!

This is all just throwing money at tactics, wasteful tactics, without a strategy. Sadly, in too many businesses there is no strategy, no one looking at the big picture. I went to one client’s office because they wanted to upgrade their website. They could not give me a compelling reason why. In their boardroom, along with the owners, were two people introduced to me as their social media people. “Excellent!” I thought, and excitedly asked them, “When you identified who your ideal customers are so you could develop messaging and posts for them, what did those personas look like?” I was met with blank stares.

Blank stares!

There was no research, no messaging, no strategy, no measurement of results, and no accounting for the dollars spent. What a waste!

Sometimes businesses try to do it all themselves, and it becomes piecemeal, something they do when it is quiet in the office. The owner gives control of their social media to the youngest member on staff who happens to have a pretty Instagram feed, and then worries about a bad post or flippant comment to a negative Google review damaging their hardearned reputation. They limp along hoping everything works out.

Hope is not a strategy.

I also saw good businesses, good, honest hardworking business owners getting ground down on price. You may have experienced this situation: you quote on a project, but then get presented with a lower estimate from your competitor and are asked, “Can you beat this price?“

This is similar to the mindset many people have of getting three quotes for a project. Why?

How many people can truly evaluate the pricing on a project?

It’s frustrating to be seen as just another option, constantly pressured to lower prices, and losing clients who don't understand their offerings.

In the absence of any other differentiator, people tend to default to price.

Why did that happen and what could be done about it? I started searching for the answers, studying and researching. I wanted real-world solutions, not academic exercises. Eventually, I became a Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, developed by John Jantsch. He worked with Michael Gerber in the early days of The E-Myth.

You may be familiar with The E-Myth Contractor by Michael Gerber about how to set up systems so a business can run smoothly without the owner always being there. I invested in Magnetic Marketing by Dan Kennedy. I met them both personally and they continue to educate me on the problems and the solutions to help my clients.

I wanted a way to help businesses with this big picture marketing so I created Agency 2525 to be a fractional Chief Marketing Officer, or fractional Chief Marketer.

You may be wondering, what do I mean by a fractional Chief Marketer (fCMO)? It is like an on-contract marketing executive who helps businesses with their marketing strategies without the high cost of hiring a full-time CMO. I provide expert advice and leadership to guide the company’s marketing efforts. I also deliver hands-on solutions, not just theory. I have the resources and connections to identify and solve the problems.

I help established businesses attract more and better customers, stop wasting money on ineffective marketing tactics, and get more sales, even if they are confused or overwhelmed with the multitude of marketing media out there.

What should you do next?

You can look over my services, get my free report or just contact me and let’s get you on track to reach your business goals!