The Company
Applied Digital Marketing has been a member of Connect Yorkshire for 4 years. Steve Sykes is the founder and Managing Director and is a techie at heart, from a background in industry. Steve has learned many things from his membership of Connect Yorkshire that have been implemented within the business. He describes it as a “learning club” that provides insights well in excess of the cost of membership.
The Benefits
Applied Digital keeps renewing its membership because Steve is continually learning from the monthly Masterclasses and the 1 to 1 (formerly Springboard) mentoring.
Steve has had 3 Springboard mentoring sessions the first with Paul Rose in July 2014, the second with Mark Bowers in August 2015 and most recently with Simon Biltcliffe in Jan 2017.
Standout subjects that have informed Steve’s approach include people and client management, and skills have been built around selling and value proposition. Influences from CY have led to the introduction of a company wide profit share where a proportion of the net profits is shared equally among members of staff. This fits with the sharing culture of the organisation and has helped motivate his team.
Although networking is not one of the benefits that Connect Yorkshire explicitly offers, Steve has made numerous beneficial contacts and through his membership of Connect Yorkshire, despite not being a natural networker!
The Results
The business was founded in 1999, as very much a lifestyle operation. Growth in turnover and staff numbers has been purely demand – led until recent years, when thanks to influences such as CY, a more proactive approach to growth has led to Applied Digital having a team of 9 employees, with further growth targeted for 2018-19.
July 2018
