Community Highlights: Meet Jon Barnett of Barnett Brand Co.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Barnett.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
As a Chicagoan turned Denverite, I’ve found success by combining my analytical side with my creative side in a way that benefits my personal and professional life. As a professional, I cut my teeth in the Denver ad scene. It’s this experience that led to my current role as an agency owner.

The idea for Barnett Brand Co. was born out of the pandemic. Our lives were turned upside down in so many ways, which kind of exposed traditional business models that prioritized in-person work environments. Plus, having been a part of many agencies over the years, you can’t help but realize that certain inefficiencies impact culture, the work, and ultimately the clients.

I thought to myself “There has to be a better way.” One that minimizes overhead and maximizes efficiency by working with a trusted network of A+ freelance talent. In doing so, we’re able to prioritize building bespoke teams with specific skill sets and industry experience vs. defaulting based on bandwidth.

The model is suited for today’s marketing landscape too – businesses are prioritizing speed and quality at an affordable price and we’re uniquely positioned to deliver on all three. By building the business in a way that emphasizes flexibility we remain competitive and can take on projects other agencies may not be able to because of certain cost, timing, or capability reasons.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Like any new business, it’s a challenge to find ways to differentiate yourself. While Barnett Brand Co. was started as a way to bring a unique agency model to life, we’ve become more than a model. It’s about relationships, and how we build trust through service and producing quality work time and again. By combining those things we help, not solve, to stand out a bit amongst what has become a crowded industry.

Additionally, keeping new business volume high, while not losing sight of the clients you do have continues to be a challenge. Many businesses place such an emphasis on net-new growth, and in doing so somehow forget that keeping current business and finding ways to provide value through organic growth is oftentimes the path of least resistance.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Barnett Brand Co. is predicated on two things: providing the ultimate value to clients while not sacrificing quality. We are built to deliver a top-tier product but do it in a way that allows us to also prioritize people. In any creative industry, whether an agency or otherwise, talent is paramount. When you lose sight of that, everything suffers. So we built our business differently – tapping into a network of A+ talent who work on a contract basis to deliver whatever a client needs.

By building the business this way we have two real benefits; one is that we are truly full service. When you tap into people based on industry experience and specific skills, you can do virtually anything (within reason, of course). And the second is that we maintain flexibility and control. Without having to worry about exorbitant overhead costs, or in some cases volume of new clients/projects, we can be a bit more discerning about the business decisions we make and who we work with.

That said, while we’ve seen some success since starting in early 2022, I’m still figuring it out. For example, in looking at the industry landscape, we realized there’s an opportunity to offer white-label services to agencies. Oftentimes, agencies take on work for which they can’t staff; maybe it’s because the work is project-based which is challenging to staff against, or because of bandwidth issues internally. In this case, they need support that can come in, and help in a pinch but not have any long-term implications.

This is our niche and where we’ve seen the most success…as a “secret weapon” of sorts. Plus, we’ve opened up our “prospect” pool to also include agencies. It’s a win for us, a win for agencies, and a win for the model.

How do you think about luck?
They say the only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work, and I can say that rings pretty true. While I’m a true believer in dumb luck (i.e. things that just “happen”), I’d like to think we create our luck.

That said, when it comes to the role of luck in my life, I would define luck as an ability to lean into my network and the boost that network provides. For example, I can’t control who knows who, but have come to rely on a network of contacts and referrals to grow the business.

In that regard, I’m lucky that some of my closest family, friends, and colleagues know the right people to make the right connection. That could be talent, a business in need, or simply a mentor. It’s those connections that ultimately lead to conversation, and how you approach conversation paves the way for what happens next. It’s at that point, that luck is removed from the equation in my opinion.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.barnettbrandco.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbarnett1/