A board -room table covered with paper and crayons, a fully stocked bar, couches and an XBOX…that’s what you will find when you walk into the Silent Partner Marketing office in Manchester, CT. Kyle Reyes, the owner of the full service marketing firm doesn’t do what every one else does. In fact, he does the opposite and it’s paying off. In the last three years, The Silent Partner has increased business by more 200%.
The Silent Partner is just five years old, but was years in the making. The formula: plain old hard work. Kyle graduated college top of his class while working full- time and paying for everything on own his. His mission was to get a great education while not going into to debt. At 23, he was able to do that.
Kyle landed a job in journalism as a television news producer. After nine years in the industry, Kyle knew that it was time to make his move-to build his dream… the dream to make a self-sustaining business without needing any loans of grants. “If I wanted it to be mine, it had to truly be MINE,” says Kyle Reyes, Owner of The Silent Partner Marketing. “The American Dream isn’t partial to political parties or religious beliefs or the color of your skin. It’s partial only to hard work. The American Dream happens when you infuse passion into everything you touch. It’s achieved when you find joy in helping OTHER American businesses to succeed…and you achieve success as a byproduct of your passion for helping others,” says Reyes.
Slowly, Kyle began to build his business. It started with a restaurant that eventually turned into a restaurant group. To pay his bills while he grew his business, Kyle worked as the Director of Marketing and Advertising at an automotive group. During that time, every penny he made, he put back into his business.
In 2008, many businesses began to collapse, companies were cutting their marketing and advertising teams and thousands were without jobs. The United States was in a recession…and that’s when the Silent Partner Marketing was born. “I saw a massive paradigm shift,” says Reyes. “Companies were struggling to understand how to connect with customers in the digital age. Most businesses can’t afford to have a full –time Director of Marketing and support staff. I watched as businesses started “outsourcing” things like I.T. So why not “outsource” that marketing, advertising, and public relations while still keeping it here in the U.S? They needed a Silent Partner to help,” says Reyes.
What began with Kyle’s vision has turned into a team of 11 people, including their web development division-MD Tech Team. They now have a combined nearly 200 clients ranging from car dealerships and restaurants to retail, schools, lawyers, CPA’s and an entire real estate marketing division.
The Silent Partner is known for its “outrageous marketing” including a massive zombie block party and the worlds’ first delivery of wings by drone for Tilted Kilt. But what sets them apart from everyone else is that they don’t do what their competition is doing. They do the opposite. From social media marketing to videos, they are demonstrating that mass marketing is dead and niche marketing is the most effective way to achieve success.
Kyle’s success is also attributed to his willingness to provide friends and businesses with as much information as possible to help them grow. Recently married and father of a five month old baby girl, Kyle writes a blog, sometimes two every day (including the weekends). His day starts at 4am or earlier, if it’s up to his baby girl. Blogging has generated nearly $30K in business in the last quarter of 2014 alone.
The Silent Partner also runs free seminars for business owners. “It’s our way of giving back. Knowledge is power, and many businesses are desperately hungry for this. Those seminars have resulted in a ton of business for us – which was never even the goal of them,” says Reyes.
Creative meetings are essential at The Silent Partner. But you won’t find a typical boardroom setting in their 1250 square foot production studio. Their office, located in former Manchester Mill building includes a full bar for filming that he also uses when engaging with staff and clients. Besides desks you will find couches, big screen TV’s and an XBOX.
Every Wednesday they have what’s called their “Beer and Brainstorming Meeting”. Kyle buys lunch for his team, which includes some new wines or local beers. Sometimes the computers are put away and the old fashioned Crayola crayons come out. Crayons and paper take the team back to basics as they come up with creative and innovative campaigns.
“We don’t think outside the box – we light the box on fire and film it burn…. then share it online for the world to see,” says Reyes. “We don’t pull punches – we tell it like it is. We don’t tell business owners what they want to hear – we tell them what they NEED to hear and we push the envelope, forcing them outside of their comfort zone. It’s the only way to grow. And by ‘outsourcing’ many of their needs but keeping them here in the US, we help them to remain profitable and be able to stay in business and continue to employ locally,” says Reyes.
What started as a dream 10 years ago has become a reality for Kyle. This has been achieved by extremely hard work, 15-hour days and hundreds of sleepiness nights. But, you will NEVER hear Kyle complain. “I don’t know why so many people believe that the American Dream is a white picket fence and a 9-5 job. The American Dream is truly about freedom. It’s about the ability to take a snow day with your wife and daughter and work from home. It’s about the ability to employ others here in the U.S. and watch them grow in their skills and abilities and watch their families grow as well. It’s about being able to take an idea and watch it EXPLODE – because nobody is stopping it. It’s about creating something that you are truly proud to call your own…something you can show your husband or wife or children and say ‘I BUILT THIS’”, says Reyes.
The Silent Partner’s long -term goal is to continue their national expansion…allowing their “outrageous marketing” to go from being a tagline to a trend. The team plans to continue to help companies grow, push the envelope, educate local businesses and be role models for future creative marketing professionals. For more informative on The Silent Partner, visit their website www.thesilentpartnermarketing.com
- 707.206.6211
- christina@littlewingconnections.com