We were lucky to catch up with Aaron David Roberts recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Aaron with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Growing up with a Dad in the entertainment industry, who also owned his own business, meant I saw my Dad work a lot. Between traveling for work, staying up late to perfect a bid to a new client, long 12+ hour shoot days, it was clear to me my Dad was no stranger to hard work, long days and late nights.
But the most impressive part of it was how he would always still make time for my sister and I. He was home most nights for dinner, always around to be a baseball coach for my teams, make weeknight games and practices. And still ran his own business. It became clear as I got older how much discipline and effort it took for him to meet both his work and life responsibilities.
When I was 16 my Dad was growing concerned that I was quitting things too quickly, and had a conversation with me that was a catalyst to changing my life and developing a grit and determination I would need in my mid 20’s to truly continue on to breakthrough into the notoriously difficult film industry,
My dad’s unwavering work ethic, his ability to find balance between work and family, and his invaluable guidance have shaped my journey in profound ways. His example taught me the importance of hard work, perseverance, and commitment, fueling my determination to overcome the challenges of the film industry. I carry his lessons with me as I navigate my own path, forever grateful for the lasting impact he has had on my personal and professional growth.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
At Rising Tides Creative, we offer comprehensive digital marketing solutions designed specifically for restaurants and hospitality groups. We understand the challenges restaurant owners face in running a successful business while also managing their online assets. Our team of digital hospitality experts are here to alleviate that burden, allowing restaurant owners to focus on what they do best: delivering exceptional dining experiences.
Here’s a snapchat into what we can do:
Website Optimization: We’ll revamp your website to ensure it is not only visually captivating but also optimized for search engines, helping your restaurant rank higher and attract more organic traffic.
Content Creation: Our talented team will create engaging and compelling content tailored to your restaurant’s unique brand and offerings. This includes captivating descriptions, mouthwatering visuals, and informative blog posts, all aimed at enticing potential customers to choose your establishment.
Social Media Management: We’ll take charge of your social media presence, developing tailored strategies to engage your audience, promote your menu items, showcase your ambiance, and encourage customer reviews and interactions.
Search Engine Marketing & Optimization (SEM & SEO): We’ll run targeted online advertising campaigns to maximize your visibility, reach new audiences, and drive more customers to your website and physical location and ensure everything on your website makes it a search engine standout.
We also have amazing relationships with some of the top restaurant tech companies like Toast, Uber Eats, Restaurant365, Ovation, Marqii and more to ensure your restaurants tech stack is working and communication with itself as efficiently as possible.
Our goal is to help restaurants shine in the digital landscape, attract new customers, and ultimately increase revenue. With our full-service approach, restaurants can leave the complexities of digital marketing to us, knowing their digital toolbelt is working for them.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
“The man on the top of the mountain didn’t fall there.”
I always tell young artists that the most important quality they have when starting is their energy. When I entered the industry at 19 I was incredibly bullish, confident and had an immense amount of energy to try and reach my goals. Before you rack up a few failures and get a couple hundred no’s, that energy can be incredibly important in your early career if you use it the right way.
The second most important quality feeds right into the first: finishing what you start. All too often young creatives will conceive of a project, start it with energy, and then suddenly realize they were aiming too high or underestimated the amount of work it will take to finish something and they stop. What I was told separated me from a lot of my peers at a young age was I became known as the person who would finish what they started. If we started a project, we were going to finish it and release it, no doubts about it.
The third most important quality is perseverance. Because after the energy is all gone and you finish a project, or three, and still don’t find yourself where you had set out to be – without persistence, most artists will never reach the peak of what they imagined their artistic careers to be. There will always be one hit wonders. There will always be folks who get lucky and strike success with their first project. But most creatives who find commercial success – bands, actors, filmmakers, writers etc. are the ones who have been chipping away at their goals day after day, month after month and year after year, until they finally are the man standing on the mountaintop.
How would you describe your ideal client?
Our ideal client is someone who understands that the a businesses digital presence is as important as their physical presence. More eyes are on the internet and social media then ever before, at an increasing rate year after year.
If the COVID pandemic taught business owners anything, especially restaurant owners, was that if your business was not well developed digitally, you were losing business. For some restaurants, not having the ability to easily facilitate orders through their website caused them to go out of business in the early months of the pandemic.
We want to work with clients who understand the bigger picture of content creation, mobile first websites, and have no problem paying for marketing and digital strategies that they know work and benefit their business.
We work with single unit restaurants all the way up to clients with 15+ locations. The only thing they all have in common is a belief that digital hospitality is as important as everything else that goes into running their restaurant.
Contact Info:
- Website: risingtidescreative.com
- Instagram: @alwaysarob
- Facebook: @alwaysarob
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-david-roberts-a7287b187/
- Twitter: @alwaysarob
Image Credits
All photographs by Andrew Barrack
