CEO Insights Magazine

An unexpected failure is perhaps an ideal way to learn a lesson because the drive that comes later can elevate someone's personality to be a boss. Once such failure happens, people can do two things: they can either grieve around feeling ashamed and defeated, or they can take the opportunity to explore and figure out the best path for their future. Most successful business leaders today are those who walked out with that dismissal note and grabbed their opportunity. So is Clarry Herrera, one of the thought leaders in the digital marketing segment in the Philippines, who made a name for himself as the Founder & CEO of AGENIX Digital. Clarry tells CEO Insights Asia about the period that changed his life and takes us through his journey.

Could you give a brief account of your professional background and experiences?

I began my professional journey in 2018, at the young age of 20, when I landed my first job as a virtual assistant. However, things didn't go as planned, and I was fired after just one month. Despite this setback, I remained determined and found a job as an Amazon VA, which gave me valuable experience for the next challenge that came my way.

After a few months, I stumbled upon a job post for a management trainee for SEO services in a startup company called To The Top Agency. Even though it paid less than my previous job, I saw it as a golden opportunity to learn about the industry and get hands-on experience with digital marketing. Within six months of my training, I was promoted to SEO Manager and was entrusted with managing the campaigns of our clients, creating reports, and handling proposals. Eventually, I was promoted to Vice President of Services, which gave me even more exposure to the day-to-day operations of running a digital marketing agency.

What inspired you to establish AGENIX Digital and what drives you today?

After a year of working, I felt confident enough to start my own agency, and I took the leap of faith to leave my job and start from scratch. It wasn't easy, but with the trust of my first client-turned-partner, we started providing services in the United States, and it grew from there. We now have a team of fulltime employees and freelancers, providing a range of services beyond just SEO. It's been a challenging and rewarding experience, especially since I come from a family of public school teachers and am the first entrepreneur in my family.

One of the challenges we faced was having a young team, but it also proved to be one of our strengths. We are a dynamic and energetic group who are passionate about creating a big impact for our clients. Building a company from scratch was also a learning experience, but we have created a positive and supportive culture for our team members and clients alike. Overall, it's been a journey filled with milestones and challenges that have contributed to my professional growth.

How can you foster a learning culture within your team?

Elaborate on the methods you have implemented to help draw valuable insights from the market. At our agency, we prioritize the transfer of knowledge among team members. To achieve this, we hold monthly department training for each of our six departments, which focuses on upskilling within specific roles. In addition, we conduct multi-agency training based on internal skills gap assessments, with member feedback informing our training pipeline. To support employee well-being, we also host bi-monthly wellness seminars and webinars on topics such as mental health and exercise for remote workers.

We believe in encouraging open communication and feedback among team members so that everyone has the opportunity to share their insights and improve our agency's processes. We also recognize the importance of staying up-to-date with industry developments and seek external consultants and trainers for specialized knowledge in SEO and digital marketing. Our goal is to ensure that every team member has access to the resources and support they need to thrive within our agency and beyond.

Could you discuss the company's recent adoption of new workplace trends?

While this topic isn't directly related to technical SEO, I'd like to share with you some exciting trends in our workplace environment. As a fully remote company, we recently adopted a flexible work schedule and eliminated the requirement for our full-time employees to track their hours. We received feedback from our team members that the 40-hour workweek requirement wasn't always conducive to  productivity. Therefore, we've implemented a new policy that emphasizes output completion rather than the number of hours worked. This means that our team members can work whenever and wherever they're available, without the need to clock in and out at specific times. As long as they complete all assigned tasks and deliverables to the expected level of quality, we don't require them to work a full 40- hour week. If they complete their work quickly, they can use the remaining time for personal pursuits or to learn new things. These changes were implemented at the beginning of 2023 and have been well-received by our team members.

What are the factors that you look into to ensure effective corporate growth strategies?

There are a number of factors that we take into account. Firstly, the scalability of systems is essential to maintain the quality of work and ensure that our business model remains sustainable as we continue to grow. To achieve this, we have implemented SOP documentation for our processes and effective training modules for our team members. Secondly, we are constantly revisiting our service offerings and adjusting them to align with the latest market trends. Additionally, we have adopted a bottom-up approach to decision-making, ensuring that all team members are empowered to provide feedback and contribute to the direction of the company. Ultimately, this consultative decision-making approach helps to ensure that our policies and strategies are wellreceived and effectively implemented throughout the organization.

What are the changes in market behavior that you anticipate and what are the opportunities that you foresee?

In terms of anticipating changes in the market, we're keeping a close eye on the SEO industry, especially the emergence of AI technologies. We recognize that these new innovations have the potential to greatly impact how we do business and how business owners perceive our services. To prepare for this, we're constantly striving to integrate new technologies into our systems and building partnerships with tech companies. This allows us to revisit our offerings and services, and engage in product and market development.

In addition, we're continuously updating our processes based on what's working in the current market. For instance, we've recently conducted extensive training on how to use ChatGPT to improve the quality of our work and services. Furthermore, we believe that the SEO industry is moving towards a more holistic marketing approach. Simply doing SEO alone is no longer enough to have a good digital footprint. To keep up with this trend, we're working to develop new services that integrate SEO with other areas such as social media marketing, video marketing, and content marketing. Overall, our goal is to remain adaptable to the ever-changing digital marketing space and provide our clients with the best possible services.

Clarry Herrera, Founder & CEO, AGENIX Digital

Clarry, a young and dynamic entrepreneur who has emerged as a leader in the field of digital marketing. He is known for his consultative and empathetic leadership style, valuing proactive communication, accountability through empathy, and a decision to action. Clarry prioritizes creating a positive and productive working environment for his team, believing that happy and engaged employees lead to company growth. With a focus on skill and character, he has built a successful digital marketing agency that is poised for continued growth and success.