The lessons Joshua Hanosh learned in running a nonprofit animal sanctuary provided the framework for his digital marketing agency.
Hanosh and his wife, Danielle, founded Blackberry Creek Animal Sanctuary in Colfax in 2014 as a way to rescue animals and teach and provide therapy to youth and adults. In the process of running the nonprofit, he learned the ins and outs of marketing and building a website, which led the former math and computer science teacher to quit his job and start his own company called Dedicated Designs.
The Auburn-based digital marketing agency was founded in 2018 and provides everything from web design and development to branding and marketing for its clients.
“When I first started working on websites for businesses, I realized that they weren’t very good at marketing themselves,” Hanosh said. “I felt I had a lot of value to add to that with everything I did with the sanctuary, so that’s where the business really took off.”
Early on, Hanosh noticed that clients weren’t fully aware of what the process of web design and development entailed, so many were paying too much for the level of product they were getting in return. He created Dedicated Designs with the goal of being as affordable for the client as possible.
Dedicated Designs currently works with more than 50 clients monthly, and over the last year or two has provided services for around 170 businesses. The firm generated almost $500,000 in revenue last year, more than tripling its business since 2019. Hanosh attributes that success to his team of employees as well as client referrals.
“The reason we are named Dedicated Designs is because I want our clients to feel we are dedicated to them. So, I think our success is a result of that personal service on top of the quality of work we provide,” Hanosh said. “Sadly, it’s unique in this industry. There is a lot of web development and design outfits that kind of templatize things and their clients are just another cog, I guess, in the machine. We don’t approach it like that. We are dedicated to our clients’ success.”
One of the biggest challenges over the past several years has been with helping in the transition for many businesses going digital as a result of the pandemic, particularly in how best to position each for success in their individual market.
“I’d say the biggest challenge has been in educating our clients on how to effectively use digital marketing to grow their business,” Hanosh said. “I think it’s a black box for a lot of people, so even if our clients don’t understand how we build the thing for them, I want them to understand our strategies and where their money is going so that they can feel good about it and see how they made a return on their investment.”
Similar to their clients having to increase prices due to inflation, Dedicated Designs has also had to follow suit, mainly because the tools used in the design and development process have also increased. Hanosh said a lot of the company’s profits also go right back into the company either in terms of profit sharing or higher wages for employees. Dedicated Designs has 10 employees.
Hanosh is taking part in an accelerator program by the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, which consists of business owners from around the Sacramento region that do between $1 million and $400 million in revenue annually. As part of that program, he receives guidance from mentors that work to help his company reach at least $1 million in annual revenue.
“What stands out about Josh is his commitment and willingness to dive into something to help build his business and others,” said Todd Bollenbach, president of the Sacramento chapter of EO, and founder of outsourced IT service provider GNT Solutions before selling the company in 2021. “It’s tough to build a service company and he’s building a fast-growing business in a difficult industry with a lot of competition.”
Bollenbach said one of Hanosh’s strengths is his humility and willingness to learn.
“It’s like a constant evolution of learning. He values mentorship and being around people he can learn from, and he’s not afraid to ask questions,” Bollenbach said. “There’s no ego there.”
Hanosh said the company’s focus moving forward is on educating current and potential clients on the importance of advertising in order to stand out from competitors, as well as risk mitigation.
That includes helping clients comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act by making sure their websites are useable by people who are blind, low-vision, deaf or hard of hearing.
“One thing we are really focusing on right now is ADA compliance, which is a huge liability that many business owners don’t realize,” Hanosh said. “Just like a building must meet ADA requirements so too does a business’s website, and if they are out of compliance they can get sued, so we are looking at lines of business like that where we are able to provide a service to our clients regardless of how the economy is, and it’s relatively inexpensive compared to other services we offer.”
Over the last several months, his team has also put more energy into creating its own content and promoting itself, as most of its growth up to that point had largely been organic through referrals. They’ve also been working on producing case studies on topics such as branding and advanced website building.
“We’ve just been dedicating hours of time to our own marketing and making that investment so that we can hit the ground running in 2023,” he said.
The Essentials
Joshua Hanosh
Founder/CEO of Dedicated Designs
Age: 36
Residence: Colfax
Personal: Wife, Danielle
Education: Graduated with degree in finance from UC Davis in 2008, where he also received a master’s degree and teaching credential in 2010.
Career background: Former high school teacher in Rocklin, where he taught math and computer science for eight years. Opened nonprofit animal sanctuary with wife in 2014.
Hobbies outside of work: Long-distance running, golf, snowboarding and cooking.
What would someone be surprised to know about you: “My diet is totally plant-based and has been since 2015.”
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