What first started as a hobby has evolved into a growing nurse educator business with 18 employees. NurseTim, Inc.® is a “train the trainer” company that works with nursing schools and teaches nursing faculty how to teach nursing. The owner, Dr. Tim Bristol, realized that there were not any good resources available for nursing professors. With a background in both nursing and education, Tim set out to offer quality training for nursing faculty. Tim explains, “Nurses are taught how to be nurses, not how to teach. NurseTim® helps faculty make that transition from practice to educator.” The company has also recently developed the NurseThink® brand, which includes resources for nursing students, as well as nursing faculty.
Looking Back
About three years ago, Tim realized that his business was growing faster than his marketing. The company had more graphic design needs than they could handle with their current staff and Tim was considering hiring a graphic designer for his company. Up until then, he enlisted mostly the help of his brother and part-time graphic designers to help with the website and marketing. Tim remembers, “At one point, I was debating, ‘do I hire an employee?’ I was asking around and someone connected me with Steve Gasser at Vivid Image.” Although Tim was initially looking to hire a direct employee, it didn’t take long for Steve to convince Tim that hiring the Vivid Image team was the best choice. NurseTim® hadn’t had the best history with marketing agencies so they started small at first, “Eventually, I sent a few projects to Vivid Image to see how it would go. Those went so well that I quit looking for an employee to hire.”
Tim quickly understood the benefits of working with a team of marketing and design professionals, rather than hiring a graphic designer as an employee and being limited to just one skill set. Tim admits, “I like having the team approach, rather than hiring one person and then having to supervise that person. Partnering with Vivid Image is a very flexible way to tap into quality.” Heidi Arndt, Account Director, and the Graphic Designers, are the key Vivid Image players on NurseTim’s team.
“Eventually, I sent a few projects to Vivid Image to see how it would go. Those went so well that I quit looking for an employee to hire.” – Tim Bristol
Print, Branding, & Website
“Our first project with Vivid Image started with just a brochure and postcard.” Tim remembers, “Vivid Image did all the graphic design for those first pieces and managed the printing. It didn’t take us long to realize we had a lot of marketing pieces that were inconsistent. We were a garage operation before Vivid got involved.” Later, when the website was designed, the overall look, design, and feel was more professional. The Vivid Image team also helped NurseTim® establish Branding Guidelines that their team could follow for other marketing assets. Tim appreciated the guidance in perfecting the NurseTim® brand across their online and print marketing. He pointed out, “The graphic designers helped with colors and how to stick to certain fonts, which helped the staff at NurseTim have design guidelines to follow. We didn’t want our marketing to look like seven different companies so consistent branding was key.”
eBooks, Hard Copy Books & More
It didn’t take long for the print pieces and website to lead to bigger and better marketing. Tim remembers, “Besides redesigning our previous marketing pieces to match the branding of our website, we were also building a platform website management system. Vivid helped with all of it.” Probably the most exciting of the NurseTim® marketing projects has been the completion of books co-authored by Tim Bristol himself. Tim expressed, “It was my dream to get these two books authored. We are also working on two more books for students, one of which is an NCLEX Prep Exam book over 700 pages long. There is a big need in the market and we are optimistic that our books will meet that need.” One of the books that Tim co-authored was finished last month and printed and stitched together. Tim noted, “I got my thoughts on the book on paper, then the Vivid team put it all together. It is awesome to see it exploding on the website with sales!” NurseTim’s books are the first books of their size created by Vivid Image. The books are available as hard copy or Kindle e-book and are for sale on Amazon. The NurseTim® website, which is currently being redesigned, also has an online bookstore.
A Marketing Partnership
We love to see how far NurseTim® has come in just the three short years that Vivid Image has had the privilege to work with them. What started as a goal to recruit an employee turned into working with Vivid Image for marketing consulting, print management, website design, branding, and even publication of books! Tim’s approach to business and marketing is pretty clear and it shows, “Dream big, start small, act now.”
“When you run the numbers on a business of my size you can’t afford a graphic designer. Working with Vivid Image gives me access to the quality and talent, without having to find a person to hire and invest in long-term.” – Tim Bristol
Tim is confident in his choice to hire Vivid Image instead of hiring another employee because he gets the benefits of a marketing team without the hassle of hiring and managing staff. He admitted, “As a small business owner, it’s crucial to have a team to work with, rather than just myself and a few employees saying ‘I think this looks OK.’ Vivid gives us the expertise and insight to make solid marketing decisions.”
If you are at a crossroads like NurseTim® was, consider hiring an agency like Vivid Image for your marketing. Tim recommends, “Give it a try with a small project or two. Once you see what they put out, determine ‘does this work for us?’ When you run the numbers on a business of my size you can’t afford a graphic designer. Working with Vivid Image gives me access to the quality and talent, without having to find a person to hire and invest in long-term.
Having a marketing team in your back pocket is a great asset. Want to chat about how Vivid Image can help with print projects, web design, or social media for your business? Contact us here or call (320) 587-8974 to get started!
