Recently Andrew Warner of Mixergy.com interviewed Robby Berthume, CEO of Epsilon Concepts, about his remarkable start a teenage entrepreneur and how to build profitable websites.  They discuss the art of talking up your business, the benefits of entrepreneurship vs. school, turning down business to create opportunities, using contests, having a profit-oriented mindset, and starting small.

“In 2000, when he was 14-years-old, Robby Berthume started building web sites for local businesspeople. When he turned 22, the LA Business Journal featured him in its “Twenty in Their 20s” report because his company was earning healthy profits on about seven figure sales by building web sites like WhereToGetEngaged

I invited Robby to Mixergy to talk about what he learned about building profitable sites.”

Recently Robby Berthume of Moon Berthume and Epsilon Concepts sat down with Andy Koehn, Jeff Haden, and Andrea Knight to discuss how social media is affecting business models, particularly in jewelry and bridal related industries, over a series of eight webisodes. The series was produced by Where To Get Engaged, an engagement and wedding social network designed and developed by Epsilon Concepts, and directed by Josh Gooden. What follows is episode six.

To follow the series, visit EngagingConversations.com and become a fan on Facebook!

Recently Robby Berthume of Epsilon Concepts and Moon Berthume sat down with Andy Koehn, Jeff Haden, and Andrea Knight to discuss how social media is affecting business models, particularly in jewelry and bridal related industries, over a series of eight webisodes. The series was produced by Where To Get Engaged, an engagement and wedding social network designed and developed by Epsilon Concepts, and directed by Josh Gooden. What follows is episode two.

To follow the series, visit EngagingConversations.com and become a fan on Facebook!

Check out the original press release here.

(PRWEB) August 1, 2009 — Epsilon Concepts, a Los Angeles web development company specializing in custom social networks, has unveiled the Los Angeles Digital Directory at http://www.ladigitaldirectory.com. The LA Digital Directory is a tech and entertainment oriented directory of jobs, job seekers, gigs, projects, vendors/agencies, freelancers/consultants, internships, recruiters/employment agencies, and events. For a limited time, The LA Digital Directory is also giving away one Kindle for every 500 premium listings and for every 1,000 free listings.

The LA Digital Directory focuses on providing screened local high quality listings moderated by professional editors from technology and entertainment. There is no clutter, no spam to sort through on the LA Digital Directory. The directory focuses on bringing the best people and businesses together from Los Angeles and Southern California. Additionally, you can subscribe to RSS feeds for each category via your blog reader so you automatically receive new listings as they are added. The directory is very easy to use and easy to search. Future planning improvements involve integrating social media with the directory and a mobile version. Premium listings with rush inclusion, social media distribution, premium labeling, and premium placement are only $50 per month while standard listings are free, allowing anyone to take advantage of this directory as a phone book of sorts for LA’s burgeoning tech and established entertainment communities. By providing a current directory of all things digital and entertainment in LA, the directory aims to organize the tech, entertainment and social media scenes in Los Angeles.

The LA Digital Directory is also heavily marketed online and at LA-specific tech, entertainment and social media events by the partners and their team. By adding a free or premium listing, individuals and businesses can thereby have their listing pushed through social media channels like Facebook & Twitter, included in search engine results and promoted through LATimes.com, direct mail, event sponsorships, Google & Facebook PPC, etc… Epsilon Concepts will also be looking to partner with key Los Angeles tech events and organizations to promote the LA Digital Directory. CEO Robby Berthume adds: “Advertising on LA Digital Directory allows you to reach the right people and companies in LA’s tech and entertainment worlds, which are rapidly blending in many ways. We attend the events, partner with promoters and do the networking so you don’t have to do the legwork. With LA’s unemployment issues and businesses carefully monitoring expenses, the directory allows individuals and vendors to make the best decisions with high quality local listings. With no middlemen and no clutter, this allows them to fill that job, find that recruiter, place that project or find that internship quickly and easily.

Epsilon Concepts would like to proudly announce the launch of our client’s groundbreaking engagement and wedding social network, WhereToGetEngaged.com

Below is the press release we are releasing on behalf of our client, Where To Get Engaged, Inc.

Los Angeles, California, May 12

Join WhereToGetEngaged.com for Free by July 31, 2009 & Automatically be Entered to Win a FREE HONEYMOON GIVEAWAY

WhereToGetEngaged.com (WTGE) is a social network, directory and search engine that will undoubtedly change the “recession-proof” bridal industry forever. Focused on key decision and conversation points like The Ring, The Proposal, and The Wedding, WTGE is a new concept in social networking as well as the bridal industry. By connecting users, vendors, and manufacturers across an easy and intuitive platform, WTGE is a gateway for effortlessly exploring and connecting while sharing life’s most celebrated moments.

Getting engaged can be an overwhelming process for the future groom. Finding the perfect ring and planning a memorable proposal can be tricky at best. WTGE provides a powerful localized search engine to find and interact with vendors crucial to the process, from the ring to the honeymoon to married life. Built for guys just as much as brides, it combines an intuitive directory with the latest in social networking and interactive functionalities. From the guy planning the engagement (perhaps using WTGE’s helpful “stealth mode” feature) to the bride planning the wedding, it connects friends and family around life’s most memorable events while making it easy to find the best local vendors and learn about the top manufacturers and brands in the industry.

WTGE is unique in that users, vendors and manufacturers all get easy-to-setup social profiles packed with features like locations, products, photos, videos, blogs, events, favorites, wishlists, reviews, ratings, social profile URLs, messaging, and more. In fact, the site is growing in features and usability on a daily basis while being pushed and marketed heavily across the United States! Some of the biggest brands in the industry are already on board, including Hearts on Fire, Verragio, Benchmark, A. Jaffe, RITANI, and Saturn Jewels! Best of all, instead of annoying users with ads and spam, WTGE is a social network without “in your face” marketing. WTGE brings together the integral players in the jewelry and bridal industries in a seamless and transparent fashion, making it easier than ever to learn about, interact with, and freely engage with helpful vendors, manufacturers, and users! The name “Where To Get Engaged” wasn’t chosen simply for engaged couples – it stands for engaging in communication, engaging in business and engaging in community.

Where To Get Engaged, Inc. was founded by CEO Christopher Simonetti, who leveraged his decades of experience as a top jeweler to team with Los Angeles digital agency Epsilon Concepts to plan, design, develop and market a unique and compelling website that harnesses social media for local businesses and quality manufacturers around the country. In his words, “Where To Get Engaged began as a ‘catchy’ marketing slogan for my jewelry store; owning a retail jewelry store for over 20 years, I know exactly how relevant this concept is. Men walk in my store everyday knowing that they are ready to propose and knowing it will be something she’ll remember forever, but have no idea how to make it perfect. The deeper we dove into the concept, the more we realized that engagements and weddings touched nearly every business category. My goal is to create a social network that will connect customers with the best local businesses and vendors and helps them find the information and products they are looking for. But we won’t stop there, even connecting vendors with manufacturers and manufacturers with vendors!”

WTGE is free for users and vendors. Premium accounts are available for vendors, with extended features, premium placement and added exposure across a variety of social media channels. WTGE believes social media is the most current and affordable way to reach in-market customers. For far less than a Yellow Pages ad, vendors can reach and engage with more customers than imaginable. Best of all, it’s quick and easy to setup and maintain a compelling profile allowing vendors and manufacturers to show product, keep customers updated on events and build their brands. It’s easy, it’s dynamic, and it’s only going to get better from here!

Key Links:

HOME PAGE: http://www.wheretogetengaged.com
SITE TOUR: http://www.wheretogetengaged.com/tour/
FAQs: http://www.wheretogetengaged.com/pages/frequently-asked-questions.html
HELP: http://www.wheretogetengaged.com/tutorials
BLOG: http://blog.wheretogetengaged.com
FREE HONEYMOON GIVEAWAY: http://www.wheretogetengaged.com/promotions/sign-up-to-win-the-ultimate-vacation-getaway.html

- @epsilonc

As a 22 year old tech veteran, having started and led a successful digital agency for going on 9 years now, I am used to a certain kind of reaction when people find out the story behind Epsilon Concepts and my personal adventure in this fast-paced digital world.  In a nutshell, I started Epsilon Concepts at the age of 14 (not including freelance “bitch work”, of course, as that started much earlier) and have simply worked hard since then to continue to grow, personally and professionally. Let me give you some background: when I was 14 I was already very entrepreneurial and I also realized at a young age that though money isn’t everything, it certainly helps and provides freedom and leverage.  I also thoroughly enjoyed working.  I guess I should be more specific: I didn’t really enjoy physical or mental labor in_the_act.  I think saying I relished the actual work all the time would be a lie.  But I did certainly love the way it made me feel and I loved the relationships that good, hard work helped create.  I experienced what it felt like to be able to buy your own things and the sense of freedom and security that money can bring.  I felt pride when I tried really hard on a job well done, and felt gratified when it was a thorough, professional project completed.

I realized early that your reputation, your personal brand, was everything.  It could also be tarnished as easily as an exotic car can be dented by one careless driver (or shopping cart).  I started Epsilon Concepts by learning-on-the-fly and building websites for real estate properties, training elderly people on using the Internet, and building websites for the local car dealerships, photographers, furniture companies, travel agencies, and pretty much the entire small town of Chardon, Ohio after moving on from Redding, California, where I started my work.  I had a knack for sales and marketing and understood business and relationships very well.  I was meticulous about my services and tried to be as fair and and friendly as possible, frequently sending out birthday cards, client gifts, and receiving numerous testimonials, references, and friends in the process.   I built the company website and I started getting very good positions on the search engines and building up a strong lead pipeline.  I have since revamped and relaunched the company website 8 times. I started working with contractors and have expanded ever since over time, even internationally.   I was diligent in approaching everyone I could and following up with people for months and even years, in a polite and personable way, in order to get their business.  I developed a very nice client list over time, met many amazing people, and learned so many lessons along the way.  Not to say I was perfect or didn’t make mistakes.  Far from it, my mistakes were critical to my growth and the growth of Epsilon Concepts and I was fortunate to have started the company in an almost incubator-like environment.

My age also proved to be mostly an advantage.  In the minds of most of those older than me, I “grew up on the Net” and especially social media.  Sure, I’ve been to more than a few meetings since I started where I noticed eye brows raise thanks to their perception of my youth, but 99.9% of the time those looks were erased after they realized that my company and I were just as legitimate as the next guy, even if he was twice my age. I’m 22 now, having run Epsilon Concepts and other businesses for the past 9 years during a very fun ride of a decade for the Internet.  I sold my age to clients by explaining that I had the energy, the passion, and the time to really blow their socks off with my work.  I explained that even though I didn’t have a portfolio (then), because their piece was such a critical piece for me in that moment, it meant the world and they would get the best end-result imaginable.  And, for the most part, many people trusted in me and I know I didn’t let the majority down (you can’t make everyone happy, it’s not possible).  I worked really, really hard, intent on investing in the future personal brand equity I’d have and hoping to watch it and the company snowball.  Over the past years, it’s really paid off as I now have an amazing business partner and we lead a diverse team of twenty specialized web and marketing experts, we’ve completed well over 250 projects, and we have some great brands and compelling examples to our name.  Our project management (the weak point of the web development industry) is now extremely high caliber, our processes highly optimized, and our overhead minimized.  We’ve mobile, connected, and specialized.  We offer a suite of web services from strategic consulting to branding to web development and production to social media marketing.   We are launching shortly our Marketing Agency arm, Moon Berthume.  With this addition and with our existing experience with SEM/SMO, we will offer the full range of services to those start-ups and companies looking to differentiate.  We’re now headquartered in downtown Los Angeles and are well connected with industry press contacts, investors, organizations, events, experience, and human resources.

It wasn’t always easy, though, building the company while being a teenager.  I graduated High School early and prepared to enroll full time as a marketing student.  I thought it was imperative to get my bachelor’s out of the way so that I could grow as an individual and also be able to step into a master’s program easily at some point in my late twenties to continue my studies after building Epsilon Concepts into a large, stable and thriving ship.   I simultaneously started taking more and more projects with Epsilon Concepts and I was extremely busy. I juggled many things, was oft stressed, yet I managed to experience a lot and only sacrificed a bit of sleep in the process.   I had special arrangements with professors who understood my situation and were willing to let me leave class if I had an important conference call or business engagement.  I stayed completely connected regardless of which world I was in, and for the most part everything was pretty smooth.  Of course, there were good projects and bad, but I and my growing team learned from our mistakes pretty well I think. I took all that I could handle and then some and was personally carrying the burden of literally dozens of projects.  It was very overwhelming at times, but in the past five years this stress has been reduced as my team has grown and we now only accept a very limited number of engagements per year.  We’re thriving in a down economy because we’re focusing on quality, ROI, and long term strategy.  It’s not just the web production work we provide, it’s how we provide it.  We work with our clients as strategic partners, being proactive and thinking on our feet.  We know how to make money and we know how to build web apps that rock in terms of usability, user experience, and achieved objectives.  We have a team of amazing people that are extremely talented and have genuine personalities.  I’ve had many lessons, mistakes, and some amazingly pain-in-the-ass clients and employees along the way, but I’ve learned that just like in life, the life of a business is made up of cycles.  It’s a process, a dynamic series of changing events.  Problems arise, but so do opportunities.  Duds are hired and fired, but the more duds you get the more likely you’ll get some gems along the way.  Most things in life aren’t easy, but most things aren’t that hard either.  It’s just a matter of riding the days and weeks as effectively and efficiently as possible, so that you are always improving and as ready as possible for the opportunities that will arise. I am incredibly grateful for the problems and opportunities of my youth.

So I got off on a tangent about my personal background, but the whole reason I wanted to write this post in the first place was because I get asked oftentimes at this point in my life how I was able to become this successful at my age.  Of course, there are many people far more successful than I am, regardless of how you measure it.  On a financial level, guys like Mark Zuckerberg obviously take my cake.  I don’t think I’ve gone the easiest routes to make money for the sake of it (that would probably be porn or oil).  I think a lot of people think maybe I’m pretty smart or maybe I just got lucky or maybe my rich uncle helped me out!  If you ask me, it’s because I’m self-conscious about being lazy.  Laziness isn’t an attractive quality to me, when it comes to the analysis of myself.  I’m truly my own worst critic and I’ve always thought of myself as being a lazy person.  In reality, I’m not sure anyone who knows me or is around me would say that I’m lazy.  I work very hard and typically at least 50-60 hours a week and then some, plus other commitments and personal obligations.  But, this “thought attack” pushes me to work harder and stay focused.  My true secret is simply that I visualize the end result and then pursue it with a focused diligence.

This sounds so easy, right?  In theory, it shouldn’t be.  But in practice, apparently it’s pretty hard.  I’ve really heard a lot jibber-jabber from many people around me about what they can do, what they’re going to do, how they used to rock in a former life.  I for one am tired of the lame excuses and the empty rhetoric. Don’t get me wrong, I truly think most people have excellent intentions.  They just fail miserably to execute and then whine about it.

Being successful, in my opinion, means you can’t be a total dumb ass, but you don’t have to be Einstein either.  The biggest factor affecting your success will be diligence.  You will have to work hard, harder than others.  Hard meaning intensity and/or hours and/or stress.  You will also have to work with focus, with vision.  You will absolutely need to zone in on your goals, on that destination to power your pursuit.  I hate to sound like some self-help article or a smart-ass advice column, but it really comes down to how hard you want it.  If there were five things that I could recommend to someone looking for a secret recipe for success (however you define that), I would say:

1. Get off your fat ass.
2. Visualize the outcome.
3. Get off your fat ass.
4. Do the best you can with what you have (be resourceful).
5. Get off your fat ass.

You get the point.  If you think I’m being a little condescending by telling you what to do, I agree.  So tell you what, I’ll get off my high horse when you get off your fat ass. Until then!

@epsilonc

Happy New Year To You!

Yes, 2008 is over and another odd year has arrived.  In other more exciting news, we’ve just completed our first year of blogging @ Things Worth Talking About.  Despite a lot of hectic schedules and tight projects, we managed to publish 153 posts over the last 12 months.  Averaging 3 posts per week, bushmanbill, myself and several guest bloggers wrote the bulk of the posts.  We also improved the design of our blog, have added some valuable auxiliary content, and have integrated other social media tools into our mix.  Yes, yes, I know, I might break my arm giving myself a pat on the back. What can I say, blogging is sometimes a tough habit to stick with. Luckily, we’ve developed the habit of blogging and have kept the vision (for the most part) when it comes to growing our megaphone in the digital world.

It is also true that wisdom is gained from experience and growth occurs from mistakes.  We’ve made mistakes this past year, but I’ve been very happy with the level of productivity and support I’ve received from my team.  This spans outside of our blogging efforts into other facets of our service offering.  Our team has really grown this year, out of diversity and also out of tremendous success.  With each hill that we climb, we become more confident in ourselves, in each other, and in the value of our mission.  In a low-trust world, we focus on the relevant, the valuable, and the lasting to achieve results for ourselves and our clients, each goal at a time.

We want to continue to publish interesting and relevant content via this blog and aim to stay focused around our core competencies and passions, namely social media, social & environmental causes, new media, new marketing, outsourcing, and globalization. We also may reduce the quantity of posts, as we focus in on producing and publishing only the most remarkable, relevant and focused content as possible.  If you’re interesting in contributing or have a recommendation or request, please do contact us.  We’ll be doing more social site reviews in the coming year, as well as talking about the happening events and vendors that are adding value in this space.

In 2009 we also aim to solidify our events section, keeping tabs on relevant events around the areas just outlined above, worldwide.  Furthermore, our upcoming Digital Directory will be a clean, usable, and valuable directory of digital professionals.  Listings will be granted upon editor approval on a first come, first save basis.  Basic listings are free and premium listings are only $25 per month.  We will only be selecting and recommending a limited amount of vendors and freelancers, aiming not for the biggest digital directory, but the best.

The new year is here and we will only be selecting a very limited number of clients this year, probably less than 5 or 6.  We’re working on some exciting projects and want to really enhance our quality, output, and credibility in this new year.  The economy may be rough waters, but we believe if we’re good enough, we’ll always be worth the investment for our clients and that this economic landscape is the perfect time to expand, hire more people, and fuel our growth and success in this field.  We’re fast coming up on a decade in business, so it’s imperative we continue to make solid headway in the new year.

Additionally, in late ‘09 I’ll be formally announcing the release date of a revolutionary new global business-to-business platform.  I’ve been working on the foundation to this concept for the last five years and we’re hard at work on a global social directory that will connect buyers and sellers across the world, promoting world peace, global collaboration, and strengthening individual country’s economies as well as the global economy.  Our site will be just as valuable to the buyer as to the seller, with a feature set chock full of revolutionary features weaving social networking, search, and a directory.  Outsourcing is a multi-billion dollar industry with a bad rep and we intend on opening up global collaboration in a powerful, easy, and intuitive manner. The three things that stand in the way of outsourcing are risk (or perceived risk), ignorance, and communication (or lack thereof) and we believe our platform can and will address each in a remarkable way.

Until next time, HAPPY #*%! NEW YEAR TO YOU, TOO!

If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you may have noticed that posts have been a little less frequent and a bit more sporadic over the last few weeks.  We want to assure you that we haven’t gone anywhere, we’ve simply been hard at work launching some critical and exciting projects and re-designing our own website and blog plus working on the release of our upcoming Digital Directory in beta this weekend.  We think our website is cleaner, clearer, and better practices our design and development methodologies (less is more).  We hope you like the new look and invite your feedback, positive or negative.  Blog posts will be back to regular in the coming weeks and we look forward to having some guest bloggers, some social networking site reviews, and more local LA social media / web coverage.

We’re also working diligently on the alpha launch of an innovative and usable social networking website for one of our clients.  More details and a review/case study coming soon! We also have a kick-ass custom-built e-commerce website with countless customizations and innovative features launching soon. Our team is hard at work to launch both projects.  Again, more details and a review/case study coming soon.

In addition to our operational work, we’ve also been busy networking and attending industry events, interviewing for opening positions, and have been quite busy with some great client relationships.  In the coming days we’re launching a European and Asian division and website of Epsilon Concepts, we’ll be tripling our ad budget, and we’ll be looking to beef up our team more and more in the new year, despite the slowing economy.

We’re also planning a revolutionary website concept in outsourcing/offshoring that combines many facets in a unique and compelling way.  Everything is in stealth-mode now, but it’s been something I’ve been working on the details for, for about 4 years now.  We really think it will change the way businesses do business, across the globe.  More details coming soon.

Additionally, I recently posted a review of You2Gov.com here on the blog and a press release was generated out of it that was distributed though many media sources.  Check out the press release on Forbes here.

I was also mentioned by Fast Company blogger Francisco Dao of The Killer Pitch in his blog post on The Smart Show entitled “The Next Generation Of Entrepeneurs”.  Thanks for the mention, Francisco!

Finney and Sam were in attendance at last week’s Digital Drinks event here in LA at The Roosevelt and enjoyed the pool atmosphere and the great company!  Thanks to everyone who said hi!

Until next update, have a good weekend!

-Robby