Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in branding and marketing but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Mellissa Tong, Founder and CCO of DuckPunk Productions, Inc., located in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

My company is called DuckPunk Productions, Inc., an award-winning creative marketing and content production company. We've been around since 2000.

We serve types of customers, Small businesses, Mid-size firms, and Fortune 500 companies. For small businesses, we focus on the foundation of their brand and crafting their brand story. For mid-sized companies, we become their in-house marketing arm handling their branding and marketing needs. For Fortune 500 companies, we produce TV commercial campaigns and branded content to increase their market share.

Some of our small to mid-sized clients have seen sales increase up to 400%, and our Fortune 500 clients up to 110%. Awards we won are Clio, Addy, Telly, and Best of Business in Video Production for nine consecutive years since 2012.

Tell us about yourself

I started my career as a TV newscaster in 1994. Because I was the newest addition to the newsroom, they decided to give me the least important segment, which was a daily 5 min human interest segment where I could cover anything but hard news. I had the opportunity to interview thousands of people from all walks of life, including Hollywood celebrities, and ended up crafting and covering over 1,200 on-air stories. Those four years really laid a very solid foundation for me as a storyteller. Without that training, I don't think I'll be as good as I am today. After the news job, I switched over to fiction storytelling and worked on a CBS prime-time scripted show called Martial Law before I started my own company DuckPunk.

My daily mantra is "The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." by Picasso. My vision for DuckPunk is to inspire and teach every single business owner, regardless of the size of their business, the power of storytelling and how to apply it in business to build their brand, drive sales, and gain more customers.

I speak a lot at conferences. At one of my most recent conferences, one woman business owner raised her hand and said she had no story to tell. I told her I couldn't let that happen and invited her to come up on stage. Within 10 minutes, we found her story. That incident gave me a renewed determination, and that is, I want to help as many business owners as possible who come into my path. I want them to know that they have a worthy story to tell.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

People told me they quit smoking because they saw the ad I produced on TV. We did a campaign for the California Department of Health to combat 2nd hand smoking. The campaign consisted of 4 spots and was produced in 6 different languages. It was aired on all the major networks, such as CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, and WB, and raised their 1-800 hotline calls by 70%.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Branding and marketing for myself. I do this for people every single day, but when it comes to doing it for myself, it's not easy. It took me years to do a tagline for my company, "Build your story. Build your Brand." Eventually, I had to get help.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Start with your brand story, hire someone to help you pull your why, passion, past experiences, and achievements, and work all that into your brand story. To me, a brand story is like the foundation of a house; without that, you can't really build anything on top.
  2. Articulate your special value propositions. Spend some time to find out how and why you're different than your competitors.
  3. Focus on how your service or product can improve your customers' lives, even if you're a B2B like us.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.duckpunk.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mellissa.tong
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mellissatong/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mellissatong/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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