What Being a Worldcom Partner Means to Beutler Ink

A few years ago, when I was visiting L.A. on business, I met up for lunch (at 1pm, of course) with an industry colleague whom I then knew only a little. At this point all I had in mind was selling a project, although I certainly hoped we could develop a longer term relationship. Little did I know how much of that world that lunch would open up to my company—quite literally.

At this fast casual meeting over grass-fed burgers, onion rings, and a chocolate shake, I learned for the first time about the Worldcom Public Relations Group, a network of independent communications agencies from all around the world. Would we be interested in joining?

Beutler Ink was a little different from its other agencies—we were a new-ish firm at the time, and we didn't have roots in traditional PR—but we decided it was worth the stretch, and they agreed. When we officially joined at the fall 2015 meeting in Atlanta, we were welcomed like old friends. 

At that first meeting, it was impressed upon us that we didn't consider ourselves "members" of Worldcom but "partners". We weren't just paying dues for the sake of networking; we were joining a close-knit group of small business owners and executives all facing similar challenges.

Of course in the five years since we have attended meetings around the country and the world, referred business to other agencies and had business referred to us in turn, joined and led knowledge-sharing webinars, and visited each others' offices when traveling to their cities. Worldcom has helped us build global connections that would have been impossible otherwise. Two members of our executive team have even served on the Americas region board.

Without question, Worldcom has been an invaluable resource for Beutler Ink. And it's not just the networking and new business opportunities, but the support in terms of business advice and camaraderie that makes it stand out compared to other industry groups we'd tried before. 

As COVID-19 spread across the world this spring, bringing with it new uncertainties, we scheduled regular conversations for partners to share their experiences and learn from others. It's a testament to the trust among us that these conversations have been so open and relatively unguarded. For a small business owner in a competitive field, that's exceedingly rare.

While much uncertainty remains, having a global network of talented peers like our friends at Worldcom reminds us we are not alone. Running an agency is never easy, and the opportunity to learn from others' experience is irreplaceable. We're not quite as new an agency as we once were, but we know our trusted partners at Worldcom will continue to help us grow in the years to come. #WorldcomStrong