This Is What Honest Marketing Looks Like

What would you do if you saw something wrong happening right in front of your eyes, and your peers acted like it was okay? For George Copeland, founder of digital marketing agency Laborem Edge, the answer was simple: build something better. From the early days of his career, George saw unprofessional and unethical behavior that he couldn’t tolerate as a norm. He knew clients deserved something more — so he vowed to blaze a better trail in his field.

This pursuit of trust and positivity is at the heart of every decision George makes at the helm of Laborem Edge, a digital marketing agency that uses search engine marketing to seek out quality leads. George and his business partner shine a light for their clients as they explore the complex world of marketing, driven by a vision of offering an experience in which clients never have to compromise or feel misled.

George is proud to be building an honest and supportive path in the industry, but he wasn’t always so happy with the behavior he saw in his field. George’s first entrepreneurship experiences were in the worlds of entertainment and nightlife promotion. It was during this time that he landed a gig in radio that would serve as a disturbing wake-up call — and the lightbulb moment that would shape the rest of his career. George started his role eager to make a difference, only to discover that the company was regularly cutting corners and cheating their clients. Instead of using the knowledge gap between the business and its clients as a way to help them thrive, George saw his coworkers using it as an opportunity to abuse their trust.

Unfortunately, what George saw in that role was far from an anomaly.

While not every initiative he saw was intentionally harmful like his radio coworkers, others were just flat-out ineffective. Fellow entrepreneurs in George’s circle would frequently come across potential marketing methods that left them discouraged, disappointed, and with no new leads to show for their investment. He remembers noticing that the Yellow Pages sold contracts guaranteeing that clients would receive a set amount of clicks, with a promise of money back if they didn’t make the mark. George would watch as each of his friends would excitedly sign up before walking away frustrated with a lack of results.