---
title: Tribute Media | Inbound Marketing Blog | Corey Smith
description: Corey Smith is the founder of Tribute Media and serves as the Managing Director for Tribute Media. He is also the VP of Web & Creative for Hawke Media.
---
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# Inbound Marketing Blog
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Corey Smith Corey Smith is the founder of Tribute Media and serves as the Managing Director for Tribute Media. He is also the VP of Web & Creative for Hawke Media.
## [Making Unhappy Customers Happy Again](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/making-unhappy-customers-happy-again)
Posted by [Corey Smith](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/author/corey-smith) on Dec 21, 2023, 7:22:00 AM
[](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/making-unhappy-customers-happy-again)
In my opinion, the two most perfect food options are hamburgers and pizza. In fact, I’ve worked really hard to learn how to make the best burger and the best pizza I can. I’ve worked for years to come up with the recipe I love for each part of each, from the bread to the sauces and the toppings. It must be done right.
- [Read More](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/making-unhappy-customers-happy-again)
## [People Are Most Important](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/people-are-most-important)
Posted by [Corey Smith](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/author/corey-smith) on Nov 30, 2023, 6:42:00 AM
[](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/people-are-most-important)
When I first graduated from high school, I worked for AT&T. I worked in the leased telephone division. One of my jobs was to convince people that leasing a telephone made sense. I was supposed to help them keep contracts on telephone equipment whether they needed it or not (sound like AOL?).
- [Read More](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/people-are-most-important)
## [How to Have A Successful Website Strategy Meeting](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/success-website-development)
Posted by [Corey Smith](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/author/corey-smith) on Nov 16, 2023, 6:50:00 AM
[](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/success-website-development)
We'll give it to you straight- the success of a website development strategy meeting depends mostly on YOU. How you respond to and work alongside both internal and external teams will greatly affect the tone, efficiency, productivity, and overall results that come from the meeting. However, there are some other aspects to take into account as well, which we'll cover in this blog.
- [Read More](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/success-website-development)
[Web Design & Development](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/topic/web-design-development)
## [Client Retention Starts with Sales](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/client-retention-starts-with-sales)
Posted by [Corey Smith](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/author/corey-smith) on Nov 9, 2023, 6:47:00 AM
[](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/client-retention-starts-with-sales)
Every company has struggled at one time or another with retaining clients. Just when you think you get the formula right something changes that blows everything up. That change could be market conditions. That change could be something internal like a lost employee or a bad decision that ruined your revenue model.
- [Read More](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/client-retention-starts-with-sales)
## [5 Signs of Dysfunctional Customer Relations](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/5-signs-of-dysfunctional-customer-relations)
Posted by [Corey Smith](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/author/corey-smith) on Nov 2, 2023, 6:49:00 AM
[](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/5-signs-of-dysfunctional-customer-relations)
I believe that one of the biggest challenges of running any company is ensuring that you have happy customers. There seems to be a constant effort to market or sell products & services but a lack of interest in keeping customers happy.
- [Read More](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/5-signs-of-dysfunctional-customer-relations)
## [6 Reasons Website Projects Take Forever](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/6-reasons-website-projects-take-forever)
Posted by [Corey Smith](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/author/corey-smith) on Oct 26, 2023, 6:46:00 AM
[](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/6-reasons-website-projects-take-forever)
Website development has gone through many changes over the years. [The first website](https://info.cern.ch) was built in 1991 and the world hasn’t looked back. We’ve seen so many advancements in how data is presented in areas like animation, web apps, games, etc.
- [Read More](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/6-reasons-website-projects-take-forever)
[Web Design & Development](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/topic/web-design-development)
## [Never Use Jargon in Your Marketing](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/never-use-jargon-in-your-marketing)
Posted by [Corey Smith](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/author/corey-smith) on Oct 19, 2023, 7:48:00 AM
[](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/never-use-jargon-in-your-marketing)
Early in my career, I was a graphic designer and worked for a variety of clients. One of my clients was a video distribution company. They provided videos (VHS and DVD) to a few grocery store video departments. (ATTN: Gen Z and Gen Alphas out there- it used to be a big thing to rent VHS tapes and DVDs from everywhere, not just RedBox).
- [Read More](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/never-use-jargon-in-your-marketing)
[Marketing](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/topic/marketing)
## [Light The Fire in Your Employees](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/light-the-fire-in-your-employees)
Posted by [Corey Smith](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/author/corey-smith) on Sep 28, 2023, 9:06:00 AM
[](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/light-the-fire-in-your-employees)
For years, I've been a scoutmaster. I've taken the opportunity to teach youth how to build fires more times than I can ever count. When you are building and maintaining a fire, you need three key elements: fuel, heat, and oxygen. As easy as it is to start a forest fire, when you are learning how to make it work it's harder than you think. If your heat is too low, you need more oxygen. If your fuel is too wet, you need more heat.
- [Read More](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/light-the-fire-in-your-employees)
[Business](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/topic/business)
## [Profits over Customer Happiness = A Recipe for Disaster](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/profits-over-customer-happiness-a-recipe-for-disaster)
Posted by [Corey Smith](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/author/corey-smith) on Sep 21, 2023, 8:18:00 AM
[](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/profits-over-customer-happiness-a-recipe-for-disaster)
I think that one of the greatest failings in just about every business is forgetting who signs the front of the check. When we are employees, we forget who the employer is. When we are vendors, we forget who the client is. All too often, we fall into the trap of thinking that we *certainly* know better. We think we are the smartest in the room and figure that everything would be so much better if everyone would just do what we say.
- [Read More](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/profits-over-customer-happiness-a-recipe-for-disaster)
## [Marketing Should Not Be Stressful](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/marketing-should-not-be-stressful)
Posted by [Corey Smith](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/author/corey-smith) on Sep 14, 2023, 8:55:00 AM
[](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/marketing-should-not-be-stressful)
I was a teenager the first time I talked to someone that had a marketing degree. I asked him what he could do with that marketing degree and he said, “I’m pretty much only qualified for sales.”
- [Read More](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/marketing-should-not-be-stressful)
[Creativity](https://www.tributemedia.com/blog/topic/creativity)
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## We Have Ideas To Grow Your Business
There's no doubt you have many choices when it comes to web design and web marketing services. Your middle schooler probably knows his way around CSS and HTML and every college kid is a blogger. The problem is, a site that looks hot but doesn't have well-thought out strategy, is like a certain reality show family we can't name for legal reasons: pretty, but worthless.
The difference between a website and a web strategy is something that the experts at Tribute Media have mastered. Put us to work and we'll create a web strategy that will help you generate leads and grow your business.
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