Welborn Media’s Top Ten List of 2015

Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)

At the end of the year, the Welborn Media team gets together to reflect on our successes and failures throughout the year. This meeting gives us an opportunity to fine-tune our direction and set new goals for the upcoming year.  These are the Top 10 things we accomplished in 2015.

Top 10 of 2015

10. Share Your Passion Scholarships

scholarshipsSince starting the Share Your Passion Scholarships in 2012, we’ve awarded scholarships to 17 deserving students. We have kept in contact with many scholarship winners and are still inspired by them. They continue to work towards following their passions and helping better the lives of others. This year we awarded 3 Share Your Passion Scholarships and gave out our first Student of the Year Scholarship Award to one of the hardest working students at The Tutoring Solution.

9. TV Appearance

11080661_10206382881436017_7712058961091484299_oZeb appeared on the Golf Life Video Channel for Fox Sports WEST. It was pretty darn cool to get on television.

8. Joined the Rotary Club

10984121_10154042856538840_6714998264776580589_nZeb was inducted into the Chino Rotary Club by Melinda Robbins, Dale Bright, and Steven Bremer. The Chino Rotary Club has been serving the Chino Valley since 1925. San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman spoke and my wife, Cindy, mom, Annie, and dad, Larry were all in attendance.

7. Speaking Engagements

zeb-speaking zeb-at-NGCOAOne of the things we enjoy most is educating others on growing their business. This year Zeb spoke with the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board, the Inland Empire Small Business Development Center, the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce, Baldy View ROP, Small Business Summit, the California Golf Course Owners Association and the Golf Inc. Summit.

Topics for Zeb’s Speaking Engagements were:

  • Internet Marketing Strategies
  • Marketing with Facebook
  • How to Turn Your Business Into a Social Business
  • Marketing with LinkedIn
  • Marketing with Twitter
  • Social Media for Golf Courses
  • Innovative Marketing Tactics for Public Courses

6. #GolfChat

At the beginning of this year Zeb started #GolfChat. #GolfChat is a Twitter chat which happens every Tuesday at 5PM PST where some of the greatest minds in the golf industry come together to talk golf. #GolfChat has grown drastically since the beginning of the year and is a trending topic on Twitter every Tuesday. We’ve met so many amazing and passionate people working to grow golf.  A highlight of #GolfChat in 2015 was when professional golfer, Natalie Gulbis surprised #GolfChatters by giving away free tickets to the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay Golf Course.

5. Awards and Accolades

Screen Shot 2015-12-29 at 11.10.01 AMIt’s always nice to be recognized for the hard work you do. This year we were extremely grateful to receive a few unexpected awards:

4. Southern California Charity Golf Classic

11207321_10101061535855630_6436920246785791462_nWe hosted the 1st Annual Southern California Charity Golf Classic to raise money for several worthy charities on July 17 at Los Serranos Country Club.

With help from many in our community, the tournament helped raise $7,597.81 for charity.

We distributed the money to several charities including: Bark for Life, Boys Republic, California Scholastic Press Association, Chino Rotary, Corona Firefighters Benevolent Fund, House of Ruth, The Let It Be Foundation, Salvation Army, Share Your Passion Scholarship, and the Wounded Warrior Project.

We had such a great time with this, we’re planning on running it again in 2016!

3. Chairman of the Board at the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce

11755429_1665688123649805_2385826912900505227_nOn July 27, Zeb was installed as Chairman of the Board for the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Becoming the Chairman of the Board has given Zeb an opportunity to help make local business owners more successful.

During his term of office, he set five goals to work towards in 2015/2016:

  • connect and work with other local business-related organizations
  • collaborate more with organizations that work to educate business owners
  • encourage and promote the involvement of young business owners in our community
  • enhance our use of technology
  • focus more on giving back

2. Lacey Gets Married

11934520_10101096973568170_4628964527126702956_o10339951_10208018878287700_1976316121632257612_nIn August this year Lacey got married to Ryan Bernholtz at a fun wedding in Santa Ana, CA.

In June, Lacey’s twin brother, Rocky married Megan Hutchinson at a beautiful wedding in Corona, CA.

Truly a notable year for the Welborn Family and there was another addition to family this year…

#1. Birth of Sebastian Welborn-De La Torre

monsterbashSebastian Welborn-De La Torre was born on Friday, November 13th at 9:52pm in Ontario at 8 pounds, 9 ounces.

Sebastian is a happy, healthy, and super cute baby.

Zeb says it’s awesome being a dad.


 

Thank you all for everything!  We hope you all have an amazing 2016.

Sign up for our email list to become a part of Welborn Media in 2016 – http://eepurl.com/snLLH

Scrapbook Owner Jennifer Davis Recommends Welborn Social Media

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

Welborn Social Media & Scrapbook Expo

Jennifer Davis recommends Welborn Social Media:

We hired Welborn Social Media in June 2011 to help us develop our Twitter presence and advise us on how to increase our followers on Facebook and build interaction on our page among our Facebook users.  From the very beginning, Zeb and Lacey demonstrated their passion and expertise for building a strong online presence for Scrapbook Expo.

Since starting in June, Welborn Social Media has taken our Twitter following from a couple hundred to over 5,000 followers.  According to Twellow, we are now in the top 15 of all scrapbookers on Twitter.  They started a biweekly Twitter chat called #Scrapchat which is producing some fantastic results.

After getting to know Zeb and Lacey, we have been extremely impressed with Lacey’s web design and graphic design abilities. I’ve given her projects with specific instructions and she always goes beyond my expectations. I’ve started giving her projects with minimal direction just to see what she comes up with. She’s always spot on, she understands our brand and I am a huge fan of her work.

Lastly, we have been so happy with the work Welborn Social Media is doing for us we constantly encourage our exhibitors to hire them to help develop and enhance their social media presence, design professional emails and create logos.  Every time we refer Zeb and Lacey to our exhibitors we consistently hear that not only did they do an amazing job, but they did it cheaply and timely.

We truly feel our business has improved because of Welborn Social Media and would be more than happy to provide any feedback or answer questions you might have when dealing with Welborn Social Media.  We can not recommend them highly enough and would encourage anyone looking to grow their business to hire Zeb and Lacey to build a healthy online reputation.

2013 Chino Hills Business of The Year | Welborn Social Media

Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)

Welborn Social Media named the 2013 Chino Hills Business of the Year by the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce!

Last Friday night, June 28, I went to the 2013 Installation & Awards Dinner for the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce. I was already looking forward to the evening because it would be my first event as a member of the Chino Valley Chamber Board of Directors, but I had no idea how amazing I would feel at the end of the night.

Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce 2013 Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year Award Presented to the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce

2013 Chino Business of the Year Award

While at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino for the event I thought back over the last few years.

My sister, Lacey and I founded Welborn Social Media in 2011 while we were both living at our parents house. Before that I was running my Chino Valley tutoring company, The Tutoring Solution. It was there that I encountered business owners and found they were not what I expected (greedy and self-interested people who only care about money). Instead they were people who loved what they did and were simply trying to help others.

Before that, as an educator, I felt discouraged at the lack of drive and motivation in my students. My mind began forming a theory that our societal problems stem from a lack of passion and excitement in a person’s professional life.

Our goal at Welborn Media has been shaped by these experiences. We want to help business owners who are passionate and love what they do. Why? Because, if we can help them be successful more people will try to emulate them. In our opinion, the world will be a better place if there are more people who love what they do, are good at it, and are willing to help others.

Joining the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce in January, 2012 was an easy choice: it aligned with our mission.  Through the Chamber, Lacey and I have met some phenomenal people . . . all hard-working and all willing to help others.

Since then we have developed some strong relationships. We have been managing the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Facebook page and have worked with friends of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce: Rodell & Company, ABC Services, Alba Moesser, Los Serranos Country Club, Gotcha Covered, Beltone Hearing Aids, and Kardar Insurance.

At the end of 2012, the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce selected us to build their new website which was completed a few months ago. We have received so many complements on the new website. I know they are happy they chose us for the project.

When we decided to become a part of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce we knew it would allow us to help businesses in our community grow. If we can help our passionate local business owners use the Internet more effectively then the people and businesses in our area will thrive. We want to introduce local businesses to the online opportunities available to them, and show them how they can maximize their efforts by developing a strong online presence for their business.

At the end of the Installation & Awards dinner the final award of the night went to the 2013 Business of the Year. Debbie Mitsch, the newly sworn in president, began, “This business started in 2011 and is very big in the social media world…” She announced “Welborn Social Media” as the 2013 Chino Hills Business of the Year. I was shocked.

There are so many successful, vibrant businesses… it is truly an honor. We are so very thankful the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce feels we were worthy of such an award.

My sister and I still have a lot of work to do to turn Welborn Media into the company we both know it can be. It’s a tremendous feeling to have others recognize the efforts and strides we have made as well as see the potential we have.

It’s amazing to see how supportive others in our community have been to us and how quickly our business has grown. Thank you to every person who had a hand in our selection as the 2013 Chino Hills Business of the Year.

Thank You!

Zeb Welborn

An Analysis of Zeb Welborn’s Leadership Practices | by Andrew Kramer

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

The following is a research paper written by Andrew Kramer for his Leadership in Organizations upper level course at the University of La Verne:  Zeb Welborn’s Leadership Practices

Chapter 1:  Introduction

Zeb Welborn grew up in Southern California in the beautiful city of Chino Hills.  He lived with his mother and father, brother, Rocky and his sister, Lacey.  He just recently moved out to Chino and is renting an apartment so he can have a place to get some work done.  He still maintains a good relationship with his siblings and actually has his sister running the photography for his business and building websites.  He participates frequently in marathons with his brother, Rocky and golfs regularly with his father, Larry.  Growing up, Zeb loved to play all kinds of sports.  He mainly focused on golf and soccer with soccer being his greater passion.  He played three years competitively on the golf team and still to this day plays soccer in an outdoor and indoor league.  I had the pleasure of getting to play on the same soccer team with Zeb for a full season.  I first started to notice Zeb’s leadership qualities when he became a substitute teacher at the high school I was attending at the time.  Not too long after that he became a full time history teacher at the school as well as being an assistant coach for the men’s soccer team.  It was clear that Zeb exemplified the leadership skills necessary to perform the jobs at hand.

Immediately after school Zeb attended Cal State University, Fullerton and got his degree in History, which he taught in high school.  Not too long ago he started his own business working for numerous companies managing their social media.  He named the company, Welborn Social Media, and that is how we came in contact with each other.  I work at Los Serranos Country Club where Zeb grew up playing golf and just recently made them a Facebook page in an attempt to gain exposure through advertising and keeping up with the market trends.  Zeb noticed I had created the page and together we turned in into a great project.  We got it passed by the board of directors and currently get paid to run the social media for the golf course.  This isn’t the only company that Zeb works for Scrapbook Expo, Wirespeed Systems, System 1 Interiors, Technology 4 Medicine, DLT Growers, Creative Scrapbook Source, Big Time Golf, Somerset Apartments, Krazy Kreations, Creative Minds & Visions, It’s Cheaper than Therapy and Mormino & Associates.  The number of clients continues to grow as he is experiencing success in a number of different sectors.  The duties that are expected of Zeb and his company are designing, managing, writing for and updating blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter, LinkedIn pages, YouTube pages, and Google+ pages.  also responsible for designing website, logos and promotional materials.  Zeb’s company is also responsible for managing Google AdWords campaigns and implementing strategies to increase search engine optimization including on site optimization and link building.  Zeb also creates email marketing campaigns and manages the reputation of companies on ranking websites like Yelp and Angie’s List.  These are just a few of the things that Zeb is responsible day in and day out and only a true leader can handle these kind of situations.  The needs of every company is unique, but Welborn Social Media can work with any company on any budget to help build their own brand.

Zeb uses the experience from prior jobs to lead the group of people that now work for him.  He has about four or five of us working under him and makes sure that everyone is happy with what they are doing.  Zeb uses the three-skill approach, which depends on three basic skills:  technical, human, and conceptual.  Skills are what leaders can accomplish, whereas traits are who leaders are.  I believe that after Zeb’s work in many different areas and working with many different people, he acquired the leadership skills necessary to manage people under him.  Technical skill is knowledge about and proficiency in a specific type of work or activity.  Zeb has a profound knowledge with computers and has done his research and taken courses on managing social media websites.  Human skill is knowledge about and ability to work with people.  Human skill is actually quite different from technical skill because human skills are people skills.

Chapter 2:  Leadership Practices

Leadership vs. Management

Zeb has many traits that make him a great leader.  I would definitely have to say that he is more leadership oriented than management.  A few of these traits are obviously intelligence about the field that he works for, self-confidence in the work he does, and determination to continue to make his business grow and expand.  Out of all these traits I believe that self-confidence is the most important one because it gives him the confidence and the ability to be certain about his competencies and skills.  This also includes self-esteem and self-assurance and the belief that one can make a difference.  To be a leader you must involve influencing others, and there is nothing better than feeling assured that his attempts to influence others are appropriate and right.

Relationship Orientation vs. Task Orientation

When dealing with relationships and task orientation I believe that Zeb excels in both of these subjects.  He must maintain a good relationship with his customers and people he is working with, and a good way to do this is by staying task oriented.  He gets the details from his partners on what needs to be accomplished and sets out a schedule on how to get it done in a timely manner.  I would definitely have to say that these two matters go hand in hand and are equally important.

Goal Orientation and Performance Evaluation

Zeb stays very goal oriented in the way that he stays on top of things by staying organized.  We have a clear mission of what we need to be doing and the harder we work, the more we will be rewarded.  For instance, every business that I recruit to get started under, “Welborn Social Media” I get a raise and a certain percentage of what the company pays Zeb to do.  As someone who works for Zeb this motivates me to find as many businesses that I can so I will get paid more.  This is a key factor for many businesses and leaders.  The more you reward your employees for good hard work, the more they will attempt to do the best work that they possibly can.  The more Zeb stays goal oriented, the more his business will prosper.

Control vs. Delegation

I communicate with Zeb a few times a week and we meet at least once in that week to review and see how work is coming along.  When we do get together we brainstorm and think of ways to stay innovative and on top of the current trends.  We discuss also ways to improve our marketing and advertisement, basically in a sense how to get more exposure.  We communicate via email, text messaging, and even sometimes through Facebook.

Rewards, Incentives and Punishment

Like I stated earlier, the way you will be rewarded is on how much work you are willing to get done.  There are no punishments just lessons learned.  Basically, the more work you get done and the more businesses I get to sign under the business the more i will get paid.  It is a simple process that works well because it keeps us motivated with all the incentives at hand.

Communication

Since we run a social media company most of our communication is done over the computer.  I would say that Zeb’s style of communication is passive, his social perceptiveness is the insight and awareness into how others in the organization function.  For example what is important to others, what keeps them motivated, and how they react to change.  Social perceptiveness means understanding the unique needs, goals, and demands of differences within the organization.

Chapter 3:  Analysis of Leadership Practices

The situational approach is based on the idea that the employees move forward and backward along the developmental continuum, which represents the relative competence and commitment of subordinates.  For leaders to be effective using the situational approach, it is essential that they determine where subordinates are on the developmental continuum and adapt their leadership styles so they directly match their style to that developmental level.  “Once the leader has identified the correct developmental level, the second task is to adapt his style to the prescribed leadership.  This is the one-to-one relationship between the developmental level of subordinates.” (Northouse 93) Some strengths of using the situational approach is that it is recognized as a standard for training leaders.  It is also a very practical approach, which means that it is easily understood and easily applied.  The situational approach sets forth a clear set of prescriptions for how leaders should act if they want to enhance their leadership effectiveness.  This approach also recognizes and stresses that there is not one best style of leadership, instead leaders need to be flexible and adapt their style to the requirements of the situations.  When in regards to the five major leadership theories, the one that stand out to me are of course the situational approach, the transformational approach, and team leadership.  Transformational approach of course has a strong emphasis on followers’ needs, values, and morals.  This kind of leadership involves attempts by leaders to move followers to higher standards of moral responsibility.  This type of leadership sets it apart from the other four styles because it has a moral dimension.  A leader very similar to the transformational approach is called servant leadership.  This leadership emphasizes that leaders should be attentive ot the concerns of their followers and would emphasize with them, they would take care of them and nurture them.” (Northouse 385)

Leadership Style of the Leader

I would say the best kind of approach to describe the leadership style of Zeb would have to be team leadership.  Zeb excels through the people that are working for him.  Therefore, he must use team leadership to coach his team members in interpersonal skills.  Collaborate with others by including and involving his team members in discussions.  Using team leadership one must manage conflict and power issues while avoiding confrontation and questioning ideas.  Build commitment by being optimistic, innovative, envisioning, socializing, rewarding, and recognizing other peoples achievements.  Lastly, to excel at team leadership you must satisfy the individual needs of the members you are working with by trusting, supporting, and advocating them.  You model your ethics by your principled practices by being fair, consistent and lastly, normative.

Compatibility/Incompatibility

The organizations goals go hand in hand with the compatibility of Zeb’s leadership style and practices.  The goal of the organization is to get as many clients to start using, “Welborn Social Media” and once we have them to perform everything we possibly can to satisfy their needs.  At this time I have no recommendations for Zeb because his business is growing at such a rapid pace that I do not know what else he can be doing.  If I did have one thing to say I would think that we should maybe get together more than just once a week to have a weekly report on how things are going.  Sometimes I feel a little bit lost on what is going on or what we should be doing so maybe meet twice a week.

Chapter 4:  Analysis of Leadership Practices:  Delegation and Developmental Levels

Necessary Conditions for Effective Delegation

According to leadership styles I believe the most effective way for developmental levels is that there must be high commitment and high supportive behavior.  In order for the sufficient amount of work to be completed an employee must stay committed and dedicated to the amount of work level he is inputting.  Zeb encourages to stay committed to the mission within the organization.  In this sense, Zeb uses the supporting approach that requires him to take a high supportive – low directive style.  “The leader should not focus exclusively on goals but uses support behaviors that bring out the employee’s skills around the task to be accomplished.”  (Northouse 93) This includes listening, praising, asking for input, and giving feedback.

Developmental Levels of the Followers

At this point in time the amount of employees are at a minimum so I would have to say that the levels are still in the developmental stage.  D2 would probably be the most accurate description because it is still moderately low.

Delegation Practice of the Leader

The way Zeb delegates his tasks and responsibilities is by creating the sky is the limit approach.  By saying this, I mean that he does not delegate many responsibilities to his followers because it is up to them to do as much work as they want.  There is always room for growth in the type of business we are in so you get as much work done as you want to in a sense.  But the more work you do accomplish, the more you will be rewarded.

Compatibility/Incompatibility

The delegation practice that Zeb uses is very compatible to the developmental levels of the followers.  Everything is still in the developmental process, but the business continues to grow at a steady pace so he must be doing something right.  It has been a great learning experience to work with a true leader like Zeb and be part of a wonderful company with a passion to excel.

Recommendations

At this point in time I have no real recommendations besides the one I stated earlier.  Scheduling meetings has been quite difficult with how busy things are so maybe just set a time that we can meet on a weekly basis.  In other words, the level of communication must begin to increase as the company continues to expand.

Chapter 5:  Conclusion

After writing this paper I realize that I am working with a genuine leader that I can take many thing away from . . . not only in the business world, but in every day life.  The way Zeb works with people is truly the proper approach and getting to see it first hand is a blessing.  Working with Zeb was a life changing experience because I can now apply the lessons I learned from his leadership qualities and apply them in every aspect of my life.  I plan to practice the same approach that Zeb uses because I have seen first hand on how it functions and the results have been good.

 

Would you like to learn more about Zeb Welborn’s leadership practices?  Visit some other sites created by Zeb Welborn – 19th Hole Media created to help golf courses get more customers and the Defining Success Podcast created to change the way we think about success.

David Kramer Recommends Welborn Social Media | Senior Vice President at Los Serranos Country Club

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

David Kramer recommends Welborn Social Media – We began working for Los Serranos Country Club in July, 2008 and have helped foster a thriving online community for golfers who play golf in Southern California and at Los Serranos.  With over 2,500 Facebook fans, over 5,500 Twitter followers, over 100 YouTube videos and over 300 blog posts we have established and maintained an active and vibrant online community.

When I announced my presentation at the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce entitled, “How Social Media Can Benefit Any Business,” David Kramer, Senior Vice President at Los Serranos Country Club had these words of encouragement for me:

“We’re in a communications economy where story telling i.e. subjective narrative brings educational value i.e. that has transformational value. Transformation towards health, happiness, easiness and orderliness on all levels of life.  If that value is missing from what a business performs then what is the point?   Certainly not just money$$.

Social media is a reflection of advanced artistry and brain functioning. It’s a vehicle that expands the territory of influence.  It makes everyone more effective and affluent in what they know and how they learn to know.”

David Kramer recommends Welborn Social Media and Los Serranos Country Club has seen the benefits of a thriving online community through the use of social media.  His statements regarding the impact social media can have on any business is simple, yet profound.  We are living in a communications economy, our collective knowledge is growing and those who have the passion to achieve their dreams have a far greater ability to do so than ever before.

Thank you David Kramer for all your encouragement and support . . . it is an absolute pleasure to work for Los Serranos Country Club.

Los Serranos Country Club is located in Chino Hills, CA.  For Southern California golf there is no greater golfing destination.  Please check out the Los Serranos Blog Page, the Los Serranos Facebook Page and the Los Serranos Twitter Page to see some of our work and to connect with Los Serranos Golf & Country Club.

David Kramer Recommends Welborn Social Media

David Kramer and the Kramer Family

 

Thank you David Kramer for the kind words.  To learn more about Welborn Social Media, Zeb Welborn and golf, visit 19th Hole Media.  At 19th Hole Media we provide tips and advice on how to help golf courses grow using social media.

David Kramer also appeared on the Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn where he shares his insights on business and how to grow your business using friendliness and hospitality.

Kelly Mort from Creative Minds & Visions Recommends Welborn Social Media

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

Kelly Mort from Creative Minds & Visions clothing, also known as CMV Clothing in downtown Brea, CA recommends Welborn Media.

Thanks Kelly Mort for the kind words and the great endorsement.