I’ve been covering the distribution sector as an editor for eight years now. Eight years isn’t a terribly long time in the distribution landscape — given that it’s full of so many companies that are over a half-century old and employ personnel who have been with those firms for decades. Even so, it’s been long enough to allow me to tell many great company stories during my tenure. It’s one of my favorite parts of the job, and MDM is looking to do more of it.

We’re kicking off an initiative to publish featured profile stories of various distributors across the country. To do so, we need to find distributors that have good stories to tell. If you think your company has one, we’d love to hear about it.

• Maybe your company hit a major anniversary or milestone (or is coming up on one.)
• Maybe your company has made major progress on digital initiatives that are worth sharing.
• Maybe your company has undergone recent expansion — whether organic, by acquisition, or both.
• Maybe your company has a succession plan in place or an interesting history of family ownership and leadership.
• Maybe your company has succeeded in fostering or enhancing a great workplace culture or is dominating when it comes to hiring and recruiting.
• Or, maybe your distributorship is just a well-run company deserving of some recognition.

An interesting story could be any of the above — or a combo — that makes your company a distributor we should profile. If you’re not employed at a distributor but know of one we should reach out to, definitely let us know. With the amount of involvement that associations, buying groups and cooperatives have in this industry, I’m sure they have some recommendations.

Sounds Interesting. How Would it Work?

To tell these stories, another MDM staff member and I will visit these distributors at their headquarters (or another location of their choosing). There, we would interview the leadership team and anyone else recommended — perhaps a front-level employee who can provide a good testimonial on behalf of the company.

We would also love to take a facility tour and snap a lot of photos along the way.

These stories could be told via Zoom/Teams calls; but as any editor would tell you, it’s much more effective when we get to see and learn about the company in person. And it makes it much easier for us to talk to your staff while they’re already there.

What is the End Result?

Using our on-site interviews and photos, MDM will publish your distributor profile feature atop MDM.com, as the feature in MDM’s daily newsletter, and as a downloadable and printable PDF version. These distributors would also have the option to receive a commemorative plaque to mark the feature and our visit. We would also promote the feature on MDM’s social media and via an email blast to our audience.

Some stories may focus on the operational angle of the company and what they’ve been up to. Some stories may focus more on the people side and why people like to work there. We’re happy to suggest a story angle, but are also very open to suggestions.

What Type of Distributor is MDM Looking For?

There’s no particular distributor demographic in mind for these. All that matters is that they have a story worth telling. I’ve profiled distributors with less than 20 employees and $10 million in annual revenue, as well as distributors with 10,000+ employees and billions in revenue. There have been dozens in between. 

Same goes for industry vertical, we’re up for anything in the industrial, commercial and building supply markets.

Why Are We Doing This?

I used to produce these type of distributor feature stories based on an on-site visit at my previous publication before MDM. I loved how they turned out, and so did those distributors. Not only was it a great piece of marketing for them, but something they could use as a recruiting tool and a way to share some well-deserved recognition with their whole team in an otherwise-thankless industry. Many of those distributors I’ve profiled in the past followed up with me months or even years later to let me know how those feature stories helped their exposure to new customers and deepen current customers’ knowledge of the company.

We know our MDM audience is interested in the stories of their peers and competitors, so these features will undoubtedly result in great content for our readership.

Where Can I Learn More Information or Next Steps?

If such a distributor profile feature sounds of interest to you and your company — or if you just want to know more information about how these on-site visits and resulting features work — you can contact me directly at mike@mdm.com. I’m more than happy to answer any questions.