Why Consider Original Content and Brand Photography?

Dec 3, 2016 | blog, Branding, Content, Photography | 0 comments

Why is Original Content and Photography More Effective?

When it comes to developing content and imagery, I've noticed that many brands lean on copy-cat techniques and stock photography. Although I understand why they're doing this, I can't help but think why they believe this is going to enhance their conversion rates. Let's view this from the perspective of a consumer and see where it goes..

About PreFocus Contact

promote-quality-imagery-and-content-by-focusing-on-your-customers-needs-pictured-is-a-black-harley-dyna-swithcback-in-downtown-phoenix-next-to-some-wall-art If you’ve been following me over the past year, you’ve probably noticed my passion for presentation. No matter what your content resource is, it’s imperative that you don’t distance yourself from this strategy – rather work smarter. In the past, I’ve been affiliated with a number of businesses that leverage articles, inspirational posts, leading professional’s ideas, and even competition for content. The problem is, they’re not necessarily leveraging them – they’re stealing from them.

No one should know your offering better than you – so why not showcase this at a maximum level to ensure you’re resonating? Duplicating someone else’s writing, imagery, or strategy is a bad idea all around. If you have long term aspirations for your brand, then you should be considering every endeavor you’re involved with. Here’s some reasoning behind my belief.

1. The Potential for Consequences.

The cost of duplicate content is a lot worse than most of you realize. Some businesses actually continue paying SEO contractors blindly. They’re unaware of the consequence while searching for a way to reach #1. (This is nearly impossible anyways.) Without a large amount of capital to invest in optimization you’re setting yourself up for failure – especially if you’re ranking ability is jeopardized. Using photos or copy that don’t belong to you can result in getting sued. Even more, ranking in the near future becomes a pipe dream once search engines drop your quality score and penalize you. Is that worth pulling an image from Google search results or changing some verbiage in an already published article?

If you have the money to throw at SEO, consider addressing your branded content to save yourself the stress. Relaying knowledge, success, and expertise will build the perception of your image more than duplication ever will. Copying can eventually handicap your ability to persuade someone you’re different or worth their dollar. Stay focused on handling business on a personal level and showcase the stories on other channels (such as social media). Not only will original content help you avoid consequential penalties, but it’ll help overcome an inability to be organically found.

2. Competition is a Real Life Thing.

When you set out to conquer the world with your product or service, did you think you were the only one? I hope not.. In my opinion, losing the competition battle is one of the main reasons businesses fail. I’ve literally seen companies try to do the same thing as their direct competitor and wonder what’s broken. For years I’ve seen bloggers with no knowledge in the industry curate content for businesses. This is where brand recognition comes into play. If you don’t create your own voice, vision, and solution (at least with a twist) – then what are you doing?

Sure, people can make a decent living mowing the same style lawns with the similar equipment, etc.. and that’s perfectly fine – but if you want to eventually scale and build something then you must acknowledge the need to stand out. There’s always going to be someone looking to trump one of your promotions and steal your customers. That’s why developing a seamless message and original content that doesn’t waiver from your value is important.

Once consumers see you as a viable brand, prideful in originality – it’s simply up to your retention and service. If you refuse to separate yourself then you’re risking a few bad reviews ruining your reputation for good. The more people that relate to your message and voice, the more likely they’re going to support you – no matter the circumstance. But, if you don’t take pride in highlighting what you do well then you’re limiting your potential – while giving competitors an advantage.

3. Trust is in the Eye of the Beholder.

I get a lot of slack for this belief, but I’ve seen enough to know what inevitably keeps customers engaged. Every business is different and no brand is the same. I get that. I also understand how 30 year old companies lean on grassroots – or how a monopolized need leaves consumers with no choice.. But failing to consider what a potential customer sees (especially if you want more revenue) blows my mind. I know that I’m more picky than most when it comes to where I spend my dollar – but I’m also not ignorant to the fact that a new generation is becoming adults.

Referrals aren’t going to last forever. The old days of “Mike said Jerry was good at this and he has a guy” – are coming to an end. The ability to be found and the ability to relay trust is becoming a necessity. Today, pretty much everything can be found online. If you’re out of touch with this reality then you’re missing out on opportunity. Even if you take a small portion of your time (or budget) to invest in quality trustworthy promotions you’ll see a difference. It can be as simple as an appealing customer testimonial or a detailed about me page.

Let’s Put Believability in Perspective..

When I was finally able to convince a past client to promote head shots of their physicians, there was an immediate surge in patient registration. Why did it work? People want to know the clinician that’s managing their health. How did I know? Because I asked patients what their determining factors are. Hell, I even realized I want to be able to see who I’m meeting with. If I can’t find anything online, I don’t necessarily think somethings wrong – but it doesn’t seem right..

How Does Originality Promote Trust?

If you’re afraid of being vulnerable in order to prove you’re trustworthy, then your grassroots campaign can slowly turn into a game of telephone. Give the people want they want so they can be comfortable investing their time and money for your product or service. They want to trust you, and (in most cases) you just have to show them they can.

Posting random quotes, relevant phrases, or general imagery isn’t going to be enough to keep you on the playing field. Technology is advancing and most development surrounds efficiency and convenience. People want to know as much as they can before forking over cash. Promoting one of your actual plumbers helping a local homeowner tells a potential customer your capable. The simple fact they know it’s a real story versus a relevant photo should open your eyes.

Think about it as you shop or browse. What brand seems phony to you? Consider how much easier it’ll be to scale when people already believe in the message you’re relaying. It’s hard to do that when you’re using general imagery and content that people can’t sense and feel.

Trust me.. 😉

Why Are You Wasting Money on Amateur Marketers?

Nov 17, 2016 | blog, Branding, Content, Photography, Social | 0 comments

Why Are You Investing in Amateur Marketers Lacking Purpose?

It may seem like a low monthly retainer, but autopilot campaigns without substance cost you opportunities - even if they're driving some revenue.

About PreFocus Hold Marketers Accountable

My Thesis Behind Irrelevant Marketing

Before I get into the nitty gritty, let’s get one thing straight: Anyone and everyone can say they know how to market your brand. Especially if they have special access to a hard drive, monitor, mouse, keyboard, and a social media account. Sounds pretty legit right? If you say so.. Going into business for myself was risky – especially in the marketing and advertising spaces where plenty of amateur marketers give me a bad rap.

At the same time, I knew that once I was able to clarify the value that I bring to the table, everything would work itself out. So, let’s discuss some of the inconsistencies in marketing and why I deem them as wasteful. After I’ve highlighted some popular waste, I’ll explain what PreFocus can do with a similar budget. Deal?

1. Purchasing Followers and “Likes”.

This has never made any sense to me.. Are most of you aware of how this is done? It’s quite time consuming and rather tedious, but people actually spend all day soliciting users to follow their personal accounts. If you’ve received an awkwardly short comment on Instagram, this is why. Once these “marketers” sell you on their “free followers” plan, they simply promote your company to the hundreds of random followers they’ve conned into following them. It’s almost like magic.. This is also done in data form.

Websites and other forms of subscription content store email addresses and customer cookies, then attempt to sell this user information. It’s basically unethical, and for whatever reason, people buy it. In my opinion, nothing is more valuable than a customer you earn for free because you supply them with relevant and engaging content.

Don’t Let Amateur Marketers Deceive You.

No matter your perspective, how can you be sure these users are even interested in your product or solution? You can’t – it’s just a numbers game that sustains engagement long enough for you to believe it’s actually working. The further you read this article, the more you’ll begin to understand that followers, likes, and shares doesn’t equate sustainability.

This is the main objective behind inexperienced and irrelevant marketers. Although it feels good to see people like your posts, it doesn’t mean their interested in investing in you. Simple demographics and numbers don’t necessarily drive a solid return even though it seems like you’re “growing”.

How we address this with a PreFocus: We help you understand the value of original and purposeful content. Instead of taking shortcuts by purchasing followers, we enhance your presentation so that it resonates with those that are already engaged. We use your “shortcut budget” to capture relevant photos of your branded value in action. This can encompasses your staff, customers, facilities, equipment, processes, quotes, or even success stories.

Users that already follow you will promote post they can relate to as they’re proud to be apart of the value you’re providing. When someone endorses you based on their own experience, others become intrigued. We call this an organic following that is genuinely interested in you – not just your posts.

2. Investing in Affordable Social Media Managers (SMM).

Outsourcing marketing efforts has been a commonality in the last few years. Finding a freelance marketer in order to increase your productivity is a solid idea, but not when their posts lack quality and purpose. Although they can drive down your costs, amateur marketers aren’t necessarily invested in your brand or the way it’s perceived.

In fact, they’re more likely invested in volume in order to collect a check. They tend to follow the same checklists they use across other verticals for various clients. Again, you may see some improved engagement – but you’re essentially trying to drive [growth] with the e-brake on. Let me paint a picture for you.

poorly-executed-social-media-display-posting-by-irrelevant-marketer-tactics-with-affordable-rates

A few things bother me about the above post. First, I doubt this is an original photo from their gym with a paid athlete or compliant member. Plagiarism anyone? Second, the message has no purpose and means nothing to the average bear. Lastly, it’s an effortless design that lacks quality. The logo isn’t transparent and the typography doesn’t stand out at all.

social-posting-in-surprose-arizona-with-quality-imagery-original-photos-and-a-description-that-enhances-the-message-of-the-branded-value

If you’ve taken the time to research successful marketing tactics, I’m sure you already know that consistency is crucial. But, it’s important that you read between the lines here. Consistently promoting low quality posts without a strong message is a recipe for mediocrity. Whether you want to believe it or not, consumers trust brands that establish a voice and value consistently.

Consider the second post that promotes an original shot of a member working out at the gym. The message is informational, but it provides meaningful substance behind joining a boxing class – which should be their only objective. Although the first example targets daily motivation (for already converted members), those looking for a gym may associate the low quality of the post with low quality results.

Moreover, this isn’t a real-life inspirational story they can relate to. To me, this is wasteful and a common tactic of amateur marketers hanging onto retainers. Targeting volume and general interest will keep you around a 2% conversion rate while purposeful campaigns create the most return. Do you like being average?

How we address this with a PreFocus Solution: The best part about our business model is that we photograph all imagery (for a specific number of posts) on the front end while strategically captioning each photo. From here, we help you schedule out all posts to ensure you’re capturing your audience at ideal times with certain events and holidays in mind.

In addition, all images are formatted to fit certain social media platforms in order to ensure quality resolution. Consider the value we’re providing by simply eliminating the hassle of communicating with your social media manager on a weekly basis. For the most part, we strategically showcase your value while avoiding the development low quality posts that only satisfy monthly social post requirements.

In turn, many of my clients find themselves surprised by the results of a simple testimonial or caption with superior graphics and imagery. Although our service costs more on the front end, it allows you to streamline your promotional strategy for months to come (compare this to your monthly retainer over the same time frame). You also receive exclusive rights to all photos which enables you to use PreFocus imagery in other forms of media as you please.

There’s no way you can’t see the value in this..

3. Paying a Content Strategist to Curate Relevancy.

Let’s start off by defining the term relevancy. In this case, it refers to generalized topics a marketer assumes your perfect customer is interested in. In other words: conceptual guesswork lacking purpose with hopes of possible attraction. What really grinds my gears is that some companies pay up to $1,500/month for these randomized topics. In my opinion, spending initial capital on content that has nothing to do with your provided value is wasteful – and my experience backs it up.

Over the years, I’ve been blessed to work with some exclusive brands in Phoenix. I’ve also been forced to deal with unhappy clients that second-guess campaign effectiveness – and rightfully so. For the most part, their poor experience derives from a well written article with high bounce rates. I can only imagine the drop-off for those of you investing in a amateur marketers. For the most part, objectives are only geared to drive traffic and shares so marketers can attempt to claim attribution and monetize your results.

Some examples include: opinionated articles, guest writing, tips, top 10’s, guides, etc.. I’m sorry, but this is a waste of everyone’s time. From experience, these types of strategies mainly generate an influential relationship. If you don’t tie in your value or present a solution, users tend to only return for free advice. If you’re paying someone to develop content on your site without purpose, I beg you to throw your dollars elsewhere.

How we address this with a PreFocus Solution: To be frank, it’s really as simple as understanding which topics and ideas drive users with intent to your website or business. If you’re a landscaping company that continues to promote articles teaching homeowners how to care for their garden themselves – how can you ever expect them to request your service?

At PreFocus, I help service companies alter their message so it clearly funnels into their solutions. Instead of letting amateur marketers run the show, there are a number of ways to showcase landscape value. Why not educate homeowners on reasons why weeds keep growing throughout their grass patch? Why not reiterate how lawn care and professional treatment is one of the many things that can be addressed with maintenance packages?

Communicating actual value gives consumers an opportunity to figure out the convenience and effectiveness of your business themselves. With that being said, here are some additional ways I’ve enhanced campaigns to ensure they don’t veer away from brand objectives.

local-phoenix-gym-membership-content-strategy-altered-to-address-irrelevant-marketers-approach

west-phoenix-healthcare-provider-with-irrelevant-marketing-agenda-changed-by-jordan-trask-to-ensure-patient-registration-and-company-growth

local-phoenix-fitness-club-content-strategy-changed-from-irrelevant-marketer-to-piurposeful-strategy

4. Paying an Advertiser Then Staying Away.

Investing capital without a vision never seems to sit well with me. Although I can understand some business owner’s mistake of paying a social media manager or content writer, I will never understand a blind investment with an advertiser. Whether you’re paying someone to manage your social media ads or pay per click (PPC), your outsourced team needs to understand your customers and vision. Some of you may say: “Well, I’ll just fire them if they’re ineffective, it’s their job to figure it out.” That’s fine, but you’re still flushing dollar bills in the meantime. Advertising is no joke, and once you decide to go all in it’s imperative you have a plan. Trust me..

I’ve literally witnessed external PPC managers use up monthly adspend on some of the most general phrases, such as “care”. Do you know if you’re paying for stuff like this? Do you even know what I’m referring to? If not, please call me and I’ll gladly explain for free. While managing overseas teams, I’ve even come across instances where we were paying for keywords with another state’s abbreviation – and we were local! This is unacceptable, but it’s the reality of hiring amateur marketers for the low.

Ad Managers Love Autonomy and Controlled Reporting.

To be honest, advertising can be one of the most wasteful expenses in your bottom line. Most companies think it’s essential so they invest in the cheapest option and it can be a huge mistake. Not only are you paying someone to manage, but you’re also paying on a CPA, CPM, or a CPC format. This can become very costly quickly and there’s nothing you can do once a user “clicks.”

A previous employer chose to ignore my concerns and their overseas team ended up spending $30,000 on advertising in a 3 month span. The worst part? They didn’t even set up their analytics properly and were unable to attribute any results. Save yourself the headache and understand the importance of an ad strategy before you start throwing money at someone to experiment with. To put this in perspective, you can pay an inexperienced advertiser $300/month and garner $600 in sales (2:1); or invest in an advertising strategist for $1000 and drive $10,000 in revenue over a 6 month span. (10:1)

How we address this with a PreFocus Solution: For starters, we follow a discovery process that helps us understand your brand, customers, goals, and competition. In order to clarify expectations, we help educate you on the media buying process so you can accurately determine focal points throughout the campaign. Instead of targeting broad search terms like “care” or “home service” – we drive intent with long tail keywords.

(Examples: Phoenix child care at home, Senior care for homebound patients, Emergency HVAC home service in Phoenix, or 24/7 certified home service.) Using phrases like these tell us the person searching is in the market. We also help you develop display ads for social and display networks. Honing in on all of these moving pieces and solidifying everything on the front end allows us to place campaigns on autopilot and select specificities when the time arises.

Disclaimer: Since the end of 2020, Google and Bing have now disallowed “exact match” bidding. This impacts small business tremendously. If you’re unsure how, I am more than happy to explain – free of charge. It’s worth knowing.

It’s Your Money, but Amateur Marketers will Cost you in the Long-run.

One of the hardest things about working with small business owners has been their misconception of marketing. Although I”ll never get used to being stereotyped due to someone else’s failure, it motivates me to improve my presentation and prove my tactics are effective. For those of that are content with your current performance, I challenge you to ask questions and seek answers. I’m personally tired of combatting what others believe works, and I’m committed to helping my clients return to promoting substance and value. Hopefully I was able to inspire you to be better and do better. Feel free to inbox me with any questions and best in success nonetheless..

Chapter 4: Finding a Business Coach in Surprise, Arizona.

Nov 6, 2016 | blog | 0 comments

Finding a Business Coach in Surprise, Arizona.

Throughout this blog series, Jordan Trask has expanded on his entrepreneurial journey. PreFocus Solutions is a unique entity that focuses on the development of a brand's message, imagery, graphics, and other forms of professional presentation.

Our Services About PreFocus

Piecing together an approach and building relationships can be key to your business’s success – but, consistent criticism will keep you grounded. Trying to do everything yourself can sometimes be overwhelming. When I first realized I was passionate about brand messaging and purposeful content, I knew I still had a long way to grow in order to run a business. But, reaching out to others has quickly allowed me to grow in a number of ways. Once I solidified my vision and began promoting it, I knew I needed to surround myself with people that would keep me focused and mindful moving forward. Working from home was a lot to get used to and I needed a place to turn so I could continue to grow and progress. So I started thinking..

Finding Some Friends To Grow With.

Finding friends is one thing and finding support is another. I spent a lot of time reconnecting with people to see who would be willing to push me to be better – as a man, husband, father, leader, and owner. I began telling them my story and how I found my value. Some of them provided kudos while others congratulated me on the leap of faith. Others gained a better understanding for my intent and simply respected me more. Either way, I was able to lay out my intentions and relay my commitment in a serious manner. Being up front with my desire – to find someone to hold me accountable and motivate me with same commitment – allowed them to decide if it’s a commitment they wanted to make. I knew what my focus was going to be, it simply boiled down to who wanted to play a role it my progression – and vice-versa. I’ll let you know how this plays out..

What needed up being helpful was the fact that everyone I reached out to knew a lot about my personal and professional journey. But, after meeting with them all, I realized that formulating my own structure would require guidance they couldn’t provide me with – no matter how much management experience I have. Having close friends (or similar minded people) around is beneficial, but it wasn’t going to be enough to mold me into a successful thought leader. I needed someone with business growth experience that could guide me through the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. This is where I saw the value in aligning with (or hiring) a business coach. The problem was, I had a hard time knowing who would bring out the best in me.

My Search For a Genuine Mentor and Coach.

I’m not going to lie, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to allocate the right man/woman for the job. Being a successful salesman has been great to put on my resume, but it causes me to read right through a sales pitch. I’m not very gullible – and when it comes to paying someone to provide me with something, I need to know what their intentions are. I know, I know.. It’s their livelihood and I’m not renting them to be my daddy – but am I wrong for seeking genuinity? (sp?) For the price most of them are asking, I don’t think so.. Especially when 0% budged at the proposition of trading off services.

My coaching search is essentially the purpose behind this blog post. Identifying someone to hold us accountable is an important part of start-up success. Especially for people like me who have always been managed (or held back) by a boss. Sometimes, you might not know what to do or where to turn because you haven’t experienced a certain situation before. It’s best to prepare yourself for the wave of ownership before it hits you in the face.

During my search, I started to realize that allocating people that care intrigued me the most. It also presented a challenge. Although I tried not to assume, I kept envisioning receiving advise from someone that didn’t seem genuinely interested in me. In most cases, people prefer to receive feedback from someone that’s personally invested. At the same time, you don’t want to mistake your coach for one of your friends. No matter your preference or situation, it’s wise to invest in someone that’s been there and done that. Even if it means attending a few classes requesting an business analysis.

Finding a business coach may be easy to some of you, but I want to challenge those looking to look past the BS. All coaches will have valuable experience but not all of them can provide you with the same value. The message that some of these “coaches” are telling you is eerily similar to MLM strategies. In my humble opinion, I think it’s extremely important that you clarify their capability before investing in them to alter yours. I spent plenty of time on the phone with some of these guys and it was terrible waste. I learned to understand that a majority of them are simply planning on teach me the same process they’re using on me. Get the sale, close the deal – success right?

How Finding Business Coaching Has Impacted My Story.

Effectiveness is a very valuable trait to carry, but a personable persuader takes the cake. Think of it this way – selling something to someone once is only going to be a success, one time. Giving someone something valuable for the first time embeds the experience in their memory. Make sense? Without going into detail on my personal sales approach, I’m basically trying to tell you to beware of the phonies because they’ll only teach you the same.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve spent a lot of time with some good dudes – but I’m still struggling with that genuine connection. Maybe my analysis is an overreaction (or I’m just needy), but it’s still my money. If I’ve learned anything over the last 3 months, it’s that patience is virtue. While I’m contemplating about where I want to put my dollars, I did want to highlight one guy I met this past week from Focal Point. Even though he’s a Broncos fan.

A Coaching Moment Worth Remembering.

I found Bob Reish in Surprise, Arizona as he was referred to me by a relationship I generated a few weeks prior. He’s conveniently located in an Office Connection and happens to be a devout Christian with many of the values I hold. Although I’m just beginning my negotiations with Bob, he left me with a quote that resonated with me well. After mentioning to him that I wanted to be more busy with productive tasks, he stopped me with a little bit of passion. He said, “Nobody should be busy, but productive.” Even though he basically said what I did, it personalized the experience for me. Now, I’m not quite ready to give him a plug (or even pull the plug), but I thought it was a great example.

No matter what I decide to do, I wanted to relay that it’s not a bad thing to seek help. Coughing up capital can be tough but try to look at what you’re going to get in return. Initially, I wanted to do everything myself – but realized I’d eventually face problems that I’ve yet to experience. To me, separating successful and failure is easy. People that fail wait until the last minute to grow – while successful people continuously grow in what they don’t know. In order to keep telling my story, I’ve decided to prepare myself for the unknown so the experience of my customers is memorable, in a good way.

Jordan Trask

President of PreFocus Solutions

Jordan is a creative entrepreneur that launched PreFocus Solutions to address that lack of brand development across multiple industries. He’s passionate about enhancing the way companies present their brand and the way it’s perceived. In this blog series, he’s been highlighting the progression of his journey in order to clarify his capabilities and improve the value he provides future partners and clients.