Introduction
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SD: Alrighty. Hello, everyone and welcome to the Fully Managed Podcast, the podcast where we discuss marketing and business tips to help assist you on your business journey. I’m your host, Shannon, Penji’s partnership coordinator, and I’m joined here today with a very special guest, David Cuff from Local View Digital Marketing. Thank you so much for coming on with me today.
David Cuff (DC): It’s my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
David Cuff’s Journey
SD: Of course. I really appreciate that. So could you just start by telling us a little bit about yourself, how you kind of got to this point in your career, and what you’re doing right now?
DC: Well, Shannon, thanks for having me. It’s been a journey. I started Local View about 10 years ago. I started building websites and was having a lot of fun, meeting a lot of people, but recognized having an online business card wasn’t enough for small local businesses. So I picked up SEO and got certified with Google as far as their advertising platform and started really to become more of a consultant for small business owners, trying to get them exposure, trying to get them traffic at their website and obviously leads and building their business. From there, I just started growing as an agency and had to hire people to help. And I think one of the things that, over the years, I try to instill on our team is basically how I started this company, and that is treating folks like they’re the center of the universe. We don’t charge $275 an hour. We’re actually very affordable for small and local businesses like plumbers, therapists, contractors, and they’ve kind of gotten a bad experience quite often from larger firms where they’re just one in a number of clients. We actually answer our phone, answer our texts, answer our email, and we actually have a scheduling button that people can just schedule right on our calendar that’s open. They can get a hold of us. That’s really how Local View kind of took off. And, like I said, we have about 130 clients, and most of those have been with us for a number of years. We work really hard for long-term relationships.
Treating Clients with Respect
SD: Well, I appreciate that that’s kind of the foundation of the agency because I do hear things like that a lot. You talk to a certain amount of agencies, and you hear all these negative things coming from before they get to that agency or whatever it may be, and it makes me disappointed to know that people have such bad experiences in the agency space. I’d hope that everyone has good values and wants to treat their clients well, but that’s certainly not the case. There are so many bad stories before working with a new agency.
DC: One of the things that we also do is we don’t work with our clients’ competitors, immediate geographic competitors. So, that’s a refreshing thing for them because they’re working with us to get on page one in their particular local area, and that for them is comforting.
Building Transparent Relationships with Clients
SD: Yeah, no, I definitely think that’s really important and I don’t know if that’s always the case, especially for local marketing agencies. I think it should be because that’s kind of, it’s contradictory to want to place someone as number one and then you’re doing the same thing for the same industry. That’s impossible. One and two doesn’t feel very great. Especially, you know, I’m sure that it will definitely leave a certain taste in the client’s mouth thinking that maybe if you have more money, that’s when you’re gonna be the top one or whatever it may be. And that’s not how it should be.
DC: Yeah, and that’s one of the things also, people are kind of shocked when we tell ’em we don’t have long-term contracts, 30 days notice. Obviously, we have to buy licenses of software or whatever, but for the most part, we feel that we should be earning our clients’ business. If we’re not producing results, they should be able to move on easily. It also shows confidence in your work that they will continue to work with you anyway.
The Value of Transparent Advertising
SD: Yeah, there’s a term in the industry, which I hate, it’s called “Churn.” People just hire a digital marketing firm, spend money, and then move on when it doesn’t work out. Agencies still make a good profit on retainers.
DC: We try to be upfront as possible. We do our homework and tell clients, “Your competitors are spending three or $4,000 a month, and with a budget of a thousand, we can still get you exposure, but you’re not going to rank as high.” We’re honest with what we can provide for them. If you’re in a rural area with no competition, we can guarantee you top rankings with the right budget.
Balancing Work and Life
SD: Something that I actually have a question about then is, it seems that you’re very communicative with your clients on an ongoing basis. How do you balance work and life in those situations? Do you have any kind of boundaries set in place so that you’re not too available?
DC: Sure. I’m very organized. We use ClickUp for project management, and all of our team clocks in. We know how much time we’re spending. We give weekly reports and make sure we’re meeting goals for our clients. We’ve integrated a lot of screen recordings for clients, so if they want to know how something works, we’ll send them a video, which saves time. It’s all integrated into ClickUp, so when they’re off, they’re off, and they don’t have to worry about work.
Managing Small Business Client Needs
SD: It’s great to hear that you’re so organized. It seems like screen recordings are really helpful for small business owners, especially those who aren’t as tech-savvy.
DC: We use video for answering questions about ad accounts or analytics. Small business owners can watch the videos at their convenience, saving us time and allowing us to answer questions efficiently. We’ve had success with clients who want to do things themselves, and we also have a DIY option for those who prefer it.
The Importance of Communication
SD: I really like how you’ve tailored your approach to different clients’ communication styles. It’s nice to hear that you’re able to adapt.
DC: It’s crucial. Clients need to trust you, and that comes with communication. We have a lot of clients who just want to know that things are working, and that’s fine. But for the ones that want to get involved, we have a “do it with you” approach.
Giving Back to the Community
SD: I really appreciate hearing all of this. I also noticed you work with nonprofits, which is amazing. You offer them a 20% discount, and you’re also sponsoring children through Compassion International. That’s incredible.
DC: Yes, we’ve integrated giving back into our business model. We sponsor children globally and provide services for nonprofits, like building websites for organizations helping veterans or digging wells in the Philippines. It’s rewarding to know that our work is making a difference.
Closing Thoughts
SD: I think it’s really important to find that balance between business success and making a positive impact. It’s not always just about making money but also about giving back and making a difference.
DC: Exactly. It’s about helping people and using our platform to make a real impact. Whether it’s supporting small businesses or helping a nonprofit, it’s all part of the bigger picture.
SD: I couldn’t agree more. Thank you so much for sharing your story and being such a genuine person. It was great having you on today.
DC: Thank you for having me, Shannon. It’s been a pleasure.
SD: For everyone listening, don’t forget to like and subscribe, and share this podcast with a friend. We hope to have more wholesome content like this in the future. Thank you so much for joining us today.
