Dave Polykoff – Direct Response Philanthropy
As a 21 year old Marketing and Advertising college student, I began to see a big disconnection between the classroom and the real world. I put in the hours and read all the textbooks, took all the notes, and joined all the clubs.
But as I began stepping my foot into the real world, it became clearer to me that school and the real world are not one and the same. And that college degree was no E-ZPass to the highway of success. It was only after landing an internship position at Direct Response Agency that I learned a life changing lesson.
The best education comes from experience.
A lesson I continually learn every day since I began interning for Rich at Direct Response Agency. I’ve learned what it takes to be the best at what you do. Not only being placed in the experience of what a successful company looks like, but also the behind the scenes long hours and hard work it takes to get there.
I was quick to get some real world direct response experience. Experience no classroom could ever teach me. And something more than just myself would be benefiting from as well.
Rich came across FastFrame of West Chester. A local framing store in West Chester, Pennsylvania that had been going through a bit of a rough patch. It found itself on the brink of going out of business. After using their great services and recognizing their potential, Rich knew that he had the ability to boost this business back into full gear.
It would have been easy to write a check right then and there. Putting a band aid on the problem for a little while before things fell right back to being bad. But our motto at Direct Response Agency is:
You can give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.
So instead, Direct Response Agency created a philanthropy campaign designed around saving FastFrame of West Chester from extinction.
We sat down with the owner of FastFrame of West Chester and began to discuss every aspect of the business. From how the job gets done, where it gets done, and how fast it gets done. Discovering all the features to the business and turning them into benefits that sell.
We went to work with our elite website designers on creating a landing page that would convert. We decided on a very enticing call to action offer. After submitting some simple information, you would receive a 50% off coupon for your entire purchase. This would inform, create action, and organize customer information.
The result was a landing page that displayed enticing wording, graphics, and coloring that showed what FastFrame of West Chester can do for you. We were determined to turn this business around, so we made sure that every aspect of this landing page was selling the business. We collected testimonials, displayed product graphics, and wrote copy that sells the business on its own.
Our programmers built out the page so it took you to a convenient verification page. While simultaneously downloading your printable coupon. Creating as much ease in the process as possible. On both the landing page and the verification page, was a three step process on how to redeem and use your coupon. Visually explaining the steps creates a much easier process in the customer’s mind.
In order to drive large amounts of traffic to the landing page, we spent the time to research high trafficked organically ranked keywords for the domain name. It was important to find a domain name with the extension of .com, .net, or .org. These are the most commonly referred to extensions.
After much review, www.BestFraming.com was created. Drawing over 6,500 monthly searches.
There are many small businesses going through the same struggle as FastFrame of West Chester right now. Direct Response Agency is continually putting all our resources to good use as we continue to build and monitor the success of this campaign.
If you have the resources and the time, it is important to give back to your community. If you have been giving back, leave your stories below!
