Today we’d like to introduce you to Simon Cooper.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I have been enthusiastically involved in sales, marketing, and advertising for 25 years, holding various positions in the industries of insurance, promotional products, printing, recruitment, and local marketing. I have been drawn to this kind of work because I have always loved to see what can happen when people or teams can take an idea and turn it into a business, and most importantly- a brand – that benefits everyone involved, and makes a profit for the business.
After working with a couple Wilshire Blvd. advertising agencies in Los Angeles in the early 2000’s, helping companies like Red Bull, Ritz-Carlton, and KFC with their recruitment brands, I started a recruitment advertising agency of my own called AdCrafters in the Inland Empire. This was a successful agency and business model until 2008 when our country’s economic conditions took a terrible turn and virtually froze all needs for consistent recruitment advertising.
After a couple years of reinventing my business model to focus more on helping small businesses with their local marketing, I decided it was time to back to “Corporate America” and gain some additional experience.
Working for a national marketing company that had a large market share in the local business marketing space, I was able to get very close and hands-on with hundreds of small businesses- helping them add new strategies to their marketing plans. I loved having the opportunity to partner with people that I admired- people who were pursuing the American dream of owning a successful business! I learned a lot from these people- what worked, what didn’t work, how they handled dealing with competition and many other challenges that small businesses face on a regular basis.
After nearly 5 years of working for this large company, I decided it was time to start my own business again- doing the work that I loved, for the people that I really cared about- the local business owners! I started WeBrand Digital Marketing in 2014, with a mission to help local businesses develop a consistent and compelling brand, and to market that brand where consumers are devoting their attention- their computers and smart phones! Partnering with another successful marketing strategist, we built a small team of designers and writers to create custom digital marketing programs for our clients including website design, SEO, Google advertising, social media promotion and much more- everything needed for a business to get easily found and eagerly chosen online.
After 3 years, we have created approximately 100 websites, and helped dozens of local businesses take their digital brand to the next level and generate more revenue. We love having the ability to provide personal service, thoughtful creativity, and effective marketing programs in a way that the large national marketing companies cannot compete with.
Has it been a smooth road?
No, it hasn’t been easy. To be successful as a business owner means generating enough revenue to pay your bills every month! I have a family of 4 to provide for, and to go full-time into a business without having the comfort of a consistent paycheck coming in, has required a work ethic that takes extreme focus and dedication. Thankfully, we have been able to keep business coming in a consistent basis, but the real challenge has been the stress that comes with being able to fulfill all of our projects on time, without having to stop bringing in new business to free up the bottlenecks that can come with a heavy production schedule.
Through the challenge of balancing business development and production, we have never failed to deliver a high-quality product and service, and developing a talented creative team has definitely helped.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the WeBrand Digital Marketing story. Tell us more about the business.
WeBrand Digital Marketing offers website design, search engine marketing & optimization, social media management & promotion, branding packages and much more.
To convey the company’s mission and purpose, I came up with the tagline: “Branding the American Dream”. WeBrand has grown quickly and has established a good local and national reputation with businesses in the Inland Empire, throughout Southern California and various parts of the country.
What sets us apart from other web design companies and digital marketing agencies is (1) Our accessibility- we answer the phone, reply to emails, and do what we say we are going to, and (2) Performance based service – we provide custom marketing strategies that are provided on a month to month basis, rather than cookie-cutter packages that require a commitment to an annual contract.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
This industry is constantly changing, because businesses need to change their marketing strategies as technology evolves. As mobile phones continue to develop their “smartness”, social media networks and search engines figure out how to use this new technology to their advantage, offering the ability to use location, interests, and habits of consumers to precisely target marketing messages in a much more focused way.
As technology evolves to include more user recognition, wearable technology, AI, etc, digital agencies like ours will need to evolve with it to make sure local businesses know how to use new technology to their advantage with their marketing efforts.
Pricing:
- Website design starts at $849
- Social media management starts at $200/mo
- Search Engine Optimization programs start at $250/mo
Contact Info:
- Address: 27070 Sun City Blvd.,
Menifee, CA 92586 - Website: WeBrandDigital.com
- Phone: 9512460610
- Email: ideas@webranddigital.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/webrand_digital/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/webranddigital/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/webrand_digital
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/webrand-digital-marketing-menifee
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