Rob Arevalo of 17 Projects on launching a video company two months before COVID, marketing with no budget and then with real money, cold calling in New York, government RFPs, toning proposals down for corporate buyers, and why client retention drives growth.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:46 Meet Rob Arevalo and 17 Projects
3:13 From the Air Force to launching during COVID
6:35 Why keep going when the industry stopped
8:13 Corporate clients and the easiest path in
10:31 Client retention beats chasing new clients
12:59 Systems that keep clients happy as you grow
14:38 A two-person core with a deep freelance roster
15:57 A thousand cold emails: marketing with no budget
18:56 The marketing bets that took 17 Projects full time
20:18 How Lapse grew: SEO over paid ads
22:40 Evolving the marketing mix year to year
24:03 Do mass cold emails still work?
27:32 Cold calling in New York
29:07 Timing, brand awareness, and staying on the radar
32:08 Government contracts and RFPs
38:38 What RFPs teach you about proposals
39:32 Corporate proposals: make them boring
44:24 Expanding to LA, Chicago, and Miami
48:54 Competing in NYC: do your recon
51:01 Why the name 17 Projects
Creatives Grab Coffee is produced by Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company. (https://www.lapseproductions.com/).
To learn more about the show, visit: https://www.creativesgrabcoffee.com/
