Contact Studios

Co-Founder & CEO

We make creating content stress-free. Timely turnarounds. Frictionless collaboration. Quality you can bet on. 

Creating content customers love is hard. For most brands, scaling content is a nightmare. Agencies and production companies are slow and expensive. Freelance marketplaces put the burden on you with endless notes and revisions. Between hiring editors, writers, videographers, producers, photographers, motion designers, and SEO experts…building an internal team just isn’t feasible for most organizations.

Contact helps brands increase their content production without increasing their headcount. With content plans that can easily scale up or down with your business needs, Contact makes it easy for  teams to supercharge their marketing.

Schedule a 30-minute free demo with me here: https://calendly.com/contactrob 
(Zero pressure, and if you need to reschedule, go right ahead.)

www.contactstudios.com

Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Official Member

Herb

- 2-years of consecutive 100% year-over-year revenue growth 
- Operations, revenue, and content for the world's largest cannabis community (14+ million conscious cannabis consumers across web and social)


www.Herb.co 
@Herb (IG)

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Head Of Content

At Herb, Rob wore a wide variety of hats, exceeding his responsibilities as a Senior Writer to help the publication expand into video content, target SEO keywords to boost organic views, and generally increase the quality of Herb's content. Rob's responsibilities included writing investigative reports, SEO content writing, general content writing, guide-writing, script writing, video production, documentary production, editing, social-media writing and strategic planning, camera operating, and more. Rob played a significant role in Herb's SEO content migration process, in which he helped write new SEO-driven content while re-structuring old content to boost organic traffic and get Herb to the top of SERP results. He helped produce, film, and script a number of successful series that have accumulated millions of views and generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. Rob also filmed and produced Herb's feature documentary about the opioid crisis in Canada.

Senior Writer

Freelance Journalist

Freelance journalist, covering politics and the environment; Bylines in Politico, Fusion, ThinkProgress, DoubleBlind and Climate Desk.

Read a few assorted clips below

Journalist

The Plaid Zebra

- Most-viewed writer on www.theplaidzebra.com, yielding up to 1.5 million page-views monthly, producing 10 articles weekly.
- Oversaw an internship program in conjunction with the Ryerson School of Journalism by managing, editing and publishing the work of up to 5 interns per semester.
- Conceptualized, implemented and managed the primary social-media marketing strategy for www.theplaidzebra.com, vaulting the company’s social-media presence and significantly increasing monthly page-views.
- Headlined, wrote captions and crafted meta tags for most articles.
- Under my editorial supervision www.theplaidzebra.com had its content shared by the BBC, CBC’s George Stroumboulopoulos, Joe Rogan, The Daily Mail, Indie88, Matador Network, Grind TV, The Peak, and Graham Hancock.

Executive Editor

Helping you create profitable content | $10m+ generated for our clients | CEO of Contact Studios (we're hiring!)


Here's a little bit about our company Contact Studios, what we do, and why we do it:  

Content is every marketer's best asset for driving sustainable, scalable growth. 

But for most marketers, scaling content is a nightmare. 

These are the problems faced by Directors of Marketing, Marketing Managers, CMOs, Content Managers, and others, and how we can help: 

MOST MARKETERS FACE THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS: 

👉 No bandwidth or budget to produce SEO content in-house or to hire internally.

👉 Agencies and production companies are slow and expensive. 

👉  Freelance marketplaces put the burden on you with endless notes and revisions. 

👉 Between hiring editors, writers, videographers, producers, photographers, motion designers, and SEO experts…building an internal team just isn’t feasible for most organizations. 

BY IGNORING THESE PROBLEMS, MARKETERS RISK: 

☣️  Missing out on tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to your marketing-savvy competitors. 

☣️ Losing the opportunity to rank for industry-defining keywords to competitors that get their first.

☣️ Failing to build trust in your consumers, leaving them to align their loyalties to another company in your industry that appears to be a greater authority. 

HOW I CAN HELP:

🚀 We help marketers increase their content production without increasing their headcount. 

🚀 We virtually automate the content creation process for you—whether you're creating video content, or SEO blog content—so you can just sit back and watch your content go live. 

🚀 Our content is designed to work while you sleep, targeting your most desired prospects, and converting them into customers. 

🚀 We specialize in creating video and article content quickly, reliably, and cost-effectively. 

🚀 We give marketers time back to focus on the big stuff and get more done.


☎️GETTING IN TOUCH IS EASY:
📞 Schedule a 30-minute free demo with me here: https://calendly.com/contactrob 
(Zero pressure, and if you need to reschedule, go right ahead.)

Rob@contactstudios.com 

Contact Studios Co-Founder & CEO

Jeff Bezos has notoriously written some of the greatest shareholders letters of all time.

Want to write like a man who built one of the greatest businesses of all time?

Follow these writing tips that were circulated at Amazon 👇

Rob Hoffman

Unlimited monthly Video and SEO content to power your brand | CEO of Contact Studios (we're hiring!)

​​The feeling when you make a video for your favorite LinkedIn creator and it gets 4 million views 🤯

Sahil Bloom has one of the most impactful personal brands out there because he understands that the type of content you put out into the world determines the quality of audience you attract.

—
Want videos like this for your brand?

Book a complimentary growth strategy call (linked in the comments) and let's talk! 💪

On Mondays, we have a company-wide "no calls" rule.

Here's why it's been a total game-changer:
• We get 1 full day of "deep work" with zero distractions.
• Monday instantly becomes everyone's favorite day of the week.
• Everyone has a chance to get out of the house and go work in a cafe.

We've also encourged our team to use this time to create content for the week.

Why?

Great marketing teams invest in content by either:
1. making time and resources available to their team to create content.
2. Investing in services like ours that remove production bottlenecks and allow their company to publish a steady stream of high quality content each month.

If you like this idea, feel free to steal "no call Mondays" for your team!

And if that's not possible, but you still believe that content is the future...

Feel free to book a Content Strategy Call with us to learn how we can help you remove production bottlenecks, publish more content, all while getting more time back in your schedule.

I'll leave the link in the comments below 👇

8 advanced YouTube CTA tips that’ll double your conversion rate (turn views into cash):

8 Advanced YouTube CTAs to double your conversion rate

LinkedIn recently changed its algorithm to favor expertise and useful content. 

This is a sneak peek into how social media is changing in response to 3 trends:
1. AI-generated content. 
2. Content saturation (as more people realize the opportunity of growing an audience)
3. A wave of content mediocrity as creators focus too hard on "hacking the algorithm" rather than producing content that is actually good. 

I'm convinced that more platforms will follow Google's lead by prioritizing content in their algorithm that follows something similar to Google's "EEAT" guidelines: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

This means algorithms will prioritize content and creators with:

Verifiable subject matter expertise.
Content that is immediately actionable or useful. 
A track record of creating content on a particular subject.
Content that is optimized for their audience's intent rather than virality. 

This is great news if you're a marketer creating content for a reputable company, targeting a specific "Ideal Customer Persona."

This is bad news if you're a grifter hawking useless courses on a subject you just learned last week, or creating fluffy listicles that are 98% plagiarism and 2% substance.

I, for one, could not be happier about this. 

Most social media platforms could use a bit of a full-body detox. 

Agree or disagree? How do you think social media will change this year?

Let me know in the comments👇


Everyone thinks they understand how to create good content.

Then they publish on YouTube, Instagram, Tik-Tok, or blog content...

and they get 50 views per video. Zero rankings on Google.

they've heard "consistency is key" so they tell themselves "if I just stick with it, eventually my brand's content will take off!" 

but 18 months later and all that "consistency" has resulted in maybe a couple thousand followers, or a handful of SEO rankings if they're lucky. 

The truth is: there is an art to creating content that drives results. 

How do I know?

We grew our Youtube channel to 27,600 subscribers and 17,984,620 views in the first 30 days. 

We grew our Instagram to 11,300 followers and 3.5 million views in the first 30 days. 

But it took us 10 years of creating content to get to the point where we could pull this off.  

Now we use that knowledge to help brands like Shopify, RBC Bank, TubeBuddy, Hearst, and many more create good content. 

Content that builds audiences. 

Content that generates demand and a pipeline of leads. 

Content that you know drives results, and won't result in an 18-months of wasted time and regret.  

Want to see if we can help empower your marketing team to create content you can bet on?

Book a call with us and let's talk (I've put the link in the comments below) 👇


10 ways to totally screw up your video content (that most people do):

(2-min advice to save Marketers, CEOs, and Demand Gen experts time + money)

1. Record a podcast, then use an AI "editor" to make your video clips.

2. Your strategy is: "adapting your blog and newsletter content into video content."

3. Try to use the same "hub and spoke" model you use for your blog/newsletter/LinkedIn content for your video content.

4. Hiring a Video Editor without a Creative Director to manage them and provide feedback.

5. Trying to do a victory-by-volume strategy (that will damage both your brand, and your position within YouTube's algorithm).

6. Investing "halfway" into video, then wondering why you're not getting results.

7. Trying to copy Alex Hormozi's current content strategy (without understanding what got him here in the first place, or that he invests $70k per month in content between him and Leila)

8. Not properly testing creative concepts before scaling out verticals.

9. Filming content that makes people wonder if you're recording from your mom's basement.

10. Not understanding the difference between topics, formats, and creative concepts.

If you're trying to grow your brand, or use video as a key marketing and/or demand gen channel for your brand, hear me out: talk to an expert before investing a bunch of time and money into video.

Video is the most consumed medium on Earth.

It is the most powerful way to drive meaningful business results for your brand.

Unfortunately, most people never get to that point because they never take the time to truly understand the medium and execute on it correctly.

The result?
• Wasted time.
• Wasted money.
• Long-lasting damage to their brand (and algorithmic consequences).

Hope this was helpful for somebody out there 🙏


We helped grow the "Learn with Shopify" YouTube channel from 0 to 385,000 subscribers.

Want to grow your brand's YouTube channel?

These 14 tips will help you get your first 10k subscribers 👇

1. Use TubeBuddy to do a competitor analysis and find keywords with both "intent" and search volume.

2. Take advantage of YouTube Lives and the "Premiers" function to increase discoverability.

3. Find trending topics in your niche with Google Trends, then create videos around them.

4. Find other channels in your niche that have a comparable-sized audience or bigger. Ask them to collaborate on content to "trade" subscribers and increase engagement.

5. Distribute your videos on as many social media platforms as possible to direct people back to your channel. This includes relevant subreddits, Facebook groups, and communities you're a part of.

6. Write thoughtful comments on other creators' videos in your niche to "steal" their followers.

7. Aim to do 1-2 giveaways or contests per quarter to manufacture virality and create a higher likelihood of reciprocity.

8. Maintain a consistent publishing schedule. Posting once per day is ideal, but don't sacrifice quality for quantity.

9. Tag your videos with keywords relevant to the content that have both intent and search volume behind them. Include these keywords in your video description as well.

10. Create your video captions using an SRT file.

11. Create 5 shorts for every 1 long-form video to optimize for mobile and viral-driven growth.

12. Create thumbnails that tell a visual story.

13. Respond to all of your comments and messages as quickly as possible.

14. Name your video file after the target keyword you're pursuing.

These 14 tips will seriously speed up your brand's growth on YouTube.

That said, most of our clients choose to work with us to tap into our expertise, save time and resources, and get their YouTube strategy "right" from the very beginning.

Want to see if we can help you with your video strategy this year?

Book a complimentary strategy call with us and let’s talk (link in the comments)👇


Let me tell you the quickest way to waste your marketing spend.

And how to avoid it:

How to get your video shoot location right:

Most people think you need a good camera to create amazing video content.

But true filmmakers will tell you: good lighting and sound is way more important than camera quality. 
 
Here are 4 simple steps to light your videos like you're Christopher Nolan: 

—
First: Why is lighting so important during a shoot?

It allows for:
• A more natural look 
• Greater control over the final product 
• Time/cost savings during post-production

Proper lighting makes the difference between a flat, uninspired video and a dynamic video that engages the viewer
—
Step 1 — Highlight the subject with a key light

The top 1% of creators use a key light to make their videos look polished and professional.
• It should be your brightest light source 
• It creates depth with shadows 
• It makes your subject look more dynamic
—
To add key light:
1. Position the key light at an angle to the subject (preferably 45º)
2. Adjust the intensity to create desired contrast and shadows
3. If necessary, use a diffuser or bounce board to soften or redirect the light
—
Step 2 — Fill in the shadows with a fill light

Your fill light makes the subject look more flattering by reducing harsh shadows.

It can also add depth by creating subtle highlights.

It’s equivalent to the final touches a painter might apply to their painting.
—
To add a fill light:
1. Position the light opposite to the key light (on the other side of the camera)
2. Adjust the intensity to create the desired level of fill

As a rule of thumb, if your key light is set to 100%, your fill should be around 50-33%.
—
3 — Create space with a background light
Want to create an immersive experience for your viewers?

Evoke a sense of visual complexity by illuminating the background and creating contrast with the subject.
—
To add background light:
1. Position the light behind, and higher than the subject
2. Adjust the intensity to create your desired level of separation between the subject and background

This light is usually set lower than both the key and fill lights.
—
4 — Test and adjust your setup
Before and between shots, you’ll want to run test shots to make sure your lighting stays consistent.

You’ll save time and money in post production if all your shots have a consistent light profile.
—
For example: Many creators use LUTs to quickly color grade their videos.

They’re essentially preset color tables that you can apply to an entire video.

With inconsistent lighting, you'll have to adjust colors shot by shot, negating the usefulness of LUTs.
—
Thanks for reading!

Want to produce quality video for your company, at scale?

Book your complimentary growth strategy by clicking the link in the comments.

This is the simple storytelling framework that Disney and Pixar use to create some of the greatest animated films in History. 👇

(Originated by award-winning playwright Kenn Adams)

Storytelling is simple. But it's not easy. 

An answer to the problem most marketers struggle with: focus on one channel, or go omnichannel?

In the beginning, it makes sense to focus on one channel that is driving the highest volume of qualified pipeline.

But eventually, marketers who don’t go “omnichannel” are leaving a crazy amount of money on the table. 

Here’s the proof 👇

Neil Patel illustrates this in a story he tells about his client, Expedia.

According to Patel, Expedia ran a test with some of their well-known portfolio brands (Hotels, Travelocity, Trip Advisor, etc.)

They launched an “omnichannel” marketing strategy by publishing content for these brands across many different channels. What did they discover?

Taking this omnichannel approach was able to lower their Cost to Acquire Customers (CAC) by an astonishing 10%.

But this isn’t the only metric that gets a big boost from omnichannel marketing… 

These marketing research stats blew my mind:

- A study by Interacting Advertising Bureau (IAB) showed that using the exact same messaging, but applied to multiple channels, could boost consumers’ purchase intent by 90% 
- A study from the International Data Corporation found that consumers who see a brand’s content on multiple platforms have a 30% higher lifetime value (LTV) than shoppers who only come to a brand through one channel.
- A study from the Aberdeen Group Inc found that brands that used an omnichannel marketing strategy retained 89% of their customers compared to the 33% retention rate of brands who didn’t use such a strategy.

Publishing mediocre content on just one channel doesn’t cut it anymore.

Every day more marketers are waking up to the importance of creating top-tier content to stand out amongst the crowd, generate demand, and profitably acquire customers.

That said, we’re still in the early days when it comes to brands creating video content that is truly “high quality.”

Most brands who are trying to expand their marketing onto channels like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn video are still clueless when it comes to making video content that their customers will actually watch. 

I still hear marketers saying things like “I’ll just take a blog post from our website and make it into a video.

Publishing content around the same topic on multiple channels is fine. 

But a successful omnichannel marketing strategy optimizes each piece of content specifically for that channel.

This is why we help our clients not just edit their video content, but actually script it as well.

Are you thinking of expanding your marketing onto channels like  YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok?

Book a call with us (link in the comments) and let’s chat 👇

Our Executive SEO Director used to be the SEO Lead for a multi-billion dollar agency.  

Brands like AT&T, Nissan, Diageo Brands, etc. would literally pay millions of dollars per year just to get access to Micheal Terry's brain.  

But this is what really blows my mind: Every day, I post a link in my comments where literally any brand making more than $1m per year can get on a free call with Michael. 

And just because he left the corporate world to Co-Found our scrappy little agency... brands can literally pay $10k/month for the exact same person, and exact same services, that Fortune 10 companies were paying $1 million/month for. 

For the record, it won't be like this for long. We're raising our prices almost every quarter to keep up with demand. 

But still I always think, "if only the person on the other side of the sales call truly knew the epic deal they were getting."

Design Pickle’s growth strategy is fascinating: a service business that basically uses a Product Led Growth strategy to acquire customers.

Most PLG companies are SaaS products  with “freemium” pricing. Design Pickle is an agency with “free-enough” pricing. 

“Free-enough” pricing = the cost of their starter package is cheap enough that virtually any established company could afford to “just try them out” for a month. 

And that’s the exact messaging they use to acquire customers: “just try us out! It’s only like $1000. No contracts or commitments. Cancel any time!”

This model is getting increasingly popular:

Top of funnel = amazing organic content.

Middle of funnel = “free-enough” pricing. 

Bottom of funnel = a productized “SaaS-like” interface. 

Is this the future of digital service businesses?

Taplio

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