GoBeRewarded social media coordinator JP Huckins featured in SD Voyager

Jun 16, 2022

Huckins honored for passion and skill in artistry and graphic design

Courtesy SDVoyager


Today we’d like to introduce you to JP Huckins. 


Hi JP, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?


I grew up in a little town south of Tahoe and North of Sacramento, called Auburn. I fell in love with design at the young age of 11 and spent a lot of my time in Photoshop and Windows Movie Maker. After making a decent amount of mistakes in my late teens and early twenties, I finally started to learn some lessons and took the opportunity to apply for higher education. In October of 2016, I left my small hometown and moved to Escondido to attend film school. The school was small and I didn’t really fit in. I spent a lot of my time in class just making memes and random art on my computer, and I was slowly losing interest in the film industry. Right before graduation, like literally a quarter before graduation, I switched my major to non-emphasis. The film just wasn’t the direction I wanted to go. One of my friends mentioned I should start charging for my photoshop skills about a week before graduation. December 2019 and I’m officially graduated and living off-campus with some fellow graduates. I’m working at a local restaurant to pay the bills and marketing my graphic design skills in my free time. I would get a client maybe once a month for a logo, or an intro graphic for a YouTube channel. Small fry stuff, but I was loving it. Enter 2020 lockdown. My lease ended in the middle of the summer and no one was taking new lease applicants on a freelance graphic design salary. I was broken and didn’t have a place to live. After a couple stressful weeks of searching for any living situation in my budget, I finally accepted I’d have to leave the beautiful SD area and head back up North to my family. My brother offered me a little camp trailer on his property for $250 a month and I couldn’t pass. So August of 2020, I packed everything I owned into my Nissan Versa and made the move to Sacramento. I was depressed about having to leave my literal dream location and all the friends and artists I had met only to end up back where I was 4 years prior: jobless, in debt, borderline homeless. Upon arriving, I took a step back and looked at my options: Option A. Get a day job at a restaurant and make a minimum wage living until I save enough to move back down to SD. Option B. Take the opportunity of super cheap cost of living (rent was only $250) to really try and get my freelance graphic design business off the ground. Against all voices of reason and logic, I chose Option B. I knew if this was going to work, I would have to really be marketing myself like never before. I needed a routine. I woke up every morning at 6 am, ate breakfast, and headed to the gym. After the gym, I’d meet my mother at morning mass, and then spend the rest of the day at a local coffee shop. (Shoutout to Missions Coffee in Auburn). I would start with scouring Indeed and LinkedIn for any and all graphic design jobs, and apply to everything even remotely close to what my skill set was. Then, after I submitted at least 5 applications, I would open Photoshop and Illustrator and just start creating. My goal for the first month of 2021 was to get out an art piece a day. If someone asked to see my portfolio, I wanted to have a bunch of art to send them. After I finished whatever art piece I started, I would then go to YouTube and look up tutorials on how to get better at photoshop, graphic design, different color theory techniques, motion graphic techniques, and even started learning 3D modeling with Blender. After a few weeks of doing this, I started getting commission requests and work for hire jobs. Maybe one or two per month. $100 here, $500 there, it was rough, but I had a roof over my head, a mini-fridge full of lunch meat for sandwiches, and a positive attitude. I wasn’t wealthy, but that wasn’t the point, I was successfully living off of my art. I started to get better at the art that I was creating. The consistency in creating made me better at the software I was using, the willingness to learn was giving me new techniques to use in the commissions I was hired for. There’s something to be said for seeking the harder choice and really struggling with it. Really not taking no for an answer. It wasn’t glamorous to come home to a camp trailer at the end of the day. I was literally showering at the gym because my trailer didn’t have hot water. But I was so happy that I wasn’t waking up to go be an employee for someone else’s business. I was my own boss! 

Jump forward to June 2021. Almost a whole year after moving from SD. I had saved enough money for a trip back down to visit my friends who were still living down there. While down there I mentioned to a friend, that I was still totally open to moving back down, I just needed to find a job in the Graphic Design industry. Yeah, I was making money with the freelance gig, but remember, I was paying a fraction of real-world rent cost. A couple weeks later and my friend calls me back, “there’s a position opening at the marketing agency I’m working at, send in your resume!” I hopped on that so fast. Flew back down for the interview and got the job. I really believe I wouldn’t have gotten that job if I didn’t have the portfolio and understanding from the lessons I learned while being freelance. If I had just worked a day job instead of really pushing my career, I don’t think I would have been looked at twice. I think the year of being my own boss, being my own accountability partner, and not taking the easy road was really invaluable. It showed me that whatever I want, I can have if I’m willing to put in the work and lose a little sleep. Now I’m living back down in SD, working at a company that literally just won the Best Place to Work award from the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. And when I get off work, I sit down at my computer and start working on the commissions I have for my Graphic Design business, which has been growing steadily with at least 2 clients per month for the past 5 months. I’m not where I want to be, but I’m a damn sight closer than where I was a year ago. I can chalk that up to a lot of work, the best support group, and a loving family behind me. 


Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?


Ah, I love this question. It’s all a matter of perspective, right? Like, yeah, I had difficulties, but they were never something that couldn’t be solved, or they were an opportunity to learn. In the moment, obstacles can be super frustrating; a client not paying on time, a client wanting unlimited revisions on a work, or having to choose between food and gas cause I’m waiting for the Venmo to transfer to my bank account. These are all trivial things that in the moment look like mountains. I even looked at having to move to Sacramento as a huge obstacle, but really it was that move that gave me the opportunity to focus on my future. I guess what I’m trying to say is that every obstacle is the opportunity to look at your situation from a different perspective. But that’s the difference between being motivated and being driven; motivation comes and goes. If you only create when you feel like it, you’re less likely to be able to create when asked to. And that’s my whole business model! When a client asks me for some creative work, I need to be able to not only deliver great work but deliver it on time. So, if I had free time, and I didn’t want to practice drawing, or I didn’t want to hop in photoshop and mock something up, those were the times I forced myself to do it anyway. Being creative on demand isn’t a talent, it’s not something that people are born with, it’s a skill that’s developed through self-denial and determination. 

Leave the phone out of the bathroom, and bring a sketchbook and a pencil every time you take a shit, all of the sudden after a week, you have that many more minutes of drawing done. 


It’s 9 pm and you just finished your dinner, you usually go to sleep at 10 or 11 pm, that can be two hours of Netflix, or Instagram, or TikTok; instead, go watch tutorials on YouTube, learn something today that you can put into practice tomorrow. It’s like second nature for me to just open YouTube while I’m eating a meal and just pull up Photoshop or Aftereffects tutorials. Maybe only 10% of the tutorial sticks with me, but that’s more than none! (I’m an ENFP so I think I have adequately avoided answering this question in the most amount of words possible). 


As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?


My main services range from Album art for musicians to animated overlays for twitch streamers to logo design for new companies. I specialize in photo collage/photo manipulation with some motion graphics knowledge. I think what sets me apart from others is my desire to learn, and I don’t mean in the classroom sense. I am constantly trying to outdo myself, teach myself new techniques and styles, learn new mediums, etc. This of course is transferred directly to the end product I deliver to my clients. And as I learn new things, I’m constantly reaching out to my past clients letting them know that “I learned this new software or this new animation style and I would love to apply it to your business!” Also, I’m like 93% extroverted, so I really like people. I don’t think I have worked with a client that hasn’t turned into more of a friendship than a business transaction. I’m just in love with the creation process and solving people’s problems with my art is super satisfying and literally makes me happy. 


Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?


Seek discomfort. The dichotomy between comfort and discomfort is honestly the wildest riddle I’ve ever come across. As humans, we’re constantly seeking peace and joy throughout the turmoil of life. But I found in seeking discomfort, in actively choosing the less comfortable thing, I was preparing myself to deal with difficult situations in positive way. By choosing to be uncomfortable in your daily life, whether you pick up a brutal workout routine, or just cut out coffee for one day a week, or no screen time after dinner on Wednesdays, whatever you choose, when you run into difficult situations down the road, you are more comfortable and can handle them with a grace that you normally wouldn’t be able to had you constantly sought the comfortable path. It’s sucky at first, but even the smallest of self-denials will train you to be able to handle bigger and bigger obstacles down the road. 


The obstacles in life will always be there, what are we doing to prepare ourselves for when we run into them? 


Pricing:


  • Logo Design: $1000+
  • Album Art: $1000+
  • Motion Graphics: $500+
  • Emote/Icon design: $30-70
  • Sticker/Merch design: $100-$300


Contact Info:

The Beginner's Guide to Analyzing Google Ads Data for Your San Diego Business

21 Oct, 2024
Google Ads is one of the most powerful tools for businesses looking to boost their visibility and drive traffic. But once your campaigns run, how do you make sense of the data you're seeing? Whether you’re a small San Diego business owner or just getting started with digital marketing, understanding how to analyze Google Ads data is key to refining your marketing strategies and improving your return on investment (ROI). This beginner’s guide will explain essential metrics to monitor and provide actionable tips for improving campaign performance.  1. Start with the Basics: Key Metrics to Watch Before diving into the complex details of Google Ads reporting, it’s important to understand the key metrics that give you insight into how your ads perform. These are the building blocks for improving your campaigns. a. Impressions Impressions tell you how often your ad is shown. It’s a useful metric for understanding the reach of your campaign. For example, if your ad for a San Diego home improvement service appears in front of 10,000 users, you’ve earned 10,000 impressions. However, impressions alone don't tell the full story, as your ad may be shown without being clicked. How to Use This Data: High impressions but low engagement (clicks) could indicate your ad isn’t resonating with your audience or that your targeting needs adjustment. b. Clicks The number of clicks your ad receives is one of the most direct indicators of interest. Clicks show how many people were intrigued enough by your ad to learn more. How to Use This Data: Many clicks are a good sign, but ensure you're driving quality traffic. If you get a lot of clicks but not many conversions, it may be time to refine your ad copy, landing page, or audience targeting. c. Click-Through Rate (CTR) CTR is the percentage of people who clicked on your ad after seeing it. It’s calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions. How to Use This Data: A low CTR means many people see your ad but aren’t clicking. You may need to improve the ad copy, adjust your keywords, or revise your audience targeting. For example, if you're a San Diego café offering seasonal specials and see a low CTR on ads promoting them, it might be time to refresh your message or update your imagery. d. Conversion Rate Conversions happen when someone completes a desired action after clicking your ad, such as purchasing, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a contact form. How to Use This Data: A low conversion rate could signal that your landing page isn’t effective. Ensure that the landing page reflects the ad's promise, is user-friendly, and has a clear call to action (CTA). e. Cost Per Click (CPC) CPC shows how much you’re paying for each click on your ad. This metric helps you gauge the cost-effectiveness of your campaigns. How to Use This Data: A high CPC might indicate you're in a competitive market or targeting highly sought-after keywords. If your budget drains quickly without enough conversions, consider refining your keyword strategy or adjusting your bids. f. Cost Per Conversion This is the average cost of acquiring one customer or lead from your ads. It's calculated by dividing the total cost of your ads by the number of conversions. How to Use This Data: If your cost per conversion is too high, you might need to narrow down your audience, optimize your landing pages, or rethink your keywords. 2. Audience Insights: Who’s Clicking on Your Ads? Understanding who engages with your ads is as important as the number of clicks. Google Ads provides detailed audience insights, which can help you refine your targeting. a. Demographics Check the age, gender, and location of users interacting with your ads. For instance, if you’re a local San Diego business, you’ll want to ensure that most of your clicks come from users within your geographical target area. How to Use This Data: If you notice most of your ad spend is going toward out-of-area clicks, adjust your location targeting to focus solely on San Diego and nearby cities. Similarly, if your services cater to specific demographics, such as seniors or young professionals, use the data to refine your ads for those groups. b. Device Performance See whether users are clicking from mobile, desktop, or tablet. This can offer insight into how your ads are performing across different devices. How to Use This Data: If most of your clicks come from mobile users but your conversion rate is low, it may be time to optimize your landing pages for mobile devices. For example, a San Diego restaurant may need to ensure its menu is easily read and navigated on smartphones. 3. Improving Your Campaign Performance Now that you understand the core metrics, let’s examine how to improve your Google Ads performance using the data you've gathered. a. Refine Your Keyword Strategy Keywords are the backbone of your Google Ads campaigns. Analyze your Search Terms Report to see which keywords drive clicks and conversions, and identify any that are wasting your budget. Actionable Tip: If certain keywords have high impressions but low CTRs, consider pausing them or adjusting your ad copy to match the search intent better. For instance, if you run a San Diego landscaping business and notice that “landscape design San Diego” leads to more conversions than “landscape San Diego,” focus more on the specific terms yielding results. b. A/B Testing Ads Running different versions of ads (A/B testing) allows you to see which ad copy, headlines, or images work best. Actionable Tip: Try different messaging for your San Diego business. For example, a local HVAC company could test ads focusing on “quick service” versus ads promoting “affordable rates” to see which resonates more with potential customers. c. Optimize Your Landing Pages If your CTR is high but your conversion rate is low, the issue might be your landing page. Ensure that it aligns with your ad’s promise, loads quickly, and provides a seamless experience. Actionable Tip: Use tools like Google Optimize to experiment with different landing page layouts, CTA buttons, or offers. A smoother user experience often leads to better conversions. d. Adjust Bids for High-Performing Keywords If certain keywords or demographics consistently deliver good results, consider increasing your bids to capture more traffic from those segments. Actionable Tip: For a San Diego retail store, if ads targeting “San Diego summer sales” perform well during certain months, raise your bids for these terms to capture more seasonal traffic. 4. Conclusion: Turning Data Into Decisions Analyzing your Google Ads data is the key to refining your marketing strategies and improving your overall performance. By focusing on key metrics like CTR, conversion rate, and cost per conversion, and continuously refining your keyword strategy, ad copy, and landing pages, you can significantly improve the effectiveness of your campaigns. For San Diego businesses, leveraging Google Ads data helps you stay competitive in a crowded market. It allows you to allocate your budget efficiently and get the best possible return on your marketing investment. Start analyzing your Google Ads data today, and watch your business thrive!

Maximizing Your Marketing Budget: PPC vs. SEO for San Diego Small Businesses

25 Sep, 2024
For small businesses in San Diego, crafting an effective digital marketing strategy involves making critical decisions about where to allocate limited resources to achieve the best results. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are two of the most prominent strategies. Each has its unique benefits and challenges, and understanding these can help San Diego business owners make informed decisions that maximize their marketing budgets. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising What is PPC? PPC is a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. It's essentially a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to “earn” those visits organically. Google Ads is one of the most popular PPC platforms. Benefits: Immediate Traffic: Unlike SEO, PPC ads can drive traffic to your website immediately after the campaign starts. This is particularly useful for new businesses looking to gain quick exposure or for seasonal promotions. Targeted Audience: PPC campaigns can be finely tuned to target specific demographics based on location, browsing habits, and more. For San Diego businesses, this means ads can be specifically directed at local audiences or tailored to visitors in the area. Measurable ROI: PPC advertising offers clear metrics that allow you to see the exact cost of each click and how much you are spending compared to the revenue generated. This makes it easier to measure ROI directly and make adjustments in real-time. Challenges: Cost: Costs can escalate quickly in competitive sectors. Since you pay for each click, inefficient campaigns can consume a budget rapidly without delivering proportional returns. Skill Required: Effective PPC campaigns require good strategy and constant management. Keyword research, ad copywriting, and ongoing campaign adjustments demand time and expertise. Temporary: The traffic from PPC is tied directly to the campaign. Once you stop paying, the traffic drops. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) What is SEO? SEO is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. It involves optimizing your website and content to appear higher in search engine rankings for specific keywords. Benefits: Cost-Effective: Over time, SEO can be more cost-effective than PPC. While it requires an upfront investment in content creation and site optimization, it does not incur costs per click, and well-ranked sites continue to attract traffic over time without additional spending. Long-Term Benefits: SEO efforts can lead to sustained traffic growth. High rankings can provide ongoing brand visibility and credibility without needing continuous direct investment. Quality Traffic: SEO attracts users who are actively searching for your products or services, which can lead to higher conversion rates as the traffic is more relevant. Challenges: Time-Consuming: SEO results take time. It can take months to see the results of SEO efforts, which can be frustrating for businesses looking for immediate results. Complexity: SEO involves multiple factors, from on-site content to technical SEO to backlinks. The complexity of these elements requires expertise and ongoing learning as search algorithms evolve. No Guarantees: Search engines' ever-changing algorithms can make achieving and maintaining high rankings unpredictable. Competitor actions and updates can also affect your site's performance. Making the Right Choice for Your Business San Diego small businesses should consider their specific needs, budget, and timeline when choosing between PPC and SEO. For immediate results or short-term campaigns, PPC might be the best choice. SEO may be more appropriate for long-term investment in your brand’s visibility and organic growth. Often, a balanced approach that utilizes both strategies in different proportions can be the most effective way to maximize returns from your digital marketing budget. In conclusion, both PPC and SEO offer valuable opportunities for growing your business's online presence. By understanding the strengths and limitations of each, San Diego small businesses can better plan their digital marketing strategies to fit their unique goals and budget constraints.

The Power of Collaboration: Why Business Owners Should Work Hand in Hand with Their Marketing Agency

08 Jul, 2024
Creating effective campaigns and compelling designs is about more than creativity and technical know-how. It's also about collaboration—specifically, the collaboration between business owners and their marketing agencies. Business owners possess unique insights into their industry, customer base, and personal business ethos, making their involvement crucial for the success of any marketing initiative. Companies like GoBeRewarded have recognized this essential truth and have strategically built their processes to work closely with business owners, ensuring that each campaign is creative and deeply aligned with the business’s core objectives and values. Understanding the Importance of Collaboration in Marketing Business owners bring industry-specific knowledge and firsthand experience to the table. They understand their customers' needs, preferences, and pain points better than anyone else. This depth of knowledge is invaluable when crafting targeted marketing strategies that speak directly to the intended audience. Here’s why this collaboration is essential: Insider Knowledge: Business owners know the nuances of their industry—what has worked in the past, what hasn’t, and why. This insider information is crucial for crafting strategies that are not only innovative but also grounded in industry realities. Brand Alignment: Who better to understand a company’s ethos than the people who built it? Business owners ensure that every marketing message aligns perfectly with the brand’s values and vision, maintaining consistency across all channels. Resource Optimization: Business owners can provide critical insights into resource allocation. They know their budget constraints and priorities, which helps them plan and execute campaigns that maximize ROI without wasteful expenditures. Real-Time Feedback and Agility: In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, quick, on-the-ground decisions are often needed. Business owners’ direct involvement ensures that campaigns can be tweaked in real time, enhancing their effectiveness and responsiveness to market changes. How GoBeRewarded Facilitates Effective Collaboration Recognizing the importance of this partnership, GoBeRewarded has designed a collaborative approach that harnesses the strengths of both the marketing team and the business owners. Here’s how GoBeRewarded’s approach benefits businesses: Initial Consultations and Regular Meetings: From the outset, GoBeRewarded engages with business owners through in-depth consultations to understand their vision, goals, and specific market dynamics. Regular meetings keep this dialogue open throughout the campaign’s lifespan. Transparent Processes: GoBeRewarded maintains a high level of transparency in its processes, allowing business owners to see and understand how strategies are implemented and their insights are incorporated. Customized Strategy Development: Each strategy is tailored to the business owner’s insights, the company's market positioning, and the competitive landscape. This bespoke approach ensures that marketing efforts are highly targeted and effective. Feedback Integration: GoBeRewarded welcomes and actively solicits feedback from business owners. This feedback is crucial for refining strategies and adjusting to ensure the campaign’s success. Educational Support: Understanding that some business owners may wish to learn more about digital marketing, GoBeRewarded provides educational resources and workshops to help them get more involved and informed about the process. Conclusion: Strengthen Your Marketing Through Collaboration The synergy between business owners and marketing agencies can create a powerful force for generating successful outcomes in digital marketing campaigns. For businesses looking to enhance their market presence, choosing an agency like GoBeRewarded that values and facilitates close collaboration will ensure that campaigns resonate more deeply with target audiences and that they are coherent with the business’s overall strategic goals. This collaborative model results in more effective marketing efforts and empowers business owners to play a proactive role in their company’s digital journey.
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