ABOUT

SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS NEED HELP

There are 33.2 million small businesses in the United States according to 2022 statistics. 27 million of those don’t hire employees and 5.4 million of them have 20 employees or fewer. Small businesses make up 99.9% of businesses in the United States, yet only make up 43.5% of the U.S. GDP and 44% of the U.S. economic activity overall. This means that the .1% of large U.S. businesses is making up 56% of the economy.

Big box retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, CVS, Starbucks, etc are showing up in towns across America and all but eliminating the need for local small businesses. Amazon has thrown the equation even further out of whack by appealing to people’s desire for convenience. As fierce as the competition is, these massive corporations aren’t the enemy, they’re just expanding their reach to become more profitable…but something can be done about it.

HOW DO WE COMPETE?

Small businesses can’t compete with multi-million (and billion) dollar corporations in terms of resources, but we have an advantage that they don’t…a personal one-to-one touch. Massive corporations don’t care about the individual, they care about their money. As small business owners, we know our communities. We know the connections in town. We’re part of the chambers of commerce and rotary clubs. We know people’s names, who their kids are, and what position they play on the high school football team. We have something that these massive corporations could never have. We have heart and we have connection.

There’s a big opportunity to showcase that love for people and community because 2020 changed a lot of people’s outlook on what’s really important. People started realizing that family and friends and community were more important than ambition and convenience. When big corporations shut their doors, many small business owners refused to shut theirs. The current political and social landscape has awakened people to who really cares about them and who cares more about turning a profit.

I see a great opportunity for small business owners to shine and to fill in the gaps that big businesses have left behind. Let’s go get get involved in our communities and towns and do what we do best – connect with and serve people.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME

In 2006 I started learning how to write HTML and was able to purchase a copy of Adobe Creative Suite 4. I used Dreamweaver to structure HTML and place images and text on a webpage. I slowly learned the structure of a website and how I could manipulate layouts by tweaking the tags. In 2007 I learned how to create webpage layouts in Adobe Photoshop and then slice the image up and export it as HTML code. It saved me a lot of time and was more fun than writing HTML in a text editor. Shortly after that, WordPress was introduced to me and I never looked back.

My SEO journey began in 2008 when I started pursuing affiliate marketing. Over the years, I’ve developed a rather large skillset, from technical to on-page to off-page tactics. I currently work as a SEO Manager for a local digital marketing agency in addition to servicing my own clients.

What I love about digital marketing is that it’s the marriage of the analytical and the creative. I’m equally both. Web design offers me a creative outlet; one that was once channeled through drawing, painting, and sculpture. SEO lets me use my troubleshooting and analytical brain to solve problems and reach objectives.

I’m not all work though. I have a loving wife of many years and two awesome adult sons. We love to hang out and play board games and to stretch our legs on hiking trails whenever we get the chance. If I’m not geeking out over a new website build or solving problems in SEO, I may very well be walking through the woods somewhere.

I certainly hope we have the opportunity to get to know each other and work together.

Michael

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SO Why the name “Firefall Digital”?

So, what inspired me to name this “Firefall Digital”? The Biblical story of Gideon has special meaning to me. I identify very closely with Gideon because, while I haven’t rescued the Israelites out of the hands of the Midianites, my life has followed a similar story arc to Gideon’s life. I believe Gideon was an every-man. He was the smallest of his clan which was the weakest in the tribe of Manassah. His size and strength didn’t matter. God saw a warrior in him.

The torch of Gideon is reflected in the name “Firefall” and the logo. It represents an unwavering trust in God, overcoming great fear and insurmountable obstacles, and conquering the giants in life that have held us captive. So, I’m going to let my torch shine!