Today we’d like to introduce you to Gregory “greg” Alvarado
Hi Gregory “Greg”, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
To start off, I want to say thank you so much to Voyage Dallas for inviting me to be a part of your publication. I sincerely appreciate you sharing my story. I would like to encourage all of my connections to follow Voyage Dallas on their socials and newsletters.
How I started:
This is a bit of a long story because this has been a very long journey with many contributing factors, but I will try to give you just the meat and potatoes…
It all started a couple of decades ago when I made new friends while out in Downtown Fort Worth. As we started hanging out more, my new friend (now considered a brother) started telling me about his new job at a large TELCO company and how much opportunity was there. He said he could get me hired-on if I was interested. At the time, I was working at a Personal Injury law firm and had become very comfortable there.
Then, during one happy hour, he mentioned how much he loved selling Yellow Page ads, and as soon as he said THAT, he got my attention. I thought he was selling cell phones this whole time! LOL
The Yellow Pages were HUGE then, and I had an idea of how much our law firm was spending on their premium phone book ads. So, I asked him more about how they were paid to sell the ads, and that was the moment when I decided to give advertising a shot.
So yes, money was my initial motivation, but I still wasn’t sold on the idea. I think I even called the law firm on my first day at the Yellow Pages and asked if I could go back if I changed my mind. But I decided to tough it out and I am so glad that I did.
After several weeks in training, I hit the sales floor and started strategizing ads, seeing them published, and then realizing the impact they could have on a small business. I fell in love with advertising!
How my career grew:
When I started with the Yellow Pages, I was on the team that sold the online version of the phonebook, so I got into “Online Advertising” as it was starting to gain traction. The TELCO company was very proactive about adding new advertising solutions, so we started getting more mediums to work with. We added search engine marketing, websites, direct mail, magazines, and even billboards. Then, in 2007/2008, Smartphones came out, and you could access infinite information from your pocket. This was when printed phonebooks started to lose popularity, and digital advertising took off.
About 2011, I had developed more interest in tech-heavy advertising, so I moved to a couple of large companies that were mainly focused on growing digital advertising. That was a fun few years but as time went on, that space was changing.
By 2014, the Website/PPC/SEO space got very saturated and I knew there was a better way to create demand and interest for my clients, but I wasn’t exactly sure how at that time.
So, as I was feeling the need for change, I started exploring other options and I almost left the industry. I found a great role in TV but it hadn’t worked out due to logistics. At that time, I was a single parent (50/50) of a newborn and couldn’t drive to Dallas every day for work so stayed where I was.
In 2016, I was signing the papers to go to a non-advertising type of company when I got a call from a familiar voice. It was a manager from the TV Media company that I had interviewed with two years prior saying that they had an opening in Fort Worth! When I got that call, I naturally accepted their offer and I started my journey into TV advertising.
Now that was somewhat culture shock coming from lead-gen going into large audience advertising, but as I started seeing the technology of the ad placement, and the attention that TV brought to clients on a grand scale, I began to understand why it was/is still the most powerful form of advertising. You get 30 seconds at a time to show and tell people why your company is beneficial for others. You also get to touch people’s emotions with sound, color, voice and video. It makes a difference when you can tell your story. This type of creativity is something that is part of all my campaigns today.
How I transitioned into Entrepreneurship:
Even though the technologies were advancing with this last media company, and I loved this role, life was getting more complicated and I started feeling that I needed a change.
I started exploring what it would look like to create something of my own. At first, I partnered with others but it quickly became apparent that I needed to do this on my own.
When I made up my mind, I quickly created my LLC, got all of my business infrastructure established to conduct business as a legitimate agency.
April 1st, 2024: I posted a headshot of me in front of books, and announced on social media that I was quitting Advertising forever to become a “Librarian”. (wait for it…) 😊
As my DMs, comments, texts and phone calls started coming in by the dozen asking me if I was serious, I replied with one phrase: “Check today’s date, then ask me again tomorrow.”
April 2, 2024 (no longer April Fools’ Day): I announced Primo Advertising to the world. And I’ve been running full throttle since.
This year, my daughter was home with me all summer, so we got to build this agency together which has been my favorite part of this journey. One of our favorite moments was when I found a resource to manually place digital billboards from my computer (or phone). I put an insertion for some ads on a couple of billboards on 287, and when I saw that impressions started delivering, we both jumped up and ran to the car to go stakeout the billboard from the side of the highway. We got some great pictures of our ads up in the sky just minutes after we placed the order. That was an exciting moment that the both of us will always remember.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Of course, there have been many struggles over the past 19+ years.
Now, as an independent, my struggles are different. I have the ability to pivot on the fly with nobody to ask permission from, so that is a perk. However, doing it all by yourself is not easy at all. I’ve had a lot of help from family, my daughter, strategic partners, and vendors, and that has gotten me this far. Kudos to all of the business owners out there. I truly admire your diligence.
Going back to the beginning, the first big struggle was in 2008 when smartphones were taking over, there was the transition in demand from print to digital advertising. At that time, our budgets weren’t much at all for digital, and everyone wanted to be on Google and not the phonebook anymore. So, all of us in the Yellow Pages took huge losses that year.
Then in recent years, you throw COVID in the mix and you are really struggling to balance work, health and family.
In this industry, there are a lot of challenges with KPIs and expectations, but everything that I know comes from what I learned from my experiences, so I appreciate all of it.
I try to do business with my former employers/colleagues as much as possible. After all, we are family.
Speaking of, when you have a chance to work with someone local, please try to go that path rather than calling into a corporate call center or going to an online mega-provider. Every sale makes a difference for small businesses and local representatives. Also, please make sure to spread the word for us. It makes a difference.
My business is still brand-new and growing so that last paragraph is 100% from the heart. I hope to be back here in the near future as a “success story”.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Primo Advertising, LLC?
Primo Advertising is the advertising agency for “The Middle,” which are businesses that have ample budgets, but also the need to stretch every cent that they invest.
This is typically a company that has a specific clientele that needs someone like Primo to help them target a particular audience. It can also be a marketing manager who wants one contact to implement multi-media marketing campaigns.
I call my advertising style “Audience Targeting,” where I niche down who/where I send ads to mitigate marketing waste. When I taper down the audience, the budget demands decrease, and the effectiveness improves.
In order to hit the target audience more frequently, I create retargeting campaigns that will follow a user around from a mobile location to their streaming radio apps, to their homes where they connect to Wi-Fi, then to their connected TVs and desktops, and even to their work devices. My goal is that if you have been to a geofenced address, you are on my client’s targeting list, you visit my client’s website, or you have received one of my client’s ads, then you will see and/or hear their ad messaging everywhere that you are consuming content. Then, I will tell you exactly how many ads went where and to how many devices, click-throughs, website visits, and even how many people who saw your ad that have walked into your location.
I can also reinforce these campaigns with targeted billboards, digital screens, and, of course, the big traditional media outlets as well. Each campaign is unique, and I utilize the best options that fit each client’s specific goals/needs.
Trying out different advertising solutions takes a lot of time and money, so most decision-makers would love a neutral party to help them navigate the best options for their goals rather than having to invest so much into trial and error.
Since I buy wholesale, direct, and at auction, my rates are hard to beat.
TV | VIDEO | RADIO | ONLINE | OTT / STREAMING | BILLBOARDS | GEOFENCING / RETARGETING
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
My motto in work and life has become: “Life isn’t transactional; it’s about relationships.”
I have been fortunate to have developed wonderful relationships that have influenced and supported me throughout my career. I have always been the type to help others; in return, others have also been there to help me.
Other lessons:
• If you do what is best for the client, the best will also work out for you.
• Never burn a bridge. Never cross the line of professionalism. You can tactfully end a partnership and choose to cease doing business with someone. However, you never know if the door to that relationship will need to be reopened in the future, so keep it classy.
• You can’t fight every battle, but you can pivot and work your way around the obstacles.
• And, never accept that something cannot be done just because it never has been done. There is almost always a way, it just needs to be found so ask for exceptions, ask for one-offs, and test new ideas and strategies.
Pricing:
- Audience Targeting – Average 2.5 cents per ad delivery
- There are infinite variables in pricing for each style of media.
- All campaigns have custom planning and implementation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://primoadvertisingagency.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primoadvertisingllc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrimoAdvertisingLLC
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PrimoAdvertisingLLC
Image Credits
Walt Burns
Blake Hampton
Self
Other
