A roofing company in the Twin Cities started posting 30-second TikToks showing their crews at work. Nothing fancy — a phone mounted somewhere, real work being done, the occasional voiceover explaining what they were doing and why it mattered. Within a few months they had more leads coming in from social media than from any other channel. That's not a unique story anymore. It's becoming a pattern. Short-form video — TikTok and Instagram Reels specifically — has quietly become

One of the most common questions I get from small business owners across the Twin Cities is some version of: "Should I be running Google Ads or Facebook Ads?" It's a fair question, and most of the time the business owner has already tried one platform, didn't see the results they expected, and now wants to know if they should switch to the other. The honest answer is almost always: the platform probably wasn't the problem. Both Google Ads and Facebook Ads work. They just work

Trio Assist is based in Lake Elmo, and I grew up in Stillwater. This corner of the Twin Cities — the eastern suburbs stretching from Cottage Grove through Lake Elmo and into the St. Croix Valley — is my market. I know it the way you know a neighborhood you've lived in for years. What I've watched over the past several years is real growth. Cottage Grove has been one of the fastest-growing communities in the metro. Lake Elmo has seen substantial residential and commercial deve

I talk to small business owners across the Twin Cities every week. And when it comes to social media, I hear some version of the same thing over and over: "We know we need to do more with it, but we're not sure if what we're doing is actually working." Most of the time, it isn't. Not because the business isn't great — it usually is. But there's a difference between being on social media and actually using social media to grow your business. After 15 years in marketing and wor

If you’re trying to grow your business online, you’ve probably asked: “Should I run paid ads or invest in SEO?” It’s a fair question. Both drive traffic. Both generate leads. Both require budget. But they function very differently. If you’re unsure which approach fits your current stage, you can always get a strategic overview here. Quick Answer: Which Is Better — Paid Ads or SEO? It depends on your timeline and foundation. Paid Ads: Immediate traffic Immediate data Imme