Our Cohort 16 of small business owners spent five weeks earning their online marketing certificate from BizHack’s accelerated digital marketing program, “The Digital Marketer’s Edge.” This group, fondly dubbed the Thrive Tribe, embodies the BizHacker mentality, and the name speaks to the moment in which we are living. 

Additionally,  more than one hundred certificates were awarded as part of a grant-funded online marketing course through the Village of Pinecrest, “How to Find Customers Online.” We have brought the digital marketing course to more than 1,000 businesses worldwide, including clients in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia, New Zealand, and Dubai.

To see a snapshot of digital marketing school success case studies, keep reading.

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The Thrive Tribe Case Studies

David Phillip: CEO and Co-founder of Cohana Inc.

Who: David Phillip’s story is an amazing example of a business waiting to explode with a little digital marketing help. He is in an industry sector that is incredibly important to the economy, healthcare and is dedicated to helping aging folks receive the medical care they need. 

Cohana is a home-sharing platform that pairs healthcare professionals with older adults who cannot live independently. His irresistible offer was two hours of in-home activities and care with the first booking. He targeted adult children.

Results: His final ad received more than 3,000 impressions with a return of investment (ROI) of more than 1,500%. Phillip is much more confident when it comes to discovering and creating customer personas and is committing to investing in online marketing and product development in the future. 

Sirena Andras: Founder and CEO of Creative Chi

Who: Sirena Andras is a stand-out digital marketing scholar. She lost 90% of her business when COVID-19 hit and turned to BizHack. It was time to focus on her marketing and outreach efforts for the first time, so she enrolled in our online marketing certificate program.

What: Creative Chi is a Certified B-Corporation that serves businesses passionate about being purpose-driven and sustainable that are ready to up-level their branding strategy and visual communication.

Results: Andras revisited her customer persona, updated her customer journey, and created her first-ever video ad, which resulted in three promising leads in a very niche audience. 

Mike O’Donnell: Co-Founder and Co-Creator of BoxO3

Who: Mike O’Donnell is an investment banker who has worked with many startups, and he teaches startups at Broward College. He came to BizHack to learn how to use digital marketing to get the word out about an exciting new product.

What: O’Donnell partnered with Marben Forneste, who was tired of having packages stolen from his doorstep and wanted to create a box that would lock to protect his packages. When COVID-19 hit, O’Donnell gave Forneste the idea to add a disinfectant technology to his concept. 

Results: During BizHack’s online digital marketing course, O’Donnell learned the importance of testing different audiences with different messages, different images, and different value propositions. His ads resulted in a reach of almost 35,000 and 30 generated leads.

Michael Pearson: Founder and Owner of Alliance for Aging Inc.

Who: Michael Pearson is fearless and willing to take risks in service of his target community. Despite having never built a video ad before signing up for the online marketing certificate, he is now excited about perfecting his ads and user segmentation efforts to generate more amazing results.

What: Alliance for Aging is an organization that funds many other aging organizations, acting as a pass-through non-profit organization, and is the largest funder of aging services in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties in Florida.

Results: During BizHack’s online marketing course, Pearson focused on a donor campaign using a new customer persona, “Philomena the Philanthropist,” he created in the course. The resulting lead generation ad had more than 5,000 impressions, 45.8% thru plays, and generated six donations, resulting in 4.7x ROI.

Case Studies: How To Find Customers Online in partnership with The Village of Pinecrest

Zeenat Siman: Owner of Firefly Bridge

Who: Zeenat Siman is the owner of Firefly Bridge. During the five-hour online marketing certificate program, her focus was learning how to build local awareness online for both in-person and virtual services. 

What: Firefly Bridge is an organizing service that helps people organize and transform their homes into the beautiful spaces they have been seeking. Previously, her growth had been by word of mouth with a very small online presence. When COVID-19  hit, Siman completely pivoted online and began doing virtual organizing.

Results: After seven days of running an ad, Siman generated three leads. During the course, she learned the importance of her own story, why a detailed customer persona is necessary, and the need for a clear understanding of the customer journey. 

Cristobal Gidi: Owner of Machida Karate of Miami

Who: Cristobal Gidi has been trying to transform his studio, which saw its revenue cut 65% due to COVID-19, into a business that is safe during the pandemic. He wanted to leverage Instagram and Facebook because he used to rely on word of mouth.

What: Machida Karate of Miami is a premier martial arts center in the heart of Pinecrest, Florida, passed down to Gidi by his father two decades ago. To modernize post-pandemic, Gidi invested thousands of dollars in tech equipment, an updated ventilation system, sanitizing equipment, and employee training.

Results: Gidi created an irresistible offer and is working on communicating with his audience that they are open, safe, and ready to serve customers. He also is working to partner with another online marketing certificate participant to establish a healthy kids program.

Julie Jeffries: Founder and Owner of Not Your Momma’s Vegetables

Who: Julie Jeffries is a plant-based health coach and lifestyle expert whose goal is to get people to embrace a plant-based diet. Jeffries was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in 2013 that required radiation treatment and was causing her to become blind. Within three weeks of implementing a plant-based, whole-grain diet, she started to regain her sight. Within a year, she had 20/20 vision for the first time in her life.

What: Her mission is to share her own experience and show how healthier habits can really change someone’s life. Before COVID-19 hit, her marketing strategy was based on word of mouth. The business was great, but Covid-19 proved her marketing strategy to be weak, so she enrolled in BizHack’s digital marketing school.

Results: Since completing the program, she has launched a website, given her audience an irresistible offer of a free downloadable recipe book, transformed her content on social media, and has built a client list. She had about 50 people download her book, and her audience has responded to her personable content on social.

Thrive Tribe BizHacker Award Winner

The BizHacker award is given to a participant of the online marketing course who embraces new challenges, is willing to work hard, and continuously experiments with new things, treating failure as another opportunity to learn.

Cyrilla Suwarsa: Co-owner of Nuts + Nuts

Who: Cyrilla Suwarsa was nominated for Cohort 16’s BizHacker Award by her online marketing certificate peers. Before enrolling in BizHack’s digital marketing program, she never really put much effort into social media or digital advertising.

What: Suwarsa started Nuts + Nuts, a company committed to sourcing their ingredients directly from farmers when a lupus diagnosis meant that Suwarsa needed to move back to her family home in Indonesia. Her sister purchased cashews directly from farmers in Central Java, Indonesia, and roasted them using their grandmother’s recipe. Suwarsa designed the packaging to sell at the local market. However, in the wake of the pandemic, Nuts + Nuts lost 90% of its wholesale customers, so Suwarsa pivoted to digital marketing. 

Results: Suwarsa ran a video views ad and learned that this was a very affordable way of building a target audience. Her results from a lead generation ad were a reach of 3,000, 85% of video thru plays, and 10 generated leads. She has created an Instagram pod among food business owners and has generated 40 new followers on Instagram, and her Facebook Page reach increased by 1,600%. Want more tips? On Wednesdays, join BizHack Academy for our FREE#BizHackLive Webinars and hear experts discuss the latest and best small business marketing strategies. For a list of upcoming events, click here.