local service business marketing -

The AI Content Process Every Business Should Be Using

Grant Haugen on January 11, 2026

A Practical Breakdown of the Content Factory System Taught at DigiMarCon

Most businesses aren’t short on things they could turn into content. What slows them down is what happens between recording something useful and actually publishing it. That gap is exactly what an AI content process is designed to eliminate.

At DigiMarCon, Jack Wendt and Dylan Haugen walked through the same AI-driven content workflow they’ve taught in professional and academic settings, including a recent session at Johns Hopkins University. The focus wasn’t on tools for their own sake, but on removing friction between recording something useful and getting it published consistently.

What follows is a practical explanation of that process, why it matters, and where most teams get stuck.

As Dylan Haugen put it during the session:

“If you can film the content, the rest of the way has become so easy with AI and these tools.”

Where Content Breaks Down in Real Businesses

In most organizations, content creation breaks down before it even begins.

A meeting, call, or presentation happens
No one records it—or the recording is never touched
Editing, posting, and promotion are delayed or skipped entirely

The issue isn’t a lack of ideas or content. Businesses already explain valuable things every day. The real problem is two-fold:

They don’t record what’s already happening
Even when they do, the follow-through stalls

Every additional dependency—editors, approvals, posting schedules—adds friction. Over time, teams stop recording altogether because the hand-off feels too heavy. The cycle resets, and great explanations are lost.

The Content Factory: A Four‑Stage Workflow

The Content Factory approach treats content as a repeatable process instead of a one‑off task. Each stage exists to reduce friction, not add complexity.

1. Produce

The first stage is simply capturing what already exists.

Sales calls, Zoom meetings, internal trainings, and live presentations all contain explanations your audience already asks for. Recording them turns routine work into raw material.

No scripting is required at this stage. The goal is accuracy and usefulness, not polish.

2. Process

This is where modern AI tools make the largest difference.

During the presentation, Dylan demonstrated how a single recording can be:

Cleaned up for clarity
Transcribed automatically
Split into long‑form and short‑form pieces

What used to take multiple roles and several days can now be done quickly by one person who understands the workflow.

The important shift here is speed. When processing is fast, content doesn’t pile up.

3. Publish

Processed content is then formatted for where people actually consume it:

Articles for a website
Long‑form video
Short clips for social platforms
Internal documentation or training

Publishing works best when it follows a checklist rather than a creative decision each time. Consistency matters more than novelty.

4. Promote

Many teams stop once something is published, but distribution determines whether the content is seen at all.

Promotion at this stage is not about aggressive marketing. It’s about making sure useful material is available in the places your audience already looks—search, social feeds, and internal knowledge bases.

AI‑assisted workflows reduce the effort required to do this repeatedly.

Why This Workflow Changes Output Without Lowering Quality

One example discussed during the video was used to illustrate where content workflows usually break down.

The example walked through what happens when each stage of content production is owned by a different person. Recordings sit in queues, tasks wait for handoffs, and small delays compound into long gaps between creation and publication.

The contrast was simple: when a single person understands and runs the full process—from recording through publishing and promotion—output and speed increase noticeably. Not because the work is rushed, but because the buffer zones between roles disappear.

This is also why learning the entire workflow matters. With current AI tools handling much of the mechanical work, it has become far easier for one trained operator to manage all stages without sacrificing quality.

Training People to Run the System

A recurring theme in the talk was that tools alone are not sufficient. Someone still needs to understand:

What content is worth capturing
How to preserve intent and tone
Where each piece fits in a broader topic structure

This is the focus of High Rise Academy’s training model, which emphasizes process ownership rather than isolated tasks. The same workflow is often paired with structured personal‑brand or company websites—such as those built through partners like Local Service Spotlight—so search engines can clearly associate content with real expertise.

A Practical Starting Point

The simplest takeaway from the session was straightforward:

If something required explanation once, it will likely need to be explained again.

Recording it the first time reduces future repetition. With a clear process for handling the rest, content becomes a byproduct of normal operations rather than an additional burden.

That shift—not any single tool—is what makes the system sustainable.

What This Means for Local Service Businesses

For local service businesses in particular, this workflow solves a common visibility problem: expertise exists, but it is scattered across conversations, estimates, and internal meetings.

When recordings are consistently turned into published content and tied back to a clear online identity, search engines can better understand who the business owner is, what they specialize in, and why they are credible.

Next Steps

For most businesses, the limiting factor isn’t effort—it’s ownership.

Recording content is easy. Deciding who is responsible for turning that recording into published, promoted assets is where momentum breaks down.

One effective approach is to assign a single person inside the business to own the entire content workflow end to end:

Capturing recordings consistently
Processing them into usable formats
Publishing them across the right channels
Ensuring distribution actually happens

This is the role High Rise Academy is designed to train for.

Rather than spreading content responsibilities across multiple vendors or internal roles, businesses send a dedicated team member—often a young adult—to learn how to run the full Content Factory system using modern AI tools while maintaining brand voice and quality standards.

When paired with the right infrastructure, such as an authority-focused site built through Local Service Spotlight, this model centralizes digital marketing under one accountable operator and allows content to compound over time instead of stalling out between handoffs.

For businesses looking to improve consistency, clarity, and output without expanding headcount, training someone internally to own this system is often the most durable next step.

This Isn’t Magic: The Explainable Process Behind High Rise Academy

Grant Haugen on December 29, 2025

High Rise Academy’s message is straightforward: careers, skills, and opportunities aren’t mysterious or reserved for a select few. What looks impressive from the outside is usually the result of an explainable process.

The video opens with a simple visual trick and a quick, funny competition. The High Rise Academy founders pull long ribbons of color out of their mouths, making it look like the ribbons are appearing from nowhere. It feels surprising at first, but the point lands quickly—there’s a method behind it. That same idea carries through everything that follows.

Careers aren’t magic — they’re built

Early in the video, one of the speakers makes the foundation clear: life is full of surprises, but building a career isn’t magic. It’s presented as something practical and learnable, not reserved for a select group of people. The point is emphasized plainly: the people speaking aren’t theorizing about careers — they’re building them in real time and learning alongside others who are doing the same.

The program is framed as an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to launch a career and learn skills they’re unlikely to pick up in school or through everyday life alone. The emphasis is on exposure, practice, and building momentum through action.

Learning compounds when you’re doing real work

Luke Crowson expands on this by talking about how learning actually works in practice, including the line: “the more you learn, the more you learn that there’s more to learn.” People often join programs expecting one specific outcome. What they discover instead is that knowledge compounds.

You learn something new, then realize there’s more depth than you expected. That curiosity leads to more learning, which leads to improvement. The excitement comes from realizing you can keep getting better.

This distinction matters because it changes how people approach learning. The value isn’t just in what you learn first — it’s in becoming someone who learns faster over time.

Adaptability is what keeps you moving forward

When Dennis Yu spoke, he leaned into adaptability. As he pulls more ribbons out—colors changing as they come—he uses that visual to describe unpredictability: “sometimes it’s red or yellow or blue or whatever it might be, you just gotta adapt”. Sometimes things come out one way, sometimes another. The details change, but the requirement stays the same: you adapt.

The message is simple and practical. You don’t need certainty about what’s coming next. You need to be willing to learn, adjust, and keep going. That willingness is what prevents people from stalling when conditions shift.

“This isn’t magic” means there’s a technique

When Jack Wendt brings the metaphor back to the ribbon trick, the point becomes practical. If something feels too good to be true, it usually means you’re missing the method behind it.

High Rise Academy is built around the idea that techniques can be taught and systems can be followed. Rather than improvising, apprentices learn structured processes that have already been proven in real-world marketing.

One example is the Content Factory approach: creating consistent, repeatable content from real work instead of chasing one-off posts or trends. Another is Metrics–Analysis–Action (MAA), a discipline that forces teams to look at what actually happened, analyze why it happened, and decide the next action based on data—not opinions.

Apprentices are also introduced to documented workflows for local service marketing, where the focus is steady execution over time instead of sporadic campaigns. These processes turn effort into momentum.

Execution is the dividing line. To someone watching from the outside, the results may seem unrealistic. To someone who understands and follows the steps, they become achievable.

The part people don’t see is where the value is created

Dylan Haugen addresses the gap between perception and reality. Viewers may have seen the team doing “cool stuff” — traveling, working from interesting places, sharing highlights online.

What matters more, he explains, is what happens behind the scenes. The systems that Dennis Yu has built over more than 30 years. The daily work of implementing those systems. The constant learning and the responsibility of providing real value.

That back-end work is where the team finds the most meaning, because it’s where growth actually happens.

What ties all of this together

Each speaker reinforces the same core idea from a different angle:

Careers aren’t built through magic — they’re built through action.
Learning keeps giving when you apply it.
Adaptability matters more than certainty.
Systems turn effort into results.

The ribbon trick at the beginning isn’t there to impress. It’s there to make one thing clear: once you understand the method, what felt impossible becomes practical.

Where this leads

The point of the ribbon trick is the same point of the program: results look mysterious until you understand the method. Once you see the technique, the outcome stops feeling random.

High Rise Academy is built around that mindset—learn a repeatable process, practice it through real execution, and keep improving as conditions change.

For a young adult, that means building confidence and practical skill by doing the work, not just studying it.

For a local service business, that means developing a capable operator—often someone already close to the business—who learns the systems and applies them through digital marketing to improve lead flow and bring in more calls over time.

High Rise Academy is a place to learn, apply, and grow alongside real people who are implementing the process every day.

How to Verify and Edit Your Google Business Profile

Dennis Yu on December 19, 2025

Verifying your Google Business Profile (GBP) is crucial for visibility and customer trust. This guide covers the verification process, methods, and the importance of verification. For more techniques and troubleshooting tips, join our GBP course.

Why Verifying And Claiming Your Business Is Important

Verifying your business on Google enhances visibility, increasing your chances of appearing in local search results and the coveted local three-pack. It builds trust and credibility with potential customers, showing them your business is legitimate and well-maintained.

Step 1: Sign in to Google Business Profile

Go to www.google.com/business to sign in.

Step 2: Click Verify now

If you have multiple Google Business Profile accounts, make sure you choose the correct one.

Step 3: Choose a way to verify

Postcard by Mail is the default verification option. If your business is eligible for other methods, such as phone or email, choose the one you prefer. Fill in the required details.

Double-check to make sure you’ve entered it correctly, then submit the form.

It can take a few days to two weeks for the postcard to arrive.

When you receive your postcard, sign in and click Verify location from the menu. Enter the five-digit verification code from your postcard.

Note: It may take a few weeks for your business listing to appear on Google. While waiting, download the Google Business Profile app so you can manage your account.

Claim Your Business on Google

Do you need to claim an existing Google Business Profile? There are three options:

Option 1: Sign up or log in to your Google Business Profile. Search for your business, and select it. Then follow the steps to confirm that you are the owner.

Option 2: Look up the business listing in Google Search and click Own this business.

If someone has already claimed the business, and you work for the same company, ask them to add you as a user. If you don’t recognize the owner, follow the steps to reclaim your business.

Edit Your Business on Google

Do you need to edit information on your Google Business Profile? Here’s how:

Sign in to Google Business Profile.
Open the location you’d like to edit.
In the menu on the left, click Info.
Click the pencil icon to make your edits. If you want to remove a section, click the X. When you are finished, click Apply.

Keep in mind that it can take up to 60 days for the edit to appear. There may be some information from other sources that cannot be edited.

If you have multiple locations to manage, you might want to look into managing Google Business Profiles for multi-location businesses.

Does Your Business Qualify For Google’s Local Service Ads? Here’s How To Tell

Dennis Yu on December 19, 2025

Google Local Service Ads (LSA) are a pay-per-lead advertising platform that allows local service companies to promote their services on Google.

LSA Google only charges you for qualified calls.

Meaning that if potential customers aren’t actively searching for your service, you don’t pay.

Just like having a GMB profile helps you show up when someone is searching for your offer, LSA ads allow your ideal customers to reach you easier.

That means more calls and more customers to service.

Firstly – Google LSA ads aren’t everywhere.

They’re only available in:

United States
Canada
Germany
United Kingdom
France
Austria
Belgium
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Spain
Switzerland

There are also specific regulations depending upon the country.

To name a few:

United States: For certain categories like locksmiths and garage door services, advanced verification is required to prevent fraud.
Canada: Similar to the U.S., there might be additional verification processes for specific service categories.
Germany, United Kingdom, and other European countries: Data protection regulations like GDPR are more stringent, impacting how customer information is handled.
France: Specific regulations might apply to trades like plumbing or electrical work, requiring specific certifications or qualifications.

Here Are the Businesses Types That Qualify

Are you in one of these categories?

1. Air Duct Cleaning Service

2. Appliance Repair Service

3. Carpet Cleaner

4. Countertop Service

5. Electrician

6. Flooring Service

7. Foundation Repair Contractor

8. Garage Door Service Provider

9. House Cleaner

10. HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) Service Provider

11. Junk Removal Provider

12. Lawn Care Provider

13. Locksmith

14. Moving Company

15. Painter

16. Pest Control Service

17. Plumber

18. Roofer

19. Siding Contractor

20. Tree Service Provider

21. Upholstery Cleaner

22. Water Damage Service Provider

23. Window Cleaner

24. Handyman

25. Home Inspector

26. Home Organizer

27. Home Stager

Automotive Services

28. Auto Glass Service

29. Auto Service Technician

Professional Services

30. Event Planner

31. Financial Planner

32. Real Estate Agent

33. Photographer

34. Tutor

35. Web Designer

36. Wedding Planner

37. Architect

38. Attorney

39. Computer Repair Service

40. Financial Consultant

41. Interpreter

42. Language Instructor

Personal Services

43. Pet Care Provider

44. Pet Groomer

45. Animal Trainer

46. Dog Trainer

47. Dog Walker

48. Fitness Trainer

49. Funeral Director

50. House Sitter

Retail and Rental Services

51. Appliance Installation Service

52. Auto Rental Service

53. Bicycle Repair Service

54. Boat Repair Shop

55. Cabinet Maker

56. Furniture Maker

Delivery and Transportation Services

57. Courier Service

58. Limo Service

Repair Services

59. Auto Detailing Service

60. Glass Repair Service

Construction and Home Improvement Services

61. Deck Builder

62. Fence Contractor

63. Landscape Designer

Cleaning and Janitorial Services

64. Dry Cleaner

65. Janitorial Service Provider

Google continues to add more every year!

If you fit into any of these categories, here’s how you can get started:

Before running LSA, you need a GMB (Google My Business).

A good example is Anthony’s Lawn Care, which offers tree removal and lawn care services in Bloomington, Indiana.

Before they run LSA, they need a proper GMB (Google My Business) so they can get started.

Now, when you type in “Anthony’s Tree Removal” into Google, they show up.

Remember to setup your digital plumbing (ads tracking) before you start spending money. We have an entire course on how to do so here.

Here’s How to Setup Your Local Service Ads

Verify Your Business

Ensure your business is eligible for LSA by verifying your business information on Google My Business (GMB). This includes providing accurate business details such as name, address, and phone number. We made a guide on how to do this you can find here.

GMB Optimization

Optimize your GMB profile by adding relevant business information, such as business hours, services offered, and photos. This helps improve your visibility in local searches. Make sure the photos are relevant and actually yours, as Google prioritizes this. This is how you start ranking in the top 3 on Google My Business.

In Anthony’s case, we wanted to make sure all photos listed were from his team’s trucks.

Get Verified

Verify your GMB listing to confirm your business details and ensure your business appears on Google Maps and local search results. This part is easy, as you simply need to submit documentation of your business’ existence and answer a few security questions.

Setting Up LSA

Access Local Service Ads

Go to the Local Service Ads website and click on “Get Started.”

Select Your Business Type

Choose the category that best describes your business from the list of eligible categories for LSA.

Set Your Service Area

Define the geographical area where you offer services. You can choose specific cities or regions where you want your ads to appear.

Create Your Profile

Enter your business information, including your business name, address, phone number, and website.

Select Your Services

Maybe you’re an HVAC company that also does electric work. Why only choose one when you can help others, too? Choose the services you offer from the list provided. You can select multiple services that your business provides.

Set Your Budget

Determine your budget for LSA. You can set a weekly budget based on the number of leads you want to receive. Initially, we recommend going with what Google offers.

Set Your Availability

Specify your business hours and when you are available to receive calls or messages from customers.

Verify Your License and Insurance

Upload copies of your license and insurance documents to verify your qualifications for the services you offer.

Review and Submit

Review your information to ensure it’s accurate, then submit your application for review by Google.

Receive Approval

Once your application is reviewed and approved by Google, your LSA campaign will be activated, and your ads will start appearing to potential customers.

The beauty of LSA is visibility of your business, without breaking the bank on expensive SEO or paid ads agencies. Remember to work on your local service pages as well – as this can directly impact your ranking through giving greater authority to Google.

We want to prove to Google that you’re a real business, doing real services, in the area you say you operate in.

And because this is such a common problem with local service businesses, we have a $297 Quick Audit which you can purchase now that can diagnose exactly the issues your business has online.

How to Do MAA (Metrics, Analysis, Action) Like a Pro

Dennis Yu on December 19, 2025

As a project manager, virtual assistant, or agency owner, you should always be looking to improve your work and your client’s results. Luckily, there’s a simple blueprint to follow which guarantees success with enough iterations.

Not only that – but you can use the same blueprint for personal efficiency and decision making as a part of our 9 triangles framework.

It’s called MAA.

MAA stands for metrics, analysis, and action. MAA is a requirement to measure the success of your work and what needs to be done to ensure happy clients and a thriving business.

Each letter is instrumental, since without metrics we can’t have analysis, and without analysis we can’t have action.

In this article, we’ll go through each with examples, show you how to conduct weekly MAA cycles, and why it’s so important to do.

Metrics

We recently onboarded Star Heating & Cooling, an HVAC local service business in Fishers, IN. In the first week, we wanted to show MAA in action and how simply writing out our metrics can point us in the right direction for getting more calls in the door.

As you can see, we’ve had 19 booked calls this week. 13 from existing customers, 3 from our GMB, 2 from our website, and 1 from Facebook.

We can then move to analysis. What the metrics tell us is that GMB calls are the primary source for new client acquisition, even above LSA and PPC which are barely getting us any calls at all right now.

And since we’ve only received 3 new customers from GMB this week, we should prioritize getting PPC and LSA ads going for more call volume since their business qualifies for LSA and wasn’t already spending much before.

Therefore, the action for this week should be getting PPC and LSA set up and running for more inbound new customers.

MAA isn’t just for local service businesses, either. Take the example of a recent VA we’ve hired named Asifa. We’ve asked all of our new hires to reflect and write MAA about their performance so far.

Any full time content VA should be writing more than just 5 articles a day, which equals 1.5 hours per article. So understanding the results of work completed (metrics) means we can then move on to analysis.

Asifa’s analysis isn’t wrong per say, but what we’re also looking for is the reason for the existing metrics before we move on to action.

For example, “I wasn’t as familiar with our clients GCT, and therefore moved slower than I should have when writing these articles” is great, since it addresses the underlying concerns for why the metrics are what they are.

Once we understand the metrics and write an analysis of them, we can then move on to the action. In Asifa’s case, it was to understand more about our process through existing materials and complete more work.

What doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get improved. Which is why the M in MAA is the center of everything else we discuss for analysis and action.

Analysis

The analysis section of MAA is what everyone gets confused on. Most project managers go from Metrics -> Action and skip this crucial step. But without it, the actual actions which need to be taken are vague.

For example, we recently had American Epoxy, a concrete coating company, reach out to us since they were disappointed with their agency. The lead quality most of these leads were coming from outside of Arizona. Since American Epoxy is based in Tucson, they were frustrated that they were getting form submissions from Texas and Florida.

In response, Dennis Yu and myself joined a call where the client manager acknowledged the out of state leads, and then went into the action they would take to address them.

But wait a moment, how would you know what action to take without analysis on why these leads were out of state?

This is like if you were on a boat taking in water in the middle. Sure, you could grab a bucket and start shoveling water… or you could simply plug in the hole where the water is coming from.

But without analysis, everything is a sinking ship and no-one knows where the water is coming in from.

Take the example of All About Pressure Cleaning, a client of ours in Pompano Beach, Florida. All About recently had a big influx of poor quality calls and folks in South Florida looking for jobs.

Since All About Pressure Cleaning does pressure cleaning and other related services, they were (rightfully) frustrated with folks calling them looking for maids and other unrelated services.

Knowing these metrics and the poor quality of them, here was my analysis.

You can see me addressing the obvious problem, why this problem has happened, and the solution, which is to start iterating more on Google PPC ads and remove PMAX campaigns.

But without proper analysis, I could have easily said “Okay, we’re working on it!” and tried a dozen other things. Instead, we got to the root cause and offered a solution based on the existing data.

We would not have found the solution had we not conducted proper analysis of our metrics.

Action

Tying MAA together, we have action. When done properly, this is the easiest step since the analysis leads to an obvious conclusion.

For example, if lead volume is low, we can see why that’s the case in analysis and take action based on it. Just like how if you’re bad at writing content and acknowledge the reason for that being your lack of experience, the answer is to clearly learn and do more.

Or if a client is mad about lack of communication, poor lead quality, or lack of lead volume. The solution is almost always visible once you conduct proper analysis.

You can almost view the action section as a to-do list for the following week before the next MAA cycle. Therefore, there’s always new metrics to iterate from and progress to be made, regardless of the situation.

Why is MAA so important?

Besides fitting into our 9 triangles framework, MAA is your universal compass for decision making. Even though we use it for client success, you can use it for personal efficiency, planning priorities, and making important life decisions.

If you care about making money as an agency owner, MAA can reduce your churn rate an enormous amount, since clients can clearly see progress being made and iteration taking place. The iteration and weekly cycles make it so things don’t get stuck either.

If you care about leveling up your skill set, MAA can make your priorities clear since you know your metrics and have analyzed why things are the way that they are.

If you care about building relationships, you can use MAA as a reason for why people act the way that they do and why.

In short – you can use MAA as your professional decision maker since there’s always logic and flow. As long as MAA is being completed, iteration is happening and we’re moving closer to our goals.

If you’d like to learn more, we have a whole course on how to do MAA, with even more examples and blueprints.

Why We Use Local Falcon (and How to Use It Correctly)

Dennis Yu on December 18, 2025

When we evaluate a Google Business Profile for a real local business (a dentist serving a defined city, a plumber covering specific neighborhoods, or a treatment center relying on phone calls) we need to see exactly where that business appears and where it does not.

That is the problem Local Falcon solves for us.

Local Falcon shows local search results as customers experience them, street by street, instead of collapsing visibility into a single averaged ranking.

Where Local Falcon Fits in Our Workflow

In a Quick Audit, it allows us to diagnose visibility gaps immediately. We can see where a business stops appearing, where competitors dominate, and whether perceived strength is driven by authority or proximity.

In the AI Apprentice program, apprentices learn how local rankings shift by distance, how competitors rotate across a grid, and why a single ranking screenshot has no diagnostic value.

For active clients, we run Local Falcon scans weekly. This lets us track whether visibility is expanding, identify sudden drops early, and confirm that changes produced measurable movement instead of theoretical improvement.

The Mistake Almost Everyone Makes at the Beginning

Most people approach local SEO as if it behaves like traditional rankings.

They check one keyword, look at one position, and assume they understand performance. Local search does not work that way.

A business can appear dominant within a few blocks of its address and disappear entirely a short distance away. One position tells you nothing about coverage. What matters is where visibility is consistent and where it collapses.

A proper local SEO tool shows distribution, not a single number.

How to Use a Local Rank Tool

Step 1: Start With One Real Keyword

The first step is choosing a keyword that would realistically lead to a call, booking, or visit. If the keyword would not generate revenue, it is not the place to start.

LocalFalcon for the term “addition treatment center” for Cardinal Treatment Center

Step 2: Use One Location

Next, focus on one Google Business Profile. Learn how a single location behaves before comparing multiple locations or stacking scans.

Step 3: Choose a Realistic Scan Area

Set a scan radius that reflects how customers actually behave. A radius that is too small creates a false sense of dominance. A radius that is too large blurs the signal.

Results for the keyword “softwash services” from Ad Astra Softwash within Overland Park, KS

Step 4: Run the Scan and Read the Map First

When the scan runs, read the map before looking at scores. The colors show the truth faster than the numbers. Green indicates consistent visibility. Red indicates areas controlled by competitors.

Step 5: Watch How Visibility Drops With Distance

As distance increases, visibility should gradually taper. Sudden drop-offs usually indicate authority or relevance issues rather than normal proximity decay.

Step 6: Identify the Actual Competitors

Pay close attention to which businesses appear where you do not. Those are your real competitors, regardless of brand size or reputation.

Step 7: Make One Improvement

Make one change at a time. Adjust the profile, reviews, or service content, then wait. Changing multiple variables at once removes your ability to learn.

Step 8: Re-Run the Scan

After the change, re-run the scan. If the map improves, the change worked. If it does not, it didn’t. This is why we scan weekly instead of guessing monthly.

Why This Matters

If you can see where a business appears and where it disappears, you can make informed decisions. If you cannot see that clearly, you are guessing, regardless of which tool you use.

That is why we use Local Falcon in audits, training, and weekly client work.

Because it shows reality clearly.

Why 15-Second Videos Matter Now

Dennis Yu on December 17, 2025

If you’re creating content today, you’re competing with the scroll.

People spend hours a day moving past content without thinking. On most social platforms, you have a few seconds (often less) to earn attention before someone scrolls past and never sees you again. That’s the context 15-second videos live in. They exist because attention spans are short, feeds move fast, and algorithms reward engagement, not effort.

It’s how Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn all work right now.

Attention Has to Be Earned Immediately

Adult attention spans, especially under age 30, are extremely short. If you don’t engage someone in the first three seconds, they’re gone. Not later. Not after the hook. Immediately.

That’s why longer videos fail for people who don’t already have an audience. No one is going to watch a three-minute video from someone they don’t recognize. The average watch time on Facebook is around six seconds. That alone tells you everything you need to know about how your content needs to be structured.

Short video isn’t a creative choice. It’s a practical one.

Teaching Alone Isn’t Enough

If all you do is teach, people scroll past. If all you do is entertain, you don’t build trust.

The goal is edutainment—teaching something while keeping it interesting enough that someone stays. Think of it like wrapping medicine in food. The value is inside, but it has to be delivered in a way people will actually consume.

That’s what a 15-second video does well. It forces clarity. It forces focus. It forces you to get to the point.

Algorithms Don’t Care About Your Intentions

Every major platform measures engagement. If users stop, watch, and interact, your content gets shown to more people. If they don’t, it disappears.

The algorithm doesn’t know your credentials. It doesn’t know how smart your idea is. It only knows whether someone paid attention.

That’s why the first few seconds matter more than the rest of the video combined.

This Works for Serious Professionals

There’s a misconception that short video means you have to be silly, dance, or chase trends. That’s not true.

Fifteen-second videos work for business owners, consultants, service professionals, and experts because the format rewards clarity, not gimmicks. You don’t need to act differently. You need to communicate more clearly.

The format is short. The message can still be professional.

Why the Format Exists Everywhere

Instagram Stories are 15 seconds. TikTok is built on short vertical video. YouTube Shorts follow the same pattern. These formats weren’t chosen randomly. They exist because that’s how people consume content now.

If you want visibility, reach, and efficient advertising, this is the format every platform is pushing.

Why Templates Make This Easy

People ask why a one-minute video can’t be taught in one minute. It’s because the strategy behind short video takes longer to understand than the video itself.

Once you understand the framework, execution becomes simple. Templates remove decision fatigue. They tell you how to start, what to say, and how to end without rambling or overthinking.

That’s how people go from avoiding video to producing it consistently.

The Goal Isn’t Virality

The goal is visibility across platforms, repeated exposure, and trust built over time. Fifteen-second videos make that possible because they’re easy to produce, easy to distribute, and easy for people to consume.

Short video is how you get seen before people decide whether to listen longer.

Learn the Process

If you want to understand the strategy behind 15-second videos and use templates to create them consistently, the full walkthrough is inside the course.

https://academy.yourcontentfactory.com/courses/15-second-video-course

This isn’t about trends. It’s about how attention works now—and how to earn it without wasting time.

Inside High Rise Academy: What You Can See in the Students

Dylan Haugen on December 4, 2025

High Rise Academy exists because there’s a lot of noise in the AI and marketing space, and it’s hard to tell what training actually holds up in the real world. In this High Rise Influence YouTube video, Dennis Yu gave a simple filter for sorting that out. As he put it, “Don’t judge a program by the person selling it. Judge it by the students it produces.”

After Dennis lays out that idea, the video shifts to student builders and lets you hear directly from us about what we’re working on and how we’re applying the training with local service businesses.

The Principle Dennis Shared

Dennis’ point is blunt: it’s easy to make a program look good on the surface. The harder test is what students can actually produce once they’re inside it — their work, their thinking, and how that work holds up when applied to real clients.

That’s why the video centers on the people inside the program. You get to see how students talk about their work, what they’re building, and the kinds of problems they’ve learned to solve for clients.

What High Rise Academy Trains

High Rise Academy is an apprenticeship for young adults who want to build a concrete skill set in AI‑assisted marketing. The training is tied to local service businesses because the work is practical and the feedback is immediate.

Students practice:

Building and improving personal brand sites and business sites
Using AI tools to speed up research, content production, and operational tasks
Running and refining ads using proven systems like Dollar a Day, while tracking performance
Managing deliverables, communication, and client relationships

The idea is to learn repeatable systems and apply them on live accounts, so students leave with work they can stand behind.

Student Examples From the Videos

Dylan Haugen (Me)

I came into the program as a content creator and professional dunker. I knew how to grow an audience, but most of that lived on platforms I didn’t control. The shift for me was learning how to turn content skill into owned assets and clear client value.

What that looked like:

Building a personal brand website I control
Strengthening search presence, including my Knowledge Panel
Learning to package content and relationships into services for local businesses
Delivering real marketing outputs alongside the team

Jack Wendt

Jack’s story shows what happens when someone combines big‑picture vision with consistent execution. He’s been able to travel and still build because he runs work like a professional: projects stay on track, communication stays clear, and relationships keep compounding.

What stands out in his path:

He builds partnerships and opportunities through strong relationships
He keeps a steady operating rhythm even while moving across time zones
He treats marketing like a long game, not a short sprint

Luke Crowson

Luke started in fitness coaching, and Dennis noticed something that carries over into marketing: he cares about outcomes and sticks with a process. Inside the program, Luke applies that mindset to client work that’s built on steady improvement.

His focus areas include:

Campaign structure and ongoing tuning
Landing page and site improvements
Lead quality and follow‑up alignment with owners

The takeaway here is straightforward: consistent, client‑first execution plus good process is what drives dependable results.

Sam McLeod

Sam is still in school and leans heavily into engineering. His role is building tools and workflows that remove repetitive work for students and standardize delivery for clients.

Where that shows up:

Automating tedious steps so students focus on high‑value tasks
Turning proven processes into repeatable workflows
Supporting scale without lowering quality

One Shared Thread

Different backgrounds, same direction: we’re learning practical systems and applying them to real businesses. And the four of us you saw in the video are also building this alongside Dennis. We are founders of High Rise Influence and Local Service Spotlight, so we’re learning how to create an agency, start a business, and pressure‑test what we learn by using it every week.

Advice We Shared at the End

We wrapped the video with short advice for anyone considering this path:

Use AI like a teammate. It helps you draft, research, and troubleshoot faster, but you still steer the work.
Mindset drives follow‑through. Skill only compounds if you stay in the game long enough to apply it.
Aim for steady improvement. Getting a little better daily beats waiting for a perfect moment.
Learn by doing. You grow fastest when you ship work, get feedback, and refine.

Takeaway

Dennis’ filter is simple: student work tells you more than marketing ever will. The video applies that idea by showing what students are building and how they think about the work.

If you’re evaluating any program in AI or marketing, whether it be the High Rise Academy or something else, look for a trail of real output: projects you can inspect, processes students can explain, and progress that shows up across more than one person. That’s the safest way to decide what’s worth your time.

What You’re Actually Paying For in High Rise Academy

Dylan Haugen on December 1, 2025

Why pay for a program when you can get AI training for free on YouTube?

Because you want your young adult to be mentored by the best, be in a structured program with accountability, and because you want to shorten the duration to achieve competency.

Information is free now. The basics are easy to find.

What’s not free is turning that information into real business growth — fast.

In High Rise Academy, you’re paying for two things:

Results for a local service business.
Access to the people and process that create those results.
AI Infrastructure that multiplies output and efficiency.

The Goal

This program is for local service businesses and the young adults working inside them.

The goal is simple: grow the business with marketing that brings in leads, calls, and booked jobs.

What You’re Paying For #1: Results

We measure progress weekly so the work stays tied to outcomes.

MAA every week:

Metrics: what changed in leads, calls, jobs, revenue, and content output
Analysis: why it changed
Action: what we’re fixing or testing next

Your young adult runs real marketing, reports what happened, and improves it week by week until the numbers move.

The loop is always: execute → measure → coach → improve → execute again.

What You’re Paying For #2: Access

Inside the Academy, access means:

Experienced coaches. Dennis Yu and the team review your young adult’s real marketing work and show them how to make it stronger.
A clear path. They know what to focus on first, what to ignore, and what “good” looks like.
Fast feedback. Instead of guessing, they get answers and direction while they work.
A room of builders. Other apprentices are doing the same kind of work, so your young adult learns faster and stays motivated.
Masterminds with other AI Apprentices. They trade what’s working, break down problems, and push each other to deliver better results.

Dennis has 30+ years of experience and has worked with brands like Nike, Starbucks, Rosetta Stone, the Golden State Warriors, and more. That level of coaching helps your young adult avoid expensive wrong turns and reach competency faster.

What You’re Paying For #3: AI Infrastructure

A major part of the program cost is the AI infrastructure we provide.

Each AI Apprentice receives access to a full year of our shared ChatGPT Business account, including pooled credits and the custom GPTs and agents we’ve built for real marketing work.

This matters because:

Apprentices don’t start from scratch. They use proven custom GPTs for planning, writing, auditing, and reporting.
Output is faster and more consistent. Shared business-level access removes usage limits and friction.
Work is easier to review and improve. Everything lives inside one workspace that coaches can see and guide.
The cost is covered by the program. Apprentices don’t have to manage subscriptions, credits, or setup.

This AI setup directly increases how much quality work apprentices can produce each week.

The specific AI tools included may evolve over time. We currently use ChatGPT Business because it’s the best option for our workflow today. As models, platforms, and pricing change, we reserve the ability to upgrade, replace, or remove specific tools so apprentices always have access to the most effective AI systems available.

How the Apprentice Program Works

Your young adult builds skill by working inside a live local service business (often yours).

What they do inside the program:

Create and publish content using the proven Content Factory workflow.
Run simple local campaigns to turn that content into leads.
Improve offers and follow‑up so inquiries turn into booked jobs.
Apply coach feedback to the next round of work.

They’re getting real reps on a real business, with real coaching. That’s how they build skill that shows up as results.

Quick Recap

Training is free because information is free.
You’re paying for three things: results, access, and AI infrastructure.
Together, that helps your business get more leads, calls, and booked jobs.

That’s High Rise Academy.

Taylor James: The AI Apprentice Who Took Charge and Stopped Getting Played by “SEO Experts”

Dennis Yu on November 26, 2025

There’s a moment in every entrepreneur’s life when the lightbulb flips on, and they realize, “Hold up, I’m paying for what, exactly?”
For Taylor James, owner of Dumpster Dogs in Austin, that moment hit like a 30-yard roll-off container landing on a driveway at 7 a.m.

For six months, Taylor had been dropping $750 a month on “SEO services” from the software company powering his website and CRM. They told him the same thing every shady agency tells every small business owner:

“Just give us six months. You’ll rank.”

Fast-forward six months:
Zero ranking. Zero results. Zero transparency.
But plenty of excuses.

Taylor didn’t get angry.
Taylor got educated.

And that, right there, is exactly what defines a successful AI Apprentice.

The Turning Point: When Data Replaces Hope

When Taylor hopped on a call and opened his actual analytics, the truth came out immediately:

All his organic traffic was coming from people searching his own brand name; meaning HE created the demand, not the SEO agency.

His backlink profile was stuffed with garbage: adult sites, spammy directories, fake citation networks, and Fiverr-level nonsense that Google ignores (or penalizes).

His website was slow on mobile (a 52 score, yikes).

His site structure was thin, duplicated, and clearly auto-generated.

And his domain rating was 4.
That’s “garage sale” level SEO juice.

Taylor realized quickly:
He wasn’t lazy.
He wasn’t stupid.
He was simply uninformed and 99% of business owners would’ve fallen for the same pitch.

But here’s where Taylor separates himself from the pack.

He didn’t shrug it off.
He didn’t keep paying for false hope.
He didn’t kick the can down the road.

He stepped fully into the AI Apprentice mindset:

Learn the system. Leverage the tools. Take control.

What Makes Taylor a Successful AI Apprentice

Most people dabble with AI.
Taylor embraced it.

1. He Looked at the True Data

AI Apprentices don’t rely on vendor dashboards designed to make things look good.
They go straight into:

Google Analytics.
Google Search Console.
PageSpeed Insights.
Real backlink audits.

Taylor learned exactly what mattered and what didn’t. And he saw the scam clearly when the numbers didn’t lie.

2. He Learned How SEO Actually Works

He simply needed the truth:

90% of SEO is backlinks.
Backlinks come from relationships, not robots.
Every ranking page is built on trust, not templates.
Google wants helpful content, not keyword-stuffed spam.
One-minute videos answering real questions beat a thousand auto-generated pages.

Once Taylor saw the blueprint, he understood exactly why he wasn’t ranking and exactly how to fix it.

3. He Learned How to Use AI the Right Way

Most people treat AI like a vending machine.
Taylor treats it like an assistant.

He learned to combine:

His iPhone videos.
His real-world experience.
AI-written structure.
AI-polished blog posts.
YouTube-first distribution.

Suddenly, content creation wasn’t a chore; it was became part of the Content Factory system.

And AI wasn’t replacing him.
It was amplifying him.

4. He Took Action

When Taylor realized the agency did nothing, he didn’t mope.
He didn’t blame.
He got solutions in motion:

Requested a refund.
Gathered proof.
Rebuilt his strategy.
Started recording.
Planned his Youtube and blog stacking
Understood his local Austin ecosystem.
Built real connections with real businesses.

An AI Apprentice doesn’t wait for miracles.
They build momentum.

Taylor did exactly that.

The Part Most Business Owners Miss

SEO isn’t magic.
AI isn’t magic.
Marketing isn’t magic.

It’s relationships + relevance + proof.

Taylor now understands this deeply:

You can’t outsource what you don’t understand.
You can’t rank where you don’t exist.
You can’t win without being present.

The moment he took ownership of his content and used AI as a superpower instead of a shortcut, he went from “victim of a bad SEO contract” to a rising authority in his market.

That’s what an AI Apprentice is.

Why Taylor’s Story Matters

Taylor is now doing what actually moves the needle:

One-minute educational videos.
Local content with real Austin partners.
YouTube-first posting.
Blog posts that answer actual questions.
Improved site structure.
Faster mobile performance.
Real backlinks from real relationships.
Authentic stories.
Consistency.
Ownership.

And here’s the punchline:

It costs way less than paying a sketchy SEO company.

Taylor is building an asset that compounds for years.

Taylor James: Proof That Any Small Business Owner Can Win With AI

No fancy degree required.
No coding.
No technical background.

Just a willingness to:

Learn.
Try.
Ask questions.
Use tools.
Take action.
Tell stories.
Build relationships.
Stay consistent.

That’s what makes Taylor a successful AI Apprentice.

He represents the new era of business owners: the ones who don’t get bullied by agencies, don’t get tricked by jargon, and don’t hand over their marketing future to strangers.

He took control of his brand, his content, his SEO, and his growth.

And this is just the beginning.