Two Markets, One Funnel: The Thing I Used to Be Ashamed Of
I used to be ashamed of this, and I never really said it out loud. I've spent my whole career working two very different markets at the same time.
I came up shooting food, wine, and hospitality here in Sonoma and Napa. Solid local portfolio, solid local clients. Then I wanted the bigger national ad jobs, so I pushed hard into that world too, and eventually signed with a national agent.
For a while I thought I'd to pick a lane. I scaled back my local work, honestly priced myself out of some of it, because I was chasing national campaigns. I never fully stopped the local work. I just stopped talking about it. It felt like the smaller stuff.
Then the industry flipped. Over the last couple of years I've watched big agency work slow down while direct-to-client, repeat-relationship work picked up. And the thing that kept me steady through that shift wasn't the national campaigns. It was the local relationships I never let go of.
That's part of why I built Folk Haus, a visual content studio, a couple of years ago: a place where I or an associate work with clients on a monthly retainer rhythm. Now the whole thing works as one funnel. National ad work at the top. My Napa and Sonoma clients in the middle. Folk Haus at the bottom, catching clients who love the work and want ongoing content instead of a one-off shoot.
I used to think working two markets meant I wasn't focused enough. Now I think it's the reason I'm still standing when the big jobs slow down.
Have you ever felt like you had to pick one lane to be taken seriously? Come tell me about it on Instagram.