Hey friend!

Colin here (founder of Measured Advertising) and I just wanted to thank you for being here!

It means a ton =)

Honestly.

I wanted to give you a quick background on who I am and why I started this business.

If you’re like a lot of business owners (me included), before you decide to work with a company/vendor/freelancer, sometimes you might think (or ask the question)...

“Who actually runs this business?”

“Are they legit?”

“Do I mesh with their ‘vibe’ ”?

“Is this a company I would refer my friends and family to?”

“Can they help our business with XZY right now?”

“What are our other options?”

And so on.

Right?

Sure, not in every case, but when it comes to your business, you probably (like me), like to really make sure you are confident in the company before you decide to move forward with the next steps (whatever those next “steps” might be).

So that’s what I want to accomplish here.

To let you know a bit about me.

To let you know why I started this company.

To let you know who I serve.

So (hopefully) you can figure out if it makes sense for you to take the “next step” (or not, and that’s okay too!)

So, if you’re still with me, thank you! And here we go!

Like I mentioned, my name is Colin Ferrall.

No, not the actor! Haha

Although I do get that a lot.

I was saved at the age of 19 after trying to chase everything that I thought this world had to offer to please the “flesh” and realizing it all ended in despair.

After hitting “rock bottom”, I opened up a book that I had previously filed in my brain under the “never going to read this” category.

And that was the Bible.

Well…

I ended up picking it up.

And it completely blew me away (in a good way, of course).

All of my previous understanding was that there were “10 commandments”, and I was pretty sure I was breaking most of them.

I assumed that it was going to be a book telling me how I was doing everything wrong and that I would probably just end up putting it down and moving on to something else.

But that’s not what happened.

I realized that it was good news.

Unbelievably good news.

News that filled the massive hole in my heart and my soul that needed to be filled.

Jesus Christ putting on flesh, taking our place on the cross, bearing the weight of all of our sin on Himself, and then defeating death and giving us the opportunity to receive His mercy and His grace and spend eternity with Him.

For people (like me) who didn’t (and don’t) deserve it.

That rocked me.

Then reading how the apostle Paul said (in 1 Timothy 1:15)…

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the worst of all”.

Wow.

It was clear that I was a sinner.

And it was clear that I needed a Savior.

I quickly realized that Jesus Christ was the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

He was (and is) that Savior.

And very shortly after…

I repented. (and continue to)

I then asked the Lord for forgiveness.

I asked Him to give me a new heart and a new mind.

And He completely changed my life.

Thank you Jesus.

And funny story, I started telling my friends about Jesus shortly after, and within a short period of time, distant friends heard that I had become some sort of “priest” haha

I grew up in the north east, so there’s not a huge grid for that kind of stuff - at least not for the type of people I was hanging around with.

So for them, talking about Jesus must have meant you were on your way to becoming a priest.

Either way, I’m glad they knew my life was changed, and who it was that did the changing.

There’s more to the story, but I’ll keep it there and keep moving on =)

Fast forward to today…

And I currently live on the gulf coast of Florida with my amazing wife Lauren and our two kiddos.

Canyon (our little boy who is 3 years old) and Hope (our little girl who is a year old).

It’s crazy how fast time goes.

Someone once said “the days are long, but the years are short”, and that feels true.

I’m incredibly grateful to be a husband and a father.

Okay, quick flash back to my “youth”...

Like most business owners and entrepreneurs, I had a tough time sitting still in the classroom and wouldn’t have been added to the “best student” category by any means.

More like “when was the last time we saw Colin in the classroom” category.

But, somehow (thank you Lord), I managed to graduate.

Fast forward a bunch of years, and I had one semester left of college before officially graduating and getting a good ole’ degree.

I decided to drop out.

And like a lot of entrepreneurs, I decided to get into the world of real estate.

I purchased a real estate investing course using a private loan (thank you to my mother and father in law).

I sent out my first direct mail campaign to property owners.

And drumroll please…

Within a few weeks, we had our first deal under contract.

The property owners used it as a rental, the tenants were moving out, they wanted to retire and wanted to use some of the money to go on a cruise.

They told us the price they wanted.

We agreed.

We bought the property (again using a “family and friends” loan).

Lauren and I went in and ripped out all the nasty old carpet.

Cleaned the place up a bit.

And turned around and put the property on the market with a real estate agent friend.

Couple of days later…

The property sold and we made a profit.

Paid back my mother and father in law.

Had some “seed” money that we could use for our next direct mail campaign.

That’s where my love of direct response marketing started.

I didn’t love the real estate model, but I loved the marketing.

So I stopped doing real estate.

But kept doing marketing.

Before long, Lauren and I started a photography business together.

And there’s a much longer story involved there, but I’ll just say prayer was involved =)

Within a handful of years, we found ourselves having served 1,500+ amazing clients in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas.

We were grateful.

And the passion for marketing continued to grow.

I began working with clients on a freelance basis (helping them with their marketing).

I also started occasionally taking on partnerships.

Some working out incredibly well.

Others, falling under the “let’s try it out and see what happens” category.

Some wins.

Some losses.

A whole lot of learning involved.

But continued to stay in the game of marketing.

Fast forward to today…

And certain “challenges” have come up in my life.

Specifically dealing with chronic illness.

For me, it’s been dealing with “long covid” and “ME/CFS”.

It started a few years ago.

And it’s honestly been really tough.

But, God is still good.

He’s still in control.

And going through this process of navigating through it, I thought…

“What can I still do, even if I’m not at the capacity that I used to be at?”

And basically, I landed on two things.

I can still operate a photography business with Lauren.

She is the true talent behind that business.

And I can simply operate the systems to help her get more customers.

And secondly…

I can help other believers when it comes to their businesses (related to marketing).

So…

That’s exactly what we are doing.

Lauren and I still run a photography business, but this time in Florida.

And we built it using all of the same principles that we’ve learned over the years when it comes to marketing and acquiring new customers from paid advertising.

And that’s what this business (Measured Advertising) was built to do.

To help faith led, family owned, local businesses do the same thing.

To help them to apply “time tested” advertising principles to their business so they can acquire more customers in a way that is measurable and profitable.

Collaborating, strategizing, and then setting up marketing systems for them, so they can grow their businesses, build their teams, and interact with more customers that they can represent Christ to in their day to day operations.

So, that’s my story friend.

Again, I’m glad you’re here.

And I’m glad I got to share a bit about myself with you.

If there’s any way I can help, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Looking forward to (hopefully) chatting soon!

-Colin