Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Lung.
Hi Jordan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
History
I’d like to take you down memory lane of how TradeUp Marketing began. In 2012, my wife, Brittany, and I were about to finish our time at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri. I was pursuing a Masters of Christian Ministries and Brittany was pursuing a Masters in Counseling. At that time, we were planning on being vocational pastors for our entire lives. But, as we know what it’s like being a Christian, sometimes God has different plans. However, he works through our obedience, not always knowing what the road ahead looks like.
We were asked by some of our friends to move to Florida and plant a church. For those of you who aren’t familiar with that, it’s very difficult to plant a church – especially in an area where you’re not from with zero contacts. Within a few months, we packed everything up and moved to Trinity, Florida in July and moved into my in-laws’ house. For months, we met each week with about 50 people, doing Bible studies, praying meetings, and worship services. The entire time, we continued to grow in passion for the people and God’s direction for us.
Within less than a year of moving, the church plant halted and we were left with a tough decision, “Where do we go from here?” After weeks of fasting and praying, we felt strongly that God wanted us to stay here and open up a video production company. I’d like to rewind the story and go back to 2006. [4] In 2006, I had just undergone my second knee meniscus surgery. The year prior, I had torn my other meniscus playing varsity football and had surgery. My coaches said to me while I was still in crutches recovering from the second surgery, “Lung, we still want you on the team. You can either be the water boy or the video guy.” I wasn’t going to be with the underclassmen as the waterboy, so I chose the video guy. I fell in love with shooting those games that season while my friends were playing without me. I felt like I was missing out – bent out of shape. Little did I know that in those months God was equipping me with a skillset that would blossom into a multi million dollar international video production agency 18 years later. When you align yourself with God, the impossible becomes possible.
So, having the passion of video production, Brittany and I opened up TradeUp Marketing in 2013. I clearly remember talking to Brittany about starting a company. We had been married for a few years and had some money left over from our wedding gifts. We had $10,000 set aside. I asked Brittany, “Hey, do you mind if we spend that money on video equipment so I can start a business?” Keep in mind, I had never had a career, never had extensive sales experience, never created a marketing plan, never experienced a professional networking event, nor had I created a contract. I was as green as green got and had every reason to fail. To the credit of my wife, she said “yes” to taking that money out to start JL Video. Fun random fact: data from the Bureau of Labor shows that approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more.
All our gear fit into a few bags and was neatly shoved into the trunk of our 2005 Honda Civic. We would drive to location after location, set up, shoot, and tear down. Then, I would take the files to our international HQ, aka my back bonus room, and edit. Those early years were some of the most fondest years in our history. Brittany was very involved with our business in the beginning until I put 3 babies in her within a 3.5 year period. Then, I retired her from the business operations, and moved her to chairwoman where she gets to tell me, the CEO, what to do!
12 years later, we’ve won 34 Telly Awards, traveled to numerous states across the country, shot in Spain, the UK, and US Virgin Islands, generated over $305 million dollars in revenue for our clients, spoken on national stages next to people from YouTube, TikTok, MGM, Microsoft, Cisco, LinkedIn, and have acquired over 500 clients. You know what the best part is? We’re just getting started!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Some of the biggest struggles were cash flow, lack of being known, not understanding how to price my services, and having limited marketing expenses. I was able to work hard through those struggles because of my supportive wife, family, and business community.
Biggest lessons learned after 12 years:
Number One: Starting a business means being broke for a little while. Don’t think starting a business automatically means “I’m rich.” It means you’re going to get tested. It’s not meant for everyone. It’s not meant to be easy. If you cry every time a challenge hits you between the eyes, you’re not a boss. A boss’s job is to fix problems. You have to become a different person. You have to develop character, discipline, honesty, quality relationships, the ability to set priorities, and an insanely hard work ethic to succeed. I remember losing about 20 pounds when I started JL Video because we couldn’t afford much food. I was staying up crazy hours to finish projects. I was networking, closing sales, shooting, editing, running errands, managing the storage, and doing my books. However, I can honestly tell you, that was one of the best lessons I could have learned as a man in his early to mid 20’s because it built such a resilience to challenges that has propelled us to new heights.
Number Two: You have to be willing to be uncomfortable to succeed. Succeeding is making it, but success is maintaining it. That’s the hard part. The test of seeing if you’ve got what it takes to endure the uncomfortable looks like when the big deal fell through all of a sudden and your sales pipe is drying up, your rent is late and you’ve already worked 60-80 hours that week, you’re tired and sick but have to still hustle to keep the lights on, your appointment cancels on you after you drove 2 hours round trip to meet with him, no one buys your product or service after your social media campaign ends, your car doesn’t work… And you pick yourself up and say, “Nothing is going to stop me.” When you become a master of the uncomfortable, you become unstoppable.”
Number Three: Be so confident in God’s plan that you don’t get upset when things don’t go your way. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve doubted God’s financial provision. We had a few times in the beginning when payroll was coming in a few days soon and I didn’t know how to pay the bills. I began to question if God was going to step in and prevent us from failing. At the last hour, a person who I didn’t know called me and said, “We’ve been following you for a few years now and would like to use your services. We have x to spend and we’re ready to sign and pay in full now. Can you send over the proposal and invoice?” I learned that the more I release to the Lord, the more faith I build in him. If during difficulties, God doesn’t answer your complaints, just remember, “Impurities rise to the surface only through fire.”
Number Four: Winners have already seen themselves with the trophy on the other side of the finish line in first place. They don’t just go, “I hope this works.” They have such a clear vision that they can feel it, taste it, smell it. They have a ruthlessly designed life. Because, if you’re a winner, there is zero compromise. You have to be obsessed, not interested, in winning. Do you think Michael Jordan was interested in winning a championship? Do you think Martin Luther King was interested in civil rights? Do you think Neal Armstrong was interested in hopefully making it to the moon? No! They were obsessed with their vision. Obsessed people give interested people something to talk about. Obsessed people give interested people the opportunity to see them change the world.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We offer video production, website design and maintenance, SEO, social media, ad management, and coaching services to trade service businesses like contractors, HVAC, plumbers, roofers, paver sealers, landscapers, pool builders, movers, and more. We are known for our high end videos. Since we started off as a video production agency that grew into a full service video and digital marketing agency, we have such a strong eye for the visuals. Our clients are drawn to our video content and our staff who have grown and sold their own trade service business.
Here’s our unique selling proposition:
We are the only video and digital marketing agency for trade service businesses in the US that has won 34 awards for video production excellence, generated $305M+ in client revenue, spoken across the US as marketing authorities, and employs consultants who have successfully exited their own trade service businesses.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
They can hire us by visiting our website at www.tradeupmarketing.com. They can collaborate with us by doing collaborative posts and videos. They can support us by following us on Facebook, instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. They can also recommend us to speak at their next trade association conference.
Pricing:
- $4,500/month for web, seo, and video
- $7,500/month for web, seo, video, and social media management
- $10,000/month for web, seo, video, and social media management, and a group mastermind
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tradeupmarketing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradeup_marketing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tradeupmarketinginc
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tradeupmarketinginc/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tradeupmarketingco
