What I do
Grand Rapids Marketing Co. (GRMC). I co-founded GRMC with Sam Kiste. I’m the Creative Director; Sam runs logistics. The tagline is “Brilliant Marketing for Any Budget,” and the pitch is no-nonsense marketing for small and medium-sized businesses. Services: video, photo, web design and SEO, social media management, copywriting, graphic design, lead generation, and drone.
Our productized offer is a local SEO retainer, fronted by a free Search Gap Audit that shows you which searches your competitors own and you don’t.
| Retainer | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Foundation | $1,197 |
| Growth | $1,997 |
| Market Lead | $3,497 |
Freelance and consulting. Outside GRMC, I take on video production, web development, and search work directly. My toolkit: WordPress and custom plugins, Google Ads, Meta Ads, GA4, Search Console, Semrush, DaVinci Resolve, Salesforce/Jungo CRM automation, and mortgage marketing compliance. I currently handle marketing and compliance work for Treadstone Mortgage.
GEO and AI visibility. Search is no longer just ten blue links. Generative engine optimization, making sure ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews cite you accurately, is a core part of how I build sites now. This site is an example: structured data, an llms.txt file, and plain, verifiable facts so the machines get me right.
Track record
From 2022 to 2024 I was Digital Marketing Manager at Treadstone Funding, a boutique residential mortgage lender in Grand Rapids, running day-to-day digital: site management, SEO content, video, and lead generation. Over those two years, organic search grew from roughly 50 to 500 clicks a day.
Proof
Lake Michigan Credit Union, 2024 to 2025. As Senior Media Production Specialist, I produced brand-approved video for social media, TV commercials, educational series, and training content, plus brand photography and internal live stream productions, on a marketing team of 35+. Every piece had to hit goals set by a broader campaign. That is where I learned to make creative that survives a compliance review.
Northern Mortgage, 2017 to 2022. Videography, social content, web development, ad campaign strategy, and graphic design for a headquarters and a nationwide branch network. Five years of learning how to do a lot with a small team.
My own audience. As The Cybertruck Guy, I’ve built an X account (@cybrtrkguy) to 26.8K followers, 8.5K of them verified, with 50 million impressions and 642.8K engagements in the last 12 months. I’ve been quoted in Newsweek, and I’m a brand ambassador for Evotrex. I don’t sell social media advice I haven’t tested on myself.
Two people who’ve managed me:
“Troy is a passionate and diligent worker. His creativity in video and storytelling marketing is only outweighed by his good-humored personality. Troy would make a valuable asset to any team.”
— Lisa Hammond, strategic marketer + builder + creative operator
“I brought Troy on to help shoot a project in California recently. His great attitude, drive for creating engaging content and general demeanor make him a great addition to any project. Looking forward to bringing him on to more projects in the future!”
— Kory Kearney, Director of Video Content, Lifeworks Advisors + Kearney Creative
Press: Newsweek, “Tesla’s Cybertruck Revolution: A Year of Fame, Flaws, and Fan Frenzy”. GRMC is listed in the GVSU Alumni-Owned Business directory.
How it works
1. Search Gap Audit (free). Request it through the contact form. I pull your rankings, your competitors’ rankings, and the searches in between. You get a short report with the gaps ranked by value, whether or not you hire us.
2. Pick a tier. Foundation, Growth, or Market Lead, depending on how many gaps we’re closing and how fast. No long-term lock-in games; the price on the page is the price.
3. Build, publish, measure. Content, on-page fixes, local listings, and structured data go out on a schedule. You see the numbers in GA4 and Search Console, not a slide deck of “impressions.”
4. Freelance projects work the same way, minus the retainer: scope, quote, deliver. Email me directly.
FAQs
What is a Search Gap Audit?
It’s a free report comparing the searches your competitors rank for against the ones you do. I use Semrush and Search Console data to find the terms with real buyer intent that you’re missing, then rank them by how much traffic is on the table. It takes a few days and there’s no obligation.
What's the difference between SEO and GEO?
SEO gets you ranked in traditional search results. GEO, generative engine optimization, gets you cited correctly by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. They share a foundation of clear structure and verifiable facts, but GEO puts extra weight on entity data, schema, and being the obvious source of truth about your business.
Do you work outside Grand Rapids?
Yes. GRMC’s core clients are West Michigan businesses, but SEO and web work don’t care about geography, and I’ve shot video projects as far away as California. If you’re local, I’ll probably show up in a Cybertruck.
Start with the free audit
Request your Search Gap Audit through the contact form, or email troy@grandrapidsmarketingco.com for freelance video, web, or GEO work. I answer my own email.
