There’s an art to the movie trailer. In two and a half minutes, you have to convince someone to care. You have to be concise, compelling, and impossible to ignore.
Drew Dorenfest knows this world. He spent over a decade in Los Angeles editing trailers for major film and TV studios. He learned the precise craft of sound and image that turns passive viewers into ticket buyers. He understands how to capture attention in a crowded market.
But if you sit down with Drew today in his home office in Los Angeles, you’ll hear a very different philosophy. He’s no longer in the business of screaming for attention. He’s in the business of being found.
Drew is the Founder of Client Magnet CRM and the Producer/Editor behind Drew Dorenfest A/V. He operates in two worlds: high-end video production and search engine optimization (SEO). And he’s come to a conclusion that feels radical in an era of viral TikToks and Instagram reels: the best way to grow a business isn’t to be the loudest person in the room. It’s to be the most findable.
“I’ve learned how to maximize target audiences and generate marketing that has an impact,” Drew says. But he applies that knowledge differently now. He isn’t chasing likes or views. He’s building systems that work 24/7—systems that attract clients like a magnet.
From Trailers to Business Systems
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007, Drew moved to Los Angeles and found work at a marketing agency editing trailers for movies and video games. He spent years mastering the art of video marketing that blended sales and storytelling, a skill that would later prove invaluable when building marketing systems for small businesses.
In 2018, Drew went freelance, working with agencies of all sizes. By 2023, he launched Drew Dorenfest A/V, his own post-production company. Suddenly, he wasn’t just an editor, he was running a business. He had to handle finances, operations, and most critically, marketing.
“I had to market myself and network constantly to get video editing projects,” Drew recalls. “That’s when I started diving into SEO and digital marketing to see if I could get found instead of constantly chasing clients.”
He started experimenting with search visibility. He applied what he learned to his own business. The results weren’t just good, they were transformative. Inbound requests started coming in regularly. He stopped needing to do constant outreach.
It was a discovery that changed everything. And it became the foundation for Client Magnet CRM.
The Exhaustion of the Social Media Treadmill
There’s a pervasive expectation in the modern economy that every business owner must also be a content creator. If you run a bakery, you must be a photographer. If you’re an accountant, you must tweet. If you’re a plumber, you’d better have a YouTube channel.
Drew experienced this firsthand.
“In my experience as a small business owner, I found that the time I spent posting and trying to attract clients through social media was exhausting and inefficient,” Drew says.
“This marketing was taking up precious time I’d rather spend on my editing work or with my family.”
He watched talented business owners, craftspeople who were excellent at their work, spend their evenings trying to figure out which trending audio to use on Instagram, hoping for engagement that rarely converted into revenue.
“Client Magnet CRM’s core thesis is SEO > Social Media,” Drew explains.
“Most businesses have invested heavily in social engagement, but it’s hard to break through the noise. Social media is built to keep you scrolling, not to help you buy.”
He realized something fundamental: intent matters more than attention.
“It’s much more effective to capture clients through local SEO and organic search,” he continues. “Those searches have high intent. Someone searching for ‘tax accountant near me’ or ‘best healthy snacks online’ isn’t casually browsing—they’re ready to book a consultation or place an order today. That’s the difference.”
This insight became the foundation of Client Magnet CRM: build marketing systems that work silently in the background, 24/7, capturing high-intent customers while business owners focus on delivering great service.
The Flywheel Effect
Drew describes marketing not as a series of stunts, but as a flywheel. It’s heavy at first, requiring significant effort to turn. But as it spins, it gains momentum. Eventually, it spins on its own.
“Initial effort comes in many forms, but the fastest wins are through a comprehensive SEO audit and fixing technical SEO,” Drew explains.
The process starts with fundamentals. Drew and his team analyze the Google Business Profile, Yelp listings, and website structure. They’re looking for clarity and optimization opportunities.
“Then we run a dual-track approach,” he says.
Track one is automation. Automated “thank you” emails. Review requests. Appointment reminders. This ensures no customer falls through the cracks simply because the business owner was too busy.
Track two is content. Not fleeting Instagram stories, but durable, searchable content.
“We develop SEO-optimized content for their website,” Drew explains. “Blogs, resource hubs, comparison guides, FAQs. We do deep keyword research to understand exactly what customers are searching for and build the answers.”
“When you combine local SEO, consistent 5-star reviews on Google and Yelp, and word-of-mouth from automated follow-ups, you see real sales growth compounding every month,” Drew says.
The system is designed to be invisible, running silently so business owners can focus on what they love.
The Gift Shop Success Story
Pygmy Hippo Shoppe is a small gift shop in Los Angeles that’s been around for fifteen years. It’s run by Emi, a good friend of Drew’s who had built a loyal following and curated selection of unique items. She’d found some success on Instagram, but she was overwhelmed trying to keep up with algorithm changes.
“I offered to help her with SEO and review automation,” Drew says.
The data revealed a striking problem: the shop hadn’t received a new review in almost a year—despite serving thousands of customers annually. It wasn’t that customers didn’t love the shop. Emi simply didn’t have a system to ask for reviews.
Drew implemented the Client Magnet system.
“Now she gets consistent 5-star reviews every month through our automated review generation system,” Drew reports. “Those social signals placed her in the top 3 map-pack on Google for ‘unique gifts Los Angeles’.”
The results were significant.
“After 6 months, we improved her site traffic and online sales by 50%,” Drew says. “Her returning customer rate improved by 169%.”
But the real validation came during the holiday season. In the midst of the retail rush, Pygmy Hippo Shoppe had its best sales day ever—breaking a record that had stood for over a decade.
“These results came from patience and trusting the process,” Drew says. “We built a comprehensive SEO and automation system, and the momentum peaked perfectly during her busiest season. That’s the kind of ROI small businesses can achieve with affordable SEO done right.”
Strategic Clarity Over Reactive Tactics
For Drew, leadership often means providing strategic clarity when clients feel pressure to act immediately.
He recalls a recent situation with a client who was feeling competitive pressure. The client wanted to launch an aggressive marketing blitz: paid ads, email campaigns, and text messages—all at once.
“I needed to be the calm, strategic voice,” Drew says. “I suggested we slow down and think systematically about what would actually connect with their customers.”
Rather than overwhelming prospects with simultaneous messages across multiple channels, Drew proposed a focused approach: start with email marketing, the most trusted and effective channel for their audience. They drafted a targeted campaign, sent it out, and then strategically layered in a paid ad campaign with A/B testing.
“At Client Magnet CRM, we prioritize organic traffic over paid traffic,” Drew explains. “But if you have the budget for paid campaigns, we help you run them effectively—with strategy, not just volume.”
This approach of strategic, systematic marketing—focused on what actually works—defines Drew’s leadership style. It’s about filtering anxiety through logic until it becomes a clear plan.
The Next Generation of Builders
Drew is not building this alone. In the summer of 2025, he brought on his first summer intern, a business student from his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His name is Jonathan Pufall.
Drew pitched him on building an SEO and automation company for small businesses from scratch.
“He got very excited by the idea of entrepreneurship,” Drew says.
Jonathan has since grown into a leadership role alongside Drew. Jonathan handles operations and acts as a business strategist, focusing on big-picture thinking and long-term planning. Drew handles client work and builds the SEO and marketing automation systems.
“The part that energizes me the most is learning,” Drew says.
Every day brings new insights about what SEO strategies work or don’t work to boost sales and visibility. Testing tactics, seeing what works tremendously well, recalibrating what doesn’t. That experimentation drives Client Magnet CRM’s philosophy.
The work becomes additive to every business they touch. Clients appreciate the measurable results and ROI—trust and loyalty earned through delivering positive outcomes.
The Producer at Heart
Despite Client Magnet CRM’s success, Drew hasn’t abandoned video production. Drew Dorenfest A/V continues to thrive through collaboration with great clients.
He speaks about his work with PBS with a genuine reverence.
“My most consistent collaborator has been PBS, who are wonderful,” he says. “PBS is a historic and vitally important public media company. The work we do to promote programming that uplifts, educates, and entertains is meaningful to me.”
This is the common thread between his video work and marketing work. Whether cutting a documentary trailer or optimizing a Google Business Profile, he’s trying to uplift the subject. Make sure something good gets seen.
“Collaboration is key to success. When you’re working with great collaborators, you push each other to create memorable content that you couldn’t do all on your own,” he says.
The Future is Accessible
Drew looks at the landscape of digital marketing and sees a barrier that needs to be smashed. For too long, “real” SEO was the domain of national brands with massive budgets. Small businesses were left to fight for scraps on social media.
“We truly believe in and offer affordable SEO for small businesses,” Drew asserts. “It’s time someone made these in-demand SEO and digital marketing services available at a price that’s more affordable.”
He sees Artificial Intelligence not as a replacement for human creativity, but as the great leveler. He uses AI to speed up processes, to provide technical support, and to generate assets at scale. It allows his small team to punch way above its weight.
“We think the future of digital marketing will be won by small businesses that embrace affordable SEO and automation,” he predicts. “Those daring enough to roll up their sleeves and do the work every day.”
His next big project is to productize this wisdom. He is developing a streamlined CRM for bigger teams, a simplified version of the tools he uses internally. He wants to hand the keys over to the clients.
“We are developing a streamlined CRM that’s truly built for small business marketing,” he says. “Only the stuff you need and not the stuff you don’t.”
The View from Home
Drew works from home with two children under five. Life is a balance of Zoom calls, editing timelines, client consultations, and the beautiful chaos of parenting toddlers.
“I don’t get a lot of time to myself,” he admits with a laugh, “but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Working 100% remotely means being home with family. Always time to play or read books with the kids. Help with chores and errands. No commute means no missed priceless moments.
His wife also works from home, which means they enjoy lunch and dinner together every day. That’s remote work’s real benefit—more time with loved ones.
When he does step away: he enjoys seeing movies in theaters, concerts and live comedy with his wife, and exploring undiscovered parts of Los Angeles.
“After 19 years here, I’m still discovering things for the first time!” he says.
Building Systems That Last
Drew Dorenfest doesn’t promise overnight miracles or viral moments. He operates on principles that feel almost old-fashioned: collaboration, exceeding expectations, hard work, and meeting deadlines.
But in a marketing landscape dominated by noise and short-term tactics, Drew has found something more valuable: sustainable systems that compound over time.
For his clients like the gift shop owner, the e-commerce founder, and the service businesses trying to break through—that approach doesn’t just sound like success. It delivers it.
“Go beyond expectation,” Drew says, summarizing his philosophy. “Do your best work. The results will follow.”
He’s proven that small businesses don’t need massive budgets to compete online. They don’t need to dance on TikTok or post three times a day. They need strategic SEO, smart automation, and someone who understands that real business growth happens when you stop chasing attention and start capturing intent.
The metrics speak for themselves: 169% increases in returning customers. Record-breaking sales days. 50% traffic growth. These aren’t vanity numbers. These are businesses transformed.
And for Drew, that’s what makes the work meaningful. Not the size of the client or the complexity of the campaign, but the impact on real people building real businesses.
In a world of noise, Drew Dorenfest has found the profitable, sustainable power of being findable. And for his clients, that silence sounds a lot like success.
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