WEBVTT
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You're listening to Underestimated, the podcast
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that helps overwhelmed small business owners
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turn their size into their unfair advantage so
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they can grow without burning out. Now, here's
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your host, Shauna Sukum. Are you a new business
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and you're trying to figure out how to get those
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first customers through the door when you don't
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yet have a track record, a reputation, reviews,
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anything like that? Or if you are a business
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who is... trying to come up with ideas to kind
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of jumpstart your business, this episode is for
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you. Today, I'm going to be covering unique ways
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that you can get new customers. And examples
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are going to include a roofer, a chiropractor,
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a Botox provider, a painter, permanent makeup,
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and a trade show. So kind of a whole... array
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of different types of businesses. And hopefully
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you can get see yourself in at least one of these
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and glean some ideas for your business. So let's
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start out with a story about a business that
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I owned. This was back in 2009. One of the Many,
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many businesses. I've always been an entrepreneur
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since third grade when I sold pencils with like
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fuzzy hair on them and googly eyes. That was
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a big hit with the third graders. So in 2009,
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I decided I owned an event planning business
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and I was tired of being at the mercy of my clients.
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I was getting weary of being an event planner,
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having this business, and I wanted to be in charge
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of my own destiny. I wanted to own my own event
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rather than be a planner for other corporations
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or associations. So I decided to create my own
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consumer show. Basically, you know, like one
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of those shows, like the boat show or the hunting
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show or whatever that you've probably probably
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been to a consumer show in your life. I decided
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that I was going to create one of these and I
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live in Minneapolis and there was a man who started
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a show for women and it was a women's conference.
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And I was like, okay, fine. I'm going to start
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a trade show for men. And so I started this thing
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called The Guy Expo. I had no reputation in trade
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shows, consumer shows. I had no credibility for
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the types of sponsors that I was going to need
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and the types of exhibitors that I was going
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to need to convince to part with their money
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that I could bring in the foot traffic and the
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customers. So what I decided to do is I decided
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to go after two huge corporations, Best Buy and
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Lowe's because I wanted to, I had this vision
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of what this show could be. And I wanted to create
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the ultimate man cave and have this be a cornerstone
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on the show floor where people could walk in
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to this structure and it would replicate like
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this cool man cave. And so I wanted Lowe's to
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build it. And I wanted Best Buy to deck it out
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with all the technology. And then I wanted to
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find an interior designer to come and make it
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really, really cool. So this was my vision for
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this trade show, this magnet that I could really
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then take that and go, look what's going to be
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here. And there were a lot of other things like
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this. Someday I'll maybe go into some of these
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other things. It was so cool. I loved this so
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much. So I... created a prospectus and I went,
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I got a meeting with Best Buy and I got a meeting
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with Lowe's and I went in and I said, I want
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to give you my platinum sponsorship. You Best
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Buy and you Lowe's will be the platinum sponsors
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of the inaugural guy expo. And here's what it's
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going to entail. And I gave away. this marketing
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package that at the time I could have easily
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charged anywhere from $20 ,000 to $50 ,000 if
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I had the track record, but I didn't. So both
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of them, thank goodness, both of them said yes.
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And it was going to be an expense, especially
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for Lowe's. They had to bring in lumber and they
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had to bring in builders and they had to bring
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in drywall. And they had to basically create
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this, this structure on the show floor in a really
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short period of time as well. And, uh, they,
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that's how I did it in a nutshell. I then was
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able to go to pizza hut and Harley Davidson and,
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um, Hooters and, uh, MMA. I had an MMA. group
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come in and put a ring in the middle of the trade
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show floor. And they all said yes, because they
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saw other companies said yes. And those other
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companies gave me credibility and gave them the
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ability to trust me. And it worked. It worked.
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Unfortunately, man, I as a new trade show owner.
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I did not know what I didn't know. And long story
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short, I picked the wrong weekend. I picked a
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beautiful summer weekend of which there are not
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many in Minneapolis because summer is very short
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in August for an indoor show. And right across
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the street was the Irish festival, which was
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free and outdoors and a raucous good time. And
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man, so. It wasn't good. I eventually did it
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again in another market, blah, blah, blah. But
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just to say, I've had some hard knocks too. So
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if you are a small business owner, I've been
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where you are. But that is one idea is give away
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a big thing. And get the credibility from that
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company. Make sure that you have the ability
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to get testimonials or have that big company
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give you reviews or get the footage, get video,
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get photos, get all the things that then you
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can turn those into marketing assets to get other
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similar companies or people to say yes. So that
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is. Idea number one is just to give it away.
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Let's talk about, say, a roofing company. Similar
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idea is to you maybe have seen on TikTok or Facebook
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or whatever platform you're on videos of there's
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a guy that does yard cleanup and he goes to overgrown
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yards. and finds people who are struggling who
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for whatever reason maybe health issues or money
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issues they have not taken care of their yard
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and it's gotten way out of hand and he offers
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to do it completely for free as long as he can
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videotape himself doing it and show the before
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and after and not to mention this guy who's you
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know in one city has gone viral and has hundreds
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of thousands of followers and millions of views
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for this. It helped him grow in his community,
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but it helped, he's getting paid by TikTok and
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Facebook too for doing this. But how can you
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show what you do if it's a service like roofing?
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And I know there's an expense involved, but if
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you do it for charity, let's say, that's a write
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-off or you could start out and have fun doing.
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re -roofing a dog house and have fun with it
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and show the process and say, this is what we
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could do, but on a larger scale for your house
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and look at all the things that you could do
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and have a series of dog houses. And I mean,
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that's just one idea, but show your work, get
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video of you doing it, not just the pretty after
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and the ugly before, but what I call the messy
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middle. And you doing the work, your people doing
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the work, interview them as they're doing it.
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Oh, it's really hot today up on this roof of
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this dog house. How are you coming along with
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it, Phil? And Phil, have fun with it too, but
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make sure that you get the assets that you can
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use because those assets can be used for years,
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but they will certainly help you attract. Stop
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the scroll and attract. your customers and have
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footage, have photos, have stories, have testimonials,
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have Google reviews, Yelp reviews, whatever from
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happy customers who were so grateful even for
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you to do their dog house. But especially if
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you did like a small home for an elderly couple
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who really needed it, or you went in after a
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storm and you offered your services. Those are
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the types of things that establish trust. They
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stand out and they make you unforgettable. By
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the way, I have lots and lots of free resources
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for you in my vault. I've got some paid tools
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that are more in -depth and took me a lot more
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time to create, but there are... 90 % of these
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tools, and there are dozens of them, are free.
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And you just go to thebuyerinsider .com slash
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vault, and they are there for you. I want to
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help as many small businesses as I can. And if
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you can't afford to hire me for a one -on -one,
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one -time marketing assessment, or you can't
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be in one of my audiences, at least you can take
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advantage of the free resources. Let me talk
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about another home service because this one stands
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out to me in my local market, and that is painting.
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There is a young man who his name is Ryan Pettis,
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and he owns Pettis Painting. And if you saw just
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him, his social media and so forth, and he was
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just putting before and after shots up like every
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painter does. You would say, oh, this guy's pretty
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young. What could he possibly know about painting?
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I don't know if I trust him. You know, and you'd
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have some hesitation. Well, Ryan goes a different
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route and he has bought some Facebook ads and
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he talks about painting while a project is underway.
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And he's like, this is what we're doing today.
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And sometimes he has like a worker, one of his
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coworkers there, and he interviews that worker
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and he shows what he's doing. And, you know,
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here's what this wall looks like. We haven't
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done this wall yet, but we've done this wall.
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This is, you know, what's underway and we've
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still got this to do and we're going to do the
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ceiling. And he makes an ad out of that and he
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doesn't have to do an ad, but certainly reached
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me. So you can reach your exact right customers
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through. whatever social platform your customers
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are on by advertising and finding your exact
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demographic of the people who are most likely
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to be your target customers. But it doesn't have
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to be ads. Those make great stories as well.
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If you don't have the money to pay for ads, those
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stories stop the scroll as well. It has to be
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something that your competitors aren't doing.
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And all of your competitors are saying, Here
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are pretty after shots and we do interior and
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we do exterior and we do cleanup and we do spackle
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and we do repairs and they're saying all the
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same things. So it's about showing you the before,
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the messy middle and the after. Same with roofing,
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same with any type of service like that. I've
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seen barbers do this with a before and after.
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I've seen all types of companies do this. Think
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about how that could apply to your company. Now
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let's talk about a market that is very, very
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saturated and one that my bonus son is going
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into. He is going to become a chiropractor very,
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very soon. And he can either work at another
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chiropractic practice or he can open up his own
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shop. And a lot of chiropractors dive in and
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open up their own. their own practice and that's
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a lot of risk for especially a young brand new
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just out of school chiropractor to take on a
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lot of expense and so how can brady my bonus
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son how can he differentiate himself how can
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he start out when he has no customers and be
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able to pay the rent and be able to buy the equipment
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he needs and all of the machinery and all of
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the tools and the x -rays and all the things
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that he's going to need. Well, he's going to
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have to get loans, but how can he do this quickly
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and with as little risk as possible? He has to
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do something different. He cannot just go into
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business and say, we... work with health insurance.
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We work with auto injuries. We work with workers'
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comp. We are customer focused. We have your health
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in mind. Those are all things that every chiropractor
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says. So Brady's going to have to go about this
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a little differently. And I was just thinking,
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what could Brady do? He could come up with theme
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parties. theme nights to get people in the door,
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theme days. What about game day? He could rent
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or bring in, I know he's got a big screen TV.
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He could bring in a giant screen TV and have
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a game day party where I came up with this cracks
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and snacks because you're cracking people's backs.
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This is just off the cuff people. Okay. But get
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a bunch of guys and women too, but get them through
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the door for a game watching party and you offer
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the snacks and you offer the drinks and you get
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to, and start with your friends, start with your
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family, just get people in there to show what
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such an event could look like. So you get other
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people that go, okay, I could have a game watch
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party. That's really cool. Or I could have a
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some other type of party there, get my friends
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there. And we're all going to go after the, oh,
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after the triathlon, we're going to have a post
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triathlon party. And all of my fellow triathletes,
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we're going to go and we're going to get our
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backs cracked. And we're going to have some,
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some protein and carbs, and we're going to refuel
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and we're going to work out the kinks. And maybe
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Brady brings in a massage therapist who's also
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looking to get new customers. And you create
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an experience. This, again, makes great stories,
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gets great footage, gets great photos, reviews.
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Everybody that comes in, especially your first
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couple times, if you do something like this for
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free or very low cost, make sure that they know
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the price of admission is that you want, if they're
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happy, you want them to give you a video testimonial,
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a written testimonial on Google, on Yelp, wherever
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you are positioned to get reviews. And you're
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going to take photos. You have them sign a release.
00:15:50.609 --> 00:15:54.169
But something like that is going to stop the
00:15:54.169 --> 00:15:57.049
scroll. It's going to build trust. It's going
00:15:57.049 --> 00:16:00.450
to differentiate you and it's going to make you
00:16:00.450 --> 00:16:02.950
unforgettable. These are the types of things
00:16:02.950 --> 00:16:05.990
that do all of those things for very little cost
00:16:05.990 --> 00:16:08.110
for somebody who's new in business or just wants
00:16:08.110 --> 00:16:10.929
to try something different. I told you I was
00:16:10.929 --> 00:16:13.470
going to talk about Botox. I don't know if I
00:16:13.470 --> 00:16:15.169
mentioned permanent makeup, but this is another
00:16:15.169 --> 00:16:19.279
idea that I had for... I have a friend in St.
00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:24.000
Louis, Angela, and she does Botox parties every
00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:26.899
three months when her friends, every three months
00:16:26.899 --> 00:16:29.860
is generally when you get fresh Botox injections
00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:32.559
because they wear off. Every three months at
00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:35.460
her house, she has a Botox party where she has
00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:38.980
a provider come to her house and. She gets a
00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:41.200
discount for her and all of her friends because
00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:44.080
this provider comes after hours on an evening
00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:48.980
or on a weekend when she's not at work. And she
00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:50.779
knows she's going to get a lot of clients in
00:16:50.779 --> 00:16:54.279
a short amount of time. And so she offers them
00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:58.580
a deal. And in return, she. gets all of these
00:16:58.580 --> 00:17:02.580
customers. She gets this great reputation. She
00:17:02.580 --> 00:17:05.160
gets reviews. She gets word of mouth from this.
00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.980
And it is hard to get into Angela's Botox parties
00:17:08.980 --> 00:17:12.700
now because Angela's Botox parties have this
00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:16.900
cool reputation of being really fun too. So anybody
00:17:16.900 --> 00:17:20.259
who does like lashes or permanent makeup, like
00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:23.299
brows, which is semi -permanent, it's called
00:17:23.299 --> 00:17:26.240
permanent. But if you're looking to get customers,
00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:30.400
This is the type of thing that again, makes you
00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.660
stand out, gets you the marketing assets that
00:17:32.660 --> 00:17:36.980
you need, gets you the reputation. And if I am
00:17:36.980 --> 00:17:40.160
going to get semi -permanent makeup, I want to
00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:44.240
see examples of this before I go in. Now, if
00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:47.460
say like my niece is starting a permanent makeup
00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:50.640
business, I'm going to go in because I know her
00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:58.039
and let her do it on me. maybe early on and take
00:17:58.039 --> 00:17:59.720
that risk because I know her and I love her.
00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:05.140
But otherwise, if I'm a stranger and I'm looking
00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:09.140
online for providers of this, I'm either going
00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:11.119
to go to Groupon, which is unfortunate because
00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.900
people that advertise their businesses on Groupon,
00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.569
they don't get a lot of money for that. That
00:18:16.569 --> 00:18:19.170
may be worth doing for your business. You have
00:18:19.170 --> 00:18:22.009
to decide that for yourself, but ask others in
00:18:22.009 --> 00:18:24.250
your industry if they've had success before you
00:18:24.250 --> 00:18:29.690
do it. But the other way to do that is to just
00:18:29.690 --> 00:18:34.380
create social media worthy experiences. and have,
00:18:34.380 --> 00:18:37.440
can you imagine a bridal party coming in maybe
00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:41.299
at their bridal shower that is, you know, a couple
00:18:41.299 --> 00:18:43.799
months beforehand, they come and they get their
00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:46.380
brows done or they get waxing done or they get
00:18:46.380 --> 00:18:51.000
Botox or whatever. And it becomes a fun thing.
00:18:51.140 --> 00:18:55.500
I know of a tattoo shop that offers this as a
00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:59.599
package and it's a way for them to get people
00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:03.130
through the door. And she has Hundreds of thousands
00:19:03.130 --> 00:19:07.009
of views on TikTok and it's created this great
00:19:07.009 --> 00:19:11.329
reputation. So just another way for you to think
00:19:11.329 --> 00:19:14.549
differently. I hate the term think outside the
00:19:14.549 --> 00:19:19.150
box. I say throw away the box and create your
00:19:19.150 --> 00:19:22.769
own experience. Look to other industries and
00:19:22.769 --> 00:19:24.450
see what other people have done and see if you
00:19:24.450 --> 00:19:26.789
can adopt something like that for your company.
00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:30.619
So thanks for tuning in. I hope this has given
00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:33.339
you at least one idea that maybe you can try
00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:37.119
and adopt. And if you do try one of these. please
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:39.480
let me know about it. You can reach me through
00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:42.779
my website or you can message me if you happen
00:19:42.779 --> 00:19:46.259
to be on one of the social channels viewing this
00:19:46.259 --> 00:19:51.180
or just let me know because I would love to give
00:19:51.180 --> 00:19:54.700
your business some free media coverage as well,
00:19:54.740 --> 00:19:57.319
maybe have you on the show. So keep me posted.
00:19:57.380 --> 00:20:00.019
And thank you for tuning in to Underestimated.
00:20:01.710 --> 00:20:03.809
Thanks for listening to Underestimated, hosted
00:20:03.809 --> 00:20:06.529
by Shauna Suka. To connect with Shauna, go to
00:20:06.529 --> 00:20:07.670
thebuyerinsider .com.
00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:02.279
You're listening to Underestimated, the podcast
00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:04.280
that helps overwhelmed small business owners
00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:06.860
turn their size into their unfair advantage so
00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:09.380
they can grow without burning out. Now, here's
00:00:09.380 --> 00:00:13.480
your host, Shauna Sukum. Are you a new business
00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:16.079
and you're trying to figure out how to get those
00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:18.559
first customers through the door when you don't
00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:21.940
yet have a track record, a reputation, reviews,
00:00:22.179 --> 00:00:25.539
anything like that? Or if you are a business
00:00:25.539 --> 00:00:29.280
who is... trying to come up with ideas to kind
00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:32.939
of jumpstart your business, this episode is for
00:00:32.939 --> 00:00:36.700
you. Today, I'm going to be covering unique ways
00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:40.259
that you can get new customers. And examples
00:00:40.259 --> 00:00:45.280
are going to include a roofer, a chiropractor,
00:00:45.420 --> 00:00:48.380
a Botox provider, a painter, permanent makeup,
00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:53.250
and a trade show. So kind of a whole... array
00:00:53.250 --> 00:00:56.170
of different types of businesses. And hopefully
00:00:56.170 --> 00:00:59.710
you can get see yourself in at least one of these
00:00:59.710 --> 00:01:03.189
and glean some ideas for your business. So let's
00:01:03.189 --> 00:01:06.909
start out with a story about a business that
00:01:06.909 --> 00:01:12.310
I owned. This was back in 2009. One of the Many,
00:01:12.349 --> 00:01:14.250
many businesses. I've always been an entrepreneur
00:01:14.250 --> 00:01:19.489
since third grade when I sold pencils with like
00:01:19.489 --> 00:01:23.489
fuzzy hair on them and googly eyes. That was
00:01:23.489 --> 00:01:27.120
a big hit with the third graders. So in 2009,
00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:29.920
I decided I owned an event planning business
00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:34.540
and I was tired of being at the mercy of my clients.
00:01:34.780 --> 00:01:37.719
I was getting weary of being an event planner,
00:01:37.859 --> 00:01:41.719
having this business, and I wanted to be in charge
00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:44.620
of my own destiny. I wanted to own my own event
00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:48.200
rather than be a planner for other corporations
00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:51.659
or associations. So I decided to create my own
00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:53.500
consumer show. Basically, you know, like one
00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:55.640
of those shows, like the boat show or the hunting
00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:57.920
show or whatever that you've probably probably
00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:02.019
been to a consumer show in your life. I decided
00:02:02.019 --> 00:02:05.379
that I was going to create one of these and I
00:02:05.379 --> 00:02:09.800
live in Minneapolis and there was a man who started
00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:14.419
a show for women and it was a women's conference.
00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.039
And I was like, okay, fine. I'm going to start
00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:21.629
a trade show for men. And so I started this thing
00:02:21.629 --> 00:02:26.870
called The Guy Expo. I had no reputation in trade
00:02:26.870 --> 00:02:30.949
shows, consumer shows. I had no credibility for
00:02:30.949 --> 00:02:33.169
the types of sponsors that I was going to need
00:02:33.169 --> 00:02:35.189
and the types of exhibitors that I was going
00:02:35.189 --> 00:02:37.830
to need to convince to part with their money
00:02:37.830 --> 00:02:41.129
that I could bring in the foot traffic and the
00:02:41.129 --> 00:02:47.689
customers. So what I decided to do is I decided
00:02:47.689 --> 00:02:53.189
to go after two huge corporations, Best Buy and
00:02:53.189 --> 00:02:56.650
Lowe's because I wanted to, I had this vision
00:02:56.650 --> 00:02:59.830
of what this show could be. And I wanted to create
00:02:59.830 --> 00:03:04.090
the ultimate man cave and have this be a cornerstone
00:03:04.090 --> 00:03:07.250
on the show floor where people could walk in
00:03:07.250 --> 00:03:11.090
to this structure and it would replicate like
00:03:11.090 --> 00:03:15.729
this cool man cave. And so I wanted Lowe's to
00:03:15.729 --> 00:03:18.550
build it. And I wanted Best Buy to deck it out
00:03:18.550 --> 00:03:21.509
with all the technology. And then I wanted to
00:03:21.509 --> 00:03:25.490
find an interior designer to come and make it
00:03:25.490 --> 00:03:29.150
really, really cool. So this was my vision for
00:03:29.150 --> 00:03:34.189
this trade show, this magnet that I could really
00:03:34.189 --> 00:03:36.210
then take that and go, look what's going to be
00:03:36.210 --> 00:03:39.050
here. And there were a lot of other things like
00:03:39.050 --> 00:03:41.110
this. Someday I'll maybe go into some of these
00:03:41.110 --> 00:03:43.569
other things. It was so cool. I loved this so
00:03:43.569 --> 00:03:49.539
much. So I... created a prospectus and I went,
00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:51.680
I got a meeting with Best Buy and I got a meeting
00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:54.960
with Lowe's and I went in and I said, I want
00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.780
to give you my platinum sponsorship. You Best
00:03:59.780 --> 00:04:03.879
Buy and you Lowe's will be the platinum sponsors
00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:08.979
of the inaugural guy expo. And here's what it's
00:04:08.979 --> 00:04:14.000
going to entail. And I gave away. this marketing
00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:17.740
package that at the time I could have easily
00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:20.699
charged anywhere from $20 ,000 to $50 ,000 if
00:04:20.699 --> 00:04:25.040
I had the track record, but I didn't. So both
00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:28.420
of them, thank goodness, both of them said yes.
00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:32.699
And it was going to be an expense, especially
00:04:32.699 --> 00:04:35.860
for Lowe's. They had to bring in lumber and they
00:04:35.860 --> 00:04:39.620
had to bring in builders and they had to bring
00:04:39.620 --> 00:04:42.709
in drywall. And they had to basically create
00:04:42.709 --> 00:04:46.610
this, this structure on the show floor in a really
00:04:46.610 --> 00:04:50.949
short period of time as well. And, uh, they,
00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:54.810
that's how I did it in a nutshell. I then was
00:04:54.810 --> 00:05:00.170
able to go to pizza hut and Harley Davidson and,
00:05:00.230 --> 00:05:06.660
um, Hooters and, uh, MMA. I had an MMA. group
00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:08.699
come in and put a ring in the middle of the trade
00:05:08.699 --> 00:05:12.019
show floor. And they all said yes, because they
00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:16.040
saw other companies said yes. And those other
00:05:16.040 --> 00:05:20.079
companies gave me credibility and gave them the
00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:24.660
ability to trust me. And it worked. It worked.
00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:30.300
Unfortunately, man, I as a new trade show owner.
00:05:31.019 --> 00:05:33.259
I did not know what I didn't know. And long story
00:05:33.259 --> 00:05:36.579
short, I picked the wrong weekend. I picked a
00:05:36.579 --> 00:05:40.339
beautiful summer weekend of which there are not
00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:42.519
many in Minneapolis because summer is very short
00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:48.180
in August for an indoor show. And right across
00:05:48.180 --> 00:05:52.680
the street was the Irish festival, which was
00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:57.879
free and outdoors and a raucous good time. And
00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:01.990
man, so. It wasn't good. I eventually did it
00:06:01.990 --> 00:06:04.410
again in another market, blah, blah, blah. But
00:06:04.410 --> 00:06:08.850
just to say, I've had some hard knocks too. So
00:06:08.850 --> 00:06:11.350
if you are a small business owner, I've been
00:06:11.350 --> 00:06:16.449
where you are. But that is one idea is give away
00:06:16.449 --> 00:06:22.649
a big thing. And get the credibility from that
00:06:22.649 --> 00:06:25.769
company. Make sure that you have the ability
00:06:25.769 --> 00:06:28.850
to get testimonials or have that big company
00:06:28.850 --> 00:06:32.089
give you reviews or get the footage, get video,
00:06:32.310 --> 00:06:36.009
get photos, get all the things that then you
00:06:36.009 --> 00:06:39.149
can turn those into marketing assets to get other
00:06:39.149 --> 00:06:43.870
similar companies or people to say yes. So that
00:06:43.870 --> 00:06:47.290
is. Idea number one is just to give it away.
00:06:47.490 --> 00:06:53.170
Let's talk about, say, a roofing company. Similar
00:06:53.170 --> 00:06:59.269
idea is to you maybe have seen on TikTok or Facebook
00:06:59.269 --> 00:07:03.310
or whatever platform you're on videos of there's
00:07:03.310 --> 00:07:08.970
a guy that does yard cleanup and he goes to overgrown
00:07:08.970 --> 00:07:11.980
yards. and finds people who are struggling who
00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:14.379
for whatever reason maybe health issues or money
00:07:14.379 --> 00:07:16.300
issues they have not taken care of their yard
00:07:16.300 --> 00:07:18.319
and it's gotten way out of hand and he offers
00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:21.500
to do it completely for free as long as he can
00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:24.220
videotape himself doing it and show the before
00:07:24.220 --> 00:07:28.019
and after and not to mention this guy who's you
00:07:28.019 --> 00:07:31.240
know in one city has gone viral and has hundreds
00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:34.339
of thousands of followers and millions of views
00:07:34.339 --> 00:07:37.060
for this. It helped him grow in his community,
00:07:37.259 --> 00:07:40.120
but it helped, he's getting paid by TikTok and
00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:44.160
Facebook too for doing this. But how can you
00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:49.939
show what you do if it's a service like roofing?
00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:53.459
And I know there's an expense involved, but if
00:07:53.459 --> 00:07:57.120
you do it for charity, let's say, that's a write
00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:00.279
-off or you could start out and have fun doing.
00:08:00.810 --> 00:08:04.149
re -roofing a dog house and have fun with it
00:08:04.149 --> 00:08:08.389
and show the process and say, this is what we
00:08:08.389 --> 00:08:11.730
could do, but on a larger scale for your house
00:08:11.730 --> 00:08:13.750
and look at all the things that you could do
00:08:13.750 --> 00:08:17.709
and have a series of dog houses. And I mean,
00:08:17.790 --> 00:08:20.689
that's just one idea, but show your work, get
00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:24.629
video of you doing it, not just the pretty after
00:08:24.629 --> 00:08:28.610
and the ugly before, but what I call the messy
00:08:28.610 --> 00:08:32.860
middle. And you doing the work, your people doing
00:08:32.860 --> 00:08:35.779
the work, interview them as they're doing it.
00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:38.399
Oh, it's really hot today up on this roof of
00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:40.379
this dog house. How are you coming along with
00:08:40.379 --> 00:08:44.559
it, Phil? And Phil, have fun with it too, but
00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:46.879
make sure that you get the assets that you can
00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:49.659
use because those assets can be used for years,
00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:53.299
but they will certainly help you attract. Stop
00:08:53.299 --> 00:08:56.450
the scroll and attract. your customers and have
00:08:56.450 --> 00:08:59.809
footage, have photos, have stories, have testimonials,
00:08:59.809 --> 00:09:03.610
have Google reviews, Yelp reviews, whatever from
00:09:03.610 --> 00:09:07.629
happy customers who were so grateful even for
00:09:07.629 --> 00:09:09.950
you to do their dog house. But especially if
00:09:09.950 --> 00:09:15.070
you did like a small home for an elderly couple
00:09:15.070 --> 00:09:17.509
who really needed it, or you went in after a
00:09:17.509 --> 00:09:20.190
storm and you offered your services. Those are
00:09:20.190 --> 00:09:21.950
the types of things that establish trust. They
00:09:21.950 --> 00:09:25.889
stand out and they make you unforgettable. By
00:09:25.889 --> 00:09:29.690
the way, I have lots and lots of free resources
00:09:29.690 --> 00:09:33.909
for you in my vault. I've got some paid tools
00:09:33.909 --> 00:09:36.090
that are more in -depth and took me a lot more
00:09:36.090 --> 00:09:39.450
time to create, but there are... 90 % of these
00:09:39.450 --> 00:09:41.929
tools, and there are dozens of them, are free.
00:09:42.070 --> 00:09:45.389
And you just go to thebuyerinsider .com slash
00:09:45.389 --> 00:09:49.669
vault, and they are there for you. I want to
00:09:49.669 --> 00:09:52.870
help as many small businesses as I can. And if
00:09:52.870 --> 00:09:55.610
you can't afford to hire me for a one -on -one,
00:09:55.629 --> 00:09:57.629
one -time marketing assessment, or you can't
00:09:57.629 --> 00:10:00.509
be in one of my audiences, at least you can take
00:10:00.509 --> 00:10:03.889
advantage of the free resources. Let me talk
00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:06.429
about another home service because this one stands
00:10:06.429 --> 00:10:09.190
out to me in my local market, and that is painting.
00:10:09.669 --> 00:10:13.809
There is a young man who his name is Ryan Pettis,
00:10:13.950 --> 00:10:19.190
and he owns Pettis Painting. And if you saw just
00:10:19.190 --> 00:10:23.590
him, his social media and so forth, and he was
00:10:23.590 --> 00:10:27.350
just putting before and after shots up like every
00:10:27.350 --> 00:10:31.159
painter does. You would say, oh, this guy's pretty
00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:33.960
young. What could he possibly know about painting?
00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:37.600
I don't know if I trust him. You know, and you'd
00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:40.940
have some hesitation. Well, Ryan goes a different
00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:45.240
route and he has bought some Facebook ads and
00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:52.000
he talks about painting while a project is underway.
00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:54.419
And he's like, this is what we're doing today.
00:10:55.059 --> 00:10:58.120
And sometimes he has like a worker, one of his
00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:01.019
coworkers there, and he interviews that worker
00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:04.639
and he shows what he's doing. And, you know,
00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:06.320
here's what this wall looks like. We haven't
00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:07.899
done this wall yet, but we've done this wall.
00:11:07.980 --> 00:11:10.080
This is, you know, what's underway and we've
00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:11.700
still got this to do and we're going to do the
00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:15.320
ceiling. And he makes an ad out of that and he
00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:17.480
doesn't have to do an ad, but certainly reached
00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:20.220
me. So you can reach your exact right customers
00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:23.919
through. whatever social platform your customers
00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:28.080
are on by advertising and finding your exact
00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:30.639
demographic of the people who are most likely
00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:35.440
to be your target customers. But it doesn't have
00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:38.120
to be ads. Those make great stories as well.
00:11:38.179 --> 00:11:41.559
If you don't have the money to pay for ads, those
00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:44.460
stories stop the scroll as well. It has to be
00:11:44.460 --> 00:11:46.120
something that your competitors aren't doing.
00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:49.289
And all of your competitors are saying, Here
00:11:49.289 --> 00:11:51.870
are pretty after shots and we do interior and
00:11:51.870 --> 00:11:56.049
we do exterior and we do cleanup and we do spackle
00:11:56.049 --> 00:11:58.690
and we do repairs and they're saying all the
00:11:58.690 --> 00:12:04.289
same things. So it's about showing you the before,
00:12:04.389 --> 00:12:07.110
the messy middle and the after. Same with roofing,
00:12:07.110 --> 00:12:11.190
same with any type of service like that. I've
00:12:11.190 --> 00:12:13.669
seen barbers do this with a before and after.
00:12:13.710 --> 00:12:18.000
I've seen all types of companies do this. Think
00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:22.220
about how that could apply to your company. Now
00:12:22.220 --> 00:12:25.799
let's talk about a market that is very, very
00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:29.480
saturated and one that my bonus son is going
00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:32.159
into. He is going to become a chiropractor very,
00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:35.759
very soon. And he can either work at another
00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:39.519
chiropractic practice or he can open up his own
00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:42.980
shop. And a lot of chiropractors dive in and
00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:46.210
open up their own. their own practice and that's
00:12:46.210 --> 00:12:50.429
a lot of risk for especially a young brand new
00:12:50.429 --> 00:12:54.309
just out of school chiropractor to take on a
00:12:54.309 --> 00:12:58.389
lot of expense and so how can brady my bonus
00:12:58.389 --> 00:13:00.909
son how can he differentiate himself how can
00:13:00.909 --> 00:13:03.389
he start out when he has no customers and be
00:13:03.389 --> 00:13:06.909
able to pay the rent and be able to buy the equipment
00:13:06.909 --> 00:13:10.610
he needs and all of the machinery and all of
00:13:10.610 --> 00:13:13.070
the tools and the x -rays and all the things
00:13:13.070 --> 00:13:16.029
that he's going to need. Well, he's going to
00:13:16.029 --> 00:13:19.850
have to get loans, but how can he do this quickly
00:13:19.850 --> 00:13:23.830
and with as little risk as possible? He has to
00:13:23.830 --> 00:13:26.289
do something different. He cannot just go into
00:13:26.289 --> 00:13:31.000
business and say, we... work with health insurance.
00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:34.919
We work with auto injuries. We work with workers'
00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:40.879
comp. We are customer focused. We have your health
00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:43.620
in mind. Those are all things that every chiropractor
00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:46.179
says. So Brady's going to have to go about this
00:13:46.179 --> 00:13:48.860
a little differently. And I was just thinking,
00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:53.220
what could Brady do? He could come up with theme
00:13:53.220 --> 00:13:57.120
parties. theme nights to get people in the door,
00:13:57.139 --> 00:14:01.659
theme days. What about game day? He could rent
00:14:01.659 --> 00:14:04.360
or bring in, I know he's got a big screen TV.
00:14:04.500 --> 00:14:07.980
He could bring in a giant screen TV and have
00:14:07.980 --> 00:14:13.440
a game day party where I came up with this cracks
00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:15.860
and snacks because you're cracking people's backs.
00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:20.740
This is just off the cuff people. Okay. But get
00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:27.009
a bunch of guys and women too, but get them through
00:14:27.009 --> 00:14:29.070
the door for a game watching party and you offer
00:14:29.070 --> 00:14:33.309
the snacks and you offer the drinks and you get
00:14:33.309 --> 00:14:36.970
to, and start with your friends, start with your
00:14:36.970 --> 00:14:40.470
family, just get people in there to show what
00:14:40.470 --> 00:14:42.950
such an event could look like. So you get other
00:14:42.950 --> 00:14:46.269
people that go, okay, I could have a game watch
00:14:46.269 --> 00:14:48.409
party. That's really cool. Or I could have a
00:14:49.970 --> 00:14:52.730
some other type of party there, get my friends
00:14:52.730 --> 00:14:56.509
there. And we're all going to go after the, oh,
00:14:56.570 --> 00:14:58.970
after the triathlon, we're going to have a post
00:14:58.970 --> 00:15:01.610
triathlon party. And all of my fellow triathletes,
00:15:01.610 --> 00:15:03.250
we're going to go and we're going to get our
00:15:03.250 --> 00:15:06.409
backs cracked. And we're going to have some,
00:15:06.409 --> 00:15:10.370
some protein and carbs, and we're going to refuel
00:15:10.370 --> 00:15:12.850
and we're going to work out the kinks. And maybe
00:15:12.850 --> 00:15:15.710
Brady brings in a massage therapist who's also
00:15:15.710 --> 00:15:19.159
looking to get new customers. And you create
00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:22.519
an experience. This, again, makes great stories,
00:15:22.659 --> 00:15:25.559
gets great footage, gets great photos, reviews.
00:15:25.779 --> 00:15:27.899
Everybody that comes in, especially your first
00:15:27.899 --> 00:15:29.919
couple times, if you do something like this for
00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:33.279
free or very low cost, make sure that they know
00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:36.019
the price of admission is that you want, if they're
00:15:36.019 --> 00:15:39.320
happy, you want them to give you a video testimonial,
00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:42.000
a written testimonial on Google, on Yelp, wherever
00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:47.720
you are positioned to get reviews. And you're
00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:49.600
going to take photos. You have them sign a release.
00:15:50.609 --> 00:15:54.169
But something like that is going to stop the
00:15:54.169 --> 00:15:57.049
scroll. It's going to build trust. It's going
00:15:57.049 --> 00:16:00.450
to differentiate you and it's going to make you
00:16:00.450 --> 00:16:02.950
unforgettable. These are the types of things
00:16:02.950 --> 00:16:05.990
that do all of those things for very little cost
00:16:05.990 --> 00:16:08.110
for somebody who's new in business or just wants
00:16:08.110 --> 00:16:10.929
to try something different. I told you I was
00:16:10.929 --> 00:16:13.470
going to talk about Botox. I don't know if I
00:16:13.470 --> 00:16:15.169
mentioned permanent makeup, but this is another
00:16:15.169 --> 00:16:19.279
idea that I had for... I have a friend in St.
00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:24.000
Louis, Angela, and she does Botox parties every
00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:26.899
three months when her friends, every three months
00:16:26.899 --> 00:16:29.860
is generally when you get fresh Botox injections
00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:32.559
because they wear off. Every three months at
00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:35.460
her house, she has a Botox party where she has
00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:38.980
a provider come to her house and. She gets a
00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:41.200
discount for her and all of her friends because
00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:44.080
this provider comes after hours on an evening
00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:48.980
or on a weekend when she's not at work. And she
00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:50.779
knows she's going to get a lot of clients in
00:16:50.779 --> 00:16:54.279
a short amount of time. And so she offers them
00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:58.580
a deal. And in return, she. gets all of these
00:16:58.580 --> 00:17:02.580
customers. She gets this great reputation. She
00:17:02.580 --> 00:17:05.160
gets reviews. She gets word of mouth from this.
00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.980
And it is hard to get into Angela's Botox parties
00:17:08.980 --> 00:17:12.700
now because Angela's Botox parties have this
00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:16.900
cool reputation of being really fun too. So anybody
00:17:16.900 --> 00:17:20.259
who does like lashes or permanent makeup, like
00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:23.299
brows, which is semi -permanent, it's called
00:17:23.299 --> 00:17:26.240
permanent. But if you're looking to get customers,
00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:30.400
This is the type of thing that again, makes you
00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.660
stand out, gets you the marketing assets that
00:17:32.660 --> 00:17:36.980
you need, gets you the reputation. And if I am
00:17:36.980 --> 00:17:40.160
going to get semi -permanent makeup, I want to
00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:44.240
see examples of this before I go in. Now, if
00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:47.460
say like my niece is starting a permanent makeup
00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:50.640
business, I'm going to go in because I know her
00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:58.039
and let her do it on me. maybe early on and take
00:17:58.039 --> 00:17:59.720
that risk because I know her and I love her.
00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:05.140
But otherwise, if I'm a stranger and I'm looking
00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:09.140
online for providers of this, I'm either going
00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:11.119
to go to Groupon, which is unfortunate because
00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.900
people that advertise their businesses on Groupon,
00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.569
they don't get a lot of money for that. That
00:18:16.569 --> 00:18:19.170
may be worth doing for your business. You have
00:18:19.170 --> 00:18:22.009
to decide that for yourself, but ask others in
00:18:22.009 --> 00:18:24.250
your industry if they've had success before you
00:18:24.250 --> 00:18:29.690
do it. But the other way to do that is to just
00:18:29.690 --> 00:18:34.380
create social media worthy experiences. and have,
00:18:34.380 --> 00:18:37.440
can you imagine a bridal party coming in maybe
00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:41.299
at their bridal shower that is, you know, a couple
00:18:41.299 --> 00:18:43.799
months beforehand, they come and they get their
00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:46.380
brows done or they get waxing done or they get
00:18:46.380 --> 00:18:51.000
Botox or whatever. And it becomes a fun thing.
00:18:51.140 --> 00:18:55.500
I know of a tattoo shop that offers this as a
00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:59.599
package and it's a way for them to get people
00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:03.130
through the door. And she has Hundreds of thousands
00:19:03.130 --> 00:19:07.009
of views on TikTok and it's created this great
00:19:07.009 --> 00:19:11.329
reputation. So just another way for you to think
00:19:11.329 --> 00:19:14.549
differently. I hate the term think outside the
00:19:14.549 --> 00:19:19.150
box. I say throw away the box and create your
00:19:19.150 --> 00:19:22.769
own experience. Look to other industries and
00:19:22.769 --> 00:19:24.450
see what other people have done and see if you
00:19:24.450 --> 00:19:26.789
can adopt something like that for your company.
00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:30.619
So thanks for tuning in. I hope this has given
00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:33.339
you at least one idea that maybe you can try
00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:37.119
and adopt. And if you do try one of these. please
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:39.480
let me know about it. You can reach me through
00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:42.779
my website or you can message me if you happen
00:19:42.779 --> 00:19:46.259
to be on one of the social channels viewing this
00:19:46.259 --> 00:19:51.180
or just let me know because I would love to give
00:19:51.180 --> 00:19:54.700
your business some free media coverage as well,
00:19:54.740 --> 00:19:57.319
maybe have you on the show. So keep me posted.
00:19:57.380 --> 00:20:00.019
And thank you for tuning in to Underestimated.
00:20:01.710 --> 00:20:03.809
Thanks for listening to Underestimated, hosted
00:20:03.809 --> 00:20:06.529
by Shauna Suka. To connect with Shauna, go to
00:20:06.529 --> 00:20:07.670
thebuyerinsider .com.
