Last week I had the honor of sitting down with DownriverJeff and InsuranceNick to share three of my top marketing tips for 2018. I had a great time laughing and learning from them both. You can watch the video of the below.
3 Marketing Tips For 2018
Consistently Putting Out Content
Nick: Alright. So InsuranceNick this morning with…..
Jeff: Hey! DownriverJeff. Is that enough?
Nick: Now, you have your phone.
Jeff: I got a Mac tab.
Nick: Oh yeah, we don’t want to touch that. Right?
Jeff: No, no we’re not going to…
Tim: You’re not touching it anymore. You used to be texting all the time.
Jeff: I used to be rude all the time.
Nick: Jeff that was a joke. Because having this great camera stuff that we have, which we don’t have.
Jeff: Yeah, we fired him.
Nick: Yeah, he did not know his job. No! So Jeff would share while we were going off.
Jeff: We used to share every video, I said I’m sharing. But I was still rude because I guess they thought I was texting.
Nick: Well, okay, we’re sitting with this guy. That’s just sitting here. Just enjoying this conversation. I want you to introduce yourself, please.
Tim: I’m Tim Somers with Bizarre Marketing.
Nick: Alright, so Bizarre Marketing. Now, I’ve been in the Downriver for a long time, and so, has Bizarre Marketing, right?
Tim: Yes, it’s 28 years. So it’s crazy.
Nick: 28 years in marketing. It hasn’t changed a bit, hasn’t?
Tim: No, no. It hasn’t. Every day, you get up you and you drive away. It the same old, same old.
Nick: Yeah, yeah that’s it.
Jeff: Would it be good to sit here with this cartoon face.
Tim: Oh that’s right.
Nick: And I have to tell you.
Tim: I love that little guy. But he’s got more hair than I do.
Nick: His hairdo is a little different. But it’s amazing though we talked, in really, just talking about how things have developed, right? In a 28 year period and you blink and…
Tim: When I first started, it was like whoever had the biggest yellow pages ad won. I mean, that’s what it was. If you had the biggest yellow page ad, you will get the calls you want.
Nick: And you’re right. I remember when I first came into the business. In a family business, we we’re spending a very large budget amount in that yellow pages ad. And now we use yellow pages to hold up the broken leg of that credence or whatever. Right? It is only quarter the size.
Tim: That’s a little bit thicker.
Jeff: But you want it to be in the first.
Nick: Oh that’s right. That’s why everybody has A1 construction, A1 construction.
Tim: That’s why bizarre it’s in my name. Cause, I was trying to get to the top of the yellow pages.
Nick: It’s amazing.
Jeff: Old school.
Nick: Old school.
Jeff: If you’re talking about a phone book, I’m your man.
Nick: There’s kids out there right now. What’s a phonebook?
Jeff: Hey, they’re like this is my phonebook right here.
Nick: There not in my phone book though.
Jeff: Social media suffice like when we were talking before. We had met for like 10 seconds at the restaurant and other than that, we don’t know each other. But we know and check each other because we talked ads on Facebook. We see each other’s post.
Nick: It’s amazing
Tim: It is like I know Nick.
Jeff: It is.
Tim: I have met this one guy who was one of his best friends and have known him for as long as I’ve known Nick but I never met him face to face.
Jeff: Yeah, it’s so funny.
Nick: The way this is changing and advancing, you blink and you can actually be left, right?
Tim: Absolutely.
Nick: So if you’re talking to somebody that is now, maybe have a new business or they’re thinking about what’s their strategy going to be for 2018, what will be the very first think you will tell them to start doing? Maybe three tips, if you would?
Tim: Yeah, absolutely. Video Marketing is going to be like one of the biggest things. It is already big, but it is getting bigger and bigger. So people will consume a 3-minute video versus read a full page blog. So, having video in your marketing strategy, you’ve got to be good. It is so easy to do. You don’t need to have a big investment. The quality of the videos now is amazing. So just come out with a plan on what you want to have in the video too. So sit down and work it out. You need to have a strategy not just like jumping on screen, mumbling and stumbling. You got to have why you are making the video, what is the end gain of this video. And I would say helping people, not selling. Not like buy my stuff, selling. Sell, sell, sell, sell. I know Nick follows. So if you followed him, be warned, he drops a lot of f bomb. However, he has a philosophy of jab, jab, jab, and then a right hook, which means you give, give, give, and then the right hook is buying the stuff. So you give them ton of value. Nick is on top of that like crazy. If you follow him for half a minute, which I am sure, all you do. He gives ton of value.
Jeff: You have no choice.
Tim: Yeah I mean, he’s everywhere.
Jeff: When we return, he’s back.
Tim: It makes me stop my game up. Dang, he beat me to that. So no, it’s impressive, he knows what he needs to do and he is out there giving value. So I think that is what you got to do for 2018. Videos are going to get more and you have to get in there.
Jeff: Well, basically, you got to use what is available. You got video available, you got social media available. Like you said, you’re basically carrying computer all day long. Then use it.
Tim: There’s no cost to entry now than it used to be when we started 28 years ago. Like what is the big investment that you want. My old school marketing what I did was I went out and network and met out people that didn’t have budget and as you’ve got budget, then you go for yellow page ad and you do the direct mail and all this stuff. You can start tomorrow marketing your business. And crush it. Just the stuff that is out there.
Nick: So you said tip number 1 was video. What is tip number 2?
Tim: Tip number 2, is definitely having a website. Because a lot of people don’t have a website. “Oh, I got a Facebook or I’ve got my Instagram.” But everything that you are doing, and Nick actually has an analogy, he is like your marketing should be like the ball alley where every lane is a different level. It’s Twitter. It’s Instagram.
Nick: That’s fine. It’s good.
Tim: So, you’ve got to use every one of those different alleys to market and it’s got to take to your website. And that’s where you give it more value and you collect their information. And they will contact you from there. So, if you don’t have website, there’s so cheap now. Go to GoDaddy or others for $100 a year, you will have a website out. It is so easy to do it.
Nick: Yeah. It so cost-effective now to have a digital presence on a website. And it doesn’t have to be elaborate.
Tim: It doesn’t.
Nick: But I know it’s a lot of work. And to get them done, so you can hire somebody’s services, right? I mean, you guys are for hire, right?
Tim: Yeah.
Nick: But again, you’re providing the labor more so than actually the code development. It’s not like it used to be. You can actually use a lot of templates over there that are great resources. And then just hire somebody.
Jeff: If you are afraid to talk to me. You got to a free consultation?
Tim: Yeah absolutely. We’ll do a free digital audit and look what you are doing. Kind if give you a plan of where you should go with your business. A lot of times just through the website, you got to have some kind for strategy too and all things should match.
Jeff: It’s compatible.
Nick: I mean it really truly is. I mean, it’s actually, it is nice if you have a bit of creativity. It is really kind of fun to start developing that thought process.
Jeff: It’s like us. When you’re on with Nick, it’s like…myself going somewhere, it’s like, okay, you’re on.
Tim: Turn your head.
Jeff: Talk.
Tim: It has its value too. It’s authentic, it’s you.
Jeff: That’s all we can do. Nick and I can do is to help get the word out. We always say to everybody, we can get them to you. It’s up to you to keep them or not. I am sure you know as much as Nick knows about the ways that you have, the many things that you have.
Nick: It could be overwhelming. In a serious note, it can be overwhelming for that business owner trying to figure out, what will I do next? And that’s why, you’ve come up with your offer. You know what? Sit down with me. It’s a big deal.
Tim: Yeah.
Jeff: You know what? I was worried about not being rude on my phone. But I was rude, anyway.
Tim: Why?
Jeff: Well, I forgot to tell you where we’re at.
Nick: Well, you are absolutely true.
Jeff: Well, we are in the beautiful Woodhaven, beautiful World of Beers of Woodhaven. Thanks to Ryan who allowed us to use the facility. And thanks to Jason over there for opening it up for us.
Nick: Well, it’ a great location. And soon, you’ll see this place.
Jeff: Will be coming back here soon. It is.
Nick: We’ll I’m coming back just for a cold beer. It’s awfully early right now. I’m like, “Did you see the price of this beer?”
Jeff: Sorry about that, Ryan.
Tim: Well, this place is cool. You can take samples and everything and you can just try everything. So it is a very cool place in Woodhaven. It’s one of the best. I think one of my favorite stuffs.
Nick: Absolutely.
Tim: It is truly amazing.
Nick: So, we covered tip 2. What is tip 3?
Tim: Tip 3 will be consistency and this is a stuff that I work on to. Everything that I am telling people, like every day I am reading something new on Facebook, I just told the guy yesterday don’t do that and now they’re saying go do it. Got to read and calculate. And it is just adjusting with anything in life. In life there are hurdles and you’ve got to adjust the same with your marketing. You can’t just say, “Hey, I’ve always have my ad on the yellow pages. That’s what I am doing for the rest of my 28 years in business. You can’t because you are going to be left behind.
Nick: Yeah, we got it. We got to keep developing.
Tim: His got to find you and that’s it. Maybe sometimes, you don’t want him to find you.
Nick: We admit it.
Tim: Did I cross the line there?
Jeff: Not at all. You can just join the team.
Tim: I’m in. So that would be the consistency part. Like if you got to do video, you can’t do one every month. You got to do it per week.
Nick: You’ve got to do it pretty steady.
Tim: Yeah. You got to be. People count on you. If you are going to do it 2’o clock on Thursday, for example. Then do the Thursdays vlog every Thursday. I am exited waiting on Thursdays. I am excited to watch it and I know consistently he is going to be there. So and that doesn’t take much to be consistent. Rather than just sitting down on a Sunday night, instead of watching Walking Dead, I am going to like write up my plan or while I am watching Walking Dead, I am writing out my plan.
Nick: Right. Well, if there is somebody to talk to that looking to go into business, news flash, it is a lot of work. It is not about the fact that you now have to wear all the hats. Right? You are talking about now we’re going to put our marketing ad and you’ve to work marketing on a full-time job basis. It’s a lot of labor, intensive work now to be in business. And that’s why, somebody hire someone like you to take part of that burden off because otherwise, it’s their time that they are investing.
Jeff: Well, you think about it this way. You think about all of the businesses out there. All the technology. To be able to turn on their computer, to see you. Look at how the competition you have out there. That’s how it works to get that done.
Tim: That’s a great point Jeff because there’s so much noise out there, that a business owner has to get in front of people at least, 15 plus times. That is the statistics now. In the old days, whatever you want to call it, 28 years ago, the phonebook, you then have to look at the phonebook page 6, 7 times if they were to do business with you. So there is a lot of static out there and noise and you’ve got to look on top of that. What you need to do is be consistent and be on social media. You’ve got to really like business owners wear so many hats and the marketing is always left on the counter. They were out the door and they were like forget about marketing but then that should be on top of all the other hats.
Nick: Right.
Tim: And it is hard to do. It costs money. I can’t afford the marketing. I hear that a lot of time. You can afford to market now. And you can get in so cheap. Everybody’s so confused. There is so much out there. What will I do or what will I focus on. That is where we sit down with people and do a free digital marketing audit. And we just look at what you are doing, what the competition is doing, compare notes and then I give you a plan and say, you can actually execute this yourself. Go have fun, go do it or you can hire us to do it for you. And we’ve got customers all the country that I can send you a pharmaceutical place in Minnesota. Northern Michigan too.
Nick: So they don’t have to be local?
Tim: No. That is the great thing about the technology.
Nick: Your meeting, maybe a video meeting. That takes out the transit time, right? I love having meeting like that myself because nobody’s driving anywhere. So I don’t have to go one hour somewhere and then find traffic and then navigate hour back. So, it’s a big deal being able to use the technology.
Tim: It is.
Jeff: The technology amazes me. Talking about a guy who sells pictures door to door.
Tim: Oh, my God!
Nick: I want to know what your pictures worth.
Jeff: Oh no, but, the laser art. The lifetime guarantee. I hope they don’t find me now. But anyways, can you imagine how many pictures I sold just to get rid of them?
Tim: Please get off my porch. I will take one.
Jeff: But there was always an old saying, every no get you closer to the yes.
Nick: And that is still true today. Every “no” today is not necessarily a “no” forever unless you ask a question. It just can be a no for now.
Jeff: That is right.
Nick: And you need to understand that in digital marketing and everything that you are now using, your “no’s” for now can lead to yeses later.
Jeff: And it is pretty simple. Everything is pretty simple if you break it down. Somebody like me, I have no idea. As a perfect example. He can market himself. I keep it. So, I’m going to leave something for you to do it. You know, what I am saying? It’s just anything, an account. You can be your own accountant or maybe you can’t so you need him. You need a marketer.
Tim: And that is one of most, I think that’s the most undervalued part business owners. They don’t realize the value of it. And then they take advice from the worst part, they take advice from the guy that built their website on how they should market their business. Websites beautiful but it’s got no marketing message, no strategy. Nothing behind it. So that is where, even if we come in and do that for you, change this or do that in your website.
Nick: And that is part of the digital analysis though.
Tim: Yes, this is free look out. Coz I want a small business to win. If they can afford our services, I want them to win.
Nick: When small business wins, it’s the community.
Jeff: Everybody wins.
Nick: Everybody wins. That is a big deal. That is why we do this.
Jeff: Exactly why we do this.
Nick: And so if the small business wins, so they are successful. They are engaging. So, they can donate to their team or they can go ahead and adopt a family in Christmas time. Because it all is related. A lot of people miss that communication of why we do this. Cause we don’t charge for it. Business owners can go ahead and come in and we can sit down and showcase their business. We do that literally. So, it’s our way of giving back to the business to be successful so therefore, they can, then do something with that as well.
Jeff: And that’s the concept that we wanted when we started Downriver and Friends. We want it to be a community, businesses, customers, pets, everybody’s engaged, and it’s a resource.
Tim: And you guys have done phenomenal.
Nick: Oh no, I love Downriver and Friends. It’s been amazing. Again, with technology, I think that a lot of people don’t understand what is going on or what it is going to happen. I think it’s going to continue to blow our minds. And I think right now, one of the biggest things to be proud of is to look Downriver and Friends as a group and to realize what it has become. And it’s the community that made it become that. It is the members itself.
Jeff: It is the people.
Nick: Right. It is the member itself that has allowed it to become what it is. And I know that there’s other communities around the area that have reached out to you, they talked to me. How did this happen? Everybody else made it happen.
Jeff: I am still finding people that have been around doing special things all their life and we never heard about them.
Tim: And then you heard their story now and it is like wow!
Jeff: It works both ways. People are talking about all those first have been going on forever. Now we hear about it 2 seconds ago instead of ranting it out. Good things have been happening forever too. And we just never heard it about. Now, we heard.
Nick: That is the purpose why we started this, this exact show because we wanted to have a platform to showcase that’s been going around in the community and what good business owners are working hard for.
Jeff: They are good people. I mean, there are people out there that they don’t have and yet they are giving.
Nick: Right!
Jeff: It’s amazing.
Tim: That is the unsung heroes’ men. They don’t ask for it. They don’t ask for like, I need a pat on the back.
Jeff: Exactly.
Tim: But you guys, and that group is patting them on the back. It needs to be done to an extent ago, look at this person. Like what you said, they have nothing and they are giving. That is, to me…
Jeff: Or they may need help with something
Tim: Yeah, easy to write a check but to go help someone unload their grocery, that kind of stuff.
Nick: Silly things like that, it is time. Right time is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Right? Time never stops. I wish we have more of it but whatever the case maybe. When you are giving your time selflessly to somebody else for whatever it maybe, that is an investment. So that again, so wrap up.
Tim: I’m humbled and honored to be here on this show with you guys. I told them earlier when we got here, it is like oh I remember watching Johnny Carson as a kid and comedians were like… Like if you got on Johnny Carson show, you made it man. I made it! I am on the DownriverJeff and InsuranceNick.
Jeff: I feel like I should be doing a Budweiser commercial, right?
Tim: I thank you guys for all that you’ve been doing for the community and let me come on here and have a few words and obviously sharing my stuff.
Nick: Yeah absolutely.
Tim: And letting me a part of your worlds.
Nick: What you are doing is a great job. And I think those out there are trying to contemplate what they need to do, or where they need to go and they are looking for a starting point. Just for some unconditional genuine advice guidance, then Tim is a person to reach out at Bizarre Marketing. And I think, they will be pleasantly surprised with the price as well as the relationship that’s built from that too. It’s not just asking a couple question. It is actually genuinely engaging.
Tim: It is like I give it to you and you make the decision. Run in play with the cards I give in.
Jeff: Maybe one day we’ll be able to meet the cartoon guy.
Nick: Yeah, maybe one of these days. We’ll figure out how to do that.
Tim: It would be cool if we had like 3 heroes working instead of me.
Nick: The cartoon guy right there.
Jeff: Oh don’t tell them that. They will be having that dancing baby thing.
Nick: Oh we’re going to. We’re going to right there. We are going to have the cartoon guy right in there. Coz Tim is going to go ahead and send me the video.
Jeff: Remember when that dancing baby came out? That was a hit.
Nick: Oh so you like the dancing baby?
Jeff: No.
Nick: What if we have a dancing baby and maybe your head on it? Coz we can do that now.
Jeff: People will leave their house mate.
Nick: Alright maybe not.
Jeff: They will be afraid of that dancing baby with my face.
Nick: Well, we might just make that happen. Alright. So if you got a business that is out there, and you want to be showcased as well and your good work, the obviously contact us and get on our schedule. Like the page, like Bizarre Marketing page. Follow Tim.
Jeff: Thank you World of Beers.
Nick: And you guys can follow Tim on Instagram, Twitter and everything else. Again, and you’re right. Thank you very much to World of Beers and their team for opening up their doors today and as always, hey, have a great day!
Jeff: Merry Christmas.
Tim: Yes, Merry Christmas everyone.
Nick: Merry Christmas.
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