Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:14] Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show, where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with BKXX Enterprises. Mr. Brandon Garcia. How are you, man?

Brandon Garcia: [00:00:34] I’m doing well, so thank you again for having me on here. It is a pleasure to finally get to speak with you and your audience.

Stone Payton: [00:00:40] Well, I have really been looking forward to this conversation. I think maybe a good place to start would be if you could share with me and our listeners mission purpose. What are you and your team really out there trying to do for folks?

Brandon Garcia: [00:00:54] Man Yeah, it’s it’s really simple. I’m trying to fix the digital foundations for all of the blue collar home service style businesses in my area, focusing primarily on the roofing industry, just trying to get them more leads for less money. That’s the main goal. And doing it in a way that you don’t have to spend a whole bunch of money on. On paid advertising.

Stone Payton: [00:01:15] I love the focus. I love the idea of serving a niche. It’s one of the things that compelled me to to want to have you on air. What compelled you to make the decision to to serve that arena?

Brandon Garcia: [00:01:29] Well, I live in a pretty distressed area myself. I’m in urban Ohio, small town, very rural, and I see a lot of houses in the area that just don’t have the the upkeep and the care that that they need, whether they can afford it or just don’t know how to find it. And so and doing the research for myself, for the home that I’m in, I noticed there are there are businesses in the area. But it’s very difficult to know and understand what they do and kind of get sold before you even call them. And half time when you do call them, the numbers are wrong. So I saw that it was a big need in the area to to fix the information that’s out there for these businesses so people can actually call them in and get a lead.

Stone Payton: [00:02:15] So what’s the rest of the back story, man? How did you even find yourself in this line of work and this kind of entrepreneurial venture?

Brandon Garcia: [00:02:24] Well, as as with many other people, the pandemic kind of spurred it on. I spent ten years in Florida selling cars and insurance. I end up moving up here to Ohio. And some things happened career wise that had me knocking doors and selling cancer insurance. Pandemic was looming, and I realized that I wouldn’t be. Able to go in people’s houses. So I pivoted back into the automotive world and I spent a good bit of the pandemic selling cars, and I really had to dig deep in my own marketing since I was in a brand new market myself. And and the time that I spent at the large dealership down in Florida, it was almost like shooting fish in a barrel. So I actually had to work, you know, I had to work up here in Ohio and it was tough. But all the stuff that I was I was learning, I did down in Florida, especially being in the marketing department down there in a year, but never really paid attention to it until I absolutely had to. And then in realizing what I’m doing for myself, you know, it’s it’s okay to do for myself. But if I can multiply it, do for other people and then lift the community around me, it would. It would be better. It’d be better to do that and be and be selfless instead of selfish.

Stone Payton: [00:03:45] Well, it certainly sounds like a noble pursuit. I can hear it in your voice that you have passion for the work. So clearly you are doing what you’re meant to be doing. Say a little bit more, if you would, about what you’ve characterized as digital foundation repair.

Brandon Garcia: [00:04:01] Yeah, it’s it’s so simple when you’re really looking at it. This framework of digital foundation repair, it’s basically just fixing your business listings. There are over 70 places where your business can show up online outside of just your normal website or a Facebook page. And many businesses don’t know and understand this, and it’s hurting them. The more doors and windows you have to your business for people to get a glimpse of who you are and what you do, the better opportunity you have to to capture a lead. And so I go in, I take a look around the Web and make sure that the business listing is set up properly with the proper telephone numbers, web addresses, addresses, if there’s a physical location, etc.. And then from there, that’s your foundation for your local SEO. And then we work on the website and then content and then scaling up with ads at the very, very end. But not until you have that solid foundation where somebody can actually go down the rabbit hole to find out who you are and what you’re about. And do we spend a dollar on ads?

Stone Payton: [00:05:02] So yeah, I mean that local SEO for the for the constituencies that you serve, I mean that is just absolutely fundamental is if they can’t find you, you’re at ground. You’re not going anywhere.

Brandon Garcia: [00:05:16] Absolutely not. And if they can find you, if there’s nothing there to back it up, there’s no substance there for them to know, like and trust you. It’s they’re going to move on to somebody else.

Stone Payton: [00:05:27] So is there still room for is is it appropriate for for this crowd to to implement direct response marketing mix some of the old tried and proven tools with the new technology?

Brandon Garcia: [00:05:42] Actually, yeah. I mean, with the new technology. And throw in the old school stuff in there. I mean, it’s like giving you a huge boost in doing so. I’m a huge proponent of direct marketing as well. Dan Kennedy is one of my mentors, along with Mr. Russell Brunson and and the new newer school Grant Cardone. So I take a mix of all three of those together in the in the approach I take with all my clients.

Stone Payton: [00:06:08] So early in the relationship when you kind of first sit down or get on the phone, have a conversation with a prospective client, I got to believe sometimes they walk into that conversation with what you call preconceived notions, almost like myths or assumptions that because of your experience base and your skill set, I mean, you just know they’re off the mark. There’s probably some real education in your world in there.

Brandon Garcia: [00:06:38] Yeah, I like to call it selling. It does make it a little bit It does make it a little more difficult. I’m not really there to to sell a product or service more so to educate and put the put the business on the right path for success. The last thing that I want to do is come across is just a just a sales guy. I don’t like it myself, so I try not to be what I’m what I don’t like.

Stone Payton: [00:07:04] Well, you know that that prompts me to ask another question. There’s helping your clients with their sales and marketing. But how about you, man? How does the whole sales and marketing thing work for you? How do you attract the new clients?

Brandon Garcia: [00:07:19] Well, I have a I got a couple of lead magnet magnets out there. One is a local SEO guide, but my number one is my number one lead magnet. I have out there is a Google business profile optimization guide. So it’s a it’s a simple eight step guide that shows the companies that that I target how to fix their Google business profile. And really any company can use it, but it walks through the steps on how to fix it and get it optimized to start ranking in the local map pack area. Again, if you have a physical location and or just for general SEO purposes as well, how to set your business up properly that you don’t have too many categories in there because it just spreads you too thin and make sure the right web address you want in there, the right number is in there and there’s tracking numbers available from Google as well. So you can check and see how your profile is running and all sorts of stuff in there. So it’s a super powerful program. It’s 100% free. Google gives the information away for free. And so I give the information away for free on how to make it work for you.

Stone Payton: [00:08:23] It all sounds so simple and easy when you talk about it, but you know, well, I’m in the media business, right? And I feel like we do a really good job in our lane. And, you know, we can capture thought leadership, we can distribute it, we can help people grow relationships, all that stuff. And this whole SEO direct marketing thing, it all, it just seems like this big hairy monster to me. So talk about the work a little bit. Like when you first sit down with someone. What? What is that like?

Brandon Garcia: [00:08:56] Yeah. So when I first sit down with them, I give them a digital report card. So just like you got in grade school, it’s going to grade you A through F on about seven aspects of your business. It’ll start again with your business listing again. That’s your core foundation there. It’ll work through your through your reputation. So it’ll check all the places where you have reviews up from Yelp, Bing, Google, etc. Then it’ll look at your social profiles and see how much engagement you have there. It’ll move to your website to see if it’s optimized for SEO in general and how well Google likes it, its page speed, etc. and then it’ll look at any paid advertising that you have out there if you are doing any paid advertising, and then it’ll look at SEO as a whole and where you rank in the local area. So it’s very rigorous and scrutinizes the littlest thing. So even if you do have your business listing out there, if you have the address saying ST in one location and stay in another, it’ll dock you because it’s not, it’s not the same even though it is the same. So it’s a very thorough in-depth report that let you know how you stand and how well you’re optimized online.

Stone Payton: [00:10:03] So there’s this activity to to get that initial attraction. Does the concept of a of a sales funnel still apply to like local home services businesses want 100%.

Brandon Garcia: [00:10:16] Absolutely. The sales funnel is the thing. It’s really not going anywhere. You can call it a sales funnel, you can call it a sales process, but at the end of the day, you’re looking to capture a lead, nurture it, move them through your sales process, whether it be online or offline, and have them want to do business with you and close the sale. So most service based businesses are are going to be a hybrid hybrid system to where if you do have a they do have a lead magnet can be a free guide again talking about a problem that a homeowner may have to capture an email address to nurture via email, to then book an appointment, to then have somebody come out and do an inspection and then close the deal, or it can happen over the phone as well. So I mean, whether you call it a sales funnel or a sales process, it’s it’s going to be a hybrid hybrid situation for for service based businesses.

Stone Payton: [00:11:11] Well, it’s well outside of my wheelhouse, but Home services strikes me local home services anyway. It strikes me as the kind of business where once you get that initial business, there are probably some things aside from doing a good job, there are some things you can probably do beyond that to kind of maintain the relationship and serve that same family, that same household for years to come with some of these same tools. Yeah.

Brandon Garcia: [00:11:40] Absolutely. I mean, email marketing is huge with bringing in return return customers. I mean, you can still do direct mail campaigns to your past customers either whether you’re sending them a birthday card, a a, an anniversary card, etc.. You know, just because the job has been done doesn’t mean the job is over when it comes to your when it comes to your customers. So there’s always a way to to touch them and check on them to see if they need any additional services that your business may provide. You know, in the case of a roofing company, maybe it’s an annual gutter cleaning that should come out and make sure that the gutters are clean. That way. It maintains the integrity of the roof. You know, those are the little things that can be done to make sure you have constant work coming in for your company.

Stone Payton: [00:12:25] We had somebody in the studio, I don’t think it was this week, I think it was last week, and they used this term social proof and I didn’t really get my arms around it, but I got the idea that it was like if you got the clients and other people in the community saying good things about you and and you can show examples of the work that you’ve done, does that that probably plays a role in some of this too, huh?

Brandon Garcia: [00:12:50] It does. Your reputation is still very important in this day and age. And I know I’ve heard it time and time again that most people don’t trust reviews, that they’re faked, that people are buying reviews. And yes, you do have those companies out there that highly incentivized people to leave a reviews. And you see companies that have 100% five star reviews. And let be frank with you, having a 100% five star review actually hurt your reputation more than it helps it.

Stone Payton: [00:13:20] Okay. Now say more about that.

Brandon Garcia: [00:13:22] Yeah, it’s it’s all about the trust factor. People in general know people are people and that’s kind of an oxymoron there. But nobody’s perfect, you know? So to have a 100% perfect rating that you never messed up one time just puts an error of. Trust there. If you if you get a three star review, you got a three star review. Respond to it. Fix it and move on. It’s great that you got 100% five stars, but it’s not it’s not the best picture to paint for your company.

Stone Payton: [00:13:56] Well, see, now that you say that, it makes perfect sense. It’s too good to be true. Something’s a little a little fishy there. But you also mentioned something just there on the three star review. Respond to it. Right. You don’t ignore it. You you engage with that person and try to make it right or something, Right?

Brandon Garcia: [00:14:15] Absolutely. You should be responding to every single review that you get in, whether it’s a one star or a five star. It’s going to do a couple of things for you. One, it’s going to show the rest of the population out there that you’re an engaged company and you actually care about your client. Two, it helps for search engine optimization as well, because you can throw keywords in there regarding the service that you do tied to your business name.

Stone Payton: [00:14:39] So what’s next for you, man? Are you looking at expanding the operation, bringing on more clients, or are you going to write the book and have like the Brandon methodology.

Brandon Garcia: [00:14:50] Book probably come in the next year or two? Once I once I get a little bit more knowledge in there on one, how to write it into what I want to write about. Definitely looking to expand the company, bring on more clients. I’ve had a couple in the past couple of weeks come on board, so I’m pretty excited about that. Get them started and rocking and rolling for the 2323 year there and always looking to help out those service based businesses, you know, those roofers, plumbers, electricians to fix the foundation and start getting them more leads so they don’t have to spend as much money on ads and then moving out from their hiring on a couple additional salespeople and really getting this thing firing for 2023.

Stone Payton: [00:15:31] Well, you’ve got a lot going on and congratulations on the momentum. And I got to believe at the same time, I know a lot of our listeners are entrepreneurs or even aspiring entrepreneurs. And, you know, sometimes, you know, we got a lot going. We can run out of gas in the tank, get a little bit low. How do you recharge? Like, do you how do you where do you go? And I don’t necessarily mean a physical place, but how do you sort of take a step away and regroup and get geared up to go back and do your thing?

Brandon Garcia: [00:16:09] I go back to all the the courses and training that I’ve taken. You know, when I’m feeling stuck, I just go back to the basics. And I know people say, don’t go back to basics all the time. I do. I have to, you know, just to get that that foundation set again and figure out what I missed, that isn’t working. Number two thing that I do is I listen to podcasts to to get to get motivated.

Stone Payton: [00:16:33] Hey, that was unsolicited, guys.

Brandon Garcia: [00:16:37] I do. I mean, that’s my medium. You know, growing up, I thought talk radio and all that kind of stuff was boring. But, you know, you get to the late thirties, early forties, that’s all you really want to listen to because the music this day, these day and age, you know, isn’t, isn’t too entertaining to me anymore. So I listen to talk radio, figure out what’s going on in the world for for my for my niche and and try to use that information to help to help others around me.

Stone Payton: [00:17:03] It’s important, though, don’t you find, to kind of step back periodically as an entrepreneur, because, I mean, we do have a lot going on in our world. We got a lot of people depending on us. It is, you know, in many ways it has a different sets of stressors than than maybe the more corporate jobs you find that it is important to to do something to kind of get perspective and and regroup. Yeah.

Brandon Garcia: [00:17:28] Yeah, absolutely. One of the things that I read or an image that I saw, I think I have it on on my iPad wallpaper is go hard for 90 days, head down and then pick your head up, take a breather, and then do it again. So it’s like every 90 days you’re, you’re lifting your head up, looking what’s going on around you at take an assessment whether it be a week or two at the most by no more than that to figure out if you need to pivot and then go from there.

Stone Payton: [00:17:56] All right. Before we wrap, I would love to, if we could, to leave our listeners with just a handful of pro tips. You know, if you’re in the home services business, some things they ought to be thinking about, reading, doing, not doing. And look. The number one pro tip, if you’re running a local home services business. Reach out and connect with Brandon or somebody on his team. But I’d love to leave them with a little something they could sink their teeth into and be at least be thinking about between now and when they reach out.

Brandon Garcia: [00:18:27] Yeah, take a take an assessment of all of your digital assets. Most of the assets out there that you have right now are liabilities. Consider your website. If it’s not generating you any leads and you’re paying for, you’re paying for hosting and maintenance and all that kind of stuff for it, it’s a liability. So take it. Take an assessment of that. Look at all the offers that you currently have available. Are they congruent with what your clients currently need? And three. Map out a process that takes your ideal customer from start to finish on what the actual steps are during your sales process. And if you if you don’t know how to do that, call. Call your own business and set up an appointment for yourself just to see what happens.

Stone Payton: [00:19:19] I love that. Well, I’m so glad I asked. I mean, that sounds like marvelous counsel, man. This has been a very interesting and informative conversation for me. And I just know it has for probably any entrepreneur, but particularly those who are in the local home services world. Thanks so much for investing the time to share your insight and your perspective and keep up the good work, man.

Brandon Garcia: [00:19:47] Thank you very much. And know thank you for giving me the opportunity to be on your platform and to and to share my voice and knowledge.

Stone Payton: [00:19:54] Absolutely. My pleasure. All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guest today, Brandon Garcia with BCS Enterprises and everyone here at the Business Radio X family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.