Tampa SEO Training Academy’s Steve and Justin Scott discuss the founding and evolution of their family-run SEO business. Beginning as a website designing endeavor in 1996, the Academy has transitioned to provide a comprehensive suite of SEO services coupled with personalized training programs.
The discussions also highlight how they constantly adapt to changing times, including the recent pivot to more digital operations in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Justin talks about using his business degree to aid in problem solving and sales while Steve emphasizes the importance of learning to work on the business and not in it.
There is a strong theme of creating a nurturing work environment that aligns with the principles of a family business throughout the conversation.
Their conversation provides a masterclass into understanding corporate and entrepreneurial cultures, sales, learning from mistakes, and the constantly evolving world of SEO. Whether you’re new to SEO or looking to pick up some strategy tips from a longstanding practitioner, this is a must-listen!
Contact Steve and Justin through their website at https://stevescottseo.com/ or call 877-736-7361.
00:00 Introduction and Welcoming the Guests
00:16 The Origin Story of Tampa SEO Training Academy
00:58 The Evolution of the Business Model
03:52 Justin’s Journey into the Family Business
05:58 The Value of Training and Personal Growth
14:58 The Unique Approach to Customer Service
17:48 Creating a Family Atmosphere in the Workplace
23:58 The Importance of Appreciating Clients
24:47 Embracing New Ideas and Innovation
25:44 Empowering Employees and Encouraging Growth
26:06 Leveraging Technology for Efficiency
27:05 The Power of Trust and Delegation
27:41 Creating a Blame-Free Environment
29:18 The Impact of a Strong Corporate Culture
31:01 The Value of Learning from Mistakes
33:17 The Role of Family in Business
36:40 The Journey of Learning and Growth
38:09 The Importance of Understanding Business Numbers
40:18 Working on the Business, Not in It
45:19 The Power of SEO and Online Presence
Today we are celebrating Steve and Justin
Speaker:Scott of Tampa SEO Training Academy.
Speaker:Hi, Steve.
Speaker:Hi, Scott.
Speaker:Welcome.
Speaker:Hey, John.
Speaker:Hey, Connie.
Speaker:How you doing?
Speaker:How are ya?
Speaker:Doing very well.
Speaker:Yeah, very well.
Speaker:We're really curious about, about you guys
Speaker:and your business, your family business.
Speaker:So where did it get started?
Speaker:How did how did Tampa SEO
Speaker:Training Academy start?
Speaker:Because I see stevescottseo.
Speaker:com behind Steve.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It actually started for me back in 1996
Speaker:where I was I was working in the computer.
Speaker:Well, maybe go back a
Speaker:little further than that.
Speaker:Like I first got my first
Speaker:computer when I was 16.
Speaker:So it was like 1982.
Speaker:It was a Vic 20.
Speaker:And I knew I liked it a lot.
Speaker:I had an affinity for it.
Speaker:And when I got into the real world, I
Speaker:started to mess around with computers
Speaker:and I when the World Wide Web came about,
Speaker:I thought, well, this is pretty cool.
Speaker:I like the concept of this.
Speaker:I was a marketing major in college
Speaker:already had marketing in my blood had the
Speaker:computer background before that, and so
Speaker:I got into designing websites and then,
Speaker:component to the, the new, where you've
Speaker:got the online training, but then are
Speaker:there like live Q and A's or something?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So in fact, the, the new model, we
Speaker:were just actually running through the
Speaker:different levels that we're going to be
Speaker:doing, but the Tampa SEO is more of the
Speaker:agency and training and so on, right?
Speaker:Live in person consulting and so on.
Speaker:The the video on demand training
Speaker:is going to come with, depending
Speaker:on what level you're at.
Speaker:either like email support or weekly Q and
Speaker:A's weekly email, , ask an expert emails.
Speaker:We're going to be doing monthly reviews
Speaker:of websites so that everybody gets a
Speaker:chance to kind of ask questions, see other
Speaker:people's questions and their responses.
Speaker:And then those will, of course,
Speaker:we'll record all of that.
Speaker:So like you guys will be recording
Speaker:this and then we'll share that with
Speaker:everybody else so they can see how.
Speaker:Changes that some people are needing
Speaker:or how they need to implement.
Speaker:They'll be able to now see how
Speaker:others are doing it and how, what
Speaker:recommendations we're making to others
Speaker:so that rather than asking the same
Speaker:question again, they can go implement.
Speaker:There'll be a live Q and A's as
Speaker:well for certain membership levels.
Speaker:Monthly I do what I call an ask
Speaker:anything session, ask the expert,
Speaker:and it's like the third Monday of the
Speaker:month or second Monday of the month.
Speaker:I forget which one it is, honestly.
Speaker:And it just, it's an open call, right?
Speaker:You get 15 minute call, just gimme
Speaker:a call, pick up the phone, ask me
Speaker:a question on, on a problem you're
Speaker:having, a question you're having.
Speaker:I've had, , students ask
Speaker:me how to get started.
Speaker:I've had people who were like, Hey,
Speaker:I'm leaving the corporate world
Speaker:and want to start my own business.
Speaker:, how do I get started?
Speaker:Or or it's just, Hey, , can
Speaker:you look at my website?
Speaker:I don't know what's going
Speaker:on, why it's not working.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:? So it kind of just depends.
Speaker:But so certainly that, and then I also
Speaker:have consulting hours that we offer too.
Speaker:So those can be anything from, hey,
Speaker:I'll teach you how to do it live, or you
Speaker:be the driver, I'll be the navigator,
Speaker:kind of get you around, show you how
Speaker:to do things, give you homework for the
Speaker:next the next day or the next meeting.
Speaker:So yeah, we offer, like I said, monthly
Speaker:services, this sort of consulting,
Speaker:which is kind of, , a work together.
Speaker:And then the on demand or in person,
Speaker:the in person is available for group
Speaker:sessions, but the on demand is, it's
Speaker:really more like you said, more the sign
Speaker:of the times, , we started to see a lot of
Speaker:people not wanting to put butts in seats
Speaker:as they used to call it back in the day.
Speaker:And then when COVID hit, obviously
Speaker:that was like an immediate no more,
Speaker:you know, it ain't happening anymore.
Speaker:And now I'm starting to see a
Speaker:bit more of, of people requesting
Speaker:in person live training, but.
Speaker:It's a smaller segment of the market
Speaker:these days that want to go and sit in
Speaker:the classroom, want to be in a room, and
Speaker:everybody wants everything right away.
Speaker:They don't want to wait.
Speaker:They don't want to, they want to
Speaker:get it free or cheap or whatever.
Speaker:So we had to adapt, as you said, you
Speaker:got to pivot as the times call for it.
Speaker:And that's what this, the newer
Speaker:brand is, is trying to do.
Speaker:I see.
Speaker:So, yeah.
Speaker:So, you know, Justin, how did
Speaker:you get involved in all this?
Speaker:Well, I mean, I've, I've been
Speaker:around it since I was a child.
Speaker:I mean, like it's, surprisingly, he
Speaker:would always be upstairs and I'd hear
Speaker:him talking to different clients.
Speaker:I'm like, what is he talking about?
Speaker:I had no idea.
Speaker:Like me, myself, I'm
Speaker:like, what is this CEO?
Speaker:I always thought it was CEO
Speaker:too, or just something before
Speaker:I even got into the business.
Speaker:But I was in college
Speaker:and not even a year ago.
Speaker:Excuse me.
Speaker:And I was like, what do I want to do?
Speaker:I just, every, every, grad
Speaker:grad asked that question.
Speaker:They're like, what are, what's next?
Speaker:And he was, dad was like, you
Speaker:could always come work for me,
Speaker:and I was like, you know what?
Speaker:I didn't want to jump into the
Speaker:corporate world right away.
Speaker:Definitely could have gotten a job.
Speaker:100 percent knew that had offers.
Speaker:I was just like, I don't
Speaker:want to do that right away.
Speaker:It just wasn't on my mind.
Speaker:That was like, I was like, I can't be.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Getting micromanaged, just
Speaker:answering to somebody right away.
Speaker:I just couldn't do it personally.
Speaker:I had never been like that ever.
Speaker:So I was like, he was like, make
Speaker:your own hours, make your own calls.
Speaker:You can make some money.
Speaker:I can help the business out as a whole.
Speaker:And I'm like, that
Speaker:sounds like a great idea.
Speaker:So I started to learn a little
Speaker:bit more about the company, about
Speaker:what it was, about what we do as
Speaker:a whole and how we help people.
Speaker:And it really has been tremendous
Speaker:since January when I started, I.
Speaker:I've learned a lot.
Speaker:I'm still learning but I'm able to
Speaker:hold a conversation with people,
Speaker:anybody, honestly, and talk about SEO
Speaker:because I understand it more so than
Speaker:I think a lot of other people do.
Speaker:So that's kind of how it got started.
Speaker:It's going great right now.
Speaker:I mean, I like, I like, I met you
Speaker:guys, you great people through RGA
Speaker:and just through the networking events
Speaker:because I've been calling people on
Speaker:the phones all day talking, which I
Speaker:like, honestly, some people obviously
Speaker:don't like cold calling warm and just.
Speaker:Following up with people, I personally
Speaker:do speaking with clients, but, getting
Speaker:out there, getting, put boots on the
Speaker:ground type of thing, meeting new people
Speaker:showing people what we could do for them.
Speaker:I really enjoy and that's why, I think
Speaker:I, I, I like what I'm doing right now.
Speaker:So definitely going to keep doing
Speaker:what I'm doing, you know, sales
Speaker:portion of temp SEO, and then we'll
Speaker:just see where we go from here.
Speaker:So that's how I got started.
Speaker:With the business itself.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And what's been great too is like I've
Speaker:had other sales people before and the
Speaker:role has intimidated a lot of people,
Speaker:because we do do so much and there's
Speaker:so much to know, and even experienced
Speaker:sales people I've had come in.
Speaker:lasted a month or so and just
Speaker:couldn't, they couldn't do it.
Speaker:They couldn't handle it.
Speaker:But Justin has always been very
Speaker:tenacious about he doesn't want
Speaker:to, he wants to make sure he's got
Speaker:it, and everything that he's done
Speaker:ever, like since a child, really.
Speaker:And which has been fantastic for, for me
Speaker:in many ways, for him in lots of ways.
Speaker:And when he's and he always had that sort
Speaker:of You know, he's very charming, you know,
Speaker:he gets it from his father, of course.
Speaker:And he, he's very personable.
Speaker:Again, he gets from his father.
Speaker:And so, he really, he's,
Speaker:he's good like that.
Speaker:He's always been like that.
Speaker:Even as a child, I would hear
Speaker:this, we, we both are in CrossFit.
Speaker:It's been about, what,
Speaker:eight or nine years now.
Speaker:And, he's 21, so 13, 14 years
Speaker:old, he's in CrossFit with adults.
Speaker:The adults would come up to me
Speaker:separately and they'd be go,
Speaker:you've got an amazing kid there.
Speaker:Like he's so charming.
Speaker:He's so personable.
Speaker:He's so this.
Speaker:And some of the dads would be like,
Speaker:man, I hope my kid turns out like yours.
Speaker:And, he was just always had that,
Speaker:of course, as a father, you couldn't
Speaker:ask for anything better to hear.
Speaker:So when he asked me, he finally
Speaker:I was never one to push either.
Speaker:I didn't push sports on him.
Speaker:If he wanted to play a
Speaker:sport, we'll do a sport.
Speaker:He wanted to do this.
Speaker:We'll do this.
Speaker:It was always like,
Speaker:what do you want to do?
Speaker:What, what, what drives you?
Speaker:What fuels you?
Speaker:And so when he came to me, he said,
Speaker:I don't know what I want to do.
Speaker:I know I want to do, I want to
Speaker:do a, I want to do a personal
Speaker:coaching and training, but you
Speaker:know, I want to make some money too.
Speaker:I don't know what to do.
Speaker:I said, look, sell, sell for me.
Speaker:I need someone to answer the phones.
Speaker:I need someone to go out and
Speaker:ground, but ground and pound.
Speaker:I need someone to follow up with people.
Speaker:I don't have time.
Speaker:I'm managing clients and managing the
Speaker:people that are managing the client.
Speaker:I don't have the time for this.
Speaker:I said, you can make some, I said,
Speaker:I'll pay you to call me calls.
Speaker:I'll pay you to get
Speaker:people on appointments.
Speaker:I'll pay you to get people on a
Speaker:newsletter and I'll give you a
Speaker:commission on people that you sell.
Speaker:And then you set your own hours.
Speaker:This way you can go to the gym when
Speaker:you want to go, you can you can work
Speaker:on your CPT that let, let this be your
Speaker:main job and let that be your side
Speaker:hustle until the point where like the
Speaker:side hustle becomes, you know, maybe
Speaker:they balance out a little bit and, but
Speaker:You're on your own, do your own thing.
Speaker:And he's always been super self motivated.
Speaker:So I never had to get on about
Speaker:grades or, about, about classes.
Speaker:I never had to get on about, like
Speaker:cleaning his room or anything like that.
Speaker:It was just, he just very self driven
Speaker:and he had the personality for sales.
Speaker:And I got him some training
Speaker:from a professional sales guy.
Speaker:And I asked the guy separately,
Speaker:I'm like, How's he doing?
Speaker:What do you think?
Speaker:And he is he's a natural.
Speaker:This kid's got it.
Speaker:He's and how was that?
Speaker:I learn easily.
Speaker:That's what I thought.
Speaker:Learn easily.
Speaker:It's like I just absorb
Speaker:everything that I like.
Speaker:I feel like a lot of people, when
Speaker:they learn a new skill, it's, it just
Speaker:goes straight through them, honestly.
Speaker:Or they have to obviously write it down.
Speaker:They have to read it a couple times.
Speaker:And I'm that same way, but like when I'm
Speaker:learning new information, I'm like, I,
Speaker:I, I soak it up like a sponge, like I
Speaker:just, and then I implement it right away.
Speaker:Even if I make a mistake, I know
Speaker:why I made that mistake and then
Speaker:I can move forward with, all
Speaker:right, I need to do this next.
Speaker:I keep doing that.
Speaker:So, like he said, the, and the
Speaker:sales training has been great too.
Speaker:Just as a whole, I'm very grateful for
Speaker:what he's been able to do for me too.
Speaker:So it's all been good,
Speaker:all been good and well.
Speaker:And he's always been good.
Speaker:Like whenever, whenever I needed to,
Speaker:whenever I, whenever I put training
Speaker:in and whatever it was, whether it
Speaker:was coaching on baseball, whether it
Speaker:was to, up his scores on his sat to
Speaker:get the bright futures kind of thing,
Speaker:whatever I invested in him, it always
Speaker:paid back in one way or another.
Speaker:So I knew it was a no brainer
Speaker:to get him, coaching from a
Speaker:sales professional, because.
Speaker:Like I knew it's going to turn into
Speaker:money for him, for me, for everybody.
Speaker:So I never hesitated on that.
Speaker:I believe in training, obviously, right?
Speaker:I mean, it's what I do.
Speaker:So I certainly want to get, that
Speaker:kind of people from something else.
Speaker:And he has just been, it's been amazing.
Speaker:Like he's learned so much and he's
Speaker:always been, I always call him a pitbull.
Speaker:Sometimes when it's things I don't
Speaker:want to be bothered with, he's
Speaker:pitbulling me for money or for this
Speaker:or that, like he won't let it go.
Speaker:But in sales.
Speaker:That's a great to have to, to not let
Speaker:things go to be on it, to be on top of it.
Speaker:And he's always been good like that.
Speaker:And it just translated very well for me.
Speaker:And he could literally
Speaker:go sell for anybody.
Speaker:I know that there'd be no problems,
Speaker:consistent and persistent.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's what I say about SEO.
Speaker:That's how you get good SEO rankings.
Speaker:You be consistent.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Clear and consistent message, right?
Speaker:And that's wonderful.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Well, so I mean, one of my questions
Speaker:that I like to ask is what What sets
Speaker:you apart from the, 20 competitors
Speaker:that's that's more in a coaching,
Speaker:setting than than in our podcast.
Speaker:But what I'm hearing, right away, you've
Speaker:been doing SEO since I'm not, I didn't
Speaker:even know the term SEO existed in the 90s.
Speaker:So that you've been doing it that long.
Speaker:I would, I would think that's one of
Speaker:the big differentiators in your company.
Speaker:And, and that you pair the, you marry
Speaker:the training with the, the agency part
Speaker:of it so that people can, you can give
Speaker:people a spectrum from completely done
Speaker:for you to completely do it yourself.
Speaker:It's brilliant.
Speaker:Well, it even turned into more than
Speaker:that, because the idea of getting of
Speaker:starting SEO was again, to get that
Speaker:monthly residuals, the training part,
Speaker:like I said, that kind of came out of.
Speaker:When I got out of college, I went to this
Speaker:company that was doing training around
Speaker:all those major companies in Manhattan.
Speaker:I mean, American Express, Pfizer,
Speaker:Revlon I mean, you name it.
Speaker:Any Fortune 500 company
Speaker:in Manhattan, I was at.
Speaker:UN, Daily News Port Authority of New
Speaker:York, New Jersey, I mean, Progressive.
Speaker:I mean, everything.
Speaker:We were at teaching them how to do stuff.
Speaker:So I had this training.
Speaker:background.
Speaker:Then I got into a bit more
Speaker:corporate world for a while.
Speaker:And then I went out on my own
Speaker:doing the SEO side and the web
Speaker:development side of things.
Speaker:And then when the training idea came
Speaker:out, I said, wow, I'm going back to
Speaker:what I loved because I love teaching.
Speaker:I love seeing eyeballs and, the
Speaker:ideas pop and now I'm teaching
Speaker:this stuff that I've done.
Speaker:So I know how to do, and so
Speaker:that became really interesting.
Speaker:What was super interesting about
Speaker:it, though, is a lot of times
Speaker:people would come to my class.
Speaker:They'd spend, you know, it was a
Speaker:2, 500 class for a week, right?
Speaker:Five days, about 500 a day.
Speaker:And people would come and pay me 2,
Speaker:500, see what's involved, go home
Speaker:and go, Hey, can you do this for me?
Speaker:Because I'm trying to
Speaker:run a business over here.
Speaker:I don't have time.
Speaker:I mean, there's a lot of work here.
Speaker:Now, obviously, you know what you did?
Speaker:You just told me five days worth
Speaker:of material over eight hours a day.
Speaker:It's clear.
Speaker:You know what you're doing.
Speaker:Can you do it for me?
Speaker:So a lot of my students became clients
Speaker:and if they weren't clients said
Speaker:that was gonna happen, you know They
Speaker:become consulting clients sometimes
Speaker:where they're trying to help their
Speaker:their clients, but they're struggling.
Speaker:I don't know what to
Speaker:do Can you help me out?
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:They get on an hour call I
Speaker:pay for a consulting fee and
Speaker:we'd help them out right away.
Speaker:Great, so I became a resource and
Speaker:then We started teaching Other
Speaker:competitors in the area, right?
Speaker:So there's people that send
Speaker:their people to me to learn.
Speaker:There's people that I've taught whole
Speaker:marketing companies in Tampa, their
Speaker:whole team, how to do SEO, right?
Speaker:And they're basically competitors, right?
Speaker:They're basically doing the same
Speaker:thing I'm doing, but they came to
Speaker:me to learn how to do it right.
Speaker:So I teach them.
Speaker:And then of course, when they need help,
Speaker:they come to me for, for other stuff.
Speaker:So that's generally the
Speaker:differentiator I use.
Speaker:The fact that, a, I've
Speaker:been doing it forever.
Speaker:I've seen all the changes from
Speaker:the beginning before the days
Speaker:of Google, B I got 25 plus years
Speaker:of experience in the business.
Speaker:I've been teaching it for 15 years
Speaker:and I teach your competitors.
Speaker:Why go to the competitor,
Speaker:come to the teacher, right?
Speaker:So, and I, we do all this work also.
Speaker:And so by offering these sort of
Speaker:different levels, it really allow us
Speaker:to cover everybody's needs without
Speaker:stepping on anybody's totally.
Speaker:I don't, I'll teach my competitor.
Speaker:There's plenty of work out there.
Speaker:It's not it's every company
Speaker:that's really looking to succeed
Speaker:needs what I offer and needs.
Speaker:And there's, there's a ton of
Speaker:companies out there and I'll
Speaker:tell you what, in the early days.
Speaker:SEO did get a bad rep because you had
Speaker:a lot of these people reaching out
Speaker:saying, Hey, give us a hundred dollars
Speaker:and we'll get you 10, 000 links.
Speaker:So we'll do this.
Speaker:And, and people would buy into
Speaker:that, or they'd get, swindled by
Speaker:somebody and, sold a bill of rights.
Speaker:That was just not right.
Speaker:And they would buy in and then
Speaker:it soured the market for SEO.
Speaker:People like started to think of the SEO
Speaker:business as, as scammers or shysters.
Speaker:And there was plenty of them out there.
Speaker:But if you knew someone that was
Speaker:reputable and knew how to do the
Speaker:job, it may take a little bit longer,
Speaker:especially nowadays, it takes a lot
Speaker:longer than it did 15 years ago.
Speaker:But if you, if you did it right and
Speaker:did the right thing and follow the
Speaker:rules, you'd be successful over time.
Speaker:Like with anything, you know,
Speaker:most people don't go into
Speaker:business as successful overnight.
Speaker:It takes time to.
Speaker:Get there.
Speaker:But everybody wants everything
Speaker:yesterday and they think, if I do
Speaker:this, I'll get, I'll get there quickly.
Speaker:And more often than not, Google caught
Speaker:on penalize those people and they
Speaker:were in worse shape than, if they had
Speaker:just done it the right the first time.
Speaker:So Justin, from your point of view,
Speaker:how do you present the company?
Speaker:mEaning that how it
Speaker:differentiates from other people?
Speaker:I would definitely say the
Speaker:customer service hand that
Speaker:I can't hands down for sure.
Speaker:A lot of people and a lot of businesses
Speaker:ship off their SEO work because
Speaker:it's cheaper to like third world
Speaker:countries because a lot of people
Speaker:are doing the work out there, but
Speaker:there is not the right time zone.
Speaker:They don't answer them correctly.
Speaker:They don't know.
Speaker:Sometimes they don't speak.
Speaker:English, sometimes.
Speaker:So that's a big, huge deal.
Speaker:I've just, I've noticed.
Speaker:I get calls all the time about trying
Speaker:to get work even though they don't
Speaker:know who they're speaking to directly.
Speaker:So I've just, working with clients
Speaker:and working with people that want
Speaker:to come on with us, I've noticed
Speaker:they've just been screwed in the past.
Speaker:Just recently, and they're
Speaker:like, I don't know.
Speaker:And their, their trust is hard to
Speaker:get, and I always say, look, let me,
Speaker:let me earn 5 percent of your trust
Speaker:and I can show you how we can earn
Speaker:the 95 percent of it, like seriously.
Speaker:And so when we, when I present that to
Speaker:somebody, they're always Questionable
Speaker:and they're always like, Hmm, but they're
Speaker:like their, their guard breaks down.
Speaker:Okay, let me just show them and
Speaker:let them, let me let them show
Speaker:me what they can do for me.
Speaker:And then that opens up a lot of doors.
Speaker:And I always tell people,
Speaker:look, call my number.
Speaker:I give my cell to
Speaker:everyone that I speak to.
Speaker:I don't ever give them a business line.
Speaker:That's big.
Speaker:I feel like for a lot of people.
Speaker:So you're not calling a direct center.
Speaker:You're calling me and I'm
Speaker:the only one that's going to
Speaker:speak to the owner directly.
Speaker:He's my dad.
Speaker:I can get them on the phone in a call.
Speaker:If you want something
Speaker:done, give me a call.
Speaker:Like seriously, that's how it works.
Speaker:So that's just how it works in general.
Speaker:So if you want something done
Speaker:right away, I tell people either
Speaker:text me, call me, email me.
Speaker:I'm going to answer you within an hour.
Speaker:So that is a big, big deal for people.
Speaker:Like we'll, we'll have people like if
Speaker:there's an issue, say I've closed someone.
Speaker:I've talked to them maybe once, twice
Speaker:a month, maybe, right, just to kind
Speaker:of see how things are going, because
Speaker:I like to check in with people too,
Speaker:even though they're working with Steve,
Speaker:I still like to check in to see how
Speaker:things are being done, I'm like, look
Speaker:we have 11 people on staff, right, but
Speaker:they're all doing different things.
Speaker:I don't, and sometimes, our social
Speaker:media manager might be talking to
Speaker:the client one day and then our, our
Speaker:just our assistant might be talking
Speaker:to them the other day or bookkeeper.
Speaker:There's a lot of, there's a lot of
Speaker:moving parts, but I'm always the same
Speaker:person that's going to be reaching
Speaker:out to them every single time, right?
Speaker:So we don't, like I said, we
Speaker:don't have any other sales reps
Speaker:right today in the business.
Speaker:It's just me, right?
Speaker:So you know who to contact and who's
Speaker:going to give you the right information.
Speaker:And if I don't have an answer,
Speaker:I know who to ask like this,
Speaker:where I know where to go.
Speaker:So that's kind of how I represent
Speaker:the company and make people
Speaker:understand that you can trust us.
Speaker:And we do really good work since we've
Speaker:been around since 97 before I was born.
Speaker:It's just Give us a chance, it's like
Speaker:you might as well, it doesn't hurt
Speaker:and we're local to, you're talking
Speaker:family, I, I came up in a business.
Speaker:I worked in Manhattan, as I mentioned,
Speaker:but I also work and, and the people that
Speaker:I met in that first company, I worked
Speaker:at the training organization are still
Speaker:some of my best friends to this day.
Speaker:And then I moved to a
Speaker:financial products company.
Speaker:Where I worked for seven years
Speaker:doing automation and stuff.
Speaker:And some of those people are
Speaker:still some of my best friends.
Speaker:So in fact, they just had a big
Speaker:reunion party in Manhattan, like last
Speaker:week, there was like 40 people there.
Speaker:So I had gotten to really,
Speaker:really good companies that just
Speaker:felt like very family oriented.
Speaker:Like you knew these people.
Speaker:And then the last company, as I mentioned,
Speaker:the one, the one with the, you said
Speaker:the reunion, they were, I mean, it was
Speaker:money, we were, it was, it was called
Speaker:general refinancial products, which is
Speaker:the financial part of general reinsurance.
Speaker:Which insures insurance companies.
Speaker:So if you could imagine how much money
Speaker:insurance companies make, think of how
Speaker:much money the folks that ensure the
Speaker:insurance companies are pulling in.
Speaker:So this company had gobs of money,
Speaker:cheated everybody like a human in the
Speaker:days where you had three, you know,
Speaker:when most people had three days of
Speaker:sick days or, number of days, they
Speaker:were like, if you're sick, stay home.
Speaker:We don't want you coming in and
Speaker:getting everybody else sick.
Speaker:If you need a time off, you wanted to
Speaker:take a vacation day, on a, on a Friday
Speaker:and a Monday, have a long weekend.
Speaker:Just just let us know.
Speaker:And they always treated you like a
Speaker:person and not Hey, you're on salary.
Speaker:It was like, and what happened
Speaker:is it fostered such a good
Speaker:wanting to be there, right?
Speaker:The idea of, it wasn't so much a job.
Speaker:It was more like, like a family.
Speaker:And it felt like we got
Speaker:free lunch every day.
Speaker:We had, it was Business cash.
Speaker:We're in a corporate company.
Speaker:It was business casual all the time.
Speaker:You had massive, amazing Christmas
Speaker:parties with like lobster and crab and,
Speaker:and we were right across the rink from
Speaker:the ice skating rink where they do the
Speaker:tree lighting ceremony in Manhattan.
Speaker:So every year a Christmas party was
Speaker:right there the day of the tree lighting.
Speaker:So we have, and it just felt so like
Speaker:you were treated like an individual
Speaker:as a person and not a number.
Speaker:And I wanted to represent
Speaker:that in my business too.
Speaker:And the people on my team, and I've had a
Speaker:bunch of them with me seven, eight years.
Speaker:In fact, one just she's my,
Speaker:my bookkeeper, office manager.
Speaker:She has been working remote since COVID
Speaker:and every now and then she'll come up.
Speaker:So she's, Hey, I had a
Speaker:doctor's appointment nearby.
Speaker:How about I stop in for
Speaker:a, for a cup of coffee?
Speaker:And we just sat and we chilled for an
Speaker:hour and a half, had some coffee, talk
Speaker:business, talk life, talk to, whatever.
Speaker:And, and I just want people to understand
Speaker:if you're sick, you can't work today, go,
Speaker:go take a nap go it'll be there tomorrow,
Speaker:just go take a nap take care of you if
Speaker:you're good, then you're better to work,
Speaker:if you're crappy, and you feel crappy,
Speaker:and you're forced to do something, you're
Speaker:not gonna do as good a job, you're maybe
Speaker:making mistakes, and I'd rather Work.
Speaker:You take the time and
Speaker:do what you need to do.
Speaker:Clients will wait.
Speaker:They're not going anywhere.
Speaker:And if I lose a client because, there
Speaker:was a death in the family and the guy
Speaker:that was doing your job couldn't do it.
Speaker:Well, I don't want you as a client.
Speaker:Go, I'll find someone else.
Speaker:Bye bye.
Speaker:I don't need that.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:And so I've been very real
Speaker:about that with my clients.
Speaker:I'm very open about what's going on,
Speaker:open with what's, I may, I encourage
Speaker:my team to reach out to clients.
Speaker:They don't have to come
Speaker:to me for permission.
Speaker:I want clients to see that we're
Speaker:a team, that everybody has a
Speaker:little input and has a little say.
Speaker:And then we've also done Like
Speaker:team meetings, like zoom meetings.
Speaker:And it gets hard to get
Speaker:everybody in a room, on a zoom
Speaker:meeting, pick a date and a time.
Speaker:And everybody like initially
Speaker:thinks, Oh, there's another meeting.
Speaker:Everybody.
Speaker:And it turned out like, we've done these,
Speaker:everybody's that was a great meeting.
Speaker:It was so great to meet everybody.
Speaker:And so everybody has this initial
Speaker:whatever, but between those things and a
Speaker:staff, I started a staff chat room, right?
Speaker:We're all remote.
Speaker:But I started a staff chat room, and
Speaker:it's really just morning, afternoon, hey,
Speaker:I'm hanging in, how's everybody's day?
Speaker:And at first people were like, this
Speaker:is stupid, what are we doing this for?
Speaker:And over time, it became, hey,
Speaker:this is, this is how we, this
Speaker:is how we become together.
Speaker:This is how we come together a bit more.
Speaker:And so now, The last one, everybody got
Speaker:a chance to introduce themselves because
Speaker:we had a couple of new team members.
Speaker:Everybody got a chance to talk about
Speaker:what they do, what their role is.
Speaker:And then we asked everybody to tell
Speaker:us a little bit about themselves,
Speaker:just like who they are, what they
Speaker:like, what their passions are.
Speaker:And it turned out we have a couple of
Speaker:musicians in the group that started
Speaker:to get together and started sharing
Speaker:music and started sharing stuff.
Speaker:We have a couple of writers in the
Speaker:group that were doing things on
Speaker:the side that we didn't know about.
Speaker:And that started some conversations.
Speaker:And so it brought everybody
Speaker:a little closer together.
Speaker:And yeah, so I try to do things like
Speaker:that to just, it's hard when you're
Speaker:working remotely to do things like that.
Speaker:And I think I, I think I mentioned
Speaker:the last time we spoke, for, for
Speaker:the holidays last year, um, rather
Speaker:than giving people a bonus, right.
Speaker:I mean, sure.
Speaker:Cash is nice.
Speaker:Everybody likes cash.
Speaker:I know Justin likes cash.
Speaker:But what I tried to do what I tried to
Speaker:do is I tried to get them something that
Speaker:they could use that would make their
Speaker:lives easier or their work life easier.
Speaker:And also that when they use that,
Speaker:it brings a good memory, right?
Speaker:So I got one of my people, I got
Speaker:two of my people, like a new chair.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:That they could nice chat.
Speaker:They could sit in.
Speaker:I let them pick from eight or 10
Speaker:different chairs that I thought
Speaker:were good and were nice and were
Speaker:reasonable, but not like cheapo chairs.
Speaker:You know what I mean?
Speaker:I bought somebody else who was working on
Speaker:a small monitor, a big 27 inch monitor.
Speaker:I bought someone else a battery backup
Speaker:because she kept complaining about how,
Speaker:where she was, her power kept going out
Speaker:and she was losing work and all that.
Speaker:So it was little things like that.
Speaker:And then, It was more about like the
Speaker:thought that counts kind of a thing.
Speaker:I mean, the gift is nice, but it was
Speaker:really more okay, when the power goes
Speaker:out and our computer doesn't go down,
Speaker:he's so glad I have that, or when you sit
Speaker:down on that chair and you go, Oh, it's
Speaker:got so comfy, so I try to do things like
Speaker:that to, to, to show people that I care.
Speaker:I give birthday gifts.
Speaker:I'll send people amazon
Speaker:things for birthdays.
Speaker:I'm so glad to have you on team.
Speaker:I'm really open about telling people
Speaker:I appreciate them and I appreciate
Speaker:what they do and thank you, and
Speaker:I try to make them see that they,
Speaker:they're not just an employee.
Speaker:They're not some staff.
Speaker:I'm not some consultant.
Speaker:They're a part of my team.
Speaker:They're a part of my extended
Speaker:family and they matter to me.
Speaker:And that's why I like to have people and
Speaker:they, and they stay around, they stick
Speaker:around because they like how they're
Speaker:treated, they like what they're getting
Speaker:and, I couldn't, I couldn't be happier.
Speaker:We've got great, a great team.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I spoke to today, like I was talking
Speaker:to Steve about how I wanted to send
Speaker:out cards to our clients saying thank
Speaker:you for, just thank you for everything.
Speaker:Some we've had who, how long
Speaker:has Brothers been with you, Dad?
Speaker:How long?
Speaker:It's over 10 years.
Speaker:Over 10 years.
Speaker:So there's been a lot, a couple
Speaker:of clients that have just
Speaker:been with us for a long time.
Speaker:And so, been through
Speaker:bad times, good times.
Speaker:So I want to say thank you.
Speaker:And that's why I actually spoke
Speaker:to Linda Cameron today about
Speaker:getting some cards together.
Speaker:So we can send out to all of
Speaker:them, just, just to say thank you.
Speaker:Like seriously, it's all I really
Speaker:want to let them understand
Speaker:that we appreciate them.
Speaker:And, even if you don't stay
Speaker:with us forever, that's okay.
Speaker:But we just want to let you know
Speaker:that we, we, we love the work that
Speaker:we're doing for you right now.
Speaker:So that's what we try to tell
Speaker:to, like I said, my coworkers,
Speaker:his employees, and just the
Speaker:clients that we work with as well.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:When he brought it to me, I was like,
Speaker:I'll be, I'll be honest with you.
Speaker:It's not something I
Speaker:didn't ever really done.
Speaker:I see people do it.
Speaker:I feel bad when I get cards
Speaker:from people and I didn't do it.
Speaker:And it's not like everybody does it.
Speaker:I mean, I know that, but I
Speaker:was like, that's a good idea.
Speaker:What can we do?
Speaker:Find out what we can do.
Speaker:Let's see what we can do.
Speaker:Cause you know, and I'm
Speaker:also good about that too.
Speaker:Somebody comes to me with an idea.
Speaker:I'm always looking for
Speaker:the next great idea.
Speaker:Everybody is.
Speaker:And you come to me, you present
Speaker:me an idea that you know,
Speaker:I'll say, that's a great idea.
Speaker:Let's do that.
Speaker:Or, and I'm, I can be very stubborn
Speaker:at times too, but I always say, Hey,
Speaker:if you can prove to me that your way
Speaker:is good or has better, has qualities
Speaker:that the way I've been thinking about
Speaker:doing it is, you could show me that
Speaker:it makes sense to do it your way.
Speaker:I'll I'm all in.
Speaker:Let's go do it your way.
Speaker:Like I'm, I'm, you can change my mind,
Speaker:but you just proved to me that, that what
Speaker:you're talking about is worthwhile value.
Speaker:A lot of times people come to you
Speaker:with ideas that we've already tried
Speaker:that don't work for this reason, or
Speaker:we've thought about it, but maybe
Speaker:costs are outside of, what we can
Speaker:do right now or, different reasons.
Speaker:But I'm always willing to listen
Speaker:to my team and I tell them all the
Speaker:time, if you have an idea, if you're
Speaker:thinking about something, let me know.
Speaker:And then I'll also tell folks, I'll
Speaker:regularly ask them, Hey, is there anything
Speaker:that you're not doing that you'd like to
Speaker:do more of or that you've seen you want
Speaker:to have a little bit more experience with?
Speaker:Let me know, and I'll try
Speaker:to steer them a little bit.
Speaker:So a little bit of their time, a little
Speaker:bit of their, what they're putting in can
Speaker:go to something, either learning something
Speaker:new or trying something different.
Speaker:And that's all becoming a lot more like
Speaker:with chat GPT and using that integrating
Speaker:some of that has become sort of like the
Speaker:next step, my content writers were worried
Speaker:that they were going to be out of business
Speaker:with and I'm like, no, no, still need
Speaker:you, but you know, but this will help you
Speaker:get where you're going quicker, we can
Speaker:get more done in the same time, you're
Speaker:still going to have to wordsmith the heck
Speaker:out of it and make it make it look good.
Speaker:But if you can get a good
Speaker:foundation, a good base, yeah.
Speaker:To start out with great my
Speaker:training these days, same thing.
Speaker:You should take me eight to 16 hours
Speaker:to pull together like an hour, an hour
Speaker:and a half worth of actual training.
Speaker:Now it's about half that time.
Speaker:And it's not that I'm copying and pasting,
Speaker:but it's just it's giving me those points.
Speaker:I'm making sure I don't miss.
Speaker:It's making sure and I'm like, and
Speaker:when I get something I can, write
Speaker:my own words for it or update it.
Speaker:But it's those kind of ideas that I'm
Speaker:always looking for, like the next thing.
Speaker:What's next?
Speaker:What else can we do?
Speaker:And, having, I don't know
Speaker:everything and anybody that
Speaker:says everything is, is a liar.
Speaker:I know a lot about a lot,
Speaker:but as lots, I don't know.
Speaker:And I have, I have somebody
Speaker:that's very involved in email
Speaker:and she's amazing with the email.
Speaker:So I count on her, she's
Speaker:Oh, we can do this with you.
Speaker:I'm like, jazz, this is you.
Speaker:I'm putting this in you.
Speaker:I'm going to trust you do what
Speaker:you think is the best thing to do.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And I let them do it.
Speaker:I don't need to micromanage everything.
Speaker:I showed this things.
Speaker:I wanted a certain thing or a certain way.
Speaker:But I was like, do whatever
Speaker:you think looks good.
Speaker:Don't, don't worry about what I'm doing.
Speaker:Do what you want to do.
Speaker:Let me see what you got.
Speaker:And the first time she fully did it on her
Speaker:own, I was like, damn, this looks great.
Speaker:This is a, I'll send it, like no changes.
Speaker:And so that again, is part of, I think the
Speaker:environment that I'm trying to establish.
Speaker:I got to jump in here.
Speaker:So I'm going to make a bet and I'm going
Speaker:to ask Jason, Justin, sorry, Justin,
Speaker:if, if this is accurate or not, he's not
Speaker:afraid to let people make mistakes, right?
Speaker:He will let them make, he will give them
Speaker:something to do, let them make a mistake.
Speaker:And if they make a mistake and it goes
Speaker:completely sideways, they're not fired.
Speaker:It's okay.
Speaker:There's not a bunch of blame.
Speaker:It's just, okay, let's figure out
Speaker:what, what went wrong and, and fix it.
Speaker:Am I accurate?
Speaker:Yeah, there's no, you're exactly right.
Speaker:There's no blame.
Speaker:There's no, there's no heart.
Speaker:There's no, like, why, why
Speaker:didn't you do it this way?
Speaker:It's just okay, let's look at it.
Speaker:Let's, let's, let's see
Speaker:how we could do it better.
Speaker:And then, and let's solve
Speaker:the problem together.
Speaker:It's not and it's not all on the person.
Speaker:It's like, it's like, why
Speaker:didn't you do this for me?
Speaker:It's, it's okay, maybe we can change a few
Speaker:things and then we can adjust it together.
Speaker:Or if, Or he's also confident, like
Speaker:he said, in, in all our employees
Speaker:to basically say, look, let's change
Speaker:a few things and then do it again.
Speaker:He's not, he's, and then
Speaker:he'll just look at it again.
Speaker:He's not, he doesn't have
Speaker:to, like he says, micromanage
Speaker:everything that any of us do.
Speaker:Honestly.
Speaker:None of us are getting micromanaged, and
Speaker:we get the work done and we do good work.
Speaker:So, I mean, if that doesn't tell you
Speaker:something, anything, I mean, that's,
Speaker:we were in a good, everyone's in a good
Speaker:spot whenever in this, in this, In this
Speaker:business I want to go to work for you.
Speaker:I want to go to work.
Speaker:I feel like I'm, I want to at some, at
Speaker:the end of this, I'm going to want to,
Speaker:this director's cuts that they do in
Speaker:movies where the, the director, they
Speaker:play the movie and the director stops
Speaker:the movie and says, okay, now notice
Speaker:this and listen to what he just said.
Speaker:I feel like I want to go back
Speaker:through this and do that because
Speaker:it's did you hear what he just said?
Speaker:Oh my God.
Speaker:You're talking about, well,
Speaker:you had a wonderful experience.
Speaker:In a good, in a really strong culture,
Speaker:a corporate culture that was as if
Speaker:they were running a family business.
Speaker:And that was, such a stroke of
Speaker:luck for you, in my opinion.
Speaker:But you are the right guy, too.
Speaker:I mean, I can hear that.
Speaker:I can see that.
Speaker:So, there's so much here about letting,
Speaker:figuring out people's strengths,
Speaker:letting them work at their strengths,
Speaker:focus on their strengths, not trying
Speaker:to, force a square peg into a round
Speaker:hole, and developing people, listening,
Speaker:being curious, stubborn but curious.
Speaker:I love that combination, okay, yeah.
Speaker:I've done this a couple times.
Speaker:I can throw out the pretty obvious
Speaker:stuff that won't work, but you
Speaker:know, I'm, I don't know everything.
Speaker:That's, there's a security there, a
Speaker:self confidence there that allows you
Speaker:to, allow other people to, to, play
Speaker:with it and try things and, and, the
Speaker:knowing that you don't know everything.
Speaker:I think, the fact that you're in
Speaker:this industry that is constantly
Speaker:changing helped, support that if you
Speaker:were in something that, where things
Speaker:didn't change for 30 years, and then
Speaker:maybe they invented a new thing.
Speaker:And then another 30 years, it would be a
Speaker:lot easier to just get stuck in your ways.
Speaker:But I mean, this is just like a
Speaker:master class in culture management.
Speaker:And the other thing I want to point out
Speaker:here, one of my pet sayings is that your.
Speaker:Employees are your best customers.
Speaker:They basically buy.
Speaker:Coming back to work every day.
Speaker:And, and you see that intuitively and you
Speaker:are, treating them as your best customers.
Speaker:And, and I just, I want to thank you.
Speaker:It's funny.
Speaker:You ask about the, the mistake making.
Speaker:And I think one of the reasons why
Speaker:I'm so okay with it is because when I
Speaker:started out, I was a solopreneur, right?
Speaker:I did everything.
Speaker:And you didn't have the internet, really.
Speaker:I mean, you didn't have, I shouldn't say
Speaker:You didn't have the, the, the, the vast
Speaker:quantity of information available, right?
Speaker:And so, when I was doing this for
Speaker:people, I had to learn on my own.
Speaker:And so, I learned by making a ton of
Speaker:freaking mistakes until I got it right.
Speaker:And so, I tell people look,
Speaker:and I'm paying people by the
Speaker:hour, right, for the most part.
Speaker:And I'm like, look, if you if you
Speaker:want to figure something out on
Speaker:your own, Take a half an hour.
Speaker:Take an hour.
Speaker:All I ask is that you don't waste
Speaker:too much time on something like I
Speaker:understand the value and looking into
Speaker:things and learning on your own and
Speaker:trying and attempting and failing.
Speaker:But if you get to a point where it's just
Speaker:not coming together, that's when you want.
Speaker:I mean, I need you to understand.
Speaker:Stop.
Speaker:Ask, because I may have done this a
Speaker:million times when I go, Oh yeah, you
Speaker:gotta do this, or I just, I want people
Speaker:to get the opportunity to learn and
Speaker:typically the folks that I tend to hire,
Speaker:they're not always the most experienced.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:They have a little bit of experience,
Speaker:obviously, but what I found the
Speaker:people that do best over the years are
Speaker:the people that can clearly explain
Speaker:to me that they can figure it out.
Speaker:They don't, they don't
Speaker:like, I don't need help.
Speaker:Like I can always Google it.
Speaker:Or we, we, we use GTS a lot.
Speaker:Google that stuff we'll say.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:It's like with, with, with all,
Speaker:like you can find out anything you
Speaker:need to find out on the web, right?
Speaker:You just have to look and you
Speaker:have to research and you have to,
Speaker:look at your sources and whatnot.
Speaker:So I encourage people to do that.
Speaker:I want them to do that.
Speaker:I want them to be self, self fulfilling,
Speaker:self actualized, just figure it out.
Speaker:And the folks that have always lasted
Speaker:as long as and done the best in this
Speaker:business have been able to do that.
Speaker:And the ones that don't, I can't get it.
Speaker:I can't figure it out.
Speaker:They just don't make it.
Speaker:They just cannot make it and and that's I
Speaker:think one of the reasons why I encourage
Speaker:people to make mistakes because I
Speaker:know you're going to learn from them.
Speaker:And I do say, but learn from it.
Speaker:I don't want to see that same
Speaker:mistake over and over and over again.
Speaker:The whole fool me once, shame on you,
Speaker:fool me twice, shame on me kind of thing.
Speaker:Yeah, I'm okay.
Speaker:But don't keep making the same mistake.
Speaker:And if you if you can learn and grow.
Speaker:Awesome.
Speaker:That's exactly what I'm looking for.
Speaker:But it's so funny how you
Speaker:kind of pick that out.
Speaker:Yeah, that's gosh, again, the corporate I
Speaker:want to, focus on the family a little bit.
Speaker:So the, the, the family has the
Speaker:opportunity the family business owner
Speaker:has the opportunity to do what you
Speaker:talked about in terms of the gifting.
Speaker:You, you've got a little more, a little
Speaker:more control over what you spend.
Speaker:You've got, you've got control over
Speaker:the budget and, and you can do those
Speaker:things, but you can also you've got a
Speaker:mind to hiring, you've got a longterm.
Speaker:Outlook instead of that,
Speaker:quarter to quarter management.
Speaker:And it seems like
Speaker:corporate is always hiring.
Speaker:They want to hire a skill, a finished
Speaker:skill, just, and if the skill set changes
Speaker:a little bit, the first thing they're
Speaker:going to do is replace that person
Speaker:with somebody newer that's got that new
Speaker:skill set instead of upscaling them.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And you're the opposite of that.
Speaker:And that's, I think that's why we
Speaker:want to celebrate family business.
Speaker:Well, I come from a
Speaker:family business, right?
Speaker:So my dad was a contractor
Speaker:in Manhattan forever.
Speaker:And as a kid, I'd go in with him on
Speaker:the weekends or on those, holiday,
Speaker:days off, even at five, six years old,
Speaker:I'd be with dad and I'd be picking
Speaker:up screws or handing him his hammer
Speaker:or whatever it was back in the day.
Speaker:And then as I got a little older, I went.
Speaker:And I'd be the, the, the kid getting
Speaker:the coffee or the one dragging the
Speaker:heavy stuff around for everybody,
Speaker:the grunt work, nobody else wants
Speaker:to go for, as they call them.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And then when I hit 16, I sort
Speaker:of had a little bit of had one
Speaker:of these old IBM computers with
Speaker:the green screens and everything.
Speaker:And he had a big dot matrix printer
Speaker:with those, with the green and white
Speaker:paper and the holes on the side.
Speaker:And, I said, Hey, dad, let me come in
Speaker:the office and do some stuff on the
Speaker:computer for you, and so at 16, I went
Speaker:in, I started building like some Excel
Speaker:spreadsheets, not Excel, sorry, Lotus
Speaker:one, two, three, there was no Excel.
Speaker:Lotus one, two, three spreadsheets.
Speaker:And I built a couple of like keyboard,
Speaker:I learned how to do keyboard commands so
Speaker:that you can hit like control P for print.
Speaker:And it would print out all of the.
Speaker:And then he could put in all the numbers
Speaker:for hours worked and it would do payroll
Speaker:and print all the payroll reports for him.
Speaker:And that's how I got started is
Speaker:working in my dad's business.
Speaker:And I love going to work with my dad.
Speaker:I love spending time with them.
Speaker:And, we'd go get a cup of coffee or we'd
Speaker:go get, dinner or lunch or something.
Speaker:And, it was always, it was always a great.
Speaker:And my dad and I are super tight.
Speaker:Me and Justin super tight.
Speaker:He and my dad are super tight.
Speaker:You want to pick it up
Speaker:in the airport today?
Speaker:Literally.
Speaker:I did.
Speaker:Yeah, he did.
Speaker:Oh, cool.
Speaker:Wonderful.
Speaker:So so, so it's been it's been kind of that
Speaker:whole idea of the family together, has
Speaker:come down the pipe, basically since then.
Speaker:And, I know, Justin, if the way he
Speaker:keeps going, he's never going to
Speaker:work for anybody either, probably,
Speaker:or may not work for anybody.
Speaker:Whether he's working for himself,
Speaker:or, working with me he's he's able
Speaker:to self destiny at this point, right?
Speaker:He's super young, super
Speaker:eager, super smart.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Here's a button and and he's gonna,
Speaker:but, I'm not worried about him.
Speaker:And I just love the fact that, I was
Speaker:telling somebody the other day that
Speaker:it's so nice to have him working with
Speaker:me to see how he's picking up on the
Speaker:because he had never had any interest
Speaker:at all as he was growing up and he's
Speaker:going to school for, business degree.
Speaker:And I'm like, I do own a business.
Speaker:You can come in.
Speaker:You can look at the bugs.
Speaker:If you have some suggestions based
Speaker:on what you're learning that can
Speaker:maybe help us grow or change.
Speaker:Let me know.
Speaker:Come on in.
Speaker:And he finally was like, what can I do?
Speaker:And I'm like, you could do this.
Speaker:He was like, let's give it a shot.
Speaker:And pretty good since then.
Speaker:So have you been using your business
Speaker:degree in the in the business?
Speaker:Have you got some of that?
Speaker:Not I mean, definitely.
Speaker:So, okay, when, when it comes to actual
Speaker:schooling, I feel like the only the
Speaker:last year that I was in school, I
Speaker:actually learned a lot of information.
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:Like everything else.
Speaker:I was just like, why am I here?
Speaker:I can do this at home type thing.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:But I definitely as for like actual
Speaker:problem solving and just how you
Speaker:view your company compared to the
Speaker:competition, how you can do better.
Speaker:I definitely am able to do that
Speaker:and apply that to what I do today.
Speaker:So that's what I like as well.
Speaker:I I'm able to use those problems,
Speaker:solving skills from school and take it
Speaker:into sales because sales is obviously,
Speaker:listening, making sure that you're able
Speaker:to give the customer what they need, what
Speaker:they want, especially what they want,
Speaker:because it's all emotion, obviously.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:I'm going to interrupt you there.
Speaker:Sales done.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Is listening.
Speaker:Yes, that's true.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:But I've learned that to buy
Speaker:through through men through
Speaker:mentors, multiple, not just the one
Speaker:that I'm working with right now.
Speaker:I think that's been more helpful to
Speaker:obviously, I'm an advocate for school.
Speaker:But I think when you work with
Speaker:somebody closely, and you're able
Speaker:to ask them questions consistently,
Speaker:like every day type, like every day,
Speaker:every week, that's a works for me.
Speaker:And that's how I learned on a daily
Speaker:basis, whether it's I read sometimes
Speaker:I don't read a lot, I read, I
Speaker:should read more, I listened to a
Speaker:lot of things by just Reading takes
Speaker:a lot out of me, or it just does.
Speaker:But like I said, working with somebody
Speaker:one on one, I think that's the best way to
Speaker:actually use my skills every single day.
Speaker:So that's been helpful.
Speaker:Nice.
Speaker:Steve, what one thing that you wish
Speaker:you had known when you started out?
Speaker:So I would honestly say the
Speaker:business numbers part of it.
Speaker:Like that like when you go PC, watch,
Speaker:I don't think guys watch shark tank.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:When you watch shark tank and they come
Speaker:out, what's this, what's your retention
Speaker:and what's your customer acquisition
Speaker:costs and what's this and what's that.
Speaker:I had no clue.
Speaker:I was not accounting guy.
Speaker:I wasn't a finance guy.
Speaker:I didn't really know any of that.
Speaker:It was all, kind of seat of my
Speaker:pants kind of stuff going forward.
Speaker:It was just like, and when I
Speaker:was a solopreneur, it was about.
Speaker:Just getting as much money in the
Speaker:door as I could get and, and getting
Speaker:the job done to keep people paying
Speaker:me more and answering and then using
Speaker:what I, my knowledge in what I did
Speaker:to get out there so that people
Speaker:could find me to, and they'd be like,
Speaker:well, I called you because I put in
Speaker:this keyword and you're everywhere.
Speaker:And I'm like, all right, good.
Speaker:The job's working there.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And then they call me.
Speaker:I'm like, all right, well, great.
Speaker:So they kind of knew I knew what I
Speaker:was doing because I was right there.
Speaker:But I wish I had a better
Speaker:understanding about, forecasting
Speaker:the numbers, the, being able to,
Speaker:to, to know, like my, my acquisition
Speaker:costs are customer lifetime stuff.
Speaker:I'm so little shaky on those things,
Speaker:honestly, those are things that
Speaker:I'm still trying to, and I've been
Speaker:looking for some classes on that.
Speaker:My accountant, I've talked to a bit more
Speaker:about, Hey, give me more of the numbers.
Speaker:I need to know more about.
Speaker:The business, the numbers,
Speaker:not just, not just income and
Speaker:expenses, but what's it take?
Speaker:What kind of, what kind of
Speaker:pro how profitable are you?
Speaker:What, which jobs are profitable,
Speaker:which are unprofitable.
Speaker:So those things I wish I had a better
Speaker:foundation with when I started this
Speaker:and still trying to kind of figure all
Speaker:those that we're getting obviously,
Speaker:closer where I want to be, but.
Speaker:It wasn't anything I ever
Speaker:put a lot of emphasis on.
Speaker:It was like, as long as I can pay
Speaker:the bills, as long as I can pay
Speaker:the guy, as long as I can put some
Speaker:money in my pocket, I was good.
Speaker:And that's not really the way to
Speaker:run a business, it's just not.
Speaker:And it's very common.
Speaker:I mean, it's very common.
Speaker:People start a business with
Speaker:a skillset and they do that.
Speaker:They know that skillset and then it
Speaker:grows and they've got employees in it.
Speaker:And now all of a sudden, all
Speaker:that other stuff comes up and.
Speaker:And they're so busy just doing the
Speaker:thing that where do you, you can't
Speaker:just stop and go back to school.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And the other thing too would be
Speaker:learning to work on the business
Speaker:and not in the business, right?
Speaker:If you're working in the
Speaker:business, you have a job.
Speaker:You're just maybe a solopreneur.
Speaker:You're not, you're not an entrepreneur.
Speaker:You're an employee in a business that you
Speaker:own working on the business and trying to.
Speaker:Make it grow and trying to
Speaker:bring more stuff into it.
Speaker:That's a different side of the business.
Speaker:And I think that for me, who's a bit
Speaker:of a control freak at certain times,
Speaker:it took me a while to just to sit let
Speaker:it go, let somebody else do the job.
Speaker:Because for a couple of reasons, I have
Speaker:one guy I was at a training and he said
Speaker:to me, who does your keyword research?
Speaker:And I'm like, well, I do.
Speaker:And it's like, how much are
Speaker:you charging out at the time?
Speaker:I was like a hundred bucks
Speaker:an hour to do, for my time.
Speaker:And it's could you hire
Speaker:somebody to do that?
Speaker:And I'm like, I mean, maybe, but you know,
Speaker:could you train somebody how to do it?
Speaker:I'm like, yeah, sure.
Speaker:He's so if you could train somebody to do
Speaker:it and they, and you charge, they charge
Speaker:you $25 an hour, you're basically saving
Speaker:$75 an hour and you're, if you're doing it
Speaker:yourself, then you're getting paid $25 an
Speaker:hour for a hundred dollars an hour person.
Speaker:And I went.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:I never thought of it that way.
Speaker:I'm like, that makes total sense.
Speaker:Like I'm wasting my, let me give this
Speaker:work to somebody else that can do it.
Speaker:That does the same job work.
Speaker:I can teach to do the job and pay them
Speaker:25 bucks an hour and go find people who
Speaker:will pay me a hundred bucks an hour,
Speaker:200 bucks an hour, whatever it may
Speaker:be and do that job, let that happen.
Speaker:And so that was also something I wish I
Speaker:had known earlier on in the business is to
Speaker:work on it, not in it as much as you can.
Speaker:Yeah, there's an author.
Speaker:I like Michael Mikhailovich.
Speaker:I believe this is how
Speaker:you pronounce his name.
Speaker:He wrote, he's written several books.
Speaker:One of them is called fix this next.
Speaker:And the other one is run like clockwork.
Speaker:And the run like clockwork is, is that
Speaker:what you were just talking about is
Speaker:take the owner working themselves out
Speaker:of running the business all the time.
Speaker:To being the business more like
Speaker:an investor managing the business
Speaker:from externally and, and his, the
Speaker:challenge that he sets for people is
Speaker:when you start following his process,
Speaker:or if you hire his, his consulting
Speaker:is you plan a four week vacation.
Speaker:You put it on the calendar, whether
Speaker:it's a 18 months, but you plan a four
Speaker:week vacation and you work to take
Speaker:that four week vacation and have the
Speaker:business run you for that four weeks.
Speaker:So I was lucky enough.
Speaker:In 19, 2019, I went on a 10 day
Speaker:vacation to Iceland with a couple
Speaker:of friends and connection was tough.
Speaker:It was no like, wifi every now and then
Speaker:you get to the hotel, maybe you get some
Speaker:wifi, but those 10 days my team took care
Speaker:of whatever they need to take care of.
Speaker:I hear from my, my assistant a
Speaker:couple of times about stuff, but.
Speaker:I'm at the point now where I can go
Speaker:away for a little while and feel,
Speaker:I took a cruise like a couple years
Speaker:ago, actually Justin and I took our
Speaker:first cruise together right before,
Speaker:literally like It was the week of
Speaker:COVID, like we were all shipped out.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker:We had no Wi Fi and I came back,
Speaker:I had no school, no nothing,
Speaker:like I was like, what happened?
Speaker:We got back on Saturday and Tuesday,
Speaker:the shutdowns happened on we got
Speaker:back on the 14th of March and
Speaker:17th was when they shut it down.
Speaker:So we, we came back then and that
Speaker:whole week we had no wifi and
Speaker:everybody, it was all running itself.
Speaker:So I'm at a place now where I feel
Speaker:like I can step away for a little bit.
Speaker:I know if there's an emergency
Speaker:or an issue I could be reached.
Speaker:I was away for 10 days during the
Speaker:summer RVing with with my girlfriend.
Speaker:And, a couple of little things came
Speaker:up here and there that I had to
Speaker:deal with, but most of it was like
Speaker:access to this, access to that.
Speaker:So the business runs pretty
Speaker:good for a little while now.
Speaker:Can it run for a month
Speaker:at a time without me?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:But I'm, I'm, I'm getting to
Speaker:the point where I can do that.
Speaker:And that's, that's really
Speaker:the, the point of the jump up.
Speaker:But now I'm investing a lot more of my
Speaker:time into this business, the new one here
Speaker:to build that side, because there's more.
Speaker:This is easier revenue
Speaker:and it's more scalable.
Speaker:So that's kind of where we're
Speaker:getting at with that trying to
Speaker:scale up that, We can get a thousand
Speaker:people paying us 99 a month.
Speaker:Yeah, that's that's a
Speaker:lot of money every month.
Speaker:So that'd be nice Well, I I i'm out of
Speaker:questions I mean you've answered more
Speaker:questions than I could have asked and
Speaker:and they're this is like a master class.
Speaker:I love it How can people find, where
Speaker:would you want people to find you?
Speaker:Do you want them to go to stevescottseo.
Speaker:com?
Speaker:Do you want them to go to
Speaker:your website tampa seo.
Speaker:com or what?
Speaker:Yeah, tampa seo.
Speaker:com is probably the best
Speaker:place to go right now.
Speaker:That will have access to our agency
Speaker:side of work, consulting work.
Speaker:And training work.
Speaker:We're actually in the middle
Speaker:of a redesign right now.
Speaker:That's going to probably relaunch
Speaker:sometime in the next few months.
Speaker:It's a little outdated, but
Speaker:contact information is there.
Speaker:Information about what we do is there.
Speaker:Some of the dates for training
Speaker:are not there because we're not
Speaker:doing in person training anymore.
Speaker:But that's coming.
Speaker:And the Steve Scott SEO site is launching
Speaker:probably in the next month or two.
Speaker:I would say.
Speaker:Beginning of the year.
Speaker:We'll have it up and running ready to go.
Speaker:We're just kind of finishing all the
Speaker:little, the little details off all
Speaker:the nuances, getting all the email
Speaker:chains going, but that, or you could
Speaker:just go on, on the web and just type
Speaker:in, Tampa SEO, Tampa SEO training,
Speaker:you'll find us on the web all over.
Speaker:There's reviews everywhere.
Speaker:Google, Facebook, Yelp you name it.
Speaker:Forget what I say.
Speaker:Go read what other people have to say.
Speaker:Go to LinkedIn, look at some
Speaker:of the recommendations and
Speaker:we've got Transcription I
Speaker:think it was like a thousand.
Speaker:Endorsements, 1800
Speaker:endorsements, 1800 endorsements.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:About 30 reviews on LinkedIn, it's just,
Speaker:I've been doing it a long time and a lot
Speaker:of people come in and out and through.
Speaker:My world, other people have come through
Speaker:the business either through training
Speaker:or consulting and have turned their
Speaker:own lives into their own businesses
Speaker:on their own, have whole businesses
Speaker:that they've created whole companies,
Speaker:like I said, have taken training and
Speaker:made their team, expand their team.
Speaker:And, they're, they're printing money.
Speaker:Some of these guys have an appointment
Speaker:tomorrow with an old student who has
Speaker:made a fortune selling chiropractic
Speaker:marketing after learning what to do.
Speaker:So yeah, so it's, it's great
Speaker:to share some of those triumphs
Speaker:with some of my old students.
Speaker:I love, when my, when my clients see
Speaker:they're coming up, at the top of Google
Speaker:for the things they wanna get found for.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So just reach out or and you can
Speaker:find, you can find us online.
Speaker:You can give Justin a call as well.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So Justin, you are on the website, right?
Speaker:Say it again?
Speaker:Is your phone number
Speaker:on the website, Justin?
Speaker:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Well, his isn't, but the main line is.
Speaker:And he gets all the calls.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:That was one big thing.
Speaker:When I shifted all the calls
Speaker:that were coming in to him,
Speaker:that was like, thank you.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:That saves him time.
Speaker:Vacation right there.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:This has been so much fun.
Speaker:Thank you so much for doing this with us.
Speaker:Thanks for having us.
Speaker:We will look forward to
Speaker:future conversations.
Speaker:Thank you guys.
Speaker:I really appreciate it.
Speaker:It's been great to chat with you.
Speaker:It's been great.
