Episode 109
From Handyman to Celebrity Contractor: A Journey of Transformation
The principal theme of this podcast episode centers on the importance of evolving one's business identity beyond conventional labels, as exemplified by our guest, Steve Deubel. Throughout our dialogue, we explore the transformative journey of individuals in the home services industry, particularly emphasizing how embracing a broader perspective can lead to enhanced community engagement and personal fulfillment. From discussing Steve's origins as a handyman to his emergence as a celebrated figure in home improvement media, we delve into the nuances of branding and the significance of social proof in establishing credibility. Moreover, we address the evolving landscape of business practices, advocating for proactive communication and innovative customer experiences that transcend traditional expectations. Ultimately, we encourage our listeners to not only embrace their passions but also to take decisive action towards their aspirations, reinforcing that the journey of entrepreneurship is replete with opportunities for reinvention and impact.
Takeaways:
- In our podcast, we emphasize the importance of embracing evolution in business practices, particularly in the home services sector.
- Communication remains a pivotal element in ensuring customer satisfaction, fostering trust, and facilitating smooth project execution.
- Our discussion highlights the significant impact of personal branding and visibility, such as utilizing social media and podcasts, on attracting clients.
- We explore the transformative nature of client experiences, advocating for memorable interactions that extend beyond mere transactions.
- The journey of entrepreneurship is underscored by the necessity of taking action and pursuing passions without unnecessary delay or hesitation.
- Engaging with clients on a personal level, such as befriending their pets, can dramatically enhance rapport and facilitate smoother consultations.
Transcript
Hey, everyone.
Speaker A:Brian Durkin here.
Speaker A:Welcome back to another ad hoc and crazy episode of traveling marketing the road to six figures.
Speaker A:I am here with Mr.
Speaker A:Steve Dubel of sunny Arizona.
Speaker A:So much like me in Florida, he's getting ready for roasting season.
Speaker A:Funny aside, for those of you who don't know me much about me, I didn't know much about Arizona until last spring.
Speaker A:My.
Speaker A:My son is.
Speaker A:My son is in professional sports as an official.
Speaker A:He doesn't like me talking about more than that.
Speaker A:And he spent.
Speaker A:He did extended spring training at the Arizona Complex League last year.
Speaker A:And he said, dad, it gets to be like 110 degrees and they have games at noon.
Speaker A:I'm gonna.
Speaker A:I'm gonna ins.
Speaker A:I'm gonna ignite.
Speaker A:He ended up getting transferred to Florida.
Speaker A:So instead of it being 110 degrees, it was only 97 degrees.
Speaker A:Instead of catching on fire, he was dripping wet with all the humidity.
Speaker A:So trade one of the under.
Speaker A:So it's a dry heat.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:So anyway, Steve, welcome.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:It's a pleasure being here, Brian.
Speaker A:So what's really cool about Steve?
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I think one of the things that's really interesting for those of your listeners is that everyone's journey in business changes.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So, Steve.
Speaker A:And we'll.
Speaker A:Steve, when I found him, he did the remodeling contractor.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He's actually a celebrity.
Speaker A:He's a TV guy.
Speaker A:I assume it's most.
Speaker A:Was it mostly local market TV that you did, or was it kind of national?
Speaker A:Was it national market?
Speaker B:It was local and it was a.
Speaker B:Very.
Speaker B:Pretty much.
Speaker B:In the whole state of Arizona.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Fantastic.
Speaker A:And locals, whatever you make it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But still, I can tell you right now that that content is evergreen, because I found it.
Speaker A:So if I'm Googling Steven, his company, it took me about seven seconds to find he.
Speaker A:He was on tv.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So that's a big difference.
Speaker A:He's got a podcast with way more episodes than I do, but I'll catch up at some point.
Speaker A:Don't worry about that.
Speaker A:My promise to you, I'm a nut.
Speaker A:It's my.
Speaker A:My friends and family.
Speaker A:My kids just shake their head all the time, but.
Speaker A:But don't be afraid to reinvent.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Most people, you know, the home services industry is this constant evolution.
Speaker A:And I, I think, and I don't know, ask this question.
Speaker A:So people that identify as a.
Speaker A:Hey, I'm a remodeling contractor, are they really remodeling contractors or what Would you challenge someone like that who calls themselves, like, is there something they could think about differently because I, I, I think the angle, the celebrity angle.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:How did you get into the two questions?
Speaker A:One, should you, should you pigeonhole yourself?
Speaker A:And two, how did you get on tv?
Speaker A:That sounds cool.
Speaker B:Well, it's, it's, it's kind of like the, all the aspects are connected.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:When I think in answer to your first question, you know, people talking about being a remodeling contractor.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I started my business years ago as a handyman service.
Speaker B:And then everybody liked my business and the way I worked in the quality that I gave them.
Speaker B:And through, you know, word of mouth referrals, I, they urged me to do bigger projects.
Speaker B:So then I became a general contractor and then I started, you know, my claim to fame was kitchen, bath, kitchen and bathroom remodels and room additions.
Speaker B:So as I grew, obviously my sphere of influence grew to, you know, using other quality, you know, subcontractors and stuff like that to have a, basically a team that were able to accomplish all this.
Speaker B:And this went on for years and years.
Speaker B:But then I saw over the years there were too many people doing things in their home themselves and thinking they were DIY experts when they really weren't and they were getting injured.
Speaker B:And, I don't know, I had the urge to give back to the community so that maybe if I could help one person to not do something and just think about what they're trying to do instead of saying, oh, I could do that.
Speaker B:You know, when men have a bad habit about doing that, men will say, I can do it.
Speaker B:They'll tell their significant other, yeah, honey, I'll take care of it.
Speaker B:And then they walk into the garage and they're like, okay, so how am I going to do this?
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker B:And then they wind up hurting themselves.
Speaker B:So to my wife.
Speaker B:Huh?
Speaker A:My wife.
Speaker B:Hey, go.
Speaker B:What happened was when I used to grow up, I grew up in New York and lived in Chicago, in Boston.
Speaker B:I had, I worked in a transportation business.
Speaker B:But I was, I was going to open a disco back in the 70s back on Long Island.
Speaker B:So I bought a sound system.
Speaker B:And then one thing led to another.
Speaker B:We didn't open it, but I became a mobile dj.
Speaker B:So getting in front of people and making, creating an atmosphere that was really, that people could be happy was always something that gave me a lot of gratification.
Speaker B:So I said to myself, I said, well, how can I give back from home improvement?
Speaker B:And I said, I'm going to start my own radio show.
Speaker B:So I did a lot of, a lot of research.
Speaker B: And then in: Speaker B:And I think how I got on TV was that through promotions that I did the local ABC affiliate here in Phoenix, ABC15.
Speaker B:The producer actually contacted me and said, hey, would you like to come on and do a DIY spot on our morning Ghosts in Our Living?
Speaker B:So I said, sure, I can do it.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:I made sure that I did a hard to believe.
Speaker B:I did a drywall repair and I did a board to show damage to completion, and I did a drywall repair in four minutes because you only get four minutes when you're watching Magic a tv, right?
Speaker A:It's got a producer.
Speaker B:This was live, so it was good.
Speaker B:So I did that.
Speaker B:And then, you know, through.
Speaker B:I did that for two years, like twice a month.
Speaker B:And then somebody came up with the idea, why don't you do a TV version of your radio show?
Speaker B:So I did two years of that where we were able to go out and do interviews, much like we're doing in.
Speaker B:In a, in a, in a.
Speaker B:Just a.
Speaker B:Like a chair setting.
Speaker B:But then we went out into the field to start interviewing, you know, the subcontractors and looking at projects and stuff like that.
Speaker B:And then we did flips.
Speaker B:And so that's how we got.
Speaker B:That's how we got to do tv.
Speaker B:And I guess that's how you could say, yes, I'm.
Speaker B:I have that name celebrity.
Speaker A:So I.
Speaker A:And I, I use that term so because for those of you listen to the previous podcast and, and I'm a Dan Kennedy guy, so Dan always talks about entertainers and celebrities make more money than teachers.
Speaker A:Which one's more important, right?
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So the idea of once you change from being a remodeling contractor to being an expert on the, on the business of changing people's lives through better homes, whatever it is, right?
Speaker A:Then all of a sudden you're a celebrity.
Speaker A:And if they're going to check up on you versus a competitor and they go to your YouTube channel or your podcast, like again today, the production is so much different and it's so much more accessible.
Speaker A:I'm purposely.
Speaker A:And Steve and I are doing a live video chat because we look at each other's faces way more easier.
Speaker A:But the idea is that any medium just becomes incredibly.
Speaker A:Like there's so many things you can do.
Speaker A:And what I will say again, back to the listeners, you don't get anywhere without doing anything, right?
Speaker A:So stop getting ready to get ready.
Speaker A:So if you're going to do a podcast, a YouTube channel, even just posting videos on Instagram or Facebook Right.
Speaker A:Go ahead and do that.
Speaker A:Because, you know, as people look for you, the idea of social proof, right, A marketing term most marketers like to use, is that you may not find them.
Speaker A:So Steve, and I'm being careful with my words.
Speaker A:Steve talked about being an influencer.
Speaker A:To me, Steve's not an influencer.
Speaker A:To me, influencers are just a bunch of bag of wind who are just showing their butts on Instagram or whatever.
Speaker A:But it's The Kardashians and Mr.
Speaker A:Beast who are doing crazy stuff.
Speaker A:And by the way, there's a place for them.
Speaker A:It's entertainment.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I get that.
Speaker A:People either watch them because they love them or watch them because they hate them.
Speaker A:You know, back to the Howard Stern, back in our day that people, you know, 60% of Howard Stern's office, his audience in New York City, listen to him every day because they hated his guts and wanted to know what he wanted to say.
Speaker A:Regardless of that, his advertiser knew that people listened to him for that reason.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So there's distinctions.
Speaker A:I'm being kind of careful that.
Speaker A:So as you think as you go through the process, you know, you don't have to start doing something, but being consistent is the key.
Speaker A:My wife's an interior designer, right?
Speaker A:She coaches interior designers, has an interior design business.
Speaker A:So she does lives regularly.
Speaker A:She's like, if one person's there, or 50 people there, or 300 people there, a thousand, I don't know it.
Speaker A:But I still do it on a regular basis because she's giving back to the community.
Speaker A:And when someone's looking to do business with her, whatever the nature is, they look and say, and this is kind of funny, we live in an affluent market.
Speaker A:And so her design clients say, that's amazing.
Speaker A:So you are actually secure enough in yourself that you want to help other interior designers be successful.
Speaker A:And she's like, yeah, because we need to lift the profession up, right?
Speaker A:Because there's everyone.
Speaker A:There's so much.
Speaker A:Everyone needs so much help.
Speaker A:So my takeaway there is pick something.
Speaker A:Steve talked about his journey from.
Speaker A:He was in DJs, right?
Speaker A:People dancing, doing other stuff.
Speaker A:I'd like to ask the disco thing, but this is a PGA rated thing, so.
Speaker A:And in Long Island, I can only imagine.
Speaker A:I'm from Jersey, so I can only imagine the whole.
Speaker A:The whole 70s disco thing.
Speaker A:I was like 10 years old when I happened, so I can't help you there.
Speaker A:But nonetheless.
Speaker A:But the takeaway is like, hey, just pick something here.
Speaker A:He enjoyed it, right?
Speaker A:So he took something he was passionate about and he gave back and now his idea of giving back has taken him.
Speaker A:How long you been on this giving back journey?
Speaker B:Oh, well, let's see.
Speaker B:Oh my God.
Speaker B:Probably 20 some years now.
Speaker A:Does it feel like work anymore?
Speaker B:No, it's just, it's fun.
Speaker B:It's fun to be able to do so.
Speaker A:You know, you think about it, so you think about.
Speaker A:I have lots of friends that are contracting again.
Speaker A:I live in a, I live in an affluent market.
Speaker A:People buy houses, they renovate them, they live there for three to five years, they sell it, they get a bigger one, a smaller one.
Speaker A:They go to the beach, they go to the golf course, whatever it is.
Speaker A:I have lots of friends and all I hear from them all day is, this is terrible, this is terrible, this is terrible.
Speaker A:My, my thought is one, get out if you don't like it.
Speaker A:Two, could you make it better?
Speaker A:How could you make it better?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Communications is always.
Speaker A:And you know the mechanics of contracting, it's all about the communication.
Speaker B:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So by being a better communicator.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So you're, I guarantee you in your day to day business, your influence, people that are doing work for you, whatever it is, do they know where you stand at most times?
Speaker B:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker B:I mean, I mean, I know like, I know like customers to be like wondering or second guessing where we're doing, what we're doing, how we're doing it.
Speaker B:All that gets explained up front.
Speaker B:They get periodic meaning, like probably semi, daily or even weekly updates on where their projects go and what I'm going to accomplish next week.
Speaker B:So that this way it's all done.
Speaker B:But my main focus, and I let them know is the fact that when I get done, I want people to your friends and family to walk in and say, wow, that you, you got your kitchen redone.
Speaker B:It looks fabulous.
Speaker B:It doesn't look like somebody just went in there and threw it in there.
Speaker B:And it doesn't flow with the rest of the house because I want to make it look like it never happened, but new.
Speaker B:And they're happy.
Speaker B:We know happy customers make happy referral.
Speaker A:And unhappy customers spread the word five times faster than happy customers.
Speaker B:Oh my God.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is a sad comment on things, but that's a topic for another day.
Speaker A:But these.
Speaker A:So think about.
Speaker A:So you just, you're good.
Speaker A:So you're a good communicator.
Speaker A:DJs communicate, let's have a good time.
Speaker A:And seeing this as a front, getting a front row seat or a secondary seat, you know, most customers just, they want to, they just want Information, they get it, stuff happen, but they just want information.
Speaker A:Because the other side of it is, is that some of these contractors, well, we're just lucky they showed up today.
Speaker A:Well, hell, that's not good enough, right?
Speaker A:That's not good enough.
Speaker A:And as someone in the business for, for us in our little business, right, My business, your business, probably same size.
Speaker A:We don't allow that with our sub.
Speaker A:We just, if they act that way, they find their way to the door and then they wonder, oh, we used to do a lot of work together.
Speaker A:Why not anymore?
Speaker A:One, because you were a terrible communicator.
Speaker A:Two, you showed up when you felt like it.
Speaker A:Three, you never did all the work because you didn't know what was going on, because you didn't bother reading the 16 emails and the five sets of drawings that you got.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:So you can't just show up like an, oh, you know, hey, there's a drawing on the wall for a reason.
Speaker A:Well, do you have it in Spanish?
Speaker A:No, but if you had asked for it, someone probably could have accommodated.
Speaker A:But I would think that's your job, Mr.
Speaker A:Subcontractor, since you knew which team you were going to send.
Speaker A:Like, why would that be my job?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So again, lots of crazy stuff around communication.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And it's not that hard to do, is it?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Think about it.
Speaker A:Texting, email, whatever.
Speaker A:Like how.
Speaker A:It's just with so much tech today, it drives me crazy.
Speaker A:Anyway, so have fun.
Speaker A:Make it.
Speaker A:Now I have a question.
Speaker A:So when you turn over the kitchen or project you're doing, do you do a dance party?
Speaker A:Is it like a spectacle?
Speaker B:Well, yeah.
Speaker B:It's funny you should mention that.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:One of the.
Speaker A:This could ball my kitchen when you.
Speaker B:Grow up, you know, here's one of the things.
Speaker B:What we did was one of the people that I was affiliated with was doing a TV show that was done locally here in the Phoenix market.
Speaker B:It was called Fine Wine and Design.
Speaker B:And what we used to do is we used to go in and tear out a kitchen, rebuild the kitchen.
Speaker B:It was redesigned, redone completely.
Speaker B:And then when it was all finished, she would hire a celebrity chef to come in to test drive the kitchen.
Speaker B:And then we'd have this big feast and party.
Speaker A:I don't know why that was on.
Speaker B:The TV show and that was on the TV show.
Speaker A:I don't know why more people don't do that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:It's amazing.
Speaker A:My wife is an interior designer.
Speaker A:We don't get to do that with every client project because of our seasonality.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:These aren't full time homes.
Speaker A:So the work gets done over the summer kind of stuff.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Get in for season.
Speaker A:They don't always want to do it, but they always get beautiful thank you gifts.
Speaker A:I mean like, not just like a car.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:They give this gigantic basket of stuff that's like a spectacle and it gets delivered by a courier because it's a spectacle.
Speaker A:Like it's designed to be a spectacle.
Speaker A:And by the way, having a, having a fine wine and dine thing, I mean, think about that.
Speaker A:So I'm just going to use some rough numbers.
Speaker A:Let's just say it's $100,000 kitchen.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So, so you spend a grand on dinner and a cook for a night, they're never going to forget you.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You're going to be invited to their Christmas party.
Speaker B:Well, yeah.
Speaker B:I mean the celebrity chefs that you used to get were from, you know, being, we're in, in Phoenix.
Speaker B:You know, we've got a lot of like resorts.
Speaker B:There's a lot of famous, you know, chefs here.
Speaker B:And those are the people I even met, had a chance to meet a few of them.
Speaker B:I always thought that the show had a unique, unique design and an audience that I was ready to go and let's, hey, let's go national.
Speaker B:But unfortunately it never happened.
Speaker B:But it was a great idea.
Speaker A:And the, I mean think about it.
Speaker A:Who, what could you do?
Speaker A:What could any home services company, no matter what you do, what could you do to do to make the finishing, the finishing line, whatever.
Speaker A:The finishing line is an experience.
Speaker A:So one of my friends and clients, he's a carpet cleaner.
Speaker A:He cleans carpets, probably does, uses the same equipment that most guys use.
Speaker A:He kind of does this experience a different way.
Speaker A:But have you ever, ever heard a carpet cleaner sending birthday cakes to people for their birthdays?
Speaker A:Have you ever heard a carpet cleaner sending.
Speaker A:End of season, because the crabbing season, he's a crab guy sending bushels of crabs to people for a crab fest.
Speaker A:Now granted, there's math involved, right.
Speaker A:You gotta spend a certain amount of money at a certain amount of time.
Speaker A:Could you imagine that?
Speaker A:He's a carpet cleaner.
Speaker A:He sends birthday cakes like, like who, who, who's not going to refer someone else to do more work?
Speaker A:Why and why does that matter?
Speaker A:For this conversation, his clients purchase three times more than the national average over a two year period.
Speaker A:His average customer visit 40% higher than anyone in any national chain.
Speaker A:His per profit, I mean, so the number, you gotta, you have to know the numbers, right?
Speaker A:We're, I'M gonna do an episode later on.
Speaker A:I have a couple numbers friends that are gonna do it.
Speaker A:You got to know the numbers, right?
Speaker A:Because, I mean, think about that.
Speaker A:How much goodwill did you create for being a part of the project?
Speaker A:And second, who doesn't want a celebrity chef to come to their house?
Speaker A:So if I got a choice between you and some other bozo, and you're going to bring Chef Louis from Chateau Blah Blah, my favorite country club or whatever, I'm in.
Speaker B:But, you know, that's that.
Speaker B:And that's exactly right, because that opens up a lot of things.
Speaker B:First of all, it's.
Speaker B:It's a fabulous memory that the, the family can actually keep photos and everything.
Speaker B:And, and, and being able to have them in your kitchen is like what I call, like, when I'm out on the golf course.
Speaker B:And, you know, you sink a.
Speaker B:You sink a putt from the sand trap.
Speaker B:It's an ESPN moment, so you have to have that.
Speaker B:And that's what it is.
Speaker B:It's a moment.
Speaker A:Insert ESPN sound here.
Speaker A:But all right, so.
Speaker A:So people buy.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And, and people wonder, like, well, you know, that's why I talked about.
Speaker A:Well, I'm just a.
Speaker A:I'm, I'm, I'm a.
Speaker A:I have this title, right?
Speaker A:I'm a remodeling guy and whatever.
Speaker A:But now you're creating experiences and, you know, so good, better, best.
Speaker A:So the best package is, hey, if you'd spend over $250,000, we're gonna have a celebrity chef come in for a week and five.
Speaker A:I don't know what the numbers are.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:They're paying for it.
Speaker A:Sorry, customers listening to this, you're gonna pay for it.
Speaker A:But the people at the high end, or even anything else, who doesn't like getting surprises, even if they know about it.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And I think.
Speaker B:I think one of the side benefits, which I, you know, it just happened, and you probably experienced this too, is that once you're out there doing that kind of work and you are out on TV or, you know, doing podcasts and stuff like that, you get a chance to, you know, interview other celebrities in not just your industry, but in other industries, which.
Speaker B:That happened to me.
Speaker B:In fact, recently.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I had a.
Speaker B:I had a great love for Deal or no Deal.
Speaker B:The original show before they came up was this Deal or Deal Island.
Speaker B:And I interviewed Patricia Cara, who just wrote a book about, you know, getting into the entertainment industry.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:So you.
Speaker B:You meet some of these people that maybe if you were just an.
Speaker B:A normal person, average person, you'd Never.
Speaker B:You'd never get a chance to meet.
Speaker B:And that.
Speaker B:That enriches me.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:I feel honored and humbled that I was able to do stuff like that.
Speaker A:And I know.
Speaker A:And I don't know if the model has changed, but I know certain.
Speaker A:Let's kind of talk about the TV business, the TV component for a while, like at the.
Speaker A:So you can manufacture celebrity called manufacturer celebrity.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You can have it doing a podcast or a YouTube channel.
Speaker A:But I know from personal experience, because of some of the things we do with our design business, that these producers are desperate for content and they're looking for something different.
Speaker A:So don't be afraid to pitch.
Speaker A:Don't be afraid to pitch or inform, quote, unquote.
Speaker A:You don't have to pitch.
Speaker A:It doesn't feel sleazy.
Speaker A:Just inform your local television of some stuff that you're doing that's interesting and different.
Speaker A:Maybe you're putting an air purifier system in someone who's got asthma.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Or something.
Speaker A:That's something.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Something unusual.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because they're looking for content.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:We talk about giving back.
Speaker A:So Pam and I both give back in different ways.
Speaker A:Pam's very involved in charities in our local community that have to with children.
Speaker A:So we don't announce it.
Speaker A:We just do our thing.
Speaker A:She gives the kids children's things.
Speaker A:And I support kids in entrepreneurship.
Speaker A:I talk a little bit more about them.
Speaker A:Pam does.
Speaker A:For those who are new.
Speaker A:Pam's my wife.
Speaker A:She has the Pamela Durkin podcast.
Speaker A:You listen to that Shameless plug.
Speaker A:But I've been helping kids in entrepreneurship in our local school system for the last nine and a half years.
Speaker A:So I go into.
Speaker A:I go into probably.
Speaker A:We have.
Speaker A:Our community has 13 high schools, about 80,000 students.
Speaker A:They get exposed to entrepreneurship from, like third grade through high school, and they have a chance to take some classes.
Speaker A:And so I go to seven different high schools every year, and I talk about the power of entrepreneurship.
Speaker A:And the one thing I always talk about go along Airlines is don't be afraid to ask.
Speaker A:Good entrepreneurs know how to ask good questions.
Speaker A:Um, and so we're all giving back in different ways.
Speaker A:Um, and so you asked your.
Speaker A:I'm tying this back in because the.
Speaker A:So you asked that other author or whatever to.
Speaker A:To meet on a podcast because you know why she responded.
Speaker A:One, you asked.
Speaker A:Two, she did some research on you and says, you're probably not a stalker.
Speaker A:You're probably okay.
Speaker A:And three, she said, I'm not busy.
Speaker A:I guess I'll make it Work, Right.
Speaker A:I was fortunate.
Speaker A:Kind of along the same lines.
Speaker A:Before COVID I was very involved in a national marketing organization.
Speaker A:So I got.
Speaker A:For a period about two years, I ran the Kid Entrepreneur program while the big conference was going on.
Speaker A:So the kids got to learn and do stuff.
Speaker A:And I was like.
Speaker A:And so the first year, I was like, huh, I wonder who can get in talk.
Speaker A:So we were able to get some of the people in the organization that were kind of our celebrities to talk to the kids about their own little thing.
Speaker A:But what was the coolest thing is I asked Steve Forbes to come in and talk to the kid.
Speaker A:And so you can go ahead and Google him.
Speaker A:Steve Forbes is the founder.
Speaker A:His father started Fortune magazine.
Speaker A:He also ran for president twice.
Speaker A:He's a national figure on the finance day.
Speaker A:Steve's nodding his head.
Speaker A:I know that guy.
Speaker A:What an amazing experience even the kids and I had at the time.
Speaker A:My two boys were in the program.
Speaker A:They were like, that guy was cool.
Speaker A:Who was he?
Speaker A:So think about that.
Speaker A:So they got a chance to talk with a guy, ran for president twice.
Speaker A:And now coming from New Jersey, and he's more of a celebrity on the east coast because Forbes is a bigger brand there.
Speaker A:And talk about being over the top.
Speaker A:His dad was crazy.
Speaker A:He was a motorcycle nut.
Speaker A:I'm going to tie that in a second because I saw your interesting cars.
Speaker A:His dad raced Ferraris, raced motorcycles, flew balloons.
Speaker A:To this date, the Forbes brand still maintains a balloon racing team, and it's called the Capitalist Tool, and they go to balloon festivals all over the United States and Canada to float their balloon.
Speaker A:It's in memory of his dad.
Speaker A:Steve said it was in memory to his dad because his dad always felt like he was free in a balloon.
Speaker A:And then people said, you can't fly in a balloon because you're too valuable.
Speaker A:We can't let you go up in the.
Speaker A:So, all right, I want to change gears a little bit.
Speaker A:I want to keep an eye on the clock so we don't bore everyone.
Speaker A:So we talked about you going for a showman through the business.
Speaker A:And I saw.
Speaker A:So now you're in.
Speaker A:In solar.
Speaker A:Right, so.
Speaker A:Because that's an evolution business.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So you want to talk about returnable energy, but I gotta ask, because I'm a.
Speaker A:I'm a latent car guy.
Speaker A:Previous life, hung out with some crazy car people.
Speaker A:So I.
Speaker A:I did see something recent.
Speaker A:The whole ev.
Speaker A:Are you, like, into the EV scene or is it tied to solar?
Speaker A:Talk to me about.
Speaker A:Let's share with the audience.
Speaker A:Like, how did you So I, I could see remodeling going to solar because the same people are adding on.
Speaker A:Why don't we add on to it?
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:Is there, is there a tie to that or am I just.
Speaker A:Well, it's Red Bull.
Speaker B:It's tied into from.
Speaker B: ast in the radio Show Back in: Speaker B:And then about three years ago, I got interested in container homes.
Speaker B:So I started, I changed the theme a little bit about it.
Speaker B:We still talk about remodeling and restoration work.
Speaker B:But then I also brought in the aspect of container homes and tiny home living.
Speaker B:So that naturally morphed into sustainable lifestyle living products and services.
Speaker B:Well, when the Electrify Expo came through Phoenix a few weeks ago, I reached out to the, the person from the expo and requested a press pass.
Speaker B:And then I said I would like to interview the CEO and founder of the expo.
Speaker B:So we figured that we got all that straightened out, scheduled and everything else.
Speaker B:So when we, when the expo came went out, I not only have it on my podcast, but we also videotaped it and it's on, it's on my YouTube channel.
Speaker B:So yes, getting involved with EV stuff, it's, it was part of the big picture.
Speaker B:So when we were there, everything that was there was electric from cars, scooters, skateboard tractors, from tractor trailers.
Speaker B:You know, that was one of my old things because I still have my CDL license from years ago.
Speaker B:So it was interesting just to get up to speed on some of the, on the technology and where that industry's going.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And as a marketing thing, right.
Speaker A:From a point of view, think about this.
Speaker A:What a genius move, right?
Speaker A:So now kudos to you.
Speaker A:I'm clapping.
Speaker A:Kudos to you because now all of a sudden you tied in interest to business and now you opened yourself up to a whole new audience.
Speaker A:And even if you realize now you may have done that on purpose, but for the person listening to this may say why is he interviewing guys that are.
Speaker A:So now he's open to the car.
Speaker A:So the guy that's the car enthusiast, who's an electric car enthusiast and we know they're enthusiasts and motorcycles, boats, all the other stuff.
Speaker A:So now he's gone from.
Speaker A:Well, one, they're going to want to, they're probably going to, they're going to remodel their house if they're going to stay where they are.
Speaker A:One, two, the recreational guys and the, the Container living people.
Speaker A:That's a whole nother audience.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So now you've exposed yourself to at least three or four different audiences who may still be in their current home while they're planning their future to go the other stuff.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And then YouTube is a wonderful resource.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because there's so much out there you get lost.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Cat videos and stuff.
Speaker A:But it's a wonderful resource and you could just go down that road and back to the common theme.
Speaker A:I, I watched the.
Speaker A:One of the videos with the guy with the Model A and I could tell you, I don't know who was more tickled.
Speaker A:Him talking about his car.
Speaker A:Are you talking to him about his car?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:It was good experience and it was great.
Speaker B:But the one thing that was really interesting was the fact that when we.
Speaker B:One of the other ones that we did, where I was pretty shocked when I first saw it was Hummer ev, which was pretty amazing from what the guy was explaining to me.
Speaker B:And they build them right over here in Scottsdale, Arizona, so it's not too far from Phoenix.
Speaker B:So it was interesting to see them and how far they could.
Speaker B:How far.
Speaker B:The one I was interviewing, the guy said he could go 400 miles on single charge.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think that, my personal opinion, I just think that different.
Speaker A:I don't know what the answer is.
Speaker A:I know the answer is we got to keep testing until we figure it out.
Speaker A:You know, there's like this pushback now.
Speaker A:Oh, EVs aren't selling.
Speaker A:Well, are EVs not selling or are the products boring?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I love the technology of Tesla, but they're not that exciting to look at.
Speaker A:The early ones were cool, but you look now me, I like, I don't even know if they're any good or not.
Speaker A:The Hummers look cool.
Speaker A:I drive a full size pickup.
Speaker A:The Ford Lightnings look cool.
Speaker A:You know, I don't know if the math makes sense.
Speaker A:I spend all my day sitting in my T shirt and flip flops in my house.
Speaker A:I don't go anywhere.
Speaker A:I'm a hermit.
Speaker A:This is like my outlet for me.
Speaker A:But you got to believe that this, you know, I don't.
Speaker A:Again, I don't know what the answer is, but clearly I'm a boating nut.
Speaker A:So you're starting to see electric outboards.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Again, they're starting small, but these are bolt on engines that go on the back of your back of the vehicle.
Speaker A:Then they have small battery packs that are weighing comparable because of the, I guess the, the, the amount of thrust am I using the Right.
Speaker A:Term the amount of energy that it pushes.
Speaker A:It needs a smaller motor but a bigger battery.
Speaker A:So it's comparable weight to a combustion, internal combustion engine, but it provides similar performance.
Speaker A:Not as long.
Speaker A:But if you're butting around a lake and Wisconsin and the lake's three miles long, how many times you've ever crossed the lake?
Speaker A:20 times, 50 times, 2 times, like, you know, I mean, I certainly wouldn't use it to go through the loop, go down the Mississippi, but, you know, if I could, you know, do that.
Speaker A:And again, the math's got to make sense and it's going to change, but I, I just think it's evolving.
Speaker A:It's fun to.
Speaker A:I admire how it's happening.
Speaker A:I don't know if it's going to happen faster.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Or not.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:As Jerry Seinfeld said, there's some very important people working on that.
Speaker A:But I can't.
Speaker A:It's going to, it's going to change.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So there's going to be adopters, certainly the container people that are doing solar.
Speaker A:I would imagine what, 80% of them have solar car, some kind of electric car.
Speaker A:I don't know what the number is, but if not, they're, I would imagine it's on their plans.
Speaker B:Well, you know, people that want to get off the grid and, or, you know, what's happening in the market here is that the municipalities changed some of their guidelines.
Speaker B:So now you used to be able to have only one primary residence on your property.
Speaker B:Well, because the economy and everything else, you know, people started looking into ADUs, which is accessory dwelling units, so they could have an 8 by 20 unit for like, for the sake of explanation.
Speaker B:It's like a casita.
Speaker B:So we can actually build one of those and do the, you know, put a slab down, run the electric and the plumbing and the water over to the slab, drop it in their backyard.
Speaker B:And now they can either use it for, you know, their, their grandmother or a family member or even use it as a vrbo.
Speaker B:So it's a moneymaker.
Speaker B:So people.
Speaker B:And then the municipality said, okay, now we're going to change this.
Speaker B:So now you can have two primary dwelling units on your property.
Speaker B:So it, it's an ever evolving industry.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that's a local thing.
Speaker A:Where I live in Florida, in Naples, they don't want those.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And I think it's more of a political thing.
Speaker A:Like they don't want lots of.
Speaker A:I'm fortunate.
Speaker A:I have a large, I have a very large lot.
Speaker A:And so they're, they're Using kind of their, their covenants to restrict those because they're trying to again they want to provide affordable housing but they don't want to allow that to happen.
Speaker A:At some point the roads will cross.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But again they got some important people working on that.
Speaker B:Something's gotta give.
Speaker A:Something's gotta give.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because I would think too that and I've seen some of these container homes and they're beautiful.
Speaker A:Like you don't have to, you don't necessarily have to give up now.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I would imagine some of the construction is quicker.
Speaker A:Some of it can be done off site, I would imagine.
Speaker A:But just if for listeners this is kind of interesting for someone who's looking to doing that or adding that to their bag of tricks.
Speaker A:What's the, I mean the math's.
Speaker A:The math.
Speaker A:Whatever it costs, it costs.
Speaker A:But how much faster is it to repurpose a container home that is to build thick built or you guys are probably block built like we are.
Speaker A:But other people that are listening are stick built homes or, or even manufacturing.
Speaker B:I mean we have both here at Phoenix block and stick.
Speaker B:But for the most part most of the, most of the homes do get built with their stick built.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:But some of the older homes are.
Speaker A:Blocked and Florida is the opposite.
Speaker A:Most of the homes are blocked because of hurricane.
Speaker A:But I have a stick built house and I've had two direct hits on my, my house and nothing's happened.
Speaker B:So for you.
Speaker A:Well, I've got lots of other stuff that happened but I had nothing to do with my house blowing away.
Speaker A:But apparently lots of nails and wood also works and we had 145 mile an hour winds in my house.
Speaker A:So I'm like I don't know what else I could expect.
Speaker A:Well that but anyway, how long did they.
Speaker A:So how long do they take?
Speaker A:Like is it from a time frame and you're just general experience just for me to know personally in the audience.
Speaker B:You, you could build, you could build for the most part.
Speaker B:If, if you order one pre made it takes about 90 days to build.
Speaker B:If that's you just buy a single container unit.
Speaker B:If you, if you want to build a multi container unit each we'll call it module of container gets pre built to a certain point then they transport it to the location and then they actually assembled it when it's there and then finish off where all of all the pieces supposedly like merge together.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker A:And then whatever roof lines are going to put on it.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean you can, I mean.
Speaker B:You could add patios I mean, you know, one of the other things that we, we also deal with our container pool.
Speaker A:So I saw that, talk about that.
Speaker A:So how did you, how did you come across that?
Speaker A:That's a really n.
Speaker A:What a pivot.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So now we went from being sustainable, right.
Speaker A:Living off the grid.
Speaker A:But I'm, I live in a neighborhood and I don't want to spend a hundred grand on a pool.
Speaker A:That's what they cost.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:I don't know what it is, whatever the number is, it's insane.
Speaker A:But talk about container pools.
Speaker A:That's a cool concept.
Speaker B:Yeah, container pools.
Speaker B:There I, I, I met a gentleman who actually is in Las Vegas when I was at the builder show about a year and a half ago.
Speaker B:And they actually build nothing but container pools.
Speaker B:So what if you, if you envision a 20 or 40 foot shipping container, what they do is they slice it in half horizontally, use both top and bottom.
Speaker B:They make a fiberglass insert that fits in the container and then they finish it off where you can put window in it.
Speaker B:It has all the equipment in it.
Speaker B:Like on the end where the doors are, that's where the stairs are.
Speaker B:When it's on a deck, you could just walk down and get in the pool, but all the pool equipment's underneath it.
Speaker B:So it's pretty, it's pretty cool that it gets all done and they just deliver it much like the container hole to the slab or wherever you put it.
Speaker B:Could go in ground above ground, partially in ground, like any hill.
Speaker B:And then you could build a regular deck around.
Speaker B:And the cool thing about it is you can make it look worth, you could make it look like a million dollars.
Speaker B:But if you decide to pack up and move, you could take it with you.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's, they want to put it.
Speaker B:In the ground and they got to, got to sell with the house.
Speaker A:What an interesting rate.
Speaker A:Because there are some markets where I live if you don't have a pool, the household cell.
Speaker A:But nobody uses the pool, which is kind of ironic because it reminds the whole of their grandkids.
Speaker A:And then they come at Christmas and the water's freezing and nobody goes in.
Speaker A:So I always found out to be ironic.
Speaker A:I happen, I, I use the pool, our pool regularly.
Speaker A:Cause it's hot in the summer and it's a nice break to get out of the hot and jump in the pool at home at lunchtime or after dinner or something like that.
Speaker A:What a cool concept.
Speaker A:So, so as someone who's listening to this.
Speaker A:So, so, so think about so the, the journey.
Speaker A:So how, how many So I, I'm feeling like you got four reinventions yourself.
Speaker A:You probably got five more left.
Speaker A:So what, what are, what are some things you would have that you wish?
Speaker A:What are some things you, you wish you did 10 years ago that you know now?
Speaker A:Am I, am I saying that right?
Speaker A:So if you could go back 10 years and turn the magic, magic switch, what are three things?
Speaker A:What are some you could share that you, that, that you should have done that you didn't do?
Speaker B:I would have to say I, I would have acted faster on some of my passion that I actually doing now.
Speaker B:And as, as I started doing them now, then it's, there's, there's no limit on it.
Speaker B:So I would have to say people thinking like you had said, if you have an idea or if you want to do a podcast, whatever you want to do, don't say, well, I got to get this, this, and this in order first.
Speaker B:Seek out a little help to get started and start small.
Speaker B:And then you could always tweak it if it needs to be tweaked or whatever.
Speaker B:And then before you know it, you'll be where you want.
Speaker B:And then the limits off.
Speaker B:Because I never thought when I did the, when I said I wanted to do the, the radio show that I would ever, ever be on tv.
Speaker B:And then people turned around after I started doing tv, said, you know, you're, you're good on radio, but you're even better on television because people can see your passion, that even what you're talking about, and you, you have that confidence about it.
Speaker B:It's not arrogance, you know, because a lot of people that you hear on the radio, sometimes, you know, they're arrogant because they think they know better than everybody else.
Speaker B:And I've been told that when I do consultations for remodeling that I don't talk at people, I talk to them.
Speaker B:And that's so very important to make them feel inclusive in that you understand what you're trying to do for them.
Speaker A:So in our business, we do a lot of marketing and referrals and telesales, all kinds of stuff.
Speaker A:And so my agents or my team's always asking me, it's like, well, what should I say?
Speaker A:And I go, these are the magic words.
Speaker A:How can I help you?
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:They'll tell you, you can help me by going away.
Speaker A:You can help me by being honest.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:One of the things we found in our design business, the number one decision making affecting the deal is trust.
Speaker A:So if people are feeling like they're being Sold to.
Speaker A:Then they're gonna.
Speaker A:They're gonna start thinking maybe that.
Speaker A:But if you really wanna sit on their side of the table, to use a sales term that we.
Speaker A:I came from tech and sales and stuff like that.
Speaker A:And the whole idea was like, you know, you're sitting across the table.
Speaker A:And I'd be like, well, I wanna sit next to the guy.
Speaker A:I don't wanna sit next to the table.
Speaker A:I want our goals to be in alignment.
Speaker A:Because if everyone's goals are alignment, then you get further.
Speaker A:So do you want me.
Speaker B:You want.
Speaker A:Do.
Speaker B:Can we.
Speaker B:Can I share a secret to your listeners?
Speaker A:Oh, we love secrets.
Speaker A:But don't tell anybody else.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:So I'm not going to say anybody.
Speaker B:It's between you and me.
Speaker B:It's between you and me.
Speaker B:One of the things that you have to do, and not just from a remodeling standpoint, but from any sales standpoint, if you're going to visit clients at their home, the very first thing that you need to do, if they have a pet, a dog, a cat, make friends with the pet first.
Speaker B:And if they.
Speaker B:The homeowners, see how pet reacts to you, that will break a lot of ice.
Speaker B:And then when you sit down and talk about that credibility and.
Speaker B:And you listen, that's the next best thing.
Speaker B:You got to listen to what they're saying.
Speaker B:And don't make sure you have both parties there.
Speaker B:Don't just listen to the husband or the.
Speaker B:Or the man or the woman.
Speaker B:Make sure that they're both there so they can both make decisions.
Speaker B:And that'll be good for you because you won't have to go back and play mother and tell the other one what the conversation was about.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Your job is not marriage counselors.
Speaker A:My wife says, actually, she puts that in this contract.
Speaker B:We wear a lot of hats, you know, psychologists, remodeling, we do all of that.
Speaker A:You know, marriage counselors, out of our pay grade.
Speaker B:It's true.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And if you're afraid to.
Speaker A:So here's the.
Speaker A:So if you're afraid to be that.
Speaker A:So one of the things you can do before you do the meeting is you set up a what to expect call, like a what to expect and drop it in the mail.
Speaker A:Here's some information about me.
Speaker A:Here's some information about the company.
Speaker A:Here's the types of questions you should ask.
Speaker A:This is the type of things I'm going to ask you.
Speaker A:And kind of, what's it like to work with me?
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:Like, you can tell, this is my story.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So they can do some research about you so they can learn about you.
Speaker A:If they don't do this Google thing or ChatGPT or perplexity or Claw, whatever you're using to get information these days.
Speaker A:And you can even say, I want to say that I think in Pam's kit she says I'm not a marriage counselor.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker A:So when, so when one is speaking, you're speaking for the voice of, of the, of the house.
Speaker A:Now a lot of times there's, there's, there's reality which is can't talk to both all the time.
Speaker A:You know, because you can't talk to two people all the time.
Speaker A:But certainly during the qualification process, during the sales process and during the follow up process, you know, you have to have buy in.
Speaker A:Now the mechanics of hey, can we get there today?
Speaker A:Or did so and so show up?
Speaker A:Like you can talk to one person, but sure.
Speaker A:So don't be a marriage counselor.
Speaker A:It's no fun.
Speaker B:No, it's no fun.
Speaker A:All right, so I'm gonna.
Speaker A:So a couple things I wanna, I want you guys to think about as, as we wrap up here is you learned a secret.
Speaker A:So don't tell anybody.
Speaker A:Cause that's magic.
Speaker A:Don't, don't tell anybody.
Speaker A:I'm going to share Steve's YouTube link because there's some really cool YouTube stuff that you can get, you can learn about him and see kind of the history and evolution because I believe it goes back quite a ways, right kind of TV days to the current stuff.
Speaker A:Fantastic.
Speaker A:And I'm a car nut, so I'm going to read the rest.
Speaker A:I saw the car interview, but I'm going to go back and watch some of the other ones.
Speaker A:And don't be afraid to get started.
Speaker A:I like the term stop getting ready to get ready.
Speaker A:Start small, be consistent to it.
Speaker A:So Steve, I wanted to say thank you very much for our time today.
Speaker A:I want to be cognizant of your time, so thank you.
Speaker B:I appreciate the, I appreciate your time too.
Speaker B:And it was great speaking with you and your listeners.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:And so for all you guys are out there sitting in your truck or ladies sitting in your truck, your Maybach, your Mercedes, your pickup, whatever, as you're driving in the.
Speaker A:You're using the driveway marketing podcast while you're in the driveway, while you're doing whatever.
Speaker A:I hope this was helpful to you in some small way and I look forward to hearing seeing you guys on the next episode.
Speaker A:Thanks everyone.
