From the Yellow Chair
From the Yellow Chair
Your Community Is Your Greatest Marketing Asset
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Private equity may be able to outspend your company, but it cannot manufacture genuine local trust.
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In this episode of From the Yellow Chair, Crystal Williams and Emily Fleniken explain why your community may be one of your company’s most valuable marketing assets.
They share practical ways contractors can build visibility and trust before a homeowner is facing an emergency. The conversation covers youth sports, chambers of commerce, nonprofit partnerships, scholarships, customer appreciation events, team volunteering, local business partnerships, school career days, and community focused social media.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Community involvement creates an advantage large competitors cannot easily copy
• Consistency matters more than putting your logo on a banner
• A focused nonprofit partnership can strengthen your brand and team culture
• Simple appreciation events can remain memorable for years
• Local partnerships can create value for your company, customers, and community
• Trust built before the emergency can influence who receives the call
ABOUT CRYSTAL AND EMILY
Crystal Williams and Emily Fleniken are part of the Lemon Seed Marketing team. Lemon Seed helps home service companies develop recognizable brands, organized marketing strategies, and stronger long term growth plans.
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Welcome And The Big Idea
SPEAKER_01What's up, Lemon Heads? Welcome to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. Guess what? It is both of us in the studio today. Kind of rare nowadays, huh? It is. It is. But um Crystal and Emily coming to you now. So welcome to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. I'm Crystal. And I'm Emily. And today, guys, we are talking about how community is your best resource for growing. So get situated, put your AirPods in, turn your radio up, but let's dip some lemonade.
SPEAKER_00Let's do it.
Simple Community Plays That Build Trust
SPEAKER_01All right. Yeah. So Emily, start us off with some practical, cool ideas that contractors could literally be, literally do tomorrow to build up some community, get known and recognized in their community.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we're going to just jump right into this because it is
Sports Sponsorships And Showing Up
SPEAKER_00so simple. It is literally just practical things. But community support is something that Crystal and I are both super passionate about, but it's something that a lot of people do just sleep on, whether they lack the creativity or they think they don't have the time for it. But we want to give you these simple little ideas because this is one of those things that private equity is not willing to do. Oh no. We we get contractors all the time was like, there's so much private equity in my market. What can I do? I can't compete with their pricing. I can't compete with what they pay, whatever, da-da-da. This is one thing that you can compete on and that they're not willing to do. Um, and so real quick practical ideas is how can we build trust? How can we build visibility before they actually need our service? So sometimes just like showing up at the local um baseball game or opening day of Little League Baseball, um, doing sponsoring the football team going to state. How can you support their brisket lunch that they're putting out that you can buy the banners or you can donate the photo booth to the opening day? You can have your mascot throw out the opening pitch, but just like looking for things that are important and relevant into your local community. So, like in Lufkin, Texas, our 12-year-old team went to the Little League World Series two years in a row. And so like that was a big deal, but like just having a pulse on what is important, um, whether it's sports-wise or animals, 4-H, things like that, just looking at what is important to your local community and how can you tap in and get involved there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And so, you know, that's great. It's uh I love that, especially those of you that have a mascot, guys, game changer. Like they love it. The community loves it, adults love it. Listen, everyone loves it. But, you know, one of the things that I always lean back on is you kind of have to show up with it, you know. So sticking your name on the back of a t-shirt, it'll it'll at least make them come to your office and take a picture. Okay. But like actually engaging with your community is something that really will move the needle for you. I think I always say when we hire a community marketer at McWilliams, I was like, give it, give it eight to 10 months and you'll start seeing things come
Chamber Of Commerce Networking That Works
SPEAKER_01to fruition. Um, and that goes for the same thing for point number two, which is going to be join your local chamber of commerce. Now, we all know some chambers of commerce are very active, very robust, lots of programming, lots of sponsorship opportunities, lots of cool things to do. And then some of them not so much. But I need you to meet them where they are. So I want you to jump in with two feet and get involved and get active and not just in your own things, but go to other people's ribbon cuttings, shake hands, kiss babies, pet dogs, sample the teas, do whatever you need to do. You know, so if it's a if it's a vet clinic, like get in there and like ask questions. Just engage with people because people want to do business with people that they like, know, and trust. So again, to Emily's point of building trust, your chamber of commerce, not only does your membership build some authority for you, but think about all the people that you're gonna meet, that odds are they're movers and shakers themselves, and their sphere of influence is huge. So you're gonna meet realtors and brokers and bankers and you know, home service people. But listen, a lot of home service people don't know how to get in there and network. And so my encouragement to you is take some business cards, take some stickers, take something that's kind of cool from your brand. And I want you to just be like, I'm gonna meet three people today. I'm gonna shake hands and I'm going to ask, I'm gonna engage about their business model. I'm gonna engage with them about things that they do because that's how I want to make sure that I'm making the most of my Chamber of Commerce membership and then look at sponsorship opportunities. Guys, in those sponsorship opportunities, look for ones that give you an opportunity to talk about your company. Okay. So do you get to host a breakfast where you get 10 minutes to um talk about things, what you know, talk about your company or what initiatives you've got going on. You know, just look for those opportunities, not just your logo on a banner. Those are my least favorite. Like they're the B team. I'm not picking that unless I have no other choices. Okay. So join that chamber of commerce and get active and get involved. And guys, stay consistent. Don't just give up after three months. Stay in it, run the course.
SPEAKER_00And I I think this is a keynote for everyone is most chamber memberships, you will get out of it what you put into it. Yes. So, like Crystal said, how can you be consistent with it, be diligent, and like just set a little goal for yourself of like, so like our local chamber chamber, they do um they do monthly breakfast meetings, they do business after five things at least one a month. If not a couple, they do lunch things. So, like just commit to yourself of like, hey, I'm gonna attend one breakfast a month. I'm gonna attend one lunch a month. Like set a personal goal for yourself and then hold yourself to it and actually
Pick A Nonprofit And Build Culture
SPEAKER_00do it. Um, but another thing that you can do is like, how can you feature a different nonprofit? Maybe every quarter, maybe it's once a year, you want to dedicate it that to um that one organization. We always think it's great if you can tie it back to your brand. So, like, does your brand is being a veteran a big part of your brand story? Like, is there organizations that you can align yourself with that way? Is um, you know, financial literacy something that you preach to your team and stuff. So like, could you get involved with junior achievement? Um, and sometimes it can be you, sometimes it should be you, but sometimes it can also be other team members um on your team. Like, could they go be a board member for that? Could they go to this banquet that they're hosting? Could they go to this fundraiser? Um, but choosing a local nonprofit, and maybe you do want to rotate it every single month or every single quarter, but like, hey, um, you know, for every new membership club that we sell, we're gonna donate X number of dollars to this organization for this quarter. Um, whether it's the Humane Society or the local food bank or maybe it's a faith-based cause, things like that. But um, that gives you social media gold, things that you can talk about, things that you can show the goodwill and how you're involved and plugged in in your community. Um, it builds team culture. Um, believe it or not, like your team likes to know that like I work for a good company that gives back, that is consistently plugged in and always looking like how can we do more? Um, sometimes people don't realize the internal culture that happens from when you get involved with local nonprofits, with community organizations. Um, and so being intentional and future one at least every quarter, um, or picking one for the entire year, I think is a great way to get plugged in and maximize your community efforts.
SPEAKER_01And you know, like you you mentioned this very at the beginning, like especially like you mentioned, we lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's in 2010. So we were passionate about that. My grandfather that the company's based after was a veteran. We did wreaths across America. It just gives us a power and a purpose and authenticity to it. So that's definitely um a game changer. So speaking of that, yeah.
SPEAKER_00One other pro tip is like sometimes it can also give you an out. So, like, we know as a business owner, you're getting hit up out of the woodworks. Can you donate to this? Can you donate to this? Can I have money for this? And like we all know you can't do everything, but if you do have like a publicized, aligned cause, hey, we really appreciate you reaching out to us. Unfortunately, we do support or we give all of our time and energy to education initiatives or to veterans' initiatives, things like that. Sometimes you just need an out, but it when it makes total good sense of like, oh, they do support there, they're not just saying no, it's but they allocate all their resources and time to this one particular cause or causes. Um, sometimes it can give you an out, which sometimes you need.
SPEAKER_01You do. And again, you can do what you want to do because it's your company, but it does help you say no when you need to. Yeah, absolutely.
Scholarships And Appreciation Events
SPEAKER_01Well, and along those same lines, like another thing that you could do is maybe you're not great at giving out money, but what if you did a scholarship in honor of an honor of something or a person or just wanting to get more people in the trades, or hey, I just want to support every local high school in our market. I give a thousand dollar scholarship to. And you show up to their scholarship nights with this big check. Their family takes pictures with you. Um, and it's just a scholarship program that shows that you give back to youth, that you support all the schools, right? So, you know, like me, I'm from Dyball, Texas, in good old East Texas. Um, and so of course I'd love to give a scholarship at Daball, but also I service Livingston, Nacadochis, you know, so uh making sure that I spread the love a little bit, but it's a great way, number one, to be seen, but also to truly give back to kids and they're excited, the family's excited, great picture opportunities, and again, great content. They can live on your website for a year and every year, partner with a local radio station to do this whole thing every year. It's the crystals heating and air scholarship blowout. We're giving, you know, one lucky senior from every school, um, or going more the trades route, you know, so lots of cool opportunities there as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, another fun thing is host an appreciation event. So you can do this a couple of different ways, you know. Um, again, as you keep your eyes open and look for opportunities, these will become even more and more evident to you where you'll be rattling them off also. But if you're thinking, like, how can I show appreciation to my community? Be looking at um back to school is coming up. What can I do for the teachers? For how can I support PTO, things like that. Maybe it's um first responders month. How can I host a luncheon for nurses or for um firefighters, police departments? Um, there's so many opportunities and organizations that you can do that, whether it's a lunch, whether it's a breakfast, whether it's um buying supplies that they might need, um, whether it's stocking a kitchen somewhere, you can host that. Thank those volunteers, thank those um whoever those people are. You could also do a customer appreciation event. So maybe it's not for a specific type of people, but all of your customers. Um, you could host something at your own office. It could be in your local downtown park. You could do a Sunday's Monday. So on Monday, we're just gonna have an ice cream Sunday bar and have that set up. Or hey, for the next four hours, we're gonna buy all the ice cream for everyone that comes through the downtown scoop. We're just gonna front the bill for it. Um, we want to rent out the local movie theater and we just want to host a family movie night, popcorn and drinks on us, or um free tickets. It there's so many opportunities that don't cost a lot of money that don't require a ton of like lift from you or your team, um, but they can really go a long way. Because again, these are things that private equity companies are not willing to do. These are things that people that are, I'm gonna say just lazy, other business owners that are just like, uh, like it's just so much energy of me. They're not willing to do it. With when you take this much effort, it will go and leave a lasting impression. And again, it's not that you're going to rent out the movie theater and all of a sudden you sold a hundred new systems from that movie theater. No. But what it did me is like, uh, it stuck with those people. The the people that came, it was very memorable to them and very impactful to where when they need to think of someone who to call, when they do have a problem, you're the first one they think of because they think back to that dang movie theater. They think back to that ice cream sundae that you gave out to their kids. Um, that's what we're trying to build here is how can we build visibility, exposure that innately builds trust? That's what we're looking for here.
SPEAKER_01Well, and like you did this, you and Chris, you're y'all did this for real graphics. Y'all hosted a movie time and like all your customers got to come because I brought Carter. Um home alone, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So is that Christmas time? And we have a local theater downtown that'll show movies, and so we rented out the theater. I think it was like $400. So again, like not earth-shattering things, and then like we just intentionally the the theater didn't take tickets, but we made our own little tickets. But it was a great way for our sales guy to just be like, hey, McWilliams and son, we appreciate you guys and your business. Here's 10 tickets, give it to any of your staff members, you, your family, bring your family. We just love to have you guys here. Um, and so we gave that out to some of our big clients, but then we also just had some like in the office as people were coming in and out. Um, we promoted it on social media, and it was a huge hit. Um, some people that we see regularly came, some people that we hadn't seen, and like, but we were able to build that relationship. And so it required minimal effort, um, $400 to rent it out. And then we bought the popcorn and sodas there and we printed some tickets, but we weren't having to decorate a whole bunch of stuff. We didn't have to buy a ton of swag. Um, it was just an easy, easy little thing, but I think it meant a lot to people. And like, Chris, you remember it was eight years ago, but you remember taking Carter to it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It was a great little family moment. Okay.
Team Volunteering And Local Partnerships
SPEAKER_01And then another thing that you can do is volunteering as a team. So Emily and I, a couple of years ago, we brought our whole team in because you know, we're at that time, I think we were like half remote and half in office, but we actually took our entire team and went to the food pantry and restocked shelves and help people stock or shop. Um, and it was great, not just for team camaraderie, but it also was good to show that we care about giving back. And so you can volunteer as a team to build a portion of a house for habitat for humanity. Um, paint something like go pressure wash a playground in a neighborhood. Your team, they might be a little whiny, but get them excited about the fact that you're giving back. And this oftentimes gets earned public PR, right? So earned media comes from you taking 20 people out here to build a house or whatever you're going to do. But it also is like servant-minded things. And so the community likes to see goodwill being done. Um, and so is it collecting blankets? Is it doing a fan drive? What all could you do to really volunteer as a team and let their families come? I know McWilliams for a while, we rang the Salvation Army bell, and people could sign up for like hour-long blocks, and they would sign them and their kids up to ring the bell. And so it was then it was a great family. So made again great social media content. It brought awareness to the program. We actually helped Salvation Army with both staff and bringing in more dollars. It was a great play. Um, and it just really served our team, if you will, served them in a way of like they got to feel good. Because you know, one thing, people don't know how to give back sometimes. They don't know how to get plugged in. And I forget, but Emily, we you and I were talking about this the other day, like a percentage of our team, the age bracket that they're that they're in, they're seeking purpose and like that what they do means something. And so, what a great way to do that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, 100%. I love it. Um, another local thing is how can you partner with another local business? And there's a couple of different ways of how you can get creative. I know I kind of already mentioned, like, hey, we want to sponsor, you know, from 12 to 4, all the ice cream we're gonna buy front the bill for it. That's an easy way, but like, how could you also partner with other local businesses? So, like, I'm thinking of, hey, for every new system install, we're gonna give you a free driveway pressure washing cleaning. So we're gonna partner with this local pressure washing company. And for every new install, we're gonna give you one of those or a soft washing something for your house. Um, great partnership for maybe some of those smaller guys that are just getting off the ground, or maybe it's your buddy and you want to do some kind of cross promotion there, but it's also just another value added perk to be like, oh yeah, my driveway or my sidewalk would look a lot better if it got pressure washed. Like it could be a nice little upgrade upsell to you. Um, a free pest control spraying with a local pest control company that could be an easy add-on value for you as you upsell something, but have that partnership. Um, I also I've I've mentioned this one a few times, and I love it that I've robbed from someone that mentioned that they did it, but they partner with a local bakery. And anytime they get a bad review, they send that bad review, they send that person a pie and they said, Hey, we're gonna eat a slice of humble pie here. We're sorry that we messed this up, but like how it totally flips that customer experience and makes that partnership with that local bakery, um, and how you can turn make some lemon lemonade out of lemons. Um, but just looking for those little partnerships, there's creative ways, whether it can be a gifted add-on with purchase, whether it's just sponsoring something, whether it's a co-promotional type thing, there's tons of different ways of how you can partner with other local businesses and it not be in competition, but it be value ads for both of you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, great call out there. Absolutely great call out there. Um, and even things like agreeing, like recommend each other in social media groups. Um, so like when people are looking for a lawn care guy, recommend your lawn care guy. You know, like just really having each other's backs. You can share postcards and billboards, you can share all kinds of things, especially in non-competing yet complimentary products. And so great idea there.
School Career Days And Social Shoutouts
SPEAKER_01The other thing you can do is like show up when your schools have like touch a truck or job fairs or career days. Show up. Take your truck, take your gauges, take your free on bottles, whatever you've got, take water heater parts, take pipes, whatever you've got, okay? And show up and talk about the job, talk about the careers that they have. That is also a way. Now, remember, because you're not just talking to the kindergartners, you've got all the school staff there who's thankful that you came and entertained their kids.
SPEAKER_00100%.
SPEAKER_01Bring stickers, bring coloring sheets, and just really have a good time. That's a little easy one that just even if you do two or three a year across the schools, they love it because you're investing in the kids, but also it's a great time to give every teacher a $50 off coupon. Hey, thank y'all for letting me be here. I've put a $50 coupon in everybody's teacher's box. You know, thanks, thanks for letting me be here. Um, trade opportunity.
SPEAKER_00And I think that's one that people can so easily shove to the side. Well, like, eighth graders aren't my dem demographic. I'm not gonna waste time there. Well, hey, it's not just for the eighth graders. Yes, it is. How can you talk about the trades and the careers and pour into those kids? But then I'll like you said, it's so much more for the faculty and the staff, and that means so much more to them. Um, so yeah, great call out. Okay, last but not least, celebrating local heroes on social media. Okay. Who are the local celebrities in your town, in your area, or who are the non-local celebrities that should be? They should be getting some call out and some recognition and stuff. So could that be the the teacher of the month? Hey, nominate the best teacher, nominate your favorite teacher, nominate your favorite school faculty member. Um, could it be a nurse? Could it be um a public service worker? Could it be um the local shout out? So, like, hey, our favorite spot of the month is this coffee shop this month and this bakery next month. But who are those local heroes, those local influencers, or just those people that do deserve those shout outs? How can you be um bringing that good light and that positive energy and shout-outs, um, building goodwill that goes so far with so many people? And those people just need that little bit of encouragement. And when they see you as your company as being plugged into this community, being a neighbor here, we live, eat, and breathe in the same place where you guys do, making those local shout-outs. Um, it just goes so far to where you can give that encouragement to that individual person, but then everyone else on looking, they also see you as being that positive light and that positive energy that's so needed. Um, and again, when we our service is time of need, emergency, people are freaking out. Like it is a terrible situation. My home is 102 degrees inside. Like, how can you be that positive light, that calming? We're here to solve and fix everything's okay. Like, you can inadvertently do that by just shouting out local heroes on social media.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, such a fun way to do it. Such a fun way to do it.
Trust Beats Ad Spend And Next Steps
SPEAKER_01So, hey guys, most of you know at Lemon Seed, we believe the strongest brands aren't really just built through advertising alone, but they're built through boots on the ground, organic, relationship-driving ideas and initiatives. And so every handshake, every nonprofit, every youth sports team, every community festival fair, every partnership, and every volunteer hour, those are not just acts of service. Um, they're really investments in your community to really cultivate and build trust. And so it's always trust will always outperform that big marketing budget, especially like pro tip here, like PE or oversaturation large companies. This genuine relationship building, trust-driving initiatives are what really outperform because your your community is not just where you do business, but it's your actually your greatest marketing asset.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And when you're ready to get out of the constant rat race of constant lead generation and you're ready to start building a legacy, community support is your marathon strategy. So when you're ready to get out of the sprint of that headache of constantly chasing leads and build a brand, build a legacy, this is a great way to start. And so Lemon Seed loves to help our contractors um strategize and come up with ideas and opportunities to build a brand that ultimately builds a legacy.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So you guys know Lemon Seed, we are absolutely here to be your fractional CMO, your fractional marketing department. Um, and we highly trained staff specific to the home service industry. We can help you reimagine your brand, rebuild a branding strategy along with ongoing um support for your advertising budget and strategy. We're here to help you with all those things. We would love to visit with you. If you have really enjoyed today's episode, comment, give us a share, give us some five stars, give us some reviews. We would love to hear from you. But the strongest brands aren't always allowed us. They're really the most involved. So if your community would never miss you if you're gone, you're missing the boat. But if they do notice when you're not there, you've built so much more than a business, you've built a brand. So thanks for sipping lemonade with us today.