Tow Professional Podcast
Tow Professional Podcast
How Tow Professional Turns Ads Into Real Leads
What if your marketing didn’t feel like a coin toss? We sat down and unpacked how towing and recovery companies can stop guessing, aim their message at real decision makers, and turn print plus digital into results you can actually see. From building a verified list of owners and check writers to pairing ads with editorial that spells out features and benefits, we map the steps that move a prospect from curiosity to a confident yes.
We get candid about the print versus digital debate and why it’s the wrong fight. Print lives on the desk and cements brand memory with fewer touches. Digital boosts frequency, speed, and measurement. The real win comes when you combine them: a smart print presence that educates, reinforced by e-blasts and social that deliver transparent metrics—opens, clicks, and device data—so you can refine creative and targeting with each campaign. You’ll hear how we help vendors track results even when buyers say “I saw you online,” thanks to topic-specific editorial that anchors the response.
Beyond placements, we dig into relationship-first support: honest ad critiques that steer creative toward benefits and action, warm introductions to distributors on the show floor, and fast, flexible publishing choices that larger outlets can’t match. We also pull back the curtain on services many don’t expect from a magazine—booth design, video production, ad design at no extra cost, podcast features, social amplification, and print collateral like inserts, flyers, banners, and calendars. Plus, we highlight our work around TRAA Hill Day and why advocacy matters for every operator’s safety and livelihood.
If you’re ready to reach the right people, clarify your message, and measure what matters, this conversation gives you a practical playbook. Subscribe, share it with a colleague who handles your marketing, and leave a review telling us which tactic you’ll try first.
Welcome, one and all, to Toe Professional Podcast. Remember, this is your podcast. It's for the pros that have a need to know that around the goat. This is truly the voice of the towing and recovery industry. I'm DJ Harrington, your co-host, better known as the Tow Doctor, and the real host of this program is the president and publisher of Topes Vesture Magazine. A very, very good friend of the industry and a dear friend of mine, Darren Weaver. Darren, how are you this beautiful day?
SPEAKER_02:And DJ, I am fantastic. And it is a gorgeous day. I am working through the satellite office of tow professional from the patio. I can't let a good day like this go to waste. So uh I'm gonna tell them myself and say, hey, I'm enjoying it. It's a it's a wonderful day. And I don't know how long our fall is gonna be, but if it's two days, I got one up here. I'm enjoying. So uh it's a great day.
SPEAKER_04:And uh this Darren, I think periodically, and we really should think about this. This episode we're gonna do today on our podcast. It's very vital that we talk about marketing just within this industry and with tow professional. So if I could let me ask you this a little bit, and I want to go through this because we have over 20,000 listeners, and I want them to know more about toe professional and how it has helped the industry, and how the industry has helped toe professional. It's a back and forth. So let's take this. If we were talking about marketing, how do you know your money is best spent? Is your marketing dollar working for you? Is one of the questions I want to ask people when I know they're not doing it. So what would you say to somebody? Say we're at the Florida Toast, and somebody's sitting there eating a hot dog like they did with you and me. What do they what do you say to them when it comes to marketing? And are you getting your bank for your buck?
SPEAKER_02:Man, that's a that's a great question, DJ. And that's you know, that's the the biggest thing that people worry about is hey, how can I tell this is working for me? How can I tell what it's doing and and what is marketing supposed to do for you? Well, for me, uh, I've been in marketing since I was in some part of marketing since I was 18 years old. I'm 52 now, so it's been many, many years of doing it. But the key is is you first off, you've got to get your message out there to every person that can possibly have use of your product and have the ability to purchase it. But secondly, you also have to inform them of the need of your product and how it can be beneficial to their business. Now, the the the biggest thing in print um is a lot of times it's hard to track. And in print, you get an ad and it has a concise message in it and it's out there. And at the end of the year, you have higher ups you have to answer to, and you have to tell how that thing performed. And a lot of times I've always said it's not an exact science by no means, or I'd be a millionaire. I've done this long enough. It's it's a uh it's a process. So you I feel like you have to look at marketing and you have to approach it before you even spend the dollars and what you expect it to do for you. Do you expect it just to be a picture with some text inside a publication and hope that that's going to generate the buzz around your product, or do you expect it to do more for you? Uh, because expectations in this business can get you into trouble based on your marketing spin. So you have to know your point of focus for that, and you have to have a plan to get to that. And uh, DJ, I think that's the the biggest thing that most companies struggle with. I've I've talked with many companies that have a tremendous product that's unbelievable, but people don't know about it. And that's the disconnect is how do we get to them? But then once we do get them to connect and we do get them to take part in that call to action, how do we even know it happened? Um, so that's why when I saw this injury, I said the industry, I said, there is really something I can do here um to set this apart and to be different inside the industry and to reach that pain uh for our advertisers and take them from the the pit of having that pain and wondering how to reach the right people to the peak where they can get to them, do the business with them, and grow those relationships. Um, so I think I think that is what you have to picture to answer your question before you even get started with it.
SPEAKER_04:Well, I talked to one guy earlier today, I'm gonna say around nine o'clock Eastern time, and all we were talking about is the recent show in Ohio. And the show was the guy said to me, if we're not at the show, people know we're not there. If we're not in a publication, people know we're not there. If we're not bringing new substance, even you know, when you offer some of these people four and five hundred words to put in a publication at no cost, there's no extra cost for them to do a little bit more of what's happening now, what's new, what are we developing, what are we working on for down the road? Let me ask you this what do you get with Toe Professional? Not just that you're plugging a space, but there's more to it than that. And I know for a fact at the Ohio show, you were introducing other companies to each other to help market so that they got more marketing out of it. And it's kind of funny. You should tell that story that you shared. I don't know if you want to say the names of the people, but you really said, No, I've already introduced you to that company, and that's what so what else do you get at Top Professional other than filling a spot?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I'm I'm glad you asked that because you you know, when it does come to to print advertising, a lot of times all you get is you you have a conversation with a rep, you you get an ad and you place it for one month or 12 months, or with RSU nine times a year, and then you you go on the point, you wonder, hey, I hope this works this year. Let's let's see how this goes. Cross your fingers. Yeah, yeah, one of those things. But with with Tel Professional, we we take it from a different aspect of how we're approaching the customer base. One thing that we do, DJ, that's different than the other quality publications in the space is we don't go out on a subscriber base. We only go to the owners in the industry. And this is made from a paid-for mailing list. I I capture the name, my listmaker captures the names at the DMV when they register their equipment. They put that up against Dun and Bradstreet, and that tells us the number of employees, size of the company, um, annual income, and so on. So, first off, you start with a rifle approach rather than a shotgun approach, and you put the publication in front of the check writers. Secondly, one of the best things you can do, I feel, is allow your advertisers to talk about their products. That's why the trade shows are so welcome, is because that's one time you've got that freedom of speech. You can stand in your booth and you can tout all the features and benefits of your product. Well, what I try and do as a publisher is come from a different standpoint. A lot of folks have called it um uh they they call it an ad guisine because there's editorial about the you know leading to an ad. But let's face it, folks, we're in a B2B industry. This isn't cosmopolitan, it's not uh men's health, it's a trade magazine that's targeting the check writers in the industry. So the better I can allow my advertisers to tell their story and talk about that, the better they're gonna do. And yes, that does take up space that I could normally sell to other advertisers. But the key is is if somebody trusts toe professional with their advertising dollars, first, you shouldn't feel honored to spend your money with a publisher. I we should feel honored for you to spend your dollars with us. And when you spend your dollars with Toad Professional, we want to do more than just fill a hole in a magazine, give you a thumbs up, and say, hey man, we hope this thing works out for you. We'll call you in 26 to sign you up for next year. What we do is we get behind our advertisers, we support them with press that's no cost in the front of the publication in industry news so they can talk about their products when they have those new things happening in the industry, when they have shows they're attending. And then we back that up with feature editorial where they can talk as a leader in the industry about the features and benefits of their products. And DJ, that just allows them to put the right information there so that they have a buyer that is informed. And when they get that call, if it's an intelligent buyer, if somebody is out there and they're looking to make the right decisions, they're gonna make those calls, but they've already got the pertinent information that gets them closer to the sale. So we're just setting them up for success with a platform of so professional.
SPEAKER_04:Well, before I go to a break, let me ask you this what's the value of print next to digital?
SPEAKER_02:Okay, that's a man, that's a good one.
SPEAKER_04:That's a good one because I I I've had a lot of out there that don't do digital at all, and there's more and more people doing digital.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. Digital is fantastic, and it's something uh, you know, when I was in the helicopter market many years ago, 25 years ago, if you weren't in digital, you were behind the the race when it came to publishing. In this market, it's come on a little bit slower. But digital as opposed to print, they generally take three times tops to be seen in print to brand to brand your image, to be out there, be seen, be recognized, and then be recognized again as as somebody seeing you over and over. Whereas digital marketing, it's up there for such a short time and gone, it can take anywhere from six to 20 times to do the same image branding. Um, also, um, it's it's not always there where print's always on the desktop. And what we found uh with with print, DJ, is when you use editorial along with the ad, a lot of times print is almost impossible to track. But whether they're running in every magazine in this industry, if they have editorial running, when somebody calls in and they say, Hey, uh, and they say, Where did you see us at? And they say, I think I saw you an American Toe Canada professional. Even if it's not an option to go by, you as a as a marketing uh professional know where that response was generated from because you know where your editorial is running on a certain topic. So that has been the key with our advertisers over 15 years and being able to track and know the results of Toe Professional is because the edit gets called out a lot of times from the clients that have read it, got engaged on the product, saw the call to action, jumped on the web and called them. And then they said talk started talking about it. We saw the article. Where'd you see us? Uh web? Well, you said you read the article. Yeah, in one of the magazines, but it helps them narrow it down. So that's that's why I feel print is gonna be key for many years to come. Um, if you if you call my printer and ask them about getting out uh in the mail on a certain day, they'll tell you print is still king because you got to fight for your mailing spot, it's not going anywhere, and it's a a lasting way to keep your name and image in front of somebody on their desk.
SPEAKER_04:Now, Darren, do you see more younger people? You know, here I am in my late 70s. It I'm a print guy, but younger people are 35, 37, 40 years old, they're all doing digital. I mean, they do it digital all the time, and they take parts of the magazine and send it to their team.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, it's uh it's interesting. Your your younger generation is getting behind the gentle, uh, the uh the digital side, they're getting behind the the AI, and that is something that uh we we work with on our side uh to promote the digital. But the digital is not a one-stop shop. Um, it it's not something that uh uh that stays at reference. Like I said, it's on your phone, it's on your laptop, you shut it, you lose your place. Uh, all of us have been on Facebook before, drop our phone or look away. You look back at something you were looking at, it's disappeared, and you're trying to remember what was the correct spelling on that name. So I looked that company up again. Whereas print falls off the desk, you pick it up, you open it right back up, it's still there and it's handy. So, I mean, I I think that's the key, DJ is next to the the digital, it's more long-lasting and it's something that they can go back to and reference from. You got it.
SPEAKER_04:Well, can we do this, Darren? Can we take a fast break? Go to one of our, you know, people and let us do that way. So let's take a fast break and we'll be right back, folks.
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SPEAKER_04:Welcome back, listeners. You know you're listening to the professional on the go podcast. Every week we do our best to bring you new informative episodes like this one right now. I want to make sure all of you are aware. We're available on Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, Stitcher, iHeartMedia, or wherever you get your podcast. And Darren and I, and I really think we should do this periodically because this is important, because marketing is the key to this whole industry. So let me ask this of you, Darren. What is the key part to marketing?
SPEAKER_02:Um, I'm gonna say this, DJ. The the biggest thing is getting the message to the right people. I mean, you can you can take a message and put it on a gold bar and throw it out in front of a room with 1800 of the wrong people in it and not do anything. You can take a message and market it on a piece of toilet paper and hand it to the right person and sell a product. You you have to get to the right people. So selection is first, and then second off is relationship. Um, I think that's the biggest thing. Um, you know, you've been in this industry many, many years. I've been in at 15, and just in my short span in the industry, you get a feel for who has the the quality products in the industry, who has who has good intentions, who takes care of their people, and um who's looking to grow. And if you're doing business with somebody that's looking to just fill a spot, um you you miss some of the other side. And uh, I think that's one of the biggest compliments we've got is you know, Darren, dealing with you doesn't feel transactional, it feels relational. Um, because we do more than just sell you the hole in the book and give you the thumbs up and say we'll call next year. Um, actively, just like DJ spoke of earlier, um, it shows this year. Um, I took new advertisers, uh, walked over to distributors, made an in-way for them, walked back, said, Go over there and get it done, and then walk back over and saw their product on the website. Um I had had one distributor tell me, he said, Hey man, uh I ain't seen you in the booth. I wish you'd do something for me. And I said, Well, you know, I've been talking with somebody for about 20 minutes, and next thing you know, they were taking pictures of his product and loading it up on their website. So the the key is you have to have a a publisher uh that is uh passionate about his his customers, um, more passionate about his customers than he is his product. I love my product, I love to professional. Uh I think it's been fantastic for the industry, but I love my customers a lot more, DJ. And that's what has caused changes to the publication along the way. I had customers that said, Darren, you got to go digital. We got to have digital. And I told my wife, hey, I know my database on my mailing list, I know the response I get on it, and I know the the customers that have commented on it, but I don't know what kind of results we're going to get on digital. So I'm gonna give my clients a tremendous value and we're gonna test it. And we did that for two years with a digital quarterly. And once we saw over 423,000 impressions and a five-minute read time on those digitals, we said there is a market here. We worked for 15 years building the list, and now we're dropping to a little over 39,000 inside the industry with that. So it's it's having somebody that that cares about your business and somebody that will work those relationships because there is people that you're marketing to um that that don't know you, even in this industry, uh, or might not have done business with you because they just don't know what type of person you are, where you're headed, or they just don't know enough about your services. And that's where somebody like me and DJ have worked behind those scenes to say, listen, hey, we've worked with these folks here for many years, they're great folks, got a fantastic product. And take my word, give them a shot. And that is what I call service after the sale. Um, I'm I'm pro I'm big on pride myself on underpromising and overvaluing. I don't want to give you, uh I don't want to tell you I'm gonna do all this and not deliver. I'm gonna always tell you what I'm gonna do, and we're gonna give you more because the key is you got to be successful.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I'm really surprised because down at the Florida Toast Show, I ran into Ruthie Landau and I said to Ruthie, how's everything going? She said, I love the magazine. And I said, Oh, and she goes, but DJ, I do it online, and she's over 38, and I don't want to call her age, but Ruthie's over 38, and but she is a typical person who is the online person. So she reads her newspaper online, she reads Joe Profession online, which makes a big difference. All right, here's one I know I love this question. What is one of the key questions to ask yourself before you choose where you're going to spend your ad dollar?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think I think there's a uh a couple of questions. Um, I think one of them is you have to compare products, you have to see what advertisers have run long term inside publications. Um, you have to see uh the the sizes they run, uh the amount of coverage they're getting. Um, are advertisers in quarter page positions in a publication getting a voice inside that media source? Or is it only the advertisers that are running priority spots, full pages, inside back covers, and so on? Are those the only customers catered to? Because that can be a key. When you're a small company and you're trying to grow, and the only people that are getting a voice in the market is the big spenders, it makes it hard for your company to grow. With Toe Professional, whether you spend money on a two-inch column, an eighth of a page, a quarter page, um, everybody gets the same, they get lumped in together. If you've got press, send it in, we'll get you press in. If you'd like to be on a podcast and you're an advertiser, we bring you on as a courtesy and an added value. Um, you know, the the biggest question you've got to ask yourself, and I think the one most important, DJ, and I'm glad you asked this, is is this person that's gonna be doing the marketing for me, are they as passionate about my business as I am? Is it gonna matter? Because I think that's key at the end of the day. For me, it's really simple. If I can help my vendors make their mortgage, guess what? I don't have to worry about mine. Um, so the key is the key is you have to be passionate about your vendors, and you have to go just as hard for your advertisers that are running quarter page ads and eighth of a page ads, you have to do just as much for them as you do for your priority advertisers. So that's what you got to ask yourself before you spend marketing money on the print side is am I gonna be treated just as well as the other 40, 50 plus vendors in here, or am I gonna be singled out because I don't have the pockets that some of these other vendors have? And am I gonna be shuffled to the back without a voice?
SPEAKER_04:All right. Now, this is not one of the questions we wrote down. I want to tell our listeners this. This is a question I want to bring up right now. A dear friend of mine advertised in the publication, sending an ad. The ad stunk. And when it got to your desk, you said, DJ, he's your friend. We're gonna redo the ad. It's not telling the audience what it needs to tell him. So it was a terrible ad. And he had run it in other publications, and they never said a word. They took their money, never said a word, they took their money, and then you came around and said, Okay, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna change this, we're gonna move the logo here, we're gonna bring this in, and we're gonna talk a little bit about what the product does. So after you buy this product, this is what is gonna enhance. So you did features and benefits of the product in the ad, and then wrote a story about it, and it helped so much. So, can I can I ask you to share with our listeners a little bit of how you critique all that stuff?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, DJ, I I tell you, this is very important. You know, when you're you know, if you're just filling a hole, you're not paying a lot of attention to what comes past, and you're like, hey, I'm leaving that up to them. But you have to care about what the advertisers are putting, you have to read the text in it. We all want to think that it's right when it's sent to us, but we're all human and we make mistakes. Um, I make a bunch of them, I just make sure I own up to them as quick as I find them. Um, and I try and tell my advertisers when I catch something, I want to look through their ad and I want to make sure that their verbiage is right and that their message is on point, or it's a waste of money. And how do you tell somebody their baby's ugly when their baby's ugly? It's yeah, that's that's why people don't bring it up, is because you have to tell somebody you don't know who designed it, you don't know if their cousin did it, you don't know if their wife did it, you don't know if their their favorite designer did it, they think did the best work possible. Um, but uh it's the old thing. The person that points out your flaws is the one that cares the most. The one that shakes their head, they don't want it, they don't care because they don't want any flax. So you got to point it out, but you got to point it out in a nice way. Hey, I think we can target this market and and we can fine polish this ad and make this a little more target on uh a little more on the target. And it's key to look at that, and it's key to be tied in and watching for those as they come across and uh making sure that they're on point when they're put out there. So we we changed this ad around. Uh we we put his features and benefits into it, um, where it was kind of missing the mark before. So it it kept it to the keep it simple method, and it said um it said the benefits and it went right to a point of action, which is where it needed to be.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, where it needed to be. All right, so let's do this, folks. Let me take a fast break and we'll be right back.
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SPEAKER_04:Welcome back. Darren and I can't thank you enough for bringing up all the numbers because you shared it. But if you want to hear an industry expert on the next podcast, by all means dial 706-409-5603 right here in the podcast center. And Darren and I will do our best to get that industry expert on the line. And at the same time, if you're an association and you want to put out some news about your association, please let us know. All right. Darren, here's the question What capabilities do you have as a smaller publication in this space?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I I tell you, DJ, as a smaller publisher in this space, um one of the keys is this. You know, a lot of times when you're dealing with publishing, you're you're jumping through hoops. They might have a topic for a particular month, and that topic might fit or might not fit your company. Um, what you ask a salesperson for something, the salesperson runs it up the chain of command, they see if they can make it happen. And all the vendors have heard this before. Well, we can't fit you in this month. We've already got too much at it. We'll try and get it in in the future. Can you shorten that down? Or they've sent something in just to have a publisher cut it down to nothing. Um, it's never been that way with Toe Professional. I am the owner, I am the publisher, um, I am the cat litter box cleaner and the coffee maker. So if you have any questions when you call in, it's a it's a short walk. Hey, can we do this? Hey, we can make it happen. Will it make your company better? Will it help you grow your footprint? And will it help you explain your product? If you can answer any of those questions for me, yes, I'm gonna make space for you. Um, because the key is is making your marketing dollars work for you. And uh if you're looking to do that, a publisher in a smaller space, uh, like I said, can be more relational. Um, it's it's my best interest to make sure that your advertising uh performs for you at top notch. So uh behind all the advertising, that's why me and DJ have always run to make sure that we're putting the advertisers out there with quality products in touch with the people they might not know or might not even solicited before. And uh we've had some tremendous results from uh from Ron EV Road Hero, from uh Joey Castellino with uh with uh uh toe buddy and that fantastic product, um, to um uh you name it. Yes. Uh you know, a lot a lot of companies we brought along and just and pushed the edit and and allowed them to talk about their features. Features and benefits. It helped a lot of people. Yeah, and I think that's the key, DJ, is uh you know, a lot of times um you will uh you don't see an owner that will go to work for a customer on a on a sales floor or on a phone call or um after hours. And that's the difference working with a smaller publishers. It means something to them. And uh I say that's the reason why Tow Professional, um, after 22 years of other publications being in the market, has been able to step out here and make a stand in the market and has brought relatable edit uh to our tow professionals that would give them uh the features and benefits of the products that they need and help explain to them what fits best for their company and allow them to make a decision from there. So that's that's the key. A smaller publisher, the capabilities are endless because we can turn on a dime and make uh room available and uh make concessions so that you can reach the people you need to reach.
SPEAKER_04:What services do you offer that others might not know about in this industry?
SPEAKER_02:Well, DJ, um I'm glad you asked that because I think we've kept it a secret for a while. A lot of folks want to know what our capabilities are, but forget that we hosted a trade show for three years before COVID that was very successful down in Orange Beach and brought business out of that area of the of the state and surrounding states that hadn't been brought out to shows in the past. Um, but some of the services we offer is booth design, the trade show booths. Uh, we have built trade show booths in the past for advertisers, designed them, got their uh got their programs done. We uh do logos uh for customers. So if you need your logo redesign, we can do it. Also, video services. Um, Chuck Camp can speak to this. He is a professional when it comes to this. Um, so when companies are looking to put together a video, we've seen some great ones put together out here on slowdown move over. But whether it be on their products, um, on their uh service they offer, a train, or on slowdown move over, there are professional videos that we do also. So we have many different capabilities that are offered to our advertisers. Uh, we we haven't uh talked about them a lot, but also uh TOE Professionals also hosting uh TRAA Hill Day 26. I would so that excuse me. So the the capabilities we have um we're built off of the the loyalty um of our our vendors in the industry that have been so good to us and those uh relationships that we've made over the past 15 years. And uh that has helped us understand their pain pit in the market and where they're looking to grow to. And uh that's why Toe Professional has been a publication that has stayed on the change. It's been one that has, if you've looked at it, you can tell the look has changed over the years. Um, if you look at the edit, you see the edit has become more in depth. Or our key editors that have been here and been a staple from day one, like DJ, uh, we're continuing to put his word into industry so we can keep people fired up and out there on the path getting after the business and their mind on the business. But also um we've we've made sure uh that we've made the in-rows for our advertisers as well uh with those relationships and industry. So when it comes to it, there's many things that we can do, whether it be uh video, whether it be um podcasts that you offer through here. If somebody wants to start a podcast, we have the ability to get them online with that um to custom trade booth design, trade show booth design, um, to designing ads. And I tell you, DJ, when we hit this market, I had people asking me, do you charge for color? And I almost fell out of my chair. And I'm like, this is 2011. Everything's digital. Why would I charge you for color? It would only make color would only make your ad look better and more desirable for somebody looking to buy from you. Well, some of the people charge for color or it'll be run black and white. I can't understand that because the better your ad looks, the better it does. And why wouldn't the publisher want it to look better? I would have to take a step and uh initiate an additional step to make the ad black and white instead of color. Um, so that blew me away when we got in the industry. And then when we told folks that we would design the ad for them, well, how much is that gonna cost? Well, that's value, man. That's something we do for you at no cost because we want it to look great. We've got people that can do that that have the skill. So that's another thing that we build in to the package at tow professional. We'll help you with your editorial if you need help. We'll help you get your press together. Uh, we'll push you out there on social media and bring you to our format on social media through Facebook. We'll put you on the podcast so you can speak to the masses to 23,000 plus worldwide. We'll drop you with the the digital subscribers that are that are catching 39,000 of them that are opted in on that side. Uh, and then in the print, we'll put you right in front of every check writer in the market by one copy per title, per company, owner, president, CEO, or principal. Uh, so with all of that put together, walking the show floor and saying, This is a great guy, you need to do business with him to get a new product in the market. We can't do much else to give you a better value. And I think that's what you got to look for when you're spending your marketing money. And guess what? I seem to resemble that guy. For some reason, I keep showing up there.
SPEAKER_04:All right, Darren, I got two more for you. How about will you do an email blast?
SPEAKER_02:Man, DJ, we we've got a program that's something out. You know, a lot of times when you do an email blast, it's all about the company that's putting that email blast out. And then one little small caption, you know, 50 to 100 words about the product that they're putting the blast out for. Not with Toe Professional. All we do is simply swing the door open for you. It'll say from Toe Professional Magazine flop and then your subject line, the entire email blast is designed on your product or your service. And we can either do that or you can send us raw HTML. And we're dropping that to 39,000. And DJ, the opening rate in industry, they say you're killing it if you're getting five to seven percent opening rate. Well, we're averaging anywhere from 9 to 25% opening rate. Um, we can show our vendors the number of clicks from a desktop, the number of clicks from mobile. We can show them how many uh click-throughs they've had, openers, you name it. So we provide all that data to show them how it's working for them. So uh, yes, whether it be um e-blast, whether it be uh print, digital, social media, toe professionalists package it all in one big package so that we can cover you A to Z. You're not having to pay for anything a la carte, and you get your advertising curtailed specifically for your business. Whether you're running a two-inch column or a two-page spread, you're all treated the same. And that's what I believe is the key to where is your marketing dollars spent and how is it working for you?
SPEAKER_04:All right, I got one last thing. I asked this guy at his own. Where'd this beautiful flyer come from? He said they're imprinted. So you also do additional printing for some of your customers.
SPEAKER_02:DJ, I'm glad you saw that you you said that. I'm gonna tell you the older I get, the more my mind slip. But yes, I do that a lot. Um, we do club flyers that can be dropped inside the the magazine. Uh, we do flyers front and back. We do four, six-page, eight, and ten-page flyers uh for our customers. Uh, a lot of our our tow professionals that receive this next issue, the one that drops the week after Baltimore, it will be polybaged. We drop a calendar to our top 10,000 owners in industry based off of SIC code uh and um uh amount of of uh employees and annual income. It's based off of that. So they'll have a copy of the calendar. We have a specific drop-in just for the Alabama Towing Association that we're doing with this issue that'll drop to over 570 towers in the state of Alabama. And then we have a second drop that's in there uh with the calendar that drops to another 9,700. So um it's something that we can do to drop them in the magazine. But if they're just looking for materials for a show, we've got some of the best rates in industry, a company I've been working with for 20 plus years producing the materials. So we can do that from pull-up banners um to back drops, you name it. Um so if you need materials for your show, you're tired of going to the local place in town where they you're paying a dollar a piece for these things, give us a call. Tove Professional can help you with it. And we look at it as just another value that we can pass on to our clients. We make a little bit of uh money on it, but we pass on the savings to you where you can see is a tremendous value over going anywhere else in the industry.
SPEAKER_04:Well, before I turn it over to you to end the sp, I just want to congratulate you and the people, the team at Hotel Professional for becoming the T RAA Hills Days because that is your project, and you should be congratulated out of all everybody they picked you guys to help do the promotion because they know you know the people.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I I tell you that was that was big. It's such an honor. And um I tell you, being able to do this inside the industry and uh to be there. I was there four years ago, and it was a uh a fantastic honor uh to be there to see how everything works. And I tell you, from the companies that are in it this year, um, you've got companies from uh worldwide to INA, uh to Copart, Fleetnet, Towbook, Azuga, so many that Haas Alert, many, many DJ that are taking part in Hill Day, Guardian Fleet Services, Zips, um, Allstate, and others that are taking a part in Hill Day, and it's because of their concern for the industry, their concern for the legislative and laws that are there, and they're doing just what we're talking about. They're not only doing business in the market, but they're pouring back in the industry uh so that the industry can benefit from it. So, yeah, it's it's a tremendous honor and uh certainly looks like DJ, uh this will be one of the biggest uh sponsored events uh that TRAA has done from a vendor-sponsored side. Uh, we've had a lot of success with it.
SPEAKER_04:Well, before I turn it over to you, I just want to ask you, I'm proud to be part of Toe Professional. Uh Michelle Suco's proud to be it. Dan Masino's proud to be it. John Borowski's proud to be one of the writers. So I want to thank you for what you're doing for the industry and for helping us get better at what we're doing.
SPEAKER_02:So I'll turn it over to you, my friend. Man, I I certainly appreciate the compliment, but I can tell you, if it wasn't for DJ Harrington, if it wasn't for Chuck Camp, if it wasn't for Michelle Suco and Dan Messina, um, you know, then I wouldn't have the direction I have. I'm only as good as the people I'm surrounded by. And God has blessed me by putting some fantastic, wonderful people that are passionate about the industry, that love what they're doing in front of me. So it's absolutely been a blessing. And uh, I just thank the Lord for the opportunity. And uh, I tell you, that's one thing, DJ. I've I've been asked, what makes you different than the other publications? And it comes, it makes it real simple. I pray for my vendors. It's that simple. I don't just hope they get results, I pray for them. And with that, I'd like to close. Uh, as always, dear Heavenly Father, I just thank you for another day. I thank you for the vendors that have honored Toe Professional and our staff for the last 15 years with given us the opportunity to uh be in the running and fight for their business. And dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for their wisdom and their knowledge behind the products that they have brought to this market. And I ask that because of their loyalty to us and their service with us, that you bless them, their families, all of their employees and their products in these marketplaces and allow them to continue to reach those that they're targeting, to press more safety into this market uh and to help the businesses along with their products. And dear Heavenly Father, we certainly thank you for every one of our first responders, from our from our towers, our men and women in towing that are out there every day on the line serving the industry, uh, to our firefighters, to our police, our EMS, our DOT workers. And dear Heavenly Father, I just ask that you put a hedge of protection around them, that you uh protect them when they're out, when you put protection around their family, while they're out serving on behalf of their family. And uh, Father, that you increase their home and grow them for their servant's heart. Uh, Father, for those that have lost um loved ones in this industry, we just ask that that, Father, that you touch them, that you let them know you're close, and that you give past that peace on to them that goes beyond all understanding, that's only found in you. And with this, we say amen. Listeners, as always, thank you so much for helping make Tow Professional Podcast, the number one podcast in the towing industry. Keep listening and we'll bring some industry experts on, not like myself, but the ones you've heard over week to week on Toad Professional Podcast. We appreciate you. We thank every one of you. And it's not because of us we're up here in this industry, it's because every one of you vendors that believed in us and gave us an opportunity to step out there and fight for your business. We thank you for it. We ask that God bless you for it. Until next time, keep listening and be safe out there. God bless.