Unfiltered Sessions

MASTER Your BUSINESS GROWTH and MARKETING Strategies with Brandon Mills

• Philip Sessions • Episode 265

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Brandon Mills, a business growth consultant at Scorpion Home Services, shares his journey from running a roofing company to becoming a marketing expert for home service businesses. Drawing from his experiences at RoofCon—a conference that grew from a small event to a major industry gathering—Brandon offers practical strategies for business expansion, overcoming challenges, and achieving sustainable growth.

In this episode, we dive into key issues like post-pandemic staffing struggles, competitive benefits, and the importance of documenting processes to build efficient systems. Brandon emphasizes the power of authenticity in brand messaging, balancing lead generation with brand awareness, and leveraging tools like personal branding and Google Local Service Ads. Tune in for actionable insights and resources, including Roofers Catalyst, to help you refine your operations and elevate your marketing game.

NOTABLE QUOTES 
"Marketing is really the heartbeat of a business." – Philip 
"That's really what brought me into the marketing space was just that was the only other thing I really knew at the time." – Brandon 
"Things happen for a reason." – Philip 
"What it really boiled down to was more than what did I do, but what mistakes did I learn along the way that I didn't want someone else to repeat?" – Brandon 
"When you have systems in place that can run in the background, independent of a specific person doing everything, it made things a lot easier and a lot smoother to run." – Brandon 
"When you hire somebody, you force yourself to start being a little bit systematized." – Philip 
"If you can just start documenting the things that you're doing and pass that on to the other guys..., if they can do it 80% as good as you, then you can start moving on to the next thing." – Brandon 
"It is hard for me to be in your business and replicate it, and so..., the more information you can give the better." – Brandon 
"Even though there's awesome software out there that can do all these things, make it look like you record your own video [and] take your own photos." – Philip 
"Marketing to everyone, markets to no one." – Brandon 
"From the free standpoint, I think there's nothing better on the planet than a personal brand." – Brandon

RESOURCES 
Brandon 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bmills.scorpion  
Roofers Catalyst: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rooferscatalyst

Philip 
Digital Course: https://www.speakingsessions.com/digital-course 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamphilipsessions/?hl=en 
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philipsessions 
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-sessions-b2986563/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therealphilipsessions

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Speaker 1:

What's up, guys. I have a special guest for you today. It's Brandon Mills, who is the business growth consultant at Scorpion Home Services, helping roofing and home service companies get more of the jobs that they want. Welcome to the show, brandon. What's up? Hey, what's going on, phillip? Hey, just here, excited for us to be recording. We've been talking a lot back and forth about different things business, life, marketing, parenting, all that good stuff and so it's like, hey, we need to get you on the podcast.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely man.

Speaker 1:

Excited to have you here. Yeah, I'm pumped to be on man, yeah. So tell me what you're working on right now and tell the audience as well what you're working on and there's a lot of things going on in life, but what's that one thing that you're just really excited about?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, it's awesome, man. I'm glad you asked. I guess the big thing that I'm working on right now is just trying to I mean, honestly, what you just mentioned just help roofing companies get more of the jobs that they're looking for, so that's or, honestly, any home service companies. But we do that a number of ways right. So one's through you know, through what I do professionally, but then I'm also I've got a, you know, just a free group online that we do some trainings and things like that and um, but yeah, I mean just, I'm just passionate about the roofing industry and helping guys grow their businesses is really what it boils down to.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you went to RoofCon recently, right, yeah yeah, it was a good time, nice, yeah, so tell me about that. I know I know Hunter Blue as well Actually, he's in my neck of the woods and everything but how was the event overall? I think it was this was the fifth one that he's done so far. How was? How was the event overall?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I've been to several Roofcons and so I mean, yeah, I think you and I connected over Hunter originally, but, yeah, every Roofcon I've ever been to has been top notch. I was actually at the very first Roofcon 30 guys and maybe like five or 10 vendors sitting in like this hotel conference room you know, I think it was back in 2019 or something like that and just very intimate setting and to see where RoofCon has come from, that has been just mind blowing. You know, we went from, like I said, like 40 or 50 guys in a room to 4,500, I think. So it's been a wild ride to watch how hunters just exploded that in just a few short years.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, man, it is pretty crazy. I'm trying to look up here. I don't know what episode that was, but I had Hunter Blue on a while back actually on the podcast. So make sure to go back and check that out. But yeah, we talked through that and it was incredible to hear that journey for him and how they just they did it.

Speaker 1:

And I think he kind of said and I had another guest on, actually that has does like home service type stuff too and does his own events and everything the Badass Business Summit and Danny, something I can't, I'm blanking on his name. He was a more recent guest but kind of talked to that same thing and and you saying it was like 30 guests and then like five or 10 vendors or whatever he basically had, all the people that were there in attendance were also vendors. It's like they would attend the event and they go back to their booth and basically have to try and visit each other's booth to have any audience and everything. So it's funny how things start out and you you don't think it's that great, but really it becomes that great story that you can share later on and everything and just shows the testament of continuing to push forward, to being consistent and taking that action. Those two guys have done great things with their own industries and their own events and everything.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I actually started out in the roofing industry and I went to that first one as as a roofing company owner and what I was able to take from that event and implement into my business the next year, we we doubled in size pretty much, you know, as direct result of what we learned at that event. And so I've always enjoyed going to conferences and things and just picking up little nuggets here and there, and it's always a good time, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I mean that's a great thing about these conferences that you can really learn a lot, especially if you go to ones like hunters, where they're really about giving value. There's definitely some others that it's more about hey, we're just going to pitch you on stage and everything gets you to buy this next program, this next course, whatever it may be, but those that are actually there trying to provide you that value, they're really priceless at the end of the day and everything. So talk to me about. I know marketing is a huge thing, but I would love to dive into marketing.

Speaker 1:

Every business owner can use their skills and they need more skills when it comes to marketing, because marketing is really the heartbeat of a business that branding, that marketing so that it can lead to sales and business growth. So talk to us about your journey of getting into marketing. You just mentioned about having your own business going to RoofCon and clearly you've made a switch a little bit from being the roofing business owner to now you're doing marketing and helping other roofing companies and home service based businesses with their marketing. So talk to us about that journey of how you got into marketing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it's. I mean, I don't know how deep you want to go into this. It's a. It's a pretty deep rabbit hole at times, but basically, essentially, years and years ago, I had some health complications and honestly, I'm not going to bore you with all the details of that, but go back, rewind just about two years. Actually. I had a seizure on, I think it was yeah, it was New Year's Eve, 2022.

Speaker 2:

So I went into an epileptic seizure on New Year's Eve and we really kind of panicked after that. So, you know, it was one of those deals where they diagnosed me as epileptic, immediately put me on medicine, told me I couldn't drive, couldn't be on roofs any longer. So, yeah, I mean, I spent, you know, spent the first part of 2023 just trying to figure out what in the world are we going to do, and unfortunately, we mentioned the roofing company. Unfortunately, I didn't have at that time, the systems and processes in place that I needed, and so the system really lived and died with me, and so we didn't have things set up to where it would run without me, and so, really, what boiled down to is I was left with no idea what we were going to do, knowing that I couldn't drive for a while and knowing I couldn't be on roofs anymore.

Speaker 2:

So I'm like, well, what do I know? Well, I spent the last however many years marketing my business and growing it and getting our name in front of local clients and things like that, and so I started reverse engineering like what did we do to get there? And so that's really what brought me into the marketing space was just that was the only other thing I really knew at the time, the only other skill that I had acquired, and I just did that through building my own business, and the rest has kind of been history. I've enjoyed the ride ever since. Like I said, I just enjoy helping companies grow their businesses, and so that's what brought me to that side a rather roundabout way, because I think most guys when they get into marketing, they either see money or they love marketing, and for me it was definitely a different path than most take, but it's been an enjoyable one for sure.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and not that I like that. That situation happened to you, but it's amazing how situations happen to us and really change us. And I can think back to right before I got married. I switched to a new job. I was doing independent contract work and I knew my next project was going to be out of state for at least six months to a year and getting married I was like, ah, this probably isn't a good idea. So I made a change. But because of getting married and making a change to that company actually it was, I think, about April of 2020. So right after COVID and everything. So because of COVID, luckily I was with a stable company, bmw, but then I also myself ended up having a seizure as well, and so I didn't get. I mean, we got some tests, everything came back like inconclusive and stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

And they said oh, you're not supposed to drive, Although I kind of drove anyways. But I worked it out with my manager at the time to like only go into work one day a week and luckily, because of the role I was in, I was able to work from home a lot because of that, but my other job I had to be on site, especially if I would have been out of state or been traveling with other ones. So things happen for a reason to us.

Speaker 1:

And obviously for you it was a really good situation in the end, because now you're able to probably be at home a lot more with your family and you were able to do this other thing, but also made you reflect, and I would say being behind a computer, so to say doing marketing, is a lot safer than being on a roof.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, like you said, I truly believe everything happens for a reason and God has a plan in it all and so, yeah, it definitely threw us for a loop. We didn't know exactly what what was going to the other side was going to look like, right, but, um, you know he, he's definitely been faithful to us through the whole thing and very, um, very happy that. You know, obviously it wasn't worse and you know know, we found our way on the other side and found something that I actually truly enjoy and it's been a good road.

Speaker 1:

Good, good. So talk to us about this. As you said, hey, I grew my business and then I started reverse engineering how to how I marketed my business so it could grow. So talk to us about what were those steps that you did to grow that business. But then how do you then implement that for others to help them grow their business through marketing?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it's looked a little different since I went to work for Scorpion. Now we have a team that handles all that for us, but when I first got into it, it was just kind of like I said, just kind of dissecting what did we do and try to repeat that, and and actually what it really boiled down to was more than more than what did I do, but what mistakes did I make? Did I learn along the way that I didn't want someone else to repeat? And so one of the biggest things for me was when I had to step out.

Speaker 2:

I think I heard you, or I think I mentioned it just a minute ago that I didn't have the systems and processes in place, and so that was the very first thing that I tried to do is help them implement systems whether that was, you know, crms with automations and things like that that could run in the background, or just marketing systems that would help generate leads that wasn't dependent on one person being out there doing everything, and so obviously you still need sales guys and everything to run that, but when you have systems in place that can run in the background, independent of a specific person doing everything, it made things a lot easier and a lot smoother to run, and that was, like I said, one of the biggest things I learned having to step out of my business was that systems and processes are dire to every business and so, yeah, like I said, that's kind of how we started was getting into that game and helping companies set up their CRMs and all those follow-up, automations and drip campaigns and things like that that just keep you top of mind in front of your customer.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and talk to me real quick about this I'm glad you brought that back up, because I wanted to point that out about not having the systems and processes With the roofing company. Was it just you, or did you have a, a crew, like what did the roofing company kind of look like?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, at times it was different, right? So we had just gone through COVID a couple of years before that, and so we were building that direction, we were putting in the systems and processes. I had hired a fairly solid sales guy, we had hired a carpenter. That was more of a while. He was a carpenter, he was also very much a project manager and so was handling a lot of getting me to the point where I could actually start to work on the business.

Speaker 2:

But again, shortly after COVID hit, people started realizing man, we need insurance, we need different benefits and things like that that as a small business owner at the time I couldn't provide. And so we ended up losing. We had four guys that we were slowly building on and lost each one one by one, just literally due to benefits. And it just, it was the perfect storm because we just lost the last guy. And then the seizure happened and I was planning to rebuild with, you know, had already started working towards what 23 was going to look like. And it just, you know, like I said, all things happen for a reason and actually, looking back on one point, I think you know it's easy to look back and say, well, I wish we would have done this differently. But I think on the other side of things you can look back and say, well, at least I didn't have to lay these guys off or fire them or whatever because things didn't happen right or whatever. So we can look back and wish things would have worked differently.

Speaker 1:

But I think it's also really good to realize I got orchestrated every circumstance to where it became a fairly smooth transition yeah, yeah, and I was thinking that exact same thing, that you know, all these guys, kind of one by one, and that stinks, and it stings as well as a business owner. You're losing those guys. But, like you said, at the end of the day, when the seizure happened, it wasn't like, oh man, what am I going to do about these guys as well that are on my crew? They were already gone. Yeah, it was kind of an upside for sure.

Speaker 2:

And those guys are all thriving today too, and I'm thankful for that, because I still keep in touch with them and they're all doing well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's awesome, and one of the things that I noticed there is that you were talking about, you had these guys and so you started to work on the business and everything. And a lot of times I feel like us as business owners, especially solopreneurs, a lot of times we feel like we can't start working on the business and we don't put systems in place because it's just me. Why would I put a system in place? And then the other side to it as well is well, why I need to hire somebody or have a system in place before I hire somebody, and so it's kind of like it's a little counterintuitive. But really I feel like when you hire somebody, you force yourself to start being a little bit systematized and I don't say like, hey, go and hire 10 different people so you can start to create your systems, different people so you can start to create your systems.

Speaker 1:

No, but I do think that, rather than trying to wait until you have everything together, all the SOPs in place, the loom videos, whatever you feel like you need hire that first person, because for me at least, what I've noticed, especially with my virtual assistants, as I hired that first one and that second one, I started thinking on this higher level and started focusing more on okay, what do I need them to do? How can I be overseeing what they're doing without being a micromanager, of course, but overseeing what they're doing and figure out how to systematize this, rather than okay, I'm just doing this job and let me just kind of hopefully hand it off to somebody, but not really hand it off and stuff like that and let me just kind of hopefully hand it off to somebody, but not really hand it off and stuff like that. So I found that as I got employees for myself, I was able to kind of think more systematically versus beforehand. Was that kind of same thing for you, or do you think you were already kind of more systematized anyways?

Speaker 2:

No, that's not on paper. For the business, yeah, no, that's 100% it I had to. It forced me to start to systematize after I started bringing guys on because, like you said, when you're solo by yourself it's like, well, I've got my system now. It's not a true system, but it's it's the system that works for me.

Speaker 1:

Right and so it's here my head. I'll remember it. I'll get to it, oh, oh yeah, oh, I forgot that. Hold on, let me write it down on this notepad. I don't remember where it's at now. Good, system.

Speaker 2:

But honestly I mean all this funnels back into marketing too, because we treat marketing the same way. I feel like Whether you're hiring someone or you're handling your leads or whatever, things fall through the cracks. And the more you systematize everything you know, the better that becomes. But one of the big things I've realized is rather than I feel like we always feel like we have to create content, to systemize right, whether that's like you mentioned, like the Loom videos and different things like that I think we feel like we have to create something.

Speaker 2:

But what I've realized through all this is a lot of it's just documentation. If you can just start documenting the things that you're doing and pass that on to the other guys and start to replicate yourself that way, it may not be perfect, you know, they might not do it as good as you, but if they can do it 80% as good as you, then you can start moving on to the next thing. And again, I think marketing can be a little bit of the same way, because no one's ever going to market your business exactly the same way you would want to, but if you can get them at least the vision behind it and then you can start to scale that vision a little bit. While it may not be exactly the way you want it to look every single time, if you can create something that's scalable and repeatable, I think that's really what it boils down to, you know.

Speaker 1:

And you just hit on a really good point there. This was actually a question. It was more along the lines of having, like, somebody internal such as a virtual assistant or something helping with social media management, but it got brought up actually in builders of authority. I don't think you were on the call today with that, but somebody yeah somebody, asked the question how do we get get somebody else to impersonate our brand voice? And this was more along the personal branding side.

Speaker 1:

So when it comes to the business branding, I would say it's a little bit easier for a third party or somebody else in the company to take over that marketing for the business. But what would be some suggestions for you of how we could use a social media manager whether it be in-house, through a VA or we outsource to somebody like Scorpion to start doing that more on the personal branding side. To start doing that more on the personal branding side, what are some suggestions that you have for us to really help us be able to create that personal persona, even though let's say, like you're doing the posting and content creation on my behalf for my personal brand?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think the biggest thing and this is something I talk to company owners about all the time and it's really hard to get people to realize, but it is hard for me to be in your business and replicate it, and so, if you're trying to replicate what that looks like, the more information you can give the better.

Speaker 2:

And so, whether that's sending pictures with a voice memo of saying, hey, this is what we're doing in this picture and this is the message I want to portray, that way you're not having to sit there and type something out, but you can send that information on quickly to that person and they can implement what you're trying to get across, I think that's something that can be really helpful. It's actually something I'm thinking through for myself with my own personal brand, if you will. Helpful. It's actually something I'm thinking through for myself with my own personal brand, if you will. Um, my son is 15 and it's something that you know video editing and social media and stuff like that is things that he's interested in. I've been thinking through, like what it might look like to have him help me with some of this, but I'm like, like you just mentioned, it'd be really hard for me to to get a 15 year old to think, to think?

Speaker 1:

like me. Yeah, yeah, that was the idea, Especially 15 versus. I don't know your age, but I know you're not 15. Right, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I'm 40 this year actually, but yeah, it's going to be really hard for me to help him see through my lens.

Speaker 2:

But if I can really whether it be through, like I said, a voice memo or something to where I can really portray hey, this is what.

Speaker 2:

This is the message I'm trying to get across through this content, I think is helpful and I think, providing as much in-house content as you possibly can, because where I see a lot of social media people, you know whether it be social media marketing agencies or you know whatever that may be, va or whatever is if they have to come up with their own content for you, that makes it really hard because you can only use so many stock photos and things like that and make it look like Phil Obsessions. It's just not going to happen. So I can put a whole bunch of pictures of podcast mics or VAs or whatever and it might get the point across to an extent. But the more you can send pictures of yourself or content of you doing something, even if you're just putting cameras up. Going back to the documentation thing we were just talking about, just document some of what you're doing and send that off with as much information about it as possible. I think it's going to be the easiest way to get your own brand out there.

Speaker 1:

I like that, the voice memos you know, having a picture and doing a voice memo, or it could be a video with the voice memo as well.

Speaker 2:

But because that's actually something I stole from Builders of Authority actually.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, it's good. I appreciate you mentioning that, but it's a great piece of advice right there and even with the video, I've noticed that some people and that they'll sit there and literally basically put the caption as what was said in the videos, like no, let's add to that, let's not say exactly the same thing in everything and like you say you have to to kind of document it At the bare minimum.

Speaker 1:

Talking about you, your background, who you are, especially if you're trying to hand this off to somebody that doesn't know you at all.

Speaker 1:

The more they know you, the better, like you said, but if they don't try and give that background Background on the company, why you built the business, who you are, why you're doing what you're doing. Do you have family, kids, what's their names, ages, stuff like that. There's so much that you can give them for them to be able to research on Something else to that as well. If you haven't hired this out yet, have them go back and look at previous content. Even if it's not great, it's still going to be your voice too, so they can look at your previous content. I see you know they like to joke around a lot or like they like to be sarcastic or or whatever it may be.

Speaker 2:

They're gonna see your style and then just be able to make it more of a strategic approach and everything and I've considered that, I've never tested yet is building like a custom GPT and, you know, building your own brand voice, right, and so train the GPT to at least in some extent, think like you and talk like you, use your personality and upload some content that would explain what that would look like.

Speaker 2:

Upload some content that would explain what that would look like. Create a custom GPT that your VA or your social media marketing person can type in and say okay, I want to. I want to create this content using Phillip's brand voice. Help me create this. You know, something like that might even be helpful. I'm I've not tested it to see if it would work or not, but as much as I've used chat, gpt and and tried to help it create my own brand voice, I think that something like that could be helpful as well yeah, I would say, yeah, that could definitely give that good base for somebody else, but obviously at the end of the day they can't just copy and paste that.

Speaker 1:

That's not gonna be a good thing. And then actually I saw on the news today where they were talking about there's some new AI videos going out that you can put in like what you want and does like a video call to somebody and it impersonates you and everything like that. And so, even though there's awesome softwares out there that can do all these things, make it look like you record your own video take your own photos.

Speaker 1:

Don't try and use that AI software to create that. And actually I think I think it was you that posted the other day. I was like, wow, ai has come a long way. But then you like circled three random things and it was like the, the person's, it was really feet for hands, but it was like they were like a server or something like that. It was like, yeah, ai has come a long ways. It's like yeah, ai has come a long ways. You can't hardly notice that it's a fake.

Speaker 2:

Then there's feet for hands. Yeah, I think I mean going back to your original question as authentic as you can be Now, however that looks, whether you pass that on to somebody else with some notes or whatever, as authentically you as you can be, I think is the key there, because nobody can truly replicate you. And that's whether that's social media, your website, whatever marketing you're doing, whether you're creating a social media platform or you're running ads, make sure that it represents your brand.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So obviously we mentioned about documentation, putting things in there about you, but the better the vision you can have for this, because if you just say, hey, I want to market to people, okay, cool, let me create content to people, that makes a lot of sense. Like, so, what is the service that you do? Who are the people that you want to talk to? What's that message that you want to get across? At the end of the day, what do you want to be known for? There's so many factors that go into that, which is really this vision that you need to cast, and the more crystal clear that vision can get, the easier, I'll say and it's still not easy, but it'll be a lot easier and more palatable for somebody to take over your social media content. For sure, versus, yeah, we just want to sell our services to people.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, okay, you hit on a great point there, actually, something I talked to a lot of my clients about and something we talk about in our group a lot is ideal client profile and really what that is is who do you want to sell to? So figure that out, put a name to that person, get very specific. So I want to sell to people, right, like what you said. Well, what kind of people? Men or women, okay, well, okay. Men, how old? Young? Well, okay, men, how old, young, old, middle-aged? Okay, and start just narrowing that down a little farther and a little farther. Get as close to that ideal client as you can possibly get and message directly to them, because that's going to be huge.

Speaker 2:

I mean because if you're like you said, if you're just broad brush strokes on all people everywhere, I just want to work with everyone. Anyone who has a heartbeat, I want to work with them. You're not going to. You're going to actually marketing to everyone. Markets to no one. I think that's incredibly impactful to understand and grasp as a company. Yeah, the more specific because a lot of people think they're going to put them paint themselves in a box if they start marketing to a certain person, but what they realize is when you niche down and really get hyper specific on who you want to work with and you can target that person, it makes your, your messaging just so much more authentic.

Speaker 1:

Exactly and so much more relatable too, I think, with us being both being dads, we start talking about dad life and parenting and oh, we were talking about our wives and getting on the podcast here to record here late at night and everything Like that's something that we're sitting here building camaraderie over. We're able to relate with that, obviously, but us just even me, even me just saying that right now there's other people like, oh man, I've had the same conversation with my wife Right now, I know there's somebody else out there listening, some other guy out there listening right now that's saying that exact same thing. That's what it is. It's about relating with somebody. If you're just plain vanilla, you're not going to relate with anybody.

Speaker 1:

I always like to use an ice cream analogy, because if I say, man, I just love vanilla, don't think many people just love it. I mean, they'll probably like it a lot, I think it's really good. They could have a vanilla ice cream, no problem. But if you say something about, man, pistachio ice cream or rocky road ice cream is my favorite ice cream, you're gonna have more people being like oh man, me too, yeah, and it makes more sense because it's not this generic flavor like a vanilla or a chocolate.

Speaker 2:

So you want to have a pistachio ice cream actually makes that point even clearer, because on the other side you now have who you're not talking to.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

You're not talking to the guy who doesn't like pistachio ice cream. And so now you've weeded out the guy who you don't want to communicate with right now that not to be rude about it but you've narrowed that down and now you're saying like well, if I disagree with you because I don't like pistachio ice cream, philip, you're just not my ideal client right now.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, exactly Exactly. And and that could also come back to be a benefit for you as well, because now you're more memorable. And that could also come back to be a benefit for you as well, because now you're more memorable Whether the person liked pistachio ice cream or not. Now they're like oh man, that's the guy that liked the pistachio. I can't believe that's gross. But now you've got something that probably turns into a joke, especially guys. I feel like we just rag each other about anything and everything, so like, oh man, you like that pistachio, that nasty crap or whatever, and you like that pistachio, that nasty crap or whatever. And you're like, you know, you just brag each other back and forth and like, oh, you must be a vanilla lover. You know just little things like that. But those little things are what truly set us apart, especially when it comes to the marketing space.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So, yeah, I was making a broader point even there too, though, because, like when you're, when you get specific about who that guy is that you're talking to, you're very specific about who you're not talking to, right? So if you're talking to a 45-year-old dad in the Midwest, then you're not talking to the soccer mom in California, right? And so now you know I'm not going to engage there, I'm not going to message to them, and so, yeah, it's just incredibly powerful when you figure out who am I trying to work with and then, like you said, who am I trying to relate with? I just think there's so much power especially if you're talking about a personal brand or social media content getting very clear about those things.

Speaker 1:

Awesome. So what's that next step that you think we should take to really take our marketing to the next level? I know I opened that up super broad, but what's something like on your mind right now? That's probably just like oh, people need to start doing this. I've been seeing this thing wrong. What's that thing that we, as business owners, should be doing right now that you think we're not doing to help our marketing get better?

Speaker 2:

One thing I see a lot is a lot of just misconception. There's a lot of people that are either misunderstanding marketing or I see a lot of people putting money into a thing that's maybe brand awareness related and expecting to generate leads immediately out of that thing, or vice versa, you know. And so, um, a little bit of education goes a long way on on marketing, um, you know, I talked to especially refers a lot. Um, you know, I keep I hear a lot of things about. You know, well, we run this billboard over here. Well, okay, how many leads have you gotten off that billboard? Well, I don't know of any. Okay, well, how much are you spending on that? Quite a bit. Is that helping you?

Speaker 2:

And so here's the thing it's not that the billboard is bad, it's misunderstanding the purpose of the billboard. The billboard is there for brand awareness, to bring you top of mind. It's not really there to generate a lead most of the time. And so I think that's one of the biggest things is just getting a little bit of education and understanding what a lead generating activity is versus a brand awareness type activity and leaning more into the one that you find more appropriate for where you're at in the business right, and so if you're in a position where I need leads right now, then a brand awareness campaign can be helpful. But that wouldn't be where I'd put all my eggs in that basket, and I just see that mistake happening over and over and over again. It's just allotting marketing dollars towards the wrong type of activity, if that makes sense, and so we can get deeper into that, but I'm just trying to keep it narrow and broad.

Speaker 1:

No, no, I like that and it's something I think, especially newer business owners. But even I've seen seasoned business owners do the same thing, where they'll go to a networking event and expect to get leads out of that Like no, you are there networking, You're casting that broad net literally and doing that brand awareness, letting people see you, get to know you and be familiar with you. But it's really the one on ones after that or the follow up conversations after that that really turn into that lead generation activity. But I've seen too many people try and treat a networking event like it's a lead generation activity yeah so just another great example.

Speaker 1:

They're obviously not on the marketing side. That's in person, I guess, guerrilla marketing, if you want to call it that and everything but all work in hand yeah, yeah for sure.

Speaker 1:

so so tell, tell us, like us, one thing that would be a lead generation thing that we can do today, because I think most people leads is what they're looking for. They're looking for the leads. Obviously, we need that brand awareness, we need to continue to do that, be top of mind and stuff like that, but we also need to eat as well. So what's one piece of advice you guys? To start, at least attempt to generate some leads today.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, I mean from the free standpoint. I think there's nothing better on the planet than a personal brand, Stepping away from your business's Facebook page and start to generate exactly what we've just been talking about on the rest of this, call Some sort of an authoritative, authentic voice that is built around your ideal client profile and start to try to. One thing that I try to do is I friend request as many of my ideal clients as possible and then I create content on Facebook targeted at that person. So I think that's a free or relatively low cost way to generate leads. But again, that's going to be a long term play. I think another.

Speaker 2:

Just everyone hates it. None of us like to do it, but Google Ads is still, unfortunately, the easiest, Especially if you're in home services. Google Local Service Ads is going to be the most cost-effective lead generating tool out there. To just be very simple and actionable, I think getting on Google Guaranteed, getting all of your background checks and everything that you need to get that qualified, and then running some simple local service ads, getting all the reviews that you need for that. It can be very complicated we can talk through that, but it's not as complicated as Google likes to try to make it. Unfortunately, to make it unfortunately. But yeah, getting all that done, jumping through Google's hoops and setting some sort of budget, whether it be $1,000, $1,500 a month, just towards that, I think is going to be a really low cost way to get some high quality leads.

Speaker 1:

I like it. Yeah, definitely Google ads if you're in the local home service based business type thing, but personal branding, like you said, that is the most important thing and really that's how we connected. I mean, we've been in part of the groups as well, but it was through personal branding, trying to build ourselves up being somebody that's self-motivated and trying to be a self-improvement as well. So, yeah, a lot of amazing things. Brandon, I appreciate your time, the value that you shared here. If people want to follow you, especially those in the roofing and home service based businesses, where can they go?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm Brandon Mills on Facebook. I've got a Facebook group that's really geared more towards roofing companies, but it's Roofers Catalyst. But honestly, unless you're a competing marketer, I'll probably let you in. But yeah, roofers Catalyst, we just talk about just general marketing things, personal branding, things like that. I look to be at least launching some sort of YouTube channel in the next year or so, but I've not done that yet. So really just on Facebook, brandon Mills and Roofers Catalyst.

Speaker 1:

Facebook group Awesome Well, brandon, thank you so much for coming on the show. We appreciate it. Yeah, thank you, phillip.

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Philip Sessions

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