Good Neighbor Podcast: Davie
Good Neighbor Podcast: Davie
Good Neighbor Podcast: Davie
EP #1 - Uncovering Community Connections
A discussion on community connections and local business outreach. Karen Wood shares her journey from real estate to becoming a publisher, emphasizing the importance of targeted local engagement.
• Karen reflects on her background and the transition from real estate to publishing
• Discussion on the unique approach of Advance Neighbors and direct mailing
• Importance of combining print with digital strategies for local businesses
Reach out to learn more about how to connect with your community through local media!
Advance Neighbors
Karen Wood
Davie County
Kwood@bestversionmedia.com
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Karen Wood.
Speaker 2:Welcome good neighbors to the first episode of GNP Good Neighbor Podcast. Our host of the future, Karen Wood, welcome.
Speaker 3:Hi, welcome, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, excited to get you going and getting your podcast going and having some neighbors on the podcast, it's going to be fun. So first let's learn a little bit about Karen and what she does. So why don't you explain about what you do?
Speaker 3:Well, karen Wood, I live here in Advance Bermuda Run area and I am the publisher for Advance Neighbors. So it's been out in the community now just under a year not quite a year yet and we reach around 3000 homes here in the Advance area. And so, yeah, I mean that's where I'm at with the Advent's Neighbors. My background is in marketing. I was in real estate before that. I do have a 13-year-old who attends school here in Davie County. We do have older kids who are grown and gone, so we have some grandkids as well, so it's always busy here.
Speaker 2:Right, a full family, that's nice, I love that. So how did you get involved in all of this?
Speaker 3:So I, like I said, was practicing real estate and towards the last two years of being in real estate I moved over to the title side and I was there for the last two years and just the market changes, they combined my area with another area so kind of got pushed out, if you will, and was kind of going, well, what do I do now? I didn't really want to go back and do transactional part of real estate. So I discovered Best Version Media, which is our parent company who powers our publications, and thought it was a good fit because of my marketing background from 13 years in radio broadcast sales. So there was a good little opening, a niche here in our area and I thought it would make sense. At the time I was already involved with our school doing a lot of things in the community, so I felt like this was just another extension to that and another layer, and so everything is just kind of tied together nicely.
Speaker 2:I love it, I love it, and now you have your very own podcast.
Speaker 3:I know just another layer and this is exciting.
Speaker 2:So you touched on it a bit about, you know, transitioning through your career. We've all had challenges, whether personally or professionally. Other than that, is there something that happened along your journey that you can look back at now and say you know what I went through it, but you know what I made it through and I'm in a better place now.
Speaker 3:I would definitely say, being laid off. I think that was the first time that had ever happened to me in my 35 plus years of working. So it was a little bit of a shock, a little bit of, I guess, an ego deflator, if you will but I don't think I have a big ego, but you know. But yeah, I was kind of taken back and had to take a little time to process that and then just really go okay, what is it that I want to do? And fortunately, like I had said, I was already doing a lot of things in the community and that was really gratifying to me and I saw this as an opportunity to kind of take things to the next level. But I did have to kind of step back for a little bit, take a deep breath and evaluate things before I move forward. So I think it was just taking the time and giving myself time to do that and I didn't give myself too much time. I think I took maybe 30 days there you go.
Speaker 3:You know, yeah, that that one definitely was a hard thing, but I would say it was the best thing. You know how things, how the old saying, you know, sometimes you don't really know what you need until it happens, and that was one of those incidents that it really was the best thing for me and it forced me to get out and get back out there and do something on my own for myself again, instead of being dependent on someone else.
Speaker 2:So there you go and now you're in a better place, absolutely. So let's talk a little bit about you know the magazine and what you do with that side of things. Are there any maybe myths or misconceptions surrounding what you do with that and what you offer that we can maybe kind of clear up for our listeners today.
Speaker 3:Well, when they first see it you know most people when they, when it first came out, they they really grabbed a hold of it because it we did a really good job of trying to fill niches here in the community that we felt like might be overlooked from other type publications that are maybe more of your pickup, publications that you can just find in like your grocery store or high traffic areas.
Speaker 3:And you know, the misconception that people forget or don't realize is our publication is mailed into homes every single month. It's those high value homes and those same eyeballs every single month it's mailed into. So we kind of put sponsors, they get invited in people's homes every single month. And so sometimes people forget that or they're like, oh, I didn't realize that, because they may see it out in a public place where someone may have left it, or I might have left a copy or two, you know. But that's a big thing, I think, is they forget or don't realize that it's mailed every single month. Obviously the people who get it know it, but businesses and so forth don't, and they really like that that.
Speaker 2:You know we're inviting their business into people's homes every month, so that's a big one absolutely, and so you, you've also um, you touched on a little bit too, but you, you have other offerings to help connect the community and the businesses locally, um, you know, through some digital and online presence and things like that. So I was going to ask about trending things or things changing in the industry. That's a big one.
Speaker 3:That's a really big one. And digital is definitely another layer that we add on. You know we start with your print because most people, most businesses and the readers and people, they trust print when they see you in print and the readers and people they trust print when they see you in print, there's a higher trust factor. And then when you layer onto that digital, we take those sponsors ads and turn them into digital ads and basically put them into the same area that their print falls. So we geofence that and then the person can see the ad on their coffee table. They'll see it on their phone, on their laptops and multiple places that we can put them. And then our total online presence is not just about those ads. It's about being found, being found easily and then being credible. When you are found, you know so through our online presence and our review programs and our total digital packages. So our advertisers and sponsors are seeing great results from having all of those multiple layers to reinforce their branding.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you're hitting. You're hitting these people from multiple angles. Not everybody reads a magazine, not everybody's on their phone or on digital, but you're covering the basis Exactly. I love that. I love that. So are you from this area originally?
Speaker 3:I am originally from the area. I was born and raised in Kernersville, which, from where I live, is, you know, 20 miles on the in Forsyth County, which is just across the bridge for folks who know here in Davie County and Bermuda Run, it's right across the Yadkin. So yeah, I am born and raised here and have worked in the triad my entire career, other than a short stint when we lived in Hilton Head for about three years.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow, so a native, so native, that's right. So I know your job can be very demanding. You probably don't have a lot of free time, especially with a 13-year-old as well.
Speaker 3:But when you get a moment of free time, what do you enjoy doing outside of work? You know entertaining, hanging out with friends. I really enjoy having folks over And're a big music fan or lovers in this house, so we have a pretty extensive music collection as well as the electronics to support that in the stereo speakers and all that kind of stuff. My husband is a person from the sixties and seventies so he's got the classic rock. We enjoy that a lot. Of course, I have dogs, so I love doing things with the dogs and being outdoors. I definitely like to be outdoors and I love to travel to when we can. Now that my son is playing more travel type sports, we're taking full advantage of that and try to turn things into little vague mini vacations when he goes and travels different places. So that's been. That's been fun.
Speaker 2:That's a great idea. So is there one thing you wish our listeners knew about what Karen Wood does and connecting the community and businesses and its residents that maybe they wouldn't be aware of?
Speaker 3:You know we work really hard to put businesses in front of consumers who can use and afford their services for sure. And then I also work hard for those businesses to do other things over and beyond just what they see in the magazine. You know I'm a natural connector and networker, so I love to connect my clients and businesses to other people who can use their services just in general and even just residents. You know I'm always happy to help connect them with something that they need. So I'm a natural connector and I really just enjoy that aspect and it comes pretty natural to me.
Speaker 3:So you know I would like people just to kind of think of me as, like Karen Connects, I'm your community connector. When you need something, think we need to call Karen or look in the magazine or go to Karen's what you know her website, her Facebook, karen, or look in the magazine or go to Karen's what you know her website, her Facebook page or whatever, because I really strive to do that. Whether it's through a business need, a personal need or something through the school, you know, just basically anything inside the community I strive and work really hard to do that.
Speaker 2:There we go. Every community needs a Karen right, a good Karen right, a good Karen, a connecting Karen.
Speaker 3:That's right, and I was the original Karen before the Karen got hijacked, right.
Speaker 2:Can't say, jim, that doesn't work.
Speaker 3:That's a Karen right. That doesn't work, Right? So how?
Speaker 2:do listeners go about contacting you if they wanted to learn more?
Speaker 3:So they can reach out to me at Kw ood@ bestversionmedia. com they can. We have a Facebook page so they can go to Best Version Media Advanced Neighbors and we can also be found on advancedneighbors. com. It'll take you straight to a landing page with contact information and those are the best ways to get a hold of me and message me, facebook me and we can start the conversation from there.
Speaker 2:Very good, any last words for our listeners?
Speaker 3:Just that. I'm excited to meet and connect you, whether you're a neighbor, a resident or a business. That's what I'm here for is to connect everyone into the community.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and if they want to be on the podcast, feel free to reach out to me.
Speaker 3:This is the next thing that I'm super, super excited about, which is getting folks on here in this podcast so that the listeners and the community can learn more about that person on a different level.
Speaker 2:Perfect, perfect. Karen, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor. I'm excited that this podcast has taken off and you're going to be a great benefit to the community Well, a bigger benefit to the community. So thank you for your time today.
Speaker 3:Thank you. I appreciate it and, with that, have a great day, jim. Thank you.
Speaker 1:And now that, thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpdaviecom. That's gnpdaviecom. That's GNPDavie. com, or call 336-403-3675.