Latest / Be Locally Loved / 006 - Jeremy Roentz - Beyond ROI: How BeLocal Builds Trust, Visibility, and Long-Term Community Impact

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006 - Jeremy Roentz - Beyond ROI: How BeLocal Builds Trust, Visibility, and Long-Term Community Impact · Be Locally Loved

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: More times that I see you as a consumer, the more it resonates.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: See, a marketing strategy is consistent and ongoing because you have to position your brand and your company early on and often and ongoing because you don't know when they're in that bicycle.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Be Locally Loved, where we spotlight the people, places, and ideas that help communities thrive.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: This episode is sponsored by Be Local, the nation's leader in welcoming newcomers and connecting them to the best places to go, the best things to do, and the best businesses to use in our community.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to reach new families moving into your backyard, visit reachnewcomers.com.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: All right, today we're joined by Jeremy Rentz.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Jeremy has been an entrepreneur since the age of 19 and spent more than 17 years with the N2 company.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: He launched his first BeLocal in 2019 and now proudly owns and operates four BeLocal franchises.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond building his successful markets, Jeremy plays a key role in leadership within the organization, contributing to the product development team while recruiting, training, and coaching franchise owners across the country.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Jeremy's impact and results have earned him top national recognition.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: He was named the number one B Local franchise owner in 2024, the number two franchise owner in 2025, and was recently honored with N2's most prestigious award, the Big Dog Award.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: For those of you that heard Shirley Ellison's interview last week, Shirley was a big dog award winner as well.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Jeremy lives in Colorado and with his wife, Jenny.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Together they have four daughters and a new grandson.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Outside of work, Jeremy has a deep love for the outdoors and ranch life.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: You'll often find him hunting, fishing, hiking, skiing, or traveling, or at home enjoying life with their horses, chickens, two dogs, and barn cats.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: They're in Colorado.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Fun fact: most people don't know, Jeremy once complete competed as a bull rider on the professional rodeo circuit, a testament to his grit, resilience, and willingness to take on the big challenges both in life and business.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Jeremy.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: I just I have to ask you about the bull riding thing because that is pretty unique.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like what made you get into that?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, so the story goes, I was 13 years old, and my folks took me to a rodeo.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh actually, it was a bull riders only event.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I sat there and I was so intrigued at um just the performance, the risk factor, and then the competitiveness.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I I looked over at my mom and my dad and I said, I want to do that.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, she shook her head and said, No way, you're crazy.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, fast forward, I got connected with some guys that were involved in the rodeo circuit, and uh they took me under their wing and uh taught me, you know, what to do and what not to do and and how to stay alive.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I started with the high school rodeo circuit, and so I competed all four years of high school rodeo.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and then when I graduated high school, I entered the the professional circuit in the northwest part of the country, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, and you're still alive, so you're doing something right.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still alive, definitely still have some aches and pains.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: I broke plenty of bones, you know, through through my five-year career.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: And and fun fact, actually, I decided to go back to that, Laura, two years ago.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: You did.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: I never officially retired and really hung up hung up my spurs.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so my wife and I, she was on board with it.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: My kids were on board with it, and I joined the Colorado Pro Rodeo Circuit two summers ago, and that lasted three rodeos, and then I broke my leg.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I figured, okay, it's time to hang it up officially.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: So here we are.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: But you had a storied career.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us how was like what you learned being a bull rider?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: How does that influence you as an entrepreneur?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, you have to set aside all the noise.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: You have to stay focused as to what the task at hand is, and that's staying on the back of that bull for eight seconds.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it's the longest eight seconds of your life.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's the biggest adrenaline rush, it's the biggest high that I think that you can get.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so bringing that into being an entrepreneur, you know, there are so many challenges, right?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we have to drown out the noise.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: We have to stay focused as to what our our vision is, what our purpose is, and continuously just move forward, right?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna fall off and you've got to get right back up and right back on and do it again.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: And you can't be afraid.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: You just gotta saddle up, so to speak, and give it give it your best and you know, learn from everything that you do.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: And in bull writing, you know, you often go back and watch films of yourself and say, okay, I did that well when the bull turned into my hand or away from my hand.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're you're constantly evaluating yourself.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: And in business, you're doing the same.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's such good advice.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pivot and talk about the fact that you are a big dog winner for the Be Local brand.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, my understanding, watching you from afar, is that the Big Dog Award is given to someone who has had the biggest impact on the brand in that year.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: I equate it to like the Time magazine person of the year.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: It is the person that's contributed the most to the brand.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us about the Big Dog Award and what that means to you.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the N2 company offers uh a lot of awards and a lot of rewards, which is phenomenal from rookie of the year to, you know, certain milestone plaques and all of that's great.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, the one that I really had my eye on the most was the big dog award.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: And part of that has to do with really wanting to help the Be Local platform, help it evolve, build a bigger brand, build build a bigger platform, make an impact for two things.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Really, actually, three things.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, our readers, the readers of Be Local, and what that means for these families and these new movers.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, our business partners and the impact or potential impact that be local can make for them, but then also us as individuals for the franchise and wanting to really elevate and enhance what Be Local is at its core.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so I figured when I'm doing all three of those phases, when I'm helping the readers, our business partners, other franchise owners, as we develop and as we grow this be local platform, then I will have earned the right to become a big dog.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: And my understanding is one of the values is we, not me.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And based on your answer to my question, you've just illustrated that your point of view is we, not me.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you're serving these three different audiences, the new movers, the business owners, and the area directors, the franchise owners that are running B Local.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: You've been around a long time, like in twos, what, 21 years old, and you've been there for like almost the beginning.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: How did you, how did the Be Local brand come about?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And how did you first get attracted to that product line?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we we were at a national conference um years ago.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to say, you know, Be Local was was really developed or the or the start of the development process back in 2017.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: So this must have been 20, maybe late 2017, 2018.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: And they at the conference, they pulled a big group aside and they passed out samples of Be Local, and there was already a couple in existence.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: So the product was was actually deployed at that at that point.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so they were ready to scale.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: And at the time, I was running three stroll publications, community, our community-based magazines.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: And when I saw the beauty, the design, the quality of the content, the impact that I really thought that this could make in local communities for families, for new movers, and then our business partners that are looking to grow and expand, I just fell in love with it.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: I actually um I I took one of the samples.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't supposed to do that, but I wanted to share it with my wife.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so I came right back home, right to Colorado, and I said, we've got to do this.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: We live in a perfect market, a lot of growth, a lot of opportunity.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: We have got to do this.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: And we launched in 2019 in in Parker, Colorado.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: We still have that, be local to this day.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: And in addition to that, we launched our second one in Bozeman, Montana, big growth up in Montana.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: We launched our third in Castle Rock, Colorado, and then our fourth for the Lone Tree Highlands Ranch, Colorado community.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: But it just was love at first sight.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'll say that.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Take me back to when you first started in your ramp up and you're like, okay, I need to grow this business by sharing the vision of Be Local for this community.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me how you did that.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: How did you ramp this up?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: What did you say to the business owner back then?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: And what do you say now?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not much has changed, to be honest.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: I ramped my Be Local publications for the love of what the product was and is, the space that it fills because it's so unique in creating this go-to, I call it a community roadmap or a community connector, right, Laura?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because it is the coffee table book.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, for new families that are moving, you know, moving is stressful.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's hectic, expensive.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: There's an element of excitement, right?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: This new house that we're moving into or we're building, this new community that we can't wait to move to and become part of.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: But they they arrive and there's just so much that they just don't know.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so I just fell in love and my ramp up was solely based off of my excitement, my vision, and my passion for what I was about to create.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, fast forward, what I still create every month, right?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: But also understanding for local businesses that are looking to grow and expand, I just get the value proposition and what this means for our businesses in terms of growth opportunity.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure we can circle back and touch more on that, but not much has changed.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's me positioning what I do and how I serve my community from our readers and the families and the new movers to local businesses that are looking to grow and expand who need to be in front of this audience.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Let's actually go deep into those two audiences because there it is trying to, I say two sides of a coin.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: We are serving those new movers that, as you said, they've moved, they're probably a bit excited, but a lot overwhelmed.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then we're serving the business owners that need to connect with these new people that don't know they exist.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with the new mover.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Is in it for the new mover?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: What does B Local do to solve that problem of overwhelm and disconnection and not knowing where to go or who to trust in their new hometown?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: There's just so much that they don't know that they need to know in a very short window, right?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you think about moving, and and I'll use myself as an example.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, Laura, you know, over my years, I've I've built three brand new houses.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: And there are so many things that a brand new house needs, right?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: From window coverings to new decor and furniture.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: My builders, all three builders, put in a front yard with like three bushes and one tree and a little bit of grass, but no backyard, no fence.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I was responsible for all of that.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Fast forward to the house that we live in now, which was built in '86.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: So it's an older home.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we have had to do everything from new doors and windows, turf here.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: You can see the wallpaper and the shelves, new furniture.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: We've remodeled bathrooms.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: The list goes on and on and on.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: And Laura, we did all of that inside the very first year of moving.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so I attest that nobody wants to live in somebody else's house.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: So when we bought this, it was somebody else's house.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Now we loved it for what it was: the design and the architecture and the feel, the brightness, the uniqueness, but it was somebody else's house.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: And my wife really wanted to put her thumbprint, if you will, on this house, this property.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: For being uh, you know, a new build, you want to make that house a home as soon as possible.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so that window of opportunity is so unique on the flip side of that coin for businesses.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you're a window covering, again, doors and windows, the turf company, the landscaper, my painter, and wallpaper, the list goes on and on.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: And it is a significant opportunity for a local business that's looking to grow, that wants a piece of that pie.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Think about it this way, too.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: When you live in a town, a city, a county that is experiencing significant growth, people are always buying and selling homes.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: People are like, well, the the real estate market is slowing down.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, no, it really hasn't.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: It hasn't a whole lot.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so people are always buying and selling.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: And as a business, you are positioning yourself, your brand, your company in front of a new audience, which is new opportunity.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know your business.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: You could be a landscaper, a plumber, a furniture store, you could be Cadillac.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: What is the lifetime value of a client?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And when you have a massive influx of people moving in, that is a lot of new money and new growth opportunity.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: So good.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it's important to, I guess, punctuate that be local is a new opportunity every 30 days.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Every 30 days.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Every 30 days.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: We deadline, every 30 days, we buy a list of new homeowners.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: Can you dive into the how it works?
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so be local, the distribution model is meant to be diversified through various channels.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: Way more than just a printed publication.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now that is the staple, that is the go-to, that is the coffee table.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Again, the community roadmap or community catalog, if you will.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: So be local is meant to be a content-heavy resource.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: 70% content information, what I call substance, a reason for people to read it and keep it and use it as a reference go-to, right?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: So the printed publication is mailed every month to whoever purchased and moved in that month.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: So yes, it's fresh, new every single month, landing on new coffee tables and new countertops, reaching new people who just moved in.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: With that model, it's very unique in the publishing world.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Typically, you have a circulation, a set circulation, right?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: Or a subscription where it's, you know, X hundreds or X thousands of people who want to read this, they subscribe for it, or it's just a traditional mailing list for your town or city, whatever.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: And those publications reach the same audience every month or every quarter, depending on their distribution.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it's new magazines with new content reaching the same people and the same eyeballs.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Be local is flipped upside down.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's complete opposite.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's new eyeballs reaching new people every month, which every single new person represents new opportunity for growth.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's what I refer to as an accumulation distribution model.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, Laura, when I launched our first Be Local publication in 2019, think about every single family, every single mover, every single home buyer that I have reached and connected here in the community since 2019.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's significant.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so our business partners, they just get consistent growth positioning themselves and their brand in front of every family.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Then, above and beyond that, we created a digital publication.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: So it's live online, it's on demand.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: And this is great for anyone and everyone.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: So there's that digital world that is important, right?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's 2026 and people love the convenience, people love the mobility of being able to access and load their local, be local magazine for their community, carry it around on their iPhone or download it on their iPad or computers.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so with the digital magazine, everything's all hyperlinked.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: So if I want a landscaper or plumber or furniture store, I can actually just click right on that ad and it directs me right to that business website, which I think is the most significant part.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Because if I'm a consumer and I'm interested in a product or service, sure, I can call and I can ask questions, or I can just hop online, click on their ad, go right to their website.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: And if a business has a fully functional, well-described, well-designed website, well, my conversion ratio is going to be substantially higher because it tells the story, it builds the brand.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: I can read testimonials.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: Now I have a connection.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now I have a reason to schedule a meeting or to do business, right?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that digital platform is so significant.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then the third channel, Laura, is the digital targeted marketing that our business partners get as well.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to go too deep into this, but the fact that we are helping our business partners consistently and proactively position their brand and their business in front of this audience through a printed channel, through a digital magazine channel, through targeted digital marketing campaigns, right?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: We have completed what I refer to as a very robust marketing system.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's very unique.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: The audience, the targeted, the growth opportunity, and the fact that our business partners say, Hey, I want to be a part of this.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a set it, leave it.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: And our team does everything from the print magazine to the digital magazine to the targeted digital marketing.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, there's other little things that we do, Laura, as you know from our socials, right?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Facebook and Instagram, constantly promoting things to realtor partners.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Realtors love be local, right?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us why.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's comprehensive.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Every realtor would love to have created this idea, and many have tried, but it's a lot of work.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: So the fact that this is so complete, it's so robust, and it's so beautiful.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: We've done all the work and they get to pass these around in their community as a welcome guide, as a closing gift, right?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them just, you know, place them around town because they love be local for what it is, what it does, and what we've created.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I mean, there's just so many multiple touch points with the Be Local platform.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: And we have really knitted, and I and I'll I'll steal this from you.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: We have knitted Be Local into every single one of these communities as a go-to resource.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: I love that you've dove into all of the different ways that Be Local touches people through the power of print and the reach of digital, because a lot of people think that Be Local is a one and done.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard it that said, oh, it's a magazine that goes into a home one time.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, it's flipped.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a traditional magazine that's going to the same audience.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that traditional magazine has to keep their content fresh and has to keep their ads fresh because the same audience will be very, very bored.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's the fact that our audience is new and the content is so high value that they need it and they they hold on to it and they don't throw it away.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Take us into the content.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: What can someone get when they open the pages of Be Local?
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to go back real quick.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Something that you just touched on was, you know, that they just get it one time.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Laura, they get it one time because they only need it one time.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's so comprehensive from all the local restaurants.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: And to your next question, what's in the pages?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, first and foremost, Be Local is delivered strategically in their new mailbox, you know, approximately 40 to 60 days after they close and move in.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: And that is perfect timing.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, sometimes I'll get like, well, I want to reach them right away.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, no, you don't.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're overwhelmed.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: I was just gonna say the first 30 days, they're just unpacking boxes and hanging picture frames, anyways.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Not to mention their address forwarding hasn't even kicked in.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: And when it does, they get a bazillion things in their mailbox that are just gonna trash it all.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Strategically the local show.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Up.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's a beautiful front cover, very localized, very community.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then as you flip through the pages, right again, 70% is information, content, right?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: Substance.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: So you've got everything from local coffee and tea shops.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: You've got fun facts, local uh important phone numbers.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: So everything from you know elementary and middle schools and high schools and urgent cares and hospitals, local golf courses, trash company, internet, non-emergency, five, you know, all of that important information.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: You've got things from restaurant guide.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: In my Montana one, I've got something like it's called be bear aware.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: So living in bear country, right?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Whoa.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: If you're moving from a state that is not used to, you know, grizzly bears, this is important information, like what to do and what not to do, and how to survive if you cross paths with a grizzly bear, right?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: So pretty important.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Top things to do.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: So top 10 things to do when you move into your new home.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: Change the locks and meet the neighbors and window coverings and security system, utilities and cable and internet, you know, all that uh basic information, but again, just uh fun reminders.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I love the outdoor adventure section.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, in places like Colorado and Montana, you've got hiking and biking and fishing and rafting.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we've got sections in some of our B local B locals for staycation ideas there in the community or or maybe in the in the state that you just moved to.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: Or how about a shopping guide, right?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Retail therapy supporting and some of these articles and some of these sections, Laura, as you know, are not a pay to play.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: Our restaurant, the restaurant guide, those locally owned, local favorite restaurants.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: You'll notice how many times we say local in the local, they don't pay.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's organic.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not a pay to play.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: The coffee shops.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: We've got a happy hour section, retail therapy, the golf course guide, places to worship.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: So all of the churches, not all denominations.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: We don't, we don't leave anybody out, but it is a full picture of what to do and where to go and who to use of 100% local for that community specific.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I love about what you shared is how hyperlocal and custom it is to the community it serves.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, here in Central Texas, I probably don't need to worry about encountering a grizzly bear.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: But in Montana, that's like a real thing.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the things I love most about Be Local is how hyperlocal it is, right?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's what one of the things that makes it so magical.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we dove deep into content.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's dive deep into how it serves a local business.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: So if I'm a local business and I'm just coming into the area and I want to plug into the community, I want to be known, liked, and trusted, but I'm not exactly sure what I need to do.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: What advice would you give to a business owner?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: So there is no secret that this particular new mover's audience, um, people have been trying to figure out how to position themselves.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's there's Welcome Wagon, right?
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, which is a very, very different platform.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: SPS mail, they used to send, you know, um envelopes and packets and coupons and gift cards, and I don't think they do that anymore.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: So over the years, right, there have there have been so many tries at reaching new movers.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: So for a local business, look, you've got really in the marketing space, you've got two options.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: You can market to longtime residents, people who have been here.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: People are established, they have their favorites, they have their habits, their routines, they know their neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: So they have word of mouth if they need something.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: But on the flip side of that coin, Laura, new people, they don't.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: I always tell, like, as an example, the story that I use is I've got a new dentist here that every single month he mails me a big postcard.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I've been in my community for a long time, Laura.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: So guess what I already have?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, you already have that.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: I already have a dentist.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: And just because he's mailing me a big expensive postcard every single month, offering me a free Sonicare toothbrush or free teeth whitening for a year?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's not gonna entice me to leave the dentist that I love and trust and know and have used for years.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's not gonna happen.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: So he's spending a lot of resources, a lot of time, a lot of money to try to pull me away from my current habit, relationships, and routines.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna happen.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: Well, why doesn't that same dentist that's accepting new patients just go right at the families who just moved here?
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: Because guess what they probably don't have?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: A dentist.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so it is way more efficient.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: It is way more effective in terms of a marketing strategy.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's what we offer for local businesses that are looking to grow and expand.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I understand not every business wants to grow, can grow, can handle the increased capacity.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: And that's fine.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're a local business, you should highly, highly consider positioning yourself in front of new families, new movers.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you're the landscaper, the plumber, the painter, the furnishing furniture store, the local car dealer, right?
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: Laura, 68% of new home buyers close on a home, turn around and buy a new car.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because they can't use their credit, they can't use their cash.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: So they're sitting on money.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: There's what I call this spend habit that gets built up before they actually purchase the home and before they close.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: Once they close, they go crazy.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: New furniture and the new window coverings, and you know, a hot tub and a new new car and new TVs, right?
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: The list goes on and on.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: What's the stat?
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: New movers spend more money in the first six-month window of moving in than they will the next three-year window combined.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: And if I'm a business owner, I just want a piece of that pie.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: I want to position my name, my brand in front of them, because if it's if the business isn't coming to me, it's gonna go somewhere.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: I just want a small piece of that pie.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let's dive into that.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I want to go back to the the dentist with the direct mail postcard.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about the difference between a transaction and a relationship because what that direct mail postcard says to me with free tooth whitening for a year or whatever it is, is that I want a transaction.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm sending this postcard, my marketing company has told me that I'm gonna get 0.01% on this postcard.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the average lifetime value of a new client at my dental practice is X, so I can pay for this postcard.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: They're thinking about a transaction, they're thinking about ROI, they're buying media in a very different way.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Can you lean into how BeLocal is completely again, opposite?
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's turn it on its head in another way.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: Opposite is we're not trying to get a transaction.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: We're trying to make a first impression.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: We're trying to spark a relationship.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: And how do we how do we measure that?
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's a lot that we can unpack here from you know the direct mail that you just touch on.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: Look, direct mail, sure, it works.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: It works because you have to send 10,000 of them to get a few phone calls.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: And it's very expensive.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's transactional, not relationship-based.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: For me, I want to no trust and like you as a homeowner, as a consumer, I will not use you unless I have seen you.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, my my wife and I, we spent a lot of money on these doors and windows.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: And we used a company that you may have heard of called Pella Windows.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: And there is one reason we chose Pella over a handful of businesses that were marketing themselves to us.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: It is because I felt like I knew them and I could trust them because they market and brand themselves differently, high-end, quality.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: And they were constantly and consistently in front of me because at my other houses, I didn't need new doors and windows.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: I had brand new homes.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: But I've seen them and I've seen them and I've seen them.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, now I moved here.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: I entered a buy cycle and I knew them, knew of them, liked them, trusted my guy that sat down and gave us a consultation.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we did business with them.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so, sure, you can you can market in any form or fashion.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: There's a bazillion ways that you can put your business out there.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: But what are you doing to specifically target your ideal client or customer on an ongoing basis, positioning your company, your name, and your brand to build trust?
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I use the name of Pella, but you know, if if you're the local dentist, if you're the local furniture store, it's like, you know, Ethan Allen, right?
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: Or Creighton Barrel or Williams Sonoma or Restoration Hardware.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm throwing recognizable quality names, brands, because what do they do?
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: They do a very good job of targeted marketing, right?
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: You have to be able to afford their furniture.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: They're high quality, but they're not cheap.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: So if I'm a consumer and I want that new couch or coffee table or bed or desk, I know where I'm gonna go.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go to those names because they are targeting me as a consumer for when I'm ready.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: They built that relationship, Laura.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: So building a brand is very different than trying to get a transaction.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: So lean into for me, Jeremy, building a brand.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: What does it take to build a brand?
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: How long does it take?
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: How does it work?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: How do you build a brand?
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: Building a brand is something that is very strategic, consistent, and ongoing.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's never ending.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: And really, your goal is to tell a story, right?
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: That is that is your brand.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to reference Donald Miller's book, Building a Story Brand.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're a business owner, if you're listening to this podcast, I would highly recommend building your story brand is about making a connection with your audience, right?
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: Being very intentional about who you're in front of and creating a band brand.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's way more than a logo, colors, right?
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: It is a story.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: Why am I gonna use Pella Windows?
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: Or why am I gonna go to Crate and Barrel?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Why am I gonna buy a Cadillac or a Mercedes, right?
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: Why am I going to?
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: I just recently uh stumbled upon this story, and I think this is interesting, right?
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: Where there's a company that we're all familiar with called Coca-Cola.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: And Coca-Cola for a long time really struggled to sell during winter months.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: And you may remember the marketing strategy, which I think is genius, with the polar bears.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: And the polar bears really created this brand and image that I can drink Coca-Cola when it's hot or when it's cold.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: And now, guess what happened to Coca-Cola sales through all 12 months of the year?
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: Stabilized, right?
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's making a connection with your audience, right?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's being relatable.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_01: Most important, trustworthy.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: Why am I going to use you over somebody else?
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: The more times that I see you as a consumer, the more it resonates.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: See, a marketing strategy is consistent and ongoing because you have to position your brand and your company early on and often and ongoing because you don't know when they're in that bicycle.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to build that trust and you want to be on the forefront of their mind when they want to coke, when they're thinking about a new car, buying a new coffee table, or buying a new TV, or needing a new dentist, or needing landscaping.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: In marketing, you never have a crystal ball, but you have to set yourself above and beyond your competition.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that's building a brand.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think so many uh business owners think uh I just need X number of new customers.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: I want to uh, I don't know, run Google ads, run Facebook ads, send a direct mail postcard.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, show up at a BNI meeting and just get some new customers.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: And they're they're thinking very linearly uh between an interaction and a transaction and building a brand, to your point, is something you're always doing.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: Coca-Cola runs a sale on Coke at the Olympics, like that price off promotion might actually work because people know what Coke is and it has a following.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: And people that drink Coke, they might be responsive to that price off promotion.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: But going back to your dentist giving away free tooth whitening, if you're not loyal to that brand, if you don't know like and trust that dentist, you don't care if they're giving you free veneers.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's not gonna resonate, right?
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: So uh lean into how be local helps a local business build a brand in a way that they are seen as a trusted local resource and not a solicitor.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: So our objective with our Be Local platform is to reach these new movers, these families early on in the move process, but continuously targeting them strategically through the first year that they live here.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a combination of building a brand and continuous marketing.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: See, going back to this, you can't have a brand without marketing and advertising, and you can't market and advertise without having a brand.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: The two go hand in hand and feed each other.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is an audience that, you know, our businesses get to position themselves right as people are moving in, right as they're getting settled, and right as they're actively searching for the dentist, the chiropractor, their go-to grocery store, coffee shop, their local favorite restaurants, right?
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was just Valentine's Day.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: So where am I going to take my sweetheart on Valentine's Day, right?
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: The staycations, the local boutiques for shopping, right?
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: All the things we can just keep going on and on and on and on.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so they get the coffee table publication.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: And Laura, 83% of consumers said that they a high-quality periodical over any other form of advertising that exists, right?
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: Think about it.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: We all want to be printed, we all want to be published, right?
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_01: Whether it's a personal story, whether it's your business, right?
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: Seeing our name in lights, so to speak.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: And when you have a high quality publication, and certainly with Be Local, it's a long shelf life.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's that continued.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's a reference guide, it's the community connector, it's the roadmap.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_01: They're opening it over and over and looking at different restaurants and looking up different coffee shops and looking.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: I remember seeing a dentist in here, right?
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: My dentist has had my back cover uh here in Parker since I launched in 2019.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: He still has it to this day.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so the value of the new movers, the value of our stay power.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: Then you sprinkle on the digital magazine that gets downloaded hundreds of times a month with the hyperlinks and clickabilities, right?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then you sprinkle in the digital marketing that we're supplying for our businesses, right?
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: Through geofencing, geo-targeting.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: And we continue to position our businesses again early on in the move process and continuously through that first 12-month window.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason that we do that is it's a layered approach, it's a print and digital marketing campaign combined through the most significant opportunity to put our businesses in front of this audience.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to layer on that when someone that already has built a brand like BeLocal and has credibility in their brand, like BeLocal, when Be Local talks about you, when BeLocal introduces you, when Bill BeLocal endorses you, that's far more powerful on your quest to be known, liked, and trusted than if you were to promote yourself.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think we all take self-promotion with a grain of salt.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: So can you lean into how BeLocal works almost like an ambassador or an influencer, a community leader?
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how do we influence the way a new mover sees our local businesses?
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: So in our communities, we've got the platform.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: We've built the name, we've built the trust, we've made the connections.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, right on our front covers of RB Local, it says discover local favorites.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_01: And as a business, isn't that what you want to be considered?
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: Don't you want to be that?
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: You want to be that, right?
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_01: If I'm the dentist, the painter, the plumber, the electrician, I want to be known as the local favorite in said category.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so, and then us as franchise owners and the local publishers and area directors, well, we go to the city.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: We work with the mayors oftentimes.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: We partner with the local chamber of commerce.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: We lock arms with any and all and as much as we can in our local communities to become that go-to comprehensive community connector.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: We we often partner with community leaders that know that the new mover is going to shape the way that that city grows and develops over the years.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: And they know when they partner with B Local, that B Local has an influence in shaping the way people see their new hometown when they first arrive.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: We have over 100 B Locals across the US, and they are planted in cities where people want to live.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's where we organically end up because our job is to help those community leaders and those local businesses connect to these new homeowners, right?
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's zoom out a bit and talk about what are the ingredients that you see when we are thinking about community leaders and how to become a place that people want to live.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: What do you see as essential ingredients to helping a community thrive and be a desirable place to live?
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, gosh, there's so much that could go into that.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, you want, you know, stable economic environment, right?
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_01: From great restaurant options to, you know, a planning committee that it actually does things, thinks through things instead of just slapping up, you know, codes and buildings and, you know, expansion.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I think that's extremely important.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: You think about education, right?
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: You think about healthcare, right?
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: So these growing communities offer all of the above to entice people to want to move, whether it's, you know, a suburb of Dallas or, you know, Parker, Castle Rock, Colorado.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I live in what's called Douglas County, Colorado.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it's one of the fastest growing, you know, more wealthy communities.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_01: But I think there's multiple reasons that people move here.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: Number one is the beauty of Colorado, our weather.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_01: We have 300, you know, days a year of sun.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, we've got the cold and the snow.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_01: You can't be afraid of that.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: But Douglas County is very well known for its school system, safety, right?
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you're considering so much when you're looking at a new community.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we do the same thing with Be Local.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: We want to partner with communities that are growing, right?
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: That are very strategic in their planning, their educational system, their safety, right?
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_01: Low crime rates, tax it, right?
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: Desirable tax environments, and again, strong economics.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: What should a city leader do if they wanted to know if they already have a be local in their community, maybe they don't know about, or maybe they want to bring a be local to their community?
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_00: What would they do?
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I first and foremost, you can go to belocalpub.com.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_01: If you're not sure if there's a be local in your town or city or county, go to start there, belocalpub.com.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_01: Any of our be locals that are in print, that are in circulation, will have that digital component online.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_01: If there is not one for your town or city, well, maybe there's somebody that you can nominate, right?
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a franchise opportunity?
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_01: So you're you're the local publisher, you're the franchise owner.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe you yourself want to be a franchise owner.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_01: You want to start a be local in your town or city.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_01: If there's not one, you can apply right on belocalpub.com, right?
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_01: Or you can go to our parent company, which is the N2 Company, n2code.com, n2co.com, and again, apply to be a franchise owner.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: And sure there's a an interview process, right?
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's a weed out, vet out process.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, if there's not a be local in your growing town or city, there should be one.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, what I'm so passionate about is I believe we could have a thousand B locals from coast to coast.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_01: There should be this in every growing town or city, and it should be a staple brand go to.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: Community connector in every every town or city, like I said.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many wonderful places to live in the United States, and every single one of them should have a Be Local.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: We have over a hundred right now, but their potential for this brand is epically huge.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um if if there's a business owner that's interested in advertising in Be Local, what should they do?
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, again, you can find your local franchise owner through belocalpub.com.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_01: Again, go to that particular location wherever you are, look at the publication, look at the digital publication.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: But also in each area, there's its individual landing page that you can scroll actually to the bottom.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_01: There's a meet the publisher, and you can just inquire within and contact that local publisher, franchise owner, and get more information about what your community be local looks like, various size options, pricing, packages, and you can get all of the information that you need to become a local favorite by partnering with your Be Local and positioning yourself and your business in front of these new families.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Jeremy, you're an OG in this brand.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_00: You've seen Be Local from a perspective that some of the newer folks have not seen yet.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: Can you tell me uh a couple stories of the impact that you have seen Be Local make over the course of years and decades?
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I often say Be Local is like a domino that sparks a positive chain reaction in a community almost beyond our ability to understand or even measure.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_00: You have a unique perspective.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: Could you tell us a story of how Be Local has helped your communities thrive and the impact that you've seen kind of from the front row?
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I've got Be Local in Castle Rock, Colorado.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had that for several years now in a quick growing, expanding community, very, very much thriving and partner with the city.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_01: Not that this is a city magazine by any means, but just a partnership.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: Our mayor has a welcome to the community letter in there because he knows the importance of just welcoming all the families moving in.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then I've got a great partnership with the local chamber of commerce.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_01: And they've got a welcome letter.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_01: They've got an ad in there promoting, they do a lot of community events and obviously promoting ribbon cuttings for new businesses.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_01: And uh recently, I'm super excited because I got elected to the board of directors for our chamber of commerce down there.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: So awesome.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: Love being able to, you know, sit in, to be involved, to give back, maybe have a little bit of a say in the direction of the community and certainly for the chamber of commerce, but ultimately helping local businesses thrive, right?
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's what this was all about.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you then you take it a step further.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so, Laura, uh, a couple months ago, I um I got an email from a new local business owner.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_01: She owns a med spa, and she was she just moved to the Castle Rock area.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_01: She was looking into opening another location there in Castle Rock.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I met with her and I sat down, and as soon as I pulled out the Be Local magazine and put it in front of her, she was like, she was ecstatic.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, no way.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I had no idea.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: I never put two and two together, but my husband and I moved here two years ago, and we still have this on our coffee table from when they moved into the community.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so there are so many of those stories as to look, you have a coffee table book, a quality publication, the community roadmap, as I as I've referenced.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_01: Your only other option is now I just moved here so I can just Google everything.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's fine sometimes, but at the same time, that can be kind of annoying, just Googling everything.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so Well, it's a pay-to-play space.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's important for people to understand that you pay a lot to be on page one of Google.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_00: You're either paying to have an ad run and you're in that auction and you're the highest bidder, or you've done a lot behind the scenes to have a savvy SEO team that's making sure you're showing up organically.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_00: But all of us know that people on page one of Google are paying for that exposure.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's important for people to understand that be local is about being locally loved.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's the title of our podcast.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: Be local is about being locally loved.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's like if you're locally loved in the community, you don't pay to be in be local.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: We include you because you are locally loved.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_01: You are 100% correct.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_01: And then I love the fact that Be Local, it's not a coupon book.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's not an ad-heavy book.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, we might have a couple dentists, a couple landscapers, a couple plumbers, but we, our goal and our mission is to really build relationships with our business partners.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I do want to plug, too, that Laura, Be Local is free of charge for these families.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_01: They receive a complimentary copy in their new home's mailbox.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that is a testament to our relationships and to our business partners and our supporters.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_01: These are businesses that understand this marketing strategy, they understand the audience, they understand the value proposition and the stay power and the consistent and ongoing touch points that B Local has to offer through both the print and digital channels.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, Jeremy, people often ask, like, what's the ROI on B Local?
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what should we expect?
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do you have happy clients?
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_00: Are they renewing?
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what does it look like to be a partner of B Local?
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_00: Can you dive into, you've been doing this a really long time.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_00: Can you dive into some testimonials and success stories and stories of B Local's impact on your businesses?
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what is it that we say about ROI relationship of influence?
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I like to say return on impact because people are looking on for return on their money, but I'm looking for the return on the impact of what they're doing because that, like I said earlier, the ripple effect, the domino effect of what we do, the impact is epically huge.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_00: And the amount of money that it costs to be a part of our program is very small compared to the massive impact.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's right.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that I talk a lot about is that opportunity, right?
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_01: So, what is the impact of VLocal?
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_01: What are some testimonials?
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_01: How do I know it works?
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_01: Look, the first question you have to ask is number one, are you looking to grow?
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_01: Are you looking to expand?
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_01: Are you looking to get your name, your company, your business out in your community?
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_01: Because this is grassroots.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is community outreach at its best.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, you can buy the banner at the baseball field or the football stadium.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_01: You can do direct mail campaigns.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_01: You could even pull your own new movers list every single month and do a postcard.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_01: But again, we talked about it earlier earlier in this episode.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_01: The 0.01% on a direct mail campaign, it's just junk mail.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_01: You become a solicitor, you become like everybody else.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_01: So be local sets our business partners aside.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_01: And the truth and reality, Laura, is that every form of advertising works.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_01: It works because it's designed to increase exposure.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's designed to position yourself in front of eyeballs, homeowners, consumers, new patients, whatever your business is, insert category here.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_01: Every form of advertising works.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the things that I know to be true is that the more robust marketing strategy you have, the more impossible the trackability is.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so understanding this as a marketer, as a business owner, I think is extremely important, right?
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because what as a consumer, we need to we need to see a business, what is it, eight to 10 times, sometimes 12 times before it even resonates.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so I might see you in the publication, right?
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_01: I might see you in a different magazine, a billboard, a park bench, the side of a bus, the baseball sign, might see you on Google, I might see you on TV, I might see you on radio.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_01: It all is designed to accumulate and to build that brand, to differentiate yourself.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so with BeLocal, I have clients that have been with me for years and years.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll say that probably 70% of my clients continuously renew year over year because of the audience and the distribution platform.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_01: The fact that Be Local is a complete marketing system utilizing both the print space and the digital marketing space, going after an audience, positioning themselves, their company.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like I have a bank partner in my Bozeman, Montana, and I just met with them.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_01: They weren't up for renewal, Laura, for another seven months.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just like, hey, how do you guys like our partnership?
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_01: How do you like what we're doing in the community?
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_01: And most importantly, how do you like putting your bank in front of these new home buyers that are just coming here?
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, we have to capture that money.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_01: We have to open the checkings and the savings and the CDs and you know the HELOCs, right?
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because if we're not in front of them, our competitor bank is in front of them.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_01: So he said to Jeremy, we have seven months left, but please send me a renewal and I want to renew for another 36 months because this is an audience we will never stop positioning ourselves in front of.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing with our local hospital up there.
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's a newer hospital, beautiful multi-million dollar facility.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_01: And they want to be the go-to healthcare facility in town.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so again, locals either know you or don't, either use you or don't, right?
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because they already have habits, relationships, and routines.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_01: But for new people, they don't know what hospital, what urgent care, what doctor, what dentist to go to yet.
• 54:01
  SPEAKER_01: So my hospital's like Jeremy, we talk about be local Bozeman, what you do in the community probably once a week.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_01: We absolutely love it.
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's beautiful.
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_01: The high quality, it's perfect, bound, the quality photos, the quality of the content.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_01: We absolutely love what you do.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's so good.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you, when I was ramping up my Be Local, I actually went on a hunt for what else is out there to tell people where to go, what to do, and who to trust.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I found eight and a half by 11 pages with like bullet pointed lists.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_00: I found some little tripod brochures that some realtors had put together.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I realized, wow, we've really got something special here that can step into the marketing space and make a massive impact because, like you said, the audience is so important that a business cannot deny.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_00: And we're using a an approach to print that I've not seen from any other media company ever.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and with the integration with digital, it makes it a full service marketing system that a business owner does not have to worry about.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_00: They don't even have to change their ad because it's always going a new group of people every 30 days.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for telling us those stories uh from your happy clients.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure uh with four be locals and so many years in the business, you've got hundreds of stories like that.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_00: We truly thank you, uh, Jeremy.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_00: And um, we hope to have you back on the podcast to keep talking about marketing.
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_01: Looking forward to it.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_00: Jeremy, can you tell our listeners how they can follow you, plug into what you're doing, take a look at your be locals?
• 55:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll I'll I'll first plug, if you don't mind, my my podcast.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, please.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's called Your Brand, Your Backyard.
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_01: And this is about being a business owner, being about an entrepreneur, things to do, you know, how to how to make mistakes and move on from it, marketing strategies, building that brand.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_01: You might be a marketer, you might be a marketing student.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's it's not about be local, it's not about the end to company.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_01: We talk a little bit about that, but it's helping local businesses thrive.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_01: So tune in to the Your Brand, Your Backyard podcast.
• 56:21
  SPEAKER_01: In addition to that, I've got Be Local Parker in Colorado, in Castle Rock, and Lone Tree Highlands Ranch.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_01: You can find me on belocalpub.com.
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_01: We also are on the socials, be local underscore parker.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_01: You can certainly find us on the socials.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_01: You can also find me personally on the socials as well.
• 56:39
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 56:39
  SPEAKER_00: And before we wrap, are there any last thoughts you'd like to share with our listeners?
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would just, you know, I strongly encourage, you know, if you're a small to medium sized, even you might be a large business and you just want to do more.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_01: You want to be more involved in your in your community.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_01: Your be local, if you have a community, is one of the very first touch points.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_01: And the new mover audience is so significant.
• 57:02
  SPEAKER_01: And new movers, you know, they develop 72 new business relationships in the first year of moving.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so I would highly recommend being a partner, being a community supporter.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a local, be local, be involved.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_01: Get your name out there and be in front of every single new mover, both print and digital, right as they're moving in, because new movers tend to use one of the very first businesses that they see.
• 57:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so be that.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking to grow and expand, be that.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what I would recommend.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's so good.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_00: Be the first person they see.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jeremy.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you all for listening.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next time.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for Be Locally Loved.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who cares about building thriving communities as much as we do.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, love where you live.