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022 - How Business Can Help a Community Thrive with Candice Ellensohn · Be Locally Loved

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Be Locally Loved, where we spotlight the people, places, and ideas that help communities thrive.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Moving to a new town can feel overwhelming.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: You don't know where to go, you don't know what to do, you don't know who to trust.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's where BeLocal comes in.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like a best friend, BeLocal personally welcomes newcomers and connects them to the best local businesses, restaurants, community events, so they can feel at home faster.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: And for local business owners, Be Local is like a matchmaker, introducing them to new families who are ready to form long-lasting and local relationships.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: To grow your business by reaching newcomers, visit reachnewcomers.com.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: What if the work you do could help more than your business grow?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: What if you could use your business to help your community thrive?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we're talking about today.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: My guests, my friend, Candace Ellinson, an entrepreneur, community builder, longtime franchise owner with the N2 Company.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Through Stroll Foxville and Be Local Tri-Cities, Candace has spent more than a decade using her local media platforms to connect residents, help local businesses grow, and strengthen the community around her.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're talking about how she does that in real life and what all of us can learn about using the work we already do to make a bigger impact on the places we call home.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Candace, welcome to Be Locally Loved.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: I am so excited to be here.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: I know we've been talking about this for a little while, and I am super excited we're finally able to connect.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Me too.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: We've only had to reschedule a few times.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: I know, right?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Life, life gets in the way.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you and I have several things in common.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I can think of at least three.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: We both started at N2 11 years ago.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: So we are not, you know, spring chickens.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: I knew you were gonna say that.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's a I'll allow it.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'll allow it.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: You are correct.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: We are we are older and wiser in this week.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and this is a business media company that we are both a part of.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: We also both have a son named Grayson.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: You have two sons, one is named Grayson.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: You spell it differently.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: You have the E and I have the A.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: The yes, the E came from really quick story.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: My husband has always been in a band on the side, and Ellenson was never a cool enough stage name for him.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: So he was always Christopher Gray, G-R-E-Y, which is what prompting Grayson's name.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is a cool stage name.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and the most exciting thing that we have in common is you live in St.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Charles, Illinois.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up in Elburn, Illinois, which is this like 20 minutes west.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Barely.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: And my my first like big girl job was at the St.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Charles Mall, which doesn't even exist anymore.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there's one there's still one store there, but they're building around it.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know what they're doing with it.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I actually live on the far west side of St.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Charles.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: So Elburn is a stone's throw from me and included in my B local mailing area.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: So it's very kidding.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: I did not know that.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: So when I lived in Elburn, it was so far west that we had to drive to Geneva to get on the train to get into Chicago.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: But now the train goes to Elburn, right?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's the last stop.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's right at the edge of Elburn.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I know that that helped Elburn to kind of get on the map.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And well, it's bo it's it's actually booming out there right now because as you know, from Chicago west, the only way you can build is to keep moving west.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And Elburn is just booming right now.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's still a small, quaint little town, but because it's right on the edge of the tri-cities, they come this way for everything they do still.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it made sense to include them.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: But it's it's it's right there.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Reims, I'm sure you remember Reims Meat Market.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Still there.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I've got a story about that later.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I used to work at Anderson's grocery store.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think that they're there anymore.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think so either.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I should know, but I don't.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: The owner was Leonard, and then I worked for his son, Dave.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: It was my very first job.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: I would ring people out in this like old school cash register.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: I would bag lettuce.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: I would face shelves.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: That was my first job in Elburn, Illinois.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: That is amazing.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and I remember when we talked about that for the first time, it was so random how it came up.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, that is crazy.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I right after that, I think I was pulling Elburn into my mailing area because it just made sense.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I follow you on social media and I'll see like some of your pictures.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I know where she is right now.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's so fun.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's been so fun, like just being in the N2 company with you and being able to see you at conferences and things like that.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Let's start with your story of how you came into the N2 opportunity.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: What were you doing before?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: And how did you say yes to all of this?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, crazy little story.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I was a corporate flight attendant for a lot of my life and which didn't really suit having children.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: And when I started having my kids, I was older when I started having kids.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: I was able to stay home for a while.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then when my youngest got to kindergarten, it was time for me to kind of get back out there.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I was anxious to get back out there.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: I live in a neighborhood that had already had a stroll magazine that the N2 company kind of that was, you know, as you know, that's where they started.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And my husband used to go to her networking meetings and came home and said, Hey, there's this opportunity.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: And after some hemming and hawing, I realized that having children and having this job was a match made in heaven.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like really, I was able to take them to school, pick them up from school, do all my meetings in between.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then as they grew, my business grew, and then Be Local came along.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember when Be Local was first announced to our group.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: We were doing, do you remember when we used to still do the sales marketing meetings?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: And Dina Nystrom, who is also been in the company for a very long time, was our marketing manager, sales manager.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to get that right, but she came up from Indiana and we'd meet as a team here in the Chicagoland area.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: And she talked about this new product that N2 was launching.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember her talking about it and thinking, I have got to do this.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason why is because when we moved to our neighborhood, it was 20, 20 years ago, 21 years ago.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the people who had lived here before us had moved quite a bit for his job.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: And they were kind enough to leave me a piece of paper that had written on it, their painter, their landscaper, their, you know, dry cleaners, like all, like it was gold.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: It was all the this great information.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: We had moved out from the city and we didn't really know the area that well at all.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it was, it was just gold.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And the minute she told us that this was going to be a product that we were producing, I was like, I have to be in on this.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: It means if I had had this product when I moved in, it would have changed the game.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so I've always had this huge love for what we do with Be Local.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I do too.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: I share that with you.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: What do you love most about Be Local?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things I there's so many things I love about it.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's really hard, but I really truly love that it is a unbiased publication that we supply to new homeowners that they can find all things local, great businesses to use.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: I love that we get to kind of pick and choose who we work with.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And introducing them to the new residents gives them an opportunity to connect with businesses that, you know, when you move in, you don't know anything.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: You don't know who to trust.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you've moved from across town or from like us, from so many people move from Chicago out here when they're starting their families.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it's all just new.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And we're the starting point for them.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: But I really do love that it's a locals guide, that we are really providing them just with local favorites from the area.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not a pay-to-play categories and the articles that we have.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: So when did you realize that Be Local was more than a magazine?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think through Stroll, I knew that we are just much more than a magazine because of everything that we offer beyond the magazine.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: But with Be Local, because it's such a community-driven idea, the fact that we support the local community, whether they're advertising with us or not, is, you know, way beyond the magazine.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's really supporting the whole area, businesses, residents, and everything in between.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I have three big, not big, but three towns including in my included in mine.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not one just one area.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: I belong to all three chambers.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: One of them advertises with me.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we sub, we support everyone.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really just about having it, having it available to everybody to have access to, beyond new movers.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: So for people who don't know what Be Local is, take us, take us deep into what is BeLocal?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: What role does it play in the community?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: So Be Local is a guide for new movers moving into a particular area that helps them find all things local and great businesses to use.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: And we mail them the guide within 30 to 45 days of them closing on their house, which I have found is pretty perfect because they're inundated with so much other information.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's really a coffee table magazine.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: We built this to be long-term use, ideally for six months to 12 months that they've moved in.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I've had so many people, I met with a business once who I we had I had changed the cover from when we first started to in the first year, and then the second year we changed it for a number of reasons.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it's been the same since.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been six years since I launched.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I was meeting with her and she had moved in with the first cover.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: And as I'm going through the magazine, she's like, I I feel like I know this magazine, but she was a little off because the cover wasn't the same.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And she had moved in a couple years prior, and sure enough, she partnered with me.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: She went home, she took a picture.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: My dog is jumping up on here.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: She took, she took a picture of the magazine with the previous cover that was still sitting in her drawer at in the kitchen.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, it really is as long as you feel like you can have use it.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: I've I bring it to the hair salon I go to.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I mail it there now, but I used to bring it.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And my stylist that does my hair always says to me, You need to bring, make sure you have copies in here.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: I've had three to four people that have lived in the area for 20 years grab it and use it because you kind of get used to the same five restaurants that you're, you know, you go to.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: You get in your habits, you get into, you know, your own personal favorites, but you kind of forget what's opened, you know, what's what's new, what's what's different.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't there's no other resource to find that.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so we've been able to do that.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: But to be able to provide that to new homeowners who are literally looking to start everything new.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what do we say?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: They make 72 new business relationships in the first year that they move in.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: We want all of our businesses to have an opportunity to get seen first so that they get put on their considerate consideration list.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: And we consider it branding.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: You we can talk about that, but we we definitely consider it branding.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's step one to be to get seen.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I love your line.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: You taught me this.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: I love that businesses need to realize that every time someone moves in, their brand dilutes if they don't know about them.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's absolutely right.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: We call it brand awareness solution.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you're not doing something to proactively build your brand with these new people that are coming in, they don't know you exist.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: So if you used to have, you know, X amount of market share, it's gonna slowly decline just because the population is growing.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's a real thing.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: It is definitely a real thing.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, when I say that to businesses, because I don't know that you always, as a business owner, think about it because you think about the clients you currently have.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: What you don't always think about is those that move out of state.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: And let me remind you, we're in Illinois, they move out a lot.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: And right?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, I mean, retirement, nobody wants to necessarily think about retirement in Illinois.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: I did move out of Illinois, multiple exactly, exactly.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: So how do we get the that business to get in front of new homeowners moving in so that they can replace the the clients that they've lost?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: They don't always think about that.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that when we talk to them about it, it clicks.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: It it's a realization that this is a viable audience for them and it makes sense for their business because you're just not always gonna keep your clients a hundred percent of the time.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and also this audience is very potent.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: And what I mean, what I mean by that is that we know that they're gonna spend more money in the first six months than they are in the next three years.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like Absolutely.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: I remember when we moved into the house we're in now saying to my husband, when are we gonna stop spending money?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like you just turn around, you're like, oh, we have to paint that, we have to change that, we have to buy that, we have to restore that.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: It just was insane.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if you want to make your house your own.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of different ways to do that.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Again, a lot of people moving out from the city, which we did.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we moved from probably a 900 square foot apartment to a big family home out in the suburbs, and there's a lot to do.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: You want to make it your own, but you also need to furnish it.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: You also want to do the landscaping.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's little things that when you move into a house need to be updated and and, you know, you want to make it your own.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't always know where to start.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: It can be super overwhelming.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: And what I love and that I've learned coming into be local is there was an article, and we've talked about this in Dealership Magazine, like car dealership mag car dealership marketing magazine from, I don't know, maybe 10 years ago now, that talked about how dealerships need to get in front of new movers because one of the first big purchases they make after buying their house is buying a car.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't really understand that completely, but we did that.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: We moved out here because we were having a baby.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: We I needed to, you know, not have a two-door car and have a four-door car car.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: So it was probably nine months after we moved in, but we ended up getting a new car.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: And when I mentioned that to different business owners that I meet with, I have so many people say, Oh, we did that.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: That happened to us.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the garage doesn't fit.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: They downsize, they upsize, whatever it is, there's changes that need to be made.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: So there's so many different reasons to get in front of new movers beyond just, I I wanna, I wanna paint my house.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I think all of us remember being told by our mortgage company, don't do anything big with your money.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to buy it.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, exactly.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Don't do anything big because you're, you know, you're you need to be able to get that loan.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's exactly right.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: So so what other industries are ideal for the new mover audience?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: We talked about how they want to make their home their own.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: I like to say nobody wants to live in someone else's house.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like their fingers and they want to change everything, right?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, exactly.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, yeah, you think about the the most logical, the remodelers, the painters.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I have carpet cleaners that I partner with that are that are wonderful.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: It may not be the first service that new homeowners use, but down the road, they're gonna want a carpet cleaner because they have a dog, they have kids, they have, you know, all the movers bringing their things in.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: I work with a with a lot of car dealerships.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: I work with several restaurants in the area.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: I, as many of our Be Local colleagues do, have a little shout out in my welcome note about let me know how you use BeLocal after you got it delivered.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd love to send you a little gift card to the area to explore more.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: I I've had people text me saying, we are we are working our way through the dining guide right now.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like we love this so much.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: And the dining guide, of course, is non-biased, but I have pl, you know, I have restaurants in the area that partner with me to get more exposure and really be, you know, I have a wonderful restaurant in the area called the Graceful Ordinary that is expanding their their brand with three new concepts so it won't be the same name.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: So it gives them an opportunity to get their information out before they even opened.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: I have a wonderful little French bistro that sponsors my dining guide so they can get a little extra exposure.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: So things like that.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's very helpful to new movers.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I kind of see there's three buckets, is kind of where I see it.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: There's like the first bucket is the home services.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's everything related to making your home your own, everything you described, and also pool builders and landscapers and lawn care, and like everything outdoor lighting, like all of that.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of the first bucket.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then the second bucket, I call personal services.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: You and I were just talking about how lovely your hair is.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like personal services, your hairdresser, your nail tech, your financial advisor, your insurance agent, like all these relationships that once you start your doctor, your dentist, once you start that relationship, you potentially are gonna have it for life as long as nothing goes sideways, right?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the idea, too, that we want our business partners to always understand is that getting seen early is important because if you get that person through the door and they become a repeat customer of yours for life, like you just said, I mean, that that's invaluable to them.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: And if they don't know you exist, you're not even gonna be an option to them.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, we okay, so that's your two buckets.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Did you say Yeah, there's third.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: The third one is I call entertainment.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's like they want to plug in, they want to find movie theaters and festivals and events and like I don't know, like things to do after school.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's the whole lifestyle vibe of the city.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think about that one?
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I yeah, we have a couple different uh industries that fit that bucket that I partner with, but one of the chambers in the area is also, if you remember Geneva, the Geneva area.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're the it's the best.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: They the Geneva Chamber is also the tourism for their town.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: There's not a separate convention in tourism.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: So they partner with me and are able to push out all the events that they do, everything from Festival of the Vine to Swedish Days and you know, Christmas Housewalk.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's all do you remember it all?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's also fun.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: Played the organ at Swedish Days and won like I won an outstanding trophy.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Just funny story, is like I got two-thirds of the way through the music because you have to have it memorized, and I completely forgot where I was in the music, and I stopped playing for like 10 seconds.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: And in my brain, I went back to where I was in the music and I found myself and I picked it up and I started it and I finished.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: They gave me an outstanding because I was able to, as like an eight-year-old, I was able to compose myself, stay calm, figure out where I was and finish it like perfectly and not fall apart, cry, freak out.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: But that was Swedish days.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And what a great memory because I mean, it does you were eight years old and you were able to not like look for your mom and be like, what do I do now?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to probably, but yeah.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: I so okay, you have to tell this story to your friends in Geneva.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: So my mom and dad moved to Georgetown 11 years ago, 12 years ago, 13 years ago.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: Don't remember exactly.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, I was in Austin and they came to visit me in Austin, and they're like, we don't want to live in Austin.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's just too much, too much, too much.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: So they went north to Georgetown and they found the Georgetown Square, the historic square, the San Gabriel River, the whole like vibe, the history.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: And they said it reminds us of Geneva.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why they moved here because it reminded them of Geneva, because we grew up, we lived in St.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: Charles, Geneva, Batavia, because there was nothing in Elburn.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and still to this day, I mean, Elburn has a few great little things.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: They still do Elburn days there, which is fun.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: But they there's so much activity in St.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Charles, Geneva, and Batavia.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: And each of its each of those towns are so quaint in and of themselves.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: And they all have different festivals, different parades, different things that they do, different restaurants that I mean, you could hit one every weekend and do something different for the whole year.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's sometimes we forget, especially living here when you know winter hits.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you forget really how amazing it is in this area with the quaintness of the towns and all we have to do.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's on the river.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, it's really kind of special.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think what you just said is is so important for people to also understand why and how Be Local gets past the newcomer.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it's exactly what you said.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like people forget, they get stuck in their habits, they go to their same three or four restaurants, and they forget to look at their community almost like a tourist or an outsider to discover something new.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: And be local helps, you know, you and I both have stories of oh, I lived here for 20 years and I didn't know about that event.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know about that restaurant, I didn't know about that shopping boutique, right?
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, when we when I was putting Be Local together six years ago, and it was a little bit of a crazy time because it was 2020, but there were, you know, you gather information from residents.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: I sent jot forms to everybody I know and had them send it to everybody they know.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And things came in, and same thing, like you get stuck in your life with kids and and you're only doing a few things and you don't explore as much.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And all these things started coming in.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember one weekend, Chris and I saying, Where should we go to dinner?
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, if only we had a guy.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, I ran into my office and grabbed the local and was like, We've never been here.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go try this place.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: And we did, and it was just that little motivation to do something different, and it is so satisfying when a resident that has lived here for so long gets my magazine, whether I've handed it to them, whether They see it at a coffee shop or a hair salon that I drop it off at to tell me how much they've enjoyed it.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: I had an email recently from a realtor who saw my magazine somewhere and she was like, How do I get this to my new homeowners?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Well, let's connect.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's has it has so much value to it.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not, it's not, you know, all the chamber members that are paying to be in it.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Those definitely have their places.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm supportive of them, but this is such a unique product that we have for these new homeowners.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it comes across as being, you know, not everybody's paying to be in it.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's just truly, it's truly a great guide for them.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's honestly what we in the media industry call earned media.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like you've earned the publicity that we give you, whether it's in print, online, through mobile, through social, you've earned that through being locally loved, which is the inspiration of this podcast.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: So for those business owners that have said, this is my backyard, this is my community, this is where I live, this is where I serve.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: And they've got more of a how can I give?
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: How can I serve?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like that givers gain mentality versus like, what can I get?
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: They don't, they don't think of be local as traditional advertising or like shared direct mail where it's like, what can I get out of this?
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Can I get a transaction?
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: Can I get a new customer?
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: Our clients are saying, How do I introduce my brand in a credible way so that they see me as a trusted local resource?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: And how do I give them an easier go of it when they move into the community and pass on the history, heart, the culture of this area?
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's so much more a community service than an advertising platform.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: And to kind of piggyback on that, I have a lot of business partners that are part of their own nonprofit.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: Not that they've created the nonprofit, but they support a nonprofit.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: And as a business partner, we want to support the whole area.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: But if they're particularly tied to a nonprofit, we're also going to support them there.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that is where it kind of comes full circle.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: And we're not just, we're not just being nice to you because you advertise with us.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: We love what you do in the community.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: We love the work that you do both with your business and to support the community as a whole.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: And we always want to be a part of that.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: I like to say be local raises the tide that lifts all boats.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, we've already talked about how we touch the new mover.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: We've already talked about how that stretches beyond the new mover to the longtime local.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: You've mentioned your partnership with the chamber.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: You've mentioned all the businesses that you support and how they get to see first.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: For me, I have a partnership with the city.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: The city has said we know that these new movers are the future of our town and we have to welcome them and help help usher them through the experience of getting to know the area.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, do you have a partnership with your city too?
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like what partners do you have?
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we have three cities in ours.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so I've never really gone, I know all of the mayors.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: I've met them all.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: I've not gone particularly to the cities to support them.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: We have each of the cities also have like a tourism part of them.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Geneva, as I mentioned, is within the chamber.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: St.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Charles has its own chamber that I'm a part of.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then they also have the Downtown Business Alliance, which supports the downtown community.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we support them a lot through social media because they do a lot through social media.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: And we're bringing all the events to everybody who follows our social media.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: We want to support the town.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: We want to support local.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: That was that was really the amazing thing about launching during 2020.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Be Local supports local anyway.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: That was our whole goal.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: But during 2020, it became so important to support local.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: And it was, I just am so proud of who we partner with and who we support.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, you know, we've had partnerships with the St.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Charles Business Alliance, and it was great.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, there's still a budget that they have to work with, and we support them even though they're not fully advertising with us because we want, we want people to support the towns.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: We want to drive people to those businesses that are there that are brick and mortar because they're all have a chance of suffering at one time or another with, you know, the internet and all the things that take over.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: We want people to walk into the doors of these stores and support them.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: And the best way to do that is to get people to go to the events that are down there and push out everything that that our towns are supporting.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you know, and you mentioned social media, which is such an important part of what we do.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: Very different from a traditional magazine that goes out every month to the same audience.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I'd call traditional magazine.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: And that's been around for decades.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: We actually are more like a yearbook.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of this thing that is almost evergreen, stands the test of time.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, you had a lady that had it for years.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: For years.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was awesome.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we have this new audience every 30 days.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: I like to say every 30 days, people get a house key.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: If I had my house keys, I'd jingle them.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Every 30 days, a bunch of people get house keys.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: And every 30 days, a bunch of people get this magazine.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: And because of that, not only do they discover the local businesses and the local favorites, but they discover be local social media.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: So every 30 days, I don't know about yours, but my social media grows every 30 days, and that's gonna continue for years and years and years.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's very special.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: I have an amazing social media manager.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Her name's Mallory, and she has done wonders for my social media.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so proud of it.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: But with my partnership with my businesses, they also get the benefit of my social media because I want them to do well.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we're not always just pushing out what they do.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're just talking about them as locals as well, which is super fun.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: But we were down in Geneva this morning for a networking meeting that I was hosting.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the other thing.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like I bring my business partners together to support and grow their brand within the community of businesses that partner with me as well.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it does, it works.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: People partner with those that are also partnered with the magazine and they support each other, and it's a beautiful thing to see.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: But we were down there and Mallory was there, and she's like, You, you are, you know, we're not just running around.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's grab some quick video.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so we we did some quick video of, you know, hey, we just heard you move to the area.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, follow us for, you know, blah, blah, blah, all the things.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna be able to whip it out now, but you know, she she she makes me look good, she makes me sound good, but it is really we're there to bring people awareness in everything that's going on.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly right.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: I think our the last I looked at our social media analytics, we're reaching, we're reaching a quarter million people through Facebook and Instagram.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's not something, you know, we worked hard to earn that, but it it's it's in my opinion, because we're pushing out content that people want.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: We're pushing out content through the magazine that people want and need and value.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's why they keep it and don't throw it away.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: We're pushing out content on our social media that people want and need and follow and come back to.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like we are, we are the media.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Our our job is to share content to help people's lives be better and be local is extraordinary at that, in my opinion.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I I do love nothing makes me happier than knowing when the magazine got delivered, because I'll have a hand a handful of emails in my inbox that says, hey, we just got this amazing resource.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for sending it to us.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: I had a young couple recently reach out to me, sent, you know, sent them a gift card to one of the restaurants that is partnered with me.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's a burger and sushi house.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: As crazy as it sounds, it's amazing.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: They bring everybody to the table, whether you like sushi or you have kids that just want burgers.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so I sent them a gift card.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: They then went to the restaurant, took pictures of themselves because they're young and they're, you know, in the social media age, took pictures of themselves, sent it to me, thanked me for everything, said, we didn't know they'd do a Thursday night date night.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna go back and have that.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, this is how it works.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: You don't always get to hear it.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know it happens, but when you hear it, it just satisfies the soul because you know what you're doing is meaningful and works.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: And they're happy because they got to try something new.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: My business partner is happy because now they're repeat customers.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm happy because everybody's happy.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it's, you know, it's a win-win-win.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, to your point, we don't always get to hear that, right?
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like we are in the exposure business.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: We deliver credible brand awareness.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: I say it's a lot like noticing someone in a coffee shop.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you're like, oh, that person's cute.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna like walk over and say, you want to get married?
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like, let's have a transaction.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're just a great analogy.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: You're just trying to spark a new relationship and you want to do it in a way that feels like natural and warm and friendly.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: So when businesses sponsor our mission to welcome these families, they get to be seen as trusted local resources and not solicitors.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: Which is really, really important.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: I know that my partners that love what we do and renew year after year after year, they say, Well, I don't know if I'm getting anything out of this because it's really hard to track, which I'll say right up from the front, you're not gonna be able to track this.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: But they want to be a part of shaping the future.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: They want, they know that these people don't know they exist and they don't know any other way to get in front of them that's easy and affordable and turnkey, kind of like us, right?
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: And our job is just to be a dot connector.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're like business owner, newcomer, connect.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're a matchmaker, right?
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I know a lot of us, I know you and I are very similar, and I'm sure most of the B local area directors out there are very similar.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: That it's not just the magazine.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: You said it before.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's not we're I always say we're a whole program.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: I know you have a different saying for it, but with that program comes us.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like we, I am my partner's biggest mouthpiece.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: I will scream their names from the rooftop.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: They don't know that.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: They never hear me say it.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: I will recommend them anytime I'm in conversation and somebody's looking for a so-and-so.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I work with someone who, even if I've met with someone who didn't partner with me, if it's not a conflict to any of my other partners, I'm still going to refer them because I want to support the local area as long as they're worth referring.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: But I am always very, very transparent up front.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: We we are all about branding you.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_00: We want people to know you exist.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_00: But everything else you do, if you have a wrap truck, if you're on social media, if you're doing mailers, if you're, you know, all the other things, you know, the digital ads, everything that comes along with it, it's just a piece of the pie.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: But we're the starting, we're the starting point.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: We're the first impression.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: We're the first impression.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: And you're you're not going to be able to track that.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: Just yesterday I was with a client and we were talking about the funnel.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Be local lives at the top of the funnel.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: We are that first impression.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: We are that wink in the coffee shop.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're we're not at the bottom of the funnel where someone's like, What's our phone number?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, exactly.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_01: And everyone says, I found you on Google.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: What's your phone number?
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: 99.9% of the credit goes to Google.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: I will tell them that.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because we all, that's where we land to look at reviews and to make sure we have their phone number or whatever it is.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I oh, go ahead.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say, but we know that between the first impression and the brand awareness at the top of the funnel to get to that bottom of the funnel where you're asking for Google for the phone number, you could have three, five, 10, 20 impressions.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: We don't know if it's hours, days, weeks, months, or years for them to like be ready to make a purchase.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, is it a high consideration purchase like a home renovation or a pool that has a long sales cycle?
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a low consideration purchase, like a new dress for the date night?
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like everyone's gonna have a completely different experience because we can't control the customer.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: They're on their own timeline.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's just a little trigger and you don't know what it is.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: When we when we moved in the neighborhood and my kids were little, this is before I owned the stroll, but it was already in existence.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: It had been around for about two years when I bought it.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it had maybe been around, I'm gonna say 18 months, let's say, year to 18 months when I was getting it.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I was in yellow page advertising, first job out of college.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I I do look at ads.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's part of, I don't know, my makeup.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: But I read the articles.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: I always enjoyed the magazine.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'd sit at the counter.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: I always joke, we're not write the Wall Street Journal.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: We're keeping people connected through stories and photos, right?
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, let's be real.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I I would see this local swim school in there, and I saw it month after month, and in my head, I was like, I need to call them.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I'd leave the the magazine open so I'd remember to do it.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: But life kids, like you're just not ready.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: They did a mailer to the house, and I saw it and I set it on the counter, and my I it was coming up on winter, and I was like, I I have two boys, I need them to do something in the winter to burn energy.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: I called, I made an appointment for them to do swim lessons at at its Goldfish Swim School.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: If they had asked me at that point where I heard about them, it would have been the mailer.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: But the mailer hit me when I was done dealing with my kids who needed some energy, you know, to burn some energy.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: It was seeing it in the magazine for six months and already in my head that said, okay, I've seen this enough times.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: I need to pick up the phone and call.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: And had that mailer not come, it might have been the next month of the magazine.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: But bottom line is, I would not have given credit where credit was due at the time.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's 1000%.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's impossible to do that.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a consumer.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's impossible to put a direct link between an interaction and a transaction when you have that messy middle of time and you're taking care of your boys, but you've still got that seed planted of, oh, I want to do that when the time is right.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: So like the messy middle, we can't control what happens in there, but it's still that first impression is what got you to the swim school.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like you kept your radar on them.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, 100%.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think about that all the time because people don't walk in saying, Oh, I just want you to know.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: Although I did have a resident text me recently to tell me her daughter from went to one of the places that advertised with that partners with us in Stroll.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like, I just thought you'd like to know.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh my gosh, that's so nice.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: So screenshot sent that off.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: But people typically that's very rare.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: People don't typically do that.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: And as consumers, I mean, think about that.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: All that happened with me before social media was what it is today.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now the amount of images that we are inundated with is just so many that you've got to find a way to stand out.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I know people used to, I don't think they do anymore, but people used to question when we were doing print.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I always say if you're not printing something that your target market is going to connect with, it doesn't matter.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're if you're printing something that your target market wants to open and read, that's when it matters.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: And the fact that we're doing things both with our neighborhood magazine, but specifically with Be Local, that you're moving into a new area, you want to know everything about it.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you're if you're re you know, downsizing and coming out here, you want to know, you know, what's what's around, what clubs are there are, what things you can do.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you're moving in with kids, you want to know what sports are available to the area.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you're moving in as newlyweds, you want to go out and explore all the date night options.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's just something for everyone.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_00: And and, you know, searching the internet to find all that individually is really overwhelming.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: I coach for Be Local, and one of my mentees said that she got a testimonial that said, Oh my gosh, I just got my BeLocal.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: This is so helpful to me.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, I've been Googling and she's like, it's so frustrating because you know it's a pay-to-play space.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: You're either paying for SEO to get up there, or you're paying for a pay-per-click ad to get up there, or an LSA ad, which are very expensive.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: Google page one is a very expensive pay-to-play space.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_01: And you're in there going, Who can I trust?
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: And and then she got her be local, and she said, This is so much easier than trying to Google everything and figure it out.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: I love that so much.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I love when we do get those emails from new homeowners moving in because every everything they tell me is different.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's a lot about the food in the area.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: We have a lot of great restaurants here, but it's a little bit of everything.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: Last year I had a woman email me that her son, who was a teenager, used to do off-road biking and where they moved from or where they used to live.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: They came to our area and I have a whole section on outdoor bike paths.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: And he was able to go there, connect with other kids and and adults probably who bike and was able to find other trails.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: We did the most popular ones based on, you know, referrals from our residents, but he was able then to find those off-trail ones.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: Other than that, it would have been a little bit of trial and error for him.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's really cool.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: I I know that when when someone moves into a new town, feeling feeling like an outside an outsider is kind of icky.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, I don't know where the post office is.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't even know where the grocery store is, much less the yoga studio or the pizza place.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's just an uncomfortable, it's like going to kindergarten.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's just, it's like, it triggers all that.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_01: And what people really want is they want to find their people and they want to belong.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: And what I love about your story is like he found his people.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: So when we, when a business owner says to me, like, what am I gonna get out of this?
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_01: I I want to try to communicate those stories and be like, what you're gonna get out of this is the goodwill for your brand that you've provided this resource that's made someone's life better, helped them feel like they belong, helped them feel noticed, helped them feel welcome, and help them connect and find new people in their life.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like you get to be a part of that.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: And because they had that experience, be local is gonna stay on their counter a little bit longer because they had this great experience and their son had a great experience.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_00: And and if they flip through that magazine one more time because of it and found highlight electric, great.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm all for it.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: So absolutely.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about how be local works.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I like to say it's kind of like five points of a star.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: I say it's the power of print, which we've talked about, it's the reach of digital, which we can lean into a little bit.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_01: I say it's the influence of social media, which we've talked about.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_01: And then I say it's the team, which you just said.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm my business, you know, partner's biggest voice, biggest mouthpiece.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's the team, it's us as ambassadors and influencers.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_01: And the last part is that system.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: You said the platform, the system, the whole turnkey operation.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_01: We are one of 100, 110, 120 B locals across the US.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how many we have right now.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: But we didn't make this up.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like you and I did not create this.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_01: We are franchise owners.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: We're using a proven system that uses those five points of the star to make it work for people, right?
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: Can we we haven't talked much yet about digital?
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like, let's talk a little bit about what are the digital offerings that BeLocal has for a business to help them extend the reach of their print ad into the digital space.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we have a great add-on that we do called Extended Reach Digital.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_00: And what that means is we take the print ad of our business partner, we rework it into six or seven different sizes of digital ads, and they show up when when the new resident, like we geofence the home after we they've moved in.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: So first they get the magazine, then then we're geo, we know this is a new home, we're geofencing that home.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna then target their IPO or IPO, IP addresses, and they will see our business partners' digital ads while they are online.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I always make it very clear, they're not the annoying ads that when you're scrolling and looking at a recipe pop up and get in the way.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's when you're on, you know, yahoo.com, msn.com, I've seen mlb.com pop up.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_00: On the side, it's just additional branding.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: The ads are not meant to be clicked on.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: We are looking for impressions.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_00: And in my area, we're getting between 9 and 12,000 impressions a month.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: That geofense lands on that home for a year, which is awesome.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: So they're constantly getting, and it's subliminal.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: All you know, so much branding is subliminal, but it's that tiny little add-on that we do that they'll flip through the magazine multiple times after they get it, but they're also gonna see it when they're online.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's a little add-on.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always very honest about that.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're not spending huge ad dollars.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's part of my program.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: I include it in my in my partnership.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just enough that we're not annoying homeowners.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_00: We're just showing them ads that they've already seen, businesses that they can recognize.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and building that trust.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, building trust.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 impressions is nothing to sneeze at.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's huge.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: It is.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's also important for business owners to understand that no one is going to be able to tie those ads back to be local.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like it says be local presents ABC plumbing.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, no, it's your brand.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's your ad.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: They're going to see you tens of thousands of times over the course of your agreement.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: And they're not, it's not, they're not going to know it has anything to do with be local.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: So if they say, I don't know if my be local partnership is working for me, this is one of the reasons why you won't be able to know because it's it's not tied to be local.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: We don't frame their ads with the be local logo.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: We are just promoting their ads.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love, I mean, we are so, we're so good for our business partners.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: I just love all of the offerings we have for them.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why it's a system.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's why it's a program.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's why it's not just a magazine.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_01: And they don't have typically the resources to do something like this in-house.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: They're not going to be able to create a resource that someone's not going to throw away.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: They're not going to have time to design an ad, print and digital, and run that around the web and buy ad space and get reports on reach and frequency and impressions, like all the things that we do and reels on social.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, all the things that we do, they would need a full-time marketing person to do.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_01: And most of our business partners don't have that.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely not.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then just another little touch on digital.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: So we all have our own landing pages too.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: So within this landing page, we've got the digital magazine that people can access.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: Works on your phone, great on a desktop or a laptop.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: Has it's the exact magazine in digital form, but we also have our carousel of logos of all our business partners at the bottom.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: The ads within the magazine and the carousel of logos are all live-linked.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: So if somebody clicked on that, it would automatically redirect to the website of the business.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: Never going to say it came from Be Local.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like they have no idea.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we have all these little spokes outside of the magazine that help our business partners get exposure.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I probably need to get better about reminding each business partner how many facets are within the program that we have.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because you forget, you do kind of only think about the magazine.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: But we we have so much outside of that that we do.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we are really doing everything we can to keep them relevant and keep their name in front of people and have it be top of mind should someone even if someone googles this industry, if that person pops up, it's gonna be that that subliminal.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_00: I recognize this, I'm gonna click on it, and it goes from there.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we've all been there.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: We've all been there.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just us.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, as consumers, this is how we shop.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of those 20 touch points.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: And to your point about the online landing pages, we're giving them a Google backlink from the digital flipbook where we make their print ad digital and you know, we we link it back to their website and we're linking their logo back to their website.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_01: Those are two organic backlinks from us to them that gives their domain authority.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_01: They're not gonna know that that's coming from be local, but Google will recognize them as more of a trusted website because we're linking to them and that has great value.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think that goes over some of our, I don't want to say our business partners, but sometimes that goes over even my head when I think about that.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_00: Just the understanding of how much importance it is that we are backlinking this to their website and what that means to them.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think the takeaway is that we're a marketing partner.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_01: We are we're doing all of these little spokes, like you called it, kind of going back to my five points of the star.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like all of these little things we're doing for you are a turnkey system with a team you can trust that are connected to the community, showing up at the chamber, showing up at the festivals and charity gallas.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_01: And you get all of you get a marketing team and you get a marketing system.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just an ad.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's one of the things that most people don't realize.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_01: They think it's maybe just the print magazine and it's just like a shared direct mail kind of thing.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not that at all.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: Not that at all.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_00: And real quick, too, I know I'm gonna jump back to the print for a second.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_00: What our end to design team has done with RB locals are absolutely gorgeous.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we use really big, beautiful photos.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it it is really an introduction to the area, but it's one of those magazines that you look at and you're pulled into it because it is just so beautiful and it's not inundated with ads.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_00: It really isn't.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: Our ratio is very skewed towards content, and it makes it so appealing to read and easy to read.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you're gonna flip through it more than once because there's so many different categories in it.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's that high school yearbook that you're just gonna hold on to and display proudly and go back to.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_01: I sat with a designer yesterday, she's new to town, and I was helping her get connected, and she told me she was a graphic designer, and I said, Well, you might have noticed that we put some energy into the design of be local.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_01: And she said, I noticed.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it is.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think when people look at it, especially when they're not really sure what to expect when you know we set a meeting, they look at it and the first thing they say is, Oh my gosh, this is beautiful.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's really cool to hear that because it is beautiful.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: I am so proud of mine.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_00: We did a redesign recently.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: Mine's at a hundred pages.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: People are not throwing away a hundred-page magazine that comes to their area that comes to their door that tells them everything they want to know about the area they just moved to.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's exactly right.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I and I want to talk about before we wrap is how much we give back.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_01: I know that for me, I do a few things.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_01: I have a charities we love article inside my BeLocal that lists 60 local charities that are homegrown in my community of Georgetown, Texas.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it just got sponsored by a local business that wants to support charities as part of her value system.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_01: So that makes a lot of sense for her to partner with us to help raise up these charities.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_01: I also give a half page ad to a local charity that I'm passionate about.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_01: I sponsor all of their events.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's called the Rock Ride on Center for Kids.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_01: I sponsor a horse named Nemo.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_01: I give them a free half page ad.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_01: I sponsor all of their events.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to the Blessing of the Horses on Saturday, which is an event where we lay our hands on the horses and we bless them because they're about to start the school year with the kids.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_01: And we also give 2% of our sales back to fight human trafficking through the N2 Gives program, which is to the big N2 company, which is we're all under that umbrella.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_01: What are you doing in your community to give back?
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it really depends.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times it will depend on what my partners find or what they with what's important to them.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_00: I have a partner that is doing a the Chicago marathon in honor of one of our local organizations called Cal's Angels that supports pediatric cancer efforts to stop pediatric cancer.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, I kind of see what my partners are doing.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I I'm a very subtle person, so I will do something behind the scenes for them, whether it's a monetary donation, whether it's pushing things out on social media.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_00: I do some sponsorships with the Geneva Chamber for their local events just to support my business partners through, you know, the area.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_00: I have another business partner who's really tied to a wonderful organization here called Rising Light Project.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll push things out when he's sharing information through social media.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it really, I it really depends on what my partners are doing, and I try and support them through that through that.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's been so awesome having you on the show today, Candace.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_01: Before we wrap, is there any last words of wisdom that you would like to share with our audience?
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know if I have great words of wisdom, but I do think that if they haven't had the chance to explore Be Local, whether it's in their local area or somewhere they visit, somewhere they travel to, somewhere their parents live, hop on our national website at belocalpub.com and they can scroll and see all the ones we have nationally and support that area through the digital magazine.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_00: If they're local to the area and they've seen Be Local around, reach out to the area director and let them know that they'd love a copy of it because they'd love to support more local businesses as well.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, there's just so much that we can do to help be local as a whole across the country get supported because, you know, as we change our lives and move around the country, we want to be able to find all the things that are available here in our local town that has be local.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_01: That is exactly right.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I tell people like if you're traveling to another part of the country, don't Google best Mexican restaurant because you know that's a pay-to-play experience.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_01: So find your be local and go look for the best local restaurant because the locals said it was the best local restaurant.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_00: I do it all the time.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_00: I don't always reach out to the area director, but I will always get online and see what their be local has to offer and try and frequent those places.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I hope that people are taking away that be local is not about advertising.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_01: Be local is a community service that raises the tide, that lifts all boats.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_01: I thank you so much for being here.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think what I love most about this conversation is just a reminder that the work we do can have an impact far beyond our own business.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_01: When we use our relationships, our platform, and our influence to connect people, support local businesses, and invest in our community.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody benefits.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you are such a beautiful example of what that can look like in real life.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_01: To all of our listeners, I hope you found this conversation inspiring and that you will think about your role in your own community and how your work can help your community thrive.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to Be Locally Loved, and we'll see you next time.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Laura.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for joining us for Be Locally Loved.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_01: 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.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, love where you live.