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Challenging Common Marketing Misconceptions with Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz

November 6, 2024 by John Ray

Challenging Common Marketing Misconceptions with Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, on The Price and Value Journey podcast with host John Ray
North Fulton Studio
Challenging Common Marketing Misconceptions with Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz
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Challenging Common Marketing Misconceptions with Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, on The Price and Value Journey podcast with host John Ray

Challenging Common Marketing Misconceptions with Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 118)

Paul Zanardo, the founder of Zanardo Dezignz, is the guest on this episode of The Price and Value Journey with John Ray, and he shares insights from his 25-year background in sales and marketing. Paul discusses common misconceptions about marketing and SEO, why many marketers’ claims can be misleading, and the importance of understanding the specific needs and goals of a business before implementing marketing strategies. Paul highlights the significance of an individual’s digital reputation, the value of personal engagement both online and offline, and the true use and limitations of AI in marketing. Practical advice for service providers in terms of effective website design, SEO, and networking strategies is provided, aimed at helping professional service providers better position and price their services.

The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton affiliate of Business RadioX®.

Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz

Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, on The Price and Value Journey podcast with host John Ray
Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz

Paul Zanardo is the CEO and Founder of Zanardo Dezignz.

Paul Zanardo’s background of over 25 years was in sales and marketing. He turned his attention to entrepreneurship in the early 2000’s. While studying website design and earning his degree in graphic design, he opened Zanardo Dezignz in the same year of 2015. Zanardo Dezignz has grown into an award-winning, nationwide marketing communications agency with locations in Alpharetta and Lawrenceville, GA.

Zanardo Dezignz exists to honor God by partnering with business service providers on website design, hosting services, SEO, graphic design, & digital marketing, achieving the highest reputations online.

Paul was named Solopreneur of the Year by the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce in 2024.

Website | LinkedIn |  Instagram | Facebook | X (Twitter) | TikTok | Paul’s LinkedIn

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction to The Price and Value Journey
00:44 Guest Introduction: Paul Zanardo
02:37 Challenging Marketing Preconceptions
04:54 The Importance of SEO
07:43 Building Online Presence
13:26 Offline Networking and Engagement
20:12 Website Design Misconceptions
26:30 The Value of LinkedIn Newsletters
27:13 SEO Benefits of LinkedIn Newsletters
27:45 Website Strategy for Niche Clients
28:59 The Pitfalls of Landing Pages
30:20 Understanding Digital Reputation
31:23 Personal Branding for Professionals
33:51 The Role of Reviews and Testimonials
36:08 Ethical and Unethical Uses of AI
40:59 Effective Marketing Strategies
43:28 Choosing the Right Marketing Professional
46:36 Final Thoughts and Contact Information

About The Price and Value Journey

The title of this show describes the journey all professional service providers are on:  building a services practice by seeking to convince the world of the value we offer, helping clients achieve the outcomes they desire, and trying to do all that at pricing that reflects the value we deliver.

If you feel like you’re working too hard for too little money in your solo or small firm practice, this show is for you. Even if you’re reasonably happy with your practice, you’ll hear ways to improve both your bottom line and the mindset you bring to your business.

The show is hosted and produced by John Ray and the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. The show can also be found on all the major podcast apps. The complete show archive is here.

John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey

John Ray, Author of The Generosity Mindset and Host of "The Price and Value Journey"
John Ray, Author of The Generosity Mindset and Host of The Price and Value Journey

John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.

John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include business coaching and advisory work, as well as advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, coaches, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

In his other business, John is a Show Host and Producer and owns the North Fulton (Georgia) studio of Business RadioX®. John and his team work with B2B professionals to create and conduct their own podcast using The Generosity Mindset™ Method:  building and deepening relationships in a non-salesy way that translates into revenue for their business.

John is also the host of North Fulton Business Radio. With over 780 shows and having featured over 1,200 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in its region like no one else.

John’s book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices

The Generosity Mindset, by John RayJohn is the #1 national best-selling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.

If you are a professional services provider, your goal is to do transformative work for clients you love working with and get paid commensurate with the value you deliver to those clients. While negative mindsets can inhibit your growth, adopting a different mindset, The Generosity Mindset™, can replace those self-limiting beliefs. The Generosity Mindset enables you to diagnose and communicate the value you deliver to clients and, in turn, more effectively price to receive a portion of that value.

Whether you’re a consultant, coach, marketing or branding professional, business advisor, attorney, CPA, or work in virtually any other professional services discipline, your content and technical expertise are not proprietary. What’s unique, though, is your experience and how you synthesize and deliver your knowledge. What’s special is your demeanor or the way you deal with your best-fit clients. What’s invaluable is how you deliver great value by guiding people through massive changes in their personal lives and in their businesses that bring them to a place they never thought possible.

The combination of all these elements is quite different for you compared to any other service provider in your industry. Therein lies your value, but it’s not the value you see. It’s the value your best-fit customers see in you.

If pricing your value feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar to you, this book will teach you why putting a price on the value your clients perceive and identify serves both them and you, and you’ll learn the factors involved in getting your price right.

The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers worldwide. Follow this link for further details.

Connect with John Ray:

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Business RadioX®:  LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Tagged With: digital reputation, marketing, Marketing strategies, online reviews, Paul Zanardo, professional services providers, reviews, SEO, testimonials, website design, websites, Zanardo Dezignz, Zanardo Dezignz LLC

Effective Marketing for the Home Services Industry, with Richard Blount, Four Winds Marketing

November 29, 2023 by John Ray

Four Winds Marketing
North Fulton Business Radio
Effective Marketing for the Home Services Industry, with Richard Blount, Four Winds Marketing
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Four Winds Marketing

Effective Marketing for the Home Services Industry, with Richard Blount, Four Winds Marketing  (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 722)

In this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray spoke with Richard Blount of Four Winds Marketing. They discussed the importance of SEO and effective marketing for home service providers, focusing on the need for a professionally designed, functional website that caters to the end user and fosters immediate engagement. Richard highlighted how SEO involves technical, on-page, and off-page aspects, and he underlined the need to refresh a business’s look every four to five years to remain updated and relevant. Richard also shared success stories of businesses that experienced significant growth through his effective online marketing strategies.

North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Four Winds Marketing

Four Winds Marketing is a full-service creative and digital marketing agency.

They increase online traffic and engagement for more booked appointments and visibility. They provide services such as website development, SEO, SEM/PPC, Social Media, Email Marketing, and SaaS solutions.

Four Wind’s primary clients are in the home services industry, like electricians, HVAC, plumbing, landscaping, tree services, etc.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

Richard Blount, CEO, Four Winds Marketing

Richard Blount, CEO, Four Winds Marketing

Richard is a rare cross-brained breed, possessing a unique blend of analytical skills and creative talent. With a background in finance at WDW (Walt Disney World), he has developed a keen ability to dissect and analyze complex data sets and spreadsheets. Driven by his passion for design and marketing, Richard ventured into agencies where he excelled in graphic design, web development, and marketing. His exceptional skills and innovative mindset earned him recognition in the form of multiple awards.

Recognizing that attractive websites alone were not enough, Richard delved into the realm of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Through extensive study and relentless determination, he achieved exceptional results for his clients, ensuring their websites ranked high on Google and gained maximum visibility in search engine results. Although Richard’s ability has been to apply his analytical skills, design expertise, and marketing experience to a wide range of clients, he is narrowing his company’s focus to maximizing opportunities within the Home Services Industries.

By combining data-driven insights, captivating design elements, and strategic marketing approaches, he helps Home Services businesses thrive in the competitive digital landscape. Richard understands the unique challenges and requirements of these industries, and his multidisciplinary approach allows him to create comprehensive solutions that drive growth and success for his clients.

Richard’s unwavering commitment to excellence and his ability to leverage his diverse skill set make him a trusted partner in the Home Services industry.

LinkedIn

Questions and Topics in this Interview:

  • 02:17 Richard’s Journey into Marketing
  • 04:01 Richard’s Unique Blend of Finance and Marketing
  • 04:27 The Importance of SEO and Website Functionality
  • 10:25 The Impact of Professionalism in Marketing
  • 17:26 The Importance of Regularly Updating Your Website and Logo
  • 21:47 The Mystery of SEO Explained
  • 26:03 Success Stories from Four Winds Marketing

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

RenasantBank

 

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Since 2000, Office Angels® has been restoring joy to the lives of small business owners, enabling them to focus on what they do best. At the same time, we honor and support at-home experts who wish to continue working on an as-needed basis. Not a temp firm or a placement service, Office Angels matches a business owner’s support needs with Angels who have the talent and experience necessary to handle work that is essential to creating and maintaining a successful small business. Need help with administrative tasks, bookkeeping, marketing, presentations, workshops, speaking engagements, and more? Visit us at https://officeangels.us/.

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Richard Blount: Live from the Business RadioX studio inside Renasant Bank, the bank that specializes in understanding you, it’s time for North Fulton business radio.
[00:00:19] John Ray: And hello again, everyone. Welcome to another edition of North Fulton business radio. I’m John Ray and folks, we are broadcasting from inside Renasant bank in beautiful Alpharetta. And if you’re tired of the big bank experience, the mega banks who really don’t want to talk to you live, they want a computer to talk to you.
[00:00:39] John Ray: If you are at one of those banks, you know what I’m talking about. If you’re tired of that kind of experience, Renasant, I think has found a magic combination between being big enough to handle pretty much any need you can throw at them, but they’re small enough to deliver their services in a personal way.
[00:00:58] John Ray: I’ve found that myself, and I think you will too. If you’ll go to renasantbank. com. And find one of their local offices and give them a call and guess what? They answer the phone. Imagine that Renasant bank, understanding you, member FDIC. And now I want to welcome Richard Blount. Richard is with Four Winds Marketing Agency, Richard.
[00:01:22] John Ray: Welcome.
[00:01:23] Richard Blount: Thank you. Good to be here.
[00:01:24] John Ray: Yeah. Great to have you here. Let’s talk about you and your firm. How’re you serving folks out there?
[00:01:29] Richard Blount: We are a full-service online marketing agency providing websites, SEO, social media, all that fun stuff for promoting businesses. We mainly focus on home service, um, companies and just help them.
[00:01:49] Richard Blount: grow. That’s our favorite thing to do.
[00:01:51] John Ray: And let’s, for those that don’t know, I’m sure most people do, but let’s define home services specifically.
[00:01:58] Richard Blount: That covers anything from roofing to landscaping. So HVAC, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, all that kind of stuff. Just
[00:02:08] Richard Blount: about anybody that pulls up in with a truck in front of a home and is going inside or outside to work, right?
[00:02:15] John Ray: Yeah. Yeah. Got it. Let’s talk about a little bit about your backstory and what your journey has been and how you got into marketing.
[00:02:25] Richard Blount: That’s a pretty loaded question. It was definitely not a straight line. I’ve been drawing since I was five. And then but my mom said I should be an artist when I grew up, but I wanted to be rich.
[00:02:39] Richard Blount: I didn’t want to be a poor, starving artist. And so I ended up heading more toward got a job at Disney working in finance, worked my way up. And I was the only one on a team of 70 people that had Happy Meal toys all over his cubicle. Had posters up, and if a report needed to look pretty, give it to Richard, he’d, that’s what he does.
[00:03:04] Richard Blount: And so I was involved in a lot of creative things throughout my entire life. And then, finally left Disney, and, in my early thirties and got on with an ad agency down just outside of Orlando. And worked my way up art director and then moved around a little bit. Ended up in a.
[00:03:25] Richard Blount: And it’s a great place. With paper there, they had an internal agency and where we were servicing all their clients doing print online, digital websites, all that kind of stuff. And we were rocking it. It was a lot of fun. And I won awards and got recognized. And but, newspaper industry started to Take a dive.
[00:03:49] Richard Blount: And I was doing a lot of freelance and then just got a vision for starting the company in 2015 and launched it January 1st, 2016.
[00:04:00] John Ray: That’s terrific. Now you’re unusual. You in a good way because not many people have a successful. in the finance side of business and then make this shift over to marketing.
[00:04:16] John Ray: So what did, what does that say about you and your talents? And I guess what is that background in finance? How does that help you with your clients today?
[00:04:27] Richard Blount: Oh
[00:04:28] Richard Blount: yeah. I found that to be very helpful, especially when it comes to doing SEO work and and just running a business in and of itself because I’m used to spreadsheets.
[00:04:39] Richard Blount: I can look at numbers and yeah, I loved math as a kid. I did well in math and science and art, those were my go to places. And so I just worked in that that realm, for me, it was just natural just to do the finance thing and it’s all tracking and and all that.
[00:04:59] Richard Blount: And so it transfers over very well, especially trying to run your own business, cause you got to switch hats a lot. Sure. And so being able to stay profitable with your own business and then with SEO, it’s very much math based and creative based. You’ve got to have both mindsets in order to try to.
[00:05:19] Richard Blount: work the algorithm sorry, the algorithms that that Google uses and just to track your numbers, your conversion rates, your impressions. I could get into a lot of technical stuff right there, but it really helps. Yeah.
[00:05:32] John Ray: That makes a lot of sense. And algorithms come out of math.
[00:05:36] John Ray: Yeah. And. Google is full of data people.
[00:05:40] Richard Blount: Yeah. Yeah. And you start to see patterns. And so we could do a lot of testing as far as so it’s a wonderful mix between the psychology of people who are searching the internet and the math that Google is using to try to serve up the correct information that people are searching for.
[00:05:59] Richard Blount: And so just, We do a B testing on different things. So just changing the color of something, the image the layout a little bit and have a big impact on that. So I think just being able to go back and study the numbers and look at how things are working and looking at the trends really helps a lot and is a lot more interesting than finance.
[00:06:22] Richard Blount: Finance was okay, but it was. There was a reason why I had posters up and I started a newsletter within the company. Really? Yeah. And then, cause I would write, I would do illustrations for it and stuff like that. And cause I was always about all is all about fostering a team and bringing people together.
[00:06:40] Richard Blount: That was my thing that I enjoyed doing.
[00:06:42] John Ray: That’s pretty cool. Yeah. And I can see how, when There are probably a few people down the hall or around the corner or what have you. When they needed a little more fun in their day, they came to see you, right?
[00:06:53] Richard Blount: Oh, yeah.
[00:06:57] Richard Blount: And if they didn’t, I would stop by and see them. . , that’s right.
[00:07:02] John Ray: The holdouts you would go find. I love it. I would, I love it. Richard Pilot is with us folks. He is the CEO of his own firm. Four wins. Marketing. So you’ve decided to form your own firm along the way, and why the focus on home services for you?
[00:07:19] Richard Blount: A couple of reasons. The first house I built was built in 1940 so it needed work. , I was horrible at doing the work myself, so I was constantly reaching out to electricians, plumbers, and roofers because the things I would try to do myself. I failed miserably and
[00:07:38] John Ray: I identify with that.
[00:07:39] Richard Blount: Yeah.
[00:07:40] Richard Blount: I really grew to respect what they do and I really appreciated honest home service providers, because there are a lot of ones out there that don’t put out good work, but there are ones that do a good work and I respect them. And then actually the second house I built was in, I bought was built in the forties.
[00:08:02] Richard Blount: My third house was built in the fifties, and then when we moved up here to Atlanta, this house was built in 1970. And my wife was like, this is an old house. I’m like, what? It’s new to me. This is fantastic.
[00:08:16] Richard Blount: It’s 30 years newer than the ones I’m usually used
[00:08:19] Richard Blount: to, right? Exactly. Yeah. And yeah, we’ve I’ve always dealt with.
[00:08:23] Richard Blount: Window people, garage people, roofers. And so I watched their marketing. I watch, I look at their websites. I look at what they’re doing to reach out to people and it’s all stuff I can identify with. And I, again, I respect it. And As I, in the agencies that I worked in, they cater to everybody from termite people to security people, from dentists to lawyers.
[00:08:51] Richard Blount: You name it. We did a website or advertising forum. And so when I started the company, that was my, I just kept the same mindset, but it naturally just worked out that around 20 to 40 percent of my clients ended up being in the home service industry. Anyway, either contractor contractors or HVAC people, stuff like that.
[00:09:14] Richard Blount: And and those are the ones I had the most success with as far as uh, building out their websites, their online marketing, doing their their SEO and even social media. things like that. There are a lot of fun and I like working with people who do a good job because I like to do a good job for them and so that’s we’re starting to you know zero in on that and focus on that industry specifically and instead of trying to cater to everyone I’m gonna just go ahead and focus on the industries I respect and with the ones that I have the best So I can show them, what we can do.
[00:09:54] John Ray: Yeah. That, that, that makes sense. You said something there that I’m curious about, and I would imagine a lot of home services people are too, those contractors out there that they are honest. And there’s a lot of them out there that, that. Yeah. They’re, they are, they’re honest.
[00:10:13] John Ray: They do great work. They. Tell clients things that cost them money sometimes because they’re honest. How do you communicate that in your marketing effectively?
[00:10:25] Richard Blount: Oh, about about them being honest and
[00:10:28] John Ray: being, because everybody says they’re honest and trustworthy, right? And that’s almost a cliche in some of this marketing that home services folks do. The ones that really How do they, though, have that philosophy of way of doing business? How do they communicate that effectively in their marketing?
[00:10:45] Richard Blount: Well, a lot of it shows in the quality of the marketing itself.
[00:10:51] Richard Blount: When it’s a subtle thing to see graphics and messaging that come across from a professional standpoint versus, somebody who’s not in, in the industry, there are really cliche kind of things that people will say, but then there is the more, I don’t know how to say it. Just there, there’s a, an essence in doing the marketing itself, just in the graphic work in the messaging and the, even the colors that are used.
[00:11:29] Richard Blount: tHere’s a lot of things that play subconsciously into the viewer’s mind when they’re looking at something, either if it’s a website, there are so many times people will try to put up a very simple website that doesn’t offer a lot of functionality and it’s just a postcard on the screen is basically all it is.
[00:11:52] Richard Blount: Whereas with a professional. So what we try to do is go, all right, look, let’s cater to the end user and give them an option to do an online booking to do an instant chat and to engage with you quickly where, and we can set it up so that you get texts or the the company gets texts so they can engage immediately with the viewer.
[00:12:18] Richard Blount: So like
[00:12:19] John Ray: through the chat feature, you mentioned
[00:12:21] Richard Blount: through the chat.
[00:12:22] John Ray: Oh, wow. Okay.
[00:12:23] Richard Blount: So
[00:12:23] Richard Blount: it’ll go straight from the chat to a text to the owner. Oh, wow. So that way the owner gets a text going, Hey, you’ve got a chat going on with your website and they can respond immediately. Oh, that’s great. And it keeps somebody from going on to the next person.
[00:12:39] Richard Blount: So as opposed to just having. Something on the website that says, Hey, I’m legit. Go check it out. As opposed to something that shows up on a website. That’s got my history to it and has functionality to it where people will actually stay on the page I guess if somebody’s on there for a second and a half.
[00:13:00] Richard Blount: Which is a lot of times average. It doesn’t sound
[00:13:04] John Ray: Okay, let’s just stop right there. Yeah a second and a half. That’s the average
[00:13:09] Richard Blount: Yeah, really one to two seconds is where somebody will be on a page and it doesn’t sound like a whole lot of time But you can get a gist of something We get it just instantly because of visuals.
[00:13:21] Richard Blount: And so by adding the functionality and doing providing more content, getting them to stay on there for four to five seconds to a minute then at that point, if you’ve got them engaged, they’re either texting or booking an online appointment or something like that. So at that point.
[00:13:41] Richard Blount: They’re invested. Sure. And they’ve spent a minute on your website. Yeah, that’s huge.
[00:13:45] John Ray: Wow. This is fascinating to me. And I’m sure a lot of business owners out there just shaking their heads at this, right? But that makes sense. If someone, if the average time on a website is one to two seconds, people are, they want an instant impression.
[00:14:03] John Ray: And that’s where the quality of the graphics, the art, the colors, everything you mentioned that’s where that comes into play.
[00:14:12] Richard Blount: Exactly. Okay. All that comes in because there’s a psychology to all of that. Sure. Because there’s. One or two things that people are looking for immediately. They’re looking for, what you do, where you’re at and how to contact you because they know they’re not going to get a price off of your website.
[00:14:30] Richard Blount: They need to like engage with you and they want to do it. Like 80 percent of people want to do it through a text. And if you have that feature on your website where they can chat and turn that right into a text. Then you’ve got them. Yeah. Yeah. You’re going to schedule an appointment, a phone call, and from there, your sales team takes it on.
[00:14:49] John Ray: Well,
[00:14:49] John Ray: and that feature among others, I’m sure you could talk about. Really reveals professionalism and that’s really what you’re talking about when you’re talking about features that show that you, that illustrate your trustworthiness. Exactly. That, that when you have a feature like that, as opposed to the last three websites that they checked that don’t.
[00:15:14] John Ray: You instantly differentiate yourself.
[00:15:16] Richard Blount: Yeah. Through the website you want there’s a lot of. pRofessionalism that goes into that. You want somebody to put that together who has a history of doing that. And so there’s just a lot of background work and a lot of stuff that comes in there.
[00:15:32] Richard Blount: It’s the whole thing where I think everybody’s heard the story where. There’s a boiler that’s not working in somebody’s basement, and they call somebody, they come in, they can’t figure out how to fix it. They call somebody else, they can’t fix it either. They call a third person, he walks him, takes a look around, waits a second, he takes out, he pulls out a hammer, hits it on the side, and then…
[00:15:58] Richard Blount: Boom. It’s running fine. He says, all right, that’ll be 1, 000. Like, how’s that 1, 000? You’re only there for a minute. aNybody could have hit that with a hammer. Yeah. But did you know where to hit it? Yeah. So that’s what we’re dealing with a lot of times, it’s hard to explain how I know where to hit the hammer where, but that’s how it works in, in, since I’ve been doing this since.
[00:16:22] Richard Blount: I think I started doing graphic design in the eighties and then built my first website in 1995. And I’ve been watching how SEO works ever since, that just analyzing how it all works. So I’ve got at this point, 25 plus years doing this. And so much of it has become almost instinct. And somebody asked me one time years ago, where do you get your inspiration?
[00:16:48] Richard Blount: And I said, I get it from everywhere, every magazine, every billboard, every television ad, every, radio ad every email I get and a website I visit. There’s so much I soak in from that. And there are I used to keep files of all this kind of stuff, an inspiration file. So that when I needed to create something, because we used to work with so many different types of businesses, then I would just go to my inspiration file and just start going through that and then find yeah, and this is what inspired me to go in that direction or the other direction, something like that.
[00:17:26] John Ray: How often does a home services company need to refresh their look, whether it’s their logo, website, what have you? I asked that question because a lot of them, um, I think, and correct me if I’m wrong, but this is my perception. They get to a point where, they’ve got a pretty good call, pretty good business.
[00:17:49] John Ray: They’ve got established. Calling patterns based on their reviews and referrals and all that kind of thing, right? And they let the website slide, and they, maybe the logos a little dated or what have you. So how often should that refresh occur?
[00:18:05] Richard Blount: From what I’ve seen in the industry, every.
[00:18:07] Richard Blount: Four to five years, I would go in and refresh because styles are constantly changing. And people can can tell. When a website looks 10 years old or older, there’s functionality, there’s graphics, there’s messaging, there’s layouts, there’s all these different things. And then the website itself is actually getting faster.
[00:18:33] Richard Blount: So different hosting providers are speeding up or the software that they run helps speed things up. And so the websites need to stay up with that as well. So there’s a lot of. Back end stuff. It’s like a car. You’ve got to constantly take it in and get it tuned up or and fixed up or whatever on a regular basis.
[00:18:52] Richard Blount: But I would say what I’ve seen every four to five years you may have to go in and retool the website. I’m not saying that you need to replace it. If a company has been a business, I would say five to 10 years or more. They definitely don’t want to replace their website because their website already has a lot of history with Google.
[00:19:15] Richard Blount: And if you create a new website, then you’re breaking all those old links and creating new ones. And Google looks at it as though you’re starting fresh. In those cases, there’s retooling that can be done to a website to make it more modern and all that without breaking all those links and all that history with Google.
[00:19:37] Richard Blount: But with a company that is, say a company is like 5 years old or whatever, or even if they are 10 years old, But they’re not doing the kind of business that they want to be doing if they’re, they haven’t broken, say 200 or 500, 000 a year yet, or they’re in that range, then at that point a lot of times what I’ll do is I’ll look at how their Google ranking is and, a lot of research can be done.
[00:20:05] Richard Blount: And if we need to, it’s a, you’re fine to go ahead and, it. Build a new website and start from scratch and get that going. A lot of times it depends on the age of the company. And how, how busy they are. How many, clients that they have going and all that kind of stuff. And then even if they do, there’s still social media and Google ads and things like that could be done to help.
[00:20:32] Richard Blount: Boost that kind of stuff. But as far as their logo goes, that can always be updated. Shoot, Google has changed their logo. I lost track of how many times. It’s got to be well over 2000 times since they launched in 95, 96. Yeah. And AT& T, although they changed theirs, they modified it a little bit here and there.
[00:20:55] Richard Blount: So there’s, as far as changing the logo, people will have this idea that it’s taboo to change it. I’m like, no, you can always refresh it and, bring it up to, more current standards and there’s techniques and way to do it, that it makes sense. And same with messaging colors and stuff like that.
[00:21:13] Richard Blount: And actually it can be a good way to relaunch your company. So if you’ve been around for say five or 10 years. And you’re at a point where it’s just like you and two other guys, maybe got two trucks or three trucks or whatever, and you have aspirations of 10 trucks, then going through a rebranding can be a really good thing because it’s a relaunch and it’s a great way to foster up new press releases.
[00:21:40] Richard Blount: And do grand openings and all that kind of stuff. So there’s just a lot of things that can be done.
[00:21:44] John Ray: Yeah.
[00:21:45] John Ray: Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. SEO search engine optimization. Yeah, this is where you were talking about how. iT can be a mystery around what the right color is and all that.
[00:21:58] John Ray: Now we’re really getting the mysteries, right? SEO. And I, I think the average home services entrepreneur, they know they need to be found on web search, but they don’t know all the, what goes into that, right? And it’s hard to judge effectiveness, right? So what advice do you give them on that?
[00:22:23] Richard Blount: That’s
[00:22:24] Richard Blount: a SEO is a big one. Yeah. Cause I’ve seen it change from the beginning. Google constantly updates its algorithm and and they fine tune it and they will even work to hone it in on specific industries. They’ve done updates that really hit the financial industry earlier this year. And but if the SEO is done, then a website can survive an update by Google because there’s there’s white hat, black hat, gray hat, methodologies and white hat is, I just think about, think of it like in the old Westerns, the guy with the white hat did everything the way it was supposed to be done. The guy with the black hat.
[00:23:10] Richard Blount: He was always the outlaw, and sooner or later, the outlaw got caught, thrown in jail. So that’s what I would see happening. Or worse. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And Google provides Google Analytics. It’s a free tool that anybody can create an account with. And then hook that up to their website and it will show them the amount of traffic, the amount of where it’s coming from and how they’re showing up.
[00:23:38] Richard Blount: And then there’s another one that Google has called Google Search Console. And that will show people How many people clicked on it, what pages they clicked on and all that kind of stuff. So those are free. Google offers that for everybody. And for all our clients, what we do is we hook into their account or create an account for them.
[00:23:58] Richard Blount: Cause a lot of people don’t even want to mess with it, but we will set that up and we run reports to show them and the reports can be quite daunting. There’s a lot of information in there, but there’s key areas that we look at. I won’t get into all the technical stuff, but that will show us the results.
[00:24:19] Richard Blount: But with SEO, there are actually three aspects of it. There’s the technical SEO, which has to do with the The technical part of the website running fast, the the layout and things like that. That’s all the technical stuff. The meta tags and meta description, all the things that Google looks at.
[00:24:40] Richard Blount: Then there’s the on page SEO, which are all the things that are done to build out the website. So that it is more effective and will capture or, Capture is not the right word, but will attract more keywords. And then there’s off page SEO. And that’s to deal with other areas on the web that point back to your website.
[00:25:04] John Ray: Wow.
[00:25:06] John Ray: A good reason to have a, aUthority here, folks, Richard Blount, Four Winds Marketing. Wow. That’s pretty that gets deep fast.
[00:25:15] Richard Blount: It does get deep fast. Yeah. I’m trying to keep it short and sweet. Yeah.
[00:25:19] John Ray: Yeah. But what, here’s what I’m hearing out of this is that, you’ve got a background, in finance, it’s not just the numbers and you learn in finance that just cause you can measure it doesn’t mean it’s important.
[00:25:33] John Ray: Correct.

[00:25:37] John Ray: And you bring that background to it, right? You can help a business owners know what’s important. And in that daunting report and winnow it down to something that’s simple and easy to understand.
[00:25:48] Richard Blount: Exactly. I try to give them that and then I will look at the secondary stuff that is a little bit in the minutiae.
[00:25:56] Richard Blount: Yeah. But I know it can have an underlining effect and help me increase their search engine results. Yeah.
[00:26:02] John Ray: Terrific. I want to get to success stories here, Richard, as we come to a close. You’ve been at this for a while, worked with a lot of different home services professionals. Give us a success story or two to help illustrate the great work you do.
[00:26:19] Richard Blount: We did we were working with one electrician company and within three years we got them to a point where I remember my numbers because there’s quite a few their paid traffic increased 470%. Their organic traffic increased 810%. And what the difference between paid and organic is basically the ads that were being run for them increased how many people were coming to their website as and then working with the SEO alongside of that.
[00:26:55] Richard Blount: iNcrease it over 800 percent in the course of three years as a result. They increased from about, I think they had five or six people working at that time. Now they’ve got over 16 people working and the owner no longer has to work out in the field. He’s no longer in a truck, actually working the jobs.
[00:27:12] Richard Blount: He’s overseeing everybody at that point. Wow.
[00:27:15] John Ray: And then that’s a great place to be. Yeah.
[00:27:18] Richard Blount: Yeah. It’s either that or there was a one HVAC supplier. And, we worked with. And, yeah, we increased their traffic over 600 percent their monthly visitors rose 714 percent in the course of four years. Their visibility grew to a point.
[00:27:38] Richard Blount: Where we had an increase of their keywords by 875%. So keywords are, when you type in something in Google to look for something, that is a keyword. And the more keywords that you capture the more visibility you have. And they grew to a point where they were able to sell their company to a national company.
[00:27:58] Richard Blount: And so the owner was able to sell it for big bucks and retire. And
[00:28:02] John Ray: wow, lots of value there.
[00:28:04] Richard Blount: Yeah. So I, those are the things I like working towards.
[00:28:07] John Ray: Yeah. Wow. That’s fantastic. Richard Blount. Folks with Four Winds Marketing Richard, that’s that’s a great way to end this and I, I want to get to the most important question that people have, I’m sure right at this point, which is how they can get in touch with you.
[00:28:25] Richard Blount: Through our website, that’s our best bet. Of course. Yeah. That’s a four winds marketing dot us or United States. Or any spell out four wins F O U R W I N D S. Marketing. us
[00:28:39] John Ray: Terrific. RiChard Blount with Four Winds Marketing richard such great work and we’re excited to be able to highlight you and share your story and keep up that great work.
[00:28:51] John Ray: We appreciate you.
[00:28:52] Richard Blount: Thanks, john. I appreciated being here. Enjoyed talking to you. It was an honor.
[00:28:55] John Ray: Yeah, thank you so much. I appreciate that. Hey folks, just a quick reminder. If you are, Having some search problems in your business being your back office and what I mean are getting to the bottom of that administrative task pile you need to get done or maybe you’re having problem finding all those receipts and you when it comes to tax time, your bookkeeping is a mess.
[00:29:20] John Ray: Here’s an answer for you. that will help restore the joy to your business that you used to have that you don’t have anymore because of all these problems. Office angels. They have a whole team of angels that fly in and get that work done for you so you can focus on what’s most important in your business, which is working with your clients and your employees, right?
[00:29:41] John Ray: Let them take those issues off your plate and give them a call. Just describe what your problem is and let them know we sent you. Describe what your problem is and I think they’ll be able to help you. 6 7 8 5 2 8 0 5 0 0 is the number office angels dot us is the website. If you’re shy, I want to learn more, a little bit about them before you call.
[00:30:04] John Ray: But I just encourage you to be in touch. They do great work. And I know that myself because they do work for me and my business and I couldn’t work without them. And folks, just a quick reminder, if you’re listening to this show. Here at the end of November, 2023, I’ve got a book coming out. It’s called The Generosity Mindset Method for Business Success.
[00:30:27] John Ray: Raise your Confidence, your Value, and Your Prices. If you’re listening to this show later in December or in 2024, the book’s out , so go check it out. If you’re a a small firm or solo professional services provider, this might be a book that. You have an interest in might be helpful to you in your business.
[00:30:46] John Ray: Go to the generosity mindset. com to learn more, where to find the book. Also, I want to thank you, our listener. You have supported us significantly. Just very heartening ways over this last seven and a half years. As we have passed show number 700, you continue to like us on social media, you share the show and please keep doing that.
[00:31:09] John Ray: If you’ve heard something here that makes you think, Hey, I know. I’ve got a home services buddy that needs some help with this marketing. Maybe you need to share the show with that person. And they need to know about what Richard’s up to, but this is true for any of our shows. So when you hear something that makes you think, Hey, this would be a good person for someone else to know.
[00:31:28] John Ray: Please continue to do that. That’s how we get the word out on the great work that business leaders like Richard and the some 1100 others we’ve had on this show, the great work that they do. And it helps us fulfill our mission to be the voice of business in the North Fulton region. So for my guest, Richard Blount, I’m John Ray.
[00:31:49] John Ray: Join us next time here on North Fulton business radio.

 

Tagged With: Four Winds Marketing, google, home services company, John Ray, logo, marketing, North Fulton Business Radio, Office Angels, renasant bank, Richard Blount, SEO, The Generosity Mindset, website, website design

Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, LLC, and Sheldon Guan, Pro Computer

October 16, 2023 by John Ray

Pro Computer
Family Business Radio
Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, LLC, and Sheldon Guan, Pro Computer
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Pro Computer

Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, LLC, and Sheldon Guan, Pro Computer (Family Business Radio, Episode 49)

On this edition of Family Business Radio, host Anthony Chen was joined by two superb business owners, Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, LLC, and Sheldon Guan, Pro Computer.

Paul talked with host Anthony Chen about how he got into the web design business, the services they offer, and mistakes business owners often make when trying to create their own websites. He also discussed recent changes in SEO, the need for alternative text, mobile design, recent features added to Wix, and much more.

Sheldon Guan, owner of Pro Computer, shared with Anthony about his experience in IT and moving from Canada in retail computer sales to an opportunity in Georgia. He discussed what kinds of repairs he can do to save a computer from the landfill, refurbishing machines, the resale machines he has available, other services he provides, and more.

Anthony posed a final question for Paul and Sheldon about the advice they would give their younger selves just starting out.

Anthony concluded the show with comments about finding the right professionals to assist with planning and needs beyond the business owner’s skillset.

Family Business Radio is underwritten and brought to you by Anthony Chen with Lighthouse Financial Network.

Zanardo Dezignz, LLC

Zanardo Dezignz LLC is the Lawrenceville-based professional service provider offering fully integrated digital branding solutions through website development, SEO, graphic design, printing, and digital marketing. Some of their clients include Above & Beyond Cabinetry LLC, K&J Mechanical, Joe Sells GA with Keller Williams, and Hickory’s Trail.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter

Paul Zanardo, CEO / Founder, Zanardo Dezignz, LLC

Paul Zanardo, CEO / Founder, Zanardo Dezignz, LLC

Paul Zanardo is the CEO and founder of Zanardo Dezignz LLC. He has over 20 years of sales management and marketing experience at companies such as TruGreen and Luxottica with a proven track record of growth in the areas of marketing and new client revenue.

He excelled in these fields but often thought about how he could improve the overall customer experience and desired to spend more time with his family. After lots of prayer and soul searching, he decided to go back to school and get his degree in graphic design with a study in website development.

His company is now quickly approaching 8 years of serving his community as a professional service provider. His wife, Amy, is their lead graphic designer and content editor. She earned this position by helping him study for his degree and collaborating with him through the entire process. Their son Anthony is a sweet, creative 7-year-old that also aspires to own a creative business as well.

LinkedIn

Pro Computer

Pro Computer was established in 2008, at Mall of Georgia, in Buford. Once expanded with a 2nd store in Cumming for 3 years. As the fast pace and continuous changes of computer industry, Pro Computer business scope keeps updating to adapt the market. What never changes is custom satisfaction focus by deliver value products and quality services.

Since 2023, Pro Computer renovated itself again, and relocated to Alpharetta, the center of IT, to be closer to the mass computer users. With 24×7 text service through business number 770-932-3020, quote request submission on website procmog.com, clients can save a trip to know how much it cost to repair the computers, and get quick help on urgent situation like liquid spill, suspicious onscreen browser webpage, computer error messages.

Website | LinkedIn

Sheldon Guan, PMP, Owner, Pro Computer

Sheldon Guan, PMP, Owner, Pro Computer

Sheldon has been owner of Pro Computer since 2008. After 15 years at Mall of Georgia in Buford, they moved to Alpharetta.

Sheldon has more than 29 years in the IT industry. When he emigrated to Canada, he began working in computer retail until he had the opportunity to start his own store in Georgia.

Sheldon is a certified PMP.

LinkedIn

Anthony Chen, Host of Family Business Radio

Anthony Chen, Lighthouse Financial, and Host of “Family Business Radio”

This show is sponsored and brought to you by Anthony Chen with Lighthouse Financial Network. Securities and advisory services are offered through Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. (RAA), member FINRA/SIPC. RAA is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products, or services referenced here are independent of RAA. The main office address is 575 Broadhollow Rd. Melville, NY 11747. You can reach Anthony at 631-465-9090 ext 5075 or by email at anthonychen@lfnllc.com.

Anthony Chen started his career in financial services with MetLife in Buffalo, NY in 2008. Born and raised in Elmhurst, Queens, he considers himself a full-blooded New Yorker while now enjoying his Atlanta, GA home. Specializing in family businesses and their owners, Anthony works to protect what is most important to them. From preserving to creating wealth, Anthony partners with CPAs and attorneys to help address all the concerns and help clients achieve their goals. By using a combination of financial products ranging from life, disability, and long-term care insurance to many investment options through Royal Alliance. Anthony looks to be the eyes and ears for his client’s financial foundation. In his spare time, Anthony is an avid long-distance runner.

The complete show archive of “Family Business Radio” can be found at familybusinessradioshow.com.

Tagged With: Alpharetta, Anthony Chen, computer repair, computer sales, digital branding, Family Business Radio, Lighthouse Financial Network, Paul Zanardo, Pro Computer, SEO, Sheldon Guan, website design, Zanardo Dezignz

Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, Ed Mysogland, Indiana Business Advisors, and Jim Pursley, Factory Automation Systems

January 12, 2023 by John Ray

Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, Ed Mysogland, Indiana Business Advisors, and Jim Pursley, Factory Automation Systems
North Fulton Studio
Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, Ed Mysogland, Indiana Business Advisors, and Jim Pursley, Factory Automation Systems
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Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, Ed Mysogland, Indiana Business Advisors, and Jim Pursley, Factory Automation Systems

Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, Ed Mysogland, Indiana Business Advisors, and Jim Pursley, Factory Automation Systems (ProfitSense with Bill McDermott, Episode 41)

On this episode of ProfitSense, host Bill McDermott welcomed three esteemed business leaders. Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz, discussed what sets his digital branding company apart, how his pricing is structured, how he gives back to the community, and more. Ed Mysogland, Indiana Business Advisors, shared how business owners can prepare for the greatest wealth transfer in history, what business owners should expect regarding sale values, what types of businesses sell, and much more. Finally, Jim Pursley, Factory Automation Systems, discussed his company’s process automation services for manufacturing, the company’s ownership transition in 2022, and more. Bill closed the show talking about setting a new vision in 2023.

ProfitSense with Bill McDermott is produced and broadcast by the North Fulton Studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta.

Zanardo Dezignz

Zanardo Dezignz LLC is the Lawrenceville based professional service provider offering fully integrated digital branding solutions through website development, SEO, graphic design, printing, and digital marketing. Some of their clients include Above & Beyond Cabinetry LLC, K&J Mechanical, Joe Sells GA with Keller Williams, and Hickory’s Trail.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter

Paul Zanardo, CEO / Founder, Zanardo Dezignz

Paul Zanardo, CEO / Founder, Zanardo Dezignz

Paul Zanardo is the CEO and founder of Zanardo Dezignz LLC. He has over 20 years of sales management and marketing experience at companies such as TruGreen and Luxottica with a proven track record of growth in the areas of marketing and new client revenue.

He excelled in these fields but often thought about how he could improve the overall customer experience and desired to spend more time with his family. After lots of prayer and soul searching, he decided to go back to school and get his degree in graphic design with a study in website development.

His company is now quickly approaching 8 years of serving his community as a professional service provider. His wife, Amy, is their lead graphic designer and content editor. She earned this position by helping him study for his degree and collaborating with him through the entire process. Their son Anthony is a sweet, creative 7-year-old that also aspires to own a creative business as well.

LinkedIn

Indiana Business Advisors

Indiana Business Advisors is a 41-year-old business brokerage representing small and mid-size businesses. It is the largest business brokerage in Indiana representing manufacturing, distribution, service, and construction-support businesses. To date, IBA has sold over 2200 businesses.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Ed Mysogland, Managing Partner, Indiana Business Advisors

Ed Mysogland, Managing Partner, Indiana Business Advisors

Ed is a thirty year veteran of selling small and midsized companies. He has professional designations in business valuation, equipment appraising, and exit planning.

He has a weekly podcast, How to Sell a Business Podcast, where he interviews buyers, sellers, and advisors about making a business more valuable and saleable. Most recently, he has been preparing to launch BizSaleByOwner, an online marketplace with pay-for-service advisors to support the sale.

LinkedIn

 

 

Factory Automation Systems

Factory Automation Systems is a manufacturing controls systems integrator. They provide industrial automation and robotic solutions for top manufacturers in the US and world-wide.

Website | Facebook | LinkedIn

Jim Pursley, President, Factory Automation Systems

Jim Pursley, President, Factory Automation Systems

Jim Pursley is currently President of Factory Automation Systems (FAS). He joined FAS as co-op student in 1997. Since graduating from Georgia Tech in 2000, Jim has held various engineering, sales, and management roles.

In October of 2022, Jim and three business partners purchased FAS from the founders of the company.

LinkedIn

About ProfitSense and Your Host, Bill McDermott

Bill McDermott
Bill McDermott

ProfitSense with Bill McDermott dives into the stories behind some of Atlanta’s successful businesses and business owners and the professionals that advise them. This show helps local business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. The show is presented by McDermott Financial Solutions. McDermott Financial helps business owners improve cash flow and profitability, find financing, break through barriers to expansion, and financially prepare to exit their business. The show archive can be found at profitsenseradio.com.

Bill McDermott is the Founder and CEO of McDermott Financial Solutions. When business owners want to increase their profitability, they don’t have the expertise to know where to start or what to do. Bill leverages his knowledge and relationships from 32 years as a banker to identify the hurdles getting in the way and create a plan to deliver profitability they never thought possible.

Bill currently serves as Treasurer for the Atlanta Executive Forum and has held previous positions as a board member for the Kennesaw State University Entrepreneurship Center and Gwinnett Habitat for Humanity and Treasurer for CEO NetWeavers. Bill is a graduate of Wake Forest University and he and his wife, Martha have called Atlanta home for over 40 years. Outside of work, Bill enjoys golf, traveling, and gardening.

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn and Twitter and follow McDermott Financial Solutions on LinkedIn.

Tagged With: Bill McDermott, Ed Mysogland, Factory Automation Systems, How to Sell a Business, How to Sell a Business Podcast, Indiana Business Advisors, Jim Pursley, Paul Zanardo, profitability, profitability coach, Profitability Coach Bill McDermott, ProfitSense with Bill McDermott, SEO, The Profitability Coach, website design, Zanardo Dezignz

Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz LLC

November 15, 2022 by John Ray

Zanardo Dezignz
North Fulton Business Radio
Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz LLC
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Zanardo Dezignz

Paul Zanardo, Zanardo Dezignz LLC (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 571)

Paul Zanardo, Founder and CEO of Zanardo Dezignz, LLC, is a graphic designer and website developer with a commitment to quality and detail. Paul joined North Fulton Business Radio host John Ray to discuss logos, websites, social media, the services his firm offers, and much more.

North Fulton Business Radio is produced and broadcast by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Zanardo Dezignz LLC

Paul Zanardo, founder of Zanardo Dezignz, is a website developer, graphic designer, and social media marketer with an eye for dynamic concepts. Zanardo develops high-ranking SEO websites with device-responsive versions included.

Their logos are digitally designed in Adobe Illustrator to stand the test of time with your vision in mind. If it’s graphic design related, they design it; everything from business cards, banners, flyers, and book and magazine layouts.

Zanardo has corporate accounts with wholesale print shops to get you the best deal on all your printed marketing materials. They also consult, coach, and manage social media pages such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and LinkedIn to ensure the success of your brand in a digital era.
Over 20 years of experience in sales management and marketing gives them a huge insight into how to help grow your business. They believe in integrity, honest business practices, providing a reliable turnaround time, and listening to client’s needs down to the very last detail.

SERVICES OFFERED

Website Development – Designed with high-ranking SEO, smooth user experience, device responsive optimization, web hosting, web maintenance, intelligent user interface, and streamlined designs that drive leads into sales.

Graphic Design – Attention to detail and knowledge of current branding trends helps us bring your vision to life. Stand the test of time with logo design, brochures, business cards, flyers, magazine/book layouts, POP displays, and all types of marketing materials. Your brand will be an experience that adds value to the marketplace.

Social Media Marketing – Posting unique and helpful content about what sets you apart will boost your search results page ranking. They consult on and manage the platforms that will generate the most business to ensure success. Each platform is different, but the common theme is engagement for the biggest impact on brand awareness.

Printed Marketing Materials – Corporate accounts with many large wholesale print shops enable them to provide you with the best value on all your printed marketing and merchandising needs, everything from business cards to outdoor promotional materials. If they can’t print it, they will find out who can!

Company website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook

Paul Zanardo, Founder & CEO, Zanardo Dezignz LLC

Paul Zanardo, Founder & CEO, Zanardo Dezignz LLC

Paul Zanardo is the owner and founder of Zanardo Dezignz.  He has over 20 years of sales management and marketing experience. He excelled in these fields but often thought about how he could improve the overall customer experience, and he desired to spend more time with his family.

After lots of prayer, he decided to go back to school and get a degree in graphic design with an understudy in website development. Zanardo Dezignz is now quickly approaching 8 years of serving others. Amy Zanardo, Paul’s wife, is the lead designer and content editor. She earned this position by helping Paul study for his degree and collaborating with him through the entire process.

They have a son, Anthony, who is a sweet, creative 7-year-old that keeps them extremely busy!

LinkedIn

Questions and Topics in the Interview

  • Have you always been interested in the creative field?
  • What services does Zanardo Dezignz provide?
  • What makes you unique?
  • What other services do you provide?
  • How is your pricing structure set up?
  • Are your clients residential or commercial?

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

RenasantBank

 

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Since 2000, Office Angels® has been restoring joy to the life of small business owners, enabling them to focus on what they do best. At the same time, we honor and support at-home experts who wish to continue working on an as-needed basis. Not a temp firm or a placement service, Office Angels matches a business owner’s support needs with Angels who have the talent and experience necessary to handle work that is essential to creating and maintaining a successful small business. Need help with administrative tasks, bookkeeping, marketing, presentations, workshops, speaking engagements, and more? Visit us at https://officeangels.us/.

Tagged With: graphic design, North Fulton Business Radio, Office Angels, Paul Zanardo, renasant bank, Social Media, website design, Zanardo Dezignz LLC

Debra Axness, Webs By Deb, LLC

February 1, 2022 by John Ray

Webs By Deb
Minneapolis St. Paul Business Radio
Debra Axness, Webs By Deb, LLC
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Webs By Deb

Debra Axness, Webs By Deb, LLC (Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Radio, Episode 30)

Debra Axness, owner of Webs By Deb, shared her work in website design and social media marketing for small and micro-businesses. After a successful corporate career and time on a sailboat in the Caribbean, Deb chose to serve small businesses through building and consulting on their websites. She and host John Ray discussed her work and success stories, why website security is so vital, and much more. Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Radio is produced virtually by the Minneapolis St. Paul studio of Business RadioX®.

Webs By Deb, LLC

Webs by Deb offer the following services to businesses and organizations:

  • WordPress Web Design – need a perk-up for your website or a new site built just for you from scratch? They specialize in small businesses, especially the trades.
  • Search Engine Optimization – need a boost in your Google search ranking?
  • Consulting – need an expert eye and honest appraisal of your website?
  • Social Media Digital Marketing – need a business page for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, Yelp, Pinterest?

Company website | LinkedIn

Debra Axness, Owner, Webs by Deb, LLC

Debra Axness, Owner, Webs by Deb, LLC

Debra Axness spent her career in technology, with 25 years of experience. Her experience includes years in the computer/software industry with companies such as Sperry Univac, Cray Research supercomputers, DeLuxe Corporation, and the Medical University of South Carolina (managing a brain imaging computer lab), working in programming, software architecture, and project management.
Debra is an active community member of Women Entrepreneurs of Minnesota (recently featured in the Monthly Member Spotlight), Women Venture’s Peer Circle for graduates, Joule Microbusiness Alliance, and the Minneapolis/St. Paul WordPress User Group.

LinkedIn

Questions and Topics Discussed in this Episode

  • How were you affected by the pandemic?
  • What services does Webs By Deb offer?
  • Adventure on a sailboat in the Caribbean
  • Importance of businesses and organizations to have a website for online impact
  • Importance of website security with a firewall

Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and produced virtually from the Minneapolis St. Paul studio of Business RadioX® .  You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Tagged With: custom websites, Debra Axness, firewall, LLC, Minneapolis St Paul Business Radio, SSL, Webs by Deb, website design, website developer

Heather Locke, Hammersmith Support

October 11, 2021 by John Ray

Hammersmith Support
Nashville Business Radio
Heather Locke, Hammersmith Support
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Hammersmith Support

Heather Locke, Hammersmith Support (Nashville Business Radio, Episode 33)

With core values of customer service, transparency, and giving back, Hammersmith Support aims to be a prime mover for good in their community.  Founder and Chief Support Officer Heather Locke joined host John Ray to share the way Hammersmith uniquely supports their clients through design and maintenance of their websites, her entrepreneurial journey which began as a new mother, and much more. Nashville Business Radio is produced virtually from the Nashville studio of Business RadioX®.

Hammersmith Support

Hammersmith Support was formed by Heather Locke. As a designer and developer Heather is able provide website development from start to finish. She quickly found that clients needed more than a website. They needed someone to help make their site successful. Hammersmith Support was born. For more than 10 years, they have been providing web maintenance services and helping clients enhance their web presence.

They love helping their customers.

Hammersmith is a certified woman-owned web design and development agency built on a foundation of close client relationships. They seek to know their clients and the challenges their companies face. Hammersmith then uses that knowledge to build fresh, engaging, custom-designed websites that reflect the unique core values and personality of the business.

They pride themselves on providing outstanding service and delivering exceptional websites, on-time and on budget.

They also believe that maintaining your website is critical to success and offer monthly maintenance packages to help take the frustration of managing and supporting your website off of your plate.

Website maintenance packages include content updates, SEO, security, backups, site enhancements, site optimization, malware prevention, analytics reporting, performance monitoring, and more.

Company website | LinkedIn | Instagram

Heather Locke, Founder and Chief Support Officer, Hammersmith Support

Hammersmith Support
Heather Locke, Founder and Chief Support Officer, Hammersmith Support

With more than 15 years of experience with Fortune 1000 companies, small to mid-sized businesses, and agencies, Heather is a proven professional specializing in web development from concept to completion for a multitude of web applications.

Heather has worked as an Interactive Project Manager on projects for clients including Subway, Disney, HBO, and Target. She is highly skilled in custom WordPress development and is also a HubSpot Certified Designer.

LinkedIn

Questions and Topics

  • How did you get started?
  • What differentiates your company?
  • What are your services?
  • Why are you opening a location in Nashville?
  • Do you have some tips for our listeners on their website?
  • Why is website maintenance important?

Nashville Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and produced virtually from the Nashville studio of Business RadioX®.  You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Tagged With: Hammersmith Support, Heather Locke, Nashville, website design, website developer, website support, Wordpress

Lance Finley, Firehouse Design

April 13, 2021 by John Ray

Lance Finley
Nashville Business Radio
Lance Finley, Firehouse Design
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Lance Finley

Lance Finley, Firehouse Design (Nashville Business Radio, Episode 2)

Lance Finley of Firehouse Design is a rescuer! He loves to rescue business owners from bad design and ineffective websites. He joined host John Ray to discuss the client research he conducts which results in more effective websites, why he maintains relationships with his clients after the work is done, and much more. “Nashville Business Radio” is produced virtually from the Nashville studio of Business RadioX®.

Lance Finley, Owner, Firehouse Design, Inc.

Lance Finley
Lance Finley, Firehouse Design

Firehouse Design are Online Rescue Specialists who deliver clients from an ineffective website and free them from site maintenance.  Firehouse becomes an extension of a client’s company. They ask the right questions, determine significant challenges, and project the client’s ideal corporate image through website design, email marketing, SEO, online advertising, online promotions, social media strategies, and graphic design.

Lance Finley, owner of Firehouse Design, Inc., has been a successful matchmaker since 03; marrying a love of technology and creativity. After graduating from Lipscomb University in 1990 with a B.S. in marketing, this father of four has served in advertising, publishing, prepress, and now digital marketing.

His refusal to blend in and creative approach to online opportunities have increased demand for his company’s work. Lance is driven to make each site better than the last – having built sites for country artists like Shania Twain, George Strait, and Johnny Cash, Hooters restaurants, email marketing for a national chain, Swaggerty’s Sausage, community banks, insurance, and medical companies to bring them all online success. Feeding off customer satisfaction, he seeks to develop long-term relationships rather than the typical “smash and grab” of some of the web design industry.

Furthermore, Lance enjoys sharing his knowledge of the internet and its possibilities ad nauseam to any who will listen.

Company website | LinkedIn

Questions and Topics in this Interview

  • Why “Firehouse”?
  • What’s your why? What drives you?
  • Logo design
  • Isn’t it easy to make your own site today?
  • What would you say to DIY’ers?
  • Biggest mistakes you see in websites
  • How often should someone refresh their website?
  • Lance’s belief in client relationships vs. the “smash and grab” attitude common in the industry

“Nashville Business Radio” is hosted by John Ray and produced virtually from the Nashville studio of Business RadioX®.  You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Tagged With: corporate image, digital marketing, Firehouse Design, graphic design, Lance Finley, logo design, marketing, Nashville, website design

Entrepreneurial Spirit E41

February 18, 2021 by Karen

Entrepreneurial-Spirit-Feature
Phoenix Business Radio
Entrepreneurial Spirit E41
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Entrepreneurial Spirit E41

Having an entrepreneurial spirit was a common theme throughout this episode. Business owners should have a passion for their business and the drive to go out everyday to work hard and commit to achieving their goals. A lot of times, business owners don’t really know what they need to get there and that’s where Fasturtle can help. They commit a lot of time to learning about their clients upfront and know just the right digital marketing package to deliver the goods.

Eric was a wealth of digital marketing advice. He talks about the importance of engagement, tracking your results, and knowing when it’s time to make a change if results are matching the effort you put in. Listen to the episode to learn a few quick tips to improve your website.

Fasturtle-logo

Fasturtle is a leading provider of Digital Marketing Solutions; including website design, search engine ranking, and digital marketing strategy. We are an Arizona based, top 10 ranking internet marketing firm specializing in helping small-medium size businesses, non-profit organizations, and service industry professionals. Since 2000, we have successfully delivered the most innovative and cost effective tools to expand your brand online. Working with clients in many different industries we have the skills to develop revenue generating solutions while keeping your costs down.

Fasturtle has been consistently ranked one of Phoenix, Arizona’s Top 10 Website Design and Internet Marketing Companies by Ranking AZ and the Phoenix Business Journal. With over 14 years of experience, an “A+” Rating by BBB and numerous other design and marketing awards including the American Marketing Association 2012 Spectrum Award, we proudly offer the highest level of customer service and results oriented internet marketing solutions.

Fasturtle: Fast Turtle (N) /fast/ tur·tle /ˈtərtl/ – Many groups and cultures around the world symbolize the turtle as the wisest of all, good health, long life and protection. We at Fasturtle view our business integrity, operations model and scopes of work in the same light. We are committed to authentic, honorable, effective and long lasting business relationships with all of our clients. Our Fasturtle programs be it SEO Management, Email Marketing or Website Design are spearheaded and developed for long term sustainability.

Eric-Olsen-FasturtleEric Olsen is a serial entrepreneur; he has spent over 20 years in the website and digital marketing industry.

A national speaker, a frequent contributor to the Phoenix Business Journal, and a thought leader in the digital marketing space. His most important position is as a husband and father of three teenagers here in Phoenix AZ.

Follow Fasturtle on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About Your Hosts

Autsin-Peterson-on-Phoenix-Business-RadioXAustin Peterson is a Comprehensive Financial Planner and owner of Backbone Financial in Scottsdale, AZ. Austin is a registered rep and investment advisor representative with Lincoln Financial Advisors. Prior to joining Lincoln Financial Advisors, Austin worked in a variety of roles in the financial services industry.

He began his career in financial services in the year 2000 as a personal financial advisor with Independent Capital Management in Santa Ana, CA. Austin then joined Pacific Life Insurance Company as an internal wholesaler for their variable annuity and mutual fund products. After Pacific Life, Austin formed his own financial planning company in Southern California that he built and ran for 6 years and eventually sold when he moved his family to Salt Lake City to pursue his MBA.

After he completed his MBA, Austin joined Crump Life Insurance where he filled a couple of different sales roles and eventually a management role throughout the five years he was with Crump. Most recently before joining Lincoln Financial Advisors in February 2015, Austin spent 2 years as a life insurance field wholesaler with Symetra Life Insurance Company. Austin is a Certified Financial Planner Professional and Chartered Life Underwriter.

Austin and his wife of 21 years, Robin, have two children, AJ (19) and Ella (16) and they reside in Gilbert, Arizona. He is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts in French and of Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management with a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in sales and entrepreneurship.

Connect with Austin on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

LandonHeadshot01Landon Mance is a Financial Planner and founder of YourFuture Planning Partners out of Las Vegas, Nevada. His firm came to life in 2020 after operating as Mance Wealth Management since 2015 when Landon broke off from a major bank and started his own “shop.”

Landon comes from a family of successful entrepreneurs and has a passion and excitement for serving the business community. This passion is what brought about the growth of YourFuture Planning Partners to help business owners and their families. At YourFuture, we believe small business owners’ personal and business goals are intertwined, so we work with our clients to design a financial plan to support all aspects of their lives.

In 2019, Landon obtained the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation through the Exit Planning Institute. With this certification, YourFuture Planning Partners assists business owners through an ownership transition while focusing on a positive outcome for their employees and meeting the business owner’s goals. Landon is also a member of the Business Intelligence Institute (BII) which is a collaborative group that shares tools, resources and personnel, and offers advanced level training and technical support to specifically serve business owners.Your-Future-Planning-Partners-logo

Landon enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, stepson, and new baby twins. He grew up in sunny San Diego and loves visiting his family, playing a round of golf with friends, and many other outdoor activities. Landon tries make a difference in the lives of children in Las Vegas as a part of the leadership team for a local non-profit. He regularly visits the children that we work with to remind himself of why it’s so important to, “be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

Landon received his B.S. from California State University Long Beach in business marketing and gets the rest of his education through the school of hard knocks via his business owner clients.

Connect with Landon on LinkedIn.

About The Tycoons of Small Biz Sponsor

Whether you’re an established local company, or a brand new start-up, you can count on GBS to be a part of your family.

We’re not just any benefits consulting firm, we’re GBS. We have nearly 30 years of experience in group benefits, a strong sense of purpose and it shows.

Austin Peterson and Landon Mance are registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a broker/dealer (member SIPC) and registered investment advisor. Insurance offered through Lincoln affiliates and other fine companies. Backbone Financial and Your Future Planning Partners are marketing names for registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. CRN 3453141-021621

Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. and its representatives do not provide legal or tax advice. You may want to consult a legal or tax advisor regarding any legal or tax information as it relates to your personal circumstances.

The content presented is for informational and educational purposes. The information covered and posted are views and opinions of the guests and not necessarily those of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.

Business RadioX® is a separate entity not affiliated with Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.

Tagged With: digital advertising, digital marketing, social media marketing, website design, website marketing

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