I was not too fond of that comment when working in a Boutique store.  That was the comment made by a walk-in who then left to get his friends and bring them in to show me to them.  After they left laughing, I told my co-assistant manager that I wasn’t a salesman; I was a video game consultant.

As a shy boy, I hid behind my mother around others.  In my post-high school days, I walked into an Electronics Boutique and was awed by their focus on a niche.  They only sold (at the time) video games.  I asked for an application.

Little did I know that the manager was the best shoe salesman for his former company and the district manager for the mall-based stores.  He told me we were going to play a game.  The game is to get the cash out of the customer’s pockets and put it into the cash register. 

I did not like that game.  The first person who walked into the store was when he asked me to talk to the customer.  After wandering over, I looked up and asked if there was anything I could help with.  He said, I’m fine.  (Of course, he was; it was PlayStation compact discs)  I rushed back, looking for the trash can from being nauseous.

Fast forward to today.  I have a plaque with the #1 store in the region for Tekken 3 sales.  I don’t sell.  I share.  

When we share your engaging stories, people buy in.  Then, I guess money does go from the pockets of hundreds of customers into the cash register.

I was a busboy for a family seafood restaurant in my first summer job.  Nine years later, working with the best in the trenches, a family-like crew, I would say it was the longest summer job I ever had.  

Now, I didn't bus tables that whole time.  I did everything but be a waiter.  I always had the fear of dropping a tray of drinks on customers.  Facing our fears is the only way to grow, but I grew in other areas.

Systems were the biggest thing that I learned.

"Red Order," "Blue Order," "Right Behind," "Hot," "Order Up."

"Thank you for that."

The short talk was necessary as if we were trading stock shares on the NYSE floor.  Maybe not that frantic, but the one thing we ensured we adapted on Day 1 was "Thank You On That."  It is an extension of the "Thanks" and "Thank You".  It means something more and is a confirmation due to the number of syllables in the shout-out.  Four is better than the two-syllable version.

By the way, the Blue order was a call-in order, so by the time they showed up, it was cold.  Red orders were our walk-ins who placed a to-go order.  Order Up was the dine-in.  Guess which orders got priority?  Red, Dine-in, followed by Blue.

Also, we walked on the right side of the paths throughout the kitchen - Not that hard… when you have a system.

From there, I have sought individuals with what some would say is the bigger pile of money theory.  I like to change it from money to experience, but it goes like this: Whoever has the bigger pile, you listen to them.  I have four active mentors who are still in their trenches and have cut those who are still teaching the past from their best-selling books on the shelf.

If you haven't figured it out by now, this "restaurant" is a front for your little secret local business marketing agency.  

(The back of the restaurant is open to clients only, just like in the movies)

Who needs another boring marketing site?  Sharing a story through role-playing can make any activity that much more interesting.  

The restaurant business is a tough hustling industry, which I have the utmost respect for.  However, discovery isn't complex since they have every delivery app option.  

So, if you are here and are a restaurant owner, I'm sorry, I can not allocate any resources for your business.  We have limited slots, and we need to focus on delivering customers to local business doors that don't have an app for that.

So, my belief about dining and eating is this:  

People need to eat, and the best way is for local businesses to be able to buy takeout or delivery for their employees and treat them, which moves the cash around the local community.  So everyone wins, even if restaurants can't do direct B2B with us.  :) 

As someone who grew up as a local mall rat and worked in a few retail businesses, I have a heavy heart for those once-busy businesses that have become empty landshells.

My first attempt to help small businesses led to some fear of failure for both myself as I was still learning and for sending too much traffic to a small outfit that wouldn't be able to handle the additional business.  That meant I was out of business in the process of putting someone else out of business.  A double negative and not in the one cancels the other way.

I shifted my focus to individuals and still am passionate about helping those with the entrepreneurial spirit, just like you.  I have a side hustle website that connects individuals with other entrepreneurs to learn how to create an online business of their own.

Then, a single gamer changer product came to my attention.  More on that story later, but it is why this kitchen is open for your business.  Please continue to read on for how it came about.  Know this... Try Again Works well.

My vision is to see local economies grow.  Through this business of mine, connecting yours with new customers, I believe we can do our part to make your community stronger.  

In addition to growing your business, please ask about the "I Pick U" program, where we pick up the tab for a local company of your choice.  Without attention, businesses can not survive, and the small shops can't afford to keep up or pay for the cost of marketing.  Thus, our "I Pick U" program is our way of extending an olive branch.

 The Story That Pivots

So when the auto-complete search box product came across my desk that day, my jaw dropped.  

I was like, this is priceless.  This is a game-changer.

This … needs more analysis.  I became skeptical.

I contacted the vendor and demanded a list of active clients, as what I saw in the video wasn't working in real-time.  

Turns out, I was partly right.  The client list was up to update with new clients showing their hand-pick keywords appearing in the search boxes of Microsoft Bing and Google.

But the ones that stopped working they stopped paying.  So that makes sense, sort of… But Why?

It turns out that if you try to go cheap, you get cheap results.  It works best if you have multiple keyword phrases, which gets expensive by itself.  It won't pay off if you don't choose the best keywords.  

Weeks later, I came across another new product built by a multimillion-dollar ad campaign solopreneur who was like; I need to make this easier for me and all my high-dollar clients.  Through a lease, I have access to that equipment for you.

Fuse the two products and throw your solid investments into it, and you get a beautiful baked dessert.  

Your business appears in the search box as a suggestion from the search engine BEFORE they hit enter.  

They see your business, which stands out because Google and Microsoft suggest it!  

It takes time to work, but it's a beauty when you have the right information applied correctly.

But I didn't think this was enough.  It's incredible, but that is one menu item.  What if the intent buyer types in something different?  They want an offering like you have, but they don't know the terminology, or they put in something a little different.  I couldn't bring myself to sell this.

Then, later that year, Google updated its algorithm under the code name Panda (unrelated to the restaurant chain), and the SEO world screamed.  What Google thinks is now helpful content causes high-ranking websites to fall off the front page.  Bloggers see their traffic and income cut in half.... overnight.

You're not a blogger, but you might have been told that you need SEO.

It's true.  It turns out that the Suggestion Box also gets better with SEO, and it did take a hit.

Less than six months later, another local business search product is released.  It increases the reach to three and a half miles from the address on file.  It will help you appear in the three business listings with the mini-map on the search results, even if your competitor is closer to the intent user.

Okay, that's mind-blowing!  Now you have the intent keywords that a new customer is typing and now the lazy "near me" to cover those areas that cross city borders?

Wait that means I would be calling up the business owner to share another add-on to their marketing with them.  That's a distraction to them.  It's costly for both parties, and this all happened in less than six months!

If you need all these things fixed for the listings to show up on page 1 but Sponsored links bury it, the three business listings next to the preview map give the lead an easy contact button to other businesses, and the local ads, when applicable are attractive, and of course, none of this matters if your site doesn't convert… and the money is in the list…  do you have a list?

How many calls and pitches do I have to make every time there is a change or new product?

It's time to come up with a better model.  

That's why I decided to go with an All You Can Sell plan.  

It's like Netflix versus Blockbuster (back when we were still using DVDs).  

I order everything for you because your next intent buyer searches differently from what we think.

We use that new expensive kitchen equipment to discover the secret recipe for your business.

The Thousand Keyword Island Research Dip is no joke.  It is a process that we go through for the first month.  We don't put in an order for the suggestion box or the 7x7 mile "near me" signal boost where people find your business no matter what cell phone tower they are connected to.  

We find out what people really type in the search, and we find out what people type that they do not want your offer.

One of my mentors says, "Whoever tests the most makes the most," and he is right.

After 30 days, we have the best of the best to update every piece of content across the Internet to pair your offer with new intent customers.  

When you sign, we get to work on crafting your story, your offers, your promotions, and your community.  We work on the tech first, the research second, and the storytelling third for the "Come Again" experience. 

 Everything Makes the Cut 

The team of vendors specializing in their dishes brings the best-tasting results that will bring new customers into your doors.  Suppose any new dishes are presented to me.  In that case, you automatically add it to your plan without any "sales" pitches or disruptive calls.  We take it, thank them, and put it to work for you.  

As tech changes, we adapt fast on our toes, so you don't have to.  So yeah, we are running around with knives and frying pans.  But to be the best, you have to have a kitchen full of cooks all in their respective positions so they are not stepping over each other's toes.

As the head chef, I ensure that the equipment is working, that the paths are clear, that we have ordered the correct stock, and that we are rotating that inventory with fresh eats.  

Using productivity software, we built out every menu item so that we click up to signal order up.  Then, each item is assigned to a team to cook up the feature or service until it is up and running, where we mark the menu item as Live.

In week one from the Appetizer Menu, we apply the thousand keyword research into what people are typing to find the solutions to their problems. 

From that, we find the winners and apply a more considerable portion of the investment to drive the five-layer search engine results page to grow your traffic and leads, which is part of the Main Course Menu and what most other agencies focus on just one of the layers - sponsor or organic page one results.  

Finally, we have the Desert Menu, which has them coming back for more.  We capture their contact info in exchange for an instant offer that leads them to your best offer.  They are hooked to your business and will be back as we deliver a hand-crafted storytelling email campaign that ensures they are interested in learning more.  

This very deliverable presentation ensures that they are opening up their napkins and reading the print.  Thus, when they reach the end of the multi-treat campaign, an invitation to join an exclusive table of offerings is most wanted.

It's the second mailing list that has been double-filtered to increase both Inbox arrival and Open rates, the hardest metric to achieve now more than ever with the February 2024 spam rules put in place by Google and Yahoo!

I bring the painful experiences of affiliated marketing to help deliver your offers to your loyal customers.

Each item within their respective category can take anywhere from ready to serve to a few months to appear.  This is why we do an all-you-can-sell plan.  Picking just one or two menu items could leave money on the tables.

Since the hottest new features are to boost signals for mobile search and the new auto-suggestion of your business before the search results screen (the most complex task), these need time to marinate and cook over time.  They are the best award-winning menu dishes (if I were a judge at an eating contest) that deliver in flavor, pop, and excitement.  

However, these items can range from 45 days for "near me" boost improvements to 150 days for the suggesting box list when new intent customers type.

This is why we go for the sponsored links to get faster results to increase traffic to your location and begin the groundwork for fixing the Internet to all have the same name, address, and phone number in the peered formatting so that all the products and services we roll out are working at top performance.

So again, there will be an instant traffic increase in week one from the completed items ordered off the Appetizer Menu to start feeding you traffic and new leads.

You could order an item from any diner menu and get some results.  What stands us apart is that we deliver the whole experience by covering every menu item for your business.  

Do not confuse this as a 'one size fits' all; that is not what we are sharing.  We are saying that you get a one-signing plan that covers all the services and products so that I start screaming in the back, "Order up" for every needed menu item.  The "report" tells us what we need for your local business.  We cook up what is required and then move to the next item.  

I then rebalance the weekly funds to cover the next set of ticket items, and the remaining funds go straight into ad campaigns on multiple sites.  This was the easiest way to convert your marketing budget into putting out the fires you didn't even know you had.

We turn those red errors into green money-making opportunities.

Did you know "opportunities" is one of 925 spam-triggering words for email?  So is the word "sale".

We write email copy that lands in Inboxes.

P.S. Don't forget that your reputation is driven by reviews.  If, for whatever reason, we are unable to help, please monitor your reviews and dispute bad actors.  A service that we include for all our clients.