How to Get FREE MEDIA Exposure | 35-Minute Guide

Hello, Believe Nation! Welcome to another edition of the Evan Carmichael Show. I'm your host, Evan Carmichael. It's fantastic to be back. I'm really excited about today's episode. We're talking about how to promote your business with $0 by using the media. I got a great question from one of my Twitter followers. Love you guys. Pete4725 wrote in to say, have you ever done an episode on press releases or good ways to connect How do I get access to local media? This is a fantastic question. I've done a lot of local press. I've done a lot of international press, and that's what helped put me in the spotlight. And I think as an entrepreneur, it's one of the best ways you can promote your business. So today I'm going to be sharing my secrets on how to get free press for your business to help you grow. All right, promotion with $0. Now you're an expert, right? At least you should be. If you want to have success as an entrepreneur, you better be really good at what you do and be an industry expert. Now we're talking about getting to the media. And when reporters are covering stories, guess what they always look for? An expert to comment on it. Pick up your daily newspaper, read almost any story, and you'll see that an industry expert is quoted and is sharing their opinions. Why can't that industry expert be you? But think about it. When you read a magazine, Do you pay more attention to the ads, or do you pay more attention to the articles? Now which one is going to cost you more, running an ad or getting an article written about you? This should be a no-brainer decision for an entrepreneur. The articles you read are much more visible. They don't cost you anything to get into. Now the trick is getting on the radar screens of the media. And how you do it is you start by building a list. Now this shouldn't be too hard. What you want to do is look at the websites of all the trade media who are covering your industry. Look at all the sections of the major media who might run a story about your industry. Look at all your local publications, magazines, radio shows. Look at all the local things happening as well and start making a list. You know, in my case, I might target a trade magazine like Entrepreneur. I might target a home business magazine. and I might target the business sections of major media like New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Now I've been in all of those publications and it's really had a huge impact on helping me get a bigger audience and a bigger impact. So you have to start by making the list. Now when you're making your list, the first thing you want to think about is how do I identify the fit, right? Step 1, build the list and identify the fit. You want to create press releases and expose yourself to people who are a good fit for what you are an expert at. If I have a great service for doctors and I'm an expert in the doctor field, I'm obviously not going to be targeting the legal community and the publication towards lawyers. So you want to make a really targeted list. This doesn't have to be as hard as people make it out to be. You start making that list. And a quick easy way to do it is just to go to Wikipedia. Go to Wikipedia and you can search for— I'm in Toronto, I could look for Toronto media outlets. You could look for Quincy, Illinois media outlets, and it will show you an entire list of different media outlets that are targeted to your city. You can look at the Internet Public Library online. You can look at newspapers online. You can look at NewsLink. There are tons of resources online where you want to find the specific editorial content that you can be featured in as an expert. Once you found that, Publication, you want to identify the contact. Who is the person that you need to get in touch with who is writing the stories about your industry? So that's the first step, right? And a lot of times they use the same email structure, right? It's first name dot last name at the media company dot com. But you want to start building that list of everybody who is in your industry, who is locally known to you, and who is also national but covers your specific segment. And make that list of people that you can connect with. I want to get a quick call in. I have Tim on the line. Tim, where are you from and how can I help?

Good morning, I am from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Well, here's the deal is I'm a retired paramedic, but I also have a long background in stand-up comedy. And I have transitioned into doing public speaking now. And so here's the thing, I combine my knowledge of teamwork and leadership from 30 years as a firefighter and then present it with some humor to corporate executives to help them understand that even though our lives are at risk every decision we make, what decision-making processes they use are as difficult as ours.

Okay, great.

But I present it with humor. So the thing is, is how do I market myself more effectively as a public speaker? How do I penetrate corporations and get their attention?

Do you have a YouTube channel, Tim?

[Speaker:CHUCK] Yeah, sure.

[Speaker:EVAN] You do? Are you posting that regularly? [Speaker:CHUCK] Yeah.

[Speaker:EVAN] How often do you post videos? [Speaker:CHUCK] Here's the thing is, it's, 'cause I have kind of two passions. My YouTube channel's directed towards the fact that firefighters are killing themselves in record numbers because of suicide and alcohol abuse. So my YouTube channel is directed more in that vein as opposed to leadership and teamwork. Sorry, it's a mixed message.

No, that's part of why you're not maybe getting the attention that you need. I don't know if you've worked with a speaking house yet or have a speaking agent or even trying to get into some corporations for early gigs. They want to see video, right? They want to see video of you talking. And a lot of times the people making these decisions, they're searching online, right? They're looking for, you know, leadership speaker or one of the specific messages that you may have, right? Whatever your— if you bring comedy to the workplace and leadership, right? Comedy and leadership. Leadership, whatever it is. People will be searching those things, and right now you're not coming up. And a lot of speaking gigs that I've done have been just from people finding my YouTube channel, and they write to me. But also having a popular channel that you're posting to regularly gives people a visual sense of you as a speaker. They want to see, hey, this guy is comfortable in front of the camera. This guy has a positive message. This is a message that will probably fit with my audience. And so I would start by posting regularly to your YouTube channel, but make it about what you actually want to speak about. And the firefighting stuff can still be there, but put more emphasis on the leadership stuff because that's going to get you the gigs.

Right, right. Yeah, I agree. I can do that.

So that's like step 1, right? And creating regular content. I'd put at least 1 video a week with your message. And maybe not full. I don't know how long the keynotes are. You know, you don't want to do a full half an hour, an hour, or, you know, 3-hour video, but quick digestible tips. So take that half an hour presentation and chunk it down into 6 5-minute clips. So that gives you more content and it's easy to digest, because most people aren't going to sit and watch a half an hour presentation, but they'll watch something that's 5 minutes on one specific topic, and then they'll watch another and another and another. And that's what you want. You want people to get hooked. Right.

Well, and I can probably— I did a TEDx talk, so I could probably use that as well.

Yeah, you can definitely link to that. TEDx is a great opportunity. Link to that from your channel. But then, even people from TEDx, so if you had a great TEDx talk, people will then look for your name. Some of the great speakers on TEDx, if they are moved by what you are saying, they will look for your name. And so what is going to come up? And if they see, oh, Tim, they found your YouTube channel, and all you are talking about is firefighter stuff, they may feel like, oh, that is not really relevant to what I need in my corporation.

I get it, yeah. Can I do two YouTube channels, or should I refine a single channel that I have? I mean, is it possible to have two?

Yeah, you can. All you need for YouTube is have a different Gmail address. Um, okay. I'm a big fan though of mixing it. Yeah. You know, I would want people to know your firefighter background. I would want people to know that you really care about firefighters and helping them, you know, not kill themselves. And these are heroes of America, you know. I think that makes you different. I would split my content. If you really want to focus on leadership stuff, maybe it's 75% geared towards that and 25% geared towards the firefighters and helping them. Up to you, your judgment call, but I don't think that if you do that properly, I don't think that that detracts from your public speaking gig. I think it will actually help you.

Excellent.

I can do that, bro. I'm excited for you.

You were just talking about press releases and that sort of thing. Is it worth it to to generate a press release about that sort of, you know, the question I have is talking about firefighter suicide and that sort of thing, and do press releases geared towards that?

[Speaker:EVAN_CARMICHAEL] Yeah, so what I would do if I were you, since you are a public speaker and you have that gift in front of the camera, in front of an audience that a lot of people may not have, if something is touching your heart, you know, if there's something you really want to get out, I would make a video about it. and then reach out to reporters that are talking about that issue. So if there's something that comes up in the media, something big related to firefighters, I would make a video about that and then send that off to the media and say, "Hey, I'm willing to be an expert and answer any questions." Cool. All right, thanks, Tim. We got to keep on moving, but I appreciate the call.

Thanks, sir.

Now in the first segment I talked about making a list, so we're finding all the people that are related to our industry that are writing stories about your industry or your local environment that you can potentially to reach out to. Next step, before you reach out to them, I know you are gung-ho, you want to reach out to them. The next step though before you do that is to create a media page. Reporters don't like working typically with new sources, one, because it takes more work to find them, and two, it's hard to tell if what they are saying is true or not. It's hard to tell if that person is actually an expert or not. There is a lot more vetting, more work involved. So you can reduce that if you create a great media page for them. They don't want you to make them look bad because you don't really know what you are talking about. So on this media page what I want you to do is highlight your professional background, showcase any media experiences that you have already had. If you haven't done anything yet, you can start with the smaller local publications. It is usually pretty easy to get into them. And what that does is, see a lot of the media, they don't like to be the first. Right? It's hard to go straight to the Wall Street Journal. But if they see that you've already been in other media publications, it's much easier to say yes. So you want to show how long you've been in business, what clients you work with, what professional designations you have. Anything to show your credibility, you want to put on that media page. Anything that shows you know what you're talking about and that you're not going to waste their time. It also helps to have a really professional picture of yourself. And depending on what your industry is, you want to show you in action. So if we are looking at Tim who is a stand-up comedian/speaker, he could have him as a headshot, and then also him being on stage, so him actually in action. So you want to have that up there as well, the quick bio, 100-word bio about yourself that when you are reaching out to these reporters they have a quick sense of who you are, and that yes, you know what you are talking about. Okay, create that media page. I want to get to the calls. I've got Sasha on the line. Sasha, where are you from and how can I help?

Hey, uh, yeah, I'm in Orlando. Um, I'm an author. My full name is Sasha Hampson, so if you look me up, you should be able to see like my children's books that I write. And I want to know how to kind of get, I guess, more publicity as far as not just being a children's book author, but also be able to, I guess, give advice on like raising children because I have 3 I have 3 sons ages 4, 5, and 8, and I write the book based on my 3 sons, and the characters in the book look like exactly like my children and myself. So, yeah, I kind of want to branch out into that area, kind of like what you were talking about, I guess, just a few moments— a few moments ago, I guess, about setting up the pages and everything. But is there anything like more I can do to kind of like connect my book with, you know, like with moms and, you know, give out advice and stuff like that?

Is the book a how-to? Is it non-fiction or is it a fictional story?

Oh no, it is all fictional children's books. Well, semi-fiction. It is based on, like I said before, it is based on my kids. But of course, you know, since it is a children's book, we have to elaborate a lot of things and make everything bigger than life to keep the children interested. But yeah, it really is based on my children. It is for kids ages, I would say, like maybe 3 to 10. 10. So yeah.

Good.

So you have now a branding challenge where a lot of authors, they'll write a book to help give themselves more exposure and, "Hey, I'm the expert. Look, I wrote this book." But having a book that's not necessarily a how-to, that is a little more fiction, it's harder to see a Stephen King being an expert on something other than writing in his book. So that's a challenge that you now have to create in creating your own personal brand. And starting to share your thoughts and opinions, right? So first of all, figuring out, well, what is it that you stand for? What are the main components of your belief system of how kids can be raised and how life could be easier for young parents who are looking after their kids in kind of similar situations as you? And once you figure out what your platform is, then it's spreading it. So you're looking at social media. You're looking at guest posts on, famous sites, and you're looking at usual media, traditional media, like we've been talking about already today. So I'd be building up a personal brand around yourself, your name, right? I don't know if you have sashahansen.com, but if it's available, I'd take it.

It's Sasha Hansen, and well, my book series is called The Y Brothers, and my most recent book is called Waiting, the number 4, Baby, and the letter Y as in yes, because all my sons' names start with the letter Y. So yeah, it's Waiting for Baby, why? It's about when I was pregnant with my last, my youngest son, and how the big brothers had to wait for their new brother to come.

Right, so I would be creating my own website now, your own personal domain name, and showing yourself as an expert, and then starting to share your thoughts. So however you best communicate. If you like to write, since you're obviously a writer, then you could write blog posts, and you can then take that to Twitter in short form. If you like to do videos, then you can create a YouTube channel. If you like to create pictures, you can put that on Facebook. But starting to put your thoughts out there so people know who you are, what you are all about, that you can funnel some of your existing readers to, but then also reach out to the media who is covering these issues. There are stories about kids, and families, and how-to parenting advice in every major publication every single day of the year. And that could be you being an expert in those publications. But if you reach out to, you know, whoever it is, you reach out to New York Times and say, "Hey, I have this great idea for you," and there's no— all you can say is, "Hey, I've written this fiction book," it's a lot harder to get their attention than if you have a personal branded website, you're showcasing yourself as an expert. You can say you're the author of 3 books and potentially more coming. That really helps establish yourself more as a credible source. That they would want to use. And that obviously also helps your book sales, right?

Oh, yeah.

So starting to build your personal brand, starting to create some content that you can post to your blogs and social media, and then reaching out to media publications to get noticed and have them feature you.

In your opinion, which one would you think would probably be the most successful? I was considering, like you said, like the YouTube, you know, trying to like maybe give advice every day or something, and then like have like a little link to my books or whatever, or like a blog or something like that. I mean, I don't know if people still read blogs as much or if they just want to watch videos. I'm trying to decide which one would be more profitable right now.

I would default to wherever you feel you're strongest. I love YouTube. YouTube is my number one social media platform. I'm getting half a million views a month on the channel, and it's driving a lot of business for me. But I love, I'm okay being on camera. I love doing the Q&A, answering people's questions. If you are uncomfortable in front of the camera, and you don't like it, and you don't want to learn that skill, and you feel you are much better as a writer, then write. I don't like writing. It's not something that I love doing. So if you love writing and you hate video, then I would default to doing a blog, and then trying to do guest blog posts on other people's blogs, and doing short-form content like on Twitter where it's still very written. But if you love doing video and you want to learn that skill, then go video. So there is no one right answer. People are having success everywhere. It's more figuring out what is core to you and where you feel your strength really lies. We got to move on. Thank you Sasha for the question. Thank you. For calling in. Today we are talking about how to get free media attention and publicity to promote your business and take it where you want to go. So we started off, number 1 is you got to make that list. Make the list of media who are potential targets for you. Number 2, before you reach out you got to make a media page that showcases all your expertise and showcases that you know what you're talking about so they're not making a mistake by having you on. Next step is you got to pick a topic. So step number 3 is you got to pick a topic that they care about. And this is where most entrepreneurs make a huge mistake. Because what you do is you go on and you send out information about yourself.

Right?

You send out something promotional, something that most press releases look alike, and people don't care. Most press releases get thrown in the garbage because it's too self-promotional. You got to think about, the publication that you are reaching out to, and what their audience would actually care about. So if we look back at Sasha, Sasha, she is the author. She has her kids' book line. If she went on and started reaching out to the New York Times and said, "Hey, I just launched this new book. Can you feature it?" She is probably going to get a quick no, and actually she is probably not going to get a response, because it is too promotional. But if she reached out and said something like, I've got 10, "Tips for How Young Mothers Can Prepare Their Family for a New Baby," something like that, right? That's more interesting, right? That's a little more appealing. That's something that might actually appear in the New York Times. And that's what you want to think about, right? That publication that you're going after, think about the stories that actually appear there, and then give them a topic that's similar to that, right? You don't see publications about, "Hey, new book released," about babies, right? Nobody is going to care about that. So that's going to really increase your chances of getting in. So pick a really strong topic. Now when you're creating your press release, you want to reach out. Here are the components. There are 6 components. Number 1 is a strong headline. You want to capture them with a really strong headline, something meaningful, something with punch. A great way to do it is a how-to, a top 10 mistakes to avoid, something really headline-y that captures attention. Number 2 is a compelling second headline. So a strong first headline and then another headline underneath. So if you don't catch them with the first one, the second one is also really meaningful and impactful. I've used this strategy over, and over, and over again. It's gotten me into New York Times, and Wall Street Journal, and Forbes magazine, really targeted to what I'm trying to reach. And so guys, this works for you. Number 3, you're including the location and the date, the date that it's coming out and the location where you are. Then the number 4 is the body. and this is where you are explaining the problem, giving your solutions. Quote yourself as an expert. Try to write a story like they would actually publish it. I've had publications take just my press release and copy and paste it and publish it as is because it was written like a story. That's what you want to do. Write it like a story. Quote yourself like an expert exactly like you see it. If you take that article from the New York Times that's constantly published over and over and over again, and you copy that format, and that's what you send them as a press release, you are much more likely to get approved. Okay, that's number 4. Number 5 is your 100-word bio. Write about yourself in 100 words. Keep it short. Keep it sweet. Keep it meaningful. Keep it impactful. We are going to link to your media page in there as well for more information. But get your bio down to 100 words so I can quickly digest who it is that you are. I don't want pages and pages and pages, just enough to tease me to want to learn more. And then number 6 is the contact information. Right, how do they reach you? You have your media page. You have your phone number. You have your email address. Okay, so that's how we put it all together. A strong headline, a strong second headline, the location and date, the body of your press release where you are copying an existing story format, your 100-word bio, and then your contact information. Okay, it works, guys. I promise you it works. I've used it over, and over, and over, and over again, and I want to see you have success getting to the media. I have Nadine on the line. Nadine, where are you from, and how can I help?

Hi, I'm calling from Toledo. I just generated a small cleaning business, and one of my main concerns— I guess you've kind of covered bases already— is what do you suggest is a greater network flow or a plug to obtain more so contractual work versus like recurring residential work? Like, where do we go to get it? What do you suggest we have to do to get it? Because I find myself continuously coming out of expenses such as for advertisement and things of that nature, and I'm just trying to find some type of flow format where I can take advantage more so of free advertising versus continuously coming out, um, you know, spending expenses and not making the money to cover it as well. So that's where I'm stuck at right now.

Yeah, cool. The two things I would look at is one, really local, because you're, you're a cleaning business, you know, somebody calls you up from, uh, you know, New York City, you're not going to go up there and clean their place. So you got to do highly targeted local. And it's actually a lot easier to get into those local publications, newspapers, magazines, because there isn't as much demand to get in. And I try to think, what's an angle, right? Is there something positive that you're trying to do in the community? Is there something really new and exciting about your cleaning service that hasn't been done before? Are you trying to put, you know, Toledito on the map? You've got some big vision, something that's story-worthy. It's a lot easier to get into a local publication than it would be to get into Wall Street Journal. So I'd be just trying to think about local publications and an interesting hook, an interesting angle, something that you're doing differently, or something that you stand for that you think could really inspire the community. And that's how you can reach out. And again, much higher chance of getting in. The other thing I would look at though is also partnerships. Who can you— what other businesses can you ally yourself with that could make referrals and introductions for you, so you're not trying to get one business at a time, at a time, at a time, but you get a constant flow of new business coming in because of the alliances that you've made. Have you made any alliances or partnerships, or is anybody coming to mind that might be a good fit?

Well, I just established a partnership with a friend, and the reason why I chose to deal with her, per se, was because of the fact that she has made bid in the past, and I guess her— for whatever her situation was, it didn't work out like it should have, so she lost the bid. She was doing something more so with like LMHA, which is our like our local Lucas County Metropolitan, you know, low-income housing. She had a bid for janitorial services for like over 5 years, but she technically was not the owner of the business at the time. So I guess due to the contract, and once whoever was the owner seen that she had the capabilities of getting those bids, they demanded money because they were going to sell her the business. They demanded money upfront versus actually getting the money within that 5-year period that they discussed in the contract.

So that didn't go out for her.

So I decided I was going to tag team with her and, you know, try to work something out with her.

So that's one, right? That's great. I mean, to see what happens, that's one person. Now you want to think, how do I get 20 of these people, right? How do I get 20 people who are ideally in business but not in your business. They're in a complementary business. So, who— try to think about what businesses these companies are buying from before they buy from you. So, before any cleaning services— so if I'm a manufacturer, right, I make tables and I need cleaning services. Before I buy cleaning services, who else am I buying from that's not related to actual cleaning services, right? And those are potential alliance partners for you. Not, not partners in your business, not like you're giving them a cut and you're doing 50/50 or anything like that. Just they could refer you on. Those are the types of businesses that you want to start making alliances with, uh, so that when they're talking to the manufacturers and they know they have a cleaning problem, they can pass on your name.

So when you say building these alliances, are you suggesting more so network? Because when you say that right now, I'm thinking like, okay, well, what do I have to offer them You know what I mean, for me to get that benefit. So I guess, so that's where I'm stuck. Do you think I'm networking with these people, or networking with some type of trust? I can imagine.

Yeah, and you could potentially help refer them too, right? Like you're both dealing with the same kinds of clients and you want to help each other out. And some, you know, some people might be really specific and really clear, okay, you got to give me a lead if I'm giving you new lead, but most people, if you develop a friendly relationship with them, you may be the first cleaner who's ever reached out to them, and now you're on their radar, and you know, you're on their radar too, and then you could potentially refer them into your clients if you see that there's a need that they have, right? If you're working with a client and you see that they have a really desperate need for another type of service that you don't offer, but you know that there's somebody else who does it, you passing on that person's name makes you look better, right? It's a good move for you. It helps build that relationship and you're helping solve the client's problems. So a lot of it is just helping each other out. You're both targeting the same kinds of clients with different products and services and you can refer each other in when the opportunity arises. So that's a good start and it's easy to set up those calls and those relationships to say, "Hey, here's what I'm doing. I'm targeting the same clients as you. I'd love to have a quick coffee to discuss how we might be able to work together." And you'll find some people love it and they're on board and now you're on the radar screen and they may be able to give you referrals, and some people won't. And that's part of the game. Okay? We've got to keep it going, but thank you so much for calling in. Yeah, so use the media. I mean, that's the topic for today is getting in the media and how to get local press, especially for a local business. You want to get into that local media. But then also, it's not the only way to grow a business, right? I love making partnerships. It's a fantastic way Fantastic way to build relationships. And again, instead of just selling to one person, one person, one person at a time, that can feel like a really big grind. You've got people giving you a steady flow of business. Now we are ready to reach out. Now you are ready to reach out. You have the list. You have the names. You have everything set up. You reach out and you pitch yourself. I want to just close the show and give you some ninja resources that I use to help me get more media. The first one is called PR Leap. And what this is, is a service that reporters are subscribing to, and every day they release new stories. And it's reporters saying, "I'm working on this story and I need an expert. Here's my deadline. Here's an overview of what I need." And you have the reporter's contact information. Those are, those are gimmes, right? If there's anything related to what you're doing in there, you have a reporter saying, "I'm looking for experts. I'm looking for help. Please help me." right? That's so much easier than having to do all the research yourself. Now this one isn't free. It's $99 a month. I've used it to get into the New York Times and other huge publications, so it's definitely worth it. Check it out. The other one that I use is FameBit, and that's specifically for YouTube where you can partner up with other YouTubers and do collaborations where they feature you on their channel and you get featured on their channel. So start reaching out guys, because getting into the media and getting that publicity could really make a difference for you in your business this year and helping it take off. I've got time for one last caller. I have Stacy on the line. Stacy, where are you from and how can I help?

Hey, I'm from McLean, Virginia. I'm a little bit leery of social media, so I have to get past that. What my question was to you though was, how can a small business person get grants or Reconstruction loans. I have a historic building that I need to do repairs on, and I was wondering if there is any way I could get some help with that.

So a lot of times— that's a great question. Grants are definitely available. It depends on your area, and often it's down to the city level. So there'll be state grants and there'll be city grants, and the grants are often for very specific things. So you could get a grant as a woman entrepreneur. You can get a grant to restore a heritage building. So they're really targeted and really specific. What I'd look for is a combination of the websites. So look at the state websites and look at the city websites and any city resources. I don't know what's in your local area, but the city that you're in, go in and talk to them and say, "Hey, I need help finding the right grant to help me out with this." Grants are great because you don't have to pay it back, right? You get money to do this thing and you don't have to pay it back, so everybody likes free money.

Correct.

Oh yeah. The downside though is that it can take a long time. When you're dealing with the government, it can take a long time, and as entrepreneurs, you know, we want things to happen yesterday. We're fast, we're motivated, we're excited, and the government can just drag you out. You gotta have patience, and it almost becomes a, you know, a part-time job, like, doing these grants. And so is it worth the time and effort for you to put into making that happen?

All right, all right. Well, great. I really appreciate the lead and, and, and the direction. I'm gonna, I'm gonna start researching that right now.

Yeah, how much money are you looking to raise?

God, I would love to get about $100 grand to do it because my fiancé, before he died, he started the renovation. It's a 100-year-old building. It was built in the 1900s. Beautiful historic building. He started the renovations on the first floor and the second and the third. He renovated the first and he died right, um, before he could finish the second and the third. So I need a new roof on there. I would love to get new windows put in there. I would love to finish the renovations. I was able to get Edward Jones in the first floor, and they're coming in and they're doing like $30,000 worth of renovations on the building. So yeah, it's awesome.

So I mean, that's high on the grant side, you know, that's a high amount to ask for. And you know what, when you you go and you research the grants, they are often for a certain amount. So they say a grant for up to X amount of dollars. So you don't want to be asking beyond it because they are not going to give it to you. That is their cap. The thing that you have to make sure, this is something that government looks at that no other source will really care about. They want to see the impact that it is going to have on the community. They want to see that by investing into this you are going to make your city, or if it's Virginia, you're going to make Virginia, if it's a state, better, right? If you go and you talk to an angel investor or a venture capitalist, they don't care. You talk to a bank, they don't care if you're making Virginia better or not, right? They just want to make sure they're getting their money back. So the government, though, that's what they're in business to do, right, is to help their city, help their state. So you have to make sure when you're talking about your proposal and when you're going in and having the meetings and having those phone calls, that you have a clear plan of how it's going to make the city and the state better.

You are brilliant. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, because not only did you give me a path to go to, but you, you guided me down the right avenue. So I know who to talk to, and I know how to, to, to draft my letter. And, um, I think it's going to be a win-win.

I think—

I really do. I'm really excited. I'm so glad I called in.

I'm glad that helped. The other path that I would look at is also private, right? If you got Edward Jones that come in and they're putting $30K into the building, uh, that's like— the hardest part is getting the first one. If that's your plan and you have 3 stores and you want to get, you know, 2 and 3 sold out, that may be, uh, an avenue too, is to go talk to other corporations and say, hey, you guys want you want the second floor, you want the third floor, and they might be willing to invest. Showing that somebody's already done it helps reduce the risk. Nobody wants to be the first one. That's the hardest one. You already got the first one. So that's great.

We got the first one. Yeah, we took them out of the commercial real estate and put them on Main Street. And my real estate guy's like, you need to be on Main Street. That's the historic part. That's where everybody is. And they changed their business plans. Like, yeah, you know, you're right. "But, you know, you're right. We should." And they did it. And they liked the idea. So, that's really what it was.

That's actually a great story. So, one more thing now, Stacy, to add to your proposal. You know, Edward Jones is a brand name, right? It's not just mom-and-pop, you know, XYZ store. It's a brand name. And if they were willing to move their corporate office from a corporate setting to be on Main Street, I would use that in my proposal. I would have them come on too. And say, "Hey, we think this is a really historic area. That's why we're investing and you should too." So, you help use their branding to help you get your grant too.

Will do. Oh my God, I love you. I will be tuning in, my friend.

All right, thank you, Stacy. All right, good luck with your plan. Hey, everybody listening in, the more momentum you can show, the more likelihood you're going to get the results that you want. Listen, we've got another great show in the books. I can't believe how fast these shows always go. I want to give a big shout out to my producers, Daniela and Josh. You guys rock. You manned the ship for me and brought on amazing callers. We had a great time. We helped a lot of entrepreneurs today. I'm going to be back on soon. Stay tuned. Until then, continue to believe, and I'll see you soon, guys. Take care.