Bear Creek CDP | Beyond Your Side Hustle

Hustleburg Episode 16 – Answering Your Instagram Questions 1st of 2

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about Instagram in the first of two parts. This is the third episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 and Episode 14 made up a two-part series on Facebook, and in two weeks, Episode 18 will answer more of your questions about Instagram.

What are some tips for showcasing my business right now on Instagram?

The most important thing to remember about Instagram is that it’s an amazing opportunity to share with your audience stories that are interesting about what you do through a visual medium. When it comes to how you should be using Instagram for your brand, sharing photos and videos of how something in your business works, people, and other things that make up your brand should be the focus. While Instagram offers multitudes of filters for your images and videos, you shouldn’t over-process or overuse these filters. I certainly suggest you use the most important hashtags to your content and your brand to help others find your content that they may appreciate, your commentary on posts shouldn’t just be hashtag this, hashtag that. A more important use for hashtags on Instagram is for YOU to find content and accounts relevant to you and your business. Like many posts that show up in your feed.

Is Instagram a lower priority than Facebook? I am a photographer, so should I start with Facebook or Instagram?

As with many of my responses to questions posed here in the Q&A episodes, it depends. In 2020, the most important platform for you to have a presence is Facebook. As a photographer, I think that you should prioritize creating for a platform that best showcases what you do and the stories you tell with your business. Obviously, Instagram is a better place to create and share visual content like your photos. You offer something that is uniquely suited to an almost solely visual medium. Utilize that advantage to tell stories about what you do. Focus on telling the stories of the people you work with, and avoid being one-dimensional with your content.

What sort of content best highlights a business on Instagram?

The same kind of engaging content that adds value to others on all social media platforms. Your Instagram game needs to be a mix of your 5 main topics… The ones we’ve discussed before when developing your content strategy. The content you should share to highlight your brand, regardless of the main feed or Instagram stories, are the visually interesting things about it.

Believe it or not, something that seems so mundane to you that you use every day will be found fascinating by someone else. The people you encounter at work, whether your team or your customers, are pretty fascinating themselves. Share successes. It isn’t about broadcasting what you want out there to your followers. Engage with their posts more than you post yourself.

Start Marketing Your Business Online With These Three Easy Steps

If you’re just getting started marketing your business online, Beyond Your Side Hustle offers a FREE Getting Started Guide.

Find out more about Beyond Your Side Hustle here:

Website
Hustleburg Listener Community
Facebook
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Brett’s LinkedIn

If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on your favorite player. Each episode is available on its own post, with the entire catalog here. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast catcher. We listen to this show and our favorites on Castbox. It’s hosted by Podbean. We appreciate your attention, and we can’t wait to have you back for the next episode.

Be a Guest on Hustleburg

If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.

Hustleburg Episode 15.5 – Bonus Episode, Audio from St. Pete OPEN for Business Chats

In this bonus episode of the Hustleburg podcast, we compiled the audio from 5 Zoom video chats with small businesses here in Saint Petersburg about their creative ways to stay OPEN for business.

You can see these video chats on YouTube.

Mark James from Bear Creek Custom Timber

Bear Creek Custom Timber 6511 3rd Ave South, Saint Petersburg, FL 33707
OPEN 9-5 Monday thru Sunday – Delivery Only

You can also find his store online, on Facebook, and on Instagram.

Practically Pikasso’s Lynn Webb

Practically Pikasso 1912 4th St. N, Saint Petersburg, FL 33704
M-W 10-4; R-F 11-6 – Delivery Only

You can order your pottery to go from Practically Pikasso online, connect on Facebook, and engage on Instagram.

Anthony Carrera from Detail Specialist, LLC

The Detail Specialist, LLC 8596 Seminole Blvd. Seminole, FL 33772
9AM-5PM M-F – Essential/Business as Usual

You can schedule your appointment by phone (direct to Anthony’s cell phone for right now), find out more about their work online, connect on Facebook, check out their work on Instagram.

The Pesky Pelican Brewpub’s Dan Pemberton

Pesky Pelican Brew Pub 923 72nd St N, Saint Petersburg, FL 33710
S-R 11AM-9PM & Fri-Sat 11AM-10:30PM – Take-Out & Delivery Only
**Also operating essential marketplace to sell meats & supplies that are hard to come by**

You can find their menu on their website
Order delivery on Uber Eats (currently no delivery fee)
Call
Connect on Facebook
Engage on Instagram

Burg Fitness and Cycling Studios

Burg Fitness & Personal Training 227 14th Street North, Saint Petersburg, FL 33705
By Appointment – We’ve Moved All Online

You can find out more at her website, Call Vicky directly, connect on Facebook, check out their workouts on Instagram, or keep up with Vicky on Twitter.

Start Marketing Your Business Online With These Three Easy Steps

If you’re just getting started marketing your business online, Beyond Your Side Hustle offers a FREE Getting Started Guide.

Find out more about Beyond Your Side Hustle here:

Website
Hustleburg Listener Community
Facebook
Instagram
Brett’s LinkedIn

Be a Guest on Hustleburg

Transcription by Otter AI:

Brett Bittner

Hi Hustleburg listeners! As you’ve likely heard in response the state and county voters here in St. Pete, businesses are having to be quite creative to remain open, to help those that have adapted and working to let our community know who is open for business with a listing of businesses who are open at St. Pete open for business calm. As a part of that effort. Every weekday, I’m hosting a brief video call with the businesses adapting how they do things to meet the ever changing rules and Ciao of staying open in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. For Hustleburg listeners, I’ll package the audio and a compilation of those conversations with some pretty creative local business people in a bonus episode like this. And if you’re a small business here in St. Pete or anywhere in Pinellas County, and you want the community to know that you’re open for business, visit St. Pete open for business comm slash open, and I’ll get you on listing as soon as possible. And if you’ve done something particularly creative to adapt, I want to share your creativity. Send me an email at Brett at St. Pete open for business com. Thanks.

To kick things off on this bonus episode of Hustleburg. We’re going to hear from Mark James of Bear Creek custom timber. I’d like to thank Mark James from Bear Creek custom timber for joining me today for St. Pete open for business. Mark, thanks so much for being here.

Mark James

Thank you, Brett. I really appreciate it.

Brett Bittner

Oh, absolutely. Tell the people of St. Pete what it is that Bear Creek custom timber does and how it is that you serve the community.

Mark James

Well, I’m a, I’ll say a logger/sawyer/woodshop. By that, I mean, I’m not an arborist I don’t go down and cut down trees for people and, and dispose of them. But what I do do is take down trees solely for the purpose of using them to recreate them into something else, furniture, that type of thing. So I’ll take some really high end trees and and I’ll slap them from the logs into slab so I’ve turned them into usable lumber. And I do a lot of work with live edge furniture, live edges with the the bark in the edges still on the sides of the slab to try and give it an organic look rather than dimensioned wonder which is square and that type of thing. I also build musical instruments as well. I’ve done five string banjos and I build acoustic guitars.

Brett Bittner

Wow. So I imagine that you get quite quite the variety of projects that are there. What are some of your favorites that you’ve made?

Mark James

Why I like making tables? That’s kind of my big thing because no table is ever the same. And they’ve recently there’s this advent of what they call river tables, which is, are they utilizing epoxy, and they pour colored epoxy into the table to try and give it a different look. I’m not a huge, huge fan of it, but it’s very popular with my customers. And so I do do it, it’s, it’s fun, you never really know what you’re gonna end up with. And that’s the same with cutting open along. You never know. It’s like opening Pandora’s box. Once you cut it open and lay it open. You don’t know what’s going to be inside and you see some amazing things. And we have some amazing trees growing in depth area.

Brett Bittner

That’s awesome, Mark. Now we’ve seen with the recent changes for a lot of businesses, they’re going takeout and delivery only if they’re a restaurant. What are some of the creative ways that you’re keeping the doors open?

Mark James

Well, it was a bit of a hurdle and kind of confusing because we were getting mixed messages from Both from the state and from the county. Right, we can do what we can’t do. And the county put forth some more stringent, I would say more stringent rules. So you know, I’m a single guy shop, it’s just me in here. And that’s it. I do it all. More. Typically, my business comes, I would say 90% of my income comes from Saturday morning markets in the market, evening brewery markets that you would have during the week and that kind of thing. Of course, I haven’t done any of those in over a month now. It was, I mean, obviously offered shipping, but a lot of the stuff that I create doesn’t necessarily lend itself to ship just by the terms of it. So I just kind of said, Look, I don’t care what you buy, and I don’t care how big or how small, how expensive or how cheap it is. I’ll deliver it to you for free. I don’t care where you live. I mean, if you’re in Sarasota, or if you’re in you know Hudson, I’ll drive up there and bring it to you. That’s the only way that I can offer anything. Okay, they were fine. There were times when I would

say, you know, there’s a minimum dollar figure on it, you know, in order to make it. Wow. But not anymore does matter if you need it, I’ll bring it to you. If it’s small enough, I’ll ship it. But, you know, they, some people will say, well, we’ll come to your shop and obviously I can’t do that. So, in fact, I, about a week ago, I delivered a table to the lady OCP beach and it was very simple. I mean, social distancing. I knocked on her door, I set the table by the door, you know, I stood back six feet, she came out, looked at it loved it, you know.

Brett Bittner

Awesome. Mark, how is it that now that you don’t have the fairs and markets? How is it that people are able to get in touch with you? Where can they find you on the web, social media and the like?

Mark James

I have a website, Bear Creek, custom timber calm, and all the information is on there, including, I don’t typically put items up there for sale. But since the advent of the COVID-19 all of the items that I have available that I make in advance are up there with the listing of the prices. And that we can work out, you know, delivery and shipping. I’m also on Instagram at Bear Creek custom timber. And on Facebook, I have a very active Facebook page is probably more active than any of them. And that’s Bear Creek custom timber LLC. So it’s Facebook, slash Bear Creek custom timber LLC.

Brett Bittner

And we’ll make sure that all of those are linked in the video description. Mark, I want to thank you very much. Are there any of those things that you currently have their pre made ready to go right out the door that aren’t custom, but are on the website that you’d like to give a shout out to?

Mark James

I mean, there’s a lot of different things that I’m the odd part about what I do is making it on spec is very difficult, you know, right. Where am I going to store an eight foot dining room table, you know, I’m sure somebody will buy it. But I mean, I haven’t table that’s under construction right now that I’m working on a small one. I have a guitar action on the other side of me that’s in the midst of being built. So those things will be, you know, available pretty quickly. And like I said, if you go to my Facebook page, you kind of follow along and I post a lot of stuff of where I’m at in the process of constructing and people can see what’s there.

Brett Bittner

Awesome, Mark, I want to thank you very much for sharing people, sharing with people how it is that you are open for business here in St. Louis.

Mark James

Thank you for everything you’re doing, Brett, we appreciate it.

Brett Bittner

And now we hear from practically Picasso’s Lynn Webb.

So I’m here today talking with St. Pete, business owner, Lynn Webb of Practically Pikasso. Welcome. Thank you for joining us. They’ve been open for business. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Awesome. Lynn will tell the folks who are watching what it is that you do serving the community here in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Lynn Webb

I will. Practically Pikasso has been a part of St. Petersburg for 20 years. November we celebrated our 20th anniversary. We are a Patreon pottery studio. We do art camps and classes and workshops and birthday parties. And people can walk in and paint and create with us. Well normally, people can walk in and paint and create with us and create memories and just have a great time with their family.

Brett Bittner

So that sounds like a great in person experience we’re seeing as a result of COVID-19 Coronavirus. Stay at home orders safer at home orders from the county and state that’s kind of made you have to be a little more creative. What are some of the things that you’re doing to make sure that you’re able to stay open as best you can to let people in St. Petersburg know that you are open for business.

Lynn Webb

It has had quite a huge impact on us for sure. We’ve had to kind of pivot and we’ve created an online store so that people can kind of shop the pottery options that we have available. We’ve offered curbside pickup, so we can you can pull up pop up in your trunk, we can put it in touch lists, and you can take that Pieces home with you to paint and create with your family. You can also up for delivery, we’ll deliver it to your doorstep. So you don’t even have to see any of our beautiful faces. And I say our because I’m so used to having my amazing team with me and I miss having them around. Definitely our family here, but it’s kind of down to me just to kind of keep that safer at home restrictions. I do have my team staying at home. So it’s kind of a one man show right now, but we’ll deliver that stuff to your doorstep or you can come pick up curbside. We have two restaurants in the plaza so you can support them and pick up your your dinner and pick up some painting and have a nice family experience.

Brett Bittner

It sounds like a nice family dinner date.

Lynn Webb
Yes, absolutely.

Brett Bittner
Awesome. Now are you guys doing anything live streaming wise to help guide some of the painting and the pottery?

Lynn Webb

Yeah, we’re doing free workshops, free classes on our Facebook Live where people can join in and we’ve done a lot of clay workshops where people can learn how to handle things with clay, we have some wet clay that you can Pick up to go and build at home. But if you don’t have what clay, we talked to you about how you can do it with salt dough, or Plato or anything that you have at home so that you can learn how to do those things. We’re also doing some workshops where they include step by step instructions, and I show kind of on our Facebook Lives, how you can do those. And then you can pick up those workshops and do those at home as well.

Brett Bittner

Often when that’s fantastic. Let’s let the people of St. Petersburg know where they can participate, how they can go ahead and order online and where they can connect with you on social media.

Lynn Webb

Absolutely, it’s practically picasso.com it’s Picasso with a K, not actually Picasso, we’re just practically You don’t have to be a perfect artist to participate. And facebook.com slash practically Picasso and we’re also on Instagram as well.

Brett Bittner

Awesome. Lynn, thank you so very much.

Lynn Webb

Thank you Have a great day.

Brett Bittner

Here’s my conversation with detail specialist LLCs Anthony Carrera.

So I’m joined today by Anthony Carrera, of the Detail Specialist LLC in Seminole. Anthony is joining us to share with us how he serves his community here in the St. Pete area. Anthony, thank you for coming on and talking with me today.

Anthony Carrera

Thanks for having me. Yeah, absolutely thank you for having me. On a premiere on YouTube detail studio here in Seminole called the detail specialist league global consultant for a company called car candy I do sell and resell their products out of my storefront attached to my shop. With all this you know COVID-19 taken place businesses definitely slowed down I’d be lying if I said it didn’t, as it’s not only slowed down for me it’s slow down for multiple small businesses across the spectrum. Um, we have limited to doing prior to any interior cleaning, we do ozone treatment, the interior, I can’t guarantee ozone kills 100% bacteria but it does kill a lot of virus and bacteria that could be built up in your ducts or throughout your interior. I do our run on that more, if needed. Follow that we always wear rpp gloves, masks goggles, you know the whole nine. We are still offering full detailing services. There are a lot of companies out there right now broadcasting they’re killing this virus. It’s not true CDC releases. steam is only effective held in one spot for three to four minutes. Now, a steamer I use steam on all details as well, which does kill bacteria and viruses, but it’s not guaranteed because you don’t have time to hold it in a two inch square for three minutes over a whole vehicle. But we are taking you know, precautions as far as cleaning goes. We’re doing hot water extractions. Our hot water machine gets up to 230 degrees Fahrenheit. Bacteria is killed around 170 degrees. We’re still doing full fino full cleanings, interior exterior, what’s really been keeping us busy has been our paint correction and ceramic coatings. It’s one of our number one sellers. A little bit about myself. I have roughly 1212 or 13 certifications in this industry. So I’m not just out there to wash a car. I mean, I take this job. This is my livelihood. This is what raises my family. Um, you know, I take my job very seriously, I’m not here just to make a quick dollar and spray something in your car. I’m here to do the full job, you know, start to finish make sure I give you 110% I’ve been in Pinellas County since 2018. I’ve been in business. And I’m sorry 2017. I’ve been in business since 2017 here in Pinellas County as well. Started mobile. In 2017. April 15 of this year, we’ll make a year to date I’ve been in my shop. I’m located at 596 seminal Boulevard. I’m a one man show like I said we offer offer a spectrum from basic interiors to full in depth shampooing, steam cleanings, engine bays, paint correction ceramic coatings. We do we are minimizing right now the amount of people allowed in the shop No, CDC says 10 I’ve dropped it down to five, just just for precautions. I have my floors taped off six feet, you know, because I do have a lot of people stopping through. So a lot of water to a lot of detailers. Right now they’ve been paying me, you know, via cash app Venmo. PayPal just kind of eliminate some of that hand to hand. Absolutely what we’ve been doing.

Brett Bittner

Now, what are some of the creative things that you’ve had to do, aside from just protecting yourself and your customers, just to make sure that you’re able to keep the doors open and keep serving the community?

Anthony Carrera

Like I said, we’ve dropped down the amount of people that were allowed to have in the shop, I honestly have opened my shop to other detailers. I’m allowing one detailer today. I’m not cutthroat in this industry. I’m down to help everybody. So what I’ve done is I’ve offered a detailer to use my shop. Normally I would rent my shop for $100 a day for them to do coatings. During this time. I’m not trying to capitalize off other detailers. I have opened my shop to them as well to be able to use my shop one detail at a time. Car day they can do so they’re not bringing in three or four cars cutting other people out. I have a big shop have almost 3000 square foot. So there’s plenty of room for us to work safely apart from one another clients that I usually allow them to wait if they need to right now I’m not allowing any waiting. You drop off in the dropbox out front, or if I’m here, you can drop your keys with me and go but there’s no hanging out of that, you know, hand sanitizers, you know, wait, clients think it’s funny, I’ll I’ll use hand sanitizer offered to him, you know, as soon as they walk in. Sure, just keeping social distance. And you know, I’m not over promising something as far as killing bacteria that there’s really no cure for right now. So it’s there, they’re there. There’s companies out there that are saying they are not local, but just just across the industry in general, and they’re getting a lot of backlash right now. I’m not promising I can do something that’s not even known of how to be done.

Brett Bittner

Now I had the opportunity today to visit your Facebook page, it looks like you guys do quite a bit of a variety of work. I saw some high end sports cars, some very nice imports, luxury imports, and even some motorcycles. What are some of the coolest cars that you’ve had the opportunity to work on?

Anthony Carrera

Man, you know, going into this back in the day, you know, I was always excited to do these higher end cars, you know, but now I mean, to be honest, I treat them just like any other car because that’s all they are at the end of the day to me now. I mean, I’ve driven them McLaren’s. I’ve done, you know, I’ve had Ferraris in here. Bentley’s Mazda rotties Rolls Royce at the end of the day, and they pay the bills the same way that any other person does. So I don’t I don’t favoritism to anyone. motorcycles. I have a contract. Burke’s Barracuda on 49th. Okay, all I do all their motorcycle detailing as well. I probably average I don’t know. 100 to 125 bikes a month. Wow. motorcycle tech as well. So that kind of you know gives them a comfort you know, guys when guys and gals on motorcycles it’s hard to leave something with somebody you know but them knowing my background in the industry is even as far back as working on the bikes they know I’ll take care of what they have. I’m also specialized on older cars as well I have a 1954 Lead Sled that’s my personal car so a lot of the guys know me for having that so they’ll bring me old cars because they know that I have a care and passion for the older vehicles as well as I do newer vehicles or motorcycles

Brett Bittner

Awesome. Anthony This is the opportunity for you to share with how people can get in touch with you websites social media, how they can connect what is the best way for them to get in touch with you and some of the other ways that they can as well.

Anthony Carrera

Um You can find me on a Facebook the details specialist LLC, my shop number comes straight to my cell phone so I don’t miss any calls right now during this area code 727-350-3639 if I don’t answer leave me a message. I’ve never been in extremely busy right now as I’m a one man shop trying to keep people out, but also still bringing work in to make sure things stay afloat.

Brett Bittner

Awesome, and anywhere else they can find you besides Facebook,

Anthony Carrera

um, I have an Instagram. It’s the underscore detail underscore specialist. And then I also have a website detail specialists with an S on the end calm.

Brett Bittner

Alright. Anthony, It’s been a pleasure. I appreciate all the work that you’re doing to stay open to serve the community here in St. Pete.

Anthony Carrera

Absolutely, man, I thank you and stay safe.

Brett Bittner

Absolutely

I had the opportunity to chase down a very busy Dan Pemberton of the Pesky Pelican Brew Pub. So today we’re with Dan Pemberton of Pesky Pelican Brew Pub, which is actually really near to my house. It’s actually across the street from the neighborhood in which I live. Dan, thanks so much for joining me today.

Dan Pemberton

Hey, you’re welcome.

Brett Bittner

So Dan told everybody what it is that the pesky Pelican is if they haven’t been there, now. Everything Yesterday, so I know and I’ve been there several times before, so I normally do. But what is your regular everyday business? You advertises a brew pub, but there’s so much more.

Dan Pemberton

Right? Yeah. So we actually, were a brew pub. So we’re a restaurant and we actually make our own beer here. And typically, we have four or five of our own beers on tap. Currently, we have none of our beers on tap. But you know, that’s, that’s another story for another day, right? But um, yeah, the reason I even bought this restaurant so I could actually brew beer and sell it professionally.

Brett Bittner

So you guys classify as a nanobrewery that right?

Dan Pemberton

That is correct. Yep. We do 20 gallon batches at a time. So that is like, you know, that’s, it’s a little bit over homebrew is very much more than homebrew right now. But, but I do that just so we can keep everything fresh and we keep it. We can be spontaneous and what we’re trying to brew and put out to the public.

Brett Bittner

Now you guys are open For takeout and delivery, but you’ve done something that’s very unique that I don’t think many people know about, I actually was able to participate yesterday. Tell everybody here in St. Pete, what it is that you’re doing now, to help keep some of the foot traffic as well as serving the community.

Dan Pemberton

Yeah, so what happened does, somebody came to me one day and asked me if they could buy chicken breast because there was no chicken breast available to them. And I was confused at that because I my food vendors are telling me they have too much food down there. And they were trying to give me some special prices to buy stuff. And so when I started checking into this, I was like, well, this is crazy. They have food to people need food. They couldn’t sell apparently, to the to the big box stores because they don’t have business agreements with them. So I said, Well, here’s what I’ll do. I’ll buy the food and sell it to you. So we bought a bunch of the chicken and we bagged it up, and we started selling it and then we found out that there was not just chicken that was missing in the public, but ground beef some other essentials like bleach A few other eggs and butter and milk. And I was like, well, that’s crazy because I have access to all this and it’s not missing. It’s just apparently can’t get to where it needs to be. So what we did is we put up pull out on the I love St. Pete Facebook page to what people were really looking forward to purchase and we wanted to stocking those items in the pesky Pelican and we opened up our little Farmers Market inside of here. So what we’ve done is uh, provided fresh meat and vegetables and and, and dairy products, along with other dry goods that people are looking for flour and central items that they just couldn’t find on the market. You can get them right here at the pesky Pelican.

Brett Bittner

Yeah, I actually for those of you who may have seen my tik tok yesterday from outside the pesky Pelican, that was right before I went in, picked up some beer, some steak and some potatoes to support Dan and what he’s got going on as well as to stop by and say hello. So Dan, how is it that People can get in touch with you. How can they connect with the pesky publican? This is your opportunity to plug your website, your business, your phone number, whatever it is, however people can connect with you.

Dan Pemberton

Right? The best way right now is we’re trying to actually update our Facebook page, which is facebook.com. pesky pelicans. St. Pete. We are we are going posting every day what we have available. We also are posting in a couple of the other larger Facebook audience pages like I love st P. What we do have available every day, but we’re located at 923 72nd Street North in St. Petersburg, it’s ninth Avenue where it meets the Pinellas trail. So you can actually come down here on your bicycles, grab yourself some beer to go and some chicken and maybe a steak or two and, and pedal on back home so we can be reached if you need to reach us by phone 77 3029600 we also have Uber Eats delivery, if you want to get that delivered right now Uber is waiving all delivery fees. So you can grab some delivery as well, or just come on in and pick it up. If you decide to pick it up, you can get some beers to go, maybe sit out back while you’re waiting for your food to the to be made. And then take all your stuff and go home.

Brett Bittner

Awesome. Dan, I want to thank you for making the time. And I look forward to seeing the most creative things that you’re able to do to stay open here in St. Pete.

Dan Pemberton

Thanks a lot, Brett. We appreciate your time today.

Brett Bittner

And finally, in this audio recap of St. Pete open for business comm I have the opportunity to talk with Vicki LeMay of Berg fitness and cycling studios. So today we’re talking with Vicki LeMay from Berg, fitness and cycling. Vicki, thank you for coming to talk about how you are still open here in St. Pete.

Vicki LeMay

Thanks for having me. It’s awesome that you’re doing this. I appreciate you.

Brett Bittner

Oh, thank you so much. Vikki, what is it that Berg fitness in cycling does when we are in the middle of a pandemic.

Vicki LeMay

So normally, we are a group fitness and cycling gym and also personal training. So we have a variety of classes. It’s from every skill level. So we have, you know, extreme athletes in our gym, have beginners in our gym, our coaches adapts to everyone. We have hit classes, we have boot camps, of course, we have indoor cycling, we have kickboxing, pure strength classes, if people are more interested in just lift dates, we have a little bit of everything for everyone. All times of the day, we have from 6am to 6pm. So all over the place immune classes.

Brett Bittner

And now with the safer home orders that we’re seeing both from the county and the state, you’ve had to adapt your business a little bit, what are some of the creative things that you’re doing to make sure that you’re open for the community here in St. Pete?

Vicki LeMay

I’m glad you actually post the question that way. Because it is about community. And if you see anyone that talks about the gym, we pride ourselves and really having an awesome community. And we missed our members and they miss us and they miss each other. So we weren’t connecting them via like zoom. But so it’s beyond the workout. It’s super important to be active during this time. It’s very easy to sit on the couch. So what we’ve done is we’ve created weekly programs, and that’s actually posted on my Instagram today. So we schedule so Monday through Sunday, there’s something to do every single day. Sometimes it’s a live zoom, sometimes it’s an Instagram post with videos. I’m just like how to do a certain movement and you do it whenever you can. So that’s one way that we’ve adapted we put everything on Instagram and Facebook. Again, some of our videos Some are live so you can go back and do it on your own. And for personal training. Some people aren’t comfortable group and that’s completely fine. So we’ve we’ve been We’ve created a virtual training session. So it’s mission coaching, which is really important right now. So personal customized workouts, and that will zoom one on one, you know, I’ll demonstrate they’ll do they’ll do the weight. Some people have rented equipment for me because not sure if you know, but dumbbells are a rare commodity like toilet paper,

Brett Bittner

I’ve actually seen that they’re pretty, pretty hard to come by right now. And when you don’t have things like play it again, even open, and people aren’t wanting to meet with Facebook marketplace and the like, it’s pretty tough to find them. And that certainly isn’t something you want to have shipped.

Vicki LeMay

Right, right. Exactly. Yeah. So we’ve for the personal training clients, you know, we’ve also given them something to work with. So you know, bigger picture again, it’s you know, weekly workouts for people. We’ve some people are still members, right, which is true. And so I guess that’s it weekly workouts, Instagram, One on one for personal training. So we’ve adapted to basically be completely online. And then even beyond the workouts, we have some zoom and just members know we’ve had our you know, it’s

Brett Bittner

That’s awesome. I’d love to see some of the virtual happy hours among groups that have traditionally met in person. That’s a pretty cool way to kind of keep the community vibe together. Vicki, how is it that people can find bird fitness and cycling and connect with you? Whether we’re talking website, phone number, social media, go ahead and hit them with all go ahead and hit everybody with all of those because this is your opportunity to plug yourself.

Vicki LeMay

Okay, sure. So me personally, I’m the owner with my husband. He’s also part owner up it’s really my baby I kind of run the deal. So my email is Vicky vi ck I ever fitness calm. Like personal phone number is my Boston number still it’s okay. 508353 2599 so you can hit me up on one of those if you were searched in the personal training aspect. And also, there’s just a ton of content on Instagram. So that’s at the handles Berg fitness, no limits. And then the enough to find us on Facebook group fitness and cycling. And then the last thing is what we what we are offering, because a lot of people know, they’re not getting the paychecks. And so we’re actually offering personal training for people who are not not comfortable with doing their own workouts, maybe they don’t have the background, they think they’re going to hurt themselves. So for $99 for a full month, you get one on one training, and that’s gonna help. People only need that for the month just to get their form down. We don’t want people hurting themselves. Right. That’s just something we’re offering out to the community.

Brett Bittner

Vicki, thank you so much for joining me today. And I look forward to hearing from you soon. It sounds like you’re a prime candidate to show up on the podcasts that I do Hustleburg and so I can’t wait until we’re in To meet face to face, and I certainly like to stop by the gym and see how everything works over there.

Vicki LeMay

Fantastic. Thank you so much and I look forward to meeting you in person.

Brett Bittner

Awesome. Thanks so much, Vicki.

Hustleburg Episode 15 – Interview with Sit Means Sit’s Elena Elwart

“[Dogs] have to learn the motion first. Then, apply the word to it.”

Do you have a new four-legged addition to your family? In this episode of Hustleburg, Brett sits down with Sit Means Sit – Saint Petersburg‘s Elena Elwart and her dog, Junior.

Hustleburg Sit Means Sit St. Pete - Junior — Junior is listening with you!

Brett and Elena discuss different types of dog training, red flags when it comes to picking your trainer, and what to expect when you embark on a training program for your dog.

The SPCA Pet Walk mentioned in this episode is now a virtual event in response to COVID-19 and the health of participants, being held April 18th.

Sit… Stay… Visit Sit Means Sit

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The below transcript created automatically by Otter.ai

Brett Bittner
In this episode, I have the opportunity to speak with Elena Elwart from Sit Means Sit in St. Petersburg.

Elena Elwart
Thank you so much for having me.

Brett Bittner
Oh, glad to have you. And we have a special guest Jr. who if you saw some of the stuff that we did, prior to the episode, you’re going to see him featured as well. So Elena, why dog behavior?

Elena Elwart
It’s actually a very personal story for me. So I started out owning my first ever dog as a gift to myself coming back from deployments. I’m a veteran, and it was my, hey, you’re doing great, you’re making some good money. Now you’re gonna have to occupy your time with something else. So I got grace and I tried two different training programs that didn’t work. She’s a very Alpha Dog, okay. Which I did not understand at all.

Brett Bittner
Some people have no idea what you’re talking about when you say something like alpha.

Elena Elwart
Yes. So alpha dogs, just to give you an idea, they want what they want when they want it, and they will find every loophole possible to get their way. And when you have a tiny little dog that’s about six pounds on half an acre of land trying to get them to go inside it gets very frustrating. So I found sit means sit, and they had actually been a successful Business prior to joining second set, which is a franchise, and when I was a client, my trainer was also a veteran. So he was able to kind of see some of the behaviors that grace was doing that is not typical of dogs. And she ended up becoming my service dog. Totally unplanned. But because of that, I kind of dove into the whole realm of how dogs help people how people’s psyche as well as physical body can be benefited from just touching a dog. And then I saw the difference between myself in when I interact with my dog and when I interact with people, and it was totally different. So grace really kind of started the path for me and three months in my trainer said, Hey, why don’t you open a franchise since you’re getting medically chapter out of the army? And I said, Don’t know a thing about training. So I spent eight months internship with him. So while I was still full time I did part time with them. Then I became a trainer with them because I was taking longer to get out of the army than anticipated. And then after working with them, I finally moved to St. Petersburg and got my certificate as a franchise owner in a color trainer and then opened up my business come April of 2012.

Brett Bittner
So a lot of the folks that we’ve talked to haven’t been franchise owners. Tell me what that looks like in the sit means sit world when we spoke with Peter Yeager, I believe that was Episode Seven of Tampa tread connection. He was our first franchisee. What does that mean? In the sit means sit world.

Elena Elwart
So with that being said, it means that we get a brand. We also have continuing education. So a lot of trainers once they graduate from a class they think they know everything. And that really makes them stagnant in the dog world because dogs evolve, training evolves, everything needs to be continued to keep updated. So with set means set, we have both, like the business owner aspect of it for continuing education as well as the training aspect of it as continuing education. So we both opportunities each year for us to go to and attend. They also have the branding, they help us with non competes and contracts with clients. We’re also able to reach out to other franchise owners and trainers and if we don’t know how to fix something, we can ask for their opinion what worked for them and different strategies that we haven’t tried yet or haven’t thought of trying yet.

Brett Bittner
So here in St. Petersburg, who is it that you’re working with the most what kind of dog what kind of people come to Sit Means Sit generally?

Elena Elwart
I actually train just about any dog out there. My biggest clients right now is dogs that are struggling with behavioral issues that people call aggression, but it’s really just a reactivity out of fear. And then I also have people that want their dog to become a therapy dog. And I had started the Florida chapter of the Go Team therapy airport and crisis dogs. So I trained a lot of dogs to be able to go through that as well.

Brett Bittner
Okay, so who’s your ideal client?

Elena Elwart
My ideal client is somebody that wants to take their dog anywhere in everywhere in St. Pete. Okay. St. Pete is trying to become the most dog friendly city in America. That’s great. And we are getting there. We have so many dog friendly restaurants and breweries, and we even have a dog bar and we have a another dog that or another bar that has dog park in it. So there’s all kinds of different places that you can take your dog. So I want to build a relationship between the handler, the owner, the parents of the dog, and get them to a point where they feel like they can literally do anything with their dog.

Brett Bittner
Awesome. What should a puppy parents be looking for when they’re actually out there looking to find a trainer for their dog.

Elena Elwart
My biggest advice to everybody when I talk to them is asked to view training. If a trainer won’t show you how they train or they won’t invite you to group classes to view or come view a private lesson. That’s usually a red flag. Everything I do is out in public. I do group classes in public. I do a lot of private lessons at public parks or at people’s homes. I like to train as we live, not in a bubble. So I do all the time. Training out in public. So I am visible everybody. I have nothing to hide. And so if a trainer has something that they feel like they have to hide, big, huge red flag. So now what kind what types of training do you do? Obviously, you said you work with every kind of dog. Are we talking obedience for the very beginners all the way through? You mentioned something called e collar training. I know what that is, but I don’t know that everybody else does. But that’s certainly a more advanced off-leash training than what you’re seeing in the group classes, private lessons, obedience stuff.

Brett Bittner
So tell us a little bit about each of the types of training that you do.

Elena Elwart
So I actually have a unique training system. So for I have a puppy class that uses treats so it helps new puppy owners learn how to be with their puppy and get them on a leash and get them started and proper introductions with other dogs etc. And then once they’re past 16 weeks old, they can go straight into the E collar training. So I use e collar training as a template. So that way they can learn to focus on their handler, no matter where they’re at and what the distractions are. Even though the dogs are young, we still want them to know proper boundaries, what’s expected of them in different situations. So we actually teach the dog how to act in each situation, instead of just teaching them sit, stay, walk in a circle and then become buddies with everybody in class, right? Our group classes actually our maintenance program. So it is not your typical class. We do very advanced things. We do lots of food refusal, advanced distraction work, distance work, off-leash work, hand signals, directionals, whistle commands and fun games as well.

Brett Bittner
Wow, that’s a lot. Yes. So when somebody finally has secured training for their dog, what should they expect? What what are they going to encounter when they show up the first day with their dog.

Elena Elwart
So the first day, we actually are able to start teaching the dog how to focus, how to sit with attention, do something called a place command, as well as come command, and that is your foundation of training. And if they don’t have that foundation, you’re not going to progress. So we really make sure that our clients understand the importance of those commands. And then we use that as our building blocks. And each client is very individual, I do a free consultation because I don’t train each dog being exactly the same as other dogs, because each dog has their own personality, their own way of communicating their own needs. And so it has to be very individualized especially when different families want different things from their dogs like one family may want to go camping with their dog, whereas another family just wants a great dog to go running with.

Brett Bittner
Have you ever encountered an untrainable dog?

Elena Elwart
Twice. and they had medical conditions. Usually it’s not a behavioral thing. Yeah, it’s usually medical.

Brett Bittner
So, what was it that made them untrainable?

Elena Elwart
One had cancer and one had a brain tumor.

Brett Bittner
Okay, that would definitely do it. Yes.

Elena Elwart
Usually when a dog becomes, quote, unquote untrainable it’s because of some sort of medical issue. Okay. I actually have a friend who was a trainer whose dog she rescue was this great demo dog. She’s cute, spunky, very friendly, and then all of a sudden, she started to become aggressive towards people. She couldn’t understand that she did lots of training. She’s a trainer so she knows what she’s doing. She reached out to everyone took her dog into the vet, the dog had brain cancer. So it’s always a reason why a dog is behaving a certain way. And behaviors are always manageable, but you can’t change a dog’s DNA. So I always tell people like if your dog does not like other dogs, it’s Okay, I don’t like other people all the time, right? And that’s okay.

Brett Bittner
What’s something that most families don’t know about their dog?

Elena Elwart
Oh, that’s a good one. Usually they don’t know about the proper form of communication. So everybody thinks that dogs just automatically understand when you tell them sit that it means put their butt on the ground, right. And that’s not true. They have to learn the motion first, and then apply the word to it. So I tell clients, you could use Google OSH as their sick command and it would mean the exact same thing. I actually have a client who says that her next dog in a few years, she wants to teach the sit as a down and a down as a sit and come as a stay. Oh, wow. And she has two other dogs. It will be confusing but it just shows that you can use any word for the The motion that the dog does, it’s just being consistent with the exact same word and having it small. Not a huge, long sentence like why are you barking so much? I just don’t understand.

Brett Bittner
They don’t understand English. No, they they’re getting maybe 60 words if they’re really, really smart, so I totally get that. So what is it that you’re doing now switching a little more to the business side of things to keep a full calendar?

Elena Elwart
Well, I’ve actually for two years, I didn’t do any advertising because I’ve had so many referrals. It’s just me. I’m on the business owner and the trainer. So my calendar has always stayed very busy or solopreneur. I love that. But now I have added in some Google AdWords, right. I used to do a lot of events, but I just don’t have the time for it anymore. It’s very time consuming, but from new business owners best way ever To make networks, get involved in the community, get your name out into the community. I did a lot of rescue events, I did home shows, races, all kinds of festivals, anything and everything that could get my name out there.

Brett Bittner
Awesome. What is it right now that you would like to do better or more of in that same realm that you think that could really bring you some business?

Elena Elwart
I actually think I found the sweet spot. Okay, I’m almost eight years into my business. Yeah. So I have dabbled in just about everything in terms of advertising. I don’t want to be one of those people that work 60 hours a week, right? Because I love my dogs and I want to do stuff with them. No, of course. So I i limit how many clients I actually take in and right now with the influx from the Google AdWords, I can’t do anything more, or I’m going to be too overwhelmed.

Brett Bittner
I understand. What is it that you’re watching or reading or listening to? that’s helping you keep up with the latest in dog behavior and or helping you grow to grow your business so that you’re not necessarily always working in it. But you’re working on it.

Elena Elwart
Yeah. Working on it instead of in it is always the hardest. I feel like for business owners Yeah, we’re very particular we want…

Brett Bittner
No one does it as well as we do.

Elena Elwart
our business. So that’s the biggest struggle for me is I have gone through many employees. And I know I’m difficult to work for because I have a very particular way of treating clients treating clients and dogs. I view that every client’s dog should be treated as my own. And a lot of trainers just want the easy Fast Money and not put the work in. And it is work. You’re not just sitting there petting puppies all day. Yeah, you have to walk them and potty them and feed them if they’re staying with you and make sure they’re groomed properly and on top of that work on the obedience that they came to you for. So there’s a whole nother level to it that a lot of people just don’t understand. They think dog training, get to hang out with dogs all day, right? while you’re on your feet a lot. You’re at parks a lot. So you’re outdoors, a lot, all kinds of weather. And so you have to keep an eye on the weather things that you normally wouldn’t have to worry about worrying about. Is it too hot? Is it now too cold because with our fluctuations and winter, the dogs sometimes they aren’t able to handle it as well as some other dogs. So just being able to find someone that does it the way that I do it, okay is always gonna be a struggle for me.

Brett Bittner
All right. So what are you doing to keep up with what’s happening in dog behavior then?

Elena Elwart
I actually part of I don’t know how many groups on Facebook I am part of therapy dog group pages, a service dog group pages, because the service dog world is rapidly changing for the better, good. And then I’m also on a whole bunch of different Florida dog trainer groups, Florida dog business groups, Florida marketing groups, dog training marketing groups. So basically I spend at least a half an hour every day going through different posts, seeing what other people are struggling with. Because sometimes you don’t realize you’re struggling with something when you’re in the middle. Right? Yes. So I kind of learned from other people as well as put my own input in there as well. There’s so much information out there on dogs that it can be hard to keep on top of things. So I always try to make sure that what I’m reading is the most up to date and current, okay, because there’s still things out there. floating around from research back in 2001 or 2020.

Brett Bittner
So when you’re not training dogs, what is your favorite thing to do in or around St. Pete?

Elena Elwart
Go somewhere with my dog. Okay. I love to go to dog beaches. I like to go to the dog bar. I like to go to breweries that are dog friendly. restaurants have patios for dogs. Everywhere I go, pretty much I bring a dog with me.

Brett Bittner
So looking forward through the rest of 2020. Are there any big events that you know that you will be going to? I know you’re cutting back on some of those because you got all of the value you needed out of them? Is there anything where we can run where we’re gonna run into you?

Elena Elwart
I actually have my group class come to the ASPCA walk the 3k walk that they have. I use that as a really big distraction. There’s hundreds if not thousands of dogs that come to those walks and then There’s also the service dog group in Sarasota. Okay. And yeah, dogs Yes. Then they also put a walk on Okay, that I do as a group class as well. So you could if there’s a dog Walk of some sort, you can most likely find me there with a group of people.

Brett Bittner
Alright Elena, we’re at the end. Where can people find out more about sit means sit here in St. Pete. websites, social media, phone number, whatever you want to give where people can connect with you?

Elena Elwart
Sure. I have all of it. My website is StPetersburg.sitmeanssit.com. And on Facebook, I’m sit means sit dog training St. Petersburg. You can also call me at 727-537-9721

Brett Bittner
Anything beyond Facebook, social media wise?

Elena Elwart
I am on a What is it? What’s the new one?

Brett Bittner
Which one? TikTok? Are you talking about Instagram? Snapchat?

Elena Elwart
Instagram. Yes.

Brett Bittner
Awesome.

Elena Elwart
I’m not very tech savvy. Okay. I’m on Instagram. Yeah. I don’t know if everything posts the way it’s supposed to. Yeah, but I am on there as well under Sit Means Sit St. Petersburg.

Brett Bittner
Awesome.
Elena, it was fabulous talking with you. It was great meeting Junior. He did a great job here. We’ve had plenty of distractions as we recorded outside in Abercrombie Park. Thanks so much for coming on.

Elena Elwart
Thank you so much for having me.

Hustleburg Episode 14 – Answering Listener Questions About Facebook 4-2-20

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about Facebook in the second of two parts. This is the second episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 is the first part of this Facebook-specific Q&A series.

Should I be Using Facebook Stories, Live, or Watch Party? Why?

There is absolutely a benefit to each of these features for the small business owner.

Facebook Stories – Unlike Instagram, Facebook stories allow you to have all the same features, as well as swipe up capability without the need to pay for ad or be a large account. It’s also a great way to connect with younger users on the platform. The addition of stories to Facebook gives you a way of offering your community a glimpse “behind the scenes” of your life, business, or brand. It gives “insider access” to what you do, deepening the connection to your brand.
Facebook Live – If you have a good reason to stream live video content, this is a wonderful tool to do so. I like that you can create an event and hype around your business or brand that gives your community instant connection and interaction with you. It helps to deepen their connection, acting like a souped-up version of Reddit AMAs with real-time interaction.
Facebook Watch Party – I see the same value in offering the instant connection and interaction to your community that Facebook Live offers, in kind of the same way we used to call one another to watch a TV show or movie together, but separately.

What’s the Best Way to Grow My Facebook Likes? Should I Use Ads?

The key is to add value to the ongoing conversation that is social media. Your page should have plenty of content before you publish and even invite your mom or spouse to like it. Create 10 or so posts before you launch, so that visitors will have something to look at when they visit. This gives them an opportunity to decide if they want to give you the “like.” Tactically, invite those on your friends list to like the page slowly, making sure you utilize the tools Facebook has available to you. I’ve found better results when inviting people both through a notification as well as a well-crafted message in messenger from your personal profile. Both of these invitations methods are only possible on the desktop version. I answered a similar question in greater detail on Episode 4 of Hustleburg, where I discussed getting greater reach organically.

When it comes to ads, I’m not a big fan of paying for “likes,” because they are generally superficial, and I’d prefer that they come for something of value that you’ve offered. Using targeted ads based on demographic and psychographic information to drive them to something you offer that will add value to them is a great way to grow your audience. They’re more engaged than someone who just likes your page in a “drive by”

Page Messaging is Mystifying Me. Is This an Important Metric for Customers?

My answer about the importance of this public-facing metric is going to be different for different businesses. If you’re in a fast-paced environment and customers expect that you’ll respond quickly, this is something to make sure you prioritize with your page. For example, if you’re operating an auto repair shop and a potential customer wants to know if they can bring their car in today to have it repaired this afternoon, you’re going to want to make sure you can reply to that person nearly immediately, like fielding incoming phone calls. Facebook calculates this metric by measuring your response rate to private messages… ALL private messages to your page. They measure two things, the percentage of messages you respond to and the speed with which you reply. For the first, you’ll need to reply to 90% or more to have a “Very Responsive” label on your page. For the latter, you’ll need to respond in a very timely manner. An explanation of calculation for both is included in the episode.

Start Marketing Your Business Online With These Three Easy Steps

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Hustleburg Episode 13.5 Bonus Episode – Creating Normalcy in a Time of Uncertainty

As we face an unfamiliar landscape of isolation, working from home, layoffs, and remote learning, the stress of these changes couple with the uncertainty of our future to induce a lot of anxiety. As you struggle with this anxiety and a litany of change, here is a conversation I had with my partner, Morgan Dean, that we hope will help you to create normalcy in the chaos of COVID-19.

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The below transcript created automatically by Otter.ai

Brett Bittner
This is a warning that the next few seconds are going to be rather loud and chaotic.

That clip that you just heard is probably what you feel like is happening all around you as you have tried to adapt in your new working from home mindset and the rest of this episode, this bonus episode of Hustleburg, is a conversation in which I talk about how you can kind of mitigate some of the anxieties, and some successful strategies for what we’re now finding is our new workplace.

Welcome to a bonus episode of Hustleburg. In this one, we’re going to be talking about a lot of the things that have changed as a result of coronavirus or Cova 19. We’re actually recording this on the day that Pinellas County orders a stay at home order for the coronavirus, and it’s going to be released. The day after that it takes effect and I’m having a conversation with Morgan Dean. She is a law student at Stetson University College of Law. She also happens to be my partner, and we’re talking about some of the things that we’re anxious about, or that we are concerned about and how we can kind of mitigate some of those concerns as we face this, what has become at least a temporary new normal. So I’d like to welcome Morgan to the show.

Morgan Dean
Thank you so much for that warm welcome.

Brett Bittner
So Morgan, in our dynamic, generally speaking, I’m more of a calming presence, whereas you might be perceived as a bit more anxious. And I know that when it comes to this particular situation, you’ve been very consuming of the news, and have let it worry you probably a little more than I would like. Tell people a little bit about some of the things that you’re experiencing as a student who is having gone from going to class to now all remote for the remainder of the semester and kind of the things that have changed about your routine and things that are making you anxious about this new normal.

Morgan Dean
Yeah, so it’s definitely weird. I got used to going to campus to study in the library and see people from my classes, as well as attend class. And now, none of that is happening, which is really weird. So, one of my classes is recorded. It’s not even live. So that’s very, there’s like no interactive element now, which is tough, especially in law school where so much of it is like discussing the law and trying to figure it out, like as a class really, because we’re all in the same boat. The other class is live using zoom like technology through Blackboard, so that’s nice, because you at least get that interactive element. But yeah, like you said, I consume a lot of news, obsessively I would say a little bit. And you know, I’m kind of also an insomniac. And so this is, this is not an ideal situation. Um, but yeah, I’m seeing a lot of changes and I know we’re seeing a lot of changes in the Small business community here in St. Pete. And yesterday was the great American takeout day.

Brett Bittner
Oh, yesterday was great American takeout to help support some of the restaurants, small business restaurants as they try to adapt to a to go and delivery only model for the foreseeable future. So as you’re moving off of campus and doing more of your studying at home, and even classes at home now, what are some of the struggles that you’re finding that you’re having?

Morgan Dean
Well, um, I think it’s just like the lack of the routine and the, like, lack of stability in a way like, and I you know, it is a little like, I am an introvert and I’m a homebody to an extent, but it definitely starts to wear on you. I think I’m on day 12 of not leaving the house except to go to the grocery store.

Brett Bittner
Yeah, that sounds about right

Morgan Dean
And yeah, I mean, it It’s definitely weird. I’m finding like, it’s kind of sometimes it’s hard to focus when I’m working on class stuff, especially with like the craziness that is having two rambunctious dogs and a crazy cat. So that’s a little difficult. And I think some of it is also the changes that are potentially happening in our grading system moving from GPA base to potentially pass fail. Can you sort of, you see, there’s a lot of positives and negatives on both sides. But this is definitely a difficult semester and very unorthodox, and I think everybody’s just trying to adjust to it the best they can

Brett Bittner
Well, I think people that are home from their everyday jobs are certainly trying to adapt to conference calls and zoom being part of their everyday life. And we did insert a little bit of audio at the beginning of this episode to give you a taste of what that chaos can feel like, if only for a few seconds there. But you know, you’ve got kids and dogs And things going on in the background that are that are certainly distracting. And hopefully most of our small business people are remaining open, if they’re essential, or if they are unable to remain open, they’re doing some things as I am to, you know, plant some of those seeds for longer term projects and goals, to make sure that down the road, we’re going to be successful. Even if in the short term, we’re having some struggles. And one of the things that I wanted to make sure that we talked about today is focusing on what you can control. You know, you talked about the change in grading and everything being at home now and just a topsy turvy world. You know, a lot of people who have kids in the school systems school is at home for either the foreseeable future, possibly through the rest of the school year. And so with those closings, you know, really we have to learn that the only thing that we can control is ourselves and try to Do a little bit about the environment around us. And one of the ways that I found to be useful and I think that you have as well is if you figure out a daily routine, you know, where you’re getting up at kind of the same time, you’re making sure that you’re getting whatever stretching or exercise or physical activity. You know, you know, make sure you’re working that into your day and, and making sure that you’re departing your quote house to get to your quote, office, even if you’re just segregating where you do that work from the rest of the house so that when you’re sitting there, it does feel like you’re at work because it’s a situation where you’re setting that routine. Okay, this is home me in this new world. And this is work me when I’m in this space, and yeah,

Morgan Dean
I think it can also help I haven’t personally tried this because I’m kind of lazy, but I think it can also help to get ready like you’re going to work, you know, Oh absolutely. If you’re someone who wears makeup, putting on makeup putting on like I mean you know you can be a little comfier than you would be at work maybe but still putting on you know, real clothes and not just like your pajamas, which like I said, I haven’t been great about. I have to say that I think that that can help as well, from what

Brett Bittner
I’ve heard from other people, well, for sure it’s a mindset shift, you know, you’re moving from home you to work you. So it’s not just an environment thing. You have those routines that you’ve set for yourself, you maybe don’t have the commute that you did, maybe it’s a lot shorter as you go from the living room to the office or the bedroom to the office or just to a desk that separated from a lot of the things that are going on in the house. And you mentioned earlier we talked about your overconsumption or I think you call them obsessive consumption of the news specifically with regard to the coronavirus. And I’ve for the most part, kind of stayed away from that focusing on not really consuming because I know that you’re going to tell me anyway what’s happening. Although I have been very focused on what’s happening with the small business community, and little Here in St. Pete and Pinellas County, you know that overconsumption of the news when we have a 24-hour news cycle that’s constant, you know, there’s always something new coming out. And that can add a lot of stress.

Morgan Dean
And yeah, I think it’s also that even if you’re not like looking up news specifically, you’re just on Twitter because you want to see some funny memes or whatever. You’re still inundated with it constantly because it’s really the majority of the content out there right now. So I think it’s, I think it’s difficult to avoid I I’ve been trying to take a break from social media in general because it’s just everywhere, even on Instagram, which is just amazing that you can make a site that’s all pictures about the coronavirus.

Brett Bittner
Well, and I’m seeing it too generally my feed is a lot about what’s happening locally and you know, what’s happening for small businesses and what’s happening in tech and, and marketing and so I’m seeing that that has been overtaken by news about coronavirus and you know, all the closings and infections and testing.

Morgan Dean
It would seem that there is, in a way like trying to look on the bright side cuz I’m trying to do that more. Yeah, it would seem that there’d be an opportunity for small business owners with utilizing like social media and virtual events, I guess right now because I’m seeing a lot of that which is interesting. I actually saw a virtual happy hour the other day, yes reply, which I thought was kind of interesting. Yeah, it’s kind of nice because everybody is missing that like social connection, even us introverts, I have to say.

Brett Bittner
Well, one of the other things that I think we have been working on together to help reduce stress is being more mindful and meditating a bit more. We’re also spending more time with our two dogs and a cat. They’re very comforting. They are very comforting and it gives that time spent there I’m sure that they are thinking that we don’t do it enough as it is. So they’re appreciative of as well. And then just just taking a break when we need to take a break because it feels like you don’t get to when you blend the home and work or home and school, you don’t really have that opportunity to take that break. So we’re, we’re doing a little more when it comes to recreation with regard to just kind of watching things or checking out a little bit and painting painting for some of us, not for me, because I know that that would be terrible, but…

Morgan Dean
It’s terrible for me to… painting

Brett Bittner
So, is there anything as we wrap up that you want to share some of the tips or tricks that you want to share that you found useful for you in this kind of, I guess I’ll call it new normal.

Morgan Dean
Yeah, um, I think it’s just the little things the day to day things meditating and getting outside like I went outside in the yard the other day and filled up our kiddie pool. That’s actually what we pay their dogs and I cleaned it first I filled it up with water and I put a chair right next to it and dipped my feet in and read a book and I felt like I was kind of out of pool Not really. But it helped a little bit it helped to like get the sun and feel nice. So doing things like that that maybe seem a little crazy to our neighbors perhaps. And yeah, just reading for fun. I’ve that’s been helping me a lot. You know, taking walks, getting that exercise, doing virtual yoga classes that’s been helpful. hula hooping, that’s fun, virtual hula hooping classes are also fun, by the way. So yeah, I think though, it’s the day to day things. And I think those things help shift the mindset because I think that’s the most important thing. But I know it’s hard. And I think everybody’s feeling it differently. And we’re just gonna get through this together, I think well.

Brett Bittner
Together. I like that. Well, I want to thank you. For taking a little bit of time to chat with me today and I hope that those of you listening have enjoyed hearing that you’re not alone and that everybody is kind of struggling with their own things with the adaptation to what we’re having to kind of do right now. And hopefully, we were able to share a little bit about how you can make the situation that we find ourselves in just a little bit better.

Hustleburg Episode 13 – Interview with SPS Home Inspection’s Scott Surridge

“Get a Home Inspection… It’s Worth the Investment”

To follow up the last interview episode, it seems fitting to hang out in the real estate realm as Brett sits down with SPS Home Inspections‘ Scott Surridge. No matter where you are in Tampa Bay, Scott can offer the peace of mind you need when purchasing your next home.

Brett and Scott discuss what most people don’t know about their own homes, the craziest thing he’s found in an inspection, and what’s so important about inspecting the home you’re about to purchase.

Get Peace of Mind from SPS Home Inspections, LLC

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Hear Your Question, Answered, on Hustleburg

Transcription below done by Otter.ai.

If you have a question about marketing, building your brand or operating your small business that you’d like to have answered on a q&a episode, please visit beyond your side hustle comm slash podcast question to submit it. In this episode, I have the opportunity to speak with Scott Surridge from SPS home inspections. Enjoy.

Brett Bittner
Tell me a little bit about why it is that you are a home inspector what is it that got you into that line of work?

Scott Surridge
Well, I first started building houses when I was 17. And I’m 57 now so it was a natural progression from time that I finished building homes to go into some sort of profession where I’m more of a counselor or advisor and Home Inspection seems to be the next step to go.

Brett Bittner
So not swinging the hammer anymore. You wanted to be more of somebody who’s guiding someone through that home buying home selling process to make sure that the house was ready for them to either move in or sell to somebody else, right?

Scott Surridge
Correct. Yeah, I am the go between for the buyers and sellers and making sure that the buyer is purchasing a product that is that is secure and sound.

Brett Bittner
Okay, who is your kind of ideal client? Are you mainly working with buyers? Are you mainly working with sellers? Is it a mix of the two or are you just coming in when a real estate agent that has you listed as the two or three inspectors to check out?

Scott Surridge
It’s all three situations… sellers, buyers and realtors. I’ve been in the business for eight years inspecting only and building houses for 40. But for the past eight years, it’s a referral business I’ve never advertised and never had to. And buyers are the mainstay, whether they’re a referral from a friend or whether they’re a referral from a realtor. We do get sellers I will knock on sellers doors for for sale by owners and ask them if they would like a home inspection done to understand what they might expect in the sale of their home. And that is a very good way to help the seller out but I like working with buyers and making sure that they’re understanding what they’re purchasing with a major investment.

Brett Bittner
So you talked about having a background in construction previously, you’ve been solely in the home inspection business for the last eight years. What else do you bring to the table? What kind of education In addition to the construction background?

Scott Surridge
Well, as I mentioned, I started building houses framing houses when I was 17. I’m from way upstate New York near Rochester area. And when I moved down here 30 years ago, I continued to build build homes and mainly waterfront homes in Mira Bay and mocha Sega Bay, and we also started Chevelle. So I’m used to the larger custom homes. So I was involved in the total process of building those homes starting as a framer and then working up to be a superintendent and project manager. So over 40 years I’ve gained a lot of experience in understanding the home from the ground up. Now is there any kind of education training certification that comes that somebody who is looking for a home inspector should be looking for, there are certifications from the state it is mandatory if you are a home inspector that you’d be licensed by the state There is a state test that needs to be taken for the individuals who don’t qualify for being grandfathered in I, I was grandfathered in because of my experience. However, I’m also a member of the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, which does require that you do take that state test for where you’re located, and that you pass that test with a 75 or better. I got a 99.

Brett Bittner
Oh, there’s that one question, isn’t there? Always one there’s always one, of course. Now, if you’re a homebuyer and you’re entering the home inspection process, what is it that they should expect in that in that whole thing from choosing a home inspector, getting the inspection done, understanding what it is and what it means? Like, walk us through that whole thing, because that’s something that I imagine especially first-time homebuyers, and probably even first-time home sellers have no idea about this.

Scott Surridge
Very true, but what you want to do is to be able to check the background of the home inspector that you’re choosing ask them questions. Are they licensed in that state? What is their experience in building homes? Were they a handyman where the electrician were they an actual contractor. I myself do still have my building license for the state of Florida. But I don’t use it. It’s on a voluntary hiatus, I guess you’d say okay, but the buyers should always ask for references and do background checks and make sure that they understand who the person is that’s going to be doing the inspection. They should expect their inspector to go through the entire home be in the attic, lock the roof. Take the air conditioning system apart, look at the coils take the cover off of the electrical panel, make sure the wiring inside his proper check outlets, windows, everything that’s accessible. They should be testing you Looking in cabinets, under under everything, and if you have to move a couple of things in the hall to be able to be complete, move a couple of things. Now, how long should a process like this take when they’re actually doing the inspection? It depends on the square footage of the home. I mean, an average home here in Florida somewhere between 1500 and 2500 square feet. smaller ones are generally an hour and a half, you can go you know, two hours, I myself generally take about two hours for 2500 square foot home. I work alone, so it’s just me. If you have two people, sometimes it takes a little bit less, but there’s no reason to spend four hours and have a 60 page report for a 2500 square foot home.

Brett Bittner
You mentioned a number of pages in the report. What’s the average that you would expect to see for a home that’s ready to be to be closed on essentially?

Scott Surridge
Well, in general like a 2000 square foot home somewhere between 25 and 35 pages of information. Okay, that includes photos and descriptions of everything that’s going on with it. Written in layman’s terms, mainly, but enough technical term that the licensed individual that has to do repairs understands what’s going on.

Brett Bittner
Now following a home inspection, what is that home seller going to have to go through?

Scott Surridge
The seller is going to talk to the selling agent and the buyer agent talk back and forth and the buyer will make requests of what might they want fixed, and then seller, depending on the contract that’s written, seller may have to fix certain things, but generally the safety issues are what the seller should have to fix. Now in the state of Florida, you do not have to bring the house up to current code when you’re selling it. However, if there are safety issues, even if you haven’t, as is contract, generally the seller should fix those items.

Brett Bittner
So, we’re talking major things like an electrical issue or a wiring thing where it’s obvious that someone safety is going to be in debt in jeopardy. Correct?

Scott Surridge
Yeah, there’s certain electrical panels that insurance companies won’t insure. Sylvania established federal Pacific. specific names that insurance companies have deemed unsafe. Different types of electrical wiring are supposed to have gfcis in certain wet areas. Certain years they weren’t required, but I still suggest they put them in. Same thing with smoke detectors and bedrooms. It’s very common that you don’t find smoke detectors in bedrooms. In older homes that are 90s or earlier. I always suggest that you put those in.

Brett Bittner
Okay. Now what are you doing currently to ensure that you have a full calendar of inspections?

Scott Surridge
Mainly, I have a Facebook page that’s SPS on inspections, LLC. And my business is word of mouth and referrals so I don’t generally advertise because I’m just so busy. I mean I’m doing 10-15 a week on average. In 2017, I did 449 inspections Wow. And in 2019, I did 432.

Brett Bittner
Okay, so you’re keeping pretty busy.

Scott Surridge
I’m very busy. Yes sir. What it shows is that if you’re good at your profession, the referrals come.

Brett Bittner
Yeah. You’re adding value to somebody’s transaction, correct?

Scott Surridge
Yeah, I’m when I’m when I’m being referred by a realtor especially. Now I’m an extension of that realtor.

Brett Bittner
Right. So, your reputation is not the only one on the line. There’s is as well.

Scott Surridge
Correct.

Brett Bittner
That’s awesome. I’m glad that you see things that way because a lot of people are in a transactional mindset and not realizing how much relational, even when it’s generally a one-off service because I mean, how often are you going to have a home inspection done maybe two, three times in your lifetime.

Scott Surridge
Correct Yeah. I mean, it’s, it’s essential that you have customer service in this business and you make sure you have a conversation with the buyers, and they understand exactly what they’re getting. And when there are items that need to be corrected, they understand why they need to be corrected and how they should be corrected.

Brett Bittner
Now, what is something that you’re looking to do to help grow? I mean, you seem pretty busy. Is there anything that you can foresee utilizing to help either maintain or increase how busy you are?

Scott Surridge
Yes, I’m always looking for new ventures. But I originally started over in Hillsborough County. Over in the south shore area and moved over here with my wife to St. Pete Beach, last year, April and I’ve been marketing myself In the local areas, there’s a lot of real estate firms over here and I go and talk to realtors and slowly moving you know things in this area and tend to do more work on the Pinellas side of the bay.

Brett Bittner
Okay. What, if you had to estimate, is the biggest surprise that you found when performing a home inspection? I mean, we’re talking like an alligator under the house kind of a surprise like suddenly you completely did not expect.

Scott Surridge
Nothing like that. Couple of rodents underneath homes here and there snakes but you know, nothing drastic. But the surprise item that I found was a garage slab in a house that had collapsed in one corner and there was no structural damage on the exterior walls. There was no tree roots in the area, no plumbing in the area. It ended up being that the material underneath the house was not compacted properly in the in the garage, floor sink. That was from an engineer.

Brett Bittner
Okay, what is something that a homeowner probably doesn’t know about their home when they’re selling it that your average home inspector is going to find?

Scott Surridge
Electrical panels and aluminum wiring over here and St. Pete and St. Pete Beach area homes that were built in the 70s. Due to the Vietnam War, they stopped using copper because they needed to copper for bullets. So they started using aluminum wire, and it’s it was very prevalent in the late 60s, early 70s. You do not need to completely rewire the house you need to have corrections made with the aluminum wiring connectors, licensed electricians would complete that service.

Brett Bittner
Okay. Now, is there anything that you are reading, watching or listening to to help you in business and to grow your business?

Scott Surridge
I get a monthly newsletter from the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, and that has a lot of good information in it. I’m doing a lot of research online for four codes, like to go to sleep at night. So break out the codebook. And read that a little bit.

Brett Bittner
Oh, you mean, that’s not what you’re reading on the beach?

Scott Surridge
No. But there’s always information with some of the pages on the on websites for the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, there’s conversations going on. So you learn a lot by reading different things the inspectors will put in Well, I have this problem and what’s the what’s the remedy? So there’s a lot of learning there. And also we have to have recurring credits for our license. So we always have to take new courses and keep up to date on.

Brett Bittner
Okay. When you’re not on a ladder, shining your flashlight, carrying your clipboard around, inspecting a home, What’s your favorite thing to do here in St. Pete?

Scott Surridge
Being on the water. My wife and I are very much salt water people and we take the boat out go to the sandbar have a couple of beers and just relax and watch life go by.

Brett Bittner
That sounds awesome.

Scott Surridge
So that’s a great reason to have left upstate New York to me down here and enjoy the 300 plus days of sunshine that we get and works for me every weekend.

Brett Bittner
Awesome. So where can people find out more about you and SPS Home Inspections online? Is there a phone number that they can call? This is your opportunity to plug yourself so people can find you and hire you to inspect their home.

Scott Surridge
The best way to reach me is my phone number is 813-245-6088 or you can go to my Facebook page which is SPS home inspections, LLC. There’s different areas there where you can contact me and also make an appointment. You can read the reviews and I look forward to Talking to new people every day.

Brett Bittner
Is there anything else you’d like to share with the audience of Hustleburg?

Scott Surridge
Not at this time except make sure if you are getting a purchasing a home, get a home inspection. It’s worth the investment.

Brett Bittner
Awesome. Scott, thank you so much. I really appreciate you appearing on Hustleburg.

Scott Surridge
I appreciate your time, sir. Thank you.

Hustleburg Episode 12 – Answering Listener Questions About Facebook 3-19-20

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about Facebook in the first of two parts. This is the beginning of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 14 will be the second part of the Facebook Q&A.

How Should I Maximize My Downtime During the COVID-19 Crisis to Brand My Business on Facebook?

During the self-isolation, restricted business operations, and a lack of sporting events, we likely find ourselves with newfound downtime. That downtime can be the catalyst necessary to lay the groundwork for your brand or business online. You can use this opportunity to create your Facebook page, engage with your existing community, and create content for it as well. Don’t let the temptation to just binge Netflix stop your dream and use this time to your advantage.

My Feed Is Filled With Draining News. How Can I Fix It?

First, take a break. Unplug and regroup. Take a walk. Read for fun. When you’re ready to fix things, follow and engage with people, pages, groups, and topics that aren’t bringing you down. The algorithms show you what they think you want to see, so you have to re-engineer what it’s showing you by changing how you use the platform. The good news is that you can change what you see by changing your behavior. The better news is that recent activity and changes have more influence than past activity, so get started now by focusing on what you want to see. You find what you seek, both online and in the world.

What Are the Benefits of Creating a Group in Support of my Facebook Page?

Your page is a communication tool for those outside your community. It’s your virtual storefront. It contains basic information about your business, like your hours, your location, or your special deals. It’s a great tool for people already looking for you. It’s social media’s version of your website with a touch of your personality.

Facebook Groups present you with a unique way to build deeper relationships with your community. It’s where you have in-depth discussions, interactions, and engagement. While your page is your opportunity to build many, shallow connections, your group gives you the chance to build ocean-deep connections with fewer people. Those are the people who are committed to your business. They are or become your raving fans.

How Can I Get More 5-Star Reviews on my Facebook Page?

Giving 5-star service is the best way to receive 5-star reviews. You can also offer on a receipt, signage in store, or a follow-up communication a small token of appreciation for all reviews. With these reviews, you should directly engage with your customers, while you have their attention, asking them for their feedback. Address any issues on the spot, and no matter what they share with you, ask them to share it online, and if your Facebook page is where you want to drive them, send them there. This also applies to Yelp or Google Reviews.

Start Marketing Your Business Online With These Three Easy Steps

If you’re just getting started marketing your business online, Beyond Your Side Hustle offers a FREE Getting Started Guide.

Find out more about Beyond Your Side Hustle here:

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Hustleburg Listener Community
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Brett’s LinkedIn

Be a Guest on Hustleburg

Hustleburg Episode 11 – Interview with eXp Realty’s Trent Smith

In this episode, Brett talks with eXp Realty‘s Trent A. Smith, a real estate agent here in St. Pete, helping you make sense of the real estate process.

Brett and Trent discuss his tips for buying a home, selling a home, and even a bit of real estate investing.

Buy or Sell Your Home With Trent

Connect with Trent here:

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Hear Your Question, Answered, on Hustleburg

Hustleburg Episode 10 – Answering Listener Questions 3-5-20

Before we get started on this week’s episode, I’d like to thank the folks over at Radio St. Pete for their addition of Hustleburg to the lineup on Thursdays at 8 AM and noon, as well as the podcast archive.

Thank you for the opportunity to share with your listeners how we do business in the ‘Burg.

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett Bittner answers listener questions about how to market your business beyond social media, favorite marketing methods, and which social media platforms you should use to market your business.

How Do I Get the Word Out About My Business Beyond Social Media?

Social media isn’t for everyone, and some small businesses want to go beyond it to bring their business to the people they wish to serve. Brett responds to the above question with that in mind. The focus for someone not using social media or going beyond their social media networks should be to network. While most people think of networking as happy hours and business card swapping, there’s far more to it than that. Each interaction with someone in your field, you should learn how you can create value for them and act on it within your network. “Connectors” are some of the best businesspeople, because they know who can help whom, how, and they work to connect the helpers.

What Is Your Favorite Marketing Method?

Being a digital marketing firm, Beyond Your Side Hustle uses and recommends using social media and content marketing to share what it is that we do. By being a content producer, whether on social media, podcasts, you get to impact people’s lives that you may never encounter in a positive way. By adding all of that value to your community, value will be added to your life in return.

Which Platforms Should I Be Using for My Business?

This is a topic broached in Episode 4 of Hustleburg, where Brett discussed the single-most-important platform (Facebook), due to its popularity and the expectation that you have a page, even if you don’t have a website and alluded to what you should also consider. Keep in mind that current popularity and forever popularity aren’t the same, and that all social media platforms “age up.” Also, make sure that you use platforms that your likely customers do and that you can tell your story in a compelling way.

Start Marketing Your Business Online With These Three Easy Steps

If you’re just getting started marketing your business online, Beyond Your Side Hustle offers a FREE Getting Started Guide.

Find out more about Beyond Your Side Hustle here:

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Hustleburg Listener Community
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Brett’s LinkedIn

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Hustleburg Episode 9 – Interview with FUSE Therapy’s Amanda Grozdanic

In this episode, Brett talks with FUSE Therapy‘s Amanda Grozdanic, a licensed and registered occupational therapist, working in aquatic and outpatient therapy, primarily for children with disabilities. FUSE Therapy focuses on the direct needs of the child, emphasizing nature and recreational activities to address any and all limitations.

Brett and Amanda discuss who might need occupational therapy, how she can help with sensory processing for autistic children, and what about her approach sets her apart. Her focus on aquatic recreation in the community is also discussed. A hiking day to celebrate the launch of FUSE Therapy is scheduled, weather permitting, for March 14th.

Connect Your Child With FUSE Therapy

Find out more about FUSE Therapy:

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