Today's Guest

Keegan Edwards is the President and CEO of New Media Retailer, the award-winning digital marketing solutions provider for independent retailers. Over the past 12 years, Keegan has worked with over 1,500 small businesses on their digital marketing and growth strategies. As an entrepreneur, he's built award-winning businesses that provide affordable digital marketing solutions for small to medium-sized businesses across the country. Keegan talks about some of the simple changes any business can make to increase its online presence and get found by consumers.

Episode Transcript

(Please excuse grammatical errors due to transcription)

Gordon Henry:             This is Gordon Henry at Winning on Main Street, and this week we're fortunate to meet Keegan Edwards. Welcome to the show, Keegan.

Keegan Edwards:         Thanks so much, Gordon, I appreciate you having me.

Gordon Henry:             So quick intro on Keegan. Keegan Edwards is CEO of New Media Retailer, an award-winning digital marketing agency for independent retailers. He's the author of a book called A Store Near Me, which provides the roadmap for how small retail businesses can build an online presence that outranks, outshines and outlast the competition. You'll also find his business courses on Udemy. That's Udemy, the online learning location, where they have attracted over 13,000 students worldwide. He's helped thousands of small business owners create winning marketing and business development strategies. So Keegan, welcome to the show.

Keegan Edwards:         Thanks so much for having me, Gordon. Thanks for the introduction. Really glad to be here.

Gordon Henry:             And I always like to ask, what should listeners get out of this episode? I think the answer is that every small business needs to build and manage their online presence. And if you don't, basically you're invisible to most of your potential customers. Keegan can help you figure that out and show you the way. So Keegan, my first question to you is, we all know that just because you start a business, build a store or put up a website, it doesn't mean people will visit. You can plan and toil and build only to basically hear crickets. How do you ensure that your physical or online store or site gets the visits you want?

Keegan Edwards:         Gordon, I think for me, a lot of that starts with building the prominence. So a lot of cues when it comes to online, where Google's going to drive consumers, where social's going to drive consumers, where consumers are going to naturally flock, they're going to go to places that really develop that prominence for their business. And how do you do that? What do I mean by prominence? Well, that's where we go into things like gathering reviews, where we go into things like adding photos, videos, blog articles. Those things get talked about out of context, but really what they're doing is they're building up that real estate for you online. They're building up that real estate for your business. They're building that prominence and those queues so that Google and the online platforms know, "This is a legitimate business. This is a credible business. They're doing great work in their community."

                                   And as a local business, when somebody's looking for a service, a product, or something that they offer, this is exactly where I should send these consumers, because they've demonstrated, online, that they're a prominent, well established business that's doing great things. I think that's probably where sometimes the buck stops for a local business owner, is they put up that website, it stays static, or they claim a listing or something like that, but they never go any further than that. And so, the ones that do go further, they're really demonstrating that prominence and that's going to give those cues to send consumers to the door.

Gordon Henry:             Now, you didn't mention Google My Business, or I guess they now change the name to Google Business Profile, but that's an important piece of this too, to make sure that you get found.

Keegan Edwards:         There's discovery searches, which are really important component of this. And what I mean by discovery is, there are going to be people who search your business name and they maybe have already heard of you or things like that. And it's really important to have that profile filled out, because if you go and search your business name right now, people are going to see that. As one of the first things they see they're probably going to see your website link and they're also going to see your Google Business Profile. You have a huge opportunity there. They may have heard about you from a friend, they may be exploring different businesses, know the name of yours. You have a huge opportunity in that moment to capture them as a customer. You can show great photos, great reviews. You can show your categories. You can sometimes showcase your products or invite them to get a quote from you, things like that.

                                   So that's first and foremost is, people are going to search your name. That's one of the first things they're going to see, one of the first impressions they're going to have for your business. And then on the other side of it, people are going to just search a business type. So they might be looking for a cafe near me, or they might be looking in Google Maps for a restaurant or a retail store specific type of product. You are going to be one of many listings that may be the only way or the only impression that they choose from before choosing to visit, or if you have a service business, call or request a quote from one of those service businesses.

                                   So those discovery searches, where somebody maybe has an idea of what they need or the service they're looking for, they're trying to discover the right vendor, the right small business, local business, to work with. So by maximizing your Google Business Profile in that moment, you can say, "Here's what other local customers think of us. Here's our star rating. Here's how great our environment looks." If you're a restaurant, "Here's how well stocked our shelves are." If you're a retail store, "Here's our services in action," if you provide a service like that. So I think the Google Business Profile is almost your website before your website, at this point. It's that first impression for a consumer. So maximizing that only brings benefits to local businesses.

Gordon Henry:             And I heard you talk about reviews, but I don't think I heard the word video. How important is video to a small business in terms of getting started? Consumers want to see, they either want to see your store, if you do service, they want to see how you fix the car or how you plum the plumbing.

Keegan Edwards:         And depending on your business type too, video can be an opening of the door to that relationship. That's going to give you an opportunity to really add that human element to the experience that the consumer's having online. And we obviously know that videos are trending. A lot of platforms, a lot of mediums are starting to favor videos. And it's because we as human beings, we're drawn to that. The lights, the action, the human interaction, the talking, the voice, all of that, that attracts us to video as a medium. And then if you're a consumer, whether you have a question, you're trying to figure out the solution, which a lot of what local businesses do, they solve problems, whether that's selling it through a service, a product, a restaurant, you're solving a problem for a consumer, showcasing for them and demonstrating in that moment, "Here's exactly how we go about solving that problem for you. Here's what you can expect of us."

                                   Number one, increases credibility, and then it also lowers the bar. When we're a consumer, we're naturally skeptical when we're looking online. We're thinking, "Are they going to do what they say they're going to do? Can I trust this business?" And that's a huge factor. We want to buy from people that we like, people that we trust. When you can demonstrate for them who you are, how you do things, you share their values and you're going to execute it in this way, video's a great medium for doing that. You're going a long way in building that credibility and trust with your potential customer too.

Gordon Henry:             A lot of people may be listening to this and hearing about all these important components to having a successful online presence and thinking, "That's great, but I don't really know how to do that. I'm not really good at that. I make pizza or I fix bikes. Do I need to hire a professional?" And if I need to hire a professional, like Keegan Edwards, isn't that going to be really expensive?

Keegan Edwards:         It's a great question. I think it depends on the stage of the business too, Gordon. I think it depends on the stage that you're at in your business maturation. When you're first starting out, things that you can do right from your smartphone can be really effective for helping you to get to the next growth stage. I think that there's a lot to be said for authenticity in the business relationship. So when you're asking for reviews, that can be as simple as asking your customer, "Would you leave me a review on Google?" And even inviting them to do so on the spot, and then making sure you as the owner come back with something authentic and respond to thank them for their review online. That's a pretty short distance to doing something that's fairly effective. And it goes the same with your photos.

                                   If you want to take a photo or video, we all carry around this computer in our pocket at this point, with this really great camera. Many of us do. Most of us do. So pulling that out and taking a picture of your restaurant space, or of customers in the restaurant. You can even film a video testimonial, if somebody's giving you that opportunity. That content is valuable, especially in the context of a local business because it might be a friend of a friend who share that on social media. They might share it again, "I saw you on this business's post." Things like that, which can be really effective. So I think there's a stage at which when you're starting out your business, these things feel intimidating. But we have to remember we're carrying around that computer in our pocket. We can pull it out and access these platforms pretty quickly and easily with a nice picture, a nice video, that extra step of responding to a review from a customer.

                                   And that can go a long way. Now sure, there's going to be a point in time where you might choose to insource or outsource that to a vendor who can help you take that to the next level, who can read into the algorithm, understand the difference between a post that's going to perform really well or a post that's going to perform less well, and can help you take the next steps with those things. But I think what's really important is no matter where you are in that stage in your business, is take that step, build those bricks, build blocks to get yourself to the next level. And you can do that simply and easily at first. And then when you get to that point where your cash flow, your revenue, your growth allows it, then say, "We're ready to use these mediums. We've seen they're effective, we've seen they're effective with what we can do in house. Let's take that to the next level and work with somebody who's an expert in doing this. And they can help us take that to the next level."

Gordon Henry:             I'd like to talk a little bit about your new book, A Store Near Me. You begin the book with, I thought, a very interesting story about a diamond retailer you found because you happen to be across the street, but you never would've found them if you'd been searching online, which is what most people do. And you say in the book, as a store owner, you put a ton of work into your store every day you buy and install beautiful lighting fixtures, you switch out endcaps, train employees, organize shelves, yet how much effort you put into your website? Is that a common problem where these stores that are just beautiful palaces, but nobody can find them and so they're invisible?

Keegan Edwards:         I absolutely love that part of my job, is getting work with these store owners because honestly, that example I used in the book, and whether it's your local hardware store, whether it's your local [inaudible 00:10:50] retailer, lawn and garden center, there are some amazing independent retail stores across the country, that are run by really hardworking, really business savvy people. And those fundamentals that they many times learn, some of them came up and they were the manager of the store and then they bought it out. And they've stuck with those fundamentals. And those fundamentals have been successful for them. Location's important, having great clean aisles, having a good layout, having strong endcaps, having a well trained staff and customer service in the store. Those things are all there. Those pieces are all there. Where I think I've seen the disconnect and where New Media Retailer in particular helps support these stores is say there's a way to translate all of those things that you're doing online.

                                   Because in today's era, when we're talking about that real estate, you picked out that great real estate location, you built this phenomenal storefront, let's reflect that on your website. You've developed tremendous word of mouth in your community where people rave about your business, but we haven't taken that step of demonstrating that word of mouth in Facebook reviews and Google reviews, local SEO. You've done a lot to make sure there's signage, billboards through the community, on the highways and stuff, that say, "Our store is located right here," but we haven't done that work when it comes to Google searches, that's the same thing. That highway might be a keyword that can lead a lot of traffic directly to your store, which we want, instead of a big box or a retailer, but we haven't taken those steps through local SEO to direct that traffic back to you. So I think it's really an interesting and a lovely experience, to be honest. When you get to sit down with somebody who's running a very successful business, understands these key fundamentals, and then you help them see, here's how we are going to translate those things online.

                                   So all those things that have worked, we're doing the same thing. We're just going to make sure that the online component of this does the same things to help grow and help your store really be successful now into the future.

Gordon Henry:             Our show, we always focus on small businesses, often service businesses, not just retailers. And I often think, these big retailers, Amazon, Domino's, Home Depot, they just have this tremendous online presence. They have teams of people figuring all this stuff out for them, not just their website, but the ordering and payment and delivery, both online and on apps, can small businesses really compete with the big guys?

Keegan Edwards:         I'm so glad you asked that question, Gordon. Because it's one of the, I guess, thrilling things that I'm seeing now. And I will talk in the context of independent retail, but I think some of the same things are translating the local service and local restaurant businesses where, in the marketplace, things continually change. And I think there's a dynamic back and forth that happens between where the advantage goes. And at this point in time, these independent retailers located in a lot of suburban or maybe rural markets, they've seen a demonstration of, consumers like fast delivery, they like products to their doorstep, all of that. And we can learn from that and say, "We're behind in many instances. We're not in the ability to pick, pack and ship. We don't have that. We don't have the mark be in place." And so there was this gap in time where the Amazons and the e-retailers and the other big box source who start to get ahead.

                                   But where we're shifting to now is, a lot of vendors have come into the space to fill these gaps too, whether it's Shopify, whether it's great businesses like yours, where you're coming in to say, "Here's how we're going to have solutions for you with payments. Here's how we're going to have solutions for you with scheduling. Here's how..." And so where the opportunity is now in independent retail is to say, "You know what? We might have been competing with Chewy." And there was a point in time when Chewy was a problem because they could get pet supplies to somebody in one to two days, and we had no infrastructure for that. But today, there are vendors like DoorDash, there are some other exciting ones coming out, where they've mobilized the community of people who will do same day delivery. I think the United States Post Office just came out with a great program too, where you can drop off and they'll do quick delivery times too.

                                   So because an independent retailer situated in that market, if they start to put these pieces together, all of a sudden they've stolen that advantage from Chewy who does have to ship, and they do have to be limited by that one to two days. And the independent pet supply store can say, "No, I'm already here." And now I've organized some of these vendors who are going to pick up every day and do same day delivery, and now all of a sudden, I have that last mile advantage where I can actually use a platform like Shopify, get my inventory out there, it's a cost effective platform, there's ways to accomplish this. Now, I can integrate a vendor who's going to come pick up, whether that's a post office or a DoorDash, and I can deliver to your doorstep faster than Chewy. And I have loyalty programs, I have community involvement and all these other advantages.

                                   So I think the pendulum has swung a bit, which is really exciting. And you've seen these vendors come in to fill the space, and it's a matter of the local businesses grabbing onto these, researching, pulling the pieces together and saying, now the opportunity's there for me to capitalize on this trend that was established by the big box stores and e retailers, and actually take it one step further and leverage my local advantages to do it better.

Gordon Henry:             That is exciting. Seems like a right time to ask you about your company, New Media Retailer. Is this what you help your clients do? Is put together these pieces to have a great online presence and do things like faster payment and faster delivery? Is that your niche?

Keegan Edwards:         So for us, we work with a lot of the traditional mom-and-pop type retail businesses. So we work with hardware stores, garden centers, lumber yards, pet supply stores, some that I've mentioned. And really that's what we're about. So we talk to them about what point of sale system they're on, how it's working for them, and then help them either stay on that system and integrate it with a platform like Shopify, merchandise all of their product information. Make sure that, for their consumers, they have products, price, inventory levels, online and consistent. They can sell online, they can sell in store, that their loyalty programs work online and their loyalty programs work in store. That if they want to integrate with a tool like Google Shopping, that they have those things set up, local inventory ads, so that when you search in Google, you see the products and where you can get them locally.

                                   And then, we layer marketing services on top of that. So whether that's Google Ads management, social media management, email marketing for an independent retailer, our model's a little different too, because we've found the right fit with this group, is we do it all for them. So a lot of these stores, especially with some labor shortage issues, and they're dealing with a lot to run these stores, especially in the last couple years, they haven't outsourced specific account manager with us, whose responsibility and job it is, is to proactively do these things for them on an ongoing basis. So we're almost, we consult with them on a monthly or bimonthly basis. And then after that, we take that information, that content, whether it's events, whether it's special, where it's offers and disperse that not just to the website, but to all the places where it can go to attract attention and drive events.

                                   So we hear tremendous things like sales being up, people found us who've never found us before, more people at our events than have ever been there. Because again, they're running a great business. And then our business, our job's to come in and say, "Let's understand why that business is so great, what your unique selling proposition is, how you're doing things today, and let's elevate the entire online presence of everything that you're doing and do it for you."

Gordon Henry:             Now, you also run a business or a website called Mighty Sites, which sounds like it's designed to help small businesses build great websites, probably more efficiently at a lower cost than if they had to hire a big agency. Is that what it's about?

Keegan Edwards:         Mighty Sites is an exciting new venture for us. And really what we're trying to accomplish, and these numbers are in the recent history, is there's still, depending on the survey that you look at, 25 to 35% of small businesses in the United States that do not have websites. And they point to a number of reasons for why that is. Many times it's time, many times it's cost, many times it's thinking social media is okay or good enough for my business. But the problem there, as we might know, Gordon, is you're missing out on a lot. That even if you have a very simple website, that website can still act as your online business card, for your business. And whether you want to do brochures or local marketing, you've got to point people back. Whether that's a decal on your car, you've got to point people back to something.

                                   And a simple professional website is a great tool for marketing your business and driving customers into your door or to hire you for your service. So really what we're aiming to accomplish with that product, it's a little different than our other market, is to say, "What's holding back these small business owners?" So in many instances know they probably should have a website or want to have one, but even if you're looking at a do it yourself platform, you're talking about many hours doing something that you're not necessarily comfortable with, and the outcome might be more amateurish than you were happy with. Or you're looking at a WordPress contract that's going to cost a few thousand dollars and is going to be time and money that you're not sure how you're going to get back and launch it. And then you've got to pay for hosting, which at this point can be fairly substantial.

                                   So our whole goal with that is to try and break down those barriers and say, "If you're at a stage of development, if you're at a stage with your business where affordability of a website or ease of building one is a problem, we're trying to build that platform for you." Where you can stand up a simple professional website faster and easier than the modern website builders, which may be overbuilt for your purposes. And if you're a local business, we want to get you online because we know the value of that, and you might grow beyond this platform and grow from there, but it gets you to that baseline to say, because the pricing starts at $9 a month, "I can build this in 20 minutes for $9 a month." Now my business is online. I've got a way to represent it. I've got something, so when I'm plugging my business into listings, like Angie's List or into my Google Business Profile, Yelp, all of that, I have a website to link back to, I have a domain, I have something hosted that I can be proud of and can drive leads into my business. So that's really our goal. Our goal is that target market of people who have been held back from all the opportunities the website can bring for their business, is given them a simple, easier and really affordable way to make that happen.

Gordon Henry:             Got it. Do you also help the small business with other areas of their business, such as things like collections or managing cash flow? You always hear cash flow as the number one culprit for why small businesses fail, is that something you get into?

Keegan Edwards:         It's not with our business, no. But we've been fortunate with the model that we're in. We work with a lot of great distributors and manufacturers. We're a strategic partner for them. So a lot of the distributors and manufacturers have had resources like that, or brought in other vendors, or had resources themselves because they sell through the independent channel, where that's really important for everybody's survival and everybody's success. While it's not something that we do, we've been very fortunate to be in environments where a lot of vendors are organized and interested in the success of the independent retailer. So try to develop resources or point them in directions where they can do that.

Gordon Henry:             Got it. Before we go to a break, I want to ask you, we hear all day long about recession, recession, that that's what's coming. How should small businesses prepare to handle the upcoming recession?

Keegan Edwards:         There are a lot of ways that businesses are situated right now, where they do need to look at what they're spending their money on and what customers are doing. And I take it back to the data a little bit here. I think the data is really important. And whatever data that you do have at your fingertips, whether that's data from your point of sale, whether it's data from your QuickBooks or whatever system you're using to run your books, and you might want to get an opinion from somebody else whose well versed in that. I think it would be a good point in time to sit back and look at the data that you have in your business and say, "Where are the areas that are driving sales for me? Where are the products that have a high turn still? Where are the products that where the inventory turn is longer? Where are the areas where it's taking longer for my distributors or manufacturers to fulfill those products? Are those things I can afford to do right now? Where are my best performing hours, in terms of when I'm open or the types of customers I'm serving?"

                                   So I would really say that's an important thing to do right now. There may be some cost cutting that may need to happen to prepare, that's a natural part of a recession. Not that I encourage it, don't caught unnecessary cost, but I think look at the data and let that tell you a little bit more about your business. Take this opportunity to reflect on that and what that's telling you so that you can double down on the things that are working and say, "Here's a good time to cut this thing that maybe isn't driving me forward right now."

Gordon Henry:             Got it. We'll be back after the break with more from Keegan Edwards, stay with us.

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Gordon Henry:             And we're back with Keegan Edwards. We'd like to finish with a few more personal questions, Keegan, just to learn a little bit more about how you got to where you are. You've run a successful company, written a book, got a couple other exciting projects. Tell us real quick about your back story. How did you get started? What led you to this particular career path?

Keegan Edwards:         I'd love to. Thanks for asking, Gordon. So I started working with local businesses right out of high school. My first internship was with a local free publication paper, if anybody's familiar with that. And the owners really took me under their wing, so I'm very thankful for that, and the sales manager too. And they really needed somebody who could cover vacation time for the sales reps of this free publication paper. And so, that was where I came in, that was my job all the way through college. So I got to hit the ground running, going out all the time, talking to local businesses and just hearing what their story was, hearing what they were trying to accomplish, where they came from, and I realized that I loved it. And there's something very satisfying. I've lived in the community, obviously. There's something very satisfying about just doing something that... Hearing where they were at, trying to empathize and understand, "Here's what you're trying to accomplish, here's your budget. What can I do with the resources I have to try and have an impact on that?" Help see you be successful in this regard and shop at your store too, and understand what you do in the community.

                                   I may have even played for a tee-ball team that was sponsored by some of these businesses. So I really got enmeshed very early on in a love and curiosity just about local businesses and what they meant to communities, how they were successful, where their pain points were. And I fell in love with the idea that I could do things career-wise to try and be as supportive as possible, helpful as possible to them. So from there, I followed paths that led me in that regard.

Gordon Henry:             It's so true. Most of us who grew up in maybe a suburb or a smaller town, you remember of the Memorial Day Parade or the July 4th Parade, and it was always sponsored by the local businesses. And if you played Little League, you had their name on your back of your jersey. That's what we all grew up with, is they were really the fabric of community, and that's why it's so important that they continue to do well and survive, using these more modern techniques. So Keegan, just curious, again, you've had all this success. If you look back, what's the advice you would give yourself if you were just starting out today?

Keegan Edwards:         I think the advice I'd give myself, and maybe the advice I'd offer to anyone at this point is, I think that there are two things that you can control every day, which is your attitude and your work ethic. And I think that there's going to be a lot of up and downs, whether you're starting a local business, working for a local business, or really any endeavor in life, parenting can feel that way too. And there's a lot of things that you may not be able to choose and that may be out of your control, but every single day you can choose your attitude and you can choose your work ethic. And when you focus on controlling those two things every day and stepping forward with the most positive attitude you can and working as hard as you can and what you're aiming to accomplish, I think things ultimately turn out okay in that regard. And I think that's the path when you keep that up over days and months and years that lead you to a place that we maybe call success or happiness with some of the things you've accomplished.

Gordon Henry:             I can't think of a better thing to end on. That's just tremendous advice. I couldn't agree with you more. Well, Keegan, again, thank you and congratulations on your book, your business, some of the new projects. Sounds like you got a lot going on, and I appreciate you spending a few minutes with us today.

Keegan Edwards:         Well, thanks so much, Gordon. I really appreciate it.

Gordon Henry:             And great to have Keegan on the show and we look forward to more great guests in the coming weeks. And I want to thank our producer Tim Alleman and coordinators Diette Barnett and Daniel Huddleston, they're really an integral part of our show. And if you enjoyed this podcast, please tell your colleagues, friends and families subscribe, and please leave us a five star review. We'd really appreciate it, helps us in the rankings. Until next time, make it a great week.

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