Mid-Year Check-In

Someone messaged me saying ChatGPT claims I organize the National Shed Show. I do not. That awkward moment turns into a bigger conversation about what happens when AI, search engines, and online rumors reshape your brand without your permission and why clear communication and real brand protection matter in the shed industry.

I also use this mid-year monologue to share what we are seeing across sheds, steel buildings, carports, and portable structures: lots can be busy while growth still stalls. The culprit is often not demand, it is the quiet stuff underneath like your website path, lead follow-up, and the small operational leaks that keep buyers from becoming deliveries. We talk through industry events like the Shed Sales Summit in Knoxville and the Shed Expo, plus the simple truth about advertising: it builds awareness and it keeps you top of mind.

Then we get practical and a little nerdy: trademark and copyright basics, how scammers send fake “bills” after USPTO filings, and what to watch for. We also dig into digital marketing trends like SEO and Answer Engine Optimization as Google AI Overview drives more zero-click searches and changes website analytics. I wrap with ways we can help through marketing time blocks, a call for more guests and shed stories, and a genuine thank-you to listeners and partners who keep this community moving.

If this helped, subscribe, share it with someone in the shed business, and leave a review so more builders and dealers can find the show.

For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.

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This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro

NewFound Solutions
Shed Suite
First Choice Metals

Transcript

INTRO 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the Shed Geek Podcast. A quick word about our studio sponsor. One thing the team at Shed Pro has been hearing lately from Shed businesses is that many of them aren't struggling because of lack of demand. Things just kind of stall out. The lot is busy, but growth flattens, and it's not always obvious why. Usually it's something small. The website, the follow-up. How customers interact with you before they ever pick up the phone. So Shed Pro puts something together called the Shed Sales Audit. It helps you get a clearer picture of where you might be losing people. It takes a couple of minutes, and if you want to dig deeper, their team will walk you through it. Here's the thing nine times out of ten, the fix isn't more leads, it's a tighter operation underneath. That's the rest of the Shed Pro platform. Configurator, point of sale, RTO contracts, inventory, deliveries, and dealer tools, all in one place. Website lead to final delivery, one clean workflow. Start with the audit at shedpro.co forward slash shed geek. Thank you, Shed Pro, for being our Wednesday studio sponsor and for building something that helps the industry.

How To Reach Us Anytime

Shannon 1:16

Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. And um thank you for joining us today. Today you're joined by just me, yours truly. It's been a long time since I've done one of these uh monologues. So, before we get rolling, a few ways to stay connected with us. Uh, my cell number, 618-309-3648. Uh, feel free to give me a call, text uh anytime. I will try to keep back with you the same day, but uh that is my goal always. If not, I'll get back to you the day after. If not, keep texting me. Call me and tell me uh, hey, you owe me a call, and I'll be glad to. Info, INFO@ shedgeek.com uh is the email that I usually answer to. And of course, you can check us out at shedgeek.com. Go check out our website, take a look around, uh, see what you think. Give us suggestions if you see uh things that you feel could be approved. We're always open to suggestions. Uh, but just look around on it and uh and see if there's something there uh that might be able to help you. Uh our Facebook page, give us a like and a follow. We really appreciate that. Um, we've finally started moving over that thousand-person hump on uh YouTube. So, that means a lot for you guys to go and subscribe and send me a message. I will be happy to subscribe to you. If I don't know you're out there, I would love to know that you're out there and follow you in your shed journey. Those things are so cool and so just neat to me to watch um your YouTube videos, your Facebook page. I'm always open to uh follow along and help build that brand organically and free. Can't beat that. Uh Shed Sales Professionals group, give us a um a like on there or uh follow if you'd like to be involved in conversations that I feel like are always engaging, uh, as well as other groups around the industry that we do not uh admin, like the Shed Fallers page is always very active, the manufacturers page. There's always good free content there for those people who are looking to learn more about their craft. And why shouldn't you be if you are going to do this for a living? Uh the call-in line for anybody who has a plain community friend who does not use the internet, uh, they can call in and listen to the podcast at 330-997-3055. Lots of functionality on there where you can go back and listen to a previous um podcast. If you don't know what podcast to go back and listen to, you can simply uh get our news or uh newsletter, sign up for our newsletter, or just message us and ask for a uh copy of all the shows and the show number because you can just uh plug in that number uh to go back and listen to a specific one if you want. So, if you need the registry, just let me know. We'll get that to you, or go get it from the newsletter. Uh, it has everything there from the Wednesday shows to Friday shows, uh, has everything numbered, the dates, the guest. Uh, I think it even says how long the episode is. And a cool thing about that call-in landline is you can save your place and go back and listen to it later. So, thank you, those in the plain community who listen and take the time to expand on your knowledge. Uh, we hope that we're bringing you entertainment. Uh, we hope we're being educational and we hope that it's helpful. I do appreciate even some of the latest people that I've met who said they've been a longtime listener to the podcast uh that we've had a pleasure to work with. Uh, that just blesses me whenever I know that you guys are finding help through this. Um, normally we have a guest, so if this is your first time listening, you're like, what is this guy on here doing and talking about? Um, I don't do these very often. I'm much more comfortable when interviewing somebody. Uh, and it's certainly um it just uh it's a little different when you're uh here in uh in front of a screen all by yourself, just speaking to the audience. So, uh I ask for your grace and your mercy on any slip-ups, mess ups, or things like that, because it's so much more comfortable when I can uh let other people take the mic and just let them talk and ask questions and get their insights and occasionally try to offer some thoughts of my own. Um, big shout out right out of the gate to our studio sponsor, title sponsor, Shed Pro. They've just been excellent, they've just been uh really good people to work with through this whole process. Uh two years in a row now, they've taken our Wednesday spot. So, James, Steven, a lot of the guys over there uh and gals do just a wonderful job. Uh big, big shout out to them, big thank you to them for continuing to believe in our brand and uh and promote. Uh, so we want to show love by uh you know making sure to call attention to that. And they just really have a good configurator. I mean, it really boils down to that. We uh we know that from our marketing endeavors that we work in together. Uh, our newsletter, talk about that for just a second. You know, uh a lot of things that people don't realize about the newsletter that goes out twice a week to oh, four and a half thousand contacts in the shed industry. We'd love for you to be a contact on there. So, um just send me a message, info at shed geek, if you'd like to be included. Uh, it offers blogs, uh, there's good reading material there. Uh those pictures that you see on there, those digital ads, those are all clickable links. Uh, so really, you know, good for advertisers, in my opinion, because these are measurable uh digital uh options. So, like you can see, uh, at least based on an email, who clicks on it. Uh, and we do sell retargeting options on there. So, for anybody that's uh interested in some of our newer um um advertising options, live reads, banner ads, um a couple of those this month. That's been really good. And look, thank you guys, first of all, for listening to you know the uh the podcast, you know, um, and engaging with the advertisers. They pay money to be here, they pay money to be at the expo, they pay money to be in the SBJ. You know, they're trying to promote their product. So thank you. Uh, you know, always give people credit for like where you've heard about or learned about these things because it goes a long way for us whenever we're on a sales call and we're tracking down analytics and trying to show ROI. Uh there's a lot of people who offer a lot of nice products, a lot of nice services in this industry that want to get in front of you, want to do a good job, and we want to help be part of that. So, those are all clickable links. Go click on those. Uh, oftentimes you'll get to a lead form that uh has uh previous podcast episodes with them on it, or it may go straight to their website uh where you can fill out a lead form or learn more. Uh if you know, I realize that a lot of that's newer for newer people in the industry, but even the calls I get literally weekly that are like, hey, you're you know, you know, a lot of these people, um, I, you know, can you give me this guy's number or you know, a contact here? Always happy to do that because at minimum, we're uh um uh a connector at heart. So, like we really want you guys to benefit from the um educational content that we're trying to put out and hopefully entertaining. I hope you get a laugh every now and then. We do our best. Um, one of the things on that newsletter is the big shop opportunity is going away. I think we're gonna take that down. The steel building opportunity. Um, you know, we have access to a shop in central Illinois, somebody's wanting to expand, they already roll metal. Um, you know, they've got CNC machines and they're looking to get into something, and uh they have access to um plain community labor there that's looking for more options. So, you know, it's just seemed like a perfect fit for somebody who would want to jump in. And uh, we of course we would love to be part of that conversation. If you're just looking to get into steel buildings in central Illinois or cover the state of Illinois, uh we are more than happy to make that connection, but just really struck out there, haven't had much luck. So, if there is somebody who's interested in getting into that, happy to talk uh through that with you. On that note, job openings, equipment for sale, blogs. If you have blogs, um we want you to put them on here. Contact me, contact Deanna, D-E-A-N-N-A @ shedgeek.com if you have to, and uh and submit your blog, and we will make sure to get it on the newsletter. If you've got thoughts on the industry, if you're a hauler, if you're a seller, if you're a manufacturer, or if you're a product or service provider in this industry, um, you know, your knowledge, whether it be audibly on a podcast or written down in a blog, um, is good reading material for those professionals that want to continue to seek uh and do better at their craft. So, if you've got blogs, send them over. Uh it also gains you exposure with the audience uh for those who go through and listen. And again, you know, for those who click on those, we do have retargeting campaign ads available uh for sale if somebody's wanting to stay in front of those people. And thank you for those people who do click on these uh different things to learn. You know, uh I understand you don't always want to be solicited and you always have the option to unsubscribe. So, you know, we don't want to hound you, we just want to be consistent the same way you would if you were selling a shed. But if you've got job openings, equipment for sale, and you want to put those things on there, uh it's free of charge. Just let me know. We'll get it in in front of at least our audience. So, more than happy to do those things.

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Shed Sales Summit And Industry Events

Shannon 11:43

Okay, where do we go from here? Uh it's tough whenever you're having to be the one who's talking the whole time and not taking a break to uh uh hear what somebody else has to say. So, let's look at the shed cell summit. Um I went through our newsletter and I kind of looked at the topics that were on there, and this one really stuck out to me. Shed cell summit this year in uh Knoxville, the NSRA. Uh so thankful to have been asked to do a breakout session there at the NSRA. Um I hope that we can bring value, you know. I hope that uh that you can learn more about rent to owner, that we can provide some kind of value uh that is adjacent to rent to own. Um so thank you for that opportunity, you know, NSRA, and just love what you guys are doing. Uh keep doing it. Um not that you need my permission by any means, but I just I just love to attend the events, I love to be there. I love that the industry can find a way, even with a lot of the bitterness that we see in the industry, to uh and competition, uh, to find a way to rise above the fold and say, like, let's work together on that. And that's what that is. That's a room of competitors working together. So, thank you for what you guys do. Um, going all the way back to uh Leland uh organizing that. What a what a great vision that you had there, Leland, to be able to put something like that together. So, uh it'll be in Knoxville uh here in September. Uh certainly encourage you guys to attend. I think it's worth your time, I think it's worth your money. Uh I think you should attend. Uh, of course, we'll be at the expo, the flagship, uh, and just really the uh the family reunion of the shed industry. Uh it's really nice to be there. Uh I it's possible, and maybe I'm letting the cat out of the bag here because it may not come to fruition. And if not, that's okay. But, if it does, it sounds like I might be uh running a round table discussion conversation there. So, thank you. If I do get that opportunity to do that, it's been talked about. Hopefully that comes together. Uh, this podcast probably won't come out till close to August. So, uh, you know, we won't be that far away from the expo. And then I think it goes without saying, and it's worth sort of addressing this, uh, just because it became it's such a peculiar situation. Um, national shed show, uh, different than the shed expo. Uh that has that mantle's been taken up by uh the good folks over at the Shed Sales Summit, Making Sales Simple, Simple RTO, simple uh marketing, uh Shed Talk. Uh they've got like a simple Shed Talk, they've got like a couple different brands that they're working over there, but uh they decided to launch in February, I believe it is in Daytona, the national shed show. Um main reason I address this is you know, obviously what Marty's done and Matt and the good folks Debbie and Cal and so many of them over at the expo and SBJ. Um, you know, it's just been amazing. Uh, you know, maybe there's room, you know, for a competitor. Uh our position is to just be supportive of all things sheds and steel buildings and carports, excuse me. Um we'll we will see how that shakes out. Um I'm an encourager of both, you know, uh an attendee of both, uh probably advertising for both. Uh but the main point the and the reason I wanted to address it is somebody messaged me yesterday and said, a first time I've heard about this uh National Shed Show, are you affiliated? And the answer is a simple no, uh, other than being an encourager or something along those lines. But uh this is what I found interesting is they said, uh, well, we looked it up and AI uh Chad GPT says that uh Shed Geek's the organizer. Just to be clear, there is no ownership, um, there is no partnership, uh, and there's no affiliation from Shed Geek with this new national shed show that is the good folks over at the Shed Sales Summit and making sales simple. Uh Peter Miller, Andrew Boyle, Gary Boyle, uh Um, Peter Boyle, Peter Miller, Andrew Boyle, Gary Boyle, a lot of those guys over there. It's sometimes it's hard for me to keep up with all the names, but um, those guys are the ones running that. Um, you know, we would be nothing more than an encourager and an advertiser as well as an attendee, but no ownership structure there for me. So um, I don't know how you undo that from chat GPT, that somehow they find that um that I'm the uh organizer of that because I am not, nor am I an owner in any way. Just want to make that clear. Uh, and

Clearing Up National Shed Show Confusion

Shannon 16:16

the podcast seems to be the best way to do that, uh, just so that it's uh it's out there publicly. Um uh ways to listen and watch the podcast option. Again, as I'm going down through the newsletter, you know, there are multiple ways to listen. So uh, and there's multiple ways people do listen. And all those analytics don't always track clearly uh for everybody um publicly. Uh a lot of those are internal through BuzzSprout or RSS feed that we use and have been using for six years now, you know, whether it be Spotify or Apple Podcast or um now Google Podcast is gone. A lot of them are gone. A lot of these podcasts uh uh just like with sheds, I think the same thing happens in any industry. And certainly, with podcasting, you can see that where, you know, somebody takes the mantle or somebody takes the market share, and you see some of the others fall off. And that's what you've basically had happen. Spotify, Apple Podcasts are still very much leaders um in the in the podcast space. Uh, but you can get a direct RSS link feed, which we do in a lot of our newsletters and different things. So, I know if that sounds technical, please forgive me, but um, you know, you can watch uh listen that way. You can obviously watch through YouTube, which is the only way that we're dispersing it out visually. Uh, but again, the call-in landline all accumulates to about 1.2 uh thousand listeners a week in the shed industry. So, thank you. Um, you know, uh, I was thinking the other day, like, you know, how hard it is to be a Joe Rogan. I'm not a Joe Rogan, I don't have big numbers, I don't have 50,000 people listening for every episode, and I don't I don't know that I ever will. We've really focused on the niche but to uh of one specific trade, but really to get 1.2,000 people to listen consistently, uh, I feel like is a very it's just a very like uh big feat in itself. You know, it's been very difficult to obtain that. And it says hopefully that we have something to say that the audience wants to listen to. So, thank you. I mean, thank you from the bottom of my heart to listen because without uh the Lord giving us this opportunity, we just wouldn't have it. And sometimes it's a little bit difficult because I'm probably more introverted than people realize uh whenever we started this. But uh I have my moments of both uh introversion and extroversion. So, thank you guys for listening. It's just been excellent.

What Advertising Actually Does

Shannon 18:45

Uh today's advertisers, uh goodness. We already talked about we kind of discussed blogs, but this is I feel like this is uh you know a hidden gem. If you're providing blogs, uh those blogs are free, those blogs help get you um uh top of mind awareness. And I've said this before on the show, and I'll continue to say it. I still believe that advertising accomplishes basically two things, and there's a difference in advertising and marketing. So, let's we can go down that road, but let's talk about advertising and we're putting out ad copy for you. We're doing that in in way of uh probably a disruption at this point, where you know somebody comes in with an ad, uh 60-second commercial. Uh, we have the newsletter, so we have digital ads which operate just like a print ad in a magazine, they're just digital with links and trackable links. So, now we know who's actually laying their eyes on it. Um you know, just a big fan of blogs. I mean, I can't say that the blogs and the digital ads. I mean, the blogs are free, the digital ads are a hundred dollars a month. So, if you're just trying to bring awareness, bring just simply bring awareness to our product or a new product or new service or something we're offering, very, very like uh, I feel like fair pricing for awareness as well as top of mind, which is the other thing that advertising does. It either makes you aware the product is there or the service is there and what it does. But then the second thing is really like staying top of mind. Um, I use Coca-Cola as the best example. Coca-Cola has now done advertising for so long and done it so well that people actually collect Coca-Cola advertising memorabilia. That's impressive, right? A new company out of the gate, they're really still trying to get um bring that awareness and keep that top of mind awareness there. But why does advert why does Coca-Cola still advertise? Is the question. If everyone knows that they're there aware that it exists, why do they advertise? Well, they advertise to stay top of mind. They advertise because whenever you want to drink to quench your thirst, they want you to think of Coke. They want you to think of Coca-Cola. That's the reason that they advertise. That's the reason why they spend the millions that they do on the Super Bowl ads. Um, it's the same way with your product and service. You have to stay in front of people. There's multiple touch points that happen. There's many of you who listen to this podcast call and say, hey, you know, what about this company? What about that? Um we try to cover as much of that on there. And not to mention, everyone's invited. I think we've made this abundantly clear. Like we welcome solicitation to be on the podcast. We do not see you as bragging, we do not see you as um putting yourself above anyone. We see you as talking about your product, your service, and how it helps the industry. And that's free of charge. And it doesn't matter to me if you compete with something that we're offering, we will never be able to satisfy the needs of every person in the shed industry. So we're more than happy to have. Your RTO company. We're more than happy to advertise your marketing. And we're more than happy to get on here and talk with you about those specific details because we believe that good conversation about these details betters the listener. It betters the industry. It helps us be more unified. It helps us be uh uh uh better problem solvers. Uh, I think, and while I understand that we compete, I also think there's a good opportunity to have a conversation that's real uh in front of people and obvious and honestly not coming on, you know, I don't want to say it creates any speculation because I don't I don't think that's true. Um, and that sounds more like a hook. Um, but I believe that it's good for you to be on, and I try to solicit, you know, all of you guys. I'm soliciting you right now to be a podcast guest or uh tell your shed story. I think I think because I know, because I've filtered the phone calls that people genuinely enjoy listening to your experience, listening to how you came to know Sheds, how you got in this industry, what your experience has been, what you're seeing, um, and then also the service providers and product uh suppliers. I think that people enjoy that too, and I know that because I've gotten feedback from so many different ones. So advertisers, blogs, digital ads, you know, keeping that really affordable or free, and as well as podcast guests for you guys to be on here. So, I'll run through because it's been a long time since I did a monologue. I used to do two a year, I would do a mid-year and I'd do an end of the year. We're right here in July. It's been a while since I've done one. So, let's call this the mid-year, if you will. Um, and uh I know we advertise a lot. I know you probably see it on social media. So, I know you might say, Well, I don't I don't need to hear this again, but I just want to give some love to those who are currently advertising. There's a whole list of others who have before, and we hope we win them back, you know, over time. Uh, but there's a whole host of people here, so just bear with me as I go through some of these names and just say thank you.

AD-SHED SUITE 24:06

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Shannon 24:58

Uh Versabend,

Mid-Year Partner Thanks And Shoutouts

Shannon 24:59

Wendell Hostettler. First of all, if you're in the metal building business and you're putting up uh uh buildings, you definitely want to get a VersaBend Bender, big fan of what they do. They've got some new products that they've added to it. Uh they'll be advertising here uh over the next 12 months. So, go check them out. Uh a huge fan of what they do. Identigrow goes without saying the number one um option to put uh in any type of insignia on your building, any type of branding on your building. They do a great job. They have multiple options. Check out the commercial, go look at the website, Lux Guard. Uh, same. If you're if you're saying I'm selling a quality building, you're not going to be able to wait on the customers to come and demand the product. You're going to have to take this to the customers to show them. But if you throw a Lux Guard on there and wrap that up into a finance or RTO contract, what are you talking about? You know, three to five dollars extra a month for the added benefit, the added value of that product. Um, can't say enough good for it. The Cardinal Mule, it obviously goes without saying, uh, you know, the flagship of all that we know and do, those neat little apparatuses that you see on YouTube that people talk about and discuss. Uh they're just a staple in the industry. They have been, and I'm so thankful for what they do. They're actually here close by. If you're ever going to a cardinal uh manufacturing here in southern Illinois, give me a call, give me a text, shoot me an email. We'll be glad to have lunch. On that note, Cardinal Leasing, Jonathan Miller, uh, someone I think of as a mentor. Uh uh, someone I don't mind saying that at the Shed Sales Summit, they give you opportunities to vote for different people. Someone I don't mind saying publicly, I have voted for because I think so much of the guy uh in and out of business. I think Jonathan Miller is just an excellent person. Uh, we have so much history together, uh, and it's unique, and we've talked about it on the podcast. But I love Cardinal Leasing uh and uh JCM Reynolds and what they do. IFab, you guys heard the podcast recently, new owners. Um, you know, uh I think I can go on record and say this. I don't mind saying this. I hope that they don't mind me saying this. Um, but you know, the first year they came on the podcast and then advertised with us, you know, uh Nick at one point said, Man, you made up like half of our sales this year. They came from the podcast. Uh you know, so many leads come from that. I don't know what causes a product to strike out or service to strike out, and what causes you guys to say, I want that. All I know is um they had a lot of success in it. And you know, I hope the new owners find the same thing as they continue to advertise. I love their product, I love what they do. Um, I hope I'm not giving too much away whenever I mention something like that. And I also hope it doesn't sound too salesy. Um, a little salesy is fine. Too much, not enough, uh, or too much is too much. So, uh jumbling my words here. WH supply, gosh, Carly and Bill Keegan, just salt to the earth, some of the best people. Uh, you know, uh Karlee is the one of the most talented people that I know. And I think you guys are sleeping on some of the designs that she has put together. Uh, she's even shared some of them on uh social media through the Shed Sales Professionals page, just excellent stuff. But as a company, they really do just uh make it simple. Uh beautiful catalog, beautiful brochure. If you don't get it, contact them. They're uh there near Lancaster. I can't remember the exact town, but they're there in Pennsylvania, uh, and they service so many states. Um like tons of tons of products. Live switch is another sleeper, and I almost want to leave it that way. I think the same way we saw Velocity 360 and Joe um, you know, kind of get on the podcast three years ago. We probably did three or four podcasts and then eventually found the product that worked for him in the industry. And my has he taken off and signed on so many clients for a CRM. I think live switch is gonna be that here in about two or three years, but I'm gonna leave the cat in the bag and I'm not gonna say too much about it. Obviously, Heartland, we appreciate you as an RTO company, a leader, uh, maybe one of the largest, if not the largest, RTO providers. You know, we have opportunity because you've provided opportunity by doing this for so many years. So we thank you. Um uh Tiffany, you know, um, just an excellent interview. Really enjoyed talking with her and Darren whenever I got a chance to talk with Darren, the CEO of Stor Mor over there. So big thank you to those guys. Uh uh Chris is infamous, obviously, as a business- person in this industry and has just built, you know, excellence. And um, you know, many of us are just trying to trying to copy uh cat some of that, some of that success. Solar Blaster fans is another one that I just cannot help but focus on. Um I believe in solar blaster fans so much that I'm ordering a shed uh this weekend and I'm making sure to have the light tubes and the uh fans put on my shed, my own personal shed at my house. That's how much I believe in the product. I love what they do. Dan Reim is an old school sales guy, he'll take care of you, he'll send you uh things that you need. This is another example similar to Lux Guard that the customer is not gonna come in. Me and Cords talked about this and ask for a solar blaster fan. It's an upsell, but that upsell inside of an RTL payment or finance payment is gonna be dollars, dollars a month. And this is if you're selling a I sell a product, uh a quality product, but I'm not gonna offer premium quality options like LuxGuard, like Solar Blaster, who make it a better option for the customer overall. Um I really think we're sleeping on this one. I'm a big fan of what he does. Was able to connect him with a couple people recently. If you would like to order a solar blaster fan, I you know, the lights. I look, I'll get on the call with you with Dan, and you'll just see that he's the old school guy. He is going to take care of you. He's gonna send you brochures, he's gonna send you vinyl banners, whatever you need to promote this. Um great product. Newfound Rentals has been with us, I think maybe since day one. Um, you know, um, obviously, NewFound's a leader so much in so many ways in the industry, not only in RTO. I think about Phil's story when he was working with Scott at BLI, and he said, I walked out, you know, this is a podcast episode. We need to get him back on. Uh, Phil, this is my call to you. We need to get you back on. I think you're a great storyteller. He discussed how um he thought he was a good salesperson because they were offering rent owners. He was going around and signing everybody up on BLI. And he said, man, it didn't really expose me as a salesperson until it got competitive. Uh, and him and Ryan have since done just an amazing job. RTO Smart, obviously, uh one of the first to market with a you know, do-it-yourself rent-to-owned kind of option. Uh, built the software that is necessary for you to be able to see everything that you need. Just overall good guys and uh a great company. I've been out to Wichita a couple times with them and they are just phenomenal. Creekside Welding, my buddy James Peight, um up in Pennsylvania. Every time I get a chance to stop by and I missed him this last trip, I always try to stop and get a little bite to eat with him. Um just you know, obviously a leader as well in the trailer manufacturing. And I just find him so unique in that um, you know, uh what they build with Creekside Welding, uh, the trailers. Uh I've been to the shop, I've seen the process, you know, the shed boss, the connection to the shed challenger, all of it. Very neat. Um, good trailers that you know I'd never hear any complaints about. So big shout out to them. Consumer Aligned Logistics, my buddy Tristan. Uh, you know, oh uh we use him. I mean, I don't know how there's a greater endorsement other than to say that at Shed Geek Rentals, we've used the CAL system uh and it works. It's that simple. It works, it has worked for a long time. I know other companies that use it as well, too. They've said the similar thing. He's a salt of the earth kind of guy as well, just uh good Christian man. Uh uh, you know, comes from that, you know, uh organic food world. Uh, and if you talk to him about it, it's a very interesting story. He's a biker, uh, and when I mean say that, I mean uh bicycle biker. Uh, you know, just an excellent guy. I every time I talk to him, and it's been too long. Uh, every time I get a chance to talk to him, I'm blessed by the conversation. And the service they provide is truly uh second to none in the industry. Shed Suite, uh, again, another staple in the industry. Um these are all advertisers, guys. Like these are guys I want to shout out to. And I know you might say, well, this is a very boring conversation. I want to hear about somebody's shed story. And I get it, you know, you it's hard to listen to every episode. It's hard to uh I just want to take from it what I gained. But I would tell you just the same as you don't judge a book by a cover, don't judge a podcast by its cover. Uh, there's a lot of good content in some of the ones that you guys miss. But back to Shed Suite. Um, you know, thank you for advertising their leader and what they do. Jason is really one of the best people that I know. Uh, he's been so welcoming on calls on podcasts. Um, anytime I've met with him, he's just been supportive. Um, can't really say enough good about him. And I think his product speaks for itself as probably um, you know, one of the best, if not the best, POS systems out there uh that you've seen, and constantly gets shout-outs on the on the uh Shed Cell's professionals page. First choice metals. Um uh someone that I know you know uh a little bit less about, but that connection comes through um uh Heartland and just all of the stuff that they've been doing. I can't say enough about you know these guys being willing to commit to us. And that's a hard product to sell, especially if you're not moving a lot of metal. But if you are, please contact them. Uh we thank them so much for being an advertiser, it does mean a lot.

AD-FIRST CHOICE METALS 35:18

When it comes to building something that lasts, every detail matters. At first choice metals, we proudly support the shed, carport, and pole barn industries with durable, high-quality steel roof panels, siding, and trim accessories built to perform and made to last. Every product we offer is American-made. With craftsmanship and finish, you can see in every panel. More builders and homeowners are choosing metal roofing and siding for a reason. It offers superior durability, a longer lifestyle, and improved energy efficiency compared to traditional materials. Our first choice metals are metal simple. We provide exceptional products for your building projects and deliver service to people. Because being your metal building component supplier means more than just making a sale, it means being there every step of the way. First choice metals. Go for strength, backed by service.

Shannon 36:19

The Challenger, gosh, I'm gonna have to go quick. Uh, Real Work Labs, Country Classic Rentals, all these guys have been absolutely phenomenal. And I and I saved not the best for the last, but the exclusive partners, you know, certainly for last, uh maybe I should have put them first. I just want to talk about the true Shed Max uh program over at Pittsburgh Paints, their dedication to the shed industry. They are an exclusive provider of the Shed Geek Podcast. We believe in them, we believe in what they're doing. We want to continue to push their product, push their service. Um, Pittsburgh Paints has just been great in their new true Shed Max program. You will have help at a local level. So, you know, if you need to run to the store, they're gonna take care of you. Uh J Money, uh, my buddy Joel, uh, everybody needs a finance option. I understand there's multiple finance options out there through upgrade and what they've been able to do. Uh, I think has been pretty cool. Uh, I remember when I was selling, uh, I always wanted a finance option for the customers who came in and said, I want something because I have a little bit better credit score, but I can't cash and carry this thing. I need an option that's not rent-owned. Um, while we think rent-owned dominates 50% of all sales, we still know that traditional finance, uh, and when you have a solution for them and they don't have to run home to their own bank, you can close the sale and it makes a lot of sense. Velocity360s CRM uh almost goes without saying anything. Uh was able to get uh Joe the speaking uh uh spot there at the Shed Sale Summit last year, and mixture of that in the shed show uh appearance. Man, it just set his world on fire. Him and Brandon have been closing business faster than they know what to do with it. Uh and uh and I'm sure he would like more because he truly does get some of the best conversions that we've seen. Um, you know, if you want more conversions from your leads, uh they are simply the guys to do it. They have the data to back it up, and I think that's the most important. And then, of course, playsets and hunting blinds are our good friends over at Herschberger Lawn Structure. Uh and play more and the striker hunting blinds are if you have not seen them, and thank you. I think we've signed maybe five people up this year to start selling those. And uh, I just can't say thank you enough. I hope we continue to see people call in, email or text wanting that connection because we love making that connection with products that complement your shed lot, like a striker hunting blind, like a claymore playset. Those things oftentimes bring people to the lot for your sheds, uh, and they end up buying a shed, but they become repeat uh customers, and the hunting blinds are just truly cool. Where am I at? Oh goodness. I've got here, I thought I wouldn't have enough to talk about, and I've got 15, 20 minutes left uh to try to get into some of this. Okay.

Trademark Protection And Scam Warnings

Shannon 39:15

Uh let's get into trademark copyright. You know, first of all, um uh got an article coming out in the SBJ over that here, uh, probably October, November. Think you guys are gonna enjoy that. And I just can't say enough about Justin Clark and uh working with him on the trademark copyright. You know, we actually had a situation where you know somebody applied to the USPTO and tried to copyright shed geek. Uh, you know, it's interesting. You know, we've had all kinds of strange things happen. People bought, you know, domain names associated with our name. And the only thing I can assume is in hopes that we won't grow into that business model. Um, and there's some mindset that says if I limit them by, you know, owning their domain, uh, they won't be able to expand into that area. Uh wild, wild thought, uh especially a wild thought, you know, whenever you actually go through the process of spending $350 to try and trademark, you know, something that's already trademarked. So luckily the USPTO did us a solid uh denied that request. But it just made me think, you know, about wanting to talk about this on the podcast is I understand there's a lot of differences in some of the playing community's mindsets uh, you know, over these things. But if you do not have your brand protected in some way, um biggest thing I want to make sure to mention is if you get someone to do it, and it's not someone we recommend, be on the lookout for scammers. Uh, once you send this in, you should get no solicitation for bills. I got one literally this morning and one yesterday, $1,400. It's not a real bill. It's people who find out that you've recently uh attempted to trademark or copyright something and they're sending you a fake bill and they get rich doing this because people pay the bills without even thinking about it. You should consult a trademark and copyright lawyer uh unless you're gonna attempt to do it yourself. But my best word of advice is watch out for the scammers. Um, but it makes sense to have your brand protected because had the USPTO given this individual uh a trademark and copyright or trademark specifically on Shed Geek, uh it would have cost me thousands, thousands upon thousands of dollars. I've heard numbers as much as fifty thousand dollars from people who have had to try and like recoup their brand. So, whether it's trademark or copyright, you know, your website, your service, your product, it's really nice to have that brand protection. I understand it's an investment, uh, but uh, you know, uh an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And I believe that, you know, if you can solve that ahead of time, you can solve yourself a lot of problems. I don't think there's a just a ton of people going out here trying to copy our stuff, but then again, I get on some of these pages and I see where people are taking their pictures, their intellectual property. I mean, these are things that on the surface you say, well, I shouldn't have to have a lawyer to solve this problem. I should be able to call this person and talk to them. Not everyone's reasonable, first of all, and having that brand protection does not mean you have to sue anybody. It just means that it um, you know, it keeps people from uh uh trying to mimic your brand, create any debt uh on your brand name, which can become cumbersome in itself. Um, and we've just been lucky enough to like uh think ahead, get that stuff done ahead of time. If you want a connection there, we're looking at possibly making that part of our marketing services or um simple advertising, we're not sure yet. Um, okay, so big fan of trademark copyright. I think you should have brand protection. I think we could do a whole episode on that. We have done an episode on that, and I think we could go deeper on that. Shed Geek Marketing.

Marketing Help Through Time Blocks

Shannon 43:04

Uh, we're meeting with our team, we're getting ready to put out a podcast, uh, and we're gonna have a lot of these faces. I realize six years into this, 500 episodes in, uh, I realize that you don't always know a lot of our team, or you might know some of our previous team, and some of those even have similar names. Um, and we want to make sure to clarify. So, we're gonna put some faces to those names. So, we're gonna do an episode here coming up. Um, maybe it comes out before this one, I'm not sure. Uh, with all our marketing partners, Alan, Adeel, Dillan, Jacob, Christopher, David, myself, Cord, you know, we just did one on consultation recently where you saw Richard Mashburn, Peter Miller, uh uh Tyler Mayhan, and also Christopher Sedlak. Uh, Christopher also operates as a service provider for us. So, outside of just consultation, uh, he actually does a lot of the services. So, a lot of times what we find is when somebody needs consultation. uh it could be a larger company which we've had the pleasure of having a few of those here recently uh those conversations and clients come on board or could be that you're a dealer could be that you're a small manufacturer and you just need some help you need some ideas you need some uh somebody to be a sounding board you know that was one of the things that we had recently you know a gentleman who had you know some brothers that were involved with his business and they're no longer there and he misses the idea of being able to bounce those ideas off of them as a sole proprietor um well I mean we want to offer more than just being a sounding board but we can definitely be somebody that has experience in multiple different disciplines uh where we can offer whether that's software development business development you know um uh marketing development we can connect you so a lot of times and what we've been finding a lot here lately that's been working is doing time blocks so I don't want to sign up Shannon I don't want to sign up for this big cost I don't want to have this big cost hanging over me for a year or six months maybe I just need a you know a DIY project I'd like to create my own website I just need somebody to walk me through awesome contact us contact us and buy a time block we'll set a number on that time block you'll get so many hours with different people with different disciplines whether it's building a custom coded website a Wix site a GoDaddy site a WordPress site we'll walk you through some of those conversations we find that a lot of those people get frustrated in those DIY projects and say we just prefer you to do it ourselves but we know that the path to service provision through marketing or rent own or anything is education. It is being someone who um attempts to consult you anyway for free. And then if we get your business we get it. So I'm talking about simple graphics guys if you're just someone who's setting it a lot and you're like I'm not technically inclined but I need some signage or uh I need a graphic that says this uh those little projects are things that we can take on. We can walk you through them or we can do them for you. I think these time blocks have been what has been really successful and we're going to talk more about that in the marketing uh where you know once you talk to or once you hear from a deal Alan, Dillan, Jacob, Christopher, David, uh you might say hey I just need somebody to explain to me what a webhook is uh okay give us a call you know we want to talk about that. What whatever it is that you're like dealing with we're trying to find a way uh to make it so you're not having to sign up for like this this bigger overarching long-term cost but you can get the solution to your problem that you need. And some of that we're just gonna have to figure it as we go and even custom software design if you want to go much deeper we have someone on the team that can absolutely do that. They've actually built out a um something we haven't promoted yet for the plain communities is a option um to text um oh gosh I you know I'm gonna mess it up if I if I try to explain it because he's gonna do it so much better. But it's an it's a it's an option where you'll be able to text uh if you're in playing community um uh to a platform that's gonna then move that information out into email uh and back and forth so there's a lot of functionality and we're not just like trying to sell or promote things that we've already built if you have an idea or have a need uh contact us we'll see if we can custom develop that uh that software for you uh maybe it's a small uh maybe it's a small organizing tool somewhat adjacent to a CRM uh or something like that that that we can build if you're not doing the full CRM build out yet with velocity. So uh where are we at? I put down 11 40 or six minutes away and a lot to cover. Uh

Structures Growth And Rentals Plans

Shannon 48:05

Shed Geek Structures I'll just tease on this briefly you know we have partnered uh to put sheds on the ground we think we're gonna be in about eight states before long um and we're looking for top performers uh what is a top performer I mean somebody who knows how to sell and if you're already selling other products this is not going to complicate your mix um if you are a seasoned salesperson that's uh top in your in in your um with your company uh we would love to talk with you because this does not complicate things because you can sell across the country you can sell in different areas you don't have to always just sell where you are this is a complete online option that gives you the ability to close leads that we bring to you um at a at a lower percentage but also at no cost to you um and we'll see how things go from there so if you're looking uh to grow uh and you don't have a way to do that directly without upsetting your current um provider this is a solution that makes sense for you so we are looking for top performers if you want to contact me we would love to chat with you uh this would be strictly online strictly online um shed geek rentals can't say enough thank you to uh Titus and Josh and Gerald uh we've got a little bit of a new management system in there um we are looking for I know I have to be careful what I say with the FCC uh we are looking for investors we are looking for capital we are on board for growth um we have uh we have seen growth and we want to see more growth and the only way to do that is um capital so if you're somebody who's uh interested in that has a personal relationship with me I'd love to chat with you about that uh I just want to make sure I stay in compliance and don't uh solicit that as a straight advertisement.

Digital Leads SEO And AI Overview

Shannon 50:03

State of the industry and what's to come I wrote this down and um you know what is the state of the industry I mean I sometimes feel like I'm beating a dead horse whenever I say digital leads and race to face are going to continue to take market share. Of course, you can still put out a shed lot and never get on Facebook and never get on any type of like digital presence and still be successful. Of course you can uh for those who are looking to scale those who are looking to grow I think digital is still a very real thing uh so much is trackable through the digital uh option as opposed to analog or print uh media uh there's just a lot of value right now in that but even in that it's changing itself you know I wrote down and we just did an episode over AEO for those of you guys that didn't hear that and answer engine optimization the best way I know how to break it down in like a real life you know what Jesus used parables uh I'll try to use metaphors as best I can um you google something you search query something with specific keyword I mean this has become common vernacular in our language so you guys know this when someone says what's the answer to that I don't know go Google it well based off what you decide to Google it's going to bring you different results and that's why SEO uh needs to be well defined and we're happy to explain that on the most granular detail that you would like to be bored with we'll be happy to show you how optimizing your site organically makes sense. But now with AI and AI overview we're just really seeing a change in the market and I even just did this if you just want to search query exactly what I did what did I put in uh I put in website analytics due to AI overview in Google search bar. Um and I went through some of the website options which is exactly what they're talking about and went straight to the AI overview. And you guys will see this with Jim and I a lot of times in uh Google uh you know and literally the AI overview says Google AI overview fundamentally changes website analytics by driving a rise in zero click searches lowering overall click-through rate CTRs and shifting how website traffic is measured um and one of the specific things they talk about with CTRs in here is how studies show that when an AI overview is present click through rates drop significantly falling from roughly 15% to 8% with only about 1% of users clicking the actual links embedded inside the AI box which is why we did an episode over answer engine optimization which is going to be on the rise just as uh prevalent as search engine optimization and these are things that not everybody in the shed industry has just figured out yet so if you want to have a class over that you know maybe we can just charge to get uh very granular detailed over a webinar or provide a free remote webinar you know if we've got enough people interested but sometimes there's a struggle in trying to figure out when we're consulting and offering value that should be charged and when we should just be offering that for free. We offer a lot of free content on the podcast and on socials uh so sometimes we have to pay the bills I think you guys understand that uh informational traffic drops non-branded informational and how-to content typically experience a year over year traffic contraction uh 15% to 30% so uh in other words ai overview showing up it's giving you the answer so you never actually go and click on the website to get the information and when people don't click on the website as much they don't go down the funnel that's necessary to get them to fill out other information um so uh very nerd techie stuff that we're happy to discuss with you guys I welcome a call I don't know how to say that enough I welcome a call so that we can figure out what the best plan of option is uh uh attack is to like get you this information whether you just want to DIY or you want to learn about it and then make a decision on what to purchase um so you know um I mentioned the word copycat earlier uh brand protection copycat culture I don't want to get too much into that just because we kind of discussed that on trademark that's another thing that you know because there's so many companies name the same thing you're losing so much domain authority so much SEO authority because you're named the same things this is why whenever you hear people say what's different about you why are you unique what's different that's why it's important to be unique is because Google and the bots are going to crawl your site and they're gonna recognize the things that are different based off the word search query so not to get too technical or um uh boring for you guys but just want to make sure to mention that uh sorry for the losses of just what I feel like is so many different things we've seen in the industry this

Losses In The Industry And Support

Shannon 54:58

year. Uh the gentleman the shed hauler in in in uh I think it was Wisconsin that passed away uh somebody shared a GoFundMe link on the shed sales professionals page go check that out give uh if you can uh you know Josiah barn Barnett uh Burnett um so sorry to hear about him, young man, Mississippi, 28 years old past new pastor of a church um so many connections with him I didn't know him personally but I know so much of his family Joe Gaither, Atlee Stewart uh Aaron Burnett uh just all the Burnett's you know like uh a big name in this industry you built so much for this industry I just want to say my complete condolences and prayers are with you and your family as you grieve during this time I can't I don't have a personal relationship with everyone in this industry guys so I don't always know um when or if someone's passed away and I'm actually spending a lot less time on social media particularly Facebook these days so um I'm just so sorry I'm grieved for them and we always try to pray you know the protection over those uh in the industry uh and so I'm truly I'm truly sorry to hear about that and um gosh you know there's not a lot to be said even one of our marketing clients he lost a grandpa and a and a child within two to three months you know from each other and it's just these things I don't I don't know what to do with them uh other than to say I'm so sorry and we pray with you uh for comfort and peace uh I'll try to move on and finish up strong here with uh we want you to be on the podcast we want you to come on and talk have conversation uh with no expectation of advertising no expectation of taking up any of our services uh we're happy if you do but more than anything we like to provide good value uh valuable conversation for the listeners so this is a call this is a call for everyone in the industry whether you're a service provider product provider competitor friend foe uh hauler seller manufacturer we want you we want your stories we'd love to tell them we do not see bringing you on as a guest as you bragging about what you do we see them as testimonial we see them as you telling something uh that helps other people in their adventure and we love to build community and that's one of the best ways to build community is to have that conversation so never feel if you're reaching out that it is a burden we want to talk with you no matter who you are if you're in the in these industries we want to know more about what you do how you got here what you're seeing and we just want to offer good educational and entertaining uh podcast for people it's what it boils down to uh it's really that simple so this is my call my plea for those of you guys who want to be involved um we don't mind continuing to solicit but feel free to reach out to us we would love to talk with you we'd love to know more about your story uh we've had a couple people recently who said man we didn't know you'd be so transparent so open so honest it's just who we try to be um it's just who we try to be you know uh we're thankful that they came on and uh without saying too much you know they're gonna they're gonna advertise with us so that was that was pretty gnarly I thought it was pretty neat um oh gosh what do I have I was able to somehow ramble for 50 minutes there uh with my bullet points if you're still listening thank you so much we're in year six I think we got we're pretty confident that we're gonna go to year 10 uh I don't know what's beyond that maybe uh you know maybe this just ends up being a 10 year endeavor I don't know I've got some personal things outside a podcast that I'd like to do they're even outside the shed industry that we're looking at uh those you know help fulfill your personal desires and things that you want to do things you want to talk about um you know this is more of a local podcast so we want to really focus on our local community because we believe what we've learned from the shed industry is building community matters so much um and local community suffers more than more than ever uh when we're all so connected we're so distant uh more than ever at any point in history so we want to build that cord wants to build that he's a city council and a shout out to Cord for him coming into Shed Geek and just being an impact doing an amazing job on the Friday shows and just being such a great knowledge provider listener um and just friend overall so um and I just don't know what else I can add other than we're in year six. I'm

Looking Ahead And Closing Prayer

Shannon 59:41

amazed that you guys continue to listen um uh I'm thankful that you guys continue to listen it makes me feel like we're doing something right um we'd love to push your products your services your stories uh thankful to get a speaking event here in December uh where I'm going to speak I'm open to those guys um you know uh we had you know didn't even settle on a number this guy asked me to be there and I said I'd be there and he said well I'll take care of you and that was good enough for me we didn't even we didn't even put a cost to it but we'd love to come speak if you want us to speak if you feel like we can add value um obviously sheds are big part of what we do it's uh you know it's consumed me with a 200 hat collection and a 200 shirt collection and all of these cards and tumblers behind me uh you know we want to give back to the inner industry the way they've given to us uh our family says thank you uh it's really helped to create some long-term um um options for us as a as a family we all work together my son my wife uh my daughter works part-time with us so um thank you so much is I guess from the bottom of my heart the best thing I can say I don't know how long you're gonna listen to a podcast for me continuing to say thank you and promote uh people and their products and services but thank you for letting me do this mid-year um uh monologue I hope you found it educational entertaining valuable in some way and I hope you'll consider uh uh being a guest on the show I really love talking with you guys uh I'm gonna end this in a prayer and we're gonna get out of here for today Lord thank you uh as I stumbled through my words today here thank you for still showing me that you were you're here and guiding uh me and helping me to do the right things have the right conversations I thank you for all of our partners all our listeners uh all those who find themselves in the shed industry today Lord the shed industry is made up of people it is ultimately made up of people and they're your people uh and we know that this is just a segment of business and discipline that we get to be in that ultimately all things all roads lead back to you as they should and we thank you for sending your son to die for us we thank you for um lifting us up where we fail forgiving us um in our failures we ask that you continue to lead us guide us direct us protect us uh help make this industry strong vibrant and let it be uh uh something that pleases you uh when you think of what we do here on this lonely earth uh until we return home and we thank you in Jesus' name amen. Thank you guys so much I appreciate you guys listening it does mean a lot.

OUTRO 1:02:35

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Shed Geek podcast a quick thank you to our studio sponsor Shed Pro head over to shedpro.co/ shed geek and take their free Shed Sales Audit it takes just a few minutes and it gives you a clearer picture of what's going on underneath thank you for listening as always and thank you Shed Pro for being this year's Wednesday studio sponsor on the Shed Geek Podcast.