We interviewed Eric Bechtel, the founder and Managing Director of Dallas, Texas based Gameplan Digital on our fourth ever podcast! We talked about the current state of digital marketing, social media best practices, and how to navigate small-business marketing during a pandemic. Check out the live-recorded podcast below to learn a thing or two!
(Note: Podcast was recorded on May 12, 2020, before we formally created the Inovare Podcast by Capitol Presence.)
Transcription
Intro
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 0:13
Hello, and welcome to our fourth installment of our Virtual Happy Hour. Last week we had Paradise Springs Winery on- the CEO. He was 40 under 40 and it was a great time. We got to drink some wonderful, wonderful wine. And this week, we’re switching moods from the wine and we’re going over to beers- we’re going to local beers of Texas to invite on a good friend of mine, a good friend of Capitol Presence. That is Eric Bechtel of Gameplan Digital, who I’m told I’m not allowed to call him founder and CEO. He thinks that that’s, that’s too, too boujie as he shows up in a suit jacket. His CEO title is too big for him. But welcome on Eric. Yes, please defend the suit jacket with the CEO title.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 1:03
You gotta dress up when you’re on with Mr. Roy Edwards over here- founder and CEO of Capital Presence.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 0:13
COO- you can’t call me CEO. My Wife will get very upset.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 1:15
We always knew who the boss was so that makes makes a lot of sense. But I’m going business casual as most people are these days. I have the shorts on, back here.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 1:26
That’s the way to do it- that’s that is the appropriate way to enter into a virtual meeting these days. It’s to be all business up top and then you’ve gotta have your comfy- maybe some slippers. Maybe a nice pair of joggers down down below.
So, I actually did not do that today. I’ll show you my wardrobe. I’m wearing some red corduroy pants over here as I stretch it out. The only reason why I did that is because they came today. So, I ordered some clothes offline because I’m a degenerate and have to spend money. And these came in today. And here I am supporting businesses. It wasn’t a small business- it was Vineyard Vines. But, you know, maybe we’ll have them on one of these happy hours.
So, first of all, before we begin Eric, what are you drinking? I need to know what you’re drinking today because this is a happy hour.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 2:27
Yeah. I decided to drink local, as you said. I’m a fan of IPAs due to my time in Brooklyn. I don’t know if you can see the Brooklyn sign but gotta represent a little bit. But yeah, IP. I’m in Dallas, Texas and our sister city, Fort Worth, has Wild Acre Brewery. I have one of their fantastic IPAs here. There I don’t know if you can get it out of state, but if so it has a nice taste of hops. You know. It’s good overall. Great IPA.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 2:58
All right. And Courtney I’ll switch it over to you now. I need to know what you’re drinking. Do have any beverage with you?
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 3:04
Oh, wonderful agua from the sink!
Digital Marketing and COVID-19
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 3:09
Also local Texas- we have water from the Houston area. Very nice. It gives it a nice little zing to it.
So, I have I have a few things. First, I got made fun of the last couple weeks for drinking Miller Lite. Although, last week I obviously drank Paradise Springs Winery, but I drank Miller Lite the first two weeks and got made fun of. Which I’ll probably get made fun of again. Here I’m drinking a Bold Rock apple cider, a hard, classic cider. And then for the Cinco de Mayo week since we’re all still celebrating, I have a Corona Seltzer. Which this is a blackberry lime, Corona seltzer. It’s terrible. Don’t go and buy it. Corona, if you’re watching, you produce a terrible, terrible drink. It tastes like pepper. But that’s okay. I will consume it- consume it nonetheless.
So now that we all have drink in hand, let’s get down to the actual reason why we’re here. And that is to discuss digital marketing. So Eric, we’ve, we’ve been working together for a while now. But you had spoken to me at the beginning of this and stressed the importance of small businesses getting involved in digital marketing at this time, and so I guess we can just straight up open with that and say, “Why is this a good time for small businesses to get into digital marketing?”
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 4:34
Right now, it’s a tough time for any business, to not sugarcoat it. You know, I saw the unemployment numbers from today- I think if not eclipses, it rivals the Great Depression. So you know, everyone knows the story: COVID broke out, unemployment, rough economy. Due to that, you really have to- you’re forced to either sink or swim. You gotta fight to keep your company alive, and the best way to go about that is reaching out to where customers are spending their time.
You know, I have done a lot of research looking into the Great Depression to be honest. And I looked into what companies not just survived the Great Depression and how they did it, but what companies thrived during it. Anytime there’s a period of volatility like this, it’s a really good opportunity to shake up things within your industry and take over some spots that your competitors had above you. And you know, win some of their business.
So one story that kept coming back to me was Procter and Gamble during the Great Depression. I’m sure they’re killing it right now, due to the nature of this [pandemic]. But back then, you know, everybody was pulling out their ad spend all their marketing dollars. The economy was terrible. So everyone was getting really conservative with [money] whether they were a large business or a small business. But P&G, they actually went out and reached out to consumers where they were spending their time, which was modern technology. Obviously radio, back then. So they created the first ever storyline behind radio programs. And they called it a “soap opera.”
Because of that, we now thank P&G for creating soap operas, but also showing us how important it is, especially when times are rough, to reach consumers where they are spending their time. Today, that’s a cell phone, or desktop, or streaming or something. That’s something that large businesses knew for a very long time, and to be quite frank, those were my clients for a very long time. But I’m seeing this, and when I started Gameplan, it’s more of an opportunity to share that gospel with smaller businesses that didn’t necessarily know so much about it.
Small Businesses and Social Media
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 7:02
Hey Eric, is there any type of advice you can give to these small businesses that are struggling, about social media marketing and how they can really take advantage of this time?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 7:12
Yeah, yeah, certainly. So social media marketing- there’s a lot of components that go into it. The average person that doesn’t really spend a lot of time marketing might think, “Oh, it’s just posting on Facebook, posting on LinkedIn, Twitter, what have you. But there’s actually a whole advertising component behind that. We certainly do a lot of the- I call it “organic social media.” That’s free to do and it’s the best way to really communicate with customers on a one on one setting. You can message them. But Facebook and LinkedIn and all these companies that you hear about in the news, they got that that big because their algorithms are really good when it comes to advertising.
There are billions and billions of dollars out there that have just been pulled out of the ad space. And that’s due to a lot of large companies hearing about Coronavirus in the news and getting conservative with their money. That really opens up the opportunity for a lot of these small businesses to fill that vacuum when it comes to advertising on these social media platforms.
Video vs Static Images in Social
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 8:26
So I you know, I’ve always been a fan of video, right? And I know that I know that you’re a fan of video obviously, as well. But what is the importance of running a video campaign as opposed to text, and is there an importance- does it matter whether you’re running something that’s text or static image-based, or video based?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 8:51
Honestly, we run static images as well. There is an importance to doing both. In an ideal world if you had the resources, you would run every different type [of creative] to create one integrated campaign. But yes, engagement rates within advertising have consistently shown that moving imagery sort of catches eyes better. And there’s a higher click through rate involved with that, which in turn, is less money per lead or acquisition, whatever your industry is. But video obviously is the way to go in that sense. Right now, I think the streaming services, the big ones, they’re up like 12% since the outbreak of this viruses started.
It’s obviously a terrible thing, and I wish I could go outside- I need a haircut really bad as you can see, but if you’re a business, you have no option. You have mouths to feed. Especially small businesses. You have to take advantage of the situation, what it’s given you, and make the best out of it. And right now, Digital [marketing] is sort of on that side of the spectrum of it.
Who is Gameplan Digital?
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 9:50
And let’s take a step back just for a second here. Can you talk about your previous clients and you who Gameplan Digital is?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 10:00
Yeah. So, that kind of starts with a little bit of my background. Right out of college (West Virginia University – go Mountaineers…)
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 10:12
…LET’S GO!
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 10:13
Yeah… I joined, eBay, so I got my start at eBay. And then I moved on from agency to agency in New York City. I worked with some of the biggest names in the US like McDonald’s, BMW. I can name drop, a couple big names. But I saw the amount of money that all these large agencies are spending into digital. And then I thought, “you know, my uncles and everyone that own businesses, they’re not as big but they don’t really know about any of this stuff. They don’t get these benefits.”
So that’s specifically why I went out and I recruited a whole bunch of the people behind the scenes in the agencies, not the salespeople, but the people that do the work for the McDonalds’ and the BMW’s of the world. We got together. They’re part time- they still hold day jobs, but um, we basically take the skills we use for these big [brands] and translate it down to a smaller scale for small companies.
So, when I say small, though, that’s subjective. I have a company, I actually have permission to say their name, but Wilde Brands, they make potato chips, but they use chicken breast instead of potato. It’s paleo and keto friendly. Roy, I think you’d be a big fan of chicken chips.
Social Media Best Practices
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 11:47
That does sound delicious. So, you know I have Crohn’s disease- a lot of a lot of people know that. Which leads to why I’m drinking such such terrible beer and not some fancy IPA. My belly, you know, needs the needs the apple. That sounds delicious, I love that.
And so to talk more about, and to not put all millennials in a box and say that they’re all doing Keto or Whole 30 or something like that I am. I do Keto and Whole 30, so I’m in that box that I’m poking at.
But a lot of them are moving to new social platforms, right? They’ve been on Instagram, they kind of got off Facebook, you have dependent, you know, based on who you ask, but I’m sure your data could tell me more than what I know. But they’re getting off Facebook. They’re getting on Instagram. And now we’re seeing a trend to social media, like Tik Tok. So how do you use and you know, how do you use all the different social medias? How do you keep up with this? And then is it a just you got to dip your feet? Is there something you have to do you have to be on every social media platform? What’s kind of your take on that?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 12:54
I know you’re up to date with Tik Tok, Roy. Yeah, kids around that age, they do all the dances in their houses like shimmying left and right, but yeah Tik Tok, it’s just the new wave, you know. You had Snapchat before that, Instagram before that; every five years or so there’s gonna be some new, you know, top dog that comes along kind of takes over the crown of what the high schoolers and what the you know the youth of America is into.
So there’s a couple ways you know, you can, it’s free to do but you can set up an account under your business name for any of these platforms and the best way to go about is to not seem like the old person in the room that’s trying to act young and hip again, but at the same time, like acknowledge like, this is what this platform is used for.
Tik Tok in particular started out as a, like a lip synching platform and people now during, you know, this shut in everywhere, are using it to like tell stories, you know, make funny videos. It’s really the new viral platform. I don’t have any clients that are advertising on that yet, but I’ve had some discussions with them. And it might be out of the budget for a lot of small businesses. But if you have, you know, the money to spend on that, it’s certainly a good way to start one of those viral challenges that you see on your, whatever your preferred social media is.
Social Media Target Audiences
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 14:05
And just to piggyback off that, I think it’s important to note who your target audience is, right? So if your target audience is that younger than maybe you do take the Tik Tok and so, it used to be called Musically, was the was the original Tik Tok so yeah, sorry, I didn’t mean to step on the end of you there, but I don’t know.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 14:22
No, no, that’s good. I’m impressed.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 14:26
I do have young children, so I am well versed in the Tik Tok game.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 14:29
I have to look up your Musically account after we’re done.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 14:31
Please don’t.
Voice Recognition Devices in Digital Marketing
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 14:36
You know, speaking of Tik Tok and how that’s been like the new hip like – what do you call it? – marketing, I guess you could say are just like a fun thing to do with kids. Where do you see marketing go in the future? Like do you think that Google and Alexa, you know, how are they gonna play a role in this?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 14:52
Honestly, yes. I mean, that’s – it’s a leading question, but you lead in the right direction. You know, it’s it’s absolutely getting towards Alexa smart devices. The reason I say that is because Google runs the show and digital marketing in general. Whatever Google wants to succeed is going to succeed. The last thing you do before you make a large decision, you Google, whatever it is, you go by it. So they are adjusting their algorithm. And yesterday, actually, they put in a large adjustment. They do little ones little tweaks every single day, multiple times a day, but every now and then there are some groundbreaking ways that they take whatever you enter there and decide, you know, who’s going to come up top of the list.
It seems in the way a lot of analysts are sort of predicting is they are giving credence to websites that, you know, code format, structure their website in a way that’s friendly for smart devices, cell phones, Alexa’s, whatever. But it seems as if Google is predicting that in the future, all of our googling will be done out loud with Alexa. So it’s, uh, yeah, if it’s heading in that direction. I would bet on that.
Amazon Alexa
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 16:16
And so have you have you begun to work with Alexa at all? I know that that’s a, that that’s a – I don’t know the answer to it. And when I didn’t ask you about it before, but have you worked at all with, with Alexa skills or anything in the past?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 16:27
So slightly, that’s something that is sort of on the cutting edge of the industry right now. You have to get some very specific talents to get an app like that. I know one place I could find one and I actually, I have a client that is possibly interested in developing their own Alexa skill. So like, if you have a news company out there, you can set up this skill so that people first thing in the morning when they wake up, they grab a coffee and they listen to hear what is the most relevant news to them. If you’re into sports, it can be like a sports blog, for instance. But yeah, for – from an SEO perspective, getting clients at the top of the list, we do a little bit of SEO that helps with Alexa, in you know, Google, all those smart devices.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 17:26
Courtney, you have a question? If not, I’m gonna jump on top of ya and ask my second one.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 17:34
I have a question for you guys.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 17:35
She’s, she’s muted. Of course. Courtney is the worst.
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 17:38
Yeah, I’m sorry, I was about to sneeze!
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 17:41
I see you speaking and I’m just I’m waiting for it. I’m like, obviously, I can see you that you have a question as you’re waving at saying “Hey I’m up”. But you’re the worst – agh, Courtney.
Rapid Growth of Technology
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 17:53
I’m the worst with it and my apologies. I mean all this is super neat, I just kind of watching how everything’s unraveled as far as technology wise. I mean, you look at solar panels and I’m going off topic for like marketing but everything is just, it’s just skyrocketing. Like everything is changing so quickly. I’m waiting for the next human, human bot. Yeah, yeah I’m ready for like my twin to be coming in like “oh you can work for me, I’m gonna go take care of this right now.”
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 18:25
That’s the way social media is headed.
Digital Marketing Necessities
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 18:27
Yeah, which artificial intelligence plays a major role into this which is, which is why I’m glad you brought up Alexa and Google Home but as I say, her name she, she lights her magical ring up. But, but do you have a favorite platform? Is there one that that you like more than the other? Really, if you’re devising a plan, if you’re if you’re creating a lay out for me and don’t go, don’t give away the secret sauce, right? Because we want them to reach out to Gameplan. But do you have a favorite platform that you that you think is kind of a good like you have to, you have to be on it.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 19:01
At this point in time, I would say social media, not really any particular platform. I’m platform agnostic, depending on who your clients are, like you’re saying, it really varies on which platform. That’s kind of a cop out, but in terms of, you know, in, I’ve been seeing about 30% better performance for my customers during this last few months. So I’m not saying I got any smarter, better. It’s just the nature of people being online. Anytime there’s more supply of ad space and less demand it works as a buyers market.
The best way to go about it, hands down number one rule of digital marketing: don’t invest all your eggs in one basket. You got to diversify your bonds, so to speak. You want to be on you know, display advertising, a little bit of search advertising, social, Facebook, they’re the industry leader in that one still.
Traditional Advertising
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 20:00
Is print still a part of that equation?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 20:04
Print ads… It’s not part of my equation. No, I’m – no.
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 20:13
It’s not happening anymore.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital)20:15
I almost feel bad for my friends that are in this industry but any sort of radio advertising is taking a huge hit right now. Because radio, you know, I talked about Procter and Gamble but radio primarily is used for commuters these days, you know, you go into work and from work you listen to the radio a little bit, but people so much these days are not commuting. You’re either working from home, you’re not working, you’re, you know, too busy to even listen to the radio. So they’re taking a big hit.
Podcasts and Digital Marketing
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 20:49
You feel the same way about podcasts?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 20:52
I love podcasts. I think podcasts are, I think they’re here to stay for a very long time to be honest. They are what people listen to now. Yeah, you’re online all day. You’re working on a computer right now we’re working. But yeah, you throw in a podcast. You listen to it. I think it’s a great form of not even marketing, just entertainment.
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 21:13
I used to listen to podcasts all the time. Roy used to do podcasts all the time. And here we are creating a podcast yourself. But there’s so many different things you can cover in a podcast and it’s so easy, and it’s so accessible.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 21:30
Yeah, it’s overlooked a lot. I feel like companies overlook podcasts a lot. Whereas, you know, there’s so much you can do with a podcast. It doesn’t have to be, you know, the murder podcasts that are so popular, right.
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 21:43
Oh, I love those!
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 21:44
I know. I know you do.
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 21:45
It’s a woman thing, I don’t know why.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 21:49
It really is, yeah.
Influencer Marketing
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 21:50
My wife is secretly planning, planning to murder me. And I know this because she watches. I know you are a 100% a part of that. And so that that kind of leads into a question for me, Eric, as I as I throw your, your beautiful face back up on the screen. How important is it to during this digital marketing wave, right we have, you have ads that you can run for your own company, right. And then there’s podcasts that your own company can create. But then there are podcasts that other companies are created that could have potential sponsors. So is that how does that play into the equation?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 22:30
Oh, that’s um, that’s huge. You know, it’s, it’s, I lump podcasts almost in the same category as Spotify and music services like that. They are other platforms where you can get your message audibly heard.
So in many ways, it’s like influencer advertising. You know, people listen, they are extremely loyal to the podcasts they listen to and if you can get your message heard aloud by the people that they take credible, the people that they you know define as having authority, that is oftentimes if you find the right source. Like it’s an extremely low cost and almost guerilla marketing type approach that’s you know, digital and fun and it’s always really cool to hear your, your company’s name out there on a podcast or you know, in in like a Hulu advertisement for example, something like that.
Video Streaming
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 23:26
And so that type of Hulu advertisement I know that, you know, you say it’s always it’s always cool to see your, your name out there, but is that effective? Is that something that you would advise during this type of time that I know that streaming platforms are? I mean, who’s not Netflixing or Disney-plussing right now or Huluing or whatever right? I mean yes, choose your video outlet right now. Is that, is it smart to get into that now? Is that, is that, is that a proper course to take?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 23:58
I mean it. The reason I called my company Gameplan Digital is because you have to decide what’s right for your company. You know you need you need a game plan. It’s right for some people, okay, you have to know whether you’re looking for some, some brand awareness. And if you are, that is a fantastic avenue to pursue. Right now, like I said, streaming’s up 12%.
Advertisers, anyone that works ever worked for an ad agency will tell you whenever the news gets bad, something bad happens in the news, advertisers pause their campaigns. And like I said, that creates a buyer’s market, so you can get in there for dirt cheap right now. But the problem is, it’s not the highest click through channel. So if you’re not if you’re solely running on that, it’s probably not a great way to build conversions. That said, you know, you can buy a billboard space and hit a grandma or a 16-year-old or you can buy Hulu and hit whatever niche you want. You can define it that way. So it’s, it’s excellent for getting your name out there.
Low Budget Digital Marketing
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 25:12
Awesome. And can you follow up on the influencers? And, you know, a smart way to go about?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 25:19
Yeah, yeah. I talked about guerilla marketing. That is the at the moment quintessential guerilla marketing, if you can pay $50 and get your name out there, get a lot of conversions honestly, or purchases, whatever you’re looking for. All because these people look at their influencers and micro influencers. Like, you know, they, they look up to them, they want to be like them, or they think they’re just funny enough that they support them. So if you have someone that has thousands of followers, hundreds, thousands, millions, tweeting your name out there, whatever they do instagramming you know, that is, depending on who it is, and the deals that you work out, you know, it can be a highly effective way of getting, probably the most effective way if the deals done right, getting your name out there.
Bing
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 26:18
Interesting. So I know that there’s a lot of companies out there right that have used, so like, Bing is one – not to not to, you know, play ad placement guy here or anything like –
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 26:23
A Bing plug, yeah.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 26:24
Yeah, that’s a huge big plug. Please, please, please Bing – let me be an influencer, that’s all I drink. So –
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 26:30
I’ve never even heard of it!
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 26:31
Well, Courtney, you know, you talk on mute. So there’s not much we can do there for you.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 26:38
You’ll have to Google and ask what it is
Digital Marketing Voice
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 26:40
Yeah. So that’s interesting that you say it’s one of the most effective ways of getting your name out there. So if – so, for a company like mine, right, we – I’ve always been interested in the influencers. I’ve always been interested in Tik Tok, obviously, we have an Instagram and we completely flipped script- flipped script on our Instagram campaign where we post memes and we post a, you know, funny videos and stuff like that. So is that, you know, can you talk a little about that just how to use the social media platforms?
I know a lot of companies will go out to Instagram and trying to post like, I’m a, you know, roofing company and I’m going to talk to all about how great my siding is, should you go that route where you’re talking about how great your product is? Or should you use you know, and I think I know you’re gonna say, but should you use the platform for how people are using it.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 27:32
Yeah, I mean, well, there’s there’s certainly case for both to be honest, Roy. You – the whole purpose behind it and the people that follow you know this, but the whole purpose is to get your name out there, get your product out there. If you guys have a new product at Capitol Presence, you know, you want to share this with everybody, you want to make sure they know it exists. So that is you know that the core of any, any marketing.
But to make it effective marketing you have to blend in, so to speak with what people are looking at, or you know, it’s really easy to flip your thumb and skip, skip something. So if you kind of meet people where they’re at, again, it all goes back to that, but if they’re looking at memes, you put up memes, you know what I mean, you need to sneak in there somehow. That sounds very insidious, but at the end of the day, you know, you’re adding a little bit of value to people’s life, if you’re making them laugh a little bit at the same time, you know, you’re a brand. So –
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 28:32
Yeah, as you mentioned before, you know, knowing your viewers and your target market. You know.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 28:39
Yeah, that’s, yeah, that’s marketing 101. So you definitely need to know that before you even decide what channels to invest in.
Gameplan Digital Plug
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 28:44
So, Eric, I know we got one minute here. Until, until we call this call this a wrap. And so well, before we go, is there anything that you want to plug anything that you guys are doing over at Gameplan Digital that you want everyone, to kind of get the word out there? Is there anything you guys are working on?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 29:02
Yeah, actually, thank you for asking Roy. We, so in light of the, you know, the COVID outbreak and the economy at the moment, we are trying to give back to the small businesses that might be affected and their employees.
So, we’re this month, you know, anyone that has a company that has under 50 employees we define as a small business, you can come to us to get free digital services. Now, this, this offer ends next week, so I would advise you to go sooner than later but, you know, I assume if we do well, I would hope that you stick around for June but the way I look at it, it’s a free trial that can help people out. And even if it’s for May like I get it I’m just glad to help out somebody in like, a peer, pretty much because we’re a small business and hopefully help you compete with the big dogs. It’s the end goal.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 30:05
Slam Dunk. Yeah, no.
Roy’s Surprise Birthday
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 30:06
I have a question for you, Roy. Didn’t you have a birthday?
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 30:10
I did have a birthday, yes. Thank you. Yes.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 30:15
Happy Belated Birthday!
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 30:17
Oh, wow, thanks guys!
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 30:23
Yeah, we’re gonna sing happy birthday to Roy!
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 30:25
You ready?
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 30:27
Yeah. Wow.
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) and Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 30
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Roy Boy, happy birthday to you!
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 30:48
Wow guys, um, thank you. Yeah, wow
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 30:55
That’s Roy’s wife, Haley –
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 30:56
No that’s the CEO of – yeah, this is the CEO – The Boss Lady comes in with a cake. So is this what you guys had? Eric, we you got you had a meeting with with Haley yesterday I know. So is this is the meeting that you guys had was the –
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 31:14
So to describe the scene, I call Capitol Presence on Instagram I use the face chat there and it was Haley in the car and I said “hey Roy’s not around is he?” and he’s sitting right next to her in the in the passenger seat there. So, he heard everything and almost blew the cover there, but yes, that is exactly –
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 31:31
I didn’t know that a cake was gone. I mean, they’ve been making a cake all day and I just kind of figured that, you know? Hey, it’s COVID make a cake. Yes, these girls probably need some cake, you know? So yeah, I did have a birthday. Um, it was last week. And thanks, man. I appreciate that. I’m 34 years young. So –
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 31:52
You don’t look a day over 33, Roy.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 31:54
Oh, thanks. Yes. You know, I told a bunch of people that I was turning 33 so I, I skipped a whole year, I thought I was 32 for an entire year, I thought I was 32. And I was 33. So I was 32 turning 34. Very disappointing. So my 33rd year is just super disappointing. It’s not gonna, you’re not gonna really play anything through my own through my whole life. I’ll not even remember that it happened because I went from 32 to 34.
Courtney Phillips (Capitol Presence) 32:24
You’re only old as how you feel, Roy.
Wrap Up
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 32:27
I feel 50 so hopefully, it’s not how you feel because I hope that a lot more life left than how I feel so.
So Eric, man, thanks for coming on. I really appreciate it. I know we’re three minutes over, but it’s always good to hang out with you. It’s good to see you. We at Capitol Presence use Gameplan Digital. They’re great. They’ve been a partner of ours for quite some time. All of our clients trust them. We are a small business as well, so we always like to support small businesses. That’s part of what this whole series is.
Last week we had Paradise Springs, a small business in Northern Virginia. And next week we have SDL Consulting – as my daughter brings me my slice of cake there. All right, thank you. Next week, we have SDL Consulting, they are going to help you with finance. They do, they’ll run payroll services, it’s compliant, it’s safe, its secure. The they do JAMIS implementation. So if you’re out there and you want to Google “what in the hell is JAMIS implementation” And you look them up, maybe some SEO provided by the good Eric Bechtel and Gameplan Digital. And so yeah, that’s what we can talk about next week.
Because we know that’s a trying time, right with the PPP you have to manage your payroll, you have to understand the rules, and you really have to understand what all is going on. So make sure you guys check that out next week. With SDL Consulting. Well, Eric, any final words before we ride off into the sunset?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 33:58
No, thank you guys for having me. And you guys have a game plan, right?
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 34:02
We do have a game plan. Yes. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you to Eric Bechtel, yes we have a game plan. Yes. So guys, thank thanks for hanging out, Courtney. Thanks for thanks for not being on mute the whole time. Really appreciate it. And we’ll see you guys next week. Thanks for hanging out. This has been our fourth installment and happy hour, virtual happy hour.
Actually, wait before we go before we go, Eric. Let people know how. how people can get to you. How can people reach Gameplan Digital?
Eric Bechtel (Gameplan Digital) 34:28
Yeah, actually, if you look at how he spells it, it’s almost that it’s game plan hyphen digital. So if you have that there, www.gameplan-digital.com. Someone else took the original game plan digital, so we’re looking to buy that from them.
Roy Edwards (Capitol Presence) 34:48
All right, I’ll drop. I’ll drop that in the comments if you were watching it live. If you’re watching this on YouTube, I’ll make sure that it’s in the description so that you can check out our friends over there at www.gameplan-digital.com. Eric, thanks for hanging out, man, Courtney, thanks for being here. Again. Thanks for everybody who has been able to make this possible. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next week. Cheers.
