IAM2230 – Chief Brand Officer Shares About Authentic Business Feedback Platform

Title: Transcript - Mon, 09 Sep 2024 13:51:50 GMT

Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2024 13:51:50 GMT, Duration: [00:16:57.91]

[00:00:00.36] - Joe Gardonis

We have Starscore based reviews and we explain below how those star scores work so you understand how to leave a review. And we do not allow space for comments to be left. That's a big thing so that there isn't any chance for any sort of malicious intent. And this is not a public platform, this is a closed platform that you have to have some sort of membership subscription to join.

[00:00:21.51] - Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and level up your business from awesome CEO's, entrepreneurs and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the Imceo podcast.

[00:00:48.92] - Gresham Harkless

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the Imceo podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today, Av Joe Gardonis. Joe, excited to have you on the show.

[00:00:57.35] - Joe Gardonis

Thank you for having me, Gresham. This is quite an opportunity. I appreciate it.

[00:01:02.25] - Gresham Harkless

Yes, absolutely. Well, I'm super excited to have Joe on. And of course, before we jumped into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Joe so you can hear about some of those awesome things. And Joe is a serial entrepreneur who has three different businesses, brand design, real estate, and more recently, Impact customer reviews. Impact Customer Reviews is a platform dedicated to businesses reviewing their customers. And I had the opportunity to connect with Joe and it was awesome to get to talk and geek out around digital marketing and things like that. But I always love people that are very entrepreneurial, are those serial entrepreneurs? Because you get so much more perspectives from so many different places. And I imagine they all help out with each one of your businesses as well too. But one of the things that I really loved, and I was delving into a little bit more about what he does is he has this two M philosophy, I might say, where he says mindset and money and how important that is. So I'm super excited to talk about all the awesome things he he's doing. Even more excited about impact customer reviews because it's an idea. It's like, oh, I wish I had thought about that. So, Joe, excited to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the Imco community?

[00:02:06.59] - Joe Gardonis

Yeah, absolutely. Let's go.

[00:02:09.06] - Gresham Harkless

Let's get it started then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit, hear a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

[00:02:18.18] - Joe Gardonis

Yeah. So I came from pretty humble beginnings as far as, like, getting to where I am now. It started in college. I went to college for graphic design, graduated bachelor's degree in graphic design, and everything was cool, right? I got my, you know, job after college, and then I worked at a couple different, different types of companies. I got worked in a bigger corporate office, and then I worked for smaller companies. And then I kind of got to a place where I was becoming a little bit, you know, something was left to be desired as far as my experience in, like, the design profession. And I was just kind of like, wonder what would happen if I did my own clientele and got my own business started. So in 2016, I took the plunge full time, decided to start my own business, geographic Communications, LLC, and had no continual clients to work with because I've been so busy with my jobs that I kind of got disconnected from the networking and professional world. So I had to start from scratch, from nothing. And when I tell you I had no clients, I had no clients to start. But I just knew it was time to make time and space for me to get out and start meeting more professionals and kind of see where things were going. A lot of it was trial and error. I mean, I tried, like, the virtual online leads, and that was kind of causing me to spend a little more money than I prefer. But I was just like, you know what? I consider myself a pretty relational person, so I think I need to go out and start meeting people face to face in building my network. And that's sort of how it began. You know, I got my first client, and I was hard enough to do. Everybody talks about how hard it is to get your first client when you're first starting. That is very true. But then, you know, you get that first project, then you get a second project, and it kind of builds and grows from there. And here we are, you know, post pandemic, still going strong. And then, you know, and then about 2020 or so, I started studying for real estate because I'm the kind of person where I don't like to just do one single thing. I prefer to do more than one thing if I feel that I'm at least competent in it. So I decided to get my real estate license and then start helping people buy and sell homes. My dad was a realtor, and I think that's probably where part of that comes from as far as wanting to help people in that transition, because obviously we all say that we are helping people make the biggest purchase of their lives or sell the biggest asset that they have at their disposal. And it's more complicated as a result. Anybody who's been through a house buying process and selling it knows how that works. So. So that was exciting to do that. Now, in terms of impact customer reviews and how that began, it was a project that I was in on as a web designer when I was operating at Geographic Communications LLC. It began in 2020 during the summertime with somebody that I was connected to who told me about this project. And I was in on the branding and website design of things. And then there was just some skids that came up along the way between the pandemic and, you know, other people's job changes going on that were involved with this project. And it led to very major lags in the response times of getting things done. And there were plenty of days where, honestly, it didn't look like it was going to happen. But then this is kind of the sad part about this. The person who I was in contact with on Impact customer reviews project, he suddenly passed away in spring of 2023, last year. And I reached out to his business partner and was just like, hey, I heard the word about so and so. I'm really sorry. My condolences. If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. Or if I. You. You just kind of want to punt on this and say, we tried. I'm totally cool with that. Whatever you decide to do, I just want you to know I'm here. And he said, just give me a week or so. I got to talk to the Lord and see what our options are. So I did that, and then we connected again. And mind you, I was living in, out of state at the time from where I am now, and my wife was seven months pregnant. And we touched base, and he just said, you know what? I want to continue this. So what does. What's it going to take to basically finish this in terms of, like, the website, the project, and get this off the ground? So I said, okay, here are my suggestions. You said, well, maybe I should just bring you on as a partner. And I had to think about that because I'm thinking, you know, I'm moving. My wife is pregnant. I don't know. I'm thinking to myself, I don't know if I want to start something else. You know, this is kind of a big deal. But, you know, we reconnected and, you know, about a couple weeks later or so, and he, and I was just telling him everything I would do, and he's like, well, maybe I can make you like a more like a half partner. In this. And I said, okay, well, I would like to be basically be in charge of all the graphics, the branding, the marketing, you know, pr, everything like that. And, and we agreed to that and went from there and, you know, so it's kind of like something changed in turn that put me in a position to be where I am now. Here we are. We launched in at the end of May this past year, and we've just been, you know, basically getting this off the ground in terms of, like, getting the word out through social media, giving business cards to all the business owners that we know who could benefit from this. And it's been a really exciting journey in that regard.

[00:07:15.01] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I appreciate you so much in sharing your journey. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more on how you're making your impact there, how you're serving the clients, what does it look like and how does it function?

[00:07:25.79] - Joe Gardonis

So you stated in the beginning, it's businesses reviewing their customers, and that's literally what the platform is dedicated to. Because right now, if you look at the landscape of, you know, like, how reviews work, it's all pretty much, you know, customer to business, which is very good, of course, because if you're a paying customer, you're going to want to know what you're getting yourself into, no matter who you're doing business with. That's only proper due diligence. However, on the flip side of this, there has been nothing available for businesses to, you know, kind of have that space where they can talk about their customers. And I don't mean just talk about, because one of the most common questions we get asked is, well, Joe, isn't this like a potential problem if, like, a business leaves, like, you know, kind of a malicious review and all? That's a very good point to, you know, kind of bring up. However, what we have in place to mitigate against it is our reviews are star score based, based on multiple questions that are dedicated to the kind of scenarios that contract big businesses run into. Like, did the customer pay on time and in full? Was there alterations in the agreement? Would you work with them again? You know, was it completed on time without delays and such, those sorts of questions. And we have star score based reviews, and we explain below how those star scores work. So you understand how to leave a review and we do not allow space for comments to be left. That's a big thing. So that there isn't any chance for any sort of malicious intent. And this is not a public platform. This is a closed platform that you have to have some sort of membership, subscription to join. And how you join the is with a valid ein username and password. And then we also ask that you list the kind of business that you're into. That way we're keeping track of, you know, who's coming on the site. So basically only people with legitimate businesses can join the site, and not just anybody, which is a big thing because we want this to be a legitimate platform. We want this to be a clean platform, even though we do want it to be a space where good customers are validated. So that, you know, if I'm a business on this site and I'm looking up a customer and I see they have like, you know, four to five out of five stars, I'm going to feel pretty good about doing business with them. And they might even get a little bit of a discount because that tells me that I've done my due diligence and they're not as likely to, you know, like not pay or something like that. So if anything, I would argue it works for the consumer in that regard. However, if a customer gets like three stars or below, then I as a business might want to think about how I want to approach that situation in that regard. And we're just there to provide information. That's what it comes down to. We just provide a simple space where business owners can leave their own experiences and they can make that determination based off of what they read. Basically, it's just like an information database. We're not there to steer, we're not there to direct people as to what to do. We're just there to provide the information.

[00:10:05.50] - Gresham Harkless

Nice. And I almost wonder if that's part of that secret sauce, is being able to kind of understand, of course, doing that, but also understand like how it affects from a human part. Do you feel like that's a little bit more about what sets you or the organization apart and makes you unique?

[00:10:20.01] - Joe Gardonis

Yeah, I believe so. Because my business partner, he's a serial entrepreneur like me. In fact, he's an h vac contractor, so he's had plenty of opportunity to deal with those situations. And honestly, I feel like a lot of his frustrations I had to kind of filter in terms like, okay, how are we gonna make this coherent and, like, in terms of like, clean so that anybody can join this platform while it's still doing what it has to be doing and just hearing his stories and even more transparent. My own father, he's had his fair share of stories over the years. Being a contractor, for 30 plus years. So between dealing with that and even my experiences in a design profession, both good and bad experiences, because I can always just say I have a plethora of great customers that when they reach out to me, I have no problem getting back to them right away. However, there have been a couple experiences that I don't know if I necessarily need to expand upon in terms of, like, you know, who was or what happened exactly. But let's just say we won't be working together again. Just put in that regard. So between, like, that side of it and just kind of like, a lot. Like, wow, this resonates with me. And then when I talk to other people who are in the same kind of spaces we are, it resonates with them. I think at that point, it's just kind of like a no brainer in terms of, like, you know, if you had the opportunity to know more about who you're potentially doing business with, you would absolutely take it.

[00:11:41.75] - Gresham Harkless

So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or even a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

[00:11:50.87] - Joe Gardonis

I love sports documentaries in terms of, like, championship teams. So I think, like, you know, learning, like, the leadership side of it. And even, like, whenever they do the coaches interviews on, like, you know, when the coach speaks, like, the team, and a lot of times it's cliche stuff, but every once in a while, it could be something that's unique in terms of, like, what helped. I like, this team get over the hump and having, like, whether it be the coach or the captain, explain, like, you know, their perspective on it and even reading about, like, past successful business people. You know, my wife and I were a christian family, and so we like to really take Sundays aside and, like, kind of like, have that day as, like, kind of like the rest day for us. It makes for a very busy yet full experience. And we've always said that we want to have more, to get more. So I think that's a big key.

[00:12:33.40] - Gresham Harkless

I love each of those CEO hacks. And so you might have already touched on this, but what would you consider to be a little bit more of what I call a CEO nugget? So there's a little bit more word of wisdom or piece of advice. I like to say it might be something you would tell your favorite client, or if you happen to a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

[00:12:49.44] - Joe Gardonis

You have to kind of mirror what the other side of this looks like from the other perspective. And I say this to my clients, too. Like, you have to kind of put yourself in the shoes of if you were a client and you were looking at this brand, what would your perception be and what would you want it to say to you? And I think that's the biggest thing as a CEO. And I think you have to kind of think in terms of what your clients are going to want to hear, what, what's going to do it for them, what's going to make them tick, what's going to make them think. And that could always go into, like, proposal writing, for instance. One of the things that I've really improved so much on over the years is my proposal writing process and how it's presented. You know, I go through it in person, but also make it look nice, make it look pretty, really sell yourself and what you're giving to the customers and get the freebies in there. Like, make it, make this a deal worthwhile for them so that they almost have no other option to say yes. And are you always going to get every single proposal you get? No. That doesn't always happen. However, I found that by making the improvements that I've made in terms of making a presentable, talking it through with them line by line, giving them space to ask those questions and including, like, the free and discounted aspects of what you're giving them before you even get to what it's finally going to cost them and giving them the vision behind it. Like, don't just say, like, oh, I'm going to do this for you. Like, no, give them comparable, like, organization or websites or brands that are basically within the line of what they're looking to do. And say, this kind of needs to be our target in terms of, like, how this business is presenting themselves with your own flavor to it, obviously, and your own voice. And, you know, think of it in terms of like, you know, it's kind of like the golden rule, treating people how you want to be treated. You know, like really walk people through this process and explain it well to them. And if you don't know the answer, find it for them. Like, it's not always about having all the answers. It's about what links are you want to do to get that answer for them. And it's, that's, that's so key in basically every, every kind of business that you're doing.

[00:14:42.34] - Gresham Harkless

Absolutely love each of those nuggets. And so now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. Our goal is to have different, quote unquote CEO's on this show. So Joe, what does being a CEO mean to you?

[00:14:53.99] - Joe Gardonis

It means taking ownership to me and not just taking ownership as in like, hey, I'm the boss. Or it means like really bearing the way that responsibility. Cause it's funny. My networker group, I'm a part of Nexco national. When you're an entrepreneur, that is the definition of extreme ownership and leadership because you're responsible for literally everything that you didn't think you'd have to be responsible for. Like, I can't just go in and design work for people and say, oh, this is great. I can't just go in and impact customer reviews and say, oh, I made this website, I made this improvement to it. Or I put these social media posts up. No, there's a lot more involved with it. You got to figure out the accounting side of things. You have to figure out your proposal processes like we just talked about. You have to figure out your communication of your message. You have to do the administrative work so that your business is staying organized. It's so much more than just going in and just telling people what to do.

[00:15:46.57] - Gresham Harkless

Show truly appreciate that definition. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I wanted to do now was pat you the mic, so to speak, is to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and of course, how best people can get a hold of you, find about all the awesome things you and your team are working on.

[00:16:00.72] - Joe Gardonis

So yeah, just look me up on social media and if you're interested in any of the businesses I have, that's all available on linktree. But my website for my design business is jgraphicom.com and then my real estate website is jgrealtyadvantage.com and then impactcostal reviews.com dot.

[00:16:18.96] - Gresham Harkless

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Joe. What we'll do is of course, have the links and information in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up with you. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[00:16:27.12] - Intro

Thank you for listening to the Imceo podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at Imceo Co. Imceo is not just a phrase, it's a community. Don't forget to schedule your complimentary digital marketing consultation at blue sixteenmedia.com. this has been the imceo podcast with Gresham Harkness Jr. Thank you for listening.