Episode 6

Trial & Error

Summary:

In this episode of "In The Bunker," join us as we explore the entrepreneurial journey of Brian Gaddis and Jesse Johnson, owners of DFW Metroplex Bubble Ball. They delve into their experiences of understanding and implementing effective marketing strategies, overcoming challenges in product quality and vendor logistics, and the unique aspects of buying and scaling a business.

Our episode highlights:

  • Brian and Jesse’s background and how they ventured into the world of bubble ball.
  • Challenges in determining the most effective marketing strategies and their approach to trial and error in business.
  • Insights into the impact of COVID-19 on their business and the experience of purchasing an existing business.
  • Valuable advice for fellow entrepreneurs facing similar challenges, including market saturation, the efficacy of Google Ads, and the importance of better tracking and analytics.

Bio:

Brian Gaddis and Jesse Johnson bring their respective backgrounds in recreation and sports management to the world of bubble ball. Brian, a Texas State University alum, and Jesse, a graduate of Western Michigan University and UNT, combined their expertise to purchase and grow DFW Metroplex Bubble Ball. They specialize in offering unique and engaging bubble ball events in the Dallas area, leveraging their knowledge and skills in the recreation industry.

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Transcript
Joshua Maddux:

Welcome back to in the bunker.

Joshua Maddux:

Every business owner has faced challenges and we love to share those stories today.

Joshua Maddux:

We've got Brian and Jesse in the bunker with us running Jesse were faced

Joshua Maddux:

with the challenge of understanding what marketing is most effective.

Joshua Maddux:

I'm excited to jump in and learn about how they've overcame this challenge.

Joshua Maddux:

But first, before we jump in, let's go get a 92nd high-level

Joshua Maddux:

background on both these guys, Jesse.

Joshua Maddux:

Why don't you give us that background.

Joshua Maddux:

Who are you?

Joshua Maddux:

How'd you get here?

Joshua Maddux:

What does that look like?

Jesse J:

Yes.

Jesse J:

I grew up in Michigan, born and raised there, moved to Texas here about 2005.

Jesse J:

Graduated from UNT in recreation or management degree.

Jesse J:

Got some great idea to go get a master's as well.

Jesse J:

So I did that too.

Jesse J:

But I've been in sports my whole life playing it, beat

Jesse J:

around it, going through YMCAs.

Jesse J:

So that's kinda how I fell into the recreation and then,

Jesse J:

purchased the vehicle with Brian.

Jesse J:

And that's how we got started with that.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

Brian, what about yourself?

Joshua Maddux:

Who are you?

Brian Gaddis:

No, definitely.

Brian Gaddis:

I grew up in Houston, Texas, and when I graduated high school, I decided I

Brian Gaddis:

would go to Texas state university, not sure of what I wanted to do.

Brian Gaddis:

I just knew I wanted to be out in the hill country, going out, going to

Brian Gaddis:

school, decided to be a recreation major.

Brian Gaddis:

So I majored in recreational administration.

Brian Gaddis:

That took me all over the place with internships, but I ended up

Brian Gaddis:

in my final internship in Dallas.

Brian Gaddis:

And through that, I ended up staying up in Dallas and then I, ever since my

Brian Gaddis:

first internship of 2007, I've been just.

Brian Gaddis:

iNtrigued by trends and best practices for recreation all over the

Brian Gaddis:

place, private, public non-profit.

Brian Gaddis:

And so through that, I got together with Jesse and we saw

Brian Gaddis:

that bubble ball, bubble soccer.

Brian Gaddis:

It was was a hip new thing back in the mid two thousands and then

Brian Gaddis:

decided to So I bought the business in

Joshua Maddux:

2017.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

Now you mentioned your degree for those who, are listening.

Joshua Maddux:

Can you define what that looks like a little bit?

Brian Gaddis:

Yeah.

Brian Gaddis:

Texas state has an accredited.

Brian Gaddis:

Bachelor of science, recreational administration degree plan, where

Brian Gaddis:

you do different, you have different classes, courses in regards to different

Brian Gaddis:

coursework and understanding, recreation, all the types of recreation that

Brian Gaddis:

as well as what that looks like as.

Brian Gaddis:

pArt of the coursework though, is a lot of hands on.

Brian Gaddis:

So even in my first even, I hadn't even, I hadn't even declared the major yet.

Brian Gaddis:

And I took the, most work intensive class, a record app.

Brian Gaddis:

Programming and recreation.

Brian Gaddis:

And we literally built a haunted house for a neighboring city.

Brian Gaddis:

And then we also assisted in putting on there another special event at Christmas.

Brian Gaddis:

And so it's a lot about.

Brian Gaddis:

Learning on the job.

Brian Gaddis:

So I turned also at at my church's recreation center in Houston,

Brian Gaddis:

and I learned, operations there.

Brian Gaddis:

And then I also learn the operations of campus recreation

Brian Gaddis:

at Texas state in the sport club.

Brian Gaddis:

The vision.

Brian Gaddis:

And then I ended up at the water court in Dallas that was run, had

Brian Gaddis:

just been taken over by the city.

Brian Gaddis:

So it was a publicly run, a waterpark home, a beach.

Brian Gaddis:

And so anyway, it just, it's a really interesting degree, has a really

Brian Gaddis:

good community of professionals that.

Brian Gaddis:

Help, it's, there's a lot of good networking in regards to

Brian Gaddis:

that as far as alumni and people

Joshua Maddux:

in the workforce.

Joshua Maddux:

That's cool.

Joshua Maddux:

That's cool.

Joshua Maddux:

It's always amazing.

Joshua Maddux:

There's so many different degrees and industries out

Joshua Maddux:

there and you start hearing.

Joshua Maddux:

The ones you don't even know exist.

Joshua Maddux:

And it's, now that you explain it, it's like, it makes sense.

Joshua Maddux:

Someone's got to, figure out the logistics of the programs and the,

Joshua Maddux:

all of the craziness that is involved in, those types of facilities, but

Joshua Maddux:

yeah, you don't think about yes.

Joshua Maddux:

And to

Jesse J:

add to that.

Jesse J:

If you've been to a Y YMCA, if you've been to a recreation facility,

Jesse J:

someone is programming the facility.

Jesse J:

So Brian and I both.

Jesse J:

So we're running small businesses as revenue preservation.

Jesse J:

So all of that income.

Jesse J:

So if you, with any city citywide event, I'm pretty sure the

Jesse J:

recreation department had something.

Jesse J:

So you see it all the time, but just don't realize what's really

Jesse J:

going on behind the scenes.

Jesse J:

People put it on offering free opportunity for

Joshua Maddux:

that's.

Joshua Maddux:

Cool.

Joshua Maddux:

That's cool.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

Obviously the two you guys met and you guys bought a business

Joshua Maddux:

you purchased a business.

Joshua Maddux:

I know, before we hit record, one of the sort of underlying challenge we

Joshua Maddux:

were talking about was understanding, what marketing is most effective and

Joshua Maddux:

the trial and error aspect of that.

Joshua Maddux:

When you guys purchased that business, what was that process like?

Joshua Maddux:

Did you know, you guys have a customer base or was that sort of

Joshua Maddux:

a cool now we have some product and we got to start at square one,

Jesse J:

for me, me and Brian are opposites when it comes to certain

Jesse J:

things like parking, I'm more old school.

Jesse J:

Hey, let's just put it off to your is hopefully word of mouth.

Jesse J:

Whereas, Brian is definitely the one with the analytics and looking at,

Jesse J:

Different social media outlets that he had, but it was definitely square

Jesse J:

one now, blah, blah, blah, is an event that you probably do one, or

Jesse J:

maybe you have it in an annual exam.

Jesse J:

So even with the customers that the prior owners had, maybe 10% of them

Jesse J:

will be repeat customers because of, a school, a city or something like that.

Jesse J:

But it was definitely start from square one being more active in social, because

Jesse J:

that was one area that they didn't have.

Jesse J:

They've been a little.

Jesse J:

So they didn't really have a presence.

Jesse J:

So that something that Brian what our social media out there, the

Jesse J:

biggest thing is a lot of people don't know what it is, right?

Jesse J:

So you see this big, giant bubble, you call it Sumo ball

Jesse J:

or whatever you want to call it.

Jesse J:

So I think that was the one thing that we tried to just to get

Jesse J:

people, to stay disciplined, see what it is and the proper name for.

Joshua Maddux:

Got it.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

As we're talking about this, obviously there's an element, for it's your

Joshua Maddux:

guys' business is bubble ball.

Joshua Maddux:

It's those big, giant inflatable we're coming out of out of COVID

Joshua Maddux:

and so that term, I know I've seen.

Joshua Maddux:

On the news, like there's people like walking down the street and a

Joshua Maddux:

giant bubble ball thing and it's oh, Hey, I can go out and do whatever.

Joshua Maddux:

So you guys, Brian, maybe give us the quick overview of what does that look like

Joshua Maddux:

for an event that you guys are running?

Joshua Maddux:

What does that look like for the service that you guys are offering as well?

Joshua Maddux:

So we can understand that a little bit better as we further discuss this.

Brian Gaddis:

Yeah.

Brian Gaddis:

In regards to bubble ball, we do events for all types of customers.

Brian Gaddis:

So we do.

Brian Gaddis:

We kind of group it into organizations and, private birthday parties

Brian Gaddis:

or any type of private party.

Brian Gaddis:

So in regards to an organization we just see how long they need us for and,

Brian Gaddis:

we'll go out there and we, set up the beds and let people play and make sure

Brian Gaddis:

they stay safe and, lead activities.

Brian Gaddis:

We have a good group, if not, we just make sure they know how to get in the

Brian Gaddis:

bubble and they can, hit each other or sometimes sometimes play other games.

Brian Gaddis:

Like I said if we want to organize it, but if it's a steady stream of

Brian Gaddis:

people, we want to make sure everybody gets a chance to eat at least, do

Brian Gaddis:

what they want to do, which 99% of the people just want to hit each other.

Brian Gaddis:

So we let them do that.

Brian Gaddis:

And then we keep it moving.

Brian Gaddis:

As Jesse says, and then we, we.

Brian Gaddis:

We take it down to the end and we clean up and we're out of their hair.

Brian Gaddis:

So we're, we're self-sufficient, and it's very much similar with a private parties,

Brian Gaddis:

but we tailor it to the amount of people.

Brian Gaddis:

If it's.

Brian Gaddis:

The main amount of people is under 20, that would participate in a

Brian Gaddis:

birthday party for the most part.

Brian Gaddis:

And so we, we set up and then we lead games, different type of games.

Brian Gaddis:

We lead soccer, we lead different games sharks and minnows and some other ones.

Brian Gaddis:

If I just said the name, I'd have to actually explain what it was, we

Brian Gaddis:

do a game called protected general.

Brian Gaddis:

We do a last man standing.

Brian Gaddis:

And so in regards to that, we tailor the experience a little bit more or the

Brian Gaddis:

individual and to really make sure we're keeping the kids engaged the whole time.

Brian Gaddis:

Cause we know, the event is just for those 20 people and we make sure, they have.

Brian Gaddis:

A lot of fun and are able to sleep well that night.

Brian Gaddis:

And but yeah, it's pretty much pretty much a one, two hour event when we

Brian Gaddis:

do it with a, like a private party.

Brian Gaddis:

So that's kinda what it looks like in regards to an event that we would do.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

So you've got a bunch of people running around and bubbles And playing

Joshua Maddux:

essentially different, different games based upon that, the number of people

Joshua Maddux:

that you guys have and such and I was on your guys' website and looking at

Joshua Maddux:

the the video and it's funny to watch.

Joshua Maddux:

sO as you guys, bought the company and started into that, and Jesse,

Joshua Maddux:

you were talking about, the issue of.

Joshua Maddux:

This is not a coffee shop where someone's coming in, three to four days

Joshua Maddux:

a week buying the same cup of coffee.

Joshua Maddux:

Your guys has customers maybe once a year, maybe twice a year

Joshua Maddux:

at most type element potentially.

Joshua Maddux:

And what has that marketing, trial and error that you guys alluded to?

Joshua Maddux:

What does that sort of look like?

Joshua Maddux:

And what stuff have you guys learned through that process?

Jesse J:

Definitely, you're running ads, whether it be digitally with Facebook,

Jesse J:

Instagram, get dabbling to YouTube.

Jesse J:

buT like I said earlier, I think the biggest thing is always

Jesse J:

going to be worried about.

Jesse J:

And I think Instagram definitely helps because it's visual, right?

Jesse J:

So AR is definitely visual.

Jesse J:

So you definitely something that you want.

Jesse J:

And then you always want to be a part of them.

Jesse J:

And I guess for us, it was always someone's birthday.

Jesse J:

It was always a special event.

Jesse J:

So I think that helps us well and word of mouth, because if you have

Jesse J:

a great experience with Brian, same experience, guess what?

Jesse J:

You're going to tell your friends that we have kids, oh, I'm going

Jesse J:

to do this from my first day.

Jesse J:

It just trickle down.

Jesse J:

And we will say that I think Google with those, that.

Jesse J:

Do you see uptick, but a lot of times it's just people

Jesse J:

inquiring or seeing what it is.

Jesse J:

We're definitely at a higher price point.

Jesse J:

So it's definitely not going to Chuck and team, but obviously you

Jesse J:

understand the experience that you have, more important than

Brian Gaddis:

it's kinda, it's something where a lot of times, They will already

Brian Gaddis:

have known kind of what bubble ball is or bubble soccer is, or now we actually

Brian Gaddis:

do, hamster balls with your cold sore balls and they know what that is, but

Brian Gaddis:

they are trying to see, who does that.

Brian Gaddis:

And if.

Brian Gaddis:

wHo does the cheapest and available and use, unfortunately not with COVID, a

Brian Gaddis:

lot of the businesses that might have good SEO or at the top of search results

Brian Gaddis:

might not even be in business currently.

Brian Gaddis:

So the main thing is being on top of.

Brian Gaddis:

SEO in regards to, what we would be searched for.

Brian Gaddis:

And we've understood through this, that we're not going to be, at the

Brian Gaddis:

top of the list for special events in Dallas, but at the same time we

Brian Gaddis:

understand that is our price point or what we do is that gonna be, something

Brian Gaddis:

that everybody looking for that is really going to be interested in, Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Got it.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah, for sure.

Joshua Maddux:

And obviously, you alluded to COVID COVID hitting some of your competition.

Joshua Maddux:

What did that look like for you guys, as obviously it affected

Joshua Maddux:

different businesses differently.

Joshua Maddux:

Would that look like for you guys?

Joshua Maddux:

What type of effect did that have on your.

Jesse J:

So here in the Dallas area once we hit March of 2020, that's

Jesse J:

when things came to a screeching halt.

Jesse J:

So once spring break hit, we started getting emails and

Jesse J:

calls back no back to back.

Jesse J:

However, the funny thing about that is in 21, we actually did this then

Jesse J:

in 2019, because of COVID because.

Jesse J:

People were shutting now they want to get out.

Jesse J:

And a lot of people saw, I know we were talking before we started recording

Jesse J:

about you see what people in bubbles and the news was talking about it.

Jesse J:

So I guess people felt safe to get in these boats, but you can still

Jesse J:

have fun, have contact with people, but if you didn't have to physically

Jesse J:

touch them, didn't have to worry about them coughing or sneezing.

Jesse J:

So he was like a protective barrier that we have building bubbles.

Jesse J:

So it's, COVID got a little more exposure, even though we understand what really

Jesse J:

happened with them, not to minimize that, but it definitely picked up RPA

Jesse J:

get going in 2020 and going to 21.

Brian Gaddis:

And I think what's interesting is a lot of parents with kids.

Brian Gaddis:

We're not as consistent customers, ever since the pandemic, as compared to

Brian Gaddis:

churches and schools, because I think a lot of times churches and schools have

Brian Gaddis:

their own budget for stuff like that.

Brian Gaddis:

And they know that safe, but.

Brian Gaddis:

Sometimes with parents, with kids, they want to make sure

Brian Gaddis:

that they have an activity.

Brian Gaddis:

I think that the parents of all the kids being invited would be,

Brian Gaddis:

feel comfortable doing in the state that we're in with COVID.

Brian Gaddis:

So I know for.

Brian Gaddis:

A long time, we wouldn't have a whole lot of birthday parties or

Brian Gaddis:

whatnot, but we still had churches and still had schools contacting us.

Brian Gaddis:

And I think especially churches, I just think they, they were still

Brian Gaddis:

needing something to do with their students, and w we were also video,

Brian Gaddis:

doing, we were hired to do videos, to just make sure that the kids were

Brian Gaddis:

staying engaged during that time.

Joshua Maddux:

Got it.

Joshua Maddux:

So essentially like you guys had an element or had an activity that was

Joshua Maddux:

an outdoor, activity, and Jesse's, you're talking about, people are

Joshua Maddux:

in these quote unquote, like these actual bubbles, and we're talking

Joshua Maddux:

about, Hey, make sure you maintain six feet while you're in this, I know.

Joshua Maddux:

We work with a pink ball company and they were talking about, yeah, six feet

Joshua Maddux:

really easily, you're on a paintball field and you come within six feet,

Joshua Maddux:

I'll just, shoot paint balls at you.

Joshua Maddux:

And I think there, I can definitely see how, you guys were impacted, which

Joshua Maddux:

makes sense at the beginning of COVID.

Joshua Maddux:

Cause no one knew what the heck to do, but then as outdoor activities were

Joshua Maddux:

coming back to more of a normal elements.

Joshua Maddux:

That makes sense that people would continue to explore that.

Joshua Maddux:

And, a large scale event outside, in a bubble makes sense.

Joshua Maddux:

It's good.

Brian Gaddis:

I Was gonna say, I think indirectly we're in the Dallas

Brian Gaddis:

area and the owner of the Mavericks mark Cuban was on shark tank.

Brian Gaddis:

I, he still is, but when the bubble ball concepts, the inventor of bubble

Brian Gaddis:

ball was actually on shark tank.

Brian Gaddis:

And I got a lot of people, he was on a TMZ interview and he just

Brian Gaddis:

said what they said, what are you, what are y'all getting ready to do?

Brian Gaddis:

Oh, we got these bubble balls out.

Brian Gaddis:

And, I think.

Brian Gaddis:

The American airlines center opens up this, the first thing we need to be doing

Brian Gaddis:

because it's natural social distancing.

Brian Gaddis:

And I think stuff like that when people actually, have influence say stuff like

Brian Gaddis:

that, it can go a long way, even though, who's, are indirect, Five minutes of fame.

Brian Gaddis:

It was really cool to see that.

Brian Gaddis:

And for that to be out there and for, somebody that influenced to say,

Brian Gaddis:

this is literally don't overthink it.

Brian Gaddis:

It is social distancing, we disinfected the bubble suits, but

Brian Gaddis:

I thought that was pretty cool.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

That's cool.

Joshua Maddux:

That's cool.

Joshua Maddux:

Jesse, did you have

Jesse J:

something to add to that?

Jesse J:

I would just want to say that people just wanted something

Jesse J:

and, let's just get out with, do something.

Jesse J:

And, I think we had some good times, cause it was fun, safe activity

Jesse J:

that the whole family, not just, kids, mom and dad could enjoy.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

I know.

Joshua Maddux:

Out in the California area, Man parks at the beginning of COVID

Joshua Maddux:

parks, the beaches, hiking trails.

Joshua Maddux:

Hiking trails were just, it was like the parking lot would just be so full

Joshua Maddux:

of people and there would just be hundreds of people lining up, just,

Joshua Maddux:

just hiking out and it was nuts.

Joshua Maddux:

It was nuts.

Joshua Maddux:

People were just trying to get out of the house and get a fresh breath of air.

Joshua Maddux:

And.

Joshua Maddux:

Get away from sitting on the couch and bingeing Netflix all day.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

I don't know if.

Joshua Maddux:

Looking at the marketing aspect.

Joshua Maddux:

I don't know if there's anything that you guys look back on now and go, this

Joshua Maddux:

is something that really helped us, or, this was a piece of information

Joshua Maddux:

that we wish we would've known before we dove into buying a business.

Joshua Maddux:

Is there any sort of nuggets of information that you guys feel

Joshua Maddux:

like you wish you would've known before you jumped into this.

Jesse J:

I mean for myself.

Jesse J:

Not really, just because I think if we're just talking

Jesse J:

about blah, blah, blah, right?

Jesse J:

Not a lot of competition, we can fit the market with pricing, just

Jesse J:

basically getting the word out now, have we purchased coffee, then

Jesse J:

that's a whole different animal.

Jesse J:

I think that we were lucky with what we did purchase.

Jesse J:

We probably can only find one or two other companies in the area where can

Jesse J:

you get a business to where it's only one or two other competitors not meeting?

Jesse J:

So I think that was the biggest thing.

Jesse J:

It may, Brian May have, he did more the marketing of social media.

Jesse J:

So for him it may be something different, but for me, like just taking

Jesse J:

that chance, seeing what happened.

Brian Gaddis:

Yeah.

Brian Gaddis:

I've seen seen this meme, this.

Brian Gaddis:

That's good that, we're getting exposure by doing this, but I wonder how we

Brian Gaddis:

can use exposure to pay our bills.

Brian Gaddis:

And that's something I learned.

Brian Gaddis:

I think I was naive.

Brian Gaddis:

Thinking that if we take the time out to do an event for free for the

Brian Gaddis:

community though, there's always a reservoir of, look what we, it's good

Brian Gaddis:

for, taking pictures and whatnot.

Brian Gaddis:

But I think to date, we have yet to get any business from anything that we did

Brian Gaddis:

for for organization not to say it's not a good idea just to, I think I would have

Brian Gaddis:

been a little more selective initially.

Brian Gaddis:

As far as when the whole, it's good for exposure.

Brian Gaddis:

And then I think that certain aspect of Google ads is not the best, like

Brian Gaddis:

paying for Google ads is not the best for small business owners, because

Brian Gaddis:

you can lose a lot of money in real quick in regards to Just paying for ads

Brian Gaddis:

that you don't really see a return on.

Brian Gaddis:

And I think if I had known that at the beginning that, people that click

Brian Gaddis:

on your ads or even like I said, at the beginning if you're paying

Brian Gaddis:

tons of money for a certain keyword, that doesn't mean that's going to

Brian Gaddis:

transfer into business in what we do.

Brian Gaddis:

And so that's learning

Joshua Maddux:

curve.

Jesse J:

I think also then to go back on to Google, probably if we would have had

Jesse J:

a landing, a separate landing page, then we probably could have measured a little

Jesse J:

more just to see versus having to come back to track and come back to our home.

Jesse J:

So like when I fill out the form of state Google, okay.

Jesse J:

Was it a Google ad or was it just you in the search box?

Jesse J:

So having that landing page probably helped us determine if it, if it was

Jesse J:

even worth it and we probably could stop.

Jesse J:

Halfway through with

Joshua Maddux:

Google.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Sadly, definitely not things that I've heard before.

Joshua Maddux:

Brian is, we were talking about Google ads, for those who are listening,

Joshua Maddux:

like you want to make sure you have a monthly budget set because if you do.

Joshua Maddux:

Depending on the industry, it can be anywhere from between, a dollar or so, a

Joshua Maddux:

click to, car insurance and life insurance are upwards of about 60 to $70 a click.

Joshua Maddux:

And you look at it from a conversion perspective.

Joshua Maddux:

A hundred people to hit a landing page.

Joshua Maddux:

And if you get 10, 10%, which is insanely high, typically it'd be

Joshua Maddux:

about 2% actually fill out a web form.

Joshua Maddux:

And then out of those 2%, only 5% of those people are actually

Joshua Maddux:

going to convert to a sale.

Joshua Maddux:

So it's like you start looking at the massive number of people that you need.

Joshua Maddux:

So you need a thousand clicks to get, like three sales.

Joshua Maddux:

And so then you start realizing, okay, that's a thousand

Joshua Maddux:

clicks times $50 per click.

Joshua Maddux:

I need to spend $50,000 to get two or three sales.

Joshua Maddux:

And you start to reverse engineer that, and you realize like that is

Joshua Maddux:

not a sustainable business model.

Joshua Maddux:

And there's definitely other ways to do, some guerrilla marketing.

Joshua Maddux:

And some stuff like that.

Joshua Maddux:

And Brian, you talked about doing those sort of community

Joshua Maddux:

events where they're free.

Joshua Maddux:

That's great for photos.

Joshua Maddux:

Like you mentioned, Hey, you guys got photos that way.

Joshua Maddux:

That is a great way to reduce the expense of what, you didn't

Joshua Maddux:

have to hire a bunch of actors.

Joshua Maddux:

You put on a free event for the community, so that's great, those

Joshua Maddux:

are the types of things that we love, chalk it up to a business lesson and a.

Joshua Maddux:

We're not going to do that again.

Jesse J:

And actually the thing about it, we didn't even really

Jesse J:

pay any marketing in 2020.

Jesse J:

And like I said, we had a better year.

Jesse J:

So if it was, I'm not sure if the traction on the social media pages from Brian,

Jesse J:

probably but we didn't know Google ads.

Jesse J:

So Facebook ads, Instagram ads at all.

Brian Gaddis:

And to be perfectly transparent with that.

Brian Gaddis:

I think at least Instagram, which is our biggest following we've had, like

Brian Gaddis:

in the four years or going on five years, I think we've had two customers.

Brian Gaddis:

And so those campaigns from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, they're good.

Brian Gaddis:

They're good to clout Facebook.

Brian Gaddis:

If you, cause people do find it's interesting, people do find us

Brian Gaddis:

through Facebook that might be.

Brian Gaddis:

Webpage has set up.

Brian Gaddis:

Cause that's how they have to go to, to ask us a question like right

Brian Gaddis:

when they go to the website, but it shows up like, oh, this is, this

Brian Gaddis:

business, so we in the beginning we paid it or are to help get more

Brian Gaddis:

followers for them to see our business.

Brian Gaddis:

Cause it's harder on Facebook, but other than that I don't know the whole lot of

Brian Gaddis:

business we've got from social media.

Brian Gaddis:

And that's just like going down to the business model though,

Brian Gaddis:

because of the price point.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

And in reality, it depends on the business type.

Joshua Maddux:

It depends on, so many different factors when it comes down to that.

Joshua Maddux:

And that's where.

Joshua Maddux:

For me, every business is super unique and every business has

Joshua Maddux:

different needs, a different market.

Joshua Maddux:

Jesse, you were talking about market saturation.

Joshua Maddux:

If you were to open another coffee shop in your town I don't

Joshua Maddux:

care what city you live in.

Joshua Maddux:

Throw a map of the U S up on the wall, throw a dart at it.

Joshua Maddux:

And there's probably a dozen coffee shops within a few miles of that dark.

Joshua Maddux:

But take a random city name.

Joshua Maddux:

Search that random city name with bubble ball or one of your other keywords.

Joshua Maddux:

There's probably maybe one not much more.

Joshua Maddux:

So obviously market saturation, if you're thinking of starting a business is a huge

Joshua Maddux:

thing to do some serious research on.

Joshua Maddux:

I think that's really valuable.

Jesse J:

And I think with Instagram too is more of, because I do it myself

Jesse J:

searching, I save a post, then I come back to it a week or two weeks.

Jesse J:

So I think that's what Instagram is.

Jesse J:

People are seeing it and they come back to it in a month, two weeks or whatever,

Jesse J:

and then it could be some traction on.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah, for sure.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

It was super good chatting with you guys.

Joshua Maddux:

I think there's a bunch of different, really good takeaways

Joshua Maddux:

from our conversation today.

Joshua Maddux:

For those who are listening and do want to find out more about

Joshua Maddux:

just bubble ball in general, or if you live in the Dallas area and.

Joshua Maddux:

yoU want to have a party and just clobber someone in a bubble ball.

Joshua Maddux:

I'll have the links to both your guys's website, your Facebook, Instagram page,

Joshua Maddux:

and all of that in the show notes, along with both Brian and Jessie's bio those

Joshua Maddux:

will both be down there as well, awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

I appreciate your guys' time today, having you on the show.

Joshua Maddux:

Really good.

Joshua Maddux:

Good having you guys.

Joshua Maddux:

And yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

All right.

Joshua Maddux:

Thank you.

Jesse J:

Thank

Joshua Maddux:

you.

Joshua Maddux:

Thank you guys.

Joshua Maddux:

Thanks for listening to this episode of, in the bunker.

Joshua Maddux:

As always we can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

Joshua Maddux:

at, in the bunker podcast.

Joshua Maddux:

Be sure to share this episode and what you're going to apply from it.

Joshua Maddux:

And how that can affect your business, make sure to tag us in that post so

Joshua Maddux:

we can highlight your journey as well.

Joshua Maddux:

But before you go.

Joshua Maddux:

I have a quick personal ask.

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About the Podcast

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In The Bunker
Exploring the biggest challenges in starting and running a business.

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About your host

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Joshua Maddux

Joshua Maddux is an entrepreneur who has helped numerous businesses grow and thrive.