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What's good everybody. You found yourself smack dab in the middle of the brand or bus Show with me your host, Jonathan Glenn, thanks for coming and hanging out with me for this episode. I do these little intros after I've recorded the actual episode that I'm working on. The reason why I do that is because sometimes I might just go a little bit left or right or weird or up and down. I don't know what the hell is going to happen. So I've recorded it and this is my little intro. I get a little emotional at the end. I don't know if you're going to be able to tell. I get a little emotional. I get a little sad, like a happy, sad, grateful, sad. Yeah. So if you want to find out what the hell that's all about, hang in here. I think you're going to enjoy today's episode and you are going to be, I think that you're going to have an opportunity to be able to help some people around you, and that's really what this whole episode is about, is how you are able to help other small and medium sized businesses continue to grow and hopefully thrive, and you will definitely help them thrive in what is currently terrible economy in scary world right now for small and medium sized businesses.

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So hang out for the whole episode and I hope you enjoy it.

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Thought I would do this episode very purposefully because of kind of what's going on in the world right now with tariffs and politics and the economy, and it's a truly scary, scary world out there for a lot of businesses and mostly for small and medium-sized businesses. I listen to a lot of talk radio and news radio and stuff like that, and it's terrifying what's happening to a lot of businesses. So I thought without, I wouldn't do what I would normally do, which is have information or data or tips for helping you position a business in a busy marketplace. This is really for this episode is really for the people out there that have friends or family or just people they know that are in business for themselves, and you probably don't know that they may be having a difficult time right now or are just scared and don't know what the hell is happening.

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I see it. I see it even in counter wrap in my vehicle wrap company. I can tell how people are spending differently and how people are tightening up and they get, they're scared. It's just fear tactic stuff. So you as a friend of a home service or any small or size, medium sized businesses or home service business for that matter, can really, really, really help out more than you would ever imagine. So today I'm going to share 10 ways that you can help small to medium sized business owners absolutely for free without spending a dime. And you will probably be shocked to know how much of an impact it makes to these businesses and how grateful they'll be for your interaction and help by spending no money whatsoever. I just want to, now, most of this help is going to be coming in the form of anything online and social media, and you're probably online anyway and you're probably doom scrolling at night and you're probably doing all these things.

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So really the only investment is a little bit of focus and time and the time is probably six minutes all told. But I want to tell you just some quick statistics that I found online to sort of drive this home and to see how, even to me, it was brutal. When I even started reading this, I was like, holy shit, it's so low. So I'm going to talk primarily about Facebook and Instagram, but if you are on TikTok or YouTube and this and that, I have no doubt that you can see this data. But for right now, and for this episode, I'm going to be just talking about the average for Facebook or Instagram engagement in the reach. So you have a friend that owns a landscaping company or a garage door company, or a who knows a rubbish removal company or whatever the case is.

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They in all likelihood have a social media account set up, probably a couple. And I will tell you right now as a business owner myself, when we're posting actively on Instagram or Facebook, we really, really, really do want people to like our posts. And sometimes we'll even say in posts or business owners, we'll say things like share comment. There's a reason for this. And the reason why they're asking for a share or a comment is because the algorithms that essentially rule the middle earth of Instagram and Facebook, all of those algorithms and bots and stuff, all they're doing is they're either going to put that account in front of people because they can see that people are engaging with a post or multiple posts that it seems to be valuable to people. So the algorithms and all the little robots will put it in front of people, but if these posts don't get any engagement, they're not seen or they're seen very little.

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So here's just really quick statistics before I get into my 10 ways that you can help small to medium sized business owners with no money. Let's talk about Facebook. So the average reach for a Facebook post is 2.6% of people. So two point on average, 2.6% of the followers of that Facebook account will see a post depending on what it is. So depending on what it is, it may go a little higher, a little lower, but on average. And then the average engagement with a post is 0.06%. So the average amount of people that are actually engaging with a post is 0.06% on Facebook. That is brutal.

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Instagram is a little better. The average post has a reach of 4% will reach its followers, and the engagement on the average Instagram post is around 0.54%, not 54% 0.54%. So little, and I'm talking about, and again, like I said, I mean it can vary, but it's low. And then reels on Facebook just on, I thought this was an interesting statistic as well. For most medium sized accounts, which are 2000 to 10,000 followers, where I'll bet you dollars to donuts, the vast majority of your friends in their small to medium sized businesses don't even have 2000 followers, let alone 10,000 followers. But for this one, two to 10,000 followers, the engagement is 1.76%. That's crazy for an average of two to 10 K in followers. So it makes a huge difference when your friends or your family or just you're a advocate of a specific business brand, it makes an enormous difference.

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The more they are engaged with or shared, their reach will just start growing. So let's get into the 10 ways that you can actually help business owners online with no money. No money whatsoever. It takes you so little time, okay? The first thing is to comment and share what I was saying before. You're scrolling past or you're probably not even going to scroll past. You may not even see them go out of your way to go find their account and engage with these posts like the posts, share the posts, make a comment. You don't need to be Mark Twain. You just have, Hey, looks great. You're doing a great job. Can't wait to give you a call when I need this. Whatever the case may be. That's the number one. The number two thing you can do is you can leave a review for that company.

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Look, Google reviews are hugely valuable to small and medium businesses huge. So them head on over to their Google account, give 'em a five star review, and if you're able to leave a review, just type out a quick review. It's just, it'll make a huge difference. Number two, so leave a review cost you nothing. Number three, you can tag them in relevant posts. So if you come, you're scrolling along and you're seeing other posts that are happening out there, you can tag them. Go, Hey, so and so carpets, this looks rad. Whatever the case may be, find a reason, but tag these people in them. It makes a huge difference. Again, engagement, engagement, engagement. Number four, you can refer them in dms or chats. So if you start, if you're scrolling and you're seeing someone out there that needs something, you can talk about them in a direct message or in a chat window, just mention them.

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You can just simply shout number six, number five, you can shout them out. You can just make a post and go, Hey, I just think that you guys should know about this company. They're friends of my family. I've known them for a long time. Whatever the case may be, they're doing an awesome job. So if you need anyone that provides this service or has this product or is a little shop in town, just shout 'em out. If you're seeing on other people's post, shut 'em out. Just tag them. Shut 'em out. Number six is follow them. If you know that they're on Instagram and Facebook, or if you're on TikTok or on YouTube or whatever the case may be, go out of your way and just give them a follow. It's not going to inundate your stream of cats and food.

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I have lots of cats and food on my stream. You're going to be supporting them immensely. So go find them. Find their channels like them or follow them everywhere that you possibly can. Number seven, answer the polls or quizzes, especially on your stories. If you're ripping through your stories and you can see that somebody has a poll or they just have a quiz or they're looking for an answer to some kind of question, just take the minute, not even a minute, take the seconds that it takes to leave 'em a vote or just answer the quiz or do whatever the case may get. That's engagement, right? And the algorithms are going to see that. Again, we're at seven ways you can help and you haven't spent a damn dime. Eight, you can post your own photos of the work that they have done. So if you, I've seen this before.

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I've had this happen with canner wrap where I've had a friend of mine or a few friends of mine who have seen work that Canner Wrap has done, and they've taken pictures of it because they know me personally, and then they'll post it and go, Hey, my buddy John just did this one at canner wrap and lada dah dah. That's huge. So if you have a way posting something about a video or a photo or whatever, post it online, then you want to show it 'em out, it makes a huge, huge difference. That's number eight. Number nine, speak up in the comment section. Any comment if you're in groups or whatever the case may be, and it just happens to come up that there's an opportunity to support and talk about your friend or family or whatever brand you're kind of advocating for. Mention them and comment them or comment with them in the comments and have a link to their profile and say, Hey, yeah, you should go check with these guys. Or, these guys are really cutting edge. You never know. This might be something they can help you out with. Whatever the case may be. Again, it doesn't cost a thing, and the number 10 is you can go out of your way to, I'm getting emotional. It makes a huge difference to these people, to everybody. Number 10, you can send them a message with nothing other than to say, bro, you're doing an awesome job.

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You know how much that would affect someone, bro, you're doing an awesome job. Clearly for me, I know that means the world. Here's your call to action, is to get out there, keep these all in mind, okay? Number one, like, comment and share the post. Number two, leave a review. Number three, tag them in relevant posts. Number four, refer them in your dms and chats. Number five, shout them out. Number six, follow them everywhere. Number seven, answer their polls and quizzes and questions when you see in their reels and stories and things of that nature. Number eight, post your own photos of their work or their product. Number nine, speak up in the comments, and number 10, send them a kind message. None of this costs a penny, nothing, and the time it takes is very little, and God only knows we're just doom scrolling and looking at crap.

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Anyway, so this is something that'll really help. Your call to action is to pick at least three companies at least, and do this not one time. Do it this week and then do it next week and do it the following week. You will impact these people's lives more than you will ever understand. The gratitude will be more than you will have ever felt from these people because you are just for no other reason, supporting them and helping 'em. That's all I got for you next week. I'm sure this will be something that'll be a little bit more. You know what I'm probably going to do next week is I'm probably going to redo the first episode on the Brander bus show, because that wasn't even an episode. I think I might redo that next week. We'll have a more proper version of that freaking thing I did. So yeah, if you're still hanging in here with me till the end of this episode, I really appreciate it. Yes, of course. Please, like, comment, share this episode with people that you know, and especially to people that don't own a business, and you think that they probably know a lot of people that run businesses and they could probably positively impact those companies. So thanks for hanging in here with me. My name is Jonathan Glenn. This is the brand or bus show. I'll see you next week.