Ep 55 – Super-Serving Small Communities & Utilizing Pay-Per-Call Ad Models, with Drew Massie of AttorneyFone and LeadGen Ventures

Go and Grow Podcast » Podcast

Drew Massie tells us how he uses technology to super-serve small communities, how he uses the pay-per-call advertising model to grow small businesses, and how he balances being a father and an entrepreneur.

Today’s guest, Drew Massie, is Founder and CEO of AttorneyFone, which provides marketing and technology services for attorneys, and LeadGen Ventures, which helps startups with product development and go-to-market strategy for call generation and lead generation.

Drew is an experienced entrepreneurial technology and business development professional, and he has impressively managed to grow his businesses while raising a family.

We’re going to learn how startups can take advantage of a pay-per-call advertising model, the processes that Drew goes through to grow new business ventures, and how he has been able to balance being a father and an entrepreneur.

“I’m still figuring out how to be an entrepreneur and I’m still figuring out how to be a father – and I’m definitely still figuring out how to be both at once.” (click to tweet)

“Get your ass kicked early and often.” (click to tweet)

In this episode, you’ll learn from Drew

• 1:30 – Drew’s first entrepreneurial venture – and his first taste of super-serving a small community – was CompleteCar.com, a vertical search engine for car owners looking for repairs.
• 4:15 – LeadGen Ventures is “a way to kinda create a venture capital firm without having the capital.” It’s venture services and software. Drew helps startups and ventures with technology – lead management, call management, call center management, etc.
• 6:00 – AttorneyFone is the 3rd incarnation of a project Drew started in business school, TixNix, which intended to match individuals with driving tickets with attorneys.
• 6:45 – AttorneyFone now generates inbound calls for attorneys and screens the callers to assure they are a match for the attorney and the consultation. They use a pay-per-call advertising model combining classic telephone marketing skills with modern technology.
• 8:30 – AttorneyFone is growing into a marketplace that will offer even more value to both attorneys and clients
• 9:25 – What are some of the hurdles that Drew saw launching that two-sided marketplace, and how did he plan for them?
• 10:30 – “You’re gonna have to build a chicken and you’re gonna have to lay your own egg, so just do both of those at the same time and whichever works first, that’s just how it gets done.”
• 15:00 – How does the monetization of the call service work, and how does Drew generate leads for AttorneyFone?
• 15:55 – “It’s an interesting circle back to calls being how businesses get new business. It seems like it’s from 20 years ago, and it is, but it is a natural evolution of a technical process that the internet dominated for a while. It’s interesting how calls have turned into something that is largely digital.”
• 20:30 – There are two sales models that prevail in this space
  • The service provider gets a call and has a certain amount of time to talk to that person. Once the timer goes over a certain amount, payouts are triggered in the software.
  • Pre-screened transfers where the call goes to a call center agent asking a consistent set of questions to deliver a consistent product to your buyer.
• 23:00 – What other types of businesses can effectively use the pay-per-call model to drive leads?
• 23:30 – Small businesses may really want those calls, but, in many situations, they may not be set up to take them. Drew’s thesis is that there will be a growth of services in the middle that are able to occupy one more layer of that funnel, “because you can’t just go from raw to the service provider who’s going to make the decision and have that process work really well.”
• 28:25 – AttorneyFone is closing in on a one-year run rate of $1 million in revenue. That said, it’s a slower growth rate than what Drew has wanted – however, that’s forced a lot of new innovations in the background.
• 29:40 – Drew has baked new innovations into the transfer product that has� really helped AttorneyFone grow. One is bilingual agents, and the agents can stay on the call with the service provider to translate
• 31:55 – Drew sees services expanding because 95% of the callers are calling from a mobile phone. Text messages can provide valuable, additional information, and clients can send e-signatures. On top of that, all of this can be done without getting off of the call.
• 34:15 – Tell us about the ups and downs of growing startups while raising a family, and how has Drew been able to balance being a father and an entrepreneur at the same time?
• 34:30 – “I’m still figuring out how to be an entrepreneur and I’m still figuring out how to be a father – and I’m definitely still figuring out how to be both at once.”
• 40:30 – Quickfire Q&A

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

• AttorneyFone
• LeadGen Ventures
• Trello
• The Farther Reaches of Human Nature by Abraham H. Maslow (affiliate link)

Answers to Quickfire Q&A:

1. If you could chat with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
   1. Thomas Watson of IBM. “Look up Thomas Watson quotes and you’ll just be blown away.”
2. Name a tool, app, or website that you can’t live without and why.
   1. Trello
3. Tell us something unique and interesting about you that not many may know.
   1. “I’ve done the tough mudder twice since turning 40.”
4. What is your favorite business book and why?
   1. The Farther Reaches of Human Nature by Abraham H. Maslow (affiliate link)
   2. “My favorite business book is actually a psychology book.”
5. What is the top characteristic or trait that you look for in people you work with?
   1. “The understanding that being successful is more of a process, and it’s really a process of understanding when and where you fail … Be cognizant of the fact that your really great answers may be completely wrong, and probably early and often.”
6. What is something you believe, but few others agree with you?
   1. “Building software for your business is a bad idea – I think it’s a great idea.”

How to contact Drew:

To learn more about Drew or connect with him directly head over to his LinkedIn page, and if you want to learn more about his business ventures head over to leadgenventures.com and attorneyfone.com.

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The post Ep 55 – Super-Serving Small Communities & Utilizing Pay-Per-Call Ad Models, with Drew Massie of AttorneyFone and LeadGen Ventures appeared first on Go and Grow Podcast.