BROADCASTS.com

Amanda Newman. When she was 26 and working as a relator in Liberty, Toronto, she created a website for local deals, events, and news. Soon, other realtors were approaching her about the website, and she realized it had the potential spread all across North America. Today, Park Bench, her company, has grown from a fun little marketing idea to help a struggling realtor, into a multi-million-dollar company with 27 employees and a rapid growth rate.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? \u2013 DotCom Secrets
• What CEO do you follow? \u2013 Gary Vaynerchuk
• Favorite online tool? \u2014 DocuSign
• How many hours of sleep do you get?\u2014 7-9
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \u2013 \u201cTo start writing down my goals\u201d

\xa0

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:54 \u2013 Amanda was in episode 353 of The Top
• 02:11 \u2013 In 2016, Amanda was doing $80K in MRR
  • 02:16 - $4500 from upfront payment
  • 02:25 \u2013 They build neighborhood focused website for real estate agents
• 03:07 \u2013 Amanda had 215 customers in 2016 with $880K revenue in 2015
  • 03:15 \u2013 Each customer is paying $350 a month with a total of $70K MRR
  • 03:20 \u2013 5% churn, CAC of $400 and LTV of 20 months
  • 03:26 - $7000 LTV with 8 people in the team
  • 03:31- Founded in 2014
• 03:38 - Park Bench builds neighborhood websites
  • 03:40 \u2013 They have the technology that aggregates local content
  • 03:46 \u2013 They sell the exclusive rights to the neighborhood sites which are run by 1 real estate agent per neighborhood
  • 03:53 - Park Bench provides training and guidance on how to use the website and leverage it
  • 04:05 \u2013 \u201cThey become a conductor of their community\u201d
• 04:18 - Park Bench currently over 1000 customers
• 04:46 \u2013 They invested a lot on Facebook advertising
• 05:00 - Park Bench gets 60-100 realtor inquiries who want to be the digital mayor of their neighborhood
• 05:10 - Park Bench has 3000 sq. ft. office with 30 employees
• 05:16 \u2013 In May, Park Bench hit $628K in revenue which is their biggest month by far
  • 05:38 \u2013 It\u2019s the total revenue
• 05:38 \u2013 Last month, Park Bench sold to 150 realtors who have paid upfront of $4500-5000
• 05:57 \u2013 Churn is now 2.75% with 65-70% renewal rate
  • 07:18 - $628K May revenue divided by $5000 to get 126 customers
  • 07:38 \u2013 75 existing customers and 50 new customers
• 09:00 \u2013 CAC is $676 and LTV is around $13K or 3 years
• 09:51 \u2013 Currently, Amanda isn\u2019t sure where to spend their money so they\u2019re investing more on Facebook ads
  • 09:58 \u2013 They track the leads they get daily
  • 10:16 \u2013 The Facebook algorithm is making it more expensive now to get new customers
  • 10:25 \u2013 They invest more on content and wanted to drive more organic traffic
  • 10:40 \u2013 They spend $6500 on ads monthly
• 11:02 \u2013 \u201cWe\u2019re just growing our business\u201d
• 11:23 \u2013 On personal wealth creation, Amanda only thinks of being happy
  • 11:37 \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t have to raise money, I don\u2019t have to sell the company\u201d
  • 11:40 \u2013 Amanda loves her team and enjoys being a part of it
• 12:15 \u2013 Gross margin is over 90%
• 12:45 \u2013 The investment deal should be strategic and can be from, like Keller Williams, for Amanda to accept it
  • 13:00 \u2013 Amanda wants to access to more real estate agents
• 13:41 - Park Bench has country managers who work with clients whenever they need to
• 13:54 - Park Bench is starting to offer realtors other things they need like in marketing
  • 14:02 - Park Bench knows lead generation too
• 14:30 \u2013 Amanda\u2019s parents sold their company to invest in real estate
• 14:50 \u2013 Amanda is still thinking if she will invest in real estate too
• 15:04 \u2013 \u201cAt this point, our best return is to invest in ourselves\u201d
• 15:27 \u2013 Amanda\u2019s dad has a foundation and is currently in Kenya
• 18:02 \u2013 The Famous Five
• 20:46 \u2013 $1.9M 2016 revenue
• 20:53 \u2013 2017 target revenue is $6.3M and currently on track

\xa0

3 Key Points:

1. Have a reliable support system that will make your customers be stickier.
2. With Facebook\u2019s ever changing algorithms, it\u2019s better to invest more on creating great content to drive more organic traffic and leads.
3. Write down your goals so you can keep track of them.

\xa0

Resources Mentioned:

• The Top Inbox \u2013 The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
• GetLatka - Database of all B2B SaaS companies who have been on my show including their revenue, CAC, churn, ARPU and more
• Klipfolio \u2013 Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
• Hotjar \u2013 Nathan uses Hotjar to track what you\u2019re doing on this site. He gets a video of each user visit like where they clicked and scrolled to make the site a better experience
• Acuity Scheduling \u2013 Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Host Gator\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
• Audible\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives