531: Becoming An Affiliate | Jordan Roscoe

Get ready conquerors for this week’s episode of the Conquer Local Podcast as we feature Jordan Roscoe, President & CEO of Unique Pro Media, an agency that helps local businesses launch, grow, and scale.

Jordan previously spent over a decade as a Journeyman Lineman. While he succeeded in that role, he aspired to achieve more and explored alternative ways of producing income. He quickly became obsessed with launching an agency capable of producing high-quality video content with the resources and skills to distribute digital media solutions.

Jordan shares how becoming an affiliate helped him in elevating his agency to new heights by offering services like Google Ads, SEO, Web Design, and an intuitive client dashboard that streamlines SAAS and reporting.

Conquer Local is presented by Vendasta. We have proudly served 5.5+ million local businesses through 60,000+ channel partners, agencies, and enterprise-level organizations. Learn more about Vendasta, and we can help your organization or learn more about Vendasta’s Affiliate Program and how our listeners (like yourself) make up to $10,000 off referrals.

Are you an entrepreneur, salesperson, or marketer? Then, keep the learning going in the Conquer Local Academy.

Becoming an Affiliate

Introduction

George: This is the Conquer Local podcast, a show about billion-dollar sales leaders, marketers leading local economic growth, and entrepreneurs that have created their dream organizations. They wanna share their secrets giving you the distilled version of their extraordinary feats. Our hope is that with the tangible takeaways from each episode, you can rewire rework, and reimagine your business. I’m George Leith. And, on this episode, we welcome Jordan Roscoe, the president and CEO of Unique Pro Media. He spent over a decade as a journeyman lineman and then founded Unique Pro Media with an ambition to become more and serve others at a higher level. Although Jordan found success as a lineman, he always aspired to achieve more. He would explore alternative ways of producing income but routinely failed to establish an authentic connection with a new set of skills. After struggling for years to find alignment with his new career path, he finally had an epiphany. He became obsessed with the idea of launching an agency capable of producing high-quality videos with the resources and skills to strategically distribute and leverage the content. And, he went back to his career as a journeyman lineman and started working in home services. Get ready conquerors, for Jordan Roscoe, coming up next on this week’s episode of the Conquer Local podcast.

George: Jordan Roscoe, joining us all the way from Abbottstown, Pennsylvania. Jordan, thanks for coming on the show this week. I’m excited to have you on the program.

Jordan: Yeah, I’m super excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

George:  And, I know you’re feeling a little under the weather today, but I’m telling you, your voice sounds great, so whatever you’re doing, you might wanna keep doing it. It’s deeper from what I saw.

Jordan: You got that. Got that face for radio voice for video kind of thing going on.

George: Yeah, that’s what my mom’s been telling me for 35 years, face made for radio. So, what we’re talking about today is Jordan Roscoe and we wanna get to the affiliates program and passive income, because I think it’s something that a lot of people are speaking about, but tell us about what you do in your agency from Abbottstown Pennsylvania.

Jordan: Yeah, so here in Abbottstown, we serve, at my agency, we serve a lot of local business. I’ve got a pretty direct connection to small to medium-sized businesses as both my mother and my stepfather are small business owners themselves. So, I grew up in home services, specifically custom kitchens, and bathrooms, additions. And, then my mother’s in the med spa industry, has been for the last 18 years. So, both of them are successful in their career, but it wasn’t always rainbows and unicorns, right? So, there were definitely many years growing up as a kid where their businesses struggled, as a result, we struggled, and my brother and I too, right? So, there were tough times, but they were resilient, and they were committed, and they stuck in it. And, as a result, they’ve grown very successful businesses. So, we like to serve small businesses, and local business, that way we can help smooth out that kind of peak and valley, those peak and valley months or years, and just give us a smooth trajectory. So, we’re passionate about local. And Vendasta has certainly been able to, has certainly equipped us with the resources necessary to do that at a high level.

George: Thanks for sharing that part of your story, because I think it’s a really important part is, at an early age, if I unpack that, you were impacted by struggles that small business people inevitably go through, and your mission is to smooth out that runway so that there isn’t the peaks and valleys, which I think that’s a hell of a reason to wake up every day. In the time that you’ve been running your agency, have you found specific niches that you folks do a really good job for, or is it more about people in the community that you’re able to serve?

Jordan: Yeah, so that’s a good question. Starting the business and starting the agency, I wanted to serve the home services vertical and real estate, because that’s what I have the deepest connection to throughout my life. My wife’s a real estate agent now. I’ve always been fascinated by all things real estate, in terms of investing and just the lucrative opportunity that that brings. So, I wanted to include that into my home services vertical with my past directly connecting me to those folks, right? I understand what their day is like. I can speak that language pretty fluently. So, I’ve taken referrals and generalized a bit to work with other businesses within the community, but, ultimately, I’m always really called back to that home services vertical just because of my past.

George:  Do you find in that vertical, that there is a request from the customer, that only work with me, because I don’t want you helping my competitor get better at this. Like, do you ever find that happening?

Jordan: Oh, absolutely. And, that’s really one of the key pillars that we’ve built the agency on is that it’s… It is exclusive, right? So, all of our contracts are based on exclusivity, as it relates to any sort of lead generation activity. So, they love that. And, exclusivity sells, it creates scarcity, it creates urgency, right? And, that’s really helped our sales process too. So, yeah, exclusivity sells and our customers certainly appreciate that.

George:  So, you become a trusted member of their team and they don’t have to worry about you going out and giving the trade secrets to somebody else. But, doesn’t that reduce the total addressable market that you may have? How have you overcome that? Because, if you’re only working with one plumber, can’t go work with other plumbers, so how have you been able to expand the business with that lens?

Jordan: Yeah, so it’s a good question. In a… In a cluster of zip codes, that’s true, where you really can’t work with a competing company, but outside of that addressable market, we’ve got the whole world at our fingertips here, and you and I, we’re meeting from different countries, I believe anyway. I believe that you’re… I’m not sure where you’re tuning in from, but let’s just say that you are in Canada, I’m in the US. You could be a plumbing company in Canada and I can still apply the same services. Now, we don’t have a handshake, but the fundamentals of the strategy still apply, and we can do this business virtually. So, my market is infinite and that’s what I love about running an agency.

George: Well, and I, that’s amazing, not the answer that I was expecting by the way, but I think that’s a great answer. I just go outside of the market and find another customer that doesn’t compete and run the same plays. But, the other thing I was wondering is if we’re looking at home services, because you didn’t just say plumbers, you said home services, isn’t there an ecosystem there where the plumber usually recommends an electrician, and that’s their buddy, and they know they do a great job. And, then the electrician recommends maybe a general contractor, who then maybe recommends a real estate agent that will sell the home down the road. Like, isn’t there like a community in there that you might be able to go to as well?

Jordan: Oh, absolutely. So, it only takes one. So, for me, it started in roofing and then I was able to infiltrate that entire network. And, just like you’re saying, I was able to acquire their preferred HVAC partner, their preferred plumber. And, it did, it became an entire ecosystem of home services within just a couple cluster… Or, a cluster of zip codes. That’s advantageous for me, because marketing, when we’re talking about small local business, is everything. So, for me, it just took, it just took one. And, then I was able to infiltrate multiple networks as a result of that.

George: No, and I love the word infiltrate, because the other thing that we know is all those real estate agents, all those plumbers, all those electricians, go to some sort of convention or belong to some sort of a network, and that’s where other leads could come in that are outside of that zip code. And, I’m just making an assumption here, so help me out if I’m on the right track.

Jordan: Yeah, absolutely. So, like we said, infiltrating, that that network only grows, because everybody knows somebody else, and their exposure to someone else, right? So, it’s everybody knows 20 people, continue to apply that, that philosophy outward. Yeah, business cards. I still use business cards depending on the setting, right? But, I strategically put business cards in the hands of certain folks, and it does work. It does bring business back in.

George: Well, everybody that does business properly uses a freaking a business card. Like, this whole thing, the business cards are dead, I probably handed out 50 business cards in the last month. It’s like, no. Oh, how dead are QR codes? Yeah, that didn’t quite work out, did it? So, good. Now, we’ve laid the foundation. Jordan is an expert at getting referrals and an expert at building networks. Now, let’s talk about passive income and affiliates, because I believe that all of those things that you’re doing inside your agency have been part of the reason why you were one of our top affiliate partners as well. So, can we talk about that journey?

Jordan: Yeah, absolutely. So, after, I guess it was pretty, I guess, it was pretty early on in my partnership with Ven Dasta that I was exploring the idea of how I could also use the affiliate tools that were available to me, because I was an immediately an advocate, right? So, after becoming a partner, I became very passionate about the platform itself. And, I just… Like, I’m a very… I’m an advocate for the Peloton brand, right? And, if I could be an affiliate for them, I swear I could sell those bikes all day long, no problem, because my heart’s in it. I feel the same way about Ven Dasta. So, as I was collaborating with other agency owners, and then just other folks in, other consultants that are in the marketing space, I was able to have that same type of passionate conversation, and it really wasn’t about selling the platform. It was just about enthusiastically connecting other people in my industry to a really great resource, and the affiliate program, it’s changed since I first came on, and it’s definitely a much more lucrative opportunity than it used to be, which is awesome. And, yeah, I’ve been able to leverage that and definitely build some passive income there. And, it’s been a lot of fun doing it too.

George: The reason why I was excited about this episode, number one, I wanted to meet you, I feel like I’ve already met you, because there was amazing case study that was released just before this episode, and there’s a video in there about you telling your story, I highly recommend people have a look at that case study, but also I think that business owners need to understand this concept of affiliate better. And, software companies, they jump into all this new stuff, right? And, that’s really where affiliate was born. But, what I’m noticing is I think any business could utilize the bones of an affiliate program to help them generate new leads. Like, when I talk to business owner, they usually tell me they’re looking for two things, they want more leads. That’s always the item. And, they usually go to some long story about telling me that they want more leads. But, then the other thing is their looking for efficiencies, because of what we’re dealing with right now in the business climate, like how can we find efficiencies and automate process? But, that, that lead component usually comes from running a great business. If you run a great business, you just get referrals, but putting a foundation in for affiliate, and putting a foundation in, foundation in place where it’s easy for people to drive referrals your way, is really at the heart of the affiliate program. So, if you were to highlight the top two things, as you went down this affiliate journey, what would they be? The recommendation that you have to others that are thinking about I need to get in on this affiliate thing.

Jordan: Oh, yeah. Referral based sales, right? So, take the consultative approach make yourself available. Something that’s really worked well for me is to actually bring and host my own platform demonstrations before I go to the sales team, right? So, I get to build trust with the prospect and then basically as a user of the platform, show them how I’m using it, ’cause Ven Dasta is very robust, right? And, there’s so many different avenues that you can go into in using the platform, and I’m quite confident in saying that I’m sure everyone uses it a little different. I think it would be a stretch to say that two people use it exactly the same. So, I have that, I take that consultative approach. I hold their hand, show them the platform. And, then I tee it up to the sales team and they’re able to connect the dots from there.

George: So, for our, for our listeners, if you’re not familiar with the affiliate program, Jordan has an agency and is doing very well with that agency, but then taking all of those learnings, and through the affiliate program, able to talk to other potential agency owners, and get a fee for bringing that lead into the ecosystem. And, I’ll tell you where it is, where I’m sitting on my desk. We gotta pay X number of dollars for a lead. And, I’d rather pay Jordan than pay it to Google or Facebook for ads. When a business looks at their cost to acquire a customer, that number is it’s… There’s a figure there. And, could we just pay it to somebody like Jordan who is a raving fan of the platform? That to me just makes sense to have you promote it to other organizations. So, this isn’t a paid announcement for Ven Dasta affiliate program. What I wanted to get to is I think any business could use this model to just put their referral program on steroids. How do you feel about that?

Jordan: Yeah, yeah, 100%. And, that’s really what it comes down to. It’s referral marketing at the end of the day, right? It’s not necessarily, or at least the way that I treat it, it’s not affiliate marketing, right? I kind of removed that piece of it. It’s referral marketing. So, it’s for any business to build a referral program around some affiliate marketing strategies or affiliate marketing programs is an absolute lead gen beast, right? And, it’s… It wouldn’t be that difficult to do so it’s not… And, it’s not a… It’s not uncommon for businesses in existence now to give a referral kickback, right? So, if you could essentially raise an army of affiliates underneath, if you just think what that would represent in your revenue, right? To have an army of people out there as raving fans, like you said, promoting your company and your brand.

George: Well, and I want to come back to what we were talking about off the top, because this whole thing ties together. When you go into one of your ecosystems, and you get the plumber, and the electrician, and the HVAC, and then the moving company, and what? Just down the line, right? The paint store, whatever it is, that’s working with that audience, when you serve them really well, they usually just offer you the referral. Now, we teach people on this show to ask, create an environment for it, this is just putting some foundation around it. And, you’ve been very successful in driving this buzzword of passive income, like money in your sleep, but by the way, it’s not that you sleep all the time, and you earn the money, you’re doing a bunch of work to make this happen. So, I wanna be very clear on that. You’re putting effort in to generate the affiliate fees that you’re getting.

Jordan: Yeah, absolutely. You have to generate the conversation or nothing… Nothing happens at that point. So, for me, it’s a lot of community outreach in Facebook, LinkedIn, sometimes it’s face to face, right? Because, I collaborate with other agency owners directly just as a result of being in the industry. So, and there’s… I have… I’m in coaching programs, I’m a coach, right? So, there are… There’s always conversations that are taking place. And, I try not to ever leave any money on the table, right? So, again, I love the Grant Cardone theory of sell or be sold. And, I definitely apply that here to the… My, both, my partnership with Ven Dasta and also my status as an affiliate, because I really am passionate about the product, and I have no problem connecting someone else with that service.

George: Well, we appreciate your partnership and all the great work that we’ve been able to do together over the months with our teams. And, I know that inside our organization your name is a household name, Jordan. People know who Jordan Roscoe is. And, now, as a guest here on the Conquer Local podcast, I’m sure you’ve got a bunch of other potential raving fans. How can people connect with your organization if they were looking to speak to you about these programs that you’re involved in?

Jordan: Yeah, The easiest way to get back to me would be to go to my website, which is uniquepromedia.com and, yeah, book a consultation, be happy to chat and collaborate.

George: Alright, and our team is going to put your case study into the show notes. We’ll have the link if people are looking to speak to you. And, thanks for educating us today and congratulations on the success that you’re having with Unique Pro Media. And, being one of our top affiliate programs. I know that Cass, and Jacob, and the team, and the affiliates, they talk about you very fondly. So, thanks for joining us in educating us today.

Jordan: Yeah, thanks. It’s been a pleasure.

Conclusion

George: Great speaking to Jordan today and learning from his experience in building out his agency in that very tough niche of home services. And, I love hearing from him that he’s been able to figure out how to build some sort of value around an exclusive relationship without reducing his total addressable market, which is always a challenge. So, there’s definitely some learnings for you there. The other component is that exclusivity creates urgency. And, all it takes is one happy customer in a network. And, then you can infiltrate that market. Everyone knows 20 people, and so on, and so on, and so on. So, in the early part of the episode we got basic understanding of how to build an ecosystem of referrals. Now, let’s talk about affiliate, and, as Jordan likes to call it, referral marketing. Any business can utilize this strategy to build a network and a community to establish trust. And, there’s a lot of effort involved, but there’s a really nice payday at the end of the day. Generate the conversation. Then, take that conversation online through various communities, whether it be Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, coaching programs. And, I love the fact that Jordan talks about Grant Cardone around his sell or be sold methodology. So, Jordan gave us a master’s class today in building out an agency to deal with an ecosystem, then mining that ecosystem for unlimited referrals, and then taking everything that he’s learned, and putting it into this buzzword of affiliate marketing, or I like the way that Jordan refers to it better, referral marketing, but referral marketing on steroids. If you like Jordan’s episode discussing affiliate marketing, let’s continue the conversation. Check out episode 521, personal branding with Libby Gill, or episode 444, the psychology of starting and running an agency with our good friend, Robert Davis. Please subscribe and leave us a review. And, thanks for joining us this week on the Conquer Local podcast. My name is George Leith. I’ll see you when I see you.