The Freedom Formula Podcast: Achieving Financial, Location and Time Freedom

In this episode Neel has a conversation with Bunty SomRoy. In 2016 Bunty left the US to try to find a way in to the digital marketing world and spent three years living in Thailand and Indonesia, nose to the grindstone, trying to build his business. As it grew he's been able to travel a lot more and he's "making up for lost time." Some interesting parts of the discussion include: - Regrets: Bunty wants others to enjoy the journey more and not be as heads-down in their businesses as he was early on - Remote Year: Bunty got to meet an entirely different species of remote worker, including high-level executives - India: Bunty raced across India in a tuk tuk and found healing he didn't know he needed in his identity as an Indian-American Enjoy the episode!

Even though the word "remote" is part of a "remote local" business, that doesn't mean you have to start it remotely. In this episode Neel makes arguments for both sides, for starting a remote local business in your hometown and for starting it completely remotely. He covers things like: - Why sometimes a local presence can help you win, particularly with community marketing  - Why sometimes a local presence can slow your growth — Neel shares how he could have systematized remote hiring faster had he not fallen back on the ease and comfort of local presence - Why time zones play a much bigger role, even within the US, than people can imagine. Neel argues for both sides and points out that ultimately, it's about what the individual business owner's priorities are that will determine the best place to start the business.  Enjoy the episode!

In this episode Neel interviews PJ McGeary of Arbor Trail Cleaning. PJ has had a lot of success using Facebook groups to get the word out about his cleaning business and shares his tactics and ideas, including: - the power of city-based groups, which post about all sorts of topics, not just those related to home services - the cadence you can use when posting — and why copy/paste works fine across all the groups you are part of - the type of post to use (always use photos!) and what to include in it PJ even shares the types of messages you can use on holidays. He's got a great one for Valentine's Day that he shared. Enjoy the episode!

In this episode Neel and Johnny discuss what they've been seeing on the ground for Remote Local Businesses: - What's happening with Google Local Service Ads (LSA) and how to guard against big swings with them - The power of what Neel calls "community marketing" which can include some tedious — but rewarding — work - A "we're in the neighborhood anyway" tactic that can help you pick up new customers  You'll also hear Neel share a story of a woman in Australia who is doing $1M in revenue for cleaning and has no website: she's working off Facebook groups alone! Enjoy the episode!

As Google tweaks its algorithm and its Local Services ads to deal with AI-created content, you might need to find new ways of reaching customers.  In this episode Neel shares five avenues he's exploring right now (and are working). Some include: - Hypertargeting local Facebook groups using discounts, testimonials, and tagging - Using B2B cold emails in your niche - Getting on the ground with flyers and door-knocking in neighborhoods where you already have clients (or want to) To get detailed tactics for these and other channels Neel is acquiring new customers through, listen to the episode.

In this episode Neel offers five different side hustles with low barriers to entry and low cost to startup. While he understandably gives a plug for residential cleaning (hey, if it works, it works) he also shares: - Vending machine routes (get started for around $2500) - Mobile rim repair (he found out about one company doing $20,000 a day in repairs!) - Knife sharpening (door-to-door still works) But wait, there's more. Weekend puppy training! Enjoy the episode.

In the episode Neel sits down with Daniel Thompson of Salt Water Digital. Daniel has been in SEO for many years and took some time to share some insights into SEO for local services businesses, like: - Why Google My Business is harder to get verified now, and why some legitimate reviews are getting flagged and hidden. - The proof of work your agency should be showing you. - Whether local service businesses should be using Reddit, TikTok, Facebook, or Instagram ads. Enjoy the episode!

When you pay for someone else's experiences you can move farther and faster than you would have on your own, allowing you to leapfrog the competition. In this episode, Neel shares a few of the key practices he's gotten through business coaching (see more here), including: - The need to delegate, automate, and systematize (he sets aside time every day to do all three) - Why proactive planning helps you start working on your 10 year goals now - How its often the small effort on key levers in your business that lead to the biggest results There's not often that you get $50,000 of value in just a few minutes. Enjoy!

During a break from the Conquer Summit Neel took a few moments to share some tactics he plans to implement to push his sales up at the MaidThis location in California this year. One of the pain points driving this change is an increased cost of labor, which Neel had not kept a close eye on. In the episode he discusses: - The difference between recurring customers and re-occurring customers (and why he'll be chasing more of the latter this year) - The ideal ceiling for labor costs in a home services business - How little changes can lead to big results Enjoy the episode!

In this episode Neel and Johnny talk about the different hires you need to make as you grow your remote local business. They discuss: - the first hire you make and what areas they need to help with - how roles have to change as you move past $100k to $500k in annual revenue: people need to be more specialized - why the biz owner should be a marketing strategist, not a marketing executor You'll also hear them discuss margins and how many team members you'll need to hit $1M in annual revenue Enjoy the episode!