Local Market Monopoly

Jenna Harkreader: So I've always had this entrepreneurial spirit, but I'd never really found something that wasn't already being done or I knew the ins and outs of. And then on this plane, I just was thinking to myself, I was like, "Man, I wonder why there's nothing out there that houses the ads versus all of the ads just chasing people.

Clarence Fisher: " Hey, it's Clarence Fisher. Welcome to Local Market Monopoly, where we uncover the tools, tactics, and strategies the most successful businesses use to dominate their local market and own the block. This one's for the owner who's already decided to grow, is already spending real money to get there. You pay for the creative real money. The video, the photos, the trucks, the brand. Where does all of that go at the exact moment somebody decides to buy? Here's what actually happens. Your creative runs on TV, social, billboards, programmatic. Three months later, somebody's AC quits at 11 at night. They go to Google, type in air conditioner, and get handed a wall of text. Everything you paid for to make yourself different, the crew, the trucks, the five-star reviews, none of it shows up at the bottom of the funnel. My guest today spent 15 years inside that machine.
Jenna Harkreader sold OTT, programmatic, display, social, the whole interruption playbook you're writing checks for. 60% year-over-year growth, seven figures in sales. Then she quit, took a pay cut and built the fix. Less than a year later, 80 businesses, 70,000 visitors, patent pending built right here in Tulsa. But I didn't bring her on to sell your platform. I brought her on because she spent 15 years on the inside and she'll tell you exactly how this stuff actually works. Stick around. I pushed back on a few things.
You're listening to Local Market Monopoly with Clarence Fisher. Uncovering the tools, tactics, and strategies the most successful small businesses use to dominate their local market and own the block. All right. Hey, hey, hey, Jenna, welcome to the show. Before we get into the big idea, give listeners the short version. What is the Ready Ads? Who is it for? And what problem are you solving?

Jenna Harkreader: I love it. So we'll just start with the easy answer. The Ready Ads is for you, the consumer. And the problem that I really made this to solve was we are inundated with platforms, streaming, media, content, ads more than we've ever been. And I've been in advertising for 15 years. I believe in it. However, I think that the way advertising, it started to evolve and targeting people, it's clever, it's great. But now so many different platforms target you that if you're not in the market for something, it's in one ear, out the other, in one eyeball out the other. It's hard to retain it. And so because I believe in advertising, I thought, but when I actually want a product or service, where can I find those ads? And so that was kind of the nitty gritty of how it got started and here we are.

Clarence Fisher: Wow. So today as we're talking, who should be leaning in as we're getting started? Is it the local business owner? Is it the consumer? Both?

Jenna Harkreader: The local business owner should lean in and advertise on the Ready Ads. However, the consumers themselves are the ones that this platform was made to use so that they can be in control. I think a lot of people feel like because of there is so much technology now that people can target them with ads, they've lost a little bit of that control. And although it can be helpful, a lot of people think it's creepy. There's a lot more fraud and AI and all of that than there's ever been. And so people are a little bit gun shy of their information getting out there. So I wanted them to be able to find local businesses and services and products, but without having to give up that privacy element of it. So it's built for the consumers to be able to find ads when they actually want or need them, and then to also do so in a safe private space that is not taking any of their personal information and selling it or using it to re-target them at some point.

Clarence Fisher: Yeah. Cool. Speaking of the local business, so what does a win look like for that local business that's using the Ready Ads? What actually changes in their business?

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. So for local business owners, they are overwhelmed on the flip side of different platforms coming to them saying, "Hey, spend money with us to advertise." And everybody that knows a little bit about advertising knows it's a funnel, it's a marketing funnel. So the top is brand awareness, and the bottom is people ready to convert. But in my opinion, there was a disconnect there for the businesses. So you're advertising, you're spending all this money, time, effort to create your brand image and you are placing that on digital media, billboards, magazines, any other print, TV, radio, the list goes on and on. So that's that creative element. However, at the very bottom of the funnel, when a consumer is actually ready to buy, they then don't see those creative ads. So that's where I found there was a disconnect because obviously the lowest of the funnel product is Google or a search engine.
Well, those search engines are predominantly text-based, and so it's not allowing you as a business owner to show the consumers those creative ads that you are running elsewhere. And so when they go to Google, a consumer goes to Google and they search something, they just get a bunch of words and websites. And at that point, you're missing out on reaching that right side of the brain that makes decisions based off a creative element. And so again, I've kind of blended the advertising to where you're already making these creative assets, but then when people are searching, you're able to show those creative assets off. So either one, they remember it from seeing it elsewhere. Or two, you just have a better chance of capturing them because the human brain, there's a reason we start with picture books and there's a reason that so much money is put into creative assets.
It's because it triggers something in the human mind that words by themselves don't typically do. So this is saying, "Hey, business, whatever your creative elements are that you think is your competitive advantage, put that in front of people instead of just having them look at words and then hope you resonate with them based on what's important to them."

Clarence Fisher: We talked before, you are excellent at sales, like 13 out of 10 in your get them locked in, stay on them, right?

Clarence Fisher: Are you a creative or -

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. So the other thing, a lot of the ads on the site I will make because there are a lot of businesses that you've got all ends of the spectrum, the marketing divisions that can create ads, but then you got the smaller guys that they just don't have that capacity. So I will actually make a lot of the ads that you see on the Ready Ads for those businesses. But yes, so one of my hobbies is event planning, which my husband absolutely loves. Don't let him tell you otherwise. So I love to throw parties and I do have a creative vision. And there are some days when sales is tough that I will just play with more of the creative side of the business because for me, it's a little bit of a brain break.

Clarence Fisher: Yeah, that's great. That's great.

Jenna Harkreader: Thank you.

Clarence Fisher: So you spent years selling OTT, programmatic, display, social. We had a quick conversation about that when we first talked about how programmatic works. That whole entire interruption playbook that most businesses are still writing checks for today and you were good at it, 60% year over year growth, seven figures of sales. What was the moment that you decided the whole model was broken?

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah, the aha moment. So it's funny actually, and this is kind of just how my brain is. I also love to travel. We were flying back from a trip and I've always had this entrepreneurial spirit, but I'd never really found something that wasn't already being done or I knew kind of the ins and outs of. And then on this plane, I just was thinking to myself, I was like, "Man, I wonder why there's nothing out there that houses the ads versus all of the ads just chasing people. " And I thought through it and we got off the plane in Dallas for a layover. I remember it. We were with my parents and my husband and kids and we were eating at Chili's and I was like, "Oh my gosh, you guys, I just had this business idea." And they were all like, "We are at a Chili's airport restaurant.
Why are you talking about this right now?" So anyways, I kind of got home. It stuck with me, but I kept doing with what I was doing. And then I did just get to a point that I was like, "Man, if I don't pull the trigger on this, I'm never going to try it. " And I do think it's unique. And so I remember it was last February 2025, my birthday. I was like, "I'm going to sleep in. It's my birthday." And at 50 AM I was up and I go, "I'm going to do it. " And then so from February 8th to I launched May 5th of 2025, I quit my job and I took some money out and I went for it and I built the platform. I attempted to build it myself, realized that where my wheelhouse does end is tech, the back end of a website.
Found a guy, he built it and started going and selling. And here we are almost a year later and we are in the six-figure mark as far as revenue and I've got about 80 businesses on there and my consumer visitation just hit 70,000 visitors.

Clarence Fisher: That's awesome. Awesome. And so just like that, you woke up and you said, "Hey, I got to go for it, " right?

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. And I took a pay cut and all the things, but there is nothing else out there like it. And people compare it, they like to do that. They're like, "So it's like a modern day Yellow Pages or it's an Angie's list." And I'm like, "No, but we can go. " I mean, there's probably a little bit of all that that came into it, but the big difference is it's not just business listings. It's not just your name and your address and your phone number or stock images. It's actual creative that you want to show off. And then unlike Angie, it's private. So Angie, now you got to give basically your blood type to be able to see anything. And so I really wanted this to be a private place for people to find what they need.

Clarence Fisher: What did your colleagues think when you walked in and said, "Hey, I'm quitting," and you're building this?

Jenna Harkreader: So it took a minute because I had a non-compete for a little while, so we had to... Yeah. But the good news about that was that we were a national company, so I was selling all across the country, whereas the Ready Ads has started here in Tulsa. So because I'd worked in Tulsa Media, I had a lot of those connections still. And I will say, I mean, I had a few businesses that I just have known and worked with forever and they were like, "Yeah, we'll be on there. We will support you. " And so obviously, and most people I speak to, they're like, "This is a great idea. This is different and this is unique." It's just a matter of getting the name out there and it becoming part of people's habits, which again, it's been a year, so we're doing pretty good. But that is probably the part that even to this day, I'm like, "I quit this job to...
" And I know a lot of entrepreneurs, you take a step back because you have a bigger vision for your future. And so people were very kind, like, "We're going to miss you. Wish you weren't going. Can we get you to stay?" But I knew that if I didn't do it, I would never know. And knock on wood so far so good.

Clarence Fisher: Like what you said about that if you don't do it. You don't want to be 80 years old thinking, "I wonder what would've happened."

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. Or if someone beats you to it, you're just like, "Man, that was my idea." And like I said at the beginning, I believe in advertising, so that's the part that helped. I just think that nowadays, even if you see something you like, you take a picture, you screenshot it, but then you go take a hundred pictures more of random stuff and you don't want to actually go back and find that. So it's like, okay, well, just for example, restaurants, I know restaurants target me, but I'm not always going out to eat. But now I am going out to eat. Well, I don't remember what that restaurant was or where it is. I just remember seeing something I kind of like the look of. Well, then you go to the Ready Ads and you put in restaurants and then you compare all of those ads in one place to either jog your memory or remind you of a place you've not been to for a while or a new restaurant that you haven't tried.
So there's a lot of different reasons people could use the Ready Ads. And again, I did it just because advertising works, it's just become very saturated and I wanted to flip the script.

Clarence Fisher: So do you think that interruption advertising is losing its edge or is there still a place for it?

Jenna Harkreader: I believe there's a place for it. Because honestly, just I'll be candid, I'm doing advertising to drive people to my site. So yes, there is a place for it, but I think that again, the bottom of the funnel, even if those ads work, you still are going to probably go to the search engine.

Clarence Fisher: This is true.

Jenna Harkreader: It all works to a degree. It's just that most businesses know that their biggest conversion platform is a search engine because it's people that are ready to buy. I think it works. I think it just needed to evolve to where there was a match between search and creative assets.

Clarence Fisher: Okay. So speaking to the local business owner that's listening, the pool guy, the HVAC company, the MedSpa, what does this shift actually mean for how they should be spending their next dollars?

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. I think it benefits businesses no matter what their budgets, which I think is a huge component of this because I've worked with businesses that 50,000 a month isn't a big deal, but then I've worked with businesses $50 a month is a big deal. And I think that what's happened is that Google rewards who spends the most and it doesn't necessarily mean that it is the right business for those consumers. So what I wanted to do for the business owners is level a playing field out of just, "Hey, you may not have the biggest marketing budget, but you may be the right fit for this consumer looking for you. So let's put you in a place that's inexpensive, that is that bottom of the funnel, and that does allow you to stand out to the consumer based on your brand. Everyone has a brand. And just we'll take the med spa, for example.
Consumers buy for so many different reasons. So what's important to someone may not be important to someone else, but this allows that med spa in this case to kind of feature what their brand is, their imagery, their vibe, and then that's going to match up with someone.

Clarence Fisher: Okay. I've got my med spa. I'm there. How many am I going against just visually here? Because you said it's a visual thing

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah, right now I think there's six on there under that category. But the cool thing about the site, which I wanted to do too, is make it pretty, make it easy, user-friendly. And so it doesn't take much time. And I tell the businesses on there, and I haven't had this objection a lot, but well, then I'm just competing with the same thing as me. And I'm like, "You're already competing against them. You're competing every day you open your doors." So it's like, if you're going to compete, you might as well compete in a space that people are there on purpose. So I would tell them, again, it's an inexpensive way to reach people that are at the bottom of the funnel and it's a way for you to take this brand that you've created, whether it's a storefront or your people or your vehicles or your testimonials or your specials, whatever it is.
I've created this platform that you can show that off to people that want to see that versus showing and hoping they're reaching people that are wanting to see it.

Clarence Fisher: One of the things that you said just a little bit ago was Google rewards the people, the businesses that spend the most. One of the myths that I have always run into with local businesses in particular is in my experience, generally speaking, the business that can spend the most typically wins no matter what. If I can measure my cost per lead, my cost per sale, and I can profitably spend on the Ready Ads and I can spend on Google and I can spend on Facebook profitably, not just irresponsibly. And the myth that I get is that I'm just going to do one thing. I'm just going to do the Ready Ads or I'm just going to do Google or whatever. What are some of the myths in digital advertising that you have in your career heard from local businesses? What kind of myths do they -

Jenna Harkreader: Surrounding Google or just in general?

Clarence Fisher: Just surrounding advertising, digital advertising

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. Well, what's interesting about that is you have the spectrum of people, how old they are, what industry they're in, how long they've been doing it. Because I mean, you could go back to even TV days of just traditional and you know you got a spot running, but you don't know what time necessarily or if it actually showed because you weren't watching the TV. So I think there's some doubt, did I actually run my spot even with Google? Is the bidding even working like it should? Are the clicks legit? Am I getting a lot of bots? I think that AI is tremendous creation for our futures. However, I know there's some pessimism over it because it is taking it to a level of where's that human touch and do we know things are legit? And so it's funny you asked that question. When I first started in the media world, I worked at Tulsa World and people knew to advertise in there.
People knew to go to the Tulsa world to find something. And I think that people liked advertising because they knew that on Sunday they were going to be on the third page of the sports section. And so the business themselves, they had that proof that it was there. And then we started getting into where programmatically you target and you're like, am I ending up on legit sites? Am I actually getting legit clicks? And unless you're a super, super savvy business that can track conversions and keep maps on their site, you don't actually know what's happening to those. And so one of the other things I say with the Ready Ads is, because everyone was so excited about programmatic and the creativity and the technology behind it, but then I think now people are like, oh my gosh, there's just so much out there. I mean, there's so many DSPs.
Who knows what content we're getting? And so I kind of was like, the Ready Ads is almost taking it back to that simplicity of the Tulsa world of just like, I know I'm going to be there and I know that I'm going to be seen by people that are going there on purpose. And so I do laugh about that occasionally because I think we got away from that sponsorship opportunity of people were just kind of going everywhere. And I feel like just from what I'm seeing, I was actually the person, I don't know if you've seen on Fox 23, Burgraph Restoration is their weather sponsor. So I actually sold that to Burgraph when I was there and I was the one that came up with it for the station. And they were against it at first, but I somehow got them to agree to it. And so they're still on that sponsorship. And that was six, seven years ago.

Clarence Fisher: Wow.

Jenna Harkreader: So I think that with all of these things that have happened, I've kind of just realized I think advertisers want to be back to a stable place that they know their ads can be seen versus hoping that just throwing money and the algorithms will do right by them.

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Is Fox 23 still Clear Channel?

Jenna Harkreader: No. They just got bought actually by I think Sinclair.

Clarence Fisher: Oh, okay. Cool, cool, cool. I worked at Clear Channel 20 years ago.

Jenna Harkreader: Oh, okay.

Clarence Fisher: And they were in the same building. I launched 92 on the Beat for Clear Channel at that time.

Jenna Harkreader: That's really cool.

Clarence Fisher: So we were all in there with Kiss and KMOD and all that.

Jenna Harkreader: Okay. Yeah. So I worked at Cox Radio too. So when we moved into that building with... So I was at KRMG, 1033 the Eagle, KRV, and then we were next door to Fox and then we ended up all selling everything and I just love a good sponsorship moment.

Clarence Fisher: Absolutely. That's a whole lifestyle right there when you're in the mix with all that. So as we're talking about the business owners and a lot of people are feeling like they're not getting the ROI that they once got with Meta and with Google right now. Do you feel like you have this job of educating the consumer though to let them know that they can go to the Ready Ads and see, like you say, the Tulsa World. And so my wife has to know that she can go to the Ready Ads and just kind of search for what she wants, right?

Jenna Harkreader: Right.

Clarence Fisher: Yeah. How is that as the owner of the Ready Ads? Are you having to put a lot of money to -

Jenna Harkreader: Yes. I was like, I feel like that's where you're going with this. Yes, yes. No, I mean, and that's what's funny is I'm doing... And so some of my content, my ads are like, "Hey, is this ad bugging you? I realize that I'm doing exactly what I'm saying we're sick of. "
But obviously that's why this whole time I've never bashed advertising. It's great. It's just I thought that it was missing something. But yes, most of my revenue is going back into the business right now, advertising. And it's funny because I've always been on the side of selling and now I'm buying my own ads on platforms. I'm like, "I don't even know where the right place to... " So yes, it is because that's kind of the balancing act I'm in right now. Consumers need businesses on the site so that they want to come to it and they find it's worth their time. Because if I go there and I'm looking for something and there's nothing, I'm probably not going to go back because I've not had the best experience. So I've got to get businesses on there so that consumers, when they get there, they find it valuable.
But then I've got to get consumers there for the business to find it valuable. I mean, every business has its challenge. So I'm an open person. That's my biggest challenge of just getting the consumers there and the businesses there. And good news is that both are there right now. It's just a matter of every single day it's like a, okay, what can I do next? I'm here April 23rd and I'm like, "I got to push more advertising." And then I'm like, "I'm out of budget."

Clarence Fisher: It sounds like you're going to end up making a lot of content really as far as I would see it like someone, you're almost doing a clip. Where was that that I was thinking about? And then, oh, the

Jenna Harkreader: Radio

Clarence Fisher: Ads, right?

Jenna Harkreader: My TV commercials are exactly that of just, are you feeling overwhelmed with ads? But when you want something, you can't find it. And then I'm actually doing another shoot coming up. So yeah, there is a lot of content. And the turkey part with the content is again, I've got builders, roofers, electricians, so home services. Then I have even just things to do, live events, restaurants, catering. I want to showcase these beautiful ads because they're beautiful. I mean, the site really is pretty, but I don't want to go against my whole point of creating this business and putting these ads out there that feel like they're being shoved in people's faces.

Clarence Fisher: Right. tExactly.

Jenna Harkreader: And I think that's how anything is. You learn as you go and you stick to the core of what it is and that's that it's private and it's creative and it's different. How it continues to evolve as far as just advertising it. I don't really know yet. I do know that the core values that I built it on are the ones that will stay no matter what.

Clarence Fisher: So if somebody gets a retargeting ad, they're going to be like, "You sell out. "

Jenna Harkreader: 100%. Yes. I mean, to the best of my knowledge, there are no cookies on my site and now you're not asking for personal information. Yes. But yeah, I have thought about that. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, somebody's going to get targeted just because I'm buying those ads." And again, it all works. It's just the bottom of the funnel. Google. I don't want to go to five different websites. I want to just look at what you are, what you have, your brand and decide, "Oh, for whatever reason, you're kind of vibing with what's important to me. "

Clarence Fisher: Yeah. I could see my... I promise, I don't know other guys feel this way, but I feel like I wake up and my wife is shopping. I go to sleep. She is shopping. One time literally I woke up, I was like, "I wake up trying to make money and you wake up trying to spend money."

Clarence Fisher: And she was like, "We balance each other out. " I was going

Jenna Harkreader: To say, "Takes two." Right.

Clarence Fisher: Yeah. So that is the thing though is you have to grab that habit and make that habit of people knowing where to go.

Jenna Harkreader: And so

Clarence Fisher: That is a big thing for you. Yeah.

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah, it is. And I can tell you, I mean just the numbers of my Google Analytics are just, they look better and better every week. I mean, I think it is kind of back to the old advertising thing. Get yourself as many... I'm doing billboards now and it's simple. It's gototherreadyads.com and the returning visitors going up. So I think it's beginning to resonate with people more. Yeah. Shopping-wise, I'm still kind of the same. I'll just see something on social media and want it then. Because to me, that's a little bit of a different buying pattern than it is getting a new roof or building a new home or deciding who you're going to trust to do your med spa stuff. All of those are a little bit longer sales processes anyways. So in my opinion, we'll just take the roof. You're not going to be scrolling Facebook and a roof ad targets you and you go, "I have been meaning to deal with insurance.
It's been $35,000." That's just not how it goes. But then when you are ready to buy it, since it is such a big commitment and purchase, you want to make sure that again, it's not just the top spender on Google. It's the business that based on what is important to you matches that. People buy based on price, they buy based on services or offers or longevity in business or reviews. All of these different reasons people care about, but we don't know who cares about what. That's one thing we're never going to be able to do. We can't tap into someone's brain and know what makes them do something.

Clarence Fisher: We will next year.

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. At this rate we might. Everyone will just have AI glasses. Yeah.
Right. What was that Netflix movie where they showed it was about all of the things that Facebook does to monitor what you do, how long you stay on an ad and to where they can manipulate what you see and all that stuff, which is -

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. And I'm curious your opinion on this. I think that there is some of that going on. Maybe I'm just an optimist of just the fact that there's still, as far as we can go with technology, our human brain is something that still can't... I don't know how much of that is like a moneymaking ploy versus it's actually happening. And again, that goes - Oh,

Clarence Fisher: I see what you're saying. I see what

Jenna Harkreader: You're saying. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, and that would be something way above my pay grade, but I think there's just a human element that is lacking in some of that stuff. And also, honestly, the fear of AI or getting scammed because people can't tell what's real anymore. So I think from a business perspective, the Ready Ads is great because they are 100%, there's no selling inventory, can't randomly put something on my site that I'm not personally uploading. So I think that's another element to it that is a competitive advantage is that you know that everybody on there is a legit business.

Clarence Fisher: So where does it fit in my marketing? Okay, number one, how large of a business do I need to be to be on the Ready Ads?

Jenna Harkreader: I mean, I prefer that they have a website. I think a website shows a level of just trust.

Clarence Fisher: I've got a thousand dollars next

Jenna Harkreader: Month.

Clarence Fisher: Hat do I do? Do I put that all on Ready?

Jenna Harkreader: No. So I'd say it's a flat real estate fee to be on the site. So there's two levels of cost. There's to be on the site, just you're there 100% of the time. We're not doing cost per leads, cost per click. I can give all that information to you. I can tell you how many people clicked on your ad or called from my site. But as far as who that person is, what their information is, I can't give that because I'm not collecting that. But that's where I laid the horse to water, can't make them drink kind of thing. That's where when they get to your site, if they choose to go to it or call you, you capture their information from there. And then the second tier is a sponsorship, which each category has one sponsor and that sponsor gets their logo at the top and then they're the top ad every single time.
Besides that, all of the ads that are on that page or under that category are all just randomly there.

Clarence Fisher: That is so interesting. So okay, I'm in the Ready Ads and you're not tracking it, but if someone clicks my ad, I for sure am going to want to track that and then retarget. I don't know, how are you going to get away from retargeting, Jenna?

Jenna Harkreader: Well, so I'm going to have to just advertise. So I'm advertising on Google. So I'm buying the keywords of all the... So this is kind of another great thing for these advertisers is I'm spending a lot of money on advertising and they're piggybacking off of it for a lot less price. So it's kind of like that strength in numbers, if you will, because I'm getting their revenue, we're putting it back into advertising. But anyways, the way I'm going to get away with retargeting is that if you decide as a consumer that a business fits you and you go, "Hey, I want to do a little bit more research on them. So I want to go like a restaurant. I like the look of it. I'm going to click on the menu." So then I'm linked to their website. Well, so once they're on that business's website, they follow the privacy laws or rules that that site -

Jenna Harkreader: That business.

Clarence Fisher: Yeah.

Jenna Harkreader: That business. So my vision is that I do enough advertising that I don't have to retarget. I'm already retargeting without collecting personal information. Because every person out there, I mean 98% of people need things, buy things, want things, whatever you want to call it. We need to see ads. That's why advertising is such a large industry. So as long as I'm keeping my name out there, I'm kind of retargeting already. But then again, whenever it comes down to like, okay, they are in that lowest part of the funnel and we know they're interested now. It's like Google. They're not necessarily going to retarget you just because you searched a keyword. Now, if you go to one of those websites, then you'll probably get retargeted from that website. Similar concept.

Clarence Fisher: Am I the only person? Am I just weird that I like ads or

Jenna Harkreader: No - I like ads too, but I think the main thing is that you're not always in the market for a new air conditioner. So when you are, do you remember those ads?

Clarence Fisher: No, but I go to Google and I type air conditioner.

Jenna Harkreader: There you go. So this is just saying we're a creative Google. We are a creative search engine.

Clarence Fisher: And then what stands out is the creative in there?

Jenna Harkreader: Correct. So then you go Tulsa Air Conditioners, you see six AC HVAC companies ads, and that's where your brain decides, oh, I like the look of those people. They look friendly. Oh, look, on their ad, it says they have five star reviews. Well, then that business can actually, each business has two custom site links. So you could put your reviews there and then you could put your learn more, whatever it is that you want your button to be. So then you as the purchaser can go, "Oh, reviews are really important to me. I think I'm going to give these guys a call." Or, "Hey, I saw that ad on TV," because they can run video or static X. So you can create that synergy of like, okay, now it's triggering something in my brain that I saw this commercial three months ago.

Clarence Fisher: I didn't know they could run video.

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah.

Clarence Fisher: Really? Yeah. I

Jenna Harkreader: Thought

Clarence Fisher: It was all static.

Jenna Harkreader: Nope. There's some video on there too. So as long as it's compressed, so like Don Carlton Honda, for example, they take their TV commercial that they run every month and they compress it and send it to me and I put it on there. And so you're matching the creative that you're already running. That's what I tell people. You're already running this creative. Why not put it in a space where people are looking for it?

Clarence Fisher: And that's interesting. You have real players on that site. And when I say real players, I mean real businesses.

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. And I am a firm believer too in the mom and pops because some people just don't grow to that level and they still do good business and they still want to make money. There's some smaller ones and then there's some pretty big named ones on there. Again, it's giving the businesses a platform to showcase their ads to people that are ready to buy, and it's giving consumers a chance to see those ads when they're ready to buy. And it's really all about when everybody is ready. But

Jenna Harkreader: Videos are on there.

Clarence Fisher: My listeners, the folks on my list here, we want to try the Ready Ads. What do you want us to do?

Jenna Harkreader: Well, I would love you to call me. Do I say my phone number here?

Clarence Fisher: Yeah. Okay. So here's the thing I am taking this and it's going out to everybody, right? So it's going out to the list, but then also to the people that we've been talking about for the last six months or whatever, right?

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah.

Clarence Fisher: My personal stable, if you will. But yeah, what needs to happen?

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. So you can call me and I'm sure my number's 918-704-6991. Or if you go to the Ready Ads, there is a contact us button. So they can just fill that out and that will come directly to my email.

Clarence Fisher: And then what happens?

Jenna Harkreader: So then we talk about what they're currently doing, what their goals are, all that good stuff. And then do you have creative or do you need someone to help create that? I ask for a six-month minimum just because it's still advertising. And then we put the creative and we put, like I said, the two custom site links. And then they can also have all of their social. Oh, and then what's another cool thing is that you can put your address if you have a brick and mortar and you can actually link that to Google Maps. And so if somebody wants to click on that and see where you're located, they can, or they can call directly from there. And then I send out monthly recap reports of just, "Hey, this is how the site's doing. This is where I'm advertising. This is our number one demo that we saw come to the site for this month.
This is how many personalized clicks and stuff you got." I try to stay on people for creative just because since it is a visual search engine, I like to change it up. Some are better than others at that, but keeping fresh creative. And then I mean, this is patent pending. I don't even know if I told you this. My goal is to grow this nationally. Maybe look at a franchise angle. So any listeners out there that might be interested in franchising this in a market, please let's talk. I would love to do it all by myself, but I know that's not the most realistic, but it is unique. It's easy, it's private. Obviously I'm biased, but it's a cool platform.

Clarence Fisher: It is seeing you talk about it, you're excited about it.

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. I know I keep saying this word, so I'm sorry I'm a broken record, but it's pretty. It's aesthetically pleasing. And it's not just like social media where you're browsing and it's like you get this sad news story or somebody broke up or this really is just, it's professionally done. And so it allows the right people to meet at the right time with a purchasing decision versus just saying, "Hey, I hope you remember this ad you're seeing on TV in six months when you actually need what I'm selling."

Clarence Fisher: So can I, as a consumer, I keep bringing, I know my wife is like, "My ears were ringing." Can she register for free too? How does it work? Is it open or does she go register for it?

Jenna Harkreader: Nope. You don't have to register for anything. And it's so funny because I worked a booth at the home and garden show and people were like, "Well, how do you make money if people aren't having to sign up?" I'm like, "Well, the advertisers pay for real estate." So no, she can just go there and thereadyads.com, there's also an app. So if she wanted to download the app, she could do that as well. And then again, the next time you're like, "Hey, we're going out to dinner tonight. I can't think of anywhere good." Or, "Hey, summer's coming up." Summer camps is a category on there. There's a Mother's Day category. I'm trying to do that seasonally, have a specific category to things. Just when it comes down to it, you're like, "What should I get for Mother's Day?" And then it's like, "Oh, you should buy this cheese box." So this is local.
It's customized to that category. And again, it's just an easier place to shop. But yeah, she can go there. Anyone can go there. No payment, any of that stuff. It's really just about browsing at your leisure in a local, legit, creative space.

Clarence Fisher: Okay. I'll do that. And yes, Mother's Day is coming up and I will be looking the day before. Typically is how I do things.

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah, that's okay. No, that's all right. I mean, it takes all kinds.

Clarence Fisher: Right.

Jenna Harkreader: All right.

Clarence Fisher: Closing Algen, this is the tradition that we have here. I have these cards.

Jenna Harkreader: I like it.

Clarence Fisher: And what you're going to give me is a number between one and 20. I'm going to pick a card and it's going to be a random question off the wall question. Okay?

Jenna Harkreader: All right. I like it.

Clarence Fisher: Give me a number.

Jenna Harkreader: Six.

Clarence Fisher: One, two, three, four, five, six. The sixth card is what is one thing you wish you'd spent more time doing when you were younger?

Jenna Harkreader: Oh, being nice to my mom, man. She's my bestie.

Clarence Fisher: Yeah.

Jenna Harkreader: Yeah. Oh God. I mean, she's my ride or die. She's a little judgy, but that's okay. We'll forgive her. But no, she's my... I can't say enough good things about her, but at 14, I could have said not good things about her. Yeah. And so yeah, I mean, looking back, and I know it's going to happen, I have two young daughters, so I'm already like, "Buckle up." But yeah, I would spend more time loving. I loved her, right? But intentionally loving, I think, because I couldn't be anything today without her. Make me tear up.

Clarence Fisher: Thank you. That is awesome. All right, Jenna, thank you for staying on me and for showing up and giving
Yeah

Clarence Fisher: What

Jenna Harkreader: You've given us

Clarence Fisher: Today.

Jenna Harkreader: I've enjoyed getting to know you, even if I had to stalk you a little bit, but you obviously are great at what you do and have the best podcaster voice. Oh, I appreciate it. Thank you for having me on.

Clarence Fisher: I appreciate it. So go to thereadyads.com and we've got the number and we're going to put everything in the notes as well for you to just click and go and we'll be talking with you soon. That's Jenna Harkreader The Ready Ads. Everything she mentioned is linked in the show notes below. One more thing. She's opening a franchise model, patent pending, going national. So if you're outside Tulsa and you sell local advertising, that door is open right now. As always, you can reach me at localmarketmonopoly.com or tulsaim.com. I'm Clarence Fisher. Go own your block.
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