Results In Motion - Dusty Showers in a Pink Bra

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Results In Motion

A Man with a Pest Control Business, a Pink Bra and a Cause

Bernie Borges

I recently gave a presentation to the Bay Area Apartment Association on social media marketing. I provided the fifty plus attendees an overview of the strategies from my new book Marketing 2.0 I shared stories about how businesses have attracted new customers using the two key pillars in social media marketing: content marketing and relationship building.

During the intermission, I met Dusty Showers. (That’s his real name.) He owns and operates a pest control company called Creepy Creatures. But, he prefers to refer to his service as pest and wildlife busters.

As it turns out, Dusty has a passion for creatures. He understands that sometimes creatures are misunderstood because they get out of place. They just need to be humanely removed from a residence and returned to their natural habitat. Of course, there are bugs and pests that need to be dealt with too.

But, Creepy Creatures also removes “monsters.” Many homes have monsters under beds and in closets. Whether the monster is harassing a child or an adult, Creepy Creatures can create just the right monster removal spray and make the monster go away. Think I’m joking? Think again. 

Dusty has a website: www.creepycreatures.net - it’s not fancy. It has no SEO whatsoever. So, how does Dusty get his business? Dusty understands how to produce unique content and share it on the web to build profitable relationships.

Dusty takes pictures and video of his creature removing activities. He places some of them on his website and some on his Facebook page. Once you get to his Facebook page you learn about another of Dusty’s passions.  He is an ardent fundraiser for breast cancer research.

Dusty has a unique way to publicize the walkathons he participates in. He has another business card for this cause, which he calls “I’m with Dusty”. He also has a website, www.imwithdusty.com, where he posts pictures and video of the events. One of the most noticeable photos on the website is of Dusty wearing a pink bra. He puts on the bra at every one of his fundraising events. By creatively branding himself and having fun with it, Dusty has attracted a lot of support and publicity for his cause.

Dusty intuitively understands that by producing compelling, rich media content, and sharing it with his 1000 plus friends on Facebook, he will generate a lot of exposure for his cause. He has been interviewed on the local television news in Tampa Bay about his approach to fundraising for breast cancer. The result for Dusty is that he has become a “rock star” in the community of breast cancer philanthropists on the social web.

While Dusty’s motivation is sincerely focused on the cause, the spillover to his business is positive. The awareness Dusty creates for his passions using the social web produces inbound sales results for his Creepy Creatures business in Tampa Bay.

Way to go Dusty!

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