This week we have a conversation with Sherrie Ortiz, the entrepreneur and founder behind Just One Day Tours, a fully curated tours company designed to make your time in Kansas City fun and hassle-free. In today’s marketing tip, we talk about judging creative without your eyes.
TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome to the Small Business Miracles podcast.
I’m Jeff Randolph. This small business podcast
is brought to you by EAG Advertising and Marketing.
We’re going to talk about marketing, and we’re
also here to celebrate entrepreneurs. We have
marketing news and advice that business owners
can use to keep moving forward. And today, we’re
talking to Sherrie Ortiz, the founder of Just
One Day Tours. But first, we’ve got another small
business marketing tip to talk about. For today’s
marketing tip, when evaluating creative, don’t
use your eyes. Technically, I mean, don’t use
the word I as in I hate that or I love that.
The better question is, will my customers hate
that or will my customers love that? You aren’t
a great barometer for what your customers want
sometimes. You may hate the color orange or you
may never have read any of the copy on a website
and prefer to watch the video or see pictures.
When you’re reviewing creative work, that ad,
that landing page, that Instagram post, take
the word I out of your vocabulary. Don’t say,
I don’t like it. Instead, say, I don’t feel like
my customers will like this. And not just because
you hate the color orange. Say, I don’t feel
like my customers will like that. And that’s
a great base to stand on. An even better way
to know what your customers think? Ask them.
And that is our marketing tip for today. All
right, we are here in our featured interview
section of the podcast, and I am pleased to be
joined by Sherrie Ortiz. She is founder of Just
One Day Tours. Sherrie, welcome to the show. Thank
you. I’m happy to be here. We’re excited to have
you here. So if you would, tell us about the
company. What is Just One Day Tours? So I am
a local company that provides tours in Kansas
City. bus and walking tours for conferences,
conventions, reunions, wedding events, anything
where there’s a group of people and you need
something for them to do. I coordinate it and
take care of all the people. That’s, you know,
and, and, you know, a lot of times if you’re
doing a convention or a trade show or something
like that, and you need people to go somewhere,
you’re like, where do I, where do I send people?
So they’re not with me the whole time. That’s
correct. Maybe one way to look at it. But other
than that, you’re looking at, at exciting, exciting,
different tour opportunities. Tell me a little
bit about the tours that you offer or what are
the most popular tours? What are you, what are
you doing? So as far as the conferences go, we’ll
do a bus tour. It’ll be three hours long. We
get on and off the bus. So you’re not just driving
at random, going round and round in the same
areas. We’ll get off at like Union Station and
go talk about the mob history there or the history
of the station and how it came to be. And then
we’ll go up to World War I Tower and how it came,
you know, the progress from just the tower as
we knew as Liberty Memorial. And then it became
the whole entire museum, the history there. And
of course, since you can see the skyline from
there. We talk about the Western Auto Building,
things like that. Oh, yeah. And then we kind
of work our way through the Jazz District and
the Water District where the Old Castle -like
building is, things like that. Oh, wow. So it’s
just an overall good review of Kansas City and
lots of fun facts and trivia. Anyone who listens
to the show knows I’m a big fan of fun facts
and trivia. Oh, yeah? I’m big, excited into that
one. Like the most popular tours? What tends
to be the ones that people kind of gravitate
to? For the out -of -towners, it’s the city tour.
Being able to go around and get a good overview
of the city. I also like to curate them in a
way that makes it special to the group. My favorite
example is the H &R Block. Franchise owners were
here in town for a conference, and they were
all from outside of Kansas City, so they’d never
been here before. but they also wanted to see
what Henry Block had contributed to Kansas City
as well. So we did the city tour, but then also
added in many stops with things along the way
that he had his hand in in various aspects of
Kansas City, which was actually quite a bit.
So it was cool to do that tour, and then I also
met some people who were old enough on the tour
that actually had met him and had a couple little
stories and stuff. I mean, I’ve got a story of
Henry Block, but all of mine involve going and
seeing him when he was dining at the Westport
Flea Market. There was a lunch day that like
all of the executives went and you just look
over and go, hey, that’s Henry Block. That’s
cool. That was spectacular. Nothing quite as
trivial as anything else. So if we look at a
tour as being a product, and that’s one of the
products that you offer, you’ve got a great product
mix. You really have a great diversity of different
kinds of tours and experiences. When you’re thinking
about creating a new one, what is that process?
What does that look like? How do you choose that
next tour that you’re going to offer? So for
me, it’s kind of the local history and trying
to build from there and trying to imagine what
a guest would like to do or even the locals would
like to do because so many times we are not a
tourist in our own city and just trying to get
people to get out and actually explore it for
those things. I have theme tours for like murals,
city and gangsters. So anything, I have a kind
of a crossover. Anything that’s a walking tour
can be made into a bus tour. And anything that’s
a bus tour could function, you know, trim down
to be a… walking tour as well. Consolidate,
customize, and do those kind of things. I did
notice that you had a mural tour starting at
Casual Animals, so you can have some beer and
then get some mural action. Yes, I love to extend
the tours for trying to meet and give them a
place to hang out before or after the events.
That’s building in a value to the product. That’s
outstanding. Tell me what’s next for the company.
Where do you go from here? Everybody’s, of course,
talking about the World Cup. So that’s a lot
of it. It’s just trying to figure out how to
navigate that and just how crowded the streets
will be. But as far as the expansion of it, I
just really want to get people out and walking
and doing something new and really connecting
with Kansas City. And being that tourist. Yeah.
You know, I like to be a tourist in my own town.
I think that’s a lot of fun. But when you go
to a new town, experiencing some of those tours
really gives you just a great jumpstart into
here’s everything about the city, stuff you didn’t
know. Right. Yeah. Because everybody will do
that when you go on vacation. Hey, let’s go take
a tour. But they don’t think about doing it here.
Right. Right. Which is a shame. Let’s fix that.
I know, right? That’s what I’m trying to fix.
Let’s fix that. Sherrie, are you ready to go into
the lightning round? Sure. I think we’ve covered
kind of the here’s who you are and what you do.
Let’s dive deeper. Okay. Do you have a best tour
moment? That time when intangible lightning in
a bottle comes together and man, this was a tour.
I feel really excited about that tour. I like
the holiday light tours. And then especially
when it’s a group from out of town and they come
into the plaza and then just that wow factor.
You turn the corner and they’re just like, oh,
like the literal gasp that you hear when they
see the. the lights set up or same situation
with the city tours. When we get a good look
at the skyline. Right. Is it that you’re experiencing
the tour like through their eyes or is you just
excited about. No, I totally live in the moment
with it. Oh, wow. That’s exciting. Yeah. I like,
I have, I actually have a tour guide moment of
my own that I would share if, if you’d like.
I used to be. a tour guide at Boulevard Brewing
Company way back. And we’re talking way back
in the day here. They would classify that as
an old school tour guide before they had the
merger with Duval -Morgat and all that kind of
stuff, where we were all volunteers and we would
go down and do volunteer tours. And I had a brother
who was getting married that day. And so I had
all kinds of family on the tour. And they hadn’t
really ever taken my tours. But I had a seven
-year -old nephew who was in the tour. And we’re
in the barrel aging room of Boulevard. And so
all this beer is in barrels. And I explain the
barrel aging process to them. And, you know,
hey, are there any questions? And nobody’s hand
goes up except my nephew, who’s, again, seven,
raises his hand. And he says, I get lightheaded
after only a few beers. Does that make me a bad
drinker? And the place lost it, right? I just
have a feeling there are those kind of lightning
in a bottle kind of moments just around every
corner in your tours. Absolutely. Yeah. I love
that. You owned a bakery for years and you’ve
been a retail cake designer. And while that doesn’t
seem like a stepping stone on the surface, I’m
often surprised how one career in my life. leads
into the next and gives me other things that
help me be better at that next thing. Has that
baking career helped you be a better tour guide
or help you do anything that is beneficial today?
Right, it is. And like many entrepreneurs, I
had that idea sitting on the back burner for
at least years. My mother was always taking
the senior bus tours, and I thought that sounded
like a cool job. But two little kids and whatnot
at home, it was easier to work from home while
they went through elementary and all the way
through college. I lost my train of thought.
I’m curious if that was like how one got into
the next. I was more focused in the cake area.
So I was a wedding cake designer for most of
my job. No pressure there. Right, no pressure.
Nerves of steel on delivery day. I kind of had
a little crisis when I left it because I’d known
that world for years. I’m like, but why is
this, you know, this is connected somehow. But
it really came down to service, serving the client,
serving the client’s needs, getting them something
cool, having that aha surprise moment on the
tours and, you know, just kind of totally curating
those events. The whole service industry has
just been part of my whole career overall. Outstanding.
And I can imagine that was a huge change back
and forth as well, where you’re like, I’m in
a kitchen. I’m not around people unless I’m talking
to the client ahead of time or on delivery day.
You spend most of that time alone, and now you’re
out there. You’re with people. You’re in it.
And has that been a positive change for you personally?
Yes, I love it. Right, yeah. Because I did miss,
when I worked from home, I did miss. having that
contact with staff and stuff day to day. So being
able to get back out and connect with Kansas
City and whatnot is nice. A benefit, a real job
benefit. What’s the most adventurous thing you’re
excited to try? Because I read in your bio that
you’re a thrill seeker, ziplining, rappelling,
snow tubing. Do you have something that’s the
big thing on that wish list that you just haven’t
done yet? I’ve done hang gliding. My next hope
is to do parachuting. Oh, just like skydiving.
Skydiving, yeah. Yeah, I want to get in the plane
and throw myself out of it. You know, if you
said, hey, I’m a wedding cake designer, and you
wanted to throw yourself out of a plane, for
pressure, I would understand that. But you’re
just thrill -seeker. Adrenaline junkie. I just
like to do that, yes. Man, not for me. Keeps
life alive. Good. Keep going. Keep going. What’s
the last tour you’ve taken where you were a participant
on a tour? We did a spooky tour in Mississippi.
I don’t remember where we were. But it was a
ghost tour. Oh, yeah. And it was an older man
who was a college professor. So he had tons of
history. He was like So he had all the information.
And it was very interesting to go and listen
to the different stories. And then he tied in
the history to it. along the way. So it was very
nice walking down the cobblestone streets and
everything. Outstanding. Do you rate yourself
being a good tour participant as well? Because
you’re now evaluating parts of the craft, right?
Are you a good guest? Yes. Yeah, I’m a good guest.
I keep my mouth shut. I listen and I ask good
questions. Good. You’re kind to them. You don’t
intentionally throw a curveball. No, no, no.
That’s good. That’s good. Hey, what’s the best
part of being an entrepreneur in your mind? The
freedom of the schedule, of course, is what allures
to everybody. But I think it’s the changing and
having something different every day or every
tour. And it’s always a different crowd, so there’s
always a different feel or different feedback.
I like the variety of that, where in the retail
world doing cake, it was hundreds of cakes a
day, grinding, grinding, grinding. I don’t like
the same thing over and over. I like the flexibility
of something new. And if I get bored with a tour,
I’ll go rewrite it and make it something different.
And make it cooler, man. You’ve got all the flexibility
and creativity to be able to do that. Conversely,
the worst part of being an entrepreneur, I don’t
know, is there a part of the business you wish
you knew more about or something that really
is the… Yeah, I love the flexibility. I love
being out there. The learning curves are a lot
of it. Learning the new booking platform, how
to run your website, how to manage all the other
things. I finally broke down and hired a bookkeeper
because I absolutely hate bookkeeping. So that
part, it can get a little lonely on that aspect
of it. Yeah, yeah. But as long as you’ve got
people you can ask and lean on and have those
kind of conversations with. totally wash your
hands of the bookkeeping, but ask the right management
kind of questions instead of just sending that
over. I’ll close on this one, and it’s one that
we ask a few times. Best business advice that
you’ve ever gotten? Oh, gosh. Don’t hold yourself
back. Just put yourself out there and do it and
just be you because people will hire you even
though there’s… other people or hundreds
of other people in your field, people will shop
and buy according to who they like more so than
the product alone. It’s a bonus, but if they
like you, they will shop with you. So be a good
human, too, is a pretty good lesson to learn
there. All right. I’ll take you out of the lightning
round with that. I appreciate it. Hey, where
can people find you if they want to sign up for
the next tour, if they want to create their own
tour for their company? Convention coming in
town. Where do they go? Right. So the website
is JustOneDayTravelTours .com. And it is my primary
platform. You can see a lot of the different
ideas for tours on there. And then I’m also on
all the other platforms, pretty much. LinkedIn,
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, all of
it’s there. So wherever you need to find me.
But you can email me at JustOneDayTours at gmail
.com. That works for me. Sherrie Ortiz, founder
of Just One Day Tours. Thanks for being with
us today. I appreciate that. Thank you very much.
That is our show. Thanks so much to Sherrie Ortiz.
And thank you for listening to the Small Business
Miracles podcast. Remember to subscribe, leave
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