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Michaela 0:01
Welcome back to the show. And today we're going to look at better bug squashing if I can get the words out, it's a new issue tracking tool. It just came out a few weeks ago. And I'm here with Kirk dice, who's the CEO of the bug Scotia. And also he runs a whole tech marketing agency called treehouse 51, so we're going to look up what the problem is, with how you're currently getting bugs reported to you, and why the maybe a better way to do it, and we'll look in detail of what the bug squatter can do, and how he came up with the idea of it. And also will, if we have time we'll have we'll ask them about the tech gig economy. Because I know a lot of folks listening sometimes deal with folks on up work or five or whatever. So there's some interesting discussion there as well. So welcome, Kirk. Thanks for having me. Are you doing? Yeah, great. Happy. I probably mispronounced naming names for now. days, right? Yes.
Kirk Deis 1:00
Kirk Deis Yeah, yes.
Michaela 1:02
All right. So what is the problem that listeners, you know, they probably are getting bugs reported to them on their apps. But why? What are they doing that not as efficient as it could be?
Kirk Deis 1:15
So I guess I guess the best way to answer that I told the story of why we why even go through all this stuff. And all of it started spent about 11 months and developments. And we had a client, it was an older lady in her 70s. And she understood the concept of turning on a computer. And that was about it from that, from that point forward. It was like, You guys got to solve mistakes. And we were designing a website for her. And she sent sent me this email. That was no joke. It was like, 10,000 words, single space. It was just, it was a nightmare. And I open it and it's like this long. And then the the bug, the error was all the way in the middle of the message. And it was a slight changes one thing, and I was like, I was like, Thank You, Jesus, that I found it. But then the next thing is, I have to diagnose the problem. So I had to ask her all these follow up questions. Hey, are you on a mobile device? Or you're on a Mac windows? Are you on Chrome? Firefox? Of course, she was on Internet Explorer. So
Unknown 2:18
so we could have guessed that. Yeah, you know, it's not where all the browser and bug come from? Yeah,
Kirk Deis 2:24
we really who's using Internet Explorer? Of course she is. And so then, so I email her. I'm like, Hey, can you answer these questions? And it did not go well, at all. I opened the gates of hell, she was so angry. She was like, how do you not know what the problem is, okay, happen, can't fix it. And I was just like, I'm sorry, I need to know, like, I need some information. And it was very, very difficult. And it's worse than 20. And so eventually, she gave me the information. And I was talking to the guys and we were crying and laughing about it. And then I was I just wish there was a better way to communicate with people to get all this information from somebody without having to ask them that, like,
I guess there's different ways to see it. One way is, there's a client expectation of them to give us that information. That's your responsibility. The expectation is, what if they aren't held responsible for that? What if they could give us all this information without going through all that trouble? Like, we don't need to be a techie person understand this stuff, you know, so that's where it all came from. And that's when I was like, I wish I could talk to people and get all this information that actually talking to people. And I wish our clients would love us and be like, wow, that was so easy working with us and talking with us.
Michaela 3:40
Yeah, because really, no one like bugs, you know, developers, users, project managers, no one really likes them so much, you
Kirk Deis 3:48
know, and then no one likes reporting the bugs, because no matter what somebody owes fails, dumb, someone else is like, Okay, well, I'm reporting this bug. And in order for the developer diagnosis, oftentimes, they have to mimic the bug, you have to duplicate the error. And sometimes the error is human error. So someone else feels awkward. So you want to have like that list that you can check off and be like, hey, it's not this. It's not this. It's not this. It's not this.
Michaela 4:16
Yeah, yes. Because I get a lot of users don't feel totally comfortable with technology. So they they're kind of they may be a habit sub belief underneath that it was their fault somehow, and they're going to get blamed. And so that's where maybe some of the anger comes from.
Kirk Deis 4:34
I think that and I think like, even though that client was upset, I think some of her anger was valid. In hindsight, it's
like, how come you can't solve this. And I feel like from a development standpoint, from a marketing standpoint, we should be able to provide those solutions to our clients, we should be able to be like, when you hire us, you can expect to have this type of treatment, you know that they're coming to us, because they have a need, they may not be techie person, they don't need to be the techie person, help them get to where you need to go and pray that they don't send you a 10,000 word email.
Unknown 5:10
single space. No, yeah,
Unknown 5:14
yeah.
Unknown 5:16
Yeah.
Michaela 5:18
Well, what what have people you know, you mentioned people that some people use a send emails, or they, you know, they have a phone call, what other ways to people use
Kirk Deis 5:29
report bugs normally, with what's going on right now, but those type of clients where the developer has a website owner that they're working with, usually what they do is they send those emails, text messages, Skype, these are all inefficient ways of communication. Everybody knows, like, emails get lost all the time. So Skype, I try to avoid Skype, like the plague text messages, I've actually gotten requests through tax. And I was like, Oh, my God, this is happening. So these are just not the best ways to do it. Other than people who are part of like, larger organizations that use project management systems to kind of show the client or the progresses out or show them just, I guess, really with Project side. So how do a sauna base camp, these ones are popular tools that people use, what's good about those tools is that I mean, you can like, share links with people and be like, this is where your projects out. And some of them can customize some of them, you can just pretty to do lists.
Michaela 6:29
So maybe you have a project management system that you can track the bug and have a conversation about it threaded discussion or prioritize it. But that's not getting the initial bug info.
Kirk Deis 6:44
Yeah. So what separates like the books washer from say, like a sauna as long as a popular project management system is that when the user reports the bug, you're going to collect 15 different 15 different things to diagnose what the issue is from the landing page to the backend website code, if there's any errors popping out two screenshots and then from there, what you can do is you can assign that ticket to your team members so say that the issue report is hey this is the wrong font style please change it and so you can say like okay this is a this is an issue for my graphic designer let me a sign that book to him. And that's why function at the books wash your hands. And then on top of that you can have reporting for your team at for the client. So you can send a link to your client that says here all the books you've submitted, here's where they are in terms of us addressing them and then with your team, you can be like, okay, here are the bugs that we have and you can filter it said like okay here are all my designer bugs developer bugs with project management systems like a sauna you can't do that Sana Sana to me as a so pretty to do list, I'm sorry, sauna but you just have you have a project and then you say okay, I need someone so to do this part in the project and it's just like, okay, we still have to diagnose the issue you still have all those communication steps where it's just like we're just waiting time we're just burning resources here
Michaela 8:04
so what about some of the issue crackers the are out there that maybe people are using, like, sure you know, some of the other ones.
Kirk Deis 8:13
So Jura is the grand poppy of them all the spin around it's huge we are coming for you I just want you to know
they're I mean they're the ones who started at all the most recognizable one what separates the book squash or from those type of companies are features so like a sauna like polio at Euro where they get you is how many team members you can add on the platform we don't do that we have unlimited team members so at everybody you want in their mom it's totally fine. Another key feature that separates it is how many sites you can add on that so for us you can add unlimited development websites so with treehouse 51 my ad agency in the way it works is if we design your website we have a project URL and it says like dev curiosity one dot com forward slash the project name so you can add the books washer to unlimited depth sites and then our systems just a lot sexier, it's we get rid of all the filth were a lot fun. We have like a lot more clever marketing. So there's all that side of that. And then the not too distant future we are going to be releasing this new feature the Bucs, Washington that we're excited about
the whole remember the story that I just told you a couple seconds ago. Hey, I wanted to streamline communication. I wish it was easier to get this information. So we did all this stuff. And then I thought I wish there was a way to take it up a notch. And so we thought of a way to take it up a notch. So what's easier than taking a screenshot and submitted it? Well, the next step is sending a video. So just we can you record getting all information say this is what's wrong with it. And having live in the Bucs washer. So we found a way to do that we're going to be adding it to the tool. We're not changing, the prices are not changing anything, it's all included. And they'll be coming out later.
Michaela 10:02
So you can either do a screen capture, or you can the user can do a screen capture and send it to you or and it's all part of the tools. So they don't have to know how to do a screen capture just they hit a report bug button or something. Or how does this work? Yeah,
Kirk Deis 10:18
so it's super easy to use. You'll currently there's three different options. And it's all there's like just buttons that say like, take a screenshot, upload a screenshot, snip, a screenshot, and whatever option you choose, it'll do that function.
Michaela 10:36
But also behind the scenes, it's capturing, you know, a lot of technical info what page they were on, and other things like that. Yeah, so
Kirk Deis 10:46
um, but on the backend side of it, we can tell them what IP address it's coming from, what browser what type of device, if your website has errors, you've seen it before, everybody seen this before, when they're on a website, they see like, all these different codes on the back end, like a freak accident happens, or you just right click and then inspect. So we can have some websites will tell you when there's errors happening on the code. So we collect that information automatically. If an error pops up the developer, wherever you have working on it can say like, Oh, this is the exact error of what's going on.
Michaela 11:20
Well, that sounds really handy. So you'd know exactly are they are mobile? Are they on a browser? which browser? What version? What? iOS? Yeah, what URL? Were they doing? Maybe smaller info that will help you reproduce the bug and then fix it quicker. Yeah, the users point of view, they didn't have to go into any of that tech stuff, which they probably wouldn't understand. And would probably not be able to tell you it even if they played it to them.
Kirk Deis 11:48
Exactly. for them. It's our goal is to make it as easy as possible to report bugs, you know, just a click a couple clicks. Here it is, and and it's on you guys to solve it.
Michaela 12:01
And then it even knows where to send the sentence straight into the bug tracking back end. Is that right? You have a back end that tracks the bugs or
Kirk Deis 12:09
Yeah, so once the bug is submitted, it goes to the back into the dashboard. And then from there, you can add your email, your team email, whoever you want to be notified about this bug. And you don't have to have notifications, but it is there. So you can be alert and be like, Okay, sounds so reported a bug, let me go on there, check it out. And then we assign it to my team or take care of it myself.
Michaela 12:32
So a on the back end is pretty similar to one of these other issue trackers, it's not
Kirk Deis 12:38
okay, you can prioritize things, assign them, you can get back to the user, let them know it's been resolved. Lot kind of thing. Yeah, with us, it's a lot more, we've cut out all the fat of it. So as as a developer, as a web agency owner, if you're a person working with a website, you don't always need to do all these things. The client doesn't care about it, and you already know how to do it. So for us, you can assign it to your team. You can share reports to your client, you can automate things like reporting, you just have the information that you need to make you look awesome.
Michaela 13:16
Now, you mentioned that it's more fun to us, I can sort of see for the end user, they only have to click a button and maybe type some stuff. But But how's that fun though? That one, what do you do that makes this app this bug issue to more fun to use.
Kirk Deis 13:32
So when I say fun, I'm talking about design. So we I think the books washers a lot more modern designs, lot sexier, it's cleaner. It's simple. It has the information that you want from the get go. There's none of the some of these other competitors that have been around for a while, you know, they've been a while for a while. They haven't updated their website. They're not doing any marketing. They're not having fun with it. And they probably don't need to, they have an established they haven't established customer. So maybe that's why I don't know. But for us, everything we do is about how can we make this the most efficient process for everybody involved? How can we just simplify everything, get rid of the fat be like I want to go here, I want to do this boom, I have this information. And this was just easy. And then in terms of marketing, we have a ton of fun marketing.
I used to always have nine to five jobs for the most part. So I remember thinking like, okay, when I own my own company, I want to have some fun and do some stuff that you can't really do when you work nine to five. So our marketing I think is really creative. We have a lot of fun making like videos and blogs and social media posts on Instagram. You know we keep things light
Michaela 14:47
now i i know you have fun with it. Because I saw this video you guys put out last week that bug squash rap video. So
Kirk Deis 14:55
is that one of your hidden hidden talents correctly? You're a secret midnight rapper or I wish I wish. So I had this idea not far from where I live. There's a target. And there's this guy out there. He's there every week. And I go to Target or drive by it. Always there. This kid and he's selling CDs. And I was like I just saw him. I always see him. I will say hi to him. And then I was like, man, we guys make a rap video. We just got to do it and just have some fun. It fits in line with our tone of voice. It's keeping things light. And it's the right move for us right now where we're trying to increase brand awareness. So people know about us and what's going on. And we're trying to get people's attention. So that's how that started. And I did not hire that guy. Sorry. But I actually went out and I like talk to a bunch of different rappers. And I found this really cool guy. And we worked on it for like a good week. And then we just went on from there and made the video release it on YouTube. I just I'm curious how you hire rappers? Is there like a website where you go to hire a rapper? Oh, oh, I put stuff like that on Craigslist. This I asked friends on Facebook. I I went out to the the freelance websites. So yeah,
Unknown 16:08
going out. Welcome to hire a rapper.
Kirk Deis 16:10
I didn't go to upward five. Or you can find rappers Instagram, you can find rappers. So it was really it was it was an interesting process. I wasn't sure what to expect. I've never done that before. And it was interesting. Like some people didn't think I was serious. Or like you want to do what I'm like, we're going to do this part of it. Yeah.
Unknown 16:34
Cool.
Unknown 16:36
Great idea. Yeah.
Michaela 16:38
So now this you started working on this, like nearly a year ago. Right? The bug squash? Yeah. So I'm kind of curious, how did you even come up with the idea for it?
Kirk Deis 16:51
Well, the idea came from the story of that lady. That's how it all started.
Previous to that we were doing what everybody else is doing. Now, we were just if you have a bug, send me an email up and into my project management system.
And so that was kind of like,
how to, it's like, night and day. Now we use the book squash or internally and we're always like, how did we ever do it any other way before? And why did we ever do it any other way before?
Michaela 17:23
Yeah, I think, you know, if someone listening they I'm sure everyone listening has bugs in their apps. You know, we are honest. And and probably most people listening have a pretty band aid process for getting the bugs reported to them now uses
Kirk Deis 17:42
Yeah, and with every, like website project we've ever worked on, it's never whenever the project is completed the deliverables given it's never ever complete. A website is never finished. There's always a tweak you can make. There's always a copy, you can change, awesome image, you can change always, I've never seen a website where I'm like, this is the websites, you know, it always always always changes and how you deal with those changes can either save you a lot of time, or have you burn a lot of money, I think,
Michaela 18:16
yeah, because that's the other aspect of this, that doing it through email, or Skype, or, you know, some of those all the ways takes up a lot of developer and project management time. So it costs you money in your agency. Yeah.
Kirk Deis 18:31
And in a perfect world. And one thing that for us talk about in a perfect world, you have a development site, and you only make changes to the development website, and you never touched the live site. In reality, not a lot of people have development websites, not a lot of people don't have that budget. So how do you deal with changes on your life site? How do you report those bugs on your life site, one of the features I forgot to mention was, um, we have something called a the ability to whitelist IP addresses. So let's say you're my client that I'm working on your website, and I'm going to add the book squash or to your website, I can add your IP address, so only use the book squash or which means we don't need to make a development website for it. Also, your live traffic will never see this tool. And so you don't have to worry about like, Well, how do I how do I have this workout? My Sites, it's all hidden from the public.
Michaela 19:24
Um, so you can just have the beta testers or, you know, whoever you think should be reporting new issues. Or, or if you're doing the, if you're right, creating an app for an organization, certain people in that organization would have the path to report bugs, but other people wouldn't request enhancements or whatever you exactly
Kirk Deis 19:45
looking for. Yeah, well, when we were releasing it, the way that we saw people use it was they had the marketing director on a website owner and their team and that was it.
Michaela 19:58
So that that's, that's pretty cool that you can now does this put a lot of overhead on the app to add it in or no, so adding it to the website,
Kirk Deis 20:09
it's just when you sign up, you're given a specific URL and token it's just a line of code. It's like this big and then you just add it to the header of your website. And that's it.
So you do need to know like, if you're, if you're not comfortable with your website, like changing codes, or adding a code to your header, then you have a problem. If you're using like a WordPress site, there's plugins that say like, you can put the code here. So they'll help you but you will need somebody to be like, Okay, I need to add this code to my website.
Michaela 20:40
Right. But I think everyone listening is involved in copia and development is gonna have no problem adding a header.
Unknown 20:47
So you basically don't have to change your own code. Yeah. doing is adding this header in, it
Michaela 20:55
adds this ability in and then does it slow the slide down at all?
Kirk Deis 21:01
No, cuz you're not adding anything to the site. It's just a code. So we haven't seen a slowdown in the sites that we've tested it on. If it was like a, say, like a WordPress plugin, you're adding a file. So you're adding weight to the site here. It's just a line of code.
Cool. So have you had any feedback from people using the box washer? or? Yeah, we have. So when we were getting ready to release the product, we gave it to a couple of our clients and we had them beta tested. If you go to our website and check the testimonials. Those are some of our clients who said, Hey, try this, please. We won't charge you any feedback you give us well, if it's good, we'll implement it into the tool. Or if we can implement into it will take into consideration the type of stuff that they've told us is they like, they like how easy it is to communicate. That's the biggest thing. They're like, Okay, this just makes it really easy for me to say like, hey, I need you to fix this. And I know it's taken care of, and I need to check it. Here's a link to the report.
So anything else you want to share on the bug scholarship before we move on to a different topic? I think I think we cover it. One thing that I did want to share. I don't remember if I said it was we have a promo code for you guys. exclusive for you guys. It's 20 alive. single space and a capital A, and it's for 20% off. So there's that and if you have two minutes to kill, check out our YouTube video. Have some fun, have some laughs Yeah, we'll put the ramp video about the bug squash or in the show notes so people can find out or you can just search for the bugs kosher and you'll find a video because they actually comes up pretty high on Google. So I'm kind of curious how you even got into you know, you running a full service marketing agency. You said you used to have a nine to five job so I'm kind of curious, how do you even got into that?
Yeah, so my start was I went to school for screenwriting My dream was my passion was to be a writer write for film and TV that's what I love I love creativity and so in college was over I had very very minimal success I sold something on the indie circuit and as it goes perfect users money I'm just going to continue to write and then reality here I was like I need to get a job so you know T Mobile is not can accept me not paying the bill this month. So from there I was like okay well what can I do so I started ghostwriting for motivational speakers, online websites, eventually landing nine to five job at SEO companies and ad agencies and working my way up. And I was doing that for a while. And I was meeting just like really interesting people in the marketing world. And then I still had all those film connections from film school. And a lot of my friends have gone on to be dp, Director photography, working in film department editors, that type of stuff, really talented guys. And then Meanwhile, I knew all these marketing people. And I was like, I wish there was a way we could just combined everything into one pot. So that's what started you on. I I started getting people asking me for like, work and side projects. And from then when that started, like, really to pick up I was like, I think there's a way that, um, that we can actually do this and sustain ourselves and be happy. And so that's how it all started. Just it was just a just a hub to be creative, you know.
Michaela 24:32
So really, you do a whole bunch of marketing using technology, whether it's web development, or pay per click, or video production, you know, yeah,
Kirk Deis 24:42
like the things yeah, treehouse up, do you want we do anything that falls under the umbrella of marketing? We do generally, though, we see is that people ask me for like the services you mentioned, they asked for typically, it's like five things. I want a website, they've seen some of our video work for other clients. That's it, can you make us a video email marketing is really popular content creation, those type of services.
Michaela 25:05
Cool. So you're involved a lot in technology, and working with developers in doing this. Yeah,
Kirk Deis 25:14
I've, I've been fortunate enough to work with some really, really scary, talented people far more talented than I am. And I love it. So these guys are, I don't consider myself a pro developer, advanced developer. I know enough to get by. But I work with people who are far better coders and I am just have great minds. That's, that's been the secret to my success, find people who are better at you and bring bring them along for the journey.
Michaela 25:45
So let's turn to another topic, which is, you know, there's a lot of developers who are on various websites, you know, whether it's work or some of the more specialized development websites, and I'm curious what you what you have, and you've probably worked with those websites,
you know, yeah, I'm curious what your thoughts are on the tech gig economy, because some people think it's a bad thing. Some people think it's a good thing.
Kirk Deis 26:11
So yeah, so one of our first clients is actually a major, major force in the the gig economy. So you mentioned gut, you mentioned up work, there's upward fiber, one of our first clients, which is with the one was a company called go laughs. And they're in this economy as well. The goal that's really introduced me to the world of freelancers across the globe, I had met working with them, and having our team work with them, help them get established, it just really opened my eyes to like, wow, there's the world is flat. There's talent, people everywhere, doing everything. And so that was, I've met some just incredible people who I still work with today, who are still my friends today.
And I've also seen it from owning trust with you on the ad agency. I've also seen the pain side of that, what we've seen a lot lately is leads come to us and say, hey, I want a website. Can you build it for $200? Can you build it for 100 bucks? Can I pay you five bucks an hour? And that's having to be like, What are you talking about? So that the, but I saw it on fiber, I saw it on fiber. Yeah, I saw it on fiber fiber is killing us. So yeah, so um, it's, it's, it's really been a double edged sword. I feel like when I was in that world, helping these freelancers get connected, helping go Lance grow, I was so excited about it. And I these people, I mean, they're just like, you and I, they're just people are just trying to work it was trying to provide for the family. So you can't knock them for that. And then owning a business, owning an ad agency and having that conversation come up, it's come up
more than once, I can say that, or it's like, I've seen them on fiber, assuming on upward we can't compete with that. So I think from owning a business it is it's really, really difficult. I'm not a big fan of like, okay, going over there. And hiring. Those are hiring overseas people. But sometimes, too, you don't have the budget to hire somebody in the US or in your marketplace. Sometimes you do have to go overseas, and you have to do it for your company in order to succeed in order to thrive and get to the next step. So I completely understand that, you know, that's just how it is. If you own your own business, and you need to take it to the next level. And you're limited on resources and budget, you have to do what you have to do, you know, don't hurt anybody. Don't go crazy. But if you say, like, I only got five grand to do this, and I have to do all these things. You need to find a way to make it work, you need to be creative. So for that I, I completely, like, I respected I support it, it still hurts my heart when I have those conversations. So that will always be there. But I completely understand that. Yeah,
Michaela 28:54
well, you know, the world's a big place and, you know, not everyone's qualified with your company. So, yeah,
it's just like anything else. I can't think of what a fancy brand of shoes or clothing might be, what the brand names are. But you know, some people want to go to Walmart and get the cheapest pair of shoes they can and other people want something that's going to last and be quality, you know, and that probably ain't gonna come from Walmart, sorry to say,
Kirk Deis 29:25
yeah, hey, Walmart, their their business model is repeat business. So and that's actually very similar to what these platforms do. Like, go Lance their model, you're going to hire us, it's not going to go right. And you're gonna hire us again. And we'll get that repeat business until you kind of find somebody.
Michaela 29:45
Okay, so let's just turn to some final questions here. First of all, why you proud to help squash bugs,
Unknown 29:54
I think
Kirk Deis 29:57
I think all of us have had this had that story on I told before, had that experience is some variation know that, that I joke about it, but it hurts, it hurts when you have like a client who's upset, you want to do the best job you can, you want everything to be awesome. So they give you about five stars, the review, bonus more work, whatever you want that to work out. The reality is, that doesn't always happen. So I'm super excited about the book squash because this is a tool that can help you get there, you know, other things have to happen, you still have to deliver the work, right? So let's do that stuff. Something make it happen. This is a tool in your arsenal to make that communication just easy and streamlined and fun with everybody.
Michaela 30:40
I think fun is really important. And I you know, I'm impressed that you emphasize that inside your company and working with clients. And I think that's something that's shifted in the last few years that it's more important to people. They also have fun as well as doing good work and being paid fairly for it. One Yeah, I
Kirk Deis 31:00
agree. Like when we meet clients, but I often tell them is you can hire anybody to do this job, you can hire anybody to make your website. So that's reality. You can go to fiber, you can get another company, another marketplace to do this. What you're not going to get the is that feeling of working with us. And so that's a big selling fact for chest with the one we saw a feeling. So anybody can make you a website. Anybody can do these emails, anybody can make these videos, the difference with glasses, you're going to have a really good feeling about at the end and your leads, and your customers are going to enjoy it as well.
Michaela 31:35
Well, if you make more creative videos like that rap video tip, then I could see how that could be true. So let's tend to a question about cold fusion here. Cold Fusion, you know, it's been around for I think it's over 21 years now. It's got a birthday coming up. But a long time in, you know, internet years, you know, same kind of age as Java and PHP. But for whatever reason, cold fusion gets labeled with this cold fusion is dying meme fairly often in discussions, particularly from developers, Melba languages,
and one of the reasons I created this CF alive podcast was that I wanted to help people understand that cold fusion is alive and can be used to the modern language.
So the question to you is, you know, using all your marketing get, I pass,
what would it take to make cold fusion more alive this year.
Kirk Deis 32:32
So some things, I'd recommend exploring one video. So no matter what video always be around and it outranks articles and outranks blogs. The reality is, people don't want to read, they don't want to go through the trouble of it. So videos, videos are really good way to go. Now, when people are going to say, as I don't have the I don't have the gear to make a video, I don't have the equipment, I don't have the music, the scripts, those are all excuses. You have a cell phone, your cell phone can record, it's good enough to start creating content to start getting it out there. Another thing to consider is don't rely on just one platform. So what I often see a lot of clients is I'm saying like, oh, where we're on Facebook, we're doing marketing on Facebook. Facebook isn't the only platform, there's, there's Instagram, there's LinkedIn, there's link building, there's blog creation, there's videos, there's Pandora, Spotify, don't shut the door to all these other platforms, because there's audiences there as well.
One platform that I we've been seeing a lot of interest come from a lot of engagement is Instagram. So it might be interesting to start posting some stuff there and making human connections with people.
Michaela 33:52
Oh, I appreciate your marketing insights. You know, maybe that will spark some ideas for some people listening to help get the cold fusion more alive this year. And I think it's definitely improved in the last year. Yeah, so and,
and I've been making videos, so I'm definitely going to second the video. And that's why I do this podcast, both audio and video, we put it out on iTunes, but it also goes out on YouTube, because for two reasons. One is people like to consume stuff in different ways. But secondly, if you're able to watch on video, you get a much better connection with the guest, you know, and you can really get into the topic they're into. So So if folks want to find you online, one of the best ways to do it
Kirk Deis 34:39
so you can reach me at the book squash dot com, you can just hit that contact button and it will go to our team. And if you say like, hey, I want to talk to Kirk the guys will assign it to me the real kicker deal with this. And also you can also reach me on treehouse 51 dot com. Same deal. If you fill out that form will go to me. You can also just email me Kirk at treehouse, 51 calm so I'm super easy to get ahold of. We're not a huge marketing team or not a huge company. So it's just a few of us. And we're definitely I'm definitely in the trenches with the guys as much as the let me be. So yeah, please do reach out and love talking to people.
Michaela 35:18
Cool. And if they have any suggestions for how to improve the bug squash, same deal. Just
Kirk Deis 35:24
Yeah, absolutely. We're over 100% open to feedback. So the whole point of the book squashes is streamline communication. So if you're like, Hey, you should really do this because it's just communicates the XYZ better. We are 100% open to it. So and and I forgot to ask you what the bug squash costs. So we probably folks are interested to know what it's what it would cost they used in the book squashing, we have three plans. The first plan starts at $29 and 99 cents a month, we charge monthly, and then the final plan it's $99 a month
Michaela 36:02
and 99 cents. And the difference is how many bugs you get to report. So it goes from like 100 bucks to 320 bucks a month, which is a lot of bugs I'd be you and And just to be clear, that can be for a hundreds of projects, right? Yeah.
Kirk Deis 36:18
Yeah. If you have development your us so that's the only thing that's the only catch. So you can put this on like 100 different development URLs. If you have like a unique URL then you have to buy an applied for it.
Michaela 36:30
Okay, so you can use it on all your projects your company or internally cool Yeah, well, I really appreciate you coming on the show. And good luck with the rap video which I know you know, it's already got more than 6000 views in the first few days. So, so quite popular. And even more importantly, good luck squashing the bugs. Thank you. Thanks so much for the time of day. I appreciate it.
