Inside SHK Advertising with Jessica Rule & Maddie Walker | The Crude Truth Ep. 132
In this dynamic episode of The Crude Truth, host Rey Treviño III interviews two outstanding West Texas marketing professionals, Jessica Rule, President, and Maddie Walker of SHK Advertising to explore how authentic, data-driven advertising is reshaping how oil and gas companies connect with customers. The Oil and Gas industry does not always understand the best way to market its services. You have to be intentional, memorable, consistent, and have brand recognition. The next sale could be your biggest; without great marketing, it could go to your competition.
Jessica and Maddie share how SHK Advertising helps West Texas businesses stand out through smart branding, SEO, and digital strategy, all built on a deep understanding of the oil and gas industry. Consistency does not mean doing the same thing if it is not working, but regular, great messaging to new prospective customers. The oil field has changed, and your marketing can no longer rely on word of mouth. Billboards even have to be created within a brand-specific messaging scheme.
Whether you’re a startup or a seasoned operator, this episode is packed with real talk, smart strategy, and plenty of West Texas pride.
Thank you, Jessica and Maddie, for stopping by The Crude Truth podcast. It was fantastic, and you’re making a difference in West Texas! – Rey
Connect with Jessica on her LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicarule/
Connect with Madeline Walker here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeline-walker-21345898/
Their website: https://makeyourcompetitorsjealous.com/
Highlights of the Podcast
0:00 – Introduction
01:34 – Meet the Guests
02:54 – The Value of Strategic Advertising
04:13 – Consistency in Branding
06:49 – Digital Ads vs Traditional Marketing
10:36 – Founding SHK & Entrepreneurship
13:33 – Branding & Naming Process
15:06 – West Texas Culture & Client Fit
18:27 – SHK as a Trusted Partner
21:22 – Power of LinkedIn
21:22 – Power of LinkedIn
24:28 – Team Culture and Growth
27:29 – Advertising Through Industry Cycles
30:24 – How to Connect
Please reach out to Jessica Rule on LinkedIn
Please reach out to Madeline Walker on Linkedin
We want to thank our sponsors of THE CRUDE TRUTH.
Inside SHK Advertising with Jessica Rule & Maddie Walker | The Crude Truth Ep. 132
Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.
Rey Treviño III [00:00:00] Make no doubt about it. West Texas is still the place to go and it is the lifeblood of the oil and gas industry. We talked to two advertising experts that are getting the word out for their clients on this episode of The Crude Truth.
Narrator [00:00:16] In 1901, at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, the future of Texas changed dramatically, as like a fountain of fortune, thousands of barrels of oil burst from the earth towards the sky. Soon Detroit would be cranking out Model Ts by the millions, and America was on the move, thanks to the black gold being produced in Texas. Now, more than a century later, the vehicles are different, but nothing else has truly changed. Sure there may be many other alternative energy sources like wind and solar and electric. But let’s be honest, America depends on oil and entrepreneurs, and if the USA is truly going to be independent. It has to know The Crude Truth.
Narrator [00:00:59] This episode is brought to you by LFS Chemistry. We are committed to being good stewards of the environment. We are providing the tools so you can be too. Nape Expo, Where deals happen. Air Compressor Solutions. When everything is on the line, Air Compressed Solutions is the dependable choice to keep commercial business powered up. Sandstone Group. Exec Crue. Elevate your network, elevate your knowledge. Texas Star Alliance, Pecos Country Operating, fueling our future.
Rey Treviño III [00:01:34] Well, thank you as always for tuning into another episode of The Crude Truth. As we inch into summertime, what a better place to start than going back to our great place, West Texas, and talking to some excellent individuals, experts in their own industry, two individuals that know what they’re doing. We’re talking about Jessica Rule and Maddie Walker of SHK Advertising. Did I get that right, girls?
Maddie Walker [00:02:00] You got it right.
Rey Treviño III [00:02:01] Awesome, how are y’all doing?
Maddie Walker [00:02:02] Good.
Rey Treviño III [00:02:04] I cannot complain. Thank you all so much. I heard you were in town and I was like, Oh my God, got to have you on the show. Please come to my flagship studio. Because we had a great opportunity to meet a while back, Maddie. And what you guys are doing is just taking off like wildfire out there in West Texas. And it’s like, oh my gosh. And then you’re like, you got to meet my boss. She is the lady that’s doing it all. And Jessica, that is you. Jessica, for those out there that don’t know you, who are you?
Jessica Rule [00:02:33] Yeah, so Jessica Rule, the president of SHK, the advertising firm, and I started the company 11 years ago, kind of fresh out of, I was working at an ad agency before, wanted to go off on my own, make it as big as possible. A year ago, I brought on Maddie and another sales rep, and they have really been a big part of making it grow like crazy.
Rey Treviño III [00:02:54] Wow. And Maddie, for those out there that don’t know you.
Maddie Walker [00:02:59] So I grew up in Midland, so West Texas girl, but I worked for Hearst Media from the time I was 23 until I jumped over with Jessica a year ago. And so my background is purely digital marketing. So I was sending people who need swag and stuff like that to Jessica. So now I kind of get to do all of it.
Rey Treviño III [00:03:19] Well, very cool, how did I know that? Well, that’s real cool. You know, when did you guys see that niche and Jessica, you know, with the advertising, when did understand that West Texas really needed something more in depth because it’s not, I use the word advertising and you guys are true experts in this field because there is a difference between just flopping something on billboard and what you guys do, is that correct?
Jessica Rule [00:03:42] Oh, absolutely. Yeah, and that is something that I really wanted to be intentional about in starting SHK. And it’s kind of the meaning behind SHK, which stands for seen heard known. So I think you can put a billboard out there, slap it up, and people can forget it, or you can be really intentional and make sure you’re creative. And your wording and everything is something That people are going to remember. So they don’t just see it and hear it. But because it’s memorable, they now know it. And when they need your services, they know exactly who they’re going to call.
Rey Treviño III [00:04:11] Name and brand recognition.
Jessica Rule [00:04:13] Exactly.
Rey Treviño III [00:04:13] Yeah, that is so huge because you might be the best frat company in town. But if you’re not getting the name out there, the other company that just continues to get that name and brand recognition will always get it. You might be right number one in your field. But if not doing that, not promoting it, I know somebody told me about that a while back and I was always like, I don’t really talk about myself. You have to or pay somebody to talk about you for you. Yo, what do you think about that, man?
Maddie Walker [00:04:43] Well, we start with everything from the beginning. So like if a logo, it comes with PMS colors and all that. So even if you go to have someone else print it, they know the exact colors to use for your logo. But if we’re building your website, we’re gonna make sure your brochures match, your business cards match, any swag matches, so that you really have a lot of consistency across the board. And once people even see the colors, they’ll be like, I bet that so-and-so, you know? So we try and maintain consistency.
Rey Treviño III [00:05:11] Well, and I think consistency is the key, is it not? I mean, it goes back to anything that you’re doing that as long as you just continue to do not necessarily the same thing, but that, I mean what is the difference? Because I know consistency is like, hey, I’m gonna keep going to the gym every day or doing something like that. But if you’re not changing it up at the gym, you’re now doing it right. Is that correct?
Jessica Rule [00:05:30] Yeah, that’s a great analogy, especially when I think about like our LinkedIn ads. So we’re gonna run a LinkedIn ad, and we’re going to run it consistently, so that we don’t lose momentum, but we are going to change our creative. But then the second you stop running that LinkedIn ad you lose your momentum, same with SEO. So it’s kind of a mixed bag where we have to run long enough campaigns to see results. But we do have to make changes so that people don’t get tired of saying the same thing.
Rey Treviño III [00:05:54] You know, when you talk about LinkedIn, I use LinkedIn. I think I’m pretty terrible at it. I think, you know, I’m not, I just, you know, sometimes I think what I think will pop doesn’t pop. And things I’m like, you know what, I need to get that info out there. And that pops. What have you seen and what can you share? And what can you help provide your clients with the LinkedIn?
Maddie Walker [00:06:16] So with LinkedIn, we can do everything from kind of create the page, create cover pages, everything like that, cover photos, but then also running ad campaigns. So posts and ads are different. Posts are what you would see on your organic feed. Those are people you probably follow, right? But ads, we get in front of certain demographics, certain target audience, retarget people who are already searching for your services. Target specific companies, use geo-fencing, so we can really get in front of your ideal customer base with an ad spend.
Rey Treviño III [00:06:49] Now with that in your background being the digital side of things, what is it about, you know, just LinkedIn and social media that you see that is a benefit for your guys to come in and you say, hey, you need to get on this. What are you seeing?
Maddie Walker [00:07:01] Well, especially because some people will be like, well, I use a lot of word of mouth or that’s where I think that’s kind of what I think about with like posts. Like maybe you see your friend like liked something or commented on something and now you’re seeing it showing up in your feed. Right. But with ads, we can get in front of people who have never heard from you, but they would be your ideal customer. So they’ve never heard your name, but they’re in the market for your services. They’re your ideal job title who would call you for a service.
Rey Treviño III [00:07:32] Now, and then what we’re seeing now with digital and social media, and we’re talking about these ads, are these becoming more crucial than they were five and see, because I was joking about the billboard, right? But the bill board used to be the thing or getting on TV, get that commercial, even those late night infomercials used to me something there.
Maddie Walker [00:07:51] Or the phone book.
Rey Treviño III [00:07:52] Or the phone book! But y’all always have to know the phonebook!
Maddie Walker [00:07:55] Oh, I used to sell it. What? I have sold ice to Eskimos.
Rey Treviño III [00:08:00] Have you really?
Jessica Rule [00:08:02] Once I heard how much she did for Fun Book, I was like, oh, she’s good at what she does.
Rey Treviño III [00:08:06] Well, let’s think of sidetracking, what do you do for the phone book?
Maddie Walker [00:08:12] I literally sold phone book ads.
Rey Treviño III [00:08:15] That’s what Herschel did, or?
Maddie Walker [00:08:16] Yeah, Hearst own the area.
Jessica Rule [00:08:19] Fun books.
Rey Treviño III [00:08:19] In Midland. Uh-huh. Oh wow.
Jessica Rule [00:08:22] Yeah, that’s a hard sell. It’s not something that we’re promoting to our clients. But yeah, no, I wouldn’t.
Rey Treviño III [00:08:26] No, no, yes. No, not at all. Yeah, we do not advise Google. We can phone book on Google and we’re going to talk about source engine optimization in a minute. But I think the only reason I want to bring it up, Maddie, is because I think and again, I’m just going to assume and we don’t have to assume, you’ve got to be a good 10-year junior than
Maddie Walker [00:08:48] I’m 33.
Rey Treviño III [00:08:49] Okay, you’re a good senior jugger.
Maddie Walker [00:08:51] So when I started selling the film book, it was about this thick. Right. And then at the end, it was like a magazine. Right.
Rey Treviño III [00:08:58] Right. So for you to be doing it, you were basically succeeding in ISO and Eskimo is a perfect way to describe it because you were succeeding in an industry that was dying. Yes. Wow. What a way to cut your chops.
Maddie Walker [00:09:12] Yeah, I mean, it was straight to the point. Like we could say, you know, someone’s looking for a roofer. What’s more, you know, right, better than the phone, but the local phone book.
Rey Treviño III [00:09:24] Well, I remember when we would run out of coupons for Mr. Jim’s pizza, something like that’s like crap, go to the pizza, you know? But that’s what I remember. But now people are using, you know, they’re using Google.
Rey Treviño III [00:09:35] And they say we need a roofer. And how do you get your name at the top of that list? What is that?
Maddie Walker [00:09:40] What is that? That is search engine optimization.
Rey Treviño III [00:09:42] Okay.
Maddie Walker [00:09:43] So to get to the top, it’s a mix of a few things. So we wanna start with something we call reputation management, which is managing all your listings. So make sure all your listing information is correct, which includes Google Maps. That’s very important, because it gets you in that top three. And then we wanna do SEO, which is a lot of coding on the back end, but that’s also mixed with a quality score. So we have to make sure that SEO is being done correctly. Google has White hat tactics, black hat tactics. So we choose white hat tactics which are good tactics. And then mix that with reputation management which is making sure your listing information is correct because all Google’s doing is looking by AI and like how many places are they listed online. So the more places we list you out correctly well that increases that quality score which also helps bump up.
Rey Treviño III [00:10:36] Wow, so what are white taxes? Can you get some examples?
Maddie Walker [00:10:40] Um, so I know like, um, you can’t use like other company names and like your SEO. Like you can use your competitor. Like I want to show up when someone Googles them. That’s a black hat.
Rey Treviño III [00:10:51] Okay.
Maddie Walker [00:10:53] So I don’t want to give away too many secrets. No, no, no. No, we don’t wanna know. You know, I don’ want to let everybody know how we’re doing it. But yeah, there’s white hat tag. So there’s just a certain way Google changes their algorithms. I think it’s like 200 and something times a year. It’s a lot.
Rey Treviño III [00:11:08] Wow, we’ve got time to worry about that.
Maddie Walker [00:11:10] Yeah.
Jessica Rule [00:11:11] And so that’s why it’s nice for companies to outsource.
Maddie Walker [00:11:13] Yes. So don’t try and do it yourself, especially if you’re running a company, run that company and let us take care of the SEO and the coding.
Rey Treviño III [00:11:22] Well, Jessica, you’re a horned frog. Yes. I gotta say that. So go frogs.
Jessica Rule [00:11:26] Go frogs.
Rey Treviño III [00:11:27] What brought you back to West Texas and just do this advertising? What did you see that was needed or what was missing? Or was it, I can do this way better? Because you’ve been in advertising for a while.
Jessica Rule [00:11:39] Yeah, so initially, straight out of TCU, I fell into advertising. My dad was actually on a flight with someone and said, hey, I can get your daughter a job at this advertising firm I use. And he said, sure. And to let you know how green I was at that time, my dad came with me to my interview. And if you know my dad, he probably spoke 90 percent of the time. I probably didn’t do much, but needless to say, I got the job somehow. And day one, I just felt like. I was a fish in water, this is where I’m supposed to be. I love advertising so much and it naturally came to me. So I did that for a few years and then I got to a point where I am very ambitious. The agency I was with, they worked very limited hours and they were like, we think you’re working too hard, we don’t really like this. So I wanted to go out, start my own thing where I could work hard, get rewarded for it and make it just as big as possible.
Rey Treviño III [00:12:31] Well, that’s the way it is being an entrepreneur is the harder you work, the more reward you make for yourself. And I think, and that’s why I think sales is also a good spot because I believe in sales, the cap should be unlimited. Okay. I think that it should be, and, um, but the other only other better job, I think, is being in entrepreneur and doing it yourself because the harder you, the more effort you put in, the morning you’re going to get out of it. And, uh, so what was it about West Texas just coming home or what was
Jessica Rule [00:12:58] Yeah, when I graduated, I was literally open to wherever I got a job and I got a job there first. And so then by the time I started my own, I already had some type of Rolodex there. I kind of made a name for myself in the industry there. So the second I decided I’m going out on my own. I called probably 100 people that first day and told them, hey, this is what I’m doing now. I made a sell that first date for a client. He probably doesn’t even know this, but he’s still a client to this day. He’s started several companies since then. So I think that really speaks to our work and that we really go above and beyond for our clients.
Rey Treviño III [00:13:33] Wow. So where did the S, excuse me, where did the SHK like how, I mean, seen, heard, know what, where, how, how did that come about?
Jessica Rule [00:13:41] I think it’s just part of my creative process. I knew I didn’t want anything with my name because I wanted something that was bigger than me. But outside of that, I knew, I wanted to something cool, catchy, and I didn’ know what it was. And so we brainstormed like 50, hundreds of names over periods of months probably and came up with SHK. And that is something we do for clients as well. We do naming services. So it’s part of the creative process
Rey Treviño III [00:14:05] Well, I was about to ask you, it’s like, yeah, I can only imagine, you know, what is the process? Because if y’all doing that for yourselves, what does that what you got to get this good Maddie? What is this?
Maddie Walker [00:14:13] I mean, I’ve never named a company, but she has.
Jessica Rule [00:14:17] Yeah, basically, it’s like just throwing everything out there. Dumb ideas, whatever it doesn’t matter. And then see what sticks if something always comes good out of it.
Rey Treviño III [00:14:25] Well, the SHK thing seems to stick very well for you guys. And you know, what is it about West Texas that just gets you all excited? I mean, because you know it’s a, anybody outside the oil and gas industry, they’re like, it’s West Texas. Don’t understand. But you know I remember when you were like, oh yeah, I’ve lived here my whole life. I’m like, really? Like, oh yeah. And I mean you were just, you know so excited.
Maddie Walker [00:14:46] People are always shocked by that when I’m like, I’m from here. They’re like, what, yes, actually born and raised. Um, but no, I love the people so much, honestly, you’ll find the nicest people ever in West Texas and not just oil and gas, like the whole community is really great.
Rey Treviño III [00:15:06] Well, speaking of oil and gas, I don’t want to pigeonhole you guys. You know, I guess, you know, when you all are looking for new clients, you know what, what is somebody like that you all see is like, oh my gosh, this, like if somebody goes, I need this, this, this what is y’all’s ideal clients where it’s like, this gotta be perfect.
Jessica Rule [00:15:21] I would say 90% of our clients are in oil and gas. We do everything. We do a college, hospital, retail, everything, but oil and gasses is our niche, especially because we are in West Texas. And I think that’s helped set us apart because there are so many agencies that don’t know the lingo or the pictures. And so we’re able to put them on brochures or wherever it is pretty well. Everyone on our team either has parents or brothers or they’ve been in oil gas themselves. So. Between all of us, we can really understand it.
Maddie Walker [00:15:53] Yeah, we’re all West Texas girls, so we may not know technical little terms, but we know a lot of it though. We know a lot, yeah.
Rey Treviño III [00:16:02] Well, what do you guys, you know, when you’re looking at advertising and y’all got companies that are maybe production companies or, you know, what kind of story are y’al trying to get out right now for the industry hold, you, as a whole, you are yall trying to focus on like maybe a big story, cause I know for us, we always get the bad rap of, well, you producers are new enough time telling people how good you’re doing for the for this community or what how many jobs you’re doing that we’re not telling a good story you know what kind of story are you guys telling and are y’all helping get that positive spin out
Jessica Rule [00:16:37] I think because most of what we’re doing is targeting West Texas, West Texans get it. We don’t necessarily have to tell that story because we all have that same goal. So it’s more so like we want to promote the services our companies are doing.
Rey Treviño III [00:16:52] I like how you said that because here in Texas, we understand how important it is and fortunately that we don’t have too much that we have to worry about with that standpoint. But when it comes to the services and that is something I’m glad you brought up because good, bad and different, there is a dime a dozen for every service that’s out there just waiting for the other service company to mess up one time and somebody else gets That’s… The nature of the beast in West Texas. We all have the companies that we work with, but in West sexes, if we don’t get the work done yesterday, we’ll find somebody that could get it done two days ago.
Jessica Rule [00:17:29] Absolutely.
Rey Treviño III [00:17:30] There’s not as well, and that’s something I’ve talked about that I don’t think is 100% right. You know, I do think having loyalty and having the best people to get the job done and waiting, but that’s not the way it is. So when y’all are trying to highlight some of y’alls customers, what are y’al, what are you all doing to really kind of help highlight them in that way?
Maddie Walker [00:17:46] It really depends on the customer. So anytime I sit down with them, I ask them what their goals are, what sets them apart, what makes their business unique, and then highlight that. And usually it speaks for themselves and they will attract the right operator or whoever they’re a good fit for.
Jessica Rule [00:18:04] But I like what you say about speed because I think one thing on the other side of that token is if we go out there and say, we’re fast, we can meet this timeline, and truly that company is slow, now we’re hurting them. So it’s really important to get to know each company and know what their true strengths are because we don’t want to over promise by any means because that’s just going hurt them in the long run.
Rey Treviño III [00:18:24] Right. Yeah. I’d rather under promise and over to live for anything else.
Maddie Walker [00:18:27] They usually like to sit down with them and get like a good hour of just like learning about their company and what they’re about and so that way I can kind of speak on their behalf and act like I actually know them, you know?
Rey Treviño III [00:18:39] Right, right. And that is key because again, you go back to advertising that you ladies can speak the lingo. Y’all can do that. But y’all are almost an arm of these companies, is that correct that y’al work with?
Jessica Rule [00:18:50] Absolutely.
Maddie Walker [00:18:51] Yeah, a lot of them we’re like fulfilling instead of them having on stuff, you know marketing. We are that part for them
Rey Treviño III [00:18:58] Wow, that’s helpful, I’m sure, for a lot of them.
Maddie Walker [00:19:01] So a lot of them just call it like questions like, should I do this? Should I do that?
Jessica Rule [00:19:05] All the Time. . And I feel like when you get to that point, when people are asking questions that don’t even necessarily relate to advertising, you know, we’re really doing our part like we are a trusted resource for them all around.
Rey Treviño III [00:19:17] Oh, wow, man, that’s really awesome. So what is it about the search optimization? I know we kind of touched on that a few minutes ago, but what is about that that y’all are really seeing and enjoying about that? Especially being right now in West Texas. Why is it so important actually for them in West sexes right now to have that search optimization.
Maddie Walker [00:19:36] I say the most important part is anyone can do it, right? So companies from outside of West Texas could come in and do search and optimization and pretend like they were actually physically there. So for a lot of the companies we’re working with locally in West Texas, I wanna be like, you need to get there. Someone else is gonna come in and steal your worm. You know what I mean? So you gotta get, early bird gets the worm and you need get on top first and stay there.
Jessica Rule [00:20:02] Well, and I think we’ve both been in the industry for quite some time. So we’ve seen it evolve where 10 years ago, people were like, I don’t need a website. I have business. I’m not interested. And now even very established companies are realizing I have to have an online presence because yes, I have my core clients. But if I want to grow and keep with the times, people are going to be Googling me. If nothing comes up, you just don’t look legitimate. And if you’re on page 10, no one’s going to see it. So it’s really important.
Rey Treviño III [00:20:29] Yeah, you know, when we do some of these oil and gas shows, right, you know, whether it’s NAPE or the big ones that are in like, there’s one every two years in West Texas, I’m trying to remember which one it is, but it’s a big one. And it’s like, almost sometimes some of the companies go, they have no new thing. But if they’re not there, then people will be like, where they go, what happened, they must be out of business. And that says a lot just in that alone from an advertising standpoint.
Maddie Walker [00:20:55] You have to have a presence. And even now LinkedIn has become, you know, I see you on there a lot. LinkedIn has becomes such a big thing that I’m like, you have to post regularly. Like you have be a part of the conversation ongoing. And we do offer posts, but I even encourage them as individuals. I’m post every once in a while. Even if it’s like a snapshot of what you’re doing, just make sure that you’re always keeping a presence
Rey Treviño III [00:21:22] Yeah, and posting every day thing for me, I know it’s hard, even though you can like now do, I think you can schedule them, I still don’t do that. But you know, I think, but having a team that can help out with that, especially for some of these teams, because I’m sure you got some of the companies where the owner or the decision makers are still out there doing work just as much as the other guys are. And to have you guys actually be in that arm that say, hey, don’t forget, you know are doing the advertising, that probably helps out so much.
Jessica Rule [00:21:51] So we can definitely do it for them. Yeah, I do that a lot. And I think even this week, I’ve had two companies that haven’t posted since like 2018, 2019, and so to have that big gap, like you said, it’s like, what’s going on with this company if I’m trying to get some information on them.
Maddie Walker [00:22:05] And I had that CEO called me that one morning at eight. And he was like, I need you to post this right now. I just logged in and did it.
Rey Treviño III [00:22:11] Did you really? Yes. See, man, you know, we had a conversation that day about when I first started the career truth and I was more nervous about posting than I even was being in the room doing the interviews because you don’t know what’s going to happen. I think that’s the nerve-wracking. But it’s like you have to literally lack of better words to put it out there.
Maddie Walker [00:22:32] Yes, and I mean I even play with my own LinkedIn a lot. She knows this. Yes Yeah, so if I like take a pause I think I did over Christmas and then I had like build back like I noticed when I first started posting again like my impressions were super low and like It’s almost like you have to regain LinkedIn’s trust, you know? Okay. Just start getting seen again. And then some things you just never know what’ll take off. I think we did like a group photo and it had like 21,000 impressions or something.
Jessica Rule [00:23:03] For Love Faces.
Maddie Walker [00:23:05] Yeah. So yeah, a lot of times like I’ll post koozies or whatever and that may get like 400 impressions. I’ll do something with our faces instead of Lance a lot more, but I love playing around with it like that to see and I love time of day and day of week to see. And to see what orders you get from it too. It’s really cool.
Rey Treviño III [00:23:24] Wow.
Maddie Walker [00:23:25] Because a lot of times people will just be like, get me a quote on whatever I just posted.
Rey Treviño III [00:23:29] Very cool. But I like the way you’re diving into the numbers because impressions are very important because they’re views. It’s like a billboard. I mean, it is very important to get that.
Maddie Walker [00:23:40] Well, in that way, I actually know what I’m talking about when I’m talking to the customer, like.
Rey Treviño III [00:23:44] Holy shit.
Maddie Walker [00:23:44] You know, I should, but I can be like, you know, if you post it this time of day, you’re going to get more. And I know because I’ve done it. Yeah.
Jessica Rule [00:23:52] We’re testing it.
Rey Treviño III [00:23:53] Yeah, no, don’t don’t give away the secrets. I’m sure there is a better time to post in most me. I just try to get the secrets, you know, but again, you guys have been growing and you talk about how you took the hiatus you your LinkedIn presence has been growing. That’s something we talked about the other day. I was like Maddie definitely can’t wait to have you in. Uh, and you know, one of the things is that you have been growing your LinkedIn presence and it’s beginning It’s very strong and in a positive way and you Know, is it just the fact that you’re posting all the time? Is that that kind of the helpful thing that you can share? I know
Maddie Walker [00:24:28] Um, I will say during COVID is when I started adding people like crazy and it’s because I couldn’t walk into places anymore. I couldn’t knock on doors anymore and all that. And so I just started adding like crazy messaging them. People who are watching this probably like, I’ve had a message from this. And I mean, I was like, maxing out the like ads and stuff all the time, like LinkedIn would be like everyone’s saying, yeah, you can’t add this many people and they’ll stop you. Wow. And then from there, it just started growing and growing and going. And then I started, I think it wasn’t until I switched over to SHK started posting every day and it’s just expanded every day since. And I think I’ve gotten a lot more. Involved in the community too since I moved over to SHK, so for charity functions and stuff like that. So I think my network is just there’s a lot more arms to it.
Jessica Rule [00:25:27] Well, I think too, because we are full service, we offer so many things. It’s interesting because posting every day could get boring if you’re posting the same old thing, but you can post about SEO and about promotional products and branded apparel and client gifts, like the list goes on. Logo design websites, it’s interesting.
Rey Treviño III [00:25:44] Huh, I love it. You know, one of the things when we met in person a couple of months back, you were like, we’re all from West Texas. Was that planned or what? Because I mean, she was, Maddie, you seemed very proud to go, we were a West Texas, we’re West Texas girls’ company. Yes. And was that something that you had planned when you did it or did it just happen?
Jessica Rule [00:26:05] You know, I think everyone on the team just came at the right time. I’ve never been one to actively hire. I feel like if someone’s going to come, it comes naturally.
Rey Treviño III [00:26:16] Yes!
Jessica Rule [00:26:17] And so I can’t say that it was necessarily intentional, but I can say that it’s very helpful that we are all from West Texas. And it’s like, when I know someone’s good for the team, I know. Granted, I knew Maddie and a lot of, I guess everyone I’ve known for some time. So, yeah, it just worked out that way.
Rey Treviño III [00:26:33] Well, I can’t disagree at all. I mean, when it’s natural and it just evolves and you don’t force it, I think that’s something that says a lot because you do have people then that’s like, you know what, these guys are here and I haven’t asked them to be here. I haven’ said, hey, this was that, but they want to follow in a good way. Not saying, you know, but. But then again, you get y’all individuals, because there’s several of y’y’all, each have y’alls own lead. So here I’m saying, you know, you want to follow both, you know, y’ya’ll are all leaders. And so I can’t, I think that is so true. That’s like, you don’t want it evolves naturally the way it does. That’s usually the way things are stronger. Because when you look at just anything as it evolves, it gets stronger.
Maddie Walker [00:27:14] Right. And I think we all have a good growth mindset, and we balance ideas off of each other really well. And so that helps a lot.
Jessica Rule [00:27:21] Yeah. And I tell everyone on the team, I’m like, any idea, I want to hear it. I’m open to listening to everything and we’ll see what takes us.
Rey Treviño III [00:27:29] Well, where do y’all see the price of oil going? I’m joking, joking, I’m kidding, I am joking. But I will say this, I want to ask you all this. After the election, I will ask you this, and what was the mindset in West Texas after the election of this year? Like, did you feel something different or anything?
Maddie Walker [00:27:50] I feel like people probably took a deep breath after the, but don’t they after every election?
Jessica Rule [00:27:57] Yeah, I think it’s the same as every election. We see a dip right before people are uncertain. And then right after they’re still a little uncertain, no matter what the results are.
Rey Treviño III [00:28:06] Gotcha. Yeah. No, I just know that afterwards it just felt like there was so much of that, that deep breath that everyone’s like, Oh, finally we can just not worry about our jobs. Like, you know, I think that’s the way it was the last several years. And the fact that during that time y’all were able to grow is again, I get it. I mean, you know we could be in a whole different spot and you’re doing the phone books, which I can’t believe we had this last four years and we had somebody trying to do some
Maddie Walker [00:28:33] It goes right back to like I love our community so much because you know West Texans are always helping West Texan and so I felt like we had a lot of loyalty from a lot of our customers and sticking with us through that time.
Jessica Rule [00:28:46] Well, I think the interesting part too is when oil’s good, we get to have fun. We get to do crazy client gifts and, you know, just the fun stuff. When oil’s low, now we’re having to figure out, OK, how do we generate more business for our clients? So there’s always a need. It’s just what does that look like right now? It’s like, OK. We need to hire a lot more people right now. Get us a hiring ad.
Rey Treviño III [00:29:09] Wow. Again, y’all know exactly how this works as far as the advertiser side of this goes. That is too awesome. Maddie, for those out there that don’t know you, how can they get a hold of you for all that great stuff? Especially for those that need to get at the top of the search How can they get in contact with you guys?
Maddie Walker [00:29:29] You can call or text me at 432-230-3321. My email is [email protected].
Rey Treviño III [00:29:38] That’s.
Jessica Rule [00:29:39] Don’t forget your LinkedIn, you like that LinkedIn?
Maddie Walker [00:29:41] LinkedIn, you can find me as Madeline Walker, M-A-D-E-L-I-N-E.
Rey Treviño III [00:29:45] Madeline Walker, okay? I love it. And Jessica, you know, when I told Maddie, she was, hey, I got to have my boss on, female owner. That is awesome. Just what you’re doing out here. I cannot thank you enough for coming in.
Jessica Rule [00:30:00] Well, thank you.
Rey Treviño III [00:30:01] For those out there that want to have you on to talk about your journey and talk about being a female entrepreneur and have you as a speaker in places, how do they get in contact with you?
Jessica Rule [00:30:10] Sure, so email is, I’m on my email all the time. It’s jrule, R-U-L-E, @ shkadvertising.com. And then you can also call the office at 432-695-6457.
Rey Treviño III [00:30:24] Well guys, I cannot thank you all enough for doing this and really kind of sharing more about how important the advertising world is, even today on the digital side of things. And it is just so important, especially as we continue into the digital age. So ladies, thank you again so much for coming on.
Maddie Walker [00:30:42] Thanks for having us.
Rey Treviño III [00:30:43] And guys, if you’re out there that y’all need that extra advertising, that extra umph to get y’a’ll just, when you’re right there about to be number one and you want to be number one, get with SHK and we’ll see you again on another episode of The Crude Truth.
Narrator [00:30:58] Again, The Crude Truth would like to thank today’s sponsors. LFS Chemistry, Nape Expo, Air Compressor Solutions, Sandstone Group, Exec Crue, Texas Star Alliance, Pecos Country Solutions and Real News Communication Network
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