Mastering the before and after with Danny Wang

Show Notes

On this episode of โ€œThe Building Code,โ€ Tom and Paul are chatting with design extraordinaire and social media influencer, Danny Wang, of Danny Wang Design in Orange County, Calif. Danny Wang Design is a design-build company with an experienced team who transforms interior and exterior spaces to fit each clientโ€™s unique style.

Tune in to the full episode to hear how Danny started using Instagram to promote his business and ended up with over 430,000 followers. See what you could be doing to promote your business on social media to land more leads.

Before and afters

โ€œOne of my friends did a before and after post and I realized I have tons of those. Iโ€™ve been in business for 14 years, Iโ€™ve been doing a lot of projects โ€“ let me do one. And I think it was probably around the third or fourth post that I did before and after โ€“ it went viral. I think it got like 30,000 to 40,000 likes. So, from then on it just kind of skyrocketed. Weโ€™ve been growing steadily since then.โ€

โ€œOn Instagram, so many people post the finished product, but really they donโ€™t tell you how they got there. So, more and more I started just sharing how I got into my business and how I got to these projects, and I realized people like to hear that. I think that it adds to the narrative.โ€

Why is using social media so important?

  • Itโ€™s a new way to advertise that doesnโ€™t cost you money โ€“ you can land leads without the marketing expenses
  • Content on social media drives traffic to your companyโ€™s website
  • You eliminate the need to qualify leads โ€“ potential clients are already following you on social media, so they see the work you do and should have the necessary budget or means to work with you

Follow Danny on social media:

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Transcript

Tom Houghton:

You are listening to โ€œThe Building Code,โ€ your guide for a better way to run your business. I’m Tom Houghton.

Paul Wurth:

Hey, everybody. I’m Paul Wurth.

Tom Houghton:

Hey, Paul.

Paul Wurth:

I always like to say, “Hey everybody.”

Tom Houghton:

Well, just to welcome to everybody who’s listening.

Paul Wurth:

All the listeners.

Tom Houghton:

All the listeners are welcome here.

Paul Wurth:

Which, we appreciate every one of you.

Tom Houghton:

We do.

Paul Wurth:

I’m going to plug. Don’t forget to tell your friends…

Tom Houghton:

About โ€œThe Building Code.โ€

Paul Wurth:

Yeah, the podcast. What was it, like me?

Tom Houghton:

I don’t know. Subscribe now to all the things.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah, just to our podcast.

Tom Houghton:

Sure.

Paul Wurth:

And tell your friends about Tom and Paul.

Tom Houghton:

Exactly.

Paul Wurth:

How they enlighten your day for 20 minutes once a week, hopefully. That’s the plan, anyway.

Tom Houghton:

That’s good.

Paul Wurth:

Anyhoo…

Tom Houghton:

Anyhoo…

Paul Wurth:

Tom, go ahead and introduce our guest.

Tom Houghton:

We’re very honored to bring on our guest today. Danny Wang is joining us from Danny Wang Design. Danny, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. We’ve been really looking forward to this interview.

Danny Wang:

Oh, likewise. Love just sharing kind of information. It’s very, very exciting.

Paul Wurth:

It’s exciting to have a star on, a star. We’ve had an opportunity a couple of times on the podcast. Shout out to our huge social media people who have been on here. But Danny you’ve got, what, how many followers? It’s not a contest. But how many followers do you have on Instagram?

Tom Houghton:

But if it was a contest, Danny’s winning.

Paul Wurth:

You’re winning. How many on Instagram?

Danny Wang:

I think, right now, 416,000.

Paul Wurth:

Thousand, yeah. And so what’s your handle?

Danny Wang:

It’s @dannywangdesign.

Paul Wurth:

All right. It’s truly awesome. Before I knew this was scheduled, about a year ago, I started following Danny, just because I follow things in construction and super compelling content. I’m always into the Instagram stuff. How’d you get started with Instagram and when did you know it was going to be something that was truly a game changer for your business or at least a lead source for your business?

Danny Wang:

So I think most people know, I actually just started Instagram about two years ago.

Paul Wurth:

Oh, wow.

Danny Wang:

I started out just kind of as a way of voicing my opinions, voicing my thoughts. I wasn’t very business-related. And we’ll post like the projects that we’re doing, et cetera. I didn’t take it seriously until… I think at that time we have about three or 4,000 followers. Someone else was running my account. So we started getting leads, I was like, “Oh, how are these people finding me?” Because just I’m posting my day, posting like random projects I do. I didn’t even know about stories. I didn’t know about that. So long story short, we closed that deal. And it was kind of crazy because when we walked in, I felt like they knew who I was already without…

Danny Wang:

Because usually when you go sell a job, they ask you, “Okay, what does your company do? What’s your background?” Et cetera, et cetera. It’s like getting to know each other. Right? It’s like an interview.

Paul Wurth:

That’s awesome.

Danny Wang:

But with this, I felt… It was just so weird. They were like, “Okay, I’m going to use you. I’m not going to interview anybody else. I like your design, I like your work.” And I was kind of blown away by it. Because I was like, “Wow, how does this person…” Even though they were close, they were probably 30 minutes away from me. How did they find me when I wasn’t reaching out? So we closed that deal and I was more intrigued. I’m always very intrigued by things I don’t understand. Right?

Danny Wang:

So I got more and more into it. I was like, “Oh, now this platform’s allow me to reach people I don’t even know that are looking at my jobs.” So I started doing it more and more. As soon as I started doing it, it was about a year ago. I saw someone, one of my friend, did before and after posts. I was like, “Oh, I got tons of those.” Right? I’ve been in business for 14 years. I’ve been doing a lot of projects. Let me do one. And I think it was probably the third or fourth post that I did before and after, it went viral. I think it got like 30 or 40,000 likes. So then from then on, it just kind of skyrocketed. And I was like, “Oh.” For me to make before and after photos is actually quite easy because I’m doing the construction and the design. So I guess it just kind of took off from there. And we just been steady growing pretty rapidly since then.

Paul Wurth:

Glad you brought the before and after up, because that’s what I was going to ask you is like, that’s a pretty big part of what you post. There’s got to be something in the human condition where they just like that.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah, it’s great to see the progress.

Paul Wurth:

It’s why all the construction shows on HGTV and all those do well. It’s basically a before and after. Right?

Danny Wang:

Yes.

Paul Wurth:

And you want to see that final thing. I think that’s really awesome.

Danny Wang:

And I think that’s really where… Because I think for me, Instagram was always, so many people post a finished project, like a finished photo, but really they don’t tell you how to get there. So more and more I started, just sharing just even how I got to my business and how I got to these projects. And I realized, “Hey, more and more people, they like to hear that.” Right? Especially when I started with a kind of interesting background. So I think that adds to the narrative.

Paul Wurth:

Well, I definitely want to ask you about your interesting background, but one thing I want to drive home to the contractor, as they’re listening, you brought up two great points about social media. One, it’s a new way to advertise that doesn’t cost you dollars. Like the normal way of doing it, like paying something or some platform. It definitely costs you time. So it gets you leads without that marketing expense.

Paul Wurth:

But two, I think the one thing you brought up we’ve heard before, in construction you get a bunch of leads and you qualify them. They qualify you and you qualify them as a possible good client. This sort of takes that step largely out of there, which is a huge step in time because they know you and they know the types of stuff you do and they know that they probably have the budget for it because they see the types of stuff you do. Maybe the budget’s still kind of a concern. But those are two really important things social media can do. So we preach this a lot there. You got to get on social media and just post. So you said your background, tell us a little bit about your background.

Tom Houghton:

And your company.

Danny Wang:

I actually had no construction background. So I was in high school. My dad was a contractor. I was a project manager for him. I was in real estate development. That’s what I went to school for, finance, real estate development. And the reason I got into construction is that is a big portion of real estate development. That’s a huge cost of it. So I said, “Hey, you know what? I want to do a real estate development. Let me go learn how to do construction to just kind of understand it.” So I did construction for about 10 years, worked with various designers. Long story short, one day, all the designers, the lead time was just so long that I said, “Hey, I need to really get this in.” So I started designing myself and I was just kind of picked up from there. I didn’t know I could design. I was like, “Oh, I didn’t know. People pay me for design.” So it just kind of took another life on its own.

Danny Wang:

So that was kind of what I’ve been pushing is, “Hey, I came from no construction background. I got to where I am. I came from no design background. I got to where I am.” So that’s kind of the narrative that I push is just, you don’t always have to be confined to what you’re learning, you’re studying, as long as you have the will to learn. I mean, you can make it. Right?

Tom Houghton:

That’s awesome. The will to learn. I mean, I think that echoes in your designs that you create. I’ve watched many of your lives as you go through and kind of just play around. I mean, that’s ultimately what you’re doing is you’re just trying to figure out a way to create something different and new. And I think that’s what makes your work stand out among other people’s. I think everybody else just… You kind of get in that habit of just doing the same thing over and over again, and I’m sure you probably face that as well yourself, but you do a really good job of trying to push yourself to create new designs and push design to the next level.

Danny Wang:

Yeah. And also just bottom line is, I preach this a lot. It’s no excuse, right? Like I don’t know how to run marketing agency. I have one of the largest followings in my niche. So I think a lot of it is self-doubt. It’s like, “Hey, I can’t do this.” Then I’m not going to do it. For me, it’s like, “Well, if I can’t do it, I’m going to go try and do it.” Right? Like figure out what it is. And I think that’s really one of the key point that I drive on my social media is you can’t let that doubt eliminate you. Right?

Paul Wurth:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Danny Wang:

Like, stop you from doing it. You just go out and do it. You’ll figure, “Okay. Maybe this is not right for me.” But at least you’ve learned from that process. Right? And that’s how I did for design, right? I didn’t just start off instantly and say, “Hey, let’s design just really cool things.” Same thing I had to pitch, maybe, 10 design to one client and say, “Hey, this is really what I want.” And eventually you get the clients that let you do that. Right? So it’s really funny because everyone thought that I kind of just started my business last year, but actually I’ve been in business for 14 years.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. I like to dive into the actual X’s and O’s with people, because I think some people are like, “Just start it yourself.” But where do you start? I’m truly curious. So did you literally just start by drawing things on a paper and then trying to figure out… Did you research design software and then go, “Okay, well I’ve got to go learn that”? Can you actually take us through, not for an hour, but like how did it actually start?

Danny Wang:

So, for me, it’s a little odd. Right? I started from the constructing background. So I actually saw what all the designers drew and I think that’s one of the things that we wanted to cover. Right. How do you have a healthy designer-contractor relationship? It’s very difficult because I was always the guy that the designer draws a concept and just throws it to me and say, “Hey, you go figure out how to do it.” And in my mind I was like, “Okay, let me see how I can make this work.” Right? But over time, it just like, “Well, if I already know how it’s going to be, why don’t I just draw it?” Right?

Danny Wang:

So that’s why you see a lot of times I do it all because the way it works in my head is I already see the finished project. I’m not going to sit there and draw a bunch of detailed plans to show what I’m going to build. I already know how to build it. But as we expand our company that we’re working people all over the world, now we realize, “Okay, we need to draw really detailed plans to show them exactly what we need to build it.” Not everybody has the design build background, but I think with the design now is just, we try to do it a little bit differently. I draw it as how it will actually get built.

Paul Wurth:

That’s good.

Danny Wang:

Any software could do that.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. You talked about that relationship side of it. Has there been experience that you’ve had, I’m sure most people have had this experience, where designers will come and say, “Hey, we’ve got this crazy idea,” and they probably typically hear no, but it sounds like from you, you’re willing to at least just say yes and try to figure out a way to do it. What’s that process like?

Danny Wang:

Well, obviously they like to hear it. Everybody likes to hear yes. Right? But what they don’t see in the background is then we have to do a lot of studies. We have to really take a lot of time figuring out. Just like my doodle takes me five minutes, but really my construction team, my team takes probably 40, 50 hours to draw out all the details. So I think, back to the no doubting yourself part, I figure I could do it. Just how long and how much money will it cost to get there? Right?

Tom Houghton:

Sure. Do you feel like your designs, and I guess your inspiration now, do you feel like it’s just kind of like a self-evolving thing or are you pulling from other sources of inspiration as well that you see online or around in the areas that you’re building?

Danny Wang:

Also I didn’t go to design school, but really a lot of my inspiration comes from working with talented designers. Right? They were like my teachers. So I work with a lot of top designers. I kind of understood how everybody did their design. Okay, what’s the pros and cons of each design? How everybody kind of just thinks. Currently, the way it works at my firm is I usually deal with the client that says, “Hey, you go do whatever you want.” Right? Because obviously they see my portfolio. So I say, “Okay, well, if you want me to go push a limit, this is kind of what’s in my head.” So that’s a very fortunate position.

Danny Wang:

And what I try to do is I have my staff, they’re still working on the in between process. “Okay, I have this client, they want to do this. Go and kind of handle it.” And on the way you learn how that process is. So we’re kind of setting it up where before I would turn down a lot of jobs that they don’t want to do what I want to do. Right? But now we’re kind of recapturing it to say, “Okay, my staff can handle this.” And also it’s always better that you have multiple… Design is not a one-sided thing. When you have more input, the more creative comes out. Right? Like even after, for me, if I design maybe four or five designs in a row, it gets kind of boring. It all kind of looks the same. So I bring in new people. They stimulate also my design. I’m stimulating their design. So it’s a collaborative effort.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. And that’s something that’s interesting. So you find in design that it’s collaborative. Because we talk a lot of this in construction, and there’s an evolution in construction, which we’re all huge fans of. It’s less competitive. Like, 10 builders in Austin, Texas, are less secretive. They’re more, “Hey, let’s share and let’s raise the entire industry and let’s not be so secretive. There’s enough clients to go around.” So do you find the same thing in design and I guess architecture that they are willing to share and teach?

Danny Wang:

No.

Paul Wurth:

All right. We’re still working there.

Danny Wang:

Yeah.

Tom Houghton:

That’s a fair… I think that goes with creative people though. I mean, creative people can be very hands-on with the material that they create, but I’ll let you speak to that more.

Danny Wang:

Yeah. So I think there’s definitely different trains of thoughts. And also, I think design is very like… because I think with the tray, right? Like building, it’s very systematic. You can systemize it. How we build this, you can systemize it. Design is very personal, emotional. Right? Like it’s with the client, every client’s different. So I wouldn’t say it’s competitive, but it’s hard to value. So that’s why we still keep the build side. Right?

Danny Wang:

Like, let’s just say, a lot of times I’ll bring in my design fee, my clients will be super shocked how much my design fees will be. But let’s say if we construct it, because they could see the actual value, like they could see the actual thing, then they value the design. Right? So it’s very hard to compete on that because you have people in different states, different country that’s doing design for a lot less, but really they don’t have the experience that brings in like how to build it. Right? I say we count as the alphabet. It’s A to Z. They only bring A, but they’re not bring the B to Z part. But because we’re bringing A to Z, then that value to our clients, to the contract that we work with is valuable.

Paul Wurth:

That makes sense.

Tom Houghton:

I think that’s good, too, because you can kind of oversee the entire process as well. It’s kind of nice to know it’s in the hands of the person who actually envisioned this project from start to finish.

Danny Wang:

Yeah. Sometimes I like trash talking. But that’s why I always tell my clients, when you look at a designer’s page, look at the actual pictures. Because nowadays the software is so easy to build to make a project look so pretty, but really if they don’t have a physical project that’s built… Like for me, it’s always about, you can talk all you want, but if you don’t have anything to show for it, then all your credibility is lost. Right?

Paul Wurth:

Yeah.

Danny Wang:

So that’s kind of how I do my designs.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. It’s great.

Paul Wurth:

I like it.

Tom Houghton:

I mean, you definitely deliver on it. And again, that’s evident in the stuff that you post on social media. Speaking of social media, we know you’re a big fan of TikTok-

Paul Wurth:

Oh, really? I didn’t know this.

Tom Houghton:

… and you’ve seen some success there. Well, definitely reposting. And I think that’s kind of what we wanted to talk about a little bit. Obviously a huge following on Instagram, but you obviously repost some of the stuff that you do on TikTok. What benefit are you seeing in using TikTok? What was that like? Did you have to make that decision of like, “Oh gosh, here goes another social media platform I’ve got to be on.”

Danny Wang:

No, we don’t look at it like that. The way I look at is we’re creating content once and then you’re spreading to multiple platforms versus, I’m not going to say, “Hey, I’m making…” I don’t treat it as chore. Right? It’s not a chore for me to make extra video. Whereas I look at it as, because I’m making that, I put it on Instagram. And I’m actually not a very good video editor. I don’t have that skill. I mean, I’m pretty sure I could learn it, but, at this point, I mean, it’s not the best use of my time. So what I do is I found out that TikTok has a really easy video editor. So, it takes me like five minutes to make a video. And there it has the music. And what does well there, most of the time does well here, too, on Instagram. So it’s just creating one piece of content, translating it and I should start doing LinkedIn as well. So just use one piece of content for cross-platform.

Paul Wurth:

That’s a great tip.

Tom Houghton:

It is.

Paul Wurth:

Because it takes a lot of time be on all these social media platforms. We talked about this. But it definitely delivers results. So you’re dancing on TikTok, is that what’s happening?

Danny Wang:

No.

Tom Houghton:

Dancing?

Paul Wurth:

I don’t mean that as a shot because I think I have a TikTok out there. I have four girls, they threw me on one. We’re definitely not posting that in the show notes, though.

Danny Wang:

No. So for me it’s about consistency, right? So I do a lot before and afters. I do a lot in between process. So, obviously, yeah, maybe I’ll get more views dancing around, but really that’s not really part of my brand. Right?

Paul Wurth:

Right.

Danny Wang:

I don’t even show my face. Right? This is the first time you guys see me. Maybe if I were to build a personal brand just based on my personal life, yes, maybe I’ll go do the goofy things. But I think because like I’m still trying to sell my construction design as part of my brand, that’s what I show on TikTok as well. So I do a lot of music transitions. What I realize people really like, matching the music with the beats. And the music, these are extra tips of engagement. Right? Sometimes I’ll put a really trendy song, I’ll get five posts saying, “Hey, what song is this?” Right?

Tom Houghton:

Right.

Paul Wurth:

That’s great.

Danny Wang:

So multiple avenues to get that engagement. For me, that’s why I think TikTok’s… I’ve been posting content that’s very similar to TikTok, like the rawness. Like if you look at my feed, it looks like trash, right? It’s all over the place. It’s not super detailed. It’s not clean. And it’s not that I don’t, I didn’t want that. I have a very clean and neat looking profile. Right? But that didn’t work. So by communicating the rawness of it, I think that’s what people like. That’s why I think TikTok’s getting so much popularity, it’s not like, “Hey, how pretty I am.” It’s like, “Look, I’m goofy.” It’s fun. So that’s why I try to create the fun content, and that’s kind of how I portray myself as well on Instagram.

Paul Wurth:

It’s relatable. And I think a lot of businesses are trying to figure out, how do I use TikTok? Because it started so much as that personal, dancing to the song stuff. I mean, my kids literally do it all day long. I swear. They’re practicing. So I think check out Danny’s TikTok page, and you’ll see how to use it for your business. And it can be just as effective, maybe even more. I mean, I don’t know the stats, but the followers are out of control.

Tom Houghton:

It’s definitely the fastest growing network.

Danny Wang:

I started in November and it’s hit or miss. Right? So what I don’t like about TikTok, that it’s hit or miss. It’s really difficult to build a following. Like with Instagram, I feel like I have very low engagement. With TikTok, it’s kind of like the Wild West. I have one video that’s about to hit two million views, and my new videos only have 1,000 views. It’s very all over the place. But I mean, like I said, you create it. It’s such a new platform that we figure, we treat it like real estate. Right? Like you go in, I think I have 80-something-thousand followers. Right? If we could get that many followers within the infant phase, if it ever takes off like Instagram, maybe we’ll have millions followers.

Paul Wurth:

Right. It’s just crazy.

Danny Wang:

Yeah, it is.

Paul Wurth:

So many eyeballs on your name and your business. I mean, it’s like such a new world.

Tom Houghton:

It is.

Danny Wang:

Yeah. So it was funny, I was talking to, I think, Brad… I think you guys know Brad, right?

Paul Wurth:

Yeah.

Tom Houghton:

For sure.

Danny Wang:

I did a podcast for him last week. And early on that day, I actually had one potential client that called me. He’s like, “Hey, I saw you from TikTok, and then I went to your website.” So I mean, it is happening, I guess.

Tom Houghton:

It’s working.

Danny Wang:

Yeah.

Tom Houghton:

I think it’s great. I think again, our listeners, builders, they’re hesitant because they have that viewpoint of like, “Oh, it is another social media network that I’ve got to go put time and effort into,” but I love your tip there that just repurpose the content, take what you can build… Obviously you said you can build better videos there and you’ve found that. Do that and then just repost it somewhere else. I mean, it’s the same content. It’s still you, it’s still your business. It’s still your brand. You’re just saving time and effort. And of course we’re all looking for those efficiencies.

Danny Wang:

Yeah. And really, I think too many people get focused on what the content looks like. I have content that is so low-res, it still gets like 100,000 views. Right? 200,000 views, 300,000 view.s So I think it’s the quality of the content, not the quality of what the content looks like.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. It’s your voice and what you’re saying and what you’re doing. That’s what resonates with people.

Danny Wang:

So I think that’s really what social media is about. Right? It’s no longer about, “Hey, look, I have the perfect life. I have the perfect picture.” So I think that’s really one thing that I had to learn and that’s really helped me in transition.

Tom Houghton:

That’s awesome. So you’re obviously focused… I mean, you seem to do business kind of all over the world. You’re mainly focused in the Southern California area. I mean, obviously, you’ve got to deal with earthquakes out there, building codes that are probably a pain to deal with. How does that affect your design? I mean, obviously you’ve been doing this for 14 years, so you’ve obviously gained some experience over the years. But when you go into stuff, do you ever feel limited by kind of where geographically you’re building?

Danny Wang:

No, I don’t think so. But one thing that I am learning is… Because all the worldwide stuff, that’s new. That’s literally because we have Instagram. So I am learning different types of architecture, different types of building materials, limited resources. Let’s say I have people that contact me from Africa. I don’t even know what their building technology is out there. Right? Do they even have a building code? Do they have earthquakes? So I’m still stuck with kind of how I’m building things. So what more and more I learn is if I’m working with a area that I’m not familiar with, I tried to partner up with a local pro out there. I just got a phone call yesterday from someone in Vancouver. Right? Vancouver. I don’t know how to build in Vancouver, but I know how I built stuff here. Let me communicate how you guys do things there so I can understand and then design around how you guys do things.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. And then that contractor has a new job and it all works out. Right?

Danny Wang:

Yeah. I think that’s really back to how designers and contractors, the designers I work with before… I don’t want to say this because sometimes I have an ego.

Paul Wurth:

That’s okay.

Danny Wang:

But it just, it’s their way or the highway. But treat it as a different view, it’s like, I’m the support of the contractor. Right? Because they’re the person that’s going to make it built. They’re going to build it. So take that reverse thinking. It’s like, “Hey, my job is here to support you, not to put my ego over you.”

Paul Wurth:

In a previous podcast, we talked about this with the trades. It’s like, if you do the framing, you want somebody to come after you to make your framing look good. Like the next contract. And the same thing with design. You can design till the cows come home, but if the contractor can’t perform in it and deliver your vision, then it’s all for naught.

Tom Houghton:

What’s the point? Yeah.

Paul Wurth:

Makes sense.

Danny Wang:

So more of a team effort. And I’ve been working on it. It’s a little bit difficult, but I’ve been working more on team focus effort. All my staff look up to me, and if I have huge egos, I start developing… It’s like bad habit, feed on bad habit. So I learned to separate that in and out.

Tom Houghton:

I like to think there’s a difference between ego and confidence.

Paul Wurth:

That’s right, Tom. That’s what I was going to say. I mean, I think…

Danny Wang:

It’s a very blur line. And that’s actually funny. This is how I started Instagram. I was using this as a creative outlet where I could say, in the beginning… Obviously now I kind of have to be careful what I say. Right? In the beginning, it was way to… I could let all the ego in my world out. Right?

Paul Wurth:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Danny Wang:

I could say whatever the hell I want on Instagram. If I only had 1,000 followers… Then that’s why I started. I was like, “I didn’t even know who these people were, so I’m going to go talk whatever the hell I want to speak.” And that’s kind of how I separate what I do in the office and what I do in… And that’s why even nowadays, I crack jokes on Instagram, things like that. But at the office, I can’t do that. So sometimes people will meet me in real life, it’s like, “How come you’re so serious in real life and you’re so jovial on Instagram?” Because that’s really my true personality. I just have to be careful what I do in my office because these people, they work for me, they look up to me, and I need to have a professional character.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. Well, and that’s why you built the Instagram following, though. You’re authentic, which I think is a good tip for everybody.

Tom Houghton:

It is. And I love that you mentioned earlier, you’re always learning. And I think that is just what we look for, especially in our podcast guests, is we’re looking for people in the industry like yourself who are just always, constantly trying to make a better experience, delivering a better customer experience, but also just delivering a better product. And I think that’s, again, what you’ve just done as a huge cornerstone of your company. It’s very apparent in what you post, is you deliver an exceptional experience, an exceptional product.

Danny Wang:

Yeah. It’s more like this, like I always look at it as if this person… Kind of like clients, right? I have so many jobs where they’re like… In fact, one of my most popular posts before was there was this little swimming pool in the side yard. And how we got that project was everybody said, “No, the client can’t put a swimming pool.” So I said, “You know what, let me figure out…” Then I was able to squeeze in a swimming pool.

Danny Wang:

And at that point, the price, we’re no longer competitive. Right? Like I’m the only person that’s able to do this. Everybody else is not able to. So automatically we get the job. So I think you just carry that attitude with… Obviously you got to do a caution, and you got to follow the codes and things like that. But you just kind of carry… You say, “Okay. I don’t know if I could do it, but the way it is, is I’m going to try and figure how to do it.” Right? Versus just say, “Hey, let’s shut it down.” I think that’s really a good point the clients see. It’s like, this guy actually cares and he’s trying. Right?

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. That’s awesome. Well, Danny, thank you so much for coming on our podcast today and sharing your design experience and your industry experience, your social media experience. You’ve got a lot of experience working for you there. So thank you so much for sharing that. Again, we wish you the best of success in your business going forward. Thanks so much for coming on today.

Danny Wang:

Yeah, no problem. It was a pleasure as well.

Paul Wurth:

All right. Appreciate you, man.

Danny Wang:

Yeah, thank you.

Tom Houghton:

Love what you heard? Don’t forget to rate and subscribe to our podcast so you can hear from more guests that will benefit your business. Also, please check out our show notes page for more information on what we discussed on this episode. You can find it at buildertrend.com/podcast. Thanks for listening. And we’ll see you next time on โ€œThe Building Code.โ€

Paul Wurth:

Appreciate you.

Danny Wang | Danny Wang Design


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