#NoFilter: Why authenticity is the best strategy for business success

Courtney Mattern (00:05):

Hey, friends. Welcome to “The Building Code.” I’m your host, Courtney Mattern. Insert chirping crickets because I’m flying solo today. My best friend Charley Burtwistle isn’t here, but the good news is, I have two of my very favorite customers coming on board. Joe Christensenand Adam Shaeffer. They’re the co-founders, besties, from Cardinal Crest in Kansas City. They’re going to help me do a sneak peek episode before we head to the Builders’ Show in a few days. Let’s go ahead and get them in here.

(00:36):

Hey, Joe and Adam, welcome back to “The Building Code.” It’s great to see you again.

Adam Shaeffer (00:41):

Thank you so much for having us.

Joe Christensen (00:43):

Great to see you, Courtney.

Courtney Mattern (00:43):

Yeah. So, we were trying to count, what is this, your 100th time on “The Building Code” podcast?

Joe Christensen (00:52):

A 100th celebration. Celebration of 100 podcasts.

Courtney Mattern (00:53):

You should just take over as the host. Charley’s not here today, so you guys can fill in. You can help me with the banter. But for our listeners who don’t know who you are, if they don’t know who you are, introduce yourselves. Tell us about Cardinal Crest. Tell us what you’re all about.

Joe Christensen (01:12):

I’m going to let Adam do the intro. I’ll do the …

Adam Shaeffer (01:15):

It’s my specialty, yeah.

Joe Christensen (01:17):

Yeah.

Adam Shaeffer (01:18):

Joe and I, we make up Cardinal Crest Homes. We’re a custom home builder in Kansas City area. We do all the design work in-house. We build. And soon, we’ll be doing all furnishings and stagings in our homes, so excited to add that experience.

Courtney Mattern (01:38):

That’s exciting! I’ve toured some of your houses and they always look super cute inside.

Joe Christensen (01:45):

Did you already say …

Adam Shaeffer (01:45):

Thank you.

Joe Christensen (01:46):

Sorry, I kind of zoned out and I was focusing on my AirPods when you started doing the intro. Did you tell us 14 years in business? You probably said that.

Adam Shaeffer (01:54):

14 years in business. I didn’t say that, but yeah.

Joe Christensen (01:59):

We do hopefully $12 million a year, $12 to $15 in custom homes. Have a commercial division that builds commercial construction, multifamily, ground up, retail, TIs. Have a development company now that does multifamily projects, a property management company that manages those.

(02:29):

And the newest endeavor is we partnered with a past employee who’s now a business partner, and we do site work, earth work, which is a big deal. So, I say all those companies, we have great business partners that Adam and I have partnered to make all that happen. So, we’ve grown as different companies, and they all have different synergies to make sure the projects go well. And yeah, it’s been great. It’s been super fun.

Courtney Mattern (03:03):

That’s awesome. And you two, you are best friends, right? And that’s how you got started together, you met each other in college?

Joe Christensen (03:10):

We’re besties.

Adam Shaeffer (03:13):

Basically brothers without the blood, you know?

Joe Christensen (03:17):

I remember when I was introducing … Well, it wasn’t introducing, I was walking with my current wife, future wife at the time. I don’t know if we were engaged at the time, but we were in college, and I was walking down the street, and I was talking about Adam. And I was like, “Oh.” I looked over to the left, I was like, “That’s actually his house and that is him.” And he was in what he used to call his James Bond Speedo, which means it’s like boxer briefs that are kind of short and snug, and that’s all he was wearing. And he was on a coffee table, as you can imagine, dancing. So, the social media dancing thing has been around forever. Adam’s always been dancing. And we looked over and literally all the lights off … I feel like all the lights were off but the light in his living room on him as he was doing the Risky Business dance, you know that Tom Cruise …

Adam Shaeffer (04:18):

I feel like I was doing …

Courtney Mattern (04:19):

This is the ultimate best friend meet cute.

Adam Shaeffer (04:23):

This is like, I was legit doing, if you can remember, a P90X video. I was exercising and doing a P90X video. And then, didn’t we make eye contact? Did I …

Joe Christensen (04:36):

Yeah, I looked over and I was like, “Devon, that’s actually Adam I’ve been telling you about.” I mean he’s like …

Courtney Mattern (04:44):

You burned so many calories that day, and you got your best friend, and your future business partner out of it.

Adam Shaeffer (04:51):

Yeah, fun.

Courtney Mattern (04:51):

Well, today I’m really glad to have you on. I think we even did this maybe last year or the year before, but we’re getting ready. When this episode airs, y’all, it’s just a few days before the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, and Joe is joining a panel with our founder Dan Houghton and some other builders, Yvonne from Reclaimed Karma.

(05:12):

And the whole topic is #NoFilter: Builders Uncensored, which I think that interest … A little uncensored, right? But it’s about all the hard truths about what it’s like to thrive in business. You guys have a great social media presence. You’re always bringing the fun, bringing the laughs showing off your awesome projects. And sometimes we hear like, “Is that real life for builders?” So, I thought it’d be great to have you two on to dive into that, kind of give a sneak peek of the Builders’ Show.

(05:45):

But yeah, tell us a little bit about your social media presence and the growth you’ve had over the last decade, several years.

Joe Christensen (05:55):

Yeah, I could start there. I know I just got done talking, but I’ll let Adam fill in the gaps here. You know …

Adam Shaeffer (06:02):

Well, first and foremost …

Joe Christensen (06:04):

Time out.

Adam Shaeffer (06:05):

Dan, Courtney, when am I going to get my invitation to be on the panel, you know?

Courtney Mattern (06:10):

Well, do you want to be on one? I thought you were the behind-the-scenes guy.

Joe Christensen (06:15):

Maybe you could sit on my lap.

Courtney Mattern (06:17):

Yeah.

Adam Shaeffer (06:18):

Oh my gosh, yes. Can I please just like …

Courtney Mattern (06:21):

You want to have your main character moment.

Adam Shaeffer (06:26):

…

Joe Christensen (06:28):

There you go.

Courtney Mattern (06:28):

I thought you were … Are you the best friend role or the main character role on social media? But next time we’re going to give you your little episode.

Joe Christensen (06:39):

This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to get a mask that looks like myself or just like a paper one, and Adam’s actually going to go up and he’s going to answer all the questions but put a little mask, a little paper thing.

Adam Shaeffer (06:51):

Perfect. We’ll get a wig. It’ll be great.

Joe Christensen (06:54):

Yeah, we need to figure that part out. All right. Well, social media, I remember it was … Honestly, I was living in a town home and this is, actually got out to Studio McGee. I remember I was living in this town home, and we were actually officing in the basement of this town home. So, Cardinal Crest, there were only three of us at the time or maybe four. I think Adam’s brother worked with us at that time. Officing out of the town home basement, no office, building homes and remodels.

(07:31):

And I actually remember we went to college with Shea McGee and ran around the same groups, and it had to be 10 years ago at least because it’s been 14 years of business. So, probably 10, maybe 12 years ago, actually. Now I think about it, 12 years ago. And her social media just kind of really started blowing up in a different way. This was Instagram, so long ago. And I was like you know what? I need to just go in on social media. And I started it, and I didn’t really go all in, and then I actually read Gary Vee. He’s an explosive personality, and I read his book “Crushing It,” and that actually made me like, “Okay, I’m going to story every single day. I’m going to post whatever and anything. I will post Adam dancing and singing because he does that an hour a day. So, it’s good.”

(08:31):

And we just started doing it organically like that, and it was actually lightning on how fast the followers started coming and how much interaction people and the community that was being built around us. I remember I used to exhaust the stories. At one time, the limit of stories was a lot less than it is now. You can do a lot more stories on Instagram now than you used to be able to, but I used to exhaust that. And …

Courtney Mattern (09:02):

Hold up, are you a bot? You’ve posted too many videos today.

No, seriously. I know, right? Yeah. That kind of thing would happen all the time. And I think Adam and I really saw that we were growing a community of people. And that’s when we started meeting other builders started, and it just kind of slowly kept growing to that and ended up we kind of created our own identity on social media. And obviously I feel like we get the most engagement sometimes of our funny videos mocking the industry or mocking ourselves. And I feel like that’s what we’re known for the best now, is not only do we build amazing homes that I would say are amazing for great clients, but I think we have grown this little community of being people who are very real, who won’t shy away from the realities of construction, and kind of mock it in its own way. Because there’s a lot of really crazy quirks about custom home building, and so we kind of highlight those because at the end of the day, that’s all you can do about all the things that can go wrong is laugh at it because-

Joe Christensen (09:07):

Courtney Mattern (10:09):

Yeah, you’re the comedic relief in an industry that can be so serious. I mean, you are known on social media for being real, being funny. You show more than just the beautiful before and afters. You share that, too. Were you ever hesitant to share some of the real side or make those jokes? Do you have any lessons learned or regrets? Or are you all in? Has it paid off 100%?

Joe Christensen (10:35):

I’m going to let Adam talk on this one, but yes, I can tell some stories. I’m going to tell you some stories.

Adam Shaeffer (10:43):

Were we ever hesitant? I think every day, Joe and I have at least a conversation about like, “Are we doing the right thing?” Because it is a difficult thing. And I’m sure tons of builders that are starting this path to get involved in social media, they’re having this internal conflict daily where they’re like, “What is going to be my voice? What is going to be my target?” And Joe and I, we’ve always just been like okay, if we have to decide what we’re going to be on social media, then we don’t want to do that. Does that make sense? Like-

Joe Christensen (11:27):

Yeah. It’s always been so organic.

Adam Shaeffer (11:31):

Totally.

Joe Christensen (11:32):

Sorry to cut you off. It’s like Adam and I always joke … So, we actually have somebody now who helps us out with our social media, and she’s been amazing, but we’ve given her direction. We are one-take wonders, and even if the one take sucks, we’re sticking with it. Like we got to move on in our lives.

Courtney Mattern (11:33):

I love that energy.

Joe Christensen (11:52):

I can go through the videos and be like, “That one didn’t go that well,” but we didn’t care. We just posted it anyway. That idea maybe wasn’t as good as we thought, but we just went ahead and did it. Sorry.

Adam Shaeffer (12:04):

So, that was super important for us where it’s like, hey, we’re committed and we’re totally all in with social media. And that’s the first step, right? We’re going all in, but we’re not going to be someone that we aren’t as human beings and as builders because that was where we wanted to be. We wanted to show our personality, and our personalities, Joe and I, they’re goofy and somewhat fun. And so, that’s how it was for us. And yes, every day do we question that? Yeah. We’re like, “Okay, it’s time to start being serious and more professional.”

Joe Christensen (12:44):

It’s also because inevitably, especially the way the followers grow and what happens … And we totally lose followers from being this way at times. I’m not kidding. I’ve seen people who are like, you post a video that does really well but it’s really goofy, and we gain a lot of followers, but we also lose followers.

(13:04):

Because sometimes people are just not … It’s not controversial, but it’s just like it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. And when you are sometimes just yourself that’s going to be a result is some great community and people connecting with it in reality, but then also it’s not maybe everybody’s cup of tea, and that’s okay. And I think the more we’ve been able to get over that, the better. But we’ve had clients be like … Kind of snide comments.

(13:34):

I’ve had investors, I’ve had all kinds of people make comments – who don’t get it and are uncomfortable with social media. And did it kind of get in my head? Yes, it totally did. And did it stop me from posting? Yes, it totally did. Like I could think of some specific things that have happened that I was like, “I’m not in the mood to post right now for the next week or so.” And those posts were probably a lot of old reels or reels I made previously that I hadn’t posted or like stagnant finished photos. And I could …

Adam Shaeffer (14:12):

But I think more often than not, Joe, it’s been the flip side of that.

Joe Christensen (14:16):

Yeah, it totally is.

Adam Shaeffer (14:17):

Where we have some clients that are like, “We’re not interviewing any other builder. We’ve been following you for six years, and we know you. You and our house, we’ve never met, but you are Adam and Joe in our home. And everyone in our family knows Adam and Joe, and they are building our home for us.”

Joe Christensen (14:33):

That’s the vast majority of people. And you didn’t ask this, I don’t know what question we really started on now that we’re here, but I’m going to keep going with what we’re talking about. But I think it’s a fear that everybody has on social media, especially professionals. And, actually, what I would say is, and I think what we’re highlighting is the truth of it. The fear is valid and even that you will get people who say things that you fear. But who cares?

Courtney Mattern (15:01):

Yeah …

Joe Christensen (15:02):

Who cares? Like …

Courtney Mattern (15:02):

There often is some risk to showing up as yourself online.

Joe Christensen (15:07):

Yeah.

Courtney Mattern (15:07):

I think any of us who’ve experienced the internet in the last 20 years would say that there’s risks, there’s a downside, but the upside is kind of to your point and something that Morgan Molitor from construction2style says a lot is like, “Your vibe attracts your tribe.” Like you get the clients who they know what they’re signing up for, they seek you out, they respect your sense of humor, and they’re looking for that.

(15:34):

Do you think on the other side, too, in social media, it can kind of create this unrealistic expectations of maybe success sometimes? Or I’ve heard builders say, “Gosh, that builder, they look like they just keep starting this project, and they’re making so much money, and is it always that easy and successful?” Do you think there’s a danger to that, falling into that trap?

Joe Christensen (15:57):

That’s the dark side of social media. The dark side of social media is that there are accounts out there, and they’re still great people, but there are accounts out there who post pretty much the same project for six months, and they are very good at marketing that same project. And I’m not saying it’s even a bad thing, but you can actually have a marketing campaign because it’s marketing, and you can put off … I mean, a good marketer and someone who does this could actually sell an entire business on social media that makes it look like they’re a massive construction company, home builder. Yes. And I think some people have taken advantage of that, and I think eventually to their detriment. It does catch up with everybody.

(16:48):

I think because of our brand and what we have shared and what we do share and don’t share, just to Adam’s point, our clientele is very matched with our personalities. Like Adam literally came out of two meetings today that should have been kind of spicy meetings, and there was some spice in them, but he was like, “We have amazing clients.” And I’m talking out loud and I’m thinking it’s because a big part of it is because of our social. I do think they match well with us. They’re like, “You know what? We are these kinds of people, and we want to build with those kinds of people.” Because building a home is so personal. I mean, if you don’t get along with that person, like you said, your vibe is your tribe. If you don’t vibe with that person, it’s going to be a long three years. I say three because it …

Courtney Mattern (17:38):

That project’s going to take extra time.

Joe Christensen (17:41):

Yes.

Adam Shaeffer (17:43):

And then, too, to just touch on what Joe was saying, that misconception. You know the Builders’ Show’s coming up, and there are a lot of those personalities on those social media pages that attend the Builders’ Show and that are all about the rainbows and sunshine, and they show just the most incredible projects. And when you see these people, there’s a level of intimidation, right? When people approach Joe and I, there’s zero intimidation.

Joe Christensen (18:21):

They’re like, “I can talk with these idiots.”

Adam Shaeffer (18:22):

They’re like-

Joe Christensen (18:23):

Listen.

Adam Shaeffer (18:23):

… “Oh, he gets it.”

Joe Christensen (18:26):

Seeing Adam with his shirt off, I could easily talk to him.

Adam Shaeffer (18:29):

So, for us, it’s like our whole goal. We wanted to recognize that what we do is incredibly difficult, and it’s tough sometimes, and it is very emotional, and it is very difficult. And so, our social media page, it’s about acknowledging that and, hey, let’s find some time to make it about us, and let’s goof around and let’s try to find a laugh in this crazy world of building.

Courtney Mattern (19:06):

What do you think the benefit is of, and maybe you can give us an example, too, of a time where you’ve had some real talk on social media of a bad day or a mistake or a project gone wrong and what the benefit of showing up real?

Joe Christensen (19:24):

You know, I wish I did it more. As much as we’re talking, I definitely sit there and scroll social media like everyone, doom scroll, and then I’ll see something funny, and I’ll be like this is relatable in construction in this way, and I’ll save it and be like I’m going to make a reel with that.

(19:44):

But I remember there was a project, this was 2019 before COVID. There was a project that I was helping the super … It actually was a commercial project. It was an orthodontist’s office and pediatric office. And something happened that day that was just so mind-blowing. It was like your classic show up in the morning, line out the subcontractors, and then ask them what they’re going to do. They’re going to tell you. They repeated back. I was like great. Lined out everybody else, and I was doing other things and so, I had to leave and came back right before lunch, before everyone break for lunch, and everything happened the opposite of what I said. And immediately I think Adam and I … Everybody’s going to be pissed in that moment. And I’m blaming myself, but I’m also pissed at them. And I remember the subcontractor just reacted really bad to me. And so, I was just like, “No way. I’m going to fight fire with fire today.” So, he started yelling and I started yelling, and it just didn’t go anywhere good. I mean it was just a bad day.

(21:02):

So, long story short, I remember actually storying about this, and I remember being in my truck and just relaying this story and being like, “Gosh, this sucks. And this is what happened,” blah, blah, blah, and it’s so hard. And it was a day, the reason it burned in my mind, there was like 50 responses within 15 minutes of other … Like I don’t know, it hit the algorithm and everybody related. And it was like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

(21:29):

And I still think about that because I’m like I should share more of those times when I’m feeling that way because it was so real and raw and so many people were like, “I love you bro. Man, that really sucks, and that just happened to me here.” And it was super encouraging, and people were very just relatable, encouraging, and it burned in my brain because I realized how big the community of social media is. And we forget that because even with our social media now and following, I don’t have that many days when I’m like, “I should share it,” and I don’t because it’s really raw. And the raw ones are really relatable.

Courtney Mattern (22:11):

People forget that the key word in social media is social, and to be social takes another person, it takes human connection. I can only imagine from the outside looking in where you are 12 years later, Buildertrend super users, you’ve had so much success, you’ve worked with great designers, you’ve got these awesome projects, and to be another contractor following you and just … If you hadn’t shared a story of something that went wrong, they could just be like, “Gosh, what am I doing wrong? This doesn’t happen to Joe. This doesn’t happen to Adam or some of the other successful builders. I bet they don’t run behind on a project or lose their temper on a job side or have a client yell at them.” But what they see on social media with you, they see like, “Oh, it is harder. I should keep going because it takes work.”

Adam Shaeffer (23:01):

Yeah …

Joe Christensen (23:02):

I mean, what’s your … Oh, sorry.

Adam Shaeffer (23:03):

The value of being real and raw is it’s transparency, and what we have come to find with the clients … And currently our business, we’re working with six to eight clients a year. When we’re transparent, it just indirectly sparks trust in all of our clients with us.

(23:28):

Just today in one of those meetings that Joe referenced, one of the owners sitting across from me, and he said, “Yeah, on Buildertrend, I see all your daily logs, and I see all the pictures you post. And I can go through them pretty easily and be like oh, that one’s for me, the homeowner. That one he probably shouldn’t have let me see.” And I was like, “What do you mean by that?” And he’s like, “Well, he posted a picture of cracked concrete or something,” and he’s like, “That was probably something internal.” And I was like, “No, no, no, man. No, it’s all about transparency. We want you to see the good and the bad, and we want you to know that we are acknowledging that there was a mistake that was made.”

(24:05):

And so, that’s our whole deal, and if we are able to accurately portray that on social media, it just develops trust not only with our owners but then the builder community as well. And that goes back to that level of intimidation when we’re meeting new people and whatnot. I think it develops trust in us.

Joe Christensen (24:27):

You know, just this conversation is highlighting something strong with me is that like you said social media is social, and it’s social especially when you tell your story. And I know that’s a very generic buzzword thing like, “What’s your story?” But think about all the great movies that are great or stories that people love to retell. It’s because it’s so relatable. And on the whole, even in the industry, I would say ourselves, there’s lots of things going on in our business that I should just get on Stories and just post about, and I bet you people would resonate hard with, but there’s a hesitation.

(25:13):

But that is what’s really cool when social media is really firing off. And the accounts that I really like are the ones that are like that, that are truly showing the creation of a business, the nitty-gritty. That’s the story. The story is the getting through the suck until it’s awesome. That’s what people want. And as a real person, that’s really hard to share.

Courtney Mattern (25:40):

And parts …

Adam Shaeffer (25:42):

It’s so weird because it’s like if builders have the courage to be vulnerable, that will invite opportunity for growth and innovation. And it doesn’t seem like that should be true, but if you are vulnerable, it will invite … Especially on social media. I mean all the comments that we get, there’s so many comments and so many good ideas that we’re just like, “Oh sweet, we’re going to implement that next time. Oh, that’s a different way of looking at it. Sweet.” We just changed our systems and our processes, but it starts with that courage to be vulnerable.

Joe Christensen (26:17):

Yeah.

Courtney Mattern (26:17):

Thank you.

Joe Christensen (26:18):

This is motivating me.

Courtney Mattern (26:21):

Yeah. You’re going to get on, and you’re going to have some real talk. As someone who works in marketing and is like the social media expert around here, I think we want to connect this back to business goals and success, right? You can show up on social media as a business or you can be marketing something and you can show yourself as really successful, but just showing up on social and having a bunch of followers isn’t really what makes you successful. It’s what happens when you’re not online, too. It’s like can you take this story you’re telling and can you not just talk about it? Can you be about it? I just stole that from Dan, our CEO was on stage yesterday, or Scott Seeger, maybe our COO just used that line.

(27:00):

But you can’t just talk about it on your social. You have to be about it. You can’t just talk about transparency. When you put down your phone and after you’ve done your reel and you’ve gotten your followers, what’s made you successful is that that story tracks, it follows through, you’re the same characters online as offline, and your clients are happy on the other side.

Joe Christensen (27:19):

So true. I love that. I love that. I feel like yeah, we do try to do that. But I think the other thing is like Adam said, social media has … Yes, we’ve gotten clients. Yes, we’ve gotten subcontractors that we really love that have connected with us. And yes, we’ve gotten employees. Some of our best employees found us first on social media.

(27:46):

But then the other thing that Buildertrend does really well and connects everything is the sense of community. And here’s what’s wild. Our Builder 20 group that we’re in, we’re only in from social media. We would not have been invited for that group if Brad Levitt didn’t … Him and I didn’t have a relationship that we were connecting with. And I remember being even part of a builder group six years ago now, or five … No, maybe not that … I don’t know when it was. And I messaged him, I was like, “Dude, I’ve been trying to join a Builder 20 group. You got any room in there?” And he’s like, “I just barely joined. Give me a second, and I’ll let you know.” And that Builder 20 group has changed our business.

(28:29):

And then all the community. I mean IBS, the Builders’ Show, we go. A big part of the reason we go is for the community. And I totally walk away learning stuff from the smallest builder that comes and talks to us. I say small, but someone who’s just starting out. I love meeting builders and hearing what they’re doing and what they’re struggling with because it’s super relatable and I feel like we learn a lot even from the remodeler who just started out, and that was us 14 years ago.

(29:02):

And so, the Builders’ Show has really turned into a big community show, and I feel like it’s a huge part of social media connecting those relationships online to in-person. And since we kind of know each other from a distance, we kind of seal that friendship in person and then we can just share very openly about our businesses and how to get better.

Courtney Mattern (29:26):

I love that. Gives me a natural plug. My favorite part about the Builders’ Show is it’s not very often … Like we work behind the scenes at the tech company, right? We make our calls on our computers, but we get to see our customers in real life, IRL. So, we get to see you all. In our booth, at the Buildertrend booth, if you’re coming to the show on Tuesday and Wednesday, we have happy hours in the booth, and Wednesday is our Meet the Pros. So, if any listeners want to come meet Adam and Joe in real life, head to the Buildertrend booth and check out … We’ll link it in the show notes. We’ll link information for your session, so everybody can get some more information on your session, No Filter, where we’ll talk more about social or Dan will be interviewing you. And Charley’s not even here to make a joke about me bringing the fun, but I’m going to do it.

Joe Christensen (30:17):

Miss you, Charley.

Courtney Mattern (30:19):

I know. We’ll have to tell him you guys really missed him, or we’ll tell him that I won. I’m the favorite host. You requested only me.

Joe Christensen (30:28):

We missed him. We did fine without him.

Courtney Mattern (30:28):

It’s fine. We’ve got this. We didn’t need him and his great beard. You guys brought the beards this time.

(30:36):

But let’s play a game. We’re going to play In or Out: The Social Media Edition. Some of these will be old, so I don’t know, maybe some of them are out, but we’ll ask you. So, in or out, guys. Selfies.

Joe Christensen (30:54):

In?

Courtney Mattern (30:56):

You really had to think about that. Do you post a lot of selfies?

Joe Christensen (31:05):

I mean selfie perspectives in, duck lips and jaw bones out.

Courtney Mattern (31:14):

No more duck lips.

Joe Christensen (31:15):

Yeah.

Courtney Mattern (31:15):

Okay, so before and after photos.

Joe Christensen (31:20):

Oh, in, always.

Adam Shaeffer (31:21):

Before and after …

Joe Christensen (31:21):

They’re cool. If you do them right, before and after videos are just cool.

Courtney Mattern (31:26):

Well, and they’re like a dopamine hit, like an instinct.

Joe Christensen (31:31):

Those will always be in. You can’t …

Adam Shaeffer (31:33):

Those are good for …

Joe Christensen (31:33):

Like that’s what’s cool. Yeah.

Courtney Mattern (31:33):

All right.

Joe Christensen (31:36):

Yeah, we build. We create stuff. We got to show what it was before.

Courtney Mattern (31:40):

Throwback Thursday.

Joe Christensen (31:42):

Oh out. I don’t really do it. I like the idea, but I don’t do it very often. It’s kind of …

Courtney Mattern (31:48):

Scratch that from our social calendar? No. It’s out. Joe and Adam said it’s out. We’re done.

Joe Christensen (31:58):

I just had a visual, like Zorro.

Courtney Mattern (32:02):

That’s a show I watched. We were talking old TV. That was Nick at Nite though.

Joe Christensen (32:08):

I did like Nick at Nite.

Courtney Mattern (32:08):

Nick at Nite. What about AI on social? Anything AI generated on social?

Adam Shaeffer (32:16):

Yeah, AI’s awesome. Chat GPT’s insane, but I don’t use it for social. I think that kind of gets away from what we talked about, being raw. But you could organize it, use AI to organize. I think AI captions are kind of weird, but … In and out.

Courtney Mattern (32:36):

In and out. Give me a side of fries with that. Facebook?

Joe Christensen (32:51):

Oh …

Courtney Mattern (32:51):

Is anyone still on Facebook? Can our listeners …?

Joe Christensen (32:51):

I go on Facebook. I do. That’s just the way it is. Like the old …

Adam Shaeffer (32:51):

I don’t remember my username or password.

Courtney Mattern (32:53):

So, your great aunt note can still get updates on your career.

Adam Shaeffer (32:57):

It’s pretty out, but the platform itself has to be used with Instagram because they know it’s out, and they want to try to bring you back in. And so, I feel like I go on there because of integration with Instagram, but Facebook … Yeah.

Courtney Mattern (33:17):

What about trend hopping? Like when you see someone do a reel and then you copy it.

Adam Shaeffer (33:18):

That’s fun. I like it.

Courtney Mattern (33:23):

You like it? Imitation’s the best form of flattery?

Joe Christensen (33:27):

Who did it better? Who did it better? Competition.

Adam Shaeffer (33:30):

Yeah, competition. Yeah. Like I can do that. I can do that dance.

Courtney Mattern (33:34):

All right. That’s all the social media ins and outs that I have today. Are there any trends I didn’t hit on anything like what’s your hot take on social right now?

Joe Christensen (33:48):

I mean you said trends, but we never did like a trend dance. I don’t know if that’s still even a thing.

Courtney Mattern (33:52):

Oh, like the ice bucket challenge. Did you do the ice bucket challenge?

Joe Christensen (33:55):

No, we didn’t. I mean, so when I thought trends … Those are bigger trends. We definitely, like other people will post an audio that’s trending, and I’m like that’s a funny audio to this thing. So, we’ll jump on that trend. But we never do like trend dance stuff. Do kids still do that? Like if there’s a popular dance one and then all of them do that?

Courtney Mattern (34:24):

Oh yeah. I have a nine-year-old, and it’s all like TikTok dances. I think that based on our intro story about Adam’s dance, how you met, your meet cute, we need to see an Instagram reel now that’s a re-enactment for Throwback Thursday.

Joe Christensen (34:43):

Yeah. Oh, we’ll do that. We’ll do that. You’re going to have to pull out that James Bond Speedo.

Adam Shaeffer (34:49):

Oh bro. I’ve put on some pounds since then.

Joe Christensen (34:49):

No, even better. Even better.

Courtney Mattern (34:56):

Before we wrap up the episode because we’re having so much fun, and I want to keep the fun going, when people come to the booth or come to your panel at IBS. This episode’s pre-Super Bowl. You’re in Kansas City. You’re also wearing matching like Chief’s things because you’re besties. No, you said you had the Red Friday at work?

Joe Christensen (35:15):

Red Friday.

Courtney Mattern (35:17):

Do you want to make any predictions? Well, do you think Taylor will show up? Do you think Taylor, T. Swift will …

Joe Christensen (35:26):

Taylor will be there …

Adam Shaeffer (35:26):

She’s got to convince the refs to throw the game.

Joe Christensen (35:29):

Money’s on Chiefs. I think we’re going to win it in probably the fourth quarter. It’s going to be a tight game. Watson’s going to score some touchdowns I think. And I think Patrick’s got at least one touchdown that he sneaks in at the five-yard line.

Courtney Mattern (35:50):

Are you going to the game or do you watch from home and have a Super Bowl party?

Joe Christensen (35:54):

Super Bowl party. I kind of wish I was going to the game. I kind of thought like are Chiefs fans tired of Super Bowl? Maybe this is my year to go.

There might be some tickets. Yeah. All right, well good luck to the Chiefs, and I can’t wait to see you guys in Vegas. Thanks so much for coming back on “The Building Code” for the hundredth time. We appreciate you.

Courtney Mattern (36:04):

Joe Christensen (36:16):

You know, it was so good. Even the hundredth time. It’s like it was …

Adam Shaeffer (36:20):

We love you.

Joe Christensen (36:21):

Feels like the first time.

Courtney Mattern (36:24):

Can we put that audio in the podcast?

Adam Shaeffer (36:27):

Exit that song.

Courtney Mattern (36:28):

There are so many trademark risks that we’re making. The legal team is going to be on my case, but thanks again guys. We’ll see you in Vegas.

Joe Christensen (36:38):

Peace out.

Courtney Mattern (36:39):

Got to give another big shout out to Joe and Adam from Cardinal Crest. Just had them on to do our sneak peek of No Filter: Builders Uncensored with the hard truths about thriving in business, our panel at IBS.

(36:51):

As a reminder, if you’re headed to Vegas to go to the International Builders’ Show, make sure you come check out the Buildertrend booth. I’ll be there. Hopefully Charley shows up because I know that he’s your favorite. And make sure that you come check out Joe’s session and everything we’ve got going on.

(37:06):

You can head to the show notes, get a free pass for the expo. If you’re not coming out to the show, follow along on social media. We’ll be sharing all of the highlights. And as always, remember to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok and wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time, I’m Courtney Mattern.