I absolutely looooove Google!
I’ve been beyond fascinated with search engines, obsessed even…even before Google was a thing…
…think Lycos, AltaVista, AskJeeves, WebCrawler, Excite, OG Yahoo, etc…super early versions of what we now consider modern day search engines.
Early 90’s nostalgia…
Then came Google officially in ’98…and as we all know they grew into the 800lb Gorilla of the industry…now with around 85% of the total market share in search!!!
That’s why my company Real Time Lead Gen is highly focused on marketing in their search engine specifically…as that’s where the lion’s share of the business is…by far.
The old adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover” definitely applies here.
No special lights, camera, or backdrop…just snapped a quick pic with my cell phone.
The tshirt is a decade or so old now and beat to shit I know…but I wear it often.
I received it as part of the first real marketing mastermind I was a part of back then and it really anchors things in for me…
The equally rough looking hat (I’m not really a hat guy in general tbh) is one I inherited from my Pop after he passed a few years back…
I wear that often for similar reasons…
It keeps me focused and motivated…and reminds me of my roots…
It’s from CAT, the heavy equipment manufacturer, and my Grandfather wore it often on job sites (he was a land developer, bridge builder, and local entrepreneur himself).
As I update this page, it’s the the very beginning of spring and just getting warm…so my flannel (again, pretty worn out but super comfortable) is draped over the back of my chair at the moment.
Point being…I don’t wear suits to work…
…and I’m not going to put one on to pose for BS pics for the company page here as that would be utterly unauthentic…
I operate my business from a home office and wear what’s functional, comfortable, and as far as I’m concerned, looks great too.
That’s me
And that’s how I get after it, every day, cranking out maximum leads for clients.
I’ll reference the Great And Powerful Alex Hormozi marketing genius (another major influence on my business and life in general) who is generally wearing a wife beater and jorts with or without a flannel shirt depending on the situation.
The dude (and his equally awesome wife) are worth about $100 Mill…and about a decade younger than I…
‘Nuff said…
Justin Hess – Owner of Real Time Lead Gen – We’ll Make Your Phone Ring!
For additional personal and professional background info check out my Linkedin profile here.
I’ve had a pretty wild ride and have posted some interesting images and stories there…
Or connect on any of my other socials:
Born and raised in the Bloomsburg/Orangeville area in the great state of Pennsylvania.
I’ve been an internet marketer my entire adult life…full time since 2010.
Even as a kid back in the ’90s, when home computers were just coming onto the public scene and the internet was brand new as well (remember dial up?!), I knew it was going to change business in a big way…
…and I knew that I wanted to be a part of, and capitalize on, that paradigm shift.
Some of my earliest online marketing ventures were purchasing banner ads on various bodybuilding related forums to promote my mail order sports supplement business.
2005’ish
I reinforced those ads by actively posting and answering related questions on said forums with the same ad and links to my website in my “signature” below each post.
But soon I couldn’t help but begin wondering how the search engines really worked. Yahoo at the time was still a big player, but Google was already starting to become the dominate force they are today.
I can remember asking myself questions such as:
Why does Google serve up the particular 10 website results that come up when I search for XYZ?
How can I get my website to show up for things that I want my business (and later on the businesses of my clients) to be found for when people search online for our related products and services?
That led to a lot of researching in what was, at the time, a fairly new field called search engine optimization or SEO for short.
Internet marketing is still a rather small subset of the general advertising industry even today, but back then it was even tinier. However, I found some websites and discussion forums where people brainstormed about such things and learned as much as I could.
That networking, coupled with my own extensive testing, an incredible ability to reverse engineer things, and an uber-geek level of pattern recognition…led me to becoming a full time SEO and lead generation expert.
Since then my business model has morphed and expanded.
Not only did I use my new found skills to promote my own business projects, driving traffic to my own websites to sell the products and services that I was involved with…
…I started taking on clients in various industries that were looking to accomplish the same goals for their own companies.
And the rest, as they say, is history…you can read my full company bio on our About Us page here.
P.S. In case you’re one of those people (like me) who just skip to the end of the letter, here’s the deal:
- I’m a lifelong search engine geek, learning how they work and how to leverage them for personal use and professional profits since it’s release to the general public back in the early 90’s
- I’m absolutely obsessed with generating the highest quality, exclusive, real time water damage leads for clients
- Give me a call (I still currently handle all new client acquisition and project setup myself personally) to setup a customized marketing campaign so we can grow your restoration business
What am I doing when I’m not obsessing over internet marketing and generating more exclusive leads for clients?
I love to travel with my beautiful girlfriend and experience new things…such as our recent trip to Hershey where we enjoyed an amazing falconry experience (highly recommended!)
We also love making homemade cheese (this batch was mozzarella for a fresh pizza!)
One of my all time favorite past times is hunting sharks teeth on the beach (I lived in Jacksonville Beach for about 5 years)
The gorgeous view I enjoyed from my ocean front condo (It really pays off to be able to generate money from anywhere in the world with a laptop and phone)
Hiking anywhere and everywhere in the great outdoors. Here’s the amazing view from the top of Mount Knob by Lake Bomoseen, VT.
Watching them feed the lions on an animal preserve out in Arizona. It’s a curious kind of thrill to have an animal of that size and power look you in the eyes, and realize he would literally eat you!
I’ve always loved working out…my entire life. One of my first memories as a little kid was finding a metal pipe in the yard…which seemed massive at the time…with my brothers. We challenged each other to lift and press it overhead…I’ve been hooked ever since.
Weights, sprints, and more and more strongman type goodness…I do a ton of farmers carries, overhead presses, and tire flips these days!
Here’s one of my best lifts, which I’ve since outdone by a few lbs…a 400lb deadlift…my favorite! I’m currently working on a legit quarter ton!
Flying through the air at The Gorge Zipline. They told us it was the highest, most intense zipline in the entire country…shortly before I was the first one in our group to launch off!
Touring through one of my favorite places on earth…the Baltimore Aquarium.
Visiting the spectacular Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water.
Raising chickens (that first egg was glorious!) and gardening
Enjoying beer with bears?
Getting out of my comfort zone, and away from my desk and computer for a while, to help my Grandfather on a family construction project. (Nothing beats the feeling of power from operating a huge D9 Dozer or boring around a fully loaded dumptruck up the side of a hill!!!)
BTW…I have to admit…
I’m completely obsessed with Bigfoot!
And of course, reminding ourselves to enjoy life and not be overly serious…to be a bit goofy and silly sometimes. This is our last Halloween costume…I’m a giant sloth and she’s my tree!
Influences and Mentors
I have an unlimited, eternal amount of gratitude and respect for The Great and Powerful Tim Ferriss of 4 Hour Work Week fame who changed my life for the better when I “found him” back in 2007.
That book’s core tenets:
- The 80/20 rule aka Pareto Principle
- Parkinson’s Law
- Batching
Truly changed my life not just in regards to business and money, but in every other way that matters too.
They are foundational to how and why we are able to kick so much ass here at Real Time Lead Gen.
I can’t recommend his books and podcast strongly enough.
Frank Kern…also more than worthy of the title GREAT AND POWERFUL!
I’ve been following Frank ever since “back in the day” when he still had long hair and every other word out of his mouth was an F-Bomb (kindred spirit for sure).
One of the greatest marketing copywriters of all time…and also a super cool dude in general.
His free content was and still is better than just about anyone else’s paid stuff…
As far as his paid courses though, they’re absolutely next level…
First it was his Info Millionaire product…
Then it was Mass Control which was a real game changer and formed a core part of what and how I do what I do in my own marketing company.
As you can see in the image above, it’s one of the very few things that has a permanent honorable spot on my otherwise very Spartan desk (along with the above mentioned 4HWW by Tim)
Huuuuuge shout out to Frank…I love you man!
