Big boost

Kevin Jans says there are two types of entrepreneurs: those who chase after a trend with a lot of competition and those who look for something no one else is doing. Jans is the latter.

A former government contracting officer turned consultant, Jans wanted to find something to make his consulting business, St. Petersburg-based Skyway Acquisition Solutions, stand out. In a crowded space of government contract consulting, it can be difficult to find a good customer, and even more difficult to have them find you. “Prospecting was exhausting,” he says.

In 2014, at a Tampa Bay Business Owners presentation on the benefits of podcasting, Jans did a Google search on government contracting. A few podcasts popped up on big picture government agency information. Then he searched for “contracting officer podcast.” When nothing showed up, Jans thought, “Holy crap.” He had his opportunity to find his customers.

Jans recruited a friend, Paul Schauer, also a former contracting officer, to start “The Contracting Officer” podcast in 2014. It covers “how contracts work, at the contract level,” according to Jans. For each topic, they explain what it is, why the industry should care, and why the government should care. They compress the answer down to less than a half hour (ideally 20 to 25 minutes long).

A few thousand people worldwide listen to the podcast, which has surpassed its 75th week. Each episode brings in around $1,000 in sponsorships. But even more lucrative has been the increase to sales and brand reputation at Skyway Acquisition Solutions. The podcast has boosted Skyway's sales 30%, but the “brand is infinitely larger,” Jans says.

“The best customers come through the podcasts,” he adds. They pay their bills quickly, leave testimonials and refer our business to others, Jans says.

Jans didn't stop at podcasts, either, finding more ways to make money off his firm's unique information.

The primary move: Last year he started to sell a monthly subscription to online content, information and advice on how to win government contract work, in addition to the free podcasts. A professional subscription, which runs $150 a month, provides login access for three people that includes two webinars a month, premium blog content, a forum to ask questions of former contracting officers and a request for proposal scoring tool.

An enterprise subscription for $1,500 a month provides login access for a whole company, all the benefits of the professional subscription and a monthly discussion with a Skyway contracting officer. A partner level subscription, limited to one client member a month, includes 40 hours of individual support from Skyway's officers, in addition to the other member content.

“You have to be a member of the community to get the high end consulting,” Jans says. “This is our sales funnel.”

Jans declines to share specific sales numbers, saying only that it's doubled revenues in the last year. It has 12 employees, and has been adding about one person a month. “We're no longer building, but selling like crazy,” Jans says. “I'm a builder, but now we have to execute.”