David Carroll is the owner of Dope Marketing, a marketing company that helps roofing contractors get more jobs through automated directed mail campaigns.
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Carroll grew up in a home that didn’t resemble that of his peers.
“Based on the things that I was exposed to at school, I remember thinking that life was supposed to be a certain way, but then I would come home, and our family life was not like that,” recalls Carroll.
“My siblings and I, we weren’t abused or anything like that, but I grew up in a very unstable household.”
But that adversity didn’t deter Carroll from evolving into a gregarious and amiable individual, nor from enjoying his childhood.
“In many respects, I had as good of an upbringing as you can ask for,” says Carroll, who adds that it didn’t take him long to figure out that he could leverage his charming personality and deft interpersonal skills to make money.
“I figured out sooner than most kids what I wanted my life to be like, and I started making decisions around what my path would be.”
But molding himself into a nationally revered entrepreneur wasn’t initially part of Carroll’s plans.
That’s because as a teenager Carroll began selling recreational narcotics.
His methods weren’t legal, but soon Carroll was managing thousands of dollars, and by age seventeen he already knew what one million dollars cash looked like.
For the next few years, Carroll continued to earn money under the table, but one day his universe was upended.
After losing $150,000 at the hands of a shady character, Carroll sought revenge, bursting into the home of the alleged culprit, vengeance being the prerogative.
After assaulting who he thought was the individual who had stolen his money, Carroll was then attacked by a separate person in the home.
That assailant stabbed Carroll several times, nearly ending his life.
The fallout from that event included not only a brief hospital stay, but Carroll was also prosecuted and sentenced to four years in prison.
That being said, if you were to meet Carroll today (he’s now 37), you might be surprised.
His congenial personality remains, untarnished by the traumas of his past, and he now owns multiple legitimate businesses.
In one sense, it’s amazing Carroll is still relentlessly positive and contributing to society, but ask Carroll, and waking up every day with anything other than a smile simply isn’t acceptable.
“Here’s how I look at it,” Carrol says.
“You have a choice, and you have a chance. I make the choice every day to try to be a better person and to try to pour that into people.”
Considering that Carroll is the face of Dope Marketing, a nationally recognized brand, as well as a popular figure in the roofing industry, bringing the same level of enthusiasm every day might seem exhausting, but Carroll has spent ample time deep diving into discovering just who he is.
“And what I learned, among other things, is that you can’t expect things, except from yourself,” he says, then explaining how with over 100 employees relying on him every single day, nearly every decision he makes has a ripple effect that impacts the present and future success of Dope Marketing and its employees.
“I put a lot of responsibility on myself, and I set the expectation that people’s days are affected by the one interaction that they have with me, and so it’s very important for me to be as straightforward and clear as possible.”
For many people, moving through the world in this manner day after day might seem taxing, but for Carroll, this is the lifestyle he spent the last decade building, and he’s fully content to lean into the challenges that always seem to await him.
“I am a real entrepreneur. I realize that I created the reality I currently live in, so I can’t complain about it,” Carroll insists.
At this juncture of his career, Carroll has already networked with household names like Gary Vaynerchuk and Jesse Itzler, his spotlight and influence showing signs of being unlimited, but there are still some within the roofing industry who believe that not enough credit has been given to Carroll for his innovation, and for just how much he is willing to undertake in order to distance himself from his competition.
“When people ask me why I’m successful, the answer is simple: I will outwork you,” Carroll says.
“I will wake up earlier and go to sleep later. I’ve never looked at other businesses or competition as impediments to what I was going to achieve because I just go out and do what needs to be done.”
It’s this level of self-awareness and complete ownership over all facets of his life that has ingratiated Carroll to legions of roofing contractors across the United States, and while it would be easy for Carroll to let the hype inflate his ego, the St. Paul product also understands how vital it is for him to be genuine and not compromise his authenticity in order to gain notoriety.
“I learned at a young age how to run a room. I learned that I could influence people and control the outcome of certain situations,” Carroll says.
“The reality is that I’m very influential, but I also understand the responsibility that comes with that.”
As for his work in the roofing industry, and what catapulted him into various keynote speaking engagements around the country, the answer is simple:
Carroll made the lives of roofing contractors easy, and he also indirectly put money in their pockets by shoring up some of their weaknesses.
“We identified a problem that many roofing business owners were struggling with, and that was closing more deals around the jobs they already had,” Carroll says.
To solve this dilemma for roofers, Carroll implemented software his team had created, and previously applied to other home service industries (like carpet cleaning, garage doors, HVAC, landscaping, solar, etc.) and began targeting homeowners within a specific radius of builds by sending out direct mail.
For context, direct mail consists of flyers, handwritten notes, and any type of tangible item that can get neighbors interested in a nearby roofing installation.
The concept of direct mail isn’t anything new, but Carroll and his team create customized direct mail that works, as evidenced by the amount of roofing leads their clients receive.
“I don’t know what a three-tab shingle is or how to measure the amount of squares on a roof, but I do know that we have a damn good product that helps roofing business owners, which is why we have been able to scale Dope Marketing to the extent that we have,” Carroll explains.
This is also why Carroll has no problem embracing the limelight that has followed him around for the last few years, because unlike some influencers in the roofing industry who offer little value to their clients, he knows that regardless of the perception people have of him, Dope Marketing will continue to provide value to roofing contractors.
“Our approach is simple: we try to find the DOPE, or the data on previous engagement,” Carroll says.
“We want to find out what you’re doing well in your business and then apply automated direct mail in an effort to get you more jobs and more referrals in the same neighborhoods that you’re already working in.”
At the same time, just because Carroll has found a formula that works, that doesn’t mean that the brass at Dope Marketing will stop innovating, even as some businesses around the country begin to pull back their pioneering efforts in anticipation of a looming recession.
“The world is going to become a scarier place in the next year or two because of a down economy,” Carroll notes.
“But with the direction we’re going, no matter where a roofing contractor is with their business, unless they are closing their doors, the application of creating intimacy through putting direct mail in someone’s hands, at no minimum order, is a must. Roofing contractors need to be doing that. Whether that means spending $200 a month or $20,000 a month with us, we don’t care. We just want to help roofing contractors generate more business.” QS
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Today’s post is sponsored by Business411:
Elizabeth Calzadilla and her team at Business411 help roofing contractors across the country increase their revenue and develop their businesses by offering specialized branding, marketing, and consultation services.
If you’re in the roofing and/or home service industry and are looking to level up your business, then click this link, give them a call at 844-424-9411, or scan the QR code below to get in touch with them today!
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