Since then, we've formed Go Daddy Productions, our own production and creative company. We can make ads for about a third of what it would cost to pay somebody else. So I'm always thinking about new ads and other ways of getting Go Daddy's name out there. When Danica Patrick was the first woman to lead during an Indy 500 race, I said to my marketing team, "That's our next Go Daddy girl." She has been great for us, and we've been great for her.
We don't have an advertising budget. Our advertising budget is opportunistic. So, for example, we had a deal two years ago where a big sponsor dropped out of the Indy 500. We're one of the few companies you can call at the last minute that will go ahead and do the spend if it makes sense, which we did in that case. Those things are multimillion-dollar deals, but we have a flexible budget, so if an opportunity like that opens, please do call us.
Once in a while, I'll show up at an event with some Go Daddy girls for publicity's sake, but I don't spend my days surrounded by women in tight T-shirts. A while back, I went to an event with a Go Daddy girl on each arm. These guys were screaming, "Bob, I want to be you!" And I was thinking, If they only knew. People think I have girls feeding me grapes and making my breakfast. In my dreams! It's all business. I live with my girlfriend.
I started a blog just before our first Super Bowl ad ran, which was good, because so many folks had opinions about the ad. I spend several hours a week working on my blog. I write everything myself. Sometimes, I'll be writing in the middle of the night at home, but most often in the middle of the afternoon at work. If my office door is shut, I am probably shopping for guns online -- I like hunting big game, and I love Holland & Holland guns -- or looking at motorcycles, or jotting down notes for my next blog.
I started doing video blogs instead of written ones because I'm lazy. I give my notes to the production team, which pulls together visuals and puts my script into a teleprompter. When everything is a go, I walk over to our recording room -- which is in our headquarters -- and wing it. Each recording takes 15 to 45 minutes and is based on whatever I feel like talking about. One recent blog was about my hunting trip to Zambia. I also talked about ways to get your domain name out in the world -- like embroidering it on baseball caps or putting a magnet on your car.
The best part of the blog is the feedback. It's a direct pulse on what our customers are thinking. If someone writes in a complaint, I forward it to the appropriate person on staff, who responds within 24 hours. Boom, we're done.
Every Wednesday at 2 p.m., I also do a one-hour radio show that we record in our studio. I guess you could call me a ham. Like everything else here -- from the software technology to the customer service -- we do all our stuff in-house. The show airs live on the Web. Sometimes, we'll take calls from listeners. And I usually play some AC/DC, one of my favorite bands.
I always buffer work with play. My brother always says, "We're not here for a long time; we're here for a good time." I live my life that way. I am always telling my staff members to lighten up and to get off their BlackBerrys. I have one, but I am not controlled by it like so many people are. It does allow me to take off whenever I want. I recently rode my motorcycle from here to Vancouver and back with a buddy. We put about 4,000 miles on our bikes. That's how I like to spend my time.
I never spend any time meeting with investors or raising money. I funded this company with my own money and believe the best partner is no partner. Nobody's going to do things like I do. A few consultants have come in over the years and told me to change this, this, and this. But I know if I did, our secret sauce would be ruined. For the most part, that's customer service. About 1,600 of our employees are locally based customer-service reps who go to Go Daddy University to get trained and then work with a senior person until they are ready to take calls on their own. Some of the reps are based in our other facility, outside of Scottsdale, and at least once a month, I'll hop on my motorcycle to go out there to meet with them.
I don't do industry events or join organizations or boards. I get requests, but I'm not interested. I'll write checks to charities, but my time is the most important thing to me, and I'm really jealous of how I use it.
I generally leave the office around 6 or 7 p.m. I'll go out for dinner with my girlfriend or some friends, or I'll spend a quiet night at home. The hardest time of day for me is at the end of the day, because I hate to see it end. I hate to shut down. And it's hard to shut down, too -- in part, because I am always thinking of ways to improve the business. If you're not getting better, you're getting worse. One of the things people say to me from time to time is, "You must feel very proud." Well, the answer is, No, I don't. That's the last thing I think about. They say, "Well, look at what you've accomplished." I say, "You know, the jury's still out. Talk to me up in heaven; I'll let you know how I did. If I make it there."
