Today we’d like to introduce you to Bob Bentz.
Hi Bob, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Bob Bentz has been an entrepreneur since age 29. Now nearing the age when many people start to think about retiring, he has no desire to do so.
“I still have a lot of energy and I can outwork any millennial or gen-z so why would I want to retire?”
Bentz began his entrepreneurial career in 1989 when he left a promising career in the television industry to take advantage of the new AT&T MultiQuest 900 number services.
“I knew there was an opportunity to partner with print publications to make them as timely as broadcasting,” said Bentz. “That opportunity was to provide sports information via pay per call services. Sports is something people are passionate about, but if you are a graduate of a university that was not nearby, the only information you could get was maybe one paragraph in the daily newspaper and that was only if your team was in the top 25.”
Bentz’s idea was to partner with sports reporters and university sports publications in college towns. They would attend the games and practices and report back to the phone line where fans could call in and get inside information about their favorite team and university.
The idea was smashing success as his company, Advanced Telecom Services, signed up 62 major universities, 20 NFL teams, and a handful of NBA and Major League Baseball teams. The company later signed on with the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, and a host of wrestling superstars such as Hulk Hogan and Randy “Macho Man” Savage.
The company then turned to partnering with daily newspapers. “We were the inventors of the crossword puzzle answer line,” said Bentz. Back in the 1990’s, if a reader was stuck on the crossword puzzle, he or she could call a 900 number for 99 cents and get the clue read back to them. “It was a way to cheat on the puzzle and not have to wait until the next day to get the answer.”
While sports was a big part of the business for the company, the company became huge in the dating industry when it moved into partnering with daily newspaper classified sections with its voice personals. With personals, readers could read a short paragraph ad from a man or woman, then call and leave that person a voicemail. Bentz admits that even his brother ended up getting married from his own voice personals service.
The company continued to expand and at its peak, it had over 105 employees in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, and Taiwan. Revenue peaked at $62.,2 million in the early 2000’s.
Unfortunately, the industry went into a tailspin due to overly intrusive government regulations and the proliferation of the internet. “The internet was the end of things for information by phone,” said Bentz. “It could do things much better than the phone service could. In sports, you could show a video of the high school recruit. For dating, you could show a picture of the prospective date. Attraction is a pretty big thing when it comes to dating.”
In 2018, Bentz realized that the industry of automated telephony services, whether by 900 number or 800 number, was not going to support his family in the way that he’d grown accustomed. With telecom, what used to cost 16 cents, now cost 1/8 of a penny.
So, he began the marketing agency and called it Purplegator Marketing Agency & Consultants.
The new agency got off to a great start with landing a fortune 500 company and a nationwide retail store. Then, COVID hit in 2020 and the company just got by for two years. Bentz indicated that one of the proudest times of his career is when COVID hit and he didn’t have to lay anybody off.
The company pivoted into nurse and truck driver recruitment and signed on many university hospitals and 4 major trucking companies. When the COVID vaccines came out, the company began to grow again. It became members of the Inc. 500, Philly 100, and the Financial Times 200 fastest growing companies. Bentz was also honored with becoming a member of the Titan 100 which recognizes the 100 top CEO’s in Philadelphia.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
“As an entrepreneur, I always have said that the highs are higher and the lows are lower. When you are on a roll like we were in the telecom industry, it’s just so much fun. You are making a lot of money and know that you are really helping other people grow both financially and professionally.
Of course, it’s not all rosy as an entrepreneur. There’s the times when you wonder how you are going to meet payroll. There’s issues with employees. It’s frustrating, because you try your best to provide a great work environment, but you’re not always successful,” said Bentz.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Purplegator?
Purplegator is a marketing agency located in suburban Philadelphia. It has grown from a startup to becoming a member of the Inc. 5000, Philly 100, and Financial Times fastest growing companies. It provides marketing solutions across numerous industries, but has a special niche in a few such as trucking, recruiting, home services, and public adjusters.
People often ask why they should hire an agency rather than finding an employee for the same investment. The answer is specialists. If you hire a marketing generalist, they may work 2 or 3 hours per week in a particular job. If you work with us, we have specialists in nearly every aspect of mobile and digital and traditional media. We have 3 web developer, 3 that work solely in SEO, etc… So, if you are doing it 40+ hours per week, you get pretty good at it.
What matters most to you?
“In any business, your people are your greatest asset. I don’t get upset if somebody leaves the company for a better opportunity. In fact, I’m proud that I’ve given them an opportunity to excel based in part on what they learned while working with me,” said Bentz.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://purplegator.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purplegator_marketing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PurplegatorDigitalMarketing/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/purplegator/
- Twitter: https://x.com/purplegator
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Purplegator_Marketing
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@purplegator_marketing
Image Credits
Image credit: Andy Higgins, West Virginia University)
