94 Business View - February 2015
The push for better name recognition prompted a stra-
tegic partnership in 2014 with Yodle – a New York-
based online marketing company – to gain access to its
Centermark platform, which provides locally-focused
search engine optimization, mobile and scheduling
services for businesses looking to strengthen bonds
between national brands and their local entities.
Linenberg said the transaction instantly allowed the
company to accelerate Internet strategies in a way that
could never have been matched internally, helping to
transition many franchise locations from virtually zero
online presence to coveted first-page positions in
Google keyword searches.
In fact, he said, a multi-year extension to the compa-
nies’ initial agreement has already been signed.
The expectation is for similar productivity in other busi-
ness functions as well, and Linenberg is focused on
building the infrastructure that will be needed for what
expects will be imminent and explosive growth of the
Gotcha Covered system. His goal is to add “several
hundred” franchisees within the next five or so years,
and they’ll bring with them the sort of collective buying
and marketing power that will allow Gotcha Covered
to carry itself like a big franchisor while retaining the
personal touch of a smaller one.
“We’re going to do it with the right people,” he said.
“We’re not interested in bringing anybody on board
that can just fog a mirror and write a check. We will
only accept high-caliber people who are committed to
the brand, and that we know are going to be a good
fit for our system and be successful. I want to be able
to personally point to every single franchisee and say
‘That person is a part of our group. That’s a Gotcha
Covered person right there.’ That’s critically important
to me, and the only way I’m going to build our team.”
FRANCHISE
