Spotlight on Success
“Spotlight on Success” is an interview series created by David Levine of I Am Your Virtual Professional. Its purpose is to amplify the voices of today’s business leaders. Each interview provides actionable insights that readers can implement immediately. No fluff, just practical wisdom that enables individuals to move forward with clarity and confidence.
| Company | LocalFi and Full Time to Travel Time |
|---|---|
| Role | CEO and Founder |
| LinkedIn Profile | https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaacnaviasmarketingexpert/ |
| Company Websites | LocalFi and Full Time to Travel Time |
Isaac Navias is an entrepreneur, adventurer, and leading AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and Local SEO expert in Arizona. As founder of LocalFi SEO Digital Marketing, he helps businesses grow through innovative marketing strategies and AI recommendations. Together with his partner, Kim, he’s built businesses around systems and automation that allow them to travel six months of the year while continuing to grow their companies.
As co-host of Full Time to Travel Time, Isaac shares their adventures, including exploring 43 of America’s 64 National Parks, while inspiring others to create lives of greater freedom and purpose. His philosophy is simple: true success is measured by the freedom you create and the positive impact you make.
Who Should You Nominate?
- Leaders doing meaningful work
- People with insights others can learn from
- Voices worth elevating
Interview Questions
1. What’s one strategy your business used recently that created meaningful growth?
One of the most exciting strategies we’ve recently introduced at LocalFi is offering performance-based marketing contracts to select, high-quality businesses that we truly believe in. This allows me, Isaac Navias, to act as the CMO of a business and allows me to bring a creative marketing campaign to the marketplace. One of the biggest challenges business owners face when investing in marketing is the financial risk. They’re often asked to invest thousands of dollars upfront, with no guarantee of a return. We’re working to change that model. Because we’ve built an incredible track record of success in Local SEO and digital marketing, I’m confident enough in our abilities to shoulder more of that upfront risk when we find the right business to partner with. This allows us to build powerful, meaningful marketing campaigns that aren’t just focused on short-term results, but on positioning businesses for long-term success through Google rankings, SEO, and the rapidly evolving world of AI-powered search and recommendations. By aligning our success with our clients’ success, we can build stronger partnerships, reduce the financial stress on business owners, and create something that has the potential to massively benefit everyone involved. For me, that’s what a great business relationship should look like.
2. How has AI or technology changed the way you operate or serve clients?
About two years ago, I recognized that AI was going to fundamentally change the way consumers discover businesses and decide where to spend their money. I knew this was going to be one of the biggest shifts in digital marketing since the introduction of Google Search. So we started positioning LocalFi and our clients for this new era of search by focusing heavily on **AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)**, which is essentially optimizing businesses to be recommended by AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI-powered search tools. What’s exciting is that we’re already seeing significant leads coming in through AI recommendations. This isn’t something that’s coming in the distant future. It’s already happening! My prediction is that within the next two to three years, roughly 50% of consumers will be utilizing AI in some capacity to help decide which businesses to work with. We’ve made a major shift in how we develop our marketing campaigns, focusing not just on traditional Google rankings but also on building the authority, trust, and digital presence that can help businesses become top recommendations from AI platforms. I’ve also been actively positioning myself, Isaac Navias, as one of the leading AEO experts in the Phoenix area, putting these same strategies to work for my own business. I believe the businesses that start investing in their AI visibility today will have a tremendous competitive advantage over those that wait until everyone else catches on. For me, the most exciting part of marketing has always been identifying where consumer behavior is heading and helping businesses get there before their competition.
3. What’s one thing you stopped doing that actually helped your business grow?
One of the biggest changes we’ve made at LocalFi is becoming much more selective about the clients we work with. We’ve learned that when business owners have had significant negative experiences with marketing, they can develop a lot of fear around investing in their business. And when a partnership is built on fear rather than trust, it’s incredibly difficult to run a successful marketing campaign. We’ve now developed a set of “red flags” that help us identify when a potential client may not be the right fit. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that growth isn’t always about taking on more clients. It’s about finding the right clients and building relationships where everyone can thrive.
4. What’s a customer insight you discovered that changed the way you do business?
One of the biggest things I’ve learned from customer feedback is how much business owners value having a marketing partner they can truly trust to be proactive. Many of our clients have told us that the reason they’ve stayed with LocalFi for so many years is that they don’t have to constantly check in or worry about what we’re doing. They receive regular monthly updates and know we’re always looking ahead to identify new opportunities. For example, before most business owners were even thinking about AI recommendations, we were already developing strategies to get our clients recommended by AI platforms. This proactive approach has helped us build incredible long-term relationships, with many of our clients staying with us for five or more years. My philosophy is that a great marketing partner shouldn’t just respond to changes in the marketplace. They should anticipate them and position their clients for success before those changes happen.
5. If a business had to improve ONE area to grow faster in the next 90 days, what should it be?
The number one thing I’d recommend to almost any business is to identify where better systems can free up leadership’s time so they can spend more time working on the business rather than in the business. What I’ve repeatedly seen is that most businesses have great systems in certain areas but are completely blind to other areas that are consuming enormous amounts of their leadership team’s time. Even dedicating just a few hours a week to developing systems can create tremendous long-term results. But here’s where most businesses make a mistake: As soon as they free up more time, they immediately fill that capacity with additional revenue-generating work. Instead, I recommend reinvesting 50% of that newly freed-up time into building even more systems and using the other 50% to grow revenue. This creates a compounding effect where your business can continue growing while requiring less and less of your leadership team’s time.
6. What’s one thing you do consistently that keeps your pipeline healthy?
Networking has always been the number one way we fill our sales pipeline at LocalFi. Since we travel about six months out of the year, traditional in-person networking can be challenging. While traveling, I focus on maintaining and strengthening existing relationships. Then, when we’re back home in Phoenix, I put more energy into building new connections. One fun strategy we introduced this year is hosting exclusive sunset cruises in our lakefront community. It gives us an opportunity to connect with other business owners and professionals in a relaxed, memorable environment while enjoying a beautiful Arizona sunset. I’ve always believed that the best business relationships are built through genuine human connections, not just sales pitches. When you focus on building meaningful relationships, the business opportunities tend to follow naturally.
7. What’s a decision you made in the last year that had a bigger impact than you expected, and what led you to make it?:
One of the biggest decisions we made was to start sharing more of our personal story, rather than just talking about our business offerings. Two years ago, Kim and I launched our travel podcast and brand, Full Time to Travel Time, where we share how we’ve built businesses and systems that allow us to travel six months out of the year while continuing to grow our companies and make a positive impact on the planet. By sharing more about our lifestyle, experiences, and philosophy around building businesses that create freedom, we’ve started attracting more interest from media outlets, podcast hosts, and potential partners. It’s opened the door to some really unique and exciting partnerships that likely never would have happened if we’d only talked about our marketing services. We’ve learned that sometimes the most powerful way to grow your business is to stop talking so much about what you sell and start sharing the story of why you do what you do.
8. What’s one process you streamlined that made a noticeable difference in efficiency or results?
We’ve created systems and automations around almost every process in our business. That’s what allows us to travel six months out of the year, develop additional revenue streams, and pursue our passions while our primary business operates largely without us. One great example is our client onboarding process. When we first started LocalFi, onboarding a new client took me about four hours, and even then, the information we collected was often incomplete. Today, thanks to the systems and automations we’ve developed, onboarding takes about 15 minutes, and we consistently collect everything needed to launch a successful marketing campaign. For me, the real power of systems isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about creating freedom. Every hour we save through better systems is an hour we can reinvest into growing our business, exploring the world, or making a positive impact.
9. What book, podcast, or resource has influenced your thinking or business decisions lately and why?
I consider one of my superpowers to be the fact that I read a lot! There are so many books that have fundamentally changed the way I think about business and life. Two of the most influential books for building LocalFi were *The E-Myth Revisited* and *Traction*. These taught me how to develop systems that allow a business to scale without the owner having to be involved in every little detail. Once we started making money, I realized I needed to develop my financial intelligence. Books like *The Millionaire Next Door*, *Speed Wealth*, and *Rich Dad Poor Dad* completely shifted how I think about building wealth and financial freedom. I’m also a huge fan of Russell Brunson’s books on marketing, particularly his approach to storytelling and creating genuine connections with customers. And one of my favorite podcasts is *Smart Passive Income*, which was instrumental in inspiring me to build a business that could generate income without requiring my constant involvement. My biggest advice is to never stop learning. You don’t have to read an entire book every week. Even just three pages a day can compound into an incredible amount of knowledge over time and completely transform your life.
Who Should You Nominate?
- Leaders doing meaningful work
- People with insights others can learn from
- Voices worth elevating
I am Your Virtual Professional's
3 Key Takeaways
# 1
Get ready for how customers will search next. Isaac says LocalFi began working on AI search visibility before many businesses recognized its importance. His advice: help customers find you where they’re already looking.
# 2
Build systems that give you time back. LocalFi reduced client onboarding from several hours to about 15 minutes. Isaac sees that saved time as an opportunity to reinvest in growth and other priorities.
# 3
Choose relationships with care. LocalFi has become more selective about its clients and focuses on trust, proactive communication, and long-term partnerships. Isaac’s experience suggests growth can come from working with the right people, not simply adding more clients.
Who Should You Nominate?
- Leaders doing meaningful work
- People with insights others can learn from
- Voices worth elevating
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