THE SCOOP (and more) ON ABQ LEGENDS
Behind the Insanity.
My name's Randy Savage, a long-time Albuquerque resident and former radio DJ who's spent years in the local media and marketing industry. Along the way I've discovered tons of great businesses with passionate owners who LOVE what they do and treat their customers like family.
ABQ LEGENDS is the evolution of years of connecting with these local entrepreneurs, as both a customer and a collaborator. I wanted to create a space where we could introduce the city's BEST businesses to everyone in the community, and help them get the exposure they deserve. Let's face it - there are AMAZING businesses here who don't have the ad budgets of the "big guys" and who deserve WAY more recognition than they're getting! My crew and I have visited - and in many cases been customers and clients of - every business you see listed here. They're creatives who strive to bring their customers the BEST experiences, products and services available.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook - we'll be posting profiles of business owners, behind-the-scenes stuff and info on discounts & prizes.
Thanks for hangin', hope you enjoy the site and what we're doing here! Time to grab some more coffee - know a great cafe in the area?
I love coffee, and it loves me. Here's me hanging out with my two favorite coffee cups at Linda's Dolci. If you run into me there, and I'm in a good mood, I might buy you a coffee. Me first though.
A little more about my journey
The best thing about spending time in radio are the connections I've made with business owners in Albuquerque, Bernalillo, Corrales and surrounding communities.
Every weekend I'd load up the station van and set up shop at some local business: a car dealership, restaurant, furniture store, wherever the ad buy was that week - and spend the day with owners who'd built something from nothing and were standing in their own parking lot, handing out prizes, trying to get a few more people through the door.
I did that almost every weekend for years, and got to know this city one business owner at a time.
Over the years I've learned that most advertising is done either by agencies that don't take the time to get to know and learn their clients and their businesses, or by owners who throw their money at random things without having a plan. As a result, most of it doesn't work, and most business owners know it doesn't work, but they buy it anyway because nobody's shown them a better option.
So about 30 years ago I started Savage Internet, a personalized, local marketing agency, with the same idea as my live appearances: help great local businesses get in front of the people already looking for them. Websites, SEO, Google Business optimization, reputation management, the whole toolkit - my goal is to get the right business in front of the right neighbor at the right moment. It's all about visibility - if no one knows you exist, does anyone hear you scream in the empty reaches of your store? Most owners come to me through referrals, and I take on just a few new businesses each year so I can give each one the proper time and attention to help them grow.
Three decades of that work means I've sat across the table from just about every kind of Albuquerque business owner there is: mechanics, dentists, hair stylists, contractors, restaurant owners, medical providers - and heard the same thing over and over: "I know my work is good. I just need people to find me."
ABQ Legends exists to begin closing that gap and help boost your business visibility.
This isn't a generic directory where anyone with a credit card gets a listing. Every business here has been personally vetted by myself or my team members, in many cases as an actual customer or client, because after 30 years of this, I've gotten pretty good at identifying businesses that care about their customers and are truly great at what they do. This site is my way of giving back to the city I've grown up in, and I get to spotlight the people who really deserve the attention instead of big corporations who just spend bigger money on boring, blanket advertising.
If you own a business here and you're doing right by your customers, I want to hear about it. Tell me your story and let's see if you're a good fit for what we're doing here. It's free, always will be, and I promise the interview will be less strange than my profile pic.
Hunting for something new? Explore! Trust me, you're gonna find some real gems. And if you KNOW a killer business that deserves some love, don't keep it to yourself - get in touch with us and we'll check 'em out!