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Date: 4/20/26
Duration: 20:30
Guest: Annamarie Jakubielski
Website: Discover Hometown Magazine
Listen on Spotify:
Summary:
In this episode of Living Local with Frisbee Real Estate, Ed sits down with Annamarie Jakubielski, publisher of Discover Hometown Magazine, to talk about local business marketing, print advertising, and why staying visible in a crowded market still matters.
Annamarie shares her story of moving to Hendersonville, North Carolina from Florida in 2005, looking for a small-town feel with four seasons. Shortly after relocating, her husband launched what is now known as Discover Hometown Magazine, a direct-mail coupon publication serving Henderson County and South Asheville. About six years ago, Annamarie took over the business and has continued to grow it ever since.
The magazine is distributed four times per year (February, May, August, and November) and features local business ads and coupons, with no editorial content. Its goal is simple: help small businesses stay top of mind with consumers in their immediate area.
A key theme in this episode is the importance of consistent marketing. Annamarie explains that even in a digital world, print advertising still holds strong value because it’s tangible and easy to revisit, unlike online ads that are often forgotten. She emphasizes that businesses need to be seen regularly to remain relevant, especially as consumer attention spans continue to shrink.
Discover Hometown Magazine focuses on affordable advertising for small businesses, targeting specific neighborhoods and mail routes with higher engagement. With around 75 advertisers in Henderson County, the publication supports a wide range of industries and encourages local spending by offering incentives through coupons and promotions.
Beyond business, the episode highlights why Hendersonville continues to be a great place to live and visit. Annamarie shares some of her favorite local spots, including:
- Salty Landing (Etowah) for fresh seafood and burgers
- Taco Fiesta (Horseshoe) for fast, affordable local eats
- Arabella’s and Eggs Up Grill for breakfast
- Outdoor destinations like DuPont State Forest, Pisgah National Forest, and the growing Ecusta Trail
- Scenic views at Jump Off Rock and hidden gems like Hooper Lane in Mills River for sunrise and sunset
For local business owners, this episode is especially valuable. It offers insight into effective local advertising strategies, the role of print in modern marketing, and how to build long-term visibility in a competitive market.
To learn more or advertise, visit discoverhometown.net.
As always, keep living local.
Watch on YouTube:
Transcript:
Ed (00:22)
Hey, thanks for joining us today. I'm super excited to have Annemarie Jakubowski. I've practiced that last name at least two times now. And hopefully I got it right. You did. Awesome. You did. And she's with Discover Hometown. Annemarie, thank you so much for joining us. Taking a few minutes to chit chat. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Give us a quick overview of what you do and a little bit about yourself and your family. And then I have some other questions. OK, well.
There's a lot, but I'll try to keep it short. So ⁓ we've lived here for 20 years now, or almost 21 years. My husband and I moved here in 2005 from Florida, ⁓ running away from the hurricanes. We won't go there. Which part of Florida? Naples, Florida. But we wanted to move to a small town that had four seasons and just the small town feel. And Henderson was absolutely that.
It was smaller then. It was smaller then. Absolutely. But we moved into and still live in the same house in Horseshoe and we just love it. When we moved here, my husband started a magazine that we then called Hometown Value Guide. It's coupon magazine that is direct mailed ⁓ in different geographical areas in the area, South Asheville and Henderson County. And about six years ago, he asked me to take over ⁓ the magazine so he could change careers.
and he did. And I did. And I love it. Did he start another magazine? No, he did not start another magazine. He was done in the magazine business. was burnt out from it, as we can get with things. So how often does the magazine go out? The magazine goes out four times a year. So I always tend to talk in the cycle of where we are today. So my next issue will be out in May, August, November, and then February.
And we've been doing it since we moved here in 2005. So it's been a long time. And who's the longest advertiser you've had in it? Oh, gosh. The longest advertiser currently is probably maybe Carolina Ace or Carolina Clean Machine as a pressure washer. So then that leads to a great question that people need to hear the answer. If you're into marketing, how important is it to
be seen in various places. It's really important to be seen and to be remembered, particularly in this day and age. ⁓ We seem to have short memories about anything, right? And print, print has value. So the magazine is a coupon magazine and there's no editorial at all. So you open it and it's just ads. ⁓ And in Henderson County, I have about 75 advertisers and in South Asheville I have
About half that right now, but I'm building ⁓ rebuilding. went back to South Asheville after a hiatus for about five years to focus on Henderson, but now I'm back in both. So to answer your question, you have to stay visible always. ⁓ Now we we recommend offers to to encourage people to come in and.
either revisit you because we forget who you are or maybe your path has changed where you're going. Like, I used to go to that place all the time and now you see it in the magazine, you're reminded you go. ⁓ But if people just forget where you are, who you are, what you do, that you're open, all the things. know, you look at Pepsi, Pepsi's everywhere. Does Pepsi still need to advertise? The fact is they do. Because we'll wonder, right?
And even if it's you can't just do digital. So you can't. saw a billboard the other day that struck me and it said you can't skip. It had the little arrow. You can't skip this ad. And I thought, that's powerful because now billboard, you're going to pass by it real quick in the car. But print kind of that same thing. You can skip it, but you can come back to it where I find in digital. I may see something, but going back to find it down the road.
Good luck. true. ⁓ obviously in real estate, you you try to see, have ways to save money in advertising. It really is hard and try to think of all the places to be seen and to be remembered, stay top of mind. ⁓ And doesn't matter what business you're in. We all have to stay top of mind to your customer. And that's just a challenge at time and expensive. It's part of it.
⁓ Not all advertising is expensive. There are ways. I I think we're very affordable ⁓ and I'm not here to sell you an ad today, but we are affordable because our model is to help small businesses grow affordably. And so there's something for everyone in a budget. But I find a lot of times when things get tough or businesses get concerned, marketing is the first thing they cut. And it breaks my heart because...
Maybe you can do less of something else, you know? Yep. So how would somebody contact you if they're interested in advertising? well, my website is discoverhometown.net. ⁓ And I'm sure that you'll have a link to my information in the show notes. Maybe you have show notes? we do. ⁓ Is it a franchise? It is not a franchise, but there are other magazines like ours.
across the country. The idea behind the magazine came from a single man who was out of the Washington DC area and the magazine was originally concept in a larger demographic area where one zip code would feed a $15,000, not dollar, $15,000 household mailing zone and that you would do a 16 page ad or
Magazine that had ads just from businesses within that zip code because most people shop closest to their home where they live and so the man who created this offered this concept to hundreds of people across the nation ⁓ And at the time they printed with him at the same time And this was 35 years ago. So this has been the concept has been around a long time
A lot has changed for access to printers and so on. ⁓ that actual original company has fallen apart, but there's still several hundred of us across the country doing it because it's a great product. Yeah. And do you still use a local printer now or a national printer? I use a printer out of Ohio just because of the way it, the size and you know, they do print, they mail it, they do everything for me.
So that's great. I would love to be local, but it's cost prohibitive and I want to keep it affordable and profitable. mean, it's got to be profitable for me too, right? Yep. So is it ⁓ industry specific? Generally, it's not. We have found, so what's a little different, I'm going to backtrack a little bit about what the original concept was that one zip code. Ours is a little different because we have a different market.
I cover more of Henderson County, not a single zip code. And even in South Asheville, it's a couple of zip codes because I target the mail carrier routes with the highest income within the geographical area that we've determined. ⁓ So say your question again, because I missed it. Is it industry specific? It is not industry specific. We find this enough business for everybody. Interesting. Well, I like it. We. ⁓
We get to receive it when it comes out and we always thumb through it and like looking at the coupons. It's nicely laid out. It's colored. Paper's a good feel and all that stuff. So thank you. If somebody doesn't get it, are they able to receive it somehow? They can if they go to my website, discover hometown dot net, scroll through all the stuff. There's a subscription area. You can choose the Henderson Market or the South Asheville Market. Is there a cost? No. Wow. No, but I don't. I only mail it.
at the same time as everybody gets it because it is cost prohibitive to mail one at a time. Yeah. That's interesting. Any special code they need to give like living local with Frisbee Real Estate.
You can absolutely put that in there. I won't help you in any way, but you can say that you heard it on our podcast here. That'd be great. It's a win win. ⁓ Free subscription, free subscription with the code Frisbee real estate. That's All right. So not to set you up, but we always like to ask people about their favorite restaurants in the area. gosh. And I know you're going to probably want to lean towards the advertisers, but ⁓
Maybe they're not listening or watching. Or maybe they are. Yeah. Maybe they are. Hopefully they will. Yeah, get a double bonus. There's lots of great restaurants in town. ⁓ Honestly, I try to ⁓ use the customers, my customers. ⁓ So let's rephrase the question. If you have visitors coming to town, do you suggest, hey, you should go try out this place? know, they are an advertiser and they've been a long time advertiser, but I love Salty Landing out in Ottawa. I've never been there.
Oh, yeah, he does a really nice job. brings in fresh fish every day from the coast. And he's got awesome burgers, which you would think. Wow. A seafood place would have great burgers. But I often get burgers when I go there. Where else? then the other? Taco Fiesta. Where is that? That's also in Horseshoe. I live in Horseshoe. Oh, in that building. at Rugby in 64. Yeah, I tried to go there and it was a long wait, actually. So it's worth the wait.
It's fresh, it's fast, it's affordable. That's great to know. Super nice small business. ⁓ That's one of the things I love about my business and this area. We're filled with a lot of small businesses and small business owners and I love connecting with the folks and building the relationships and getting to know them and their family and their story. Yep. Is there another one? That's two. Well let's go with breakfast then. ⁓ Arabella's really good.
Yes. And Eggs Up Grill is another nice It's funny you say They're all advertisers, you know, I want to work with businesses I want to work with. Well said. So our family argues between Arabella's and Eggs Up Grill. They're different. They are different. They are different. Depending on the day, one might taste better than the other. Absolutely. just what happens. But they're both very good. They are. ⁓ Good choices.
Let's see, how about if somebody's coming to the area, hey, you gotta go see this, local attraction or views or hiking or... Well, if you wanna go out into the woods, I raised my kids, we were always in the woods. We were in DuPont forest all the time, we were in Pisgah forest all the time. ⁓ As they got older and the county park system got a little better on the east side, I've been on the Continental Divide as a...
bunch of great trails out there that less people know about. So all the visitors are going west. I'm going to encourage new folks maybe to go east. where you say that, whereabouts is that? It's Fairview. OK. ⁓ It's not Fairview. Like Girton area? It's actually Henderson County, but it's on the Continental Divide. think if you go out 64 to Barwalla, it's in that area. Look it up. It's listed in the Henderson County ⁓ Parks and Rec, I believe, as trailheads. And of course, the Acoustia Trail.
my gosh, I I'm that all the time. I never expected the acoustic trial to be as nice as it is and as well used. can't wait for it to finish because right now it's kind of blown up. Help my little town of Horseshoe. We don't have three stoplights out there. Y'all have a big parking area for it over there towards the end of it currently, right? There are parking lots. I don't know if I'd call it big, but I'm sure more will come. And it's right there across from that restaurant, I think.
Root and Bone, that kind of ends at Root and Bone. It's funny, they cross the road and finish like into their parking area. Go figure. But Packers is out there and then of course the Taco Fiesta and Hustle Wing is out there and Pies by Die will be out in that same plaza. I've tried to get her on the podcast. She's busy. She's delightful though. I've heard great things about her. ⁓ Maybe could put a plug in for the podcast.
I've never been that far on the Acoustic Trail to horseshoe because I only walk and I don't walk that far but maybe I should. Then I'd have to get back so I'll wait till I get a bike. Well you could park at a different spot. Well I like to start here. Well you could park at a different spot and then walk because I think I've done the whole trail but not at one time because I walk you know a couple of miles and then turn around but I don't want to walk 12.
That's my problem. So, right. All right, so any other place you recommend people go see, visit, view? If you want to stay local, Jump Off Rock is a great place to go. And the best place to watch the sunrise and sunset is Hooper Lane at Mills River. Oh. If you didn't know. I didn't know. Now you know. It's pretty unobstructed. There's sod on both sides. Is there, is it in a subdivision? No.
No, it's sod farms on both sides of the road. ⁓ So it's between 191 and Jeffress. Okay. Behind Mills River Park. near... Great places to watch the sunrise or the sunset. Near Butler Bridge, right? In that vicinity? Yeah, Butler Bridge does cut Jeffress off there. sorry. Yeah, okay. You can get there from there. ⁓ Because when my daughter was in high school, she loved to watch the sunrise and we would get up early and...
drive the parkway morning after morning looking for the best spot and it was right there in our backyard. I mean it doesn't have mountains the same way, does have mountains off in the distance so it is different than the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'm surprised we don't see more hot air balloons in the area. If you get on the Blue Ridge Parkway, because I've seen them out there with my daughter on those mornings, you do see them out in the Canton area.
I'm surprised you don't see him in the Mills River area. That's what I... Maybe it could be the airport. I'm sure it's the airport. That's disappointing. Hey, I think we have a few extra minutes. So one of the newer things we do is finish the lyric. Do you like to sing? Do you listen to music? I listen to all kinds of music. Good. Let's see. This is always fun and challenging. Have you seen this on the podcast by I have not. Good.
So I can use old songs like an old lyric list. So here's what we do. You get to pick the... So we have 60s and 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000, 2010s, and then some in current, I think. Well, current-ish. And then the different genres, pop, country. The pop's kind of with rock. ⁓ rock is separate, sorry. And then we even have Christian songs listed.
Which category would you like to choose from? 90's country. 90's country. That actually has been kind of popular lately. We must be of a certain age. And I did have some guests on here. All these were too old. So that made me feel really bad. So 90's country. So I'm just going to read the line. Read some of the words and you're supposed to finish the line. that make sense? Yes.
And it's really hard, it's harder, like it'd be a lot easier if I hummed it, but I'm not humming. So here we go, I got friends in low places.
Well, it's Garth Brooks, but that's the name of the song. I've got friends in low places where the whiskey drowns.
And the beer chases. My blues away. There you go. Thank you. It was so close. Give you a five on that one. Here's another one. ⁓ 80s and 90s. This is mixed 80s and 90s. Sorry country. Two more to go. As long as old men sit and talk about the weather.
gosh, so is that Brad Paisley or Alan Jackson? Neither? Okay. Randy Travis. Randy Travis.
So it finishes. It's in I love you, amen. I know it, right? Yep, forever and ever, So the finish line is, as long as old women sit and talk about old men. See, I knew the song. It's so much easier if there was music playing. Of course. Just hear the lyrics, I'm toast in this game. All right, here's another. Out in the country, past the city limit sign.
It's a honky tonk. Wow. Yeah. It's Brooks and Dunn, right? Yeah.
Near the county line. Boots getting boogie. Wow, good job. That's the only three I have for country, 80s and 90s. All right, so I at least knew the song. yeah. I could have sang it. Thank you for not making me sing it. We did have a guest recently who hummed or sang almost all the answers, which was entertaining. And I'm not sure we've shared that with everybody unless they watched the full episode. That's a little bonus.
So anything else you can think of? DiscoverHometown.net, not .com. That's how they contact you. There's an email address or contact us on the website. Yep. Okay. There is. You're accepting new advertisers for Henderson County and South Asheville. I am. You have specials if they do both? They do. Wow. There is a small discount for both. That's awesome.
support those advertisers. Absolutely. You know, if you receive the magazine and you forget to bring it out with you because some do, ⁓ user tip, keep it rolled up in your door so you always have it. Look through it a couple times so you know who's in it, right? Multiple impressions. But you can recall, I Joey's Bagels is in there, let me go. Get the 10 % off. I'm horrible about using coupons because I don't think about it. It doesn't matter if it's digital or paper. I just don't.
And some of some folks are so but if you forget to use the coupon, but you remember seeing it, tell tell your server or the retailer or the person you call for the service. Hey, I saw your ad in Discover Hometown. That helps everybody. Is there anybody you're trying to get? Maybe we can have them on the podcast and encourage them to advertise and discover hometown. Keep that in mind. So I'll keep that in mind. We do try to have businesses out or we could have you put up a little poster to help you out somewhere on the.
walls that people see. there you go. Anything to help out local business. Thank you Anna Marie for taking time. I forgot how to pronounce your last name already. Already? Yes. It's been at least 10 minutes. So it's pleasure having you. Thanks for having me. And it's been fun. Absolutely. So check them out. Discover hometown dot net. A great resource to advertise for local businesses. Thanks again for watching and keep living local.