Go Rogue

Welcome to another episode of Rogue Creators!  This week, we have a big announcement!  We will be taking a break for Q4 as we transition to a new and improved format.  In January 2022, we'll be back and better than ever.  We look forward to talking with creators that have paved their own paths as photographers, videographers, designers, and more!  We'll be diving into their content together to break down the stories and processes behind their creative work.  We are so stoked to start this new series, and we want to know who you think we should invite to join the show!  If you're a Rogue Creator, reach out on any of our social media platforms so we can hear YOUR story!  See you all in January!

Are you looking to grow your podcast's listener base?  Check out this episode of Rogue Creators!  Caleb Talley and Jeff Amerine joined Bryan and Loren to celebrate reaching 100,000 downloads on the Startup Junkies Podcast.  Caleb and Jeff co-host the show each week and talk with founders about the stories behind the businesses we love.  On this episode, they chat with Bryan and Loren about creating the Startup Junkies Podcast, preparing for interviews, maintaining relationships with guests, and much more!  Shownotes(2:11) What are you obsessed with?(8:07) The Creating Startup Junkies Book(9:31) The Inception of Startup Junkie(13:26) The Startup Junkies Podcast Origin Story(20:30) Tips for Growing Your Podcast(24:28) Using Your Podcast to Build Relationships and Make Connections(30:23) 1 Million Cups(34:51) What's Next for Startup Junkie?(40:24) Wrap Up(42:00) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisCaleb TalleyJeff AmerineStartup Junkies Podcast The Grand Biocentric DesignThe Place We Find Ourselves PodcastCreating Startup Junkies   Quotes“One thing led to another because there was a need in the market for the mentoring, counseling, training, the kind of start up support stuff that we do.  And now, we probably touch 1,200 entrepreneurs a year through one-on-one counseling.  And in normal times we put on 250 events, and all that stuff, thanks to the hard work of Caleb and the whole crew, is now virtual.”  (10:46) “We decided, let's give the Zoom platform a shot, as far as recording the podcast.  I think that really opened it up for us where we weren't just having local entrepreneur guests on.  It gave us an opportunity to expand out and invite people that we otherwise would not have been able to invite on.”  (16:26)“You can be more conversational if you get a sense for the types of things that people are going to want to hear about.  How'd you get started?  How did you raise money?  How do you deal with building the team?  What kind of challenges do you face?  That sort of stuff.” (24:53)“[Matthew has] kind of streamlined the process for bringing [guests] on and getting them scheduled.  Part of that is getting some seeds of fun facts.  He's got a questionnaire of some things to kind of pull from them that we can throw out during the podcast.”  (25:32)

SummaryIn this episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan Fittin and Loren Lewis talk with Josh Fedie, the Founder and CEO of SalesReach.  Josh is a huge advocate for integrating video into your sales strategy, and SalesReach helps you accomplish that with ease.  Bryan, Loren, and Josh talk about jumping in front of the camera, providing value for your prospective customers, and why keeping it short is best.  You don't want to miss out on this value-packed episode!Shownotes(2:31) What are you obsessed with?(7:21) Introducing Josh Fedie and SalesReach(14:43) How does video close sales?(21:48) Content creation generating leads(29:30) Advice for integrating video(36:20) What's next for SalesReach?(43:31) Wrap up(45:41) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisJosh FedieSalesReach  Quotes“If you don't feel comfortable making videos, I promise you, if you just start, you're going to find that it's a lot easier than you ever though it was going to be.” (16:15)“The more deliberate you can be about explaining, here's what I need you to do next, and here's how easy I've made it to do that next thing – That's where you're going to really start winning and getting the responses you want.” (18:23)“Once these other customer-facing teams are engaging with these prospects and customers, they need more help to keep bringing more value throughout.” (23:52)“There's so many ways to do this stuff more effectively.  It's not the tool, it's you.  You just have to be willing to be more creative in your process – and lucky for most sales professionals and other people in a customer-facing role, being creative is something that a lot of highly successful people in that space are actually good at.”  (35:28)“I think the second we start really, truly thinking about what experience am I creating around this sale for my buyer – if we really think about that, that's when we start really, truly refining our process and getting out of the things that we did 12 months ago that were successful but aren't anymore.”  (35:54)

SummaryThis Rogue Creators episode was stoked to have on a special guest from Harvest Group! Bryan and Loren were joined in the studio by Ella Jane Dantzler, their Senior Marketing Manager. Harvest Group is a full-service retail growth agency serving Walmart, Kroger, and now Target. By word of mouth and social platforms, we have been able to see firsthand how the healthy company culture is pushing Harvest Group to new heights. You will want o to hear how people like Ella Jane are creating a company all of us would want to work at or with!  Check it out!Shownotes[0:48] Introducing Ella Jane Dantzlerand Harvest Group[1:32] What are you obsessed with?[5:10] Harvest Group… Everyone wants to work there![6:27] From NYC To Senior Marketing Manager[10:08] Awards and Recognition with Harvest Group[10:42] Culture at the heart of Harvest Group[13:00] Authenticity on social media[17:40] Creativity withing rebranding[21:25] Imposter Syndrome[25:03] What's next for Harvest Group?[30:14] Wrap Up[31:28] Rapid Fire LinksBryan FittinLoren LewisElla Jane DantzlerHarvest GroupQuotes“I think we could all kind of look back and say, ‘thank you' to our first boss who hired us. Like, why did he hire me? I no clue.” (7:05) - Ella Jane Dantzler“I think harvest and the founders really were intentional about the values that they chose and carrying those forward. And 15 years later, we're still talking about those same values.(11:29) - Ella Jane Dantzler“Our clients often comment on our culture and how you want to work with somebody who you like.” (12:09) - Ella Jane Dantzler“[On documenting, not creating,] And I think that you've done that through a lot... rather than like, Hey, we need to make a social media post. What can we do? And what can we come up with? It's like, I'm just going to document what we're doing and we're just already doing it.”(12:35) - Bryan FittinCulture Creation as ContentThis Rogue Creators episode featured Ella Jane Dantzler, Senior Marketing Manager of Harvest Group. Bryan and Loren were stoked to have her hang out and discuss how creating a stellar company culture is synonymous with creating good marketing! Harvest Group is a full-service retail growth agency serving Walmart, Kroger, and now Target. Harvest Group's track record consists of Entrepreneur Magazine's 2018 Top Company Cultures, Forbes 2019 Small Giants, and Inc.'s Best Workplaces of 2020. Ella Jane has four-plus years of experience in marketing and content management, specifically in the shopper marketing and social media industry. She has experience ranging from social media, public speaking, and editing, companies such as Collective Bias, Stone Mill Bread Company and now Harvest Group.By word of mouth and social platforms, we have been able to see firsthand how the healthy company culture is pushing Harvest Group to new heights. You will want o to hear how people like Ella Jane are creating a company all of us would want to work at or with! From culture-building to leaving space for creative side projects, we hash it all out on this episode. Authenticity on Social Media Harvest Group has taken considerable measures to use social media authentically. We are not all hoodwinked into dismissing the amount of curating and crafting that goes on for a typical companies post. Harvest Group wanted to create a culture that could be documented at any time and continue to push forward its values as a healthy, thriving, and fun company. With that being said, there still needs to be a strategy; you cannot just throw things out there. Where is the line of between high quality and accuracy without being posed? A key ingredient for Ella Jane is to ask herself if the post would be adding value. Would it add value to the team, to the client, to the person scrolling?"if I'm scrolling through LinkedIn, Actually learning something, or if I'm not learning something applicable about my business, I'm learning something about harvest group."(13:46) - Ella Jane DantzlerAlthough Ella Jane's background was in curated photography flooded feeds, she is helping shape Harvest Group as using the platform to tell who their people are. In some ways, it is a more journalistic approach. Then by telling the story of people's heart for their clients and positions, it can give actual value rather than being a feedback loop of self-promotion. ​​" Social media presence gives you a chance to kind of get to know who they are and their personality a little bit more than those other venues."(14:55) - Ella Jane DantzlerBringing Creativity into B2BOver the past year, we noticed a change in Harvest Group branding and learned Ella Jane got to head up that mission! Bringing thier own creative flare, she was able to take charge in starting up a noticeable change in the content designs for social. Little did we know, she was pregnant at the time, and during the final days of deciding on the logo concept, she ended up having her son. "And he [her boss] was like, 'Is it gonna stress you out or make you feel really glad to see like these final concepts that came through?' I'm like, 'Yes, please! Oh my gosh, it would make me feel so happy!"(20:43) - Ella Jane DantzlerImposter Syndrome Along the Way"I think we could all kind of look back and say, 'thank you' to our first boss who hired us. Like, why did he hire me? I no clue." (7:05) - Ella Jane DantzlerElla Jane and many of us have similar stories of stumbling into the careers we have now. With her first experience to today, she was able to walk us through what her interaction with the dreaded imposter syndrome has looked like. Working with employers and colleagues who believed in her and her abilities made all the difference. Instilling confidence to take risks and own mistakes became a culture she wanted to multiply out. "Having the learner mentality and having the vulnerability to, you know, both acting confidence, but also ask questions… but you can't just sit back and be like, let's just wait for it to sink in, but [you have to be] going after it and then giving yourself the grace to really learn before you act."(22:43) - Ella Jane DantzlerElla Jane, A Rogue CreatorInitially, we were stoked to speak to Ella Jane on how she is considered a Rogue Creator when it comes to company culture, and then we found out she is a Rogue Creator on a whole different level as well! Ella Jane calls them doodles, but we have loved her art account on Instagram. Go check it out for some drawings, cards, jokes, and paintings under the handle of Ella Jane Illustrations.Next For Harvest GroupAs Harvest Group continues its endeavors to add value, you will be seeing more content like guides, perspectives on retail news and spotlights on the employees and clients that are the foundation of the company. Keep an eye out for Harvest Group and Ella Jane Dantzler; we are excited about what they both will be up to next!www.RogueCreators.club

Shownotes[1:26] What are you obsessed with?[4:20] Riverside[7:12] SalesReach[9:36] Transistor[12:38]  Sendible[16:14] Descript[18:21] Grammarly[20:39] Rapid Fire LinksBryan FittinLoren LewisRogue Creators Episode 107: Ditch Zoom. Try Riverside or ZencastrRogue Creators Episode 107: Mastering the Art of Sales Through Video with Josh Fedie  RiversideSalesReach TransistorSendible   DescriptGrammarly  Quotes“Riverside is a fantastic software that has really done a lot of things.  You can record 4k video. You can actually get separate audio and video tracks so your guests, so no matter what, even if the internet completely went down, it is still recording on the back end of you and your guests, so you'll always have the interview.”  (5:02)“One of the best features [in SalesReach] is that you can record your video, but it basically saves a GIF of the video that you can use in the email, so they can actually see it's a personalized video for them.” (8:23)“[With Transistor], you can see the most popular episodes and 30 and 90-day download numbers, and those can be really helpful to understanding your audience and what they're actually listening to.” (11:30)“What Sendible does that I absolutely love is that I can load a piece of content into the platform and be able to edit based on the platform while staying in the same post.” (13:35)“What's really helpful about Descript is the instant transcript that we get.  It identifies speakers and provides timestamps for us really fast.  For our writers, this has been so helpful to be able to quickly locate information, grab quotes, grab timestamps, and just understand the full body of a podcast.” (16:57)

Shownotes[1:47] What are you obsessed with this week?[6:46] Using Powerpoint for design[12:25] Advice for people trying to do their own graphic design work[16:06] The power of fonts[21:16] Using tools like PowerPoint while staying modern[27:04] Nichole shares tips for business owners who are creating content[30:56] Wrap Up[33:15] Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisNichole HamiltonChiaroscuro HorrorDisney Native PodcastQuotes“You can do more complicated fonts, but if you're going to do that, you really need to do it sparingly, and your core fonts need to be very simple.” (19:43)“That's the case for keeping all design simple, is that it will stand the test of time much better.  If you are going to throw trendy elements into your design, into your branding, make it something that can easily change.  Like don't make your logo super trendy and then have to change your logo. You know, maybe you throw in some trendy elements that can be refreshed in a couple of years.” (20:31)“The whole point of a presentation is communication.  It's not to be fancy.  It's not to wow people with your artistic skills... If you don't communicate the message, it doesn't matter how pretty it is, you have not accomplished your goal.” (22:02)

Shownotes[1:26] What are you obsessed with?[5:44] Make postable content[7:28] Make your podcast stand out[9:43] Room to experiment [12:26] Expand your reach[15:09] Creating a brand[18:59] Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisVal :'(Forgotten City    Quotes“If you have a video podcast, it obviously gives you way more opportunity to chop that up, make audiograms, make video clips, and do carousels and stories.”  [6:49]“There's a lot of things that you can do with [vido podcasting] to make it interesting and to drive traffic back to your website, your blog, the audio version of your podcast,  whatever you want.  You just have a lot more room to experiment and try different things to see what actually connects with your audience.” [11:45]“We have all different kinds of learning styles and ways people like to do that.  The more options you provide, the larger your audience [can be], and it's not just saying that only people who are auditory learners can listen to my podcast.” [12:57]“When you're able to have a visual element, you can kind of see more of the brand and you can feel more of it.  For instance, it can be the way that you dress, the studio setup, you can see our slides, you can see our colors.  There's so many more elements that you can engage with.” [15:18]

Shownotes(1:32) What are you obsessed with?(6:06) You Need More than “Creatives” on a Creative Team(11:17) Discipline & Creativity(14:21) Become the Healthiest Creative You KnowRapid Fire LinksBryan FittinLoren LewisHerding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need  Quotes“As [a creative], you can kind of get in that mindset of feeling very alone, and so having somebody that can help guide you and direct you and your creative process is just a really good thought.” (6:55)“If nothing's written down, if nothing's executed, that time was really wasted.  It's just putting those ideas out into the air, and then they drop, and then nothing happens.” (7:33)“Being a creative does not mean that you completely kick discipline out the window.  If you empower yourself to be a disciplined creative, you will be able to do so much more.” (11:28)“It's a very balanced road.  We want to make sure we learn from our mistakes, but we also don't want them to hold us back.” (20:52)

Shownotes(1:22) What are you obsessed with?(4:58) What is TikTok?(8:00) Beyond Gen-Z(10:03) The 10 Rules of TikTok(25:52) Rapid Fire LinksBryan FittinLoren LewisCensus Quotes“I think something to remember is that a lot of times generations will shift platforms.  So, they'll move off of one platform and onto the other.  You can't just continue to say, ‘I'll just always stay on this one platform for my audience.' No, they might've shifted.” (9:14) “You're starting to see more creators, who are a little bit older, who are creating amazing videos [on TikTok] and being able to express themselves and even be able to showcase products and different things like that.” (9:44)“Not every trend is going to be in line with your business...But I would say, don't take yourself too seriously in this space because it's designed for entertainment.  If you take advantage of entertaining as well as educating and/or putting someone into your pipeline and driving them back to your website or another platform to engage with you, take advantage of that, but be a little more loose with it.” (11:47)“Just like we've talked about on Instagram or any other platform, you have to be able to say, ‘This is my brand.  This is what to expect when you show up on my channel.'” (13:04)“[TikTok] is such short-form content.  It is so highly digestible that you need to post often or your audience will get bored and moe on to somebody else.” (19:15)

Shownotes(1:20) What are you obsessed with?(5:29) Apple Podcasting Bug(11:11) Spotify Podcast Ad Revenue Skyrockets 627%(14:53) Twitter Testing New Shopping Feature(19:46) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisVulture on Apple Podcasts  TechCrunch on Spotify's Ad Revenue JCK on Twitter's New Shopping Feature Quotes“The big news is that Apple [is fixing] this [automatic download] issue.  So, if you are a podcast out there, you should be able to see your downloads increase again, as long as people are interacting with your show.” (10:13) “Spotify is stepping up its podcasting game, and they have made that pretty clear.  They're not holding back.” (12:25)“So if you're a podcaster and you don't have your podcast on Spotify, you really need to, because a lot of people are making decisions...on what player is the best.  And obviously, as we've been describing, Apple and Spotify have been battling it out, but Spotify has really been working hard to improve that podcasting experience.” (12:57)“It is really cool to see how people...are trying to make your shopping experience not just like shopping on Amazon, but a lot more engaging, a lot more social.  And so Twitter is trying its hand at this.  It's something to definitely pay attention to, especially if you're in the eCommerce space.” (17:19)

Shownotes(1:21) What are you obsessed with?(4:49) Do your research!(9:44) Stay true to your brand(14:26) Go for it!(19:38) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisQuotes“There's things that people do in their natural cadence of their voice that can actually be very off-putting for a lot of people.  And so it's learning to identify those things and also make sure that you are going to really have your brand coming through the microphone.” (5:12)“Some people are just naturally gifted – they have kind of that radio voice, and they're just a little bit more natural behind the mic.  And then there are other people that have to work at it a little bit more, and there's no shame in having to practice your voice and really research that.  You're just trying to do what's best for your audience.” (8:41)“Make sure that your company, that you're highlighting all the great things about your culture, so that way people can get to know you through audio format or video format.” (11:02)“Finding that voice in your own podcast, if it is very buttoned up and you want to stay on a script, that is ideal to make sure everybody is on the same page and it's less conversational.” (13:01)“Make sure that your own insecurities don't get in the way of people receiving that information or help that only you can give.” (15:49)

Shownotes(1:34) What are you obsessed with?(4:35) What is podfade?(7:58) What causes podfade?(11:28) How can you avoid podfade?(14:41) Bonus tip!(17:04) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisQuotes“There are some amazing podcasts out there, but finding 52 ideas if you're a weekly podcast is really a log more difficult than you would think.” (9:07)“[Having a podcast] takes a lot of discipline and time-management to be able to record, to edit, to produce, and then if you want your podcast to be found, you need to produce content for people to actually find your podcast.  That's a huge job.” (10:26)“[Batch recording] helps us stay ahead of the game, because guess what.  Even when you batch record, those episodes run out and you need to make sure that you're consistently recording.” (12:13) “Do the fun stuff.  If you enjoy interviewing people, do that up front and then pay to have somebody else do [your editing].” (12:37)

Shownotes(1:13) What are you obsessed with?(4:00) Quality vs. Quantity(5:46) Quality is subjective(10:31) Make analytics sexy again!(11:41) How to make quality content LinksBryan FittinLoren LewisQuotes“I feel like a lot of companies were doing anything and everything to get the content out there and it was content that didn't matter.  And so, your feed was just clogged with stuff that you didn't even care about.  So, I'm actually enjoying that they've prioritized in the algorithms more quality content and really been more about the viewer than the company.”  (5:09)“I think you just constantly have to be testing, you have to be serving, and you have to be listening to your audience.” (6:45)“[One piece of advice] that we give to companies that are starting out with their social media marketing is to choose two platforms that you believe your audience is on and really focus there instead of trying to do it all.  That way you can actually be consistent and you can also provide quality content because if you're trying to do it all, a lot of times you'll burn out within a month.” (8:11)“[The platform is] going to be pushing particular features, and so if you're not using those features, that might be the first problem.” (11:49) “Don't focus on your competition; focus on your consumer.” (15:54)

Shownotes(1:09) What are you obsessed with?(5:10) Is Instagram getting rid of photos?(8:51) Pinterest Updates(13:19) Apple Podcast Issues(19:00) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisTugboat Jack CNBC on Instagram Getting Rid of Photos?NPR on Pinterest Banning All Weight Loss AdsVulture on Apple Podcast Issues   EP 109 | Pinterest for Business: What You Need to KnowQuotes“Anytime [Instagram] makes an announcement like that, pay attention...It definitely means that any video content they're going to focus on as opposed to a photo.” (6:23)“There's a large chunk of Pinterest that is focused on weight loss, and if that disappears, what space will fill it?” (10:09)“What I'm really interested to see is how video is probably going to take over Pinterest.  It used to be stills – you did it for decor, you did it for recipes and everything, but with video, it really opens the door for a lot more opportunities.” (11:48)“If you're trying to do marketing on Pinterest, you need to understand possibly that what's going to actually get you the most traction is going to be video and eventually going live.” (12:42)“If you're a podcaster out there and you see a decrease in your downloads, that may not be necessarily true to what is actually happening.” (16:29)https://www.goroguex.com/

Shownotes(1:54) What are you obsessed with?(5:14) Introducing Jessica, Jenna, and Beautiful Lives(9:18) Starting eCommerce in a pinch(13:55) Selling through Instagram(14:46) Giving back to the community(21:08) Handing exponential growth(23:31) What's next for Beautiful Lives?(26:09) Advice for new eCommerce store owners(28:37) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisJessica UrangaJenna CookBeautiful Lives Bentonville InstagramBeautifulLivesBoutique.com    Episode 80 with Jesse Lane from Branches Mission Lab Quotes“When I think about our online store at Beautiful Lives, there are two marketing characteristics – quality and creativity.” (10:31)“Doing those small things, I think that makes for longevity in the long run and keeps [the team] excited and gives them that vision.” (22:32)“[Running an eCommerce store] can be very repetitive, but keeping that creativity and passion alive – I think that the customer can really tell when you do.” (26:52)https://www.goroguex.com/

Show Notes(3:00) What are you obsessed with this Week?Loren- Arkansas T-Shirt Club by TC Screen PrintingBryan- CRTV Facebook Group, Nik Goodner(5:56) Podcasts are on the rise Patt Flynn discussing with Buzzsprout how listening as shifted(7:20) Can a podcast help your business?(11:13) Podcasts help build loyalty and trust(15:24) Putting a face with your brand(15:57) How Can I use a podcast to get more customers?(17:57) So should your business start a podcast?Roger Wakefield(20:18) If I start a podcast, how will people find my podcast?(24:53) Close(25:53) Rapid Fire Questions Quotes:Well with a podcast, I can be out working in the garage, I can be mowing the yard, walking the dog, all of the things. It just gives your audience a different way to consume that content. (9:49)Whenever you are listening to a podcast, it is a very, honestly, a very intimate moment because you're in their ears. And so it's just like music. I mean you know when I was a kid, like headphones listening to the music, it seemed more intense and it seemed like you were kind of in this other world. And so it's kind of the same with, with spoken word like, that kind of brings you into a moment if you're a good storyteller as well, that you can obviously create a very strong connection with the person listening. (11:39)I'd imagine that connection and loyalty and trust that's already built in. If they are consistently every single week, hearing you every single week, seeing you, they see your social posts or see your blogs, they see all your stuff. When you reach out, a lot of times they already feel that connection with you. (15:04)Linkshttps://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2018/06/25/reasons-small-business-needs-podcast/#1e460e603977https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-platforms/podcasting/why-how-to-get-started-with-business-podcasting/https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/01/benefits-of-podcasting.html

Shownotes(1:26) What are you obsessed with?(5:02) Choosing the right platform for your brand(8:41) Understanding your platforms of choice(9:39) Planning ahead(13:31) Picking the scheduling tool that's best for you(18:23) Social monitoring and social listening(20:36) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisEP 49 with C.R. Braniff EP 96 with Miruna Dragomir Later Hootsuite Sendible Quotes“A lot of people kind of bristle at [choosing a social media platform to focus on] because they're like ‘I'm going to be on everything.'  That's honestly a great way to shoot yourself in the foot because trying to do it all, you typically burn out within a week or two.” (6:01) “If you have two [social media platforms] that you're mainly focusing on, when something changes in the algorithm you can adapt really easily, but it can be very difficult if you're on all platforms.” (9:04)“Instagram has really been pushing Reels lately, and so it would be really wise to make a couple of Reels so that you definitely can increase your engagement on Instagram.” (9:29)“We really advise against [planning your content more than a month in advance] because things change so quickly that you could basically do all that work for nothing.” (9:48)“A couple tips [for planning out content] is to not forget to pay attention to what's going on in the news.  Pay attention to what holidays are coming up.  If those are relevant to your brand, make sure to address those within your social media plan.” (11:52)“If you're not scheduling your content, you need to.  It really helps you be thoughtful about it, as well as to post at optimal times.  Look into the insights on your platforms and see when is my audience actually active, and schedule your posts in those times.” (16:45) https://www.goroguex.com/ 

Shownotes(1:31) What are you obsessed with?(5:55) Introducing Gaonou(10:44) Who can benefit from utilizing Pinterest?(12:28) Myths about Pinterest(13:56) Video on Pinterest(15:42) Building a successful Pinterest strategy(17:34) How do you drive people to your long-form content?(19:42) Paid advertising on Pinterest(21:32) What's next for Gaonou?(24:42) Rapid Fire LinksBryan FittinLoren LewisGaonou Lo Quotes“I think Pinterest is the perfect search engine social media platform for content creators and businesses to repurpose their content, whether that's on Instagram or Facebook.  I feel like Pinterest isn't the first social media platform you go to, but it's like the second.” (11:12)“A lot of marketers think that Pinterest is for young people – It's not.  It services a lot of  demographics.” (12:52)“You just don't want to put out any photo and any video [on Pinterest].  You really have to make sure you're telling a story, and you want to have a hook in it so that the person that is looking at the content will want to click for more.” (13:10)“Video is the king of content right now.  It is literally driving so much traffic to brands' websites and their social media accounts.” (14:27)“Paid advertisement is such a huge part of social media.  Of course, you can grow organically, but at the end of the day, I feel like paid media will always be the helper to get you a step forward.” (16:34)“The rule of thumb is to pin 5-12 pins a day to kind of keep your account active so that your users are coming back to see what you're pinning and drawing inspiration from you.” (17:20)“Paid media is not too hard on Pinterest.  And like I said, you just really have to have a strategy with it and make sure that you're constantly pinning, even if you have paid media running too.” (20:40)https://www.goroguex.com/

Shownotes(1:44) What are you obsessed with?(5:40) What makes a LinkedIn profile pop?(7:14) Your headshot matters(10:47) What does your headline say about you?(13:35) Crafting your professional summary(14:31) Recommendations and endorsements(16:02) With LinkedIn, commenting is content!(19:07) What content works on LinkedIn?(24:52) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisEP36 with AJ Wilcox Michaela Alexis Quotes“One thing that you do need to have is a professional headshot.  That is one of those that you kind of stick out like a sore thumb in a very bad way if your headshot does not look good on LinkedIn.” (7:47)“It's just like any other social media platform – it's a search engine.  So, if you are trying to target specific people to connect with or potential clients, make sure that you are addressing their problem in your headline.  That's just another place to take advantage of that.” (12:29)“Your professional summary is a place to kind of brag on yourself.  Like, if you've worked really hard to get something, you should be able to showcase that.  Don't be embarrassed about that.  Don't shy away from it.  And again, it establishes some clout for you and your position.” (14:18)“Especially on LinkedIn, if you are just commenting on stuff – holy moly.  It will show ‘Bryan commented on this, Bryan liked this, shared this,' whatever it is.  It is crazy to me how you can get in front of people who are following you.”  (16:53)“I will literally be on LinkedIn and I will just watch a three-minute video, which I would never do on Facebook or Instagram.  It is a weird thing to actually get engaged with that type of content, but most of the time, I'm going [to LinkedIn] to learn.  I'm going there to connect with other professionals.  So it's not just me going to be entertained or escape or something like that.” (19:21)

Shownotes(2:28) What are you obsessed with?(6:09) Introducing Jacob(8:08) Why you need to leave Zoom(12:11) What we love about Riverside(15:43) Why we momentarily switched to Zencastr(20:35) User experienceLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisJacob CarpenterRiverside.fmZencastr   Quotes“With Riverside or Zencastr, you're recording locally, so you would be recording on your computer, and I would be recording on mine.  It would be doing it automatically through your internet browser, and then in the end, once we're done, I can just go through and pull those down, and I have a local video that isn't compressed.  It's higher quality, both audio and video.” (9:07)“We've experienced it time and time again, where the internet drops out or we have some buffering or whatever else, and now all that digital noise that comes through – like what you would typically get in a Zoom call – You do not get that when it comes to Riverside and Zencastr.” (10:16)“[With Riverside and Zencastr], the nice thing is, you're not jumping to some level that's really complicated.  It's within your browser.  You're not asking anyone to record anything on their end...And on your end, it's not a whole lot different either.  You're mostly just having to hit record and then download the files at the end.  And to have that amount of quality at such a user friendly experience, I just love that.”  (12:58)“When you're recording [with Zoom], it is what you see.  So if you are in speaker view to where when I start speaking, the camera turns on to me, that's what you're recording...One of the beautiful things about Zencastr and Riverside are recording separate tracks.” (13:29)“[With Riverside], you do have the option for post-processing on the back end, which is actually really cool.  So if you are a solo production house, and you are wanting to just have [your] interview leveled out...you can actually have that done on the back end.” (24:38)https://www.goroguex.com/

Shownotes(1:57) What are you obsessed with(5:01) Introducing Nathan Otwell(8:31) Breaking down social selling(12:20) Facebook and Instagram allow you to compete with big brands(14:59) Selling services through advertisement(19:02) Ad creative that sells(24:20) Live social selling(30:51) How to get started with social selling(34:45) What’s next for Nathan and Shopanova?LinksBryan FittinLoren LewisNathan OtwellShopanovaRogue Creators Episode 83 with Shopanova   Quotes“Americans are digesting more media than ever before, and they’re digesting it on this little device that’s in everybody’s pocket.  No matter where you’re at, you always have access to media now...We can get on our phone every 30 seconds and see a new product, see a new service, whatever the case may be.” (8:59)“If you know that 10% of the people that fill out your form always become a customer, then it’s easy to do the math.  Like, I need this number of clicks to get this many forms filled out to get this money to get this many clients.” (11:54)“Facebook and Instagram are by and large the best way to compete in any industry or any space because the big boys are oftentimes doing traditional marketing...So, if anybody’s trying to compete with the big boys, big brands, stuff like that, Facebook and Instagram is honestly the best place for it.” (12:36)“Facebook and Instagram really pioneered this way of making what I call a personal shopping experience, whether that’s for a physical product or a service...You can actually get your brand out there in a creative way, and it’s something that is very unique out there in the marketplace right now.”  (16:28)“I will say for the top of the funnel, video is always the best.  I really don’t even use images until retarget levels simply because you can’t retarget somebody that sees a picture.  You can retarget somebody that clicks on a picture, but with a video, you can reach out to somebody that watches your videos.” (20:22)“[When you’re selling services], you really are looking more for the engagement and the conversations that are going to happen from a live video than you are from somebody actually clicking a button, putting the credit card in, and getting a product.” (28:43)https://www.goroguex.com/

Shownotes(1:17) What are you obsessed with?(6:13) Apple Podcasts Subscriptions(13:26) Spotify’s paid subscription platform(17:43) Who are these subscriptions for?(19:28) Wrap up(20:43) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisQuotes“If you’re a brand new podcast, don’t be going straight to paid content.  That’s just not smart to do unless you already have an audience that you’re moving to a podcast.” (8:31)“I really do hope that [Apple] thinks about the design and user experience of that.  Hopefully they’ll put a lot of time and effort into making sure that they elevate that application.”  (10:37) “It’s showing that Spotify is really going to be investing in podcasting, and they’re taking it very, very seriously.  Podcasters, you need to perk up and realize that Spotify is probably worth paying attention to, to get your podcasts going, especially since they’re going to start investing in video podcasts as well.” (14:32)“If you are in the marketing space, you’re B2B serving a lot of clients and stuff in that area, this is not even important to you.  You would not be charging your clients or listeners to get your content unless you’re doing some very educational stuff.”  (17:46)

Shownotes(2:43) What are you obsessed with?(8:19) Marketing to Gen Z(15:31) Choosing brands that are eco-friendly and socially responsible(17:41) Seeking out meaningful interactions(24:54) Optimizing your website for mobile-functions(27:48) How Gen Z uses social media(38:58) Gen Z’s strong filterLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisAva Ellis Quotes“If you’re a company, you need to be aware of how [Gen Z’s are] thinking and what their buying process looks like and how they’re interacting with each other online and through social media.” (9:13)“A lot of studies have come out in the last couple of years for brands that you can no longer just assume that your customers are going to be buying products and not looking into the labels.” (15:45)“There’s no point in spending your time trying to find [something] on somebody’s website that is not set up to be looking at on your iPhone.” (26:42)“I think if you’re only ever posting feed content, you’ve lost them because they’re spending the majority of time on stories.  I think of companies that don’t actually post that often on their grid, but they’re crazy active on stories, and I’m engaging with that.” (31:21)“You have about eight seconds to impress me – eight seconds to tell me why I should be watching your content, and then I’m done.” (41:12)

Shownotes(2:31) What are you obsessed with?(7:21) Introducing Josh Fedie and SalesReach(14:43) How does video close sales?(21:48) Content creation generating leads(29:30) Advice for integrating video(36:20) What’s next for SalesReach?(43:31) Wrap up(45:41) Rapid FireLinksBryan FittinLoren LewisJosh FedieSalesReach  Quotes“If you don’t feel comfortable making videos, I promise you, if you just start, you’re going to find that it’s a lot easier than you ever though it was going to be.” (16:15)“The more deliberate you can be about explaining, here’s what I need you to do next, and here’s how easy I’ve made it to do that next thing – That’s where you’re going to really start winning and getting the responses you want.” (18:23)“Once these other customer-facing teams are engaging with these prospects and customers, they need more help to keep bringing more value throughout.” (23:52)“There’s so many ways to do this stuff more effectively.  It’s not the tool, it’s you.  You just have to be willing to be more creative in your process – and lucky for most sales professionals and other people in a customer-facing role, being creative is something that a lot of highly successful people in that space are actually good at.”  (35:28)“I think the second we start really, truly thinking about what experience am I creating around this sale for my buyer – if we really think about that, that’s when we start really, truly refining our process and getting out of the things that we did 12 months ago that were successful but aren’t anymore.”  (35:54)

In this episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan Fittin and Loren Lewis talk about the month’s hottest digital marketing and social media trends. Staying on top of the trends is a perfect way to stay relevant and gain organic traction with a new audience! They discuss the TikTok Business Creative Hub, Instagram Story Drafts, Facebook’s newest audio features, Youtube’s upgraded analytics reporting, and LinkedIn Creator Mode. You don’t want to miss this episode!

In this week’s episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan Fittin and Loren Lewis talk with Melissa Berrios about utilizing your content as part of your sales funnel. Melissa is the founder of Melissa Berrios Consulting and Virtualmente Libre, where she helps online business owners leverage their content to improve their online presence, engage with their audience, and find new leads. She drops some serious knowledge about using your content as a storefront, inspiring potential customers through your content, and much more! Check it out!

Welcome to the 100th episode of Rogue Creators! To celebrate this milestone, Bryan Fittin and Loren Lewis take a trip through some of their favorite episodes so far. In episode 49, C.R. Braniff drops some serious knowledge about growing your audience in a niche market. They look at episode 36, where A.J Wilcox talked about how to go viral on LinkedIn. In episode 44, Nichole Hamilton teaches you how to run a podcast on your own successfully. In episode 86, Randy Wilburn talked about growing your podcast and where the podcasting industry is headed. Thank you for joining us on our journey to 100 episodes – we hope you’ll join us for the next 100!

In this week’s episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan Fittin and Loren Lewis discuss the hottest trends in the digital marketing space. Are YouTube Shorts the newest rival to TikTok? Are Instagram Guides useful? Should your business be on TikTok? Will Clubhouse outlast its competitors? Tune in for the answers!

Are you looking to grow your podcast’s listener base? Check out this episode of Rogue Creators! Caleb Talley and Jeff Amerine joined Bryan and Loren to celebrate reaching 100,000 downloads on the Startup Junkies Podcast. Caleb and Jeff co-host the show each week and talk with founders about the stories behind the businesses we love. On this episode, they chat with Bryan and Loren about creating the Startup Junkies Podcast, preparing for interviews, maintaining relationships with guests, and much more!

Are you missing out on making money through Instagram? No, we aren’t talking about buying ad space. We’re talking about creating a social media strategy that makes you money! In this episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan Fittin and Loren Lewis walk you through integrating Instagram with your sales funnel. Who is your target audience? Do they KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST you? Incorporate Instagram into your sales strategy today!

In this episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan Fittin and Loren Lewis discuss creating and organizing effective content strategies with Miruna Dragomir from Planable. Planable is a tool that helps marketers and content creators streamline their collaborative social media and content management processes. Tune in for insightful advice on organizing your content, designing your grid, auditing your workflow, and utilizing a platform like Planable!

In this episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan Fittin and Loren Lewis cover a few hot topics in digital marketing and the social sphere! They talk about how brands should address current events, Instagram Live Rooms, Pinterest Premiere, and online groups’ growing popularity. Don’t get left behind - check out this episode and stay up-to-date this March!

On this episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan Fittin and Loren Lewis chat about podcast advertising and why it should be important to you. Selling ad space isn’t just for the world’s most popular podcasts. Listen as Bryan and Loren talk about how you can get advertisements on your podcast and what they should look like. Check out this episode and start monetizing your podcast today!

In this week’s episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan Fittin and Loren Lewis chat with Stacie Bloomfield, founder of Gingiber. Stacie is an author, teacher, artist, and business owner - a true creative entrepreneur. After restructuring her business and making a few life changes, Stacie saw Gingiber grow rapidly. Doubling its revenue over the last year, Gingiber is now a million-dollar company, and it’s still growing! Tune in to hear Bryan, Loren, and Stacie talk about Gingiber, giving content away for free, prioritizing mental health, and accidentally watching Midsommar.

In this week’s episode of Rogue Creators, Brad Alexander makes his third appearance on the show! Bryan, Loren, and Brad sit down to discuss the hot trend that is landing pages. What is the purpose of a landing page? What makes for a quality landing page? Should we include video on our landing page? What’s the difference between a landing page and a website? Tune in to this episode to have all of your questions answered!

In this episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan and Loren talk about using content marketing to drive revenue. Many executives and traditionally-minded people are skeptical about content marketing being effective and producing an ROI, but we believe differently. Bryan and Loren discuss how engagement affects revenue, reaching early-stage customers, and utilizing analytics to create the most compelling content. Thanks for tuning in!

In this episode, Bryan and Loren talk with Wendy Covey, CEO and Co-Founder of TREW Marketing. For over 20 years, Wendy has been a marketing leader for the engineering design and manufacturing space. She hosts a podcast and penned her book Content Marketing, Engineered to help technical marketers interested in content marketing programs. Bryan, Loren, and Wendy chat about making shareable content, the value in repurposing content, Wendy’s fishing record, and much more! You do not want to miss out on this helpful episode!

In this episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan and Loren talk about getting executives involved in your brand’s content marketing strategy. They discuss how involving your CEO can benefit your brand, how to get your CEO involved, human connection, listening to your audience, and much more! Thank you for listening to this episode!

In this episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan and Loren talk about finding the right guests for your podcast. They take a deep dive into the importance of guests, how to find the best guests for your show, how to book guests, and why you need to be promoting your guests! If you host a podcast or are interested in hosting a podcast, you do not want to miss this episode!

In this episode, Bryan and Loren chat about six trends to follow in 2021. From social shopping to podcast advertising and Clubhouse, they keep you up to date with what you need to know about staying relevant this year. You do not want to miss out on this information!

On this episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan and Loren chat with Randy Wilburn. Randy has been podcasting for eight years, and he currently hosts the podcast “I am Northwest Arkansas.” They talk about promoting your community through podcasts, how to avoid burnout while podcasting, the 1994 Arkansas Razorback basketball team, and much more. You do not want to miss out on this inspiring episode!

On this week’s episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan and Loren chat with Jerra Nalley Toms about her company Leisurlist. Leisurlist is a one-stop-shop for everything you need to know about what to do in Northwest Arkansas. The successful media outlet posts regularly about new restaurants, coffee shops, bars, events, and entertainment happening all over the area. Tune in to hear Bryan, Loren, and Jerra talk about how Jerra transformed an email newsletter into a full-grown business! You do not want to miss out on this episode!

Welcome to another episode of Rogue Creators! This week, Bryan and Loren discuss everything you need to know about what is new in digital marketing in December 2020. They cover new features in Spotify, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Wistia. Plus, they talk about how the digital marketing world is shifting towards influencers and user-generated content. You do not want to miss out on this week’s episode!

www.goroguex.com On this week’s episode of Rogue Creators, Bryan and Loren talk with Daniel Stafford and Robby Switzer, co-founders of Shopanova. Daniel and Robby were commercial fishermen in Alaska before settling down and creating one of the country’s most successful e-commerce growth agencies. Their clients’ return on ad spend is so high that Daniel and Robby are almost embarrassed to advertise it to prospective clients for fear that people might think they are lying. Tune in to hear about commercial fishing, being a by-application-only agency, creating a company culture where it is safe to fail, and potential ad videos that Daniel and Robby say cross the line! As always, thank you for listening!

www.goroguex.com Daniel Quin of Look What I Did Podcast talks with Loren and Bryan about how you can monetize your podcast through strategically using Patreon.

www.goroguex.com Community looks different for every person, but is the root drive for many creators and consumers. In a world so dependent on social platforms to connect people, it can be a challenge to build authenticity with such communities. Listen in for creative ways you can build relationships while creating space for your audience to connect with you and each other through facebook groups.

This week, Bryan and Loren talk with Jesse Lane, founder of Branches Mission Lab. BML works with nonprofits and missions organizations to grow awareness and fundraising through digital marketing and fundraising strategies. Bryan, Loren, and Jesse discuss BML’s use of influencer marketing. Specifically, partnering nonprofits with influencers, getting rid of in-person events, tracking influencer marketing success, and much more. You don’t want to miss out on the awesome episode! www.goroguex.com

In this episode, Bryan and Loren sit down with their officemates Nate and Charlotte of Soapbox Influence to talk about influencer marketing. They discuss what brands need to know about influencer marketing, what makes a good influencer, and why a smaller following that is highly engaged is better than a large following that does not interact with the content you post. Don’t forget to stick around for the rapid-fire questions at the end!

www.goroguex.com In this episode, Bryan and Loren sit down with James King. James is one of the nation’s leading wine experts, and he owns King James Wine School, a fine wine shop in Bentonville, Arkansas. Bryan, Loren, and James chat about the importance of educating customers in order to make wine more approachable, standing out from the crowd, and using sabers to open bottles of champagne. As always, thank you for tuning in!

In this episode, Bryan and Loren talk with Hani Mourra, creator of Repurpose.io. Repurpose allows you to turn one piece of long-form content into 20-25 pieces of short-form content automatically. It syncs across multiple platforms and possesses an automatic post function, enabling you to schedule your promotional content for the week. Bryan, Loren, and Hani talk about the benefits of Repurpose, as well as the value of recycling long-form content by adapting it for short-form social media platforms. www.goroguex.com

Today we are revisiting an old, but an incredible episode with Jeremy Teff of Hickory Design Co. Within this episode, we discuss the foundations of good branding and what makes diehard fans of your brand. If you have not given this episode a listen, do it now. www.goroguex.com