The Telltale Podcast

Last week on Telltale, our guest Peta Ellis implored us to think globally and think far bigger about our businesses from the outset. Here's a reminder of what she said. "Are we working on something that's big enough? Let's stop playing around with the small, fun, great app ideas ... But are they working on something that's going to fundamentally change an industry or fundamentally change or transform an organisation." Funnily enough, just to the north of Australia - a fairly short flight away - are 650 million people who see Australia as the home to aspirational, premium and covetable products and services. And they are hungry for them. This week on the Telltale Podcast, Nathan Harvey, who is the founder of business consultancy Game Plan Asia and the former CFO of Flight Centre India and Singapore, gets real about the huge opportunities South-East Asia has on offer for Australian businesses. He discusses how businesses should hit the ground running in the ASEAN nations, the cultural nuances that affect the little things businesses need to be aware of and, of course, the importance building an audience for your business in the most effective and simple way. Hint: It just might be while they are here visiting Australia. Which they are, in droves. This is the season 1 finale of Telltale. Let's play. Music by bensound.com

In startup land, thinking big is the only option. Your idea, that thing you may be about to dedicate your time, money, life and love to, has to solve a big problem, reach a global market and dominate, lest it be cast aside, forgotten or worse - never seen at all. But it can be a lonely journey, and the power of people and connecting to ideas and networks can mean the difference between failure and triumph. It's something Peta Ellis, the chief executive officer of startup co-working space River City Labs, has seen over and over again. In this episode of the Telltale podcast, Peta discusses why startups need to think big about their product, their market and the amount of disruption they need to cause to ensure a foothold in their industry becomes the foundation for something far bigger. Join me, Kurt Sanders and co-host Brittanie Dreghorn as we find out what makes River City Labs tick. Let's start the show.

Deciding to pivot your product can be a difficult decision but once you do, embracing the change can deliver on your business plans. It's something Edda Hamar knows well. On today's episode of the Telltale podcast Edda Hamar, the founder of Undress Runways and clothes renting platform Undress, talks about how to build an audience, how sustainability can be a byproduct of great business ideas and about knowing when to pivot. In Edda's case, it was pivoting - or adding to - her business with a scaleable platform that leverages a niche audience. Edda discusses how she built an audience for her sustainable fashion show Undress Runways and how she has been able to leverage that audience (or not leverage them) in her clothes lending platform Undress.

No matter where you look the term "influencer marketing" is being tossed about with (sometimes reckless) abandon. But it doesn't always mean what you think it means, or do what you think it should. But if that's the case, were you using it correctly in the first place? This week on the Telltale podcast we speak with three of Brisbane's brightest influencer marketing minds: Mackayla Paul, the founder of influencer marketing business Social Stylings; Victoria Harrison, Managing Director and Co-Founder of influencer marketing agency The Exposure Co; and Danielle Lewis, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of influencer platform Scrunch. Our expert influencer marketing panel delves into what influencer marketing actually means for brands right now, and why the biggest audiences aren't always the best for brands wanting high engagement around their business objectives. We also take a look at the latest change to Instagram with its "Sponsored post" tag to be added to influencers' posts and whether it's something to be feared or embraced. Music courtesy of bensound.com.

You are the sum of the people who surround you, or so the saying goes, and it's as true in your personal life as it is in your business life. And there's nothing quite like live events to create a spark, a special connection that educates you, entertains you and redefines your philosophies on a much deeper level than a blog, an ad or even a podcast can manage. In this episode of the Telltale podcast, the founder and CEO of Interactive Minds, Louisa Dahl, talks about how marketers and small businesses can use events to provide huge value for audiences and how to put them along the path to converting into a client, or even a connection. Louisa discusses how Interactive Minds came to fruition, how the events grew from small gatherings in Brisbane to large congregations of digital marketers across several capital cities, and how topic-driven, educational content led to the digital marketing behemoth that is the Interactive Minds Digital Summit. She also delves into how data is driving decision making on a deeper level across marketing disciplines, and how businesses considering events can leverage it to make the right decisions about format, content and the numerous other factors that make a cracking live event. 

Yes, influencer marketing seems to be the buzzword du jour but the tactic is as old as the hills and thanks to social media is now bigger than ever. And https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-harrison-64293461/ (Victoria Harrison), co-founder of influencer marketing agency http://theexposure.co/ (The Exposure Co), is helping brands capture the eyeballs and hearts of social media audiences. In this episode of Telltale, Victoria Harrison discusses why influencer marketing has come back in a big way thanks to some extremely talented content creators building highly engaged audiences, and opening them up to help brands drive positive and meaningful engagement that drive results across the whole marketing funnel. Victoria talks about why brands need to start with strategy if they have any hope of getting a positive result out of their influencer marketing program, and how that boils down to objectives, audience and engaging the right influencer. We also delve into why companies that take the influencer marketing path need to trust the people they partner with to present and create content in the most most effective way so as to not damage their brand, their reputation or turn off their audience.

For many of us, venturing out of our comfort zones can be nerve-racking, anxiety-inducing stuff. For Ben Southall it's just another day at the office.   In this week's episode of the Telltale podcast we talk to Queensland's Adventurer-in-Residence (how's that for a job title?), http://bensouthall.com/ (Ben Southall). You may recognise Ben from that other incredible career, when Tourism Queensland secured his services for the Best Job in the World in 2009. Ben acted as an ambassador and caretaker of the islands along the Great Barrier Reef for a year. What a tough gig. But Ben's adventurous spirit and a sense that every day should test your curiosity as a human being in a vast, diverse world made him an intrepid globetrotter well before he was selected to lead one of the greatest game-changing tourism marketing campaigns of all time.

"Having a 'no dickhead' policy is hard to do because they're not always that obvious," says Mark Sowerby, Queensland's Chief Entrepreneur. But having one builds culture, and that's what today's podcast is all about. In this episode of Telltale, Mark Sowerby, the founder and former managing director of Blue Sky Alternative Investments, and Queensland's Chief Entrepreneur, discusses how he and his team at Blue Sky built an enviable culture and, with it, a fund management firm with $3 billion under its watchful eye.

They're rabble rousers who put men's mental health at the centre of their exceptionally planned campaigns, so how has brand voice and digital marketing channels helped http://spurlabs.com/ (Spur Projects) change the lives of so many? In this episode of the Telltale Podcast, http://www.williamstubbs.com/ (Will Stubbs) discusses how after five years of running men's mental health campaigns through the charity he co-founded, Spur Projects, he and his team are taking it to the next level through the launch of Spur Labs, an agency that designs campaigns for individuals and enterprises that want to create real social impact.

When you pull on a Citizen Wolf T-shirt, odds are it will be the most comfortable, best-fitting piece of casual fashion you'll ever own. Oh, it's also helping to save the world. Shamefully, fashion is the https://www.ecowatch.com/fast-fashion-is-the-second-dirtiest-industry-in-the-world-next-to-big--1882083445.html (second most polluting) industry on the planet - and most of us are guilty of feeding the beast. But Citizen Wolf is looking to change that. In this episode of Telltale we speak with the co-founder of sustainable fashion brand https://www.citizenwolf.com/ (Citizen Wolf), https://www.citizenwolf.com/pages/about (Eric Phu). The casual clothing brand makes custom, tailored, handmade outfits for its customers but also focuses on creating a sustainable business with a low environmental impact. But it didn't start that way. Eric explains that the problem Citizen Wolf aimed to solve was customising and tailoring clothing to ensure a proper fit and a long-lasting, high-quality garment. It just happened to be a byproduct, he says, that the brand's process focused on doing so sustainably. But it's an important point of difference.

In this episode of Telltale, four Brisbane social media experts delve into the organic versus paid social media landscape. Tyson Cobb of http://businessdepot.com.au/ (BusinessDEPOT), http://www.florentlemens.com/ (Florent Le Mens) of CQUniversity, Nicole Jensen of https://nicolejensen.com/ (Nicole Jensen Social Media) and http://thecontentdivision.com.au/about-us (Brittanie Dreghorn) of The Content Division wax lyrical on the "death"of organic engagement on social media, how to best use your budget on targeted social media ads, what you should never spend your money on in social media land and much more.

In this episode of Telltale, Angela Hirst, the founder of food startup entrepreneur space http://wanderingcooks.com.au/ (Wandering Cooks), discusses how her drive to be a part of the food industry led to what is now the biggest food innovation space of its kind in the world. When you wander into Wandering Cooks in South Brisbane, it's like being transported into a foodie heaven. A wide open outdoor event space is lined by beautiful wooden tables and a living, breathing green wall draws you in to a funky indoor bar area that screams sit down with friends and have a quiet one. But it's off to the side, in Wandering Cooks' commercial kitchen spaces, that Angela says the real magic happens. Ninety-eight businesses from bakers, catering operators through to health food entrepreneurs and cupcake makers call the commercial kitchen spaces their home, buoyed by the fact the huge startup costs that usually hinder food businesses before they begin do not apply.

A few years ago Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett, the co-founders of social enterprise Orange Sky Laundry, rigged up a van they named Suddsy with a few washing machines and went about washing and drying the clothes of Brisbane's homeless people. A few exploding washing machines, technical issues and a whole heap of man hours later, Orange Sky Laundry now has more than 80 volunteers in 12 vans that visit 122 locations across Australia each week. And the idea is spreading globally.

In this episode of Telltale, content and PR manager at Youfoodz Ashton Rigg discusses how the business has grown so incredibly fast and maintained an awesome brand, social media presence and voice to not just create customers, but Youfoodz fans.  Youfoodz's key differentiator is that their food is delivered fresh, not frozen, and they don't consider themselves a diet food program. Rather Youfoodz embraces #foodporn and social media to portray their products as almost luxurious but without a luxury price tag.

In this week's episode of the Telltale podcast, the co-founder and managing director of http://businessdepot.com.au/ (BusinessDEPOT), John Knight, discusses how his firm has put adding value and helping customers at the centre of everything they do, and how it has sprouted a business that was named Diversified Firm of the Year at the 2017 Australian Accounting Awards. Diversified is an appropriate term for BusinessDEPOT. The company, based in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley, has a pretty damn funky co-working space and a business collective that provides support and inspires entrepreneurs to think differently about business. It also has an incredible brand story and content marketing strategy that traverses the digital and physical world.

In this episode of Telltale we speak to Holly Tattersall, the founder and chief executive of http://womenindigital.org/ (Women in Digital) and http://digitaltalentco.com.au/ (Digital Talent Co). The multi-award-winning entrepreneur and business owner delves into the story of how her thought leadership and mentoring event Women In Digital was the catalyst behind her talent recruitment business Digital Talent Co. 

In this episode of Telltale, the CEO of QUT Creative Enterprise Australia Anna Rooke delves into why QUTCEA's partners and content are so focused on providing added value to creative industry startups, and how its live events, in particular Creative3 Brisbane, unleash the unique stories and fascinating people behind companies doing big things in the space.

In a world soaked with businesses "leveraging" causes, James Grugeon reckons the key is to be the cause. Let's discuss - over a beer. In this episode of Telltale, James Grugeon, the solo founder of craft brewer https://thegoodbeerco.com.au/ (The Good Beer Co), astutely and acutely dissects how his beer exists purely to do good, make change and start conversations about conservation. But this isn't purely a tale of altruism and fuzziness - James knows the discussions around charity can be heated and easily ignored. That's where Great Barrier Beer comes in, a beer developed with business and charity partners that has sparked a conversation nationally and globally.

On Telltale, Chris explains how the stories uncovered on Morgans 40 Under 40 has been able to connect him and his clients with the true characters behind different businesses. Investing in startup companies is not just a numbers game, Chris says, and it's often the dedication, passion and the compelling story behind a startup that gets it over the line from a venture capital perspective. Chris also discusses how his own taste for content marketing, in this case podcasting, has increased with the ongoing success of his Morgans 40 under 40 show. Chris no longer needs to invite people on to his show, and instead has a steady stream of guests lining up wanting to discuss their stories of startup hits, misses, failures and successes.

Real estate agents are among the least trusted professionals on the planet (according to http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/careers/australias-most-and-least-trusted-professions-politicians-are-on-the-rise-but-nurses-still-dominate/news-story/9fe9360588b7efd9be9f8e2344bec346 (Roy Morgan)), so how can content and storytelling save the reputation of those property people willing to do their marketing differently? In this episode of Telltale, Josh Cobb, the chief executive of digital marketing company http://stepps.com.au (Stepps), says it's all about authority, storytelling and creating a community.

In this episode of Telltale, the podcast for marketers who want to learn from fantastic storytellers, our guest is Jock Fairweather, the director and founder of Brisbane startup hub/co-working empire Little Tokyo Two. Jock shares his knowledge about why a compelling, audience-focused story is crucial for any startups and new businesses looking to gain attention, and why that narrative is directly linked to business growth and attracting seed funding. We also take a look at an incredible piece of content marketing from Hewlett Packard, a mini movie called The Wolf starring Christian Slater. We know your time is valuable so thanks for listening to Telltale.