Podcast appearances and mentions of ryan as

We Introduced ourselves using this goofy Question: What is the best anagram of your name? https://wordsmith.org/anagram/ Aaron: A Humane Ratio or Tea Mania Hour Ryan: Can Snarl Yo… I guess that means I’m prone to anger Tanea: They all sucked - I’ll say Neaat with 2 a’s (how about Blithe Arena or Lair Beneath) Lee: Generous Elf, Refuge en Sol What is the state of EOCs in your State and in your classroom, what are your students expected to do and how freaked out are you right now? Lee: our 9th graders are still being expected to take their EOC’s--it is a graduation requirement in TX. There is a lot of resistance statewide to even having kids take STAAR (our state exams). Our AP/IB kids are also sitting for their exams--what this will look like on my campus, I have no idea since we give over 3500 exams. IB has altered their exam format and assessed curriculum for this year while AP has not. Ryan: As of right now, state EOCs will still be administered; however, we have been told they will not be used for accountability purposes. With that being said, what is the purpose of administering them at all then? We have been off-and-on with in-person and virtual, and I’ve had students in and out of class due to quarantine, so I do not expect my students to do well. The very idea of giving EOCs after a year like this is ludicrous. Tanea: In my state it’s probably all over the place. My students are expected to do what they have done in the past. For my class, I think I’m fine. I’m done freaking out though. I’m just gonna keep the pace I’m going and try to have some fun. Aaron: In Massachusetts, our state exam required for graduation is called MCAS. Due to COVID ELA and Math are optional for grade 11 and grade 12, but required for grade 10. STEM MCAS is optional for grades 10-12, but required for grade 9. How are dealing with the EOCs during this pandemic year? How are you framing things for your students? Tanea: We are on pace and you will be okay and prepared if you come to class and stay engaged, do the work, and put in the time. But me? I’m over AP. Lee: business as usual as much as possible. We have pushed on forward since we started in August, but we are also hybrid so there’s that. We are on track to finish the curriculum by the time the AP exam rolls around in May. For my IB courses since the assessed curriculum has been altered, I’m glad that the exam is altered as well. The IB has made it possible for me to buy time to teach what WILL be assessed at a deeper level. Ryan: The classes are staying “on pace,” but that’s not to say the students are staying on pace with how much students have been quarantined. Because of the weirdness of the year, I wasn’t able to roll out some of the new things I wanted to try, such as storylining. The plan is to approach them how we’ve always approached them; by telling the students all we want is for them to try their best, but to make sure they know an EOC exam does not define them as a person. Aaron: We cut a bunch of stuff from honors biology and reorganized AP, but at the moment I’m not too stressed about EOCs at the moment. Storylining AP Biology probably has helped me a lot. I know we will address everything, but in our own way. I don’t feel behind. My AP and Honors Kids will be OK. I do wonder how this year will impact how I teach AP in 2 years. We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your Thoughts? Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We know that internet traffic doesn't operate in silos. No matter what method you are using to drive traffic and sales, there's always going to be a halo effect. Today Jon and Ryan chat about Google Shopping, but more specifically the effect it has on other channels. TRANSCRIPT: Jon: Hey, thanks for listening to Drive and Convert. Before we jump into this episode, just wanted to take a quick second and let you know that during this episode we had some recording issues and the audio quality is nowhere near where we would normally like to see it. But because the content was solid, we decided to keep it as is and get it out to you. Hopefully you can see through this less than perfect audio, but a big shout out to our editor, Josh, for helping make us sound pretty solid, despite all of the technical shortcomings. We do have some improvements in audio quality on the way, so thank you for listening and on to the show. Jon: Ryan, we know that internet traffic doesn't operate in silos. No matter what method you are using to drive traffic and sales, there's always going to be a halo effect. We've all heard this famous quote from 120 years ago, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don't know which half." That is still true today, even with all of the attribution and digital advertising tracking we're able to do. But the good news is that with all of the data we have these days, it allows us to know that there is a halo effect and to know how much that halo effect is worth to each brand. I was recently checking out a presentation you gave [Aclavio 00:01:44] and you showed data for some real clients that blew my mind and I actually just found out one of them is a shared client of ours, which made me even more excited. Ryan: Yeah, maybe some of that's due to you. Jon: Hey, I'm not going to take credit for this, but the data was a comparison of revenue and performance before and after implementing Google Shopping. I'm talking 1800% increases in revenue in both of these cases. Tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars in newly found revenue. Now, it seems to me that Google Shopping itself didn't account for most of this revenue gain, but rather that it could be attributed to the halo effect of implementing Google Shopping correctly. Today I wanted to chat about Google Shopping, but more specifically the effect it has on other channels. Ryan: Oh, man. It is such a unique topic that doesn't get brought up enough. I'm exciting to really dive into this. I don't even necessarily know if halo effect is a technical term that anybody really uses. It's just kind of how we refer to it internally at Logical Position and what we're seeing. Jon: But I do think it makes sense though. You said halo effect originally when we started talking about the topic for today and I immediately got it. Here you are inventing another term, perhaps, that makes a lot of sense. Ryan, tell me. What is the benefit of understanding the halo effect of Google Shopping? Maybe we just start there. Ryan: As you're understanding conceptually, and most I think business owners, marketing teams understand that attribution paths generally look like bowls of spaghetti at this point in time, as people can really easily do research and understand what they want from a product as they're finding it and then coming back to business that they had maybe found it somewhere on. What I've learned, through the last decade plus in digital marketing and a lot of that in eCommerce, is that I'm weird in the eCommerce transaction space. I have a very linear conversion path. I see it. I click it. I buy it. Every company on the planet can track my conversion. It's just very simple. If I've bought from you, you know exactly how I found you. Maybe I don't do enough research or I do enough research before I actually go search for the product. I haven't done a lot of analysis on myself, but that's not normal. What's more normal is my wife buying something, where she'll do research over probably a week and a half and she's got a pretty low threshold for extensive research. If she's going to buy something for $25, she does a decent amount of research to make sure that that's the best deal. But she'll click on multiple shopping ads, multiple social ads, multiple things throughout the process as she goes back and forth between different sites to figure out where she should buy something. Through that process, what we've seen is that the Google Shopping click, for somebody that is more normal like my wife, is how people are originally going to find you, but it's not how they're, at the end of the day, going to buy from you. It's more of a discovery tool for a lot of people because Google is a research entity for most people in finding the product on eComm. They're very good at it. Google is just phenomenal at product discovery and helping people figure out what they need or want. Knowing that, most business owners still look at Google Shopping based on last click, because that's what Google Ads has set them up for. Google Ads tracking by default is last click. You can change it to be linear. You can change it to all these other things, which can make sense, but I don't necessarily think it's bad to be looking at that way, but I think you have to understand as a business owner or marketing team that it's doing other things and that attribution conversation... I've been in digital marketing for over a decade, just like you, and attribution just makes my brain hurt. Jon: Yeah, there's too many models. None of them are ever accurate. Ryan: Yeah. You conceptually know it's there, but you never really want to be like, "Let's really dive into attribution today." That has never come out of my mouth and probably never will. Jon: I'm pretty nerdy, but it's never come out of my mouth either. Ryan: Yeah. That just doesn't sound fun. No. No, not going to do it. The halo effect is something we've seen and it's an easy way to explain the fact that attribution is happening and we want to be aware of it and know it's there and that helps direct a lot of our goal setting, I think. Knowing that, from a very simple perspective, the more you spend in Google Shopping, the more the other channels on your site are going to increase even if you're not doing anything else to increase them. The easiest example, I think it happened in May of this year. We were in the middle of COVID and pretty strict lockdown at that time. This company is a B2B company and they came to me I think through a partner of ours and we were talking just general strategy and marketing, what were they trying to accomplish as a business. They sold on Amazon. They sold on Walmart. They sold on Ebay. They sold on their website, but it was very small. They didn't really care about the website much at all and they had an agency that had told them that buying on Google was the best place for them to be, which the Google Shopping actions. At that time it was I think they were the 12% mark, based on their product mix. Then, they had another agency tell them that, "Hey, your product makes us too big. You need to shrink it down because it'll never work with that many SKUs." So, they shrunk down their product mix on their website. All these things are coming together. Before they kind of have to look at their company now like a before LP and after LP because it was so dramatic, the change. Their website, in the month of April, did $16,000 in revenue and their buy on Google entity did $34,000. They combined did $50,000 in total revenue from Google and their website and they paid $4,000 for that buy on Google, $34,000. That was their total cost of doing that. By no means bad. There's not many business owners that would be like, "Ah, that's a bad idea. Don't take it." When I told them, I was like, "I think you're leaving a lot of money on the table," because we as an agency have done a lot of pretty advanced analysis on the buy on Google entity. When you run that, generally you're losing about 40% of the volume that you could be getting if you didn't use buy on Google. So, I just said, "It's probably worth a test. It's a very small piece of your business at this point. Let's just go. Give us three months. We'll go with Google Shopping instead of buy on Google and we'll see what happens. If I'm crazy and it's not more volume for you, you can very easily just flip the switch and go back to buy on Google." They thought, "Okay. That's a reasonable test for us. If the website evaporated tomorrow, our business doesn't materially change. So, let's try that." We decided to start May 1. Takes us a week or so to get campaigns up and running, but what happened in the month of May surprised even me, and I've seen lots of things in the digital marketing space. The first month, getting out of the gate, we weren't hyper aggressive. We were getting things in position. We spent a total of $2500 in Google Shopping for this business. They're a multi-million dollar business, so $2500 still wasn't a big number. The data in May, the site did $192,000 in revenue as a whole. That $2500 of spend was given attribution credit in Google Analytics of $115,000. So, they spent less, $1500 less, and they gained a 3X increase in revenue on their Google Shopping by moving from shopping actions to shopping on Google. Which is good and that return is not normal. Nobody should ever reach out to me and say, "I expect you to get that type of return." It would just be- Jon: Well, now that you say it, Ryan. Ryan: ... Yeah, it's out there in the public. Don't say that that's going to happen. It can happen, lightning can strike, but what was really surprising to them is they, on their organize traffic and analytics, they weren't doing any SEO by the way. Their organic traffic, their channel and analytics in the month of April did $10,000 of their $16,000 in revenue. In the month of May, again no SEO, that organize channel and analytics did $45,000. It was up 350%, from $10,000 to $45,000 with no SEO. That's an extreme example of that halo effect, where you spend more in Google Shopping. They find you. They didn't convert through that Google Shopping click, otherwise it would've gotten the attributed revenue and analytics. They came back and bought later, after doing research through your organic links and your organic rankings within Google. Same thing happened on direct traffic. They didn't do any other external marketing and their direct traffic went up 250%. Their email went from, I think, two or three clicks to having $4500 in revenue. Again, no changes in those things to justify that type of increase, but just starting to spend on Google Shopping. The numbers are cool. It's an extreme example that shows the value beyond just looking at the results in Google Analytics or even Google Ads, but just having that understanding that there is more going on. When I'm looking at my businesses... and I talk to business owners regularly and tell them that I am a fairly aggressive marketer, a fairly aggressive business owner, I want to win... I will spend to break even on Google Shopping all day long. It's not exciting for business owners to hear this from me because every business owner usually goes into business to make money and to have profit, but when somebody's looking for your product on Google Shopping and they haven't put another brand or competitor along with that product search, they're a free agent. That's going to go generally to the more aggressive marketer. If I have a competitor that is shooting for profit on Google Shopping and I can break even, I can be more aggressive on there. I can pay more per click than a competitor, so I can get that traffic. I can get that buyer to my site and I'm going to have a good product. Part of my model is I have to have repeat business and lifetime value, but even if I didn't, by spending more on Google Shopping and breaking even, I know about this halo effect and I know that I'm going to get profit from my organic rankings and my direct traffic will increase. So yeah, I may not see the profit from my spending $1,000 to get $2,000. That may not be profitable for many businesses, but understanding that there is profit coming is a pretty big light bulb for a lot of business owners. And a lot of agencies don't talk about this because it is a little more advanced and somebody that's only been in the space for six months to a year may not have understood that this is there. Jon: Well, and it's harder to track, right? Because you can't give a straight answer and just say you tell a client halo effect and they're like, "Well, I'm doing a lot of marketing things." So, any of those could've been the halo effect. Jon: Let me ask you this, what are some of the common challenges to understanding these halo effects? Obviously, you have to have the right data, right? And some attribution. But where do we go from there? Ryan: Step one is just knowing it's there. Okay. If we know it's happening, then I can go look for the data to help explain what the magnitude of it is. I kind of go back to GI Joe growing up, knowing is half the battle. Once you at least conceptually understand that it's going to be there, then we can start looking for examples of it. I keep my analytics investigations pretty simple. I'm by no means one of the experts at Logical Position. There are people that can make my brain hurt in attribution and analytics, so I like looking at the attribution tabs within analytics and seeing, okay, I want to know what is it looking like as far as last click and assisted conversions? I'll click into the attribution and assisted path portion of the conversions tab and I'll click on the top for Google Ads. Then, I want to see the campaign names and I want to filter for campaigns that are shopping. In Logical Position's structure, it's pretty easy. I can just put in the keyword shop and it'll find all the shopping campaigns. Then, I can easily sort for assisted conversions. I can sort for last click. So, people just have to basically understand analytics, by default... and probably 99% plus analytics accounts are going to be setup by the default stuff... it's last non-direct. If somebody clicks on a shopping ad and then comes back later that day, tomorrow, whenever, directly by typing the URL into the browser, that attribution or that credit for the sale is going to go to the channel that was right before that direct. You look in there and you can see, okay, if my shopping campaign did $10,000 in revenue that analytics is telling us it got credit for, it did this work to do this, as far as a last click attribution, you'll see right next to that what did that shopping campaign do for assisted conversions. It's basically telling me, as a business owner, if that shopping campaign wasn't there, if I didn't spend that money, I would for sure lose the $10,000 that it drove in analytics. That would just not be there probably. I can't say for sure, but the majority of that would just evaporate. But what you'll see in assisted is often in shopping, that assisted conversion number is much bigger. It assists on a lot more sales than it closes. That's just the patterns of people shopping and doing more research and making it so easy to click into a site, see what it is, go back to Google, search for another site, see what they're doing. It's very easy. People are using tabs a lot, especially me. I'm a tab-a-holic. I have multiple tabs open as I'm researching. But that assisted conversion, that's where it's just pushing the process forward and something else in analytics is getting credit. So, if you take away that shopping campaign, there's a lot of other revenue that's going to be impacted. Will 100% of that assisted conversion revenue go away? Probably not. But there's no reason you'd want to take that away and you want to keep emphasizing it. By spending more in shopping, there's a lot more of this assisted conversion revenue coming, which is where you're seeing the evidence of this halo effect in the process. Then, you can also do... I like looking at the conversion paths. There is a conversion path report in Analytics and I like going by source medium so I can see if it's Google Ads. You can even get into some of the campaigns and finding out where the campaigns are in the process. This is more advanced, so a lot of people probably aren't ever doing this, but you can download it into Excel and pivot against it and you can actually see which channels is it helping the most, what's getting the credit often, is it coming back through organic from the shopping campaign, is it coming back from an email. Maybe abandoned cart emails are a big deal for your brand. You can see a lot of that and who's getting credit in Analytics. Jon: This is my favorite view in Analytics, by the way, because it really tells you were people are dropping off in the funnel, how they came in. It really shows you a great view of what are the different challenge points along the way, based on where people came from. Ryan: Oh, yeah. When you're looking at it, where are you seeing for most businesses? What channel's often falling off that you're able to help with or that you're able to direct them to and like, "Hey, they seem to be breaking right here." Jon: Usually what we see is when an ad campaign is setting some type of expectations that aren't being met on the site, people then start clicking around a little bit. Maybe they end up on a product detail page eventually that doesn't align with that expectation the ad set. So, the messaging there is usually the case, where the alignment is off between the two. But also, it's just really helpful to understand, from a purely conversion standpoint, where people are leaving the funnel who maybe in come in via organic or non-attributable methods. The whole point there is just what's causing people to bounce at that particular page or point in the process? Ryan: Yeah, and if you can minimize that friction, then conversions go up. Jon: Exactly. Ryan: And Jon looks even smarter. Dang it. Jon: Well, it's easy when you drive good traffic and you have all these halo effects for me to solve the problems and move forward from there. This has been great, Ryan. Anything else that you wanted to touch on on this that we haven't yet today? Ryan: I just think it's important, if you're going to get more aggressive in shopping, and you also are doing SEO, you have to understand that, okay, the SEO work is probably doing good, but if there's a huge jump it's probably not necessarily 100% attributable to the SEO work being done. That's where this does get really messy. You don't want to stop doing SEO because you're doing shopping stuff, but understand that there's going to be a bump and you're going to enjoy that, but there's a lot of things probably contributing to that. Just be aware that there may be some more analysis needed, but also don't get analysis paralysis. Just understand there's a lot of good things happening. You'll find getting aggressive in Google Shopping, knowing that there are some side benefits that you're getting, that even if you can't put a number on it you know it's going up. So, breaking even on Google Shopping on non-brand searches is never a bad thing if you have some lifetime value and you just want to get market share and be more aggressive than your competitors. Because there's very few companies out there that are willing to consistently break even on some of that traffic. And a lot of companies aren't breaking out brand and non-brand shopping, which still surprises me that companies aren't wanting to do that. If you've got a campaign that is just general shopping and if you can see search queries so that you're not using a smart shopping campaign, you should go in there and see how much of your shopping revenue is actually people looking for your brand. I think too few business owners look at that. If you're getting more of your shopping revenue from brand and that's what's causing the results that you're seeing that are exciting you, you've already done the work for those companies and for those searches. You've got the brand you've built up. You need to separate that goal off on its own and you're not going to be able to set a goal specifically around what do you want to get for your brand search, as far as a return. It's going to fluctuate with things that you can't control from a Google Ads perspective. Google search results pages being tested and changed, competitors coming in and out of the market place. The brand is just going to fluctuate. It's going to be profitable, unless you have an odd brand name that is more like a Kleenex, when people just search for the product you come up because of the way your brand is named. You can be assured that your brand search is going to be profitable. Put them in their own shopping bucket and in the non-brand is really where you set your goal. That's where you decide, hey these people don't know me yet. They're going to find me. If I'm breaking even, if you're in certain competitive industries on Google, baskets, there's a lot of money to be lost on that first order because lifetime value is so high. So, sometimes you may lose money on that first order on non-brand searches, but unless you're tracking that data you won't necessarily know what you could or should be losing to get that customer, what you could be shooting for to get market share. That segmenting is important when you are pushing in shopping and you're doing that because of some of the halo effect. Jon: Yeah. If there's one big lesson I've learned from you recently, and you keep hammering this point home so hopefully everyone else is learning this as well, but it's your goal on spending with ads, it's okay to just break even because of the customer lifetime value you're unlocking there. There's other things besides just return on ad spend or just revenue that comes from that initial order from those ads. There's value in emails. There's value in all these other things that somebody knowing about your brand now and having actually validated your brand by giving you revenue. There's a lot of value here outside of just getting a high return on that ad spend. As much as that should be your goal, it's also okay to buy that first customer by breaking even there. Ryan: Well, yeah. The thing you've talked to me about, enlightened me on, about the post-conversion CROs, things I never thought about. If you're breaking even right before but you've got a great process after the fact to just increase sales immediately after a sale, wow. You've got the halo effect on the front end as well and then you've got additional revenue coming back through a better conversion process to keep that a happy customer. There's just so many wonderful things that happen when you are pushing more traffic as well. Most business owners, I need to tell you and preach to you, don't be timid. Jon: Yeah. Well, Ryan, I definitely feel more comfortable today about knowing half of the money I'm spending on advertising is wasted, but also understanding that I now know that halo effect is helping to ease some of that spend and pretty excited about that. Thanks for walking us through some examples and showing us the value here in doing some of these digital marketing things like Google Shopping, that you might not see a huge return on ad spend immediately, but are increasing your revenue overall. Thanks for your time today, Ryan. Ryan: Oh, yeah. Thanks for the questions.

Ryan Hendrickson is a service member in the Navy, Air Force, and Army, author of Tip of the Spear, and current Green Beret. Ryan was chatting with us while on his deployment in Afghanistan. His book details his life serving through three branches of the military and eventually becoming a Green Beret. One specific deployment in Afghanistan searching for improvised explosive devices (IED), Ryan tells us how he was injured stepping on one which ended up becoming life changing. Through multiple surgeries, skin grafts, and extensive physical therapy with his PT Johnny Owens, Ryan was able to walk and return to Afghanistan. Check out his book of his journey back to battle Tip of the Spear. QUOTES “You don’t control life and you don’t control death. Everything in between are blank pages.” – RYAN “You don’t really fail… unless you adopt a victimization mentality that you’re a failure.” – RYAN “As people would quit, I would feed off that weakness because I’m still here.” – RYAN “You’re not just working on a patient or a client… you’re changing lives.” – RYAN “You’re getting guys and girls back into the fight regardless of what fight it is.” – RYAN PARTING SHOT “Refuse to become a victim of circumstance because life is full of them.” – RYAN

Ryan Hendrickson is a service member in the Navy, Air Force, and Army, author of Tip of the Spear, and current Green Beret. Ryan was chatting with us while on his deployment in Afghanistan. His book details his life serving through three branches of the military and eventually becoming a Green Beret. One specific deployment in Afghanistan searching for improvised explosive devices (IED), Ryan tells us how he was injured stepping on one which ended up becoming life changing. Through multiple surgeries, skin grafts, and extensive physical therapy with his PT Johnny Owens, Ryan was able to walk and return to Afghanistan. Check out his book of his journey back to battle Tip of the Spear. QUOTES “You don’t control life and you don’t control death. Everything in between are blank pages.” – RYAN “You don’t really fail… unless you adopt a victimization mentality that you’re a failure.” – RYAN “As people would quit, I would feed off that weakness because I’m still here.” – RYAN        “You’re not just working on a patient or a client… you’re changing lives.” – RYAN “You’re getting guys and girls back into the fight regardless of what fight it is.” – RYAN PARTING SHOT “Refuse to become a victim of circumstance because life is full of them.” – RYAN 

Links Fierce Marriage Fierce Marriage podcast On Facebook On Twitter On Instagram About Ryan & Selena Frederick We’ve got an awesome interview ready for you because Ted talked to Ryan and Selena Frederick, the founders of Fierce Marriage. Fierce Marriage is an online marriage platform., which includes a blog, a podcast, social media channels, and several books written by Ryan and Selena. They’ve been married for over 15 years and live in Tacoma, Wa., with their two daughters. Let’s dive into Ted’s interview with Ryan and Selena. Interview  How did you first meet? Ryan: I remember it so clearly—the first time I saw Selena was in 8th grade. My mom was an educator and was interviewing at a Christian school. I went along to her interview and walked into the gym and saw Selena and my stomach dropped. I went to the school and didn’t talk to her for a year. We became friends and then it turned in a romance. The summer after our sophomore year, we started dating and dated for four years. We got married pretty young—20 and 21. In hindsight, it was young, but I couldn’t wait any longer. What were the first surprises once you got married? Ryan: As a young Christian guy in that generation of “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”, I’m thinking sex was going to be everything I want and more. But you get married and your expectation has to adjust. That was the biggest reality check for me. Selena: It’s learning to manage those expectations as a wife. But you can’t uphold all those things and carry it all. And that’s OK. We were learning to do this together, so we had to grow in our intimacy. It’s gotten better with time. Ryan: I would say to the young couple listening that it’s just the beginning of a long adventure of learning to love each other. What were the marriages like in your families? Selena: I came from a divorced home. My parents divorced when I was about eight. So I didn’t really know what a marriage looked like. I heard the arguing and messes of my parents and saw the high and low but not the in-between. Ryan: My parents have been together my whole life. They’re amazing, but not necessarily healthy in every season. My dad had two ultimatums for me growing up—no tattoos and don’t have sex before you get married. So marriage has always had a level of importance in my own mind. Selena: I grew up in the church and it was monumental to my growth and view of marriage. I knew once I got married I wouldn’t consider a divorce. What made you want to pour into marriages? Ryan: I would call it a quarter life crisis. About 7 years ago, I was working with our web development company—designing and writing code myself. We launched the business 10 years ago and had gotten these clients that I thought would be the Holy Grail. I thought we were living the dream but I was working long hours and hated it. I started wondering why I was doing it. I was OK at it, but not great at it. I started asking God what He had for us and we wanted to do it God’s way. I had also done a lot of work with publishers and started wondering what if we started a marriage ministry. We had also seen a lot of our friends go through their first five or seven years of marriage and divorce. We started asking why ours was working and we wanted to be together still. As clear as day, it was just Jesus. There’s no other reason we’re together. But knowing Christ and how we’re loved in Him is why we’re still together. We realized there’s something to be said in this space. We don’t know it all, but what we do know we’ll share openly and transparently. I spent a month or so building out the plan and we launched a few months later. Why do you think some of your friends were getting divorced? There’s a lot going on before marriage that could be brought in as baggage. If you’ve had other sexual partners and Christ hasn’t helped you walk through that, for example. The theme is the softness of heart and respect for each other that comes from wanting to hear God’s word and bend my will to it. It’s why we say it always comes back to Jesus. I don’t know how to make sense of love outside of Chris. When I look at Him it all becomes clear and the standard. Christ empowers us to be able to love each other and have the hard conversations in the marriage covenant. If we’re not able to really walk through things from pre-marriage with Christ, it’s hard to continue walking together. We build walls and don’t want to be vulnerable. What do you say to someone listening who isn’t a believer and is hearing things like ‘covenant’ and ‘Jesus is Lord’? For someone who doesn’t know what it means to love Jesus, it’s the grace of God that you’re listening to this. This is an opportunity to start that journey. Whether you call yourself a Christian or not, we don’t assume you know what it means to experience the true Gospel. We do them a disservice if we don’t at least create a framework where they can start getting answers to their questions. In our book we released this last April, we spent a whole chapter on Gospel, Love and Covenant. We found that couples who understand truth about love and covenant will always have the behavior they want. But if we just try to give them tips for the behavior, that’s just behavior modification. At the core of it, our mission is to point people to Christ. What differences do you see in millennial marriages? The biggest thing we always say is: step one is to not assume what people believe or their worldview. Step two is to not be afraid to point them to Jesus. People want a relationship that lasts for life and is transparent. And we know how to get that and it’s Jesus. What are the things you hear millennials are struggling with? One of them would be finding true community where you’re known and knowing others. Having those people you can do life with and be transparent is so important. The second is to understand longevity and stability with a true long-term vision in mind. It allows you to table issues and rely on your covenant. Let love mature. The third one is our generation can tend to get scared of conflict. It’s why we want to live on Instagram. It’s mainly because we haven’t been taught how to resolve conflict so we walk away from it. Talk about being married and working together. How do you make that work? Selena: We’ve become a pretty good team. Ryan handles a lot of the day-to-day work of keeping Fierce Marriage running. I handle our children and the day-to-day home life, but we’re both trying to bring Jesus into these situations. Ryan: It’s understanding that we’re a team even though she’s not on a laptop next to me. It’s learning generosity and to be generous with your appreciation. Me working from home has been another transition for us. Bt seeing it as an opportunity to really serve each other. I’ll come down and relieve her if the kids are acting up. Your one simple thing for this week: Ryan: Fight naked—literally and figuratively. It’s hard to get mad when someone is disrobing and figuratively don’t go into a fight with your armor on, stay vulnerable. Selena: Find an adventure you’ve been wanting to do and do it together. It doesn’t have to be big; it could be finding a park or a new trail. Show Closing Thanks for joining us for the Married People Podcast. We hope you’ll subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and leave a review – they help us make the podcast better. We want to hear from you. Share with us on Facebook, Instagram or our site.  If you want more resources, check out Your Best Us.

Ryan Daniel Moran was a preacher-in-training turned entrepreneur. He moved to Austin with little to nothing to his him name, and launched Amazon businesses that he eventually sold for over 8 figures. Ryan did us all a solid – really – by documenting and sharing his journey. The Freedom Fast Lane Podcast helps entrepreneurs at every stage of their business, from startup to exit. In this interview, Ryan shares his top three “mistakes”, or as discussed, things he wishes he did differently as he looks back. He openly shares his story and journey, in the hopes that other entrepreneurs do things to maximize the value of their business (and life). Through Ryan's conference, Capitalism.com, he helps bring like minded entrepreneurs and experts in the ecommerce space together to build brands and businesses that last. While he may be a preacher-school-dropout, Ryan still has a way of delivering the goods when it comes to advocating doing the right thing…so good things follow. Episode Highlights: [1:25] Who is Ryan Daniel Moran? [4:38] Is it better to buy or build? [6:43] Ryan thinks we're in a “seller's market” [8:05] What are Ryan's “mistakes” and what would he do differently. [11:30] Does it matter if you like your buyer? Does likability matter? [13:52] The likable buyer story…who won out over an all cash buyer. [15:12] Mistake # 1 – playing the short term. [17:25] Mistake #2 – telling people what to do and diminishing their talent. [18:51] Ryan shares his staffing team numbers. Inhouse and remote. [20:06] Mistake #3 – Ryan wishes he spent more money on advertising, customer acquisition, and brand building. [22:51] Why is a 100% Amazon business worth less than a Shopify store? [24:00] What channels would Ryan expand to – beyond Amazon.com [25:30] The first “nut you have to crack” [27:02] Ryan disagrees with Joe! [30:40] Brands last, product businesses don't. [31:06] Should you be thinking about a possible exit at all times? [33:05] What gives Ryan the “goosies”. Ok…he didn't say goosies, that was JLo. [33:58] Know what you will do with your money before you sell! [36:10] Should you plan your next brand before you sell, or stay focused? [39:29] How do you get more Ryan Daniel Moran Transcription: Mark: So if I could go back in time I would do a number of things different than I did in my entrepreneurial past especially before I sold my first company. And I have told you the story before that when I sold my first company I sold it for $165,000 only to find out that a year later the same person who bought the company got an offer for 350,000 without changing anything about the business at all. So … and there's a lot of regrets I have by not going back in time obviously I think anybody would like to have that ability. Joe: I'm glad it's that instead of saying you're bringing me on as a business partner. Mark: Well, you're here so I can't … I might not say that to your face. Only when you're on vacation and I have somebody else filling in as guest host. Joe: Well, Jason doesn't listen to the podcast, let's talk about him. Mark: Right. Exactly. Joe: Conversation … no regrets there. Yes and Daniel Ryan Moran was our guest and he talked about some of the regrets or as we called the mistakes because that's how he learns in life as many of us do by making mistakes and in trying not to make them over again. Fascinating … fascinating yes they're our podcast today Mark. I don't know if you recall … if you were there for his presentation at Smart Record over the last summer in Austin but he got up on stage and he spoke for 60 minutes with no script, no PowerPoint presentation and everybody was captivated. And the information that he has in it … volume of entrepreneurs that he works with and the velocities, and the approach, and everything about the way he does business and the way he literally … I mean not literally, preaches business. Okay, he's a … he was going to be a preacher so I want to say preacher school dropout. He chose to be an entrepreneur instead but the way that he talks about things is spot on with the way that we see the most successful entrepreneurs run their businesses. They focus on a number of different things and they implement those and maybe someday if they choose to exit they're in a great position to do so. Ryan talks about all of that including his own two exits that combined totaled over eight figures. Mark: Daniel Ryan Moran, same Moran that comes from Freedom Fast Lane right? Joe: Freedom Fast Lane Podcast where he talks about his story. You know five years ago he had a car and he drove to Austin, Texas and he decided he was going to launch an Amazon business and record his journey. And his journey is not over yet. It's on a new adventure, a different larger adventure but his journey kind of came to a new chapter after selling the last Amazon business that he had. But he talks about it all the way through on the Freedom Fast Lane Podcast. He got tired of seeing people do things the wrong way and learned ways to cheat at conferences and started to do his own conferences through capitalism.com and bringing good like-minded people together that build strong foundation long term value businesses and he talked about all of that today. Mark: Fantastic I can't wait to hear it. Let's go to it. Joe: Hey, folks, it's Joe Valley from Quiet Light Brokerage and today I've got somebody that a lot of you might know already. His name is Ryan Daniel Moran. Ryan, welcome to the show. Ryan: Joe thanks about having me in, let's make some magic. Joe: Listen I was having a barbecue last night we had some friends over and this is an absolute true story and one of them is an entrepreneur wannabe. She's in the corporate world and she bought some Amazon products and she tried something and it didn't work but she's going to go at it again someday and she's grilling me … she always asked me how things are with Quiet Light Brokerage and she starts asking about the podcast. I said yeah we're doing all right and hey have you ever talked to Ryan Daniel Moran just like that and here you are today we're talking to you. You're kind of a little celebrity I should say … little, you're kind of a celebrity; a rock star maybe for this … look it was a 50 year old woman. She's rather attractive and she knows who you are. Ryan: Well you know it's like my ideal market is attractive 50 year old women. We all know that that's the market I'm after right now. So tell her to give me a … maybe call me maybe. Joe: She loves listening and the fact that you're first and foremost helping people that's what she loves about it. She says someday she's going to get back to it but she loves listening and she's going to take that leap at some point in the future so good for you. And listen as I said prior to the intro we don't do fancy intros. So if you would … I know it's hard to talk about yourself but give folks a little bit of background about yourself; who you are, where you came from, and what you're all about. Ryan: Yeah. I invest in and I start physical products brands. And the way that I got to that point was actually as a pastoral student back in 2006. I built my first website and started my first business in between high school and college on my shared dial-up computer in my living room and hand coded websites using raw HTML in a software program called Dreamweaver. If you are old enough to remember Dreamweaver and you know it well. So what's funny is we hear a lot of people who are talking about building and … or selling businesses thinking about the good old or either like all the opportunity is gone now or the good old days have these … man, I was hand coding websites in Dreamweaver on a dial up computer. Do you realize how much more opportunity we have now being able to build websites on platforms and sell products on Amazon? So the opportunities are way way bigger now but I was just trying to find a way to supplement my … what I expected to be $30,000 a year salary as a pastor. Now fast forward a few years I did not finish the pastoral route for reasons that would be probably best left on a second podcast that you have Joe that's going to be called quiet skepticism. Joe: Yeah, some kind of … something where we're helping people, we're guiding them off that path right. Ryan: Exactly; quiet go to the light we'll call it. And I did not finish that route and I became a full time entrepreneur. So I was in really involved in the internet marketing space for many years until I really decided or realized I hated that crowd. I didn't like hanging out with those people. So I was like what a conference where those people hung out and I took the skill set that I had from Search Engine Optimization from Pay-Per-Click Marketing from Email Copyrighting and I applied it to physical products brands. And I've had a couple of different exits in the physical products world and now I'm an investor in physical products businesses because it's what I know. It's who I can help the most. And I think it's one of the biggest upside is in the market right now whether you are selling or building a business or buying a business, I think there's a tremendous amount of white space with the transition from big brands into more what I call micro brands mostly Internet based that's where I see the biggest opportunities right now. So that's a … I've had a couple of exits and the total over billed were eight figures in cash exchange. I still own a minority stake in a few of those businesses and have a portfolio business but my primary focus is investing in physical products brands and I have a media company for entrepreneurs at capitalism.com. Joe: Okay, so when it comes to investing people look at buy versus build. In fact, we had a podcast recently with our newest broker Walker Diebel who wrote about a book called Buy Versus Build and there's a really long subtitle and it was a … it quickly rocketed to the top 10 podcasts that we have. And you're talking about investing, do you think it's better to buy versus build at this point in your career or would you recommend somebody that's just starting out to scrape some dollars together and bootstrap something and start? Ryan: Yeah, it's better for me to invest but it wasn't better for me five years ago. In 2013 when I took my first sale on Amazon.com for a physical product I know business investing in physical product brands. I know businesses buying physical products brands now … back then I was buying a lot of websites. And you know what I was buying Joe? I was buying search engine friendly websites with email lists … social media followings weren't this big back then, but with audiences, followings targeting each market that sold affiliate products; because that was what I knew. Joe: That's what you knew. Ryan: I would have been a lot of people who are like looking for the system and that you are the system. You are the machine. And your machine is unique to you. So applying your machine to different opportunities is where value is created. So for me, I'm … at this point, I have more upside as an investor because I already have all the retail connections. I have the connections to sell businesses. I'm connected to other investors. That's my own skill set but the entrepreneur who I invest in is way better suited to start that company than I am and that's what capitalism is. Where I get the value that I bring in combination of the value that you bring and when we bring them together it's greater than the sum of our arts. And so for me yeah I'm … I have more value as an investor but to say like it's better I think would be a mistake. Joe: You know I think you're absolutely right. It depends upon the individual's situation without a doubt. I bought and I've sold and I've invested as well and I can say each were successful in their own way and each were very very difficult in their own ways as well. You'll learn along the way from the mistakes mostly. Ryan: If I could Joe I will add though, I mean globally I think we're in a seller's market. I think we're looking at buying versus selling if I give it a binary choice I do think we're in a seller's market right now. Joe: I have to agree with you 100%. When we have a good quality listing come … I had a conversation with someone this morning who wants to buy. And he's a referral from somebody who already bought and this guy is doing great so I want to do what he's doing. And the response is look when a great listing comes along you need to be prepared. So the more listings you look at the more you're going to know the right shit when it comes along. And you need to be able to act fast because you and a dozen other people are doing the same thing and they're going to make an offer on that business. So I agree it's a seller's market but at the same time, the multiple still don't get pushed too high. It's still the buyer to decide that. You and I as sellers, as brokers can pick whatever number we think the value of the business is but we don't make the final decision at the end it's usually the buyer. The seller's got a lot to say about it because they can say yes or no. But it's still the buyer makes the decision in terms of the value for the most part. But you just recently said you've exited a couple of different times in the last few years. What did you learn in that process if you look at the exit? Or maybe do you want to talk about the fact … the mistakes you made maybe building and what you can do to help the entrepreneurs that are listening or perhaps the exit and maybe a little bit of both. Ryan: Yeah well, there's one thing in particular that I think was on the stake if you will and it was thinking that the buyer had all of the control. By the way, this is C money right here or by a … my … he is the one who wants to make great on the Internet. Joe: For those listening and not watching somebody just walked into the background. Ryan: Yeah, so the mistake that I made was thinking that the buyer had all of the control. And if I could redo this Joe, the truth is if you built something, if you built a business you're the one with the asset. You're the one with the goods that money is chasing you, people want to buy you and so often the seller comes into market and is like the thing that I'm after is the check and I'm hoping that I get the check and that immediately puts you in the frame in which you're the after. You're the one who is not in the power position. So we share them with an offer and the seller is like thank you please oh please Mr. Money Pants I would like your money. And now they're in a position to beat you up over earnings, over … in the negotiations. So what I wish I had done was recognize the fact that I'm the one with the goods. I'm the one with the asset that people want. I'm the one courting the offers. People are making offers to me. There they want one I got not the other way around. So if you're in that position and you're willing to say no and you combine that with the turn ship that says here's what I'm looking for, that to me puts the seller in the frame of mind repair and the negotiating position. I didn't do that. I discovered that after the fact and I really could only have learned that by going through the process. I learned … I personally learned by making mistakes and paying for them later. Joe: We all do. Ryan: Yeah but that's a mistake that I wish somebody had told me before I went to market. Joe: Or is it … the buyer that you're referring to is it a strategic buyer or did you have your business officially listed and people came to you? Ryan: Yeah, we had it listed and we were acquired by an equity group. I still own a minority stake in that company and I'm in great terms with the equity group. I'm really happy with the buyer. I have become friends and obviously business partners at this point. But had I gone to the market with terms that I wanted I probably would have ended up in a more favorable financial position when it came to closing. Joe: Well, the next time you have a transaction you'll know that and you'll be able to make adjustments. Ryan: Right. Joe: Really I think like you said the check isn't the end all, it's more about … I think almost in many ways what your next adventure is going to be. I know that a lot of folks that I work with and myself included when I exited I was just … I sold too late. I was emotionally tired and I think that's the absolute wrong time to sell. You should sell … you should plan to sell, just don't wake up and decide to sell. But when you're emotionally tired you're not doing everything that you can to maximize the profits of the business and that's going to drive down the value. And you're going to get beat up at the end if you're so committed to that check that you can't negotiate a little bit more for something else and be willing to walk away from that buyer if they're if they're not a good buyer. And correct me if I'm wrong but just tell me how you think here, I always find that it makes an enormous difference if you like the person that's buying your business or the one … if you're buying a business from. It's not just about the check. It's not just about the money. It's the people you're doing business with. And I think that as a seller you can get more value if you're respected and professional and likable and the same as a buyer, if you're a buyer and you're professional and likable and complement the owner on the business that they built that you're going to get a better transaction out of it versus all the hard core raw street negotiations. What are your thoughts on that? Ryan: I don't know if you are right or wrong because I intentionally don't do business with people that I don't like. [crosstalk 00:15:45.7] Joe: So, therefore, anybody that wants to buy a business from you if you don't like them then you've got to do that to work with somebody you like. A classic- Ryan: I don't think everybody has that mentality though. I think I would even go as far as to say the majority of people are buying and selling based on numbers or like the deal and very few entrepreneurs get to find every purchase as a person. And so I think most people are approaching it by numbers and logically rather than is there a connection here. I personally … just like for the protection of my own lifestyle am willing to say no to anything that I personally don't like. And what that does is it always puts me in a strong negotiating position because if I don't like somebody I have no problem walking away. And the person who has … the person who is most willing to walk usually has the upper hand in the negotiation. Joe: I agree 100%. I find that from a buyer's perspective one of the questions I get a lot from buyers if I'm up on a panel or speaking or something like this is how do I negotiate up against an all cash buyer, somebody that's got more money than me? And the tried and true answer is really is be likeable. It's … you don't necessarily have to have more cash to get the deal done and I … the classic example is I sold a business last fall. It was about two and a $2.5M and the guy had two full price offers within the first 10 days. One was from an all cash buyer who was a little rough around the edges and was hard to work with. The other was from a really likable guy who was buying with an SBA loan and actually required 10% seller financing in that. The entrepreneur, the seller of this business had the choice; you could go for the all cash or you can go for the guy that he liked. He actually chose the full price SBA buyer and chose to carry a 10% seller note versus working with somebody that he didn't like. So in that situation, I think it makes a difference in terms of … buyers that are listening be likable. If you're working with a broker you absolutely have to be likeable because they're … as you said it's more of a seller's market. And there's a lot of buyers out there. There are buyers that are competing for that same business and when they're likeable they're going to build rapport and when you build rapport you sometimes learn about things before they hit the market as well. Ryan, talk to me about some of the mistakes you've made in your own business. Maybe two or three of the biggest mistakes that comes up at the top of your head. Looking back and learning damn I screwed that up if I ever do that again I'm going to it a different way. Ryan: Well, every time I've made a mistake it was because I was playing the short term. So when I have made short term decisions I usually make bad decisions. I like to say that the longer term that I can make decisions the wiser I am and the better decisions that I make. I said before that people forget that behind every purchase is a person … that goes for customers too and all relationships are long term relationships. Or the best relationships are long term relationships. So if you are aware that behind every transaction is a person and you play it like it's a long term relationship you end up building the better company. Sometimes in spite of a short term decision, meaning … for example as we're recording this there's a … in the Amazon there's a thing we're calling review gate where Amazon is coming in and hit them onto your businesses and removing their reviews. And it's been a bloodbath. It's been absolute bloodbath. And the people who are soaring through it are people who have been doing of the right things the right way for the longest. And the people who are being hurt the most are the people who are the most profitable over the last couple years because they played the tactic game. And like there's absolutely room for tactics inside of every business but those who have been building really solid brands and building audiences and building followings they're going to soar right through this and capture a whole heck of a lot of market share. So the mistakes that I made were always in saying what's the Band-Aid solution here rather than building for the long term. So we take a rule now in the business that we're building, we say okay here's the situation that we're in rather than talk about how we're going to fix it let's say what do we wish we had started doing 90 days ago and that would have made today a lot easier to get through? That's the decision that we need to make today which is a really hard conversation to have when you're in reaction mode. But we force ourselves to ask that question because it usually addresses whatever the root cause is that we need to fix rather than going for a Band-Aid solution. So that being mistake number one, mistake number two would be as a leader telling people what to do. There's a great book called Multipliers that really morphed my brain in terms of how I can affect [inaudible 00:20:52.9] people. And what I realize after reading that book was that I have been diminishing the talents on my teams by telling people what I wanted them to do rather than casting a vision and inviting people to build their piece of that. Now that seems kind of a nuance and maybe overly simplistic but I couldn't emphasize enough the accountability that this book brought me on how much I was diminishing the people that I was working with, And the difference in energy and growth that happened once I started correcting those issues. So as an entrepreneur, we often have like our baby that we're bringing in to our team and we're telling people how to build the baby when reality if we're working with smart people they'll probably own that area of expertise better than we can even if we can't see it. And the big distinction of that book highlights is someone who diminishes their team is usually the smartest person in the room but a real leader makes the rest of the team like they're the smartest person in the room. And that was a huge shift in my overall happiness and with the growth of my companies and it's something that I wished that I had done before I was building companies to sell them. Joe: What kind of staffing do you have just out of curiosity? Ryan: Well, the company that I just exited was a team of four. The portfolio of companies … of brands that I have is a team of five. And my media company capitalism.com is a team of six. Joe: And are all of those people in-house or do you do some … or the VA's are they working remotely or they come to the office every day? Ryan: I'm only counting in-house people so that does not count freelancers. But no not everybody … we have … there's, we are a distributed team. So like I'm recording this in my office right now, one of my team members is just right here my side. But people will come in and out. Some people … like we have a team member in Canada, we have a team member in Germany, but they're all full time dedicated to [inaudible 00:22:47.0]. Joe: Good. I asked that because you know most people that are listening would probably be considered lifestyle entrepreneurs and they have to outsource staff and VA's and people working remotely. So it's good to know that even though they're not coming into your office every day this is really important [inaudible 00:23:02.3] get their short term vision don't have that long term vision so that you don't have major major stomach aches with algorithm updates we'll review gates in that situation and then over managing of the staff you know let them be their experts; anything else that comes to mind? Ryan: As far as big mistakes that I've made … I mean we talked about the mistake in selling and as far as building the business I'll say I wished that I had spent more money on cold advertising. Like always like there's never been a business that was like ah you know I think I spent too much on advertising. I've only ever said I wish I'd spent more on advertising. Joe: Yeah, where would you have spent it because these are primarily Amazon based businesses correct? Ryan: The businesses that I personally built, yes. Joe: Right. So where would you spend that money? Ryan: So we just identified the problem because you said they were mostly Amazon based businesses so had I done things even better I would have doubled down on non-Amazon advertising. Because what … if you're an Amazon business which is like nails on a chalkboard to me because it means you're dependent on somebody else. Joe: Right. Ryan: It means that you're dependent on this channel and you've got to go double down on building a business has a different leg to the stool and that when you combine those things together magic can happen. If you've got an email list of 100,000 people that you've built from cold advertising or from buying tripwires and now you're combining that with the power of something like Amazon.com that's really really powerful. Most physical products sellers never make that [inaudible 00:24:32.6] or they get so myopic into one channel that they never spend the money and the time to go develop the advertising for another channel. I wish I had been comfortable losing my rear end on other advertising channels until I figured out those systems. It's interesting Joe, it's true that every channel you will lose for a while and then you figure out the systems and then you start to grow through it and you get profitable. The strange thing is that most people once they've figured it out and get profitable they're unwilling to go do that hard work in another area. So the way that Amazon worked in 2013, '14, and '15 was if you spend until you grab long enough you could outrank everybody else and go win but I never … I lost that hustle when it came down to Facebook Ads or influencers and people start looking for the immediate ROI. In what business is there immediate ROI? When you're building a long term brand that has sales potential … like buyers are buying the systems; they're buying profitable systems because you've already gone through that hard work of developing the systems that are profitable. But it requires you to go build them so I wish I had spent more on advertising, been more willing to lay it on the line, rolled more back into reinvestment. So I'll call that mistake number three. Joe: So for buyers and sellers that are listening, entrepreneurs that are listening it's that one legged stool, two legged stool, three legged stool. If you're 100% Amazon business it's riskier than if you also have a revenue channel from Google Ad Words and driving traffic to your Shopify store and you might be doing wholesale or B2B things of that nature but right away as I've said before if you've got a business that's just at within $100,000 in discretionary earnings that's 100% Amazon same business $100,000 in discretionary earnings but you've got 60% Amazon, 25% Shopify, I guess that would be 15% percent [inaudible 00:26:36.4] my math here, another percent of B2B that business on the other side is going to be worth 15 to 20% more. So you might be breaking even or losing a little bit of money on that land grab trying to grab more customers but if you can turn that into even the same discretionary earnings that business automatically is going to be worth 15 to 20% more because the buyers will pay more for a risk averse business that'll be around for the longer term so very very good advice. What channel would you go to first? Because there are so many options these days and building a channel off of Amazon is hard as you know. You've got to learn a whole new expertise. Where would you go first and what do most of your successful folks do? Ryan: Yeah and I'm actually going to cue on very creatively sidestepped this question because the obvious is Amazon. But where I would suggest is actually people double down on where the audience is. To me, this is the nut has to be cracked if their building a sellable company. And what that means to me it is for some people their audience hangs out following influencers. For other people that is they follow blogs or they have a blog where the audiences are already hanging out. Or some people they've got a Facebook where there's an audience. Now what most businesses, especially like a million dollar businesses, are doing is they're going channel first and trying to extract as much of it as possible. Like I'm going to go to Amazon try to rank and pull as much out of this pie as possible. Only a few people can win that game but if you switch it and you say where are my people who is the ideal buyer and where are they then the channel where you collect the order can always change. And that makes Shopify, Amazon, B2B a whole lot easier. The first nut that you have to crack isn't where the buyers hang out apart from the sales transaction and then you bring those buyers to the transaction. So the transaction to me … Amazon, easy no question. Put your product on Amazon the credit card is already there, people are already looking for it. No question, easy, done. The nut that needs to be cracked is what happens one step before that. And if there is … like if you don't have the influence, the list, the following, the traffic, the pay-per-click strategy that some way to go get those people and bring them into your ecosystem I think you are struggling from the get go and that's the primary question that I ask the entrepreneur. Joe: Yeah and I think depending upon as you say the product and what they're offering some of those different channels will make more sense. You know I had a conversation with someone this morning that has several brands and one brand has incredible numbers with email marketing and that same expertise applied to that different brand doesn't do as well. Ryan: Right. Joe: They're driving people to their Shopify store though Amazon keeps growing and out phasing everything else. So I understand identify where your customers hang out and then you've got to go find those customers. To own that list though you need to send them to your own store, not to Amazon. So are you sort of balancing between sending them to Amazon because it's all there or? Ryan: No, I just disagree. So I think that the loyalty to the brand is the customer experience. And you give the customer the ability to give you money wherever they are most comfortable making the purchase. I heard Brian Lee say where it's … Brian Lee is the founder of the Honest Company, the billion dollar brand with Jessica Alba, and I heard him say once that he considers it a win when the product is in the customer's home. That's when you've wo, not collecting it online e-commerce site, not getting into retail. It's when the product is in the customer's home. However, they get it and you want to release as little friction as possible getting the product into the customer's home. You will own the customer experience when you have their data. You have the ability to communicate a message in front of them. So if you've got the email list and you send them over to Amazon, Amazon rewards that and your conversion rate is probably going to be higher sending them to Amazon that sending them to your Shopify store. So there's a balance [inaudible 00:31:12.7] I know that I can get a higher immediate customer value sending them to my own web site because I can put them through upsells and cross sells to get their immediate data versus sending them to Amazon where I am going to have to work to get their data. I don't have any upsell experience. They might see a negative review. And so the entrepreneur is going to have to play the game of where the numbers make the most sense over the long term. But I think that the actual customer experience happens in when you communicate with them. And that's in the email message, that's in the outside of just a transaction, not just where their credit card is being added but words being communicated. Joe: Okay, I get and I'm just going to repeat it for those that are … well not smarter than me; let's put it that way. So it's capturing the customer information up front, building that relationship with them, and then simply send them to the place that they can buy the product and experience the brand with the least amount of friction and get it in their home. Ryan: Nailed it. Joe: Okay. Ryan: That's my opinion. Joe: And it all goes back I would say and it's kind of almost unspoken that the brand has to be pretty amazing so focus on that first. Build a great product, a great brand so they have a great experience and then do all that other stuff as well. Ryan: Yeah and let me address that because that often brings up the question how do I identify a brand? Like what exactly is the brand. And the brand is the way that trust is communicated to a very specific customer. Most Amazon sellers have no idea over their customers they know what their product is. If you know what you sell and not who you sell to you do not have a brand. Or you might have a brand but it's really lousy whereas if you know who the person is, it makes the product really really easy. I was just meeting with one of my team members today; we were expressing the frustration over one of our brands in our portfolio. Because when we acquired it, it sold a lot of product but it had no target market. And so we've had to do a lot of work to convert that brand into an actual brand where people are not just buying a product but they're buying something and it says about them sells. Those businesses last, product businesses don't because they're commodities. You forget about commodities and the minute that there's a better price or better customer experience their loyalty changes. But when you've got the brand people are very stingy with their trust. I want to give it to you, you have them for as long as you keep their trust. Joe: Very important message right there. Ryan, any thoughts in terms of whether someone should be building this business and always think about the future and possible exits; do you try to instill in them that they should know the value of their business in the event they wake up some day and want to move on or do you just focus on building that brand and when you're ready the time will come? Ryan: You know the real … the temptation for me is to say that no, you shouldn't be necessarily thinking about selling but I know that I'm in a different spot than everyone who's listening. So I would say if you are building this to make money, be building it to sell from day one. Because the very act of being in it for the money means that you will burn out, you will wake up and want to do something else. It's going to happen. So if that … and like let's just be real about it, if you're in it because of the payday, build it to sell because that's what you're in it for and the payday is the cherry at the end of the rainbow here. If you were in it because you've got a product you want to bring to the world then still develop the systems and processes that will keep you in the position to be in your zone of genius. And that will make you more sellable one day but I don't think it's necessary for you to know what it's worth or be making decisions based on that. So these are different goals. Now I build companies that I'm excited about and I am building them in the same way that we make something valuable because I want to be in a position where I'm just in my zone of genius. But it's a different mindset than if I'm building something because it's going to be profitable. Does that make sense Joe? Joe: Absolutely; excellent …excellent. Hey listen I know we're running out of time here I just want to say that last summer I was at the stock market conference and you got up and you spoke as did another dozen or so very very successful entrepreneurs. Each and every one of them had a PowerPoint presentation. You got up there with nothing. And you talked for an hour and the audience was captivated as was I. You have a gift thank you for sharing it. I appreciate it. Ryan: I just got goose bumps. Thank you so much, mate. I really appreciate it. Joe: How do more people get to experience that and listen to you and hear what you do share? Ryan: You know I'd love to answer that question, can I offer one more piece of advice before we go? Joe: You can offer a dozen more pieces of advice. Ryan: Wow, awesome. I'll leave it to one but if you are in this to please have a plan of what you're going to do with the money when you get it. Entrepreneurs are magicians. We remake things up here on thin air. We create value out of thin air. We create a bigger pie. We make money show up. And we also make things disappear. Joe: Isn't that true? Ryan: And if you do not have a plan of what you're going to do with the money it will slip through your fingers. I know you think you're the exception. I know you think all I have to do is invest this at 8% and I'm [inaudible 00:37:11.5]. I know you think that's how it's going to be. You will ball the money. I … right now I just heard you think “no I won't”, yes you will. So if you don't have a net for catching the money and allocating the money for your lifestyle you will be back in the grind very very quickly. I promise you, I know you don't believe me. I'm here to tell you that's the case. Have a plan for what to do with the money once you get the money. It's actually my favorite conversation to have. At some point, I'll probably have more chops [inaudible 00:37:45.3] about investing once you have a big windfall. But for now, it's like have a plan like a plan is better than no plan. And that plan would probably be best done after you sat on the money for about six months and you've gotten used to that money being in the bank account. Your second question or actually your only question was- Joe: Can I interrupt that? Ryan: Please. Joe: I definitely want to get to that but in terms of having the plan to exit, I'm always telling people look have your next adventure planned. Because entrepreneurs like you say they blow through the money, it goes through their hands like saying. I'm often saying maybe get that other opportunity started and launched long as it's not competing to get the ball rolling. So that you got some working capital maybe you're going to put it in … some of it you're not as bootstrapped although you'll be more successful probably if you are. Do you think maybe they should 100% focus on what they're doing on that brand before they sell it up until the day they sell or maybe when it gets big enough and good enough and they've done enough right they can take some of their attention and start Brand B while they're selling off Brand A? Ryan: Wow, Joe. The reason I'm saying wow is because my experience is pretty unique and that was I took about a week off and then I immediately went back to workaholism and it was the worst. It was a horrible experience. Now full disclose like at the same time I was going through separation and I'm going through a lot life changes. I threw myself into work right after the sale. I celebrated by reading books on my patio for like eight days and I was immediately back to workaholism. And I like … I roasted my body, I mean I so needed a break and I did not give myself that break. I don't know if every entrepreneur was as burnt out as I was. I was more burnt out than I [inaudible 00:39:40.5]. Joe: Most ideal [inaudible 00:39:42.8] they come to me tired, exhausted, ready to move on. Ryan: Joe, it's been over a year. I wouldn't even say I'm back now. You know I'm probably operating at 75% of capacity because I never really recovered. So should you go right back into it? I don't know. I think it depends on the level you're at and your own wiring. I make really good decisions when I'm relaxed and creative. I make terrible short term decisions when I'm stressed. And when I'm in that workaholic mode I'm a terrible entrepreneur. I wish I had just blissed out for like three months; I didn't. Joe: I don't know what the folks that listen to you every week would do if you would disappear for three months though. Ryan: Well here's the thing though Joe. I kind of did. Like my podcast sucked for like three months, three to six months and I was trying … like I'm sitting in front of mic trying to come up with things to say and I was uncreative as heck. So I sort of did disappear it was just a different way. And now I'm getting back to it and it's a completely different experience. But I actually think I did my listeners a disservice by not taking a break. And if have been just really upfront and be like guys I just got an eight figure check I am going to the beach and I will call you when I'm ready. My audience would've popped but instead, I was like operating from this place of like I'm so … oh my goodness I'm so tired and I turned off a lot of people. I know it's not the answer that you expected it's not the answer I expected to give you. Joe: No, I like it. Ryan: But I think it's true. Joe: I think sleep and rest and meditation or whatever it is to focus on is absolutely necessary. So back to that original question and you know finding out what they do with the money after they sell. How do they get more of Ryan Daniel Moran? How do they experience what that audience down at Smart Market and myself experienced where you just talked and everybody listened and took notes and all that? Ryan: Well, thanks so much, man, my media company is capitalism.com. My podcast is called Freedom Fast Lane. And I say things into a microphone and we hold events at capitalism.com that are specifically for entrepreneurs. And we're actually … we just rebooted the Freedom Fast Lane podcast. I feel as though- Joe: With fresh energy. Ryan: What's that? Joe: With fresh energy right? Ryan: Well yeah, I think you'd probably feel it from me. Five years ago I started this journey as a boy and I was … I just put everything I owned into my car, drove to Austin, Texas, started some new companies, I documented the whole experience from startup to sale. And then I kind of grew up while documenting the journey. And now there's a new journey and it's a much bigger one and so we just rebooted kind of the entire audience, the whole experience in the podcast. And my podcast is called Freedom Fast Lane. My company is capitalism.com. Joe: Okay. Well, I'll make sure those are in the show notes. I'd love to see you be more successful on this new adventure, this bigger journey. Ryan: Thank you. Joe: Let's stay in touch. I think I may see you at the capitalism conference at the end of August; let's see. At the very least we'll be to as many as we can be over the next few years. Ryan: Good to see you man, thank you so much for having me. Joe: Thanks for your time, I appreciate it. Links: Capitalism.com FreedomFastlane.com

Episode Summary: This week on the FadCast, we pack our bags and venture off into the unknown to explore new terrain and meet new lifeforms talking movies about moving. From the twinkle-toed Kevin Bacon lead cult classic "Footloose" to the blue tinged home world pandora in "Avatar," we compare reality of moving to thematic derivations the big-screen. But first we set the mood with a scene read from "Poltergeist." Before that, we briefly talk the ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Trailer 2 Gives An Epic Look At The Story and Review: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Brings Amazing Visuals To A Generic Plot for our SPEED ROUND! How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s Ryan & Pooya: FadCast Episode 140! Pooya: Today we pack our bags and venture off to explore new terrain and meet new lifeforms, Ryan: As we talk movies about moving! Pooya: You’ll hear all that and more so let’s get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events -‘Blade Runner 2049’ Trailer 2 Gives An Epic Look At The Story and Review: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Brings Amazing Visuals To A Generic Plot (~2min) Script Read - "Poltergeist" (~3min) Main Topic - Movies About Moving (~30min) Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!  

Episode Summary: This week on the FadCast, Ryan's Life Boss and Expert on the female perspective, Emily, brings the controversy for a discussion pitting feminism versus sexism within the film medium. We explore audience perception of female characters in recent releases like 'Suicide Squad,' the upcoming 'Wonder Woman' and 'Ghostbusters' and then diving into the past for 'Thelma and Louise,' 'Star Wars' and 'Game of Thrones.' Before that we sprint through FilmFad.com's Exclusive: ‘Wolfcop’ Creator Lowell Dean Teases Sequel’s New Holiday Theme And Shares New Set Photos! and Cable Casting Rumors for 'Deadpool 2' for "the Speed Round!" But first, to kick off the episode, Emily joins Pooya and Ryan for a counter-perspective with a script read taken from AMC's 'Mad Men.'  Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 102 Ryan: With our special celebrity guest, my Life Boss, Emily Pooya: Today we’ll get controversial pitting feminism against sexism in film Ryan: As we discuss how the recent roles of leading ladies in Hollywood are being received by both audiences and critics Pooya:  Yes ma'am! You’ll hear all that, and more, so let’s get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events -  Exclusive: ‘Wolfcop’ Creator Lowell Dean Teases Sequel’s New Holiday Theme And Shares New Set Photos! and Cable Casting Rumors for 'Deadpool 2' (2min) Script Read - 'Mad Men’ Script Read ft. Emily as Peggy Olson, Pooya as Don Draper and Ryan as Pete. Narration also by Ryan. (3min) Main Topic - Feminism Vs Sexism in Film (50min) Episode Breakdown 00:00 - 01:08 | Intro 01:08 - 02:58 | Speed Round 02:59 - 05:49 | 'Mad Men’ Script Read 05:50 - 07:08 | Feminism Vs Sexism in Film - Main Topic Intro 07:10 - 22:56 | 'Suicide Squad' (Harley Quinn, Enchantress, Amanda Waller) 22:57 - 31:34 | 'Wonder Woman' 31:35 - 34:45 | 'Thelma and Louise' 34:46 - 38:58 | 'Ghostbusters' 39:00 - 48:19 | 'Star Wars' 48:20 - 56:45 | 'Game of Thrones' 56:46 - 58:21 | Feminism Vs Sexism in Film - Closing Remarks 58:22 - 59:18 | Outro Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!  

Episode Summary: This week on the FadCast, King and Queen of the Hampton Roads cosplay scene, Viva Valentina and Keith Join the show to talk EVERYTHING that is Pokemon! You read right, this episode runs through the lucrative history of the media franchise spanning Nintendo games, trading cards, television, film, and our Top Tips & Tricks for the hot new augmented reality game, Pokemon Go! We even go as far as making a very 'Sunny' casting call for a live-action 'Pokemon' movie? But first, we speed through Ryan's review for the animated furry family film 'The Secret Life of Pets' and Matt's Random Movie Monday Review of Kurt Russell's Sci Fi/Action flick 'Soldier.' Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 97 Ryan: With our special guest, Local Cosplay Royalty, Keith and Viva Valentina Pooya: Today we’ll talk about the augmented reality phenomenon that is Pokemon Go... Ryan: As we discuss the Television and Film roots of the Franchise, its transition into gaming and OUR top tips and tricks for the Hot new mobile game. Pooya:  Oh yeah, you’ll hear all that and more so let’s get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events -Ryan's review  for the animated furry family film 'The Secret Life of Pets' and Matt's Random Movie Monday Review of Kurt Russell's Sci Fi/Action flick 'Soldier.' (3min) Script Read - 'Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back' ft. Viva Valentina as 'Scientist' & Keith as 'Mewtwo' (7min) Main Topic -  Pokemon: Nintendo, Trading Card Game, Television Series, Movies and Pokemon Go Tips & Tricks (36min) Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!  

Episode Summary: Today the FadCast explores the career of Johnny Depp as we dive into his history of films all the way up to his upcoming projects. We also briefly talk about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson being cast as Doc Savage and Keira Knightley being called out by her Begin Again director. How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 91. Ryan: With our special re-occurring guest, Silent Movement Artist, JD the Mime! Pooya: Today we'll talk about the world's favorite on-screen, scissor-handed scalliwag. Ryan: As we jog through the robust and peculiar filmography of Johnny Depp. Pooya: You’ll hear all that and more so let's get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events - Dwayne Johnson cast as Doc Savage and Keira Knightley called out! (~4min) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas script read (~5min). Johnny Depp film history(~31min). Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!

Episode Summary: Today the FadCast discusses "Top Gun" given its 30th anniversary and other high flying, jet fueled movies and scenes. JD the Mime joins us to weigh in on the topic and we also briefly discuss the upcoming Harley Quinn featured film and Bryan Singer taking the X-Men to space. How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 89 Ryan: With our special guest, Film Fad's dear friend, JD the Mime! Pooya: Today we’ll soar high betwixt the clouds with Jet fueled films. Ryan: As we talk best and worst aviation themed movies and scenes. Pooya: You’ll hear all that and more so let's get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events - Harley Quinn featured film and X-Men going to outer space. (~4min) Script read from "Top Gun" (~8min). Films and movie scenes related to aviation. (~31min). Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!

Episode Summary: Today the FadCast discusses the voices we know but the faces we may not when it comes to popular TV and Film characters. Emmy nominated voice actor Eric Bauza joins us to weigh in on the subject with his own experience in voice work on projects such as "Transformers," "Spider-Man," "Puss in Boots," "Looney Tunes," and many more. Dan Ritchie from When Nerds Collide joins us as a guest host this week to contribute to the conversation. We also briefly discuss Jon Bernthal getting his own solo Punisher series on Netflix and the trailer for Stephen King's Cell. How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Dan: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 87 Ryan: With special guest, a man of many voices making creative career choices, Eric Bauza Dan: Today we’ll get vocal as we talk about the importance of voiceover work in film and television. Ryan: As we talk with a man that can provide extensive insight into this auditory art form. Dan: That's right! You’ll hear all that and more so let's get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events - Trailer for "Cell" and Netflix's Punisher solo series. (~4min) Script read from "Transformers: Age of Extinction" (~12min). Prominent characters in TV and Film and the voices behind them featuring Eric Bauza(~30min). Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!  

Episode Summary: Today the FadCast celebrates Prince after his unfortunate passing. Dan Ritchie from When Nerds Collide joins us as a guest host this week to weigh in on his favorite Prince moments. We also briefly discuss the new trailer for "The Founder" and Bryan Cranston's return to drugs in the trailer for "The Infiltrator." How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Dan: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 86 Ryan: With special guest, JD the Mime! Dan: Today we’ll purify ourselves in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. Ryan: As we talk about the man, the legend, and the unfortunately recently deceased…Prince. Dan: That's right! You’ll hear all that so let's get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events - Trailers for "The Founder" and "The Infiltrator." (~3min) Script read from "Batman (1989)" (~12min). The influence of Prince and some fun facts! (~30min). Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!  

  Episode Summary: Today the FadCast talks about the movie theater going experience. Antonio Jones joins us to talk about where it started, where it's at now, and where it's going. We also briefly discuss the new Doctor Strange trailer and Pooya's interview with Noah Emmerich. How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 85. Ryan: With special guest, One of Film Fad's favorite screening reps, Antonio Jones! Pooya: Today we’ll talk about the exponentially uncertain fate of the movie theater experience. Ryan: As we discuss potentially dwindling theater attendance, the rise of streaming media, and the growing trend of on-demand feature film releases. Pooya: That's right! You’ll hear all that and more so let’s get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events - Interview with Noah Emmerich from "The Americans" and "Doctor Strange Trailer." (~3min) Script read from "Last Action Hero" (~4min). The evolution of the movie theater experience past and present. (~47min). Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!

Episode Summary: Today the FadCast talks "The Twilight Zone" and its influences in TV and Film. Tidewater Comicon Creator Mike Federali joins us to discuss the series and related spinoffs. We also discuss the recap of the 2016 MTV Movie Awards and the "Suicide Squad" trailer that appeared during the show. How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 84. Ryan: With special guest, Tidewater Comicon creator, Mike Federali. Pooya: Today we’ll get weird talking about suspenseful, mysterious and sci-fi television programming. Ryan: As we talk "The Twilight Zone," "The Outer Limits" and the more recent "Black Mirror." Pooya: That's right! You’ll hear all that and more so let’s get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events - 2016 MTV Movie Awards and "Suicide Squad" trailer. (~2min) Script read from "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (~5min). "The Twilight Zone" and related sci-fi projects. (~36min). Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!

  Episode Summary: Today the FadCast talks about Wrestlemania 32 and wrestlers that have transcended to film with long time wrestling fan, Nick Nolasco. We also take some time to discuss Dave Bautista officially joining "Blade Runner 2" and cover Pooya's review of "Justice League vs Teen Titans". How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 83. Ryan: With special guest, Sommelier of Suplexes, Nick Nolasco. Pooya: Today we'll come off the ropes with wrestlers turned movie stars. Ryan: As we talk famous films featuring our favorite wrestlers, past, present, and upcoming. Pooya: That's right! You’ll hear all that and more so let’s get ready to rumble! (Intro Music break) Current Events - Dave Bautista joining Blade Runner 2 and review of "Justice League vs Teen Titans". (~2min) "Trainwreck" scene from the movie theater with John Cena and Amy Schumer (~4min). WWE Wrestlemania 32 and wrestlers that became movie stars. (~36min). Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!

  Episode Summary: Today the FadCast talks about "Batman V Superman" and films like it that scored big at the box office but left film critics with a sour taste in their mouths. Special guest, local film director Ezra Peterson joins us to weigh in on the subject and give his own perspective while also playing the "Man of Steel" himself in our own take on the "Batman V Superman" script. We also briefly discuss why some of the hate for "Batman V Superman" may be unsubstantiated and "X-Men" star Lucas Till playing MacGyver. How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 82 Ryan: With special guest, local film director, Ezra Peterson. Pooya: Today we'll square off talking Critic V Audience: Review of Justice. Ryan: As we discuss the growing disparity between audience and critic movie ratings and box office reactions. Pooya: That's right! You’ll hear all that and more so let’s get ready to rumble! (Intro Music break) Current Events - Unsubstantiated Batman V Superman Hate and "X-Men" star Lucas Till playing MacGyver. (~7min) "Batman V Superman" script directed by Eli Roth and Zack Snyder (~9min). "Batman V Superman" success and other poorly reviewed films that shared the same win (~36min). Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!

Episode Summary: Today the FadCast talks about the Western movies highlighting iconic film moments that defined the genre. Special celebrity guest Sam Quinn from "Jane Got a Gun" joins us to weigh in on the subject and give his own perspective. We also briefly discuss the Redband trailer for the new Lonely Island film, "Star Wars The Force Awakens" star Daisy Ridley being eyed for the next Tomb Raider film, and finally Marvel's latest trailer for "Captain America: Civil War." How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast episode 80. Ryan: With special guest, "Jane Got a Gun" actor Sam Quinn. Pooya: Today we’ll talk southern drawls, whiskey jars, then take ten paces and draw. Ryan: As we mosey through a chronology of Western films Pooya: That's right! You’ll hear all that and more so let’s get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events - "Lonely Island's new film," "Daisy Ridley as Lara Croft," "Latest Civil War trailer." (~7min) "Tombstone" reenactment with Sam Quinn (~9min) Western films and "Jane Got a Gun" discussion(~26min) Also...call in and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on the show at 310-651-8127!

Episode Summary: Today the FadCast talks about BEEFCAKE movies highlighting film moments that the ladies love and movies centered around showing off the male physique. Special guest Daniel Ritchie from When Nerds Collide joins us to weigh in on the subject. We also briefly discuss the 21 Jump Street/Men In Black crossover film, our review of Zootopia, and the new Ghostbusters reboot trailer. How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast episode 79. Ryan: With special guest, from When Nerds Collide, Daniel Ritchie Pooya: Today we’ll talk biceps, brute force, and beach bodies... Ryan: As we run through OUR top picks for beefcake flicks Pooya: That's right! You’ll hear all that and more so let’s get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events - "21 Jump Street/Men In Black" crossover/"Zootopia" review/"Ghostbusters" reboot trailer (~7min) "Magic Mike XXL" reenactment with Daniel (~9min) Beefcake films and favorite beefcake scenes in cinema (~23min) Also...call in and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on the show at 310-651-8127!