Is Your Business A Media Company? 3 Big Things you should know. - Teacher: Gresham Harkless Jr.

I'm sure you've heard every company should be a media company. And every entrepreneur should be in the business of making content if they want their business to succeed. But is this approach really for everyone?

Today in our lesson we're going to look at how to make your business a media company.

We discuss identifying your target market, setting clear marketing goals,

managing your resources effectively.

And in the end, we talk about why relationships are crucial for business success. Here we go.

Amy.

Hello and welcome to the Useful Content Podcast, and today we have a brand new teacher in the useful content classroom. Gresham Harless Jr. How are you going, Gresham? I.

I am doing awesome, drew. I'm excited to be here.

Excellent, excellent. I, I know that you have a massive body of content and a massive body of work. You've been putting that together for a long period of time. We kind of discovered each other, I think, on the Facebook podcasting group, and, when I saw what you were doing, I said, you know, I have to talk to you.

I. About how you're building out this digital stuff. 'cause you're someone who focuses on building out a person or, or a small business as a media company. So tell us a little bit about what you do and how you help your clients make useful content.

Yeah, absolutely. So we're, we're all in the media business, as I usually say. I say you are a media company. That's my whole kind of marketing philosophy.

Um, a lot of what we do is around like website design support and SEO services, so we try to provide that foundational level. Um, but, uh, as you know really well, you know, SEO is very all encompassing of most things that you do in marketing.

But, um, going back to that, being a media company, having that mentality, that mindset, it's all around understanding how you can create content for the people that you're trying to target. So, you know, way back when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, how I would, you know, Build out the business.

How I would try to distinguish myself. I'd already been building some things around, um, CB Nation, which is the content and information for entrepreneurs and business owners. And so I decided to just kind of marry those two because I knew that entrepreneurs, CEOs, business owners are always trying to get their name and information out there.

So, um, I tried to use content in, in terms of building that media company to try to connect, build relationships with the people that we're ultimately trying to serve.

Right. And so I, I know that the whole idea of being a media company is something that has come up, um, over the last few years. I think you may have been saying that since 2011 or something like that. You've been saying that for a while. people give you pushback about the concept of being a media company?

I think so in the sense of. Understanding like media and what that looks like. I think that's where the pushback comes in because automatically, whenever we hear the word media, we're thinking of something. Um, the way that I really look at media is simply the creation of content. Um, that content is, can be very broad if you really think about it offline when you're handing out your business card or you're talking with somebody at a networking event.

To some degree, you're creating content. If you're online, obviously you can create blogs, podcasts, social media, content. All those things are content. So when I look at it and you know, as I've started to even evolve it, how I looked at it, um, it's a lot broader than sometimes people think. And, and I think when people like kind of redefine it and look at it from that perspective, they start to see that, hey, I am actually talking about my business, talking about my organization, talking about the things that I do on a regular basis.

So if I start to look at that a little bit more, um, with a. Broader scope, maybe then maybe I will kind of understand that, hey, I am in the media business whether I like social media or I don't like social media. I have a podcast, or I have a blog, or whatever that is. I'm always kind of creating that concept.

Yeah, so you, you create, for you create stuff for small to medium businesses and what you say to them is that whether you like it or not, you are a media company. It's something that you're just gonna have to accept and you know, you have to put your content out there in order to market your business.

And so this is something that you tell them. And is that something that they eventually get a hold of or is it something that takes a while for people to understand how it will work for them?

Yeah. Uh, funny enough, Juma, it is different for everybody. Um, but I feel like as we're moving more and more, more to the importance of content and as we're A lot of people call this the content golden age where, because there's so many different ways you can create content. I think when we're talking about, you know, 10, 20 years ago, we didn't have the, I guess the technology that we have in our back pocket right now, which is the smartphone, and now the ability to create content is, is so much easier. I think people have so much more, um, comfortability, if that's even a word, at being able to do that. So I think that along with people kind of being a little bit more open to it and having the technology and having different tools, we talk about AI and things like that, that make it a little bit easier. Um, I think it's becoming something more and more and more where you don't get as much pushback. You don't, um, get as much, um, hesitation. It is something that needs to be done. And I think many more, business owners and entrepreneurs and CEOs are stepping into that.

Yeah. And I think that's true. I think the, uh, democratization of content, the access to be able to create for yourself has caused people to say, okay, before I would've had to, let's just say outsource all of this, or before I couldn't even create it for myself. But now it's much easier. And the tool you're talking about, let's just say it's your smartphone.

Your smartphone has all of these different, tools that you can use in order to create content for yourself. And I, I think that is very true. People are coming into the understanding that they can create for themselves. I think the biggest battle will actually be the time. Uh, how do you explain how people can use their time efficiently in order to create that content?

Yeah, I, I think, um, kind of speaking directly to what you said as well too, I think what we're seeing is as people are able to create more and more content, it's also getting noisier. So I think also what's happening is there's a huge. Um, kind of burgeoning of and growing of the personal brand, so to speak, where people don't want to just hear, you know, the content.

They want to hear who's behind the content, they wanna hear why you created it, and so many things like that. So, to, to really kind of answer your question, I think it's marrying those two parts and especially, you know, going into understanding exactly Like, who's gonna be creating this content? If you're gonna be creating it, or you're potentially having an agency or some somewhere in between, you're doing that. I think you really start out with just understanding, like, what are your superpowers? What are you comfortable with? What do you do? Sometimes naturally, um, if you prefer to speak and talk, maybe you're doing a podcast, maybe that's gonna be like your foundational piece of content. If you enjoy writing, maybe you're gonna do a blog. Um, if you enjoy being a little bit of both, maybe you're gonna be on camera. So. I, I think it's really understanding when you're thinking about time, you're honest about your time, but you're honest about what might be a quote unquote, easier way to create at least that first piece of content.

And when, and if you're thinking about doing it yourself, think about like what is coming a little bit more naturally. And you can use that as a easier way to create content, spend less time and, and spend less of those resources.

So are you saying that everyone is is different? Not everyone will, will double down on the same type of content and um, it's not a case of doing everything. It's a case of choosing something that works for you. Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, play to your superpowers.

Alright, that's a really great opening and talking about becoming a media company. Let's move on to some of the more specific things about becoming a media company. And there's something that you say that you need to ask before you start with your marketing there. I think there are three things, your goals, your target market, and your resources.

So tell us how those three things work in planning your marketing.

Yeah, I, I think, you know, to, to kind of start everything off is, I, I think so many times we hear about all these different ways that we can create content, that we can be our own media Companies, I like to call them ingredients. Um, so you know, when you're going to the grocery store, you're figuring out what ingredients you're gonna put into your cart, what are you going to use? And I think we can always rush into that. You know, there's a new, um, platform that we need to, to jump on and you do all the things and, and be active. And, and while there's a space for that to, to be able to create, to test out and do those things, I think those three foundational Questions are so huge because it's gonna allow you to understand what ingredients you're gonna use, why you're gonna use them, and be a lot more strategic in your marketing, which I think doesn't happen a lot, you know, for, you know, people in general.

But definitely even for us marketers as well too, is that we want to try to test out those days. We wanna try to be in those places, but are we really being strategic with how we're doing it and, you know, really understanding first and foremost, as you said. Who are you targeting? And um, you know, there's a word avatar and that's literally just painting the picture of the people that you're trying to target. Um, you're talking about age, you're talking about gender, um, you're talking about location. All those things are gonna be important for your avatar. But really understand and, and try to. Delve down a little bit deeper into like what might be the things that keep them up at night, what might be their goals and aspirations? Um, what might be the, the things that they want to accomplish? Like all those questions you want to continually ask. And I, I think that I. That first question is huge because you want to paint that picture of who you're targeting, not just the agent, you know, demographics and all those things, but also the intentions of what they have, what keeps them up at night, how and, and where is there potentially a gap in their life that they want to accomplish?

Because when you start creating content and thinking about what you know, ingredients, what platforms you're gonna use, it's gonna help you to, to make sure that you're drilling down on those people that you're targeting. after that, You really wanna be clear on the goals that you have. if you have an e-commerce business versus you being a speaker versus you being an author, you're gonna have different goals for your marketing initiatives and, and what you're doing. Uh, potentially you're trying to sell an ebook because the ebook is gonna give people an opportunity to to join your Your email list because on your blog you're sending out emails that are gonna have affiliate links that's gonna be completely different from somebody that might have a new T-shirt line and is trying to sell T-shirts and they want people to go to their website and actually buy those, those um, t-shirts or hats or whatever it might be.

So it's just understanding like what success means, because the way that you kind of focus on your marketing, the way you put that blend together is gonna be different depending on that goals. And then we kind of already, you know, touched on the, the most powerful question, which I think sometimes we're not as honest about, um, how to answer that and what that looks like, which is the resources. And we're automatically thinking resources is, it's all all about, you know, money, how much money am we spending, what's the budget and all those things. But it's time and money as well too. If you're bootstrapping it, maybe you have more time than you have money, and if you're A little bit further along on the journey, maybe you have more money than you have time, or maybe that starts to transition as you grow, get clients and customers and so on and so forth.

So you just want to be really clear on the resources where you are along that journey, because when we're figuring out what ingredients, um, we're gonna use Whether we're figuring out if we're gonna do a podcast versus having a blog, if you're going to be DIY in it, you're gonna put a lot more sweat equity into it.

So you don't want to start something that you're not gonna be consistent with, because at the end of the day, that's gonna be one of the most, you know, powerful and big things that you wanna make sure that you, uh, stay with.

Okay, great. That's a, that's a really great overview of target market goals and resources. Let's dive a little deeper into each of those areas. And I wanna first start, I wanna talk about goals, but I wanna first start with target market. 'cause I think that is something that people really struggle with.

Uh, it's something that they don't know how to determine. They might say, well, who am I talking to? Really? And they don't know how they're gonna figure that out. The first question I wanna ask you is. How do you find out what keeps people up at night? What is, is there a method that you can use to discover that?

Yeah, I mean, I think the, the best thing I usually say when you're thinking about target market, especially if you've been in business for a while, and unless you say you have one or even a handful of clients, is really trying to understand from them like What keeps them up at night. And I think the best way, uh, you can do that is figure out like how your solution probably helps that. Why do they become your client or customer? So I think whenever you're trying to figure out your, your ideal clients really start to, you know, look internally and start to say, okay, this is the client that I wanna work with and I want to have that person come through the. The door literally, or the door virtually over and over again. And those things that usually keep us up or night at night is another way of saying like, how, what problems are they having? Um, so when you start to understand that if you have those clients, what solution are you providing to that problem? And when you start to think about that. Then you start to close the gap a little bit on what those things are and maybe, you know, when you start to create content and information and start to figure out how you're gonna do that, you're thinking more solution based.

You're thinking more how can I be of value? Even for us, like one of the big things that I know that we help out with is visibility. I. Well by having a podcast, a blog, all those things that helps out with visibility for the people that we're trying to serve. So thinking strategically about what that is and what that looks like.

If you have a T-shirt line, what exactly are you doing to help to support the clients that you work with? Like is it, are there gonna be inspirational tee it is gonna help them, you know, go in through a bad day? Just really think strategically about what that is. Are you're a real estate agent? Are people looking for a place to buy?

Do they want to enjoy home ownership? You know, just have those You know, ideas and those questions so you can really not just say, Hey, this is what I do, but this is how I'm gonna make your life better. This is how I'm gonna improve your day-to-day operation. The way that you're, you know, walking through life, the way that you look at yourself.

Just all those things start to really think, um, human part of, you know, how you're providing those solutions and, and really start to, to understand that because that's how you're ultimately gonna, you know, not just Sell your widget or sell the thing that you're, you're providing, but actually provide true transformation, and that's what you ultimately want, want to do with your product or service.

Oh, that's great. So you look at what you offer and then you match that to what the need of the customer might be, and then you could agitate that even further as to what would keep them up at night. Is there any merit in, like say for example, if we wanted to interview our customers or send them a questionnaire, is that something that might work as well?

Yeah. And, and I think one of the big things, uh, uh, Juma is, that that. Quest, and I'm gonna call it a quest never ends. So as you're having and getting more data and information, doing the case studies, sending out the questionnaires, having conversations, even being aware when you're not having those direct conversations, because a lot of times people don't know What necessarily keeps them up at night, but they know something that they want to achieve. They know this something that they want to do. So even if you're having, you know, direct conversations with people, you might hear consistent things over and over again. Oh, I just wish I had more clients or customers. Oh, I, I just wish that I could, uh, you know, look and feel better, you know, when I go through my day-to-Day, or I wish I had a better, um, way to talk with my boss about getting a rate. Just, those are things that aren't, they aren't saying like, this is keeping me up at night. But those are transformational opportunities that you have to provide a solution.

So it's really, sometimes listening without people, without people painting it and saying, this is exactly what I do, um, is the way that you can, you know, start to, to, to pivot and, and, and showcase your solutions.

Yeah, that's good. That's good stuff. It is like, um, uh, one, somebody I spoke with sometime ago, and I recently had, a real life situation where this has happened to me. Where one hand you could have like a leaking faucet that is dripping, dripping, dripping. And you know, if you are homeowner.

You know that homes always need work. Your house always needs work. So a dripping faucet that you don't use every day is not really a big problem. It's not a massive problem. It's a little bit annoying. You might hear it at night, but I mean, for the most part you could ignore it. Right? Um, 'cause it's not really costing you much more, your water rates are not gonna go up.

But if that drip becomes more and more. Or even, let's say one of your pipes, booths, uh, below the, your flooring or something like that, then that is a massive emergency and you now have to address that. And I think what you're saying is that you identify the opportunities, but also that could lead you to like, are the big things that people want to address inside?

Of, um, dealing with their clients, growing their business, and all those different things. So it's almost like a signal what, what their desire is, is a signal to what may become important later on. Would you agree with that?

Yeah, absolutely. And, and I think it, it is a lot harder sometimes to communicate this, but I, I love that example because that speaks directly to that, where you don't want that drip to become a leak. You want that drip to, you know, Become something a lot bigger. So it's trying to help people as well, being proactive, which a lot of times it's hard to do because people sometimes want to take care of things when it happens.

But I think if you are kind of top of mind, if you're saying, okay, hey, I know it's just a leak now, but oh, um, we have these seven tips that we provide for homeowners that you can sign up for. Then if you know hope, it doesn't happen, of course, but if it does happen, then you are more top of mind. So it's again, providing value sometimes before. it's of need at that time and, and being a lot more kind of long-term, or I like to say marathon focused, you know, in your marketing.

Excellent. a good segue. You said long-term or marathon. Marathon focus. So let's talk about goals and how you set those goals. So I know goals is one big thing when it comes to creating content, and when it comes to setting, uh. Where is your marketing gonna take you? Tell us how you help clients set those goals or how clients are able to set goals for themselves.

Yeah, I mean, I, I think the biggest misconception around marketing is that you snap your fingers, you put up a Facebook ad, you, you, you do some SEO, you, you create a blog post and Clients run in after that. And I think that that's, you know, a really big, you know, misconception around marketing. So I think it's trying to understand from clients what success looks like. Um, have them paint that picture as much as possible and then you try to figure out what goals can kind of make that happen. specifically like WeWork, a lot with, you know, SEOs. So a lot of it is of course you want to show up, you know, if per, if people are typing in that, um, most competitive key word. But how can you strategically start to move towards that? So it's understanding what might be the quote unquote minor goals that help you to create that domino effect towards the major goal. And I, I think that's where, you know, you, you start asking those questions, you start to say, okay, um, if you're a plumber, I.

And you want to show up when there's a, a leak, is there something else that might be an indicator, that you can start to get clients or customers for that will potentially turn into those bigger opportunities? Or is there a certain city outside of where you're located that's less competitive but you can start to rank there and it, it's really just understanding and, and looking at it for more of a long-term focus. So that you can create goals so that you can get those quote unquote smaller wins so that it can lead to the bigger wins. And, and I think one of the, you know, beautiful things about digital marketing is there's literally opportunities everywhere and online. There's market, there's opportunities everywhere. There's this concept in SEO called the long tail, and the idea of the long tail is that those quote unquote small wins actually end up being more than the big win you were ultimately searching for. So I think when we are talking with clients. We're trying to understand, you know, have that picture painted, but also try to see how that can translate to an overall strategy to ultimately get to where they they wanna be.

Let's talk a little bit about what you just said about the long tail. 'cause I know there's a, um, it's a terminology called long tail keywords, you can use. Is that what you're referring to? What is, what is that about?

Yeah, absolutely. There's a book I, I think it was written, um, back in the nineties, I believe, by Chris Anderson, I believe was the author. And it talks about the long tail, and it's not as much related to content, but it, it, it can be related to content. And many, you know, SEOs and people have You know, related to that because it, it makes sense and it's a lot because when, because the technology that we use now specifically in terms of search, we're able to be very targeted in the things that we're looking for. So as more and more people are looking for those very targeted. Um, searches as we have Siri and smart speakers, we're able to, to not just ask for a plumber near me. We're we're asking for a plumber that can help out with this specific brand of toilet that we have. Ca, can you solve this problem? You're gonna be able to create content specifically to that.

And the whole concept around the long tail is that if you add up those small searches, which are less competitive, they end up being more than Showing up as plumber near me. So it's thinking strategically around what might be those niche, um, or very focused searches that might end up being when you add 'em all up more than that, uh, long tail and, and top level search.

Okay, great. So it's getting more specific as like being, this is the exact thing, so you can actually, uh, and this is a word that people use often, you can actually niche. and I know that's become, uh, a bit of a, a, an interesting word over the last few years niche and being able to be very specific about what you do.

So, let Me take your example. So plumber near me, which is what would've been the way in which you would term it probably in the early two thousands. You just want somebody who's qualified in this particular, industry, uh, near you. But beyond that, you might want a plumber who specializes in train water heaters or something of that sort.

Or maybe it might be somebody who can, the only worker copper piping, or something of that nature. And so when you craft your content and you craft your SEO strategy, . You integrate those specific terminologies so that the people who are looking for this specific thing will always come to you when they search?

Is that what you're saying?

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that you're not necessarily ignoring the plumbers near me because I still Valuable. You just understand how competitive that is. So how can I get those small wins to lead to that big win? And especially around SEO, as you start to get those small wins, you'll start to see that you're starting to rank better For Plumber near me.

You know, when you're on second page now, you might be on the bottom of first page and moving on up because you're seen as, and, and Google is all in the business of helping create those solutions as well too. So you're seen as a valuable site, a valuable solution. So it starts to quote unquote serve, you know, your, your site a little bit.

Um, higher and better.

Excellent. Good. That's good stuff. So we've talked about the target market part of it. We talked about the goals, parts of it. Let's talk about the resources. And this is a big deal because when you're starting off, let's say you're, you're bootstrapping, which means you're starting with your own money, you're not getting external help.

Money is an issue, especially for startups or small businesses. How do you manage your resources in order to get the most out of making yourself a media company?

Yeah, I, I, I, I appreciate you asking that question. And there's a book by Damon John who the founded fubu, and it's called The Power of Broke. And the reason that he called it that is because it actually ends up being a superpower for you not to have those resources. And every organization has some type of budget, so there's always some type of limits.

It's not always infinite, but you know, even For those big brands, a lot of times it's more than, you know, what you might have as a small to medium sized business. So you, you start to have to be more creative in the way that you're approaching your marketing. Um, you have to think about and drill down a little bit more and have those direct conversations.

You lean on those case studies, those interviews you had of your potential clients and, and customers, and you start to realize that. You have to take your limited resources and you have to be a lot more focused in the things that you're doing. If you're bootstrapping and you're putting in that sweat equity, you want to make sure that when you create a blog post, it's not just to create a blog post.

You're being very strategic about the things that you've heard. Come up over and over again in those client, um, testimonials or those, um, those case studies that you've created. All those things are coming up a lot more and more again. So I think again, it is a tremendous opportunity digitally because we have different platforms, we have different tools that we can use. But I think the really big opportunity for people that may be a little bit more limited in those resources is to get more resourceful, for lack of a better term, and, and think more strategically. Think about like how you're gonna actually create content that's gonna speak directly to the hearts, the minds, the human aspect of what people are going to, what's actually keeping them up at night.

I know this is keeping you up at night, so this is what I want to show you. So you start to be a lot more scrappy, for lack of a better term, a lot more. Um, emotionally connected because you understand that you have to be focused in that you don't have resources to spend everywhere, time or money. So you have to make sure that you are making that connection and that opportunity.

Every blog, every podcast, every social media post becomes so much more important when you're doing that.

Are there any tips that you can give to, a less than 10 business or maybe it might just be somebody who is working for themselves, uh, in order to manage your time? 'cause I know time is something, a resource is a limited resource, but everybody has it. Some people don't, don't even have any money.

But let's just say they have time. Is there, are there any things that somebody who's working for themselves can do to maximize on how they create this, this content and how they become a media company?

Yeah, I mean, I think one of the big things that I talk about, you know, around being a, a media company is it's not getting overwhelmed by all the different options, first of all. You know, try to pick one, maybe two things that you're gonna focus on. Um, if you're gonna do the podcast, go in on our podcast.

If you're gonna do blogging, go in all in on blogging. I think one of the big things in order to break through the noise is to focus on those things. Now, of course, can use other things to kind of repurpose and, you know, other platforms. And there's, you know, AI. But there, there's so many things out there. It just depends on what you're trying to do.

Like if you're trying to schedule social media posts, of course. you're gonna get more reach if you organically or, or natively post whatever your social media posts on different platforms. But again, if you're limited in time, maybe you understand that that's a trade off that you're going to make. if you are trying to figure out, if your marketing strategy or if the campaign that you're running or, um, anything that you're doing is working or not, you know, And make sure that you install Google Analytics onto your website so you can see how many people are going to your website, where they're coming from, just all those things. Um, it's going to allow you to, you know, more opportunity and more awareness around what's working and what's not working. So I think it, it could depend that, you know, overall, you know, but there's lots of tools out there, lots of quote unquote free tools, um, that you can definitely, you know, lean into to, to make you more effective and efficient.

And, you know, I said it a few times, but again, there's AI tools popping up all The time. And it's not necessarily saying the AI's going to replace the people or replace the thing that you're doing, but by being able to manage and maximize your time so much more, it's gonna allow you to be and be more impactful and more, um, more, make more of a, um, I guess, a dent in the things that you're doing by being able to kind of focus on that.

Okay, great. So, I see that and I think that a, a big question out of that is like, what is the single most important thing that any business owner can do within the first year to set themselves up to be a media company that lasts?

I think the biggest thing is really to kind of roll up your sleeves and, and test it out. I think, um, so many times we can You know, it gets seduced by all the different opportunities out there, all the different ingredients that are there. Like I talked about, the platforms that are there. But I think pick one and, and try that out.

If there's gonna be nothing better than making sure that you're getting that market feedback. If you're going to do a podcast, it's getting out and doing those episodes and, and, and seeing what the analytics are showing you. Um, so it's, it's doing the thing, but also making sure that you are tracking the thing so that you can see what's working and what's not.

I think one of the misconceptions about success, whether we're talking about marketing or anything in business, is that it's not a, it's not a straight path. Um, it's a windy path. It's lots of, valleys more than there are peaks. And I think if you have a great understanding that I'm going to just. Pivot my way through success.

I'm gonna see what works. I'm gonna put it out there, and then I'm gonna pivot to the next thing. Ba not, not even the next thing, pivot maybe to how you're doing it rather than what you're doing. then you're going to create success for yourself. So I think that is the single best thing that I do. The reason I, I talk a lot around, Building a meat. Companies like cooking your favorite dishes directly because of that. Because as soon as you get the dish out, I, I love talking about sweet potato pie 'cause it's my absolute favorite, my mom's sweet potato pie. When you get that out and it doesn't taste quite the same, what you want to do is go back to the drawing board, put the right ingredients, continue to kind of test that out, because it's a process and that process honestly never, ever ends.

So when you have that kind of mentality, that focus On, I'm just going to continue to improve. I'm continue to get better. I'm gonna continue to kind of progress, then that's gonna lead you to the success that you want. But it's, it's more of a mentality than anything else. If you, if you put it in and it, you know, the, the pie falls apart and all those things, it's not the end of the world. You just have some data and information on how you can do better. So that's probably the biggest thing I would say is just have that, that Testing mentality. Have that curiosity, that eagerness to continue to kind of, you know, chase that success that, uh, you want to have.

That was excellent. So test experiment. Continue to find out what works and most of all, make it like, Kathy Harless his sweet potato pie. Yeah, 

Absolutely. 

yeah, Most, most of all. Uh, okay, great. So that's, that's good. That's good stuff. So let's bring it all together and, and I want to bring it all together by asking you one final question, right.

what has worked for you? And I know your, your process has not been a straight line. It's, it's, you yourself have been scrappy and had to do many different things. So tell me, what is the biggest thing that has worked for you in pulling together all of these different sources of content and media?

'cause many, How many podcasts are there right now?

Uh, so I hit 1600 at the beginning of this year.

1600. And that is from two different shows or more than one show.

That was one show. There's about a hundred, 150 or so of the other show.

Of the other show. Okay, so tell us what is your personal secret in being successful, producing all of this media company stuff and becoming successful with that?

Yeah, so funny enough, one of the things that really led me, I, I started a blog. I've always been interested in entrepreneurship and business, what makes people text their stories and what sets 'em apart. And, you know, I love all the phenomenal questions that you're asking. Love your show and everything that you're doing, because a lot of it gets to the heart of that and, and understanding what that is. So for me, I've always, I say I've been a journalist at heart. and when I started the digital marketing business, um, I was trying to figure out how to marry those two. So still creating lots of content. That was always the focus. and I, you know, continuing to have the digital marketing business, it was when I started to kind of marry the two.

That's when I think things really. Went to an entirely different level. And what I mean by that was where the podcast came in because we would feature people on roundups and we would talk about, you know, the, the 10 things that you should know when starting your business or why'd you start your, uh, why'd you name your business? You know this specific name or how'd you come up with your business name? Just all these questions. But it wasn't until I started to have the actual podcast interviews where I had direct conversations with the people that, for one, sometimes you go through the day-to-day of what you do, and you don't realize how it might just be a quote unquote blog post for you, but it might be somebody's everything. And, you know, hearing those things was, you know, super impactful. But, and, and it helps you to fuel your why. 'cause you can kind of lose sight of that. But I think the other thing is too, is like you, you sometimes just have general opportunities is it's like you're talking with somebody and they're like, Hey, you know, what do you do?

And oh, I do X, Y and Z and A, B, and C. And I've gotten collaboration opportunities business a lot of times from that, but I think it wasn't. Just me talking about the things that I do is me having those human connections. So one of the big things that I always say is like, with this content, it's a beautiful thing to be able to create content, but don't forget the human aspect.

Don't forget that if you're featured on a blog or you're featured on a podcast to reach out to maybe other guests or people that have been on the show, or if you're in a roundup post, don't be afraid to reach out to other people just to connect with them. So I think it's marrying that digital part with the human part. Um, and bringing those things together, that I think for me has really helped out a lot. And I'm just starting to kind of scratch the surface and realize that, uh, but I, I think that, you know, there's so much, you know, opportunity when you're able to kind of be really good at creating content. I. You're also really good at, you know, understanding people and getting to know people, building relationships, all those things.

And I think, you know, you're, you're, uh, a testament to that and, and just knowing and doing the homework and all those things about like how to actually get to know somebody and develop those connections and relationships. And I think phenomenons things just kind of come from there.

That was beautiful. That's a great way to bring us in for a landing. And to end off, that's a great way to end off, relationships are the core of how you build. I believe that with all my heart, that relationships, uh, beyond everything. I could see it in here. It's in your content.

I, I know you had your mom the first episode, any hundred episode. That's how I, that's how I know that as well. Yeah. So that's good stuff. So, so Gresham, where can the people find you online if they wanna engage with you?

Yeah, absolutely. So to make everything easier, juma, you can always go to I am IAM gresh.com. That's I-A-M-G-R-E-S h.com. I am gresh and that has links to the, the podcast has links to blogs, digital marketing. Um, the UR Immediate Company course and all the things that I work on, but I think that's usually the best way to kind of see, um, a little bit of everything that I'm working on.

Beautiful, beautiful. Thank you so much for being with us Gresham today to talk about how to make your company a media company. We spoke about goals, target markets, resources, and a little bit about relationship at the end there. So I thank you students for being here in the useful content classroom and for joining us with Gresham Harless, Jr.

Useful content classroom, And we are clear. Excellent.

Thank you. Juma. That was cool. Hands down. I feel like that's one of the best interviews that I've had, so, you know, kudos to you. I wasn't just saying that, like, it's definitely been a phenomenal, just like, you know, it, it means a lot when you do those things. So, and I'm sure you know that, but even if you don't, I'll make sure I, I, I mention it.

Uh, thanks man. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Let me stop off here,