黑料门

Entrepreneurship and building an online income can be lonely. Rich and Jesse discuss options for e-commerce store owners to stay educated, connected and motivated.

It is conference season! Jesse and Rich will be attending several conferences with in-depth training from expert speakers. The two big ones in digital marketing and are both in San Diego: Traffic & Conversion and Social Media Marketing World.

Jesse and Rich will be attending and sharing the best pieces of info in the next few episodes.

Traffic

Jesse: Hey, Richie Happy Friday!

Richard: Happy Friday! How鈥檚 it going?

Jesse: It鈥檚 good, it鈥檚 a podcast day. The rain has finally stopped.

Richard: I know it鈥檚 so funny when we鈥檙e doing the show and talking about it with Steve and Mary the other days. It seems so tragically. “It鈥檚 raining! Oh my God!” The rest the country is like “You only have rain?”.

Jesse: Yeah, you get to complain about droughts all the time. Now it rains.

Richard: Just the rain you want, and it鈥檚 not good enough now either.

Jesse: Yeah, but the sun is back, it鈥檚 podcast day.

Richard: I鈥檓 in. Let鈥檚 do this.

Jesse: Yeah, let鈥檚 do it.

Richard: It鈥檚 been fun, have you been listening to a lot of podcasts lately outside of this one interview?

Jesse: I do. I鈥檓 kind of a podcast junkie. I listen to a lot of marketing related ones, a couple on politics and current events. So the radio is not making it, I鈥檓 not here for the radio anymore.

Richard: I don鈥檛 either. It鈥檚 amazing. I love it. It鈥檚 just so easy to do multitasking learning. Where you鈥檙e doing the honey do鈥檚 and all the other stuff by your headphones around listening to your favorite marketing or whatever it is you listen to. What are the things you do? Kind of keeping up with the learning stuff.

Jesse: Oh, boy. I read a lot as well, so there鈥檚 a lot of newsletters and blogs that I look at. Pods are easy for me because I can do that when I鈥檓 driving and I have a pretty big commute. So for me driving time is learning time and then when I get into work I do my homework. But then I read a little bit at work too.

Richard: Yeah, it鈥檚 what we wanted to talk about today anyway. We realize there鈥檚 so much to do as an entrepreneur but there鈥檚 always something new to learn, and all these new technologies that people didn鈥檛 have access to before they鈥檙e great. But for those of you who have iPhone, I鈥檓 sure it goes the same with the Android but I just haven鈥檛 had an iPhone. You see how often those updates are coming on your phone, right. New features, new sets, new things to do and to keep up with all that learning. It did take some time. And we know you鈥檙e into learning or you wouldn鈥檛 be listening to this podcast.

Jesse: So everybody you鈥檙e doing a great job listening to podcasts, trying to improve your skills and the ability to run your business.

Richard: Yeah. And it鈥檚 just you have to get outside of yourself to know. Yes, you know your business like no one else knows your business. But there are so many changes in so many things going on, that it鈥檚 important to get out. I mean do you go to meetups or anything like that?

Jesse: To a few meetups. I work in digital too, I know so many even at work at 黑料门. We鈥檙e all in the same game so that鈥檚 really helpful, but sometimes you鈥檝e got to get beyond that group. As an entrepreneur, you know in my office everybody does work in some sort of digital. But if you鈥檙e doing this as a solopreneur, maybe none of your friends understand what the heck you鈥檙e talking about when you say “That Facebook algorithm really screwed up my business”, they鈥檙e like “What are you talking about?”.

Richard: Did you know LinkedIn had a pixel too?鈥�

Jesse: Yeah.

Richard: “What, really?” Everyone else is like “What is he talking about?”.

Jesse: Yeah, exactly. And you need to have some friends that you can bounce this stuff off of and say whatever the latest tricks on YouTube. And if your spouse or your family doesn鈥檛 know what you鈥檙e talking about that doesn鈥檛 help. You need to find some outlet. You need to find your tribe, people that you can talk to. So meetups are really a good way if you don鈥檛 have that outlet.

Richard: Yeah, actually. Oh, I just thought about it, today I鈥檓 actually meeting up with Matt and Joe from Evergreen Profits. The podcast that we had on a while back.

Jesse: So even though you can listen to their podcasts, it鈥檚 way better to actually meet people in person. I think it鈥檚 what you getting at.

Richard: Especially when it鈥檚 Friday afternoon and we鈥檙e good. We鈥檙e going to put a brewery that wants to start a podcast also.

Jesse: Awesome.

Richard: Yeah. So it鈥檒l be interesting. We鈥檒l see how that turns out. And we want to do a San Diego podcast too. There are all kinds of mostly marketing conversation that will be going on there. But that鈥檚 funny that we鈥檙e talking about this and I thought “Oh yeah, that鈥檚 this afternoon”.

Jesse: Yeah. So you鈥檝e got to get out there. You鈥檝e got to meet people. And not only do you learn from them, but it also keeps you motivated. I think there鈥檚 learning and there鈥檚 also motivation sometimes. Sales are down and you鈥檙e like “What鈥檚 going on? How come nobody鈥檚 buying this week?” And you need people to understand that to bounce these things off of.

Richard: So if you鈥檙e an entrepreneur and you actually had your business going for a while now, then you know it鈥檚 a slightly manic depressive lifestyle. (laughing) It鈥檚 got a rollercoaster ride in it. Not necessarily depressing but there are times and just like you want to hear how someone else got through that, how someone else handled that. And it can get lonely. I mean you鈥檙e a solopreneur. Anyone who鈥檚 been sitting there working on the computer all day and they thought the office was horrible when they used to work at an office, sometimes you miss that office. Meet at the coffee shops, going to meetups.

Jesse: Sometimes you鈥檙e just like “How do you do that one thing in Excel that makes this do like that?” And you just like banging your head against the computer. And then like “Man, I used to sit with somebody, there was an Excel expert back in the day, this would鈥檝e been done hours ago.”

Richard: You wouldn鈥檛 be thinking about it anyway. Exactly. Do you do conferences and stuff like that?

Jesse: That鈥檚 kind of what we want to talk about like conferences. If you don鈥檛 have that outlet, if you don鈥檛 have a meetup group and you should get that by the way you can even go to business in SBA meetings or there are all sorts of stuff. Chamber of Commerce and, wherever you live, there鈥檚 going to be some similar thing. But to really take your skills to a whole another level going to conferences is really the way to go and it鈥檚 conference season here in San Diego.

Richard: Yeah. It鈥檚 funny I鈥檓 flying out next Tuesday for a conference New Media Summit, for the podcasters and that鈥檚 gonna be interesting because that鈥檚 a fun one too. Not only do you learn from the people that are in your same space doing podcasting but you-you also can what we discussed you can learn but you can also get more exposure because a lot of the people at the conferences they鈥檝e been doing this for a while. And so all of a sudden you get your product, your service, your knowledge in front of one of those people and maybe you get on one of their podcasts, or you get on one of their blogs, or you get on one of their videos. It can move the needle quickly.

Jesse: I get it. In the e-commerce world, maybe you鈥檙e just one influencer away from you know a million dollars. Right. That鈥檚 possible. For sure.

Richard: We don鈥檛 guarantee. (laughing)

Jesse: By the way. That鈥檚 a little extreme.

Richard: But it has happened. It鈥檚 not a one-time thing. It鈥檚 no matter what it鈥檚 checking off those first two boxes, we talked about checking off, your learning from people who are in the business. If you go into the right ones and it鈥檚 checking off, you getting to meet the people who are in the business.

Jesse: Absolutely.

Richard: And so with the first one, what鈥檚 the one we鈥檙e going to? Oh, Traffic and Conversion.

Jesse: Yeah. So Traffic and Conversion is in San Diego. That鈥檚 coming up soon. By the time you listen to this might have been in the past. So there鈥檚 kind of two groups in the e-commerce world. There鈥檚 like the Internet Retailer group. Then there鈥檚 the Traffick and Conversion group. Traffic and Conversion is very good for direct response and I would say more than unique marketing strategies really bubble up out of that conference and the people that attend. I went last year for the first time and was like “Wow, I have heard some of these terms before and now I see it in action”. And talking with the people like it really, several concepts sunk in that maybe hadn鈥檛 some sunk in before.

Richard: Oh yeah. That it鈥檚 one of my favorite ones for a few reasons. First off, we鈥檝e known each other doing e-commerce for years and during the time we even worked together. I know I probably would drive you crazy every now and again at lunch by going like: “Why did you choose frozen fish to sell when you could have been selling information?” Because there was this whole other world, there鈥檚 this product world of the world of e-commerce. And then there鈥檚 this whole other world of information and you know like you said more marketing-esque style. But then those two worlds never really talked together, and Traffic and Conversion was one of the first conferences that I went to that merged the two. I should say, it鈥檚 not one or the other, you need the copy to help drive but you need traffic. Don鈥檛 worry about conversions till you have traffic in, as soon as you have a bunch of traffic you start worrying about conversions. But everyone鈥檚 trying to sell something, product, service, whatever it might be.

Jesse: And they鈥檙e all the same concepts here. Most likely you鈥檙e going to be using Facebook, you can be using Google and then you鈥檇 want to play with the other new platforms out there, whether it鈥檚 Instagram, or Pinterest, or YouTube. Actually, that brings me to the other conferences coming up. Social Media Marketing world. So that鈥檚 also in San Diego and about a couple of weeks later. But it鈥檚 actually very similar but it鈥檚 a little bit more focused on social media as you might guess from the name. But there鈥檚 a lot of the same speakers. So, Rich, when you go these companies what鈥檚 a couple the topics or tactics you鈥檙e looking at this year in specifically?

Richard: Let鈥檚 see. I鈥檒l take that in three separate pieces. I鈥檒l say first, what do I most like to do when I go to a conference. And that usually connects deeper with the people that I already have a connection with, that it鈥檚 mostly been online but then taken that connection offline. That鈥檚 my ultimate goal at these conferences because you used to choose your tribe based on location and where you lived and now your tribe could literally be on the opposite side of the world or right next door or three thousand miles away, whatever. Pick a number. But at these conferences, it鈥檚 really a great chance to deepen that connection. So that鈥檚 my first goal. Usually, then it goes into that. The second one that we were talking about earlier. Our first thing was learning, I want to learn from those people because I鈥檝e been in this long enough. They鈥檙e either at my speed or above me and so I like to try to always have something new that I think I can add to their repertoire and vice versa. There鈥檚 usually something I can get out of there. So I definitely want to learn but I really try to time out because of the wanting to touch so many of them and actually connect with them outside in real life. I try to schedule, I really go through when鈥檚 each of them speaking, what鈥檚 going on. I try to because I know I鈥檓 not the only one. Especially at the Social Media Marketing World, where there鈥檚 almost like groupies that follow some of these people around. It鈥檚 interesting how you can even approach that. Usually, I will reach out to them ahead of time and try to set up a meeting like “Hey, what are you gonna do after you break out?” Something like that or “Do you want to go to this party?”

Jesse: I think that鈥檚 a good idea. Yeah, I know what you mean, there鈥檚 a lot of people. Well, Richard, you think we have groupies that follow our podcast yet? And I don鈥檛 think so.

Richard: But my daughter knows we do.

Jesse: All right. (laughing) All right. Okay. So we got one and we got one we鈥檙e working on it. But yeah, when you go to some of the bigger named conferences that have more podcasters or influencers, digital marketers.

Richard: The bloggers.

Jesse: Yeah, they鈥檙e out there and you see the line that forms after they speak is like 30 deep and you鈥檙e like okay. I don鈥檛 know if I want to be number 31 because I鈥檓 going to get like a 30-second pitch on what it is that I do and what I want. So yeah you got to. You do have to work a little bit, and as you mentioned setting an appointment ahead of time, “Hey, where are you going to be?” It looks like you have a conference here, you want to grab lunch, you want to grab a drink afterward. A lot of times people from out of town too so that means it becomes a 24/7 thing. These conferences are sometimes a couple of days long and there are always parties afterward as well.

Richard: Yeah. And it鈥檚 it鈥檚 really cool. There鈥檚 something you were saying that I think mixed also with what I was saying. I also like new people even though I like to up level learning. That鈥檚 what learning is all about. I sometimes learn just as much from a newbie but it鈥檚 not necessarily that they know more than me in that subject as much as they haven鈥檛 been living and breathing that subject. So sometimes they ask a better question. And so the thing that we鈥檝e been doing the same way because we鈥檝e been doing it the same way. It is like wow. If you鈥檙e not real quick to snuff the question because they鈥檙e just getting started but you really hear it. You can get some gems because they鈥檙e asking something. Think of all the things that are winning right now it鈥檚 the things that are making things frictionless. Uber and Netflix and all this. My daughter literally says to me the other day: “I love watching this stuff on Amazon you don鈥檛 even have to change your channel, it just rolls over”. Oh, great. So but you have an opportunity to see things differently and the reason why I brought up that one was Blockbuster was approached by Netflix. “Hey, would you like to require this type of thing?” Not only do you not want to get out of here. We think people like this idea of series serendipitously bumping into neighbors while looking at the back of it. So it鈥檚 like someone asked the question differently. And then Netflix was developed. And Amazon, shouldn鈥檛 Sears have been Amazon? Sometimes you need that beginner mind to make you look at something different and then you can go talk to all those other people and figure out the answer for sure. But it鈥檚 just a long-winded for it. Don鈥檛 be afraid. Just because we鈥檝e been doing this for a while to not go to a conference it鈥檚 just as important if not more so to just get started, getting out there, learning and you鈥檒l just have more to suck in because you haven鈥檛 been there as often. But don鈥檛 try to conquer everything.

Jesse: For sure. Yeah, I think whether it鈥檚 a conference or even more of a meetup there鈥檚 definitely people that know more than you. I鈥檓 probably looking more for the expert level knowledge than the newbies, like talking to everybody. I鈥檓 not as much of a talker as you. There will be people that I鈥檝e heard them on a podcast before and I鈥檒l have to go to their session because I either I know who they are or-or I鈥檝e heard of them. And I just want to take it all and I try to take notes, there鈥檚 a lot of information coming. Sometimes you really can鈥檛 take notes but it gives me all the kind of the nuggets of information I can apply later, whether it鈥檚 on side businesses, whether it鈥檚 on the 黑料门 account as well, you know I manage digital for 黑料门. So there鈥檚 just very high-level stuff that you鈥檙e not getting from. You can get them from podcasts but it鈥檚 almost like you need to see it in front of you, need to see the screen and everyone asking questions. Maybe just need to hear it enough times that it sinks in.

Richard: I think you just nailed it right there. If in sales let鈥檚 go back to that we鈥檝e heard it over and over again five to ten touch points. What does that really mean? It means, I鈥檓 not going to make this be hard stats, but it means it takes five times until you probably become aware of something. You see new things constantly and then around six or seven you kind of like “Oh, that鈥檚 interesting”, an eight, nine, or ten, you either buy or don鈥檛 buy. But to your point, you need to see it over and over and over again. Think about how many different ways. So five to ten touch points 黑料门. You can go to these places and a lot of these conferences you yourself can learn something. You can do biz dev with other vendors products that can help 黑料门. So you鈥檙e going to go to these things and hopefully, you might find two or three new people that want to connect to the App Store and new business. I鈥檓 not saying you close that deal right then but it鈥檚 a touchpoint.

Jesse: Actually I think that鈥檚 a good read. We didn鈥檛 really touch on that but a lot of times go into conferences too. Don鈥檛 ignore the vendors, the vendor booths. Of course, they鈥檙e trying to sell you something and they want to come to talk to you and maybe they have some freebies and giveaways but you can learn a lot by talking to the vendors as well like all different things you hadn鈥檛 even thought of yet.

Richard: I mean you can sit there and Google your way to try to find out an answer. You can go to a conference and there are five different shipping things and now you can figure out which shipping you really should be using right to the source.

Jesse: Absolutely.

Richard: Googling, looking through dots, trying to figure out which one is going to work.

Jesse: And a lot of times when you go to the conferences too you realize that it鈥檚 not just the newbies work in the booths, sometimes it鈥檚 the top dogs are working the booths. You like it now. I鈥檝e worked boots before at conferences as both a peon and more experienced person. Sometimes I didn鈥檛 know the answer but鈥�

Richard: It depends on how long that trip has been. Have you been on the road for three months? Probably the newbie. If this is a major conference there probably鈥�

Jesse: A lot of times you get the big dogs there. Not only are you getting information, but you also get it from the right person that you would never get this person on email. I guess that鈥檚 a good point there. If it鈥檚 the VP of sales or whatever that鈥檚 work in the booth that person not necessarily on the customer support line. So very important to go talk to the vendors and learn from them, learn from everybody, network. It comes as very important and the reason we鈥檙e telling you this in a podcast is we鈥檙e excited about going to these conferences and then learning very specific things that we can bring in in the future. So I鈥檒l give you a couple of examples. We鈥檝e talked a lot about Instagram lately so going to be anything that鈥檚 Instagram related. I鈥檓 gonna be going into those, taking a bunch of notes. Some of it might be a way to advance to take notes on it and put it into a podcast but I鈥檓 going to try to pull in a couple of nuggets of information that we can use. Rich, what are you, need specific topics are you just looking overall?

Richard: Mostly back to my first two points, connections with people. You obviously know do this podcast as we do together but also co-host on three other ones and starting two other ones. Right, so I鈥檓 heavy in the voice. I even heard it in my prediction that voice commerce coming. So for me, it鈥檚 mostly focusing on what people are doing with monetization and distribution and just connecting with more podcasters in general. I just call it the Oprah vacation. You know Oprah interviewed. Was she an expert? But when she won she interviewed eight, she became the ninth. I鈥檓 picking a number out. But you get the point. So you get to know the people and you get around and you find your tribes, sometimes someone else鈥檚 tribe. They like your vibe and so I鈥檓 mostly trying to heavy in the connection right now.

Jesse: Cool, I鈥檒l hang out with you then. Then you can be the connector and then I鈥檒l be the one furiously taking notes and learning tactics. It could be a good thing.

Richard: Sounds good. Team up one of the parties.

Jesse: Yeah, we also go to the parties. That鈥檚 always fun too. That鈥檚 how you really meet people. I鈥檓 also thinking, it鈥檚 chatbot season for me so I鈥檓 going to be super excited about chatbots, and I鈥檝e listened to a ton of podcasts, I鈥檝e applied it a little bit here and there but I think I just need to dive in headfirst. So I鈥檓 probably gonna hit up four or five different sessions specifically about chatbots and marketing with chatbots not just more from “How do you acquire traffic”. Build a funnel with chatbot so that鈥檚 something I鈥檓 super excited about it. I won鈥檛 be sharing like 5 hours of information on the podcast but I do want to deliver what I can and from some of the experts. Try to break it down into a Jesse and Rich style.

Richard: Yeah, that would be something that would be great. Great combo between the both of us too because I鈥檓 also gonna be focusing a lot on not just the podcast but just streaming in general. Live streaming, audio, video because to your point you need traffic. And if someone knew exactly the movie to make. They would just make that movie. But Hollywood doesn鈥檛 know the exact movie to make. So you make 20 movies and you just hope you built the model that one of those is a hit it pays for the next 40 movies. Going there and learning how to do your own content creation is going to be good for these people. The 黑料门 podcast too because whatever it is you know there鈥檚 some sort of content you need to create. If you鈥檙e getting people to go to a chatbot you鈥檙e gonna be giving them some content of some kind.

Jesse: It just got to be shorter.

Richard: Yeah. Exactly. You write a blog it鈥檚 to get people to come to your website and or improve your SEO. So it鈥檚 all the same game.

Jesse: Kind of what do you like to do too. Like you, if you can do the Instagram 15 second stories, if you can pick up a phone. I鈥檓 doing this in front of myself and put your thumb on the record button and deliver like an awesome 15-second video. Kudos to you. It takes me about 15 takes to do a 15-second video but everybody is gonna find the right medium for them that they like and it works for their business too. Not every business is going to work well on Instagram.

Richard: Of course. Let鈥檚 see, if one of the things that I would really love is to learn what may be some of you want us to learn are to find out at these conferences. So if you go to the 黑料门.com/blog/podcast and scroll down to any of the individual podcasts, you can actually write a question there and or tell us why you should be on this show. Also because we鈥檇 love more merchants on the show too. We love to give you feedback and help you with your businesses as well. We鈥檙e all here for learning and growth in our businesses.

Jesse: Yeah, absolutely. If there鈥檚 something you specifically want to learn, we鈥檙e going to some pretty expensive conferences that you don鈥檛 have to pay for. So if you have a very specific question, let us know in the podcast on the bottom of the podcast page and then yeah what Richard鈥檚 saying is for sure. We want to talk to some more merchants. There鈥檚 a little button on the bottom that you can just tell us your story. Give us why you think he鈥檇 be a great podcast guest. We can review your site give you some live advice and tips. So a lot of reasons there to help drive your business.

Richard: In speaking of reading and reviewing, we can always use it. We love feedback. We love to learn. We want to know what you like, what you don鈥檛 like, what we can do more, or what we can do less of. Definitely please also read and review that good podcast.

Jesse: Rate review, get out there. Make it happen.