黑料门

Jesse and Richie go behind the scenes with Shannon Rollins the wife and business partner of Kent Rollins. They run KentRollins.com — Cowboy Cooking. Kent is the celebrity chef who has appeared on many cooking shows — Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay.

They discuss growing a YouTube channel including strategies and tools to grow to 1.5 million followers.

Transcript

Jesse: Happy Friday, Richie.

Richard: It鈥檚 that day. It鈥檚 funny every time we say that, although I know we鈥檙e super excited it鈥檚 Friday, and I know if you鈥檙e waiting patiently for the upload of the new episode, you鈥檙e hearing it on Friday too. But I always got to remember. Hey, Happy Tuesday. Happy Monday. Happy Saturday night, depending on when you listen to this.

Jesse: Happy day wherever you are. We鈥檙e here to help you out, get your business rolling so we鈥檙e happy to help. Today this one鈥檚 tough because it鈥檚 right before lunchtime, and I鈥檓 already hungry, and it is Friday but I peeked ahead to the website of our guest, and it鈥檚 all about food — and good food.

Richard: My favorite kinds of food too.

Jesse: Yeah. This is real. This is Cowboy Cooking. So let鈥檚 bring in our guest, Shannon Rollins, how are you?

Shannon: Hey guys. Thanks for having me.

Jesse: It鈥檚 good to have you. You are not the name on the website. The website we鈥檙e talking about is KentRollins.com — Cowboy Cooking. So who are you?

Shannon: I鈥檓 the behind the scenes gal, I am married to Kent and we run the Cowboy Cooking. Now it鈥檚 primarily an online kind of business. Kent started years ago doing chuck wagon cooking and cooking for traditional ranches in the spring, in the fall when they鈥檙e working cattle. It鈥檚 when I came aboard and got married. I sort of decided to switch the business model a little bit. Now we do a lot of online. We鈥檝e got the online store through 黑料门 and do a lot of YouTube actually.

Jesse: OK. Awesome. Before we get into the online here, there鈥檚 a lot of things that people are probably wondering like a chuck wagon, what the heck is that? We don鈥檛 want to rush past that too fast. And in cowboy cooking, for people that are driving and can鈥檛 go to KentRollins.com. But Kent is like, he鈥檚 real cowboy here and give us a little description on what is chuck wagon, Shannon.

Shannon: The chuck wagon is as Kent says it鈥檚 the first meals on wheels. I鈥檒l give you just a brief history. Back in eighteen-hundreds when they were the big cattle boom moving west. They would use the chuck wagon to feed cowboys moving cows up to the railheads. And people are surprised that this is still a tradition that鈥檚 going on and that we continue it. So we go out. It鈥檚 a wagon that is like our mobile kitchen and we drag that out onto ranches as big as three hundred thousand acres. As I said, we cook for cowboys in the spring, in the fall and then kind of expanded to catering a little bit. But Kent has been featured on Food Network quite a bit, some different cooking shows. And so we expand beyond just the ranch and reach a different audience too.

Jesse: OK. That鈥檚 great. This is real cowboy cooking out on ranches and then now Kent鈥檚 got a lot of personality to him. It seemed like he might have been perfect for TV, you mentioned these TV shows. What type of shows are we talking about here?

Shannon: He鈥檚 done a lot with the Food Network. He鈥檚 done a couple, Chopped: Grill Masters. He did Chopped Redemption, Cutthroat Kitchen. He beat Bobby Flay in a Throwdown with chicken fried steak. He did CBS Sunday Morning. Quite a bit of food programming. And we鈥檝e been approached a lot about doing different cooking shows and that is how we really transitioned into YouTube. We needed a way that we could share our videos and our cooking. But in so in a way that we could control it and we knew our audience and we knew what we wanted to cook. And so that鈥檚 how our YouTube page exploded.

Richard: That鈥檚 a great way to work that there. We talk about this all the time. We know people need to create content and just that word is so blah. Sometimes you like: “Content, what is that?” And having an awesome character like Kent. Because we did go to YouTube and watch some of the videos and it was awesome. He鈥檚 definitely a true cowboy. I love it, and the theme song, and everything, it鈥檚 great. But at the same time though to your point, it can have multiple benefits. Here you are showcasing Kent and his abilities, not only can that drive traffic to your website. Not only can you potentially profit from ads on YouTube and we鈥檒l get into how you are utilizing those different monetization forms. But also this third one that now Kent can even get more exposure because they see firsthand. They don鈥檛 have to ask you, they see: “Oh, this guy can handle the camera. He鈥檚 got a great personality.” You鈥檙e probably even getting more requests for these shows. But I would assume as you do more, you鈥檙e only going to get more. I would think he gets the attention. Is that true, one?

Shannon: Yes, absolutely. And that was something that we really didn鈥檛 anticipate at the beginning. We put up a couple of little episodes here and there, nothing really serious. And then when people started watching I thought: “This is maybe something that we should focus on.” So we started putting more, and posting more consistently on YouTube, and then we just saw this weird snowball effect to where our online sales were going crazy. And then our other platforms were also building too in terms of like Facebook and Instagram. And then also like you said, we got a lot more notoriety. And then sponsorships started coming and different avenues that we never really even thought of. It just all started coming together.

Jesse: Yeah, that鈥檚 great. When you鈥檙e on the shows, that鈥檚 awesome. But you鈥檙e right, you do not control that. Like that section, you鈥檝e had the best joke ever and they cut it. Exactly. You don鈥檛 control that. So with YouTube, you control the whole experience. And YouTube鈥檚 got this. There are so many people watching videos on their phone and on their TV at home. YouTube is definitely a place to expand that, so I think that鈥檚 awesome. The question I had is we mentioned these TV shows where they have all the lights and the cameras and everything. For YouTube, did you have all these lights and cameras or how did you get going with it?

Shannon: Well, I鈥檓 a perfectionist and so since I鈥檓 behind the scenes I get really particular thinking: “OK, we need the good equipment.” And I鈥檝e been on some of these sets with Kent. I鈥檓 like: “Oh my gosh, do I need a camera guy?” And I got really paranoid about it. But what I realized and why I really love YouTube is that it鈥檚 very organic and people like more raw and the more genuine feel to YouTube. And so our crew is me holding primarily my iPhone, it is what we film on. And then, of course, we have our beagle who is the taste tester and then there鈥檚 Kent and that鈥檚 it. Primarily all of our episodes are shot outdoors and so it鈥檚 so hard to control lighting and sound and everything. We鈥檝e finagled some things with our audio and stuff but it鈥檚 really up to Mother Nature. We鈥檙e in her kitchen and so we just roll with it and I think that鈥檚 what people really like about it. And no, we don鈥檛 have fancy equipment. It鈥檚 just the three of us and that鈥檚 it.

Jesse: And the beagle鈥檚 probably not as much help as you might think. (laughing)

Shannon: But he is the star.

Richard: I was gonna say too, what do you mean, Jesse? That might be the key to the business when you have a taste tester that鈥檚 a dog, all of your food looks amazing. (laughing) Not taking anything away because we actually would love to fly out there and actually taste the food. Again, we said this, but who doesn鈥檛 love a dog? That鈥檚 love in the barbecue that someone just made. I mean it鈥檚 fantastic, it鈥檚 great. Also, though you鈥檙e hereby proving once again that behind every great man is a great woman getting the real work done.

Jesse: I know how much work this takes to do all this stuff, and so Kent鈥檚 the star but you鈥檙e the one doing the heavy lifting here. Let him know. (laughing) Jesse and Rich said we know that you鈥檙e doing the real hard work here.

Richard: Other than hanging out next to the fire. I鈥檓 sure in your weather out there, what鈥檚 the temperature out there right now?

Shannon: Today it鈥檚 one hundred and five. There have been days where before we even build a fire, it鈥檚 117 degrees. It gets a little rough and especially now. We鈥檙e in the summer season, we have to film really early in the morning or late at night, so it doesn鈥檛 get too hot.

Richard: So it didn鈥檛 take you too long to come on to this idea of “We got to change this business model, Kent, no more chuck wagons.”

Shannon: It鈥檚 a very labor intensive business. We have this large chuck wagon. We cook all with cast iron. We build fires. There鈥檚 no electricity, it鈥檚 all fire driven. And so that gets hard and long and it set the bug when Kent was doing all these cooking shows. We鈥檙e sitting here and he鈥檚 doing this but it鈥檚 blasting out to millions of people. And I thought how can we recreate that in our own way. And so instead of us going and maybe cooking for somebody鈥檚 birthday party for 20 people we can sit at home, create a great recipe, sharing the food and the scenery and our lifestyle and that can blast out to thousands of people. And so it was a much better way for us to work smarter not harder.

Jesse: Perfect. I鈥檓 all about that. Like most people listening too are trying to get into the online world or are already making money on the online world. So that鈥檚 great too. You鈥檙e amongst friends here on the podcast.

Richard: I was going to ask, we talked about these cooking shows and people on those shows there. They鈥檙e fighting to get some pretty big numbers and last I looked on your YouTube channel, I don鈥檛 even have the updated stats, I should pull it up right now but it literally changes by the day. It was over a half million when I looked at the first time, what is it at these days?

Shannon: It鈥檚 crazy. Yeah, we can gain, I think we peaked at gaining maybe 20,000 followers within a couple of days. It鈥檚 all over the place. It depends on what we post a certain week or even the time of year, how people watch, it all changes. But yeah, it鈥檚 quickly growing.

Richard: So that being said for someone who鈥檚 just getting started. Was this a slow organic thing? Did you have some pops along the way? Because partially we want to give you tips but we also want to pull out nuggets that other 黑料门 users can learn from you and what all the hard work you鈥檝e done. Hopefully, they鈥檙e not doing barbecue stuff too. (laughing) But you鈥檝e got a big jumpstart on them. So I鈥檓 not too worried about that either. But what was that process like? Was it long and daunting? And how was that?

Shannon: I think probably the biggest initial tip I have for people is to pick your platform, your main platform and go from there. We spent a lot of time and got super frustrated about what social media aspect did we need to focus on or do we need to do them all or do you know鈥� And it was just crazy. And slowly we found our niche with YouTube, I think because we鈥檙e very tutorial, it鈥檚 very visual and the cooking is really big right now. That鈥檚 where we landed after a lot of trial and error. The way we do it is YouTube is our main platform and focus, and then everything trickles down from there. But having said that, I think you also need to realize that the other platforms for us it鈥檚 Facebook and Twitter. We did Twitter a little bit. Twitter isn鈥檛 really are things, I鈥檝e dropped out. But it鈥檚 Facebook and Instagram and they all have to support your main platform.

Jesse: I think that鈥檚 helpful advice for everybody. As you enter the online world, there are all sorts of shiny objects everywhere. Boy, I get distracted on a lot of different things but it really helps to have one main focus and for you that was YouTube and I think you made the right choice. A lot of it is really entertainment first and how-to at the same time. Whether you knew it was going to be YouTube from the start or you stumbled across it, I think you鈥檙e on the right place. I think that鈥檚 helpful advice for others.

Richard: Yeah. And since that seems to be the one that you chose, YouTube, and to your points there you said it was daunting in the beginning because it was like where do we go, where do we start. And then I鈥檇 imagine you might not have actually white-boarded it or something but you said: “Well, what are we working with. We have a cowboy. We have a visual of that. People want cooking news.” And you slowly start to realize: “Well, I think YouTube is going to be the platform we鈥檙e going to choose.” So instead of going down a bunch of the other platforms right now for the 黑料门 listeners that think for their products, YouTube might be a great fit. Maybe they have something that takes the demonstration to use or showing someone maybe they see how fun it is and they might want to go buy it. If they鈥檝e made that choice, what are some tips you have for 黑料门 users that they might apply? Maybe apps or techniques or anything you can think of that could help other 黑料门 users help build their YouTube channel.

Shannon: You should just kind of an overall deal, I think is consistency. And for us, you have to train your audience and we were posting. We鈥檝e tried different posting like days of the week or multiple times a week but we found out we post every week Wednesday at 2:30. And your audience, you start training them and then they expect it and then they respond better. And more isn鈥檛 always better. We were doing two or three videos and we weren鈥檛 getting the same viewership. And so for people starting out particular in YouTube but this also for other platforms as well. Train your audience with consistency and don鈥檛 always feel like you have to just flood the market with a bunch of content. Less is sometimes more in that situation in terms of like a plug-in that I use, VidIQ is something that鈥檚 worked well for us, and that鈥檚 an SEO deal. And that really helps us look at the back end of YouTube and look at what are people searching for, what would be a good video to post or how do we title this to get more hits. And that鈥檚 a free download that you can do, it is the VidIQ.

Jesse: OK, that鈥檚 good and we鈥檒l include them in the show notes. And I think that鈥檚 something that鈥檚 helpful to that. People spend a lot of time making the video and you do this perfect video and you edit it and whatever and then you posted it. If you don鈥檛 put an appropriate title on it, nobody鈥檚 going to see it.

Shannon: Yeah, it鈥檚 a lot about reverse engineering too. We found out we could have the most amazing recipe for a raspberry souffle. But if people aren鈥檛 searching for it, no one鈥檚 going to see it. So what we typically do is we step back. We like: “OK, what are trending recipes?” Or what鈥檚 really great, like comfort. The thing we found that trends really well is comfort food, authentic, traditional. And so we look at those recipes and then work our way from there.

Jesse: OK. I like that. You don鈥檛 just make a video and see what happens. You鈥檙e looking at the data first, then choosing the recipe that fits that but sticking to your brand and your personality. I get that. That鈥檚 good. And then I noticed on your YouTube channel you have a very consistent look and feel to it. How do you鈥� you said you don鈥檛 have a team. How do you make them look so good?

Shannon: Yes. That鈥檚 another thing that goes along with our consistency thing. And a big thing that we noticed caught on more with our subscribers is a consistent thumbnail. YouTube will just automatically pick a random clip from your video and add that as your thumbnail. You never want to use that. I use a program called Canva. A lot of people might be familiar with it. They鈥檝e got a paid version. I just use the free one. They have all different kind of templates that you can use. Not only for YouTube but Facebook and other platforms. And it makes it really easy. And so I鈥檒l just take a couple still photos of Kent and our food, plug it into the Canva template. And it鈥檚 good to go.

Jesse: All right. Now does Kent cooperate? Does he stand still?

Shannon: That鈥檚 probably the hardest. I鈥檓 trying to get Kent to smile and we don鈥檛 smile a whole lot. (laughing) That is tricky. I鈥檓 not that good of an editor.

Jesse: You can turn that frown upside down via Photoshop or Canva. (laughing) That鈥檚 good. Well, somebody鈥檚 gotta be the producer, the director out there to push him. But I think something I noted here is that the last three things we talked about YouTube, Canva and VidIQ. They鈥檙e all free. Or they have free versions. It鈥檚 not like we鈥檙e starting with this massive budget here. We鈥檙e starting with some talent and some drive but ultimately these are all free tools that you鈥檝e used and you have all these followers on YouTube.

Shannon: Correct.

Richard: So what you鈥檙e saying then, Jesse, is the biggest expense they have is the food that they鈥檙e feeding to the beagle. What鈥檚 the beagle鈥檚 name again?

Shannon: Bonehead.

Richard: Awesome. (laughing)

Jesse: I love it. Are you also getting ad revenue from YouTube as well?

Shannon: Yes. So our biggest income from that is through YouTube and it鈥檚 a pretty simple process. As you upload, you just hit the monetization that YouTube provides via Google ads. And it鈥檚 good to go. And now I鈥檓 not sure they鈥檝e changed us up. I think you have to have a minimum of like 1,000 or 10,000 subscribers to monetize. But then after that, yeah, that鈥檚 where we get a bunch of streaming.

Jesse: People show the little print. I think it鈥檚 called pre-roll, so you have the videos ahead of time before your video and you get paid. Maybe it鈥檚 fractions of a cent per. But you do get paid for that. That鈥檚 one of your main monetizations.

Shannon: Yes. And what I have learned also when we鈥檝e switched up our business model and gone online more is you need to have multiple markets or platforms to monetize. At first, we were just monetizing YouTube but you have to look at like “Well, how do we expand this more?” And that鈥檚 when we added our online store or added the sponsorships. You need to like make sure you broaden yourself as you go along.

Jesse: That鈥檚 good. I was gonna try to lead you in there, that鈥檚 perfect. (laughing) You knew you got there before I was. Let鈥檚 talk online store a little bit. So you have this huge audience, see a huge following and you sell some stuff on the site now as well. Was that because people were asking for it or how did that come about?

Shannon: We had a very basic online store. We had like a couple of seasonings just to have before we really got into YouTube and we had very minimal sales. It was maybe four sales a week. And then YouTube started happening and then we got a more robust store, easier checkout. And then there was just this transition that happened where people were watching YouTube and you say: “Hey, if you鈥檙e interested, we鈥檙e using this rub, you can get it over here”, link it. And our sales exploded. And like I said before it wasn鈥檛 something that we had anticipated blowing up as it did.

Richard: That鈥檚 a a good point. I鈥檒l go back to what you said prior to Jesse鈥檚 question there and then go into this his question as well. The reason you started to monetize via YouTube, in the beginning, is you didn鈥檛 have a lot of traffic. You had a store that was up but you didn鈥檛 have a lot of traffic. You said: “All right, I鈥檓 going to hit this monetization button” because by that time you had multiple thousand subscribers. And then it鈥檚 let鈥檚 say a game of ping pong or tennis or a little bit of back and forth whatever way you want to look at it. To where you鈥檙e looking at the stats and saying: “All right. Mm-hmm. Well, I don鈥檛 necessarily want to turn off this monetization but I might be driving people away from my web site with this ad and now we鈥檙e finally getting more sales.” So it鈥檚 an interesting balance act and I鈥檓 sure you think about that daily. You get enough views but I can tell by looking at your YouTube channel now and you have enough subscribers that I can totally see why you wouldn鈥檛 want to turn it off. Right now however as the business gets more and more I鈥檓 sure it can get it tempting. What percentage of sales do you have at this point of time that is coming from the YouTube ads and your actual online store? If you don鈥檛 mind asking.

Shannon: Well, in terms of YouTube ad we don鈥檛 run any YouTube ads. Is that what you mean?

Richard: Or I guess the ads that you let people run on your YouTube channel.

Shannon: Like what percentage of it are we getting from ads and what percentage from sales?

Richard: Correct.

Shannon: It would be pretty close. I think YouTube ads are still outweighing our online sales but it鈥檚 starting to even out.

Jesse: That鈥檚 good. I鈥檓 the commerce guy. I like to hear that and I noticed from looking at your YouTube videos. Basically, you just have the links in the description of the video you have links that go back to the site that鈥檚 the main way.

Shannon: Correct. Yeah. And sometimes I鈥檒l have a card but primarily. We鈥檒l link it in the description.

Jesse: OK. That鈥檚 good. One thing I want to mention more of. So this is that we鈥檒l do a little tip section here for people listening. There鈥檚 the ability in YouTube called TrueView for shopping. Have you enabled that yet?

Shannon: I have not.

Jesse: All right. I鈥檇 like to try to provide tips that you people haven鈥檛 done yet. So TrueView for shopping, it requires your product feed to be integrated with the Google merchant center, so there are some steps there. But what that is then during the video if you鈥檙e talking about a specific product, that product it鈥檚 like a product card. I don鈥檛 know the exact terminology. It鈥檒l show up in on the YouTube video. You can use it on the right-hand side. So that way you still have the links in the description but while people are watching the video the actual product is right there and links directly back to your store.

Shannon: It pops up in the video itself?

Jesse: Correct.

Shannon: That is awesome because a lot of times currently what I do in editing is I鈥檒l edit the product like it will pop up. So that would save me a huge step and link it right then.

Jesse: Yeah. And it leads right to your store. Why not. And I鈥檓 not an expert on this and things change quite a bit but definitely look up TrueView for shopping and it requires the product feed that you might already have for Google shopping anyway. It utilizes the same technology basically.

Richard: I would add one tip very similar to that. Right now you鈥檙e allowing YouTube to put people in front of your videos that you鈥檝e built your audience and they鈥檙e basically saying: “Oh great, thanks, Kent, thanks, Shannon.” This is awesome you built this amazing channel and now you have five hundred and some thousand people that you鈥檙e allowing us to put ads in front of you. I would recommend to you. You do that exact same thing, those ads that when you click the monetization, they鈥檙e actually called in-stream ads where they鈥檒l do pretty rolls or there are various different ways, sometimes it鈥檚 just a bump up. But especially with something like the Bobby Flay chicken fried steak video you can take and do the exact same thing that others are doing to your videos in front of their video. So you create an in-stream ad and a lot of people don鈥檛 realize that the amount of time is changed. But if someone hits “Skip ad”, you can get your branding and the consistency of that video and not even actually pay right for the ad. Literally, I want to say right now it鈥檚 up to 30 seconds actually where if you don鈥檛 pay until they watch 30 seconds or the entirety of the video depending upon how long that ad is. So you could specifically say, be kind of playful. It goes literally in front of that chicken fried video that he won on the chopped and is something could pop up and say: “You want to really cook real barbecue. Listen to this.” You could be playful I mean humor is huge. It鈥檚 probably why you want to get him to laugh more and smile. But I would literally take advantage. We鈥檙e not trying to say by any means that you鈥檙e wrong for letting other people. What we鈥檙e trying to do is just add additional tips to you, saying now that your store converts, you have plenty of sales it鈥檚 moving up to let鈥檚 just say 50/50 for not getting into the weeds here. That鈥檚 a good knowledge set to have to then say: “Well, shoot, why don鈥檛.” Instead of getting cents on the dollar for ads of someone that takes someone away to potentially to someone else鈥檚 video, why don鈥檛 we now do that same thing. Spend cents and come back and get dollars because we鈥檙e still in the audience off the other end of stealing little to say ethically, borrowing. But you get what I鈥檓 saying. Literally, do the exact same thing you鈥檙e allowing YouTube to do with your customers and. I truly believe you will start to see. You probably might want to turn off your monetization and just do those ads eventually. I don鈥檛 know. You got to look at the data as Jesse and I are marketers and so we believe you take educated guesses and then you look at the data to see what really happens. And I know it鈥檚 enough income that I wouldn鈥檛 just like turn it off yet but I would start to do those. And if you start to see: “Wow, every dollar I spend over here, I get two dollars, three dollars, five dollars.” Why not just get better calls to action on your own videos, drive them directly to your site instead of getting cents.

Shannon: Gotcha.

Jesse: I think I鈥檇 probably even leave your own monetization on but just try to borrow the audience from other people. I would just use Bobby Flay. For example, maybe you just target all of Bobby Flay videos and maybe the request is maybe鈥� I think, be fun with it, like the throwdown of the chicken fried steak. But even if they subscribe to your channel and become listeners, you don鈥檛 make that money back immediately but you will make it over the long run. And maybe there are specific chefs out there that there鈥檚 a good enough crossover.

Shannon: Yeah. Like when you guys say that actually Bobby Flay isn鈥檛 that big but we do get a lot of crossover with Gordon Ramsay and Elton Brown. So that would be that makes a whole lot of sense to just target those kinds of ads.

Jesse: Yeah, and the ad might just be “Just come check out my channel.” It鈥檚 better than that. But your request isn鈥檛 that big. It鈥檚 just you pop it in front of them. You鈥檙e in there for five seconds and maybe they鈥檝e been on the same TV show together anyway so it鈥檚 not like that much of an interruption marketing. They鈥檙e watching the chef on YouTube. This is just a different chef on YouTube, it鈥檚 not that crazy.

Shannon: Yeah.

Richard: People are being bombarded with ads all day. We act like ads have gone away. People say: “Oh no, no one鈥檚 watching commercials anymore.” Well, I beg to differ. They鈥檙e not watching commercials in the traditional 30 seconds but YouTube and Facebook and all these companies, they are advertising companies. That鈥檚 what they do. That鈥檚 why you鈥檙e getting paid revenue. Back to the comment, I made a couple of minutes ago. I would just test a bunch of different things. It could be as simple as “You like barbecue! And do you like barbecue as much as Bonehead?” And then your dog comes out. It鈥檚 literally just playful and you鈥檙e just maybe specifically going after barbecue videos. And you can go way wider. Now you鈥檙e not necessarily trying to steal from a particular person that might they could care less about barbecue but they love Gordon Ramsay right now. I would just test, test, test, test headlines, test thumbnails. And just a quick aside on that. Not everybody鈥� So I鈥檓 going to say this for 黑料门 listeners that don鈥檛 know what a thumbnail is. A thumbnail is just the very first image that people see and that is a huge relevant factor on YouTube recommendations. Thumbnails are almost more important if not more important than search terms and a lot of people don鈥檛 realize that. Thank you for providing that tip. I just wanted to let people, 黑料门 users specifically know that鈥檚 all a thumbnail is. What is the thumbnail? It鈥檚 just the very first image and so you鈥檙e recommending Canva to go back to that real quick as a good application that鈥檚 free that people can put the consistent look and feel. Keep it as a template and then as they take more pictures, just throw that new picture in the template, so they have the same look and feel and then you keep the font the same, keep the colors and your branding the same. Thank you very much for that tip. That鈥檚 great.

Jesse: That鈥檚 perfect. Yeah. All right. We did a little deep dive on YouTube. Shannon, I know you get a lot of followers on YouTube. How about the other social media game here? How are Facebook and Instagram doing for you?

Shannon: They鈥檙e good. We鈥檝e been focusing a little more on Instagram and that鈥檚 been catching up more as we鈥檝e tweaked some different things. And I think we鈥檙e nearly about 20,000 on Instagram and a little over 20,000 thousand on Facebook.

Jesse: All right. It鈥檚 definitely lagging. There鈥檚 five hundred thousand plus I saw 160 thousand YouTube. They鈥檙e not quite up there yet but I think you鈥檙e on the right path here, you鈥檝e got YouTube essentially mastered. Right. So now we also get those videos on Facebook and Instagram. And are you uploading the videos natively to Facebook and Instagram?

Shannon: No. I do native ones but it鈥檚 more either teasers or shortened edited versions. One thing that we鈥檙e still鈥� we鈥檙e getting better. You have to tailor your content for the different audiences and the different platforms so it鈥檚 not full video length. Our videos run for 14 minutes. That鈥檚 a little while, obviously, long for Instagram, a little long for Facebook. That鈥檚 why I tailor it a little bit.

Jesse: Got it. 14 is probably a bit long for Facebook and for sure for Instagram. Yeah, I think those are good. All right. I don鈥檛 really have much of a tip there because you鈥檙e on the right path. Instagram has to be more snack of all different formats but there is a huge huge audience there as well and you might as well start tapping into that.

Richard: You guys both came on to something there that鈥檚 actually important for 黑料门 users to remember is that each platform people are going to that platform for a specific reason, a specific purpose. I don鈥檛 remember the exact stats but one of the number one things people do besides being entertained on YouTube is to learn to find out how to do things. Yes. And so you鈥檙e providing a perfect, it鈥檚 why you鈥檙e hitting a home run on YouTube. Here鈥檚 how you cook like this. Here are the ingredients you use for this and that. And it鈥檚 matching up with the platform of what people want to do and it鈥檚 entertaining. You鈥檙e double dipping there. That鈥檚 entertaining and they鈥檙e learning how to do something. It鈥檚 no surprise to me or us why that鈥檚 a home run for you. Going back to where I think Jesse was going if you could take those videos, break them into bite-sized pieces and almost use it as a retargeting option where you have your Facebook picks on your site. Someone went to your YouTube channel, they watched the video. They were intrigued enough to actually go to KentRollins.com. They go to KentRollins.com. They were there but then it鈥檚 time for dinner or they鈥檙e at work or whatever it is, they don鈥檛 buy. And stats are somewhere between, it varies from business to business but virtually across the board it鈥檚 one to two percent conversions. That means that every hundred people that went to Kent Rollins. 98 aren鈥檛 buying it and instead of thinking that as a negative, that 98 percent aren鈥檛 buying. In the case that I鈥檓 just starting to get into here. If you had a pixel from Facebook, that鈥檚 super easy to do in your 黑料门 store, you then could place these bite-sized snack Apple videos only in front of the people who鈥檝e been to KentRollins.com. And you can get those a lot cheaper because now it鈥檚 all these platforms are really just trying to keep people and provide a good user experience. And so if they鈥檝e already watched the video and then they liked the video enough to go to the site, it鈥檚 just another form of the proverbial seven to ten touch points till someone buys. And who knows where but that鈥檚 a huge opportunity because as long as you have your Google Analytics and you start to see in your analytics how many people actually come from YouTube. When you combine those two monsters of Facebook and Google, you鈥檙e really combining four monsters because Google owns YouTube, and Facebook owns Instagram. So when you can get those working together and just realizing OK. Facebook people aren鈥檛 necessarily going to discover how to do something but why not go ahead and remind them. Maybe they鈥檙e going and they鈥檙e looking to see what their aunt is doing is like “Oh, yeah, we鈥檙e going to have dinner this weekend. Oh wow.” There鈥檚 that video again and now they click and it. That鈥檚 what they鈥檙e gonna have for dinner Friday when they鈥檙e connecting with their family. So it鈥檚 I think that would be a huge opportunity for you to read target people that have been on your site. Super small videos make and be the funniest pieces or whatever you know try different things again. Test, test, test, test. Yeah. But it would potentially be a huge opportunity to really see a big lift. Now I鈥檓 not necessarily saying that鈥檚 going to make a big lift in your subscribers or a big lift in engagement on Facebook but who cares if they like the video and click and go back to Kent Rollins to buy something.

Shannon: Exactly. And yeah, that鈥檚 why I think it鈥檚 important like we said you have to hit all the different platforms and dip your hand in a little bit of everything to make the funnel all come together.

Jesse: Yeah, for sure. You鈥檙e doing really well on YouTube. But the same people who are watching YouTube videos, they also use Instagram and they use Facebook. And so if you鈥檙e everywhere they go, it makes you look so much bigger and it reminds them. Maybe they鈥檙e just not into buying. They鈥檙e not ready to buy when they see it the first time but they might be later and that鈥檚 all I respond.

Shannon: I鈥檒l search something like “Yeah, OK.” And then I forget about it but then I search something and then it pops up and pops up and we need that reminder and right now the only retargeting I have is just the abandoned cart. And so I feel like I need to expand on that and target it a little more. This would be perfect.

Jesse: Yeah. If you were just starting out I might say maybe you鈥檙e not ready but I do think you鈥檙e ready for that. I would encourage you a couple of different types of retargeting. The one Rich mentioned where if they鈥檝e been to the site maybe you鈥檙e showing those snack table videos. Something that鈥檚 a little more, not super-targeted but more like the personality. And then they鈥檒l they can start to follow you on Facebook and Instagram and then they鈥檙e pixel there again. There鈥檚 also the dynamic product ads. If they鈥檝e looked at a specific product, that product will follow them around on Instagram and YouTube. Or Instagram and Facebook could also do the same for Google shopping as well. They have it for Google and Facebook and Instagram. So those would definitely be options I would look at. Your products are a little on the low side as far as the price. I usually like to be at鈥� I don鈥檛 want Facebook and Google calling me and saying: “Hey.” But I think 50 dollars is a right about the cutoff line for me. But you can be less and actually I鈥檓 looking at your site now. Some of the products I imagine have higher margins on, so you might be able to get away with it at a lower price level because you make the product yourself. I rambled on a little bit there but you should definitely be remarketing on both Facebook and Instagram for videos and you should be doing dynamic product ads there. And then on the Google side, there鈥檚 Google Shopping, you might want to look at Google smart shopping. I believe it would be good for you because it targets all over the Internet, including YouTube and Gmail and just everywhere. You鈥檙e going to have exponentially more coverage across the Internet and because you already have so many followers, then Facebook and Google won鈥檛 target everybody and only target the people that are more likely to buy. And trust me they do know who is likely to buy. They know, they鈥檒l specifically target those products to people that have shown that they鈥檝e purchased over history. So there was a couple there. Now, of course, one of my favorite things you mention are the on Facebook and Instagram, the Shoppable posts functionality. Have you set that up yet?

Shannon: I have not, but I think that鈥檚 what you鈥檙e talking about where if I鈥檓 scrolling through and it鈥檚 like “Hey, we use this product” and there鈥檚 a little like a direct link. Is that what鈥�?

Jesse: You got it. If you鈥檙e scrolling through鈥�

Shannon: How to incorporate that?

Jesse: It鈥檚 not that hard. You need to get a product feed to Facebook. And by the way, for people that are 黑料门 users, this is super simple. In your control panel just go to the Facebook shop section and it鈥檚 going to walk you through all this. Really what it does behind the scenes is it connects your product feed to Facebook, actually, Facebook business manager and then from there that product feed. Sometimes takes a couple of little bit of time to get approved with Instagram because there鈥檚 not a 1 800 number for Instagram. Be a little patient. I don鈥檛 think you have an issue because they鈥檙e gonna see everything looks legit and there鈥檚 a lot of traffic. But anyway getting to the point here, those product feeds will then connect with Facebook and Instagram. Then when you do either a post on Facebook, you can now tag a product. Instead of tagging a person, you鈥檒l tag a product and they鈥檒l have that little shopping bag and the link to it with the price and such. And then on Instagram, it鈥檚 even more valuable on Instagram because you can鈥檛 put links in Instagram, you only get one link. Yes. I think this is a hack that people should be jumping on because now not only are you providing, you鈥檙e adding a link all over the place on Instagram but it goes directly to your product. And so people that click on a little shopping tag inside of Instagram they know what this is. There鈥檚 no trick here. They clicked on the seasoning rub and it said ten dollars and they click on it. They know that they鈥檙e gonna go buy this thing. Anyway, I think it鈥檚 really easy to do, that鈥檚 actually free. There鈥檚 no extra charge for that. You don鈥檛 pay Instagram or Facebook for that. I would definitely do that and I鈥檓 certain that it will work.

Shannon: What is that called again?

Jesse: There鈥檚 not really good naming. Maybe it鈥檚 called Instagram shopping or Shoppable posts, kind of the turnout. Yeah, Shoppable posts. If you go into through 黑料门, look for the Facebook side. I鈥檓 not looking at the control panel right now. Sorry. Sorry, support. Don鈥檛 be mad at me. It鈥檚 in the upper left-hand side, I believe. It definitely says Facebook. I will look in five minutes and be like “Oh yeah. That was it.” But I think those would definitely take your store to another level. There鈥檚 a lot of there. There鈥檚 a little bit of work involved with some of those, but some of those are also very easy. Dynamic product ads are easy and Shoppable posts are pretty easy as well once you get it connected. I鈥檓 excited for you. Actually, you鈥檝e got this huge YouTube following, you鈥檙e already doing well, getting advertising money there and that鈥檚 leading to sales in your store. This is just the next level that will definitely take you further.

Shannon: Well, it sounds like this is stuff that I can integrate pretty easily without having to do a bunch of coding or researching, how I need to do that. Because also it鈥檚 a great benefit. But I don鈥檛 have a whole lot of time and that seems like it can integrate pretty easily with what we鈥檝e got going on.

Jesse: For sure. The Facebook and Instagram Shoppable posts, that鈥檚 gonna be easy. Trivia shopping to give you a little more research on by the way just to set the level there. It is a little bit harder setup and then those dynamic product ads, those are actually quite easy because we have automated options inside of 黑料门. Check those out as well.

Richard: Yeah. Other than the TrueView, you actually could probably set up every single thing we just talked about it as long as this podcast is. The longest part of this process will just be once you鈥檝e attached your product feed to your Facebook store to actually get approval from your store from Instagram. That鈥檚 just a waiting game. It鈥檚 not that long. We鈥檝e seen everywhere from a day to three days. somewhere in that zone but you鈥檙e not doing anything. Just like planting a seed and waiting for the garden to go. You鈥檙e off doing your other things, creating more content but then to Jess鈥檚 point from earlier. You wouldn鈥檛 necessarily want to do it on every single post but now once that鈥檚 approved and your product feed is in there. Now when you take a picture and you do something on Instagram. it鈥檚 going to give: “Would you like to attach a link to this?”.

Jesse: It says: “Tag a product”.

Richard: Yeah, exactly, tag a product. That鈥檚 the specific terminology, “tag a product”. Then again I would recommend probably not doing it every single time. Pick a number, test that out too. I鈥檇 say test everything but maybe every third post, every fifth post. There鈥檚 this seasoning and you鈥檝e got an action shot of the seasoning going on the beef and they can click on the seasoning and next thing you know they鈥檙e back on KentRollins.com on the actual product page of that exact seasoning.

Shannon: Perfect. We want Kent to roll it everywhere.

Jesse: Yes, it will happen this weekend. You get all these things done. And Kent Rollins is going to take over the Internet. (laughing) I love it. I love it. Shannon, is there any other questions we could answer, any help we can provide?

Shannon: I don鈥檛 think so, that really covers it and gives me some good stuff that鈥檚 quick action and then also a little more in the future. I like it.

Jesse: Awesome.

Richard: And I was just going to say. Normally, we talk after. You need to send a picture in but since we referred to him so many times, can we have a picture of the whole team? You may or may not have the whole time but when you send us after this for just so we can put that and see Bonehead and see Kent, and see you all. You can take a selfie since you鈥檙e that iPhone user.

Jesse: Yeah. We definitely want to see you. This is not behind the scenes today. This is you鈥檙e front and center.

Shannon: I鈥檇 take a shower. That鈥檚 the only problem behind the scenes.

Jesse: Yeah. You don鈥檛 have to.

Richard: The good news is you only have to do this picture once. (laughing) Forget it.

Jesse: And smile though, you have to smile. Otherwise, your husband will be like: “Hey, you tell me to smile that time”. Awesome and if people want to learn more about your husband, where he鈥檚 going to be, taste the food in person, where can they go?

Shannon: Yeah. KentRollins.com is our main website. And that clicks to everything else. We鈥檝e got events listed there. Of course, you can check out Cowboy Kent Rollins on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube as well.

Jesse: All right. We鈥檝e got the full coverage. And once you go there everybody, I hope you鈥檙e gonna be pixeled. That means Shannon has followed our advice.

Shannon: Ready.

Jesse: Yeah. I love it. All right. Rich, any last questions here?

Richard: No, I don鈥檛 have any questions. I am just very hungry and it鈥檚 perfect timing because it鈥檚 lunchtime for us here so I鈥檓 ready to get going and I鈥檓 ready to let you get back to work and keep the business growing and say hi to Bonehead for us.

Shannon: Perfect, guys. Heym thank you for all the tips of course.

Jesse: All right, Shannon. Really appreciate you being on the show. Everybody listening. check out KentRollins.com and check out 黑料门.com/podcast for all the details. Thank you.