Hobbs' Notes

What does it mean to be a media co? This is a question I’m asked with an ever-increasing regularity.

The fifth time I watched DailyVEE #280, this statement captured my attention.

At it’s most binary, if you actually realize that you’re a media company and then you do whatever you do. Well, then everything else flows. – Gary Vaynerchuk in DailyVEE #280

Here is the clip, I recommend the whole episode.

Lets unpack Gary’s statement

Media company.

Viewing yourself as a media company and then doing what you do, accepts you are in control of your businesses’ connection with your audience.

You’re responsible for your media creation.

It could be written, it could be audio or video; any combination of them, or it could consist all of three types together.

It’s unique to you.

Unique to your personality as well as to your team’s collective personality.

I’ve taken to explaining my one person media co strategy by dividing it into the two sides of the attention coin.

Getting attention and, then the harder part, keeping attention.

Last updated September 5, 2017 at 12:38PM

What does being a media company mean to you?

Let me know in the comments below.

Watching this video, a thought crossed my mind, I had to share.

Gary was asked by an interviewer for a podcast Gary was guesting on, “If you took over an elementary or grade school what would be the first thing you’d do?”

Great question.

Gary immediately mentions the marketing, since he’s gotta get students to attend “his” school.

Gary follows that thought with ruling out all memorization.

Love it.

I believe if Gary was given time to think it through, his curriculum north star would be instilling confidence in the kids.

And setting up the team to focus upon getting to know the kids and connecting each kid with their ideal path.

This is the antithesis of the school system I went through. Kids conform to the system, not the other way round.

I think that is the first thing Gary would change as part of the foundation of the new school. Which I see as a big win for the school staff and the kids attending the school.

Credit GaryVee for getting this post going. Hearing this statement in DailyVEE #264 reminded me of my key truth gleaned from a decade of door-to-door sales experience.

Marketing’s job is NOT to talk anyone into anything.

Educate the customer’s decision.

Understand their pain. Recognize their ambitions.

Cater to their context.

It’s a numbers game.

Where you control numbers.

Couch a cogent offer with an interesting enough story to then get people qualified to use your solution and then make their own decision.

And a percentage will buy the offer.

The more intriguing the true story, the better the solution on offer, and the clearer the offer; the higher the percentage of buyers.

The best sales days of my life all involved my convicted focus upon trying to talk each person out of buying.

This indifference mentality is even more in tune with today’s marketplace.

Customers wield the power. They trust one another.

So what to do?

Cater to the attention of your desired audience.

Have a system in place to keep the attention of your ideal person. Which the cool kids call email marketing.

Then focus on getting the attention of your ideal person. The coolest kids labeled this content marketing.

It sounds simple. It is simple. But not easy.

A person is an emotional decision maker.

Logic just justifies the emotional decision afterwards.

Recent Example

I have a client with three primary audience entrances.

Also known as cornerstone content topics, if you follow Copyblogger.

1. The American Ways book (link coming soon)
2. The 6 Basic American Values
3. The Pledge of Allegiance

Each of those landing pages (made with the Rainmaker Platform landing page builder) includes an embedded ConvertKit form.

When the Get Access button is pushed, the process begins.

The success message replaces the form and directs the visitor to their email inbox to click the email confirmation link.

Clicking the confirmation link returns the new subscriber to a success page on the website.

The success page confirms their successful access, lets them know that the first email of the series will arrive in their inbox the following day, and then shares a link to the blog.

Moving into the email marketing side of the equation

I’ve set ConvertKit to tag each subscriber based on the doorway through which they entered (Book, Values, or Pledge)

The email sequence plays out, one email per day for between 5 and 7 days.

The last email(s) in each of the three entrance sequences focuses on learning which group each subscriber self-identifies with; teacher, homeschool parent, or ESL (English as Second Language) learner.

Each group is tagged using ConvertKit automation based on which of the three links they clicked to identify their self.

This allows for a conversation specific to each group to occupy the step immediately after the subscriber clicks to identify their self.

This explanation sequence in ConvertKit explains the paid membership to them based on their self-identified group PLUs the door they entered the email list through initially.

For instance if you came through the doorway dedicated to the American Ways book, and then self identified as an ESL student, the explanation sequence will speak to you in the context of the book drawing you in as an ESL student.

Different explanation for you if you enter through the same book entrance but identify yourself as a Homeschooler Parent.

Different problems. Different perspective.

And each point-of-view has it’s own primary focus driving decisions.

• The Homeschooler parent is focused on their progeny’s experience as a learner.
• The ESL student is focused on their own experience as a learner.
• The Teacher is focused on crafting an experience for their students

And each of those is further unique specific to their individual combination of classroom, students, student age group, and subject of study.

Perhaps I’ll pick up from here next time. What do you think? I truly want to know, let me know below.

Seems “get going” is an idiom, let’s grab a technical definition for it from Google.

I believe “get going” can mean different things depending on your unique context but what does not change is the palpable change from planning to action.

This is not an insignificant detail.

What I mean when I say “get going online” is:
I’ll personally make sure you get to doing your business online ASAP.

It took me many years to learn what I needed to know to get my business going online.

Typically getting going online works out to something akin to:

• a website linked to your email list
• The email list is kicks off an autoresponder sequence (Which picks up the conversation following their opting in

The key is to start.

Start building your direct audience.

Start getting their feedback.

Which we us to improve/tune your message.

Further questions? Email me, call me: (912) 381-6318, or leave them in a comment below.