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July 7, 2021

Stop Creating Boring Content!

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B2B Growth

In this episode, Lesley Crews talks with Travis Tyler and Patrick Downs, co-hosts of The Customer Engagement Lab

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:02.740 Yeah, 2 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:08.890 what's up everybody? Welcome back to GDP Growth. My name is Leslie Cruise 3 00:00:08.890 --> 00:00:14.260 and I am the behind the scenes producer of the GDP growth show. Today, I am so 4 00:00:14.260 --> 00:00:18.920 excited to be talking to Panda docks, very own Travis, Tyler and Patrick 5 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:23.870 Downes Guys, thank you for joining me, How are you beautiful today, You can do 6 00:00:23.870 --> 00:00:30.650 better than that. Come on, I am so good. Leslie, thank you for asking this 7 00:00:30.650 --> 00:00:35.140 morning. I had my first cup of coffee in a week, so I'm about to run through 8 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:40.720 a wall. That's how good incredible. That's the energy I was looking for. 9 00:00:40.730 --> 00:00:44.020 Leslie thanks Travis. Thanks so much for having us. We've been looking 10 00:00:44.020 --> 00:00:47.690 forward to this. We've been antagonizing you to let us come on the 11 00:00:47.690 --> 00:00:51.850 show and have some fun. Yeah, for anyone listening, they've been driving 12 00:00:51.850 --> 00:00:54.690 me crazy for the past three months asking me when they get to give you on 13 00:00:54.690 --> 00:01:00.190 GDP growth. So today is the big day and I'm excited for you guys to be here. So 14 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:04.980 for anyone who is listening to this podcast, these to run an absolutely 15 00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:08.970 hilarious BTB podcast called the customer engagement lab. If you are not 16 00:01:08.970 --> 00:01:13.820 subscribed to that, you are missing out. This show is described as a place for 17 00:01:13.820 --> 00:01:19.050 sales and marketing teams to let their hair down for a silly goose time and I 18 00:01:19.050 --> 00:01:22.950 just think that that describes you guys so, so well, if you've ever listened to 19 00:01:22.950 --> 00:01:27.800 an episode of there's you know, just how accurate that is. So for anyone out 20 00:01:27.800 --> 00:01:30.240 there, I'm not even going to let them introduce themselves. I'm not even 21 00:01:30.240 --> 00:01:34.250 gonna let them talk about themselves, I'm going to do it for them and I'm 22 00:01:34.250 --> 00:01:39.300 going to share a clip from the customer engagement lab. Patrick down. Travis. 23 00:01:39.300 --> 00:01:46.490 Tyler speaking, there is a, there's a hair on my microphone. This is 24 00:01:46.490 --> 00:01:51.220 literally your facial hair sometimes because we're such good friends. I'll 25 00:01:51.220 --> 00:01:54.570 come to the studio late at night and just similar Travis usually sits, just 26 00:01:54.570 --> 00:01:59.650 don't feel like him do his intros for fun sometimes appear here comes out 27 00:01:59.660 --> 00:02:08.030 Travis and Patrick, everyone, I don't remember recording that, I was glad you 28 00:02:08.030 --> 00:02:13.050 played that clip. There have been even more oddities that I have found on my 29 00:02:13.050 --> 00:02:19.860 microphone on our desk since then, some of which are not PG 13 enough for this 30 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:25.860 what podcast platform now? I'm curious, I'm totally just talking out of my but 31 00:02:25.860 --> 00:02:30.270 no, it's it's mostly like coffee, coffee stains and Patrick's facial hair 32 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:34.910 all over the table, that makes the most sense. You keep making me chuck 33 00:02:34.910 --> 00:02:39.160 carbonated beverages, so probably some of that. I think in that episode we do, 34 00:02:39.170 --> 00:02:40.520 we took something, 35 00:02:41.530 --> 00:02:48.520 slammed it on your head. Yeah, there you go. Travis likes punishing himself 36 00:02:48.530 --> 00:02:52.430 because every time he almost vomits, let me do it keeps insisting that we do, 37 00:02:52.430 --> 00:02:58.160 it keeps it interesting, it keeps it interesting. So this is not a boring B 38 00:02:58.160 --> 00:03:03.360 two B podcast, which is what I love about you guys. And that intro actually 39 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:07.490 kind of leads me into what we're gonna be talking about today, um, which is 40 00:03:07.490 --> 00:03:12.160 comedic b to be content and why it's something that's relatively unheard of 41 00:03:12.340 --> 00:03:15.450 In today's day and age in the B two B world. So Travis, you and I were 42 00:03:15.450 --> 00:03:19.320 talking off the record a couple of days ago and you said the following and I 43 00:03:19.320 --> 00:03:24.370 quote, I'm going to call you out here stop making boring ass podcast content 44 00:03:24.380 --> 00:03:29.530 that not even your own friends would give a sympathy listen to down hurts 45 00:03:32.020 --> 00:03:36.760 dude, that's a glimpse into the mind of Travis Tyler. It's what I've been in 46 00:03:36.760 --> 00:03:41.870 therapy for five years, therapist always asked me who is giving you these 47 00:03:41.870 --> 00:03:48.620 really harsh, you know, criticisms and the answer is always me. So just a 48 00:03:48.620 --> 00:03:52.540 harsh critic of myself and of everything out there. I'm always 49 00:03:52.540 --> 00:03:57.370 driving too. Do something different, create content that is definitely not 50 00:03:57.380 --> 00:04:01.860 boring because I can tell you the reason I said that sentence is because 51 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:06.480 I have created stuff that not even my own mother would give a sympathy listen 52 00:04:06.480 --> 00:04:11.440 to. So that's when it's bad. Yeah. With this all stems from his mommy issues. 53 00:04:11.440 --> 00:04:16.040 Let's really get honest here And Travis makes my mom listen to the stuff that 54 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:20.430 his mom I'll listen to. It's a weird thing we've got going on. You guys want 55 00:04:20.430 --> 00:04:24.540 my mom to listen to it too because I can, I can get her on. We need a mom 56 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:28.400 back up for all the content that Travis grades. My mom always listens to my 57 00:04:28.400 --> 00:04:32.550 content. So I mean, maybe it's your mom. Be nice to have parents that love you. 58 00:04:32.940 --> 00:04:39.560 Oh it must be nice to have co workers. You want to listen to your content to I 59 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:44.500 had to listen to this and this, this does answer your question or like the 60 00:04:44.500 --> 00:04:47.070 essay is like, what is something that everyone should stop doing? Everyone 61 00:04:47.070 --> 00:04:52.110 should stop making boring ass content. And I I had a draft slack message 62 00:04:52.110 --> 00:04:58.860 written out to patrick, My two bosses, 3 people on my team. And this was three 63 00:04:58.860 --> 00:05:03.980 days ago I didn't send it. But here's what the message essentially said. I'm 64 00:05:03.980 --> 00:05:10.810 getting the sense that our podcast is slipping into the area where none of 65 00:05:10.810 --> 00:05:14.770 you are listening to the episodes, which means that probably none of our 66 00:05:14.770 --> 00:05:18.370 co workers are listening to our episodes, which will inevitably mean 67 00:05:18.370 --> 00:05:23.760 that no one will listen to these episodes. So what can we do to make it 68 00:05:23.760 --> 00:05:27.910 so that every single friday besides like when you check your phone, when 69 00:05:27.910 --> 00:05:31.460 you wake up in the morning to, you know, to see if you're in trouble with your 70 00:05:31.460 --> 00:05:36.260 bosses or whatever. The very next thing that you do is like, they launched a 71 00:05:36.260 --> 00:05:39.360 new podcast on the customer engagement lab. Right, cool. I'm gonna have my 72 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:43.410 coffee or whatever and I'm gonna plug this in and that's something that, like 73 00:05:43.420 --> 00:05:47.180 everybody looks forward because I know I have my podcast, I listen to every 74 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:51.700 friday that comes out and I love it's part of my routine. And so yeah, that's 75 00:05:51.700 --> 00:05:55.290 where this all kind of stems from. Can you guys talk about what you would 76 00:05:55.290 --> 00:05:58.800 define as boring content? Because I think that people can tend to be 77 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:03.180 confused on, oh my podcast isn't boring, it's like, Dude, yeah, so how do you 78 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:07.460 define that? Yes, I'll start and then I definitely am curious to see what 79 00:06:07.460 --> 00:06:11.910 Patrick thinks about this. I think boring content is content that just 80 00:06:11.910 --> 00:06:17.520 mimics what's out there and they don't even mimic it well, So like in our 81 00:06:17.520 --> 00:06:22.640 space, right, we're in, we're in the B2B technology space. So a lot of 82 00:06:22.640 --> 00:06:29.760 people are familiar with people like Dave Gerhardt, chris walker and they 83 00:06:29.760 --> 00:06:34.260 think that they can just recreate what those two fellows have done and just do 84 00:06:34.260 --> 00:06:40.190 what their their voices, their faces. But the fact is like, the reason those 85 00:06:40.190 --> 00:06:44.840 guys are successful with their content is because like their backstory and 86 00:06:44.840 --> 00:06:50.670 like the work that they put into cultivating their own unique point of 87 00:06:50.670 --> 00:06:55.340 view is like so incredible. Like if you were to go into the backlog and listen 88 00:06:55.340 --> 00:06:59.410 to some of chris walker's earlier podcast episodes and I think he still 89 00:06:59.410 --> 00:07:03.130 talks about it occasionally of like his origin story. He's like a marvel 90 00:07:03.130 --> 00:07:12.020 antihero. Like he he was so frustrated with like his marketing and sales 91 00:07:12.020 --> 00:07:17.580 leadership For not understanding that the stuff they were trying to do that 92 00:07:17.580 --> 00:07:23.060 was popularized in 2005 to 10 is not the recipe for success anymore that he 93 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:26.170 just up and quit, started his own company, right? Like it's a it's a 94 00:07:26.170 --> 00:07:30.820 great kind of rebellion story. And with Dave like what I think a lot of people 95 00:07:30.820 --> 00:07:35.460 don't realize with D. G. Is like that guy was like traveling the country, 96 00:07:35.840 --> 00:07:41.150 speaking at events. I saw him for the first time I think 2016 on stage at a 97 00:07:41.150 --> 00:07:46.460 zoom info conference and he was one of the very first people that I saw 98 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:51.440 consistently bring humor and insight into a field that was in desperate need 99 00:07:51.440 --> 00:07:56.100 of it. So to answer the question of of what do I mean by boring is just trying 100 00:07:56.100 --> 00:07:59.990 to copy what's out there. That's the same old stale person to person 101 00:07:59.990 --> 00:08:05.190 interview people's attention spans are changing. I mean you gotta, you gotta 102 00:08:05.190 --> 00:08:08.350 get with the times like that, that long form content unless you're really 103 00:08:08.350 --> 00:08:12.910 bringing on some interesting point of views, this is just boring, nobody's 104 00:08:12.910 --> 00:08:17.830 gonna listen. Yeah. Patrick or your thoughts. I think ultimately people 105 00:08:17.830 --> 00:08:24.670 want to see exactly who they are represented or who they strive to be. I 106 00:08:24.670 --> 00:08:27.570 think those are the only two things that aren't boring. Even if you're 107 00:08:27.570 --> 00:08:33.600 funny, if it doesn't go into one of those buckets, I don't give a shit Like 108 00:08:33.610 --> 00:08:36.960 you, I either need to say that's me or that's why I want to be. I really think 109 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:42.850 that's all it is agreed. 100% agree. 100%. And diving into that. What are 110 00:08:42.850 --> 00:08:46.620 some examples of some content that you both have come across that is not 111 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:50.700 boring and something that's maybe inspired you to be more exciting and 112 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:54.950 engaging like you obviously have on the customer engagement lab. Yeah, I mean I 113 00:08:54.950 --> 00:08:59.980 listen to a lot of movie podcasts and I, for me that's like I want to be in the 114 00:08:59.980 --> 00:09:04.310 film industry and to see people that know what they're doing and talking 115 00:09:04.310 --> 00:09:08.500 about. It gives me knowledge about how movies are made or kind of like the 116 00:09:08.510 --> 00:09:12.430 backdoor, Hollywood stuff. Um and then there's also people they bring on that 117 00:09:12.430 --> 00:09:16.500 are just average people that like movies and I see myself and those 118 00:09:16.500 --> 00:09:18.260 people that are striving to get there. 119 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:25.710 I think where I draw my inspiration from is comedy podcasts. I listen to 120 00:09:25.710 --> 00:09:29.720 Tom Segura's podcast, two bears. one cave, he has another one called Tom 121 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:33.650 talks where he does more serious interviews and then his other one is 122 00:09:33.650 --> 00:09:39.640 called Your Mom's House, which is rated definitely NC 17 And it's disgusting. 123 00:09:39.650 --> 00:09:45.640 Um, but it is also like hilarious. I looked at those folks for why do I keep 124 00:09:45.640 --> 00:09:46.360 coming back? 125 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:53.950 And the reason is always like their contents fresh and their format is, is 126 00:09:53.950 --> 00:09:59.490 something that I also like, it's even their most boring episodes are still 127 00:09:59.490 --> 00:10:04.900 better than me listening to another maroon five album while I'm on my bike. 128 00:10:04.910 --> 00:10:15.290 Like I disagree, I disagree. But yeah, I really looked to comedians, uh, and 129 00:10:15.290 --> 00:10:19.960 what they're doing because they're owning the space. I mean, not all 130 00:10:20.340 --> 00:10:24.480 comedian podcaster, everybody's cup of tea. I'm not advocating for everybody. 131 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:28.300 Try to be like joe Rogan. I'm not a big fan of what he's doing anymore at all. 132 00:10:28.310 --> 00:10:34.990 But I do think that tom Burt Bert kreisher, bad friends. Andrew Santino 133 00:10:34.990 --> 00:10:38.200 is doing a really good job. And then the other area, I think Patrick and I 134 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:42.770 get a lot of inspiration from his Tiktok and that's somewhere that we're 135 00:10:42.770 --> 00:10:47.820 really interested in going. And I've been working towards as well. Yeah, 136 00:10:47.830 --> 00:10:50.780 let's talk about that a little bit. Uh, you know, I think that there are 137 00:10:50.780 --> 00:10:54.230 marketers who I've talked to, who think Tiktok is kind of silly that the 138 00:10:54.230 --> 00:10:57.690 bandwagon has passed and it's not worth their time. Clearly, you guys are 139 00:10:57.690 --> 00:11:01.920 thinking differently. So, you actually shared with me yesterday that you and 140 00:11:01.920 --> 00:11:04.830 Patrick, I've been working on Tiktok content and you guys created this 141 00:11:04.830 --> 00:11:08.510 hilarious Tiktok about stepping into a sales role for the first time. I'll be 142 00:11:08.510 --> 00:11:11.060 sure to Lincoln in the show notes here so everyone can watch it because 143 00:11:11.140 --> 00:11:15.280 freaking hilarious. And I checked it this morning and it has like almost 144 00:11:15.290 --> 00:11:21.050 what 30 k likes and over 500 comments. And you just posted it two days ago. So, 145 00:11:21.050 --> 00:11:23.630 talk a little bit about that and what the thought process was behind that, 146 00:11:23.630 --> 00:11:27.470 why you wanted to get on to talk in the first place? Honestly, Tiktok started 147 00:11:27.470 --> 00:11:32.650 as something to alleviate the existential crisis during the pandemic 148 00:11:32.650 --> 00:11:37.320 for me. Um I can't speak necessarily for Patrick, but probably similarly 149 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:41.680 dramatic and emotional reasons for diving into Tiktok. Um, but yeah, it 150 00:11:41.680 --> 00:11:45.690 was it was just a fad. It was something that I was lurking on. I was creating 151 00:11:45.690 --> 00:11:51.030 no content. I spent eight months just perfecting the algorithm for me and the 152 00:11:51.030 --> 00:11:56.840 content that I found funny. And after a while I was like, you know what? I've 153 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:01.540 got a lot of really talented, smart, funny friends, including mr Patrick 154 00:12:01.540 --> 00:12:08.580 Downs. I think we could try just try and if nothing else have fun with the 155 00:12:08.580 --> 00:12:13.000 actual process of making a Goofy video. We struck out with the podcast knowing 156 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:17.270 that we wanted to do business comedy content and I started realizing our 157 00:12:17.270 --> 00:12:20.730 podcast would be more interesting if I was playing clips from other content 158 00:12:20.730 --> 00:12:24.780 creators and getting Patrick's reaction, talking about what it means to us, 159 00:12:24.790 --> 00:12:28.770 getting our guests to react to that specific Tiktok. So we opened the show 160 00:12:28.770 --> 00:12:32.370 almost every week with a tick tock clip and then we talk about it and I was 161 00:12:32.370 --> 00:12:39.180 like, let's create our own. And I had no intention of our content blowing up, 162 00:12:39.190 --> 00:12:43.800 which is going to sound like I'm making that up. But truly, I was using Tiktok 163 00:12:43.800 --> 00:12:48.960 to just edit videos on my phone and then who like house them so I could 164 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:52.730 share them with Patrick and share them with my team internally to make them 165 00:12:52.730 --> 00:12:57.740 laugh and then the eventual goal is I was going to show them to our VP of 166 00:12:57.740 --> 00:13:04.730 marketing who is a, our number one skeptical fan of our podcast and he was 167 00:13:04.730 --> 00:13:07.650 going to tell us which one he liked the best. This is kind of going to be a gag 168 00:13:07.660 --> 00:13:11.400 right? Like to see like, you know, our VP of marketing is basically my, my 169 00:13:11.400 --> 00:13:14.760 work dad and like, hey, work dad, you heard about this thing called Tiktok, 170 00:13:14.760 --> 00:13:18.450 Check out the videos Patrick and I made and then you know, stuff that crashed. 171 00:13:18.450 --> 00:13:23.460 This is stupid, but it ended up, but I do kind of like this one and then I 172 00:13:24.140 --> 00:13:28.140 Just literally, how's the video on Tiktok with no intention? The algorithm 173 00:13:28.140 --> 00:13:34.110 picked it up and we're at over 330,000 views as of right now. Crazy. That's 174 00:13:34.110 --> 00:13:38.640 crazy. I love that. You're picturing that Sean would say sassy France. Yes, 175 00:13:38.650 --> 00:13:43.870 not sure why, but if he does not going to be very disappointed Yeah, Honestly, 176 00:13:43.870 --> 00:13:47.740 I'm starting to think like as we're having this conversation linkedin is 177 00:13:47.740 --> 00:13:51.190 probably not our audience and and that's something I'm slowly starting to 178 00:13:51.190 --> 00:13:58.310 realize. Like I think Reddit Tiktok like bravado and twitter are probably 179 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:02.440 audiences that would appreciate me to be comedy more like even if you look at 180 00:14:02.450 --> 00:14:07.320 corporate bro, he blew up on instagram, like he didn't blow up on Lincoln, he 181 00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:11.160 got banned by Lincoln. There was a period of time were linked, it was like 182 00:14:11.170 --> 00:14:16.640 we don't want this, I'm starting to think like why are we trying to do what 183 00:14:16.640 --> 00:14:20.730 corporate bro did and unlinked? And when they don't want it, like Lincoln 184 00:14:20.730 --> 00:14:24.800 has made it clear that they don't think me to be comedy is there space? So I 185 00:14:24.800 --> 00:14:28.200 think that's another thing to take into account if you're wanting to do this, 186 00:14:28.210 --> 00:14:31.690 the platform you're on, because after I saw all those views in our Tiktok, like 187 00:14:31.700 --> 00:14:35.700 that's not that much different than the humor on our show, right? So like we 188 00:14:35.700 --> 00:14:39.500 probably need to find these people, it's totally in line with with your 189 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:43.680 show. I completely agree. And I think that I think that scares people because 190 00:14:43.680 --> 00:14:47.610 I think people are, so I have to be on linkedin, I have to be engaged. This is 191 00:14:47.610 --> 00:14:52.520 my career, you know, B two B is on linkedin, but it's not always the case. 192 00:14:52.530 --> 00:14:56.340 And I think that's why a lot of people do get stuck in creating this boring 193 00:14:56.340 --> 00:15:01.510 bdb content because they're scared. And so do you guys mind leaning into that a 194 00:15:01.510 --> 00:15:05.910 little bit on why you think people tend to get stuck in this? You know? Same 195 00:15:05.910 --> 00:15:08.570 back and forth. They're just creating more boring content and being stuck on 196 00:15:08.570 --> 00:15:12.600 linkedin, not feeling like they can branch out in that way. Yeah. Patrick 197 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:16.200 and I have talked about this before. The reason people are creating boring 198 00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:22.650 content is out of fear. Mostly they are afraid of getting fired probably first 199 00:15:22.650 --> 00:15:26.770 and foremost because their livelihood is at stake if they lose their job for 200 00:15:26.770 --> 00:15:35.980 most people. And the second reason is I think a fear of looking dumb, so not 201 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:41.110 just you know, the idea of getting fired, losing money, food on the table 202 00:15:41.110 --> 00:15:44.740 etcetera etcetera, and then taking a step even further, it's just like this 203 00:15:44.740 --> 00:15:51.300 fear of embarrassment, something that Patrick and I have overcome and the 204 00:15:51.310 --> 00:15:55.740 leaders of our life of I don't care if anybody listening to this right now is 205 00:15:55.740 --> 00:16:00.840 like these guys are morons and this isn't for you then this isn't for you. 206 00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:05.660 That's and that's okay. It's for the people, the people who it's for, they 207 00:16:05.660 --> 00:16:11.460 know it's for them, they know it's for them. So yeah, I think it's a shame 208 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:15.680 that people are afraid, but that's kind of that's kind of where we're at. I 209 00:16:15.680 --> 00:16:20.770 think we're slowly seeing people warm up to it. But I was just I was loading 210 00:16:20.770 --> 00:16:24.010 my dishwasher today thinking about this interview with you Leslie and I was 211 00:16:24.010 --> 00:16:29.770 like, I wonder if Panda doc were to be acquired if I would be allowed to have 212 00:16:29.770 --> 00:16:33.630 this business comedy podcast with Patrick anymore. And Patrick shaking 213 00:16:33.630 --> 00:16:37.030 his head right now, I can see and I agree with him. I think the show would 214 00:16:37.030 --> 00:16:42.590 be over if we were to be acquired or become a publicly traded company. You 215 00:16:42.590 --> 00:16:48.260 think the FCC is gonna let two morons like me and Patrick run a podcast? No. 216 00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:52.490 So that's kind of the, you know, something that bums me out a little bit 217 00:16:52.490 --> 00:16:57.100 of the seriousness of the business world sometimes. Yeah. And I think 218 00:16:57.100 --> 00:17:00.810 that's going off and doing it on your own in that situation was what you 219 00:17:00.810 --> 00:17:04.560 would have to do. But something that I love about, you know, you guys is you 220 00:17:04.560 --> 00:17:08.849 actually got in trouble. Like, I think it was the second or third episode by 221 00:17:08.849 --> 00:17:12.470 your I don't know if it was your, I don't know. I know it was your boss, 222 00:17:12.470 --> 00:17:14.910 but I know you got in trouble for something you said in an episode and 223 00:17:14.910 --> 00:17:17.400 they were like, hey, that's really not professional, let's cut it. But that 224 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:21.790 didn't stop you from the next week, Still doing stupid shit. And like, you 225 00:17:21.790 --> 00:17:26.050 know what I mean, still creating that content. It didn't stop you. You were 226 00:17:26.050 --> 00:17:28.700 like, oh, I need to tone it down. It's like, no, I'm going to continue in a 227 00:17:28.700 --> 00:17:33.760 different way. In a different direction. Absolutely. And I actually think the, 228 00:17:33.770 --> 00:17:37.340 my bosses love that tenacity. So for anybody out there that is afraid of 229 00:17:37.340 --> 00:17:42.070 like getting chastised or like, oh well what if my boss makes me pull it? Okay? 230 00:17:42.080 --> 00:17:47.360 My boss did, he made me pull it not a big deal. He didn't pull the show, he 231 00:17:47.360 --> 00:17:50.940 was just like, hey man, like put it down, but they were like, but on the 232 00:17:50.940 --> 00:17:55.730 low low, that was kind of funny. So it's just a matter of finding where the 233 00:17:55.730 --> 00:18:00.100 line is and you don't know where that line is until you've crossed it. Um And 234 00:18:00.100 --> 00:18:03.550 Patrick and I talked about this as well. Like I followed my core values like 235 00:18:03.560 --> 00:18:07.040 what got me in trouble was a booger segment was literally talking about 236 00:18:07.040 --> 00:18:11.550 boogers and yeah, for a lot of people have super gross and inappropriate and 237 00:18:11.560 --> 00:18:16.400 childish. That's me a little bit. But I'm never worried about saying 238 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:20.420 something that's going to get me canceled because I know in my core 239 00:18:20.420 --> 00:18:25.200 values, of my heart, of heart, of who I am, I would never do or say anything to 240 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:30.520 get me in that much trouble. So I kind of let my own little flag fly on these 241 00:18:30.530 --> 00:18:37.260 on these podcast episodes. And that was Sassafras Sean by the way. Yeah, it was. 242 00:18:37.270 --> 00:18:43.620 Did he Sasa for us? You, he did. He says, trust me, that was the only thing 243 00:18:43.620 --> 00:18:49.170 we've ever had to cut. I think I know it was a booger. See like come on guys, 244 00:18:49.180 --> 00:18:53.460 take a risk, take a risk. Just don't say burgers. Yeah, don't talk about 245 00:18:53.460 --> 00:18:57.530 boogers and you're good, you're good to go. So to anyone who's listening to 246 00:18:57.530 --> 00:19:00.820 this, thinking to themselves, oh man, you're speaking to me. Clearly my 247 00:19:00.820 --> 00:19:04.430 content is very dry and boring and they're having this like light bulb 248 00:19:04.430 --> 00:19:08.900 epiphany moment. So and perhaps wondering, you know, why their contents 249 00:19:08.900 --> 00:19:12.810 not doing that great and they're realizing, oh it's because it's boring. 250 00:19:12.820 --> 00:19:17.900 What are some next steps that you guys can provide and share that they could 251 00:19:17.900 --> 00:19:22.850 be doing to make their content more engaging, even if it's not, you know, 252 00:19:22.850 --> 00:19:26.890 comedy, because I think this is very important. Some people are just not 253 00:19:26.890 --> 00:19:31.740 funny and they should not try to be there not funny. So what are some next 254 00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:38.290 steps that they would take to be more engaging I think find the content that 255 00:19:38.290 --> 00:19:41.160 you are most encapsulated by 256 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:46.000 can really take the time to dissect it. Talk about it with a friend who has a 257 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:51.960 similar interest in that thing and be like what is it about this that I like 258 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:58.630 so much and all good comedians, you know, they're all good creators, they 259 00:19:58.630 --> 00:20:02.130 emulate, they borrow, they steal and that's okay. I know earlier I said 260 00:20:02.130 --> 00:20:05.910 don't just mimic what's out there, we've got to start somewhere, right? So 261 00:20:05.910 --> 00:20:12.230 I would I would say find out what it is that you love about the content you 262 00:20:12.230 --> 00:20:19.920 love and do your best to try to emulate it and keep practicing at that and put 263 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:21.460 a unique spin on it. Like 264 00:20:22.540 --> 00:20:26.770 always ask yourself why would anyone even bother listening to this? 265 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:32.790 Always be asking that question like what the hell do I have to bring to the 266 00:20:32.790 --> 00:20:36.900 table that would make anybody think that this is worthwhile, that they 267 00:20:36.900 --> 00:20:40.400 should spend their time listening to this, whatever that means to you, 268 00:20:40.420 --> 00:20:44.000 That's a question I ask. Every time I'm preparing for a show with Patrick is 269 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:50.920 like, why why would my brother listen to this? Why would my friends listen to 270 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:55.420 this? Why should Leslie who's producing this show? You know, she's going to the 271 00:20:55.420 --> 00:20:58.520 gym, she's eating Chik fil a she's taking care of her family, she's trying 272 00:20:58.520 --> 00:21:01.100 to move into a new home. I'm putting your whole life out there on blast 273 00:21:01.100 --> 00:21:06.310 right now. Leslie, thank you all of that stuff takes time. So why the hell 274 00:21:06.320 --> 00:21:11.040 would you take 30 minutes to listen to stuff? Patrick and I are cooking up in 275 00:21:11.040 --> 00:21:14.760 the lab and that's always at the heart of what I'm trying to create. And I 276 00:21:14.760 --> 00:21:18.900 would encourage everybody to try to adopt that mindset Travis, that's been 277 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:22.050 so helpful for me, by the way. Like I literally copied what you just said, 278 00:21:22.050 --> 00:21:25.490 word for word this morning, talking to somebody and I started thinking about 279 00:21:25.490 --> 00:21:29.420 it. Even in my trainings or anything I send to somebody, it's like why would 280 00:21:29.420 --> 00:21:34.230 anyone want to read this? That has helped a lot? And Leslie, I think I'm a 281 00:21:34.230 --> 00:21:36.240 good person to answer this question cause I feel like I give people 282 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:39.320 lightbulb moments a lot, like you know, people talk to me and they're just like, 283 00:21:39.330 --> 00:21:46.830 wow Yeah, things are just really clicking for me right now. You really 284 00:21:46.830 --> 00:21:52.490 do you really do anybody out there? My my cell phone number 6033128758. Text 285 00:21:52.490 --> 00:21:56.830 me totally fine. I would say if you look at comedy, what are you trying to 286 00:21:56.830 --> 00:22:00.960 do? Right? You're trying to make somebody laugh. So if if comedy is not 287 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:05.720 your thing, you need a target. So like what is the effect that you want to 288 00:22:05.720 --> 00:22:08.840 have on someone? And I think that's like the number one thing you need to 289 00:22:08.840 --> 00:22:12.660 figure out before you go and make something. Do I want to make them think 290 00:22:12.660 --> 00:22:15.710 more? Do I want them to be more knowledgeable by the time they leave? 291 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:20.030 Don't want them to be like very engaged. Do I want them to laugh? I want them to 292 00:22:20.030 --> 00:22:25.120 feel emotional, figure out what you want, your content to be, and then you 293 00:22:25.120 --> 00:22:28.480 can just align that with whatever skills that you have in those areas and 294 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.880 then everything else kind of goes from there because some people start at the 295 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:35.000 top, but like I had this idea for a thing, but they didn't build it from 296 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:40.620 anything, so they end up lost in it and then it won't connect to piggyback off 297 00:22:40.620 --> 00:22:45.090 that even more. I saw Mark um from duly shoutout to duly and Mark, we're gonna 298 00:22:45.090 --> 00:22:49.600 be interviewing him later this week on our show. He he made a post where and 299 00:22:49.600 --> 00:22:54.310 I've said this before where it's like create Something for 100 dedicated 300 00:22:54.310 --> 00:22:59.520 people. Don't try to create it for like every every single person out there 301 00:22:59.530 --> 00:23:03.910 like find your tribe and to go back to even more of what Patrick said, like 302 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:08.540 when somebody is watching a podcast or listening to it because they either see 303 00:23:08.540 --> 00:23:14.310 themselves or they see who they want to be and it doesn't have to be hilarious 304 00:23:14.310 --> 00:23:20.510 stuff. I I watch, I follow and subscribe to this person who teaches me 305 00:23:20.510 --> 00:23:26.180 how to take care of turtle tanks. This dude has like thousands of followers 306 00:23:26.180 --> 00:23:31.820 and it's so niche and he's not funny but he's really, really knowledgeable 307 00:23:31.820 --> 00:23:35.000 and he really empathizes and puts himself into the shoes of somebody 308 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.100 who's trying to learn how to take care of turtle tanks. I've got a gecko tank 309 00:23:39.100 --> 00:23:44.230 out there that I take care of. So again, it doesn't doesn't need to be like the 310 00:23:44.230 --> 00:23:48.570 funniest podcast. The world can be ran the most random shit you like and that, 311 00:23:48.570 --> 00:23:54.310 you know, turtle tanks, He likes Total Stop the link, drop the link. I don't 312 00:23:54.310 --> 00:23:57.730 have a turtle, but I just want to watch this. I have to see it. I might get a 313 00:23:57.730 --> 00:24:05.560 turtle now. A turtle and I was a kid. Um its name was Topanga and it died 314 00:24:06.140 --> 00:24:10.980 very quickly. Boy meets World fan over a year. A Woman of Taste. Yes, you can 315 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:16.970 say your turtle died. Like the remake on netflix of Girl meets Well, it was 316 00:24:16.980 --> 00:24:22.000 bad. I was excited about that. I'm very disappointed you fell into that fuller 317 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:30.170 house category. Sorry, discussed what are some results that you guys have 318 00:24:30.170 --> 00:24:35.450 seen from doing podcasting differently? And if someone listening to this, 319 00:24:35.840 --> 00:24:39.700 wanting to take your advice and actually put forth the energy, what's 320 00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:45.220 the purpose? Like what results have you seen? Yeah, so this might come as some 321 00:24:45.230 --> 00:24:49.730 surprise to some people, we Patrick and I don't necessarily, like consider 322 00:24:49.730 --> 00:24:55.680 ourselves to be like, the arbiters of Business, comedy podcasting, we're 323 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:59.150 still figuring this out alongside each other, alongside everybody listening. 324 00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:03.650 And um, we have seen some results, you know, I think in the first quarter that 325 00:25:03.650 --> 00:25:07.670 we launched our show Leslie and looking at some of the streaming numbers right? 326 00:25:07.670 --> 00:25:10.780 Like, and streaming numbers on everything, but we were at like, what 327 00:25:10.780 --> 00:25:17.430 was it like? 2.5 above the average for the number of downloads per episode for 328 00:25:17.430 --> 00:25:23.830 me to be podcast, which was great. And uh we're about to find out in a couple 329 00:25:23.830 --> 00:25:28.260 of weeks with you to see how if that's held up or if we've dropped. Um I have 330 00:25:28.260 --> 00:25:33.410 a feeling we've dropped but we'll continue to see. But I think like the 331 00:25:33.410 --> 00:25:38.210 thing that stands out the most is I know this is working, I'm gonna steal 332 00:25:38.210 --> 00:25:42.200 this from chris walker of the qualitative stuff like the notes that 333 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:48.240 Patrick and I get from people. The message is the shoutouts publicly. I 334 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:53.990 mean, I got an email yesterday from one of our employees who was like, Travis 335 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:59.150 hearing you dissect your job history trauma was one of the funniest and 336 00:25:59.150 --> 00:26:02.600 saddest things I've ever listened to a podcast next for putting it out there 337 00:26:02.610 --> 00:26:08.230 and I was like, that's what I do it for. That's what I care most about. You know, 338 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:13.270 the private comments, like I'm shocked at how many people just message us and 339 00:26:13.270 --> 00:26:17.810 are like, hey, thanks and or wow, Like I had somebody messaged me and say they 340 00:26:17.820 --> 00:26:21.430 literally started a podcast because they saw us being weird and we're like, 341 00:26:21.430 --> 00:26:27.230 oh, I didn't know you could do that. So awesome. Yeah. And I mean we talk about 342 00:26:27.230 --> 00:26:29.880 mental health sometimes too and it's similar to that were like, you're 343 00:26:29.880 --> 00:26:34.250 setting an example in a way, even if I don't have a million people watching it. 344 00:26:34.260 --> 00:26:38.080 If like even five people go, hey, I'm more open to talk about my mental 345 00:26:38.080 --> 00:26:41.960 health or I'm more open to doing weird stuff on the side or being more of who 346 00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:48.740 I am. Like That's 100% of result. And if one person feels that way, you know 347 00:26:48.750 --> 00:26:52.270 that if you get more reach more people will feel that way. So you just need to 348 00:26:52.270 --> 00:26:56.670 keep going. Even if things are dipping like we got that Tiktok pop off, 349 00:26:57.040 --> 00:27:00.940 there's going to be a way to get that into our podcast, right? We're gonna, 350 00:27:00.950 --> 00:27:04.020 those people are eventually gonna find us too. And I think a lot of it comes 351 00:27:04.020 --> 00:27:07.590 down to consistency. Like don't give up just because you have a couple down 352 00:27:07.590 --> 00:27:10.600 weeks, like you need to think about what if I did this for five years, 353 00:27:10.600 --> 00:27:15.300 where would I be? Yeah. And the last thing I'll add to is like, I got a 354 00:27:15.300 --> 00:27:20.250 message yesterday from my VP of marketing saying like, Hey Traf would 355 00:27:20.250 --> 00:27:25.060 love to see how the podcast has performed, quarter of recorder and what 356 00:27:25.060 --> 00:27:28.300 does that mean to him? So we're gonna have to like dissect these numbers. So 357 00:27:28.310 --> 00:27:31.270 a lot of people listening might think like, well it's great that traps and 358 00:27:31.270 --> 00:27:34.250 Patrick can do a business comedy podcast with my company would never go 359 00:27:34.250 --> 00:27:37.550 for that. No, we still have people that are interested in how this thing is 360 00:27:37.550 --> 00:27:42.640 performing and we fully anticipate that if at any point they just decide this 361 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:46.790 isn't worth the investment or they want to pivot me to go work on something 362 00:27:46.790 --> 00:27:52.810 else, they'll pull it and that's just the kind of reality we live with. So it, 363 00:27:52.820 --> 00:27:58.150 we are having fun with it, but there are things that we are measuring and 364 00:27:58.150 --> 00:28:04.520 tracking and that includes like how many people are listening to the 365 00:28:04.520 --> 00:28:08.250 Youtube episodes and then clicking through and then signing up for demos 366 00:28:08.250 --> 00:28:12.320 and free trials. Like we are looking at that stuff, we are looking at our 367 00:28:12.320 --> 00:28:17.070 audience growth, we're looking at the number of impressions subscribers to 368 00:28:17.070 --> 00:28:22.120 different in various channels that were posting all of this on. We are heavily 369 00:28:22.130 --> 00:28:29.280 invested in tracking every play, the average length of every play of every 370 00:28:29.280 --> 00:28:34.520 episode Um, and trying to fine tune in. So there is a marketing angle to this 371 00:28:34.530 --> 00:28:43.860 as there has to be, but the big but is that we, from the outset said like, hey, 372 00:28:44.340 --> 00:28:50.350 you want a podcast, great. But just know from day one, this is a brand play, 373 00:28:50.940 --> 00:28:54.950 we're definitely gonna track stuff, We're definitely going to try to ensure 374 00:28:54.950 --> 00:29:00.300 that we can have some attribution. But This is a brand play through and 375 00:29:00.300 --> 00:29:06.920 through four panda doc and for people to just know that this is a place where 376 00:29:06.930 --> 00:29:10.660 there are cool people that work for a cool product and we have fun at Panda 377 00:29:10.660 --> 00:29:16.860 doc and like I was like, dude, are we all on the same page zoom call with VPs 378 00:29:16.860 --> 00:29:22.350 directors and they're like, yeah, cool, let's go. Absolutely having that 379 00:29:22.350 --> 00:29:26.130 support is huge. And I think, you know, this has been really, really great 380 00:29:26.130 --> 00:29:32.170 advice and just for Youtube while you're here, I personally, I think that 381 00:29:32.170 --> 00:29:37.280 you guys are encouraging me and I'm sure hundreds of other people just to 382 00:29:37.280 --> 00:29:42.300 be more themselves at work and I think that people do get scared, you know, 383 00:29:42.300 --> 00:29:45.980 I'm gonna be to be, I have to be so serious and even looking back on the 384 00:29:45.980 --> 00:29:49.560 deep dive, I did a few months ago, I think that there were some chances for 385 00:29:49.560 --> 00:29:52.600 me to add a little bit more of my personality into that and I didn't take 386 00:29:52.600 --> 00:29:57.440 that opportunity because I was fearful. So since I've been, you know, working 387 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:01.820 behind the scenes with you to talking to you Travis once a week, um it's 388 00:30:01.820 --> 00:30:05.590 really been encouraging for me to see this and for me to bring more of my 389 00:30:05.590 --> 00:30:09.160 personality into work, even if it's not that funny, like, I don't think I'm the 390 00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:14.820 funniest person ever, but I think even just being more personable, bring that 391 00:30:14.820 --> 00:30:18.890 personality and has been huge for me and has really been a game changer for 392 00:30:18.890 --> 00:30:22.140 me at work, because I think that people can tend to get like, okay, I'm at work, 393 00:30:22.150 --> 00:30:26.430 I have to be worked Leslie like, no, you can be yourself at work, you just 394 00:30:26.430 --> 00:30:30.620 have to know like you don't have to turn it off and that's been huge for me. 395 00:30:30.630 --> 00:30:35.650 So thank you. That makes me so happy. Seriously. That really does, like, warm 396 00:30:35.650 --> 00:30:38.840 my heart. And I know it's true because I've seen you blowing up my linkedin 397 00:30:38.840 --> 00:30:44.400 feed and I'm loving it. I'm like let's keep seeing Leslie like post up the 398 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:50.300 wazoo and it's amazing. Yeah, I guess me tummy bubbles. Thanks Leslie, tummy 399 00:30:50.300 --> 00:30:57.810 bubbles. Yeah, that was gross. That's called Arts and that's not funny. No, 400 00:30:57.810 --> 00:31:02.610 it's like butterflies. Okay. Yeah. Tell me about those. Tell me what you're not 401 00:31:02.610 --> 00:31:05.860 a child. Tell me bubble sounds so much better than butterflies. Like, oh you 402 00:31:05.860 --> 00:31:11.280 give me butterflies. Gonna give me tummy bubbles. Oh, we just coined that. 403 00:31:11.290 --> 00:31:16.390 It's so nice that marketing, that's the future right there. You can't measure 404 00:31:16.390 --> 00:31:23.470 that clicks this measure. Tell me bubbles. This guy below in his mic. Oh 405 00:31:23.470 --> 00:31:27.970 man, I am a little bit scared to ask. But is there anything else that you 406 00:31:27.970 --> 00:31:32.950 guys would like to add to anyone in the B two B area who's listening to this 407 00:31:32.950 --> 00:31:37.350 podcast right now? Thinking, what the hell did I just listened to? Thank you 408 00:31:37.350 --> 00:31:40.680 for listening? Like thank you for taking the time. I hope that you see 409 00:31:40.690 --> 00:31:45.960 yourself in me and Patrick. I hope that you you know if you want to be like us, 410 00:31:45.960 --> 00:31:50.830 god help you. Yeah, like kudos to you for for if you're listening to this, I 411 00:31:50.830 --> 00:31:54.130 think it's because you want to take risks. I think it's because you want to 412 00:31:54.130 --> 00:31:58.280 push the boundaries because you like to you see it in the beat of Seaworld, why 413 00:31:58.280 --> 00:32:02.450 can't we do it in the B two B world? You like to have fun? And so that's it. 414 00:32:02.840 --> 00:32:07.790 My departing words would be there's a line between being self critical and 415 00:32:07.790 --> 00:32:13.260 pushing yourself further. But I think some people are too self critical and 416 00:32:13.260 --> 00:32:16.500 aren't using that, their own criticism of themselves to do better. They're 417 00:32:16.500 --> 00:32:19.290 just using it to put themselves down. I think that's a lot of the reason that 418 00:32:19.290 --> 00:32:22.970 people don't try new things. So every time you have a bad thought about 419 00:32:22.970 --> 00:32:27.700 yourself, try to think, am I thinking this because it's going to help me get 420 00:32:27.700 --> 00:32:32.370 better at something? Or am I just being addict myself? I love that. Excellent 421 00:32:32.370 --> 00:32:36.010 advice. Go take an improv class. I would recommend that to go have some 422 00:32:36.010 --> 00:32:40.140 fun. Oh my God, go learn to go learn to be a child again. And I know people are 423 00:32:40.140 --> 00:32:44.090 like improvs quirky. Yeah, Okay, well that's fine. Be a little dorky. Have 424 00:32:44.090 --> 00:32:49.060 some fun. A loose let your hair down. You too. And an improv class. I would 425 00:32:49.060 --> 00:32:53.720 give it, I would pay money for that. I think we need to do it. You should do 426 00:32:53.720 --> 00:33:00.220 it and you should record it and make it like a podcast episode. For those who 427 00:33:00.220 --> 00:33:03.700 are on Tiktok. I'm gonna do a quick plug. Go check out trap dogs 73 on 428 00:33:03.700 --> 00:33:08.710 Tiktok. That's that's the tick tock. That's my I'll change that name, it's 429 00:33:08.710 --> 00:33:11.960 my Patrick. Do you know the story behind? Is that that's my AOL instant 430 00:33:11.960 --> 00:33:16.510 messenger screen name that I created when I was 12 years old. Mine was Ice 431 00:33:16.510 --> 00:33:24.920 blade. Damn, that's cool man. Mine was Pink Drama Queen. That's the best one. 432 00:33:24.930 --> 00:33:32.260 You can. We change our Tiktok name. Pink Drama Queen, Is it not so accurate? 433 00:33:32.270 --> 00:33:38.540 She says with her pink fingernails. Yes, very accurate. Thanks, drama Queen, 434 00:33:38.540 --> 00:33:43.130 it's stuck for a long, long time. Well, thank you guys. This has been so much 435 00:33:43.130 --> 00:33:47.480 fun. Fantastic. Thank you both so much for joining me here on B2B growth and 436 00:33:47.490 --> 00:33:51.320 to our listeners. Thanks for listening. Make sure you subscribe to the customer 437 00:33:51.320 --> 00:33:54.270 engagement lab. If you want to hear more fun content from these two, I 438 00:33:54.270 --> 00:33:57.770 promise you will not regret it. And of course, thanks for listening to me to 439 00:33:57.770 --> 00:34:01.450 be growth. Make sure you never miss an episode by subscribing to the show on 440 00:34:01.450 --> 00:34:05.060 apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcast Until next time. 441 00:34:09.239 --> 00:34:12.870 one of the things we've learned about podcast audience growth is that word of 442 00:34:12.870 --> 00:34:17.510 mouth works. It works really, really well actually. So if you love this show, 443 00:34:17.510 --> 00:34:21.389 it would be awesome if you texted a friend to tell them about it. And if 444 00:34:21.389 --> 00:34:25.679 you send me a text with a screenshot of the text you sent to your friend meta, 445 00:34:25.690 --> 00:34:29.300 I know I'll send you a copy of my book, content based networking. How to 446 00:34:29.310 --> 00:34:32.710 instantly connect with anyone you want to know. My cell phone number is 447 00:34:32.710 --> 00:34:37.960 474933-8. Happy next thing. 448 00:34:39.270 --> 00:34:39.760 Mm