IAM2274 – The Importance of Building a Media Company and Leveraging Media for Business Growth

In this special episode, Gresham Harkless redefines media beyond traditional forms like newspapers and magazines, including modern channels such as podcasts, social media, vlogging, and even personal conversations.

He explains that being in business inherently involves sharing ideas and solutions with others, making every entrepreneur a part of the media landscape.

Gresham advocates experimenting with different media platforms to find what works best for your audience and goals.

He emphasizes that using existing media platforms, like being a podcast guest, can be as effective as starting your content channel.

In addition, he highlights the benefits of content-based networking and building relationships through collaboration on content creation, such as podcasting.

Episode Link: Six Figure Business Mastery Podcast

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Transcription:

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Intro 00:00

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast, and I wanted to share with you one of the episodes that I was a guest on for someone else's podcast.

I always talk about how important it is to build a media company. One of the next best things you could do is be on somebody else's media company.

So I had the pleasure of being a guest on this podcast, and I wanted to share a little snippet with you because it would help support the 8 business pillars we've really been trying to focus on with a lot more of our content and a lot more of the solo episodes that I'm doing.

So make sure, of course, that you subscribe to our podcast, but of course, you take some time out, check out the show notes, and subscribe to the podcast that I've been featured on as well, too.

And get to learn about some of those 8 business pillars and how you can continue to kind of leverage and build that up so you can go from builder to architect to, of course, Rockstar and luminary. So this is Gresh signing out. I hope you enjoy this I AM CEO special episode.

Kirsten Graham 00:52

I know we're excited to figure out whether you think everyone should be a media company, so I'm looking forward to getting your spin on that and how you relay that to the business owners.

Gresham Harkless 01:02

Absolutely. I'm so excited to be here. I think it's one of the big things that a lot of times, people don't look at it. So I think I have a unique perspective in how people can be their own media companies.

But, yeah, it's been awesome to have you on the show. Super excited. We get to double dip, so to speak, and get to have another awesome conversation.

Kirsten Graham 01:15

When I think about the word media company, I don't always know that I think about what that does.

Gresham Harkless 01:19

Right.

Kirsten Graham 01:19

Think about a marketing agency, but it's a media company doing pr for you. So let's start there. In your mind, let's talk about what a media company is and how you feel like most business owners could leverage that.

Gresham Harkless 01:29

Yeah. It's so funny. When I was first getting started, I was an English major, and I always said that I want. I was a journalist at heart, and that was a very specific type of media.

So a lot of times when people hear media, they automatically go there. Newspapers, magazines, things like that.

But I think one of the beautiful things, at least I think is beautiful, and I'm sure you both do as well, too, is that there's different types and forms of media.

If we look at it in the way that I define it, as simply the way that you can get one idea or thought to someone else.

And if we start to think about it from that perspective, it starts to broaden the ways at which we can do.

Of course, there's social media, but I think there's also media, like podcasts. There's vlogging, there's videos. I even think one on one communication, to some degree, is media being moved from one person to another.

So we start to look at it broadly. From that perspective, we start to realize that we are in the media business.

Because if you're in business, one of the first things you always hear is, like, tell literally everybody you can about who you are, what you do, why you do it, the solution that you're creating.

So the way that I define media is being able to understand that and being able to find, I call them, quote unquote, ingredients, but there are different ways that you can get your name out there.

So I touched on some of those, but it's really about how can I talk about the things that I do and the solution that I provide and get that to as many people as possible.

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Kirsten Graham 02:40

It's so funny because you know how sometimes you totally miss something, like, it's right in front of your face, but you miss it.

And when Jeanne and I first started our podcast, we never really intended for our guests to become our clients.

But that's happened, and we've also become clients of some of our guests. So it was not long ago we had someone say, oh, yeah, I started a podcast for lead generation, because almost all of my guests can be my clients.

And we're like, we've never really looked at it like that. We've gotten clients from our and referrals from our guests.

But if you think about it, when you put out a podcast for us, it's about making our guests look good. It's about having great conversations and educating our audience.

But again, as a form of media that can have multiple purposes, which, again, sometimes we just don't think of right.

Gresham Harkless 03:19

Off the bat, I think that's one of the beautiful. I don't know if that's a word. Things about media is that you really, and that's why I compare it to, like, going to the grocery store to figure out what ingredients you are, but you want, because it ultimately depends on what your goal is.

And you realize that when you go to the grocery store, you can take a tomato and you can make tomato sauce, or you could put it on a ham and cheese sandwich those. They have two different ways that you can leverage them in.

Media is a much the same way your podcast, you can use it as a way to try to be a Joe Rogan, so to speak, and get lots and lots of downloads and people coming in, or you can use it as a way to build relationships. So it's the awesome thing about where we are now.

Jeanne Willson 03:50

When you were talking earlier, I was thinking about how accessible media is now for us as entrepreneurs versus you mentioned newspapers, used to be magazines and TV, and it was expensive.

It was crazy for an entrepreneur to even think about jumping in that realm unless they were making tens of millions of dollars. So we're so fortunate now.

Gresham Harkless 04:08

And Jeanne, that's one of the big things that has happened. We literally have in our pockets one of the most powerful tools that allow us to be able to create videos, audio, blog, all those things that with just our fingers, and we didn't have that years and years ago.

So that's where I think it has made it a lot more accessible and people get to do it in unique and different ways.

Kirsten Graham 04:26

I love this, all the ingredients to figure that out. But when people are thinking about what platform should I go on or what should I use, what media should I be drawn to, what should my strategy be, what tips do you have around that?

Gresham Harkless 04:38

I think a lot of times the first thing that people want to do is to test out and try out whatever that ingredient, whatever that thing is that they're using to try to get their name out there.

So it could be TikTok or LinkedIn or blogging or podcasting, whatever those ingredients might be. But I actually think the first thing that you should do is answer three essential questions before you jump in and try to stout those different platforms.

And I think that the biggest thing that you want to be very clear about is your goal. What are you ultimately trying to accomplish? I think we talked a little bit about that around. You can use the podcasts to build relationships.

You can use it to try to kind of increase your authorities so that people know all the awesome things that you're doing, but you can also use it to generate leads and opportunities.

So it's all in understanding what that goal might be and what that looks like. Once you get clear on your goals, the next big thing you want to do is make sure that you understand your avatar, understand who you're targeting.

Because if in, for example, you want to use your podcast for authority positioning, but your ideal clients don't listen to podcasts, maybe that's not the best place to spend your time and your resources that you want to meet your ideal clients where they are or potentially where they're.

So if you're thinking like, okay, my ideal clients are maybe not necessarily first movers, maybe they're like 4th, 5th movers, then maybe you understand that you can be on have your podcast first so that people eventually go there.

So that ends up being like a really big question. Understand your age, location, but also understand like the psychology around, like things that keep them up at night.

What solutions are they really looking for? What problems do they really have? Just understand more about that audio client is going to help you out tremendously.

And then I think one of the biggest things as well, too, as I've alluded to, is that resources piece and the resources most people say is, okay, what is my marketing budget?

But it's not just that. If you're going to, if you're going to DIY per se, you want to understand these are the resources that I have because I'm literally going to do it.

So if I don't like being on camera, maybe unless you're talking to both of you, you realize that you don't want to necessarily do a vlog, but maybe you're a really great talker.

So you're going to do a podcast first, and then maybe figure out a way to introduce video, or maybe you love writing. So you're going to start with a blog.

So you just start to really look at the resources, time and your talents and money and really just go from there. So those are the three essential questions.

And I think you start to say, okay, I know a little bit more about those questions. So this will arm me with a little bit more of a strategic way to choose the ingredients to support what I'm trying to do.

Kirsten Graham 06:56

It's brilliant. If you want to work with people in all different areas, then I think building a podcast or being a guest on other people's podcast is really the way to go.

So I love that you're talking about what's the right ingredients for you, where you are, and then also where your clients are, where are they most likely to find you, and then connect with the content you're creating.

Gresham Harkless 07:14

And I think you bring up a phenomenal point, Kirsten, as well, too, is because most people think that being in the media business means you have to create your own YouTube channel or create your own podcast.

I think the next best thing, and especially if you realize that maybe you don't have the resources or you aren't leaning on to awesome people like you to be able to build that and create that.

You decide that maybe you want to, or you can find people that are speaking to your ideal clients, so you hop on their podcast. I always say, as much as I'm a proponent of starting a media company, the next best thing is probably being on somebody else's media company.

So being a guest on somebody's podcast or vlog or whatever it might be, is really awesome. But I think if there is not that audience there or those platforms haven't been created, by all means, that is your opportunity to create that.

So I think it's being able to, again, be out into those resources and understand that, yes, I don't have as much time, so maybe I don't want to start it, but maybe I'm going to do like a podcast show or round up and be on different podcasts so that I can eventually.

Kirsten Graham 08:10

Yeah, we have virtual assistants who get their clients booked on podcasts, and I think it's such a smart strategy.

And I love getting booked on podcasts, and I think that's one of the things that really surprised me about, like us hosting our pod and then being a guest on other podcasts, is that really connecting, like you said, making the relationships, finding ways to collaborate with each other.

But, yeah, it's always these great conversations and you walk away learning something, but you also walk away with a resource. Right.

Because one of the things, like, you build websites, which we don't do, you help clients with SEO for their websites, which we don't do.

So now you're a great referral source for. For us. So it's always important to think about, like, how, when you're going on those podcasts, how can you help that host back?

And how can. How can you help that guest? Is the way we always go into it. How can we be of service to whoever's on our show or whoever gives us the opportunity to be on their show.

Gresham Harkless 08:55

Yeah. It ends up being such a beautiful thing because I think it speaks so much to the abundant mentality where you don't think it's win, lose or lose. Win or lose. You can be win.

And it realizes that we're speaking, I'll say, specific dialects within marketing. We're not speaking. We're speaking the same language.

So when someone's talking about YouTube, it's okay. We don't necessarily do that. Two great people that I can, you know, refer, or vice versa if that happens.

And I think that's one of the really, I think, underappreciated aspects of podcasting and connecting. I even had someone on my show and they called it content based networking, and I thought that was brilliant because you get to create and co create content, but on top of that, you get to deepen relationships because you're doing it in a unique way.

And I think that's one of the really awesome ways that people are under-utilizing or could further utilize, maybe I should.

Jeanne Willson 09:41

Say, content called content based networking.

Gresham Harkless 09:44

Okay, based networking.

Kirsten Graham 09:45

But it really is a form of networking with the other person, and the collaborations that come out of it are amazing.

So if someone is just getting started, or maybe they've been in business for a while, but they're trying to really level up, obviously, hopefully at this point they do know who their ideal client is, the problem and the transformation that they help that client with.

Then what would you recommend next as far as, like, how do they figure out what they should do next in this plan?

Gresham Harkless 10:11

I think you really want to make. Sure that, of course, like you said. So well have the answers to all those questions, and then I think it starts to guide you towards where you're going to be.

I think one of the best things you can do with the different ingredients, whether it be like TikTok or if you're going to do, you're going to spend time on Instagram or going to spend time on LinkedIn or potentially going to blog or podcast, whatever that might be, you start to drill down into those platforms.

And you start to understand the pros and cons of each, because I think each of them have pros and cons, and even within platforms, they have different features, I guess you can call them, that you can leverage.

So, for example, one of the things that you can do is you can go to Facebook and you can start a Facebook group, but you can also maybe in the same way that we talked about podcasting, maybe you can find a bunch of Facebook groups if you're a real estate agent that are in your specific location and you can basically serve because they're your ideal clients.

So maybe instead of you starting a Facebook page, maybe you spend time on other Facebook pages and just be very resourceful and help answer questions and provide solutions and connect people so that you are top of mind.

So it's just really thinking about getting those three questions answered. And then I think starting to experiment and kind of test out those different platforms so that at the end of the day, you can hopefully, like, reach your goal.

And I think if you do it in a very low resource way, you don't lose everything by spending time in Facebook groups.

You get the opportunity to test it out, and then you can continue to invest more as you start to get those clients and customers come through the literal door or even the virtual door.

Jeanne Willson 11:35

I totally, that makes total sense. It's so interesting because I've jumped back more into LinkedIn, and now LinkedIn has newsletters and LinkedIn has, we knew it had articles, and you can go live on LinkedIn and you can create events on LinkedIn.

So each platform, like you said, has got so many different assets to it that you can incorporate if that's the platform that your people are on.

Gresham Harkless 11:57

And I think that's one of the reasons why when I'm speaking about the different platforms of the choose and different ingredients, I'm a big proponent of choosing one, maybe two, but usually you can really own one.

Like you said, LinkedIn is so robust and they're adding on more and more features that if you were just going to do LinkedIn lives there, where you could potentially own or be the LinkedIn live person for your local area or something along those lines, and you can literally set it up where you're interviewing people that are your referral partners.

And just all those things can come from there, just from not even leveraging one aspect of that platform.

So when you start to spend time there and choose that specific aspect, you get to be that expert, and you also will know about the changes, the updates, those things that happen.

And it becomes really difficult to be and do everything and be everywhere. That's why you want to be so strategic around it.

Kirsten Graham 12:41

We have a client, Pamela, who has been coaching lawyers like the past 30, 35 years. So she's been doing this for a long time, and she hosts a little ten minute LinkedIn live every week.

And so it's just, here's some really valuable information that you can use to help grow your business. And so she invited me on, and so I was interviewed on her live on LinkedIn the other day.

And it's just fantastic because things I didn't know is like, you can invite a thousand people, but then I could also invite a thousand people.

There's like you said, you've got to figure out what the features are and figure out what's the best way to use them in order to move your business forward.

So let's talk about, because I know as an agency, you understand the importance of tracking, tracking where your business comes from.

So what tips would you have for someone who is starting to use LinkedIn lives or they're starting to go on podcast as a guest. What do you want them to track so that they can see what's bringing them the most results?

Gresham Harkless 13:34

I think that's one of the beautiful things around digital marketing, especially as you get to have different ways that you can track that information.

And I think a lot of that is going to depend on what you're trying to do. For example, if you have that LinkedIn live, maybe you are going to mention that you have a free downloadable e-book that people can download.

So I think it's really understanding. And again, you're doing this because your ideal client would appreciate that.

So it could be an e-book, it could be a secret video, whatever it might be, you want to make sure that you set that up. The big thing that I would say do is set up like a landing page or a way for people to opt in so that at the very least you can get your name, email address and phone number.

So one of the pros and cons about using platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram or TikTok, Facebook, all these platforms, is that you don't necessarily own those platforms, but you have to understand that people are literally spending time there.

So as much as possible, I would say you want to try to drive people to something where you can opt it in and get more information, but realize that won't always happen.

So you can look at the impressions, you can look at the number of people that saw the course interactions they might have on different platforms, and those will all be metrics on how impactful it will be.

But I think as much as possible, getting in an old school that mindset, the name, email address and phone number ends up being a really big thing.

But just know that it won't always happen. But in order to get that, you probably have to have something that's really compelling, which is why you want to know your ideal client. You want to know what keeps them up at night.

Because if you can provide a solution to whatever that is, then not only will you have somebody that downloads that e-book or whatever giveaway you have, but you have potentially a raven fan for the rest of your business.

Kirsten Graham 15:09

But we know for some of our people, they're tagged with more than one tag, obviously, but it's still a brilliant thing because it allows you to figure out exactly what information you want to get to them and when you want to get it.

Gresham Harkless 15:17

And it's definitely next level because I think from a network group, I heard everybody's listening to the same station, WiFM. What's in it for me?

And I think if you start to tag people, you realize what's in it for them so you can actually provide them what's in it for them so that hopefully you could again be resourceful.

Jeanne Willson 15:32

If I understand right, there are some questions to ask and answer to help people be more efficient and effective with their marketing. What would those be?

Gresham Harkless 15:39

I think the questions that you really want to make sure that you're asking and answering is aligned with, like where you're trying to go, what does success look like for you? How are you going to define that success?

Because that's going to determine what those questions might be. But for example, if you have an e commerce store, maybe it's going to be how quickly your website's loading, how quickly people are going to take steps to be able to purchase whatever it is that they're trying to purchase.

If it takes seven steps versus taking five, that's going to be one of those questions that you want to continually ask. If I can minimize the amount of steps you take to be able to take an action, will that be of value?

And you want to see how you can do that and what that looks like. But it also depends if you are a coach, potentially, what is it that is going to be of value to your ideal client that you can provide as a freebie or as a next level after that freebie? Do they want to be a member?

Outro 16:26

Hello. Hello. Hello, this is Gresh again, and I hope you enjoyed that special episode of the I AM CEO Podcast. Just like I mentioned in the beginning, we're really trying to laser focus on these 8 pillars to show you as a builder how you can leverage these 8 pillars and really level up there so it helps to level up your business and organization.

So hope you enjoyed this episode. Definitely. Please check out the show notes so you can learn more about the pillar, learn more about the person that I guessed it on their episode, and of course, learn more, a little bit more about us as well too. This is Gresh signing out. Hope you have a phenomenal rest of day.

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