As a small business owner, you’ve probably heard of copywriters and content writers. In this blog post, we explain the difference between the two and whom you should hire based on your goals, budget, audience and other criteria.
You’ve started a business or are looking to rekindle an existing one.
You’re all in on sales. You want to hire a writer to craft your message and generate buzz online.
There are personal injury attorneys and tax attorneys…
With online writing, there are content writers and copywriters.
What’s the difference and what’s best for your business?
Let’s find out!
First, a Bad Joke…
Q: How do you know a writer is good?
A: They practice the Bar…
Apologies for that 😬
In all seriousness, copywriting is focused on persuading and driving immediate action from the audience.
Content writing provides valuable information and engages the audience in a more informative and educational manner.
Both forms of writing have their unique roles and are essential for different aspects of marketing and communication.
Are you starting to pick up which writing strategy could help your business goals?
Let’s dig a bit more into these disciplines.
Content Writer = Copywriter?
No, while both roles involve writing, they serve different purposes and have different outcomes.
Content writers primarily create content that is informational, educational or entertaining.
They often target a broader audience, aiming to inform or entertain readers without necessarily persuading them to take immediate action.
Content writers focus on providing in-depth information, answering questions and offering insights on a particular topic.
Here are some examples of the content they focus on:
Blog posts
Articles
News pieces
How-to guides
eBooks
Social media posts (excluding direct advertisements)
K…What Is a Copywriter?
Copywriters specialize in creating persuasive and promotional content. Their main goal is to persuade the reader or viewer to take a specific action such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or clicking on a link.
They often target a specific audience segment, trying to trigger an emotional response. The goal is to convince the reader to act in a particular way.
They focus on delivering a clear and compelling message in a limited space.
Techniques such as creating a sense of urgency and highlighting the benefits of a product or service are common in copywriting.
Here are some examples of the content copywriters focus on:
Advertisements
Product descriptions
Sales letters
Landing and sales pages
Email marketing campaigns
Slogans
Who’s Better: Copywriter vs. Content Writer?
Many businesses benefit from a combination of both copywriting and content writing.
Content can attract and educate your audience, while copywriting can convert interested readers into customers.
The choice between a copywriter and a content writer ultimately depends on your specific marketing and business objectives.
It’s often advantageous to have a comprehensive content strategy that includes both types of writing to achieve a well-rounded online presence.
If you need writers skilled in both content and copywriting, check out Content with Teeth. We don’t believe the guy on talk radio who says if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one.
Throw us the ball, Coach.
Best Resources for Learning Copywriting & Content Writing
In case your business doesn’t have the budget to invest in a copywriter or content writer, there are many resources on and offline that could help you understand the basics.
Learning copywriting and content writing involves a combination of studying theory, practical application and continuous improvement.
Fortunately, there are many resources out there to help you develop and refine your online writing skills.
Copywriting Resources
Books
The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert Bly
Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads by Luke Sullivan
Offers various copywriting courses, including “Copywriting Secrets: How to Write Copy That Sells” and “The Copywriting Masterclass: Content Writing for Beginners.”
Provides a wealth of resources, including articles, webinars and a magazine, focused on content marketing.
Copyblogger (also covers content writing)
Offers insights and tips on creating compelling content.
Writing Communities
Join writing communities on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to connect with other writers, share experiences and seek advice.
Bottom Line: Who Do You Hire?
In case you still have questions on the type of writer you need, here are three scenarios to help.
If you’re aiming to get an immediate response from your customers and increase sales, a copywriter most certainly laser focuses on short and eye-catching text to persuade your audience.
If you want to educate your audience about your products and services, get exposure and engage with your audience, you should get help from a content writer.
If you want to increase sales and provide value, you should seek to get a writer skilled in both content and copywriting.
Choosing between hiring a copywriter or a content writer for a small business also depends on:
Your Budget:
Consider your budget for writing services. Copywriters often charge higher rates than content writers due to the persuasive and results-oriented nature of their work.
Identifying Your Target Audience
Understand your target audience and their needs. Are they looking for informative content or do they need persuasive messages to make a purchase decision?
Evaluating Your Existing Content
Review your current content and assess whether it’s meeting your objectives. Identify any gaps or areas where specialized writing expertise is needed.
Determining the Type of Writing Needed
Based on your goals and audience, decide whether you require persuasive copy for advertisements, product descriptions, landing pages (copywriting) or informative blog posts, articles, or guides (content writing).
Considering Your Industry or Niche
Some industries or niches may require specialized knowledge.
If your business operates in a complex or highly regulated field, such as healthcare or finance, you may benefit from hiring a writer with expertise in that area.
Reviewing Portfolios and samples
When considering writers, ask to see their portfolios or writing samples. This will help you assess their style, skills and the quality of their work.
Conducting Interviews
Interview potential writers to discuss your project, goals and expectations. This will also allow you to assess their communication skills and compatibility with your team.
Considering a Hybrid Approach
Depending on your needs, you might decide to hire both a copywriter and a content writer, each focusing on their respective strengths. This can be especially effective for businesses looking to balance sales-driven content with informative content.
Starting with a Trial Project
If you’re uncertain about the fit of a writer, consider starting with a smaller, trial project to evaluate their performance and suitability for your business.
Ultimately, the choice between hiring a copywriter or a content writer should align with your business objectives, target audience and available resources.
Some businesses may benefit from a combination of both, while others may find that one type of writer suits their needs best.
Call 1-800-SCRIBE NOW!
We will take your case because writers are specialized like lawyers, doctors and most professions.
If you need solid writers who can handle both content and copywriting to gin up sales for your business, please get in touch.
💡KEY TAKEAWAYS
Choosing between hiring a copywriter or a content writer for a small business depends on your goals, budget, audience, writing needs and other factors.
Copywriting is focused on persuading and driving immediate action from the audience.
Content writing provides valuable information and engages the audience in a more informative and educational manner.
Is AI coming for your job? It’s already here for us. If you’re a web content writer or looking to hire one, get the latest intel on whether this new technology is hype or hero. We focus on areas where AI struggles, like throwing good-natured shade on the most successful college football coach ever.
Coming for me, your humble content writer, who conventional wisdom says will be jettisoned to the scrap heap of history like the horse buggy manufacturer or “I-have-a-12-hour-window” cable installation guy.
Is artificial intelligence hype overblown or are we on the verge of another revolution that will transform civilization and content creation?
A recent article in the Business Insider makes the case of the latter and might have you scrambling to add some muscle to that “AI Prompt Engineer” skill that you slapdashed on your resume after a late night bender of ChatGPT, an impossible deadline and too much caffeine:
The World Economic Forum estimated 83 million jobs worldwide would be lost over the next five years because of AI, with 69 million jobs created — that leaves 14 million jobs that will cease to exist during that time frame. Even the people who do retain their jobs will experience a massive shift in how they do their work: The World Economic Forum says that 44% of workers’ core skills are expected to change in the next five years.
Pump the Brakes on an AI Content Writer?
Some have doubts on the ascendancy of LLM and generative AI for content creation.
I lean toward the “revolution” camp. I see AI comin’ with a sawed-off shotgun and mean mug, Newport dangling from its mouth.
Again, from Business Insider:
In the US, the knowledge-worker class is estimated to be nearly 100 million workers, one out of three Americans. A broad spectrum of occupations — marketing and sales, software engineering, research and development, accounting, financial advising, and writing, to name a few — is at risk of being automated away or evolving.
I Will Not Go Down Without a Fight, AI Content Generator!
What’s a content writer to do against the AI onslaught?
The new technology was trained on information from 2021 and earlier. If you ask which member of the gerontocracy currently rules us, its answer is correct, but shaky.
An AI writing tool that “cannot provide real-time or the most recent information” does not bring confidence to writers who seek accuracy and up-to-date information.
Am I the only Luddite here married to lily white veracity?
Apparently not…
OpenAI Confirms: AI Writing Detectors Aren't Reliable
In August, OpenAI released a blog post sharing how educators are using ChatGPT to assist in teaching. But an interesting revelation came with it: AI writing detectors are often inaccurate.
One notable example of AI bias is the case of the Amazon recruitment tool, which was designed to automate the recruitment process by analyzing resumes and ranking candidates. However, the tool was found to be biased against female candidates, as it had learned from the male-dominated resumes in its training data. As a result, the tool consistently downgraded resumes containing women’s names or references to women’s colleges. Amazon had to abandon the project after realizing the extent of the bias and the implications it had on the recruitment process.
Reason #2: Dearth of Creativity
I have used a generative AI content tool, and I am here to report that the steak lacks sizzle.
I could link farm examples of these tools not producing creative copy, but I’ll let a case study speak for itself. They generate content in a very generic and boring way.
I am a big college football fan. Recently, the University of Texas Longhorns defeated the Top 10 rated Alabama Crimson Tide led by their Darth Vader Clone of a Coach Nick Saban.
Suppose I am a college football writer and want to compose a diss track for Bama fans.
I cooked this up:
After Saturday's smackdown in Tuscaloosa, Matthew McConaughey and Texas fans are going to wipe the floor with the tears falling from Nick Saban and Bama fans' eyes #RollSlide
Not exactly the strongest tea, but it will suffice for something brewed less the time it takes to refresh a Chrome tab.
This is the deadweight that ChatGPT serves up:
#WhoWereThoseGuys ….?
Really ChatGPT? You’re supposed to be a top AI writing assistant!
And then it gets all high-horsey and moralistic in maintaining a “friendly rivalry.”
As a Michigan fan prepared for batteries to be tossed at my head when we face Sparty in East Lansing, college football rivalries are anything but “friendly.”
Come on, man!
Bard, Google’s response to ChatGPT, doesn’t do much better:
I have never heard ONE SINGLE PERSON reply to something sarcastically with a “Sure, Jan”…
AI may replace me, but NOT YET by the likes of its creativity in content creation.
Reason #3: Psychopathic Lack of Emotion
A robot writes with zero emotion.
Need to bring empathy to an email after a colleague has been let go? Don’t write it with an AI tool.
Ones and zeros don’t process emotion.
Let’s go with another hypothetical case study in this blog post.
Suppose my company Content with Teeth let me go in a cost-cutting move. I decide to fire off a farewell “Xeet” flamed with seething anger.
Content with Teeth has let me go in a cost-cutting move. I wish them well in their effort to zero out labor costs and a race to the dismal bottom line. #goodbye
Once again, Open AI’s chef cooks with zero flavor — a dry as a desert pancake without any syrup:
Who is “#Thankful” after losing a job?
Only an AI writer robot with a serial killer’s lack of emotion.
This type of AI content generator becomes plainer than the whole state of Texas.
Crying Nick Saban Challenge with an AI Writing Assistant
I bet some of you reading this think I’m just another hack writer moaning about The High Priestess of Technology stealing their juice.
I mean, who can whine better than a rung-down wordsmith?
If this is your rub, I have a challenge.
I have a good friend who is a diehard Crimson Tide fan.
If you can get an AI writer or tool to playfully tweak Nick Saban in a way that elicits a real chuckle from my friend, I will write a 3000-word blog post on how an AI content generator is the ultimate analytical godplan of Saban’s “The Process” run wild.
Do I have any takers?
Leave a comment or find us on the socials.
💡KEY TAKEAWAYS
“44% of workers’ core skills are expected to change in the next five years.”
LLM AI tools are deficient in that they lack updated information, creativity, accuracy, and emotion to generate content.
AI has flaws and biases — it can deliver wrong information and present people with inappropriate solutions or answers to a problem.
Small businesses in Florida can be characterized by a lack of resources, the biggest culprit being time. See how time poverty can lead to problems like metaphorical bad breath. Learn how Content with Teeth, a Florida marketing agency, can help Florida small business owners and founders overcome these challenges.
Are you a small business in Florida with 100 or fewer employees with less than $50 million in annual revenue?
Yes?
Do you suffer from halitosis?
Bad Breath?
As a member of the community of Florida businesses myself, allow me to explain and unload something personal in a state with no sales tax and public-private partnership galore to spur small businesses.
Florida Small Businesses: Lack of Resources
Some nights I don’t sleep well.
Blame it on the stress of running a small business or watching car insurance ads with occasional sports plays thrown in that can stretch into the wee hours of the morning.
Whatever it may be, my dental hygiene suffers the next morning.
As a tired small business owner, I don’t feel like flossing. I don’t feel like brushing the allotted two minutes the American Dental Association recommends.
A Florida small business with a lack of resources like sleep compelled to write a business plan for the economic opportunity from the Florida Department of Proper Hygiene?
What We Offer Besides the Occasional Foul-Smelling Breath
Our Florida small business is a marketing agency, even though people who hear the name of my company think I am a dentist; hence, the dental analogy here.
From what I’ve seen in over ten years of operation in the Sunshine State, small businesses (which make up 99.8 of all Florida’s businesses) lack resources.
When we meet with you, I can talk the fancy (but annoying) marketing jargon but really all we offer is a time shift for small business in the Sunshine State.
We allow the owner/founder and his/her staff to focus on some other element in the business while we push the content ball into the end zone.
That’s basically our promise in a nutshell.
The Halitosis Thing, Can We Meet on Zoom?
I recognize that my confession of potentially being at risk of halitosis might lead some of you to want to avoid a one-on-one meeting.
Don’t worry, friends, we have Zoom!
What Can You Expect in a First Call
If I do all the talking, I will have failed. In initial consultations, I ask A LOT of questions to diagnose the problem. More importantly, I want to know what REALLY motivates you.
Everyone wants to grow, but why?
Do you want to hire more staff so you can ditch business development and go on vacation without the laptop?
Do you want to grow revenue and sell early, so you can retire early and avoid the fate of being a Walmart greeter in your 70s?
With your ultimate goal in mind, I have a better shot at crafting a marketing solution that will actually work.
Dude, Walk Back the Bad Breath Thing
As a small business owner, my ultimate goal is to meet with you in person. I enjoy in-person interaction and thrive in this environment.
If you are inclined to meet in real life, don’t worry. I will NOT watch The Geico Bowl Sponsored by All State the night before and get a good night’s sleep.
Rest assured, I will floss and brush properly and not offend you with noxious breath.
If you are a small business owner with halitosis, sound off in the comments below. If you have squeaky clean breath and feel this metaphor is too labored by this point, we want to hear from YOU TOO!
Key Takeaway
Content with Teeth is a creative content agency with over ten years of experience serving small businesses in Florida and nationwide. If you are a small business owner or a founder with a lack of resources (chief being time) and need help with your marketing, reach out and say hello.
I’m Scrappy, and welcome to The Come Up, a video podcast featuring Southwest Florida entrepreneurs and business leaders. We’re sponsored by Content with Teeth, a creative content agency with over 20 years of experience right here in Southwest Florida. And as you can see by this fathead, they do it really big, specializing in copywriting and video production. They’ve got content, lots of content. And if you’d like to sponsor The Come Up or be a guest, hit me up at HeyScrappy on IG or Mike at 21,000 by text. Today’s guests, special guests, Teddy and Cherish Joseph, owners of MadeForThis Fitness gym in Lehigh Acres, my hometown. And you guys have a very unique approach to exercise, nutrition, and overall fitness. I’m very impressed with y’all. I checked out your website.
Teddy Joseph:
Yes, yes. Thank you. Thank you-
Cherish Joseph:
Thank you.
Teddy Joseph:
… for having us.
Cherish Joseph:
Yeah, hi.
Scrappy:
I like your website a lot. The photography, you get to the point. You really educate us very quickly on what you’re all about. Can you tell us about yourselves?
Teddy Joseph:
Yeah, we are a group and personal training facility where we specialize and customize all various different types of nutrition programs, customized exercising. We focus on culture, family. We focus on just making people feel [inaudible 00:01:32] the new style of exercise science and understanding what they’re doing, how to do it, what to eat, when to eat, how to eat. We just do it all. So one-stop shop for fitness and making sure that everybody feels welcome.
Scrappy:
I like when you say culture, because every gym or fitness center has culture. How do you differentiate yours from the others?
Teddy Joseph:
We just like to keep a very positive and upbeat environment. So our environment is very positive, very uplifting. You have coaches, trainers, just everybody there from the time you walk in to the time you leave out, welcoming you and embracing you with everything that has to do with health and fitness and just giving you that little touch of love, man. Just really, showing you a great time at MaddeForThis Fitness.
Scrappy:
How long have y’all been in business?
Teddy Joseph:
We’ve been in business for about seven years now.
Scrappy:
And you’re right next to the ice cream store. That’s got to be crazy discipline for y’all.
Teddy Joseph:
It is crazy discipline. [inaudible 00:02:32].
Scrappy:
Do you ever have any weakness? Any weakness, and you go over there and help yourself to ice cream?
Cherish Joseph:
Yeah-
Teddy Joseph:
[inaudible 00:02:38] yeah.
Cherish Joseph:
We go occasionally, yeah. They have really good ice cream.
Teddy Joseph:
They have really good [inaudible 00:02:41], have really good foot traffic as well, so it brings a lot of people’s curiosity along. So that’s pretty cool.
Scrappy:
You guys are entrepreneurs. It’s not easy being an entrepreneur. It’s a leap of faith. There’s risk taking involved, there’s passion, certainly. I can see it in your website and yourselves. Can you tell us about your entrepreneurial experience and journey?
Cherish Joseph:
Okay, I grew up, and I worked nine to five type of jobs because you can rely on security when it comes to that. And he played sports and played football and everything like that and worked as well. So he was actually the first one that did entrepreneur, jumped into that. And I was like, “Okay, if that’s something you want to do, you’re really going to go for it.” I was supporting it. But I still worked my nine to five, you know what I’m saying? So we brought in money and everything like that.
And then it started growing, and I seen him. And he’s just really good with people and just wanting to help. So it took me a little bit longer to fully be like, “Okay, let me just immerse myself into entrepreneurship” because there’s no security in it. You literally have to give all your time. You have to literally go out there and get it because if you don’t, there’s nothing coming in.
Scrappy:
It’s awesome because-
Cherish Joseph:
One or the other-
Scrappy:
I’m sorry. You’re customizing the experience, but you’re also making it personal, and you have an expert. So I got Teddy or Cherish saying, “Come on, let’s do this.”
Teddy Joseph:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
Cherish Joseph:
When they come into a class, you can have people that’s been with us for five years, and then you have people that today’s their first day. They can all come to the same class, but every exercise is demonstrated with a modified version and an advanced version, so everybody can come to the same class but get it at their fitness level. And everything can always be modified, so there’s really no limit to any type of [inaudible 00:04:40] that we can do.
Teddy Joseph:
Yes.
Scrappy:
So if we had to break it down on a pie chart between psychology, mindset, mental strength versus just being fit and buff and looking good, perhaps sexual, and then perhaps nutrition and being healthy, how do you break down that pie chart? What percentages? Can you break that down for me? They’re all important.
Teddy Joseph:
Yeah, they’re all important. But first and foremost, in that pie chart, I would say mindset.
Cherish Joseph:
Yes.
Teddy Joseph:
You have to understand mindset before just diving into fitness or trying to grasp the mindset. Because there’s a lot of mental barriers and mental illusions that we put up. “Oh, I can’t do that.” There’s a lot of things that you beat yourself up on before you even step into the battlefield.
Scrappy:
Interesting. You seem like a guru. Did you create these programs?
Teddy Joseph:
I did create these programs, yep.
Scrappy:
Okay. And-
Teddy Joseph:
I spent a lot of time playing sports my whole life; playing football, basketball, running track. I went to school for exercise science, have a degree in exercise science and sports management. I did a lot of coaching, working with mentors. I’ve just done a lot in the field of exercise, science, and health and wellness.
Scrappy:
So you’re like a scientist. You’re tinkering. Always trying to get better, right?
Cherish Joseph:
[inaudible 00:06:23] a lot, yeah. He’s very good.
Teddy Joseph:
It’s what turns me on, man.
Scrappy:
Very cool. Very cool. You’re a great role model. How do you encourage women to get in the gym and stay there?
Cherish Joseph:
Just being relatable. You know what I mean? For instance, yesterday I didn’t get to do my regular workout like I normally would outside, so I just grabbed some bands. And in between tasks that I had to do, I was doing band exercises in the house. So instead of being like, “Oh, I didn’t get to do it today,” I really just try to make it more of a priority. Even if it’s 15 minutes, I’ll be like, “You don’t have to have a whole gym. You can literally use your baby, do some body squats. There’s a lot of things that you [inaudible 00:07:00] and make it more relatable and just more seem like it’s easier.” And they feel a lot better. You want to feel like a woman first. You know what I mean? So it helps a lot of women.
Scrappy:
What’s your ratio for male to female at your gym?
Teddy Joseph:
I would say about 70%, 75% women, and then the rest male.
Scrappy:
Wow, that’s amazing. That’s awesome. That’s really great. That’s really great. Because I think of a Pilates, I think of Tai Chi, yoga, swimming and so forth, as far as building up our bodies in a unique way. And just weightlifting, Teddy, you’re probably not a proponent of just doing that, right?
Teddy Joseph:
No, no. We focus on overall health and wellness, so we’re not just lifting weights all the time. We have mobility periods of the class where we stretch, we focus, we do yoga. We implement a lot of different things because like I said, it’s not just about banging the weights all the time. Sometimes you might just need the resistant bands. Sometimes you might need therapeutic exercises, things to really, really work those small, small, minute muscle fibers. So it’s not really just about banging heavy weights all the time.
Cherish Joseph:
[inaudible 00:08:22] curls.
Teddy Joseph:
[inaudible 00:08:26] curls, right?
Scrappy:
A customer of yours, maybe it’s a female and she’s been working hard, she’s been grinding and trying to make it happen for herself physically, but her tummy is still sticking out. How do you break that news to her? How do you politely say, “Girlfriend, you still have a big old tummy?”
Teddy Joseph:
Well, I wouldn’t say that. But what I would do is try to find solutions for her. I’m a solution-oriented person, man. I want to figure out how can we find a solution for this problem, for this issue? What are you doing? I’m going to evaluate, what are you doing? I’m going to ask you to assess and take daily inventory of what you’re eating, how much times are you exercising, what’s the calorie deficits? What are we doing? You know what I’m saying? What are we doing? I will evaluate, step by step, what is going on in your daily routine that is leading to that end result. Because that’s the fruit that you’re bearing for me right now, and we want to get to the root of the issue and find out what’s going on beneath the surface. You see what I’m saying? So that we can go ahead and produce better fruits.
Scrappy:
You’re like a PhD without a PhD/
Cherish Joseph:
I’m telling you, when he’s always educating himself, he is always educating. He doesn’t just reach a certain level of knowledge and then that’s it. He’s always learning. Always educating himself, always growing, always evolving, and just trying to give more.
Teddy Joseph:
Yeah. [inaudible 00:09:57]
Scrappy:
How about marketing?
Teddy Joseph:
[inaudible 00:09:58].
Scrappy:
Teddy, you’re a scientist when it comes to exercise. How about nutrition? Do you have your own programs?
Teddy Joseph:
Yes, we do have our own programs. I’m a nutritional specialist, so I do have my own programs that I teach people step-by-step, just giving them a great guide, reference points of as what to eat, what times to eat. Just things that will help them store fat, things that will help them decrease fat, things that will help them bring out more lean muscle. Just science-based information, getting down to the nitty gritty. It is nothing that’s very, very attractive or sexy to, “Hey, you’re going to lose 30 pounds in two days.” You know? It’s none of that stuff, but it’s really based off of sound, nutritional concepts. And I believe in, like I said, the lifestyle change of your journey rather than it’s just a quick fix, just a 15 day, 21 day, you know?
Cherish Joseph:
He’s not giving himself enough credit. All of our workout programs, all of our nutrition programs, all of our nutritional coaching, all that kind of stuff, he has made his self. He has it down to where it is so self-explanatory and so easy that our children, that are eight years old, three years old, understand it.
Teddy Joseph:
They know what carbs are.
Scrappy:
Wow, wow.
Cherish Joseph:
They know what carbs are. Even on the nutrition plan, it’s literally, for metabolism, it’s sunrise to sunset type of thing on how you should eat and when you should eat at the part of the day. He’s put so much time and effort into it. I’ll be like, “I want to do this type of training and this and this and this,” and then he’ll put it all together, customize it for you. You just have to do it. You have to hold yourself accountable. And we help the clients hold themselves accountable. But there’s nothing that he cannot create. Like-
Teddy Joseph:
And that’s another thing that you said: accountability. Accountability is-
Cherish Joseph:
And consistency.
Teddy Joseph:
… huge. Accountability and consistency is huge. And that is something-
Scrappy:
Discipline too, right?
Teddy Joseph:
Yeah-
Cherish Joseph:
Yeah.
Teddy Joseph:
… definitely. Discipline. Having that discipline mindset that to whether or not I feel like it. Because we all operate best when we feel like it, right? You know what I’m saying?
Scrappy:
Right, right.
Teddy Joseph:
We feel like it, we’re like, “Oh yeah, I’ll give it a [inaudible 00:12:18].” But understanding that whether you feel like it or not, I’m still going to do the same consistent patterns and habits every day. And that’s going to get you to your goals faster. [inaudible 00:12:30]
Scrappy:
Can you tell us about…? I’m sorry, go ahead.
Teddy Joseph:
And then we have your back holding you accountable. Checking on you, making sure that you’re doing the things that you say you’re doing, checking your logs. We have a private group that we form, making sure that everybody’s on board, everybody’s accountable, we communicating and interacting with each other.
It’s one thing for me just to tell the members, but when there’s other members interacting and encouraging each other and pushing each other, it creates that real team and family-oriented environment that really, really helps people get going because we can throw ideas at each other, back and forth. You know?
Scrappy:
Sure, sure.
Cherish Joseph:
All our members know each other’s names. We want everybody to know everybody.
Speaker 4:
Hi, I’m Michael Barnes, owner of Content with Teeth. We are a creative content agency in Southwest Florida. We specialize in copywriting and video production with over two decades of experience creating unboring content. If you struggle to create compelling stuff for your business or client, check us out at contentwithteeth.com. Now, back to our show.
Scrappy:
Here I am thinking salads and water is the secret, and you’ve got this-
Teddy Joseph:
No.
Scrappy:
… nutrition program.
Cherish Joseph:
It’s real food.
Teddy Joseph:
Definitely don’t want to do salads and water, man.
Scrappy:
Can you tell us a great customer experience? A great customer success story?
Teddy Joseph:
So many.
Cherish Joseph:
There are.
Teddy Joseph:
So many.
Cherish Joseph:
Miss Kate?
Teddy Joseph:
You can talk about her.
Cherish Joseph:
Okay, Kate is one of our senior clients. She comes in every single day with the best attitude. And she loves coming into the gym. She looks forward to it every single day. And she’s an older lady. She has a lot of balance issues. Her balance-
Teddy Joseph:
Balance and coordination.
Cherish Joseph:
… when she came to us, yeah. She couldn’t walk straight or have good balance. So she’s been doing our workout programs and our nutrition, and she has developed a lot of tone, muscle mass, and her balance. She has gotten a lot faster in her paces, and she’s lifting a lot more. And she spreads her energy. We have MVCs of the Month, Most Valuable Clients, we do that at our gym, that exude all of the things that we want our gym to be. And she’s gotten it a bunch. And so she just wants everybody to succeed. She’s super encouraging, and she just exudes what MadeForThis is. But her transition and transformation from when she started with us to now is like-
Teddy Joseph:
Night and day, man.
Cherish Joseph:
It’s night and day. You could barely see that she has a balance thing. And she’s a lot more mobile. She does some special stretching-
Teddy Joseph:
Stretches and mobility.
Cherish Joseph:
Stretching and mobility with Teddy that’s really helped her. Then we’ve had one of our clients, she lost… Tiara lost… In two months, she lost 40?
Teddy Joseph:
Yeah.
Cherish Joseph:
We have one client, she lost 42 pounds in two months, and she’s great. They all just-
Teddy Joseph:
And then we-
Cherish Joseph:
… come in.
Teddy Joseph:
And then we have those Tiaras consistently. People that lose 40, 50 pounds in eight weeks.
Scrappy:
Wow, wow.
Teddy Joseph:
People that have amazing belly fat loss transformation pictures. Our transformations at MadeForThis Fitness speak for themselves.
Cherish Joseph:
We have a wall of them.
Scrappy:
Oh, cool.
Teddy Joseph:
[inaudible 00:16:12] yeah.
Scrappy:
Okay. I want to give some quick-hitter questions to wrap this up. And if you could just give me quick responses to each question, I’d appreciate it. Anti-aging tips.
Teddy Joseph:
Anti-aging tips.
Cherish Joseph:
It really goes back to nutrition. You know what I mean? Of course you need to take your water. And then the foods you eat, they can aid you, or they can help anti-age. He’s the scientist when it comes down to all of that, but everything always circles back to nutrition.
Scrappy:
Teddy, how do you get people from quitting?
Teddy Joseph:
Making them find out… Finding out their why. Their why determines everything. Their why for committing, their why for starting a program, the exercise. Their why. Their purpose, their mission behind why they’re doing what they’re doing. If you can remember your why, you can find a will to keep pushing.
Scrappy:
Is exercise addictive?
Teddy Joseph:
Yes, it is.
Cherish Joseph:
Yes.
Teddy Joseph:
A great addiction.
Scrappy:
Can it be too addictive?
Teddy Joseph:
Not really. No, I don’t think so.
Scrappy:
Okay.
Teddy Joseph:
Just depends on how you look at the glass.
Scrappy:
Home gyms. Do you dissuade people from having a home gym to come to you guys?
Teddy Joseph:
No.
Cherish Joseph:
No.
Teddy Joseph:
I definitely encourage home gyms. Whatever you can’t get done at MFTF, or if you need extra assistance, extra help, I’ll give you a guide, I’ll give you support, whatever you need to accomplish that thing at home in your own gym. [inaudible 00:17:52]
Scrappy:
Can you get a bigger butt on the StairMaster?
Teddy Joseph:
On the StairMaster? Yes, you can. Just depending on how you use it. Yeah, so there’s the tension technique with the exercise definitely. You can use that.
Scrappy:
Is there such a thing as being too buff?
Cherish Joseph:
No.
Teddy Joseph:
No. The same thing. It’s how you view the glass.
Cherish Joseph:
Okay, okay.
Teddy Joseph:
If that’s what fits your cup of tea, man, go for it.
Scrappy:
Do you suggest ancillary exercise such as martial arts or swimming?
Teddy Joseph:
Yes, we do.
Cherish Joseph:
Yeah.
Teddy Joseph:
Yep. It provides, like I said, a different component of muscle group, especially something like swimming that’s low impact on the joints. A lot of seniors can benefit for from those type of programs where it’s swimming, something that’s low impact, resistance with just nature. That’s very, very beneficial.
Scrappy:
Have either of you smack-talked to coach, “Come on!” and talk some crap to get them motivated?
Cherish Joseph:
You should hear us work out together.
Teddy Joseph:
That’s a part of the routine.
Cherish Joseph:
It’s part of it. Sometimes you have good workouts, sometimes you’re mad. But as long as you are in there getting better, 1% better, it’s all that matters.
Teddy Joseph:
Yeah. And it’s always encouraging smack talk.
Cherish Joseph:
Yeah.
Teddy Joseph:
Yeah.
Scrappy:
Okay. Teddy, I know we’ve covered this quite a bit, but if you had 30 seconds, like an elevator pitch, you’re on the first floor, you’re going up to the 16th floor, and I’m in there with you in the elevator, “Scrappy, you got to join my gym, dammit.” What would you say to me in such a short period of time?
Teddy Joseph:
I’ll say, “Hey, Scrap man, listen. You must come to MadeForThis Fitness. Why? Because it’s going to help you, man. It’s going to help your lifestyle. It’s going to help your perspective. It’s going to help you become better at your job now. Whatever you’re doing now, it’s going to help you just push out all the energy and confidence and just take your game to another level. Your body was made to move, you were made to function in this way. So please, man, do yourself the biggest favor and come to MadeForThis Fitness.”
Scrappy:
All right, all right. Any social handles that you want to pitch?
Teddy Joseph:
Yes.
Scrappy:
Social IDs?
Teddy Joseph:
Definitely tap into MadeForThis Fitness LLC One on Instagram. You can also follow us at Made for This Fitness LLC on Facebook. And then of course our website, www.madeforthisfitness.com. Tap in. We got a bunch of nutritional programs, exercise programs, a whole ton of goodness to help you elevate your game and take your health and fitness to the next level.
Cherish Joseph:
We are doing-
Scrappy:
MadeForThis Fitness. Go ahead, Cherish.
Cherish Joseph:
We’re doing a free bootcamp on September 10th, so if anybody wants to come-
Teddy Joseph:
Southwest Florida.
Cherish Joseph:
Yes, we have-
Teddy Joseph:
It’s free.
Cherish Joseph:
Just go to our website under our events and just reserve your ticket. It’s free, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Teddy Joseph:
Come and move with us.
Scrappy:
Very nice, very nice. I appreciate you being in Lehigh. Have you ever heard of this? Lehigh! Have you heard of that?
Cherish Joseph:
No.
Teddy Joseph:
I haven’t.
Scrappy:
I’m a radio disc jockey. I started doing that 10 years ago. Lehigh!
Cherish Joseph:
Are you from here?
Scrappy:
Excuse me?
Cherish Joseph:
Are you from here?
Scrappy:
18 years I’ve been here.
Cherish Joseph:
Oh wow.
Teddy Joseph:
We’ll be there, man. MadeForThis Fitness. Y’all stay tuned. Let’s get it.
Cherish Joseph:
You might see him running on Homestead sometimes too.
Scrappy:
Thank you so much. I really enjoyed that.
Teddy Joseph:
Yeah. Thank you for having us, Scrappy.
Scrappy:
One time. One time for Teddy and Cherish Joseph. MadeForThis Fitness, an awesome couple. We’re sponsored by Content with Teeth, a creative content agency with over 20 years of experience right here in Southwest Florida. As you can see from this fathead, we’re doing it really big, specializing in copywriting and video production. We got all kinds of content. You name it, we got it. If you’d like to sponsor The Come Up or be a guest, hit me up at HeyScrappy on IG, or text Mike at 21,000. Content with Teeth’s The Come Up.
I’m Scrappy. Welcome to The Come Up a video podcast featuring Southwest Florida entrepreneurs, business leaders. We’re sponsored by Content with Teeth, a creative content agency with over 20 years of experience right here in Southwest Florida. And as you can see by this fat head behind me, they do it really big. Really big. Specializing in copywriting and video production. They’ve got content if you want to sponsor The Come Up or be a guest, hit me up @heyscrappy on IG or text Mike at 21000. Today really digging this guest. Very interesting, very innovative. Today’s guest is Matt Wolff, owner of Ticket Time Machine, an innovative company that celebrates sports and business moments of our past with commemorative tickets. Remember that Dolphins game you went to last year with your family? Well, Matt can hook you up with the tickets all over again. Matt, very clever idea buddy.
Matt Wolff:
Yeah, I appreciate that. It’s ironic I grew up in New Jersey and I don’t like the Dolphins, but what are you going to do?
Scrappy:
Yeah, so tell us about your company.
Matt Wolff:
Yeah. Ticket Time Machine, we’re keeping the printed memory alive with our physical keepsakes. And so if you have an event, you want to commemorate it with something a little bit unique. We customize and personalized, we’ve bridged it with some physical experiences to really enhance the experience of the fan or the attendee and then also have old school tickets. People request this all the time. “Hey, I went to event, I have a digital ticket, can you print me something?” And we have our stock, we can do it.
Scrappy:
Which of the two are more popular?
Matt Wolff:
Well, the people sending for the authentic one, I get more requests for that just because it’s a one-off thing. The animated stuff that we do is more for B2B type stuff.
Scrappy:
The animation and the commemorative. It’s like two different audiences, isn’t it? Two different customers.
Matt Wolff:
Yeah, two different customers. Although you could go B2B with the authentic stuff. I think they’ve moved away from that a little bit and everything depends on volume and what you’re kind of looking to do. But yeah, people love the old school ticket, just walk around with like, ‘hey, this is a cool thing’, rather than whatever they got going on digitally. And I get why they’re doing it, for admission. But people still want something to commemorate and remember the events that they went to and it brings back the memories of who they were with and there’s a whole host of reasons why someone would want to remember an event or a trip or anything.
Scrappy:
Something very tangible. Something that they can touch and see and feel and share with their family members.
Matt Wolff:
Yeah, it’s never going to go away. I don’t know why people think, money’s never going to go away. It’s not in our lifetime at least. And there’s a reason why people like it. It’s not worth anymore than digital funds, a credit card or cash. It’s worth the same, but it’s never going away. So yes, the people want physical stuff, some people hate it, some people want it. I’m a minimalist, I don’t want any clutter, put it all on my phone. And I’m not that type of person, that’s why I started the company.
Scrappy:
Sure. So where do people typically place these things? And they do they encase them? Do they create plaques? They have frames? What do they do?
Matt Wolff:
Yeah, I just posted about that today. All kinds of things. There’s scrapbooks, memory boxes, people just collect them in a shoebox, they frame them, people have created tabletops with them. There’s so many unique different ways that you can do to keep these things and it just depends. Do you have a ton of them? Is it just one real special event? We’re working on some stuff where you can put an acrylic picture next to the ticket that you did-
Scrappy:
Cool.
Matt Wolff:
For a game. That’s maybe just a one-off type thing, but people have hundreds of these tickets. Sport-
Scrappy:
I was going to ask you about that actually because my dad and I went to Fenway Park many times. We’d see Carl Rimsky and I was a kid and maybe to place Carl’s picture on the commemorative ticket would be kind of cool.
Matt Wolff:
So we would love to recreate, literally recreate a ticket from the past or create a really cool ticket. We don’t have permission to do that.
Scrappy:
Okay.
Matt Wolff:
So everything relies on who do we partner with or who becomes a customer of ours. And that’s the ideal way, is for them to become a customer. We supply it for them to offer it to their fans and we’re working on some pretty neat stuff with regards to that. Have you ever been to an event that was worth talking about that had nothing on the back of it? I’ve never been to-
Scrappy:
No, no. Definitely not.
Matt Wolff:
So why would you do a commemorative one? It doesn’t really cost any money. Anyone who knows printing, it’s pennies to put something on the back of that, even if it’s just a black disclaimer. And I use that as an opportunity to sort of entertain, like an Easter egg type of thing where I’ll put a joke as a disclaimer, strong lyrics, just to make up something funny that people will read because most people don’t read the disclaimer and then they’ll start to read and they’re like, wait, what’s going on?
Scrappy:
Well you have to be creative because if I’m going to encase maybe 10 events, both sports and music of my past, these ticket stubs are going to have to look really different and unique. Each one of them.
Matt Wolff:
Yes and no. Because if I showed you my book, which is over there, most Ticketmaster venues use the Ticketmaster stock, which looked exactly the same except for that. Now it’s tricky without getting into the whole big thing of it. Ticketmaster would give you stock for free. It’s a whole trick they do. But you can get your own stock with your own advertising and your own marks and for the teams and the venues that were ordering 300,000 a year, whatever it was, it doesn’t cost a lot of money and you can get someone to pay for it. So you’d have your own logos. So then it would kind of have the same look, but it has a design but different stuff. So I think there’s value to having something that’s all the same, especially now, look you can’t have it. So here’s here’s what it is. But there is beauty in having the mark, the design, the look, the feel of a Dave Matthews concert and a Phish concert, a certain sporting event that looks a little bit different. So we’re working on offering both of those and we don’t have any data to say which one does someone prefer, but eventually we’ll find out which prefers. But my guess would be there’s a lot of each.
Scrappy:
Got you. When I was in middle school, I was in Jacksonville, Florida and I snuck into a Michael Jackson concert. I got in the sixth row by pretending I was a security guard, even though I was very young at the time. And it was awesome. It was an incredible experience. I’ll never forget it. What would you make for me?
Matt Wolff:
Yeah. So now what I could do is I could print a thermal ticket for you and put Michael Jackson on there. That’s what I could do. Now I would never tell anyone to do this, but you can go and the world is pretty easy to figure out how to create your own ticket if you wanted to make a ticket, whatever you want to call it, and go to a Kinko’s and print your own something that’s nice. What we like about this is, this is an actual thermal ticket. It’s thermal stock. This is what everyone used to get into an arena and an event. So there’s again, some authenticity to that, although it might not look as cool. There’s a lot of tickets out there for some of the best shows I’ve been to that they don’t look very good. I have Tom Petty tickets, they were just Ticketmaster tickets on the regular Log Nation stock. But ultimately what we’d want to do is partner with the Michael Jackson estate to come up with a program for anyone who’s seen Michael Jackson-
Scrappy:
Absolutely.
Matt Wolff:
And let’s print something that’s really cool and let’s customize it.
Scrappy:
So your thermal ticket is one of your differential advantages because there are young people who can get on Photoshop or myself and try to replicate something on our own. So what’s your sell, what’s your differential advantage as far as the customer’s concern?
Matt Wolff:
Yeah, that’s a good point. The core of what we do is going to be the thermal ticket and the animated ticket. You can go to 10,000, maybe even more printers and get a regular ticket, even a seasoned ticket and they could maybe put some foil, they can put a perf on it, whatever. There’s thousands and thousands and thousands of companies who can do that. If you start looking at who can do a thermal ticket and you start looking at who can do an animated ticket, we’ve narrowed that down to a very small group of companies and from that we just do it better. We offer better customer service. We operate from the viewpoint of a fan, not a printing company. Say you print this. Well look, I don’t think that’s what you want to do. I think you want to do this. More on an offer like the consulting side of being someone who’s a fan, who’s trying to say what’s going to give the best value to the person on the receiving end.
So that’s really the differentiator and we don’t want to sell on price, but man, this [inaudible 00:09:29] of tickets that are being sold out there that I think are just, anyone can go print or being sold for twice as much as the stuff that our stuff is being sold for. So there’s a lot of things that I think differentiate us, but I think the authenticity and the uniqueness of it. The digital experiences that we’ve added to our stuff, even way more. Just all kinds of, there’s going to be augmented reality and UGC where you can just take a picture of yourself with Michael Jackson behind you and now you post it to social media, video response, engaging with the audience, all different types of stuff. That’s also something that’s going to differentiate us. But it’s good that you brought that up because we are doing the stuff that there’s not a lot of people who can do.
Michael Barnes:
Hi, I’m Michael Barnes, owner of Content With Teeth. We are a creative content agency in southwest Florida. We specialize in copywriting and video production with over two decades of experience creating unboring content. If you struggle to create compelling stuff for your business or client, check us out at contentwithteeth.com. Now back to our show.
Scrappy:
Well actually that’s my next question. What’s the competition like in your space?
Matt Wolff:
Well there’s companies that do print the normal stuff. I would say normal. It’s really nice. Some of it’s nice, it’s full color, there’s foil, it’s great. But nowadays with the machinery out there and the stuff you can do in your own home, I just don’t think, it’s common. It’s just more common. The only difference is they’ve been around longer. They might have some of the bigger relationships than we have now, but that’s going to change.
Scrappy:
That’s what I find fascinating in entrepreneurship. When you make that leap, you go from a full-time job to something full-time within your passion in your field. Tell us about that experience.
Matt Wolff:
Yeah man, that’s the question, when do you jump? And I felt like I jumped at the exact right time and even after everything that happened afterwards I would still go back and do the same thing. But I went from having a very nice paycheck and to not getting any money and no one’s giving me money unless we bring jobs in and it takes, if you’ve started a business before, it takes time before you can start getting enough revenue to start paying for things and not having to put that back in. So it’s tough. You have to be mentally strong. You have to be 100% in, like “Hey, I’m going to make this happen. I’m going to do whatever I need to do to make this happen”. And just know that it’s going to take longer than you expect.
It’s take longer than I expect. It’s taken longer than it should, but I think if it’s what you believe in and you’re passionate about it, that’s an important thing. I think I’m solving a problem, that’s another important thing. And I think I have a good product and that’s a good combination to have.
Scrappy:
Absolutely.
Matt Wolff:
But I say just do it. Start what you want to start. I don’t say just jump and do, you have to have the plan, you have to understand what might happen but you should just start it. That was the biggest obstacle for me in the past, is I just never, I got to that first roadblock and I was like “eh, it’s too difficult. I’m not going to be able to do this”. And this time I just said, “I don’t care what it takes, this is what I’m going to be doing and this is it”.
Scrappy:
You’re all in.
Matt Wolff:
Yeah, I was all in a lot of ways. So mentally, financially. I’m bootstrapping this thing, no investors and with no money coming in, it’s not an easy thing. I saved well and I’m lucky. And you spend smart but it’s not an easy task. I recommend you really getting your mind around what is life is going to be like and what the company’s going to be like and the trials and tribulations that you’re going to go through, the rollercoaster. But I would say there’s very few reasons why you shouldn’t take a chance. The only one is if you can’t give it your all and if it’s just not a thing that is going to be a thing and that’s hard to know, but sometimes you can just tell something’s not going to be a thing.
Scrappy:
Sure, sure. Matt, you’re obviously passionate about this business. From a percentage standpoint, how much of it is financial opportunity versus passion? If you can differentiate the two.
Matt Wolff:
Yeah, that’s a great question. Who can differentiate that. I started this because I’m a fan and this is what I want, this is what I think fans should be able to have. Now I quit my job to make this my full-time business because I believe in it enough that it’s going to take me to where I need to be financially. To live the lifestyle and continue to do the things that I love to do. Which by the way are events, sports and entertainment and concerts and travel to go do stuff. I think it’s going to go way beyond that. But if it doesn’t, it’s okay with me. I just need to be able to provide for myself and my family, live the lifestyle I want and be able to provide.
Because everything we do, like you say, “hey we need a win-win situation”. And then I hear people say, well they want to win-win-win. For me it’s got to be a win-win-win-win. So it’s got to be a win for Ticket Time Machine. It’s got to be a win for ever who’s ever getting our stuff. It’s got to be a win for the people that they’re involved with. Sponsors, partners, their kind of community or organization.
Scrappy:
Absolutely.
Matt Wolff:
And then a win for the fans. And it’s very easy to have all of that. And so that’s important to me. Everything we do is going to be fan first and that doesn’t always equate to the highest profit, but it doesn’t matter. I say even if I don’t make something, I don’t lose money, we should do it. Almost always, especially at the first rate. And I think that there’s organizations that should think that way but they don’t.
Scrappy:
Right.
Matt Wolff:
I say “Hey, you’re not going to lose any money. It costs you nothing. Let’s let the fans decide”. Jesse Cole of the Savannah Bananas who are going gangbusters now. They have a special on ESPN coming out. It’s just crazy. He said, and this is how I think how I got them to work with me after getting in touch with them. I said, “we let the fans decide. We don’t try and determine what’s going to work or what’s not. We let the fans decide and they’ll let us know”. And that probably includes taking a risk with time and money and energy. But the stuff that we can do is say, Hey, it’s not going to cost you anything. Let’s just put it out there, whatever sells will sell and let’s let them decide. And by the way, just because it doesn’t sell like crazy doesn’t mean it was a bad idea. There’s a lot of factors that go beyond that, which I have stories I could share with you. But to go back to the question, it’s a high number, is passion.
Scrappy:
Got you. Got you. I think it’s awesome. And I just got to say we’re sponsored by Content With Teeth, a creative content agency with over 20 years of experience right here in southwest Florida. As you can see with our fat head, we do it big. Specializing in copywriting and video production. We’ve got content and if you want to sponsor The Come Up or be a guest, hit me up @heyscrappy on IG or text Mike at 21000. The last one I have is because you’re passionate about it and maybe your margins, you don’t mind a slim margin to do something special and leverage forward. Walkathons, Marathons, cancer Society, breast cancer societies. Have you thought about that?
Matt Wolff:
Yeah, we’re doing, I mean we do stuff like that. Charity events.
Scrappy:
You’re killing me Matt. I’m not creative here, I’m not original here.
Matt Wolff:
We’re working on something for the cancer and in-person cancer event. All of them. I mean, look, anything, the stuff that you have to try and get creative is like what’s not an event that people want. We’ve done graduations, a thank you for a corporate event. Trade shows and conferences that you want something that’s a little bit unique, like this is something we did for a conference in a trade show where you can walk around. But for me, the little league, the Special Olympics, those are huge things that are not ticketed events. Let’s create tickets for them.
Scrappy:
Absolutely.
Matt Wolff:
Because it’s a great memory, not because you need a ticket to get in. That’s the whole thing. Nine out of ten stuff we do is commemorative or souvenir. Now we can RFID, we can barcode. So we can grant access, limit access, and we can do admission if you need us to. Most people don’t. And so I say, we already have ticketing, we do digital. That’s okay, let’s work with the people who don’t even have tickets. There’s no tickets to this thing, but let’s give people a ticket who want a ticket.
Scrappy:
I’m sold. I think it’s amazing. I came up with 10 ideas that I thought I was really proud of and Matt-
Matt Wolff:
Oh they’re all great ideas by the way. They’re all great ideas, but it’s those ar the things that, it makes me happy to know that that’s what you think of because that’s exactly what you should be thinking of. Are you going to be at any Gator games this year?
Scrappy:
You know what? I love my 60-inch TV, my family, the announcers, my dog. I mean, I was up in Gainesville a couple weeks ago and I visited the school, but there’s something about just getting every ounce of the game in front of me as opposed to being far away. I know this is an experience attached to being there, but I tend to stay home.
Matt Wolff:
No, there’s a lot of people who are like that. I love to go. If I live there, I probably would go to almost every game, but I’m four hours away and I’ll go to a couple games. I go to Jacksonville for the cocktail party.
Scrappy:
Cool.
Matt Wolff:
I’m going to be at the first game. We got something special brewing for that, for some of the fans who-
Scrappy:
Awesome, awesome, awesome. Matt, Ticket Time Machine, man, I really appreciate you. I learned a lot in this experience and always love talking to creative, innovative, charismatic leaders of the future. And you’re doing it. I really admire that you’re taking the sacrifices and risks to do something on your own. It’s totally awesome, man. And we’re brought by Content With Teeth, Content With Teeth doing really innovative things from a content perspective. Matt, thanks again buddy. I really appreciate you taking the time.
Matt Wolff:
Yeah, it was great to chat with you and I talked to Michael, got some more information about Content With Teeth and looking forward to seeing some of the capabilities, but really appreciate the time.
Then you create your own Cat Headroom & Friend inspired by a cute kid and her new feline friend, as seen above.
We know; it’s a picture. We’ll get it moving if you become a client 🙂
To the point at hand, we’ll leave what is an innovative video up to you and the murky vicissitudes of subjectivity. We can help with keeping things fresh, though.
Why You Should Care…
In this post, we aim to give video newbies and experienced creators who are tackling brand video ideas on how to keep things from getting stale.
We’ll cover how to generate killer video ideas without spending a fortune.
Use a Swipe File to Help Generate Creative Videos
When you don’t know what to write and have nothing but a soul-crushing white screen staring at you bleakly, that’s when you need a tool to generate ideas. So, it would be best to have a tool like a swipe file.
A swipe file is a collection of unique content to get new ideas — you can save images and/or text sections from emails, social media posts, online ads, videos, blogs, and any media you can screenshot and store as a resource in a spreadsheet format.
The primary purpose of a swipe file is to scan the collection of images and text and, by osmosis, have new associations and ideas gurgle to the surface like bubbling water from an underground hot spring.
For example, you could scan a shot from a Max Headroom YouTube video and then the image from a Tweet of cheesy 1980s VHS graphics and get the inspiration to synthesize the two.
Types of Videos
Before getting into our top video ideas, you must understand the different video formats you can create.
Thankfully, many examples content creators and companies have produced will enlighten and motivate you.
Let’s review some of the most popular video formats trending today!
Tutorials/ How-To Vids
This popular video style demonstrates how your product or service works. It’s considered a powerful selling tool to help your audience experience the usability of your product or service. It walks your viewers through a process and answers relevant questions.
Explainer Video
Businesses often use these to help viewers solve problems or illustrate a particular topic. They articulate what your company does to people unfamiliar with your business.
It’s typically built to tackle three things: the problem your company is trying to solve, who you are trying to help, and the experience they’ll earn when choosing your products or services.
Testimonials
Testimonials focus on the customer experience. It showcases the positive experience a company or individual had with your business. In summary, a client explains how and why your company was the best choice in the market.
Case Studies
Case studies illustrate your company’s value by answering every customer’s question before purchasing: “Will this offer deliver what it promises?”
If done right, you’ll be able to explain your products and services in detail.
This style is a great selling tool because they build trust and offer a clear road map to solve a particular problem. Case studies are BoFu ( “bottom-of-funnel”) content where a prospect has researched you and needs a compelling reason to become a buyer.
Video Sales Letter
This type of video persuades a target audience to buy your particular product or service.
Social Media
Videos are at the cusp of social media content.
Social media is hungry for video content thanks to the rise of the short-video content displayed in TikTok and Instagram Reels.
They’re a great way to reach audiences of all ages and get your message across social media faster and cheaper.
You might say you need a whole Hollywood production team to produce this content, but you’ll be surprised.
Most content creators use their phones, essential lighting, and a solid microphone to deliver their message. It’s about making your content more human and accessible to your audience.
Promotional
These are the most sales-oriented videos on this list; they promote a specific marketing initiative, sale, or event.
It builds awareness and grabs your audience’s attention by getting to the point quickly and aiming to have a positive impact.
The Videos of the Present and the Future
Livestream Videos
People look for an intimate connection with others and brands on digital channels. So, when you go live and have a dialogue with your followers, it gives a sense of having an in-person conversation.
You allow others to ask questions, complement your work, raise awareness and help them with their challenges in a more human approach.
Yes! Video blogs or “vlogs” are also becoming popular worldwide. They’re a great way to present educational and awareness content without a written blog.
These videos are typical on YouTube, where people share their knowledge on various topics. It’s a great way to keep that human element while using visual resources to help to get your message across.
360° videos
Last but not least is the 360° videos. The main difference is that these are recorded in all directions, allowing you to control the viewing directions.
You’ve probably seen this technology with real estate companies that showcase listed homes to home buyers and sellers.
However, there are many other ways that other companies can take advantage of this tool.
It’s been resonating with most audiences, and they have the potential to become the dominating video type of the future.
If you would like help developing creative video ideas, get Content with Teeth’s swipe file.
What are Creative Videos?
Ok, we’ve discussed video types and the primary purpose of your content strategy, but what does it mean, and how does it help your business? How can you craft the perfect idea?
Simple.
Creativity is everywhere; it’s just a matter of utilizing your resources and creating something new, ambitious, and interesting that WOWs your audience; it’s more than using the latest visual effects or fancy filters.
It’s about using all your talent and resources to deliver a clear message and have top creative video ideas.
Take TikTok, one of the most popular social media platforms to date. It’s competing with Instagram Reels and has fantastic tools that help content creators craft eye-popping videos.
However, innovative video exists outside these apps, and you have what it takes to create something visually appealing, intelligent, and memorable.
How to Have Creative Video Ideas?
Relax. You don’t need to learn to dance or dress like an overweight panda.
When it comes to filming or recording something, there are some essential elements you need to consider:
Sound
Lighting
Setting
Cinematography
Narrative
Performance
Editing
Filming is a whole new language, and it’s hard work. Don’t worry. We’ll give you the essential elements to craft an awesome video.
Many people didn’t go to film school and are creating unique content for social media; it’s a matter of trusting yourself.
The Ultimate Checklist for Video Glory!
#1 Brainstorm. Narrow down the topic of your video, who’s your target audience, and what message you want to communicate. Use a digital tool like a swipe file to generate ideas.
#2 Write a script. Again, keep your ideas in order and ensure a consistent narrative with a simple text.
#3 Create a storyboard. You can use pictures or half-made drawings to understand what shots you need to film clearly.
#4 Use lighting. Use different colors, create shadows in the background and play with different styles to give your video personality. Learn three-point lighting and buy all your equipment at Home Depot for almost no money.
#5 Use sound and music if needed. Get a good microphone and decide if background music or sound FX makes sense. Search for royalty-free or copyright-free music on YouTube for quality but inexpensive music to use for your video.
#6 Edit. You can spin your video in all directions with good editing. If you are financially strapped, get free or low-cost video editing software. Trim long sequences and mistakes. “Kill your babies” by removing unnecessary scenes.
Suggestions for Developing Creative Videos
Beyond cinematic language, more options exist to create a fantastic video that WOWs your audience. Here are seven suggestions to spice up those creative ideas!
Use animation – especially on an explainer video or story-based content.
Make a parody – sometimes funny is better. Don’t be afraid to add some humor to your content.
Send a message to your audience, ask questions or ask for feedback
Go behind the scenes – show what is happening while working on your projects; your audience will appreciate it!
Get still photos from the production. They can be used for social media and YouTube thumbnails.
Record a time-lapse or a before-and-after video – a great way to show a project’s progress or final product.
Create a thank you video – giving back and being grateful to your followers for their support is always good.
Do a team member interview – show off your team and let them explain their day-to-day basis and what they love doing the most.
Have Winning Creative Videos!
Sometimes, a boring video can become a fantastic piece with great editing or the right music.
The key to achieving a successful video is always to have your audience in mind and trust your skills.
Have this fact in mind; you’ll never be able to please everybody. So, trust your guts and start creating videos today without remorse.
Creative videos starts with inspiration. Inspiration can bubble from a swipe file, a spreadsheet where you can scan inspirational images and text and develop new ideas. Get Content with Teeth’s swipe file for free below!
Does Fred Flintstone, the most genial of cavemen, throw up a blog or video on bedrock.io, have prospects click, and the dough starts rolling in?
We’ll explain in this post how it’s a little more complicated than that.
Why You Should Care?
If you’re a business owner or marketing professional looking to expand your skills, you’ve heard of content but have questions. Learn precisely what content marketing is, how it works and why it is a steadily performing tool in any marketing strategy.
What is Content Marketing?
2 x 280 characters should do it:
You've been hearing a lot about Content Marketing, you are going to hear it again now. It's unavoidable if what you want is massive growth for your brand/business.
If you've outgrown growth already, you don't need this. Hop off.
Content marketing fuels your efforts by keeping your brand in front of your audience and connecting with potential customers. It also gives you the chance to increase traffic to your website, establish trust, develop brand personality and support the conversion funnel where prospects become aware of your brand and progress downward to the point where they become actual customers.
A content marketing strategy is a non-intrusive way to reach your target audience and help them with their pain points and challenges through valuable information like industry news, case studies, guides, and more.Content marketing differs from traditional advertising because it focuses on customers rather than a business’s products and services.
Hypothetical Content Marketing Efforts
Let’s say you have a travel agency and want to create brand awareness while helping your customers achieve a trip they’ll never forget.
You understand that your buyer is having a rough time putting together a travel plan that will not make them choose between eating or traveling. So, you establish a documented content marketing strategy that will answer their questions, plus let them know you’re the ultimate guide to building the perfect travel plan.
You decide to use Instagram to create educational social media posts about the benefits of a complete travel plan, industry news, testimonials, case studies, and other content assets. Next, you offer them a free guide to help them see hotels, airfare, and the best dates to travel.
Once they have downloaded the guide and given you their contact information, it’s time to nurture them with an email campaign. You’ll soon determine which leads are interested in buying your services or are still considering purchasing in the future.
This example is a glance at how content works, but there are still a few details ahead. Check out our past blog post oncreating content that converts!
The Benefits of Content Marketing
Before we see how the gears grind, let’s explore some of the benefits of content over traditional marketing:
Customer engagement: by crafting your content for your blog, social media platforms, landing page or website, you’re more than likely to reach your potential audience and the conduit — search engines like Google.
Brand awareness and thought leadership: by talking about your industry and educating your audience about what you do, you’re allowing them to find answers and learn more about or process. They’ll see you as a reliable source of information and a credible company.
Lead generation and nurturing: if you have a free eBook and offer it in exchange for your audience’s contact information, you’ll quickly gain potential leads to nurture them down your sales funnel. Likewise, an email campaign will let you connect with your prospects and provide insight to see which contacts are ready to become a customer based who opens and engages with your email content.
Sales enablement: content marketing isn’t just for the marketing department; your sales team can share the content your team creates to help your audience find the answers they need. If you create a video FAQ on your website, the sales team can copy the link and send it to prospects instead of wasting time regurgitating stock answers.
What Do Content Marketers Do?
Content marketers are responsible for creating content that resonates with theirideal buyer persona, follows their brand’s tone of voice, and uses easy-to-follow language.
These are some of the skills they need to have:
The ability to do deep research on a specific subject
They need to understand a brands voice like it’s their own
Strategy and analysis capabilities to identify which assets work and which don’t
The ability to produce content in various formats and with key players like influencers, actors, designers, writers, videographers, etc.
Content Formats and How It All Works
Our top eight content formats will succeed in your marketing efforts!
Blog Posts
EBooks and Whitepapers
Infographics and Visual Design
Videos
Case Studios
Website Copy
Newsletters and Emails
Social Media
Blog Posts
These deserve your attention because they help your website become discoverable by powerful magnets like Google. In summary, you have two significant advantages: you’ll educate your audience about your industry and help the search engine rank your content better on a results page (SERP).
With a blog, you have an opportunity to bring people to your site and increase the chances of conversions. For example, let’s say you saw this post on one of our social media channels, clicked on it, landed on our site, read it, saw our eBook, downloaded it, and PRESTO! Now you’re in our monthly newsletter. It’s not too much more complicated than Fred Flintstones’ POST-CLICK-CUSTOMER model.
EBooks and Whitepapers A.K.A. Lead Magnets
If done right, your audience will find enough value in these types of content that they are willing to exchange their contact information for it. It’s not a sale but an indication that your visitors get the answers they need while engaging with your brand. Next, nurture them with an email campaign to get closer to the decision stage.
Newsletter and Emails
Emails are crucial in a content marketing campaign if done right. You have a chance to connect with your target audience even further and lead them down the marketing funnel. To have a successful marketing campaign, you must align your emails or newsletter to your buyer’s context. Let’s say somebody visited your website, downloaded your eBook, and gets an email notification thanking them and inviting them to read more about another topic of interest. It takes twelve touch points or more for people to purchase, so emails are a critical component to splash water in your prospect’s face and keep them engaged.
Infographics and Visual Design
This format suits an audience that might not like to read a whole blog post. On the other hand, maybe your buyers prefer quick information. So, infographics or visual design could be the best way to present your content. Remember that content marketing is consumer-centric, so you must choose the type of format according to what different segments of your audience like to interact with.
Videos
People are consuming at least six hours a day of video content. As a result, it’s increasingly common for brands to use video, especially with TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts on the rise. So how would you integrate video into your content marketing mix?
Case Studies
This type of format is a valuable tool for closing sales. It gives you more credibility by showing your prospect a feel of the service through another person’s experience. Think of it as a more elaborate written testimonial where you detail the specific steps that benefitted your customer.
Website Copy
Your site is an essential tool, and the copy is crucial. Visitors will probably bounce (visit one page and exit) if you have very long and dense text on your site.Your writing should convey the essential information to help those visitors understand: who you are, what you offer, and how they can connect with you. There are many templates, but a skilled copywriter can help you distill your copy into easy-to-read nuggets that convert.
Social Media
It’s last but certainly not least. These platforms are vital for distributing your content, butwhich social media is right for your business? It depends on your ideal customer. Understanding your audience, business value proposition, and products and services in full detail will help you choose the right channel to delight your audience with meaningful content.
Put out content so that people will find it and engage with it. Keep pumping out content to keep their interest until they become a customer.
How content marketing works is simple right?
Not really.
This introduction sketches principles, not details. A successful content marketing strategy is a tremendous amount of work. If you want a company that doesn’t go back to the stone ages but can certainly roll a barrel on a round stone, check out Content with Teeth. TapHERE for a free consultation, or call us at +1 (888) 552-9235.
If you’re just passing through, leave a comment and share this post!
Good content creation on your website gives your customers the information they need and helps increase your ranking on search engines. Here at Content with Teeth, we specialize in web content creation to help you rank higher in the Search Engine Results Pages or SERPs. Our content creator service aims to develop educational and entertaining content that provides value and engages your audience.
We’ll start by collaborating with you to understand your brand, audience and industry. Once we know that, we’ll create engaging, unique and on-brand content.
Content That We Create
At Content with Teeth, we offer different types of content creation services. Some of the types of content we can create include:
Landing Page Copy
Landing pages play a vital role in engaging your customer. Here at Content with Teeth, we know what it takes for an audience to engage, get drawn into your copy and continue scrolling through your website. We can boost exposure to your products or services by creating SEO-optimized landing pages.
White Paper Services
White papers are the standard of sales content. They need to provide value for your audience to be effective. Whether you’re looking to get five pages or fifty pages, we create engaging copy for sales enablement.
Copywriting Services
Our writers can write compelling copy for your social media posts, video descriptions, paid ads and anywhere you need solid copy to boost sales. We know what works for your business—and what doesn’t. We can help you write compelling content to guide future growth.
Blog Writing Services
Building a quality blog for your website takes time. We can serve as your company content writer. We can help you create a content library that captivates your prospective audience and help you build a solid reputation as a thought leader in your industry.
Press Releases
A press release puts your business in the spotlight. It boosts your brand recognition and helps you generate quality traffic to your website. We can create an effective press release that tells your story and engage your audience.
Newsletters
If your company needs a daily, weekly, or monthly newsletter, we can help. Our team can create creating an eye-catching and engaging newsletter. We can create an attention-grabbing newsletter that will progress your brand awareness and meet your objective.
Video Content
You’re shutting the door for many potential customers if you’re not creating video content. Video can drive more traffic to your website. Depending on your industry, we can help you create explainer videos, demo videos, how-to videos or customer testimonials.
We also create include free guides, eBooks, interactive content, case studies, email campaigns and much more.
Struggling To Write Great Content For Your Website? We Can Help
Well-written content is a must in today’s competitive online market. You need high-quality content that will appeal to customers. Here at Content with Teeth, we can produce engaging content about your business. Contact us today at 1-888-552-9235 for more information about our content creation services.
The Come Up Episode 7: SWFL Youth Philanthropy Highlights
Terrible Accident: Learn how local teen Summer turned a tragic episode early in her life into a positive one benefitting the community and local nonprofits.
Move over Double Tree Suites: Summer reveals how selling chocolate chip cookies in her community blossomed into an award-winning philanthropic collaboration.
Hail to the…: Summer reveals her college plans to Scrappy who is reeling as a Florida Gator. Florida football rivalries are discussed. The Florida nonprofits community will never be the same after virtual high fives are exchanged!
Never Give Up: Summer details the keys to her success and what drives her forward into the next chapter in her life. Old and young alike can benefit from this wise teen’s vibrant soul.
Watch the episode and learn how to appreciate life and Summer’s plans to take her chocolate chip cookie nonprofits empire global!
About Summer Kates & Content with Teeth
For UnBoring Content like The Come Up, contact Content with Teeth HERE. Find out more about Summer Kates and her project HERE.
The Come Up Episode 7 Video Transcript
Scrappy Jackson:
The Come Up, a podcast featuring in Southwest Florida entrepreneurs. I’m Scrappy. And if you’d like to be a guest, text Mike at 21000 or me at IG, Hey Scrappy. We’re brought to you by Content With Teeth, a highly energetic creative content marketing agency. Doing it really big, like this big logo behind me.
Scrappy Jackson:
And today we celebrate Summer Kates, a young woman who certainly has an entrepreneurial spirit. Maybe not a traditional entrepreneur, but doing it really big. A victim of a car accident as a child, she flipped the script, taking her traumatic experience and turning into something amazing. A charity we call Summer’s Project. Welcome Summer.
Summer Kates:
Hi.
Scrappy Jackson:
Very cool to have you here.
Summer Kates:
Thank you for having me. It means a lot.
Scrappy Jackson:
Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate it. I know you’ve done a lot of interviews and you’re famous in Southwest Florida, but humble Content With Teeth Come Up podcast is thrilled to have you.
Summer Kates:
I’m excited to be here.
Scrappy Jackson:
So first off, congratulations. You just graduated from high school?
Summer Kates:
I did, yes.
Scrappy Jackson:
What was graduation like?
Summer Kates:
It was a mixture of emotions. I’m excited, but it’s just sad leaving the past.
Scrappy Jackson:
What are you going to do next?
Summer Kates:
I’m off to Florida State University. As of right now taking-
Scrappy Jackson:
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We have to stop this interview. I’m a University of Florida Gator.
Summer Kates:
Oh yeah. I was a University of Florida Gator, but paths have brought me to FSU.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay. Have you learned to do [inaudible 00:01:42]?
Summer Kates:
Not yet. Not yet. It’ll come.
Scrappy Jackson:
Have you been to a game yet?
Summer Kates:
I have been doing the null sign, yes. That’s something I have to.
Scrappy Jackson:
You probably could get any college you want. You had a 5.5 GPA. That’s pretty amazing.
Summer Kates:
Oh yeah. It was between FSU and University of Georgia for me.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay.
Summer Kates:
Tuition, it’s crazy nowadays.
Scrappy Jackson:
Absolutely. Absolutely. And you have this accident when you’re 10 years old?
Summer Kates:
Yes.
Scrappy Jackson:
This terrible car accident and you were in the hospital, Golisano Hospital. And you’re in pain. You’re recovering. It’s a difficult recovery. It’s a long recovery. And what’s going through your mind right after the accident?
Summer Kates:
You know, me being a 10 year old, I was also a very competitive soccer player. So my main idea in my head was, am I going to play soccer again? ‘Cause I had shattered my femur, which is one of your main bones that you need to walk and do basic functions of life. So not only was I scared, ’cause I had a fear of the hospital at that time. So not only was I petrified of being in the hospital, I was worried I was never going to do what I love most again. So it was just in my mind, just a scary experience.
Scrappy Jackson:
You were thinking about yourself at that moment, right?
Summer Kates:
Yes.
Scrappy Jackson:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Are you okay now? Is your femur okay now?
Summer Kates:
Yeah, I’m perfectly good now. I’ve been playing soccer for a few years.
Scrappy Jackson:
Awesome. Awesome.
Summer Kates:
Yeah. It only took about a year to get back on the field.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay. So you’re thinking about yourself. You’re worried about soccer. But somewhere you flipped the script and said, “You know what? I can turn this into a positive.” So you’re at the hospital. You’re seeing fellow kids, fellow children, going through a lot. What made you compassionate?
Summer Kates:
Yeah. Being scared at the hospital, it took me about a day I want to say, and I started to notice how comforting the staff was. And I was just blown away about how comfortable they made me feel during my stay. They had, especially at Golisano, they had this big game room. And me being fresh out of surgery, they encouraged me to walk with my walker to the game room. So they not only motivated me through the steps of my recovery, but they were just always there for me to talk. I remember specifically, they brought a dog in one day to-
Scrappy Jackson:
I love that. I love that.
Summer Kates:
Yeah. Yeah. So I’ll always remember that. So once I saw the level of comfort that they provide the kids, I was just, wow. I want other kids to see this so that they’re not scared to go to the hospital like I once was.
Scrappy Jackson:
Very nice, very nice. Very caring, sensitive. But some of the kids over there were in a lot worse shape than you.
Summer Kates:
Yes.
Scrappy Jackson:
Did that lead to maybe thinking about a charity?
Summer Kates:
Yeah, it did. It really did, because there’s just so many circumstances that go behind it. Because there’s kids that are there for long term, and you have to think if a kid is living there, they want it to feel like home. They want it to be comfortable and have toys and games. And they just want to have a fun experience in a bad time.
Scrappy Jackson:
Do you go back there often?
Summer Kates:
I try, but with COVID it’s kind of iffy.
Scrappy Jackson:
True.
Summer Kates:
I’ve always wanted to go and just walk around and see the kids. Kind of be a support system. But with COVID, it’s just ruined any of those chances.
Scrappy Jackson:
You’re in a very unique situation at age 10. And you acted like an adult. You’re very mature for your age. And when you think about it, I compare it… I don’t know if you’re familiar with it, Buddhism. Buddhism is about being mindful in the moment and appreciating life and not taking it for granted. And this moment with you is a moment. I’m having a moment with Summer Kates right now. So what did you learn from your experience as far as appreciating life?
Summer Kates:
You know, it was really to just take the good out of the bad, because I feel like everybody, especially nowadays, is just so negative on any sort of experience. So it’s really there is always at least one positive outcome in a bad experience. You just have to be optimistic about how you’re looking at it. And for me, I just saw, well, I can motivate other kids and just show the good in the hospital rather than all the bad in the hospital.
Summer Kates:
‘Cause I feel like, especially for kids, their minds aren’t fully developed on the fact that the hospital is to help fix you. It’s more of just this scary place with a bunch of hurt people.
Scrappy Jackson:
Sure.
Summer Kates:
So I feel trying to get the message out to these kids that like, “Oh, it’s a fun place. They’re they’re help you.” And I just feel like that just motivates that message.
Scrappy Jackson:
I would love to bring a pot belly pig to Golisano Hospital and have the kids hang out with it for a day. They’re pretty tame. They’re pretty mature. They’re trained pretty well. Wouldn’t that be cool?
Summer Kates:
It would. It would.
Scrappy Jackson:
So you decide to make these cookies, these wonderful chocolate cookies. Tell us about them.
Summer Kates:
My mom and I, we’ve always been in the kitchen baking. The whole reason Summer’s Project started was I was with my best friend and I was like, “Let’s do a bake sale and just give whatever money we make.” So we had just a bunch of just store bought stuff, and then some of our homemade chocolate chip cookies out on our backyard. And we were just selling stuff. We donated maybe $90, but it was just the thought that counted. And we just got such amazing feedback from our chocolate chip cookies. And we just came up to the idea. Yeah, people want to give back to a reason, but it’s just an extra nice little treat to have a cookie on the side too. And so it just circled around this idea of these giant chocolate chip cookies. And they’re just amazing.
Scrappy Jackson:
They’re huge.
Summer Kates:
They’re ginormous.
Scrappy Jackson:
I’ve seen a picture of them.
Summer Kates:
Yes.
Scrappy Jackson:
I don’t need three cookies. I only need one of yours.
Summer Kates:
Oh yeah. They’re giant. And if you pop them in the microwave, it’s just perfection.
Scrappy Jackson:
And you put some sprinkles on them too?
Summer Kates:
Sometimes.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay. I saw the one with the sprinkles. Very nice. Very nice.
Summer Kates:
Oh yeah.
Scrappy Jackson:
Yeah.
Summer Kates:
We have a few different flavors going on now, but our chocolate chips are our OG originals.
Scrappy Jackson:
So you go from the front lawn, making these wonderful cookies, and what was the next step?
Summer Kates:
Next step was it just started baked sales, annually. And then we started to get some recognition from the community and we started getting events. So there was a few breweries that accepted us to just set up a table, and just have posters out. And people could come up and I could explain the story, and then people could choose to donate. And there’s been a few farmer’s markets. And then as word kept spreading, there’s just more opportunities opening up. News segments started reaching out, some radios. So it just all slowly grew because of the community.
Scrappy Jackson:
And you’ve raised how much to date?
Summer Kates:
To date, it’s about roughly over $21,000.
Scrappy Jackson:
I’m giving you a high five, Summer. A high five through the podcast. You go, girl. That’s awesome. So you’re off to Florida State. How are we going to keep this cookie thing alive? How are we going to keep it cooking?
Summer Kates:
So my little brother is hoping to follow in my footsteps and we’re taking a different approach. Because we’re so focused on kids are our future, and instead of circling around the hospital, we’re hoping to bring it around the environment and bettering our environment around. And in general, just helping the future.
Summer Kates:
And so not only is he hoping to follow in my footsteps, but I also don’t plan on stopping this.
Scrappy Jackson:
Good.
Summer Kates:
I plan on helping hospitals around Florida State University, and obviously still helping Golisano because I just love them. So it won’t be as big of a thing as it has been, but I definitely don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Scrappy Jackson:
Why can’t we take it global?
Summer Kates:
I mean, why not? Got to work our way there.
Scrappy Jackson:
It’s a wonderful thing. It’s a wonderful thing. So your mom, very strong. She’s empowered you. In many respects you probably empowered her, one way or another. And your dad. So tell us about your mom.
Summer Kates:
Yeah. When I was hit by the car, she was pregnant with my little brother. So it was just hard for her because there’s times where she couldn’t be in the room with me just because she was pregnant. So I do think it impacted her a lot. Just not being able to be there every single step of the way almost. But I feel once we started up with the cookies, it was not only was it a moment for us to work together and just have that bonding moment. But it also brought us together with doing something that we both love to do,
Scrappy Jackson:
Very nice. Very nice. Youth philanthropist of the year, 2021. How special is that?
Summer Kates:
I can’t even have words to describe it. It was just such a surreal feeling, getting that award.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay. And Summer, what advice would you give to yourself when you were a freshman? Looking back on the four years?
Summer Kates:
I just want to say just never give up, because I would’ve never imagined I’d come this far. And once I received that award, I was just like, wow. If I gave up, I would never have received this.
Scrappy Jackson:
That’s your advice to yourself. Now at graduation, if you had a chance to make a speech, what kind of knowledge would you give your classmates?
Summer Kates:
That’s tough. And I want to take inspiration behind another speech that a kid had talked about. It was mainly about choosing your own path, because we could all be told that there’s only one direction to go in life. But realistically, every direction you choose has many pitchfork-like paths to it. So I just feel there’s just so many opportunities and you just have to choose what fits you best.
Scrappy Jackson:
What are you going to study at Florida State?
Summer Kates:
Right now, I’m in advertising. That’s what I’m going into.
Scrappy Jackson:
You should consider communications and broadcasting because you’re amazing.
Summer Kates:
Thank you. Communications did cross my mind and I know majors always change. But right now advertising is where my head is at.
Scrappy Jackson:
Go to the football games. They’re amazing.
Summer Kates:
Oh, I will.
Scrappy Jackson:
Amazing experience. Definitely. Definitely. Any shout outs, your friends of yours? Because I know this wasn’t a solo effort. You and your mom did big things, but I know you had some help.
Summer Kates:
Yeah. If I were to give a big shout out, it’d be to my best friend Kylie, because she was there for me for my very first bake sale that started Summer’s Project. So she’s just been a shadow throughout this whole process of Summer’s Project. And so I just want to say thank you for that.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay. And you want to share any of your handles, your social media handles?
Summer Kates:
Yeah, sure. I mean everything should just be Summer’s Project. So Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Just type in Summer’s Project and it should all just pop up right there.
Scrappy Jackson:
On the radio, I give big hugs through the telephone. In the podcast, I’m giving you hugs, Summer. You did amazing things. You’re going to continue to do amazing things. We got nothing but love for you.
Summer Kates:
Thank you so much.
Scrappy Jackson:
The Come Up, a podcast featuring in Southwest Florida entrepreneurs. I’m Scrappy. And if you’d like to be a guest, text Mike at 21000 or me at IG, Hey Scrappy. We’re brought to you by Content With Teeth, a highly energetic creative content marketing agency. Doing it really big, like this big logo behind me.
Scrappy Jackson:
And today we celebrate Summer Kates, a young woman who certainly has an entrepreneurial spirit. Maybe not a traditional entrepreneur, but doing it really big. A victim of a car accident as a child, she flipped the script, taking her traumatic experience and turning into something amazing. A charity we call Summer’s Project. Welcome Summer.
Summer Kates:
Hi.
Scrappy Jackson:
Very cool to have you here.
Summer Kates:
Thank you for having me. It means a lot.
Scrappy Jackson:
Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate it. I know you’ve done a lot of interviews and you’re famous in Southwest Florida, but humble Content With Teeth Come Up podcast is thrilled to have you.
Summer Kates:
I’m excited to be here.
Scrappy Jackson:
So first off, congratulations. You just graduated from high school?
Summer Kates:
I did, yes.
Scrappy Jackson:
What was graduation like?
Summer Kates:
It was a mixture of emotions. I’m excited, but it’s just sad leaving the past.
Scrappy Jackson:
What are you going to do next?
Summer Kates:
I’m off to Florida State University. As of right now taking-
Scrappy Jackson:
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We have to stop this interview. I’m a University of Florida Gator.
Summer Kates:
Oh yeah. I was a University of Florida Gator, but paths have brought me to FSU.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay. Have you learned to do [inaudible 00:01:42]?
Summer Kates:
Not yet. Not yet. It’ll come.
Scrappy Jackson:
Have you been to a game yet?
Summer Kates:
I have been doing the null sign, yes. That’s something I have to.
Scrappy Jackson:
You probably could get any college you want. You had a 5.5 GPA. That’s pretty amazing.
Summer Kates:
Oh yeah. It was between FSU and University of Georgia for me.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay.
Summer Kates:
Tuition, it’s crazy nowadays.
Scrappy Jackson:
Absolutely. Absolutely. And you have this accident when you’re 10 years old?
Summer Kates:
Yes.
Scrappy Jackson:
This terrible car accident and you were in the hospital, Golisano Hospital. And you’re in pain. You’re recovering. It’s a difficult recovery. It’s a long recovery. And what’s going through your mind right after the accident?
Summer Kates:
You know, me being a 10 year old, I was also a very competitive soccer player. So my main idea in my head was, am I going to play soccer again? ‘Cause I had shattered my femur, which is one of your main bones that you need to walk and do basic functions of life. So not only was I scared, ’cause I had a fear of the hospital at that time. So not only was I petrified of being in the hospital, I was worried I was never going to do what I love most again. So it was just in my mind, just a scary experience.
Scrappy Jackson:
You were thinking about yourself at that moment, right?
Summer Kates:
Yes.
Scrappy Jackson:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Are you okay now? Is your femur okay now?
Summer Kates:
Yeah, I’m perfectly good now. I’ve been playing soccer for a few years.
Scrappy Jackson:
Awesome. Awesome.
Summer Kates:
Yeah. It only took about a year to get back on the field.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay. So you’re thinking about yourself. You’re worried about soccer. But somewhere you flipped the script and said, “You know what? I can turn this into a positive.” So you’re at the hospital. You’re seeing fellow kids, fellow children, going through a lot. What made you compassionate?
Summer Kates:
Yeah. Being scared at the hospital, it took me about a day I want to say, and I started to notice how comforting the staff was. And I was just blown away about how comfortable they made me feel during my stay. They had, especially at Golisano, they had this big game room. And me being fresh out of surgery, they encouraged me to walk with my walker to the game room. So they not only motivated me through the steps of my recovery, but they were just always there for me to talk. I remember specifically, they brought a dog in one day to-
Scrappy Jackson:
I love that. I love that.
Summer Kates:
Yeah. Yeah. So I’ll always remember that. So once I saw the level of comfort that they provide the kids, I was just, wow. I want other kids to see this so that they’re not scared to go to the hospital like I once was.
Scrappy Jackson:
Very nice, very nice. Very caring, sensitive. But some of the kids over there were in a lot worse shape than you.
Summer Kates:
Yes.
Scrappy Jackson:
Did that lead to maybe thinking about a charity?
Summer Kates:
Yeah, it did. It really did, because there’s just so many circumstances that go behind it. Because there’s kids that are there for long term, and you have to think if a kid is living there, they want it to feel like home. They want it to be comfortable and have toys and games. And they just want to have a fun experience in a bad time.
Scrappy Jackson:
Do you go back there often?
Summer Kates:
I try, but with COVID it’s kind of iffy.
Scrappy Jackson:
True.
Summer Kates:
I’ve always wanted to go and just walk around and see the kids. Kind of be a support system. But with COVID, it’s just ruined any of those chances.
Scrappy Jackson:
You’re in a very unique situation at age 10. And you acted like an adult. You’re very mature for your age. And when you think about it, I compare it… I don’t know if you’re familiar with it, Buddhism. Buddhism is about being mindful in the moment and appreciating life and not taking it for granted. And this moment with you is a moment. I’m having a moment with Summer Kates right now. So what did you learn from your experience as far as appreciating life?
Summer Kates:
You know, it was really to just take the good out of the bad, because I feel like everybody, especially nowadays, is just so negative on any sort of experience. So it’s really there is always at least one positive outcome in a bad experience. You just have to be optimistic about how you’re looking at it. And for me, I just saw, well, I can motivate other kids and just show the good in the hospital rather than all the bad in the hospital.
Summer Kates:
‘Cause I feel like, especially for kids, their minds aren’t fully developed on the fact that the hospital is to help fix you. It’s more of just this scary place with a bunch of hurt people.
Scrappy Jackson:
Sure.
Summer Kates:
So I feel trying to get the message out to these kids that like, “Oh, it’s a fun place. They’re they’re help you.” And I just feel like that just motivates that message.
Scrappy Jackson:
I would love to bring a pot belly pig to Golisano Hospital and have the kids hang out with it for a day. They’re pretty tame. They’re pretty mature. They’re trained pretty well. Wouldn’t that be cool?
Summer Kates:
It would. It would.
Scrappy Jackson:
So you decide to make these cookies, these wonderful chocolate cookies. Tell us about them.
Summer Kates:
My mom and I, we’ve always been in the kitchen baking. The whole reason Summer’s Project started was I was with my best friend and I was like, “Let’s do a bake sale and just give whatever money we make.” So we had just a bunch of just store bought stuff, and then some of our homemade chocolate chip cookies out on our backyard. And we were just selling stuff. We donated maybe $90, but it was just the thought that counted. And we just got such amazing feedback from our chocolate chip cookies. And we just came up to the idea. Yeah, people want to give back to a reason, but it’s just an extra nice little treat to have a cookie on the side too. And so it just circled around this idea of these giant chocolate chip cookies. And they’re just amazing.
Scrappy Jackson:
They’re huge.
Summer Kates:
They’re ginormous.
Scrappy Jackson:
I’ve seen a picture of them.
Summer Kates:
Yes.
Scrappy Jackson:
I don’t need three cookies. I only need one of yours.
Summer Kates:
Oh yeah. They’re giant. And if you pop them in the microwave, it’s just perfection.
Scrappy Jackson:
And you put some sprinkles on them too?
Summer Kates:
Sometimes.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay. I saw the one with the sprinkles. Very nice. Very nice.
Summer Kates:
Oh yeah.
Scrappy Jackson:
Yeah.
Summer Kates:
We have a few different flavors going on now, but our chocolate chips are our OG originals.
Scrappy Jackson:
So you go from the front lawn, making these wonderful cookies, and what was the next step?
Summer Kates:
Next step was it just started baked sales, annually. And then we started to get some recognition from the community and we started getting events. So there was a few breweries that accepted us to just set up a table, and just have posters out. And people could come up and I could explain the story, and then people could choose to donate. And there’s been a few farmer’s markets. And then as word kept spreading, there’s just more opportunities opening up. News segments started reaching out, some radios. So it just all slowly grew because of the community.
Scrappy Jackson:
And you’ve raised how much to date?
Summer Kates:
To date, it’s about roughly over $21,000.
Scrappy Jackson:
I’m giving you a high five, Summer. A high five through the podcast. You go, girl. That’s awesome. So you’re off to Florida State. How are we going to keep this cookie thing alive? How are we going to keep it cooking?
Summer Kates:
So my little brother is hoping to follow in my footsteps and we’re taking a different approach. Because we’re so focused on kids are our future, and instead of circling around the hospital, we’re hoping to bring it around the environment and bettering our environment around. And in general, just helping the future.
Summer Kates:
And so not only is he hoping to follow in my footsteps, but I also don’t plan on stopping this.
Scrappy Jackson:
Good.
Summer Kates:
I plan on helping hospitals around Florida State University, and obviously still helping Golisano because I just love them. So it won’t be as big of a thing as it has been, but I definitely don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Scrappy Jackson:
Why can’t we take it global?
Summer Kates:
I mean, why not? Got to work our way there.
Scrappy Jackson:
It’s a wonderful thing. It’s a wonderful thing. So your mom, very strong. She’s empowered you. In many respects you probably empowered her, one way or another. And your dad. So tell us about your mom.
Summer Kates:
Yeah. When I was hit by the car, she was pregnant with my little brother. So it was just hard for her because there’s times where she couldn’t be in the room with me just because she was pregnant. So I do think it impacted her a lot. Just not being able to be there every single step of the way almost. But I feel once we started up with the cookies, it was not only was it a moment for us to work together and just have that bonding moment. But it also brought us together with doing something that we both love to do,
Scrappy Jackson:
Very nice. Very nice. Youth philanthropist of the year, 2021. How special is that?
Summer Kates:
I can’t even have words to describe it. It was just such a surreal feeling, getting that award.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay. And Summer, what advice would you give to yourself when you were a freshman? Looking back on the four years?
Summer Kates:
I just want to say just never give up, because I would’ve never imagined I’d come this far. And once I received that award, I was just like, wow. If I gave up, I would never have received this.
Scrappy Jackson:
That’s your advice to yourself. Now at graduation, if you had a chance to make a speech, what kind of knowledge would you give your classmates?
Summer Kates:
That’s tough. And I want to take inspiration behind another speech that a kid had talked about. It was mainly about choosing your own path, because we could all be told that there’s only one direction to go in life. But realistically, every direction you choose has many pitchfork-like paths to it. So I just feel there’s just so many opportunities and you just have to choose what fits you best.
Scrappy Jackson:
What are you going to study at Florida State?
Summer Kates:
Right now, I’m in advertising. That’s what I’m going into.
Scrappy Jackson:
You should consider communications and broadcasting because you’re amazing.
Summer Kates:
Thank you. Communications did cross my mind and I know majors always change. But right now advertising is where my head is at.
Scrappy Jackson:
Go to the football games. They’re amazing.
Summer Kates:
Oh, I will.
Scrappy Jackson:
Amazing experience. Definitely. Definitely. Any shout outs, your friends of yours? Because I know this wasn’t a solo effort. You and your mom did big things, but I know you had some help.
Summer Kates:
Yeah. If I were to give a big shout out, it’d be to my best friend Kylie, because she was there for me for my very first bake sale that started Summer’s Project. So she’s just been a shadow throughout this whole process of Summer’s Project. And so I just want to say thank you for that.
Scrappy Jackson:
Okay. And you want to share any of your handles, your social media handles?
Summer Kates:
Yeah, sure. I mean everything should just be Summer’s Project. So Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Just type in Summer’s Project and it should all just pop up right there.
Scrappy Jackson:
On the radio, I give big hugs through the telephone. In the podcast, I’m giving you hugs, Summer. You did amazing things. You’re going to continue to do amazing things. We got nothing but love for you.
If you’re a B2B business, you might be curious about the benefits of LinkedIn marketing.
If you’re not, you should be! You’re jumping out of an airplane without a parachute, missing an opportunity to strip mine the largest business database in the world.
What Is LinkedIn Marketing?
LinkedIn marketing is the use of the online social networking site LinkedIn to build connections, mutually beneficial relationships, and rapport with different stakeholders from and outside your industry. These can be business partners, prospective customers, or potential employees/team members.
Why You Should Be Marketing on LinkedIn Right Now?
LinkedIn is a medium that forms an indispensable part of your social media marketing campaigns. It allows users to achieve marketing goals and business objectives such as generating leads, increasing brand reputation and awareness, and driving sales.
It provides you with handy business analysis tools. It’s where you’ll meet most of your ideal clients or customers.
Basically, we’re living in such a digital marketing and social media era that if you are not promoting yourself on the largest business database in the world, then you are lacking “drip,” as the young people say.
The Evidence on LinkedIn Is Clear
Most of the LinkedIn B2B marketers use the platform for organic marketing. This network has a great reputation for yielding the most relevant organic results. It is also the go-to lead generation for companies regardless of their industry. Check out these interesting stats that are not necessarily seen on other social media platforms.
What Is LinkedIn Organic?
“Organic” content is basically content that you do not pay to show. It’s nonpaid advertising and does not appear as a paid promotion on your future customer’s news feed.
Your LinkedIn Success Is a Few Trackable Metrics Away
The site offers some internal analytics that you can track to make data-driven decisions, achieve your goals, and optimize your efforts.
Reach signifies how many times the content you have shared has been seen by users.
Impression is the amount of times your content has been displayed on profiles’ feeds.
Follower demographic that includes job seniority, location, industry….
Clicks which is the number of clicks you get on your content to land on your website.
Targeting
The LinkedIn platform allows you to customize your industry-specific variable searches which is ideal for B2B businesses. If you have a company page or are using your personal LinkedIn profile, you can easily reach out to your target audience or future customers. We can even start calling this process professional networking instead of targeting!
Pocket-Friendly Platform
You can start joining groups and interact and exchange information with your group members. You often hear gurus preaching LinkedIn advertising. You may be using a free account or subscribing to one of LinkedIn’s services. One of the tools businesses are increasingly using is Sales Navigator, LinkedIn’s premium offering offering advanced search capability.
If sign up for Sales Nav, LinkedIn will automatically give you one month free. We at Content with Teeth can get you two free months to check out the platform and see if it’s a good fit. Sign up for a free consultation and we’ll hook you up.
What About Your LinkedIn Marketing Strategy
Your LinkedIn marketing strategy is basically similar to any other social media marketing strategy. However, you need to work on positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry. This also depends on what you are really there to do. Are you on LinkedIn to attract new talent, increase your sales or brand awareness, engage with your target audience, reveal your expertise or connect with similar professionals in your field?
The Beginner’s Guide to Organic LinkedIn Marketing
Fully utilize the magic search tool LinkedIn offers that allows companies to target the users they are looking for. This isn’t necessarily found on other social media platforms or social networking sites.
Is Marketing on LinkedIn Worth It?
Totally, and we’re skipping the LinkedIn ads too! We’ll spill some tea here: you don’t have to spend tons of money on advertising anymore!
One thing you really need to take care of though is generating high-quality content. Opt for quality over quantity.
Advanced Search on LinkedIn for Free
If you don’t have the budget to invest in LinkedIn Sales Navigator now, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. You have the ability to narrow down your audience and exclude specific people with Boolean search terms.
Although the number of times you can search something on a LinkedIn free version is limited to a certain number and period of time.
Hijack Boolean Terms in Your Search Hunt
Employ Boolean to narrow your focus in any version of LinkedIn from the free version to Sales Navigator.
The table below will teach you some of the parameters:
Get Your Hands Dirty with a Real Search for Professionals on LinkedIn
Let’s imagine you are a marketing professional in the Miami area and your niche market is local IT companies that offer cloud solutions. You intend to target COO’s.
Head to your LI profile and type in “cloud solutions” AND COO
Hit enter
You will get a list of results like the one below
4. The first level of search is the filter. You can pick any or all, depending on what you’re looking for.
7. Next, scroll down choose your location. We are choosing the Miami-Fort Lauderdale Area.
8. Now, you have a whole bunch of other practical filters you can use such as current company, past company, school, industry, etc…
9. In our case, we’ll check the Information Technology and Services box.
10. You can add in keywords, then hit “Show Results”.
11. You will get a list of individuals that meet these criteria.
12. Choose a profile you’re interested in.
13. Hit “Connect” on your prospect profile to send them a Connect Request or invite to engage.
14. Click on “Add a note” to write a customized message. You should be politely asking the person for a connect request and stating what’s in it for them. Remember that you have a 300-character limit. Hit send and congratulations! You’re utlizing the power of LinkedIn marketing at minimal cost and time.
What About LinkedIn Sales Navigator?
There are more than 20 categories you can choose from. These include company size, seniority level, etc…
This precious LinkedIn tool has become indispensable to countless marketers out there. Basically, this takes your lead generation efforts to a new level and allows you to build meaningful business relationships. You may even skip social media!
However, if you are not currently ready to invest in SalesNav, the regular LinkedIn search function will get it done!
If you would like two months of LinkedIn Sales Navigator, please get in touch!
LinkedIn Organic Social Media Marketing Best Practices
Optimize your company pages (about, title, cover photo, profile photo, posts…). Remember, this is not Facebook. So, forget the personal and focus on the educational and professional.
Make sure you have a website to direct your audience to (and to increase your web traffic at the same time.)
Work on building your network as much as you can.
Create and share thought leadership articles with your network. Yes, long-form content is still in. You just have to use tactics to make your prospect read your work.
Make sure you are conducting LinkedIn search engine optimization. Think of LinkedIn as one of the search engines you’re familiar with. This means that you should be using keywords that your audience may use to find you in your title or About area.
Content With Teeth and Your LinkedIn Marketing Efforts
Learn how you can benefit from and leverage your LinkedIn page to fuel your company growth and generate quality leads for your business.
Recent Comments