On today's episode of Gathering The Kings. It's interesting when you do that because people just get so discarded. They realize you're not out there with a knife The their throat trying to get a sail I I don't need you to continue to be successful in business. I've got a roster of people I'm working for already, but if you want to level up and do the things that we're doing over here, we're happy to have you.
Being nonchalant about it, I think, helps weigh more than just being, like, pushy about it and trying to really just push it down somebody's throat. What's up, everybody? I'm Chaz Wolfe Gathering the Kings podcast. I've got Ryan's not here on the king stage. My brother. How are we doing? How's it going, Chad? Thanks for having me on, man. Yeah, man. Hey. I appreciate you being here. To Midwest Fellas. Probably what 3 hours away from each other? Yes. Oh, yeah. It's stone's thrown. That's right.
In the grand scheme of the the internet world, a stone's throw. You're right. We might as well be backyard friends. You know, I I'm glad that you're here. I'm excited for this, though, because we haven't had a whole lot of folks specifically in what you do, and I think that you're gonna be able to provide some just really unique value here. Listeners. So tell us what kind of business that you got, brother. Yeah. Sure. Well, thanks again for having me on, man.
The the business that I own, it's called Snod Media Group. So it's named after my last name, goofy, last name, but it rhymes with Chaz as always tell people. But I'm basically a video marketer based here in Central Iowa, and I help businesses produce and script content that drives results for people.
So It's similar to just video production, but the thing that makes me different, my team different, is we really try to build out a marketing strategy for folks and try to merge the gap between you know, an agency and a production team because I come in and we can talk about this. I come from the agency world and I saw a huge hole in the market of people that are really good with the camera, but that have no clue what their clients are using their videos for.
So that's really the the core of what I do. So I love that. And you're right. I'm even thinking about some of my own experiences with agencies and or even video production teams that we've used. And there is a gap. It's like 2 separate arms, and they often don't talk to each other. Absolutely. Yeah. So just trying to merge the merge the business with the creative and and make it really, really streamlined for people. So I love that.
Well, you know, it's interesting because, you know, before you told me how to say name. I was on your website and searching around, and I loved actually on The. It's be be bold, be odd. Now that I know that it rhymes with your last name, that that makes perfect sense now, but I loved it regardless. Bebold Be Odd. Is Chaz mantra a marketing thing? Is that really what you believe? Tell us about Bebold Be Odd.
Yeah. Absolutely. So I always look at marketing as if you're trying to do what other people are doing in your industry, it's the opposite of what you wanna do. Right? Would tell the example when I worked in the agency world Chaz it was notorious that a car dealership locally would start running ads on TV and then all of the other ones would start doing the exact same thing. They would just well, if our competition's on TV, we should be on TV. And it was, like, What are you guys doing?
Like, you got a zig when your competitors zag. That's the whole point of marketing. So for me, I really lean into that philosophy and knowing that if you're being different than other people, that's what's gonna get the attention. So really, like we said, being bold, being out there with yourself, I think talk with plenty of business owners and people that run marketing departments that try to play it safe. It's not the way to go in my opinion.
Like, he'd rather have people talking about you than just being noise because there's too much crap out there and too much fluff. You might as well stand out in some way.
Yeah. Absolutely. I'd and I'd I don't wanna press into this here in a few minutes because the way that you're thinking about this as far as being, you know, maybe the the odd ball or the one that's doing things different, zigging when everyone's zagging, I've actually always felt that way, but I always feel like there's, like, this this, like, oppressive thumb coming down on me from marketing worlds of no. If it works, don't don't don't rearrange the order.
And and so I think there's a creative genius here that that we can get into. But before we do that, I wanna know your, like, you already said why your business is different, but what's, like, burning inside of you? What's what's on the inside of Ryan that makes Ryan so unique and different and and after this thing like you are?
Sure. Yeah. I think for me, like, my my interest stems from trying to build a life and a lifestyle that is conducive to growth, but also to scratch those creative bitches. Right? When I when I left college, I really thought corporate was my world. I went interviewed everywhere, and I saw the death in some of these people's eyes when I'm like, What do you do for work? And they're like, I'm an analyst 3. And I'm like, oh, I don't want The. Like, stay away.
So, like, just Yeah. Pursuit of just being authentically myself and trying to just be doing the things that I enjoy. I think about all the things I like. I love fitness. I love business Gathering. I try to merge all those things together. I shoot a lot for fitness companies and and corporate fitness and gyms and stuff like that to Kings scratch that itch, but also building online programs and and business and what would I call it?
Like, digital products online to scratch that edge, you know, trying to just build a lifestyle and a business that fits the way I wanna go about life. Yeah. What do you think Chaz, I guess, what's what's inside of you that makes you want to build? Right? Like, what what is the greater, maybe, desire, or what's the outcome, or what's the why? Sure. I think the the piece of it that I think is interesting is we're at such a pivotal time in human history where it's easy to do these things.
I mean, you talk about My my grandparents owned a a grain mill in our small town, like our 600 person small town when I was really, really little. And that was, like, 3rd generation to get it to that size, and it took literally hun a 100 years to get it to the point where it was making decent money. Or now you can literally open a Shopify store and be a millionaire in 2 months. Like, it's just ridiculous how, like, different the world landscape is. Everyone that I know has side hustles.
They do fun things they enjoy. They're making money from it. Selling their art, making music, do whatever. Like, there's just so much opportunity to do those Kings. And I think a lot of people trade passion for a paycheck, but I think there's there's a way that you can merge both in this Wolfe, and that's really what I'm trying to to do is to take the things that I enjoy doing and and make a living from it. Yeah. What would you say to the person listening right now?
Maybe they're running a business that once upon a time, they were know, really excited about or that it it itched, you know, those things for them or whatever those things are. But maybe just over the course of time, the over the course of The building, right, because it's not always The fun stuff inside of building, there's there's hard stuff The. And so you're saying that it's it's worth it.
But for the guy listening right now or the gal listening right now who's building and maybe he's side of that passion that you're talking about, that creative itch, whatever that is for The, how do they get back to that, or how would you suggest that they get back to that? Sure. I mean, there's there's definitely a point in time where you have to sit look yourself The the mirror and be like, this is gonna suck for a Wolfe, but once I get to that hump, then it'll be better. You know?
But I think if you're if you're realistic about it, The you can start Kings at logistics of, okay. If I say you run a a brick and mortar business, it's like, how long do I have to be the front desk person until I can hire someone? How long what do I need to do to get those things?
So I think figuring out what tasks and what types of jobs within your business that you really, really enjoy doing figuring out the shortest path to get to that point, I think, is super huge because a lot of people are like, well, you know, I I hate sales, but it's the one thing that brings money in the door. So I'll just keep doing it. It's, how much happier would your life be if you hired a really kick ass salesperson? Right.
And then you can go back to Kings cookies in your bakery because that's what you started the business for in the first place. So I think really trying to figure out what lights you up inside. Because for me, like, I'm the one creative in the entire state of Iowa that is not obsessed with shooting a on a camera and editing. Like, I'm really, really good at it. I've been doing it for almost 10 years now, but it's not The thing lights me up. Like, I love building my business.
I love helping business owners, marketers, like, get the thing that gets them more money Chaz makes them happier. They hit their goals. They get them the promotion. Like, I love that side of it. So I think that's really, like, trying to find the pieces in the business that light you up and really leaning into those things.
Yeah. I mean, I think that you just gave some great examples there, especially even for you saying, yes, I'm a creative, but really what I've loved is the building of the business process, not so much necessarily the The, or the editing.
Although, like you said, you've done those things and and and that could be translated into any business, whether it's marketing, whether it's, you know, building something physical like a home or doing something on a commercial project of sorts or, you know, doing real estate. Like, we've had we've had all those people here on the show. And it's like, man, we The pick their I wanna hear a little bit about your story.
You know, you you you've been doing this thing for 10 years, you said, but tell us a little bit about that journey. What were you even doing maybe before Sure. Yeah. So I would say Kings of my story started in college. I would say my freshman summer of college, I tried to get an internship in Des Moines. And internships at the time said, hey. You need an internship to get this internship. So I moved home. You need experience to get a entry level internship. Right?
So I moved home and worked at the local meat plant for the summer. My mom got me a job out there, and it was 10 PM until 8 AM night shift. And luckily, didn't get the I mean, it's like we made Vienna Sausages, Hormel chili. Like, I was like, please don't put me in the cooking area because I'm just gonna smell, like, burn meat all the time. Right? So long story short, I got packaging, which is really happy.
So I was, like, almost asleep at my machine sitting there hitting a button at 2 in the morning. And a guy kicks the door open and he's frantic, and he's got, like, red stuff all over his face. He's like, you. And I said, what? And he's like, there's been an explosion in the The room. It's like, we need to come come here quick. I'm like, okay. So I run down to the chilly room. They put me in a oompa loompa smock in the muck boots and give me a shovel.
And he's like, just try to breathe out of your mouth. I was like, okay. So they opened this door, and I don't know if you've ever seen those huge propane tanks that are out Oh. In, like, fields that have propane in The. We had 6 of those, but they were full literate ovens that were cooking Hormel chili. Well, if a guy that was running those ovens, he fell asleep at his machine, Oh, no. And they exploded it, and it was, like, volcanic chili, Pompe, all over the floor.
Oh. And there was, like, The almost nicked chin to knee deep chili, and I spent the next, like, 4 or 5 hours of my ship shoveling chili into a bucket, and it smelled terrible because it's burned dot dollhill. And there was a point at that time where I was, like, nineteen. I was going to college, but I was kinda like, I don't know really what I wanna do. And as I was shoveling that stuff, I just stop for a second. I'm like, I never wanna do this crap again.
I never wanna, like, do a job that just sucks so bad that I'm, like, miserable at And there were people that were there that were career guys that were doing it for, like, 40 years, and they were just so happy to have a good paycheck because they didn't college or do anything that they wanted to do. Which is fine. That's perfectly fine, but I'm like, this is not for me. So, anyway, long story short, fast forward, I ended up going to college. I never missed a class again.
I was like, I'm graduated. I'm getting my degree, and I'm doing what I wanna do. So that was kinda what propelled me there. And then basically graduated college. I started shooting videos though in college. And Kings of my intro to video production was I got a GoPro for Christmas for my grandma. Before I went to my European study abroad trip.
So I went to Europe, shot a bunch of videos in my GoPro, thought it was really cool, came home, and was, like, up all night editing on, Windows movie maker, which is like a free editing tool, and it's very, very basic. So I was like, oh, this is so cool. Put my video Gathering. And I think I was Kings hooked after that point. I started making a ton of videos super into fitness, so I started doing a fitness YouTube Chaz. So I did, weekly uploads for an entire year.
So 52 uploads while I was going to school and working Kings and all The stuff. Yeah. And after the end of the year, I got 40 subscribers, and nobody was watching my videos. So then I kinda took a pause. I'm like, well, you know, I'll just, like, Kings table this for a little bit. And then another year went by, and I was working at Target at the time. And I found a camera in the in the camera kit that was on clearance.
It's like a $500 T5i, which like, a very basic I mean, it can only shoot 1080 p video. It doesn't mean you use slow motion. Yeah. I'm like, I'm gonna buy this and see if what I can do. And basically took that camera in 1 year, made about $10,000 with it, just shooting, like, nights weekends, little projects here and The. And I was like, wow.
This is like, this could be something here because it's like, I'm not even trying that hard, and this just made a good chunk of money for a, you know, broke college student. This is pretty good. So that was Kings of my my intro to starting to shoot videos. Wow. And what was that moment for you that you said, okay. Like, I'm taking this thing from Kings you know, Javier from a $500, you know, discounted camera to I'm gonna build a business around this.
Yeah. Yeah. So I took basically most in against most of the people I knew at the time, I took almost all the profit from that year, basically, 8 or $9, and I went and bought 2 or 3 more four k cameras. Again, but, like, upgraded my kit substantially. Yeah. And that's basically the kit that I've been running for the last 10 years.
I mean, I've been adding stuff, but I'm also, like, a very frugal purchaser of gear where a lot of people I talk to, like, they solely run a business so they can write off a lot of them in rediction. Yeah. Yeah. They're like, crackheads, but instead of crack, it's camera gear. They just love that stuff. So that's kinda what got me into it. And then, you know, I I graduated. I ended up getting a job right at a college that I Kings built within a company that didn't exist.
It was, a video production company of about twenty people, and they did large scale productions for grocery chains in the area, like, the the requisite prerequisite was most projects were not under 25,000. So you do a 30 second video for, like, $30 or $40 or whatever. Yeah. So that was a huge opportunity for me. I I basically worked there for four and a half years, built The, role from nothing that I had that got them, like, recurring revenue.
So we started doing marketing retainers for clients and agriculture Chaz huge in Iowa. So ag podcasts and insurance and stuff like that. So in industries I wasn't super interested in, but The conversations I got to sit in on were invaluable because I got to learn how to how to negotiate a deal for, like, a $120 for, The video or 2 and shooting stuff for, like, Berkshire Hathaway, like Warren Buffett's company, and, like, all these crazy projects. And I'm like Right.
These people don't have the sauce. I just know how to sell it. So it's like Chaz was a really cool opportunity. Yeah. So I did that for four and a half years, and then all the Wolfe, I was still shooting nights weekends. And then kinda my breaking point was coming up towards last year.
And when I was working there, I took all two and a half weeks of my PTO and did nights weekends, and I would work 12 hours a day for, like, 4 days or 3 days, get my 40 hours in, and then I would take off on a Friday and go to, like, Kansas City and shoot for a client down there for 3 days or go to Minnesota for a while. Like, I would I would bulk my The, and then I was basically just going all over the place, shooting nights weekends, and I was working, like, 80:80 hours a week.
And I was like, this this is Kings time to jump. So I made the jump and haven't looked back since. So Yeah. I I I hear that story, and I just I I wanna point out to the listener that this is, like, the what I would suggest is, like, the best way to live as an entrepreneur, but without, you know, just giving up everything recklessly, you know, abandoned all the things that worked. And it's very similar to what I did, which is, you know, it's not it's not that I never ever took a leap.
There was a point in time where I left a six figure job and took a leap on my first but there was there was always something that I had in the background, very similar to what you have going on here where you just kept doing your thing, kept doing your thing until it just basically took over. It's like, I I literally can't do this anymore. I have to focus on this. And and I'm not I'm not a, like, an anti burn the ships type of a guy.
I think that there are some people who need to burn the ships now and you have no money, but just go and do the thing. But I just think that the way that you did it, you described yourself as a pretty frugal or maybe prudent might be a better word. Is that that process that you just described is very prudent. It's very, like, a diligent and very like, okay.
I'm I'm calculated about my risk here, and I'm gonna do this thing long enough until I just physically can't, and then I'm gonna go press hard into this other thing. So I just congratulations, man. I just really, really impressive story. What do you think you allowed you to do that for so long because there's so many entrepreneurs possibly even listening right now. And they're like, oh my gosh. I can't do both.
I I I don't have any enough time, or maybe they're already in their own business and they're already saying, I don't I can't do all this. It's too much. You know? We'll give you the prudence or or the the diligence maybe to be able to do both of those for so long. Sure. Well, I would start with, I'm probably the worst entrepreneur ever because I do not like taking risk.
I'm like the anti risk entrepreneur, which is, like, literal dictionary definition is, like, a business that's gonna take a ridiculous amount of risk to start a business, and I'm, like, the opposite of that. I'm, like, the I'll just take a little bit here and there. So that's the first part. The second part was it was a perfect storm of where I was in life. So I was in my early twenties, my wife and I, had just bought a really cheap house.
You know, we weren't, like, starting a family right away. We weren't Kings on a bunch of extra expenses. So that was part of it too. So timeline wise, I, like, had the flexibility and the interest to do it where if somebody were to start this in their 40 and they've got 5 kids, like, it's a different story. Right? It would be different.
Yeah. The other piece of it too was I was kind of I hate to say, like, lazy with it, but at The when, like, earlier years, I'd make, like, 20 to 60,000 in the business, and I wouldn't take a paycheck because I had a full time job. So my stupid ass would keep money in the I I Wolfe, like, pay taxes it and just keep it, and I wouldn't even pay it out to myself. I wouldn't even use it because I'm, like, a penny hoarder. Like, I can't do it. So the breaking point for me was, I was engaged.
My wife and I my wife's a super spender, and I'm like, as you can tell, like, a penny pinch. Not. Yeah. We make a great team. Right? So she I mean, she would just spend money like crazy, but it wasn't our money yet. But once we are engaged, it was really bothering me because I'm like, I'm like, oh, man, this is gonna, like, this is gonna be sucky when we get married and, like, she's gonna spend all of our money and whatever. She's gonna drain The she's gonna drain it.
Yeah. Yeah. So then one of my buddies, he's also a filmmaker. He had went to Iowa State. He was The kicker for Iowa State. His name's Cole Netton, so any cyclones fans know he's a he was the kicker for them a couple years ago. And him and his wife paid off 42,000 in debt in 11 months, and he was unemployed for half of that time because he quit his job to start a filmmaking business. So Well I heard his story, and I'm like, how'd you do it?
So his financial coach, his name's Travis, shout to Travis. He changed my life. Basically, met with him 6 months before our wedding, And he said, hey. Let's calculate all your debt. So we realized, like, between the two of us, we had a 116 k in debt. Wow. And he's like, hey. We could get all this paid off. In a year and a half if you guys really focus and have a goal. And I was like, there's no way. Like, there's absolutely no way, so we ran the numbers.
Truth was, you know, if If she stops spending as much and I actually paid myself out of my business and Right. We really cut our expenses down, we could do it. And when we hold, we did, we paid it all off and probably 18 months, we paid off a 116,000 in debt. Everything besides our house. And the the huge driving point for that was, like, I have to put my foot down on this business and just dump gasoline on it and just it has to blow up. So once I had the y, in my life, the business tripled.
I was making a 6 figure income on the side while I was working at my full time job. And Yep. I never saw any of that money because it all went to all the debt collectors. But once that was out of the out of the smoke, and we went our honeymoon, and we were done. And I was Oh my god. If I did this for 1 more year, like, I'd have so much money, and that's that's what really pushed me to to do it. It was having a really strong way.
Yeah. So, you know, I asked you your why already, but I have to ask now because that why is gone. What's The, maybe, more tangible why that you're after right now? What's the target, rather? That you're after now since since debt's gone and and you're still building, you're still pushing. You obviously built a successful business. What's kept you going? What's what's on the radar? Sure. Yeah. I would say, like, current trajectory definitely is having, like, shorter term business goals for me.
Big one this year was, like, get a commercial space. Did that in February, so I'm in it right now. 2nd would be to hire my first, like, part time, full time employee. Currently have a roster of, like, 15 contractors that we use, which can get expensive. So Kings again, like, I I'm a weirdo that, like, I love the growth, like, just the little tiny bits, like, The the success won't come to me when I'm sitting on a golden throne covered in, like, the Scrooge Mcduck type thing. Like Right.
It's the process of getting there that has been super exciting for me and just really fulfilling. So having those little things here and there, but then also, I mean, my wife and I have a son, we have another one on the way. So, like, providing a lifestyle for them.
And Yeah. I Wolfe say, like, my pie in the skies, I had this weird daydream where it's like, you know, we live on a lake house, like, we have I mean, we live on the lake now, but, like, having, like, a very specific, like, vision of, like, life, like, what that lifestyle is like, the fun we're Kings, and it's not, out of reach at all. So I think that's that's really The thing that drives me is, like, having that picture, it's kinda like your vision board or your mood board.
It's like having that really stuck in my head all the time. Yeah. I love that. I've got a specific time on Wednesdays. I read a visualization that I've created every single day, but on Wednesdays specifically, I take time after I'm done reading it to close my eyes and actually visualize it, which is exactly what you're talking about. So I appreciate that.
The one thing I heard you say though, I gotta I gotta poke a little fun, but, like, almost like a wow is I don't know if you guys, listeners, were paying attention there, but he says I'm a 7 figure out for a newer, and I have no employees. Holy moly. Chaz is a cranking business.
And and I know you got vendors and and subs that you're using for different parts, but that's incredible to to have a successful business like do and to have done it in a structure that enables you to Kings do your thing, which I think is just really, really cool. It's very it's very 2023. Just like how businesses are being done today. It's why people ask me all the time if I'll if I'll get a commercial space and I'm like, you know what?
I'm not I got I got team members in Arizona, in Nebraska, in Kansas, in Missouri, in England, in the Philippines, like, Wolfe, what am I gonna do with the commercial space? I got my studio here in the The. And guess what? When I get done here, I'm a go I'm a go hug my kids. Like, why would I want that any different? You know?
Sure. Sure. Anyways, just the encouragement to the listener is, like, whether way you've done it or the way that I've done it, the the just strategic things that you can do inside of a business to make it your life as you as you just described. This is the way that you want it. Hey, Kings and Queens. Jazz Wolf. I wanna talk to you about something that's super important to me. We put a lot of time and effort.
We, meaning myself and my team, into this podcast, into the content that goes out every single day. And if you have been getting any sort of value or insight from this, we want it to be able to reach other business owners too.
So we would love if you would like, comment share, leave a review, post, share again, all of the things on social media, on all the different platforms, or even on the podcast mediums of Apple and Spotify, we would love to be able to get our content into more hands, more entrepreneurs so they can grow their business as quick possible. Together, we are building a community of like minded entrepreneurs who are committed to growing their businesses to new heights. So let's do this.
Let's help each other. Let's hope each other grow. Alright. I wanna know what practical decision that you've made in this business. Obviously, you've grown it incredibly since then, but What's something that you've done that's been a good decision that you look back on? You're like, I would do that over and over and over again. Sure. I would say for me, it was You kinda lean it again on on the frugality. Like, there's so many chances I had to buy over the top gear.
Like I said, when I worked at agency, we had probably over a $1,000,000 worth of assets in, like, camera equipment, lighting equipment. The the quality of the actual product to the client is is better, but not enough that it makes it worth FedEx, like, ten times x The investment. So Right. For me, I would say, like, having just enough gear that is gonna get you the result that you want that you can charge top dollar for, and then the scalability of it too.
I think that's that's been really the big thing for me is just, like, taking small calculated expenses, but then really making sure you're, I mean, for my projects, like, I'm trying to do at least 80% profit margin on The, if not more.
So having a massive profit heavy business has been really helpful The really, again, have calculated growth so you're not you know, you talk about some some businesses like manufacturing or whatnot, you're lucky to get 10% margin where it's like, I'm the complete opposite of that. Like, I'm looking for, like, 80% margin in some of my projects. So really trying to have The focus on profitability on each project and keeping expenses as low as possible to help scale that growth. Yeah. I love that.
How do you think that someone listening today? Because I I've seen this time and time again. Someone gets into business for the 1st couple of years, and you're right. They get excited about the camera They get excited about the new trucks. They get excited about, you know, whatever it is that they that they do that cost money because they start selling. And, I mean, it's it's not that it's hard to sell or easy to sell.
Just typically when you kinda go into business, it's like, this is what you do now, so deals come to you. And so deals start coming to you. You're making money It's really hard to go, why not upgrade? But I think you gave some practical things there for you around The video quality isn't a 100 x better for this, you know, price tag.
I can make it I can make it part of the best, but with this price tag, which makes it profitable, How does someone who's maybe not in cameras or in video marketing think about that for their business? Maybe give us some general thought process around Furgality. Sure. Yeah. I would say, I mean, just looking at looking at your biggest expenses on your balance sheet, on your, you know, profit and loss statement, what what's the thing that's sucking the most money out of your business?
Sometimes it's owner stroke. You're you're just taking too much money out. Like, that might be a Kings. Or I also feel like every time I try to make a big financial decision with my business, I always have to take a big step back and say, am I doing this to stroke my ego? Am I doing this to look cool? Like, with my commercial space, I looked at purchasing right out of the gate, talked to my financial coach, a couple other people that I've worked with.
They're like, absolutely don't do that because you could be a slave to your business. Like, you you could own a, you know, half $1,000,000 commercial space or building or a $1,000,000. And if you're like, crap, I can't make the mortgage payment on it. Now you're like, I gotta, like, somehow make payroll. Like, it adds all this extra stress where if all you have to worry about is your rent or your lease payment. Right. And then you can learn and that type of stuff.
So I would say, like, looking at that and making sure the ego is not driving your purchasing decisions for your business. I also think if you have employees, like, just giving them a charge card and saying can be a really good tool if you use it properly. But to your point, the making sure that it's unique is is is harder than it sounds because it's like, oh, just be unique.
But I think as long as you know who your core audience is, that we can really steer if they're into humor, if they think things are funny, if they're more serious, really what the solution is for them. I think that's really the the steering point there. A good good example of this would be, like, a local internet provider here. They always advertise Kings speed or, you know, speeds up to 400 meg. Who the hell knows how fast that is?
Like, you're working towards your own internal people that know what that is. Like, the average consumer doesn't know anything. It's like selling a car, being like, man, look how fast them pistons run. Like, no one cares. Like, It's if you get in this thing, you're gonna get girls or people who think you're cool or you're gonna, like, be a badass in a big truck. It's like Right. They're looking for the transformation, the end result. Yeah. That's what you're selling.
You're not selling the item, and that's really what marketing does. I I this is really, really, really good, and I think that a lot of people skip over The. Even people who have sales backgrounds like I do, you're right. It's hunting, and we get we get excited about that. Like, I actually love real hunting. Like, put the pack on. Let's go into the wilderness and and find us some. And let's make sure we don't bring a gun. Let's only bring a bow and arrow because that's harder.
They're like, Let's make the thing as difficult as possible. I love it. But marketing, like you said, it's it's just a very different process. It's setting it all up originally so that way, then the hunting actually is way easier. And it's like these 2 worlds almost like fighting against each other, but they should be working with each other. What would you say, is more important? Marketing or sales? Oh, that's a good question. Sales is, like, the square meals a day.
Like, you have to have it to eat type of thing, but marketing is the spice or the seasoning that makes it enjoyable. That's a good way to put it. Yeah. It's like Yeah. Can marketing is, like, the thing that just it's it constantly it's like the tug and pull. Like, they both need each other. Right? An organization that only focuses on sales. It's I mean, it's it's gonna make a lot of sales, obviously, but maybe they're not as connected with the customer and how they're understanding that.
So I really think man, you're putting me on the spot. I would say, I mean, I'm a marketer, so I would say Gathering. Marketing could become sales if you do, like, if you do good enough marketing, people will just come to you naturally. And being kind of its benevolent alpha type of thing where you just put now good content and people are like, hey. Where do I sign? Like, where can I do more business with you or where can I sign up?
I think I would say really good marketing could overcome just having a sales opportunity. Yeah. The what you just said at the end there, I I think has been probably a hard reality for me and probably a lot of really good salespeople. I mean, I've not only trained thousands of salespeople, but I've I've created courses and all that fun stuff. And so it's like, Okay. I like I really get it. I understand psychology, communication. I know how to walk somebody through the process, like, to the end.
Right? But what you just said is that it's not just like the lifeblood. Sales is the lifeblood. But if you have no leads or if you have no marketing or if you have no people, if you have no attention, You have nobody to sell to. So they they obviously are are hand in hand, but that marketing piece, what I think when I've really stepped back and, like, honed in on You know, the chicken or the egg, it's like, well, wait a second here. I could be a really good salesperson.
Okay. And I could make some things happen out of a few leads, which is typically what happens if you have bad Gathering, You have a good salesperson that knows how to prospect, which is technically marketing, but it's just the salesperson out there hunting. And and that's fine. But if you have good marketing that sets up that really good salesperson, it, like, explodes. Would you agree with this? Oh, absolutely.
Yeah. I always look, especially from the corporate marketing side, for whatever reason, sales and marketing hate each other. I'm like, you guys are doing the same thing. It's like customer acquisition. It's the same thing. Where I I see marketing as kind of the okay. The salespeople are hitting batting practice, and this marketing people are the soft tosser person throwing the ball up for the salesperson to smoke a nice home run.
Yeah. If they don't have a good toss, they're gonna hit it off to the side. It's not gonna go the right way, but if they can keep lobbing up softballs for people and just keep knocking it out of the park. I think really that's what it is. And and marketing, just building this pool of interested people, And, like I mentioned earlier, they're the liaison between the company and the customer.
They need to have the finger on the pulse and know exactly what problems are happening, what problems or concerns would make them switch to a new provider or buy a product or whatever. I mean, everybody that does, like, Target knows their mark their target audience. It's like, They're not Walmart. They are very clear about Chaz, and, like, they understand who their target audience is. They're not trying to say everything's The super cheapest because Walmart's already doing that.
So I think knowing who your customer is, who that core subset is, and just, like, laser focusing on Chaz, and then as the marketing happens, you'll get feedback from customers, whether it's social media or forms or whatever, and communicating all those things and the struggles to the sales team so The they can better speak the language.
Again, it's like they're kind of like a I wouldn't say support staff because that's not the right term, but they're definitely the Kings and ying and, like, you have to have both to have a really successful, bigger, larger company. That's right. What would you say last piece here on marketing for the for the, you know, listeners who are building a business? Maybe there are 7 figures. Maybe they're not. It doesn't I don't think that part really matters.
It's more so of just maybe, like, how much they understand, you know, this marketing piece. We hear what you just said, you know, like, knowing your avatar and or knowing your ideal customer, knowing what they like, what they don't like, or what you provide to The. And, like, we hear this a lot is my point. And it's like, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, we kinda like, yeah. Okay. Wolfe, you know, glance it over or glass it over.
But I've even just recently here going through this again myself, and I'm like, Oh, I could be more clear on this. I know these people, but I I could be more clear here, here, and here because I really know them, but there's a gap here in the understanding of what I do to be able to solve their problems. How important is this? This is such a basic thing. It's almost like marketing 101 is like, know who you're Target avatar or your target audience. But, like, it I think it gets missed over.
Like, I think a lot of people just yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is who I serve, and then they move on to the other cool marketing pieces it's actually probably more important than that. Would you agree with that? Would you would you have any hindsight here for us? Oh, 100%. Yeah. I would say, I mean, and and this helped a lot. Like I said, my agency Kings because I worked in the big agency. I knew I knew what they did, and they knew what they did. It's like large scale production. Right?
And we're not doing weddings. We're not doing real estate. Like, we only you large scale productions for other agencies or for large companies. Right? There were a lot of holes with that model that I saw. 1 was cash flow. You get large $100,000 project, and then you never hear from him again. It's like, well, crap. How are we gonna make payroll? But the other piece of it too is, like, knowing again how I position my business, it's like, Okay. Here's the market.
Here's the different buckets you can be. Here's the bucket I'm in, and here's the things that make us different. And people tell me that all time, oh, well, I'm shopping around for a couple diff I'm like, that's fine. But if you go talk to this person, here's what they're gonna say. Wolfe, while, like, knowing the market, knowing the difference shaders and just knowing where you fit in the grand scheme of your industry helps a lot.
Because then when people go out and they they go and they shop a little bit more, The have a sales process with another company or another service provider or another product. And then you're right. Everything you just said was right. It's like, oh, yeah. They did only talk about this, so they only, you know, Now you've built some credibility, and I always tell people too. Again, like, I my sales process is very The benevolent alpha type, like, you can do whatever you want.
Like, I'm just here to help type Kings, and it's interesting when you do that because people just get so discarded. They don't they realize you're not out there with a knife to their throat trying to get a sale. It's like, Right. I I don't need you to continue to be successful in business. Like, I've got a roster of people I'm working for already, but if you want to level up and do the things that we're doing over here, we're happy to have you.
You know, Kings of being being nonchalant about it, I think helps weigh more Chaz, and The just Kings, like, pushy about it and trying to really just push it down somebody's throat. Yeah. Understood. Okay. What keeps on keeping on this marketing vein? What's a good what's a good resource? Podcast, maybe it's your YouTube channel, maybe it's a book, or maybe something in all three categories. What would you recommend that we grab that we learn some some skills in marketing?
Sure. Yeah. In terms of book, I would say the one page marketing plan by Alan Gibbs, super great concept, just to simplify the hell out of your marketing. Everybody's trying to Well, I need to do Instagram. I need to do TikTok. I should write blogs, but it's, like, simplify it and down book's a really good one to look at because and the same thing we've been talking about Marketing is a function of sales. If it's not driving revenue to your bottom line, it's not Gathering.
You're just trying to do stuff to do stuff. Right? So that's a that's a great book. In terms of, like, videos and stuff. I mean, there's tons of podcasts out there. Yeah. I I think the book would probably be the best place to look for, and then I I do plenty of video marketing topics on my channel as well. So if you wanna check it out there, there's plenty of videos about how to use video in your marketing and stuff like that. Love that. Well, we'll put all that in the show notes as well.
And that way, they can check you out. Check out the book as well. I got a question for you about family. You've mentioned, you know, some some targets that you had around building a lifestyle for your family, but this a question will be a little bit different. I'm a fan of of obsession. Like, this is what we've done in our business. We've obsessed in order to be successful, and and I don't believe in balance.
And so that what that means is that I need to also obsess over my wife and obsess over my kids and all the other things that I love. Right? So my question to you is how have you been obsessive in your marriage or in your family? At the same time Chaz building this incredible business. Yeah. It's a great question. I would say, just being on the same page, there's some seasons in life where you're gonna be working a lot longer hours.
Long, harder, the growth periods, that type of thing, but also knowing that as a business owner, you have the flexibility to decide what you do with your time. So That's super key. I think for me, especially in the last year, my son was born, I took a lot more time off than I expected to, but because I had the business set up in a way that I can continue to grow it while I wasn't here with contractors and other things. It gave me the time to focus where I needed to focus.
So I think just having those nonnegotiables in your life are really important, and people Wolfe respect you a lot more if you're not just a pushover with your time. If somebody calls you on a Saturday at 11 and they're like, hey. I need this this report in my Monday. It's like, No. Like, my hours are this time, like, saying no is super powerful. So I think just having Yeah.
Things in place that are your non negotiables and the things you spend time on, But also knowing that if you're in that early building part of your business and you're listening, like, like, I did with my business, like, I didn't spend a whole lot of time with my wife during the week because I was just busting my butt, to try and get things paid and get things get the money coming in and get the business off the ground. So just knowing what season of life you're in, I think, is super key.
Yeah. No. I think that's absolutely right. It's interesting, about the, you know, the power of saying no is that oftentimes it's it's yes, but just on your terms. And, right, so, like, Saturday at 11, they, hey. We need this back, you know, as soon as possible. And, typically, when when we've been trained to say yes, We just say, yes. I'll get it done. We stop what we're doing. We just do it. For whatever reason, we don't know. It's not like they asked us to do it necessarily right now.
They just need it by Monday, but this is what we do. Chaz opposed to saying, absolutely. I'll get to that first thing Monday morning for you. Is that what you would like me to do first thing Monday morning for you? Yeah. And and then letting them decide how how priority it is, letting them know that the next availability that you have is Monday, 8 o'clock, or or whatever the scenario is. So I appreciate that, man. It's a poised answer, so I appreciate got one last question here for you.
Ryan, if you had the opportunity To whisper in the younger Ryan's ear. What would you tell that, dude? Jump earlier. I I was just so clung to my my full time job thinking that was security and safety. And the truth is, like, you you have to always bet on yourself. So I would say if I if I had to whisper a little earlier, it would be Be more strategic about growth, commit, verbally, tell people, like, I am leaving my job in the next 6 months.
I'm leaving in the next year, and I'm doing this thing. But more so than that, have a really clear vision for what you want the business to be when you're there. I was trying to just shoot anything and everything early on, like, you know, weddings, real estate, traveling all over the place. Know your lane. Like, for me, it's corporate and fitness. Those are the two things I shoot a ton of. And that's, again, a differentiator, but for me, I would say jump earlier and believe in yourself.
Trust trust in the process and know Chaz when you make your own luck in life, like, you're never gonna let yourself down. It's when it's always up to you, you will find a way. Yeah. Absolutely. It's interesting that that's what I congratulated you on, but it it is that you gave a really cool depiction there of It's not that it's not that you wouldn't have chosen prudence. It's that you just would have maybe pressed on the gas a little sooner so that you could have left a little sooner.
So I I actually really, really appreciate that perspective because it wasn't just no. I wish I would have been more reckless. Yeah. I would have just, like, drove it off the cliff and build the parachute on the way down type Kings. Yeah. Yeah. Which which could have been the answer, and I think for some, they have to do that. They they they have to whisper to themselves or to someone else, like, just jump. Just go. Who cares?
Some people need to hear that message too, but, you know, press on the gas sooner is is your message, and I and I and I appreciate that. Ryan, how can we find you? Number 1, you've kinda just identified fitness and corporate, but you also say you're you're this liaison between, like, agency and also Gathering, and you can Kings of facilitate both you know, strategy Chaz well as video. So tell us maybe who you serve the best or maybe some examples.
And that way, if they're listening, they can find you, then how to find Sure. Sure. Yeah. So I would say that my my sweet spot is definitely, like, larger corporate fitness industry clients. So whether that's, larger gym chains. I've shot with a lot of, like, down in Oklahoma. There's a a gym chain down there. The Wolfe locations. So we do all of their marketing for them. We go down for a whole day or a whole week and shoot. The entire quarters worth of videos in 4 days.
So we shoot, like, 30 or 40 videos in 4 days. That's really like The the sweet spot that my team and I focus on is We show up. We shut it down. We knock it out, and then we leave. That's Kings of the whole the whole focus there. But, again, the liaison between marketing and conversion. That's a really big thing for me. Corporate clients that are trying to figure out how the hell do we do marketing with video? Cause it's the it's the best way to communicate with people.
So that's really the the focus there. If you wanna learn more, snodmedia.com, we'll, I'm sure we'll put a link down below. You guys can check out some case studies, some The what people are doing, maybe learn a couple angles you could do for your business, even if we don't work together, but there's a bunch of stuff on my website they can learn.
And then if you wanna learn more about me, well, I'm actually launching my own podcast, which should be live when this comes out, it's called The Rhymes with Odd podcast since it rhymes with my last name. So and on that one, we interview business owners, people that have overcome crazy obstacles to achieve assess in life. So really excited about getting that off the ground and and going deeper with people. Well, I look forward to being a guest, Eric.
We haven't invited me, but I just invited you. Well, there you go. Yes. I appreciate, your willingness to share and just to be here and not only just give, but you guys some really practical stuff, man. I think that's your approach, the the, Wolfe you say, the benevolent alpha, I think, is actually well received. I think there's a lot of people in business that need to hear that message. To just go do the thing that you do Wolfe.
Make sure you're offering it and getting attention, but it's also it's also great just to just to be a giver because right Kings come back. And that's what I've I've got for you here today, man. You gave so much today and and write things Kings are gonna come back to you. We wish you nothing but blessing to your family and, your business, all your clients, and here in 2023. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me, man. Appreciate it. Thank you for listening to Gathering the The today.
I hope that you were able to pull out a few nuggets to go apply into your business right away. More importantly, though, I hope that you're realizing that it takes more to be successful than just being by yourself doing it all on The multiple different industries and now interviewing over 2 or 300 The very successful 7, 8, and 9 figure business owners is that It's tough to do it alone. And so gathering the Kings exists to bring together successful entrepreneurs.
In fact, we are putting together 1 1000 kings, specifically who are grateful, but not done. We're intentionally assembling kings who fight tooth and nail for their business, family, and communities, and here's what we believe Chaz in the pursuit of excellence in those areas, that it ignites within us the responsibility to govern power and forge a lasting legacy.
So if that relates and and resonates with you, and you know that you need people around you, sharp, qualified The very successful business owners. I want you to go to Gathering. Kings you to take a look at what we're doing and see if it makes sense for you to be part of our pursuit to 1000 kings. Talk soon.