Behind-The-Scenes Of Launching A Media Company
Listen in as Courtney Chow and Samantha Masinsin take us behind-the-scenes to get an insider look at the early days of launching a media company.
In this episode, Courtney, Samantha and I talked about...
- what is a media company
- the story behind why Courtney and Samantha formed a partnership
- the types of services they offer
- how they developed their company's launch plans
- the roller coaster ride of starting a whole new business
- why helping women have their own signature show is their main focus
...and much, much more
Things mentioned in this episode
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Free Launch Copy Map: https://www.saravartanian.com/launch-map
- Check out Swiftly Media's Signature Show on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBassWLqZO4L_480f9kFqyw
Learn More About Swiftly Media LLC
Swiftly Media LLC is a media company founded by two creative service providers and branding nerds, Sam and Courtney that meant in an online coaching program when we were starting our pandemic businesses helping people with Instagram marketing. They went from working side by side to collaborating on cohosting a podcast which grew into a YouTube and podcast content creation studio and agency.
They dream of working with female visionaries with goals of using their personal brands to unlock potential and opportunities with long-form content with a signature that they can be remembered for.
Connect with them on IG: instagram.com/swiftlymedia
Check out their Website: www.swiftlymedia.com
Read the full transcript so you don't miss a thing
Courtney: So our initial approach was actually to launch our services and to bring in some clients that we could start producing a show for them right away. But the reality is that there are a lot of mindset blocks that I personally experienced. And between the two of us, Sam is the competent salesperson like she does. It didn't need a lot. I was like, do we need a website? Do we need to have an Instagram? Do we need to have something? And Sam's Actually no, you just need to email people. But for me, it was a huge block of like, well, what are we showing them that we can do? So we considered well do we need to produce our show first. So we have our own YouTube now. And our concept or I guess our platform, and favorite is the signature show. And that is all about what we've been sharing, like building a show that you can become synonymous for.
You're listening to the launch playbook podcast, the weekly podcast for service based business owners to discover the starts, stops and tools, the transformation that go into launching their online offers. I'm your host, Sara Vartanian. And if you want to launch your ideas into the world faster, with more success and less burnout. Well friends, consider this show your secret playbook to get you there.
Sara: Today, I'm chatting with Courtney Chow and Sam Masinsin founders of Swiftly media. Sam and Courtney both have experience helping people with Instagram marketing, and they went from working side by side to collaborating and CO hosting a podcast, which grew into a YouTube and podcast content creation studio and agency. I recently met Courtney through another biz pal, I want to share that she was in the midst of launching a media company. While I thought it would be a really interesting conversation to get an insider look at the early days of launching a company. So here we are. Welcome Courtney and Sam, so excited to talk to you about this conversation. Thanks for joining us.
Sam: I am buzzing because we are in the middle of it all.
Courtney: Thanks for having us.
Sara: This is gonna be really fun. We've never talked to people as we've seen in the greenroom before we started recording. I've never spoken to anyone who's like, right in the midst of logging company always like later on 60 or 90 days out from a launch, but never actually a company we've done like products and offers. So this is gonna be really juicy. I can't wait to dive in here. So on that note, I'm going to jump in. So Courtney and Sam, you recently launched your media companies with Flynn media, let's get everyone on the same page, like what is a media company anyways?
Sam: Well, a media company as I see it, it's just like, a wide like publishing network, right? If you think of first and foremost, like cable networks, ABC, NBC, etc. They're like a huge conglomerate of like, just can't essentially content but published across different mediums that have different IP, etc. And there's multiple streams of revenue. Obviously, we're at the beginning of that, but so it's nowhere near that size. But the way that we envision it is really us kind of being the, the brains behind putting together these pieces of production that can create, again, the revenue streams of like, intellectual property, let's say, like Disney, they have like all their different channels, we'll take, let's say, just the Marvel Universe right now that they've actually accumulated. But do you see how they, they have like this one IP. And then they have the now show for pretty much all these characters individually, that all come together in a universe. That's what we're trying to create with our brand is like, telling stories, essentially, but all fitting into one universe.
Sara: Amazing. That makes so much sense. I love how you use the Marvel example. Because I think that's what they know a lot of us can understand or see. And it's, at least for me, my I have two boys, 10 and 12. And they're very into all of the individual shows. So they don't seem to end. So with this media company and the idea of pushing all this content and bring together are there certain types of stories that you're hoping to tell ours are a focus to who you are aiming to work with?
Courtney: Yeah, it's actually really important to know who you want to reach. And what are the things that are going to connect with them going back to like the cable network, focus, you know, Food Network is for people that love food, and that's going to be very different programming and content from and TV and even MTV is very different from BH one. So for us, we want to reach the female, thought leader, visionary who is really excited about the potential to expand their opportunities, whether it's speaking at conferences, getting their own showing the feature on an actual cable network publishing, or just building like a bigger practice if they're a coach or service provider, by really building out that personal brand and generating that connection. And the potential is that once you have bands, you can try a lot of different things. And one of our favorite examples is Joanna Gaines. She started with one show fixer upper, and they gained his Magnolia brand is in home furnishings, they have their own network now, they literally are basically running a town of Waco with all of their in person, places. And it all stems from their tastes making like people trust their taste. So our audience are people that they're not trying to necessarily be the next Joanna Gaines or trying to be somebody who already exists, but they know that they have a unique beliefs, a point of view and a powerful message. And they just want to be able to unlock what those opportunities could be
Sara: Amazing. That makes so much sense. So we tell us, Courtney and Sam, a little bit more about your journey to get here. So I know I you know, give a little detail in the intro there around how you both were working Instagram marketing, but how did you actually get to launch your media company from that?
Sam: That's a fun story. And as a, you know, Hallmark fan, I'm going to put a romantic twist on it. That would be fun for me. But unbeknownst to a an awesome business coach, she was actually playing match the day that she put up her sales page and said, Hey, creative entrepreneurs, come Come with me. And I'll coach you to your, you know, six figure creative agency. And Courtney and I raised our hands and said, yes, we want that lifestyle. And fast forward, we went through that program, we learned a lot of things. And we We kept in touch and actually started a mastermind with a third person that was also in that program. And that was actually that became the birth of our podcast. So minimum wage, and a plethora of collaborations followed suit. And personally, for me, I consume a lot of Gary Vee content. And one of the messages that stuck out to me was like, know, yourself, and I always felt like all the messages that I'm getting out there was like, oh, you know, do this do this. Like, it's kind of like to position you as the number one spot, like to be the the leader or top dog, the CEO. And, and I just felt like the pressure to do that. And that wasn't really my style. Ever since I even started on the internet. I was always like a team player, I was always like, I would always find someone who shared a shared interest with me. And then I was like, let's team up and makes the best thing out there. And what became of my design business for two years, I was just like, I don't know if I can grow like this or that I even want to. And so I'm so thankful that I found Courtney. And she was going through a similar thing. She had built her business. And we were just kind of passing, I don't want to say passing clients on we were sharing clients, ultimately. And I was just, you know, like, our clients needed both of us. Let's just work together. And when working together, we had like this energy. I was like, I want more of this. How do we work together? And so, as naturally, like, when you're trying to figure out your next move, we did some vision planning, like what do we want for life? What do we what do we really want to create? Like, do we want to, we want to be on Instagram forever? Because both of our businesses were really reliant on Instagram. And the truth was, we were like, No, we don't we have more to share. We have a desire to serve at a at a different level. Like, what's our vision? What how do we see that and ultimately, it's became what is now like swiftly media, we want to tell stories. And it just we just so lucked out that we have that shared vision, we have complementary skills and experiences. And we're both Taylor Swift Fans.
Courtney: Yeah, and key experimentation was we thought that we wanted to go into coaching. So we tried a group coaching program, it actually turns out that we're pretty good at like the teaching part of it. But it's always a relationship part that's a little bit harder, because we just want people to get those wins. And so we learned really quickly and importantly, that we want to help people create, but a lot of like the hard things like the technical things, it was much easier for us to do. And in the marketing of this group program. We were coming up with all these weekly Instagram show ideas. We had a weekly talk show, which was Tabby talks, and I said to say I'm like, what if this is what we did because we have no shortage of ideas, and all of our brain Jones would be like we shouldn't He says, and we should make this and we should make this. And like, we also knew, though, that we didn't want to be the talent in every single one of these show ideas. But we knew so many women that we were meeting where it's like, oh my gosh, this would be such a great idea for them. And so now, a lot of people that grow their brands on Instagram, you know, whether they're doing reels or they're growing in on Tik Tok, they start to branch into what is this modern media company structure where, you know, basically, they're just doing brand deals on their own. And like, that's kind of you know, then they're starting to build a team, where they're bringing on people to help them with that. So for us, we have this unique blend, where sometimes we can be in front of the camera, but we're pretty happy being behind the camera and nerding out over ideas. And really one conversation we've had multiple times is how do we take somebody that if you just give them a microphone, they're so captivating, and they could be like the Taylor Swift of their industry, if they just had the right marketing. And so as we continue to explore that idea, that's where we landed to where we are now, where we have our own shows to start with, that it really is our vision to have more people that we're supporting, creating content around. And in a sense, probably expanding out to brand and to advertisers. Because we have a network that we're really building.
Sara: That is an amazing vision that you have for the roadmap, let's say that you are hoping to go down, or will go down, I don't want to say hoping to go down will go down as things evolve. And as you move forward and bring in people to your your company, I love how you talked a lot about like the examples you both use, again, with Marvel and Joanna Gaines. And just seeing how this one spot we can start at can really bloom and blossom to all these possibilities. But you're right, so many people are trying to take that on themselves to manage. And it's a lie, right. And maybe we just want to like focus in our zone of genius. But we need a company like yours to come in and like help us actually get those possibilities and manage all of that. Because that's a whole other thing in itself. Like maybe not everyone wants to manage all those pieces, or has the tech and the talent to do so. But they're really good in their zone of genius. So I see how you're gonna help so many folks like bloom and explode and have all these possibilities be reached, because you'll have the ideas and the know how to actually execute them, which is so cool. So tell us about your launch. So how did you plan to launch the company? Like, how did that go?
Courtney: It has been messy. But at the end of the day, we were guided by the North Star that we just need to get out there. So we've considered a lot of different monetization strategies. And I like to say that, you know, there's eight, there's 24 hours in a day, for eight of them, we're sleeping, I sleep a solid eight hours a day, because I need to be completely on when it's time to VOB. And the rest of the time, we're trying to decide what do we try to get things to turn on. In a sense, that's kind of what it feels like, like an old car when you get the starter going. And you're like, Oh, we got to like sit there while before we can like, do a cross country drive. Because we just want to make sure everything is working. So our initial approach was actually to launch our services and to bring in some clients that we could start producing a show for them right away. But the reality is that there are a lot of mindset blocks that I personally experienced. And between the two of us, Sam is the competent salesperson like she does, it didn't need a lot. I was like, do we need a website? Do we need to have an Instagram? Do we need to have something and sans Actually, no, you just need to email people. But for me, it was a huge block of like, well, what are we showing them that we can do? So we considered well, do we need to produce our show first. So we have our own YouTube now. And our concept or I guess our platform and favorite is the signature show. And that is all about what we've been sharing, like building a show that you can become synonymous for. And so it made a lot of debates about what do we prioritize? Do we prioritize putting out our own IP? Do we prioritize getting clients because we need money to run the production? Do we bind the contractors that we want to work with so that we're free to have all of this time to kind of creatively put together our next batch. And then meanwhile, we had still minimum wage, which is our flagship podcast, sort of like in the back round, getting people booked on that show and kind of bringing it back because we took a long break as we were trying to figure out, are we going to do media? Are we going to keep doing services and really there's a lot of back into in terms of legally forming our partnership and being on the same page about how we want to run so I think we really started To make moves forward when I went to New York to meet Dan in person, for the first time in November, because we wanted to make sure that like the vibe, check what it was a pass before we literally legally signed paper. And it was actually amazing and really helpful to be together for two days. So the only photos we have in person, or like have the two of us together from those two days. And then from there, we decided to ideate. And what we ended up doing was brain dumping a lot of services that we could offer slimming that list down to three. So I mean, for entrepreneurs who always feel like you could do more, you could do a lot of things. But from our first two businesses, what we learned is don't offer too much like just focus on selling your signature service. So that is our signature show. And then you can branch out a little bit from there. But Sam was just always really good asking me like, why are we going to like, are we don't customize anything, don't go ala carte, like, just believe in like the framework that we have. So after we had that sort of solidified, it helped us hone in like what do we need to strategically spend our time on to create our IP. And so that's we usually do, we kind of started to create side by side. So Sam started to work on our YouTube channel. And that way, it would be helpful to show people what is a signature show and explaining it. And in that show, we actually do pitches and show amazing reels of like what someone's YouTube channel could look like. And then I took on the production is still a minimum wage, because it was a brand that had a beginning already it had a base, we could just continue to grow it instead of starting to build the audience from scratch. So we had to do a lot of backend work to be organized and understand what are our goals, what are our services, what kind of revenue do we need to bring in. And then that allowed us to hone in and focus our creative instead of it being like, ah, everywhere. And then in the meantime, we started a second podcast, which is called now calling Courtney. And it's an advice show that I do, which paired along with the personal brand that I had been building for the past year, just as like a fun venture, that it was another way to demonstrate our podcast editing skills. So we honed in on just those three services. And as we're producing, it's our portfolio for the work that we can do.
Sara: I love that you were talking about building this portfolio, because I think that's something that comes up a lot for entrepreneurs when they're starting, right. Like, if you're not new to business, either one of you been in it for a while. But when you're starting something new or a new offering, or making a pivot, that we feel like it's almost like we don't have all that stuff we did before it's sort of like gone or doesn't count, but it's not true. Like we're bringing it all to this venture, and whatever we're doing, and so you're I love that you're creating this body of work with your work. So during kind of meta there.
Sam: While we were discussing services, it was hard emotionally, because we've built up our businesses and our audience for those businesses. And I finally feel like, you know, because like, in my past, I was just kind of freelancing here and there. But this one, you know, with my design business, you know, I had the golden for me, it felt golden, like the SOP like had my process down, I had my prices locked, like, you know, I was confident in my pricing. And then I would increase it when appropriately. And it was just like, I felt like I had something good. And then so I don't want to say We butted heads. But we went back and forth a lot about like, oh, let's just have Instagram as like an option for one of our plaintiff services. And I was like, No, we you were passionately saying we don't want to do Instagram. And then also like, we feel like the services that we provide related to Instagram isn't like serving in the way that we feel called to serve anymore. And so it was just really hard to like, let go of that. So hopefully, you know, anyone who's listening could say like, yeah, if you feel called for some to serve in a different way at a higher level, it's not just like, yes, that's my calling. I'm ready for it. You know it, there's gonna be a lot of like, I don't know, Tao, like insecurity, just kind of like, oh, you know, that thing was so good. Am I really gonna leave or for something that I think might be better? Is the grass really greener? I can't say that we can answer that with like a heck yeah, the grass is greener. But I can say that in order to chase that new vision. You can't like, have the other one tagging along. An example of that is you know, when we while we were transitioning, we had already gone through the legal stuff. We had already started putting things together. People were coming to us for help. And we're excited to help them because we're like, yes, we're not we're not going back to starving. But ultimately, energetically and we looked at each other. We were like why, like why is this so hard to do something that we been doing for two years that's like, that is our bread and butter. Just to get through it, so that we can actually focus on our production that we really want to do. And ultimately, I think it's just like the energy, it's like if your energy is in, in the old place, but you're holding on to it, it's gonna block the energy that you need to move forward.
Sara: And gosh, I have been there and personally, and I've talked about a little bit on this podcast, but I no one was a social media manager. And a lot of my clients had moved into launching like they were launching these offers. And so I ended up like writing other launch copy and getting involved in launch copy and sales pages and all that stuff. And I did that for quite a few years. And I was more copywriter than social media manager, but I was still doing that social media management, but I really hated it. I hated Instagram, I hated doing it. And I like so much and at the end of 2019 I went to this like conference and I had told my my biz bestie who I went with I was like, I'm just so done with this. I kept like self sabotaging. And if you've done that, where like I kept like being late on deadlines and like, honestly, like staying up late like watching Netflix, when I knew that I like I can't function either according without like eight to 10 hours sleep like I'm just a mess. So like I was doing all these things to like, screw my deadlines over and I could just see it happening. My own worst enemy here. And it's because like, as you said, the energy like I really didn't want to do it. But I was scared to let it go because it was my bread and butter. It was like my retainer clients was I headed like a pretty good rate at that point. I was a sole supporter at that point, because my husband had come back to school for something so it felt like really scary. And I remember with my biz bestie and I was like, I just want to like be a launch copywriter. I don't want to do that anymore. And I was like, I don't feel like a copywriter. But I was in a conference full of copywriters and I talked to somebody and I'll give her a shout out Shanti Zak, she's a quiz copywriter. I remember talking to her about this. And I was like, Oh, I'm not really corporator. She's like, you write copy. You're a copywriter. Like you can call yourself that you can claim it. And so there was something about that I was felt energetic, there's an energetic shift for me there I remember when like almost like someone else had to bless it a little bit for me. And I went back and I let go of those clients. And it was really scary and not a great talk. Because I didn't talk to my partner about it. I was like, I'm just gonna, like, leave these contracts. But it had to be done because it was just like, if I you know, and one of them had already exploded because I had not been doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And I've never really talked about that. But like, you know what it was a good relationship got me to a crappy relationship because my energy wasn't there. So I can anyways always say can fully appreciate that, that feeling around needing to move on from something, and that your energy really dictates how things are going. And like, even though you can do it doesn't mean that you should be doing it for sure. This episode of the launch playbook podcast is brought to you by my free launch maps, your complete step by step map of all your launch assets. So you know exactly what messaging notes to hit, and when to share each piece of copy. Because I know that you have signed up for many freebies over the years only to be disappointed with the Canva PDF that really gave you any info. But I promise you the launch maps aren't that when I showed these to my OBM, she literally walked off the screen that I was giving away this for free. This is the exact launch Map Template I use for every single one of my one on one clients. And inside, you'll be able to personalize tweak and repeat a strategy for your messaging for each and every launch. From pre launch to post, go and get your free lunch map. www dot Sara vartanian.com/launch.map. So when you were setting all these, like launch goals, which is really like figuring out what you wanted to do to move forward to put your new offering out into the world. Did you have a timeline in place? Did you have certain action items in place? We talked to us about that as well?
Sam: Oh, yeah, the expectations were unreal. So at a certain point, we were done with client work and so we can full focus fully on production because we we did agree that we have to have a concept out there that people can see so that they can understand what we were talking about with the with the signature show. You know it was it was all implementing the structures that we drafted up that we intended for our clients that we were gonna serve and in following it through with our own show, and I don't know what you have to say about editing but it's always takes longer than what you thought I had. It will call for an upgrade on our equipment because I had my computer crashed a few times during production, but we postponing the premiere of our first episode by a week but honestly it wasn't it was better that way because that product I am super proud of we're super proud of. And you know, sometimes it just takes a little longer than you want. But now we're in, we're in the flow of things.
Courtney: And I think it's really important that we were able to ship things around knowing like, if shows, you're gonna get delayed, that there were other things that we could move up because there's two of us. And in launch mode, if you're not working with people full time, you just got to be scrappy. And for us, we learned that we work really well and like an agile kind of Sprint style. So here's our focus. And so basically, we've set aside the blocks to work on aspects of production. And as things moved around, like I would either pick up different aspects of it or whatnot. But there's, there's a lot of trial and our hope would have been not, we launched four episodes of our signature show in April, and then May, we're ready to talk to clients. Because, bam, here you go, Well, you know, we just are still in the middle of that process. But it actually creatively pushed me to launch my podcast, and to find my style of podcast editing. And I don't think that would have happened without the delay. But it was really important for us to experience the road bumps that we we know how to handle it, we kind of can see where we can adjust something, when we're working with clients, we have a little bit of a past presidents that we can follow. So it was really important for us to go through the signature show production process, before we put somebody through it. That was a paid client,
Sara: That makes so much sense. And I love how you called out. And so I hope listeners that you really took note of that the need to be flexible during a launch and that things take longer than you think I noticed this a few we've come back to over and over again in all two episodes. But it is so true. We hear it over and over again. And so I you know, admire that you both created this space to let that happen, right like in your sprint and your time off from other things so that you could just be in the launch, however it showed up or whatever, like, whatever unfolded that you were able to be agile and have that space because you weren't also trying to like deliver it to clients during that time. And I think that's where launches even like more fall apart. Or they get even like the energy of a launch is so hard, right? Like it's so hard to show up during this. It's a lot like as you said, Courtney, like your mindset around it. But I don't know about you guys, but do you? Do you feel the same? I know, I know. I always go up and down like dips and like, This is so great. This is really terrible. What am I doing? Have you both felt like that during this time? What's the point?
Courtney: Absolutely! Every other day and just last night, I had a breakdown. I like sat on the couch with my roommate. And I just started crying and I really cry. And I was like, This is really hard. Like I know it takes time. Like, every time I listen to Gary B talk to like one to two years. And my roommate looked at me and she's like, well, if you had asked me, I would have been like, this is exactly what I expected. And she just didn't realize everything that we'd been doing, like, behind the scenes. But yeah, I still definitely get like impostor syndrome, I walk around the house, you know, when I'm taking my breaks. And I'm like, I'm a producer now. And there's a little bit even of that fear of like how people are like, well, Courtney, what are you doing, like you were doing social media, you're a manager, then you were a strategist. And like, now you're like, doing what, but the thing is, me and Sam know, our vision for where we want to go. And the title is appropriate, whether or not we're there today, like we're not gonna get there fast. And I just had to remind myself, but especially like we talked about taking that break from working with clients is really scary. And, you know, I'll look and look at the numbers. And I'm like, I don't see any conversations that are on the books. And then then I feel a lot of pressure of like trying to generate some things. But it's it is a very different mindset from just everything you doing being for someone else, where a lot of what we're doing is to build out our platform for ourselves, and to start to plant some seeds that are going to bloom, whether it's in the form of Google Adsense or other partnerships for us. So there's a lot of feelings and frustration that happens pretty much I'd say every, like 48 hours or so.
Sara: I feel the same way. Sam, is it like that for you? Or is it?
Sam: Yeah, it's just easier to put up a front for me, because I'm like, I keep this together. But you know, it's been so bizarre because for pretty much my whole life. I saw myself as a designer for most like half of that time I saw myself as like a designer. So when I was making money, I was like, Well, I made it right. And now I'm like producer internally. That's really what I wanted, like design was a skill that I I don't know, I just picked up out of nowhere, but it came from my love of a television show. And so there's like that connect there and it wasn't until I really started producing signature show that I was like, Yes, I love this. And so the goal is now just to kind of off board, the editors. And I think for me, it would feel a little bit more in the right place. But yeah, every day I want to quit. So far. I'm just like, Courtney, why are we doing this? And I'm just like, what? I don't know. Like, this doesn't make any sense. But then I'm like, I'm really excited to work on this piece. So let's just focus on that. Let's get that done today. And I think at the end of the day, if you can say that you tried and you're proud of what you produce, then it's not for locks.
Sara: Absolutely. I hear you both of the feelings. Recently, when I was working on like, stuff that I was launching, I'm working on a rebrand for my business just like a visual rebrand. But I was just very filling, filling it a lot. I just had a lot of feelings. And I went to the couch. And I put on like FBI show. I usually like to watch like these action shows. But I was crying because I didn't want to I was crying my way through them. My husband's like, are you watching this is? Because that's huge. I'm like, no, no, I'm watching what's going on. I don't usually cry my way through like FBI. Like, I just have a lot of feelings. And I would try it. I didn't choose this as us to watch because I didn't like actually didn't want to sit there. But it was obviously it was gonna come out no matter what. It's like, just don't look at me. I just need some time to let go of those feelings and feel your feelings. But you think we we've all been we've we've all been there with those feelings. And we're all going to keep going there over and over again. I think no matter how long you've been in business, see me, Courtney, you work with people on producing their own shows signature show? Podcast Joe? How can you use these to support their business? Like what is? I know, you've talked about how you are using it to support your business as a portfolio as a showpiece show? It's possible, but how can we as business owners actually use them to grow our business or to reach other goals? We tell us a little bit about that.
Sam: Gladly, I'm excited. So I want you to think about Sara, you have a Netflix show. Okay, the whole point of your show is to tell your story, take a viewer on a journey, have maybe a transformation, and they come out of it, they have learned something they have changed as a person. And that's that's the goal of your show. And then your question is, well, how does that help support my launch, you have to think big picture. Typically, when you make content for smaller platforms, tick tock Instagram, you're just really just focused on selling one thing, your service. When you look at your show, you're selling your personal brand. So the idea is that if people fall in love with you through your show, they become fans, they want to support you, they may even want to work with you, you actually don't have more than one option and services to interact with them. So whether that be sharing a product of another company that you are aligned with and getting commissions from there. The other way of that is doing video advertisements through like Google Adsense or etc. You know, sponsorships, things like that. All can come from that series, your signature show, because you're not really selling anything on your show, you're selling yourself. And so anything that you promote in that, that nature has the opportunity to speak to your different types of audiences and at different points of time. Whereas like on social media, usually content is kind of like forgotten about the next day, you're lucky if it has a lifespan of a week. But with the series and we just talked about this, our second episode, like a series that was produced a year ago can still bring in new fans, years to come. And you're still promoting those same services, products, sponsored products, etc. And, and building your brand but also having more of a sustainable, multi faceted income streams.
Courtney: And a lot of that strategy can get is built into the format of your show and how to tastefully and strategically do these things so that it doesn't feel like an awkward product placement or an awkward forcing an exchange of money. And so in our show, as you can tell Sam loves talking about the monetization potential. We always include ideas for how this specific brand can use the show to either open up new income streams, or enhance the ones that they already have. Because also as marketers as business people, we understand that everything is to have ROI, that it's just a matter of really weaving it in with not only the storytelling but the presentation. So that feels native to the audience.
Sara: That makes much sense. I am curious, do you think that everybody has a signature show in them?
Sam: Ooh, oh, that's what I asked for, I'm gonna have to go with? No, because I think you really have to have a vision and a purpose for what you want your brand to represent, and the impact that you want to have for the people that you're meant to impact, right? Some people start businesses, because they don't want to boss and they want to, you know, make money and support their family. And that's where it stops. But I see that signature shows are vital for visionary entrepreneurs, because it's the story of our personal brand. And the stories of the people we want to impact that we share through our shows, is how we're really going to drive that message home in a way that isn't salesy. And it just feels kind of like a comfort watch. But internally, you're really building a bond with your audience.
Courtney: But I also think that not everybody has a book in them. Not everybody has a podcast, and we've worked with tons of people who actually don't like being in front of the camera, and I've spent a lot of time coaxing them. I think for signature show, there needs to be this confidence and who you are, and what you have to say that can be developed over time. But, you know, I think that there are lots of people that have something that they need to say, but there's always going to be different formats for communicating that, right.
Sara: And someone who's, let's say, reluctant to do a signature show because they're introverted, or they're nervous, or they're feeling impostor syndrome, but actually, they do have a vision. Can that be coax or supported out of them? Is that what you to do?
Sam: I think absolutely. And, and what the team, right? So we've definitely gotten on video more because we're on together versus and we both identify as as introverts, if we will. But yeah, I think it can definitely you, if you have a vision and your show, let's say format, and your audience aligns. I think it'll be less scary as an introvert could you're just like, so jazzed to talk about what you're talking about, or share that story that you're going to share? I think getting on video, or even like on audio with the mindset that you're going to sell something is what really triggers introverts to to kind of go back into their shell, in a signature show, you're not doing that, right. Yes, the monetization opportunities are, are there. But that's not what the show is selling. You're just selling your love for the thing that you care about in a way that is like digestible, for someone to consume, and make them feel good at the end. And so, signature is absolutely a great opportunity for introverts who do have that vision. But maybe they just don't know how they don't they don't see it come together yet. And that's where we can support them.
Sara: And what are some of the ways that you can support them?
Courtney: We take a lot of the burden of the editing off of the person that is, in a sense, we'll call them like the star. And for people that are unsure or have impostor syndrome, that editing process of having to hear your own voice, watch your own video can be what stops you before you even start. So working with us is basically working with a team that can give you feedback, and we're able to see what's the best of you? What are the highlights? Like what are the pieces and like the moments where we really see that brands shine, and we can highlight it. And then we cut away all the stuff that didn't work, and can give feedback in real time. And so when we actually do producing, like, we give that feedback to each other, I give that to people when I'm recording with them on podcast. So having that support in the actual creation, and then completely off boarding the whole uncomfortable feelings of, you know, watching the cringy stuff, like everyone has cringy stuff, but you don't need to process it. And in fact, you know, you get to really leverage, like our creative storytelling abilities. Sam is so good at graphically and visually displaying making a point. And we also like to say that we're actually pretty intense critics of content because we get bored easily. So you get to really get that feedback immediately instead of making this finished product that you don't really know how it's going to be perceived in the world, putting it out there and then getting that feedback. We go through a review process where we're checking for beats for checking for like our own retention. We have people in our network felt we can share content with to get that read before it's goes out to the world. And to make those edits by the that's sometimes why our own personal editing process has taken a little bit longer, because we want to get it to that point where we are going to keep the audience's attention. So whether we are literally producing and filming with you, or we're editing, we are looking for that quality and product.
Sara: That's so great to hear that you do all of those things. Like I just think as an introvert, I love that you are really taking off the stuff that like I know, I want to avoid. Like no one of which I don't want to hear myself, I don't want to see myself, but I will totally take feedback. But just don't make me hear it. Like let me hear my own stuff. But just tell me that for next time, it feels much more safe and comfortable, but also, like really supported. And I think I know when I started my podcast to definitely comfort to build up over time, and I'm sure that happens, like working with you. That will happen as well. But I definitely never wanted to hear it. I never considered video but now like, a year and a bit and I'm like, okay, maybe. Maybe this is a possibility actually like with the right support. So that's so amazing that you have those pieces like those loops built in? And do you also help with like scripting and, and like casting all the stuff?
Sam: Yeah. So from a creative perspective, we really want you to show up as a talent, do your thing. Speak, speak your genius, and then call it a day from the business and marketing perspective. This is where it gets kind of fun for us, because we love that stuff. And we can bring in our experience from our past businesses, is strategically titling things, coming up with the graphics for things is where our previous clients, we weren't able to help them because that just wasn't the scope of the work. But a lot of them struggled with how to title things to make them clickable and interesting. And that was like, we were just like, Ah, why don't you get it like, like, like, your, your genius is so great. And people need this. But then you write this title of like, here's my thing. And we're just like, oh my gosh, no one's gonna click on this, but it's so awesome. And that's a problem we definitely solve with our clients in our production. Because, you know, not only do we get to share your story, but we make sure like, people are gonna click on this, right? Yes, absolutely.
Sara: It reminds me as you both talked about how sometimes a deep pivot in businesses and launch new things, we almost feel like, all the stuff we did before doesn't like doesn't count anymore. But I can so see from what you're saying that all the all the stuff that you've both done, like Instagram and design, and all that experience that you bring, and it just enriches, we actually offer our clients. And I think for our listeners, I want you to remember that too, that even as you're pivoting and doing new offers, or something didn't work out and you retired it or you just don't love it anymore, that like those lessons, you still bring in enhance and enrich your business and the people that you want to work with. It's not for nothing, I guess that's what I want to say everything we do is for something, even if it doesn't feel like it right then for sure.
Courtney: I worked at Vox media as an account manager, which was my first taste of actually working for a publisher. And I will tell you, it was the hardest job I've ever had in my life. I I paid for it in many ways. But I know how to present a show and I know how to talk about the value that it brings. And I understand the inner workings. So even your corporate experience, not even in your entrepreneurial life will teach you things and you can leverage those and for the things that you aren't doing anymore. Sometimes it's just helpful to know, don't go that way, like, did it, try it, it doesn't work. That's why we're going in this new direction.
Sara: And on that note, if our listeners could only walk away with one thing from this episode, what do you hope it will be?
Sam: I think, for me, the key to a successful launch is connection. That's what we're trying to do with our company. And that's what kind of like our, our fight, you know, like everybody has like their Darth Vader, or whatever are just like, lack of connection and content. So whatever platform you decide to use to launch even upon multiple platforms, make sure that within your marketing, it's like there's connection there, you tell your story. You share your vision, your mission, and why you want to help the people that you want to help because at the end of the day, I've purchased things from leaders who I felt were going to lead me because they were they had the right values in place and they shared what those were to me.
Courtney: I can add a second one so that sounds one thing but my one thing would be something that I know Sarah you're very aligned with and that is to pay attention to where you feel your energy going and what feels feasible and don't feel locked in to a system or a framework just because a coach share it, there's a real lack of transparency into launches that people are selling, especially for marketing coaches, which is why I got out it was like definitely too meta for me. But when you find the way that you want to talk about your launch, and you don't feel resistance to it, double down on that and go hard, instead of trying to force yourself into these different, like puzzle shapes that are really not aligned with how you communicate, or how your audience communicates, and connecting it to Sam's point is, you need to go the pathway that's going to help you build connections. And if you are hating a method or a way, you're just not going to be talking to anybody, because people can sense the negativity. So that was something we had to learn was, we can't go out and sell this $3,000 package with nothing to show for it. Even though people say that you can just sell on email, no big deal for me, that was very misaligned. But now that our show is out there, I am sharing it. I emailed so many people about it, because I was really proud of what I was doing. So that would be no one thing.
Sara: Perfect. I like how he got to for one there.
Sam and Courtney: always is yes.
Sara: And so where can our listeners find out more about working with you both through swiftly media?
Courtney: Our YouTube series, your signature show is now out. And that is really what we want people to take in because they can see for themselves their own potential. We're also on Instagram, as we mentioned, we would like to break up with Instagram eventually. But you can always email us at Hey, at slippery media.com Our website is in the works. But we would just love even to brainstorm with anybody that has an idea and they want to get a little bit of feedback.
Sara: We will put those links in the show notes, of course, and I definitely encourage everyone to go check out your signature show and think about one whether one might be possible for you. So thank you both for joining me today on the launch playbook podcast.
Sam: Thank You!
Courtney: thanks.
Thanks for tuning into the launch playbook podcast. If you want to get weekly launch secrets in your ears. I hope you'll hit subscribe on iTunes you'll never miss an episode. Because who knows? It could reveal just a thing you've been looking for to make your next launch a success. And be sure to leave a five star review on iTunes telling me how this episode inspired your launch plans. Until next time, keep putting your big ideas out into the world. I'm rooting for you
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