301 How to Become a Successful Multi-Passionate Professional with Phil Chang
Phil Chang
Fractional CMO, COO. Co-host, co-founder of This Commerce Life Podcast. Co-founder of Old Growth Beverages
This week I'm sitting down with an incredible Canadian Entrepreneur and Marketing Expert named Phil Chang.
Phil is a Fractional CMO & COO and he helps small and medium businesses structure and grow, with his support!
He is also the Co-hosts of the This Commerce Life Podcast, which I am a HUGE fan of (and actually attended a live taping of, last year in Toronto!)
Phil is ALSO the co-founder of Old Growth Beverages (they sell microground teas).
Essentially, he is a multi-passionate entrepreneur that can teach you a lot about what it takes to be successful, do what you love, and to impact 1000's of lives through your work.
Enjoy my conversation with Phil Chang.
In this episode, we chat about...
Learn the key skills and strategies to take your brand to the next level
Master SEO Content Strategy from an experienced pro
Gain insight on the habits and tips for successful execution of your marketing strategy
Discover how to cultivate a bold yet effective online presence using Podcasting
Get personalized tips on how to build a brand as a Full Time Storyteller
To connect with Phil:
Access the transcript for this episode:
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You're listening to the visionary life podcast. I'm your host, Kelsey Reidl.
Each week, I'll bring you conversations with the most visionary humans on this earth, in hopes that you'll be able to absorb their wisdom, avoid their failures and feel less alone on the roller coaster ride that is entrepreneurship. This season, I'll be chatting with creative thinkers, masterful marketers, brick and mortar shop owners, brand builders, and people just like you who have a story to share or a vision that inspires. If I can share one quick secret with you before we get into the episode. It's that we all have a little bit of visionary inside of us, you know, that spark that nudges us to pursue our full potential in this lifetime. But perhaps somewhere along the line, it got covered up. I'm here to tell you that it's never too late to explore that inner voice and access the brilliance deep down inside of you. It's in you. It's in all of us. Let's dive in.Hey, visionaries. Welcome back to the show. Do you know when you meet someone and you just can't stop smiling, you love their energy, you love their authenticity? And you're like, maybe I can make this person be my friend. Well, that is today's guest, Phil Chang.
So Phil and I met at a health food event back in September, we were both hosting live podcast recordings, he hosts a podcast with a co host Kenny, and it's called this commerce life. It's an unscripted podcast dedicated to small businesses and entrepreneurs in the retail and consumer packaged goods space.
And I was there recording a live podcast with the mid day squares team, which was so much fun. And through that whole experience of being on site, being downtown Toronto and having a live audience. Phil and I really just we bonded quickly, we chatted, we laughed, we shared information, I was giving them podcasting tips, they were giving me tips. And through that we just kind of stayed in touch. And today I get to sit down with Phil just him and I and interview him. So he is a fractional cmo and CEO, he helps small businesses to structure and grow. And one thing that I so appreciate from him is that he's so knowledgeable about finance, about marketing about Operation around what it takes to succeed. He knows a lot about the digital marketing space. And not only does he help clients and practice, but he also gets to share stories with his students.
One of the schools he teaches that he shares stories on the podcast and his vision that he shares in this episode about where he sees his whole business going is mega inspiring. So I think you're really gonna love hearing about Phil's career path. He talks about his journey starting in a more traditional corporate career, working for Unilever and target and Johnson and Johnson.
And then he talks about this really cool job he got that had no job description, and kind of how that gave him the entrepreneurial bug. And then we talk about where he is today. So through this episode, I think you're gonna be inspired, you're gonna hear two friends who haven't seen each other in a while catching up. And it's just a fun episode. And at the end, we actually talk about a few Search Engine Optimization Tips, SEO for those of you who are like, Okay, I have this website, but it's not ranking on Google. Well, he's going to share a really simple tip that's going to help you to get your website from page whatever it is to page one. So I know you're gonna love the episode, you can find Phil at retail phil.com Or this commerce life.com. And other than that, let's get right into today's episode with Phil Chang.Phil, welcome to the visionary life podcast. I love that we are doing this and catching up after many months of not chatting because the way we met, it just will always resonate. And it impacted me so much. So we met in September at ch FA the Canadian Health Food Association event. And I sat in on your podcast live recording for this commerce life. And you and your co host Kenny, you were so engaging, you were so lit up and so alive. And what I loved was that you were interacting with the audience. Honestly, it felt like I had known you forever. But I was really just meeting you for really just met like 10 minutes before that, right? Yeah, and like just a few conversations that we had that day. I feel like we exchanged a lot of information and value and I just knew that you were someone I wanted to stay in touch with. So it's really cool to be able to sit down with you today. And now I get to even learn more about
Your backstory that I haven't discovered yet and share that publicly with our listeners. So thank you for being here. No, no. Are you kidding? I'm glad I listened to you all the time. And I love the podcast. I love what you do. And I'm saying to Kelsey off air that I just I love the energy, right? Because you're always fishing around for like, what is it? Right? Like, what is it that makes you turn and I love that so awesome. And we're gonna fish around for what makes you
Scary, scary. As a podcaster, you're gonna want to ask me questions, but I'm gonna be in charge today.
So excited. But okay, so the first thing I want to know, you are multi passionate, you teach all about digital marketing, you have a podcast called this commerce life, you also act as a fractional cmo and see oh, why is it that you're so alive with passion? And how come you didn't just choose one career path? Like to become a doctor and just stay in a lane? Like, what is it about doing multiple things that really resonates with you? I think, to me, it's like, I just, I have a lot of, I think I get bored, easiest, probably the simplest answer is I get bored, easy. And then I don't think I'm an easy guy, for organizations to handle when I'm bored. Because I just I want to do things, I see things that want to get done. And there might not be my my swim lane. And that really, like kind of rubs people the wrong way.
Right? So I think the cadence I have now is, it's, it's really interesting, because it feeds each portion, you know, so as a fractional CMO, I'm out there, I'm helping brands, I'm helping wholesalers, I'm helping people who need to fix their marketing problems. And then that in turn feeds like material that I use for the classes, right? Because, you know, I teach digital marketing classes, they always want to know practically, you know, what's happening here, what's happening there, and then having real life examples really helps a lot. And then that, in turn, turns into a curiosity around. What else is everybody doing? Right? What other things are brands doing? Right? So I think that's, you know, it's kind of a really neat three legged kind of stool that I have going, I'm really lucky to get here. I don't know, if I could have designed it any better. If I had to I actually I'm sure if I intended, I would have screwed it up for sure.
But where it is right now, I really love it. So I love it. Yeah, it's almost like you've got this little ecosystem where the experience you get by working with companies feeds into the teaching, yeah, into you feeling energized enough to share on a podcast and it all kind of comes full circle. So it's neat that one thing feeds the next. And that's probably what keeps you so motivated as an entrepreneur is that everything is kind of working together. And you're never bored.never bored is a key definitely. For me, that's definitely a thing. Yeah. But I know that you actually came from a more traditional background. So I think I saw that you worked for Unilever and target and Johnson and Johnson. So you did actually start in a more traditional career path. What was it that eventually had you saying, I'm done with more of the nine to five, and I'm ready to take a chance on myself and build out my own path? Um, I think so. Through all those, those companies, I've always been attracted to new and I've always been attracted to, quite frankly, jobs that nobody else wants. Yeah, it's really true, like, so when I was when I was at, when I was at Kimberly Clark Denine. I worked for Don, the yogurt company. And one of the, you know, the job was to help set up Walmart in Canada. So I'm definitely dating myself. But at that time, Walmart was just expanding their pantries.
And nobody like it was kind of this icky, grungy job, right? Because you got some sales experience, you got kicked around by Walmart. If you didn't understand the Walmart world, it wasn't going to work. But you also had to figure out how to manage to Nan, which is kind of like this, you know, there were a number one yogurt company that knew they were number one. And so they kind of walked around with a bit of a swagger. And you know, and so, like, everybody who looked at the job when I'm not taking it, and I went cool, it's hard and it's weird, and nobody's done it before I want to do it. And then when I left and on and went to j&j, one of the jobs that was open was believe it like, I have this weird.I have this weird history with women's health. So I know a lot about pads, tampons, aligners, probably more than any guy should ever know. But, like feminine hygiene and feminine care at j&j was the same sort of thing because we had stay free, carefree OB
Which wasn't doing very well. And everyone was like, nobody wants that job. And I was like, I'll take it like, it's hard. And it's weird. And nobody wants it. Of course, I'll do it. Right. And then my last job in j&j was a global franchise role. And there was no job description, right? And so everyone was like, No, don't do that. Like, there's no job description. What was you? And I'm like, I'll just write a job description. Right?
You know, so. So like, I think, I think that, um, that always powered me through the big company jobs. And then, like, target was obvious. Nobody had opened a retailer in Canada and longtime. So I went and did that. And then the job I went to after that was the one that really broke it for me, because it was a retail startup called hubba. And we went there. And literally, it was like, What are you? I'm a retail expert. What do you do here? Don't know.
You know, and I turned into like an ambassador for the company, I wound up going out to do speaking gigs. And we had done a podcast there called shelf space for a while. And so I just got into, again, all these things that I had no idea how to do. But I really love that right. And then that made me go, I don't want to go back to a conventional job. Like, I don't think I can now. And so I just started, you know, working with brands on my own right. So yeah, yeah, so cool. And I think once you have a taste of writing your own job description, there's like a subset of the population. Like, that sounds like hell on earth. I want someone to tell me what to do. Yeah. But I think for certain people who are the entrepreneurial personality type, they're like, ooh, bingo.Yeah. And it feels very liberating and empowering. And I'm sure there were things that you had to deliver on and report to, but just this idea of being able to create from scratch, it's like that either makes you shut down and want to run into a dark hole. Or it's like, wow, this is like what I meant to be doing. And
yeah, you and I are putting our hands up.
job description. So yeah, I think that's really cool that you got a taste of that in corporate, but that probably gave you a little bit of a spark of like, Hey, maybe I could do something on my own. If I'm capable of this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was pretty cool. So when you decided to officially leave the corporate world? What was that journey? Like? Did everything just unfold easily for you was it like this rocky, up and down roller coaster ride, because I know, a lot of our listeners are in that place where they do work full time. But that's not their end goal. But they can't really see the other world where they would be making money and doing what they love. So it's like, what was that transition like for you give us some hope of what it actually looks like, oh, my gosh, so So the beginning is really hard. Like, I won't lie about any bit. So I saved up, I read all the stuff, you know, save up kind of six months of income,
you know, all of those sort of things. And I come from a tech startup. So I knew what burn rates look like, I knew how to kind of like, try manage some of the funds I had, and things like that. But like day one, you know, you kind of go, Okay, I'm open. And then you know, like, I'm a corporate guy. And then I went into startup, so used to getting emails used to getting, you know, and so you're kind of like looking at your Gmail going,
Oh, can you see me? Oh, it's spam. You don't like and it's like that for a while, right? Because you realize, like, holy crap, there's nobody looking at me, there's nobody thinking about me.
You know, and then you have to start, you know, you really do have, you really do everything on your own. So you kind of have to start marketing. So you need to start talking about what you do. How you want to do what you love, what you don't love, and you need to figure out all the things that you would for your brand, like, but you yourself, when you start, you got to think about all those things, right? Like, who do you want to talk to you? What do you want to say? Who's going to be interested? Right? And then you have to have a lot of faith right? Because it takes some time. And then usually the first few asks like you're so excited you jump on them and then you realize later like, No, these are bad fits for me or these are things I shouldn't be doing. But in the beginning you're just so happy right that somebody is there. So there's a lot of that right so it's kind of a lonely road at the beginning. But once you get momentum
it's pretty cool. Like I you know, don't get me wrong, right like so even today. I still have anxious moments, right? Like you don't get paid on time. You know, you got to put out invoices you know, somebody a client is you know, wondering if you should have done more you know, you're wondering you should have done more there are all these things out there. But I love I love this like I love being out there I love you know, kind of all of it right like interacting, finding new clients letting go
with old ones, all of these things are super cool. You just that you do in the beginning, it's very lonely. And you just gotta stay on it usually takes like six months ish really does, right? It takes six months for, you know, things to pick up and move.
That's my experience. I want to ask you, but I don't it's your podcast, so I don't know.
So, so tell me about like, was it? What was your experience? Like getting into because you? You are,
you're, I feel like you're so much more inspiring in the way you do it day to day you carry this serious sense of energy about you. But was the beginning like that, like Did Did you always have this vision of being who you are now are?
Visionaries I've been scheming something new for you with my friend and professional mindset coach Emily Eliot. It's called your 2023 leap. And it is a highly anticipated program created by myself, a marketing coach, and Emily Elliot, a professional mindset Coach, your 2023 leap is the most practical and effective way to change the way you do business and life in 2023. And beyond, this is a program where you'll get tools every single week that are literally going to change how you interact with this world and how you earn in this world. Combined, Emily and I have worked with 1000s of women. And now you can get 12 weeks of access to us alongside a group of peers for a very, very low cost. And I'll talk about that more in a minute. But don't sign up yet. First, I want to ensure that you're ready for what's to come. So I want to make sure you're ready to actually master your entrepreneurial mindset, you're not going to be someone who is okay with the status quo, okay, making what you used to make in your corporate job, I want to make sure you're ready to implement marketing strategies to that are going to connect you with the growth and the unlimited clients you're looking for in just 90 days, I also want to make sure you're ready to take big leaps in your personal goals. So we know that as we grow personally, we also grow professionally. So if you're experiencing a block, maybe it's because of how you grew up, or something that's been downloaded onto you, it is affecting your capacity to grow your business. So we're going to teach you science back techniques to undo the blocks, break through them, and then apply the right techniques to actually see your business or I want to make sure you're ready to use social media to convert clients to build simple sales funnels, no complication here, that's not my vibe, I'm going to teach you how to use Google and SEO, which is going to be your long term strategy for getting more clients and patients and people into your business. And you also need to be ready to be surrounded by a group of people who have a fire under their butt who are ready to 2x 5x or 10x, their success, their confidence and the client bookings in 2023. If you don't like being around people who are kicking ass and winning in life, this group is not for you. So if you join your 2023 Leap, and if you're ready to join right now go to Kelsey rydell.com/ 2023. But you're gonna save time, you're gonna Equip yourself essentially, with a million dollar Mindset and Marketing strategies to get yourself to your version of success in limited time. So we're saving you time when you join this program, you're gonna save money, because normally if you were to hire both Emily and I, so Emily, as your mindset coach me as your marketing consultant, we would charge you more than $12,000. So it's not affordable for a lot of people at their stage of business. However, you can join your 2023 leap for less than $3,000. And we even have payment plans to make it super accessible, so that you'll earn the money back in the course. And we're gonna save you energy because group momentum is real. I've been part of so many great group coaching programs, and you're among expanders so you show up to the weekly call. Everybody shares their wins or successes. And of course, there's time to share challenges. And then we work through it. And then the wheel starts rolling really fast. Because you hear that Sarah just had her first time k month, you hear that Kristen has grown her practice by 36%. You hear that Taryn just tripled her application rate, it's insane. And you're gonna go out and chase that too. So don't wait a minute longer. Your 2023 leap is for 20 individuals who want to access the tools and the techniques they need to reach their 2023 goals in business. We're going to be meeting on Zoom one time weekly for 90 minutes for 12 consecutive weeks. And there's constant support in between so you have access to Emily and I for 90 days. You could literally message us every day over the 90 days and get full access squeeze that value of $12,000 out. We are so excited. This is going to be gamed
changing. And you can learn more and sign up at Kelsey rydell.com/ 2023. Our final cohort of the year starts on Wednesday, September 13. We're about half full already. So don't sleep on it head to Kelsey rydell.com/ 2023. Link is in the show notes and apply for a free discovery call. How did oh, yeah, it's such a deep question, because I just remember this feeling. So I used to work for some health food companies in their marketing department. And I remember my last corporate job for Garden of Life, such a great company, very progressive, really fun culture. But I still would walk in there every day and just feel like a shell of myself. And I couldn't quite pinpoint like, what am I supposed to do? Instead? I've got to make money. Why am I unhappy with a quote unquote, dream job? And people telling me oh, wow, like, you really found the best possible position for you. Yet, I still didn't feel like I was thriving or happy or doing what I wanted to do. And so for me, like, I kind of thought, what are my alternatives because I had bills to pay. And I knew that going freelance was an option. And at that time, 10 years ago, a lot of companies they couldn't necessarily figure out whether they needed a full time social media person, because social media was new. But they wanted somebody to like, tell them like, do I need to be on Instagram? What about Facebook strategy? What about Facebook ads. So I was able to pick up clients and eventually go freelance full time, but it took about a year until I was able to do that full time. In the meantime, I was teaching fitness classes, I had a little e commerce business on the side, like, I had to mitigate risk, because the clients didn't come pouring in, even though I was in the industry, even though like I was getting out to events, but you don't always just snap your fingers and have a thriving business. And I think, like we have to set realistic expectations that it does take time to build relationships and nurture them. And to get to the point where somebody says, I want to pay you for your work, sometimes they need to see you demonstrate your skills first. So yeah, not only was it you know, at least a year until I filled my client roster, but it was also like you said a very lonely time because all my friends were in standard nine to five. And I was in this new world where I was like, I'm responsible for everything.
When you're trying to learn, like how do I do sales, marketing admin, and then actually output work for my clients. So yeah, it was just this whole beast that if I wasn't willing to learn and experiment and, you know, go through the challenges, I don't think I would be here. But to me that excited me it was like, hey, at least I don't have to walk into that office at 8:59am every day. And that's the best thing. So yeah, it makes like want to work hard and, and keep on this more free path that I was creating for myself. Even though I was working longer and harder than ever. It felt more free than ever. I don't know if you relate to that. Yeah, I really do. I do. Yeah, cuz I don't mind a mind that like, I've just come back from being in San Fran and then New York. And some of it was personal. Some of it was business, but you kind of like, you know, like, what would I tell friends? I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm just working on some stuff. They're always sucks that you're working. And I, I always tell them it. I don't see it that way. Right. Like, to me, it's a blended, you know, lifestyle. Plus, you know, like, you have to have moments. I see your SRM. So I know you've you're really good at segmenting out your recreation time versus your work time. But But I do think it's important, but I love that lifestyle. Like I love being able to, you know, like, I took time out to go water the garden today and run around with a dog right? You kind of go 95 I don't always feel like I have that license. Right? Like I'm, you know, I'm working. I'm sitting at my desk and grinding this one. And sit on the patio is totally cool. And yeah, you know?
Yeah. So you know, you've had a lot of experience not only in building your own business, but also in chatting with a lot of business owners. I know at this point, you've recorded more than 300 I think episodes of this commerce life. you're out and about chatting with a lot of business owners, people who have consumer packaged goods or in the retail space, and you yourself are in it to and I am very curious, do you see any common success traits or trends in what makes a business or an individual Thrive versus kind of give up in hard times? What are some of these success clues that maybe you've picked up on over the last
After many years of being in it and chatting with so many business owners, I'm the one that's really not sexy.
You know, because they're probably some really cool ones. But the basic one that's not cool and not sexy, but it's so critical is like financial, like some financial acumen. So understanding what realistically works and what doesn't work. You know, when is it sustainable? When is it not? I think that's critically important. And, you know, for the founders that, you know, they make it because they are able to parse the math and just figure out like, I can't do it this way. This is not economically viable, I need to find another option. So I think that one to me is the first one. Like, you know, nobody ever talks about, it's not the lead on any podcast. Oh, you know, financial acumen is what makes it but it's critically important. I think, I think the one that comes with that is tenacity. So when you figure out, I can do the math on this, like, I can retail this I can do the math on the retail, is when you see them kind of like light up and go, right, because that's when they go, I don't care, like I'm gonna be a crazy person and just zero in on this thing, this solution I'm creating, that's I know somebody's gonna need. And that's when like, the really cool stuff happens, right? Because they get really really fixated.
Care, Karen,
I cannot say her last name, but Karen, who runs bloom,
as she, she talks, we just had her on a fast. So we didn't, we didn't haven't even had the full interview with her. She talked about covering 1200 stores by herself. Until she hired her first salesperson, I was just like, holy crap, I like it. And I think that's, you know, like, that's the combo. That's the, I know that financially This is viable, right. So I don't lose any money at this. And then she just went out and started like persuading people that it was the right thing to do, right is to carry her stuff. And she's not like, if you meet her, she's, like, amazing, like, there's nothing, she's not a crazy person like that she wouldn't be psychotic, or, you know, like someone that you would go by it. So she gets out of my store, you literally you'd be like, I'll buy it, but you're gonna stay here and talk to me all day, because you're super cool, right? So I just like I think those traits are the ones that really are really amazing, because that that is what you know, really kind of like sets people apart. Mm hmm. Yeah, it's really interesting what you say about being fixated and like really zeroing in on your product or your offering. Because I think, just based on what I see, in the people, I work with a lot of them, they have kind of like this squirrel brain, and they're like, I'm gonna launch this, and then I'm going to launch this, and then we're gonna go start this company, which is going to be over fueling this company. And it's like, they are so scattered, that nothing really ends up taking off, but kind of what you're saying is like, go all in on that thing. And like, get 1500 retailers to believe in you and to stock that product on the shelf and to be hyper focused until you reach a big goal. Because I think that's kind of what it takes in order to see one idea to its full potential versus giving 10% of your effort to 10 Different ideas all at once. Yeah.
Which Yeah, I don't know that a lot of people talk about that. It's like, really pick that thing and go all in and have conviction. That that is what you're here to do and create and to talk about in this lifetime. I think it's about demystifying some of the startup language to write because when you when you look at startups that make it they all say the same thing. They all go, well, we built this and then we realized that that is tied to this right, which is where you get all these kind of like ancillary, but the truth is, is like they, they tell that story, because they've already made it and they've had a chance to refine the story. But what you're not seeing is the time lapse, right? Of what happens, right? Because you really, yes, they do all those things. But you need to go deep on the one thing first, right? So you need to like as you need to have something to build the rest of the ecosystem around. So if you build an entire ecosystem that has no depth to it, you're not going to make it right. So I think you're right. Nobody talks about that ever. But but that is the thing, right is you've got to be able to do that. So yeah, yeah. And something where you've demonstrated that in building a lot of depth is in building out your podcast platform where you tell the stories of entrepreneurs and talk to people. And like I mentioned earlier, you've recorded over 300
episodes? What is it about that medium? Why did you choose podcasting initially? And why have you stuck with it for so long? Like, what does it mean to you? Or why does it light you up? Um,
you know, so the joke would tell us one, because you can see me and you can see Kelsey. So this face is made for radio, it's not really made for video. But I think that in the beginning, it was also a less complex format, because I could focus on one thing, right, so I could focus on the story that we wanted to tell. And then I could focus on the quality of the audio, and not worry about you know, because when you start getting into like content, everything matters, right? Like how you shoot video, the lights, the sound, the, you know, like Kelsey and I both have headphones on, we have different mics. But if you try to take my mic away, I might try and kill you. I suspect Kelsey is the same. You know, like, so it's like, there are things that you like, there's just so many things, right? And so in the early days, it was like, No, this is really simple, right? So I keep it to audio. I can focus on the story, Kenny, and I can focus on the chemistry we need to gather and then you know, and then refining that and then one medium, right? So that we could just manage, you know, all of these things. Right? So and then, honestly, it's, um, sometimes I find videos, this is distracting, right? Because the story is the story. And so if you're kind of like worried about all these other things, sometimes I like not everybody's like that. For me. It was like, I don't want to worry about everything. I just, I want to hear the story. Like I can hear it. I know what I'm pulling on. I know what I want to get out of the interview. So that's what I'm kind of looking for all the time. Do you envision like the next step of the podcast being adding video and maybe doing more to grow the brand? And if so, what is your vision for? Let's say, the next few years of your personal brand this commerce life? Like, where do you see it going? And what would you like to see come to life. So all the things I love doing, what I want to be able to do is to tell stories full time, so I that's what I want to do so and to me now that I'm I'm at this point, I I want to be unlimited in the format's I tell them in and in the durations or the you know, the way I deliver it. So I see, you know, some some books coming to life, because we've talked to enough brands now to be able to track some trends and talk about some really cool things that we see out of those folks. I also see us, you know, both Kenny and I have retail in our background, and we were idiots in store, right? Like if you put us in a store you just like the poor store owner, because the two of us kind of go nuts, right? You're like, why did you put that there? Why you go? Why is that there? Or you should move stuff around, right. And I think I would love to bring a camera in to a store with us so that they can see what we're thinking about how we see shelves, because I don't think I don't think, you know, with online today and everything we do online, like there's still an art to bricks and mortar that that is there that I don't think it will ever go away. Right. So I want to be able to tell some of those stories too, which would be really cool. So exciting. And I know with the rise of YouTube, too, like I spend so much time consuming YouTube and podcasts like yeah, it's actually scary. But that's what how I love consuming. And that's how I love learning and feeling less alone in my workday and connecting with people. And yeah, like the humor you guys bring to the podcast. If I saw that on vlog form or in YouTube form. I feel like I would feel even more connected. I'm right there with ya. So yeah, I totally see that for you guys bringing the vlog camera around and just documenting very freeform. But yeah, obviously that comes with a level of work and editing and organizing footage. But it's really cool to hear you express the vision of telling stories full time because yeah, I feel like even as you know, social media and content platforms change, you'll still always find a way to do that. Right? Yeah, I think so. I hope so. Right? Because I do think we just have some just, I mean, you've had some of these guys on your podcast, right? But some of these folks are just so amazing and what they do, and then some of the ones that you think aren't supposed to make it because they go weird places and do like what you would never recommend people do and they make it right. So it's just, you know,
they're so amazing. Yeah. So cool. And just being a curious person, which I think you are as well as I am it's so fun to be able to extract the stories and the tips and the tricks and yeah, just to start identifying
trends and really starting to like, piece together our own ideas of what it takes and what's realistic and then tell those stories. Yeah, cool. Yeah, yeah. So I'm very curious because we talked about some of the success through lines that you've seen with the entrepreneurs you've worked with and the people you've talked to. I'd also love to go to the other end of the spectrum, which is what are some of the common challenges or even things that you wish small business owners or retailers could know about achieving their next level of growth? Like what are a lot of people not opened up to? Or they simply just don't know about growth in business? My gosh.
I think the thing that I see the most, and it's a real marketing problem is when you are an owner, founder and you're you're doing the business, you internalize a lot of things like it's a lonely, you know, we talked about how lonely it is in the beginning. And then you forget that you have to verbalize things, right. So, so often you get a brand where they do amazing things, and you realize, you're not talking about anything like you've you figured out the three things that you like some benefits you want to talk about, but you don't actually talk about, like, it's almost like they haven't they've lost the focus on how do I sharpen the communication to the consumer? How does How do I? How do I packages in a way that the consumer understands what I'm solving, right?
That's a really, really common, I mean, it's common enough that it pays for part of my living so yep. You know, right. But But I do think that's a really common thing is,
you know, founders forget how to do that. And then I think the other thing is founders forget that. They're the they're the experts, right? You can't talk to everybody, like they're the expert, you gotta go the other way.
Usually, when I talk to founders, and it's sometimes it pisses them off, right? But I'll literally come at it like a dummy, right? Like, why? What am I searching for? So when I search for things, how do I run into you? Like, you know, what am I searching for? You know, that gets me there? Can I find you in five Google searches? You know, those sorts of things? Right? That, you know, it always makes an owner go, Wait, I don't know if you can do well.
Somebody has to be able to find you. That's the game we all play, right is how fast can I find you in a Google search. So if I can't find you in four or five Google searches, then may be we need to, you know, simplify your problem a little bit more. So you can be found, right? So
I think the tendency and human nature is just to like, use a lot of jargon, when we're not 100% clear on what problem we solve, or what we're selling. And what we need to do is do the opposite, which is like, bring it back to like grade six language like, or the person who has their phone in their hand, and they have a short attention span. And they're like, I need Jean overalls, like, yeah, what are those words that it's just like, I have two seconds to type this in and to find my solution? Like, what is it that those two to three words are and like to simplify it to that level? Versus being like, Well, we made this I reviewed a product that addresses complex hormonal system and like, but no, for that, and like, I don't understand, what is this product for? Or like, how does it solve my, you know, my energy? Crisis? Yeah, low energy, right. So it's just going back to basics, almost, which I feel like it's really hard for people when they're used to explaining and roundabout phrases like, all the wonderful scientific benefits of a product. Yeah, that's 100%. Right. Right. Like I really do, I think, you gotta go back and just say, if, if I weren't me, right, so or give the assignment to, you know, someone you know, that's in high school, right? And just say,
look at like, how would you find, you know, don't show them your product? Just say, you know, how would you find this? Right? So if you're looking for a plant based protein that tastes like chicken fajita? Right, like, how do you how do you find it right? Like and let them go at it right? And then and then don't be mad when your results don't show up, like figure out when other people show up? How do they get there? Right? How do we do that? Right? So we can also show up in the same places, right? So and while I have you on this topic, because I know you are really good with search engine optimization and navigating. I love us. I don't know if I'm really good, but Well, you're a little more nerdy than most on this topic. Okay, so I'll accept that. You know, for the listener who maybe has a website set up and they know kind of like the basic keywords like when somebody types in
Dark Chocolate made in Canada, they want to show up. But now they're thinking, Okay, well, now I want to like get on page one. And so maybe I activate a blog or maybe I pay for PR, like, what are some tips for them to continue to increase the visibility of their website? If they have limited resources, and they can't just like outsource their SEO strategy? What should they do next to get their website more visible? So consistency is one thing. So if you're going to talk about dark chocolate, every moment that you can do it without being crazy about it. So if I want a dark chocolate, I can't just say, Kelsey, I'd love dark chocolate. Oh, have you tried dark chocolate? Have you tried it? You can't do that. But if you keep the conversation consistent, and you stay fixated on dark chocolate,
the algorithm or the Google spider will figure that out, right? They'll figure out, hey, this person is pretty fixated on dark chocolate. So I should keep talking about it. So that's the first thing is consistency is huge. The second is the blog is really great.
And don't go Why go deep, right? Get really fixated again, right. So if you're making a dark chocolate product, what else you know goes with that dark chocolate. So what other people eat with dark chocolate? What else do you make that dark chocolate bar with all of those things. They kind of like gather momentum for you. And it helps you kind of, you know, kind of to get found right and then talking about it everywhere. You can find it and socials and Twitter and blog posts. If you can get yourself featured and other people's blog posts, all of those things matter. It helps you you know, keep pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, right. And then if you get really, you get really picky about it, you should be looking at your site. So all your pictures like all of those things need descriptions. Without them again, Google kind of it'll give you a an okay, ranking, but the more thorough you are about it, the better your ranks are going to be. Right. So
a whole complicated world, but I guess that's why people work with experts like yourself, right. And it's important, because if you don't know, the single first thing, and you're missing out on a lot of potential customers, because your website simply doesn't show up. When so many people use Google, I think it's a missed opportunity that people are remiss not to take advantage of. Yeah, yeah. But it's, it's, um, if you think of it, like, if you think of the principles, and you stay consistent, you keep talking about it, you can do this, like if you're thinking or have enough cash, it isn't always a cash issue, right. So if you're gonna put some blood, sweat and tears into this, the minute you start hitting like page three, you start to see organic traffic, right. And so, you know, for small businesses, it's great to be on number one, page one, but Page Three gets you volume, right? Page three starts to get you like organic traffic to the site allows you to get a chance to convert some people page two, you're definitely selling some things, right? If you're not, if you're on page two, and you're not selling, it's a different issue, you probably have a conversion issue on your website. But you know, like so it's about consistency, you you'll start to see it calm, you'll start to see your ranks start to rise, and that'll get you where you want to go. Hmm, such an important tip. Well, I know we could go all day on digital marketing stuff. But as we kind of close out here, I'm curious what where can people find you? What do you have to offer if the listeners very intrigued and they want to come into Phil's world? Give us the plugs? Oh, good lord. Okay, so you can find you can find me at www dot this commerce life.com You can reach me, Phil at this commerce life.com or any of the social handles or all this commerce ifa.com, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, we're kind of all over we we still small business, right? So we are all over that.
But and then, you know, honestly, anything, anything, you know, kind of like retail and marketing and sales related. I'll do I'm very fixated on on SEO, SEM and like integrating marketing. So strategic marketing plans, if you have a, if you have a vision mission purpose that you started, but you have no idea how to connect it to everything else you're doing in your life, the 100% should be connected. So I do that I help people understand where the connections lie, how do they integrate together? And then all of these other things, Google ads, you know, when do I need it? Can I do organic? What does SEO look like? All of these sorts of things we do? You know, and then and then I'll help you. You know, my partner does a lot of sales stuff. So we can do a lot of sales, a lot of fundamentals. He's very good at costing, so if you need cost, structure, all of those sort of things we do as well. Yeah, you guys do it all.
All, which I love. It's such a wealth of knowledge. And I love how well rounded all your expertise is. So it's really neat to chat with someone like you and be able to go in so many directions with all the experience and just, you know, the credentials that you guys have together. So the only thing is like, there's two of us, and there's only one of you and you do all of that, too. So, but I love really well, I don't know, I think you'd do it pretty good. You're, we try our best like somebody else who said on this, you're nerdy or than most on some of these things. So I, I think that's awesome. Yeah, I think one skill that you and I share in common is that we're learners, right? It's like, if I don't know something, then like, willing to learn and not just say, well, because I don't know this at my age, I guess like, I'll just never know. It's like, yeah, no, here we go, crack open the books, take the course, talk to experts like yourself, and you can figure it out if you're willing to put in the time and energy and to experiment. Like I experiment with my own business. And then when things work out, I'm like, Oh, I could share that with a client because I have proof now. So it's really interesting to kind of be on this journey. And marketing is always changing. So we always got to be in it ourselves, which is pretty neat. I love it. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Phil, for sharing your wisdom on the visionary life podcast. Hopefully get to live podcast with you again in the near future and experience this commerce life in the real form again, and we wish you the best. Thank you. Thanks for having me.
This is going to change everything. See you in three days when I come up for air. I can already tell this is going to be the best investment I've ever made. visionaries. These are real comments from those of you who have started using the world's greatest assistant to write blogs script podcast intros, create magnetic email subject lines, to write high performing Facebook ads, and to outline a month's worth of Tiktok and Instagram captions. jasper.ai is the assistant I am talking about. It's a simple website that you're gonna find yourself using every day to create better content. It is a total game changer. And I want to give you the chance to test it out with 10,000 free words of copywriting. Yep, that's right. 10,000 free words, you could literally use this free link to write three blog posts, or you could create for Facebook ads, or you could write seven tick tock captions. Jasper is gonna save you time, money and energy. So don't wait a minute longer. If you are a small business and you're struggling to stay on top of your marketing strategy, head to Kelsey rydel.com/jasper, J A sper. And you can get a free training that I've created for you. And you can even just get started with 10,000 free words. So again, that's Kelsey rydel.com/jasper, or click the link in the show notes. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of visionary life. I love bringing you these conversations on a weekly basis. So it would mean so much to me. If you could help me out by rating and reviewing the show on either iTunes or Spotify. It just takes a second. And if you don't want to rate the show, you could also just take a screenshot of the episode and share it on your social media platform of choice tagging me at Kelsey Reidl. I'll catch you in the next episode.
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