Can short iPhone movies launch your career?

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Hello and welcome to this episode of The Unnoticed Entrepreneur. Today we're gonna go all the way to Philadelphia. We're gonna meet the Princess of Philly, Gail Casper, who is a TV celebrity and also a coach and a professional trainer. And she's going to talk with us about how she's building up her following to over 300,000 on social media, how she's building out her book portfolio. She's got 2 already in print with publishers and another 10 audiobooks. And generally how she's making herself and her clients famous. Gail, welcome to the show.

Hi, Jim. How are you? I'm so excited to be here. I have been looking forward to this all week, so I'm thrilled to be here.

Well, you flatter me because I've been looking forward to having you too. And I know Christmas kind of got in the way of our meetings there.

I know, how dare it? How dare it?

Sometimes you've got to take a break, but look, we've got you now, which is fantastic. So Gail, tell us, you've been on TV, you've been the brand ambassador, you've got your own TV show. So tell us about Gail Casper TV and how you've got yourself noticed and some of the obstacles you faced in doing it.

I think my first big obstacle, Jim, was when I didn't know what I wanted in my life. And I ended up just being stuck working for other companies and just kind of going with the flow. And in my life then, I finally figured out that I wanted to be a professional speaker just by accident. I was a manager and a bad manager. So I've learned a lot about leadership and how to build a team, but the more I found out about The team, the more I found out about who they were and what they were about, the more training and education I got, then I fell in love with the idea of helping my people achieve. And that led me to becoming a professional speaker. So here I am, which when you talk about challenges, what are some of the challenges that I've experienced? I found myself overnight on my own in my own business. Didn't know it was coming. I was working for a training organization. I got fired by them, which is a story in itself because I got a TV show. So I got fired by them and they said, basically, Gail, goodbye, go work someplace else. They thought I was going to get a job someplace. And of course my love and my passion was speaking and people and training and coaching. That was my passion. So I wanted to start my own business. So I'm on unemployment starting my business, no money in the bank. So when you talk about challenges and not having any resources and not having the money to do something, not having the people that work for you. Not really knowing what you're doing. You're just starting out, just trying to get that ball rolling. That is a major challenge. And it was all about like hitting the pavement, talking to people that I knew, and finding myself working with one client. I had one coaching client, meaning one person, which is what started my business. And doing a great job, like busting my butt, led me to get 2 customers from that specific client and then 2 other coaching opportunities. Which led to then training within an entire department and then training that entire organization and then going up and down the East Coast because that company was ADT Security Services. So I went from one person to training up and down the East Coast. So I had technically become a competitor to the organization that fired me.

Oh, and there's a great story of resilience and carrying on. Gail, you skipped over. You said you got that first client. Let's just go back to that if we can. How did you get the first client? Because as we know, convincing one person to give you money is the hardest part.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I had known one manager inside ADT and when he found out I was on my own, he said, well, I've got a girl. She's just starting. She wants to do some telephone sales. And it was like such a small thing for ADT to have to even relinquish, meaning it was within his realm to say, okay, we've got a budget for $400 because that's what it And that's how it started. So when I think about people that are out there trying to pursue business, one of the first things I think about is, okay, who do they know? But also going to networking events, like the Chamber of Commerce meetings, the Rotaries, any of those types of clubs and organizations where you can be passing out cards, or obviously technically passing out your card, just to get people to know who you are and what you're doing. Like, in other words, go back to the place where you began, go back to the place where you had nothing. And build your business based on that, especially when times get tough with our economy.

Yeah, I think as you rightly said, that sort of humility, right, of going back and pressing the flesh, there's no substitute for that. And then you've managed to build that and look at your website. You've got contracts, you've been the face of Philadelphia. So that's why I'm dubbing you the Princess of Philadelphia, if you don't mind.

Which I really like that one.

Well, that's yours. That's yours. You've also done the late night show and you've got Philly Vision. So how have you managed to transcend then from selling one $400 contract to becoming really something of a media celebrity?

That's a really good question because I started in college. I wanted to be a newscaster. I wanted to be on TV. And I had a 4 full year academic scholarship to Temple University. Dropped out after 2 years because my first semester was really tough in the communications world. And I figured, okay, well, this is a hard field to get My dad had said, you know, getting into TV is tough. And I thought he was right. So I changed majors a couple times and then dropped out cuz I said, I don't know what I wanna do. And that's when I found myself in the business world just working day to day. Well, lo and behold, I'm now a speaker, fast forward. And one of my jobs was to get out and meet with potential companies to bring our speaking programs into those companies. One of the companies I met with was America's TV Job Network, which was a TV show. So they weren't looking for speakers or trainers. They were a TV show and they said, we're looking for hosts. And of course that was my dream. So they told me they were looking for somebody with experience for which I had zero, but I couldn't let it go. I sat on their doorstep for 3 months. I was back pretty much every day in the midst of my travels for my real job, trying to be in front of them. And they still sat me down after 3 months and said, I'm sorry, Gail, but we're holding auditions next week. We need somebody with experience. And I said, I'll see you at those auditions. And I went to the audition and I got the job.

Nailed it. Yeah.

And I can't even say that I nailed it. I mean, when I was going home, like you feel like a fool. You've been told no, you've been told no, you've been told no, you've been told basically get out. And you keep saying, no, no, no, I'm going to show up. And that's why when you say advice to people in terms of, you know, facing obstacles, getting known, being seen, being heard, getting noticed, it's that resilience. Inside yourself, make a fool of yourself, and to not worry about looking back. Meaning you're gonna say, okay, I'm gonna make a fool of myself, but I'm doing it anyway. And not even necessarily that you are, but you feel it. And if you knew the number of times that I said to myself, oh my God, I feel like an idiot, but I was one step closer to my goal because I actually allowed myself to go through that momentum of, boy, I feel stupid. So I encourage that with people.

No, and I think that persistence and that resilience and self-belief you've plainly got in, you know, ample amounts, which is fantastic. And you've overcome those demons. Now, when I introduced you, we talked about having a goal this year of having over 300,000 followers on social media. You've got 2 books and 10 audiobooks. So really you're well past the fear stage into the leverage stage. Tell us, how did you go about building that brand? Because you own the domain name. For example, gailcasper.com. Do you want to just take us a little bit through how you're creating that sort of content around your brand? Because now you're not doing just the delivery, content around it, which I'd love to hear about.

Obviously, sometimes people stumble in creating content for video or getting yourself out there on social media and all of that. And I'm one of them, honestly, Jim, but I'm no different than anybody else because it involves time. And as an entrepreneur, you're running your day-to-day operations. And now all of a sudden, oh crap, I got to do like 5 videos. Are you kidding me? And the time and the effort it takes to that for the sake that it goes out there. Now you need to create more. So it is a challenge doing that. You have to make the time and space to put that content together to get it out there. And I would say I'm just hitting a leverage space with Facebook. My other platforms, I'm still pushing forward. They've got to get over that hump. But there is a consistency that you have to put the content out on a consistent basis to be seen and heard. And it can't just be any content. You really got to make a point. If you're gonna tell a story, if you're going to share some methodology that's worked for you, but you've gotta make a point. And along with that, I'm still not gonna let go of every day of my life. Like you're faced with a new opportunity or something new that you wanna do, and you say to yourself, oh my God, am I gonna make an idiot of myself doing this? Like, I still go through that. I'm not somebody that's just like, okay, I'm gonna write this book on sales. Well, now I wanna write on closing. Well, now I want to write on negotiation. Gail's got a book on motivation. Gail's got a book on sales. Gail's, you know, a fitness trainer. Like I've got different goals and ambitions that are part of my world. And I work to bring them all together, but in a creative space to be different than anybody else.

Gail, that's really interesting. And looking at your website, gailcasper.com, you've got what I'm about and you've got some wonderful and very glamorous photographs. So for those of us that are struggling with content, we look at you and go, wow, you seem to make it look really, really easy.

Thank you.

You've managed to unify these though. And I'm interested also in the books, but also 10 audiobooks. Could you just tell us how you've gone about that? Because I haven't really met anyone before on the show that has got audiobooks and use that as a part of their promotional sort of program. Can you just tell us? About the books and how did you create them? How long are they? How'd you get them into the market, for example?

You know, I am a constant creator that way. You know, when my brain goes in a specific direction, I'm like, damn, I got to put something together on that. Um, so they are everything from sales and business to my most popular audiobook is called Likable You, which is about communication. So building those long-term relationships and how do you connect with people? And these audiobooks are glimpses, meaning they give quick content so that you're not listening for 3 to 4 hours. It's 30, 45 minutes, but they're quick content. So I get straight to the point inside my audiobooks. I don't talk in circles about all the challenges that people face. I go straight to, this is what you need to do. And how I got them out there was some of my life has been very serendipitous. You know, I believe everybody meets everybody for a reason. I was doing a photo shoot with a magazine. And I had done some research regarding Time Warner, who was in the same building as the magazine, meaning that, you know, I knew where I was going. I'm like, wait a minute, Time Warner's there, who is now Hachette Publishing. And I went to see the people about the photo shoot and Time Warner was on the same, in the same suite. So I went from talking to the people about the magazine to saying, let me go across the hall and just see if I can run into somebody who maybe I can talk to. That maybe would be interested in my first audiobook and said, well, you need to talk to this person. And he wasn't in yet. And so I'm thinking, okay, any minute now I'm going to get kicked out. This is one of those, I feel like an idiot moments. I'm going to admit it now. So I'm just going to be like, do you have an appointment? I'm sorry, miss, you're going to have to go any minute. But I'm sitting like outside his office and I'm just going with the flow and talking to people as they go by. And that's how it all began. You know, I actually connected with someone who helped get my books out there and now they're out there.

So from a technical point of view, how does it work? You record them yourself as an audio file and you upload them to Kindle Digital Publishing, KDP, or are they on Audible?

Yeah, you can do that, but my publisher handles all of that for me. In terms of getting them recorded, yes, I can, you know, record them myself, somebody to help me record them. I'm a stickler for doing things the right way, whatever way that is. I'm a stickler for having another set of ears, meaning if I'm recording, does it sound right? Did I make the right point? Am I making sense? Wait a minute, I want to redo that one line. Like, I'm a stickler for having people in my loop to make sure that something is done correctly and right. It's always to me about elevating your brand, elevate it, elevate it. What's going to make you stand, as you would talk about, get noticed and stand out. And there's a big difference between just getting it done and getting it done right in my eyes. So sometimes it takes me a little bit longer with my projects, but I want them done right. I want them done the best they can be. And some of that, don't get me wrong, James, I have to pull back, you know?

That is fantastic. And then with the publisher, so do they, um, take the audiobook and make them into little soundbites for you and You mentioned about consistency of content. Are you guys working together then on how often they're sending out material to help build the Gail Casper brand?

Um, most of that I do on my end, meaning that I have the audio clips, I can break them down, I can put them out as content for myself. So I am in a spot that, you know, I can maintain control of that and I have the skill sets to be able to break things down and push things out. And, um, again, I have to pull back on, that's where I would say one of my flaws is because I gotta get my nose outta some of the stuff that I'm in. I really need to allow people to run with it. But for me, it's like, well, wait a minute, you're writing something that's not what I mean. And I have to then rewrite it. So you find your fingers in everything. So that is something I gotta work on.

Well, uh, yeah, I think we all suffer from that, the need to delegate and yet the need to Protect your own content quality, right? And that's a dilemma for us all. Is there a tool or a technology that you use, Gail? Because we all know that content amplification takes time. Have you got a scheduling software that you use that you can recommend, for example?

Well, for a couple of different things. Number one, when it comes to shooting and I'm shooting my own stuff, obviously I'm using an iPhone. I keep it as simple as I possibly can. The key for me is knowing what you're going to say, really having that down so that it can be clear, concise, and to the point. Your goal is to get content under 2 minutes. It's not that people won't listen to more. If you can do it in a minute, that's even better. So really I use my iPhone for recording. I use Premiere Pro, which is an editing software, and that's a little more complicated. I had to go through a course to be able to do that, but to be able to know the basics in any editing formats so that I know there are apps out there that make that stuff easier today, just to be able to trim and cut things down. I do use Slack and Infusionsoft, obviously in terms of landing pages or ClickFunnels, they're great options, both of those. Today's day and age, you want to be collecting email addresses. And I waited a little bit longer than I should have to really start that process. But you want to be in a spot where they're using ActiveCampaign or some other campaign process that you can be collecting those emails and staying in touch with people. So mine's a pretty, probably the status quo with what a lot of people are doing, but I do believe that if it's working, you know, don't change it. I will pull in an editor if I need somebody here or there just to add some flash. to some of the videos that I do. But for the most part, I just try to put straight content out and keep it as simple as possible and let the content speak for itself. Whatever the platform is that you're using, whatever the programs are that you're using, I try to let my content speak for itself. That's my ultimate goal. In other words, fancy doesn't mean better.

And I think that's a really good point. I think what you've also said, which is great, was that, you know, you can just use your iPhone. But what I also liked was that you mentioned about knowing your intent. And I think so many people get stressed because actually they click record and don't like how they look or sound, but actually they haven't thought about what they're going to say first.

That's been my key is just to keep going, put your head down and you just keep moving no matter what's going on around you. I have a book that's out that's called Unstoppable and it's all about being logical versus emotional because it's the emotion that stops us. The failure, we get hit and then we're like, oh, crap. And then we start to doubt ourselves. That's all emotion. Get up, keep going, keep pushing forward. Believe in what it is that you're doing. Believe in the reason that you are doing what you're doing.

Gail, I was going to ask you for your one piece of advice, but I think you've kindly given it to us, right? And also demonstrated it by all the amazing work you've done. And I really admire how you've built in the face of fear, but also then Everything I see is so professional and at such a high level of quality that the brand Gail Casper is fantastic and you deserve to be the princess of Philly. So thanks for joining me today on the Unnoticed Entrepreneur Show.

I need a tiara. Jim, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate this. I value what all of your listeners and viewers are dealing with and admire them for listening to you because you're making them hit it head on. Like, this is what people need to be doing. They need to listen. They need to pay attention. And these are the kinds of shows that make a difference in entrepreneurs' lives. So I really appreciate it.

Well, Garth, and it's entrepreneurs like you willing to come on this show to share, because it's not my experiences per se. It's like yourself and your stories of resilience and content consistency, and also some very practical points. For example, like being prepared before turning on the camera. that will really seem obvious, but actually are really liberating for people that are suffering from anxiety, not sure, including myself, you know, what to do next. So it's been a wonderful story. So Gail, where can people find out more about you?

gailkasper.com, and that's G-A-I-L-K-A-S as in Sam, P as in Peter, E-R.com. Like the ghost, but with a K. Right.

Because I'll of course include Gail's details in the show notes. So Gail, thanks for joining me from Philadelphia. Really appreciate you taking the time to explain not just what you do, but really how you do it, which is really what this show is about. So for those people that have been listening, really hope you found this to be useful and do please share it with a fellow entrepreneur, review it if you can on your player, because it really makes a difference and check out Gail She's inspirational in so many levels. And thank you to her for joining me today. And you on The Unnoticed Entrepreneur. Thank you so much for listening.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Now I'd just like to mention our sponsor for this show. The Unnoticed Entrepreneur podcast is sponsored by a company called Prowly. Prowly is an all-in-one software for leveraging your public relations activities. You can boost the media relations game for your business, find media contacts, send out press releases, and get more coverage while saving time and money on everyday tasks. Check it out, prowly.com.