Transparent Marketing Strategies: Timeless and Sustainable for Business Growth from the In The CLEAR Business Podcast with Justin Recla

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Welcome to the End the Clear Podcast. My name is Justin Ruckla and today we are talking to one of my favorite people on the planet. She is the CEO of Has Design and is featured on they run our own podcast feed. You'd brand podcast and product launch hazards. Our guest today is Tracy Hazard. She is one of two partners in a dynamic duo, her husband Tom. They do do so many amazing things in the product space, in the podcast space, the R Power partners and power parents as well. And I'm honored to have her back on the show with us today. Tracy, how are you?

I'm doing really good. Thanks for having me.

Justin, thank you so much for being on the show. I love the fact that we get to not only connect at CEO space, but that we can connect in between times as well and here in the podcast space as well, which is, which is always fun. So Tracy, tell us a little bit about what you've got going on.

What don't we have going on? You know, it's really noisy world out there, right? It's really hard to be seen and heard and found. And so we're always looking for the ways to do that that are not, I'm going to call them trendy, that are timeless, that are sustainable, that do it again and again. My big thing that I say all the time is when you're going to hire someone, you want someone who' been there, done that again and again and again. And that's why I love working with you guys because you guys have a strong deep history of what you do.

Well, speaking to that, tell us a little bit about. As our listeners want to know a little bit more about your background, your history, especially around the product launch, tell us a little bit about what you've done with launching products.

So, so Tom and I have been doing this for way too long, 26 years, launching products the hard way right before the Internet exists. And it's a combination of doing a lot of original product design, which is really what we specialize in. Invention patents, we have 37 patents and actually we might even have more. I kind of lost count.

And so we, we've been doing that for this whole time. But it's shifted, right? The marketing of it has shifted the way things go to market. We used to be able to license. It's really Hard to do licensing agreements now. We used to be able to walk into Target and they just take a meeting with us. They don't do that anymore. It's just the whole dynamic of how things have happened have changed over time. And we have evolved in a way that has managed to keep up with that. Mainly because we, you know, we've just been at the forefront of doing a lot of Internet things ourselves, building our own businesses online and doing a lot of marketing that way. And because of it, we've stayed in touch with what's actually working and using this good principles that we, that we've, you know, espoused since the beginning. Right. You know, I mean, if it works offline, it will work online too. You just have to find the method to make that come, communicate and come across.

Absolutely. And that's one of the reasons why I love not only having you on the show, but the fact that we, you know, we're connected in the business world like this. Because that transparency piece is something that really, really is essential. It's something that I know that you guys have leveraged throughout the course of your business careers. I know it's that you've assisted your clients with. It's something that's not only something that you preach, but it is what you practice and, you know, as seen by your profile in the Clear Business Directory. But let's talk about some marketing strategies through transparency. How can, how can businesses market themselves transparently? What are some of the methods that you're assisting folks with?

Well, you know, this is the thing that I have done since the beginning, and it's one of the reasons why we were really attracted to the Clear Directory because it's, you know, it's. We put out information. We put out a lot of information, and everything is linked and everything has, you know, if you want to say, I say I have 37 patents. I'm not kidding, you could go on my site. And the majority of them are linked because sometimes they're not public, but, you know, as soon as they get published, I link them right up in there so you can find them. So you can verify. Right. So you can check on me that that is actually true and you can see what they look like. They're not all design patents. They're utility, which, you know, it has a deeper meaning to many, many people, many inventors who are attracted to us. We really try to put information out there, and we've done that from the very beginning. So being transparent about what you're providing, but also being really prolific in that. So when someone wants to do business with me, they can find me on the Internet. They can find all of my information. I just put it out there. But I have a column. I write a column for Inc.com and every single week there's an article coming up that shows my expertise, that shows that I exist in the world. And that's really where I feel like we've gotten into this place where some of the. And I'm putting air quotes on that. You cannot see gurus out there. You know, they just put out clickfunnel pages and you know, they're espousing some course that they won't reveal to you. They write a book that has no is a glorified sales letter. And that's not what we're about here. We're about the opposite of that. We're about providing you almost too much information sometimes. I'm accused of that all the time. But you know, but in an effort to really get people to find us and.

Seek us at where they are in the process, because we can do so many things. But, you know, design is one of those things that is really hard to quantify. Did you get value for it? And you know, because you've had a hard time vetting. I know this from personal experience. You've had a hard time vetting web developers. Web designers. Right. There's always a lot of complaints about them because the communication between them and their clients is not as clear about. Did you get value for that? Because websites don't usually transact and perform just because they are pretty design. It just doesn't work like that. Right. So does product. Not quite at the beginning. Eventually it should, but it's a little harder to do that. So in an effort to market ourselves, we market ourselves very openly.

Well, that transparency piece is what really, really translates into what I believe a lot of your success is because you show up authentically, you show up transparently, and you're just raw and real with your clients. And you know, that goes a long way, especially in the product industry.

It really is. So what I want to do is I want to take a quick break before we do. Where can people go find. Find more information about you?

Well, you can find our podcast feed, you'd brand and product launch hazards on itunes, Stitcher, Google Play, anywhere like that. But you can also find us at FeedYourBrand Co and product launch hazards with two z's. H a z z a r d s dot com and we're talking to.

Tracy Hazard about transparent marketing strategies. Stay tuned. We'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the in the Clear podcast. My name is Justin Reckless and I am your host. And today we are talking to Tracy Hazard about transparent marketing strategies and some of the things that they've used in their own. Their own marketing and some of the stuff that they're doing with their clients to help them operate in transparency and connectedness, to really highlight who you are and what you do. So, Tracy, can you tell us a little bit more about your podcast and what that serves for your clients?

Yeah. So we started podcasting about, I'm going to call it, it's four years ago and we have one podcast that I didn't even mention here that's about 3D printing, really techie. And it was sort of our dry run podcast test and we did over 400, no, 535 episodes. It's kind of a little on hiatus right now as we're reforming it and somebody else, you know, is going to take over in my place. I know, you know, Steve Krimmy. Oh, yes, Steve and Tom are going to take over the podcast. And so we're reformulating for that. But that's how we started was we were like, you know, can we get a lot of information out? Can we learn while we're getting information out, can we, you know, be ourselves and will it attract people? And so it was really a test early on and it worked so well that people were coming to us and saying, what do you have for us to buy? Where's your course? Where's your, where's your book? You know, where's your products? What can we buy from you? And we were like, we didn't think about that when we started that podcast. We have design services if you want that. And so that's kind of how it began. And we realized, wow, there's a lot more here, a lot more that we can do because they see the value and they become attracted to you. And that's really our whole goal at the end of the day is really just to attract the right people. And so what it turned into, for me was that we not only started that podcast, but I guessed it on a bunch of other ones and I think did a dozen in three month time, so 12 and three months time. And by the end of the year, when I calculated the business that had come my way, it was $120,000 in straight business. That came from someone who heard me on one of those podcasts and had been searching and looking for what I had to offer. And so, and, and I had 100% close rate. So can you imagine that? It was like, it was like unheard of in my business because it used to take me about six to nine months to warm up a new client. Now, granted, these projects were a lot smaller than I was normally doing, but they were really valuable and we were enjoying the work and it was a great variety. And so I said, I want to do this all the time. How can I do more of this? And so we started the, you know, we started doing a lot more of what we consider what it is today, product launch hazards. At that time, we were testing out YouTube, so you'll see a lot of YouTube videos there too. But we've now translated that into a podcast that launched this year and we already have over 100 episodes. And so it's a lot of fun. And we really just get to talk every day about how difficult this is to launch a product because it's not easy.

I love that.

Hazards of it, right?

We're going to talk about all the things that you shouldn't do, all the things that you can do, and all the things to avoid.

Our tagline is launching is hazardous for everyone else. And so it's fabulous because I have 17 experts who I, who I work with every single month on this. And everyone does a podcast hour a month. And it's really fabulous because they offer Q and A. And it's a really chance for people to vet and screen themselves. So it's actually the epitome of what I've learned over the last four years has culminated into this podcast itself. And so I love how it's going, I love the traction. We have not spent a single dollar on marketing, and yet I have referrals happening every single day to one of those 17 experts because someone said, I found you, I listened to you, I saw your videos, and you are what I'm looking for. And that to me is the ideal. We're putting out the information that people really are desiring. They want it so badly and they want to come to you and start to trust you by the amount of information, by the detail of it, by the transparency of it.

Yeah, I absolutely, absolutely love that. That's one of the.

You know, from a collaborative standpoint, what too many people, I think, struggle, those that are struggling in business, what, to kind of hoard their information to themselves.

Well, and that's a classic inventors thing. Right. So I talk to inventors groups all over the country, and they, yeah, they, like, try to keep it completely secret all the time. And what I've discovered over 26 years of doing this is the more vocal you are about it, the less likely it is be stolen, number one. And number two, it is absolutely essential into creating a better product that will sell better. And so that information gathering process in it is key to what we've been doing all along. And so it's in contrast to what everyone else does, which is part of why we stand out.

Absolutely. One, from a business sense, it's almost counterintuitive. It is because it's one of those things of, well, if I tell you what I'm going to do and how I'm going to do it, well, people don't. People aren't going to hire me then if I'm giving it away. Well, that one is the scarcity mindset. But more importantly, in sharing it and giving it away, you will actually get more business in anything. Because at the end of the day, people don't want to do it alone. They want somebody to hold their hand through the process, and they're going to turn to those that they consider to be the experts who operate in transparency and authenticity. And that is something that, just like you, what we've done with our business, and it's really the backbone for our own success, is just that. And I love the fact that, you know, you and Tom are bringing that to the product design world, to the podcast world, and it is helping so many different people along the way. And I've been honored to be able to watch you guys grow from when we first met to the behemoth of a podcast organization that you have now.

Well, you know, that was one of those things where we kind of went kicking and screaming into starting a separate business. Right?

Yeah. Ruby's another one.

Right, Right, exactly right. You know that just as well as I do. Right. It was that we had developed all these. I mean, Tom and I are all about infrastructure, systems, team, like, the whole thing. And so we developed a whole system, we developed a process, and of course, we aren't. Aren't capable of sitting back and saying, well, what's out there is good enough. If we need to reinvent something or invent something brand new, we do. And so we invented a ad mixing system for a podcast so that you could mix your ads across all of your episodes. And we call that Potatoes now, which I love that name. That's really, I'm really fond of it. But this is a good example of where you can rebrand yourself and still it's no problem because the information is about you and about all out there and it doesn't matter what the name of the product is at the end of the day. Right?

Yeah.

And so anyway, we did all of that and then. And people kept saying, well, if you're doing that for yourself, why don't you do that for me? And it was like it was that kind of pushing their business on us. And so we were like, okay, I guess we need to start opening it up and get it out of beta. And so we did that. And we now have about 150 podcasters that run on our network. Everything from Esquire, O Magazine, Popular Mechanics, to an entrepreneur, and, you know, energy healers. And we have doctors and chiropractors, Chiropractors on our platform who just are utilizing it for their everyday marketing because they don't want to think about this. They want an engine that runs for them. But to that end, what I really realized along the way was that they, they needed a way more support than just the functional system. Right. They, they needed hand holding and coaching and how do I grow my business? And where does marketing come from? And so again, it became a referral based business for us. And so we refer probably for every 10 requests or 10 people come into us, we probably refer nine of them and only, only take one of them and say, hey, we can do this for you. And so, and that's really, I think the power of what we do with Feed you'd brand as a podcast is that we're out there saying, hey, if you're interested in growing your show and just more than just having it, you know, just crank away and put great information on your site and out there for you. What else should you do? Or how should you grow your show? And what else should. Who else is there for you who can take you to the next level? And that's really what we're all about there. It's the same model. The model isn't different. No matter how we operate our business, it is making sure that we provide deep services, deep information from a place of experience.

Absolutely. So if Somebody is wanting to work for you. Who would your ideal avatar be? Somebody that's looking for podcast services, marketing strategies. What is that person looking for and how can find you?

Yeah, so I mean, it's those that are trying to build a platform. So if you know what that term means, you probably are right for us. And it's typically authors, thought leaders. When you want to get lots more speaking events and all of those kinds of things, you have to have what I call a platform. It's like a stage, it's no different. And you need it to grow and be large, but you need it to be focused. You need it to be if you want to do business from it, if you want to make money from it. Right. If you want it to help. Whether it's feed your existing business, your existing brand. That's why we call it feed your brand feed your existing business. Or you want it to expand your network and grow your business into a new arena. That there are two different strategies. And so we really look at that and say, but it still means you've got to have a website, you've got to have social, and you've got to have a lot of really transparent and great, valuable, authentic information that draws people to you. Because at the end of the day, that kind of business is a you first business. Right. I want to do business with you. I don't just want to do business with what your service is.

Absolutely, absolutely. And Tracy, this is. I love these conversations. I think you and I could probably talk about this kind of stuff for weeks on end. I mean, that's one of the things I love about you and Tom is you're both processes and systems and infrastructure people. It's the same thing for Tony and I. And you know, it's like a disease, right? You go out to dinner and you're like.

I'm looking at the waiter. I'm wondering how to do these things. I'm dissecting the business model. Right.

It's the co creation process. Right. It happens between the two of us just like it does between the two of you.

Absolutely, absolutely. And you know, I love that because that's how I see how you serve your clients, the value that you bring to them. And it's absolutely huge. So Tracy, thanks so much for being on the show. Where can our folks, where can our listeners go to listen to you?

So they can listen to us at FeedYourBrand Co and ProductLaunchHazards.com fantastic.

And is there contact information on those sites?

Absolutely, of course there is. And there's a link to the in the Clear directory.

Perfect. Perfect. Well, until next time. If you're wanting to really, really grow your business and really up level your game and your marketing strategy and building your platform, make sure you reach out to Tracy. You can find her profile and Tom inside the Clear Business Director. And until next time, before you get involved with anybody, make sure that business is in the clear.

If you or your business has been ripped off by a fraud or scam, visit intheclairpodcast.com and let us know.

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