Salli: You are listening to the Business Leadership Podcast with Edwin Frondoso.

Edwin: Welcome to the business leadership podcast.

I'm your host, Edwin Frandozo.

And today I'm super excited to share the conversation I had with my friend and colleague, Tara McEwen.

She's an award winning producer and media consultant.

She's the founder of McEwen Media, where she helps business owners and thought leaders master modern media.

She helps them craft stories that are efficient, effective, and everywhere.

In this episode, We're going to talk about how to structure your content like a TV show.

We talk about the power of an editorial calendar to stay consistent and reduce content stress.

And we go over a simple exercise to uncover your thought leadership narrative.

So whether you're just starting or refining your platform, these actionable insights will help you build your brand and amplify your voice.

Here we go.

Welcome to the business leadership podcast, Tara.

Tara: Thank you, Edwin.

Thank you for having me.

Edwin: Oh my God.

I think this is a long time coming for those people who are listening.

Me and Tara had met a couple of years ago and we just, we just, we just hit it off.

Right.

So, um, I'm just glad to, we finally got it in the calendar.

We finally got it in.

Um, so why don't Tara, why don't we just to kick it off, maybe if you could just introduce yourself and, and tell us a A little bit about who you are, uh, what you enjoy doing outside of leading businesses, business leaders with MQ and media.

Tara: Oh, well, that's what a, what a, what a loaded question.

So I think, well, my name is Tara McEwen.

I'm the founder of McEwen Media Consulting.

It's a consulting and media training coaching company.

Basically, it's a complicated way of saying I spent 20 years working in television and now I'm taking all those TV magic steps.

Secrets to businesses to help them with their media communications.

In terms of what I love doing outside of work, uh, I've actively had to create time to do things that are not the, I am so in love with this work and in love with the business that it is actually really hard to, uh, to make time for other things.

But this week, one of my many victories that I'm celebrating, I have finally, after many years of searching, fallen back into a regular workout routine.

Which sounds very simple and benign, but to me, this is and I think that this anecdote is also going to really indicate, give you a better indication of who I am as an individual.

So the entire time I worked in network television, I had this daily routine where I would work out after work, right?

I needed to decompress.

I needed to get out of my brain and into my body.

So I could be a regular human being outside of work.

Television production is it's high stakes.

Like you're constantly taking an information, processing information and taking action because you're running up against a deadline.

So you're in this constant state of cat like readiness, which is just, it's, it's a heightened physical energy that I needed to release when I was working out.

Fast forward to 2018 and I had to take a mental health leave for burnout, which I think is an indication of just how, how high stakes the, the, the network lifestyle can be.

And then in 2019 was just starting to rebuild.

Well, who, who do I want to be?

Do I want to still be in this cat like readiness state?

Do I want to be in this heightened, hyper stress, high performing person?

And in 2019, figuring that stuff out, and then the universe said in 2020, Hey, you want to figure out a new way to be, let me give you this pandemic experience, see what you come out with.

And in the pandemic, that was where McEwen Media was born.

So I decided I ultimately left network television, created my own business.

And now it's hard to describe I'm in terms of hours worked.

It's roughly the same of what network television was, but it might even be more.

Sometimes I work first thing in the morning.

Sometimes I work into the evening.

Sometimes I work on weekends, but it doesn't have that heightened cat like readiness always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I just.

As a business owner, I have complete autonomy over my time, complete autonomy over the stories that I get to tell, and it is just so easy.

So now I don't have, I don't need that physical release that I had always associated with exercise.

So I spent the last couple of years really exploring, well, what then do I need exercise for?

Uh, and really it's for joy.

I enjoy running.

I love running.

There's also an element of future proofing, right?

As a business owner, I'm on the hook for my own medical benefits.

So if I can cut off on expensive medications to keep my heart and blood running smoothly, I will put that off.

Running can do that.

So now I completely flipped.

Instead of working out at the end of the day, I work out first thing in the morning.

And remind myself that this, even if I'm tired, this run first thing in the morning is going to give me any energy for the day.

And then it's also a celebration of, well, I have complete autonomy over my time again.

So if I work out first thing in the morning, The rest of the day can be what it's going to be.

I can stop work at three o'clock and go read a book instead or take the dog for a walk.

So it's just this, in getting back into this routine and this new awareness and this new story I'm telling myself of why I need exercise.

It's just, yeah, it's this complete 180 of how life used to be back when I worked in television.

Edwin: Yeah, no, I love, I love working out in the morning.

I, today I actually went, well, my son, I mean, when we're recording this is we're about a week and a half out of, uh, The time change and I like my my son, he doesn't know about this stuff.

So he's he's waking up like 4 30 still.

So, but I take that as an opportunity to go to the gym at 5 30.

So, I go to the gym at 5 30.

But, um, so congrats on that.

And that's definitely a testament, especially for those who are, you know, The business leaders who are out there or who are self employed.

And I mean, the one thing that you really said was like, we have to take care.

Like we're not going to be an effective business leader or communicator if our health is a waning.

So we definitely have to take discipline and responsibility on that.

Right.

And, and, and that's not just for those who are businesses.

I think all of us have to really take a responsibility.

Um, Tara, I guess as you and I've known each other, I understand, you know, your goal when it comes to thought leadership.

The ultimate goal, let's say the umbrella goal is, is definitely to increase brand awareness and established trust.

So I want to get from your point of view, you know, for the business leaders who may just be starting out.

know, what do you think are the essential steps and maybe, maybe some of the common pitfalls that you saw that they should be, you know, thinking about as they build their thought leadership platform, Tara: I want to start then with, with the, the baby steps.

So, uh, with with thought leadership, it really, what it is, it's, it's in the title, right?

It is your thoughts, the leading thoughts that you have about yourself, your industry and your business.

It is.

Which is not to be confused with the features and benefits of the services and products that you offer.

I think a lot of people, they think of thought leadership as, well, this is the information about working with me and I'm posting it on LinkedIn.

And now it's thought leadership.

And it's like, no, no, no, no.

There's a, there's a fine distinction.

What the features and benefits, like the actual specifics, this is the program that I have.

This is how much it costs.

This is what the outcome is.

I call that pamphlet material.

That is the stuff you have on your website.

When you think of the client journey, when they first hear about you, if you lead with features and benefits, you're bringing to them an ad.

No one likes advertising.

People will skip over ads every single time.

So you actually want to leave that stuff at the end.

And so at the end of their journey, when they're at your website, when they're ready to click and buy, that is where that information is happening.

It can happen on your website.

It can happen in discovery call a sales call.

But that is happening at the end of their journey.

You're leading with your specialized knowledge.

Which is your, why, why are you in this position?

Why are you committed to this business?

Where did this idea come from?

And then the work that I do with clients, I actually guide them on exercises where, well, how long has this idea been with you?

There's I call the tracking the timeline exercise, and it's actually it's it's a timed experiment where we track through all the ways that this idea has been with them.

And for many people, it goes all the way back to childhood.

So, when I do this experiment with myself, so McEwen media, we deal with businesses who want to manage and create better media.

media.

is just connecting with an audience, either in person or a nameless and faceless audience.

So that's how I define media.

It's podcasts, it's television, it's radio, it's social media, it's workshops, it's speaking engagements, it's all that stuff.

So that's what I specialize in.

The core of that is storytelling.

So when I track down all the ways that storytelling has shown up in my life, so there's the years that I've been building McEwen Media, there's the 20 years, 11 seasons that I worked on the Maryland Dentist Show.

Before that, I worked for CTV National News.

Before that, I studied journalism.

Before that, English was my favorite subject in high school.

I track back my love of storytelling all the way to kindergarten, when I wrote a story, And the, the, the teacher commented, Tara has an excellent, excellent command of the English language.

She is a natural storyteller.

So storytelling has been my lifelong love affair.

And that is what I bring into my thought leadership.

I love stories.

I love the power of storytelling.

I love the connection.

I love being in the creative process.

That is what I share as my thought leadership.

It's the thoughts that I have that lead the business that I'm building, that lead the courses that I create, that lead the, the programs that I, that I, that I designed.

So that to me is what your thought leadership actually is.

It is not your features and benefits.

It's who you are, what you value and why you are serving in this way.

Edwin: you know, it's, no, I love, no, I really love that, Terry.

And, you know, as you were talking and.

And, and how you were tracking back.

And I'm sure when you speak and engage with your clients, I recently did this exercise where I just, You know, really had to write down the experiences, my livid experiences, what I've done in my life, how colorful it is and whether, and maybe, and probably this is where you're going with when you work with your clients and get really extensive, because this is probably an eyeopening experience to Almost probably everyone who does this, who does this, right?

Like, no one does this, no one writes their, no one writes their, uh, their, their history, um, from scratch, but what I found was like, Oh, wow, I, I have a lot.

And I could take one specific story.

For example, when I was young and I was going in and how the teachers would always say, Oh, Edwin's really bright, but he's busy.

Bored, you know?

And that, that was something that I really like, didn't understand until I was much, much older and like, oh, I like to do many things.

It's, it's something that keeps my brain active.

And, and it was a rollercoaster 'cause I didn't understand that.

And to, to your point is like when you understand and when you could recognize these stories, you could write down, you could retell that story and, and have a new like outcome from each one.

And it's endless.

And it's your story.

You're not telling someone else's success story, which you can, and you should, if it's relevant to you and yours and your thought leadership platform.

But it's such an amazing exercise.

So, so when you talk about that baby step, Tara, it's really like, for those who are listening, if they, if they hear one thing from our conversation is, is maybe go back, how many years do they go back?

Like, how long does this exercise take?

Tara: I mean, I, when I do the exercise, it's, it's a, it's five minutes.

I only, because I think if you give yourself too much time, then you run the risk of, of, uh, getting distracted.

You lose your focus.

So it's, it's a, it's a timed five minute exercise.

I do this regularly, so, and of course it's, it's one of my core workshops that I offer.

So I also go through this, this process, but it's even just giving yourself permission to look back at your past and literally just mine all of this, this, this deep wealth of specialized knowledge that we're all carrying with us all the time.

Our history actually does inform what our present is all about, but we're so forward looking.

We're always looking at the next thing.

We're always looking at, you know, next phase, you know, the next growth stage that we're heading into.

We're looking forward.

But you do have to look back in order to understand where this momentum, where this direction, where this desire is coming from.

And I think we don't often look back.

It's seen as indulgent.

It's seen as, you know, something that is done with therapy, right?

It's seen as like a healing exercise.

Whereas to me, it's a productivity exercise.

I need to understand who I am in order to understand.

What I can bring more fully to, to the, to the surface, the specialized knowledge for a lot of people.

It's on autopilot, right?

We don't because we don't often look back and notice the special moments from our past and our history there.

It's still running in the background.

You know, it's, it's, it's like a computer program that's running without our awareness.

But as soon as you make yourself aware of it, it's now part of the story, so you're not sharing more of yourself fully.

And I think that that's kind of where the next step of thought leadership comes from, especially with leaders, business leaders, creative visionaries.

If you're only sharing like 20 percent of what you have to offer, which is, you know, your features and benefits, the pamphlet material, the 42nd elevator pitch.

If you're only sharing that, if you're only sharing 20 percent of what you have to offer, you're only going to get 20 percent buy in from your, from your staff, from your investors, from your clients.

But if you share 100 percent of what you're bringing to the vision of your, of your business, you get 100 percent buy in.

Steve Jobs was the master of that.

When he was building Apple in the internet age, so introducing the iPod, the iPhone, the I, all the I com, all the I products, I think I is actually supposed to be meant to, to.

indicate that they were internet friendly products.

He wasn't talking about tech.

He was talking about design and human possibility and creativity and just all of these things where when you read the biography, those are values that have been with him since he was a child.

So when he brought that to the surface, you got 100 percent buy into Apple, 100 percent buying to every product that they launched in that time.

You compare that to today, which No disrespect against Tim Cook.

He's doing what he can do with the vehicle he's been given.

But I don't think Tim Cook has that same 100 percent buy in, right?

He, he's, he's keeping the ship afloat.

He's maintaining the values and business and model structure that Steve Jobs established, but that's kind of where you get that, that distinction.

You know, Tim Cook is, is giving, I would say 50 to 60%.

He, maybe he's doing more than the 20%, but where Steve Jobs was, was fully embodying this message.

Tim Cook shows up and it is keeping the ship afloat.

Both will lead to success.

But I think the 100 percent share is for people who are looking for this as a form of fulfillment.

Sorry, Edwin: and I, it's Yeah, no problem.

And Tara and just, uh, it's all getting cut out now.

Tara: we'll fix it in.

Edwin: And Tara, I guess to your point, you know, the difference between Tim Cook and Steve Jobs is one is the founder.

One is the visionary.

Um, and you need these operators like Tim Cook who could steer the ship incrementally grow.

But for those who are listening and are creating the brand as we started off or creating their thought leadership, you have to share all of you.

Tara: You do, you do.

Edwin: because people, human beings, I believe, you know, when they know you, when they know who you are, what you believe in, what are your visions, what are your goals, and what, what connects you.

People, whether they buy your product or service, they're cheering you on, actually.

And if they're not cheering you on, they're actually hating and envying you.

But it's the same thing.

There's energy coming your way.

Tara: Yeah, there's something to about the 100 percent full body share.

Like again, using Steve Jobs and Tim Cook as an example, Steve Jobs in terms of building a legacy brand, right?

Brands are not built with just the logo and the product.

It's the long term buy in.

It's the long term valuation and storytelling.

So, the effort that Steve Jobs put into in being the, the face and the personality, creating the cult of Apple at the time, he was then able to then give, with his 100%, he was able to create a legacy brand that Tim Cook can, Operate at 50 percent and still be very successful.

Like I don't think Apple shareholders are upset with the state of the business right now.

So in terms of thinking of like long term legacy building, if you want a business and a brand that exists without you, while you're building that brand, if you're only giving 50%, then the next generation that takes it over is.

Just know that it's gonna be watered down slightly because it's no longer the founder telling the story.

So if you start with 100%, whoever's taking over the succession planning, you're giving them just so much richness and depth that they can work with and continue and maintain something that is strong enough that can be maintained at 50 percent energy.

Edwin: yeah, but Tim Cook is, I mean, just, just to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Not only is he an amazing business operator and leader, like he's been around.

As you know, Steve Jobs was growing so he, you know, he was the right hand man.

So even though he's not, I mean, I would, I would almost argue he has more than the 50 percent as, as, as, as we're talking about right now, but I'd love to interview him and ask him, I'm putting it out there.

Um, but no, I'm definitely putting on there, but I just kind of.

You know, Tara, I want to switch gears a bit and really bring it back.

Um, and maybe really get your experience in terms of what you're doing, how you're creating, you know, your personal brand when it comes to me, Q and media, and something you and I had shared before we had recording is like, you know, the big changes that you've seen within your brand.

And personally, um, when you started, and maybe this is from your limited experiences when you really started structuring your content, like a TV show.

So can you walk us through.

What that shift look like, where, where you were and how you got to, um, you know, how you got to today and how it would benefit people to think about this as, as, as, as a philosophy.

Tara: Yeah, I'll start them with the origin story.

So when I, first started McEwen Media, like many business owners, you take an action on an idea and then you realize, holy crap, I now have to become an accountant.

I have to become a lawyer.

I have to become a marketer.

I have to become a salesperson.

I just wanted people to, I just wanted to work on content.

Um, so it was in that spirit where I felt like I had to learn all of these new jobs to.

create a business.

Digital marketing was the last thing on my mind.

So I, it was very, and it was, it was only features and benefits of a client got booked on television.

I did a screen grab and just shared that on my social media.

Just like, this is what I can do.

Call me if you're interested.

And in, in that environment, I was still getting results.

I was getting people who were interested in that result.

So that kind of messaging, it does work, but what I found was in the discovery calls, I was, there was a lot of wasted effort in explaining to people the process of how I get people booked on television, people, especially if they're in the same circles as the, as the clients I was working with, they're like, well, I want what she's having, but then I would talk to them about what they're doing.

Well, what are you going to say on this television show that I get you booked on?

And they hadn't given any thought to that.

So I realized I actually needed to share more of my process and how I get people ready to be on television, which meant I needed to then be the product that was being, uh, um, uh, shared on social media.

And I didn't know how to do that with my own personal social media.

Like I'm one of the original Facebook users.

So I know how to, you know, take photos of my dinner and share that with friends and family.

I know how to take a cute video of my dog and be like, Oh, look how adorable Pearl is today.

That content, I knew how to make content to communicate my business, my brand, my services, content that converts that I had no clue what to do.

So I started bringing in help.

I worked with.

I worked with a consultant for a period of time, and I even hired someone to help me with the creative execution because it was too much for me to figure out on my own.

And we built a framework and again, had success with that.

You know, we, we created content pillars.

We started developing an editorial calendar, and I was giving a lot of direction to, uh, to the person who was executing on my creative vision.

And it was working for a time in the sense that we got content out there, it got me front and center.

I started feeling more comfortable in that space.

But then about a year ago, when I, even when I was just, you know, myself consuming the content, I was thinking, well, this isn't, this is, this is only the 20 percent of what I have to offer.

Like, this is still, this is so surface level.

There's much, much more that I can share and this content, it doesn't, it's not gelling.

It's not coming together.

It doesn't feel right.

It just felt like what, like storytelling that I was not familiar with.

So I just thought, you know what, I'm going to give myself a year.

We're going to experiment.

It's still a new, a new brand.

I have the time where I can just throw out the rundown.

I stopped working with those two individuals and just thought I, I don't, you know, I still felt like I didn't necessarily know social media, but I know television, I know how to tell daily content to a mass audience, which that's all social media is.

So I completely revamped and just started thinking of my content in terms of themes and shows.

And as a producer too, it's all about how I can, how can I produce the best content in the least amount of time and for the least amount of money.

Like that is the superpower of a producer and really just started experimenting with, you know, first it was coming up with my own editorial calendar.

So giving my, making decisions ahead of time in January, I'm talking about on camera confidence in February, I'm talking about.

I'm going to create a collaboration in March, I'm talking about time savers, mapping out that discipline really helped me then create faster because I wasn't starting from scratch every single day.

I had this theme in mind.

Once I had the theme in mind, then I could see, well, I actually, you know, I can interview this person.

I can have this podcast guest, I can repurpose or repackage this interview that I had.

I can create this video series.

And then, so that was mapping out the content, amortizing the content, making the most use of it.

And then also aligning business goals.

So, you know, I've got, you know, a workshop that supports on camera confidence.

I can program that in January.

So all of these pieces starting to come together because I was thinking of it in terms of a program.

Everything had to make sense together and serve a broader story purpose.

And then even with the programming, I got rid of the idea of content pillars.

I don't necessarily, you know, do testimonials on Tuesdays and then, you know, thought leaders on Thursdays now.

I'm I'm because I amortize any long form content that I have I released that as a series.

Because people aren't making their decisions or developing a relationship with your brand with one post, they're developing that relationship with multiple engagements with your content.

So this discipline and consistency of like this week, I think the series that's going up right now is all about the difference between marketing and sales.

So it's just this insight after insight, after insight, every time I pop up in your feed.

And so now I've trained people who follow me when I show up in your feed, you know, you're getting gold, you know, that you are getting something fantastic and magical.

And I've just last year, or last week, I should say, I looked at the numbers of the actual tracking of the performance.

And there is a distinction.

Stinked before and after from January to April.

When, when we were using the old model, it was flatline.

And then as soon as I moved into this TV production model, just this upper trajectory from April up until now.

And it was just this huge, huge spike.

And I thought it's so great because now this feels right.

This feels like how I know how to create content for an audience and I'm seeing the data backing it up.

So the real world marketing data that businesses need, I've got the return on investment.

This was a gamble.

It's paid off.

It feels good.

It's easy for me to create this way.

And it's finding an audience and connecting with people.

Yeah.

Edwin: how the concept for editorial calendars.

And I think for me, and as I reflect, and as I think about how you share, I mean, we do, um, You know, I really create a content calendar.

I do have.

I mean, I never called it the way from your TV language, but I'm like, Oh, I should, I should adopt Tara's language.

But, um, I do, I do have specific themes and when it comes to either a weekly theme or a key takeaway that I want.

My audience to listen to that's the focus and the key takeaway for those who are listening and then really hearing what Tara is saying is like, when you plan and strategize ahead of the game, you're not only, you know, you're being proactive and one of the anxiety that people have and I had this in the past without a, without a calendar, without an editory calendars, like, you know, I have to post, I don't know what to post, but I'm just going to post.

And then, and it's not, it's all over the place.

And, and now you're living in anxiety every day.

Like, Oh, to post today because, because I, not only is because someone said to post because you do, because you do believe that you have to, you have to promote yourself and now you're, and now you're doing it on a very reactive sense of point of view, which like I said, is anxiety.

So for those who are thinking about it.

Take a step back, right?

Tara, like you could, I'm sure you've had this talk with people as you onboard them or when you, when you're doing, you know, keynote talks or little workshop is like, just write up six weeks, even like, don't go so crazy.

Just, just write it down.

And then, and then you can get into that creative mode.

And that's for me, personally, it's like, okay, I know what I'm going to talk about on the first week of January.

I mean, people are planning their strategies, they're doing this, they're changing this.

I could do a content series.

I could relate, you know, release a series that I had before.

And, uh, you know, I, I really work with a lot of the, you know, productions I do is mini series.

Right.

And when people bring things out, it's, it's really like, here's your content.

And it could, and, and it's, when I talk pillar content, it's not similar to, to how, how you were saying it in, in your editory.

Kind of like third, you know, throwback Thursdays, flashback Friday, like those things.

Tara: too restrictive.

Yeah, for me that the content, if you have that rigid structure, you're creating an obligation for yourself.

You're actually not and you're setting yourself up.

You're setting yourself up for stress and failure.

Creativity does not enjoy that like that.

If you think back to, you know, when I was working in network television, like, that's that that high stress cat like readiness ideas are not flowing freely.

And it's not an enjoyable way to to create and operate.

It does do a job.

And I think that's a frustrating thing is all of this stuff.

It does get you results, right?

It does, uh, content pillars, uh, really, you know, structured, even, even reactionary, uh, content.

Anytime you post something, it's going to connect with an audience at some point, like it will, it will land somewhere.

So in terms of, you know, if, if your success metrics are just, you know, post four or five times a week, get people to watch it.

Then keep doing what you're doing.

But if your goal is to, well, I want to create with ease.

I want to, this is actually a form of self expression.

There's the people who come to work with me.

They're not necessarily looking for very transactional results, but they have a message that is bigger than themselves.

The container that they have existing right now is not big enough for what they want to express.

Right.

The marketing, a lot of established businesses are coming to me because their marketing, it's doing a job, but it's not doing the job that they want to do.

They actually want to move into this, this area of self expression.

They want to be like a thought leadership star.

They want to be the Brene Brown of their industry.

They want to be the next Simon Sinek.

And it's like, well, yeah, you have to then offer editorial value.

Bernie Brown, when she started, she wasn't just telling people about a book, an ebook that she had on leadership.

She introduced the conversation of vulnerability in the workplace and leadership.

Like, it's about what can I offer?

How can I drive forward?

The conversation is the distinction that I make.

And that's where the using the phrase editorial calendar.

Also has that energy shift.

It's well, what editorial value am I giving to an audience?

How am I contributing to what they're dealing with?

That is the in the world of TV.

That is the promise of the editorial calendar.

When I worked in news, we were creating stories and lineups based reacting to what was happening in the day.

Right?

The world is happening.

Newspaper or journalists are out there getting information.

We're packaging that as a newscast.

That's very reactive and it works.

It does create a newscast.

It does provide a service.

But in moving into the world of lifestyle on the Maryland Dentist Show, when we weren't reacting to the day's events, we still had to create a A news hook like we still had to justify.

Well, why are we doing organization in September and not in July?

So that's where the editorial calendar comes into play.

It really is.

We like to think that as humans, we experience life in a brand new way every single day.

No, we're creatures of habit.

September is back to school, back to business.

October is Thanksgiving and Halloween.

December is the holidays.

And each of those events have a similar vibe and structure that influences how people deal with their their challenges and problems.

I always say time management is different from September to January than it is in July.

When everyone's on vacation, you're not worried about managing a busy schedule, but you're sure as heck are between September and December.

Like, that is just a marathon of obligation and events.

It's also Q4.

So it's about understanding, like, this is actually the eitgeist that your audience is dealing with.

How can I then tweak and alter my content to help them better manage that situation that is very specific at this point in time?

That is, if you can master the editorial calendar in that way, You become like borderline psychic, like people are like, why, well, this, this information that this, this piece of advice is hitting you at the exact possible time, best possible time.

It's because I anticipated that you're stressed out in Q4 and you're not as stressed out in Q2.

Like, that's, that's how I manage the programming.

Edwin: You know, I, Tara, I really love, you know, as you know, the, the reframe from content calendar or campaign calendar to editorial calendar.

And the one key question I thought, and this will be helpful for me, and probably, hopefully people who are listening is you mentioned something there's the ebbs and flows, and I'm sure you learned this not only in the news and working with Marilyn Dennis, uh, is, uh, You know, there's this key times in this key cultural themes that are happening.

Is this something like, so September, I know September is back to school.

Lots of, lots of things happening.

A lot, lots of time shifts.

People are changing the way I know.

Even for me with having young kids, it takes two, three weeks just to get back into that flow and the family flow and doing things, but I guess where I'm trying to get with is when you understand the editorial calendar, all of the Or when you start, you know, creating the discipline to have it and seeing it on the wall, does it make sense for me to say, Oh, you know what, September is back to school.

I know people are worried about their time, the time change and not the time change, but how, you know, their schedule gets shifted around new scheduling.

And we could talk about that within our content.

then how it loops back in the story, and maybe even sharing the story, the personal story, like, my daughter's in grade three, and my son just started daycare.

It's like, oh, back to school.

We just had an enjoyable summer.

Like, is this something that not obviously would be nice as a producer or someone telling us in our editorial calendar?

Let's let's loop this into your editorial calendar because like you said, it's you're reading people's minds.

Tara: Yes.

And I think too, uh, I wanna, I love the distinction again, because you refer to like a content and campaign ca calendar, a content and campaign calendar puts the focus on your, uh, gain as a business, right?

You're creating content to promote a, a product and service.

You're creating a campaign to raise awareness for a product or a service.

Again, remember, if you think of, of the client journey.

If you're focusing on sales, you're creating an ad.

People don't like ads.

The world of media, like so much of media right now is like, well, how do we trick people into listening to an ad?

An editorial bent, you're now looking at Or you're you're now connecting with well, what are people dealing with right now?

How can I help them in this situation?

Build that trust and then guide them to a deeper dive of the products and services.

It's just it's it's a different way.

So if you think it to of, uh, of, uh, Like I'll use a morning talk show as an example, the segments in between commercial breaks are very value driven, right?

It's tips and tricks.

It's news.

You can use it.

Here's the events that are happening in your day.

Here's the traffic report.

Here's the weather.

Here's everything that you need to get through today.

To be informed, you know, we're also going to offer, here's some recipe ideas and here's a, here's an expert we're going to bring in to talk about, you know, managing the holiday budget or whatever is, is speaking to the holiday calendar or the editorial calendar.

That is value driven content that the show needs to develop a relationship with its audience.

In between that are commercial breaks that actually system.

So it's about understanding where do I need to lean in with editorial.

And then how can I guide people towards sales?

People, they are looking for products and services, but you're not hitting them over the head with it right away.

You do need to guide them through that.

Um, one and one thing that I talk about with, uh, with, especially with service based, uh, clients and experts is with your, in your marketing journey.

If you think of a typical story.

So there are three main characters.

There's the hero, there's the villain or the adversary, and then there's the guide.

In your marketing, your client or customer is the hero of your story.

So they're the hero.

They have a quest.

They need to defeat some kind of adversary.

You are the guide guiding them through that.

So the classic hero's journey is Luke Skywalker, right?

Luke Skywalker has a quest to defeat the evil empire and restore balance to the universe because, you know, the usual Luke encounters two guides on his journey.

The first guide is Obi Wan Kenobi, who introduces the concept of the Force, shows what the Force is capable of, and lets Luke know, hey, you have the Force inside you as well.

Spoiler alert, Obi Wan dies.

So Luke then encounters a second guide.

The second guide is Yoda.

Yoda actually takes Luke through the exercises and teaches him how to use the Force.

Yoda is also a great coach in that he holds Luke accountable when Luke is ready to quit and keeps him connected to the, to the overall goal of the overall journey until Luke is able to, again, spoiler alert, defeat the evil empire and restore balance to the universe.

So in your marketing, your social media, you are Obi Wan.

You are sharing content That is generous and giving you're giving advice.

You're giving tips and tricks news.

You can use to introduce the concept and show the capability of what people then ultimately pay for for the Yoda experience.

So your social media, your Obi Wan for the actual products and services, your Yoda, it's the same, the same concept, but you're delivering it in two different ways.

Yeah, Edwin: It's always just interesting and always a reminder for those who are even in this space is just to, you know, it's not always it's not about you and it's it's really important.

Definitely about the hero and the people who are, who, who we're looking to, to guide and help them realize the, you know, the goals and aspirations that we're trying to do, you know, Tara, you and I always like, it's funny, it's our first, it's, it's our first podcast together and maybe we got to get back together again because, uh, you know, we'll talk forever, you know, for those, for those who know me and it's been part of this, you know, I, I always have like good questions and I think we got to two, um, But, uh, but what I do want to highlight before, before I let you go, um, Tara, you have a very unique program called produce like a producer.

And I think it's a really nice segue in terms of where we're going and maybe how we could finish off this conversation.

I just wanted, if you could, if you could share, you know, what are the key takeaways from this and what do you believe every business leader should know from this?

Yeah.

Tara: like a producer is basically all of the issues and challenges that we've brought up with this conversation in terms of, you know, your thought leadership being 80 percent automatic 80 percent hidden even to you as as the communicator, finding the confidence of what what you're doing.

How actually does this 100 percent level sharing come back to the to me in the term of business and even legacy planning.

Right?

How do I build a brand that someone else can take over?

Well, I'll give.

Okay, so Tim Cook.

He's doing 80 percent what Steve Jobs was capable of.

I'll give him an upgrade.

Produce like a producer brings all of that specialized knowledge and thought leadership to the surface.

So that now you as the creative visionary are operating, you're bringing 100 percent of it.

What's driving you and, and who you are and what you value and what you can offer.

You're bringing that to the surface.

So the things that you are not aware of, you're now aware of it and you're operating Steve Jobs level 100%.

So that's what we uncover in the coaching practice.

It is, it, it, it, it, it is this, this kind of, this, this guided, this coaching.

It's, it's a mixture of coaching, journalism, producing.

Where I'm able to then take all of this information and then help you distill it into a user friendly document.

I call it the social media Bible television shows use the Bible.

And I'm using this in air quotes as a way to maintain the creative vision of a show that they can then bring in hundreds of people on the crew to then execute on this plan.

A lot of people, I don't think they realize the degree of direction that is needed.

In managing a team like that, they think, well, my brand guide, I've got the logo.

Here's the colors.

Here's the fonts.

Here's the content pillars that we use.

It's so much more than that.

It's what you value.

It's what you stand for, but it's also the nuances and distinctions.

I had the opportunity to look at actually a brand Bible for Barbie.

A client of mine was doing something with, uh, with Mattel and it was really fascinating to see how they explained who Barbie is and who Barbie isn't.

Barbie is fashion forward.

She is attractive, but she's not sexy.

So I think as a, as a brand leader, if you are, the more guidelines you can give people to understand the specificity.

of your vision, the better off they are to then act in your voice and deliver in your voice, because it's not enough for you to be 100%.

You have to then be able to empower others to then take action and fully understand your vision.

And believe it or not, this whole process only takes six weeks.

Edwin: And I'm sure Tara, when, you know, when your clients and when organizations, small businesses included have this Bible, it's a lot easier to grow and scale that media team as they come in and out.

And just like, and, you know, we live in a world where it'd be nice that you could keep the key people in your team forever.

But that's not nice either.

Um, so, um, Tara, before we wrap up, I'd love it.

If you could share any final thoughts, ideally an actionable recommendation for those who are listening today and maybe are really just embarking on their thought leadership platform, or it could be someone who's in it now.

And maybe what's the one thing that will help them elevate where they are today.

Tara: I think wherever you are, whether you're a beginner or you're experienced, the tracking the timeline exercise is definitely something that you want to revisit over and over and over again.

Even if you've done it before, Take it with it with the curiosity of is this still true?

Is this still relevant?

Is this still what I want to express and what my audience needs to hear from me?

Because brands, even legacy brands evolve over time.

So how can I drive this conversation forward and how can when in terms of connecting with an audience, how can I make their life a little bit better today than it was yesterday?

Edwin: That's amazing.

Tara.

It's been an absolute pleasure.

Thank you for joining us on the business leadership podcast.

Thank you, Edwin.