Bryan Bedera, an artist, business leader and founding partner at Amplify Relations. Bryan’s an expert in government advertising and PR strategy who’s received multiple awards for his work. Listen in to hear how Bryan started his business using his student loan, what startups can learn from Ted Cruz’s campaign, and why you’re better off being in the local paper than courting Buzzfeed.
Famous 5:
Favorite Book? – I don’t have one
What CEO do you follow? — Steve Jobs
Favourite online tool? — QuickBooks
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and let things work themselves out
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:12 – Nathan’s introduction
02:23 – Welcoming Bryan to the show
02:36 – Bryan started out working for a political ad agency - was laid off when the recession hit but managed to keep a client for himself
03:25 – Has worked for McCain and Glenn Beck
04:17 – “Our speciality is mass-market relations”
04:40 – “First-year revenue was maybe $11k...we used student loan money to fund the entire startup”
04:55 – In 2015, 13 full-time employees and revenue of just under $2 million
05:19 – “We sell a change in public behaviour”
05:33 – Recently worked for a health centre to try to increase the number of people coming for STD testing
06:01 – Charge 15% of advertising spend
06:24 – Currently working for Ted Cruz with a robo-call product
07:11 – $500k would buy phone calls for every voter in Florida - Brian’s able to make a 90% margin on that
08:02 – “A political campaign will outsource everything”
08:37 – Our margins vary depending on the product
08:54 – “We can provide all the mass-market services you might need under one roof”
09:21 – Just had a contract with a British beer company ruled out because they didn’t want to work with Republicans
10:00 – How could startups take the robocall tool for corporate use?
11:06 – “The startup community overlooks the power of local and regional press. Go to papers in towns with 5000 people in them. They’re desperate for stories”
11:56 – It’s far easier to build a large library of content in local and regional press than by trying to go straight to Buzzfeed
12:45 – Connect with Bryan on Facebook
14:07 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Be patient. Sometimes you just have to let things work themselves out
Build exposure through local and regional media. You’ll be amazed at how fast your content library grows
Know what you believe in, and why you’re doing what you’re doing
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives