1005: Brand State U: Master Branding, Wisdom, and Turn Failures Into Success with Jaci Russo

Robert Plank 0:05 Yes. Hey, welcome back to the podcast. Jaci Russo's in the house. Jaci is a passionate leader and she has a proven track record of driving growth and exceeding expectations. Her company is BrandRusso, which is a strategic branding agency. And she has helped to get that company's reputation for excellence delivering reliable, high quality results. So we'll have all sorts of things to talk about today, from branding, and so on. So Jaci, glad to be speaking with you.

Jaci Russo 0:33 Thanks so much. Glad to be here.

Robert Plank 0:35 All right, glad to have you. So what is your current passion and focus? What has you excited to jump out of bed in the morning? And what are all the lanyards back there?

Jaci Russo 0:44 Well, I do love speaking at conferences. And before zoom was a thing that was an easy place just to hang them. When I got back to the office. Now everybody sees the wall behind my desk. So it's like a whole new world. So what I'm passionate about right now, obviously, the agency, you know, the work that we do in building the brands of our clients. So that's fun. A couple years ago, I started teaching a lot of workshops and turn that into an online education platform for marketing directors of small businesses who couldn't afford agencies. And now we're launching a bunch of in person summits and workshops and trainings, that super fun. And so I think those are the things I'm kind of dabbling in and playing with right now that have my my blood pumping.

Robert Plank 1:26 Exciting, well, so many things in motion, so many things to teach people and get the word out and just get the help they need if they can't hire some huge team, and they're figuring out themselves. And so where are these marketing directors missing the mark, like where are people failing, as far as the marketing and branding where they need the most help? Well,

Jaci Russo 1:47 you know, in small businesses, what I see is the challenge that somebody who didn't have an education, no foundation in marketing is being tasked with doing the marketing. So it's either an entrepreneur who has decided to start a company, they have a great idea, but they don't have a background in marketing, or they've tapped some employee who has a little bit of spare time, and ask them to help out either way, there's a missing chunk of fundamentals and foundational information. The other side of that coin is somebody who did go to school for it. And so they went to college back in the 80s 90s, or 2000s, and got some degrees and certifications and have been in marketing for a decade or two or three, and marketing has changed. And so now they're struggling with the challenges figuring out this bold new world that they find themselves in, where the things they've been doing no longer work.

Robert Plank 2:40 Okay, so it sounds like we need to get immersed in in the fundamentals. And that I think that's good advice in general, right? Whether we only have the book learning, or we only have the street smarts, there's something to be said about kind of that, that either the daily knowledge or in going back to basics, and just figuring out some of those building blocks. And so what's the starting point, if someone says, Okay, I know that maybe my picture of marketing is somewhat incomplete, where should they pick it up? What should they maybe start doing as far as either like learning or an exercise or something? Well,

Jaci Russo 3:15 I think one of the biggest things that everybody should do is make a concerted effort to be a lifelong learner. I think there's this kind of theory, that when we get done with school, whatever level that might be an enter the workforce, we're done. And now it's like coast, but I think about athletes who, you know, work their way through their student athlete time of high school and college, and now they get the chance to go pro, do they stop working out and stop practicing and stop going to team meetings? No, they probably do it even more. And so we need to treat our professional careers just like that. We need to be learning more, making sure that we have a monthly effort, whether it's reading a book, taking a class attending some sort of a seminar, and I'm not talking about just going to conferences, you know, there's something you get from that. But I mean, the real hands on learning experience, we all need to be better at our jobs. And that's the way we can do it.

Robert Plank 4:10 Wonderful. And so we need to be always learning and that includes being on podcast, right listening to my podcast, listen to your podcast, but then even it take it to that next level, take an actual course of some kind, such as one of your courses and to give us an idea of kind of more of your area of expertise. Like you mentioned, you have all these kinds of courses that are you have existing that are coming out. Is there one that really you feel like mentioning like about like, just what it is and what problem it solves? Well, I

Jaci Russo 4:39 actually would start with HubSpot Academy, because they've got an incredible library of free courses. I would start with any platform that you want to be an expert at. If you want to do more LinkedIn, take the classes that LinkedIn provides on doing LinkedIn better. If you want to be better at Canva because you want to be a better designer. Take the classes they can What provides. So that's I mean, that's definitely where you should start, you work your way through all those, you've taken Copyblogger classes. So you're a better copywriter, and you understand SEO better. You've maybe taken storebrand classes with Donald Miller. So now you're a better writer, and you can write more creatively and more interestingly, then you work your way down the list. I'm probably like the 10th on the list. But then you get to brand state you. And I think that you would start with probably plan to brand, which is an eight week brand building bootcamp, it holds your hand, it takes you through every phase of building a strategic marketing plans, perfect for a beginning of a new year, or launching a new product, or wanting to get into a new audience. This is going to take you step by step through that process.

Robert Plank 5:44 Wonderful. And so I'm really getting a feel for your kind of lifelong being hungry for learner sort of attitude and mindset, which I think we all need to tap into, especially because it's easy to get bored, right? And especially when you jump into learning, and you think, oh, man, like I thought I was done with school. And so do you have any advice around that because like, I'm one of those, like, I love to load up the YouTube Watch Later playlist. And every now and then I will take a paid course. But it's always like, our existing knowledge is already like halfway filled in. So when you go and learn something, you do need to kind of get the A to Z and you there are the nuggets that you you need to fill in and like things you need to learn. But there's also kind of an overlap with what you already know. So do you have any, like secrets to getting over the boredom of being like, I know this, and I should get it reinforced? But he says, it's so so hard. What do you have to say about that?

Jaci Russo 6:38 I don't think we should retake things we already know. I mean, that is the recipe for boredom. And that's going to turn us away from learning in general, I think that we should be focused on learning new things. So depending on what your day to day job is, I bet there's some things you can learn about how AI can help you do it better. So like aI hate AI, it's here. So how are you going to use it and leverage it for yourself. Maybe you aren't a take an online class kind of learner. So buy a book, read books, you can physical books, or PDF, you know, ebooks, but there's knowledge there. Maybe you just want to learn by putting together a group of people who are just far enough ahead in their careers, 510 years maybe, and they will mentor you. And you can learn directly from them. Or joining an association where some experts in your field will share their knowledge on a regular basis. Maybe it's taking webinars, maybe it's just listening to podcasts. My point is be open to learning. Don't assume that you know everything you need to know, because our communities, our businesses, ourselves, our marketing channels are all changing. And I think that continuing to stay on top of that is exciting. But if you don't then just do it just a little just a touch.

Robert Plank 7:55 Okay, fair enough, be open to learning. And I'm also getting from some of your answers here is the social with other people, because many times we think of learning as like reading a book or searching some article, but you're mentioning all these examples of like mastermind groups and groups of other people that can kind of help you learn but also encourage and motivate you. And so in all of your your recent travels, right like you have your your landlords in the back from the conferences, you do lots of zooming all this online stuff. Is there anything from like the last six months or so that you feel like passing on? Like, is there anything recently that you learned that just like made you really excited? Sure.

Jaci Russo 8:32 So I'm talking to our clients at the agency side, who have really started to buy into this idea that they are thought leaders in their space, and that they need to be sharing that knowledge in a way that they can be teaching others, right. So back to learning again. And so as I'm traveling around the country, doing these video shoots, recording the videos for my clients so that we can edit them and put them into play, I started to realize that we've got to be able to scale this. So I set out to go learn more, and now have built an entire new entity that we are going to launch in the next couple of weeks that I think is going to be the cure for what some because I listened I learned from these people, what they really need is not just the technology. I mean anybody can grab a phone and record a selfie or put it on a tripod, but they need to be better speakers. So we've put a whole coaching program together. And we are going to be coaching people on how to better speak on camera, how to have a better story that can connect with others, how to develop videos that really are going to captivate the target audience they're trying to reach and we're calling it sales spark studios. And so sales spark Studios is two pieces. The first part there are three pieces really. The first part is hearing you understanding your area of X parties and crafting a content calendar and scripts off of that. The second part is coaching you. So now we are making sure that you're going to be the best you can possibly be on camera from afar, we don't have to fly to you, you're not to pay to transport us there, we're gonna do everything remotely. And then the third part is our remote production studio, we can zoom right into not with Zoom, we can log right into your device, your phone, your desktop, your iPad, and set up our remote studio, put up the transcript, record, you coach you guide you video, you get the footage, edit you and send right back to you finished videos. So when I think about learning, I think about what I'm learning through this. I'm learning how to create a whole new opportunity to help people do a better job of marketing themselves. That's a win win for everybody. I agree with that it

Robert Plank 10:54 is and so and it's great that you kind of like you said, you listen, and you look at where people were stuck. And you said, Well, let me create something that solves that problem. And let me find a way to shortcut the steps and do it in a fun and exciting way that maybe it was not possible to do before as far as like the logging in remotely doing all this. And so that's a wonderful thing that I think we all need to be tapping into is we have all this raw rough knowledge, right? And we're just like a really good best kept secret. And we needed to figure out a way of taking all this whole mess and looking at okay, well out of all the mess. What do people like? And what can what makes them sit up and pay attention? What can they use from what we have to say, and package it in sort of an exciting way that involves story and professional presentation, and all this other sort of fun stuff. And so like you I'm sure you've been through many of the ups and downs and successes and failures and sins are speaking of story a little bit. The failures are the interesting part, right? Where there was the the emotion in the panic. So do you have anything that you share with us as far as a failure type of story to really get us kind of on the edge of our seat and scared and excited at the same time, what comes to mind,

Jaci Russo 12:05 I think of them as lessons, not failures or losses, I think that you know, every time I do something, I'm either going to win, or I'm going to learn. And it's either going to be a great experience, or it's going to be a great story later. So we started the agency in February of 2001. I'm eight months pregnant with number two, number one kid is a year old. And I've been married for a year and a half to two years because we got pregnant on our honeymoon. So I've been married for two years. So now I'm basically unemployed, because I'm working for myself, and trying to balance a newborn and a toddler and get a lot of business really grow faster than I expected. My husband's a graphic designer, he was working for another agency. So he quit his jobs. And now we're both unemployed is how it feels. And then 911 happens. And now I think we're gonna lose everything. Because we had companies who our clients went out of business, they pulled back all their advertising, we went from a six figure month in August to a five like $5,000 month in September. Like that, overnight. So after a small panic attack, it was about figuring out how to work through it and getting new clients and continuing to grow and go because we had hired people. So we had employees that I was responsible for. And I knew that, you know, if we didn't make payroll, they weren't paying their mortgages. So there's a little bit of pressure there. And you know, that happened over and over and over again, in the past 23 years, it was the financial crisis of oh eight, it was the oil and gas crash. It was COVID. And so I think the biggest lesson to me is the only failure would be if I quit, if I just stopped. So what I have to do is figure out how to pivot how to work through it, how to grow through it, how to find the next opportunity. I focus on hiring, and then on our clients and on myself, how can I stay humble, hungry and happy? Because if I can do those three things, then I can grow through anything. I love

Robert Plank 14:01 it humble, hungry and happy, and that there's always some other path to figure out and their own there is the path to quit. But why do that right? What's the point of that continue in the game and figure out how to solve some of these problems, get past the panic, sit and think and devise a solution and move forward. So wonderful. And so as far as what you have in place, we mentioned your company in some of your courses. What do you think is a logical next step if someone says you know, I liked some of these stories and some of this advice Jackie gave me about the learning part and the branding part and the failure and success part and I want to take the next step and find out what she's all about and go and see what services are company provides and hire etc. What's the next step? What's the website,

Jaci Russo 14:47 so go to brand state you like you as a university.com and check it out. You know, you'll find a team of professional development experts that can come in and do professional development work with your team, you'll find online classes that you can start taking right away self paced, you'll find access to our exciting new adventure. And you know, and where you can reach out to me through there or through social media. I'm Jackie JCI. Russo, are you SSO on every social platform? Wonderful.

Robert Plank 15:18 So brand state u.com Is that place to go and JCI Russo, Jackie Russo. And as we're winding down our conversation here, Jackie, were a couple of podcasts or you didn't you know how it's fun to end with a bang, not a whimper and with maybe a sound bite or something. So if I were to ask you about a favorite quote or lesson that you think could fit in could really apply here at the end of our conversation. What floats to the top of your mindset as far as quote or lesson? Oh,

Jaci Russo 15:45 I think you'd probably be this quote from Henry Ford. The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.

Robert Plank 15:56 Wonderful. The lot to think about and very inspiring. And I thank you very much, Jackie, for your quick visit here and giving us a lot of advice and sending us on our way really appreciate you Jackie Russo brand state u.com appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to the marketer of the day podcast. marketer of the day is managed by d f y and podcast claim your 12 podcast boosters at Def Why podcast.com/free