November 9, 2023 • 26 mins
In this episode recorded for the Tenney Group, Blythe Brumleve shares her journey into freight marketing, starting as an executive assistant who was handed the keys to run marketing for a $140 million logistics company. She discusses creating content that solves customer problems, being consistent, and why most companies fail at content marketing. She also gives tips on planning content and talks sports.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Blythe Brumleve (00:06):
Welcome into another episode of Everything Is
Logistics, a podcast for thethinkers in freight.
We are proudly presented by SPILogistics and I am your host,
Blythe Brumleve.
Got another special episode foryou today, this time in
appearance on the Tenney Grouppodcast, talking about realistic
content strategies for truckingcompanies, overall content
marketing strategy in logisticsand a little bit of my backstory
(00:28):
, in case that is of interest toyou.
Spoiler alert I spend a lot oftime as an executive assistant
working for a former truckdriver who turned into CEO and
owner of the company, who thenhanded the keys of all of the
marketing over to me, and sothat is where my freight
marketing experience started andhas evolved really over the
last decade.
So this appearance on theTenney Group podcast was really
(00:53):
an enjoyable conversation.
They put out some pretty greatcontent and they do it
consistently over on theirYouTube channel, so be sure to
check out the show notes for alink to where you can watch more
content that they create, andit's pretty much exactly what
you're about to hear in thisepisode.
So hope you enjoy all of thatsort of backstory insight.
And here is the episode.
Spencer Tenney (01:15):
Welcome to In the Hot Seat with the Tenney
Group.
I'm Spencer Tenney.
It's good to be with you.
Is everything logistics, really?
Well, we're going to find outfrom our next guest here in the
hot seat.
Please welcome Blythe Brumleve,host of the Everything Is
Logistics podcast.
Blythe welcome.
Blythe Brumleve (01:34):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's exciting to be here.
Spencer Tenney (01:36):
Well, I'm excited as well.
Before we heat things up alittle bit, why don't you just
take 30 seconds?
You got a lot of stuff cookingright now, but give us a sense
of kind of the things thatyou're working on right now.
Blythe Brumleve (01:47):
So things I'm working on right now is about
starting in January of this year, I became a full-time podcaster
and it's been something that Ihave been working towards since
2014.
I've been creating contentonline in some capacities since
2007.
So it's been a little bit of along journey.
I guess, you know, for mostfolks they say it's an overnight
(02:09):
thing.
Definitely was not for me.
Then I also run a businesscalled Digital Dispatch where I
help freight companies getonline and grow.
So those are my main twoprojects right now.
Spencer Tenney (02:20):
So thank you for that number one.
So let's just start with thewhy.
I mean I've seen you in action.
Clearly there's a passion forthis industry.
Where does that come from?
You could be doing podcastingin any context.
I mean, what is it about thelogistics world that has got you
so engaged?
You know just from how youinvest in the space.
Blythe Brumleve (02:45):
So I actually, when I started a blog back in
2007, it was a sportsentertainment blog I wanted to
teach my girlfriends how tounderstand the same things that
I was really passionate about,so sort of in a selfish way, to
teach them about differentsporting events and why they're
so fun, and also gaming andentertainment Typical things
(03:08):
that were thought of.
As for the men, I wanted mygirlfriends to get involved, and
then, shortly thereafter,social media started, and so I
kind of found like my group ofpeople, my group of women who
enjoyed the same things that Ienjoyed, and at that same time,
in addition to starting the blog, it was a side hustle.
My full-time job was working ata 3PL what's called third party
(03:31):
logistics company, and I wasthe executive assistant, and
when my boss, the CEO at thetime found out about what I was
doing, he said well, why don'tyou start?
You know, handling all of ourmarketing, handling all of our
digital campaigns, things likethat, and so it was really like
a trial by fire for me to getthrown into the world of
logistics marketing.
(03:51):
I had no idea what thisindustry was all about.
I just knew I came from a worldof waiting tables and I thought
I would never get a desk job, Iwould never want to sit at a
computer all day and then sortof fast forward to today, and
that's exactly what I do.
But it was one of thoseopportunities where it was, you
(04:12):
know, I had learned thesedifferent skillsets, such as
building websites and creatingcontent and marketing that
content out to social media,that my boss knew, you know
exactly.
He was like we need to havethat for our company so you can
just, you know, take it over.
So it was $140 million a yearcompany and here I was, just you
know, given the keys to theentire ship, and so that was how
(04:35):
I learned, you know, about theindustry.
I'm still learning every singleday about the industry, and I
think that that is what keeps meso hooked in logistics is
because there's always a problemto be solved, there's always
something new.
Every time I learn somethingnew, I realize how much more I
still have left to learn, and sofor me, that has been, you know
(04:58):
, I've always been, you know,lifelong, you know sort of
learner and, you know, staycurious, and I think that those
are the keys to creating greatcontent and that has served me
well and that this industry justkeeps providing that to me.
Spencer Tenney (05:14):
Well, we're glad that you're here and you're
making an impact, clearly.
So let's talk about that kindof where our worlds intersect.
Us on the side, you know TindyGroup working with companies to
create value to ultimately exitthrough a sale.
You know, as part of thatbuilding value process, of
course folks have to have sometype of coherent brand
(05:36):
positioning.
You know type, commitment andeffort in place.
So I'm curious what are youseeing some of the people that
you're working?
What are they doing todifferentiate themselves as it
relates to, you know, kind ofthe way that they approach media
, the way that they approachtheir digital marketing, what
are they doing that's different,that you think is ultimately
affecting the way that theycreate value?
Blythe Brumleve (05:59):
So there's a couple of companies that in
particular that are creatingcontent really well, because I
see it from both sides of theaisle, where you know the
overall, honestly, theoverwhelming majority of my
clients that I manage theirwebsites for because that's
essentially the services that Iprovide for digital dispatch
Most of them do not createcontent.
Most of them have tried tocreate content and if they do
(06:21):
try, it's more SEO focused andthey have given up, you know,
pretty quickly.
They don't want to be on camera, they don't want to be in front
of a microphone.
Covid a little bit changed thatand it forced a lot of these
companies and a lot of theseowners to become the face of
their company.
And you know they everybodykind of, you know either got a
(06:41):
microphone or you got a webcamat some point during you know
the lockdowns and working fromhome, and so that made other
companies a little bit morecomfortable with creating
content and getting themselvesout of the comfort zone.
A lot of them still don't, butthe ones that have started out
I'll give you one in particularis BCP Transport.
They have a, so they have likea fleet of over 300 drivers and
(07:06):
they started Facebook livestreaming their driver safety
meetings for the drivers thatcouldn't make it into the office
, and so they had a group ofdrivers that were inside the
office, you know, participatingin the meeting, and then they
would have a group of driverswho were watching on Facebook
live.
So it started becoming sosuccessful on Facebook that they
started making YouTube videos.
(07:26):
And then the YouTube videostarted turning into.
Well, let's take an office andlet's completely gut it and
let's start making content inthat office.
That same team now has a fullservice business that is
separate from BCP Transport,where they're recruiting drivers
, they're retaining driversthrough their educational safety
driven content.
(07:47):
But now, on the flip side, theyhave found so much success with
creating content that they'renow starting to offer those
services.
A trucking company is nowstarting to offer those content
marketing services, you know, toother trucking companies within
the space, because not just forthe simple fact of, you know,
being able to connect with theiraudience, connect with drivers,
you know, current andperspective, but then they're
(08:08):
also able to save on insurancepremiums.
In a world where, you know, alot of trucking companies are
seeing a dramatic increase intheir insurance premiums because
of the fact that they'vepreached so much about safety.
They saw another premium dropin their insurance costs two or
three years in a row now becausethey have focused so much of
(08:30):
their efforts on content, and Ithink that that is a really
important distinction.
No-transcript.
They're seeing the benefits now, but those benefits weren't
evident when they were Facebooklive streaming, and so being
able to see that growth and thatprogression has been really
inspirational.
So there's that you know aspectof it, but you also have to
(08:50):
have talent that is able to beon camera and able to be
committed to getting the repsand getting better with each and
every rep.
Are you in freight sales with abook of business looking for a
new home?
Or perhaps you're a freightagent in need of a better
partnership?
These are the kinds ofconversations we're exploring in
our podcast interview seriescalled the freight agent
(09:13):
trenches sponsored by SPIlogistics.
Now I can tell you all day thatSPI is one of the most
successful logistics firms inNorth America, who helps their
agents with back officeoperations such as admin,
finance, it and sales.
But I would much rather youhear it directly from SPI's
freight agents themselves, andwhat better way to do that than
(09:33):
by listening to the experiencedfreight agents tell their
stories behind the how and thewhy they joined SPI.
Hit the freight agent link inour show notes to listen to
these conversations or, ifyou're ready to make the jump,
visit SPI3PLcom.
Spencer Tenney (09:49):
So have you ever had a client?
Where you're, you're just like,hey, you have the best idea,
but you are not the right personto be on the microphone.
How does that conversation go,right?
Well, it's typically, theydon't want to do it at all.
Blythe Brumleve (10:06):
And I for a while, because when I started,
when I started digital dispatch,I started the podcast to
promote pretty much a talk to myclient base, talk to subject
matter experts in order to findout where their struggle points
are and where they're findingsuccess.
And I started finding successwith content.
So I would start to preach tothem you need to be on camera,
you need to be on camera, youneed to be on camera, you need
(10:28):
to be in the microphone, infront of a microphone, you need
to be talking about these things.
You need to just take your cellphone and put it up in front of
you and record a five minutevideo.
And I think for a lot of them,they get very scared, they get
very nervous.
They don't.
It's a lot of those same commonfears.
It's the fear of equipment, thefear of perfection, thinking
(10:50):
that you have to have everythingperfect before you hit publish
on something, and so more timesthan not, a lot of folks just
don't create content and theyget scared because they're
building up all of these thingsin their head and then they
don't actually get to the pointwhere they're hitting publish
over and over again, and that'swhat it takes.
So I spent a.
(11:10):
Honestly, I spent a long timetrying to convince a lot of my
clients to get in front of acamera, to get in front of a
microphone and take the sameemails that they were making and
just create a video for theminstead.
You can do both.
It doesn't have to be either or, but the video function still
freaks a lot of people out, andthey really only have been the
(11:30):
one example of BCV transportthat has really taken that and
run with it.
Everybody else has sort of juststayed behind and focused on
more of like the SEO focusedcontent where it's like 3,000
words and you just hope thatsomebody that arrives on your
site is going to read all ofthat and then become a customer.
And I think we've just seen adramatic shift in the way people
(11:53):
buy, the way businesses buy andthey're not converting, and so
maybe some of them arerethinking that.
But it really just comes backdown to they're just scared to
get on camera.
Spencer Tenney (12:06):
No, I think that's really interesting, and
you said something in terms ofthe fear of perfection, which I
think that is.
I've not really heard thatphrase said exactly like that,
but that's so interestingbecause you see a lot of folks
that want to do content, but thereason that they won't either
(12:26):
because they're uncomfortable,but there's not a definable
outcome about what's going tocome of this, and so, like
you're trying to put realcapital behind these types of
efforts, of which you don'treally know how or when the
return is going to be.
It's just more of a gut.
You feel like this is what weshould be doing, and so how do
(12:47):
you think about that?
You produce an enormous amountof content.
Like how do you think about thecontent that you're producing
from a value standpoint versusreturn on investment?
What's your thought processabout that?
Blythe Brumleve (13:03):
So my thought process behind content is, I
think a lot of businesses messup in a sense that they're not
talking about.
They're talking about it fromthe lens of okay, well, how many
leads am I going to get if Imake this one video versus?
It's the work that you put inconsistently on top of each
other that builds on each other,that you know will eventually
(13:25):
turn into leads.
And I think, from a marketingstandpoint, you know, I've
always marketed myself out ofnecessity, out of bootstrapping
myself.
You know I didn't have, youknow, the $50,000 that you know
to pay a big time marketingagency to handle my content.
I didn't have that.
So I had to figure it out formyself.
And when I first launched thebusiness, you know, focus
(13:48):
podcast, I ended up switchingthe name from digital dispatch
to everything is logisticsbecause the podcast kind of took
off and but originally thatpodcast was really meant to
connect with my customers tofind out what concerns that they
were going through right now,so I can anticipate those needs
coming down the pipeline.
So it wasn't necessarily aboutgetting the big numbers or, you
(14:11):
know, getting, you know, 10,000views on a video.
It was what are my customersstruggling with?
What are my current clientsstruggling with and how can I
create content to help themcombat these issues?
So then, that way they're notjust, you know, a website
hosting customer of mine and amaintenance customer of mine,
but that they actually see thereal value in staying with me
(14:35):
long term, because I'm going tobe right there in the trenches
with you, I'm going to teach youeverything that I've learned so
far and then, hopefully, you'llbe able to pick up on that in
the end.
Now, as far as like measuringROI, you know I have systems in
place for that now, but I alsostill, you know, strongly
caution.
You know any other you knowbusiness out there that that's
(14:55):
thinking of starting up content.
You want to worry about your,your specific target market, and
I would always suggest to startwith your customers first,
because chances are, whateverproblems they're dealing with,
other customers or otherprospects are dealing with those
same exact challenges, and ifyou can come up with solutions
to solve those problems, thenyou can display that and you can
(15:15):
showcase it through yourcontent to where, even if only
five people watch that Video,those five people have a higher
likelihood of being in yourtarget market than if you are to
just, you know, cater to thebig vanity metrics is what I
call them.
So if you're trying to get thegoing viral and getting, you
know, 30,000 views on a video,then content is not going to be
(15:37):
a right fit for the overwhelmingmajority of people, because the
overwhelming majority of peopledo not hit those numbers unless
you create content on a veryconsistent basis.
So it's setting up, I think,though, those early expectations
that you're probably not goingto go viral.
Your videos are probably goingto suck for the first six months
, but you got to work past it,and then, once you work past it,
(15:58):
then you'll start seeing thebenefits of it, and one of the I
guess a better comparison thatI've heard recently is from
Chris Walker from Refined Labs,and he has, you know, a
comparison that if you're goingto create content, it's like
going to the gym.
You're not going to be able toattribute you know one bicep
curl to you know a future leadthat you get down the road.
(16:20):
It's a combination of all ofthose efforts that is going to
lead to success later on.
That's a great analogy.
Spencer Tenney (16:27):
I like that.
So let me pivot a little bit.
Blight, let's talk about kindof.
You know the evolution of yourrole as a podcaster.
I'm curious like who have youfound to be a great resource or
source of inspiration?
Other podcasters, any industry,who are some folks that you've
(16:48):
that you can point to?
This is where I grew by payingattention to what they were
doing.
Blythe Brumleve (16:54):
So I think Gary Vaynerchuk is probably a given
just because he talks about, youknow, documenting and you know
document don't create, so he'salways been one that I look
towards.
As far as you know, what should, where should I be making moves
and where should I be focusedon?
Other creators that really cometo mind, I kind of like a lot
of like the raunchy stylepodcast.
(17:16):
So Flagrant 2 has a bunch ofcomedians on it.
I like watching their show alot.
I would also say a lot of.
There's a new businesswoman thatI've been following.
Her name is Cody Sanchez andI've been absolutely obsessed
with her and her content and theway that you know she was a
former Wall Street, you knowadvisor and she built up a bunch
(17:39):
of companies you know, managingmillions of dollars, but now
she's transferred that intohelping you know smaller
business owners do the samething, and so I found value in a
lot of her content as of lateand she's kind of been like a
you know a new North Star for me.
So I kind of switched it up.
As far as the programming thatI particularly enjoy, because I
(18:01):
have a few go-tos in differentindustries, odd Lots is another
one that's specifically forpodcasts that comes from
Bloomberg, a lot of the freightwaves programming I watch a lot
of them as well and then a lotof the growth of the independent
podcaster just in supply chainand logistics is very dramatic
(18:22):
over the last, really since 2020.
I remember there was a list ofthe top 10 podcasts in supply
chain and logistics and nowthere's more than 100 of those
podcasts that are listed in thatsame category.
So those are probably bothindustry in my industry and
outside of my industry of showsthat I watch and I kind of take
(18:43):
inspiration from and kind ofpick and choose of not only what
they're saying but what they'redoing, meaning if, like the
Flagrant podcast, for example,they have they upload a full
video, they do a full showthat's like three hours long,
but then they'll take that videoand they'll splice it up into
10 to 15 minute long clips andfor a lot of people they'll look
(19:06):
at a three hour long show andthey'll say, absolutely I'm not
watching that.
But then they watch a couple ofthe clips and then, because of
how good the YouTube algorithmis, they'll end up watching the
whole damn show After a littlewhile, just because the
algorithm is so good that theysat down.
They were not anticipatingwatching that entire three hour
show, because they watched allthe clips back to back.
(19:27):
You know, that's when they'regoing to go back and realize
that they probably could havejust saved a lot more time if
they just hit play on thatoriginal episode.
Spencer Tenney (19:37):
Well, I think that's good stuff right there,
and that's that's.
That's a little psychologylesson for those watching as
well.
So let's talk about what's next, for everything is logistics,
and what can we keep our eyes on?
What are you working on next?
Blythe Brumleve (19:51):
So what I'm working on next is it sounds.
It sounds a little likejuvenile, but the first six
months of this podcast, it wasreally one of those moments
where it was almost like astartup.
It really felt like a startupculture for me where it was OK,
who's going to sponsor thepodcast?
How am I going to justify allof this time?
Because it's not just creatingcontent, it's the research
(20:13):
involved, it's the editing, it'sthe distribution, it's the
interview booking.
It's a whole lot of things thatyou don't see before.
You see, you know, a face on ona camera.
So the first six months of thepodcast has really been OK.
Well, you know what kind ofexperts can I get on the show
and who's going to sponsor.
You know, figure out thelogistics of that.
(20:34):
And then now, with the last six, you know I really took the
last few weeks while everybody'skind of traveling and you know
everybody's out of kind of theoffice.
I batch some episodes so Icould take some, really you know
, a few weeks that I couldreally sit down and think about
what I want the next six monthsto look like.
I'm a planner so I would plan,you know, the next four years if
I could.
(20:54):
But I know in the world ofcontent you can really only plan
about six months out.
So I'm excited to now, you know,not just take experts on the
show and find out about you knowtheir bio and what they've done
and how they came to work inthe industry and you know what
topics they care about buttaking a topic that a lot of
people care about and thenfinding that guess that can be
(21:15):
that subject matter expert thatcan talk in depth about that
particular topic.
So I kind of see it in two ways.
I see it as that format andthen I have, you know, a set
amount I've been doing this for,you know, a few years now that
I have a set amount of recurringguess that can be those subject
matter experts.
So I don't have to kind of runinto an issue of you know, is
(21:37):
somebody going to freeze up assoon as they, you know, get on
camera?
Are they going to be able tooffer something interesting?
And not just, you know, readfrom you know a script the
entire time.
So it's figuring out what thosenuances look like.
And I know that that's probablya long way of saying of, yeah,
we're refining some things, butit's more going to be topic
(21:58):
driven.
Going back to I used to work ina magazine where we would plan
out, you know our issues, youknow four months in advance, and
we would have a central themearound one issue for the month
and then we would build thetopics around that.
That's where I see the podcastgoing, where I have a central
issue with a central topic andthen that way I can fit in the
(22:20):
subject matter expertise andalso the news angles as well,
because I think you need to havea multi-pronged approach when
you're approaching you knowcontent marketing just in
general, so you can have thatevergreen content and then also
have that news content that youknow will blend the audiences
together.
Spencer Tenney (22:38):
Well, I think you got it down in Blight.
So last question, a little bitof a wild card for you.
Now you kind of teased ouraudience a little bit about some
of this sports andentertainment knowledge.
So I'm curious, we're coming in.
We're at the halfway mark ofthe baseball season.
We got football season right onthe horizon.
Favorite football player, nfl,favorite baseball player what
(23:02):
are we looking at?
Blythe Brumleve (23:04):
Oh, I'm NFL all the way.
I used to be such a bigbaseball fan but I, for whatever
reason, covid changed a lot ofmy sports viewing habits and now
I'm pretty much just allfootball so NFL.
Anyone who is within arm'sreach of me will know that I'm a
Jaguars fan.
I end every podcast with the GoJags.
I have an entire.
(23:25):
If you were watching on video,I have an entire, just sort of
display like owed to the Jaguars.
In the background of my videosup above you can't see it, but
is a giant Fred Taylor jerseythat's game worn and signed.
He's a former JacksonvilleJaguar running back.
I used to cover the team so forfor local sports radio.
So I'm I'm a huge fan, born andraised season ticket holder.
(23:47):
I go to every single game withmy dad for more than 20 years,
so I could name a legends Jaguarplayer.
That is my absolute favorite.
But present day I have to gowith Trevor Lawrence because
he's he, along with DougPeterson.
You know you got the anytime.
You can have that head coach inStar quarterback combo and you
can get that start quarterbackon his rookie contract for this
(24:09):
first few years and do somethingdecent with the performance of
the team, which we did have, youknow, last year, made it to the
playoffs.
Anytime you can have that, thatis a very it is very rare in
the NFL to have that combo ofthe head coach and the young
quarterback still on his rookiecontract.
So hopefully we can, you know,make some waves here in in this
(24:30):
year and in the coming years ofcourse.
Spencer Tenney (24:33):
And hopefully we'll see Trevor on the
everything is logistics podcastvery soon.
I'm sure we would all enjoythat.
That's going to do it for us inthe hot site live.
Appreciate you being here.
We'll see you next time.
Blythe Brumleve (24:49):
I hope you enjoyed this episode of
everything is logistics, apodcast for the thinkers in
freight, telling the storiesbehind how your favorite stuff
and people get from point A to B.
Subscribe to the show, sign upfor our newsletter and follow
our socials over ateverythingislogisticscom.
And in addition to the podcast,I also wanted to let y'all know
about another company I operateand that's digital dispatch,
(25:10):
where we help you build a betterwebsite.
Now, a lot of the times, wehand this task of building a new
website or refreshing a currentone off to a co-worker's child,
a neighbor down the street or astranger around the world,
where you probably spend moretime explaining the freight
industry than it takes toactually build the dang website.
Well, that doesn't happen atdigital dispatch.
(25:32):
We've been building onlinesince 2009, but we're also early
adopters of AI, automation andother website tactics that help
your company to be a centralplace to pull in all of your
social media posts, recruit newemployees and give potential
customers a glimpse into how youoperate your business.
Our new website builds start aslow as $1,500, along with
(25:53):
ongoing website management,maintenance and updates starting
at $90 a month, plus some bonus, freight marketing and sales
content similar to what you hearon the podcast.
You can watch a quick explainervideo over on digitaldispatchio
.
Just check out the pricing pageonce you arrive and you can see
how we can build your digitalecosystem on a strong foundation
(26:16):
.
Until then, I hope you enjoyedthis episode.
I'll see you all real soon andgo Jags 7大历.
Welcome into another episode of Everything Is
Logistics, a podcast for thethinkers in freight.
We are proudly presented by SPILogistics and I am your host,
Blythe Brumleve.
Got another special episode foryou today, this time in
appearance on the Tenney Grouppodcast, talking about realistic
content strategies for truckingcompanies, overall content
marketing strategy in logisticsand a little bit of my backstory
(00:28):
, in case that is of interest toyou.
Spoiler alert I spend a lot oftime as an executive assistant
working for a former truckdriver who turned into CEO and
owner of the company, who thenhanded the keys of all of the
marketing over to me, and sothat is where my freight
marketing experience started andhas evolved really over the
last decade.
So this appearance on theTenney Group podcast was really
(00:53):
an enjoyable conversation.
They put out some pretty greatcontent and they do it
consistently over on theirYouTube channel, so be sure to
check out the show notes for alink to where you can watch more
content that they create, andit's pretty much exactly what
you're about to hear in thisepisode.
So hope you enjoy all of thatsort of backstory insight.
And here is the episode.
Spencer Tenney (01:15):
Welcome to In the Hot Seat with the Tenney
Group.
I'm Spencer Tenney.
It's good to be with you.
Is everything logistics, really?
Well, we're going to find outfrom our next guest here in the
hot seat.
Please welcome Blythe Brumleve,host of the Everything Is
Logistics podcast.
Blythe welcome.
Blythe Brumleve (01:34):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's exciting to be here.
Spencer Tenney (01:36):
Well, I'm excited as well.
Before we heat things up alittle bit, why don't you just
take 30 seconds?
You got a lot of stuff cookingright now, but give us a sense
of kind of the things thatyou're working on right now.
Blythe Brumleve (01:47):
So things I'm working on right now is about
starting in January of this year, I became a full-time podcaster
and it's been something that Ihave been working towards since
2014.
I've been creating contentonline in some capacities since
2007.
So it's been a little bit of along journey.
I guess, you know, for mostfolks they say it's an overnight
(02:09):
thing.
Definitely was not for me.
Then I also run a businesscalled Digital Dispatch where I
help freight companies getonline and grow.
So those are my main twoprojects right now.
Spencer Tenney (02:20):
So thank you for that number one.
So let's just start with thewhy.
I mean I've seen you in action.
Clearly there's a passion forthis industry.
Where does that come from?
You could be doing podcastingin any context.
I mean, what is it about thelogistics world that has got you
so engaged?
You know just from how youinvest in the space.
Blythe Brumleve (02:45):
So I actually, when I started a blog back in
2007, it was a sportsentertainment blog I wanted to
teach my girlfriends how tounderstand the same things that
I was really passionate about,so sort of in a selfish way, to
teach them about differentsporting events and why they're
so fun, and also gaming andentertainment Typical things
(03:08):
that were thought of.
As for the men, I wanted mygirlfriends to get involved, and
then, shortly thereafter,social media started, and so I
kind of found like my group ofpeople, my group of women who
enjoyed the same things that Ienjoyed, and at that same time,
in addition to starting the blog, it was a side hustle.
My full-time job was working ata 3PL what's called third party
(03:31):
logistics company, and I wasthe executive assistant, and
when my boss, the CEO at thetime found out about what I was
doing, he said well, why don'tyou start?
You know, handling all of ourmarketing, handling all of our
digital campaigns, things likethat, and so it was really like
a trial by fire for me to getthrown into the world of
logistics marketing.
(03:51):
I had no idea what thisindustry was all about.
I just knew I came from a worldof waiting tables and I thought
I would never get a desk job, Iwould never want to sit at a
computer all day and then sortof fast forward to today, and
that's exactly what I do.
But it was one of thoseopportunities where it was, you
(04:12):
know, I had learned thesedifferent skillsets, such as
building websites and creatingcontent and marketing that
content out to social media,that my boss knew, you know
exactly.
He was like we need to havethat for our company so you can
just, you know, take it over.
So it was $140 million a yearcompany and here I was, just you
know, given the keys to theentire ship, and so that was how
(04:35):
I learned, you know, about theindustry.
I'm still learning every singleday about the industry, and I
think that that is what keeps meso hooked in logistics is
because there's always a problemto be solved, there's always
something new.
Every time I learn somethingnew, I realize how much more I
still have left to learn, and sofor me, that has been, you know
(04:58):
, I've always been, you know,lifelong, you know sort of
learner and, you know, staycurious, and I think that those
are the keys to creating greatcontent and that has served me
well and that this industry justkeeps providing that to me.
Spencer Tenney (05:14):
Well, we're glad that you're here and you're
making an impact, clearly.
So let's talk about that kindof where our worlds intersect.
Us on the side, you know TindyGroup working with companies to
create value to ultimately exitthrough a sale.
You know, as part of thatbuilding value process, of
course folks have to have sometype of coherent brand
(05:36):
positioning.
You know type, commitment andeffort in place.
So I'm curious what are youseeing some of the people that
you're working?
What are they doing todifferentiate themselves as it
relates to, you know, kind ofthe way that they approach media
, the way that they approachtheir digital marketing, what
are they doing that's different,that you think is ultimately
affecting the way that theycreate value?
Blythe Brumleve (05:59):
So there's a couple of companies that in
particular that are creatingcontent really well, because I
see it from both sides of theaisle, where you know the
overall, honestly, theoverwhelming majority of my
clients that I manage theirwebsites for because that's
essentially the services that Iprovide for digital dispatch
Most of them do not createcontent.
Most of them have tried tocreate content and if they do
(06:21):
try, it's more SEO focused andthey have given up, you know,
pretty quickly.
They don't want to be on camera, they don't want to be in front
of a microphone.
Covid a little bit changed thatand it forced a lot of these
companies and a lot of theseowners to become the face of
their company.
And you know they everybodykind of, you know either got a
(06:41):
microphone or you got a webcamat some point during you know
the lockdowns and working fromhome, and so that made other
companies a little bit morecomfortable with creating
content and getting themselvesout of the comfort zone.
A lot of them still don't, butthe ones that have started out
I'll give you one in particularis BCP Transport.
They have a, so they have likea fleet of over 300 drivers and
(07:06):
they started Facebook livestreaming their driver safety
meetings for the drivers thatcouldn't make it into the office
, and so they had a group ofdrivers that were inside the
office, you know, participatingin the meeting, and then they
would have a group of driverswho were watching on Facebook
live.
So it started becoming sosuccessful on Facebook that they
started making YouTube videos.
(07:26):
And then the YouTube videostarted turning into.
Well, let's take an office andlet's completely gut it and
let's start making content inthat office.
That same team now has a fullservice business that is
separate from BCP Transport,where they're recruiting drivers
, they're retaining driversthrough their educational safety
driven content.
(07:47):
But now, on the flip side, theyhave found so much success with
creating content that they'renow starting to offer those
services.
A trucking company is nowstarting to offer those content
marketing services, you know, toother trucking companies within
the space, because not just forthe simple fact of, you know,
being able to connect with theiraudience, connect with drivers,
you know, current andperspective, but then they're
(08:08):
also able to save on insurancepremiums.
In a world where, you know, alot of trucking companies are
seeing a dramatic increase intheir insurance premiums because
of the fact that they'vepreached so much about safety.
They saw another premium dropin their insurance costs two or
three years in a row now becausethey have focused so much of
(08:30):
their efforts on content, and Ithink that that is a really
important distinction.
No-transcript.
They're seeing the benefits now, but those benefits weren't
evident when they were Facebooklive streaming, and so being
able to see that growth and thatprogression has been really
inspirational.
So there's that you know aspectof it, but you also have to
(08:50):
have talent that is able to beon camera and able to be
committed to getting the repsand getting better with each and
every rep.
Are you in freight sales with abook of business looking for a
new home?
Or perhaps you're a freightagent in need of a better
partnership?
These are the kinds ofconversations we're exploring in
our podcast interview seriescalled the freight agent
(09:13):
trenches sponsored by SPIlogistics.
Now I can tell you all day thatSPI is one of the most
successful logistics firms inNorth America, who helps their
agents with back officeoperations such as admin,
finance, it and sales.
But I would much rather youhear it directly from SPI's
freight agents themselves, andwhat better way to do that than
(09:33):
by listening to the experiencedfreight agents tell their
stories behind the how and thewhy they joined SPI.
Hit the freight agent link inour show notes to listen to
these conversations or, ifyou're ready to make the jump,
visit SPI3PLcom.
Spencer Tenney (09:49):
So have you ever had a client?
Where you're, you're just like,hey, you have the best idea,
but you are not the right personto be on the microphone.
How does that conversation go,right?
Well, it's typically, theydon't want to do it at all.
Blythe Brumleve (10:06):
And I for a while, because when I started,
when I started digital dispatch,I started the podcast to
promote pretty much a talk to myclient base, talk to subject
matter experts in order to findout where their struggle points
are and where they're findingsuccess.
And I started finding successwith content.
So I would start to preach tothem you need to be on camera,
you need to be on camera, youneed to be on camera, you need
(10:28):
to be in the microphone, infront of a microphone, you need
to be talking about these things.
You need to just take your cellphone and put it up in front of
you and record a five minutevideo.
And I think for a lot of them,they get very scared, they get
very nervous.
They don't.
It's a lot of those same commonfears.
It's the fear of equipment, thefear of perfection, thinking
(10:50):
that you have to have everythingperfect before you hit publish
on something, and so more timesthan not, a lot of folks just
don't create content and theyget scared because they're
building up all of these thingsin their head and then they
don't actually get to the pointwhere they're hitting publish
over and over again, and that'swhat it takes.
So I spent a.
(11:10):
Honestly, I spent a long timetrying to convince a lot of my
clients to get in front of acamera, to get in front of a
microphone and take the sameemails that they were making and
just create a video for theminstead.
You can do both.
It doesn't have to be either or, but the video function still
freaks a lot of people out, andthey really only have been the
(11:30):
one example of BCV transportthat has really taken that and
run with it.
Everybody else has sort of juststayed behind and focused on
more of like the SEO focusedcontent where it's like 3,000
words and you just hope thatsomebody that arrives on your
site is going to read all ofthat and then become a customer.
And I think we've just seen adramatic shift in the way people
(11:53):
buy, the way businesses buy andthey're not converting, and so
maybe some of them arerethinking that.
But it really just comes backdown to they're just scared to
get on camera.
Spencer Tenney (12:06):
No, I think that's really interesting, and
you said something in terms ofthe fear of perfection, which I
think that is.
I've not really heard thatphrase said exactly like that,
but that's so interestingbecause you see a lot of folks
that want to do content, but thereason that they won't either
(12:26):
because they're uncomfortable,but there's not a definable
outcome about what's going tocome of this, and so, like
you're trying to put realcapital behind these types of
efforts, of which you don'treally know how or when the
return is going to be.
It's just more of a gut.
You feel like this is what weshould be doing, and so how do
(12:47):
you think about that?
You produce an enormous amountof content.
Like how do you think about thecontent that you're producing
from a value standpoint versusreturn on investment?
What's your thought processabout that?
Blythe Brumleve (13:03):
So my thought process behind content is, I
think a lot of businesses messup in a sense that they're not
talking about.
They're talking about it fromthe lens of okay, well, how many
leads am I going to get if Imake this one video versus?
It's the work that you put inconsistently on top of each
other that builds on each other,that you know will eventually
(13:25):
turn into leads.
And I think, from a marketingstandpoint, you know, I've
always marketed myself out ofnecessity, out of bootstrapping
myself.
You know I didn't have, youknow, the $50,000 that you know
to pay a big time marketingagency to handle my content.
I didn't have that.
So I had to figure it out formyself.
And when I first launched thebusiness, you know, focus
(13:48):
podcast, I ended up switchingthe name from digital dispatch
to everything is logisticsbecause the podcast kind of took
off and but originally thatpodcast was really meant to
connect with my customers tofind out what concerns that they
were going through right now,so I can anticipate those needs
coming down the pipeline.
So it wasn't necessarily aboutgetting the big numbers or, you
(14:11):
know, getting, you know, 10,000views on a video.
It was what are my customersstruggling with?
What are my current clientsstruggling with and how can I
create content to help themcombat these issues?
So then, that way they're notjust, you know, a website
hosting customer of mine and amaintenance customer of mine,
but that they actually see thereal value in staying with me
(14:35):
long term, because I'm going tobe right there in the trenches
with you, I'm going to teach youeverything that I've learned so
far and then, hopefully, you'llbe able to pick up on that in
the end.
Now, as far as like measuringROI, you know I have systems in
place for that now, but I alsostill, you know, strongly
caution.
You know any other you knowbusiness out there that that's
(14:55):
thinking of starting up content.
You want to worry about your,your specific target market, and
I would always suggest to startwith your customers first,
because chances are, whateverproblems they're dealing with,
other customers or otherprospects are dealing with those
same exact challenges, and ifyou can come up with solutions
to solve those problems, thenyou can display that and you can
(15:15):
showcase it through yourcontent to where, even if only
five people watch that Video,those five people have a higher
likelihood of being in yourtarget market than if you are to
just, you know, cater to thebig vanity metrics is what I
call them.
So if you're trying to get thegoing viral and getting, you
know, 30,000 views on a video,then content is not going to be
(15:37):
a right fit for the overwhelmingmajority of people, because the
overwhelming majority of peopledo not hit those numbers unless
you create content on a veryconsistent basis.
So it's setting up, I think,though, those early expectations
that you're probably not goingto go viral.
Your videos are probably goingto suck for the first six months
, but you got to work past it,and then, once you work past it,
(15:58):
then you'll start seeing thebenefits of it, and one of the I
guess a better comparison thatI've heard recently is from
Chris Walker from Refined Labs,and he has, you know, a
comparison that if you're goingto create content, it's like
going to the gym.
You're not going to be able toattribute you know one bicep
curl to you know a future leadthat you get down the road.
(16:20):
It's a combination of all ofthose efforts that is going to
lead to success later on.
That's a great analogy.
Spencer Tenney (16:27):
I like that.
So let me pivot a little bit.
Blight, let's talk about kindof.
You know the evolution of yourrole as a podcaster.
I'm curious like who have youfound to be a great resource or
source of inspiration?
Other podcasters, any industry,who are some folks that you've
(16:48):
that you can point to?
This is where I grew by payingattention to what they were
doing.
Blythe Brumleve (16:54):
So I think Gary Vaynerchuk is probably a given
just because he talks about, youknow, documenting and you know
document don't create, so he'salways been one that I look
towards.
As far as you know, what should, where should I be making moves
and where should I be focusedon?
Other creators that really cometo mind, I kind of like a lot
of like the raunchy stylepodcast.
(17:16):
So Flagrant 2 has a bunch ofcomedians on it.
I like watching their show alot.
I would also say a lot of.
There's a new businesswoman thatI've been following.
Her name is Cody Sanchez andI've been absolutely obsessed
with her and her content and theway that you know she was a
former Wall Street, you knowadvisor and she built up a bunch
(17:39):
of companies you know, managingmillions of dollars, but now
she's transferred that intohelping you know smaller
business owners do the samething, and so I found value in a
lot of her content as of lateand she's kind of been like a
you know a new North Star for me.
So I kind of switched it up.
As far as the programming thatI particularly enjoy, because I
(18:01):
have a few go-tos in differentindustries, odd Lots is another
one that's specifically forpodcasts that comes from
Bloomberg, a lot of the freightwaves programming I watch a lot
of them as well and then a lotof the growth of the independent
podcaster just in supply chainand logistics is very dramatic
(18:22):
over the last, really since 2020.
I remember there was a list ofthe top 10 podcasts in supply
chain and logistics and nowthere's more than 100 of those
podcasts that are listed in thatsame category.
So those are probably bothindustry in my industry and
outside of my industry of showsthat I watch and I kind of take
(18:43):
inspiration from and kind ofpick and choose of not only what
they're saying but what they'redoing, meaning if, like the
Flagrant podcast, for example,they have they upload a full
video, they do a full showthat's like three hours long,
but then they'll take that videoand they'll splice it up into
10 to 15 minute long clips andfor a lot of people they'll look
(19:06):
at a three hour long show andthey'll say, absolutely I'm not
watching that.
But then they watch a couple ofthe clips and then, because of
how good the YouTube algorithmis, they'll end up watching the
whole damn show After a littlewhile, just because the
algorithm is so good that theysat down.
They were not anticipatingwatching that entire three hour
show, because they watched allthe clips back to back.
(19:27):
You know, that's when they'regoing to go back and realize
that they probably could havejust saved a lot more time if
they just hit play on thatoriginal episode.
Spencer Tenney (19:37):
Well, I think that's good stuff right there,
and that's that's.
That's a little psychologylesson for those watching as
well.
So let's talk about what's next, for everything is logistics,
and what can we keep our eyes on?
What are you working on next?
Blythe Brumleve (19:51):
So what I'm working on next is it sounds.
It sounds a little likejuvenile, but the first six
months of this podcast, it wasreally one of those moments
where it was almost like astartup.
It really felt like a startupculture for me where it was OK,
who's going to sponsor thepodcast?
How am I going to justify allof this time?
Because it's not just creatingcontent, it's the research
(20:13):
involved, it's the editing, it'sthe distribution, it's the
interview booking.
It's a whole lot of things thatyou don't see before.
You see, you know, a face on ona camera.
So the first six months of thepodcast has really been OK.
Well, you know what kind ofexperts can I get on the show
and who's going to sponsor.
You know, figure out thelogistics of that.
(20:34):
And then now, with the last six, you know I really took the
last few weeks while everybody'skind of traveling and you know
everybody's out of kind of theoffice.
I batch some episodes so Icould take some, really you know
, a few weeks that I couldreally sit down and think about
what I want the next six monthsto look like.
I'm a planner so I would plan,you know, the next four years if
I could.
(20:54):
But I know in the world ofcontent you can really only plan
about six months out.
So I'm excited to now, you know,not just take experts on the
show and find out about you knowtheir bio and what they've done
and how they came to work inthe industry and you know what
topics they care about buttaking a topic that a lot of
people care about and thenfinding that guess that can be
(21:15):
that subject matter expert thatcan talk in depth about that
particular topic.
So I kind of see it in two ways.
I see it as that format andthen I have, you know, a set
amount I've been doing this for,you know, a few years now that
I have a set amount of recurringguess that can be those subject
matter experts.
So I don't have to kind of runinto an issue of you know, is
(21:37):
somebody going to freeze up assoon as they, you know, get on
camera?
Are they going to be able tooffer something interesting?
And not just, you know, readfrom you know a script the
entire time.
So it's figuring out what thosenuances look like.
And I know that that's probablya long way of saying of, yeah,
we're refining some things, butit's more going to be topic
(21:58):
driven.
Going back to I used to work ina magazine where we would plan
out, you know our issues, youknow four months in advance, and
we would have a central themearound one issue for the month
and then we would build thetopics around that.
That's where I see the podcastgoing, where I have a central
issue with a central topic andthen that way I can fit in the
(22:20):
subject matter expertise andalso the news angles as well,
because I think you need to havea multi-pronged approach when
you're approaching you knowcontent marketing just in
general, so you can have thatevergreen content and then also
have that news content that youknow will blend the audiences
together.
Spencer Tenney (22:38):
Well, I think you got it down in Blight.
So last question, a little bitof a wild card for you.
Now you kind of teased ouraudience a little bit about some
of this sports andentertainment knowledge.
So I'm curious, we're coming in.
We're at the halfway mark ofthe baseball season.
We got football season right onthe horizon.
Favorite football player, nfl,favorite baseball player what
(23:02):
are we looking at?
Blythe Brumleve (23:04):
Oh, I'm NFL all the way.
I used to be such a bigbaseball fan but I, for whatever
reason, covid changed a lot ofmy sports viewing habits and now
I'm pretty much just allfootball so NFL.
Anyone who is within arm'sreach of me will know that I'm a
Jaguars fan.
I end every podcast with the GoJags.
I have an entire.
(23:25):
If you were watching on video,I have an entire, just sort of
display like owed to the Jaguars.
In the background of my videosup above you can't see it, but
is a giant Fred Taylor jerseythat's game worn and signed.
He's a former JacksonvilleJaguar running back.
I used to cover the team so forfor local sports radio.
So I'm I'm a huge fan, born andraised season ticket holder.
(23:47):
I go to every single game withmy dad for more than 20 years,
so I could name a legends Jaguarplayer.
That is my absolute favorite.
But present day I have to gowith Trevor Lawrence because
he's he, along with DougPeterson.
You know you got the anytime.
You can have that head coach inStar quarterback combo and you
can get that start quarterbackon his rookie contract for this
(24:09):
first few years and do somethingdecent with the performance of
the team, which we did have, youknow, last year, made it to the
playoffs.
Anytime you can have that, thatis a very it is very rare in
the NFL to have that combo ofthe head coach and the young
quarterback still on his rookiecontract.
So hopefully we can, you know,make some waves here in in this
(24:30):
year and in the coming years ofcourse.
Spencer Tenney (24:33):
And hopefully we'll see Trevor on the
everything is logistics podcastvery soon.
I'm sure we would all enjoythat.
That's going to do it for us inthe hot site live.
Appreciate you being here.
We'll see you next time.
Blythe Brumleve (24:49):
I hope you enjoyed this episode of
everything is logistics, apodcast for the thinkers in
freight, telling the storiesbehind how your favorite stuff
and people get from point A to B.
Subscribe to the show, sign upfor our newsletter and follow
our socials over ateverythingislogisticscom.
And in addition to the podcast,I also wanted to let y'all know
about another company I operateand that's digital dispatch,
(25:10):
where we help you build a betterwebsite.
Now, a lot of the times, wehand this task of building a new
website or refreshing a currentone off to a co-worker's child,
a neighbor down the street or astranger around the world,
where you probably spend moretime explaining the freight
industry than it takes toactually build the dang website.
Well, that doesn't happen atdigital dispatch.
(25:32):
We've been building onlinesince 2009, but we're also early
adopters of AI, automation andother website tactics that help
your company to be a centralplace to pull in all of your
social media posts, recruit newemployees and give potential
customers a glimpse into how youoperate your business.
Our new website builds start aslow as $1,500, along with
(25:53):
ongoing website management,maintenance and updates starting
at $90 a month, plus some bonus, freight marketing and sales
content similar to what you hearon the podcast.
You can watch a quick explainervideo over on digitaldispatchio
.
Just check out the pricing pageonce you arrive and you can see
how we can build your digitalecosystem on a strong foundation
(26:16):
.
Until then, I hope you enjoyedthis episode.
I'll see you all real soon andgo Jags 7大历.
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