Passage To Profit Creator and Influencer Marketing for Startups with Denise Lambertson

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The following is a paid podcast.iHeartRadio's hosting of this podcast constitutes neither an
endorsement of the products offered or theideas expressed. It truly is a fascinating
time to be a startup. Growingup in New Jersey. Living in New
Jersey, you just get to understandmore types of people. I just need
to get my backpack off my backPassage to Profit, Road to entrepreneurship.

(00:23):
You just heard some snippets from ourshow. It was a really great one.
So stay tuned. Want of Patton, your invention, The chance is
near. You've given it part,now get it in gear. It's Passage
to Profit With Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart. I am Kenya Gibson filling in for
Richard Gearhart. I'm Elizabeth Gearhart.I do marketing for Gearhart Lan. I

(00:47):
have my own startups. We havean incredible guest, Denise Lambertson. She
is an influencer marketing expert, andshe has a fund, an investment fund,
and she is just a wealth ofknowledge. And we also have Mike
Ham who is the host of Greetingsfrom the Garden State podcast and Mike is
putting the Garden State on the mapand we're also joined by Mark Dingle,

(01:11):
who if you wear a backpack,you don't want to miss his very innovative
accessory. Kenya and I both keepup with the marketing trends. They move
pretty quickly. And one of thetrends we want to talk about is chat
GPT. Can you tell us whatit is exactly? Chat GPT is an
artificial intelligence program. It helps peoplecreate content. It does other things too,

(01:33):
like a lot of other things,but a lot of the ways people
use it for marketing is to createcontent. And I played around with a
little bit. It's really fun actually, and I heard it helps people like
find information about things who It's kindof like a little personal assistant if I
understand that correctly. It is soyou go on to the website, which
is open dot ai or something likethat. I can't remember exactly the name

(01:53):
of it now, and you getyour own account and you can ask questions
and get answers. I watched awebinar on it sponsored by meetup. You
can put in what is intellectual property, and it'll go scour all the data
that was fit into it. Sothey fed a whole bunch of data into
this program up to twenty twenty one. So if you asked what's the latest
intellectual property case in say the SouthernDistrict of New York or something, it

(02:17):
wouldn't have that because it would onlyhave up to twenty twenty one, but
forever green data or regular stuff.It's really good. So you could say
what's intellectual property and it would giveyou a description of what intellectual property is.
And like anything that's new, it'slike they haven't worked out all the
kinks. So I wouldn't bet myhouse on the information that it's providing.

(02:37):
But it's a good definitely a goodsource, like if you're in a pengent
you need something quickly, or you'retrying to save on time in terms of
research. Have you played with ityet, Kenny, I haven't when I
wanted and played with it. Kennyis exactly right. A lot of the
stuff in there is wrong. SoI put Richard Gearhart summit, New Jersey
attorney, and it got him likeperfect. It gave me all this stuff
about Richard that was absolutely right.I tried putting my self in and it

(03:00):
thought I was an attorney, whichI'm not. And then I tried putting
in more refined data to see ifit could find me, and it really
couldn't. It all depends. WhatI find interesting is what are people going
to be putting online now in theirvarious descriptions and things in the hopes that
it makes it into the next datadump for chat GPT. I'm going to
put in there then I'm a billionaireand hope that it picks that up and

(03:22):
that comes into fruition. I thinkI'm gonna do that. But what I
thought was really cool about it isif you do any data analysis in Excel,
you can ask it to write youan Excel formula for what you want
to do based on your spreadsheet,and it will give you the formula and
you can put it in your spreadsheet. It I'll do the calculation. That's
awesome, Yeah, because I neverwant to hassle trying to look up the

(03:45):
formulas for Excel. And then youcan say, give me a week's worth
of meals, two of them veganor vegan, you know, two of
them with fish, and it'll giveyou a meal plan and then say give
me the recipes. It'll give youthe recipes. That's awesome. So it's
kind of like a way to strengthenyour weaknesses if like, you're not well
versed an area it is, butyou know it's garbage and garbage out.
You really have to tell it exactlywhat you want it to find and what

(04:06):
you want to do, and beas specific as possible to really get a
good answer. Sounds helpful. Iused it for a blog post. Oh
wow, I am not an attorney, but I put in there why do
I need a trademark search? Andwhat it came back with. Of course
I had to run it by theattorney since an attorney. Was actually very
coherent and very comprehensive and really goodbecause it went out and it found all

(04:28):
these websites and pulled together the bestanswers. So I think a lot of
people in marketing will use it forblog posts if you know what you're looking
for. And then of course youalways have to look at it and edit
it because, like you said,stuff can be wrong, but it's fun
and it really makes things go alot quicker. Yeah, I didn't know
it would write stuff for you.So is that stuff transferable? Like you
can just kind of can you copyand paste and you yeah, you can't

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print it or download it or anything. It stays in your account for a
while and you have to literally,like you said, highlight it, copy
it, and then paste it intoa word doc. But it's so now
we want to find out what ourguests think. Mark, what's your opinion.
I definitely feel like I need tolearn more and understand it better.
I definitely see how it could beuseful for different startups I'm working with,

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for example, for the Venapack backpackaccessory for writing blogs. I've been thinking,
you know, it's a lot oftime and a lot of work to
create a blog. So if Iwanted to write a blog, maybe on
like, you know, what isthe best backpack to use for biking or
you know, something like that,I would like to create that. I
just think there's a lot of youknow, opportunity to use it to leverage
to create content more quickly. Andwhat do you think, Mike? Personally,

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I love chat GPT. I useit also for blog posts, social
copy, all that kind of stuffbecause like when I run my show,
I am a one man show,so I scheduled the guests, I record
the episodes, I edit all myepisodes, I do all my social stuff,
write my blogs, write my website, and to take some of that
bulkwork off of my plate is amazing. And obviously, like you said,
you have to go back through andmake sure that some of it's correct or

(05:57):
grammatically correct and all that kind ofstuff. But it's just like you could
be so specific with it and reallydial in exactly what you wanted to say,
like write a blog post that's fiveparagraphs long that is seo rich for
these types of things, and thatjust helps all the stuff that you're doing.
So if you're running a website andyou need clickable content or stuff that's
going to show up in a Googlesearch, it's it's perfect for stuff that

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I do. Sounds like you haveit down. So yeah, my fear
is that if I don't use it, I'm going to get left behind because
so many people are starting to useit. I said, I think on
the last week that we did this, that I signed up for this webinar
about chat GPT on meetup, andwhen I signed up, like a week
before, there were five thousand signedup. At the time the webinar went

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online, there were almost eighteen thousandpeople there. Yeah, So Denise,
what do you think about chat GPT? Oh? Well, I tend to
agree with Mike I use it alot, and especially right now in connection
with the marketing agency that I run. But the expertise that I have is
really around startups, marketing and investmentand future proofing. Every startup be able

(07:00):
to optimize their business run more efficiently. It's going to become like the competitive
edge to beat is how literate youare in AI in general, but certainly
chat GPT first. So whether that'strying to identify trends, looking at competitors,
looking at where your customers are,looking at where your hopeful customers are,

(07:21):
making decisions around distribution, all ofthat will be fueled by chat GBT
or something similar. Right because Iheard there are competitors coming online. Oh
yeah, Google has one, andMicrosoft and then you know a whole host
of other AI. It's all happening. Wow, what a world we live
in With that. Now, itis time for Kenya and myself to interview

(07:42):
Denise Lamberts. I am so excitedto have Denise on this show. She's
an influencer marketing expert. She hasan investment fund, Constellation Capital, and
she helps startups and she marries thetwo. I am so excited to have
Denise here. I want to hearall about what the atest and latest is
so welcome, Denise. What's goingon, what's new in the world of

(08:03):
influencer marketing and capital funds? That'sa big question at you know, it's
an incredible time to be a startup, which is really what I specialize in
is influencer marketing for startups and investingin the kind of startups that we also
understand could use the help and supportof influencer marketing, so consumer brands really

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and it truly is a fascinating timeto be a startup one because of things
like AI, which we were justtalking about before, and how much that
is changing too because of the amountof excitement and disruption there is now in
the social media platforms with the changesto digital ads and the introduction of platforms

(08:48):
like TikTok, etc. The volumeof content that you need to put out
as a new business is pretty incredible. And that can be for your business
and for the founder and for theindividual employees, which also a lot of
times if they're young, are influencers, so it all kind of circles together.
That's awesome, And can you justbreak down influencer marketing for us,
because I feel like, it's aterm that kind of gets thrown around a

(09:11):
lot of times and people don't knownecessarily what it is, especially how it's
applicable to brands absolutely Kenya, youknow, it's a term that suffers from
nobody actually putting a flag in theground and saying this is actually what it
is. So some people think ofinfluencer as a halo term that includes traditional
celebrities and athletes and creators and anyonewith a social media account that's putting out

(09:33):
content. That's one way to thinkof it. Influencer marketing as a capital
ecosystem is really about individuals that havea social reach on one of the platforms
and that are selling that reach viacontent to brands and compelling some sort of
action, whether that's a sale ora sign up or a download. That's
the way that my agency defines influencermarketing, and we put celebrity, athlete,

(09:56):
ambassador, all of that to theside and give it its own category.
But as I mentioned, it's hardbecause it does mean something different to
almost everyone. So starting off withdefining it is a great way to begin
a conversation. And when you takea look at like the buying cycle and
how consumers make decisions. What phaseof the buying cycle would you say that
is best suitable for an influencer marketingtactic. That's a good one, and

(10:18):
this is going to be a slightlyunsatisfying answer, But it really depends on
the product and you know, thecompanies. So in some cases, you
know, it makes a lot ofsense to put influencer marketing into the customer
journey. Like at the validation point, consumers trying to decide is this supplement
really, you know, going todo what it says it's going to do.
Oh, this influencer that I likeand trust, great, you know,

(10:39):
I'm gonna check them out. Theylike it, let me think about
it a little bit more. Oh, now I'm getting retargeted bam. Okay,
now I'm going to buy right.So in some cases, it's the
very bottom of that customer journey,at the bottom of that funnel. It's
like, Okay, well they've beenthinking about it, looking at it,
seeing it online, and then hey, it's an influencer they really like.
That's like I've been trying this,I've been using it, and that's the
person that will get that to takeaction. So it's highly dependent on the

(11:03):
category and the brand, and howmuch education it needs and how much validation
it needs. Richard has a storyhe loves. It's too bad he's not
here, but your heart. Lawhad a client and years ago this man
paid Kim Kardashian for a tweet andit was thousands of dollars for a tweet
about his lighted case for a cellphone. And it just took off like

(11:26):
wildfirearm. He had so many salesfrom that one tweet by Kim Kardashian.
Oh, that was a special momentin time when one tweet was a whole
marketing strategy is no longer, unfortunately, but I it absolutely was. There
was that moment in time, andnow that has changed dramatically. You still
need to have a fully baked marketingstrategy, a ton of other content,

(11:48):
a ton of you know, SEOblog, all of the things. Email
marketing very important. But my philosophy, both for influencer marketing and for investing
is that you know, consumers trustpeople more than they trust companies, and
so when you insert a personal narrativeinto a company's conversation with consumers, you're
kind of building this bridge of trust. And Kim Kardasjian was one of the

(12:11):
first that really had an audience andwas willing to talk about things. And
what's more perfect for her to talkabout than a lighted phone case? Then
she lives on her phone, right. I think that brings up another point.
You have to match the influencer toyour product, right, and that's
what you do you help clients do. That's right. We spend a lot
of time talking to our clients abouttheir current customer and their target customers.

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Sometimes the client it's better for themto go deeper with the customer they already
have, and in other times they'retrying to attract the next concentric circle out
of customers. So we start withthat just kind of what are you trying
to accomplish here, and then wehave a conversation about brand building versus sales

(12:52):
converting, because an influencer can typicallydo one of those two things really well,
but not both. And if youcan find one that can be both,
that's fantastic, and there are certainlythose out there. But we think
about the answer to that question.If somebody's trying to really build brand awareness,
then we're looking for influencers that lookexactly like that target customer versus.

(13:13):
If a company is really focused ongenerating sales with influencers, then we're we
care less about how the influencer looksand more about do they have the audience
and can they connect with that audienceand compel that sale. Our process is
quite strategic. I believe that thereis a feeling in the business community that,
oh, you know, I'm justgoing to DM a few influencers and
send them my product, and thatis a strategy and actually that's a little

(13:35):
bit like a moving target. Ibelieve that influencer marketing is so substantiated now
as a marketing channel that it reallydeserves the same kind of care and attention
that you would give any other partof your marketing strategy. Do the influencers
actually use the product before they talkabout it when we work with them,
they do? You know that that'spretty important, right. I believe that

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we all know when we're being soldto, and we all know when you
know, there's somebody representing a productand they aren't using it. It's a
very kind of, you know,supermodel era type of marketing experience. So
most companies, and certainly our agencynow will make sure that the influencer has
tried the product, used it,and typically we'll do some education sessions with

(14:16):
them too. Do you understand enoughabout the business? Can you answer questions?
You know, if you get commentsfrom your followers, are you able
to answer them articulately? How canwe support you in better getting to know
this? So not only do theyhave to like it, but they have
to be responsible, you know,ambassadors to it as well. At what
phase does a brand or a businessstart to incorporate influencer marketing. We really

(14:39):
recommend from day one, and insome cases we'll even launch influencer marketing pre
launch for companies. What we advocateis a different kind of influencer marketing for
different stages of your business. RightSo in the pre launch, in the
early stage, you might be tryingto generate enough content for it to have
some testimonials so they you're hitting thatvalidation again when people go to search.

(15:01):
But you may not have the budgetsyet to implement a full across all platforms
strategic and you might not have theinfrastructure to support it yet either. Do
you have the distribution right So aftera certain point, we do a lot
with consumer package goods, so youknow, healthy products, you're moving into
retail. Well, that's a newstrategy, right, what's the kind of
influencer that can drive somebody into youknow, a whole foods, etc.

(15:22):
So it's really about pairing the rightstrategy with the right point in your life
cycle. But in my opinion,it should be done from day one.
I would if I could. Howmuch is a cost? The cost to
get an influencer really multiple answers.There are tiers of influencers, and this
is all new vocabulary in the marketingworld. But you know, nanoinfluencers are

(15:43):
influencers that have a smaller following maybefive thousand followers and under, and one
inner engagement with them, one activationwith them could cause you know, fifty
to one hundred dollars depending on theplatform. You know, then you've got
microinfluencers, then you've got macroinfluencers,then you've got super influencers, and then
you're into celebrities, right, andso depending on how many activations you're putting

(16:07):
them to work in and what kindis it video, what channel you're on,
the variables that enter into that calculationare numerous, so it's very hard
to give an exact number. Butwhat I can say is the cost is
going up and has been going up. It's gotten much more expensive to engage
influencers over the last few years interms of like the algorithm and all the

(16:29):
things changing and the social media landscape. What's your take on reels and is
that like a definite part of somebody'srecommended strategy when you're working with a client.
I believe that it's a really importantfeature that Instagram rolled out, and
I feel like it was a littlebit too late, but I think they're
doing a great job. It isnow a favored feature in Instagram. So
we are absolutely requiring all of ourclients to participate in it, and we

(16:53):
look for and what we call sourceinfluencers for our clients that are very adept
at creating reels. But really kindof the headline on that is video video
is incredibly important, and regardless atthat YouTube shorts, which is on the
spike up as far as growing channels, reels, TikTok, etc. Video

(17:14):
is absolutely the way to go,and most influencers that are professionalizing their services
will encourage you to engage them forthat video. It's good to have other
people that will do videos for you. Because video is tough. When we
get to my little segment, you'llsee I'm doing a new business based on
video. And what I'm realizing.I've had very good people try to shoot
like the thirty second videos of themselvesand it's hard because you don't always look

(17:38):
at the camera and people look allover the place. And one person shot
his thirty second pitch for me,very experienced, very smart man, and
he said, Okay, here itis after the two hundred thirty drive.
Yes, people need to use video, and celebrities are used to it,
but how do you get your clientscomfortable with it? To be totally honest,

(18:00):
I don't even like doing video.You know it is, But there
is a generation coming up behind methat it was born with an iPhone in
their hand practically and feels very verycomfortable and documents their whole entire life over
video. And then there are folksthat just have a knack a DNA tweak
that just make them really great atit. For the rest of us,
mere immortals, it does take alot of practice to get comfortable. And

(18:22):
you know, a big part ofmarketing in general for startups that I am
encouraging the majority of our portfolio companiesand our clients to do is engage in
founder marketing, which is another kindof influencer marketing where the founder of the
company is also putting all of thesesorts of tools into place. And that's
where I get the most pushed back. Everyone seems to see the value in

(18:45):
it, but it's like getting foundersto do it, it's like fun.
They don't want to yeah, andI get it. It's a lot of
work. Social media is a lotof work. It takes like a hundred
pictures or video just to be like, oh, I got that one good
take and you're like, oh,it's laboring. It absolutely is. And
that's why I also believe that thecost of engaging influencers is going up because
you know, that is time,and that's a service, and that time

(19:07):
has value. And so frustrating asit is for our clients and for companies
that are used to the rates ofwhen the channel first kind of became big,
it does make sense because it doestake a lot of time passage to
profit. With Kenya Gibson sitting infor Richard Gearhart, I'm Elizabeth Gearhart.
We've been talking to our guest DeniseLambertson and we have more of Denise and

(19:30):
then two incredible products services you wantto hear about after Denise, so we
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(20:15):
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Together we can change the world.This that has been read by an attorney

(20:37):
spokesperson. Now back to passage toprofit once again. Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart.
Hi am Kenya Gibson sitting in forRichard Gearhart with my lovely co host
today Elizabeth, who's doing a phenomenaljob in studio with Denise Lambernson. So,
Denise is an influencer marketing expert.She's also the founder of LMS and

(20:57):
she also is a managing partner atConstellation Capital. That I get all that
right, Yes you did. Yeah, So now we're gonna talk about the
investment side of what you do foryour expertise. Launching Constellation Capital and becoming
investor was an incredible evolution to mycareer that I never quite saw coming,
but I'm truly thrilled to have done. And really it's built off of the

(21:19):
same premise as the marketing agency,which is really around the idea that strategic
capital, celebrity, influencer, etc. That is incredibly valuable in consumer products
these days. And so Constellation Capital, the investors in the fund, the
limited partners, the LPs are celebrities, athletes and influencers and they have a

(21:41):
desire to be in a fund andbe investors because they like the idea of
being on the cutting edge of newbrands and new products and disruptive categories and
are looking for ways that they canprovide what I call passive value or passive
marketing value without having to do likea whole endorsement deal or something along those
lines. So that is an incredibleAs I mentioned, evolution in my career.

(22:03):
I am not a trained venture capitalist, but having worked with startups through
the marketing agency for so long andseeing the ability for celebrities, influencers and
athletes to really accelerate growth and bea part of that story kind of gave
me permission to enter into this newrealm. That's great, And what would
you say, it's like a goodtime for a business or startup or product

(22:25):
to start seeking funds. Well,we're at a fascinating point of inflection because
things have changed dramatically in the lasteighteen months. We're coming out of a
time when during COVID in particular,and even in the years leading up to
it, the amount of capital thatwas available to startups was just excessive.
And so what we were seeing,we're you know, a lot of businesses

(22:47):
fundraising off of what I call thejockey with no horse pre launched, you
know, like the idea without havingan actual product yet, and that was
working. Now, with the capitalmarkets changing, venture capital has dried up
significantly, and so for the venturecapital world and consumer products, there is
real emphasis on some tried and truemetrics sales distribution, even if you don't

(23:11):
have sales yet, pos if it'sa retail play, marketing cost being at
a certain place. So the righttime in this moment in time is almost
thinking about it like tech, likeyou've had a beta and you've proven out
a little bit. It doesn't haveto be massive numbers, but you can
show, hey, we have somethinghere. We've sold x amount of products
with X amount of marketing dollars withthis kind of team. We've got a

(23:32):
PO. Now we need capital inso we can fund the PO and we
can bring the marketing to the nextlevel. Do you ever deal with people
who are going on QVC or SharkTank and does that help them get capital
if they have a big QVC runcoming up or something. Certainly shark Tank,
we've invested in a bunch of brandsthat have participated in Shark Tank,
and we work at the agency witha bunch of brands that have participated in

(23:56):
Shark Tank, and Shark Tank hasbecome it's so fun to watch and to
have that be a theatrical experience theinvestment side, and it really is an
incredible marketing channel in it of itself, regardless of whether or not the business
gets funding or takes the deal thatthe Shark's offer, and a lot of
companies will see a huge bump insales just based off of the awareness alone.

(24:18):
It's good you say that because we'vehad a few Shark Tankers on our
show, and as a matter offact, a few people that appeared on
this show led to them getting onShark Tank. So I feel like these
channels are great. Like the morepeople can see you, hear you,
and know that you exist, younever know where it's going to lead down
the road. Well, Kenya hasher success story with kel Lane and Create
a Castle. Yeah, so KevinLane and Create a Castle. I met

(24:40):
him on the beach just sashing around, like walking by with my husband.
He was building sand castles and I'mlike, that's so cool, Like what
are you doing? Wonderful product?Fast forward. We invited him to come
on this show, he went onShark Tank. He's now in oh my
god, how many stores now?I know he's in BJ's Wholesale, He's
in Walmart. I mean, he'slike exploded since coming on Passage to Profit.

(25:03):
So I say all that to say, you never know who you're going
to meet on the beach, andyou never know where Passage to Profit is
going to take you. And hewas on QVC and a big box store
saw him on QVC, which hemet the person who helped him get on
QVC through the show. So Kenyou you are. That's what's called a
gateway influencer. You are the influencerthat influenced him building his business. It's
so interesting. Yeah, it feelsgood to be the gateway if I love

(25:26):
to help people and see them succeed. Ken you really is. And we
are starting the sixth year of thisshow. We've been doing the show for
five years almost now. And whenwe first started, after just a couple
of months, Ken You was like, to your point earlier, let's get
short videos of everybody in front ofthe iHeart logo, and nobody was really
doing that. So she is verycreative and very much a gateway influencer.

(25:47):
Yes, we try to stay creativehere. What does Earl Nightingale say there's
no competition, all you have todo is create. I love that absolutely.
The idea of competition can be veryoverwhelming and if you're just documenting and
creating, and that's enough to keepthe engine of the business going for sure.
Right. So, when you're lookingat a consumer product, I know
you do the wellness in health space, what specifically do you look at before

(26:11):
you will give anybody any of yourmoney? What we look for is,
first, does your product deliver onwhatever promise it's making. In this day
and age, you just can't fakeit. It'll be a flash in the
pan, you know, a tweetfrom somebody or an Instagram post from someone
big. Maybe we'll get that firstorder. But if there's not substance to
that product, then you don't havea business. So first and foremost the
promise. Second. For Constellation Capital, because of the marketing expertise that the

(26:34):
fund was founded on, we looka lot at marketing, branding, and
positioning. If you have a namethat I can't pronounce, if you have
packaging that doesn't look good on videoor photos, if you're not talking about
your brand in the right way.If you don't know who your customer is
or know who you want your customerto be. Because we're strategic capital,
I don't really feel like I canhelp you until you get that in order

(26:55):
right. We look a lot atfounding teams. Do they have success as
far as other companies, have theybeen acquired? If not, who's on
their board? Are they coachable?Are they willing to be mentored by those
that they've surrounded As advisors? Welook at what other investors are already in
and at the table. Because ConstellationCapital is a boutique fund, so we

(27:15):
don't set terms and leads, sowe look a lot to our peers and
who else is making those investment decisions. But for me, at the end
of the day, it's got instinct, you know, Do I think that
this is going to work in themarket? Do I believe in it?
That's my process. It's a littlebit different than again, if you were
talking to a banker or a threetime fund analysts something like that. But
I really feel that to divorce myselffrom those steps would do my investors a

(27:40):
disservice because that's how I understand business. How many people should be on the
team. What if you're just startingout and you don't have money to pay
other people, Oh, that's fine. I'm a big fan of the lean
startup. I'm a big fan ofbootstrapping and working with consultants, freelancers,
vendors, low code and no codetools, chat, GBT at, anything
like that. Anything that you cando to maximize your output and minimize your

(28:03):
costs is definitely an attractive quality anda founder. So what I think is
really important is the ability to actuallyget a product to market and get consumers
that connect with it, and tobe able to articulate your mission and the
reason that you exist really well,again, we're coming out of a period
where there were so many products beingpumped into the market based off of data
and oh look what you know Amazonbest seller list, so let me make

(28:26):
a copycat, and like, therewas not a lot of substance behind many
businesses that were being launched because itwas so easy to use digital ads to
just acquire customers, acquire customers,acquire customers. And now that that bubble
has burst to a certain extent,really looking at some of these business fundamentals,
I really like founders that graded productbased off of an unmet need.
So celebrity investors like any specific trendsthat they look for that they're into from

(28:52):
where they sit celebrity by nature.Really what they want to see is if
I get behind it, is itgoing to be doing something that's really different?
Is it gonna have a reason forbeing? Is it disruptive to use
a buzzword? Denise Lambertson, influencer, marketing expert, founder of LMS.
This has been just so educational andfun. Where can people find you?

(29:14):
I have a little social media myselfat Hold number four Denise Hold for Denise
or my handles, and then mymarketing agency is we are LMS dot com
and the fund is Constellation dot Capital. If you missed any of this,
our podcast will be out tomorrow whereveryou find your podcasts. It's been a
fascinating discussion. But don't go awaybecause we have a couple of really cool

(29:36):
things coming up and we can hardlywait to have you hear them. So
you are listening to Passage to Profitwith Kenya Gibson sitting in for Richard your
Heart, I'm Elizabeth Grhart. We'llbe right back, Hi, I Lisa
ask Leasie Inventress, founder, CEOand president of Inventing a to Z.
I've been inventing products for over thirtyeight years, hundreds of products later and
dozens of patents. I help peopleto develop products and put them on the

(30:00):
market from concept to fruition. Ibring them to some of the top shopping
networks in the world QBC, HSNE, Vineline and retail stores. Have
you ever said to yourself, someoneshould invent that thing, Well, I
say, why not make it you. If you want to know how to
develop a product from concept to fruitionthe right way, contact me Lisa Ascalis,

(30:23):
the Inventress. Go to inventing atozdot com Inventing a too z dot
com. Email me Lisa at inventingat z dot com. Treat yourself to
a day shop full of networking,education, music, shopping and fun.
Go to my website inventing atoz dotcom. Passage to Profit continues with Richard

(30:45):
and Elizabeth Gearhart. Kenya Gibson fillingin for Richard Gearhart. I'm Elizabeth Gearhart,
and we have just heard from ouramazing guest such good content. If
you missed it, you can hearit on our podcast. But now we
are going to go to Kenya's segment, which is Power Move. Who's our
Power Move Kenya. So for PowerMove Today, I'm switching it up a
little bit. I'm giving my selfPower Move. I've been doing Power Move

(31:06):
for the last three years and I'vedecided to take all the stories that we've
been telling about entrepreneurs and the pivotthat they've made in turning it into a
podcast. So Power Move is officiallya podcast. So we're going to have
an opportunity to talk to entrepreneurs longer, right until more of their story.
So I'm super excited to announce that. It's been something that I've been wanting

(31:30):
to do for a very, verylong time, but now is the time
for the Power Move podcast. SoPower Move pod is the Power Mover today.
That is awesome. I'm sure it'sgonna be super successful. For those
of you who don't know. Passageto Profit was Kenya's idea. She invited
me into the city and we wentto the Roxy because it was taping down
in Tribeca back then, and wehad a glass of champagne or two or

(31:52):
three or four. She pitched theconcept of a show for entrepreneurs headed by
a patent attorney and what did hecall me? His wingman? Is?
What did he call me the otherday? And I said, well,
let me go talk to Richard andI must have pitched it pretty well.
You did, you did, becausehe decided to go for it. That

(32:14):
was almost five years ago, andeverybody that we knew thought we were crazy.
And some people were like, oh, why would they ask you guys
to be on And We're like,I don't know, go ask them.
But again, Kenye is ahead ofthe curves. So now everybody has a
podcast and this is a radio showand a podcast. And what we've found
is radio is a good medium becauseeven though video is king and Richard is

(32:36):
going on some local TV shows,it's scary to be on video. It's
scary to be on TV. Notquite so scary to be on radio.
So come to the radio. Cometo the radio. So with that,
I get a couple of minutes totalk about what I'm doing. So I
started a podcast in December with DanielleWoolley for cats. It's called The Jersey
Pod Cats and we have people onand we talk about cats. And I

(33:00):
started it because I had a catthat had a disease and could not figure
out how to help him and washoping to get input from the community.
He was scratching his face really bad, all the fur off. In the
end, after taking him to manyvets, I finally said to the vet,
you know when I touched the badparts on his face, it gives
me a rash. Do you havean anihistamine? So I had to convince

(33:21):
them to give me an anihistamine,which they did, and now he's fine.
He's on a couple other things too. So we still have the podcast
though, because I want to spreadthis far and wide, like don't give
up because the cat was really badat one point, but also use your
own experience, right. And thenthe other company that I have that I
started is called Blue Streak Directory.It's a video directory for small businesses online,

(33:43):
featuring the business owners to Denise's point, having people shoot short video themselves.
And then I'm going to instead oflike the mumbo jumbo of video and
everything out there, it's going tobe in a very organized format. I'm
having the website belt right now,so it's going to hopefully replace Google when
people are looking for me to bbusinesses to work with you get to see
the person and develop a little bitof trust before you call them. So

(34:06):
if this looks like a person youwouldn't want to work with, don't call
them. Go on to the nextvideo gives you a lot more information about
a business owner than just a pictureand a write up. So Blue Streak
directory I've just recently, I'm reallyhappy about this. Made a couple of
strategic relationships. I'll say, I'mnot really sure. I wouldn't want to
calm partnerships with people who will helpwith people getting their pitch down, people

(34:29):
getting their video skills down. There'ssome great software now for people who want
to make videos and look halfway decenton them. But as Denise will tell
you, I'm sure the real keyto a good video is to practice,
practice, practice. So I'm reallyexcited about this. I want to be
responsible for the directory and have theother people do the side stuff, but
I think bringing everybody together it canbe pretty powerful. So that's what I'm

(34:50):
working on right now. That's theupdate there. Now that's enough about me.
Let's go on. Mike Ham isour first presenter. He is the
host of Greed from the Garden Statepodcast. It's all about people, diverse
culture, amazing food, pristine beaches, rolling farmland, and the big cities
of the state of New Jersey.Welcome to Passage to profit. It's so

(35:13):
good to be here. It takesa lot for me to get out of
New Jersey, especially coming into thecity. But you know who could pass
up this opportunity to come in comein here. So I'm excited to be
here. Even though we could havejust done this back at home. Well
we could have, but coming intothe city has its own You gotta admit,
I know you do years alone fromyour studio, but you interview people
too. You don't do a studiosomewhat. Road Warrior, your road Warrior.

(35:36):
Okay. We record every single episodewe do on location, so if
recording at a restaurant, we're inthe restaurant. We did one in Stokes
National Forest, like in the woods. We've done them on outdoors, busy
diners, like all that kind ofstuff. So we go all over the
place to record our episodes, whichmakes it a lot of fun. But
it's only in New Jersey, onlyin New Jersey. It's really great.
I love that though. You're likethe tourism podcast, right, Yeah,

(35:58):
so I mean, we've gone literallyfrom as far north as you can get
in Jersey in Mahwah Montague to almostas far south as you can get in
Wildwood. So we've literally covered almostthe entire state. And the stuff that
I've been able to experience, thepeople I've been able to meet, the
places that I've gotten to go havebeen incredible. Full time. I'm an
insurance salesman from New Jersey, solike I have friends now that I have
no business being friends with, likeOlympians and people that have been on the

(36:22):
Voice or Top Chef or all thesedifferent kinds of places that now when I'm
down in their little area, shoothim a texts, be like, hey,
what are you up to? Likelet's go for lunch, Let's grab
a drink, and it's so muchfun. Yeah. That's one thing that
kind of blows me away about NewJersey is like Whitney Houston lived a few
towns over from us. Yeah,and there's so many famous people in New
Jersey and it's just you don't knowit. I mean, it gets a

(36:43):
bad rap. Let's I grew upin Seattle. I was like, oh
man, I don't know if Icould ever live in New Jersey. But
I like it. I've been here, lived in New Jersey longer than anywhere
I've lived in my adult life,and I enjoy it. But like you
said, there's so much. It'slike an almost a continent with all the
different parts of it. Yeah,and it's all drivable, so you can
do all that stuff, like everythingthat you were just mentioning, you know,
the beaches, the mountains, thecities like Newark or Jersey City or

(37:07):
Hoboken or whatever, like all theseplaces are you could do it all in
a day if you really wanted to, You could do it all in a
day. I probably wouldn't recommend itbecause it's a lot of things to do,
but you can do all those things. But like you were just mentioning
before with the people, like,that's my favorite thing about Jersey, and
my favorite thing about doing the showis because not only is it one of
the is the most densely populated statein the country, which I think is
why it gets a bad rap.So like you're coming from Seattle, you're

(37:29):
coming from even Pennsylvania places like that, Like you're in a spot where all
you see are the sopranos, JerseyShore, like other things that basically paint
New Jersey in a specific light.But then you actually get here and you
start interacting with the people and inthe places that you go. It's great.
So densely populated state in the country, but also one of the most
diverse populations in the country, soyou get to interact with so many different

(37:51):
kinds of people. And I thinkat the time of this recording, I
think this week we released episode seventyeight, and we've been doing it since
October twenty twenty one. Every singleone of the stories is so unique.
It's just a microcosm of what Jerseyreally is, and it just, you
know, it keeps me going.It's like made me who I am growing
up in New Jersey, living inNew Jersey, being from there, I

(38:12):
think has made me the person thatI am today. Not that I would
be any different if I came fromanother place, but you just get to
understand more types of people. Sowhat made you start doing this in the
first place. My full time job, I basically go out for lunch,
I go out for drinks, togo to events. Obviously, COVID rolls
around, you can't do that,So that's all stops In March twenty twenty,
so I started running virtual networking events. I started doing these little LinkedIn

(38:35):
videos where I would interview people thatwould come to my events, and so
I started the Morning Spotlight, soin the morning, we would spotlight someone
on LinkedIn with like a five minutevideo Monday through Friday. So we did
that for I figured we would doit for two weeks, the curve would
be flat, I would run outof content and everyone would go back to
normal. Obviously that did not happen. So I did that LinkedIn video series
for twelve weeks. So we didsixty episodes in that time, which is

(38:57):
you know, you guys are inmedia, like you know that that's a
lot. And also it was veryscripted, so it was basically like two
people on a zoom call reading toeach other. So we can imagine it
was electric, but it was.It just like it worked really well.
But then I wanted more of likemy own personality in it, so I
basically transitioned that into a more traditionallong form forty five ish minute podcast where

(39:19):
I would just like ask more questionsthan It started out very real estate focus,
which is what my full time jobis. But then eventually I kind
of got like burned out about talkingabout ten thirty one exchanges or commercial property
taxes or whatever else you may talkabout in that kind of space. So
then I started having like other podcastersthat I was meeting because I was on
Clubhouse a lot and like would runa daily room there, so I got
to meet a lot of cool peoplelike that. Then musicians, professional athletes,

(39:42):
like all these different people. Iwas like, this is really cool.
And then fast forward from about Julytwenty twenty to August twenty twenty one,
I was like home one day andI was kind of getting burned out
with that show because I would dotwo episodes a week. So I did
one hundred and forty long form episodesfrom July twenty twenty to April twenty twenty
two, and just was like,this is getting to be too much,
even though it was just on Zoom. So I just was like, what's

(40:04):
something that I'm passionate about? Likethe growth of kind of plateaued It was
never going to be a monetizable thingoutside of getting clients for my actual business,
and so I was like, whynot do something that I'm passionate about.
I've lived here for my entire lifeI love it here like I you
know, it's just there's so manycool stories that you can get, like
real folks, people that have blood, sweat, tears that they poured into
this brewery that they opened, youknow, down the street for me,
which I am very thankful for becauseI do a lot of work there.

(40:28):
But that kind of stuff to meis like the coolest part about doing it.
So that's kind of how I gotinto podcasting and then eventually kind of
how I launched this show. That'sawesome. You know. I did a
lot of interviews during COVID as wellfor the precursor to Blue Streak, which
was Fireside, where I had longform interviews with business owners, small business
owners. I got burned out.I have to say, I did over
a hundred of them and I havethem still on a website and on a

(40:51):
YouTube channel. But I got burnedout and realized that I would either need
help with that or and then Ikind of reformulated to go to these short
videos. But I loved it getburned out on the people or talking to
the people. I got burned outon Zoom. Yeah, that was me
big time, all those Zoom calls, Like doing that especially doing zoom for
work too, So you're basically onzoom calls for hours and hours on end
and doing it the way that Ido it. Now. I was like,

(41:14):
whatever it is that I do,I want to do it in person
because I could not do more zoomcalls and I don't have a studio.
I don't have access to a studio, nor do I have money to have
access to a studio. So Iwas like, let's just go there,
Like why not just get a mobilelittle setup. So I literally show up
with a cardboard box with all myroad pod mics in there and like my
little recorder and my camera and Ijust show up like a homeless person,

(41:35):
and I'm like, hey, I'mhere to record an episode. Like I
think they're expecting like a team,Like where's the crew, here's the box?
Yeah, I'm the crew the box. I love that I see Denise
looking like I gotta talk to thisguy. Yeah. Well a podcast hosts
are another type of influencer to acertain extent, but one that it seems
is still beholding to like an advertisingmodel, how do you take your influence

(41:59):
seriously? They went, when abrand comes to you and or you maybe
need to do I've forget me.I don't know what it's called when you
read the ad, right, So, you know, is it important to
you that you like it? Isit important to you that it aligns with
your values, your ethics the waythat we would hope, you know,
a social media influencer, it isimportant for me to make sure that because
my audience is on the smaller sidewhen you think of these types of things

(42:21):
that you're talking about. I havea very personal connection with close to probably
twenty two hundred of those actual followers. So to be able to actually like
build that trust like the way thatI have for so long, and then
continue to actually like push out contentthat I know that they're going to be
interested in, Like, to me, that's like the most important thing because
once that goes away, then it'sit's over. That's interesting. So what

(42:42):
I'm thinking about in terms of scale, have you ever thought of maybe taken
a national approach, like I seeall these very boring what you know,
let's go visit Vermont or something,right like from a tourism perspective, have
you ever thought of using that asa model to invite people who are not
from New Jersey to come visit Ido think that there is an opportunity too
for people that live in other places, which is something that I'm like rolling

(43:04):
around as a potential idea. LikeI've spoken in a bunch of podcasting conferences
in the last couple of years andtalking to people about what I do with
my show. They're like, oh, I would love to do that in
Vegas. I would love to dothat in Boston. I'd love to do
that in Jacksonville. And to me, like, that's an opportunity because I
do think that people want to connectfurther with the communities that they actually live
in, you know what I mean. I think like that was my mindset

(43:25):
going in And I do think thatif you go to a place like that
and you're like, Okay, we'rehere in Boston, and you could you
know, Manhattan, we're here,we're here, you could do an entire
show and probably have more content topull from than, you know, than
what I do in Jersey overall.So like, to me, there's a
there's definitely an opportunity to almost likeI don't know if white label is the
right term, but basically like takewhat I do, strip off Garden State

(43:47):
add in of course, you know, Empire State and then start doing it
that way. Like the one thingthat I have that that's going for me,
Like I have an entire state tokind of pull from because it's an
entirely drive state. But if youwere like in a city or a place
where you have a lot of stuff, like you wouldn't do greetings from California
and then drive from like San Joseto you know, San Diego to La

(44:10):
like wherever. So like to me, like, that's kind of when I
start thinking of how to further takewhat my business does outside of just the
show and like some small time stuffthat I do for clients. That's the
one thing that I'm just trying tokind of flesh out and turn into a
potential thing. Yea, wouldn't itbe cool to plan a visit somewhere and

(44:30):
then now I have this podcast togo listen to, so I can hear
about all the things that I mightbe able to visit and do there,
right, Like it just simplifies myplanning process. Yeah. I have been
like pestering multiple government agencies, particularlyNew Jersey Tourism because I like, you
know, almost to your point,because I do think that there's an opportunity
for people not only to learn what'shappening in their communities, but like what

(44:51):
we were saying, like to cometo Jersey and be like where do I
even go? You know, andjust be like, Okay, here's my
cams greetings from the gardens. It'sindexed by town, let's say, and
you want to go to Asbury Parkand you could see all the places that
I've interviewed in Asbury Park. WhenI think about them, all that kind
of stuff, Like, I thinkthat that's definitely something too. So is
there a favorite episode that you've cutso far or a favorite place that you've

(45:15):
been able to visit? So,like I said, seventy eight episodes in
so that's like picking between a bunchof my kids. But I would say
the most the coolest experience that I'vehad so far has been with the Seeing
Eye in Morristown, New Jersey.So they're like the premier Seeing Eye dog
training center in the country, andI live in Morristown. I always see
them walking around. I'm like,how does the dog know went across the
street? How's the dog know youknow which way they're going? And all

(45:35):
these different kinds of things, Andthen I reached out to them to do
an episode on the show. Theyasked if I wanted to do a blindfolded
walk with one of the dogs,and so I had my friend who's a
videographer. He came out, mikedus up video the whole thing. We
did an entire thirty minute walk andlike we were the Ted Trainer and I
were walking together and just doing aninterview while being blindfold and then walking and
then listening to that back, watchingit back and kind of seeing where I

(45:57):
was in space and time in Morristownwas really cool, and like the stuff
that they do for that community isoff the charts, and like, those
are the types of stories that Ijust There's so many more, obviously,
but that's one that definitely stands out. That's wild because I just heard them
give a presentation at a woman's lunchand last week. Really yeah, yeah,
I guess they haven't playing a lotof like clips from that episode at
various functions, So maybe you evensaw something some of it. I might

(46:21):
have because they did show some video. Yeah, videos, King. Yeah,
there's a lot of really interesting stuffin New Jersey and listen to the
podcast and you'll find out. Sowhere can people find you and what's the
name of your podcast again, SoGreetings from the Garden State is the name
of the podcast. It's a littlelong, but we committed to it,
so we're rolling with it. Andthen Greetings from the Garden State dot Com
is the website, so you canget literally everywhere, so social channels,

(46:44):
listening platforms, everything will be onGreetings from the Garden State dot Com.
Passage to Profit, Road to Entrepreneurship. So now we're moving on to our
second presenter. We have mister MarkDingle. He's the founder and the inventor
of vent to Pack, the originalbackpack space. Are welcome to Passage to
Profit. Tell us all about ventto Pack. Vent to Pack was created

(47:05):
because I bike a lot in NewYork City, which some people think is
great. Some people think it's insane, but I love it. It's almost
like, you know, it justso many reasons. I love biking.
It's the best place to get fromA to b fastest. You know,
wakes you up, it gets yougoing, and you see see a lot
of the city. But I wasbiking to work, you know, from
the Upper West Side down to LowerManhattan sort of Union Square area, and

(47:30):
I'd wear a backpack as I biked, and in the summer biking along the
Hudson River, which is a greatway to start your day biking along the
Hudson River. The one thing thatreally was a drag was that my backpack
would make my back so hot andsweaty, and after doing this day in
and day out, just thinking it'sit's really this is insane. You know,
I love biking, but the onething that really is a drag is

(47:52):
you know, feeling my back hotand sweaty as I'm biking, and then
getting to work and just having thesweat drenched shirt like a dress shirt.
And so I just I realized Ihad to do something about it, and
the idea was born there that Ijust need to get my backpack off my
back and feel the breeze a bit. That's good. So what does it
look like? Describe the product tous. It's basically made of a soft

(48:12):
neoprene over a sort of springsteel frame. So it's basically a very wide hold
hexagonal hold mesh that goes over aframe that's attached to a backpack, so
it's sort of comfortably rests on yourback and it just keeps a separation of
one or two inches so you canhave real airflow through it. Excellent,
Denise, you are the consumer productsguru here. Yes, I hear unmet

(48:37):
need, unmet need. I heara lot of that here. So outside
of New York and major cities wherebiking is a form of commuting, are
there other applications? Are there otherconsumers that could benefit from this? Although
I invented for biking, I wasdefinitely thinking of also just the general pain
of having sweat on a backpack,whether you're a hiking or traveling or whatever

(49:01):
you do with a backpack. Soit's really broadly being used by hikers,
bikers, by travelers. I lovedit during COVID. One nurse said that
it allowed her to wear her backpackall day because they also physical therapists and
some doctors that I've talked to,they really like how it sort of distributes
the weight into your back better,into your thoracic area, which is the

(49:23):
strongest part, and away from thetraps and sort of the cervical top part
of the back, and it sortof pulls your shoulders back. You could
just read how people say it makesmy backpack field lighter, so there's that
ergonomic aspect as well, but peopleare using for all kinds of things,
even Special Force rangers. Several ofthem who I shared it with all said

(49:43):
they use it on their assault backpacks, which I thought was really cool.
This sounds like a perfect product tohave a patent on, and I actually
worked with your Heart law firm tofile a provisional pattern and then they were
great. I love this product.I haven't bought one, but my daughter
wants to hike the Appellation Trail ina year. I read the book about
the woman who hiked it on thePacific Coast Trail, and I'm just thinking,

(50:06):
oh my gosh, this would beso perfect if you're going to be
hiking for months at a time.You know a lot of people have bought
it before going on expeditions, whichI love. I mean, I love
exploring. I'm an explorer myself,so yeah, we've gotten a lot of
people. I ran into somebody inwestern Connecticut a couple of weeks ago as
I was playing a game that myfriends and I invented called American Forest Bocci.

(50:27):
It's basically Bocci in the woods andit's a lot of fun. Goes
with the vented back Lifestyle were outandacksduring COVID. We just ended up throwing
bocci balls in the woods. Forthat's a different that's that maybe is another
podcast one day. But we meta guy who's about to go hiking in
the Himlais and he was excited tohave one for his backpack. So also,
we really like the idea of helpingstudents. You look at students who

(50:49):
are carrying heavy backpacks. And theco founder of a very well known and
respected group of physical therapy practices herecalled spear PT and he said how he
really also liked the way it couldhelp younger students because as they're wearing heavy
backpacks, it's actually causing a lotof issues to the spine. So I

(51:10):
really want to kind of build outeven more of that audience that will help
improve the back orgonomics and not havebackstrain on the soft tissue development while you're
young. That's smart. I wasthe kid that the book bag weighed more
than me walking around, right,Yeah, it's not good, it's not
good. And they all lot yousee a lot of people one shouldering right.
Also because I think the heat,you know, and is a good

(51:31):
reason to one shoulder, but that'sprobably going to contribute to sculeiosis with your
spine curb. Yeah, that partreally excites me as well. And again
we haven't done any medical studies,but there's been a lot of good words
said by people, physical therapists andothers. It's in our kickstarter video,
for example, than a Pack Kickstarter, and that idea of not just a

(51:51):
great way to keep your back cooler, but actually helping people take care of
their back is something that really drivesme. Since you're here with two really
great mark getting people, do youhave a marketing question or challenge that you
would want to ask the niece orken you. The marketing is the most
mysterious and hardest thing to figure out, so I definitely want to spend time
and the question, you know,I guess I would ask is what I'm

(52:15):
trying to do is find positive returnmarketing. So you find out something where
you can spend X and make agood return on that marketing dollar in terms
of your sales and gross profit.And I've tried. You know Amazon,
it's working. We sell our producton Amazon, so we know what the
return on AD spend is on that, and you know on a good month.
In the summer, it might beeight or something, which is quite

(52:36):
good. You know, in thewinter it's a bit lower. But I'm
really right at a point where I'mtrying to I call cracking the code.
So how can I find a wayto spend money on advertising and make sure
I'm getting a return? I see, you know, a lot of people
engaging with your product in the actionphase of the buying cycle, right,
So they are a biker, there'ssomeone who's athletic, they're already in the
market and then they come across yourproduct and they're like, Wow, that's

(52:58):
an awesome solve for like my sweatyback and all the things that I'm dealing
with, right, So I think, you know, obviously lower funnel marketing
is going to be super key,which is probably why you're seeing such a
great result on Amazon, because Amazonknows what people are shopping for, so
they're shopping for all these other thingsand then that are similar and that like
maybe they're buying hiking shoes or they'recoming and then they see your product,

(53:20):
right, and it pushes them upinto the funnel. So I think like
lower funnel marketing tactics would be superkey like, anything that you can do,
SEO, anything that you can doto get your product in front of
people who are already purchasing similar productsis going to be gold for you.
It's interesting. That's really interesting becauseI sometimes think this is a new product,
and what I really need is alsojust to create awareness that it exists.

(53:44):
So I see what you're saying.Though, if someone's looking for you
know they have the problem and they'remore of an attention to buy, it's
great. That's a great time toreach the one that are kind of like,
how do I solve this problem?I think the challenge with our product
though, in some ways is it'snot just a new product, it's really
a new category, and so howdo you find ways to reach people and
make them aware? So I thinkinfluencers are really important, and I'm talking

(54:07):
to some companies. I'm definitely gonnabe talking to Denis's company. First mover
is an advantage and a disadvantage whenyou are like creating a new category,
as you mentioned, and the advantageis that you know, you get credibility
for going first, and in somecases, the the category gets named after
the brand, right like you knowTom Shoes or Kleenex and tissue, right,

(54:29):
these sorts of things. And Iwould say on the influencer piece,
my suggestion to you, influencers area really good option for your business because
there's a lot of education and explanationneeded, right, because it's a new
category. But I would do alittle bit of testing because it sounds like
the positioning might be about posture,and that's a totally different market and a

(54:52):
totally different buyer and potentially more buyersin some cases. Right, And then
there's biking, and then there's adventurebiking, but commuting back like there's and
then there's just like sweaty guys.I mean, my husband complains about sweat
on his dress shirt every time weleave the house. Right, you know,
you might not be a backpack accessory. You could be, you know,
a solution for posture for students.And so engaging with a few influencers

(55:15):
with a little bit of money behinddifferent messages and seeing how that returns may
help you change or like unlock afull marketing message that then you could put
a lot more money and more influencersbehind. You know, I was thinking
too, like collaborative marketing. Soyou're not selling a backpack. You're a

(55:36):
backpack accessory, right, So wouldit behoove you to maybe connect with a
jam Sport or an LBAN or somebodywho already has a product in place where
you can do some sort of collab. One thing I know is I just
need to kind of create more contentand get it out there. But you
know, it's a lot to it. So it's great to have people who
are experts who can help you,and I'm interested in that, but in
terms of the collaborative. So oneof the big decisions I had to make

(55:58):
early on was I want to createan accessory or a backpack with the vent
to pack kind of frame concept onit. And it was a big decision,
and you know, different people wouldhave different opinions on that. Ultimately
I decided to go on with whatI thought was just more original and different,
which was the space or kind ofthe frame itself. But I would
say that I am talking to somebackpack companies. I am looking at licensing.

(56:21):
There's a great company actually, someoneI met called Stephen Keys. You
might have heard of him. Hehas a book called One Simple idea great
book if for anybody that's thinking aboutcreating a product about how you can come
up with a product concept, createa sell sheet, and then go and
try to license it. That wasanother huge decision is just do I make
this thing on my own, right, create a whole company with manufacturing,
marketing and every other function, orshould just try to license the concept.

(56:45):
I kind of chose. I guessthe more adventurous probably the harder, you
know, way of doing it.But I also there's a joy and just
kind of creating a product and gettingit out into the market. So it's
not just all about profits. It'sabout passion and seeing something that you feel
the world needs and bringing it outthere. We are in conversations right now
with a backpack company or very earlystages, and I'm looking for great companies

(57:07):
to license this product with, youknow, whether they have general backpacks or
specialty backpacks, or even the peoplewho have long blowing equipment on our they
carry that around, you can seeon our Instagram account like they love it.
They put on and the person's like, oh my god, I can't
believe it doesn't feel like it's thereno more. You know, what to
get your landscape or for Christmas?Right, Oh, here's another great one.

(57:30):
Someone who actually had problems from nineto eleven, you know, respiratory
problems work near the World Trade Center. She uses it to carry an oxygen
tank and it's really made it mucheasier for to have that heavy oxygen tank
backpack. So do they come indifferent sizes? We have two sizes right
now, kind of our standard frameand a smaller than a pack. So

(57:51):
we have two sizes right now.Maybe down the road will have three.
But you can adjust how much separationthere is between your back and the backpack
using the article kind of straps that'ssort of like a bow that kind of
pulled the top and the bottom partof the frame together to a certain degree.
How many have you sold. We'vesold several thousand in the US.
There was a flash sale in Japantwo years ago where they sold fifty five

(58:14):
thousand dollars worth of them in aboutsix weeks, which I thought was really
validating. We're launching in Europe onAmazon right now. But you know,
the nice thing is that we're notagain we haven't really cracked the marketing,
but sales by word of mouth aregoing up so that each year to date
we're up about fifty percent. Wewere just featured by the New York Times
wire Cutter, which was great anoutdoor retailer shows us as a hot summer

(58:37):
pick in twenty twenty one. SoI think we're growing and people love the
product, and we've just got tofigure out how to get more people aware
of it. Are you selling itfrom your website or just on Amazon?
Well? Both? So how dopeople find you? And find your website?
The website is ventipac dot com ve nta pak not pack but pak
dot com and you can find usalso on Amazon if you just type ventopack

(59:00):
bak Passage to Profit. With KenyGibson sitting in for Richard Gearhart, I'm
Elizabeth Gearhart, our guest de nieceLambertson, and we had two excellent presenters.
If you missed anything, you cancatch it on our podcast tomorrow and
we will be right back. There'snever been a better time to start your
own business. The opportunities are infiniteand only limited by your imagination and enthusiasm.

(59:22):
At Gearhart Law, we believe themost successful companies all have one thing
in common. They start with asolid foundation. First. Gearheart Law has
years of experience protecting entrepreneurs, ideasand brands, using patent, trademark and
copyright protection. So if you havea new consumer product, a new software
application that you're planning to build orsell, or a brand or company name

(59:44):
that you want to protect, contactthe experts at www dot gearheart law dot
com. Our professionals will create acustom strategy designed to fit your needs and
your budget. All of our attorneysare passionate about protection, licensed and qualified
to represent you for the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office. Don't start your
project without calling us first. VisitGearheartlaw dot com. Together we can change

(01:00:07):
the world. Visit G E AR H A r T law dot com.
This that has been read by anon attorney spokesperson. Pass Alicia Morrissey
is our program coordinator here on Passageto Profit and she's also a fantastic jazz
vocalist. You can scroll to thebottom of the Passage to profitshow dot com

(01:00:28):
website and check out our album.I just want to remind everyone to go
and listen to the Passage to Profitpodcast that's available on all podcast platforms,
So if you miss the show live, you can go back and listen to
Passage to Profit at any time.Absolutely and now it is time for the
group discussion question of the day,So I am going to start with Mark

(01:00:49):
Dingle, who invented vent to pack. So, Mark, what is one
thing that you use a lot andthat you're glad was invented? I would
have to say bicycles. I lovebiking in country on a mountain bike or
in the city to get around.Even though some people might think you're insane,
I think it's just a great placeto get even in Manhattan, from
point A to point being much fasterand with more fun and invigoration. So

(01:01:14):
I'd say bicycles, that's a goodone. I like bikes too. My
cam presenter, host of Greetings fromthe Garden State podcast, What is the
one thing that you use a lotand you're glad was invented? Microphones?
I use microphones pretty much every dayand they have literally changed my life from
being very shy and reserved and allthat kind of stuff to basically getting on
a platform like this and talking intoa mic and like finding my voice,

(01:01:37):
so to speak, in my ownpersonality and all that kind of stuff has
definitely carried over into real life.So microphone excellent. Absolutely. Denise Lambertson
Influencer marketing expert, founder of ELMSand managing partner at Constellation Capital. What
is one thing that you use alot and you're glad was invented? I
use music streaming services all the time, so you know, and I was

(01:02:00):
in the air of cassettes that thenbecame CDs, that then MP three.
So I love that I can haveall of the world's music at my fingertips
at any given time to curate andhave a soundtrack for my mood. Absolutely.
Yeah, that's a good one too, Okay, Kenya Gibson Media Maven,
what is one thing that you usea lot and you're glad was invented?

(01:02:22):
I have to thank Steve Jobs forthe iPhone, Like where we may
be without these phones? Right,Like, I know sometimes it could be
a little bit of a crutch becauseI can't stay off of it, but
like it enables us to create,connect and just do things in real time
that we never used to be ableto do before. So I'm thankful for
the innovation of the iPhone. Excellent. So I'm trying to channel Steve Harvey

(01:02:43):
here when he does family feud byasking everyone the questions time. So mine
is going to be a very strangeanswer that probably very few people would say.
So we had a dumb waiter putin our house. So if you
don't know what a dumb waiter is, it's a little elevator that's not for
people, but goes up and downright. So I literally use that thing
every single day, sometimes multiple timesa day. And you know, Richard,

(01:03:05):
my husband, was like, Okay, I'm doing it for you,
Elizabeth, because you really want it. We'll put the dumb waiter in the
house. And now he's like,oh my gosh, we should have made
it go to the second floor.I'm so glad we have this thing.
It just when you have stairs.It's just amazing. So we have to
wrap up the show, which I'msorry to do because it's really been fun.
So we had Denise Lambertson as ourguest influencer, marketing expert, founder

(01:03:27):
of LMS, managing partner at ConstellationCapital and you can find her at www
dot w E A r E LMSdot com or Constellation dot Capital Capital with
an A of course, because it'sabout money. And then we had Mike
cam presenter host of Greetings from theGarden State podcast and his website is Greetings

(01:03:49):
from the Garden State dot com andreally fun all things New Jersey, small
but powerful state right. And thenwe had Mark Dingle with then to pack
v e ntapak dot com. Wow, what a great invention for anybody who
has to wear anything on their backand wants to have a little bit of
relief. We want to thank thePassage to Profit team, which is Alicia

(01:04:12):
Morrissey, our program coordinator, NoahFleischman, our amazing producer who always makes
us sound so much better, andof course Ken You Gibson the media Maven
and look for the podcast tomorrow.Find us on Facebook, Instagram at Passage
to Profit show, Twitter at Passageto Profit and we have a YouTube channel.
While the information provided during this programis believed to be correct, never
take a legal step without first checkingwith your legal professional for all your patent,

(01:04:36):
trademark and copyright needs. Our firmGearhart Law, offers free consultations.
You can visit us at Gearheartlaw dotcom. Join us next week for another
show of Passage to Profit Road toEntrepreneurship. Thank you all for listening,
and thanks to all of our participants. We'll see you next week. The

(01:05:03):
proceeding was a paid podcast iHeartRadio's hostingof this podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of
the products offered or the ideas expressed.