123: On Differentiation, Boldness & Radiohead (feat. Megan Gersch)

Just goes to show you that, like, that your brand is like the perception

of, like, what people think it is. Right? Like, it's

it doesn't matter. I mean, you know, it matters to an extent, like, what you

put into it. But, like, at the end of the day, it's what people get

out of it.

Welcome or welcome back Too legitimate to quit.

Instantly actionable small business strategies with a pop culture

spin. I am your host Annie p Ruggles, And my

guest today is the fantabulous, Megan Gerscc h.

Megan Gersch is a branding and web design unicorn that has been in the

field for over teen years. She has worked with some of

the most well known names in the entertainment industry,

including Netflix, Spaceland presents the echo,

Echoplex, Regent Theater, KCRW Radio,

Live Nation, and more. She also cohost the Your

Sparkly Brand Podcast, a show designed to empower

entrepreneurs with the tips, tools and strategies needed

to make their businesses stand out from their competitors.

Megan, our audience Can't see you, but I can see you.

So I get to look upon your glorious hair

as I ask you this pivotal question, The

question. What do small business owners need to focus on this

week? They need to focus on standing out on

social media, standing out with their brand, and being bold

with their marketing.

Alright. What does bold mean? Does bold mean that I have to be

flashy and go with all the trends? Or does bold mean I need to

be gregarious? What does bold mean? Well,

bold to me means that you are just differentiating from

everybody else in your market. So it doesn't necessarily have to be

flashy or trendy, although that might be a part of your brand, but

bold to me just means really embodying yourself,

like, your core values, your mission, in your business and

really honing in on that and staying true to that. I

love that you brought up values here because one thing that I've

seen With my, you know, salt of the earth

empath helper type clients is that they

Tend to be very values driven, but sometimes

their values foster, kind of like

accidental weakness. Like, oh, I need to be

I'm living in my values and therefore, I must be

generous and humble To the point

of undercharging and never talking about myself. Like,

I'm so interested in this idea that you're saying, like, you can be bold

in your values. Tell me more about that. Yeah. I

mean, I think a part of the reason that people fall into that

humbleness and that meagerness is because it's hard. Because

it's, like, it's not an easy thing to do to stand for something and to

actually give your opinion online because it opens you up to

all of this. Like, everybody's gonna have something to say about no no matter

what you say, people are gonna have something to say. Right? Whether that

be good, bad, or somewhere in between. And so

really owning that part of yourself can be really, really difficult, and it

takes time and it takes practice to really step into that

power. And it's a process too. You know? I don't wake up 7 days a

week being, like, you know, all gung ho about confidence in myself,

but it's a it's it's a it's a practice. This. Right? It takes time to

kinda build that over time. Yeah. And tools. Right? It takes

time, and it takes the tools that you know that you can

lean on of, like, okay. These are the things that I can do

to ground or center myself Or feel more confident

or these are the people in my work fam that I could pull on

for validation when I really need it. Not just when I crave it,

but, like, I'm about to jump off a cliff. Is this a good idea or

not? Okay. Hold on. Let me go to my advisors who are gonna give it

to me straight. Right? There are times for that. And You're

right, though, because it is. It's standing for something is

hard. And as a solopreneur or the leader of a small

army, the vision and the continuation

of that loud bold promise is on

you. So, you know, if you turn your light down, If

you turn your mic down, then you're making it

harder for other people to find you, but it's really only impacting you.

So I think that's so great to talk about, like, the energetic

cost of our marketing and the energetic cost of

confidence because it's not freaking easy.

No. No. It's definitely not, and it takes practice.

And there's so many different ways that you can build your brand too.

Like, you know, people say, like, oh, the the key to being successful

in business is consistency. Well, consistency looks

different for everybody energetically. Like, you know, there's different things

that you can do as far as, like, batching your content and, like,

figuring out different ways that you can integrate your branding into your process

us and stuff like that. But, one thing that I always tell to my

clients is, like, when it comes to building your brand, like, it's so important to

think of every single touch point in the

process as a branding touch point. So that way you're

not having to like yeah. So that way you're not having to

like post 3 times a day. I mean, you could, you know,

if you have the energy for that. Right. Definitely post 3 times a day. But,

like, most of us don't have that energy and the time to do that.

So when you look at your branding kind of from a bird's eye view

instead, you get lots more opportunities to

infuse that branding into every single touchpoint into your onboarding

documentation and your offboarding. You know, maybe there is a

surprise and delight factor that you integrate with your clients. Maybe there's that

yeah, like, you know, all of those, like, gifting opportunities,

support materials you can provide to your clients. There's, like when you start

thinking about this bigger picture of, like, what it is to create that

brand. You start to see so many different

opportunities where you can support your clients, and not all of them have to be

paid opportunities. Some of it can be as simple as, like, reposting their

content on social media and, like, shouting them out to your people. Like,

super easy stuff. Yes. Everyone's always like, Annie,

you're the queen of LinkedIn. You're so Killing it

on LinkedIn. You know what I do on LinkedIn, y'all?

I celebrate other people's good stuff. And then every

now and then, I come up with a reason to tag a bunch of my

friends in the post. That's it. Like, I am

running LinkedIn like a middle School click.

Yeah. I'm following along to see what my

own cool kids are doing, not who the industry says is cool, who I know

is cool. I'm blowing up their stuff and every now and

then, I'm throwing a little party and putting myself in the center of it in

LinkedIn. That's what I'm doing over there. That everyone's like, oh my gosh, your

LinkedIn strategy. Y'all, I'm a strategist and I get paid

a lot of money for strategy. Don't hire me for LinkedIn. Just go blow up

your friend's post. Come on. It's true though. I mean,

it's all about like creating that community and those connections and

really, building that

community where you can kind of lift each other up. Yep. Yes. And,

like, honestly, just like approaching client relationships as more

of like a partnership where you like when once you start working together,

you can just, you know, symbiotically kind of support each

other. I think because I've been doing this for so

long and because I have such a weird

and intense loving relationship with the majority of my

clients. I think it's so interesting that

you bring up this idea that it's really partnership

because in my mind, I'm like, duh, and then I'm

like, woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. I'm like, duh now after

doing this for almost 13 years. I'm like, duh now

when I show up in this full muppet empathy that I have to

reinforce boundaries every single day. Like, I say duh,

but I totally get that there are Times in my own

history that I've kind of glossed over when I think about it

where my client work did not

Feel like partnership or when I have hired people

and it has not felt like partnership. So I think what you're talking

about, Especially in terms of marketers and who's gonna be

out there amplifying you and helping more

people find you is that it has to be

That partnership energy. So how do we foster that, Meaghan? How do

we hire the right person, or how do we train the right person,

or how do we show up in partnership to make it

easier for everyone involved. Just riff on legit any of that. There

were, like, 57 questions in there. Pretend there was 1 and and answer it.

Yeah. Well, I think the 1st step is honestly getting really clear

on your mission and core values. Like, going to that 1st step of the

branding process. This is something that I tackle with all of my clients

first. We dig into that psychology of, like, who are you trying to reach?

Why are you trying to reach them, and how are you gonna impact their lives?

Right? When you get clear on that and so many people do not have

clarity on this. They think that they know, but when we start to dig into

it, they really start to uncover these details that they had not

been targeting before. Mhmm. So once you get clarity on

that, everything else becomes so much easier. You can

create a design like, a branding design that speaks to

that target person. You like, this is something that feeds

into every single part of your marketing strategy.

And it is the foundation that you need in order

to effectively reach not only the people that you wanna work with, but

the people that you wanna hire, people that, you know, you want in your

circle. Like, it it it goes to everything. And

similar to lead to this, like it also helps to repel the people that

you don't wanna work with, right? We've all had a corporate job

at one point or another where we've had a client where it's been a less

than ideal client, right? Like we want to work out those types. Now that

we are on our own, you know you know so,

you know Exactly. The beauties of entrepreneurship. Right?

Oh, yeah. I think the day that you fully realize

and embody that you only have to work with the clients you

wanna work with is such a Oh, yeah.

Glorious, liberating Shawshank

Redemption Day. Like, you are out of the tunnel

of corporate shit, and you are bathed in the Andy Dufresne

reign of partnership. Like, yes. I only have

to work with people that Appreciate me. Yes.

I only have to work with people that are collaborative and understanding.

Yes. And then You get to rise to the occasion of delighting and

surprising those people. Right? You brought up delight and surprise before.

That's basically my entire customer service strategy. It's like, Okay.

Deliver what you say you're gonna deliver. Chuck in some delights and some

surprises, and you're good. Right? But but that's what it Feels like

when you're in partnership because then you don't have to waste energy

on little interpersonal drama and instead both

of you could on delivering a superior whatever. Right?

Like, whatever the heck it is. So

why do you think Why do we default

to more corporate client service

provider relationships even when we know that we

don't have to. Is that stress? Is that just habit? Like, why do we get

pulled backwards into weird paradigms that we

think we've outgrown? I mean, I think a lot of it is

conditioning, right? Like our parents are just of a different

generation. Like we grew up hearing, like if you want to be

successful, you have to work hard. And that's just case in point, like

not the case anymore. Like, you can make a product

and sell it forever, and that can be your whole business model if

you want it that to be it. You know, and I

think that it's a lot of you know, we all have had, you know,

corporate jobs in the past, and we have had, you

know, places where essentially we would go. We have to

check-in at 9 AM. We go home at 5

PM. We have these like check-in processes with managers and stuff like that

and we're just conditioned. Right? Yeah.

To feel beholden, To feel

supervised, to feel judged, to feel graded.

Right? All of those things. Oh, am I doing my job, like a good

little worker bee. Will I make the boss happy today? And it's like, you are

the boss. Make yourself happy today. And then sometimes

Client is the boss. Make them happy unless they're being

unreasonable, and then make yourself happy again. Like, you know,

it's a dance. It's it's an interesting dance. Like, being your own boss and

doing your own marketing and and standing up in that way just like what you

said before, it's hard. You know? And and we're not

our parents' or our grandparents' generation. We don't have to,

you know, go to World War 2 or You know, my

dad got kind of forced into an engineering degree because his

uncle was the only one who had previously gone to college. And so they're like,

okay, Pete. You're gonna be an engineer now. Like, the

that kind of thinking has lessened a lot by the time our

generations rolled around and yet There's

still a whole lot of us doing a lot of self

limiting when it comes to self employment. Like,

we are out on our own

doing it, and then, you know, you don't have to work as hard at this

or that. I One of the main phrases that I that I love that I've

really kind of adopted in my life, and I wish I remember who said it,

is choose your hard. Right? Like Mhmm.

Ballerinas have broken toes, but they get to do

professional ballet. Choose your heart. Right? And and one of the

ones that's always been said to me in terms of with, like, my

weight and my autoimmune and and everything like that is, like,

losing weight is hard. Being a full figured person

is hard. Having an immune disease is hard. Choose your hard. You can

always choose. But when you can, do you wanna spend your effort doing this,

or do you wanna spend your effort doing that? And so when people are like,

oh, I'm gonna quit my job and become a

coach overnight and Sell a program that I never have to

market. I'm like, okay. Sure.

Are you gonna dedicate 5 years getting the reach That you

need in order to get to that point of overnight success? Are you gonna dedicate,

you know, hours upon hours on end in making that product

So sensational that it basically sells itself. Are you going to deal

with, you know, customer service and Stripe

and when Kajabi accidentally deletes your whole program, are you gonna

deal with all that? And they're like, oh, no. I'm just gonna be a coast

into it. It's like, no. Right? So

I think you're totally right that it's hard and it takes

effort and it takes power

and it takes a hell of a lot of confidence. And

when we don't do it consistently, It's like we

almost hurt our own momentum. Right? Like, I know

when I fall off the wagon of my marketing, I fall

off the wagon of my marketing. Like, I won't miss

an Instagram post. I'll miss, like, 20.

Like, if my scheduled stuff is not going out, that means that I have

totally, you know, shit the bed somewhere, and I

will probably continue to shit it for several days. Right? So

what is that? How do we how do we rein ourselves in?

How do we build ourselves up, and how do we

is the boldness something it's a chicken and egg situation. Do

we rely on boldness to put ourselves out there, or do we

put ourselves out there to find our boldness? What do we do? I

mean, I think it's a combination of 2 things. It's a combination of number

1, having that real drive and

that that laser focused vision on what it is that

you are doing in your business. And I love to

also back that up with systems and,

essentially, like, making your process a little bit easier, like, really leaning

into automation and getting the most out of your content.

I'm a huge, huge supporter of repurposing

content as well. So, like, even on, like, days when, like, I feel

like, you know, like, I feel like I can't show up on Instagram today. It's

just too much work. I will just go and take an old video and post

that because at least it's getting something out. And, you

know, nobody's gonna remember that you have posted that 3 months ago, you

know? And if they do, they get excited the way that I think about repurposing.

Mhmm. How old are you, Meghan? I'm 36.

Okay. So you're I'm 38, almost 39, so we're close. But,

like, Back in the day when we were

little and VHS was still the norm,

Disney would bring stuff out Of the Disney

vault? Do you remember this? They would have, like, Snow

White is coming out of the Disney vault, and you can

buy it now for, like, 2 weeks, and then it's going back into

the Disney fall. It's a movie that's been out since the forties that

you could go Get on VHS at a Goodwill for 25¢,

but okay, Disney. Bring that out of the vault. So sometimes when

I feel weird or cheap or lazy

about my repurposing. I have to be, like, excuse me.

Excuse me. If Disney can bring a 101 dalmatians

in and out of the vault 57 times during my

childhood And treat it like it's a new big deal

every time. So can I because not everybody will

remember and not everybody's paying that Close of

attention? Right? Exactly. Exactly.

Weird rant about the Disney Vault, but that was even as a kid, like,

Even as a kid, I'm watching Little Mermaid, and they're like, Sound of

Music is Earth Sound of Music. Hello. They're like, Snow White is

coming out of the vault. And I'm like, I already have it. Disney, calm down.

Like, please. But why

why do we think where did we get the idea that

reusing our content is any

of those things. Ghosh, lazy,

played out, whatever. What why where did how

did repurposing get such a bad rap? I

mean, I think it's years years years of Instagram

culture of having to be perfect and polished and

on your game and always traveling somewhere exotic and, you

know, recording every meal that you have, and it has to have, like, the

perfect angle of the spoon out of the bowl and stuff like that. Like,

it's years years years of that where we feel like we

have to have this picture perfect life where, like, I truly

feel like marketing at this point in time is

shifting. Like, it's shifting more towards that, like, realness, that

unpolished nature that show me the behind the scenes, show me

the messiness. And it's really refreshing, honestly.

Like, it's it's refreshing to see, like, oh, there are actual human beings out

there on the other sides of these screens and not just, like, these, like,

travel influencers. You know? Right. Show

it show it to us real. Right? Like, one of the guests

on this show, one of the previous guests on the show was like, show the

striving, and I'm like, oh, Show

the striving. Right? But that's it. Like, we're not

as keyed into glossy guru culture

as we Once were and that's not required of us as

content providers. And so, yeah, if you've got something really good that you're

really proud of And or moreover, if

you put something out and people really love it and go, oh my gosh, I've

been waiting to hear this, I need this, Then that needs to go to the

top of your repurposing list and you need to set that to repeat,

like, all the time.

All the time. And I feel like like even, like, the the throwing away of

this perfectness, like, and embracing this realness that

we're seeing cross marketing is just like that's forcing

people to be bold. Like it's forcing people to

get really, really clear on like, okay, well, I can't show this picture perfect

thing. I guess I gotta be a little real with it. Like,

what am I gonna show behind the scenes? Like, what do I actually want to

say and share with the world.

Isn't that interesting? Because so many people come to me and they're like, I'm

not showing up, but I know it's just my ego and da da da da

da. And sometimes it is. Like, I didn't sleep great last

night. I got bags under my eyes that you can see from where you

are and I could swim in from here. Right? But But,

a, I'm not doing video right now, which is easier for me to kind

of adjust into. But sometimes people come to me and they're like, it's not

vanity. I just don't know how to show up like that and da da da.

And you're like, they don't know what they wanna say. Right? Because

sometimes it is like, oh, my hair looks weird today. And sometimes it's like, hold

on. Do they really wanna hear me rant about x or y

again? Yes. Yes. They do.

Do people really wanna listen to me flail audibly on a

podcast? Yes. Yes. They do.

Yeah. And I mean, I think it's worth saying too that, like,

people care less about what you look like than you think.

It's more of like a a thing where the person who's speaking

cares a lot more about those things. So,

you know, oftentimes when people show up, you know, hair up in a messy

bun, like no makeup on and just kind of give it to you straight on

video, like those are the pieces that really

connect with people because it feels like a FaceTime call. Like,

it feels like, you just picked up the phone and you just needed to say

something and get something that was out of your mind onto the camera.

Instantaneous know, like, trust. It's like, oh, wow. Mhmm.

Although, y'all, if you would stop taking pictures while you're actively driving,

in a car fine. But, like, the people that live stream while driving, I just

want you to get home safely. Arrive alive, people.

Yes. Absolutely. Click it or ticket, people. Eyes on the

road. Like every time I see those I'm like, too

authentic. Too authentic.

You're freaking me out. I don't know. Maybe that's because I, like,

live in a major metropolitan area, and I'm like, what are you doing?

There's thousands of other cars on the road. Anyway

so, you know, I think the one thing that's so interesting is

that this idea of greatest hits of content or repurposing

or, you know, I just hired somebody literally to take all

these old episodes and and cut them up into some way new. And it's

like, There's so much room for new growth and new

discovery there. When you're looking at your

repurposing, how do you know,

a, what you are gonna choose to repurpose

or b, how you wanna purpose. Like tell me a little bit about

lift the veil. What's your repurposing process look like?

I try to repurpose as much as possible. It's not a pick and choose thing

for me. It's every piece of content that gets created, we're stretching it

as far as it can go. I usually start with

a vertical piece of video. So I usually start for TikTok

first. I have several automation set up in my business

where once I post a TikTok, I use a tool called Repurpose.

Io to auto repost that onto

several platforms. I also do some manual

reposting in my strategy as well. And I have just like a good old

fashioned Google sheet where I plug in the name of the

video, plug in the date that I posted it, and then I have a column

for, did you post this on Instagram? Yes or no? Did you post this on

YouTube? Yes or no? And that's how I keep track of it. It

works pretty well. And it's like one of those things where I hear

people tell me all the time, like, I just see you everywhere. Anytime I go

online, you're just there. Like, you are just omnipresent no matter

what platform I go to, you're just always there. And I'm like, this

is partially due to the systems that I've set up in my

business. So that way, I can look like I'm in a bunch

of places, but in reality, it's not that much

of a heavy lift on my end. Like that repurposing on my end from

a manual perspective maybe takes me like 10 or 15 minutes a

day. Not too shabby. So all the rest of it

is automated. Gorgeous. Now I love that you're talking about omnipresent

marketing because That's the goal, and I also feel like it's

so misunderstood from a kind of

lean and agile perspective Because what you're talking about

underneath this is you have systems, you have processes, you have

automation, and you have a vault of back catalog

copy and stuff that you can play with. Right? And

so people are like, oh, you're everywhere. I gotta be creating for all these things.

Okay. And they come to me, and they're like, here's my editorial calendar. And

they're like, I gotta post to LinkedIn 4 times a day, and then I gotta

do the blog post. And then over here, I gotta do Podcast, and then the

podcast has its own blog post, and then this, and then then that, and then

I'm gonna use AI, and I'm gonna do all this, and I'm gonna get 15

tweets. And I'm like, okay,

slow down. That's the trick of omnipresence. Right?

The trick of omnipresence is have the systems

push you out to the platforms you choose to be on

consistently. Right? Have your

best branded stuff forward. Be bold. Get your

differentiators out there Because part of being like,

Meghan is everywhere, is because when I'm scrolling, you stop

the scroll because I know it's yours. Right? It doesn't really matter

To be everywhere, if you're putting out your generic stuff, I'm just gonna scroll

right past it. Yeah. Right? Yeah. But people are so

worried about being seen on

multiple platforms, but then they wanna be seen on multiple platforms, but then they don't

wanna be redundant, but then they don't wanna be and then they don't wanna be

annoying, but then they wanna be everywhere. And then they were like, okay. Do I

need to be on lemonade? Like, Like, break

down these myths of omnipresence for us, please. I

mean, first of all, I don't really worry about people

seeing me on multiple platforms and getting, like, annoyed or turned off by that

because, like, I think about it this way. Like, how many times have you

talk to, tried to talk to somebody about like TikTok. And so that

person has said, oh, I will never get a TikTok account. It's like, you

know, or I'll never get on Instagram or I left Facebook a long time ago.

It's like, okay, well, I'm still gonna post my stuff there because there are still

people over there. There are still people consuming that content,

no matter what platform you're talking about. And even if,

the person happens to see it a 2nd time. Like, it usually

takes a few different times for somebody to see that message for them to

actually, number 1, retain the information and to also

take action on it. So, you know, maybe there's a higher chance there of them

saving that post or for them being like, oh, yeah, that's something that I need

to do. And that's a really good tip that I need to integrate in my

business. And so I really don't worry about, like, the cross pollination

of content across platforms. You know,

you also brought up saves. I'm Fascinated

by the Instagram save. Everybody talks about, like,

the regram or the comments

Or the this or that. And I know that we know that, but I am

always freaking fascinated when I look at my social

analytics that some of my least performing

post otherwise in terms of engagement are, like,

the highest save. Do you have that too?

What is that? Is that, like, a weird intimacy thing where people are like,

well, I don't wanna like it, but I'm gonna away forever. Like, do

you am I alone in this? What's going on with the Instagram save? It's so

it's like my favorite Agatha The Christie myths mystery. I'm like, gotta get

to the root of this. I found that, like,

people either save things for later for, like, or they

save it for inspiration. So I've had, like, a lot of, like, other

web designers, like, save my posts for later for maybe

like and I'm like, why are other web designers like saving my content? Like, they're

either consuming it for tips or they're consuming it because they wanna make a

similar type of content. Like, I don't know. But that's what

I've noticed. What are some ways that

You know, obviously, we all wanna have the

multimillion dollar marketing and branding

budget and, you know, all All the bells and the whistles and the

fabulous, you know. If I could give everybody, like, a puppy and a matching

sweater, I would. They would be adopted out of shelters,

but they would all be wearing matching sweaters. So you know?

But since I can't go around and,

Give everyone I have ever met a puppy with

my logo around its beautiful neck. What

are some things that every brand can do

to polish their boldness or to polish their differentiators,

And stand out a bit more. Yeah. One of the

most important key things is to get a brand new

style guide in place for their business. This is one of the

key things that I help my clients with. It's one of the

assets that they walk away with after we finish working together.

This is basically a guide that goes into not only your mission and core

values, but also the graphic designed elements that

you're gonna be using, your logo, your font system, your color

palette, your patterns, your iconography, all of the,

you know, different ways that images should play with text

and, like, how these assets should be used in real world

scenarios. This asset is just such a valuable piece of the

puzzle because it essentially will allow you to take that document

and then give it to anybody on your team for implementation.

And that way it's not you that's having to do the actual implementation. You

can essentially teach someone how to effectively use

your brand without you having to, like, sit there and, like, hold their

hand while they create the assets. Yeah. Without having to babysit.

Yes. And I love the idea because then the boldness will come through

as consistency. Right? I say all the time, if you don't

get Selective about your brand, people will select it for you.

Meaning, they will cobble your brand together of the

disparate things they see. When you have something so critical as

a brand guide or a style guide in place,

both in your visuals, your hex Codes your fonts and all that, but

also your language. How do you make this sound like you? I

use these words. I say, hey there and I

say y'all. I don't say hi, I don't say hello. I say hey there and

I say y'all. You'll know it's an anti post if I say y'all. Right?

Like It's like for good or for ill, you know, Trump is tweeting if it's

in all caps and, you know, one of his handlers is doing it if it's

got good punctuation. Right? Like, With me at the word y'all in it, you

know it's either coming from me or somebody who's been well trained by me to

be like, oh, this doesn't sound like Annie. Right? And it's like because that's consistent.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It's all about the consistency too, especially

when you're bringing on team and, you know, you're expanding what you are

doing in your business. Like, it's so, so important that you have

that foundation in place so that it just feels seamless

on the client's end. Yes. Yes.

Yes. And if you're doing any kind of service delivery, if you're

in the marketing or branding spaces Or the

visual or graphic design spaces, then, yes,

absolutely, you're going to rely on the things that they have

chosen to amplify and polish for the boldness.

We just gotta apply that to our own shit as

well. Yeah. You know, I love that like, today,

we've been talking about repurposing. We've been talking about omnipresence

and showing up been consistency and and it's so interesting that

our our pop culture choice today is a musical one

because the I am convinced that

every person in the entire universe knows 1 song by the next

band. 1. And they don't even play it anymore because everybody

knows that one song, but

it's still so distinctly part of their brand

that if you went to a far flung corner of the world and started to

sing Creep, they'd be like, oh, Radiohead. But

Radiohead is a lot more than that and a lot more vast then

then just creep. Just as we are all repurposing

our greatest hits material, but we are not one hit wonders either.

So Meghan, what marketing, branding,

differentiation, consistency, boldness, showing

up, omnipresence, What lessons can we learn

from Tom York and his merry band of wonderful weirdos, Radiohead?

I mean, I could literally talk about this band for an

entire podcast episode, but, I really think

that they are so special in the way that they

present themselves as a brand because it feel like the first time that

I ever heard Radiohead, I was like, what is this? I

I don't know what that I've never seen this or heard this before.

And so that's really the thing that you should be aiming for, like with

your branding and with your business. Like, how can you create that?

What is this with your audience? And

really kind of tapping into that uniqueness like that that

what the fuck factor of, like, what what is going on here, you

know. Not to mention, like, if you've ever seen

Radiohead live, like, they take an extreme amount of

care with their live show. Like, it is a

visual extravaganza of sorts. Like, it

is to delight your senses to the max.

And I just really appreciate, like, that level of care and

detail that they put into all of their different shows,

because they understand the, you know, the

value of bringing people there and them having such an experience

that that's gonna be something that they talk about for years.

Yep. So that's that's definitely something to think about, you know,

when you are crafting your brand experience, like how do you create

that stickiness of like

creating those clients for life, you know, creating those fans for

life, creating those brand partnerships for life.

Oh, man. I remember seeing Radiohead at Lollapalooza, and I

was, like, laying on one of the side hills.

And I told myself I was only gonna smoke a little bit of

pot, but I was laying on the hill that basically, like, all of us could

just be in a contact eye for forever. And I remember just, like,

melting into the grass on this hill and just having Radiohead melt

my freaking face because of exactly what you're talking

about, not just the sound, but the lights and the

presentation and the set list and the, you know,

the chatter and the everything was just freaking

Perfect. It was perfect. And, no, I think you're totally right. I think

Radiohead is a perfect example of the first time you

hear them, you're like, don't think I've ever heard a band like this

before, let alone this band before. I don't think I've ever

heard a band like this

before. Absolutely. What your 1st Radiohead song was?

Like, what your gateway drug was for Radiohead? You know, I

feel I mean, I feel like everybody's heard kid a,

and and, like, that was, like, really big when I was growing up. But I

feel like the the first album that I really got into

was the king of limbs. It was just like that was

kind of like, then I started really digging into the archives and, like,

I was, like, just obsessed at that point. So

That's wild. What about you? I'm curious. Oh, see,

I'm a little as as a couple years older than you. I totally agree.

Like, Then I I would kind of bounce in and out and be

like, oh, yay. I love like this or that or the other thing or I'd

go all the way back to Pablo Honey. I'm like, whatever. Like, the way back.

I was in 3rd grade when Pablo Honey came out. Like, I'm not trying to

claim to be that cool, but 1990,

either 5 or 6, Baz Luhrmann

gave us a present. He gave us Romeo and

Juliet starring Claire Danes and Leonardo

DiCaprio, And he gave us the best soundtrack

of the entire nineties, and on it was

my favorite Radiohead Song to this day and the first one

I ever heard, talk show host. It's a good

one. And I was just like,

What? And they started with, like, all this, like,

Leonardo, like, talking and you're like, oh, it's edgy because they're

using a sound thing on the soundtrack like they did all the time

in the nineties. Like, oh, okay. Right? But then it

goes, and it's like this weird noise. And then

it just go the 1st lyric is I want

to I want to be someone else or I'll explode.

And I was in 6th grade when this lyric hit me and I was like,

yes. Yes. What? Okay.

What? Finally, somewhat. Finally. And then they're like,

I'll be waiting with a gun and a pack of sandwiches. And

I'm like, you lost me. A gun in a pack of sandwiches. What?

I'm, like, I feel totally seen. And

then they're, like, guns and sandwiches, and then we're busting doors

I don't understand what's happening to me. I am 12 years

old and I feel like I'm hearing the voice of an angel tell me

to, like, get a gun and go to subway. Like, I don't

know what's going on. And I just remember being like, what?

And that whole soundtrack was good, but I would listen To that

song over and over and over and it didn't

occur to me that everyone around me

Singing fake plastic trees was singing my band. And

then they're like, yeah, Radiohead. I'm like, oh, that's Radiohead. Oh,

of course, it's Radiohead. Okay.

I get it. But it is it's that gateway experience,

you know? It's that seminal holy

cow. You're doing something different. You know,

fabulous strategist Kat Stancic calls that your,

Firecracker moment of, like, boom. Here it

is, folks. Here we go. So I feel

like they're also, like, so, so brilliant when it comes to, like,

creating, like, these, like, special experiences for fans. Like, they had, like, that

1 album where it was like a giant experiment where it's like, hey, what do

you want? And then, like, you know, like, you know, the music

industry was kind of turning at that point and, like so it was like this

giant thing of, like, will people actually pay for our music? Like, do people

actually really support this?

And, you know, I just look at that as well as like so many other

like points in time where they have really tried to

create these other experiences for their fans. There was like

a, I think there was like a, like, an

online world or something you could you could go into. There's been,

like, merchandise. Like, it's it's crazy how many different touch points that they

have thought about when it comes to that overall brand of,

like, what it is to be a Radiohead fan. Right?

So it's just And to the perfect example. Make music

videos. Like Yeah. Video head's videos are

sensory overload gorgeousness. Like, I remember

when The freaking burn the witch claymation video

came out. Yes. I just watched it and watched

it and watched it, and it was like I had never seen claymation before. It's

like, girl, go watch Rudolph and calm down. Like,

the 50th anniversary of your age back. Did you

ever see the, there was like a subreddit that was all about, like, a

deep dive when the daydreaming video came out. And it was

like this guy being, like, literally going through every single part of

the daydreaming video and, like, breaking it down, like, scene by

scene, like, really I mean, some of them were like, alright, this

guy's like kinda reaching here. But like, you know, for the most part is like

he'd like create created this whole story of like

what was going on, but really interesting. So cool.

I think that that is so awesome. The the fact that there's

even that type of conversation going on. Like, that is what

you want as a brand. It's just like people, like,

creating their own world from your world. You want your brand to

be bigger than you. You want your brand

To have, you know, legs and

an imagination of its own, people are going to deduce what

they want to deduce. Right? So, yeah, We could be like, woah. Like, I was

really reaching and Tom himself could come out and be like, what on

earth? Right? But, like, I I saw this a bunch with,

room 30 I think it's 236, which is a documentary about all

the fan theories in The Shining. And Let

alone the fact that, like, Stephen King hates Kubrick's

version of The Shining. Like, it all he is Stephen King has

talked many, many times about the fact that, like, people are

bet their whole house, like, put a new mortgage on a bet

convinced of things in The Shining, and they

bring it up to him. I know George r or Martin has said the same

stuff where people are like, this is the lore.

Like, I know that this is true. This is what is happening. And these people

that created the world are, like, that never even occurred to me. How cool is

that? And the people are like, wait, what? And they're like, yeah,

I didn't. I I gave the hotel room a number and moved on

with my life. Like, I wasn't trying to conjured the

Illuminati or something. Like, what? Right? But, like,

people are gonna come and they're gonna be like, oh, When you wrote the

okay. Perfect example. I wrote the coach who would not sell to help coaches sell

and because yeah. It's called the coach who would not sell. And then

everybody came to me and they're like, Annie, you wrote this scathing

allegory about toxic coaching and the importance of,

quality mentorship. And I'm like, I did? They're like, oh, you didn't

mean to? And I'm like, I wrote a sales book for coaches, but

sure. Just goes to show you that like that your brand is like the

perception of like what people think it is.

Right? Like, it's it doesn't matter. I mean, you know, it matters to an extent,

like, what you put into it. But, like, at the end of the day, it's

what people get out of it. Oh, I love that. Your

brand is in the eye of the beholder. Truly.

That's both liberating and challenging. Yeah. I mean, there are

ways to manipulate that. But,

you know, that's where branding comes in. Yes. That's where being deliberate

and consistent comes in all over again.

Yes. All over again. Alright. Well,

I'm gonna release you back to your glorious day, but I have 2 more questions

for you. The first one. So we've been talking about

re repurposing and and reinvention and everything. But,

like, let's say that you pull

a true Radiohead album release. And what

I mean by that is you're all over the Internet,

You get really tired of people requesting Meghan's

Greatest Hits, your own versions of Creep.

And you're like, I'm getting off the Internet for a while. I'm going underground, and

I'm gonna make some art, and I'm gonna come back out. And when I do,

Everyone's gonna know it's undeniably Radiohead, and, yeah, we're all gonna be so

shocked that this is Radiohead. So, Meaghan, you go underground

because you don't wanna say creep anymore and then you come

out, let's say, in it's 2023

right now. Let's say you come back out in 2026

with a whole new edge.

What Is the album cover of new Megan or the

album title of new Megan or anything about

the new bold direction Of the Megan Kirsch

company giving yourself the Radiohead treatment.

How are you reinventing? Oh my god. That was not the question that I was

anticipating. So I had all these answers, like, stored in my head, but now I

have to come up with a new answer. I don't know if I

had to, like, reinvent myself. Like, I've always wanted

to be a musician myself, and so I wonder if I would

take that direction. I

feel like I've tried and maybe just kind of I don't know.

Just it's never stuck with me to, like, really learn an

instrument and, like, really kind of dive into that world. But, like, I

feel like in another life, like, maybe I was some kind of, like,

musician or something. Alright. I

love it. Come out, like, Suddenly, all the brands will be

fully musical, and all the websites will be fully musical and

orchestral and lush and incredible, and I love it. Well, Before

you are driven underground by your fans to create your new

musical existence, before that happens, how

do our listeners come into your world and start a conversation with you?

Absolutely. So if you need help with your branding or your

website design, and you really want to stand out from the rest of

the people that are kinda doing the same boring, bland, beige

thing online, get in touch with me. My website

is megangersch.com. It's megangersch.

If you go to megan gersh.com/resources, there's a bunch of freebies there you

can grab as well. And you can find me on social media at

megan gersh. Phenomenal.

Megan, it has been a delight having you here today. Thank

you so so much For lending your brain and your brilliance

to our little shell. My god. Thank you so much. This was

super, super fun, and I'm just exciting to be here. Thank you so

much for having me. You are so welcome. Y'all, I will

be back in just a second with my final thought and

your homework For

this week. Well,

hey there. 1st and foremost, I absolutely cannot

start this episode without celebrating and

sending so much gratitude out to you, the

listener, for the fact that our little show here

just turned 3 years old. That's right. As of December

7th, TLTQ is a toddler.

Making the show is an immense and glorious labor of

love that I could not do without my die hard writer

die producer, Andrew Sims, and each and every one of you

liking the show, commenting, sharing, guessing,

you name it. So Thank you. I tried to

pick which Radiohead album I was gonna listen to to celebrate, and

I couldn't pick. I just kind of wound up listening to a mishmash of

it all and it was all so distinct.

I almost decided to change today's homework for you.

But I was looking for that one thing that would

make it so distinctly a Radiohead song

or a Radiohead album. And the only commonality I

could find y'all was that they were always

completely willing to be a

150% radio head. It's not always the same.

There are concept albums. There are poppier albums. There

are anthems, ballads, and boppers. Right? There are so

many different styles. But in every single one, they

allow themselves to come across and have their

artistry at the forefront. It also,

as a band, showcases the individuality of every single

member within those own styles. And I think

there's a real lesson for us in there because many

of us don't do just one

thing. We do many things. We're renaissance

people, multi potentialites and we get bored when you try to

pigeonhole us into just 1 service or one offer.

But differentiation matters in crowded

markets and it matters even more When you dilute your own

message by having so many things. So you may have heard the riches and the

niches and in a lot of aspects that is true.

But Because I'm gonna assume you out there

have many passions and contain multitudes as

Walt Whitman would say. Your homework this week is to

reconsider one of the best questions I've ever been asked

by my work sister and coach, Chris De Grasso.

What is the cross section of you?

What is the cross section that makes your work

yours? For mine, It's my enthusiasm. Maybe my

relentless millennialism. I don't know.

Combination of the 2. But whether I'm teaching you how

to sell or rewriting your website or putting out an episode of this

podcast, you know you're gonna get me Because I work

hard to differentiate myself in this way to the point

where I was recently dubbed the Cyndi Lauper of sales. How

lovely is that? But I can't get named stuff like

that if I'm not working hard to differentiate myself

in my lane and in my industry. Now the point of

this week's homework is not to self label with some,

you know, adorable title that you can throw up on LinkedIn. And if

you're inspired to do so, I did. Please feel free. But

instead, I want you to imagine your

friends, your competitors, your peers Sitting in a

room with you, look to the left, look to the

right. How do you serve your

target market differently than they do. I used

to say better, but people have a real issue with better.

Instead, your homework is how are you different?

And then to get bold about

Those differences in the way that Meaghan talked about today. And don't

forget, just like Meaghan said, if you're looking for something to turn up

the volume on, Your values are always a

great place to start. I can't wait to see what you come up with.

But for now, I'm gonna go listen to some Radiohead.

Hey. Thanks for listening. If this episode kept you laughing and

learning, I have 2 requests for you. 1st, make sure

you hit that subscribe or follow button depending on your platform

so you never miss an episode. And also,

more importantly, if you are looking for support,

inspiration, networking, collaborations, Or just

a chance to hang out with me, Annie p Ruggles, and our

fantastic guests. Make sure that you are a member of

Our LinkedIn community, the Legitimati. It is a

weird and wonderful place. I can't even believe it's on LinkedIn,

and we want you there. You'll find the link in the show

notes. Big shout out as always to the fabulous dudes

who helped me make this show, my producer and editor,

Andrew Sims of Hypable Impact, my theme

composer, Riley Horbazio, and my show art creator,

Francois Vigneault. See you next time.