1753: How to Create Rich Professional Content and Build a Personal Brand

Summary

So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

Episode 1753: How to Create Rich Professional Content and Build a Personal Brand
Release Date: November 25, 2024

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Introduction

In Episode 1753 of So Money with Farnoosh Torabi, host Farnoosh engages in an insightful conversation with longtime friend and media strategist Michael Schreiber. The episode delves into the intricacies of creating compelling professional content and building a personal brand that stands out in today’s saturated digital landscape.

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Guest Introduction: Michael Schreiber

Farnoosh introduces Michael Schreiber, founder of Media Feed, highlighting his transition from an award-winning journalist to a media entrepreneur. Michael's extensive experience in content creation and distribution makes him an invaluable guest for discussing effective branding strategies.

Farnoosh (05:00):
"You may know him if you've been listening to the podcast since the early days. His name is Michael Schreiber. He and I go way back to our Columbia Journalism school days."

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Career Journey: From Journalism to Media Feed

Michael shares his professional journey, starting from his education at Columbia Journalism School to his impactful work in personal finance journalism. His experience at Credit.com and TheStreet.com provided him with deep insights into content syndication and organic growth through SEO.

Michael (05:58):
"I learned how that system worked beyond just Yahoo. There are lots of places that take syndicated content in different forms."

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Creating Rich Content and Personal Branding

The core of the discussion focuses on the essence of personal branding. Michael emphasizes that a personal brand is simply a clear definition of what you want to be known for, the problems you aim to solve, and your unique style of delivering expertise.

Farnoosh (02:09):
"Personal brand is just shorthand for like what do you want to be known for? What kind of problems are you trying to solve for people." (02:09)

Michael elaborates on the importance of having a digital destination—be it a website, TikTok channel, or YouTube channel—and leveraging these platforms as distribution mechanisms to maximize content reach and engagement.

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Using AI in Content Creation

The conversation shifts to the role of artificial intelligence in streamlining content creation. Both Farnoosh and Michael discuss using AI tools like ChatGPT to generate content ideas, create transcripts, and repurpose content across various platforms efficiently.

Michael (21:09):
"Pick the one. And now with technology, you can grab the transcript. You can use AI to create summaries of everything that you just shared verbally." (21:09)

Farnoosh adds that AI can help in synthesizing podcast content into articles, making it easier to embed multimedia elements and reach broader audiences.

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LinkedIn as a Platform

Michael and Farnoosh explore LinkedIn’s unique position as a professional networking site and its potential for personal branding. They discuss the challenges and strategies for creating authentic and engaging content on LinkedIn, which often feels stiff and overly polished.

Farnoosh (32:44):
"LinkedIn is kind of special when it comes to building a business. I know there's value in me creating content that will attract and potentially people who I don't know will find engaging." (32:44)

Michael suggests focusing on creating valuable columns and leveraging Media Feed to distribute content effectively.

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Content Strategy and Distribution

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to developing a robust content strategy. Michael outlines a step-by-step approach:

1. Identify Your Niche: Define what you want to be known for and what problems you aim to solve.
2. Choose Your Platforms: Select platforms that align with your content style and audience.
3. Create Pillar Content: Develop foundational content that supports your brand’s core message.
4. Leverage Syndication: Distribute content through various channels to increase visibility and organic traffic.
5. Incorporate Calls to Action: Ensure each piece of content has a clear objective, whether it’s driving sales, encouraging sign-ups, or fostering engagement.

Michael (26:25):
"Figuring out what do you want to be known for? And keep it simple. I want to be known for helping people with fill in the blank." (26:25)

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Personal Branding Insights

Farnoosh and Michael discuss the intangible benefits of personal branding, such as increased visibility and the "halo effect," which can lead to more opportunities and professional growth without direct transactional objectives.

Farnoosh (29:14):
"That's what really sets this strategy apart because it is really ultimately tied to a conversion metric. If you're doing it right." (29:14)

Michael agrees, noting that while some aspects of personal branding are hard to measure, consistent content creation fosters recognition and trust within your industry.

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Upcoming Projects: Montclair Podcast

Towards the end of the episode, Farnoosh and Michael tease their collaborative project, the Montclair Podcast, aimed at capturing the essence of their vibrant community. They discuss the experimental nature of the project, with plans for a limited season to evaluate its impact and refine future content strategies.

Farnoosh (34:10):
"We're going to be co-producing a podcast with our friend Alexandra Privitera in Montclair. Coming soon." (34:10)

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Conclusion

Farnoosh wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to take the time to reflect on their own content strategies and personal branding efforts. She emphasizes the importance of leveraging available tools and platforms to create meaningful and impactful content.

Farnoosh (42:30):
"Take this week to slow down, connect, maybe even start thinking about the stories that you want to tell in the new year ahead." (42:30)

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Notable Quotes

• Farnoosh (02:09):
  "Personal brand is just shorthand for like what do you want to be known for? What kind of problems are you trying to solve for people."

• Michael (21:09):
  "Pick the one. And now with technology, you can grab the transcript. You can use AI to create summaries of everything that you just shared verbally."

• Michael (26:25):
  "Figuring out what do you want to be known for? And keep it simple. I want to be known for helping people with fill in the blank."

• Farnoosh (42:30):
  "Take this week to slow down, connect, maybe even start thinking about the stories that you want to tell in the new year ahead."

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Key Takeaways

• Define Your Brand: Clearly articulate what you want to be known for and the value you offer.
• Leverage Multiple Platforms: Use various digital platforms as distribution channels while maintaining a central digital hub.
• Utilize AI Tools: Incorporate AI to streamline content creation and repurposing.
• Strategic Content Creation: Develop pillar content and utilize syndication to enhance visibility and engagement.
• Consistent Engagement: Regularly produce and share content to build a recognizable and trusted personal brand.
• Upcoming Opportunities: Stay tuned for the Montclair Podcast, which aims to explore and document the dynamic changes within the community.

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For more insights and resources discussed in this episode, visit MediaFeed.com and join the So Money Members Club at SoMoneyMembers.com.

Transcript

[Farnoosh Turabi]

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[Michael Schreiber]

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[Farnoosh Turabi]

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[Farnoosh Turabi]

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[Unknown]

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[Michael Schreiber]

So Money Episode 1753 how to Create rich content and build a personal brand that stands out and makes an impact. You're listening to so Money with award winning money guru Farnoosh Turabi. Each day get a 30 minute dose of financial inspiration from the world's top business minds, authors, influencers and from Farnoosh herself. Looking for ways to save on gas or double your double double coupons. Sorry, you're in the wrong place. Seeking profound ways to live a richer, happier life. Welcome to so Money.

[Unknown]

People talk a lot about the value of having a personal brand and sometimes it gets a bit of an eye roll like. But the reality is it's just like personal brand is just shorthand for like what do you want to be known for? What kind of problems are you trying to solve for people. What is your area of expertise and what is the quality that you have when delivering that expertise? What's your, your style?

[Michael Schreiber]

Welcome back to so Money everybody. Thanksgiving week. For those of you who will be traveling this week, safe travels. We've decided after many years of going out to California for Thanksgiving to visit my parents, that we're going to stay at home base. We're going to invite people to our house. I don't mind traveling to California, but not during Thanksgiving week. Not with two kids. No thank you. It's expensive. The prices get jacked up. Flights are usually delayed. My kids are my kids. We're going to stay put. Thinking about what I'm thankful for this week, I'm thankful for my friendships, especially the ones that I've had been fortunate to have for many, many years. Over 20 years and counting with this guest that I'm about to bring on the show. You may know him if you've been listening to the podcast since the early days. His name is Michael Schreiber. He and I go way back to our Columbia Journalism school days. Now living in Montclair, I can call him a neighbor. And I've been fortunate to witness his incredible career journey firsthand. And my goal having him come on the show wasn't just to catch up, but to learn from him, have him teach us how to create dynamic, interesting content to stand out in our professions, in our thought leadership, in our businesses. Michael is the founder of Media Feed. It's a company that's redefining how businesses and individuals create and share content. He's also a former award winning journalist who transitioned from telling stories to now helping others amplify their voices and reach their audiences. In our conversation, he'll talk about the secrets to building impactful content strategies, leveraging platforms like link LinkedIn. For those of you who are not putting out content, maybe LinkedIn is where you dip your toe. And he'll talk about ways to find creative outlets that fuel both your personal and professional life. For me, it was standup comedy a few years ago. Mike has a band. What's your unicorn space, as my friend Ev Rotsky writes about. So this episode, whether you're an entrepreneur already, a content creator, or just someone looking to stand out in your field, this episode is for you. And stay tuned till the end because Mike and I are going to give you a sneak peek into a fun collaborative project that we're working on. It's going to come out in January. Fingers crossed. Very exciting. Stay tuned. Here's Mike Schreiber Mike Schreiber. Welcome to so Money. You're not a stranger to the show. If anyone's been listening for a while, you know Mike Schreiber.

[Unknown]

Thank you.

[Michael Schreiber]

You and I met over 20 years ago at Columbia J School, which, by the way, I was at a dinner last night with your wife Vanessa and your friend Barbie and she's asking me was it worth it. I said, I probably I would do it again at the price that it was in 2002. I'm not sure I would send my child there. Paying $100,000 for a 10 month program.

[Unknown]

It's a lot of money. But it was a lot of money back then. I mean, it was, it was a.

[Michael Schreiber]

Little bit more manageable. I don't know. I don't. $30,000 in 2002 is not $110,000 today. You know what I mean?

[Unknown]

Definitely outpaced inflation for sure.

[Michael Schreiber]

I digress. What I really want to get to is that you and I have known each other for a very long time. You're someone I admire for not only having the foresight into how the world of journalism and content is evolving, but someone who actually took steps to address it. You're an award winning journalist and you decided to pivot into running your own business still within the media world. Tell us about that decision and what led up to starting your own business.

[Unknown]

Sure. I went to journalism school really to learn how to make documentaries. I wanted to learn all the practical skills that you needed in the shortest amount of time possible to make long form documentaries. And it seemed to me Columbia was a good place to do it. And it was. And I also learned a lot about the burgeoning world of online news, which it kind of was still at that point.

[Michael Schreiber]

There was a one credit course called New Media.

[Unknown]

New Media. I went to J School. I learned those things. I met lots of great people. And let's be honest, it's also a lot about the network.

[Michael Schreiber]

Sure.

[Unknown]

In any case, I got out of the program and immediately went into TV and I started doing long form stuff. First for ABC News. I worked on episodes of Frontline for New York Times Television. And one of the episodes of Frontline that I worked on was about the credit card industry. It blew up. It was a big, very successful episode and it won a lot of awards and things like that. And after that, you know, I was kind of a personal finance journalist by accident. I had a pretty good understanding of how credit works and its impact on individuals. And so I ended up getting into personal finance journalism [e-mail] where we worked together for a period of time. It was there that I learned about content syndication, which I didn't really realize was a thing until we were we were sending this content to places like Yahoo. If you did it right, you could get like a fire hose of traffic back to your website. I learned how that system worked beyond just Yahoo. There are lots of places that take syndicated content in different forms. And ended [e-mail] which you we should note.

[Michael Schreiber]

And we noted this on overlapping companies.

[Unknown]

Varnish got me the job at the street and at credit.com?

[Michael Schreiber]

I recommended you for both of those jobs and you did the rest. Yes.

[Unknown]

Yeah, well, I wouldn't have gotten in the door with that. And it should be noted that Farnoosh, despite being the youngest person in our J School class, was also by far the most successful and the real mover and shaker of the group. Any case, so I went to credit.com which was really the first company that was doing free credit scores. Credit scores are now ubiquitous and everybody gives away free credit scores. All the financial institutions give them away. They've kind of become decommoditized like they're just an expected thing. But back then people were just starting to get them and no one knew what they were or how they worked or how it impact interest rates on mortgages and credit cards and all that stuff. And so Credit.com wanted to be seen as a news organization by other news organizations so that they would be a resource for people looking for answers about this stuff. And so that they also do this syndication thing where they could send their content out to places like Yahoo and MSN and AOL and various other places that aggregate content from providers. We built that team and created a really great system for both developing the content and distributing it. And what we found was that you would definitely occasionally get that fire hose of traffic from syndication, but it was more about organic growth. And that's organic in the SEO sense. Like just syndicating content really does help with organic traffic, helping your stuff to rank in the search engine. But also there's just the overall organic awareness that you exist and you are a resource for people looking for information.

[Michael Schreiber]

And so you see sort of how the media landscape is changing, the importance of syndication, the importance of standing out in a world where now we called it new media in 2003, but it's now the Internet and it's taken over and magazines are dying and networks are consolidating and everything in the media world is Consolidating and growing in different ways. And so your next move wasn't to sort of try to find another job, but to try to create something new and more meaningful and spearhead that yourself. Tell us about it.

[Unknown]

So after Credit.com sold, I mean, that was really taking like a fintech company and helping them to become a media company. And it kind of occurred to me, I was like, there's no barrier to distribution. Like, companies in general are used to renting audiences through advertising. And they still do that, you know, through advertising and sponsored content and all the different ways that paid media works. But the reality is, is that any company can create legit editorial content and do all the things that traditional media does to get that content in front of people. And as long as they follow like the rules of journalism and objectivity and just being transparent and honest about what you're reporting on, to the extent that you have any conflicts of interests, you either avoid those topics or disclose those conflicts. All the things that you learn to do in journalism school, by the way, then, you know, any company can do that. That's what we [e-mail] and then when, when I had the opportunity, I was like, I want to do this kind of at scale. So I started Media Feed. And we have our own owned and operated website, so we do our own journalism. But we also help publishers as well as businesses develop and distribute content. And we've got our own syndication network and we can help them get that stuff out there in front of people. Because for a business who's used to just trying to get earned media, you know, this is like earned media that they own so they have some control. That was the realization that I had, you know, when I made that first transition that when you're creating and syndicating editorial content, you can link back to your related editorial content back on your site. Whereas anybody who's like doing PR and trying to get some third party media company to acknowledge and please, please, please link to my story. That can be very difficult.

[Michael Schreiber]

So you mentioned your company Media Feed and you miss the older days of being on the flip side of the news as a, as a journalist, as now you are more of a media entrepreneur. Was there a grieving when you transitioned?

[Unknown]

Oh, yeah, I grieved, yeah.

[Michael Schreiber]

Because I hear this, I hear this from people who like work in PR now, but, oh, I did work in journalism, but it led me to this because I had to make money.

[Unknown]

Yeah, there's that. But I'll be honest with you. Journalists make that tradition when they go from being reporters to editors to managing editors to executive editors.

[Michael Schreiber]

True.

[Unknown]

There's a track in the media world where you go from like getting your hands dirty and calling sources and, and doing all that kind of grunt work. When I worked on that, that documentary about the credit card industry, my job for six months was to try and find people who had gone through personal bankruptcy and were willing to go on camera about it. That was not easy. And that was lots of phone calls and lots of just real shoe leather journalism. And it's very gratifying when it works and you eventually get the people to come and share their story and it makes an impact. It's also really hard, you know, and I miss it. And I don't miss it in different ways.

[Michael Schreiber]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

But I loved, I'll be honest with you, and not, not a lot of journalists get to have the experience of working on one story for like six months, which I got to do a few times.

[Michael Schreiber]

Wow.

[Unknown]

And I loved going deep into stuff and working really collaboratively with other smart people and figuring stuff out.

[Michael Schreiber]

We're going to take a quick break here, but when we come back, Michael, I want you to break down your step by step advice for creating your own content system. We'll also explore how new tools like AI can save us time and help to amplify our voices. I'll even talk about how I'm using it. Stay with us.

[Farnoosh Turabi]

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[Michael Schreiber]

Yeah, I said it.

[Farnoosh Turabi]

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[Michael Schreiber]

I want to get into your advice for our audience because content's important. I think we all know that. But I think what a lot of us struggle with, whether we're entrepreneurs or we are thought leaders within our industries, professionals, professors working in industry, we don't know how to one, come up with the content. What is the content that we're going to come up with and then how do we actually share it so that enough people read it and is worth our time? Because it does take time. And at Media Feed, you're helping many companies, big ones in particular, create content for internal and external use, bring some order to their chaos. Let's bring it to sort of the individual. Now, your advice for how to create your own content system. But first, maybe we have to talk about how it should really even just tie into your brand. Like maybe the first question is what are you trying to be known for?

[Farnoosh Turabi]

Right?

[Unknown]

That's, that's really important. And it's, you know, people talk a lot about the value of having a personal brand and sometimes it gets a bit of an eye roll, like, but the reality is it's just like personal brand is just shorthand for like, what do you want to be known for? What kind of problems are you trying to solve for people? What is your area of expertise and what is the quality that you have when delivering that expertise? What's your, your style? And all of that stuff is wrapped up in what is commonly referred to as a personal brand. For an individual who's looking to do that, a, they need to have like a digital destination and in some cases that's a website. For some people, that's their TikTok channel or their YouTube channel. My point is that like all of these places are just kind of distribution mechanisms and that landscape is evolving. Brands typically have a website where everything, you know, lives. And then all of these different places are leveraged for distribution, whether it's syndication or the various social channels. You figure out how to take your core content and present it in all of these different ways. And so for an individual, that's a lot to do. So it's kind of picking your spots and picking what you want to be known for. And it's important to think about what your audience is in that case.

[Michael Schreiber]

You know, my advice is, if you're listening and you're like, I'm not a writer. Okay, but are you a talker? Are you a teller? Are you a shower? There's all different mediums to sort of share content. Pick the one. And now with technology, you can grab the transcript. You can use AI to create summaries of everything that you just shared verbally. And how's that still on a personal platform that is like your website, your blog? I like that. If you want TikTok that works for you, Gray or YouTube, but have it sort of it all, all stem still from your personal zip code online, because that's your ownership of that. If TikTok goes away, if YouTube gets dismantled, who knows, right? You still own the content and still safely housed somewhere. So maybe you generate initially with TikTok in mind or YouTube in mind, but you grab that transcript and you make it into an article or a blog that is also something someone can read. I always try to think about how to leverage the content to create more content.

[Unknown]

That's right.

[Michael Schreiber]

You only really do the work once.

[Unknown]

Exactly. And it's like making the most out of the original content that you've created. So we're doing this podcast right now. We are going to have a transcript of this podcast at some point. And you're right, we could use AI to take this podcast and synthesize it, essentially quoting what we're doing and turn that into an article. Now, I don't love when companies create AI out of nothing, you know, but this is a little bit different. This is taking original.

[Michael Schreiber]

We're giving it a lot of inputs that it's original.

[Unknown]

That's right.

[Michael Schreiber]

Now more than ever, we all live scattered and busy lives. But now more than ever, we have these tools that makes your desire to become a content player so much more achievable and faster. I just think about myself the other day. I thought to myself, you know, a lot of people are wondering about this new Trump administration and how it's going to manage impact our finances. And I've done some podcasts about it, but I thought, what's my offer to social media? Like, what can I do on social media that could be meaningful? And so I went to ChatGPT and I said, hey, ChatGPT, I am coming up with a five part series on what the Trump administration's policies are, how they're going to potentially impact our finances. I want to cover these five pillars. I want to talk about tariffs, I want to talk about taxes in another video. I want to talk about women's reproductive rights in another video. Tell me what the policies are and that way I can come up with sort of the action steps. You know, I'm using ChatGPT as a research partner. The magic is in the inputs, you know, and that's where as a human, you can really make some dynamic content if you know how to really guide the agent. People like to call ChatGPT an agent and produce some really high quality stuff.

[Unknown]

I use it too, when I have an idea for an editorial destination that I think aligns with a specific business. I like stream of conscious, stream of consciousness, the idea into Gemini or whatever it is I'm using and, and just keep going, keep going. And I ask it to like preserve this essentially and outline this idea in a way that is understandable to a third party potentially. But I've got it at that point and like, I can then take it down the road when I'm ready to actually dive in and start doing mockups and start having real conversations about it. It's not just this random stream of consciousness note that I've got. It's an outline that somebody else can understand.

[Michael Schreiber]

It's a good. It's like a decent first draft.

[Unknown]

It is. And it's still gotta be fact checked. Like if you're asking, you know, my.

[Michael Schreiber]

Pro tip is when. So for me, again, back to the whole Trump stuff. I know that ChatGPT can get things wrong and the last thing I want to do is give wrong information about the election. Right, Right. And so I. And say when you give me these policy facts, I want links to sources so that I can then go and just check it. But again, it has shortcutted that whole step for me. Otherwise it's just me and Google me crying over my keyboard on Google for hours. But this way it shortcuts it and I can go more directly to the sources and verify.

[Unknown]

We should turn this, we'll turn this episode into an article. It'll be some list or something. Then we'll be able to embed. This is one thing that we do with podcasters, is that we'll then embed like a Spotify player or whatever player into the article. I mean, one thing about pod, this is kind of case in point. Typically people find out about new podcasts either because it's been featured and promoted on the podcast app, or they're listening to a podcast and there's a promo for another podcast on that pod. So it's very much kind of a closed system in terms of growth. So what we try and do is find new audiences by taking that podcast content, adapting it into a different format, and then promoting it in the context of an article on a completely different platform so that you can play the podcast right in the article, get that download, do the same thing with videos. Obviously you can embed YouTube videos and stuff. It's not brain surgery, but it really is all about taking advantage of the technology that exists to leverage existing content to make more content that can go more places.

[Michael Schreiber]

I mean, I'm redoing my site because I want to start giving Media Feed, your company, some rich articles about these episodes, to syndicate this show into the webisphere and hopefully grow the audience that way. I think it's like the easiest thing I can possibly do at this point. Right.

[Unknown]

It's pretty passive. You should be creating the content anyway. In some cases, like, you're creating pillar content because maybe there are three things that you want to be known for in terms of like managing money or coaching or what have you.

[Michael Schreiber]

So going back to that very earlier question about how to identify your content, you kind of touched on it now, but yeah, like, just to double click on that. So basically the steps are figuring out what do you want to be known for? And keep it simple. I want to be known for helping people with fill in the blank. Right. Or when you introduce yourself, it's not about, like, my title or, you know, my credentials. It's like, I ultimately want to be in service of this.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Michael Schreiber]

Also important to know wherever your, your content is showing up, that reader cares about certain things. Like when someone comes to me and they're like, I really want to be in Forbes, and I'm like, okay, let's think about the Forbes reader. What do they care about? What are the articles that have done, performed well on Forbes? What is doing well there? What is it made of? What are the categories there? Where would your content show up and kind of try to reverse engineer it as opposed to sort of thinking in your bubble, like, what do people want? No, people will tell you.

[Unknown]

We do exactly that with companies. We do exactly that with companies.

[Michael Schreiber]

You can hire me at Media Feed anytime. I can come in and do it. I'm happy to sound like I know what you're doing, though.

[Unknown]

We'll do like a content gap analysis. That's like an old SEO term where like what you do is you figure out like, okay, here's my expertise, here's what I want to do with either an audience or customers or what have you. But these are the people that I'm trying to attract. You figure out like who your competitors are a and you figure out what they're doing that's successful. So to your point about Forbes, like what are people reading on Forbes that that are highly, that's highly engaging within my vertical, there's a way to do that kind of in a big way where you're essentially looking at all of the search data and finding out what people are searching for. It doesn't mean you have to just do that, but it'll be like a good indicator of what kind of content you can do that will resonate with people. Where you know there's traffic there, it doesn't mean you'll automatically get it. But you create these content pillars and then you start creating more content related to those pillars and you have a distribution strategy that's designed to drive traffic back to those pillars and then you have a call to action so that when people land on these kind of high intent pages, meaning like if you have a page that's like, like how to apply for a mortgage in New Jersey, people going to that page are probably trying to buy a house in New Jersey or some portion of them. Right. They're not doing it for academic reasons. And then so there is a call to action that you could have, whether it's apply for a mortgage or like download my ebook about mortgages in New Jersey or what have you.

[Michael Schreiber]

Right. That's the next step. Yeah. What is the, what's the goal of your content?

[Farnoosh Turabi]

Right.

[Unknown]

That's what really sets this strategy apart because it is really ultimately tied to a conversion metric. If you're doing it right. Businesses care about this. They're not doing it for their health. Right. They want to engage with people. They want people to go from passive consumers of content to active users of either a service or just actively doing something that could be signing up for a newsletter, commenting, sharing. There's any number of active things that can be a conversion.

[Michael Schreiber]

I think though, speaking as a personal brand, sometimes, yes, you want that transaction and you want to be very specific about that call to action. And other times, you know, you're building a brand, you're building visibility. Having content out there I do think creates a halo effect. It's not easy to measure this part of it. But I do still trust and believe that the more you Put yourself out there. We talk about it on the show. Actually in terms of mind share, you know, where you may be a personal brand and you're not going to ever scale to a hundred million products on shelves or 3 million. You know, maybe that's not even your goal, but there's still a way to become a known entity within your field and be, have scale in people's minds. And that happens through your own doing of creating content and putting it out there. And then the boomerang of that, which is people reaching out to you to work with you. Hey, I saw your article. So let's talk about how you may be dancing with some new content in the new year. I know that a lot of people have been looking at LinkedIn and trying to figure out LinkedIn because what is it about LinkedIn that makes it so hard for people to really engage consistently? It feels very corporate and it feels very too perfect when people write. You know, I'm so thrilled to announce my new vendor and my partnership. It's all like just self aggrandizing stuff.

[Unknown]

It's ironic right now for me personally that like I'm gonna be doing more on LinkedIn because I like made a concerted effort to get of other social media platforms. Like I'm on Facebook basically when my band has a gig. Like I feel guilty about not doing Happy Daughter's Day from, for my daughter, but like I just, I just can't. I can't. But LinkedIn is kind of special when it comes to building a business. I mean it is critical because like my whole network is there. Like I know there's value in me creating content that will attract and potentially people who I don't know will find engaging. Like that's great. Like, and I, and I hope I'm able to do that. It's also great for me to create content that just people I already know or have worked with in one way, shape or form can see just to kind of remind them that I exist. And here's what I'm doing. Like most of my business over the years has come through referrals, you know, I mean, case in point, you got me two jobs and like a lot of people that I either went to school with or worked with in the past and know what I do and understand my approach. Like, you know, come to me with opportunities which I'm super grateful for. And so LinkedIn is a really good medium for that. It's also like a place where people who have real insights into how either their business or the economy as a whole or what have you worked? Work can share those insights with people who are likely to be interested or, or at least pretending they're interested in.

[Michael Schreiber]

Right.

[Unknown]

Because you're right. Like people are, are on there and there's a lot of self promotion and, and it's, it's, it's hard to figure out how to do that even when you're really trying hard not to do that and you're like saying something nice about somebody else. But it's also like clearly designed to, you know, boost your stature in the end.

[Michael Schreiber]

So very business casual. Okay. That's what it is. It's very business casual at its most relaxed on LinkedIn. Whereas I feel like some of these other mediums, it's anything goes. Try it. Be yourself, be a little wild, whatever. Or be conservative. It's. There's not a lot of judgment on LinkedIn and maybe it's just me, but. And maybe it's just my feed, but I feel like it's very conservative in terms of what's up. Allowed to be discussed.

[Unknown]

Oh yeah.

[Michael Schreiber]

You know how vulnerable you can get.

[Unknown]

My favorite is like how like doing anything political or social.

[Michael Schreiber]

God forbid you talk about a party on LinkedIn.

[Unknown]

Like, I mean, they just don't like it says this is not the place for that. This is a safe space for doing business.

[Michael Schreiber]

But you're, you're considering posting more on there.

[Unknown]

I am going to be post. It's going to be more of a concerted effort with my team. I'm going to be doing it on my feed. I'm going to. I can't believe I'm saying this publicly because this means, like, I'm really committing to it, but I'm going to be writing kind of columns and I used to write columns all the time.

[Michael Schreiber]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

And I'm called, My column in college was called Rocky Mountain Oysters. Do you know what those are?

[Michael Schreiber]

Nope.

[Unknown]

Google it. But it's a delicacy in the South. This is what I'll say any case. And I used to, I was a guy. Every college had one of these guys that.

[Michael Schreiber]

Ew, sorry.

[Unknown]

You looked it up. Sorry.

[Michael Schreiber]

Okay.

[Unknown]

I was, I was. That column in college was all about me complaining about various things. And I was like, I was like a wise ass that wrote the weekly column.

[Michael Schreiber]

Okay.

[Unknown]

But I would, I would figure out interesting things I thought and to write about every week and it developed a following. And I'm going to try and do that for the media world and then use that as my kind of source material that I'll then try and leverage. I'll probably post it initially on Media Feed. Maybe I'll post it on LinkedIn too. I haven't quite figured that out because you can post blogs on LinkedIn and then we'll use that material to create posts and engagement and I'll interview people and I'll try and create something that has value, that doesn't seem too self aggrandizing.

[Michael Schreiber]

It'll be great. It won't be. I'm sorry to say this, but it won't be as great as the Montclair podcast that you and I are co producing with our friend Alexandra Privitera in Montclair. Coming soon. I'm really excited about this podcast, Mike, more than ever. I mean, we've been talking about it for years, like we should do this thing and. But the timing feels really important and great. It's a great time to be doing something that's community oriented. And it's just also like a really interesting time in our town. Lots of new businesses, just some changes in terms of like who's running the town and new people are coming and some people are leaving. It's just like a really transient time for the town. And it'll be good to, to capture all that with you.

[Unknown]

It will be, it'll be fun to make fun of the town a little bit too.

[Michael Schreiber]

There'll be some of that.

[Unknown]

There'll be some of that. I mean, we live in this town that is kind of, it was like, it's like a media hub. You know, there's a lot of people.

[Michael Schreiber]

I don't know who does the PR for Montclair, but it's doing, they're doing a great job.

[Unknown]

Yeah. And anybody who lives in New York, I'm sure you have lots of national people all over the country and world who listen to this. It is. Montclair is a suburb of New York City where once people get priced out of New York for one reason or another, they move to Montclair.

[Michael Schreiber]

There is what I call this like, diminishing economic return of living in New York. Unless of course, you're super wealthy. But even the super wealthy don't live in New York full time. They've got their houses all over the world. So, you know, it's, it's not for everybody.

[Unknown]

At some point there's this very interesting kind of New York expat community here along with a lot of locals who. And there's friction, frankly between those two groups and in all the predictable ways. And then you have like a lot of media People here and a very kind of niche local media business. People like this town because the restaurants are so amazing, which is like, they're good restaurants here, but, you know, a lot of people are coming from New York, which is like one of the restaurant capitals of the world.

[Michael Schreiber]

So we're a bunch of snobs, basically.

[Unknown]

Basically. That's the thing that I kind of want to make fun of a little bit.

[Michael Schreiber]

Cultural snobs. Yeah, it's fun. It'll be fun. And I think we're gonna give the people what they want. It's a very engaged town. People are invested here for all their own reasons. And I think it'll be a really interesting exercise. As I like to say, with anything new that I start, I go in with like, it's an experimentation. Let's give it our best shot. But really we're in it to learn, you know, we're not committing to doing this every week for the rest of our lives. We're doing one season. We're dedicating 1012 episodes. We'll have a capsule season. And that way we can really think the arc of the season and the things we want to talk about and just be more thoughtful about it. And then we will take a rest and then go back and see what worked, what didn't. And if we want to keep it going, I hope we will. But I encourage anyone listening. This is content for us. This is another way of putting interesting content out there. It's not really about our personal brands, but it's just more of a passion thing. But I'm curious, Mike, have you ever done any. I mean, you have a band. I mean, that I think is important to have a creative outlet. And I'm just curious how Bard Band has, like, actually helped your business or your professional life in some ways, that experience.

[Unknown]

Well, you asked before, like, do I miss writing?

[Michael Schreiber]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

And writing and being a reporter is kind of a creative endeavor. And so the band for me is like a creative endeavor because it's all original music. We basically, we write original tunes. A lot of the music is based on very old poetry that will adapt into new tunes. And so just the act of creation in that way is a great outlet for me. I kind of took a. I played a lot of music in college and then kind of took a 20 year break and then ended up syncing up with an old friend who happens to live in town and got involved in this. So I think even though, you know, it's a time commitment and it's a mind commitment as well, like it takes energy to me. It gives more than it takes. I mean, it's fuel for me to keep doing all the other things that aren't always as fun. Like this is fun. And just that kind of expression is affirming in all sorts of ways for me. So I don't know. I love it.

[Farnoosh Turabi]

Yes.

[Michael Schreiber]

I think your body appreciates it. It's using your brain in ways that it hasn't been in a while, that it probably misses.

[Unknown]

Oh, totally.

[Michael Schreiber]

You know.

[Unknown]

So I did a play.

[Michael Schreiber]

Yeah, I came. It was great. It was a Shakespearean play, one that I had never, ever heard of Me.

[Unknown]

Neither was Love Labors Lost. And I had a bit part. It was like kind of a comic relief part. And I hadn't been in a play since high school. Just the act of having to memorize stuff again activated a part of my brain that I feel like has been dormant since the advent of the smartphone. You know, when's the last time you memorized a phone number, for example? Like you just don't do any of that stuff anymore.

[Michael Schreiber]

Yeah, I can't be.

[Unknown]

And so having to memorize lines was so gratifying and it was not easy at the beginning and I. And again, I didn't have like these long soliloquies that some of the people had. So. And I'm not sure I could have managed that, but it was a really satisfying experience just to like activate that part of my brain.

[Michael Schreiber]

I give you so much credit. You were excellent in it and it is not. Yeah, I mean, to have to memorize all that. I still have nightmares about being backstage and being told you need to go out in 10 minutes and play this role. And I'm only now looking at the script. I did a lot of theater growing up and I think that's where the dreams are rooted. It's just that anxiety that is natural when you're performing, but then it shows up in your nightmares as a 44 year old woman who has not done any theater in a long time. But here we.

[Unknown]

But what I'm hearing from you is that next year you're going to do the play too.

[Michael Schreiber]

No, I will get on a stage maybe, but not. Not for that reason. Oh, Mike, thank you so much for joining us. By the way, the first time you're on so Money, it was quite a record download. I've had on like Barbara Corcoran and Queen Latifah and people wanted to hear from Michael Schreiber.

[Unknown]

So I'm bigger than Queen Latifah.

[Michael Schreiber]

Like hard shoes to fill, but I think but I'm hoping this one will also get out there. Why don't you we'll syndicate it on Media Feed, see what happens.

[Unknown]

We'll do an article and we'll put it out there and we'll embed the podcast and all that stuff.

[Michael Schreiber]

Thank you so much and more from me and Mike in the New Year on the Montclair Podcast. We'll be sure to keep you all posted on that if you're curious. Thank you.

[Unknown]

Thank you Farnush. It's always a pleasure.

[Michael Schreiber]

Thanks so much to Michael Schreiber for joining us. You can learn more about him by visiting mediafee Us. I'll put that link in our show Notes. Take this week to slow down, connect, maybe even start thinking about the stories that you want to tell in the new year ahead. Wishing you all a safe, happy, gratitude filled Thanksgiving. I hope your day is so Money.

[Unknown]

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[Michael Schreiber]

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[Farnoosh Turabi]

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