SPEAKER_03 0:35

Welcome to Amplify Your Authority, the podcast where innovative marketing meets art-centered entrepreneurship. Join Marissa Chadrick, an award-winning international speaker, Ray Edwards certified copywriter, and personal brand expert. You'll gain insights into the external strategies for business growth and how to navigate the internal journey of entrepreneurship. Now get ready to amplify your authority in a competitive digital world. And now here's your host, Marissa Shadrick.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Hello, hello everyone. Marissa Shadrick here. Welcome to Amplify Your Authority Podcast. And today I have a very special guest. If you are an entrepreneur and you are thinking of relocating, you might want to listen up. I know for myself, I recently relocated from Pacific Coast Time to Central. I am now in Tennessee, and there's a lot there when you're relocating, not only for your home, your personal home, but also your business. So you might want to listen up. Today's guest is Zach Cockfield, and Zach is a 25-year financial planner who ventured beyond his traditional expertise to create something truly unique. He founded New to Media. It is a dynamic marketing and content creation company dedicated to serving service professionals. New to Media stands out in the industry by offering a very distinctive success fee model, ensuring that the company's success is directly tied to the success of its clients. Welcome, Zach. So glad to have you here today.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

I'm so glad to be here. Thank you so much for having me, Marissa.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Absolutely. I always love Origin Story. I mean, what got you, you know, into the financial planning? I mean, 25 years and all of a sudden you're pivoting. So that's interesting. How did you end up doing financial planning? Because it sounds like you must have loved doing it. You did it for 25 years.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

I I have, and I and I still do, but I I have felt like um that that was marketing was an area that I needed to improve on. Uh I I think that uh oftentimes interesting businesses come from someone trying to solve a problem. And for me, it was noticing that when I went out and and talked to different marketing businesses about my business, I just didn't find what I really wanted. And I wanted to go out and create something that could help me and also help um friends of mine or people that I meet in different businesses to have marketing in a way that I wanted it to be.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Gotcha. Now, a lot of people, especially people that are listening, they are either starting out or maybe they're in their third, fifth year, and you know, business sort of evolves when you're doing things online, it expands, you have new verticals, or maybe they decide to really double down and go a different direction. That's happened a lot with personal brands. They figure out again what the problem is and they niche down and they take the leap. So taking this leap for you, how was that? Was it easy for you? Was it hard? Was it, did it take time to make that decision, or did you just go for it?

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Well, I think it was one of those things that started out as a uh a pet project or a hobby, and I thought this would be something that uh would be just a um addition to my other business or helped me to just be a better marketer. And once I got into it, I realized that uh one, it was uh so much fun because it was a very different type of trade. It all you know, there's so much you know, creative energy that you can put into uh marketing and advertising, and you didn't have quite you know all the same rules that you have as a financial planner. So it was uh it was fun to do something where you could um have so much creative freedom. I loved that. And uh because of that, and because I enjoy promoting people, I enjoy lifting people up and and and and trying to help them um have a bigger profile. Um it it just became uh something larger. And I uh I also think that what we created, we got a great response from people on. Um people uh it was scary, but it it very soon became uh so fun that uh I didn't mind that we were going to have some failures along the way.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Yeah, and we all do, right? We all do. It's kind of a learning experience. You take a little bit of a risk, but it sounds like you kind of kind of tested the waters. Did you talk to different people, have a mentor, that type of thing to figure out if it was a viable business for yourself?

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Absolutely. I I've talked to a number of um marketing professionals and and and digital marketing professionals in particular. Um one of my business partners, uh Trent Phillips, uh, worked with me on the concept quite a bit initially. And um we uh decided that there was an opportunity to do this, and um that there was, you know, just based on the feedback we were getting from people, oh, this is you know, this is a great idea. And and oh, that you know, that's um something that you know I want every time we met with people and talked about it, they wanted to be a part of it. So you know when um when that higher percentage of your meetings is getting that kind of response, yeah, you've got something.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

When people are getting excited about it, right? And especially today, there's so many people, including entrepreneurs that are relocating, that are moving. And I'm one of them. I just did that. I mean, we started right now at the time of the recording, we're at the end of July, right? And we started in January reaching out and we found a realtor in Tennessee. And by February, we were flying out to look at some homes, and then by May, we were in the new house. So there was a lot of things that were going on behind the scenes, but you know, here it was it was text messaging and being able to connect with someone across the country to be able to find a home. And so, you know, I lucked out, I found an amazing realtor, and uh she was amazing. And by the time we got there, we made a decision within we met her at nine o'clock and before noon we were we were done. Oh, this is it, this is the house. So, but there is a need, and I know myself mentors that I've had, other colleagues that have relocated. Right. And so there's a lot of this going on right now. So tell us a little bit how the real estate, for those that are relocating or thinking about it, how does that work?

SPEAKER_01 7:27

Absolutely. And I'll say uh first of all, that the realtors are the the star of the show for us. Um I am as someone who is a professional and and uh appreciates the value that professionals provide, uh, we knew that we wanted to uh not necessarily you know try to cut corners and and and try to uh just pass leads to people. We wanted to create an experience where we're connecting the consumer with great professionals. We want we want to help people find the best experiences in every city, and we want them to work with the best professionals so that when they're moving or if they're uh still adjusting to a city that that they can connect with with great people that can help them live their best life. Um just this year we decided that we wanted to incorporate a podcast uh into what we're doing, and we want realtors to be our hosts all over the country. So um that has been uh a blast. We're we're connecting with realtors all over the country, and they are the person that that should lead this process. Um we we connect with uh a number of different professionals, we connect our viewers with a number of different types of professionals, but as content creators, we want the realtors to be the center of what we're doing because they really are the extras.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Yeah, and that makes sense because you have need a realtor to relocate, right? So this is amazing because this starts the domino effect, right? Because you start with the realtor and then there's all the things that you need around that in itself. And then you find yourself, I was fortunate in my realtor, because you need everything. I mean, you're starting from scratch with everything, including hairstylists, you know, because my hair color would be different if I didn't color my hair. So from everything that you can imagine. Um, and it's so nice to get these referrals because you know you're getting um, you know, great referrals from a trusted source. And so they are the key players. I could see how they would be the key players, and they're probably lining up because they have an opportunity to talk about their city and talk about how they serve people. So this is like a win all the way around, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

It really is. And and for the realtors, again, just like the other professionals we work with, they are not paying us to do the podcast. We're we're partnering with them, we're creating content with them. You know, they get to take that content with them and market with it, and we're not involved in you know with what they do with that content in any way. If we also create opportunities them for them, I should say, from our network, then we get to participate uh in the way of referral fees. But uh, there's no capital commitment for the realtors to partner with us, and it's a way for them to also claim a territory on our map as as an expert in their area.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Right. Now, when you were doing financial planning, was that just local? Was that geographically in a certain area or were you all across the country?

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Right. The financial planning work that I've done has been primarily in the southeastern U.S. And and uh uh for for the purposes of of that category, uh I'm going to be really connecting with other financial professionals all over the country because it's it it I think that uh great financial advisors are advisors that are connected with the person locally. I think it is a relationship that you need to have some in-person contact. So we are going to be uh just like with the realtors, we're gonna be connecting people with uh financial professionals that they can meet in person.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Yeah. So you're helping this well, when you think about this, this isn't is this would you consider this? I'm not gonna answer the question for you. Is it would you consider this new venture to be more B2B or B2C? Is it business to consumer? Because you do have some B2B going on there too, if you've got entrepreneurs moving, but primarily, what was the model you were thinking of?

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Right. I I think you know, for uh we have two, we have two audiences that we're constantly trying to serve. We're trying to add value for uh uh our vendor partners, you know. So in that respect, I guess it's a B2B business for us, but we are also focused on you know creating value for the consumer. We're creating content that's meant to be educational for them and entertaining for them, uh, and also um something that uh is constantly evolving for the consumer as well.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Yeah, yeah. I can tell you're excited about this. So tell me what would someone see when they went to the website new to media.com. What would it look like? How would they interact with that?

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Right. Well, they're going to see uh a Google map uh right at you know at the top of the site, which is gonna allow them to connect with any one of 220 uh sites that we have around the country.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Those sites are all going to be localized and uh provide information about what's going on in that local market. And it's also gonna give them the opportunity to uh connect with about 85 different categories of professional, which will all be uh uh provided in you know maps for each category. So we're trying to um when they're clicking on content related to a particular professional, or if they're clicking on any type of uh um, you know, directory on one of our sites, we're trying to get them connected to someone locally uh that's an expert in in whatever areas they're trying to get.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Yeah, and that makes sense. So this directory um is great because you I like how you organized it. I'm looking at it right now, and it's it has business services, like you have a even business coach, you have business insurance, you have uh technology, you've got graphic designer, web designer, and then you have professional services like iCare, lawyer, financial advisor, chiropractor, all those things that you need, right? And then you have family services, which would be, you know, maybe you need car repair, uh, carpet cleaning, daycare, dog grooming, which is great. And then home services. I'm just reading a few of them to give you guys an idea. Home services would be like carpet or hardwood flooring, it would be cleaning services. And I'm telling you, as I'm looking at this, I needed all of this when I moved gutter cleaning, handyman, um, heating and air conditioning. So it's such a wonderful resource for people to have it all in one place. And you start with the realtor. And so I love the yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Yeah, they are they are the tour guides and and the experts about what's going on in the city, and uh we've tried to create uh a resource for for all the people that you need to connect with when you move to a new city. Um it's it's going to be uh growing. We're we're doing outreach all the time to add more professionals, and we've also uh had great success in partnering with professionals in uh business networking international. I'm I'm active in that organization. We we're so happy to connect with lots of people in B and I, but we are trying to make sure that we have resources for all the people you'll need to connect with when you move to a new city.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Yeah, and for families, if they are entrepreneurs and they have families as well, children, you know, listening to the podcast, and I'm not sure if the realtors touch on it, but education system and those kind of things would be something listeners, I would think, would want to know about, you know, as far as their kids. And then you've got also you've got people that have um maybe they're taking care of family, their moms and dads. So there's a real mix right now. There's some people that are in that stage of life where they're taking care. So, you know, knowing what kind of facilities they are and stuff like that is important. All those things that you can't really find unless you're doing a lot of searching and it's very time consuming.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Very time consuming.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

We're we're trying to help people that you know that are those young professionals that are mobile in their career, but we're also trying to help the people that are, you know, retiring or or even uh you know transitioning and needing senior care. We want to we have uh advisors that we're connecting with for that phase of life too, and because that is it's an entirely different list of professionals and and people that um help you to live a great life no matter what phase you're in.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

So where are you located?

SPEAKER_01 16:06

I'm in Atlanta.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

You're in Atlanta. Okay. So do you have family in Atlanta?

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Uh a lot of my family is up in Virginia. Uh okay. But uh uh my uh my wife and I are here in Atlanta. We we still have uh a few kids. We're almost empty nesters. That's kind of scary, really. But uh yeah, we we still have some of the kids here, and um we are uh uh both pretty focused on uh family-wise in the southeast. But that's another reason this has been so exciting. It's wonderful to meet people from all over the country uh uh that are uh uh uh not just the realtors but professionals from all over the country that we're partnering with. It's it's just been so much fun.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

Oh, yeah, absolutely. That's what I love about the virtual space. Um you just can talk to people from anywhere really in the world. Right. Um, but it's really nice connecting with people and talking with people. And I think this is going to be such a valuable resource because there is so much activity when it comes to moving. And you never know, there may be even more activity because you know, interest rates were high and so forth, and yet there was still activity. People are still moving, you know, it didn't matter. So imagine when things are a little bit more comfortable uh for buying, I can see you'll be already positioned and ready for people to take advantage of this wonderful directory.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

I think so.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Yeah, that's awesome. So tell me, because sometimes when we're starting something or launching something new, uh, we touched on it briefly in the beginning. We run across challenges or they call it the messy middle.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

And we have that moment where, oh, did I do the right thing? Did you have any of that? And how did you talk yourself off the ledge? I just want to be real and authentic with people because sometimes they think they're the only ones that go through that.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

No, I I I I definitely did. I think uh about a year and a half into launching new two media, we realized that we did have to make some pretty big changes to scale what we are doing. Um when you are trying to recruit professionals from 85 different categories in 220 markets all over the US, you you uh uh you're you're trying to do uh a very large task. And and um we had to work very hard to design automations uh to streamline our outreach. And uh we've also had uh fantastic partnerships with uh marketing agencies all over the country that are helping us to improve our processes and and we enjoy partnering with uh many businesses that sometimes people think of as being competitors um because we're we're constantly evolving and and um building relationships that can um help our our client. But it's uh um we have had some some growing pains along the way. Um it it's we're we're constantly evolving, but I think technology, just the technology advancements of the last year have have changed it so much. And I don't just mean chat GPT. Um in particular uh some of the web automation tools and uh some of the the marketing agency um communication automations have been uh incredible. That's what's made it possible.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Yeah, I know. It's it's a different day now. It's it is much easier. Um there's a lot of competition in there, so we have choices, which is nice, which is nice. So how do you market your business? Um I'm I'm curious. I know you do networking. Do you run ads? How do you market? I'm just wondering.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Well, we do we do have uh a relationship with Google, like everyone. I think that's uh that's a required investment, but um we're we're uh doing a number of different things uh in terms of networking. Uh we're also, as I said before, very focused on the the relationship with realtors and and uh um growing that partnership with them because uh as a content creation business, it's it's essential that we keep um updating the information that we're putting out for clients, whether that's in blogging or or video content. And um I think the the thing that probably uh does the most good for us uh from a marketing standpoint is our model. I mean, it is um for most of the professionals, it's no capital up front. We're getting paid when we deliver. And that is uh the thing that I think most businesses um remember. And and so I guess you would say our our closing ratio is incredibly high uh because of our business model. That's that's our biggest um strength from a marketing standpoint.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

So unpack that a little bit. You said earlier, and it was in your bio, that um you guys get paid when you deliver. So what does that mean? We're if I if I can ask that, you can refuse to answer any question. How do you get paid?

SPEAKER_01 21:12

Well, for most of the businesses that we're working with, we're we're getting paid a percentage of the revenue or a referral fee. If in the case of realtors, uh if content we create sources leads for them, then I'm going to I'm going to get a referral fee if a deal closes. Now, if we create content and they go do something on their own with it, then we're not participating. But um, on some of the uh um leads that are created from our content, we're we're going to get a referral fee. And for most of the businesses, it works in a very similar manner. Whether it's a percentage of commissions or a percentage of revenue, it's uh it's being paid in that way. And for the categories that are not allowed to uh compensate us in that way, like attorneys and a few other categories, uh, we still can provide uh marketing services on a month-to-month basis in the way that most marketing agencies work.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

Beautiful, wonderful partnership, right? It's a win-win for everyone. So I love that. I love that model. I love that you mentioned relationships a number of times because that is so important. And I feel that this is such a great model and such a great resource. Do you see down the road? I I love being a visionary and dreamer. Do you see down the road just having this business grow through relationships? Referrals. I can almost see. I can almost see that. Do you see that?

SPEAKER_01 22:39

I do. And this is a business where we are giving terror a territory to our vendors. So there will come a point when the territories are taken and we are just managing the business. But that's uh at some point um the territories will all be taken. And it's uh but it's it's uh it's the model that it that we wanted to create, something that was unique, something that provided value, and something that uh delivers at a high service level. So um awesome. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

That's awesome. So how big is your team?

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Uh we are very efficient. We have uh a number of uh contractors in the Philippines that are helping us. That's been a um uh very beneficial uh partnership. Um we have uh a few different marketing agencies that we've partnered with um to provide the uh the digital marketing services. Um I am very focused on the recruiting um of of uh, for instance, the realtor podcast hosts and and our other vendor partners. Um but I have uh a team of less than 10 people that run everything. And we have a COO who does a lot of the um a lot of the behind the scenes operational work. But that's great. Uh small efficient team.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

Yeah, I like small and efficient. I think it's great. So and contract workers, that's fantastic because that helps uh again spread the wealth a little bit. So that helps as well. So that's awesome. I just love it. I I have so many questions all the time because I'm always curious when people are launching a business. What's one of the unexpected, like exciting things that you weren't expecting, but resulted from you taking that step, creating that leap. You had a vision, you decided to move forward. It was a little challenging, messy middle, but something really unexpected, uh, what was that that just fills you up that you're so excited about?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Well, I think um I think for one, just um the this the technology, learning about technology is amazing. Um I have not been a technology guru or uh somebody who would consider themselves a techie, but I think just learning about how technology is evolving for this business and how it helps uh my other business as well, has has been uh incredible. It's been, even though I've invested uh some money in this business, the education I've gotten from it uh to be a better business owner has been priceless. Uh that's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Yeah. That's wonderful. I know. I I love technology. I always have, even when my portable computer weighed like 30 pounds, looked like a huge sewing machine. I loved it way back then. And my husband always used to say, Everything's gonna go to the phone. And that was when we had um, I think blackberries and stuff. And I said, Are you crazy? And goes, everything's going to the phone. And I go, I don't think so. And then I remember when people were getting the phone and they're going, okay, so the phone has apps. Anybody know what apps I should get? What's an app? You know? I remember that. And now we're all using the phone. So I would imagine that people that go to the website, they can they can use their phone to search, to schedule an appointment with you, or what is the best way for people to reach you?

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Yeah, I think uh the best way is probably to go to newtomedia.com, N-E-W-T-O, M-E-D-I-A.com for the site. But and they can also email me, Z-A-C-K at N-E-W-T-O, M-E-D-I-A.com. Um, we will very soon uh be in the App Store and the Play Store uh with the new two Media app. We're not quite there yet, but I think the um the play will be in the Play Store, I believe, in the next couple weeks, Apple hopefully a month after. And uh we've just uh but I I would love to uh help whether it's vendor partners or or consumers that have a question. Um the the the site is of course free to consumers and um uh uh would would love to help uh anyone that has questions.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Well, you have a very gracious heart. What's one need right now that maybe you can just announce? Like this is what we need right now. If anybody out there is listening, what what's a need that you have?

SPEAKER_01 27:27

I think uh for us it it's uh more realtors to help us uh learn about the different cities. Uh that initiative is uh has really taken off, but we we still need to connect with realtors all over the country. Uh it's free to create your show. You get to claim a territory on the map if you're a realtor that participates. And uh uh we we promise to work hard to make you look good. It's it's I don't know if we can produce a show as as smoothly as you, Marissa, but we're gonna try to do whatever we can to uh make these realtors look good and have fun uh helping them educate people on on what makes their market unique.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

That's awesome. So do they just broadcast once or do they have a slot where they broadcast on an ongoing basis?

SPEAKER_01 28:15

Yeah, well that's that is uh up to them. We would love for them to be a part of the show regularly because that gives us an opportunity to put more and more content or their listings on their page that we create for them. Uh and if they become a host, we actually uh allow them to participate in some of the revenues from the show. But um beautiful. They're not required to do that.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Yeah. But beautiful, hey, it's free advertising, right? They get to give their city a shout out and talk about what they do, and that's right. I'm telling you, podcasts are not going away, it's increasing. There's more and more podcasts every day. So podcasts is a great way. It's so convenient. It's it is radio, you know, people can listen to it anywhere. So it's very, very helpful. So I think your business is very timely. I think it's a great model, great idea, great service for people to be able to find those services that they need. And I experienced that myself, like I said, and there was a lot on I kept kept texting my realtor saying, I know we're done, and I already bought the house, but uh, I need this, you know, and she's so great, she's always happy to help me, but um, but it is a need, and so it's fantastic. Do you have services in Tennessee yet on your website?

SPEAKER_01 29:28

We do. We do. In fact, the um the networking group that I'm participating in is is a Nashville-based group, uh, and we have some family there. So we're we're even there uh in person, uh periodically visiting family. Um we love Music City.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

Yeah, fantastic, fantastic. So any last words, I'm gonna put all of Zach's contact information, website, everything in the show notes, so you'll be able to just go directly there, click and find the page. But any last words for those that might be listening, maybe realtors, entrepreneurs, people thinking about moving, whatever's on your heart.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

I I would just say I want to uh thank you for for the opportunity, Marissa. I would love to um help any small business uh professional out there that would like to do more marketing, but is not maybe doesn't have the budget to do much right now. Uh it might be that we can help them to uh create some content uh that that can help them help them grow their business. And and uh I think our model allows them to um uh do something that can help them grow their business without them uh taking a risk. So that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

That's beautiful. Thank you so much, Zach. It was really great having you on the podcast, and I wish you the best. I think this is really gonna take off like crazy, and you're just gonna have all these people just wanting to get in line to uh have an opportunity to work with you. So fantastic. Well done. Thank you so much.