[00:00:00] Chris Schwager: On the show today, I'm joined with a friend of mine that I just met only a couple months ago, and we've got along really well, Susie Michael. We met at BNI. For those that don't know what BNI is as well, it stands for Business Networking International. It's the most boring acronym that I've ever heard.
[00:00:20] Chris Schwager: However, it's a global networking group and it's changing businesses. It's, helping people along. I was in there for six years and I went to a visit a day recently to my old chapter, in fact, in Sydney. And for the first time ever, Met this woman, Susie Michael, who's on TV personality.
[00:00:40] Chris Schwager: And she's here to tell us all about the world of TV. And what I'm really wanting to know Susie is as someone that's never really done much for TV. I've stayed away from it and increasingly my attention to, toward TV in terms of traditional free to air stuff is becoming more and more distant as I'm sure most of the market is at the moment.
[00:01:05] Chris Schwager: And I guess I'm really keen just to explore, you're in B& I, you're there to promote your business. Tell me all about the world of Susie Michael. I can't wait.
[00:01:15] Suzy Michael: Okay. So thank you. What an introduction. Thank you so much, Chris. Thank you. Yes, I went to BNI as a guest. I actually joined BNI a couple of months ago, and the reason I joined is I have this new lifestyle business educational show that I'm shooting towards the end of this year in Sydney.
[00:01:32] Suzy Michael: And it's an opportunity for businesses to showcase what they do to not just the national television platform, but a global television platform. I thought, where else to get small to medium sized businesses than Business networking groups that have that kind of exposure than where they want to go global.
[00:01:47] Suzy Michael: They want to go national So that was the reason why I joined.
[00:01:50] Chris Schwager: I'm keen I'm so keen to find out more about that specific detail because I think this is probably the first time This is why I wanted you on the show, right? I want to explore all these things I'm sure the audience is super pumped to understand more about That in particular, as any business owner, like we're all looking for new ways to generate leads and to get visibility in the market.
[00:02:13] Chris Schwager: Tell me more about the the proposition that you the project, the TV show. So
[00:02:17] Suzy Michael: I can't reveal too much, but what I can tell you is it's an opportunity for small to medium businesses who want a global presence. So if you have a product that you can ship. To the rest of the world,
[00:02:28] Suzy Michael: you
[00:02:28] Suzy Michael: are, or if you're in it or if you're a business coach and you can do things via zoom or digitally to access audiences across the globe, then this is definitely the platform for you.
[00:02:39] Suzy Michael: And the show focuses on educating the audience about firstly, what you do. Secondly, how that can impact or enhance their life. And thirdly, how they can get a piece of it. How can they get in touch with you? And is it the right fit for them? So it's a mix of education, business and lifestyle.
[00:02:54] Chris Schwager: And. Where does the entertainment part because obviously people, attention is becoming more and more difficult to obtain.
[00:03:01] Chris Schwager: I guess, it's a lot of people that are on social media, there's others that are skeptical or apprehensive or just haven't dived in. Where's the what's the audience like these days? What's the reach like? And tell me more about how you make a video, sorry you're in my world video, how do you make a TV show like that entertaining for the for the market.
[00:03:22] Suzy Michael: Yeah. So we've got some great names coming on board. I can't reveal who, but some celebrity names from Australia that we'll be shooting in Sydney. Might need to travel to Melbourne. We'll see how we go with a couple of those names, but they're the, in the music arena, in the entertainment arena, they've got a bit of a name behind them.
[00:03:38] Suzy Michael: There could be famous CEOs that have a global impact and we'll be interviewing them as well about how they made it, their journey, why, obviously with everyone's journey, they've got those quirks and they've got those. Little gold nuggets of whether it's helpfulness or whether it's entertainment, but there's some entertainment value there towards, and behind their story.
[00:03:57] Suzy Michael: So someone, for example, I'm not saying I'm interviewing her, but just throwing it out there. For example, someone like Janine Ellis, she's got a great background. She's a business owner. Global enterprise, obviously being the owner of Boost Juice, but then also looking at how she built her empire.
[00:04:09] Suzy Michael: She's a mom. She has a fabulous journey, her time on Sharp Tank as well. She has a television personality as well. So people like that, where we bring that entertainment factor into it and not just that. So the actual people we interview, they're business owners, but they could be business owners say DIY project or innovation.
[00:04:30] Suzy Michael: They're fabulous watch, who doesn't love a good old episode of the block or something like that. That's one part of entertainment. The other part is getting educational speakers, inspirational speakers. So people have spoken in front of big names like Vince Vaughn or Liz Hurley or someone like that.
[00:04:45] Suzy Michael: And that's the kind of personality that we'll be also interviewing on the show. So in terms of the entertainment perspective, that's where we bring in, bring that into it. And in terms of our audience, the audience is. Anyone that wants to either learn or be inspired or have just some fun [00:05:00] watching something on television is always, yeah, you have to have entertainment.
[00:05:03] Suzy Michael: It's got to be entertaining to watch otherwise, why on TV? So that we bring those elements into all three of those elements into the show.
[00:05:10] Chris Schwager: Is there a name for the show yet?
[00:05:12] Suzy Michael: Yes, but I can't disclose it yet because it's, I'm waiting for the trademark to come through officially. I've got it. I've got it in the other countries.
[00:05:18] Chris Schwager: Okay.
[00:05:18] Suzy Michael: Australia's a bit slow.
[00:05:20] Chris Schwager: But you're a show producer, right? You're the, are you funding as well? Yeah.
[00:05:24] Suzy Michael: Yes, producer and host, so co producer and host,
[00:05:27] Chris Schwager: yeah. So in some regards, you're using this as a business venture for yourself to get yourself out there, promote other businesses and create a business out of it where, there's some form of revenue generation from it.
[00:05:42] Chris Schwager: Is that why you're at BNI?
[00:05:44] Suzy Michael: No. Yes and no. That's the last thing on the list. The primary thing was I have a lot of friends and family members who own businesses and they're forever asking me, Susie, can you get me on, sunrise? Can you get me on the morning show? Can you get me a gig on this?
[00:05:57] Suzy Michael: I said, look, I can get you little bits here and there, but when you have your two minutes on national television and it's only a national reach, when you have that time, You're long gone and forgotten and they moved on to the next big thing. You're not an impactful name on television like you have on the screens.
[00:06:13] Suzy Michael: Yeah. Like I mentioned Janine Alice, for example. So how about I do one better for you? And I found that there was this hole in the market where business owners want to be seen. They want to have a national and even a global platform, but they haven't got the ability to do it because it's so closed off in media where you don't get that opportunity or you need to have a bigger name or a bigger presence.
[00:06:33] Suzy Michael: So this is where I've created this platform. For them to come in and be featured, not just nationally, but globally. So that was the niche I found. And that's where I've strongly come in and said, you know what, let's level the playing field. Let's make an even playing field for businesses to have an opportunity in media and be featured and be on the screens and have not just a two minute, but say an eight minute full on feature where we can showcase them and what they do, because business owners these days, let's face it.
[00:06:58] Suzy Michael: They're the backbone of our Australian economy. Why not give them a platform? Why not showcase what they can do? Because without them, the economy would never wouldn't thrive and just be here.
[00:07:06] Chris Schwager: Is this more of a lifestyle channel?
[00:07:10] Suzy Michael: It's not the lifestyle channel, but it is definitely a lifestyle show amalgamating that concept of education and business together in that lifestyle show.
[00:07:17] Chris Schwager: For the B& I, like for the people that you're saying, look, you can get a global reach here or even a domestic reach here via this channel. Is it? Is it mainstream TV sort of in general that you're trying to get them in front of, or is it specifically like a lifestyle channel stuff?
[00:07:34] Chris Schwager: It's
[00:07:34] Suzy Michael: streaming television.
[00:07:35] Chris Schwager: Oh, okay.
[00:07:36] Suzy Michael: Streaming TV. Yeah.
[00:07:37] Chris Schwager: Okay, cool. Any particular channels?
[00:07:40] Suzy Michael: I'd love to tell you.
[00:07:41] Chris Schwager: So now I'm saying like for businesses that are looking to extend their reach, like the service that you just talked about.
[00:07:48] Suzy Michael: Yeah.
[00:07:49] Chris Schwager: What channels do they. Are you getting them on?
[00:07:54] Suzy Michael: So it's streaming television. So think of it like if binge or if Stan or Netflix had opportunities for shows, they're the kind of streaming television channels that I would. Showcase them on. It's not Stan and Binge and Netflix, but they are a streaming TV platform. So that's where I'm heading, streaming television.
[00:08:11] Chris Schwager: And I know this can be confronting for a lot of, I sometimes get confronted by this question, but it's like ROI, right? As an, as a advertiser or a marketer. And as someone that can make decisions, and I'm talking about myself specifically, can make decisions about this now.
[00:08:26] Chris Schwager: What can I expect from ROI out of investing in this type of thing?
[00:08:31] Suzy Michael: Yep. So we've touched on the audience. I'll drive into a little bit more at the audience and the numbers that you can get. And then obviously the return on investment on that.
[00:08:38] Chris Schwager: Yeah.
[00:08:38] Suzy Michael: So the audience type are typically going to be females.
[00:08:41] Suzy Michael: Females watch more television than males, that's a given. It's going to be younger generation as well. Not so much your 60s and 70s because they're more into the broadcast traditional ways of watching television, but the new upcoming generations that ingest television either on their screens, on their phones, when they're on their way to work or on their way to wherever they need to be.
[00:09:00] Suzy Michael: They're the kind of generation. So we're going to get from your 25 year olds, possibly even 24 year olds upwards, up to about your mid fifties, even late fifties. Primarily females, but yes some males there as well. They will be family based people. We're assuming that they're going to be some sort of a family unit, whether they are a couple with or without children, but not necessarily.
[00:09:20] Suzy Michael: You find that a lot of the single people or people who are just not in any particular committed relationship. I also will watch these types of shows because it will have a lot of content that is appealing to the single market as well. So it's a mix of quite, it covers a very large audience in terms of numbers, because it is global and streaming.
[00:09:36] Suzy Michael: The kind of numbers we're seeing a phenomenal, we're seeing three, 400 million, three, 400, 000 million. Yeah. Three, 300 million, 400 million. They're the kind of stats that we're seeing. And they're the number of subscribers, not the number of viewers. So if I have an account, say with Netflix. But I'm going to share with my husband, automatically viewership has doubled, but you have no way of measuring what that viewership is.
[00:09:57] Suzy Michael: You can only base it on your subscriber. So you can only base it [00:10:00] on me watching and not my husband. So in reality, we're going to actually expect more viewers than just your 300 to 400 million subscribers.
[00:10:09] Chris Schwager: The reason you're hearing this podcast so clearly, it's because we've incorporated this. If you're on our YouTube channel, go and have a look at the quality that comes out of what we call the desktop video studio and allows professionals just like yourself.
[00:10:23] Chris Schwager: An ability to have camera, sound, lights, teleprompter, all at a single switch of a button and all at the convenience of your desk. Let's have a listen to a couple of happy clients who are using this system. You want more information on how you can do this for yourself, go to ridgefilms. com. au slash DIY. How do they leverage like the investment, talk about diversifying media across multiple channels and repurposing that content.
[00:10:50] Chris Schwager: And I would argue that if there's anything that is In the broadcast style, then building some authority off the back of that by saying, Hey, look at us. We're featured on this in this channel, right? Through other platforms like social media and websites. Are you taking care of that? Or are you leaving it to, to them to reconstitute, the origin of the, thing that you're helping them with.
[00:11:14] Suzy Michael: Yep, I got your back. So definitely take care of that. The reason why it's so diverse is that you are creating digital footprints across not just the streaming television, but also on social media, on your website and on YouTube. And the way you're doing that is Because I own the IP, I can then on sell, not sell, but give you the rights to use the production.
[00:11:35] Suzy Michael: So if you're in a feature with me for eight minutes, I can give you that production in its entirety. You own it. You can then put that on your website, put it on your YouTube channel, put it on social media. If you want to take 30 second excerpts from it and put it on social media, you're more than welcome to.
[00:11:48] Suzy Michael: As well as then going out on the streaming television platform for a minimum of 12 months. So that's how. We cover our basis and create that large digital footprint. But then at the end of the day, you also own that. So you also share in my IP rights. It's not the production company. It's not the television channel that owns it, which is what we see in Australia and broadcast television, not just Australia, everywhere.
[00:12:10] Suzy Michael: They own the rights and you need to pay to use those rights. No, you come to me and you say, look, I want a copy of my feature. Of course, I've already, allowed for that happily give you a copy of your feature for
[00:12:21] Chris Schwager: you to use. And what about the production value? Are you're getting pro crew to put all this together, like it's done in a proper studio.
[00:12:29] Chris Schwager: Cool. Cool. On
[00:12:29] Suzy Michael: location or in a proper studio. Correct.
[00:12:31] Chris Schwager: Yeah. Nice. Nice. And so for an eight minute segment, what would be, what's, Is it a bit of a bespoke type of slot and are you talking to the client about, their offering and what they're trying to get from being on the show?
[00:12:47] Suzy Michael: Yeah, so let's walk through the process. Say I have a client that comes to me and says Susie, I'm interested in being featured on the show. Okay. I am a, I'm an inspirational speaker. I'm an inspirational speaker and I'm also a business coach and I deal with clients all over the world. I'd like to engage your services to reach out to the audience that you have on this streaming TV platform.
[00:13:07] Suzy Michael: Okay? No worries. We sign up a contract for them. We show them all the stats. We walk them through a media kit. After we've spoken about everything, they're happy and they've signed on the dotted line, we have a production meeting and this is the crux of where the rest of the production will happen. So in our production meeting, if we have to have two or three or four, it doesn't matter.
[00:13:24] Suzy Michael: We want to make sure that we understand exactly what this person wants, how they want it delivered, how they want to be positioned, what angle are we going to take? Are we looking at their own journey in life? Are we looking at just their business aspects? So what kind of things do they want to showcase in the feature?
[00:13:40] Suzy Michael: And yeah, Then we pull together and say where are we going to shoot it? Are we going to get a studio? Do you have a particular location or an office? Do you want to do an on location shoot? Do you want to do an outdoors shoot? So then we discuss the whole atmosphere and the feel of how we want that feature to be shot.
[00:13:54] Suzy Michael: And after we've nailed, basically the concept and the message and the feel and the vibe and the locations, we book everything in with our production team. And in these production meetings, we have the production team on board as well. So we have the producer and the videographer, and they always have their own editor and post production team that they liaise with afterwards as well.
[00:14:12] Suzy Michael: So everyone's on board right from the beginning to understand what the client wants and what the brief is. After we've shot it and we edit it, we then take it back to the client and say, here's the first edit, and we sit down with them and they make sure that they are happy with that, and they can come back and say, I don't like this.
[00:14:27] Suzy Michael: I wanted to incorporate this part. I was hoping that this part would be shown and not this part. So we can then. Cut according to how the client wants it portrayed in the end. And then we have our final cut done. And then this is a
[00:14:39] Chris Schwager: decent investment, eh? Absolutely. Willing to share any numbers in terms of what things might cost?
[00:14:43] Chris Schwager: I've
[00:14:43] Suzy Michael: been told that it's a fantastic opportunity. So for eight full minutes it's 15, 000 plus GST. And you get a copy of the. Of the material and honestly for any kind of digital marketing or even kind of presence for a global [00:15:00] 300 to 400 million subscribers,
[00:15:02] Chris Schwager: it's a
[00:15:02] Suzy Michael: phenomenal opportunity. So
[00:15:04] Chris Schwager: that's all in like the production as well as the streaming for 12 months.
[00:15:08] Suzy Michael: Yes.
[00:15:10] Chris Schwager: That's great. And because it's on demand. That's actually a really good value. Yeah. Once it's,
[00:15:12] Suzy Michael: we shoot the full season. And just like any streaming television, it comes uploaded completely, unless you're Bridgerton and you do half a season on Netflix, but no, we're not Bridgerton. So we do the full season shoot.
[00:15:22] Suzy Michael: It goes on the streaming platform channel and it is there for 12 months so people can rewatch and watch on demand.
[00:15:28] Chris Schwager: And the fact that a client really at the end of that production can take that content and go and do whatever they want with it, right? That's what I'm hearing. There's no like lock.
[00:15:36] Chris Schwager: or anything like that. Like they, they own the asset, which is the eight minute video, which kind of gives them permission to either come back to you to do iterations of the edit. If they want to try and snip it up into something shorter, which I'm sure would probably be very common for you guys or or try and hack it, hack and do something with it themselves.
[00:15:56] Chris Schwager: But it sounds like a really great opportunity considering businesses, I talk a lot about the lack of video content in the Australian market, the lack of people that, just don't even have a basic, company profile video on their homepage, for instance, this and it's a comparable price to what you'd deploy a professional video crew and you're also bolting on the streaming service.
[00:16:17] Chris Schwager: So it's actually, yeah. That's good value.
[00:16:21] Suzy Michael: Yeah, that's what I have been told. It is good value. And it's positioned to accommodate small to medium sized businesses. We're not aiming for your big corporates and your Bunnings and your Coca Colas. We don't want those because they've got, billions of dollars to spend on their marketing.
[00:16:34] Suzy Michael: We are supporting the backbone of the Australian economy, which is multimedia and businesses.
[00:16:38] Chris Schwager: What's the site? Like, where do I see some samples of what you guys have done?
[00:16:42] Suzy Michael: We're in production at the moment, so we're going to be shooting a pilot. And once we have that pilot done, we can then show the
[00:16:48] Chris Schwager: exact,
[00:16:49] Suzy Michael: yeah.
[00:16:50] Suzy Michael: So you're in,
[00:16:50] Chris Schwager: you're in startup mode, like that's if you, is that right? With this offering, with the 15K offering? So we're in the first
[00:16:57] Suzy Michael: season, we are doing our pilot. But we've already secured the deal, so we've already got the distribution through America. Otherwise, I wouldn't be shooting if I had nothing,
[00:17:06] Chris Schwager: right.
[00:17:06] Suzy Michael: Yeah.
[00:17:07] Chris Schwager: So for you, it's, what's considered the pilot? Something that you've mocked up to give a proof of concept?
[00:17:12] Suzy Michael: No, actual clients. No, actual clients. Oh, okay. Yeah. And it's just so we're
[00:17:14] Chris Schwager: talking about the 15K, eight minute slot, right? Yes. At the moment? Yeah. Cool.
[00:17:18] Chris Schwager: Okay. Yeah. From the earliest conversation that we had it seemed like, it seemed like you were showcasing multiple businesses within a single show.
[00:17:27] Suzy Michael: So yes, in one episode, there are three features and that's where you get the multiple businesses. So you're doing three, eight
[00:17:34] Chris Schwager: minute slots basically.
[00:17:36] Chris Schwager: Got it. Got it. Got it. Okay. Cool.
[00:17:37] Suzy Michael: Make sure that nobody is in conflict with another. So I wouldn't have. Yeah. Two videos. Yeah. Two video guys. Maybe in a separate episode.
[00:17:45] Chris Schwager: Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Okay. Cool. Yeah. Good. Okay. So when that proof of concept comes out or the pilot, as you say, I'd love to have a look at it.
[00:17:55] Suzy Michael: All right. I'll shoot it your way, Kruth.
[00:17:56] Chris Schwager: Yeah. When is it, when you, when are you going to get it done? When's it done?
[00:17:59] Suzy Michael: Next month. So production is the next month.
[00:18:02] Chris Schwager: Yeah. And so all in then you're bringing in about 45k for an episode, which gives you enough to go and get the streaming service side of things up.
[00:18:13] Suzy Michael: Yeah. I need to pay for the service. I need to pay for editing. I need to pay for production. I need to pay for the, obviously the IP that I've then secured. Cause that's, That cost upfront quite a substantial investment. So once I've paid off everyone, all my debts, then I can think about, okay, what's left at the end for me.
[00:18:29] Chris Schwager: Yes. Yes. And do you envisage it going up? Like the offering, the 15K?
[00:18:35] Suzy Michael: It depends. I want to see, I want to see this episode, the first episode at least take off. We book out a full season. And if we do season two, three, four, I'm actually hoping to travel with that season, so I would like to go to Europe, I'd like to go to the UK, I'd like
[00:18:52] Chris Schwager: to go to the US
[00:18:54] Suzy Michael: yeah, and have that same concept.
[00:18:55] Suzy Michael: So for businesses that have a presence in the UK or US and they are Australian, that's where I would go and actually,
[00:19:01] Chris Schwager: right.
[00:19:02] Suzy Michael: Collaborate with their team over there.
[00:19:04] Chris Schwager: How many episodes per season?
[00:19:07] Suzy Michael: 12 episodes in the season and 3 features per episode.
[00:19:10] Chris Schwager: Got it. So it's 36, 36 businesses.
[00:19:13] Suzy Michael: Yep.
[00:19:14] Chris Schwager: Good. And any nibbles so far?
[00:19:17] Chris Schwager: How long has it been in start up?
[00:19:19] Suzy Michael: Just A month.
[00:19:21] Chris Schwager: Oh, really? Okay. How long have you been in B9 for?
[00:19:24] Suzy Michael: Three months.
[00:19:26] Chris Schwager: Okay. Cool. I
[00:19:26] Suzy Michael: got the company set up, but I didn't have the distribution rights yet, so I'm saying this is what we're going to, what we're thinking of doing. Once I got the distribution rights and the contract, I went, I said, I started, it.
[00:19:38] Chris Schwager: Love it. Love it. And how do you, beyond BNI, how do you get the word out, about your new business? I
[00:19:44] Suzy Michael: don't know. I just find people are calling me saying so and so gave me a contact or I saw this on your socials. What do you what are you up to? Yeah, I actually had, I won't say the name.
[00:19:54] Suzy Michael: I can now they've gone. So Temu contacted me and said, we actually saw your profiles on social media. Yeah. We love your [00:20:00] work. Can you do a thing for us with the morning show with our products with Temu? I didn't, I don't know anyone at Temu. So they contacted me and they said, you came highly recommended from this person that we know.
[00:20:09] Suzy Michael: And we looked at your profile and yeah, we'd love you to do it. So it's a job. So
[00:20:13] Chris Schwager: you're doubling up. You can do the TV personality stuff. You can do the producing. And then of course this startup business is, you're big. I guess your baby, right?
[00:20:22] Suzy Michael: It's a business for businesses, but it's at the same time, it is the production itself.
[00:20:26] Suzy Michael: So when you say producer and host, I'm still the producer and host, but in a sense, I have to incorporate a business because I'm dealing with other businesses. So I then become the entity where I do business dealings with other businesses, whereas before I would leave that. to television channels or to my, magazine or to the newspaper where they would employ my services directly.
[00:20:49] Chris Schwager: You gotta ask yourself, are you satisfied with the way that you're presenting yourself and your personal brand to your market? And for four years now, people have been really struggling to clarify the way they look and sound on camera when it comes to marketing. To doing video calls and recording their own personalized videos.
[00:21:07] Chris Schwager: And there is a solution. The DIY video program helps you personalize sales, video, and emails, record professional marketing videos, look and sound amazing in every video meeting without the tech hassles. And you also get professional video editing, practical training so that you can present like a pro.
[00:21:23] Chris Schwager: You don't have to do anything in that initial setup. Because the studio's installed for you, you get your coaching and your training so that you can then go on and be a video professional. And wipe out poor quality videos forever. Why don't you go to ridgefilms. com. au slash DIY and check it out for yourself.
[00:21:42] Chris Schwager: So then tell me Cause like obviously I understand the world of BNI and how it works and all that, but what is the specific referral requirement? Because you said small to medium, but is, but I would envisage that you as a startup three, ambitiously three at 36 businesses that you need putting 15 K down and, There, there could be plenty of marketers.
[00:22:08] Chris Schwager: There could be plenty of uptight CEOs and business operators and whatnot that are going this is a lot of money for me. And therefore I'm going to like stress over every finite detail, how you, you've got to, in my business, it's about creating friends. I want to create friends. I want to create happy people that love what we do.
[00:22:26] Chris Schwager: Cause we make them look and sound amazing. And I'm sure the same thing would be for you, but I'm at almost at a point in my career where I can say, you know what? You're an old fuddy duddy. Fuck you. I'm going to just bring, I'm just going to get the clients that bring joy, right? That bring happiness, that, that legitimately love what it is that we're offering and form some kind of friendship slash community that we can build together.
[00:22:50] Chris Schwager: That's really what what I'm trying to do. And I'm just curious to see how do you handle the emotions of say three different companies at once in one episode to make sure that the expectations are met.
[00:23:04] Suzy Michael: Yes. So firstly, there was a part earlier in your question you asked about, it's too much for me, the 15K is too much for me.
[00:23:12] Suzy Michael: So we actually then offer combined features or collaborative features where say for example this the business coach or the inspirational speaker. Can then share and get four minutes and I can give four minutes to another business that can collaborate with them so they could actually be a parenting coach for example.
[00:23:29] Chris Schwager: Yeah, love it.
[00:23:30] Suzy Michael: And so we'll have the parenting coach have their four minutes and then the business or inspirational coach have their four minutes but together it is featured as a coaching segment. And that's how we can share in the cost and share the space for businesses that can't do the full. Yeah,
[00:23:43] Chris Schwager: love it.
[00:23:43] Chris Schwager: And do you put a clear divide between those two four minute slots or is it intermingled?
[00:23:49] Suzy Michael: It depends on what the clients want. So if they want to work together, we can intermingle it. And then in the editing, they just keep track of the minutes. And yeah,
[00:23:56] Chris Schwager: I like it. I like it. So you've got your whole production team.
[00:23:59] Chris Schwager: You got your edit team and all that. They're all lined up and ready to go. Cool.
[00:24:02] Suzy Michael: They absolutely are.
[00:24:03] Chris Schwager: Yeah. Good. Good. And it's yeah it's an interesting model. I do think that, one thing for for small business from my perspective is like, is it tell it, television is the mystical place where it is unobtainable.
[00:24:16] Chris Schwager: Like you said it earlier, this idea of Oh, what's that going to cost? Like that big sort of grandiose picture that's on the horizon for them. And I guess with our business, as an example, you know, we're pouring money into LinkedIn and TikTok ads. It's predictable lead flow and we know what we spend every month to be able to do it.
[00:24:39] Chris Schwager: It's around a three grand three K a month, right? So it's a significant amount of of investment there. But we're also looking at ways to diversify. And not just be all in on LinkedIn and all that all the time, to diversify and do other things and try other tactics to, to scale, and then that's the, really the thing for us is like [00:25:00] finding ways to scale.
[00:25:02] Chris Schwager: And testing environments, testing new things like what you're offering is a consideration as well. But I definitely think that it's worth a conversation. A couple of people that I know about the about the whole thing, like it's, if there's money out there, and yeah.
[00:25:16] Chris Schwager: And people are willing to to invest in. I think that is a comparable price to what someone would get from just doing a one off video at eight minutes. I know that I'd be charging more, without the streaming service attached to it. So yeah I'm super pumped. When's the launch?
[00:25:32] Suzy Michael: The launch of the show. Aim it for later this year or January.
[00:25:35] Chris Schwager: Okay. So
[00:25:36] Suzy Michael: it depends how quick I can smash it up in production and post production. There's no set schedule as such because it is a streaming platform. So as it comes on, we can, they can always add a show, but once it's on, it's there for 12 months minimum.
[00:25:48] Suzy Michael: Are
[00:25:48] Chris Schwager: you taking orders?
[00:25:50] Suzy Michael: I am taking orders. Yes.
[00:25:51] Chris Schwager: Yeah, and tell me, how do you facilitate the orders? Are you just holding them off until January or are you actually producing the content now? We have
[00:25:57] Suzy Michael: to produce content now. When I say January, that's when it's actually finished. The streaming side of it.
[00:26:02] Suzy Michael: Yeah. And launched. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:26:04] Chris Schwager: Yeah. Yeah. And he's saying launched as in all 12.
[00:26:08] Suzy Michael: Yep. Everything. The full season needs to be up 12 full season. Got it. Ready to watch on demand by January.
[00:26:13] Chris Schwager: Oh, nice. Okay. So yeah. So how far in production are you currently then?
[00:26:17] Suzy Michael: So still within the first month of production.
[00:26:19] Suzy Michael: Okay. You are requesting a pilot, so we are going to pull together a pilot from the productions that we're going be shooting. Yep. Yeah, just to showcase the actual nature of the show and how it looks and what you'd be getting. But think of it as a mashup between. Getaway or at Better Homes and Gardens, or even an interview in studio with your morning shows.
[00:26:38] Suzy Michael: Think of it as like a mashup of those, because when you're having an interview in a studio, there's your educational business aspect. But when you're on location, there is your more natural vibe coming through. It obviously depends on who the client is, but then there's that getaway aspect that comes through.
[00:26:53] Suzy Michael: So it does depend on the client as to where we're going to be filming and the whole feel and look that they want for the feature.
[00:26:59] Chris Schwager: Yeah. Like it's, and just on the different modules or the different, I call them modules, but the, it. Slots within the episode, are you sticking to like a, The same genre, if you like for everybody, or are you giving them choice and say, Oh we can create like a, a company story video, a company story slot, or we can create like a infomercial style slot or how are you controlling the creative, no
[00:27:27] Suzy Michael: infomercials. It's very much an editorial style.
[00:27:30] Chris Schwager: Very much an editorial style. Yeah. Because
[00:27:32] Suzy Michael: infomercials vary Salesy.
[00:27:34] Chris Schwager: Salesy. Yeah, that's right. I'm not
[00:27:35] Suzy Michael: selling you a car. Yeah,
[00:27:37] Chris Schwager: yeah, sure. No,
[00:27:38] Suzy Michael: it's very natural. Very much an editorial flow. And I will be asking questions that the audience want to ask, so there might be some questions there I ask.
[00:27:46] Suzy Michael: I say to you how can you stand and confidently say that, you've had this experience when we haven't seen? The proof, the, where's the proof when we do the proof is in the pudding. So show us where it will be just, not not playing devil's advocate, but obviously engaging the audience because I'm the medium between the audience and the business owner.
[00:28:02] Suzy Michael: And so just acting like that medium to ask the questions that I think the audience would want to know the answer to, which then positions the business that are stronger. in a stronger way. Yeah.
[00:28:12] Chris Schwager: You were making a mention earlier about it being a global reach, but production wise, you're just going to service Australia until you can get the leverage to do like an, like a, take your crew over to wherever, right?
[00:28:27] Chris Schwager: To the States or whatever. Yes
[00:28:28] Suzy Michael: and no. Yep. We watch Australian Americans watch Australian television. Australians watch American television. The world is all connected now. So why not have productions in Australia? Sydney and showcase it to the world.
[00:28:40] Chris Schwager: Absolutely. And but can you bring your, the operation to Miami, for instance?
[00:28:45] Suzy Michael: To Miami?
[00:28:46] Chris Schwager: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:28:47] Suzy Michael: If there's businesses in Miami that would love to be featured, totally.
[00:28:50] Chris Schwager: Yeah. Good, good. No, it's cool. I've got a lot of You have
[00:28:53] Suzy Michael: someone in
[00:28:53] Chris Schwager: Miami, huh? No like half of the audience on this show are from the States, and so I've got a, Put my American accent on from time to time.
[00:29:02] Chris Schwager: No, so yeah, no it's interesting. Because yeah, the model, if it's a universal model then why not yeah, why not offer it everywhere? I don't know exactly what that means from a production perspective, getting in front of businesses and getting out of there and doing those types of things.
[00:29:16] Chris Schwager: I'm not sure. And look,
[00:29:17] Suzy Michael: I've been in media for 27 years, so I'm bringing all of my skills, qualifications and knowledge into this production. And it's not just. Somebody who's interviewing someone and then mashing it together. And here you go, just, I launched an Australian platform.
[00:29:31] Suzy Michael: I'm bringing all that experience into it because as I said, it is an editorial style and it is very much a professional lifestyle business. Production.
[00:29:39] Chris Schwager: Yeah. So comms, comms over creativity, right? That's the kind of the thing that I've, talked a lot about is plenty of crews in production guys and videographers and whatnot that can shoot and do wonderful things, but it's actually putting them, getting the key messages of the business across to the market is still paramount in any [00:30:00] content, you entertaining content for clients, longer form content, only I've just finished a production of 10 minutes, which in our business, which is historically been pretty much born on, 92nd marketing content is a huge difference.
[00:30:22] Chris Schwager: In trying to captivate an audience for 10 minutes. And it's only specific businesses that actually have the breadth of information that warrants having a video like that. But it's interesting because I was always asked, about what's the optimal duration of content.
[00:30:43] Chris Schwager: And it's just how long can you hold the attention of the audience? So what I'm really curious to know is like, I just can't wait to see the pilot and understand more about how that's all coming together and how, what tactics and techniques you're using to keep that audience spice, spiced up and watching and holding to the holding to the show, so yeah, can't wait to learn more about this. I'm really pleased that you were able to come on and share this with me and my audience. I know as I say little about. the world of advertising and streaming in your specific scenario and the way that you're actually putting a show together and selling it.
[00:31:25] Chris Schwager: It reminds me, do you ever remember a thing called something like 50 unsung heroes or something like in business, 50 unsung heroes in business. It was like this thing that was pitched like years ago. And this guy, I don't know if it's still true. still going or not, but it was basically a really thick book and this guy would go around to these businesses and give them like a page of the book and they'd feature in these book and they'd get their opportunity to write a book, so to speak.
[00:31:51] Chris Schwager: Was an unusual concept. I didn't invest in it myself, by the end of this publish, publication this book, he would have. 50 or 20 or whatever it was, businesses that were featured inside and they'd also be appearing over the front of the cover. So for any small business, never had anything done in print was like, wow, look, I'm in a, I'm in a book.
[00:32:10] Chris Schwager: There's a bit of razzing there, for the business owner, like it's excited by the proposition of getting. in these kind of nooks and crannies of the world of marketing, that they would never have expected to be able to maybe afford, but also just have the.
[00:32:29] Chris Schwager: Motivation to do it. And and I think the more that you're putting this out there too, that the more ears will prop up and more people will understand the leverage capacity or the leverage opportunities out of something like what you're doing, because video is, the, this endless, editable, Format that allows them really to extend the lifespan for years to come, so it's good. And the fact that you're providing that professionalism, and the way that you're, you're hosting and you're considering them and obviously, and I'm making this assumption here, based on 27 years of your experience and whatnot, that you're going to take a lot of care with these businesses to make sure that they are getting value and they that you are showcasing them in the best possible light.
[00:33:14] Chris Schwager: I wish you all the best. I really do. I can't wait to see how this goes. Make sure you share. It's definitely something that I would consider. Please do. I'm really happy. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Thanks Chris, it
[00:33:25] Suzy Michael: was an absolute pleasure. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you.
[00:33:29] Chris Schwager: You're very welcome.
