Foreign.
Speaker BYou are listening to the Horse Radio Network, part of the Equine Network family.
Speaker BWell, hello everybody.
Speaker BWelcome back.
Speaker BIt was so good to have you here at the WESA Retail Roundup.
Speaker BI am Glenn the Geek, founder of the Horse Radio Network and host of Horses in the Morning.
Speaker BWe just had our 15th anniversary on November 1st, so we've done over four or almost 4,000 episodes now of that show.
Speaker BOne of the longest running daily podcasts in the world, all about horses.
Speaker BAnd welcome to the Westa Retail Roundup.
Speaker BWe're glad you're here again.
Speaker BWe're your go to virtual hub for all things retail.
Speaker BWe do panel discussions, we do webinars, we do sessions like today, where we have fantastic guests to help us out with how to do things better in our retail operation.
Speaker BWhether it's English or western or even whether you and sometimes you could be a manufacturer, things like that, this all applies to you as well.
Speaker BAnd it's only two months away now from Wesa actually in Dallas, so we're looking forward to that as well.
Speaker BNow, Amanda Harridan is here.
Speaker BShe joins us to share how retailers can harness social media, storytelling, video trends, and creator style content strategies to grow visibility, to connect with customers, and to boost sales, which we all want, all without needing a full time marketing team.
Speaker BAnd that is something that, you know, this, this is a topic that we've covered here on the show before, but I feel like I learned something every time and if we can be more efficient at this, the better off we are because we all have other things to do and this is just one of our many jobs.
Speaker BAmanda is a western lifestyle content creator known for blending authentic storytelling with marketing instincts.
Speaker BHey, Amanda.
Speaker BHi.
Speaker AHow are you?
Speaker BGood.
Speaker BSo we just discovered you're in Georgia, right?
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AWhen you said East Coast, I was like, maybe he's on the east coast too.
Speaker BYes.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AI'm a Georgia gal.
Speaker BI'm four hours from you.
Speaker BJust down 75.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAlthough you're in the north side of Atlanta, so it may be five or six hours, depending on traffic.
Speaker ABecause honestly, depending on how many wrecks there are, if there's a game or a concert going on, you never know.
Speaker AAtlanta is a nightmare.
Speaker BI assume you're a horse girl.
Speaker AYes, sir, I am born and born and raised.
Speaker AMy dad was a bull rider and I, I remember going to the Alfredo rodeo when I was little and watching the girls and their colorful Rockies run in the pattern and I'd be like, I want to do that when I get older.
Speaker AMy dad was like, I Don't know how I can get you to do that, but I had a good neighbor next door that had some extra barrel horses that his daughter said were too slow for her, and they were the best teacher you can get for a kid.
Speaker AIs.
Speaker AIs a good broke horse.
Speaker AAnd that's me barrel racing a couple of years ago.
Speaker AI've been doing it ever since, so a little over 20 years now.
Speaker BWell, that's fantastic.
Speaker BThat's.
Speaker BThat's really cool.
Speaker BSo tell us about Neon Wrangler.
Speaker BSo where did that come from?
Speaker AOkay, so it is kind of funny because I did used to wear, like, very neutral colors when I barrel race.
Speaker ABut like I said, are you the only one?
Speaker ANo.
Speaker ANo.
Speaker AIn a.
Speaker AIn a sea of neutral.
Speaker ABe neon, is what I say, because there's not many people that unless you're like, five years old, you don't wear neon colors quite as much.
Speaker ABut I did grow up in the 90s, and I remembered that was my.
Speaker AI don't know, that was like, my.
Speaker AMy favorite time was the 90s and rodeos and those colorful shirts that everyone wore with the fun patterns and the colorful Rockies.
Speaker ALike, when I think of those rodeos my dad went to, like, that's what I remembered.
Speaker ASo I used to just be a braille racer.
Speaker AI had no fashion sense.
Speaker AI mean, I'd wear basketball shorts and a big T shirt.
Speaker AAnd my husband's friend's nickname for me sometimes was butch because that's just how I dressed.
Speaker ALike, no fashion sense.
Speaker AAnd in 2017, we went to the NFR for the first time, and one of my friends who was very fashionable was like, you know, you have to dress up for that, right?
Speaker AI was like.
Speaker AI was like, it's just a rodeo.
Speaker BYeah, I'm gonna.
Speaker AI'm gonna wear my spur life shirts.
Speaker AAnd that's who I was going with.
Speaker BJust a rodeo.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker ALook, it's just a big.
Speaker AI know.
Speaker AI haven't been to any big road.
Speaker AYou know, I've just been to stuff on the East Coast.
Speaker AI hadn't been to rodeo Houston or nothing like that at that.
Speaker AAt this time.
Speaker ASo I didn't know what a big rodeo was.
Speaker AShe was like, no, you have.
Speaker AWe have to pick out your outfit.
Speaker ASo she came over and somehow helped me throw together 10 outfits, because we were there all 10 days.
Speaker AMy first time going, which I don't.
Speaker AI don't recommend to anyone to not.
Speaker BThat's jumping in the deep, deep end.
Speaker BThat's.
Speaker AMy friend was.
Speaker AOne of my best friends, is a vendor.
Speaker AHe owns Spur West These little buckle necklaces that you've probably seen.
Speaker AAnd, and he was selling T shirts at the time and he was going as a vendor and we were all going out there to help him.
Speaker AAnd we learned a lot that year.
Speaker AWe learned a lot about being first time vendors, first time goers, first time in Vegas.
Speaker AIt was, it was an experience.
Speaker ABut any, I've kind of built on fashion ever since then.
Speaker ALike, I kind of saw a way into this industry that wasn't just barrel racing.
Speaker AIt was like a new way for me to be involved in the western industry that wasn't just revolving around horses.
Speaker AAnd I've been every year since.
Speaker AThis is my ninth year going in 2020, when they had it in Texas.
Speaker AI was walking past the Neon Moon Saloon.
Speaker AAnd that was kind of back in the time when people were coming up with trendy Instagram names.
Speaker ALike West Desperado had one retro Amiga Green.
Speaker AAll the girls, all the cool girls had cool names.
Speaker AAnd I text my friend that owns Spur west and I was like, I want a cool name.
Speaker AI said, help me.
Speaker ACome help me come up with something.
Speaker AI was like, I want to be one of these fashion girlies.
Speaker AI don't want to be just a barrel racing page anymore.
Speaker AAnd I was walking past, I said, I like the word neon.
Speaker AI like Neon Moon Saloon.
Speaker AI like something like that.
Speaker AAnd he was like, well, what about Neon Wrangler?
Speaker AAnd I was like, ooh, I like that.
Speaker AAnd so I changed my name and then I did a photo shoot as Bar.
Speaker AIt was like when Barbie was coming out or something.
Speaker AAnd I did a photo shoot as Barbie and wore a wig, a pink wig.
Speaker AAnd then I was like, wait.
Speaker AI was like, if I'm the Neon Wrangler, I need to wear colorful stuff.
Speaker ALike that's a new way for me to hit the market right there.
Speaker ANot many people wear really bright, colorful stuff all the time.
Speaker AAnd it's just kind of escalated from there with the name and now the.
Speaker ANow the clothing.
Speaker BAnd obviously it works.
Speaker BYou're here.
Speaker AIt does.
Speaker AIt made me.
Speaker AIt made me.
Speaker AAnd I did always like to stand out.
Speaker AEven as a barrel racer.
Speaker AI would do quirky little things.
Speaker ALike I wore my belt buckle sideways on my hips sometimes or I hate to, I hate to admit this, but I would tuck my pants into my boots so you could see the tops of my boots.
Speaker ALike, not many people did stuff.
Speaker AI just wanted to do little things to stand out.
Speaker ASo I guess it's kind of always been in me to, to be the one that likes to stand out.
Speaker BSo what's the lesson there for retailers and their brands?
Speaker AEven if you got the same product, you can market it a little bit different by just changing up a little something or maybe changing up how you market it just to make it stand out.
Speaker ABecause people remember things that stand out instead of blending in with the crowd.
Speaker BYou start out your marketing one way.
Speaker BLet's say store's been open for a long time and they've done kind of their social media one way, and maybe it's been okay, right?
Speaker BIt's not been super successful.
Speaker BIt's just been okay.
Speaker BCan you go a whole different direction successfully?
Speaker AI think so.
Speaker AI think if you go and just really focus on building a connection with your.
Speaker AYour audience.
Speaker AAudience likes buying from personal connections.
Speaker AAnd, like, they.
Speaker AThey want to feel like they're your friend.
Speaker ALike that.
Speaker AThat's how.
Speaker AAnd I see this working well with businesses, not just creators, too.
Speaker ALike businesses that come on here and they act like they're the content creator and they put their.
Speaker ATheir face with their brand.
Speaker AAnd people want to feel like they're buying from their friend, they're supporting their friend, they're showing up for their live sales and stuff like that.
Speaker AThey just want to feel included.
Speaker AAnd I think if you totally rebranded yourself, as long as you did it the right way, you could.
Speaker BYeah, I agree.
Speaker BI think they do.
Speaker BI think so, too.
Speaker BAnd by the way, that answer that you just gave is people, People want to want you to be their friend is the answer that we've gotten from most of the guests we've had on.
Speaker BOn this show.
Speaker BAnd that.
Speaker BAnd it's so.
Speaker BAnd it's true.
Speaker BEven in podcasting and, you know, content creation, whether you're doing it for your store or for yourself or for a show or whatever you're doing it for, all has kind of the same rules.
Speaker BYou know, our listeners on Horses in the Morning feel like we're their best friends.
Speaker BYou know, we're in their ears every day.
Speaker BI may not know them, but I'm their best friend.
Speaker BAnd that's.
Speaker BThat's true.
Speaker BYou know, Tampa Airport does a tremendous job with their social media.
Speaker BThey have the best social media because it's down to earth.
Speaker BIt's entertaining.
Speaker BI feel like I know those people and could go to dinner and have a drink with them, and that's what you're looking for in your store.
Speaker BI don't care how big you are.
Speaker BChewy has done a very good job of that, too.
Speaker AI've actually heard about Tampa Airport, too.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd, you know, not to pick one out.
Speaker BBut Chewy's done a good job with that with their social media is being relatable and being friendly.
Speaker BYou know, friendly is a good word, actually.
Speaker AYeah, I totally agree.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo, and that's a good word in how your media comes across.
Speaker BDoes it come across friendly or does it come across, I'm a business, I'm in business, I'm trying to sell you something.
Speaker BAnd I think that's a good lesson too.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker AExactly.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AI think you, you have to find a fine line on being friendly, but also cutting to the chase quickly.
Speaker AAnd it is such a fine line and you really have to, like, narrow it down and see what works for you.
Speaker ABut you want to be friendly, but you don't want to come off too long winded at the beginning of videos.
Speaker AYou kind of want to come off like you're in the middle of a conversation with the best friend, FaceTime type of situation and you're getting straight to the point with them.
Speaker AThey want to feel like they're in conversation, but they want you to get to the point almost immediately.
Speaker ALike, it's, it's so tricky on how to actually gather someone's attention nowadays.
Speaker ABut we want to, we don't want to feel like we're being sold to.
Speaker AWe want to be able to stop scrolling with you telling us a relatable story or whatever it is.
Speaker ABut we want you to get to the point quick.
Speaker AWe don't want you to be too long winded with how you're talking.
Speaker BI noticed a lot of the very successful content creators now also have a catch line that they use at the beginning of every one of their videos.
Speaker BAnd it's one line.
Speaker BIt's not a paragraph, it's not sentences, it's a couple of words or one line.
Speaker BAnd I find myself going, okay, I need to hang around for this because I've heard that line before and I liked what came next.
Speaker BIt's the power of association there.
Speaker BThat one line is what got, what got my attention.
Speaker BAnd I remembered the second time I saw them pop up, okay, I need to hang around for what's after.
Speaker AI totally agree.
Speaker ASome of the most popular people, they do have that, like, catchphrase they say at the very beginning.
Speaker AI haven't been able to come up with one yet.
Speaker AI wish I could.
Speaker ABut some ways, like if you can't come up with one or think of something you need to say is you could just like label a series and have like a series.
Speaker AIt doesn't have to be every video you're Doing like this, you call it a series.
Speaker AMaybe you post one a week or two a week.
Speaker AAnd you could call it like Cowgirl Tuesdays, like, or Get Dressed With Me Tuesdays or, you know, whatever.
Speaker ACatch your name than that.
Speaker ABut like something that kind of like goes together, just whatever you can think of where at least they'll recognize that on your page once or twice a week.
Speaker AVersus you can't come up with the same catchphrase to say every single video.
Speaker BThat becomes your catchphrase, though.
Speaker BYou know, we do segments in the show that we do every week and people know those segments by the title of the segment and they know what's coming when they hear the segment.
Speaker BSo if you do, you know, Colorful Thursday, I don't care if it is the most clever name in the world.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BIf you do Colorful Thursday, people are going to go, okay, I liked Colorful Thursday the last time.
Speaker BI got to hang around for it again this time.
Speaker BYep, it's all association.
Speaker BAnd I can't agree with you more about the titles, you know, and about coming up with.
Speaker BWe call them segments in our shows, but coming up with the names for the segments, it gives them something to relate to and to look forward to.
Speaker BYep.
Speaker AWe call them series online and you can do whatever you want with it.
Speaker AThere's so many different series.
Speaker AYou could do a different series every single day and draw a new audience for every single different little thing you're doing.
Speaker AOr maybe an audience likes every series you're doing.
Speaker BBut now you.
Speaker BYou ended up on being Tick Tocks, your big place, right?
Speaker BYour favorite.
Speaker AInstagram is actually my place.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker AYeah, Tick Tock did grow faster for me, but then I focus more on Instagram, so.
Speaker BSo why Instagram?
Speaker BDid you find more of your people there?
Speaker AI think I like, I do like video, but I think I like picture content a little more.
Speaker AI like really taking the aspect and I don't just go out and take pictures.
Speaker ALike usually I come up with like a whole concept for my, my post.
Speaker ALike the music will go with the caption and, and what I in the pictures and I'll do like carousel posts that it's kind of like a little like photo shoot that all ties together.
Speaker AThat's truly what I like doing.
Speaker AAnd when I get a good idea, like that's what I run with is building these little photo shoots.
Speaker AVideo form content was just something I was doing for fun back in the day when it first started and realized that not a lot of other the content creators were at first and that's how I Jumped on it pretty quick.
Speaker AI never did much storytelling and now I'm getting more into that with barrel racing vlogs and stuff like that on my other.
Speaker AMy other Tick Tock page that I have just for barrel racing.
Speaker ABut nowadays I just kind of do like get styled with me videos and.
Speaker AAnd a little more talking some unboxings.
Speaker AUnboxings, I think are getting a little bit dated, in my opinion.
Speaker ABut people still love to, like your core audience still loves to watch them.
Speaker AThey love to watch what you get and see what new stuff you're bringing in.
Speaker BI do know a couple of retailers that do unboxings and do very well because they're unboxing large boxes of stuff they're getting in for the store because so then it's a little bit different.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker AAnd I think that's a great idea for a store to do because the people want to see the newest product you're bringing in.
Speaker AYour core audience is going to want to see that.
Speaker ANow, someone that doesn't already follow you may scroll past it, but that's where you build a connection with the people that already do follow you.
Speaker BThe ones that I've seen do it very well are doing it in a way.
Speaker BSo they do the unboxing, but during the unboxing, they already have it set up that somebody has the outfit on.
Speaker BOne of their employees has the outfit on.
Speaker BSo after they do the unboxing, the employee comes in and, you know, they do it in a very funny way too.
Speaker BSo, I mean, that's perfect.
Speaker BYou can look at stuff in a bag, right, that's ready to hang up on the wall.
Speaker BBut that's not as exciting as seeing it, right.
Speaker BAnd seeing it on something.
Speaker BSo they do have it kind of set up that way.
Speaker BAnd the one even had a horse at the barn with the blanket already on, you know, and.
Speaker BAnd the horse was not cooperating, which made it even funnier, you know, so.
Speaker BSo you know it.
Speaker BAnd again, it's what we've said in the past, and you've learned this too, I'm sure, is that it doesn't have to be perfect.
Speaker BMatter of fact, if it's not perfect, it's probably a little better.
Speaker AHonestly.
Speaker AConsistency is key.
Speaker BSo let's get back.
Speaker BWe haven't talked a lot about doing the slideshows, which, by the way, are a video.
Speaker BIt's just not you talking in a video.
Speaker BIt's not you in front of the camera doing a selfie video.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BBut it is a video.
Speaker BIt's video.
Speaker BYou know, you're showing a series of pictures with music.
Speaker BIt's video.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BSo let's get back to that because there's a lot of our retailers that not be comfortable in front of the camera at all.
Speaker BThat's just not something they're ever going to do.
Speaker BHave you found that these are still effective on a place like Instagram?
Speaker AYeah, Carousel posts, I think they're still very effective.
Speaker AThey still perform very consistently.
Speaker ANow, I say they perform well with your audience.
Speaker AI don't think they're drawing in a whole lot of new people to your page right now.
Speaker AIf you're wanting to get new eyes on your page, trial reels and reels in general are the way to get new audiences to your page, but they're being shown to your followers very well.
Speaker AAnd that's, that's how you built, like, build a real audience that trusts you and will buy product from what you post and support and comment on your stuff and then go like the brands that you've tagged and, you know, follow them.
Speaker AI mean, to me, it's more important to have an engaged audience than to have a high amount of followers.
Speaker BI totally agree.
Speaker AI'm lucky to have what I have, but I would much rather have an engaged audience that really supports what I do and likes what I do.
Speaker BTotally agree.
Speaker BI mean, we don't have the biggest podcast audience in the world, but our latest survey, 90% of them bought a product we recommended from a sponsor in the last year.
Speaker AThat's awesome.
Speaker BThat's what you need.
Speaker BThat's what you want, right?
Speaker BIt doesn't matter if it's 10 million, you know, if you have a thousand.
Speaker BBut 90% are going to buy something because they trust you.
Speaker BThat's what you need.
Speaker BAnd it's the same with retailers doing this.
Speaker BSo we talk about you and I talk about storytelling, and we know that's, you know, that's the lifeblood of social media.
Speaker BEven all the social media people who are successful are telling a story.
Speaker BYou may not like the story, you may not be interested in that particular story, but they're all telling a story.
Speaker BAnd I'm an improv performer, so stories are my life.
Speaker BBut how do you build a story when you're a retailer?
Speaker BGive them some examples of something they could do.
Speaker AI think just showing your daily life is a good way, like, as a retailer is a good way to build a story.
Speaker ABecause there's people like me who have no idea what it's like to run a small business that I'd love to sit here and just Watch a video and you don't even have to be talking to the camera.
Speaker AYou can be doing a voiceover if you want of an action of me just watching you get your new product in, unbox it, unpackage it, put it away and then maybe pack an order.
Speaker AShow us how you pack your little packaging all cute while you're talking about it or telling us a story.
Speaker AThere, there's many ways that you can do that.
Speaker AAnd then you can use the same clips and just tell a different story and reorganize those same.
Speaker AIf you don't want to record a lot, batch, record a bunch of clips, edit them in different ways and then just tell different stories you're about.
Speaker BYou're creating your own B roll, right?
Speaker AYeah, literally.
Speaker AThat's all you have to do.
Speaker APut it into cap cut or TikTok and hit the auto generate and let it, you know, batch create it for you.
Speaker BI was going to ask you.
Speaker BWhat, what.
Speaker BSo somebody that's getting brand new into creating slideshows or whatever, they're doing videos, what would you recommend software wise?
Speaker BJust doing it right in TikToks or right in Instagrams or.
Speaker AThat is probably the easiest way in my opinion.
Speaker ALike I got really comfortable with editing in TikTok and I almost edit everything in TikTok or Cap Cut.
Speaker BThey have made TikTok better too, haven't they?
Speaker BIt's gotten better recently.
Speaker ATikTok to me has always been better than Instagra.
Speaker AInstagram was kind of.
Speaker AThere was a.
Speaker AThere was this time around 2022 and 2023 where Instagram was kind of hard to use to edit wise.
Speaker ALike it was hard to like sync up your mouth with the words and I got frustrated so I just went straight to Tick tock.
Speaker AAnd you can use Cap Cut, which Cap Cut is owned by TikTok.
Speaker ASo it's very similar.
Speaker AIt's just a little easier to edit like long form videos and shrink them down.
Speaker AMake things you already have in your camera roll.
Speaker AIt's easier on Cap Cut, but it transfers.
Speaker AIt's like edits for Instagram.
Speaker AIt transfers right into TikTok.
Speaker BAnd they don't need professional cameras to do this.
Speaker BUse your phone for what we're doing.
Speaker BUse your phone.
Speaker AYou can use your phone.
Speaker BIt's better than most of the cameras we ever bought in our lives anyway.
Speaker BI mean if you're a professional, maybe, but you know, you don't need it.
Speaker AThis is all you need.
Speaker AAnd then just to clean the, clean the lens off.
Speaker BGlad you said that.
Speaker BI watched One the other day that did have a big smudge on the.
Speaker AThat's my biggest tip.
Speaker AIt's just clean, just make sure, clean the lens and do your video.
Speaker AAnd now I have like a 13.
Speaker ASo if you've got one of the new phones.
Speaker BOh yeah, you're good.
Speaker BThere you go.
Speaker BI mean, that's not even close to the most modern one.
Speaker AAnd up until recently, this is all I used for my content, was my phone.
Speaker AI didn't have a camera and I still don't have a professional camera.
Speaker AI just got one of Those little Canon G7X digital, fancy digital ones that I can take with me to things.
Speaker BI have a professional one right over there.
Speaker BHasn't been out of the bag in two years.
Speaker BI mean, it's because I got my phone, need it for now.
Speaker BI will say there's a program if you want to write this down, everybody, if you're getting a little more advanced in editing, I use a program called wondershare.
Speaker BIt's not a very well known one, but it is.
Speaker BI learned it in literally an hour to edit video.
Speaker BI have done a million.
Speaker BI've probably done 10,000 audio edits because of the podcast, but I don't do video.
Speaker BAnd that one was so easy to do video.
Speaker BSo we have a six hour live event we do every year at Christmas and we have 20, 30 videos that we have to edit for that.
Speaker BAnd we use wondershare for that.
Speaker BAnd it's not expensive either.
Speaker BSo if you're, if you're looking for something that's a little more advanced but easy to learn and doesn't cost much, I recommend wondershare.
Speaker AI'm always looking for an easier way to edit videos.
Speaker AI think everyone is.
Speaker BIt's just the one.
Speaker BAnd you can separate the sound and level the sound separately if you want, and then just plunk it back in and it doesn't get all messed up.
Speaker BIt just was the.
Speaker BIf I could do it, anybody can figure that out because I am not a video editor.
Speaker ASometimes it is so hard like to, like you're trying to get a voiceover to line up just right and it's gotten all funky and messed up and it can be very frustrating.
Speaker BI think this one, I think if you give it a try and you know a little bit, I would.
Speaker BYou probably have to know a little bit.
Speaker BBut there are some videos on how to use it and in an hour I watched those videos and I was using it.
Speaker BSo that's one I do recommend.
Speaker BSo what do you see?
Speaker BWe're coming into the holidays.
Speaker BYou've been now to Las Vegas for how many years at Christmas?
Speaker AThis, this is my ninth year.
Speaker AOkay, going straight.
Speaker BWhat's going to work in social media this year?
Speaker AThis year I'm taking a little different approach because it can.
Speaker AI swear the days in Vegas are twice, are two times speed.
Speaker AThey go by so fast.
Speaker BEverything in Vegas goes fast.
Speaker AIt does.
Speaker AI don't know if it's the time difference.
Speaker BI think it's the dinging in our ears the whole time.
Speaker BI think there's.
Speaker BThat's what does is.
Speaker ABut I mean your days can really slip by.
Speaker AAnd with me being a content creator in fashion, strictly I wear two outfits a day and I.
Speaker AThose two outfitted outfits a day are brand deals so I have to get good pictures of them.
Speaker ASometimes I find myself it's 12 o' clock at night, Vegas time, which is 3, which is 3am Georgia time, in case y' all didn't know.
Speaker AAnd I haven't gotten my outfit pictures yet.
Speaker AAnd you just kind of take them where you can and wherever.
Speaker AWell, this year I'm going to go out two days early and I'm going to pre shoot some of my outfits and pick ideal locations and make sure the pictures are pretty and are already in my drafts so that all I have to do is add some day of pictures and hit post.
Speaker AThat way I can like actually enjoy my experience this year instead of being at a, at a party and like try not to be rude to look at my phone.
Speaker ABut also like just being worried because I haven't got my post up yet and now it's 12am Georgia time.
Speaker BWe've all been here.
Speaker AThere's nothing.
Speaker AAnd I think that's what makes it so stressful is like, literally I'm just like, I'm wanting to be present in the moment, but also I'm just so looking at my phone, worried about like posting the content.
Speaker AAnd now I'm behind and I haven't posted yesterday's content yet, you know, and.
Speaker BIt'S interesting because a lot of people probably look at content creators and go, oh, that's you know, a cushy thing.
Speaker BAnd they get to do all this fun stuff.
Speaker BWhat they don't realize is while we're doing all that fun stuff all day long, all we're thinking about is the video.
Speaker AAbsolutely.
Speaker BOr the audio or whatever it is.
Speaker BAll we're thinking about is our next post.
Speaker AYou're literally, you're just there, you're working 24 7.
Speaker AThere's times when I come to Wesa specifically, I come with my friend Bri and we wake up and we're editing what we did yesterday and we're trying to get it posted.
Speaker AWe go straight to Westa to create more content.
Speaker AWe eat, we come home, we're editing.
Speaker ALike we wake up editing, we go to bed editing.
Speaker AWe are doing our little like, showroom visits and seeing the brands in between and sitting down, trying to give ourselves a 10 minute window in between to edit and post.
Speaker AWe're working from sun up to sundown at every event we go to.
Speaker BI've hosted almost 5,000 episodes of podcasts now.
Speaker BAnd what the thing I always say is, this is the fun part.
Speaker BEverything else is work.
Speaker BIt's a job.
Speaker BEverything else is work that we have to do.
Speaker BThis is the fun part right here.
Speaker BYou know, this is the part we look forward to.
Speaker BThat you look forward to is the creation part.
Speaker BBut then everything else has to get done or nobody sees the creation.
Speaker ALiterally.
Speaker AIf I could hire someone to do all my editing, all my video editing, but then be like part of my mind and get it done the way I want it done, I would in a heartbeat.
Speaker ABecause that is the hard part is the editing.
Speaker BAnd that's the other part about content creators is we're control freaks.
Speaker BSo that doesn't help us.
Speaker BActually, it's not a plus.
Speaker AI need, I need like an AI app where I can just like put, put some, some clips.
Speaker BOh, we're close to that.
Speaker AIt's got to be right around the corner.
Speaker BYeah, we're close to that.
Speaker AI just don't know the name of one yet.
Speaker BI've been, I've looked, I'm going to be replaced by an AI voice soon.
Speaker BI think that we're all going to.
Speaker ABe replaced by AI soon.
Speaker AAnd I'm just waiting for the day I get scammed by AI because.
Speaker BYeah, but they're not going to look at.
Speaker BAI is not going to look as good in the outfits.
Speaker BThey're just not.
Speaker AI don't, I mean, never say never because sometimes I catch myself on like, like, is that AI?
Speaker BI know, I know.
Speaker BIt is true.
Speaker BI think in our world it's going to be a little slower in our world to.
Speaker BAlthough it's catching on now I know.
Speaker AEverything'S a little slower in the Western industry.
Speaker BYeah, I just say the horse industry.
Speaker BNot even just Western.
Speaker BWestern and English.
Speaker BYeah, it's both.
Speaker BSo we're coming.
Speaker BI want to get back to what you said about doing photo shoots and things outside, even outside of your store for the holidays.
Speaker BBut do Them now.
Speaker BYou know, actually you should have done them about four weeks ago.
Speaker AOh yeah, yeah.
Speaker ABut we're, we're doing pre NFR photo shoots.
Speaker AI did one last week in Arizona.
Speaker AI'm leaving Wednesday.
Speaker AGoing to do more pre NFR photo shoots.
Speaker ASo brands can use this content either while we were at NFR to push their product or right before, you know that.
Speaker ABlack Friday.
Speaker BYep.
Speaker BAnd with retailers you're going to get busy in another week and it's just going to be non stop and you're not going to have time to think about it.
Speaker BThat's why I'm encouraging.
Speaker BGet that B roll, get those pictures, get those photo photos done now.
Speaker BIf you have the product in, sometimes you don't, that's a negative.
Speaker BIf the product's coming in late, you don't have anything to do about it.
Speaker BBut get what you can done now and you can do the videos now and use them later.
Speaker BThe more of that you can get done in the next two weeks, the better off you are.
Speaker AYep.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd if you have somebody that's a half, you know, an employee that's a half decent photographer with their phone, you know, who, who can figure out light a little bit and, and just has a good eye, get them to take the picture.
Speaker BYou don't if you don't get it.
Speaker AGet a tripod if you don't.
Speaker AIt's just, it's just me and my wobbly tripod against the world out here.
Speaker AYou have no idea.
Speaker ATrying to get.
Speaker AAnd it, it would be different if we were like mainstream creators in the city on pavement.
Speaker ANo, I'm out here in the pasture on unlevel ground.
Speaker BYour tripod sitting like this, trying to.
Speaker AGet that thing to stand up straight.
Speaker BNot fall over, trying to find a rock to put under it.
Speaker AYou have no idea.
Speaker BWe've all done that.
Speaker AThat's the most frustrating part of the job, I swear is just trying to get the tripod to stand up straigh and not fall over in the wind.
Speaker BYou know you're a horse person, you know you're a creator in the horse world.
Speaker BWhen your tripod is one foot is sitting on a pile of horse poop and that's what's holding it up level.
Speaker AI'm not gonna lie, I have done that before.
Speaker AWhen, when you're frustrated and it's hot outside and you're tired, you're already sweating in the outfit and it's, and it's, it's daytime outside so you can barely see your phone screen, it's already getting Dimmer for some reason by the minute it and you can barely see it and you're just like, I'll use anything, anything.
Speaker BYou're really selling it.
Speaker BBeing a creator here, if I wish.
Speaker ASometimes I wish I had two phones, one so I could record myself just doing the things I have to do to capture the content and to the one to capture the content.
Speaker BThat would be a good vlog, actually.
Speaker AI know.
Speaker AI mean that's a write off.
Speaker AI need to just get another.
Speaker BYeah, you need to do that.
Speaker BYou definitely need to do that.
Speaker BSo if you were running out of time, what can you.
Speaker BWhat do you want to leave retailers with as we're going into this holiday season as it involves storytelling or video or what, you know, slideshows, whatever it is.
Speaker AI'm going to leave you with a tip about the two types of videos and that short form video and long form video.
Speaker AAnd they're both very important to do.
Speaker AI think, I don't think you should focus on one more than the other or solely on one and not the other.
Speaker AI think short form video.
Speaker AAnd when I say short form video, I mean 5 to 7 seconds tops.
Speaker AI just posted a 5 second video last night as a trial reel.
Speaker BReally short.
Speaker AOh yeah, it's on my Facebook, it's on my trial reel Instagram and it's on Tick Tock on Tick on Instagram.
Speaker AAnd Facebook is already at.
Speaker AI woke up, it was at 30 000.
Speaker BOkay, so give us an example of what a five second video included last night.
Speaker BWhat did it include?
Speaker AIt's a video of me leg lifting around a barrel and it's a pretty extreme leg lift.
Speaker ASo it's something that's very eye catching.
Speaker ASo either your video needs to be very eye catching, something that they're going to want to watch more than once.
Speaker ALike you want the people to watch it as many times as you can, like.
Speaker AAnd if it's five seconds, they're going to sit there and kind of watch it about three or four times.
Speaker AOr it's got to have really engaging text on the screen.
Speaker ASomething that like bonus points if you can start a fight in your comment section between people, you know, be a little controversial.
Speaker AI don't like fighting with them, but if they want to fight on their own in the comment section, there's nothing, there's nothing I can do there.
Speaker ABut I mean you got to do what you got to do.
Speaker AIt gets you the engagement.
Speaker ASo that is the quickest way to build an audience.
Speaker AShort form videos is how to get your page in Front of new people.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker ALong form videos.
Speaker AWhile they not, they might not perform as well as short form videos, I think they're still very important to have because that's how you build a connection with your existing audience.
Speaker AThat's how they get to know you, get to know you on a personal level.
Speaker ASee what your daily life is like.
Speaker ASee what products you use in your daily life.
Speaker ASo like as a brand, if you send me a product which I'll use.
Speaker AHey, chicks, for instance, with their hay nets, they've sent me a hay net.
Speaker AI did a short form video of it.
Speaker AIt's gotten over 5 million views across platforms.
Speaker AThat did very well.
Speaker AThat performed very well.
Speaker BIs your horse destroying it or what was your horse doing to it?
Speaker AIt's literally me just putting hay in it and closing it is all it is.
Speaker AAnd I have on the screen it says people don't like to use hay bags because they can be kind of.
Speaker BWell, that's a horse husband's nightmare.
Speaker BHay bag.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd this is, it's like a hay feeder.
Speaker ASo it comes down and you shove it with hay.
Speaker BAnd it is easy.
Speaker AReally easy.
Speaker AYeah, it's the free, it's the free up feeder.
Speaker BYep, it is easy.
Speaker ASorry, my throat.
Speaker AIt's very, it's very easy to use.
Speaker AAnd I, I think I just said something like, oh, I don't, I don't like a little girl.
Speaker AI don't like using hay nets because they're hard to fill is all I put on the screen.
Speaker BAnd it, because everybody that has a horse can relate to that happening.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd it also started an argument in the comments section.
Speaker APeople saying, you know, people arguing with each other about why they like hey nuts.
Speaker AWhy they don't like hey nuts.
Speaker AWhy my hay nets too low.
Speaker AWhy is too high?
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BI, I, I, if you're arguing for hay nets, I don't, I, I have trouble.
Speaker BThem just my what we use them, but I'm not, I don't like them at all.
Speaker BAs a horse husband, you know, I.
Speaker AUse them every day, but I use those free up feeders every single day.
Speaker BI can do that.
Speaker AYeah, I just, I just ordered a new one and ordered.
Speaker AThey like redid their locks so they lock a little easier.
Speaker AI reordered like new locks for all my old ones just because even like the, just being able to close it and do this instead of like closing it and like helping it.
Speaker BYou're married, right?
Speaker BDidn't you tell me you're married?
Speaker BGet your husband to do it next time.
Speaker BThat's your Short video.
Speaker BAnd the, the line is, even horse husbands can do it.
Speaker AWriting this down right now.
Speaker ABecause I literally just ordered.
Speaker BThat's brilliant.
Speaker BI get a commission on that one.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker AYeah, yeah.
Speaker AI'm gonna, I'm gonna come to you for ideas.
Speaker BI need to start doing these.
Speaker BWhat's wrong with me?
Speaker AYou could be a content creator, Glenn.
Speaker BI kind of am.
Speaker BBut long form, we do an hour, so we're real long form.
Speaker AYeah, literally.
Speaker ABut long form videos is going to be how you're going to build a relationship.
Speaker BBut your video there, that got all the views.
Speaker BIt just goes to show, it doesn't have to be anything fancy.
Speaker BIt was simple.
Speaker BThrow hey and hey net and shut it.
Speaker ALiterally.
Speaker AThat's the quickest way.
Speaker AAnd then you don't have to worry about editing a 10 minute long video.
Speaker ABut I'm gonna say, like, it's still good to do that because that's how you're going to keep the people that came to your page.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker AInterested in your page.
Speaker BThat's how you become their friend.
Speaker AExactly.
Speaker AAnd you, you don't just sit there and talk about your product for 10 minutes to them holding it up, saying, here, buy, buy this pencil.
Speaker AI love this pencil.
Speaker AYou do stuff in your video and you, you use your pencil just nonchalantly and you use this pencil every, every time you're doing a video.
Speaker AAnd sometimes you might talk about it a little bit here and there, but people are going to see you using, using this in all your videos and wondering what it is and why.
Speaker AAnd then it.
Speaker AThat's how you draw attention to the product you're trying to sell without being salesy.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BWell, Amanda, you've been great.
Speaker BThis has been a lot of fun.
Speaker BI appreciate you being here.
Speaker BYou will be at WESA in January.
Speaker AYou're going to be there, Most likely.
Speaker AI've been at almost everyone for the past three years that I don't have any plans not to be.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker AI gotta get past NFR first.
Speaker BNo, I know.
Speaker AI gotta survive Vegas.
Speaker BWell, good luck at Vegas this year.
Speaker BSounds like you're going in more prepared, so it should be a little less stressful than after nine years.
Speaker AI hope I can survive it.
Speaker BBut we all say that every time we do big events and every time we're in the middle of the big event, we go, I'm going to do better next year.
Speaker BAnd we never do.
Speaker AEvery single time I'm like, I'm going to do.
Speaker AI have.
Speaker ABut this year I hired an assistant.
Speaker AI'm doing pictures before it even starts.
Speaker AI'm like, I am.
Speaker BYou're ready?
Speaker AI'm like, I am determined.
Speaker AI am starting to take vitamins now so I don't get sick.
Speaker BThere you go.
Speaker BAll right.
Speaker BWell, thank you, everybody, for joining us.
Speaker BWe really appreciate it.
Speaker BAmanda, where can they find you?
Speaker AYou can find me on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram as neon Wrangler, or if you want to check out my barrel racing page.
Speaker AIt's called Only Cans, and that is only on TikTok right now.
Speaker BI like that.
Speaker BAgain.
Speaker ASo I watch pictures.
Speaker BI watch a creator whose name is Only Pans.
Speaker BYou probably run into her.
Speaker BShe does cooking.
Speaker ABeautiful.
Speaker BSee, I love it.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSee?
Speaker BBut it gets my attention every time, you know?
Speaker AAnd we're Only Cans.
Speaker BYeah, it's perfect.
Speaker BI love that.
Speaker BSo thank you for joining us for today's WESA retail roundup.
Speaker BOf course.
Speaker BWe have a WESA trade show coming up in January.
Speaker BYou're going to want to get signed up.
Speaker BNow head over to wesatradeshow.com for all the details on everything.
Speaker BWe'll have another retail roundup released for you next week.
Speaker BI think we're doing ones the next two weeks and then we'll have a little break because you're all going to be kind of busy for the holidays selling stuff, we hope.
Speaker BAnd then we'll be back.
Speaker BWe'll hopefully be seeing you, a bunch of you in January at.
Speaker BAt the trade show.
Speaker BAnd thank you to Sophia for putting all of this together from wesa.
Speaker BWe appreciate her a lot.
Speaker BShe's here listening, so I thought I'd give her a thank you today.
Speaker BThank you, Sophia.
Speaker BAll your help and doing everything.
Speaker BYou're terrific.
Speaker BAnd we'll talk to you all next week.
Speaker BSee you, Amanda.