Branding Matters

How to Be Creative with Your Branded Merch with Jay Busselle & Jeff Solomon

Branding Badass Episode 41

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My guests today are Jay Busselle and Jeff Solomon, the co-creators and hosts of Tacos with Jay&Jeff - an online show that puts the spotlight on epic marketing and branding. Because according to them, “TACOS make everything better”.

Jay lives in Phoenix and is the Director of Marketing for Equipment Zone; a Premier Reseller of Epson DTG, Die Sublimation and Solvent printers. He’s also the Founder of #promochat - a popular industry Twitter group. And he’s a highly sought-after public speaker and trainer on topics like marketing, social media and branding.

Jeff lives in LA and is a brand purpose advocate, promo consultant and publisher of FreePromoTips - a promo platform that spotlights positive things people and organizations in our industry are doing to help their clients with their branding.

I invited Jay & Jeff to be guests on my show to discuss what’s going on in the promo world these days. I wanted to get their POV on how things have changed since COVID. And I was curious to learn about their Tacos with Jay & Jeff Show and why they think it’s become such a success in such a short time.

💥IF YOU WANT HELP GETTING YOUR CLIENTS TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR BRAND,  REACH OUT TO ME ON SOCIAL AT BRANDING_BADASS OR EMAIL ME AT JGOODSON@GENUMARK.COM

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About Me
Hey there, I'm Joelly - the Branding Badass. My BADASS superpower is helping you build a brand that matters. From branded merch to keynote speaking, when you work with me, you get results!

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Joelly Goodson :

Hi I'm Joelly, your Branding Badass, and welcome to Season Two of Branding Matters. My guests today are Jay Burselle and Jeff Solomon, the co-creators and hosts of a very popular show called Tacos with Jay and Jeff. It's an online show that puts the spotlight on epic marketing and branding. And because according to them, "tacos make everything better", and I could not agree with them more. Jay lives in Phoenix and is Director of Marketing for Equipmentstone, a premier reseller of Epson DTG, dye, sublimation and solid printers. He's also the founder of #promochat, a popular industry Twitter group, and he's a highly sought after public speaker and trainer on topics like marketing, social media and branding. And I've seen him speak and he is a force to be reckoned with, and a ton of fun! Jeff lives in LA in is a brand purpose advocate, promo consultant and publisher of"FreePromoTips", a promotional platform that spotlights positive things people and organizations in our industry are doing to help their clients with their branding. I invited Jay and Jeff to be guests on my show to discuss what's going on in the promo world these days. I wanted to get their point of view on how they think things have changed since COVID. And I was really curious to learn about their tacos with Jay and Jeff show and why they think it's become such a huge success in such a short time. Jay. Jeff, welcome to Branding Matters.

Jay Busselle:

Oh, my tacos that was in crazy. Great intro. Thank you, Jeff. We've got to step up our game, bro.

Jeff Solomon:

Well, we are stepping up our game isn't like kick ass Branding. Branding has.

Jay Busselle:

It's badass branding. Jeff does kick ass, whatever.

Unknown:

Yeah, we are with the badass chick who does the kick ass branding. And that's where we were drawn to Julie because we go. Anybody that's doing badass branding is in our our wheelhouse. Right, Jay?

Jay Busselle:

Totally, totally.

Joelly Goodson :

Well, you guys are awesome. And I mean, you know what, I had so much fun on your show that I just had to have you back on I remember what a message I was like I was thinking about you. And I saw how much fun we had. And I think the three of us the one thing we The other thing we have in common is we all like to have the big F.U.N in our lives, right?

Jay Busselle:

Yes indeed. I love that. Indeed, the

Unknown:

people that are listening, what we really want to do is Yeah, it's really cool. We have fun, but what we really want to do is impart whatever bits of wisdom from our real world experiences where hardly the experts are gonna tune in to this badass podcast, then, you know, let's make it worth their

Jay Busselle:

They're better, they're gonna be some badass time. banter. That's what I

Jeff Solomon:

Oh,man, dude is gonna be relevant to our listeners.

Joelly Goodson :

I was on the hot seat when I was on your show. Now you guys are boys. That's great. Okay, so Jeff, you're in LA. And Jay, you are in Phoenix. And here I am in Calgary, Canada, and the three of us are all getting together. So I want to know, how did you guys meet?

Jay Busselle:

Oh, wow. How much time is the show again, when we probably first met Jeff correct me if I'm wrong, but we met I mean, it's been over 15 years for sure. Jeff was visiting Arizona quite frequently and some of your listeners may not know this, but there was a little hot spot of activity in the greater Phoenix area for a lot of apparel decorators. There was technology there were trainers there are still screenprint manufacturers and so it seemed like I was bumping into Jeff maybe once or twice a quarter here in Phoenix. I was like what are you doing here is I'm visiting my friend Scott Frezzer Oh, I'm over here at US screen printer. Oh, I'm gonna stop by and look at this new press or something. So we kind of connected through that because back in the day as the kids say Jeff and I were both very heavily committed to the apparel decoration industry. So that's how we met

Unknown:

also I believe Jay prior to this you were like selling sportswear in LA do you actually lived in LA and I was in a sporting goods business at the time. So we had a big place in East LA and I think I bought jammer type shorts from you didn't I?

Joelly Goodson :

that sounds familiar. But I cannot confirm or deny based on the contractual agreements of my man How did you end up coming together to do your shows and especially the Tacos with Jay & Jeff show?

Jay Busselle:

I got started in the industry because I think it was either bribed. It was either candy or money. And I'm not sure right now what I wasn't quite the taco freak yet. I mean, of course, I enjoyed them. But I wasn't like all in on tacos. But we started a small family business here in Phoenix. And that's really what brought me to Arizona. And so that was the start of my quote, promo industry experience was, you know, a true small under a million and a half in business annually, and very local, very Mom and Pop literally my mom and my dad and myself, and that was it. And it was kind of a fun start for us. And so that's how I kind of got started and locked into the Island of Misfit Toys. And once you're here, you can't go You can't Leave. But then we got together on the show Jeff and jump in any point, but it was me reaching out to Jeff saying, dude, seriously, what the app if I get one more sales flyer, first of all, I'm not even in that side of the business. I don't even know why suppliers continue to email me. I'm not selling your stuff. I'll be polite, and they're horrible. They're terrible. Like, Jeff, are you responsible for this? And I call it love. Like, are you sending out these sales flyers? You know, I needed to vent. And you can tell I get animated. I'm still a little ticked by that. But we started talking about how crazy it was because it was like in March or April of 2020, right is the pandemic was taking over. And we were just stuck, like, what are we going to do? And I was like, Well, if I get one more of the sales flyer, man, I'm gonna lose my shit.

Unknown:

I think we were very frustrated when COVID yet everybody's shell shocked. And nobody knew what to do. When we started the tacos show. Jan are just going man, I think there's a need here for some good, relevant content. And that's why we came up with tacos with Gene Jeff. And alongside it, we did this thing that became promo good news, where we just let people share what was on their heart during those days, and those early days to an executive of large flower company saying, I have the hardest day of my career making very, very difficult decision as they had to let people go. And then we had somebody else saying, Wow, I didn't realize it rollerblading with my kids was still cool, you know, because they were at home. And so it became authentic, and people saying what was really happening. And so what we wanted to do with tacos, that change is be authentic and real, and not put the spotlight on us put the spotlight on what others are doing that they can impart some wisdom. And really, what's amazing is how open people have been to share.

Joelly Goodson :

The thing that I love about it is, you know, we are a community over competition, the sense that we're sharing, I was very fortunate and honored to be on your show to share sort of my branding tips

Jay Busselle:

and badass margaritas

Joelly Goodson :

Spicy margaritas. Do you rememebr?

Jay Busselle:

Yes, spicy margaritas. Of course, I remember it was a knockout. Oh, one of our top rated shows.

Joelly Goodson :

Anyway, and so I like the fact that you know, we can all share best practices and help each other, right? It's keeping our secrets, like you said, close to our chest and not wanting to help others. And because I love helping people. That's why I started my podcast and you two are actually the only people in our industry other than Mark freed who is the president of our company on my show. So I love talking. I love talking about swag. I love talking about Brandon merchant, I could not think of two better people to bring on to talk about, let's talk about our industry. Because I've been in the industry for over 20 years, if you can believe it, I can.

Jay Busselle:

I was gonna say you were a young teenager, you know, you know,

Joelly Goodson :

We've all been in the industry sounds like a long time. So Jay, let me ask you this. Yeah, before COVID. And we're gonna get to COVID. What do you think has been the biggest change in our industry? Since you started?

Jay Busselle:

That's a really tough question. And I don't want to take up all the time that I could. So I will say in a limiting way, I think the obvious answer is technology, the advances in technology have created some friction. But for the most part, it's been a huge change for our industry, I think it has gotten better. And I think it's made an impact so that we can do things like On Demand Printing, or we can do things like full color printing, and then the timeline decreased. So just after the dinosaurs passed away, when Jeff started his business, I know it was like a four to six week turn that was normal. Oh my God, I know. And so now you think four to six days, and you've got those clients that are like four to six hours, or, Hey, is there any chance you could have delivered this yesterday? Somehow, like hop in that time machine? So I do think that might be one of the reset buttons that COVID brought us as a really good thing, then

Joelly Goodson :

are you saying that's a good thing that's happened?

Jay Busselle:

I do. I think it comes with some friction. And it comes with some potential potholes and issues. But I think for the most part, it's been a huge transformation for what we do, how we do our business, how we go from A to B successfully and still cash your check at the end of the week.

Joelly Goodson :

I agree. So what would you say has been one of the worst thing that you've seen our industry has been our industry since you started?

Jay Busselle:

I would think about this seriously. And strategically, I would think about the transactional nature of our business. Like I think we got away from that. But then the technology helped commoditize our industry the second that it became a website, and I could browse myself and shop for myself and see items and prices. It commoditized it it took away some creativity, it took away the strategic thinking and that's what I think is lacking still today.

Joelly Goodson :

That's really good point. And I have something I want to say on that. But first, Jeff Jeff, why don't you tell me what do you think is since the dinosaurs, what do you think has been the most positive?

Unknown:

Since the dinosaurs were walking on the earth? I think the best things that happened is there is a new movement in the industry focused on not so much those commodity types of things. It's social responsibility and wanting to work cause marketing. And you know, there's always gonna be that how cheap how fast. But I think what we're just seeing is it's not the commodity sale, it's more the program, the campaign, the creativity,

Joelly Goodson :

There's always going to be a place for companies where you literally just can go on a website and order stuff, right. And it's completely a commodity. When I meet with clients. And I, Jeff, you're probably the same way. I'm a consultant, and I work with them. Because the biggest complaint or challenge that I have with my clients is that they don't know what's out there. And they're busy focused on their jobs, right, whatever industry, they're in whatever job there is, and they don't know if it's on a pen or a t shirt or a hat, then what else is there, right. And that's where I come to the table when you talk about creativity with a million different ideas. And not only that, but I think the other side of that is what I think is lacking. And I this could be a whole showboat is customer service. And when you go online, and you order something, and everything goes, well, that's great. But what if there's a problem, or I should say when there's a problem, and now with supply chain, everything else? I find that that's where my clients value how I solve their problems? Because there's a lot of them, right? Yes. And a computer can't do that. And I've had clients go somewhere else, because they found something cheaper. And literally, this has happened the other day, I get an email saying, oh, man, I had such a nightmare dealing with that website, you need to help me and I saved them. And now they're a client. So I think that will never go away.

Jay Busselle:

I agree. I think that it's people like you that are going to do more than just present on price. And you're going to provide an option in a way that you can say, I like the idea of focusing on the specifics and ditching the generalities. I don't want to be all things to all people I want to focus in, I want to niche down. And I know you guys say niche, but you know, we're we're from the great wild west down here. But the thing to remember for me is that yes, there will always be that transactional business, how do we marry the two? How do we make it easy to buy and deliver on value, like what you said customer service would be one of them. But one of the other pillars I would suggest is increased creativity that truly does show how you deliver and solve the problem. So So many times I think we get wrapped up in the concepts of the stuff, the items, the sweet swag. And we should put that to last like like, we're going to get to that we're going to get to these amazing Kenyatta tacos in just a minute. But before we get to those pm Jada field tacos, let's talk about what is it that you're trying to actually solve? Like, what is the rub, where's the friction? Where's the challenge? Let's talk about that in a creative way, come up with a killer theme. And then let's work backwards from that because we may not end up with the traditional pens, hats, mugs, sweatshirts, etc. I think on the surface, a lot of the people that are going to listen to that, and many in our industry, they know that but here's what I want to say they fail to execute on that we have folks that are upcycling old signage, and turning it into these really cool creative tote bags. So they literally have created a new product category. It's custom to them. It's original by them. It's part of their core values. And I love that I love that that's different. And it has a story to tell.

Joelly Goodson :

Yeah, I totally agree. So let's talk about COVID. Because I think one of you have mentioned it earlier, what do you think has been the biggest change in our industry? Since COVID?

Jeff Solomon:

Yeah, what I think people are trying to be more

Joelly Goodson :

You wouldn't think COVID directly, but it is effective online, because it's their only choice. And I think some of its fail. And some of it's a win, too. And I we talked about this a lot. It's a very short list of people who can be very authentic in their messaging. And that's what we are trying as hard as we can, it's not that easy to do. Find the guests that can deliver the goods that will be an encouragement to others. It's a challenging time going forward. I mean, this supply chain issues are not going away anytime soon. The labor issues are getting a little better, but still a problem. I think most people in your audience in any industry are going to understand oh my gosh, you know, she's I can't because of COVID that now the trickle down effect while get that pool filter for my spa, you know, because you can't get it can't buy a car. You know, like if you go to the Toyota dealer in our town, there are no cars everything else and supply chain has been one of the biggest ones that every industry is being dragged through for sure. And our industry definitely. Do you want to add anything to it?

Jay Busselle:

Well, yeah, I think to build on just point you have a shift in we're not able to be as connected in person. So we shifted to online or virtual meetings, but then it created a new challenge, which was how can we still connect people through sweet swag? How can we use our amazing tangible medium to reconnect employees with employers to reconnect colleagues? How does the sales team interact with the marketing team? How do we sell now how do we prospect now I hated the cliche think outside the box because it gets so overused. It's like well, what does that even mean? You know, but it's been interesting to see these last 18 to 24 months people really thinking inside the box and developing better ways. more memorable ways. And I would specifically say experiential ways to create a kit of collateral materials, sales information, promotional products, sweet swag apparel items, and to create this kit, or if you just had the Tooth Fairy show up and drop off these really cool gifts that were personalized, well, instead of the tooth fairy, it's the promo fairy or a badass Brander, who's going to be able to coordinate this type of key messaging and coordinate it and then send it to people's homes rather than to their place of business. And so that we saw was a huge shift in elevation of people's abilities to deliver that kind of I would say, that's a positive one, two, it is I think it was from the challenge presented some really positive energy. And I think it was a highlight for our industry.

Joelly Goodson :

No, I agree with you. That's a great one. You know, we've talked a lot about industry stuff you there's lots of people listening, who are not in our industry, a lot of our listeners who are business owners, or entrepreneurs or marketers, so what do you guys think, based on your experience of the most common challenges that you see clients that are having when it comes to their branded merch, and I want to know, also, this is the second part of the question is, what do you do specifically to help them with these challenges?

Unknown:

I think a lot of these people, they don't really understand how to convey their brand story and brand message, you know, they think just stuff like we want to stuff because we think this stuff is cool, like, Oh, we're going to a trade show, what swag can we give away and you know, I'm just the anti just get cheap crap to go to landfill. And my role is to help them tell their brand story through whatever products they choose to use. And I think there are many great ways to do that and put them into products that are going to be used and not just giveaway stuff. The problem I think with the buyer is they don't understand brand story, they don't understand there's a whole concept behind brand story and what they're trying to convey to sell their product or company's value proposition. And so they just think we just want to put our logo and the and the other thing that we've learned through the tacos show is that a lot of times it's not about just putting a logo on something, it's putting a message, a brand message and having the logo be more subdued. Jay, I think you'd concur that this is a new trend. And it's come up on our show the talker show a few times where it's not just here's the logo, it's like, Could you put something in kind of ties to the logo and messenger, maybe logos smaller? Perhaps Jay might want to comment on that.

Jay Busselle:

I do agree with that. I think one of the challenges that a lot of buyers have is they don't know our game, right? They may be looking at us as advertisers or they may have come to a conclusion and jumped to the wrong conclusion that we're a marketing agency. Or they may think of you as a stuff seller, the promotional product, classic guy who finds my pens and my mugs. And so I think that first challenges is our own messaging to the buyer, and trying to remind them of what our strengths are what we bring to the table. And then to just point and yours. Creativity requires some time here. And let's identify your audience. And let's go back to some of the basics of great branding, great marketing, and even just the tenants of advertising. Who's the audience? What's the message, why that message is gonna resonate. And so I think a lot of the people that are listening to this will realize that we go through a lot of thought processes similar to every great advertising agency, every gate marketing boutique, every great brand, or is trying to figure out how to create an experience with this tactile medium of promotional products. And the ones that do great, like Joey and others, like Jeff are able to connect that emotional tie in to the object, like if it's an amazing backpack, that's going to have a life expectancy of two or three years think of messaging in the reach. But to Jeff's point, not everybody wants a walking billboard, I don't necessarily want everyone in the world, looking back at my backpack that says I was just at this conference in Las Vegas, and it says Microsoft or something, what if they could personalize that for me, and then the messaging was inside the bag, I know who gave me the bag, I will forever have an affinity with that backpack or that bag. That sweet swag is never going to be lost in my mind. So to Jeff's point, looking for those alternative ways to create more messaging, rather than just logo goes here. So every time we see in print your logo here, it's like the lowest common denominator. Is that fair to say?

Joelly Goodson :

Yeah, I love that, that you say that. And I totally agree. I mean, you know, my Angelou famous quote, where she said, people don't remember what you do. They remember how you make them feel. And who doesn't love getting gifts, you don't need to necessarily have the big logo right there. Because if you give someone something that is a whole like you said the experience, they may not necessarily remember every single thing that was in that gift package, but they will remember that they got this gift package at their door from this company and how they felt when they got it and they're gonna

Unknown:

100% you were an HR director, and you were trying to make an impression to new employees spread that out. Like it doesn't all have to land on the day that they start like maybe there's a welcome kit and then there's something a few days later and something a few days later, draw that experience out so that you're building the culture, and then they can appreciate it. Because if you give nine things in a box, and it's just like, a whole bunch of things in this kit, and I, you know, some of its cool and some of it, it may lose its effectiveness. So Braden multistep death drop, you know, and to the audience that's listening, you know, think of creative ways that push us push back on us and say, can't you guys do more than just, you know

Joelly Goodson :

Or use us for that? That's, you know, that's one thing I was gonna ask,

Unknown:

you become an extension of that creative marketing team, you become an integral part at their meeting, you know, you can't put the entire first chapter of the Bible on a ping pong ball. So if you're going to ask for crazy shit, that's cool. But let's also have some boundaries and guardrails on reality,

Joelly Goodson :

Or taglines, you know, long tag lines, I had actually client the other day and new another new customer they wanted, I think they were attorneys for me. And I just said to them, okay, and I said, so but your logo sent me a logo, I looked at it, and I was like, you know, I think for this logo, we should do this, because of this, this this? And then she replied back to those, yes, thank you. And then she's like, you know, I just want to say, I won't get this other company, and they never suggested anything, I would just tell them, I want 30 with a logo. And then they would do it. And I think from our customers from you know, whether you're a business owner out there listening or a CEO or marketer, they're looking to us to help them because they like, again, their businesses, their business, and it's up to us in our industry, to guide them to consult with them, and to let them know what they don't know. Because you don't know what you don't know. And that's where we know, we know, you know, T shirts. DTG, by the way, is an amazing process for anyone who's out there, Director Graham again, but most people don't know about it. And it's up for us to educate them because they don't even know the terminology. And that's where we need to educate. What do you want to say, Jeff, I see you.

Unknown:

Yes, I want to jump in because I'm not going to add to for talking about effective ways to use products to have high impacts for clients. I want to talk about personalization. And this was one of our tacos guests who sent us really brilliantly packaged with wrap with their branding, a personalized note, handwritten

Joelly Goodson :

You're welcome ha ha ha..

Jeff Solomon:

I'm sorry, was it you?

Joelly Goodson :

No, no, this is a really good point.

Jay Busselle:

I know. I derailed it. I'm sorry. I think it's great. I think you sent us spicy Margarita recipe?

Joelly Goodson :

I totally agree to continue, Jeff, because I like where you're going with this.

Unknown:

I think that in this process of trying to be more valuable and relevant and distinguish ourselves from the competition, these types of things matter. And I think going old school like that, I think old school should be new school can make that impact. Yeah,

Joelly Goodson :

I agree. And so taking that into the mindset of our customers, because I'm always putting myself in the mind of my customers is that when you're a business owner, and especially you know what, here's the holidays coming up. Here's a great example. However, coming up, what a great opportunity to thank whether it's your team, which is really important, because we all know, branding starts internally first, right? And then to also take it outside and to thank your customers or even your process, because rarely is if you're not sending your customer some sort of personalized gift to thank them for their business, someone who is your competitor who might want them as a client, we'll send it to them. I think for people that are listening, you know, not know too much about our industry, I think what they really care about is how are we helping them promote their business and grow their business? And that's sort of what I do. That's, that's what you do. And ultimately, J That's what you do is we're helping them and these are great tips. And I think personalization, imagine starting a new company net, a new company, and you get a notebook and a pen, and it's got your name on it. How would that make you feel and make you feel valued and important that you made the right choice? I'm afraid. Yeah. We're going all over the map here. But I do want to talk about FreePromoTips because I think that's a really good initiative. Can you share? I'll start with you, Jeff, can you share a little bit about what it is? And what is it you're doing?

Jeff Solomon:

Well, thanks. FreePromoTips was started back in 2005 When I entered promotional products industry with my wife who nudged me to get into promo products. And I remember going to the first Dallas PPI show that would have been back well over 20 years ago, realizing that wow, education was a big deal. And there were a lot of people that wanted to help each other that I didn't see back in those early days, that in the apparel industry, there was that much focus on education. And so a lot of people helped me. And I came up with this idea to do free promo tips because I wanted to help others as I had been helped and it just sort of evolved. And through the years we've had many suppliers that have supported it. And we've always tried to do really good relevant content. And we continue to like this a long time to be doing the same thing and it's evolved now we're trying to do some things with short one to two minute your promotion solution videos. It's about sharing insights and not information information can be shared through traditional means. So we're trying to continue to be relevant. We just are focused on Jay really keeps me to the fire here. Like when we talk about the talker show we want relevant stuff. We don't want to deviate from what the cause we don't want to sell out.

Joelly Goodson :

So Jeff, I want to.. sorry, Jay. Jay, I get you mixed up. It's like my two boys. I have my two sons, Aiden and Aaron. I'm always calling them different means. So Jay, on Promo Tips, you spotlight positive things that people and organizations in our industry are doing to help their clients. So Jay, can you give some examples of what specifically they're doing that you can think of?

Unknown:

Sure, this is a real shout out to Jeff and his legacy, because who else in our industry, but a crazy guy like Jeff Solomon would take the time to offer this up for the greater good. I mean, yes, there may be some sponsors there. But the truth, and the reality is, is that this is from his heart. And he's trying to help those that like helped him 20 years ago. And so creating a place that's positive, where people can share enlightening insights that are going to make a difference in their business. It's a big deal. And so I'm lucky to know him and applaud him for what he created that platform. And so all I did was knock on his door and say, I'm sick of this, I think we need to have a different way to tell this industry, how can we create amazing energy, and let's do it through a new video show. And rather than us tell people what to do, let's interview those that are doing. And so that's what we kind of captured with the tacos with James F show was to be able to say, we're gonna hang out, have a taco, we're going to interview this really cool business leader. And they're going to share some of the projects, campaigns, challenges and successes that they've had. So it's ultimately, one of the greatest tools ever to teach someone is to say, don't believe what I say, listen to what they just did. And then boom, you know, the explosion of options and ideas and creativity starts to flow. And so just lucky to know Jeff and to be able to add value in that way. He has email platform where he's just literally helping 10s of 1000s of people with free promotional product tips. It's really an industry insider tool, it's not meant for buyers, sadly, your listeners aren't gonna really benefit by much here.

Joelly Goodson :

But they are! Because ultimately, when we become better at what we do, then we're upping our game to provide a better service product, everything else to our clients. So it is helping them industry thing, but ultimately, it is helping them and I think under the umbrella of fun, right? And I mean, that's what attracted me to you guys is no I love having fun. And I think in the world today, and especially with all the shit that's going on, there's that word again, you need to find the fun and everything that you do. And that's why I love what you're doing. Because you're doing exactly that you're educating, you're helping, and you're doing it all while having fun. And that was sort of the impetus when I decided to do my podcast, and I think we have to talk about this. Yeah, you know, I'm the same way I know what I know. But I know what I don't know. So why don't I bring on these experts from all over the world who can share their valuable tips and their experience and their great stories, and my audience can learn and grow and ultimately, their business can profit off of that I totally get that formula, I think is a great thing. So why tacos?

Unknown:

We're gonna get all the way to the end. And then you can ask why talk? About 10 years ago, maybe eight or nine years ago, I was speaking at a conference. And I made an example of the ingredients of what is marketing and what is branding. And you know, a lot of people were kind of debating the difference and branding is this, you know, all encompassing whole thing. And then you have different marketing tactics that you might try to execute. And I was like, okay, so I look at that as this amazing taco. And the shell is this branding that everybody sees from every angle, but inside of that taco, everybody's got different ingredients. So it might not be a carne asada taco for some that might be a tofu taco, or, you know, some people want a flour tortilla instead of a corn tortilla or fried or soft. So it was this great analogy. It worked for the moment and I had several people come up to me go, I love that I remember that for you know, now it makes sense to me. And I'm like, Well, I don't know if I was right or wrong, but the fact that you'll remember me, and that's important to me, and then it just kind of grew legs. And then I did go through a little bit of a taco phase where I was like, addicted to tacos and truly are found myself with other foodies that love these little containers of joy, as I call them. And it stuck. I was at a trade show. Hey, there's that taco guy. Oh, my God, really? That's what you remember me for. So it worked. It was a hook. It was an anchor. It was a branding moment for me. And I guess I'll give it up when people don't want to hear it anymore. Don't want to see it anymore. Don't care anymore. But for now it carries on and so Jeff and I created the show around that we started off with Imagine two friends hanging out over a beer and talking about their industry or imagine two friends hanging out over whatever and then I was like Well, of course, it's got to be tacos. Cuz I mean, come on, I gotta have the taco in there. And so we just said, Let's have tacos with Jane, Jeff and have a good time, have fun, bring the fun, and inspire people to do better at branding. And I think that your audience will appreciate that because they're trying to do their jobs in a better way. And hopefully something we said today will inspire them to think about how do I pull all this marketing together, I need experts like Jeff and Joelly to be able to help me get

Joelly Goodson :

I just realized that we're the Triple J's.

Jay Busselle:

And just to prove the creativity of our industry, out of nowhere, a supplier in Canada, shipped us boxes of spices, and one of them happens to be I know your viewers can't see this. But we literally have these containers of spices and they branded it for us. Everything's better when you spice it up. It's Taco Time, have fun. J and Jeff from the taco show. And it's this custom taco seasoning spice. And the more I thought about I was like, this is really smart marketing. You know, they do other spices, and they do teas and they do other things. But to have a tag and to have something that you use useful and to have a memory and that it's experiential. I was like, oh my god, this is so smart.

Joelly Goodson :

I was worried it was gonna get across the border. Yeah, no, no. I'm just kidding.

Jay Busselle:

There you are trying to take credit again? To take credit again, you know, that's the Canadian way.

Joelly Goodson :

I'm so honored to meet you guys and be connected with you. And you're doing amazing things. Jay, you do tons of presentations and speeches within our industry, you're very well known and very sought after. And Jeff, what you're doing with free promo tips and all the ways you're I say paying forward, people helped you when you were starting out, and now you're paying it forward, which is amazing. So thank you guys, both for being on here. It's been such a pleasure. If people want to learn more about you, J first, what's the best way for them to connect with you,

Unknown:

Please visit my LinkedIn page. So hopefully my spelling of my name will be somewhere in the notes. But it's Jay Busselle on LinkedIn. J A Y BUSSELLE two ss two E's two L's figure it out. It's French Canadian somehow, I don't know love to connect on LinkedIn. That's probably the best place to find me.

Joelly Goodson :

Great. And what about you, Jeff?

Jay Busselle:

Yeah, I'm on LinkedIn as well. Jeff Solomon, you can also go to FREEROMOTIPS.COM. There's a contact link there. And that works. And that's where all the video resides. FPT. TV, you'll see TACOS WITH JAY & JEFF and go there and watch. Joelly's killer kick ass Yeah, you

Jeff Solomon:

Ya find Joelly's show there. We celebrated spicy margaritas.

Joelly Goodson :

Oh, that was so fun. I really enjoyed that. Do you have any parting words? Jeff,

Unknown:

When we were talking about brand and marketing, consider brand story? Who do you want to be? What do you want your brand story your company to represent other than just we sell the stuff? What's behind that point I want to make is just to find your brand who you want to be and then just do it and executed through your brand marketing and through the tools that Joelly offers and take direction from people that can help you figure it out.

Joelly Goodson :

And you know what, at the end of the day, everybody has a story. And every business has a story. And it's just tapping into that I think you're right. People will say well, I don't have a brand, sir. It's like no, you do like if you just start asking questions, again, as a distributor to your clients or ask them questions. And through those questions, you're gonna find answers that they didn't even realize that they had that they're able to share in a unique creative way that helps them stand out. And that's good, branding.

Jay Busselle:

Great Branding. And I just want to say thank you. Thank you so much for having the two misfits here that you were you took the time invited us back to your show your show rocks, I've listened to several episodes. And you know what, I want to end on this Branding Matters.

Joelly Goodson :

Awww, thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. We'll talk again soon. Okay, take care. Bye. And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed the conversation and maybe learned a few things to help you with your branding. But most of all, I hope you had some fun. This show is a work in progress. So please remember to rate and review on whatever platform you listen to podcasts. And if you want to learn more about me and what I do to help my clients with their branding, feel free to reach out to me on any of the social channels under you guessed it, branding, bad branding matters was produced, edited and hosted by Joelly. Goodson awesome. So thanks again and until next time, here's to all you badass is out there.

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