The power of strategic brand partnerships with Ted Raad of Trend Management

Akua Konadu  

Have you looked into the world of brand partnerships as a source of income in your business? Well, after today’s conversation, I definitely think you will. Brand partnerships can be a great way to increase visibility in your business and revenue if done strategically. In fact, 71% of consumers say they enjoy cobranding partnerships. Today on the show, we sat down with Ted rad, who is the founder of trend, one of the fastest growing influencer management and marketing companies in the US, we talk about why independent business owners need to lean into more paid brand partnerships, the strategies you need to find the right brands to work with, and how to advocate for yourself to make sure your deals are mutually beneficial. Now, let’s get into the episode. Hey, everyone, this is your host, Akua konadu. And you’re listening to the independent business podcast, more people than ever are working for themselves and building profitable businesses in the process. So on this show, I get to sit down with some of the most influential authors, entrepreneurs and creators to break down the science of self made success so that you can achieve it too.

Akua Konadu  

Hello, Hello, Ted, how are we doing today? Doing well? How are you? Good. I’m really, really excited for this conversation. Because like we before we just started recording, you know, we were talking about it. I think a lot of us as business owners, were looking for other ways just to expand our revenue streams. And I think brand brand partnerships are something that maybe not may not necessarily be at the top of our list. You know, we think of brand partnerships, we sometimes we think of like influencers. And I think, you know, this can be a really untapped market that a lot of business owners can try to navigate to essentially, like I said, increase revenue in their business. So I’m really excited for you to be here to talk about this, this topic.

Ted Raad  

Well, I’m excited to be here. Thank you for bringing me on board. Yeah, absolutely. So

Akua Konadu  

I’m really curious just to know, your journey, essentially, of as a business owner, like what led you to now having an influencer Management Agency, essentially. Yeah.

Ted Raad  

It’s actually a word story. Right. I think it’s something that when I was a kid, I didn’t really dream up. I was definitely thought I was a big sports guy growing up. So I didn’t think, you know, starting influencer management company that’s highly focused on women’s lifestyle and fashion was gonna be one of those goals that I had for myself. But you know, as time went on, I worked at Hewlett Packard for over 10 years, I was in a merger and acquisitions department in the IT space. So I was dealing with contracts. And then my wife over time started a started a fashion and lifestyle blog on the internet. And she used Instagram to drive traffic to her blog. So she’s very blog heavy at first. And I had no idea how any of this was going to make any money. You know, we’ve been married for a few years at a time. So I was just like, hey, you know, if you’re happy with it, you know, you have a hobby. It’s fantastic. But pretty soon, her blog started to really take off. And her Instagram followers started to take off and over, she hit 10k, one day on Instagram, and we all celebrated like crazy, we couldn’t believe she had 10k. And then, three months later, she was at 100k. And we’re like, what’s what’s happening, right? Like what it took forever to get 10k, now you’re growing like crazy. Then Then it started being a lot of brand deals would come in. And they came in mostly through DMS. And they were saying, hey, you know, we just saw that you posted our skirt three days ago. And you sold the whole thing out. And we did all of our data to figure out where everything is, and who did this. And when it got when we found you. Please work with us. And so a lot of her partnerships very, are very organic and very simple. Now, I had no idea what her value was, I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know how much to charge, I didn’t know what things look like. And for me, it was very important for her to make sure that she had divided what that that was tied to her. So we actually signed with a managing company. And I and I was very happy at my job at HP and I just finished my masters that they sent me to do you know, so I was like, going to be the corporate man, so to speak and working in that direction. And then she started work with this management company. And then over time, and it was the she was dreaming to sign with this one. It was one she’s very excited for a reputable name in the industry. And then deals were coming in, which was great, but they really weren’t tied to her niche. Now, for someone like Didi, she’s my wife, she’s not. She doesn’t have followers on Instagram, because she is she would say like this. She’s not a talented musician. She’s not an actor or an actress. She wasn’t on TV for any reason. There’s no other reason why they follow her. And they trust her advice on fashion and lifestyle. So she has to stay as true as possible to that feeling that our audience is there for. So when deals come in, she’s very specific. She’s very detailed. I’m like, Hey, this isn’t make sense for me. And there was a few deals that she shot down for a lot of money very early on, that I was even questioning, right? I was like, Hey, I’m working very hard this month, and this was a deal worth my month salary. Why don’t you just do this one thing she’s like, well, because I’m gonna lose my audience and nothing is more important to me than my audience base and they are here for that reason. She was very passionate about that. Her management company didn’t agree with her. And as she started declining those things. The manda company was like, Hey, we’re not align, because the way it works, Amanda company just makes money off the deals they get. So if she’s declining all these deals, she’s not taking them. But she’s taking some of the deals that she’s getting, because it’s a very organic, the pool of money she was declining was this big. And, you know, the pool of money that she was actually accepting was much smaller. Therefore, the media company was putting a lot of pressure on her to start taking bigger deals. And there was a disconnect, because I didn’t understand why the management company wouldn’t look at her account, which was growing, and saying, Okay, if we stay organic to this, right, she’s probably hurt her the amount of campaign she’s taking now smaller, maybe the budgets are smaller for some of those companies. But if they stay true to it, then that will be bigger and bigger opportunities coming on the line, because she’s able to produce more and better and our audiences loyal, and they will listen to her suggestions, and they will try, they will trust her, which increases, you know, click throughs and everything else that’s tied to a successful brand partnership. But they weren’t seeing that they were looking very short term, push comes to shove, essentially, the relationship didn’t work out. And Didi felt like it was a disconnect. They felt like it was a disconnect. It was just like a mutual agreement. This is not working. So you would think at that moment, it was in my head to start a moving company, it wasn’t it wasn’t that moment to start finding another one. And the idea for me was like, Hey, let’s go find you a spa that actually follows in here. So like, they understand what you’re trying to accomplish, that you’re not the celebrity, that you’re somebody who’s growing your account, organically, and you have to stay true to the brand partnerships. And the more we started talking to her and her friends, they all had similar experiences with other management companies that felt like their management company did not understand the basic concept of staying organic and true to it. And if you think about it, long term, there’s a ton of benefits for both sides of the American companies like yes, we understand the strategy, we are aligned with you we will find your organic partners, that makes sense. Therefore, the brand’s happier, you’re happier audiences happier, all three avenues win, then that’ll grow and succeed. So as I’ve been asking around, they didn’t have any solutions. And I said, You know what, I’m just going to do it. There was a friend of hers at the time that also needed management, she wasn’t happy with hers. So I said, I’ll just do it for free. Like, let’s just get this thing going. I’ll do you indeedy, it spawn on me that I need to just start making this a business that I can help people like Diddy and Emily. And from then I started taking them another one, and then another one and another one. And then, you know, here we are with the idea that we are going to stick to like we are 100% tied to the Creator strategy. Organic partnerships leads to more organic opportunities, which leads to more successful partnerships, and allows the creator in this crazy world of Instagram algorithms, and tick tock algorithms and everything is tied to it. The audience trust is huge in this space. And so we’re very, very tied to making sure that we don’t mess or touch that in any capacity. We’re big on customer service for our clients. We’re big on saying we are advocating for our, for our influencers, we are 100% behind our influencer strategy, you know that that’s what we’re here for. They don’t work for us, we work for them. And we want to make this strategy successful. And I think based on very simple principles, right, like having a management firm is not new. I mean, agency is not new. But it’s it’s the nuances I think that separated us from from the other ones and the little details. And as we continue to grow, staying true to those qualities and ensuring we add some different layers to it and provides our creators the opportunity that they get here that they couldn’t get anywhere else. Because we are aligned with those little small details. So yeah, that’s kind of a story of how we started. And, and here we are. Now we have trade management, which manages over 85 creators and a total of over 100 million and reach across all platforms. And and we do have a trend social, which is our brand marketing page. So we do help brands that are coming into this space saying, I want to work with creators, and I have no idea how. And we say, well, we will not only tell you which creators are probably most successful for your brand, and we’ll tie that organic, they’re not grant Parship there, but we’ll tell you how you can start to build on that and other avenues. So it’s it’s another opportunity for brands to kind of tap into it, and also help them get a head start. And so what that looks like overall marketing. So yeah, that’s that’s how it started. And this is where we are in my role now is just trying not to mess it up and continue to stay true to those values.

Akua Konadu  

Yeah, but I I love that so much. I love that you walking us through that journey, because I think it goes to show again, just how important it is to really be aligned with your values. And I think that’s amazing too, with your wife, where she consistently put her audience first in terms of when to pick specific deals that she knew that was best gonna serve them. And she turned things away that she knew that wasn’t going to benefit them, which I think that that just goes to show especially that you’ve been she’s been able to become a successful influence or you’ve been able to create a successful management company. I think that just goes to show just speaking again of how sticking to your values through and through and actually acting them out is so so key and so valuable to business success. So I absolutely love that and I think too, it just sounds like you are creating such a healthier relationship between brands and influencers So I love I just love everything that you’re doing. And I just love to thank you so much for sharing that story. Another question that I have, you know, because I already know, some business owners are probably already thinking, I don’t want to be an influencer, right. But I’m like, again, I think people are leaving money on the table when they’re not looking at potential brand partnerships. In fact, 71% of consumers enjoy co branding partnerships. In fact, they’re more likely to buy when they see somebody that they know, and trust, collaborating with another brand. So I think it’s just so important. I think, again, it’s an untapped market that independent business owners need to lean more into. So I wanted to ask, what are some, I guess, misconceptions that independent business owners could have in regards to paid brand partnerships?

Ted Raad  

Yeah, I think that, you know, people think that they are going to be promoting a different brand, right. And I think that they feel like if they’re going to have like these brand partnerships that come together, that they’re going to be taking away from what you’ve got is something else. But in actuality, there’s an opportunity to build something bigger there, especially like you’ve you mentioned, two businesses coming together to kind of do a co branded solution provides the double the market share, essentially, and, and let you kind of tap into a probably an area that you weren’t very, very, you know, successful and tapping into. And on the flip side, it allows you to gain a hopefully an authentic audience base that’s very excited about one brand that says why trust them for anything, and their stuff is good. And therefore, if you’re tying with them, then you automatically get the trust of that brand, kind of, you know, leaking over, which I think is is very important. So I think, you know, that’s that’s one thing, you feel like something is taken away. Yeah, I think that’s the biggest one.

Akua Konadu  

Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s important, I think, I think as business owners, we can sometimes put ourselves in a box as well. And it’s like, we this is a really great area to venture out. It’s another great area for us to tap into to be known for. I think also too, in a sense, I do think that it also helps build that know, like trust factor a lot easier.

Ted Raad  

Oh, yeah, trust factor is huge. And I think that’s the hardest part to get from an audience, right? Like, you can be any brand. But after they’ve, you know, you’re talking about any business right after they experience, whatever it is, after they purchased the product, or they purchased the service, whatever that’s tied to you, you get a kind of a a loyal audience or loyal customer base from that. Now, the best part is, if you you know, work with another company that also has that, you get that trust factor that automatically doubles in that case, there’s a huge opportunities there and working and cohesiveness with another brand, especially in a market that you have a hard time getting into. So there there is a feeling of risk of okay, well, is this worth my time? How’s it going to, it’s going to be effective in any way. But we can give a few examples of how there’s been, you know, brand crossovers, that you probably wouldn’t make big that makes sense. But because of that, they get loyalty from one kind of transfer to the over over. And also to brand recognition, you kind of put those two things together. And it’s two for one marketing essentially.

Akua Konadu  

Yeah, I love that. That is that’s so so key. So helpful. Another question that I have, too, that I’m wondering is, let’s for independent business owners, how can we start finding brands that are essentially the right fit for us? What are some things that we need to be thinking about? Kind of as we’re brainstorming, all right, like I think brand partnerships is something that I definitely want to do. What are some great ways that you would get started?

Ted Raad  

So I think this kind of goes back to the story that I mentioned earlier is what What brands do you yourself actually enjoy? Right? I think that’s very important, because that’s a good stepping stone and saying, Well, they’ve sold me, and I like it. Therefore it’s like what, what makes sense? What makes sense for you? We do a lot of our creators this as well, like, what are some things that you would share in a ways for free? And that makes sense to you, that makes sense to your audience. Those are the ones we’re going to try to get you brand partnerships for because you love their product, you enjoy it in a ways. And it’s the best way for brand to go. Oh, yeah, that actually resonates with us because you like it anyways. And when you’re going to be paid to speak for something, it’s much easier for you to speak on something you love something you’re like, I don’t really like it, you’re kind of forcing it out. And it feels like it’s acting and doesn’t feel authentic. And then you lose that feeling. I mean, it’s just something that you’re like, hey, I, I love this stuff. Anyways, I said all the time, even on my social media page, like, I will take golf stuff for free. Because I love golf. And you want me to shout your name out and send me any polo, I’ll shout you out because I love it. Right? Like, it’s like you said, I have no problem talking about it. And if someone were to pay me for it, it’s even bigger bonus. Right? So think of it in that sense, as an independent business owner, what are some of the things that you feel already tied to or those brands that you feel tied to already, that’s a good stepping stone and some of that may seem like it’s so big, I’m never gonna get there, well then start smaller, work your way up to what that looks like. And then network networking is a huge, huge benefit in all this. A lot of the brand partnerships that we see a lot of recurring business comes because frankly the brand just like the person that we’re working with, and they were a good time and they got their stuff done on time and it was just so easy. And they enjoy it and they take them to dinners and it’s a lot you know, that’s the mix it a lot easier. So if you’re not, you know, if you’re making everything very tight and businessy and sometimes it can prevent a little bit of a barrier, working with somebody else, people. Of course everybody wants to do well, but they also do Don’t wanna be miserable doing it, they want to have a good time, enjoy themselves a little bit work with good people, that’s also very important. So I think that’s a good a good stepping stone is what are some of the brands that you just innately yourself, enjoy? That’s a very good stepping point. And then try to find a way to get in contact with them. Do you have a social media page, maybe tag them, Hey, we love this brand. We love what’s going on, get their attention somehow. And you start building that a little bit more. I

Akua Konadu  

love that. That’s super helpful. Because I also think, like I say, I say this all the time that we as business were more than our business. And so you know, I have a friend, she’s a fellow business owner. And she sells her products and services like all business owners, but also to she loves to talk about products that she’s using all the time, whether a pillow, her skincare, she talks about all this, I literally say her name and influence without here’s influencer, this individual doing her thing influencing people in influencing people and people all the time. And she doesn’t, because she says People are always asking her for feedback of like, everyday things that she’s using. But she is known in the industry as a business owner, and she does helps people with speaking. So I think again, it just goes to show is don’t limit yourself. I think a lot of the times we always I hear business owners say all the time like well, I can’t talk about anything else on my profile. But it’s like that makes you more human. Right. Again, it builds that trust factor. So like when she is selling her stuff, like even her business stuff I purchase or and then she also gives recommendations for other things. So I think again, it really builds this foundation and makes you more relatable, it makes you more human and like people buy from people, we hear that line all the time. And I think that’s just such a such a prime example of that. So I think again, don’t limit of course, like think of tools that you like love in your business that you’re using that you could like, obviously form a strategic partner partnership with, but it doesn’t have to just be your business, like, are there other things like that you use on a daily basis that can also benefit that you want to highlight as well? Well,

Ted Raad  

I 100% wholeheartedly agree, I think that’s part of it. Like you mentioned a great example of somebody who, again, isn’t in it, it has nothing to do with pillows, right? And but her her love for pillows, is what’s causing her to talk about that situation, which she’s an organic influencer, right, because she is going to influence people based on her own opinions. So yeah, it is this products that you love the products that you’re using, anyways, people do want to know about that people want to know what’s going on your everyday life. And also pages that are very focused on just their products and services, they kind of lose their audience a little bit, it’s like you’re expecting the same thing every day. But if you’re able to mix it up a little bit, and say like, Hey, you know, we are this, and we’d love to do this. And FYI, this is one of our favorite, I don’t know, vacation spots, like you’re bringing them into that you’re just not like this business that’s selling x, but that you’re also a person behind that business that’s trying to do things for themselves, for their family, whatever. And you’ve kind of bringing them along that journey of being an independent business owner, but also having a lot.

Akua Konadu  

Yes, and I think people love that and relate to that more. Because I see a lot of times on social media that people do these fun, weekend recaps, they’ll do like a recap in their stories of what they did for the weekend, that has nothing to do with business, just how they enjoyed their time off. And then they’ll include links like, oh, like I had this cute like dress like here’s the link to it. Again, it’s just so many like really great, simple ways to get started, if it’s a brand that really aligns with you, and that you enjoy using and it’s benefiting your life in some capacity. So I really, I liked that there was really like, it’s really tangible, simple steps that you provided of like how to get started. Can you just share with us any, like pitching strategies, right, like especially, you know, it’s hard. It’s hard to put yourself out there sometimes, right? Like a lot of us we get into our heads, we can overthink things, can you just share with us some key pitching strategies that you have seen work for your clients, where they have been able to secure some of these, these partnerships.

Ted Raad  

So there’s a few things I think you mentioned earlier when it comes to pitching, pitching is very much showing what your value is right? Like and unfortunately, it’s what it is. It’s like I remember when I was looking for a job out of college, you have to basically pitch yourself. So your resume who you are, what the value is, some key strategies that I’ve realized is relationships is key. It’s hard probably to get your foot in the door. But sometimes relationships is built by, you know, constant tagging and stories, stuff that you use organically. So that’s going on, but like, hey, as part of your pitch, you know, as you can see even in our DMS because it’s going to show up in their DMS that times you’ve tagged them, like I love your product. And I love everything that we’ve done together and I would honestly share for free, but I would love to have the opportunity to work with you in some capacity, anything new that’s coming out that we can work on anything that’s coming through and a lot of our pitches for our clients in this regard. We usually go by saying, you know, one, FYI, they love your product, too. It’s shown in these three ways when they tag you to their affiliate sales are through the roof on the stuff that you’ve done. And three, their lifestyle kind of matches what you’re looking for on your site as we can see as shown on your own Instagram page. So those things aligned to being that respond to them saying yeah, I’ve we’ve actually seen you know the impact of this and we’d love for it to work so you have to show that you actually interested in the product and that you’ve done it before and a lot of misconception with Brand Partners Ship says, I won’t do anything less it’s paid. And I think that can hinder a potential opportunity. I think you’ve got to get yourself shown out there that you’re willing to, that you do love the product that you’re doing and organically that you’re okay with just, you know, whatever affiliate program they have for the short term that you’re building that trust an audience, are that trust with them up to a point where they’re like, Okay, yeah, this actually makes sense. And if you’re waiting for a paid partnership, and you’re never going to do anything about it, you’re probably not going to get many more opportunities in the future that may come in your inbox, but then it’s gonna seem to your audience that all you’re doing is paid partnerships. And that’s also not appealing to an audience, right? It was a little bit of fatigue in that from an audience conferencing paid campaign, they want to see what you’re actually using, they want to see the pill that you love to sleep on. And you know, the face cream we use before bed and everything else that’s tied to your everyday life. And I think it’s very important as part of the pitch process is, I would share you for free, I would do this organically. In fact, I’ve done it organically, I love your brand. So much. I would like to find a way where we can even just work together in some capacity. And you know, we’ll make it worthwhile. And I don’t think people might say it’s underselling yourself. But people that want to work with, you know, other people, they want to know that they value their brand. It’s important. And you know, a lot of people are business owners, and they don’t want to work for somebody, or they don’t want to, you know, work with somebody, it’s like, oh, they’re just gonna use my brand, for whatever reason, they just want money out of it. They won’t know they actually like it, but they enjoy it. They want this to happen. It’s very important. And that type of relationship. Yeah, so I think pitching is very important to show them the history of what you’ve done to get to this point to say like, Yes, this is the value left, I’d love to have. And also, we’ve seen plenty of brands, reach out organically because the time someone has tagged them, and they’ve seen the sales go through and they say, Hold on, we can do something bigger with you, let’s make something happen. And it’s a very easy way to get something on the books for them.

Akua Konadu  

I love that. That’s super, super helpful. Honey book, we had our Partner Summit last December. And one of the speakers, I think it was Lamy was her name. And she talked about how which I’m really curious about this type of side of YouTube. But you know, if when a brand turns her down, because you know, it was all about affiliate marketing. And so when a brain turns her down, she does not take no for an answer. Yeah, I mean, she is instantly being like, Okay, well, here’s why I think this is a mistake on your end. And so I think a question that I have in regards to that heavy, like, how should we follow up, especially when we’re like, okay, now I know that I can provide value to this brand, right? How do you have any good like, follow up strategies as well, where people are like, No, I know that this brand is valuable, how much has impacted my business? And here’s where I think, essentially, how can we advocate for ourselves is more so the question?

Ted Raad  

Yeah, I think the biggest there’s two things, and if you can’t get this done, it’s fine. But get on the phone with them and figure out what their strategy is, in general, what are they trying to accomplish? They’re trying to accomplish sales, they want more brand awareness, what are those goals are looking for? So that you can say, hey, I can definitely help in this capacity? And what is it that you’re worried about paying me too much, then can we work on? You know, we’ve done very creative things with our creators before we just say minimums, okay, fine. But if you will work with you, I’ll decrease my rate to 20%. But if I get over x sales, then I get X percentage of sales on top of that, so that I can at least know my value is there when it comes to the ROI goals? Right? So I think getting on the phone with them, trying to find those opportunities. And then on top of it constantly, like, it sounds like it’s nagging, so to speak, but but be on top of it. So like, hey, like, how are things going this month? You know, we talked a little bit. You know, last month, we said it wasn’t the right time to do so. I’m following up this month. So there’s opportunities. And I know that, you know, I, my audience has grown x, this is something that I know that we very huge opportunity for you would love to make something happen. Just staying on top of it. I think it’s great. I wouldn’t I wouldn’t advise being too aggressive, though. Because then if you’re, you know, I think, I don’t know if she said it’s exactly like this, but like, this is why I think you’re making a mistake, I think can automatically make somebody feel more defensive. I think what you weren’t trying to do is make someone feel more collaborative and inclined to be like, Okay, I guess that’s true. You know, instead of saying, you’re missing out an opportunity here, there’s an opportunity for both of us to win. I’m big on thinking of the, the positive side of words, rather than like the negative aspects of them messing up, but what are some things that they could gain from this relationship? And really putting those out there together? And sometimes offering Hey, I’ll do this one time for free, and let me know how things went. Yeah,

Akua Konadu  

and number one, she definitely said it more eloquently eloquently than I did. But to your point, I think again, that there’s nothing wrong with following up I think staying on top of it, right? Like showing people like hey, like I really want this. I think there’s any brands that you want to work with whether it’s a tool that works like you know in your business that you love using like honey book or you know, whatever other things or if there’s like a brand that you just really love. That’s really like I said on a personal level, I think okay, like just putting yourself out there. I think that’s the thing. And don’t be afraid of rejection, right? Like keep putting yourself out there because you want to get to your point of stay On top of it, because the right brands are gonna eventually want to work with you, but you have to get started in some way, shape or form like, don’t be afraid to pitch yourself because I feel like when you hear no, you’re just one step closer to your next Yes. So it’s a matter of of just like just taking that leap of faith and just go with it and see where that leads you. And I think it can lead into an a really awesome journey in brand partnerships. And again, like providing another stream of revenue in your business. So similar to your wife’s story of you know, how, when she was working with the management company, and you guys just weren’t, like she wasn’t really aligned with it fully 73% of marketers find managing brand partnerships to be a major challenge. So how can we navigate that, again, just adding to earlier of like, really advocating for ourselves when we are in those types of partnerships, to make sure that we get what we’re looking for, and to also make sure that it also benefits the brand.

Ted Raad  

Yeah, that’s, that’s a big key, I think this goes to communication is very important before a partnership even starts. And expectations is very key. That’s why as I mentioned earlier, when you’re talking to a brand, understand their goals, because if they’re gonna if they’re jumping into this partnership, and they’re saying, Hey, we expect five times revenue off of this, this one, one campaign, and you’re like, Oh, that’s a big jump, right? Like, then, you know, immediately, this is either going to be very easy for you to do or very hard for you to do based on how you know your audience and what the right is paying you. To think it’s very important to make sure that you have all details in there from this works on a brand perspective to we sit when they work with a creator work with anybody else, like make sure you’re communicating the expectations of this. Because some people just say, I just want to make sure that you’re communicating effectively, the product and service that we’re providing, and that it’s very important for me to do so. And if that’s the case, then you know, your objective, you want to clean, concise content that is tied to the product or service that clearly identifies what they are providing as value to somebody. And then you’re like, perfect, that’s the check that someone may say, I need to make sure I get sales and sales is very important for me, then you’re trying to make sure that you have a you know, basically a click to act, right, something needs to happen. So doing so you’re putting at the very end, hey, you have 20% off now or you ask the brand I need to have if you want sales, give me something that’s going to get them to buy right now or give me a 24 hour code or give me some that’s going to be incentivizing. And you guys need to collaborate through that. That’s very important for us in our business. When we tell creators and brands collectively, we tell creators, the expectation from this brand is this, do you want to accept it or not? So it’s very important for the credit to go actually, if that’s your expectation, I’m going to go ahead and decline. And the brand can say, Hey, why did the client well, because expectation is this, and you can work your way through it. But you know, it can be very hard to manage. And you’re saying, Oh, that sounds great. I’ll give you this, just make sure you do this. And then you realize later the expectations were misaligned. You have a you know, one brand doing this. And then the owner is expecting this and it’s all over the place, it can be very tough. So you just want to clearly define expectations in general, across both sides.

Akua Konadu  

I think, again, as independent business owners, it’s just we have to get really clear on our own goals and our values similar to earlier, I’m just making sure that number one we’re working with brands that are able to work with us and that their values align with that our there’s like a symbiotic relationship where our goals and our values just really aligned. But you have to be very grounded in what it is that you want, on your end, even before reaching out to these brands. So that it’s a lot easier for you to be able to advocate for yourself and manage expectations and be able to communicate. So because everybody you both want the same goal. It’s just like, how are you the way that we view of how we’re going to get there is very different. So being aligned in who you are and your values, and then making sure of like advocating for yourself on the other end with these brands. Yeah, and

Ted Raad  

to your point, sometimes it’s very hard to figure out exactly what you want. But it might be easier for you to do to to draw exactly what you don’t want. So you know how to come to this conversation and say, I actually don’t want this this and this, I might be amenable to these other three things. And this would be great if this happened. Right. So I mean, you’re exactly right. Understanding what you’re trying to accomplish is important. It might be easier to start with a don’t want column.

Akua Konadu  

Yes, yes. Yeah. That is so so true. I’m really curious to know as much as you work with influencers, like what are your thoughts, because I’ve seen this all over Tik Tok a lot and it’s still like, you know, a thing where the influencing? What are your thoughts on that? Because that was a major trend, too. So I’m really curious to know what your thoughts on it as somebody who works with influencers?

Ted Raad  

Yeah, I mean, I think that the influence is a thing if the influencer is just constantly doing paid partnerships that aren’t organic, that don’t make sense to them. And I think people are just there’s, you know, the they call it a consumer fatigue. I mean, over time, you’re on social media, and you’re following somebody in your like, paid ad, paid ad, a paid ad, it can be very overwhelming. But if the content creator is doing something very organic, like if they’re a beauty creator, and they’re doing stuff for beauty, you’re not you’re not thinking twice about it, you’re just like, oh, I follow this person for this exact thing. And you know, the term is out there as the influencing but the stat is, there’s a stat out there. I can’t remember exact stat, but it’s more than 80% of Gen Z people would listen to an end influence or advice over their own family. So the D influencing may exist. But the, the analytics don’t actually say so. Right. Like there’s some data points, I think it’s a cool thing to say. But again, somebody’s influenced the influencing. So it’s just kind of like this, this trend is going forward. But that’s why I think overall, it’s very important to stay true to who you are and what you want. And you mentioned this before, understanding what you want is very important, and making sure that it aligns to what your your your audience is, is expecting, if you’re doing something totally different. If I say I love golf, and then all of a sudden, you know, I’m out there doing, I don’t know, buying a new pair of jeans, I’m like, What are you doing? Isn’t isn’t aligned to who you are. And Ted, you’ve never wore a pair of jeans in your life? Like, yeah, you’re probably right, I’m sorry. So that becomes like, Oh, it’s just another paid ad, it doesn’t make any sense. And we’re tired of it. And, you know, wasting my time clicking through your content. But if it’s organic to who you are, and it makes sense, people aren’t even gonna see it as a paid ad. And that’s why it’s very important to pick the right partnerships, and understand what you’re trying to accomplish. And that way, it’s in that way, it works out tenfold, and the brand’s wanted it again, you get more partnerships, and it kind of builds on itself.

Akua Konadu  

I love that there was just like so much goodness. And I think again, it just boils down to number one, putting your audience first, I think is just so key being in tune with what they want, bringing them into the journey, you know, into your journey, I think is so key. And I think again, your value staying true to who you are. And I think just making the ask, just make the ask again, being able to advocate for yourself. So this conversation has been so, so helpful. And a question I always love to close out with is what do you think is the biggest differentiator between the businesses that succeed and the ones that fail? This

Ted Raad  

is gonna sound super cliche, because I’ve been a big advocate of this lately. But it’s either because they believed it or not. And I think part of it is that, you know, as independent business owners, or as my for myself, me jumping into trend wasn’t because I thought there was going to be money in it, or that there’s going to be something else. I just felt like I was fixing a problem. And I believe that the problem needed to be fixed. And I was 100% sure that needed to be there. But if I started this not knowing the issues in the industry, not knowing the gaps and not knowing anything else. And I was saying, hey, trust me, it makes money, I saw a guy do this and make it you know, and it works great for them. Then great because I can tell you at the time, when I started doing this, the amount that my wife was making, I did the math backwards on it, I’m like, I’m gonna make no money on this thing, right? Like I just tried to fix a problem. We’ll see where it goes. But it was right place right time that we were able to, you know, now we’ve got a team of 50 out here is because I was I believed in what we were trying to solve. I believed in our why I believed in what we’re trying to do. And when I talked to creators, they say like, oh, well, you sound very convicted. And I’m not even I don’t feel like I’m trying to sell anything to them. I’m just trying to tell them like, Yes, this is why we’re here. And when they give me all their grievances and issues they’ve had I’m saying, and, you know, I’m sorry, that happened to you. And I’m you know, I’m glad that we can be here to fix those those problems for you. And it’s little things like that, and also being being persistent. You know, I think that’s another thing too, people quit on themselves way too easily. When I started trend, the first thing someone told me was like, hey, there’s like a million management companies. Does this even make any sense? And that could have been one of those things where it’s like, yeah, what am I doing? It’s, it’s already out there already exist? What’s the point? But no, I was very much in the mindset of like, yeah, there’s plenty out there. But I think I’d do something different. And I think I’m doing what I think is gonna be valuable. And this is my differentiator in the business. And that’s a really key thing to kind of think about when you’re when you’re an independent business owner, and you feel like people are telling you doesn’t make sense, or it’s kind of like, you know, everyone already sells this, or it doesn’t even matter. It’s like, well, yeah, there’s little details or nuances that differentiate you, you may sell the same product, but what’s your customer service? Like? Or, you know, what’s your interact with people? Where does your relationships like, maybe you have a strong network, those are the key differences that really define a successful, really successful business versus an unsuccessful business. And so for me, it’s very much that if you think it’s going to fail, then you’re not really going to be creative. You’re not going to think of what are the different solutions for but if you’re like, No, I think that this is going to work out, then you’re going to start thinking of solutions and creative solutions, and you’re going to think of different things you never would have thought of and that three went through and you’re gonna wake up and think of like, oh, that’s the name for my business immediately because funny story are named before this was influenced our narrative. And that is a terrible like, it’s a long name. And I’m like, What does it even mean? You know, what, what is it? I remember literally middle the night waking up being like, Trent, I think I like it. And most things that happen in the middle of the night at 3am, for me is normally just like, that’s, that’s terrible. And I wake up and I’m like, what were you thinking it was really cool in the middle the night. But in like, that’s the stuff when you believe in what you’re doing. You start your creative juices will flow and things will happen. So I think it’s very important people be persistent to believe in themselves and know why they’re doing it. And if those two things match up, then good things will happen. And it’s solid expectation and what you think success is also matters. I tell people all the time to like if I for me, success is making sure that our clients are happy and that we’re doing good service for them. Ever something else will come into play. That’ll all follow. But if you’re saying like, Hey, I’m I’m doing this to make sure that our creators are happy, and they are feeling the best that they are and their and their style of life, then I’m successful, and everything else will of course, follow. But if you’re thinking of like, Oh, I’m just here, my goal of success is I need to make X amount of money this year. And if not, then we’re a complete failure, then you should rethink why you have this business. And it’s very important, like, Yes, we all we all need to make some form of money, right. But it’s really only going to matter when you’re filling something. And that’s really gonna be the driver. So if if it’s going to be client satisfaction, make that your goal because everything else will follow. If it’s going to be delivering a stronger product than, you know, the competitor, great, make that your focus, everything else will follow. You’ve got to understand what the differentiator is in your business. So yeah, I think I gave you like nine different things,

Akua Konadu  

but, but they were also good. They were all so good. And just such great reminders again, like you were like, I just saw a problem. And I was like, I feel like I could solve it. Right. And then you just continuously were showing showing up. And I think that’s such a good point of what you said earlier, if if we automatically think things are going to fail, we are not going to find the solutions. And I think as business owners, we have to be solution focused, right? A lot of we faced a lot of trials, trying to build a business. And it’s like, you always have to be solution thinking like if like, How can I solve this problem? It sucks. Right now, this isn’t enjoyable. But I want to keep going. So how can I solve this problem? Like what are the options, there’s more than one way to figure things out in your business. And I think again, to your point of like, set creating these goals, but don’t get so fixated on how you reach the your whatever your goals are, right, there’s more than one ways to get there. So I think being open to the journey, and you know, just letting it take you where it can go. And, and I love that in that you were a prime example of that with Trent. I mean, honestly, it’s which is amazing. So thank you so much, Ted, for coming on the show. And for those who want to connect you for having me. Yeah, absolutely. This has been a great conversation. And I think this is something that again, a lot of business owners will get excited about wanting to lean into brand partnerships. So where can people connect with you if they want to find you? Well,

Ted Raad  

you can find us on our website, www dot trink companies.com. You can also find us on social media under the the handles, trend management and D trend, social. And you can also there’s a contact page on the website that you can click on. And you know, we’ll get in touch with you and try to help you out in any of your independent business owner ideas.

Akua Konadu  

Yes, absolutely. Well, thank you so much Ted, and for everybody listening until next time. That ends our episode of The Independent Business Podcast. Everything we’ve discussed today can be found at [email protected]. Head to our website to access for shownotes relevant links and all the resources that you need to level up. And if you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss our future content. Drop us a review and leave our guests some love on social and thank you again for listening