Intro: 00:00 From ABC News Radio, KIBT 1490 in Southern California, this is BizNinja Entrepreneur Radio, with your host, Tyler Jorgenson.
Tyler: 00:13 Welcome now to BizNinja Entrepreneur Radio. I’m your host, Tyler Jorgenson, and today, we get to talk to the man behind a lot of amazing marketing videos and social media platforms. KyleGotCamera, his website Apply.KyleGotCamera.com. Welcome out to the show, Kyle.
Kyle: 00:30 Hey, thanks Tyler. Thanks for having me.
Tyler: 00:33 So if people follow you on social media, they do see that you move around a lot. You work with a lot of different entrepreneurs. You’re even in the airport right now traveling. What is your elevator pitch of who you are and what you do?
Kyle: 00:46 Yeah, it’s pretty simple. I help entrepreneurs tell stories through video. And, what that looks like, and why that’s important is, a lot of people can’t actually be themselves online, even though they really want to be, and I help them do that, and I show them that by doing that they can make more money, they can grow their brand, and create more intimacy within their audience.
Tyler: 01:10 So, you hit like major issues for a lot of the entrepreneurs, I know, right? One of them is they’re not great storytellers yet, or at least maybe they’re telling the wrong stories, right. And two, a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with vulnerability. Let’s start right there with vulnerability. Why is that, like, do you think that’s important?
Kyle: 01:32 Yeah, absolutely. It’s absolutely important. I think that’s what I’m selling. I think I’m selling authenticity and vulnerability. And, the reason why it’s important is because I think in the expert industry, at least through the online business space, which is primarily where I’m focused is, you have so much competition, you know, like there’s always someone who’s doing what you’re doing, and it doesn’t matter how niched you are, or how like, specific you get, like someone is always going to try and beat you on price, or someone’s going to try and beat you on value proposition, or like whatever, but no one can beat you on you. And, you only need 1000 raving fans, so like, really build like, an empire. And, with that being said, why would you want to sacrifice who you are for anything, if you can build an audience that likes you for you.
Kyle: 02:21 And by doing that, you’ll actually be able to polarize the people that aren’t aligned with your values, and the people that are. And, there’s just so much noise now online, and so many people coming into the space, is that, it’s like how do you stand out? Like, and how do you speak to your perfect customer? And the way that we do that is by sharing our story, and by sharing the stuff that, maybe we’re afraid to share, because everyone else is trying to posture and position. You’re just being real. And, when you lead with vulnerability, like for example, in a romantic relationship, when you’re the one leading with that vulnerability, what it does is create space for the other person to move in to that relationship at the pace that they want to, and that’s what creates real intimacy within the relationship. So if you put that same conversation into a business context, then we’re looking at creating deep, intimate relationships with our customers. And that’s what will create a sustainable business, not just something that you can build in a year and that will fall apart overnight, but something that will last for a decade, is building real relationships.
Tyler: 03:31 Absolutely. I think one of the challenges for a lot of entrepreneurs is that, by being vulnerable, and you mentioned this in your answer here, is that, it means that you’re also attracting your perfect customer, but on the flip side of that is that you will be pushing some people away, meaning some people will not love your vulnerability. Some people will not love the things that you say, and I think before someone can even get truly raw and vulnerable, they have to accept that to attract the right people, they have to repel the wrong ones. How do you help entrepreneurs make that commitment?
Kyle: 04:04 I just think that everyone has to take a stand for something, you know? And, by being yourself and allowing yourself to be who you are, inherently built into that, it means that you’re going to have opinions about the world and about the marketplace, and about how to do business, that are going to be different than other people, and you could think about like, in high school, you know, there’s a kid who just wants to be liked by everyone, and then there’s the kid who just like, is doing his thing, and you know, he’s got this core group of friends, right? So like, the kid who wants to be liked by everyone, may like be more popular and knows more people, but when he gets in trouble, or he or she gets in trouble and needs a favor, you know, he or she is not going to be able to call upon those people to help him or her, whereas the guy or girl who’s just staying in their lane doing their thing, they got these like ride or die entourage, of like, you know, maybe four friends that will go to bat for them. And so, yeah, I kind of forget the question.
Tyler: 05:08 No, that’s good. Basically. Yeah. Well, I’d asked you how you help entrepreneurs make that decision to be vulnerable, but I think you addressed some of the important factors about it, right? Is that, you have to make the decision that you no longer want to be like the most popular, but you want to have deeper relationships with the right people.
Kyle: 05:28 Yeah.
Tyler: 05:28 And I think, you know, from my experience, this is all…, it’s been a real challenge for me, right? Is that vulnerability, sharing my failures openly, just like, just as much as my success, it’s been a challenge cause I…, you know, we all want to be perceived a certain way, and I think there’s a point of just letting go of that, of letting go about, realizing we can’t control those optics anyways, so we might as well just be real.
Kyle: 05:50 Yeah. And on the flip side of that like, on the reverse, it’s really funny because the more that you’re able to share like, from a place of vulnerability, or you know, being genuine and honest, and not trying to like, just be so poised, I think it allows people to be much more comfortable around you and to trust you, and therefore like will lead to more business. So like, people think that they need to position and do all these different things to look good, in order to get the business, but it’s actually the opposite. Like the more you can allow yourself to be, like naked in the wind, is like, the more opportunity will be created for you. And, I’ve had people reach out to me, or like build a friendship, or a relationship with me just because they saw my video about my story, and they felt like they understood me, and that they could relate, and because that understanding was there, I was like a pretext to the relationship. It was already like built-in to like, “I trust this guy”
Tyler: 06:51 Absolutely. So, I like how you said that, that vulnerability creates space, right? And like says, basically it says, “Hey, I’m going to create this room for you to take a step towards me when you’re ready, not forced, not manipulated, but when you’re ready. And, it kind of says, “Basically, I’ll start by being vulnerable. You take the next step whenever it’s right” For you, just kind of going to the concept of taking steps, right? When did you first realize like you wanted to be an entrepreneur, and wanted to work with cameras and tell stories?
Kyle: 07:22 I always was an entrepreneur, so like when I was 10 years old, I was like setting up bake sales, like flipping muffins in front of Blockbuster, and like, you know, doing stuff like that, and then as I got older, my first business in high school was, I started throwing parties, and I would hire a DJ, rent out an event space, and then like, kind of get my promoter friends, who like knew everyone, to like promote the party. And then we’d sell water inside and charge at the door. I remember I made like three racks in one night, my first party ever. And I was like, “I’m never working a job. Like I’m just never going to work a job” And then, you know, I dealt weed in high school too, and I did all that stuff, and then, when I got into college, I got into network marketing and that’s where I learned about personal development, and all that stuff, but the camera thing and the video thing was always there.
Kyle: 08:19 Like, I was always making movies in middle school, and then in high school, and I took photos in high school, and then when I was looking at college, I was like, “Okay, if I get a business degree, that’s just like a cop out” Like I just felt that way, you know, like you can’t learn business in school. And, I was like, “Okay, what can I do all the time and like knock it forward” and it was making movies, so I was like, “I’ll just do that” So I went to school for Film and Entrepreneurship, and then I got disillusioned with film because I saw all the people in the university like, they’re just broke, you know, and I was really scared of being broke, and so I dropped out of school, and got into investment banking to learn about finance, business and selling.
Kyle: 09:04 And then from there moved into the online space, and like, started like writing headlines, and copy and then, you know, learned about driving traffic, and doing content, and then worked with Russell Brunson, and then then started consulting, and, you know, I was doing everything I could to learn about business and marketing, but like also simultaneously just avoiding the fact that I wanted to pick up a camera, and then everything sort of came to a head when, you know, I had a quarter life crisis as it were, or you know, I would say a crisis of the soul, you know?
Tyler: 09:33 Maybe like a fifth, man. You’re still pretty young.
Kyle: 09:36 Yeah. I was like 22. And, you know, I started having some health problems, started having problems coping with stress, and just had a lot of issues, and it made me realize how unhappy I was doing that, and that, you know, in order to get better, in order to have a better life, I had to do something that was fun and fulfilled me, and that was making videos. So, I just stepped into that, and you know, put a lot of focus into getting good fast.
Tyler: 10:03 Absolutely man. And so, you’ve been doing video for a while, you’ve worked with a lot of really cool entrepreneurs, helping them tell their stories. What’s usually like the first question that you ask an entrepreneur to get them to start peeling back the layers?
Kyle: 10:16 Yeah. That is a great question. A good question to start an interview with, is like, “Dude, how did we end up here? How’d we get here?” Like, or, “Just talk to me a little bit about like, you know, why you decided to do this?” And what I found is like, when we go back to that moment of like, where they made the decision, then I say, “What happened right before that?” And anytime there’s a major decision in life, there’s always an event that takes place right before.
Tyler: 10:45 Isn’t it interesting how often though, that’s not the part the entrepreneur remembers, right?
Kyle: 10:49 Yeah. They never remember it. It’s like it’s suppressed, man. It’s super suppressed, and usually it’s a negative event, you know?
Tyler: 10:56 Oh, almost always.
Kyle: 10:57 Yeah, And then, they’re just like, “I made a decision” Yeah. And I always find that’s the most interesting part, and that’s where like, the need of the interview is, and yeah, that’s a great place to start.
Tyler: 11:08 Like, one really interesting example is the number of entrepreneurs who pivoted into having 8,9, right? but you have a couple guys, like in the clickfunnels, and in the marketing world of like, Garrett J. White, Alex Gaffin, right?, myself. We were all in real estate, like I knew Garrett J. White from real estate, and then I knew him into [Inaudible] and it was…, so we…, like all of us were entrepreneurs doing one thing, and went through like the chaos of the real estate market crumbling, right? Those painful things can actually be…, there is that old analogy, right, that the things that create pain create reservoirs, that later on get to be filled with our potential, and with the things that can then carry us through future challenges.
Kyle: 12:05 Yeah, I totally agree. And that’s the most beautiful part about what I do, is like during these interviews I get to explore that with them. And, the reason why that’s so important, so significant within the context of like, Building and telling a story, is because everyone has that. So, what I explore are these like, really negative emotions like shame, pain, guilt, like regret, you know, dark times. And, the reason why that resonance is created through the story is because those feelings are universal, and those aren’t typically the feelings that people are talking about within a marketing context, and within a social media context, and just within a social context in general.
Tyler: 12:48 Right.
Kyle: 12:49 And so, because it’s like taboo, or it’s private, or it’s whatever.
Tyler: 12:54 And people are modeling the people that they think are doing it right, who aren’t vulnerable. So they think, “Oh, if these guys are the guys on stage or these are the guys whose books I’m reading, they’re not telling those stories” You know, they think that that’s what they should model, but then you start seeing that there’s great examples, you know, of people that are.
Kyle: 13:12 Yeah, I just think it’s just a beautiful part of humanity, you know, because it’s the truth. And, that’s what hits people, and that’s why these videos are working. It’s like, the truth is just so uncommon.
Tyler: 13:26 Yeah, sorry to cut you off, but there’s…, I think two steps of this, and like, willingness to be vulnerable. And, one of them is that it’s really easy to be vulnerable once you’ve like, overcome. Like, when you’re standing on the other side of the bridge, and you’re like, “Okay, I got over the canyon” That’s easy or easier. Like, how do you…? like, some of the people you work with have got to still be in their journey, right? They’re not all standing at the finish line. They’re in the journey. They’ve overcome like, they’re overcoming battles, but they haven’t yet overcome the war, right? So how do you help them be comfortable in being vulnerable in the present?
Kyle: 14:05 Yeah, it’s probably not the best answer for everyone or most valuable, but it’s just my…, I honestly believe is, I just am a really comfortable person to be around.
Tyler: 14:15 Sure.
Kyle: 14:16 And, I provide space for them to accept that. And, I’m just a very non-judgmental person, and I’m very present, you know, I spend a lot of time meditating. I spend a lot of time like, getting inside my body or getting outside of my head. And so that when I sit down, I’m just like, really listening, and people don’t get the opportunity to be listened to very much. And so, it’s basically just like a therapy session where they get to relieve some of their stuff. And, they’re happy to do that because finally someone will listen to them. And I think…, I always remember this quote from Fight Club. And, there’s this moment where like, Edward Norton is hugging Marla singer, like the main actress in the movie.
Kyle: 15:01 And they’re at this like alcoholics anonymous, or like, whatever group. And, he asks her like, you know, “Why do you come to these things if, you know, like, what do you get out of coming to these things because they’re not, you know, alcoholics anonymous?” And she goes, “Well, I just feel like people actually listen to what I have to say instead of…” and then he butts in and finishes her sentence and goes, “Waiting for their time to speak?” And she goes, “Yeah. Exactly” And that always stuck with me. So, I think it’s a lot of it, is that…
Tyler: 15:32 That’s huge. And so, essentially, what you do is, you let them have a real one on one conversation that you then help them magnify and broadcast to the world.
Kyle: 15:40 Yeah, and package it and put it within a little structure, you know?
Tyler: 15:45 Yeah, but it’s fascinating because people are more comfortable being vulnerable one on one, usually. And they say, it’s more likely to get them to a real place of real conversation, one on one. And so, helping them kind of forget that the camera’s there. Forget that they’re putting this out into the universe, and just focusing on having an honest and raw conversation. So, talk to me a little bit more about your journey, and about like how you’ve been figuring out your business, and your growth, and maybe the lessons that you can share with other creatives, and other entrepreneurs?
Kyle: 16:16 Yeah. Oh my God, I have so much to talk about on this. Okay. So, I initially started…, I modeled my business after this guy Jonathan Otto, who was charging a hundred grand for a video plus a percentage of the funnel. And in my mind that was just inconceivable, but I was like, “f I can charge a 10th of what he’s charging, then I can make a good living and I can be really happy, and have a good lifestyle” So, that was sort of the framework from the beginning of this like, I’m just going to do high ticket. And, then I discovered this book called “Built to Sell” which talked all about like, productizing your service, and hiring a sales team, and building out like, a very singularly focused like, mini-agency. And, that’s sort of the direction I’ve been going, and I got really into essentialism.
Kyle: 17:10 So, I productized my business. Now I only have one or two offers, and I’ve hired a sales guy, and now I’m at the stage where I’ve hired an operations person, and he has a support team that backs him up, and I’m systematizing everything, and I’m building out templates and checklists, and I’m slowly pulling myself out of the business. I’m going to hire an editor and then I’m going to hire a videographer to actually do the work. And, what the role that I’ll be playing is, actually I’m going to only be making videos for my business. So all the marketing for my company will be made by me and the actual fulfillment of the client service will be my team. And, the reason why I’m going that way is because if I can do one thing really, really, really well for one specific type of person, then it makes business really simple. And, for me it’s all about having low stress and high fulfillment.
Tyler: 18:03 Great.
Kyle: 18:04 Yeah, that’s all I want. That’s all I care about. I want heavy lifestyle focus and I want heavy impact focus. So, I want to work with the absolute premium top tier people within the industry that I’m working in, because they can pay a lot of money without thinking about it, and they also don’t micromanage. And then number two, I want to get so good at one thing that people are seeking me out, not me seeking them out. And, because I’ve niched down so far, it’s very specialized service, that is just such a high level of service for such a specific person, that it’s like a no brainer. Like I’ve just filled such a need in the marketplace, at such a high level, that it’s just like, I have no competition, I’m in a category of my own. That’s my philosophy on how I’m building things, and it’s taken me two years to get to this point, but my business doubled between last year and this year, and I predict that my business will double, if not triple again next year, with the partnerships, and the relationships in the marketing, the scaling that I’m doing now. I have built my entire business on referrals and networking, and word of mouth, and I just started running ads like last week and building a funnel, and doing all that stuff.
Tyler: 19:19 Nice. I’m guessing that’s Apply.KyleGotCamera.com
Kyle: 19:22 That’s exactly what we say.
Tyler: 19:25 Well, that’s awesome. And you know what, like I think it’s great. So many people want to start their funnel, start that, do all of that stuff before they’ve, before they’ve had that initial group of like, “If you’re not getting referrals, you’re not ready” Like, if you can’t go get a couple of clients, and make sure those clients are so happy with you that they’re referring you, you’re not ready to turn on the floodgates. And so, I think the way that you did that was really smart, whether it was on purpose or just, you know, how it flowed out. But, so many creatives and entrepreneurs get stuck in doing everything. How are you, like, how are you allowing yourself to let go of some of it? Systems and trust that you have to let go a little bit.
Kyle: 20:06 Yeah. So the way…, yeah. For the longest time I didn’t want other people to do the work. And, what I realized is I just need to kill my ego. Like I have two options; I can be creative and be like…, and like struggle, to have a good lifestyle, and like balance my health and my stress, and stuff, or like, I can outsource stuff and be happy. And so like, I just choose my happiness and my health over anything, like, and the way that I’ll get creatively fulfilled, is by pulling myself out of the business, because then instead of working on client stuff, I get to work on my stuff and that’s what’s going to give me more juice than anything. And that’s where my real power will lie. But it takes a lot of patience, to like build something, to the point where you can hand it off, and it also needs to be so focused that it can be systematized, which is a real challenge for creatives, because they don’t think that way. I don’t think that way, so I had to hire someone to help me think that way.
Tyler: 20:59 Yeah. That’s a constant battle for sure.
Kyle: 20:59 And then in addition to that, it’s just like, I just know that like the built-to-sell model is the ideal scene for a service-based business. And so, I think it’s so hard for an entrepreneur to focus too, and just pick like, one thing.
Tyler: 21:18 For sure.
Kyle: 21:19 And so, I’m just giving myself the challenge of like, “Kyle, you literally can’t do any other business, like at all, until this business gets to $1 million hands off, and like, then you can continue to run it if you want, or you can sell it, but that will give you all the freedom that you need and the security that you need. And, my whole thing is like, you see all these people launching companies, and like blowing up. It’s like, “Okay, zero to a million in one year”, like whatever, it’s like, “Okay, I want to see what those companies look like 10 years down the road”
Tyler: 21:51 Yeah, and I think every entrepreneur is different. For me, like, there’s a quote that really stands out and that’s relevant here, and that’s, “When you don’t have a plan. Everything seems like an opportunity” And so, so many entrepreneurs, they know they want to be successful, but they haven’t defined that. Right? And because they haven’t defined it, they’re chasing every opportunity because they have FOMO, right? They have “Fear of Missing Out” that that opportunity is going to be the big one. So they…, you know, they chase everything because they don’t want to miss the one, and there’s the old adage also, right? “He who chases two rabbits catches none”, right? Or whatever it actually is, but the point is the same. And, that’s been a big challenge for me because I love ideas. right? So, I’m currently working with a team where I get to focus on mostly the front end ideas. And so my singular task is that, is to create more opportunities.
Kyle: 22:39 Yeah.
Tyler: 22:39 It was a really fascinating balance, but if I was trying to do all of it on my own, from starting dozens and dozens of things on my own, there’s no way I could fulfill upon. And so, for me, the biggest thing is like, finding not only the singular opportunity, but the one that is not necessarily the most lucrative, but the most like, in line with your values, and for you, happiness and health were first, so you had to go that direction. I think you’ve done a good job starting to push things away, and practicing that, and keeping those gates up to protect yourself. What’s one major thing you want to do like, with the rest of this year? You’ve got a couple months left. What’s one major business goal? We’ll start with that.
Kyle: 23:22 Yeah, I’m partnering with some people right now, some big influencers that I’m really excited about working with them, and like maybe releasing one of the projects with them. And I believe that the stuff that we’re going to do together is going to change the entire industry, like, and, I would love to do that. And, I’d also love to get like my funnels already converting, which is great from cold traffic, which is amazing, like that doesn’t happen, like regenerating application…, like $14 an application, which is like important, but, you know, just having that whole thing just sort of like run smoothly, from like, they see the ad to point of sale and like fulfillment, like actually running people through the system, and you know, fixing it along the way.
Tyler: 24:15 Yeah. If you just turn that on, it’s going to take a little while, and now you have to build the systems at each step. And what about personally? You’re like me, we’re on the same page that, business is about creating the lifestyle you want, right? Otherwise, what’s the point of doing it? What’s one major bucket list item you’re going to do in the next 12 months?
Kyle: 24:33 So, actually in December, me and 20 others of my closest friends from around the world, rented a compound in New Zealand on 30 acres of land, on the sound. And, we’re all going there in December 5th through 6th. And, I put together this friend group with a buddy of mine, and it’s just something I’ve always wanted to do, is have my own group, and that’s been realizing, and being able to experience like, amazing parts of the world, and just have those like, peak experiences with people that share the same values. That’s it man. That’s the one. You know?
Tyler: 25:14 Yeah. It’s interesting. I think once you plant your flag. Once you stick it in the ground, it says, “I’m going to track the people that are like me”, they smart coming, and then you’re not as worried about the people that might move on, right? I read a…, you know, just kind of sharing additional quotes and things, right? I read once, hey, like, “When you grow, and when you develop, and when you go through these moments of entrepreneurial development, you’re going to lose friends”, but then they caveated it, but that’s okay because you’ll make new friends. And, it’s hard because like, I value relationships a lot, really, really high. And, so it’s hard sometimes when I recognize that distance gets created from people who I care about.
Tyler: 25:51 But I also know like, there’s people out there that I can make deeper connections with, that maybe you’ve got to create that space like you talked about so that a deeper relationship can form. It’s part of growth and improvement.
Kyle: 26:05 Yeah, and it’s really funny because like, I think what’s been the biggest game changer for me, and it’s like consistently showing up in all the areas of my life is, like I just got really clear on like what I wanted, like what’s my ideal scene, and I think a lot of people have a challenge with that, and it’s also being influenced a lot by like social media, and like the events that you go to, and like all this stuff, but like, I had to take some time and sit down, and like try to like, remove that stuff or at least separate my ego from it a little bit, and just be like, then think to myself like, “When have I been the most happiest? Why?” And like, “What do I think is going to make me happy?” And like, “What do I want to test?” And like, “What’s going to…?” and it’s not always about happiness, but just about like, having a good life, and, or what I think is a good life, based on my perspective and reference experiences thus far. And, once I got clear on that, then like my decisions became very binary, and so like, everything just gets clear and I just feel really clear.
Tyler: 27:09 Absolutely. So like, having vision and clarity of vision, having a plan, knowing what the future that you want looks like. All of those things allow us to make better decisions in the present. And I think you’ve done a really good job of being ruthless with that, and really forcing yourself to make those hard decisions, and it’s neat to see, because most people don’t. And so, I highly encourage, if you’re an entrepreneur, if you are a business owner, if you are somebody who knows that people need to hear your story, please go to Apply.KyleGotCamera.com, and connect with Kyle. Worth having a conversation, he’s got some amazing work on there, and testimonials of people that I know, that I consider friends, and Kyle has my recommendation as well, so check him out, and hey, Kyle, appreciate you coming out man. Any last words?
Kyle: 27:59 Yeah, I guess my last words would be to any entrepreneur out there, is that, the stuff that you’re afraid to share, is the stuff that you need to share, and when you do share it, people will come to you, and they’ll thank you for sharing what you did. So, you know, consider that, think about it, marinade on it, and release it.
Tyler: 28:21 Awesome. Alright, my BizNinjas. Thank you for tuning in. Now it’s your turn to go out and do something.
Outro: 28:29 Thank you for listening to BizNinja Entrepreneur Radio with Tyler Jorgenson. Please make sure to subscribe so you’re first to hear new interviews and episodes. If you found this podcast to be valuable, please share it with a friend. Don’t forget to visit our online show at BizNinja.com to claim your reward for listening to this show.
