I had a conversation with Artem (Miami Invest Club) about the importance of investing for all. We are barely thought to invest or even how to properly manage our money.

Can it be part of a larger conspiracy to prevent people from growing their wealth? Just a thought.

In this episode, Artem in a value-packed episode about stocks, investing, portfolios, and much more. Make sure to stick to the end.

You can follow Artem on Instagram + Support his Patreon Below

https://www.instagram.com/miamiinvestclub/

https://www.patreon.com/miamiinvestclub

Also if you want longer format content on investing from Artem then YT is the place.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGKWysw6DSANAVC-hHUaspg

This episode of Candid Creative explores some of the ways in which our guest, marketing pro Sara Calle, uses her digital media and other communication tools to connect with customers. Although she’s a talented violinist and once considered a legal career, once she discovered marketing her path was clear. She’s passionate about the profession, its fast pace, and constant opportunities for growth. 

Starting with her earliest interviews for a competitive internship with Microsoft in Brussels, Sara realized that communication and projecting a great attitude were as important as her skills and education (she has both an undergraduate in business administration and a master’s degree in marketing). She has learned through a variety of experiences at companies large and small that above all else a successful campaign depends on “Who you are” and “What’s your why.” In this podcast, Sara discusses how communicating an appealing, compelling voice is critical to an effective marketing campaign. Among the important tools that go into that tool kit:  body language, emotional intelligence, authenticity, storytelling, and empathy. 

Sara shares her views on professional growth – which she and Antonio both strongly believe must be coupled with personal growth. Learning to embrace and work past her innate shyness is just one example of how Sara has taken an intimate aspect of her own personality and used it as a means of better understanding herself and others. She believes successful marketing campaigns are all about selling an experience and finding ways to connect with customers on a deep level. 

Antonio’s conversation with Sara wraps up with some personal reflections on overcoming self-doubt, launching her own marketing business, the importance of doing research (her #1 word of advice for aspiring marketing professionals), leveraging Instagram in a meaningful way and turning inevitable failures into lessons along the road to success.

Follow Antonio on IG: @imantonioruiz

Follow Sara on IG @thesaracalle

Or contact her at:

Linked In: linkedin.com/in/saracalleherrera

Email: [email protected]

This episode of Candid Creative is all about LinkedIn. Antonio is joined by Shraddha, as they discuss the increasing value and importance of the platform. Shraddha works full time as a digital media manager, while also working for several clients. She has a Master of Business Administration in Marketing. It took Shraddha a while to find what she loved, but she has finally found that in digital marketing. 

She first started using LinkedIn during the final year of her master’s program. She enjoyed how professional everyone was on LinkedIn and she always felt positive after spending time on that platform. Through LinkedIn she was able to find leads. After her internship, she got a sales job and continued to use the platform as a way to get leads for her job. 

Shraddha shares that the most important thing to do to be successful in posting content on LinkedIn is to just keep posting. However, engagement on those posts is important. She suggests focusing on original content, not photos or links. Another important thing to be careful of is the number of hashtags you use. It is important to use no more than four hashtags, and they should be keywords that show what you are focusing on. Also, it is best to focus on the biggest hashtags, not a variety. As an entrepreneur, you should first create a soundproof profile, a profile that shouts what you are about, then you need to connect by following the sixty-forty ratio. 

In regard to building a good bio section on LinkedIn, do not start with your name or what you offer, because people already know that information from your profile. It’s important to start with something unique or interesting. While LinkedIn has not been as popular as Facebook, Shraddha believes in a few years it will be the next Facebook. What she values about LinkedIn is the ability to get organic leads, without paying lots of money. When starting out, she recommends getting a good headshot, and deciding why you want to be on LinkedIn, what your purpose is on that platform. Once you’ve found your focus, be consistent for at least three months. Another advantage of LinkedIn over other platforms is that you can still get new engagement on old posts. While it may take some effort to learn LinkedIn, Shraddha enthusiastically recommends putting the work in and being present on that platform.

On this episode of the Candid Creative podcast, Antonio talks with Michael Aubry, creator and founder of Story Creator, an “After Effects for Dummies.” Michael talks about how he came up with the idea and shares how all of his previous experiences have led him to where he is today.

Michael started hacking on things when he was 17-18. Bored with pirating video games in his youth, Michael started pirating $500 Adobe editing software that gave him a technical edge over his peers. He used his access to this software to learn how to code and make money online. Kicked out of his mother’s house and living in his friend’s basement, he started work at Verizon.

Eventually making his way to the incubator at Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, CA, Michael networked and met the people he needed to grow his vision. He met the founder of XY Gaming and started hanging out with people who understood the art of building businesses. Michael was 23 when he moved to San Francisco, and in that time, he worked at three startups and gained the experience he needed to build his own platform. He would not trade in that time for anything.

Discussing the conception of the Story Creator idea, Michael thought that this was the coolest tool (with the biggest market gap) available. After talking to people about the project and listening to their problems, he started to get customers. April is really when things started to kick off. Juggling all of the sides of the business has been Michael’s most difficult challenge.

 At the end of the day, you need to make a decision and execute it. It’s okay if it doesn’t work, Michael says. When talking about feedback, you want higher-level, not specific. You really just need to be able to face the truth, which is going to get the results you want in your life. If you can put in the due diligence, it will play out well for you to not take feedback personally. It’s just something you have to work on.

He thinks the best thing you can do is follow-through. Decide what you’re going to do and do it. If you really want to do it as a career, you need to determine why you’re doing this in the first place. Establish it early on and be committed.

Interested in exploring Story Creator App?

Click here to get started

Follow Antonio on IG: @candidcreativela

 Follow Michael on Twitter: @michaelaubry. He’ll give you a follow!

Email Michael: [email protected]

Some links could be affiliate links. I always try the products myself. I get a commission at no extra cost to you.  

On this episode of the Candid Creative podcast, Antonio talks with the team at Drop Music Branding about audio branding. Drop Music Branding is run by Mauro González, Dalmiro Lacaze, and Gabriel Agüero. Dalmiro and Gabriel met in second grade and shared music as a common interest in high school. They met Mauro when they went to Buenos Aires to study at the music academy. They did music and advertising for different companies and now focus on sound design and audio branding. 

Antonio and the team discuss what audio branding is and how prevalent it is in today’s audio/visual culture. They also point out the importance of connecting with your audience through sound and music, and the importance of making sure you know your audience, so you make the right choices with your audio branding. They emphasize that repetition is the strategy and that the actual sounds you use are important. The team strives to improve the world with their sounds, not add to the noise pollution.

The team goes on to explain how important audio branding is in creating a brand that is recognizable and that people trust. It is important that the sound is unique so that it will be easier to remember and recognize. The more people recognize it, the more they trust it and the brand is more successful. They share a few stories about how they have such a desire to create unique sounds, that represent the company well, that they have even used a company’s products, and recorded the sounds the products made in order to build the audio assets. Learning all about the brand and what the brand sells, and the brand’s mission and strategy is a very important part of building the audio assets and brand. 

The team also talks about the difficulty of dealing with opinions and personal preferences when it comes to audio. It’s important to consider what is best for the brand, not the personal music preference of the client. It can also be challenging when the client doesn’t know what they want and they just want many options so they can choose their favorite one. The team is trained to put aside any of their personal preferences in order to best serve the clients and therefore best develop the brand. They also go on to explain how audio branding is not just about music, but it’s also about advertising. You need to consider both in order to be successful in audio branding. The team ends by explaining how valuable it has been to work together, as a team, instead of doing audio branding alone. 

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: The Candid Creative

Follow Antonio on IG: @candidwithantonio

Candid Creative on IG: @candidcreativela

Follow Drop Music Branding on IG: @dropmusicbranding

Visit https://www.dropmusicbranding.com for more information

Our intro, music, and audio assets used in the podcast were created by Drop Music Branding. 

On this episode of the Candid Creative podcast, Antonio talks with Sarah-Jane Gwira, an expert on Facebook ads and making them work for businesses big and small. Sarah-Jane started out working for an agency creating organic content, but she found that there was a gap in the market for smaller businesses who could not afford to spend agency prices to promote their businesses. She started experimenting with Facebook ads and found so much success that she left the agency to start her own company with this focus.

Sarah-Jane has found that Facebook ads are beneficial and effective for building brand awareness and generating leads. She also points out that there is an aversion in the creative community to these types of promotions because creatives assume that they are expected to grow their audiences organically. This is not the case, however, and even the gurus will tell you that Facebook ads are essential for expanding your audience and increasing your conversions. Even if you don’t have your own business, but you offer a product or service, Sarah-Jane says that you should start seeing yourself as a business and put in the effort to promote yourself like one. 

When you are just starting out using Facebook ads, Sarah-Jane recommends that you check out her course, join some Facebook ad marketer groups, and make sure you review the Facebook blueprint. 

She goes on to explain that her main 3 areas of focus when creating a new campaign are: 

• Testing the audience by creating personas
• Testing the offer that interests people most
• Optimizing your creative and copy. A good ad will interrupt your audience’s news feed and capture their attention, so it is about more than just getting your name out there. 

Follow Sarah Jane

@sarahjanegwira

Also, visit for more information https://squishsocial.com/connect/

Follow Antonio on IG: @candidwithantonio

Candid Creative on IG: @candidcreativela

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKtnKlravLReQKvx56Ir58A

On this episode of the Candid Creative podcast, Antonio interviews SuperManny, a videographer and content creator. 

• Manny got is start on YouTube putting together compilations of sports highlights, which was also his first experience with video editing software. 
  • He watched a lot of videocopilot.net tutorials 
  • He started out using After Effects, but now he uses Premier or Final Cut 
• When he started publishing his own content, he focused on motivational content, usually just talking about something he had recently read or experienced. 
  • He found that this content was valuable to his users and he was fairly consistent with it 
• Manny really enjoys lifting other creators up, encouraging them to get their message out there even if they aren’t confident at first. 
  • Most users just want to see genuine lifestyle content, not highly-produced scripted shows 
  • He wants to start putting more behind-the-scenes content out there because it resonates with a lot of people 
• There have been many impacts on his content creation process. 
  • Manny grew up in the U.S. but also lived in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic for a good period of time. 
  • His multi-cultural experiences have opened his eyes to the type of content that people need and he hopes to encourage specifically users and creators of Latin origin to break the barriers that have been embedded in them and use their ingenuity. 
• Manny has also realized that he wants to publish Spanish content, and this conversation is a reminder that he really needs to just do it. 
  • The Spanish audience could benefit from more straightforward motivational content rather than just entertainment or humor. 
• He recognizes the importance of speaking out about injustices and other current events. 
  • While everyone may not have the same opinions, it is important to speak the truth and be united against the wrongs that come about. 
• Manny provides 3 pieces of advice for people starting out as creatives: 
  • Do it for yourself or what you believe in 
  • Do it with what you have 
  • Focus on the community; get to know people 

Follow SuperManny:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/supermanny54/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/supermanny54?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Twitch: https://m.twitch.tv/supermanny54

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdBMCEk8PF4rpRmxF-Jhwpg 

Follow Antonio on IG: @candidwithantonio

Candid Creative on IG: @candidcreativela

On the sixteenth episode of Candid Creative, Antonio continues the conversation with Ethan about growing your content channels, increasing watchtime, and the value of storytelling. 

• It’s hard to promote your own content when it’s not very good.
• SEO is not enough — you have to promote your content.
• Once you get the 100 subscribers, you need to focus on making your content super high-quality.
• Craft stories so that people will watch your videos to the end.
• Once you have an audience, it’s easier for people to come back for a connection with you.
• Hopefully, the work you do on YouTube can feed back into your Instagram.
• The thing that matters is watch time.
• You have to have a story that hooks people into it.
• The story is: 
  • Context 
  • Conflict 
  • Resolution 
• You know when you hear a good storyteller.
• It’s not the same as performance arts, but a lot of the same principles translate.
• Engagement is king.
• You need to use emotion to draw people to your personality.
• Write down your personality traits: figure out who you are.
• It’s not easy to have personality and tell stories, but that’s how you succeed.

Find Ethan at his socials:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCih-1haX7so5ouZVcNdU30g

Ethan says to follow his other socials from his YouTube 

Follow Antonio on IG: @imantonioruiz.

Subscribe to The Candid Creative on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKtnKlravLReQKvx56Ir58A

On this episode of Candid Creative, Antonio breaks down the myths behind personal branding and how to leverage your true self to achieve success. In reality, most of us have a personal brand before we even know it. How we present ourselves and interact with others defines the way that people see us.

It’s important to perform an honest assessment of yourself in order to inform your growth strategy and increase awareness of the space you’re in. According to Cynthia Johnson in her book Platform, “the goal is to find and demonstrate your identity in a way that accurately represents your success.” Ultimately, it’s about telling your own story. What have you done and how do you think? Many companies have seen the benefits of this mindset, which has led to a shift in business as a whole.

Developing a personal brand should be easy because it’s an authentic reflection of who you are. The four main factors that influence your brand are personal proof, social proof, association, and recognition. All of these work together to create an image that you can use to enhance your success both personally, and professionally.

 Having education, awards, and an extensive network is great, but only if you project the real you, not who you think people want you to be. Everyone has equal value no matter their gender, orientation, or background. Don’t get stuck in a box. Evoke feeling through genuine interaction and develop an honest connection to the world.

Subscribe to the Candid Creative:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKtnKlravLReQKvx56Ir58A

Follow Antonio:

Instagram: @imantonioruiz

Sources: 

1. Platform: The Art & Science of Personal Branding by Cynthia Johnson
2. James Jani: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT0dmfFCLWuVKPWZ6wcdKyg

On this episode of Candid Creative, Antonio continues his conversation with Rhonda Glynn, a small business strategist, and coach who works primarily with female entrepreneurs. Rhonda begins by sharing her disappointment with Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, for his decision to ban employees from wearing symbols related to Black Lives Matter. She believes that this is incompatible with the company’s image and a sign of an old way of doing business that no longer works anymore.

Instead, brands must be consistent and find their niche in order to adapt to a value-based economy. Consumers want to know and be known. To hear and be heard. That doesn’t mean that a brand should be strictly ‘political,’ however. It’s about awareness, not an agenda. Know your customer so they don’t ‘strike back’ against a lack of authenticity. Share the truth, or trust will be lost forever.

 COVID-19 has sped up this transition. With social interaction at an all-time low, people are looking to be heard on a deeper level. Brands must speak to this need through stories and genuine communication. This may lead many companies to go back to the drawing board or disappear completely. For better or worse, simple transactions are no longer tolerated. There must be an exchange on both ends.

 Things will never go back to how they were. Our society has reached a tipping point, and having the right mindset will determine your success. Rhonda points to a greater need for preparation to remove uncertainty. Because we live in a binary era where everything is virtual, pivoting your strategy through innovative technology like video will restore the human connection in a positive, but completely different way.

Don't forget to check out Analisa.io and click here to get 15% off Unlimited reports for first month upgraded subscriptions.

Follow Antonio on IG: @imantonioruiz

Follow the Candid Creative on IG: @candidcreativepodcast

Visit Rhonda at https://www.rhondaglynn.com/

Follow Rhonda on IG: @zoma.business.solutions