Start With A Win - Interview With BombBombs Ethan Beute

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey listeners, before we get started with today's episode, I wanted to say that we love making this show for you and the community that is growing around Start With A Win. To say thank you, we want to give a few lucky listeners an opportunity to win free swag. If you have an Apple account, please go on to Apple Podcasts and leave me a five-star rating and a written review. Here's the catch. When you leave your written review, sign it with your Twitter or Instagram username. Once a week, Mark and I will pick our favorite review, contact you on social media, and send you some free swag. It takes less than two minutes, so please leave your review today. And remember, start with a win.

Starting point is 00:00:41 Atop of the 12th floor of the Remax World Headquarters, you're listening to Start With A Win with CEO Adam Kantos. And from top of the 12th floor of REMAX World Headquarters here in Denver, Colorado, Adam Kantos here with Start With A Win. I've got with me in the studio today, producer Mark. How are you, Mark? I am fantastic, as always. As always, my friend. That's right. Good to see you today. Yeah, I'm glad to be here in the studio. We got an awesome guest, which is pretty sweet. I can't wait to talk about this one today. You know, this guy is a titan. A titan in the industry. In the industry. That's right. I mean, I bet most, if you're in real estate, you probably know this guy or know of his company, I'd say.

Starting point is 00:01:28 If you don't, you're really not in real estate. I would agree with that, Adam. Or really, you know, these guys, and these guys are expanding their business so much. I'm so blessed and honored to have with us here in the studio the head of marketing at BombBomb, Ethan Butte. How are you doing, man? I'm awesome. Thank you so much for having me. Glad to have you here. And you guys are just down the road from us down in Colorado Springs. We are. It's like a little one-hour drive up.

Starting point is 00:01:54 Nice. Excellent. Yeah. And it's a beautiful drive at that. It is. It's outstanding. And I haven't been into the studio before, so it's awesome to see where the magic happens on Start With A Win. That's cool. Well, we're glad to have you here. We have our view of Denver. You guys have this amazing view of Pikes Peak out of your office, don't you? We do. We're in one of the two office towers in downtown Colorado Springs, and we have the entire seventh floor and about half of the sixth floor, so we have views in every direction, but the one due west to Pikes Peak is my favorite. It's incredible, and anybody who hasn't been to Colorado Springs, make sure you get there.

Starting point is 00:02:26 Go visit BombBomb at their headquarters. It's an incredible shop there that you guys have. You guys do some really cool stuff for business. So let's dive into this a little bit. But first, tell us about yourself. So I've been at BombBomb eight years almost full time. And I was working with Darren and Connor, the two co-founders, for a couple years prior to that. Just because I was interested in doing something different, I came up and broadcast television.

Starting point is 00:02:53 So I spent a dozen years running marketing inside your local NBC or Fox or ABC station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in Chicago, and then out in Colorado Springs. And so I knew I was kind of at the end of the road there. I kind of done that and I was looking for something new. And at the time, social media had really come up, content marketing had come up and it led it's both of all that led and lended itself to me, uh, as, as a great transition point, because I liked writing, I like video, I like photography. And so, uh, got involved with them and, and with them and it's been awesome. It's been a really fun ride. You've been along for a lot of it or observed part of it and contributed to it and seen the journey. And it's been really fun and interesting over the past decade. So I've known Darren for quite a few years, you know, as BombBomb has grown up. But, you know,

Starting point is 00:03:42 I don't think there are really too many people on this podcast in the real estate space or really related businesses that don't know what BombBomb is. But we have a lot of listeners around the world. We have a lot of listeners from other business sectors. Can you tell us a little bit about what BombBomb is? Sure. At a really high level, from a technical standpoint, we make it super easy to record videos from Gmail, from Outlook, from Salesforce, from dozens of real estate CRMs and platforms, from our own web app, from our mobile apps, etc. And then track the results. You know who's opening and clicking and playing and all that. But the most important thing is that we believe in you. We believe in the salesperson or the representative of the company.

Starting point is 00:04:27 We believe that you're better in person. That's how we connect and communicate most effectively is eye-to-eye, face-to-face. And so if you think about all the times you click send in the course of a business day, you're typically sending faceless digital communication, the same black text on the same white screen that doesn't build rapport, doesn't differentiate you, and it doesn't communicate nearly as well as what we're doing right now, looking each other in the eye and just talking to one another. And so our goal is to help you be more of yourself and to connect with people more effectively and ultimately get to yes faster and more often by sending simple videos when you cannot be there in person. So you're actually, I look at your business, you're turning basically emails from being words, you're turning them into feelings is the way that I see it. I love it. You know, you strike a motion with your tool that basically delivers a video instead of just words to people when it comes to communication, to email.

Starting point is 00:05:27 And that was something I really fell in love with when I first saw your company. And it's just, it's continued to grow and expand. And you guys have built some amazing tools. You have a Gmail plug-in that people can send emails directly or video emails, bomb bombs, is what we call them from their Gmail, things like that. I mean, you guys are continuing to grow the company. So what's the latest, greatest that you guys have in the organization and your products yet now? We've really leaned into that Gmail piece in particular. So I'm glad you went to it. So we're

Starting point is 00:05:58 starting to test what does it look like just to have this in Gmail or what is it to have it just this lightweight piece that shows up in more places that you're working through a Chrome extension or through maybe a keyboard on your phone, right? That works truly anywhere. So we have direct integrations with a bunch of great real estate platforms and CRMs and again, Outlook and Gmail. But what would it mean if we showed up anywhere that you would access, say something like Bitmoji or another one of these like little keyboard alternatives? What if BombBomb was there with you? So we're starting to explore some of that. So we're constantly working. We just came off a hack week where we let our developers do

Starting point is 00:06:37 whatever they want for a week. And then they bring their presentations to the entire company. And it's kind of like a sporting match or something where the crowd's like, oh, oh, oh. People just keep getting more excited about the cool things that the developers come up with. So that's in our blog right now. If someone wants to go check that out at bombbomb.com slash blog, I think that post went up pretty recently. If you want to see some of the newest stuff

Starting point is 00:07:01 that the developers are doing. Super cool. Yeah, I look forward to reading that. So you guys have, you know, you were, you've actually almost kind of become a word of what you guys do in our space because we don't hear people say, send a video email to somebody. We hear people say, send a bomb bomb. It's like your Kleenex or your something like- Xerox or Google. Yeah. Yeah. You don't go perform a web search on this. You go Google it. Right. So now in our space, it's so cool that we've basically labeled sending a video email. And I know anybody else who does video emails out there, I don't know who they are because I can't list them right now.

Starting point is 00:07:46 But I know people are sitting there going, OK, yeah, we send bomb bombs, but we have a different name for it, something like that. So it's really neat to see that. And for anybody who's listening to this who has not received a bomb bomb, go to bombbomb.com. It's just B-O-M-B-B-O-M-B.com and check out the product. And what, you know, the neat thing is you guys have learned so much over the past, you know, decade, eight to 10 years, whatever it is, in your product set and how you deliver value to people, you know, from human to human communication, that you had a really good look at what works, what doesn't work, why, a lot of the social psychology, building a parasocial relationship

Starting point is 00:08:36 with somebody, things like, to get deep into these catchphrases that we use on stage or whatever when we talk about these things. But you wrote, you decided to write a book to really explain this. And that's truly what we're here to talk about today is the book that you put out, both you and Steve Passanelli, another great guy in the business, amazing human being called Rehumanize Your Business. So what is Rehumanize Your Business about in your words? It's the definitive guide to better business communication is a short take. In particular, this is the best of what Steve and I have learned and taught and practiced

Starting point is 00:09:20 over the past several years. We learn a ton from direct communication with so many of our customers. This is a new way to work. It's a new muscle. People that see themselves on video. In fact, when you had your director of marketing on, James Schwartz, he talked about how awkward it can feel

Starting point is 00:09:35 to see yourself on video. So we address that. This is the complete, what is relationships through video? That's the way we describe this style of video. This is unscripted, casual, conversational, informal, in place of typed out text video. That's the way we describe this style of video. This is unscripted, casual, conversational, informal, in place of typed out text video. It's not scripted, lit, produced, edited, and all of that. So what is relationships through video? Why does it matter? And this is some of the psychological things you're talking about. This is how we build relationship. All business is done through trust and relationship. And so why not get face to face earlier and more

Starting point is 00:10:04 often to be more effective? So why does get face to face earlier and more often to be more effective? So why does this matter to your business? Who's actually doing this? So we have a number of real estate stories, a number of REMAX agents are mentioned in the book. We also have mortgage people, a college professor, financial advisor, all kinds of different people are using this because essentially it's just about human to human connection. So anyone can use it. So who's doing this? When do you actually do this? When do you go to the record button instead of typed out text? Because you don't send video all the time. You send it sometimes. So we break down when do you do this in the course of your day? How do you actually do it? And then some advanced

Starting point is 00:10:38 strategies. How do you get more people to open your emails? How do you get more people to play your videos? How do you get more people to click or reply or whatever your call to action might be? And then how do you follow up? Because of course we have the tracking and analytics. If someone opens your email, but doesn't play your video, how do you deal with that? If you send a mass video email and some in this group of people opens the email, plays the video, but doesn't click or reply or respond or take you up on your call to action. How do you follow up with those people? So we have a bunch of advanced strategies in there as well. This is the complete, in one place, you know, to get this type of information,

Starting point is 00:11:12 you would have to attend a bunch of our webinars, read a bunch of our blog posts, check out Steve Passanelli on stage a bunch of times and all of this. So we just wanted to package it in one tangible, available piece that anyone, whether you're already doing it, you just want to get better, or you're listening to a podcast like this for the first time, you're like, this sounds really interesting. I want to learn more about it. We handhold you through the process. That's awesome. It's like a masterclass in a book. Thank you. Looking through it, and I actually, I have an endorsement on the back here. I'm going

Starting point is 00:11:42 to read this for our podcast listeners, because I think it really does a good job of summarizing my feelings of what you just said. So what I've said on the back of the book is connecting is super important in our industry and video makes it easier. After seeing your face and hearing your voice in video emails, people feel like they know you before you've ever met.

Starting point is 00:12:04 It's an instant connection and this book is an essential tool to before you've ever met. It's an instant connection, and this book is an essential tool to help you make that happen. And I truly believe that. I mean, it's funny. We're talking about video emails right now, but video is everywhere because I've seen you place your videos that you've also sent out as bomb bomb videos or email videos on Facebook, you know, social media elsewhere, whatever it might be. And the good part is once you create a video that

Starting point is 00:12:34 you're going to, you know, you may personalize it, but if you don't personalize it and you do a little more generalization of it to your customer base or to people that you know or like or whatever, you can put that everywhere. So this is just not a single point of marketing. This gets you to do more. And I think that's what it really, what I like is it transcends boundaries of communication where you are personalizing things, you are sending things out directly to people, but you're also more inclined to put them elsewhere. And I think that just getting over that hump of insecurity that we have, and really that's the biggest reason why people don't do this is because they're insecure about, I don't like the way I look, I don't like the way I sound. And I'll be the first one to say, I don't like the way I look or sound either. So let's just agree

Starting point is 00:13:24 that we don't like that and get on with it because nobody does. It's way I look or sound either. So let's just agree that we don't like that and get on with it because nobody does. It's just, it's human, human nature. So how do you, let me ask you, how do you get over that? Because Ethan, you're really good on camera. You deliver a very sound, succinct message that, that is caring and, and emotionally connective. How do you get over your fears and does that bother you? Thank you. Yeah. In the beginning, it's, this is classic, something that someone like a Michael Thorne or a Travis Robertson or these other people who are teaching video in the Remax community and beyond, they will often play their first video ever as part of a presentation. And it's just brutal. It's, they're awkward. They're not comfortable. So for me, a lot of how I've arrived here is simply practice. I've recorded at least 8,000 videos, probably closer to 10,000

Starting point is 00:14:10 videos, and for a variety of purposes. And so this practice piece is really important. I think not playing it back and not getting in your own head about it is really important. The fact of the matter is that everyone already knows what you look and sound like in your own business. I'm speaking now to say a REMAX agent in somewhere in Indiana, who is going about his or her business in the course of a day, and they're meeting someone at a coffee shop, and they're going to check in on a home inspection. And they're just going about their day, and they're not in their own head about what they look like and sound like all the time. But somehow, when we hit the record button, all of a sudden it's all a big deal again, right? Like typically we check ourself in the mirror on the way out the door in the morning. Everything's

Starting point is 00:14:53 good. Let's go. And we just do our business. We don't think about these things. And so getting out of your own head around what you look like and sound like in the recording is really important. It's just uncomfortable for you because you've never seen it before, but everyone else that you're working with or hope to work with has seen you and has heard you, or you hope that they will really soon. And so, uh, practice is really important as is, um, just accepting these ideas. And we address a lot of it in the book. We do, we do it through research and we also just do it through, through reasoning and a little bit of empathy as well to kind of help people get comfortable. So cool. So, you know, that takes me to my next question of why are, okay, so, you know,

Starting point is 00:15:35 we know we're a little uncomfortable with this, but we just kind of get over it. But why are personal videos so important when you communicate with people. Yeah. When people say yes, they're saying yes to you. They're saying yes to who you are. They're saying yes to the trust and rapport that you've built together. And this could be a micro yes, like, yes, I will RSVP for the event. Or yes, I will schedule an appointment with you, right? These micro yeses. Or it could be a macro yes, the ultimate assigned contract. And in all of these cases, and let's just take this beyond real estate, when someone signs a contract, they're signing on to price, feature, benefit, terms, duration, all these other things.

Starting point is 00:16:16 But even in that moment, they're signing on to you and who you are. Even if you as the salesperson are going to hand it off to a support team or something, they're saying yes to who you are. And so why not lead with who you are? You are your own very best differentiator. No one is more uniquely qualified to be you. If you are listening to a podcast like this, you're probably already a successful individual or have achieved some level of success and you're looking to continue that.

Starting point is 00:16:42 And so you've already had many, many people say yes to you. You've already won people over with your warmth, your competence, your personality, your expertise, your enthusiasm, your concern, all these really rich human elements that you deliver typically without thinking about it as you go about your day and about your week and about your month. And you continue to find people, meet people, serve people, and all of this. And so we just want to put that forth more often and not have you hide behind that cloak of digital anonymity where you're differentiated only by your email signature

Starting point is 00:17:16 and maybe by the words that you use and maybe by a couple extra exclamation points or an emoticon if you do that. Your emails don't differentiate you. Your text messages in general don't differentiate you. And so we want to help you do that, your emails don't differentiate you. Your text messages in general don't differentiate you. And so we want to help you do that more often, communicate more clearly, connect with people more effectively, and ultimately convert at a higher rate. I love that. I love that. Cloak of digital anonymity. It is. It's like, who is this? Is this a real person? I mean, that's increasingly crazy too.

Starting point is 00:17:44 Is this a machine shooting this stuff out at me? Like we use a system, and we actually mentioned it in the book, that sends out emails. It's an AI-based thing. It's assigned to a human, but it's not a human. Right. Yeah. And that's only going to increase.

Starting point is 00:17:59 And so how do you let people know, I am a real person. I'm looking you in the eye right now through the camera lens, saying, I appreciate you. I appreciate looking you in the eye right now through the camera lens saying, I appreciate you. I appreciate your interest in real estate in this community. I am your local expert. I would love to be of value to you. I just want to put a face with the name and let you know that five minutes on the phone can make a really big difference. I love that. That's absolutely amazing and truly really tells us why personal videos are important. It's human to human. That's it. It is a relationship business. And I mean, really, every business is a relationship business. Let's call it what it is.

Starting point is 00:18:32 And this is an important part of it. So speaking of business, tell me a couple of points. How can this help businesses? We're talking to some business people out there. So, you know, I know there are students on that listen to the podcast, a lot of real estate professionals, a lot of people in mortgage, and really, I mean, even people in law enforcement, things like that, that serve the community. How can this help business? In short, it allows you to be there in person when you can't be there in person, right? We connect and communicate most, most effectively in person. So when you can be there in person, do that, but time and distance get in our way. And so we're stuck with the efficiency

Starting point is 00:19:17 of electronic communication. And so when you're able to communicate with your full self, your, your nonverbal, your,bal, the emotion that comes off of you, and you can just look someone in the eye. So one of the use cases we talk about in there is bad news and apology. When you need to apologize, you can just look someone in the eye and be really honest about what happened and how you feel about it. When you can do that through video, someone can actually feel you. And as you,

Starting point is 00:19:46 as the words that you offered on the back of the book, thank you again, very kindly. This allows people to feel like they know you before they ever meet you. And so when you do connect, the conversation starts in a different place. It's just a warmer thing. You move past the how's the weather stuff and like, it's cloudy outside. Gosh, yeah, how about those clouds? It's a weird spring, right? You move past all of that. And it's like, it's cloudy outside. Gosh, yeah, how about those clouds? It's a weird spring, right? You move past all of that and it's, I feel like I know you and we can talk to each other as if we already have a relationship

Starting point is 00:20:11 because it's already starting to form from a psychological standpoint. So we share that empathy and that sincerity. And I mean, really, you're getting as close to shaking hands as you possibly can. Yeah. I mean, it's amazing. So, all right.

Starting point is 00:20:26 I mean, this has been just a wealth of information here. And if somebody's listening to this and they haven't figured out, hey, you need to go on bombbomb.com and check out, you know, sending video emails, get the book, Rehumanize Your Business. You need to know. I'll just be upfront with you. Go buy the book. It's amazing. Ethan, let's get into our fast five here, kind of our lightning round on start with a win. So I'm going

Starting point is 00:20:53 to throw five questions at you and give me a very succinct answer to those. We're looking to mine some gold here for our listeners, and I know you have a ton of it. So looking forward to this. So Ethan, how do you define starting your day with a win? A cup of coffee, some quality time chatting with my wife. We get up really early and then a little bit of fitness, a shower and out the door to the office by seven at the latest. I love it. Other than rehumanize your business, favorite book to read and why? Gosh, there's so many. The one that I just reread again was Let My People Go Surfing by the founder and CEO of Patagonia, Yvonne Chouinard. And so it's a little bit of company history, but he also lays out these principles by which they built the business. It's the subtitle

Starting point is 00:21:44 of something about being a reluctant businessman. He didn't set out to do this, and yet Patagonia now is this amazing global brand. It's a really cool story with some fundamental principles in it. Favorite quote? Or something close to your favorite quote? A favorite idea? Here you go. This is a mantra we developed about a year and a half ago in our team at BombBomb.

Starting point is 00:22:03 Steve and I and our team, be of value and abundance will follow. Oh, I love that. And so true. I mean, that is speaking the truth there. Right. Big truth bomb. All right.

Starting point is 00:22:16 Who inspires you? My wife and my son were a primary driver and supporters of, so you're going to write a book, that kind of a thing. I constantly draw inspiration from them, from everywhere, from nature. I'm surrounded. I'm privileged to be surrounded by awesome people at work every day, and that just continues to draw me forward. So final question, what one key to success would you give someone who wants to be where you are today? It will all make sense in hindsight. Just do the next right thing. There's a next right thing in front of you and you might be scared of it. You might be a little bit reluctant, but take that step and just keep moving forward. Yeah, next right step. Next right step. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it has been an amazing podcast today with Ethan Butte,

Starting point is 00:23:01 head of marketing for BombBomb and co-author of Rehumanize Your Business. Again, if you have not checked out this book, I encourage you to go make this your next read. Thanks again for joining us on Start With A Win. Ethan, it's been a pleasure having you here. Thanks so much for having me. Thank you so much for listening to Start With A Win. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Don't forget to go onto iTunes, subscribe, write a review or rate the show. It helps us get the word out and reach more people. You can follow Adam on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. And remember, start with a win.

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Start With A Win - Interview With BombBombs Ethan Beute

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