Episode 57: Building Your Brand Identity with Albert Lawrence
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Content is King. How many times have you heard that statement? And how many times did you take that statement seriously? Today’s podcast episode is focused on teaching you strategies and tactics to build your brand identity as a toy creator. In today’s world, a big part of building that identity is going to be the content you create. So that’s why I reached out to Albert Lawrence, an experienced show host who has interviewed Oprah, Dolly Parton, and Kermit The Frog throughout his media career.
Albert shares how he first started building his media personality within the white space that he identified within his own industry. You’ll learn there's a cross between opportunity, passion, and identity that generates the magnetism and vibe that leads to organic engagement and virality. In this conversation, we even chat about Amazon Live which is essentially a home shopping channel filled with social media influencers. If you’re looking for inspiration and motivation to build your toy brand, this episode is a must-listen.
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Check out Albert’s Website by Clicking Here.
Watch Albert And I Chatting on BL Perspectives Here.
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Follow Albert’s Amazon Live Channel by Clicking Here.
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Azhelle
You are listening to Making It in The Toy Industry, Episode Number 57.
Intro/Outro + Jingle
Welcome to Making It in The Toy Industry, a podcast for inventors and entrepreneurs like you. And now your host Azhelle Wade.
Azhelle
Well hey there toy people Azhelle Wade here and welcome back to another episode of Making It in The Toy Industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by the toycoach.com. Today's guest is Albert Lawrence, a media entrepreneur and TV personality with over 12 years of journalism and production experience of Virginia native and Yale University graduate. Albert currently serves as a technology correspondent for CBS his Emmy winning educational program, innovation nation, a live host for Amazon's Home Shopping show Amazon live. He's also a film and TV correspondent for IMD B's video series, and a producer and host for the bl perspectives digital series, Albert created and hosts a series about diverse career opportunities with the Walt Disney Company called working with, and he's contributed to specials for the Oscars, Emmys and Comic Con. Wow, can you believe I know this guy, Albert and I met while filming the power of pop culture Episode One of the YouTube series boxlunch perspectives. And when I started doing a little bit of research on who the host of this series was going to be, I was blown away. I discovered videos of Albert interviewing the likes of Oprah, Dolly Parton, and most impressively, Kermit the Frog. Did that last bit get you really excited? I bet it did. It's pretty cool. Today, Albert is going to help draw some similarities between building a media personality and building your brand identity as a toy inventor or entrepreneur. So without further ado, let's dive into today's conversation. It's a good one. For today's episode, we have my friend Albert Lawrence on the show, Albert a huge warm welcome to the show. I'm so happy to have you here.
Albert
Thank you Azhelle it's, it's a blast, I'm really excited that we get a chance to connect this way and that I get to kick it with your toy people.
Azhelle
I'm so happy that you agreed to come on. Honestly, I'm not gonna lie, I thought you were a little too big shot for the show. So I'm happy to have you here. For real,
Albert
we're gonna have a blast with this. I know the first time that we met was working with boxlunch working on their bl perspective series, which by the way, you were such a phenomenal guest to have on there, where we got a chance to talk about the intersection of pop culture as it relates to social issues. And because you are the toy coach, aka the toy Queen, you were able to really bring together a part of pop culture that I think that some of us don't even necessarily think about having as its own portal, but my goodness, like it drives so much of how we perceive each other how we share our stories with other people. And that is the toys. So I think that it was so amazing that you got a chance to share that light with a lot of us who may collect toys, but we didn't necessarily think about some of the psychology and some of the the struggle and battle that go within getting representation fed into toys.
Azhelle
Oh man, Albert, you are you're straight up hosting me out of my own show, are you. Okay? What's up? Everyone, Albert is a super successful show host actor filmmaker just so much more. But today, today, he's gonna pull it back a little bit. And he's gonna focus on talking about his career achievements as they relate to building a brand identity for himself. And I really want to have this conversation with you today, Albert, because I think that it's really applicable to the toy inventors that are listening to this podcast, because I often tell my listeners that they need to focus on building their brand identity as toy inventors that toy companies begin to know and trust them and maybe even want to hear from them and hear their product pitches. So I told you all about this as we were first starting out and you had some great insights and things to say. My first question for you is, how did you start building up your brand identity? Wow. So how did I start building it up? It's funny, it kind of ties into something that I've heard you share with your audience before, which is the idea that content is king. So for me when I first started out, I just knew that my purpose my desire was to build brightness to add brightness to the media landscape. I just wanted to be able to infuse my joy into like bringing joy out of other people and Riding a platform for it. So honestly, it really kind of goes back to growing up in church, being in the choir, being in school plays and church plays, hosting talent shows, hosting new segments for my high school, Morning News space. And then from there, once I got to college is when I got a chance to really kind of focus and tailor tailor my approach a little bit more. So I started hosting a show on our radio station basically is one of the things was I would look for voids, like, I'm not a person who's afraid of competition. But at the same time, if I don't have to compete against someone to get a thing, I'd prefer to be able to find the space that's not already being occupied, and then play around in that space, so that I can make mistakes without everybody necessarily seeing all of the all of the mistakes that I'm making in the background. It allows me to fail and comparing, yeah, and comparing and comparing. Um, so I went to Yale University, and I loved it there. But ironically, one of the things that drew me there was the fact that we did have a film studies program, but at the same time, like, it's not like the film studies program at Yale, at that time, at least, was not what was the most popular subject area, you know, like a lot of my friends there. We're into political science, or they were studying medicine, I was like, Thank you, God bless you all, please succeed. And that so that if I ever need a couch to crash, I know who's mentioned that. But meanwhile, let me go ahead and work on this media thing over here. So, so what ended up happening was on campus, since there wasn't such a huge lineup of people that were all waiting to rent the same camera equipment that we're all waiting to get to the same radio station, I was able to find those pockets Azhelle, and just start making things and start experimenting with things. And what I found out really early on, is that there's so much that I could access that we could access that you can access, if you just ask if you just send that cold email out if you make that cold phone call, because there are enough people that aren't making those cold phone calls that aren't doing those asks, and we just assumed that like, oh, there's there's no way that I like that this person is going to grant me an interview because I'm sure like everybody wants an interview with this person. And it's possible like maybe maybe, like, for sure there are multiple people I reached out to to interview for my shows on campus that like, you know, that I never heard back from. And but but I still love their music. And I still love it, you know, but it's like, it's just the name of the game. But there were enough people who said like, oh, okay, yeah, like, come on, come on over here. Come on, do your thing. And what I would do Azhelle in terms of like, really building my brand, is my goal was, regardless of who it is that I'm speaking to, regardless of like, how famous that person is, regardless of if anyone else knows that person's name. Like, that doesn't matter to me. Once you say yes. Once you agree that you're going to share some of your time with me that you're going to share some of your story with me, my desire is to go in, let's get the most nuggets, let's get the most impactful, the most relatable stuff that we can get with you. So that then when I share it on air, there's this instant connection that gets a chance to build between the audience and that person. And I'm just a cipher, like, I'm just a filter here in order to elevate that person in order to drive that connection. And so because I treat each person as though they are a Grammy nominee, I treat each person as though like they've got an Oscar in their home, like those awards. That's cool. But for me, what's most important is the fact that we all have a very special story, to tell and to share. And so I would just take the stuff that I was getting from other people, and I would put it on my platforms. Back then it was mainly YouTube or campus TV stations. And I made a little show called Sweet sweets, which was basically a version of MTV Cribs, but just like done in jail campus dorm rooms, where I would go and find people would call dorm rooms and read by one lone camera and do it. And actually Azhelle making that making that stuff on campus ended up landing me my first internship in Los Angeles, which was with Fox, and then that helped to lead me to getting an internship that gave me my first chance to travel overseas, which was with HBO, Asia, based in Singapore. So each thing, each thing really did end up being a ladder and a bridge to go over to the next thing, but it really did all start with just wanting to make content, regardless of whether or not I was getting paid, regardless of whether or not I was gonna have to pay in order to make the con. I was like, I know, you know that I know. Right now, because we got to pay in order to get this stuff to be seen. And then you know, then things come after, but we've got to make that initial investment sometimes. You know, it's so interesting, like listening to you talk, you're reinforcing the idea that people say do what drives your passion, like focus on your passion and the success will come later. But what I'm you know, thinking through as you're talking is it's not just the passion it was that you're doing the things that lit you up, and when you lit up You showed up as your best self. So then when somebody happened across your content, they're seeing you at your best because you're just so happy and so invested in what you're doing. So then the opportunities were coming, Yo, I think you hit the nail on the head with that. And one of the funny things is when you talk about, like, what happens when people come across your content, and what kind of vibes do they get from what they're seeing? Mm hmm. Another thing is, so much of the stuff that I did at the beginning, and honestly, some of the stuff that I'm still doing right now, even to this day, are things that people have not necessarily hired me to do. They're just things that I'm doing, because I want to show people that I can do this thing, right. And sometimes it takes us showing someone that we've either already done the thing, or that we have the capacity to do the thing that will finally convince them to look at you in the light to then hire you or to then collaborate with you on that thing that you've been wanting to do. But instead of just, you know, waiting for someone to give us that validation waiting for someone to like, realize, like, Oh, my gosh, he is okay, he can do this thing. Oh, my gosh, she she is brilliant. Oh, great. Like, I love her toys, this printer, instead of us having to wait for that invitation to come on in, we get a chance to just create our own lane, we just create our own lane. And then we just get so into it that like other people see what's happening in our lane, and they're like, oh, okay, hold on, that looks legit. Like, I want to be a part of that like, and then we get a chance to work with people in that way. And one more thing that I want to say kind of on that point is though, is that so much of this stuff, like I have had to pay for it. Like, when I first started out, like I was hiring my own cameraman like I, it was a friend who I met at the gym, and he was like, oh, I've got a camera. And I'm like, Oh, great, I'd like I think I might be able to take $50 out of my paycheck because we could kind of give you $50 and show up with me on this red carpet. And it was that it was like trading, like whatever I had, or trading meals or trad.., you know. And it's just like, whatever you can do in order to get that content and put that out. But once you put that out, nobody knows like, or nobody has to know that you were the one that paid for that. Nobody has to know that like this footage that you have on your reel, that this photo that you have on your website that this article that you've gotten, nobody has to know that like that wasn't just sparked by someone recognizing your brilliance and inviting you to cover. Nobody has to know. So you go ahead and you just create the story that you want for people to believe. And that's how we do it. Oh, yeah, it's so Oh, you're sparking so many things in me, you're so okay, I have one I have a story, then I'll follow up with like a thought and a question. So you're making me think back on the way that I created content when I launched my costume company Costumize Me. And at very first, it was very much a barter and trade like, hey, models, friends, please come do this. And I will feed you and give you water, you know, like, put on my clothes and model them. So I can put them on my website, sign this release. So I can use your photo in perpetuity forever. But it's so funny. So Costumize Me didn't like lift off right away. When I made that content. I was putting it out there. And what I noticed and what I realized Now, of course, because this was seven years ago that I started that what I realized now is that I wasn't really infusing it with what lit me up and like what I was really interested in. So because it was a space that was already filled, it wasn't a niche space, instead of just doing what I think I should do in this empty void. Like you're saying, I was so busy looking at what other people are doing, and and essentially copying and then not showing up as anything unique and not showing up as anything innovative. And the second that I created a customized me piece that was it was actually themed after Black Panther. That's when people started to see me in the clothes and I started modeling them with this different energy, like it's just a different energy. And those products started driving sales without me having to try. And I don't know, I'm just hearing all the things that you're saying. And it's so important that even if you're in a space where maybe it's not a completely empty space, so there are people around, you've got to find what you love about that space and combine it with every aspect of your personality, you know, like don't feel like like because you're a clothing company, you can't dig into your African roots don't feel like because you're a media personality. You can't have an opinion on politics. I mean, push the envelope, like push it because that's how you're going to actually going to establish a voice and that's the only way that people are going to identify with you recognize you and want to give you opportunities. So that number one that's the first thing you just made. As a first thing you popped into my head thank you I'm here for it. I love this. And then second now with everything You're saying I would just love you to think through with me how my toy inventors out there looking to establish a brand identity for themselves. As an inventor, I kind of want to talk through and think through how they might start doing that, using the things that we're saying. One of the things that I teach is as an inventor, normally, you have like an inventor studio, which is essentially a place in your house, where you come up with ideas, you sketch them, you make them out of foam core, or you build them out of foam itself. Maybe you have a 3d printer, it's essentially where you build. Yeah. And my lesson is always you know, share a little bit of your space, show people where you work, you know, hide the things that are proprietary, but share your process, and share your beliefs in the process your framework around the way that you work, right. And now I'm just I want to give some valuable takeaways here. I feel like how can we apply that idea to the way that you built your media personality at the very beginning, and even the way I built mine at the very beginning? How can we do that?
Albert
Okay. Oh, it's so funny. I said something that sparked two things for you. You just said something that sparked a few things. Okay. One thing that I want to mention real briefly, and we can come back to this, if you feel like it's relevant for your audience, sure. But I'm a correspondent on a show that airs on CBS on the weekends. It's called innovation nation. And every episode and innovation nation, we meet people from around the world who have come up with ideas. And these ideas, some of them go on to be like massive, huge ideas, like names of things that like now you see all over Amazon, other ones end up being like more niche, but something that really does help the server community. But one of the things that so far within the stories that I've covered for them that I've seen as just a tying bond, is that a lot of these people are driven by finding solutions to problems that they have encountered in their own life. So a lot of these people, they didn't start off Azhelle, just thinking like, I want to make a bunch of money. What's the easiest, what's the fastest way for me to make the most money? I'm not look, I'm not shaming those people that have that as their motivation as their motive. There are industries that are built off of that, and there are innovations that can come out of that space. But when you and I when we're talking about the creative realm, when we're talking about the creative space, I think that so often, especially when we're talking about this subject of authenticity, this subject of really, how do you bring yourself the most of yourself to something that ends up helping yourself to be magnetic, because you are building that brand that's built, in my opinion, some of the most important to the sturdiest homes have that are built off of finding real problems that you just naturally encountered in your life, and then figuring out how do I solve that, and as you're solving that for yourself, you also end up creating a solution for others. Okay, so I do want to say that,
Azhelle
Oh my gosh, wait, I'm sorry, you're already sparked something new. That is exactly my journey. Like, I love the toy industry. I always wanted to teach kids actually. And then I loved kids and I loved working in this industry. But I did find myself in my career at a point chasing the money, right? Like saying like, okay, where's my next promotion? What's the next big thing I'm gonna do? Hold on? Is that one to work with the towel company? No. This is Yeah, like, I mean, I've been Toys R Us, Creative kids, Madame Alexander all over. But just as I'm growing, I was looking for the next promotion, I was looking to make a bigger team and like all this stuff. And it was like, you know, it was tangible, like just not emotional growth. It was just monetary growth and prestige growth that I was focused on. But now like what you're saying, like, yes, as soon as I figured out the thing that there was a need for that I also really was passionate about I became magnetic and it came naturally. Every step in this path has been so much easier than every step in my corporate career had been and it's crazy. I mean, it's unreal. So okay, sorry to ruin in the middle of
Albert
Ruining, what? This is just the dialogue and, and it's funny, I feel like we're playing like a fantastic game of zoom tennis, where like, you're like, Oh, man. Okay, let me look back at that perfect. No, this is wonderful. Because it really it does get to look, it's obvious that you are walking in your purpose, right? It's obvious that you were living in your purpose. And as soon as you really confronted like what it is that is inside of you, once you opened yourself up and tapped into what drives you what what brings you joy, what you would do, even if you weren't getting paid to do it, like the fact that you found a way now to do that thing that you feel like you're placed here for and you are able to tap into others. So you're activating others while doing it. And you're able to make a living doing what you do. Like I just feel like sometimes because we live in a society where we're speaking of branded You know, Instagram is can be a fantastic space for it. You've mentioned before LinkedIn really being a strong and powerful space, all of these different tools like Tik Tok like all of these tools that are at our disposal, right? Like, I've signed up for, like, I'm not happy anymore.
Azhelle
I am, it's embarrassing. someone the other day, I was like, hey, like, have you ever made a balloon arch before, I'm thinking about making a balloon arch for this project, she sent me a tik tok video to tell me Oh my gosh.
Albert
So there are these platforms, there are these communities. And it's a beautiful thing that we get to tap into them. But at the same time, I'm, you know, channel my buddy, Peter Parker for a minute, you know, with, with that, with great power comes great responsibility. You know. And so, because of that, because these platforms are there, and we have access to them. I do think that sometimes it can become easy for us to get sucked into not just the voyeurism of them, but also the comparison temptation of them. So we log on, we scroll through Instagram, and and it's one thing to be inspired by people. But then sometimes that inspiration can somehow sort of like morph a bit into like, self doubt, right, and intimidation. And like, you know, what, I am clearly not doing enough, because where's my picture of me in Tulum, you know, like, I'm clearly not doing enough. Because, like, this person is on this show. Now, this person just got a promotion. And but the thing is, when we're looking at Instagram is like that. It's a brand that we're building. And everyone is not necessarily sharing 100% of everything that's happening in their life. And I for one of those people I'm not sharing everything is I'm sharing for me, my Instagram. And this kind of happened over the past year, sort of like during COVID. So some different things changed in my life. But I was just like, I felt like I wanted to start curating my Instagram in a different way. And I wanted to start like really, really honing in on a few different portals few different parts of my brand that if somebody were to just click on that Instagram today, I want them to be able to see in a snapshot, what's Albert up to? What's his life about? So for me, when you ask about what's something that we can share with all of the toy makers, with all the toy people that are listening in this group, for me, I decided that my social strategy would be I'm gonna focus, I'm gonna spend some time focusing on this one specific channel for a moment, and really, really crank on this, and spend time with that, and then I will branch out and you know, have that same kind of approach and strategy and use those on whatever platforms that I feel are relevant to me. So I decided, like Instagram is the one that I've already had an Instagram, but like, I'm really going to spend some time with this. So I looked at what is it that I want to put out in the world? But how can I break it down into three things? For me, it was entertainment, technology, and lifestyle. So once I decided that those are three parts of my strategy, those are three parts of the vision that I want to make sure that when you click on this page that you see, I was like, Okay, well, what can I make that can be consistent, and consistently highlight those different things in my life? How do I get those good pictures as well? Right. So what I ended up doing was I reached out and this was, again, like, maybe eight months ago or so, I just started doing a search on Instagram and like looking at whose photos do I love? And then like, I fell down like this clickhole where like, I clicked and Oh, this one who took this photo and that of that. Okay, and who else did they photograph and other than that, so eventually, I landed on a photographer page, who has like, oh, like this guy. He knows how to shoot lifestyle portraits. And what was important for me is since I'm black, like he knows how to shoot black people, like he knows how to capture that light, we come on, like,
Azhelle
yeah, yeah, you're very well, we got to get to share your tips, share your tips.
Albert
And so what what ended up happening with that Azhelle is like, I ended up forming a partnership with him. We're now and his name is Alan Daniel, really dope photographer, we meet up and we shoot three times a month. In fact, we're going to do a shoot today, we shoot three times a month. And when we shoot those three times a month, like I am banking images, we are banking images, so that like I have stuff that I can share and spread over time, so that I like eventually, like I end up building up an archive so that I can play and then and it's not necessarily that like, everything that I shoot today, I'm going to like roll out over the next week or two. Now some of that stuff just like stays in until something that's relevant in my life or something that's relevant that I want to share about something happening in the world pops up. And then I'm like, Oh, you know what? That's right. We shot a picture of me on a bridge back then. And today, like something massive happened with the bridge, I want to talk about a bridge, I'm gonna pull that back. So you end up really building up your own catalogue, you build up your own archive, and yes, it is an investment in like time, but also in, you know, in financial resources. But the thing is, we can all have our own version of that if that's what we're interested in, because we don't have to call up a professional photographer. To do that. We can call up a cousin, we can call up a friend. We can just have some sort of routine routine to where you know that you are going to have x amount of content so that when you are making your content calendar when you oh my gosh, you are a fantastic example of this because just looking at, like your podcast episodes and like and I I can't even imagine what your digital virtual physical calendar must look like as well, for example, like how many episodes before this episode? will air? Like how many how many episodes you already have in the bank right now?
Azhelle
Well, honestly, about three done like several more planned. But honestly, this conversation is so good. I'm probably gonna release it early. As you were talking as you were talking, I was like, Oh, okay. Apologies to the other ones that are already in the bank. I did not too fast pass. So here's the thing, though. I don't know it's gonna it's this is I might have to do a bonus episode. Because I need this to come out real soon. Like, this is so good. I love it. And also, it's weird. I almost feel like I'm getting interviewed. So it feels it's so it's got so many layers, it's got insight from you. It's got personal sides. For me, it's got insight on my side, personal sides on your side. I mean, this is great. I mean, this is just
Albert
One of the reasons that like, at least that I feel that way is because I feel like there is something about speaking with someone who is passionate about something. And for me, it doesn't even matter. Like what that passion is, I just want to talk with people who care, like who really care about a thing, because we think about what it is they care about. That is just a reminder that there is a spark within them that there's a flame within them that they have truly activated that they have come to terms with and that they're like, yo, let's let this thing burn. Like Like Mike, my cousin, my cousin alive. We live together right now. He is a massive gamer. He loves gaming. And I haven't like gamed hardcore like that as though probably since I was I don't know, like maybe school, maybe High School, like the gaming universe has changed tremendously. I mean, I have a Nintendo Switch now but like, I'm not gaming nearly as hardcore as like with these true folks are doing. And so but just like still like listening to him talk about like his strategy and listening to him on his microphone upstairs like talking with his friends as they're connecting over like Call of Duty and like and you know, they're putting all that together. There's just something that is still translatable, and it transfers. So when you talk about toys when you like listening to your podcast, when you talk about the virtual toy events, that you're really encouraging people to become a part of when you're talking about the classes that you're giving. I love when you share the like people have continuously come to you and ask you like, hey, when is this class gonna start like, I want to take this class, I want to use class. And you're like, Look, you gotta wait for paper for you to come up. And so now that I'm doing it, I'm just telling y'all, y'all need to go ahead and sign on up now. Because Because things move quickly. And so there's just something about the fact that you care, the fact that your listeners care. And that is incredibly that's incredibly magnetic. To me, and I think just the other people who also have passions, because we just want to be able to get together and learn from each other and just share you know, I don't want to talk to another Albert all day, could you imagine, I would not want to live that conversation.
Azhelle
That would be entertaining, Too much. And you Azhelle, we need to be it's great to have differences, you know, so I want to recap the things that you just mentioned, because they're really good and I see how they can apply to inventors trying to build out their social media identity or their brand identity for their inventor studio. Okay, so number one, you said choose a platform to go in on Choose one platform focus all your energy there, my advice is to find out where your target market spends their time. So if you're trying to be seen by more toy companies, it's probably gonna be LinkedIn, if you're trying to be seen by more consumers because maybe you're an entrepreneur and you have a product to sell then it might be Instagram. And then the one thing I want to add to that point is just if you have the other social channels just think of those as like major broadcast channels like when you're having a big launch when everything a big sale like you go in on those channels, but focus on your one. I totally agree with that. My social media managers always trying to tell me to do that and I just don't listen. So because I need to do all the things. But yeah, she's always telling me She's like, we need to calm down like Oh, okay. And then number two, you said establish the categories that you want your brand to convey. Love that I do the same thing of focus on entertainment, technology and lifestyle. Makes sense with all the things that you've accomplished for sure. So as a toy inventor, I'm thinking you want to focus on innovation, probably knowledge around the toy industry, and also your area of expertise. I call this your zone of genius. But a lot of times toy companies want to work with somebody who's an expert in whatever category it is that they're working in. So if you're an expert in preschool age toys, because your child psychologist for that age, you know, really hone in on that in your social media presence. Your next point was to build up a library of images, which I love. I love that idea. And I think it's so helpful. And I I try to do with my cell phone at home, but it's not as fancy as a photographer. But no, that's Yeah, that is the best way to save yourself some time. And then I think your last point was to build out a strategy and a calendar that helps you tell that story, right?
Albert
Yes. Now, here's, here's my huge asterisk with that, because I don't want to seem hypocritical, right? I, I've tried to build this calendar thing out before, to varying degrees of success. But like, if you were to ask me right now to send you a file with my social media strategy on it for like, the next month, I would be making one out because it actually does not exist. Okay. But But the thing is, that's just because like with my brand, like with my stuff, so much of it has to do with like, what's happening maybe today. And so a lot of the stuff that I share ends up being things that I have worked with clients on, right. So for example, I also I'm a host for content on IMDB, with IMDb, since it's all focused on like film, television, media and whatnot, like I might do an interview for them. In fact, there's one that that's coming up that I'm very excited about. But the thing is, like, I'm not always sure when those are going to be released, right?
Azhelle
So you can't say anything until
Albert
Exactly. And so then like the day that
Azhelle
You can't plan, right,
Albert
It's harder to like plan for that. But that's why, for me, it's helpful to have this bank of image is that are just like style images, or like me playing with certain different kinds of technology, because I know that I always have those to fall back on. Even if I don't have like any event thing to share in the moment.
Azhelle
I think that can also apply to toy inventors, entrepreneurs, because oftentimes, if they have an opportunity, like maybe a toy company is interested in licensing their idea, or retailers interested in carrying their product, they can't tell the world until it's out there. So yeah, I think that's definitely applicable. Everyone struggles with that everything's a secret until it's public, especially in the toy industry. I bet with the toy industry, like, is there usually a pretty long turnaround time between like when a deal gets made? And then like when you're actually able to share it? Usually? Yes. But in the age of Coronavirus, everyone's just had to react so much faster in order to meet current demands. So yeah, you know, there used to just be a longer shelf life on things that might be related to an IP, like maybe a movie, or just two products that are being developed. But now, trends are moving so fast because of media, because of people consuming, like insane amounts of media and their interests are changing. And they're the trends are changing the hashtags, the challenges, like all that stuff is starting to have this weird effect on the industry where it's becoming very reactive. So there's still the bigger companies definitely still work a year out. But I wouldn't be surprised if they had a special team or a special section of their product line that was dedicated to reactive concepts. Like what trend is happening right now let's turn this around in three months kind of thing.
Albert
Okay, that's, that's super intriguing. Because when you said that now I think about I'm sure that these companies and he's telling me if I'm wrong, that especially when you're creating product that's tied to a film release, for example. So like, I'm thinking about a Wonder Woman 1984. And I'm thinking about like, where it was initially on the Release Calendar and thinking about all the consumer products that had been formed and thought about that. But then once that movie gets pushed back, like, what happens to the product teaches Oh, it's too late.
Azhelle
Oh, yeah, I went to target a few months ago, and I saw a black widow and I believe Wonder Woman action figures on the shelf. And I mean, Wonder Woman's out now, but it wasn't at the time and Black Widow is totally not out. So yeah, now it just screwed the whole schedule. Again, like but we got these toys though. We got to put them on a shelf. Yeah. When Black Widow comes out those toys could potentially be very cheap. They will have been in a warehouse for like, half a year, maybe a year. Who knows when that movie is coming out? I don't know. Yeah, I don't even know what's been announced yet. Oh, man. So before we started recording, you mentioned a home shopping showed style thing that Amazon live has. And that sounds like something really applicable to toy entrepreneurs. So please tell me what that is. Tell me about your involvement in it and all that. So I work with a platform called Amazon live, which is made by a small company Some of us may have heard of called Amazon. And what happened, it was on my is, I think of it as a home shopping space. Like a really fun hip Home Shopping space. And here's why I say that, because I'm one of multiple hosts that are on this show. And if you go to amazon.com, slash live, you will see what I'm talking about. I'm one of many different hosts that are on here. And what happens is, whenever we get on the show, it's an opportunity for us to share different products, whether it's a deals show, so maybe we're talking about these deals that are limited time. And so I want to like really, really let you know that today. These are the hot deals. But then we have some other shows that, for example, might be like a Valentine's Day themed show, we have, especially around the holidays, we have these holiday gift list style shows where some episodes are about all about toys, right, and some episodes are all about fashion. And some are all about like home decor and whatnot. And so this past year I was involved with, I want to say maybe all of the toy shows like all of the designated toy gift specials, and they were a blast. We talked about so many different Disney products on those shows. And what would happen is prior to Corona virus, I would fly back and forth to New York because Amazon would film most of this stuff in their studio in New York. And I loved it as well, like it was what I was like, Ah, I'm doing what it is I'm supposed to be doing. I love being on planes and love being in New York. But look like March, February of last year happened and shoot all of that dried up. So we ended up starting to broadcast from home. And with that, and this is a whole lot. This is a whole other episode. But like with the challenge the learnings that I've had to embrace during this filming from home stuff, they've been tremendous learnings. And they've like pushed me to do things that like I kept thinking, Oh, eventually I'll set this thing up at home, essentially, no, now Now is the time to do it. And so I'm talking with you now from from an office space that I've built out here in my home. And I've got a whole closet that's designated to products that Amazon has sent in products, and I'm gonna be bringing on out and sharing and talking with, but one of the reasons like in addition to if you just like love shopping online, this is something that you could really have a good time with. But from the creators angle, from the creative perspective of things, something that I think might be helpful to think about is when I'm sharing a product, when I'm talking about a product, I'm usually not leading with, hey, here's this Bluetooth speaker, and like, here are all of the features, here's all the functionalities of the speaker, cuz that's cool. That's great. But you know what, that's also already on the product page as well. Like if they really want to know that you can like click and see the product page. What I like to do on this show, what my fellow hosts loves to do on the show is we like to tell stories, we like to tell stories using the products. So I'd like to tell you what this Bluetooth speaker might do for you. If your lifestyle is this way, then this Bluetooth speaker might be relevant for you. And this way, it's not just about it does this and this and this, it's like here's how this can help you what is the benefit versus what are the features. And so as these toy creators, as you are continuing to make product to come up with ideas, I think that it is so helpful and to a degree imperative in order to stand out to really also weave your story into the product. Now it doesn't have to be like completely biographical it like this doll does not have to be a complete replica of Azhelle. But somehow infusing this doll and fusing this truck and fusing this toy with some sort of background with some sort of story that makes it easy to connect that that gives it more than just a tool more than just like, Oh, this is just a product. And it really does become an opportunity for this item to connect with people. And then I really do think as well. That's one of the reasons that like licensing is so massive is because like there are so many cool toys that are already out there and that are continuing to be made that don't have Mickey Mouse on them that don't have Elsa or Ana on them. And those toys like the great thing is like that there's space for those toys to rise and to live. But one of the things that having licensed toys does is there's already the story's already built in there as well. We've already been spending so much time with these stories. And that's what's connecting us to this The emotion
Albert
Yeah, the emotion that that that's what you're buying when you get the license for it. thing. And so the thing is, look at those leaders look at those consumer products leaders, and don't be intimidated by them. Don't be like, Oh, well, I'll never come up with a Mickey Mouse. So like, what am I even doing this? Right? No, you look at that, and you draw what you can from that. And you say, okay, they built a story this way. Alright, here's how I'm going to build a story for my brand, which is going to
Azhelle
they build a lifestyle. I mean, I remember. I remember learning that they actually had an initiative where they wanted to get, I think it was Mickey Mouse on on as many baby products as possible, so that they could start connecting at a young age. It's deep, though it's deep. But okay, we now have one comment, I hear you on the setting up your own space at home, I filmed something recently, in an actual studio, and I'm new, I'm fairly new to all this stuff. But when I went to a studio, I was like, Oh, so there's like four people here helping to do everything. And I was like, when I do this, it's like me and maybe a friend. I don't calling in from zoom. I was looking around, like, Oh, this is how this happens. Okay, so I can only imagine like going from your whole career having that kind of support to like, all of a sudden, you're the lighting guy or the sound guy or the tech guy, you're that you're the talent. Like, that's exhausting. But you know, what's funny about that is all of the hustle that I was committing to prior to this no of this other stuff I was doing in high school stuff, I was doing a college, right did have to run and gun, the stuff where I was hiring the buddy from the gym in order to film with me on the carpet, and then like googling, how do I make a logo, you know, like, all of that ends up coming back into play, right? You think you grew out of a thing? And it's like, oh, no, no, no, no, don't get too comfortable. You're gonna have to use skills again, actually a wonder if it's gonna have the actor field drop a little bit? Because I do have a few friends who moved to other countries and they're like, no, while coronas going on, I'm not going to be an actor, because it's too much work. Okay, okay, I'm going off off topic. But going back to Amazon live, it all sounds amazing. I'm watching it now as we're talking. And of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask the question, how do people get their products on Amazon live? Do you know,
Albert
from what I've gleaned, there are a couple of different ways. And one of these ways I'm about to get very familiar with because I'm about to launch my own late night talk show on Amazon. Okay, so this is an independent venture. So I'm gonna be using the Amazon live platform to do this show. So this won't be Amazon produced, but it will be on the platform. And so one of the things that happens with that is like so now I will be in charge on the show of like, choosing what items that I'm going to feature. And so for me, something that will stand out. First off, is there are like all these independent streams that you'll see on there, there are sponsors for some of these streams. So brands can reach out to the creators and ask the creators like, Hi, can you feature my product on your show, like I will pay for a branded segment, and then that's all between the brand and the the content creator to go ahead and work out their deal on. So I will definitely be doing that on my show. You know,
Azhelle
very cool.
Albert
So actually, so that's the only way that I know in terms of what the independent creators got it and or these brands can just email these independent creators and it's up to the Creator, whether or not it's going to be a sponsored thing, or they just really enjoy the product. So they're gonna just like share the product because they just like it, you know? And so I'm not 100% sure how the brands end up getting featured on the Amazon produced content. Like I do know that we've had like major sponsors on on some things like Like I said, like for the toy specials, Disney was a was a key sponsor for us, like on some of the fashion stuff that I've done for them. I'm wearing them right now cross cross cross, a huge sponsor of of a bunch of the fashion content that we've done as well. And so I know that major brands end up working with Amazon. I know that like even some brands that maybe I hadn't heard of prior to working with Amazon, they also end up teaming up. So sponsorship, I think is one of the most straightforward ways in order to get your product featured on some of these independent content streamers.
Azhelle
All right, perfect. Thank you. And to wrap up, why don't you just tell people where they can find you where we can reach out to you follow you Where should we go?
Albert
Gladly, thank you. So across Instagram, and Twitter, my handle is Albert talks. So just A-L-B-E-R-T talks T-A-L-K-S on Amazon live. My new show. It's called nightlight with Albert Lawrence. We're going to premiere on February the eighth, we're going to do a live stream premiere on February the eighth, we're going to be airing at 7pm. Eastern time. And I'm trying to like bite it off in chunks. So right down committing to basically a four episode structure. So hopefully every Monday night you'll be able to tune on in and it's going to basically just be a party Azhelle. It's gonna like I'm going to bring in friends who are also influencers on Amazon gonna bring in people who have thoughts and specialties and, and all that stuff. And we're just going to be hanging out, we're going to be very involved with the live chat. So we're gonna keep that party going. So So yeah, I would love love if you came through and hung out in the chat. And you know, at some point, like it'd be cool to even have you on there Azhelle because we can talk about sharing your your toy tips and like and all that all that good stuff.
Azhelle
I've got to say, it's so funny. I have a launch February 9 7pm. Eastern time. So yeah, I'll try and come support you maybe come support me, this is such this is a good time. This is gonna be a big month for us as well. It's gonna be a big month. So thank you for giving me the chance to share that with your community. And it's really just for bringing me on this has been way too much fun. This has been great. I love this conversation. I'm so sorry to who I might need to bump to put this out there or I'm so sorry. To my listeners. If now you're it's one week and all of a sudden you see too many episodes. And you're like what? I don't have time for two episodes this week. I budgeted this hour. Yeah, well as Well, I didn't do it. It's not me. Thank you so much for coming on the show. This was awesome.
Albert
Thank you. Thank you so much, Michelle, and I wish you continued success and all of your listeners as well to all the toy people. Shout out to you.
Azhelle
Take care, Albert. Well, there you have it toy people. my interview with Albert Lawrence. I told you it was phenomenal. Albert and I discussed, most importantly, some strategies that you can implement to make sure that you're hyper focusing your social media efforts toward attracting your ideal market. If that's buyers that you want to see you if it's toy companies, you want to see you in a space of authority or if you're reaching out directly to parents who might want to purchase your product. It's important that your social media platform reflect who you are in the light that you want them to see you. Now, if you want even more information on Albert, and you want to learn more about his upcoming show on Amazon live, head over to thetoycoach.com forward slash 57 where I will give you all of the links so that you can be there with me on February 8 at 7pm. Eastern time to celebrate his very first episode on Amazon live. Now if you haven't already left a review for this podcast. What are you waiting for? I love hearing stories about how this podcast inspires you on your toy journey. Every time a new review comes in, I get notified on my cell phone and it puts a huge smile on my face. Thank you so much for listening to the show today. I know there are a ton of podcasts out there. So it means the world to me that you tuned into this one. Until next week. I'll see you later toy people.
Intro/Outro + Jingle
Thanks for listening to Making It in The Toy Industry podcast with Azhelle Wade, head over to thetoycoach.com for more information tips and advice
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