We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matthew Krul a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Matthew, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I’ve always had a passion for all things Disney, and I found myself sitting with all this knowledge that I had accumulated as a Disney historian, fan, and former Cast Member. For the longest time I dreamed of starting a Disney fan podcast but felt that the space was perhaps too saturated with amazing content creators. One day I finally mustered up the courage to just create the show and publish my first episode, realizing that I didn’t need to be as successful as the well-established players, just good enough to provide valuable, entertaining content that I would feel proud to produce. I quickly gained a few listeners and worked hard to produce the kind of content they would enjoy. My strategy from day one was just to be myself, speak from the heart, and provide high-quality Disney fan content with an eye for optimism and a professional yet casual/conversational style of speaking. At the same time I was busy promoting the podcast via social media and finding new ways to reach more listeners. Years later I still follow the same formula for success just on a larger scale, and my proudest accomplishment is not the number of downloads or followers I’ve generated but the emails, messages, and ratings I’ve received for the podcast. To me, quality is still far superior to quantity.

Matthew, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I established Imagineer Podcast in 2017 to spread optimism and joy within the Disney fan community, bringing Disney fans together to celebrate their love of all things Disney and gain a deeper appreciation for the brand. While this idea isn’t exactly unique (there are many Disney-focused podcasts), the style in which I present the material is how I differentiate myself from other podcasters. I might not be the most knowledgeable or the most polished, but I strive to produce high-quality, informative, entertaining content that brings listeners joy and reminds them of why they love the Disney brand so much. I strive to provide a small form of escapism from daily life, helping to bring happiness to others in a personalized way. I want listeners to feel like I’m speaking to each of them directly, like they always have a Disney friend by their side. My former Cast Member experience has also helped in my ability to better convey a story, speak with authority, and maintain a service-oriented mindset.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

With so many Social Media accounts in existence, it’s quite challenging to build an audience in our modern world. My formula has always been a simple one: I strive to produce valuable content that will delight my followers, focusing less on business results and more on user experience. While analytics, trends, and best practices are quite important to follow, most creators get lost when they focus too much on these goals and forget that their true role is to service their followers. It’s also important to remember that there are no shortcuts to success. In my first year, I earned 200 followers, and I was happy to grow to 1,000 by the second year. Within the next year I had close to 50,000, and by year four it doubled to 100,000. There’s a curve to growth that requires extreme resilience and an eye for quality. I’ve seen creators burn out and suffer mental health issues because they’re far too focused on the number of followers as a measure of their worth. I’ve always found my worth to be focused on the kind of content I’m delivering and the specific feedback I receive.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

With over a million downloads of Imagineer Podcast and over 100,000 followers, I still think of myself as a small player. I think a little humility (as long as it’s paired with confidence) goes a long way. When I had just 10 listeners, I worked hard to get to know each of my listeners on a personal level. I wanted to know how they discovered the show, why they subscribed, what they’ve enjoyed most so far, and how I can improve. Years later, I still follow this philosophy. While it’s become nearly impossible to know every single listener on this level, I work as hard as I can to get to know as many people as possible. I respond to all emails and direct messages personally, taking time to get to know who I’m talking to. If someone approaches me at Disney, I stop to meet them and ask the same questions (“what do you enjoy so far?”, and “what can I do to improve?”). I’m incredibly thankful for each individual listener, and if they’ve taken the time to listen to my show, the least I can do is take a moment to get to learn a little more about them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://imagineerpodcast.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imagineerpodcast/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imagineerpodcast
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewekrul/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/imagineernews
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ6NxIIXuLxcSYA78C0YnKg
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/imagineer-podcast/id1244558092