We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephen Seidel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Stephen , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
Growing up, the world seemed massive. However, with each day that passed, I was able to understand that we are all connected in one way or another. Eventually, I started to realize that the power of connection, was my superpower.
This helped me understand that we are all connected, and must be willing to step outside of the norm. There will always be others there to support and catch you, yet if you want to expand your growth, visibility, and reach – you must take a risk.
Only when you understand that your comfort zones limit you to the box that your mind, society, or those around you have created, can you truly shed any limiting beliefs to reach your fullest potential.
When starting my company, I was faced with a choice to work for a low-wage company or to simply start my own. And here we are almost a decade later, and I love the financial freedom, the ability to work with great partners, as well as the creativity that comes with developing outside-the-box ideas.
Just ask yourself, ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ and chances are you can most likely bounce back, regardless of what transpires. Like anything, “This too, shall pass.”
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The Seidel Agency delivers award-winning media, marketing, and public relations campaigns to elevate our partners’ stories to the stages, pages, and beyond.
As a creative team, we’ve helped launch #1 Apple Podcasts, get clients acquired for eight figures, win awards in all sectors, and re-package their products and services to be seen, heard, and tasted across the globe.
Our competitive advantage starts with our team, including myself, a Penn State licensed engineer. My goal is to apply quantifiable strategies to building brands that matter. In addition, we require all clients to have a charitable component so that their clients can “invest with their dollar”, “vote with their clicks” and empower locally to grow globally.
If you’re seeking to work with a company that can take your product outside of the box and into the hands and hearts of consumers, we’d suggest you reach out. We specialize in Food and beverage, Health and wellness, Entertainment and Technology, and ensure we cement your brand in the hearts of your audiences.
We specialize in creating compelling campaigns for Fortune 100 companies that are seeking a fresh and fun take on experiential PR campaigns.
For Example, A recent client Noodle Lane, recently opened in Park Slope, NYC and brought us on board as their PR agency of record.
Since they were located in the melting pot of the world, we felt having key tastemakers from across the concrete jungle like Tony B from Island Realty, Eater NY, and Infatuation would be the key to unlocking their story and amazing flavors with New Yorkers everywhere. We also booked them on TV’s Fox5 Good Day NY to deliver a well-balanced media approach.
Our brand is built on giving back and our motto is to Do Good, Give Back, and Make an Impact. So when you work with us, we guarantee to leave the world a better place with our campaigns, while also helping to raise your bottom line.
Last year alone, we were nominated for the Brand Entertainment Awards, while winning the Social Shake-up and Web Excellence Awards, to name a few.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
At The Seidel Agency, we are superconnectors, and when the podcast industry started to grow, we decided we wanted to hear more of the amazing stories bubbling up on their streaming services.
Before creating The Seidel Agency, I created a media company, Renegade Reporting, that didn’t quite reach its pinnacle. However, I loved creating podcasts in my free time, and eventually, those contacts led me toward marketing with influencers at a company called Thoughtful Media. Shortly after that, I decided to work with these creators and help them build followings and leverage their audiences to build their channels for revenue generation.
This led to developing several podcasts with YouTubers, as well as creating a true crime podcast about my best friend’s father from Penn State. His dad was a former FBI agent, who busted the biggest criminal in Philly’s history. Hint: He lived a double life, so was doing both good and bad, check out “Wolves Among Us” wherever you get your podcasts.
So, as The Seidel Agency’s marketing and PR were growing, we simultaneously created a #1 Podcast on Apple. This ultimately led to the creation of our IP Development Division, where we create IP around stories, celebrities, trademarks, as well as brands to catapult them into water cooler conversations everywhere.
For Example: Did you know that Guinness beer created the Guinness Book of Records to create trivia to read about while drinking an Irish treat? It’s the same strategy, yet with just creating books, podcasts, and more around your product or brand.
This has led to a massive boost in revenue for several clients and partners, as part of their media and marketing plans.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
There’s a great blog written by Kevin Kelly called 1000 Fans. It’s about growing your community from 1 to 1000, and how those raving fans are the key to your ultimate success. And if you added 1 fan a day, it would only take 3 years. Once you’ve built this, you’re in a much better position than running ads or acquiring fair-weather followers.
Read it Here: https://kk.org/
Too often, we think that we should be “marketing” and “scaling for success” when the real growth and movement come from your early adopters and passionate partners.
When we first started our company, it was due to word of mouth from a close friend, Dan Townsley, as he introduced us to our first partner. He suggested that we take our knowledge from working with influencers, and bring it to an emerging field, aesthetic medicine. And it worked, as the company we were working with became acquired for eight figures.
Word of Mouth will always be the most successful form of marketing and is how we continue to grow. We bet on ourselves, and our ability to deliver amazing experiences, next-level results, and relationships that last a lifetime. When you work with our company, we consider you as part of our own family and will go above and beyond to serve you.
We’re a boutique agency, that only works with a limited number of partners. We often work with franchises and companies that have small business owners purchasing their products, and quickly accelerate their growth by knowing their company’s history and results. This gives us a top-down approach to working with brands/franchises, while the providers and stores share from the bottom up.
And as a side note, if you ever want to connect with someone on LinkedIn, we suggest you work from the bottom up there too, as that’s typically where causes they care about most are listed, as opposed to the BIG HEADLINE at the top. :)
Good luck staying connected, and please connect with us while you’re at it too – www.linkedin.com/in/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.TheSeidelAgency.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theseidelagency
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSeidelAgency
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-seidel-agency
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theseidelagency
- Other: To Learn More about our Founder, Stephen Seidel, please visit StephenSeidel.com or our latest podcast, SoulProprietor.fm
Image Credits
All images taken by myself or my team.