Interview with Christopher Jerard, Founder/CEO, ROAM Media
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Transcription:
David Avrin: hi thanks and welcome to the customer experience advantage podcast i'm David average and.
David Avrin: Once again, you can watch the video version of this if you'd like on my website at David ever calm, you can look on YouTube.
David Avrin: And of course we're on all the audio platforms today is actually very cool because you know we talked we've talked recently about membership models we've talked about a business and how do we create.
David Avrin: Community and reduce churn well Community also requires a commonality a commonality of purpose, maybe a commonality.
David Avrin: of industry, how do we keep people engaged as i've said before it's not that customer loyalty is dead it's just harder to earn much harder to keep today because.
David Avrin: There are so many choices and because it's increasingly easy to leave you, which of course led to my book, why customers leave today we're talking to Christopher job we call he calls himself cj everybody calls and cj cj cj thanks and welcome to the show.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): thanks for having me David.
David Avrin: yeah absolutely so cj has a very cool company called Rome and i'm gonna let him sort of describe it, but I kind of looked at it, and when you look at all sort of the big names within the adventure industry, whether it's it's.
David Avrin: adventure adventure urs themselves, those who Chronicle it through video through photography.
David Avrin: brought this really unique group of people together to create something really unique it kind of reminded me back in the days, not that I remember the days back in 1919 when.
David Avrin: When a group of Hollywood superstar superstars got together and they were going to fight against sort of a studio system, if you remember the studio system.
David Avrin: Was somebody would be under contract Judy Garland was under contract with MGM and she had to do a number of films and they really put him through the through the grinder.
David Avrin: And group them got together and they said we're going to do it our way we're going to do it in a way that is beneficial to us as artists.
David Avrin: And they created the company united artists and so united artists studios, of course, was created by Douglas fairbanks jr and Mary pickford.
David Avrin: And Charlie Chaplin and others as well, and this seems kind of reminiscent of that so so cj tell me about Rome tell me about how it came about and then later, I want to get into.
David Avrin: The business aspect, how do we, how do we engage with these people what's the benefit on the artist side what's the benefit on the Member side and those in this very really unique and and attractive niche told me about Rome.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): The things that David that's a really I did not know that about guided artists, interestingly enough.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): That is interesting, our history tends to repeat itself and we don't even sometimes know that something like that tectonic it happened in the past, it is similar in terms of how I came to to Rome in terms of.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Speaking with some of my friends who are icons in the adventure world and looking at an opportunity, what we felt was a problem, what we felt was a.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): space to create a new voice for adventure, a new voice that came directly from those folks are the stars, if you will, of adventure and outdoor sport and this idea of creating a new voice that really was adventure with purpose it had some DNA underneath it that.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): wasn't just about these stories that you know the sort of because it's their story, you know.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Man versus nature, if you will, from more what is the texture of purpose underneath it whether that's climate change or diversity or something else that just.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know, is a little bit deeper and we felt that there was an opportunity for that and the conversation that actually birth Rome was out on a on a job, I was on with with a friend of mine who's really well known.
David Avrin: In the industry somebody with that job wasn't me tell me what you do so when you're saying on a job, what does that mean.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Sure sure we were out capturing story right, we were out with cameras film cameras, you know photography.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Shooting for in this case, it was, I think we were working for travel Alberta right, so we were doing a.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): A social media driven content piece that you know inspires people to travel right um and and that has been much of my career.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Working in the outdoor space in the Action sports active lifestyle space is really been in the media part of you know, telling stories that.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Get people excited about participating and going outdoors and being in nature, and one way or another um and so that that's we were there doing that thing as as we do, and we just were having a trail conversation if you've ever backpacked or had to hike into a place.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): calm, you know some great great conversations come out of that.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): sort of active those active moments and um we were just talking about sort of the legacy media space and the fact that we felt that there was something missing in terms of how.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): How the legacy media was engaging with the end audience and you know we would say on this podcast the customer right the the Member if you will i'm.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Sorry that's going to be the challenge was to edit.
David Avrin: That no worries.
David Avrin: We don't edit anything, this is.
David Avrin: This is good lifestyle so in you were talking really quickly, but about the legacy that the traditional so tell me about where we were.
David Avrin: Tell me about how you all made a living doing what you do and how we, as those who were vicariously experiencing it how tell me about traditional and tell me about.
David Avrin: The company and the transition and where we are today.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Sure i'd love a I don't want to take eat up too much time but maybe a little bit of my personal history would be helpful, they create some context.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): So as a as a.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): sort of born, I guess entrepreneur that sounds a little hokey but you know, I was definitely the kid that was stuffing flyers and mailboxes and always looking for a way to.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Create small business that could create income in one way or another, having a customer relationship with you know the elderly woman that lived down the street needed her garden weeded.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And that took me all the way through really college, where you know I had painting businesses and got very familiar and comfortable.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Being in someone's living room, you know pitching a service and having a relationship with the customer that way my passion.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Was not painting houses my passion was writing in particular skiing on growing up in New England and I moved to Colorado to pursue that really also you know secondarily college, but really came out to ski and.
David Avrin: not recognize at that time that new Hampshire wasn't really ski was it.
David Avrin: Well, I mean sorry.
David Avrin: i'm being snobby it's all i'm saying.
David Avrin: we're Colorado yes.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): We did not.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): know what powder was that's true.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): But we definitely if you grew up on the east coast you definitely know how to carve a turn because you know it's a blue ice thing, and all that so.
David Avrin: I just directed so yeah.
David Avrin: You brought you out to boulder Colorado.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): that's right he brought me out to Colorado and that led me, you know through through my schooling and everything else led me to launch a magazine with the group of others.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): called free skier magazine in the late 90s, and that idea was purely following our passion, again we saw a youth movement within skiing that wasn't being serviced and created a magazine that really spoke to a younger generation of scares free skiing and and you know back in those days.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Free skiing which is now sort of a pretty well known term even ask for it was not a thing right, so we created a magazine and.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): built a Community around this new idea within this one niche and you know became the largest independent magazine ski magazine, I should say.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): In the world over the course of a decade and I did that for for a decade and that taught me.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): I went in as a writer and a photographer and I came out as someone who knew a thing or two about media and how to build content that engages an audience and hopefully gets them to subscribe.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): and services, a client base in that case of advertisers so that that that's my first part of my career and in about 2009.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Some of the athletes and the photographers and the writers, that I was working with.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): were really doing a lot on this newfangled thing Facebook and Twitter and social media.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And they were building audiences and and it's there was a slight bulb moment where everything shifted for me.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Where I realized that the gatekeepers of media myself being one of them on we're you know getting their doors kicked in in a good way in that the individual creator the photographer athlete.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Artists now had a democratized platform to share their content and one of my good friends i've worked with for years name is chase jarvis.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): He showed me his social media following at that point, and it was nascent but bigger than the two national.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): titles, that I was running snowboard magazine and increase gear in terms of the total number of eyeballs and that was just as a total shift in my mentality of what was going on with media and how to reach a customer and how to install it sounds very obvious now but it 2000.
David Avrin: But this is not because because yeah because.
David Avrin: Everybody has gone through some sort of whether was the Epiphany of watching somebody else's transformation or utilization or their Epiphany.
David Avrin: With our listeners as well, a lot of entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs and those shifts that we saw back then are happening today 10 years from now we'll be having those same conversations.
David Avrin: So in 2021 this happened, and whether it was covert or something else, so this kind of a mindset of recognizing opportunities important so continue.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): yeah that the I would say that you know, historically, it was like.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): moving into media as a you know aspiring journalists, to a certain degree and understanding, media and then the advent of social media sort of changed media for me.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): dramatically and I started to work individually with these athletes and artists to help them build their social following.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Taking all of the the Decade of experience, I had at that point, building audiences audience personas and how to reach you know how to reach and engage a customer base in an authentic way.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Taking all of that, and then overlaying that into an individual's approach to their their audience and taking professed sort of professional long standing media approaches and putting that on to a micro media company.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): around an individual like say a Jimmy chin right, who is a who's a well known climber filmmaker and when I started working with Jimmy he was just starting.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): His sort of social media journey, and now you know he's got close to 4 million followers and is an academy award winner and.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): In being there early and all of that really contributed to where we are today with Rome and that idea of the individual, the individual talents, if you will.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Really, being a media entity unto itself and how to network that together into being a large distribution platform and how to network that together into being an authentic way to create content and reach an audience.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And in today's world it, it still feels like to me that we as individuals, as the end sort of consumer of media often engage more deeply, with a human being than we do a brand.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Be that a media brand or a consumer base brand.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): that the individual somehow feels you know there's a there's actually literally a face to to the to the media, and also we feel like we're speaking directly to another human being.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And that is very.
David Avrin: Our question where did where did you come up with the concept of sort of aggregating these individual entrepreneurs and entered individual brands and sort of media entities have themselves.
David Avrin: into into a central clearinghouse for that, because we see that across industries right, we see it with with a fiver we see it with ilana which became up work as well.
David Avrin: Is sort of a network of freelancers that you've created a Community around, but this is sort of on a different level, I mean it doesn't look like your goal is to is to bring together 100,000 freelancers around the world.
David Avrin: it's creating a platform for for those who are really engaged and active within within the industry and real quickly for our listeners, if you want to go to Rome media ra m.
David Avrin: MEDIA two m's Rome media.com so as we're having a conversation, you can scroll through the site and see what they've done because it's gorgeous and there's some bigger names.
David Avrin: But it really is a media company isn't it when I first looked at this, I thought we sort of a clearinghouse for people to do adventure work, but some of the films are.
David Avrin: gorgeous and and some of the talent, is it the idea of giving them a platform to sell what they have for people to engage, what was the vision and and is it the same today as when you envisioned it.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Well, it certainly all evolves right in and we're in a in a time that.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know forces evolution, whether you want to work or not, so I wouldn't say it's exactly as it was when we concept it, and that was only you know, for four years ago, so much has happened in four years in media and the world.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): It the concept really was initially based in this this sort of trifecta of of values, which was to inspire.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): educate and activate adventure with purpose, and so the mission being adventure with purpose going deeper.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And more intimately into story with these individuals and allowing them to tell their own story from the field and bringing that to you know, a larger audience.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): The larger audience aspect was the concept that I brought to the individuals was hey look it's sort of the sum of the parts, like all of you have really big audiences.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): If we all get together and build a centralized place, then that is something that can live on on beyond your sort of personal brand.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): On and all of those that original those founding members of Rome.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): All participated on on different levels, but in the actual ownership of the company from the start, so that was part of the the the the initial conversation was what if we built something that.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): At the beginning was the sum of the parts of all of us.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You reach all your audiences we build this audience that is centralized place for that content, and then we go into this direction of adventure with purpose, where we go deeper in terms of the storytelling beyond just sort of.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know man conquers mountain and if we can then create more value for the audience beyond just simple inspiration.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Because what we want to do is get you know, just as you were saying David you look at the side you say wow there's some really beautiful stuff here.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): right and it engages you, but how do we bring you deeper into the experience right, how do we actually help you get out there.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And that was always the idea was to create a membership platform that educated masterclass of the outdoors if you will.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And also gate enabled you in one way or another, to get out there yourself right that activate you through Community by meeting other people.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): and give you discounts on brands on travel and all those things that actually, you know as an adventure company we don't want people to just be simply glued to their screens, we want them to get out there and do it.
David Avrin: yeah that's a little bit of a dichotomy isn't it that you're it's a really a technology platform for the.
David Avrin: The sharing of this content, but the content really is its nature and its adventure and all those as well, but you talk about and certainly.
David Avrin: A great appreciation for purpose driven organizations who have clear visions, as you talk about adventure and purpose and act and active ization or.
David Avrin: But at the end of the day, we also have to monetize it, I mean this isn't an industry that outside of potential sponsorships.
David Avrin: Not a lot of wealthy people are out working by themselves, we think about the traditional you know National Geographic photographer in the 1960s 1970s, these are people who aren't necessarily doing it.
David Avrin: For great wealth or fame but they still have to feed their families so tell me a little bit about the promise, because you brought together the founders.
David Avrin: who have built in audiences, so you get additional reach you get additional visibility across the platform, as you sort of cross pollinate between the different founders, who are well known names within their industries.
David Avrin: Ultimately what's the promise and what's the growth opportunity from a monetization perspective i'm an unapologetic unapologetic capitalist as long as we do good work.
David Avrin: With the the the revenue that we have but tell me the opportunity to help help people make a good living and support their families doing good work.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): yeah absolutely it's great question and you know, to the pillars of our business in terms of a revenue model it really.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Does line up exactly with those values that I that I drive, which is inspire.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): educate and activate and we have those three silos as revenue streams within the company.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): So inspire is more traditional media as I talked about my background we do branded content work for brands right we do studio production work for for customers.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And that is a you know, an old model it's a model that you know customer comes in a North face or yeti or rhonda.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And they want a piece of content they want the distribution that's like an advertising model, and we do monetize that's that's partially how we keep the lights on and it's a good model from the standpoint of that it's it's the transaction happens quickly, in that the money from a.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Eight add deal comes in, and you can cash flow right so you're able to sort of self fund very, very actively with that that revenue stream.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): The revenue stream that is most important to the role model and the one that I think is most relevant to your listeners is the recurring revenue model around membership and that has always been the idea coming from from an advertising model in the magazines, I worked for previously.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): That you're always sort of on this hamster wheel of the next job right and you're also serving on.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Ultimately, from a revenue perspective you're serving the advertiser as much as you want to serve the audience and you do the separation of church and state and media it's well known, not always well kept but well known.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): right on the idea of having very attractive to me of being able to speak directly to the people directly to the audience and say I have something of value.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): That will enhance your life, it is a product that I made for myself and for the staff really believes in it in that way it's something that we care about first and foremost, and that product is this membership.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Right, so we bring you in with the inspiration.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You find us on instagram we have almost a million followers on instagram.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You might discover us there and then we pull you deeper down into hey can we provide more value for you do you want to learn to climb.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): From one of the greatest climbers of all time Conrad anker because he teaches essentials of climbing.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Do you want to learn how to take photos on a on a rock wall like Jimmy chin and academy award winner for free so low because he teaches climbing photography on our platform.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): So that's the door buster for us is education, we will help you if you're a climber, a surfer backpacker a band lifer we will help you gain the knowledge to get outside and participate in these activities in one way or another.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): In a very relevant way from the best in the world, so beyond what you can find on YouTube right you're going to we're going to have the absolute best instructors in the world.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): The most well known teaching these these these classes and that that is the initial thing that brings in our membership, then the membership opens up beyond that into further benefits.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): We do an event called the room awards, which helps bring is firing creators.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Just as you're saying how do you monetize this, how do you become a creator who can make a living out on the road, you know, in your van or at the crag or at the beach.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And the rewards gives aspiring creators, the opportunity to showcase their work and be judged by the ones that are the greatest in the world, and then they get showcased on the on the on the account so that's the activation part.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): So really the membership is all about.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Creating a product that you know is indisputable value for someone who wants to live this type of life.
David Avrin: yeah talk, talk to me about the trend towards creating these micro communities from both the creator perspective, and also the consumer perspective because.
David Avrin: I went to work with with my son, we went to one of the big comic con kind of things as well, and there were all of these artists who create comics you really amazing artist and everything else.
David Avrin: And they were sort of mini celebrities you could get them to sign their original work or their cells or things like that as well.
David Avrin: And you know traditional because you and I both grew up in traditional media is that that I spent my I spent 10 years in public relations trying to get my clients.
David Avrin: On good morning America on the today show in sports illustrated in in parent magazine that we were trying to convince somebody else to feature.
David Avrin: Our creator or athlete or whatever in their media and, of course, now we have opportunities to create our own channels.
David Avrin: But there's but there's a new evolution and the new evolution is the aggregation of some of those channels to bring those those creators together.
David Avrin: into Rome, for example, so tell me about the benefit in terms of both visibility brand creation pseudo celebrity status and then monetizing that following.
David Avrin: Do they have an advantage going through a resource like row media, which is aggregating all of those and what's the benefit over those who are doing it on their own doing it through tick tock doing it through through instagram and others as well, or the existing side by side.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): yeah it's a great question David and it's so individually based I think it's really the it's the ladder right, it does exist side by side, I think what what we offer.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): To an aspiring up and coming creator is incredibly valuable we offer the ability for those those folks to have a platform to share their content, become known.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And perhaps become an instructor for us, and then, if you're an instructor on their own platform, you have an ongoing revenue share in terms of the watch, you know the the the revenue that we bring in um and, and that is, you know that's that's recurring revenue for the individual creator.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Sure, as these creators become media entities in their own right, hundreds of thousands, millions of followers they have the opportunity to monetize that in in pretty significant ways, you know now the influencer.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Marketing world is you know pretty massive it's a it's a it's a big part of advertising the creator economy is something that you know their entire newsletters that are just dedicated to that now.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And they're monetizing that, in the same way that old world media did, which is eyeballs and influence and effect right um, but you have to get to a certain level for that to be really, really profitable and to get there isn't only increasingly competitive it's only increasingly.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): About so.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): The network that we have around Rome, the individual creators, the athletes, the artists to filmmakers, that is, is a Community and.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): I defined community on that as something that sits on a few pillars.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): The first would be the opportunity to create a living professional development right, and so our hope is that the Community around Rome of creators on and us being able to bring jobs to those individuals.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): On is an incentive to be part of our Community like if you're part of it you're going to hear about a job we're going to offer you a job in in those ways, a lot of those influencers, if you will, creators don't really like the word influencer but.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Right, it helps people understand what i'm talking about we much prefer the word Creator, because most of the in just a sidebar most of the.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Really, all of the folks that we're working with on are not on social media, for the sake of being on social media they're excellent at something they are.
David Avrin: they're not they're not doing they're not doing.
David Avrin: tick tock dances in bikinis and and thinking that that trains going to go for the rest of their life they're really creating them there's some really gorgeous content.
David Avrin: And so it is on a different level isn't it, so I would assume that from your perspective, as you were talking about the pillars I don't mean interrupt.
David Avrin: But, but that is a draw as well, is the promise of the exposure the promise of the opportunities, I assume you help them with the platform to create.
David Avrin: The the training content, the classes and things like that, so that there's a level of quality across the room platform that that's fairly consistent as well, yes.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): that's right yeah that's right, it is a that that's actually a second pillar, which is education right professional education if you're if you're part of a Community you make money from it.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You you learn something from it and you have social connection.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): In one way or another, and, in other words you your networking right you're finding other people who have similar values film similar goals, who are on the same path in one way or another, and you're able to gain.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): In in that social connection and a lot of people think community and they just think about that part, but when you really think about where you spend your time when it comes to Community typically that Community delivers beyond just the fact, these are the people I like to hang out.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Typically, that it also delivers education.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And, in one way or another it's going to be more engaging if it also helps you make a living right.
David Avrin: Right, so let me ask you this before we move on just clarify on that one so are you finding that your greatest draw in terms of membership are people who either.
David Avrin: A appreciate the artistry in the talent, or people who are aspirational people who want to glean from the biggest names in the industry.
David Avrin: and learn how to do what they do, I mean you get out here's My analogy muscle and fitness magazine.
David Avrin: You know it's not necessarily bodybuilders that are keeping that in business.
David Avrin: it's the the people who want to get in better shape and who better to learn from than the people who have taken it to such an extreme level who's your target who's your your best Member and the least amount of churn.
David Avrin: Is it that aspirational person who wants to do what they're doing and wants to learn it the weekend warrior or just somebody who just appreciates the artistry.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): The former right the person who wants to go deeper that's the person that's going to pay us $149 a year that's the person who's going to come in and say.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): I want to learn more I want to be deeper I want a leg up right, I want to improve my life in one way or another, and I decided that, for me, that being outdoors and learning more about surfing rock climbing skiing hiking camping you know that those are the things that.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): That drive it in one way or another, and we're we're offering that in terms of mean that's what you go from share of mind.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Right to share of walk.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Right right, and in order to get the customer, the audience member of the Community Member over the line from inspiration which, as I described is part of our business.
David Avrin: it's the draw sure.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): it's the dry it's the lead right it's the magnet that gets people to look and know who we are and appreciate, who we are and the credibility and authenticity that we represent.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Once we have them there, then we have a value prop which is come come with us come deeper come come learn from not just people who know what they're talking about, but actually the icons that you've been watching in these videos they're going to tell you how to do it in one way or another.
David Avrin: we're talking to Christopher Gerard cj from Rome media, once again, you can look them up and run media COM, while we're talking here and learn more about what they do.
David Avrin: talk to me about about retention talk to me about churn, what is your what are your metrics as you look at the revenue model certainly be forever transaction the membership economy is Robbie kelman baxter teaches that.
David Avrin: it's a brilliant model, as long as you retain So what are your metrics I don't even know what your numbers are, but what do you what are you aiming for.
David Avrin: And what do you think is key, you been doing this for just a few years now, and so long term year over year are you hoping to hold on to 80%, what do you think.
David Avrin: What do you see in the future in terms of the growth of the value.
David Avrin: Add to retain those Members who maybe have gone through the course that you have is it is it the increasing number of courses creasing number of of experts tell me what your your mindset is to make this a sustainable model.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): yeah great question David and certainly one that we are still working at like every membership platform out there and learning every day as to what our acquisition costs are how that relates to churn you know.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): what it costs to bring in a customer and how long we we have not had this part of the business up and running.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): On for for long enough, even to truly know exactly what our lifetime value is you know we're 13 months into launching Rome academy Rome academy is that education aspect so first we built the audience.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): That we've been talking about, and then we we're offering this membership to that audience so to be transparent.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): On we're still figuring it out, we have a thesis we believe we if we can retain as you said, you know 80% plus if the churn is can we can keep that below say 8% that that's a very, very good long term model, especially in this type of business where people really do define themselves.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): as being an outdoor person right.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Right yeah yeah and it is a growing you know that's be more and more people are discovering the value of being outside right.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): So long term we we have a thesis on what we think that that ltv is on but it takes a little while to realize that you know and so we're still figuring out what combination of our organic.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Efforts plus performance marketing plus email marketing, you know what is the cost of all those things that go into really dialing in what that khakis and getting that kak to ltv ratio right where we want right on.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And we're in most businesses most businesses who are pursuing this are in those.
David Avrin: early phases of it, you know you can equate it to coven they're like how long is the the vaccine utilize it hasn't been out long enough to know.
David Avrin: Right we're still getting gathering the data but there's so many people in your in your position.
David Avrin: With one of the other podcasts that I did we were talking about the membership model and so many organizations aspire to it, and what they what they realized very quickly is.
David Avrin: taking their traditional model and then just trying to sell it as a subscription model does work it's a different animal right.
David Avrin: But when you have an and I think one of the things that attracted me to wanting to talk to you is that the company is is a very it's not just a great niche but it's a niche populated by very passionate individuals isn't it.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Absolutely, I mean it, it is at the core of of that group that we are hoping will come with us on this journey.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Is an identity that's based in the outdoors.
David Avrin: They are there.
David Avrin: For the outdoor they're not just participants, and I think there's something unique in that that that.
David Avrin: foretells great success at least that's The model I would assume.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And that is that's where we focus to build the core business and then, of course, like any business Our hope is that.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): we bring in people who are participants we bring in people who have just been thinking about it that they see how how rewarding and fulfilling it looks.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Through the content, because the content we put out there, the storytelling we put out there, you know, as you said, there's a huge population of folks who are watching that and just were just inspired like wow that's an amazing landscape and look it out how.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): joyous those people who are participating look right man, maybe i'd like to try that and then they become a participant, and then they become an enthusiast.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And those are the people that we are eventually we're trying to grow this mean the outdoor market is is huge, I mean it's a massive in aggregate market.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And there's massive global opportunity with it as well, and that is really what our long term vision is to is to you know grow the pie.
David Avrin: yeah what it what it covert teacher, not just in terms of our ability to do what we do, virtually but and i'm probably a very, very much a leading question just in terms of of what we have come to appreciate when we realized, we had lost it, which was getting out of the freakin house.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): yeah you know for for us it's interesting coven um well as with so many people was extremely challenging.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): On it did for us immediately, and in fact we launched this that we have plans and the plans that were blue printed.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): But when our advertising revenue sort of evaporated on march 11 when the who declared the pandemic is almost instantaneously that.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): We pulled this this plan right off the shelf and said let's get busy building it so we actually launched the membership in the middle of coven so you know there's there's.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): there's a thread there that in fact it accelerated our our plan to do just what we're talking about on second it immediately since we're all inside it immediately made us.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): want to reach out to the Community and give the Community or an opportunity to connect, and so we immediately what I said at the staff is.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Every day we create every day we create we share and we are trying to bring people together, so we did daily instagram lives we launched a podcast in the middle of it.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): On and all of that was very much driven by a lot of the people that you know, the affirmation sort of icons within outdoors.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): They were not traveling and they had some time, so they did courses for us and we launched the podcast, as I mentioned, and I might my friend and co host corey richards, who is a natural photographer and and every year has been on top average three times and is an openness filmmaker writer.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): I probably wouldn't have been able to secure him to help with the podcast but we got together and launched Rome from home was actually the name of it.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): On and it really forced us to find ways to create value for the Community um you know from our desks and to try to build something that would bring people together.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know, so that was it was a force factor um in and.
David Avrin: doing it in some ways it accelerated what some of the future offerings might be just because if if necessity is the mother of invention, we certainly had a need.
David Avrin: But, did you did you learn that there were some really unique ways of creating engagement and content creation that may be because we're seeing this across a lot of industries.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Absolutely, I mean, I think.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know Scott Galloway wrote a book called post coven i'm in the middle of coven which was interesting.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): um but I.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know his his thesis and and I agree with this part is that you know what coven really did, is it accelerated trends right so for us.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know the legacy business of advertising was.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): and still is something that we you know appreciate, because it brings in revenue, but it is we believe in did when we launched the company that it is not the future.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): of Rome right the future Rome is this membership, and it is going directly to the people in terms of being supported.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): On a recurring revenue model that creates value on based on our values, so what coven did was in a way it accelerated to your point.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): On those two trends like less less advertising revenue and the need to create a different revenue line that in source that is more about you know, a membership model um so certainly that was always the plan.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): But it probably was a little bit further out, you know if Kobe had never happened we were you know.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Eight months away from sort of starting the launch of it and that went from you know we launched in, I guess, may we did the soft launch so you know within 60 days we started this thing up.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And we wouldn't have done that, without coven.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Certainly, that was an exceptional.
David Avrin: talk to me as we wrap up here next couple of minutes talk to me about the future, as you build out this model, are you are you looking at creating additional opportunities for Community meetups.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Absolutely.
David Avrin: Yes, you're not oh groups of people within specific sector is an opportunity for them to get their feet under the same table.
David Avrin: Maybe destination meetings I mean I find all this fascinating but i'm you know i'm going to go upstairs after this and take the doors off my jeep and go head up in the Colorado mountains so what's next for Rome.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Yet it is very much about improving the product, you know that is in in we are in such a fortunate position to work in this business that we love to.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know, have the opportunity to do a lot of things right, we can do a lot of things we can create content we can create Community events we can create online education.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And you know that the result of that, sometimes, is that you really have to bear down and focus on what is the one thing that you're working on right now.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And the one thing that we're really working on right now is providing value for the current members getting feedback from them.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): We bring them together on bi weekly Community calls for instance where we we invite all the Members to come on we've seen some incredible things I mean those have been the most emotional moments of.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): For me in this business has been to hear you know, one of our Members he's in California.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know, say on a call hey I just want to let you know how much Rome means to me this really has helped change the course of where I was going that you know, without Rome.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know, I was, I was trying to find sort of what I was passionate about by being together with these people I realized, there are other people like this, who are really driven by this idea of adventure with purpose.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And you know that's the kind of thing that's like one testimonial right and thousands thousands of people, but.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): It really it's like wow we're creating this for us but it's connecting with other people, and you know second thing is that, then those people starting to connect.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): and offline going climbing trips together, and you know, have the joy of other human connection, and we really feel like the big vision and there's lots of I could go.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): On for days about like what our actual roadmap and blueprint is on a business level, but on a very high level.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know our our vision is to bring people together around this idea of venture with purpose both online and offline.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): And by getting people together as a community around these ideas we feel like in getting them to go outside that they get a deeper connection with.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Nature they get a deeper connection with their community and ultimately that leads to a deeper connection with themselves and.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): that's a pretty universal idea like we all are looking for a deeper you know, experience and more fulfillment and my experience has been that the outdoors really is that you know, that is, it is a.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): catalyst for health in a lot of different ways so that's what we're really in the future that's it's more of that how to make the product body what I just described so that that is the experience when people become a member, that they just they can't live without it.
David Avrin: Absolutely, and as business owners it's it's it's our.
David Avrin: it's the most fulfilling thing if you can help people connect their their purpose and their passion with something that that they can feed their family and really turn it into their career.
David Avrin: In a way, that's sustainable and there's some really unique models to make that happen talking to cj Christopher Gerard from Rome media if people want to get in touch with you and learn more about Rome or learn more about the work that you do, how do they get in touch with you.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Well, you can follow us on instagram we're just at Rome are.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You can go to our website ro media COM, as you mentioned my personal instagram is cj Rome.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): same spelling and those are all good ways to get in touch with us, I would love to hear from people who are passionate about the outdoors who are also experts at membership.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): Because we are still learning so if you think that you, you can contribute something in this way, whether it's seo or it's.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know, Community expertise i'm very open to bring those two things together, like passion for the outdoors and.
Christopher Jerard (CJ): You know all of the stuff David that you do on this podcast around customer base and how to retain customers, I am a still a sponge in terms of learning about that you know, as in my backgrounds very much media, so this this stuff.
David Avrin: let's see I think I speak for everybody that we're rooting for you, because there's some good guys in this industry.
David Avrin: No gender specific reference intended there, but this is a cool model, I encourage everybody go check them out at Rome media.com hang on the line.
David Avrin: will connect as soon as we stop the recording here, I want to remind everybody that this podcast is sponsored in part by my membership initiative called the morning huddle you know some of the most.
David Avrin: Innovative solutions to your biggest customer facing challenges are likely found within the creative minds of your own people, the people you hired.
David Avrin: they're brilliant it's time to put conversation back on the calendar, you can learn more about.
David Avrin: My powerful internal engagement initiative by visiting morning huddle membership.com all of my books are available on Amazon, including my new book.
David Avrin: And I got it right here for those watching the video is called the morning huddle which came from the membership initiative that I have.
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