AP 1124: How Do I Monetize My Brand Now That I Have a Bit of a Following?

AP 1124 How do I monetize my brand now that I have a bit of a following?

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Pat Flynn:
What's up, everybody? Pat Flynn here, and welcome to episode 1,124 of AskPat 2.0. You're about to listen to a coaching call between myself and an entrepreneur just like you. Today, we're talking with Kristi from the Happiest Plate on Earth. Yes, the Happiest Plate on Earth, not Place on Earth like Disney, Happiest Plate on Earth, like the food at Disney, which is her podcast, Happiest Plate on Earth. She talks about and connects people to the amazing food and the different dining options at all the Disney parks and so, of course, I geeked out a little bit because I'm a huge Disney fan, my entire family is, and we just had a lot of fun in this conversation.

Pat:
Most of all, we weren't just talking Disney food. We were talking about how to take this amazing brand of hers and begin to monetize it, but do it in a graceful way that offers value and creates a win on both sides. So, we're talking monetization today with a brand that she's grown somewhat of a following with now, and we come up with some really great ideas, and I hope you enjoy this. It'll be a lot of fun, so here she is, Kristi from the Happiest Plate on Earth. Hey, Kristi, welcome to AskPat 2.0. Thanks so much for being here.

Kristi Rada:
Oh, thanks for having me, Pat. I really appreciate it.

Pat:
This'll be a lot of fun, so tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do, to get started.

Kristi:
Thanks. Well, my name is Kristi, and I actually have a podcast which is called the Happiest Plate on Earth, and it kind of came out of, of course, one, my love of food, but also my true appreciation for the world of Walt Disney. So, two things captivated me really early on in my life, and that was cooking and Disney. So, as the years went on, I was pretty much taught by apron strings and, of course, traveled to the wonderful World of Disney, and I never in my wildest dreams imagined that those two passions could become one.

Kristi:
Then, I had this epiphany as I got older and, of course, all this technology came where you had this ability to reach out to everybody, but what's better than talking about the food at Disney parks. You know, you have all of these festivals and restaurants, and the parks and resorts. It's just so much that I felt like I wanted to talk about it all of the time.

Kristi:
My intention was to explain: what is it, where does that come from, why does it have that name, and how do they make it because I felt like that was something that was missing in this massive community of Disney. So, that's kind of when the Happiest Plate on Earth was created, and that was my goal was to kind of help you on your Disney trip, make it practically perfect in every way.

Pat:
So, you're like my best friend right now because I'm all about Disney. My family and I, we love it and we love food at Disney, so there should be no reason why we shouldn't be listening to your podcast, so I'm going to subscribe immediately after we ...

Kristi:
Thank you very much, and that's my goal. That's really why I contacted you and reached out is because I've heard so many times that, when you talk about it on AskPat, I think that I already kind of have the ideas within me. I just need someone who has been successful in this to give me permission so you know you're on the right track or maybe let's focus it this way.

Pat:
It's funny you say that because every time, in most cases, on this show, that's ultimately what the person who's calling in really needs, and it's understandable because we're often just in a brand new world that we've never been in before, and we don't know if what we're doing is even right or in the right direction.

Kristi:
Exactly.

Pat:
The truth is, the only wrong thing to do is not try something. Even if you go in the wrong direction, that's still the right thing to do because you can learn and you can progress and you can adjust and pivot along the way. Before we get really into it, I would love to, I have to ask you, of all the places in all the Disney parks, you had a choice to go wherever you want for a meal, where are you going?

Kristi:
Oh, my gosh! I can't ...

Pat:
Sorry, I put you on the spot.

Kristi:
No, no, no. I do have guests on the show. I kind of had that same question, and it's really difficult. The best thing that I would love to do is take parts from each of these particular places that I've dined and to make them into one amazing meal and pick where I get to eat it, but I have thoroughly enjoyed ... I really ... I like California Grill. It's just a wonderful experience, and I really like Steakhouse 55. It's different.

Pat:
They're all great.

Kristi:
That's one of the things that I wanted people to understand, that eating at Disney, it's not just popcorn and pretzels and hot dogs and, certainly, there is that in abundance and, to me, they're all great, as well, but the World of Disney food is kind of like a theme park unto itself.

Pat:
Mm-hmm (affirmative), churros.

Kristi:
Yes.

Pat:
I got to vote for Lamplight Lounge.

Kristi:
I have heard that that might be your favorite.

Pat:
Yes, I'm a huge Pixar fan, and chilaquiles is on the brunch menu, and it's to die for. Anyway, we're wasting time here. I'm here to help you, not just drool all over my keyboard, so what's on your mind? Where can I ... What are you struggling with? What can I be a sounding board for?

Kristi:
Well, my biggest struggle is really finding where is the best place to spend my time to kind of create and engage with the Disney community, that has this appreciation for food. There's just so many ways to get out there that I feel like, right now, that I have several straws in several oceans, and I'm trying to drink it all at the same time.

Pat:
Yeah. Where are all those places? I'd love to sort of maybe check a list of all the places that you're building this community and communicating and all that stuff.

Kristi:
Well, I have a very small website. It's really just a place for people to land, and we offer some free things when you subscribe, and there are also recipes and things on my website, and that is actually, it's happiestplate.com, and I'm also on Instagram at happiestplateonearth and, of course, we have a Facebook page, which is the same, Happiest Plate on Earth.

Pat:
Nice. Okay, so when I think of community engagement, there's obviously many different ways that we can bring the community together and have discussions. Ultimately, before I get into what some of these things are, what would you like to see happen? What is the goal with bringing the community together, and why is that important to you?

Kristi:
My goal is to educate people on when they go to a Disney park or a resort, to what they're going to be dining, what they're going to be eating and not just have this plate put in front of them, but to explain to them where these things come from, why it might cost this much. It's really to help solve this massive puzzle of, what is Disney food? I actually put that out there today on some of my social media platforms is, what's your biggest challenge when it comes to dining or eating at Disney World/Disneyland. So, that's what my goal is, is to help people navigate this complex world of Disney food.

Pat:
Right, and you're doing it in all these different kinds of ways right now. Where are you feeling things are working really well?

Kristi:
I really don't know. I'm still fairly new in the podcast world. We've only been doing it for a little over a year. I would say I guess I get the most engagement through very quick answers on Instagram or private messages generated from the Facebook page.

Pat:
Cool. Private messages are great, and they help make people feel like they're a part of something, like somebody's listening to them, and that's ultimately what we could do as creators to offer people is to just be there to show that we understand and that they're a part of something and they're in a safe place to be their weird self, right? That's awesome.

Kristi:
Exactly, their Disney nerd.

Pat:
Super, right?

Kristi:
Yeah.

Pat:
When I think of communities and engagement, I think that, ultimately, there are going to be always different levels; and I think of two sort of halves of the sphere and, within those halves, there's sort of an ascension ladder, if you will. So, let's start with the overall sphere. There's an online and an offline version.

Pat:
So, if you're building communities, you're sharing information, you could do it online, and you could do it offline. Typically, online, if we start at the just sort of content-creator level, this is sort of like disconnected community where it's you, as the creator, online sharing information with really no other way to engage other than just the one-sided conversation, right? So, it's just content, and that could be listening to a podcast, that could be listening or reading to a blog post or watching a YouTube video.

Pat:
It often feels very one-sided. It's possible to make those things feel two-sided, however, using words like "you" or the more you connect with that person's pains or problems or interests, the more that they feel like, "Well, there's somebody on the other end and, even though they're not talking to me, I feel like they're talking to me," right? That's sort of level two of the disconnected.

Pat:
Then, there's a sort of online, public sort of connection where, for example, in a forum or in a group, there's, again, opportunities for you to share, but also opportunities for people to respond and opportunities for people to communicate with each other, and this is where groups play a big role. You said that you do have a group, specifically where your communities can sort of come to and interact with each other. Did I hear that correctly?

Kristi:
Yeah, and it's on our Facebook page is where I think that it's just the go-to for a lot of people, and I think the demographic that I seem to have as listeners, Facebook is very comfortable for them.

Pat:
Yes, and we're going to see in the future a lot more options than Facebook Groups to bring our community together, so I'm not going to share any tips or tools right now because we don't need that right now, but that's coming, and I think that just is a sign that you are playing the right game of bringing your people together in different ways. We're still in the online place, and then the last part of online is like online, but private connections. So, this is where there's like a little bit of a velvet rope or sort of a circle within the community of just those that are a little bit more either higher level or they just are that much more obsessed or VIP or what-have-you.

Pat:
That makes those people feel very special, and that's the most connected of the online is just the privatized conversations where a person can be a little bit more open, away from just brand new people they don't know yet, and they form little ... This is where in the online space you start to hear a lot of the language like Mastermind groups. It's like a circle within a bigger circle.

Pat:
I don't know if you are creating any opportunities to be even further into your community or get more access to, for example. I'm not saying it's required, but I'm just saying that that's another sort of level on top of what you might have that could become an offer. For example, maybe there's a membership where people get access to all the videos that you post of the behind the scenes and when you go and have these places or have private conversations with chefs at these different restaurants, for example, that only they would get access to.

Pat:
On podcasts, you start to hear a lot of people share about their Patreon members, and this is the same thing. It's like, "Hey, you've invested a little bit of money and/or time to be in the inner circle," if you will, and there's some really cool things that can happen when you have something like that. Again, it just makes people feel that much more connected in the sort of online space. That could come down the road. It could be available now. I'm not quite sure.

Pat:
Then, on the other side of things, there's the offline. Offline meaning in person. It has the same kind of tones in terms of the ascension ladder. For example, offline, you're watching a presentation and that person's on stage, but it's a one-sided conversation, right? It's like you can still feel connected. They could tell great stories, and things could get emotional, but you're not having the conversation with them.

Pat:
Then, there's in person and public, like meet-ups or just events that you might go to where you meet with your community and anybody can come and it's free. It's good feelings and everybody can kind of band together, communicate, meet each other, find people just like them, and that's really special opportunity and moment. That's why, when I go and speak at different events, I always try to have some sort of meetup where my community can meet each other because that's something they don't often get a chance to do.

Pat:
Finally, in the offline space, it's like, well now, it's like, in your case, I can imagine a retreat to the Disneyland Paris where, for a week, you'll all together, just a small group of you, go and you have this tour of all the food places inside Disney Paris. That's super higher level, super more higher touch but, again, very, very special and can come with premium price sort of on top of that. So, that's just kind of a brain dump of community and various versions of that. Where's your head at now? Did I just confuse you even more or did I ...

Kristi:
No, you're actually ... You hit on a lot of the things that I have thought about being very intentional about in creating that space that is authentic in that I want people to understand that I am no one special. I'm just a girl that had this idea, and I know that a lot of other people want to talk about it, as well, so I want to bring all of that together and to share those experiences. Those things that you hit on, meeting together, going to one of the festivals together, that's something that I would love to do, and it seems like a faraway goal, but I don't know that it is. I think that, sometimes, when I think big and then I think, "Well, it's something that can't happen."

Pat:
That's the first reaction we all have; but I'll tell you, and I just finished a couple of days here in San Diego with my Mastermind group, the one that I host called the SPI Accelerator Program, and these are six-figure level business owners. We're legitimately having the same conversations that we're having right now in terms of thinking big and then just getting in our own way.

Kristi:
Right.

Pat:
My goal is to go, "Well, why couldn't you do that?" Because our brain is trying to keep us safe, and uncharted territory back in the caveman days was like, "You could die."

Kristi:
Yes, exactly.

Pat:
Now, it's just, oh, things might not go the way you thought, but our brain is telling us, "No, don't do that. That's dangerous," and we have to remember, okay, what's fact here? When you break it down to first principles, there's no reason why you couldn't set up an event page tomorrow and just even get a feel for who might be interested in this or pre-sell the opportunity, being very explicit that like, "Hey, I'm shooting for five to ten people. If we don't get that, I'll give you a refund."

Pat:
That way, there's a little bit of a safety net there just in case nobody purchases or one or two people do, and you still don't want to do it. When we try to look for truth behind, "Well, I don't think we could do this," usually, people can't come up with an actual legitimate reason why it can't happen.

Kristi:
It's just the word can't.

Pat:
It's just the word can't. Haven't is maybe a better word because to have something requires decision-making. It requires action, and it requires attempting. It requires experimentation.

Kristi:
Right, but can't seems very permanent.

Pat:
Exactly. It's a forever word, and we don't use the word can't in this household unless it's like, "I can't get away from you because I love you so much." Just kidding. It's very cheesy. Anyway, I'm rambling a lot here, but I'm glad I sort of helped you sort of navigate a little bit and maybe even validated some of the things that you've thought about doing before. What might be the next thing that you'd like to experiment with or try? I'm curious.

Kristi:
Well, on the show, I do have a lot of people that come on and give their review of a trip that they were recently on in regards to the food that they happened to enjoy.

Pat:
So smart. I love that.

Kristi:
Yeah, because everybody's different, and that the great thing, that my palate is definitely not like yours, but I want to tell everyone that this person enjoyed this so, if you kind of enjoy the spicy foods, then really try this place. With over 475 places in Walt Disney World alone, you're sure to find something that you like. So, I would love to create an event where, "We're all going to meet down at Food & Wine on this particular weekend or Flower and Garden, and we're going to tour ourselves, you know, the Happiest Plate community, we're going to go around, and we're going to do our own food tour and talk about these things." So, that would be something that I would just be so excited about doing.

Pat:
If you had two people come with you, would you still enjoy it?

Kristi:
Absolutely!

Pat:
If you had a hundred people, how would you feel?

Kristi:
Scared, ...

Pat:
So, maybe a little overwhelming.

Kristi:
... but excited, yeah.

Pat:
But excited.

Kristi:
Very excited.

Pat:
Maybe that just means, "Okay, well, where's the limit where I could handle for the first go-around." That sounds ... I would be very excited about something like that because that doesn't exist, and this is you stepping into your superpower, right?

Kristi:
Right.

Pat:
This is you wearing that cape and being like, "This is my superpower, and I want to help all of you with this." You had mentioned your community. Do they have a name? Have you coined a name for them or have they said anything about themselves that might offer a name?

Kristi:
Yeah, I'm trying to just figure out what would work for this type of community. What would the superfans be called? That's another thing that I struggle with is taking ownership of the fact that the people that I'm going to engage with will be looking to me and be my superfans. It's something that it's like a mantle that I feel very uncomfortable with right now.

Pat:
It's different, I'll tell you.

Kristi:
Yes.

Pat:
I got to the point where, a couple of times, I would be recognized just out in public, and it was very scary to me because I'm like, "Who are you? I don't even know your name and you're already reminding me what I did a year ago that I forgot. Are you some stalker?" That, I eventually rewrote the story in my head, and I said this just means that a person's actually connecting with what I'm doing, and that is so special, and that feels great, and it made me lean into it a little bit more.

Pat:
So, it just might require you to, and I think this is very observant of you to just already consider those feelings and how, when you meet in person with people, for example, or you have a livestream online and you see people start to talk, for example, about how much they enjoy you and your show, how you could rewrite those initial feelings of, "This is super weird" to, "Wow! These people are actually connecting with my work." That's, at least, how I rewrite the story in my head.

Kristi:
It's a lot of responsibility. At least, that's what I'm feeling. You don't want to especially let them down. Of course, you will, because no one is perfect.

Pat:
Absolutely, absolutely. I think as long as you always have their interests at the top of your mind, even if you make a mistake, you'll know how to handle that mistake. You know, I've made mistakes before and I've just owned up to it, and the community kind of appreciates you even more for being vulnerable and open and honest in those kind of situations.

Kristi:
Thank you for that.

Pat:
Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. If I were you, here's what I would potentially do. I would map out or create an agenda for an x-day experience at Walt Disney and have the details there and just go to my community and go, "Hey, I just wanted to see who might be interested in something like this. I haven't talked to anybody about this. I haven't called anybody about this, but this would be my ideal food tour extravaganza at Walt Disney that I'm thinking of doing over a three-day period. Does this make sense to you? What would you change in it?" Get them involved in the process.

Pat:
What that does is, when you get people involved, they become invested and, likely, you're also going to hear people go, "Oh, my gosh! Please do it" or, "Let me know when it happens" and all that kind of stuff. It just might validate that next step before you actually pre-sell it and sell tickets and all that stuff. You could probably get your community involved ahead of time sooner than you think.

Kristi:
No, I think that that's a fantastic idea. Like you said, if it was two people, it would still be a fantastic time, and it would be another reason for me to travel to the Wonderful World of Disney. Whether it be on the East Coast or West Coast, it would be exciting. My other, when I think about doing this, is how do I get that message out there? How do I convey the fact that, with the podcast, that I'm authentic, that this is something that I want to do and I want to help you experience. Where do I ... I just don't know even how to really say this. How do I push that information out there to let people find me, to see me, to engage with me?

Pat:
Yeah, this is a great question. Number one, you're doing a lot of the things right already, which is just staying consistent with the content that you're posting and getting your community engaged with you and each other. So, the Facebook group—word of mouth happens when that happens, right? Search engines start to come into play and that kind of thing. There's some other ways that you might be able to actively spread the word and grow and get more exposure, thus bringing people to this wonderful world that you're creating for them, and especially as a podcaster. I mean, this is the number one way people who have podcasts are doing it, which is through guest podcasting. You have such an amazing ... If you haven't yet gone full-on with being a guest on other Disney-related podcasts, that's 100 percent what I would ... I would literally focus on nothing else but that ...

Kristi:
Okay.

Pat:
... for a while because here's what you have. You have a specialty within the space of Disney and, to a "competing podcast", you are not a competitor.

Kristi:
A guest.

Pat:
You are complimentary, and you'd likely have this amazing conversation because you have Disney in common, but then likely get a lot of questions and look like and become, really, the food expert in the Disney space. I think that would be really, really incredible, so not just you bringing on Disney people on your show or anybody who goes to Disney, really, but getting exposure within other podcasting communities. It doesn't just have to be Disney, either. It could be travel. It could be the family ... There's so many family podcasts and family, those kinds of mom pods and pop pods. I don't even know what the male version of that is.

Kristi:
You just coined it right there.

Pat:
Pop pod, yeah. I don't know. That seems a little bit older generation. I don't know, but that would be an ama-, like, "Hey guys. We have a treat today. We have somebody who has and knows all the menu items at all the Disney places, or seems to, and we're going to go over where, if you're going to go on a Disney trip, where you should go to eat because there's so many good foods that you don't even know about. Hey, guys. Let's welcome our special guest, Kristi, today from Happiest Plate.

Kristi:
That's a great idea! I have connected with some of the fellow podcasters on social media. I've actually met a few in person, so I think maybe that would be an easy bridge for me to go across.

Pat:
Oh, yeah, fantastic, and then here's what you do. You're on their show, delivering a ton of value and sharing your superpower. Maybe they come on yours, as well, and that just makes it easier to lead that exchange. Maybe they are specifically focused on travel and deals and things like that.

Pat:
So you, for your audience, to go, "Hey, if you're going to Walt Disney and you're going to go get some food, here's where I would recommend but, along the way, I want you to know that you could save some money while you travel, which would then allow you to grow your bankroll for more food, so here is whoever to come on to share some travel tips to save money when you go," and that's still providing value to your audience, even though it's not 100 percent food-related but, of course, you could ask them about food, as well, and all that kind of stuff and still connect it.

Pat:
Then what happens is, you might find one or two or more of those people that you collaborate with, you just vibe with, right? You can't help but build a relationship when you're talking to somebody for thirty minutes, just like we have just now. So, I can imagine that maybe their community really responds well and you go, "Hey, you know, Jim, for you and your Disney community, I want to put together a special food-specific tour for Walt Disney for your people, and I'd love to invite you to come along, and I'll pay you $200 for every person you bring along, and I'll make sure that they're taken care of food-wise, and we'll have a blast together.

Kristi:
That's amazing! I want to say, and I know that a lot of people, this will resonate with them, is when you hear something that you wanted to do, something that is an idea in your mind coming from someone else's voice, you know, you are just repeating things that I already have inside of my mind, it really does do something for your spirit. It really encourages you and lets you know that you're on the right track, someone else is coming alongside of you and saying, "That's a great idea!", but hearing it come out of someone else, it's an amazing thing to move you into that next step, that next level.

Pat:
This is why I always tell #TeamFlynn, connect with other people who are sharing the same goals as you. Join Mastermind groups because you need to hear it from other people because, ultimately, just to kind of bring us full circle, Kristi, what did I really just give you?

Kristi:
Permission.

Pat:
Permission, 100 percent. Literally, you called it before we even did it, but I sound and I feel ... It sounds like and I feel the spirits heightened based on what I just said, and it sounds like you've had these ideas in the back of your mind for a long time. There's nothing stopping you except yourself.

Kristi:
Very true, and I do have a great group that I can work with to help me make these things actually come to fruition, so that's encouraging, as well, to know that I have people who are alongside of me that will encourage me and help me every step of the way.

Pat:
Oh, gosh! That's another superpower. Nobody can compete with you. This is something that is uniquely offered by you that it would be a shame for people not to have access to.

Kristi:
Oh, thank you very much for that. That's great.

Pat:
Kristi, I hope that this helped you, and I'd love for you to share one more time where can people go to hear your show and learn more from you?

Kristi:
Certainly. We are on all of these platforms for podcast listening, and the name of the podcast is Happiest Plate on Earth, and our website is HappiestPlate.com. Instagram is happiestplateonearth, and that is the same for Facebook.

Pat:
Such a good name.

Kristi:
Thank you. I was just blown away that it hasn't been ...

Pat:
It's so good. I think it's absolutely perfect, and I think you're great.

Kristi:
Thank you very much.

Pat:
Good luck on everything.

Kristi:
Thank you very much, but I truly appreciate your time and your help.

Pat:
All right, I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Kristi. You can find her podcast at the happiestplateonearth. You can just look it up in the podcast app that you're in right now if that's of interest to you, and now I'm really excited to go do Disney to get some food, definitely. I just have to take a treat day because I'm on Keto. Anyway, I appreciate you for listening in. I thank you so much and, Kristi, for being vulnerable, being open, and for sharing your awesomeness here on the show.

Pat:
If you're listening to this and you're like, "Hey, Pat, I have awesomeness. I want to be on the show and get coached by you, too." You can. You do have that possibility. You have to first apply. If you go to askpat.com, you can apply on that page and then answer a few questions, and I may reach out to you in the future. It's not guaranteed, but it's definitely not going to happen unless you apply, so apply there to askpat.com. You can see the archive of other episodes there, too.

Pat:
If you happen to be in a place where you can conveniently leave a review for the show, that would be amazing! I would love that so, so much. Wow! Incredible! I just realized we are halfway through the year now so, if you've been with me for one show or twenty-six episodes here this year so far, just thank you so much, appreciate you, love you. Your support is just so meaningful to me. I'm so grateful to you as a listener, and I just want to keep paying you back because you've done so much for me already, so hit subscribe if you haven't, and I look forward to serving you the next and upcoming episodes. Until then, as always, #TeamFlynnforthewin! Peace.