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Brandon Burton (00:01.356)
Hello, Chamber Champions. Welcome to Chamber Chat podcast. I’m your host, Brandon Burton, and here on the podcast, I introduce you to people and ideas to better help you serve your Chamber members and your community. Our guest today is Dave Taber. Dave is the Executive Vice President.
a business partnership with the Colorado Chamber of Commerce where he leads membership growth and builds relationships with some of the state’s top business executives. Since 2017, Dave has hosted ProCo 360, a podcast featuring world-class Colorado entrepreneurs and business leaders. The show has been what’s named as the best Colorado business podcast every year since 2021. What began as a passion project has become a powerful membership engine for the chamber featuring CEOs,
founders from organizations such as Ball Corporation, Outside Magazine, Boom Supersonic, Savory Spice, and several Colorado unicorn companies. Before joining the Chamber, Dave founded Taper Interactive, a digital products company that he later sold to a NASDAQ buyer. He earned his business degree from Drake University and his MBA from University of Colorado. But Dave, I’m excited to have you with us today here on Chamber Chat podcast. I’d love to give you an opportunity to say hello to all the Chamber Champions who are out there listening.
and if you would, share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little better.
Dave (01:25.944)
Sure. Happy to be on and thanks Brandon. this is fun because I, know, being in the podcast world, I was actually looking for like who’s, who’s podcasting to reach chamber executives and your chamber chat came up and yeah, Brandon. So it’s like, wow, this guy’s, you know, doing it. You’re consistently reaching that audience. So kudos to you and to your listeners. that’s great. And, and so yeah, glad to be on and a couple of fun things about me. one from the.
Brandon Burton (01:38.434)
Okay.
Dave (01:54.32)
Avocation side, of course, you know, I love podcasting already but earlier in my career I was I’ve been both a college and a professional mascot and that sort of travels with me wherever I go People feel that that’s kind of an intriguing and fun background And yeah, I do Love podcasting. I did a personality deal, you know, you go through these like which which personality? Trait is this or that this or that until finally you get boils up to my top
trait is curiosity and that has sort of fits perfectly with the sweet spot of podcasting. That’s what sort of drives, all my podcasting interests. So anyway, that’s me.
Brandon Burton (02:36.083)
Absolutely. So I’m curious, would we recognize any of your mascot roles?
Dave (02:41.133)
Well, I was the Drake Bulldog and then I was the Denver Bronco. And so that, that is a separate story and it’s already.
Brandon Burton (02:45.472)
Okay. I should have asked if you’re allowed to reveal it. I know some mascots, they’re not allowed to reveal it, so.
Dave (02:52.567)
Well, after you’re done, you can, but it is sort of a funny experience as you’re walking through a parking lot carrying your, you know, this massive head and that kind of stuff. And people, you know, obviously they see who you are then, but it’s fun.
Brandon Burton (03:06.412)
Yeah, yeah, that is neat. Well, tell us a little bit about, so you’re coming from a unique position, both from the Colorado Chamber, but also the Proko 360 podcast. So tell us a little bit about the Colorado Chamber, just to kind of set the stage. Usually, I mean, obviously it’s State Chamber, but just give us a little bit of background. But then if you can shift and tell us about Proko 360, where the idea came from, kind of where you got into podcasting. And I’d love to just hear that background.
Dave (03:35.685)
Yeah, sure. I am with the Colorado Chamber of Commerce and most of your listeners are familiar with local chambers of commerce. The Colorado Chamber is a state chamber of commerce. Every state, virtually every state has one. And the role of the state chamber is much more focused on advocacy. It’s a broad-based business advocacy organization, essentially a lobbying organization that unifies all of the business sectors for one business voice for their state. So that’s our main focus of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce.
it’s grown quite a bit and in a world where private enterprise or capitalism is viewed more more cynically, our role as state chambers of commerce is really important. And there is an intersection with larger chambers. A lot of the local chambers are getting into advocacy. And so there’s quite a bit of, I think,
I guess, a momentum towards having business leaders get involved in managing the business climate within which they operate. So that’s part A. Part B is the podcast. And I don’t know what made me to get into it, but years ago, I’ve always wanted to be a radio talk show host. I know. It was just sort of one of these things I wanted to do. And I did that for a year. I actually got some money together from sponsors and bought, like you hear these info commercials on Saturday morning and stuff where people buy a whole.
Brandon Burton (04:46.434)
Yeah.
Dave (04:56.93)
long show about whatever it is they’re selling. Well, I bought an hour. Yeah. So Brandon, I actually bought an hour of time for a year. and I was fortunate to have some friends in the business community said, yeah, whatever Dave, we’ll pay for it. And so then I had, I had guests come on live on Saturday mornings to do is what is now become Proko 360. But I got to tell you, it sucks to get up every Saturday morning and get into the studio. And, I decided as podcasting right became, it was just emerging.
Brandon Burton (04:59.76)
yeah, yeah.
Brandon Burton (05:21.366)
Hehehehe
Dave (05:25.552)
I’m like, I could just do this whenever I feel like it and I could have every Saturday morning. So, um, so Proko 360 went quickly from one year on a live radio, which is kind of fun. It is exciting. Uh, but to something that was better for my lifestyle.
Brandon Burton (05:28.524)
Yeah.
Brandon Burton (05:40.366)
Yeah, and I can imagine the stress of trying to do it live every week too and then you got, you know, you can’t go on vacation or you can’t…
Dave (05:47.173)
Brandon, it’s kind of fun though. well, that stress. Yeah. I mean, we’d be up in the mountains, for example, for the weekend and I would drive down Saturday morning. I’d leave at like five in the morning, come down, do my show, drive back up. So that is a hassle, but it is kind of fun that live, that live deal where like, you you got to go to commercial in like 27 seconds. So what do you do? And so that part’s fine.
Brandon Burton (06:12.268)
Yeah, it definitely teaches discipline, I imagine.
Dave (06:15.864)
Yeah, it’s fun!
Brandon Burton (06:17.558)
Yeah, so I’m excited to dive into this episode with you because obviously you have the chamber background. I understand the chamber world and everything that it has to offer from the state chamber perspective. But also bringing in podcasting and seeing how podcasting has benefited the chamber and how it can really amplify what the chamber’s doing and get the messaging out there. So we’re going to dive in much deeper on this as soon as we get back from this quick break.
Dave (06:41.402)
Good. OK.
Brandon Burton (06:44.814)
All right, Dave, we’re back. As I mentioned before the break today, we’re diving in on how a podcast can really benefit a Chamber of Commerce. And I know you’ve been doing ProCo 360 for a while since 2017. So coming up almost on a decade now. So congratulations on the persistence, but tell us a little bit about how has the podcast helped to feed the Colorado Chamber? know they’re from what
Dave (07:00.758)
I know, a long time.
Brandon Burton (07:14.818)
understand they’re two separate entities but tell us about that structure and how they work together.
Dave (07:17.124)
They are Proco 360 is my own labor of love. It’s a sort of, guess you’d call it a side business of mine. And, but I’ve used it as a tool to drive, you and I were talking earlier, essentially prospective members to the chamber and it’s been extremely effective. In fact, I do keep track. I’ve got a spreadsheet where I keep track of the companies that started out where my relationship started in the studio with these guests.
and then became members and recurring members. And the revenue count now is at $950,000 that is generated for the Colorado Chamber of Commerce starting in the podcast studio, converting them into members and then recurring members. And that’s a pretty good number, including some additional sponsorship I’ve generated over a million dollars from ProCo 360. And the weird thing is when I talk to people, the first thing they say is,
Well, how many listeners do you have? And that’s really almost irrelevant, which is mind boggling. Yes, Brandon, it’s mind boggling that it is. You’re right. And I will say that there’ve been, I don’t know, over 50,000 downloads, but when you think about it over the timeframe, like Joe Rogan, he gets that in an hour. So it’s not about the number of people who listen. It’s about the.
Brandon Burton (08:16.152)
Right? Exactly.
If you’re Joe Rogan, it might matter, but for the average Joe, it doesn’t.
Brandon Burton (08:36.322)
Yeah.
Dave (08:41.454)
the niche that you’re reaching and it’s about the relationship acceleration that happens between me and the person in the studio. And it’s been remarkable. I’ve learned also how in conducting an interview in studio, how I can authentically tee that up into a conversation around membership later. So there’s some techniques that I’ve developed and some approaches that I’ve used that like,
Brandon Burton (09:06.094)
Yeah.
Dave (09:11.46)
This, I didn’t mean for it to start this way, but it has definitely evolved into a very valuable tool.
Brandon Burton (09:17.678)
And I imagine the people you’re having on the show, the businesses you’re interviewing, like you mentioned before, it’s all about curiosity, right? You’re trying to learn about their business, what makes them successful, what makes them tick. You’re not coming into it as a sales pitch saying, how can we angle this and make, you know, have them become a chamber member at some point? I wouldn’t assume. I mean, maybe, maybe there’s been times, but.
Dave (09:26.618)
Mm-hmm.
Dave (09:40.201)
I will say, Brandon, that there are questions that in context help decide and later help them decide that it might be a fit for them to become a member of the chamber. Yes, it’s nuanced and it’s well considered. But my background is as a CEO, you mentioned that I started and sold a tech company. That’s true. And so as I talk to my guests,
Brandon Burton (09:56.291)
Yeah.
Dave (10:09.206)
Every single interview is different. It’s based on my curiosity. It’s based on what might stimulate them to have a good time talking with me as opposed to, you think about what journalists will ask. They tend to be typically formulaic questions and I’ve stayed away from those. My objective is that during an interview that a CEO of a company will say, Hmm, that’s an interesting question or huh. Let me think about that. And they smile and they’re stimulated.
Brandon Burton (10:37.603)
Yes.
Dave (10:39.246)
That kind of engagement, yes. And it creates a sense of peer to peer, attraction that makes them receptive to a later conversation about what else I’m doing.
Brandon Burton (10:40.27)
plant those seeds.
Brandon Burton (10:54.754)
Yeah, and I think that’s very, very well said. And I’ll say even starting with Chamber Chat, I kind of had a roadmap, but I could see where I wanted things to go.
If your experience is anything like mine, you can have a map, but it doesn’t mean you’re gonna go stick on that road, gonna go all over the place, but ultimately in that same direction, right? But different surprises will come up, different opportunities come up, you see different ways to leverage the platform that maybe you didn’t think of originally.
Dave (11:17.658)
Yeah, yeah.
Dave (11:29.434)
That’s so true, Brandon. I mean, you probably have seen things from Chamber Chat that, you know, you’ve like, huh, well, that’s a nice accident.
Brandon Burton (11:38.39)
Yeah, yeah, a couple times. Yeah. So I’m curious, with the format of your show, how do you go about choosing guests? you do you pull from chamber membership? Do you specifically go for businesses that are not members? Is it a mix? What what’s your approach like?
Dave (11:41.048)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dave (11:56.539)
Well, because Proko 360 is my own podcast, I have to be careful. I think because I certainly don’t want to infringe on the relationships that the Chamber has with its members and even a lot of those members that I’ve brought to the Chamber. So it tends to be arm’s length. It is arm’s length actually, because I never want to create any sort of misinterpretation about how the relationship is going. So new members often do start at Proko 360, but it never goes the other way.
I’m very careful about that. I think the beauty of, you know, some of your listeners is that they’ll either they already have their own podcast or they can create a podcast if they wish to use it as, as a mechanism to create new relationships. And then, then that complexity piece is gone. So I think, and I’m working with another chamber now in a consultative fashion to help them monetize what is already very successful podcast.
but hasn’t been monetized whatsoever. And I’m like, you guys, you got way more listeners than I’ve ever had. Like, you could do this. And so I’m teaching them how to monetize what they’re already doing successfully.
Brandon Burton (12:59.043)
Yes.
Brandon Burton (13:08.844)
Yeah, and I want to touch on that, but first I want to rewind a little bit and you talked about some of the other benefits that have come from podcasting and specifically building that trust or accelerating that trust much quicker and some of the other.
Dave (13:21.168)
Yep.
Brandon Burton (13:25.484)
benefits, even monetary benefits that have come from it, as you’ve seen membership with the Colorado Chamber and being able to track it to, I you said about a million dollars in revenue to the Chamber. And that’s not, like you’re not gonna look at those metrics, those vanity metrics, like you mentioned with how many downloads you get and that sort of thing. However, things may look a little bit different once you start going after sponsorships where
Dave (13:34.97)
Yeah, yeah.
Brandon Burton (13:53.487)
I know from my experience, a lot of sponsors, that’s what they’re asking. Well, how many downloads do you get? how do you navigate that between seeing where the potential is both ways, but also being able to provide to the potential sponsors what they’re looking for and what they expect?
Dave (13:58.331)
That’s right.
Dave (14:10.178)
Yeah, that’s a pretty smart question actually, Brandon, because I’ve had to really change messaging around sponsorship. I’ve had a lead right out front. In fact, there was a company I’ve recently had a sponsorship conversation with where I reached out to the CEO as a bank and he said, I want you to talk to my marketing person. I said, no, marketing people don’t understand what this is about. They want to know how many listeners I have. They want to know.
You know, they’re, they’re basically, they get paid to create impressions and they don’t get paid to create accelerated relationships that lead to clients. And so I’m like, no, not going to talk to your marketing person. And I used to do that and try to help them understand that this is different. And it’s just like apples and oranges. They don’t. So as I talk with potential sponsors, now I’m very careful and saying not about, not about how many years, like if you want to get in the room.
Brandon Burton (14:44.312)
Yeah.
Dave (15:08.868)
with a half a dozen of your best prospects, I can help you. And if accelerating those, you know, three year and five year sales cycles into six months is something that you want, then I can help you. And so I’ve really had to be very firm in my own determination, right? To only look at things that would be a great fit.
Brandon Burton (15:23.854)
Okay.
Brandon Burton (15:35.181)
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
From the Chamber Chat perspective, I do kind of a similar thing because some companies, they to have you talk to their marketing person and all that. And it doesn’t really resonate to that degree, but we’re all familiar with Chamber conferences, whether it’s a state conference or something larger, ACCE or regional conference. different vendors are trying to get in front of Chamber professionals at these things. But a lot of these conferences happen once a year, right?
Dave (15:56.794)
Yep. Yep.
Dave (16:07.002)
That’s right. Yep.
Brandon Burton (16:08.592)
to get on a podcast like this and be able to be in front of all that audience or at least a good majority of that audience on a weekly basis. I mean, how much more bang for your buck? Because I’m not trying to pin one against the other. There’s definite value with both, but it leverages each other.
Dave (16:23.504)
But you’re exactly right. I mean, really think about how many, in your case for chamber chat, how many decision makers are there that can decide, make a $10,000 decision, for example, quickly. A thousand, you know, across the country, you know, maybe 5,000. So like you don’t need a big audience. just, your sponsors to your point need the right audience. Right. So.
Brandon Burton (16:43.032)
Yeah.
Dave (16:52.909)
and helping them understand that sometimes is a challenge, right?
Brandon Burton (16:57.41)
Yeah, yeah, it can be.
Dave (17:00.184)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. I know.
Brandon Burton (17:01.932)
Which I think leads us well into the next point that I wanted to touch on. You had mentioned that you’re, you’re helping a chamber or some chambers right now with being able to figure out how to monetize and they’ve, they’ve got podcasts that have a much greater base, maybe you can say than what, what you currently have, what maybe I currently have, but they haven’t monetized it yet. So you’re having these conversations, coaching, helping them figure it out. what does that look like as you try to walk them through that process?
Dave (17:22.894)
Right. They do. Whoops. Is that a question, Brandon? Sorry, I lost you.
Dave (17:32.078)
Oops, one of us lost the other.
I guess we’ll stand by and we’ll let Riverside fix it.
Brandon Burton (17:42.062)
So we’re, I think we’re back. Did that totally cut out when I was asking the question?
Dave (17:42.394)
Brandon, you’re breaking up and I don’t know if it’s on my end or your end.
Dave (17:51.186)
can you, are you, are you back with me? Hello? Okay. Could you, would you like to re-ask the question and we’ll start over? I don’t know what happened. Okay.
Brandon Burton (17:54.701)
Yeah, I am. Can you hear me? Yep, absolutely.
So you mentioned before, you’re currently working with chambers, multiple chambers on being able to monetize their podcasts that they currently have. And some of these chambers have much larger, much larger audience than what you have. And you’ve been successful monetizing yours. What does that look like as you work with these chambers, provide the coaching, the direction? What’s that experience like?
Dave (18:29.508)
Yeah, it’s a, I’m new to this because I’m actually leaving my day to day job at the Colorado Chamber of Commerce at the end of July. and I, I’m want to focus on doing exactly what you and I do, Brandon, which is podcasting and helping others do, accomplish what they accomplish, need to accomplish through podcasting. So, so I’m new to this and, and I’m figuring it out. The chamber that I’m working with now, they do, they have a really significant audience.
And there’s a lot of pieces that go into figuring out, or actually not so difficult to figure out, because I think I’ve figured it out, but how to shift from where they are to actually monetizing. One is that I’m working with a CEO to have a different sort of persona online so that as he’s meeting with folks as his guests, Brandon, that they are seeing him as an authority as opposed to an interviewer.
That’s really important. And so there’s some techniques that we’re working on with that. You can imagine kind of things that I’m thinking of,
Brandon Burton (19:29.346)
Yeah.
Brandon Burton (19:36.812)
Yeah, absolutely. That’s interesting because that’s not a point that I would have thought about to be working with the CEO and changing their persona and how they interact online.
Dave (19:40.026)
I mean, that’s, go ahead.
Dave (19:47.683)
It’s really important. They can still be authentic. And yet, you know, there’s something I’ve, I’ve talked about at a seminar that I gave, among my peers at state chambers of commerce. like, stop people thanking people for their time. Like if you weren’t thanking people for their time, you’ve put yourself in a role of supplicant and the idea of being diminished in the room with your guests, for example, doing a podcast, like they should see you as a peer.
And establishing that sense of presence with the person you’re working with in the studio is what, you know, very subtly and very effectively allows you to elevate the conversation to something more important later. And, and so we’re working on those kinds of techniques. We’re working on the kinds of companies that you bring in to studio. We’re working on the kinds of people that you bring in to the studio. And we’re also working on the techniques during.
Brandon Burton (20:30.914)
Yeah.
Dave (20:45.112)
a podcast interview that, your guests find stimulating and that an audience would find interesting. one of the big mistakes that we see, and you probably see this too in podcast is that, hosts that haven’t been particularly well trained essentially let their, just like you are, letting, let their guests ramble, forever. And, you know, so there are things to do to manage how the experience works that
Brandon Burton (21:06.57)
Yeah.
Dave (21:13.688)
generate respect and generate audience interest. so those are the things we work on.
Brandon Burton (21:19.148)
Right, so when you touched on the point about being seen as peers, know, whoever’s hosting the show with whoever they’re interviewing.
is such a valid point because I can think back to the first few episodes that I ever did and I’m nervous as I’ll get out and I’m interviewing, you know, chamber CEOs and, they’re, you know, people that I’ve looked up to throughout my career and here they are, you know, on my show. And then, you know, over time that kind of shifts to where, you know, people are asking to be on the show and, you know, they really look up to, you know, what I bring to the chamber world. And it’s like, there’s been a shift, but the shift really is just, it’s your mindset.
right? And how you look upon things and get past that they call the imposter syndrome, right? Feeling like you don’t belong here, you don’t really deserve to have the voice there. And so I think that’s so wise to hit that head on.
Dave (22:04.09)
Yeah, for sure.
Dave (22:12.61)
It’s really fun and the, and you’ve experienced it and I’ve experienced it and it’s really fun, to do that because, it’s not that hard and you can help, you can help someone you’re teaching. I’ve been able to help this one already to understand that he can still be authentic. It’s just, he’s got a position of self differently. So it’s like, okay.
Brandon Burton (22:38.368)
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So those are some of the techniques. As far as when you look at sponsorships for a podcast, you think of it as a normal like pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll kind of a presentation or would you look for sponsors for different segments or is it like everything is in the chamber world that depends on the chamber?
Dave (23:04.496)
Ha, you know what? It is kind of a fluid thing. The first sponsors I got, I got back for the radio show and that was about, you know, these people liked me. They wanted to help me and I just asked them. That was it. There was really, there was no benefit for them other than supporting me. And, but then as I got some banks to sponsor and some other things that was about at first,
Brandon Burton (23:20.28)
Yeah.
Dave (23:31.683)
It was about reaching this niche audience of people who care about, in my case, Colorado business, high growth, Colorado companies. And, now as I’ve refined what I can, what I can do, and how we can serve a sponsor. I’ve refined that message to what you and I already talked about, is ratio relationship acceleration. But the other piece that’s so important and is alignment. So when.
a company sponsors Proco 360, they can, like I’ve created graphics now that say, know, a XYZ company hosted episode or something like that. And there are different variations of it, which is why I’m a vague. the, so they get to then push that out to their audience saying, we’re so glad we could support high growth Colorado companies and, you know, and, and you should listen to this episode. So they get to demonstrate.
Brandon Burton (24:18.766)
So.
Dave (24:30.648)
a really strong differentiation in a market that’s hard to differentiate. For example, you ask a banker what makes them different and every banker says the same thing. You know, we’re big enough to provide all the services somebody needs and we’re small enough to care, blah, blah, blah. They have so much trouble differentiating and right, you’re laughing, you know this. so, right, right. And so the exactly that’s exactly. And so giving them a way to authentically differentiate
Brandon Burton (24:41.422)
I’m sorry.
Brandon Burton (24:50.945)
What makes you different? They all say the same thing. I love it.
Dave (24:59.086)
is a very, very strong tool.
Brandon Burton (25:01.346)
Yeah, no, absolutely. That’s such a great idea too, to be able to have.
the sponsors, provide them with resources to be able to leverage their ad spend with you and being able to show that they’re an influencer in that space, that they care about the space, and really draw a little bit more attention to them. It kind of puts a ball in their court, which makes me a little bit nervous, if I’m being honest, because I’m like, how are they going to do this?
Dave (25:28.526)
You should, that’s pretty smart actually, Brandon, to mention that because if they don’t execute on that, they don’t get the full benefit. And so I can lead the horse to water per se, right? I give them the graphics, I give them, and they’re sized for different social media platforms. But if they don’t do it, they don’t get the benefit.
Brandon Burton (25:48.653)
Yeah, yeah, well that’s a great tip there. What else have you learned through your podcasting journey that as you think for a chamber that maybe is looking to either start a podcast or maybe they already have a podcast but they’re trying to monetize it, they’re trying to extrapolate the value from having the podcast, what have you seen that you think would be valuable to share with the audience?
Dave (26:16.464)
what I’m, I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if I’m right about this. think I am, but I’ve used really significant discipline about who I bring onto the podcast. And to your point, you know, you do it long enough and people start asking to be on it. Right. And so it’s really important that I filter the guests so that they maintain the niche that I’ve built, which is high growth Colorado companies. So I’m very flattered. get emails frequently and I know you do.
you know, asking to be on podcasts. And if they don’t build my brand as a platform for high growth Colorado companies that are really like successful, then I have to say no. And so that’s sort of one of the guidelines that I use. The other one that I’ll say has been very effective for me is that I don’t do any, boy, I’m picking up some background. Are you?
Brandon Burton (27:03.906)
Yeah
Dave (27:16.056)
Okay, I’ll just keep going. sounds like.
Okay. I’ll just pick it up from here. The, the other thing that I’ve decided in my own head, Brandon, is that before I do any interview, I do enough research and I do enough prep to, to only move forward when I’m excited about it. So I do a fair amount of prep and it does take me some time, but I think it, it definitely shows up in, in the experience for the guest. And then in my happiness with the episode, I can say that I’ve never done an episode I don’t like.
Brandon Burton (27:51.503)
Yeah. So as far as the guests that you choose to be on the podcast, like you said, filtering through that, a lot of the emails and requests that I get, you can tell they’re written by AI. They’ve never listened to the show that I made. So those ones are easy to filter out. But the ones that I’m thinking about more so are
Dave (28:04.559)
gosh, that’s so annoying. Yeah.
Brandon Burton (28:12.972)
maybe those high level investors with the chamber that they feel a sense of entitlement maybe. You know, we’ve paid so much money and we should be a guest on the podcast. And a lot of them may have no interest in being, but I’m just saying, we all know those businesses that have the egos that want to be on because they spend so much money. Any advice on how to help filter that or have a policy on guests that you have on the show?
Dave (28:25.22)
Yeah.
Dave (28:28.976)
Mm-hmm.
Dave (28:38.596)
You know, again, Proco 360 is separate from the Colorado Chamber, and yet I think I’m qualified to answer this question. Look, if you’ve got a top investor and they want to be on, it’s probably smart to do it. So the key is that it needs to be somebody that fits whatever model you’ve determined is yours. So if you have CEOs and founders, then, you know, having a vice president of community affairs is not the way to go.
and so it really decides, it really depends on the model that you’re using. I, I’m really careful that like, I know who in a company and it’s the founder of the CEO that I interview in another chamber of commerce. might be somebody different. but it needs to be, it needs to follow a format that allows to your point, Brandon, this, they say, we want our, our community affairs person. Well, look, here’s the model of the podcast. We’d love to have you as your CEO available. Let’s do it.
So I think, or whether it’s CEO or whether it’s whatever, head of the region, head of the city, you know, think having some format allows you to, make that choice.
Brandon Burton (29:42.85)
Yeah.
Brandon Burton (29:50.755)
I think that’s a wise piece of advice. I like to ask on behalf of listeners who are wanting to take their chamber up to the next level, what kind of tip or action item that you leave with them as they strive towards that goal.
Dave (30:07.052)
I think that the number one thing is to, you’re, if you’re referring specifically to using a podcast to doing it, Brandon.
Brandon Burton (30:17.102)
I just in general, but I love that we’re on the podcast topic. So yes, let’s answer it that way
Dave (30:21.932)
Yeah, I mean, it’s a.
I think the number one thing is if you decide that it’s something that you want to do and you’re not yet doing it is it’s not difficult. Uh, it does take time. And Brandon has already talked to me and shared, you know, you’ve shared with me a tool that you use that I haven’t started using yet. Uh, and I’m, think I’m going to switch to it, so make it even easier, but it’s, it’s work. And so I guess my, my advice is if you decide you want to try this.
maybe create a series and just decide, hey, we’re gonna create a series of five and don’t call it a podcast yet because you look at a lot of chambers and you look at a lot of companies and they have a tab on their website that says podcast and you open it and there’s like three from five years ago. Like no, so let’s just, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think the tip is if you’re curious about it, start it as a series, just decide you’re gonna sell it.
Brandon Burton (31:13.058)
Right, I’ve seen a lot of those, yeah.
Dave (31:22.988)
sell it to a sponsor for five, you’d like, want to do a series of five and give it a shot and see how this goes. And then if you decide not to do any more, okay, you’ve got a series, you can park it and there’s no embarrassment. There’s no sense of like what happened to this thing, but if it goes well, then you just keep going. But I, you know, rather than, I think it’s a nice baby step. That’s fun and doable, inexpensive, and just makes sense.
Brandon Burton (31:46.989)
Yeah, I think I would align perfectly with that. One piece I might add to it is, you be careful on what you name a podcast. A lot of Chambers are like, it’s the XYZ Chamber Podcast. And it’s like…
The general public doesn’t even know what a chamber does. So they don’t care about your podcast. So, but if you talk about, you know, XYZ business stories in this community or something like that, know, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial podcast and true crime are two of the most downloaded, most listened to type of podcast. So be, be a methodical about that.
Dave (32:05.722)
That’s interesting.
Dave (32:18.448)
Huh.
That’s interesting, Brandon. Yeah, that’s really thought provoking. Yeah, that’s cool. You and I need to talk about that more.
Brandon Burton (32:30.7)
Yeah. Well, Dave, there’s a question I ask everyone I have on the show specific to chambers. But how do you see the future of chambers of commerce and their future going forward?
Dave (32:43.408)
Yeah. I think we’re at a very interesting time for chambers. Excuse me. going to cough. Excuse me. I think we’re at a very interesting time for chambers. And I mentioned earlier, and I just finished listening to a book by Ken Langone called I Love Capitalism. And he’s the guy who started Home Depot. It’s a great, great story. And it’s very entertaining. Aside from that.
we really have it reminded me that we’re at a time of growing cynicism around business and around free enterprise, which to me is a shame. It just is, it just is. And the opportunity for Chambers, I think, is that as there’s growing cynicism towards business, the cynicism is most accentuated when industry silos want to do their thing. So the home builders want this, the hospitals want that.
The insurance companies want this and to the extent that industry silos want something specific, they’re viewed with even more cynicism. And so the role of the chamber, I think, is to unify these what were silos and be a strong business voice for a prosperous economy. And that’s really strong messaging. It’s not just messaging, it’s an authentic way to help our communities become stronger, is to…
desilo these interests and speak on behalf of a healthy economy that creates opportunity for constituents. So that’s where I see things.
Brandon Burton (34:16.694)
I love that. I think that’s such a great description and synopsis of how you view the future of chambers and their purpose. Before I let you go, I wanted to give you an opportunity to share any contact information or anything you want to share or point listeners to before we depart.
Dave (34:37.904)
Yeah, if you’re curious about how to use a podcast to drive membership, you can check out mine. It’s Proco 360. That’s P-R-O-C-O 360. And you mentioned naming. Honestly, if I were renaming it, I wouldn’t do that. I would use something else. a number of years ago, branding was the whole thing. But Proco is short for Pro Colorado. 360, the idea that in Colorado, people’s lives are more than singular in dimension.
But if I have to explain the name, it’s not a great one. but it’s stuck. People recognize it now. And so that’s when I’m, you know, I’m sticking with it. So, but anyway, proco360.com and dave@proco360.com. So you can reach me that way. But if you want to listen to some of the podcasts and consider for yourself, if what I’m saying resonates to you, you can listen to a few podcasts. can choose some that seem interesting to you. And then, you know, perhaps you’ll know better where I’m coming from.
Brandon Burton (35:09.56)
So, thanks.
Brandon Burton (35:36.301)
That’s great. We’ll get that posted in our show notes as well.
And in correlation with this episode, I also wanted to announce for a while for several years since 2020, I’ve had a chamber podcasting guide. I now have a totally revamped, a new title too, just podcasting for chambers. And it’s much more relevant to the tools that I’m using today, the things that will save you a lot of time and headache versus what was used back in 2020. So as you can imagine, technology changes, continues to evolve.
So there’s a new guide. So go to chamberchatpodcast.com slash podcasting to get that. But it’ll also be in the notes for this episode. But Dave, this has been great having you on the show. I appreciate you taking some time to be in to be with us and to share your insights and your experience from having a podcast and what’s important for everyone listening who’s interested in podcasting, learning how to monetize the podcast. So thank you.
Dave (36:35.918)
Yeah. You know, it’s fun to be on it. I, I’m glad that we connected because I’m guessing that there are ways that, you know, we can cross pollinate and help one another’s audiences. So, I like your podcast and I, I appreciate, what you’re doing.
Brandon Burton (36:46.538)
Absolutely.
Brandon Burton (36:51.427)
Thank you, Dave.
Dave (36:53.627)
You’re welcome.
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