The Candid Creative
Antonio Ruiz-Santiago

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Getting Started on Social Media | Ep. #1
The Candid Creative
07/15/20 • 11 min
In the pilot episode of The Candid Creative, our host Antonio Ruiz introduces himself, the brand, and his vision for the podcast. After an experience owning a now-defunct fashion brand, Antonio has decided to focus his professional attention on branding and mindset. The goals of the podcast are to share experiences and insights into how to start, grow, and maintain a digital presence for your brand. Today’s topic is getting started on social media.
First of all, Antonio talks about the “why.” Why will you be creating your content? Without a purpose, you will not grow your brand. Growing your following is not a purpose; it is a goal. Vanity metrics are deceptive. The more specific you are, the better.
Second is the “who.” Who exactly is your target audience? Who do you want to consume your content, and for what reason?
Lastly is the “what.” This includes medium, delivery, and format. What kind of content do you want to create, exactly? This could include, music, writing, photography, video, and so on. But think carefully about your what. Starting out, you should focus on your strengths and grow from there. Bring new things to the table. Remember, however, that there is no step-by-step guide for how to be successful on social media: chance is a huge part of it. Don’t create content for its own sake. Figure out what you want to do, and what your audience wants to see, hear, participate in.
Try to find your own style. Create content that you’re an authority on. And above all, be you. Your audience will be more receptive to know who you are and relate to you.
No matter where you choose to publish your content, consider what you actually want to create. Choose the platform that is going to best serve your content. Ultimately, it’s about creating content that engages, inspires, and encourages. There is no limit to this. It’s all about what you want to do. Be sure you’re happy with the content, above all.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz | Visit the show's website at https://www.thecandidcreative.com
07/15/20 • 11 min

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Delving into Hashtags with Rapha | Ep. #5
The Candid Creative
07/15/20 • 43 min
On the fifth episode of Candid Creative, Antonio speaks with friend Rapha about the power of hashtags. Rapha’s big interest is in hashtags and hashtag research. He has been primarily focused on the relationship between hashtags, data, and growth. From branding and marketing to traffic and SEO, Rapha knows the insides and outs of how to make hashtags work for you.
He broke through on Instagram as a “hashtag hacker” for sharing all of his secrets about SEO optimization and analyzing hashtag data. Starting with keywords, Rapha focused on the size of hashtags. Then he moved to people focusing on real estate posters and found that they do not behave the same way that content creators do. One example of this is that mortgage and real estate don’t comment on their posts, when the wineries would. A mentor told them that “normal people” don’t use the platform in the same way that workers do. This was a breakthrough.
Rapha and Antonio briefly dive into how the Instagram algorithm affects the exposure of posts, whether from humans or bots. What’s important for people to remember is that hashtags are only a tool: they cannot see the future. This has caused Rapha to greatly reduce the amount of time he’s spent analyzing hashtags. Rapha realizes that there are other metrics of far greater significance. Like, for example, are you creating good content? Do you understand your audience? Do you understand your why? Do you know the value of your content? These things are going to drive more success than trying to “hack” the hashtags. In many cases, even the developers don’t really know how the algorithms work.
Finally, Antonio and Rapha discuss some of the pitfalls of hashtags. The big one is this: less is more. If you have too many, they just get buried. The best thing to do is to move away from relying on hashtags and the algorithm and focus more on doing things to increase your own engagement. Spend time on the platform liking, sharing, commenting, posting good content—this is going to drive engagement more.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz |
Follow Rapha on IG https://www.instagram.com/iraphacarpio |and for content in Spanish @_rafacarpioBecome a Patron to this podcast and Antonio's content on Instagram
https://www.patreon.com/imantonioruiz
07/15/20 • 43 min
The World of Blogging with Jan | Ep. #4
The Candid Creative
07/15/20 • 22 min
In the fourth episode of The Candid Creative, Antonio Ruiz talks all about blogging with Jan, an IT professional turned writer and blogging expert. First, Jan notes the importance of a blog when it comes to driving traffic and using writing to convince people to buy a product. However, she also says that you don’t have to be a writer to have and benefit from a blog. You can use videos and other mediums to share your expertise.
Jan shares lots of practical advice for those who are starting a blog. She discusses her approach to search engine optimization (SEO), including adding your own perspective or personality, page readability, and findability. She also touches on whether or not you should duplicate content, making sure your site is user-friendly, how long blog posts should be for ideal SEO, where you should use keywords, the importance of transition words, and more!
Finally, Jan encourages listeners not to give up. You may not see immediate results from SEO since it can be a long process. Don’t forget that it takes time to build your site and build trust within your readers.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz |Follow Jan on IG: https://www.instagram.com/digitalenchanto
07/15/20 • 22 min
TikTok: Content & Growth with Chris Davis | Ep. #3
The Candid Creative
07/15/20 • 39 min
On this episode of The Candid Creative, our host Antonio Ruiz talks with Chris Davis, an internet marketer who helps people grow their influence on social media and make an impact. Antonio and Chris discuss the hottest social media platform in 2020: TikTok. With over 800 million active users, TikTok has the highest organic social media engagement rate. What makes this platform so special? How can you take advantage of it and what sort of content is suitable? Find out in this episode!
Chris begins by explaining that just because you see one type of content (dance videos) doesn’t mean you have to post that sort of content. There is a lot of other great things on TikTok and you can contribute to that!
Antonio asks Chris to explain how he got so many followers on TikTok to get where he is today. Chris talks about how he experiments to find out what sort of content attracts followers and the need to do something better than or different from everyone else. He also mentions the need to post in your own voice and do more than just voiceover videos. Followers want to know what you sound like and your own voice helps create your personal brand!
You’ll also hear Chris’ perspective on a recipe for success for Tiktok and advice for those just starting. He advises listeners to post every single day, focus on your strengths, teach people things they want to know, consume enough content, get a TikTok Pro account, and not to worry too much about hashtags.
Correction: At the time of recording Chris Davis had around 12k on TikTok. At the moment he is over 50k followers on TikTok.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz
Follow Chris on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter: @chrisdaviswork
Chris’ agency website: https://revcarto.com/
07/15/20 • 39 min
Design & Storytelling with Eric | Ep. #2
The Candid Creative
07/15/20 • 28 min
On the second episode of The Candid Creative, our host Antonio Ruiz talks with Eric about the power of storytelling on social media. Eric explains his history with design and making content decisions in the digital space.
After graduating from school with a degree in graphic design, Eric entered the corporate world. Unwittingly, Eric became a salesperson within his company, but he hated it. Wanting to shift gears, Eric founded Genmonster with the vision to help people succeed in their careers. Eric lays out his thought processes for developing and organizing content from brainstorm to publishing.
Antonio and Eric also discuss the benefits of storytelling, the reward of risk-taking, and the joy of creation. Eric shares how it took him a long time to figure it out, but he felt like he somewhat owed it to the people who believed in him up to this point. Figure out what your skills are—while borrowing from others—and keep building. Eric wishes that someone had told him to just do it. Whatever it is you’re after—just go after it. Take the advice in stride. Do what’s best for you.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz |
Follow Eric on IG: https://www.instagram.com/genmonster365 |
Visit the show's website with a blog at https://www.thecandidcreative.com
07/15/20 • 28 min
Rule on Pinterest with Kareem | Ep. #6
The Candid Creative
07/23/20 • 25 min
On the sixth episode of The Candid Creative, our host Antonio Ruiz talks with Kareem of Pinterest fame. He talks about how he learned to use Pinterest to drive traffic. Early on, he realized that Pinterest isn’t really social media but a search engine. A lot of people know about the online world, but they shy away from it because they don’t know how to get the traffic.
The things that really work on Pinterest are pins. You have two types of pins: images and videos. Videos convert more, but images can convert. You also have the ability to post carousels, and they can be hits. A piece of content that really works boils down to the design. The majority of Pinterest users are scrolling on their phone, so you need to think about the real estate of the screen. You want to capture their attention quickly.
Kareem and Antonio also discuss optimization, SEO, and other tactics to use data to drive traffic to your site. Kareem started to spam affiliate links on Pinterest in an attempt to make a lot of money fast. Doing almost 100 in two or three days, his account was removed by Pinterest. After talking to them, he had to start from scratch, ultimately. But he’s thankful for this experience.
There are bits and pieces of good knowledge everywhere, you just have to look for them. Pinterest themselves actually teach you how to use the platform. It was a totally different ballpark when it came to the amount of data that was used. It doesn’t matter how many pins you make—what matters is how consistent you are pinning. You can even use tools to automate this process instead of doing it manually.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz |
Follow Kareem on IG at https://www.instagram.com/marketingwithkareem
Become a Patron! You get access to special perks. Starting at $3
https://www.patreon.com/imantonioruiz
07/23/20 • 25 min
An Entrepreneurial Journey with Ethan - Part One | Ep. #8
The Candid Creative
08/06/20 • 45 min
On the eighth episode of Candid Creative, Antonio speaks with Ethan David, an entrepreneur from Ireland with a background in physics. Ethan begins by sharing his disdain for the word ‘entrepreneur’ and how it’s been overused and it's meaning distorted. A true entrepreneur solves problems in exchange for value. Unfortunately, lots of people who enter business don’t understand this and in turn, have the wrong approach.
For the last 8 years, Ethan has been learning firsthand, starting lots of companies and failing more than he’s succeeded. Currently, he’s documenting the process online as a way to help others grow and change their strategy. One of his strengths, Ethan believes, is his background in physics. It’s given him the ability to consider the deeper implications of a problem and discover how everything flows together in a practical way.
Antonio and Ethan discuss the pitfalls of the current business school model. Too many students lack the ability to solve problems and aren’t given the chance to work things out while they’re still young and optimistically ignorant. This leads them into the trap of thinking that overnight success is possible without perseverance and hard work. Very few people succeed in ‘easy’ unless they get ‘lucky.’ Businesses must be seen as a skill set that is learned over time. It’s the experience that provides the value.
Ethan shares how this mindset got him trapped in the ‘spirit of replication.’ Instead of focusing on what worked for him, he spent too much time and energy trying to grow his Instagram page and build relationships. Eventually, valueism may give way to commercialism. Right now, it’s most important to consider the best outlet for your product and prioritize activities that scale, not necessarily what’s most popular at the time.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz |
Follow Ethan on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ethan.talk | and for Ethan's YouTube visit: https://m.youtube.com/ethantalk?uid=ih-1haX7so5ouZVcNdU30g
Become a Patron
https://www.patreon.com/imantonioruiz
08/06/20 • 45 min
Personal Branding Puzzle | Ep. #15
The Candid Creative
09/24/20 • 13 min
On this episode of Candid Creative, Antonio breaks down the myths behind personal branding and how to leverage your true self to achieve success. In reality, most of us have a personal brand before we even know it. How we present ourselves and interact with others defines the way that people see us.
It’s important to perform an honest assessment of yourself in order to inform your growth strategy and increase awareness of the space you’re in. According to Cynthia Johnson in her book Platform, “the goal is to find and demonstrate your identity in a way that accurately represents your success.” Ultimately, it’s about telling your own story. What have you done and how do you think? Many companies have seen the benefits of this mindset, which has led to a shift in business as a whole.
Developing a personal brand should be easy because it’s an authentic reflection of who you are. The four main factors that influence your brand are personal proof, social proof, association, and recognition. All of these work together to create an image that you can use to enhance your success both personally, and professionally.
Having education, awards, and an extensive network is great, but only if you project the real you, not who you think people want you to be. Everyone has equal value no matter their gender, orientation, or background. Don’t get stuck in a box. Evoke feeling through genuine interaction and develop an honest connection to the world.
Subscribe to the Candid Creative:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKtnKlravLReQKvx56Ir58A
Follow Antonio:
Instagram: @imantonioruiz
Sources:
- Platform: The Art & Science of Personal Branding by Cynthia Johnson
- James Jani: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT0dmfFCLWuVKPWZ6wcdKyg
09/24/20 • 13 min
A Brand is a Story | Ep. #14 with Rhonda
The Candid Creative
09/17/20 • 38 min
On this episode of Candid Creative, Antonio continues his conversation with Rhonda Glynn, a small business strategist, and coach who works primarily with female entrepreneurs. Rhonda begins by sharing her disappointment with Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, for his decision to ban employees from wearing symbols related to Black Lives Matter. She believes that this is incompatible with the company’s image and a sign of an old way of doing business that no longer works anymore.
Instead, brands must be consistent and find their niche in order to adapt to a value-based economy. Consumers want to know and be known. To hear and be heard. That doesn’t mean that a brand should be strictly ‘political,’ however. It’s about awareness, not an agenda. Know your customer so they don’t ‘strike back’ against a lack of authenticity. Share the truth, or trust will be lost forever.
COVID-19 has sped up this transition. With social interaction at an all-time low, people are looking to be heard on a deeper level. Brands must speak to this need through stories and genuine communication. This may lead many companies to go back to the drawing board or disappear completely. For better or worse, simple transactions are no longer tolerated. There must be an exchange on both ends.
Things will never go back to how they were. Our society has reached a tipping point, and having the right mindset will determine your success. Rhonda points to a greater need for preparation to remove uncertainty. Because we live in a binary era where everything is virtual, pivoting your strategy through innovative technology like video will restore the human connection in a positive, but completely different way.
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Follow Antonio on IG: @imantonioruizFollow the Candid Creative on IG: @candidcreativepodcast
Visit Rhonda at https://www.rhondaglynn.com/
Follow Rhonda on IG: @zoma.business.solutions
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Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
09/17/20 • 38 min
Digital Landscape: Marketing & Sales with David Ramos | Ep. #7
The Candid Creative
07/30/20 • 46 min
On the seventh episode of Candid Creative, Antonio speaks with David Ramos, founder of Xurge Digital Media, a digital marketing agency in the Philippines. David begins by discussing the importance of understanding the specific objective of your client. Whether it’s a business or a personal brand, this knowledge is essential to identifying resources and deciding how to move forward. Both parties must remember that marketing is a journey. Testing what type of content your audience is willing to consume will eventually lead to success.
David emphasized that all businesses have different situations. The best agencies show that they value their partners by outsourcing campaigns in industries they don’t focus on, and only accepting work for what it’s worth.
Ultimately, marketing cannot be effective unless it recognizes the psychology and behavior behind its audience. Companies such as Apple and Starbucks understand how to ‘price the experience,’ and have created products that are discount-proof, life-defining status symbols. They are no longer marketing or selling in the traditional sense.
Despite their best intentions, organizations can still misconstrue the relationship between these two roles. David describes them in this way – “Sales is flirting, marketing is dating.” The difference can also be seen as lead generation (marketing) versus lead conversion (sales). At Xurge Digital Media, David is hands-on with both areas because he wants to know how they can work together to meet the needs of their clients.
To close, David relates the role of marketing to a personal brand. It’s not always important to have a business to sell because YOU are your business. Stand out above the noise by sharing how your approach is unique. Make your value proposition count.
Follow Antonio on IG: https://www.instagram.com/imantonioruiz
Updated David Ramos IG: https://www.instagram.com/iamdavidramos
Follow Xurge Digital Media on IG: https://www.instagram.com/xurgedigitalmedia | same applies for Facebook and LinkedIn
Become a Patron
https://www.patreon.com/imantonioruiz
07/30/20 • 46 min
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FAQ
How many episodes does The Candid Creative have?
The Candid Creative currently has 24 episodes available.
What topics does The Candid Creative cover?
The podcast is about Video, Marketing, Social Media, Entrepreneurship, Creative, Writing, Podcasts and Business.
What is the most popular episode on The Candid Creative?
The episode title 'Getting Started on Social Media | Ep. #1' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Candid Creative?
The average episode length on The Candid Creative is 37 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Candid Creative released?
Episodes of The Candid Creative are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of The Candid Creative?
The first episode of The Candid Creative was released on Jun 18, 2020.
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