Inside Marketing with MarketSurge

Welcome to Inside Marketing
With Market Surge.

Your front row seat to the
boldest ideas and smartest

strategies in the marketing game.

Your host is Reed Hansen, chief
Growth Officer at Market Surge.

Reed: Hello and welcome back to
Inside Marketing with Market Surge.

Today I'm delighted to be, joined by Ryan
who is the founder and CEO of Trita, a

digital growth agency based in Arizona
that has helped over 250 businesses

across industries elevate their brand
marketing and sales performance with more

than 15 years of experience in branding,
digital strategy and entrepreneurship.

has LED campaigns generating millions in
revenue for clients ranging from local

service businesses to National B2B firms.

Under his leadership, Trita
has become known for It's

data-backed, story-driven approach.

Blending strategic clarity
with creative execution.

A former news producer,
turned marketing powerhouse.

Ryan brings a rare mix of narrative,
instinct, and business acumen, making him

a trusted advisor for brands who are ready
to scale with purpose, not just noise.

Ryan, welcome to the podcast.

Ryan Caracciolo: Wow.

What a what Intro there.

You're too good to me.

Reed: no, I wish I could take
full credit, but I do have a very

helpful AI agent that helps me.

Ryan Caracciolo: Oh, nice.

Reed: uh, yeah, delighted to meet
you and have you on the podcast

Ryan Caracciolo: Awesome.

Yeah.

Thanks for having me.

Reed: Y you know, and, and,
uh, it's really my pleasure.

So, I know you work a lot with, you
know, a lot of different kinds of

businesses, but really helping to
bi these businesses to win online.

In your words, what does it actually mean
to win online, like in 2025, for example?

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah, great question.

Uh, winning online, I love that phrase.

Uh, we made a joke to some of our
clients when they rank and they

actually generate business, not
just leads and forms and calls, but.

We kind of sit back and go, okay,
we've won the internet as a joke.

So like, will you phrase that?

'cause we say that too.

you know, really it comes down to
looking at what the business goals

are, understanding those business
goals, not just being a lead farm.

I mean, there are companies that do that
and that's fine, but for us, we like to

really be integrated into our partners
day to day, month to month, year to year.

And really help them
establish an ROI model.

So, winning online in today's
world is ranking well, but

it's not just SEO as we know.

It's search engine optimization.

It's really turned into search
everywhere optimization.

And so helping companies understand
that, execute consistently on that,

every platform is gonna be different.

but as long as you have your
brand holistically connected

across those platforms, with
your messaging that goes after.

Their ideal customers.

to me that's what winning online is.

It's ranking, well, it's
generating qualified leads, it's

never a volume conversation.

It's always about the quality of leads.

And so when you can get that dialed in,
and you're actually closing business

and being able to track that business
as revenue, and you can source it back

to one of the eight to 10 different
online sources that, we like to track

the most, that's what winning online is.

Reed: That's great.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: leads us maybe to my first rabbit
hole that I wanted to take you down.

Um, you mentioned SEO and I know you
do a lot of, uh, work with people's

online presence and branding.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: a big concern for many
of us, uh, whether we're.

Uh, service providers or businesses
with websites is what is going on

with AI and how's it affecting SEO?

Do we need to approach it differently?

Do we, um, is SEO even worth it?

Do we just wait and see?

I don't know.

What do you think?

What, what are your thoughts?

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah, I mean,
great question and certainly

been top of mind for us.

As you can imagine, there's two sides
to this equation where there are

some people that believe, you know.

The roof is falling.

Uh, the world's a mess in our world.

Online is dead as we know it.

You know, Google search
is dead as we know it.

And then there's the other world that
says, Hey, keep doing what you're doing.

Uh, SEO works and is pulled
well into those, um, AI engines.

Right?

Uh, and for us, we really kind of
line up in the middle right now.

There's still.

So much data being collected.

But the reality is if you can
understand the intent behind where

Google's wanting to push and where
these companies are wanting to

push, it continues to be around.

Are we delivering the promise to our
customers and users, which is delivering

the best answers for their search queries?

So AI has been.

Extremely transformative,
at least this year alone.

Like if you look at January until now,
um, the last six months have just, the

leaps and bounds have been incredible.

Like you look at last year, um, and
ai, at least for us in agency world,

on the backend of tools like Google
My Business or Google ads, really AI

was just causing a lot of problems
'cause it was just throwing up.

False red flags that Google
was looking to implement on the

backend for checkers, right?

Security checkers and things like that.

So that was more frustrating
August of last year.

Uh, that's like burned into my memory
of when AI really started to hit

the ground running and Google's,
you know, and, and back in there.

But, uh, really as we
lean forward and press on.

AI wants to understand your whole
company, not just what's found on

So, um, and again, there's another
report published by Google whether you

wanna believe what they publish or not.

Um, I tend to read 'em and then,
you know, you deduce it from

there based on your data, but.

Um, you know, AI engines are
still pulling from your website.

They're still gonna pull in your content
being relevant from an SEO standpoint, I

know I made the phrase search everywhere,
optimization, but if we were to take

search engine optimization, that's still
relevant in today's day and age, uh,

because AI is pulling from that as well.

Now AI is also pulling from other sort of
brand recognition opportunities, meaning,

uh, certificates, accreditations like
the BBB accreditation for instance, is

a great example of something, whether
business owners want to hear that or not.

Um, that's just where we're at.

Uh, social feeds.

Uh, Instagram just started
getting indexed in Google, right?

Uh, that's a huge win for social
media to be indexed that way.

Similar to it was a huge win for
video to be indexed with YouTube.

And so what we're seeing is
just this all encompassing poll

and Google continues to make.

Those leaps and bounds in doing that.

Um, yeah, you can focus on
other search engines as well.

DuckDuckGo, uh, I dunno if anybody's ever
heard of that, but I like DuckDuckGo,

um, and other ones, you know, Bing.

Yeah.

Uh, Yahoo.

Is Yahoo dead or not?

I don't know, but, um, you
know, the reality is, is like

AI is transforming all of this.

people are trusting it at a higher
rate than ever before when it comes

to search engines, meaning their
queries are 20 to 30 times longer

than a normal search engine query.

So the amount of data that these
companies are collecting, you know,

chat, GBT and Grok, for instance, 20
to 30 times more than a typical search.

Those you can imagine, that's why
they're able to evolve so quickly.

So, uh, long-winded answer.

Sorry.

Uh, where is AI at?

You said, you know, what's
the landscape look like?

It's definitely, rocking
the surface right now.

on the line it's, rocking the
foundation a bit, but, the

push will always be the same.

How do you create consistent
and compelling content?

and how do you be recognized as
an authority, not just a company?

And those principles, while a little
general, are foundational principles

that you can use as a litmus test.

Reed: That's awesome.

Um, you know, I know that you
and your business, you're big on

promoting brands through storytelling.

Uh, so you know, I think this ties
in here, is your, uh, you're talking

about the more helpful content that
the, AI engines are synthesizing.

What would you say is the difference
between a brand that tells stories and

somebody that just posts like key anchor
content that, um, maybe is less effective?

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah, great question.

So I can use an example of,
uh, company A that decides to

post holiday posts on Facebook.

Uh, thinking customers will look at
a holiday post and wanna do business

with them, or company B that posts
things that are, you know, answers to

questions and answers to problems that
their users are actually searching for.

Uh, Facebook, for instance, let's
just use that as the example for

company and company B, you're
interrupting somebody's day.

So if you're gonna interrupt
somebody's day and, and wish

them well, uh, happy July 4th.

Like, don't get me wrong, like
I am as American as they come.

I love America.

Um, but is a July 4th post gonna bring in
droves of customers for a business that

deals with alcohol and drug recovery.

You know, like let's have some
perspective around that, uh, versus

company B that is not just telling a
story, but educating, you know, the moms

and the dads of a loved one that they
have to send to intervention therapy.

Um, what a heartbreaking time that is.

And so.

As you can imagine, you know, you
and I can meet in a coffee house.

We can start to build trust.

Uh, we can shake hands.

You can look at me and say,
yeah, Ryan's kind of a weird

dude, or maybe he's a cool dude.

I don't know.

But you start that
relationship building process.

And online you don't have
that opportunity to do it.

Uh, currently, maybe in the future
with AI agents, you never know.

Uh, but as it stands right
now, uh, building trust.

Is only through content and the quality
of content and how you tell that story.

So it's not just about coming up with
a story that you think will go viral.

It's about looking at what are
people searching for and why?

What problems are they going through?

And do you have those answers?

And if you have those answers,
and that is your space, do

you wanna be in as a company?

Great.

Don't try to fabricate answers just to
generate quote unquote leads, right?

It has to be quality leads.

'cause you and I both know that a
burned out sales team is a terrible

sales team, so why am I gonna
send 'em a hundred unqualified

leads as opposed to 20 great ones?

So it all comes down to that message.

And so that's where company B will
win, is they're looking to build trust.

They're looking to build
genuine connection.

Um.

I recently heard of an example
of a company that's offering like

a 15 minute online meditation
zoom for anybody to jump on.

And on the surface you think
like, well, that's kind of cool.

But the reality is, is they're offering
to be a resource to build trust.

Um, they're not trying
to sell you anything.

They're not trying to, you know.

Get you to buy with a one click buy.

'cause in the services industry,
that's different than e-comm.

But in this example, services
based industry, you typically

have a longer runtime, right?

A week, two weeks, a month, two months
to build trust in order for somebody to

want to do business with your company.

Um, so that's what you have to do

Reed: Yeah.

So now I am curious, you do a lot of,
technical work and, digital marketing

services for these businesses.

Did you.

as far as a trust, you know, in your
role as the agency and being the

trusted partner, do you actually create
these, these kinds of, experiences,

you know, this kind of messaging?

Or do you, help them with
the creative process?

I'd be interested to see where,
services stop and the customer

carries the ball the rest of the way.

I don't know.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah, great question and
something I think in the agency world that

we go through is, okay, am I gonna create
content in order for it to come back?

Redlined client's not happy.

I'm not hitting the message.

And so, at least for us, our process
is a bit unique in that, uh, we

actually interview our clients, right?

And just draw out the raw content.

So for us, it's not always being
like these expert content creators,

but rather expert content curators

Reed: hmm.

Ryan Caracciolo: allowing our
clients to be the experts.

Like the interventionist example,
I don't have 30 years of experience

in drug and alcohol interventions.

I don't have.

10 years experience as a pain doctor
or as a luxury real estate agent.

just so you can see the
industries we're in, right?

They're specialized industries and,
I can't promise somebody like in 30

days my team is gonna learn exactly
how you talk and write but what we can

promise is that we know the game plan.

We know the opportunities to go
after based upon what we believe

the ideal customer is together.

for our partners, that's really the call
it's not that we're gonna create a ton

of content, you're gonna have to edit a
blog a week or service pages, week, it's

how can I ask you the right questions in
an interview format, whether it's just

an easy zoom call that we can transcribe,
and then that's our ammunition from there,

And so that's how I think we're able
to effectively, work with our partners

in getting the content that we need
to help them rank for the services

and things that they want to, but
also not mess up the tone and the

voice outta the gate as their brand.

as you can imagine.

It takes, 60 to 90 days to really
work through deep content issues.

we have some clients now where, we are
ghostwriting for them on a monthly and

quarterly basis just fine because we've
been in the flow with them for so long.

but it all starts with being
an expert curator, we believe.

Reed: That's, uh, that's excellent
and, you know, good guidance.

you know, and you touched on
something that, maybe be another

interesting rabbit hole is the balance
of AI generated content and, um.

You know, being authentic.

I remember years ago I used, uh,
Jasper, one of the first, uh, like

nice interfaces to create blogs.

And the blogs that generated
at first were not good.

Ryan Caracciolo: Mm-hmm.

Reed: obviously

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: generated

Ryan Caracciolo: Yep.

Reed: improved quite a bit.

And, you know, I think, to my practice,
I can catch a lot of AI generated

content that I read out there.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: but I'm not sure what, I'm catching.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: what, how do you think
through the balance there?

Um.

I mean, obviously like
it adds tremendous value.

It saves us a ton of time and money.

Um, what would you, and
it's gonna get better.

I mean, I think it's, that's
the other thing too, is

Ryan Caracciolo: Mm-hmm.

Reed: what is happening today.

It's like, you know, in 12
months it'll be even better.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: do you advise your clients to
think through that and that balance?

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Great question.

Uh, we only use AI content.

No, I'm just kidding.

Uh, that joke.

Um, yeah, I mean, so if you get to know
me when it comes to Google and the rabbit

hole and the conspiracies of what it
takes to rank or not, you'll quickly

find out that I have a Google Pixel
because I'm far down this rabbit hole.

I think owning a Google Pixel
is gonna help our clients.

Does it?

No, but like.

Anything that Google develops and
owns, you have to be a part of.

Uh, I am very staunch on that.

And so same thing with YouTube, right?

When they bought YouTube, like that's
the platform we're using and it's

continuing to evolve and work very well.

But to your point around AI content.

Um, you know, a lot of
speculation has been made.

Is it gonna penalize a site or not?

You know, I know Google last year, rolled
out in November, I believe it was, um,

you know, an update that essentially
killed off a lot of sites or blood, some

sites out that had a ton of AI content.

Now, uh, I didn't look at every single
one of those sites, of course, but

was it AI content that was quality
or was it just AI spammed content?

Right.

I'm gonna add 50 blocks a week.

I tend to think it's
the latter, of course.

Um, so I think there's a balance,
you know, in terms of what we're

practicing here currently to
this day, you know, what is it?

July 28th, 2025.

As a timestamp, you know, we're
not leveraging ai, um, heavily

in the content creation portion.

we'll use it for ideation,
we'll use it for research,

we'll use it for related topics.

We'll even use it to see how chat GBT
is pulling it in, for instance, right?

Like asking questions to see how they
are responding to the types of content.

am I opposed to it though?

No, I think, and you've seen it,
and I set Google up earlier in

this conversation with the premise
of like, they have Gemini now.

And they're pushing that heavily.

So anytime they push a product,
right, like any business,

they want you to adopt it.

So if they were drastically opposed to AI
content, they wouldn't be pushing Gemini.

Now again, I like to be white hat.

SEO have years of data before,
just make a flippant decision.

But the reality is, is they've
already made the decision for us,

Hey guys, Gemini's here to stay.

not only Gemini, but
they are producing ai.

I dunno if you saw Kinda state of
the union address, if you will.

Every year they give their big updates.

And this year's like premium example
was, I'm gonna sell a t-shirt and

I'm gonna take a picture of that
t-shirt, on the ground with my phone.

I'm gonna upload it to
Google Ads and tell it.

I want it to be on a 5-year-old
female walking down New York City.

And boom, there's the video of it, right?

So.

Like the reality is, is they
are evolving at a rapid pace.

Um, I, I'm not opposed to using AI
content like in some capacities right now.

Um, I am testing a website
on my own personally, that's

only AI written content.

Uh, case study won't be ready
for a year or two probably, but I

just needed to start the process.

Now, just for my own curiosity, um, I
leaned on the, the first part, which

is I don't want to use AI content
because with the clients and the sites

that we have, we've built up so much.

Organic traffic and it's, you know,
for one client, it's literally 90% of

their business is all organic traffic.

So to take a risk like
that right is, is tough.

Um, but again, on the flip side with
the recent developments over the last

few months, I'm not opposed to, I think.

I think you just have to do it.

Well.

I think you have to make it human.

You know, you, like you said, you've
seen the, uh, evolving nature of Jasper.

I think you have to use it in a way
that, uh, will be relevant to users.

You know, that's
everybody's brand promises.

If I search for something, I
wanna find the best answer.

And I want it to be from an authority.

Though you're just pumping AI content
out there, not checking it, not editing

it, doing sorts of things like that.

That's a huge red flag.

But.

I don't know.

I, I am still investigating, um, not to be
non-committal, but all of that background

to say it's, uh, still under investigation
if we wanna pump it out en mass.

Right.

I think there's enough proof
to suggest that it wouldn't be

detrimental, but at the same time,
not any that I'd want to take a risk

on with our clients yet currently.

Yeah, for everything else, it's great.

I mean, Excel formulas, I can name
off tons of tactics, and then, you

know, again, people are gonna be like,
oh, you're not leveraging it fully

by just using it for Excel formulas.

I'm like, okay, like let's
have some perspective.

Like, uh, I think it's phenomenal.

I have loved every minute of it,
because I think it allows us to have

so much more efficiencies, which allows
us to produce more for our clients.

But in terms of raw content
that I'm just gonna slap up on a

website based on our SEO framework.

I'm not quite there yet, but everything
else, yeah, we're leveraging it,

heavily, especially for like, you
know, it's like just checking, right?

Just checking the data,
checking the research.

Hey, here's an ad campaign, you know, that
we have an idea of based on this research,

what are some other companies like?

The amount of data it can
process is phenomenal.

need to be a fool not to
use it, but, use it wisely.

Reed: Yeah.

I mean, I think that's well said.

And I, think I agree with
everything you're saying.

Um, I do use, uh, AI content
quite a bit, mostly on my blog.

Um, you know, we tend for like,
you know, key pages on our website.

We do, you know, handcraft the content
or, or look at it very closely.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yep,

Reed: you know, try not to be, you know,
keyword stuffing or, you know, like.

Ryan Caracciolo: exactly.

Reed: just sounds dumb, you know?

So, um, and, you know, I'm just fascinated
with, you know, where it's going.

Um, you know, just as an aside, I,
before this call I was working in Cursor

and building a, fantasy football app.

And, um,

Ryan Caracciolo: Nice.

Reed: I'm.

Really enjoying playing
with that as a non coder.

And, um, I'm just excited for the future.

You know, I think it's
gonna make our lives better.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: I do hope we can sort
out like the employment issues

that it might raise, but, um,

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: uh,

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: know, I do hope it just overall
it increases our standard of living.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

And that's where I'm at too.

I love that you brought that up, like real
world examples beyond our agency world.

Like I think there was that
report where it detected cancer,

you know, like 10 years earlier.

Um, like absolutely incredible.

Like things that need to be leveraged, for
the good of humanity, of course, right.

Um, in that healthcare setting.

So that's a cool example.

Your example though too, of like.

Is it gonna affect employment?

Yeah, I know.

I think it's gonna like shift the
way people do certain tasks, but I do

think, um, side note, if it's okay,
like if you look at the trade market,

um, like electricians, plumbers, like
that market, it has been exploding

for the last decade in general.

Like it's, you know, I, we met one
company that was given like a 20

or $30,000 sign-on bonus to be an
electrician, and their responsibility

was three to four jobs a day, only.

that were blocked off for two hour
chunks and then they had like their

own yoga studio in their office.

Like the red carpet's been rolled
out because nobody's doing trades.

And I just found it to be fascinating.

I was like, this is a cool time.

Um, so it's interesting right,
where AI, you know, may influence

some, may bring back some others.

We don't know, um, the full extent of it,
but it is interesting to see landscapes,

you know, being changed so quickly.

I don't think I've ever seen landscapes
change this quickly in my lifetime.

Still fairly young, but.

I don't think I've seen
it change this quickly.

like in mass, like January until
now is a great data point to

study of how fast it's evolved.

Reed: is.

yeah.

I mean, could probably spend
a whole podcast talking

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah, yeah,

Reed: know, but, uh, you know,
so, um, yeah, maybe, we'll,

Ryan Caracciolo: yeah,

Reed: we'll do another podcast.

Ryan Caracciolo: yeah,

Reed: But, um, we, um, so we talk.

Maybe back to marketing a little bit.

Ryan Caracciolo: yeah.

Reed: what are some channels or
marketing tactics that you feel people

aren't paying enough attention to
or maybe a little bit underrated?

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: you know, and I, I have a
few, but yeah, I'd love to, let you

chime in and, you know, I can add
flavor if I have any that you hadn't

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: but.

Ryan Caracciolo: No.

Yeah, it's a great question.

I would say, um, at least from my
standpoint, from what we've seen, like

SEO, not just from a standpoint of
like the flashy side of SEO, right?

Everybody knows the buzzword, but
very few understand the blocking

and tackling of it, that it takes.

And so when I tell clients a 12
month timeline, like, oh, there's

no way like this SEO person promised
me two months or three months.

Like, I'm not giving you a timeline
in terms of seeing keyword shift.

I'm giving you a timeline like that.

You have to be consistent if you
actually wanna scale your business.

Like growing your business is
different than scaling, right?

How do I get from zero to a million
is a much different process than, how

do I get from one to three, right?

Or three to seven, So when you actually
look at what it takes to grow a business

online, the blocking and tackling of SEO,
so to speak, like winning in the trenches,

I'm using that, you brought up the fantasy
football example, so I hope that's okay.

But we actually use that analogy a lot
because very few people, like, they

remember the shots down the field.

They remember the 50 yard bomb to
the end zone or the interception.

That's a pick six.

But the normal onlooker of football
doesn't really see all the work

that's getting done in the trenches.

And if you just watch that game
the whole time, it's a chess match.

It's a ruling chess match the whole time,
and it's just relentless and nonstop.

And I, I feel bad, like I don't understand
as an offensive lineman, how you can just

sign up and just be like, I'm gonna keep
blocking this guy who's bull rushing me

for four hours or whatever it is like.

The amount of tenacity it takes to
sign up for that position is unreal.

And so that's what SEO is.

You need to have consistent, compelling
content that answers questions.

and Google wants it to be consistent.

If you throw up 20 pieces of
content one month and zero the next

month, like that's not effective.

And I think so often, um, I bring this
up because I think people get impatient.

Um, if we can keep a client on for
12 months, we rarely lose them.

Rarely.

Um, but it's that
process of getting there.

Usually it's around month four, right?

It's like, Hey, maybe three, four.

I'm still paying this overhead.

I'm not seeing the results.

It's like, yeah, 'cause like you have
like, you're five to 10 years behind

your competitors, like you have some time
to build, to get on top the tidal wave.

And so if.

I love talking about it.

'cause I feel like as a buzzword,
people like to talk about it, but

then as a like actual practice that
will grow a business, they forget to

mention that it does take a long time.

I'm not saying it's gonna take 12
months, but to get it to a place

where your business is leveraging
and developing an ROI model, that's a

different conversation than just seeing
keywords pop up on the first page.

Um, so I think that's one.

One area, um, that's not focused enough.

And then the second area, just to touch on
it too, is the actual website foundation.

Um, I think so many people pour
SEO and time and content into

sites that have natural ceilings.

Um, whether they know it or not, it's
fine, but a lot of businesses, you

know, pop up a theme or, um, you.

Get a cheap website that's like,
Hey, I'm gonna pay 50 bucks a

month for this website theme.

And the reality is, is again, that
serves the time and a place, but if

you're a business that's looking to
scale, that's gonna require immense

amounts of content and process.

And you need to have a structure that
will actually grow without a ceiling.

And so I like talking about that.

As well, because that's a foundation.

Um, that's something that's,
you know, you need to invest

in like your brick and mortar.

Like, you're not gonna go say, I'm
gonna open up a coffee house down the

road and I'm gonna set up a tent and
I'm gonna have, you know, my Nespresso

machine plugged in, in the tent.

I'm just gonna serve no,
like, you're gonna buy a brick

and mortar, you're gonna.

Focus on the light fixtures,
the paint, the seating, the

arrangement, like everything.

So if you're so intentional about
your brick and mortar, like why are

we not using that same intention
with how the, the website is built?

Right?

And that's again, analogy I like to use
because I think that points out, like the

foundation is so critical to not just.

How's it gonna grow the first year,
but is this gonna be sustainable

for five to 10 years and am I ever
gonna have to rebuild it or can I

just keep redesigning and adding on?

And, um, you know, those are
investments that people have

to make if it's not built.

You know, it might be cheap on the front
end, but then you're already rebuilding

it after year one and redesigning it
after year two, and it's like, man, you

could be focusing on so many other tactics
to grow your business if it was just.

Built right the first time.

So those are the two things, as you
can tell, I, I don't thrive in the sexy

worlds of virality, of like, Hey, let's
do a social post and it's gonna go viral.

Um, but a lot of our businesses are,
it's healthcare, it's service based.

It's, it's, you know, dealing with people,
you know, relationship is business like.

That's so how do you
build that relationship?

It's through quality and, and
integrity of understanding.

Is this a foundation that's
gonna speak to them well?

And are these tactics that, you
know over time are gonna grow?

And so.

Uh, yeah, that's where I would kind
of land on it at least, uh, initially.

Reed: That's awesome.

Yeah.

Um, no, I think you're talking about
like getting down to the fundamentals

and making sure every piece is in
place is a great illustration of how

you're gonna be successful online.

And, uh, you know, I love that, I guess
the ones that came to mind for me,

um, I do love podcasting and, um, you

Ryan Caracciolo: Yep.

Reed: been, I, we both seek out
guest opportunities on podcasts,

which I think have been tremendous.

Ryan Caracciolo: Agreed.

Reed: and, and I really like, you know,
if, if, if, uh, anybody in the audience

is looking for some quick wins that take,
know, wouldn't say no effort, but, but.

Basically you're having a conversation
and you're rattling off things

that are your field of expertise.

You know, I think,

Ryan Caracciolo: Yep.

Reed: taking advantage of these
opportunities is fantastic.

Ryan Caracciolo: Huge.

That's a great call out.

Yeah.

Podcasting is huge.

People wanna hear from the source
and if I can hear a podcast with

a doctor, I'm gonna go see, you
know, not just website content, like

they, they want to see the person.

I think that's a great call out.

Reed: Yeah.

Yeah.

um, so, so Ryan, um, maybe one,
a couple, couple more questions,

a little bit, um, off topic now.

What, what do you think is a, a book or.

Maybe, you know, even like a podcast that
every entrepreneur or somebody thinking

about really growing their presence
online, uh, should read to, uh, you know,

expertise and, and start, uh, improving.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah, great question.

Um, I would say the books that I
typically recommend at first, um,

are books that drive at a core.

So I'm not sidestepping the
question, but if I may, uh.

You know, uh, extreme ownership,
Jocko Willick, like phenomenal book.

Um, phenomenal book,
phenomenal principles.

You know, and then on, on the
marketing side, I, I still

lean on Blue Ocean strategy.

You know, I think in terms of it being
like a one-to-one digital, you know,

expertise read, you know, not so much.

But again, it just really helps you
understand where your business is at

and who you're competing against versus.

The blue oceans that exist.

And so I think the examples that
it gave are timeless and relevant.

but those two examples come to mind that
I typically say, you know, initially

when people ask me that question, it's
extreme ownership by jock of Will.

'cause if you can make it through
that book and not feel like, you know,

if you don't feel like you're gonna
wanna run through a wall for that

guy after you read that book, like
you're not a business entrepreneur.

I'm just kidding.

Uh, just kidding.

Uh, but it's, yeah, it's just
such a great book of principles.

Right.

Um, oh, another one is
Atomic Habits, though.

That's a great book too.

Reed: Yes.

Ryan Caracciolo: that book.

that author is the only author
that I actually sign up for

newsletters from, 'cause he always
gives like three relevant points.

But, you know, breaking down understanding
if I have a goal, it's not about the goal,

it's about the habits to get to that goal.

So I think that book really helped shape
me early on, uh, with the business.

But then, yeah, blue Ocean Strategy,
it went over like the example

of Cirque de Soleil and how they
reinvented the barn and Bailey culture.

I thought that was a cool example.

Uh, they went over how Southwest before
it became like Southwest Cares, you

know, and the heart and all that.

It was like, how was Southwest
reshaping the industry by not being

a part of all the other groups.

Right?

Um, and now they like totally deleted
their pricing model back to like, right.

Reed: Right.

Ryan Caracciolo: uh, a few decades anyway.

Um, so like, I think those examples
are great because it drives that,

like foundational principles that
will overflow into the business.

Um, yeah, those come to mind initially.

Reed: Those are great.

And,

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah,

Reed: if you were to, this will
be the last question and I, um,

Ryan Caracciolo: I love him, man.

Reed: if you were to pick a fictional
character from a movie or even

a book, you know, somebody well,
recognized that describes what you do.

Professionally, um, comes to mind?

Ryan Caracciolo: Oh man.

Reed: Uh, yeah, I'd say
a fictional character.

if you can make a case for a real
world character, that's fine too, but

Ryan Caracciolo: No, no.

Fictional is fun.

Um, so, uh, I would say sometimes
I feel like aragorn from War

to the Rings is like my job.

Reed: In what sense?

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah, it's just
like, hey, every day you gotta gear

up for battle and you don't know
what's gonna happen and you gotta

lead the people, uh, the right way.

You gotta put, you know,
servant leadership first.

Like, he was always, you know, a person
that would put his team first, and.

I try to live by that.

I falter, you know, all the time.

But if you were to ask me like,
what do you feel like for a job?

Like, yeah, I'm not going
to battle every day.

Like physically I get that.

But sometimes I think as a business
owner, it's okay to be honest and

realize like, Hey, I gotta armor up.

Um, I don't know what I'm gonna
be facing today and I'm gonna get

some crazy examples potentially.

Or I'm gonna have to deal with
some, you know, team items.

But I need to be focused on serving
and I need to be focused on being

tenacious and not giving up.

And so I guess if my, uh, Lord
of the Rings nerd ship comes

out in that question, sure.

So be it.

But uh,

Reed: That's

Ryan Caracciolo: that's
how I'd answer that.

Reed: Yeah.

That's awesome.

No, I think that's great.

I, have heard some, definitely
some answers to that.

And, you know, for me, I think it's, um,
I'm Willy Wonka minus the of children.

I like to play with all these
new toys and create unique, um,

Ryan Caracciolo: That's awesome.

Reed: and, you know, just.

Ryan Caracciolo: Oh, that's awesome.

Reed: so that's,

Ryan Caracciolo: Yep.

Reed: it all kind of fits together, but

Ryan Caracciolo: I love it.

Reed: yeah.

Ryan Caracciolo: love it.

Reed: Well, Ryan, where can people
who have heard from you today and want

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

Reed: hear more or want to work
with you, where can they find you?

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah.

So they can just go to my
website, strive ntta.com.

S-T-R-I-V-E-N-T a.com.

Uh, we came up with the name
Striving to Invent, uh, put an A

on the end of it because it sounded
like a toothpaste if we didn't.

Um, so there we go.

And then, uh, another website though,
uh, when it relates to like the

website process is hyperdrive wp.com.

you know, those are two areas
that they can go check us out.

And, uh, one of the sites
has free cookies on it.

Like there's no strings attached.

Like if you scroll down on
Trina, you can get free cookies.

And it's purely because I want people to
accept our cookies online and in person.

It's a terrible dad joke, but
that's a seasonal life I'm in.

I'm just gonna own it and move on.

Uh, plus they're delicious cookies.

So anyway.

Reed: Well, fantastic.

Um, you know, it was really a pleasure
and, uh, you know, I learned and I, I hope

everybody in the audience did as well.

Um, you know, Ryan, I'd love to
have another conversation sometime.

Thanks for joining.

Ryan Caracciolo: Yeah, I would as well.

Thanks for having me on.

appreciate it and uh,
glad to be a resource.

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