In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder and CEO of Carter & Custer, Jim Carter III.

Carter & Custer helps entrepreneurs thrive to make a bigger impact in the world. Jim has had a large interest in technology all of his life and his partner works more with the consumer package goods and marketing side of the business world. They help entrepreneurs by using ethical-based marketing and they love to support nonprofit organizations. Carter & Custer works in primarily two ways, the first being through their mastermind program, Fast Foundations. Through this, they bring entrepreneurs together into a community and offer in-person events as well as coaching to help them get from a starting point to building a stable foundation for their business. The second way Carter & Custer works is by providing repeatable flat-rate services for entrepreneurs in the areas they need such as email management or search engine optimization. They can also make content out of podcasts to push out to the client’s audience as well as help manage content for social media platforms.

Jim explains that using platforms such as Facebook or Linkedin to communicate or engage with an audience comes with a price as an individual is using someone else’s platform with different rules. However, when an individual has ownership of their own audience through platforms like Circle or Mighty Networks, it allows for personal rules to be made and the elimination of threats from the algorithm. Jim explains that search engine optimization is a long process and a content footprint needs to be planted now so that channel of opportunity can be realized. The midrange form of marketing is email marketing which an individual can slowly grow through their list and gain the trust of the people on their list. Once their trust and support has be gained, the business can start to push its offers toward them through the email list. The short form of marketing is using platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram reels, or Youtube shorts. This can get information out in an easily digestible way for an audience and promote growing a businesses reach or audience.

Key Points from the Episode:

The work Jim does with Carter & Custer
How Carter & Custer works
Community
Differences in marketing styles

About Jim Carter III:

Jim Carter II is the Founder and CEO of Carter & Custer, a digital marketing agency that specializes in amplifying the online influence of nonprofits and change-makers so they can have a greater impact on the world. The agency has helped build multiple $1M social impact companies, and together with one of its clients, Pencils of Promise has raised over $300,000 to educate children in need around the globe. Jim believes that if you let your desire for social change align with your professional talents, you can make an incredible impact on the world. This belief led him to use his over two decades of tech experience to raise over $20M for different charities in the last eight years.

Tweetable Moments:

06:58 - "When you're playing in somebody else's field, you are susceptible to their roles."

07:46 - "When you have those phone numbers, there's called data portability. It gives you the ability to have that information and make it portable."

10:50 - "You have to ask yourself what game do you wanna play and where are your customers that you want to talk to? And if you believe more of them are searching the web for it, well then you should really start getting content out into the world."

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1347 – Step Into Your Zone of Genius with Carter and Custer’s Jim Carter III

The Thoughtful Entrepreneur

1347 – Step Into Your Zone of Genius with Carter and Custer’s Jim Carter III