#122 The Big Question Episode (A Valentine’s Day special edition).

#122 The Big Question Episode (A Valentine’s Day Special Edition)

Tim:                This is the show of love, L-O-V-E, love, and I bring it to you on St. Valentine’s Day. Very timely because my guest today is Jonathan Krywicki of a brand new business that gets launched today called Pitch and Woo, an exclusive marriage proposal business. It is a fantastic, fantastic idea. Jonathan’s a great bloke. He’s highly, highly passionate about this business which he has been dreaming of for a few years now, having proposed to his beautiful wife in a very clever way which he explains up front. So without further ado, I wanted to get this interview to you on St. Valentine’s Day and just share the marketing love because that’s what we do on Small Business, Big Marketing. No other jibber-jabber. Let’s get straight in to Jonathan Krywicki of Pitch and Woo.

Jonathan Krywicki from Pitch and Woo, welcome to Small Business, Big Marketing.

Jonathan:      Tim, thanks very much and, before I begin, I just want to say thanks for having me on the show.

Tim:                Ah, you’re really trying to Pitch and Woo me.

Jonathan:      (Laughs) That was from the gentleman on public speaking, the podcast you had the other day.

Tim:                Yeah, yeah. He was good. Cam Barber. J.K., happy Valentine’s Day, mate.

Jonathan:      Thank you, and to you too.

Tim:                Yeah. I don’t know whether that’s appropriate. I just put an update on my Facebook, Small Business, Big Marketing’s Facebook, wishing my listeners a happy Valentine’s Day, and it’s kind of like, well, I don’t know. It’s just nice to share the love.

Jonathan:      Look, it is. It is. I find, from speaking to a lot of people, they’re a little bit anti-Valentine’s Day. They sort of think it’s a bit too commercial and, you know, in one respect, they’re right. You know, you shouldn’t have to be reminded that one day a year, it’s time to be romantic. It should be something that you really try and work in to your everyday life.

Tim:                Well, there’s enough bad stuff going on in the world so what’s wrong with having a happy lovey-dovey day. J.K. – and you don’t mind if I call you J.K., do you? – when you have initials like that, you kind of just, you know –

Jonathan:      It works. That was the initials and the nickname I had at school so, if I can call you T.I., you can call me J.K.

Tim:                Happy days. What is Pitch and Woo?

Jonathan:      Pitch and Woo is a very unique business. As you know, I’m launching it today. It’s really a business that’s designed to help guys create a unique and unforgettable marriage proposal with the aim being to literally leave their partner speechless.

Tim:                What a great pitch. Literally, what a great pitch. Mate, you got to then tell me clearly how did you do it? How did you propose to Mrs. Krywicki?

Jonathan:      Well, I’m just going to warn you, it is a long story. I’m not going to go the whole route, cut it down. But, you know, I was really sick of hearing about all the average proposal stories. You know, the first question every girl gets asked after she announces she’s –

Tim:                How did he do it?

Jonathan:      How did he do it? And everyone asks that question. So I decided, I made a mental note, I said, “When my time comes, I’m not going to be that guy who has a really average story. My wife’s embarrassed. No, no, that’s not going to happen.” So I really thought long and hard about it. I said, “I’m going to begin with the end in mind.” And this is something I go through with my clients. Begin with the end in mind. I said the outcome I want is for my wife to be absolutely blown off their feet. The response I wanted was for her to be speechless. Literally, I didn’t want her to be able to say a word. So I began crafting the proposals so –

Tim:                Hey, Jonathan, is she pretty high maintenance?

Jonathan:      No, not at all. Not at all.

Tim:                Okay, so there wasn’t pressure there.

Jonathan:      No pressure. Don’t get me wrong. She had had fairly tale. She wanted me to do something out there but she never sort of said, “You have to do this, you have to do that.” But you really have to pay attention. That’s my recommendation to guys. Understand what your partner’s expectations are. They’ve got it, you’ve got to get it out of them without being too obvious. So going down the path of a surprise proposal – because that’s what I decided to do – I didn’t want her to know that I was proposing so I couldn’t send a limousine to her work or do anything out of the ordinary that would give it away. So that really put a challenge in front of me because had to really think outside the square and come up with something really creative. So the idea I came up with was to create a fictitious competition that I would rig, so to speak, for her to win. Now, I didn’t want her to come first place because that’s a bit obvious so we organized for her to come second place. I registered a website, which I called Dream Getaway.com, I built a website, put up an image of the prize her name because I knew when it came time to sort of ringing her in, telling her she won this competition, the first thing she’d say is, “This is just a prank call. This is rubbish.” So I went away, built a website, but I realized that she’s not going to remember entering this competition, is she? So I went to great extent to really make everything as believable as possible so when we would go to a shopping centre or up and about, whenever there was an opportunity to fill in or enter your details for competition – I’m talking three to six months before – I would plant the seed. I’d say to her, “Karen, just fill in your details and fill in mine as well, and I’ll do the same. You never know what could happen. We might one day win.” And those little peckering of suggestions actually worked in my favour because when she got the telephone call from a lady called Jodie, who I organized to ring her, saying, “Karen, I’m just ringing to let you know that you’ve come second prize in our dream getaway competition.” And Karen is like, “I don’t remember entering it but my boyfriend probably did.” So it just worked brilliantly. I knew Karen would then say and then be, you know, suspicious. Jodie knew to say, “Karen, are you in front of a computer?” And we knew Karen was because she got the call at work. And she gets a go to the website Dream Getaway.com and instantly the validation had hit. Karen believed it hook, line and sinker. I’d set the stage for, so to speak, the magic to happen. So I had Karen thinking she won this competition, romantic getaway for two to the Japanese Mountain Retreat with <inaudible> *0:07:18 with a seven-course banquet, of course, she’s going to invite me away. Who else is she going to invite? Take her mother with her? And no suspicions so I really had everything under my control, very carefully planned but letting her think she was , seven-course banquet, of course, she’s going to invite me away. Who else is she going to invite? Take her mother with her? And no suspicions so I really had everything under my control, very carefully planned but letting her think she was really in control. So the next challenge was how do I actually propose? So I thought long and hard about it. I was actually going to get a masseur to give her a massage in the room and then <inaudible> *0:07:44 leave and I’d take over and continue massaging her, and then pop the ring onto the table. No, no, no. I need to stick to my guns here. I want her to be speechless. So I thought about the food and dessert. I thought maybe what I can do is get a fortune cookie. I can put a fortune cookie in a bowl with other fortune cookies and put a message in there that says ‘Marry Me.’ But I thought, well, how is she going to choose the right fortune cookie? I can’t just put one in there. It looks a bit <inaudible> *0:08:10. So, you know, this is where the days of what I used to do a bit of magic and illusion as a youngster helped me out. There’s something in magic called a force where I can give you a pack of cards and let you think you’re freely selecting any card but, in actual fact, you choose the card I want you to choose every time. And I essentially applied that theory with fortune cookie. I put a bowl of fortune cookies in front of her and every fortune cookie specifically contained exactly the same message. So I knew she’d choose the message I needed her to read. So, to cut a long story short, she opens the fortune cookie –

Tim:                You’re in the restaurant at this point in time?

Jonathan:      No, we’re in a room at the Japanese Mountain Retreat in the <inaudible> *0:08:47.

Tim:                Gotcha, yeah.

Jonathan:      So we’re having dinner, she opens the cover of the bowl, sees the fortune cookies and puts the cover back on. I was literally on edge because I could see my fate right in front of me and she just didn’t take it. But I couldn’t force the matter because I didn’t want it to be –

Tim:                Yeah. A bit awkward going, “Look. Here, can you just have a fortune cookie? They’re really nice.”

Jonathan:      I needed to go to the toilet. I couldn’t go to the toilet because what happens when she looks at the <inaudible> *0:09:15. Anyway, what she did do, which was very interesting – and the guy upstairs was on my side – she said, “Let’s go have a spa.” This was at the end of the dinner because there’s a beautiful spa overlooking a Japanese <inaudible> *0:09:26. I think, not a problem. She then says to me, “Get the champagne and bring the bowl of fortune cookies in case we get hungry later.” I’m thinking, “Oh, my god. This is perfect.” We’re sitting in the spa, drinking champagne, still no fortune cookies were touched so I had to push it a little bit. I said, “Karen, just pass me a fortune cookie, if you don’t mind. I’m getting a little bit hungry.” Now, of course, when you pick up a fortune cookie, you always want to see what the message is. And she cracked open the cookie, read the message and I thought she was going to faint. She went, “What?” I think it was at that moment that she realized that, “Hold on a minute. I didn’t win the competition and this isn’t on me.”

Tim:                You nailed it. She said ‘yes’ right there.

Jonathan:      No, she didn’t.

Tim:                No.

Jonathan:      I had to say, “Karen, is it a yes or a no?” She, what felt like a minute or two, she just couldn’t say anything, nothing. So I had achieved my objective and I created an amazing story for her to be proud of to retell. It’s a beautiful gift as well. It’s something that we always talk about, refer back to it.

Tim:                It’s given you a business.

Jonathan:      And, you’re right, Tim, it’s given me a business because what happened consequently is when I told my story, friends who were proposing came to me for advice, and then friends of friends, helped them. We created amazing stories for them and I realized that I’ve got a really vivid imagination, I’m creative. I’ve got skills in project management and event planning. It just makes sense. There’s a great opportunity in the market, and Pitch and Woo was born and the rest is history.

Tim:                So, really, it happened like that, just, naturally, people would come to you and you’ve gone, “It wasn’t just me trying to come up with beautiful ways of proposing. There’s a whole lot of other people.” And it just ticked so many boxes. Jonathan, you’ve mentioned these words in discussions you and I have had, it lights you up and “it allows you to express your creativity.” So did you feel trapped in whatever you were doing up until this idea of Pitch and Woo came along?

Jonathan:      Look, I have to be careful because I’m actually sitting in my current workplace at the moment. So I don’t want to say anything too loud. But, you know, I’ve been where I am for about seven years. I work for a technology company. We do these big installations in multi-million dollar homes but the problem is I don’t really get to express myself in the creative way I want to. And Pitch and Woo has become an avenue where I can tick all of these boxes, do things I’m really passionate about, which really, at the core, is about creating connected moments. Seeing people light up as a result of what I’m helping them do is just amazing, and I’ve now got the ability to do that. I’m an instrumental part in changing people’s lives and helping them start the next chapter of their life together. So I’m not full time on this yet. I’m potentially looking at a transition period but I’m really excited about the prospect of just launching into it and making it my full time gig.

Tim:                But you’ve launched it today. Okay, so what time frame are we talking from getting to today from having the idea of, you know what, Pitch and Woo is a business idea That’s going to be what I do at some point full time in the future. How long did it take you to get to today?

Jonathan:      Good question. Look, I’ve been married coming up seven years. About four years ago, I sort of jokingly thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if I helped men with their proposals?” I actually dismissed it. I thought no one’s going to be interested in this. You can’t make a business out of that. And it was thrown in the backburner. But I recently <inaudible> *0:12:54 where we actually met and, as part of this course, I really sort of introspectively thought about what it is I want to do with my life and what legacy I sort of want to leave and how I want to help people, and it sort of really took me back to that moment and I thought, “Well, this ticks all my boxes.” So it was about four months ago that I really started work on the business and –

Tim:                Just four months ago?

Jonathan:      Just four months ago. It’s very challenging. I work full time. We just had a little boy, Jake, who’s four months old so it’s a real juggle but I committed to launching on Valentine’s Day. I thought it was an appropriate time, and sometimes I think when you have a deadline, when you set a physical deadline and you know there’s going to be a pain associated with not delivering, you really step up a notch. And I did. I got a website up and running with the blog, the Facebook, the Pinterest, the Twitter, got a PR press release out there. And I’m out of production mode and I’m into what we call campaign mode now where I’m just drumming it.

Tim:                Yeah. Well, I want to talk about that in a minute because the press you had already today, putting aside being on Small Business, Big Marketing … hello – has been phenomenal, so we’ll come to that. I am interested in the name because I got to tell you, I don’t completely get it.

Jonathan:      Yeah. It’s a little bit of a … there a bit of a message behind the name. I was thinking about a name, you know, some of the early names I toyed with were Popping the Question, you know, and I thought I’m offering a very bespoke, gentlemanly service really for the modern day man. I’ve got to come up with a name befitting. So I had a coffee with a guy who’s in PR and I told him about my business idea. He goes, “You know what? You’re all about pitch and woo.” I thought, “What? I’ve never heard of that term.” He goes, “Yeah, pitch and woo.” And it’s actually a slang term from the ‘50s, and if you look it up and it’s in Wikipedia and a few of the other … it’s an idiom. I think it’s actually termed as an idiom. It means courtship, to flatter, to love and to chase. I thought what a perfect term. So I just tweaked it a little bit and I came up with Pitch and Woo because pitch is really you’re delivering a pitch from a business point of view, you’re saying something, you’re trying to get your message across. And woo is all about romance and excitement and sweeping someone off their feet. So I sort of thought clever pay of words, Pitch and Woo, catchy, and that’s how I came up with it.

Tim:                Yeah, okay. But I wonder where there’s a marketing played in at some point, you might want to tell that story. Well, not tell the story of how the name came to be but at least what the name means because, clearly as a definition of that, it’s interesting and it’s spot on. Tell me, like, it’s not for everyone. This is a bespoke marriage proposal service. And you’re a one-man show currently working full time but I’m guessing, you know, if we were to revisit this in 12 months time, you are Pitch and Wooing full time. What are we talking, five to ten clients a year, and how do you choose those clients?

Jonathan:      Yeah, great question, and this is the question I always get asked. People have sort of <inaudible> *0:16:02 many times a business like this. Well, I’ve split the business up into two products for want of a better word. The first is what I call the one-on-one, and this is where I work selectively with eight to ten clients a year who are looking to create a really big proposal. These are the guys with the big budgets who want to go all out and create an amazing, amazing proposal where you get video, photographed, we create a beautiful gift that we give to his bride-to-be and which she can share with friends. That package that I’ve got there is really – the way I charge is really based on how involved I need to be. So, you know, to say that I charge $3,000, it’s hard to put a figure on it. I really sit down with my clients. I interview them. I have a meeting with them to see if it’s the right fit. We figure out what they want to do. Do they want to go overseas? Do they want to have all these luxurious events and different things happening? And then I figure out my fee around it. So there’s a project management fee involved in it. So eight to ten clients a year, very high-end proposals, typically my fee would range from $2,000 to $3,000 roughly for those proposals. Once you figure everything out, there’s a lot of time involved in planning and putting it all together, plus I run the event for them. I just want them to focus on getting the ‘yes,’ that’s it.

Tim:                That feels cheap. Two to three grand for the full enchilada.

Jonathan:      Well, that’s where I’ve started, you know, and it’s a relevant point you raised but I have to test the market. I have to get a sense. I don’t want to scare them off. I don’t want to sort of say $10,000, and I’ve done a bit of research. Don’t get me wrong, Tim. I’ve looked in America to see what other people are charging because there are people in America who turn themselves proposal planners and that’s sort of what people are charging. But, again, I think the bigger the proposal we create, the more I can potentially charge. The other service I offer, which is more for budget-friendly offering –

Tim:                Before you tell us that second service, in terms of filtering the client because, okay, it’s not for everyone so budget’s going to be a filter that is going to win over people and go, “The full enchilada package is for me” or “it’s not for me.” But in terms of you, the guy helping them with the proposal, you’ll going to want people that you can work with. So how do you determine that he is going to be a good client, a great client?

Jonathan:      Look, it’s tough. I really have to meet the person, get a sense for who they are, the relationship they’re in, the moment they want to create. I really need to find there’s the right fit between the proposal they’re looking to create and how I want my brand to be represented because remember it’s these eight to ten proposals that will help drive the business because we will have these beautiful videos which are testimonials that people will watch. So I really want to go for the guys that want to create something really out there who’d give me the budget to play with so that I can be as creative as possible. So that’s sort of the screening process I have.

Tim:                And do you want them to come to you with like, “Ah, I’ve got this idea of doing it in Paris” or do you just want white canvas?

Jonathan:      No, I love when they come to me with the idea. One of the things I find is, you know, women are a bit sceptical. They’re thinking, “I don’t want my boyfriend to outsource the whole thing. That doesn’t really show he’s really that caring.” So I encourage guys, “Come to me with your idea and then I’ll help you bring out your creativity or add to it, we’ll tweak it, we’ll develop it.” But I want them to know they’ve got ownership of the idea because when their partner finds out – and they don’t always have to find out, but if they do – I want their partner to think, “You know what? I really respect that you went to that extra effort to make the moment that much more special and that you admitted that you weren’t good at planning and putting it all together. That really means something to me.” So, you know, that’s sort of why I’m moving forward with that part of the service.

Tim:                That’s your bespoke product. What do we call the other product, the product for others?

Jonathan:      The product for others, that’s a good name. I’ve called it the ‘I Do Do-It-Yourself Kit’ because there are a lot of guys out there who may not have the budget, which is fair enough. Not everyone can afford it. But they still recognize how important the moment is. After all, it’s his wife really expressing to his partner how much she means to him, how he is excited about spending the rest of his life with her, and your proposal is your way of doing that. So this kit really will contain video walk-throughs, tips, exercises, budget planning sheets, everything that guys need to create their own proposal. But, you know –

Tim:                To do their own way of proposal, yeah. This is not just like, oh, so what you do is you book a restaurant and, at some point in time, you look for the moment where you say, “Hey, will you marry me?” This is like this is how to create an idea around your proposal, yeah?

Jonathan:      Yeah. But the thing is they’re doing it themselves. They’re working through it with my guidance. But I’ve added in two telephone catch-up calls: one at the beginning, where I think it’s very important that I set them up, I go through all the content, the material and how I want them to approach the whole process. There are seven steps that we work through. And then we have a call at the end where I listen to their idea, I adjust it, tweak it and I help them bring it all together and just make sure they’re ready to create that unforgettable moment. So that I think is going to be a very much a widespread, very much a global product that I’m putting out there because a telephone call can happen around the world. It’s a digital product. So that’s really what’s going to drive the business, and eight to ten bespoke proposals will promote the business.

Tim:                Love it. Tell us about the ‘I Do’ pack delivered online by what? Some kind of WordPress member, wish list, password-protected backend or … how are you delivering that?

Jonathan:      Yeah, look, I haven’t figured out exactly it. I’m still looking at the different vehicles to get it out there. There will be videos that will be created, walk through the seven steps that men need to go through.

Tim:                I’ve got to tell you, mate, the best one I’ve seen – In fact, I’ve interviewed Jules Watkins from iVideo Hero, and that was a $97 information product that trains you on how to use your iPhone to create great marketing videos and he used WordPress site. I think WordPress wish list or member wish list was the plug-in. And, basically, you paid your $97, you got email and password, username and password, you log in and then, by chapter, it just went through all the different aspects of using your iPhone to create great videos, you know, audio, background, indoor, outdoor, etc., etc. You clicked on one of those chapters and it opened up a video, a PDF downloadable workbook and the audio.

Jonathan:      Well, that’s exactly what I’m after. I’m definitely going to be looking at that today because that –

Tim:                I think you’ll lead to it, mate.

Jonathan:      Yes, brilliant. Brilliant. So I’ve put it on my website that the product is under development and it’s going to be out there in May. Again, I’m a firm believer of putting fixed deadlines ahead of you so you’ve got something to work towards.

Tim:                You’re a highly organized man, J.K. I remember catching up at a recent key person of influence function and we both kind of ideas people, and I’m throwing stuff at you and you just got the iPhone out with every night I’ve been and “ I just <inaudible> *0:23:01 that link, and let me tag a photo of that and …” It’s like it’s a crazy conversation.

Jonathan:      There are gold nuggets when you speak to people like yourself. You get a wealth of knowledge and you’ve got to get that information. You can’t just rely on memory, you know. There’s good stuff there.

Tim:                Okay, so you’ve got the ‘I Do’ product. I love marketing so let’s talk. So you are now in campaign mode and you’re launching today, Valentine’s Day. I’m looking at your website. You’ve got a great 60-second video, you, the camera, talking about Pitch and Woo. I reckon that’s a no-brainer because you’re the guy who people are going to be working with. You’ve got the seven biggest proposal mistakes free e-book download. Love that.

Jonathan:      Thank you.

Tim:                That’s a simple thing to do for you. What are we talking like, is it seven pages, a hundred pages?

Jonathan:      No. I’ve got it in front of me now. It’s actually 34 pages. It’s like a little mini-booklet.

Tim:                Beautifully designed.

Jonathan:      Beautifully designed, lots of nice images, free. Good for any guy out there. I think it will give them a real big win in terms of not going down, you know, and doing the same mistakes other men make. The video was really important. People want to know if they’re dealing with you, the founder, the person that’s coming up with the ideas, so that got put up recently. And I’m going to continue to put video out there because people need to feel they’re connecting. You can’t get that from just reading so the video is a big thing. Also the branding, the look and feel of the website. There’s a very specific message I’m trying to convey. This is not a cheesy service, you know, very bespoke, very modern-day man, gentlemanly feel, and I’m trying to get that, even the colour schemes, when I worked through the colour schemes, I’m trying to get that to resonate through everything I do.

Tim:                Yeah, it’s very understated logo, got a bit of jeweller about it, you know –

Jonathan:      Yeah, yeah. The two rings combining, the union.

Tim:                I’ll give you this tip. A couple of things – here I am. I can’t help myself, you know, marketing advice on the go, mate. Your holding image on your video it defaults to the video frame, I would definitely grab an image from the video and make that full frame because it’s occupying such massive screen real estate on your website. Do you know what I mean by that?

Jonathan:      Yeah, definitely.

Tim:                And the other thing is, big no-no, mate, because we’re about to talk about the PR you’re generating, which is, you know, you’ve been on the biggest breakfast show in Australia this morning and one of the biggest current affairs shows has approached you, but your latest blog post is February 10, and you should have a February 14, Valentine’s Day, blog post if ever there was one.

Jonathan:      True, true. Well, what I’ve done is – and to answer your question, I’ve only committed to writing a blog post a week. I read in a blog somewhere that if you’re going to blog, you’ve got to be consistent, and I can’t do more than one a week just with my time schedule. So February 10 and the next one will be … now, let’s just have a look at the calendar … 17th, this Sunday will be my next blog post.

Tim:                I reckon you could. I’m going to be the devil’s advocate here. I reckon you could because you know so much about this category, and I’m going to email you 151 ways or stimulus ideas for writing a blog post, which I’m presenting tomorrow. That will live in the Small Business, Big Marketing forum too for listeners who are wondering how they can get their hands on that. Now, J.K., you sent out a press release. Tell us about that process and tell us what it has generated so far.

Jonathan:      Wow. Well, it’s been an amazing experience, a press release. You know, up until now, everything has been theoretical. We talk about sending out a press release but now I’m getting to experience it in real life. So I got someone to write a press release for me. It cost me $80. I got it done through Elance so not an expensive cost. I had a friend who works for a PR agency, Ellie, from 360 Focus, and she kindly agreed to send it out in her own time to her database. And it’s just like fishing. You put it out there, see what happens. You know, we did it about a week and a half before Valentine’s Day so a week and a half ago, and we got a few little nibbles, you know, <inaudible> *0:27:13 my bride, which is a great one, not a small nibble.

Tim:                No. I’d call that a large barracuda.

Jonathan:      It’s a barracuda. <inaudible> *0:27:22, another barracuda. But, you know, I really wanted to get a few radio gigs so nothing came out of that. But what I found was, as we got closer and closer to the date, the media interest really started picking up so much so that I got in touch with 3AW, which I had a stint on with Ross and John this morning on the breakfast show.

Tim:                You got in touch or they got in touch?

Jonathan:      No, a friend of mine, who actually helped me come up with the idea of Pitch and Woo, Ronnie Atlas, sent a message out. He knew the producer there and they obliged and said, “We’d love to have him on.” So I really –

Tim:                For overseas listeners, Ross and John, possibly the biggest breakfast show in Australia on a weekday?

Jonathan:      Yeah, definitely, absolutely.

Tim:                So you were on that this morning. How did that feel, mate? Did you have the sweaty armpit?

Jonathan:      Oh, I had sweaty everything. You know, what I’m doing with you now is my second ever interview, which is really exciting, but theirs was the first. I’ve done a lot of preparation. It was at 6:30 in the morning so I was still half-asleep, and you’ve really got to think on the spot because these are clever guys. They both got legal backgrounds. They’re very shrewd. They’re very witty, and I think I did well. You know, I’m very tough on myself, and only after when I re-listened to the interview did I feel that, yeah, yeah, I thought I did quite well under the circumstances.

Tim:                Well, it takes practice. And, you know, even coming on Small Business, Big Marketing, I know how much kind of prep and questions you had for me in the lead up and, you know, I think it’s great but also my advice, and one of the things I’m saying to my clients on the Deep Dive Mastermind, which is a Mastermind group I run every week, is go out and get interviews on podcasts because it’s great practice. It helps you hone your pitch, it hones your message, it hones the way you communicate what it is you do, and the more you can do it, the better. So my advice is to be natural. I mean, it’s sometimes hard when the interviewer is so kind of … they’re at you, the bang, bang, bang, and they’ve only got limited time. With the podcast, we can talk for as long as it remains interesting and not a second more. But you also got the opportunity to go on today on two Today Tonight. Tell us about that.

Jonathan:      Yeah, well I literally nearly fell of my chair. I got an email from the producer of Channel 7 Today Tonight, saying, “We love what you’re doing and we’d love to have you on Valentine’s Day.” So I was completely taken aback. I knew the press release had some success but this, to me, was the epitome of press releases getting media attention on TV. You can’t get bigger than that. So I actually had a chat with <inaudible> *0:30:04, who is sort of a mentor of mine. She’s coaching me and I said, “Sam, I don’t know what to do. I’m not sure I’m ready for TV. They got in touch with me. They want to get me on.” And I listened to her advice and I really thought about it, and I agreed that I shouldn’t do it yet because I’m probably not ready. You know, people are going to be going to the website, checking me out and, if I don’t have products to sell or video testimonials showcasing my work, then it’s not really going to be that great. So my response to the lady from Today Tonight was, “Thank you. I’m humbled. This is an amazing opportunity but give me three months and I’ll give you an even better story than you could possibly have.” So she wasn’t that happy. She offered to do Valentine’s Day and then, in three months time, to follow up, but I –

Tim:                Stood your ground.

Jonathan:      – stood my ground because it’s my brand at the end of the day, and the last thing I want is, you know, X amount of people going to the website and then just bouncing because there’s nothing for them there to engage in.

Tim:                Honorable, a round of applause, and brave and I get it. I just get it. I mean, Today Tonight too, you don’t know what the spin is going to be and I’m not sure they’re going to tell you even in three months time what the spin is going to be. You hope it’s good news. I’ve also had experience on a previous client’s business where we just got way too nervous when we asked, you know, would you avoid this, this and this, and I couldn’t give you a guarantee that they would. So, you know, well done on that. I think that’s good and, as I said to you at the start when we started talking about coming on this show, why we want you to come on this show because you’ve got a small business doing great marketing, and you’re great marketing is a unique product idea and there ain’t going to be a shortage of people wanting to talk to you about it. I’m convinced of that and I think that doesn’t mean sit back and wait for it to come. You’ve got to get the message out there. And, to that point, what marketing have you got planned because a guy like you, I’m guessing you have got a content or a social media calendar planned down within an inch of its life, J.K.

Jonathan:      Yeah, look, I’ve been thinking a lot about it. I’ll start by talking about partnerships. I think partnership is a really big part of marketing your business and I’m looking to the people to the left of me and to the right of me. And what I mean by that is who’s dealing with my potential customer before I get to them and who’s going to deal with them after? So the people that are going to deal with my customer before me are potentially dating agencies, specifically, the high-end dating agencies where people get together and they might be in their 30s or whatever may be and want to get married. They’re a prime candidate for me to work with. And high-end jewellers, like Tiffany’s. A guy comes in to buy an engagement ring, wouldn’t it be great if they can give them my tips book and then say, Jonathan’s going to … we’ve got … as a gift, Tiffany’s can offer as a gift a mastermind class for two or three guys at a time where we work together and develop their ideas. I’m also looking to build a community, you know. I know that men find it difficult, I think – this is just my <inaudible> *0:33:12 but I think men find it difficult to openly express how romantic they are and they’re a little bit … they want to keep it a bit under the radar. So I’m really trying to build that community. I’m going to look at doing pay-per-click on Google to sort of, you know, searches for marriage proposals, proposal ideas to bring them to me rather than just a website where they end up.

Tim:                <inaudible> *0:33:30 live events. Oh, my goodness.

Jonathan:      Live events.

Tim:                I just had this flood of marketing ideas for you, but live events would bring guys together and –

Jonathan:      Well, that’s where I want to go. The next thing is I want to create a new industry, called re-proposal, where anyone that didn’t nail it the first time can do it again or anyone that wants to renew their vows. Rather than renewing your vows, you can do that if you like, but why not re-propose? You don’t have to give her a ring again. Give her some jewellery or something that’s token but go through that whole experience again. It’s so fun. You can sometimes even rekindle a relationship if it’s not where it needs to be. There are so many benefits. But the big thing for me is I want to take this to live events TV. The big vision for me is to have a TV show where men audition. We choose five guys. I help them all with their proposals. The audience votes on who’s done the best proposal and then we get their wedding paid for by a sponsor. So the audience chooses the winner. That would be amazing, you know, just –

Tim:                Well, absolutely not out of the realm, and whether it has to be TV, it might be a YouTube channel. It might be … who knows, mate? But there are so many great ideas. Another one that comes to mind is when you do hear of a celebrity hooking up with a new girlfriend, the opportunity may be tapping them on the shoulder through their agent or something and saying, “Can I do something bespoke for the marriage proposal?” if and when he chooses to do that would be kind of cool as well.

Jonathan:      Yeah, absolutely.

Tim:                Any current plans now? I know you only launched today but have you got a client happening or one sort of that you’re working on?

Jonathan:      Yeah, yeah. I’ve got about half-a-dozen I’m working on at the moment all happening at different times. I’ve got one that’s really in the <inaudible> *0:35:16 at the moment. The proposal is happening later April and I’m just so excited. What we’ve come up with it’s just … I can’t wait to see the look on her face when the magic starts happening. It’s not going to be the surprise proposal. He’s decided that whatever we do, the first thing we do, she’s going to know today’s the day. She’s going to be really excited but she’s not going to know what or how. We’re getting it all videoed and we’re going to present her at the end with a beautiful video that not only shows the behind the scenes and the planning, but it documents the proposal. And this is a beautiful gift she can share with her friends and they can just relive the moment any time they want. So I’m really excited about that. I know there are a few other guys which I’ll be working with towards the end of the year. So there are a few clients and I’m just looking to continue growing the business and getting my name out there.

Tim:                Jonathan Krywicki, you are on to something with Pitch and Woo, and it’s a great idea. You’re doing something good out there in the world. The passion is palpable. It is absolutely palpable. It’s so right. I love it when I talk to someone who’s just chasing their dream, and that’s exactly what you’re doing and it’s going to work. So well done, mate. Thanks for being in Small Business, Big Marketing.

Jonathan:      Tim, thanks for having me on.

[End of Transcript - 0:36:29]