Bill Ross: Today, I have with us Bryce North, who is an award-winning entrepreneur, PR strategist, and founder of Don't Be a Little Pitch. Known for launching TrapTap, a tech startup featured on Dragon's Den and raising over $1 million in crowdfunding, Bryce empowers brands to break through the noise with strategic storytelling and media coverage.He's advised startups scaling to 40-plus countries, and is recognized for helping business founders secure attention, funding and traction in today's competitive markets. Bryce, welcome to our expert interview series.

Bryce North: Thank you so much for having me, excited to be here.

Bill Ross: Yeah, likewise. It's great to have you. So I know this is very short, 10 minutes to get to the meat of things for people, so I'm gonna just jump right into the question, which is, what is the most effective strategy you recommend for business owners to increase sales while also strengthening their company's reputation?

Bryce North: I've got one word from this, and we can break down. It's trust And our sole job as founders and owners and builders of this company is to build so much trust online that people are not thinking whether they want to work with us, invest with us, or partner with us. They know right then and there. So, our job is trust generation. How do we stack and create so much of that that people really can understand our value?

Bill Ross: Wonderful, wonderful. So, that's a great, big, bold, you know, statement, but obviously, how do we do that? I mean, there's a million ways in the world today, so what do you recommend if somebody has a framework to actually get into building that trust with their prospects and clients and whatnot? What do they do? What steps do they take?

Bryce North: Yeah, I think a lot of people take this the wrong way. They think trust is showboating who they are, showing voting their expertise, and also talking about their skill set, that's not really trust. Trust is not us being the hero, it's the stories and the people we've helped, and honestly, their journeys. In order for us to be a hero in the market, we actually have to champion other people and their stories.

Our job is not to be the highlight, it's to just be the awesome sidekick along the way to help people get there. And so, we are creatures of, you know, having to listen and validate other people on what others have to say. And so, I work in this world of PR and storytelling, but if you're not putting enough out there on your customer stories.

This is far beyond case studies, but there are stories, there are transformations, others vouching for you and you helping people. We lose this form, this baseline layer of trust, which everyone looks towards of whether this person, I believe, can help me or not. So that's our major goal, is to be putting enough content, enough creation, and enough information out there that makes people understand that, hey, I actually relate to the story of this problem. This is how they helped that person. I now solely have this emotional trust connection with this as an individual.

Bill Ross: So it sounds like you're really talking about customer stories, successes, things like that, and sharing those experiences of clients, past clients that you've had, out on social media and whatnot to actually build that trust. Is that what you're recommending?

Bryce North: Yes, I think people need to understand their platform. Let's dive down and dive deeper into this a little bit more. A lot of people think they can post on LinkedIn or Instagram or TikTok, and people will come. It can happen as a byproduct of a lot of content. But people need to understand their platform, where their goal is solely to look like they know what they're talking about, and have enough information, trust, and stories out there, so that people can make their own decisions. Those decisions come when you DM them, when you reach out to them, when you pitch them.

And a lot of us are trying to think, I'm gonna put out content hoping people will come. You have to play the other way. You put out enough content or enough outreach to people so that they can do their own homework and validate themselves whether you're the right person to talk to. That's where trust comes from.

Bill Ross: Interesting, interesting. So, when you put the con… when you put the content out there, most people, you're saying, are sitting, waiting for somebody to actually come back, see their page, view their profile, whatever the case may be, and then make the first reach out to them. What exactly are you advocating at this point?

Bryce North: I mean, do you believe that cold email works?

Bill Ross: In these days? Anymore, not so much. Predominantly because of you know, volume. I think people are just completely inundated with it. Now, if it's very personal, very direct, one-on-one, I do believe it has a place, but it needs to come across that way, that it's very personal, directly speaking to that person, not just some bulk sending cold email, if that's what you're getting at.

Bryce North: And I love that answer, because everyone says the same thing, and I'm totally gonna disagree with you. Just because I don't pitch value in any of my emails. I pitch long, very long stories, and cold email works tremendously for me. Why? Because I don't pitch anything, I don't sell anything. They just Google me after, and I know when I see the stats, they Google me, and everyone that books a call says, this is A, one of the best pitches I've ever gotten, it's hilarious and funny, but B, I went on your site, I googled you, I saw this video of you, I saw your testimonials, I saw this case study, I saw this review of you, you're legitimate, you're real, you're not AI, and you're not full of shit.

And I think… over and over and time again, it's these moments that people forget about connecting the dots of another person's journey. We're not convincing people to work with us, we're giving them the curiosity to do their own homework to search to see if they want to work with us.

And I think that's missing so much, so cold email works so well. LinkedIn DMing, perfectly if you have that trust source where people can Google you.

Bill Ross: But I think you said something that actually let me make sure I understand. I think you said something that makes a lot of sense as to why it shifts that paradigm. I think if we look at cold email, DM blasts, things like that, you know, let… everybody gets spammed with these providers who, you know, say, hey, we'll set up your cold email, we'll set up your DMs, we'll do all that kind of stuff.

But it sounds like what you just said was that your prospect, you've done research about them, you understand them, you think they're a good fit, and now you're reaching out to them, as opposed to taking 500 people and just sending them some cold email, or cold DM, or whatever the case may be. Is that… is that… do I understand that correctly?

Bryce North: Yeah, yes, yes and no. I mean, yes on that side as well, too, but when you reach out to people, like, inherently people need the service. There's two things. Do we have a BS, like, a BS filter? So if you pitch them, hey, I can increase your business, they're gonna delete that. They are, right? But if you pitch them that more open-ended question of, hey, have you imagined, or what would happen if this, you know, what happened to you if, you know, because I do this, for instance? Like, in PR, I always say, you know, what would happen if you are the big voice and feel that people trust a lot more, and came to your business and realized you could raise your prices, and so on and so forth. I don't pitch them what I'm gonna be doing, but then they're gonna be like.

Who is this guy, full of it? And then do the research and see that.

And so, your goal… your goal in all of your communication is to make sure that people research you. Your job is not to sell them, it's to convince them to sell themselves. And we can build these mini storylines, these perceptions of who we are, and control that narrative online. These are, like, little mini landing pages and stories, but… I I wanna… And letting me do that research. But your number one goal is to make sure that you are forcing me to look into you, see if this is real or not, and you better have the accolades and the trust line to make that happen.

Bill Ross: Okay, I think I understand now. So… so sending that information cold to people and prospects. the key right there is not pitching what you're offering. It is really giving them value about what they should be doing to improve their own business. which obviously aligns with the type of services and the things you do, and then when people go, hmm, that's interesting, they think about it, they look you up, they find out more about you, you're there and available, then they turn around and reach out to you. Is that… do I have that clear now?

Bryce North: Yeah, I like how you broke that down, but exactly, that's it…

Bill Ross: Okay, great, great. Well, I think now we've got a really clear framework for people to actually work from, and it's amazing and fantastic, because I think a lot of people have the same opinion that I just did when you asked me, does cold email work? And I went, well… you know, I think people are inundated, probably not so much. And you've clarified it really does, if you do it the right way, and you provide the real value that people are looking for. And so I really appreciate that. I think it's tremendously valuable information.

I do have one quick question for you, and that is if people want to know more about you, exactly what you've explained, and things they could do, how do they reach you?

Bryce North: Go to our website, Don't Be Little Pitch, that's with a P, dontbeaLittlePitch.com. We actually have this free media authority score that I make everyone take. Do you remember the old clout score back in the day? Like, a long time ago? Well, a long time ago.

Bill Ross: You're dating me at this point in time!

Bryce North: I mean, like, I was part of that era too, but that's gone now. There was no more clout scores, so we've done this media authority score, which allows you to see what your perception is online based on 6 factors. It's like, your reviews, your trust, how people perceive you, how the media's pick you up, all this. But it's really quick, it gives you a good snapshot and a gamification number to see how to improve that.

I recommend people go to our site at Dont be a little pitch, scroll down, it's under the header, take the score, and it'll actually give you immediate feedback on what you can improve. Go and do that. You will see overnight some big changes if you can implement some of these strategies. And if you want to chat There's a booking link on our site. I love to geek out on that stuff.

Let's talk PR and attention.

Bill Ross: Fantastic. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. Some amazing advice you've given people. I think if they implement it, they're gonna see amazing results. They should reach out to you and get more information and clarity. And, thank you for joining us, Bryce. It's been fantastic.

Bryce North: Thank you so much for having me, I really appreciate it.