IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
A little more than one year ago, Claremont attorney John W. Tulac launched Professionals of the Inland Empire, a podcast devoted to helping Inland businesses improve their bottom line, while encouraging them to hire local talent.
The program, which is available exclusively on YouTube, has attracted multiple local luminaries as guests, including economist Jay Prag of the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, and Lisa Anderson, and international supply chain expert also based in Claremont.
The podcast is attracting about 800 hits per drop, and Tulac believes he can double that number relatively quickly.
“A year from now, I’m hoping to get up to 1,000 hits, and then work up to 1,500 and eventually 2,000 per episode,” said Tulac, an international law specialist. “I think those are realistic numbers.”
Tulac spoke with IE Business Daily recently about attracting guests, what he would most like to change about business in the Inland Empire, and why he still believes Orange County’s 1980’s approach to attracting businesses is the best model for the Inland region to follow.
The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: How has the podcast performed so far. Are you satisfied with your first year?
JWT: I really am enjoying doing it. It’s fun to interact with the guests, no matter who they are. The half-hour flies by.
Q: What do your guests say about being on the show?
JWT: For the most part, everyone says they’ve enjoyed it, even the people who were reluctant to go on. I don’t know why these people want to be on a podcast, but they’re all experts and they know what to say. They just need someone to get them started. It’s a lot of fun to watch them relax and get into it. What you’re trying to get is a good conversation.
Q: Have you had trouble getting guests?
JWT: It hasn’t been that difficult. We’ve had a couple of people turn us down for personal reasons, and a few who have said they would prefer to do the show later. We did have some financial advisors say no, but that’s because they have to be careful about saying anything on the air that might be considered advertising. There are rules about that. But they didn’t turn us down because they didn’t like the show.
Q: I would assume most of your guests have done podcasts before.
JWT: Actually, most of them haven’t. I think that’s why some of them have been reluctant to say yes when we first asked them to be on. They were a little concerned about what they were going to talk about.
Q: You started with a little more than 1,000 hits. How many are you getting now?
JWT: We’re consistently around 800. Our most-viewed episode was a little over 1,300-plus views. With something that’s very regional and tightly focused, that’s a good number. And we’re getting people to watch the entire episode, which is really important. It shows that we’re engaging people and we’re holding their attention. If people tune out quickly, we’re doing something wrong. People are also looking at earlier episodes.
Q: How many episodes have you done, and how often do you do them?
JWT: We just finished our 40th. Now, we’re doing one half-hour episode a week. It gets put on our YouTube channel around 9 a.m. on Thursdays.
Q: Where would you like it to be one year from now?
JWT: I’m hoping to get up to 1,000 hits, and then work up to 1,500. I think those are realistic numbers.
Q: Are you branching out?
JWT: Jay and I just did an episode where we talked about a new podcast we’re gong to do together. It will be Jay speaking as an economist, and me speaking as a lawyer. We’ll be talking about business problems and how to solve them. We’ll also discuss policy and politics and how they interact with business. It’s going to be about helping businesses find ways to improve. I expect we’ll also talk about regulations.
Q: Do you still believe the Inland Empire should copy Orange County in the 1980’s?
JWT: Yes, I still feel that very strongly. I think we’re getting some traction in that regard. We’ve got people in real estate development who want to follow that model. They want to have something more than miles and miles of warehouses. They want more office buildings and more mixed-use development. They also want to become more attractive to manufacturers.
Q: Orange County’s business model was “come to Orange County if you want do business with us. We aren’t going to automatically go to you.” It was an aggressive approach to attracting businesses. Is that what you believe the Inland Empire should be doing?
JWT: That’s exactly what I believe the Inland Empire should be doing.
Q: if you could change one thing about how business is being done in the Inland Empire today, what would it be?
JWT: I would like to see us stand tall. The Inland Empire has a stepchild mentality, where everyone concedes that Los Angeles County gets most of the attention and Orange County gets the rest. The result is that the Inland Empire is an afterthought in regional planning. We should be working with Los Angeles County, but instead we get excluded. That’s the one thing I’m hoping to change.
Q: Do you run into that a lot?
JWT: Yes. there are people who believe that when you leave Los Angeles you’re dealing with a bunch of hicks and that no one knows what they’re doing. That’s insufferable, and it’s intolerable.
Q: How do you define the Inland Empire?
JWT: There’s some disagreement about that. Some people say it’s only Riverside and San Bernardino counties, that it doesn’t go beyond that. But I grew up in Alhambra and went to Cal Poly, so for me the dividing line has always been Kellogg Hill. As soon as you head east down Kellogg Hill, you’re in the inland Empire.
Q: Are you enjoying the podcast? Has it been a lot of work?
JWT: It’s been a lot of fun and no, it’s not a lot of work. Once I decided on a concept and how wanted to do it, it got easier to do. Our guests can watch past episodes, which helps them prepare. I’ve improved my preparation, telling our guests what we’re going to talk about, and asking them if there’s anything they want to add. It’s a simple approach, but it’s effective.
Q: How are you dealing wit the state of the U.S. economy, and how it’s impacting the Inland Empire?JWT: The big issue is the war, and that’s impossible to forecast. The Inland Empire is usually an indicator of whether or not a recession is likely to happen. Fortunately, none of those signs are showing up, at least not this year. We’ve had several economists on the show who have discussed that.
Q: But certainly there has to be some concern. The price of gasolines a major concern because it affects virtually everything.
JWT: Yes the Inland Empire economy could be more robust. We could add more manufacturing, so we wouldn’t be so reliant on logistics, healthcare, and hospitality, That would add jobs and make things more diverse. But that would take time.
Q: One year later, do you have any regrets. Anything you wish you had done differently?
JWT: Not really, There are always things you can do better, but my goal right now is to try to improve the program incrementally. There are some things we can do to promote the show.
Q: It sounds like you’re enjoying it, and that you plan to keep going. Are you going to increase the number of episodes, or are you happy with what you’re dong now?
JWT: I think one a week is is good. I have no plans to add to that. The podcast Jay and I are going to do will start in July. One a week, just like the one we’re doing now. I’m not ready yet, but Jay is ready to go now.
