Athletes and Brands - What's the Natural Next Step?

Sam Van Boxtel is a social media expert and the founder of Climbers Crag. We talked about the business side of being a content creator, why Instagram is the best platform for the climbing industry right now, the importance of having a strong “why”, why posts go viral, how to optimize for growth, creating value on social media, playing the game, and the balance between quality and success.

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Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/sam-van-boxtel

Nuggets:

0:06:57 – Organizing the important stuff, and putting systems in place

0:11:11 – Overview of our conversation

0:13:30 – Soccer, discovering climbing, and losing 20-30 lbs to become a route setter

0:17:14 – Sam’s ability to focus on his goals, and why he got into business

0:20:03 – Moving up the chain with route setting

0:22:20 – How Sam got into social media, and getting 1000+ followers in less than a month

0:24:11 – The business side of being a content creator

0:26:57 – Pivoting from route setting to starting Climbers Crag, and how Sam teamed up with Tom Randall

0:37:03 – What Climbers Crag is today

0:40:41 – The organic next step

0:41:58 – Summary of everything so far, and Climbers Crag’s two main services as an agency

0:45:47 – The Climber’s Crag team, and why Sam reduced the size of his team

0:46:58 – Who this is worthwhile for, and having a strong “why”

0:53:13 – The two categories of individuals trying to grow their Instagram following, and having a clear funnel

0:59:17 – Why I decided to make the Nugget for a year before trying to monetize, and making sure you love 80-90% of what you’re doing

1:01:45 – “Goodwill compounds faster than revenue.”

1:02:19 – Virality and customer surplus

1:06:13 – The sustainability/longevity of the different social media platforms, supply and demand, why reels go viral, and why Instagram is king

1:12:41 – Why Sam pressed pause on TikTok for Climbers Crag

1:18:25 – Real numbers for Instagram growth goals, and where Sam thinks brands should be with Instagram before adding another platform

1:20:22 – Another summary, and using Instagram as a jumping-off point

1:23:05 – Crux Academy, and why Sam tries to talk most of his clients out of trying to grow on YouTube

1:24:54 – My current strategy for The Nugget’s Instagram, balancing viral, brand, and value posts, and having a CTA (call to action) strategy

1:32:17 – Sam’s recommendations for me to grow to 100k followers, and the two factors for growth

1:45:11 – Best practices for resharing content from an ethical standpoint

1:50:08 – Best time of day to post

1:52:15 – Hashtags, optimizing content for growth on Instagram, and removing exit points

1:59:48 – Watchtime and engagement

2:02:08 – Using Capcut for Reels

2:05:09 – Playing the game, and the difference between quality and success on a social media platform

2:12:13 – Hiding the vegetables

2:13:30 – Wrap up and how to connect with Sam