Molly Ruland:

Countdown and then we’ll crank it. Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Camp Content. Today, we have Lance Lambert, a content marketing guru who’s navigated the digital and cannabis realms with finesse. With experience in big name brands like Weedmaps and a knack for taking business global, Lance is the go to expert for all things marketing and business development. His journey from mainstream media to the thriving cannabis scene is not just a career transition, but a testament to his passion for telling stories and building brands. Lance Lance’s recent endeavors at  Grove bags has shown his commitment to expanding into new markets while keeping an eye on emerging trends worldwide. Having weathered the storm of cancer, congratulations.

Molly Ruland:

Cheers to that.

Lance Lambert:

Thank you.

Molly Ruland:

And embracing the benefits of cannabis firsthand. Lance is not just a marketing maven, but an advocate for a healthy lifestyle. His engaging presence at express and convention at expos and conventions express, reflects his dedication to connecting with like minded individuals in the industry. And if you follow his LinkedIn, you’ll see that firsthand. He doesn’t just talk. So grab your camping gear and get ready to deep dive into the world of content marketing with Lance, a professional powerhouse with a personal triumph under his belt. Buckle into the show.

Lance Lambert:

Thankfully, that was a mouthful. Thank you for having me.

Molly Ruland:

I’ll be happy. I love these intros. They’re a little fun. Well, that’s fun. Right? I get to take all the stuff you gave me and kinda give it back to you in a different way. Right? You know?

Lance Lambert:

So for sure. For sure.

Molly Ruland:

Right on. Well, welcome to the show. I’ve been looking forward to this since we connected on LinkedIn just because I’ve been watching all your content, seeing you move around like this guy is serious, and then, of course, I have a vested interest in the work that you’re doing. So before we really get started, let’s talk a little bit about the business. So how many employees are under the Grovebag umbrella?

Lance Lambert:

Well, we’re actually in SMB, so we just have, you know, a few dozen, I’d say, or so. So we’re definitely, you know, on, that scaling up side of the business. And that’s a big part of me coming on and joining this company, and what I’ve done with other companies in the past, like you mentioned, Weedmaps and, you know, several Greenbros, Greenflowers, several in this category. But I come in and scale up the companies, take them into exponential growth mode. And, I’ve been here now. My gosh. My 2 year anniversary will be in exactly a month. It goes by so fast.

Lance Lambert:

As you know, you sound like you’re kinda connected to the industry as well. You know, I came from .com. I did digital media for a decade, and I thought that that was fast paced and forever changing. But my gosh, the cannabis, like, it’s dog years 2 x. It really goes by quickly, just because things are constantly changing. You know? It’s as if you’re playing a game and they’re always moving the goal post and, you know, flipping the rules around every period. But, but, yeah, I definitely enjoyed it. So we are a business that’s been around since 2016.

Lance Lambert:

So we’ve actually been here for quite a minute. You know, we’ve got our products now in 67 countries around the world, which has been a huge, huge success of, obviously, not just myself, but a great team managing the international side of the business. So we’ve been enjoying it. It’s been a fun ride, but it’s been an adventure. You’ve seen like I said, you followed me. I just came off of 5 weeks of travel between Europe and the US, and I’m ready to take a break and get a breath in for a minute.

Molly Ruland:

I didn’t. I was like, man, this guy just never stops going. He is on the path, man. So and and good for you. I mean, that’s what it takes to get it done. You gotta you gotta show up in those spaces. It’s a cumulative thing. Right? You show up in enough of them, and then you’re just meant to be there. Then you’re the guy, and then that’s just you know, you miss too many of them, and people forget about you pretty quickly.

Molly Ruland:

So

Lance Lambert:

Yeah. It’s it’s it’s you’re right. I always reference you know, I’ve I’ve never mentioned out loud, but, you know, everyone I think kinda has a relevance meter. And, you know, I’ve seen individuals that have been in this space for some time. I just celebrated my 10 year anniversary of being purely in the focus, you know, of the cannabis industry for, you know, for that length of time. And it is interesting because some people kinda just get settled in or what they’re doing is a little bit less forward facing. So you’re right. Staying active, being out there.

Lance Lambert:

But it’s a big part of building a brand. I mean, it’s the whole day and age of managing behind it even as a chief marketing officer. Right? People are like, well, don’t you have someone that would do this job, or don’t you have someone do this trip? And I’m like, well, I do, but they don’t have my network. They don’t have my know-how. So I wanna take them out and show them. So I have these individuals that I mentor for success someday, you know, obviously take my role. So, it definitely is an adventure, but you’re right. You have to be out there.

Lance Lambert:

You have to maintain that relevancy, not just as an individual, but as an entity. So

Molly Ruland:

You really do. And I’m feeling like I moved to Costa Rica 3 years ago. I’m like, I need to go back to DC more often and show my face. Otherwise people think I’m on a boat with a drink in my hand every day. Yes. As much as I wish that was true, it is not. I’m still working, so don’t forget about your girls. So yeah.

Molly Ruland:

Well, it’s always nice. It’s always nice when you see people at conventions, and you’re like, ah, I haven’t seen you since the last one, but you’re still really happy to see them. Yeah.

Lance Lambert:

Yep. It’s true. I just had that. Speaking of Latam, I have a friend Javier Haas who’s based out of South America, Argentina, but, you know, I just did a tour with him and a bunch of influencers, my gosh, out of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Spain. And we did a tour up into Costa Brava, which is the region just, Catalonia region, but just north of Barcelona to the French border. In here, I was just with Javier Haas in Llorona over there, and then just seeing him at Benzinga in Hollywood Beach, Florida. And it’s so weird because you don’t skip a beat. You’re like, even though I just saw you in another country and was speaking another language with you Right.

Lance Lambert:

Here we are in the states. And it’s just the stuff that keeps me going, to be honest, though, it is these mini reunions. And I literally reference them as tours. Right? That trip to Spain, it’s a pilgrimage every year. It’s for, which is, at the moment, the largest show in Europe. I think Mary Jane’s got their number. Gonna take that over, especially Germany legalizing. But, you know, I do these tours every year.

Lance Lambert:

There’s individuals I ran into that I’ve done tours in Australia, in Chile, in the US, in the UK. And to see them, it’s like seeing old friends. In some of them, we do business together. In others, we just help each other out, sending those opportunities back and forth. But, that’s really what keeps me going. Matt and the passion for the plant as a medical patient, you know, is really what keeps me motivated. Because this is not an easy thing, it’s all fun and easy money and everything’s green. It is not an easy industry.

Lance Lambert:

It’s one of the hardest I’ve ever been in, but one of the most rewarding. Right? It’s always funny how that works. The hardest challenges are obviously, in many instances, the most rewarding in our lives. So it’s cool.

Molly Ruland:

And nothing worth nothing good worth having comes easy. Right? Isn’t that the quote? Something

Lance Lambert:

This is true. Yeah. Very true.

Molly Ruland:

Yeah. Well, you know, because it’s such a demonized line of work, but at the same time, it’s medicine for peace. So it just depends on who you’re talking to. Right? So to be able to kick down some of those doors and change some minds and get people access and just destigmatize the whole operation because enough already. You know what I mean? What is this? 1954 again? Like, why?

Lance Lambert:

It’s the reefer madness. And it’s unfortunate because, you know, a lot of people think that we started it, and you can go back to you know, I think we’re a couple of Gen Xers. You know, you can go back to our war on drugs, which was the DARE program, Nancy Reagan and James Watson, the officer out of LA.

Molly Ruland:

And mister t.

Lance Lambert:

She came up with that idea. But even before that, the prior generation, it was the Nixon war on drugs back in 71. But we can go back to our grandparents, and it was the Anslinger war on drugs, which was the original reefer madness back in the twenties and thirties.

Molly Ruland:

The actual

Lance Lambert:

Even before that, it was actually Napoleon. It was France that started the original war on cannabis. So it’s something that’s been around for a while, but it’s interesting you mentioned the stigmatization of this plant because it’s not everywhere. It is more so in Commonwealth countries. You know, you go places like, Prague and Czechia or Czech Republic as Americans know it. And, they have I’ll never forget this. They have an event over there called Canafest. We have some really fun names for trade shows in this industry as you could tell.

Lance Lambert:

And I remember walking in. It’s a beautiful fairgrounds facility that they have there. And as soon as I walked in, there was a pop up, a child day care facility that was there with children from ages, you know, 2 to maybe 8. And I was taken aback because if they even in California, even in the socialist state that I live in, even in California, I think child protective services, CPS would definitely be called if they saw that. But in a place like a country, like Czechia, the former communist, eastern block, and for them to not have that taboo or that stigmatization around the plant and just take it seriously and say, hey. This is a medicine. There’s people that work. This is their livelihood.

Lance Lambert:

They have families, but they still need to work.

Molly Ruland:

Get them medicine. Yeah. I mean, they sell beer at Chuck E. Cheese. You know what I mean?

Lance Lambert:

Yeah. So beer Disneyland now.

Molly Ruland:

Yeah. Like, okay. How is that any better? I’d rather, you know, good Lord. So let’s talk about your personal experience with cannabis. Like, so were you always in the cannabis industry, or was it your battle with cancer that put you there?

Lance Lambert:

Yeah. That’s a funny story. You know, I grew up in Northern California, surrounded by hippies, including my mom, which I would have you know, I used to back in the eighties. So that was the birth of the yuppie. And the hippies were so sixties, early seventies. So we kinda teased, you know, the the from the chihuly oil or whatever, you know, that they wear to the, like, the drinking kombucha and eating rice cakes. And I used to joke around all the time, and then now I find myself, like, I’m into all that. Like, I’m like, wow.

Lance Lambert:

They’re onto something. But

Molly Ruland:

Damn it. Yeah.

Lance Lambert:

No. It was always around me. And, technically, it’s part of how I was able to save up to go to school. And, ironically, I studied criminal justice in college, so I had to take a bit of a break, a long tolerance break. And so I ended up eventually getting into marketing and media, digital media. And so I was in that space for about a decade, and it just worked out to one of my SVPs at Scripts, a phenomenal company, one one of the bigger publishers in the US. She had gone on to become the SVP of Digital First Media out in Denver. And this was, like, 2013.

Lance Lambert:

That’s right before, you know, legalization was coming into fruition for adult use in the first American adult use market. Right? The irony never escapes me because going from California to Colorado to get into legal cannabis.

Molly Ruland:

Right.

Lance Lambert:

But, but, yeah, that’s where she said I see a hero path for you here. And when I got on, I was doing back end operations for a website called The Cannabis that my friend, Ricardo Baca had come up with. He also was from Scripps, and worked for DFM. And then I became the GM. And then later on, you know, Weedmaps, they liked what I was doing. They said, we want you to head up, you know, all of media for us here at Weedmaps, which was well, it still is the largest tech company in

Molly Ruland:

in

Lance Lambert:

the space. And like I said, that was, 10 years ago when I started that journey and kind of the rest is history. And and, you know, I felt like a bit of an OG back in the day, but I really feel like one, not just because of the gray hair and and the lack of hair that I have and all this this time here, But just because that is, like, we were talking about earlier, it’s kinda dog years. Like, there’s a lot of people that come in and they think that, you know, it’s still a green rush as we say, but it’s not easy. It is challenging. Very few people are getting rich because there’s so many hands in the pot. Pardon the pun. There’s a lot of those in this space.

Lance Lambert:

But just alone here in California, there’s, you know, the flower’s taxed 6 times from seed to sale. So if you can imagine, in some of these markets, 40 upward oh, Washington. I think upward of 47% of every dollar goes to taxes. It’s tough. So you have to be passionate. And, yes, you know, being a cancer survivor, I did start shifting more towards eastern medicine from western medicine. Wasn’t so much a fan of petroleum based solutions and, you know, petri dish solutions. And, you know, mother nature, I think, in my opinion, not to get all spiritual, but I really do think that mother nature has the answers.

Lance Lambert:

Like, they have a lot of remedies for us. I mean, you being in Costa Rica, you know firsthand. Like, you’ve got one of the most lush ecosystems in the world right there, and you see how mother nature works when not intervened by humans. And so, so cannabis is 1. Cannabis, ginger, turmeric, echinacea, there’s so many different natural remedies I use for health. Even breaking down the cannabis plant. I use CBG for anti inflammatory. I use CBN to help with sleep.

Lance Lambert:

I use CBD to help with pain. So I really do look at it as a medical first. But, obviously, I enjoy the side effects too. You know? So that’s where adult use comes in. And, yes, I’m more of an evening consumer. And, yes, I like to indulge with friends versus, to your point, alcohol, which is definitely the biggest social lubricant in this world. Everywhere, every continent I go to, it’s so acceptable and so on in everyone’s face, which on another note, I gave up drinking back in 2019. So I not only got bored of it, but I really started recognizing that it’s more of a poison than it was a remedy.

Lance Lambert:

And, you know, when you’re a cancer survivor, you kinda do get into that my body is my temple kinda mode. And so that’s actually where I’ve been. So, so, yeah, it’s been a fun ride, but it definitely wasn’t where I started, you know, my professional career to say the least.

Molly Ruland:

Who would have thought? Well, you know, I think it’s important to support the things that matter to us. Right? You know, I, I started becoming vocal about being a patient a few years ago, because, you know, growing up in Virginia and then doing business in Washington, DC you know, right now, you go to DC, the whole town smells like weed, but that was not the case. If you had a gram in your pocket, you were charged with possession of a controlled substance on federal property. You know how serious it is? Catch a federal charge for a gram of weed? I mean, come on. Exactly. You know what I mean? On federal probation, going to the federal courthouse. I mean, it’s you know? And then all of a sudden, DC became, you know, mini Amsterdam and the whole city literally smells like weed. It’s it’s people don’t even remember.

Molly Ruland:

I’m like, man, we used to be so paranoid. You know, we had to be, you know, because you’re gonna go to federal prison. I mean, it’s transformative.

Lance Lambert:

It really is.

Molly Ruland:

You gotta wrap your brain around that for a minute, right? So, being vocal about being a patient was kinda a big deal, you know? And I was born, my dad was exposed to some stuff in Vietnam, and I was born with a rare congenital birth defect. And I was told by a team of doctors at 15 months old that I wouldn’t live more than 20 years, and I’m like Benjamin Button in reverse. I’ve been 510 since I was in 4th grade. You know? Wow. Grew super fast. I’m not shrinking luckily, but, you know, yeah. Not yet anyway. Right? But, but, you know, I’ve had a bunch of spinal surgeries.

Molly Ruland:

I’ve had a bunch of pain in my life, and there’s people even in my own life who would tell me to go take pain medicine and stuff. I’m like, so you want me to be suicidal and depressed and, like, literally out of my solution. Cord versus medicating with the man

Lance Lambert:

cannabinoid system. Like, literally, you have a system in your body, you know, having these receptors that are actually open to accepting cannabis. You talk to any smart scientist or or hopefully any educated doctor, and you ask them if we have a system that processes Ibuprofen. We don’t. That’s why you can take 800 milligrams a day because the uptake’s about 50% on average for these synthetic pain medicines. So it really isn’t the way to go. And it’s unfortunate because we’ve and it’s not our generation. It’s not our generation.

Lance Lambert:

I mean, it goes all the way back to the silent generation, those that are in their eighties now. Those were the ones that were exposed to this pivotal shift from eastern to western medicine because we used to have those natural remedies even here in the state. It’s not just an Asian thing or European thing or a South American thing.

Molly Ruland:

It’s Right.

Lance Lambert:

It was a global thing that mother nature had those solutions for us before, again, you know, petroleum came into the equation and petri dishes came into the equation. And if we can’t patent it, we don’t want it on the shelves because we can’t own it. Everyone knows, you know, not to be on the soapbox, but that’s why I’m an advocate. You know? I’m not an activist.

Molly Ruland:

I don’t

Lance Lambert:

I’m I’m open hand, not a closed fist, and I lead with education, not forcing ideologies.

Molly Ruland:

Well, I like that. But

Lance Lambert:

we need to open our eyes to the system. You know? And we need to turn the system away and go, no. I want something healthier and natural and better for me as a human. You know? Mhmm. So

Molly Ruland:

Well Yeah. I think it’s really important for older white guys to to stand up and have a voice because, listen, you guys in a lot of ways run a lot of stuff. And so, you know, we need advocates that look like you in these spaces and who are respected as professionals, you’re saying, hey, hey, come on, like enough with this already because that’s what it takes. Right? Like, allyship happens in closed doors. Don’t you know, I like what you said about the open hand, not the closed fist. I do see myself as a bit of an anarchist at heart, so I do love a good protest. Don’t get me wrong. But, like, the real work happens in the closed doors rooms.

Molly Ruland:

It doesn’t always happen with a, you know, sign in the street. Not not, you know, demeaning that kind of work, but, like, if you want your white friends to be less racist, then talk to them about it when you’re in an all white room, not on Facebook. Right? Because, you know, talking on Facebook isn’t gonna change anything actually being in space. So let’s talk about the company. So I’m pretty fascinated by this because you’re a manufacturing company and you make these bags. And if anybody’s ever been in the weed world for real other than just being a consumer, you’ve seen these bags before. They’re pretty amazing. They create longer shelf life for the products.

Molly Ruland:

They protect it, which is a really big deal because to your point, it’s not easy to get rich in weed. And a lot of people think it is, but it’s like they’re like orchids. They’re like delicate little flowers. Like, if you don’t, if you don’t know how to speak to plants, you’re never gonna grow like anybody can grow weed. Very few people can grow good weed. Right? And so and then you have all these other things, natural wildfires that mess up your I mean, it’s always something. Right? It’s very difficult. And then when you do have a good crop and then you dry it and you cure it and you get it all right and then mold it in the bag, you’re like, oh, Jesus.

Molly Ruland:

You know? Yeah. What next? It’s always something. So these bags have been really instrumental in elongating shelf life and maintaining the quality of the product. So can you talk to me a little bit about how you go from being a manufacturer of the bag to being, like, working directly with so many different huge brands like that?

Lance Lambert:

For sure. For sure. So, you know, we were the interesting thing first off, and there’s other people in the packaging space. There’s other people in active atmospheric space, you know, people that are focused on the packaging, we’ll say, or the post harvest. And a lot of those companies come from other industries. They don’t come from this community. I used to work for 1 bunch of tier you talk about old white guys, you know, scotch cigars, and let’s see how much money we can suck from the cannabis industry. Like, it was so not me that it was bittersweet, but I left because I helped make that company Like, it was so not me that it was bittersweet, but I left because I helped make that company successful, but it also has gone down a path and had a culture and core value that that didn’t align with me.

Lance Lambert:

That’s not us. We come from the community. You know, my CEO and founder, he was a caregiver for his older brother who has cerebral palsy. He’s a quadriplegic. So he wanted to find a way not just to be more efficient in post harvest processing, but in maintaining the quality and consistency, which is really something that’s detrimental to maintain the potency of the plant. And, again, for any of our, you know, medical patient listeners out there, you know the potency matters. Like, if you don’t have that level of potency, then you’re not gonna have the proper medicine dosage when consuming. So, yeah, he is like, I gotta do something.

Lance Lambert:

Luckily, his family had come from the packaging background, and he is familiar with passive atmospheric modification, which is not to geek out, but I can give a great example. If you’ve ever bought ready-made lettuce in a bag where it’s all nice and crispy and green, and the celery’s still crunchy, and the carrot’s still leaking, and the radishes. A lot of people think that the way that biomass is preserved in that, you know, ready served bag is by some sort of noble gas flushing, like nitrogen or argon is a good example. That’s not quite the case. It’s actually the packaging it’s in that creates that perfect environment. So we knew that we could do something a little bit of reverse engineering, a lot of time and energy, but something that was specific to the physiology of this plant. Because, obviously, this plant, we joke around about being lettuce or broccoli. You know all the slang terms that we use for this, but it couldn’t be any further from that.

Lance Lambert:

The Right. The level of relative humidity is substantially less. You know, what that ambient environment needs to be is substantially different. But, yes, we came up with this technology. We very much pride ourselves on being a technology company. It happens to have that technology and packaging. And so you pointed out some of the great attributes, but really what it started out as is you can auto cure your flour in our bags. So you don’t need to use jars.

Lance Lambert:

You don’t need to use turkey bags. You don’t need to use totes. You don’t need to add any silly humidity packs. You don’t need humidity packs in the first place if you have your flower at the right relative humidity. But you literally dry it. You trim it. You put it into our bags. You seal it for 2 weeks and let it auto cure.

Lance Lambert:

So no more burping your jars. No more babysitting. And the nice thing about it is it does create that perfect environment, a co two rich environment. So the oxygen is leached out. The moisture balances within. So it’s a great vessel for storage. Like, I’ve got, you know, this is a quarter pound bag from last year’s run. So I’ve got, you know, a quarter pound.

Lance Lambert:

You’d see the flour in the bottom. So I just put it in here, just heat seal the top. And this is actually like I said, it’s technically 2 seasons old. So this is from the end of 2022, and it’s still in a great state because of the atmosphere that we create in that bag. So not all bags are created equal. It’s not just a bag. But it’s definitely something that, like we discussed before the call, you know, you have to lead with education, just like anything else in this space. You know? So we do a lot of education, and that’s where content really comes in.

Lance Lambert:

It’s helping people understand that stop banging your rocks. You know, stop banging your clothes down on the rocks by the river. There’s something called a washing machine. It’s in your garage. Start using it. You know that? That’s the same kind of attack. It’s like, hey. Just because you use glass jars for decades like I did as a grower, be from NorCal.

Lance Lambert:

I mean, all of us had our masons. I was like, are you sure? This is what I’ve always done. Is this really and then I did side by side testing before coming on here, and I’m like, holy shit. It works. Like, I can support and endorse this company because it actually does what it says.

Molly Ruland:

Well, you gotta bring me some of these bags when you come to Costa Rica and if you want to ask because I’m curious to see, you know, this high humidity here is gonna be a real challenge.

Lance Lambert:

We work even better. That’s the crazy part. So we have some huge fans in Jamaica, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, especially in, you know, like, haiku in some parts that are higher moisture. But even over in Thailand, we have quite a presence in Thailand because the interesting thing is that higher humidity doesn’t impede packaging. It creates this balance where you have that 58 to 62 inside, but it doesn’t let the outside come in. And you’re right because that’s when microbials pop off. You have too much humidity just like a wet towel that you leave on the floor. You know? It just you know what happens.

Molly Ruland:

Same. The biggest thing we battle here is mold. Yeah. Yeah. Literally, like, all my spices. I open up my garlic powder. A week later, it’s clumped up. I got, like, anti humidity packs in my spice drawer.

Molly Ruland:

You know? Yeah.

Lance Lambert:

Desiccants. Yeah. You have to or or using rice grains or, you know, gram or whatever. What do we use? Saltine crackers and sugar when we were kids. Like all those hats, you need them in a high humidity environment.

Molly Ruland:

You do. And, like, everything is in a jar here, and, you know, you gotta open it and close it right away. And, I mean, you can’t even have more than an ounce because it’s gonna mold even in a jar. Like, it’s a real problem here. And just with everything, clothing, everything, it’s just like you have to have a fan going, you have to have a window open. I mean, 96% humidity. I never knew. I lived in DC.

Molly Ruland:

We don’t really deal with that. You know? I’m like, oh, okay. Got it. You know? Exactly. So let’s talk about content. How is the company using content marketing? And who your clients are b to b. Right? Or or

Lance Lambert:

Our client, yeah. We have a healthy balance. You know, it’s interesting because as a manufacturer, it’s quite unique. So we have b to b and direct to consumer, d to c, which marketing manages. So my department manages that, and then we have an extensive sales team that manages the b to b relationships. But, yeah, content is king. I mean, I and, of course, coming from doing digital media for a decade, you wouldn’t be surprised for me to say that. But it really is.

Lance Lambert:

You know, it really is something that powers your SEO. It really is something that powers your engagement, your time on-site. It mitigates your bounce or your out rates. You know? So it is very relevant. And at the end of the day, all of us wanna learn. Like you said, like, god, these bags, they sound great. I wanna hear more. I wanna learn more.

Lance Lambert:

And so we really do lead with content, and I take a hub and spoke approach. So kind of that wagon wheel if you have the content. You use your push and pull marketing to support that, but all roads lead back to Rome. Right? So all roads lead back to my website. It’s nothing against you know, I love our audience. We’ve got just shy of 30,000 on Instagram. We got several thousand on YouTube and LinkedIn. And, you know, I love those audiences.

Lance Lambert:

But one thing I learned as a digital marketer, gosh, back in the late 2000 when social media really came into play is, you know, those things can change. Because, you know, for those that are a little bit older, you remember it was Friendster, then it was Myspace, then it was Facebook, then it was Instagram, then it was Snapchat, then it was that that constantly evolved. So it always surprised me if people put time and energy, especially in content, to drive traffic to an island that has your billboard on it, but that’s not really your home. Right? This is my home. This is my website. So we definitely do content. And we have some programs, you know, we have the behind the bag series. It’s purely editorial.

Lance Lambert:

So there’s there to your point, some of the brands we work with, big and small. I love the cottage style growers from back home in NorCal to some of the scaled growers like Legacy and Doja. But we’ll reach out to them and we’ll say, we know it’s hard for you to advertise because you’re plant touching. You’re tier 1. So there’s a lot of things that there’s a lot of things we get our hands slapped on even as an ancillary, but they’re even under stricter guidelines because they have, you know, these organizations and entities that govern them. So we reach out to them and say, hey. We wanna tell your story. So I’ll have one of my freelance contacts.

Lance Lambert:

Even though I’m a writer, I still write for MG Magazine. I just did a 3 part series for garden culture. I’ve been a writer since 2005, but I don’t want it to be at all biased. So I connect them with a freelance writer. We have an article that’s written up. We try to get some visuals, rather than video or static pictures. And then we publish it, and we push it out to our audience so that they can see and learn about this brand that otherwise they might not come across because of the restrictions again like yours. At a federal level, that’s restricting a lot of what’s going on.

Lance Lambert:

So we very much depend on content, to cultivate our audience and to educate them along the way.

Molly Ruland:

I love that you say that because not enough people are driving back to their website. And then if they are driving back to their website, they don’t have a lead magnet or email capture. And if they do have that, they’re not tagging the emails right, and then they’re not responding, reaching back out to them. And then meanwhile, people are, like, spending all day on social media strategies. And, you know, I mean, we have, like, 20,000 followers on Instagram. I put a post up there, like, 7 people saw it. I’m like, great. So glad I spent all that time building all those followers organically.

Lance Lambert:

Right. And Google Meta, they flipped that switch. That was back in the early 2010s when they’re like, wait. We can monetize and make you pay to reach your own audience that you spent the time and energy to cultivate and to get on your page. So that’s why I was like, this is BS. I’m not, like, never mind Meta, LinkedIn, x, whatever. Like, I’m not gonna build an audience for you to make money off of. I wanna build an audience to educate them about my product.

Lance Lambert:

And, eventually, if they make a purchase, that’s great. They’re the ones making the educated decision. But, yeah, to inject a middleman, I saw that early on, I guess. You know? Because I did a lot of digital media in the automotive sector, and I saw, you know, working for companies like AutoTrader, we created the funnel, but we are monetizing the funnel. Then you had companies like GM. They’re like, wait. We can get in front of you via SEM and some clever SEO, and then they don’t even have to go down your funnel. They can come straight to where they belong, our website or our dealer site.

Lance Lambert:

So there were some things that I’m very thankful for being a digital marketer for a decade before getting into this space because it was a major benefit to be able to face some of the challenges and restrictions in this space. Because I’ve never been I mean, this is this is more strict than than gun advertising or

Molly Ruland:

alcohol advertising. You can advertise the craziest crap online, but not weed. God forbid. Yeah. Weed. I mean, it’s really like I mean, some of the stuff I’ve seen online, I’m like, this is okay, but you know?

Lance Lambert:

It surprised me every day. And just like we were talking about, you know, like alcohol, It’s a social lubricant. Every continent, every country I land in, it’s every every step of the way. At the airport, on the airplane

Molly Ruland:

They’re, like, welcome.

Lance Lambert:

At social events. Yeah.

Molly Ruland:

Have a drink. Alcohol.

Lance Lambert:

Alcohol. Alcohol. I’m like, I’m surprised there aren’t more alcoholics in the world, to be honest. It’s a poison. I mean, yeah, it’s a pleasure, but everything in moderation. And look at what it’s done to society along with opioids and other things that, you know, we go on forever. But it is unfortunate that those things that are natural and actually healthy for us are oftentimes suppressed. And, again, I think that’s probably the true definition of capitalism in full effect, but, you know, it’s an interesting error.

Lance Lambert:

Yeah.

Molly Ruland:

Well, you know, like, living in Costa Rica, when I go to the doctor, first of all, I can WhatsApp her. Right? And I can go to the pharmacy without a prescription. I’m not getting, like, opioids or anything like that, but, like, for basic stuff. You know? Yeah. And it’s just so much different because it’s eastern and western medicine. She’s giving me, maybe some antibiotics, but then she’s also giving me the little, like, the little, pills with drops. And stuff like that. You know? And so it’s like, I love that balance, and I think you know? And she’s like, go home and eat some ginger.

Molly Ruland:

Eat some turmeric. Like, not just, like, go home and suck down some Vicks and Dayquil or whatever. You know? I mean, like

Lance Lambert:

Exactly true.

Molly Ruland:

Isn’t this what Hunter S Thompson did every day? Like, I gotta work, man. You know what I mean? Like, what are we doing? So, what I’d like from you is, like, what piece of advice would you give people in the cannabis space who are really struggling with their content marketing or getting their message out? Like, what would be your biggest piece of advice for them to lean in on this year?

Lance Lambert:

Gosh. I would say for this year, just really be cognizant and aware of not just the demographics that you’re approaching because, obviously, that matters. You wanna know your core persona. But, geographically, be cognizant of what’s going on. You know? Because, while, technically, 46 states in the union have some level of legal cannabis, like, even Texas has a medical program and no one knows that. They have, you know, several dispensaries. Very strict program with low dose, but still, you know, but being cognizant of where and and who you’re addressing and approaching, and then putting the right message in front of that right audience. Because it’s unfortunate.

Lance Lambert:

A lot of peep I don’t know what it is. It’s this I don’t I guess we could blame it on the millennials or the zed generation, but this instant gratification. I know Google and other websites perpetuated that. Oh, I want the answer now. I want whatever I’m looking for, I want it now.

Molly Ruland:

Now. Yeah.

Lance Lambert:

But it’s really interesting because the professional society has really embraced that. I mean, I’m surprised. I’ll be on LinkedIn. Someone who looks like we’re aligned, you know, maybe they’re in marketing or maybe they’re in business, you know, in a category that’s aligned with ours, and then they come in straight for the kill. I feel like I’m on a swipe right app. Right? They just like, I get connected with them. Hey. Let me tell you about my product.

Lance Lambert:

Tell them I’m like, why are you telling me why don’t you ask me what my needs are or or get to know me a little bit better before you try to sell me on something? So the approach that you take and, again, that’s where I’d say content versus going straight for conversion. And as old school as the funnel is, it’s relevant. Like, spend a little bit more time on Thoma. Spend a little more time on that awareness, that interest, and allow them to fall into intent instead of forcing them into intent and, ultimately, conversion. Another thing I’d say is being cognizant of what the long play is, you know, to your point. Don’t just lead the horse to water, but explain to him why it’s advantageous to continue to drink here. Because brand loyalty is at an all time low. You and I both know that.

Lance Lambert:

I mean, Amazon doesn’t encourage, you know, brand loyalty, let alone any other platform that people are purchasing from. So to give them an incentive there has to be that USP. Right? We’re a unique selling proposition beyond doing something that no one else does by being able to eliminate, you know, having to manually cure your flower. But there’s more beyond just we’re a bag. Again, you know, we are a brand. Yes. But we are a community. We’re a part of the community.

Lance Lambert:

So that’s, again, why I’m out there in the field and people like, don’t you have a team that can do this? Yeah. I’ve got 4 or 5 people that can do this on my team. But I wanna be out there, and I want them to see the face behind the brand just like I want my CEO to be out there and be the face behind the brand. Because people are really relating to individuals, not entities.

Molly Ruland:

I

Lance Lambert:

I agree. The big corporations’ faults. Right? They’re the ones that, oh, trust Procter and Gamble. Trust Johnson and Johnson. Well, as long as you’re putting asbestos and talcum powder and killing women and giving them cancer, I’m sorry. You know what? I really don’t trust you as an entity. I trust the individual that says I use this myself, and I recommend for you to use it as well because I’m a healthy middle aged guy that doesn’t have cancer again. You know? So that’s what I’d recommend is being very cognizant of your message.

Lance Lambert:

But where it’s going and who it’s going to, definitely be aware of that as well.

Molly Ruland:

I love that. Yeah. They’re going in for the kill thing on LinkedIn and all that. That’s why my approach, I’m like, I wanna get in front of more people. It could be a little lonely sometimes living in Costa Rica after being a PC and surrounded by people and managing all these people and all studios and stuff. And now I’m like, okay. I need to hang out with some more people, but I use humor. Right? I’m like, let’s see if this is a good fit because if you respond, we’re probably gonna get along.

Molly Ruland:

We can start from there. Yeah. And then if nothing else, it’s a new relationship. Right? I think everything in life is based on the quality of relationships personally and professionally, And I I think approach

Lance Lambert:

was like that. Like you said, your approach was very, very I’m the same way. I’m very passive, easy on, hey. I’d love to work here at some point. You know, it’s great getting to know you, etcetera. But I’m never like, buy our products, drink our Kool Aid.

Molly Ruland:

Because I might not even like you. I wanna know for sure that I like you when we get along because then we could do great business together or I refer you people or whatever. Right? You never know. Like, you just never know what will come of a relationship. Maybe we’ll be having a cocktail at the beach in a couple months when you’re in town. Right? Anything is possible. Right? And I think that’s the beautiful thing about the world is, like, giving an opportunity for that relationship because maybe we’ll just be friends. Maybe we’ll do business together.

Molly Ruland:

Maybe none of that, but, like, the whole just going straight for your wallet. It’s like I mean, I get messages. People are like, did you know the short form video can enhance? I’m like, yeah. I do because we sell that. Like, fuck’s sake.

Lance Lambert:

Oh my gosh. That towards me. And I know I did my selling years well, I mean, everyone’s still a seller to a certain extent. But, I mean, my years of selling were my twenties, you know, late teens, twenties, early thirties. I was never like that. I mean, I did consultative selling evidently before it was cool. I’m like, here. Let me state the facts and let you make an educated decision on what would be the best to solve your problem.

Lance Lambert:

Right? And to your point, people come in, and they have this, you know, coffee is for closers mentality of, like, you know, my money’s in your wallet. And it’s like Well Nothing that has to do with you has to do with me, to your point. Let’s see if we even wanna do business together because we might not even cross that chasm into the actual opportunity. You know?

Molly Ruland:

Listen. Not all clients are created equally. I’ve fired some clients. I’ve met some people and gone, cool business, but no. Thank you. I don’t wanna work with you, right, for whatever reason. So True. It’s like dating.

Molly Ruland:

You know? It’s like it’s like

Lance Lambert:

He really is.

Molly Ruland:

Let’s let’s, you know, let’s not go, like, hey. You wanna get married? Like, I don’t know. Can we have coffee first? You know what I’m saying? Like, what’s happening?

Lance Lambert:

Yep. I did a post like that on LinkedIn, and it’s the same because I tell people as a mentor, you know, I’ve been in management for 28 years now. It’s crazy to say. I’ve mentored a lot of people, and as I said, I said, the personal is not that different from the professional. Excuse me. You know, everything’s based on trust and communication. If you don’t trust me in that rep of this company and we don’t properly communicate, then how are we supposed to get anything done? You know?

Molly Ruland:

And if I don’t like you, I don’t wanna see you win, and I wanna see all my clients win. I want to be doing stuff behind the scenes for them that they don’t even know because I wanna see them win.

Lance Lambert:

Yep.

Molly Ruland:

I wanna be mentioning their names in rooms that they’re not in because I wanna see them win. But if you’re not my kind of person, I might not wanna see you win. And I don’t want clients like that. I wanna genuinely be, like, really rooting for everybody I’m working with because, like, what’s the what’s the point? Right? Like, what is the point? I think if after the pandemic, we haven’t learned that, then then what are we even doing? You know what I mean? Like Very

Lance Lambert:

true. Very true.

Molly Ruland:

Well, listen, Lance, I wanna be aware of the time and all of that because we’re coming up on the top of the hour. But, I usually do all these fun segments and stuff, but our conversation was really great. And I don’t think we really needed any of that today. I thought it was very interesting, and I definitely will connect with you for sure. But before we go, we will have all your links and everything in the show notes. But if people are interested, and would like to connect with you, what’s the best way for them to do that?

Lance Lambert:

Yeah. The best way is for the company, it’s grovebags.com or, grove bags on all the social media. For myself, personally, and like you said, for some people that are having challenges, getting into the industry, sustaining themselves in the entry industry, I do love mentoring people. I love helping people, especially passionate people that are here to make a difference. So feel free to reach out to me, Lance Lambert.com. We’ll take you to my LinkedIn. 805 Lance is my socials. And, yeah, we need more passionate people in this space.

Lance Lambert:

And one thing I will say is consuming cannabis for decades does not make you an expert in the industry, but being passionate and bringing some level of expertise, bringing digital media, bringing marketing. People are coming from HR, from sales, from the scientific community, from the medical community, from, the logistics, the security communities. There are people coming from all different sectors to this industry and being a part of this community, but the real synergy is that all those people are passionate. Like, they’re passionate about something. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about the plant, but be passionate about what you’re doing and be able to win it. And remember, this isn’t us and we, not I and me. This is very much a collaborative effort. So

Molly Ruland:

I love that. I love that so much. Well, Lance, this was gonna be a great conversation. I knew it was gonna be good. I was like, oh, Lance is on the calendar today. That’s great. I’m excited because like I said, I’ve been following you on LinkedIn for a few weeks now, and I’m like, I appreciate it.

Lance Lambert:

Travel around the world. You’re like, this guy never gets off the road.

Molly Ruland:

I know. I’m like, I can’t believe I’m on his calendar, honestly. I was like, this is a busy guy. So I really appreciate it, and I will contact you offline for some of the other endeavors that I mentioned. But,

Lance Lambert:

yeah, I do. For sure.

Molly Ruland:

Yeah. But, thank you so much for taking time to meet with me today. It was really a pleasure, and thank you for tuning in today to camp content. I hope this was a great conversation. We talk a lot about websites at HardCast Media and how important it is to have a good website. It’s actually why we started designing websites because when we started working with you guys, we realized that a lot of you don’t have good websites. So it was by necessity, but the website really is your most important landing page. It’s not gonna go out of business.

Molly Ruland:

It’s not gonna go defunct. It’s not gonna get sued by the FCC or whoever. Hopefully, if you do, call me. I’d love to hear about it.

Lance Lambert:

But compliance matters.

Molly Ruland:

Yeah. It does. It does. But bring it back to your own site. Bring them into your email list. Bring them into the full bring them into the conversation. Bring them into the family. And so that’s some of the best advice I’ve heard on this show yet is, old school, man.

Molly Ruland:

Keep it old school and bring them into the fold and keep them close. Right? So, thank you for tuning in. And if you found this content valuable, please comment or share on LinkedIn or just hit us up. We’d love to hear from you, and until then, be excellent to each other, and I will see you on the Internet.