Ben Ard (00:00.112)
couple quick settings and then I will kick it off. So give me just one second. I've got to push. There we go. Okay, that's working. It's working. Okay, I think we're good. Okay, ready?
Welcome back to another episode of Content Amplified. Today I'm joined by Frank. Frank, welcome to the show.
Frank Pasquine (00:22.678)
Hey, Ben, thanks for having me. Really appreciate it. And looking forward to the conversation.
Ben Ard (00:25.572)
They are frank.
Yeah, Frank, I'm excited. This is going to be a ton of fun. This is going to be a little bit different of an episode. You have such a cool story to tell, something that you're working on, and it's a ton of fun. But before we dive into that, let's get to know you. Tell us about your work history, all that fun stuff so the audience gets to know who you are.
Frank Pasquine (00:46.734)
Yeah, sure. So I assume you can't pronounce my name because I never, I never said that yet, but it's Frank Pasquini. It is a, it is an Italian name. I'm a proud Italian American. But yeah, so talking a little bit about my background. And, you know, I know we've talked about this a little before, but I, you know, I've been working in marketing for close to 20 years.
but this, you know, I didn't go to, or I didn't come out of high school or go to college saying I want to be a marketing professional. I found that, you know, early on my passion was in film and television. I, fact, after work or after school every day, I would come home, watch a set of TV shows, and movies in the evening. And, you know, so that, that was something I was.
always kind of passionate about and if you ask my parents, they'll say probably watched a little bit too much growing up. And my mom said that she should have never put a TV in my room. That was all my father's fault. But I thank him to this day because this is something I truly am passionate about. So anyway, I after high school, I I I yes, I love film and television, but I was trying to be practical, believe it or not, at an age as an 18 year old. So I
decided that I'm going to go to Fordham University as an economics major and I will make money. That's what people do, right? So I did go there. I studied economics. I understood it. seemed pretty self-explanatory. Supply and demand, I just kept hearing about. But I found zero passion for it. And even as an 18-year-old, I assumed
know, part of life should be enjoying what you do. That's what I've heard over and over. And so, you know, about, I don't know, halfway through my time at Fordham, went back to my, this is why I brought up film and television. I went back to my passion and I decided I'm gonna pursue it at NYU. And then I was told, you know, you probably can't get into NYU film school. It's a very competitive, difficult school to get in, Frank.
Frank Pasquine (03:07.79)
So I said, okay, look, I'll apply to it. If I get in, I'm going. And if I don't, obviously I can't. So I did apply. I got in. And so I spent three years there until I graduated. And what really caught my interest was writing. So it was creative writing and a lot of screenplay writing. And that really helped hone my skill of, of course, writing and so forth.
But coming out of college, I decided that I wanted to really pursue kind of that entertainment, film and television career. And I moved with my roommates out to LA where I was actually a script reader for a production company. So I would read multiple scripts a day, provide coverage for them, provide reviews, give them advice as to whether or not they should invest in it and so forth.
while writing my own things at the same time. I did have, you know, at that time I had a pilot that I had written. I had a few screenplays and I was actually able to circulate amongst some agents, some pretty big agents. I don't know, maybe I'm jumping ahead already, but you had mentioned that I just released a book called The Prince of New York out now on Amazon and select bookstores.
Ben Ard (04:26.671)
Now you're good.
Frank Pasquine (04:35.338)
Actually, I had a pilot TV series at the time that I had written it my senior year at NYU. And I had gotten it to an agent at William Morris and they called me about it. They were really interested in it. Essentially what it was was my experience going into a school with a lot of kids who had gone to private schools in Manhattan. So they kind of.
from a different world that I grew up in. grew up, I went to public school in New Jersey. And so I became friends with a lot of these people and it was just really interesting to see like kind of the contrast of how I grew up and then what they're used to. And then I sort of, you know, ended up hanging out with them while I was in college. So I got to experience that lifestyle a little bit and sort of as a fish out of water. And so I, again, had liked TV and I grew up.
There was 90210, which I liked. And then there was the OC, which was kind of hot in college. And so I said, why don't we, why don't we do the show like the OC and 90210, but takes place with this fish out of water who kind of is now he goes to an elite, upper East side high school and gets to know that crew. And so that was essentially the pilot. And when the agent came back to me and said, she really liked it. She said, there's one issue.
we have a pilot that's that Warner Brothers is picking up and they're going to develop it into a series. And she said, I'll let you read it if you're curious. said, yeah, sure. Let me see it. And that pilot was gossip. Well, yeah, I spit out shit. I guess I kind of missed that missed the boat on this one. But yeah, so I saw like so I missed the boat on that one. But that that kind of idea.
Ben Ard (06:09.747)
wow.
Frank Pasquine (06:24.596)
is what was really the genesis for this book because the themes of it, the setting of it is all that. It's evolved over the years since I graduated, but that's actually where it came from, the initial idea for the book. But anyways, coming back to my career, let me know if you need to interrupt me or stop me. Okay, be an old man on the bench, but here you have it.
Ben Ard (06:46.34)
No, you're good. Keep going, you're good.
Ben Ard (06:50.95)
You're good.
Frank Pasquine (06:52.046)
So yeah, mean, so the screenwriting and everything was sort of a side passion, but again, my skills had been predominantly in writing. After a year of LA, I kind of missed New York and I moved back and actually got an internship at Gray Advertising Agency and got to understand the world of copywriting and sort of writing in advertising, marketing, et cetera.
And I realized that I don't need to write 110 page scripts or 300 page novels to get paid. You you could, you could do tag lines and what I considered the fact that I've been writing so much simpler marketing copy and more concise copy and get paid pretty well for it. So that's where I sort of started to pivot a little bit in terms of what I'm going to do full time. And
built up a portfolio around that time in my early 20s of copywriting, some freelance copywriting and contributing to like the New York City scene. There were some online websites and magazines and places like that that I contributed to. And around that time is when I think social media really was blowing up, especially in terms of advertising and marketing. So.
you know, not only was I kind of contributing and writing my own things and I had started my own blog, I was really learning how to amplify the content, how to promote it on social media, eventually understanding the paid aspects of it when Facebook was really blowing up with that. And so like that sort of portfolio that I had built, I was hired by New York Film Academy to run their social media and they had a lot more money to play with and the owner was very, he was very, he could,
Yeah, he was an older guy, very old school Brooklyn guy. But he really did see the power of Facebook ads, Google ads, marketing, advertising a blog, I built a blog for them. And so like that's that's where I kind of got my foot in with understanding, you know, the power of content, and then really gave me a landscape and an overview of marketing all around. So
Frank Pasquine (09:11.182)
initially again, kind of running their social media, running their blog, running a lot of the content. But I had an opportunity to work with some marketers and understand, you know, full circle, every everything under the sun when it comes to marketing, everything from events, know, sponsorships, partnerships, you name it. So I got it was there for five and a half years and got a really rounded experience of what can be done from a marketing standpoint.
And then I stupidly decided I will pursue my passion again. So when I left, or maybe not stupidly, my sort of passion calling came back. I briefly worked for two small sort of entertainment production companies, if you will, and it just wasn't connecting for me. And so I felt like I needed something a little bit more stable again.
That's where I landed a job at Tremor Video, which is my first sort of step into ad tech. And so I was hired as their first content person. again, like was doing similar work that I had been used to in terms of working on the blog, but kind of getting more hands-on experience with working with product marketing, working with sales, working in sales enablement.
working in field marketing and building presentations and decks for our commercial team and product team and so forth. And then really understanding this community that I'm in now called AdTech, which is kind of like its own little world. It's actually a very small world because now I feel like I know a lot of the players in the space. So was there for two years and then double verified where I currently work, had reached out. It was actually during COVID.
When I thought the whole world was going to shut down, DV said, hey, we're expanding and we're hiring if you're interested. And so I said I was, and I eventually moved there as again, I was initially leading their content team. We're going to lead a content team and did that for a year or so. And then again, like, because I have kind of this holistic experience with marketing and I was already getting my hands on a lot of different aspects from
Frank Pasquine (11:33.135)
from paid media to events and so forth. It just made sense to expand the role. And then that's kind of where I'm at now as a marketing director. I oversee the Americas. We're kind of broken out regionally with the Americas, APAC, EMEA. And again, like in this role, it's kind of everything under the sun with marketing. Because of where our budgets are currently, a lot of my work is within event sponsorships.
like owned and operated events that we put on a lot of field marketing. We feel, and I think I've seen this as a little bit of a trend in marketing and in our space, people might be getting a little bit of digital fatigue and kind of enjoy those custom catered in-person activations that we do. that's a lot of where my work is right now. And so that's where I'm at now. This is a long-winded history of the frank and the better it is currently.
Ben Ard (12:27.779)
You
I love it. This is incredible. Frank, I'm excited to dive in. We're going to talk a lot about the experience of publishing a book and really what it looks like for a marketer who day in and day out does a great job in their marketing career to take this side project, this passion project. That's why I'm excited. You gave a really good background about yourself and really apply those skills to that. I look at a lot of marketers.
who have business ideas or script writing or book writing, anything that they're really thinking of and they don't necessarily know what to do to kind of get it out there and what to do. So, well, I guess we'll start here. So you, published this book and you've spent 20 years in content and marketing. What surprised you the most about creating content and promoting your own book? Like what, what was something you didn't expect?
Frank Pasquine (13:25.454)
It's funny you say that because fragmentation, I should expect it and the kind of the multitude of platforms that are out there. It's something that we talk about all the time at DoubleVerify. It's part of our business model and it's part of our narrative. And so I'm like reciting it and understanding it. But when I really am now promoting my own product,
you know, something that I'd consider like sort of my baby. I don't have kids, so this is my first child. I really understood what we were talking about with this, multitude of platforms. I mean, there's just so many different ways to kind of put your product or your book out there. I personally haven't really been on TikTok too much. Maybe that shows my age at this point, but I was told about, you know, hey, if you're putting a book out, you need to know about Book Talk.
You need to start creating content on TikTok. So I did build a page. It's early stages, but it's growing. And I'm developing some content there and trying to grow a following. But you really have to understand the audience. You have to understand the trends. And you have to understand the fact that there are rules on different platforms. So right now I'm having a little bit more success with Instagram.
Maybe because I personally have had an account on there that I periodically use in my personal life. But I am seeing some growth there, but I'm also seeing a lot of pay to play opportunities. think I honestly, no joke, like 400 people have reached out to help promote the book. And I'm flattered by all of them, but I think 399 out of 400 won a little cash.
Ben Ard (15:04.816)
Wow.
Ben Ard (15:13.637)
Yep.
Frank Pasquine (15:14.254)
So I've heard and I'm seeing that that's a bit of pay to play whereas like TikTok I'm seeing the opportunity to go viral hasn't happened yet working on it. But you I think the content's little different and again understanding that audience that BookTok audience. It's a younger crowd that I'm learning more about. But again, like just the fact that there's so many different platforms. I'm only giving you two.
Obviously, like there's so many others that I'd want to be on and there's just only so much I can do, especially as a one man team. So that's something that's, guess, surprising, but like also I should have known better going into it.
Ben Ard (15:58.662)
I love it. That makes perfect sense. So when you look at it, how does your approach to content strategy change when you're working on a brand, working on a business versus something personal like a book or something like
Frank Pasquine (16:14.444)
Yeah. So another thing you really feel the money aspect of it, you know, at my job, not that I'm very conscious of the budget that I have, you know, in my work at Double Verify. But again, like that's a that's a company, a public company that has, you know, established itself and money to sort of play with and especially has a market, you know, a marketing budget. Whereas I'm just frank and, you know.
Ben Ard (16:18.84)
Yeah.
Frank Pasquine (16:42.22)
My budget is whatever I have in savings. know, really, really like understanding the value of each dollar that you're putting into the advertising. I'm running some paid ads. Like I said, there's these opportunities of pay to play on Instagram. I personally like I kind of need to see the results sooner than later. I know that, you know, there's maybe that's not the best approach at it. Obviously, it's a long game. But because of the fact that I'm so tightly
And so so close to my own money and understanding where it's going. That's certainly it's certainly a new You know kind of like a different strategy or a different approach that taking consideration The other thing though is you know, because it's only me and you might have experienced this too as an entrepreneur There's way more freedom to experiment and be creative
So, you know, I, like I said, I'm trying to build a TikTok page. I need to know, or I need to make something go viral. Well, how do I do that? They certainly give me, there's a playbook. There's something called creator insights that they, they literally tell you what they're looking for. which is, which is also interesting, but like, you know, you have to, you have to have some fun with it. like I've personally been playing around with C dance. It's one of these AI video generators.
Yeah, I've chapped GPT Claude and so forth. So kind of like playing around with you know, what can be done is it's actually really exciting really cool Going back to when I was at NYU film school. I could have never imagined this You know that even the short video clips that I'm creating I can do them in like, you know five ten minutes for hardly any budget If I was doing them at the age of 20, I think they'd be thousands of dollars like to create videos
that I've created just as like simple teasers for TikTok and Instagram and so forth. So, you know, not having to go through an approval process, I'm not a public company, so no legal, I don't have to go through. So there's just like ample opportunity to have fun, to play with it, to experiment and see what hits. So that's another sort of difference in strategy and the way I approach.
Ben Ard (18:57.542)
Very cool. I love it. Yeah, it's true. You get to experiment. You get to play around with new things. If an idea pops into your head, you can execute it in a matter of hours. There's no red tape, any of that fun stuff. So with that in mind, what does work for you? Like if you had to pick the number one channel or opportunity that you've taken advantage of and gotten a return from, what's the best one?
Frank Pasquine (19:22.68)
Yeah, great question. So it's actually similar to my work at Double Verify, which I kind of just mentioned. To me, it's the most successful so far piece of content, I guess, that I've created is that in-person aspect and then amplifying it digitally. So literally this week, I was at a bookstore in the East Village in New York, and they asked me to do a little book signing. And so they took video of me signing the books.
It's on st. Mark's place. I don't know how familiar you are with New York City, but it's a very popular street especially for like Sort of like that artistic indie crowd It's been you know, kind of the scene for for artists for decades So to be so now my book is there the signed copies are there on st. Mark's that the owner took some video of it and then obviously I'd said
Ben Ard (20:11.524)
Nice.
Frank Pasquine (20:17.804)
You don't mind if I use this in marketing, right? Cause it's going to help both of us mutually beneficial. And no, of course not. That's why I'm doing it. He and so then I'm able to kind of share that, you know, that experience on social and it's gotten, you know, my most, shares and reaction by far. so, so yeah, I guess combining, which makes sense to me combining in-person activation, if you will, with this sort of digital amplification. And that's.
Ben Ard (20:19.942)
Yeah.
Frank Pasquine (20:45.89)
That's where the bulk of our budget is going to at DoubleVerify. Again, those in-person experiences. And then being able to show people who weren't there sort of that FOMO, like what you're missing out on, what that experience was like and kind of join us next time or see what you can be a part of. Well, that's been, I think, the most successful in this early stage. Again, it's pretty early for me, but that makes sense to me.
Ben Ard (21:05.498)
Yeah.
Ben Ard (21:14.167)
I love it. That's so cool. So we're almost out of time. These episodes go by quick. So for anyone listening today that has a side project book, script, business, whatever it may be, what would be like your basic content playbook that you would hand to them from your experience and say here would be a starting place for you to think about some opportunities, things like that from what you've learned.
Frank Pasquine (21:19.106)
Okay.
Frank Pasquine (21:44.066)
Well, I think first and foremost, would say start the playbook 100 days before you start anything. And certainly, like, you know, do the research, do your due diligence, understand the audience. You know, because for me, like with with this book, so the book is it's a it's a it's a young adult romantic thriller mystery. You know, I kind of in my mind, I want it to be like.
Ben Ard (21:50.138)
Ha ha ha ha ha.
Frank Pasquine (22:13.208)
for all audiences the same way that you would enjoy Harry Potter or you would enjoy Stranger Things. Like, yeah, these are young kids going through these adventures, but I enjoy it at my age and my parents enjoy Stranger Things as well. But understanding first and foremost your audience, what they're sort of interested in, what they're gonna engage with.
What's going to capture their attention because there's just a plethora, like I said, a multitude of platforms. There's so much shit out there. Not just in terms of books. I mean, there's so many books, but like, as you know, there's so much content. So how are you going to capture their attention in two seconds? So with the playbook, mean, think about whatever it is, your product. In my case, it's the book. Know those moments, know the, the, you know, the differentiation, like what different.
differentiates you from competitors. For me, it's why does my book stand out? What are those key moments? And then like creating that sort of FOMO, like I had mentioned before, creating that anticipation, creating cliffhangers, creating a hook, creating something small and minuscule that people will be interested, capture their attention, and then want to know more and then want to download it, want to go get it, want to find out more. So have those micro moments, have those
you know, ideas in mind and again, have those ideas in mind hundreds of days before you launch something and well before you're kind of ready to kick things off. So that's that I don't know if that's a playbook, but that's certainly my advice for anybody who's considering what I'm doing or something similar.
Ben Ard (23:56.942)
I love it. That's incredible. Well, Frank, this has been incredible. Thank you for the insights. Thank you for sharing for anyone who wants to reach out and connect with you online or find your book. How and where can they find you in the book?
Frank Pasquine (24:11.714)
Yeah, so the book, I mean, online, if you want to go to Amazon, it's there. So my name again is Frank Pesquini. You could search for me. You could search for The Prince of New York by Frank Pesquini, and it's available on ebook. It's available on Kindle Unlimited. So if you have that, it's free. It's like part of your package. Paperback and hardcover. And then, I mean, if you're in New York City, some of the bookstores are starting to carry my book. I'm trying to expand that and then.
trying to expand it as much as I can. So we'll see how it goes. But Ben, really appreciate you having me on. This is great. I know I talked a lot, but I think that's the purpose of the podcast. And I hope your audience enjoyed it and I really appreciate it.
Ben Ard (24:51.525)
Yep.
Ben Ard (24:55.302)
Absolutely, thanks again for the time.
Frank Pasquine (24:57.251)
You got it.
