(Festive music) Hey everyone, I'm Sheila Jenkinson and you are listening to the Growing Small Town Nebraska Podcast where my co-host, Marcie Sextro, and I ask community leaders and business owners about their efforts in revitalizing the Cornhusker State. If you love your small town and you're looking for ways to make it even better, or maybe you're interested in what this revitalization movement may mean for you and your family. Join us as we talk with small town Nebraskans making our state the definition of "The Good Life."
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Hello, everyone. I'm Marcy Sextro. And we are coming to you from the Intersect Co-working and Incubator podcast booth in downtown Norfolk. intersect is a co-working community that gives workers the spaces and tools they need to succeed. intersect is your place to collaborate with others and get things done. Find out more on their website intersectcoworking.com Or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Today we're joined by JT Martin, a fifth generation Nebraskan who created a social media sensation called the Corn Belt, which was seen over 17 million times this spring and summer. His commitment to tourism in Nebraska was honored at the recent Tourism Conference where he won the 2023 Visionary Award. Welcome to the podcast. JT.
Thank you guys so much. That was a great intro. I'm flattered. Thank you
Well, you're doing the work, so you get the intro. There you go.
That's right. JT, we met you at that conference and had a great time out there.
Yes. If you haven't seen the polka video, JT and Sheila were polkaing. They were dancing out there.
Sheila taught me.
Yes, she did a great job. We're really excited to have you on and you haven't always lived in Nebraska. So what brought you back?
Yeah, so I lived in Nebraska until I was five years old. So I was born in Omaha. I lived in Omaha and then Norfolk for a few years. And then my family moved out to San Francisco. My dad is in infectious disease research positions. So he helped different biotech companies in San Francisco do research. So we moved out there as a family. I spent 20 years there, worked in advertising and media in San Francisco, and then moved to New York City in 2016, where I was working in advertising media, and then COVID happened and I did not want to live in New York City during COVID. So I came back to Nebraska to lay low with my parents for what was supposed to be two weeks and then, here I am now three years later. I love it.
Where does your family live in Nebraska now?
So now we're in Lincoln. We don't have any extended family here. All our extended family aren't Fairbury Nebraska or Omaha, but somehow we just all settled here. My sisters moved back. My parents are here on here.
So how nice Well, welcome back to Nebraska. We're happy to have all the Nebraskans come back from around the nation. So...
so you used to.
Yeah. It's a thing.
Yeah.
You used to have you had a podcast that was focused on Nebraska, right?
Yes.
So tell us a little bit about that, quickly here, and then what made you decide to kind of switch?
Yeah, so when I moved back to Nebraska, I started a podcast with a there's a production agency here in Lincoln called Grindstone Media. And they wanted to help promote their their podcast studio. So I said, Hey, let me start a podcast. Get to know more. The business leaders here in Nebraska again, get plugged in again, after being gone for 25 years. It was called Nebraska Made, the episodes are still up. Eventually it'll get up and running again soon, but it was it was all about just the inception stories of Nebraska founders. So you know, or just business leaders, so had on like Tom Osborne, to have him talk about his teammates mentorship program and how that kind of got legs Clay Smith who runs Speedway Motors. He came on and talked about the whole his whole family history. I even had Dorothy Lynch's grandson come on to talk about how Dorothy Lynch was made. Lots of really cool stories. There's about 40 episodes, podcasts, and more might be coming out someday. So keep your eye out.
Well, we lood forward to that, and meanwhile, people can still listen to the 40 episodes or so that are there, right?
Yep, yeah. Totally.
You're a big sensation on like Instagram. Where do you where do you get your ideas?
Yeah. So about in 2018, I started seeing the shift from like photography on social media to short form videos. So I started making, you know, short videos and kind of realizing that social media was going that way. So in 2022, I was like, Okay, I'm seeing more of the short form videos on social media for other states, like Texas or California. But I don't see anybody making them about Nebraska. Like, it seems like, we have cool things that people don't know about. But ...
Yeah, we do!
Yeah, we know, people. Yeah, that people find interesting. So let me go out and start doing this. And I kind of took an outsider perspective, you know, having not lived here for 25 years, like, Yeah, I'd come back for a fourth of July and Christmas, but I wanted to explore the whole state, top to bottom. And so I just documented what you know, seeing Carhenge for the first time felt like, what seemed Chimney Rock for the first time felt like it like, what kind of like really cinematic shots or what type of feelings that evokes. And I think it came out really well on the video. And so yeah, that's what I tried to do.
I love to see those videos, it makes people do want to come visit the state and see those things. They're very creative, they're quick to watch, you know, obviously, which is part of the great deal on that. And you're just you're drawing a lot of positive attention to our state. So thank you for that.
Yeah, I really appreciate the videos that say, you know, like, here's some fun things to do if you want to do this, or you want to do that, because I think people have just specific things that they really enjoy doing. Or they really want to get out of the box and do something different. And I think that's really helpful. Where do you get all your ideas from then? Do you have people like, call you or say, Hey, you should try this?
Good question. Man. I searched the internet far and wide for just the most, you know, obscure things. Like I'll look for, I did a video on like the best baseball stadiums, you know, in Nebraska. So I'll just, I'll go out there's there's a couple of Facebook groups, like I think there's one that's actually like Nebraska Baseball Stadiums on Facebook or something like that. And I'll just I'll scroll through all the stadiums and see which ones kind of look you know, different eye catching, and they'll go out and record them. Or I'll look on Reddit, Reddit. It's like a forum website that a lot of people go on to share recommendations to things and it's not like, it's not really ad driven. So you won't get recommendations a lot of time to search on Google for like, okay, what are the best restaurants in Lincoln that I might want to feature on a video? Well, you'll get like the companies that pay for advertising in that town. But if you go on Reddit, or on some of these communities, or just on social media, you know, we're all just follows different Nebraska accounts, you'll find a different side of Nebraska, that's not so corporate, but it's like, okay, this is what the real people are doing. And these are things like Robbers Cave, or I'm trying to think of what else there's a restaurant out in eastern Nebraska that it's like, it's like a speakeasy. And it's got these really great steaks, there's a well right in the middle of the restaurant that is alleged to be haunted, or something noticing that you wouldn't find on Google.
So you're my kind of people JT, I love I love strange fun. You can sneak things like that.
Yeah. And you...
...and Nebraska's full of it. Yeah.
You really talked about that when we were at the Tourism Conference about how important and what a trend you're seeing into like the unique and quirky so maybe a small town has something that's really unusual, but they think nobody's really going to care about that. You're seeing that people are caring about that. That is something they're wanting to see. Right?
I think that Nebraska is quirkiness is one of our biggest strengths. I mean, we're a very respectable state too. And I think, you know, people do look up to us as a state people from the coast. But people love just the novelty of coming to Nebraska. It's, we have a very distinct culture here. And I think that I think that we undersell the novelty of being in Nebraska, it really is like nowhere else. And I think that I think that the more that we lean into it, the more that we're going to be recognized in the next coming years.
Absolutely. Hey, have you seen some collaborations...done some collaborations with all of this stuff that you've been doing?
Have I done any collaboration?
Yeah.
I have. Yes. So a couple of cool collaborations that I've done the State Fair, obviously, you know, they they really want to get people from eastern Nebraska to come out to Grand Island so I did a really fun collaboration with them where I actually did a cash giveaway so $200 For the first one of my followers, who is able to find me at the State Fair, so I went live on my on my Instagram so all the followers can log in and they could kind of see what was in the background and see that I was next to this like hot dog cart, you know by the State Fair, and then people would kind of rush to find me so kind of created like a game within the State Fair for my followers to come find. So, you know of the 90,000 people that follow me, there was one family that found me within like, three minutes. They just they rushed up on me and they had spotted me. So it was kind of a cool experiment.
Yeah, I did the same kind of thing when I was on the morning show at US92 They had me hide and kind of give clues on time and boy they found me fast.
Yeah, people love that kind of thing. It makes it fun.
That's awesome. Yeah, it makes you feel connected with you know, with the creator and with the State Fair, you know, felt like okay, like the State Fair really cares about partnering with creative marketing ideas, so yeah.
They do.
...and promoting Nebraska.
Yeah.
They do a great job with that.
Yeah, they do.
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As you're doing this, you know, everybody thinks oh, you know, I can go out and do social media and do short form video. And that's gonna be an easy job.
Kind of like a podcast.
Kind of like a podcast.
Easy peasy.
Yes, and so we know that's not true. So, as you have done this over the last few years, what have been kind of your bigger struggles with it? Yeah, oh, man, you're right, it does feel like this is something that just, you know, any teenager can just pick up a phone and make something that works, right. And people don't see the years of SEO keyword authority that I was able to build up around these, you know, Nebraska keywords that I was targeting, or, you know, all the hours of copywriting that goes into it or, you know, learning the nuances of the platform, so that I can sort of speak to the trends because short form video is very trend driven. So yeah, it takes just it takes just really like submerging yourself in this short form video, kind of, like digital culture. And so to anyone who's kind of trying to do it themselves, you know, I would say, you know, find someone who is really already interested in short form video, because not everyone's interested in it, and that's okay. But I think really spending the time on the platform to like learn the nuances will help it go a little bit more smoothly. And if that's not your thing, and you know, maybe you're maybe let's say you're like a small tourist destination, maybe in western Nebraska, that doesn't have, you know, enough parts of your business to really like, feature a new video every week, like that's okay. But there's also, you know, other creators that can kind of come in and, and help feature you on their account so that you don't have to put all the effort into, hey, I'm going to spend two years like JT did, building an account about one museum that doesn't really have that much content to be made for it. So yeah, I don't know if that answered your question.
I think so. I think too, like I've been a social media marketer for 10 years. And I think one of the things people don't realize as well is how much the platform's change every year, twice, or three times a year, they make adjustments and like what they want. Now we don't want, you know, the 30 second videos, we want 10. Now, we want you know, we want it this way. We don't want it that way. And so there is a lot that goes into behind the scenes, and being able to make those kinds of things possible, not just the ideas and the writing, but also keeping up like you said with the platforms is a really important.
100% Yeah, you know, anyone who says that they have the algorithm figured out is live because there's no surefire way to say, Hey, I'm gonna go viral on social media. But there are there are some clues that we follow. You know, one clue that I've really been following this year is called digital citizenship, it means how are you interacting with other creators and other brands within your niche? So if I want to keyword authority over Nebraska related keywords, all go out of follow other Nebraska accounts, and I will use only positive messages for them. Because these platforms, they want it to be a positive place. Yeah. And they can actually read the intent behind your messages. If you use a positive emoji versus an angry emoji like they they're actually scoring your account based on your digital citizenship. How nice are you to other brands within your niche so yes, something to think about.
(Laughing.)
Oh, see, that's nice that we're nice to each other.
Well, that's becuase we're in Nebraska. Nebraska nice.
(Laughing.)
All of us should be fine with that!
Oh yeah.
So yeah, so besides you know our your recent love of polka that we now share, you and I are kindred spirits in our love of traveling. Oh, my goodness, I, Marcie is always like, where are you now? While I'm here and I'm there, and I'm here and there. So we would love to hear some of your stories from some of your travels.
Oh, man, within Nebraska or outside of Nebraska?
Oh, let's go with Nebraska since...
Oh, good, yeah yeah...
...this is a Nebraska podcast.
Yes.
You and I can talk about the other stuff later.
Well, it's funny because, you know, I like traveling to other parts of the country too. It makes you appreciate Nebraska. Here's a good Nebraska travel story I have I was at a wedding in an island off the coast of Spain called Majorca. And we were having dinner at this beautiful cove, you know, one of the most beautiful restaurants on the island, and they bring up the menu and all my friends who are from the coasts are there. And the main item on the menu was Nebraska steak.
Absolutely.
Oh, my gosh, I just flew across the world. And I showed all my friends. I said, See, Nebraska is world famous for their steak, and we're everywhere. So it just makes you appreciate getting out and seeing.
I love that one. And that is so true. Marcie has kids that are elsewhere as well, then Nebraska and my husband and I have a son and a daughter who go to school in Nashville, and they refuse to eat steak in Tennesse.
Yep, the beef there...yeah...
You know, chicken. We'll eat chicken there, come back here and eat steak.
Yeah. We have to take beef down to our daughter. We haul a cooler down...
No offense, Tennessee...
Yeah.
Any other? Is there another story you want to share with us about your travels? Yeah, sure. Okay, one more, just because you said you haul beef to your kids. When I lived in California growing up, we would fill suitcases with Dorothy Lynch, because they didn't sell it there. We're a weird Dorothy Lynch family. So another side story. But...
...that is such a thing, though.
It is!
...you go out of state and you're like, Oh, do you have Dorothy Lynch? And they're like, what is that?
(Laughing.)
How do you not know about Dorothy Lynch? You guys are all missing out?
Yeah, it's a comfort thing for sure. Within travel within the state, let's see what are some other cool stories, one story that I like to tell is I went out to the Branched Oak Observatory, which is about 30 minutes outside of Lincoln. And I was gonna go look to see if I could see the Northern Lights one night, you know, there were reports of, you know, high Aurora activity. And so I just shared a quick video, hey, I'm gonna go out here and see if I can find the Northern Lights. Like, you know, I didn't have a big call to action or anything like that. But I just mentioned that we seem to be going to be out there looking for him. And when I showed up, there were 15 people who had seen my videos and showed up. And I was just amazed. Oh my gosh, 15 people want to come and be my friend and look for the Northern Lights with me. This is so cool. And then as the night went on, we saw more and more cars start pointing the parking lot. And I go down and I looked down the road. And there's cars as far as you can see, people come in and 1000 people showed up that night, and people drove from Iowa and from Kansas, people drove for hours to come and be a part of this community that we really built here in Nebraska. And I say we because it's not just me who's built it, you know, every person that shares my videos on the Corn Belt. And if you're listening right now you can go follow on Instagram, my handle is at the Corn Belt. And it's really just become a place of people who love Nebraska. People who want to go do cool, different unique things in Nebraska. And people are really itching for you know, unique experiences like this. So hey, you say you're gonna go look for the Northern Lights, 1000 people come out to you know, to kind of support what Nebraska has to offer. So that was really fun.
That was one of the things I was really excited about when we got to hear what you were doing was the impact you're having on small communities, just being able to highlight the different things that they're doing. And what they have to offer is, it's hard sometimes for them to get the word out. But if somebody else comes in, like you, that has such a great following, you make a big impact for them. And we really appreciate that, because that helps build small towns.
It totally is a group effort. You know, for every $1 that spent on influencer marketing businesses, the on average, six and a half times return on that $1. And in Nebraska, that number is so much higher because we're such an unsaturated market. It really is something, it's sort of my way of kind of giving back and helping use some of these skills to bring more visibility to some of these different communities. And because it's not something that you can always do at the community level, you know what I mean?
Right.
For Ord, Nebraska, I really liked their social media handles, but you can't really cultivate like a big community just for Ord, Nebraska. You really have to kind of spread it out and then give the attention across the entire state. So it's question of like, how can we kind of all work together? Actually, I think that the Tourism Commission does a good job with the passport program and stuff like that. So, yeah, I'm just one small piece of that puzzle.
Yes. All of us working together, that's for sure.
And we're seeing that where, you know, promoting one partner in Nebraska, and promoting another is what it takes.
It's kind of that ripple effect, I think. Yeah.
Yeah. So hey, is there anything else you wanted to share with us? Otherwise? We do have a final question.
Ooh, you know, I can't think of anything else. Just that the social media marketing influencer economy, it really is something that can really benefit everybody. And it is very confusing and very nuanced. So just feel free. If you ever have any question about anything, reach out to me, and I'll give you my best opinion. I can point you in the right direction. I just want to be somebody that Nebraska can feel like they can reach out to if they have any question about social media marketing. So, yeah. That's all I wanted to say.
We appreciate that. So we do have a final question. JT. What do you love about small town Nebraska life?
Oh, man. So my dad grew up in Hebron, Nebraska, very small town. And I having spent a few years in Norfolk myself, but not, you know, not growing up here. I always had that romantic vision of like, what small town Nebraska was. And I just loved getting to come back and experience holidays here as a kid and finding those little hidden gems, you know, going to finding a bakery in Beatrice that I bet nobody else knows about and has delicious baked goods or driving past own little candy store out in Alliance that I had no clue existed.
Oh I spent a lot of time there.
Oh!
Yeah, I grew up out there. We went there every Sunday.
Oh, my. So you know...I think that everybody like...
I don't know, is it still there? Do I get to go?
I don't think it is anymore. It was downtown Alliance. What? And there was 10 of us kids. So we all got like 50 cents. (LaughingO)
But I bet you loved that moment.
Oh, yeah, it was great.
...or Baker's candies and Ashland or something like that. You know? There's so many little magical experiences that people have poured their whole lives into creating and it's just so cool to see the people who kind of keep these communities going together. Like I kid you not, there's nothing like this in San Francisco or New York City. Like yes, like people are tough mayor and people handle their business. But it's not like not like walking into a diner, in you know, in Broken Bow and the service that you get and just that connection that you make with people.
Well, it's been really fun to have you on the podcast, and we're gonna keep following you. Of course...
...yes.
...and watch all of your great adventures and we're going to learn more and get more ideas from you that way.
Please, yes, steal all my ideas, steal all the adventures everybody, everybody go do it.
Well, thank you so much for being on with us today. JT.
Thank you guys.
(Fesive music) Thank you to Nebraska Life magazine for sponsoring the podcast. Nebraska life takes readers on a virtual tour of the Cornhusker State through beautiful photography and experts storytelling subscribed today at nebraskalife.com.
(Festive music) If you're interested in being a sponsor for the podcast, you can find out more information on our website or email us at growingsmalltownne@gmail.com. The Growing Small Town Nebraska Podcast can be found on Apple, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon, Pandora, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. We have new episodes the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. Join us again next time as we talk with business and community leaders who are working to revitalize the Cornhusker State. Thanks for listening!
