Ryan Hanley is the president of Hanley Media Lab, an advanced content marketing consultancy helping companies grow their audience, to grow their business. Ryan also produces the Content Warfare Podcast, one of the most downloaded content marketing podcasts on iTunes and is the recent author of Content Warfare: How to find your audience, tell your story and win the battle for attention online.

Q1 What attracted you to social media and how did you get started?

My original attraction to social media stemmed from necessity.

Seven years ago I was a young insurance producer for a local independent insurance agency. In the physical world, my age at the time, 26, worked against me in establishing authority and trust as an insurance advisor.

However, online I could deliver the same high quality guidance and education and local consumers saw me as a trusted resource. They didn’t judge my age, but rather the quality of the information I shared. From that time on, I’ve been hooked on the power content marketing and social media.

Q2 What gets you up in the morning and keeps you going?

Short answer: solving interesting marketing problems with creative content.

Q3 What are you excited about at the moment?

Google Hangouts. The Google Hangout technology is opening up a whole new world of content creation and audience building.

Q4 How do you think your work will evolve over the next 2 years?

I’m working very hard to become a better storyteller. As the Internet consumer evolves they are fooled less and less by the gimmicks and tricked of early days Internet marketing. Today, the best story wins. I want to help my clients tell better stories.

I want to thanks Ryan for giving up some of his valuable time to answer these questions. You can find him over on Twitter and his website.

Ryan will be speaking at Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Success Summit. You can follow the conversation across the web using the hashtag #SMSS14

You can find me via Twitter, Google+ or over at my website.