Digital Transformation Continues Its Unstoppable March to Web3, Traditional Competitive Lines Blur, Former Rivals Join Forces

Andrew Ellenberg is on a mission to level the playing field for the creator economy so talented contributors can join forces to provide services that complement rather than compete. 

He doesn’t trade services. He trades dollars. Or whatever currency is in vogue as he expands his operation into growth markets around North America, London, and Australia. 

The producer behind the ambitious Living Large interior design radio program decided it was time to build a better mousetrap in the content marketing business, so in 2022, he left his comfortable position as a media executive at Audacy, formerly Entercom, to start Rise Integrated.

When he launched Entrepreneur Files, a podcast and video platform for entrepreneurs to share their business origin stories, he expanded beyond his original mission to distribute original feature stories with brand integration into a forward-thinking multimedia creation, production, and distribution company. 

This provided the foundation for his move into journalism as content marketing, which served as the formula for InstaCred Journalism Services, the innovative pay-for-performance feature story, and podcast distribution service. 

 “We’ve executed on our original vision, but it became apparent that we were only scratching the surface of what is possible in the rapidly evolving content marketing business,” Ellenberg said. 

As he observed the explosive growth of podcasting, Ellenberg returned to his roots in radio and added audio and, later, as an extension of his production process, video, to his expanding suite of services. 

He launched Entrepreneur Files through his parent company, Rise Integrated, which has evolved into a respected audio and video creation and production company that distributes engaging multimedia content via relevant digital channels. 

Realizing that scaling high-quality video and audio content would require a robust digital infrastructure to support it, he called Gina Sifers, the founder, and CEO of Bella Media Services. 

He asked what custom tech stack it would take to support a disruptive new player in this segment of the content marketing space. 

Sifers asked how much time he had. Ellenberg said one hour. She told him it would take ten times longer. A month later, Bella Media Services and Rise Integrated launched a strategic collaboration to develop an integrated content creation, distribution, and management suite of services for Web3. 

Next, the two companies are making inroads in short films, documentaries, and non-fiction books. “We are moving at a sharp vertical angle into journalism as content marketing across a diversified mix of media formats,” said Ellenberg. 

Sifers, who has handled over 700 clients since she started her digital agency 10 years ago, underscored that Web3 and the content marketing tsunami behind it is too big for any one company to be “full service.”  Instead, she describes the advent of an ecosystem of independent creators with complementary specialties coming together to address the client’s pain points.

“You can credit the pandemic-imposed downtime for forcing us to think about new horizons for content in the digital arena and especially about how we view competition,” said Sifers.   

Meanwhile, Sifers said her ally at Rise Integrated has worked on all sides of the table in media, journalism, entertainment, and advertising.

“Our strategic collaboration works because my team focuses on innovating in journalism as content marketing while Gina manages the SaaS technology we use to deliver game-changing results for our clients,” said Ellenberg. 

Sifers said Ellenberg has had time to figure out what he wants his career to look like in 10 years. “This is his dream company, empowering independent creators to do their best work for passionate clients.” 

Together, Rise Integrated and Bella Media Services will create, distribute and host original content on all platforms with a wide range of brands, topics, celebrities, entrepreneurs, experts, and up-and-coming talent. 

“I’ve known Andrew for 10 years and watched him reinvent his career as a successful corporate radio broadcasting executive into an innovative entrepreneur in seven months. His management consulting company is already a powerful force in the content marketing industry,” said Sifers. 

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