(light music) - What is it about
someone's personality that makes a brand so compelling?
(jazz music)
We love to buy from people who we can relate to
and who we trust.
In this video, I'll be showing you how to tap
into that part of our fascination
with personalized brands and influencers.
Truth is building your personal brand isn't about you,
your product, or your service
and it's definitely not about chasing the spotlight
despite what some influencers might lead you to believe.
I'm not gonna say any names, but it's me.
I've been part of the problem.
So what is personal branding really about?
It's pretty simple, consistently delivering value
to your audience over time until you become an authority.
When you do that for long enough,
you become someone people trust
and that starts by shining the spotlight
on the things that they value
and not on yourself.
Then and only then can you start to share
how your product or service can help them,
but you need to earn the right to do that.
So let's talk about how.
First couple of things you need to figure out,
who are you and who's your audience?
Let's start with your audience.
If you wanna build a reputation
as someone who cares about their customers,
then you better know those customers inside and out.
And I'm not talking to that Pixar movie,
although that is a banger.
Where do they buy?
What do they care about?
Who do they hang out with?
Where do they hang out?
If you can't answer these questions,
you're going to struggle to consistently connect
with your core audience.
Every piece of content you put out
whether it's written a video, a podcast,
or any other format,
you need to have a compelling hook
that's going to grab your target viewer's attention
and one of the biggest ways to do that
consistently is to know what they care about.
Once you know what topics
and themes truly speak to your audience,
you need to feed their hunger for information
on those particular topics
which means you've gotta be playing the long game.
This is the difference between a game of Monopoly
versus a game of Risk.
One of those you go through
multiple generations to get there.
That's the kind of investment we're talking about
because unfortunately one great post
doesn't mean one new client or 100 new followers.
In fact, when you get started,
you're gonna see very little engagement.
You may even have some content
that gets no engagement at all.
Mm, not a fun feeling,
but it's a natural part of the process.
No one goes from zero to 100 overnight.
It might feel like they do,
but take a look into every influencer's
early viewings and readership figures
and I guarantee there'll be a fraction
of the numbers they pull in today.
Don't believe me, check out all your favorite influencers
and scroll all the way back to their earliest content.
Take someone like YouTuber, KSI.
He started out recording himself playing games in 2012,
getting in the low tens of thousands reviews.
Fast forward to today,
he's the star of an Amazon documentary
and drawing in millions of viewers
each time he posts content.
KSI may look like an overnight success,
but he spent over a decade growing his brand
and it'll be the same for you.
You're building value, and like any architect,
you have to lay the foundations first.
Rome wasn't built in a day, my friend,
so focus first on growing a deck of useful insights.
You can't just talk about services and products.
You're building a community
and that takes time.
Think of every piece of content you create
as planting a nice little seed.
You can't grow a mahogany oak over night.
It takes years of watering
and lots of sunshine.
Maybe a little mycelium root in the ground
to really get that boy to germinate.
So don't get discouraged if people
don't immediately respond to you.
The internet's a competitive place,
but a long-term value will always win out eventually.
Okay, so those are the principles
for building content that matters.
Now let's talk about you.
I know I said it's not all about you,
but it is probably about you.
If you've got the insights,
then you need to deliver them
in a way that connects with people on a personal level.
One of the best ways to connect with your audience
is to tell your story
and embrace your own uniqueness.
You're probably not a professor giving a lecture.
Talk to people as though you are speaking
to a close friend or a close colleague
and remember open an honest storytelling
resonates with other people.
We're built to tell stories
and to receive them.
Find parts of your life to share with other people
that are lessons you've learned.
Think about every person who taught you a lesson.
Tell their story and how it impacted you.
People can tell if you're being disingenuous.
Bring authenticity and vulnerability.
Talk about mistakes you've made.
People with big profiles
can look like they have everything figured out
and there are no issues in their lives.
Show your audience that you're no different than them
and that they can do everything that you have.
The other thing to keep in mind
is that people buy from people
more than they buy from brands.
If you're running a business,
your face can do more for your brand than you think.
After all, people like to think
that they're buying from another person
whether that's a store and a clerk,
an assistant in a clothing shop
rather than some giant conglomerate.
We're all very social creatures
and there's evidence that using faces in marketing
is better at capturing people's attention.
When you look at your own face or someone else's,
your brain literally fires up.
We're designed to want to interact with other people.
Think of a company like Tesla,
one of the most talked about brands on the planet.
Tesla has just under 20 million Twitter followers.
Elon Musk has over 133 million Twitter followers.
People don't just buy from Tesla
because they make cool cars.
They buy from Elon Musk.
They're buying his car.
It's the same story with Apple and Tim Cook,
Microsoft and Bill Gates.
The list goes on.
People wanna hear from the person behind the brand,
so let people know who you are
and what you stand for.
What I stand for personally,
a nice little glass of milk
and a chocolate chip cookie.
That's my platform, that's my brand,
and I'm sticking to it.
Be prolific with your content.
Amplify your message wherever your audience is.
Even being present at events
and putting yourself forward for awards
is a great way to make new connections
and build your credibility.
I know people can be sniffy about awards,
but deep down we all inherently respect folks
up on a stage to some degree
and more exposure for you
means more exposure for your brand.
But remember you're not about the spotlight.
You're the person who shines the spotlight
on things that are interesting to your audience.
That's a key difference.
That leads me to another great tool for building influence.
Meeting people, I know influencing is normally thought about
as something that happens in the online world,
but people still live and work in the real world
and you should be there too.
There's nothing better than face-to-face connection.
It's way more impactful and memorable.
Here are a few ways you can be present.
Have coffee dates, offer to take people out
who can be your mentor slash who you can mentor.
Take them to your favorite cafe.
Connect over things that matter to the both of you.
Attend events, shake hands.
Get a better understanding of people's needs and priorities
and figure out ways you can help.
Then offer to help,
and attend courses online or offline.
Connect with fellow learners.
Shared advice and lessons,
and online you can also share content
from people that you admire.
That's just a few things.
It puts you in their good graces
and means that they are more likely to return the favor,
and it also associates that content to you
in the minds of your audience.
LinkedIn in particular is great for this.
Check out how to grow your network
and generate leads here.
This is all about sharing knowledge
and reciprocating value with other people in your domain
and while it's important to build relationships,
you also need to develop your own unique brand.
This is all about how you present your content to the world.
When people see your content
aside from the title of the publisher,
they'll probably go, "Oh, this came from Jerome."
I'm gonna assume that your name is Jerome.
If it's not, hopefully we can find a Jerome
to watch this video.
Here's some of the things you need to decide
about the makeup of your brand.
What colors, footage, and style do you use?
Is your content humorous, serious, deep dive research?
Short, snappy articles or something in between?
Consistently posting content is one thing.
Consistently posting consistent content is another.
People should be able to recognize your content
from how it's presented,
not just who's presenting it.
We've got a ton more about brand style guides
in this video here.
Everything we've talked about today is about credibility,
about you selling your value.
We've already spoken about the need
to become a prolific content publisher.
You also need to build a product ecosystem
to attract people to your world
and your products and services.
The best way to do that is through a website,
a one-stop shop for everything you present and can offer.
It doesn't need to be super sophisticated,
but it should reinforce who you are
by gelling with the content you've been sharing.
Oh, and that content
should definitely drive people to your site
because that's where your product or service lives.
A few tips to keep your website consistent
with all the content that you've been putting out there.
Use the same design tree.
Use the same colors, design choices,
and similar imagery to ensure your whole brand
looks like a cohesive single entity.
If your content and website look nothing alike,
people will suspect your credibility.
There're gonna be some questions.
Let's not give them that chance.
You also want to use the same tone of voice.
Remember you're the face behind the brand.
People wanna feel like they're interacting
with the same person.
Just like with your design,
you want everything you've produced
to feel like part of a unified brand.
If you have a super casual
and friendly writing style on social media
and then your website copy
sounds like you've been written by a college professor,
it's going to throw some people off.
Don't let wonky copy fracture your brand experience
and people also need to be able to buy from you.
I know, money's pretty nice to be honest.
Seriously we've spoken about the importance
of deprioritizing sales when
you're building an online presence,
but of course, people need to be able to buy
whatever it is you're offering.
If you want to know more about building a website
that turns visitors into customers,
check out our video on web conversion tips.
If people are heading to your website via your content,
it's because they want to know
more than what you've given them.
That's why you need an easy to access
and clearly labeled hub for all your content.
And would you look at that?
A strong library of content,
loads of valuable insights,
a constant focus on your audience,
a website with all of your offerings,
strong relationships around your industry.
You're starting to look like someone
with a very serious profile, my friend.
Great job, so let's sum up.
The best influencers strike a balance
between focusing everything they do
on creating value for their audiences
while bringing their own brand of secret sauce to the table
through their personality, enthusiasm, and creativity.
You bring something to the table that nobody else does.
Combine your own uniqueness with a cause people care about
and you'll have foundations of a great brand.
If you wanna build your profile
your job isn't to make it all about you.
It's a bridge between your audience
and the things they care about.
You need to build a brand that's familiar,
that's infused with your own tone of voice
and unique personality.
Be prolific, share your content consistently and over time.
You'll become a curator of insights
that nobody else can copy.
Be present, let people see your face online and offline.
We're social creatures, find real life opportunities
to connect with people.
Step outta your comfort zone and say Shalom
or (speaking foreign language) as they say in my country.
Bring people around to your way of thinking
and you'll be an authority.
Could take months, could take years.
But if you have something meaningful to offer,
people will come to you.
So get started, I wanna see what you've got
and if you've already started,
(smacking lips)
I wanna know how are you growing your brand?
How are you connecting with people?
Let me know in the comments below.
If you're looking for a great way to get started,
check out our free guide
on how to build a brand in the video description.
Don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel.
Now if you'll excuse me,
me and Elon Musk gotta go touch base.
Since we're both influencers,
we got some big influencer stuff to talk about you.
You guys know how it is,
you know what I'm saying?
Until then, I'll see you next time.
(bright music)
- I can't find this client info.
- Have you heard of HubSpot?
HubSpot is a CRM platform,
so it shares its data across every application.
Every team can stay aligned.
No out-of-sync spreadsheets or dueling databases.
HubSpot, grow better.