hello everyone welcome to another
google+ hangout i’m really excited to
have a special guest with me on today
Susan Sullivan who is a personal
branding expert and we’re going to take
questions and talk about how to build a
personal brand and promote yourself so
Susan welcome to the program well thanks
it’s great to be here Evan thanks for
inviting me now Susan and I are both
part of the sage summit which is an
event coming up wow it’s coming up soon
yep Papa why i gotta finish my
presentation july 27 to 30th in new
orleans and i’m going to be talking
about how to deal with haters on social
media it should be a fun topic and Susan
I’ve had a few of those yeah yeah oh we
all have uh I have some fun ways to deal
with them so will they should be an
interesting talk and Susan Socko how to
build a personal brand and also a
session for women entrepreneurs given
advice and wisdom and I felt like I
wouldn’t be able to contribute much in
the women’s side so we’re talking about
building a personal brand um so just off
the top Susan what can you talk about
the importance of building the personal
brand why it means something to you know
as an entrepreneur you need to have a
personal brand you know let’s face it
when you start a business you are the
brand you are the company you are
everything so it’s one way to get that
little bit of competitive advantage I
mean after all we know that when we see
people in television or in the media or
whatever it might be on a google hangout
I mean that feel its credibility and
Trust people get a sense that they know
you and you become that go-to expert
that celebrity in your industry or in
your business so it’s a real competitive
advantage when you’re trying to build
your company so what are some of the
steps that you think people I mean I’m a
big believer right i mean a ja wohl
Gator but so what do you what do you
feel for someone who thinks yeah that’s
important I want to do it what are some
of the steps you need to take I think I
think the first thing is you need to
figure out what your voice is going to
be what do you want to stand for a lot
of time
when I talk to groups I get people to
say oh I’m an expert in this but i’m
also an expert in that you know you’ve
got to pick a lane and stay in it you’ve
got to get known for something so you
want to be the go-to expert in
residential real estate or you want to
be the go-to person for mortgages or
whatever it may be you’ve got to figure
out number one what’s might what’s the
lane i’m going to be driving it and then
also what’s your voice what’s the
message that you want to get able to get
from you and you also have to recognize
that this is not about selling this is
about really providing great information
to your audience if you try to sell
people they’re going to run the other
way so you want to be able to give away
information and a lot of people say well
I don’t want to give it away because I
want people to buy it from me what you
know what if they think you’re the
expert they may go to your seminar they
may go to your Google hangout they may
see you on television but they’re going
to come to you for that expertise that
you have and not try to do it up on
their own I love is there you know for
the people watching and trying to figure
out is there an example you could share
of how you can stay in your lane like
how do you find out what that Lane is
and how do you stay in it using whatever
example might make sense we know Evan it
really could take some time sometimes so
for example I’ll just use myself when I
first started doing this after I sold my
business and I was working with some
consultants and they said oh you should
be the growth gal because you’re all
about growth well you know I put on this
name the growth gal and it just didn’t
feel right on me I tried it out for a
little while and I’m I just don’t like
that so you may have a couple of
iterations before you really hit it on
the head and now you know i’m known as
the small business expert that works for
me that is who I am that’s what I’m
about so you know try it out just like
going to the store trying on clothes you
know try it on till you find something
that really fits great and you want to
keep it on all the time those little
comfy clothes it just a right for you
I’m curious how long is my own personal
question how long they take you to
figure out that identity for yourself it
took it several years actually I played
around with a quite a bit and
you know like i said went through some
iterations and and then finally it just
came to me that you know what this is
what I’m all about small business and i
am the small business expert the only
one the best one cool we’ve got some
questions coming in um hey Zeus is
wondering how can he build a brand on
amazon I don’t know if you have
recommendations for Amazon specifically
yeah you know I don’t really have
recommendations specifically for Anna
but i would say it’s like anything else
you want a good laugh form so you want
to put content out there you want to
share content you want to create
original content and you want people to
start following you and reaching out to
you for that content there goes back to
the value that you’re providing and you
know people say to me well I don’t have
time to produce original content well
every one of us and our business is we
get the same questions asked over and
over and over again by our customers our
clients you just start taking those
questions and you answer them little
bits and pieces here and there and
before you know it you’ve got a lot of
robust content created yeah and I think
if you mean for amazon so you have a
book you trying to get out there amazon
you know give you the platform but you
got to promote it like they give you the
tell you but it’s all you’re out there
and i think if you’re on Twitter or
Facebook or YouTube or blogging pick
what if you’re a writer may be blogging
is probably more your path cuz you like
writing I’m all it on YouTube I love the
camera and donuts um and build up a name
for yourself so people want to come and
check out the people ask me all the time
do I have a book and I’m working on I
got a deal in place but I haven’t I
don’t have it out yet do you have a book
incidentally you’re working on it yes
well I have four books and I’m working
on my fifth one so yeah yeah nice i love
it yeah and so you want to build up a
name so that people are looking at the
new york times bestseller list so but
you know it is about building up that
platform and and you hit the nail on the
head ever when you said you know you
really can’t just pick one channel
everything has to work together so you
know you want to be out there you want
to be in as many place at your audience
will be so you
for example if you’re dealing with the
younger generation you want to be out
there on snapchat no because that’s
where they are not so much on facebook
anymore that’s not cool so you know
you’ve got to know your audience where
they are and where you can touch them
it’s amazing how quickly something
becomes not cool I know like well
Facebook my grandma’s on facebook i
don’t want to do that um Grover’s right
in the say he works in wristwatches and
is trying to figure out how to build a
personal brand for product which in this
case is hubris watches the same thing
applies you want to be able to be that
go-to person at expert when it comes to
wrist wrist watches I mean I don’t know
very much about wrist watches so I bet
there’s all sorts of interesting facts
and fun things that you could do about
watches and you know maybe even talk
about famous celebrities and their
watches and what they wear what’s cool
and what’s not I mean there’s so much to
talk about to raise the awareness and
like I said once you’re the expert one
good anchor what you person you’ve got
the credibility and report then guess
who people are going to go to wrist
watch yeah I love it like what comes to
mind is a Gary Vaynerchuk committee name
for himself in the wine business and if
you’re selling product yeah we the
expert in the product business he’s a
great person on a model with product you
know you can use things like Instagram
and Pinterest and and even fine and you
know you’re out there and so you’ve got
a lot of vehicles that maybe not as
appropriate for service driven cool
become your strength is asking what’s
the best way to promote yourself on
social media do you have any tricks well
there aren’t any tricks what I’m going
to say is you need to be authentic so
you need to be your real self and so
when I was in a news anchor my news
director always told me it should always
be eighty percent about the story so in
social media it’s about sharing content
providing great information and then
twenty percent a little glimpse of your
personality and maybe even little sales
pitch once in a while but it really
needs to be no dif
fourth in face-to-face networking you
think about face-to-face networking you
don’t go up to somebody and say hey Evan
you want to buy my stuff you know you
want to say hey Evan tell me a little
bit about yourself oh really you’re
interested in dogs by the way i happen
to be a dog lover myself make those
connections and that’s the same thing on
social media there’s no tricks we need
to be authentic and you need to be there
and be present in the moment yeah I
think it’s uh like you got to care about
people right you do absolutely I mean I
people who push out a lot of stuff on
social media but then they disappear and
they’re not engaging with anybody well
it’s really pretty much a waste of time
because people want to be engaged with
you and want to have access to you yeah
and i love i love the thought of not
just being a broadcaster not just
sending out the promotional stuff you’re
talking about not just like getting a
megaphone and yelling writing that like
posting helpful content just on that
note how about so that’s that’s in terms
of content creation how about in terms
of making connections and making
partners with other people industry
experts reeking out comment on their
stuff what are your thoughts on that so
you know the interesting thing today is
as opposed when I started my career
years and years ago and I was a
marketing professional you know it was
so hard to attract attention of the
media or like you were saying industry
thought leaders anything like that
because you’re really only way you had
it was here send out a press release and
we’re really excited when you could fax
it instead of you know having to put it
in the bail nowadays the social media
with technology or even creating your
own vlog or podcast or Google hangout
you can now capture the attention of
such a wide range of people and so one
of the things that I do from my own
business is I use tweetdeck there are
other resources that you can use and
identify the brands I want to do
business with I follow reporters and
producers that I want to connect with
and I start retweeting them or engaging
with them commenting on what they’re
putting out there and pretty soon
they’re going oh wait a minute who is
this students all of it maybe I should
be following her too and I really gotten
great business
weighing great opportunity but it’s that
engagement once again I found that when
people send me tweets are common on my
youtube channel and they’re consistent I
always want to look at who this person
is yeah it’s a it’s an easy way to
generate attention and get on somebody’s
radar without being in their face and
trying to sell them something right
exactly yeah I got people that I’ve
connected with in my platform on social
media I don’t really know who they are
but I almost feel like we’re friends
because you know we talk all the time
and they become great supporters of mine
and they anytime I need something
perfect out there right there didn’t
help and it’s great it’s great cool uh
Maxie is writing in about how do you
grow so you talked about snapchat he
wants to know how do I grow an audience
not chat you know i am not an expert on
snapchat I apologize I don’t even want
to try to answer that question I I you
know I would say just kind of my gut
it’s the same strategy as any other
social media platform just putting good
quality stuff out there but I just can’t
I can’t answer that one sorry i’m not on
snapchat so I don’t have I don’t have
specific advice but badly that Ellen
yeah my general advice when I don’t know
something is I’m model success so I can
look that um I’d be looking at people
who are building personal brains yeah in
our on snapchat like Kesey nice tat or
like Gary Vaynerchuk guys who are just
like the kids on it posting pictures
from whatever but who are trying to you
already have a personal brand and
they’ve extended that into snapchat I’d
be looking at what they’re doing and
then how can I model that not just copy
that but model it and put it up yeah um
in white pratik uh huh well maxx you
just followed up haha i appreciate the
honesty like we’re being authentic all
right you gotta be authentic I’m not
gonna I’m not going to try to be as
anybody I love it okay pratik any advice
on how to transition from brand me to a
diff
version newer face so keeping the old
audience while bringing in a new one too
I’m not quite sure I understand that you
can can they elaborate a little bit yeah
pratik if you want to elaborate a little
bit more on that that’d be helpful I
think he was talking about he we had an
original he branded himself for it one
way originally and now he wants a new
brand and he’s how do I transition to
the new brand without losing all the
people that I have in the old brand you
know I think that first of all you need
to get the new brand kicked off and then
slowly Felipa below over but it depends
on how much bigger departure it is i
mean if you know he was known as a
personal trainer and now he’s going to
be a spiritual healer or something I
don’t know you know um you might have to
start from scratch but um you know so
one of the things that i did when i sold
my business and then just went out to
become my own personal brand is I took
the database from the business and I
reintroduced myself so I sent them an
email that said hey you’ve known me I
was the co-founder of this business you
follow me we’ve worked together small
business has always been my platform now
here’s what i’m doing i hope you’ll stay
with me and i gave them the option to
opt in and stay with me as a follower
that’s one thing i did cool yeah you
know I used to regret when i launched
that i put it under my name my business
is my name my website is my name I wish
I called I called it like small business
tips or something you know keyword rich
and um but now I’m a lot happier that I
you know kind of luckily just pick my
name because I found that my personal
brand has evolved just like I’ve evolved
as a human being and what I found is if
you have a lower audience you bring them
with you that’s true um and I try to
expose and maybe what works for me and
not others but I try to expose my
audience to other areas of my life so
you know like this Guan Yu statue has
meaning that I’ll talk about it I salsa
dance and I’ll talk about that and my
wife will cook on my youtube channel and
I inject some of the person elements too
so if I bring something new it’s not a
total shock where I like the wrong with
me right that’s great that’s great i
love the salsa dancing by the way i want
a demonstration when we’re in New
Orleans all right all right yeah you
know every time I go out to an event I
always try to find a local place and
bring some people with me so why I think
I’m there for three nights I think yeah
okay a particular about to yes likes
exactly what you wanted so that’s great
all right so what are some of the points
that you’re going to be talking about in
your presentation when you go up a
couple weeks so I really number one I
want to understand what people to
understand that you know even though I’m
out there on my network television all
that sort of thing I didn’t start there
you know so I want them to understand
that you can get there but you had to
start small what are the steps that you
need to take how you can become your own
publishing Empire practically today with
technology and then I’m going to talk to
them a little bit about the secrets of
getting in front of the camera so if you
want to be on television we want to be
on network news um no here’s how you’re
going to get there here’s what you need
to know here’s what’s going to get you
blackballed and you’re never going to
get on so those kinds of Secrets is what
I want give them so that they can walk
away armed and well equipped to take
those little baby steps and then who
knows they might end up on the Today
Show one of these days cool and so for
somebody you said the first step is you
got to find what you stand for find what
you believe in um and I’m a big believer
in that I think everybody should be
purpose driven as they build their
companies you have advice for I deal
with a lot of people who who are lost in
that respect like they don’t know what
they stand for they don’t know what
their purpose is until you figure that
out it’s hard to articulate it in a
meaningful way to the general public so
do you have thoughts on how to how do
you find that how do you find that lean
your salsa being find your purpose find
your passion right well it’s not an easy
thing to do I mean obviously like I said
it took me awhile
find it myself but I do think that you
know just really peeling back the layers
of the onion so to speak and really
getting too into your heart it’s all
about what it what is it that drives you
what is it that you want to accomplish
and what do you want to be known for so
what’s what’s your legacy going to be
like you know what would they write your
obituary so things like that little
exercises that you can think about that
help you identify what it is you’re
trying to accomplish can be very
beneficial and then I think that a lot
of people often are fearful of saying
what they want to do because they’re
afraid it’s going to look like well I’m
trying to get out there and you know
toot my own horn and you know trying to
get famous sir it recognized you know
what everybody’s got a tent we’re all in
the business of selling ourselves and
even if you’re selling widgets you’re in
the business of selling yourself because
they’re not going to buy widgets from
somebody they don’t like right so that’s
a lot of it to just getting over that
hurdle and recognizing that the
opportunities out there and that you’re
smart enough and good enough and you
know somebody’s going to be doing it and
delivering that message and that content
might as well be you love it more
questions coming in all is your number
one tip on public speaking get out there
and do it yes you know people say to me
oh I’m so afraid of speaking in front of
people the more you do it the easier it
gets so you know I would say if you’re
not used to it join something like
Toastmasters try to get on some panels
instead of trying to do the whole thing
by yourself get on some panels remember
that it’s stories that people remember
it’s not necessarily there your
PowerPoint presentation with all those
key points you want to make it’s the
stories that bring your remarks to life
so learn to become a good storyteller
and never ever ever memorized your
speech you want to go out there and talk
and have a conversation with the
audience people who go up and memorize
your speech and I actually personally I
don’t even like to use PowerPoint
presentation because I think that you
get so locked in and people are sitting
there staring at your slow
instead of engaging with you so I think
the storytelling and you know being able
to really talk to the audience having a
conversation and then just getting out
there and practicing those are some of
the keys yeah I think I think one of the
things that helped me to is uh realizing
that I could help the people in the
audience yeah that helped me with my
nerves yeah I felt like you know I’ve
had whatever topic you’re talking about
whatever you know speech was ready to
deliver I’d already had lots of
conversations one-on-one with people
right about the same topic and I knew
that that information helped them and so
I had a message that would be helpful to
the people who are sitting here coming
to watch me and that always I don’t know
for some reason that always helps me
feel more comfortable and confident
going on going on stage um what about
for camera like so you’ve had tons of
experience I was in front of the camera
a lot of people you know would rather
die than be on camera how do you is it
still just practice or how did you kind
of get started on being on camera so the
thing about being on camera is you can’t
have a thin skin because you know you
need to be able to take the critique and
the advice and the feedback so you never
want to go and a big deal that your
first time on the air because you’re
probably going to screw it up unless you
just happen to be some kind of amazing
natural so you want to start small and
you want to get feedback from people you
the thing about being on camera is to
keep your answer is very short and very
succinct and to speak in a language that
people can understand you because the
average person watching you is going to
have about a sixth grade education so
you’ve got to remember that and you also
have to be willing to think about how
you look now I know if it’s a lot easier
for guys guys could get away with a lot
more and they are going to look at the
way you look and I will tell you when I
first got a contract with ABC news in
New York they said to me okay we don’t
like your hair we don’t like your makeup
and we don’t like your wardrobe I just
have I step short brown curly hair
so now I’m a blonde and then I dress
very differently and you know and I’m
sitting there thinking well I can’t
believe it you know I’m like I’m this
age and they’re telling me they don’t
like the way I look and they just hired
me so you know you’ve got to be willing
to to make the changes in full listen
and so you may love the haircut I had
since high school but you know what it
may not be what you’re going to get on
the air with because it’s a visual
meeting you really have to pay attention
you used to have brown hair and I used
to have more hair so there you go uh so
here’s a question from chefs whose a
loyal fan I YouTube viewer hi Susan I’m
an entrepreneur who is fairly confident
with putting myself out there are doing
my all the gain recognition for my I’m
currently doing well with social media
marketing and gaining some popularity
which helps my company other than social
media marketing and content writing are
there other tips you have to offer when
it comes to improving his self-image
improving the self-image well you know a
self-image often comes from inside so
you really need to use a lot of
self-talk and I’ll tell you a true story
here so when I was going into junior
high school I had done very poorly on a
standardized test the year before in
sixth grade so unfortunately I was put
into a class for the mentally challenged
student and told that the most i could
ever hope for would be a vocational
education and all of my friends were in
the class for the gifted students so
suddenly I was labeled you know a child
with learning disabilities and all of
that and I started playing that part it
wasn’t till I was a sophomore in high
school that a counselor said to me no
there’s really no reason you couldn’t
graduate at the top of your class and I
was like sort of dumbfounded like you
know wait a minute you don’t know I
can’t do that but I for some reason I
paid attention I did graduate the top of
my class and you know winter call I also
graduated from law school with honors
and and passed the bar but my point is i
still struggle with that girl in that
class in seventh grade but she’s still
very part of
and so I have to learn to get rid of her
not listen to her because she would just
tear me down if she got the chance well
I think all of us have those little
inner demons and we have to work with
and you know you have to recognize it
you are really darn good at what you do
and by golly you know what get out there
and do it because you’re smart enough to
figure it out and the world needs to
know it I love it I love the I was
thinking the same thing your demons we
have our own I I have a need to I hate
letting people down it’s one of my
things like I hate letting people down
and it’s and it’s off as a good thing
because it means you over deliver a lot
and a lot of value but a lot of times I
find with him doing a speech an
interview I kind of secretly hope that
the person’s gonna cancel on me so that
I don’t have to go because I might let
them down and I always like talked
myself out of it that hey this is like
I’m gonna help them it’s gonna be great
i always feel great afterwards but i
hope this like little voice I kind of
secretly hoping something’s going to
happen they’re gonna cancel on me and I
don’t have to do it um so yeah seven
mean we all have our own things that we
got to deal with that’s that’s fine and
take further answer that question one of
the things I’ve learned to do if I
really feel intimidated and out of my
league sometimes I just think okay I’m
going to play a role if I were playing
is in a movie how would i play this role
and I become that person so I did that
when I was raising venture capital for
my company because so few women ever get
venture capital and I was in the
technology world and that’s sole male
dominated and of course the venture
capital world is dominated by males too
until I really I had to say okay you
know i am this woman and I’m going in
there and I’m going to tell these guys
how they need to give me money millions
of dollars though it you know sort of a
row like wait cool did you did you try
to I’m curious did you kind of embody a
particular person or just that mindset
no it’s just the lines that you know
sort of of all those tough you know
women that you see on the movies or on
sitcoms or whatever i’m like okay i’m
going to be one of those i’m going to
grow a pair is Larry
wind it would say i love it and she’ll
talk back thanks for the response he’s
fighting his inner demons but he’s
working on a line at three new clients
this week so that’s great congratulation
47 179 rights in hey maybe it’s a stupid
question but I have problems with it
every day is off topic but I’m curious
to see what you think how can I motivate
myself to work hard work harder well
first of all there is no such thing as a
dumb question right Evan so I think
that’s that’s an interesting question
especially if you’re starting your own
business or in particular you’re working
on your own sometimes it’s hard to get
up and get motivated to get going so I
think one of the things to do is to set
little mini rewards for yourself so put
something out there that says this is my
goal and you know what it’s a little bit
of a stretch wanna buy yeah there you
know what mail tree so you know whether
it’s like some kind of food you want to
go out to eat or it’s a piece of
technology you know gadget whatever even
wanting to buy give yourself a treat a
treat it’s like that carrot you know
you’re gonna go for it and if you don’t
achieve it don’t cheat you don’t get it
okay so that’s kind of one of the ways I
think you can motivate yourself to get
going and and I personally am a total
believer in goal setting and I always
write mine down and I have no short-term
I am I daily goals I have short-term
goals and I have long-term goals and if
they’re not written down it’s so easy
just to forget about it hmm did you keep
them somewhere to that you can look at
them I you know I have to admit I you
know I could keep him on text stuff and
all that I write them down on in a
notebook in a journal there it doesn’t
where I keep them and then every morning
I get up and I just got an index card
and I put my top things that absolutely
have to get done that day and I set
everything aside until those things are
done and then that I can move on to
other things I love it um one of the
things I find super helpful is having a
an environment for greatness if you want
to be great you got to be surrounded by
great
so like there’s a reason why this guy is
here and that’s on the wall and I have
music that I have every morning that
gets me moving and I think having a
schedule an environment that makes you
think bigger helps you say motivate
because most people their environment
sucks yeah that’s your product of your
environment and so you don’t end up
doing anything great because you’re not
surrounded by greatness what would you
work for yourself and you’re working for
home everybody think oh you’re not
really working sorry whatever and you
just have to remember that I have set
hours you have to work you have things
that have to be accomplished and that’s
the way it is I know we’re already up
against a clock it’s crazy I will take
two quick questions Tanner’s asking
where are we from I’m from Toronto
Canada Susan well I’m actually from st.
Louis I live part time in New York City
and I’m building a home in Jupiter
Florida Wow there you go love it and
then last question uh for you what goes
through your mind before you write a
best-selling book I have to have an idea
that i really want to communicate to
people so like the book I’m working on
right now it’s going to be called the
one percent club and my mission is to
help small businesses who are struggling
and so few who ever cross over the
million dollar threshold much less get
to the multi-million dollar level you
know less than 1% get to that level my
mission is to help small businesses get
to that elite one percent that upper
like actual small business success and I
know they sources inspiration and
guidance to mentor them to get to that
level of success you ever show on that
don’t you I thought I saw a show about
that yeah I have a show on iTunes a
podcast and then also a show on whatever
takes network I love it love it cool
well I mean I know you can’t see the
questions but people saying great tips
thank you so much and i know we live all
over it Susan thank you so much for
spending time with us today for
everybody watching again Susan I are
both going to be at this age summit uh
there’s a promo code in the description
normally it’s 800
dollars but with the promo code you can
get in for 99 bucks so that’s the
suppressor great great deal we’re both
okay then come and talk to me talk to
Susan share some knowledge and again
Susan I can’t thank you enough really
appreciate all the advice and wasn’t
that you share with my audience today
it’s my pleasure Evan thanks Lots in a
couple weeks yeah see you then low salsa
dancing yes all right bye
google+ hangout i’m really excited to
have a special guest with me on today
Susan Sullivan who is a personal
branding expert and we’re going to take
questions and talk about how to build a
personal brand and promote yourself so
Susan welcome to the program well thanks
it’s great to be here Evan thanks for
inviting me now Susan and I are both
part of the sage summit which is an
event coming up wow it’s coming up soon
yep Papa why i gotta finish my
presentation july 27 to 30th in new
orleans and i’m going to be talking
about how to deal with haters on social
media it should be a fun topic and Susan
I’ve had a few of those yeah yeah oh we
all have uh I have some fun ways to deal
with them so will they should be an
interesting talk and Susan Socko how to
build a personal brand and also a
session for women entrepreneurs given
advice and wisdom and I felt like I
wouldn’t be able to contribute much in
the women’s side so we’re talking about
building a personal brand um so just off
the top Susan what can you talk about
the importance of building the personal
brand why it means something to you know
as an entrepreneur you need to have a
personal brand you know let’s face it
when you start a business you are the
brand you are the company you are
everything so it’s one way to get that
little bit of competitive advantage I
mean after all we know that when we see
people in television or in the media or
whatever it might be on a google hangout
I mean that feel its credibility and
Trust people get a sense that they know
you and you become that go-to expert
that celebrity in your industry or in
your business so it’s a real competitive
advantage when you’re trying to build
your company so what are some of the
steps that you think people I mean I’m a
big believer right i mean a ja wohl
Gator but so what do you what do you
feel for someone who thinks yeah that’s
important I want to do it what are some
of the steps you need to take I think I
think the first thing is you need to
figure out what your voice is going to
be what do you want to stand for a lot
of time
when I talk to groups I get people to
say oh I’m an expert in this but i’m
also an expert in that you know you’ve
got to pick a lane and stay in it you’ve
got to get known for something so you
want to be the go-to expert in
residential real estate or you want to
be the go-to person for mortgages or
whatever it may be you’ve got to figure
out number one what’s might what’s the
lane i’m going to be driving it and then
also what’s your voice what’s the
message that you want to get able to get
from you and you also have to recognize
that this is not about selling this is
about really providing great information
to your audience if you try to sell
people they’re going to run the other
way so you want to be able to give away
information and a lot of people say well
I don’t want to give it away because I
want people to buy it from me what you
know what if they think you’re the
expert they may go to your seminar they
may go to your Google hangout they may
see you on television but they’re going
to come to you for that expertise that
you have and not try to do it up on
their own I love is there you know for
the people watching and trying to figure
out is there an example you could share
of how you can stay in your lane like
how do you find out what that Lane is
and how do you stay in it using whatever
example might make sense we know Evan it
really could take some time sometimes so
for example I’ll just use myself when I
first started doing this after I sold my
business and I was working with some
consultants and they said oh you should
be the growth gal because you’re all
about growth well you know I put on this
name the growth gal and it just didn’t
feel right on me I tried it out for a
little while and I’m I just don’t like
that so you may have a couple of
iterations before you really hit it on
the head and now you know i’m known as
the small business expert that works for
me that is who I am that’s what I’m
about so you know try it out just like
going to the store trying on clothes you
know try it on till you find something
that really fits great and you want to
keep it on all the time those little
comfy clothes it just a right for you
I’m curious how long is my own personal
question how long they take you to
figure out that identity for yourself it
took it several years actually I played
around with a quite a bit and
you know like i said went through some
iterations and and then finally it just
came to me that you know what this is
what I’m all about small business and i
am the small business expert the only
one the best one cool we’ve got some
questions coming in um hey Zeus is
wondering how can he build a brand on
amazon I don’t know if you have
recommendations for Amazon specifically
yeah you know I don’t really have
recommendations specifically for Anna
but i would say it’s like anything else
you want a good laugh form so you want
to put content out there you want to
share content you want to create
original content and you want people to
start following you and reaching out to
you for that content there goes back to
the value that you’re providing and you
know people say to me well I don’t have
time to produce original content well
every one of us and our business is we
get the same questions asked over and
over and over again by our customers our
clients you just start taking those
questions and you answer them little
bits and pieces here and there and
before you know it you’ve got a lot of
robust content created yeah and I think
if you mean for amazon so you have a
book you trying to get out there amazon
you know give you the platform but you
got to promote it like they give you the
tell you but it’s all you’re out there
and i think if you’re on Twitter or
Facebook or YouTube or blogging pick
what if you’re a writer may be blogging
is probably more your path cuz you like
writing I’m all it on YouTube I love the
camera and donuts um and build up a name
for yourself so people want to come and
check out the people ask me all the time
do I have a book and I’m working on I
got a deal in place but I haven’t I
don’t have it out yet do you have a book
incidentally you’re working on it yes
well I have four books and I’m working
on my fifth one so yeah yeah nice i love
it yeah and so you want to build up a
name so that people are looking at the
new york times bestseller list so but
you know it is about building up that
platform and and you hit the nail on the
head ever when you said you know you
really can’t just pick one channel
everything has to work together so you
know you want to be out there you want
to be in as many place at your audience
will be so you
for example if you’re dealing with the
younger generation you want to be out
there on snapchat no because that’s
where they are not so much on facebook
anymore that’s not cool so you know
you’ve got to know your audience where
they are and where you can touch them
it’s amazing how quickly something
becomes not cool I know like well
Facebook my grandma’s on facebook i
don’t want to do that um Grover’s right
in the say he works in wristwatches and
is trying to figure out how to build a
personal brand for product which in this
case is hubris watches the same thing
applies you want to be able to be that
go-to person at expert when it comes to
wrist wrist watches I mean I don’t know
very much about wrist watches so I bet
there’s all sorts of interesting facts
and fun things that you could do about
watches and you know maybe even talk
about famous celebrities and their
watches and what they wear what’s cool
and what’s not I mean there’s so much to
talk about to raise the awareness and
like I said once you’re the expert one
good anchor what you person you’ve got
the credibility and report then guess
who people are going to go to wrist
watch yeah I love it like what comes to
mind is a Gary Vaynerchuk committee name
for himself in the wine business and if
you’re selling product yeah we the
expert in the product business he’s a
great person on a model with product you
know you can use things like Instagram
and Pinterest and and even fine and you
know you’re out there and so you’ve got
a lot of vehicles that maybe not as
appropriate for service driven cool
become your strength is asking what’s
the best way to promote yourself on
social media do you have any tricks well
there aren’t any tricks what I’m going
to say is you need to be authentic so
you need to be your real self and so
when I was in a news anchor my news
director always told me it should always
be eighty percent about the story so in
social media it’s about sharing content
providing great information and then
twenty percent a little glimpse of your
personality and maybe even little sales
pitch once in a while but it really
needs to be no dif
fourth in face-to-face networking you
think about face-to-face networking you
don’t go up to somebody and say hey Evan
you want to buy my stuff you know you
want to say hey Evan tell me a little
bit about yourself oh really you’re
interested in dogs by the way i happen
to be a dog lover myself make those
connections and that’s the same thing on
social media there’s no tricks we need
to be authentic and you need to be there
and be present in the moment yeah I
think it’s uh like you got to care about
people right you do absolutely I mean I
people who push out a lot of stuff on
social media but then they disappear and
they’re not engaging with anybody well
it’s really pretty much a waste of time
because people want to be engaged with
you and want to have access to you yeah
and i love i love the thought of not
just being a broadcaster not just
sending out the promotional stuff you’re
talking about not just like getting a
megaphone and yelling writing that like
posting helpful content just on that
note how about so that’s that’s in terms
of content creation how about in terms
of making connections and making
partners with other people industry
experts reeking out comment on their
stuff what are your thoughts on that so
you know the interesting thing today is
as opposed when I started my career
years and years ago and I was a
marketing professional you know it was
so hard to attract attention of the
media or like you were saying industry
thought leaders anything like that
because you’re really only way you had
it was here send out a press release and
we’re really excited when you could fax
it instead of you know having to put it
in the bail nowadays the social media
with technology or even creating your
own vlog or podcast or Google hangout
you can now capture the attention of
such a wide range of people and so one
of the things that I do from my own
business is I use tweetdeck there are
other resources that you can use and
identify the brands I want to do
business with I follow reporters and
producers that I want to connect with
and I start retweeting them or engaging
with them commenting on what they’re
putting out there and pretty soon
they’re going oh wait a minute who is
this students all of it maybe I should
be following her too and I really gotten
great business
weighing great opportunity but it’s that
engagement once again I found that when
people send me tweets are common on my
youtube channel and they’re consistent I
always want to look at who this person
is yeah it’s a it’s an easy way to
generate attention and get on somebody’s
radar without being in their face and
trying to sell them something right
exactly yeah I got people that I’ve
connected with in my platform on social
media I don’t really know who they are
but I almost feel like we’re friends
because you know we talk all the time
and they become great supporters of mine
and they anytime I need something
perfect out there right there didn’t
help and it’s great it’s great cool uh
Maxie is writing in about how do you
grow so you talked about snapchat he
wants to know how do I grow an audience
not chat you know i am not an expert on
snapchat I apologize I don’t even want
to try to answer that question I I you
know I would say just kind of my gut
it’s the same strategy as any other
social media platform just putting good
quality stuff out there but I just can’t
I can’t answer that one sorry i’m not on
snapchat so I don’t have I don’t have
specific advice but badly that Ellen
yeah my general advice when I don’t know
something is I’m model success so I can
look that um I’d be looking at people
who are building personal brains yeah in
our on snapchat like Kesey nice tat or
like Gary Vaynerchuk guys who are just
like the kids on it posting pictures
from whatever but who are trying to you
already have a personal brand and
they’ve extended that into snapchat I’d
be looking at what they’re doing and
then how can I model that not just copy
that but model it and put it up yeah um
in white pratik uh huh well maxx you
just followed up haha i appreciate the
honesty like we’re being authentic all
right you gotta be authentic I’m not
gonna I’m not going to try to be as
anybody I love it okay pratik any advice
on how to transition from brand me to a
diff
version newer face so keeping the old
audience while bringing in a new one too
I’m not quite sure I understand that you
can can they elaborate a little bit yeah
pratik if you want to elaborate a little
bit more on that that’d be helpful I
think he was talking about he we had an
original he branded himself for it one
way originally and now he wants a new
brand and he’s how do I transition to
the new brand without losing all the
people that I have in the old brand you
know I think that first of all you need
to get the new brand kicked off and then
slowly Felipa below over but it depends
on how much bigger departure it is i
mean if you know he was known as a
personal trainer and now he’s going to
be a spiritual healer or something I
don’t know you know um you might have to
start from scratch but um you know so
one of the things that i did when i sold
my business and then just went out to
become my own personal brand is I took
the database from the business and I
reintroduced myself so I sent them an
email that said hey you’ve known me I
was the co-founder of this business you
follow me we’ve worked together small
business has always been my platform now
here’s what i’m doing i hope you’ll stay
with me and i gave them the option to
opt in and stay with me as a follower
that’s one thing i did cool yeah you
know I used to regret when i launched
that i put it under my name my business
is my name my website is my name I wish
I called I called it like small business
tips or something you know keyword rich
and um but now I’m a lot happier that I
you know kind of luckily just pick my
name because I found that my personal
brand has evolved just like I’ve evolved
as a human being and what I found is if
you have a lower audience you bring them
with you that’s true um and I try to
expose and maybe what works for me and
not others but I try to expose my
audience to other areas of my life so
you know like this Guan Yu statue has
meaning that I’ll talk about it I salsa
dance and I’ll talk about that and my
wife will cook on my youtube channel and
I inject some of the person elements too
so if I bring something new it’s not a
total shock where I like the wrong with
me right that’s great that’s great i
love the salsa dancing by the way i want
a demonstration when we’re in New
Orleans all right all right yeah you
know every time I go out to an event I
always try to find a local place and
bring some people with me so why I think
I’m there for three nights I think yeah
okay a particular about to yes likes
exactly what you wanted so that’s great
all right so what are some of the points
that you’re going to be talking about in
your presentation when you go up a
couple weeks so I really number one I
want to understand what people to
understand that you know even though I’m
out there on my network television all
that sort of thing I didn’t start there
you know so I want them to understand
that you can get there but you had to
start small what are the steps that you
need to take how you can become your own
publishing Empire practically today with
technology and then I’m going to talk to
them a little bit about the secrets of
getting in front of the camera so if you
want to be on television we want to be
on network news um no here’s how you’re
going to get there here’s what you need
to know here’s what’s going to get you
blackballed and you’re never going to
get on so those kinds of Secrets is what
I want give them so that they can walk
away armed and well equipped to take
those little baby steps and then who
knows they might end up on the Today
Show one of these days cool and so for
somebody you said the first step is you
got to find what you stand for find what
you believe in um and I’m a big believer
in that I think everybody should be
purpose driven as they build their
companies you have advice for I deal
with a lot of people who who are lost in
that respect like they don’t know what
they stand for they don’t know what
their purpose is until you figure that
out it’s hard to articulate it in a
meaningful way to the general public so
do you have thoughts on how to how do
you find that how do you find that lean
your salsa being find your purpose find
your passion right well it’s not an easy
thing to do I mean obviously like I said
it took me awhile
find it myself but I do think that you
know just really peeling back the layers
of the onion so to speak and really
getting too into your heart it’s all
about what it what is it that drives you
what is it that you want to accomplish
and what do you want to be known for so
what’s what’s your legacy going to be
like you know what would they write your
obituary so things like that little
exercises that you can think about that
help you identify what it is you’re
trying to accomplish can be very
beneficial and then I think that a lot
of people often are fearful of saying
what they want to do because they’re
afraid it’s going to look like well I’m
trying to get out there and you know
toot my own horn and you know trying to
get famous sir it recognized you know
what everybody’s got a tent we’re all in
the business of selling ourselves and
even if you’re selling widgets you’re in
the business of selling yourself because
they’re not going to buy widgets from
somebody they don’t like right so that’s
a lot of it to just getting over that
hurdle and recognizing that the
opportunities out there and that you’re
smart enough and good enough and you
know somebody’s going to be doing it and
delivering that message and that content
might as well be you love it more
questions coming in all is your number
one tip on public speaking get out there
and do it yes you know people say to me
oh I’m so afraid of speaking in front of
people the more you do it the easier it
gets so you know I would say if you’re
not used to it join something like
Toastmasters try to get on some panels
instead of trying to do the whole thing
by yourself get on some panels remember
that it’s stories that people remember
it’s not necessarily there your
PowerPoint presentation with all those
key points you want to make it’s the
stories that bring your remarks to life
so learn to become a good storyteller
and never ever ever memorized your
speech you want to go out there and talk
and have a conversation with the
audience people who go up and memorize
your speech and I actually personally I
don’t even like to use PowerPoint
presentation because I think that you
get so locked in and people are sitting
there staring at your slow
instead of engaging with you so I think
the storytelling and you know being able
to really talk to the audience having a
conversation and then just getting out
there and practicing those are some of
the keys yeah I think I think one of the
things that helped me to is uh realizing
that I could help the people in the
audience yeah that helped me with my
nerves yeah I felt like you know I’ve
had whatever topic you’re talking about
whatever you know speech was ready to
deliver I’d already had lots of
conversations one-on-one with people
right about the same topic and I knew
that that information helped them and so
I had a message that would be helpful to
the people who are sitting here coming
to watch me and that always I don’t know
for some reason that always helps me
feel more comfortable and confident
going on going on stage um what about
for camera like so you’ve had tons of
experience I was in front of the camera
a lot of people you know would rather
die than be on camera how do you is it
still just practice or how did you kind
of get started on being on camera so the
thing about being on camera is you can’t
have a thin skin because you know you
need to be able to take the critique and
the advice and the feedback so you never
want to go and a big deal that your
first time on the air because you’re
probably going to screw it up unless you
just happen to be some kind of amazing
natural so you want to start small and
you want to get feedback from people you
the thing about being on camera is to
keep your answer is very short and very
succinct and to speak in a language that
people can understand you because the
average person watching you is going to
have about a sixth grade education so
you’ve got to remember that and you also
have to be willing to think about how
you look now I know if it’s a lot easier
for guys guys could get away with a lot
more and they are going to look at the
way you look and I will tell you when I
first got a contract with ABC news in
New York they said to me okay we don’t
like your hair we don’t like your makeup
and we don’t like your wardrobe I just
have I step short brown curly hair
so now I’m a blonde and then I dress
very differently and you know and I’m
sitting there thinking well I can’t
believe it you know I’m like I’m this
age and they’re telling me they don’t
like the way I look and they just hired
me so you know you’ve got to be willing
to to make the changes in full listen
and so you may love the haircut I had
since high school but you know what it
may not be what you’re going to get on
the air with because it’s a visual
meeting you really have to pay attention
you used to have brown hair and I used
to have more hair so there you go uh so
here’s a question from chefs whose a
loyal fan I YouTube viewer hi Susan I’m
an entrepreneur who is fairly confident
with putting myself out there are doing
my all the gain recognition for my I’m
currently doing well with social media
marketing and gaining some popularity
which helps my company other than social
media marketing and content writing are
there other tips you have to offer when
it comes to improving his self-image
improving the self-image well you know a
self-image often comes from inside so
you really need to use a lot of
self-talk and I’ll tell you a true story
here so when I was going into junior
high school I had done very poorly on a
standardized test the year before in
sixth grade so unfortunately I was put
into a class for the mentally challenged
student and told that the most i could
ever hope for would be a vocational
education and all of my friends were in
the class for the gifted students so
suddenly I was labeled you know a child
with learning disabilities and all of
that and I started playing that part it
wasn’t till I was a sophomore in high
school that a counselor said to me no
there’s really no reason you couldn’t
graduate at the top of your class and I
was like sort of dumbfounded like you
know wait a minute you don’t know I
can’t do that but I for some reason I
paid attention I did graduate the top of
my class and you know winter call I also
graduated from law school with honors
and and passed the bar but my point is i
still struggle with that girl in that
class in seventh grade but she’s still
very part of
and so I have to learn to get rid of her
not listen to her because she would just
tear me down if she got the chance well
I think all of us have those little
inner demons and we have to work with
and you know you have to recognize it
you are really darn good at what you do
and by golly you know what get out there
and do it because you’re smart enough to
figure it out and the world needs to
know it I love it I love the I was
thinking the same thing your demons we
have our own I I have a need to I hate
letting people down it’s one of my
things like I hate letting people down
and it’s and it’s off as a good thing
because it means you over deliver a lot
and a lot of value but a lot of times I
find with him doing a speech an
interview I kind of secretly hope that
the person’s gonna cancel on me so that
I don’t have to go because I might let
them down and I always like talked
myself out of it that hey this is like
I’m gonna help them it’s gonna be great
i always feel great afterwards but i
hope this like little voice I kind of
secretly hoping something’s going to
happen they’re gonna cancel on me and I
don’t have to do it um so yeah seven
mean we all have our own things that we
got to deal with that’s that’s fine and
take further answer that question one of
the things I’ve learned to do if I
really feel intimidated and out of my
league sometimes I just think okay I’m
going to play a role if I were playing
is in a movie how would i play this role
and I become that person so I did that
when I was raising venture capital for
my company because so few women ever get
venture capital and I was in the
technology world and that’s sole male
dominated and of course the venture
capital world is dominated by males too
until I really I had to say okay you
know i am this woman and I’m going in
there and I’m going to tell these guys
how they need to give me money millions
of dollars though it you know sort of a
row like wait cool did you did you try
to I’m curious did you kind of embody a
particular person or just that mindset
no it’s just the lines that you know
sort of of all those tough you know
women that you see on the movies or on
sitcoms or whatever i’m like okay i’m
going to be one of those i’m going to
grow a pair is Larry
wind it would say i love it and she’ll
talk back thanks for the response he’s
fighting his inner demons but he’s
working on a line at three new clients
this week so that’s great congratulation
47 179 rights in hey maybe it’s a stupid
question but I have problems with it
every day is off topic but I’m curious
to see what you think how can I motivate
myself to work hard work harder well
first of all there is no such thing as a
dumb question right Evan so I think
that’s that’s an interesting question
especially if you’re starting your own
business or in particular you’re working
on your own sometimes it’s hard to get
up and get motivated to get going so I
think one of the things to do is to set
little mini rewards for yourself so put
something out there that says this is my
goal and you know what it’s a little bit
of a stretch wanna buy yeah there you
know what mail tree so you know whether
it’s like some kind of food you want to
go out to eat or it’s a piece of
technology you know gadget whatever even
wanting to buy give yourself a treat a
treat it’s like that carrot you know
you’re gonna go for it and if you don’t
achieve it don’t cheat you don’t get it
okay so that’s kind of one of the ways I
think you can motivate yourself to get
going and and I personally am a total
believer in goal setting and I always
write mine down and I have no short-term
I am I daily goals I have short-term
goals and I have long-term goals and if
they’re not written down it’s so easy
just to forget about it hmm did you keep
them somewhere to that you can look at
them I you know I have to admit I you
know I could keep him on text stuff and
all that I write them down on in a
notebook in a journal there it doesn’t
where I keep them and then every morning
I get up and I just got an index card
and I put my top things that absolutely
have to get done that day and I set
everything aside until those things are
done and then that I can move on to
other things I love it um one of the
things I find super helpful is having a
an environment for greatness if you want
to be great you got to be surrounded by
great
so like there’s a reason why this guy is
here and that’s on the wall and I have
music that I have every morning that
gets me moving and I think having a
schedule an environment that makes you
think bigger helps you say motivate
because most people their environment
sucks yeah that’s your product of your
environment and so you don’t end up
doing anything great because you’re not
surrounded by greatness what would you
work for yourself and you’re working for
home everybody think oh you’re not
really working sorry whatever and you
just have to remember that I have set
hours you have to work you have things
that have to be accomplished and that’s
the way it is I know we’re already up
against a clock it’s crazy I will take
two quick questions Tanner’s asking
where are we from I’m from Toronto
Canada Susan well I’m actually from st.
Louis I live part time in New York City
and I’m building a home in Jupiter
Florida Wow there you go love it and
then last question uh for you what goes
through your mind before you write a
best-selling book I have to have an idea
that i really want to communicate to
people so like the book I’m working on
right now it’s going to be called the
one percent club and my mission is to
help small businesses who are struggling
and so few who ever cross over the
million dollar threshold much less get
to the multi-million dollar level you
know less than 1% get to that level my
mission is to help small businesses get
to that elite one percent that upper
like actual small business success and I
know they sources inspiration and
guidance to mentor them to get to that
level of success you ever show on that
don’t you I thought I saw a show about
that yeah I have a show on iTunes a
podcast and then also a show on whatever
takes network I love it love it cool
well I mean I know you can’t see the
questions but people saying great tips
thank you so much and i know we live all
over it Susan thank you so much for
spending time with us today for
everybody watching again Susan I are
both going to be at this age summit uh
there’s a promo code in the description
normally it’s 800
dollars but with the promo code you can
get in for 99 bucks so that’s the
suppressor great great deal we’re both
okay then come and talk to me talk to
Susan share some knowledge and again
Susan I can’t thank you enough really
appreciate all the advice and wasn’t
that you share with my audience today
it’s my pleasure Evan thanks Lots in a
couple weeks yeah see you then low salsa
dancing yes all right bye
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