How to Start Building a Personal Brand 2023 | Sobhana | Avi Arya

So you reverse engineer the math. 8,000 people need to know me out of it. 400 people will give me leads, out of which I will close 20 leads. And this is the money I will make how to create enough content so that you get those 8,000 people from those 8,000 leads. At those 400 leads and 430.

So anyone who's waiting to get that aha moment as to how do I start my personal brand, I think they probably got it from you in the last few minutes. One of the topics that I think is in huge demand in terms of learning and for people to figure things out is personal brand. And you have an amazing personal brand. And through your courses and the work that Internet moguls does, you talk about personal branding quite a bit. So the question I have today is more focused on new entrepreneurs here in Canada who've perhaps immigrated or come here as international students and now are staying here. How does one go about developing a personal brand, especially in a country that's not their homeland?

Very nice. Thank you for that question. New entrepreneurs need to understand that any business has three aspects. I call it gk, GL and GS. Get known, get leads, get sales. Now, there is a business equation that, that I like to explain. Say, for example, you say I want to make $1 million. And say, for example, you make, say, $50,000 commission by selling a house. If you're a realtor, I'm giving just hypothetical example. So you need to sell 20 homes to make that $1 million. So $1 million is the sales that you want to close. How many sales do you need? 20. Now, for 20 sales to happen, how many reads do you need? So say, for example, I need to say 400 leads in the whole year, and out of 400 people that I meet, I'm going to close 20. Now this is 20 is the get sales, get leads is 400. How do you get these 400 leads? You don't want cold leads. You want leads from people who know you, who've heard about you so that you have that number matching up to the sales. So if you have 400 leads, how many people need to know you so that you get 400 leads? So you may say 4,000 or you may say 8,000 people need to know me. So you reverse engineer the math. 8,000 people need to know me out of it. 400 people will give me reeds, out of which I will close 20 REITs, and this is the money I will make. So first you create a business equation based on how much money you want to make for which how many sales you need REITs. So the first part is getting known. Now people will work with people who are known. Does not matter who you are. Elon Musk knows, Gary Vee knows, Grant Cardone knows. All these top people know that they need to keep blowing their own trumpet for the world to come and recognize them and see, oh, finally wake up and say when I'm in need. Okay, what are you selling? So today all the brands have done that. So new entrepreneur must understand that this is personal branding is not new. A Nike or any large company would hire somebody like a new entrepreneur to become their face of the new, you know, a new immigrant to Canada. Yes, because Nike doesn't have a face. So they borrow faces from the community and tell their stories to connect with everybody else. Now, we can't hire a brand ambassador like an SE or somebody to tell our story. So we are going to tell our own story because nobody, a, we don't, A, nobody has, I mean, nobody else can tell our story the way we can. And B, it's, you know, you come for free for your own company. So it's been there forever. Everybody is doing it. Big companies hire other people to tell, to attach other personal brands to their logo. And once you have a business equation, the first part is getting known. So getting known will happen with your personal brand. And therefore there's a format which I'll talk about maybe in the next part of this interview, which is how to create enough content so that you get those 8,000 people. From those 8,000 you get those 400 leads and for 400 you close those 20 sales.

Perfect. So there is actually a very systematic way of going about it, the personal brand. And you've touched on this in some of your videos, the personal brand is very tied to you as a person, you as an entrepreneur. Right. It's sort of an element of your soul is in that personal brand. What are some of the important components developing and saying, okay, for now, this is my personal life.

Perfect. See, So I developed something. I mean, it happened. I didn't think it was going to blow up. So this one thing that I call the hero introduction of mine went viral during COVID So and how I got that thought with my head was that two strangers say, for example, so now you and I were to meet at an airport, you know, like, and we're at Vancouver airport. We're going say, so are you going to India? I'm like, either. I'll say, yes, I'm going to India as well. And we talk about India. Or I'll say, no, I'm going to London, but I've been to India. Or I'll say, hey, you know what? My aunt lives in India somewhere. I'll try to make a connection on that point. Second, you say, do you have kids? And you say, I have two sons. I say, I have two daughters. Or what are they doing, what age? So we had to make a connection there. Then, sir, are you, you know, are you into coaching, mentoring people? I say, no, I'm into this or I'm not. So we will have three, four points of communication where we try to find common points. Or the reverse could happen. And then we, you know, we say, can I, can I get your email? Can I be in touch? Follow me on Instagram, I'll follow you on LinkedIn. And then we'll stay in touch and the relationship will build from there. Or it could be like, you went to India. And I said, no, I'm not going to India. So you're like, do you have kids? No, I don't have kids. So no relationship happens, no conversation. And that's how the world works with some people. So there are about, I believe there are about five points in a conversation. And if those five points, if we relate on at least five points, then a relationship starts and business is a relationship with perfect strangers. So I tried to incorporate this in my introduction. My name is Avi Arya, father of two girls, six dogs, husband to a superwoman, a streetcar racer turned hotelier, now social media marketer and founder of Internet Mobile. He talks about fun, five things. So you might say, oh, dogs, I have cats, parrots, you know, or my mom was a pet lover or is a pet lover or something like that. Or I used to donate to a, to a, you know, dog kennel somewhere. You connect with the dog, with animal love and all of that somewhere. Because that's my story. And I'm just telling you exactly who I am so that I'll resonate with people who are exact or similar to who I am. Husband to a superwoman. Some people will say, you know, I respect my spouse in a certain way, or my dad used to respect my mom in a certain way. So there'll be some relation because that's how third could be. You know, I was a street car racer. Oh, I used to do bungee jumping or, you know, I love adventure sports. Some kind of, you know, madness everybody had in their life. And they relate to that. Streetcar racer turn hotelier, now social media marketer, founder and turnover. So that I Believe is when I say that, I give a lot of people permission to say, you can be multiple things in one lifetime and you don't have to always stick to one profession. So that's how this getting known came. And when it started going viral, like during COVID it just. And there are at least 10 companies in my space that made spoofs and spend money on Facebook to do ads on the way that I did it, that's when I realized this is working. You know, people are doing that. So that's what I tell people that if you want to get known, you know, have this. And I have a format for the hero introduction. Talk about yourself, talk about your family, talk about your hobbies, talk about the evolution that's happened in your career. And you will find people who will connect with three to five of those points, and those people will be your best customers because they've resonated with you. Like you said, they have shared. They've taken a sneak peek into who you really are from inside. And then they will ask you automatically, right. What do you do?

Right. That's amazing. And I love your hero introduction. I think it's so much fun to hear it. And it never goes stale, right? Like, you hear it and you want to hear it one more time. I have a question around. What's your opinion around the personal brand of a founder and the success of a company? Like, do you see a strong linkage? Like, for a company to succeed, does it need to have a solid personal brand? And the second part of the question is, with the world changing and getting disrupted over and over again, it's very difficult to have a personal brand that stays put in one spot. It has to evolve. So what do you do with this personal brand business?

That's a beautiful question, because yesterday I got interviewed by a newspaper in India that wanted me to give a comment on Twitter. And so, because you know, founders, what they do, and you know, if a founder is brash, hey, maybe the company is like that. So this is my take on it. Before you start talking about your personal brand, sit with your. If you have a team, PR team, whatever, great. If not, stick with your friends who get you and who can call a spade a spade. And they say, you know what? Don't talk about this. This is not you. You're faking it. This is definitely not you. And, you know, stay away from this. Like, for example, if I start talking about sports, I'm not a sports guy. If I start talking about, you know, what, you know, baseball or rugby or Football, it's, it's not going to be authentic. So talk about. So they'll help you chart out what is the thing that you can talk about that is you. And then those aspects of the company will come. So then even if you make a mistake, like for example, I felt, you know, if I talk about, I don't think it is in me to talk ill about an animal, you know, I don't even like the word animal in that, you know, so you'll be sensitive to that and everybody will relate to that. But a lot of people who call somebody that's a dog, so I don't think it's bad, that's how they are. But you must understand who you are, what you're selling, and how the world is perceiving you. You need to understand that. And if you haven't spent time doing that, then you make a lot of mistakes and people will judge you for it. Your company will take a beating for that, unfortunately, because, you know, like, for example, if a father, if a house has a father and the father is always angry, the neighbors see him an angry person somewhere, they judge the children also in that format, right? So. Or if the mother is a sweetheart and then they say, oh, this is a beautiful family, they never met the family, but it's a beautiful family because the mother is a sweetheart. So similarly, if the founder is everywhere, he's talking a certain way, people will judge the entire office and its operations based on that owner. So it's a work in progress and a lot of people don't have it because they don't spend time on it. And so therefore the PR takes over. And you know, there's a mismatch, you know that there's something different between the founder and this. So my piece of advice to entrepreneurs is you are not the only personal brand. There are some people who built the company with you, get them on, get their stories shared. Your top 5, 7, 8 clients who supported you for the last so many years, get their stories because your personal brand is your vendors, is your clients, is your founding team. Or, you know, it could be an intern who became today the vice president. They've seen you, your company, through thick and thin. Those people together and all their stories, you don't need to only be dependent on yours. But we should sit down at least once a week. If you. Once a week you have an HR meeting. Once a week you have a finance meeting. Once a week you should have a who are we meeting as well. And when you know who you are, you don't need to take notes to say, can I say this or can I not say this? Because you say who you are. But that alignment takes time and most people don't spend time to find that alignment.

One of the things, Avi, a lot of important points you've raised there. One of the things I'm very curious about is because you've done business globally, you've traveled globally. I know your family travels extensively. You've built a personal brand based out of India, and now you've got the experience of building a personal brand in Canada. Very different parts of the world, very different cultures, geopolitics, you name it. Right. Do you see any similarities or differences in building a personal brand, say in Asia versus North America?

I don't see a difference in terms of the process. You tell stories about your life. You start, you document everything and people start taking what they feel fits for them. And it works. So if I move from Delhi to Mumbai or from Mumbai to Chennai, I'm an alien in a different state and I'm reacting different to the environment around me. If I've come to Canada, I will still. The only thing common between both things is I'm authentic there.

Yes.

And I'm authentic here. And I think it's the same. I don't think there's much of a, much of a difference. It's your values that reflect in, you know, whatever you document. So wherever you go, your values go with you. And so that's why those alignment, being close to, you know, friends who can tell you, call you out on what you are. Does it keep you closer to who you are? You still make mistakes, but just to answer specifically that question, I don't think there's a difference.

Yeah, that's amazing because I think you then as an entrepreneur and as a business leader, I think what you are affirming here is that at the end of the day, it boils down to staying authentic to yourself, to your ideas, services, products and your audience. So it doesn't matter where we are in the globe. You're basically saying as long as you're true to yourself and your company.

Right? And like you just mentioned a few minutes ago that it's a moving target, it's a game that's always evolving. So if you are changing because sometimes, like, you know, the very difficult thing for me to say is the truth, like my truth is changing every six months. It changed when I was a teenager. It changed when I got married. It changed when I had kids. The truth about, oh, and then you learn and then you evolve and then you're different. So you can't say when. For people who are listening and getting inspired by you, I don't think it's safe to say this is how it works. If you don't get up at 5 o' clock in the morning, you can't be successful. That's not true. It helps you, but it may not be true for that other person. So making bold statements saying, this is the only. This is my truth. This was my circumstances. These are the family. This is how it worked. Maybe it can work for you as well. Now. I've come to that because I know in six months, one year, I learn something new and I'll feel like a fool saying, oh, that was the truth. So, you know, they said if you want to remain. I think it was Swami Vivekananda. I'm sorry if I'm, you know, quoting anybody incorrectly, but I think it was one of the, you know, learned people from India who had said that you just know a little bit. 90,000 things that you don't know. So don't claim to know anything. Just be. Just acknowledge today.

Yeah.

And then acknowledge tomorrow. And then acknowledge tomorrow. But one more thing I'd like to say here is one of my mentors told me one thing, very nice. He said, abhi. And that just, that thing stayed with me forever. He said, I don't know if you've heard of this. He said that what you know is. What you know is 1%, what you think you don't know is 4%. What you don't know, you don't know is 95%.

So true. Yeah.

So just remain in that Mode that there's 95% which is going to unfold. And once you've Understood, there's another 95. Another 95. So that I live. If there's one principle I live by, it's that, that what I don't know, I don't know. And so therefore, if somebody's telling me something, take it up and, you know, yeah, you know, take it and see if you want to use it or not.

So on top of authenticity, then it's humility also to just acknowledge that what we know is very little break and.

Crack like a human being in your business. Like in six months time, wrap up, close office back, give it up and everybody's going to leave you. I've seen companies shut down where the inner values or the ego of the entrepreneur and ego doesn't mean I think I'm the best. But not knowing that you don't know anything. It doesn't matter if you got 500 people to work in your company. Sorry, sir, you have no idea. Because the next six months is completely different. So just go with that. So that's why they say, every coach should have a coach. Every mentor should have a mentor. Every. Every founder should have an advisory board. An advisory board should have those angels. And so there's always a network, which. And. And then on top of that, your universe, your own connection with your deeper self, which says, thank you for giving me. And this is what I try to say to myself. Thank you for every day. Thank you for allowing me to stand on my own two feet and make things happen and allow me to continue to do this and that allowing me means that my soul, my universe, whatever name you want to give to that higher power will send me books, they send me friends, they send me guides, acquaintances. And I have to be open to the fact that they're coming. And that's. And I need to take that because this is the journey I asked for.

Yeah.

So every entrepreneur needs to acknowledge the fact that and also feel liberated. You don't need to know anything. You just need to know what you need to do today. And like you always say, just be a nice person and things sort of work out for. If you do good things.

So I think, sort of for anyone who's listening, who wants to try and develop a personal brand, I think this would be extremely valuable to them, what they've just heard you say, because everything you're asking folks to do, to be authentic, to be humble, not to feel, you have to know everything and be open to change, to evolution of the idea and the person. All of this is so doable, right? Anybody anywhere in the world can do this. So anyone who's waiting to get that aha moment as to how do I start my personal brand, I think they probably got it from you in the last few minutes.

See, the thing that we get, it's very hurtful when I, as a child, try to do something, and I'm snubbed. And so therefore, by the time you become in your 20s and you become an entrepreneur, you know, you. You're scared of being snubbed again. And so therefore, you go back and say, I don't want to do any of this. What, Avi, you're saying, I don't want to do any of this because this is too painful. So let me not do anything. Let me just try to do what everybody else is doing. You know, there are so many people who are entrepreneurs who go to the gym, six pack abs and everything. And they hate it. But they just feel they have to do something to get that validation or they'll buy a car or they'll live in a house which is just not their taste. I don't, I feel your dining table is what you hate. Your, your carpet, your hate, your car, you hate. This is not who you are, but you are that because you feel everything. Anything else is going to be more painful than living this existence. So it's again going deeper into who you are. And I mean, you don't even need to try if somebody is listening to this episode. So far you've tried enough. Hats off to you. And everything else will follow.

Yeah. And just enjoy the journey.

Enjoy the journey of messing up every day. Every single day. Just enjoy that journey.

Yeah. Well, I hope it's not just young entrepreneurs who are listening to this, but also families and especially decision makings in families. Because I think one of the struggles a lot of young people especially have is growing up in environments where it's not okay to mess up and there's all these expectations put on them to be this perfect person and then one day you wake up and realize that that's impossible to be and you've lost this opportunity to be the best version of yourself.

Right, Right. And it's normally coming from. I mean every human being is a work in progress. It's art in the making. So art in the making is telling its offspring that you have to be perfect art. Just imagine, you know, I'm all over the place, but you have to be like this and then that goes around generationally so. But today, you know, I think kids and lot of parents have the guts to say no, let me be. It's dangerous. Hats off to people who are able to do it.

Yeah. Amazing. Well, on that positive note, let's all celebrate. We are out in the making and have another conversation soon.

Awesome. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Hi guys. Avi here. Thank you very much for watching this episode. It's so much fun bringing all of this to you. But honestly it is difficult editing, post production, getting people together. But when you watch till the very end, it feels great. So thank you very much. Now I'm going to give you something, an opportunity to connect with me and my ecosystem. I have an email called work with avyariagmail.com now what are the possibilities of working with me? Number one, if you are somebody who's liking this content that I'm putting out and saying, you know, What Avi, I want to get into your coaching, I want to get into your ecosystem. I want to understand how this works. I have a school called the Internet Moguls Business School where we have two programs for entrepreneur. Send me an email at work with Avarya subject Internet Moguls Business School and then tell me about your business, what are the challenges that are happening and accordingly one of our sales consultants will call you, they'll tell you about your business and finally they'll connect you with me and we'll see if you're the right fit to work together. Number two, if you want me to consult with you, just consulting one on one, understanding your business, giving you a three month, five month roadmap. So work with Avarya Subject Consulting and then give me all the details about your business. Next, if you want my agency to help you, you could be a product or a service, a coach, a trainer, whatever you want us to help us set up your get known, get leads, get sales and set up a proper system for you. Then same thing, work with Avyaria and in the subject you will write agency help and in the end tell me exactly what you want me to do for you and what are the challenges that you're facing. And if you want to work with the me in my team as a freelancer as part time, full time, you know, get into the team, work remotely from anywhere in the world. Again, work with Avarya and say I want to join your team and then tell me about yourself. Ideally for all these things, when you put in a subject, follow it with a nice micro video so I know more about you because I check every email myself and I'd love to get back to you and connect you with the right people in the right company. So eventually when we talk we have all these things figured out. Finally, if you want want to interview me for your podcast or your YouTube channel, email me at podcast with aviaria mail.com so there you go. Two ways to connect with us. Work with Aviaria and you've got the multiple options and you've got podcast with Avia and we can podcast together. So thank you very much for watching the videos. Don't forget to watch all these videos. Send me an email. Would love to hear from you. Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen. My name is Aviarya signing off for now. Look forward to seeing you in the next video. There's a link over here which has got all my emails for you to get in touch with me as well. Click on the link and get in there. See you. Look forward to hearing that email from you. Bye for now.