The Anti-Generic Content Strategy Nobody Talks About

If you're building a personal brand and creating content online, you may have struggled with the question, how do I stand out in the sea of sameness that I see online? Well, you would think, like, hey, I have to do something crazy or off the wall or be super creative. You don't have to do that. There's actually a simple process for this. And so that's why today's episode is so important. I'm going to go over some simple things that everyone can do to be more confident in your content and really stand out from the crowd by sharing your point of view and a few other tactics. So this is going to be awesome conversation. It's going to help a lot of people and let me know what you thought. You can actually tag me on Instagram, shoot me a d@neilhome and let me know what you thought of today's episode or what you'd like me to go deeper on for the next one. But for now, let's get into the conversation. So have you noticed that most of the content you see online looks and sounds the same and you're probably wondering, well, how am I going to stand out in this sea of sameness? Like, how are you going to cut through all that noise? There's actually a way to do this if you knew the formula. And that's what we're about to get into for today's episode. The reason why this is so important, guys, is because just like in Tetris, if you perfectly fit in, you're going to disappear. And that's where we're headed in content strategy. So for today's episode, I've actually brought in a good friend of mine, Omar El Takori from the department. Thanks for joining me, bro.

Bro. Excited to be on here. And I think this is such an important episode. So before we even get into your three step process, why do you feel like people have such a hard time overthinking the niche thing?

Yeah, I think they just want to serve everybody. So then you just, you want to create this net that catches anything. Because in the beginning you're like, every follower counts, every subscriber. You also think every potential client is out there. So you just want to want to speak to everybody. The problem is that's what contributes to this same just fitting in. Like with everybody else, it just blends in and you're not really known for anything.

So it's really a belief. Like the belief is that if I, and then people have said it before, I'm not making this up, but if you Try to reach everybody, you'll end up reaching nobody. And so I think what's cool is that this conversation is gonna give people permission to truly be themself, because that's really how you stand out. You stand out by staying in your own uniqueness and your own genius. Your own. The things that you like, the things that have made you. Made up of who you are.

Yes.

Which is exactly how you stand out.

Yeah. It's like different is better than better.

Yeah, Right.

Like, you can't beat somebody like a Horoi or a Gary V who's talking about all these things. In business, you need to talk about just one thing. Otherwise you just kind of blend it. And I think that's a mistake people make is they look at people who have had success in content and they look at what they're doing now, and they're like, oh, he's talking about this and this and this. Well, go back to the beginning.

Yeah.

What did Gary Vee talk about? One thing.

Wine.

Wine. Then he started to get more as he grew his audience. So I think niching down is literally the strategy to building an audience. As you get more, you can kind of widen it, but then along the way, you can introduce certain things that allow you to stand out too. So it's not just about, you know, if you're doing informational content, it's not just about talking about that only. Which would be the way to get the most followers. I think the way to build a powerful brand and in 2025 is actually having a few components to your personal brand content. It's like you have information, you have unique point of view on things. You're speaking to a certain group of audience, but then also you're including your personality. Like, I think I. I think this is so true right now in 2025, your personality needs to be at the forefront of a personal brand. It's personal. Like, if it's otherwise, it doesn't sound like. It just sounds like everybody else. So sometimes the difference how to stand out is just you, bro. It's just like your way of saying the same thing.

Yes.

I think people overthink it, like you said, or they think it's too high of a bar. Like, how am I going to sound different? Yep. I'm teaching the same thing. Well, just the way you teach it is different. Yeah. Like your nuance, like your style.

Yeah. Because I think what. Here's what happened when, like, the rise of short form came out. Like, you literally could have went viral by saying, here are three tips on how to buy your first home.

Yes.

And, like, everyone could have done that, and they would have probably done really well. But now it's not that you need to know. It's just, like, you just need to do it in your way. And so I was telling you how, you know, I like to golf. And so, you know, I had a few reels that I could have sat down. I could have shot, like, Talking Head, or I could have told my video guy, like, hey, meet me at the golf course. I have. I'm going to shoot these three reels. Winning looks like me shooting these three rails. And by me having that content, it's communicating a few things more than just what I'm saying.

Yes.

It's saying that, number one, I enjoy golf. Which. That alone. Yeah.

You don't have to say anything. You don't have to say anything on.

The course because of where I'm at. So I think some people don't really. You're not considering it when you shoot a video in your car and there's your kid's car seat in the back. Parents are like, I know that feeling like, well, your kids would just trash your car or whatever. But. But, like, the environment you film in is part of speaking about the information you're sharing. And then obviously, and like you said, the way I even choose to share the tip or share the insight or share the principle or the way I tell the story that's unique to me and my discovery. That's where, like, I actually think Alex Hermosi said it. He said, if you can just make videos only you could make, you're winning.

Yeah.

And so I think there's this part where it's like, yeah, we want to implement the principles that people teach that are doing it at a high level. But there is something about you making videos only you can make. What have you learned in 20 years of your expertise? What have you discovered from your most successful year in business? That's your own discovery. So I think that's the beautiful thing about content creation and being able to stand out is because you can just lean into what you've experienced and no one can take that away.

Yeah. Like, and people think, well, how am I going to be a story or a lesson that only I can tell? And you're thinking basic, like the three tips. So here are three tips or three tools that you should have if you want to buy a home in 2025, or if you want to grow a business, or if you want to get a mortgage, whatever it is that you Sell. But the better way to do that and the unique way, the way that it would be, only your video would be like, hey, if you're struggling with buying a home in 2025, I was there too. Or my client was there too, until we discovered these three things, until I discovered these three tools. And so you're giving the same tools, but you're like, putting yourself in it or a specific situation in it. So wherever possible, I would tell you this. Just insert specificity, like your own experience, your client's experience, and then it makes the same lesson personal. And nobody else will say it the way you did because it's based on your example. And I think that just makes it anti generic. So my big thing for 2025 is if you want to stand out, your content needs to be anti generic. Like, if it's generic, it's dead. It sounds like everybody else. It's the same thing. Like, if I could just Google it up or chat GPT this up. What is the value? Right. So the way to do this is storytelling. It's personality. It's just something simple. Like you said, shooting it on the golf course, shooting it in a new. In a, a. In a different spot. It could be the quality of your content stands out. Yeah, like, that's, That's a big thing. Like, some people are really into that and then that's a differentiator. So there's so many different ways, but finding your thing that you actually love and putting that into the content is the key. But before we get into like, okay, so we got. We're going to put personality, we're going to put our point of view, we're going to put stories in there into our actual feed content or your videos on YouTube. Before you do all that, we got to dial in who you're speaking to. And this is called niching down. Like picking a niche, which people don't like that word. Yes.

It's a buzzword. And they're like, I don't. You. You probably think by me choosing a niche or by me niching down, literally what your brain is telling you is I am limiting my reach or I'm actually killing my potential.

Yes. So, yeah, there's like, you would think that it's counterintuitive, right?

It's.

Yeah. And so I'll give you a quick example. So my sister is in the same industry that I started in, which is mortgage and real estate, and she's like, really in love with, like, this idea of girl power. She's like, female power. Let's go like she has something called the future is female. And so she just puts it in her content. She does like little micro events and you could tell like she's a feminist in her content. And you know, whether you like that or don't like it doesn't matter. It's in there. What's crazy, bro, is when I look at her stats on deals closed, she serves more men than women. Why? Because people watch like you stand for something if you stand for nothing. It just blends in. Yeah, but she's noticeable. She's memorable because she stands for something. There's something in there to remember. And so I think like those things, your values, like what do you think about X? What's your thoughts on the market? Like you're. These are all things that you can include. And if you're passionate about something and that's in there too, that's a way to stand out. So that's an example. Another example is I had people reach out to all the time. They're like, yeah, I just feel lost in my content. I don't know what to post. And I've. And it's like they have so many different things they could do that you just do nothing.

Yeah.

And you might be thinking this as you're watching or listening, like, I don't know what to post. And we're like, how could you? How could that be, bro? We've given you 100 ideas, but it's because you're not clear on who you're speaking to. 100. So there was a guy in our group and I asked him the question. I said, bro, who do you want to talk to? He's like, everybody, I just want business. And then I said, no, like if you had to just pick, like, just say like, you must pick or something bad will happen to you or your family. And he's like, well, I've been really helping a lot of people who are self employed buy homes. And I was like, okay, cool, so you help people. And he's like, but I also do these other deals too. I'm like, that's okay, you can do the other deals. But like who do you want to speak to online? And so what we came to the conclusion was it was like, he wants to help people who are entrepreneurs and maybe have messy documentation become homeowners.

That's like, that literally sounds like music to my ears.

Yes, that's you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because that was such a hard home buying process.

Yeah, you just had an experience where you went to a jack of all trades yes. And it was a horrible experience. You told me. Yeah, we don't have to name names, bro. But it's all right. Like, dude really put you through the wringer. You didn't even know if you're gonna get the deal. It was a lot of stress on your family. And then it came through in the end, but it was not a good experience.

Yeah.

So if you had been on Instagram and, and homie's like, bro, my specialty, my passion is helping entrepreneurs get into their home with the least amount of headache that would have spoke directly to you. You would have saved it. You would have shared it with other entrepreneurs. So now because this guy stands for something, he has a niche. And then what happens is you'll get more than the niche. But like, you, at least you're, you're, you're carving out your little piece of the Internet, dude.

Like, I know you know there's somebody in your community that's like one of the number one dealers of VA loans in the country.

Yes.

And all he does is focus on veterans. Yeah. And that's just one loan program. I just think about like, how much he's killing it by just focusing. And I, and I think he probably.

Does more conventional loans than VA loans. Like, who knows? But the point is for. It doesn't. I think that's the disconnect. People think that this is all your business. No, it's just who you're speaking to on Instagram or on YouTube. And then in real life you can serve more people.

Yeah. The image I like to paint actually requires paint in the illustration is marketing. And having a niche or a target audience is literally having a target. Putting a tennis ball and dipping it in paint and throwing it at the bullseye and there is going to be paint splatter. So like you're always going to, you know, so I mean, even in the context of church, you know, Jabin, he's speaking to you like he's speaking to the 40 year old guy who's kind of like not excited on life. I'm not saying you're not excited at life. You're super excited at life. But he knows that if he could speak to that person, then he can reach the family.

Yeah.

So like the. But he, but he is not speaking to. Directly to the women. He's not speaking directly to the kids. It's like, that's my target audience on a Sunday. And then from that, and I mean, it's not an accident, why City Light or the church we're at is a very Young family church. You come in, it's like, whoa, there's tons of families here. But it's because he's speaking to that. That person. And so there's. It's just. I. I think all this is just doing is trying to open up your mind to the belief that focusing actually increases awareness.

Yeah. And then now, when you think about, what do I need to post today, you think, how do I help Omar, the entrepreneur with messy documentation? Maybe his tax returns aren't filed, maybe he doesn't have the paperwork together, whatever. But, like, that's the guy you're speaking to or the gal you're speaking to. So now the messaging becomes clear. And then the one thing that people would push back on me, like, well, I can only talk about this so much. Well, you'd be surprised how many things that you can find within the thing, within the niche. And so, you know, people think they need to come up with a thousand ideas to put out content. No, you just need to come up with, like, five. And then you say em a thousand different ways. And so I think that the big unlock here is people need to be reminded more than they need to be taught. It's not about always adding something new, new, new. It's repeating the same thing so that people can remember you. Like, it's so noisy right now. Like, bro, with my content, I've been saying the same thing for six years.

Did you just posted a carousel today? And every swipe is essentially saying the same thing. Differently.

Different. Yeah. And it's like, it resonates with people because I'm giving them a variety of different things. And I've been. Those are tweets from the last six years. It's not just like, right now, but it's like, I've been saying the same thing, but I come up with a new way, and I get better at delivery, I get better at writing it. And so, like, it's just coming up with these new ways to teach the same thing. And then people, it just starts to stick. And I think that's the thing people underestimate, how long you need to just, like, hit that thing. I mean, I remember being. My brother's in Taekwondo and he's super passionate. He coaches the World Championship Siblings.

Dog.

Yeah, bro. He's like, he's. He coaches the World Championship team. They go to, like, overseas, he trains them, and he's just been at it. And so really cool lesson is he puts it in his content and that resonates with people. And it's in all martial Arts is in his content with about real estate and mortgage, which is crazy. He somehow connected them and that's how he stands up. But then the other thing is, I remember, you know, they would do training on like hitting just one target over and over and over, and it's like, dude, that's what we're doing here. Like, you're just really like. They would be like punching a tree in one spot and just like for years. Yeah. And just trying to like, make progress on that one thing and then it eventually kind of goes forward. But I think, I think people are just thinking that they go here, they go there, they go here. And then what happens is you're never sticking with something long enough to see the result. Yeah. So when I look at someone's content who's like, man, I've been trying this for like a year. I just see a variety show.

You.

Yeah, it's just like spray and pray. And then I'm like, well, first of all, like, that's the reason. And then let's get into, like, why you can fix your content for sure.

And I think something to mention is, like, most of what you have to talk about, if you're doing the work and you're serving people, it comes from them, like you mentioned. But I realize that most people aren't listening to what's actually happening. So it's. I like to say that your copy or your content should be coming from conversations. So when you mention something like, hey, I just helped this client get into their first home and you tell that story, sometimes just tell that story into a voice memo, tell that story into ChatGPT or something. And then, and then you could pull out principles from that, like, what in the story could be an encouragement, could educate, could enlighten people, whatever. But I think the thing is, like, people don't realize that, like, you're doing 90% of the work by doing the work. It's just being able to pay attention and listen. Listen to the way a person explains their problem or their pain. Like, my thing about being an entrepreneur and have my money is funny. I say it like that, like, my money is funny. And I feel like that's why it's hard to buy a house.

Yeah.

So if so, then now you can use that as a mark email headline. You can use it as, hey, are you an entrepreneur who would say your money is funny? Like, you're probably making a lot of money, but on paper you probably make none. How do you buy a home? I'm all ears, you know, so it's it's literally listening to how even people say the problem you solve. Because chances are is they say it differently than you think. Because you know, if we're in, if you're in an industry for a very long time, you've heard it said several different ways. But how are people saying it now? Yeah.

And I think even asking for business from people, right. Like if I were to go to the church on Sunday and introduce myself in real estate, I would, you know, I might say like I'm an agent, I can help you buy a home. Well, what type of home? Luxury, middle, you know, move up buyers, first time buyers, investors fix and flips. Like what do you do? And so people will just say I just do real estate. It's forgotten. So you're not going to get by trying to do the catch all you get nothing. And so what would be better is picking something and just hitting that one thing and being like, dude, so I do real estate. But one thing I've been crushing it with and just getting great results is we've been helping a ton of buyers who have a home to sell but then they want to upgrade. So like that whole two home tango deal, like that's, that's my, that's my jam. That's what I help people with. Then they're thinking of someone right now who's in that position now you're thinking of a specific situation or like think about veterans. Yeah, I'm really, I was in the military and I'm just super passionate about helping military. Now what you can do to like broaden this is along the way you can insert things of like I also, you know, just closed the client for this. And yes, I do do things besides entrepreneur. Like you can kind of drop those hints along the way. So you're not st. Yeah. On your content. But I just think it's, it's almost a requirement now to do this.

Yeah.

And like there's people, bro, who will teach this opposite. Like I remember there's a guy in our industry who has built a massive audience talking about a broad topic of finance and it's worked but he just really just did one type of video about a broad topic that has broad appeal. And he did it for years. Super consistent for years. And then now he has a large audience and, and from that large audience he can pull small things out of.

Yeah.

But for the average person who's not going to build millions of followers, like you would get nothing by just going broad. Like it's not the recipe to win. Like you, it would be cool if you hit a home run and you did that. But for everybody else who doesn't, you're really just kind of spinning your wheels by just going broad like that.

100. So you just did something that you told me about. You paid somebody like 20, 25K. I don't know if you want to disclose them, but they helped you even dial it in more.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So what did that process look like? You paid somebody 25k to dial in who you truly serve? Like what? What did that look like?

Oh, so this is crazy. So going into my other business, which is forward, you know, we've been doing this for years. I've been like, I know who I serve people in real estate, mortgage and other client service business, but I didn't quite know who I'm serving within that niche. And so I hired a coach. Okay. And because I think, like, when you can't do this stuff, like, I'm not so big ego that I think I know it all. Like, I need help. I'm always learning. That's why I hire a coach. So I'm paid somebody. And when you pay, you pay attention. Right. So we went through this whole process and he went through, like, who are you speaking to? Down to the exact person. And he kept asking me, is it a man or a woman? I'm like, it's both. No. How old is he? He's in this range. No, no, no. How old is he? Like, what's his birthday? Where does he live? What does he do? And so what we came down to, bro, was one individual who kind of fits the mold of the people, even though it's like, I do serve men and women. We found one dude who I serve. Where does he live? He lives in San Diego. He's 39 years old. He has two kids. This is what he does from 7am Till time he goes to sleep. And I know that dude. And we have a name for him. Everything bro. Like, down to. So now the messaging becomes so clear. I'm like, I'm speaking to Johnny, bro. Whatever. I can't remember what we named him, but like, we. We named this guy. And then from there, that's our current client that we serve. The messaging becomes clear. Also, how you can help this person becomes clear. So if someone were to map out your day from like morning till night, you'd see all the things that maybe you could help them with.

Yeah.

And you'd see how to improve your offer if you are someone who serves them in different ways. Right. So it's just a cool exercise to go through. And I think it was very counterintuitive for me, bro. I was like, I didn't want to do it because I. I'm like, I thought I was narrowing down who could buy our products and services and come to our events. So it actually helped.

That's super good. And okay, so. So now people are probably wondering, though, like, okay, so how much? What's the percentage? What's the ratio? How much do I share about my life? Where do I share about my life? Like, let's go into, like, kind of how.

So I think you picked your niche, like, who you're speaking to, what group of people. You know, I saw a fitness person the other day say that they really want to help people who have recently mothers who just gave birth get their body back. That stands out. Like, that's way better than just like, regular fitness person. So you'll. Once you've picked that thing. Okay, cool. Now, how do you insert point of view and personality? Those are the next two components to standing out. So first thing is having a unique point of view. And sometimes it needs to be different than everyone else. I would call this the contrarian. And some people are opposite just to be opposite, but you actually need to actually feel this.

Yeah.

So I would ask the question, what is one thing that you differ from the industry on? Because again, if you sound like the same thing that everyone is going to say, like, if I could predict what you're going to say as a real estate agent or a mortgage person, like, yeah, that's what you're gonna say. What else would we expect? And so it becomes these safe takes or predictable positions. But, like, maybe what's it take that you're afraid to say online? That's point of view.

So good.

And so, like, any one strategy I love for this is picking headlines. I do it all the time. It crushes. And people in our group do this. So you would pick a headline and you would show how this is important to the people and how it affects them. But then what's your point of view on this? And so many people will be like, hey, I tried it. It didn't work. And I'll look back at the video, bro, and they never gave their point of view. So it's just the same as, like, if I just forwarded you the headline.

Yeah, right.

There's no. There's nothing, like, about me in it.

So good. Yeah. So the question is, like, what do you have to say about whatever is going on? And my thing Is like if you have nothing to say, then that's why nobody. That's why you're not interesting. Right. Like, like my, my business coach says, if you want to sound interesting, don't try and be interesting, just be interested.

Yes.

So if you're just interested in what's going on the news, the new podcast and I think about like something that came to mind was just like you've been pretty all in short form vertical video to build your, you know, business and your brand. I'm like sold out on YouTube. Like, I'm like, long form is king whatever. Like, and, and I think, I think even that like there are going to be some people that sell viral. Like I can help you go viral with short form content. I'm like, who cares about going viral if you go viral for the wrong reasons? You know, there's just so many. But it doesn't matter. That's just the point of view. But I think, I think another way to frame point of view is belief. Like the reason why people want to trust you with working with you is because you are, you are decided. You are.

Yeah.

They say that sales is simply a transference of belief. And if you stand for something or you believe something or you, you have something to say about something, it, it creates its own uniqueness. You know that the, at the time of filming this podcast, the whole terrorist thing happened this week.

Yeah.

And, and Myron, my business coach, made a whole hour long YouTube video on how to create your own economy. So like here's. What's the word? Here's what the news is saying, here's what I have to say about that. And then teach from there. He's a business coach. Like, I wonder how many business coaches took the time this week to see what was happening out there. And what does that mean for what I have to offer the world, you know?

Yeah. And speak to your people.

And speak to your people.

Yeah. And so I think about the, like, how could you insert these things if you don't have a point of view? Well, first get one. And you'd probably do. You're just scared to say it.

Right.

A lot of people do.

How do you get somebody who's afraid to share their point of view?

So what you find out is like, there's a respectful way of doing it. You don't have to be polarizing. A lot of people are really, they don't want to touch politics. That's okay. You don't have to like, I understand that because it does turn people off one way or the other. But I have found there's actually a respectable way of doing it. So I'll bring up something that the current administration has done and how it affects our market. Now. People will take that a certain way. But I'm not putting it in my content like, that I'm for this or against this. I'm just telling you guys this, and then I'm saying, like, here's my opinion on this. And the people who I respect the most are people who don't have a predictable position. So, like, the conservative who maybe disagrees with something that President Trump is doing, or the liberal who's, like, really upset with the way Democrats handle this. Like, it doesn't have to be the predictable thing. Those are the people who really stand out. Yeah. And so I would think about ways to, you know, do that and just. And it's just a process, bro. Like, you'll do it in a little way, and then you'll get some more courage and you'll put yourself a little bit further out there. Like, I remember in the beginning, I would be super scared to say anything personal. And then as you do it a few times, it becomes like, you get okay with it.

Yeah.

And it used to be like, I would post it and then throw your phone over there. Like, oh, shit, what did I just do? And then now you're like, you don't even mind. So I just think it's just a process people have to go through. Yeah. But I would just say this, man. The people in my life and probably yours the same. Think about the most powerful people in your life. What did they do? They introduced you to a new idea or a new way of thinking. They shifted the way you thought about something.

Yep.

Like, you have the power as a content creator, as an influencer, a true influencer.

I think that's influence.

That's influence is a shifting the way somebody thinks about X. You have the power to do that, and you're just Joe Blow in freaking Las Vegas with a phone, you know, hopefully an iPhone. But whatever, bro. Like, you know what I mean? You got a phone you could pop on with your point of view, and that could literally shift and cause someone to take action. So that's influence, and that makes a powerful, personal brand. That's what actually gets you clients and business and respect. Yeah. I have found that there are people on there who have built audiences with viral videos, but the audience doesn't care. Yep.

100.

There's people with a million followers who could post an offer and no. And very few people relative to their audience size will take you up on that offer because they just don't respect you. You're just the guy who assembles facts and gives it to them.

Yeah.

Like, it's viral. Cool. But, you know, so I just think of, how could you shift the way somebody thinks about real estate? You know, maybe like, your thing is leverage. Like, I think about that in terms, like, people have a small amount of money to invest, and so there's no greater investment if you have a small amount of money to invest in real estate, because the bank will give you the rest of the money. You can't go in and buy, like, a bunch of stock and they'll loan you the money for that. Or bitcoin. You can do that with real estate. So I could literally hit that subject every week, 52 weeks a year for five years, and be known for the guy that shifts. The way you think about investing small money, it's crazy. And it's like, bro, like, that stands out, you know? So I just think it's wild when you do this because on any given day, you could be literally the only person in your industry who has a unique point of view on that topic. And I'll give you one more example on this. I gave a unique point of view on something the administration did. Somebody in my group screenshotted Google results. They had searched for, like, mortgage rates that day or something with the Federal Reserve. Bro. My video came up number one on SEO fire. I didn't know. And so I'd love to say, like, there's an SEO strategy. I don't know what happened. It just randomly there, but I. I text my friend Neil Patel, who's like the king of SEO, and he's like, yeah, Google indexes all your videos on YouTube as well as on Instagram. And so it's like scanning what you said, what you wrote in the caption. And it's just crazy to think on that day for the entire United States, I made the only video that explained this particular topic. Number one on Google. Got a bunch of traffic.

Crazy.

Crazy. So that's the opportunity for everybody. And then last thing I think is personality. So I would say people know you, they know your values, they know your faith, they know your family, and so they know your interests golf. And so I don't know if you did this intentionally or just by accident.

You. You actually are someone who, like, put a. Put words to what I was doing accidentally.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

Because, like, that's actually why your brand, I think, connects with so many people. Because they know these things. I would say if you just taught YouTube or video, you would not have a personal brand right now.

Right.

If you didn't have those other things that I just mentioned. Yeah.

It would just be like a creator online that shares good information and people.

Would say, bro, your videos look good. Yeah.

Literally.

But, yeah, I don't know anything from you.

Yeah, you break it down to the five Fs.

Yeah.

And like you mentioned, you said faith, family, fitness, food and fashion. And I've done this because I reteach this. I steal things from you. So I reteach it to, like, my people. I'm like, okay, faith, who here knows that, like, I love the Lord, I read my Bible, I go to church. Everybody raise their hand. Keep your hand. Who here knows I love coffee? Keep their hand up. Which is my food, right? Coffee is my food. Who here knows I love to golf.

That's fitness.

Fitness. That's my fitness.

That's weak. Fitness.

That's weak. I don't even walk the course. Who here knows my daughter Ruby can stay up? Who here knows I actually just. I care about how I dress. So I'm like, you hit all five, bro. I hit all five. Like, everybody knows some element of me. And like, everybody's in the room because I teach personal branding and video. But here's what's so cool about the power of creating these connections. And I don't. I actually hope that people watching or listening. You don't try. You don't have to try so hard. It's just about showing this part that already is. Right? So you already make matcha and you don't make coffee. So, like, just share, share it. My sister, who doesn't even. Dude, she's a hairstylist. She doesn't even. She's not even online like that. But on stories, she has talked so much about Matcha in the last year, she has been. People have said she's the Matcha queen. I'm like, what? You know, like, anyway, so my business goes. Myron called me last year. This guy charges 40 grand an hour. He charges $375,000 to spend a day with him.

Dang.

And he called me last year and he said, yo, Omar, he's from Tampa. He's like, how far are you from San Diego? I was like, I don't know, 45 minute flight. He's like, I'm going on vacation with my family for like a week. Do you want to fly down and golf with me?

Dang.

I'm like, let me pray about it. Yes. You know, so I'm like, okay, book the flight and all that stuff.

And.

And I got to hang out and just. Just golf, like. And I wasn't even. Like, I'm not even the kind of guy to, like, pick his brain, but it was just the fact that he thought of me, and he only was able to think of me because I posted the fact that I golfed.

Yeah.

Now, what's crazy is I know people that paid him a million dollars for a year. And they told me, they said, omar, I literally wish. Rather than sitting with him while he's in his suit and, like, breaking down our business, I actually wish we could have hung out with him on the golf course because, like, that's the. That's the person we want access to, is like the regular every day, not the one that.

Just hanging out.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I was like, so. So by me posting that I golf, I could actually market it or say that that was worth a million bucks.

Yeah. Simple golf video.

Yeah.

And. And how many times do you. These personal things lead to business opportunities? I say all the time, like, you talk about something personal in your content, maybe somebody reacts to your story, it opens up a DM with that person. Maybe they leave a comment on a feed post, and that opens up a conversation. It could be about anything. Business, personal.

But you've been like, you lost a laptop. It's just things that people know about you that are really connected to you that you like.

And what I found, bro, is crazy, is when people come to you, like, and we know this because we do this in real life, we just forget about it in social. So if I were to run into you somewhere, I wouldn't straight go into pitching you my services. Right. I'd ask you, how's it going, bro? We talk about the weather, you'd make some up, you know? You know how people talk. Like small talk. But small talk leads to big talk.

Bang.

And people forget about that all the time with their content. They go straight for the big talk. And it's just weird. It's off putting. It's not social. Like, social media is supposed to be social. So what if we talked about the course or the golf or, like, whatever you're into or the big game, whatever. Like, if you're a big sports fan and you're into the super bowl, like, I literally posted how much I bet on the Super Bowl. Maybe that's too much for people to post, but, like, a bunch of people took sides on that. And then we had Monday morning cooler Talk. Did you win your bet? Did you lose your bet? Blah, blah, blah. Then you'll be surprised how many times a week later, two weeks later, two months later, that open thread turns into bro, I have this question about this deal. Hey, what about this? Or I could go outbound to all those open threads and hit them up with an offer because now the door is open because we're friends, we're talking Y. So it's not awkward anymore because we already did the small talk. The big talk's awkward because you haven't done the small talk. Yeah. And so I would encourage people who like, aren't having enough conversations on social there. Or I would encourage people who are saying they're not getting enough business on social. The reason why you're not getting enough businesses because you're not having enough conversations. The easiest way to have conversations is to show your personality. Show these personal things. The five Fs?

Yep.

So yeah, we could do examples for days, but it's insane. Literally.

There's a, there was a girl that came into my community and she, she built her audience from just like faceless home tours with music.

Yeah.

Sometimes voiceover. But never, never showed her face.

Yeah, I've seen it.

And she just, that she was just so like, I'm afraid of what people would think. You know, I don't know if people like Vibe or whatever, all this stuff. And dude, her business has literally 5x. She had a hundred thousand dollar a month in February.

Wow.

And all the tweet, it was just a tweak. She just started showing her face more and talking to the camera. When she was at her, her son's soccer practice, she'd be in the car and she just talks about how she gets work done while her son's at soccer practice. Now I'm talking about it on a podcast because, because she showed up, you know, and, and there, it's just that, like, I, I, I think what I wanted to give the people the permission to just that you don't need permission to share it right now. I still imagine people are still. Can you just give like a hard answer? Maybe, Maybe you can, maybe you can't. On like, okay, so how much of what? Yeah. Cause you're like, you look at somebody who's not making any noise because it's a variety show, but we're out here talking like, don't overthink it, just post it. So like, where does this all make sense? And maybe we can just start with the context of Instagram.

Yeah. So let's start With Instagram, I would use an 8020 rule. So 80% of the content could be be speaking to the audience about. And then for your niche and putting out the content there, the algorithm is going to get to know what is your content about. It'll start recommending you. More people will save and share your content because they know what you are teaching, essentially, if you're doing information. And then the other 20% can be these things. Like, you know, it could be related to the niche, but kind of loosely connected, or it could be just completely personal, like your family stuff, whatever you want to insert into the content. And this, some of this needs to be in the feed. I think people only use Instagram stories, but you think about Instagram stories, it reaches a fraction of your followers. It's the most engaged people. It's really powerful. But you're reaching just so few people. When you make one of these personal posts in the feed, it just reaches more of your followers. So, like, you might reach 5, 10% of your followers and stories. You might reach 50 to 100% of your followers in the feed if it's the right video. Yeah. So I've had experience with this. It's not going to go viral, most likely, and you might get lucky. It will. But I'll give you a quick example. Using my siblings again, because they're awesome. Like, my sister was in a content rut. She was just like, kind of burnt out a little bit, and she's going through, like, the nanny quiz. There's a little family, you know, all this stress, whatever. And kids were sick for weeks, and she was just a man. I'm not inspired to post any videos about what we're doing. She's still doing it, but, like, it's not crushing for whatever reason. And so I was like, why don't you just flip the script and post a video personal? And she's like, okay, what do I do? And I'm like, tell me best, worst, wild, weird, dumb, something like that. It's like, what's the best thing that happened last week? What's the weirdest thing? What's the whatever? And so she's like, actually, could it be from any time in history? I'm like, yeah, sure. There's no rule, right? Just pick whatever. And she's like. She starts a video off, and she's like, the dumbest thing I ever did was this. And it was a personal story. And so she was gonna. She post. She got it on her phone. She was gonna throw on Instagram stories. I said, please Put it in the feed. She's like, are you sure it's 8 o' clock at night on a Tuesday. She literally filmed it sitting on the toilet. Not going to the toilet, by the way. She was, like, giving her daughter a bath.

Okay.

And she filmed it sitting there, bro. She's averaging 5K views. Video gets 100,000 views in 24 hours, mostly from her followers and then the shares of those people. So she reached almost all of her audience in one evening.

Crazy.

Which is wild. And she was like. It's like, yeah, that doesn't lead to business. It started a ton of conversations. The comments are rich with conversations. And I would imagine, again, that all that small talk led to big talk. And it's just chances to get lucky. So I just think the more things that you can show difference, like that you're different or something about yourself is another chance to get lucky, to build a connection with somebody. So you're the guy, the YouTube expert who also plays golf. That's one additional. Like, fishing pole out there from your boat, you know? And then you got another line out there about faith. You got another line out there about fashion. And then literally each time you talk about these things is another line in the lake.

Yep.

So you look at your boat, bro, and it's got just lines just all around you. And then you're like, well, how does Omar do well? Hey, how could you not do well?

Right?

She's got all these things. And then somebody else is literally, like, in the same lake. They got one line. You're like, you know, like, you didn't do enough. And so I think just having all this variation is just going to be the difference for people. And I would just tell people that are stuck on it. And I don't know how you tell your group, but, like, how did you get that gal to be okay putting her face when she's, like, literally debilitated from that? Like, she was stuck on that for years.

Yeah.

Like, my advice to them would be that there's no spotlight on you. You think there's a spotlight effect where you think everyone's looking and judging you and they're more concerned with themselves, not you.

Right.

But still, I try that and it doesn't work. Like, a lot of people are like, yeah, I hear you, Neil, but I'm still scared. So what would you say to that person?

I know it's extreme, but I just tell people, like, you're not going to die. I know. It's like, super. Like, I promise you, let's just go to the extreme you're going to do this, your business isn't going to crash. Like, like it. The worst thing that could happen is nothing will happen. But what's happening right now, nothing. So you know, so I know that's extreme, but I find most people are afraid of something. It's starting to fall under the line of like worst case scenario, an outcome that's not in my favor. It's like, let's switch it up. Like, what if it is in your favor? You know, and I can guarantee, and there's anytime I can make a guarantee that I'm confident in, I'll make the guarantee and I like and then borrow my belief. So like, okay, you probably don't believe it still, but just I'm telling you as your coach, just do it. And if, if something happens differently then, you know, I put a guarantee on that, you know. But something I've done, like, like you mentioned there was something about your sister sharing while her kids was taking a bath. Right. So I think it was real authenticity. I think it's just like let the environment you're in just be your studio, like legit. I know a guy on YouTube, his name, his name is Simon. But his YouTube channel is called the Uneducated Economist. Yeah. He has built his YouTube channel to 200,000 subscribers live streaming from his car before he goes into work. So he just, that's how he's built his audience on, on YouTube. Any script?

Nothing.

No script, nothing. He just, he just loves the economy, has things to say, has his unique point of view like you're talking about, but something I, I just, yeah, I just want to encourage. Like if you're cooking dinner, just share the thought. If you're on your way somewhere, if you're stuck in traffic, if you' at the coffee shop. If like just share the thing in the environment and it's gonna communicate two things. So like something I have done to communicate two things. I don't know if you've seen it recently is I'll post random photos with my marketing copy in my photo.

Yeah.

So it'll be a photo of my son in the morning and then it'll.

Say something in there.

Yeah, I'll be like, you know, one of the biggest mistakes or a. This Thursday, join me on Zoom. And I'll just use a photo of. I'll just take a photo. It's like literally just real time photo of what's happening and I actually get responses about two ways. So one, I'll do like an automation to it. Like A comment. The word pod. So I did it yesterday. Hey, do you hate it when people say, can I pick your brain for a second? Well, I made a podcast for you. If you want that episode, reply the word pod and I'll send it to you. But then it was a picture of my son outside, and I had just girls just being like, oh, my gosh, he's so cute. Oh, my gosh, she's getting so big. And then I have people saying, pod, pod, pod, pod, pod.

So it all works to get more reach.

Yeah. And then I'm putting the lines in the net or the water. Whatever you say. So. So I just.

Not fishing. Fishing wasn't on the apps. Not for me either. I don't even know. I just had the analogy.

But it's a good one. Yeah, but. But no, I think. And it's working. It's just. It's that real life. And if you. If we're talking about how to stand out in your personal brand in 2025, it's just open up your life more. Because, like, no one has your life. Like, that's just the reality. There's no such thing as.

And you've had situations where people. And I've had this, too. And. And all the way down to, like, a newer creator has had this in my group, where you came from a place of just sharing something personal, and it helped somebody. Like, it actually made them take a different. Make it take a different path that day, maybe come to church, maybe do something different. And so those stories, I know it sounds cliche or cheesy, but, like, when somebody DMs you and says, man, this really helped me, or I needed that today. Like, that's huge. And so you have to think about this. It's not about you. I just tell people all the time, like, take yourself out of it. You're coming from a place of service that this video might help someone. And so I have so many examples. And by the way, you know, one way to use this strategy is to keep a list of these things that you want to tell. If you could tell them in the moment, great. But sometimes you're not in a position where you could film or shoot, put it on a list. Stories to tell. So good and just list these out. And it's something small. Don't think about it. Needs to be something amazing. Just focus on relatable. Not remarkable. Like, you can't shock anybody these days. Like, bro, I could go with President Trump, Air Force One, shoot a podcast today, tomorrow it would be forgotten that's the sad truth. So it's not about doing extraordinary things. Like, it's cool when this happened, it's awesome, you get some attention. But it's more about just doing the regular day to day, consistent things for years.

Yep.

So like that's more sustainable. So stories to tell. Think about relatable stories. Something happened today. Something happened this week. And so I just was doing this with our group and I told them, hey, hey, who has something that happened this week? Like it could be today, this week, business, personal, whatever. And a bunch of people said, yes, I've had a few things happen and it could be a client story. And then one gal I just randomly picked, I said, tammy, go ahead. She goes, well, I got a tattoo. I was like, okay, what's the tattoo? She's like, my dad passed last year and he used to write me this note in the morning and he would sign the note a certain way and she kept him. She has like the thing. And so she got that thing tattooed on her arm. Powerful, bro. Like, I got a little choked up on the call. Like even now thinking about everybody on the call, no one will forget Tammy, ever, ever. She could not teach us anything in mortgage. You won't forget Tammy, bro. She put the video out today. So I asked her, I said, I challenged her, post that video if you feel comfortable, you know, and I would push past the fear. And so she just posted it. She posted the tattoo and this, what it meant to her. And I'm like, that was just a random thing just by luck.

Yeah.

But I just hope that encourages somebody. Like, that shows who she is, gets people to know how many other people have lost someone recently? Like they can connect, you know. And so I was not expecting that when she said tattoo, but it's so powerful. So those are stories to tell. Keep that list then, then you can put them in your content.

Yeah, I, I hate to switch up the vibe, but like I, I wore a leather jacket to one of your events.

Yeah, yeah.

And it was the talk of the town, bro.

Afterwards, people remember, they're like, where did you get the jacket? I'm like, we talked about so many things strategy wise and your only question is, where did you get the jacket? And I'm like, you know, but stands out. Yeah. Like, we were all dressed super casual. I don't know if you did that to just show everybody up, but homie rolls up in a thousand dollar. What is it? Tom Ford jacket.

Yeah.

Like, stands out like a sore thumb. And then people are like looking at it and then Asking questions about it. And I think you even put it in your talk. Yeah. Like, hey, this is something I'm doing intentionally. And so that's a good example, though. It's because there's a story of why you bought it.

Right.

There's a lesson in you. Your wife saying it's cool for you to buy it because you work hard and just go for it. And then you being in a position in your business where you could spend the money on that and not feel guilty or feel bad. And then obviously, it's a dope jacket. There's so many different, like, angles to the story.

I think Russell Brunson talks about this. It's picture, parable. Principle.

Yeah. So.

And this is like, when you say, like, archive of stories, it's so powerful. And like, I've literally, in my presentation, I have. I have one presentation that I have, like an introductory presentation or webinar that I do. But every. Every lesson or every point in there, it's a picture. I share the story, a parable. And then the lesson of that parable, which is the principle. So that I think. I think it's. That's how you become a great storyteller, is like, you have a point to the story you're telling, which you get to decide that, which is powerful. You know, what's the principle of Tammy, you sharing that right now? The principle of this story is just share it. You can impact somebody's life without even knowing it. Yeah, that's the principle.

So.

Yeah, really good.

Yeah. So this is the. This is the game plan for 2025. Anti generic.

Anti generic.

Right. You get on that. And you could use all the things we talked about, speaking to a certain group of people, putting your personality in the content, inserting personal things, and then having a unique point of view. And trust me, you'll stand out. Like, you will get. And then now when you make a call to action or you make an offer online for people to work with you, it actually will work. Yep. Because people want to work with you. Like, people make calls to action and get nothing because, I don't know, I don't think they're memorable people, you know, And I think the bar is lower than you think for some of this stuff. It doesn't have to be crazy stuff.

So good if somebody is still listening or still watching, they're like, I say you're forward, fam.

Yeah.

So here to one, one thing. First thing is dm Neil forward, fam. And that would indicate that you watched or listened until the end of this podcast. The second is. Might as well tell you now. You probably saw the ad, but you have Forward coming up this year. Yeah, in July.

Yeah, this is.

This episode's been sponsored by Forward.

Yeah, that's it. So it's happening in July. July 11th and 12th in Las Vegas. We've been doing this event for five years. I think you've been to four of the five.

I went to the second year, third year, fourth year.

So three of the five. And so, yeah, I could tell you a thousand reasons why you should be in the room, but you came as an attendee in 2022. Yep. And you. We didn't. We weren't. We. We knew each other, but we weren't homies at that time. So 2022, you came. What did you think?

Literally, I thought to myself, this is probably the best business event I've ever been to. Like, I know you have an emphasis on marketing, personal branding, and things like that, but, yeah, you don't have a business if you don't have leads. You don't have a business if you don't know how to market. And when I say it was the business, the. One of the best business events, if not the best business at the time, and it's only gotten better, it's because you actually care so much about the environment you're creating for people to learn in. And I'm saying this from an attendee standpoint. The environment is where the transformation takes place. And something I've learned is, is that most of the time, the information could be found out everywhere. Like this podcast was worth. I mean, I don't know what it was to you. If you implement what we said, it could be worth a million dollars. But what determines the value of the information are the people, what people do with the information. And I think the energy. I mean, you care about the production value, but it's also the type of people that you attract are doers. And, like, everybody's just ready to go out and crush it. There's something about the. What the Bible talks about the soil of the room. It's good soil. Everybody's there because everybody wants to level up. Everybody wants to make more money. Everybody wants to get better. And so that's what I would say it's like. It's the energy mixed with the excellence. And then you bring in the greatest experts. Those are the three E's of Forward. It's the energy, excellence, and the experts.

Yeah. I love the fact you talked about the people there, because I think that sometimes it's 50 50, like what you learn from stage and then also the energy you get from the room. And then some people will say they even got more from the people there. Like people have told me they made lifelong connections there. And a lot of people tell me like, hey, I'm coming by myself. You know, I'm an introvert. I'm not going to walk up to people, bro, somebody's going to walk up to you at board. Most likely. What's crazy is these type of people that come to our event and I didn't do this intentionally, just happened by accident. But now I know why. It's these people are all growth minded, like minded people and they just have a certain attitude where they're givers. Like so nobody's like gatekeeping their information. So I could talk to you and be like, hey bro, what's working in your business? And you would literally tell me this thing and this software. And then you'd be like, hey, if you want to jump on a zoom when we get back to town next week, like happy to do that. And I would be like, really? Because that's not the case at most places. Like most places people are like, I'm the top producer, like, do you want me to sign your autograph? You know, like people put themselves on these pedestal. Big egos.

Yeah.

And so what's crazy is you could be like, I see somebody having a conversation in a group and one person in the group I know personally because I've coached them, they're making $5 million a year. Like they're at the top of their game. They're running a big organization and then somebody else in there is making 120k or 80k and they're talking as equals. Like that. That's cool. Like I just love the fact that people are pouring into each other, making those connections and then obviously learning. But I think something unique happens when you leave your current environment and go to a new place.

Yep.

And sit in there and you have a chance to just reflect on your business, your life. And then when this energy happens and then the idea, it might be an idea you heard five times before, but it was said in a different way. It just clicks. And then so that the reason I'm so passionate about this because I. It actually happened to me in 2018, I went to an event in the business marketing niche and something clicked and I made a video there. It's on my YouTube channel. Maybe I deleted, I don't know. It's so bad. But I made a video and then from that point on, it marked like a fork in the road for me. And so I had a transformation. Crazy. So it can really be that powerful for people. So, yeah. All that to say is the best event.

Yeah.

In the space. And it's happening this summer. It. I was shocked. We just announced it last month and it's almost full. It's crazy. So we usually take like a big chunk comes in at launch, and then it kind of trickles in for the next two, three months. This time, I think it's going to be sold out in just a week or two, which is wild.

So, sorry if you're listening to this, but if you want to find out if it's sold out or not, just click the link and.

Yeah, there's a link down below. Or just go to forward event.com and. And. And then you'll get to hang out with us. You'll be there too, right? Yes, sir. All right, so. So hopefully you guys got value from this episode. We're going to continue the conversation in future ones. Do me a favor and let me know in the comments what stood out to you and what you'd like me to go deeper on in future episodes. And until then, I'll see you on the next one.