AI for Every Developer

Everyone, it is so great to see all of you. It is Wednesday night, 9 PM. I know it sounds crazy for someone who is busy like myself to be even considering doing this, but honestly, it's a passion project of mine. I'll share with you a little bit about it, uh, just right now. Um, but I had some trouble, so I'm actually going live, um, in one Facebook page, hoping that it will transition to another Facebook page. Um, we'll see what happens. I don't spend much time on Facebook these days, um, but it is a great opportunity. I'll tell you guys a little bit more about why I chose it, uh, but welcome. This is actually my very first training session. I plan on going live. We're actually changing it. Thank you to my wonderfully faithful people who are joining my— this program and trying to learn the things that I've done and be kind of my guinea pigs in this, um,, in this project. Uh, but yeah, we're gonna move it to Thursday. So Thursdays, Thursday night, 9 PM, we are gonna go live every week, and I'm gonna teach you everything that I know about building a personal brand. And for some of you who don't know who I am, and there might be a few of you, um, I've spent the last 15 years— not intentionally, I'd say I only got really intentional 5 or 7 years ago, but Certainly in the last 15 years, I've managed to curate an experience that I can now look back on and go, oh, that was a good thing I did there. And now I want to share a lot of those little tidbits of information with you. Um, and I'm super excited to do it because, uh, I of course would love to help more people, and specifically more women, more minorities, um, more BIPOC people get into the world and use their voice and become an example for so many other people who are worried or afraid or don't want to say anything. And so I really have a passion for creating influencers. We call them love fluencers, but people who are empathetic and kind and have a heart of service, of service, you know, servant leadership, mindful leadership. We'll talk about all those things as we go through our program. It is a 6-week program or 6 sessions. I guess it depends on if I decide to go crazy one weekend and do a few lives over the weekend. But I do have a day job and it takes a lot of my time. So 9 PM seemed about right for me considering where I'm at. Some of you, it's not that late, so hopefully it'll be helpful and a good time for for you all. But, um, these 6 sessions, let me just describe to you what they look like, and then we'll dive into the very first one. So the first one is all about just understanding what you, you have to offer. So there's a couple of things I like to think about. We'll talk about this today. How do we know what our gift is? You know, like, what is it that we should focus on? And it's actually kind of a trick question, but That's an important piece, is understanding what is it that you want to say and how does that align with who you are and what you believe. And then the second session gets right into the tactics. This program is all about building a business, a viable business that represents your values. And so that business is your personal brand. It might end up yielding you a new job with better salary, or it might end up yielding you a promotion because you're creating this brand that the company wants to be associated with. Or who knows, you might even start a new business, or maybe you've always wanted to start a new business, and this will give you the tools, literally the step-by-step guidebook on how to build all of the tactical components of a brand. So there's lots of courses out there on brand building and like sales and marketing and all of that, and this is less about that. This is mostly about how to be a love fluencer, how to lead with service and mindfulness and intention, how to really realize that it's okay to be exactly who you are and you will still be able to identify a following, find true fans, and build a lifestyle business, be able to build a business that can support you however that you need to be supported. So it's a little bit about that. But then also, man, wouldn't it be nice to be able to set up an entire business in like a day and not have to be like, what should I set up and which pieces should I build and what works and what doesn't work? I have fine-tuned this into a very specific process. So that's what I'm going to share with you over the next 6 weeks. My intention, of course, I'm not obviously charging for this. I'm like delivering it on every platform I could get on. But I do want everyone to have this information. But as you all know, doing something like DIY, do it yourself, is hard. I actually like it. I'm the person who went to Barnes Noble, pulled a Java book off the shelf, and taught myself enterprise Java programming that I used to launch my technical career, but I like that. I like you give me enough, I can do all the rest of the work. But not all of us are like that. And more importantly, not all of us have the time. I can't do that now. I can't— you know, I find I have to be very careful with how I spend my time acquiring new knowledge and deciding what's the best way to do that. So one option is DIY, and that's what this is for. And I want any— I never want someone to be like, oh man, I don't have any money, but I'd love to build a business. I'd love to build my personal brand. I'd love to be able to represent who I am on my LinkedIn profile so I get a company that, that aligns with that. That shouldn't be something they're like, oh man, I don't have to buy a class for that. And I don't want you to either. So, so all of that is free. I will be just delivering it, you know, every week and then doing little bits of content that reiterate a lot of the philosophies that I've learned over the 20 years of my career building a brand that I'm now kind of proud of. Um, but then The next step is, well, what happens when you, um, for example, what happens when you don't want to do all that work, right? What happens when you don't want to build your website and create a YouTube channel and create a TikTok and build out, you know, all the things? Or maybe you want to but you need a little bit of help. So we do have a community program that you can join if you don't want to DIY and you want to do it with someone, with me, with my team. And you could join that program at the end of the 6 weeks. We'll tell you how to do that, but it's really only for those people who can't just take a book and learn from it, or who really like the idea of having a community or accountability that says, no, this week you're building your website and next week you're creating your email list and next week you're building your YouTube channel and holding you accountable along the way. I do know that now in my current world of all the things that I have to manage, that is actually where I'm at. I want to be doing things with people, which is kind of why I'm doing this. Um, The third level of Lovefluencers is actually done for you. So there are some of us even still who will be like, so could you actually build this for me? And so I get these requests all the time where people are like, I get it. I could do it myself. I could do it with your help, but I'd really just like you to kind of set the whole thing up. And so we have a team of people that do that for organizations and individuals. And of course, you are a huge part of that process, but you don't have to put fingers on a keyboard and set all the things up. And, and for very few of you, that might be something of interest. And that is certainly part of what we offer. And that's really what makes it possible for us to deliver all of this for free and make it easy for anyone to take this knowledge and build a brand that A, they can be proud of, but B, can actually be monetized. And so As we go through this program, those are like the 3 levels of Lovefluencers. But as we go through this program, I'm going to cover 6 different topics. And the first one, as I mentioned, is all about like, what are you going to say? Who are you? What is your voice? But then also the different mechanisms that you can choose to get your voice out into the world. So I like writing. I enjoy it. I don't have time for it the way I used to, but I do love it. And so I love the idea of going in and, and being able to write a blog post or research people and be able to talk about them in the, in the written word. And so there's some of us that are really good at the written word. And so your blog will be a critical part of your business for those individuals. So the first thing we do, and I actually think everybody should have one, you don't have to be, it doesn't have to be your main mechanism, but set up a blog and create a website that is set, setting yourself up to create a brand that can be monetized. Ultimately, what that means is creating an email list. And I created Lovefluencers, this framework that I've designed. I literally did it in one day and was able to see exactly the results I hoped for. And it's nice, right, when you build something based on what you know, like you've seen this happen over and over again, but you build it intentionally to see your hypothesis proven and it works. Some of you know I'm in data and AI, and so many times that hypothesis doesn't work out. Many times I am checked and been like, oh, that is not the way I thought that was gonna go. But in this case, that did not happen. I was super delighted. It's really what caused me to launch this exact program, was like, oh my gosh, I now know what works. I know how to build a brand that I'm proud of, a brand I'd tell my parents about, a brand I'd actually put on my profile, um, that, that could— that is a meaningful business and does help, um, people in a meaningful way. So after you have a blog and an email list and a website, the second vehicle is your voice. So some of us don't write really well, but we talk well, or we like talking, or we are very conversational just in the way that we are. And, and this is for introverts too. So I don't— sometimes people think, oh, I'm not an extrovert, I can't do that. This dynamic right now, I love it because when I look at you, when I look into the camera, like, I in my mind see you. Like we're talking at a coffee date. Like, it's very natural for me. And it's cool because I am actually, I guess, a closet introvert. My children call me an ambivert because I have some extroverted tendencies and introverted, but I definitely don't enjoy sitting like at a dinner table trying to make small talk. I'm not awesome at that skill. So this is great because I can speak from my heart. I love it when I can actually follow along with comments., but I can speak from my heart and I can look at the camera and I can be like me. And so for those of you who are introverts, I think you'll find comfort. I actually know a lot of amazing public speakers that are introverts. Um, because when you get on stage, it's this one-to-many, which is very, very different than a one-to-one or many-to-many kind of scenario. And so I think that your voice, using your voice is certainly something that you might be surprised that you're better at than you think. So using your voice specifically is like the art of podcasting, the art of creating a voice application or a voice representation of your brand. And when I say that, I mean, you know, for those of you don't know, huge fan of Alexa. I was an early part of that project and evangelized it for years. And just, I to this day enjoy it, love it. I should mute my device in case I I say that name again. But I love it. And I, I think that as we evolve our understanding of how voice will be used within the world, that's a realistic part of something you should be thinking about as you build your brand. But podcasts, that's the meat and potatoes, if you will. How do you create a podcast? I will show you how to create one. And by the end of this program, you will have a podcast and you will have a schedule. And you will have the ability to just start sharing your voice with the world, your message through that voice. Now, for those of us who— and they're not all of us feel this way— but for those of us who do feel like, man, it'd be kind of cool. I like video, I like voice, but I also like to be in front of the camera, or I'm comfortable in front of the camera. If that is you, video is another channel. And there are a couple of really amazing opportunities in video today. One is of course YouTube. And so I, as part of this program, will provide you about 2 months of prompts for things to say as part of a Lovefluencer philosophy, right? That way you're not like, what am I going to talk about today? So you have 2 months of prompts that you can go through. And I say 2 months, if you post every day, that list could last you a year if you post at a longer cadence. Um, and then once you, So YouTube might be it. I am also a big fan of TikTok or Instagram Reels. Don't get me into the story about how all that happened, but Instagram Reels, but these 15-second, uh, videos. What can you teach in 15 seconds? I have done, in my mind, surprising content, but it's super engaging. Like, what if I could only show you the result of an AI model that's biased? What does that do? Like in my case, it actually triggers this polarization of like, AI is bad when actually it's not inherently bad. But, but that's what ended up happening, right, with the community that saw it. So you get this opportunity to kind of release like little bits of what you think, how you think, things that you're interested in, release it into the world as, as part of your— as part of your brand. And so now you have these three pillars of who you are. And again, we might find ourselves super strong in one area or another, but I think it's good to at least have a foundation in all three. The written word, which is like your blog or website, driving people to an email list that is your traffic you can control, um, and you have access to, as opposed to a social media platform like Facebook where you don't actually have access to those people really. Um, you can't email them whenever you want. Uh, and then the second thing is having a voice platform, whether that's building an Alexa skill that represents your blog or whether that's building a podcast. And we'll focus on the podcast piece for everyone because I think everyone should have a podcast. I love randomly looking for low-user podcasts and just seeing what they have to say. It's really fascinating. And I know you might not think that your story is interesting, but it is fascinating because I don't know what it's like to live a world through your eyes. And the more of us that can talk about that, I think the better. Um, and then finally, of course, the YouTube channel. So over the next 6 weeks, we're gonna go through all 4 of those. And then the last 2 pieces are probably what many of us are interested in, which is how do we monetize this puppy, right? Like, okay, I've built my brand, um, I've done all the work, how do I monetize it? And so the Second to last session is all about monetization options. Here's the, I guess, the root or the, I don't know, baseline moral of the story. I actually don't believe in monetization for monetization's sake. It's part of our Lovefluencer brand. We don't go for numbers to have numbers. We don't shoot for 10,000, you know, customers. We don't shoot for, you know, 10,000 followers, 15,000 likes. Like That's actually not how we measure our success. And I have now proven this multiple times, is that if you build an audience of people who know, like, and trust you, they're way more engaged, right? If I have 300 people who know, like, and trust me, my conversion rates are extreme, off the charts compared to a 10,000 user group, which I have like on Facebook. I have 11,000 followers. My conversion rates aren't as good there because people follow me because they're like, oh yeah, that's kind of cool. I like that. I'll follow her. They don't know me, they don't know my stories, they don't know my backstory. They don't have a whole lot of, you know, context to why I'm saying what I'm saying. So I feel like our job as a lovefluencer is to really focus on what we say and how we say it and gear it towards a term I've come to know as our 1,000 true fans, those people who, you know, resonate with our lifestyle, with the way our life experience that, you know, hear what we say and go, oh my gosh, that's me. I'm not alone. I struggled the same way. Hey, you struggled. And those are the people that we can, we can assist by providing our perspective on the world. So that is it. And then the final kind of closing section is really all about tools, frameworks, and resources. I have stumbled upon hundreds of tools and resources to build, like to build aspects of your personal brand. I believe in this term. I think I heard it from Gary Vaynerchuk. Scaling the unscalable. And I do believe in this. I believe at the beginning you want to do the things that are not scalable. You want to talk to every single person. Some of you know this, every single follower I get, I like, I follow back, right? And even when I got thousands at one time, I went back and was like, I got you, I got you, I will follow you, I'm interested in you, I want to know who you are. There was a time prior where I would even message everyone. I can't, like, that's literally now become unscalable for me because I can't manage 10,000 direct messages. Um, but I do my best, especially new followers. I'm like, yeah, hey, great, nice to meet you. Um, and I try to give them a vehicle for connecting with me and, you know, being part of my community. But I think monetization is interesting in that way because now, because I've spent time curating a community of people who know, like, and trust me, I can now feel more confident saying Hey, I wouldn't just sell you anything. Like, here's the thing, I think it's valuable. You should try it or don't try it. It's totally up to you. But I tried it and I loved it. Or in my case, I built a class that I think you're going to love. And I hope that, you know, I hope you find value in it. And that's exactly what this is. So as we go through, I'll bring this in for a close today. This is our shortest one. It's only meant to be about 30 minutes or so just to provide an introduction to this bootcamp. I will be going live in our Facebook group. So if you haven't joined our Facebook group yet, you can see it. I think I posted it on every social media channel I'm on. It's also in my bio on Instagram, in my bio, I posted a TikTok, like anyway, it's all over the place. So feel free to join that group. This is where you will get this free training. I will hop into Facebook Live you know, every day, every other day, just to be like, oh my gosh, I thought of this, or this is a cool idea, or this worked for me. I am doing so much, uh, brand building right now, and I don't need to. I actually love doing it. Um, but every piece of brand building that I do, I want to share with you all so you can be like, oh, that's all it took, right? Um, so like how to get on people's podcasts, how to increase the value of podcasts that you can be on, um, how to guest post on really exciting sites like Fortune magazine, um, or Inc. magazine, or any kind of periodical that you're interested in. There's all these little tips and tricks that without knowing them you kind of think it's hard, or at least I thought I was like, I'll never be like a contributor in these magazines. And over the years I've uncovered really that not only is it relatively simple, I mean, you have to write the content, so that's the hard part, but they actually are hungry for our voices, right? They want to hear from us. They want to know what's— what is it like to be a PM at Microsoft, or what's it like to be, you know, uh, having worked on a project that failed. It doesn't even matter what the project is, just how'd you deal with failure and how did you get through it. Um, the most important thing, I think, uh, we want to spend our time on is understanding what's our own hero's journey, right? What is that? I mean, many of us go through it multiple times. I know I have in my life gone through these like ups and downs and ups and some way downs and some way ups. Um, but it is in those stories that transformation happens, right? That I, I evolve as a human being. I always joke with my family that I want to create the Good Human Project, which is just about like Bad things happen. Like, it's life. But it is not the bad things— I've talked to some of you on my lives about this before— it's not the bad things that define us. It's who we are as a human that, you know, rises from the ashes. How do we recover from that? And there's no rhyme or reason or prescription for how that happens. But there is an opportunity for growth and for optimism and for hope. And so I always call myself a hope dealer because I have been through some bad stuff, and I know that your mindset is everything. So I will, I guess, disclaim in Lovefluencers, it's a lot about mindset. It's a lot about understanding that your voice is important and that what you have to say is needed in this world in ways you can't really understand, probably. Um, and that in your mind you might be like, no one wants to hear that. No, who cares about that? Nobody cares about my life. And you'd be surprised how many people are desperate to hear someone say a story that they think they are alone in. Um, and this world, it couldn't be a better time to get out there. So I want to equip you with the tools to release that information that you have in your brain and in your heart into the world. And I'm super excited to do it, uh, through the Lovefluencers, um, content. So if you have any questions, jot it down in any of these vehicles that you might see. Um, I will get better at managing my comments. So I'm gonna head over there right now and see, um, if, uh, okay, yes, and see if we have any comments, uh, and just make sure that— of course, I never— some of you have seen my lives where my audio didn't work the entire time. So I will be a living, breathing example that it's all okay, that if you show up on your own live and you totally mess it up it's okay. And if you do a podcast episode and you release it thinking that it sounded okay, and then you're, you know, somebody you know listens to it and is like, what were you thinking? Like, it's all okay. Um, we have a beautiful life experience that we get to create, and I want to just be at least one of the humans on this planet that encourages you to, um, to be part of that and to participate actively in that. So hopefully this was helpful and informative. I'm just gonna check on my LinkedIn as well. Oh yeah, cool. So thanks for everyone for commenting. It's super awesome. Thanks, Chad and Oscar. It's super awesome to see you guys here and have your support. And Sherry and Ryan's here too. Oh, that's cool. So it's going to be fun. I think it's going to be amazing. And you can always catch this stuff on the replay. So don't ever worry about— I mean, I'd love to have you hang out with me at 9 o'clock at night on a certain coast. But if you can't, catch it on the replay, chat in a comment. I just think it's going to be fun. It's going to be fun to change the DNA of this world with people who just speak differently and, you know, with empathy and kindness. And we tell the world that it's okay to talk like that and it's okay to be vulnerable. And most importantly, there's hope. Like, it's bad and then it gets better. It's winter and then there's spring. Like, the more of us that have this story and the more of us that tell it, I think the better the world will be. So thanks for joining me on my very first Lebfluencer training. Yay! And I will see you all next Thursday. So a week from tomorrow. Please reach out if you have any questions, comments, even if you have feedback. I won't necessarily change who I am as a result. But if you have anything you'd like me to do or talk about, please feel free to reach out and, um, and let me know. It's been really a pleasure. Thanks for commenting, thanks for saying hi, um, thanks for all the likes and the hearts, um, and I will talk to you guys again soon. Okay, I never know when this is gonna end, so I always kind of trail off at the end because sometimes it cuts me off. So, all right, I'll talk to you later.