Your Authentic Voice is Your Competitive Advantage

Well, welcome back to Podcast Tips. Thank you so much for being here with me. It's great to have you back, and it's great to be doing another, uh, show on, uh, on podcasting and having you here with me tonight. I appreciate it. There's always a lot of stuff going on in everybody's lives that, uh, can, can distract from joining me live. Um, now this This show is an audio and video podcast too, and it's on replay on all of the social media platforms and everything out there too. So my name is Rob Greenlee, and this show and this episode, and you probably saw it in the metadata and in the thumbnail, it's about building personal brand and how personal brand connects. And this is kind of like a two-part episode from the last episode. In episode 54 where I talked about fast starting a show, a podcast, audio video show. And so if you've been kind of following along with this, I appreciate you doing that. Hopefully these two episodes will bookend each other and make more sense to you. But, you know, I think In Episode 55 tonight, like I said, I'm going to be digging deep into the next critical step from the fast start part, which is building your personal brand that actually connects and has a personality that helps you grow your, your fan base, your listeners, your community, however you want to term those. They are folks that interested in hearing what you have to say. And really, your show isn't really necessarily only about the content. It's also about you, who you are. How do you speak to people? How do you present yourself? How much trust is built by the words that you use and your body language and how you talk, and all these things are so important. But we're all a unique cup of soup, right? We all have slightly different ingredients, and we all have something unique that we can bring to the world and bring to others. And that's what makes humans so unique. And I know I've talked this week on some of the other shows that I do talking about AI and how AI could get into creating content more. And I think this topic tonight is kind of like the yin and yang to that discussion that our artificial intelligent consciousness, are they going to have the things that I'm talking about tonight on this episode? And I think it's to kind of tie these two things in the world that are going on together is important to think about that. So as you you think about building your personal brand, that's going to be the, the real differentiator and the magnet that actually draws in listeners and viewers. And it's the reason, really, that keeps people coming back episode after episode. There's other factors at play here too. There's a psychological connection. There's a familiarity that, that the audience has with the person doing the show. I know I tend to, when I pick the shows that I like to watch, I, I do like to watch shows that I, I know are created by people that I'm, I'm familiar with and that I have maybe had contact with or had some sort of a, a conversation with in the past or had some sort of a connection And that is an important human characteristic of all this stuff. And so that's really, to cut through the chase here, is really important. And Georgie, thanks for joining us from Australia. Thank you so much. And I appreciate you being here. And so let me— get back to the, the conversation here. But, um, so today let's, let's walk through a step-by-step, you know, of, of how to create a strong and authentic personal brand. And this isn't necessarily entirely about podcasting or about, uh, online video or whatever, you know. This is really an approach that needs to be thought about as a synergistic aspect of what you do and how you present yourself and how you exist in the world. All of us have a certain level of personal brand externally. Now, I would say in the early years of my life, personal brand, I think, was quite different than it is now. The electronic age that we live in, the internet, social media, which didn't exist when I was a kid or when I was in my early 20s. Didn't really, wasn't really around. So, you know, how I thought about my personal brand really was very fundamental to a very relatively small group of people. Because most people that had large personal brands back in the earlier era typically were on television or in the movies. And had reach to reach a lot of people. And that's one of the big things that's changed now is that all of us have the capacity and the ability and the technological range to reach millions of people. And that hasn't always been the case in human culture and society. And so that step-by-step process is really about creating a strong, authentic personal brand. Now, I know that term authentic is thrown out there a lot by a lot of people. And I think it's true to some degree, but it's also maybe overused. Really, authentic is more of a term to describe your ability to be more personal. Or more speaking from your life experience, speaking from the heart, speaking from a perspective of care. I think when people throw around that term authentic, I think it gets misunderstood or construed into things that maybe aren't as relevant about how you think about it. So, I think it's a way to stand out. Is someone that's able to communicate authentically and with a certain amount of passion and a certain amount of care and some level of, you know, some personal empathy that you can bring to that communication that you do externally. And it's really all of this is really kind of linked in psychology. It's And I hate to even bring this up, but in some ways, some of the people that are best at doing this are genuinely being who they are, right? They have outgoing personalities and they have the ability to express themselves in a way that's like a magnet to others that want to be around them, whether it's because they're successful or is it because that they just, they're like a magnet to people and people want to be associated with people that are magnetic to other people. So it's, it's like this compounding effect. It's like this, this group kind of mentality that, that, that happens in our society and our culture is that those that foster human connections are typically more attractive to other people or trusted by other people because they're, they're seen as being trusted by other people. So it's creating a, a kind of like a loop on yourself. So the more people that trust you you or see you as relatable or interesting or fun or have great perspectives on things. You know, it might spark all sorts of different emotions. You know, some people might hate you. Some people might love what you say. And some people are like, you know, I'm not so sure. You know, so, you know, it's really a matter of sparking something, right? And I think that's People remember people that are memorable, that have done things that have impacted them or said something that they connect with or said something that they massively disagree with. It's always fascinating to me if I think back to my media creation career, which is about 24 years, 25 years now, the times when I felt like I really connected to my audience and Those were times when I was talking about controversial things. It can be very uncomfortable to do that. You can also question yourself, well, should I just take that easy road and just take the middle road? Take the high road is what's always said, right? But that's not always the best thing to do if you want to build trust in others because If you always take the high road, sometimes people will say, well, you know, he's hedging his bets. He's not really being definitive about— no one anymore is, you know, middle ground anymore. Everybody's either one side or the other, you know. And I think we just went through that over the last, you know, umpteen years with politics. So I think all of us can associate with this. And so You know, if you're a business owner or a creator or someone with a message to share, right, out there, these are things that you kind of have to psychologically think about it. And I know that, you know, people that post on social media sometimes play manipulative mind games with people to get them to react, right, and get them to respond. And, and those people that are able to play that psychological you know, I hate to say game, but manipulation on people are oftentimes, are building a certain element of their personal brand around that kind of concept around them that they are, they are someone that they need to react to, right? And that is part of a characteristic of a personal brand. And each of those creators or someone that's in business or something like that, they kind of paint a picture of themselves publicly, right, that follows them for many, many years in their journey through their business life. Or, you know, like, I spent many years playing competitive sports. So my first exposure to kind of a certain level of notoriety, fame, and personal brand was through my basketball playing days when, you know, when media covered the team that I played on and covered those kind of things. And stars on the team typically got more coverage in the newspaper. So, or in the radio or wherever we were being covered. And that built a certain amount of stardom, right, to some degree, which stardom is linked to creating a personal brand, you know, and it can be the most valuable asset that you have now in this new world that we live in. A personal brand that is rising, right, or the star is rising is the term that they sometimes refer to it, is valuable. You know, people are earning incomes now for expressing themselves online and sparking conversations with other people., online. We're seeing it on YouTube, we're seeing it on X, we're seeing it on Instagram, we're seeing it on TikTok, all these. And increasingly, that personal brand is now being linked up with the ability to create commerce, right? Or to create, you know, influence that can drive e-commerce traction, right? People buying things because these people are considered to be influencers. But the reason that they're influencers is because they have strong personal brands. And then they've been able to leverage those personal brands to be a conduit for e-commerce and use that personal brand to drive value to an audience member or a follower or however you want to call it to see what they're doing and get that message that's linked up with that person's personal brand. So, you know, this concept that podcasters now are thinking about when they create a podcast is they want to know that they can have a pathway to make money. And this gets back a little bit to what I was talking about in the prior episode around fast start, right? So the fast start is, you know, you create a show, you create a concept, and you go into it thinking that there's these pathways that I understand at the beginning that I can set myself up to be able to monetize or make money from that. So, you know, and it's, and, you know, it's, it's a pathway that's well beaten right now. And so it's, it's something that works. And there are people out there that have been able to leverage this personal brand characteristics and And I think personal brand also applies to the content brand too. Oftentimes, you know, there's examples that I'll share in here on that, that people's names are now big business, right? It's— and people are creating whole media companies based on one individual's brand name and the reputation that they have. Whole media companies are formed around, and this has been going on in mainstream legacy media for many years, especially on the radio, where you have these big nationally syndicated talk show hosts that have a big name in the market and they can drive commerce, right? So what's happening is that's moving from legacy media over to the online side. And, and it's really emphasizing more the individual and the personal brands as opposed to the brand of like ABC or CBS or CNN, those are becoming diminished because people don't trust corporations. People don't trust media. People don't trust product brands as much as they trust people. And if those people can inflict a feeling of trust and a feeling of alignment and a and have personality, then they're more likely to connect with those people. And, you know, so the takeaway from this is, is that what, what makes you and what yours different in the landscape? And if you translate that into what I was just saying about where the shift in the market is moving towards, is individuals having power now. Power to reach people and to have influence over large numbers of people? Well, that difference is you, your personality, your ability to communicate, and your skills in being able to do that, and your presence. Right? What's your unique experiences? What's your insights? But most of all, What's your personality? Is it relatable? Is it fun? Is it something that you find in real life that people like to be around you? You know, these are the things, you know, I used to work for PodcastOne down in Los Angeles many years ago now and worked with a lot of celebrities. And I like to use this example a lot too, is that there would be Hollywood celebrities coming in the door all day long, every day I was working down there in the office in Beverly Hills. And, and some of these celebrities were being pitched to have a podcast on PodcastOne. And some of them were pitched, some of them were, were not pitched. And sometimes the, the reason that some of them were pitched is because it just didn't, it didn't seem like it was going to work, right? They, you know, some celebrities, they got to have a script, right? They have to have a script for them to be able to be, you know, acceptable out there. Some of them just don't have personal personalities that connect with people. So not every celebrity that launched a show that, that we did do a deal with actually was successful. So podcasting is not a guarantee. Just because you have a big following and you have a lot of people that know of you and know your name and all that stuff, it's an advantage. But it doesn't translate into a personal medium like creating a video show on YouTube or creating a podcast. That takes a different kind of personality. It's really kind of a social personality that really works well, you know, and it, and, you know, you know, and I think a lot of creators really kind of go into this thinking that it's all about the content. And it's true, increasingly that's kind of what we're seeing happen is that topics and content and how it's presented are important, but it's this melding between human personality or being able to connect with people and actually taking active interest in people even outside of your show. And I haven't talked about that yet, but this is just the entry point for many people that are especially new. Maybe they haven't seen you before, but they were attracted to the show or the concept or the, the topic that you wanted to cover. But how do you convert people to be your fans or people that want to continue to see your content and and hear from you and maybe do a call with you, maybe work with you in a professional capacity, right? Maybe want to sign up for, you know, a training or a one-on-one consultation or something like that. Content creators are doing all these kinds of things. And so you can't really just throw out some content and just hide behind the content without thinking about that personal touch that you have as a person. So I try and respond to, you know, any question that I can out there. You know, there is a limit to how much time, um, and, and, and that is a gating factor here. But that personal brand builds trust with your audience, and, and that's so valuable to kind of foster that. And it makes you recognizable, memorable, and it attracts, hopefully, if you're doing it from a position of being aware of how you come across, can attract the right audience or an audience that, you know, is consistent with who you are and what you want to accomplish if you're clear about it in the show. And to, to kind of take it back, I mean, I started podcasting back in 2004, and like I said earlier, I didn't really think too much about personal branding when I started the, the show. It was just, for me, it was like many, uh, is just about creating content, right? And I, I thought, you know, if I had interesting topics or if I had, um, things to cover, and I, I brought in guest co-hosts and and lots of guests on my show to kind of fill in for what I perceived at the time was kind of like my, my weakness, which is my ability to be able to hold a show on my own and not have to have all these crutches around me of other people. Now granted, that's a double-edged sword, and I'm being a little transparent about that because, because others can feel that way too. They're, they're less kind of confident and themselves that they have the personality to hold a show, not unlike a major syndicated radio talk show host that does a 3-hour show 5 days a week. You know, that kind of a person has to have confidence that they can hold people's attention for long periods of time. Now granted, radio is kind of like in and out and stuff, but those that can hold attention in a 3-hour podcast is unique. You know, those people have a special ability. And one name that comes to mind, and it may be, you know, someone that you're familiar with or you like or you don't like, and it's an interesting example, is like a Joe Rogan. You know, Joe Rogan inspires the full spectrum of emotional responses from his audience. But at the end of the day, he's built a huge audience and he gets people to, you know, listen to long-form content. Now, granted, I don't know how far people listen into his 3-hour episodes or 2.5-hour episodes. And in some ways it doesn't matter because sometimes if you build up enough loyalty based on that personal brand, that people will listen to as much as they can and then they'll come back, like maybe later in the day or the next day and finish listening to it. So, you know, if you have a strong enough bond with that host or that show personality, then you're going to be more loyal to it. And that's really at the core of what you want to accomplish with your personal brand is that it— what you want to build is loyalty. So one of the ways of doing that is consistency is one thing. It's consistently bringing value is the other thing. And it's also having some level of enjoyment and fun and entertainment in the in the content. You know, I would say that's probably one of my weaknesses myself, is I'm not a comedian, so I don't really— I can't throw those zingers in there very easily and, and to get people to laugh. Or I can certainly disappoint people, make people mad at me and upset, probably more easily than I can to make them laugh. So So, each one of us kind of has our strengths. And, you know, and the takeaway from that is that really in a lot of ways, like I mentioned earlier too, it's people aren't always just listening for the information. They oftentimes over time will start to trust you so much that they'll be tuning in to hear your perspectives. On things. And I believe that's why we're seeing a lot of shows become popular around trending topics. And that personal brand associated with a perspective that maybe aligns with that other person is an important aspect. You know, they're getting your insights. They're getting maybe confirmation of what they already assume or think might be going on, and if they can hear it confirmed by someone else, that makes them feel bonded to you, right? So that's why we have this kind of— I almost hate to use this term— but tribalism that goes on in, in podcasting and in media in general that we've seen is because people have a certain kind of thought that they have about certain world events or or what's going on in the world, and they want to find those hosts that will maybe apply a little bit of deep thought to those same opinions that they have, but ultimately they want to listen to people that have the same viewpoint that they have, and that's a confirmation bias to some degree, but there are certain people that like to listen to people that are completely contrary to them too, and that creates a different kind of kind of dynamic. I've had people at times in the past with the shows that I've created where I could just tell they, they don't like what I cover in my show. They don't like sometimes my opinions, but they're always listening, and they always come in and give me unfortunately negative feedback. And but they're always there every week giving me negative feedback. So, you know, what does that say? You know, they're turning in, tuning in for my perspective, my insights, even though they vehemently disagree with me. And that may be the reason that they're turning, tuning in, is that they like the feeling of getting riled up against something that they disagree with. So the psychology of, of what you build, these are very complex topics. And when I talk about personal brand, it layers in so many aspects of being a human and interacting with people, especially in a very divided culture that we have today, and it's really getting accentuated and being really kind of in some ways kind of crazy and somewhat out of control because what happens too is if this spins to its ultimate kind of destination, It could also be something that people start feeling like they need to shut it down or they need to censor it. And I think we've been through that a little bit already, that this dialogue, this conversation that personal brands create, and oftentimes that's where it's coming from, is one that people feel so uncomfortable and so hurt by it and felt like it's damaging our society and our culture that it needs to be turned off, needs to be shut down, it needs to be censored, or it needs to be moderated somehow. Right? So, these personal brands are very powerful. And if you think about it from that perspective, it has a very powerful influence on the world. And so, when I start showing more of my personality and my views and my my stories and my kind of personal views about things, that can get you into very volatile water. And, and sometimes some of the content creators these days are building a personal brand about doing that. And, and if you're gonna do that, the other thing you have to develop is what I like to call thick skin. Because you're going to face a lot of opposition out there. And that's very, very challenging, and it can drive people to be scared for their safety. It can drive people into all sorts of concerns about their personal sphere if people get too upset with them. But But, you know, your personal brand just so much matters out there and it's so important and it doesn't get talked about enough. But let's, let's dive into the next phase of this show, and that is the 3 core pillars of a strong personal brand. So these are, these are aspects that we can think about as individuals as we contemplate doing content online, right? Building a personal brand isn't about faking it. So, you know, that's, that's the thing. You can have a strategy around it, but it's not so much around faking it because people can smell fake. People can perceive fake. People can sense when something isn't quite right at times. I think people are pretty good at at, you know, camouflaging their, their fakeness at times, depending on how talented they are. And, and that is something that you have to keep in mind too. And it's not about creating a persona, even though I think that does happen. I think there are content creators out there that are not being who they really are. They're taking on a character Right. They're taking on a characteristic that they think the market wants. And I think that is a, that's, that's a, that's a faked personal brand is what that is, or a contrived personal brand. And eventually you're going to get found out because you're going to slip into situations where you're going to be seen in a certain level of hypocrisy, or you're going to see a certain amount of contradiction, right? That's going to, over time, could erode the confidence that your following or your fans or the people that have respect for you and want to trust what you say, it gets eroded over time, you know. And, but it is about amplifying your authentic self and your authentic personhood, your authentic approach to how you think about the world and can present that in a way that connects with people and serves your audience. So the first kind of major thing to think about is your brand identity. Who do you think that you are? And you might want to talk to others to get feedback on this. Who do, like, your friends think you are? What do they see as your strengths and your weaknesses? What do they think of your personality? What do they think about aspects of things that maybe you can improve on, right? Or how you can present yourself that would come across better? You know, I think getting clear on your expertise— now, that can be done just looking at your resume, right? And that can also just be done by by doing a self-analysis on your expertise, your experience, and what you think you bring to the table. Because sometimes what you think you bring to the table isn't necessarily what you bring to the table. So somehow you got to get some feedback on that, right? You got to get some sort of a feedback loop going on, on what people think of you and trying to identify what your unique voice is. What do you think your personality is like? I know I'm a little bit on the dry personality. I'm not a wild crazy man. I don't yell into my microphone. I don't try and take extreme views on things, even though sometimes people will think I have extreme views, but really I don't. But that's all subjective, right? People have different views of people based on their own bias. So is your personality funny? Is it serious? Is it analytical? Is it problem-solving based? Is it spoken from an experience base? You know, I mean, what are you— and that will drive you to be successful in various genres of content too. Certain genres of content require being funny. Some certain genres of content require a person to be serious, and some require analytical abilities. But generally, all of them have the characteristics that are required for success to be the ability to connect on a personal level with another human being. And that can take all sorts of different forms. You know, and what's your core message? What do you want to stand for? All of us need to have a mission behind what we're doing, especially if we were a media creator. You know, a person thinking of you, what do they think your purpose or your mission in life is? What do you think that you represent to the world? If 1,000 people looked at you and were able to see you for who you are, what would they think that you represented in the world? So that is— and what drives you every day to get up and communicate with others, whether it's in your full-time job or in your consulting business or in your media creation platform. So what's your core message? What do you stand for? What's your meaning? What are you willing to die on the hill over because you believe it so strongly? And that's an important thing to think about is, you know, and build that personal brand and get clear on what it is so you can craft or kind of hone your perspective or hone your presentation that is clear and compelling. So this is, this is a lot of self-reflection as well. And the one of the other things to think about too is, are you a go-to expert in whatever topic that is? You know, for, for me, it's, I have a certain level of expertise around podcasting and podcast monetization and distribution and and the psychology of podcasting, because I've been through— I've done so many different shows in so many different formats and in so many different environments and situations that for me, it's really turned into a conversation that's more— and you can probably tell from this episode, it's really more linked with psychology of podcasting. And I think that is an important kind of aspect of this that I'm starting to evolve into being, I think, more my strength. And that's understanding the whys and the motivations and the reasons that things happen around content creation. And because I've had so many different kind of emotional experiences myself and my own ability to do this, be a podcaster, and to do all sorts of different formats. Um, you know, um, are, are you, uh, a voice of just normal people, or are you typically a voice of, you know, elites or people that are at a higher level, um, of life? All right, rich, poor, um, what, where do you land when it comes— for me, it's like I've actually painted a lot of my career as a voice of independent creators. I've also painted my career of sharing kind of behind the scenes of my tech and my gear and how I do things and what my approach is, you know, what's my gear, you know. I think you also have to really define yourself and really try and own it. So I think that that's a big part of, you know, those next steps. You know, what I would recommend is that you sit down and you write down 3 words that describe your, your brand's personality. You know, and what you'll do if you write those 3 words down to describe your personality, They can be filters for you as a gauge to help you create whatever you want to create. Because once you have a clear idea of your personality and the characteristics of your— the main characteristics, the 3 main characteristics of your brand's personality, it's going to be easier for you to formulate how, how you're going to create content. And how you're gonna be in the content. So, and so you don't go off thinking that you're something that you're not. And I think that's really the takeaway from the first step here. And then the next one is kind of build an engaging on-air kind of personality or another term is persona, right? Now, that's not contrived, you know, but it needs to be thought about. It needs to be formatted in a way with your content that puts you in a position to connect with your audience, right? There's methods and techniques and technologies that you can use to better connect with your audience and have a conversation with them. But connection, like I said, doesn't happen by accident. You know, it's an intentional act that you do in the content to have that connection with your audience. And I think that's how you craft your on-air or your persona. And I think that really is something that's important in a live show. Like what I'm doing tonight. So, so I think the big thing is be authentic but amplified. So that authentic personality needs to be amplified with energy and enthusiasm and a level of entertainment and information, right? And knowledge and value. But at the end of the day, it's about emotional connection, you know, but you have to turn up the, the dial on it a little bit. And I think, you know, the energy of this podcast And oftentimes, with your experience, what you'll find is that you get started with lots of energy and, and you start to have show fatigue, and your energy starts to drop. And that is a, that's a common situation, but you always have to be turning the knob on. It's kind of like being a competitive basketball player, which I did for 13 years. And, and, you know, you got to keep, you know, you got to keep the energy up. You know, 4th quarter can be a little tough if it's, you know, tied and there's 4 minutes to go and you're beat, right? You've been beat down by the back and forth volleying of trying to get ahead and win the game, right? But you got to dig deep down and get across the finish line and win the game. And I think that applies to being a content creator too. So, you know, really work on crafting your signature style. Do you have a catchphrase? You know, like, um, like my catchphrase on my radio show I did for 7 years, um, it was a web talk radio, radio show, was 'I'll see you around the net,' because the topic of the show was talking about the World Wide Web and the internet. And back in those days, that was my catchphrase at the end of every episode, was 'I'll see you around the net.' So it was one of those things that I'm telling the audience that You know, you're going to catch me, or you're going to see me online. And so I'm going to catch up with you online. So that's kind of, you know, creating that kind of feeling of interactivity and availability. You know, things have changed a little about the availability part, but having pathways to your audience to reach you that are safe for you, but yet easily utilized and effective. Comments are a great way to do that. You know, I've been getting some comments in, and I'll be taking these comments towards the end of the show once I've gotten through these, these main steps here. So your comments are not going to go to waste. I'm going to try and go through them quickly towards the end and answer any questions. So feel free to post them in there, and I'll get them covered. I haven't been pulling them up because I'm really going into some kind of deep topics here. So I want to cover those. And so each one of us has a signature style, a storytelling method, and some uniqueness. And make it unique to you. You know, how do you want to start the show? What kind of energy do you want to bring into the show? And how do you want to carry that energy through that's consistent, right? And master your vocal presence. So, you know, you can't be like monotone or whatever. I tend to be a little monotone to be honest with you. So I really have to work hard at inflection and getting some highs and getting some lows and projecting. And that's something that I've had to learn over many, many years. I've been doing this type of work for 25 years. So there are lots of different environments that I've had to get into where I've had to keep my energy up, pace myself, be consistent, in my tone and have that tone match the content? And also have that tone and energy match the audience? And what am I saying and what am I doing that's catching the audience's attention, right? So they're not looking down at their phone the whole time that they're watching the content that you're doing, or if I'm doing it live on stage, which I do on a regular basis as well, you know, getting people to pay attention means that you sometimes have to maybe startle them to some degree. Or that's why telling a joke, dropping a joke sometimes is pretty effective, is that it startles people into paying attention. Or what some people like to do is they'll make a loud noise on the stage, or they'll take like a certain phrase and they'll just like yell it at the audience and get them to wake up and pay attention. And so these are all techniques that you can use to hold on to the audience's attention. I don't always recommend that all the time. I mean, if you've got a natural personality that is projecting and interesting and entertaining, you probably don't have to use those kind of techniques where you have to startle your audience, which may be something that that you maybe don't want to do. So, so I think I gave you some examples of, of different types of personalities and what they do and how important that is, you know, thinking about like a Joe Rogan or an Alex Cooper or a Pat Flynn, which I've known for, for years. And each one of these guys and, and girls has a, has a unique voice and a, and a style. That people have grown accustomed to. And all three of them, the common characteristic to all three of them is that they're relatable humans and that they actually present in a way that people relate to. The words that they use, how they say them, what's their body language, how do they, you know, what's their facial expressions, that all gets back into how people see you and perceive you. Right? So, you know, you have to start thinking about, well, what's your unique voice? What's your unique style that makes the show recognizable and unique? Now, granted, these are very, very challenging concepts to internalize, especially if you have a hard time identifying, you know, who you are, what you project about yourself. A lot of people don't understand how they come across to other people. So if you don't have some idea about that or have experienced kind of like natural success with it, right, in your normal life, that people are attracted to you and, and you've learned over a long period of time that, that certain types of behavior or certain types of physical motions and expressions tend to gravitate people to you, these are learned behaviors that happen over long periods of time.. And if, if you don't have that history of, of, you know, being able to do that, then you have to start learning something new, right? And you have to start working on it and training yourself. That's why there's trainers, you know, uh, speaker training and voice training and, and all these, you know, the National Speakers Bureau and all the stuff like that where people will will help you, train you to be a better presenter and a better speaker. So, you know, what's yours? What's unique about yours? And then the next action step is to just record yourself speaking naturally and listen back. Does your energy match the vibe that you're hoping for? That you want for your brand? If not, you're going to have to kind of adjust. And then you probably have to run it by other people and share that with somebody that can give you honest feedback. You know, sometimes if you share something like that with your mom, they're going to say, oh, it's great, it's perfect. But it may not be. So you can't always trust family. So you have to get somebody to look at what you're doing and give you honest feedback. And that's why oftentimes people go to, like, voice training consultants and things like that, that can, that feel like that they can give you honest feedback on that. And then the next one is being able to foster this consistency in your personal brand experience across many different types of formats and platforms. You know, a podcast is just one piece of this, right? Creating an audio show is different than creating a video show. And being able to do both is, is a skill. There's no question about it. It's a post-production skill too, and it's a pre-production skill that's unique as well. So, you know, it's, it's really even doing podcasts and a video show is kind of like one piece of the puzzle. Your, your personal brand extends across every touchpoint of your online presence or your, your real-world presence too, on social media, on your website, in your email newsletters, you know, how you engage with your, your followers, you know, whether it's a listener, a viewer, or a reader, you know, what is that What do you represent to them? Use consistent visuals, right? This is where the, the visual branding comes into place. The visual branding needs to be consistent with your, with your personal brand. So they need to ride together because what you're going to find is, is that, that visual brand needs to be linked up with your personal brand, you know, and, and that's where sometimes things go a little awry because people will promote their business brand separately from who they are when those brands are intermixed with each other and they're integral to each other and they're connected to each other. And you do want to try and maintain that. But at the end of the day, you're probably going to find more success linking your personal brand as the primary and your podcast or your show or your company as a secondary brand. You know, and if you're creating content, you know, your format of the show needs to be unique to your personality. It needs to be unique to your, what you see as your brand and what you bring to the market. And like I mentioned many times earlier, you got to engage with your audience regularly in comments, direct messages, Q&As, like what I'm doing with this show. So, you know, what I'm doing with this show with my own personal brand is fostering the same type of relationship that I've tried to foster with podcasters and creators for 20 years of my career working for all these podcast hosting platforms, working with podcasters at all levels. From big celebrities to individuals that want to start shows. And the landscape is always changing, so I have to change who I am too and how I present myself and where I present myself. It's like I'm, I'm doing live video now. I mean, which I've been doing live video for a long time, but this is something that I've kind of taken over and tried to paint it with my own kind of brand touches and things that I like. So You know, you can kind of see my philosophy on this myself, but I'm not a, I'm not a perfect example for you. So each one of you needs to come up with your own mix on all this. So, you know, and then also share kind of behind the scenes, kind of what makes you unique and the struggles that you have with what you're doing. You know, be fairly transparent about it. Now, granted, you know, the instincts that most people will have is to hold back and say, I don't want to show all my dirty laundry. I don't want to show all my mistakes. I don't want to be seen as having problems. Um, but sometimes that humanizes you, and sometimes that shows that you're, you're who you say you are, and, and you value the the authentic process, right? And that means that you kind of have to express personal kind of perspectives that may be not always favorable to you. And that builds trust too, because then people aren't thinking that you're just, you know, flattering yourself all the time, and but behind the scenes nothing ever goes wrong, because that's just not the experience that most people have. So, you know, and to kind of mention another guy that has done this, and, you know, like a Gary Vaynerchuk, you know, Gary Vee has built his personal brand. It's a very interesting and unique process. I met Gary back in probably 2007, something like that. And He was just getting started with his Wine Library podcast and stuff, and he's just really kind of really doubled down on this personal brand thing and really built a name for himself. You know, he's been doing podcasts and video podcasts for many, many years, and he didn't find huge success in the early days. It just took him finding his voice and being able to speak from his heart. And connect with people where they needed to be connected to. And he speaks to people in a way that is helpful and informative and sometimes rather stern too. And I think people tend to respect that. I've seen a few speeches that Gary has given that I probably wouldn't have wanted to be on the stage in his shoes saying the things that he said to this audience. So It's one of those things that sometimes raw candor creates an emotional reaction that maybe starts out as kind of a repulsion, but over a period of time people realize, well, maybe he was speaking the truth. You know, that's the reality. And some people don't realize when somebody says something controversial or says something that maybe one doesn't agree with, that maybe the reason that they don't agree with it is because they're not able to see it in their life yet because maybe they haven't gone down the same paths that Gary has gone down. And even, even myself, to be able to, to, to express kind of the aspects of doing this stuff, um, that people don't always realize, um, and that's, that's his gift. Um, he stayed consistent in his tone and his message And it's made him instantly recognizable, and he's maintained a fairly consistent brand look to his presentations and stuff. And so the, the, the big part here is to, is to choose, really, I would say to start out here, choose one platform where you'll show up consistently, consistently outside of your podcast and, and video. So You know, those are aspects. So the, the podcast and the video show are places that you need to hone that personal brand and build that connection. But, you know, there are other places online that you can come across, whether it be X or Blue Sky or, or YouTube or LinkedIn or Facebook on these platforms. What's your persona over there? What's your presentation over there? You know, post at least once a week sharing your insights that align with your, your brand and what you represent, what your values are. And also share some, you know, some candid behind-the-scenes content too. You know, you know, and how do you turn your personal brand into an audience magnet? That's the next part here that I wanted to share really quick too. It's kind of a 3-part strategy here is that now that you've built a strong personal brand, well, what's the next step to use it to attract and grow audience? There, there's kind of 3 parts to this. It's create shareable content that amplifies your brand. So really kind of double down into your brand and, and what does it represent in the market? And share highlights of your episodes in the Shorts and on these, on this social media platform or a variety of them. And, you know, repurpose your podcast episodes into blog posts and LinkedIn articles and YouTube Shorts, like I was saying either. So clip highlights are important. They can be vertical videos, but they can also be clip highlights in widescreen. Video experiences as well. And also write and share hot takes on the industry trends that you are focused on covering. You know, audiences love opinionated content, so people like to either like or dislike your, your thoughts. You know, if your show is about tech to some degree like this one is, do like a 60-second take on breaking news and and post it out there. Or do a show on trending news. And also leverage your guest appearances. So, get on other people's podcasts and get that other podcast to have you on as a guest because you're an expert on the topic that's related to your personal brand. You know, appear on those shows to talk about your insights that are linked up with your personal brand. What's your expertise? What's your knowledge? What do you, what can you bring to another person's podcast? And I think these are important things to think about and then collaborate with other creators. You know, if you can do events together or if you can collaborate and share audiences, especially if there are creators that are in a related genre that you are covering and you guys are maybe amplifying because you're combining your efforts or you do live events together, or you're at a conference and you get on each other, you know, on each other's panel sessions or something like that. And also, on your own show, feature guests that align with your brand too and align with your mission. And this is something that I've talked about when it comes to guesting is bring on guests that are not a replacement for you in your expertise, but add credibility to your expertise and your knowledge, right? And build on top of yours and boost yours, right? So maybe they, you have a certain approach and a view in the market, and this guest brings in, you know, more ammo to the battle, right? That they can fuel your message even more and add to what you have to say, not necessarily a replacement for what you have to say or somehow come in and be entirely contradictory to what you have to say in your, your brand and your message. So it's massaging this to come up with a synergistic approach. And also, you know, as part of that, make a list of 5 podcasts or YouTube shows where you'd love to be a guest on. Go out and find those. You know, start to follow and listen to other shows that are similar to yours in genre and focus. And/or kind of shows that you have an affinity toward or you really like the guests or the host or the interactions on that show. And if you can fashion your brand to fit into that show or that particular community to add value to that host, then you're more likely to get picked up as a guest. And so, that's the big thing too. That's an opportunity out there. And then really the most important part is really engage, engage, engage with people as much as you can online. In the comments, direct messages, and emails, ask your audience questions and feature the responses on the show. You know, like I'm going to do at the end of this show is host, you know, and take live questions, Q&As. Ask me anything type of segments, and you'll address them the best that you can, you know. And, and the next thing too is at the end of your episode, ask listeners to direct message you your biggest struggle in whatever it is you're doing, whether it's podcasting or creating media, or send you an email and share your email address.. And, you know, a powerful personal brand doesn't happen overnight. So you have to kind of really work at it and you have to build on top of it. And sometimes it takes years of consistent work. You know, you can't build a big personal brand overnight. It just doesn't, doesn't happen that way. You know, the, what you really have to strive for is connecting those people deeply to you and have that loyalty there. You know, and, and really, you know, to, to, to wrap it up here to some degree is really kind of define your personal brand, your identity, refine how you come across in the show, create a consistent experience across platforms, and engage with your audience. Those are the key things is Get clear on what your brand is. Get clear on what your personality is and be consistent with that and engage with your audience. Connect and do as much interaction as you can. And sometimes that's hard for people to do. So, let's kind of move towards taking your questions and kind of running through these to some degree. We got a message on LinkedIn from Lamin, if I'm saying that first word correct. Says, hello everyone from Gambia in West Africa, how are you doing? Well, I'm doing great. Alem— was it Lamin actually is how it's pronounced. Thank you so much for the comment and Lammon also writes in here, um, Rob, I really want to talk to you. Can, can, uh, please join me in your life? So, uh, well, thank you for the comment here. I appreciate it. And, um, well, let's, let's keep this dialogue going in the show. And, and, you know, you're welcome to send me messages, and we can— I can learn a little bit more about you and, and start a conversation. So That's really the, the power of connection with others. And Georgie writes here, um, as long as you can— uh, let me start again. Um, as long as you are true to yourself when doing a show, that's what matters most, I believe, is, is the comment here from Georgie. And the next one is, one great question to ask a close friend is, why are we friends? And keep pushing past the superficial answers. Well, that's a very good question as part of your interaction with the people in your world, and it's powerful to try and get deeper, right? It's powerful to to talk to even casual people in your life at a deeper level and kind of get beyond those superficial conversations and take interest in someone else and what they're thinking. And I think that can be a very powerful thing to do. And it's something that you probably have to do with your podcast too, is if you can dig beneath the surface and get to emotional layers I think that's powerful. And we've got a comment here from Sarah Richardson that said, I love that. I'm definitely going to write down the 3. And I appreciate that. And it's going to be in the show notes of the episode too, Sarah. So this is all going to be broken down and shared there. And certainly, if you have any any more questions, I think you know a pathway to actually do that. So I, I appreciate, um, you joining here tonight and, um, and asking that question and sharing that. So, um, so anyway, I just want to say I appreciate everybody being here, and thank you so much. Um, I'm, I'm happy that you're here, and this is going to go out as an audio and video podcast as well, so I'm going to pull up on the screen here kind of a, a little bit information about how to reach out to me and contact me. So I'm at rob.greenlee@gmail.com, and I'm on X as well, @RobGreenlee. And my YouTube channel is, uh, youtube.com/@RobGreenlee, and you can catch up, uh, with this show there as well as, uh, catch up with it, um, in the podcast feed, which is also, um, let me go down to that. That's at this address, podcasttips blubrry.net, podcasttips.blubrry.net. And so that'll also be in the show notes as well. So if you wanted to go check out all the past audio and video episodes, you can go to that website and find that there. So I also do a live show every Wednesday at 3 PM Eastern called The New Media Show. I do it with the CEO of Blubrry. And I'm also the chairperson of the Podcast Hall of Fame, which is at podcasthall.com. So if you wanted to go check out the most recent induction ceremony that was put on down in Orlando back here in January, you can go watch the whole thing on, on YouTube off of the website. So that's all, that's all great. And thank you so much for joining me tonight and being with me here. And if you want to connect with me more On an individual level, I would love to have you a part of my Adore Creator community on Schooles, and this is a free community, and, and that's also linked to in the, in the show notes as well. So come on over there, and I'm trying to— I'm in the process of building out a podcast network and, and building a group of folks that have an interest in, in keeping their shows going and maybe having some, some help with that. So, so anyway, I appreciate you being here tonight. Thank you so much. Keep the comments and the feedback coming, uh, to all the contact points that are in this live program. And like I said, thank you so much for being here tonight. Good night, and I hope you— oh, looks like we did get one more comment coming in from— looks like Sarah Richardson wrote one more thing. It says I love this, Rob. Uh, so nice. Authenticity with strategy, trying, trying it together, uh, isn't something that I've heard of articulated in the way that you did this evening. Well, thank you, Sarah. I appreciate that. Yeah, it's— I don't think it's talked about in this way, and that's why I like to do these type of episodes, is that it's getting in the weeds of these topics that, um, oftentimes don't get covered because it's really the podcasting game and the new media game right now is, is really a psychology game. And you have to really start getting into the weeds of your own personal psychology as well as the, the, um, the media landscape and what people are attracted to and what is motivating people to do things, uh, or not do things, or to be angry or to be appreciative or to You know, you kind of have to— it's a people's, um, people's game. It's a community game. It's, um, but it's not really a game. What you're doing is you're actually dealing with real people, and that's, that's powerful. So anyway, the long goodbyes. Thank you so much and have a wonderful rest of your evening, and I appreciate you being here. Thank you so much.