Digital Marketing Strategist

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Welcome to the Legacy Leavers series on Success Secrets Exposed. Tune in live every Tuesday at 7 PM Eastern time or Wednesday mornings in Australia on W4CY Radio and Talk4TV. The series showcases experts, changemakers, and disruptors leaving a lasting legacy with those Sharing their wisdom with the world.

Good morning, good afternoon, and good day to you all, and welcome to another episode of Success Secrets Exposed. Today we're going to be talking about digital marketing, and this episode is going to be fast-paced. I've had extra coffee, so it's definitely going to be on. But I'm really, really excited to introduce to you my very, very special guest today, Prosper Tivit. Taringa, who is a visionary digital marketing strategist and is the founder of Live Long Digital. He comes from humble beginnings in Zimbabwe to become one of Australia's trailblazers in the marketing space, and his journey is one of resilience, innovation, and transformation. And he is the creator of the Online Prosperity Blueprint, where he helps coaches, consultants, and service-based business owners scale with value-driven, trust-based strategies. So we're removing some of those old methodologies and we're going to introduce you to some really new, innovative, simple strategies. And he's on a mission to inspire entrepreneurs to own their stories, which we'll dig into, build businesses that they love, and create a life of fulfillment and impact. So as I said, get ready to uncover insights on resilience, Marketing, innovation, and building meaningful connections in the digital world. Please bring to the stage Prosper.

Oh my, oh my, Sally.

Wow, you are in the house.

I cannot believe this. I was just sitting outside and I was hearing all these things you were saying, and I'm like, am I, am I early? Who are they talking about? So

Thank you. We are— yeah, no, you're very, very welcome. We're definitely talking about you. Um, I know I make your ears burn when I'm talking about you to other people, uh, but I have equally as many people talk to me about you. So, uh, you're definitely kicking goals and creating tidal waves here in the Australian marketplace and beyond. So thank you.

I appreciate that. I appreciate that. I mean, we're here to live, to learn, and to contribute. And I think what you're doing yourself, um, helping people monetize their content is of utmost importance. So I can't wait to jump into this.

Yeah, thank you very, very much. So I'd like to jump in and dive right into it, you know, the backstory. And so let's talk about the, the beginning journey of you from Zimbabwe to Australia. So why the journey? Why, why Australia to start with?

Absolutely, and that's a really, really good question. Now, Sally, I was born in Zimbabwe in Africa. I don't know if you know what that is.

I do, but don't ask me to give you full details.

That makes it two of us. So that's, that's, it's somewhere there. So, you know, growing up, life was pretty tough. I mean, you've probably seen on the news or whatever it is that you see about the people there. But the thing that made it even tougher for us growing up was the inflation that was happening in Zimbabwe at that particular time. So the currency was losing value by the day. So for me to just give you an example, have you ever noticed when you walk into Kohl's supermarket, you know, they have the fridge, uh, that has all the milk right at the back of the store? I don't know why they do that, but You know, it will become relevant in no time. So let's say you walk into Coles supermarket and they gave you a catalog, and on that catalog they were advertising milk at $2 for the 2 liters, right? By the time you walk all the way to the back of the shop and you come back to self-check, that same bottle of milk is now $5. So what that created was yes, what that created was a situation where you couldn't save, you couldn't even want to go to school or. you didn't even want to, uh, get engaged in the economic system because it, it was losing value by the day. So you literally had to either work immediately or participate in some sort of exchange while the thing you have still had value. So what that created was a situation where we didn't have role models because everybody was now in survival mode, and we didn't have any hope that the future was going to be any better. But my life changed when a bright-eyed Australian teacher came to our school. I was 13 years old, and then she became our maths teacher. So immediately that presented a pattern break, Sally, for me, because coming into a place where— why would you want to come to a place where we all want to live? And, you know, she was teaching us mathematics, which is one of the hardest subjects, you know, in for a teenager to grasp. And, um, one thing that she started instilling on us was the fact that no matter who you are, no matter where you are, or no matter where you go, you can actually be, do, and have a happier existence if you just apply yourself. So that presented a pattern break. Okay, so how can I be happy given the situation that I was in? She was always happy, and she started teaching us all these incredible things about Australia and opportunities it had to offer. And she gave us, you know, you know, an idea that we don't necessarily have to grow in the environment that we're in. We literally can go somewhere else and be of value to— Mm-hmm. So I started studying, learning, and putting much more effort in the school, which everybody else was ignoring. And, you know, she also started really helping me study as much. So my grades got better and my whole prospect in life and in education changed because of that. And when she was leaving, when she was leaving, Sally, in true Aussie fashion, she said, if any of you kids end up in Melbourne, you know, um, you know, you just look me up and we can have a cuppa, you know, a cuppa. So to other kids, that was just, yeah, a farewell that meant something. But for me, I then made that my mission, to have a cuppa my teacher just to show her that, hey, look, I made it. And, um, took a while, but in 2011 I found myself on here, these beautiful shores. And, um, yeah, it's— it was just somebody planted that seed in me and I, I just simply didn't give up.

Yeah, that's awesome. And isn't that— isn't it beautiful how people come into our lives and just give us that germination of hope? And it's up to us, as you have done, is to water it, and it's grown into your own beautiful, you know, tree and forest and all those sorts of things because of someone's inspiration, because they cared enough to inspire. Yeah. Magical people when they come across— when they come into your life like that. That's amazing. So what was the— what was the—

Absolutely. I actually haven't

No, go.

So yeah, yeah, no, I've actually given that phenomenon a name. I know it's, it's not unique, but I call it the backpack effect. All right, where if— just imagine you're in public transport and yeah, and you, you're wearing your backpack, right? Um, you would never know that your backpack is infringing on somebody else's space because you're facing forward, especially in a crowded public space. So I'm always very careful of what am I saying, who am I around, and what influence am I making, because I might actually spoil somebody else's day without even realizing it, you know, because my backpack is in their space and they don't have enough space for them to enjoy their ride. So I mean, I just love it. Love

it. Yeah, brilliant. So with, um, I'm There's 2 questions that I'm gonna— that are popping into my head. What was her reaction when she got the phone call from you to say you were here? Assuming it was a phone call, however you connected with her, what was her first response?

I'll tell you that that was one of the most surreal moments in my life ever, because when— it took a while to find her, because obviously when she came back Um, she's still a teacher. So just so you understand, she's still a teacher and she's now teaching in the Northern Territory, um, teaching other Aboriginal kids. So it took a while for us to find her. We even involved, um, you know, private investigators and a whole TV crew. I don't know if you've seen the TV show that we ended up doing. So we— when, when— okay, so when I arrived, I started looking for her and that search in and of itself sort of caught the attention of the police because I actually, um, you know, started, yeah, finding out, asking a lot of questions. And so many people obviously are like, who is this person who just arrived in Australia and is hell-bent to find this person? So they said, hey, you could actually ask the police to help you in the search. So when I went there, I was obviously naive, went in And I stated my case, and then I said, I'm looking for this person and there's nothing wrong, I just want to say thank you. And they have a publicity arm of the police where obviously the police is always known for bad stories and, you know, murder or whatever it is, but this was a feel-good story. And for some weird reason, Channel 9 had reached out to them and said, hey, if ever you have any stories that might be of heartfelt nature, just, you know, link us up. So the lady called me into the publicity division, and then she says, hey, your story is amazing. Do you want us to help you find this lady? And obviously, if we can, make that part of our publicity or marketing. And I was not sure, you know, I'm just new in the country, and I'm like, I don't want to put any more eyes onto what I'm doing than they already are. But it was all— really nice. Before I knew it, I had a call from Channel 9. Channel 9 is like, we've got this show called This Time Next Year if you want to be a part of it, but, um, obviously we want the rights to the story. And all of it was just happening all really, really quick. And then they say, we'll help you, we'll help you find the person. So I gave her— I gave them all the details and all the information, but I was also nervous that this is another person's life that we are now going to be putting, um, you know, you know, um, it's, you know, in the public space, right? So I think they had psychologists that rang and reached out to her, but it was a whole process, and she agreed. She agreed to, to be a part of it. So the day that I actually met her was televised. So it actually happened. We, we connected, and there was tears, and that's, that's why it's So because I only wanted to say thank you to her and I didn't know what else after that.

So to me, that, that is, it's such an edification of why you mentor and why you contribute in the manner that you do, because you understand what inspired hope and the right actions. And as you said, the right actions that you have on that daily basis, that you're not putting the wrong thing in the backpack that's going to impact others. So I think that's really relevant for those people that want to work with you that really understand you actually get that values-driven storyline that makes a difference from a marketing perspective. So wow. So I'm glad you shared that much with me. Thank you.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

And was it your experience with the media and all those sorts of things, which probably weren't we wouldn't have called necessarily digital. Was that the reason you got into the digital space?

So while everything was happening, I, I just wanted to say thank you, and I just wanted to get onto my mission. The whole media thing was a bonus, which I only later capitalized on when I then got into the media space. So when I arrived in Australia, my first job was to work in a restaurant. Remember, I'm just coming into a country with nothing but a backpack full of hopes and dreams and just wanting to say thank you to the person who changed the course of my life, right? And so in order for me to also start functioning as a member of society, I had to contribute, you know, financially. So the only way that that could happen was me working in a restaurant. So, um, while I was working in a restaurant, I was obviously in my spare time going on Facebook trying to find this, find this, uh, woman, you know. Yeah. And, um, that consumed a lot of my time. Whereas I then realized I'm not even connecting with the people that I'm working with, and these are the people that see me every single day. So I obviously, since I didn't connect with them but I wanted to connect with them, I went ahead, Sally, and I did something obviously that in retrospect, uh, put me in the place that I'm at right now. But at the moment, at that time, it actually got me fired. So I love

a good

backstory. Yeah, so I went on and I created a Facebook page for that restaurant without the owner's permission. Now you can imagine back in that time, you know, the internet was unvetted, untrusted, and every moment that people would have on the internet was basically to just write bad reviews of their competitors and things of that nature. So

yeah,

um, yeah, so I created that page while I'm just in the middle of things. It didn't— for me, it was just second nature. I just wanted to then use that as a way to bring in, um, you know, the people that I was working with, because if they liked the page, then I would know who they are on social media, and then I would connect with them. Right. So that was, that was the whole intention. So unbeknownst to me, I'd actually committed the ultimate sin in the marketing, you know, of somebody else's business, because you do not go and create internet profiles on other people's behalf. So Basically, that idea— he, he came to discover about the page because I was telling everybody else to connect to it, and he did not like that. So he just came swinging into the kitchen there. Who did this? I'm like, oh snap, that was me. And it's like, take it down, just remove it off the internet. You don't know what that will do. for our business. And obviously that just created that whole fear inside of me that I'm trying to do something good here, not knowing that I've actually, you know, ruined my prospects of survival. So I went, I went off. Um, I don't know if you know, it takes about 30 days for a page to be deleted on Facebook. Wow. So I went off and I deleted the page. And in, in the middle of that, he just started looking at what I was doing. I did about 2 mistakes in the whole thing, and then I got fired. So it was all about the fact that he was not angry at me, but he wanted to get rid of me and he just didn't want me around there. So within that 30 days, something magical also happened, um, at that time. So, um, you would know, you know, in, in, in Victoria, football is such a big thing. So 2 girlfriends from— I'm not going to mention the team— came to the restaurant and they tagged themselves onto the page while they were having dinner, and that post went viral.

Viral.

So what that now created was, you know, these influencers— well, they were not called influencers back then, but they're just famous girls— they tagged themselves in pictures while having dinner at the restaurant, and the page actually just started getting traction. And my boss saw the potential in what this could do, and then You know what? He just rang me and he's like, "Where are you?" And I'm like, "Oh, I'm looking for another job." And he's like, "Come over here. Come and see what you've done." Oh, and I'm like, "What else have I done now?" You know, and then he's like, "Look at what you've done. Whatever it is that you've done, fix it." And I'm like, "I thought this page was being deleted." He's like, "No, I want you to do it again." So, so he thought I was the one that done that. So now I'm now in a position where I have to. Obviously make it up to this boss and also do something that I didn't know how to do because social media was unexplored territory back then. All right, so I, I started studying, learning, and everything else. You were talking about my bookshelf and everything else. This is trauma, Sally. This is— All right. I mean, uh, it's like Steve Jobs, you know. It's, um, it's funny looking at things backwards, but I, I needed to stay ahead so that I would learn and understand. So my entry into digital marketing was not necessarily through, um, you know, having seen, seen it somewhere, having a course or whatever it is. It was all accidental, and I literally had to save myself, otherwise I wouldn't know what else was going to be— was, was going to happen. So I'd unintentionally created my first client there, all right? And we started doing the You know, we started doing the the the the Facebook, and there was a lot of learning. Facebook was also morphing and changing, and all that now gave me all the strategies, the ideas, and how to connect with people, and how to actually create something from nothing. And now, if you go onto that page for that restaurant, we sort of stopped working during COVID because obviously. you know, the restaurants closed and then pretty much after that he sort of retired. Now the son is into the whole TikTok. Yeah. Yeah. You know, so, so we sort of lost connection, but it then created that starting point where I needed to learn how to always show up at work without getting fired again. And I just realized through that, no matter what obstacles we faced, sometimes life is happening for you, um, you know, without you realizing. And I keep repeating Steve Jobs, he says you cannot connect the dots looking forwards, but you can always connect the dots looking, um, you know, backwards. So I always tell my people, waiting until you, you have a life or have the right ingredients to start doing certain things, you know, you might just wait for a while. Now it's been a good 11 years later, and I now work with some of the biggest and most well-known names in Australia. I've won awards. My networking skills, we're just talking about that, you know, wherever you are, there you are. And I've helped my clients build profitable and enjoyable businesses. And, you know, everything that I do, my family, all of that stuff, it's— I keep learning because now I just want to be ahead of wherever it's all going. So, uh, and I, I always experiment. So I just want people to obviously get from this that, yeah, wherever you are, just make do of what you have and don't wait for an opportunity to come. Because I was just a guy who was seeking to connect with others and not realizing I was actually creating my own calling or heeding to my own calling. And, um, yeah.

Yeah, I think what I love about that story is people Coming back to that, that word of hope, because to me that has, has inspiration in it. So many people could have gone into fear, and you talked about trauma with your bookcase. I've got books behind me. Mine— I don't know whether I'd quite call mine trauma, but I get why you do with yours, because I was— I've been learning to stay ahead, whereas you were learning to solve an immediate and pressing problem. That some people could have opted to play the fear game or the runaway game or all those sorts of things. And that's why I really wanted to dive into the backstory, because I think that in itself is so inspiring, is that that's— life is a choice, and we, we have that first choice. Am I going to rise or am I going to run away? So sort of which— whatever that means to you. And that's what I really love that you've expressed there, is that you're, you know, you might not have got to pick your adventure. You can certainly pick your adventure now. You were thrown in that damned adventure and you just worked it out. and created magic from it. And that in itself is, is a skill, is an attitude, and is, is part of the legacy piece, not only for your clients but for your community in general and your children and family. You know, that's— I just find that extraordinary. So that's just made me all get all chokey up.

That's okay.

So let's, let's move on now, and I'm gonna— because I know you've done, you've done extraordinary things with your online, uh, prosperity Blueprint, which is that one of your key tools for your clients. So let's talk about what some of the common problems are that you see with your clients. So some of those commonalities, so we can help the audience see themselves, uh, in what it is that you do and talk about some of the solutions that you help and some of the outcomes that you help them with.

Absolutely. And I love that question. You know why? Because everyone goes through stuff, and especially when it comes to business, we're all learning and we're trying to figure out things, um, along the way. Now I'm gonna give preface to the fact that the biggest issue that we have is the tools that we're using to connect with our audience, one of them being social media. Okay, um, if you notice how social media still hasn't figured itself out, all right, since they have started— I mean, look at how they keep changing the algorithm, they keep changing how you're supposed to Um, you know, approach it. They keep changing how we engage with it. Just if somebody comes up with a whole different genre of, you know, ways, everybody in the social media space, you know, jumps on board and, and it just changes the whole scenario. And I'm hoping I'm speaking to people that have been experiencing that because ever since, you know, you know, when I started Facebook, you know, you could go Facebook Live, you could, um, you know, do have groups, you could start a page and people would see that content. But now, well, I haven't— that's another story. I haven't been on social media for a very long time, especially on Facebook. But I now hear that, you know, you, you know, people now discover whatever it is that interests them and businesses are no longer taking center stage. And, um, you know, you gotta pay to play and things of that nature. So the one thing that I'm just trying to say around that is I have discovered if you create your own self-owned digital ecosystem, okay, so if you create your own media, if you create your own, um, you know, maybe I'll give examples, maybe your own blogs, your own email lists, your own websites, your own podcast. Yes, yes. And if you create your own assets, you can hold on to them and wait until the social medias figure out themselves. And when they are ready, you can just plug yourself in there, not the other way around. Because social media wants us to create within their own platforms, whereas if they lock you out, you don't have access to that content and you'd have to either start all over again Or, um, you know, just sit back and be frustrated because nobody's liking, commenting, or doing whatever it is that you do. So one of the things that, like I'm saying, I know I took a while to get to where I'm at because this is something that a lot of people really need, um, you know, a paradigm shift around. When you build your own self-owned digital ecosystem, you own your content, you own the connection between you and your customer, and you own the frequency of how much and how long and how often you're talking to that customer without being at, at, at the BS. Yes. Or being held hostage by Mark Zuckerberg while he's trying to figure out what outfit am I wearing today because he keeps changing. I can't keep up.

Yeah.

You know,

yeah. A funny story I have. I don't go on— I haven't been on Facebook very, very much, but over Christmas I did play around a little bit more on Facebook because I had time and I, you know, laid on the couch and I was scrolling. One of my things every year is to do something different and frighten the crap out of myself. So I decided, even though I'm a hippopotamus in a china shop, that I would just— I decided I'd go and do dance classes, right? Totally not coordinated and all the rest of it. You know, I've got that naughty personality and I saw an I've got a message about learning to— it's called burlesque dancing, which is a little bit, you know, like a female revue, tidily and all the rest of it. So it's for newbies and beginners, but it is a little bit cheeky, a little bit raunchy, and all of those sorts of things. Well, I've clicked on that, and the only thing I get in my feed now since adding to that, and then I made a comment and posted some of the costumes that I made because I had fun making costumes, which was a— is another backstory. But all I get now is— and when I say raunchy and hardly anything there— raunchy and hardly anything there as it relates to underwear. Um, and that is all that is in my feed is raunchy women's, you know, next to nothing underwear. And it's sort of like, I haven't clicked on anything, and I know I made a comment over here, but that is all that is in my feed. That's like, far out, you know, that— and that it's— so how does— Absolutely, absolutely.

And so many people now live in a world because we have this cognitive bias of thinking that what I'm seeing on my newsfeed is what exactly everybody else is seeing. There's been experiments where people are looking at the same particular the post, but the comments are different based on your own values and what the algorithm thinks of you. And this is something that you can actually look— so you can, you can sit next to somebody, look at exactly the same photo from the same person, and look at the comments that you are fed with, whatever, you know, what you're aligned to, either politically or virtually or what do you call it, your virtues, or who you are as a person, those are the posts that show up. And, and it's something that if people don't take note of things of that nature, we are literally creating for these AI machines that don't care nothing about the outcome that we are hoping to create for ourselves. Which I'm always telling people And I guide them to establish websites, blogs, and email lists where you just literally siphon that traffic from social media, bring them back home, and then you can now start talking to them in a way that is at your own pace and they get to know you, like you, and trust you.

Yeah, because—

yeah.

And I just, I love that you've— that's the Sally nag is around creating assets and, you know, as you know, monetizing content and turning books into social media and all the rest of it. But so many people are relying on the platforms that they, they don't understand the value of your own assets. So your own website and your own information in that, in that space, because as you said, you can very, very easily get locked out and, you know, lose all of that. So the humanization of it, is you creating your own digital assets and serving your audience accordingly and moving them from social media onto your databases and lists. And it's still— I still find it funny that when you say, oh, you know, you need to be building your list, people sort of go, ooh, versus, you know, just having followers on social media purely because they don't understand that it's actually a simpler strategy and it's much, much, much more human and you can align it to your values. You're not at the mercy, and you actually have that full control and can bring everything of you to it.

Well, absolutely. Sally, the reason why I'm not on Facebook is because I got kicked out.

Yep.

All right, so during 2020, you know, yeah, my business was now kicking in and things of that nature, and I opened a rogue email that came to us as if it was an inquiry, and the inquiry said we want help with our Facebook ads. And, um, you can see the photos that are in a PDF, uh, for— so I didn't think of anything of it. But half of the time I'm always vigilant whenever things like that come in. It just came in from like a legit source, clicked that, my computer just shut down, and I was like, oh snap, I think something has happened. Yeah. 2, 3 hours later Um, that would have been virus was now sitting in our Facebook. So I was now running accounts for clients and things of that nature, and I wouldn't wish this on anyone in, in this whole entire world. So we were running accounts, some of the accounts are paying up to $12,000 a day, and you can imagine when you've got that kind of money. So, so the, um, the role thing went in and started creating ads and maximized the ad spend and things like that up until it went up to $170,000 or so for one of our clients. And then their bank had to notify them that something unusual is happening, can you check? And then they looked up everything and it, it showed up that it was coming from our Facebook, um, you know, our Facebook management. So they quickly counsel called me up. What is going on? So you can imagine, I had come from a place where I had been fired from, you know, running a, you know, starting a Facebook page. Now I'm getting yelled at by a client who is big enough to really wipe the courtrooms with my head, and I don't even have a mop of hair to do that. That. So we, we investigated, we shut everything else down, and Facebook also shut us down. And, um, I was now completely locked out of my Facebook. Now we started looking to talk to their, um, you know, customer care, and we had a contact in, in Singapore. They sorted it out, reversed everything else, and I was given 30 days to prove my identity because obviously that had happened, right? So Sally, to say that I just got— I just wanted it to all go away.

Yeah.

So when the insurance kicked in and everything else started happening, because obviously we had to look after that, right? So when the insurance kicked in, and that's cyber insurance, when it all kicked in and all of that started happening, that we, we were given 30 days for me to give my identity and things like that. I just wanted to make sure everything else around us was fine. And everything else. So that 30 days lapsed, and when it lapsed, I completely lost my Facebook, my account. So I want you to know what was in that account. I was doing a Facebook show every single day at 2 PM AST for 30 minutes where I was just, you know, connecting with my audience. And that was a Facebook Live, and it was gaining momentum. Now, we met during my podcast, right, where Um, you know, creating. You can imagine I was doing something like that every single day. All right. And I had Facebook groups, I had Facebook pages for every product that we had. So my whole entire well-being and business and profitability tied into that particular password. So that completely left. So after the 30 days, I'm like, I don't know what else to So I'm already used to do that show every day at 2 PM AST. So now I don't have an audience. Now I've got nowhere to start. I thought, should I start another Facebook page? And then I was like, people are gonna think, wait a minute, you, you know, this is a fake account, right? So I started negotiating to get my Facebook thing back. They now wanted all these things, and I'm like, you didn't even ask the hack any of these credentials. But now I'm a real person, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, I can't— and half of the communication you're doing with AI anyway. So I got tired, Sally. I got really tired. All the effort that I put in, all the everything that I had done to build the business where it was, all gone overnight. So yeah, there I was, I just had a microphone. I don't know if your audience can see it, and I'm just staring at nothing. No audience, nothing. I don't even know what the world thinks of what has happened to me, and I'm just thinking the worst. So I took it upon myself and I thought I could just start a podcast. So I started just ranting. I was so angry, Sally. I was so angry at what had happened, why this is happening to me, and I just— I was just ranting, and it was just all there. All right, so after about 12 episodes, I think I had gotten it out of my system. Yeah. And then I walked into my office, and then I was like, wait a minute, who am I angry at here? Mark Zuckerberg is making his billions, and he's doing whatever he's doing with his family. I'm in here in my office, and I'm just really re-engaging with this energy. Why? Okay, so deleted those 12 episodes, Sally, and then I went episode number 13. I was like, why don't I just do something to help the next person so they don't go through what I did? So I started doing that, started the podcast where it was just me and I was putting it all out there. I was putting it out there. After about 24 episodes, I started getting people subscribing and coming to me via email. Now remember, I'm, I'm outside the world and I'm viewing Facebook through the lens of my wife's phone, and I'm like, guys, I'm still here, you know. Um, and now I'm getting people coming directly into my inbox. So you can imagine, for somebody who's been orchestrated— I don't know what the word is— but has been chased out of society, I started hugging them with all I had. People, it's people, guys, you know. And when they started coming in, I had 2, 3, 4 people just subscribing. So I started going back to the episodes that I did and I started putting, um, PDFs so that people can subscribe. So that was now a way for me to actually start generating leads. So I started seeing my list growing and I'm like, okay, now I've got something here. What is this? I didn't know what to do with it. Remember, I still have that mind that you, you have to have 5,000 followers. But I have 5 people that had subscribed to me and they wanted to hear what I was saying. Yeah, now that gave me, that gave me power. And I'm like, you 5 people, I'm gonna love you, I'm gonna create for and relate to you. Tell me, what more do you want?

Um,

responding back to me, they started responding back to me, and soon enough now that list is sitting at like 6 or 7K. I, I don't know how many people they are, but it's all people that have now just come in and connected with me. So for the next 3 years after that, I created a podcast which now has 300 episodes, and each and every, each and every one of those episodes is like a landing page. So if somebody goes on and watches episode number 1 or listens to episode number 1, they literally can be taken back into my system and now catch up with what I'm doing Um, you know, today. And now that's an asset. That's an asset that's not just sitting on the internet. All right, so if I would ask you, Sally, who is your favorite sort of actor or, um, celebrity or somebody who's famous? Just if—

So I've got lots. So, uh, my— the one that I love the most, and I always just call him Captain America, um, I— that's because I love in, in the movie Captain America, uh, America I love his values as it relates to how he interacts with Peggy.

Absolutely. All right, and how many— that's

fine,

that's fine. But the, the, the point of what I'm trying to say is, in how many movies has he been featured in, or how many TV shows or TV series and things of that nature?

And I literally follow which movies he's been in because, because I, I like him and he always shows up in the similar values. The other day he was a baddie and it was like, oh no, just no, just like no.

Yeah, exactly. All right, so, so I usually use Seinfeld as a, as an example for this. So Seinfeld did, I think it was 9 seasons of his show, and, um, when, when the time was, was, uh, up, he just said, you know what, let me leave when everything else is, is good. So And you can go and binge watch that season and rewatch it and rewatch it. And the nice thing about it is Seinfeld is now using that as a platform for whatever new projects that he's working on, right?

Yeah.

And that show is not just sitting somewhere on the internet. You can go and find it. You can, you know, you can binge watch and you know he just didn't show up today. So that's what those 300 episodes are doing for me. Sally.

Um,

they are now an asset that are now just like a movie or a TV show that I created that are now just sitting there. And I went on and I really packed them up nicely. So there are 50 episodes and they're all in season. So it's like a 6-season, uh, podcast that helps people to start, scale, and grow a business that's profitable and enjoyable. And now whenever somebody joins my, my subscription, I take them to episode number 1, and then they can take that journey up until they catch up with what we're doing right about now. So that's now an asset and something that I've created. I'm not going to go back and rejig it, or maybe, maybe change links or whatever it is, but it's something that I've created. And the best part is, whenever a new social media platform comes in, I just take whatever episode, plug it into that new social media. I'm no longer worried about what happens. I'm only just looking at how many people are than a subscribe on my end.

Yeah, yeah.

So I don't even show up to those social medias or whatever it is. I just send my representatives, which happens to be those episodes, and whoever shows back in my email, those are the people that I deal with. One, it takes away the anxiety of wanting to— exactly. So that is one thing. Now this is now a self-owned digital ecosystem. All those web, all those podcasts, you know, are driving traffic to me. I did them three years ago. They're still evergreen, and they now future-proof my business because I know I'm never going to have to do it over and over again. But imagine that content that got lost with my password in Facebook. Nobody knows what that was. Nobody knows I exist. But now that I own my media.

It doesn't matter if you can plug— it's literally plug and play. Plug, play, and profit. Plug, play, and profit. There you go. Brilliant. Thank you for sharing that with us because I think that's a really great story and case study and example of where the opportunity lies when you're creating your content and you're being more strategic about it versus just going, oh shit, I've got to post on social media. It is about having the ability to be able to email and communicate with them and utilise the assets that you've actually already got. I love that idea of setting them up as landing pages. There's obviously a conversation there for us. Now, we only have a few minutes left and I knew we'd zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom right the way through very, very quickly. I loved and would love to thank you so much for sharing so much of the stories because It is really a story of resilience and triumph and learning. And to me, that is why you are the epitome of somebody that has been there and done it experience, because you've been through it all. So now let's just talk about— I know we just touched on the blueprint and your philosophy around that. Can you tell us a little bit more about what it is that you do, how people can connect with you and get on your email list and invite away? I'm here to assist you in connecting with some more people.

Oh, I can't thank you enough for that. Because, you know, when somebody invites you to their platform and then says, hey, I want to show you, um, what we're doing and also open you up to our audience, I really, really appreciate, appreciate that. So one of the core things that I do with people is, like I said, I help people own their media. Okay, I literally focus on helping them take control of their digital narrative, um, ensuring that they're no longer at the mercy of external platforms and algorithm changes. All right, I mean, you've noticed Elon Musk just bought Twitter for what, $48 billion? I mean, he could have just downloaded it for free like the rest of us, but there's an agenda behind it, you know. So, so, so there's a power play Uh, going on. I'm not going to talk about politics right now, but if you actually now connect the dots, you can now notice that him having a platform has given him a seat at the table at what is now the new techno front. So there is so much behind what we think we are using for free. So if you really want to build a business that's profitable and enjoyable, I encourage you to start really thinking about how you can own your media. And with what we do, I just help you look at your message, your market, and the media that you're really good at. All right, so if you're good at talking, start a podcast. If you're good at writing, start a blog. If you're good at video, like, and talking like this, just start a YouTube. And then make sure that once you've got a few pieces together, you now choose what Um, you know, places and, and pockets to, to put them. Okay, TikTok just got banned for 12 hours and people started really, really freaking out. They didn't know what to do with themselves, and I don't want you to be a part of that. So what the first thing we encourage people to do is just come over, see what we're doing on LinkedIn, see what we're doing with some of the posts that we're putting out there, or just look up Live Long Digital. All right. And, um, pretty much, uh, yeah, just put up Live Long Digital. And once we have that in play, um, you know, we do what's called the total online presence audit. We just audit where you are, we just audit who you are, um, becoming and how the audience relates to you. And then pretty much, um, yeah, that's, that's how we get started.

Beautiful. We've got a couple of minutes left, and Annie, um, hi Annie, how are you? Um, she says, where, where would you put the podcast we create?

Absolutely. So Spotify has actually allowed us to host podcasts for free. Okay, so Spotify really wants to get as many creators as possible, and that becomes your podcast home. But also make sure you have a website just in case, because Spotify is another platform, just in case they decide, you know, they want to change the algorithm and just want Joe Rogan to be the only podcast available on there. But it's a free place to host it, but duplicate that onto your website, a place that you own and you control, and just make sure that you're driving people first to your website and then to all the other platforms. And there's also what they call an RSS RSS feed, which basically, um, you know, redistributes your podcast to different places there.

Yeah, another good question, um, is do, do we own and control our websites?

Yes and no. But if you create your website within, uh, WordPress, if you create your website within WordPress, you own at least, you know, the content that you're putting there. But if you're creating within uh, Squarespace or Wix or all the other platforms that house your content, half of the time if you forget that password, you don't own that media. So WordPress allows you to host your files somewhere else and you can connect your domain there. But it is a matter of choice, um, where you can work. And Terry, nice to meet you, man.

Yeah, that's been brilliant. We've got a couple, couple of minutes left, so I also just want to make the note as the ticker goes across, and we have mentioned this, the— your website URL, which is Live Long Digital. I'll get you to do the hand thing because I actually can't. And so livelongdigital.com.au. I did try to practice before we got on the call and decided we're just not—

I

could do that one with these.

It's fantastic. At least you tried.

Yeah, absolutely. Always give something a go. Um, it's been an absolute pleasure, uh, speaking to you. I think everyone's really gleaned, um, and has had the opportunity to really feel your integrity. You've been there and done it experience, uh, understand the journey that you've been on. So you're going to get their, their journey, which, um, is going to be fraught with their own different, um, overwhelms, etc., in different ways. So you really are somebody people can connect with and really get to understand how to utilize those assets that they're creating. And that's why you and I are kindred spirits. So I thank you very, very deeply for sharing so much of your backstory with us and so much of those stories that the audience can really understand and relate to you. And I encourage everybody to connect with you and give, you know, give out a good cyberstalk and you know, follow everything that you're doing and maybe do a bit of a binge watch. Any quick final words from you,

Sally? I can't thank you enough for what you're doing for all these people. And if people just also know that they— if they own their media, you can literally monetize that, but you can't monetize something that is on somebody else's platform. So

correct,

I think that's just about it. Yeah.

Beautiful. Thank you very, very much. We look forward to seeing you all again on another episode of Success Secrets Exposed, and I'm going to do that version.

Remember, if you want to be sought after and sold out, as well as being known as the obvious expert in your industry, you need to speak with Sally, our host of Success Secrets Exposed. Sally is the founder of Monetize Your Content, a done-for-you content marketing agency that helps you be easy to buy. See you next week on another episode of Success Secrets Exposed. Tune in live every Tuesday at 7:00 PM Eastern time or Wednesday mornings in Australia on W4CY Radio and Talk4TV.