Profiting From Your Personality On Camera

wanted to start this video because it's all about personality. So I thought I would just do like a— do a dance or something. And I am doing a dance for a reason. The reason why is because Luria Petrucci is with me today, who I've been following for years. I'm so excited to meet you. We just met a few minutes ago in the green room, and, and here you are. And we're talking personality today. How do people— and it's not just personalities— how do we profit from personality on camera? Luria, so honored to have you on Cash In On Camera today. Why do you think people are so apprehensive about showing their personality in the first place?

It's a great question. And the apprehension comes from our societal— our societal— I can't say that word— experience over the course of our entire lives, where it's, you know, people are trying to fit us into a box. And it starts in school, right? No, don't speak up. No, don't do these things. And so we learn through our life that we should kind of hide away our full personality. I have one student who is— she loves to jump around on trampolines in dinosaur costumes. Like, that's just who she is. And she— it was amazing to watch her kind of go through the process of discovering how to profit from her personality. And where she pulled back and she tried to be professional on camera because she was talking about business-related content. And the thing at the end of the day is that we're all human. I dance during my pre-show, you know, countdown timers on my live streams because I love it. I'm not a good dancer, but hey, I'm just having fun, right? We are talking— doesn't matter what kind of content you create, as long as you're providing the value that you are promising, your personality is going to be what actually gets people to want to connect with you, to show up, to buy from you. And it's really massively important that we realize that we are putting that behind us in an effort to be liked and to be accepted by others. And it's the exact opposite that will do that.

I, I love that you brought up for business because That is predominantly what this audience is looking for. They're looking to grow their businesses. And there is a place for personality within the content that you create. I don't think it matters whether it's textual, audio, or video. You and I just happen to work in the video space. But this idea of injecting personality and you with Live Streaming Pros being such a grand success and huge YouTube channel and huge audience and all the like. Have you ever struggled with that? Like, has it always been easy for you to show your personality, which you do a lot of now? I've seen you doing the dancing in the, in the, you know, in the, in the clock, and it's so much fun to watch. And because your energy just comes right through the camera, and for me as a TV broadcaster, I mean, that's what we always look for in people who are going to be broadcasters. It's like, how can they project that personality across the camera, which you do? But was it always that way, Luria? Did you always, you know, do that, or was it you were kind of buttoned up maybe at one point and then you kind of let that go?

So I don't know that I ever would try to be professional exactly. However, I will say this: I was the shyest kid you'd ever meet growing up, and so being on camera did not come naturally to me. It wasn't something that I felt comfortable. The first video I did, I cried calling my mom. I was like, I suck at this. I I was like, I can't do it. But what I did do for 10 years, I was using an alias and I had a different brand. And for 10 years I built my brand on part of my personality, but it wasn't my whole personality. And it became like this bubble of perfection. It was a flawed perfection that I was presenting out to the world. If you think about Instagram perfect, you know, pictures and the experience that we're putting out there, that's what it was like for me for 10 years on video. I had created this personality that was me, but not all of me and not the flaws behind me, right? And so once I got so sick of being in that bubble and I broke free, I started going by my real name And I just started letting loose and embracing the things that I'm embarrassed by, um, in terms of my personality. And dancing was one of those things. I did the dancing because I needed to push my limits of comfortableness—

comfortability.

See, that's another thing is words. Like, I just screw up words all the time, right? And I embrace that. And so yeah, I, I struggled with it for a long time, and that's why I'm so passionate about it right now. Is because I know the problems that being tied up into a presented version of yourself versus the full you can actually come to you. Like, the problems are pretty harsh. For me, came with major depression, major issues. So, you know, it was, it was really important for me to just break free from that and help others do so.

I was watching a video that you and Tim Schmoyer were doing recently, and I think where he was really digging into, you know, that period of your life that you're talking about where you were going under an alias, which I thought was really interesting. I wonder now from the, from the perspective of profitability, right, like growing a business, has you being yourself and really fully embracing your full personality on camera and in your videos, how has that benefited you in your business versus when you were building? Because you were, you still built a really great business before. But I guess I'm curious to know, is there less friction now because you're being your true self?

Absolutely. So the cool thing is, is, you know, we will transition and we will evolve as people. If you're not, then you're not living. And so it's important to realize that this is a long-term thing, not just a short-term thing. You can make a whole lot of money being whoever you want to short-term, but this is a long-term mentality because you will pivot and you will change. And so to answer your question, absolutely. I, I know of specific examples of, um, situ— or of opportunities that I lost out on by not being really comfortable in my own skin and being who I was. And as soon as I flipped that around, I actually got those opportunities, and I secured better and bigger opportunities. My audience, when it comes time to sell something that I produce. I have courses, I have coaching, I have services, right? I have a lot of things that I do offer for sale. I don't really have to sell, sell those things. Like, I don't really need to because my audience is really connected to me as a human being, and they just literally, they half the time don't even know what they're buying. They just like buying whatever I say. Like, hey, I have something new.

It's so interesting you say that because, you know, I have bought things from you, right? I have purchased things you. I am part of your audience, and that is the thing that I think I feel connected to you because of, is because of how authentic you are on camera, you know. And I guess maybe especially as someone who worked in this and in the TV industry kind of recognize how awesome that is and how free, you know, free someone needs to be or think of themselves in order to do that. And so I think that is what attracted me to you is the fact that you are, it feels like, 100% yourself. But there are a lot of people who are afraid to be their full self. So, what are some tips that you have, you know, people watching right now who are saying to themselves, "Okay, this all sounds great in theory. And I know Luria is doing great now. She's really being herself. But I'm still struggling with that." What is something that, you know, someone can do maybe today? Something actionable that they can do today that would help them take not the whole step but a baby step in that direction?

And understand that it is, it is baby steps. I'm not sure of anyone who just comes out of the gate swinging when it comes to being themselves on camera, because there is a lot of intimidation factor that goes into it. So what, what I would like you to do today is to turn off all your distractions and brainstorm who you are. That sounds like a really heavy thing, but what I mean by that is What are some of your hobbies? What are some of the things that you're passionate about? What are your pet peeves? What are the things that you consider flaws? For me, one example is that I don't know pop culture because I didn't grow up with a TV or access to, um, you know, the radio or anything like that. Very sheltered childhood. So, um, I don't have pop culture references in my brain, and so I feel like that's flaw because I don't know what people are talking about half the time. When I learned to release that and not be afraid of it, that's when my community started trying to, you know, uh, stump me on live video, right? And it became a game, it became engagement. They're not making fun of me, they don't think it's a bad thing, they think it's an endearing quality. So the flaws that we write down can be flipped into positivity. So that's what I want you to do, is just write down a whole bunch of things that make you who you are, that are part of your everyday, that you don't really think about, you know, on a daily basis, and then find one thing to implement or to highlight or to tap into in your next video.

I love that. It's taking something that you consider to be a flaw, not being 100% dialed into pop culture, and making that a positive for you. And I think That's a great tip because I think a lot of people could resonate with that. It's like, oh, we all feel like we have flaws to some degree. But taking that and making it kind of a positive. It takes confidence to do that. It takes a lot of confidence to do it. But I think that if you just take that baby step, I always sort of feel like confidence is not something that you just kind of wait around waiting to happen. You can't sit around going, I'm going to wait to be confident before I do this thing. No, it's like you have to take the baby step in order to get that little win. And then, the little win starts to fuel the next little win. And then, it's over time and over the process of it that their confidence starts to build. So, I love that tip.

Another really easy one real quick is to tell a story of something that happened in your life, either past or present. Even just telling a story can help that confidence snowball effect go.

You have a signature style, you know, in terms of how— like, I love the color that you're wearing today, and often I see you wearing cute t-shirts, and like, you have a style. You have this like really kind of laid-back, cool vibe kind of style that you portray. Well, thanks.

I don't think anybody has ever called me cool. I'll take it.

Well, I'm calling you cool. You are cool. Like, you always kind of exude this vibe of like super casj, super chill, you know, kind of thing. Is that on purpose or is that just you just being you?

That's just me being me. I love life. I love to laugh. I love to enjoy the little things in life. And if I'm taking myself too seriously, then I know something's majorly wrong in my brain. So that's just That's just me, but it is, um, it is definitely experience to be able to just be that on camera. Right. Um, and that's where the snowball comes in.

And do you think there's too— is there, is there such thing as too much personality? Like, like somebody who feels maybe a bit like overbearing on camera and they're kind of like really, I don't know, charging and kind of aggressive, you know, with the, with the personality almost to the point where you as the viewer are watching and you're going, okay, tone it down a little bit there, buddy.

Right? Let me ask you this. Gary Vee is that for some people. And how successful is he? Yeah. Right. So the thing is, is you want to create a stick or a bail mentality from the viewer's perspective. If you are naturally that kind of overbearing or really in your face, type of personality, then what you're going to do on camera is be that and understand that not everybody is going to gel with that vibe and they are going to leave. But when you allow yourself to let those people go because you wouldn't in normal everyday life hang out with them at the, at the bar or the restaurant, like if you're just going to say like, oh, we're, we're not right for each other because you can't handle my personality. Then you let them go and then you're left with the people who are, wow, really into you.

It's the classic Marketing 101 thing where you have to figure out who it is you're trying to attract and it's not everyone.

Yeah, right.

Because I think that's what a lot of times we hear is, you know, well, the thing that I do, the product or the service that I offer is good for everyone. And it's Marketing 101. You really have to kind of understand who it is you're trying to attract and I think, Luria, where you're going with this is this idea of polarization, right? Is that that's a good thing. And so yeah, I love that. I love that we could be ourselves no matter how boisterous or how out there we are. If that's your personality and it's true to you and it's authentic to you, then you should go full tilt.

And might I say, I'm not an overbearing personality by any means. But there are— tons of people who hate me. Like, I get, I get comments about my laugh, about my voice, about my bubbly personality, and those people just can't handle it. They want somebody more serious. So let them go find somebody more serious. I don't want to be that serious person. I want my viewers to laugh, to have fun, and enjoy life just like I do.

When I was a TV broadcaster, you know, that we would get mail, and not all the mail was fan mail, let's put it that way, right? And so we had it— thankfully, we had actually people whose job it was to collect that mail and sort it so that we didn't have to see all the negative stuff. Um, now in this world that I live in, the YouTube comments, the whatever, you have to have somewhat of a thick skin, but you also have to kind of live with that and go, this is part of it. I, I feel personally that if you're not generating that kind of response, especially as your audience grows, and maybe you're doing something wrong. Yes, you know, right, to see that, because now it's showing and it's really demonstrating and proving that you're on the right track.

It really is. It's a, it's a really important thing. And, and somebody said, I will embrace my gentle and calm energy, and that can be beautiful because it's going to attract those people who love that calm energy, right? So that's a really important thing to embrace, whatever. So some people think— I have a one student who has a very dry sense of humor. He's, he's not really bubbly and by any means, but he's actually really funny once he lets loose. And so, you know, that's a thing too, right? It doesn't matter who you are as a personality. You have a place and a home and a family ready to find you.

I know that you are hosting this amazing virtual live event coming up in January called Expand Your Reach. I wanted to share this with the audience because this is— and the reason I know is because you have been talking about it and promoting it. I'm excited for this for a lot of reasons. One, because you're hosting it. But secondly, because of frankly, the people you have coming on and the speakers. So, can you talk us through what this event is all about?

Yeah. So this is a virtual summit, is a live 3-day event that is meant to help you grow your audience and grow your revenue in 2022, whether you're just starting out with content or whether you want to level up what you're already doing. If you are creating video or live in 2022, this event is really going to not just be a fire hose of information. I mean, Amy Porterfield, Pat Flynn, Michael Stelzner, we've got Derral Eves, Harris Heller, we've got amazing people coming in to offer secrets that they don't normally share everywhere. And this is, it's not just gonna be a whole bunch of information that you then get excited by and then do nothing with. My whole, I can't stand just information for information's sake. My whole goal with this is to create, help you, help guide you through the process of learning so that you're creating an action plan for your 2022 content by the end of the summit. So it's going to be really powerful and not just something that's cool to do just because these speakers are amazing. I think it's going to really impact your content plan. And that's my goal. Yeah. So I'm really super pumped.

You know, when I looked at the list of speakers, I mean, these are people I've been following for years, right? Amy Porterfield, you know, Smart Passive Income OG, Pat Flynn, you know, like, and Derral Eves. I mean, the list goes on. Michael Stelzner, whose podcast I love. So it's just exciting that you're putting this together. I'm excited to take part as well as a guest and be able to really you know, let all of that goodness sink in. But like you said, actionable stuff, it's really going to move the needle. Because I think this is something that probably people don't realize, that even when you're in any industry, it doesn't matter what, your learning never ends. You know, you have to— I'm constantly learning and taking courses and doing things to expand my own learning because that's really what the name of the game is. You never finish, you never stop learning. So I'm excited to that you're doing this in January.

Cindy says, really like Amy Porterfield's work, as do I, right? But in, into that comment that Cheryl made, it's really important to realize that even these speakers are constantly learning, right? They're my friends, I know them, I know how it's a constant evolvement of information and testing new things and learning. So that can never go away for anybody, otherwise your business dies.

Love it. So I want to do a fun thing with you, Luria, before I let you go. And we have a fun little segment that we do on Cash In On Camera, and it's called Stop Marketing Like It's 1999, because I'm a huge Prince fan. And so I'd love to know, what is a tool, a tip, a tactic, or a technique that you're using that's really helping you to market for the year that we live in?

So I mean, I could go—

I know you could have crazy—

but I think since given the topic that we're talking about today, um, I'll give this one. I love the either Bonjoro or, um, even just video. So what Bonjoro is, I'll start there, is as an app that you can record videos for people, and it automates all of the gathering of the email address and sending that so you don't have to do all of that. So let's say you make a sale, then you can send your customer a thank you or something to that effect, right? But even in DMs, Twitter, Instagram, I think even TikTok does this, you can now send audio files or video files directly to people. So when they respond to a story or a post, you can DM them and just say, something in response. I don't overuse that so that it doesn't become expected because there's too much pressure on myself. But I love that surprise and delight kind of factor that that gives. And since we are talking about personality and profiting from that, you know, I don't do it to make money, but it results in loyalty, which then results in money.

Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Bonjoro. I'm fairly new to the platform, but I love it. Love it, love it. In fact, I think I sent you a bonjour.

You did?

When we set this up. Yeah, I was like, I'm gonna send her. Yeah, because it's something that differentiates you from however everyone else is doing it. I think it's a competitive edge. But like you said, I mean, you do want to do it authentically. It is, yes, because if you kind of overdo it, becomes expected or becomes some type of, or maybe perceived as some type of shtick, and it isn't. It's meant to be a way to really connect more deeply with someone. And I, I think it's a, it's a great tip. So thank you for sharing that, Luria. This has been so much fun. Glad that you, uh, have jumped on today. I hope that, um, everyone watching is going to come to Expand Your Reach in January and get their tickets. livestreamingpros.com/summit. I'll also leave a link below this video wherever you're watching it, whether you're watching on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. I'll leave the link below the video as well that you can click on, hyperlinked, and I'm excited to see how this all goes down in January because it's really, really important, I think, now more than ever that people really dial in these opportunities. And I know that's what you're going to be focusing in on. So, thank you so much for coming on today.

Thank you so much for having me. I've had a blast.

Good.