Building a High Status Brand (#FIREHOUR S4, E26)

Grand Rising. From last episode, we were talking about ending with business networking, relationships, building brand, and just more future actions. So if you have any questions about personal branding, business networking, expanding your network, scaling your business, all that stuff, please put it in the chat. And any other questions that you have. The beauty of like having a Zoom call at 6 AM every single day It's freaking— it's amazing how you guys all come together and show up. Like, it really— I was thinking about this yesterday, actually. I was on a call with one of my good friends and we were talking about how, like, who you associate with is who you become and iron sharpens iron and just the affiliations and proximity and also like the space and energy that you create by being around the people that you want to be around. And you guys are all like going towards one direction, focused on self-improvement, on self-mastery, on growing a business, on your goals and dreams, you know, and really like just becoming a better person overall. We're just talking about that. And so it just reminds me of how like every single time I hop on Fire Hour and people are just showing up, you know, voluntarily, like you guys are showing up here. At your own will and on your own accord. And so that right there is like accountability for yourself, but also in a sense to the team, you know, to the community here, to your Thrivers, you know, people who are just on, on your team sidelines, etc. So I think it's super important to note that. And like I said before on a previous episode, Goody, you said it best, coming together. On a previous episode, it's all about that. It's about like community coming together. It's about, uh, people uniting for and being a force for good, right? So that's part of, uh, you know, what I wanted to discuss today on today's episode about networking, especially from what I'm seeing like with social media. Uh, I really believe that one of the biggest trends that is happening right now is community, like literally the term community. And if you pay attention and notice, like on social media, like when you, if you're going on the explore page or if you follow entrepreneurs who have like a big following, like even celebrities too and influencers and just leaders in general, like one thing that like I truly notice, you know, and I've really been noticing over the past like 5 years, right? Is community is coming back and it's being highlighted and it's really coming more towards the top of mind awareness, right? So good. He says she's noticed. Yeah, like it's, it's relationships, community relationships. It's being able to like create and provide a space, like a safe space that people can like foster connection and grow with, right? So that's something that's really important. And I believe that with more awareness and with more experience, you'll be able to like really cultivate authentic connections and relationships through those communities and through the groups, whatever that interaction is. But then also, you know, what leads, like what stems from connection? It's like there can be networking, there can be monetization, there can be business growth from that. There can be like there can be love relationships that happen, right? Like there's just so many different life-changing experiences and just from one connection, right? So when it comes to high status networking, which was something that I was going to talk about today, um, one thing I like to say, because this happened for me, okay, this happened for me, is that you're just one connection away, right? You're one connection away from drastic life change.. And for me, like, as a testament to that, you know, I was one connection away from Crystal, right? And it was for business. Like, we met for business purposes. We met for social media. Crystal needed help with social media because she realized early on, because she's, she's a businesswoman and she has just, she has that entrepreneurship mindset, right? Which everyone here has and can cultivate. Uh, but she realized early on in her Thrive career, in her Thrive business, that sooner than later, she's going to need to expand her network to a cold audience, meaning to people that they don't know her. Okay. And who here, you know, if you post in the chat, if you're able to, has experienced a point in your life, in your business career, in your business growth, in any business for that matter, where you needed to start reaching out to cold people, to to people who didn't know you, like you needed to start attracting them to get attention on your business, to just reach people that are outside of your warm network, meaning your friends and family and loved ones, people who know you. Okay. Yeah. Andrea raising her hand. Yeah. And literally, you know what I've learned, just really very, very quickly actually, in my, in the beginning stages of business is You know, like everything is about like other people, right? It's about connecting with other people. Goodisha says yes. Tabitha, yes. Yeah, it's just, it's just the truth, right? Sooner than later, you're going to have to reach out to cold, right? And the beauty of it is that we have social media. We're able to use like literally like free platforms to generate that traffic, generate that attention, generate that attraction. Out there, and that's attraction marketing. And we'll talk about attraction marketing today as well. Um, but again, you know, like the philosophy that I want to share, the philosophy is that you're just one connection away and everything in this world. I, I just believe this and I think it's just because it's common sense. Everything in this world revolves around people. So when I say that everything rises and falls in leadership, it's because every single person, I look at everyone and I look at them as leaders. And not just that, but I got this from Jim Rohn. Like, I look at the person not as they are, but as they can become, as they may become, the potential that they have to fulfill. Just for me, like, as a skill set, that's what I see. I'm able to see someone's current situation and their desired result. And the, you know, the gap that, that journey from point A to point B, like that right there is the journey of life. That's the transformation. And when it comes to like, you know, pain versus solution, problem versus solution, and being able to like just solve, you know, whatever that problem may be, whether it's growth and, you know, you're stagnant first and then you want it, you want something to change. What's that trigger that, that, you know, that pattern that you need to just analyze and identify and then from there be able to resolve.. And so, you know, everything's super simple. Like, I'm not going to— what I, what I do when it comes to like strategy and business consulting, it's about like getting complex problems and simplifying it to the simplest like point where it just becomes steps, right? And when it comes to like networking, it's the same thing, right? It's just about reaching one person. It's about connecting with one person. It's about attracting one person. It's about finding the right person at the right time when they need it the most. And, and it's the right, like, relationship, you know, everything is aligned. And, uh, that's what happened with— for me, okay? That's what happened for me when I met Crystal, and everything is history since then. It's the same thing with Thrive, right? With Angela, for example. Angela was one person, right? I think it was Angela, you met, you met Jackie first, right? And then from there, uh, Jackie placed you on Crystal's team. And then from there, we're just— everyone's connected basically. So, you know, if it wasn't for Angela, like, going on her run, right, 2020 run, and, and becoming GOAT, right, through all her accomplishment, through the transformation from starting point to end point, right, all the way to the, the GOAT point, in between If she, if she was not taking action, if she was not letting her learning lead to action, if she was not being a sponge, if she was not being a leader, if she was not doing all the actions that she needed to do, the, the things that she did, whether it was like in the public face and also behind closed doors, if she didn't do all that stuff, then maybe this Zoom would not be here today. You see what I'm saying? It's just one connection away. And that's the beauty of a community, is that every single person, there is purpose and intention and even reason behind you being here. Okay. And just by you showing up already adds benefit to the community. That's why showing up in success is number one. It's about showing up first and then second, it's about, you know, taking action. Right. But yeah, I love the comments. Right. Andrea says, uh, that's how I feel about my team. Cody says solve and evolve. That's a good one. Angela says we are all positioned just like me. Thank you. And I, I believe that actually, you know, I, I believe that if you're here in this world, in this life, and you are, you're showing up, you know, like there is a reason why you're here. There's a reason why you're at your job. There's a reason why you're in Thrive. There's a reason why you have a business. There's a reason why you are a parent. There's a reason for every single thing. I believe that. And so it's like what Angela's saying right now, right? You are purpose. You have purpose. And, you know, sometimes like it takes an entire lifetime to find that purpose. But when you do find it, like take action on it, right? Because that was meant for you. Okay. So, you know, I just wanted to share that. It's because this is part of the philosophy. Okay. This is part of the networking philosophy. This is, this is part of like really like positioning yourself and really like putting on that leadership hat and looking at other people. As like, not as they are, but as they could be or they can become. Okay, because like when you see someone and you meet someone for the first time, you don't, you don't see like their entire life. You don't know them, you know, you don't. And if you don't put the effort and energy to know someone, then how can you judge them? Right. And in truth, like everyone to me is just a mirror. It's a, it's a mirror of me. Right. And when I look at everyone and I talk to everyone, I connect with everyone, I, I actually like learn about you, then I'm actually, you know what it's doing for me? It's actually like refining me. Because for me, like, again, it's about the student mentality as well. Like we are teachers and students all at the same time. And so when it comes to being like that student, right? Having that student mentality, I already know that I'm learning from someone. I already know that I'm learning from you. I already know that by being here and being connected and actually like authentically building relationships and connection and and getting to know someone, I'm already picking up clues. You know, I'm already picking up like insights and knowledge just by being connected, right? And so there, you know, there was like, I was at an education night a few weeks ago and they were talking about how proximity is power, how just being in the room, in the right room, just being in the right room with people that you may aspire to be or that you're just trying to get like more knowledge, more data, like learning, right? And also like connecting connecting. Just by being in the room though, alone, you're able to just download new insights just by being there. So that, that's the power of a mastermind. That's the power of community. By just being in here in the, in this, you know, in fire hour setting, like you might not understand everything I'm saying, or you might understand everything, or something might just go over your head and then later down the road, like you remember it. Like that is part of just being in the room. That is part of being in proximity with everyone here in the comment section alone. If someone just posts one comment and you read that, and that was just the insight that you needed, that one golden nugget that you needed to unlock something greater for yourself or something that you've been wrestling with, you know, a problem you've been trying to solve, it just unlocks that one thing. Like that right there is helping you get closer to your, towards your goals, right? So that's why it's so important to show up. Okay. And when it comes to like what we're going to talk about in today's episode, you know, networking. Networking is about people, right? It's about connecting with other people. And here's the thing though, right? There's— I believe this, okay? There's 3 types of people in the world. There's people who are just watching, people who are doing, and people who are wondering. Okay. Here's the thing when it comes to success, because we're talking about business right now. When it comes to business networking, it's just, it's, it's so common, especially in today's world with the use of social media, with access to social media, access to seminars that like people who are super influential have given. Everyone for the most part has heard like, who you spend time with is who you become, right? You are the average of the 5 people you hang out with the most. I can predict your future by looking at your friends. Like, you know, all these different quotes that people like throw out there, right? The thing is, is that like I relate all those frameworks, all those quotes back to networking. Okay. I'm sharing just like the philosophy and like the elements and concepts that you can grasp because you may, you may have heard of proximity is power and you haven't really, maybe you haven't related it directly to networking. Okay. Or even business networking. Right. So, cause there's, there's dating, there's relationships, there's Just connecting, there's making friends, there's all these types of frameworks and just quotes and phrases. So how do you, like, what I want to convey is, and just encourage you to do moving forward if you haven't done it already, right, is every single quote that you hear, like proximity is power. Yes. Like that is a quote right now. Turn that quote into a framework, a framework that you can, you can mold and it's flexible to, and you can use it as leverage to what you want to do, what you want to use it for. It's a tool. Okay. Quotes, frameworks, concepts, philosophies, methodologies, all of these different phrases and elements and just concepts that you can, you know, like stack together. Okay. Those are all tools. So what tools do you want to pick up? What tools are in your tool belt? What tools do you want to use to your advantage? What tools can you leverage? What tools can aid you towards your success? What can help you accomplish your goals, right? So that's like the whole entire like methodology, the framework right there, the philosophy like behind networking. Okay, you're one connection away from life change. That's one. When it comes to networking, like it's about people. People govern the world. People move like what moves the— what moves things in the world. It's people. It's always people. Okay. If when it comes to money, Right. Money is controlled by who? By people. This is something that Crystal, like, loves to share because it's just true, is that when it comes to money, right, like, it's hard to trust people if you don't know them and you really don't— like, if you really don't have that authentic relationship, right? So when it comes to, like, numbers, like, there's a quote. They say that numbers don't lie unless people lied about the numbers. Okay. That's what Crystal loves to say because it's just true. Right? Like, numbers don't lie unless people lie about the numbers. That's the entire quote right there. All right? And there's quotes that are unfinished. Like, when it comes to, like, sales objections, right? When people say they don't have the money, right? You have to add these two words, "for that," right? I don't have the money for that. Those are two words that you have to add. It's not an entire quote. I don't have the money for that. I don't have the time for that. I didn't make the time for that. I'm not willing to make the time for that. I'm not willing to spend my money on that. You see what I'm saying? Like all these different frameworks, it's just stacking language together. It's stacking phrases together. So this is part of sharpening your frameworks, creating mental models and frameworks for yourself. It's a tool again, right? Is it Maureen? Maureen says tool, quote leverage. Yes. It's just, it's so important, right? Use all these tools to your advantage because one day sooner than later, you're going to— you're going to— it's just going to happen. If you're hearing it right now, you're receiving this, then chances are you're going to have to use it sooner than later. And this is a great tool to have. Angela says, you become who you associate with. There is a natural transfer of energy and knowledge that happens when you place yourself as close as possible to others who help who can help you meet your dreams and achieve your goals. When you add this to your purposeful and conscious exchanges with these people, you have created a dynamic framework to help you succeed. Seek these people out. Yes. And this is— you touch up on a great point, like the transfer of energy, right? There's something called— I call it knowledge— I call it status transfers. We're going to talk about the 3 positions that everyone's in. I've talked about this many times before and in previous episodes, but we're going We're going to highlight it today, but status transfers is another thing. Energy transfer is another thing. So I'll talk about that too. But that's a great point right there, right? Seek these people out. Like, who are you looking to connect with? Like, these are questions to ask yourself. I know I said like on last episode I was going to script it out, but, uh, I think that it's important to just do a high-level overview and really like just kind of, uh, just put out as much information as possible so that way you can grasp different things. And then whatever you connect with, whatever hooks you in, and you connect with that and your attention goes to that, then that's what you like take notes on. You know, it could be mental notes, but ideally like you have a paper and pen, you know what I mean? And like this is blank right now, but I'm going to draw something, um, and show you. And if you're driving, obviously don't look, replay like the YouTube. But, uh, when it comes to, you know, seeking like who you want to connect with, right? Like, do you even know who you want to connect with? Do you even know Is it in your awareness? Like, are you activating your mind and your eye to see, like, who you're looking to connect with, who you're looking to attract? If you don't know who you're trying to target, who you're trying to connect with, who you're trying to attract, then how can it happen for you, right? So that's why it's important to, like, write down your goals and dreams too. Write down your visualization. Write down a list of, you know, like a, like a get-done list and also like a dream list. And have all that vision, like that vision out there. Uh, in 2021 or 2022, I remember every single year, you know, at a new year, you want to write down like your goal list for that year, right? So it's, and you title it, you make it an episode, like, because here's the thing, this is part of the philosophy of high status networking, at least in my opinion. And I also have something called high status branding, which I'm going to be like releasing out there., you know, like later on, but like the philosophy is the same thing. It's, it's about like, you know, everyone's life is a movie. Okay. When it comes to marketing, I'm going to talk about marketing too, because it's, it's connected to networking. But when I look at marketing, the philosophy that I have for marketing, it's about movies and your life is a movie. Okay. Everyone's life is a movie. Now, how you portray that, how do you, how you live that movie is up to you. Okay. That, that's one, but how you portray it on social media, especially in a business context, That's another way. And when it comes to high status branding, when it comes to branding specifically, like I'm going to be sharing a lot more about branding because especially with what I'm doing like right now actively, right? And especially with what's happening in the world right now, brand, like building brand is everyone's trying to do that, right? It's not something new, but now more awareness is on it, especially with access to tools such as social media, right? And knowledge. And data and mastery, leveling up your skill set, like social media is like, that's key, you know? When I was yesterday, I was at the shop, Star Motor Works, and there was a client that we have. His— this client, he was actually asking for marketing help and advice because he loves our marketing that we do for Star Motor Works. And so for him, though, like his company, it's, it's a 30-year-old company., and, uh, they're, they're a big company. Like, they, they service and provide for really big brands that if I were to name them, you would know, um, at least in the, in that industry that I'm talking about, which is like the technology and, and electronic space. Okay. And so like his, his company, they're, they're over 30 years old basically. And they like, they have, when I looked at their stuff yesterday, cuz he was asking me for help and just advice. I was looking at it and immediately the first thing I pointed out was like, you know, who knows about your brand, right? And like they've been, in my opinion, like I, from especially with the clientele that they have, like I know that it's in the millions. I know that they're making, they're probably making 8 figures easy, you know, easily, but no one knows about the brand and the challenge that they have right now, at least from what I can see so far. Is because relevancy is key, especially in today's world, especially because brand, right? You're, you're seeing last episode I talked about how like brand, like big name brands that have been known even through our childhood, they've been known, they're now being pushed out because of social media. They're now being pushed out because of like these, you know, creators who are built like blowing up their brands and like push and creating products that are pushing out the old ones. Right? So that's like the first thing that stood out to me. And I'm going to tie it back to networking, but it stood out to me because like, why are these big companies struggling so much to build brand when social media is free? When, you know, like, you know, all the knowledge and data is out there. Well, it's because, you know, there's a lot of problems with that, but one of them is because they just haven't— they don't see the value in social media. And not only that, when they do see the value, they don't know how to monetize it. Okay, that's number 2. And so when it comes to networking, it's the same exact thing as relationships, right? Because with business networking specifically, like, if you're doing business networking and you're actively connecting with other people, like, I'll tell you this right now, like, off the top, just to make a blanket statement, everyone here is using social media to build their Thrive Business or to build whatever business you're promoting, right? So You need people in order to build your business, right? Well, guess what? How do you build a business if you don't know how to monetize your connections? Right? That's a really good question to ask. Like, how do I monetize my connections? And so when it comes to the High Status Networking Framework, like, there's really 7 steps to doing that. And it, and super simple, I'll dumb it down to 3 steps. But like, step 1, in simple terms, and then I'll review it, I'll, I'll literally like, I'll screen share, but Number 1 is obviously first and foremost knowing who you're going to target, like knowing who you're attracting, knowing who your target demographic ideal clientele is, right? Who is like the ideal thriver, the next thriver that needs to be on Thrive that they don't even know about Thrive yet and they don't even know about you. But if you have, if you know exactly who your client avatar is, and then from there, you know exactly how to message them and get their attention. And then now you know how to connect with them and then also understand like their problems that you're solving and then help them bridge that gap to their solution and it's Thrive, right? Like how do you put that all out there in a streamlined process where people are able to like, you know, at will be able to connect with them and monetize, right? So again, like just to rephrase and really simplify that, like how do you connect with the right person at the right time, who needs Thrive, right? Who needs your product or service, right? How do you monetize that connection? And they're obviously like everyone here has been building, you've been building business. There is a proven pathway for sure. But if you really identify and know exactly like who you're trying to reach and exactly how to monetize them repeatedly, all right, on a consistent basis with duplication and with scale, Okay, that's how you get to the top. That's how you grow your business and explode it. That's how you actually scale really quickly in 90 days. Right. And if you've been on this, if you've already been building, right, for a year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, whatever, however many years, if you've never done a 90-day run, you have to do it. Like, I just think if you're in business, you got to do a 90-day run. Okay, that's, that's 100% what it is. But when it comes to business networking, it's the same exact thing. Okay? It's about applying these different philosophies and strategies that work. These success models, okay? They're, they're called success models for a reason, right? So use the models that you can use to your advantage, and then from there, apply it into your business. Inject all that into your business. When it comes to business networking, it's the same exact thing, except that when we, when it comes to using social media, it's amplified. But here's the thing, okay? Here's the challenge now. Because social media is available and accessible, right? Um, this is the thing that I want to talk about when it comes to high status networking. Okay, there's 3 different levels when it comes to everything that you do in life, right? And I'm going to talk about the positions too, because this is going to— this is really important. So when it comes to like, uh, networking, right, there's, there's just regular networking, and then there's high status networking. Okay, and I'm going to, I'm going to share with you like the reason why I created High Status Networking was because when I was actively and intentionally networking, like I, I learned about the 3 positions from experience. I learned that the 3 positions that you're always in is either low status, no status, or high status. Okay, this is for your notes. And everyone here is in a position of low status, no status, or high status. Which one is the worst position to be in? What do you think? Okay, I'll give you a second. And all right, I just think about it. Which one is the worst position to be in? Low status, no status, or high status? Which one is the best position to be in? Low status, no status, or high status? Which one is a position that is okay to be in? Low status, no status, high status. Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna throw a curveball to you. It's about the perception that people have on you. It's about the perception and the situation and placement and position that you're in. Okay? When it comes to building your brand, when it comes to business, you never want to be in the low status position. It's okay to be in no status or high status. The reason for that is because when it comes to your brand, right? When people think about you, they think about your brand. They, they think about what your brand symbolizes. They think about what your brand represents, what it means to them. It's their perception, not yours. It's their— it's your client's perception, your, your business partner's perception, the market's perception on your brand. Okay. We have to reverse it. Instead of thinking about yourself, think about who you are serving. Think about who you are impacting. Think about who you're empowering. Think about who you are helping. Think about who are you being a service to? Okay. In service to. Like, it's about that. It's not about you. It's about them. It's about how can you give to those who need you, who need your product or service, who need help, right? Who need, like, your product, like Thrive, for example. Like, you have to think about them and not you. But when it comes to your brand, like, it's obviously the— it's going to lie back on you, okay? The responsibility will— and accountability will be back on you as a leader. Right? But when it comes to the perception, when it comes to the perception of other people on you, on your brand, on your product or service, on your business, like that's what really matters. And that's what I'm talking about when it comes to the low status, no status, and high status position. Okay? And here's the thing, because everyone here is building a personal brand because you're showing your face on social media, because your product or service that is directly tied to you is tied to your face, like this actually matters, right? This actually pertains to you. This is directly related to your efforts, right? Because you're building a personal brand. So here's the thing, when it comes to your personal brand, ask yourself this question: what in the eyes of other people, if they were to look and connect with you and land on your, your social media or your website, whatever, they were to interact with you, like, what perception are you leaving behind? What perception are you leaving with them? What feelings are you leaving with them, right? And this is, this is a marketing skill, okay? I'm going to share, um, a, a 1%er, uh, hack with you guys that I've never shared publicly, um, and this is like for— I've been on social media for like 10 years, like I've never shared this. Maybe I've done a screenshot of it before, but I've never shared it and never done a training on it. But, uh, today I'm going to just share like a glimpse of it and I'm going to talk a little bit about the laws of marketing. Okay. And there are laws in marketing. And this is for me, like I've made majority of my money because of the laws of marketing. Okay. So I'm going to share it with you guys. Um, and I'm going to share the reference, the tool. And if you buy this book, Like I guarantee it's going to be one of the best investments you make in your marketing career. Okay. I guarantee it. If you just apply it, obviously, but, and no one talks about this. Okay. Like I haven't seen anyone talk about this book, but that's why I'm doing it because I want to share it. Okay. The resource is there and I want to help more people. Okay. So I'm not going to hold this back, but this is like, I've vetted this book. I've used all the, I've used it and I continuously use it because I believe that it's an evergreen model. I believe it's an evergreen philosophy that they have and methodology. So it's just, it's a foundational pillar to your marketing. And if you're not using it, then I guarantee that you're missing, you're leaving money on the table. Okay? You're leaving money on the table for your marketing efforts. All right? But perception is one thing that is, is one of the laws they talk about, and I'm going to share it. And so again, like the question to ask yourself for your personal brand, because your personal brand is going to, is going to be the thing, is the gateway, it's the key, it's the door, it's the bridge. To connecting with new people. It's the bridge. Okay, let's just keep it at bridges, like, because there's something called bridging. So when it comes to like your bridge that you're building for other people, like new people to connect with you, right? What type of bridge are they walking on, right? Is your bridge like visually aesthetically pleasing? Is it one that is on— it's sturdy, it's, it's solid, people can actually walk and, and talk and connect with you on the other end. Like, this is— I'm— I know I'm like expressing like weird phrases and all these different things, but I'm just making a point is that like all these little things, it's all about perception, okay? And it's about your position as well. It's about your brand position in the mind of the other person. And again, low status, no status, high status. If you haven't answered that for yourself yet, um, it's okay. Take some time, chew on it, but really look and understand it and analyze and really take some serious thinking time and even like take notes and like write out a business plan, like a simple one for yourself, like map everything out for yourself. Because I'm telling you right now, like if you're going to be doing business and you're building a business that you want it to be successful and you want it to be sustainable and scale and also even generational for that matter, then guess what? Like all of this matters. This is the work that needs to be done in order for you to really set a solid foundation for your goals and dreams, for your aspirations, for your ambitions. All of this really matters. But guess what? It's super simple. And when you learn it and you apply it, it really truly becomes fun. Okay? It truly becomes enjoyable when you're able to use it. All right? And the, you know, all the seeds that you plant in the beginning, these are seeds for yourself. If this is new to you, which I'm pretty sure it is, like, these are seeds, okay? These are seeds that you want to water and sprout as fast as possible. And, you know, take your time. Don't rush. Like, enjoy the process, but know that it's going to be a process and know that there is work to be done when it comes to, like, instilling and using and taking action on these, these concepts. Okay. These methodologies, frameworks. For me, it took me, it took me decades to understand. And then it took me really It took me 2 years to fully master at least my philosophy when it comes to networking. And so again, like the 3 positions that your brand, that your personal brand can be in at all times, every single day, 24/7, when you're sleeping, when you're working, et cetera, when it's out there, your brand position is always there because it's on social media. You're either in low status, no status, or high status. Okay? Now if you're in a, and if you're, if your current situation is if you just do an audit, okay? That's why it's important to do audits, analyze your data. But if you're looking at, you know, your brand, book name and author again when you get a chance. Book name, High Status Networking, author, Shangana. I didn't get this stuff from any book or anything. It's from my own experience. So you're going to probably, in the future, I'll be creating a High Status Networking book. And high status branding book with these philosophies. But, um, I have a blog post that you can read. I'm going to share it actually on my screen, but this is, yeah, this is all stuff that I, I experienced from my own personal experience. Um, I didn't read this in a book or anything. So yeah, thank you. Thank you for the encouragement too. I definitely got a, I started the book actually already, but it's in a Google Doc right now. I need to translate it into a real book, but I'm going to share my screen right now and I'm actually going to walk you guys through the 7 steps. Of, you know, what I'm talking about of high status networking. I created High Status Networking in 2018 and I launched it publicly then and I helped a lot of people, you know, like really, like I'll just share the testimonials and stuff. But anyways, let me, let me just share my screen and I'll just walk you through the 7 steps. And then also again, like this is the methodology and stuff. So yeah, it's not gonna work. Okay, we're gonna have to pivot. So this is pivot in real time. So when it comes to high status networking, the step number one, this, it's not gonna, it's not gonna share the screen, so I apologize for that. So step number one though is having an understanding of the, the world in a high status perspective. Okay. Step number one is having and developing a high status mindset. Okay. That's number one. In order for you to develop a high status mindset, you have to have a high status understanding of the world. Okay? And so when you look at from a lens of high status, like think of it in terms of like celebrity status. All right? Because celebrity status is really the goal when it comes to elevating your status and elevating your authority in a position into an expertise level where people are, are per, uh, perceiving your personal brand. As one of high status, one of leadership, one of authority, one of the role model, one of the influencer. That is number one. In order to get there, you have to understand and have a perspective of the world when it comes to that. Okay? When it comes to a high status understanding of the world, that's number one. Number two is you have to develop like the, the high status, like philosophy for sure, but also like the actions, like the toolset. Your skillset. And that's going to, like, when it comes, just to summarize it, when it's going to come to building your personal brand and really elevating your position from, from low status, no status into high status, it's about how do you put, how do you position your brand in that, right? And so the skills that you're in, you're going to need is networking, right? It's relationship building. It's sales because sales, sales is really about, you know, it's wordsmith. Right? It's about your vocabulary, expanding your vocabulary, understanding psychology right there. And that, that's going to be more towards marketing, which is another skillset and branding. Okay? And then not only that, but it's also PR. It's about, you know, uh, public, public relations, like, because it's about, it's about media. Okay? It's about understanding how to paint a narrative and a story. So, um, we're going to skip the 7 stages, but because I can't show you, but when it comes to this book, this is the book that I really wanted to, to share. It's called The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, okay? By Al Ries and Jack Trout. Violate them at your own risk. This book right here, I can at least dedicate $100,000 to this book, okay? Or con— or give credit al— to at least $100,000 to this book, okay? But it's in the millions when it comes to that. And that's just because I do marketing. So when it comes to marketing, when it comes to branding, like this right here, this is everything. If, if I were to share with you just one book to pick up for your marketing game, to elevate your marketing game, it's this one right here. Okay? So I'm going to just share with you, uh, one of the, the laws, like called Perception, right? And let me just read like the chapters because this is the first time I ever do this, um, publicly, but so there's obviously 22 laws. Okay. I'm just going to read the chapters. So every single category is related back to marketing. Okay. And, and always again, think about it for marketing, but also think about how can you apply it to business networking and your personal brand. Okay. Because your personal brand is directly tied to, to networking and marketing. All right. So law number 1 is I'm just going to read them. The Law of Leadership, the Law of the Category, the Law of the Mind, the Law of Perception, right, number 4, which we're going to talk about today, the Law of Focus, the Law of Exclusivity, the Law of the Ladder, the Law of Duality, the Law of the Opposite, the Law of Division, the Law of Perspective, the Law of Line Extension, the Law of Sacrifice, the Law of Attributes, The Law of Candor, the Law of Singularity, the Law of Unpredictability, the Law of Success, right? The Law of Failure, the Law of Hype, the Law of Acceleration, and the Law of Resources. Okay, there's 22. One thing I love about this book is that they share it in stories and parables, but they give real-life examples because it's from experience, right? You really want to vet like what you're learning from experience and not from just theory., right? Because what I've learned, you know, just from experience is that most of the time theory and hypothetics don't correlate or don't connect with reality, right? So it's, that's why I always say as a marketer, okay, put your marketing hat on. Like as a marketer, you got to test everything. An idea is only good until you execute it, right? So that's the importance of testing, test everything. And there, there are for sure there's right ways and there's wrong ways, But that's just because of trial and tribulation. That's because of experimentation and experiments, right? Experience that has already been happened. That's already been done. I can tell you from experience what works and what doesn't work when it comes to marketing, just because I know. But I'm always going to say and share to experiment, number one. Let's see if my— the computer just came back. I think it might be working now. So we're gonna, we're gonna review the Law of Perception and then I'll tie it in because actually I, I do wanna share, uh, the screen. So let's see if it works. Can everyone see the screen? Nice. Thank you for that, that link. Get on Amazon. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Okay, so, uh, high status networking. Okay, I'm just going to read real quick. When I was a kid, I realized that networking is something you'll do for the rest of your life, so you might as well get good at it, right? So when it came to business networking, I created this philosophy because I realized as I was actively networking in the world, I was actively networking out there, one of the big, one of the real life problems I had was I had to make rent, okay? I had to make, uh, like $2,200, $2,300 rent. At that time in 2018. And the only way I was doing it, because I went on my own, like I was consulting, I didn't have a job, I was my own independent like contractor basically. Like, um, I had a consulting business, I still do, and I was making money from that. So one of the, uh, one of the offers I created was called High Status Networking. And the only reason why it worked was because I was actively networking and building my personal brand.. And what I was doing at the time was I was showcasing my life. I was doing a daily vlog every single day for 3 to 4 years straight. I was doing a daily vlog. So I would literally have a story post every single day and people would know like what I'm doing, who I'm with, where I'm going, where I'm at, everything. And because I started to do, like, I started to build this, this story and this narrative and this persona online. Just by documenting my real life, my daily life, because you can't fake that. Like, you can't fake, like, you know, your daily life. So, and there's no point in doing that, and it's not sustainable. You can't scale like that. So I did that, and I eventually started to learn about these business networking, like, tools, techniques, tips, and just, you know, like the workarounds, et cetera. And I eventually started to frame it as, High Status Networking, and I developed that, that, that name because that's exactly what I was doing. Okay, so, and one of the goals that I was sharing is that when it comes to high status networking, the number one goal is to achieve local celebrity status. You want to achieve local celebrity status in your local market because you want to first build in your home, in your local market. You first build there and then you expand out. So it starts in your home and then it expands to your neighborhood, And then the city, and then the next city over, and then the state, and then the next state over, and then the country, and then other countries. That is the pro— the progression of how you build celebrity status to the global status. Okay? At least in steps. And so what's the easiest way to do it? Instead of becoming a, a global celebrity, you start locally, right? So achieving local celebrity status is number 1. And let me share with you, like, some examples first about how this works. Okay, I'm actually just going to go to YouTube and I'm going to go to Thrive. Okay, I'm going to showcase because this is an example of local celebrity status and I'm being featured in corporate. Okay, look, look who I found. Do you guys recognize these faces? So this right here, being featured in corporate, okay, being featured on a company video, being featured like within the business that you're working, okay? That already is elevating your brand position, your personal brand. That's one, okay? That is one. The next level, obviously, to that is, you know, being on stage, right? Look, who's that? Okay, Angela. So that, that's one. That's one way of achieving local celebrity status. That is a milestone, okay? That's a milestone of achieving local celebrity status. Look, Crystal and I, right? Like, this is a milestone for us to achieve local celebrity status. Getting interviewed by corporate, that's a milestone. And if it's showcased and other, other people within the company notice, like, they know who you are, they see, like, you know, what you're doing, etc., etc., right? That right there is, you know, that's, that's testimony, uh, to you. Okay, so that is one, that's one way. Because I've had people, when it comes to a mastermind, I've had people from employee standpoints, from, you know, the own business owner standpoints, from entrepreneurship, independent, what, everything, all walks of life, like real estate, hedge fund owners, venture capitalists, everyone. Okay. Like I've worked with a lot of different range of people. It's the same thing. It's just the same thing. It's about being able to achieve local celebrity status in your local market, in your local network. And then from there, The milestones that you achieve is when people are seeing you, they're seeing your face, they're, they're not featured yet. And so that right there already is, there's a difference when it comes to, uh, positioning. Okay. There's low status, no status, high status. If you're not featured in corporate, you're in a no status position right now with corporate, right? Well, how do you elevate that? How do you connect and network with corporate? Right? You, you build the real raw connections. The real authentic connections and relationship with corporate. And sooner than later, boom, it happens, right? When it comes to Crystal and I being featured, like, it was like that. Like, when it came to corporate, like, for me, like, I'm like, I thrive because Crystal, you know, obviously brought me in and thrives. But when it comes to like corporate, like, why did they put me and why do they record me every single time I show up at conference? It's because I built that relationship, the connection alone. That was it. Like, I'm not anyone special, you know? So when it comes to that, it's exactly that reason. Okay. It's just the connection. It was one connection away. Now, uh, I wish I had like all these prepared, but I'll prepare it, uh, on another time. Um, but literally, like, again, with the 7 steps, this is what it's about. It's about achieving local celebrity status, right? And you can read this. This is public information. You can read it on the website. Resurrectionmedia.com. But there's just 7 things, okay? The 7 trans— that's— I'm just going to read it real quick, uh, man. I, I encourage everyone to read it if you really want to read like more about like this. But Angela says create your status today and sign up for OZ. Good job, that is a good call out. That is really good. If you're not— if you haven't done an OZ, like that is a great way to start building up your reps, okay? Build up those reps. Get in front of a camera, share your story with other people, right? Let me, let me share with you right here the High Status Networking Framework. This is a methodology. It's a system. It's flexible and you can use it and achieve it and use it to your advantage, right? Leverage it. But I call it high status transformations, right? There are 7 transformations that you must, you must go through in order to attain high status, okay? And achieve local celebrity status. One is cultivating a high status understanding of the world. Number two is developing a high status mindset. Number three is arming yourself with high status skills, right? Networking, branding, marketing, all that stuff I, I mentioned before. Number four is creating a high status brand, right? It's about building that personal brand and elevating your status, right? Because that's what people are seeing. It's, you know, unfortunately we live in a world where people judge based off of appearance. Well, guess what? That's just the real world. That's how like the reality of the world works. So use that to your advantage instead of going against it, learn it and use it, right? Number 5 is applying high status networking. High status networking is about, you know, there, there's a lot of different ways to do it, but, um, it's about status transfers. It's about energy transfer, like what Angela mentioned earlier, right? Number 6 is monetizing connections when it comes to business networking. It's not enough to just connect with people. How do you actually make money together? How do you actually monetize those connections, right? That's number 6. And number 7 is having a high status networking guide, a mentor, right? Obviously like in this scenario I would be the guide, but if you have other people that you can learn from that, you know, have high status and they're willing to teach you, then learn from them. But high status networking specifically, you know, it's, I just framed it like that. I created it in 2018 and I released it publicly. But that's— this is all the transformations. This is basically a summary of what the 7 transformations are. So we're not going to have time to go over it because I want to go on the book real quick. But this right here is a tool. It's free. Like, go after it and I'll just post the thing here. This is the link. Okay. Read it at your own time and take notes. And not only that, but take it a step further. Okay. What I want you to do is like go on YouTube. Like go on YouTube and start to— if you're really like looking to, uh, you know, learn this like and understand it, like, like really cultivate a high status understanding of the world, like lurk, look at, uh, celebrity interviews, understand like media, understand movies, understand cinema, understand like how did a brand get to where it's at. Like you have to look through all that stuff. That's the data. That's the, the work. Okay. That's the work that I did. So You know, it's out there, it's available. It's just about like having awareness and understanding like what to like research and what to like seek out. And remember the quote, right? Seek and you shall find. Okay, so seek this information out and you'll find it, right? And it's there, it's right here. Okay, so anyways, with that being said, I'm happy I got to share that because that is the— that's the 7 steps that I literally take someone from if they want to learn high status networking and apply it and just like build a high status brand. It's about going through the 7 transformations and then applying it, right? Applying it until it becomes instinctual and until you actually achieve local celebrity status in your local market. Once you do, then it's just game over. Um, another example of that is Star Motorworks, right? With every business owner that I, I work with, my number one goal is to achieve local celebrity status first. That's number one, because once I achieve local celebrity status for them, I unlock celebrity status. With their brand. Guess what happens? That's the 20% that gets the 80% done. Now every effort is multiplied because of local celebrity status. If you think about yourself, I, I didn't get to go through everything, uh, for high status networking, but what I'll do is I'll just draw it real quick. I've done this before many times, okay? But I'm just going to show you right now in a nutshell. This is my methodology for high status networking, okay? This is literally what it is, right? And I left out one word, but this is my picture that I always draw and share with everyone who works with me, right? This is you, okay? And the circle is the world, and the arrow is the attention. And in today's society, especially with access to social media, and when, when you're doing business, you're building a brand, the goal of high status networking, okay, is this, is to get, is to multiply the arrows on you. And the reason for that is because when you multiply all the arrows, the attention, because arrows equal attention, when you multiply all the attention on you, on your brand, on your personal brand, on your business, et cetera, everything gets multiplied. All efforts in play get multiplied. All your marketing efforts, your networking efforts, your PR efforts, your word of mouth efforts, your referral base, everything, everything multiplies just simply because the world's attention is now on you. Does that make sense? And that's the point of local celebrity status. That's the point of unlocking celebrity status. It's because when you unlock celebrity status, right? When you become famous, like does the fame go away? The fame only goes away if your relevancy is not on you anymore. If the attention's not on you anymore. However, that celebrity status is now, it's history, okay? It's locked in position as history now. You are now known in that mind, in the perception of the mind as a celebrity. Does that make sense? Okay, so that right there is the importance and purpose and reason and intention and just the critical reason for why you need to unlock celebrity status, especially if you're building a business. If you're building a personal brand, this is number one. If you're building a business, this is number one. Why? It's because the story and perception that lives in the client's mind, in the, in the market's mind, the target, in the, in the customer's mind, in your network's mind, is that you are a celebrity. Okay? It only amplifies everything that you do. Now there's, there's good attention, there's bad attention based on what you do, based on what you portray, based on what you're, your messages out there to the world. And that's where the coaching comes into play because that's an ongoing process. But that right there, you know, there's pros and cons. It's a double-edged sword. If you use this power, if you use celebrity status to your advantage and you're doing it, you're a force for good, it's only going to help you make more good in the world. But if you're not doing good and you have celebrity status, what happens to you? You amplify the negativity, right? So that's why it's a, It's a double-edged sword. It's because you have to have responsibility, right? That famous quote from Spider-Man, um, it's like, with great power comes great responsibility, right? That's the same thing with celebrity status, with influence. When you have influence, everyone's mind and eye is on you at all times, cuz the attention is multiplied on you, right? So that right there correlates directly, it's connected directly to the law of perception. Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions. And that is very true, right? And let me just, um, I want to read like this. Let's see how long it is. It's like 5 pages. Okay, so it's 6:58. Let me just, let me just, let me— is it okay if I read everything? Because I'm gonna just do it right now. All right, this, this again Marketing, what they say, marketing is perception. It's a battle of perceptions, right? So if that is true, which I, I believe it's true, if you have a different belief, then that's fine. But figure it out for yourself. Like experiment with your social media, experiment for yourself. See how if you post a story out there and you have a, a specific message on it and someone sees it, and the next time you meet with them, you connect with them and they talk about that story, what story is in their mind? What's the story in the head? What's the story that's living inside their head? That narrative, that perception that you put out there. Okay? Just test it for yourself and see what happens. Let me read this real quick. Many people think marketing is a battle of products. In the long run, they figure the best product will win. Marketing people are preoccupied with doing research and getting the facts. They analyze the situation to make sure that truth is on their side. Then they sail confidently into the marketing arena, the marketplace. Okay? Secure in the knowledge that they have the best product and that ultimately the best product will win. Okay, that means that they're saying that the best product— if they, if they feel like they have the best product, they think that they automatically is going to win the market's eye, which is not true. And this is what they're saying. It's an illusion. There is no objective really. Uh, there is no objective reality. There are no facts. There are no best products. All that exists in the world of marketing are perceptions in the minds of the customer or prospect. The perception is the reality. Everything else is an illusion. Does that make sense? What they said, key word, okay? Uh, the key phrase is that they said that the perception is the reality, okay? Perception equals reality. That's, that's all it is. Everything else is an illusion, right? All truth is relative, uh, relative to your mind or the mind of another human being. When you say I'm right and the next person is wrong all you're really saying is that you're a better perceiver than someone else. Because, and, and here's the thing, like, there's no right or wrong, right? It's only what's right in your mind, right? That's what they're literally saying. If you think, if you believe that Thrive is superior than any other product out there in terms of the, that nutritional comparison, then that is your perception, right? However, obviously backed by statistics and backed by experience, that's what really refines and, and solidifies your perception. Does that make sense? So if someone's, someone's never, like the new person that's never Thrive before and they finally hear about Thrive but they've never experienced it yet, what type of perception do they have in their mind, right? This is a good question to ask yourself. What story is living inside their head if they've never, um, tried Thrive, right? They don't know the reality of Thrive because they've never made up their perception yet. Does that make sense? This is super key when it comes to elevating your marketing game. All right. Most people think they are better per— yeah, most people think that they are better perceivers than others. They have a sense of personal inf— infallibility. Their perceptions are always more accurate than those of their neighbors or friends. Truth and perception become fused in the mind, leaving no difference between the two. It's not easy to see that this is so. To cope with the terrifying reality of being alone in the universe, people project themselves onto the outside world. They live in the arena of books, movies, television, newspapers, magazines. They belong to clubs, organizations, institutions. These outside representations of the world seem more real than the reality inside their own minds. Because again, it's— if you are seeing out there and that's what you truly believe as reality, you know, that is the perception that lives inside your own mind. Okay, it's about what's in— what's inside your own head. Does that make sense? It's a, it's important to have self-awareness and to know what lives inside your mind because then you can challenge your own beliefs and then break them and then take new actions, right? If you believe one thing and you're trying to get to a different goal, but you're, you're not able to break your own limiting beliefs, how can you ever change? How can you ever change your habits, your actions, the patterns of your unconscious subconscious mind? You can't. That's why it's important to understand your own mind first, right? People cling firmly to the belief that reality is the world outside of the mind and that the individual is one small speck on a global spaceship. Actually, it's the opposite. The only reality you can be sure of about is in your own perceptions. If the universe exists, it exists inside your own mind and the minds of others. That's the reality that marketing programs must deal with. Okay, there are— there may well be oceans, rivers, cities, towns, trees, and houses out there, but there just isn't any way for us to know. That these things, except that these things, except through our own perceptions, exist. Marketing is a manipulation of those perceptions. Okay, marketing is a manipulation of those perceptions, obviously in an empowering way, because you want to use it for to be a force for good, right? Uh, that's just my little input. Most marketing mistakes stem from the assumption that you're fight— you're fighting a product battle rooted in reality. All the laws in this book are derived from the exact opposite point of view. What some marketing people see as the natural laws of marketing are based on a flawed premise that the product is the hero of the marketing program and that you'll win or lose based on the merits of the product, which is why the natural logical way to market a product is invariable, invariable wrong. What they're saying to me at least means that the product is not the hero of your story. Okay? It's about the message, right? At least that's, That's what I've found to be true. It's about the story that you paint about the product or service that you have. Okay? What is the story that you're painting with Thrive? That's the question to ask yourself with this. Only by studying how perceptions are formed in the mind and focusing your marketing programs on those perceptions can you overcome your basically incorrect marketing instincts. Each of us as manufacturer, distributor, dealer, prospect, customer, or promoter looks at the world through a pair of eyes. If there is objective truth out there, how would we know it? Who would measure it? Who would tell us? It could only be another person looking at the same scene through a different pair of eye windows. Okay. In, in essence, to me, that means to test your marketing against the market, to actually share your message, get real feedback and real data from people who are actually seeing your message, your story, your, your clients and consumers. Okay. That's the only way to get true customer feedback. It's called CDR, customer-driven response, right? That's what you want to get. You want to get customer feedback because the customer is giving you the feedback is the honest truth that you'll always get. Never— it's, it's okay to ask other people, but if they're not your customers, they're not paying you, they're not voting with their dollars, they're not paying you money to give you feedback, then how true and how valid is the story that they're sharing with you, right? So that's really key. That's a 20% that gets 80% done right there. Truth is nothing more or less than one— okay, truth is nothing more or less than one expert's perception. And who is the expert? It's someone who is perceived to be an expert in the mind of somebody else, right? That's why low status, no status, high status is everything. I'm pretty sure I'm going pretty fast, but just replay this, okay? Replay this episode. And just replay and also get the book and go through this chapter as we're going through this as well, right? And take notes and highlight everything. If truth is so elusive, why is there so much discussion in the marketing about the so-called facts? Why are so many marketing decisions based on factual comparisons? Why do so many marketing people assume that truth is on their side, that their job is to use truth as a weapon to correct the mis— the misperceptions that exist in the mind of the prospect? Marketing people focus on facts because they believe in objective reality. It's also easy for marketing people to assume that truth is on their side. If you think you need the best product to win a marketing battle, then it's easy to believe you have the best product, right? That's where you get blinded. All that's required is a minor modification of your own perceptions. Change. And here's the thing with that, right? Your perception on reality can be true or false based on what you're looking at. But if, when it comes to like actually doing marketing, like what they're talking about, the perception, when you actually understand how to use mark— like perception in marketing, you'll start to like really relate to what they're doing and you'll be able to unlock your marketing and level it up today. Okay. In the now, once you get this, once you understand this, right? Changing a prospect's mind is another matter. Minds of customers or prospects are very difficult to change. With a modicum of experience— I don't know what that word means, I got to look it up— uh, of experience in a product category, a consumer assumes that he or she is right. A perception that exists in the mind is often interpreted as a universal truth, right? People are seldom, if ever, wrong, at least in their own minds. It's easier to see the power of perception over product when the products are separated by some distance. For example, this is like what I love, and they give the examples. For example, the 3 largest selling Japanese imported cars in America are Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. This is at the time of this book writing. Most marketing people think that the battle between the 3 brands is based on quality, styling, horsepower, and price, and it's not true. It's what people think about a Honda, a Toyota, or a Nissan that determines which brand will win. Marketing is a battle of perceptions. Right? And if you think about that in today's world, right? Like, just think about electric cars, for example. Like, what is— this is subjective, this is based on your opinion— what is the best electric vehicle brand out there right now? Like, what do you guys think it is, right? Um, everyone's going to have— may have a different answer. It may be Tesla, it may be Rivian, it may be, uh, it may be Rolls-Royce's new Spectre.. It may be a Mercedes EQS. Like, I don't know, you know what I mean? Like, what, what is it for you? Japanese automotive, uh, Japanese automobile manufacturers sell the same cars in the United States as they do in Japan. If marketing were a battle of products, you would think that the same sales order would hold true for both countries. After all, the same quality, the same styling, same horsepower, and roughly the same prices hold true for Japan as they do for the United States. But in Japan, Honda is nowhere near the, the leader. Their Honda is in third place behind Toyota and Nissan. Toyota sells more than 4 times as many automobiles in Japan as Honda does. Okay, so Toyota was selling a lot more, uh, 4 times more in Japan versus Honda. So what's the difference between Honda in Japan and Honda in the United States? The products are the same, but the perception in the customer's minds are different. If you hold— if you told friends in New York you bought a Honda, they might ask you, what kind of car did you get? A Civic? An Accord? A Prelude? If you told friends in Tokyo you bought a Honda, they might ask you, what kind of motorcycle did you buy? That's completely different. That's, that's different for sure. In Japan, Honda got into customers' minds as a manufacturer of motorcycles, and apparently most people don't want to buy a car from a motorcycle company. That makes sense. How about an opposite situation? Would Harley-Davidson be successful if it launched a Harley-Davidson automobile, like a car? You might think it would depend on the car— quality, styling, horsepower, pricing. You might even believe the Harley-Davidson reputation for quality would be a plus. We think not. Its perception as a motorcycle company would undermine a Harley-Davidson car, no matter how good the product is. And they talk about— they reference Chapter 12, the Law of Line Extension. Law of Line Extension is when you, when you have a business, let's say it's like for Star Motor Works, okay? Star Motor Works, we're known for Mercedes. We're known for working on Mercedes and being like the top, okay? So now let's say, for example, we start to work on Hondas. If we start to work on Hondas and we're known for Mercedes, like working on Hondas just doesn't make sense because now it would, it would really like, it would actually lower our status, uh, our high status that we have just simply because of the brand perception. Because the brand, when you think of Mercedes, you think of luxury, you think of, you know, exclusivity, you think of this is for people who like our performance, like performance-based, et cetera. But then when we, if we work and we build into a, a different company, a different brand, and we bring that into shop, then it automatically lowers our brand status, our brand, our perception in the, in the client's mind, simply because it's two different demographics. Does that make sense? So, and that's what they're, they're talking about, the law of line extension. When it comes to Harley-Davidson, Harleys are known for motorcycles, right? So if they're, the argument that they, they were giving is if we were to, if Harley-Davidson were to extend to cars, like how would that help or hurt their reputation? Okay. Why is Campbell's Soup known, uh, why is Campbell's Soup number 1 in the United States and nowhere in the United Kingdom? Why is Heinz Soup number 1 in the United Kingdom and a failure in the United States? Marketing is about perceptions, not products. Marketing is the process of dealing with those perceptions. Some, some soft drink, uh, executives believe that marketing is a battle of taste. Well, New Coke is number 1 in taste. The Coca-Cola Company conducted 200,000 taste tests that proved that New Coke tastes better than Pepsi Cola and Pepsi tastes better than their original formula, now called Coca-Cola Classic. But who is winning the marketing battle? The drink that research has proven to taste the best, New Coke, is in third place. The one that research shows tastes the worst, Coca-Cola Classic, is in first place. Obviously with hindsight, like it's just because of their brand as well. But you believe what you want to believe. You taste what you want to taste. Soft drink marketing is a battle of perceptions, not a battle of taste. What makes the battle even more difficult is that customers frequently make buying decisions based, based on secondhand perceptions. Instead of using their own perceptions, they base their buying decisions on someone else's perception of reality. This is everybody knows principle. This is the everybody knows principle. Okay? Everybody knows that the Japanese make higher quality cars than the Americans do. So people make buying decisions based on the fact that everybody knows that the Japanese make higher quality cars. When you ask shoppers whether they have had any personal experience with a product, most often they say they haven't. And more often than that, more often than not, their own experience is often twisted to conform to their perceptions. Okay, so that's like a really important note right there. Like you, even though You have— okay, so step number 1 is you have already had a preconception and belief of the story inside your head. Okay, that's why it's important to know the story inside your head about whatever it is, right? So let's say, for example, when it comes to like your, your business, okay, you already have a preconception and perception and story that you believe inside your head right now about your business, about your business. Now, when you have a new perception introduced to your, your, your mind, right? This is what they're saying. They're saying because you already have a belief, you already have a story inside your head that you believe, you're gonna shape that perception, uh, of that story to the new experience, to the new perception that just came in, and it's gonna override what is the new reality. And that's why it's important to understand and have self-awareness and to know what limiting beliefs you have and, and believe and the story that you believe inside your head so that we can change it at a whim on a moment's notice. When you have new information come in, new stories, new perceptions come in, new knowledge, new data. When it comes into your mind, if you're able to switch, to pivot, to be flexible and adapt faster because you know yourself and you know the story inside your head, you're able to change it and shift that story fast. At a moment's notice, then from there you're able to be in control of your own perceptions and not the other way around. You're not easily, uh, influenced and manipulated by everyone else. Okay, so that's just one example or one aspect of this. If you had— if you had— if you have had a bad experience with a Japanese car, you've just been unlucky because everybody knows that the Japanese make high-quality cars. Conversely, if you have had a good experience with an American car, You've just been lucky because everybody knows that American cars are poorly made. This is the battle of perceptions again. Everybody knows there's a problem with Audi cars. On November 23, 1986, CBS broadcast a 60 Minutes segment called Out of Control. It called attention to a number of complaints about Audi's unintended acceleration. I remember, yeah. American sales of Audis fell through the floorboards from 60,000 in 1986 to 12,000 in 1991. But have you ever personally had any problems with unintended acceleration while test driving an Audi? It is unlikely. Every single automobile expert who has tested the car has failed to do— has failed to duplicate the complaint. Yet the perception lingers on, right? Recently, Audi has been running advertisements comparing its cars to comparable cars made by Mercedes-Benz and BMW. According to the ads, German automotive experts rated Audi cars ahead of both Mercedes and BMW. Do you believe that? Probably not. Is it true? Does it even matter? Marketing is not a battle of products. It's about perceptions. And guess what? Like, from my experience with Mercedes, like, our experience and our story would be different. We would say and vouch and encourage people to get a Mercedes over an Audi just simply because of our experience and our story that's inside our head. Right. So that's, that's what they're talking about in this, in this chapter. This is just at least like what I've got from this off the top and just going with the flow. But chapter 4, The Law of Perception. Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions, right? So when you think about that, and I encourage again everyone to pick up this book and to start to like go through each chapter and like look and take an audit on your business, your brand. How does it pertain to the chapters? How are you using these, these laws to your advantage? Because it's a tool. This is just a tool. You don't have to use a tool, but if the tool's available and it's there, and I guess I'm vouching for it, guess what? Why not use it, right? Chapter 4, The Battle of Perceptions. Today, how are you going to use this information today in your marketing? How are you going to elevate your marketing game today? How are you going to elevate your personal brand, your perception today? And here's the thing with perception, okay? Something I teach in High Status Networking is, again, with the philosophies, there's frameworks and quotes. One of the quotes and, and frameworks I share in High Status Networking is you always want to start with the truth because you'll end up there anyways, okay? The truth is the fastest shortcut. That's why I like to say, right, always start with the truth. You don't have to bend the truth. When it comes to perceptions, this is what a lot of people make mistakes on, okay, is that they bend their truth. Do not bend the truth of your perception because the truth is the fastest shortcut. Start with the truth and you'll end up there anyways, okay? Do not make this mistake. I'm telling you right now, mistakes to avoid. Do not make the mistake of bending your own truth. The fastest shortcut is the truth. Start with the truth because you'll end up there anyway. All right, so that is, that is a 1%er hack right there. Some people just don't get that, but guess what? Everyone here, you get it. All right, I hope you get it. I encourage you to get it. Angela says you gotta reprogram your own personal philosophy. Let go of old self-limiting beliefs and systems. Yes, it's only gonna empower you, you know. Goody says, yes, truth, no bending over here. 100%. Right? That right there is everything. Okay? When the truth will set you free, the truth will unlock the doors, the right doors for you to open. All right? And when you seek, you shall find. And when people seek you out, start with the truth. Okay? Because they're only going to connect with you even more. They're only going to align with you even more. And yes, there are good people and bad people. That's the duality of life. But that's part of networking. That's part of business networking. That's part of being able to read people. Part of being able to understand and how to play the long-term game. Because life is long, you will network for the rest of your life. So why not get good at it now? And why not master the skill that will be with you forever and even with your children's children, okay? With your children and their children and their children and so on and so forth. And business is an extensive of relationships. Business is relationships. That's why, like I said before, people are going to start to say the new currency is relationship. That's why community is, is trending. That's why it's mattering. That's why we're going back to it, right? It's never gone. It's never been gone, but now it's being highlighted because of more awareness. Again, when it comes to perception, right? When it comes to the 3 positions that you're always in, right? And there's, there's 7 positions I talk about in High Status Networking as well, but there's so much more to this. This is just one, this, it's only an hour long, right? Episode. But there's so much to this.. And, and when it comes to high-size networking, there's a system. It's a step-by-step, uh, process that I put in place. It's a system for a reason. You do this one thing, you follow it to the T, you get the result. You unlock, uh, local celebrity status, and you also elevate your position in the, in the perception of the market. Your brand elevation is increased to the top, and you unlock celebrity status. Once you do that, the hard work is done. Now everything else becomes fun because now marketing is amplified just because of your position. Okay, so there's a lot more we can talk about, but I wanted to just— again, this is not everything. This is just a, this is just like a glimpse. Okay, this is just a snapshot of high status networking and the philosophy. And when you achieve high status networking, when you achieve local celebrity status, that's what unlocks high status branding because now you're not operating with a brand of no status or low status. You're operating with a brand of high status. So now everything that you do, every effort you make, all the actions you take, all the connections you make, every single thing that connects with your brand, your personal brand, your company brand, everything, it's now elevated and multiplied. Okay? And that's the power of using high status networking and combining it and multiplying it with high status branding., okay, and achieving the North Star of local celebrity status. All right, so when you go into a new market and you go into a new network, you know, status transfers, there's a, there's a right way. This is, this is now where I say the right way and wrong way when it comes to business networking because I'm implementing the high status networking framework, right? So there I'm going to say there is a right way and a wrong way to do business networking. The right way is to connect with people and have the perception of high status already instilled in that connection prior to you even making that connection, right? And there's the right way to do it. There's a step-by-step process to do it with high status networking, and there's a wrong way to do it. And the wrong— I'm going to just tell you the wrong way to do it right now, and then I gotta go. But the wrong way is to just connect with someone without any introduction to you. They don't know who you are. There was no edification, no buildup, and they just— they're a complete stranger and they just connect with you. All right, that is the wrong way to do it. Why? And this I'm talking about with business, okay, in a business context. The reason why, it's because in the perception and story of the mind of that person that just met you, what position are you in? What perception do they have on you now? For— it's always first and foremost no status and low status, okay? Those are the two default positions. When you meet a complete stranger, there's no context, no background, no status transfer, no energy transfer, none of that stuff. Automatically, the perception in the mind is no status and low status, and it's typically no status. But if you do something, if you don't have the high status skill set, the high status mindset, you don't understand how the— you don't have a high status understanding the world of people, basically, And then guess what? Any action and decision and word that you use can lower your position from no status to low status. Okay, this is where business networking comes into play and, and body language and everything in between, and your inflection in your voice and the rate of speech that you use and everything. Okay, all of this stuff matters, right? And the reason why it matters is because I love mastery. Okay, for me, I don't like to just do one thing and not get not get to the, not to fulfill my potential basically. Like I don't, if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do my best that I can possibly do. Going back to the Four Agreements, right? One of the agreements is always do your best. For me, everything I touch, it must turn to gold. That is my ambition. That is my goal. But I know when to let go and when to move on and pivot and adapt and when not to, right? There is a necessity for everything and there's a purpose and intention behind everything that you do. But it just depends on what you're doing, right? So I'll leave you guys with that though, because it's— I got to handle some stuff, but I hope this was valuable and helpful. This again was just a snapshot of high status networking because everyone here is building a personal brand. You know, the goal is to really elevate your brand so that way you can attract new— okay, attract new connections, attract like-minded individuals. Attract your newest leader, attract people who are going to do some good in the world, attract communities who are going to impact the world, attract like-minded, aligned individuals who can help you elevate your game, right? And vice versa, right? So that's what high status networking is about. It's about really scaling your business, your brand, and also scaling your impact. And when you achieve this and you actually do it, and if you, if you internally are good, you're only— when you achieve success, you're only going to amplify what's inside. Okay? So I encourage everyone to learn high status networking, encourage everyone to achieve unlocking high status branding and achieve that local celebrity status, that milestone. And from there, continue to elevate that game, right? It's just the beginning of it. All right. So I hope you guys got this. Um, replay this episode. It's going to be uploaded in, I think, 2 weeks. It's on a schedule. So, uh, check it out when it gets uploaded. It's going to be on YouTube. And freaking dominate your path. All right, make it happen. Uh, thank you for all the, uh, positive comments. I'm happy and grateful that you guys got a lot of value from this. So crush it, dominate your path. I will see you on the next episode. All right, we love you all. Let's get it. One love. Thank you. Let's get it. Peace out.