The Real Value of Creating Your Personal Brand with Dan Fleyshman

0:00Hey guys, Eric Su here. So the following is a clip from the Leveling Up Founders Mastermind that happened in Beverly Hills. And you're going to hear from some amazing founders, some amazing marketers and investors. And this was a private event that happened. So again, you'll get a preview of it. If you want to learn more, you can go to levelingup.com slash founders. Once again, levelingup.com slash founders. And without further ado, enjoy the clip. If you have an iPhone or an Android, can you raise your hand? Congratulations. You have the nicest camera in the history of the world in your pocket at all times.

0:33So there's no excuse that you think you need a fancy camera because you actually will get higher engagement, higher conversions, more shares, and more reach by posting videos from your phone rather than fancy edited ones with unicorns and fireworks and closed captioning. Is it OK sometimes to post that? Yes. But if you see Neil Patel or Tai Lopez or Gary Vee post a video with closed captioning and unicorn and fireworks, and then look at the same video, Neil talking like this, or Gary Vee talking like this on a camera, it'll be 400 to 800 % higher. Why? You guys actually understand better than any room I've ever talked to in my life.

1:13Because the reason that it converts way higher is we see the fancy video like a commercial. And what do people do when they see a commercial? They either scroll by it, fast forward it, skip it, go to the restroom, go eat, do something, but they don't watch commercials. Unless it has something organic about it or feels natural to them, or something that's compelling and makes them want to continue to watch it. When people make phone videos, just like this, or like this, anywhere they want to from their phone, it converts much higher because people don't feel like they're being sold to. We know we're being sold to, and consumers are much smarter than ever in history, and they're going to continue to get smarter, because we see 3 ,500 logos and faces per day on average.

2:01Right now in this room, in a room full of marketers, you don't realize there's probably 60 logos right in your area. From the electronics right here, from all the different food products here, from the books and watches and clothing and everything that you see, it's just natural to us. So in our life, when we're scrolling through social media, it will block when we see something that feels like an ad. So why does that matter to you? You do not need a fancy videographer to make good content. Sometimes having a videographer make good content is important because it edifies you. For special conferences like this, for big business events, when you're doing a big speech or something big is happening, you do want that fancy content occasionally.

2:44You don't even oftentimes have to have the videographer there to either film it or you can have an editor and just send it to them. OK, since you have a fancy camera in your pocket all the time, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't make some content. What content should you post? Your normal life is actually interesting to us. You think it's boring being in e-commerce for 11 years. Boom, it's like magic to all of us. You might be a plumber, and you think, I've been a plumber for 14 years. Nobody's going to care. I promise you, none of us know how to fix a toilet or a sink. And so if we're following the plumber for the last two years, and there's 4 ,000 people following him, it looks like magic if they show us content on how to fix a sink or a toilet.

3:35The same thing applies to food, fitness, health, fashion, sunglasses, anything that you work on, it looks like magic to all of us. So oftentimes we overthink what type of content should we create. It's what you already do. It's who you already are. If you're going to work and you make video content about the sunglasses or the food or the fitness or the plumbing or the e-commerce or whatever you're working on, it looks like magic to us. And sometimes we get, ah, I only have 2 ,000 followers or 400 followers or 5 ,000 followers. That grows by just math, compound, and time. If you make content that is easy for people to consume or is shareable, you will by default grow following.

4:21The biggest question I get asked is how to grow on social media. You do not need to spend money to grow. If you do spend money, it's like pouring gasoline on the fire, you will grow faster. Completely unnecessary. I've never spent a dollar on my own personal brand to grow. Collaborations is the fastest way. if you make videos or photos with someone that's either similar to you in your career, your style, your life, etc., you are likely to gain following. And if you don't gain following right away, you'll gain personal brand. What do I mean by that? If you and your three friends go play basketball on Saturdays, and then the three of you make videos together shooting basketball and post that content, the people that are following the other two or three friends are likely to be similar people that would follow you.

5:11If four girls go to the restaurant downstairs here and they take a selfie or they make a video together eating dinner, likely their followers might like the other person, other girls at the same dinner. Five guys go to the gym, four moms are doing a bake sale. Any type of aspects of life, similar characters or similar styles will oftentimes gain following. This applies to brands and products and services as well. Now, as you're thinking about Who cares if we're playing basketball? The people that follow you care. Who cares about cooking? The people that follow you care. Now, what's also interesting is, if you start to mix it up, Monday you're posting about your cooking, Tuesday you're posting about playing basketball, Wednesday you're playing pickleball, Thursday you're at the Leveling Up Conference, Friday you're back in the real estate office, and you're just posting different aspects of your life, you don't know which ones are going to be the trigger point that make people want to engage or share a comment.

6:09You don't know which part of your life is the most interesting to them or relatable to them, et cetera. But by doing this consistently, and they feel a part of your world, stuff happens. What do I mean by stuff happens? Let's say I'm talking to Eric and Neil. We're at dinner tonight, and Eric's like, you know what? I want to start buying fourplexes in Beverly Hills. And Neil's like, yeah, I'm moving back to LA. I want to buy some apartment buildings in Beverly Hills. And I'm like, oh. There's this lady, Rebecca. She's amazing. She lives in Beverly Hills. She's a real estate agent. It's super cool.

6:43On Thursdays, every Thursday night, she has like a potluck dinner. On Fridays at 4 o 'clock, her and all her friends get together. They go shopping, and they do like this whole brunch thing. It's super cute. And on Saturdays, she takes her grandma out. Her grandma's in a wheelchair, and she rolls her grandma. It's so sweet. Every Saturday at 12 o 'clock, Rebecca, the real estate agent, takes her grandma in a wheelchair everywhere. And on Sundays, it's her and the kids. They walk the dogs and go hiking. And Neil and Eric are like, oh my god, how long have you known Rebecca? I'm like, actually, I don't know her.

7:14I've just been following her on social media. And so I group DM Rebecca, who I don't know, with Eric and Neil to buy a fourplex and apartment building. And then she goes up and sells them an 800 ,000 unit and a$2 million unit and makes 3 % from a guy she doesn't know. Now, there's probably 15 ,000 real estate agents near Beverly Hills. What's the common theme with all 15 ,000 real estate agents? Every single real estate agent in Beverly Hills is the number one real estate agent in Beverly Hills. Just ask them.

7:54Why do I think of Rebecca? I know her dog's name. I know when they go play basketball. I know about her grandma. I know where they go to brunch. I feel a part of it. This is an emotional attachment. I have an emotional attachment which leads to top of mind awareness. If you create an emotional attachment for yourself, your brand, your product, or your service, you will get top of mind awareness. The biggest thing that can happen for your brand, product, or service is to have that. When someone says the key word, they think of you or your brand.