2007 – Mastering the Art of Personal Branding in a Crowded Market with Allan Draper

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1:05With us right now, Alan Draper. Alan, you are a serial entrepreneur. You are found on the web. Your personal brand is alandraper.com, A-L-L-A-N, draper.com. Alan, it's great to have you. Hey, I'm honored to be here. I'm looking forward to the conversation. Yeah. So your companies that you've been involved in have really spanned the, I mean, it's not just like you've created, you know, 20 some companies all within one industry, you've really been able to kind of move across or kind of get your fingers in lots of pies in several different industries. Do you mind maybe just giving us a little bit of a history and kind of like who you've become to this day?

1:53Yeah. So I actually got my start as an attorney, but I'm an entrepreneur at heart and And it's not what I do. It's a part of who I am. And so I was practicing law. And my first non-real estate business, I've been investing in real estate for about 20 years. But my first non-real estate business was proof pest control. And I quit my legal job in Phoenix, Arizona, and moved to Detroit, Michigan to become a bug guy. And I always say that was the best professional move I ever made. And since then, which was about a decade ago, I've got my hands in other businesses, both as an angel investor and as a founder.

2:40So I own a digital marketing agency, a software company. I actually own a law firm now as of two or three years ago, got involved with some law school buddies. So quite a few different things that I'm doing nowadays and, and staying busy with it, Josh. Yeah. Now, are you also coaching other business leaders? I coach two business owners at a time and like the way it, I'm just too, I'm, I'm too busy with other things that I've got going on. I'm writing a book about the sacrifices that are required to be successful as an entrepreneur. And so, yeah, so two at a time, I do it more as a way to create content, stay up to date on the operations of a business and things that are required.

3:28And I love the startup and growth phase of businesses. So it's a great way for me to connect with that. Yeah. And so for the entrepreneurial or the business owner community, I'd love to talk about the book that you're working on in just a moment. But like in terms of like the value that you, you know, it looks like, you know, you do some giving back here. What does that look like? So I'm very active on social media. I'm on podcasts like this one. I have a podcast that I pushed pause on for about a year that relaunches in January. It was called the Business Growth Pod. All those episodes are still available on all major platforms.

4:10And I'm rebranding it to the Alan Draper Show. So, but just, I'm really involved with the business community and a lot of different aspects and very active on Instagram. So I post, you know, up to 10 times a day through stories, reels, other types of posts, just talking about business, just talking about the life of an entrepreneur and kind of the holistic view there. Yeah. Well, I'm curious about your take on that. And so for someone who wants to be in the, and most people listening to this show are already well in that world, but is your take that to succeed in business today that you just simply have to outwork everybody?

4:53Or I don't think that's the case. I'd love your take on it. What does it take in order to succeed as an entrepreneur these days from your perspective? Yeah, so that's such a great question. and our culture has become one where we brag about how little we sleep and how much we work. And I address that exact thing. So my book is about making short-term sacrifices to build businesses and wealth without sacrificing what matters most. And there's ways to do things in a unique way without killing yourself. Because we're talking about, as entrepreneurs, we're talking about making short-term sacrifices.

5:38So if for decades we work 80 hours a week and never take a day off, that's gonna take a toll on our health, on our mental wellbeing, on emotions, on our family, on all these other things. So that was the wrong sacrifice. So the idea is, hey, I'm gonna put some time into starting a business and getting it off the ground. And there are some sacrifices that you have to make and cutting back time in other areas of your life. And I address those in the book. But I have seven areas of my life that are important in order. And if you're sacrificing something below for something above, then you're making a good exchange.

6:18And those are, for me, it's faith, family, my mental and emotional well-being, my physical well-being, my professional life, my financial life, and my social life. So, for example, if I'm making an exchange where I'm trading money for time with my family, that's the wrong exchange. Now, don't misunderstand me. You do have to work, right? Time is required. but when I started my first company, there were multiple days, I had a four-month-old and a two-year-old and there were multiple days and I remember very vividly, this is 10 years ago, where I didn't see them at all. I left before they woke up and I got home after they went to bed.

7:01There were things that I could have done differently and I regret them a little bit. Regret's a strong word but it's those types of sacrifices. Did I have to work hard? Absolutely. Could I have come home for dinner for an hour, for 45 minutes? Yes. Would it have changed my business? I don't think so. Alan, how do you address the issue of regret or guilt in that we think, you know, I've missed out on a couple of things over the past year or so? I don't know how helpful that is, is, you know, kind of my initial gut reaction to that feeling. It's better to just, you know, recognize, of course, correct and move forward.

7:43But if someone is feeling a bit of remorse, like, and they're sitting down with you having a heart to heart, where do you imagine that conversation going? You know, regrets is actually something I think a lot about. And I have a saying that regret is a lot less, or sorry, risk is a lot less scary than regret. And I have a lot of regret, but I don't let it beat myself. Like, I don't beat myself up over it. And the reason why is because as entrepreneurs, we're hardest on ourselves. We don't really need external forces telling us to do stuff. We have all sorts of imposter syndrome and confidence issues.

8:27And so the way to look at regret is as a incredible, incredible lesson. So the way, so I can, I can be honest with myself, like I just was about not being home on certain days to see my kids at all. and look back and not feel bad, like not feel remorse or guilt about it because I learned a great lesson. I'm writing a book about it, right? So we look at regret, like, hey, and regret is a really strong word. So maybe you don't use that word. Maybe you say, hey, maybe I should have done it a little differently. But you give yourself some mercy for sure because if we're too hard on ourselves and we're not gonna change, and that's what this entire process is about.

9:11is improving and changing. So when we look back and we're like, Hey, I could have done that differently. You know, first of all, show yourself some mercy and kindness, and then look at that as a great, great teacher in your life and, and double down on a dedication and commitment to make a change and not let it happen again. Yeah. Um, so what might be, um, you know, I want to, I want to empower our friend that's listening right now with, with some sort of a, a compass that, you know, I think we all go through ebbs and flows. I think we all kind of go through sprints. We go through seasons. But again, I hope that we can kind of lead and make these decisions out of joy and desire for what we want and not out of the more negative emotions.

10:00Like we feel guilty that we're not doing enough for our customers. We feel guilty that we're not doing enough for our team or, you know, we're missing out on opportunities. And these seem to be more kind of negatively charged, you know, as I describe these negatively charged motivators, whereas I'm guessing that maybe a little bit of proactivity and planning on the, you know, might be the solution board. but I don't know, like, how can we craft or now, you know, create a map or, you know, navigation plan to kind of help us set up, maybe it's guardrails, maybe it's a plan for what, you know, our ideal week is going to look like, knowing that there are going to just simply be deviations from time to time.

10:42But how do you design that kind of that ideal life? You know, just yesterday, I was consulting this business, they're trying to get out of a business partnership. And I was telling them that they're going to have to sacrifice a few things in order to, you know, in order to break this up. And I was explaining to them that they needed to get back to the main purpose for breaking up the relationship and go there. And the number one thing was this partner had become so toxic. They don't even talk to each other, let alone work in the business or whatever. And so when they were saying, yeah, I don't know if I can give up X, Y, Z in order to get him out of the business or let him take that portion of the business, I always pulled them back to, well, what's the purpose?

11:32So when we're talking about our change, we're talking about things we want to do differently, as opposed to looking at it from this, oh, I've got to stop doing this negative thing. It's, I'm going to start doing this positive thing, right? And it's all about perspective and perspective is really, really important. Because if you look at it like, oh, I'm just trying to get rid of this partner versus, hey, I'm trying to increase the well-being of the employees and I'm trying to increase my amount of time and my emotional well-being. And this is something that is going to have to happen for that to occur.

12:06I think it changes. So we have to find out and focus on not the things we're trying to avoid. I heard this story once about this Colorado river guide. And he, for years, he would tell, um, you know, the rafters, Hey, look at that area right there. Those rapids, make sure to avoid them. And sure enough, every single time they'd paddle right into it. And somebody in more experienced guide came along with him one time and said, Hey, don't point where they shouldn't go point where they should. And it changes where we're looking. And so I think that's the idea is keep those goals at the front of your mind, have a vision board.

12:46I love all those cliche type of things. And I review my vision board every morning so that those goals are right in front of me so that that's where I'm not looking. That's where I'm looking. And I'm not looking at the danger of the things I'm trying to avoid. Alan, tell me a little bit more. And again, I know you're still in the development process, but any ideas of like when the book would be ready or published? I mean, I don't know if you're that far along. Remind me of what that is. Yeah, so we're in the writing process right now. So publish probably February. So what are we, you know, six, seven months?

13:25August when this comes out. So a little bit of time. So in the meantime, your website is ellendraper.com. And, you know, again, I know that you've got a number of brands. Do you mind maybe sharing just a little bit more, particularly in a kind of a B2B world? A lot of folks listen to this or SMB owners, maybe agency owners, consultants, coaches. Are there any companies that you've been involved with that actually might be a brand that they might want to look or reach out to or connect with or might be a valuable partner? Yeah, I mean, I own a digital marketing agency that's strictly B2B. So we help with social media, website development, AdWords, SEO, design, all sorts of things like that.

14:14Also just connecting with me on my Instagram because I'm always trying to help business owners. And I have an established background in marketing and sales and personnel development, leadership. So don't necessarily have anything to sell them. But just I think that community, like the one that you've built, there's just a lot of value in that. Just asking each other questions and learning from each other's experience. Yeah. Alan, what are some of the things that if you're looking in your crystal ball and, again, you're addressing a room of leaders, you say, you know, here we are. We're into the second half of 2024.

14:53Here are the things I really think you should be keeping your eye on. And maybe it could be related to trends that you see from your vantage point. But what do you immediately think of in terms of what leaders might be paying attention to? A couple of things. I think personal brand is, I know it's becoming prevalent, but I think people need to double down on that. There's so much noise out there, and we have to sift through that. And a way to do that is by connecting with people and use your personal brand to do that. Another thing that I would recommend is doubling down on your niche. A lot of times when we start businesses, we try to do too much.

15:40And I say that if we're trying to do everything for everybody, we're actually doing nothing for anybody. So just niche down. you'll still be able to help people in different segments, but, but make sure that you just become an expert because we're getting so good at everything that we have to carve out that little bit of the marketplace for us. And just, it's, it's hard to do, especially when you start because you're like anything that walks into the door, I'll do, but become an expert and, and focus on one thing, especially if you're an early entrepreneur. One thing we struggle with is we want to start 10 businesses at once.

16:19And you got to pull back. You got to drill down into one specific thing at a time and make sure that your business will grow without you before you go on to something else. Yeah. Well, it seems like that's obviously a pattern that, I mean, how many businesses have you been involved? Are you a partner in or help launch? It's quite a few. And I think you shared the number before we started recording. I think you said it was 26 and you have 20 partners. Yes. Is that a lifestyle that is manic and you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy? Or is that a lifestyle that's actually kind of a dream or is it somewhere in between?

17:01You know, that's a great question. And it's both, right? For me, I couldn't do what I do without following the pattern that I have. Because what I would do after my first couple of startups I would start a business with an operational partner because I'm so distracted. I have so many things going on. So I'd get an operational partner on board, pay him a nice salary, equity in the company, and that is their 100 % professional end all be all. And so they take care of those companies and run those companies when I'm kind of running around like a chicken with my head cut off. So that being said, partnerships are the toughest, they're the best thing I've ever done.

17:43And they're the most difficult thing I've ever done. And a lot of my partnerships haven't worked out. I have businesses that have failed. So a lot of times we only talk about the glitz and the glam, but there's some stuff that frankly, I'd be embarrassed to talk about publicly. Some mistakes that I've made a lot of them with partners. So I think it's a personality thing for some people having 20 plus business partners would be a nightmare for me doing it all on my own, first of all, it wouldn't be possible. But if I tried, that would be my nightmare. Yeah. Alan, your website is alendraper.com.

18:19To our friend that's been listening to our conversation, where would you recommend they go from here in terms of like plugging in with your community, taking advantage of resources that you make available? Yeah, my website's a great spot. I actually dedicate 30 minutes a week to two 15-minute calls and I have a Calendly link on my website under the contact page. I just wanna hear about your business. What are things that you're excited about? What could you use help with? I've helped companies raise money. I'm obviously an attorney, have a law firm, have resources there on the marketing side. I don't really have anything to sell.

18:55Once my book comes out, then I will, but it's more about scheduling that 15 minute call just to get something off your chest. Talk about a frustration with a business partner. I've been there in a lot of cases. Not the exact situation, but something similar. So my website and my Instagram, I'm very active, but I'm active all across social media. Alan Draper, business startup expert and serial entrepreneur found on the web at alandraper.com. Alan, thank you so much for joining us. My pleasure. Thanks, Josh.

19:31Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community who listens and shares our program every day. Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful leaders. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this program, if you're looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, and clients, I have had private conversations with over 2 ,000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from.

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