The Brands On Brands Podcast

Latest Episodes:

#023 Neal Schaffer | The Art of Influencer Branding Jun 17, 2019

Show notes

Neal Schaffer is a global keynote speaker, university educator, consultant and owner of media agency PDCA Social. He works with brands to craft effective social media strategies that allow them to reach their audiences without intruding on their online experience. Neal is also the author of Maximize Your Social: A One-Stop Guide to Building a Social Media Strategy for Marketing and Business Success, and his upcoming book The Age of Influence is set to release in February 2020.

In this episode, Neal describes how working in Asia shaped his approach to marketing, argues that "organic" social media ads aren't as effective as we think they are, and explains what entrepreneurs can take away from influencers.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Neal describes when and how his interest in marketing really took off.
How Neal's experience in Asia gave him a very holistic perspective on business.
Why Neal's customers are where he finds inspiration for the content he writes.
YouTube streamers and influencers: the Dot Com boom of today.
The topics in Neal's upcoming book he believes are most relevant to his readers' success.
Why mastering Facebook ads is kind of like Jon Snow learning to ride a dragon.
Important lessons about influencers that entrepreneurs can take away from this episode.
Neal's favorite examples of companies working well in tandem with influencers.
Looking for better ways to connect with customers without interrupting their social media experiences.
Why Neal views branding as "eternal" and essential to your company's long-term success.

Quotes:

"I like to add value. I like to help people. That's sort of my core DNA."

"Don't ask me what I want to talk about. It's all about what your customers want to hear."

"Social media should be as much of a collaboration as it is about marketing."

"Now it's really about breaking down those barriers and making the audience part of your brand."

Mentions:

Volkswagen, Origins, Amazon, Apple

Guest Links:Neal's homepage - https://nealschaffer.com/

Visit Brandon's website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com

Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community

And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

#022 Freestyle Friday - How to Convert Followers Into Buyers Jun 14, 2019

Show notes

Brandon's discussion with Jenn Herman this past Monday (check out episode #020!) has him thinking about the ways we can make social media work for us rather than the other way around. Many startups and entrepreneurs believe they have to build up a base of followers before getting them willing to invest in your product or service, when in fact you're bound to get more success convincing people to purchase first, then building a community around them that increases word of mouth.

In this episode, Brandon describes what separates a buyer from a social media follower and explains how you can build your reputation through each successful sale.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Thanking everybody who was kind enough to leave a review for Brands on Brands on Brands in the last week.
Why you should approach social media in terms of accruing buyers rather than followers, and what differentiates the two.
Building your reputation one person at a time so you eventually have a community of people willing to buy why you're selling.
What the major priorities should be for your business and where you can find the highest ROI.

Quotes:

"There's so much information out there, but also there's enough that you can drown in it and not know what to do first versus second."

"A follower does not necessarily equal a buyer."

"Instead of converting followers into customers you're converting customers into followers."

Links:

Visit Brandon's website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com

Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community

And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

#021 Top 5 Ways to Spend $3K per Month on Marketing Jun 12, 2019

Show notes

For the high six figure and seven figure businesses out there just getting started, $1K-$3K per month tends to be the advertising budget for anyone ready to grow their business with marketing. In the grand scheme of advertising resources, that's not a lot, but with smart spending and the right expertise you'll find that this limited budget can pay dividends. Thankfully, Brandon knows what to do to ensure you're wasting neither your money nor your time.

In this episode, Brandon discusses five key ways you can optimize your monthly advertising resources so you can get the most bang for your buck and reach as many potential customers as possible. As well, Brandon has opened his coaching program up, so you can work one-on-one with him through either a VIP Strategy Day or a six-week course by signing up at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com/apply!

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Why creating a professional logo is so key to maintaining an edge in the early stages of your brand.
If your website is already in place, have someone take a look at it to ensure it's getting the traffic you desire and that it's conveying the key information about your brand it needs to get across.
Figure out what are the key pieces of content your website is providing to visitors.
If you're not a marketing expert, seek out a marketing consult who can review your strategy and determine if it's reaching the audience you want to reach.
Why Facebook ads are the cheapest yet most effective way to spread the word about your business.
BONUS TIP: get someone to coach you on an optimized email strategy so you can manage your relationship with existing customers and bring in new ones.

Quotes:

"Have someone design the voice and look of your business."

"Invest in that content first."

"Bring people in to talk about the priorities in your business."

"Investing in someone who knows what they're talking about is way more important than just starting to execute tactically without any direction."

"When you've been guided by market strategy and your website's humming too, suddenly you start to see a return."

Links:

Visit Brandon's website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com

Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community

And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

#020 Jenn Herman | Instagram Branding for Dummies Jun 10, 2019

Show notes

Jenn Herman is an author, speaker, blogger and "Instagram expert." As one of the forefront bloggers on Instagram marketing, she helps her clients craft optimized social media strategies that get them noticed. She also uses her site Jenn's Trends to examine how the web's biggest brands make themselves household names.

In this episode, Jenn discusses how she honed her Instagram game, explains what you can do to put your profile on the forefront of everybody's discovery feed, and gives some pointers for how you can best spend money to boost your virtual footprint.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

How Jenn went from just casually browsing Instagram to mastering it.
What exactly are Instagram "pods," and how do they negatively impact the underlying algorithms?
Breaking down how Instagram's central content recommendation algorithm works.
Jenn's "quality over quantity" approach to accumulating Instagram followers.
Why Instagram can be so valuable to an entrepreneur.
How you can get your brand going on Instagram and why you should switch over to a business profile.
The reason you need to attach a singular, identifiable job title to your Instagram profile.
What is a user going to get out of engaging with your profile?
The do's and don'ts of attaching a name, face and logo to your profile.
What it means to post "thumb-stopping" content.
Why you're better off putting your money into ads rather than a photoshoot.
At what point should you consider outsourcing content creation?
Why establishing a brand should always come before getting your sales numbers up.
What Jenn has planned in the near future and what her ideal customer testimonial would be.

Quotes:

"I fell into this niche of being an Instagram expert because it was just something I loved and I genuinely put the time and effort into it."

"This is all organic, targeted growth versus just saying 'Here's a bunch of people that like me'."

"I'd rather have ten thousand followers and like a ten percent conversion rate versus a hundred thousand followers and like a half a percent conversion rate."

"For me Instagram, as a community-building tool, is unmatched."

"Most people that read your bio are only ever gonna read it the first time they come to your profile."

"People tend to connect with humans more than they connect with logos."

"Nobody can talk to your brand better than you."

"In the long run, the branding gets you more sales, but the branding is what gets you there."

Mentions:

Instagram, TSA, The Love Bomb Co., The Royal Family, Sam Edelman, Samsung, E! News

Guest Links:Jenn's Trends - https://www.jennstrends.com/

Jenn on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jenns_trends/

Jenn on Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenns_trends

Jenn's Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/jennstrendsonline

Visit Brandon's website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com

Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community

And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

#019 Freestyle Friday - "For Purpose" Businesses and Brands Jun 07, 2019

Show notes

When Brandon was at the Thrive: Make Money Matter conference this past weekend, he heard some of the presenters speak on the subject of businesses that are neither for-profit nor nonprofit, rather "for-purpose," managing both the financial growth of the former with the altruism in the latter. Traditional nonprofit organizations do very important work, but they're ultimately limited by how many donations they receive. For-purpose businesses take the best of both worlds and create something even greater.

In this episode, Brandon discusses the how and the why of a for-purpose business, relates his recent encounters with a couple of listeners, and explains how he's using this show as a means to bring a little extra good into the world.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

What does it mean to build a "for-purpose" business?
Brandon thanks those listeners who've left reviews and tracks Brands on Brands on Brands' rise through the charts.
Why you shouldn't be ashamed of having low viewership so early in the game.
Which two "mystery listeners" Brandon had the chance to chat about the show with.
What you're eligible for if you sign up for Brandon's coaching before this Sunday (June 9).
How you can use your business as a tool for good, and how Brandon specifically is giving back using his coaching.
A couple of key pieces of advice that Brandon took back from Thrive.

Quotes:

"If you build a business—an engine that can generate money—you can use that money for good."

"How are you gonna do something that touches people and is built around more than protecting your lifestyle and those few things that you want to accomplish in life?"

"This is long term for me. I'm investing in this and this will be here long after I'm gone."

"What can you do to use your business as a tool to advocate for that cause that you already care deeply about."

"I know what I have to offer, I know that I can help people, and I hope you guys see that and appreciate that."

Links:

Visit Brandon's website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com

Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community

And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

#018 Chasing Dreams and Breaking Routines Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

Brandon turned 40 this January, which has made him contemplate what his goals are and how he's going to accomplish them moving into the next 10 to 20 years of his life. While he knows that, statistically, many people in their middle age and beyond are capable of achieving a lot—thanks to experience—he's still concerned that his path has been too safe. To create real success, and on a faster timeline, it will be necessary to break from routine and take what Robert Frost called the road less traveled.

In this episode, Brandon discusses the three "roads" available to you in the course of your professional career, outlines their upsides and downsides, and explains why the riskiest road might be the best choice for you.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Thinking of life in terms of the road you travel to get from point A to point B.
The first road: the "routine road," where everything is well lit and maintained, there are pit stops, and everybody's cheering you on along the way. However it's a safe loop and you end up back where you started.
The second road: the "hero hill," from which you're able to see where you can pull off to make improvements such as a promotion, new job, or big idea. But it's still a slower path where you may have to wait in line for opportunities. Big things feel beyond your control.
The third road: "Stormy Mountain Highway." It's unlit, windy, rainy, animals are running across the road. Overall, it doesn't look safe, but many people have been down this road before you and have left signs, care packages and overall just a wealth of information to guide you along your way.
Ultimately, none of these paths are free from mistakes and missed opportunities, but the riskier path can get you to where you want to be sooner. Keep moving, get yourself out of your comfort zone, and embrace change.

Quotes:

"A lot of what I do and how fast I get there have to do with the roads I take."

"For a lot of us I think growth is inherent with our happiness."

"You weren't the first person to ever take that stormy mountain highway."

"There's so much growth that can happen when you are challenged."

"There's gonna be mistakes on every road, and you're gonna learn from those mistakes."

Links:

Visit Brandon's website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com

Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community

And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

#017 Dr. Mark T. Wade | Building Leads With Events and Summits Online Jun 03, 2019

Show notes

Dr. Mark T. Wade is the CEO of Virtual Summits, the host of the top-rated Virtual Summits podcast, and now helps entrepreneurs interface remotely yet directly with their customers. As well, his Hustle & Scale coaching service works with online business owners to turn their side-gigs into six and even seven figure ventures.

In this episode, Mark makes a case for why you should give virtual summits a go, relates some of the obstacles he's come up against running his own, and explains why direct customer interaction is so essential for branding.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

How Mark went about starting his own summits and making use of list-building.
Why the summit approach worked better for him than email lead magnets.
The reason you should focus on directly engaging with your customers, and why summits play such a big role in that.
What compelled Mark to expand from his successful private posture practice.
How Mark's curiosity has led him to experiment and expand over the years.
What entrepreneurs need to understand about summits and make the most of these events, and why summits are so important to entrepreneurs.
The challenges Mark has had to grapple with when running summits and how he's managed to forge relationships with his customers through thick and thin.
Why he values branding so much over selling.
Mark explains his "fire starter" approach to influence.

Quotes:

"Generating an engaged audience that you could have a conversation with and build a relationship was fundamental to any business."

"Summits are the engine to conversation, collaboration and empowerment."

"We all have a message that needs to get out to the world. A summit is a way to start that conversation."

"The elephant in the room, really, is attention span. That's what we're all competing against."

"We're literally changing people's lives by giving them access to people with the answers to their problems."

"Magnetize, monetize, maximize and multiply."

Mentions:

Apple, Dodge, Harley-Davidson, Scubapro, Amazon,

Guest Links:

Hustle & Scale - https://hustleandscale.com/

Virtual Summits Software - https://virtualsummits.com/

Virtual Summits Podcast - https://podcast.virtualsummits.com/

Hustle and Scale Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hustleandscale/

Visit Brandon's website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com

Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community

And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

#016 Freestyle Friday - The Secret Talking Points You Need for Every Business Conversation May 31, 2019

Show notes

Talking points are required for any business conversation. These points make a case for what you're selling as quickly and clearly as possible. If you use these talking points correctly, and with the right strategy, you can develop the relationship you've already built with your community even further.

In this episode, Brandon relates the moment he realized he couldn't simply ad lib the big choices and explains how you can steer the conversation through phone and email.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

Brandon celebrates as Brands on Brands on Brands continues to rise in the charts and gives a shout out to everybody who's reviewed the show!
The anecdote from Brandon's own past that emphasizes why you should have a plan in place for important life decisions.
To understand what you want out of these important business conversations, you need to understand who your customers are and what they desire.
Always make sure that you sound relatable and direct—individually tailoring emails is a good start!
How to check in with your clients without coming off too sales-y.

Quotes:

"We don't think enough about how we talk to people that are involved and engaged in our business."

"In any conversation, your first step is figuring out what you need to know about the listener to determine the goal of the conversation."

"You should have your intentions figured out so that you know what you're trying to accomplish and it comes off clear in the call."

Links:

Visit Brandon's website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com

Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community

And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

#015 Investing in Your Personal Growth May 29, 2019

Show notes

If you hope to develop your skills and eventually make a name for yourself, you're going to have to do more than the bare minimum training that your job provides you. That means getting involved when and where the average employee isn't expected to get involved, reaching out to like-minded professionals, and coming up with content that you can pitch to an enthusiastic audience. You are your own most precious resource, and you should invest in yourself like you would any other important asset.

In this episode, Brandon explains why conferences are key for getting yourself out there, reveals just how helpful writing regularly can be, and helps you get over your apprehension toward networking.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

How Brandon worked his way up the corporate ladder and what he realized he missed out on.
Make a point of attending industry events that usually only managers and owners take part in—aim for 1 per quarter.
After you've attended a few of these conferences, think of ways you can add value to them, either by pitching yourself as a speaker or inviting other speakers back to your company.
Really take an interest in your industry's news and literature. Read past headlines and check out the works of writers and speakers you find fascinating.
Self-help: you might think it's corny, but it can help you bring out your best strengths and mitigate your weaknesses.
You might be averse to networking, but consider it an opportunity to help others rather than just have it create opportunities for yourself.
Making writing a daily habit will help you develop your voice and identify your passions—this will build your online profile in the process.

Quotes:

"There's a lot that's happening out there in your industry that you aren't connected to."

"There's nothing better than finding things you're passionate about and investing time in it."

"Once you contribute and invest in your own personal development, suddenly your job and your life becomes way more satisfying because you're growing."

"You're not trying to meet people to get something out of them, you're trying to meet people to develop relationships."

"Don't underestimate the power of having your own voice."

"Don't rely on a company to teach you everything you know to take that next level."

Links:

Visit Brandon's website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com

Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community

And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

#014 Marshal Gillen | Launch Your Personal Brand and Speaking Career May 27, 2019

Show notes

Marshal Gillen, aka Marshal LIVE, is an inspirational speaker, lifestyle entrepreneur and author based out of San Diego. Marshal shares how he turned his mess into his message and now inspires others to turn what they previously thought were unreachable goals into achievable realities.

In this episode, Marshal reveals how his emotionally troubled upbringing shaped him, discusses the chance encounter that set him on the path to motivational speaking, how he built his personal brand, and explains why he believes selling is "dead."

The Finer Details of This Episode:

The rocky but ultimately life-affirming path Marshal took to find his passion for motivational speaking.
How Marshal turned his formerly annoying energy into a talent he was grateful for.
Why he's able to so effectively get to the core of what motivates his clients.
Marshal's honest, non-sugarcoated approach to coaching clients and even himself.
Finding your "drill" rather than simply relying on a "screwdriver."
How Marshal "hacked the system" to create his own personal brand.
How Marshal treats his social media platforms as digital storefronts, and why you need to be available in audio, video and written word.
Figuring out what message you want to put out into the world.
What Marshal did to jumpstart his speaking career, and how he's currently trying to redesign his life.

Quotes:

"The only thing stopping me from having legitimately anything and everything that I want in life, is me."

"Success is not final and failure is not fatal."

"The reason I keep winning is because I'm not afraid to immediately ask for feedback and then take action."

"What is your mission in life, and how can you go out and be evangelical about that mission because you don't anyone else to feel that pain that you used to feel?"

"The brand pre-sells your service or product."

"I really want to help people tap into an energy and an understanding of themselves that they didn't even know is possible."

Mentions:

Colgate, Apple, Nike, Bird, Charmin, Alkaline 88, Progressive

Guest Links:Store Front - https://www.marshalgillen.com/home18390043

Marshal TV - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxGt7ASK6sbsRTUbQhm1JEw

Brandon's Links:

Visit Brandon's website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com

Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community

And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!