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Building Your Personal Brand with John Casmon · The Academy Presents podcast

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  Did you know that 90 % of the world's millionaires
• 0:05
  invest in real estate? Well, I'm Angel with the
• 0:09
  Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Rocks,
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  and I'm here to help you if you want to go for
• 0:15
  your piece of that pie. Are you new? Are you
• 0:19
  new to this and you just don't know where to
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  start? It's okay. Are you someone that has invested,
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  but you feel stuck, you feel like you've lost
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  momentum, you don't know where to really head
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  from here? Are you a seasoned real estate investor
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  who is doing great but maybe you just want to
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  hone a few skills here and there? This is the
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  place for you. The Academy Presents Real Estate
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  Investing Rocks podcast will connect you with
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  industry experts so that you can save time, avoid
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  costly mistakes, and begin living the life you've
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  dreamed of all through real estate investing.
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  You're already taking the first step. just by
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  joining us here today. Hey guys, it's Angel and
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  you're here at the Spring Summit for the Real
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  Estate Investing Rocks. Spring Summit and we're
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  here and these are my favorite six days of the
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  year. We do this twice a year, three days each
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  time and we're going to be talking to my friend
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  John Casmon and we're going to be talking branding.
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  So you may think branding and you may immediately
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  think big names, big ideas, marketing and that's
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  not really what it is. But i'm going to stop
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  because i'm going to let john take over because
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  he's got this whole whole idea and method for
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  branding that is amazing so john i'm going to
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  let you take over and i'm just going to sit back
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  and learn hey angel listen thank you for having
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  me it's a it's great to be here and one i love
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  how this has grown over the years right you started
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  this a few years back and done it twice a year
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  the audience has grown, lots of information,
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  lots of education available. So kudos to you
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  for creating this. And thanks to everyone watching
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  this right now for taking the time to invest
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  in your education and to grow and scale your
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  portfolio. So to give you a little bit of background
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  before we jump into things, my name is John Casmon
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  and I have a background in marketing. As a multifamily
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  investor, I've invested in over $120 million
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  worth of apartments and I've helped other investors
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  do the same. And one of the ways I've been able
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  to do that is by understanding how to leverage
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  my background. So when I say marketing, that's
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  everything from advertising, marketing, and branding.
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  And one thing that people don't understand is
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  how it all comes together. So I've worked for
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  big companies, large campaigns, General Motors.
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  I've done campaigns for Nike, Coors Light, Mountain
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  Dew. And obviously, those are brands that you
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  know and recognize. When I say those names, you
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  have a feeling about those companies. You may
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  like them, you may not like them, but you have
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  a sense of what they mean for you and what they
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  do. If I say Mountain Dew, most people know that
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  that is a soda. I mean, from the Midwest, we
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  say pop. So that's a pop brand, right? If I say
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  Nike, obviously you think of apparel, athletic
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  apparel, things like that. So if I told you that
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  Nike was making a computer, that would feel a
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  little bit off, right? That doesn't feel like
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  it fits what you know Nike to do. And that's
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  really what a brand is, right? It's not so much.
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  the commercials, the promotion, the branding,
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  it's what people know you for, what they think
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  of you, or what they align with who you are.
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  And we all have a personal brand. And whether
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  you are creating commercials or, you know, campaigns
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  or social media posts, you still have a personal
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  brand. You know, the personal brand and the brand
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  in general, it's what people think of you when
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  you're not in the room, when you're not there
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  to convey who you are and what you do. So yes,
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  you can create content and create ads and things
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  like that to tell people what to think of you,
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  but they're still going to make their own conclusion.
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  Just like going back to those brands, you know,
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  Mountain Dew could tell you it's the greatest
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  pop in the world or the greatest soda in the
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  world. But if you taste it and you don't like
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  it in your mind, it's not. It's whatever you
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  feel for it, right? So that's really what a personal
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  brand is. It's about what people think of you.
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  And the more you can get in front of that, the
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  more you can teach people who you are. what your
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  values are, how you operate, what are your principles,
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  the better they can get to know you, the easier
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  it's going to be for them to connect and to be
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  able to want to do business with you. No, absolutely.
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  And that's something that Jason and I really
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  came into as well. He embraced the fact that
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  he's an introvert and he likes to underwrite.
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  And it was really funny. At first, I was afraid.
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  because i was afraid to say you know i don't
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  really i thought you about to break on the song
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  at first i was afraid that's hilarious no it
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  was it was i was afraid to tell people that i
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  don't really like the number side of things um
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  can i do the numbers from force too um but it
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  takes me a whole lot longer than it takes jason
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  and now it's almost a joke because enough people
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  know that I don't really like doing numbers that
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  they're like yeah you don't want to talk to her
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  about the numbers you want to talk to Jason um
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  and the first time somebody said that I was like
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  it stung a little bit because I was like well
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  I'm not an idiot but then I was like wait a second
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  this was by design you know excuse me I was like
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  I don't want to do numbers that's that's not
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  what I want to do I want to meet people and and
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  learn about people and create those relationships
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  because that's my strong suit. That's what I'm
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  good at. And I need to fall back on what I'm
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  good at and let Jason be what he's good at. And
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  that is part of our brand. And so one of the
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  things he does is like he wears that bow tie,
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  which most of the people that know him know he
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  has on his bow tie. He also like lift up this
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  beard he's got so you can see his bow tie. But
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  that's something that is part of his brand and
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  it's who he is. I was talking to Matt Faircloth.
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  this past February at BEC last year and he was
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  like, so girl, you know, you're always going
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  to have to have that purple hair now, right?
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  Because that became a part of who I was. And
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  so, I mean, you can rebrand and you can rebrand
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  successfully, but I don't know. I feel like really
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  comfortable in who and what we are and what we've
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  become. And I don't know that I'll ever change
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  it. Maybe I'll be like 80 and still have purple
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  hair. Well, and I think the thing too that's
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  really interesting is like there are a couple
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  of elements of it, right? So there are identifiable
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  things, right? So you mentioned the purple hair,
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  the bow tie. There's a guy, I forgot the book
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  I was reading, but the guy, he wears these bright
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  kind of neon yellow glasses, and that's his thing,
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  right? And those things are great, but I want
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  to be clear, a personal brand is not. having
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  some flashy piece that allows you to stand out
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  in a crowd. A personal brand is simply just the
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  way people think of you, what they know about
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  you, the way they think, you know, you can help
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  them in the business, right? So you mentioned,
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  you know, Jason and the numbers, you know, all
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  Jason's the numbers guy, you know, Angel is the
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  networker. She runs this conference, you know,
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  John's the marketing guy, whatever it is, right?
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  That's what a personal brand is. Now, yes, you
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  can take that to another level. and add something
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  just like Nike has, you know, they have their
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  trademarks, you know, they've got that Nike swoosh,
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  right, they've got a logo. And those are the
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  little things that can help you take that to
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  the next level, so that it's sticking and it's
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  memorable, but it's not mandatory. So again,
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  I want to be clear, like you have a personal
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  brand, even if you're doing none of the stuff,
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  and you are talking about, it's just a matter
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  of do you want to take the time to help, you
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  know, really make it easy for people to understand.
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  who it is that you are, what are your values,
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  and how do you help people? So again, if those
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  are the things you're looking at, that's where
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  some of those other marketing aspects start to
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  come into play, but it's really important for
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  you to start sharing that. And to take this to
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  a more practical level, if you are looking to
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  invest in real estate and maybe you wanna start
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  partnering with other people, well, they need
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  to know that you're a real estate investor. And
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  if they don't know you as a real estate investor,
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  I only know you as my friend from college, or
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  I know you as a CPA, or I know you as an attorney.
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  Well, that's going to be what my vision of you
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  as a personal brand is. I don't know you as a
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  real estate investor. So the first thing you've
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  got to do is expand your personal brand so people
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  can see you as a real estate investor. Let's
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  go back to that Nike example I gave. If Nike
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  came out telling you they're making computers,
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  we'd all be like, wait, what? Y 'all don't make
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  computers. But let's think about Apple, OK? Apple
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  started off as a computer company. They make
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  watches now, phones, TV. If I told you 20 years
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  ago that Apple would be making phones and watches,
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  you would probably laugh and say, that makes
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  no sense. So how did they do it? They slowly
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  expand it from being a computer company to being
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  electronics and a technology company and being
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  able to take that. And as things became more
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  and more mobile, they were able to create technology
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  that fit your lifestyle. So you can absolutely
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  kind of shift and change as long as it's still
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  rooted kind of in the core. So no, we don't think
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  Nike is going to be able to make computers necessarily,
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  but they can certainly move into the athletic
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  tech space. If there were smartware technology
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  or things in that area, if it's sports related,
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  we would definitely give them the credence to
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  expand into anything at the athletic arena. So
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  for you, if you are a CPA, you know numbers,
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  you're good at numbers. I think people would
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  understand that, oh, you're getting into investing.
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  You know, if you're a marketer, oh, you're getting
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  into, you know, connecting with other people
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  and building a brand or doing these other things.
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  So if you're, or you have a business background.
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  So I did, you know, marketing, but that's a part
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  of business. I worked for these large corporations.
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  I oversaw, you know, the M and A's, I oversaw
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  kind of our contract agreements. I oversaw large
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  campaigns, right? So they understand that, okay,
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  he's got enough knowledge and his space and background.
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  to put together large campaigns to manage different
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  teams. And that's what he's doing on the real
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  estate space. So it's how do you take those transferable
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  skills and the equity that you've already built
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  and take that and get credit for it as you make
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  that transition into the new thing you want to
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  be known for. And that's really what it comes
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  down to for a person of brand. And that's the
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  tricky part. But you can do that if you rooted
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  in the elements people are to give you credit
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  for. And now that makes so much sense. I know,
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  like, for me, when I've been on stage and I feel
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  like I'm with people and I'm way out of my league
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  I fall back on well I'm an economist because
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  that's something they're not. You're also an
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  educator though. I am. So you have that you're
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  a teacher right you're an educator so for you
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  to teach children and now you're teaching adults
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  what you know in this space on the economy whatnot
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  that's a natural transition for you right so
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  I think that that's another thing where You kind
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  of have that people know this is something that
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  you do you get information you share that information
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  with other people So you're gonna get credit
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  for that Yeah, it's yeah, I can be it can be
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  scary though. Um, you know, I believe how many
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  times have I said scary? There's a lot of things
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  out there that are scary in the space because
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  I feel like you really take responsibility for
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  yourself Once you become an entrepreneur you
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  are taking responsibility for everything for
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  taking care of your family taking care of yourself
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  making sure everything is covered your bills
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  your food like everything and that that's a very
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  scary space to operate in and so I think I'm
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  constantly looking for validity too in my own
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  branding um whether that's as an economist as
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  a teacher um as an engineer for Jason like whenever
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  I'm talking about Jason's underwriting and the
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  services he provides I'm like He has his PhD
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  in chemical engineering. He went straight through.
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  He's been doing this since he was 26. Like he
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  coded our entire spreadsheet. You want custom
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  spreadsheets for your underwriting? You need
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  to hire Jason. And so we're able to use his training
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  and his degree as a complete crossover. He's
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  a stinking engineer. Of course he can do numbers.
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  He double majored in computer science. Of course
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  he can code. I mean, it's all of these things
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  that give him that validity and give him that
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  credit in his own personal brand. And so then
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  he puts his glasses on and his bow tie and kind
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  of looks like a professor. And so we've I think
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  we've kind of stumbled upon our branding without
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  realizing that it was who and what we were truly.
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  And so it's been really neat to watch it grow
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  and watch it expand because it's It's not completely,
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  I guess, alien to us. It really came from us
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  and out of us. And so it's been a really neat
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  kind of growth. I love what you just said there
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  because it's really important to understand from
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  a personal brand standpoint, it needs to be organic
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  and authentic. It has to grow from what actually
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  exists. Like you can't just wake up and decide
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  you're going to be something completely different
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  than what you actually are. And that's why there's
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  a disconnect when I say the Nike and computers
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  thing. It's like... Wait a minute, that just
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  doesn't make sense. That's not who I know Nike
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  to be. And for yourself, it's the same thing.
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  You've got to look and say, well, who am I? What
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  are my values? What am I good at? What do I enjoy?
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  And then how do I convey that so that other people
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  recognize where I can add value to them? And
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  that's really what we're talking about, this
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  personal brand. It's not just deciding tomorrow
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  you're going to be some great showman. You're
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  going to be this extrovert if you're super quiet
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  and you're going to go on these stages. And if
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  that's not who you are, it's not who you are.
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  You can't manufacture that. But you can identify
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  the elements of you that you do want to bring
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  to light and focus on those elements. So it's
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  got to be organic. It has to be authentic. It
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  has to be representation. Because if it doesn't
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  match when you get into it, let's say someone
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  believes in it, let's say you put together some
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  beautiful you know social media post and you
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  know people say oh this is great look at what
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  they do but if we start talking to you we start
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  working together and I realize oh this doesn't
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  reflect what I just saw now there's a disconnect
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  and that's what happens with a lot of brands
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  you know they they're maybe great at one aspect
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  but once you start getting into it you realize
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  oh they don't have these other elements figured
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  out And that can hurt you on a personal brand
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  standpoint, right? Because you're not really
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  matching the values and the things you're communicating
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  with the actions. So it all has to work together
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  in order to deliver kind of the right experience
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  for that individual.