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How to Discover Your Brand DNA · Mortgage Marketing Radio

0:00
In today's highly competitive mortgage industry, building profitable relationships with
0:04
the real estate agents is essential for success.
0:06
However, finding effective ways to secure agent relationships can be a challenge.
0:11
With so many mortgage loan originators vying for the attention of real estate agents, it
0:15
can be difficult to stand out and establish meaningful connections.
0:20
Our new case study featuring loan officer Chris Cogill is a must-read.
0:25
Chris has closed a remarkable 36 million in funded loans from agent referrals.
0:31
And in this case study, he shares his proven strategies for building strong relationships
0:34
with real estate agents and leveraging those relationships to drive more business.
0:39
To get your hands on this resource, head over to LOKestudy.com and download your free copy
0:45
of the case study today.
0:47
You'll find actionable insights and practical tips that Chris used to close 36 million
0:52
in funded loans from agent referrals and how you can, too.
0:56
Don't miss out.
0:57
Go check it out right now, visit LOKestudy.com and download your free copy today.
1:03
Hey, listeners, what's up, Jeff?
1:04
Zimfer, thanks for tuning into this episode of the Mortgage Marketing Radio podcast.
1:08
Question for you.
1:10
Do you ever struggle with finding your brand DNA?
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Do you ever get hung up on how do you show up in the world asking yourself questions like,
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who do I serve, what problem do I solve, how do I solve that problem, what content do
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I post to rise above the noise to get noticed and get attention?
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And how do I get to a place of being comfortable enough to say no or no, thank you, you're not
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for me.
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We'll stay tuned because that's what we're talking about on today's episode.
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We're going to get started in just one minute.
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Hey, hey, hey, all right, all right.
1:53
So that's right.
1:54
Today, we are going to be in just a moment, bringing on my special guest, talking about
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finding your brand DNA.
2:01
But before we do, a quick reminder, let's face it, refise it down.
2:06
You want more relationships and referrals with real estate agents, but the challenge is
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it's hard to get noticed.
2:13
It's hard to get attention.
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You've got lots of other loan officers chasing the same real estate agents.
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So how do you get agents to respond and engage and to consider you as a potential partner
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for them?
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You need a better system.
2:25
You need a better way than cold calling chasing pay to pay for leads and things like that.
2:30
Good news is, is the mortgage marketing institute has brought to you the turn key plug and play
2:36
package for you to get in front of realtors at scale and get more referrals in less time
2:40
without cold calling without chasing without pay to play begging or anything like that.
2:45
How do we do it?
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We leverage it through my agent classes, which is a turn key plug and play platform for
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you to reach agents at scale, having them come to you and building a platform of education
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and leadership in your local market, be it in person or online and sharing relevant information
3:03
via classes.
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I don't care if you've never taught a class before.
3:06
I don't care if you're not an expert in the topics that we provide for you.
3:10
Everything is completely turn key for you.
3:11
The PowerPoint, the speaker notes, the video tutorial of me training you how to do the
3:15
class, the flyers, the social media images to promote, even down to the SMS messages and
3:21
the email marketing that goes out and landing pages for reservations and confirmations
3:25
and follow up to your class.
3:26
It is completely turn key and we have weekly coaching calls to support you along the way.
3:32
If this sounds like something you're interested in, you can go check out mortgagemarketing.pro,
3:37
a brief video I put up there that will walk you through everything that's included and
3:41
if it's a fit for you, great, if not, that's great too.
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I still love the fact that you're here being a listener to the podcast.
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Once again, that's mortgagemarketing.pro.
3:50
Okay, so my special guest today is AJ Vaden.
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She's the CEO and co-founder of Brand Builders Group International.
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She's a speaker.
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She's a million dollar consultant and host of the influential personal brand podcast.
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Everything you hear talked about today will put links in the show notes.
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As a matter of fact, just don't forget that there's an opportunity for you to get a free
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branding consultation call with her team and you do that by going to freebrandcall.com
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forward slash AJ.
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That'll be a link in the show notes as well.
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But look, AJ, I've known of AJ for quite a number of years.
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She and her husband have spoken at several conferences that I've been at and I for
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some time have been on a journey to get more clear on my personal brand.
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What problem do I solve?
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How do I solve it?
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Who's it for and how do I show up in the world?
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That's what we're talking about today.
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Over the last 10 years, AJ and her husband have been part of founding, launching and building
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a very successful eight-figure coaching business, seven-figure speaking business, and AJ has
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been featured in Success Magazine, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Forbes, was recently named
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as one of the top five personal branding speakers of 2019.
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And today, on this show, she's using her expertise and unique talents to help us get clear
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on finding your brand DNA.
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As a matter of fact, I have so much respect for AJ and her husband what they're doing at
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a brand builders group that I personally have decided to engage their services to help
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me get clear on finding my own personal brand DNA.
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So I think you'll love today's conversation to help you get clear.
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Once again, check the show notes for links to all resources, that free strategy call and
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more.
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Now further ado, let's get into this week's show.
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AJ, welcome to the show.
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Hey, thanks for having me.
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Thank you for being here.
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You're incredibly busy.
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It's wonderful to connect with you virtually, but soon to connect in person.
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Before we get into that, let's, for the listeners, tell them who are you?
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What do you do?
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Yeah, so I am the CEO and one of the co-founders of a personal brand strategy firm called
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Brand Builders Group.
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And so I say, that's a lot of what I do, right?
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And if you really want to like who I am, I recently got interviewed for this article
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and it was like this whole thing of like, tell us what are your three greatest accomplishments
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and it really got me thinking about how I want to introduce myself to people.
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And so instead of giving them a background of all these things that I've done, which may
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or may not really carry any weight, instead, I'm taking a new route.
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So it's so interesting to try this out when people ask now because it's such a weird
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thing.
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So I would say, if you really want to know who I am, I am a mom of two wild and adventurous
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toddlers.
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I would say that's the most rewarding thing of my not a like motherhood is the craziest
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thing and the best thing that I never knew existed.
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So that's a huge part of it.
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I am the wife to an amazing husband who also happens to be an amazing author and speaker.
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His name is Rory Vaden.
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And I would say outside of what I do at heart, I'm an entrepreneur.
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I'm an entrepreneur.
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I discovered that I was virtually unemployable at the right age of 22 and have been on the
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entrepreneurial journey ever since.
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So that's a little bit of my new feel when people ask me, who are you?
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What do you do?
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I like that.
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I think more of us are shown up today with more of that like reality of, you know, it's
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not work first.
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It's like who I am as a human being first, you know?
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Yeah.
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How do you think that is?
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I'm curious.
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And by the way, what we're talking about here is finding your brand DNA today, right?
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And personal branding.
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But do you think that's an important part when you're thinking about your brand DNA too,
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the personal side?
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I do.
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I think a huge part of it is this, you know, everyone's been talking about it in 2022.
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This great resignation.
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Yeah.
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And I saw an article from Ariana Heppington, which I loved and she said, no, people have
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it all wrong.
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It's not the great resignation.
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It's the great re-evaluation.
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And I think that's a huge part of it as, I think for a lot of us, myself included, we
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got really caught up in our identity being what we did.
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Right.
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We got caught up in our identity being our work and chasing after the next thing and kind
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of forgot who we were.
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And I'll just take that first hand, I forgot who I was.
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And I think this is a really great chance for people to reevaluate what do I want to
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be known for.
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And at the end of my life, I don't want to be known for what I did.
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I want to be known for what kind of person I was.
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Yeah.
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I think that's a lot of it of getting really clear of what do I want to be known for in
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this world and go and after it.
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And with a lot of soul searching and a lot of question asking, I just realized, now
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then, I don't want to be known for anything that I've done.
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I don't really care if I become known for helping companies grow revenues or helping
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grow the bottom line.
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I want to be known for helping people find their passion.
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I want to be known for being a great mom.
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I want to be known for being someone who generally cares.
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I want to be known for someone who shows up and does what they say they're going to
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do when they said they're going to do it.
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And I had nothing to do with what I've done, but more of who I am.
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That's very interesting.
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Thanks for sharing that.
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I can personally relate and I know a lot of our listeners can relate because I think
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we're all have gone through similar versions of that experience and re-evaluation like
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you talked about.
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And of course, we're talking to an audience of, quote, business people, these mortgage and
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real estate professionals who have to show up in the world and everyone's talking about
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brand and personal brand.
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And first of all, let me ask you this, how do you feel about that phrase, personal brand?
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Do you feel that it's overused, maybe it's become cliche, we don't even know what it
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means anymore?
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I definitely do not think people know what it means.
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Okay.
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I definitely do.
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And I think that's because this term, personal branding is too closely associated with
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being a, you know, influencer or being insta-famous or being some sort of celebrity and it's
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like, that's not true.
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And you know, I know we'll talk a little bit about it, but one of the things that we did
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about a year and a half ago is we started out on this journey of doing the first ever
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national research study here in the US on the trends and impacts of personal branding, right?
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We went out and hired a PhD research firm to conduct this nationwide study to really
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answer that question because as a personal brand strategy firm, we have our very specific
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and unique take on it and one of the things that we realized both in our own, in our own
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definition, but also what was really solidified through this study is that a personal brand
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is really just the new way of referencing your reputation.
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Okay.
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It's quite synonymous with again, back to it's being known for what you want to be known
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for and who you want to be known by.
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Unfortunately though, because of the growth, the exponential growth of influencer marketing,
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people associate a personal brand with influencer marketing and that's not true.
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A personal brand is, in our opinion, it's the formalization and the digitization of
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your reputation, but it is your reputation.
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It's the extension of that.
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It's the formalized business plan of becoming known for what you want to be known for and
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becoming known by who you want to be known by and that does not matter, and here's one
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of the things I would say too, is the other thing does not matter that people think matters
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is that somehow it's all online.
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That's not true.
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Okay.
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Well, that I like, that's refreshing because I'm definitely sometimes, you know, an opposite
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of the people who pervay, you've got to be everywhere online all the time.
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So tell us more about that.
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Why do you think that that's not true?
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Well, three main reasons.
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And I think if you could ask anyone who is doing both offline and online business strategy,
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they will tell you still today that their best source of business comes from their clients.
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It comes from referrals.
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It comes from word of mouth marketing and here's what I know to be true and I would bet
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that 99.9% of people agree with this.
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If I'm looking for a, I'm going to say new hairstylist, right, to keep it super general.
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I'm not going to the Google and typing in best hairstylist in Nashville.
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Uh-huh.
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I'm not doing that.
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I'm going to my, right, I'm going to my girlfriends who have awesome hair, I'm going who
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do you use?
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Right?
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Like today, it's like, if I want to go buy a house and I don't have an established relationship,
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I'm not going on social media and I'm not going online to figure out best real estate
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agent in Nashville, best loan officer in middle Tennessee.
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We're not doing that.
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We're going to our friends who we like, no interest and say, who did you use?
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And then once we have those referrals, once we have those recommendations, we're vetting
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them online.
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So then we're going to look it up.
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Yeah, then I'm going to look them up, but it's not the other way around.
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So again, having that very intentional reputation with the offline part of your business is still
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a necessity and no one talks about it anymore, right?
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It's like, we think everything happens online and it's like, that's not true.
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You're still going to get the most business from doing a really good job serving the people
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that you're currently serving and having them tell their friends and family about you.
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Now you need a digital presence, that's just a part of the world that we live in, right?
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If I got three referrals for a new loan officer, I'm going to go online and I'm going to figure
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out who has the most engagement, who provides the most value for free, who talks about what
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they're doing, who's most visible, who has the best website, who has the most testimonials.
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I'm going to do those things, but I'm going to do it in an intentional fashion.
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I've already heard about you.
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I've already gotten someone who's reputation I trust to tell me that you're who they trust.
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Yeah, so it's kind of like, I think about a bumblebee or a hummingbird, right?
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They're consumer journey today, right?
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They're just going around, they're picking up these little things all over the place and
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they're making their decision or formulation, right?
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Absolutely.
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Absolutely.
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I need to come up with a better description of that, like a one word thing.
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The hummingbird method.
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I don't know.
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It works.
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It works.
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Okay, so let's bring this back though, brand, because I think, and this is a struggle
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for me, which is, of course, why I've engaged the services of your company.
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The question is, well, then how do I show up?
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Because I don't want to show up like everyone else, and that I'm sure you've seen this
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on social media, the trends and everybody's freaking dupe in those same audio clips, you
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know what I mean?
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And you're just like, you tune it out, you're like, oh my God, another person.
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So what's your, let's start at the top, where do you, where do you enter the conversation
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with people about discovering how they're going to show up in the world?
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Yeah.
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So I would say, and here's the thing, and it doesn't matter if you're in that place of
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just discovering it and just figuring it out, or you're already really well established,
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and you're already really well known in your space, or you have a great business, but
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you're not as well known in the marketplace, it doesn't matter where you start.
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We start everyone at the exact same place.
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I don't care if you're, you know, the president of the United States of America, or you're
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the person who is exiting, you know, taking 15 years off, raising your family.
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To me, you are starting at the exact same place, and it's answering four very important
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things.
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Number one, what problem do you solve to, how do you solve that problem, three, who do
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you solve it for, and four, how do you make money solving it?
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Okay.
16:08
So four initial questions that we take everyone through, and those are not as easy to answer
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as it may seem, because I think the first one is what problem do you solve is really what
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uniquely sets you apart in the marketplace.
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Here's one of the things that I would say in general, and I'll come back to this in just
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a second, the challenge of differentiating yourself and standing out and being different.
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The challenge in that is it means that you have to be more you.
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You have to let people get to know more of you.
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No one likes that.
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It's hard, and it's vulnerable, and it's risky, and it's scary, and it's like it's
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be honest.
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It's like my husband and I, who's got a really prominent public-facing, you know, position
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as a New York Times best selling author.
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We had this conversation last night about this topic that he kind of feels called to share,
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but it's a bit controversial, and so it's really hard to put the real you out there at
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any cost, especially in a very PC world, and the world of cancel culture and all the
17:08
things, and so it's challenging, but here's what I would say.
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It's like if you try to blend in, you're never going to stick out.
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If you look around and go, okay, what is everyone else doing, and I must do that, then you're
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doing the opposite of differentiating yourself, and the easiest, fastest way for you to truly
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stand out is to be more you, is to let more people know about your actual life experiences,
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what you actually enjoy doing, what you actually believe in, and teaching things that you've
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actually done and can help people with.
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That it's so simple that it's completely overlooked, and I'll give you just like three
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quick examples here, 100% of the time.
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If I post a piece of content about personal branding, entrepreneurship, leadership doesn't
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matter, and then I simultaneously post a picture of me and my kids dressing up as Halloween,
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which one do you think gets 100 times more engagement?
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We all know the answer right now.
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Well, no, and it's why people care more about who you are than they do what you do.
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What's behind that?
18:18
What's behind that?
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I think part of like we've got trust issues today and stuff like, what is it?
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I truly believe it's because people truly are desiring to know people more today than
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ever before.
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I think specifically after the last two years, people are going, I want to find people
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who enjoy life, have fun at life, people that I align with, people who do similar stuff
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to me.
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It's like if you have kids or have ever had young kids, whatever I'm posting relates to
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you.
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That's the majority of the population.
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We know the craziness of having two toddlers and running the business.
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It's wild.
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So I think a part of it is finding people that you can relate to, and it's, we're in a
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new era of building relationships online with people that we may or may not ever have
19:06
face-to-face relationships, and I just think about it like this, imagine you were dating
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someone today, and all you talked about was your business.
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They didn't know anything about you.
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Over.
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You know, that's what's happening all day, every day, that we expect to build relationships
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and garner trust, and I know nothing about you, other than some inspirational quotes that
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you post and some content videos, like there's a, I think there's a distrust in the marketplace
19:35
that comes from, we don't know what's real anymore.
19:39
Exactly.
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The point I was getting to, which is why we question and doubt everything online, let's
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say specifically.
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And that's what I would say too.
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It's like, and if people would just remember that still today, the best source of business
19:52
comes from your current book of business, it would change everything.
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Did you though, okay, so I find that there's certain resistance and certain age demographics
20:04
to this issue of putting yourself out there and being personal, and I'm, you know, I'm
20:08
looking at your Instagram feed, and you're definitely out there and, you know, saying
20:11
who you are, what you believe, what you're all about.
20:14
And at the risk, I believe you kind of alluded to this, at the risk of also, you know, what's
20:20
the right word?
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I didn't want to say polarizing, but you got what I'm saying.
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Definitely polarizing.
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That's the one.
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Okay.
20:26
All right.
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I'm repelling, but you know, and some people who look like, oh, there's this, or they
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believed, well, they're not for me.
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And like, we got to be okay with that.
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Oh, you have to be okay with it.
20:36
And I think that comes down to knowing what audience do you really care to serve?
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It's like, who do you want to be known by?
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And I've gotten really clear about this is the market that I desire to serve.
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This is the market I want to speak to.
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This is the market that I want to pour my life into.
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I know who you are.
20:55
And if you're not in that market, that's okay.
20:58
Did you go through like an avatar exercise, right?
21:00
Sure do.
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We sure do.
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I sure do.
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Like, in fact, we take everyone through this.
21:05
And it's, to me, it's more getting really closely aligned with the psychographics.
21:09
And I think specifically in this, you know, kind of world of real estate and mortgages,
21:15
it's a super commoditized industry, right?
21:19
The only reason I'm going to buy from you versus someone down the street or someone in
21:24
your office is because somehow I align more with you.
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I trust you more.
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I like you more.
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There's something that is different about you, not what you do.
21:34
It's about who you are.
21:36
And for me, that's what you have to appeal to.
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And a part of that is getting really hyper specific on the market that you want to serve.
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And like, one of the things that I have found is the more clear you are and the who, the
21:51
easier it is to ask for referrals, the easier it is to know what to say yes to and what
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to say no to because you know where your market resides, the easier it is to know what
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to post content wise online, what platforms to post on, what if you're going to do pay
22:07
traffic, like, what are the things that you want to target?
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Like once you're hyper clear on the who, everything else becomes easier.
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And it's like, there's also, I really believe there's a biological component to this.
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Like, I don't know if you've ever heard that term, particular activation, right?
22:23
So it's like, you know, I remember when I bought my white infinity, my mom, mobile,
22:28
that's what my husband cost it five years ago, it's like, all of a sudden, I see this
22:32
infinity, QX, whatever it is, I don't even know what I drive, it's white car.
22:37
I see it everywhere, right?
22:39
So once it's like into my purview, I see it everywhere.
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I think the exact thing, the exact same thing happens when you get really clear on the
22:46
who that you want to build your business off of, that ideal client that you wish you had
22:50
1,000 of is you start to find them because you know who they are.
22:54
You know who to ask.
22:55
So when you ask someone for a referral, it's like, hey, make sure to pass my card around
22:59
worst thing you could ever do.
23:00
Like, I don't know who to give it to.
23:02
There's no going to do anybody.
23:03
They're going to go on the trash, right?
23:04
Instead, it's going, hey, I know that I really want to serve brand new families to this
23:08
area, the people who know no one.
23:11
I have a passion of working with people and helping them, helping them acclimate to new
23:15
communities.
23:16
Like, I want to work with brand new people who are moving to this area.
23:20
So if you know of anyone who's brand new or thinking of moving here, that's who you
23:23
can refer me to.
23:25
And the more you get clear on that, it easier it is to find them online and offline.
23:32
Then if we're clear on who we ultimately serve or what problem we solve, right?
23:38
Before we get to the how or maybe this is related to this is how you solve that problem.
23:42
But what I'm thinking about as I hear you is, is back to the whole question of how do
23:47
we show up?
23:48
This then brings up the content discussion of if I know my audience, right?
23:53
Because I know a lot, and you know this very well, a lot of people struggle with what
23:55
do I post, right?
23:56
I'm so tired of saying that phrase, but we all face that.
24:01
What do I post?
24:02
What can I be doing?
24:03
So how would you help us there?
24:04
Yeah, I'd say once you know what problem you serve or what problem you solve and how
24:08
you solve it, right?
24:09
And that's where you're uniqueness, your uniqueness lies.
24:12
Like me, you and everyone listening could all have the exact same problem.
24:16
We could all have that problem.
24:18
So I bet each of us would have a unique twist on how we would solve that problem, right?
24:24
And then who it's for.
24:25
So then I know it's, this is the simplest thing to do.
24:28
I'm not going to say easy, because then everyone's going to like shrug it off of oh, it's
24:32
so easy for you to say that.
24:33
But it is simple.
24:34
And what we tell people is make a list of the 52 questions that your prospect has, your
24:41
client has, or the questions that they should have.
24:46
But in other words, water all the questions that you know that you have the answer to take
24:52
each one of those questions, answer them one at a time.
24:57
Now you asked me why 52, 52 weeks in a year, right?
25:01
You take that question, going, I know this person that I want to serve, I know that they're
25:07
going to have this question.
25:08
So I'm going to answer it.
25:09
I'm going to make a content video out of it.
25:12
I'm going to post it at the same day, the same time every single week.
25:15
And I'm going to be consistent as I'll get out and I'm going to do it all 52 weeks of
25:19
the year.
25:20
I'm going to repeat this process next year.
25:22
It does not need to be every day.
25:24
It just needs, you need to tell people what to expect from you.
25:26
From that one video, you can have pull out quotes.
25:29
You can turn it into a blog.
25:31
You can splice it up and make several different 30 second clips.
25:34
You can make promo clips.
25:35
You can make it into a little YouTube series.
25:38
You can turn it into audio pot.
25:40
You could do a thousand things with one video a week.
25:43
That's just five to seven minutes.
25:45
Yep.
25:46
Yep.
25:47
The challenges there's so many things to do, the people just go, oh, that's just too much.
25:52
Yeah.
25:53
Well, I mean, I think you're, hey, if you get to 52, congratulations, right?
25:56
Some people are going to maybe you don't have to do it all at once sitting.
25:59
But I know I've told people before it's like, what's the five questions you get most
26:02
often?
26:03
There's five videos right there.
26:04
Totally.
26:05
It's just the difference in how you and I just solve that problem.
26:07
I'm doing the short term fix.
26:09
You're doing a long term for a year just because I mean, Ligot, I know the audience very
26:14
well, right?
26:15
If I get you to five, man, that's like five gym visits, we're like, now we're rolling,
26:19
now I can get you back.
26:20
Yeah.
26:21
And here's how I'd say too.
26:22
It's like, we tell people plot the 52.
26:24
And then if you can do one a week, great.
26:26
If you want to batch them, do five out of time, right?
26:28
But it will take most people less than 30 minutes to list out what are 52 questions that my
26:34
audience, my prospect, my customer base, they have.
26:37
Why?
26:38
Because you already know these.
26:39
It'll take you probably less than 10 minutes to write them out.
26:42
Well then you have your content planned for the year.
26:45
Now you've got to go and answer them.
26:46
You've got to do the videos.
26:48
But at least now you know what you should be talking about and then go execute in whatever
26:52
batched methodology that works for you.
26:56
You have this concept of a one word problem.
27:00
Tell me more about that.
27:01
Yeah.
27:02
We believe that if you're not clear, no one else is either, just like people, you know,
27:06
old saying, I confuse prospect, never buys, right?
27:10
We believe the same thing in a personal brand.
27:12
It's like until you're so clear that you can nail it down to one word, you're not clear.
27:18
What we find with most people is they're not even clear on what a problem is.
27:22
I'll give you, you know, it's like, I'll give you an example as so often we will work
27:26
with our clients of, you know, right, let's, let's talk about what problem you solve.
27:31
And they're like, oh, I already know what problem I solve.
27:33
Great.
27:34
Tell me.
27:35
It's confidence.
27:36
I solve the problem of confidence.
27:37
Well, confidence is not a problem.
27:40
Confidence is a payoff.
27:42
The opposite of confidence is a problem, right?
27:47
So the inverse, so insecurity, self-doubt, low self-esteem, you know, lack of, you know,
27:54
all these things, those are problems.
27:56
And so there is a complete disconnect between what problem you solve and what a problem
28:03
even is.
28:05
And for us, it's about clarity.
28:07
It's about being so clear that you can say it in one word.
28:11
It doesn't need explanation because you know what that means.
28:14
It doesn't need pretence or this definition.
28:19
It also doesn't need to be a sentence or a paragraph.
28:21
If that's what it is, then you're not clear.
28:24
Hmm.
28:25
So a huge part of this is about making sure that there's no beating around the bush.
28:31
There's no buffering.
28:32
It's being so crystal clear that it's in one word.
28:36
It doesn't need explanation.
28:38
Well, it doesn't need explanation for you per se, so you understand it at that level,
28:43
right?
28:44
However, your branding statement or whatever could be a sentence.
28:48
Absolutely.
28:49
So think about this as like what's what we call your brand positioning statement, which
28:52
is what problem you solve, what causes that problem, then how do you solve it?
28:58
Your uniqueness, your payoffs and your title.
29:01
We call that framework, that's your brand positioning statement.
29:05
And that's all very, very internal facing.
29:09
That's all super internal facing.
29:10
None of that is external facing.
29:13
From that, we build out all the external marketing.
29:17
But this is internal brand facing of making sure that everyone who's ever going to touch
29:22
your brand knows what problem do you solve, what causes that problem, what's your message
29:28
for it, what's your uniqueness, what are the payoffs and what's ultimately the title,
29:33
right?
29:34
We're going to have a podcast or a blog or a book one day or a course, right?
29:39
That's where titles come in, not applicable to all.
29:41
But we call that your brand positioning statement, it's super internal facing.
29:46
And again, so much of that is for clarity.
29:48
It's for you and it's for anyone who's going to touch your brand now or in the future,
29:52
but it's not external marketing, though.
29:57
I'm just thinking in the context of today with so much noise, how relevant I think that
30:03
is to have a brand positioning statement that cuts through the noise, because most don't,
30:09
most show up, like I've asked them, I'm sure you've done this exercise, you ask somebody,
30:13
in my case, I've asked real estate agents, for example, in the past, like who's your client?
30:16
And what do they say?
30:18
Everybody.
30:19
So that game doesn't work anymore because earlier, it's a commodity business, right?
30:26
Like the old joke, same as lame, right?
30:33
So how do we then, I'm trying to get clear to like, you know, showing up differently,
30:38
it's going to be knowing what problem we solve, who we solve it for, and I'm coming back
30:43
to the content thing.
30:44
I don't know why, but that's why I feel drawn to, once again, probably because it's the,
30:48
for me, it's the gap versus the gain, it's the gap, people don't know how to get from.
30:53
Okay, I serve, let's say, you know, divorce, divorces my niche, people going through divorce,
30:58
they got the hats, they got the this or that, but how the hell do I show up and actually
31:01
communicate that to the world?
31:03
Well, you got to ask yourself, what problem does this person have?
31:06
Right?
31:07
If they're going to, going through a divorce, and now they're having to go out and get
31:11
a new place, find a new place, do all this, and you think start their life over.
31:14
What's the problem that you solve for them?
31:16
Like, what problem do they have?
31:19
Most people cannot answer that and tell you can answer that.
31:22
Your content is fluff, your content is not real.
31:25
Your content is surface level, and it is speaking to everyone, right?
31:28
There's a couple of personal brands that I think are great examples because they're quite
31:33
the household name.
31:34
I live in Nashville, Tennessee, so I'll use one that's local to us, Dave Ramsey, right?
31:39
Dave Ramsey solves the problem of debt.
31:43
He is synonymous with that.
31:44
He has become known for that.
31:46
If you want to get out of debt, he is a very well-known person in the space.
31:50
That's the problem he solves.
31:52
So you want to be known for a part of the problem you solve.
31:55
Like, we at BrainBuilders Group, we solve the problem of obscurity.
31:59
People who are not known who want to be known.
32:01
But that's a great example.
32:03
Mother Teresa, very well-known public figure, what problem did she solve?
32:08
Yeah, that's a good one.
32:09
I've heard you say that before.
32:12
What did she solve?
32:13
Was it loneliness?
32:15
Poverty.
32:16
Poverty, sorry.
32:17
Yes, poverty.
32:18
Damn.
32:19
But she spent her entire life trying to solve the problem of poverty.
32:24
Right.
32:25
Like, how do you show love and care to those who have no means, right?
32:31
Martin Luther King, Jr.
32:32
Okay.
32:33
Give it to him.
32:34
I'm not going out on a limb again.
32:37
Inequality.
32:38
Inequality.
32:39
Inequality.
32:40
Inequality.
32:41
It's like, these people are known for their life's work has been committed to overcoming
32:46
this problem.
32:47
Right?
32:48
Like, you know, Brunei Brown, very well-known author and speaker, the problem she solves
32:54
is shame.
32:55
Right?
32:56
It's like, that is how, because she became known, was how do I overcome shame, right?
33:03
And it's so much of this is, it's becoming synonymous with this problem you solve for
33:08
a group of people.
33:10
And so if you are trying to tailor your message and reach people who are starting over
33:15
in a divorce setting, there's a problem they have.
33:18
Yeah.
33:19
Can your problem you solve change with the market or change with the times?
33:24
I would say it would change as your entire brand evolves.
33:28
Okay.
33:29
So, yes.
33:30
I think over time, as you change, as your services change, like if you were to leave your
33:35
current business and start a new one, it probably would alter.
33:39
But just because the market changes, no.
33:42
I think...
33:43
I'll get real specific for you.
33:45
I'm thinking in the context, and you know this is well in national everywhere.
33:48
We've got super low inventory with real estate.
33:50
We've got multiple offers, buyers, you know what I mean, all the stuff they got to deal
33:54
with.
33:55
And I'm thinking from the lender side of things, it's like the problem you solve is, I
33:58
don't know, certainty, right?
34:00
Maybe it's wealth building.
34:02
But if I'm showing up and talking, trying to get a real estate agent's attention, how do
34:06
I solve the problem they have, which is getting buyer offers accepted and getting more sellers
34:12
to feel confident about selling, it's not so much my problem.
34:15
But if I can help them, they're business.
34:18
So here was what I would say with that, I think in some respect, the audience changes,
34:23
but not necessarily the problem.
34:25
Sometimes, the message, the solution to the problem changes, but the problem remains
34:31
most often.
34:32
How we overcome that problem shifts, the audience shifts, but I find most people have
34:41
a through line and this problem they solve throughout most components of their lifespan.
34:47
You can see, even though Dave Ramsey also talks about leadership and he also talks about
34:55
business, there's still a through line of being debt free as growing your business without
35:01
debt.
35:02
And Dave Ramsey's an excellent example, especially in the my sector of also repelling people.
35:07
Oh, yeah.
35:08
Yeah, because he talks about getting a 15 year versus 30 year and all that stuff.
35:12
He's quite intentional about it.
35:15
And do you think he cares?
35:18
I think he knows who his audience is.
35:20
Right, right.
35:21
And the more that he repels, the also the more he attracts.
35:25
And it's getting crystal clear on your audience.
35:28
Yeah, and once again, not to continue to beat this whack-a-mole thing, but it's like,
35:32
that's where you've got to be okay saying no, right?
35:36
Yeah.
35:37
You're not for me.
35:38
Oh, absolutely.
35:39
I mean, this is a hard lesson that we learned repetitively for years and years.
35:44
It's the more you say yes to the wrong people, the more you're forced to say no to the right people.
35:49
Wow.
35:50
That's good.
35:51
That's good.
35:52
That's a writer downer.
35:54
Yeah, tweet that.
35:56
But it's true.
35:57
It's like I just, it's like if I'm so busy and I'm so consumed working with people that are
36:02
the wrong fit, it takes more time, takes more energy.
36:06
I don't have time to find and serve the people that would be the ones that give me energy,
36:11
that fill my cup, that they are the ones I want to work with because I'm already too busy,
36:15
doing work for the ones that I don't want because we're yes people.
36:19
It's a scarcity mentality when we say yes to everything.
36:24
Ah, just look at that.
36:25
That's another wisdom right there.
36:27
A scarcity mentality when we say yes to everything.
36:29
That is so true because it's a fear of missing out or losing out or
36:32
yeah, money, your scarcity issues around money, perhaps.
36:36
Wow.
36:37
And it's exhausting.
36:38
Yeah, it's exhausting as well.
36:40
You get into all this psychology with like really getting clear on your brand and your audience,
36:44
yeah?
36:45
It's quite therapeutic to be honest.
36:49
Random benefit of kind of getting through and getting clear on all of this because I think most
36:54
people are doing most of what they're doing because it's what other people are doing.
36:59
That's what they were told to do, taught to do.
37:01
That's what they learned to do by watching others and instead of going,
37:05
what do I want to do?
37:12
Yeah, I'm thinking about that in the context of again, showing up online and you've
37:18
been to the conferences.
37:19
I was just at one recently of like, you know, people copying everybody and you got to,
37:24
you could literally there was a speaker there who clearly was quote successful by monetary terms,
37:29
but to give a prescription to everyone in the audience that you need to be everywhere,
37:37
like, oh my gosh, I'm even apprehensive sometimes of like coming out and being the opposite of
37:43
a voice because these other voices are so strong, like compared to who I am, I'm nobody,
37:48
but compared to them, but I don't think that's the right message really.
37:52
I don't either.
37:53
And I would actually give a very different message.
37:56
And here's what I would say is the people who are going to be attracted to the person who says
38:01
be everywhere is different.
38:03
They would, the person who would be attracted to you who says,
38:06
that's not the way it has to be.
38:09
And I think again, it's getting clear on who do I want to serve?
38:12
And it's like, and I want to serve the person who's like, I can't do that.
38:16
Being on social media is not my full-time job.
38:18
I'm not an influencer.
38:19
I'm not an online celebrity.
38:21
I'm an entrepreneur.
38:22
I'm a business owner.
38:22
I'm a long officer.
38:23
I'm a real estate agent.
38:24
I'm a broker.
38:25
It's like, I can't do that.
38:26
So teach me how to do something that's beneficial to me and my business.
38:31
And you're going to attract those people the more you speak about that in a way that you wholeheartedly believe.
38:36
And I, you know, it's like to be in this space and to say what I'm about to say.
38:39
I don't believe you should be everywhere.
38:44
I believe you should be where your audience is.
38:46
Yeah, yeah.
38:48
Right.
38:48
Am I my caveat to this?
38:50
There's always, like, unless you have a team, right?
38:52
Because then a team can support you and not everybody can be Gary Vee.
38:56
No, right?
38:57
And it's like, and there's a time and a place for that.
39:01
But until, until there's a time and a place for it, no, you don't.
39:04
That is some myth that you've been told, some lie that you're believing into.
39:09
And in fact, you're believing it so much that you're nowhere, right?
39:12
Because it seems so daunting to do it that you do nothing.
39:16
Oh, damn.
39:18
I'm going to go back and listen to this just for these drops.
39:22
Well, it's, you know, at the thing, it's like, it's just real, right?
39:27
I'm in that seed.
39:27
It's like being in this business and we have a full team.
39:30
And our team trying to keep up with my brand and Roy's brand and our company's brand,
39:34
like they can't do it.
39:36
And it's like, well, I for sure can't do it.
39:37
I'm in this space.
39:38
And so I just got really hyper clear on who's my audience.
39:44
Where are they?
39:45
And, you know, I'll steal this from, we had Jasmine Star on our podcast,
39:51
who's a really big social media marketer and I loved what she said.
39:56
And she said, people get confused when it comes to posting content.
40:00
And she said, you have to remember, there are two platforms
40:04
in which you have to think about content.
40:07
There is the platform or platforms that you create content for.
40:12
And then there are the platforms that you consume content on.
40:17
They're often not the same.
40:19
And then I started thinking about that.
40:21
And I'm like, yeah, I consume an abnormal amount of my content on Instagram, right?
40:29
It's like, it's where I get all my mommy facts, fashion, interior design,
40:34
recipes, food.
40:35
It's like, that's where I go.
40:36
But quite honestly, the majority of my audience is not on Instagram.
40:40
They're on LinkedIn.
40:42
And so most of my content creation is for LinkedIn.
40:47
Because I know that's where my audience is.
40:49
I know I want to serve.
40:50
That's where my, that's where my audience is.
40:53
And then so for me, it's like if you want to learn personal brand
40:55
and entrepreneurship leadership marketing,
40:57
you better connect with me on LinkedIn,
40:59
because you're not going to get that on Instagram.
41:00
On Instagram, they're going to learn about me as a mom, wife,
41:04
believer, entrepreneur, traveler, doer of weird things.
41:08
So it's a human interest account.
41:11
But if you're going to come there and think you're going to like learn all things,
41:14
social media and personal brand, and you're going to be very disappointed,
41:17
it's not what you're going to get.
41:18
But you are going to get to know my heart and what I believe.
41:22
And you're going to get to know a lot of it, because I put it out there.
41:24
But if you really want to learn from me,
41:26
I say follow, like subscribe to my podcast.
41:29
Like we, our content is so solid.
41:32
Their guests are amazing.
41:33
It's like, go there, right?
41:35
And if you just want other tips and stuff, go to LinkedIn.
41:38
So I've gotten really super clear on, I refuse to be everywhere,
41:41
because it's exhausting.
41:43
And I don't think it works for most people.
41:46
And there's some content you do not post on LinkedIn that you do on Instagram?
41:51
Most of it, I don't repost anywhere.
41:53
The only place that you're going to get reposted content is on Facebook.
41:57
Because my audience does not live there,
41:59
and I do not consume there.
42:00
So it's the dumping ground for all the things.
42:02
I'm going to say Facebook has become the dumping ground.
42:06
That's the dumping ground.
42:08
But one of the things that we've realized too,
42:10
that we create original content for our email list.
42:15
So it's a benefit of being on our email list.
42:18
If you're on our email list, we're going to do private trainings for you.
42:20
We're going to do cool giveaways.
42:23
We're going to do all things unique.
42:24
So it's not just a consolidation and regurgitation of content you could find elsewhere.
42:30
It's truly unique, hyper,
42:34
unique, created, facilitated, curated content,
42:38
just for the email list, for our email list.
42:41
And then it's like, you have a reason to go to LinkedIn.
42:44
You have a reason to go to the podcast.
42:45
You have a reason to follow me in all the places.
42:47
Because you're going to get different things everywhere you go.
42:50
I know that's the antithesis of what most people promote.
42:55
Yeah, but here's the thing.
42:56
Is most people know when they hear that,
42:58
you need to be everywhere and do like all the videos and the dancing and the pointing at the bubbles
43:02
or whatever, whatever whatever that example is.
43:07
They know that they can't do it and be that that doesn't feel real to them.
43:11
Yeah, it's not authentic.
43:13
But to your point earlier, what happens unfortunately then is they get stuck and do nothing.
43:17
That's correct.
43:18
They feel like they're losing.
43:20
Like if I can't do it all, I might as well just do nothing.
43:22
And that's just not true.
43:24
Pick a platform, go all in.
43:25
Right.
43:27
The most, I would tell you some of the most successful people that I know in business
43:31
have gone all in on one platform and they own the heck out of it.
43:35
I would also say as a reminder to everyone,
43:37
who is listening, you do not need millions of followers to make millions of dollars.
43:42
Right.
43:43
You don't.
43:44
You need a curated audience that you can serve.
43:48
And that just may be in the hundreds.
43:50
Maybe it's in the thousands.
43:52
They seem to be the right ones.
43:53
Right.
43:54
Right.
43:55
Yeah, people who share like minded, like like values, right?
43:58
Who are supporters and passionate of you and what you do and what you're all about.
44:01
Like you said at the top of this interview, we'll come full circle and close it out.
44:04
It's like that's what people are really
44:07
in terms of evaluating.
44:09
Do they do?
44:09
Do they want to do business with you today?
44:12
We didn't have that in the day of yellow pages.
44:14
Right.
44:14
We had the yellow pages.
44:15
We had your ad, the bigger ad one.
44:17
Okay.
44:18
That plumber must be the most successful plumber because they have the biggest ad.
44:21
Right.
44:22
Okay, cool.
44:23
That's it.
44:23
I don't need to know what he looks like.
44:25
Now is different.
44:27
Now we want to know, hey, what are they?
44:28
Like I was just doing some research for my son for dermatologists and stuff like that.
44:31
And I'm doing the hummingbird thing.
44:33
I'm bouncing around.
44:34
I'm looking at reviews.
44:34
I'm trying to find out who these people were putting a puzzle together to decide,
44:38
does this person look likable, trustworthy?
44:40
Right.
44:41
That kind of stuff.
44:42
Yeah.
44:42
And what we're finding is, you know, personal branding at the end of the day
44:47
is a trust accelerator.
44:50
Mm-hmm.
44:50
Like to what you just said, it's a trust accelerator.
44:54
That's really what it is.
44:55
It's making your reputation known so that people can decide for themselves.
44:59
Are you trustworthy?
45:00
Right.
45:01
Right.
45:01
100%.
45:02
Awesome.
45:03
We're speaking to be trustworthy.
45:04
I know you and your crew are.
45:06
That's why I'm engaging with you guys to help me with my personal brand.
45:08
So for those listening who want to maybe take a next step with you,
45:11
where should we direct them?
45:13
Yeah.
45:14
It's like if you want to check this out, just continue this conversation.
45:17
Visit freebrandcall.com forward slash AJ.
45:23
So freebrandcall.com forward slash AJ.
45:27
And if you request a call on that page,
45:29
we will give you a free one hour brand strategy call
45:33
with one of our strategists.
45:34
We know that we're not a fit for everyone and we're okay with that.
45:38
But we will do a free call with you.
45:39
We'll have a conversation just like we did here today.
45:42
If you want to learn about what it's like to work with us,
45:44
awesome, if not, we'll talk to you up with free resources.
45:46
Isn't it, send you on your way?
45:47
Yeah, at a minimum, right?
45:49
I mean, have the call because I've done the call and it's an excellent exercise
45:54
to go through and get clear on who you are,
45:56
what problems you solve, things we talked about.
45:58
But then of course, I'll put links to that in the show notes
46:00
and your website.
46:01
So if people do want to sign up for your newsletter or other things that they have.
46:06
I lean on you guys for a lot of my content as well.
46:09
Like when I teach branding and stuff,
46:11
I'm going to give credit of course,
46:14
but you guys are putting out some amazing content as well.
46:16
Fred, the word, tell everyone you know.
46:19
Well, AJ, I can't take you enough for being here.
46:21
Really thrilled.
46:21
And I'm looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks in Nashville.
46:23
But once again, I appreciate you making time.
46:25
Oh, it was awesome. Thank you so much.
46:27
You bet. Listeners, you know what to do.
46:29
If you like this episode, please leave us a review.
46:32
And that way we'll reach more people.
46:34
Appreciate you tuning in.
46:34
We'll see you on the next one.
46:36
Hey, thanks for tuning in to this episode
46:37
of the Mortgage Marketing Radio podcast.
46:39
I hope you enjoyed it.
46:40
Remember, if you like this episode,
46:42
please leave us a review that helps us reach more people
46:45
and bring more good value and content to you,
46:48
our listeners.
46:49
And then don't forget, if you are a loan officer
46:52
who wants more agent referrals in less time,
46:57
be sure to check out the Mortgage Marketing Pro
46:59
membership at mortgagemarketing.pro
47:02
and learn more about our turnkey system of agent classes
47:05
that puts you front and center of your local real estate agents,
47:08
attracting agents instead of chasing them,
47:11
and getting agent referrals like clockwork every single month,
47:15
just like Kerry Cobb, who her first year in the business
47:19
with closing over 75 loans, achieved 40% of those 75 loans
47:24
exclusively from agent classes.
47:27
And if you want to learn how she did it,
47:28
now you can do it too.
47:29
Once again, go to Mortgage Marketing Pro
47:31
and I'll see you over there.
47:33
Thanks for listening.
47:34
Bye for now.
47:39
Hey guys, what's up real quick?
47:43
You've heard about the Mortgage Marketing Pro membership before
47:46
and you just want to quickly remind you
47:47
if that you're in a place in your business
47:49
where you simply need more purchased loans.
47:51
You need to fill your pipeline with purchase business.
47:54
Let's just face it, agents are still a solid pillar of business
47:57
and sources of purchase business for you.
48:00
Well, good news.
48:01
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48:03
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48:05
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48:08
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48:13
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48:18
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48:18
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48:52
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48:54
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48:57
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48:59
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49:00
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49:02
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49:03
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49:06
So what are you waiting for?
49:07
You can check out more at mortgagedmarketing.pro,
49:09
see more of the success stories there.
49:12
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49:14
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49:15
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49:16
Don't miss out on this opportunity
49:18
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49:20
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