Welcome to BrandAPeel where we talk about brand storytelling in the digital age. I’m your host Shannon Peel
A week ago I started the 100 episodes in 100 days challenge and today was the first day I struggled to get a podcast out and it was the one meant to update my listeners on how the process is going, what I’ve learned and what is coming up this week. I’ll talk a bit about my struggle to get this podcast out after looking back on those podcasts I posted and the people I talked to.
The week started off with posting an interview with Jem Fuller who lived a decade off the grid and plans retreats for leaders to go out into the wilds of Indonesia where their cell phones won’t work and there is no electricity to disconnect and find connection with themselves, each other, and what really matters in life.
I can identify with Jem’s story because like him, I was on the wrong path living in a world where I was not good enough and didn’t matter. And like Jem, I lost everything before I could find the right path for myself. Unlike me, he has found happiness, love, and professional financial success because he did the work to rewire his brain and learn how to love himself. He did the work to grow as a person and in doing so found where he is meant to be and whom he is meant to be with.
I’m still on that journey, with some days being harder than the next. Today being one of those days. But I am trying to take the steps to ensure I keep moving forward to a better tomorrow, even if I just want to roll back into a ball under the covers and find oblivion. Reflecting on what I learned from talking to him helps me realize that the only one standing between me and a better life is – ME. I have dig deeper to find the strength to believe I am good enough, I can do this, and in the process I won’t end up living in my parent’s century old damp basement.
No matter what our story, until we take the time to know ourselves and find the courage to look at ourselves in the mirror with love instead of criticism, the work we do will not give us the results we seek. Believing in others who tell us what they can do and promise us the world is easier than believing in ourselves to cross the finish line successfully. I don’t know if Jem has figured out the key to happiness, but he has found the key for his own happiness and that is in living the life he was meant to live then give to others by helping them to find their own meanings.
A deep topic for a Monday, but a good topic to kick off this 100 episodes in 100 days journey.
In the second episode, I talked with Khalil about how he grew his business by helping people see things differently and building out their sales pipelines to gain the success they are looking for. He partners with others who have circles of influence to collaborate and create win-win situations where together they fill value gaps with the solutions each specialist can fulfil.
He shares how he looks at problems and find solutions to problems to streamline the journey to provide a solution to the customer by creating a referral or wholesale B2B solution instead of trying to do it all on their own.
The lesson of this conversation is to niche down, specialize, and find that solution you are passionate about and best to serve the client. Now, I’m a generalist whose business has been determined by what clients need and not from a position of my being in the driving seat. The result, I’m doing too much and doing it all alone resulting in less success than I should be experiencing at this point in my business. I know this but I ignore the work that I need to do to make a difference in my business by doing busy work that others could do better than I can.
Many solopreneurs are like me and less like Khalil, who are not focused enough and don’t collaborate with others by focusing on one service they can provide to a variety of agents or clients of other businesses. Imagine how many more clients you could service if you worked with others and shared the clients to provide solutions that fit together instead of the client having all these different providers who don’t talk to each other. Instead of seeing people as competitors, seeing them as specialists in one part of the bigger picture and you working on another part enabling the client to focus on what they get paid for creating a win-win-win.
In the process of podcasting and having a number of interviews, I have met lots of professionals I am interested in working with, I just have to figure out how to ask and negotiate. Two things I struggle with.
Talking to Laura Templeton about how to tell your brand story in 30 seconds to get people’s attention when you are networking was fun. Networking is an important part of business and yet, there are some people who are very skilled at connecting the dots and seeing how people can work together and then inviting them to connect. Laura teaches people how to connect with other business professionals to create those relationships that will lead to doing business together or referrals. We have more than one brand story and the story you tell needs to start with the end objective in mind, which is dependent on the audience you are telling your story to. If you are in a networking meeting and the people there are not your potential customer, how you word your story and your ask during your 30 second pitch is different than if you are standing in front of a room full of potential clients. In our discussion Laura gives BrandAPeel listeners gems of tips to help them create better impact in networking meetings.
Before covid I was a regular at a number of networking events getting nowhere and found the process to be a waste of time. Virtual networking solved some of the issues and created new ones when it came to building relationships that would result in business. Each relationship we create has value if we remove all expectation from others and focus on our own behaviours, words, and tasks. Professional networkers are out there looking for businesses to partner with by finding them leads in exchange for fees. Offering an affiliate fee to people who like to introduce your business to others will provide you with another lead source. To do it right you have to create relationships with your affiliates and provide them with the 30 second pitch they can repeat to others to garner interest in your services. Laura helps business owners leverage their networks.
The advice Khalil and Laura gave to BrandAPeel listeners will help them to structure a lead channel that will keep their marketing funnel full. But it isn’t easy to implement because it relies on relationships that have to be nurtured, appreciated, and rewarded. And people are flawed.
Roy Osing’s episode was different because his point of view comes from a career working in a large Canadian Telecommunications company. As a former CMO of my province’s telephone company, he was responsible for building out the internet department from new technology to a billion-dollar revenue department. The lessons he learned about branding are backed up by data and measurable results over decades. He shares some of his insights into how to differentiate yourself in the marketplace by figuring out how you are the ONLY one in your market to offer …. Fill in the blank… Once you have your only statement, you can then be audacious in your messaging to attract customers who want what you offer.
Do you know your only statement? It is easier to see someone else’s only statement than it is to see our own. My only statement is I’m the only one who does the whole process from concept, strategy, implementation, and execution of the project – I need a different only statement. As with the conversations I had with Jem, Khalil, and Laura, this conversation at its core is about finding what you are meant to do, do it well, and communicate that one thing. This is something I know but am scared to implement, not because I’m scared of not getting business, but because I’m scared of limiting myself to doing a repetative thing. I enjoy challenges and learning new skills, providing new services, and being creative. If I do one thing and go deep deep into it, I’m scared I’ll get bored. Plus I’ve done all this work to build what I have and … if I choose one thing, which will I choose and all that work is wasted and I don’t like waste of productivity.
Having Paul Slack come after as an example of someone who has focused on being a strategist and then hiring the specialists to come in and complete the project. His business is the example of what Khalil and Laura were talking about and he knows what his purpose is in his market and how he helps his clients. This has resulted in a successful marketing business by being the concerige helping potential clients find the service they need and helping clients get what they want by ensuring the job is delivered with the intended objective. This creates momentum for the brand and builds out the brand story’s digital footprint to keep the marketing funnel full. His experience and the stories he shared show how this approach works as a win-win for everyone on the brand’s customer journey. Content marketing needs to be intentional and have a strategy to ensure the end of the story has the desired result.
In the editing process, I paid close attention to what each person was saying and discovered I’d missed cataloguing information into my mind during the conversation. There is so much information during a conversation, we miss comprehending everything we hear, which is why podcasting is valuable because you can go back and relisten to find the gems of ideas, tips, and advice in those conversations.
Relistening to these posts to create this summary showed me the threads that were woven through the podcasts to tell a bigger core story to help BrandAPeel listeners and myself get to the next level of our businesses by structuring our service and messaging to solve problems with other professionals we trust.
Saturday’s podcast was different because I talked with Tyler about those big life topics and he shared how the pulp culture stories we love reflect those issues and what we can learn from them. Fictional stories can show us potential solutions to our live’s problems and give us motivation to keep going when we lose because the next time we can win. We love heros because they don’t give up and have a purpose they are focused on. We can learn so much about ourselves and our lives by the stories we love to watch, listen to, and read.
The problem with 100 podcast episodes in 100 days
I’m tired and when I get tired, depression starts talking to me and my mind starts to work against me.
Does what I do matter?
Does this make a difference?
Is this the right idea?
Does anyone even listen?
Am I wasting time that I could be spending on another channel that will help pay the rent?
Let’s face it. I’m sitting here alone hoping that my purpose of doing this podcast is working and will work to help others tell their brand stories to help people learn how to create an appealing life, career, or business.
As a solopreneur I need to motivate myself. I have to commit myself. And I am doing it all by myself. And feeling like I’m getting nowhere. One minute I have an increase in traffic to my site and the next, I’m looking at the end of the month getting closer and closer with that monthly bill looming. I need to figure out how to get over myself and my anxiety. I have to remind myself about what I’m building. It’s going to take time to build it and I need to breathe and trust that I will be able to make it through.
Today, I’m going to visit my parents and as I travel there I will figure out my strategy and my next steps to ensure I can keep moving forward. I learned so much this week from talking to people and listening to podcasts, now I need to journal and unpack how I’ll implement these ideas into my business.
I’m out of time because my ride will be here soon, and the pressure of getting it done to post something today is frustrating me because I’m not taking the time to create what I want it to be and I have to start working on tomorrow’s episode as soon as I get to my brother’s place and it will be difficult to get it done with the demands of family but, it’s a chance to see them and I can’t pass it up – I need to meet the commitments I’ve made to clients, the 100 in 100, and now family this week.
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