Own Your Lane® - Personal Brand, Leadership & LinkedIn® Visibility in the Age of AI

“There’s no real competition when you’re being your true self. There’s no one else like you in the world or in your industry,” shares Scarlette Acevedo, an executive stress coach specializing in burnout prevention and high performance. In today’s episode, Scarlette discusses how to prioritize your mental health and lower your stress levels while growing your personal brand. Social media has changed how humans interact with each other. It’s important to remember that we are all still humans and not machines. By setting boundaries and putting your mental health first, you can make a positive impact on your work environment. Instead of aiming for unachievable perfection, be yourself and embrace what makes you unique.  Tune into this week’s episode for a conversation about how to embrace your true self, set healthy boundaries, and prioritize your mental well-being.  Quotes • “I call myself The Good Rebel because I go against the status quo. The status quo in the self-destructive conditioning that we’ve received in our respective industries is about mental health, about showing any vulnerability, and about working hard. That conditioning has actually fostered a very toxic, unhealthy environment for us to work in which has affected us at all levels in our lives.” (2:49-3:22) • “There might be a lot of leaders with the same title in the same industry. But there is no one like you. There’s no one who feels things like you. That’s what makes you unique. You build your own mindset in life and your own mindset is what drives what you do.” (4:52-5:15)• “We really need to remember that we’re humans. We’re not machines, we’re humans. And we need to communicate and relate as humans and not machines or phones.” (13:55-14:04)• “You don’t need to justify yourself with anyone. It’s your mental health and you have every right to actually prioritize it. If you don’t, no one else will.” (14:23-14:32)• “There has to be a balance between visibility and privacy. As long as visibility is truthful and meaningful, that’s what matters.” (20:31-20:42) • “There’s no real competition when you’re being your true self. There’s no one else like you in the world or in your industry. They might be sharing your same clients, your same audience, but they’re not you. When you are your true self, you’re actually unique.” (26:12-26:33)• “When you know what your uniqueness is, you’ll find the right balance between visibility and privacy. Being visible means that you’re sharing things that are meaningful to others and that will help them in one way or another.” (26:42-27:20)• “Your post, your podcast, your audio message can be exactly what someone needs that day. You have no idea the positive impact that you can have on someone. SoOwn Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities. Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field. Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio MasterclassREAD: My Personal Branding Books LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“Being able to craft content so it resonates with people and the frustrations they have is actually the starting point,” shares Richard Moore, sales expert with over 18 years of experience and Founder of LinkedIn Client Accelerator. In today’s episode, Richard discusses how to create content that doesn’t feel like a sales pitch to generate leads.  Nowadays, people are hyper-aware of when they are being sold to. If you design content that feels too much like an ad, people will just scroll past it. Richard shares tips for creating LinkedIn content that turns into genuine leads such as building community through engagement and adding gentle, low-pressure call to action to posts. Tune into this week’s episode on how to generate leads on LinkedIn without coming across like a salesperson.  Quotes• “Being able to craft content so it resonates with people and the frustrations they have is actually the starting point. What we really need to be able to do is not just stop a crowd of people and make them read, but make them rethink.” (5:19-5:31)• “Leads aren’t people who show up, who I then chase. Leads are people who step forward because they feel like there’s something there that might change something in their world and they’re self-selecting.” (7:48-8:01)• “To start conversations to be helpful and hope that in time, people just think fondly of you enough that they will end up setting themselves. Yes, you will close deals, but how can you predict when the next one is? And those people will get one. Six weeks later, they might get another one possibly. And they can't decide that they're going to generate leads.” (12:32-13:00) “You’re always competing with the option of just ignoring it and moving on.” (15:09-15:14)• “My advice to the audience here is to ask yourself, are you genuinely using real empathy and real awareness now? Is your language reflecting your agenda more than theirs?” (20:30-20:52) Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities. Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field. Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio MasterclassREAD: My Personal Branding Books LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“If we could truly understand that the human algorithm, the one algorithm that really matters, is something that doesn’t change,” explains Joshua B. Lee, founder of StandOut Authority. In today’s episode, Joshua shares how to humanize the LinkedIn experience for more authentic engagement.  All businesses are run by people. When we remove the human component from marketing, we end up less successful. All people are the same in that we have been conditioned to seek out dopamine from engagement. By understanding the human algorithm, we can bypass the platform algorithms and receive authentic engagement. Tune into this week’s episode bout how to humanize your interactions on LinkedIn to enhance your marketing strategy.  Quotes• “The biggest thing that I learned was there is a huge difference between traffic and actually true engagement.” (4:09-4:14)• “I don’t care who you are, we’ve all been conditioned to look for one thing above all else when you post online. We all look for those little hits of dopamine we get when someone likes or comments on our post.” (16:46-17:05)• “Conversations turn into relationships. Relationships turn into opportunity.” (18:04-18:07) • “Businesses are run by another human being. Most marketers have just forgotten that. And if you have a way to be able to connect, no matter how it is, there's a way to be able to do it.” (27:44-27:59)• “And we're all human and it's okay. Don't be scared to post, put something out there and just allow yourself to shine.” (27:59-28:05)• “Engage with people that engage with you. Don’t miss that opportunity. It starts with your personal brand. If you do not have your personal profile rocked out, that needs to shine. It needs to be a career journey. Tell that journey, tell that story, because there are ways to be able to communicate and connect with people.” (28:49-29:25) • “Be 100% you 100% of the time on and offline.” (32:31-32:34)Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities. Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field. Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio MasterclassREAD: My Personal Branding Books LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“Pick up the phone and just shoot your first video,” says Steve Shillingford, Video and Content Creator from the UK. In today’s episode, Steve shares tips for how to get started with using TikTok to build your personal brand. TikTok is not just a platform for kids. When used correctly, TikTok can be a valuable tool for anyone wishing to grow their personal brand and market their business. TikTok allows creators to be more expressive of their personalities without the stress of having to be professional and perfect in the way they are on LinkedIn and Instagram. The best way to get started on TikTok is to create short 15-second videos, be consistent about posting daily, be yourself, and engage with other creators. Tune into this week’s episode about how to start building your brand and showing off your true self on TikTok.  Quotes• “It’s best to keep the video short and sweet, so keep it beneath 15 seconds. First, you lead with a decent hook and then you just keep it to one to two sentences but keep it really, really moving along. And then just keep the video short. Once you start doing that, you’ve just gotta show up consistently.” (00:00-00:17)• “Pick up the phone and just shoot your first video, even if it’s a reaction video, even if it’s a list. Just scroll down with trending music. If you’re nervous, you don’t need to be. Just go on there and get started with the first video.” (6:26-6:44)• “Probably the best thing to do is get on the platform first of all and just look. Just spend 10 hours on there. Just look and then shoot your video. If you can shoot one video, great. But you’re gonna have to try and keep up with your demand.” (11:49-12:06) • “Community building is probably stronger than the community on LinkedIn. I’ve found once you’ve hit a niche and you’ve got core followers, people on TikTok are really loyal. They will defend you from the trolls. Once you’ve given that value and they believe in you and that’s why it’s so important to be yourself. Just take the mask off and just be and the community will follow. Engage with the community just like on LinkedIn and success will follow.” (12:25-13:03) • “Just don’t overthink it. That’s the most important thing. Just don’t overthink it. No one’s there to judge. No one really cares.” (23:30-23:37)• “Become the change you want to see in the world. Whatever you want to see. You want to see the world in a better way. It starts with you becoming that person. It starts with you becoming better. Make the difference within yourself and then share that with the world.” (34:13-34:34) Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities. Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field. Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio MasterclassREAD: My Personal Branding Books LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“The mindset is all about being the show. It’s about creating content that allows you to build relationships with your audience at scale on a continual basis,” shares Kap Chatfield, CEO of Rveal Media. In today’s episode, Kap explains the show marketing concept and how to use it to grow your business. Old-school ads no longer capture people’s attention. The best way to grow your audience and build your brand is through show marketing. This style of marketing creates content that people actually want to engage with. It humanizes your brand and helps the audience feel more connected to your product. Tune into this week’s episode about the show's marketing concept and how to use storytelling to connect with your customers.  Quotes • “There are two types of content on the internet. There’s the content that you want to consume and then there’s the content that interrupts the content that you want to consume. One is a show and one is an ad…We all know that ads get skipped, they get ignored, they get muted. Sometimes people actually pay for premium versions of apps…to skip ads altogether. The thing about ads is they repel audiences. While an ad repels an audience, a show builds an audience. Really the show marketing mindset that we’re trying to help our customers think through is really this transformation of the buyer’s journey. Not just in B2B products but even in B2C products. What we’re seeing is the buyer’s journey is not as linear as it used to be.” (2:30-3:56)• “I have so many people come to me that are like, “You don't need to convince me. I know I need content. I know I need to put myself out there.” But, you know, what I've noticed Michelle? A lot of people are hesitant about even beginning the journey because you're not just putting one piece of content out there and then it's done.” (8:21-8:40)• “Before you just jump in, you need to have a strategy. Because if you don’t have a strategy, you’re gonna get very emotional through the rollercoaster. Content creation especially as a discipline, is more than just something you do when you feel like it, it’s an emotional journey.” (9:34-9:51)• “The reason why we focus on the video podcast model, specifically video not audio, is because when you do a video podcast, I mean look at how effortless this was for you and me. We had maybe 10 minutes on the pre-show call to talk through how we wanted the direction of this episode to go, but it didn’t take a ton of preparation. It really is as easy as having a conversation.” (25:38-26:09)Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities. Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field. Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio MasterclassREAD: My Personal Branding Books LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“Be smart enough to know that you may be the expert on whatever it is you’re sharing, but you’re probably not the expert in how to get out there and share it,” says Joel Forman, financial educator and creator of Forman’s Financial Facts. Joel has worked in financial management for many years and more recently as a financial educator, sharing his insight and financial tips with students, employers and universities. In today’s episode, Joel shares how he has grown his brand by using YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Joel shares that during the pandemic, consulting work became less profitable and he found himself looking to switch directions. With encouragement from one of his sons, Joel began to put himself out there on social media, challenging himself to create five videos a week and five “Financial Word of the Day”s to post on LinkedIn. By the end of his first year, Joel had created 250 videos and grown from having no social media presence to having a widely recognized brand. Joel’s main tips for anyone looking to get started sharing their expertise on social media are: choose one clear focus, ask for help, and stay engaged with other people in your industry’s content.Tune into this week’s episode of The Business of You for a conversation about how to use social media to share your knowledge and be seen as an expert in your field.  Quotes• “I decided I need to give free tips, free financial tips to show my level of expertise and to help people and to get people to engage. I decided at first I was just going to write a financial word of the day, where I was going to have a little topic and write a couple of sentences and put it out there. And then I was like this is kind of good, but I think video. So many people like video, I’ve got to do that too. So I decided okay, let’s set a goal. I want to do about five words of the day and five videos a week and put them out on LinkedIn. That’s ten pieces of content a week for a whole year. In total, I ended up with 250 of both.” (6:55-7:35)• “It’s helped me with getting people to recognize me as a financial educator versus a financial management person. Which is different. Just like in school, some people are good students but they can’t necessarily teach others in terms of tutors and other people can tutor. I’m fortunate in that I’m able to teach what I know…to people in a way that they can understand…It doesn’t feel like work to me. It’s a lot of effort…I’m passionate about it and I like it…I love when you’re explaining something to someone which previously they were like deer in the headlights by their own admission and all of a sudden the lightbulb goes on.” (21:59-24:03)Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities. Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field. Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio MasterclassREAD: My Personal Branding Books LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“Build relationships through those comments and through direct messages because the more you support others, the more those people will want to support you,” encourages John Espirian, copywriter and author of Content DNA. In today’s episode, John shares his experience with creating a memorable brand for himself on LinkedIn and tips for how you can best grow your brand and your business on the platform.John prides himself on creating “relentlessly helpful content.” This catchphrase launched a positive change for John’s personal brand because it is intriguing, meaningful, and memorable. By weaving this phrase into all of his content, he has been able to reinforce and grow his message. John’s tips for being successful on LinkedIn include crafting a compelling headline, being consistent with your brand’s image and voice, and writing thoughtful comments on posts from those in your industry. John explains that he actually gets most of his business from interacting in the comments of other people’s posts. Tune into this week’s episode on the importance of building a community on LinkedIn and how it can benefit your brand and business.  Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities. Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field. Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio MasterclassREAD: My Personal Branding Books LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“I really encourage people to think about what they want to be seen as an expert in and choose a topic that they can speak about for the next five years, consistently,” says Nikki Nash, best-selling author and host of Market Your Genius podcast. In today’s episode of The Business of You, Nikki shares her tips for creating engaging content that will help your business and personal brand grow. Nikki explains that her biggest mistake when she first began creating content was not including a call to action. She was not providing a clear way for people to engage with her content, and as a result, was unsure of whether her videos were resonating with anyone. As soon as she added a prompt, viewers began to comment on her videos. Nikki shares that her biggest tips for creating successful content are to just get started, to pick a topic that interests you, and to be consistent with your posting schedule. Tune into this week’s episode on deciding what type of content to create, how to make that content stand out to your audience, and how to grow your brand and business through content creation.Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities. Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field. Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio MasterclassREAD: My Personal Branding Books LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

How do you write a book and self-publish on your own? Publishing a book is a way to one of the best ways to build your brand authority in your niche.In the second episode on books for personal brands, I interview Joanne Martin, a Sydney-Australia-based book publisher who helps personal brands, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs self-publish their first book in 90 days.Joanne has helped numerous books land on best-seller lists and tells me it's not as hard as you think to get out there. Using your existing content is key to getting out there fast.Joanne Martin highlights some great tips on writing a book, formatting, authenticity, book titles, and promotional strategies for self-publish books. We also discuss how to monetize your book after it's launched, an important reason a book can lead to lucrative opportunities and visibility.Timestamps[01:38] Joanne Martin's self-publishing work[02:27] Where to start in writing a book[03:54] What a self-publisher does and what to look for[05:35] Importance of formatting[06:07] What people overlook while doing self-publishing.[08:31] Recommendations on Book Title[11:10] Promotional and marketing for self-publish books[13:34] How having an audience and community following will help you get that book out there[15:40] Monetizing a book after it is launched[17:40] Three key takeaways one should look at when doing self-publishing[18:54] Professional/personal mantraNotable Quotes Get a good editor and make sure you have a good design. Do not do that yourself. (05:29-05:33) It is ensuring that you are on task and really speaking to your audience in that area that you are writing in (06:48-06:55) You really need someone else who will be more critical to have a look at it before you publish, and that’s where the editing helps. (08:01-08:08) Be strategic, you don’t want to be spammy, but you are  promoting it in different channels spaces to a different audience (12:24-12:33) People underestimate the power of social media and where that can take you. (14:05-14:08) Trying to copy what someone else has done does not always work.(18:08-18:11) Today is the first day of the rest of your life so just start and make it happen. (18:39-18:42) NOTE: Check out the sister episode on how to write your book in 90 days with book writing coach Diego Pineda. Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities. Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field. Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio MasterclassREAD: My Personal Branding Books LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

“Find whatever it is about you that is unique and special and try to find a way to highlight that,” says LinkedIn Unicorn Ariel Lee. Ariel discovered that the secret to thriving on the platform was to leave her business persona behind and show up as one hundred percent herself. When Ariel first started on LinkedIn, she thought she had to show up as a formal, all business all the time, person, but she quickly realized that didn’t encourage others to engage with her. When she began to showcase her true self, followers, and engagement poured in. Ariel explains that all businesses are relationship based. By interacting with connections and secondary connections, she has been able to develop personal relationships with businesses. Her main tips for being successful on LinkedIn are to comment frequently on others’ posts and to be true to yourself. Tune into this week’s episode on how to build your personal brand and enhance your business using LinkedIn. Learn tips for how to grow your network and create more engaging content.  Quotes• “On LinkedIn, the key is finding content from second-degree connections. As far as how you expand your network, find content that you find engaging from your second-degree connections, leave a meaningful comment, and then send them a connection request.” (02:26-02:41)• “Different is better than better. So, you have to find whatever it is about you that is unique and special and try to find a way to highlight that.” (07:09-07:20)• “Do whatever you feel comfortable with and whatever you can enjoy.” (08:18-08:22)• “I so firmly believe that all business is relationship-based. I don’t care if you’re a product business or a service business….If I need to make a purchase on anything when I have a choice… I’m going to go to LinkedIn and I’m going to search and see who I know in my network and at that point once there is a personal connection, I’m not shopping for the best price. It just is life-changing when you can develop a personal relationship with people and I feel like it’s more important to do that.” (08:49-09:35)• “Show up as exactly who you are.” (23:14-23:16)  Until next week,Michelle B Griffin, The Brand Therapist℠Personal Branding, Positioning & PR Strategist and CoachOwn Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities. Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field. Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio MasterclassREAD: My Personal Branding Books LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn