When I got the mortgage on my home, the underwriter asked me why my business wasn’t in the Yellow Pages. I had to explain that no one is using the Yellow Pages to find a business. They go online and use Google or social media. I literally had to write a letter of explanation as to why we didn’t show up in the Yellow Pages. You can’t build a brand in the Yellow Pages when they are now synonymous with outdated technology.
In the last five years, I’ve built a brand online that has earned the trust and influence of millions of people. Between the visitors to my blog, people who see my ads, people who are connected to my pages on social media and people in the seats at the conferences where I speak, millions of people see my brand.
When I show up pretty much anywhere these days, people know who I am. Just the other day I was in California and the FedEx driver walking by stopped and said: “Hey, aren’t you the Hardcore Closer guy?” I once got in an Uber in Vegas and the driver said: “Dude, I saw it was you and raced over here to pick you up.” The FedEx driver had read one of my books; the Uber guy uses our Closer Cards. These are products I created to strengthen my brand.
When we launched PhoneSites, we did so strictly from the influence of a brand I created. We’ve had over 8,000 people use a product because the Hardcore Closer guy said it’s awesome. That’s the power of a brand. We’ve also sold over 100,000 books, 5,000 closer cards, 10,000 t-shirts and thousands of info products from building a trusted brand.
How did I do all of this? I’m glad you asked and I’ll gladly break it down for you.
First, you gotta recognize talent. Not only in others but you need to recognize your own talent as well. I have two talents. I can spot a winner and I can simplify complicated things. Anything else I do stems from those two talents. Once I knew my talents, I had to find someone or something complementary to sell. But first I needed to align with other talented people.
When the show Million Dollar Listing hit TV, and the first episode came out, my company reached out to Madison Hildebrand and got him to one of our mixers. From there, we invited Josh Flagg and Fredrik Eklund. These guys were just getting started on TV, so we were able to get them for about $2,000 each. After we met, I pitched them on doing a program together. We did those programs and made some good money in the process.
Doing this aligned my brand and me with luxury realtors on TV. Next, realtors from all over came to me to see how we did business. This, in turn, attracted loan officers, who were my target audience all along. Then I leveraged my relationships with all the agents, to get clients from the LOs I worked with. I made a shit load of LOs a lot of money and my brand became synonymous with top producers making 9 and 10-figure sales per year.
As more of my clients became successful and got attention online, more followers came my way who automatically trusted me because someone they trusted had recommended me to them. I always create killer content and keep my followers wanting to read what I post and watch the videos I make. I never post or record just for the fuck of it.
I only do things that further my brand.
I also only recommend products and services that I actually use. People trust me when I offer advice on what to use because I only talk about the things I use. I don’t promote shit just to get paid; I promote shit I love and that I want others to use as well.
In the last 10 years, I’ve written thousands of blogs recorded thousands of videos, made thousands of posts online and tons of memes. I’ve given out so much content it’s unreal. Not to mention the 1000+ podcasts I’ve done. Putting myself out there this way helped people find and trust my brands. When I make an offer on a product across any platform, people now trust my judgment enough to buy what I suggest. And they should, I’m always right, lol.
If you want to follow in my footsteps and build a monetizing brand, follow these simple steps:
Give content; serve your audience; align with influencers, and only promote products you use yourself. Repeat this process over and over, and over time it will create a strong brand with a big following, no matter what you sell.
While you’re at it, add another tool to your toolbox and head over to PhoneSites.com to get started pulling in qualified lead-gens from the ease of your phone. All you need is a few minutes to set up your system and then the prospects will find you.
