How NOT to Build a Brand (STOP Being Fake) w/ @Jodie_Cook | The Futur Podcast Ep. 351

Key Concepts

Personal Brand, King/Queen Maker, Ability to Print Money, Brand Value, Brand Assets, Law of Least Effort, Performance Marketing vs. Branding, Stacking, Identity, Mistaken Identity, Stereotypes, AI, Time Availability, Grieving Process, Authenticity.

Defining Personal Brand

• Marty Neumeier's Definition: A person's gut feeling about a product, service, or organization. Everyone has a brand because people have impressions of them.
• Modern Era (Social Platforms): Increasing reach and engagement of that potential gut feeling. Followers are not a great metric for influence. Faceless content can have millions of followers, but no one knows who you are.
• King/Queen Maker: A strong personal brand makes other people more influential by virtue of proximity.
• Ability to Print Money: Creating additional revenue streams due to followers and their willingness to support you. Example: An Instagram influencer with millions of followers couldn't sell 24 t-shirts.
• Brand Value: The amount of money someone will pay above and beyond its commodity price. Putting a name on a bottle of water can increase or decrease its value.
• Brand Assets: Assets that, when transferred or collaborated with another brand, create greater value. Example: Supreme and Louis Vuitton collaboration.
• Rory Sutherland: "We don't value things, we value their meaning. What they are is determined by the laws of physics, but what they mean is determined by the laws of psychology." Example: 99% germ-free vs. contains 1% germ.

Jody's Personal Brand Exploration

• Current Status: 50,000 followers across platforms, Coach Box built through personal brand.
• Goal: Get intentional about personal brand, expand good stuff, and stop doing things that don't have a benefit.
• Law of Least Effort: Find what feels effortless and double down on that.
• Performance Marketing vs. Branding: Performance marketing has a clear ROI, while branding doesn't. Personal branding is about "who are you in this world, who are you meant to be?"
• Picasso Quote: "The meaning of life is to discover your gift, and the purpose of life is to give it away."

Breaking Out of the Box

• The Box: Follow the education conveyor belt, get a good job, retire, etc.
• Entrepreneurial Box: Make YouTube videos a certain way, follow the blueprint, hire a consultant.
• Who Puts You in the Box? Schooling system, country, Disney movies.
• Parents: Can both put you in and take you out of the box.
• Jody's Family Mantra: "Why not?" or "Sure, go for it."

Discovering Your Unique Stack

• Jody's Stack: Writing, being on camera, people, systems, creativity, AI.
• Chris's Advice: Make a long list of everything you love, things you're good at, and things you're experiencing. See how many of those things you can stack together.
• Stacking: Taking different supplements in a certain way that really optimizes your nutrition and your health and your physical fitness.
• Example: Graphic design, business, introversion, music videos, comic books, skateboarding, mixed martial arts, theater, debate, learning, philosophy, teaching, systems.
• Heroes (TV Show): Skyler's ability to absorb other people's powers.
• Fractured Life: Feeling like you're not bringing all of yourself to what you do.
• Chris's Discovery: Making content on YouTube allowed him to bring as many of his skill sets together as possible.

Integrating Fitness and AI

• Powerlifting: Fulfills only one or two of Jody's 10 bubbles.
• Chris's Idea: Make content that uses AI, have meetups where people train and learn with you, travel from city to city as part of a circuit.
• Jody's Resistance: Initially felt that fitness and business should be separate.
• Mistaken Identity: People often assume Jody works in fitness because she's in shape.
• Jody's Belief: You don't have to work in fitness to look like you work in fitness.
• Chris's Advice: Take a negative and turn it into a positive.
• IT Expense Management Example: Celebrating the underappreciated IT people.
• Acronyms: Play with words and create memorable acronyms.
• Jody's Idea: The more we use AI, the more time we have to be interesting.
• Time Availability: The biggest reason people have for not focusing on their health is that they don't have the time.
• Coach Box Community: Meet up in different cities and talk about how AI is working in the background.

Building Your Identity

• Nicknames: Come up with your own nickname that becomes your identity.
• Loud Introvert: Example of taking a negative and turning it into a positive.
• Beautiful Be You Till Fool: Be the most you that you can be.

The Grieving Process

• Five Stages of Grieving: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.
• Coaching Arc: Similar process to grieving.
• Death of the Old Identity: Gives life to the new identity.

Conclusion

The key to building a strong personal brand is to discover your unique stack of interests, skills, and passions, and find ways to integrate them into your work and life. Embrace your authentic self, even if it means challenging stereotypes and breaking out of the box. Be open to new ideas and opportunities, and don't be afraid to experiment and iterate. The more you bring your whole self to what you do, the more fulfilled and successful you will be.