How To Use Self-Branding To Grow Your Influence With Mark Schaefer, Author Of ‘KNOWN’ [AMP 060]
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- Information about Mark and his books, particularly his newest one, KNOWN.
- Mark’s story about leaving corporate work behind and becoming an entrepreneur.
- Mark’s thoughts on the power of personal branding and the importance of being known.
- How people can build their personal brand even when they are working for someone else.
- Mark’s framework for helping people find their places and their spaces. He talks about four steps you can take.
- How Mark’s book lays out a path for people to follow and begin to see instant results.
- “Either you’re known or you’re not. If you’re known, you will always have an advantage.”
- “In the future, a corporate brand may be less about the accumulation of ad impressions and more about the accumulation of human impressions.”
- “Starting and being consistent and not giving up is more important than being brilliant.”
How To Use Self-Branding To Grow Your Influence With Mark Schaefer
Click To TweetTranscript:
Nathan: In his book Poke the Box, Seth Godin says if you don’t ship, you actually haven’t started anything at all. At some point, your work has to intersect with the market. At some point, you need feedback as to whether or not worked. Otherwise it’s merely a hobby. Have you ever felt that? Is there an idea eating at you that you just haven’t told anyone about yet? Is there a project you know would work but haven’t planned? Would you like to become known in your niche but you just haven’t done anything to make that dream a reality? Today on the Actionable Marketing Podcast, you and I are chatting with the legendary marketing genius Mark Schaefer. You’ve probably heard of Mark because one of his books is sitting on your bookshelf right now. Maybe you’ve seen him speak at nearly any marketing conference that’s actually worth attending. Or you’re a dedicated listener to his Marketing Companion podcast. Today, you are going to learn how to become known. It’s something Mark just wrote an entire book about and it’s something he’s done extremely well. Not only for himself but for tons of other people too. Let’s get started. Let’s not let the fear of failure or imperfection prevent us from becoming known. I’m Nathan from CoSchedule. Let’s check in with Mark. Hey Mark, thanks a lot for being on the podcast today. Mark: I am delighted to be with you, Nathan. Nathan: I am delighted to be here with you. Let’s kick this off, Mark. Tell me a little bit about you, some of the stuff you’ve been up to recently, all that sort of thing. Mark: I’ve been up to a lot. I teach at the university, I’m a blogger of course, I have a podcast. I’m really excited about the new book I have out called KNOWN. I’m really passionate about it. I’ve written six books. The other books, people have said, “I love this book. It really helped my business.” But this book, the feedback has been, “I love this book. It’s changed my life.” I didn’t really expect that. There’s been a real emotional connection with this book. The premise of the book is to really walk people through this pattern I’ve found through almost two years of research to figure out what do people in the world do today to become known. It’s a simplified form. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It’s really had a big impact on people. I’m excited to see that response. Nathan: That’s exactly what an author would want, the emotional connection to the book. Mark: Well, yeah. But I was so close to it. I’m just in the middle of this thing and putting these stories together and weaving this 240-page book. I just didn’t know how strong the emotion would be. The first review on Audible was, “This is the most inspiring book I’ve ever heard,” which I was like, wow. It’s been so rewarding, Nathan. It really has. Nathan: Yeah. You mentioned story and inspiration there. I know you’ve got a really interesting story about leaving the corporate life behind. Could you tell me a little bit about that? Mark: I became an entrepreneur but I have maybe a bit of an unusual story. I was never the kind of person that said, “Oh. I can never work for the man. I can never work in the corporate environment.” I had a great career. I got to go all over the world. I had many great friends. But I got to the point where the company wanted me to move to Europe. It’s a personal situation. I just didn’t really want to move to Europe. We went back and forth for about six months and I said, “You know what? I’m at a point in my life, it’s time to try something else.” I started to teach. I started to consult. I’ve started different side businesses here and there. It’s been great. I loved every minute of it. It’s been so much fun. It’s been a big transition but now it’s hard to even remember those days. I’m so fully immersed in what I’m doing now. Nathan: I think some of your personal brand has landed to a lot of credibility. You’re a master at this sort of topic, you’ve written the book KNOWN about it. Let’s just start there. What’s the power of personal branding? Mark: I think it’s sneaking up on people would be a good way to say it for a couple of reasons, Nathan. The first is one of the things that propelled me to write the book was that people were asking me questions like how do I write a book someday? How do I become a speaker someday? How do I have more opportunities in my field? I’d like to be invited to teach at a university someday, how does that happen? I kept giving the same answer to everyone. I said, “Well to do this in this day and age, you have to be known.” Then I struggled with this concept, how do you become known. What is that process? Is there a process? Is there some formula that anybody could follow? Could anybody become known? I just became obsessed with it. The first answer to your question is that I think one of the reasons it’s important is because let’s face it, this is the only possible, permanent, sustainable competitive advantage you have as a person today. Either you’re known or you’re not. If you’re known, you will always have an advantage. That’s why I’m on your podcast today.
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