3 Reasons You’ve Got to Give to Get in The Personal Brand Economy

Give to get.

This concept is such a blinding glimpse of the obvious, it’s no wonder so many of us miss it.

As I mentioned last week, your personal brand has less to do with you and more to do with what you bring to your audience.

Personal Branding is built on three core pillars: value, consistency and generosity. What I love so much about the final pillar is that it’s the most effective route to exponentially build your audience.

People don’t want to be sold to. They want to be inspired, educated and entertained.

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”

— Albert Einstein

Here’s the sauce:

Give your great stuff away for free. Think about your blogs, your podcasts, your videos on YouTube, your emails and your social posts.

It’s all free content. So make them great, make them shine, make them matter and make them highly valuable. This creates loyalty and affinity with your audience and makes them compelled to invest more of their time and energy with you.

But when it comes to your best stuff — these are your books, your courses, your time, your speaking engagements, your consulting, your summits, retreats, memberships, etc. — make them incredible and of the most value, compelling your audience to not only invest their time and energy with you, but also their dollars.

Why?

Because this is what the Personal Branding Economy is built on.

Giving your “great stuff” away for free with quality, enthusiasm and generosity, so that when you offer your “best stuff” at a premium, it’s a no brainer to invest.

This is what Gary Vaynerchuk calls the “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.” The ‘Jabs’ are your gives, and the ‘Right Hook’ is not your sell, but rather your ask.

So, how do you decide between your gives and your ask?

Do your homework.

Take the time to see your vision to the end. Are there books in your future? Live summits? Memberships? Seminars? What can you monetize and offer to your audience that provides value they absolutely must have? You must have a clear plan about where you’re going before you get there. Yes, sometimes, you just show up to a moment or project and say, “Yes. I have arrived,” but usually, the most successful entrepreneurs have taken the time to understand themselves, their brand and most importantly, their offerings. Make a solid, actionable plan.

Build your great stuff before your best stuff.

You can’t expect your audience to jump right into paying for something without having learned something from you first. If they keep coming back to you again and again because they are learning valuable information and gaining expertise, then when it comes time to invest in you, they will be willing and able. Lead with generosity first instead of making money. You can’t sell to an empty audience. If you build it, they will come.

Find your formula.

Though your time is a commodity and your information is of value, stay hungry. Look at what top industry experts are doing well and try and emulate their formulas. Not because you are comparing yourself to anyone else, but, let’s be honest: No one is reinventing the wheel when it comes to success. There is a formula to success, and it’s vital to look at who’s doing it right and who’s not. Find your top five industry experts and see how they started, what their process was like, where they screwed up, where they thrived. Dig deep into the nuances of their great stuff vs. the their best. Get value from their offerings and then offer that value to your budding audience.

In a nutshell:

“No one ever became poor by giving.” — Anne Frank

Success is waiting.

Are YOU ready? Head to SimplyBeAgency to get my free eBook “7 Steps to Start Building Your Personal Brand.”

Do you have any tips? I would love to learn from you/hear about your experiences; please share them in the comments below.