Do you desire to grow your influence and gain market share for your business? Personal and business branding are the methods of attracting your ideal client! In this episode Jimmy interviews Lindsey Wilkins, podcaster, branding expert and entrepreneur to understand her methods for creating, utilizing and growing her business through branding and marketing.
You will gain insight into:
- The important distinction between marketing and sales!
- Why your personal brand is critical for growth as a person.
- What to do if your personal brand is less than stellar in the marketplace you wish to seek your ideal clients/customers.
- When you should be working on your personal and professional brand!
- How to create and utilize your brand to gain recognition and respect in your intended markets.
Podcast Transcription
JW:
I gotta tell you today, I am so excited for all of our listeners across the globe because you’re going to meet a dynamic young professional that I happen to have as a guest today. And this person has so impressed me with all that I have heard and seen that I said to myself, she has got to be a guest on this show because our listeners want to hear and learn from those people that are so talented in life that they add great value. Hey, good morning, Jimmy Williams here with Live a Life By Design. My partner in crime, Lori Few, is taking the day off. And I’m not sure how that happens other than she told me she’s taking the day off. So, you know, when you’re a celebrity, folks, this is how this works. But one of the things we’ve been doing on the podcast is changing our format a little bit. So we bring you not just qualitative issues of life. And we’ve done that now for 204 episodes. Today is gonna be another episode that’s gonna give you not just some qualitative measures of things to think about in life, but some actual implemented action statements that are gonna help you grow your business, help you launch your business, and help you stay on track to meet your goals in life, whatever they may be. The only thing we want you to take away from this today is this. We want you to go out and live life in a bigger, better, and bolder way than you did the day before. And the biggest thing about life is this. It’s just like a bank. The more you put in it, the more you can take out. So I want you to listen keenly today as I introduced to you our guest. This is Lindsey Wilkins and she has a wonderful podcast out called All Things Branding. Did I get that right, Lindsey? It’s the Lindsey Wilkins Show, but yes, it is also All Things Branding. So, see, Jimmy’s already messed up. First thing, this is why Lori has to be here, folks, is that’s how this works. But hey, Lindsey, glad to have you on the show. So I got a couple of questions right off the bat. Branding, what does that really mean to us as individuals?
LW:
Yeah, you know, I think it’s important to talk about what people think of as branding, what it is verse what it isn’t. A lot of people are under the misconception that branding is the visuals, it’s the logo, it’s the, the fonts, the colors. And while that is a very important part of branding, there’s definitely a role that that plays. It really is the perception that people have of you if you’re a personal brand or your business. So it’s not what you say it is, it’s what other people say it is.
JW:
That is a great statement. So it’s not what we want it to be, it’s what others perceive it to be that really makes branding effective. Yes. So, so let me ask you a quick question. Now, you’re a talented young person and I say young person folks, she’s gotta only be like 18. She looks very young, but she’s older than that, I assure you, right? Am I right?
LW:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. A little.
JW:
Bit. Okay. just a little bit. But she still looks 18. That’s the main thing. Now, Lindsey, let me ask you a question. If I were to tell you I’d done some research on your background, cuz we don’t just let anybody on this show, you know, we’re worldwide, we’re in 57 countries, we were like the CIA world. We, we check everybody out. I did some research back in your high school days that you discovered a talent. Are you with me? High school days. She discovered a certain talent she had and really mastered the talent by the time she graduated high school. Now, this talent, and this may be something she could exhibit for us today, here, folks live here on Live a Life By Design. But I understand that you are a rapper. You wanna bust us a beat out or do we want to keep it low key? I mean, you tell me.
LW:
Oh man. Oh man. There are some rap skills that I, that I do obtain. That is correct.
JW:
You’re laughing. Have styling to find that out, right? Yeah.
LW:
Free styling is not my, my forte, but yes. Oh my gosh, that is something that I used to do a lot and I’ve thought about bringing it back as this. I wonder if this is the time and place, maybe not. Oh, no.
JW:
Hey, I think this could be the time and place folks. Maybe a follow up episode of this with her doing nothing but branding us with rap tunes . But maybe next time, ok?
LW:
Next time.
JW:
You never know what I’m gonna bring up on this show, Lindsey. This is just how it works.
LW:
I love it. We gotta give people context on that though, because I loved to rap about positivity. Of course, you know, the, those high school days, that was, you know, fun. But I did a rap actually for a driver’s ed course. I don’t know if you know this, but I rapped-
JW:
A driver’s ed course. Okay?
LW:
I educated people in driver’s ed and put it into a rap. So there you go.
JW:
I I do have to ask you, you don’t have to rap it, but gimme some lyrics here. I just imagining driver’s ed, so go right ahead. You remember some lyrics?
LW:
Oh man, off the top of my head it’s – you can find it on YouTube if you search “texting and driving rap”.
JW:
Texting and driving rap. Okay.
LW:
The lyrics are not gonna come to me right off the top of my head, but oh gosh, I maybe I shouldn’t advertise that it’s on YouTube. There’s a whole video and everything.
JW:
Folks, I’m bringing it to you here. This is a star we have on this episode today, folks. She’s got her own YouTube channel, it sounds like with music and video and she’s got her own website too. So let’s talk a little bit about that. You’ll find it in the show notes, folks, I’d like for you to look for that too. And the, the actual website is going to be lindseybrookemedia.com . It’ll be in your show notes. And then she can be found at lindsey@lindseybrookegreen.com. So, hey, let’s ask a few questions to get to know our guests. And I wanna dig into this branding a little bit deeper as we go. So tell me a little bit about a background of your life as a child. What, what was it like? Where’d you grow up? Big city? Small town?
LW:
Yeah. so I grew up in Lawton, Oklahoma. I think it felt bigger than it actually is now that I’ve lived several places. But yeah, I grew up in Lawton, Oklahoma. I feel like I had a pretty normal childhood. I grew up with two older brothers and yeah, I was very active. I played a lot of sports. I wouldn’t consider myself like the cool kid. I was always kind of more on the shy side, but always, you know, I was told when I was younger that I was wise beyond my years. And a lot of the friends that I had, I felt like I kind of ran with like an older crowd. And by that I mean my neighbors down the street. Neil and Mel Spring born, they were an older couple. I would go down to their house all the time and just have conversations with them. I just loved, I loved more like mature people. I loved having deeper conversations, even as a kid. It’s so funny to look back and see that who I am today really did start when I was so young. But, yeah.
JW:
I got a question though, Lindsey, about that. Talking to older people, are you inferring that your host today qualifies for that type of a discussion? Is that what you’re inferring?
LW:
No!
JW:
Hey, the world knows. I’ve told my age. I’m 58 years young, but that’s my mental and positive attitude at work.
LW:
Oh, I would never guess you were 58.
JW:
There’s points right there, folks. She’s gonna get a really big, maybe a just gigantic mention here in this podcast. So tell me a little bit about this. How, how did you determine you wanted to get involved in the world of branding?
LW:
Yeah, that’s a good question. I never thought I would be interested in branding, to be honest. And my twenties, I got into fitness. Fitness was my biggest passion. Actually pursued personal training and built so much self-confidence in the world of fitness. So I just really wanted to bring that to other people. And my goal, I thought, was to build my own personal brand in the fitness world. Of course, that was a very saturated market and hard to do. And then, you know, Covid happened and I was a personal trainer for three years, but that third year was Covid. And I decided I just wanted to make a change. One of my passions has always been just being creative and I was able to do that through creating social media content. And my first client was actually the gym that I was a personal trainer at. And so I started to work with a lot of clients in that world. So it was cool that I could still kind of be in that fitness world. You know, my business evolved and now I, I work with, with a lot of sports performance, physical therapy clinics. And over the last couple of years, I always felt like there was this missing piece. Like I wanted to do better work for my clients and I couldn’t quite figure out how, because anyone can post social media content. And I just knew that there was more. So the word brand started to come into my radar and I brand awareness, brand strategy. And I’m like, oh, you know, social media is great, but if we don’t know who we are as a brand, it’s gonna be really hard to connect with our audience. So then I just took my business up a notch with learning more about branding and yeah. So that’s kind of how I ended up here. I still feel like I’m new, so it’s hard to label myself as an expert, but just working with these businesses over the last couple of years, I, I realize the importance of that piece. And so it’s exciting that I can help my clients in a better way.
JW:
That is, is great story. Lindsey, tell me a little bit about how the podcast came about as use of maybe getting your story out to the world. How, how did that come about for you?
LW:
Yeah, so the podcast was my there’s a word I’m looking for. It was my strategy for starting to build my own brand because I, I think this light bulb moment happened where I’m like branding, like, that’s it. And so I wanted people to then associate me with helping them with their brand. And not just that I, I I wanted to help more people because I felt like so many people again, don’t really know what branding is. And so if I can help other people in their business have an understanding of branding by creating this podcast and, you know, sharing all this information, maybe I can help them grow in their business. But it, it’s also a way for me to take what I’m learning and solidify it in my mind by educating other people. They say that’s the best way to learn. You know, you, you learn something and then you teach other people. So that’s also kind of my strategy with the, with the podcast.
JW:
You know, great. It’s a great story as well. I, I will tell you this podcast that we came up with on Live a Life By Design was only born from hearing a lot of our clients go, I wish someone had, or I wish I had. And I said, you know what, we don’t live a life of regret here on live Life by design. We live a life of purpose. And so we sat down and I’m one of these creative brains and I just sit down and I start storyboarding stuff. Now I know you’re gonna laugh, but that’s an old school method of how we do stuff. And I just took a whiteboard and I just start story. I made three panels and I said, how’s this gonna look? How’s it going to sound to the world? And is it translatable to all the different countries of the world? Cuz we only speak English, but we’re in 57 countries. And this actually has been a time where people send us emails. They’re just so heart touching, like, you know, I’m gonna get my life together now because you’ve made it sound so easy to do X, Y, and Z. So your branding is the same way through your podcast. And I think you just give it some time. You’re gonna see lives getting touched and they’re gonna be changing and they’re gonna be calling you going, Hey, I need some help with this or that. So, so let me ask you a quick question about this. Who would you say was maybe a big mentor for you to get into branding or maybe the physical fitness side?
LW:
Yeah, you know, there’s one person that comes to my mind when you say mentor, and it’s, it’s one of my clients actually who became a client of mine early on in my business journey. And it’s funny because when I started taking on clients for social media, I was saying yes to everyone because you know, you’re a new business and you –
JW:
Gotta start somewhere!
LW:
Yeah, yeah. You gotta start somewhere. You gotta figure out who you like working with and who you don’t. And I got connected with him through one of my PT clinic clients. And he’s a consultant actually. So he’s a business consultant for healthcare and physical therapy clinics. And when I first talked to him on the phone very intimidating. I was like, I don’t know about this guy, but I need, you know, I want the clients. So I agreed to work with him, which is so funny because now I just feel so grateful that he’s kind of come into my life and been this mentor. I’ve taken in so much of his content, which at first I’m like, none of this PT clinic stuff really makes sense to me on the business side. But over time I was like, oh, this isn’t just related to physical therapy clinics. This is like about business and his whole thing is changing healthcare and putting relationships over transactions. And now I can think about how to do that better in my own business. So he’s just, and it, the other funny thing about Jerry, which I don’t think I said his name, it’s Jerry Durham which you can find him. He’s, he’s all, he’s all over the place on social media. He’s covered in tattoos. He cusses like a sailor . He, well, you know, loves to drink. He loves baseball. He and I could not be more opposite, but he’s such a good, he’s such a good person. He’s so intelligent and he’s super helpful. And he’s just become a, a big mentor and my, and my business journey.
JW:
I love the way you described him. Oh yeah. So, so my, my thought there is, and I’m not gonna dig too deep in this hole that we just opened. but I will say this, I never judge a book by the cover. And let me explain why. I was coming back from California driving a U-haul that I elected to do. It could have paid somebody to do this. But I like to see the country and I fly over it all the time. I speak across the country before covid anyway, and I’d fly everywhere. And I never got to see all these beautiful states like New Mexico’s painted desert or Arizona. And, you know, I, I fly to the Phoenix and I get out and do my business and I fly back. So I drove from a city of northern California called Redding, California where our daughter lived and had movers pack the truck and everything. And I said, I just wanna drive it and see the place took me three days to drive from there to, to back to Oklahoma. But on my way I stopped for gas in this small little old bitty hole in the Wall City. And I don’t, I’m not even gonna say the town cause I can’t remember it, but they had a nice gas station it looked like from the interstate . And I pull up and all of a sudden this biker gang, and I’m talking leathers you know, bandanas, no helmets, Harleys loud and all this stuff. I’m just filling up the gas. Here’s a guy wearing, don’t laugh. I wear Lululemon commission pants. You know, I’m just, I’m just, you know, the, the businessman trying to look co cool and casual. And I’m wearing my Nikes and a a pullover shirt and, and I’m filling up this U-Haul truck and these guys, like 40 of ’em just start coming up on motorcycles pretty rough looking and had the arms all you know, inked up and, and . So I need to back this rather large truck up, but they’ve got motorcycles surrounding me, Lindsey. So what do I do? Just being a gentleman, you know, I think the good Lord orders our steps. So I go to one of these rough looking guys and I say, sir, it is a beautiful day to be riding that hardley. I had a 92 electric glide before my kids were born. And you know what? We just made an instant connection. He says, sir, you rodee an electric Glide. Let me tell you what I’ve got here. And he started showing me his bike. And that’s, and we just made a connection. And, and what I tell people is, don’t judge the book because you gotta really see what the person’s really about. And a lot of times it’s not on the exterior, wouldn’t you say?
LW:
Oh, absolutely. Yeah.
JW:
So if I ever meet Mr. Durham, I’m gonna go up to him and say, you won’t believe what Lindsey said about you on our show, . No, I’m just kidding. But if I say that, he won’t know I’m being positive. Right. So right . But, but at the end of the day, my point to all this is those, those mentors mean so much to us and they’ve guided you so far. Do you feel like it’s been a rewarding relationship for both of you?
LW:
Absolutely. It’s funny cuz he’s a client of mine. I do a lot of work for him and I’ve helped him grow his brand awareness and it’s been so cool to see his business grow. But even then I’m like, I feel like he’s given me so much more value than I’ve given him and he probably feels the same way, vice versa. So I think that’s, that’s the mark of a great relationship where you both feel like the other person has given you more value. So yeah, it’s been,
JW:
You know, I I’ve got mentors too. Have you had any mentors in life that you haven’t really met but they’ve impacted you through other means? Whether it be their books, their audios, their DVDs you know, whatever.
LW:
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Tom Bilyeu, big Tony Robbins fan.
JW:
He’s a big one. He’s a big one. Tom’s a big one. He had a health food company a few years ago and sold it for like a billion dollars. He and his two partners, I’ve seen him speak, I’ve met him personally. He had a success for him in Dallas. You mentioned him and I’m telling you, this young man is dynamo.
LW:
I love his content. Yeah, I think that’s what I try to fill my, my mind with as much as possible. Cuz you can’t always surround yourself with those people, so, but you can’t control, you know, the stuff that you put into your head. So I love listening to those.
JW:
So tell me a little bit about your educational background. Did you get a degree in this marketing branding or did you get a degree in more in the physical fitness side and then just transition? What, what’d you do in, in in college?
LW:
Yeah, I love that question. It’s funny, when I first started college, I was undecided for a semester and then I was, I decided business marketing, that’s what I’m gonna do. But two years in, I was like, I don’t like this.
JW:
Most people do, right?
LW:
Right. And I, so I, it’s really funny because that’s what I’m doing now, but no, I, I finished my degree at Oklahoma State University in exercise science. So, you know, I’m just another one of those college graduates who aren’t using their degree, but it did definitely lead me on the path that I am in now. So I’m very grateful for that. But can
JW:
I respect it would’ve probably, can I respectfully dispute you on saying you’re not using your degree, I promise you you’re using more of your degree than, you know, you’re just probably not taking the emphasis of that degree and working mainstream in that area of life. Right.
LW:
No, great point.
JW:
So I tell people, you know, they go, you know, I got a degree in, in English, but you know, I’m over here doing coding on a computer. And I’ll go, well, how many hours did you, they’ll go, well, I got nearly a minor in computer science. Come on, you’re using your degree. So I’ve said that for your parents if they listen to this, I don’t want ’em, think they wasted money.
LW:
No, no.
JW:
So, so you went from Lawton to Stillwater, Oklahoma, which is mm-hmm. One of the nicer towns in our area here in Central United central United States, central Oklahoma. And so you graduated with a degree in business marketing, right?
LW:
No. So it actually ended up being exercise science.
JW:
Exercise science. Okay. I’m sorry. That’s okay. So, and exercise science. So then you went into physical fitness and now tell me how that helped you in branding. How did that get you a mindset to start branding from physical fitness?
LW:
Yeah. you know, it, I struggled so much growing my business as a personal trainer because I didn’t, one, I wasn’t confident in what I was doing and I also didn’t know how I was different. And I always think about how if I could go back I would be more confident in who I was. I’d be willing to show up authentically myself rather than try to be like other people because I would think that’s how I would attract clients. Hopefully that’s, that sentence made sense, but-
JW:
No, it does. So you’re talking about differentiation between your product and the mass market out there. What am I doing under what I call the USP. Have you ever heard of this phrase, the USP? The unique selling proposition? What makes, what makes Lindsey Wilkins different on her branding podcast and all those branding podcasts out there? And that’s not a slide to you, Lindsey, it’s just that there’s thousands of ’em, there’s thousands of ’em in the same genre that we produce Live a Life By Design. We just wanna be a little different in how we deliver, how we create content, how we reach and touch the lives of those listeners. Right. So, so how do you differentiate yourself with your customers? Like how do they, let me rephrase. How do you get your customers to differentiate themselves from their general market?
LW:
Yeah, that’s a really great question. So let me answer this for my clients because I feel like my strong suit is I spend most of my time doing work for them. And so physical therapy on the sports performance side, they’re out of network. So cash pay clinics, it’s important to differentiate yourself and to have a strong brand in order to get people to pay out of pocket for physical therapy. Because you could go somewhere where your insurance covers most of it, right? So how do you get people to come to you? And I love the creative side of branding. So what I try to do is help them understand, and this I guess is how I differentiate my business or myself as a business. It’s the, the, the creative and the quality of the content that you’re putting out. So a physical therapy clinic that says we are the best in our area, we’re high quality providers that will give you a better experience. They need to have that perception. So I’m here to elevate the perception of what you do, not because it’s, we wanna put a facade, but we wanna match the quality of your service to the, the quality of your content. So that’s what I do is I come in and I, all my clients are, are remote and I travel to them and I, I am in their business. I see what they do, how they interact with their clients so that I can understand and speak on their behalf. So I like to say that I’m not like a typical social media management agency where we’re just gonna like post content and call it a day and check boxes. It’s like, I wanna understand you and help bridge that gap between you and your customers.
JW:
So you’re really doing a very personalized branding nature of the person’s creative side of their business to get it to its perception by the audience they wish to attract. Would I, would that be a fair statement?
LW:
Yeah, that was perfectly said.
JW:
If you wanna write that down, you’re welcome to use it as long as you gimme credit with you. Okay. No, I’m just kidding.
LW:
That was a much more condensed version.
JW:
I love it. Let me ask you though, a lot of our audience, and I know I did this early in my career, I’ve been in this business now 34 years, but I, early in my career, I did not delineate very well between what is marketing and what is sales, help our audience understand what’s the difference there. And I will tell you now, they are big indifference. So what are your thoughts?
LW:
Yeah, I, I love analogies. So when you think about dating, right? And marketing and branding here, will I, I will create three sections here. We’ll have the branding, the marketing, and the sales. So branding is building trust with someone, it’s going on dates, it’s, you know, the communication just building that know, like, and trust with somebody. The marketing is saying, Hey, do you wanna go on next date? And then the sale is yes, I agree that right now where we are in our relationship, like we can move forward in that next, I I think I’m explaining this not the right way.
JW:
No, no, I like this. So, so really the branding is I’m attracting that potential mate, or, or date or whatever we wanna call it. And then you’re saying my marketing is reinforcing what that brand is on a continual basis. Cuz see, marketing’s really out there to do what, extend my message when I’m asleep, extend my message when I’m not in that market. You know, this is what marketing is, it’s just them attracted to your brand that you have. Right? And you’re saying that basically then the sales piece of this is I closed the deal, I got the Yes. Right, right. So I won’t tell you that I clearly make bright lines among those three activities, but we sometimes blur the marketing and the sales and we blur the marketing and the branding sometimes because it’s just so hard to keep them delineated. But that is a great analogy. So, so quick question for you then. Can we be successful in marketing and then be a failure in our company?
LW:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you wanna be able to deliver on the promise that you’re putting out there. Oh, that’s such a great question because this is so much more than just everything that’s happening before the sale or this sale yeah. How you deliver your product and service. Are you delivering on that promise that you, you know, once you get married to somebody and they completely change, you’re like, what’s going on? Like this whole time we were building this relationship, you know, and now it’s like you’re a totally different person.
JW:
Now, now wait just a minute. You open the door and as we say, if you were in the legal arena, we’d say, Hey, if you’re on the stand and you open the door, I can ask any question. You just opened the door, we got married. Okay. Yep. And he and he changed entirely. So I got a question, is that an underlying comment toward the two years of marriage? Did he change 180 from what he dated you?
LW:
That’s hilarious. No, I got so lucky.
JW:
Yeah, well I think he did as well. You’re a fine young lady. Oh, I thank you. I do have a personal question, if I may, and you don’t have to answer, but we are gonna send this out across the globe. Here it goes. Yeah, I see a dog bowl and a dog water dish in the background here, in the camera. And I saw walking behind you with the most beautiful, and I think it was a Labradoodle, was it Golden Doodle? Golden Doodle. I’m sorry. Golden Doodle. What is the, the dog’s names what? Tell me how old and all that good stuff because that’s a brand item. I’d put that on my branding if I were you because I love dogs.
LW:
Oh, love dogs. He, so his name’s River, he’s a two-year-old Golden Doodle and you didn’t see her, but I have another dog, she’s 10 years old and she’s a half golden retriever. Half, I’m not sure what but yeah, they are two, my two very best friends. When people ask me if I have kids, I’m like, yeah, river and Abby, they’re, they have four legs, you know? Yes.
JW:
Hey you’re talking to a man here that has a grand dog and a grand kitty cuz our daughters aren’t yet married. I’ve got a 26 year old and a 22 year old. One’s graduating with ou with honors in Mace. So we’re getting a, that one at least outta undergrad. We don’t know where we’re going after that. We’re, we’re contemplating. So let’s talk about some small business owner techniques. I want you to drill down for us with Lindsey and say, how would you, if I had an idea of a business and I’m coming to you and I’m going, I’ve had my business going for a while, but I’m just not getting the traction that I’d like to have for the intended market or the ideal client I wish to attract. What would be the first few steps I need to take with Lindsey Wilkins to get this the, to get this underway?
LW:
Yeah, I mean, first like, what’s the problem that you’re trying to solve? Like what do you wanna be known for is a really good question to ask yourself. Because a lot of times we may not know it’s like, or it may be too all over the place. So I would say narrow down your expertise and that one thing that you wanna be known for. And then you also have to figure out who can benefit from that. It’s not gonna be everybody. And that you have to be okay with that. So figuring out, and you could, I would even like create an avatar around that. Create an ideal customer avatar and direct your message to them. Because a lot of times our message is too broad and because we’re trying to speak to a lot of people cuz we think that that’s gonna be how we attract people into our world and to our business. But the more focused that message is, the more likely we are to attract the right people.
JW:
You know? That’s a great idea. And so one of the things I want to ask you about this, how long, so let’s assume I come and work with, with Lindsey Wilkins. Give me kind of a timeline. How long would you think it would take for a great product? Great management just just needing some marketing, branding and so forth consulting work with Lindsey Wilkins. How long does it take? Are we talking three years to ramp up? What should be the expectations of, of the proprietor or the entrepreneur?
LW:
Well keep your expectations low, I would say. Like, it takes time. That’s what branding is. You have to have patience and it totally depends on the market that you’re in. You know, is it a very, is it a huge market that you’re trying to get into? Is it small? How often are you, how often and and how many different places are you showing up? So I wish I could give you a specific timeline, but I would say expect to spend a few years really developing that brand awareness. And you can, you know, it, it doesn’t have to take years. If you’re a personal brand and you wanna be known for something very specific and you’re showing up on social media frequently, I think it can take, you know, six months. It totally depends. But it’s what you’re gonna put into it that determines what you get out. So the more you put in the, the quicker that that can happen. And again, just knowing who you’re talking to and positioning yourself in the market in a way that’s different from everyone else, I think that is gonna help expedite that.
JW:
You’re much more cogent in your comment than me, but I’m gonna say it like this folks, when I look at marketing and branding, branding to me is a lifetime experience. Ooh, love that. Because that brand does evolve. You do grow in your business. Your ideal client, or in this case, customer may change. I’ve been doing this 34 years and I gotta tell you, I would’ve taken anybody that fogged a mirror when I was starting out because you know what? Cash doesn’t just fall from the sky, right? And so you’re investing in your business, but you gotta have cash flow to make it work, right, Lindsey?
LW:
Yes, absolutely.
JW:
So the second thing about this too is, is I always say this, and you’re marketing, and I’m not saying this is cause Lindsey’s on our show today, but you need to have a marketing designated consultant or someone on your payroll, someone that’s gonna specialize in this for the lifetime of your company. Because again, the world changes. And so what we had in the last three years with the pandemic, you would’ve seen that branding played a big role in helping thus come out of that shutdown period and get back to making the world a better place. So my, my question to you in that regard is what are some approaches that we can start with? Like what avenues or what areas would you start branding a small business? I’m talking about someone just trying to get started.
LW:
Ok.
JW:
What would you recommend?
LW:
Yeah, I mean I always go to social media because if you look around when you’re at the grocery store online anywhere, we’re all, I mean, un sadly, we’re all on our phones all the time. So I think being where the attention is finding one platform that your ideal audience spends most of their time on and showing up, giving yourself a a schedule, a way to show up consistently and serve those people. The more you give, the more more people are gonna trust you. Feel like they know you and you know, no, like, and trust, I love those words. Big, big and branding. But yeah, I would just say don’t be afraid to show up on social media as much as you can.
JW:
You know, trust is a big five letter word. And let me explain something from that. That’s all we have in our business. We’re wealth managers, people trust us or they don’t. If you don’t have trust from the start, you’re not gonna be able to help the family get where they need to be. Right? So it takes that two-way relationship. Same thing, wouldn’t you say with your marketing, people need to trust the process you’re bringing them. Cuz I hope it’s bringing them to a different and maybe uncomfortable area because if they had marketing before, they wouldn’t need Lindsey. Right? If they knew what to do. So question for you though is, is how do I help someone that maybe had a brand and that brand may not be as luster as it was, for example, some things can happen and I said like this trust in branding it takes a lifetime to build and takes minutes to lose. Yes. So let’s assume that someone’s had a life event that’s caused some problems and they need to rebrand. What would you give as guidance for those kinds of people?
LW:
Yeah, I mean, honesty and authenticity I think is always number one. You know, share with people the journey that you’re on. I went through this myself in my small community, community, I was known in the fitness world or I wasn’t known in the fitness world. I was known for being, you know, in the fitness world. And I, I quickly shifted to something completely different and I just said, Hey, this is, you know, this is now the journey that I’m on and we’re all human and we just need to know that people I think will accept that. And just being open and honest with people about the journey. I think Gary v talks about this a lot. Share people with, you know, share the journey that you’re on. And so I think it’s okay to completely shift.
JW:
Yeah, you know, Gary v does a great job. I I don’t listen to a lot of his podcasts. I do more reading about him than anything. But I will tell you he has some great ideas that come across for marketing and branding your businesses that are really valuable. People need to check him out. But let me ask you this, how about if we’re talking 10 years from today and Lindsey’s said in there, of course she won’t have age. I may be aging, but she won’t have aged cuz she looks fantastic 10 years from now. Now I were to sit down and have this same interview with you. What would you like to have had happen for you know, Lindsey Brook Media to be where, what, what has to happen for you thinking to be successful during that 10 years?
LW:
Oh, I don’t really understand.
JW:
So, so what do you, what do you want to have happen in that 10 year period of time for you to feel like you’ve been successful in your, your role as a consultant? You have a 10 million, you know, gross income number out there. What, what’s that big nugget that I guess pulls you along and keeps you motivated to do what you’re doing?
LW:
Yeah, no, that’s a great question. I’m not really sure how to measure this because I don’t wanna measure it in dollar amounts, but I do wanna have an impact. I wanna know that I have helped, and this kind of goes beyond branding to be honest, but I wanna help people who are thinking about starting a business or who are new at starting a business. I wanna help them have the courage to step into that. And I just wanna know that I have helped people live the life that they wanna live. You know, I never saw myself being an entrepreneur, but when I started this journey, I’m like, wow, this is really awesome. I never thought that I could do this. So I just wanna instill that confidence in other people. And I, I wanna be open and honest with people that I still deal with imposter syndrome. I don’t always feel like I know what I’m doing or I don’t, I could use more confidence, but I’m out here doing it and you just gotta have the courage. And so I just wanna make, I wanna know that I have helped a handful of people do that. Maybe more than a handful in 10 years.
JW:
Let me ask you this imposter syndrome, let me ask you why you look so confident. You act so confident. Your podcast really just wreaks of confidence to me. I just love how you, I love how you sound. Of course it’s audio only, but I didn’t know anything about you. I just saw the, the sky on the, the symbol, right? The logo. But, but I look at that and I go, man, this young lady sounds more confident. Tell me what can we do to help you with this imposter syndrome? Cause I’m sitting here telling you the truth. What do I need to put, yeah, what do I need to put between Lindsey’s ears to say, you’re doing this and the world’s a better place because you’re doing it. What else can I do to help you with that?
LW:
Oh, I appreciate you saying that. That’s so nice. I get, I mean, yeah, the mentor I was telling you about, he, he tells me all the time, like, Lindsey, you know what you’re doing. And I, so I don’t know if there’s anything anyone can, can tell me.
JW:
No, there’s a book I’m gonna send you. I’m gonna ask – off the show – I’m gonna get your address. I’m gonna send you a book that’s gonna transform your life and it’s gonna give you some insight as to yes, I’m on the path and it’s my path and I’m making progress on the path. Some days I make more progress than others, but I do always make progress. And I’m gonna get you that book and it’s on Jimmy’s top reads on our website at Live a Life by.design. So I’m gonna send that book to you and, and basically that book is by one of my mentors Jim Ron, and it’s called Leading and Inspired Life. And I’m gonna tell you it will change it. So it’s me a reference guide, it’s not just a book. I look into this and I read it every year, right along with Think and Grow Rich. But that’s another reason for reading that one.
LW:
Oh, I love Think and Grow Rich!
JW:
Hey, you and I are gonna get on this book thing. We’re gonna bear for two hours, but I’m telling you I love to read. I’m pretty voracious on the reading, so that’s awesome. Last question. If you were to leave a legacy in your field of branding, what would you like younger people than you saying in the next 20, 30 years about what you impacted in the field of branding?
LW:
Ooh, great question. Yeah, it’s, it’s hard not to repeat what I just said about instilling confidence in other people because I think we all have something to, to provide and to the world. Like we all have value that we can bring. And if you can step into that confidence, if you can step into that uniqueness of you, then you can have this successful business whatever that means for you. And so again, I think my legacy is in, I think just cuz I’ve dealt with confidence issues my whole life. So it’s funny that you say that, but yeah, I don’t know , I dunno if that’s like the right answer, but there’s no right, there’s no wrong answer
JW:
There, there’s no wrong answer. I want you to stop that right answer. No right answer. There’s no wrong answer. Right. Hey, this has been a lot of fun. Yeah. Is there any last words that I haven’t addressed with you that you’d like to leave this audience? And I’m gonna repeat the show notes information for you as well by regarding your podcast. I want everybody to go out and listen to her podcast and give a review when you listen to it. She does a phenomenal job. The sound of her voice is just so, so positive and so promising, so everybody go listen to that. But what would you like the listeners of this podcast to know about Lindsey Wilkins that is powerfully motivating or of a positive note that I haven’t addressed with you today?
LW:
It’s hard to talk about like the, the good things about yourself. That sounds so bad. But, you know, I I really want to come across as open and honest as I possibly can because life is a journey and we’re all here trying to figure it out. And I just, you know, I’m here to share my journey of entrepreneurship and I’m trying to do that in the most authentic way. So why is this question so hard to answer ? I don’t know. I don’t know why I can’t answer this question.
JW:
Let me tell you though, you’re answering the question. You’re just not putting it in verbal form as you wish. But what she’s saying folks, is she really just wants to leave a print on the lives of those that she touches, that they understand her honest and her openness to resolving their problems in a manner that they wish has been rewarding for both her and her client. Did I say that right?
LW:
Wow. I’m just, you know, I’m gonna have to write that down and, and save it and then I’ll give you credit.
JW:
, can I get partial credit? Okay. I get partial credit. Absolutely. . Lindsey, this has been a wonderful, wonderful interview for this episode. I want you to know I sincerely appreciate you on behalf of all of our team at Live Life by Design. And I thank you very, very much for your time today.
LW:
Thank you so much. This was really fun. I really appreciate the conversation.
JW:
If you have greater questions to ask and maybe more comprehensive questions to ask, we ask you to reach out to Lindsey Wilkins at lindsey@lindseybrookegreen.com. You’ll see it in the show notes and give a listen to Her All Matters branding podcast. The Lindsey Wilkins Show is a great podcast for those of you that wish to get a better handle on what you’re doing in your marketing, as well as how your branding is developing to attract those clients in your world. And as I always say, and Lori does it even better, if you would go out this week and change the world by just being a bigger, better, and bolder you. Until next week, go out, and live your life by design!
