Beyond Influential

This week's episode was an impromptu one on on a highly requested topic: answering your questions around photography, as it relates to working with photographers for content. (ie. how to find a photographer, questions about collab, posing, etc.).    Whether you think you do or not, you have a personal brand and you'll eventually need photos for something - whether it's for your LinkedIn profile, your website, marketing collateral.. it's the world we're living in. And for most people, getting photos taken is really not their favorite thing and can be a huge source of anxiety.    When I knew I would be shooting photos with Linda "Lin" Marty, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get some of those photography related questions answered.   Lin is former advertising executive turned professional photographer who specializes in shooting portrait and products for industry influencers & brands. I love working with her and she works with influencers like The LA Girl (Ep.13) & The Mother Overload and has worked with brand like Dove, Johnny Walker Red Label, & Fabuloso.   Lin also has a really impressive digital advertising portfolio working on auto, hospitality, entertainment, & CPG brands that we'll get into in another episode. Her background in ad strategy is one of the things that I think makes her so great to work with as a photographer because you need someone who can understand you and your brand  so you get the results you're looking for.   If you have any other questions, feel free to leave reply to an email from my email list at brittanykrystle.com or the @brittanykrystle on Instagram or LinkedIn.   In this episode we cover:

• How to find a photographer
• Proper etiquette for collabs
• Posing (especially if you're not a 'model')
• What to expect when working with a professional photographer & more!

***Freebie: brittanykrystle.com/linkedin

To connect with Lin:

Instagram

LinkedIn 

Website

To connect with me:

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn 

Website

Facebook

Sign up here if you want to receive the latest news on growing you industry influence!

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I get a good amount of questions related to personal branding, entrepreneurship, content and growth strategies that I thought it was time for a solo episode! I love doing these Q&A's so please feel free to send me your questions. 

Timestamps:

1:37: Question 1: Hey Brittany, I'd like to get your opinion on this - I have a consulting business where I consult for businesses and personal brands based on content marketing and I'm debating whether or not it's a smart move to hire as a first employee a full-time content creator for myself to spread the word on what I do. My thinking is that if I can show people by example (à la Garyvee) people would be sold way faster. Would love your input on this.

5:38: Question 2: Is it unethical to use Instagram growth tools & automated software?

9:51: Question 3: Does follow/ unfollow work?

13:18: Question 4: Do you care who unfollows you?

15:57: Question 5: What's your stance on free content vs. paywalling?

18:36: Question 6: For those who are in the employee space and not leaving soon, do you have any personal branding tips?

21:34: Question 7: Why do most podcasters push their audience to iTunes?

22:48: Question 8: I know you help Gary with the #AskGaryVee book launch - I'd love to know what you did and best practices you uncovered.

***Freebie: brittanykrystle.com/linkedin

To connect with me:

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn 

Website

Facebook

Sign up here if you want to receive the latest news on growing you industry influence!

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Welcome to Part 2 of my interview with blogger Jess Keys (Click here for Part 1). Jess is founder & editor of The Golden Girl, a lifestyle blog for millennial women to leave them feeling inspired rather than inadequate. Jess has accomplished the VERY difficult feat of making blogging a full time job.    In Part One, we covered everything from how Jess got into blogging, to how she narrowed her niche and her audience, her content & distribution process, and how she uses SEO, Pinterest & Instagram to drive traffic.    On Part Two, we hit topics like monetization, collaborations, affiliate marketing and more. It is incredibly hard to make a full time living from a blog and Jess really goes into detail on how she did it.    Jess also has a "side hustle" with her blogger friend, Blair of The Fox and She, called Blogging4Keeps.com–where they post helpful content and online courses to help bloggers turn their hobbies into hustles.   As a bonus, Blogging4Keeps and I are working on a blogging branding worksheet for you. I'll be adding the link to the shownotes when it's ready and I'll share the url in next week's episode   --------   Freebie Pinterest Checklist: brittanykrystle.com/pinterest   To connect with Jess:   Website   Instagram

To connect with Brittany

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn 

Website

Facebook

Sign up here if you want to receive the latest news on growing you industry influence!

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Jess is the founder and editor of The Golden Girl, a real-life, down to earth blog for the millennial woman trying to live her best life–from style tips to make you feel confident instead of self-conscious, to beauty tips to help you glow from the inside out, and real-life advice on–well, pretty much everything else. Above all, it's Jess' #1 goal to ensure her readers leave feeling inspired rather than inadequate.    Jess also has a "side hustle" with her blogger friend, Blair of The Fox and She, called Blogging4Keeps.com–where they post helpful content and online courses to help bloggers turn their hobbies into hustles.  I first heard of Jess through Jordan Bosstick, founder of Influencer SEO, who was my guest on Episode 25 where we talked SEO and Pinterest for influencers and bloggers. If you are interested in Pinterest, Jordan and I created free Pinterest checklist that you can grab at brittanykrystle.com/pinterest.   Jess added so much value that I decided to break her interview into TWO parts.     In Part 1, we cover everything from how Jess got into blogging, to how she narrowed her niche and her audience, to her content & distribution process, to how she uses SEO and Pinterest to drive traffic, to which content performs the best and more!   Next week, we'll hit topics like blog monetization, collaborations, affiliate marketing... the list goes on :).   To connect with Jess:   Website   Instagram

To connect with Brittany

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn 

Website

Facebook

Sign up here if you want to receive the latest news on growing you industry influence!

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This week my guest is Akvile DeFazio, President of AKvertise, Inc., and an expert in the realm of paid social advertising. Whether it's Facebook and Instagram ads to Linkedin, Twitter and Pinterest, she has seen what is working in all types of campaigns from brand awareness to conversions.     Being skilled at social advertising or having someone who is skilled working with you can genuinely change the fate of your company.      When I was on Team Garyvee, I had experience running ads for gary, but the space is really incredibly nuanced and I think it's important to talk to people who really love to live, eat, and breathe this space. Akvile is one of those people.     Just like with my work in the personal branding space, much of paid social advertising has to do with the actual individual business goals and then executing on a strategy with specific targeting, copy, and content. I tried to cover as many bases as possible to get information that applies to B2b, B2C, physical and digital products.      On this episode we talk:

• Facebook & Instagram advertising – what you need to know to get started!
• LinkedIn Ads – who are they best for?
• Pinterest Ads – why you should be thinking about these
• Best practices, budgets & your paid social questions answered!

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To connect with Akvile

Website

Twitter

To connect with Brittany

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn 

Website

Facebook

Sign up here if you want to receive the latest news on growing you industry influence!

#beyondinfluentialpodcast

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*FREEBIE: For those who don’t know, I’ve been hot on building brand on LinkedIn for pretty much every industry. If you haven’t been on LinkedIn in a while or if you just haven’t updated your profile, I created a free checklist to make sure you’re up to date and answering the right questions with your LinkedIn bio. You can get it at brittanykrystle.com/linkedin

If you’d like your questions answered on a future episode, the next round will be sourced from my email list & from iTunes reviews. If you haven’t already, head to brittanykrystle.com to sign up for my email list OR you can leave me a review on iTunes and include your question.

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Jared Polin aka Fro Knows Photo is a multi-hyphenate: photographer, YouTuber, influencer, personality, and content creator. Jared is probably best known for his FroKnowsPhoto YouTube channel, where he consistently posts content related to photography & the photography business, including equipment reviews, tips, and his opinions & critiques to his 820,000+ subscriber base. 

Jared's channel's steady growth is a testament to what happens when you combine self awareness with a unique perspective and pairing that with consistent quality content. Whether he would say it about himself of not, he's a true student of his craft and a genuinely curious guy who actually bothers to find the answers.   Jared is not afraid to share his honest and strong thoughts and feelings on pretty much anything, but especially topics related to brand building, photography, or content online. I appreciate anyone who has a stance that can back it up with a history of work and evidence- so this was a fun episode for me.    We cover:

• How he got high profile photography gigs like shooting for the Philadelphia Flyers & Rolling Stone Magazine
• YouTube growth "tactics"
• The "secrets" to success online
• Raw and real talk about the business of photography
• Building a personal brand online - from his content process to email lists and more!

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To connect with Jared:

Website

YouTube

Instagram

To connect with Brittany

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn 

Website

Facebook

Sign up here if you want to receive the latest news on growing you industry influence!

#beyondinfluentialpodcast

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*FREEBIE: For those who don’t know, I’ve been hot on building brand on LinkedIn for pretty much every industry. If you haven’t been on LinkedIn in a while or if you just haven’t updated your profile, I created a free checklist to make sure you’re up to date and answering the right questions with your LinkedIn bio. You can get it at brittanykrystle.com/linkedin

If you’d like your questions answered on a future episode, the next round will be sourced from my email list & from iTunes reviews. If you haven’t already, head to brittanykrystle.com to sign up for my email list OR you can leave me a review on iTunes and include your question.

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One of the biggest topics in the news cycle this week has been LeBron James and his decision to join the Los Angeles Lakers. I've been a LeBron fan since he entered the league and his decision to move to LA also has huge implications for the brand and business he is building off the court. He truly understands the value of his personal brand and leveraging it towards his goals. 

So for this week, I thought I'd dive in and talk not only about LeBron's brand, but also a few of the other great athlete brands I see out there.

Athletes mentioned include:

• LeBron James 
• Michael Jordan
• Kobe Bryant
• Floyd Mayweather
• Connor McGregor
• Serena Williams
• The Rock (and more!)

If you like these episodes where I dissect brands, let me know!

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*FREEBIE: For those who don’t know, I’ve been hot on building brand on LinkedIn for pretty much every industry. If you haven’t been on LinkedIn in a while or if you just haven’t updated your profile, I created a free checklist to make sure you’re up to date and answering the right questions with your LinkedIn bio. You can get it at brittanykrystle.com/linkedin

If you’d like your questions answered on a future episode, the next round will be sourced from my email list & from iTunes reviews. If you haven’t already, head to brittanykrystle.com to sign up for my email list OR you can leave me a review on iTunes and include your question.

----- To connect with Brittany

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn 

Website

Facebook

Sign up here if you want to receive the latest news on growing you industry influence!

#beyondinfluentialpodcast

 

 

The World Health Organization has officially recognized video game addiction as a disease. This is all part of a larger conversation around digital addiction and mental health generally that I believe needs to be happening at scale. I hope this episode is a small step towards a more global conversation and destigmatization. 

 

Cam Adair is a speaker, entrepreneur, and pioneer on video game addiction. He is the founder of Game Quitters, the world’s largest support community for video game addiction, serving 50,000 members in 91 countries.

Named one of Canada's top 150 leaders in Mental Health, Cam's work has been published in Psychiatry Research, and featured in two TEDx talks, Forbes, BBC, ABC 20/20, and Vice, amongst others. His videos on YouTube have over two million views.

Cam's NY Times Article

On this episode, we talk:

• video game & digital addiction - what it is and some steps to take if you want to quit
• the rise of eSports & the implications for those prone to addictive behavior
• removing the stigma from mental health issues
• depression & anxiety in entrepreneurs & more

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To connect with Cam:

Game Quitters

Game Quitters YouTube

Cam's Twitter

Cam's Instagram

Cam's Website

To connect with Brittany

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn 

Website

Facebook

Sign up here if you want to receive the latest news on growing you industry influence!

#beyondinfluentialpodcast

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*FREEBIE: For those who don’t know, I’ve been hot on building brand on LinkedIn for pretty much every industry. If you haven’t been on LinkedIn in a while or if you just haven’t updated your profile, I created a free checklist to make sure you’re up to date and answering the right questions with your LinkedIn bio. You can get it at brittanykrystle.com/linkedin

If you’d like your questions answered on a future episode, the next round will be sourced from my email list & from iTunes reviews. If you haven’t already, head to brittanykrystle.com to sign up for my email list OR you can leave me a review on iTunes and include your question.

 

Logan Cohen is the CEO & Co-founder of Kudzoo, the app that pays students for their grades. It’s a free mobile application that rewards students with deals, giveaways, scholarship opportunities, concert tickets, and once in a lifetime experiences based on students’ grades and achievements.

Logan is a TEDx speaker, was named to Forbes 30 under 30 in Education, CIO's Female Entrepreneurs to Watch, among other designations.

I genuinely enjoyed this conversation. Logan and I talk about all aspects of the app building process from ideation to getting it to market to where it is now that she’s a few years in. I loved how honest and transparent she was around everything - from mistakes she’s made to what she wishes she did differently, and even how ed tech wasn’t a passion for her until after she started the company. She’s a lifelong learner and I just really love Logan’s style -  so please enjoy my conversation with Logan Cohen.

We talk:

• A to Z App Building: Ideation to Creation (and after!)
• How she found her passion
• Pitching & Fundraising - how to raise money for an idea
• Pitfalls of being a non-technical founder
• Personal branding to build a business
• Resources & books that have helped Logan on her journey (& more!)

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*FREEBIE: For those who don’t know, I’ve been hot on building brand on LinkedIn for pretty much every industry. If you haven’t been on LinkedIn in a while or if you just haven’t updated your profile, I created a free checklist to make sure you’re up to date and answering the right questions with your LinkedIn bio. You can get it at brittanykrystle.com/linkedin

If you’d like your questions answered on a future episode, the next round will be sourced from my email list & from iTunes reviews. If you haven’t already, head to brittanykrystle.com to sign up for my email list OR you can leave me a review on iTunes and include your question.

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To connect with Logan:

Kudzoo

LinkedIn

Instagram

Tedx Talk

To connect with Brittany

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn 

Website

Facebook

Sign up here if you want to receive the latest news on growing you industry influence!

#beyondinfluentialpodcast

Thomas Moen has been helping people launch and sell things online since 1999. 

Thomas is an Oslo based marketer who has been on the cutting edge of digital and community building even before the "early days" of social media. He sold his first company by 21, has been the CEO of 5 companies, and before stepping out on his own this year, was most recently the CMO of United Influencers, the biggest social media influencer management agency in Scandinavia.

Thomas is also the founder of his own digital school of marketing, Jab Jab Academy and has been hired by companies like The Red Cross & Elle Magazine to educate their employees about marketing in today’s digital world of influencers and constant content consumption. He is also a master at putting together live events.

He has a deep knowledge of the digital marketing landscape and I was excited to chat with him and also to get an international perspective on topics I talk about on this show. This was an incredibly full episode!

A few of the topics we covered:

• Facebook - why that's his primary focus for his brand & business
• Influencer Marketing - how he got into the influencer space before "influencers" existed & where the market is headed
• Chatbots/ Messaging - what's next for marketing
• How he constructed the work of his dreams
• Trust Marketing 
• How he monetizes his personal brand (& how his personal brand has helped his business)
• Online Courses, Webinar tips & more!

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Timestamps & Show Notes

[00:02:21] Intro to Thomas Moen 

 

[00:03:17] Can you tell the audience a little bit about who you are and what you do?

[00:05:49] What year was it when you first discovered the Internet and what it held for you, and was that before you started working in the bar?

[00:06:24] So were you ever trying to go the traditional route or when did you realize that this itself could be a business?

[00:07:34] How did you come up with the idea of the blogging platform and actually turn that into a business?

[00:11:15] How are you reaching out to the companies at this time, because this is, I mean essentially what you are talking about is obviously Influencer Marketing, like you said, branded content. And yes, Influencer Marketing has "always existed", but that seems like around the time where probably it would have been hard to convince a company to actually put money into a blogging community or into this Internet thing.

[00:13:26] Were you blogging at the time or what made you think blogging?

[00:16:06] To give people the scope of your conference experience, how many conferences have you put on, and how do you actually make a successful conference?

[00:17:46] So going back to the blogging, when did you actually get out of that business?

[00:19:14] When you sold your company did you at least have enough money from that to pick and choose after where you wanted to go?

[00:19:28] Can you talk a little bit about the hard parts about working for yourself versus working for someone else and the hardest lessons you've learned?

[00:24:37] When did you realize that you were building a personal brand, that you wanted to build a personal brand, that you were building a community around yourself?

[00:27:04] So when did you first come up with the concept of trust marketing then? When did that enter your vocabulary?

[00:28:16] I ask everybody what they think the secret to influence is. But when I answer that question, it always comes down to building that trust and loyalty. I think trust is the number one thing that builds influence.

[00:28:31] So then speaking about trust, when did you start actually monetizing your personal brand audience?

[00:32:34] I think it's interesting the different reactions that people have to courses and selling your knowledge. You can't really scale, you're going to cap out if you are single handedly consulting one to one.

[00:34:12] So I have to ask about the price point. What made the jump for people to want to buy it -- is that just a psychological thing -- to buy it at 500 versus buying it at 50?

[00:35:20] What would have been the most effective ways for you to sell courses?

[00:37:10] So what makes a good webinar then?

[00:38:37] And how effective are Facebook ads for your courses?

[00:39:26]  Why is Facebook so important to you?

[00:41:13] I read an article the other day about how teenagers are dropping off Facebook or aren't using it as much -- they're using Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube -- do you think Facebook will be able to get that audience?

[00:42:31] So what are some tips you have for people who actually want to start building their personal brands on Facebook today?

[00:44:17] So for people just starting out, let's say they have an audience on Instagram and then they want to retarget those people with Facebook ads, how do they even go about doing that?

[00:45:22] So I know you're not necessarily billed as a Facebook ad expert, but what have you noticed that makes for good ad?

[00:46:19] I know you also have course on Facebook chat bots. Can you talk a little bit about how important that is now and how important that's going to be?

[00:51:20] That's such an awesome mindset, and very few people I speak to, and I'm guilty of this, too, think about that enough point -- think about what's actually enough. What do you really want? You're stuck in this growth mindset and the hustle and you're competing with so-and-so, and I think people -- it might have to do with age and experience, too -- but I think it gets to a point where you look at what you need, and you come from a place of gratitude and real practicality, and it's just like, what actually makes me happy? 

[00:52:15] How much time do you spend actually making content?

[00:53:17] So I can't let you go without talking about the influencer space. Can you talk to me about how United Influencers came about? Well, just your relationship to influencers in general starting out in Scandinavia.

[00:57:31] At United influencers, were you helping brands find the influencers, were you more on the influencer side, or were you a go between?

[00:58:44] So this audience is on both sides of the aisle. I have people who are content creators and influencers, and I have people who are entrepreneurs, brands, small business owners. What's your advice to an influencer in terms of how to work with a brand and how much they should be asking? Also, what's your advice on the brand side for how much an influencer is worth? Because I think while big brands have the ability to hire agencies and have way more data, I think the small business person or entrepreneur who  wants to be using influencers really isn't educated in that space.

[01:01:13] I know we've worked with some U.S. influencers. Has there been a huge difference for you in terms of working with U.S. influencers and how they operate versus European influencers?

[01:02:40] Do you think influencer marketing was harder to catch on in Europe, or not so much in the Nordics? I've heard the Nordics adopt things quicker than the rest of Europe. I don't know if that's true.

[01:03:46] Where can find Thomas!

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*FREEBIE: For those who don’t know, I’ve been hot on building brand on LinkedIn for pretty much every industry. If you haven’t been on LinkedIn in a while or if you just haven’t updated your profile, I created a free checklist to make sure you’re up to date and answering the right questions with your LinkedIn bio. You can get it at brittanykrystle.com/linkedin

If you’d like your questions answered on a future episode, the next round will be sourced from my email list & from iTunes reviews. If you haven’t already, head to brittanykrystle.com to sign up for my email list OR you can leave me a review on iTunes and include your question.

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To connect with Thomas:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

Twitter

To connect with Brittany

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn 

Website

Facebook

Sign up here if you want to receive the latest news on growing you industry influence!

#beyondinfluentialpodcast