Last week Kyle and I were in Austin, Texas for seanwes conference 2017. Because we were traveling and putting on the conference, we didn't get a chance to record an episode together, but there was a conversation we had recently that we wanted to share.

Giving things away for free is a great way to attract new leads. It opens up reciprocity, of course, but it also allows you to truly give someone value.

Whether the content is freely available and shareable on your website or if it's a lead magnet someone has to give their email address for, it's never a bad idea to give.

Our conversation today is about a different sort of method when it comes to giving products away for free. It's not necessarily a solution, but it's an idea worth exploring.

Whether you’re in business to sell products or services, at some point you’ll need to decide what exactly you’ll be selling. Not only that, but as you grow you’ll need to decide what happens if you want sell more than one thing.

If you do decide to start creating more things to sell, it can be easy to lose focus on the bigger picture, which is understandable because you want to sell the best version possible.

Fragmentation starts to creep in, and while you’re busy making sure your new thing gets off the ground well, everything else just sits to the side, not being taken care of.

Knowing how to assign priority and where each new product or service fits can make or break the “structural integrity” of your business.

In today’s show, we’ll be talking about the importance of having multiple offerings or products and how to stay focused on what you’re doing when there are many things fighting for your attention.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” It’s a nice sentiment, but like most platitudes, it lacks any sense of practicality.

Not only that, but the phrase “it’s who you know” might imply that you’re only getting to know people in order to gain something from them, which is remarkably disingenuous.

How then is it “who we know”? Do you just try and find the biggest names possible and try to become friends so you can get a favor later on?

Spoiler: no.

Relationships vital to the success of your brand, not only the ones on the inside but also the outside connections you have. How you build your brand usually comes as a result of the people who help you.

In today’s show, we’ll be talking about the importance of building relationships inside and outside of your brand, and how to leverage the relationships you already have.

You have an idea.

It might sound crazy, but you believe that with hard work and dedication, your idea can be successful. Maybe you’ve been building this idea for years, but it’s time to finally get serious.

Whether you are just starting out as a brand or have been building your brand for many years, it is always important to know where you’re from and where you’re going. Asking specific questions will help to lay the building blocks that will help you define your brand.

Getting started can sound complex and intimidating. Surely you have to have everything completely figured out before starting, right?

A brand is the culmination of a lot of things, certainly, but it starts from simplicity. A simple idea with a simple vision.

In today’s episode I’ll be taking a look into some of the simple questions to ask as you’re getting started, or if you’re looking for deeper clarity as you go forward.

Building a company, product, business, or organization requires a lot of knowledge, hard work, and determination. You have to be sure that what you’re building matters and that you’re doing the right thing.

When you believe you’re doing the right thing, you assume a level of confidence that you need to have to push forward. You believe in your brand, and you are sure that you are right as you proceed.

Confidence, as you may have heard, is key when you’re a leader. You know how to move forward, how to ask questions, how to direct your brand in the way it needs to move. You’re sure of yourself, your goals, and your methods.

Yet…is that arrogant? Is it arrogant to believe you have the right solution, that your work is quality, and that you have the solution for your customers? What is the difference between looking confident and arrogant?

In today’s show, we’ll be talking about looking confident without coming across as arrogant, and how to uphold yourself and your brand in ways that attract people rather than repel them.

To make your brand stand out above the rest, you’ll have to create great content. But ideas seem so hard.

Even if the ideas you have are relevant to what your brand is all about, they can seem lousy.

If your content ideas are lacking, you’re not destined for failure. You just need a new perspective.

In today’s show, Kyle Adams takes over to talk about how you can take those seemingly lousy ideas and turn them into epic pieces of content your audience will crave.

Over the years of building a brand, growing a business, or pursuing a passion, everything comes in cycles. Just like in life, there can be seasons of plenty and of need, times where it seems like success overflows and times where it seems you can’t find any.

Our experiences often swing in pendulum, with varying amounts of time between the extremes, and sometimes we find ourselves in the most difficult seasons with no apparent relief.

The stress feels endless, there’s too much work, too many projects, too many expectations, too many deadlines, not enough time, not enough resources.

Other times it may just be difficult to stay the course. You’ve been working hard for years and you haven’t seen the results you want.

How long do you keep showing up when it’s hard? How do you find purpose in the difficult times?

In this episode, I want to talk about three primary reasons I believe consistency is important, especially in the hard times.

The universal aspect of business is at some point you’re going to have to deal with another person, and if you’re trying to *stay* in business, there will have to be some sort of monetary exchange.

Even if you have a product or service that you give away for free, you’ll still need to have people using it. That’s the point, after all.

When you have people buying your product or using your service, at some point you’ll have to deal with an unhappy customer.

It could be a product that was damaged in shipping, a tool that doesn’t work as expected, issues with the service, website downtime, or any infinite number of problems. Support tickets, refund requests, and angry emails become more likely as more people encounter your brand.

It’s not fun, it’s unavoidable, but it can be a great tool if you know how to handle it correctly.

In today’s show, we’ll be talking about how to deal with unhappy customers, critical emails, refund requests, and why your process for handling these things is important for your brand.

Feel like you haven’t been able to expand how you want? Seems like you’re just spinning your wheels and hustling but you’re looking for another push?

It might be time to consider collaboration.

Collaboration is when two parties unite together to produce something that will appeal to both of their audiences. This can open up a lot of opportunities and work to benefit both you and the other brand.

There are a lot of ways you can seek out collaboration, and in this show we’re going to go over some ways you can seek out collaboration with others.

One of the realities of doing anything in this world is that you’re always building up a perception about yourself. People are going to feel and think things about you, no matter what.

Naturally this means that everyone has a brand of some kind, whether or not you have a business or are trying to build anything.

Connecting this to what you’re doing, however, carries a lot of weight.

What is a personal brand, anyways? Is it as simple as slapping your name on something and calling it good?

On today’s show, we’ll be talking about personal branding, how to scale when it’s just you, and some of the perks (and challenges) of the personal brand.