I see this so often with clients and all over LinkedIn: you're highly qualified and have years of experience but more of the right people need to know you and what you bring to the table. 

In this episode, I interview Jason Frazell, a dynamic executive leadership coach for high-impact individuals and teams in tech. 

Jason shares his corporate experience and why he should have built his brand years ago. He details his work with high-level executives and leadership teams and gives some excellent branding advice on how and why we should create a strong professional presence both in and out of our company roles.

Key Highlights

[01:15] About Jason
[02:44] Why a personal brand is important for corporate professionals and leaders
[05:54] Why corporate professionals don't build their personal brands
[09:49] Pushbacks from CEOs and top-ranked professionals
[13:24] Tactical things to build your personal brand
[22:06] Jason’s professional and personal mantra for building a personal brand
[26:43] How to connect with Jason

Notable Quotes

●   It doesn’t have to be original. Just make your uniqueness inside of it.
●   Start somewhere and be clear about how you want to make money.
●   Any entrepreneur will tell you there are times when it’s not enjoyable. And the thing that keeps you going is that vision.
●   You are good where you are at. It’s a process. You’re going to be fine. Get the support and help you need.

Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts

The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities.

Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field.

Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio Masterclass
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

It's been said the future belongs to those who build their professional presence online. Yet…that’s easier said than done, right?

In this solo coaching episode, I share the 7 personal branding steps you need to stand out with your professional brand from my Visible Brand Authority Blueprint. 

This overview shows you exactly what you should be looking for if you want to start building your professional brand.

Quotes 

● We all want to stand out and stand for something. And having a perspective and point of view really helps define you as a professional and an entrepreneur.

● We can’t grow our brands alone. We’re to serve but also build rapport, community, and connection with like-minded people.

● No matter what, there might be thousands of people who do what you do. But when you are defined and positioned in your unique way, you find a way to stand out.

● Trust is the ultimate currency to build a brand, and business, and stay online.

● The more you do it consistently and stay in the game, the easier it becomes the more clarity and confidence you get, and ideas just floor.

● When you know exactly how you are going to help the audience that you are serving, you have clarity.

RESOURCES:

https://carrd.co/

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20170723-the-case-against-personal-brands

Michelle Griffin's Visible Brand Authority Blueprint® 
(NOW Brand GPS™)

1. PERSPECTIVE: Get clarity in your beliefs, values, goals, expertise, back story and personal & professional mission and vision. 

2. PEOPLE: Define your exact audience (persona) and their needs & build a community (partners) to support and amplify your awareness & reach.  

3. POSITION: Differentiate yourself with the problem you solve and the promise you make with your brand story and into client-facing messaging. 

4. PACKAGE: Set up your platform, profiles, processes, framework, offers, assets, and channels to start building relationships and selling your services.  

5. PUBLISH: Develop a strategic content system, schedule, and pillars to build visibility, credibility, and authority in your niche/industry. 

6. PROMOTE:  Succeed and scale with the transformative results you bring others which accelerates your trust, community, and growth. 

7: PROPEL: Succeed and scale by paying it forward and showcasing results to accelerate your reach, visibility, opportunities, and trust.

Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts

The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities.

Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field.

Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio Masterclass
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

Today I share how finding professional clarity and "putting yourself out there" is the fastest and best way to stand out in your niche for more impact and profit

Hello and welcome to the "official" welcome episode. I'm your host, personal brand/marketing, and PR strategist, Michelle B Griffin and I'm excited to go on this journey with you.

In this episode, I *candidly* share my story, my big mistakes, and lessons learned. I detail my story of why it took me five years of finding my professional direction and exactly how it led me to what I'm on a mission to do now: help other professionals stand out online with where they are now and what they have *right now* to build their professional brands and presence online.

Timestamps

[01:28] The backstory of this podcast

[03:53] Why you should put yourself out there.

[05:04] Getting the clarity

[05:39] How I started to put myself out there

[07:24] Quitting my job

[08:11] Moral of the story

[08:47] What this podcast is all about

[09:44] This podcast is about you

[10:28] Who are our guests on the show?

Quotes 

● I had this great job and it was amazing. But I knew I needed more.

● One of the reasons I’m always saying put yourself out there is because that’s what exactly I didn't do for five years.

● I was just stuck. I was lost and I just didn’t have direction.

● There’s nowhere you can go to get clarity. You can’t take a course unless you know exactly who you are.

● We have everything we need right now. Your expertise. Your Vision. Your mission. All these things are already inside you. You just need someone to help you get them out.

● Clarity is the best gift you can give yourself and your business

Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts

The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities.

Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field.

Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio Masterclass
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

Ever dreamed about writing a book to share your expertise and/or build your personal and professional brand? It's not as hard as you think!

This episode will teach you mindset, strategies, and practical tips to do just that. I interview Diego Pineda, a content marketing manager and a book coach to show us exactly how to write your first book in 90 days, plus learn why self-publishing is important.

NOTE: Check out the sister episode on how to self-publish your book in 90-Days

Diego helps solopreneurs, coaches, and consultants write their first book fast to become thought leaders in their industries, gain authority and visibility and make more money. He highlights how you can write a book to build a personal brand for your businesses and some mistakes people make.

Timestamps

[01:38] Diego’s background

[03:12] Where to start in writing a book and promoting your business

[05:31] Writing the book

[10:00] About Diego’s book

[12:10] Mistakes people should look out for a while writing a book

[15;00] Writing a book within 90 days

[16:14] Self-publishing

[19:20] Professional/personal mantra

Quotes

● “You want to align your business goals with the topic of your book.” (03:33-03:36)

● “Don’t write and edit at the same time.(11:14-11:18)

● “ If you are going to use your book as a marketing tool for your business and you want to get out there, do self-publishing. (16:14-17:53)

● “Moving fast and doing great things is the innovation mindset.” (20:15-20:21)

Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts

The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities.

Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field.

Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio Masterclass
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

Getting out on LinkedIn is a goal for so many, but it's hard. What to say? What to write about? What will people think?

I've heard it all and told myself that too.

But those who put themselves out there are the ones getting noticed, known, and seeing opportunities and results on LinkedIn.

After waffling for too long, I decided to "go big" and on January 1, I started the #365challenge to post on LinkedIn every single day in 2021.

And to my surprise, hundreds of others felt the same way and joined me. The #365Challenge community was born, (now The #365Creators). What a journey it's been and still going strong with hundreds more. (see the link to join below).

In this episode, I interview two stars in the community, Michael Scott and Britt Crawford, who watched their personal brands on LinkedIn explode by posting content daily.

Here, 323 posts later, we share our lessons, successes, and failures and how you can "put yourself out there" and build your personal brand on LinkedIn.

UPDATE: On Dec. 31, 2021, I completed my challenge and posted 365 days on LinkedIn. I actually made 532 posts, and will detail more in a future episode)

Timestamps

[02:01] About Michael Scott

[03:41] About Britt Crawford

[07:25] Why we decided to put ourselves out there

[08:26] Michael's Lessons

[11:46] Britt’s story of getting out there from the company perspective

[15:35] Starting out on LinkedIn

[20:46] Benefits of putting yourself out there and how fast you saw them.

[25:51] Should people post daily?

[37:16] Britt’s Tiktok experience

[42:28] Advice and goals

[46:17] Parting advice

Quotes

● Don’t be over-complicated. You can definitely overcomplicate it, overthink, and then you just get stuck, thinking that your post was never old enough to post.” (17:33-17:46)

● “The other thing is just making it about you. It is all about you. Whatever you’re passionate about. (18:18-18:21)

● ‘Visibility is not vanity. It opens doors and unlocks opportunities.” (20:29-20:32)

● “I think establishing what boundaries are making them clear and then living within them posting within them is the important part.”(28:26-20:32)

● One of the gifts of putting yourself out there and starting to get in this mode.. the ideas start flowing. (35:00-35:05)

● Create content that you would be interested in.”(42:45-42:47)

● Just put yourself out there, whatever baby steps that it takes, just get out of that comfort zone because that’s where the opportunities are.” (48:20-48:30)

Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts

The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities.

Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field.

Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio Masterclass
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

What's the secret to writing engaging content on LinkedIn? What's the best approach to sharing your authentic voice in your posts? 

This might be the number one struggle on LinkedIn for new content creators.

I interviewed Merav Levine, a social media marketing consultant who shares tips on writing content using her CLARITY Method on LinkedIn.

Timestamps

● [01:58] Merav Levine's story

● [04:30] Where do you start?

● [09:33] The CLARITY method

● [17:18] Great insights on what keeps you out of content.

● [21:47] Avoiding being "Captain Obvious"

● [25:35] Takeaways in engagement and writing

Quotes

● “Find the balance of presenting yourself. Well, yes, being authentic and not pretending to be something you're, not because at the end of the day, that is going to implode on you.” (08:26-08:34)

● “When I talk about clarity, it's knowing who you would market to, who you're marketing to, and how they would describe the issues that you bring up.” (10:01-10:07)

● “Every single post has an actionable takeaway, so something that somebody could walk away from the computer being like. I am going to try that today .” (20:27-20:36)

● “Every post must have a call to action.” (25-48-25:50)

● “If we let our emotions take over. Yes, we won’t do half the things we know we should be doing and just knowing that it’s going to hurt and we're going to be scared, but you are capable of facing it.” (30:26-30:37)

Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts

The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities.

Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field.

Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio Masterclass
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

I interview Jim James, founder of the international public relations agency, East-West PR, and the host of the Unnoticed Podcast. He is all about getting leaders, entrepreneurs, and personal brands noticed with this Active Communication Index.

Timestamps

[01:40] Importance of getting noticed

[03:21] Mistakes people make by not going noticed

[11:24] 3 key takeaways for people wanting to get noticed.

Powerful Quotes

● “The first thing that people look for is the quality and the integrity of the founder because when we're a start-up, we don't have all the backing of maybe venture capital, a big brand, or even a history that would reassure potential customers or potential employees or partners to work with them. So the personal brand carries the business for that first, I would say twelve to eighteen months, while the organization is getting established in the marketplace.” (02:05-02:32)

● “Someone who produces consistent, innovative content. Those are the people that everybody goes to.” (09:38-09:45)

● “Content doesn't have to be expensive, but it does have to be ideally original or interesting, creating content.” (11:53-12:00)

● “The rule of thumb is to be consistent rather than frequent, which is why, in my ACI, when I said at twelve and at six, it's consistent and inconsistent, it's not frequent and infrequent, and there's a key difference there.” (13:25-13:41)

Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts

The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities.

Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field.

Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio Masterclass
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

If you are looking to move from corporate to entrepreneurship, this episode shares a personal story on what it takes.

I interview Lena Sersadic, a product manager who turned to entrepreneurship after working in corporate for seven years.

Lena gives us snippets of what the transformation to entrepreneurship felt like. Was she ready, or did she just leave blindly? She also gives us some recommendations and caution based on her experience.

Timestamps

[02:44] Snippet of Lena’s feelings after leaving corporate

[05:22] Doing it right after leaving corporate

[08:04] Lena’s next step after failure

[12:29] How long it took her before things started making sense

[16:44] Changing your headline

[19:52] Email Lists

[21:25] Recommendations and caution based on Lena’s experience

[27:22] Lena’s professional mantra

Quotes

● “Put yourself out there: Go help others. You’ll figure out all that, but also niche down. When you're learning, you know you can’t help everyone, the old cliche, and it's so true. Go get as tight and small as you can because that's going to be the fastest way to get noticed.” (18:50-19:02)

● “When you build your brand. It is you, but sometimes you don't know exactly what you want to be doing or you got to try things out but put yourself out there keep doing it.”(19:22-19:29)

● “A personal brand is created through action, so you have to do stuff to actually build a personal brand and develop it and scale it down the line, and that means posting on LinkedIn(21:50-21:59)

● “We can't help people unless they know how much we can help them and we step out there to help them.”(26:06-25:11)

● “Don't try and put a square peg into a round hole. Just let things come to you, and when you play the long game, the right opportunities kind of present themselves.” (25:31-25:38)

● Transparency attracts opportunities.” (27:32-27-35)

Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts

The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities.

Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field.

Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio Masterclass
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

Too many of us want to get out on LinkedIn. But we stay stuck on the sidelines not knowing how. I interview Austin James, a certified financial consultant, and Sam Swirsky, a sales strategist on their stories of putting themselves out on LinkedIn for the first time. 

They get to share their inspiring journey on LinkedIn, steps to breaking out, and their successes and failures. They also highlight how you can balance your personal life and still remain genuine and authentic on LinkedIn.  


 Timestamps

 [01:50] About the Austin & Sam

[03:51] How they got started

[09:08] What’s the first step to breaking out

[14:40] Being intentional with your time[

15:57] How do you build who you are and show your personality[

22:57] How do you structure your content and the best content to post on LinkedIn?

[25:11] How do you know what to post?

[30:08] Successes and failures[

40:45] Professional mantra 


Quotes 

● “Having that personal touch, you know aligning it with who you are is what you do. Combine them with some strategy and you're on your way.” (05:13-05:20)

● “You can have your great ideas of what you want to talk about and things like that. But if you don't know exactly who you're talking to it's, going to be really hard for your content to kind of attract that ideal client.”(09:28-09-41)

● “ Linkedin people who only post perfect stories about themselves will get a lot of kind of followers at first, but it's usually people who are new to the platform, and they don't really understand the culture of LinkedIn, and then after a while, the followers begin to fall .”(20:45-20:57)

● “ People are not a means to an end, right. It’s not like you're using people to get what you want in life.” (37:08-37:11)

● “Give give without expectations, and it will come back to you.”(43:01-43:04)   

Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts

The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities.

Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field.

Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio Masterclass
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

Want to grab attention more attention in your social media content? 

I interview Wendy Margolin, a social media strategist and founder of Sparkr Marketing who specializes in social media content for the healthcare industry.

Learn how to translate the attention of our story for more awareness, engagement, and connection, and more.

Wendy highlights the four stories that we need to be telling, structuring a good story and the epitome of a good story. 

Timestamps

[01:30) Wendy Margolin's story

(04:32) Four stories we need to be telling

[10:11] Starting with “Why”

[11:33] How to do your introduction posts

[17:26] Finding your differentiation

[20:21] Structuring a good story

[23:24] Ideas on getting these stories

[28:40] Three key takeaways on storytelling

Quotes

● “Having that first line that really grabs attention and then that last line that really you know encourages engagement.” (04:47-04:54)

● “Start with the “Why”. Try to go for the big one, if not the little one or a mixture.” (09:48-09:51)

● Because we put content out daily or frequently, not everyone sees it. Still, so many people don’t see it. So, finding a way to keep re-introducing those content, cornerstone themes without exactly repeating it. It's so smart, so it just forms a connection.” (12:01-12:17)

● “You do get better with these stories, as you tell them. Yes, don't wait for it to be perfect, start telling it and by telling it will get much stronger:” (13:13-13-32)

● “Even if you are private, find a personal side that you can share.” (13:13-13:22)

● “Even though it's your story, it's not about you, the content you ever write Even in your bio is about your audience.” (28:53-29:00)

Own Your Lane™ - Personal Branding & Marketing For Experts

The podcast for expert-led business owners ready to confidently position, brand, and market themselves to win clients and industy oppotunities.

Hosted by Michelle B. Griffin, speaker, strategist and LinkedIn® visibility expert. As the founder of Brand Leaders and with her Own Your Lane™ Recognition Roadmap, Michelle helps expertise-led business owners become the clear choice in their field.

Learn more at MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
GET VISIBLE ON LINKEDIN: Free Audio Masterclass
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn