Merged Marketing Podcast

182 – Growing Your Influence: Elevating Your Personal Brand with Dylan Vanas

Growing Your Influence: Elevating Your Personal Brand.

Personal branding is the practice of creating and promoting a unique image or identity for oneself to establish a memorable and distinctive reputation. It involves defining who you are, what you stand for, and what sets you apart from others in your field or industry. With the increasing importance of social media and online presence, personal branding has become an essential tool for professionals looking to build their careers, establish their expertise, and differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace. A strong personal brand can help you attract new clients, secure job opportunities, and build a network of loyal followers who recognize and respect your value. In short, personal branding is the art of marketing yourself and your skills in an authentic, compelling, and unforgettable way. Just like companies create brand identities to stand out in the marketplace, individuals can also cultivate a personal brand to distinguish themselves in their personal and professional lives.

A strong personal brand can help you build trust with others, establish credibility in your field, and open up new opportunities. In today’s digital age, where social media and online presence play a significant role in shaping how we are perceived, personal branding has become an essential tool for anyone who wants to succeed and make a lasting impression. In today’s episode, we discuss the importance of personal branding and the three simple strategies to create millions in revenue. We are privileged to talk with Dylan, the most appropriate authority on this subject matter.

What do you attribute to the rapid growth when Growing Your Influence and Elevating Your Personal Brand? – He enjoys a massive following on Instagram and TikTok. They build a significant following by running giveaway campaigns (responsible for the initial 30,000 to 40,000 followers). After that, they undertook high-quality content that was appealing to the audience. (Unfortunately, in today’s day and age, you need a baseline level of social proof).

What number do you put on social proof – Our guest expert drops the number 10,000 followers as the baseline level for social proof for most businesses. He argues that it is unrealistic to get 1 million people as followers. To gain authenticity, Dylan says you should strive to get 10,000 followers and grow organically from then on.

How do you structure your giveaway campaigns – He facilitated some of the giveaway campaigns by affiliating with an influencer. They would ask people to follow them for a chance to win a MacBook Pro.

Difference between lead generation and personal growth: Lead generation efforts serve to build real followers who come into your ecosystem and may eventually become paying customers. Consistency of content social media works for the benefit of personal growth.

Do you post the same content across all your social media sites – (If you do what everyone does, you do what they got, which is a little. If you want a lot more, you have to expand outside the horizon). He focuses on the potential content outside the horizon. He advises that you should preoccupy your efforts with posting high-quality content consistently. On this note, Dylan warns that you should not stress yourself over keeping up-to-date with the algorithms because it is ever-changing.

How do you test your content – Dylan says he has implemented a robust research strategy using a premium tool, Rival IQ. He feeds in the name of the industry leaders or top competitors and reviews their metrics. After that, he models what is working by adding his own narrative. (You always do not have to reinvent the wheel with content; there is plenty of working content that you only need to put a little tweak to and make it your own).

What are your best practices for creating content – Dylan explains that he prefers quantity over quality and, thus, focuses less on creating the highest quality content. Thus, he allocates minimal time and resources to creating content because social media accounts for 2% – 3% of his entire organic sales.

What other elements are you using for building your personal brand – Outside digital, Dylan says he focuses on creating relatability and rapport with the audience. As such, he leverages the highly valuable long-form content on social media. These include things that the audience can relate to on Youtube, Instagram, or TikTok. He also leverages podcasting to connect with the audience. Thirdly, it involves getting on stage at events and workshops, which allows connecting with people who have built personal brands.

What do you do to people uncomfortable with creating content outside themselves – Dylan hits the nail on the head that people do not care about you because they have plenty going on in their lives. Instead, he encourages you to grab the opportunity to grow by getting outside your comfort zone.

Three simple strategies to generate millions in revenue – Dylan reveals that he gained his first 3,000 followers without spending a dime on ads. Instead, he sought out a network of people with potential customers and offered to give their customers a free product and 10 dollars for every signup, plus 15% on the backend for every future purchase by the customer. This means it is smart to build on people networks and communities to start and grow your business.

Timecodes

(1:54) What does he attribute to the rapid growth of his personal brand?
(3:09) What number does he put on his social proof?
(4:14) How to structure your giveaway campaigns
(4:54) Difference between lead generation and personal growth
(6:38) Should you post the same content across all your social media sites?
(9:35) How to do testing of your content
(12:37) The best practices for creating content
(14:13) Elements for building your personal brand
(18:20) What do you do to people uncomfortable with creating content outside themselves?
(20:45) 3 simple strategies to generating millions in revenue
(25:47) Dylan’s contact information
(26:17) Dylan’s choice of brand representative