EP:45 - Public Speaking as a Business and Building a Brand w/ Brian Fanzo

SPEAKER_02 0:32

What is happening, ladies and gentlemen? Welcome back to another episode of the Step Rush Show here on Social Buzz on Air. I'm your host, as always, Sebastian Rusk. So great to be with you. My guest today, a dear friend up here within the social media space, the one and only Mr. Brian Fanzo, aka i Social Fans Online. So make sure you give them a follow. Hope you enjoy the episode. Here we go. Brian Fanzo, what's good, my man?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Oh, hanging out, my friend. I tell you what, this the pre-show that we just had like offline, man, people would pay lots of money to have a conversation. So I'm excited to get on here now live and talk a little bit. Uh for those that don't have the luxury of being the uh the the fly on the wall for the uh the green room, we just had a great conversation.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

If these walls could talk, it's kind of like the green room talks before uh we get out there on stage and and crush it, which you have been doing a lot of uh Mr. 64 gigs in 2018. Come on now.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Thank you, man. Yeah, it's uh it's been a heck of a ride. I tell you what. It's um from uh from 2015, uh 10% of my business uh revenue was uh was speaking to now 90% of my uh speaking revenue as my business revenue is speaking. It's uh it's been a fun, it's been a fun flip. I can tell you there's lots of lots of craziness, lots of hard things, but um 2018 was good to me, but I got bigger plans for 2019.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Oh, you and me both, brother. So for those of us uh that are tuning in that have absolutely no idea who Brian Fanzo is, let's just back up a little bit. Uh you and I met back in, I think it was 2015, maybe 2014. Back in Yeah, I think it was 2014. Yeah, 2014 in Orlando at Social Fresh. And uh clicked instantly because, you know, again, you are my people, I am your people, etc. We spoke the same language here, and we've been able to stay in touch. And you know, I always you know look at relationships like you and I have where you're not local here in South Florida, and I don't always see you, but we're always supporting each other in some form or fashion through a like, through a share, through a recommendation. If someone calls me and needs a speaker, you're at the top of my list. So um it's been it's been fun to to to to to be on the journey with you. But let's help everybody understand how did all this start? Where did you get your start in the in the tech space and how did it evolve into a change evangelist and now you know in demand keynote speaker?

SPEAKER_00 2:53

So yeah, so um weirdly, you know, I you know, most people associate me with marketing or social media, but um I'm a computer science major, uh, graduated college, actually couldn't get a job in computer science, so I worked at UPS. I wore the nice short brown shorts and delivered packages for about a year. Uh, and then I took an entry-level help desk job uh in cybersecurity for the US government um based out of the Pentagon. And um, weirdly enough, I kind of segued that into a training job where we start, I started training people on cybersecurity tools, training active duty military. Uh, and then I was able to grow that team. I grew it, uh, we went, we only did when I took when I became a trainer, we had one course a month every month. I was actually able to grow that to four courses a week every week. Um, we had 32 people on my team, uh, traveled around the world to every US military base. So I did three trips to Iraq, two to Afghanistan, um, and you know, every military base outside the US, I was training uh military and government on cybersecurity tools. And I I did it for nine years. So, you know, anyone that says millennials jump around. I my first my first real job was uh I did nine years government cybersecurity, and really what my job was was to what I figured out, what I was really good at, which is why how it kind of segues where I'm at now, is I would I I'm a computer science major, I'm a geek, I love to code, I'm but I'm that's not like my true passion. Like I love you know talking and relating stuff to management. And what I realized was I'm really good at talking to geeks as well as clueless managers, right? And no offense to any clueless manager that's listening. Um, and so what I always said is I translate the geek speak forward and backwards. So I can tell management what the tech people are doing, I can tell the tech people what the managers want. And that's really what I fell in love with. And so um I decided after nine years, there was this like weird world of I either stay in this cybersecurity government for the rest of my life or I jump out and try to make a bigger impact. And so I did that, jumped out with really no security net, uh, went to work for a data center company um out of Phoenix, Arizona, and I became a technology evangelist, which really was my dream job. I modeled it after Guy Kawasaki and Robert Scoble. On really, my job was to help relate what was going on with our customers, our clients, and our employees back to product and management. So I had I had no real KPIs. I reported to the CEO, I had a dotted line to the CMO, a dotted line to the CIO. Um, and I just fell in love with this ability to help people and bring change, to help people use technology when it makes sense, but also kind of help um generations kind of work together. And then about four and a half years ago, I decided to take the leap into entrepreneurship, which hands down, without question, the hardest job I've had of all of these jobs uh is the entrepreneur side of the house. And what I realized, you know, I did content, both of us do podcasts, we did, I had live video, I ran our Twitter chat show. Um, and what I kind of figured out what throughout this whole thing is I was on stage at the Pentagon, I was on stage in front of these uh classrooms, and I really love like the most zen place in the world for me uh is in front of a crowd, just like your uh yourself. And so um I made the kind of the conscious effort to build a community, not really a following on social. And um, when people tell me to do something or say it can't be done, I try to do the opposite. And um I really went hard and said, I'm gonna build a community that loves me, that supports me, that does the sales and marketing for me as a speaker. And uh the results in 2018 are kind of proof of that work. But uh it's been a hell of a ride. I'm not your average marketer or fan of social media, but uh I do believe in the power of video, the power of social media, and ultimately a power of telling your story. And um that's where I'm at now. I'm gonna release a book um this year, which will be my first book, which has taken me three years to put to uh actually publish. So the actually chapter one is the struggle that I've gone through to write a book, and it shows how relatable it is because it's the book has been my scary thing for many other people. It could be a podcast, it could be video, it could be just posting on social media as a whole. Um, and then you know, kind of riding this ride as we go. But uh I I I love the journey. I I'm a dad of three girls, so that's my like my favorite job of all the jobs I have. But uh I do love what I do right now and uh big goals this year. I I think a hundred keynotes in 2020 would be um the ultimate goal for me, and I'm I'm setting my eyes on that for uh for uh next year.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Let's go. Uh, you got a title for the book yet? Press the damn button. I was about to say, please tell me it's press the damn button. Yes, I love it. I love it. So uh that's exciting stuff. Yeah, hey, listen, I'm asking a lot. What would I tell my 21-year-old or 18-year-old self? What is the number one bit of advice I would give that 18-year-old Sebastian? And it's real simple. It takes longer than you think.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

That's great. That's a great, that's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

That's just it. I mean, we're we're we're celebrating we're going into our ninth year with Social Buzz TV, and I I built this thing from nothing. And you know, as you know, when you create something from nothing, you're extremely proud of it. I mean, I have proved I learned to live with nothing. I took a bus around town, I threw my skateboard in the bushes, I played the part until I became the part, I sold the dream and just told people this is what the fuck is going to happen. And it happened. Um, and again, I don't know about you. I feel like I'm just getting started. Not like the nuances of what the hell's going on, but I feel like, whoa, if I've been this far, like let's go. And just like you said, dude, I mean, I think a lot of us have caught a lot of momentum going into 2019 to think, you know, this is this is the breakout year. And there's a new, and I have this conversation a lot with with with a lot of our peers, which is I am a firm believer that there's different sides of the influencer equation. You've got these YouTubers and these Instagrammers and Jake Paul's, and I don't even know what the fuck these guys do to create content and get a gazillion views. I try to ask my millennial teenager, and she's like, oh dad, they don't no one likes them anyway. Um, and then you've got the influencers, like the real people that are actually doing shit that matters, like the Gary V's and Lewis Howes and people that we've watched come up while we've been establishing our brand. I believe there is a new uh breed, there is a new phase of those individuals coming up. Grant, uh Grant's in the mix too, Grant Cardone's in the mix too. But you know, Gary and Lewis, uh, these guys have made it. Like they're there and they continue to grow and they have made it. I wouldn't consider myself making it by any means at all yet. But I'm definitely on the journey of being able to do it. But I believe that's an you know, and it's funny, I I've got a phenomenal relationship with Gary. Unfortunately, the guy is busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. Um, but to be able to be on the journey with him for the past nine years, I've read his first book, Crush It, my antennas went up, and I executed on that blueprint. Interviewed him a year later, stayed in touch with him, and then we're now in cocks of me MCing his live events. And I'm like, Nice, what?

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Yeah, so um He had a big impact on me too. Jab Jab Jab Right Hook changed everything for me. I thought marketing was about sales enablement, fluffy bullshit that nobody gave a crap about, and I hated that stuff. And I read jab jab jab right hook and I was like, oh crap, this is my calling. And uh, so yeah, I owe I owe a lot in that space as well to him.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Yeah, I'd really say it's great to see it just continues to shine. And again, the biggest thing I've learned is you know, he always he's always taught me from day one, Sebastian. You take time for everyone. Everyone. Um, I've seen him at events. In fact, when I when I do see him this day and age, uh, it's usually in a green room in another city, uh not elsewhere. Um, but he always takes time, they're always willing to give him a few security people, and he says, I don't want him, I want to be mobbed. And you stay, you stay humble and you stay committed to people and you understand that you didn't build this thing, the people around you built this thing. Um, and it's just been phenomenal, phenomenal advice. But I really think there's a new breed on the rise. I mean, and we're part of that whole process on here. There's been a lot that have fallen off that that that magic carpet, too. Um, and and we know we're a real tight community, even though we're all spread out all over the world and all over the place. Uh, we're a real tight community uh from you know Mike Stelter's social media marketing world to to you, which I've never been to. I've never been to all my friends go every single year. I think it was probably because TNC was so close to it every year. But it's been fun to watch the entire community grow and see where you know what's happening next and where it's at. Um content-wise, um you're a storyteller, I'm a storyteller. Like what's what is your is your main priority of of the content you create, you know, being able to set the stage for the story you want to tell? You think that's really what the you know the core is? Because you know, coming up with another course or you know, pitch this and pitch that and push this, I just don't think there's any value. I think back to Gary's strategy of just jab, jab, jab, I mean just give every day. He's guys worth 500 million, still cranking out a daily episode that's 15 minutes long. You know, he's got a team of 23 that help out with Team Gary V. But still, the point is, you know, the you know, contents where we're at. I think storytelling is gonna take us well into the future.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Yeah, you know, and the crazy part about that, you know, the people that are selling, pushing courses, doing all of that kind of uh selling from stages, you know, that's still working today. Um, I believe the long end of that is we're at we're almost to the point where those are that's gonna stop working, right? It's the it is the people that relate, it's the people.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Unless you're Tony Robbins.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think there's this weird element of like, and to your point about like, you know, there's an element where you had the early adopters, you had the people that got into the internet and just understood it, crushed it, took advantage of what there was. There was all there's also a wave of people that sold unicorns, rainbows, and bullshit. Yeah, and they were really successful for the first seven, eight years of social media. Um, now they're getting exposed. Now they now you realize like, oh, where did that person go? Oh, they didn't really know anything, they weren't really willing to work hard, they didn't really care about their audience. They were able to sell an illusion of something, especially in social media. There was really no bar of entry. You could make up your own ROI, you could tell a client you need four more years uh running their social media before they'll get certain followers, then you'll just go buy the followers. So there's this weird space, I think, that has created kind of a gap right now, right? And I and I I would argue without hesitation, and you both of us are big friend uh good friends with uh Ted Rubin as well, who's always said return on relationships. We're in this weird spot where, yes, there's celebrity overnights that are like the people that are on the YouTubes and that that side, but like true influence over a long period of time right now is made up of people that know their shit, willing to hustle, but they have to be good people because the world the way that this space has really worked, in my opinion, is there are some people that have pushed their way to the top and they weren't really good people, but they were early adopters and they got in there and they crushed it, and good for them. But there's a there was a gap there where people that didn't know anything and really weren't good people have now got exposed, and now there's this weird you know layer of trust. And so I I would argue for anyone, you know, you you said about like telling your you know your internal self or your 20-year-old self, like for me, self-awareness is one of the things that I was never like I always thought like I knew myself, but I didn't invest in myself, like getting better. You you did that a lot, I know last year. But I think we're in this weird space, or it's a good space, where I think people doing good stuff are gonna be are gonna rise, the tide's gonna rise. And yes, the people that are doing bad stuff, it still works right now. People that are selling really crappy courses just to upsell you into another course, just to upsell you into another course, just hopefully so that you're in their email list so you can spam you for all that. All that stuff still working and existing right now, but it's it's gonna, it's gonna, they're not gonna be around in 2030, right? And and like I look at that, I I mean one of the sticky notes you you mentioned, Gary V. I mean, one of the sticky notes I've always had on my desk since forever was that Gary launched uh Wine Library TV at 35 years old, right? He did it at 35 years old. So like I don't ever believe that we're too late to the game, that you're getting too old. I think there's a space now where transparency and live video and and really true influence, um, we don't trust brands, we don't trust logos, we trust people. And this this next couple years is gonna be about what people stand out as trustworthy. And it's not because you can be a jackass on YouTube, it's because you could create entertaining content, you can create educational content, inspirational content, motivational content, but more so than anything else, I mean, I'm a I'm all in on the value of content, and I believe every person has a story to tell. Every person has a story to tell. The question becomes: are you willing to tell it? Are you willing to be vulnerable? Do you know where to start to tell your story? And then ultimately, are you willing to ride the ride that is your story? And that's part of the adventure. Um, if you had to ask me four years ago if I was willing to ride this ride, I'm not sure if I would have known what it was gonna look like. But uh, I'm damn glad I strapped my seatbelt in and been along on this ride.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Yeah, I heard someone say the other day, and I'm completely in agreement with you on that. Um don't don't be surprised that how you get there. Don't be surprised we when you're finally there and you look back and go, I I cut a deal with Ryan Secrets. I my my digital content has become content with major networks. I'm booked with a large brand for 14 keynotes through 2030. Whoa, we're here, and it happened because Fanzo and I met somebody in the green room when we were in Missouri at that one event with 300 people.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Yep. My my I I closed my my biggest contract of this year so far. I closed a week and a half ago, and it was for someone I worked with in 2014 that they didn't pay me to do something. I volunteered to do it, and then I stayed an extra day with them. They've never they didn't have a budget from 2014. All of a sudden, 2018, she pinged me. 2019, we're locking in a full-year deal, and it was literally a going out of your way in 2014, and I had no envisions, stayed friends, stayed connected. So, yeah, I'm I I can tell you so much of my success last year had to do with 2014, 2015, building relationships, building trust, creating content, uh celebrating others, and um, and now it's paying off. You never know. It's amazing uh if you reverse engineer all of your success or all of the gigs you get or all of the clients you have. It's amazing how things, how many things go back to something that you did little above and beyond, or that time you sat in the front row of someone else's talk, or the time you bought someone's book and just shared it on your social, not because they told you, not because they gave you the book for free, but because you cared about them as a person. And man, I think this is the best that's the best this is the best time to be in business when being a good person pays off. But the thing about it is you have to ride it because if you don't ride it and you give up, I think that's that that's so I mean, so I and I can tell you 2017 was my worst year ever. You know, since I graduated college, 2017 was my worst year. Um I got divorced in 2016, 2017 was uh just kind of fell apart. Um, my business fell apart, a lot of my like a lot of things that I was doing just weren't matching up. And I I mean I had every reason to pull a plug and go back into the the real-world workplace and change my my uh tune. But I I kind of kept the you know the goal of my my vision of success, and damn am I glad I did it. But I anyone that's out there struggling right now, I'm with you. It's hard, failure sucks. Um, the tough times seem to go longer than you ever imagined. But uh, I'm doing one of my goals 2019 is to enjoy the success more than I've ever had before. So I'm staying over longer weekends. I am I'm willing to go on like the tour, the local city that I'm in. I want to bring friends along with me. Um, I think you know this journey is amazing. And I give Gary Vanderchuk all kinds of love and credit, but I don't want Gary's life, right? I want the life that says I work my ass off, I do some great things, but I enjoy the hell out of it traveling and living it up. And I think for everyone that's out there, as long as you know what your success is, it keeps you you know on that path to knock it out.

SPEAKER_02 18:04

Yeah, it really does. It really does. And it affords us, you know, the opportunity. That's the most, that's the beautiful part about the speaking business, is that it takes you to awesome places and you've always I love to. I've done that since day one, as long as it was feasible and time, you know, my my my schedule allowed to be able to say, hey, you know, my favorite's San Diego, because I can always go up to Orange County and spend a week old old stomping grounds and you know go see some old friends and and and hang out. But it really is that to afford the freedom to be able to go and do that. But you know, like again, back to Gary, he's always said authenticity trumps like ability like ability. Yep. And uh that's so there are so many inauthentic, fake, fronted individuals, unfortunately, in our community. We run into them, we know them.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Uh there's a few, there's been a few people that people are listening to the show right now, you look up to that are fake, full of shit assholes.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

Yes, exactly. And and and uh there's there's been uh individuals that I've tried to help, it falls on deaf ears that they have all the information figured out, and then you run into them in real life, and they think you're some be, you know, all you've done is try to help, and it's just it is unfortunate. But you know, like Gary continues to say, the internet's just exposing us all. That's all it is, it's gonna unfold the whole story of how it all goes, you know how it all, where it's all that's what everybody's paranoid. I mean, I resources I have in Hollywood are you know going, you know, they're everyone's sitting on edge going, who's next? Yeah, you know, because the internet is literally exposing us all. So again, you keep your nose clean, like my grandmother always used to say, um, you don't have to worry about this. You're always doing the right thing, you never have to worry about doing the wrong thing. That's true. So um, so 2019 is obviously off to a great start for you. You had a phenomenal 2018, the speaking business. Let's dive into that for a minute because I get asked a lot, um, you know, how do you do that? Because I don't know how to how do I I want to be a professional speaker. And I tell my my immediate response is me too. Yeah, how do I get booked to speak? And I said, You need to speak.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Yep. Well, what does that mean?

SPEAKER_02 19:56

I go speak, listen, you know how to you want to get booked to speak more? Speak more. Well, what does that mean? That means I don't care if it's an audience of two and three stuffed animals. The answer is yes. Rotary clubs, chambers, events, uh, local events, client events in front of Facebook Live. That's what I'm doing this year. Yeah, and I've you make it known right here on this episode. I'm going to take my backdrop right here, and I'm going to somehow turn this into like a stage environment. And I'm going to deliver keynotes on Facebook Live. Why? Because it's going to sharpen my game, it's going to allow me to develop content, and who the hell knows who's going to see it. And I'll do I know you agree with this. LinkedIn's wide open right now for video. Wide open on here. So I'm just going to go and start wrapping what I would normally do on stage on Facebook Live and start sharing my message from there. I'm that fired up about getting my message out of you can you can build a brand from nothing. And there's never been an easier time to do it than right now with all the technology. It's the most exciting time to ever be alive. Technology is moving so fast. But are you moving with it? Is the question, you know? So um so the speaking business, let's chat about that for a second. Um, you and I are both involved with NSA. I I got involved back in I think it was 2014, 2015. Um, and I I the first thing I thought when I got there, uh I was in Philadelphia that year, was I thought, wow, this is 25 a room full of 2500 egos. Holy cow, how am I gonna be able to navigate and swim through this pool? Because, you know, I can I can see it now. And I was a little presumptive. I was like, I jumped to a few conclusions, but all in all, I was somewhat accurate. I thought, you know, every conversation I'm gonna have is gonna start with, well, the best thing I like about my keynote is, you know, and uh and again, it's an older generation within NSA. It's people that have been speaking since God spoke to Moses. I mean, okay, maybe not that long ago, but it's that have been speaking since you and I have been knee high to a Girl Scout. Um but I saw I when when I realized that I thought, well, it's an older, it's an older crowd, older crew, like they've been they've been around uh for a while doing this a lot longer. What a great opportunity to learn. Number one. Number two, I immediately thought, what do I have that they don't have? And I'm like, ah, this whole social media thingy, the whole books thingy. So that's how I was able to really start to develop relationships with a lot of speakers where I'm like, hey, listen, I'm gonna MC and speaker. I've been doing it for like four or five years, off and on. I want to do it all the time. Maybe I can learn from you. Um when I'm not on stage, I'm helping brands figure out their social strategy. Oh, I need to know how to use Twitter and immediately started to develop these relationships on here. How did things start with you when you first had or you know, let's back up, how'd you get how'd you how'd you get tipped off to NSA and how did you get involved?

SPEAKER_00 22:37

So yeah, you know, I think the interesting thing for me, um, like I, you know, if I would have I wish Scott Stratton said at 14 years old he saw Les Brown on TV and realized that professional speaking was a job and he's wanted to do that since he was 14. Um, I wish I had that, right? Like I I always knew that I loved talking. I wanted to be a sports center anchor. Then I realized you needed to know journalism to be on uh on TV on SportsCenter. And I was like, I'm not good at journalism, my my English, my grammar isn't the best uh uh ever. Um, you know, and so for me, weirdly, like I started speaking at the US government, at the Pentagon. Um, every quarter I would speak to generals and and I would give them an update on the state of the union of where we were with our contracts, also where I thought things were going, how they could relate with younger generations that were coming up, uh, and so on. Um, but weirdly enough, like I've actually done all three, right? So I worked in the government, spoke internally. I went and worked at a data center company, I became the face of the data center company. Uh the CEO, one of the brightest people I've ever known in my entire life, wasn't super into the speaking or like playing the game. So he allowed me to be the face of that company. So we would sponsor an event, they would put me on the stage as the sponsored speaker. Um, and then I left that client, that that one, and I went on my own. And I couldn't get on a side stage of a side stage of a side stage because not only was I not speaking, was I not sponsored, but I didn't have like the book or the resume or the celebrity status or the crazy thing. So I kind of had a rebuild um from scratch. And I think when I look at it, you know, what starts to work really well when it you need to speak a lot, right? You need to have first, you have to have something to say. I mean, because there's lots of people that are speakers that can talk about a topic, but you have to have something to say that will is relatable, that is um that moves an audience. I don't care which way it moves them, it moves them to uninstall, reinstall, moves them to rethink or make makes or you know, have a new idea, but you have to move them. That you also need people that that are willing to go bat for you, right? Testimonials, people that are saying, I saw you. Um, you know, for me, uh Twitter became that. So I had a lot of people that would start posting and saying, Brian, I listened to this episode or I saw you speak here, and it changed my business. Hey Brian, I did this, I changed this, and I started to get those that kind of momentum. Um, and you know, I I'm I'm not one, I have no ego. I I'm a big believer in like giving first. Uh, you know, I think that's that Gary, that Gary side. And I started speaking at a lot of events and and really giving is my all. If it was a paid event or a free event, you got the same Brian Fanza, right? And uh what I started to realize was if I don't have all the other components, what can I do? And and this is this is kind of my spiel. When I'm on a sales call, I tell I tell people that you know I don't have the celebrity status or the reputation to sell tickets for the event, but I can promise you when people come to my session, I'll sell tickets for next year's event because they'll leave my session inspired, motivated, and telling their friends about it. Yeah, and that's my differential, right? And so that's where I presented myself. Um, I also leverage the things that I do better than um most speakers. I'm really good at creating content on the fly, so I create content when I'm at the event. I include that in my package. Everyone that hires me full fee, they get two videos beforehand to use on Facebook ads, Instagram ads. They get a live video when I land um at the event, they get tweets during the event, I sit in other people's sessions, I promise to be there for all eight hours of the event, not just the hour I'm speaking. And these are all ways that I knew I could add value that I would enjoy and it would separate me. And then when it came down to it, um you have to not suck on stage, right? Like that's part of the uh that's part of the uh ingredients. But there's also an element of um, you know, some of the hardest pieces of the speaking business that I've had to learn are the things that have nothing to do with the stage and nothing to do with the event, right? Understanding, you know, how to build trust and rapport during the pre-call when people are you know kind of going through the process, how to sell yourself, how to get future gigs. I mean, one of the one of the things I always tell people is this business is really hard because you're always in business development mode because very few times do events hire you back year after year. Yeah. So each year, like as great as my 2018 was, I will probably of the 48 like uh gigs that were paid for last year, I would say four, four are gonna have some kind of paid plan with me in 2019. Um, I mean, that's all think about that. I mean, I'm I'm pretty much starting as great as it was, um, you know, kind of almost starting off from scratch. So you have to you have to use those events to build momentum. Logos are great. Um, and I you you also, I think in the in the day and age we're living in right now, um, speaking is you know a lot about what you have to say, a lot about what you do, but it's a lot about your reputation. Uh, I would say my leads come in. I don't apply for speaking gigs. I don't have a bureau that works for me at the moment. Um, you know, my speaking gigs through my content. My podcasts are developed very much so people understand my thought leadership. I'm super active on LinkedIn and engaged. And I would say, you know, well over 60% of the people that are hiring me are coming from my content, or someone that that is that listens to my content has advocated for me. And the other 40% are from people that have seen me or friends or fellow speakers that say this guy kicks ass. And I think that's those are all things you have to kind of learn. Um, and I also think you know, for everyone that's out there, there was an Inc. article just this week that said public speaking is, uh I think as Warren Buffett said, uh, public speaking is a necessary skill set for anyone who has a dream of being a manager or above, right? And I think public speaking, one of these things you have to realize is that conveying your message today, it's great to be smart, but in this day and age, right now, it doesn't no one cares that you're smart. We care about how good are you at sharing that with other people. And I think as a speaker, that's our bread and butter, right? Like that's the cream. But even if you're not into speaking, I think investing in how you communicate, having a platform, like you know, your podcast. I mean, podcasts are my thing. Like I freaking love podcasts. I mean, if you don't have a podcast, you need to think about either sponsoring one, co-hosting one, launching your own, right? Like that's that's where I host two of them uh now. I'll have three by the end of this year. And I think they for me, that's my vehicle. But I also create some video content and I also blog on my website. So I think you know, you have to get your story out there. Uh, I think, as I said at the start of this, I think everyone has a story to tell. The problem is in this crazy, noisy digital world, the best way to get it told is through content and relationships, and that's a hell of a lot of work.

SPEAKER_02 28:44

It is, it is. I saw that quote uh yesterday that said, uh, most people uh don't recognize opportunity because it shows up or hard work because it shows up in over.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

Disguise is hard work.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. And another Garyism, which was, you know, everybody wants it. Nobody wants to work for it. Yeah. Um let's talk about personal brands for a second here. Um, segueing into speaking stuff. And, you know, congrats on your uh on figuring out this speaking game here. And it's it's gonna be fun to uh to to to watch the journey continue to unfold. Um it's it's it's my belief that um I'll be MC in the events that you're keynoting, and that's just how we're gonna roll.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

Oh yeah, do it.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

So let's go. Um personal branding. I read a quote, uh, Gary's been putting these cartoons up lately, which are really cool, actually. Really cool comics. Um but the one he put up today was specifically about um personal branding, and it said, Ugh, I just want to go home and play the clarinet at 1.30 in the afternoon by Krusty the Crab. Yo, don't do something you hate. Ask yourself what you want to do for the rest of your life and do that. Gary V. The ultimate ROI is happiness, not money. Um that was not the one. That wasn't the one. But that one was good too. Hold on a second here. Uh so good. Anyway, I can't find it now. But uh it talked about uh oh, he posted on on LinkedIn and it was about, hey, you need to build your personal brand. And someone's like, isn't that kind of douchey to do that? Like, no, building your personal brand is like is like your online business card. It's like your credibility factor. It's like your uh I forget what it is. I'm gonna have to pull it up and share it in the show notes later on. But it talked about like the reason you want to, because I was thinking about that later. I'm like, yeah, personal brand, personal brand. He talks a lot about like your the lifeblood of like staying alive as an entrepreneur is having a personal brand, but why do you want to do that? It's your credibility, really. It's not about the content, it's the fact that people go, this guy's brand is something that I know, like, and trust.

SPEAKER_00 30:47

And it's your first impression, it's your most recent impression, it's your ability to stay top of mind, not get forgotten. Right. And I think weirdly enough, the people who who who have poo-pooed personal branding as a whole, in my opinion, come from two camps. One, that they already had a strong foundation and they didn't want people to kind of compete with them in a world where they had already done all that work and like digital was was bringing us all back down to a level. And the second people are the crazy enough people that say, build relationships, be engaged, everything's done through your network. Well, guess what? Your network in in 2019 and beyond is your personal brand, right? And I I think it's amazing where where we've gone. And I I would say it doesn't matter. I mean, I was on a dating podcast the other day, and I was like, your first impression when you're dating has to do with your personal brand, right? When someone googles your name, what the hell is the first result when someone googles your name? When you, if someone's working for you, a client, I can tell you if I meet somebody in person and someone's like, uh, you know, I was in a you know, I'm at an event and someone's like, hey, I'm gonna go get such and such and bring them over. I open up LinkedIn and type in their name and I scan their profile before they even walk over and meet me in person, right? Like your first and and that's why I believe everybody has to invest in their first impression. Sadly, we still think of that as the clothing we're wearing. I would argue it's the personal brand that you have.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

Oh, 100%. I found the I found the uh I found the the the comic here too. It said, Gary, isn't personal brand a douchiery word? Gary, what? No, farthest thing from it, my friend. Personal brand is just another word for reputation. And your reputation in perpetuity is the foundation of your career. I was like, whoa! Yeah, I love that. Bam! And if you're listening to the podcast right now and you're like, whoa, I want to see that, I'm gonna include in the link on Gary's LinkedIn so you can check out that uh meme, worth uh definitely worth sharing on here. But I thought that was some interesting perspective because I'm always preaching the build a brand gospel, but man, oh man, that is so true and so accurate on there. I mean, personal branding is uh, you know, it's just what we do. I talk to you know the trainers at the gym every day about it, and I'm like, hey, when are you gonna touch your personal? I know I should be, and I know I need to. We're in that phase now where everyone's starting to go live on Facebook, no matter what it is. If it's Christmas time and kids are ripping out presents, we're going live, you know, shaky camera and all we're going live, we're pushing the button. Uh and then, you know, and then you've got uh people that are legitimately starting to create content and you know, create. Um you probably think about this a lot too, and I do it's like, wow, everyone's everyone's everyone's creating a brand. Everyone's doing what everyone's doing right now, but not everyone has been doing it as long as I've been doing it, is what I say. Like I say, I say it now on the podcast, but I don't go around preaching that. But I think to myself, yes, Sebastian. But the the MySpace days back in 2005 are going to pay off dividends for sure for people that are just jumping in the game to get it because it's the next thing that you should be doing. So um, gosh, yeah, it was I think it was, yeah, the last the late days of well when LinkedIn was the first ones on the block, weren't they? Late 2004. So LinkedIn right into MySpace, MySpace to Facebook, and then I figured how to monetize it with 2010. Well, six years later. Like, all right, I'm done screwing around on MySpace.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

You know, no kidding. Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

So, well, man, it's gonna be an exciting year for you, dude. 2019, you're gonna be book uh, I say you book up. So let's not wait till 2020. Let's get those hundred gigs booked each year. Do it going on here. The books dropping, press the damn button. For those of you tuning in here, you need to connect with my boy. He's I, social fans across just about every social platform out there. Very active on LinkedIn, very active on uh on Twitter, the gram, Facebook, eh, you know, he's got his podcast too. So make sure you connect with uh Brian Fanzo. Brian, uh it's uh it's a it's a pleasure to to to be friends with you. Uh it's a pleasure to to to be colleagues with you, man, and support you, be on the journey with you. Uh, and I'm fired up. I really I feel it in my I feel it in my gut that we're gonna we're gonna figure something out here uh to be able to work together here.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Let's do it. Let's crush some stages together in uh 2019 for sure.

SPEAKER_02 34:41

I'm absolutely bound to do it. All right, let's close things out with um uh uh one final question, and that is so you and I just got done crushing a large 10,000-person conference. I was the MC, you did a keynote in a couple breakouts, we're done. It's the last day, and by default, I'm making you go out and uh sip some fine bourbon and chug IPAs, which you have no problem doing. It's the end of the night. We're at the hotel bar for a nightcap, but we realize that the other bar across the way is still open, and that bar is doing karaoke. So I convince you that you and I are going to do karaoke, bourbon infused, IPA infused. What song are we singing?

SPEAKER_00 35:18

Oh, what's ooh, what are we singing? It's like my personal go-to, which is you know hard to admit, is uh these boots are made for walking. Uh that's literally my personal go-to. I I can I can uh I can hammer out from there. But I have a feeling you and I would do uh some bonjon uh so uh John Bow Jovi. Living on a prayer? Living on a prayer, I think, would have to be where we would we would go, we would run around. I mean, we are both like I mean, we are loud, we're passionate, we talk fast, we're not afraid to put ourselves out there. I think living on a prayer would be uh where we end up.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Yeah, I'm down. Living on a prayer, that's it. Done our first book gig together. We're singing karaoke, damn it. Let's do it. Hey, thanks again for your time. Thanks again for tuning in, everybody here. Make sure you're following Brian. Stay in touch. You'll thank you later for being able to do so. We'll talk to you guys next time.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

Cheers.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

Hey, it's Sebastian again. Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the Seb Rush Show on Social Buzz on Air. If you like what you hear, make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get notifications every time a new episode drops. Be sure to follow Brian. He's got great content. He's a good dude. He's iSocial fans in most places on the internet and the social media's world. I'm Sebastian Rusk, signing off from our beautiful studio here in beautiful Miami. We'll talk to you next time.