Unlocking the Power of Personal Branding: Stories, Strategies, and Success with Alan McLaren

Chapters

• 0:02 Personal Branding Transformation and Success
• 12:49 Building Your Personal Brand Through Storytelling
• 22:48 Maximizing Personal Branding Success

Transcript

Nicole Tuxbury: 0:02

Hello there and welcome back to the next episode of Overcome Yourself, the podcast. As you know, my name is Nicole and I'm so excited to be here today with Alan, and Alan helps entrepreneurs and leaders with their branding. He's got some great, vivid imagery for you. I guess that's part of his brand, but I'm going to let him take it away. So, alan, please go ahead, introduce yourself and let us know who you are and who you help.

Alan Mclaren: 0:28

Yeah, so my name is Alan McLaren. I'm from the other side. I'm in Canada. I was born in Montreal and I'm in Toronto, canada. Now. For the last 25 years, I've been in all kinds of industries over my long gray hair, the things that I've picked up, industries over my long, you know, gray hair, the things that I've picked up. But from entrepreneurship to running public companies to now running a personal branding agency. And I have to tell you, out of all the 25 or 30 years I've been doing this, you know, part of what you do is transformation. Nicole, I have now discovered that piece in my life and it's in the work we're doing with personal branding, working with CEOs right now, helping them get with clarity and strategy and helping them, to your point, get over themselves to recognize they have this talent in the world. And it has transformed me and transformed the people we're working with all around the world. So it's been the coolest experience in the last third of my life. I'm going to be really making a difference in people's lives.

Nicole Tuxbury: 1:26

I love that. That is amazing. And branding is so important, often overlooked. So can you give me some tips for the entrepreneurs that are listening? They're overcoming themselves, they're building out their businesses? What are some branding tips that you've got for us?

Alan Mclaren: 1:43

Just recognize that if you're an entrepreneur, it's your brand. You are the brand, you're the one selling, you're the one coaching, you're the one bringing in the business, you're the one delivering the business. So you're the brand. And ask yourself this question Do you trust a company or do you trust people? We know the answer we trust people. But if you don't exist on digital, you don't exist. Think about the old days and I can think about the old days because I was part of the old days Is that you would control your brand inside a company, wouldn't you? Everybody would be in the office, everybody do their thing. You'd be the leader.

Alan Mclaren: 2:21

Now, distribution of communication is different. It's one to many and one to one. And this medium that we're talking about here whether it's a Zoom call or a Teams call or any other video call this is the new way. So how do you communicate with people? So my first tip is to recognize the importance of your brand. That's number one. Number two is understand who you are, understand your strengths and your weaknesses, and what I mean by that is everybody has a gift. They just don't know they have a gift, and I'll give you a perfect example. The number one question we get from our entrepreneurs is why would anybody listen to me? The answer is very simple what you think is normal? The answer is very simple. What you think is normal, somebody else might find fascinating.

Nicole Tuxbury: 3:06

Yes, yes. I heard once, if you know how to fry an egg and you do that for someone that doesn't, it's magic to them. You know, there's like an art to fry an egg right, like the pan has to be hot enough and if you don't know how to do that, it's going to be magical. So the things that are the most normal. I love that. I love that Because you don't see how awesome the thing you do is, because it just seems so second nature to you.

Alan Mclaren: 3:35

And the other thing, though, is that where we live is in the line of somebody's perspective. Let me give you a story that might be helpful.

Alan Mclaren: 3:38

We did a workshop the other day and there were two gentlemen from the Carolinas. They were in the same business. They were in debt reconciliation, helping people through debt. So the assumption would be oh, they're in the same business. Well, one of them deals with couples who get into trouble financially and he helps, consult and helps them get through it. The other one was an immigrant from Gambia, in Africa, who deals with new immigrants to Canada, to America, and so you start thinking about well, they're in the same business, but they're nowhere near in the same business, because the folks from Gambia don't know what a credit card is, don't know what a loan is, so the perspectives of him are vastly different from the other gentleman who deals with perspectives. So apparently it's the same business but the perspectives are so different. That's what I'm talking about. Everybody has that gift because everybody came from a different place.

Nicole Tuxbury: 4:31

I love that. And how do you help your clients narrow down what that is for them?

Alan Mclaren: 4:37

So we do something called a brand DNA, which is essentially a 90 minute forensic interview of everything that you are as a human being. So everything from you know what your influences were at 12 years old, some of the challenges you had when you were younger, to your journey as an entrepreneur, because everybody has a story. There's not a human without a story. I mean, dr Seuss used to always say, used to say, only you are you. That is never truer in today's world. No one realizes they have a story. So what we do is we help them extract that story and be honest with themselves about what's inside them, and then they kind of lay out a bit of a gift for them, which is what are their core platform and what are their core perspectives. Now they have clarity and then they go on to do other things like podcasts and social media and other things, because they have clarity on who they are and what their gifts and perspectives are. So that's the first piece of work we do and that's the transformational work we do.

Alan Mclaren: 5:36

That's the part that gets me charged up, because we had one of our clients gave us this word, nicole, which is so cool. She says thank you for changing my life and I went wait a minute, we're doing personal branding here, what are you talking about? She says I now see me the way you see me. And so the world opened up. Because she was very insular, because she was humble and not sharing. So then we helped her through that. And then, on the other side, now she's literally unstoppable. But she needed that little block to get over. And a lot of our clients have that block imposter syndrome pick something, they're just not ready. But boy, when they get on the other side, magic happens. And that's that's the work we do. That is the most fun.

Nicole Tuxbury: 6:24

I love that. My coach says it's hard to see your own label from inside the bottle, and so I love how you, you, just you shine a light to that. And speaking of stories, that was a great transition because I wanted to ask you about your story and how you ended up helping with branding. I feel like there might be a story of overcoming yourself somewhere, so can you tell us a little bit about that?

Alan Mclaren: 6:48

There is. There's a business story. So I've been in lots of different businesses throughout my career, but the last 18 years I had a marketing agency with a business partner, leanne, and we had a good entrepreneurial run, up and down, in and out, some great highs, some great lows, which everybody goes through in entrepreneurship. Don't believe the hype, right, as people say, oh, it's all the huckies. No, it's not always easy, but it's also part of your growth journey, right? But what we recognized at some point in our around COVID is like a lot of businesses we had. No, everything disappeared revenue wise.

Alan Mclaren: 7:21

So we had to think about the next 10, what does it look like? And what we realized was you know, this communication of personal branding was really not productized in a way that it was accessible. People go personal branding oh, I'll hire a publicist or I'll hire a speech writer or I'll hire a social media team. No, they start with strategy. So we figured out that it wasn't out there. No, they start with strategy. So we figured out that it wasn't out there. So we said, okay, let's start it as a product under our company and see if there's something there. Oh well, we discovered there was something there. Get over ourselves an 18-year legacy that we had this business that we built together and we had to say but now we're moving towards something new. So there took a little bit of angst and challenge to do that. We made the decision, we started the new business and we haven't looked back and we're having the time of our lives now.

Nicole Tuxbury: 8:28

That is amazing. And having honest conversations with yourself, because you have to admit this is not working. You have to have enough insight into yourself and enough honesty and right to be able to say that to yourself and to your partners and be like how can, how can we make this different? To be able to say that to yourself and to your partners and be like how can we make this different? How can we pivot. And I think that's amazing. So you bring up an important point. Branding is not social media. Branding is not publicity. Branding is not writing articles. All of those things are great, but it's not branding. So when you talk about branding, can you kind of solidify it a little bit for us? And what does it mean? Like, what is branding?

Alan Mclaren: 9:06

Well, I'll make it really simple. So we always use the word personal branding because it's a little different than corporate branding. But let's think about this when you walk in a room, your personal brand shows up before you do Right, and when you leave the room, it's still there, because people are describing you. Nicole, when you touch somebody's life, they're going to say something about you. When you're not there, are they defending you, are they protecting you, are they celebrating you? That's essentially what a personal brand is.

Alan Mclaren: 9:34

So if you're known as a giver or someone who lives with their heart, or an intellectual whatever that is, the perception of you is the reality. It may not be what you want, but the perception is reality. So the question is what do people say about you when you're not in the room, and is it what you want them to say? And how do you close that gap? Well, you close that gap with some of the tools that you mentioned and say okay, now I know who I am. Is that what I want the world to know? And then it's a question of sharing your gifts with the world. So, in my case, I share my knowledge of leadership and my knowledge of personal branding, and I never sell a thing. I want to teach you how to do it, and if you do it, I feel inspired that you've done it. I'm really happy that you've done it. You want a little lesson from leadership, happy to share my perspectives.

Alan Mclaren: 10:25

So once you do that, then you determine the communication vehicles for that. A podcast is one of the vehicles to share your story. And writing articles, doing video, doing social media all those are communication elements that you should use, because you get to communicate with the people in your life already and they're the ones are going to get you to the next group. So that's how I would describe personal branding. It's a transformational exercise if done right. But you know, can't see the label from inside. The jar is exactly the point. Get some help because you can't see it yourself.

Nicole Tuxbury: 11:00

I love that, and you know, when you talk about branding, you think you're going to say, oh, the logo and having your shirt and your little freebies when are they, the little freebies? When you go to events and like that's not at all what you are talking about. And all of these things, though, support the branding that you're talking about, right, and I absolutely love that. That is absolutely fantastic.

Alan Mclaren: 11:22

The difference is you think about so in the case of an entrepreneur, who is the company? Let's in your case, right? So it's really impossible to separate the two, right? At the end of the day, the overcome yourself t-shirt is you, because you have a story. I don't even know your story, but I know you have a story to get to where you are today that says, okay, that's what I'm about and I want to share that knowledge with the world. You do that via a podcast, by bringing other guests and get a chance to share that story.

Alan Mclaren: 11:51

Well, there are another 30 or 40 ways to get it out there when you have time, money and energy to get it out there, cause that's that's the biggest thing, right, the other day it was so we've incorporated into our workshops that the gentleman shared with me says you know, change is hard. It requires time, energy and money and money. It always requires money of some type. But but are people prepared for change when they're not prepared for transformation or action? They're not. So that's what we try to do is say, let us be the wind beneath your wings, let's get a little crazy for a second, but let us help you get there so you can now flourish in a big way, and it's just the coolest thing when people realize that, humbly, they have this talent and now they're able to share it with the world. So that's it. But it is about the human, because that's the trusted source versus the company.

Nicole Tuxbury: 12:48

I love that. And actually this podcast was born from me writing my book. It's in editing right now. But I started as a book and then I was like, ok, the book is done, it's with my editor, what am I going to do between now and the time the book is published? To talk about this book Like there's got to be something, like it doesn't just exist. Then how do I bring it into existence? And now we're coming up on 100 episodes.

Nicole Tuxbury: 13:25

And it was a journey of sitting down and asking myself what do I have? 10,000 hours of experience and like really looking at my life and just like a little quick recap, my mom died when I was one and a half. I got into a boat accident when I was nine, hurt my back. Nobody believed nine year old me had back pain and so I just lived my life as if that didn't exist. And then, when I was 21, I went to the doctor and found out that I had the back of a disabled elderly woman and I would be in a wheelchair in five years if I didn't quit my job as a server carrying trays and change something. So I had to go on a journey of what the heck do I do now, and from that. That's where my book was born from. That's where I had to learn how to make money without having to leave my house, sometimes without having to leave my bed, because, like I was stuck there and I've been strengthening ever since and then so my book, and then my podcast, was born from that.

Nicole Tuxbury: 14:17

And so when I really learned to take these pieces and be able to say this is my story, like this is what happened to me, like this is literally my life and I overcame it, and now I can show you what I did, that you can do, and you know it's hard, and I interview so many people and their stories. Like I'm so humbled by people's stories. Like you know what it is to build a business for 20 years and then be like this doesn't work. Like that, that's scary, right, that's really, really scary.

Nicole Tuxbury: 14:50

And so I commend you and people that have lost their children, people that have gone through so many things with their bodies, like it's just, it's just incredible and to see these stories of resilience and you know to share that with the world, right, so that's what we're here to do. So I think it's amazing. Now tell me a little bit more about your tips for branding, so like, if I want to control my story, right, I want to go out with my story. How, how do I do that? How do I share with the world?

Alan Mclaren: 15:23

So you use the example of a book, right? So once you've got clarity on who you are, so let's use your example, would be perfect. So you have perspectives in a story and there are many that have overcome great odds, but your odds are your odds and your perspectives are your perspectives. There are other people that have lost parents at one and a half that don't necessarily have the same perspective because of where they grew up, how they grew up did they have a good dad or didn't act like. All those things influence you, well, but they're all extrapolated to overcoming yourself, right? So you've chosen to write a book. What we do with people say, okay, if you're not writing a book, how do you lay that story out? What are the influences of? You didn't remember when you were one and a half, but whenever you started remembering that, what were the memories and what were the things that held you back, like, so those are the perspectives that are probably in your book, right? And now you say, okay, how do I break that out? So we tell people is lay that out as if it's a book, lay it out for a year and start recording videos on your phone 30 seconds, one minute, get the story out there and then, when you're comfortable with it, maybe you start popping that on social media, and so as so what we do with some authors, you start popping that on social media, and so as so what we do with some authors. There are authors that have books coming out. We say to them let's take some key elements of your book, start to record videos of that as a precursor to the book, getting people excited about the book. And then when they want to read the book, they get the full experience. But they get to. You get to capture them early. So it's the same, whether you're running a coaching business, consulting business or a cookie business, doesn't matter. People are interested in your story because there's a reason. You started a cookie business. It didn't just come out of the blue, something happened. So that's what it is. Look at it like a book. Lay out your chapters 12 months of the year, four weeks in each month on average. Okay, what would I want to talk about? And then you lay out your content plan.

Alan Mclaren: 17:26

We recommend video because it's the most authentic, right? Podcast video is more authentic than audio, right? So because you get to see and like or dislike the person, whatever you choose to do. So we do recommend that. Practice, practice, practice. Learn how to tell a story. Most important thing is learn how to tell a story in two minutes and you can practice it until you're tired of practicing it. Don't post it until you're ready. But I'll tell you the other side of that. When you do that, I do probably 50 to 60 videos a year and they're easy to do. Now I did one just before we started Five minutes. I had an idea, pushed the button done, video's done, sent it to my editor. We're done. No edits, we're done Because you get practice at it and it's good.

Alan Mclaren: 18:13

And think about this as a personal brand. Now when you go to an event, you're not long-winded anymore, you can be successful and impactful and that's really cool. So that's kind of number one. Number two is whatever you choose to do, don't get hung up on production value. Nobody, they just want you. So on youtube, you have to have a thumbnail, because that's what youtube wants. But if you're on linkedin or tiktok or instagram, just let it be your face. That's what people want to see and not a lot of b-roll. And Because then it feels like marketing and it feels like selling yes, not building trust. So that's the second tip I would do is do that. And then the third tip is start. Start by getting on your LinkedIn, if it's a business thing, and start commenting on other people's stuff. Start getting the algorithm to recognize that you exist. Start to grow your audience and then start your content plan, and no one will come to your party. At the beginning, no one's coming to you, that's good.

Nicole Tuxbury: 19:12

That's good, because then you can mess up. You can mess it all up.

Alan Mclaren: 19:15

You can come to the party now, but one video could change everything. Yes, Right, so I get last week, Friday, Monday Instagram posts. Someone reaches out to me from New York Can you do a speaking gig in New York for us? Just sign the contract today. Two days later, On Monday, someone saw a 30 second post in Cyprus Cyprus, and I had a call with the next day and she says yeah, I want to do business with you. I didn't know these people from a hole in the ground. And that's what the opportunity is. If you're out there and you're honest and you're true to yourself, stuff's going to start to happen for you If you're out there. If you're not out there, you're not going to know what you're missing because it's not going to pop on your doorstep. So get out there and start would be the biggest tip I could give anybody. Don't be, I love it.

Nicole Tuxbury: 20:08

Yes, take imperfect action, what I always tell my clients. Actually, I was thinking something you said earlier. I have a whole chapter in my book called you've got to want it. Um, like that transformation, that that the goal. You've got to learn to want it and be able to keep it right. So that's such a big part. And something else that you said is you were talking about video attracting, repelling. Like you're already a niche. Just by being you as yourself, you're attracting and repelling people. So why not be as much you as possible and just attract and repel the right people? Like, if you don't like that, I'm bubbly. Goodbye, I'm not gonna be less bubbly. Like, just stop watching my videos, right?

Alan Mclaren: 20:53

the picture on your podcast, right it's you have. You exude a personality, right? If that's the authentic you, that's it, because I'm not gonna be funny. I can't get up on stage and tell jokes. I just can't part of who I am. So I know what I'm good at, I know what I'm not good at. I don't pretend to be somebody else, end of story. And you don't pretend to be somebody else. Authenticity is the name of the game Truth and living. If you are a heart centered person, then you lead with your heart. If you're a head-centered person, it's hard to lead with your heart. Then it's okay. People appreciate you as an intellectual. That's why they'll follow you. Gary Vaynerchuk right. Some people don't like him because he swears like a crazy man, right, but he's authentic as heck. He is who he is and he doesn't care, and he attracts the right people and repels others.

Nicole Tuxbury: 21:42

And his market loves him.

Alan Mclaren: 21:43

And people love him because he's not playing any games. And that's all we're saying is you can really be you. Dr Seuss was right, you can really be you. And then, yeah, if you attract 1,000 people, think about that, how many people would you have in a speaking gig or listening to this podcast? If you get 20, 30, 50 people listening to you, they know hundreds more and they'll help spread your message. So that's what I would say.

Nicole Tuxbury: 22:12

Yes, and then it's also the effect of like commercials, right, because when they see you everywhere, right, cause you, you shared a podcast episode. Now they see you on the videos. Like you make shorter videos. You record a video here. You share a blog post, you're talking about your life on social media. Wow, this person is everywhere and we need those touches. As salespeople, we need like 70 touches it used to be seven, now it's like 70 for them just to pay attention to whatever it is that you're trying to talk to them about, because there's so much going on. Um, so all of this is just gold, absolutely amazing. Thank you so much, alan my pleasure.

Alan Mclaren: 22:48

One thing I'll say is it's absolutely true, it may not. Whether it's 70 or not, they need to spend time with you, and the first time they spend time with you and the second time they'll want to spend it with the third time and fourth time, and you'll see that in your analytics when you're on social media and go well, look who's, I've got these new people that are showing up from where? Well, because we did a podcast here that brought 10 more people over, and it's a long game, right? So let's not pretend it's a long game, but I would encourage, you know, I think we'll maybe talk about it before we wrap up, but we have a tool that we could help some of your listeners with. If they want to visit a page which we can put in the post later, when you're ready to get it out there, there's a gift that we'll have for them on personal branding and a worksheet that they can help figure out their own brand. And then I was about to ask you.

Nicole Tuxbury: 23:38

So, yes, take it away. Let us know about it.

Alan Mclaren: 23:41

Yeah, so we have a landing page that that your listeners that we do it. I do it for the podcast that I go on, and it'll be a 30 minute video that I've recorded with my business partner, leanne, that teaches you the ABCs of what personal branding is and what you can think about. And then there's a worksheet you can download that really helps you walk through and you actually work through it and say, okay, now I understand my strengths, my credibility, my all those things. That's the starting point right.

Alan Mclaren: 24:09

And if, if you, if you love that and it works for you, then just get started. And you know our world is. We do, as I said earlier, we do the brand DNA with our CEO clients and then we either become their coach or we do the work for them. That's it. That's the easy way to engage with us. We're a premium service, to be honest, so it's not for everybody, but for the people that do work with us, as I shared with one guy yesterday, I said listen, if you don't like us, you better like us because we're going to become friends. And he said no, I like you guys. I said because that's the warning.

Alan Mclaren: 24:46

The warning signal is we're going to be working together very intimately for the next year. So just be ready that if you don't really get that feeling, then don't go ahead. If you do get that feeling, then I think we'll have a good opportunity for success together, and that's you'll find those people in your life is what I would say. If you're not ready to to invest in in an agency to help you, then then learn. Go on YouTube, go to follow, go to our newsletter, follow my videos. We will teach you everything we know, but you got to learn on your own. That takes a little longer, but people have done it but you know what?

Nicole Tuxbury: 25:22

that's something that I talk to my audience about all the time. You're going to have to make an investment, and it's either going to have to be your time or your money, but you're going to have to invest one of them. So, if you don't have the money to invest right now, invest your time. And what you were saying about the videos is every time someone takes the time to watch one of your videos, that's a yes, and you, you know, my big thing is gratitude. Be grateful for that. Yes, because they're saying yes with their time before they say yes with their money. So the more that they say yes to you with their time, the closer you are to getting yeses with the money right.

Alan Mclaren: 25:57

Quick 20. Second story A gentleman I've known for 20 years. We were at an event together and every time I get there he and his spouse say love your video and they're really great. They're really. We watched them all the time. I said that's awesome, that's really great, and that was it. I never went any further. One event he turns to me and says okay, I'm ready, so ready for what? My journey with you? I'd like to hire you. I said I didn't even know you were a prospect. When did that happen? He said well, I've been on your videos for over a year and I think it's time for me so it was a lesson for me to kind of realize that you're making deposits in people's lives without even realizing it. He made a decision to work with us. He didn't know how much, how often, where I want to work with you, cause now, although he knew me, now, now he trusted my expertise yes, yes it was a great lesson for me and all of us have that in our lives if we pay attention to it as you suggested.

Alan Mclaren: 26:51

You know being grateful is paying attention to the good right yes. I wasn't necessarily even paying attention to that because I was humbled by the praise, which I'm really hard to take. Praise, well, I don't do that well, so I didn't see the opportunity until it was smashed in my face. I'm like yeah, so anyways, it's a lesson to learn, another lesson that is amazing and you're working on getting better at that.

Nicole Tuxbury: 27:15

It's not that you're bad at taking. Praise is that you're learning to receive right, because when we give, we also have to be good at receiving and accept that someone else wants to give right. So I love that. I think that is amazing. So how can we stay in touch with you and do you have any final tips for the audience?

Alan Mclaren: 27:32

Well, staying in touch. Our website, alan McLaren on LinkedIn would be a first step. And just say that you know it'd be great to say that you were on Nicole's podcast. Heard that. Go to the landing page so I'll send the links and we'll get that all in there so you can do that. Sign up for our newsletter on that same page so you can get regular information. And and what I would encourage is what I try to do with everybody who's scared before they do it is just use LinkedIn as an example and just start going on there.

Alan Mclaren: 28:00

15 minutes a day, 10 minutes a day. Follow some people you really love. You're not going to emulate Gary Vaynerchuk or you know, or others, but go see what they're doing, see the different styles and say what is me? And then start messing around Starting. Start, start, start. That's the key and then you'll. It'll evolve like a flower blooms over time. The beginning it'll be ugly, it'll be clumsy and that's all good, and then after that you'll see the benefits. A year after you start doing that stuff's going to happen to you you never imagined. But if you don't start. That's why I always tell people the opportunity cost of not being out there is. You don't know what you're missing. Really literally, you don't know what you're missing because it's there.

Nicole Tuxbury: 28:48

You just got to be out there, and if you're not, even the opportunities, the free opportunities I've gotten just from having my podcast right, like, um, like from the podcast host, like I got tickets to podfest last year. They were like, hey, we're giving away some tickets. So like even being in that world has given me opportunities that I never would have imagined. Um, and I want to point out the sales lesson um, for my audience. I just, I absolutely love how you, um, you spoke to your audience and you said, hey, this is a premium service. So like you didn't have to, you didn't have to say anything negative. Right, you focus on the positive and let your audience know hey, this is a premium service. So like, this is not a 25 thing we're talking about guys, and I think that's a huge lesson and just the way that you phrase it and, um, and just that the formula, like seeing it play out, how you do, how it's about doing what you're doing, the service because you love it, and then the money is coming on the back end.

Nicole Tuxbury: 29:50

Like we're focusing not on the numbers, because I'm like, make videos and my client's like, but nobody sees them. I'm like if you had 200 people in a room, you wouldn't know what to do. Right, make the videos because you want to help those people, not because they're seeing them right now and from that service. Those are the seeds that we're planting, right, and that is how those seeds pop up. But if you stop at six months, how is that person going to want to pay you? He didn't get to spend the whole year with you. So just such big, big lessons that you are leading by example, right, and you're giving us that example, all right. So thank you so much.

Nicole Tuxbury: 30:26

Any last thoughts.

Alan Mclaren: 30:28

Just one thing Personal branding is not a transaction. You have one, you will always have one. Don't do it to get, do it to be.

Nicole Tuxbury: 30:37

Yes, I love it. I would leave it. Thank you so much, alan. This has been amazing and all of the links that he mentioned guys are going to be down in the show notes in the comments, wherever it is. You're watching this and we will see you next time on Overcome Yourself, the podcast. Thanks Bye.

Alan Mclaren: 30:52

Bye, thank you.