#482: Stop Waiting for Permission & Step Into Your POWER with Melanie Borden, Founder & CEO at The Borden Group

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Speaker 2 What I've seen specifically with those who have had success with LinkedIn, with other types of social, and being able to monetize it for their business is is it's not necessarily in every single post, but they're putting out there, this is what I do.

Speaker 2 This is who I work with. These are the results that I get.
And this is how you can contact me. Because if you don't promote yourself, no one else would.
Come on this journey with me.

Speaker 2 Each week when you join me, we are going to chase down our goals, overcome adversity, and set you up for a better tomorrow. Last and no sweet.

Speaker 1 I'm ready for my close-up.

Speaker 2 Hi, and welcome back. I'm so glad you're back back here with me this week.

Speaker 2 Okay, it's so rare that I have somebody on multiple times, but my good friend, Melanie Borden, I've had her on, I don't even know, three, four times, but she's back today and we are breaking down some very important things for you.

Speaker 2 Melanie is a CEO, founder of Borden Group. Melanie, why don't you break down for everybody what it is that you do at the Borden Group? Great question.
So happy to be here, Heather.

Speaker 2 Thanks again for having me. So I work with executives and executive teams on their personal brand, go-to-market strategy.
Ooh, and so many people do not have a go-to-market strategy.

Speaker 2 And it's so important for everyone listening. Number one, the most important and best investment you're ever going to make is the investment you make in you.
That is fact, right?

Speaker 2 The minute that you invest in yourself, you're announcing to yourself, to the world, to the universe, to everyone that I am worthy of more.

Speaker 2 And PS, the one thing no one can take from you are the investments you make in yourself, right?

Speaker 2 Your education, your experiences, your network, all the things that are within you, those are the things to invest in.

Speaker 2 So when you are leveling up, when you're developing a strategy, when you're educating yourself on what it takes to grow on LinkedIn, to grow a business, the best and fastest shortcut is to work with somebody who has been where you want to go.

Speaker 2 That's critical. So do your homework, do your due diligence.

Speaker 2 Melanie and I have actually partnered multiple times on so many different strategic initiatives, working directly with companies, as well as recently we launched our eight-week boot camp program, which has been.

Speaker 2 off the flipping charts. It's been incredible.
And today we're going to break down for you what we're doing for January and February for everybody that has 2025 massive initiatives.

Speaker 2 And I just read an article in a business magazine this week that was talking about over 90% of people are unhappy in their jobs, unhappy in the workplace, but are scared to make a move.

Speaker 2 Melanie and I are here to help you find a way to elevate yourself, strategically hold the pen when telling the story of your personal brand in a strategic fashion so that you can reach more people, elevate the way you're perceived, and come across as the thought leader that you truly are with confidence, with with power, and have an impact above and beyond your industry.

Speaker 2 I'm so grateful I made that investment in myself now eight years ago, got fired seven years ago, and that was really the bridge to allow me to start my own company, write my books, launch my podcast, become a keynote speaker, land a board.

Speaker 2 There's so many different things I've done, all based upon that foundation of having a strong personal brand, which is really Melanie's expertise.

Speaker 2 And I don't know if you know, but I was just named real leaders top executive coach of the year. There was 20 people picked and I was one of them.

Speaker 2 So the bottom line is this, I've completely redone my business. I now work for myself and love it every day.
I'm fired up. Melanie, I know your situation is similar.

Speaker 2 You were working for the man for a long time. Now you're working for you and you are loving life.
Break it down for us.

Speaker 2 One of the things that I never thought about was truly working for myself really until I created a network for myself. And that was based on fear.

Speaker 2 I was afraid during the pandemic that I was going to get fired. And I saw everyone in every industry getting laid off around me, including where I was working.
And I just happened to be essential.

Speaker 2 But when I started putting myself out there, it was something that I didn't want to do. I hated social media, but I knew that I had to reach everybody in my industry.

Speaker 2 And where else would you do that other than LinkedIn? It's a mindset that people have when they come onto the platform.

Speaker 2 A lot of times, when they're on TikTok or Instagram, they're not looking for necessarily a prospective contractor or partner. They're looking to be entertained a lot of the times.

Speaker 2 And with LinkedIn, there's this mindset that I started seeing people having. And so when I started working for myself,

Speaker 2 initially I thought, well, how am I going to do this? And what if it doesn't work out? And then I reframed it as, well, what if this ends up being the best thing that I've ever done?

Speaker 2 And it ended up being one of the best decisions I ever made because now people are coming to me saying, hey, can you do for me what you do for yourself? And I'm not special.

Speaker 2 I'm not exclusively the only person on earth that this happens to. It happens to every single person that I work with, regardless of what they do, regardless of industry.

Speaker 2 And it's something that's so attainable that most people don't realize that it's within their grasp to do. You just have to start somewhere.
You just need to start, right? And you need to listen to

Speaker 2 it successfully.

Speaker 2 And that's why I'm so glad that everybody is here with Mellie and I, who've both done this on our own, in different ways, in similar ways, but we figured out the hacks, the tips and tricks to really allow you to elevate yourself.

Speaker 2 Now, here's the one thing I'd let everybody know. If I could do anything differently, people always ask me this.
Yes, I was in a C-suite in corporate America. Yes, I had a great career.

Speaker 2 However, the one thing I would do differently, I wish 10 years earlier, I'd started investing in me and my personal brand and not just the company I worked for.

Speaker 2 When they fired me, I lost all of that, right? I lost that team. I lost.
all that investment that I made in that company. I'm glad I did a great job.
That was important to me.

Speaker 2 However, the things I kept with me were the investments I made in myself or the personal brand that I had developed, my website, so many different things that strategically, whether you're going to stay in corporate America or not, whether you're looking to land a board seat in addition to your current role or not, whether you're looking to start a side business in addition to your current role or not, I want you to have the opportunity and options that are available to you.

Speaker 2 It's much like my son. I have a 17-year-old son.
If you listen to the podcast all the time, you know all about Dylan.

Speaker 2 He's in this window right now where he's got PSATs, SATs are coming up, college is coming up. We sat down and had a discussion.
I said, listen, I know you don't love the testing.

Speaker 2 I know that you got tons of homework. However, I think at this point, we need to talk about what would taking a course for the SATs look like for you.

Speaker 2 And he said to me, but why would I want to take one more school thing when basketball is what I love? I said, great question.

Speaker 2 I said, do you want all the opportunities and options available to you and you pick which one you like?

Speaker 2 Or would you like to have one or two opportunities and you're forced to one direction or another?

Speaker 2 He's like, I would like all the options and all the opportunities opportunities I would like to consider. And in that moment, I'll make that decision.
Great.

Speaker 2 Then this is exactly why we need to put you into an SAT course so you can have the best possible score, which unlocks tremendous opportunity in regards to many different schools. He said, I'm all in.

Speaker 2 Okay, done. Let's make the investment in me.
Let's take the course so that I can unlock and open all these opportunities.

Speaker 2 That is no different than anyone sitting here right now who is in a job in corporate America, going through the grind, not loving what they're doing currently.

Speaker 2 We want to unlock all of these opportunities for you from board seats, consulting positions, becoming a top executive coach for and having real leaders acknowledge how good you are, right?

Speaker 2 Like you need to be whatever your specialty is, whatever is unique, valuable, and different about you. We want to get that highlighted.
We want to start getting you featured on different podcasts.

Speaker 2 We want you to start showcasing your talent, your teachings through your content creation.

Speaker 2 And we want to elevate you so that you can have all those options unlocked for you, just like my son's looking for. It's all about opportunity and visibility.

Speaker 2 And if you don't know where the fish are, then you need to find the fisher, men or women who are out there doing it, finding the fish. You need to find the good spots to go to.

Speaker 2 And one of the things that I didn't realize early on when I started was how much visibility I was going to get based on the fact that so many other people were not taking the step.

Speaker 2 Going and putting yourself out there is a big scary thing. And not everybody likes to do it.
So that is an opportunity for those who actually take that step and that leap.

Speaker 2 And one of the things that hold so many people back is not only fear, but also mindset.

Speaker 2 Well, I could never do that, or that could never be me, or no one wants to hear what I have to say, or I'm not an influencer, or, or, or there's all these stories that people tell themselves about why they can't do it.

Speaker 2 But what they're doing is they're really impacting their own bank account because because they're limiting themselves. They're limiting their mindset.
They're limiting their opportunities.

Speaker 2 And they're really limiting what they could be doing.

Speaker 2 And they could be doing so many different things because a lot of times when someone starts posting content, regardless of platform, the market tends to dictate what works and what doesn't work.

Speaker 2 And then all of a sudden people will start saying, hey, I saw you talk about X, Y, and Z. We're actually looking for someone who can do this.
And I know that's something that you can do.

Speaker 2 Is this something that you would be interested in doing? And can we hire you to do it?

Speaker 2 And it's really just about being in the right time, you know, right place, right time with someone who needs you right now. And that's really what it comes down to.

Speaker 2 And a lot of people think it's this very hairy, complicated situation. It's really not.
It's really as easy as what do you do? Who do you do it for? What are the results that you get?

Speaker 2 And how can someone contact you? And then just the consistency of showing up and having those opportunities and just being at the table.

Speaker 2 And that's one of the greatest things about the LinkedIn platform that I love is that there's over a billion people. There's so much opportunity for everyone.

Speaker 2 Less than 1% of the platform is actually posting the way that people post on Instagram or on a TikTok or even on X. So the opportunities are just limitless.

Speaker 2 And why wouldn't you want those opportunities? And it's not just because of, you know, you and I being a larger creator.

Speaker 2 It didn't start that way for us, but because we've showed up and we found where all the fish are and we're continuing to fish, now it's somebody else's opportunity to learn from us, to be able to do exactly what we do.

Speaker 2 And even in the same space that we are both working in, why wouldn't you want to find someone who's done it before you, who can show you the rope so you don't have to go through that trial and terror?

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Speaker 1 I ask you to try to find your passion issues.

Speaker 2 Well, you brought up a great point, which is fear, right?

Speaker 2 And fear from my experience working with different companies and executives, you know, throughout the country is I'm seeing fear is a huge element, fear of the unknown, fear of trying something new, fear of starting over as a beginner, fear of the haters coming, right?

Speaker 2 We've heard, and you and I've heard from, and I want to share a couple of different client success stories so that everyone listening understands how this can actually impact your life and how you can move through this fear.

Speaker 2 One of the things that we've gone through and continue to work through is my three-part framework to overcome fear, which is my back system for my second book, Overcome Your Villains, and our eight-week program.

Speaker 2 We've got the work, but we've got the worksheets. We've got, you know, we're enabling you with tools, action items.

Speaker 2 We're actually going to showcase and show you some of those today here on this webinar.

Speaker 2 But I will tell you, through the beliefs, action, and knowledge system, I have seen countless people break through fear.

Speaker 2 One just example that I will give you was a woman that I was coaching last year, not this year, was very much stuck, was unhappy. And let me know if this resonates with anybody listening.

Speaker 2 You know, you're just kind of in the rat race, right?

Speaker 2 You're like circling the dream, going into work every day, not feeling inspired, your potential is not being realized, but knowing that there's unrealized potential within you, but not sure how to actually move forward.

Speaker 2 Finding those people is so incredible for Melanie and I, because we've seen you, we've been you, and we've worked with countless people like you. So we know we can help you.

Speaker 2 And putting these people with those fears and those blocks into the system through the framework, educating, teaching them, and holding them accountable step by step each week delivers massive results.

Speaker 2 So this one woman, I'll actually give you two stories. One woman was very unhappy in her job, started working with me, launched a side hustle.
So she didn't need to to walk away from her job.

Speaker 2 She launched a side hustle, not knowing how it was going to go. And this is so vile.
She was so hesitant to make the investment to start working with me first.

Speaker 2 Told her, I said, listen, I can guarantee you results. Like after speaking to her, I knew, I said, I know exactly who you are.
I know what's holding you back.

Speaker 2 I can guarantee you're going to get the results you want.

Speaker 2 Well, she came on board, very nervous the first week, suddenly started making some progress, started stepping through fear, started taking messy action. Done will always be better than perfect.

Speaker 2 And my team is full of people who are cheering you on and holding you accountable. And you feel motivated to do more because you're inspired by all the people taking messy action around you.

Speaker 2 She did exactly that.

Speaker 2 Not only did she start the side hustle, start the consulting business, the consulting business did so well in a six week period, she resigned from her job and went full blown into working for herself within the eight weeks.

Speaker 2 I typically don't see people move that fast, but seeing that success and watching her and how happy she is now and forget about the fact that she's a mother.

Speaker 2 Her kids saw her go that through that so her kids saw when you're not happy when you have fear you need to find ways to move through it you need to invest in yourself you need to access a framework and an action and accountability team that's going to hold you accountable and push you into that fear so that you can actually find everything that you're looking for on the other side melanie break down for us some of the success you've seen with some of your clients one of the things that I've often been come to is specifically when someone works with me, they have something very specific that they're looking to achieve, just like with you, Heather.

Speaker 2 They have something, whether it's a product launch they're looking to hit a revenue goal they're hoping to start a new vertical within their organization they have something specific so about a year and a half almost two years ago a client came to me and what he was really looking to do was to create a channel for internal employees to see what the culture was like, to see who he was.

Speaker 2 In addition to that, to bring in new employees.

Speaker 2 So, employee acquisition was so important for him that he had this presence to be able to showcase his company values, their mission, their vision, all the things, and to really humanize his business.

Speaker 2 So, when we started working together, he had about, I want to say, 130 employees. Well, flash forward to 2024.
Right now, they just cracked 200 employees at the company.

Speaker 2 And he is getting into meetings. People are talking to him about his his LinkedIn.
He is having opportunities with companies where they already know him. They know what he's about.

Speaker 2 They feel like they know him. They sit down and they talk to him.
He posts about his dog, his sons, what he's doing on the weekends. He loves to exercise.
He's posting about that.

Speaker 2 It's just so wild to see how someone who originally had come to me did not really have a presence who's now considered to be a thought leader in his industry just a year and a half later.

Speaker 2 And people know who he is and they know what his business is and they know what they're doing and it's creating so much visibility and opportunity for not only him but also for the employees at his company so it's awesome to see so many different types of people that work in so many different types of roles being able to leverage and it it really goes back to mindset and it is what you think if you think it doesn't work and if you think that the platform itself isn't great and you're not going on podcasts and you're not writing articles and you're not doing blog posts, you don't have a newsletter, then you know what?

Speaker 2 It might not work for you because you're not really thinking the way that someone who has success thinks, which is, yes, this is unbelievable.

Speaker 2 There are these opportunities and I am going to hit my goals because this is the place that I'm going to be in to hit them.

Speaker 2 And that's just one example of so many where we see it happen all the time in real time. And it's so exciting.

Speaker 2 I can also tell you a story about a woman who I worked with who, when I met her, she had roughly 30,000 followers on Instagram.

Speaker 2 And when we talked about LinkedIn, you know, she was saying, I'm so tired of doing this Elaine Bennis dance where, you know, I'm dancing on these videos.

Speaker 2 It's not necessarily resulting into the high ticket clients that I'm looking to attract.

Speaker 2 And I had said to her, have you thought about posting on LinkedIn? What are you doing with LinkedIn? And she had about 20 connections on LinkedIn.

Speaker 2 What she said to me was, the people who I want to work with, I don't think they want to hire me through LinkedIn. And I said, you want to know something?

Speaker 2 This is where the people who have the many who are looking to hire people like you, because they're in this mindset of doing business when they're on the platform. Yes, it is social.

Speaker 2 Yes, it is very much like a business Facebook. Great, perfect.
They're in the mind to spend money. They want to make money.
And you are there in the right places at the right time.

Speaker 2 So flash forward a year later, she's over 25,000.

Speaker 2 connections on LinkedIn. She sold out of her high ticket clients that she can take on for the month.
And she also started a group coaching program, which also sold out.

Speaker 2 And it's just because she changed her mindset from, hey, this doesn't work to this does, and then followed it up with that action behind it. And now she's making more money than she ever had.

Speaker 2 And she couldn't be happier. And it just took her getting to the place of, hey, I need to start doing something.
And if let me try this, and if it works, great.

Speaker 2 Let me have those KPIs to determine if this is something that works for me and or if this is something that doesn't work. So it's it's very cool to see this happen in real time.

Speaker 2 And it feels good also as the one who's, you know, working alongside them as their coach or helping them execute on it.

Speaker 2 Yeah, there's nothing better than doing something where you're actually getting to help people every day and feel good about, okay, yes, everybody wants to make money, everyone wants to pay their bills and live a great life, but you also want to feel good, like you're adding value and changing people's lives.

Speaker 2 And I think that's one of the blessings for us is that we both get to see the impact that our work has on helping people.

Speaker 2 And I want everyone listening, you can do that same thing there are unique talents within you that you can start a side hustle you can start a consulting business and you can start teaching those unique special things that you do to help others and start feeling good about what it is that you're doing and making money while you're doing it and you don't have to quit your job today to do that like bring some joy into your life and watch how things start to completely change for you another quick story for anyone listening is you know many people say well heather i don't want to quit my job great i understand that you know one of the things that i wish i had done if i had elevated my personal brand and become a thought leader in my industry, which I did not do before I was fired, I would have landed a board seat.

Speaker 2 Having a board seat, there's, I have a board seat now. I've been on a board now for four years.

Speaker 2 The reason why I landed my board seat is because I elevated my personal brand and I became a thought leader in an industry. I created content around the things that I teach.

Speaker 2 others basically are my own unique skill sets. And I started inviting people to get to know me, as Melanie was talking about before with her clients.

Speaker 2 When people begin to know, like, and trust you ahead of time, you're building rapport. People do business with people they know, like, and trust.

Speaker 2 And suddenly you're getting invites to be considered as a board member. Once you get one, you get many.
Board seats are the best positions in the world because you meet once a quarter and get paid.

Speaker 2 You get stock in a company and you're being paid for your unique value proposition, your special experience, expertise. and the value that you add as an expert.

Speaker 2 So don't think you have to just quit your job and go become a consultant.

Speaker 2 No, there's many different ways that you can add value, make money and really elevate yourself, but none of it's going to happen if you don't raise your hand and start showing up online as a person you are.

Speaker 2 I will tell you this, a woman that I've worked with now for a couple of years really has elevated her personal brand, got promoted to the C-suite in a major company, ended up wanting to leave, wanting to go work for a VC because she had elevated herself so much as a thought leader.

Speaker 2 We started allowing her to have those conversations very quickly. She had many opportunities, offers, and she took one of them.
And then her next goal was she wanted a board seat.

Speaker 2 She wanted to land a TED Talk. She landed the TED Talk and now is being considered for different board seats.
My board actually was interested in her.

Speaker 2 And the first thing that they did was they said, let's Google her right now. And we had our giant screen up in our boardroom.

Speaker 2 And it was just interesting experience for me to see that that must have been what was happening for me. Right.
When they were considering me, they Googled me. I know how I show up on social media.

Speaker 2 Huge, right? Any, when anyone Googles me, it's not by chance. That's by design.
Right. So I decided to start holding the pen to dictate how people were going to see me.

Speaker 2 And when you begin to elevate yourself, when you begin to create create content, you start inviting people into your world, they're going to start seeing as the expert you are.

Speaker 2 They're going to start inviting you onto podcasts.

Speaker 2 We're going to go ahead and teach you how to transcribe those podcasts to create additional long-tailed content, which Melanie's a phenomenal expert in.

Speaker 2 We're going to start showing you really easy hacks, tips, and tricks so that not only can you create content that's going to showcase how special you are, you're going to invite opportunity into your life that's going to start elevating your SEO, going to start getting you featured in different news outlets.

Speaker 2 There's so many different ways, and it's all based upon what you're looking to accomplish and achieve. And you can start very small.
The key is just to start.

Speaker 2 I think we need to walk them through some of the eight-week program. Melanie, I know that you had some documents up that we were going to be able to show them.
Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2 So one of the things that Heather and I are working on together in the boot camp that we're running is this manual.

Speaker 2 And essentially, every week when we're meeting with the group, there is a specific topic that we're going through and we're teaching them a variety of different topics as we go through the class the day that we're doing it.

Speaker 2 And part of it was pre-built based on Heather and I, based on the experience that we've had with clients, our personal experience.

Speaker 2 But then what we've been doing is we've been actually customizing everything that we're going through in the class every week.

Speaker 2 And there is actionable steps for the class to take for the following week so they get closer to their goals as well.

Speaker 2 So we had it preset, but we're also customizing it in a way so it's more custom for the class.

Speaker 2 And so it's great because they're getting all this information in real time and they're learning things that they wouldn't necessarily have without really sitting with Heather and I together from both those unique backgrounds.

Speaker 2 And so this is just a snapshot of the manual that we're working on together. And there are things that a lot of times people don't necessarily know.
People want to be out there.

Speaker 2 People want to be active. Heather, you just brought up such a great point about what happens when someone Googles you.
So that's part of the foundation of your personal brand.

Speaker 2 What other platforms outside LinkedIn are your potential clients? How are you set up? Where is someone going? Are you giving them options outside of your LinkedIn? profile of how to contact you.

Speaker 2 If you don't want someone contacting you through your company page, which a company you might not own, do you have a landing page? Do you have your own personal website where someone can go through?

Speaker 2 What are people seeing when they're Googling you? What videos are showing up for you? What is your positioning in the Google search engines? Is there anything? Do you have a digital footprint?

Speaker 2 So all these foundations, you know, what do you look like? You know, who are you talking to? All that positioning. All of that is something that a lot of people kind of breeze over.

Speaker 2 And then they end up burning themselves out when they're posting online or really when they're building their brand in all facets because they say, This didn't work.

Speaker 2 Well, maybe it didn't work, or maybe you need to reframe it and think about it a little bit differently. And this is why Heather and I have really come together to be able to do this boot camp.

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Speaker 2 Yeah, one of the things that I think has added huge value is it's not just a recorded course. And this is something really important.
There's many recordings that you can purchase from people.

Speaker 2 And listen, there's value out there, right? Especially if like you're in need of certain teaching and getting that access, it's fine if you get it on recording. However, we're actually live, right?

Speaker 2 A lot of the documents that you're looking at right now, like these are living and breathing documents.

Speaker 2 as melanie said we're adding and customizing based upon the meetings that we have each week with the team but also we are live in these meetings for one hour answering questions based upon the challenges people went through during the current week the accountability action steps that they were asked to take and where they got hung up so you're actually having two personal coaches there to give you real-time feedback and melanie that's where i've seen some real breakthroughs is being just even thinking about last week when we were coaching the team around going into their actual profile and giving that real-time feedback to say, This is where you're getting hung up, this is why you're not receiving leads, or this is, you know, here's a different way to look at it.

Speaker 2 And to us, it's second nature, but to other people who haven't thought about raising their hand and being seen as a thought leader or, you know, creating content, it is much more challenging.

Speaker 2 Once we explain it to them, they say, oh my gosh, I can't believe I didn't realize that. I can't believe how simple it is.

Speaker 2 But making some of these simple tweaks and changes can really advance someone, like you said, not only turn your page into an advertisement for you, but into a funnel that's actually converting into business for you.

Speaker 2 Now, some people are listening and they're saying, I don't want to leave my corporate job.

Speaker 2 That is fine. All I want you to remember is if you want to get promoted, you elevating yourself is going to attract more offers to you.

Speaker 2 Who doesn't want to have a multitude of offers from different companies, different industries, and be seen outside of that small bubble of your own industry, your own team, your own company.

Speaker 2 The more you elevate yourself, start teaching and adding value and helping others, the more you're going to invite opportunity in.

Speaker 2 Wouldn't you rather go to your boss who's not offering you a raise right now and say, Jim, I'm here today to talk about I received two different offers in the past week.

Speaker 2 Both are for substantially more money than I'm currently making. My goal would be to stay here.
I'd love to find a way for you and I to work something out that looks and works for both of us.

Speaker 2 You know, what would work for you? Well, you're suddenly having leverage.

Speaker 2 The minute that you've elevated yourself, you're seen as a thought leader and people are now inviting you into new opportunities. Now you're seen as someone who's very valuable.

Speaker 2 And at the end of the day, when you really start seeing the value in you, other people on your team are going to see it.

Speaker 2 So if currently you're thinking, I'm stuck, I'm not getting promoted, I want to break through to the glass ceiling. Come work with us.
I've done that, right?

Speaker 2 I've got through to the C-suite in corporate America and I can talk anybody and everybody exactly through those steps, what it takes.

Speaker 2 But one of the best things that you can do today is to elevate yourself on social media, to elevate your personal brand and to be seen as the thought leader that you are that people aren't aware of yet.

Speaker 2 That is a game changer. What are some of the other things, Melanie, that you wanted to walk them through?

Speaker 2 So one of the things that I personally look at LinkedIn as, as a funnel, I really do truly look at LinkedIn as a funnel.

Speaker 2 And if you think about the platform, if you think about your page, I almost feel that your positioning and who you are, which is essentially the foundation of your personal brand, but who you are speaking to is almost more important than your content itself.

Speaker 2 And you can really speak to that person directly through your profile. And so one of the things that I always talk to people about when they say to me, you know, this doesn't work.

Speaker 2 And by the way, I'm not just talking about.

Speaker 2 people who are in other fields outside of what we do, even people who do what I do, Heather, i.e.

Speaker 2 people that work in personal branding or people who work in marketing, I want to work with those people too, because the more people who are, in my mind, going to market on LinkedIn a certain way, the better it is for everyone.

Speaker 2 Because then, overall, people have a better understanding: is that, yes, it can be a lead generation tool, but it also is a way to create branding and awareness for whether it's your company or there's an event or, you know, X, Y, and Z, whatever the goal is that you have, there is a way for you to convert it into something.

Speaker 2 And so, I look look at LinkedIn really just as a funnel. You have a very short period of time to get somebody interested in you, right?

Speaker 2 So they say the attention span of the average person is about eight seconds, which sounds about right.

Speaker 2 So from the moment someone comes onto your LinkedIn profile, you have this one opportunity to make sure that you're talking to the right person and to really making a first impression.

Speaker 2 And so there's all these micro moments that someone can resonate with and relate to and just advertising 101, just seeing that same and hearing the same message over and over and over again.

Speaker 2 And a lot of people aren't thinking strategically with their profile as it is a funnel. Okay.
So, you know, who am I going to speak to? What does that person do?

Speaker 2 You know, what is their overall reason for being on the platform? Why are they interested in talking to me?

Speaker 2 So, making sure that your profile from top to bottom reflects that and really move them to what your ultimate goal is, which it might be setting up a meeting.

Speaker 2 So, is it easy for someone to schedule time with you? Is it easy for them to see that they can book an appointment through the custom call to action link or button that you have?

Speaker 2 Is there somewhere on your banner that reflects, you know, social proof or telling them what to do when they come onto your profile?

Speaker 2 Are the colors in line with what someone would be looking at if they were that client that you had in mind?

Speaker 2 So, those are just some things just to think about when you think about your profile and have it be very intentional.

Speaker 2 Because if we're not intentional with LinkedIn, the default is to just basically waste our time with it.

Speaker 2 And so if you are spending so much time not being intentional, then you're wasting a ton of energy that you could be using to focus on other things. So well said.

Speaker 2 And I'm sitting here listening to you talk about this.

Speaker 2 One of the things that reminded me of being in corporate America was when I first started posting on LinkedIn, I was doing it to establish a personal brand so I could attract talent into my company.

Speaker 2 And I think that's one of the things that people forget is not only does it elevate you, it's elevating your company, the company that you represent, right? And so it's going to attract other people.

Speaker 2 When you start sharing success stories about some team outings that you have or wins that you have as a team, you know, that starts attracting people into not only potential talent, but clients as well.

Speaker 2 People want to work with happy people that recognize and take care of other good people.

Speaker 2 And when you start sharing and telling those stories you're going to start attracting clients that want to do business with you and potential employees yeah and it's just one way it's just another way i mean i just right so if you're launching a book if you're launching a podcast if you're launching a new product you have all these opportunities to grab someone because most of the time if someone is coming onto your profile yes they see your photo but the second thing they see is your banner so right now for those who are listening indoor watching, on your banner, do you have your company logo?

Speaker 2 Is it present? Is there a call to action on your banner? Is there some sort of a value proposition question on your banner? Do you have social proof showing who else trusts you and/or why?

Speaker 2 Do you have an image there? So, all of these things factor in when someone is going to market with their personal brand and it can be interchanged depending on the season that they're in.

Speaker 2 Meet a different guest each week.

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Speaker 1 I asked you to try to find your passion.

Speaker 2 So, so true. A couple of different hacks I just want to share with everybody because I want to add some value for you being here today.

Speaker 2 One of the things, missed opportunities I see for people is when your anniversary is up. You know, three years at HarperCollins Leadership came up for me a week ago.

Speaker 2 One of the things that I do is I set in a way out message, right?

Speaker 2 So for the two days that I know that's going to hit, you're going to get a notification is going to go out to all the people in your network, whether you have a thousand, 10,000 or a million, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 2 That amount of people is going to receive a notification.

Speaker 2 So many of those people are going to reach out to you in the DMs and they're going to send you a note, hey, I just wanted to say congrats, you know, on being there.

Speaker 2 One of the things that I do is I'm always thinking, how can I convert? And I know oftentimes people hear this and they're like, oh, that's spammy. No, I get messages back from people.

Speaker 2 So they say, hey, I just want to congratulate you on three years of Hartford Collins. And I say, oh my gosh, never mind you, it's on an away message.
I said it and it's done.

Speaker 2 I don't have to do anything anymore. It says, oh my gosh, thank you so much.
That means the world to me. Did you ever get a chance to read my book, Overcome Your Villains?

Speaker 2 It was a bestseller on Amazon. I would love to hear if you got it.
So many people will say to me, they respond back. I didn't know you had a second book, Heather.

Speaker 2 You might think that you're posting about things. You might think that you're selling these things all the time.

Speaker 2 Such a small percentage of any one of our audiences actually sees our post or sees a post where you talk about the book. So I've had so many people say, thank you for telling me that.

Speaker 2 You opened my eyes to the fact that you were an author. I didn't know.
I bought both of your books now. I love them.
They've changed my life. Let me tell you.

Speaker 2 So we need to dial back the way we see selling things and saying, you know what, it's on us to help other people. We don't know what problem they're currently having.

Speaker 2 We haven't got them to empty their glass to us yet, but we want to make sure that they're aware of the solutions that I have available that can actually help them.

Speaker 2 So moving away from this idea that selling is uncomfortable and moving into selling is helping people.

Speaker 2 And it's my job to elevate them, let them know what I have available and try to help them solve their problems. I've seen it happen time and time again.
And I know you have as well, Melanie.

Speaker 2 I mean, people think promotion is a dirty word on social media, but in real life, being promoted isn't a bad thing. It's a great thing that we all strive to do.

Speaker 2 We all want to get promoted at what we're doing. We all want to get that recognition for the work that we're doing.

Speaker 2 And what I've seen specifically with those who have had success with LinkedIn, with other types of social, and being able to monetize it for their business is it's not necessarily in every single post, but they're putting out there, this is what I do.

Speaker 2 This is who I work with. These are the results that I get.
And this is how you can contact me. Because if you don't promote yourself, no one else would.

Speaker 2 Just like when you're going to get the promotion at work you're going to hopefully bring some data with you you're going to have some reports you're going to show everything that you're doing you're doing that every single day when you're posting on social you're saying look this is what i know this is who else trusts me this is what they're saying about me this is what i know that can help you and this is why you should work with me and that's exactly how it should be done in my opinion and that's how people have the success that they do because they're promoting themselves Because if you don't put yourself out there and ask for it, the answer is always going to be no.

Speaker 2 So, if you don't think it's working and you haven't told your network, hi, I've launched this business or I've lost my job and I need help.

Speaker 2 How could they know if you don't tell them? Like you said, to your point, it's a disservice to them if you're not putting out your genius into the universe.

Speaker 2 Well, you brought up a great point and that's layoffs, right? So, I just want to touch on, there's so many. Nike laid off thousands of people.

Speaker 2 Bristol, Squib Meyers, you know, it was like 20,000 people. I think every tech company under the sun has laid off thousands of people this year.

Speaker 2 The layoffs have been fast and furious and are not stopping right now. Don't wait until you have a pink slip to say, okay, now's the time I need to elevate myself.

Speaker 2 Now's the time I need to go figure out where my skills and talents can be paid somewhere outside of my industry. Because like me, I had a non-compete and I had to leave the industry.

Speaker 2 Set yourself up for success now, like I talked about with my son. Give yourself all the options possible.
And to unlock that, start working with people like us.

Speaker 2 And I love this idea of people working with us right now because a lot of people come to both you and I and say, I can't afford to hire you in one-on-one. And we understand it's expensive, right?

Speaker 2 We are very expensive because we get phenomenal results. That's exactly why we created the eight-week boot camp.

Speaker 2 We created this group coaching option because when people are asking you for something and people are telling you there's a barrier to entry, not only do you have a new business opportunity, you have an obstacle that you as a business owner needs to say, how can I tweak this?

Speaker 2 Is there a way and a solution to actually make this work? That's why Melanie and I came together. That's why we're doing this eight-week boot camp.

Speaker 2 We're living in one of our eight-week boot camps right now, and we're talking to you today about our 2025 January and February eight-week boot camp.

Speaker 2 Not only is it going to get you phenomenal results, not only is it going to help you get clarity, strategy, not only are you going to take action, build momentum and be part of an incredible team.

Speaker 2 but you're going to be able to meet with us live each week to answer the questions that you may run into, whether it be fear-based, fear-based whether it actually be tactical and strategic whether it be you know a challenge that you run into that has been very specific to you and your industry we have worked with countless different industries countless different people and we're going to be able to answer those questions for you in real time during the eight-week boot camp so that you see massive results by the end our whole entire goal is to elevate you to empower you to unlock those opportunities so that if the day ever does come that like me you get that pink slip you're not worried about it because you've already been building a side hustle you've already been building your brand you're already attracting opportunities in.

Speaker 2 Like that woman that I was giving you an example of before, who had been at a big company, was not getting promoted. People weren't recognizing her value prop.

Speaker 2 So she started sharing it with the world. And suddenly, she had incredible opportunities rolling in for her.
Melanie, what is important for you to share about the boot camp?

Speaker 2 Something that I want to share with everyone is that this is not limited for those who do what we do.

Speaker 2 I have had a few people come to me and say, well, would you work with me because I'm one of your competitors, right? And this is my perspective on this. There is so many fish in the sea on LinkedIn.

Speaker 2 There's a billion people. Even if Heather, you and I wanted to work with 1%, we wouldn't be able to because it's so many people.
So we want to work with everyone. We want to help level up everyone.

Speaker 2 And if you are in the field that we're in, or if you want to be in the field that we're in, join our boot camp and work with us. So let us teach you.

Speaker 2 Let us be the ones to guide you and show you how to launch your business or how to help internally your company now. So there is really no limit on anyone who would be joining.
We want you in.

Speaker 2 We want to help you and

Speaker 2 the space is there for you. You just have to claim it.
And we get phenomenal results. I mean, the testimonials for our work, you can go on my LinkedIn page.

Speaker 2 You can go on my website, heathermonahan.com. Same with Melanie.

Speaker 2 We both have countless stories of unbelievable breakthroughs that people are having that are not only driving more revenue for them, but like we said, bringing them back from unemployed to creating a side hustle, getting promoted, landing board seats, writing books, landing TED Talks.

Speaker 2 The amount of success that we're seeing is people just want that blueprint of like, how did you do it? teach me how to do it.

Speaker 2 And then when I run into Roblox, teach me how to overcome them and hold me accountable.

Speaker 2 And when that recipe comes together with the different frameworks that Melanie and I have both been testing and trying our entire careers, we found the strongest, most powerful breakthrough frameworks that are going to enable and empower you to get the kind of success that you are looking for and unlock those potentials for you, for your brand, for your personal brand, and for your future.

Speaker 2 So don't wait any longer. Don't circle the dream.
What you've been waiting for is here. We've created it for you.
It's eight weeks. It's January and February.
It's every Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Speaker 2 You are going to be live with us one hour each week.

Speaker 2 We have a WhatsApp group where our team is constantly online, answering questions, supporting one another, supporting one another's posts, using so many of the tips and tricks and hacks that we have to really grow your brand, grow your post, and get results quickly.

Speaker 2 You're getting all that access. What Melanie just took you through, the Google Drive is massive.

Speaker 2 And we're going to walk you through all of the different worksheets, all of the different strategies, all of the different information that you're going to be able to take into your hands and empower yourself to go for more.

Speaker 2 Yeah, we have so much content between the two of us and that we've put together specifically for this.

Speaker 2 So, every single week when we meet, you not only get the WhatsApp, we also have the video going out that we record every week. We also record the audio too.

Speaker 2 So, you could listen to it like a podcast, take notes, etc. Everyone is super engaged, and we also have a Dropbox that's separate that also has tons of ebooks and other resources and content.

Speaker 2 In addition to that, we can go through. Heather is also has our 30-day accountability program.
And I also have a community and course that has additional content for everyone.

Speaker 2 So you just get so much content and you're getting that direct expertise for them from us who we've been there, done it and gotten the t-shirts.

Speaker 2 So we are able to share that with other people who are looking to do the same thing and we want to share.

Speaker 2 And that's one of the things that I think everyone will find that is very unique about working with the two of us is that we want to help everyone.

Speaker 2 It's not just limited to one type of person or one specific industry. We want to help everybody and we want to make sure that we're helping you get to the next level.
It's exactly right.

Speaker 2 And that's why we created this program. That's why we created the boot camp.

Speaker 2 That's why we're running the one that we're running right now at the end of 2024 and why we're launching our January, February Q1, 2025 boot camp.

Speaker 2 And today, because we appreciate that you're here with us, we appreciate that you showed up and we want to give back to you. We are offering it at 50%

Speaker 2 off Black Friday. You got to to jump in the deals while you can.
Today is your day for a deal. Make the investment now.

Speaker 2 It is the best price you're going to get while we still have seats available, 50% off. What is the code, Melanie, that they use at checkout?

Speaker 2 The code is Elevate All Caps using that code Elevate and it's elevateyourinfluencebootcamp.com. And when they go there, they will get 50% off and get excited for January.

Speaker 2 And we will get some information out to you ahead of time. We're going to have a questionnaire for you.
We want you to get really clear on your vision, your goals.

Speaker 2 You know, a lot of people struggle with specifics. My saying is this, those that deal in generality seldom succeed.
Those that deal in specifics seldom fail.

Speaker 2 We're going to help you through our questionnaire, our onboarding questionnaire, get really, really specific around what success looks like for you because we want to materialize that during the eight weeks.

Speaker 2 And we all want to come together to support one another on actually achieving, identifying, and owning those goals.

Speaker 2 So if you've been wondering and wishing that you were actually taking action towards making 2025 different than 2024, 2024 you need to do something different now so this is your moment go to elevate your influence bootcamp.com elevate your influence bootcamp.com and then at checkout type in elevate all caps and you're going to get 50 off today now one other thing i want to mention that melan and i can't have run into is we've heard challenges from people can't afford that still can't afford it even if 50 can't afford it we've got you we partnered with plarna with a firm with these different companies to help offer payment solutions I have one person working off a three-year payment plan, and she ends up starting a business within the first eight weeks and has already paid off the entire bill.

Speaker 2 So that was so exciting to see. If you're concerned about paying up front, even at the 50% off, we got you, we heard you, we've got solutions for you.

Speaker 2 Just click on the Klarna or a firm link and you can create the payment solutions that work best for you. What am I missing, Melanie? I think we've covered it.
It's going to be so great.

Speaker 2 I mean, the results that these women are already seeing and their overall mindset going into this moving forward is awesome. And we also work with men too.

Speaker 2 I just wanted to add that actually, one of the gentlemen in my last group program was looking to get promoted. He joined the boot camp wanting to get promoted.
We worked with him on getting promoted.

Speaker 2 And it looks like he's actually not only getting promoted, but he's making it into the C-suite. So, you know, you need to meet with people who have been there.

Speaker 2 I walked him through exactly what it's like in a board meeting because he was going into his first board meeting to pitch himself.

Speaker 2 You need to be sitting down with the people people who sit in board meetings to show you what you're going to walk into so you can go in prepare. We want to prepare you and set you up for success.

Speaker 2 Elevate your influence, bootcamp.com. I mean, that's a log one.
Use code elevate. It's for today only.
It's 50% off. You can't afford not to invest in yourself.

Speaker 2 Make the decision that's going to change your year for 2025. Join me and Melanie and the team January and February every Tuesday at six o'clock.
You are worth it. You are worthy.

Speaker 2 And I can't wait to see what you're going to achieve. We can't wait to see you there.
Thanks for being here today, AS. We'll see you soon.

Speaker 2 I decided to change that dynamic.

Speaker 2 I couldn't be more excited for what you're going to hear. Start learning and growing.
Inevitably, something will happen.

Speaker 2 No one succeeds alone.

Speaker 2 You don't stop and look around once in a while. You could miss it.
Come on this journey with me.