[00:01] Katie: Welcome to The Focus B Show, where Katie Stoddart, high performance coach interviews experts around the world in performance and mindfulness. Now, here's your host. Katie.
[00:31] Katie: Welcome to another episode of the Focus B. Show. I'm here with Alex B. Sheridan, also known as ABS. Alex is a fantastic LinkedIn video creator. I love every single video. They're packed with content and creativity and humor, which is why I've invited him today. Thank you for joining the show, Alex.
[00:53] Alex: Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
[00:55] Katie: My pleasure. Alex, your videos are packed with creativity. How do you manage to sustain such levels of creativity? Is there a magic pill?
[01:06] Alex: There is a magic pill, yeah. I just pop. It's called Creator. All I pop it once a day. In all seriousness, you have to plan, you have to stay ahead of it. So what I do is literally, I'll write out my content and what I'm going to do. I mean, I'll have it weeks mapped out, so three or four weeks, depending on my schedule. But I'll write out, I'll plan out. I'll script out. What I'm going to talk about doesn't mean that there's some content that I don't post just off the cuff. Something feels right, I'll post it, that's fine. But you definitely on a place like LinkedIn, if you're going to post creative content consistently, that really draws your audience in, which is the goal, then you've got to be thoughtful, you've got to be intentional. So if you want to be creative, it's also got to have a good message that resonates with your audience. It's also got to create interest for your audience to want to follow you, to want to engage with you, to want to reach out to you. So one of my tricks is I stay far ahead of it. I write every day. I try to create every day. In fact, I recently just put an hour in my calendar from seven to 08:00 p.m. That just says innovate and then a smiley face. And I use that to innovate, to create, to think of different ideas, whether it's LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, whatever it is. I just use that time to really be creative. And I don't think we don't do that enough. Excuse me? As humans, we don't give ourselves time to be creative. We're just in the day, throughout the day, every day, and then we're like, well, how do I do something creative? Well, make time to try to be creative. But then it comes down to leveraging what you're good at and who you are as a person. And how do you sort of bring that out and be a little bit bold? You got to take a chance, you got to try different things so you know what works and what doesn't.
[02:45] Katie: Yes, interesting mixture of things. You're saying on one level, you're saying to schedule time to ensure that we create that space to innovate. And on the other hand, you're also saying to look already at what we're good at and to sort of reinforce this. I'm wondering, how do you manage if you have sort of a blank or an empty moment or the blank page syndrome where literally nothing comes to your mind and you just can't think creatively.
[03:09] Alex: And that happens. There's moments in time where I'm like, just give me one subject. I just need one content, one piece of content, one video, and just nothing's coming to me, right? And so what do I do in that moment? The fact that I've planned ahead, I'm not stressed about it, right? So I know for now, I'm going to record my videos tonight. It's Monday. I've already got the scripts written out and stuff, so I'm good. I'm focused now on writing for the next Monday. The next time I film, I need to have one to two scripts ready to go by then. So if I can't come up with stuff today, I'll still write, I'll still try, because you got to just put it out there. But then I'm quickly going to be like, okay, well, it's fine. I don't have to come up with something today. I'll try the same exact thing tomorrow. I'll go for a bike ride, I'll clear my mind. Whatever I need to do, I'll sleep on it. And then tomorrow is another day where I may be creative out of this world and come up with three or four or five different ideas. So the trick is don't put yourself in a box where you have to create that second or that day. Give yourself the room. Because the reality is, some days you're going to be really creative and other days you're not going to be feeling as much.
[04:15] Katie: So planning in advance helps you to not have that pressure. It also liberates some mental space. Are there things that you practice that help you to generate more creativity so it flows more easily?
[04:29] Alex: Most of it is just getting inside of my own head. And I first think about I always teach my team. I'm like, look, you got to think of the message first, the value that comes first. So what is the purpose of this video or this piece of content? What is the takeaway that my audience is going to get? That should always be number one, two. Then I sit down and that's when I brainstorm and I think about, how can I put a creative twist on this? If I'm doing an interview with you and I'm going to repurpose this as a piece of content, how can I take one moment of this interview that's applicable to the story that I'm going to tell or what we're going to talk about, and plug it at the very end or very beginning of the video so that it pops out? There's creativeness in that. So you don't need to recreate necessarily everything. You should be documenting and recording throughout your week and then it's just about how do I take that clip and make it as creative and give it the pop that it needs to do well on a place like LinkedIn. But I do when I'm watching videos or I am watching a show, I will sit there and like, for me, there's a big part of my videos and my content is acting. I'll act out a story. I'll tell a story through doing it, not just saying it. I'll actually show people and adding characters and that's become part of my brand. And so what I do is I study what other actors do and actresses do, and I look for the nuances, what makes them really good. Why did they sell me on that scene? What worked super well? Why did I laugh with that? Can I recreate something kind of like that? But for what I do? So I'm always paying attention to what other people are doing. Not necessarily other LinkedIn creators, but other people that are entertainers, that are storytellers, that find good ways to get their audience's attention and keep them. I study that stuff too.
[06:04] Katie: Nice. So you focus first on the purpose and you use creativity as a means to get that purpose across. And then on the second hand is you get inspiration, ideas from other great storytellers or actors.
[06:16] Alex: And on the back half of that, it's studying the feedback that you get from your audience, from the people that consume your content. You have to look at them and say, what did you enjoy? Like, listen to what they say. I love this as and this, this was awesome. This blew me away. Or this didn't hit with me. I didn't like it as much. And so you got to be able to really look at the comments, look at your audience, get the feedback and figure out what's working, what really hits with people and what doesn't. And then decipher and continue to test. But take the 80% that's working really well. Leverage that. Test with the 20% to 30% so that you can always explore other things and not be overly leveraged.
[06:52] Katie: Yes. I can tell from your content pieces and from your interaction in the comments that you're very close to your audience. How do you manage to maintain and sustain all these relationships? Because it's very time consuming to sort of have this rapport and these communications ongoing. So how do you manage that efficiently?
[07:11] Alex: You just do the best you can.
[07:13] Alex: You don't put too much pressure on yourself. You don't try to make it a.
[07:16] Alex: Thing where it's like I have to.
[07:18] Alex: Respond to every single comment, otherwise I'm doing somebody a disservice. I do the best I possibly can, especially in the first couple of hours. I'm more active because the algorithm and.
[07:27] Alex: Things like that, I want to drive.
[07:28] Alex: Conversation, of course, but beyond that, I'll check back if I've got a few meetings or I'm on a podcast.
[07:34] Alex: I'm not going to be able to.
[07:34] Alex: Check it right this second. I've got probably 30 comments waiting for me right now from the post this morning I just can't get to. But when I'm eating lunch, I'll get to it.
[07:43] Alex: Then I may have a few more meetings, a live call with my team.
[07:46] Alex: And then I may check back at the end of the day towards five or six, and then I'll check maybe again at the evening. So I do it in times so that I don't think you should hover on LinkedIn all day waiting for somebody to comment on your content. It's just not productive. But I don't put too much pressure on myself to say every single person that comments on my piece of content, I have to get back to.
[08:06] Alex: I do the best I can.
[08:08] Alex: If people need me, I try to be available. I'll try to get back to my DMs within 24 to 48 hours, and that's it. And I just try to be myself. I try to be genuine. I try to help where I can. I try to be honest with people. And that's it.
[08:22] Katie: Nice. Yes. It's obviously a sort of fine balance between being responsive to everyone, but not exactly everyone, because that's not always manageable.
[08:32] Alex: You can't yeah. It's not realistic to think that you're.
[08:36] Alex: Going to sit around and get back.
[08:37] Alex: To every single person every time they post or every time they send you a DM.
[08:41] Alex: I'd rather take that route than hire.
[08:44] Alex: Somebody to act like they're me and.
[08:46] Alex: Drop a comment that really doesn't speak.
[08:50] Alex: To who I am just to check the box.
[08:53] Alex: So I think that's where people have.
[08:54] Alex: To make this decision of like, okay, do I hire somebody to do that or do I do it myself? But how do I scale it? The answer is you don't need to scale all parts of what you're doing. You may just comment if you've got, let's say, hundreds and hundreds of comments over time. On one post, you may say, all.
[09:09] Alex: Right, I'm just going to comment in.
[09:10] Alex: The first hour or two, and after.
[09:12] Alex: That I've got to move on, and that's okay too.
[09:14] Alex: And then your audience is going to.
[09:15] Alex: Become aware of, oh, I got to.
[09:17] Alex: Comment quickly because I want to get a response. And I know that Alex comments in the first couple hours, so it actually incentivizes your audience to react quickly to your post, too. I would rather take that approach than to have somebody else commenting, acting as me. That just doesn't feel right to me.
[09:33] Katie: Yes. Again, it's a matter of prioritizing if you prefer doing it yourself or hiring someone to do it. While we're on the topic of productivity, I'm wondering what's your view on productivity and creativity? Like, do you feel you could be productive in your creative work? How do you do that? Because I feel there's often a mindset difference between people that are productive, but very structured or creative and very chaotic. So I'm wondering, you're clearly both. You're clearly very structured and very creative. So could you tell us a bit more about how you feel they can be related?
[10:08] Alex: Yeah, that's a great question because they.
[10:10] Alex: Have to be related. Because if you get too uber creative and you're often fairytale land trying to think of all these different content ideas, but it doesn't come to fruition, or you don't spend enough time growing your business or being a good employee or a good leader, you will suffer significantly for that.
[10:24] Alex: And I've went through those stages where.
[10:25] Alex: I'm spending too much time thinking about things and not enough time in the business. So you don't want to overthink it.
[10:30] Alex: But my tip would be bring the.
[10:31] Alex: Creativity into the productivity. So that's why I do things like I block out time. I have time from seven to eight. I'm going to innovate time in the morning. I write out my LinkedIn content. So I think you need to bring the creativity and plug it into the productive, which is the calendar, which is how you're going to structure your day. So I know there's periods of time where I'm only doing this, there's periods of time where I'm only prospecting, where I'm only doing meetings with clients.
[10:57] Alex: So you got to mix that creativity.
[10:59] Alex: In with your day so that it doesn't disrupt and completely take you away. And you have to limit it too, to where you say, hey, it's past 08:00 now, innovating is done, and I got to focus on myself or family or doing whatever I'm scheduled to do after that. So that's the key.
[11:15] Katie: Interesting, you're coming at it from someone who's already productive and you're bringing creativity into it by scheduling creativity. But there's also, I think, the other way of someone who's very creative and they need to bring productivity into their creativity by putting some limits, some structure. So I think depending on the personality, you might either benefit from putting some creativity into your days or the other way around putting some structure. But it's about having the right balance. Totally nice. And do you feel that by working with other people, it helps you to be more creative? Do you get ideas and inspiration from working with other people?
[11:56] Alex: Oh, yeah. I mean, my clients, we do a weekly live session with one of my boot camp crews. Every Tuesday we meet and it's an hour and we're bouncing ideas off each other. We're collaborating, we're sharing best practices, we're dissecting things, we're reviewing videos and giving feedback. We're talking about new LinkedIn trends, we're talking about how to succeed, how to upper game, how to be more creative. And so during those conversations, I get so many ideas from other people that are just contributing. So the trick is that you need to surround yourself with people that are pushing the boundaries a little bit, that are being bold, that are being creative that want to try and test new things, are pushing the envelope a little bit, are forward thinking, are innovative. That very much is the key. And then I do weekly live shows, LinkedIn live shows. We've got a new one coming tomorrow. And so I think it's very important to surround yourself with people that are maybe not going the exact same direction as you, but they're forward thinking, they're innovative, and they're going to push you because what they bring to the table is intensity and is next level. And they're always trying to push themselves. They're always trying to raise their own bar. And what that does is that causes the bar to raise for everyone else.
[13:10] Katie: Yeah, that's a great point. And I'm also thinking that in terms of this sort of creativity and balance, it can be tricky to sort of manage people that maybe don't have or think they don't have this creativity. So I'm sure you've come across some clients who've come to you and said, just like you say in your video with creatoral, that they're not creative, and how do you help them see their own creativity?
[13:41] Alex: Yeah, it's a common issue. People come to me like, Alex, I'm not that creative. How do I make these videos? How do I put content out there on LinkedIn that grabs attention from my audience? I'm just not that creative. And I'm like, yes, you are, John. Everyone's creative in their own way, and everyone tells a story in a unique way. So the key is, how do you leverage what you're already good at? That's where I do teach people to look inwards, and you have to say, okay, let's look at my natural talents. What can I do really well? Maybe I'm a really good interviewer. A really good podcasting would be my thing. Maybe I can act a little bit. So I'm going to bring some stories to life. Maybe I can sing or I've got a musical talent. Can I mix some of that in with my content while still bringing a good message? Maybe I'm funny and I can add in some humor. Maybe I'm a really good writer, and I'm going to not spend as much time on. I'm going to do short form video to get myself out there, but I'm going to spend good time on the copy because I know what the copy is really going to book people, and I'm going to do text posts and picture posts. And so you have to really think about what are you naturally good at? Because if you're trying to leverage something that you suck at, it's really tough. Like, if I could sing, I would be singing more of my videos, and I would incorporate it in a good message so there's some value. But I would be doing more singing because that's what I'm good at. That's what's going to stand out naturally. And if I could figure out a way to fuse that to where it really adds value to people's life and to my audience, it's a winner. If I could draw really good, one thing I'm amazed by is, like, I don't see any drawings on LinkedIn. I think people fall into the trap where they think, what's LinkedIn? I don't want to what would I just make a drawing and yeah, draw. Like, I have a drawing that someone's doing for me that I should be dropping this week, that it tells a story it shows me from over a year ago in 2019. And it's like, basically me looking at a camera and saying, people are saying things in the background like, oh, why are you making videos that doesn't belong on LinkedIn? You're never going to make it. It's not going to work. And then the next picture, side by side, is 2020, and it's people in the same in the background now. They're putting the cameras on me, and they're saying things like, how do you do that? Wow, that's so creative. I'm so glad that you inspired me to go for it. And so that's one example of a really powerful message that instead of me just saying it or getting on video and saying, you know, last year this was the deal, and then this year this was the deal, and here's what I learned, and here's the value for you. Tell a story. Just tell it by drawing the actual story out. So if I could draw, I would probably do one of those a week. No question about it, because it's different, it's unique, it's creative. It stands out from everything else. So a lot of times people think what their disadvantage is that, oh, I'm not super good on video, but maybe they're ultra good at drawing or something else. They oftentimes think the disadvantage is hurting them, when actually their disadvantage could be their advantage. If they learn to unleash that, unleash their own creative on the audience, on the world of social media.
[16:38] Katie: Yes, they always have some strength. They just need to find them and reinforce them and use them and like you said, also have the courage to do it. Because things like drawing or other things.
[16:48] Alex: Yes, you got to be bold. You have to test and try. Look, I mean, if people go back and look at my first few videos, they weren't the videos that I'm making now. I was just talking into the camera, and they were five minutes long, and they weren't intriguing, and they weren't that creative. I was being me, and it was my personality, and I was always decent on camera. I knew that was a strength, but I said, okay, I know my strength is being good on camera. I know I'm kind of charismatic. I know I can act a little bit. I know I can bring something different. Now, let me try. Let me push the boundaries on this. Let me try some new things. I tried acting out. Instead of talking about what not to do on a marketing strategy or a cold call or whatever it was, I just acted it out. I said, I'm just going to show people a funny example of what not to do, and then I'm going to tell them what they should be doing. And it started to take off, and I was like, okay, I'm onto something with this now. How do I refine it? How do I get better? How do I test even more stuff? And now I'm at the point where I'm like, all right, I know the creative video stuff works. Now I'm on TikTok trying to test out, all right, how does that platform work? And how do I create different short form videos that can work for TikTok? And so you're always trying that humbled me because I'm like, I don't know this platform, it's different than LinkedIn. It's not. So, again, I got to be bold. I got to try new things. I can't be scared to fail. I can't be worried about what people are going to say about me. You've just got to go, and you're never going to know what you're great at until you start actually doing things and figuring out, ****, this is it.
[18:09] Katie: Absolutely. And I think it's definitely trial and error. And there'll be things that don't work out, and there'll be things like at the beginning, it's always constant improvement and learns and growing. And what's fantastic, what you just said, is you reached a point where you had something you're really good at and that's generating success and revenue and all the rest. And instead of just being, oh, this is working for me, I'll leave it at that and just continue. You sort of, okay, what's the next thing I can explore? What's the next thing I can tap into and learn?
[18:38] Alex: It's a vulnerability for anybody in any industry, any business, to have one thing that works well and to stay there for the end of time. That's what happened to Blockbuster, that's what happened to Sears, that's what happened to all. And you can look back on the history of time. There's many creators who did the exact same thing, too. One thing worked. They stayed with it. They never changed. They never pivoted. They never looked at what was going on in the world, in the industries, and figured out, oh, this is changing, or, this is something new I could be doing. And they all got hurt. So that's what I'm all about. You have to don't abandon what video has been weird with the algorithm recently. We're getting less views than we got even three or four weeks ago. Everyone who's doing video is talking about it. I'm not going to abandon what I've done the last year that's gotten me to this point, because learning how to create attractive videos that engage your audience is only going to become bigger and bigger if you just look at the hottest platform in the world right now. TikTok it's a different audience, demographics, different stuff like that. And people aren't it's totally different beast than LinkedIn. But still, it's learning how to create attractive videos that are creative, that draw on your audience, that keep them engaged and then get them to take action. That skill set's not going away. I'm not going to stop making the creative videos, and I'm not going to stop putting out content that I believe in because I know that it's here now, and I know that it's going to be the future even more so. But am I testing out other things just in case something happens with LinkedIn? Of course. That's why I'm doing picture posts, I'm doing text posts. I'm doing the drawings you're going to see very soon. I'm going to test short form video content on LinkedIn, where it's 30 seconds, 45 seconds. The editing is going to be a little bit different. It's not going to be the more production side editing, it's going to be just quick edits. And so I'm going to test out that, see how that works. And who knows, that may start a trend. Like, people are so scared to put stuff out there, they look out and they're like, well, no one else has done something like this. Perfect. Go do it. Because that may be the next big thing. No one was doing green screen videos a year ago, not one single person. I challenged somebody to find somebody that was doing in September 2019 or before, someone that was green screen videos and doing different characters and acting in their videos. It just wasn't happening. So yes, when I started doing it, I was like, is this crazy? I'm on LinkedIn. Is this going to work? Like, what am I doing? Am I being too much of a goofball? Of course I thought about that. But the other side, I thought, okay, there's 180,000,000 people on LinkedIn and not one single one is doing what I'm doing. So that's the advantage.
[21:03] Katie: I do remember thinking that. I do remember thinking, I don't think I see many people act these things out or change like they I mean, it does draw attention to have something unique. And the humor and you mentioned this also in videos. And humor is so associated with learning also. And so having humor touches here and there, like the creator roll pill or other things, that's also a very valid element. Do you feel that this is something you always had, like you said, one of your strengths and you just let it come out?
[21:33] Alex: Yeah, for sure. Acting and using humor, I'm just naturally kind of a playful person. I like to have fun. I like to have a good time. I'm obviously serious at times, too. I think we all have different sides to us. I just wasn't afraid to unleash a certain side. On social media, I said, I want to show this side of me that is creative, that can act, that can add humor. But this is what I'll say. I wasn't where I'm at now six months ago, nine months ago, twelve months ago. So it's like anything, everyone has their talent windows where it's like, okay, this is my ceiling, or this is my window on how good or not good I'm at something naturally. But then it's like, what do you do with that, though? Then it's like, how do you take if you're here but your potential is up here and how do you take it here? Here. I would not be the best basketball player because I'm not super tall. I don't have the greatest shot. I can't like the reality for me to be like, I'm going to go work so hard and become an NBA player, it's just not super realistic. Right. But for me to be like, I could become a really good content creator and an excellent marketer, and I could be a really good business person because I have certain tendencies and certain skills and natural talents that I think lend well to that that is very realistic. So that's why I tell everyone, starting off, if you're starting off a business or a side hustle or anything in life you want to think about the first thing is the purpose and the passion. What are you excited about? Why are you doing what you're doing? Does it lend well to who you naturally are and what you naturally do? And if yes, then it's go time. You're going to put together a plan in place and go, and you got to test and try. A lot of it's going to fail, a lot of it's not going to work. That's okay. You learn, you pick up, and you figure out what does work. So, yes, some of it was always here, but some of it was skills and things that I tried and tested and that I got better at. So it's definitely a combination.
[23:20] Katie: Yes, it's coming back to that point you originally said, which is know your strengths and work on them. So you know them and then you develop them further.
[23:30] Alex: Right? Yes.
[23:31] Katie: I think it's such an essential point because it's both things. It's not just natural ability and that's it it's natural ability. Working at it.
[23:41] Alex: Yeah. I mean, no way, because I worked endless hours on this stuff, creating content video. I would work every single night, every single weekend. I took hardly no days off. I mean, I became obsessed with this. So it's not like I was just like, hit the camera and I just was this creative video content person out of nowhere. To be honest. There were so many videos that didn't even make it to LinkedIn because I would record them. I mean, this has happened recently. I still go through this sometimes. I've gotten better now because I sort of know what to. Create for my audience that's going to work and what's not. But I'd create videos where I'd spend hours on these videos, and I'm in the middle of editing, and I'm like, this isn't going to work. It's not good. It's just not good. I just feel it. I just know it's not going to work for my audience. I know it's not going to hit. It's not going to bring enough value. Whatever the case just did, the story didn't go together, whatever it was, and I scrapped the entire thing. That hurts, right? It's like, I've put so much time into this, and I thought it was going to be cool. I thought it was going to be great for my audience, and it turned out to be. I scrapped it. Like, what a waste of time. Really quickly, if that happens, you have to get in the mindset of, okay, I'm not going to dwell on this because that's not going to do anything good for me, right? If I sit around the next couple of hours, next couple of days, man, I just wasted a whole video that's going to do absolutely nothing for me. So I quickly have to change my mindset to, okay, that sucks. What did I learn? Okay, here's two things that I'm never going to do again. Here's one thing that I'm going to do before I create every video to make sure this doesn't happen. And then I got to work. I figured out, okay, what's going to replace this video? We'll go with something else. It's not the end of the world. It's one piece of content. It's not that big of a deal. So it's like, I just have learned not to worry so much when you make a mistake or you have a loss or you fail, just don't worry about that much. Like, literally give it a split second to reflect and figure out if there's something to it. Can you learn something from it? But very quickly after that, throw it away and never look at it again. Just don't think about it. You got to move forward. You learn and you move forward.
[25:43] Katie: Such a powerful mindset shift when we learn to see it that way, because I think we all start off by being really heard by our mistakes or really heard by rejection.
[25:54] Alex: And also, if you don't think like that, you won't make it in business. You won't make it as a content creator. Like, you just will not make it. If you don't think like that, you won't make it as a content creator.
[26:05] Katie: Absolutely.
[26:06] Alex: It's not going to happen. There's too many variables. There's too many times you're going to fail. There's too many times that posts aren't going to do well. And if you sit and dwell and get negative and think, oh, my God, I wish I would have done this and that, and it's going to stop you or prevent you from creating more content from growing your business. And so you have to have to.
[26:25] Katie: Adapt that mindset absolutely a million percent. And like you said, in business in general, if every single fate, every single mistake brings you down instead of helping you grow, then good luck.
[26:38] Alex: I mean, good luck if that's how people think. If every mistake and every entrepreneurship definitely is not for you, creating content is going to be a bumpy road for you. If that's how it is, you have to really the key is, yeah, you got to be able to push the ego aside and just don't you got to be able to say, it's just not about me. It is what it is.
[26:58] Alex: Move on.
[26:59] Alex: And it's easier said than done, but it's just like when you make a mistake or you fail, learn and quickly move on. Just don't dwell on it. There's too many people to impact. There's too many more important things that you could be doing with your time. Again, take yourself out of the equation. If I dwell and get in a bad mood and get negative about it, and therefore I don't put out more content that could help people, that's actually hurting the audience that I want to help serve, the best thing I could do is learn from this. Maybe I even share it with my audience as a learning lesson. Maybe some of my best piece of content have came from situations where I'm like, oh, man, I didn't do that right, or I could have handled this better. And I'm like, I bet my audience is probably going to go through something similar. Let me share a piece of content that would resonate with them. That speaks to me personally about an experience I went through where I made a mistake, I failed, I did something wrong. Let me share it with them and show them what not to do. And I can tell it in a story format because I just went through it. And so now it's a helpful piece of content. Now I turned a negative experience or failure or a mistake into a positive piece of content that can help my audience and probably help me win clients. Everything's an opportunity. That's how you have to look at it. Everything's an opportunity.
[28:13] Katie: Yes, a million percent. And it's so much more satisfying when you do this, too. I think it's sort of therapeutical somehow to put out the mistake to help others grow. You're like, at least it's serving others and myself.
[28:27] Alex: Yes. I'm doing the same thing on TikTok right now. I'm like, I jumped on the platform and I'm like, what the hell is this platform? Right? It's just insane. It's just a different animal. It's totally different than LinkedIn. Not even close. I mean, it's video, so I understand that aspect of how to create a video, so I've got, like, a leg up coming into it. But the algorithm is totally different. The way you produce content is totally different. The audience is different. And so for me, it's like, all right, well, I'm not going to get on here and talk about how I know TikTok. And I'm this expert. I'm going to get on here and I'm going to show people, hey, I'm going to document this journey as I go through figuring out TikTok, and I'm going to show people the mistakes that I make, the failures that I have, the stuff that I try and test, the stuff that works, the stuff that doesn't work. And I'm going to show my audience who is business owners, founders, companies that want to use TikTok as a means to get their story out, as a means to market their products and services. But they look at TikTok like it's a bunch of people dancing. Like, how am I going to use that to grow my business? Well, I'm going to show you how, and I'm going to be the guinea pig for you, and I'm going to share my experience along the way. And that's going to be my content strategy for TikTok right now as we sit here in November of 2020. That will change, probably with time as I grow and things like that. But this is where people overthink their content sometimes. I could have gotten there and be like, all right, how do I make the most creative stuff? I talk about marketing and this and that, and I'm like, no, this is my truth. My truth is I'm trying to figure this **** platform out. And so why I do it? Why don't I make that my content? It's real. It's what I'm going through, and it's what everyone else is going to go through at some point when they hop on here. And how cool is it going to be for me to show them the journey and the value and the lessons that I learned along the way? Because thinking ahead, I know my clients. Even six months from now, twelve months from now, three months from now, two days from now, if I'm trying to teach them how to grow on TikTok and LinkedIn and Instagram and YouTube, and they say, Whoa, Alex TikTok? Seriously? Do you want me to get on TikTok? That's a bunch of kids dancing and stuff. And I'm going to be like, no, I thought the exact same thing, and literally go look at my last 200 videos. I'm documenting exactly how you make your business grow. If you're not the dancer, if you're not the singer, I'm going to show you how to do it because I just went through the entire thing for you. And that's the strategy. So now I can be real. There's no pressure. I'll make it fun and entertaining and stuff. And you got to learn the trends. You have to know the algorithm and how it works and how to get on the For You page. And you have to learn things, of course. So I study it every day, every second I get, I'm listening or watching something on how to grow on TikTok. You have to respect the platform, but then it's also about your truth and your content and just talking about what you're going through and what you're learning and that kind of stuff. And I did the same thing on LinkedIn. So it just works.
[31:16] Alex: It just works.
[31:17] Katie: So smart. So many golden nuggets here that you've shared.
[31:20] Alex: That was a rant in half.
[31:22] Katie: No, it's fascinating in terms of both the way you innovate, constantly experiment and document it to inspire others. And then what you were saying here at the end, that's the key.
[31:35] Alex: Some people are like, I've made it, or like, I'm LinkedIn famous. And I never look at my myself like that at all. And it's funny sometimes because I'll get on zoom calls and people are like, I feel like I'm talking like a celebrity. And for me, it's so weird to hear that, but I never look at myself like that. I'm like, I'm not ****. I'm nobody. I don't have anything. And that's what forces me to keep being creative, because I never think, like, I could sit back and be like, yeah, man, I got the LinkedIn market right now. No one's doing what I'm doing. And I do it really well and I win clients on a weekly basis and I'm helping so many people and it's amazing. But I'm like, man, this could all be gone tomorrow, so you have to think like you've got nothing. I think, like, I'm day one. No one views my videos, no one gives a **** about me. That's how I approach every day. I got to go out and earn it because I say success isn't owned, it's rented. And the lease is due every month. I really believe that you have to go out and act like it's day one every day.
[32:28] Katie: Wonderful. I think this is a perfect finishing touch for the episode consistency. Always showing up, not giving up. And like you said, it's a lease. So always being present, always taking action and constantly learning, which is what you also said in terms of TikTok.
[32:44] Alex: Love that 100%.
[32:46] Katie: Thank you so much for joining the show. Alex, where can people find you?
[32:50] Alex: LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram or my website, Impacts.com? You can email me ashardon@impacts.com. But probably the LinkedIn DMs is the best place to catch me or email.
[33:04] Katie: Amazing. I'll put it all in the show notes. Thank you for being here today. Thank you so much.
[33:08] Alex: Thank you so much.
[33:09] Alex: Thank you so much.
[33:12] Katie: Thank you for listening to the Focus B show. We would love to hear your feedback. Let us know in a review how this episode inspired you. Keep buzing.