Gerry Foster: 0:00

If you adopt that you are going to be a me only brand and not me to or me special. You are now saying that you're going to be an innovator and not an imitator or impersonator.

Jim James: 0:10

My purpose is to connect you and your wisdom to the people that think I'm not smart enough, basically, to help them.

Gerry Foster: 0:16

I like you, you're funny.

Jim James: 0:18

Gerry, Look it's wonderful to have your smile and your laughter on the unnoticed show today, all the way from LA. Thanks for joining me.

Gerry Foster: 0:25

Oh, listen, I am super excited to be here. It's my honor.

Jim James: 0:29

Well, you have the Jerry foster branding organization, you've been going since 1985, you helped over 100,000 people. Tell us what do you think is the limitation for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs in terms of scaling and building their business, tell us about how you help them with their brand?

Gerry Foster: 0:47

Well, I think one of the biggest challenges today, Jim is that they are not putting out a brand or putting out a service, a skill, a talent and ability, let's say or to just putting out a product. And there's a big difference between putting out a brand versus putting out what it is that you offer. And when you put out a brand, you're putting something out into the world that people can get excited about. People can literally fall in love with that brand, and genders, five types of brands, you can brand, a company, a product, a service, a nonprofit or yourself as a personal brand. And so what's happening today, as you probably well aware, there's something like 1.7 billion websites on the worldwide web. 1.7.

Jim James: 1:36

yeah.

Gerry Foster: 1:37

And so it's getting harder and harder for people to stand out and get noticed. And so one of the biggest challenges is for any owner, anybody who's listening today, to understand that unless you're standing out, you're invisible.

Jim James: 1:50

Wow, I had never thought there's ever a billion websites. And of course, there are that many YouTube channels, and half a million podcasts as well. Right. So it's all getting kind of littered. I love that idea, though that people are selling services, not brands. Gerry, how do you help them to transition? Because for many people, managing cash flow, delivering services is kind of a difficult cycle in itself, let alone transitioning to something bigger. Can you just share with us? How do you help people do that?

Gerry Foster: 2:21

Well, the first thing I do is I get them to have a mindset shift. And a mindset shift is to simply decide to be the honey and not the fly. Because honey attracts flies Chase. And so if you think about that for a second, you've got so many people out there who are chasing down business, they're trying to get customers and they end up is if they're trying to convince them, persuade them to work with them.

Jim James: 2:51

Yep.

Gerry Foster: 2:52

Now

Jim James: 2:52

here,

Gerry Foster: 2:53

If you put out a brand, a highly distinctive brand, that is known for something unique, fresh original that the world has never heard of seen before, then all of a sudden, you're going to attract people who are what Jim predisposed to wanting to work with you because they see that you have something that they've been looking for. And they have not been able to find until now. And so what I do in my work, is I show owners how to make that happen.

Jim James: 3:21

That is...

Gerry Foster: 3:22

So that business comes to them instead of them going after it.

Jim James: 3:25

That really is the million dollar mind shift, isn't it? So it's not just about more email lists and working harder and funnels. There's something of a higher order there. Isn't there? Really, Jerry? How do you get people to change that mindset? Because most people are thinking about providing a service being sufficient. Where do you take them on that journey?

Gerry Foster: 3:48

That's a great question. Because the first thing, Jim, is they have to understand that when someone is looking to scale, or someone wants to have more impact, if someone wants to get more clients or customers, if someone wants to make more money, they have to adhere to what I call the Golden Triangle. And so if our listeners out there, if you were to if you were to draw a triangle and a sheet of paper at the top of the triangle, right, the word brand lower left hand corner, the word market, lower right hand corner, the word sell. There's a sequence for scaling any business and that is brand, market, sell. You nail your brand down first, and then you market and sell that brand. It's always branding, followed by marketing followed by selling. Now the thing about that, Jim, is that it's like a three legged stool. All three legs have to be in place. If one leg is wobbly. If one leg is missing, you're in trouble. But it also suggests that one leg is not more important than the other. Branding is certainly not more important than marketing. Marketing is not more important than selling. Selling is not more important than branding. They're equally important. However, the three have to work together to have the kind of impact that someone's looking for. So the job of branding is to differentiate your business, the job of marketing is to get people to pay attention to what makes you different and desire that difference. And the job of selling is to get people to pay for that difference. The way I like to say a gym is that branding will get you known, marketing will get you found and selling will get you paid. Okay?

Jim James: 5:19

Nice. I love that.

Gerry Foster: 5:22

You got to get known get found get paid, because we're all in business to do what to be seen, be heard and to make money. And so if someone's out there listening, and they're wondering, hey, I've tried this, I've tried that in terms of marketing, well, maybe the problem is, you don't have a brand, or you think you have a brand. And that's another conversation.

Jim James: 5:41

Well, and I think it's a very valid one. I mean, how do people know if they've got a brand, Jerry? Because I mean, I have a logo, I have a website? Does that mean I've got a brand? Or how do I tell a brand is more than a logo, a brand is more than what people can see, a brand is not your website, it's not your pretty colors. It's not anything pictorial. It's not the aesthetics because that alone, if you think about it, it's not going to give you what's called a whole brand. Which means that you're putting something out into the world, into the marketplace, into the audience that you're serving, that allows them to embrace that and want to purchase it. So I always tell people, for those who have a hard time understanding that a brand is more than a logo. Let's take Coke and Pepsi. I doubt it. The Coca Cola drinkers prefer coke because it's in a red can or the Pepsi people because it's in a blue Canvas, what's inside the candidate counts. And so the challenge for our listeners here is what's inside your can, which means that you've got to give people a reason to work with you. And no one's going to do that just because you've got a great looking website or colors or photography and stuff like that. So carrying on your soft drinks analogy, how do you let people know that you've got more fish in your can, than the next can?

Gerry Foster: 7:00

Great question, you have to make sure that you are swimming in what's called untapped market space. which simply means that you're putting something out into the world that the world has never heard or seen before. And so for the folks who are tuning in here, you simply ask yourself, what are people looking for, from someone like you that they present a cannot find? It usually shows up as some kind of what gym a complaint, something's something that that customer that consumers looking for, that they cannot find? And so the owner should ask themselves, hmm, when it comes to a business like mine, what are people looking forward to the present? It cannot find specifically, what's the biggest complaint? What are they sick and tired of putting up with what's not working, they want to have work better. If they could wave a magic wand and say to that consumer, listen, I know you've been looking for a, b and c from a business like mine, and you've been sending for D and F, guess what I've got the A, B and C you've been looking for now you have the opportunity to put something out into the world that the world hasn't seen before. So when it comes down to Jim, it's part of mindset is to decide to be what an innovator and not an imitator. And so many businesses out there are just fading into the background. Because they're not separating themselves from the rest of the crowd. They're just another penguin in the group. They're just another slice in the load another, you know, another bird in the flock, right? I mean, they're just they're blending in. And so

Jim James: 8:33

yeah, today, you have to not only stand out, but you have to stand out, get noticed and be remembered for offering something unique so that you can then be rewarded for your individuality. Okay, so there's a straight line, a direct line, then between the entrepreneurial vision and the brand vision, it sounds like they are intertwined. It's extremely difficult, isn't it sometimes, to know how you differentiate yourself often, especially if you've got low confidence, or you're restricted resources, you wouldn't take that sort of high view and reinvent yourself along a line that makes you someone that people want to work with and be with? Well, I think that someone has to make the decision that they are going to be what I call a standalone brand, as opposed to appearing like everyone else. Because in my work and as you know, Jim, I started my company full time in 1985 when dinosaurs roamed the earth, okay. And, and so, and I want to make sure that our listeners understand this. I'm what's called a brand strategist, as opposed to a brand designer. And so just just like someone who may own a house cleaning services, they don't do windows. Well. I tell people I don't do logos, swag bags, tote bags, websites and things that people can see. Because great brands are built strategically, not visually. Now having said that, it comes down to you deciding which level that you want to play at. Level One is called me too. Now if you are a me too brand you are a nother slice in the low if you are looked upon as a carton of milk you are looked upon as just being another whatever. However, Jim brands like Starbucks, and Nike has shown us that the products they offer are less important than the brands they market and sell. And so you don't want to swim in that kind of competitive waters where you're forced to compete on price. The second level you can play at is called me special. Now, Jeanette, someone out there who says, well, Jerry, I'm different. I swear I am. And I go, well really prove it to me. Is your brand relevant? Are you putting something out into the marketplace that allows you to say to someone, I've got exactly what you've been looking for, and you want to know what else you can only find it from me. And so, in level one, you have these imitators, right? In level two, when someone is not that relevant, they're in impersonator. They're they're putting something out that people really don't find that important. I mean, Jim, here in America, we have a history of great brands that came out as rock star, one of the kind standalone brands that died on the vine. Jim does a name myspace ring a bell. Absolute Rupert Murdoch's perhaps not greatest investment.

Gerry Foster: 11:34

Oh, my God, what happened to blockbuster here in America? What what happened to AOL, Blackberry Radio Shack, the retail brands across the country that are what dine if they haven't already because of Amazon. So the level that I want our viewers to play at is what's called to be a me only brand, where you can say I am the only Hama, Hama that does Hama, Hama. And if we look at like Microsoft, that's one of the brands that sustained itself for the last three decades, I believe to be in the fortune 500, consistently, right. So there's a company that's managed to transition across business cycles. So what do you think are the key elements of this? I'm a hama hama brand, Jerry, obviously, other than big tires, and a large v-engine. Although now I think it's going electric, the hama hama, but what what are the elements for someone that's thinking, Okay, I get it, I need to buy Hama Hama brand.

Jim James: 12:31

Absolutely. And as you know, Jim, my work is about showing small businesses how to big brand themselves, even if they have limited resources. Because when you make the decision strategically, that you are going to do what, deviate and not conform, you're making the decision that you're going to go against the flow and not with the flow. Because if you adopt that you are going to be a me only brand and not me to or me special. You are now saying that you're going to be an innovator and not an imitator or an impersonator. Now, think about that, Jim, when you make that decision, then the only thing that you should be asking yourself is okay, what are people looking for the president cannot buy? As I said earlier, now let's break that down. It's been shown and branding gym, that people don't pay for products or services that I have been paying for the brand itself, what people are buying from each of you is number one, can you solve a problem that your target audience is having? That they want it to go away? Number two, can you provide better outcomes for your market, which means that they're looking for something that they presently cannot find? And so from that person, they're saying to you, listen, this is what I'm thinking of doing? This is what I'm presently doing. This is what I've tried in the past, this is what someone suggested that I do, can you in your business? Can you take me from where I am to where I want to be? Jim, like someone saying, I'll make your kids smarter? Or I'll take your company from here to there, whatever, right? Yeah.

Gerry Foster: 14:02

Number three, can you perform a miracle? Can you make the impossible possible in June, that's a huge one nowadays, in the midst of the pandemic, and everything else that's going on in the marketplace, particularly the internet is to say to someone, I can take something that you think it cannot be resolved, I can make something possible, I can bring forth a future for you that you never thought was, could be done, I can make that happen. And number four, I can provide you some kind of emotional payoff, you can snap experiencing negative emotions, you can stop getting frustrated, stressed out or whatever. So you take any of those four Jim solve a problem, improve outcomes for someone performed, like what like a miracle in their eyes and provide some kind of emotional payoff. And that becomes what the undeniable benefit that you build your brand around, as opposed to saying here are my services.

Mark Thomas: 14:55

Those four elements are not a function of scale nor investment, are they there Attention to detail, execution focus, which are the hallmarks of a great entrepreneur, not necessarily of a fortune 500. Company.

Gerry Foster: 15:10

That is so well said that is brilliant what you just said, because you know what, what you're speaking to is this great brands are from people who see themselves as what leaders? Yeah, absolutely.

Jim James: 15:21

So we have, listen, if we have listeners out there

Gerry Foster: 15:22

Yeah. who want to become what's called the go to brand in your space,

Jim James: 15:25

The things that you do, the steps that you take, where you're looked upon as the authority you're looked upon as the expert you're looking upon as the person who can provide something that no one else can then understand that when people are looking on the internet, when people are searching for a product or service like yours, all they want to know, is one of whatever is whatever is the system, the process, the method two things or both. Number one, How are you different? Number two, why are you better? How are you different? Why are you better? How are you different? Why are you better how you're different, Jim, is to say that I'm the only company that can do so and so for you, because o what my superiority, and that' called your secret sauce. you have, with your expertise, don't say services anymore. Say you've got a system, a process, a method, a path, whatever, put it into something that you can leverage, monetize, through your marketing courses, programs, whatever that says this to your market, not only can I deliver what you've been looking for, not only can you get it from me, nobody can duplicate it imitated or negated. Because nobody has your DNA. And I thought of that Jim is a mindset problem, because people don't get that they're different. And I go listen, unless you have a twin, no one's gonna do it like you.

Mark Thomas: 16:49

That's a very good point, isn't it that actually, we are all unique by definition, right. But our education system, especially in the UK, creates people that compete on the same tasks for the same qualifications. So part of the challenge, I think, for many people is, as you say, to cast aside, this sense of, I've got to be the same to be okay. Ironically enough to be an entrepreneur, you have to be not the same in order to compete.

Gerry Foster: 17:18

Oh, my God, I mean, you..., have to stand out. Well, let me put it this way. Unless you're distinct, you risk being extinct.

Jim James: 17:27

That's a nice one, unless you distinct, I'm gonna say that again. Unless you're distinct, you risk being extinct.

Gerry Foster: 17:35

No one is looking for just another business that offers the same thing somewhere else. If you want people to see you as being the go to brand, the company to work with the solopreneur, the mompreneur, whoever you are, then you have to do what's called a rebrand perhaps, which is to take what you now have re-engineer it, reimagine it, re retool it, revamp it, so that you can have that innovative one of a kind brand backed by a secret sauce in terms of how you deliver the outcomes that you promised to your customer that nobody else can deliver. But you because no one has your DNA. And this is where I always tell people this, Jim, I say listen, brand, your brilliance, build your brand around those things about you that allows you to sparkle to shine, to radiate. And oftentimes gem it focuses around perhaps someone's saying, Listen there, I've got a way of doing this that is uniquely mine. Well, maybe for some of you, what comes easy to you is hard for others in your space. So all of you have to focus on your uniqueness now what makes you admirable So you talked about college and education? That's tough to tell your parents.

Jim James: 18:59

Yeah

Gerry Foster: 18:59

that's not what makes you distinct. Okay, anybody can beat a resume. So build a brand around those things about you that allows you to shine it brightens

Jim James: 19:08

you shine super bright Gerry on this podcast, as you know, I limited 20 minutes. So people will want much more of you. How can they find you? Oh, my website is Gerry with a G. gerryfosterbranding.com. Just go there. gerryfosterbranding.com. And they can learn all about me and all the different things that I do. Very, thank you so much for joining us from what looks to be a warm and sunny LA for the unloader show today.

Gerry Foster: 19:34

It has been my honor. And thank you for doing what you do.

Jim James: 19:38

Right. I'm blessed to be able to have luminaries like you join me on the show and share what you know. So thank you so much for joining us on the unnoticed show everybody. And what you heard from Gerry Foster all the way in LA is really about the need to be distinct and have confidence in what you've got. And brand it believe in it. And then people will come. We hope, mostly likely, right Gerry? they'll come to us when we're when we're Brighton. Have a brilliant brand. Thanks so much.

Gerry Foster: 20:04

Thank you