Personal Branding for Accountants with Carlos Garcia

Okay, I started recording, Carlos, then I'll share it again real quick, it's one and I'll start recording. One quick thing I wanted to share is, can you monitor the waiting room as we go. Yes, I want to point out that this is the first time we are livestreaming an in-depth reflection on the alternative accountant to the public. Go ahead and share the screen, Carlos, to make sure you got it and, uh, we're just. Usually all

accountants

are old accounts and deep thoughts are only for our accountant members. We are proactively promoting membership as we want to grow this community and are going live for the first hour or so. of this session we are not going to have any questions live on the live stream, we will pause the live stream and then we will answer any of the questions that you guys may have privately and there is another specific reason why we are also going live because we are going to announce a new initiative, a new concept that we are putting together, Carlos, take it, okay, welcome, good afternoon, wherever you are and welcome to our alternative counter, deep thought number eight. where we are going to be talking about

personal

branding

for

accountants

my name is Carlos García for those who don't know me I am an ALT accountant coach uh sales coach and workflow consultant and Héctor together with me we have this community where we are going to do this monthly conference , so let's go ahead and dive right in and first just give you a quick rundown of what the adult accountant is and what our membership consists of, we have an online coaching community where we live.

Conferences like this as a private community last approximately an hour and a half and we share specific content that will help accountants improve their skills and take their practice to the next level every time. Accounted approach, it also allows you to have access to a network of channels of other teachers who are like-minded people looking to improve their skills and we are really going to do a lot of training, as well as sharing. Concepts we also apply what we learn in the form of homework, which is what we will go over today and you will receive real-time feedback not only from your peers but also from myself and it will allow you to have an open mic environment. that you can present ideas, gather information and resources so that you can again continue to achieve success in your endeavors.

We also have Mastermind groups where we meet offline to talk about successes challenges and share best practices with other colleagues and these are the main concepts we talk about value pricing positioning productization Managing innovation practices and really transforming to that mindset value driven. I know, Hector. I'm going to talk to you. I want to talk about our exciting upcoming conference we are hosting. I ask you very quickly, yes, after so many years and more than a decade of attending conferences, I have always dreamed. You know, you know, if I were to host a conference, what would it be like and we're negotiating the venue right now.

We will make it very, very small. The name of the conference is called Creative Business Models for Accountants and the reason we chose that topic is because we believe that our industry will be greatly challenged with AI automation and what. I call for real-time realization of customer expectations, meaning customers who have Amazon Prime and overnight delivery and those kinds of things that will really affect us because customers are going to start looking at those kinds of things. expectations, so what do we do? We have to move forward so that our business models are prepared to transform it and I believe that the accountants of the future, the alternative accountants per se, the ones who will lead the way, will have very creative and innovative thinking approaches to having a business.

The model and clients will be delighted and pleasantly surprised that you do business differently than any other accountant they have ever met and that is the overall goal of both the accountant authentication program as a whole as well as the in-person conference. In Miami now we want to mimic a little bit what we do in the automated content program, so we want to have a kind of deep thinking, like a concept that we present to you, so we want to break it. in group, like group physical exercises, eight, ten people and then some group training to, like, you know, give you direct feedback and anyway, I'll be there.

I will be there. I have two high profile speakers that I'm just trying to make sure I have at least their flights booked, you know, to make sure they'll be there, but for the most part he said Carlos and I are hosts, but I guarantee it. The two, the two per person that I'm bringing, will blow your mind if you get a 10 and we'll announce that when it's official, the price of the conference will be a thousand dollars per attendee. If we have space available and you register a month before the conference, you will likely pay the full thousand dollars, however, we will run advance promotions because it will be much better to sell out so you know exactly where.

We're um because this conference is going to be held pretty close to breakeven. We're not actually trying to make money from this, although of course there's probably a profit, but I'm saying what we're trying to do. is trying to build something different, we want to build a conference that is really a think tank and progresses on top of each other, people come back next year and the year after to build on what they did the year before, that's something So. of division is fine for alternative accountants members because obviously you are already paying for the membership and this conference is really focused on alternative accountants topics, although it doesn't have the alternative account to name, it is very much in the spirit of another accountant.

Members will pay 600 for the conference, so you can get in at the lowest price possible. Well, we'll offer it to anyone under any circumstances, so that's all for now. If you have any questions, put them in the chat and we will answer. those and then we'll have a live session Carlos, I think that's good enough as an introduction, let's get right into the topic at hand, definitely, so before we start any of our sessions, we always review the Alternate Accounts Manifesto and you will . Point out what we're talking about today with the featured ones, but the first two of us are uniquely positioned to help our Target customers.

We are known as experts in our specialty. We listen to understand why and what transformation the client wants. Our price. It's a fraction of the value we provide We always give our clients options in how they can work with us We will be effective even at the risk of being inefficient We may automate workflows but we will always humanize relationships and ultimately we will create a strong culture that attracts partners like Talent, today we're going to talk about

personal

branding

, which might be a little awkward because personal branding involves a person, which means you'd be right and generally, we know a lot of companies, mostly.

They have a logo, they have a name and a brand and the person can hide behind that business name and logo, but the world is changing and the way we do business is changing and what we are discovering is that what you are going to learn is that personal brand has a huge impact on how you can do business with customers, it builds loyalty, it drives community and it really achieves your purpose, you know, that's why you're doing this in the first place, and that's why today we're going to talk about some concepts related to that, first, know that the table of contents is what we will cover first, you know the higher purpose, for example, why is personal branding such a big and important part of doing business, especially as? the small business owner, an entrepreneur, someone who runs a company, runs a team that helps the clients that they meet and how does this affect the way that they can grow and scale, and we're going to talk about the why, the why you came into First of all, we're going to delve into a certain philosophy and you know how your why will help you shape your personal brand and then we'll talk about what are some steps that you can follow in some frameworks that you can follow so that you can build your own personal brand.

Let's talk about why you need to tell your personal brand story. How this helps you connect with your audience and build a stronger connection, a more loyal customer base and help you retain. and grow your market share, we're talking about what makes you magnetic or attractive, someone you're attracted to, so we'll use some examples of famous people who have a really strong personal brand and the traits that they possess that allow them to monetize it, but they also present themselves as an authentic human model who is truly having a positive impact on the world and are living their purpose, if you will, and then.

In fact, we're going to talk about how to build your uh, this framework that I learned from a workshop I recently attended on personal branding, um, is how to build your two-word brand, so how do you do it in a simple way? We're going to use some really interesting concepts that may look and sound a little uncomfortable, um, it's a little bit of deep work because it involves a lot of introspection, it's a lot of self discovery, but you know through this transformation. On this journey, I guarantee that many of you will want to leave us exploring and being open-minded, yes, to do this work because this is what will help you differentiate yourself from the competition and really bring your whole authentic self to your business and your customers. when you're promoting yourself and you're really trying to tell your story and lastly, what are some steps you can take to get yourself noticed?

We'll talk a lot about the media you know, content marketing. uh and some ways to communicate or share your gift with the world in this personal brand so let's start as always with the task as well um this is the end result as far as the task goes we're going to uh you're going to Think about 10 strengths or gifts that you are right and that make you valuable to share with the world. We're going to explore this idea of ​​the contrasting effect of not just the good things that you bring to the world, but maybe the 10 things that make you vulnerable, but anyone who has a very strong personal brand, we'll talk about this a little later and make very attractive or have a magnetic personality, they are generally people who are real humans and show their humanity by being open with their vulnerabilities. so we're going to be part of the assignment, it's going to make more sense as I share that, deeper in today's presentation, you're going to create a two-word branch statement which is a framework that I In this workshop I learned that I came out with this fantastic thought leader, his name is Chris, although we've mentioned him many times and he did this amazing exercise that really helped me develop Clarity for my two-word brand statement and I know. for Héctor too, that he will share his example.

We're going to come up with a content strategy that will be consistent with your personal brand and your mission, so again after going over everything you're going to do. make more sense and then write down two or three goals you would like to achieve in the next 12 to 18 months by working on his personal brand. Well, as we move into the first section, here's why personal branding is important. Go back to Maslow's theory. I know a lot of you who went to high school definitely studied this or this was covered and this is basically Maslow's hierarchy or needs and it's a motivational theory that describes this five level model of our human being.

Needs start at the core, which are basically our most basic needs. We need to survive as humans. We need food. Water. We need to sleep. So obviously we need a place where we can feel safe. Home. Somewhere where we are not. I don't feel danger or fear and then from there we start our needs start to evolve, we know that we have security and now that we can survive, you know, by example, now I can eat, now I want to feel love, I want to belong, I want to be part of a community, I want to have deeper and more meaningful relationships and then from there, you know, the challenges tend to become much deeper and more meaningful, which leads to the realization, you know, why am I here?

What is my purpose? Did you know? are my values ​​and therefore in alignment with this to build a personal brand, strive for self-actualization, it is about shaping how others perceive us not only personally but also professionally, and working towards that personal brand, it helps you to elevate, grow and achieve. your highest potential, then, you know, if we treat the personal brand as a living being, then we should strive to climb these levels of this pyramid to achieve what is called brand actualization, right? We do it remembering, you know,that your customers are human and they will only help you build that brand by becoming relatable and authentic and therefore following the basic principles of Maslow's hierarchy and applying them to your brand will help you go beyond basic needs and It will help you achieve your highest purpose. to uhPause for a second and think a little bit together here and you can add a text chat, but I want to ask the group what the difference is between a personal brand and a business brand, as you can see.

I have the example of uh Apple and us. have the example of someone who actually built Apple, like Steve Jobs, when you see these two side by side, what are some of the big differences that you notice and everyone can jump into the text chat that we'll do and share your feedback. initial thoughts when you think of Steve Jobs versus when you think of Apple what comes to mind there are no wrong answers some of the things Carlos might think of okay Apple I immediately think of expensive or or superior I would say top of the food chain when it's about pricing for sure, the second thing I think of about Apple is simplicity and design, from a technical level Apple releases a product that technically is generally not new, you know, like Android already has. that and company xyc have already done it, but they wait until it's well done per se until they release it to know that they're not actually trying to be the most high tech company, they're trying to be like the company of technology that just works.

They are very protective of their brand when it comes to third party apps. You know, the App Store has been famous for restricting how you know their third-party apps come in and that kind of thing, so Apple is kind of the gold standard of high quality, whereas we, Steve, Which I think from a personal perspective, it was more like trying to break things and see how people react from broken things and then use this breaking process to build back better, you know, so. I think it's more like a person who is trying to challenge the status quo, you know, thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking ahead, even if it wasn't, um, the right thing to do, to think that he was willing to be the martyr.

Um, you know, when it comes to being aggressive and taking risks, the company was balancing like the rest of the company was balancing. I mean, that's within the preview of what you were trying to illustrate, yes. and probably a lot of people probably have a more personal connection with Steve Jobs, because of what he could do through his personal brand that Apple can't do, the fact that he can challenge the status quo and in the Apple brand, that doesn't It was for everyone, true, Steve Jobs was not for everyone, but Apple as a business, as it represents a company as a whole and encompasses products, services, values ​​and overall image, it was a lot. more sensitive but as a personal brand, you know, it's more of a personal approach, their attributes, their, and they have more control over, you, you know their thoughts, their opinions, their values ​​and, you know, there's a big differentiation between you and the other. another and another thing one thing that comes to mind Carlos um before Apple and Microsoft were kind of competitors uh when it comes to like the piece of software um in general Apple and this is like in the '80s and 90 Apple was kind of The contrast to IBM, if you remember, you know this before your time, but when you had a computer that wasn't Apple, it was called IBM compatible, so it follows the IBM model, which is a Kind of a contrast to Apple, something I found interesting.

It's, uh, IBM's brand is Think Like, that's the term they use for everything, even laptops were called think pads and that kind of thing, but the interesting thing is that this is kind of like Steve Jobs. Do you know what the Apple brand became in contrast to IBM? They think that apples think differently or they think one or the other, so that tells you, uh, many of you know not only Apple's role in the IBM world or trying to break away from the IBM world, but also the fact that they are totally fine with standing out and not having to please everyone, just saying hello if you're a different thinker if you think differently if you feel like you're out of place hey there's a home for you here at Apple and because Steve Jobs was the ultimate out of place person, the most awkward and not knowing how to say the right thing and he was the ultimate out of place person and Apple became his home and the home of everyone who had to think like he just had to. be brave enough to be your own thing or think differently you know any way you want to look at that kind of topic uh um take yeah and if you look today and you go to social media or you're going to see the way products are sold and how people connect with the desire to buy something.

How many products do you see on the Internet, maybe even with children? Is it true that YouTube influencers are selling? with their own personal brand or actors, you know how many tequilas are sold out there, whether you know actors or famous people, they are putting their personal brand on something and how much impact it has when a real individual with a personal brand with their own authentic personality, their values, right, they're stamping their name on something and so how much impact that has, there's a very, very strong impact on having a personal brand to support, you know, mix. with the company and promote it and because it's basically saying that this person's values ​​or you know they represent the same thing as what this company would represent well and then you have it, you know, James just added, you know, Nike with Air Jordan, what What, how he elevated Nike, you know, when Jordan decided to go with them, uh, to build the shoe, you know, with that recent movie that just came out, and then I have a couple more notes that others were saying. here in the chat, you know Steve Jobs, the forward thinker, an innovator, Apple focuses on quality, simplicity and I think you know the ecosystem that Apple has built, but that wouldn't have happened without the help of Steve Jobs, would you?

You know? especially when they fired him the first time when he was CEO and then they brought him back and they became relevant again, so we'll explore some of that a lot more, let's talk about what the additional benefits of developing a personal brand are. so the first one is differentiation, this is just a way of accepting who you are and you are the only you that will exist and being okay with that, so instead of fitting in, it's how to accept how different you are and how that brings value . to your personal brand and the community that you are testing, to the tribe that you are trying to build, a community or to the customer base that you are trying to attract, and that is why people choose you over your competitors, because they find some kind of connection with you um and there's a message that speaks to the heart that you have, you know you create that meaningful connection with your target audience, you know you can build a community of like-minded people and aligned values, you can carry out your purpose in a more impactful way and one of the things that is important to be effective in building a personal brand is to be able to tell your story and therefore a personal brand story is a cohesive narrative that encompasses the facts and feelings created by you this is your brand your business and define the fundamental purpose and identify what your beliefs are your personal goals objectives um and these are the things that embody your values ​​later on I will share with you a framework that allows you to at least be able to Articulate what your story is.

I think a lot of us can talk about ourselves and who we are, what our story is, but how do you share that story in a compelling way that your audience can find a connection? You can see you know how. your values ​​are aligned with your brand, etc., so let's move on to some things that make you an attractive character, an individual with a strong personal brand, so they need to have a story, a backstory and you need to accept your backstory, this is what you know, uh, if you're someone who went through some challenges, you know if they were academic, you know if they were social, they were economic, whatever challenges you've had is some sometimes, that's what shaped you in what you are and that. part of the story needs to be part of your brand because you know there are humans that can say you know I'm cool everything is cool and it just shows you the surface level of who they are you know people will see that well. and we know that there is no such thing as a perfect human being there is no such thing as a perfect life there is no such thing as going through life without adversity without challenges and being able to embrace that side of yourself is what allows your audience to connect with you and that is what helps you be. genuine to have flaws and be okay with that to have polarizing thoughts not to the point where it creates harm to others or the community or the surrounding economy etc., but in this in the sense of simply having diversity of thought and these are some things which are quoted from book.com secrets by Russell Bronson, a strong marketing and branding individual who talks a lot about these concepts and therefore, Personal branding should be magnetic, so why is it magnetic?

Well, it's because you know you have to defend something, you know when you defend something and you are convinced when you do it with conviction, you either repel or attract, you know people who will think well if you say I love the color blue. Any other color sucks, no matter what you know. Many people will say. I can't believe it's your other. You don't like any color other than blue. How dare you? But I'm sure there will be people who will say, "You know what I am, I'm team blue, no matter what, and I support blue because that's my community, that's my tribe, right, so this is a very basic, but you have to stand for something and that should be reflected in your messages so traditionally, if you stand for something, sometimes unintentionally, it means that you might be against something and there may be nothing wrong with that, but you have to. be aware of that and I know, Hector, I'm going to ask you to maybe share an example later because you are very stubborn and sometimes not everyone is your fan, right?

Let's talk a little about that, so part of being magnetic? It's knowing that you're laying the groundwork and knowing that you're for something doesn't mean that you're blatantly or deliberately against something, but rather that you'll create a community of people who will potentially interpret when you feel strongly about something, then the hidden message is that then you have to be against something and therefore be prepared for that possible reaction or that dialogue, to begin with, so Hector, have you thought about maybe one? Examples where maybe you said something that was potentially just a strong opinion, maybe it was conscious or unconscious and then you started getting comments on YouTube or social media about something and then suddenly, to your surprise, your community came back. and defended you or You know, it's a really interesting conversation that whatever you can think of happens.

I know I'm putting you on the spot, yeah, so during the coveted years when I was doing more content related to government programs and things like that. you know, because of the speed with which information was coming out and the uncertainty about whether the programs were going to be available and whether people would be approved and the money would run out if you remember the PPP, uh crazy, uh in In some of my videos I incorporated some kind of general criticism of the government, you know, things like, hey, you know, some of this stuff is more of a political show than actual help to people that you know from the beginning, before you know the money. started to be released and of course you know people misinterpreted that, like you know, that I'm against Trump before Trump, whatever that is, so the challenge is that in today's world, unfortunately, there's a polarization itself, so when you are polarizing or when you take a polarizing position and you don't exactly have a personal brand, you know that you, who control, that you, who made it yours, who construct the narrative, you allow other people brands, so if I know that if I had a strong personal brand over my life, you know, let's say you're firmly against, you know, that the government is inefficient and I, you know, saying hey, this government is doing something. wrong, they wouldn't necessarily point me out like, hey, you know. you're from this party or that party or you're just being a political hacker so this is a good example that you know if you already have a brand and your brand needs to act a certain way then people would say oh okay that's it. it makes sense because you know that's the brand, that's who he is, who he wants to be, who he is, he wants to um, you know serve, whereas if you, if you didn't have and I never had a personal relationship. mark when it comes to similar political views that you allow other people to construct that narrative for you and then it becomes that you know, uh, that kind of uh, then it becomes that you know that issue right where you're advocating for something but that it means you were against something else, that kind of thing, so I don't know if that's the kind of example you were thinking of, yeah, and sometimes just having a strong position on something could create a more meaningful engagement, even If someone comments and says: well, noI agree with you on this concept, maybe let's talk about accounting concepts, you know?

I don't agree that this should be done that way because maybe it's a subjective point. of view about some kind of concept or accounting, but then it also creates this discussion about what you could actually do, you could expose your brand correctly because if we think about the algorithm, we think about the way that people communicate today. on social media so if I'm online on LinkedIn and I say I'm against you know uh QuickBooks desktop you know I'm for I'm team Qbo everything I know you know in the accounting community , will cause some kind. of uproar, true, but what does that do?

It will expose my brand in the sense that hey, who is this guy against who is he? You know, qbd desktop and then I also make my points and there's like a thread of a thousand comments and then everyone Suddenly, the whole Qbo team uh, the ones who chose the nice Qbo team, now, suddenly, they see me as a guy from the team Qbo and now my brand is getting exposed, so being able to stand up for something might help you get exposed too, as long as that is. authentic, of course, and aligns with your values ​​and your beliefs.

It is a good way to attract the customer. The type of clients you want. So, I want to go over a couple of things. I just want to add one more. thing um because that's an interesting topic, QuickBooks desktop QuickBooks online without going down the rabbit hole, but when you choose a position like that, you know because I love one, therefore I hate the other or I love one, therefore, you know I'm not even going to entertain the other, um, I think that's a correct opinion about a particular tool, but if that's tied to a brand and people understand that your brand is, you want to move people to the cloud, you want to automate them. with multiple systems you want people to move away from desktop and onto mobile, like if they know that's your overall brand then they'll know there's something more to that opinion, it's like there's basically more content between the lines when you have the brand. like the context that you know and then your opinion or your statement as content, okay and that's really powerful because once you build a brand with context, it becomes much easier or faster for you to make statements and opinions without having to explain the background. and why because it's all implicit because it was all part of the brand you got it yeah that's what personal branding needs to be exactly aligned with the type of person you know how you're going to communicate yeah your opinions you know . everything has to be consistent, so the transition to what are some of the traits that make someone magnetic, so when you think about the people that you admire, the people that you feel have a strong brand, your personal brand, which ones? are some things? they that make you follow them admire them you know, uh, you consider them, you know a kind of someone who is back and who is very successful that personal brand.

I don't want to give too much away, but if you want write in the text chat and then I'll go through some of them here real quick while you think of some ideas from people with a strong personal brand, and we could also talk about famous people, you know? Or it doesn't just have to be specific to our industry, but you want us to think about people or their traits, individuals with a strong personal brand. I'll give you one, so here's one, what makes someone magnetic, you know, what would attract you to follow someone. in your tribe to buy their products to subscribe to them hey, what are some things?

What are the things that make you connect with someone who has a strong personal brand? So when you follow on social media, you read all their articles and look at all of them. their videos you watch all their content you read their blogs you get involved you comment why you do it thank you so James is writing here experience you would be absolutely right so we get real I'll just share them with you during The benefit of time is that we are confident and I highlighted a few words and I'll go into it a little bit more in terms of why we have experience, someone who can show empathy, someone who can show resilience correctly.

No, you're not going to connect with someone who had it easy, right, someone who had to work hard, someone who is relatable, rebellious, that's good too, so Steve Jobs is a good example of that, we have a few others which they are. good examples that someone who can be vulnerable now vulnerable is really good right, it's about being able to be aware of your flaws but still be brave despite that right, showing that being vulnerable feels safe and confident in who you are. your space in the world, being different is okay and that's an attractive quality when you see someone who is the underdog and despite being the underdog, you know that he did well.

How many of you love seeing an underdog story? you watch something online or you watch a movie, um, and so his ability to be vulnerable really makes him a magnetic trait, charismatic, you meet a lot of people with strong personal brands, actors, musicians, you meet people from other YouTubers, any other strong, generous personal brand, right? Many of you can think of people who are very, very famous but also very, very generous. Surely there are some who are also great leaders in this world. Someone who could be a role model. Someone who is self-aware. Someone who is consistent and. someone who is original and Carlos there is another one in the there are two in the chat here one is funny someone who is obviously funny who makes you laugh generally you are always attractive to someone so it falls into charismatic and there is also someone with integrity is not on the list here, but that's a really important thing.

You know someone who has a position and they won't change the position because there is someone in your pocket that you know as someone with real integrity that says. it's what I believe and and and and what's the opposite of integrity um when you're right it's hypocritical so like you you have to be very careful that if integrity is part of your personal brand you really have to stay away from situations where you can be seen as hypocritical. and you almost have to like it, it has to be a brand that you're cautious with those prospects, um and a word that comes to mind, a card, there's a one two brand, so if there was a two brand word for the concept of having a magnetic quality it would be with confidence vulnerable you know that it will be both things together you are sure of your vulnerabilities that is a really interesting concept it is confident without being arrogant without coming off arrogant, right, and that vulnerability gives the ultimate margin of maneuver to do that now, self-awareness is interesting because, one thing I learned in this workshop, self-awareness is that you can be sure that you can be vulnerable, but if you are not aware of who you are, where you are, who your audience is, when is the right time to be unpleasant, how your message impacts you, you know and are aware of making decisions when you say what you are saying, especially if you have access to an audience and that you can influence others, so be aware of yourself is something that likes all these things, these are things that keep you working through the mindset, you know, working on yourself and Basically it means that it allows you to interact with the world but also create a space for people to be them because many times we don't agree with what everyone says, but being able to understand other people's worldview really allows you to accept yourself and be aware of the impact of your actions and your words on others, as well that Carlos, I think you were when you finished, you contacted me and mentioned a couple of things and I didn't write any of them.

He said there was a difference between being conscious and self-aware, uh, self-aware and self-aware, yeah, that was an example of that because it's really powerful, yeah, and I and I think we know a lot of people, I think so. -conscious is really about thinking internally, you know how it affects, it's more of a neurotic kind of approach, like if I do it this way, if I say it that way, then and it's more of a form of self-sabotage. In some cases, being self-aware is also a little more self-destructive, but it's also, um, I forgot to say, selfish.

I'm so sorry, it's selfish and being self-aware is actually more selfless, right? So you are self-aware. We are thinking about your actions, not how they make you feel, but how they will make other people feel good. It is being thoughtful about what the impact of your words or actions will be on others. We are being ourselves. - conscious is what the impact will be on you, right? You know how it is? How will this make me see? If I say it this way I'm going to look this way. I'm going to sound this way. Yes, a speaker would be the difference between being on stage and sounding smart versus being on stage and focusing on making people feel smart and you are essentially the same speaker saying the same thing, but if that's what you're trying to do What you do is improve other people's knowledge, you know, that should be your goal, your goal is to teach, to give someone the tools to be better, not to show how good you are and many of the challenges that some speakers have is that sometimes sometimes we forget it. for a second, although we are the center of attention from a logistical perspective, it's actually the individual person who attends and tries to learn something that is the real center of attention and the topic, um, but sometimes we forget and then we do it. going from being self-aware to being self-aware or you know we basically break away from what we should be doing to continue to have magnetic qualities, yeah, and I recently read a book called selling is human where one of the things that he talks about to help others influence others correctly are called Attunement, which is basically that you are constantly adapting in the conversation or in the message that you are sending, but he mentioned this principle that is very important. that to get power you have to give it away and then when your point comes, Hector makes others feel smart, he makes others feel like they are the most important thing in the room, creating that space for them is what is going to help you. gain more of that, the strength of your personal brand and that connection with them to gain power, you have to give it away, okay, thank you, okay, so let's use an example of someone who is very well known. with a strong personal brand and we should all know who this person is.

Right The Rock Dwayne Johnson someone who was born in California went to the University of Miami actually started a career in professional wrestling what does he represent? You think about The Rock, what he represents and that's one of the questions you want to think about so that we know his story well, what makes him magnetic so that we know that he is authentic, at least he seems authentic when I follow him. social media charismatic as heck true hard work ethics perseverance very versatile versatile sorry true has made movies has been a wrestler has played football has products I mean positive attitude despite adversity shows empathy true so what would be your flaws or vulnerabilities in this scenario? maybe you're too exposed, so one of the vulnerabilities, maybe you feel like you can't have proper privacy and maybe that might be something that's okay, maybe that's the price, the small price to pay for the impact of you know their brand, um. and it actually opens up like him.

I remember seeing a story one day on his Instagram and it says I just had one of those days and he calls it something, it's a bad word, but I won't say it's like that. I have the case of I don't give a shit, you know, what it is I don't want to do I don't want to go I don't want to work out today but then he just walks into you I know we all feel that way that's how we get through it it's not easy I'm having a bad day and I think that's what makes him human, being able to share that vulnerability, what does he represent?

I think he represents positivity, empowerment, hard work, inclusion, gratitude, the right family, and he shows that you know that every day and he is consistent too. And what is he against? I'm sure it's all the opposite of that right laziness, uh, no, not doing things, you know? at best, you know, the highest level, you know, high and low standards, probably negativity, right, and all the negative things, so this is an example of someone with a strong personal brand and how far it has taken him. You know, in everything that is. done and everything he's touched that allows him to be so successful because it's not necessarily his acting talent that he's taken himself, that's probably a vulnerability of his or a flock exactly because he's not necessarily Oscar caliber, uh, but you know he knows.

I think maybe that could also be a strength as well as a vulnerability. He knows he's not going to be an Oscar level, you know, actor and he accepts that he knows he's cut out for more action movies, you know, family friend, just maybe Disney movies, etc. and he has been able to accept that and you also know how to maximize it and another. I'll add something to that if you search with the highest paid actors in Hollywood: Tom Cruise WillSmith Leo DiCaprio Brad Pitt Dwayne Johnson, okay then. that's the stone uh yeah look at Tom Cruise Leo DiCaprio Brad Pitt these guys are these guys are like masters at acting uh Will Smith I'm not sure but actually you know I'll take it back Will Smith is a great actor, he won an Oscar and everything, but you know he's among the highest paid, not as an actor, not for his acting, you know, his skill, it's actually everything else that you mentioned, yeah, so I'll talk about Elon a little quicker. you only know for the sake of time, but we know his story, no, it's not exactly the same as the Rocks, someone who, when you think about floss and vulnerability, was diagnosed with Asperger's, right, so someone who already has it. in the Spectrum and fights, but he's used that vulnerability as a strength, if you think about it, I mean, he's quite a genius, I mean, he built Tesla as a hard worker, you know, he's rebellious, you know, he thinks ahead, wants to make the world a better place, so there are a lot of things that you can see here that also build this brand and not necessarily in the same way that we saw in our previous example, so how do you bring this out?

So again I'm going to share a couple. Chris Doe quotes, he says magnetic people create media to be magnetic, you have to be out there, you have to publish content, articles, books, podcasts, videos, if you don't publish, no one will know and you have to commit to publishing your thoughts on any way possible if you want to build that brand. I thought it was pretty insightful, so the moral of the story is that you know trying to fit in by being the same is boring, you know you want to be notable, you have to be radical. different, so tell your story, you want, you want, more and more people crave that connection, for that purpose they want to feel part of a tribe, so I want to share with you the framework that I learned in this workshop that I think adopted adopted in the accounting model, so a quote from Simon Sinek, who was actually Cuba Connect last year, he was a phenomenal author and thought leader says that we trust people who believe what we believe, so again it goes back to you know what you represent.

Being able to communicate that, as we go through the steps of building your personal brand, remember that this is a process of self-discovery, it's introspection and reflection, so we need to feel comfortable going inward to discover who we are. being in touch, uh, in touch with that and being comfortable enough to tell those stories, so a couple of things about how to tell your story, who you are, what your beliefs are, what your opinions are, your preferences, how you are going to share this. gift with your with the world uh one of the frameworks that I will share with you that we did was to tell your story, you want to follow these six components, one is to list all your strengths, so what? are the things that you're really good at to get you to where you are, so this could be that you're really good with numbers, you know, you're really great at analyzing finances and being able to tell the story of you know, financial metrics, things of that nature, maybe vulnerability is the hardest part that you don't want to share with the world, which we'll cover a little bit later, but it's how you can change these things that maybe you see yourself as flaws. that you don't want and you turn them and turn them into a string and we're actually going to expand on that and I'm going to share my personal example of how I use my vulnerabilities as a way to help others correctly and if you think about every story, there's a book called a hero's journey or God, who is the author, but he talks about how there are four characters in each story, if you see a Disney movie, a Marvel movie, you know any of those who know Star Wars there is always a hero, a villain, a victim and a guide, true, but that is generally due to the construction of a brand of story, uh, of Don, of Don Miller, yes, anyone, and in the hero's journey there is also a lot of talk about the characters.

So the difference between the hero and the villain is that they can both be the same person and something can happen to you. The hero learns, uh, the villain, and they both come from pain. Then a pain happens. The villain usually wants to hurt the world. that's why and the hero wants to help the world because of that, so when you think if we're going to take the hero's path, that is, we want to use the pain that we go through, maybe that gives us that vulnerability, how can we change it? ? in a way to help others, you know?

I deal with this and this is how I can help others with it or how I can use it to my advantage, so use your vulnerabilities as your advantages as a way to make yourself unique, your backstory is your only correct worldview or perspective, maybe because you come from a different family, from a different background, academic, economic, social, um, exposure to things that could, how could you use that as an advantage to bring a unique perspective and stand out? So the next concept is Something happened, do you know what are some of the things that happened that got you to where you are today and made you make a strong decision to say, I'm going to focus on this niche or I'm going to focus on this discipline that connects again? to your um, your fight for purpose, you know, this just talks about what are some of the challenges that you went through that got you to where you are today and then, what are the lessons that you learned that you want to share with the world, so I will share them.

Mine, which is my framework, is, you know, these are some things that are my self-perception. You know, I consider myself someone who is pretty confident, especially in what I'm talking about or, in some cases, even if I don't know the answer I'm still very confident in myself because I feel comfortable being who I am um I feel like I'm pretty knowledgeable in my subject. and I feel like maybe I can be very influential I have very good interpersonal skills I'm a good listener um and I feel like these are some good strengths that allow me to help others some of my vulnerabilities are sometimes I struggle with impostor syndrome, you know, This is something that is for me.

Do I know what I'm doing? Will they ever realize that I'm a fraud? These are just things that happen in my head sometimes and I have to fight against it. Sometimes I find myself procrastinating as if it were necessary. something done, but I wait closer to the deadline than do it right away, and a lot of times I can please people, some of you might relate to this and that's okay, others maybe not, that's okay too, but I'm coming . To share with you how I take advantage of these vulnerabilities and turn them into a strength. My backstory.

Many of you already know me, but I will share that we moved at a young age. I had to rebuild my identity. I felt like I am, I am, I am Venezuelan, I am American, what am I? I'm just me and I adapt to the new culture, I accept my old culture and I go through that internal struggle of you know what my identity is, right? For Hispanics. I'm American to American, so I'm a Hispanic person, so who the hell am I? And you having gone through that was a very important part of understanding myself. Something happened, what happened.

I left my 15-year corporate career to pursue. entrepreneurship what were my struggles fear of failure staying within my comfort zone um I limited my potential in my current career uh to grow and um my transformation I took a risk, I survived it and I want to help others live uh on purpose in their purpose more high and fearless, without letting fear get in the way, so that is a framework of how you can build your own, it will be part of your task, so let me pause, Hector, any initial thoughts or reactions to this framework, what were the two? -word um, the two word mark Carlos, we're not there yet, okay, oh yeah, okay, but this is kind of behind the scenes before we get to the two Ward mark, so I want me to move in there now.

Yeah, let's make it cool, so, same thing we talked about before, how do you take back your power by turning this perceived weakness into a unique and desirable characteristic? I'll give you one that I hear a lot from accountants, it probably won't surprise you. I'm not a creative person, I hear that all the time, so if you feel like you relate to that, oh, I feel like I'm not creative, how can you turn that vulnerability into a rope? There's something there, so that's how I turned imposter syndrome into, you know, what I have to practice every day, having a brave mindset, that's how I turn procrastination into having to work smarter, how Can I build systems to be more efficient?

So if I'm a pleaser, how do I practice having to set more boundaries with people? These are just a few ways that I turn my vulnerabilities into strengths and make them part of that two-ward brand which is where we go, so we talk about the assignment, which is: I want you to think about 10 things that make you valuable, strengths shared mental and 10 things that make you vulnerable and you build it in this framework. This is a brief visual image of the left side is like where you put your strengths, the right side is where you put your flaws or what you yourself perceive as vulnerabilities and then when you combine both in the middle, this is where you really get who you are. your true strength and where we are going to do an exercise that will help you build what is called your two-word brand, which will be part of your assignment, so we will do this in a way that is defined. for the word juxtaposed, which means that they are two things that come together creating a contrasting effect, so we're going to bring a strength and our vulnerability, we're going to try to build a two-word brand by doing it, um like that.

Examples include brands like Smart Water DreamWorks and I'll give you other examples of how you can use the word um. In fact, the word alternative counter is a two-word trademark that we are going to use. I'm going to share that too, so try to find a strength and a vulnerability, two opposite words, and see if you can build a brand, that's the formula to achieve this. Some examples, smoke and fog, smog, that's what you juxtapose you're building. two words, eh, with contrasting effects of breakfast and lunch, brunch, friends and enemies for enemies, mockumentary, mockumentary, many of you see this very well, as if these words existed in marketing, it is very, very effective, it is very impactful, it's catchy, so the two- The concept of word branding is to help you have a unique way of telling you, identifying you, branding you, using these traits about yourself to your audience, it's attractive and allows them to connect with you better, so here you have some.

I'm a loud introvert, right, it's kind of a tool to bring things up, eh, but it sounds good, actually, this is Chris, that two-word brand. um, you know, I'm a lovely razor blade, so I'm someone who can give you a lot, a lot. harsh criticism, but you know you won't hate me in the end when I say that because it's like tough love, right, tough love is actually a juxtaposition, right? Philosopher Buddha's QuickBook screen is correct so you can use these combinations and of course the alternative account Hector, do you want to share a little bit about how you came to the alternative account?

Name your experience with that, sure, yeah, sure, after showing it. I this exercise I um or this concept you know, I've been thinking about uh uh expanding my two word brand, my personal brand two two world was former CPA and let me explain to you what I mean by that because of my personality. because of my content on YouTube because of the way I talk to my clients or the way I approach problem solving and how much I value time to think instead of typing my hands, you know, data entry time , you know how much I promote my clients and let's slow things down a little bit, let's think about this, okay, before we know, let's get right to this, let's think about it, let's go over scenarios like what if and things like that and um, a lot of clients saw me like the opposite of what it meant to them that someone was an accountant or a public accountant, a lot of people reacted like Hector, you're like the opposite of a public accountant, you're like the opposite of what I expected an accountant to be and I started to say yes because I'm the locum accountant and the locum accountant and the alt CBA um and then when I started, you know, I got a proof of concept that my work style, you know like this old CPA, like this old accountant, it's something I could teach others I thought, okay, what would we call this thing and ALT CPA.com was taken and accounting.com was available and I said, okay, I'm going to build a brand on this or the counter and when people meet me, um, you. meet in you know in a party setting or something where it's not like other colleagues people ask me what you do I say I'm an old accountant people say what the hell does that mean?

I'm going well, you know where an accountant is, yeah, well, think about the alternative to that and that's it, that's the conversation and people say wait, wait, tell me more, you know, okay, you know, accountants They're methodical and overly careful and neurotic and, uh, uh, and they don't really want to tell you the truth, but they don't want to.tell you, uh, no, the truth. I just want to completely reject every answer with some you already know, maybe this maybe this is the rule, this is the exception and they are not very clear with you just because they are too worried about liability etc. well I'm not .

So you know that I am going to tell you clearly, however, for me to tell you clearly we have to build a deep relationship. I need to understand your dreams, your motivations, what worries you, how your business works, who works in your business. business that touches things I have to be an advisor I have to be an accountant so I can't be an accountant until I am your you know the person who knows and understands your business therefore to be an ALT accountant I have to do the things that Other accountants don't and since I focus on inventory, for example, my thing has always been to wear jeans because, uh, most accountants wear pants, especially men, pants or suits or whatever, I wear jeans, You know why, because the moment I walk into the business.

I'm not afraid to go into the warehouse and get dirty and take inventory off the shelves and say, hey, your inventory is a mess, let's start from there, you know, it's always been my personal thing to be like this old you. Be an alternative version of what people think, you know what people label, you know or want to label who I'm supposed to be, that's how we came up with the above account, excellent, excellent, yes, very well done, like that that there you have it well, so find it's your story, your way of really, you know, passionately conveying what it means and how it helps you tell your story, so to go back in, just an example, if you were to break it down , here's a two-word mark that Christo, uh. share publicly and he says loud and introverted and here's a couple of things he points out is how he turns vulnerability into a strength so if you look at the introvert on the right side that's what he considers maybe a vulnerability but there's a couple of things you can use well, one of them is being an introvert makes you vulnerable, you know, maybe someone who is analytical, maybe introspective, maybe, attentive, maybe, curious, understanding, and these are just a few of the things that can be used and how they can be used. you turn it into a fortress.

Well, then the qualities of a strong two-word brand have to be unique, it has to be yours, it has to be valuable, it has to be true and it has to be desirable, so it has to be you really represent, you know who you are, you what you represent, everything we talk about and one of the brand statement tasks that you are going to practice is to be able to say this as if you were at a party or if you were you are going to put this on your social networks or somewhere where you can describe what it is your brand, you would say something like my name is this and I am a and then you say your two word brand and you could use two or three examples if you want uh and then what is your mission right what is the cause that you believe in I believe in this this and that again now I'm sure I'm going to share mine with you because I did it I did this work in a workshop format uh and I received feedback on it and I'm pretty confident with it, um, so this is mine, my name is Carlos García , I'm a Celosemer, I'm an accomplished artist, and I'm a determined persuader, so people persuade me with different purposes of mine are: do you know what the right purpose is?

I'm a made artist like I'm a hustler, but I'm changing it to made because I like making things and I'm a creator. I do it in a creative way. do things in a creative way. I'm a philosopher because I like to talk about sales, but in a philosophical way, so it had a lot of depth behind it. Do you know what these words were? I'm on a mission to help small business founders sell. trust and believe in its value. I think selling is helping. We do this through value-driven conversations that lead to long-term relationships. This is what your final product should look like when you're done building this while doing some of that. use some of those frameworks to do that, so let's move on to the second part, would you mind if we do a sort of semi-practical example of how people might like to start this process, if I can share my opinion. screen and show something, do it, okay, because at the end of the day I think the next thing you're going to chat about at the end of the day is, you know, after you've got it.

Which I think the most important thing is to have the two word mark, so you have to communicate it, so we will talk about that and we will stop going live right after this exercise, so could, so, can, can conclude with some of actions just for the other members of the content and also open it for Q a, so let me show you what I did right, first of all, in the age of artificial intelligence. and chatting with GPT is like I have to do this, okay? So um. I created a message and was doing all this live while you were teaching this.

I created a message that says your job is a two-word branding bot, okay? I'll give you a framework and describe it in six dimensions: strength, vulnerabilities, background, something happens, struggle, transformation, then I'll say that after I give it to you, you'll give me a two-word mark that encompasses all of those concepts. Again, you don't have to accept the right suggestion, but it does start the process. Keep in mind, I'm an accountant who wants to attract business owners who have growing eCommerce businesses, so of course that's what I'll put. I'm an accountant, I'm a tax advisor or whatever and you'll give it context by saying who the target market is and then I'll say, uh, I need you to ask me for information about The Six Dimensions. before I think of a two word mark, so we start and it says "okay, give me the strings" so I start by saying "okay", my strengths are: I read between the lines.

I'm creative. I'm fast. I am technician. I love improving processes and I overcome the good, that is my strength. Okay, so what are my vulnerabilities? I am direct. I'm loud. I am stubborn, overwhelming and overconfident. Okay, so what's the next question? You know, give me some relevant experience. details and put in, I started working with computers and retail technology and then I worked in small business banking and started my accounting business when my daughter was born to build a better future for her while being there for her and then she says "Okay , following". Something happened, what are the things you know?

I could tell you what happened that made me change my way of thinking and I realized that small business owners were having trouble producing financial statements when applying for a loan. I was told that their accountant was too busy or too slow to deliver information quickly and business owners felt that accounting was too difficult or too complicated to do on their own. Well, the next question is to provide some challenges and difficulties, so I tell you what the challenges are. They don't understand how technology works, they don't take advantage of automation and cloud opportunities, they expect me to do everything instead of them learning and taking control of their own situation, and lastly, do you know what positive changes in transformations you aspire to? to help business owners achieve and me?

I put here, I help them free up lost time so they can take more vacations and enjoy food or work, so I went through all this information and it came up and you can have it, it just gives you multiple options, so Faith came up. Honestly, I don't love Tech Solutions, but I like juxtapositions and I didn't tell you to juxtapose, which is interesting, but I like the fact that it juxtaposes efficiency and effectiveness with technology, so maybe it is and maybe it can say something . since I'm an effort technology consultant, you know or something, and I can say, give me five more ideas and, again, the cool thing about this is that once you give this information, you know, I might spit things out. and so in such an amazing way, in this case it says Streamliner professional or Tech Sage or in the books power Edge or Swift and this actually looks more like a trademark and I can say, I want this to be more of a personal brand and not from a trademark use two natural English words that um was a word that you said contrast each other or they or them uh uh no, like the two words are like opposites.

I have a contrast effect. okay, okay, that has a contrast effect and press enter and see what kind of options it gives me and, uh, and let's see, that's how he tells me here, with humor, I mean, harmonious, mischievous, uh, serene, Maverick, balanced, rebellious, calm, renegade, wow, okay, again, like me, you know. I'll probably choose one of these, but this creates inspiration this way. Yes, the tools are available. You know, this is the free-loading GPT 3.5. The tools are available to give you the starting point. The rest will be ready. for you and for you trying this with your colleagues with your spouse with your friends with your family they say hey, what do you think you know?

These are the concepts I'm working on and then once you have this amazing thing, it becomes you. becomes your brand, it will be like the whole counter becomes me, it not only became me, it became the rallying cry behind 30 people who are part of a group and pay every month and listen to what we have to say and we want to. transform your business based on my ideas thanks to that brand that I created and it will continue to grow and it will continue to be magnetic and it will attract the right people who want to grow their business the same way that I want to.

I want, I want to grow mine, so this is just an idea. I'm going to stop sharing it with Carlos so you can finish it and I'm also going to stop the live stream, so thank you to everyone who logged in. on YouTube um I hope you know to see yourself in more counter type activities uh uh all you have to do is become a member and then you have to invest in yourself uh to um to have access to the kind of things that Carlos and I got together to