00:00
People will stand up and clap. I'm like, I just want to be a part of that experience. You know, most boys from five to eight love magic. It's just this very enticing, exciting art form that's fun. You get all these wins and you get these levels of success and you're like, oh man, I got five figures for this event. You're like, is this it? I was like a Swiss army knife, right? But it was always people first. I love people.

00:25
Doesn't matter if you're shy, doesn't matter if you're an introvert, doesn't matter if you're not attractive. Like, you don't need to be in a sexy industry to get people to know you. The hardest part of ending is starting again. You're listening to the Radcast. If it's radical, we cover it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of the Radcast. I'm Ryan Alford, your host.

00:54
We're talking magic today, folks. It's called personal branding. It's called PR. I'm talking with the founder of ACE of spades, international speaker, personal branding, expert, becoming a good friend too. JJ, what's up, brother? What's up, man? I like this is a look we got going on. We got like, you could be a musician.

01:13
You could be like a, like a, like some kind of fixing someone's box with those green cabinets in front of you. Oh yeah. You know, you've got the, you've got the seven 11 cup on the side on the below there, you know, it's the whole show, but then you've got the success quotes. So like, you know, the gear, I mean, our official merchandise sponsor, branded bills, you know, all kinds of stuff. You know, it's go time and you've got people in the office behind you working, you know, it's not like one of those newscasts, you know, when TV journalists are like doing stuff to.

01:42
and they see people working behind them like, they didn't even work there. You're just trying to make it look like you guys are busy. Exactly, they better be busy back there. I'm gonna go kick somebody's ass. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Gotta whip something around here. How's it going, Jay? What's going on, man? It's another day in paradise, dude. Miami is pumping right now. Dude, I mean, everybody's moving to Miami. I mean, to my friends, I didn't even know it's like they're moving to Miami. Dude, everyone's moving, as Enrique Iglesias says it.

02:12
let's move to Miami, you know, let's, you know, and just so we're clear, like, please don't say Miami, Florida. It's offensive to us. You've seen that video. So I was like, do you live in Miami, Florida? No, no, no. She's like, Miami, Florida, USA. She goes, no, Miami, USA. There's Miami. It's his whole own community. The nation of Miami. Miami is now like, it's like a global destination. It's not like LA, Minneapolis, Texas.

02:42
India, Australia, Dubai, Africa, like the amount of people flowing through, like the governor just must be like, please keep coming. Please. You know? Tourism is up in Miami as well. He's so loved here. I wanna see this. I have some, I've been told this multiple times. He'll walk into a restaurant, De Santos, people will stand up and clap.

03:10
I'm like, I just want to be a part of that experience. Like which governor has ever got that? No, maybe. I don't know. I don't I don't know the state. You know, is he one of your clients personal branding? I would love to know. He's he's I'm going to I'm going to I got to that's a slope. That's a slow play, you know, but he'd be a good he'd be a fun. He'd be a fun client, you know. So.

03:36
So what's cooking, man? I know you've got a great story. I know I wanna tell everybody about it. I mean, look, you're the first magician, past, you know, life, I know, but past magician. Now, you know, coaching people on building their brands and PR and, you know, helping them leverage all that. But let's talk the JJ story.

04:00
Well, dude, it's an Australian accent. Let's clear that up for the listeners. Is it London? Is it South Africa? Is it Kiwi? Dude, it's Australian. You know, my mom, my mom is English and French. Dad's Sri Lankan. You know, I'm like this unique Indian Ricky Martin look going on. People like, I don't know if he's going to strip or I don't know if he's going to sing, you know, I've done both. You can do both, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've done both. So it's, you know, they, they both work.

04:29
But, but you know, no, man, you know, I wanted to, you know, 16 years ago, I wanted to do two things. As in, you know, in Australia, I wanted to, you know, stand on stage and tell everybody what I do. And my first stage was a soccer field. I wanted to play pro soccer right wing. And then when I realized that life was very up in the air, like you can get injured and the next kid's going to come through. Entertainment was sort of the vibe for me. And I was the kid to learn magic tricks longer than you.

04:59
You know, most boys from five to eight love magic. It's just this very enticing, exciting art form. That's fun. You know, people listening right now may have a son or a daughter that just loves magic tricks. It's just a cool thing. I have a son that loves magic. Yeah. There you go, dude. Yeah. And I was just like, someone said, why magic? I said, dude, I don't know. Like, why does someone become a patisserie chef? I don't know. It's just what we're drawn towards.

05:28
And I did that for, you know, 18 years, you know, 15 to 18 years. And I hit every level of success you could hit as a magician, you know, TV show, got offered a Vegas contract, you know, got a deal to do some stuff with David Copperfield, maybe some stuff with Chris Angel. So like I hit all these successes, but along that journey, it was just, you know, when you do something so long and you think, is this it? Like, is this.

05:54
It's got to be more than this. And I know like a lot of probably of your guests have said that, but I really felt it because I would go through different countries. Like I 35 countries later, you know, I take my act and what I do around the world. And you get all these wins and you get these levels of success that you're like, Oh man, I got five figures for this event. And I'm in, you know, the, the, the penthouse in the Marriott, the, sorry, the out, the grain hide in India. Like, you know, you're signing the room service, like you're the prince, like

06:24
whatever, you don't care. 25 dollar green tea, cover it. But you had highs and lows like that and you're like, is this it? But then eventually, the next day, you know when you go back to your apartment, I was living in Asia at the time, you're like, is this it? Is this what people go through? There's gotta be more. And then to cut a long story short, I was always adding, I was like a Swiss army knife.

06:52
Magic was my first part, then I would add in the hosting, I would add in speaking, I ran a digital agency in Asia while the gigs were slow, I ran a nightclub, right? But it was always people first, I love people. And, you know, being around people my whole life, you know, for so many countries in three different continents, you just like become like this sponge of knowledge and you're very good at working it. You know how to like go into any situation.

07:21
work the room, close the deal, follow up. Like you just, I just became like really good at like figuring out how to play different roles. And that's how the personal branding happened because at the end of the day, what was I doing for 33 now for 18 years? I was selling me, you know? Magic to speaking, to TV hosting, digital agency, running a nightclub, you know? It's like, it doesn't matter about the product, it matters about the person. So.

07:51
you know, when, when 2020 happened, you know, pandemic, and I couldn't speak anymore and I wasn't really happy. I was speaking to corporations and you know, you're giving them all these moves and ideas about personal experiences and customer satisfaction. They're like smiling, Citibank's looking at you smiling, but you know, on Monday, they're going back straight back to the same way they were before. Yeah, I was like, dude, this isn't it. Like, is this it? Like, do I really want to get paid for court to go speak to corporations when they don't?

08:20
they can't do anything or they're red tape. Yep. So the pandemic was the best thing that happened to me, man. And then I, you know, transition into the feeling of like, what can I do to, you know, help people get themselves known? What's a want to get down the obviously personal brand path, but I want to the magic I got to, you know, there's gonna be curiosity. I think you're right. Would people, you know, relate to that or have perspective of that? But I think.

08:49
At the end of the day, it's probably what makes you great at marketing. Not because marketing is magic per se, but it's the art. It's an art, you know, an art form in a way. And it's, you know, certainly persuasion, right? Isn't it just the art of the great marketing is the art of persuasion. And isn't magic like the ultimate format of that? Yeah. I think the, cause I did it for so long and my specialty was close up magic, not stage.

09:19
So it was like working different rooms of people, like 500 boring accountants. They're like, Hey man, here's a bunch of money going and make, going and make sure we, we appreciate them for the hard work they do, you know, every event, you know? So they would use me as a porn, you know, you're the filler, you're the guy to make it fun. And then it is, it's, it's making, it's moving people from a state, making them think something's there, controlling a room.

09:47
telling people to do things they don't want to do. You know, it's like I was like a professional con man, you know, in a way. That's why I've always loved Ocean's Eleven and Focus with Will Smith and, you know, and to give you, I haven't told many people this. I don't think I've shared this a lot, but my specialty was pickpocketing. So closer magic so I could take your watches off. Yeah, man, that's how I got off of the TV show. So they wanted to do this idea of, called the Down Under Con Man. It was gonna be me.

10:16
Yeah. Yeah. And that I'm glad you didn't go that with your personal brand. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know people like everything's a scam on the internet these days, but that's how it got me the opportunity for the Vegas show for the, you know, doing stuff at Copperfield for Disney and then Chris Angel is, you know, there were talks as well, but the feeling of like being out will go up to someone and like, you know, steal their watch or like, you know, pickpocketing someone's bag and then you're getting them out on camera. There's a real show called, there was a show called the real hustle.

10:46
And it was like hidden cameras of like real pickpockets or like actors or magicians being pickpockets, but showing people how to steal and how to go to a hotel and ask for a hotel upgrade. And I love all that stuff. Like it's fun. Yeah. What was your best trick? Oh dude, stealing a Rolex or some guys left wrist. All right. Yeah. That was like, tell me how he will not be like this guy's good. And it's even better when his ego is there.

11:16
And you know, someone says, you know, Ryan, he's going to get your watch. He's like, this kid will never get my watch. Four minutes later, I got his watch. Dude, you talk about like some guy from Texas, one of the dissident in Texas, guy, the big hat, big guy, you know, you know, he was, he was the, he was a power player. And I said, I'm going to get it. And I got it, dude. I've never seen a guy being pushed off his pedestal in life. Like he was like.

11:44
He was angry and shocked and like confused and intrigued. Oh yeah. All the emotions. Like how is this 25 year old at the time, like, you know, young buck from, I don't know what country has fooled me, you know? But that was fun, you know? Yeah. It was fun. No card tricks? Yeah, yeah, dude, card tricks, coin tricks. It was, you know, the ability to work a room was the power. That's what, you know, it's like now that I'm out of it.

12:14
and I'm present to what I was paid to do, it makes sense now. I wasn't paid for card tricks. I was paid to get everybody to talk about their event. Hey, we had the best time. Thank you, Ryan, for putting on the event. I'm gonna give you business now because I had a great experience, because I had fun, you know? But it was, yeah, it was a good, dude, it was a great, it was a great, you know, I'm so happy that I got to play that world for a long time because it took me to.

12:41
many different countries, many different cultures. I met celebrities and worked with big players. Like it was a, it's an only art form that doesn't matter whether you're five or you're 55, you're from China or Columbia, it makes sense. You take a coin and you make it disappear. You don't need language to know what that means. You're like surprise factor can connect, you know? Surprise and delight.

13:11
Two of my favorite words. That's in marketing. What's the next skill you said last night? Okay, what? Okay, go ahead. Oh, talking with JJ, owner of Ace of Spades, personal branding expert. So Jay, let's talk about, personal branding. You know, it's so polarizing. You know, it shouldn't be. To guys like you and I, it's not, because we know the power of it. But,

13:40
What's the history here? Why is it so polarizing seemingly with people? Like why is it like either you get it and you're all in or you kind of think this tastes for it? What does that, let's start there and then let's just talk about what real personal branding is. Well, you know, it's funny because like you're so right because like I'm speaking this week and I was speaking to a lot of entrepreneur events and I was at Clever Summit, you know.

14:10
2022, whatever, two weeks ago. And you got Ryan, you got Ryan Pineda on stage, you've got Cody, like out of let's say the 15 speakers, at least 10 of them mentioned personal branding. And then you've got the guys that are like all in, like what would you do? Personal brand, everything is personal brand, personal brand, personal brand. But then you've got people in the room, you're right, like who get it.

14:39
don't, they just think it's the most like, why would I sell, why would I put myself out there? Like, I want to start a tech company. I don't need to do that. Yeah. You know, I, what, it's hard to give an answer to this because I'm sure it's like the same thing, like with being in sales, you know, when you say that, there are people that love it, they get it, that, you know, always learning about it. And there's a distaste with sales as well. I don't want to be that guy.

15:09
I think there's a lot of preconceived notions about it, and then that's our job, right? And especially my job to break the limiting beliefs on it. Because as I said before we started, people have this ideal that, one of the objections that comes up, and I bring them up before I speak to people, hey, doesn't matter if you're shy, doesn't matter if you're an introvert, doesn't matter if you're not attractive, like you don't even a sexy industry.

15:37
to get people to know you. And I think a lot of people, Ryan, feel like, you know, they, oh, I don't look like Ryan, I'm not cool, I'm not work, I'm not ripped, I don't have like a team, you know, I don't have like a podcast. I can, no one's gonna believe me, listen to me. Right. So I think there's a lot of just they talk themselves out of it for them to understand it. Yeah, I think you're right. But I think what people have to understand is,

16:06
being known has dividends, you know? And especially to the right audience. And it's not just about being famous, it's about having influence, right? And that's the biggest difference I see is, you know, having influence, which brings with it benefits versus, and I'm not saying fame doesn't bring benefits, but sometimes people I think misguide it. They think it's fame for fame's sake.

16:35
you know, for ego, when in reality, you know, having influence and having an ability to move the market or create leverage brings a lot of benefits. Yeah. Like, once again, it's just, it's just missed education. You know, everyone has influence. You have it over your animals, you have it over your children. You know, it's just, have you ever heard this, right? The problem that-

17:03
we face and probably a lot of listeners face is that we're actually, and go with me on this one, we're too dialed in, we're too smart. And let me explain what this means. We know too much. And when you know too much in the space of like, the things like influence and personal brand, how to close in the DMs, all these like words and things and phrases that

17:33
very few people know about. It's actually sometimes not a good thing because we get too emotionally involved in it. Sometimes it's just like you said to someone, hey, go on this television show, talk about what you do. And we're going to get a lot of people to see it. You got to sometimes dumb it down for people. Because you start throwing influence and you start throwing like, all these big things. People don't know they don't understand they get confused. Right, you know.

18:02
It's like, yeah, famous is great, but like, man, I'm just going to get a lot of people to look at your website. And I'm going to a lot of, a lot of people from the show to look at you. And that's, that's the way sometimes you go to people that understand it. We have to drill it down to like, what's the end benefit. Okay. You've got to book you're writing a book. No one knows who you are and you want to sell a lot of copies. So we're going to get you on TV and we're going to post to social media so that we get more people that view it. So they buy your book.

18:32
Yeah, yeah. But let me throw this one in and I think this is why I'm just going to sound cocky but I'm going to own it because it's the truth. This is why the agency has grown to 100 clients in 12 countries in under two years. The reason why is because I found out the why behind someone's vision. Do you want to write a book? Congratulations. I love that. Why do you want to do that? Well, I want to share my story. Okay, cool. And what do you want to do when we share the story?

19:01
That's a very different path, man. Do you want to make money? Do you want to be validated by your mom? You haven't been validated for the last 10 years. Like I'm going deep, but this is how I go. Do you want to, do you just want to be appreciated within your local circle in like Minneapolis at the book club? I'm fun like that, but I bring it up because these are the things I keep hearing, you know, and when you find out what someone's real intention is behind the, the, the, the action.

19:30
then you can create a plan to hit it. So you don't need to give them the, you know, quarter of a million dollar proposal, or maybe you do. Maybe they need to spend 25 grand, or maybe they need to spend 2000. So it's like coming back to like figuring out what's the reason they're doing it. Same thing in the podcast world, man. You know, I have a lot of clients, I want to start a podcast. Okay, why? Well, I just want to like, you know, I want to get out there a little bit. Okay, why? Because I want to meet some people, why?

19:59
because you want cashflow, right? You wanna sell your product. We don't have to do it that way. That's cool, like if you enjoy it, but like nothing worse than going on a podcast and you know the guy's doing it for a wrong intention. You can feel it. You're like, this guy's just trying to like get bleeds. You know? Yep, exactly. You just say that dude. You know, I've seen it on the show. Yeah. But the question is, it's like five minutes of like general, like tell me your story, cool. So, you know.

20:28
Tell me about the business and how you bring in cat lead flow. What? I thought this was a podcast about my story. Where are we going with this? You know? Yeah. What's the, tell me, what's the JJ brand? So, you know, we'll come back to some, I would talk about the, you know, personal branding in 2022, but I wanna know. Depending which girl you ask, dude, you know? Yeah. Depending on which girl's mom or dad. Yeah, mom, dad, or which girlfriend?

20:58
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What's the JJ brands? It's really I haven't been on set for a while.

21:07
fun, you know, engaging, energetic, but the biggest, strongest, most important thing for me is belief. Like I believe in you. And that's what all the clients pay me for, but they don't buy it because it's not sexy. They're not buying television, they're not buying verification, they're not buying Forbes, they're buying someone once in their life, Ryan, that has said to them, dude, what do you wanna do? What do you really wanna do?

21:37
Cause personal brand and most people aren't coming to like, I just want to promote like personal branding is person, personal. So they want to believe a legacy. Dude, I really want to like, I had this one guy's construction guy that really, he's a really good chef. Dude, I just want to like have a party and everybody to know that I cooked all the food. That's awesome, man. What's holding you back? Why haven't you done it? Oh, just no one's given me a plan. No, no one's had, no one's given you the belief that you can do it.

22:07
So I, for me, it's, I want to give people the belief. Cause it did, if you know this, right? And if we, if we have more belief in the world, it's the money doesn't matter. That it's just, you'll do whatever you want to do. Period. And hey, even going back to the magic, selling the belief in the magic, right? Yeah. So I'm the belief that there's that card. It says ACE of spades and they turn it over and it's the forest fades, but they still believe it's the ACE of spades. Yeah.

22:37
And you know, how's how's personal branding changed the last few years? You know, like what's what there was a perception and a mind, you know, share of like what it is and what it isn't first, what it is today.

22:54
People want, I know people want to like connect more, you know, I don't, we don't want Barbie and Ken anymore. People are, people are smarter, man. They can smell it. You know, I think there's so many messages coming out at you every second, you know, like, let's say you want to get a doctor, right? Isn't just like go down your local road and find the next guy. We're smarter now. People like, hey, I have money and I have a problem. I'm going to do my own research. So I think you're a buyer.

23:24
is a little bit more educated on like, where do I get that information from? So this is why if you're the guy on personal branding putting out expert content and they keep seeing it, dude, they're gonna come to you. They're more likely to give you a chance first than the next guy. So I think people wanna connect more with the person. They wanna know like who you stand for, what you stand for behind the sale. You know, so for you, Ryan, like one tip I can give you right now,

23:53
I don't know how many times you put up posts about your children or your family, but that stuff's like gold because it, you know what it doesn't say? It says, okay, great. You have a family. Know what it really tells someone? He's a family man. This is PR 101. How do you relate yourself to the public? He's a family man. He looks after his kids. If he looks after his kids, he's probably going to look after my business. Right? Wow. He has a great family. That means he's caring, kindness.

24:22
I want to be treated with kindness. So it's like layers, you know? So I think people want to see that because people that trust problem, man, is a big problem in this space. You know, people don't know who to trust anymore and they're being tricked and they're being fooled, being manipulated, marketing, buy this landing page. It's going to make you millions. Dude, we all know it does. That's not the truth. Where's the lead flow going to come from? Dude, I have so many ladies that I know, I don't know why.

24:50
I always spent 18 grand on this landing page business for months. That's awesome. Congrats on investing in yourself. Where's the lead flow? I just thought I was gonna create the landing page. Who did that? That's the marketing guys telling them, just do the landing page. Follow Russell. Look, we're gonna copy Russell Brunson's. We're gonna do it for you, charge you 18. And you know, dude, this girl doesn't even know how to pick up the phone. Why are you, you know? Like.

25:19
I get annoyed because I get marketing, Ryan, and I get it, but it's sort of ethically wrong too. Deep down, especially if you've got guys getting on the phone with these people, and you know they don't even have a product, and you're pushing a landing page or pushing something down, dude, shame on you.

25:48
Dude, that's just, I'm strong like that, man. But. Well, you're not selling the entire circle, right? You're selling a piece of the pie, but not the whole thing. Like it's demand generation. I mean, you know, it's one thing. It's kind of like, I counsel clients on e-commerce all the time. And so, and everyone thought you build this, you know, like the old, uh, field of dreams, build it, build it. They will come. You build the store.

26:16
I built a wonderful, beautiful Shopify store. And job's done. No, you gotta create social, you gotta drive demand, you gotta create demand, you gotta run ads, you gotta drive traffic to it, then you gotta refine it, and then you gotta build some more social cred and social proof and get reviews and refine it some more. Like, it's not build it and they will come, there's so many more parts to it. Yeah, yeah, and good on you for at least explaining that.

26:45
And if they want to do it that way, then that's on them. But same thing for me too, man. Hey, I'm in Forbes. Where's the phone calls? No. Yeah. You know, and I'm big on that. I'll tell a client, like, what do you want to do? They're like, I want to get in Forbes. I'm like, you're not going to get phone calls. So like, you know, Oh, but it's not going to drive lead flow back. No. You know, and I always tell them this question, right? And you can answer this Ryan Ryan, what did you have Friday for lunch last week?

27:15
I have no idea. Yeah, exactly. So why is someone gonna remember something they read while they're on the toilet scrolling? People is so much message. This is why PR is like out there. How do people keep seeing your message over and over and over and over? How can you keep them podcasts? How can you keep them TV shows? It isn't one move, one play. It isn't one webinar. That's what marketing boys wanna say.

27:45
Do you do this one webinar? It's gonna change the game. Bro, they also have a hundred grand a month to spend by hand ads. You Google him, he's credible. He's been in the game. And this is the problem for me, Ryan, this is why I'm passionate about it, because this is magic 101. It's like master deception. It's master persuasion. It's master influence. It's literally like the fake, well not even fake it to your maker, but it's, you see.

28:15
the that, but you don't see everything else. I think what you're talking about is so key because I think everybody thinks, you know, it's one tactic here, one tactic there. But what I always tell people is, how many times do you see the same commercial over and over again? It's called reach and it's called frequency. And that's the, you have to see it over and over again. So you have to do all these tactics. They all add up to then move the needle where you want. It's not just one thing, right?

28:45
It's yeah, people have this, you know, whatever marketing whoever's telling them, it's like one this, one that, like no, you know. I always try and go back to people as well and get them to understand it by them saying it. So for example, I'll say to someone, Ryan, let me ask you a question, right? Like, so you wanna do this, this and this, right? Okay, cool. Let me ask you something. What are you really good at? And then go answer the question. Yeah, I'm great at marketing and branding.

29:13
Okay, great. Awesome. And you've had a career for like 20 years, right? Yeah. Great. So you've probably put some runs on the board, right? Yes. You've done repetitions, right? Oh, yeah. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Right. So why would that be different in what we're trying to achieve together? And I like to let the pin drop. Because you can say it, you can get other clients to say that people need to hear them saying it and they go, oh, that's so that's a good such a good point.

29:43
Yep. You know, it's, you know, it's that classic one-on-one, like, you know, put the, you know, you get the riches and the rewards when you put the runs on the board. Yeah. You know, and I'm big on telling people like I work with artists and coaches and like, it's not working. How long you'd be doing it for? Oh, like 19 days. Get out of here, man. Get out of here. It's the gratification. Yeah. Oh, I do this. Oh, really? You've been doing that. Okay. Let me see the Instagram.

30:12
So I've got a lot of money and I want to give it to you. Are you best representing yourself well? Oh, I'm supposed to get rid of that. Exactly. You know what you need to do. Oh, hey, what's your website? Oh, I need to change my website. How long have you been saying that for? Six months, right? Yeah, exactly. So like, you know, I come across very strong and people don't like it. I know people like you come across too strong. I said, listen, at the end of the day, you're gonna have to get to this part in the conversation.

30:41
I'm just pushing you in the deep end earlier. And the problem is, is that you want this because people are gonna say, oh, I'm not interested or don't have the money. That's a lie. What they really says, I don't trust you enough because of what I saw on the website. I don't trust you because you say one thing, then I go on your Instagram and there's half naked photos of you. That's happened to a client of mine. She told me that. Yeah. I don't trust you.

31:09
because I saw one thing one night that you posted and it turned me off you, happened to me. So I try and tell the things that people need to hear, whether they don't like it, but they will hit them. One Tuesday afternoon, Ryan, that we're sitting there by themselves and like, shit, that J guy's got a good point. That straight guy's got a couple of good things up his sleeve, you know? Yeah. So what's the playbook, man? I mean, I know you guys do a lot of things from verification to, you know,

31:39
Forbes and TV placements and all that. But, and both it's your services, we'll pub that as well, but it's also part of the playbook, right? Like how do you build personal brand in 2022? What's that playbook, you know, maybe the condensed version. I know we could go on on it. Other than the classics like commitment, you know, consistency, you know, cause dude, if you ain't all in, I ain't gonna help you. Yeah.

32:09
getting, let's, let's say they committed, they're going to be consistent and that the intention is clear. It's not just for a quick hundred grand or a quick mill. You know, they're actually wanting to be the expert or the go to they want to actually do these things. What I will share is like, let's do it all. Because we both know that one thing may not work. Yeah, like, if you just want to be the course guy, you know, you just want, I love that. I'm not a specialist in courses.

32:37
but I know how to get you seen on a global level. I know how to get people to see you in Africa. I know how to get people to see you in Asia. I know how to connecting in front of them because I've done it, done it for myself. So, what I try and do is hit the top five things. I'm like speaking courses, right? Podcast, maybe being a writer in a publication, running live events. I just do what I've done.

33:06
because that's the best way to sell it to me. You know? So I'm like, try to do it all, you know? And some people may not resonate with that because like, I don't want to do all that. Well, then I don't want to help you because I don't know 100% if that move is going to work. You know, like, you know, it's like the people like, well, I want to make 12 grand a month but I only want to work one hour a day on Wednesday night. Okay. Like. If you find it, if you find it, call me.

33:34
Let me know the Wednesday night for grant a month guy. Cause I'd love to like having him on a podcast myself. How did he even write it? I just thought it'd be funny. Yeah. Now imagine that. Like, what do you do? I'm the guy that helps you make a hundred grand Saturday afternoon from four to six, one hour a week for one time of year. Okay. Pretty dialed in. Yeah. But, but what somebody's selling that Jay, you know, they are. So that's what someone's like right now, like registering Saturday afternoon, 100 grand.com.

34:03
Yeah, you're welcome. Yeah, I think, you know, people, people are not, they're just, they, they, they want, they want the riches and the rewards without putting the runs on the board. You know, like, that's why I like, you know, from what you've done, like you did, you've had the runs, you, you can Google you and you've got track record. There's something powerful about that, you know?

34:28
I don't go out and say 57 million views lightly. I say it all the time because people can YouTube me, see 500 videos as a magician, right? Yep. It's like, man, like, he's done something, he's been consistent for 10 years. Probably he knows what he's talking about enough for me to take a phone call. Yep. You know? Who's your ideal client? Someone who is...

34:59
working on the company, usually the company is doing two to five million a year, usually, you know, they're not working in the business on the business. And someone that's already like, wants to like now build, be the go to, I like when someone says to me, I want to be the go to, because it's a very clear, I know where they want to go. And usually those people have a big vision. So they're willing to do the things to get there. You know? Yeah. So you know, we work with

35:26
matchmakers, we've got a plastic surgeon, work with a lot of people in the EXP Realty, work with some big network marketing people, like the people at the top, they wanna be the biggest in the whole space. So when they have that hunger, it's fun because money isn't their motivator, they're doing super well with cash is not their problem, legacy is their problem.

35:52
being seen as the expert or a big pain in our industry is like they want to be known as the person who gives the right information Like I'm tired of seeing this guy because he's spitting out the wrong shit, you know, he's lying Great use that fuel use that passion. That's what how we can move you that was me five years ago, like it was it was a combination of I've done and it wasn't because it was about me. It was more like

36:21
Okay, this guy's saying the wrong things, number one. And then number two, I've helped the largest brands in the world and no one knows who I am and I could help a lot more people if they knew that. And so it was a combination of, I'm tired of seeing that guy say it wrong and he has no credibility, he hasn't done anything. And you know, I mean, I'll admit some of that was ego. I mean, I don't mind saying that, but it was based in more than just ego. Yeah.

36:49
Yeah, man. Good on you. And you know what, like, whose responsibility is to do that? Yours. Yeah. It's like, well done him for marketing himself in the way. That's what usually happens. It's the same with creative and it's like the same with talent. You know, talent's super great and they don't know how to market. Or the guy that gets all the bookings as an entertainer, really not that talented. He's like, well, I better figure that part out because I can't sing. But if I can...

37:16
position myself as a good singer, I can get in the meeting, you know, with Jay-Z. So it's like, it's, you know, I tell people this too, like, cause you know, you can buy likes on Instagram. I've done it. I bought followers. I'm not, I'm not afraid to say how I've grown, you know, the Instagram account cause I did it. Cause I wanted to show people like what's working, what isn't working. But at the end of the day, however you try to get to the goal, right? Is your content and character good enough?

37:44
that if Instagram shuts down, if TikTok shuts down, can you still go out and close the deal? Can you still go out? And if I put you on TV tomorrow, you can talk about it. Cause the whole fake it, you know, we're talking about fake it till you make it, a lot of people are lying till they die. They actually can't do it. You know? Like at the end of the day, strip everything away, dude, like, I'll close. Like I know my passion, I know my industry.

38:12
I know what it is, I've put the grunts on the board, but a lot of people like actually, and Clubhouse was a perfect example of this, there was a lot of like fake it to your make it people that had no, they would just lie. Their bio was just all lies. And I got in trouble one day in a room because I asked someone, he was speaking, I was like, I gotta say something. Like I probably shouldn't, I gotta say it. I'm like, hey man, I Googled you, I don't see anything.

38:40
Was it uh, uh, uh, uh? Or was it... Yeah, he was, yeah, you know, hit a bone, you know? And then the worst is, like, if you get caught, try to fake it. He just disappeared. Oh, well, that just helped his case. You know, you just ruined... And he's a big guy online, you know? He's a big guy on Clubhouse. Yeah. So, you know, I think that coming back to the personal brand part, man, you don't have to fake it. You just could be authentic.

39:08
Because the moment that they get you, you lose distrust. It's done. You don't have to be there. You don't have to go out to the market and say, Hey, I'll be in the game for 20 years if you have it. Yeah. Yeah. For 15. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 15 years old. I've been working. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I have been doing it since I was 15. You know? That's true. So for me, it's like, it's actually, cause people don't believe it. Then I'm like, dude, just Google, Google that. Yeah. I know you don't believe it. I look like I'm 21.

39:38
I get it. But you know, like since I was 14 and a half, I was getting letters from school and go, you know, to private school, college in Australia, like going out to work for McDonald's, you know, come out with $300 cash, but kids are making $4 an hour. It actually was like $7 an hour at McDonald's, you know? But people need to see it too. And that's the other thing that, you know, I'm big on. Like I have one guy at the moment that he gets annoyed because he's losing out on deals. He's in flipping. And I said,

40:07
I'm gonna say his name, but I said, man, no one knows what you do, because you don't show it. Yeah. If they don't trust this, dude, show me, show me. Everyone wants, like we all wanna believe everyone's what they're saying, show me what you can do. Let me see it, let me see the client testimonials. Let me see the screenshots. Because the moment they ask you and you freak, you pause, you're done.

40:34
Like if I can give everybody a tip right now, get on a Zoom with someone, next time you wanna work with someone, and this is totally on your call. Say, hey man, you know, love who I'm hearing. Is it okay? Like, would you mind? Would you mind showing me, like if it's especially if it's in a money making service, show me your bank account. Show me the last report on the phone. Dude, most people cannot. Hey, I would love to, this is a great one you can use. Hey, I'd love to, you know, really send me across the details of the agreement.

41:03
or one more thing I need from you to close the deal to make it easy for you. I need three phone numbers. I want to call them. Yeah. Oh, we can't NDA. If someone says that to me, you know, do you hiding? Yeah, I bring it up before a call. Hey, Ryan, you don't really want to work with you. What I'd love to do if it's okay with you love to give you a couple of phone numbers that whenever you're ready, you can call them ask them the questions you couldn't ask me. Oh, wow. You know, because I want you to feel comfortable at this.

41:32
This is a partnership. There, no one did. No one does that. You know? Yeah. I love that. Hey, credibility, prove it. Inspect what you expect. Come with so much trust and you know what happens, right? They don't call. No, they don't. Cause you've given them already every reason why I'd like to trust you. You know, maybe they may text maybe, but no, man. That's right.

42:00
They ask for these things when there's no trust. What do you think as we close down talking with Jay, Jay owner of Asa Spades, international speaker. So Jay, platforms, you know, I didn't want to just talk about platforms, but you know, TikTok's blowing up, Instagram's still big, but like any platform, I know it's all depending on where your niche is, where your audience is, but any overarching guidance for our audience on platforms in general.

42:31
Yeah, I think we should go back to my space, man. You know, that's so bad. Yeah, man. AOL chat, MSN chat. Let's roll back to the classics. You know, ironic because I had a pretty strong perspective last night, but then I saw Gary B's video and he broke my perspective. Well, he didn't break it. Someone asked him, like, what should I focus on? And he's like, he's...

42:59
the girl asked the same thing. She's like, hey, I was told that you should focus on a platform that's gonna meet the right people. He's like, you should do it all. Like you don't know what's gonna kick you by. I understand what Gary's saying, but we don't have a team of 700. So he'd probably break me on a call if I said that. I think what, and this is my perspective, I think Gary's so in the, like he's so down the rabbit hole. He forgets, he may say he gets it, but you gotta remember.

43:28
the 42 year old plastic surgeon here in Miami wants to do his personal brand. He's got a team, but he doesn't have nine hours a day to jump around on TikTok. Yeah. And he doesn't have all day editing the photo on Instagram. So, coming back to where his lead flow is, where he's wanting to attract them is probably the better platform in my opinion. Dude, people, you know what's a great platform that people forget about? Facebook groups. Yes.

43:58
I have a great relationship with Facebook, right? Because of the verification. They have told, well not they, one guy, but multiple people in the office, in the offices around the world. I said, other than the most energy they put is on Facebook groups. Because they want so many people using their app, using their program for as long as they can, engaging.

44:27
community, because then that's what they sell to the brands and sponsors. Yep. That's what they sell to get people to invest with them. Yep. So like Facebook groups, you can be very clever and you can put in any group you want, you know, like personal branding or, you know, coaches that make over 50 grand a month, like, and you can get very clear to those people, at least. Then you build a relationship with the host of the group. You know, I would find out how much activity goes through. It says that publicly.

44:56
How many posts, how much activity, right? Get in the group, check it out, see if it's a vibe, build a relationship with the host, then try to do something free for him. Give him free content, free coaching session, whatever, because he's the nightclub owner. He's the owner of the group. Once he knows you and likes you and trusts you, dude, you've got access to all these people. Like, it's amazing strategy that I get everybody to do because you don't have to do the ads, you don't have to do.

45:24
you go directly to the people that are more likely to work with you. And, and when you, they go to your Facebook, make sure it's this credibility enough, cause like, I don't know this guy, I'm going to check them out, stalk them a little bit, photos, personal brand connection, credibility, authority. Yeah. That's a big one. I love Facebook groups because it's so niche down, you know, you get right down to the audience and you get, and you know, you get to the gatekeeper. That's what you're describing.

45:51
The gatekeeper. I love the gatekeeper. That's what verification does. Gets you to the gatekeeper. I call it the ogre before the prince, or the father before the princess. The moat, the guards, keep going up. The father, the last guy to get the girl. What is the power of verification today? Let's close with that. That's a biggie. Like, you know, there's a lot of misconception. There's also a lot of maybe.

46:18
I don't know if you can put it too high on a pedestal or too low, but, uh, yeah, yeah. Well, I'll tell you one thing before I answer that question. Anyone who's listening right now, it's not just driven on press anymore. This was our USP in the industry, the game, like I realized how hard it was for me to do it. You know, we've done a lot of them around the world and it's, it's a whole process. It's like getting a visa for a country. If you don't have all these credentials, they will not let you in. It doesn't, what doesn't matter.

46:48
what you look like, sound like, how famous you are, how many TV shows you've been on. Like you need to have, it's like, Ryan, you don't have this? We don't even say sorry, reject it. So the way do I explain verification is like, Ryan, me and you go to a, go to like a hot bar in Miami, right? One night we're rocking in, cool guys dressed up, win a Toyota. No one looks at us. Next night, Lamborghini Aventador 2022.

47:19
Brand new, one of the 50 that are made around the world. We get direct access into the club, bar, people look at us, they ask us what we do, ask us who we are, same guys, same vibes, same clothes even. That is the power of verification. It's like, it's the best way from a social platform, social, when people check you on social, to give you that validity and trust that.

47:47
People, we've made it as like, oh my gosh, he's verified. Anything that he says, anything that he does, anything that she tells the world must be true. Pros and cons behind that. But at the end of the day, like, I know what it was like before I was verified and after it just changed the game. Gets me indoors, you know, people, it's weird. I think it's stupid, stupid, right? Then why, why would a blue tick give you that power?

48:17
Same thing. Why does a Ferrari give you the power? Cause we put value on what that thing is. You know? Yep. It opens a lot of doors, whether it should or shouldn't. It just does. It's a credit. And I want to look at the end of the day, whether it's a blue tick, whether it's a television show, whether it's, you know, the office location, it makes your job easier, like don't.

48:41
make it hard for yourself. That's why I tell people like you're a ghost online. You know how you're making it hard for yourself to like get people to choose you. If they can't find you, they're not gonna give you the deal. You know, and as you mentioned, they're gonna see you. I've had people that have worked with me now, but they had to see me at two events. See me, see me, follow me, have another conversation, have a sales call. Like they needed all these touch points before, okay, now I'm ready. They were ready a year ago.

49:11
They had the money, but they didn't trust me. They didn't know who I was. So that's the purchase funnel. My friends awareness, consideration, intent, demand, and you push them down and it's the same in it, whether you're selling bananas, t-shirts or personal brands. Interesting. That's the framework of like Nike or like Coca-Cola and all the brands in the world. You got to get where. What's that? What is it? The purchase funnel.

49:40
It's the age old marketing purchase funnel. And a lot of people have changed it. Some people call it the purchase cycle now, but it starts with awareness. People gotta be aware of you first. They've gotta consider you. They need intent and then they need demand. And so like, and then ultimately purchase at the bottom. So, you know, they're made aware of you. You spoke once. They started researching you. So maybe they had consideration. And then intent.

50:09
they saw you the second time, and then the phone call you had with them, sales and close, right? Yeah. I mean, that's your example, but it still works that way. You could change the names of those things, whatever, and I will fight anyone that you want, that that is still the path to purchase. And it's the reason why you can't set up an e-commerce store and it's not set it and forget it, because you have to still drive them down that path, that funnel. And so- Well, and it's tied in with personal branding.

50:38
I would rather do that with a person's face and I'd rather do it with mine because it's too easy to sell. I feel it's so much easier to sell with a personality than copy, than a graphic, than really engaging video. I can connect because humans want to connect with a human. You can be at their level. I know people will argue with me, well, dude, I do a million a month. I can't grade good for you, man.

51:07
how many people are like that? Yeah, and how much money did it cost you to find that perfect formula? Like this is why it's so great, like to give people a move, Ryan. Like if they wanna get a win today, do 30 days of a life. Every client, Ryan, you get them to do that. Three things that happen. One, it gets them definitely some kind of client, whether it's a pay now or pay later, they're getting a win because they're talking about what they do. Two, you know, it's gonna bring in probably some cashflow or moving towards some kind of cashflow.

51:36
But the biggest one is confidence. It gets you out of your head. And it's the fastest way and the best way and the free way to engage an audience because you want engagement. You're creating content to engage. So just let's skip that part, go straight for the throat. Let's go straight for the person. When they come up, use their name, talk about your industry, five minutes every day. You do that, not one person has ever said to me ever, like, it was a waste of my time after 30 days.

52:04
And I don't feel like, oh, that was like, I feel more insecure. Man, people wanna hear my story, Jay. People never reach to reach out. I'm getting like, people ask me to speak. I'm like, it's this magic thing that we forget. So 30 days of lives, man. That's the- There you go. It's what it is today. So value, there's value, value, value. Jay, Jay, this has been great, man. Looking forward to continuing our relationship and helping one another and helping people.

52:33
Talk about where everyone can find you, find Ace of Spades, everything. Yeah, man, yeah. If whoever's listening right now, something's resonated with you, you're looking to get a bit of a plan on, maybe I'm ready to go all in with the personal brand, or hey, maybe you just wanna get a couple of services. Maybe get on TV, Good Morning Chicago, you're open for that conversation. Go to acespadesagency.com, acesofspadesagency.com. Do you stalk?

53:02
Make sure I'm trustworthy, you know? And then when you're ready, booking a call and we'll rock and roll. Love it, brother. Really appreciate you coming on. Yeah, of course. Absolutely. Thank you, dude. Hey guys, you know where to find all of this content at theradcast.com. Search for Magic and Ace of Spades. It will all bring up the content from today's show. Everything, Jay, all the knowledge we dropped, all the value that he brought. Hey.

53:29
I might even throw in a little magic trick there. Who knows? I don't know, we'll link to one of his magic shows. All good, we really appreciate JJ. You know where to find me, I'm at Ryan Alford on all the platforms. I'm blowing up on TikTok. Go hit me on over there. We'll see you next time on the Radcast.