Today I get to interview Brian Fanzo and discuss the importance of telling your authentic story. Brian of iSocialFanz is a social media marketing expert, keynote speaker, evangelist for technology, and podcast host who travels across the United States, urging people to get out there, embrace social media, and show the world what they have to offer.
He’s also the host of the FOMOFanz Podcast and co-host of the Just Try This podcast with Amy Landino. Brian believes that social media is fair game for everyone and that you don’t need to be an expert or thought leader to succeed online.
In this episode, Brian reveals what opened his eyes to video’s potential, explains why he stresses authenticity in every avenue of your work and discusses why we can’t just blame technology for the world’s problems.
HOW BRIAN STAYED TRUE TO HIS AUTHENTIC SELF
Brandon Birkmeyer: You talked a little bit in your last podcast episode about this idea of niching down. I want to talk a little bit about that because I was just having a conversation about this with someone, the idea that there is an advantage to niching down. However, there’s also an advantage to not as long as you’re clear about how you do that.
Do you mind touching a little bit about what you were talking about in that episode?
Brian Fanzo: Of course not. “The riches are in the niches”; that’s a phrase that we heard. For me, I went to college. I was a computer science major that was the president of my fraternity and the assistant captain of the ice hockey team.
Nobody on hockey was in the fraternity. No one in the fraternity was a computer science major. I was kind of that unique person, but I connected all of those worlds. I was always amazed because they would say, “Oh, I would never hang out.” Then the first night we’re hanging out. They become best friends. It’s this idea that, hey, we’re all not that different.
YOU CAN PROVE PEOPLE WRONG
I was always intimidated when someone would tell me, “Well, Brian, your success has been limited because you haven’t found your niche.” I’m one that when someone tells me I can’t do something, I will prove them wrong.
I’m very good at that. Actually, the first podcast I launched was called SMACtalk. I actually interviewed John Lee Dumas and Lewis Howes at the very first Social Media Marketing World and said, “Guys, I want to talk about these couple of things.” They said to me, “The only way you will be successful in a podcast is if you niche it down.”
I immediately went back and created a podcast that was the opposite of a niche. It’s called SMACtalk, which stands for Social Media, Mobility, Analytics, and Cloud Computing. I went and I said, “You know what, I’m going to prove them wrong.”
It’s been sponsored by Adobe, IBM, Samsung, Dell, all of these brands I’ve been able to sponsor the podcast for.
BEING AUTHENTIC DOESN’T CHANGE LIKE NICHES DO
However, there’s also an element that I had to learn. Once you have a niche, or if you have a niche, there is some power there. There’s some power from association from people being able to talk about what you do.
One of my struggles was when someone talks about me, they talk about passion and they’ll maybe mention a couple of things, but what are you “known for”?
My message to people is that if you have a niche, if you have something that is your one primary focus, own it. Double down, be the best at it. However, also remember that there’s a possibility that the niche goes away, fades, or disappears. You still have to think a little bit bigger.
For those that are like me, that think, “Man, I don’t have a niche.” What I want to tell you is that you still have the chance to be successful. You have to do things a little bit differently, but you also have the opportunity to discover your niche down the way.
If you would’ve told me in 2012 or 2013 that I would be doing something on video, I would have said you were the craziest person of all time. Video wasn’t my thing. Video wasn’t something that was even a niche that I would have focused on.
BEING AUTHENTIC GAVE BRIAN OPPORTUNITIES
Even now as a speaker, people will say, “What audiences do you talk to?” I have four primary types. Each talk can do three different verticals or three different industries. Those three pretty much don’t cross over.
I get some really cool opportunities where I speak to the dental hygienist insurance policy convention. The next week I will go to a pet influencer convention. Then I get to go to IBM and I talk about artificial intelligence. Then the very next day, I’m speaking at Digital Summit on ten marketing lessons from the Fyre Festival.
It’s allowed me to have a very big span. I will say without question that if I had a niche when I started, my success probably would be equal if not greater than it is at the moment. However, I’m so glad that I didn’t stop myself from trying to go after success because I hadn’t discovered it yet.
YOU CAN PIVOT YOUR NICHE
Honestly, when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, all through high school, my answer changed with the wind. We went through everything, from a high school guidance counselor to a sports center news anchor to a radio disc jockey. You gave me that space and I was open to it.
I’m proof. If you’re not sure about this, I’m living proof that you can pivot. You can be a little bit about all these different things. If you’re passionate about it, you keep it real and you’re able to have a good amount of knowledge on these different topics, it can definitely be a superpower. It works really well for me.
RELATED: Build your personal brand with the Content Marketing Starter Guide.
SHARE YOUR AUTHENTIC STORY
Brandon Birkmeyer: I think that having fear stop you because you’re not sure where to niche is one of the biggest messages I can take away from what you’re giving people today.
You might figure out that your niche has to do with a certain type of behavior or approach, a certain place in someone’s process. You have to get out there and be doing the work, being active and figuring out who you are, and sharing your story.
Brian Fanzo: That’s beautifully said. We talk about passion and purpose. I like to flip it a little bit on the head and it’s been something that I take a lot of pride in. I can’t say that I was passionate about every job I’ve ever had, but I found a way to be passionate about the work I was doing.
Along the way, it allowed me to succeed because of that. It also allowed me to open up. How many other people can say they worked in cybersecurity at a data center, played semi-professional poker, and now is a keynote speaker on marketing, generational conversation, and social media? It’s because I was able to be passionate.
DON’T FORCE A NICHE JUST BECAUSE IT’S NOT OWNED
I think for those that are out there that are struggling, to your point–be passionate about a vertical or an industry or something that you want to do. However, the other thing that frustrates me is that we do live in a shiny object world.
I do host a podcast called FOMO Fans, which stands for Fear Of Missing Out. I’m part of the ones that understand that, but one of the things that I get frustrated with (and live video is a big propeller of this) was that when someone didn’t know what their niche was and they saw live video taking off, they would think, “That’s going to be my niche.”
Wait a second. Are you good at it? Is that something you like doing? Is this something you want to do? Not to mention nobody knows what the heck they’re doing. I would still argue most of us still don’t know what we’re doing in that space.
Chatbots is a great one. All of a sudden you’re an expert in chatbots. I would always ask, “Oh, so you’re a coder? Oh no. Okay, so you were really good at lead generation? Oh, wait, no, you’re really good at SEO or building funnels. Wait, no, you weren’t really good at any of those things. You just saw chatbots as a niche that no one was owning.”
BE TRUE TO AUTHENTIC SELF
I would much rather someone figure out from a top-level rather than just trying to own something that makes no sense because it is short-term. That’s the bigger picture here.
I’m playing a long-term game in everything I’m doing. I’m building a brand, a reputation, and a level of trust that’s not associated with one network, not associated with one type of medium, not even really associated with one industry.
I want people to understand who I am, what I’m about, what the results are that I can drive forward. Therefore, my saying is I don’t build a following on a social network. I build an entire digital community that will follow me no matter where I go. That to me is my secret.
People will look and say, “Well, your Instagram following is not that big. Or how did you get that Twitter following when there’s not that many people on Facebook?” I always say, “Growing one individual channel was never my goal.”
PEOPLE WILL FOLLOW YOU, NOT YOUR NICHE
I use the channel for what it’s worth, and I try to customize my content there, but ultimately I don’t care if you only subscribe to my podcast or you only follow me on Instagram. Maybe you just discovered me on LinkedIn. The idea for me is you get to know who I am.
Then as I pivot, as I launch my book, I have merchandise that I’m working on right now, the success level of that means I sold without even going public.
I sent private messages to this mastermind that I launched on June 1st. I wanted to get twenty people and I had eighty people via private message that applied and qualified. That was with no funnel, no sales, no public promotion. It was me building that. I think that’s a result of being able to do that.
MENTIONS
GUEST LINKS
iSocialFanz – https://www.isocialfanz.com/
FOMOFanz Podcast – https://www.isocialfanz.com/fomofanz/
Just Try This Podcast – https://anchor.fm/just-try-this
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