“More people than not make the mistake of undervaluing the power of implementing a media strategy. It’s the only form of marketing that builds authority and the cheapest one to prospect clients.” ~ Raj Girn, Founder, The Open Chest® Confidence Academy
Hi Friend,
Are you the type of business owner, executive, or creator who believes that they can grow authority without utilizing media? Then this missive is for you!
Before I dive in, for those of you who are new to my world, “Welcome!” I recommend that your first stop be to get to know me a little and see if what I do is of value to elevating your personal and/or professional journey (because why be here otherwise right?). Yes, we’re going there and then some!
To that end, I encourage you to head over to the academy’s YouTube channel @TheOpenChestConfidenceAcademy, where I release two video trainings each week called ‘The Transform Your Confidence Show.’ You can also access the show on podcast platforms if you prefer to listen only, in addition to my blog if you prefer to read the training.
The areas that I cover in the show are the core areas that I am a subject matter expert in, namely: mindset & clarity, media & communications, branding & marketing, leadership & advocacy. Each week, I have meaningful conversations with fellow industry experts to deep dive these core areas, because I’ve found that a conversation has more impact to learn from than being instructed to. We share and dissect the latest industry wide developments that I believe you should implement into your growth strategy, no matter what stage of the process you may be in.
So we are clear Farah, I’m not considered an expert because I went to Harvard or ran a company to unicorn status, but rather, because I am successful without these and I can help you to be too. I have garnered my stripes through a combination of lived, learned, and earned experience, where I have created and cultivated 3 brands to respectable authority – professional development brand: The Open Chest Confidence Academy (est. 2020); personal brand: Raj Girn (est. 2011); cultural brand: Anokhi Life (est 2002).
Moreover, I’ve helped countless others with their branding, media, communications, and marketing strategies and campaigns over the past 20 years. For those of you who don’t know me, some of the people that I’ve worked with in various capacities (whom you may know) include: Celebrity brands like Kim Kardashian, Priyanka Chopra, and Dita Von Teese; corporate brands like L’Oréal Paris, Estee Lauder, and Johnnie Walker; thought leader brands like Robin Sharma and Kristen Stewart (but to name a few).
Moral of this story is that you don’t need to get caught up in all of the check marks everyone is using to mark their success by, because then you’re giving your power to decide on your value to others. The most empowered avatar is s/he who defines success on and by their own terms.
“Pull your energy away from the rat race and allow yourself to target your focus and energy in cultivating your own ecosystem (vision, mission, value). This will help you live your life rather than dream about others living theirs.”
~ Raj Girn, Founder, The Open Chest® Confidence Academy
How can you do this? By tapping into your entrepreneurial side to create opportunities rather than wait for them to happen. History has proven time and time again that the greatest innovators of all time that we all remember and look up to, are those who disrupt the status quo through focusing on their beliefs and creating their own ecosystems. People like Sadhguru, Steve Jobs, Oprah, Mother Teresa, Hitler (yes him too), and God (the ultimate creator).
Sit with this my friend as it will serve you well and save you a lot of wasted time and frustrated let downs by trying to compete with the Joneses, who don’t care about your wins, because they are (rightfully so), focusing on their own, which is why they are successful!
OK, now on with this week’s topic . . .
Do you know what the 2 most important things are that a media strategy can accomplish for your business?
- To build your authority through association.
- To prospect clients/customers outside of your ecosystem.
When building authority, the best form of media to acquire is earned media. This is media that covers that part of your story that they believe will resonate with their audience. The strategy here is to build your authority through association with media, thus borrowing their authority with their audience to help you develop your own. So if you’re a business person, getting earned media in Forbes is the holy grail, similar to getting coverage in Vogue if you’re a fashion designer.
When prospecting for clients/customers, however, adding a paid media tranche to your earned media tranche is the optimal media strategy, because paid media allows you to control your narrative and allows you to tell a much fuller story than the snippet that earned media chooses to tell. The advantage here is that like earned media, paid media gets indexed in Google, so when someone is searching for you or someone that offers what you provide, you will show up as an authority (earned media) and your full story will tell people if you are what they are looking for (paid media).
The takeaway here is that those who cannot be found, do not exist; period!
Having stated this, it gets complicated when you add in how many types of media there are today for you to tap into and how to choose the right ones/combination of them:
- Traditional: TV, radio, print.
- News: Blogs, YouTube, podcast platforms.
- Social: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, etc.
And then you add in your access to funds to pay for all of the above and the whole thing can get quite confusing.
If you’re looking to figure out how to create the appropriate media strategy for your business, contact me to book a free, no-obligation discovery call: [email protected] and let’s see how I can help you break things down to better understand them, so as to make the right decision – something that I have personally done and helped many people do for their businesses.
See you next week!
