Master Content & Ditch Mediocrity With Dave Polykoff

Chris Stone [00:00:01]:
I think a lot of us, Jim, are are just kinda getting into this whole content creation thing. Right? Whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're a solopreneur, whether you have a maybe a job, a w two job, you know, call it a real JOB. Right? And you're doing content creation maybe on the side, right, and you're you're working on other stuff whether it's Amazon like, like Scott is or other revenue streams for you or other parts of your your brand, you're kinda drowning a little bit in content creation. I mean, tons of social posts that you've gotta, you know, keep track of. You're getting overwhelmed with what what platform should I be in? Here's there's a new platform that's launching all of the time. Should I be on Rumble? Should I be on x? X is charging me right now. All of these things can get really confusing. And then when all of that's happening, you're kinda you kinda get frozen just like you get frozen with tech.

Chris Stone [00:00:58]:
Right? Like, should I have this camera? Should I have this microphone? Should I and so we felt like it was a great opportunity to, to to get our our next guest on the show because he's gonna help us kinda, you know, wade through that whole thing and, you know, kinda clear the mind junk, on all of this stuff. So I want to introduce to you, the CEO and founder of Zen Post and personal and business branding strategist, mister Dave Polykoff. Dave, man, welcome to the show.

Dave Polykoff [00:01:31]:
Chris, Jim, thank you so much for having me. This is gonna be great. And I know we were talking a little football early on in this, episode here, and I have to give a shout out. I'm from Philly. So, of course, I'm a Birds fan. Go Eagles. And, not allowed to be cheering about these days with us, but hopefully we turn it around.

Chris Stone [00:01:50]:
That is so funny. The it's like all we need is a Giants fan to join in the whole division right here on the on

Dave Polykoff [00:01:55]:
the show. Trendy here. Yeah.

Chris Stone [00:01:57]:
That's right. That's amazing. And so, Dave, I know you you're you're based in you're based in Philly. Have you always been based in that area or, born and raised?

Dave Polykoff [00:02:08]:
I I won't do the whole, fresh principal there. I wasn't I wasn't born in bus Philadelphia, But, no. I was I was raised in the suburbs. And, about 12 years ago, moved in into the city. And, yeah, it's gonna take a lot for me to get out of, to pull me out of the city again.

Chris Stone [00:02:24]:
No. Very cool. Very cool. So, you know, some of the folks, you know, for the first time, they're they're seeing Dave Polykoff, and they're like, okay, who is this guy, but I you know, we're gonna get to your origin story eventually and kind of how you got, you know, to where you're at, because you've worked with a number of companies, started your own company. But I wanted to just maybe start off, you know, right here and kind of talk about, you know, because when people hear personal branding, they think they immediately might think logos, they might think fonts, They might think colors. When you see deal casters, you're seeing you're seeing, like, you know, shiny objects and and, like, everything is is is a certain color and a certain font. But personal branding is more than just that. And I wanted to roll it to you and really get your high level of, you know, what a personal brand is.

Chris Stone [00:03:16]:
And if you're someone in our audience, why the heck would they even care about doing? Why why do I need a personal brand, Dave?

Dave Polykoff [00:03:25]:
Absolutely. Well, great question. I mean, it's funny you asked that because I I literally put out a post today on LinkedIn that verbatim I'll try to see if I can can can copy it verbatim here, but put simply, personal branding is the promotion of your industry positioning in order to drive interest to your product. So what is all those things? What are all those p's? So the promotion is what you were talking about content strategy, showing up and talking about, what you believe in and what your offer is and how you can help people through content. It's also what we call, like, your digital billboards. That's the, your online profiles. That's your websites. That's your lead magnets that you have, and then obviously your products.

Dave Polykoff [00:04:14]:
So, you know, what you have to offer people, what value you're bringing to the world. So really it's just a combination of those three things is understanding what value you have to bring to the world and then finding the right places to show up and talk about it. And, you know, you mentioned a brand logo. What I like to say is that your profile picture is your personal brand logo. So in a sense, there are some, concepts of logos and personal branding, but I I really think just your mug is really what, what your logo is.

Chris Stone [00:04:46]:
Yeah. I mean, the the biggest testament to that would be, like, what are the most popular thumbnails that people click on on YouTube? It's it's the face. Right? It's it's like what what expression is that is that is that person showing and it's, it's it's all it's it's humanizing your your your your brand, what your your your message is that face. It's interesting, that that you put it that way because I think when I when I started my business initially, Dave, is is like that was the first thing I thought of was create a logo. Right? Oh, this is cool. Let me create this this dog, you know, that has this lightning and this, you know, and I came up with this this great logo with same with same with deal casters. But it never really resonated with people until we really started showing ourselves in in in this and with live video. So speaking of live video, how do you work with companies and kind of encourage them to do lives, you know, showing up as themselves or vice versa?

Dave Polykoff [00:05:48]:
So live video can be pretty nerve wracking. So really what we start with is trying to get you comfortable in front of the camera even if it's just you recording alone in your basement or wherever, and you feel comfortable and safe, and you're able to record a quick talking head video. A lot of people don't feel natural on camera by default. They also don't understand, like, the equipment and the lighting and the backdrop to use, and they get a little too much in their head. So I would say, definitely live video is something to work yourself towards. But if you're just starting out, you're still kind of workshopping what you wanna say, how you wanna show up, you know, the the best way, your best foot forward on camera. And sometimes the best way to do that is just get the reps in with a prerecorded thing where you can you can go back to the editing, you know, the chopping block and edit things and make you sound and look better and build your confidence. And then eventually, yeah, definitely, live is great.

Dave Polykoff [00:06:47]:
You know, live is a big thing right now on every platform. Unfortunately, LinkedIn is not working, but I know, you know, LinkedIn is is really, great for live

Jim [00:06:55]:
Mhmm.

Dave Polykoff [00:06:55]:
YouTube, and now Amazon is just a a really great opportunity, not only to get distribution, but also monetize, you know, through some of the products as well.

Chris Stone [00:07:06]:
Yeah. And Dave, I think the other thing too that I I find interesting is even when you see these people that are doing video, it's like, do you feel like they need to get work towards that perfect take, or do you think just like, even if it's recorded, is being more yourself and it's okay, you know, you got some umms and ahs, and it's not completely polished? I mean, what do you kind of think people need to do?

Dave Polykoff [00:07:30]:
It's an interesting time, right now where the pendulum swings, back and forth on this, and it really depends on the channel. So on Instagram, it's more of a polished channel. Right? There's it got its star based on photos with filters on it because it wanted you to feel comfortable and confident in the picture that you were posting. Right. And it's just kind of taken that, that vibe ever since. Right? It's the the the reels that are being published are a little bit more polished, edited. You're showing up in kinda your best Sunday best. While TikTok, on the other hand, is a little bit more free form, authentic, if you will.

Dave Polykoff [00:08:13]:
Mhmm. A little bit more like walking and talking with your iPhone or just kinda like sitting down on your couch and propping up your iPhone. So it kinda depends on the channel. You can have the same type of video or you wanna say the same thing, but potentially even recorded in 2 different ways because one just kinda performs better on the other just based on the demographic and and, what people are used to on that channel. So depending on where you're focused, I would say that's gonna dictate maybe your your, video editing style. I'm big on LinkedIn right now in terms of where I'm focused for content creation, and I take a little bit more of a polished approach. But I'm also gonna start doing a little bit more, of the unedited, just kind of free form, click record and just record myself without much editing style. I'm gonna test that and see how that is on LinkedIn.

Dave Polykoff [00:09:06]:
But it definitely comes down to the channel. And then also just, like, how your brand identity is, and and who your your target market is. If you're selling, you know, $1,000,000 financial packages, you might wanna come off a little bit more polished and, you know, maybe not wear the the fitted hat and and the t shirt, in your videos, and and have that buttoned up suit and have leave out the umms and ahs because you wanna sound confident in what you're talking about. But, you know, if maybe you're just like a fitness trainer and you wanna show show your personality and all that, maybe leaving in the umms and ahs and the the quirks is is better for you because that's gonna be how you're gonna be in real life anyway.

Jim [00:09:44]:
Do you

Chris Stone [00:09:45]:
feel like sometimes when you're working with companies and they wanna be in lots of places, you know, like, we need to have an Instagram profile, we need to have a TikTok, we need to be on Pinterest, we need to be on faith, you know, we need to be kind of everywhere, at least having real estate there. So you got to put content there. Do you ever recommend, like, taking, say, a vertical piece of content that can land in those places? In other words, it has the right sizing and the right the the right time and just kind of like put that one piece of content in all the places, see what resonates and kind of go, okay, we're gonna we're gonna go here with that type of content as opposed to just spraying it and praying, kind of thing. What what's been your experience with with content like that?

Dave Polykoff [00:10:32]:
If you're going from 0 to 1, where if you're a listener today, coach, consultant, solopreneur, and you wanna start a personal brand, you haven't been showing up with content, and you want to start creating content and and publishing, the number one thing to first do besides, a whole process that I have, but if you're going to, publish content anyway, it would be to choose just one channel and dominate that channel. And I say that it's kind of like a boiling pot. You know, you wait for that water to boil over, and then soon as it boils over, then you just you start boiling the 2nd pot. Because you you really wanna kinda make your stake your claim as an authority somewhere first to make sure you're dominating that channel. Make sure you're if you're, you know, you're a coach consultant and you rely on leads and clients, you wanna make sure you're making money because the spray and pray method is like, I hope something's working. Right?

Chris Stone [00:11:30]:
Right. Right.

Dave Polykoff [00:11:30]:
Versus, like, I'm gonna go all in putting all my chips on LinkedIn or something and, you know, hell over high water. I am going to make sure I dominate LinkedIn. That's that's where you wanna focus, especially because each channel, as I mentioned, has its own unique requirements. It's, you know, some channels, you can only upload up to like a minute and 30 video. Other channels can be 10 minutes, and some channels have different settings when you're publishing a a post that you can do. You can add audio, some you can't. You can add a cover photo for some. And to try to keep up with each channel's requirements and vibes.

Dave Polykoff [00:12:08]:
Again, TikTok versus Instagram. You're gonna spread yourself too thin.

Jim [00:12:12]:
You're

Dave Polykoff [00:12:13]:
gonna be banging your head against the wall. Instead, just find the one channel that you're gonna dominate. Understand its quirks, understand the types of conversations that do well on there, test, test, test, and then, eventually, you'll find your footing on that. And then once you find your footing and once you start to get into a rhythm and you get to scale content, because again, it's kinda like podcasting. They say, like, most people start podcasts and then they reach episode 7 Yeah. And that's their, you know, they they find that it's way too hard, way too much effort

Chris Stone [00:12:45]:
Right.

Dave Polykoff [00:12:45]:
And they never post another podcast. So it's like, you know, with with content creation, content burn or, creator burnout is a huge issue. So you wanna make sure that you can stay consistent with it. You can show up and and and be, authentic and consistent to the point where you figured it out, and at that point, figure out how to then replicate it across your other channels.

Chris Stone [00:13:07]:
So how does one, determine which platform that they really need to focus on? I mean, if if I'm, you know, if I'm a small business owner, I mean, how do I how do you know, I realized we're getting into the blueprint here, which by the way, ladies and gentlemen, you need to check out the podcast, which is a personal brand blueprint. And if you're not on Amazon, you can't click it on the carousel, Wherever you're at, pull it up in a podcast player and, grab that personal brand blueprint. So if I'm a business owner, Dave, entrepreneur or doing a side hustle, how do I know which where to start at what what platform? Like, TikTok's fun. I'm on TikTok, but then my customers may be here or here or here. How does one sort of ascertain, like, where where where should I put my content? What type of content there?

Dave Polykoff [00:13:59]:
You just you just answered the question. It's Sorry.

Chris Stone [00:14:01]:
That's why I'm being a terrible podcast host.

Dave Polykoff [00:14:05]:
Yeah. Spoiler alert. Yeah. No. No. The the the answer is it's where your customers are, your clients. You know, there's no reason to be on TikTok if if your your clients aren't actively on there and and looking to, you know, engage with a a person like you or an offer like you. You know, if you're a a b to c, play, I think TikTok's really great.

Dave Polykoff [00:14:30]:
You know, they they added a shop and that's doing wonders for people, you know, and eventually people are outgrowing the TikTok shop and going on to Amazon and and such, especially too because TikTok has that, option where, you know, the average Joe or Sally can promote your product, you know, through through a TikTok and then add a little call to action link at the bottom, and they get a commission or whatever. So you have kind of the affiliate play worked into the platform itself, kinda like like Amazon. If you're more of a coach consultant, b to b or, you know, working directly with, like, just business, like, business professionals, in the services industry, LinkedIn is where you wanna be. You're a realtor and you wanna be a little a little bit more community based. Facebook is where you wanna be because there's a lot of Facebook groups that you can join, shake hands, you know, with those people. So it really depends on, you know, what your service is, where your target market already is. And, yeah, that's kind of the the first part of the conversation is, like, who are you trying to sell to? And, you know, are you b to b, b to c? And how how much of a professional are you, you looking to to buy to or sell to? And then, yeah, just a matter of, like, what your vibe is as well. So, like, sometimes how you show up on that platform, is all part of your brand identity as well, which we, you know, we we help you work through, in terms of we all, again, should work towards being on video, but not a lot of people are are comfortable right at the gate.

Dave Polykoff [00:16:03]:
So sometimes just, you know, text based, image based, photos, and such, is where you wanna start. But, you know, some some platforms are better for that than others.

Chris Stone [00:16:13]:
Yeah. Dave, you you've, talked earlier too about your seems like you're really focused on LinkedIn. I don't know if you always have been, and and I know I was at a a a luncheon a couple months ago where I was speaking, and I was, you know, kind of asked, like, how many of your businesses are posting on LinkedIn? It was like 3 out of 50. What do you see as maybe that advantage to leaning into LinkedIn, especially for folks that are in b two b that they're maybe missing out on, and and what would you recommend they do to to get moving in that direction with their brand?

Dave Polykoff [00:16:46]:
Yeah. I would say one of the number one reasons we hear well, there's two main reasons that we hear people aren't showing up on LinkedIn, and, yeah, there's some crazy quote that I think, like, 1% of LinkedIn users actually ever post something, which, you know, is yeah, is is insane. And then even on that, when you do post something, people who actually see your content but engage with it is, like, even lower. So it's one of those things I always tell people, like, even if you're not getting engagement, it doesn't mean it's not being effective. But in any case, yeah. And I think the two main reasons that we hear why people don't post, one is people have a negative connotation with social media. I think the, like, millennials, whatever is above millennials and the boomer demographic, whatever, basically, you know, the that that generation, we've grown up on on social media and it's it's or better or worse, played a large part in our lives, and we've kind of somewhat gotten jaded by it in some cases. In other cases, it's changed people's lives for the better.

Dave Polykoff [00:17:54]:
But there is this sentiment where people are just like, I hate the the poison that is social media, and I hate how fake Yeah. Some people can be, and I don't wanna contribute to that. And so that's that's one of the large reasons is people just have a negative connotation. But, you know, kind of our our response to that is, you know, that those are people who are doing it wrong, first of all. And 2, those are people who are trying to manipulate, and and they're in it for the wrong reasons. As long as you come authentically and with, with empathy and gen generosity in in in a genuine way, There's nothing wrong with being on social media and and trying to promote yourself in in a business that you think and or you know can can help people. And the other reason that people aren't publishing on on social media is largely because, they just don't know what they should be posting. You know, they they have, an offer.

Dave Polykoff [00:18:57]:
They have thought leadership in their head. They can be changing people's lives, but they don't know how to translate all of that into content that people are gonna care about. And they they're worried that they're gonna show up and look like, you know, the the person that maybe they're rolling their eyes at, you know, like someone who's who's trying a try hard, who's making the video that they're like, I don't wanna be an influencer. I don't wanna be that person. I don't wanna be seen as like that. And so, they just don't know how to translate what, translate the the the quality content that lives in their head into content that people will actually care about. And then, you know, there's a little bit of kind of like imposter syndrome and and worry that they're gonna be looked at differently. So, really, the the big response to that is that this is all mental.

Dave Polykoff [00:19:51]:
There's a lot of sentiments in there that I think are preventing you from being successful. And, you know, it's it's, it's the same thing, like, if you wanna get in shape, but, you know, you don't wanna be you don't wanna go to the gym, you know, the first couple day months of of your training because you're scrawny and you you you're lifting £15 when the person next to you is lifting 200 and you're comparing yourselves to other people.

Chris Stone [00:20:17]:
Right.

Dave Polykoff [00:20:17]:
Well, you're never gonna get in shape, you know, if you if you never start. And so that's the whole mental thing. And so, largely, you have to feel the pain, enough where you're not making as much money as you'd like. You know, your business is failing. You you're not able to support your family. Some sort of catalyst needs to happen where you go, okay, you know what? I need to I need to to make a change. I need to kinda get over it and, you know, finally invest into me, which is what I say is, you know, your Me LLC is the greatest investment you can make in your life.

Chris Stone [00:20:52]:
I love that. You know, I never really thought about it like this, Dave, is that, you know, we talk about this all the time. A lot of people talk about this stuff all the time and that that fear of the camera, right, or the not understanding the tech, or, right, all of that stuff. But but you talked about it initially, and you said that there's a lot of people that look at people who are creating content and go, I don't wanna I don't wanna do that. Like, I don't wanna be that kind of person that I don't like to see. And I think that's a huge thing. A lot of the clients I work with, it's it's like you like, I'm not on TikTok. I'm not in.

Chris Stone [00:21:32]:
I'm thinking myself. But if your audience is there or potentially there, like, it doesn't matter if you like it or not. Right? I you know, I don't put I don't really like TikTok, but, you know, I know that we've gotten, you know, some business from there. And what we do is some of it live selling. So there is a there's a connection there. So how do you work with someone to kind of bridge that gap of, like, listen, I don't like it. So I don't wanna be there. But you have to, you know, explain to them, like, listen, if if you want your brand to to be extended because your your your clients, your customers, your prospects are here, how do you how do you get them through that?

Dave Polykoff [00:22:16]:
To be honest and and truly candid with you, we don't work with those people because they're not ready to do the work. Okay. I love it. Yeah. You know, the it it's it's like someone again, to use the fitness analogy, it's like you're a personal trainer and someone wants to sign up for for personal training but says, I don't wanna do push ups and then sit ups and whatever.

Jim [00:22:38]:
Okay.

Dave Polykoff [00:22:39]:
Okay? Then you can't you can't come here. Like, what do you

Jim [00:22:41]:
I don't know what you wanna do. I don't

Dave Polykoff [00:22:43]:
wanna do

Chris Stone [00:22:43]:
leg day. Right? Yeah. Yeah. You came to me because

Jim [00:22:44]:
you have a problem. I'm giving you the blueprint on how to solve that problem.

Dave Polykoff [00:22:45]:
Mhmm. Okay. Problem. I'm giving you the blueprint on how to solve that problem. Mhmm.

Jim [00:22:50]:
If you if you wanna be successful, you will you will follow it. And,

Dave Polykoff [00:22:51]:
yeah, there might be some complaining, but do it in the shower, you know, away from me kind of thing. Right? So, yeah, it's it's again, it goes back to to the mindset where it's like you need to have the pain needs to be so large that the little voice in your head saying, but I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna get up early and run the mile. Right? It it it blocks it out because you're here to to make a change. You're here to, you know, solve people's problems. And, you know, it's a selfish thought to think I'm not gonna do the work because, you know, because I don't feel like it or I I feel icky or whatever, when that's just it's it's, self doubt is getting in your own way. And again, if you're if you're knocking on my door because you wanna make a change, it means whatever you're doing right now isn't working. So, you need to you need to do something different to see different, and, you know, that means doing some things that maybe, you usually aren't, you're usually not doing, and that's why you're gonna be successful.

Dave Polykoff [00:24:00]:
But if I was to then kinda walk them through it, all that aside, you know, I think, again, it it it comes down to the idea that people don't want to be the the icky version of what they see online. And that's that's the number one thing that we we start with is to make you feel comfortable, we start with an interview process with our client where we understand who you are at, like, at your core, at your essence. Like, what is what is your vibe? What are, like, the little, traits and quirks about you that make you you, that are gonna make you authentic? And we provide that back to you. Because one thing is, it's easy to to be to have negative thought and go, I can list 15 things I hate about myself.

Jim [00:24:52]:
Mhmm.

Dave Polykoff [00:24:53]:
But it's very difficult to list out the things that you love about yourself or that other people love about you. It you know, it's it's tough to be self reflective in that way. So you do need someone to go, listen, after the time we've spent together, here are the things that are gonna make you successful when you show up on camera because I love when you do this. You have a great sense of humor and great sarcasm, like lean into that. So we put that together in a brand profile and a brand identity, and we provide provide that you provide that back to you and say, here's how you're gonna feel most comfortable in your content and most authentic. And when you understand, okay, I can show up naturally and lean into the things I already do naturally or authentically, and I'm speaking my truth. Right? You don't you're not lying about, you know, you're not snake oil salesmans trying to pitch something you don't believe in, then if all of those stars align, you shouldn't feel icky about anything. Right? And you don't have to do it the way your maybe some of the creators are seeing or even your favorite creator, how they're doing it Right.

Dave Polykoff [00:26:01]:
Because that's how they're doing. We wanna find the way that is gonna be natural for you so that you stand out in your market. So it's just a matter of people getting, just a bad sentiment, but because they're seeing the ways that they don't wanna do it, but they haven't figured out the way that they should do it. And that's, you know, step number 1 for us.

Chris Stone [00:26:23]:
I love I love that you were like, well, to be candid, we don't work with people like that. It's not that's the that's the classic, like, hey. We've had some bad clients, you know, in the past. So we've learned that we don't work with those people.

Dave Polykoff [00:26:35]:
It's a waste of everyone's time, though. You know? We're not gonna get there you're not gonna get the results you want.

Chris Stone [00:26:40]:
And does

Dave Polykoff [00:26:40]:
it makes us look bad. It's gonna be a waste of your time and money. So let's just come back to us when you're ready.

Chris Stone [00:26:46]:
You talked about, you know, in a little bit of comparison, like, you know, some of your favorite creators and we have influences. Right? I there's I I have a ton of, you know, people that and I'm sure you're you're a creative person. You have people that you subscribe to and and have influences. And, and I think a lot of times when people are starting, in in content creation, they, they go, well, you know, there's already a podcast, there's already like 100, you know, I can name 50 podcasts that talk about the same thing, right? Or I can talk about, you know, or like they're saying the same thing on this TikTok channel or, you know, like, this is the same kind of thing. Talk about, you know, if you would, how you would work with someone that that that is stuck there. Like, I have, you know, I know who my prospect is. I know where I should put my stuff, but it just feels like there's already a bunch of people that are saying the same thing as I am.

Dave Polykoff [00:27:46]:
Yeah. That's another big one. And that's another reason people don't show up with content too. Yeah. It's because what what else do I have to say, that's not already being said? There's a couple of things that are that are key here. One is that that's the beauty of personal branding, is that it is the personal side of branding where there can only be one you that has your stories, your quirks, how you see things, and your success story, your origin stories, and how you deliver that information. So, I like to say there's kind of this like uniqueness scale. And on the far right, there's information, facts.

Dave Polykoff [00:28:34]:
No one can claim to own the fact. Everyone can show up and tell the same fact. And so, again, there, how are you differentiating yourself? It's you're just you're saying the same thing. And that's what I think people have in their head is just, okay, a fact is

Jim [00:28:50]:
a fact is a fact.

Dave Polykoff [00:28:52]:
Why use me or or, you know, view my content over that one? Well, if you're just basing it on facts, the the information being presented, sure. So that's why you kinda go up the next scale, to the next scale, and that's the how of that information. Right? So some people, again, aren't really good on camera, and they more so are maybe long form text content or they do infographics or whatnot. The how you present that information is really critical because some people, not just how some people are able to deliver it, but how people prefer to consume it. So, again, video, it might be audio podcast, it might be, I know some creators that, like, are really great artists and they'll do infographics or just illustrate the concepts. So there's a a way that you can deliver the information that's gonna be unique and set you apart from a segment of your market already. So you have to kind of figure out where where you can lean into there. And then lastly, as I mentioned, is just your unique brand and and and quirks and stories that makes you, you know, not to use like the snowflake thing, but, like, you are 1 out of, you know, 7,000,000,000 or whatever we are at now.

Dave Polykoff [00:30:12]:
And so you have a unique way of looking at things. You have a unique humor. You have you're the only one with your story. And that's what's great about content creation is a lot of what content creation is, and I think we mentioned at the the beginning of this episode, is storytelling. And one of the best ways to educate someone through stories is origin stories of your success.

Jim [00:30:35]:
Mhmm.

Dave Polykoff [00:30:35]:
And so it's really just kinda going back and looking at what are the methods, the beliefs, the tools and resources I've used to get where I am today, and then let's wrap that into like a narrative that teaches people how they could too use those things to be successful. And that's you're the only one with your story. So, again, it's it's it's not just about the information. You have to look at the how, you have to look at, specifics of of how do you know that information, how again, it's it's it's there's a difference between information and knowledge too. Right? There could be Right. You know, the news provides information. That's, you know, cat, gets saved from tree. That's just information.

Dave Polykoff [00:31:21]:
But knowledge is information experienced. So it's I can tell you tools to use and and and and ways to do things and strategies to do things because I've lived it, and I've failed so many times and finally figured out the best way to do it and realized here's the system. That's knowledge. I've had lived experience, and and I'm now able to voice it to you. And so someone else might have come to the same conclusion, but you have a different origin story of how you got there. So again, yeah, just to kind of put a bow on it, it's it's not just about the the information. People tune in again, this is kind of like how, you know, using news stations as an example. It's the reason people tune in to CNN versus Fox News versus MSNBC is because they all they're all telling the same story, we hope.

Dave Polykoff [00:32:13]:
But they all have their unique spin on on how the story's going and the newscasters that are telling it and and all that kind of stuff. And that's why we tune in to our favorite newscaster. So you have to kinda look at yourself as, like, you know, what's what's my shtick, that's gonna make people tune in to to, you know, to to my channel.

Chris Stone [00:32:32]:
Yeah. And Dave, you bring up an interesting point, and I know it's something that I feel like I have struggled with at times. And when we get into storytelling, it's like, well, why would anyone wanna hear my story? Why is my brand story important? How do you bring that out of the clients you work with to make them understand that their story does matter?

Dave Polykoff [00:32:53]:
Yeah. So the your story matters because we would hope it's the true story. But you you've figured you you've come to a certain level of success in your life where you've been able to translate your success into an offer, say your coach or consultant or or whatnot. And now you're using everything you've learned to now present an offer to your audience, and you feel confident you have receipts that prove you're able to help a certain target market. If all of that is true, then one of the most important ways for people to understand why I should go with you or that I trust that you are who you say you are, you can do what you claim to be, you claim to do, is to tell your story, your origin stories of success. How did you get there? And a lot of that again is like, resources, methods, beliefs. And these are things that, you know, a lot of people say, you know, the the impostor syndrome of, like, who am I to Mhmm. Be charging people for my information? And the big thing is the idea of, you might be on chapter 5, and your, your target market's on chapter 2.

Dave Polykoff [00:34:17]:
How much is it worth for them for you to help them jump those 3 chapters and and get ahead? And that all is done by understanding, okay, what have you done that have that's gotten you to chapter 5 that I I haven't, you know, how do I read ahead? And you're kinda given the cliff notes of those three chapters to say, here's what I've been doing for those three chapters of my life that allow me to be on chapter 5. And that's what you're that's what you're selling. Right? Like, it it's it's what's in your head that you're trying to tangilize, if that's even a word, and and and show that you know what you're talking about. Yeah. And and a storytelling of, you know, the origins again, the origins of your success are the way to do that.

Chris Stone [00:35:01]:
Man, that's good. This is this is great stuff. And for those of you who are, joining us on Amazon, you can absolutely grab all of these nuggets and more on Dave's podcast, which is the personal brand blueprint, which is in the carousel. But if you're here on YouTube, you can find, him there. Make sure you subscribe on all the channels. Go over to LinkedIn. It is Dave Polykoff, or can we call you Polly?

Dave Polykoff [00:35:28]:
It's funny you say that. I don't know if you saw that somewhere else, but my nickname growing up was Polly.

Chris Stone [00:35:33]:
Of course it is. Of course it is.

Dave Polykoff [00:35:34]:
Yeah. Yeah. So my dad's name

Chris Stone [00:35:36]:
if I saw you in Philly, and I'd be like, what's up, Polly? That's I mean, it would be that that's, you know, it's it's A 100%.

Dave Polykoff [00:35:42]:
But I I go by Dave Polly sometimes. Yeah. That's that's my thing. My my dad was a Polly. Yeah. My brother was a Polly. It's it's just kind of a thing in the in the family.

Chris Stone [00:35:52]:
Nice. Nice. Alright. So I think it's time that we get into, a bit of a shift and we knew we were going here. It seems like we can't do a podcast without talking about AI. And, you know, we have, we have our thoughts on AI for sure. And, of course, it is, you know, every day wake up, open up your computer, and there's there's, you know, 50 new AIs for that. Right? That, can do this, that, and the other.

Chris Stone [00:36:21]:
And I'm sure, you know, in in your space, not just for content creation, but for lots of other things. You're not just using chat gpt, but a ton of other things, to do, that help you in your not not just in your in your workflow. But I I kinda wanted to find out from you, like, what, you know, I guess, how how can I put this? Like, maybe using AI as an enabler, as opposed to using AI as as as a shortcut or an easy button, in terms of because a lot of people are going, oh, it used to take me 3 hours to do this, but if I stick it into this thing, I get a whole bunch of this for a far less amount of time and I've saved, you know, I've saved all this time. How does that affect what you do?

Dave Polykoff [00:37:15]:
I love it because we've seen time and time again, people rely too much on AI in personal branding. Largely, we see it in, like, the SEO space too, where they just pump out a 100, a couple 100, s, AI generated articles and throw it into a website, and they'll post on on social media, like, look at the traffic that's coming to my website, you know, it's all AI content. And then you give it 3 months, and then that that line that went up into the right is now going down into the right. So I love it because it's it's certainly a fad in the sense of I won't say it's a fad, AI is a fad, but I will say leaning too much on fully generated AI content is the fad right now because it's easy. And because people who don't wanna put in the time to actually create content are gonna take the easiest path. Right. So I totally get it. But people then come to us when they realize that content's not working, and it's very easy to kinda to to audit and spot why.

Dave Polykoff [00:38:20]:
So, yeah, I mean, to your point of, like, how to utilize AI in your in your workflow, the number one thing I say is that it acts as the smartest person in in the room for you at all times. So when you are creating content, or if you wanna think about, you you have the blank page, the blinking cursor syndrome, and you don't know what to talk about, you can ask your friend, AI, and say, you know, what are some topics you think I should talk about? And it will spit some out. And then you start, you know, you you wanna say, alright, well, what are some, like, good industry case studies or examples that I can use for that concept? And they will do the research quickly for you or whatever. But, again, when we go back to storytelling, you need to tell your story. Only you know your story. But to help support the points you're trying to make, AI can be a really quick and easy way to do research, to outline, etcetera. So it's it's it's like a, you know, a PhD in the room with you at all time helping you write that essay, but it shouldn't write the essay for you. That's the thing.

Dave Polykoff [00:39:30]:
And the other thing I say with AI is it does eliminate it reduces, a lot of the tedious work for you. In some cases, I use it a lot when it comes to, things like podcasting and afterwards trying to find the really interesting parts of the podcast, it'll quickly find some of the highlights for you. Now naturally, a human touch should should be in there. It's not perfect yet, but, you know, combing through a podcast and finding the highlights or, or rewriting something to be a little bit more grammatically correct and and all that kind of stuff, instead of you combing through and trying to do it yourself. So it's it's it there's a time reducer, but it needs to be used cautiously where you're not losing the human element to it or the personal side of the personal brand, when creating content.

Chris Stone [00:40:22]:
And Dave, so along those lines, where do you see you mentioned the SEO as an example, but what is the biggest mistake you see businesses, making when they're using AI for content creation?

Dave Polykoff [00:40:35]:
Well, I think exactly that is just simply putting in a prompt that says write in a blog post on top 10, lawnmowers, whatever, and it put you know, spits out a 1,000 word article, and they click copy and paste and publish. For a large part of the reason for that is because, obviously, search engines are on the attack against AI for that reason. I'm sure there's a lot of legality stuff that's going on with needing to make sure you if you're gonna take that approach, probably some sort of mark of this is fully AI generated needs to be on there and all that stuff. But, Google doesn't like it. So if you're in the SEO game, Google doesn't like it. So that's a big mistake there. It's it's really great for, again, getting you from 0 to 1 with what to write and maybe the outline for it. It's also really great.

Dave Polykoff [00:41:32]:
There's a tool, I think it's called Surfer, Surfer SEO or Surfer dot io or something like that. And what that does is you put in the keyword you're trying to rank for and, you know, maybe some additional elements like, competitive sites and such, or your website, like the keyword you're trying to rank for and your website. And then it looks up that keyword on Google, looks up the first like 10 to 20, websites, crawls those websites, and like captures information about all the content that's on there, and then spits back, okay, if you wanna outrank this, all these websites, you need to write this I don't excuse me, this amount of words, using these keywords, using these headlines and all that kind of stuff. Again, that's a time reducer that you can usually, you would hire someone to have to go through all of that. It just does it on its own and spits it back out at you. So that's a really great way to use it. But I think just the biggest mistake is assuming that AI is going to write human content, and humans wanna read something that has emotion to it. I think there's a really great quote or story, and I'm I'm blanking on who the, like, author of of it was, to give props to, so forgive me.

Dave Polykoff [00:42:53]:
But, they mentioned they recently had a child, and they were in the SEO space, AI space, or whatnot, and they asked the AI to write a story.

Jim [00:43:10]:
Oh. Let's talk about technical difficulties.

Chris Stone [00:43:14]:
Yeah. Live video can do that. You've got a

Dave Polykoff [00:43:16]:
you've got your your

Chris Stone [00:43:17]:
cameras, but we've we've got audio. Go ahead and finish that thought.

Jim [00:43:21]:
Sure. Well, what I back up.

Dave Polykoff [00:43:25]:
When in doubt. There we go.

Chris Stone [00:43:27]:
There we go. Beautiful. Yeah.

Dave Polykoff [00:43:29]:
So to finish the story, you said, write me a story of the time your child was born, And it came out with this very, like, generic, you know, it was such a beautiful day and this, that, and the third happened, whatever. And then the guy wrote, like, a 1000 words about the time that his child was was born, and it was just this poetic, deep, emotional, story, and you just compared the 2, and it was just incomparable. Right? Like, if you he was there in the room. He felt the baby in his arms. Like, he understood the emotions he was going through. And if you were to, you know, put that when it comes to copywriting and sales landing pages and just any content that's looking to persuade a human, You need to understand what those emotions are in order to to put it into your content. And an AI is only trying to pretend to know, based on other content that's out there, what it believes, a human feels. And it's just maybe one day maybe one day, it'll be able to do it.

Dave Polykoff [00:44:40]:
And Elon's robots will, be, you know, just walking amongst us. But, as of now, that's that's not happening.

Chris Stone [00:44:48]:
I love I love the analogy of of treating, treating it like it's the smartest person in the room. And I started to write that down, and then you started talking about I like to use it because I can take a a podcast and then I could, you know, find something, a nugget in the podcast. And I was like, why am I writing it down? Right? Why why am I taking the time to to my brain writing the words when I can continue to listen to Dave Polykoff talk about, how he uses AI? And I think that is a that's a fantastic mindset, I think, for for people to look at it and go, listen, you're you know, I I work a lot, Dave, with with sales trainers. I I produce their podcasts and their their shows. And they they all say it that say kind of the same thing as it relates to what we're talking about here. And generally, I'm paraphrasing, but generally, they say, you know, everybody's kind of selling the same thing. Right? It's generally like, yeah, there's this software does this, the software does this, or this widget does this, this widget does this. They're all selling the same thing.

Chris Stone [00:45:52]:
The only difference between, what you're selling and somebody else's selling is you. And I think, you know, that that analogy fits so well into what you're talking about is, like, I look at like, when I put a prompt in a chat gpt about, you know, something, you know, that I want to create in terms of content, I automatically think this is something somebody else wrote. And if I have that mindset, and I say, how can I okay? This gives me an idea of something that I can write around it within it, maybe using the framework, the straw man, if you will, and and create that content or a piece of a graphic of some sort and kind of like, oh, I envision using it and kind of molding it into something else, I think is what is that? Is that a safe assumption of of how how to work with somebody on that mindset?

Dave Polykoff [00:46:44]:
Yeah. And and, it's a great point because it makes me think of times where I've tried to I've I've put in prompts in chat GPT, and it's try to inject some humor into the content, and, like, an AI's humor isn't my humor. Right. So I wouldn't I wouldn't you know, going back to the concept of, like, not wanting to look cringey online, like, I don't want AI, you know, telling knock knock jokes on my content. It's just not it it it doesn't have my humor. Right? Terrible.

Chris Stone [00:47:18]:
Terrible sense of humor. Right?

Dave Polykoff [00:47:19]:
Yeah. You know? And and so I mean, it can be it can be funny at times. There's times it gives, like, good analogies and and such that I'll, you know, like, oh, that that's a good good way to phrase it. I'll put it in my own words, but the concept is there. But, yeah, it's just you can tell it's like a really bad actor trying to portray, you know, a role in a film, and you can tell that it's an actor acting. And it it, you know, someone like, Leonardo DiCaprio, that part that incredible actor, you can't even tell that he's acting. It is it just seems like it it's just synonymous with with who it is. But I won't I won't name drop a a terrible actor that I think of, but, let's just I think I'm sure we can all think of a time where we were like, we were watching a movie and and we were like, I can tell that I'm watching a movie.

Chris Stone [00:48:16]:
Right.

Dave Polykoff [00:48:16]:
You know, it's it's it's hard to kinda pinpoint why, but there's just something here where I can tell this person is an actor, and they're not naturally, the the character they're claiming to be. And that's that's how I would, like, define what AI content is. It's just it's it's acting as a human, and you can kinda just tell that there's something off.

Chris Stone [00:48:38]:
Yeah. That's, it's a it's a great way to put it. It's almost like, you know, when it when you you went into, some of the Marvel movies, you're like, if I feel like I'm watching a video game, it's this is clearly not real. You just have to pretend it's real and close your eyes. And and so what are your thoughts on, like, these these AI avatars that people are, like, you know, hey. When I'm dead and gone, you could still, like, use me as a chatbot, and I'll I'll pop up on your screen. It'll be, like, you know, the AI version of me. What's I I I realize at this point, it's like like the clip art version of of what it will be eventually because right now, it's like this is the worst it's ever gonna get.

Chris Stone [00:49:18]:
But what are your thoughts there on on that? You know? And and, you're in the personal branding space. I have a guess of of how you feel, but, what, how do you feel about all that?

Dave Polykoff [00:49:27]:
You know, I I think there's interesting I'll say I'm I'm I'm when it comes to, like, personal branding and representing yourself when you're alive

Jim [00:49:37]:
Mhmm.

Dave Polykoff [00:49:38]:
Online, highly against it for for many reasons, unless somehow that's correlated with your business. Right? So I I I have a friend, who has a business that uses AI avatars, video avatars, for sales purposes. So you can, create custom sales videos to post in your emails at scale without having to record all of them and, you know, whatnot. That's that's pretty harmless. It's like, yeah, it's it's not genuine, whatever, but it's just like an a sales video or whatever. I'd rather be entertained by that over an email than, you know, get some of these spammy lengthy ones, whatever.

Jim [00:50:19]:
And

Dave Polykoff [00:50:19]:
there's a disclaimer.

Chris Stone [00:50:20]:
They're they're saying this isn't necessarily a okay.

Dave Polykoff [00:50:23]:
Right. Yeah. Right. And so what he's been doing is creating those videos, the AI avatar videos, and creating soulful content, but putting at the end of it, like you can you can kinda tell, but if you're not paying full attention, you might think it's a genuine video. But at the end, says, oh, by the way, this is an AR AI generated video, and, this is an example of what you can be sending your prospects or and whatnot. I think that's a really interesting way to to utilize that, and it correlates with his business. But to use it as a way to try to get one over on your audience, by saying, oh, creating content's hard, so I'm just gonna and time consuming. So I'm just going to type a couple scripts into, some AI gen avatar generated thing and just make a million it's it's again, it's going back to the idea of putting some prompts into ChatChBT and and pushing out a 100 SEO articles and publishing that on your website.

Dave Polykoff [00:51:27]:
We all see what the end result is gonna be there. Same thing with, like, the AI avatar talking head videos. It's gonna be the same result. And, you know, people wanna buy from people that they can know, like, and trust, and feel they have a genuine connection with. And if they're talking to an AI avatar, maybe you can sell, again, like b to c products or something, like little widgets and things that don't really impact your life too much, whatever. But if you're selling high ticket offers, you know, 3,000 plus, you know, whatever, I don't wanna talk to an AI avatar. I wanna know that, like, I'm I'm right. So that's my thing.

Dave Polykoff [00:52:04]:
But if we really wanna get down a rabbit hole of, like, being able to replicate yourself so that when you die, like, the people you leave behind have some sort of version of you that they can interact with, that stuff's kinda cool and interesting. But, I don't know. I haven't given that. I've talked to them with you.

Chris Stone [00:52:20]:
I think my family wouldn't wanna interact with me after I'm dead.

Dave Polykoff [00:52:23]:
That's They they they pull the plug. Where's the off button?

Chris Stone [00:52:26]:
Exactly. It's finally it's finally gone. Thank god.

Dave Polykoff [00:52:31]:
Cut that thing up.

Chris Stone [00:52:32]:
It's hilarious. Dave, this has been awesome. And for those of you who, who are watching and listening, make sure you go to Dave Polykoff. It's spelled p o which is the let me pull this up. Let me it still is in the carousel. Right, Jim? Yeah. Here it is. Personal brand blueprint.

Chris Stone [00:52:59]:
Make sure you you follow subscribe. There is the this guy is Dave, thanks so much. You've delivered tons of value. Like, you know, there are some shows, Jim, where I feel like we just got some free consultation. We should be paying our you know, don't don't don't tell our guests we should be paying him, Jim.

Jim [00:53:16]:
Yeah. Okay.

Dave Polykoff [00:53:16]:
Well, we'll talk after the show

Jim [00:53:20]:
then.

Chris Stone [00:53:21]:
But Dave Dave, any other place that that, besides LinkedIn, the Dave Polykoff dot com that, that people can reach out to you?

Dave Polykoff [00:53:30]:
Yeah. Absolutely. So, again, check out my LinkedIn. That's kind of the proof is in the pudding where I help coaches, consultants, founders, solopreneurs, launch and monetize their personal brands. And so the way that I prove I'm doing that is through my own personal brand, which is mainly on LinkedIn. So definitely check that out. And if you like what you see and you're trying to grow your own personal brand, you know, monetize, I know a lot of people on here have kind of some side hustles as well, and a large part of that is, you know, growing your own personal brand. Definitely check out zenpost.com, zenpos.com.

Dave Polykoff [00:54:10]:
That is my main agency. That's the the personal brand blueprint. That's what that is associated with, and that's where me and my business partner, Dustin, like, again, will work with you to understand your brand identity, craft that for you, help you with some content creation, and then start getting, you know, eyeballs on you so that you can monetize your personal brand.

Chris Stone [00:54:32]:
Outstanding. Thanks so much, Dave. And for everybody else who is still watching, as always, don't fear the gear.

Chris Stone [00:54:39]:
Thanks for listening to DealCastle. Congratulations. You've taken another step forward in your content creation journey. Please don't forget to hit the subscribe or follow button here in your favorite podcast player so you can be reminded every time we drop an episode.

Chris Stone [00:54:56]:
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Chris Stone [00:55:17]:
about this episode or have something you want us to review, you can also email us at dealcasters@dealcasters.live. Thanks again for listening, and you know the deal. Don't fear the deal.