Citizen Rebel

Transcription
GOOD NOW | CITIZEN REBEL | UNPACKING BRAND ARCHETYPES

Episode Transcript
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Chris Vogel [00:00:00]:
An archetype is, at its essence, a character in a story, but it's a story that is prevalent everywhere. When we use archetypes, we are tapping into that knowledge that people have. They're familiar with that role. The expectations, the motivations, the fears, the goals, the truths, all those things are already in people's heads. So we can just tap into that and then go to the next step.

Alaina Shearer [00:00:35]:
Hi, it's Alaina and Chris from Citizen Rebel, the podcast for founders, small business owners, and bold influencers who refuse to.

Chris Vogel [00:00:43]:
Stay silent and those of us who want to do the same.

Alaina Shearer [00:00:46]:
Today our topic is going to be brand archetypes. And first of all, what are they? We talk about them a lot, so you're going to want to listen to that part if you're into this show and all of the future episodes. And then also, how do you take those archetypes? No matter who you are, whether you are the rebel like I am, or the citizen like Chris is, or you find out that you're the magician, depending on your archetype, how do you take a stand? And that is different for every archetype and how they might approach this. So it's going to be a really fun conversation, and Chris is the expert here in the storytelling of the archetypes. I'm still a student, very much of Christopher's, so we are going to get into that in a little bit. But first, Chris, how are you doing?

Chris Vogel [00:01:48]:
I'm doing okay. I'm doing okay. This is all very exciting times for us all. Lots of new stuff going on, and, yeah, at times a little overwhelming, but, yeah, I think lots of new activities. We have our cohort classes going strong and of course, this podcast. So. So, yeah, no, it's been exciting and fun and. And it seems to really resonate.

Alaina Shearer [00:02:17]:
So the things that are happening, number one, the cohorts. Thanks for reminding me. We have launched our first find your voice cohort, and the beta sold out in just two weeks and coming up. So. Well, the find your voice cohort Will focus on exactly that. How to find your voice, how to explore your own personal brand identity, will discover what your archetype is, but then also the formula for turning that archetype and that voice into consistent content that attracts your target audience to you in a way in which you feel like yourself. You don't feel false about it, it doesn't feel forced. It feels like you're flying.

Alaina Shearer [00:03:00]:
You know, that's the only way I can describe it at first. You have to jump, you have to take a leap. You have to invest in yourself and do that. So, Chris, I'm doing that right now. You are.

Chris Vogel [00:03:10]:
Definitely feels like jumping.

Alaina Shearer [00:03:12]:
Yeah. So let's unpack that a bit. How are you? So you are a natural introvert.

Chris Vogel [00:03:18]:
Yeah, that's right. No, I'm typically, I mean, my whole career I've just spent really doing the work and serving clients and learning along the way. And because I think my background being from Germany, just typically not very showy people, I'm naturally introverted, so I'm not really very comfortable with, you know, being out there, so to speak. So, yeah, this has been an adjustment and I think part of it is like doing at your own pace, which gives you look at the people that are doing really well, like you, Alaina, although you're in the doghouse now, you can talk about that in a second. But people that are doing a really great job, that are killing it and, you know, it just seems so insurmountable. But if you just lay it out and just find your own voice, find like really what matters to you, in a sense, it gets a lot easier. It feels a lot less icky too, which is, I think, one of the factors that people have.

Alaina Shearer [00:04:13]:
Right, and that was one of your first hangups when we started talking about you posting to LinkedIn. Because we are a partnership, we have a boutique agency. And it's really important for Chris now for our listeners to understand you've, you've got to start publishing content. And at first you were like, oh, it feels icky. And the ickiness comes from feeling like you are, you know, a snake oil salesperson or something. Is that right?

Chris Vogel [00:04:41]:
Yeah, there's that charlatan component to it, but part of it's also the look at me, look at me. What does the world need another middle aged white guy? I don't know if that's doesn't sound that appealing, but like, I think it's part of that whole, am I really that interesting? Is it really that important? The good news is that I have 20 plus years now of experience in the client services industry, especially in the branding space and B2B. So there's just like stuff that I now have that I can share and that's I think going to legitimately be helpful. So that's how I try to frame it anyway to kind of, kind of push down that ick.

Alaina Shearer [00:05:15]:
Chris, you are one of. You're incredibly humble and with that natural introversion, it does make it extra specially hard to get out there and put yourself out there. So you've been doing that, you've been publishing some posts. How does it feel?

Chris Vogel [00:05:30]:
Good, actually. It's surprising. It was, yeah, I put out a post a while back that was kind of just talking about how I feel just because I do think that's really important to me and as I kind of grow and find myself in this role that I have, that's more and more important to me. So I kind of just did it and it was kind of scary, but it was like, it was nice to see people I hadn't heard of from a W for a while. You know, I mean, you know, all these contacts that I've had back in the day and I don't know, it just, it did actually feel like legitimately connecting in a sense, which was unexpected.

Alaina Shearer [00:06:03]:
And even us extroverted people have a really hard time with figuring out how to publish content on LinkedIn and getting over that hump and that taking that leap and that pleasant surprise of. I think it's feeling heard, honestly. I think it's the virtual version of walking down the street on a sidewalk in the morning on your way to work and saying, hey, how you doing, Joe? How you doing? And seeing other people see you seen being heard. And that's that surprising, pleasant feeling from it and why it's so important and it's the motivation for people to figure it out. Often comes well for you when you're being like pushed and shoved. But for others it's like, oh, wow, I have been in this job for 20 years and now I don't have one. What am I supposed to do? Or the impetus is something outside of their control. What I'd love to see is more people taking control of their voice when they don't need to at that critical juncture, if that makes sense, when it's more stressful.

Alaina Shearer [00:07:09]:
So you're in a lovely place. It's not stressful. We're using you as a guinea pig and you're going to keep sharing the.

Chris Vogel [00:07:15]:
Story and yeah, you're going to be working through that through your cohort classes and finding that voice, but also introducing these archetypes which are part of it. We've been working on this three prong experience, so to speak, to really kind of push this finding your voice concept to where it actually works. In order to do that, we need a system which we call the Game of archetypes, which is a card game deck that allows you to discover your archetype, and we can talk about archetypes in a second. But that archetype itself is just such a great starting point to then really develop yourself out of the cohorts.

Alaina Shearer [00:07:53]:
When you sign up for one, you receive a archetype game deck. So this idea started because Chris and I wanted to make sure that you all could understand what archetypes are and play the game at home and figure it out. And what if you're just out there on your own? You can take this deck and play this on by yourself to figure out who your archetype is. That archetype is the key to unlocking your message and your voice. And actually not necessarily the message and the voice, isn't it?

Chris Vogel [00:08:22]:
It's both, but, yeah, it's kind of your lens. So maybe we should just do a definition on what an archetype is and then build from there so that people understand why it's so valuable. So an archetype is, at its essence, a character in a story, but it's a story that is prevalent everywhere. Like, these are characters that you can find throughout history, throughout humanity, in different places, all over the earth, fulfilling their roles in the story, playing to that specific archetype. Everyone's familiar with them. Everyone has them in their bones. So as a result, when we use archetypes, we pick an archetype to try to communicate a message, to try to take a stand, to try to express ourselves. We are already tapping into that knowledge that people have.

Chris Vogel [00:09:08]:
They're familiar with that role. The expectations, the motivations, the fears, the goals, the truths, all of those things are already in people's heads. So we can just tap into that and then go to the next step, which is a shortcut, so to speak.

Alaina Shearer [00:09:25]:
And the guy who developed these archetypes, at first, it's Carl Jung.

Chris Vogel [00:09:29]:
Was it Jung or was it Freud? I'm not sure.

Alaina Shearer [00:09:31]:
I think. Well, Jung worked with Freud. And, yeah, Freud started talking about it. And then I feel like, from what I know, Jung took the ball and ran with it and developed them further. But there are some deep corners of the Internet that tell me that Young, when he did this had a tarot deck in front of him. So if you are having a hard time grasping archetypes, let me pull on a couple of examples. One is Tarot. So if you know what a tarot deck is, those 72 cards represent 72 human experiences and stories on each card that we have been having for thousands of years.

Alaina Shearer [00:10:09]:
So that's why they're comforting. You know, if you have a bad day and you pull a card and it says, hey, this is the King of Cups and you are at the top of your game, but you really need to learn how to do this and watch out for this. It's comforting in that humans have been going through the same thing. Or the lovers card. Look at this trifecta. You know, there's a threesome going on from the beginning of time. So Jung took those and worked really, really hard to narrow down these 12 archetypes. And then advertisers found them back in the 50s and 60s and started to get hip to archetypes.

Alaina Shearer [00:10:49]:
And the headline version is, you know what your archetype is. And as Chris said, if you present yourself with that voice to the public and they recognize you're doing a really good job of it as a brand, and they recognize, wow, I know this character. This character I've seen in stories ever since I was a kid and my ancestors and for thousands of years, I know that I can trust the sage, for example, to give me profound knowledge on my journey. The sage is like Yoda, or is Yoda the magician? I never know. But all that to say the archetypes, that's what they are. That's a good explanation, right?

Chris Vogel [00:11:33]:
Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think showing some examples, part of it is difficulty meshing those things. So now understanding what an archetype is, but how does that even apply to branding or marketing or any of those things? A lot of times the feedback or a lot of times the immediate reaction we get, especially in the B2B community, is kind of a blank stare, like a glossed overlook, you know, or it's just like, it doesn't seem relevant.

Alaina Shearer [00:12:01]:
No, they're like, no. They're like, Chris, they're like, you people are crazy. That's what they're like.

Chris Vogel [00:12:07]:
Yeah. Or they think we're a bunch of creative fluff heads that are just trying to, you know, develop a common aesthetic vocabulary and toss the invisible ball around and stuff like that. Our industry has gotten a bad rap.

Alaina Shearer [00:12:20]:
Yeah, it has, and we'll save that for another episode, but for now, let's. Can you Give me some examples of archetypes and, you know, some of the big ones. And then tell me and our listeners the brands that. Who they represent. So some big popular brands.

Chris Vogel [00:12:35]:
Sure, absolutely. I think Ruler is a good one to start, just because it's pretty obvious it's the ruler. Is that quintessential king or emperor. All about power, all about control, all about. There's a paternal component to it. So it's about protecting others and watching over others. A lot of times that archetype is used in the premium space. Effectively, Rolex is one of the great examples.

Chris Vogel [00:13:03]:
It's just. It is. It is the quintessential top ruler brand watch. Right.

Alaina Shearer [00:13:23]:
Well, so. So for Rolex, using that as an example, Rolex, the archetype is the ruler. And so that message comes to life as we are the best at what we do, and this is the best product in the world.

Chris Vogel [00:13:37]:
In this category, archetyping really allows you to build synergy. And that's a horrible work, but it's the right word. It's about finding other people that also have your archetype and connecting over that. So a lot of times in, like, for instance, Ruler brands are specifically positioned to appeal to other rulers, so that there's that synergy there and that you can build really loyal customer bases through that archetype alignment and. Yeah, so that's another component that I think is really powerful.

Alaina Shearer [00:14:10]:
What's an example of the nurturer?

Chris Vogel [00:14:13]:
Nurturer, yeah.

Alaina Shearer [00:14:15]:
And tell me in a way in which they're not trying to attract nurturers, but they are expressing that they are there to care.

Chris Vogel [00:14:22]:
They are the nurturer. Yeah. So the nurturer in general is also called the caregiver, is all about parental, kind of motherly. We try to redefine that, but that's where it comes from, is that idea of caring for something, sacrificing for something, being welcoming, warm, inviting, you know, never. Never being exclusive or pushing somebody away. Right. That whole Mother Teresa kind of vibe is what the nurture is all about. A great example, I think the example that's used a lot is Dove, the Stoke brand, Dove.

Chris Vogel [00:14:53]:
And they've been on that throughout, you know, their entire existence and reinvented that throughout the years. As well. So. But the idea of having a place that's the iteration, the most current iteration, is a place that's safe for all, everyone can come, you know, no matter what body type, what background, no matter what. Right. We've got your back, we'll take care of you. That's kind of the vibe I'm getting. And this was a little while back, but, well, wow.

Alaina Shearer [00:15:19]:
And that's interesting because Dove's an older, you know, proctor and Gamble. Right. And they've been around for a while. But the all bodies, all sizes campaigns came in much later. But that's a great example of how the caregiver or nurturer archetype can have that consistent voice coming from the same place, but in a completely different time with a totally different message. Right?

Chris Vogel [00:15:43]:
Exactly. Exactly. One thing that we don't want to misunderstand is an archetype is really just a lens. It's a foundation. The way it expresses itself is unique in a sense and can be varied. But. So nobody's going to go out and actually literally put on the magician hat and hope to get customers. Right.

Chris Vogel [00:16:01]:
But it's like instead they're going to show imagery or visuals of things that have never been done before in a different way that are avant garde, that are thought provoking, that are kind of showing you something you hadn't seen before. It's an indirect way to. To encompass that soul of the magician.

Alaina Shearer [00:16:23]:
So if my archetype is the magician and I have two completely different campaigns and messages to, let's say, two different audiences, which happens all the time, your lens is, I'm going to just kind of lift the curtain behind this really incredible thing and show it to them in this way of an unexpected woo waha way versus the nurturer caregiver. Same situation, but you're coming into that and communicating with your audience in a way that comes from a, we see you, we love you. Here is something that will help make you feel way better, and we want to deliver this with a big hug. Is that right?

Chris Vogel [00:17:02]:
Yeah, yeah. So it's not what you're saying, it's the motivations, Right? What is it that motivates you? You can say things completely differently, but a magician will always have the same motivation, which is to transcend the world. The nurturer will always have the same motivation, is to care for others. Right. That is the one driver. And in a lot of sense, it's kind of the higher ambition. Right.

Alaina Shearer [00:17:27]:
It's.

Chris Vogel [00:17:27]:
If you think about what your company does as it does it it sells this thing for these people. But then there's a higher ambition, which is to achieve this greater goal, make the world different. You know, give. Give access to this, to people, whatever it may be.

Alaina Shearer [00:17:44]:
So let's get into the archetypes. And if you are a brand listening to this or an individual, and if you're an individual, you're also a brand. If you're out in the world marketing yourself for anything, I don't care what you sell or what you do, how do you take a stand? So knowing that, that this is your lens and you want to speak out against some injustice in the world that you find quite uncomfortable, and I describe it as a knot. It's this awful knot in your stomach. And until you untie that knot and unravel it and figure it out by speaking out, it's going to sit there and fester and be super, super frustrating. So if. Which ones do we want to pick on? We just talked about the ruler, the caregiver, or the magician.

Chris Vogel [00:18:29]:
Rebel is one that comes to mind. It's maybe the most obvious one.

Alaina Shearer [00:18:33]:
Yeah, let's start with that. That's mine. I'm an expert there.

Chris Vogel [00:18:36]:
Yes, yes. Do you want to speak to the Rebel?

Alaina Shearer [00:18:39]:
Oh, actually, I guess you're more of an expert than me. I'd have to pull up my card deck and find it.

Chris Vogel [00:18:44]:
I think you just look inward and you'll find it. It is very much linked to your personality. So. Yeah, so, yeah, but it's what you would expect. It's all about, you know, disruption, destroying what's not working, fighting oppression. You know, it's all about. It's taking a bold stand in general. Right.

Chris Vogel [00:19:01]:
It's pioneering in a sense, it's trailblazing, but really always against something. So that is kind of the key point of the rebel is that it has to have an enemy. The hero does too, actually. But anyway, if you're in need of.

Alaina Shearer [00:19:15]:
Some killer branding and marketing, check out our agency, Good Now, where we're dedicated to purpose driven brands like yours, from brand.

Chris Vogel [00:19:22]:
Architecture to websites and executive personal brand training. If your brand is ready to take on the world, but not quite ready to face the world, we're here for you.

Alaina Shearer [00:19:31]:
Visit goodisnow.com for more. No, but let's do that. Let's unpack the differences between the hero and the rebel. So the rebel is coming from a place of. Again, I feel like I need to pull up my cards. They're in the. I'm gonna pull up the card. But tell me the difference in the motivation between the hero and the rebel.

Chris Vogel [00:19:52]:
Yeah. So the rebel is typically the motivator, is an enemy, it's a fight and it's adversarial. So a rebel can't be a rebel without a system to take down to its knees.

Alaina Shearer [00:20:06]:
Okay.

Chris Vogel [00:20:06]:
And the hero, that's kind of the core behind the rebel and the hero is similar in a sense, has a similar kind of bold stance, very forward, very in your face. But there's a self sacrificial component to the hero. It's more about an injustice than, you know, fighting the system. It's about perceiving an injustice. A lot of times that injustice is not happening to oneself, but to others. So as a result, there's a sense of anointment of I am the one that has chosen to go out and save these people. Which is kind of a cynical way of looking at it. But it's a good way to understand it is the idea that they do feel like this profound sense of duty to serve others, but usually through doing self sacrificial, dangerous, courageous tasks.

Alaina Shearer [00:20:52]:
And a perfect example of the hero is Joan of Arc. A perfect example. I actually just read an entire book about Joan of Arc, which was great. That's cool.

Chris Vogel [00:21:01]:
I don't heard that much about Joan of Arc. I know Milla Le Jovovich played her in one of the movies.

Alaina Shearer [00:21:06]:
Yeah, yeah, that's true. That was a movie back 90s flashback there. But yeah, she was being called to the task by a higher power and felt this calling and was fighting purely for others, completely sacrificing herself. What's an example of a brand, a hero brand? And how might they communicate taking a stand against maga specifically, let's say.

Chris Vogel [00:21:31]:
Okay, first part of that question, because I love like an example hero brand that works well.

Alaina Shearer [00:21:36]:
Yeah.

Chris Vogel [00:21:36]:
Just because, like Nike, Greenpeace, those are great hero brand examples. Just because they're very active, they're very forward. Interesting part about Greenpeace to me is that typically in the nonprofit space, you would lean towards a different archetype traditionally, just because it seems to be more aligned with your category to have the sage or the nurturer. But going hero is great. So that's one of the things where Greenpeace is kind of outside of their category, using a different archetype to have a much more formwork, advancing stance that's less passive.

Alaina Shearer [00:22:12]:
So.

Chris Vogel [00:22:12]:
So that's an example. So that doesn't answer your MAGA question, but I love that Greenpeace example.

Alaina Shearer [00:22:18]:
Yeah. So Greenpeace, that's when you are in industry or category in which so many people are naturally leaning toward the obvious archetype and you find a different one. And Greenpeace does have that edge, I'd say a little more edge than the caregiver in their logo and their design and their messaging. You can have a huge advantage in that.

Chris Vogel [00:22:42]:
And if you want distinct, if you think about it like how like they have, you can think of them what you want. Right. You might agree with them or disagree with them, but what's irrefutable is that that they're seared in your brain like you know what they look like, you know what they feel like, you know what they sound like.

Alaina Shearer [00:23:00]:
Yeah. And if you guys, if you want to follow along and get a high level view of archetypes, go to goodisnow.com and go to our homepage and click discover your archetype and you can see all of these cards on a higher level. There is also a book that we recommend called the Hero and the Outlaw and that is when that's been. That was published a while ago, but.

Chris Vogel [00:23:23]:
It'S really the kids old now.

Alaina Shearer [00:23:26]:
Yeah, it's the base foundation if you want to learn more about this. But if you know your approach and let's say you do want to take a stand against Maga and you are, I'm just going to pull a card up here. The innocent are archetype. So yeah, this one you would think, well, geez, I'm the innocent. How can I possibly take a stand? Your goal is to be happy and spread joy. Your strength is cheerfulness, purity, optimism. Your weakness is fear of getting in trouble. And you know, some of the example brands are Coca Cola, McDonald's, Honest Company.

Alaina Shearer [00:24:06]:
So if your lens is really this optimistic place that you're coming from, innocent is interesting.

Chris Vogel [00:24:14]:
So if we took that as an experiment to say, how could we take a stand by inhabiting the innocent archetype. What I would probably most lean on is that sense of nostalgia that is part of the innocent. Like all those brands that you see in there. A lot of times the innocent is kind of used in a manipulative way, you know, to, to remind people of, oh, what was it like back in the day where I could eat hamburgers and not get fat? Right.

Alaina Shearer [00:24:40]:
Look at that. That was such a joke on all of us. Oh my gosh.

Chris Vogel [00:24:43]:
But I do think like for instance, let's say we want to take the innocent and take a stand against maga, which, which is, you know, fascism is awful. We need to stop it. So how do we do that. And the way I would approach it with the innocent is looking at a time and place where things want as scary and as threatening. And the question is, has that place existed? Is there a place in the past that you'd want to tap into just because that can be dangerous? Because in the past, we typically did things that were not as good as. Or not as progressive in a sense. So again, but you could pick out an example, like, for instance, I wish we could just all kind of live a little more simpler, a little more peacefully. You know, that's where people aren't yelling at each other all the time and, you know, take a more passive approach.

Alaina Shearer [00:25:34]:
So maybe you could put on a fundraiser where a bunch of famous people sing a song like that one in the 90s. What was it with Michael Jackson?

Chris Vogel [00:25:43]:
Oh, yeah, with the. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Alaina Shearer [00:25:46]:
You know, that's lovely, beautiful, can't we all just get along? Kind of thing. But I'm.

Chris Vogel [00:25:50]:
Yeah, it is a Kumbaya approach.

Alaina Shearer [00:25:52]:
Yeah, Kumbaya. Like, hey, let's. You can tap into something that is nostalgic and purely innocent and gets back to people's, like, inner childhood core, perhaps, or your own decency, too.

Chris Vogel [00:26:04]:
I think a lot of that could be a bridge as well, just because a lot of it is going back to a time when you believed everybody was okay and everybody was kind and caring, and that's kind of part of it.

Alaina Shearer [00:26:17]:
Okay. Yeah. So you're coming from a point of looking at the world with innocent eyes and you're like, hey, we all love each other. Love is first. We get along. I know that you have this inside of you. Let's. And you just really dive into that and that.

Alaina Shearer [00:26:32]:
That.

Chris Vogel [00:26:32]:
Yeah. Or you could be, like, showcasing, if you want to be a little more concrete as an example, but you could showcase things that. That effectively do that without it making it feel like a distraction. But it's like, oh, yeah, look at these cute kittens that are. I don't have a great example.

Alaina Shearer [00:26:49]:
Okay, so if you are McDonald's, you are not going to come out and say, we are anti Maga. We do not like Donald Trump. He is a giant orange dough ball and we're really sick of his face. That's something that I might say as the rebel, as McDonald's, you're going to say, we are pro love. We are pro planet. We are pro all of these. You could.

Chris Vogel [00:27:13]:
Everybody has rights. Everybody should get along. Everybody should.

Alaina Shearer [00:27:16]:
Everybody should get along. We should treat each other with kindness. We should be fair. We are pro Kindness, you know, And. And so you don't.

Chris Vogel [00:27:24]:
Yeah, the angle is different. The lens is completely different. The premise is completely different.

Alaina Shearer [00:27:28]:
Yeah. So instead of, like, the rebel coming up, and the rebel might be more in your face, an innocent brand might come up more subtly with, like, a handful of flowers and say, hey, aren't these lovely? Wouldn't you like to smell these roses with me? Because I know that you're also a kind, beautiful person, you know, so this is all so important. And if you guys, you're listening and you're on a marketing team and you're in a team of people, and it's even harder when you're by yourself, honestly, doing any of this by yourself, forget about it. You've got to have. This is why I love the cohort concept, because you have peers. We're all going to join a slack group afterwards where we can support one another and help each other untangle these messages and make sure you're on brand. But if you're on a team and a marketing team, and you've got a founder in the room, and you've got your marketing director and your communication intern and everybody else, and all of a sudden you're coming up with an idea, and somebody comes up with a tactical idea, hey, that's great. But it's so easy to slip off and away from your brand and that consistent messaging.

Alaina Shearer [00:28:33]:
And so if you all have this archetype in front of you, you can point objectively to the logic, and it helps to diffuse those passionate moments, which I've been in a million meetings like this, where someone's got an idea, and it's in that tactical idea can be reframed in the correct way. When you know your archetype really, really well, for copywriters, for you as an individual writer writing your own content, your voice, your tone, how you talk about yourself, all ties back to the archetype. Your design, what font you use, what colors you use, it all ties back to that. So when a team has trusted in that archetype, you point to it and you keep yourself on the rails, so to speak. So this has been really fun. We didn't. You did mention I was in the doghouse at the beginning of the podcast.

Chris Vogel [00:29:27]:
You want to tell us about that?

Alaina Shearer [00:29:28]:
Yeah. So I am the opposite of Chris, and I have figured out a long time ago that it is really important to consistently post content on LinkedIn. And I also figured out how effective it is. And so fabulous. And this week, I was trying to promote the cohort, which sold out Anyway, but I would. I put up some posts like, hey, there's only one spot left. And for whatever reason, LinkedIn got hip to it. And this happens.

Alaina Shearer [00:29:57]:
The minute you try to actually sell something, your post is gonna tank. So of course that happened. And I put one up and it had like 0. 0 views. Like no views. And so I deleted it. And then I. And I broke my own rule.

Alaina Shearer [00:30:13]:
I would never suggest deleting. Deleting is not.

Chris Vogel [00:30:17]:
Can you tell me why? What happened?

Alaina Shearer [00:30:18]:
Well, I deleted it because. Oh, why? Deleting's bad.

Chris Vogel [00:30:22]:
Yeah. No, why did you delete it?

Alaina Shearer [00:30:23]:
Yeah, good question. So it had no response, very few impressions. It was almost like LinkedIn was saying, no, this is just out of the gate. And I don't know why, but I deleted it in hopes of reposting something else to make sure that I could articulate. Hey, guys, there's only one spot left in the cohort, which is really exciting. So I was being. My ego was running the show. I was really wanting everyone to hear me.

Alaina Shearer [00:30:51]:
So I hit delete, hoping to repost, like the same post with a different picture. And I didn't do that once. I did that like three times this week, which again, I've never done this before. So I got really excited. I broke all my rules. My ego led the show. I was a bad LinkedIn person this week. So what has happened now is I actually have some.

Alaina Shearer [00:31:15]:
Really. All my content is in the doghouse. So I published a video this morning, for example, which normally and typically would do really, really well. They've got me there because it makes sense. You can't go deleting posts and reposting them. You're clearly flagging as a spammer. And so they're gonna keep me there for at least a couple weeks. And so here's what I'm gonna do.

Alaina Shearer [00:31:38]:
Number one, I'm gonna teach all my students forevermore. And my friends and everyone listening to this show, don't ever delete a post. Number two, I'm going to have to spend the next several weeks. Cause now we're promoting the June cohort, I'm gonna have to DM people, which is great. I don't mind doing that. It's just. It does take more time. And I'm going to have to be very, very active and productive in the comment section.

Alaina Shearer [00:32:05]:
So my comments on other people's posts are going to. I can't just be like, hey, this is great. It's gotta be expanding on their posts, adding to their thoughts to get to keep my Profile views up. So, yeah, I'm in the doghouse, I'm gonna pay for it. But it happens.

Chris Vogel [00:32:20]:
And yeah, but part of it's also figuring out how to dig your way out again. And this is a great showcase.

Alaina Shearer [00:32:25]:
But I, this morning I was, you know, you get, you definitely get hooked to the dope means of the views. And that's such a easy trap to fall in and so important not to fall into because it's all about targeting the correct audience. And you can have a post with 500 views and you can have a post with 40,000 views. I've had both of these things. A post with 500 views, you are going to get two leads from, because those are the people who needed to see it. The post with 40,000 views, you're not going to get a single lead from. But yet our brains and our dopamine seekers are looking for those views. And part of our cohort, we're going to spend a lot of time talking about what it's like to actually publish content.

Alaina Shearer [00:33:10]:
So we're going to start at audience and get into voice, get into the brand archetype, all of that, and then we're going to actually start publishing content together and, and be there as a bit of a support group for all of the emotional baggage that is involved with social media. When you are in a professional setting, it's the same on Instagram with friends and family. The minute you turn your Instagram into a tool to try to grow a business, it's a psychological minefield. And LinkedIn is triple, quadruple that for a lot of people because again, your ex boss is on there, your ex coworkers, your current people, your clients, whatever. And we have sand traps everywhere prohibiting us from being ourselves on LinkedIn, which is the best thing you can do on LinkedIn. So lots of thought.

Chris Vogel [00:33:59]:
Interesting. I have lots of ideas of how you could visualize that sand trap thing just because it is scary. It's like, here you are. And it's becoming a requirement too, to be able to express yourself and share and all those things. It's like what employers are looking for and. Yeah. And, you know, having to navigate that well.

Alaina Shearer [00:34:21]:
And when you figure it out, though, the world is your oyster, literally. If you, when you get past these humps and you get to the point where I'm at, like, great, I'm in the doghouse. Oh, well, you know, it's so embarrassing. But also, whatever.

Chris Vogel [00:34:33]:
But it's also, you know, what actions to take. Right. And it was a calculated move to some degree. Right. I mean, you're trying some stuff out that's new, and sometimes when you try stuff out, it doesn't work out. And that, that's something I try to repeat to myself all the time because I'm very afraid of failure. So, anyway, right.

Alaina Shearer [00:34:53]:
And so each of us has our own unique baggage and fears before we hit publish. But we're going to get into all that in our cohort. So if you'd like to dive into that with both of us, you can in the cohorts. And it's awesome how your brain works, Chris, because you immediately went to designing the sand trap visual, which I love. I would love that as a design someday. So between the two of us, our students or cohort members, whatever we're going to, our friends are going to emerge just victorious for sure. And so Chris is going to launch a design cohort beta that will follow mine. So if you're listening to this, this is the middle of May.

Alaina Shearer [00:35:29]:
You're going to be able to, if, unless it's sold out by the time this is published, go snag a spot in Chris's beta design cohort for 5.99, which is half the price of what it will be when it's full price. Well worth the investment. The ROI is almost guaranteed. I would be shocked if anyone emerges from this six weeks without making that money back. So look for Chris's beta for design. And yeah, so this has been so much fun. Thanks for joining us on this episode. If you want more, go to goodisnow.com or find us at CitizenRebel on YouTube and everywhere else you can find podcasts, please subscribe, share this with others.

Alaina Shearer [00:36:13]:
Also, if you know of a brand taking a stand against something that is typically, you know, you're just like, whoa, that is gutsy. We want to talk to them and we want to feature them on the show. So please find us direct message us on LinkedIn. That's our favorite place to be. Or go to our website and fill out the contact form. Let us know who these businesses are so we can feature them. So thank you so much for joining us for another episode of Citizen Rebel. I'm Alayna Shear.

Chris Vogel [00:36:40]:
I'm Chris Vogel.

Alaina Shearer [00:36:41]:
And we'll see you next time.

Chris Vogel [00:36:43]:
See ya.

Alaina Shearer [00:36:44]:
Thanks for listening to Citizen Rebel. If you like this episode, subscribe to the show and share it with a friend.

Chris Vogel [00:36:49]:
To connect with us and find more content like this, visit goodisnow.com.