By Kim Hanna
Welcome back to Let's Talk About Brand!
Today we’re talking with Ramon Ray of Smart Hustle. Ramon has done a great job of branding with expertise. He started in the tech sector, focusing in small business tech. Now he is a renowned expert not only in tech but also in small businesses and their needs, business in general, and marketing.
He has worked at the United Nations, spoken at the White House, interviewed President Obama, and testified before Congress. He runs the amazing Smart Hustle Growth Conference every year. He has a whole community of smart hustlers, small businesses, and is an in-demand speaker all over the world. He’s the author of four books, including The Celebrity CEO. We're so lucky to have him talking with us today!
Branding With Expertise
Expert has become kind of a diluted buzzword. What does ‘expertise’ actually mean?
Ramon says that there are about three key components that make someone an ‘expert.’ First, you need some experience in the given subject. Second, you must be a student of it. In Ramon’s words, this means, “you wake up and that's all you think about.” Third, you must be able to talk all about the topic with confidence. That's Ramon's recipe for expertise!
Becoming known as an Expert
Ramon answered another great question from our Twitter chat: “what did you do to kind of shift the needle the most when it came to being known and respected by people as an expert?”
Ramon says the answer is social media. “I'd like to think that it works because it’s varied. It's different. It's fun. It's engaging. I get to shine a light on others. I get to shine a light on myself. It's always interesting,”
Social media allows Ramon to share his message, build his fan base, and build his community. You can also communicate directly. He says, “You can communicate whatever you want. You're in control of the message.”
How Ramon Started in Small Business Marketing
Ramon started his career in the technology sector. He has extensive knowledge in this industry, and he loves helping small businesses. He also blogged several times a day. Over time, he became known as one of the leading voices of tech for small businesses.
Part of how Ramon stood out in this space is because people weren't really doing it yet. However, it was his experience that enabled him to have the expertise to work with small tech businesses.
He built his expertise in some pretty amazing ways - including hosting an event with Michael Dell launching Dell Vostro computers. Perhaps his greatest mark of expertise was testifying before the United States Congress to explain why small businesses are important. He advocated for SCORE, which is a government service that helps small businesses grow.
What led Ramon to some of these amazing opportunities was focusing on his area of expertise. When people went to look him up after seeing these public events, they found more information on his expertise.
Personal Branding
We asked Ramon his best advice on personal branding. He says there are a few components that are important: repetition, frequency, consistency, and visual images.
“It doesn't have to be, but as me and Christine know, that visual identity is why people are scrolling. I think those are a few elements of why personal branding is important.”
Value From Making Mistakes
We took some questions from our Tuesday Twitter chat, Let’s Chat About Brand. You guys ask a lot of great questions! One question was, “Which mistake have you made in the past that you learned the most from or value the most?”
Ramon’s answer: “I'm very compulsive. That's my biggest, biggest problem. I say yes fast without thought.”
“I do events in the New York City area. I get hundreds of people at my events locally. I get the opportunity to do an event in California. Same playbook, because I'm Ramon...everybody's just gonna come, right? I took about a $50,000 investment, give or take. Totally zippo failure.”
But, there is value in mistakes. Understanding this mistake has helped Ramon learn to slow down. He also says, “You could use red balloons, but purple balloons may not work.” In other words, just because his event worked in New York, doesn’t mean it would work in California.
Definition of Personal Success
We asked Ramon if his definition of personal success and motivation has changed over time.
“I think success is, how can I be happy and serve others? it's not a dollar number. I just want to live life happy.”
Find Ramon
We love the excellent advice Ramon gave us today! Thanks so much to Ramon Ray for chatting with us today!
You can find Ramon at ramonray.com. Everyone should also pick up The Celebrity CEO, which is Ramon's awesome book. (He has four books, actually. But this one is red, so it's obviously the best one.)
Join us next Friday at noon eastern on Facebook live to Talk About Brand!