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Verbatim text
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Welcome to episode number 125 of the Agency Trailblazer podcast. On today’s show, we’re talking with mister Chris Ducker. He’s gonna be talking about personal branding and how that can help you and your businesses. And I got to admit, we also talk a whole heap about Star Wars as well, but don’t worry, no spoilers. So sit back. I was gonna say grab your lightsaber but that could have connotations and enjoy the show. This podcast is brought to you by the Agency Trailblazer community. Is agency life stressing you out? Then it is our mission to help you build an agency that you love.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
We’ve created a community which includes the agency reset roadmap that will allow you to get your agency back on the right track. We also have lots of noble straight to the point easy to consume workshops. We have a thriving community of other agency owners. And we all wrap up every month with a mastermind call with myself and sometimes a special guest where we unpack your questions. For more details, check out agency trailblazer.com. Welcome to a conversation with me, Lee Jackson, and fellow Disney and Star Wars fan, mister Chris Ducker. How are you, Chris?
Chris Ducker:
I’m very good. Oh, I do love a good Star Wars. Are we talking about Star Wars today?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mate, if you wanna just talk about Star Wars today, we can put a link to your book at the very end and let’s do a Star Wars podcast. I totally
Chris Ducker:
could Done.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Done Star Wars then. Yeah? Yeah? Yeah? Latest movie. No spoilers, but what were your thoughts?
Chris Ducker:
I thought it was brilliant. And I I am continuing to be very very happy with the way that they are transitioning from older characters into the new characters. I think it’s done, or it’s being done in a very, very respectful for for us hardcore oldie fans, very respectful manner.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Young man, me.
Chris Ducker:
Oh, I know. Well, I don’t know. I mean, we’re all getting on. No. I’m I’m very very happy with it. I I I I’m equally as excited with every new film that comes out as as I was back in the days when I was, you know, seeing seeing everything in the movies back in the days. It it really it really was. I never saw A New Hope in in the, in the cinema.
Chris Ducker:
I was only Yeah. 4 years old when that came out. But I do have explicit memories of going to see Empire 2 or 3 times that summer when it came out.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s my favorite.
Chris Ducker:
And I also remember having a complete meltdown in the lobby of the Odeon Wimbledon coming out from the first screening saying it it just can’t be true. Darth Vader cannot be Luke’s dad. Like, I’m not I I was having absolutely none of it. But, there you go.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
There you go. No. Empire is totally my favorite, I think, out
Chris Ducker:
of Still my favorite as well.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. Yeah. I think it was the best. And I I I didn’t see it coming, to be honest, nor did I work out that they were brothers and sisters either. And I was shocked when I realized they’d kissed as well. That kinda freaked me out.
Chris Ducker:
It’s George Lucas and his incestuous shoes. Right? Yeah. I think that
Lee Matthew Jackson:
guy needs well, he sold it to Disney now. They’ll look after it.
Chris Ducker:
Yeah. They will. And they’re doing a great job. And I mean and Disney, I’m a big Disney fan. I I I love them from a company perspective. Obviously, they’re they’re all about family, and I think, you know, they they’re probably one of the most perfect, you know, companies on the planet in regards to, you know, the way that they manage their own reputation, as well as the reputation of those around them. I think, you know, we can actually learn a lot from from business owners perspective. We we can learn a lot from looking at companies like Disney, who are so huge, have such massive reach, yet keep things so bloody personal.
Chris Ducker:
I think we can we can learn a lot from that. A lot.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s exactly why I have that little side project, the podcast, because I totally agree 1000%. And I’m one of those people that whenever Disney give me a bill for anything, be it going to Disney World or be it purchasing a DVD and it’s ludicrously expensive, I hand over my cash with a smile on my face Mhmm. Knowing that that’s gonna be some good chisel and that I’m very happy for them to take my money, and they can have some more if they want it. It’s ridiculous.
Chris Ducker:
Yep. Yep.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Now on Disney now you’ve just written a book, which, clearly is why I wanted you on the show because I’ve read this book. I was super excited, to get an early copy as part of the Youpreneur Summit. And, guys, if you listen back to our previous episode with Chris, he was talking about the Youpreneur Summit while we did the Youpreneur Summit. It was fantastic. And if, if you wanna get on the list, I recommend you go to Youpreneurs summit.com to get on the list for next year’s Well, this year is now. Actually, we’re already in the coming up in November. An amazing, amazing time to get together with entrepreneurs and great speakers. So, yeah, there’s a little plug for you there, mate.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
But, you’ve you’ve launched the book all about, you know, being, you know, elevating yourself, personal branding, etcetera. And we’ve just talked about Disney, and Walt Disney did it so freaking well himself. He he Indeed. He launched the parks, for example, with him on the TV screen all the time. And everything is called Walt Disney World or brought to you by Walt Disney.
Chris Ducker:
Yeah. And I mean, you know, the reason why is because people wanna do business with other people. They wanted to do business with other people back in those days and they still wanna do business with other people today. And I think that’s, you know, the why personal branding as a whole is now become a very hot topic, you know. Yeah. It’s it’s been it’s been a topic of choice, you know, for quite some time. But I think, you know, the last 2 3 years people have really now start to take it more and more seriously. It’s really the easiest way to be able to future proof yourself as, as an entrepreneur, whether you run one business or multiple businesses.
Chris Ducker:
And it’s it’s on honestly, it’s a lot fun, Lee. Like, it’s a lot of fun to just build a great personal brand and help people in the process.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I’m actually thinking about this right now. So we’ve got Walt Disney. He’s passed away, but his legacy has continued. Isn’t it? John c Maxwell, is he still around? Is there a chance?
Chris Ducker:
John c Maxwell, I believe, is still alive and well.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Still alive. But I I imagine that when he’s passed on, because he’s getting on, bless him, that that will still continue, won’t it? Because he’s created an amazing brand. Yep. And there are now many people representing him that can continue beyond him as well, which is actually a kind of mind blowing. Because one of the mistakes I’ve always made is that I must hide behind my brand because I may decide to move on or I may not be here anymore. So this brand must have to continue beyond me, and yet, actually, Walt Disney and other people like that have actually proven well, Zig Ziglar, he’s he’s passed away, hasn’t he now? His brand is still going on.
Chris Ducker:
Yeah. Zig fast a a good few years ago now, probably 10 years or maybe not 10, maybe close to it though. Yeah. But you know he’s he’s really the guy when I think of that, you know, that that old school American speaker author, you know, particularly, you know, with with a with a slant on, you know, their their love and devotion to Christ and all that kind of type of thing. Like, for me, I look at I look at that era and I think Zig all out. Yeah. And I mean, you know, I’ve been a big Zig Ziglar fan since I was 15 years old when I discovered to see you at the top.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh, tell us the story.
Chris Ducker:
Oh,
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I love this story.
Chris Ducker:
Well, yes. I mean, I I discovered it at Wimbledon Library, but it was on audio cassette. And I couldn’t get audio cassettes out, at the time that you had to be 16 or over to do so. And so I, stole it quite frankly. I nicked it from from the library, put it in my pocket, and walked out the library. And, I was upstairs. I know, naughty naughty. I was upstairs, playing it in my bedroom, and my mom walked by.
Chris Ducker:
The doors are jammed. My mom walked by, and she heard this, you know, this this Texan man’s voice, you know. You can have anything in life, you know. He doing doing his usual Zig slurs, which I just loved. You know, the way that he would just take a word and make it sound so magnificent. You know, he was just incredible. I love Zig Ziglar. And so she she she got it out of me, you know, I I nicked it.
Chris Ducker:
I wasn’t lying to my to my mom. She was about as old school Catholic Irish as you could get and she literally, literally, by the skin of my ear, pulled me down to the library, and and, you know, announced the fact that I was a thief. And that I needed to, I needed to, to to be punished. And, the punishment I I got was I had to put all the index cards in the alphabetical order for an entire month. An hour after school every day for an entire month. Needless to say, never never stolen a thing since. And Awesome. Keep me mom happy.
Chris Ducker:
And And
Lee Matthew Jackson:
also your DVD collection is now in alphabetical order.
Chris Ducker:
It is. It’s it’s in perfect alphabetical order. Absolutely. To the letter. But but but, you know, with all joking on one side, here I am now almost 30 days. I I’m gonna be 45 in a few months now. So almost 30 years on and we’re talking about Zig. The full circle part of this story actually is the Zig Ziglar family podcast literally invited me to come on to their podcast about a month or so ago, which I did.
Chris Ducker:
It was incredible. So not only did I get the opportunity to be in in front of 100 of 1000 of Ziggler fans via their show, but also I got the opportunity to tell that story in a little bit more in-depth, with with that family, and it was just a lot of fun, man. Just a lot of fun. It was great.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That is so cool. Now, you’ve got a history of starting really, really exciting businesses. And, I think it was 2014 ish you decided to start blogging, etcetera. But what I’m interested in, first of all, Chris, is you have all these companies. You started them the old fashioned way. You developed a brand. You’ve built them up. What was the kind of point in your life where you realized, I need to do something different? I can’t keep doing the rinse and repeat of launching new companies from scratch.
Chris Ducker:
Yeah. I mean, that’s exactly what it was. You know, the old way of doing business certainly works. Right? There’s there’s nothing to to back that up. That doesn’t work anymore. It certainly does in terms of building a brand, getting it out there. Marketing, advertising, hiring, firing, you know, the the the the still works, but it’s a hell of a lot of work. And if you wanna start another company or another business in another sector or industry further down the line, you’ve got to start from scratch all over again.
Chris Ducker:
And I think, you know, the the real instigator for me actually was 2,012. I, for me actually was 2,012. I, was at a conference, in the United States speaking in LA, actually. And I was chatting with somebody who was saying to me, oh, you know, I listen to your podcast all the time. And, you know, I don’t call it at the time, the show was called the Virtual Business Lifestyle Podcast. Nice. And but he said to me, I don’t call it the the VBL podcast. I just call it Chris Tucker’s podcast.
Chris Ducker:
And so I started to sort of talk to other people at at the same event. And they pretty much all said the same thing. They followed me for me, not because of the name of the brand or the logo or anything like that. And it really started to get me thinking. And I explicitly remember being on the plane back home and thinking to myself, you know what? Every business that I’ve built after that first initial business, not only have I had to do the work all over again, but although it’s been just as much work, it’s been a little easier because people are buying me before they’re buying my new company. So they’re they’re invested in me and my reputation rather than the name of the new firm or what we’re offering. And it really got me seriously thinking about the power of the personal brand and how important our reputation is for us as entrepreneurs. And it doesn’t matter what bucket you put yourself into, Lee, whether you’re a an author or a coach or a freelancer or, you know, a, a business owner.
Chris Ducker:
It it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. You you must build a personal brand. You have to build 1 in order for yourself to become really truly future proof going going forward. You know?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I think as well it becomes, I think, like you said, it can become rocket fuel for your business as well because I’ve hidden behind my own brand for a very long time. I’ve got several brands. And it was only when I put myself out there with the WP Innovator podcast, which is now Agency Trailblazer podcast. We rebranded with lots of pictures of me, by the way. You’ll be pleased to know. But it was only when we actually put ourselves out there and started to, share our thoughts, our opinions, to share really good quality content to teach people, etcetera, that that really added rocket fuel to my own business. It’s generated so many leads because people, for whatever reason, think I’m a nice guy. I appreciate that.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And people get in touch. And we actually get probably 2 emails a week now. I’ll be disappointed if I don’t get one any of this week now. But we usually get about 2 emails a week or or Facebook messages just saying, hey, thanks so much for the podcast and maybe asking a question or just sharing how it’s changed people’s lives, which is phenomenal. But all of this is all also just generating ongoing opportunities for us. So we no longer pay for any sort of form of advertisement because we’ve created this online presence, and the leads are coming in, to us as a result of the content that we’re providing, which is is phenomenal. Yep. How did how did you, I mean, how did you kind of balance the I’ve got my personal brand to put out there? How how have you been able to funnel people to the different businesses that you’ve got? Because, clearly, you know, there are some big differences between between them all.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
How do you how do you manage all that?
Chris Ducker:
Well, I think, I mean, it’s a combination of, obviously, 1, knowing who you need to attract to those different businesses, and 2, understanding that not everybody eats the same breakfast each morning. You know what I mean? Yeah. So, you know, for me, I, you know, I understand that it’s gonna be certain people. Say, for example, one of my companies is is very much a b to b corporate call center type company. 400 plus employees, serving SMEs literally all around the world. Now those types of people probably not gonna be listening to my podcast on personal branding. But those types of people will absolutely be at conferences, and they will absolutely be at dinner dinner meetings and and breakfast gatherings and all those sort of types of things. So that’s what I do is I I put myself out in the right manner to attract those types of clients.
Chris Ducker:
You know, the flip side of that coin is that when I get onto a podcast and I talk about the power of personal branding and how you can monetize your experience, I know that those types of people are not gonna be interested in that stuff. But the people that I really enjoy working with more than anything else nowadays are going to be interested. And that’s really, you know, what what I’ve done, Lee, is is not is not something that’s easily done quite frankly. And I’m I’m and I’m I don’t say that to boast in any way whatsoever, but I have been able to create, you know, 2 or 3 different businesses that I now have very little to do from a day to day basis. Mhmm. And I like that. I like the fact that I can be the owner and not the CEO. I can I can pull other people in to take that role? I don’t I don’t need to be in the office.
Chris Ducker:
I don’t need to be involved in all the email threads. I don’t want to be. What I want to do is work with other Youpreneurs. People that I can identify with, you know, in terms of the way that I am gonna continue to grow my own career and my businesses moving forward. And so, you know, it’s about, like I said, understanding that people not everybody eats the same breakfast. You know, I I’m a Marmite on toast kind of guy in the morning, virtually every morning. But I know some people that would just, you know, they’d they’d run a London marathon before getting involved with a piece of toast with Marmite on it. So, you
Lee Matthew Jackson:
know Eggs Benedict for me, mate.
Chris Ducker:
I know. There you go. See, we’re all different. But it’s about serving up whatever it is that people wanna consume in a way that they’re gonna be happy consuming it.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. And I assume as well, there’s lots of kind of a crossover as well. And a lot of the information that you are sharing with the different audiences is very similar. Totally. Packaged in the way that they’re going to understand or they’re gonna be able to engage with.
Chris Ducker:
Absolutely. I mean, you know, one of my other businesses is Virtual Starfinder, which is a recruitment hub for busy entrepreneurs that wanna hire great experienced entrepreneur, Filipino VA’s here. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mhmm.
Chris Ducker:
So, you know, that that actually has quite a lot of crossover for me in regards to what I do online because, you know, this is a small business owner type of prospect. This isn’t a b to b company. This is somebody who’s potentially maybe a one man band potentially working at home. And they want to, you know, wanna hire some help. They wanna outsource a little bit of their blog management or their web development or, you know, some graphic design or whatever the case may be. And so there’s that crossover there between, you know, people like coaches, authors, speakers, bloggers, podcasters who who need that type of work done on a regular basis, and who obviously want the help. So, you know, there’s there’s gonna be, you know, a certain amount of crossover there from time to time as well.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mhmm. Certainly recommend that book as well. It’s Virtual Freedom, I believe, is your book for that one.
Chris Ducker:
It was indeed. Virtual Freedom is the first book. Yes.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
There’s a bit of a pattern here. You write books
Chris Ducker:
to Well, actually
Lee Matthew Jackson:
associate with your character.
Chris Ducker:
What I what I do is I just write about what I know and what I’ve done. Right? So with Virtual Freedom, that came in 2014. The book deal was signed December 2012. So it took a year and a half. It was traditionally published with a publishing imprint over in, the US. So it took a year and a half to come out. But I mean, I’ve been in the outsourcing industry since, what, 2004, 5? So, you know, we’re talking a good 8, 9 years of experience under my pal in regards to, you know, helping people, you know, delegate and build teams on a virtual setting. And so I just wrote what I knew.
Chris Ducker:
And here we are with far you know, we fast forward another 4 years since the first book with Rise of the Upaneur, And all I’m talking about is what I’ve been doing since 2010 when I started blogging and podcasting. So we’re talking, you know, by the time this was done mid 2017, seven and a half years of experience of building my own personal brand and monetizing that personal brand. So here I am with just another book. Right? So I mean, people will always wanna download other people’s experience. You know, it’s it’s one of the easiest ways to fast track your own success is to learn from people that have been there and done that. So yeah. Absolutely. Don’t ask me what the 3rd book’s gonna be on.
Chris Ducker:
I’m sure there will be one, but
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Star Wars clearly.
Chris Ducker:
You clearly stole. That’s exactly what it’s that’s it. It’s in stone. That’s it. It’s gonna be The
Lee Matthew Jackson:
dad’s guide to Star Wars to to help, you know, bring your young children into, the Star Wars clan. There you go.
Chris Ducker:
Let let’s caveat that actually with a very important question. If you if you sit down now I know what I did with my kids. Right? Like, they were force fed this. They had no option. Once they showed a little bit of interest in the Star Wars story, I’m curious to know. Before I tell you what I did, do you go from episode 1 with the pre
Lee Matthew Jackson:
No. No. Because I made that mistake, and it totally put my daughter off. And I’m not even sure how to get her back in.
Chris Ducker:
Alright. Good. Yeah. Yeah. That’s that’s good. Talk to you. I I I did it the way I consumed it. So I started with 4, 5, 6.
Chris Ducker:
Yeah. And then I got them back to the other 3, and they totally got it. And I and it filled in all the blanks and everything. But yeah. And and and actually here’s a funny little thing as well. The the film other than Empire, I think the one film that I enjoyed the most was actually Rogue 1.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Amen. Of
Chris Ducker:
all the new ones. Right? Because it filled in so many great gaps. And the way that, like, Vader went totally medieval at the end. Oh, mate. Like, oh my gosh. It’s on
Lee Matthew Jackson:
YouTube, guys. Just gotta check that one out.
Chris Ducker:
You’re so good. And so, I mean, I’ve enjoyed all the others. Don’t get me wrong. But there was something about the Rogue One. So, yeah. You’ve got you’ve gotta you’ve gotta watch them in the way that they came out. That’s it, children. That’s it.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh my gosh. We we’ve totally got
Chris Ducker:
off topic here, aren’t we? It’s ravens when you get a couple of kids together. Up, aren’t we? Squirrel. Oh. Terrible.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Over there. Yeah.
Chris Ducker:
Terrible. Terrible.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I I can’t remember what quest question I was gonna ask. Ashley, just quickly. On Rogue 1, the only thing I was disappointed with was the fact that
Chris Ducker:
she didn’t use gonna go. We’re still gonna go in Rogue 1. Alright. Carry on.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Use that. In the in the trailer, she’s like, we’re rebels or something. Well, I rebel. And I was like, yes. That’s a freaking brilliant line. And then I’ve even used it in the actual movie. Yeah. I was so disappointed.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
But anyway, you know, I’ve I’ve written to Disney. I I expect to hear back at some point soon. Pretty well. So I’m sure I will. Now, alright. So we’ve got obviously a lot of agency owners. We have a lot of WordPress developers and designers, listening in. And it’s a very crowded market.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
There are a lot of people trying to, to attract their their target audience. Mhmm. And many people haven’t really started blogging. They don’t necessarily see the benefit of blogging. Maybe blogging isn’t current. I don’t know. But what would be your first, kind of tentative tips or big toe in the water of starting to establish some sort of a personal brand to help attract the right sort of audience, to their businesses?
Chris Ducker:
Well, I think the first thing is you got to understand, you know, what you wanna be known for. I think that’s kind of the really big one at the very core of of the personal brand is what you want to be known for. So, you know, if you’re a WordPress developer, or if you let’s such let’s just say you’re running your own agency. I mean that gives maybe a little bit slightly more of a broader brush there. But I mean let’s say you’re running your own agency and and you know you you wanna start seriously contemplating and putting in place moves to build that personal brand. You’ve you’ve gotta know what you wanna be known for within that industry, as well as outside of that industry. So you start like an onion instead of going on the outside and peeling down to the middle, you wanna go the other way around. So you reverse engineer it.
Chris Ducker:
So the bigger question is what do I want people to say about me when I’m not around? Okay. That’s the broad. That’s that’s the outside layer of the onion. And now you gotta work your way in. So what do I want people to say about me when I’m not around? To what do I want people to say about me when I’m not at that industry breakfast gathering? To what do I want people to say about me when I’m not at that conference or not at that conference or or that coffee meeting rather? Or, you know, if you wanna go right into the core of it, if there was a room full of my customers, what would I want them to say about me? And that at the very core is your personal brand. And then you can start building out that onion from the inside out. So it starts with you and understanding what you wanna be known for. And then obviously understanding that you’ve got to get over yourself and any kind of in insecurities that you might be having in regards to, well, people don’t know me.
Chris Ducker:
They’re not gonna wanna hear from me. They don’t need to understand where I’m coming from or what I’m doing. That’s all complete and utter BS. The fact is that people do wanna know you and what you’re all about, and it’s your job, to to show them.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
B s stands for Bullshido. Yes. It does. It does.
Chris Ducker:
Absolutely. So I I I’m a big believer. A big big believer that, the personal brand element for any business owner is not only a very very powerful one from a business growth perspective, but also one from just a positioning perspective as well. Like you get the opportunity to really change lives when you when you put yourself out there. And people again, people wanna do business with other people. It’s that p to p mindset that I’m always talking about. And once you open the books up a little bit and and you show people the inside of what you’re all about, and the behind the scenes of your business a little bit, and, you know, you you get into, you know, that that slightly more deeper reasoning behind everything that you’re doing, people gonna love you for it. It’s not it ain’t it ain’t gonna hurt your business.
Chris Ducker:
It’s not. It’s just not. If you do it the right way. I mean, obviously, if you decide to be a complete ass, you know, whilst doing it, then that could potentially do it. But if you do it if you do it in the right way, it ain’t gonna hurt your business. It’ll only it’ll only
Lee Matthew Jackson:
leave to good thing. Oh, you’re considerably richer than y’all. Get that that white guy from yeah. Yeah. That would be annoying. Now there is a company. Well, everything you’ve said has just brought a company to mind that are doing everything that you were just talking about there. They they’re a company called Dubsado.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
It’s dubsado.com, and they have created a, it’s a CRM slash accounts management, job management system for creatives, and I only found it a few days ago. And it’s quite a good application with some automation. It’s not, like, amazing compared to some of the, like, the business leaders out there like Infusions oft, etcetera. Mhmm. But the difference they’ve done is that they’ve put themselves front and center. They’ve launched a YouTube channel. They’re showing they’ve got loads of videos of their office, and they’re more goofing around and throwing paper airplanes and having a laugh. They’ve talked about, on their About page, they’ve shared pictures of their family.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And the whole Their mission is that they want to have a lifestyle where they get time with their families and also run their own business, but they want that as well for the people that use their application. And I’ve ended up investing in a whole year of this license and to use this platform because I really resonate with what they wanna do. I want that for my family. And although, you know, perhaps, there’s the odd little thing that this application doesn’t do, it does actually most of what I want it to do. And I wanna align myself with these guys. I think they’re really great. I wanna get them on the podcast. I’m really excited to kind of to to be associated with them.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And that that, again, is the power of personal branding. I could go to ActiveCampaign or Infusionsoft and, you know, and work with some big, faceless brand that everyone else is doing. Or I could align myself with these guys who’ve got values that I really treasure and hold dear. And think, you know what? I wanna support these guys. I wanna be a part of that. So there is real power. You can put yourself out there as an agency. You can share your videos.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
You’d be goofing around because, actually, it’s really freaking attractive.
Chris Ducker:
Totally. Absolutely so. And I think that, again, you show people a little bit of behind the scenes. And it’s like that authenticity radar slowly starts to get kind of, you know, quieter and quieter. Doesn’t it? Like, you can you can, you know, you you understand where people are coming from. You understand their motivations. You understand what they’re all about, what they stand for. And and I think that that’s just huge.
Chris Ducker:
Like from a from a business perspective, you know, it it really it’s becoming more and more important, You know, that transparency is becoming more and more important. People, you know, we always talk about being known, you know, you gotta you gotta be known, loved, and and or liked and trusted. Well, I always say that you gotta be known, loved, and trusted. It’s not about know, like, trust anymore. You do genuinely need to be loved. And one way to be able to do that is to show people the inside of what you’re all about.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Absolutely. And one of your common phrases are being people’s favorites.
Chris Ducker:
Yeah. I mean, I I say that daily, you know. That that’s that’s our goal as personal brand entrepreneurs and business owners. We want to become somebody’s favorite. So whether it be somebody’s favorite, you know, agency owner or freelancer or web developer or app developer or author or speaker or whatever the case may be. That should be our goal is to become, you know, the people that we come into contact with, we want to be their their favorite, you know.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I think as well, I mean, if somebody if someone was to launch a competing business with with you and yet you have a personal brand, because there is only one you and because you are your audience’s favorite, it doesn’t really matter what the other person is trying to do over there with their company, etcetera, because you’ve got something really, really unique, which people are drawn to, which is you, which is the content that you’re sharing, which is your personality, etcetera. And they’re almost gonna feel like they’re cheating if they look at someone else.
Chris Ducker:
Totally.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Because they developed a relationship with you. It’s it’s phenomenal. I’m I’m just thinking, you know, again, with Dubsado, you know, we’re we’re really enjoying consuming their content, their podcast Yeah. Learning more and more about them and and kind of starting to feel like we’re a part of some sort of clan, etcetera. And I I can’t imagine necessarily I I well, sorry. If another product came out that was maybe just as good, I can just imagine that we would probably stay where we are because these guys are very rapidly, you know, in just a few short days, becoming our favorite because of of their personality and the content that they’re putting out.
Chris Ducker:
Well, you’ve got, you know, you’ve got an affinity with them now. Right? Like, you’re you’re you’ve got skin in the game, and I think that’s, you know, something that is is beyond it goes beyond money, beyond investment, beyond relationship to a certain degree. You know, that’s inside of you, and it’s something that, you know, clearly, you know, I I would I would stay right now. I would stay with them right now because I’m happy, and I and I like what they’re doing. I like their vibe, etcetera, etcetera. And I think that that, you know, that there’s a lot to be said for that kind of loyalty as well. It’s something obviously they don’t wanna take for granted. As long as they continue doing what they’re doing, then you’ll be more than happy to continue parting with cash every month or quarter or a year or whatever the case may be.
Chris Ducker:
But, you know, that’s that loyalty factor. And, you know, to get back to what you were talking about in regards to, you know, if if a competitive, you know, company was to pop up, within the within the niche, within the marketplace, you know, if you’ve got that that kind of favorite mentality from your customers, it doesn’t matter because you’re the unique differentiating factor. You’re the one, you know, you’re you’re the reason why they, are, you know, why they’re coming back to you over and over and over again. It’s got nothing to do necessarily even with what you’re selling them. They’re just like you. They wanna be around you, and there’s a big there’s a big difference with that, I think. And a lot of people actually get lost with that. They get lost in the romanticizing of what that customer loyalty should look like.
Chris Ducker:
Honestly, just show up. Give a damn. Show up over and over and over again, and you’ll have people that wanna do business with you forever.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Tell us a little bit about your book, and then we will say goodbye because everything that you’ve been talking about and heaps more is in there.
Chris Ducker:
Well, thank you very much, sir. Yes. I appreciate that. Well, yes. So the the title of the book, Rise of the Youpreneur. The subtitle is the definitive guide to becoming the go to leader in your industry and building a future proof business. So, you know, when something’s definitive, that’s it. It’s done.
Chris Ducker:
Like, no one else can come into play. Right? So hence the word there. But no, I mean, you know, this this is this is, you know, 8 9 years of personal brand building, marketing, and monetization in in almost 300 pages. There there are lots of tables, and diagrams, and downloads, and, you know, all that sort of type of stuff that people can get their hands on as part of of picking up a copy. But I mean, really, this is for me, I think this is what I’m gonna do for the rest of my career. Like, I feel like this is where I wanna be for the next 10, 15 years. It’s helping you for nerds. It’s helping people that building businesses around them and the people that they wanna serve.
Chris Ducker:
It’s something I’m very passionate about, and that word gets thrown around a lot in today’s business world. But I am very passionate about it, as you well know, Lee. I mean, we’ve
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Absolutely. You
Chris Ducker:
know, got to know each other quite well in the last year. And, it’s it’s something that I’m, I’m very, very proud of. Without a shadow of a doubt, easily the best work I’ve put together from from a writing perspective in, what, almost a decade now of writing online. So
Lee Matthew Jackson:
youpreneur.com/book. Not to be gushing, but Chris Tucker and his content, as much as it pains me to admit, has actually been extremely helpful.
Chris Ducker:
There you go. Well, if I’m if I’m not inflicting if I’m not inflicting a little bit of pain whilst helping people out, there’s something wrong there. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And at the conference, I mean, we had what, 3, 400 people of every single different personality type you could find. So if you are thinking to yourself, well, I’m not confident, or I’m not this, that, and the other, comparison is an absolute killer. And everybody in that room was completely unique. Some people didn’t have very much confidence. And yet, they were still at the entrepreneur summit. They were still learning about building a personal brand, etcetera. People will, you know, resonate with you. You have a personality.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
You are an individual and a person. And there are people that will love you, and people that, will set you up as their favorite. So do show up as you are. Don’t try be fake. Don’t try copy other people. And do buy the rise of the youpreneur over at youpreneur.com/book. I remembered it. There you go.
Chris Ducker:
Good math. That was that
Lee Matthew Jackson:
was that was a pretty good I I we should transcribe that. That was pretty good. I’m quite impressed.
Chris Ducker:
I’m I’m I’m equally as impressed and humbled.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
There you go.
Chris Ducker:
So thank you very much,
Lee Matthew Jackson:
sir. There you go, mate. I think we need to finish with 1 Star Wars quote, and then we’ll say goodbye just to kind of keep the consistency on Star Wars going.
Chris Ducker:
Okay.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Don’t say you’re my father. That would freak me out. No.
Chris Ducker:
No. No. I I, you know, I will, I’ll I’ll take on board probably one of the most famous quotes of the entire series, but I’m I’m gonna bring on board Yoda with do or do not. There is no trump. Because I’m I’m a big, big believer in taking action.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I
Chris Ducker:
think if you take action, you know, you you will have a much better opportunity at chasing down your dreams and your goals. Whereas if you expect for it to fall on your lap, you know, it’s just not gonna happen. So, yeah. There you go. Master Yoda dropping the value bombs today. Love it.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Indeed. What what? Value bombs? You’re you’re not John Lee Dumasay?
Chris Ducker:
No. Actually, I I I started using that term before he
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Did you? Did he steal it?
Chris Ducker:
Yeah. Well, I don’t I I probably lent him it. Alright. I lent him it. I lent him it. I mean I mean, everybody used it, but I’m I’ve been saying value bombs since about 2,010, I think. No. Maybe even earlier than that.
Chris Ducker:
No. I think it was about 2,010 I started using it. So Yeah.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
There you go. Value bombs.
Chris Ducker:
But John took it to another level. He took he took it to another level. Alright. I’ll give him that.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Alright. He ignited it. He did. He did. Yeah. Indeed. Oh, and just to wrap up with one last Yoda thing, he did not say poke your knee. Just everyone that’s, you know, just so you know.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah.
Chris Ducker:
I love
Lee Matthew Jackson:
that song. Have you heard that song?
Chris Ducker:
I have. I think it’s brilliant. I think it’s Just the
Lee Matthew Jackson:
best song in the world. It’s actually my it’s my most played on my iPhone, and it’s now actually my alarm ringtone in the morning as well so that I always wake up in the morning kind of dancing to poke you on the end. My wife gets really annoyed by it.
Chris Ducker:
I think it’s great.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I’ve ruined the song for her. Thanks so much, Chris. You’re a legend, mate.
Chris Ducker:
Alright, mate. It was great to be back on.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Take care.
Chris Ducker:
You too. Bye.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And that wraps up today’s show. Don’t forget, you can grab Chris’s book over on Youprereneu.com/book. That’s Youprereneur.com forward slash book. If you’re not a part of the Agency Trailblazer community, then be sure to check out what is inside over on agency trailblazer.com. And if you’re not part of our free Facebook community, go ahead and check that out over on wpinnovator.com/group. Have a wonderful week, and we will see you in next week’s episode.
