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Luis
What's up everybody? And welcome back to Content is Profit. What if I told you that we brought today a creative director for a Fortune 500 company. She has worked with Burpees, Adidas, Stoley Vodka, Chase bank, these incredible companies, right? Also she has been featured in Forbes and we talked about this thing called branding that a lot of us are losing a lot of time into and is blocking us for creating revenue right away. What about we ask these questions and we found out that there's a hidden third layer of branding. We actually get a new definition around branding on like why these big brands are so successful and how you can apply it. Today as an entrepreneur or maybe a small business owner, we break down the number one mistake that we all do. By the way, I share a very funny story on how our I guess branding and I do a quotation started and why we should be looking not at who we are today, but something else to be able to create that profitable branding. So all these questions and way more in this incredible conversation that I had just now and you are about to experience. So thank you so much for that. And also if you are not a part of Business Creator club, go to BusinessCreator club, become a founding member, come in into this incredible online space where we can share ideas. We share the frameworks that that have not only helped us move the needle forward in our business, but these incredible guests that come to the show, come in and do very specific things including how to 9 extra business from Amanda Holmes. She's coming to the community at the end of June to do this. So if you haven't checked it out, let me know, send me a message. But with that, enjoy the episode. Hey guys, welcome back to Content is Profit. I'm excited today to welcome a good friend. I was just on her show yesterday and she was asking all these very, very smart question and we may have gotten in a tussle about branding. No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. That did not happen. She is incredible. Like we connected through our mutual friend Adam who has been on the show a couple of times. Shout out to Adam and thank you for those connections. And also, I mean she has been a creative director for a Fortune 500 marketing firm. I mean talk about experience. So, so, so cool. There's other brands like Burt Bees, Adidas, Kali Vodka, Chase bank and we can continue doing this. A wealth of knowled about to extract all this knowledge. And also she has been featured in force multiple times and being asked to be a contributor for Entrepreneur magazine. Which fun fact that's what got me into business. I was like, in college, I was like, entrepreneur magazine let me read all the secrets, and it was, like, super addicting. So with that, guys, I really want to welcome Tiffany Newman into the show. Welcome, Tiffany.
Tiffany Newman
What's up? Hey, what's up? Thank you so much for having me. I love that you said that we were sparring. Little known fact, I was actually going golden gloves in high school, so.
Luis
Oh, no way. For, like, is this. Are we talking boxing? Yeah.
Tiffany Newman
Yep, yep.
Luis
No way. So it's like a YouTuber. They come in, be like, hey, Tiffany, we just want to do, like, one of those boxing matches. You're like, I'm good.
Tiffany Newman
Yeah. I mean, it's been a long time since high school, but I could probably do pretty well compared to somebody who's never done it before.
Luis
That's hilarious. That. That's incredible. I've never put in a boxing glove in my life. So I'll be like, what about we go play soccer?
Tiffany Newman
Like, I think you would totally annihilate me.
Luis
I am, like, probably, like, you know, 10 times slower than what I did in college, you know? But, you know, here. Here we are. But, Tiffany, I'm so excited to. To have a chat with you because, you know, branding. I think we probably when we met, I don't think we've ever had an episode specifically on branding. And I'll. I'll start with a very quick story of a phone call that I had this morning about our names, because we. I know, like, you warned me about our branding name before your interview, and it's like, at least, you know, I have to, like, give a warning to my people, and then we can go into that in just a second. But we get this comment quite a. Quite a bit today where it's like, oh, my gosh. Like, you got. You guys. Branding is on point. We love them. The thing behind it. And I'm like, if people knew how we got to that point. So I'll tell you how we got to that point, and then we can kick off the conversation there. So Brandy was the last thing we were thinking about when we started the company. Right? Like, we went out and we sold our first, like, service to our restaurant, and we collected the check, and we were like, oh, crap. Like, we cannot put this in our personal bank account. We have to go actually start a business. So we registered the business that afternoon, and we got our numbers, we opened our bank account, and when we were sitting there, we're like, what's the. What's going to be the name of the business. And we looked at each other, me and Fonzie, and we were like, we're brothers and we do business together. So I guess it's going to be called the Bistros. And we put in Bis Rose llc and that was the start of it all. And then our initial, like, I guess, color palette for, like, the branding of the logo that we're trying to do in Canva at the time, we literally went to, like, random color generator and hit random. And it was like the third button. Now we're like, that kind of looks cool. And it was like the most random colors everywhere. And that's what that was, a birth of the business brand. So what are your professional thoughts on this?
Tiffany Newman
Actually, I think it's super common. I always say we build the plane while we're flying it as entrepreneurs. And so it's great. I tell people, actually, I'm probably one of the only brand strategists to say this. Like, branding isn't the first investment you should make because you need to know if your product is even viable. Right. And so I don't typically work with people who are like, that brand new or, like, I don't know who my ideal clients are, and I don't know this. So I think it happens so often where people are just like, okay, here's a logo, here's some colors, here's the name. And then a lot of times, sometimes names stick, and then sometimes time goes on, and a lot of people, too, because you're in a partnership, you had to come up with a name. A lot of people start branding, like, with their personal name, and then they have this whole evolution. So there's so many different ways, but it's super common to just be like, hey, let's just do this. And actually, I think it's smart at the very beginning. So.
Luis
Yeah. Well, thank you so much. We had no idea. And the reason I like to share that story is because, you know, we get a lot of people, so hang up on, like, the branding side of things. Like, I can't launch this thing, or I cannot produce this piece of content on, like, unless the branding is completely right. Do you see that often with the people that you help?
Tiffany Newman
Absolutely. I think perfection is the prescription for procrastination, really. It happens all the time where people are like, okay, I have to have this perfect before I launch it. Exactly like you said. And then two years later, they still haven't launched the thing. So I really think just getting it out there is the first step. And Then yes, eventually you get to a space when you want to speak on stages or you're writing a book and. Or you really want to take your business to the next level at that point, then absolutely, you need a really incredible brand. But starting out the first day, it really doesn't matter as much.
Luis
Yeah. Wow, that's so cool. So yesterday we had somebody record here. She's an incredible person building her business and moving forward. And they were recording a specific type of content. It was like, course type content. And the angle that we had the camera, there's a TV right here in the studio where it kind of shows a logo. We normally brand the studio with, like, the company logo or the show logo so on. And we delayed the start of the recording because she really wanted, like, this specific picture there with a specific logo of the course. And I'm like, I'm not gonna say the name, but I was like, hey, it's okay. This is not a decision that we should be, like, wasting our time right now. This. It could be added in post production later. We just need to get this show, like, going, right. Like, we. We need to get you on the flow back, back again. And it was like, almost like this micro moment that I see with online entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs in general, Right. Where like, this, like, little dot is not here. Right. And it crushes, like, the creative process or, like, the flow of things. Right. So what are maybe some first steps that people can take if they're in that spot of, like, mental overwhelm? Right. And I feel like it might be like a f. Overwhelmed to start moving the things forward.
Tiffany Newman
Yeah. I think part of it is we just get so high up into our heads and like, the overthinking. So I. This is like, you know, a pretty obvious answer. But for me, even if I'm like, oh, my gosh, and I find myself getting stuck, I'll go outside and walk around or take the dog on a walk or just do breath work or something and really just reset and then come back and remind myself it's not a big deal. I mean, if you're playing the long game, those little blips in the moment, those aren't going to matter in the long term. And I think that's really what makes successful entrepreneurs, is when you're focused on the long game, you're like, okay, I'll figure it out. I really try to look at everything as an experiment along the journey until I know that I've nailed it. Because otherwise I feel like it's so easy to just Keep going in circles and not make decisions because we get decision fatigue as entrepreneurs. There's a lot of decisions to make.
Luis
No, A hundred percent. And I think like, we should, I think we're both in agreement that we should not be losing, you know, any sleep or time wasting on, on things like that. You know something, I always go back every time I feel that way because, like, we are helping people like launch their, like, I guess not their online brands itself, but maybe the podcast, an element of branding that, that has to happen. Yeah, but especially us. Like, I, I've been on this like creative kick in the last like couple weeks where, you know, we don't only have like bespos as a, we're trying to figure out like what Biswas as a brand. We have this other name called Two Brothers Media, which is like the, the, the, I guess the umbrella of like everything else that we've done. You know, bistros is like the online personality. Then we have Content Momentum, which is a service. We have the Studio Studio Podcast suites, business Creator Club. There's like these little brands and we're like, wow, like each one is different because it also serves a different purpose. Right. And then maybe you tell me, Luis, you guys are doing everything wrong and please tell me because. But like, that's at least like the vision that we had of the moment. And we recently had a meeting with our, with our in house designer. I was like, okay, Marty, we need to. This is the idea. Everything has a purpose. Can we make it coherent? They're different specific little brands, but can we make it a little bit coherent? They all started as different things. I think we're getting there to the point where we can actually like put it on our website and make sense. But I go back to the example of a company called Maximum Effort. Are you familiar with them?
Tiffany Newman
I'm not actually, no.
Luis
So this is Ryan Reynolds production company. And, and if you go.
Tiffany Newman
Actually that. I've read an article about it.
Luis
Yep. Yeah, that's awesome. So if you go to their website, it's like very, very clean. It's like black and white. This like M type logo. Like almost like handwrite, handwritten, which is, you know, an M. And then if you flip it is an E, which is super smart. But also it's like super simple. It's like, hey, here are all the projects that we've done. This is the type of, the type of product that we take on and it's super simple. It's like that was the main idea behind Two Brothers Media is like you know, this is what we do, and, like, this specific thing goes there, right. So once you have, you know, these entrepreneurs are launching, products are launching, products are launching shows, how do we make sure that everything is coherent?
Tiffany Newman
Yeah, it's such a good question, because that's, like, my main focus for companies. What I did when I worked with, like, Burt's Bees and things like that, because they'd have new products. And so what you want to think about, you were kind of on the right path as far as thinking as a. As an umbrella. Because when you have what I call a brand operating system, that's my trademarked name for it. A lot of people say brand ecosystem. I call it a brand operating system. Then when you develop new products or you take things out of the ecosystem, once you have the foundation set, it's very easy to add things, remove things, change things, because everything is coherent and consistent. Now, the one issue that I see most people making is that they focus only on the visuals. And the visuals, yes, that's what people see. That's what people focus. That's what people think is branding. The logos, colors, fonts. That's actually just the icing on the cake of a brand, in my opinion. And so if you think about an iceberg analogy, what I like to think about is the tip of the iceberg. Above the surface of the water, those are the visuals. But actually the entire brand operating system that's running behind the scenes is below the surface. It's what people don't see. So what I do for my clients before we do all that visual work, and a lot of the times that's great because simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication. So getting everything coherent is important, but we really want to look at how is the inner workings of the brand. Are the messagings aligned? Are the naming conventions aligned? Are everything else aligned so it makes sense? Are the offer suites stacked properly? Are the price points correct? What are the messaging vehicles? Looking at all of those pieces first and making sure that's consistent and cohesive, then that's the work that I do as a creative director. And then we go to our designers and say, okay, now, knowing all this, it becomes very clear of, like, oh, we just do this for the visuals, right? So you're on the right path. But I just feel like it's a lot bigger if you think of the entire brand operating system, because really your brand is everything that you do, which I think is why you guys have been so successful, is because you are so authentic. You show up, you're not trying to. You're just like, this is what we do. This is who we are. And that's where I see a lot of people overthinking is like, oh, I have to show up this way, or I think this is going to work. Or subconsciously they're showing up not even as their true authentic self because of something. For example, my client Ina, she's also from. She's from South America, and she's a firecracker. She's on it. She's. If you meet her in person, I'm like. Like, I'm more. A little bit more calm. So it's like, I love being in her energy because she's like, so big energy.
Luis
I think I know who you're talking about. Sheep. I think she's been, I guess on the show. If it's the same Ina that we know from. From Boston.
Tiffany Newman
No, she's actually. Now I'm forgetting where she's from because it's been a few years since we worked together. Anyways.
Luis
Yes. You tell me more of this story and I'll be like, that's her. Yeah.
Tiffany Newman
So when we met, though, you'd go to her website, and she had just had a baby, and literally the colors of her website were blue and pink, like, baby colors. And she was, like, all, like, subdued in her, like, mom clothes and, like, really calm. And her pictures were all serene and nice. And I was like. And she's like, I don't know. Like, I don't understand. And her voice, too, like, the copy on the website and what she was putting on social media. And then you met her in person, you're like, this is not even the same person.
Luis
Yeah.
Tiffany Newman
And so the other piece of that whole entire brand operating system is the energetics. Literally, you can have the best messaging, you can have the best visuals, you can have all the stuff out there. But if you're either hiding and afraid to put yourself out there, which happens for some people, or they do it, but they're not doing it fully, or there's a mismatch and usually it's subconscious. Ina had no idea. And then as soon as I was like, okay, I'm going to tell you this, and she was like, holy shit, you're right. And she said, my parents as a child were already always saying, like, calm down. And, you know, you have to be kind, and you're a girl, you have to be calm. So she literally branded herself for what she thought she should be instead of who she actually is. And when we flipped on that Switch. Not only did she become more confident and want to put herself out there, but stuff started selling because she was being herself. And people can feel that energy, right?
Luis
Yeah.
Tiffany Newman
So that's one of my favorite stories to explain, like the third layer of a brand that people don't even think about.
Luis
I put it here, hidden third layer. I think that aligns with a lot of the things that we talked about lately on the show. Like, just two days ago, we published one with our incredible Steve and we talked about the energy around creation and how to be more creative and authenticity and all these steps to do it. And I see more and more right now that trend where people, I feel we need to be as creators, because now with AI is very simple to put in a prompt and get some information. But what's going to be different? It's going to be you, right? And I come from the world of sports. Right. Like, I. The reason I came to the states to play D1 soccer. So, like, that was my dream. So also as a player is like, if we, if we do the comparison right, you play this position and there's like millions of other players that do that. When I did a. I did a trial in Italy and the recruiter came in or the scout and he's like, you're from Venezuela. Why? You know, like, you're. We're moving forward to the next stage. But here's the stat. Out of 300,000 Italians, only one gets to play in the top division in the country. Why? Like, how are you going to be different from those 300,000 nationals? But because also you have to be different and better and luckier. Right. Than those two because you're not from that country. And it's very similar with, like, if you play D1 athletics here in the United States. So with entrepreneurship, same thing. It's like, I think only 4% of the businesses, last time I raised like 4% of the businesses make $350,000 or more a year type deal and then is even smaller, a million dollars or more. So as a creators, similar thing, like a YouTube channel that has about 2,000 subscribers, I think is ranked about 4,000 in the world out of the millions of channels that are out there. So what's making us different? Because anybody could put some information out there in a. In a nice, pretty production way and get some traction. So now that we're training to be business creators, how do we do it? So I think, like, I love the fact that you focus so much on energetics and do that. So. So what are Some maybe practical tips that we can do to start working on that hidden third layer of branding.
Tiffany Newman
Yeah, well, I definitely weave it in, you know, the programs that I run, if I work with people one on one, it's woven in to that because, you know, we think about entrepreneurship, it is probably the highest form of personal development. You can go through the entrepreneur and tell you that there's a lot of things that we have to work through and so that automatically is going to be helpful the more self development you do. But also really being mindful. I think awareness is the first key. So many people just aren't aware of it. And really learning how to manage your energy, how to show up authentically. And I see, just like you said, I see so many people like, oh, now chatgpt, I can just like go and put in my brand voice and it spits out. Well, the thing is it's spitting out, it's scraping the Internet and it's going to give you the same answer that it's giving to any other person doing what you do out there. Not going to be different. And so I mean for logos it's. And I'm probably again the only brand strategist that you'll hear say this but like, go on Canva, click the button, get your logo. Like that doesn't really matter as much. Your logo is not going to sell for you.
Luis
Yeah.
Tiffany Newman
Now of course my team does logos. We do websites, we do them very well and we have a different strategy, all of those things, but it's not what, it's what's going to sell. And I have so many people coming like I just need a new logo and I'm like, that is not your problem.
Luis
Yeah.
Tiffany Newman
So it's typically deep dive work. And I did this first with myself because I had visibility blocks. I was the girl who was afraid to ask for ketchup. I mean, yes, I boxed. I don't know what was up with that, but I was afraid to ask for ketchup from the waitress at the restaurant as a kid, you know, like I was very shy and so I was finding corporate because I could show up and even in, you know, I was usually in front of smaller crowds as a creative director. And so when I had to come out and be the brand and promote myself, that felt very, very difficult. So I started doing the work to uncover those blocks. And I realized we all have blocks as entrepreneurs. And so part of the branding work, I view it almost as like a spiritual identity process. I know that's going very deep, but like not only deciding who you. Your identity, but also really how do you embody that and how do you project it out into the world in a really authentic way. That feels good. So I get a lot of people come to me and they're like, I have this brand, but it doesn't really feel good or it doesn't really sound like me or, you know, they're hired copywriters or whatever. So doing that work to get really clear, that deep work, that's what I love to do. And then on the journey also, like seeing those blocks, like I uncovered with Ina or the block I had with visibility myself and just being like, getting rid of those. And now I speak on stage to tons of people and I'm fine, you know?
Luis
Yeah.
Tiffany Newman
So that's a big piece of it. And again, people don't think of like, oh, that's branding work. But it really is if you want to put yourself out there and be super successful in those top percentages like you talked about.
Luis
Oh, so cool. I love this because it all goes back to like the inner work that we do, right. It's like we're so used to, I think, as human beings to put like a blame on external things. It's like, oh, you know, I'm not selling because I don't have this branded website. Right. Or I don't have this thing. And a long time ago I put a post about our. What was it?
Tiffany Newman
The.
Luis
The six figure sales letter type deal, right? And like back then when we were freelancing, I wrote this sales letter based on the things that we were studying at the time. And I thought it did so good. And it was like this story of a fitness studio customer that came in with a pen and that we gave that pen a long time ago. And then he came in and I shared that story. And then I related to what we were doing at the time and I put, here's an email. And that was like, if you went to Bizrose co around, like 2018, 2017, that's what you would look at. And around that time, we're doing our challenge 45 Light, which was publishing every single day, one time a day on Life on Facebook. And we ended up getting a call with somebody that saw a couple of those videos. We jumped. We went to like a content party that they organized where we all sat down and we talked about what we did and we were recording it. And then that led to our first six figure customer. And the website that we had at the time was that sales letter which had nothing to do with the thing that we ended up, you know, working on. And that's like, kind of like the moral of the story with a lot of people is like, they all wait to have like, this like, perfect presence online to be able to actually talk about it. And then later, years later, as Pablo, the guy that, who ended up connecting us with this company is like, dude, what attracted you? And he's like, I just kept seeing you authentically because, like, you were sitting in the couch when Luca was like, just born, like, upfitting him and recording this video, and you were talking about the content, which is a thing that we needed to do and so on. I'm like, do you even looked at the website? It's like, no, man, I just connected with you, right? And I think like, that was like five years ago, right? More like, what, eight years ago. And now it's like, okay, what do we. How do we move forward in, like, in this world with, like, tools are so available and I get like, the logo on the thing is like the shiny thing that. And it's like super cool. When you see a logo, you really like, you're like, oh, this is going to do it, right? But it's so important to implement what you're saying and kind of start working on us. How, how do you discover, I guess, for yourself, I mean, through customer, you know, work, I'm assuming, right? To start working. Is there something that you do as a first or second step to be like, okay, once I'm aware, hey, I need to work on myself. For us was the podcast, where, like, the podcast is the vehicle that we work ourselves and figure this, like, personality wise, which we thought it was going to be an external person, but this is how. Who we are really, how do you, how do you move forward from that? Like, what are the first two things that somebody could be like, okay, I'm aware of the problem now what?
Tiffany Newman
Yeah, I really think about looking and this is the first step in that, like, aware of the problem, but also like starting the brand. I start every. All of my clients with vision process. And I know that's probably where a lot of people start, but it's. I do it a little bit differently because one thing that I want people to think about is they often brand themselves for where they are now, not where they want to be. And so I like people to look three, five, ten years out to where they want to be. And we can reverse engineer that and build the brand for where they want to be, and then they evolve and grow into it. That Much faster. And with a brand operating system in place, then that evolution becomes much more seamless. Instead of like, okay, two years in, we're shifting things, we got to reinvent again. And people spend so many times, so many time and effort and money, like rebranding, where if you actually build the foundation and the operating system, right, and for the future, you can grow and evolve into it and you don't have to have those constant cycles. You can just go and not look back, which is really fun. And so that's the main reason to look at the vision, but then also, like, where the gaps from where you are to where you want to be, as far as you're concerned. Right. So, like, for instance, you know, when I started, I wasn't at where I am today. And now, you know, like you said earlier, there's all these circumstances. There's a lot of people that are like, oh, the economy and the world. Well, the thing is, the world is always kind of a shaky place. Unfortunately. Yes, we find ourselves in really interesting times right now. But I still have a wait list and I still have a lot of clients that are doing well. And so, so much of that is just taking responsibility for, like, we are the ones who create our. Our reality and our success, in a sense, and not beating yourself up if you're not where you want to be. Because sometimes it's a space of where you need to shift. So I'll be really transparent and say, last year I had a little dip and I was like, what is going on? But instead of freaking out and like, shutting down, having that awareness to ask myself, okay, why is this happening? What's happening? Am I not in alignment anymore? Does my what is needs to shift? And I found that I wasn't talking about this third energetic piece. I was doing it behind the scenes and clients loved it. And I didn't have any programs that were specifically focused on that. And then in January, I shifted that. I started talking about it. I started. I have offers around it now. And my business just did a like 180 and took off again, like, amazingly. And I was like, so it really had nothing to do with any external factors. I had to get quiet and ask myself, like, what's. What do I really want to do? And like, where. I know this sounds weird, but, like, where does the business want to go? Because I feel like businesses can have like a life of their own if we allow that, you know, and if we open it up. So, yeah, I think it's like seeing where we want that vision. To be. And then like, what's the gap to get there, there, from there.
Luis
Yeah.
Tiffany Newman
And then also a lot of my clients want to write books, they want to speak on stages, all of those things. Well, you know, do you have the skills to do that? Do you have the connections? Do you have all of those things? And just being really mindful. And then the last thing is patience. Because I was just talking to somebody about this yesterday and it's like, as entrepreneurs, we're all impatient. I feel like, I'm like, I want that tomorrow. And we've been sold for the last like 10 years. That's where the bro marketing comes in. When we talked about yesterday, like you can just lay on the beach and the money will come and you don't have to do anything and you don't have to like. And it's like, no, you, you have to put in the work. If you're going to play the long game, you have to give good results to your clients because then they'll sell the message for you. And you have to be patient because what can happen in three years, like I have a lot of clients will build that brand, their 10 year vision and it happens in three years. So it goes a lot faster than you can imagine. But you also have to allow for that. It's not going to happen tomorrow.
Luis
Yeah, no. So good. So once you're aware now you have the steps. Rewind five minutes, listen to it again. I love the fact that we can create where we want to be. I think a lot of people, like don't even consider going there. You know, I remember as a little kid, my whole obsession was to go play soccer in Europe, in Barcelona. Right. And it was, you listen to that story. It's kind of crazy how I ended up getting to Barcelona and playing soccer in the city. I wanted to go play insane. Like these things happen in our life that were like all like, nudge me that way. But at the same time there was a lot of work that we had to put in. Right. And some somehow during my college career, I felt very lost. You know, I left the sport. And then that led us to create bizarre. And now it led us to do this. And it took us a few years to try to figure out like, where do I know? At some level we're still trying to figure out like where that, where that is. And for some time we were gathering feedback from where customers or people were asking us to do for them because we're a service provider and we're like, maybe that's the Path. And maybe that's the path. And I don't think that's the right way to approach it because we encountered a lot of friction on executing the product, on providing the service. It was not. It was not our best work. And we've been very honest with those customers at the time and with them. We had to, like, part ways at some point. Right. So once we recognize we're like, that's the path that we want to take, you know, including, you know, the conversation that we had yesterday about the. The soccer project that we have.
Tiffany Newman
Yeah.
Luis
Everything starts to flow because your mental state is there, your willingness is there. You know, your. Doesn't matter if you sleep four hours. And I do what.
Tiffany Newman
And your passion, too.
Luis
And your passion is it comes across. Right. And that's why I feel we've been able to sustain this podcast for so many years and so many episodes because we're, like, so passionate about one these conversations. We love meeting people, so we found that vehicle that aligns with us not only for the content, but also for the brand and the energy and the things that we want to put out to the world. So, so cool that, like, everything that I've experienced over the last year, now, you're like, bring it into this incredible, awesome, beautiful pill, and you're like, louise, here's the thing that I do. Where were you five years ago for Stephanie, where were you? Oh, my go.
Tiffany Newman
No, everything has the right timing. Right? So. But. No, I hear you. It's. I. I feel like when we put our mind to that, like, you're. I can just see you as a kid being like, soccer, soccer, you know, and it is. People believe in manifestation, and I think there is some truth to that, but it is so much about the work and the effort to get there, too. Right. You can't just sit on a couch and will it to be. And so it's. It's the same way I got to my corporate career. I had my dream job working with those big brands, and it's what I always envisioned. And the way similar. The way I ended up there, I could have never made up or imagined, like, I couldn't have made that happen. It just happened by connections and things. And that's the way that we need to look at our businesses, too. And then having the belief that it's possible, I think that's the other thing is, I mean, I could go on tangents for hours, but the other thing is, so many people think, like, oh, is it possible? Am I worthy? I mean, we just have so Many things that are built in from years of conditioning as children or as women or what have you, money blocks about growing up in scarcity. I mean, there's just so many layers of the onion that need to be peeled off to get to where we want to go. And so, yeah, it's. To me, I know it's like, not typical. It's all part of your branding process.
Luis
I love it. I love it. I would never. Before this conversation, I would never end, like, even if you go to college, right? Like, that's not what they teach you in, in those, like, branding classes, right?
Tiffany Newman
It's like, I did go to college and I actually taught as a professor for seven years to never taught a thing about that.
Luis
No, that's. That's insane. I'm going to be here. Why is college wrong and nothing wrong with going to college. I mean, that's a debate for a different episode. But I'm saying is, I think right now we're uncovering these incredible things and we're like, continue to excavate and find, like, these little pockets of, like, value and information and things about ourselves that will serve us massively as we move forward. Right? Like, the Louise that was, you know, podcasting five years ago is not the same. Luis that's podcasting today, right? The Tiffany that's, like, speaking on stage is not the same when that was boxing. So, like, we change and we have to be okay with that. So, so cool. Tiffany. So I have. I had this thought from the beginning of the, of the conversation. Well, first off, like, what's your definition of branding?
Tiffany Newman
So I really think of it as, I mean to simplify it. I think it's, you know, really is the ecosystem of your business. So marketing is how you get it out into the world, right? So, and that's really what you guys do in different aspects with the content. So branding is everything before that, like, the way that you're showing up, even your client, like, internal, like, how are the emails being answered? How is your team being oriented? The client success path, for instance, who's on your team? It's all a part of the brand because it's your reputation. And so that's why, like, big corporations take so much time with, like, the aesthetics. Like, if you think about a nice hotel versus, like an inexpensive hotel, there's the brand that's economical. It's. You're gonna kind of get what you get or whatever. But if you want to be a luxury brand, then you're really thinking about the aesthetics, the smell when you walk in the way the sheets are folded, the way that your employees are greeting the guest. And so there's just. And there's of course different steps in between there too. So. Really?
Luis
Absolutely.
Tiffany Newman
The entire operating system of your business is what I consider a brand.
Luis
Oh, so cool. I saw a video not so long ago about this like real estate guy doing a tour in one of the most expensive buildings in New York. And he's like, in this like busy, busy street, a lot of noise. And he walks and there's a space in between that front door and the lobby and there's a water feature and it's probably like six feet wide and it's like almost like a waterfall. And as he's walking by, as soon as he goes into the building now the smell is different, the light is different, the sound, you cannot hear the sound from outside. And it's like you get transported into this. And he is explaining, look, the water features function is to block the noise from the outside. Because once you enter here, this is luxury, this is high end. This is like different things. So I was like so taken by that. Right. And now that you mentioned this, like, this is part of the branding of that specific building. Right. And the other day, and I want to bring it down, I guess, for like content specific and maybe share an example here of something that we produce the other day that it was different from things that we're producing. Not so much, but it's almost like a clip, right? And when people see these clips online, a vertical piece of content or something that. Right. We see a lot of trends, we see a lot of things that like reaction to these other things, like all these like viral moments because they're based on human and dopamine and things. Right?
Tiffany Newman
Right.
Luis
But it's all, after a while it all feels the same, right? It's like, oh, like the same dance or the same song or like the same thing. So like for some reason my gut has always told me be like, be a little bit different. Like if people are seeking you going zagging, right? Like, how can you be a little bit different? Taking elements from that, but like how you be a little bit different. So in our specific industry on how we create content, we do a lot of talking head clearly because we have a podcast. But literally we're like, okay, my based on all these like branding principles that you're telling me this is what's going in my head. I've been breaking down our process and be like, okay, it's personality is where we want to go as a Media company. Right. It's kind of like the feel and like the emotion maybe that I'm personal feeling. Because for me, the fact that I enjoy creating is a massive point there. Because if I don't enjoy creating, I'm not going to do it. Right. I think.
Tiffany Newman
Right.
Luis
Most people are might feel identified with that. So start creating this clip and it's like, okay, the message based on the six levers that we talk about in your show the other day, it's like we have this. So I have that, my message. I'm going to create it with like this specific camera. Logistically, I'm going to shift my angle. But I mean studio, which the studio on its own, like inside has its own like specific branding that we kind of integrated into our own, like umbrella brand. So it looks and feels coherent. And then I did my talking part. So now what's part of our branding? I think the feedback has been energy. So the pacing of the editing was a little bit faster. Now how do we help people with like subtitles? So now the subtitles, I don't want them to be the generic subtitles, right. I want them to look and feel like part of us. So content is profit. Brand has moved into this kind of funky place. When like the music that we use in the backgrounds are like, it's like these funky themes, right? So like, what's a little bit of a funky font that we have? And we have like these fonts that are approved to go out with pieces of content. We have these songs that are approved to get the feeling of like, energy. If you see our logo right here, it's shaped as a sticker because it's part of our story. Like we started selling, the company is selling stickers. So like, it's like these colors and like all, all of it is connected and then that's the part. So we're like people. I share this story and be like, oh my gosh, like, do I have to do all that to publish one post? It can be overwhelming, but I'm like breaking down the process. But this happens subconsciously after being able to share that and so on. So that's why people like you, Tiffany, exist. So you can help them figure that one out. Right? And then you don't have to do all by yourself. So I'm encouraging you reach out to Tiffany.
Tiffany Newman
And the links are you can't see the label from inside the bottle. Right. Like, it's hard when to have an objective view if you're the one doing the work in your own business. And so it's. That's like you said, that's why I'm here. As you know, it's really a brand guide. I don't. I say brand strategist. That's more of the corporate term, but it's really a brand guide to help people. Like, are these the right decisions? Is this what I'm really supposed to be doing? How do we do this?
Luis
Almost like the brand doula. The brand doula say it too.
Tiffany Newman
Exactly.
Luis
That's so cool. Guiding you through the process of energetics and to create more. That's so cool.
Tiffany Newman
Speaking of that brand alchemy is the new offer that I'm doing to really go deep with those energetic pieces, like I mentioned, because that's the piece. You know, some people will come to me and they have a brand. They're like, I don't know why it's working. And I'm like, actually, you do have a pretty good brand, so you need the energetics. So we do all the way from like the very beginning and the messaging, getting that clear, the visuals and then that piece on top, which then locks it in.
Luis
Yeah, it's so cool. I'm going back to, like, different experiences of my content creation process. Like, recently we went out to. So for context, we have, obviously our show. Content is profit. I have a football show that we've been trying to launch and figure out. We finally figured out the format that we want to do. So we've done two of those, as in the recording of this highly successful. I told you, we had about 2,000 people watching last night. So that was kind of cool. And then I recently started a very underground, kind of, like, personal YouTube channel that I want to explore myself as a creator on a different channel. That's super personal type. One of the videos that I'm working on then is a trip that we did with Disney, like, with our family. But I wanted to make a little bit of a different angle. And the question that we're trying to ask is, like, what is the best place to nap in Disney? And. And is. I'm working on it, but the idea came as we were recording because, I mean, you know, this is more of a personal vlog type deal, you know, with a little bit of an angle of, like, what I find funny. And, you know, who knows? Maybe people like it, maybe people don't. I don't care. I'm doing it for myself and to have a great experience with my kids. Right. So we're asking the staff members of the of Disney is like, hey, what's the best place to nap. And they told us, like, this awesome place. But at the same time, like, it all goes back to the brand of ld creates, like, Luis that creates, like, I'm. I took on the identity of a creator. Right, Whatever that. That looks like it's going to evolve. But, like, I am a creator. I'm a creator of opportunities, and I creator of content. I'm a creator of business. And, like, the moment that shifted in my head, everything else made sense, and it's almost like gave me the permission to go do the thing that I've been talking so long about it. So that moment of clarity was massive. How, in your specific case, have you seen examples of, like, that where, like, Eclipse and, like, when does that happen?
Tiffany Newman
Yeah, I mean, there's no, like, specific, like, oh, it's gonna happen at this point. But I think that's part of my role as a guide. And sometimes people get it, get there themselves, like you did. And then they're like, okay, now I'm here. What now? Now how do I tie it all together? But, like, same thing with Ina. Like, another good story is my client Liz. She was in the health coaching space. So a lot of her images and things like that were like, you know, like, what you'd, like, think of, like, the influencer, the health thing. And she was like, I just don't know. She's like, this isn't it. This isn't it. And so sometimes that just discovery of, like, what is next. Sometimes, like, you. You're like, I knew I had this idea for a couple years and I hadn't integrated. And how does it all fit together? Sometimes it's a matter of that, and sometimes it's like, I don't even know what's next. And so when we sat down, it was like the realization of, oh, I have all these people coming to me in the health space now, like, how did you build that business? She didn't want to be a health coach anymore. She actually wanted to coach other health coaches to do what she did. And so we kind of shifted the brand in that direction, and it completely took off because she's actually a mom of five children on a farm in Wisconsin. And so she was showing up as this influencer, and, like, you wouldn't even know that she was. I mean, she kind of showed her kids a little bit, but she wasn't showing up as her real self again, and she wasn't doing that what she wanted to do. And a lot of the times we're so focused on the path that we don't slow down to be like, oh, this is where I actually want to go. It's, it's so interesting. And then it's like, okay, what is this? Like, how can you easily shift it? How can you include everything together? What does that look like? And so one more thing I would say is that the name of my company technically is your legacy brand. And the whole reason it's built on legacy is because I typically help people where they're at that point of like, okay, this is my legacy work in the world. And the whole goal that I want for people is that it's going to be scalable, sustainable and sellable. So the scalable and sustainable are pretty straightforward. When you have the brand operating system, it becomes much more sustainable because you don't have to constantly reinvent, you don't have to constantly think about what is this going to be scalable? Because then you have your path, that five, ten year vision, then you're like, I know where I'm going. We can kind of navigate as we go. But the last thing that people don't think about is sellable. So the cool thing about you being a creator is you are always going to own your own brand, right? As a personal creator, and you can do whatever you want with that. But when you create these sub brands under it. So like, I have your legacy brand now, I have brand alchemy coming, or like, it's here, but it's coming out into fruition more those become assets. And so that's where I like to say that your brand is the number one asset that you're actually creating. Yes, you're creating a business, but even more so you're creating a brand. Like if you think about, you know, Silicon Valley and some of these brands that don't even have much to them physically, but the IP is worth so much, they're selling for millions and billions of dollars. So if you're building a brand the right way, that can be sellable in the future, which is huge. And that's another thing that people don't think about is how do we create this ecosystem so you can sell, like either the whole thing and still own, maintain ownership of your personal brand if you want to go do something else, or like sell off pieces of the brand. And not everybody wants to do that, but I think people don't think about setting themselves up for success in that way.
Luis
Yeah, no, I love it. And I think also it gives the freedom to pivot maybe a little more. Right? Because if you focus on that brand. And let's talk about. Let's say content is profit, right? Like, content is profit. You know, initially started as me and Fonzie together for a long time. We're like, this is never gonna change. Well, guess what? Fonzie had a kid, and he needs some time off. And, you know, and now the show has to run, right? The concept around the show has remained the same. It's like, how do. Can we have conversations with incredible entrepreneurs and business owners that are using content and the principle of content to create revenue for the business, right? So that could be hosted by the bizarre, that could be hosted by me. That could be hosted by somebody else in the future, or we don't know. But the essence of the show, the brand, you know, will endure. Right? And then we can transition. So I think, like, what you said is so valuable, and I think is planting this seed in main in many people that might not, you know, be thinking about this thing because maybe we're so in it that, you know, we now can be like, okay, let me step back five steps and think about five years in the future. Like, what is the life that I want? What is the business that I want? And then based on that, now we can create something that's really cool. So, so, so awesome. I mean, today we talk about this all day long. I. By the way, you're gonna. You're gonna be coming and doing a workshop with us in the business creator club. That's. That's written. That's gonna happen. I'm just, like, throwing you under the bus right now.
Tiffany Newman
I am more than happy to.
Luis
Let's go. So, you know, for gets very excited. Let's go. I know. I'm gonna bring some boxing gloves just to, like, break the eyes. That's so cool. What's. What. What a fun fact. But again, Tiffany, thank you so much. I really appreciate you being here in continuous profit with me. Is there anything else that you want to add before we head out?
Tiffany Newman
You know, I would just say to close up today is like, just really lean into that vision. Everybody listening. You know, we get so stuck. Just like we've been saying, you get so stuck in the now and then. The events of the world can kind of put that layer of scarcity into us. And I think it's actually now is the time as leaders that we're needed more than ever.
Luis
Yeah.
Tiffany Newman
We really want to help create the world that we want to see. We need to, like, rise up more than, like, lean back. And so I just encourage everybody to lean in instead.
Luis
That's right. Is there any place that you want to connect with people before I plug in my own things?
Tiffany Newman
Yeah, absolutely. So I hang out. I'm social media optional. I'm not on most social media platforms because if you have a really good brand, you don't need to be.
Luis
I love it. I love it.
Tiffany Newman
So I'm on LinkedIn. Just look me up there. And then I do have a three day workshop coming up soon. Maybe we can drop that in the show notes if that's cool. 100% people loved what they heard. Or join Louise Luis's club and I'll be speaking there too.
Luis
Let's go. Well, thank you so much for playing me. But yes, all different links are gonna be like right on the description. All you gotta do is scroll down, you know, a little bit, couple thumb scrolls and you'll get there. But also, if you want to be a part of the first founding members of Business Creator Club, you can go to Business Creator Club where we talk in the foundations of the Content is profit system and how we've done it with not only podcasting, but other people. We talk production and then we bring experts like Tiffany here to do awesome workshops for the things that we need to and it's gonna help us move the needle forward. So, so, so, so cool even again, thank you so much and we'll see you guys in the next episode. Take care.
Content Is Profit: Episode Summary
Title: Why Most Entrepreneurs Get Branding Wrong (And How to Fix It)
Host: BIZBROS (Luis)
Guest: Tiffany Neuman, Creative Director and Brand Strategist
Release Date: June 26, 2025
In this insightful episode of Content Is Profit, hosted by Luis from BIZBROS, the conversation centers around the critical yet often mishandled aspect of branding for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Joined by Tiffany Neuman, a seasoned Creative Director renowned for her work with Fortune 500 companies such as Adidas, Burt's Bees, and Chase Bank, the episode delves deep into the nuances of effective branding. Tiffany, a Forbes contributor and brand strategist, brings a wealth of knowledge to help listeners bridge the gap between their content efforts and revenue generation.
Luis opens the discussion by sharing a personal anecdote about the initial stages of his company’s branding process. He explains how, in the rush to establish the business, they hastily chose a name and color palette without strategic planning:
Luis (00:00): “We went out and we sold our first service to our restaurant, collected the check, and realized we needed a business name. We randomly clicked on a color generator for our logo in Canva and chose the third button. That was the birth of our brand.”
Tiffany acknowledges that such spontaneous decisions are common among entrepreneurs starting out:
Tiffany Neuman (05:40): “I always say we build the plane while we're flying it as entrepreneurs. Branding isn't the first investment you should make because you need to know if your product is even viable.”
She emphasizes that many businesses fall into the trap of overemphasizing branding prematurely, which can lead to procrastination and delays in launching products or services.
A significant portion of the conversation introduces the concept of a "hidden third layer of branding," which Tiffany refers to as "energetics." This layer goes beyond visual elements like logos and colors, delving into the authentic energy and identity that a brand exudes.
Tiffany Neuman (15:18): “The one issue that I see most people making is that they focus only on the visuals. The visuals, yes, that's what people see. But the entire brand operating system that's running behind the scenes is below the surface.”
Tiffany shares compelling stories to illustrate this point. She recounts working with Ina, a client who initially branded herself as calm and subdued due to childhood conditioning. Upon embracing her true, vibrant personality, Ina’s business began to thrive as her authentic energy resonated with her audience:
Tiffany Neuman (17:08): “Ina was essentially branding herself for what she thought she should be instead of who she actually is. When we flipped that switch, she became more confident, and sales started because she was being herself.”
Luis adds his perspective by drawing parallels between branding and personal experiences in sports, highlighting the necessity of differentiation and authenticity in a crowded marketplace:
Luis (07:38): “With AI making it easy to generate content, what's going to be different is you. How do you make yourself different from the millions of others out there?”
Tiffany introduces the concept of a "Brand Operating System," a comprehensive framework that ensures all aspects of a brand are cohesive and scalable. This system includes messaging alignment, naming conventions, offer structures, and price points, among other elements.
Tiffany Neuman (12:19): “When you develop a brand operating system, adding or removing elements becomes seamless because everything is coherent and consistent.”
She contrasts this with common practices where businesses focus solely on visual aesthetics, neglecting the underlying operational and strategic components that define the brand's essence.
The dialogue transitions into actionable advice for entrepreneurs struggling with branding. Tiffany outlines several practical steps to develop a robust brand operating system:
Vision Process:
Closing Gaps Between Current and Future States:
Authentic Messaging and Energetics:
Patience and Long-Term Focus:
Brand Evolution:
To contextualize her insights, Tiffany shares several real-world examples of clients who successfully redefined their branding by focusing on authenticity and the hidden energetics:
Ina’s Transformation:
Liz’s Brand Shift:
These stories underscore the importance of aligning internal brand elements with the entrepreneur’s authentic identity and vision.
A recurring theme in the conversation is the necessity of inner work and personal development as foundational elements of effective branding. Tiffany emphasizes that successful branding is intrinsically linked to the entrepreneur’s self-awareness and ability to manage their own energy:
Tiffany Neuman (19:42): “Managing your energy and showing up authentically is crucial. Without inner alignment, your brand efforts can feel disjointed and inauthentic.”
Luis adds by sharing his own journey, highlighting how self-discovery and authentic content creation have been pivotal in maintaining the podcast’s longevity and appeal:
Luis (32:36): “The moment of clarity in my branding process gave me permission to pursue what I’ve been talking about for so long. Authenticity fueled our sustained passion for the podcast.”
Tiffany introduces the concept of "Legacy Branding," which focuses on creating a brand that is scalable, sustainable, and sellable. This approach ensures that the brand can grow and adapt over time while retaining its core essence.
Tiffany Neuman (36:31): “Legacy Branding is about creating an ecosystem that is not only scalable and sustainable but also sellable. Your brand becomes a valuable asset that can be maintained or sold as your business evolves.”
She explains that a well-constructed brand operating system allows for seamless evolution and adaptation, preventing the need for frequent rebranding efforts:
Tiffany Neuman (36:31): “With a brand operating system in place, evolution becomes more seamless, and you avoid the costly and time-consuming process of constant rebranding.”
Luis and Tiffany discuss practical examples of maintaining brand coherence while allowing for flexibility and growth. Luis references Ryan Reynolds' production company, Maximum Effort, as a model of simplicity and coherence:
Luis (11:26): “Maximum Effort’s website is clean and simple, with a focus on their projects. It exemplifies how a coherent and well-thought-out brand can effectively showcase a variety of endeavors under one umbrella.”
Tiffany echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of a unified brand strategy that can accommodate diverse projects without losing its core identity:
Tiffany Neuman (41:07): “Your brand is the number one asset you’re creating. It’s scalable, sustainable, and sellable. Think of it as building a legacy that can adapt and thrive over time.”
Luis illustrates how integrating brand identity into content creation can enhance engagement and coherence. He shares examples from his own experience, highlighting how elements like camera angles, editing pace, and subtitle styles can reflect the brand's energy and personality:
Luis (37:59): “We create content with specific branding principles in mind, such as funky fonts and energetic music, to ensure that even the smallest details align with our brand’s identity.”
Tiffany reinforces the importance of these details, noting that every touchpoint should reflect the brand’s core values and energetics:
Tiffany Neuman (41:21): “When everything from messaging to visuals is aligned, it reinforces the brand’s identity and makes your content more impactful and recognizable.”
As the episode wraps up, Tiffany offers a powerful closing message encouraging entrepreneurs to lean into their vision and embrace authenticity:
Tiffany Neuman (50:00): “Now is the time as leaders that we're needed more than ever. We really want to help create the world that we want to see. We need to rise up more than lean back.”
Luis echoes this sentiment, underscoring the importance of aligning personal passion and authentic energy with business branding to achieve sustained success:
Luis (32:36): “We found that vehicle aligns with us not only for the content but also for the brand and the energy we want to put out into the world.”
Final Thoughts:
This episode of Content Is Profit is a must-listen for entrepreneurs and business owners seeking to refine their branding strategies. Tiffany Neuman’s expertise provides actionable insights into building a brand that is not only visually appealing but fundamentally authentic and strategically sound. By addressing both the visible and hidden layers of branding, this conversation equips listeners with the tools to transform their content into profitable ventures.