Why That Worked #26: Dan Go—The Fitness Coach Who Built a Mega Brand by Niching Down

Summary

Title: Why That Worked #26: Dan Go—The Fitness Coach Who Built a Mega Brand by Niching Down

---

Introduction

In episode #26 of "Why That Worked," presented by StoryBrand AI and hosted by Donald Miller and Kyle Reed, the hosts delve into the strategies behind Dan Go's success as a fitness coach who has built a formidable personal brand by effectively niching down. Released on July 2, 2025, this episode offers actionable insights for entrepreneurs and marketers aiming to refine their branding techniques.

---

1. The Importance of Niching Down

Donald Miller opens the discussion by addressing a common challenge among listeners: building a personal brand without a clear starting point. He introduces Dan Go, known on Twitter as @FITFounder, whose approach exemplifies the power of niching down.

Key Points:

• Specific Target Audience: Dan Go focuses on "health performance for entrepreneurs," distinguishing himself in a saturated fitness market.
• Clarity in Messaging: By defining his niche, Dan ensures that his audience immediately understands who he is and what he offers.

Notable Quote:

“That's amazing that you can actually build a thought leader brand on a niche that small... that speaks to the power of niching down.” – Kyle Reed [02:43]

---

2. Clear and Direct Messaging

A central theme in Dan Go's success is his ability to communicate his value proposition clearly and succinctly.

Key Points:

• Effective Bio: Dan's Twitter bio reads, "Health performance coach to entrepreneurs. Tweets on fat loss, optimizing the body, and he's on a mission to transform a billion lives through health and fitness" [04:26]. This leaves no ambiguity about his services and mission.
• Immediate Understanding: His clear messaging ensures that newcomers to his profile can grasp his offerings within seconds, avoiding confusion and disengagement.

Notable Quote:

“He's not making anybody think about what he offers. That's the number one mistake.” – Kyle Reed [04:35]

---

3. Content Strategy Aligned with the Niche

Dan Go's content consistently reinforces his expertise and caters directly to his target audience's interests and needs.

Key Points:

• Relevant Content: Posts like "If you buy supplements off Amazon, you need to read this" [10:31] directly address specific behaviors of his audience.
• Engaging Hooks: These hooks compel his audience to engage further, enhancing content effectiveness and shareability.

Notable Quote:

“If you buy supplements off Amazon, you need to read this. I think is a great hook... it's something that people can identify in terms of their behavior.” – Kyle Reed [11:45]

---

4. Building Authority and Trust

Dan Go not only talks the talk but walks the walk, embodying the principles he advocates.

Key Points:

• Personal Example: His physical fitness and dedication serve as proof of his expertise, fostering trust among his followers.
• Authenticity: Living out his teachings enhances his credibility and strengthens his personal brand.

Notable Quote:

“He also lives out what he's teaching. So he's an incredibly in shape guy... there's also like this authority there.” – Kyle Reed [12:27]

---

5. Creating Engaging Hooks and Soundbites

Dan Go excels in crafting compelling soundbites that capture attention and provoke thought.

Key Points:

• Impactful Statements: His tweet, “A fit body is the ultimate status symbol because it can't be bought. It must be earned,” [13:12] encapsulates a powerful message that resonates deeply with his audience.
• Positive and Negative Stakes: These soundbites highlight the benefits of following his advice and the consequences of neglecting it.

Notable Quote:

“A fit body is the ultimate status symbol because it can't be bought. It must be earned.” – Dan Go [13:12]

---

6. Leveraging Social Media Algorithms

Dan Go's focused content strategy aligns seamlessly with social media algorithms, enhancing his visibility and follower growth.

Key Points:

• Algorithm-Friendly Content: Consistent, niche-specific content is favored by social media algorithms, increasing reach and engagement.
• Strategic Platform Use: Starting with a single platform and expanding strategically helps manage growth without overwhelming resources.

Notable Quote:

“Social media, specifically the algorithm is actually made perfect for anyone starting or wanting to build their brand... the algorithm does everything it can to get that in front of people.” – Donald Miller [22:05]

---

7. Scalability and Future Growth

The discussion also explores potential avenues for scaling Dan Go's brand further.

Key Points:

• Masterminds and Subscriptions: Launching masterminds or subscription services can provide additional value to his audience.
• Product Licensing: Licensing his brand to supplement manufacturers or affiliating with related products can diversify revenue streams.

Notable Quote:

“Once you become the thought leader, the area of expertise, the guru that people go to, you begin looking for the products that you recommend. And then you go to those products and you say, hey, if I put my name on this thing, you're going to double your sales.” – Kyle Reed [25:16]

---

8. Actionable Takeaways for Listeners

Donald Miller concludes with practical steps for listeners aspiring to build their personal brands:

1. Niche Down: Define a specific target audience to tailor messaging and content effectively.
2. Clear Messaging: Ensure your value proposition is immediately understandable.
3. Engaging Content: Create hooks and soundbites that resonate with your audience's needs and behaviors.
4. Consistency: Align all content with your niche to build authority and leverage social media algorithms.
5. Scalable Strategies: Explore diversified revenue streams that align with your brand's core values and expertise.

Notable Quote:

“Niche down, hit the bullseye on what you do... nail that tagline, nail that bio.” – Donald Miller [29:04]

---

Conclusion

Episode #26 of "Why That Worked" offers a comprehensive analysis of Dan Go's successful branding strategy through niching down, clear messaging, and consistent content creation. By implementing these strategies, entrepreneurs and marketers can establish and grow their own influential personal brands.

---

Notable Quotes Summary:

• “A fit body is the ultimate status symbol because it can't be bought. It must be earned.” – Dan Go [13:12]
• “He's not making anybody think about what he offers. That's the number one mistake.” – Kyle Reed [04:35]
• “Social media, specifically the algorithm is actually made perfect for anyone starting or wanting to build their brand... the algorithm does everything it can to get that in front of people.” – Donald Miller [22:05]
• “Niche down, hit the bullseye on what you do... nail that tagline, nail that bio.” – Donald Miller [29:04]

---

Further Resources:

• Dan Go’s Twitter: @FITFounder
• StoryBrand AI: Tools for crafting clear and effective messaging for your brand.

---

This detailed summary provides a comprehensive overview of the episode, capturing all essential discussions, insights, and actionable conclusions, making it useful for those who haven't listened to the podcast.

Transcript

[Bobby Richards]

Hey, hero makers, it's podcast producer Bobby Richards. I'm jumping in to share with you a new episode of our brand new podcast, why that worked, presented by StoryBrand AI with Donald Miller back in the host seat. Now, since we launched Marketing Made simple, we've been so grateful to have everybody tune in each week to learn how to make your marketing easy and make it work. Which is exactly why we're sharing new episodes of the why that Worked podcast here. In the old Marketing Made simple feed, each episode of the new show is going to deliver actionable insights and key takeaways that are all designed so you can implement them to help make whatever you're working on work. If you want to catch new episodes early, you can watch or listen every Monday. To watch the show, just go subscribe to the StoryBrand YouTube channel. And to listen, go follow why that worked, presented by StoryBrand AI wherever you enjoy your podcasts. All right, that's it from me. So grateful you're here and enjoy this week's episode of why that worked, presented by StoryBrand AI.

[Donald Miller]

Foreign.

[Bobby Richards]

You're listening to the why that Work podcast presented by StoryBrand AI. If you've ever wondered why certain brands, trends, or cultural phenomena find success while others don't, you're in the right place. Every week we unpack why something worked, then give you actionable insights that you can use in your own life. Now let's dive in with your hosts, Donald Miller and Kyle Reed.

[Donald Miller]

Don, One of the most common questions we get from listeners is they want to build a personal brand, but they don't know where to start. This is a topic we talk about a lot. Important to me. Important to you. I know you've. You've built a great personal brand online. And so today I thought it'd be an interesting conversation to bring someone who I found on Twitter or X whatever you want to call it. It's a guy who's built a personal brand and I think he's gone about it the right way. So what I'd love to do is bring up his account and kind of talk to you.

[Kyle Reed]

Let's do it.

[Donald Miller]

You as a messaging expert, kind of break it down.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah.

[Donald Miller]

So the guy we're talking about today.

[Kyle Reed]

And I don't know this guy.

[Donald Miller]

You don't know this guy? I don't think you follow him. And I have to say his name slow because it can sound like Van Gogh. It's not Van Gogh. His name is Dan. Go, Dan. Go. On Twitter, he is at FIT Founder. Now, the reason why he jumped out to me is I see him in my algorithm a lot. I think I follow him. I think he does a really great job of breaking down. He has a really strong bio, but then his content drives his kind of theme and focus in business and life.

[Kyle Reed]

Okay, let me just guess, though. FIT Founder.

[Donald Miller]

FIT Founder is his.

[Kyle Reed]

I mean, here's where my mind went. You tell me whether I'm accurate.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah. Come on.

[Kyle Reed]

He actually has, like, fitness advice, longevity advice, feel good advice, workout advice, supplement advice specifically for founders of companies.

[Donald Miller]

Correct. That's exactly it.

[Kyle Reed]

Wow.

[Donald Miller]

Yes. Okay.

[Kyle Reed]

That's amazing that you can actually build a thought leader brand on a niche that small. I mean, it's not necessarily small, but there's a thousand fitness. No, I'm sorry. There's a million fitness folks out there. Million nutrition folks out there. That alone speaks to the power of niching down. Can we just start there? Absolutely. I cannot believe that I was right on that. I assumed you were gonna go close, but because I thought that's too niche of a niche. So there you go. Okay, so we've already got lesson number one. Niche. The Frick down.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah.

[Kyle Reed]

Fitness Frick.

[Donald Miller]

Copyright. That's the frick down.

[Kyle Reed]

Nich. The frickdown dot com. Somebody grab that.

[Donald Miller]

It's probably available. Co dot com niche. The Frick. Yeah. Niche.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah. For those who don't. Cussy version.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah. You nailed it. That's crazy.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah.

[Donald Miller]

Off that. Just his name.

[Kyle Reed]

Well, it's. Well, also FIT Founder. I mean, he got it. The other thing, let's just say about that is he niched down, but the actual name FIT Founder is an aspirational identity.

[Donald Miller]

Yes. That's good. That's really good.

[Kyle Reed]

So let's just say that's another thing he got right. He niched down and then he called it what it is, rather than some elusive title, you know, like the great founder or the strong founder or whatever.

[Donald Miller]

That people would have got confused about.

[Kyle Reed]

No, it's a fit.

[Donald Miller]

Well, and he takes it a step further. I think the reason it caught my attention, his bio on X. Let me read it to you. Is health performance coach to entrepreneurs. Tweets on fat loss, optimizing the body, and he's on a mission to transform a billion lives through health and fitness. But I think that's.

[Kyle Reed]

That's pretty strong.

[Donald Miller]

I think that first line's great. He's a health performance coach to entrepreneurs.

[Kyle Reed]

There you go. And you know what he's. You know what he's not doing? He's not making anybody think about what he offers.

[Donald Miller]

That's right.

[Kyle Reed]

He's not. And that's the number one mistake. And it's the reason that people are ignoring you. If you're trying to be a thought leader, they can't figure out in less than a second what you offer. And I mean that. Less than a second. You cannot make people go, well, what does that mean? As soon as they say, what does that mean? Or what do you do? Or what do you. Whatever. Let me just give you an example. I was just on a call with the small business flight school members. We have a thing called small business flight school. Helps you grow your. Your small business. And once a quarter, I get on and I do a zoom call and they ask me questions. One lady was medicaltraveloptions.com I think medical travel options, something like. What do you think she does?

[Donald Miller]

She helps you prepare to travel. And if you get hurt, she knows where to go to a hospital.

[Kyle Reed]

Close. She sells foreign pharmaceuticals.

[Donald Miller]

Medical trap.

[Kyle Reed]

It started out, but this is how this stuff happens.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kyle Reed]

This is how she got off target. It started out that she would help you get procedures overseas.

[Donald Miller]

Okay.

[Kyle Reed]

Like, so if you need a knee replacement, it's $50,000 cheaper in Sweden. You know, she can get you over there. It's a grade A in the hospital, but it turned into 90 plus percent foreign pharmaceuticals. So let's say metformin was 1000 bucks a month. But I can get in Sweden for 200 bucks a month. And it's a Metformin. It's the same stuff. She's the one who helps you find that deal and then gets it for you. So now you're getting foreign prices. I recommended that she buy foreignpharmaceuticals.com.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah.

[Kyle Reed]

Cause if I say, hey, if I said to you, I just talked to a woman, she has a company called foreignpharmaceuticals.com. now, what are you assuming she does?

[Donald Miller]

She helps me find pharmaceuticals that are ocean.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah. I mean, you might have the curse of knowledge on, because I actually told you what she does, but you're gonna be a lot closer. And so that's what this Dan Go guy has done. He's got. You're right inside the bullseye. You're right inside the bullseye. And if the bullseye is the name of what you do or the name of your company or the name of your service or the name of your product, when you say it to somebody, they actually. And you actually say, what do you think that is? And they tell you what it is. You've hit the bullseye And I would say 95 plus percent of people are off the bullseye. And if you want to grow your business, get the frick in the bullseye. There's the frick again for homeschool non customers. Get in the bullseye. And that's your domain name, that's your tagline, that's your bio on X or Instagram or whatever you want to get in there. So that's the. We've already identified three things that he's. That he's done really well. He niched down well, two things he niched down and then what he called his service is in the bullseye.

[Donald Miller]

Yep. And then emphasizing that for the example you gave from the small business call, flight school call you had today, she could then overemphasize that with a quick line of just, I hope you find the pharmaceutical drugs for cheaper.

[Kyle Reed]

Well, you could actually, she could actually say foreignpharmaceuticals.com and the header on that website might say, buy the drugs you're already taking cheaper from overseas.

[Donald Miller]

Yep.

[Kyle Reed]

So now it's, now it's their fda. She even said they're FDA approved.

[Donald Miller]

Yep. That does a lot of lifting.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah, they're, they're, you know, it's all legal, but she's helping you get it cheaper.

[Donald Miller]

What I think Dan Go does a great job as well is. So he nails the name. Yeah, he nails his bio very quickly, like right away. I know. He also. There's something aspirational about that too. I have a little bit more trust.

[Kyle Reed]

Because that was the third thing, by the way. Yeah, it's an aspirational idea.

[Donald Miller]

He's working with entrepreneurs. So I go, oh, that's a high level class. So clearly there's some kind of trust. He's an expert in this. What I love what he does is then it drives all of his content strategy.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah, it's a filter.

[Donald Miller]

It's 100%. And so if you go look at his account, it's not that everything is health and fitness, but 95% of it is. Yeah, he might throw a little bit of aspiration.

[Kyle Reed]

And that is a disciplined guy. Because there's probably so much that he could talk about that is that is off bullseye topic. And it takes a lot of discipline to just not talk about it and actually say. I say this about Dr. Becky. Dr. Becky is probably my favorite parenting coach. She's helped me so well with my relationship with my little girl. And she is a psychologist who could probably give really, really terrific marriage advice. But she doesn't. And it's really, really smart for her not to do that now. She might be able to do that in the future when she's just got her own television show or whatever. But the way you get that television show is you niche down and you own parenting well.

[Donald Miller]

And he easily could start saying, like, here's lessons I've learned from founders about leadership. That would pull.

[Kyle Reed]

That's a good example of he could.

[Donald Miller]

Do it and it might be good. It's working, though, for him, let me tell you. His estimated follower and subscription just across all social platforms right now is 2.5 million followers.

[Kyle Reed]

He whiz man.

[Donald Miller]

So he's got over a million followers on Instagram, 764,000 on X, 433,000 on LinkedIn.

[Kyle Reed]

Why do you like him? Why did you bring him up?

[Donald Miller]

So I liked him because I. Because I love content marketing so much, when I see it done well, I immediately gravitate towards it. But then his content also delivers. So it's not just that he is playing the game correctly, he's actually delivering great value. So one of the things he has is his latest pin post. So depending on when someone's listening to this, it might not be there. It's simple. It's. If you buy supplements off Amazon, you need to read this. And then it is a long thread talking why there are real ones and fake ones. And so I immediately am like, oh.

[Kyle Reed]

Okay, let's talk about that. If you buy supplements off Amazon. Stop. What he identified was something that people can. What he spoke was something that people can identify with or not identify with. If you do this behavior now, if you. Now, if you were to say to me, if you shop for double RL clothes on eBay, you need to read this. Double RL is a brand that a friend of mine started 30 years ago, and I do because he makes limited runs of everything. So I go, I shouldn't even say this because now I'm going to have competition buying double RL pants on eBay. He makes limited runs of those things, so you can't get them off of his website after a period of time. So I check ebay, probably more often than I should, to see if they are there. That's something that I would feel like somebody's reading my mail, somebody's reading my journal. They're saying, if you do this, you better believe I'm gonna read whatever he says. But if you said something like, if you like vintage clothes, I've got some helpful advice. It's not quite niched down to the Point where I'm gonna go, that guy's talking to me. Right. He's talking to kind of us. But I don't, you know, I wouldn't even identify with that. Vintage clothes is like hipster kids.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kyle Reed]

You know, that's not me. But when he gets the more specific you get. So if you buy supplements. If you buy supplements off of Amazon, you should read this. I think is. Is a great hook, but let's actually unpack why it's a great hook because it's something that people can identify in terms of their behavior and say yes or no, too.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah.

[Kyle Reed]

Don't trust what's in. What's in the supplements you take. I don't know that. That. I don't even know that that gets the response that if you buy supplements on Amazon because I, I kind of, I kind of go, well, come on, you know this, there's going to be a theory here. And, you know, I don't even think of these as supplements anymore. It's just vitamin D. Yeah. You know what I mean? That sort of thing.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah, yeah. I think you're. He has a way of going about. There's two things I think he's doing, which also comes back to the niching downside is he's also living out what he's teaching.

[Kyle Reed]

Okay.

[Donald Miller]

So he's an incredibly in shape guy. He started as a gym owner. That's where he got started and then pivoted into kind of this coaching side. But there's also like this authority there. So, like when I read stuff like that. To your point, I have bought supplements on Amazon and I've heard this in the murmurings that, you know, don't do this because they could be fake. So that catches my attention immediately because it's a yes or no question.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah.

[Donald Miller]

You know, it's kind of like what you said. He also tweets these little, like, you know, you're asking why I like him. He tweets these little things that kind of make you think, but gives a little bit of like, motivation.

[Kyle Reed]

All right.

[Donald Miller]

This was one he did not too long ago. A fit body is the ultimate status symbol because it can't be bought. It must be earned.

[Kyle Reed]

Oh, so good.

[Donald Miller]

That's so good, right?

[Kyle Reed]

It's so good. I think it sounds like Dan Martell.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah, well, exactly.

[Kyle Reed]

And I think Dan Martell kind of has that same idea.

[Donald Miller]

The other thing, he's doing well because I think people could hear this and go, okay, so I niche down. I have a good bio. You know, I've used Storyboard AI to write that for me. I've got kind of a. I'm an expert on this.

[Kyle Reed]

And let's talk about what he did there. He said a fit body is the ultimate symbol of status because it's something that you can't buy, it has to be earned. He also. And by the way, what does he help you do? He helps you create a fit body.

[Donald Miller]

Yes.

[Kyle Reed]

So what he did there was. He included a little bit of negative stakes. And the negative stake? Well, positive and negative. The positive stakes are if you have a fit body, people are going to respect you and admire you and you're gonna earn that respect. And if you don't, they won't. So that is the positive and negative stakes based on whether or not you take his advice. And that's an important part of the story brand framework. Right. You've got to have those positive and negative stakes. And that Soundbite delivers on that.

[Donald Miller]

There's also something to be said about. He's actually talking to an audience that are of entrepreneurs who can kind of get what they like. Especially successful ones can kind of get whatever they want. The one thing they can't buy is a fit body. So how do you get that? You go work with him. Yeah, there's something. There's something subtle there too.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah.

[Bobby Richards]

If you don't communicate clearly, all your emails, your website, social media posts, everything you're communicating will be ignored. Storybrand AI is like the world's best communication expert writing it for you. Imagine having the world's best communicator writing your tagline. Just type in the name of your company, answer a few prompts and voila. Hey, that's a good one. Use it to write your social media posts, website, wireframe emails, lead generating PDF, product or service descriptions, anything you need for your business. What would happen to your revenue if everybody. Every word that left your business was crystal clear and worth paying attention to. StoryBrand AI is your competitive advantage. So you'll know, you'll say it clearly. Try it right now and let us write your custom tagline for free at storybrand AI. And now back to the show.

[Donald Miller]

There's a couple other things I like about him. He also does these threads where it's like, here's one. Fat loss hacks I know at 45 that I wish I knew at 25. And then it's just this long thread of content. There's another one where, listen, I'm like.

[Kyle Reed]

And what are they?

[Donald Miller]

Yeah, exactly. And what are they? Things I know at 44 that I wish I knew at 24.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah.

[Donald Miller]

So it's like little things like that. I think the thing.

[Kyle Reed]

The only thing there is, you know, I like the things I know about fat loss at 44. I think you just want to get a little bit more specific on that. Like. Like things that I know about investing at 44 that I didn't know at 24, things that I know about productivity at 44 that I didn't know@ 24. I did it. You know, one of the posts that I did on Instagram that went viral. I mean, like, John Mayer liked it and Dwyane Wade liked it. It was weird.

[Donald Miller]

You're famous.

[Kyle Reed]

Was. I thought 50. I wish I would have known that turning 40 wasn't getting old. Because at 50, I'm realizing at 40, are you kidding me? I was. I was so fricking young and I thought I was old. Like, I can't. And even at 50, I feel like I'm 30. And I wish I would have known when I was younger that 40 actually just isn't very old. Like, you can still, like, run marathons and have kids and build companies and do all sorts of things that you thought. I thought 40 was old. And that took off online. And I never really understood why, but I think it's because people, you know who it took off with? 40 year olds.

[Donald Miller]

40 year olds. Yeah, exactly.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah. Took off with 40 year olds because they're feeling old. And I'm sitting there going, you're not.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah, 20 year old is skipping over that.

[Kyle Reed]

Right.

[Donald Miller]

Okay, so let's. Actually, I want to dive in on that a little bit. Talk to me, your creative process. How did you come up with that idea?

[Kyle Reed]

I think, well, my whole process on social media is Kate shows up. Kate's my friend who's been running my social media for years, for about four years. Went from 72,000 followers to half a million since Kate came on.

[Donald Miller]

She's really good.

[Kyle Reed]

She's very good. She shows up once a week and she just prompts me. She just says, will you talk about this? People have questions about this. Would you talk about this? Half the time I say yes, and half the time I say I won't talk about that. But that makes me think of this. And that was one of the ones where I think I said, I don't have anything on that, but I do have something on how I wish I would have realized how young I was at 40. And she goes, oh, that's interesting. And then she turns the camera on.

[Donald Miller]

Sorry, is that a. Are you. Where is that coming from though, for you, that creative? Like, are you thinking about that? Is that.

[Kyle Reed]

Quite honestly, it comes from having written what, 15 books now and having practiced. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me if it's been north of like 250,000 times that I've sat in front of a computer and tried to figure out what to say next. And by the way you're doing that, that's 250,000 times of actually writing. When you're writing, you're doing it 80 times before that writing session is done. So the ability to come up with a thought and articulate that thought has been rehearsed in my practice for decades. So that's where that's coming from. And I used to think it was a gift, but I just think it's come from the writing life and it's one of the sort of ancillary benefits of having to think on your feet.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah. I think one of the things I'm trying to find here for people listening to this is that creative process has to start somewhere for people.

[Kyle Reed]

Well, the way it starts is, and the way you can skip the decades of that practice is get in the habit of, of asking yourself before you start talking, what problem do people feel? Yeah, that's really what angst do people feel? What frustration do they feel?

[Donald Miller]

Great place to start.

[Kyle Reed]

What fear do they feel? What anxiety do they feel? What's causing them stress in the particular area that I'm about to talk about? So for me, that would have been identifying in very fast succession that 40 year olds think they're old and I'm about to tell them they're not. And that was it. So if you turn something about turning 30, that was kind of like you feel like you're heading, you're getting older. 40 is like, oh my word. And looking back, I'm just going, are you kidding me? 40 is not old at all. You haven't lost any capacities whatsoever. Why in the world do you think you're old and so to speak, that kind of peace and encouragement to folks. It makes sense when you reverse engineer it, why it went viral.

[Donald Miller]

So if we step back, the first thing I think people can do is the niche down part.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah. You want to alleviate a pain.

[Donald Miller]

Yes. And then whenever you start asking that, start alleviating pain. That's good. Yeah. And then I think the thing that people miss is once you ask that question, there's a process that you can do to come up with what I call endless ideas.

[Kyle Reed]

Okay.

[Donald Miller]

And that is starting to just Prompt yourself with exactly what you and Kate go through.

[Kyle Reed]

Oh, okay.

[Donald Miller]

I think that is A.

[Kyle Reed]

And AI, by the way, AI can help. So good at that. Like give me 25 prompts based on the. If you go to AI and you say, you know, look, I'm a real estate agent, will you give me 25 social media prompts based on 25 areas of pain, frustration or fear that people have about buying a home?

[Donald Miller]

Yes.

[Kyle Reed]

And ask me questions and then give me bullet points on how you think I should answer those questions. In order to provide the most value for people, you're going to get, you know, really, really good ideas that, that hopefully will stimulate better ideas.

[Donald Miller]

And that's the key. I think it's the stimulation of you putting in. And you can even take a step further for luxury home buyers, for first.

[Kyle Reed]

Time buyers in Nassau and.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think that's a big part of that niching down because then it drives all your content strategy versus just.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah. If you said, look, the problem with finding your dream home in Nashville is.

[Donald Miller]

There you go, got it. That's exactly right.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah. So I love that the reason people pay twice what they should for a dream home in Nashville is X. I mean, I'm literally just spitting them out.

[Donald Miller]

Right.

[Kyle Reed]

And that, that's, that's where. That's how you want to do that.

[Donald Miller]

So what problem do people feel start there? I think that's so powerful.

[Kyle Reed]

Negative things right now. Everybody's afraid of tariffs, everybody's afraid of AI. Everybody's afraid of a, of an unstable kind of economic. Actually it's an extremely stable economic environment. But, but consumer confidence is really low. So you might, if you're a business, to business, just say, hey, everybody knows consumer confidence is really low. It shouldn't be, but it is. And here's what you can do about it. You know, that sort of thing.

[Donald Miller]

Yep. Or it's like, hey, why is 2025 better than, you know, there you go, 1980 or whatever. You know, you could play off that. Okay, so one of the things I've been thinking about too is that social media, specifically the algorithm is actually prone and made perfect for anyone starting or wanting to build their brand. And, and the reason is, is because when you niche down, when you ask the problem that I solve for my customer or for people following me, the algorithm does everything it can to get that in front of people. And now more than ever, there's an opportunity for anyone to grow by having a focus. What doesn't work is if you just show up with your name and you just randomly post stuff.

[Kyle Reed]

Yep.

[Donald Miller]

With no direction.

[Kyle Reed]

Yep.

[Donald Miller]

And I think what people hear is that it's like, oh, niche down. I'm stuck here. I gotta talk about, you know, how to burn fat on my love handles every day. It's like, that's not true. There's a path forward here, but you can start there with direction and start to grow that and build that.

[Kyle Reed]

There's a brand right there. There's a brand. You just said it. There's a brand for just love handles.

[Donald Miller]

Just love handles. Just. Just love handles.

[Kyle Reed]

@Justlovehandles.5 million [e-mail].

[Donald Miller]

I think Dan Go works because I think what's great about.

[Kyle Reed]

Him is it's not like Alex Hormozi or some of those guys I obviously admire a great deal or Gary Vaynerchuk. Those are personality driven brands now. They make a lot of smart decisions in terms of their messaging. But Gary Vaynerchuk and Alex Hormozzi have very, very charismatic, dynamic personalities that they are very good at getting attention. And most people listening to me are just not including me. I'm not, I'm not great at getting attention, but I built a good brand on just niching down business owners and messaging.

[Donald Miller]

Yep.

[Kyle Reed]

And, and you can do it too.

[Donald Miller]

And I think what we can also, I would highly encourage people actually go look at Dan Go's account and copy like just look what he's doing and see where you can fit into that and kind of follow his roadmap. I think there's another thing he's done really well and that's he's picked one lane to kind of start in and, and then once he started to build that up, he started to push that out everywhere else.

[Kyle Reed]

So he didn't try, you mean like he started on X and yeah, he.

[Donald Miller]

Didn'T try to go, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna launch everything today. I'm gonna have a TikTok account, Instagram, YouTube newsletter, LinkedIn account X. Like that is overwhelming to most people starting a personal brand. He started in one spot. He wrote and he wrote for the platform, which I think is also super important, and then let it build from there. And he's been, he's been become very successful. I'm gonna put you on the spot though, Don. Okay, so Dan Go strong brand, working with a lot of clients, has built a online presence. If you are advising him what to do next in a business standpoint, what should he do with this personal brand?

[Kyle Reed]

I don't know what he's doing now.

[Donald Miller]

Okay.

[Kyle Reed]

But there's several things that he could do. I mean, obviously he could launch sort of a mastermind that teaches people to kind of do what he's doing. He could launch a. So that is, how do you become a thought leader? He could do that. He could do an entrepreneur fitness sort of subscription service, either digital content, workout platforms, if he used to own a gym, stuff like that, or supplements in a box or something like that. One of my favorite things, once he's getting there, I don't know if he's quite right there yet, but I know my friend Josh Axe did this. He began licensing his name, he began going into supplement companies, approving the way they're creating and manufacturing things and what they're including and all that kind of stuff. And he just white labeled ancient nutrition. He sold it for hundreds of millions of dollars. I don't know what it was, but it was a lot. And once you become the thought leader, the area of expertise, the guru that people go to, you begin looking for the products that you recommend. And then you go to those products and you say, hey, if I put my name on this thing, you're going to double your sales. So why don't you give me a 20% equity in that? So he could actually, that's an option. That's a direction that he could go, you know, and he could also do affiliates. I don't love that, but he could do affiliates where I recommend this and you get affiliates on that. You know, there's a few different directions. I think where he's going, he's probably like 50% to the point where he could stick his name on a bottle of vitamin D with K2 and make some money. Like, I think It's Eric Berg, Dr. Eric Berg on YouTube. I listen to him and he talks about the importance of vitamin D, but he says, you've got to have it with K2. It's got to have K2. I don't even know what I'm talking about right now, by the way. I don't know what K2 is.

[Donald Miller]

But you trust them. But there's a trust there.

[Kyle Reed]

Well, but listen, I get my blood tested about every three months, and every time they say you're deficient in vitamin D, deficient in vitamin D, deficient. I'm like, but I take a vitamin D and I hear Eric Berg say this, and I'm like, well, it's probably. Honestly, it's probably a joke, but I'm going to buy his orange bottle that says, Dr. Berg, vitamin D with K2 and the next blood test, like two blood tests later, I should say, they said, hey, you might want to go to one every other day. And in the summer when you start getting sun, stop taking it. Because your vitamin D is off the charts.

[Donald Miller]

Wow. Because of the K2.

[Kyle Reed]

And I'm like, there you go.

[Donald Miller]

And there's a great post for him.

[Kyle Reed]

There's. Yeah. He could actually take what I just took.

[Donald Miller]

Your doctor saying you're low on vitamin D, but you take it every day. Yeah.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah. So I mean, that's a. That's an option for you. If you're a thought leader, start sticking your name.

[Donald Miller]

Gary Breck has done that really well too.

[Kyle Reed]

You know who did that? Donald Trump.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah.

[Kyle Reed]

Yeah. People think he owns these buildings.

[Donald Miller]

Yeah. Just put his name on his name inside.

[Kyle Reed]

He license his name and probably did some sort of quality control on whatever. And I think there's different. There's variations of that. Like to some he licenses his name. On some, the guy doesn't drink and he's got a wine. You kidding me? He just licenses his name and then. And ties and all that kind of stuff. But that's what a lot of people don't understand is it looks like he's in the manufacturing and real estate business and he's really in the name licensing business because he's very good at bringing attention to himself. But that said, he probably actually has some large equity stake and some control over the french fries they serve at whatever golf club too.

[Donald Miller]

Definitely.

[Kyle Reed]

I don't mean to diminish that, but he made a lot of money licensing his name.

[Donald Miller]

Well, if you're listening to this and you're thinking about a personal brand, you're developing a personal brand. There's a couple things I think that you can take away from this. First is most important. Niche down.

[Kyle Reed]

Niche down.

[Donald Miller]

Niche down.

[Kyle Reed]

Hit the arrow. Hit the. I'm sorry, hit the bullseye on what it's called so that nobody has to think about what you're offering and who you're.

[Donald Miller]

Nail that tagline. Nail that bio. That first line of your bio. This is exactly what I do. And then I think it's back to that question.

[Kyle Reed]

Learn to create hooks in your post.

[Donald Miller]

Yes. What problem do people feel? And then just answer that. And I think there's two ways people can go about this. They can go about this on their own and they can work on this. There's some other options.

[Kyle Reed]

We've created StoryBrand. AI.

[Donald Miller]

I am a high proponent in. I don't think you need to outsource Everything. But if there's one thing you can pick to outsource, it's get this beginning correct. You talk about this a lot with a tagline sound bites. To me, those do so much work for you. Outside of the content. You can hire someone who's social media. It's worked great for you.

[Kyle Reed]

For a lot of businesses that I talk to, what's missing are what I call curiosity sound bites. Yes, and curiosity sound bites are sound bites that you can read that make people curious about your brand. That's what they're missing. I call it the front steps of a business. It's like you. The porch is where you enlighten people as to how your products can change their life. The house is where they go to buy the products. And you don't have any steps. So people can't even get to your front porch because you don't have curiosity sound bites. I write the curiosity sound bites for you@StoryBrand AI.

[Donald Miller]

Yes.

[Kyle Reed]

How's that for?

[Donald Miller]

That's really strong. And you can try to build those steps yourself. If you're like me, they won't hold up. Yeah. So check out storybrand. I also if you want to take a step further, go check out a story brand coach. That is another great option where they're going to help you write a great tagline, write a great brand story.

[Kyle Reed]

They'll help you come up with an entire story brand messaging campaign. And that'[e-mail] there's so much value there for people.

[Donald Miller]

So hope this episode was helpful. Go check out Dan. Go on Twitter or wherever you And.

[Kyle Reed]

Dan, thanks for letting us talk about your brand. Congrats on your success.

[Bobby Richards]

Thanks for listening to the why that Worked podcast presented by StoryBrand AI. If you like the show, follow wherever you get your podcasts. And if you're Enjoying this on YouTube, hit that subscribe button and leave a comment letting us know what you think and what you want the guys to talk about in a future episode. Curious about how StoryBrand AI can help you create clear, effective messaging? Well, you can try it out right now and create a free customized tagline for your business. Just go to storybrand AI. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time.