I’m writing this as I pack up to leave the UK forever and move to sunnier, more peaceful shores. I’ve been in the UK over 10 years and seen it decline to a point of no return. A once great nation is now a shadow of its former self.

After my daughter arrived in the world recently, I realised this was no country I could raise a child, so we’re embarking on a new adventure with my family. This is the product of years of hard work and dedication to what I do to allow us to do so. It’s been in the works for a long time and now it’s a reality. Now you get to embark on this journey with me, how fun!

A little bit of motivation advice to kick us off is to dream big. Dream so f**king big it scares you.

Why am I doing a newsletter? 

^{(This is like the scrolling credits of Star Wars to set the scene, but if you want the tactic this week, it’s at the bottom.)}

Since I mentioned I’m starting a newsletter to offer my lens on what I see in the world, I’ve had dozens of people reach out excited and asking “why now?” or “what’s the play?” and even some saying “about f**king time!”. So this is a prequel letter to set the stage.

A quick foundational story so you understand my why.

Many years ago, I was trying to build a personal brand with little success. I started a podcast with epic guests like Gary Vaynerchuk and Mel Robbins, I did a Tedx talk, and had a book written, ready to go. I had the pieces but here’s the thing though, I was f**king miserable. I felt I was swimming against the current and maybe this wasn’t my calling.

One day, I was sat down by a mentor who gave me a simple piece of advice that changed my life forever.

“Instead of trying to build your brand and gain followers and get vanity metrics, why don’t you go out into the world for one week and simply serve others without any kind of covert kindness or gain.”

That day, a new person was born. I realised that a life of service was the true path to fulfilment. Every religious and philosophical text talks about service in some capacity, some more literal than others, but there was a constant. Service = Happiness.

I saw very quickly that some people are made to serve in the light (public facing with a message) and others in the shadows (behind the scenes to build and keep the machine going). The whole yin-yang thing. When I moved out of the light and into the shadows to serve, I felt relief and a level of joy I had never experienced. I felt I found my “Michael Jordan Skill” and realised I could make more of an impact there than I ever could trying to build my own image.

Fast forward many years and I’ve built a business from this place behind the scenes that I love and is thriving. No advertising, no website, no posting to promote services, no “guru shit". My entire business is built on relationships and a branding concept I’ll share at the end of the story. I started out as a podcast guest booker many years ago and it’s evolved beyond anything I ever thought it could.

A good speaker friend once called me the John Wick of branding. “Most people don’t know you exist, the ones that do have an assassin on their team, and god help the others” His words, not mine but I appreciate the reference.

^{“Get to the f**king point Bo!” I’m getting to it!}

After years of being behind the scenes, I’ve noticed more and more people wanting simple guidance through all the bullshit out there when it comes to expressing their message and building their brand. I meet people all the time for coffee, zooms, meals with no intention other than to just add value and make their day a little better for meeting me. The common comment was “can we do this again, I need more Bo Time”, “do you have a book?”, “anything I can read to learn more?”, “Do you have a newsletter?”. I had none of these things as I wasn’t building my own brand but heard loud and clear people wanted something and to be served.

So after much thought, I felt if I created a newsletter, just offering insights on what I’m seeing and offer a little advice, it would be serving people outside of clients, coffee stops, bbq restaurants, and zoom calls. I have no product to sell you (unless you want to become a next level client and you want John Wick on your team) but by doing this, I’m hoping to have a greater impact serving the world.

That’s my why. I have nothing to sell you and no covert tactics to build something. I’m looking at this as more as a creative outlet and to serve others.

Thank you for joining me on this little adventure and I hope it adds something to what you’re doing.

There are 2 kinds of branding

There are two kinds of branding in the world. Explicit Branding and Implicit Branding.

Explicit Branding = What you tell the world you are. Where you spend your ad dollars, social posts to tell people and convince them what you do, accolades, vanity metrics, all that. Your outward face.

Implicit Branding = The conversations people have about you in rooms you’re not in. Your reputation.

While 99% of people focus on their explicit, I believe that implicit branding is where the magic and secret sauce is. When done correctly, they both work in harmony together to give you the best, most authentic shot at growth.

Here’s a question for you: 

Do you know what people say about you in rooms you’re not in?

If you don’t, then you’re already losing.

No matter how much you try to convince the world you’re some self help guru with all the answers to live a next level life following your magic blueprint, posting all day through Youtube and Instagram, you will not win. Ever.

No amount of ad dollars, agencies posting for you, fake circle jerk collabs or funnels will save you and you’ll be as useful as a marzipan dildo.

So what’s the solution? It’s simple.

Imagine what conversations you would like people to have about you in rooms you’re not in, and reverse engineer the entire process.

• What output do I need to create in order for that to become a reality?

• What value needs to be added to my community?

• How do I show up to the world so I’m that person?
  

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve help transform brands with this one degree shift and seen explosive growth.

Here’s an example of how powerful implicit branding is and why you and your team should be scrambling to clarify this now. One of the biggest companies of all time is built around this. Tesla.

You ever seen a Tesla advert? Nope, and you won’t!. They architected the conversation they wanted people to have about an electric car and then from there built it. Sounds crazy right, but there’s a reason most EVs can’t get anywhere near a Tesla in terms of innovation and creativity. I bought one, and can’t count how many people I recommended them too and they bought one from word of mouth.

So, what do you want people saying about you in your field and what do you have to do to make that a reality? Let this be your compass for content creation and how you present yourself to the world. You’ll find it a lot easier to forge ahead rather than trying the latest tips and tricks you see sold everywhere. “Steal this hook” “Edit like this” “Here in my garage…”.

Be awesome, be epic, and have a great week!

ps. The photo above is AI if you haven’t guessed. God that’s a lot of purple…

pps. ok, purple’s cool and this is my purple Tesla Model 3. There’s a great story behind it I’ll share another day. Love Tesla and Overlord Elon!