097: Jason Van Orden – How Authors Can Establish a Stand-Out Personal Brand

Grow your audience and create scalable income streams

Jason Van Orden helps thought leaders reach a larger audience with their ideas, create new income streams from their expertise, and build business models that align with their values and goals.

As a consultant, trainer, and strategist, he draws from more than 14 years of researching top Internet influencers and experimenting with his own personal experience. He has created multiple successful brands, launched over 60 online courses, and taught more than 10,000 entrepreneurs.

He has generated seven figures in online course sales and 8 million downloads of his podcast. His mission is to help visionaries with impactful ideas to connect with the people they serve best and the problems they can most uniquely solve.

What We Discuss with Jason Van Orden:

  • How to stand out as a leader
  • The 3 elements of positioning
  • How to create your signature method
  • The 3 principles of your platform
  • 4 pieces to a solid offer

[03:00] Learning About Business and Marketing

Jason grew up in Alaska where he spent his elementary years there until he moved to New York City. He has a degree in jazz guitar. 

What led him into marketing and business was his bands. He realized he needed to market if he wanted people coming to his shows. 

[06:40] How to Stand Out as a Thought Leader – The 3 Elements of Positioning

The opportunity is there online. It starts with positioning – where do you sit in the marketplace. How do you want to be perceived and what do you want to stand for?

1. Who you serve

Who do you create value for most? Whatever that drives you leads you to serve.

2. How you serve

Speaking and writing are channels you provide to your audience. But how you serve them is more of the outcome they want. What are the pains that are alleviated? What is your unique process or methodology for helping people achieve those things?

3. Who you are

Relevance and resonance are very important today. What is the vision you’re trying to create? How do people become part of something bigger than themselves when they start following you and supporting your ideas. It’s having this sense of purpose but communicating it in a way that is very compelling and clear to people. Find your voice and lean into who you really are.

[12:30] Creating Your Signature Method

Create a methodology or idea. Then back it up with research, for instance, Put your lens on it and name your unique way of approaching a particular problem.

A few examples:

[16:00] The 3 Principles of Your Platform

1. Consistency

For example, write an article for your newsletter every week. Or it can be a podcast and have it transcribed and turn it into a different format like a short video clip. Whatever channel you pick, be consistent in putting out your content every week. Be a curator of other content that allows you to put out supplementary content.

2. Authenticity

Choose strategies that feel authentic to you. Pick a channel that works well for you (ex. video, podcast, etc.) Also, consider your audience and how they consume stuff.

3. Decentralization

You need to have your content show up in many places. Out of the primary content you’ve created, you can repurpose that into a blog post, a graphic, then a social media post.

Operate within the reality that people aren’t going to come to your site until you’re a much bigger brand. But you’ve got to show up where they’re already showing up.

[23:35] Making a Living from Being a Thought Leader

A book is great for building your authority and a great way to start attracting people who will sign up for your newsletter.

4 Pieces to a Solid Offer:

1. Who’s the ideal customer?

Basically, it’s the same as who’s the ideal audience for your book. So you already know who you’re trying to reach. Figure out why somebody might pick up and read your book.

2. The outcome of the promise

Talk about what outcomes people are looking for when it comes to (whatever your theme is).

3. The process

These are the mini action steps that make up those milestones. These are the tools you recommend to make all this happen.

4. The experience

This goes back to your authenticity. Pick something that fits you. How will you guide somebody through the process? One end of the spectrum here is one-to-one and the other end of the spectrum is an online course. Everything in between can be group coaching, Q&A calls.

3 Questions to Ask Yourself Around the Experience:

  1. How do they access the information?
  2. How are they going to access and get support from you?
  3. How do they have access to each other?
Learn more about how to put together an offer and check out Jason’s beta course here: leanlaunchmethod.download

Episode Resources:

JasonVanOrden.com

Richie Norton’s book:

The Power of Starting Something Stupid

Hal Elrod’s book:

Miracle Morning

Mel Robbins’ book

The 5 Second Rule

Discover how to grow your influence, increase your authority and make a bigger impact by writing a book. Join the Authors Who Lead Summit!

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