The 21st

Century

Guide

To Being

BLACK

www.techqie.com

By the way, did you know that our users are 12X more likely to get a positive ROI?

Presented By

TECHQIE

© TECHQIE 2015

EVERYONE DESERVES THE RIGHT TO PROMOTE THEIR CAREER, THEIR BUSINESS, OR THEIR PASSION.

Are you black

enough?

We don’t mean what you think we mean.

Let’s back up for a second.

In the 15th century, the Printing Press was the thing, as almost everyone could now

have access to knowledge that had been sanctioned as “sacred”, or passed to only a

select few throughout history.

In the 19th century, the steam engine was the thing, as both governments and businesses capitalized on its potential and ushered the

industrial revolution.

In the 20th century, nationalism was the thing. Remember what caused WWI and WWII, those amazing innovations

(driven mostly by the Cold War), and almost every nation (around 140) declaring independence?

And now we’re in the 21st century. So what is happening in this century?

So much content and information is being produced and the rate of production is accelerating exponentially. The end result is that we can’t keep up anymore, as everything and everyone is asking for everyone’s attention. Even if you succeed in getting people’s attention, then you have to strive to get them to listen. And if they listen then you have to strive to get them to believe. And if they believe, the you have to strive to get them to become loyal; and so on and so forth. Why do you think companies are paying $4 million for a 30-second Super Bowl ad? Is it because they’re clueless? On the contrary. It’s because almost every single entity (companies, NGOs, politicians, artists, etc) relies heavily on some level of public awareness to survive. But more importantly, they want you to know only a certain portion of their message or image, and discard the rest.

So you might be thinking...

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

Well it is with branding.

THEREFore, in the 21st century,

branding is king.

In other words, in this

century...

BRANDING IS THE NEW BLACK

But before going into branding,

here is what you need to know

first.

EVERYONE IS NOW A SALESPERSON

When you apply for college, you’re selling yourself to the college. And guess what admission officials do these days? They look you up to determine your brand.

When you apply for a job, you’re selling yourself to the employer. And guess what HR professionals do these days? they look you up to determine your brand.

When you’re searching for a partner (online or off), you’re selling yourself to that person. And guess what prospective partners (or at least the smart ones) do these days? They look you up to determine your brand.

When you have a business, you’re selling your business to the general public. And guess what prospective customers do these days? They look you up to determine your brand - which includes what previous customers have to say about you - some statistics show that up to 90% of the buying cycle is done (online) before the customer attempts formal with contact the business/salesperson.

So the question now is not

weather you have to do sales. The

question is how good of a

salesperson are you?

To put things into perspective, here

are some of the most famous

salespeople you may know.

Him

Her

Her

Him

Them

And him

Some of you might hate them.

Some of you might love them.

But bottom line is, that they’re

very good at promoting

themselves, or the things they

represent.

Therefore, how can you be like

them?

And what can you do to make your

brand just as appealing?

Be Amazing 1

Really Amazing

But unless you’re this

Or this

Or this

Or this

Or even this

Then you are not going to find

much success.

But there is hope.

If you’re not Really Amazing,

there is another thing you can be.

2

Be Different

Amazingly Different

And by Amazingly Different, we don’

t mean Amazing and Good. You

could be Amazing and Bad, as long

as it’s Amazingly Different.

Remember the song “Friday” by Rebecca

Black? That song wasn’t the best of

songs (or of any artistic work). And Do

you know how most people felt about it?

Crap Crap

Megacrap

But that’s exactly why the video

got more than 200 million views

on YouTube.

The point is, if you want to be

Amazingly Different, the goal is to

instill a strong emotional

reaction (good or bad) from

people.

Globalization = Equality

Globalization has leveled the playing field. Now everybody can can look amazing, or produce something amazing, so being amazing is not enough anymore. If you’re not Really Amazing, then you have to be Amazingly different.

The best part is, there is no down side to it, because even if it ends up looking really bad, people will still talk - about how bad it is. And their chatter will only do one thing: promote you to others who are unaware.

And...

But wait...

The odds of being Really Amazing, are, well, amazingly slim.

Most people are not comfortable being different, let alone Amazingly Different.

So...

As luck would have it, there is a

third option.

3ANCHOR TO SOMETHING THAT IS

REALLY AMAZING OR AMAZINGLY

DIFFERENT.

Let’s see if good old Abe can explain.

“It is an old and true maxim that 'a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.' So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing him of your cause.”

Okay, maybe Abe Lincoln went all

Shakespeare there.

Basically, he was talking about how to be a great salesperson - kind of. The point is, that quote is probably the single best advice you can get if you

want to be good at promoting yourself, or convincing people of anything.

Because People Are Selfish

We all know that you think you’re awesome, and you’re probably right. But you know who else thinks like that?

Everybody!

So talking about how awesome you are will get you nowhere - not in this century. You have to feed into people’s ego. Talk about what they long for; what they are interested in; what

they talk to their friends about over lunch.

IN OTHER WORDS

If you want to promote yourself but you are not Really Amazing or Amazingly Different, produce contents (i.e. blogs), or engage in

discussions, about people and things that are Really Amazing and Amazingly Different.

And yes, that includes cat videos.

WHY?

Because for some reason unknown to many, people find cat videos Really Amazing.

IT MEANS

If you’re a salesperson, stop posting shit about the things you sell.

If you’re a business, stop posting shit about your business.

If you’re a bum, stop posting shit about your shitty life.

Okay, well maybe you can post a few things about you.

But

The majority should be about something Really Amazing, or Amazingly Different, or simply what

your audience cares about.

Because they don’t wake up everyday hoping to

see the next post about YOU.

They wake up hoping to hear or read about what they care about - sports, politics, pop culture, news, viral

contents, cat videos, etc.

GIVE IT TO THEM!

Because if you do that, they’ll come knocking on your doors, instead of the other way around.

Because you want to have a way (i.e. your blog) to systematically expose yourself to as many people as possible. Enough exposure eventually leads to

(brand) loyalty and/or recognition.

Because you want to establish a platform (i.e. the comment section of your blog) for your

fans/audience to get to know each other. Allowing them to do that makes them realize that they’re

not alone in their love for you.

Because you want to build relationships with your audience, like-minded people, or professionals. And

relationships lead to loyalty/recognition. Loyalty leads to evangelism - you know, people who are willing to scream at the top of every mountain

about you.

FIRST

Clean up your online image.

That includes any images and contents that can harm your brand.

SECOND

Think before you post anything.

If you really think that the things you post on Snapchat will be deleted forever, then one day you’ll be in for a huge surprise.

THIRD

Determine who you are and what you’re trying to accomplish and then modify your image, message, and

contents accordingly.

Things will change overtime, as you progress in your life, career, business, or passion, but the most important thing is to create a solid and reputable foundation you can tweak and

build on.

FOURTH

Join online communities and forums for professionals, leaders, and changemakers. This is where you’ll meet, connect, and learn from very accomplished people and

potential mentors/role models.

There are two types of people in our age: masters and morons. Masters are people who are actively seeking self improvement and leadership.

Morons are people constantly sexting, consuming clickbait (aka BuzzFeed), and have little regards for things that truly matter. We all fall into one of two

categories, so choose wisely.

And if really want to take things

to another level to promote

yourself, business, or passion, start

a blog.

You can blog about anything or everything. The point is to create a

platform that systemically produces engaging and attractive contents

so that

1) You make it easy for people (i.e. prospective clients, mentors, professionals) to find you even if they’re not looking for you.

2) You can constantly expose yourself to your audience to the point where they become loyal to your brand.

3) You can build relationships with people who will help you further your cause, passion, or business.

4) You can establish credibility around your brand and look better than the competition.

KEEP CALM

AND

THANKS

FOR READING

© TECHQIE 2015

BY THE WAY

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Did we mention that our users are 12X more likely to get a positive ROI?