Remember back in maybe 2016 or 2017 when the Alabama Crimson Tide was just sweeping the field with everyone else in the SEC? Those guys were playing some incredible football for a college team! They were grinding hard, and it showed every Saturday.

Now, remember how the Cleveland Browns were just awful at around the same time? They were undoubtedly the worst team in the NFL. They would win maybe one in 15 or zero in 16 games — that team just could not get their act together.

At the time, all the ESPN Sports Center conversations revolved around this one question: Could the Alabama Crimson Tide beat the Cleveland Browns? Could the top college football team win against the worst-performing NFL team? My answer to that is simple:

No. Of course not.

The gap between the talent level of college football and professional football is huge! And you see this in basketball and baseball too. Plenty of young athletes can grind and hustle their way through high school and college sports programs, but they quickly find that it takes a whole different skill set to make it in the big leagues.

And here’s the thing: The same thing is true in the work world. If you’re finding some success in your career, that’s fantastic, and you should celebrate that. But what got you here won’t get you there. If you want to take your career to the next level, you can’t keep hustling and grinding in the same way you’re used to. You’re going to need to develop a new skill set.

That’s what I’m here to talk to you about today on The Bullpen Sessions. I’ve got a simple, three-step process to share with you that I know will help you level-up your career and take your life to the next level. Let’s get started!

My Complete Game Mastermind 

Hey folks — before we totally dive into my three-step process to help you level-up your career, I have something I want to mention to you, and that’s the Complete Game Mastermind. Complete Game is my coaching program, and I’m telling you we go deep.

I start by helping you master the habits and rituals you need to bring absolute clarity to your brand and your brand message. I believe it’s essential to have exceptionally clear branding in order to develop trust with your audience or client base. In the Complete Game Mastermind, we’ll make sure your brand message is ready to be received.

After that, I help you create and execute a plan to create massive awareness around your newly-honed brand message. Once you’ve developed clarity around who you are and what you bring to the table, you have to get the word out. And there are a million ways to do that — you can start a podcast, do public speaking engagements, and grow your social media presence. In the Complete Game Mastermind, I’ll help you figure out what tools work best for you and your business and craft a strategy around them.

If you’re thinking, “Hey, that sounds really interesting. I should check that out,” I want to invite you to check out the Complete Game Mastermind website. There, you can read a little bit more about the program and even schedule a quick call with me to ask any questions and get your name on the list.

My passion is helping you pursue your passion. If you’re at all interested in joining me and getting the coaching you need to take your career to the next level, definitely check out the Complete Game Mastermind, send me a DM @andy_neary on Instagram, and schedule a call with me today! I’d love to chat with you and see how together we can grow your business beyond your wildest dreams.

With that, let’s dive in!

Step One: What Is Your Brand?

Let’s go back to that sports comparison for a minute. The gap between the talent level of a college player versus an NFL player is huge, so how does an athlete level up? College-level players are already hustling and grinding as hard as possible — it’s not like they can find more hours in the day to practice! They have to develop some new skills and methods if they’re going to make it in professional football.

It’s the same in the business world. If you’re an insurance salesman, and you’re succeeding in your business, that’s great. If you’ve been pounding the pavement, making cold calls, and getting face-time with some big clients, that’s fantastic. But what about when you’re ready to level-up? Maybe you can take on a few more hours a week, but working a few extra hours and making a few extra cold calls aren’t ultimately going to bring you the success you’re seeking. Not to mention that you’ll eventually reach your maximum capacity for those things anyway. So what do you need to level-up?

You need a very clear personal brand.

If you want to bring in greater success now and establish a lasting legacy, a clear brand voice and message are essential. You want your audience to know exactly who you are and what value you can offer them. When people are clear on who you are and what you do, they’re much more likely to give you their business.

So how can you figure out what your brand should be about? Ask yourself this question: If you weren’t in the room, what do you want people to be saying about you? Take a minute to write down some keywords and phrases that come to mind. Do you want to be known as a strong salesperson? Do you want to be an authority in the nutrition and fitness world? Should people admire you for your knowledge and wisdom on a certain topic?

Once you know how you want other people — your potential clients — to view you, you can craft your brand message around that. Make sure you are putting out a strong and uniform image into the world. When you do, you’ll attract more clients without hustling any harder, and your business will grow exponentially.

Step Two: Who Is Your Audience?

Once you’ve gotten complete clarity on who you are and what brand message you want to project into the world, it’s time to figure out who your audience is. Who are you trying to serve? What is the best client base for your brand message?

Think about your ideal client. Who are they? What’s their message? What are their goals? What are their challenges? And how can you fit into their story? How can you help them have success and avoid failure?

Once you know exactly who your target audience is, you can begin to tailor your brand message to that audience. How do you need to appeal to them? What language and sales tactics are going to work best for that specific audience?

I want to clear something up — when I say “tailor your brand message,” I’m not saying, “change your brand message.” If you’re changing your brand message to serve your desired client base, then your business is not in alignment, and it’s time to reevaluate. Either you haven’t truly centered your personal brand about the values you want to be known for, or you haven’t correctly identified your target audience.

The good news is that either way, you can make an adjustment and see massive growth in your business. You can target your brand message toward the best-fitting audience, and when you do, you’ll start to see a lot of success!

Step Three: How Are You Going to Distribute Your Message?

The final piece of this puzzle is all about communication: How are you going to get your brand message out to the world? I know you want to grow your business as much as possible; a necessary part of that is expanding the reach of your message. But how are you going to do that?

This is where the podcasts, public speaking engagements, and social media come into play. What communication tools and strategies are going to work best for your audience? If your audience is a little old-school and they’d prefer an emailed newsletter, then great! It’s time to start crafting some impeccably-worded emails. If you’re aiming toward a younger audience, you’re going to want to maximize your use of social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter.

The point is to have your presence all over the web. You want your brand message to reach as many people as possible so that the maximum number of people have the opportunity to join your client base, right? So whether you need to start a blog or podcast or you need to start speaking at conferences and on webinars, you need to focus on spreading your personal brand and becoming recognizable in your field.

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

I want to take a minute to acknowledge you for your current level of success. You’ve been hustling hard, and you’ve earned the growth you’ve already achieved! You deserve to celebrate your success before you think about rising to even greater heights.

But now that you’re ready to take that next step, it is time to start developing a whole new skillset. The usual hustle and grind is not going to be enough anymore — what got you here won’t get you there. You need a clear brand message, a defined audience, and a strategy for communicating your message to that audience. It’s time to stop playing at a college-level — if you truly want your business to grow, it’s time to learn NFL-level skills. 

I hope this episode gave you some useful knowledge and strategies to help you grow your business! If you enjoyed this episode, I’d love it so much if you could leave me a five-star review over on Apple Podcasts. And remember to share this episode with anybody in your life who could benefit from it as well, and tag me on Instagram @andy_neary with a screenshot of your greatest takeaway!

Thank you so much, guys! I’ll catch you next time!

Andy Neary Signature

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