CHRIS BROGAN

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My 3 Words for 2022

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What is My 3 Words About?

The My Three Words idea is simple. Choose 3 words (not 1, not 4) that will help guide your choices and actions day to day. Think of them as lighthouses. “Should I say yes to this project?” “Well, does this align with my three words?”

How to Choose Three Words

I started this process back in 2006. Back then, my 3 words were “Ask. Do. Share.” I picked these very simple words and they served me very well. One of my best years ever. When I asked questions, I learned. When I took action based on what I learned from asking, I made more ground and took over more of the universe. When I shared what I learned with everyone, I made connections and some friends.

Choose any three words you feel will guide you forward. I can tell you a few things about this:

  • Don’t make it a phrase. “Publish the book” is a terrible choice. “The” is wasted.
  • Try to make the words actionable. “Expand” is better than “bigger.”
  • The more utilitarian the word can be, the better. These words have to be your compass.
  • Stick with the 3 words all year. Every time I’ve changed one a month or two later, the year mucks up. I can’t explain it. But I can report it.
  • Years where I’ve tried “fancy” words with layers of meaning, I lost the thread. Use plain words, maybe.
  • BUT the words don’t have to mean anything to anyone but you. Don’t worry about explaining them.

Review Them Daily

The more you review your 3 words, the better. I have mine built into my daily planning guides and action stacks. I try using them for a mantra when I can. Sometimes on walks, I just repeat them over and over. I like to reflect on them and meditate a little with those words in mind.

Past Iterations of My 3 Words

2006 – Ask. Do. Share
2007 – Seek. Frame. Build. Bridge (yes, that was 4. It also was a less successful year.)
2008 – Believe. Loops.Farm
2009 – Equip. Armies. Needles
2010 – Ecosystems. Owners. Kings
2011 – Reinvest. Package. Flow
2012 – Temple. Untangle. Practice
2013 – Walt. Ender. Monchu
2014 – Lifestyle. Monchu. Black.
2015 – Plan. Leverage. Fabric.
2016 – Home. Shine. Win.
2017 – Move.Voice.Game
2018 – Ritual. Execute. Value
2019 – Station. Stacks. Movement.
2020 – Push. Structurequence. Package
2021 – Showrunner, Monk Options

And now, let’s look at 2022

My 3 Words for 2022

Scout – I don’t often choose nouns, but I do when I want to pack some pointers into words that will guide me through an intention within an identity. A scout fits my role as Chief of Staff at Appfire, because my job is to move ahead of the main troops, to survey the landscape, to recommend paths of action, and to communicate a cohesive plan based on what I bring back. In my profession, that makes sense. The most famous scouts in the real world were also very physically capable, so I’m tucking my obligations to get my health back into this word. It has to carry a lot. (And yes, “scout” is also a verb – thanks, Samantha!)

Co-Create – This idea is a lot more simple than scout: what do I intend to co-create with other people in any given situation? When I work with the Executive Leadership Team at Appfire, I tell myself certain things before going into my meetings. When I talk to owners with Rob Hatch, I set out to co-create a very different type of experience. Sometimes, with my kids, I get a bit lost in the actual intentions of the moment, so this relates to me there as well. My job is to co-create situations where my kids can grow and thrive, as best as I can.

Pluses – This one’s the hardest for me to explain to you because I’m still working on it. I’m practicing a concept that’s between “manifestation” and also intentional living, and as part of that, I’m learning how to spin up and maintain a flywheel of positive energy. The enemies to that kind of energy are many: people having a rough day, negative people, situations where you have to wait on others to catch up to a checkpoint, and on and on.

This idea, roughly, is to seek out the pluses (+) in every day’s opportunities. If I hit a wall or a roadblock, waste NO time, but instead go around, switch tasks, move to the next state of being. If something bad happens, shrug it off and find the next plus.

This one will be the hardest of all 3, but if I pull it off, all will go rather interestingly for me in 2022.

What Are YOUR Words for 2022?

It’s your turn: either type up a blog post, or share it wherever you like to share. Use the hashtag #my3words to find other people’s shared experiences, and if you’re a last minute person, don’t worry. Start when you’re ready.

See you in 2022.

Chris Brogan and Kerry O’Shea Gorgone Release the $BKPK Cryptocurrency to Support the Backpack Show

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BKPK Rally Coin Chris Brogan Kerry Gorgone

The other day, Kerry O’Shea Gorgone and I launched a new cryptocurrency called the Backpack Show Coin (or just $BKPK, if you want to be like the cool kids). It’s built by a company called Rally and was part of a project they launched called Creator Coins. The idea is that if you nurture a community like we do around the Backpack Show, then you could build your own micro-economy and invite participants and members of that community to buy, sell, hold, and trade a special currency.

What does ANY of that mean?

At the highest level, “Hey, if you buy $BKPK coins, it supports the Backpack Show, but also, you get the benefit of possibly earning even further rewards than you would if you just sent in typical money. WE get a reward for you buying the coin, but you ALSO get a reward for holding it. Kind of like two people benefiting instead of one.

A little more “in the weeds:” cryptocurrency, you’ve maybe already heard about. Coins like Bitcoin or Etherium or the currently popular “Doge coin” are other types of cryptocurrency. So, the $BKPK coin is basically a small decentralized (meaning everyone has control of it, not just one person) tool to pass value (in this case, money) back and forth between people who accept that type of currency.

What can we do with the coins?

You can buy sponsorship spots on the show, backstage passes, special heavily discounted private coaching, and more. We’re working up more and more offerings and ways to have fun with the coins as we speak.

What do you want me to do?

We can approach this two ways. I shot a little video for you, but I’ll explain it right after the video, too.

Watch this quick video, if you’d like.

There are just a few steps to the process:

  1. Set up a free account at Rally.io
  2. Find the Backpack Show coin page.
  3. Buy some coins if you want to just hold onto them. (Click BUY) OR
  4. Click one of the offerings like “Buy a Power Hour of Coaching” to buy a specific reward
  5. Once you have the amount of coins needed for that offering, click SEND, and send those coins to “TheBackpackShow”
  6. And if you get stuck, just email [email protected]

And you don’t HAVE to send us the coins you buy. That’s only if you want to buy something like a backstage pass or sponsorship or whatever. You can just hold onto them and see what happens with the market.

VERY IMPORTANT: Cryptocurrency is a very volatile environment. The value of any crypto coin can go up and down drastically and we have no control over that. If you put in $10, you might find $100 the next time you log in, or you might find $5. It’s a bit like the stock market. If you’re unsure of whether you want to try this out, it’s okay if you don’t want to, and that’s quite understandable.

The Cool Part (So Far)

Just by HOLDING onto the coins (meaning, you buy $10 worth or something like that and do nothing else), you add to the value of the Backpack Show community. And because of that, there are even rewards.

Each coin has a rewards pool that can be earned weekly (and I still don’t really understand how this all works). So for instance, on my personal “chrisbrogan” account, I have coins from seven or eight different creators. I bought some of my friends’ coins to show support. Each one of those coins has the chance to earn some rewards, and when they do, coin holders get some of that money sent to their account, too.

Meaning, you have the opportunity for the coin’s value to go up and down AND you have the opportunity to earn even more rewards just because you’re holding onto coins.

(Disclaimer: I know only a tiny bit more about crypto than most of you. Learn more if you feel antsy.)

Going Forward

While we continue to experiment with this, there are lots of new opportunities to try things out. I’m working with some friends and partners to come up with ways to offer rewards to people simply for holding the coins, plus ways that I can tack on value for OTHER people, if you choose to pay them with our $BKPK coins.

For instance, let’s say a friend is throwing a concert. You can pay at the door using their coin, or you can pay at the door using the $BKPK coin. If you pay with BKPK and show us the receipt, we’ll give you additional rewards just for choosing our currency as your payment method.

Another instance is if we hold a virtual event, the cost might be as inexpensive as buying a small amount of every speaker’s Creator coin to get in.

And so on.

Want to Join an Economy Experiment?

It’s all a grand experiment. It’s wayyyyy too early to know what to make of all this. But if you want to have fun *and* support Kerry and I and The Backpack Show, consider picking up some $BKPK coins today.

  1. Go to Rally.io and make an account
  2. Go to the $BKPK page and click BUY (or buy the reward you want directly)
  3. EITHER hold the coins and feel good about it OR click SEND if you’re sending coins to buy a reward

It’s that easy! 🙂

Personal Branding is Vital Now

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Photo by David Rotimi on Unsplash

Personal branding is something I’ve thought a lot about for years. Branding is about a business, product, or service. Personal branding is about helping the person behind the product to stand out. It’s a way to drive a strong perception of the type of person you are and by extension, to earn a little credibility in the process. The goal is for people to see themselves and see you in the product or service you’re selling.

Brand Yourself But With Your Buyer In Mind

The weird yo yo trick of personal branding is that the best people in the world at personal branding are the ones who make YOU feel like the star. This work isn’t about saying how great you are. It’s talking about how wonderful the people you serve are, but in such a way that people think about you.

In brand positioning terms, you’re a service brand or a community brand or a lifestyle brand (or all 3). Katie Robbert and Kerry O’Shea Gorgone created Punch Out as that place you go to learn about the rest of the lives of your favorite marketers. Their personal brand thusly becomes about being generous, lifting up others, enriching the brand promise of other people. They act as a community brand.

Tone of Voice is Critical

I built my own strong brand identity around a few bedrock details. These translate into the “tone of voice” of my brand. See if this sounds like me:

  • My personal visual brand is casual, cartoonish, and almost a bit sloppy
  • My core values are service, honesty, and inclusiveness
  • The branding concept of me is “anyone could do this – YOU could do this”
  • An emotional connection is core to all the material I share with people
  • The only “consistent brand experience” you’ll find with me is that I’m always experimenting

To shape your brand is to demonstrate what you stand for and for it to be a recurring part of your expressions. If you’re frugal, don’t show off your matching Teslas. If you’re trying to say you’re down to earth and spontaneous, don’t be buttoned up all the time.

Think through this:

  • What does your word choice say about your brand? Are you using big words when your brand is supposed to be down to earth?
  • Even if you’re shy, you need to show yourself. Can you dress in a way that matches what you believe and how you want to be perceived?
  • Beyond selling (but also during selling) what do you talk about? What do you share? Does it match what you want people to think about you?

“Influencers” are the Devil

Before we had people trying to be “influencers,” we had people trying to be “authentic.” (After I typed that, I took my hands off the keys to accentuate air quotes – two pumps of my fingers each – because that word is Satan.)

The ways that people try to walk around and represent your brand are almost always about positioning and telling a story that isn’t true. If you normally eat hot dogs, you’re not a foodie. If you’re ever trying to be something you’re not, and it’s part of a business pursuit, I’ll save you time: it rarely ends well.

Communicate Your Brand

Ze Frank once said “a brand is an emotional aftertaste” that comes from experiences. You know “show, don’t tell.” That’s the point. The more you talk about what you are, the less likely you are that thing. So show it.

Establish brand experiences by talking about the kinds of people you serve in terms that echo your intended brand voice. “We’re moms who love to help teachers get time back in their day. We know you’re busy! Let us help you get better results with your students. Your students are our kids. Let’s be on the same team!”

“You have smarts that someone else needs. Sell your brains.”

The best personal branding revolves around “you” stories (the kind that enrich your buyer) but that reflect your part of that equation.

How to Build Your Personal Brand

For your brand to thrive, you need the following:

  • Clear and unique voice and perspective as it relates to the people you serve
  • Consistent publication of media that reflects that voice
  • A recurring delivery of value from the media you create and share

Think about that before your next Instagram post. “Am I saying something in my own way or am I someone else’s echo?” If someone else reads this, is there a chance they’ll take something from it?

“But can I build a brand and stay anonymous?”

I mean, you can build *a* brand, but it’s not a personal brand. The word personal and the word anonymous really don’t mean the same thing whatsoever.

What people want from you as it applies to personal branding is the following:

  • Are you like me?
  • Do you share my values?
  • Can I trust you?
  • Will you help me win?
  • What happens when something goes wrong?

Think about your own experiences. When your car needs engine work, do you wonder about those five questions? The last three are definite. The first two might depend on what you’re buying for some people. I want someone to be honest like me, obviously. I want them to be understanding.

The last and maybe most important step about personal branding is perhaps the hardest.

Can You Be “Sticky?”

The most powerful part of branding is whether what you create is memorable. Advertising is a powerful tool when it comes to this. Think of all the ads you remember to this day:

  • Who is the “quicker picker upper?”
  • Plop plop. Fizz Fizz. _______
  • The best part of waking up is _____

Advertising works through a combination of something being memorable to begin with and then being repeated enough that you can’t forget it. That’s an element of personal branding that gets lost often.

The key to being sticky, then, is a formula. An equation maybe. Luckily, Julien Smith and I wrote The Impact Equation for just this purpose. I’ll give you the quick rundown here:

Impact = Contrast x Reach + Exposure + Articulation + Trust + Echo.

  • Contrast – Does what you say or do stand out
  • Reach – How far does your message carry
  • Exposure – How often do people see it
  • Articulation – Can you say it succinctly
  • Trust – Are you believable
  • Echo – Can people see themselves in you

That’s the impact equation and it really means a lot for the personal branding effort. More than most anything else I’ve written thus far. If you master that little gauge: CREATE, you will see the value of putting your marketing and outreach efforts through that lens before publishing.

Beyond saying something useful, you have to say it in a memorable way. That’s the gold.

Brand Management for Personal Brands

I don’t know if this is “management” per se, but what I mean is that it’s upon you to create information frequently and share it often, information that serves their pursuits. “They” being the people you serve, naturally. The management aspect of personal branding is that it’s so easy to fall out of being top of mind. What stops that from happening?

Reach + Exposure from the Impact Equation help. Take your Articulate and sticky phrases and share them often and far and wide, especially if they help others. Do this often. Do this in new ways with new words. Don’t let anything get too old, but say things repeatably enough that others can sing along. Write the hits. Play the hits.

And now you’re well on your way to mastering personal branding. It takes work, practice, and all the luck of saying something that catches the attention and imagination of others. I hope this was useful. If it was, share it?

Finally, I’m always available to help you with this through coaching. Just use my contact form or drop me an email: [email protected]

What I learned at the Boston Pride March 2019

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The other day, I went with my Jacqueline and her mother to the 2019 Boston Pride Parade. We marched on behalf of the Upham’s Corner Health Center, who delivers community health care services in Boston. I marched because my son, Vince, is trans and gay(the parade marked his 17th birthday), and because I feel that it’s important to promote the rights of people around the topics of their gender and who they choose to love (between consenting adults, obviously).

I thought my mindset at the event was “Hey, good job, gay and trans and bi and other people! I’m marching to say I’m an ally.” And while that’s true, there was so much more. So much. I came away changed.

What I Learned on the Boston Pride March

First, I realized quickly that one of the core elements of this march is just for people to see each other and be seen. I know that sounds stupid. It’s a parade. But I mean seen and acknowledged. Some people are fortunate to have loving families and coworkers who fully support them. But so many more feel alone, feel invisible, feel like they have to hide. So here comes an event like Pride that says, “Let’s keep marching. You deserve to feel seen and understood.”

That “being seen” realization went so much deeper. All along the route there were people wearing “Mom Hugs” and “Dad Hugs” shirts, because sometimes parents can’t handle the reality of their children and that child (no matter their age) suddenly finds themselves without parental affection. I realized just how little affection people of any sexuality and gender get these days. I went for some of those hugs, and I get plenty of affection.

We Have to Better Understand This

When my oldest said “I’m gay,” I said that’s great. Your partner (no matter the gender) has to love you and treat you well. About a year later, he tells me he’s trans and gay. Okay, that one takes a bit more work because there are legal and biological ramifications to be considered, but I was just as supportive because whatever gender someone says they are, wouldn’t my roles be the same? Aren’t I supposed to love and support my children, no matter their gender? Of course I am.

Now think about work and school and life. My son goes to a tiny little hippie school so when he came out as trans, it wasn’t that big a deal. Go a half mile in any direction and you’ll see all kinds of people who don’t understand what it means, what it means to them, how they should respond, and so on.

What I’ve learned for me is that someone’s gender identity and gender expression has little or nothing to do with me. I find both binary genders play no role in whether or not someone can do their job or be good or bad people. I find that gender and sexual preference is really your own business and not mine.

Representation and Acknowledgement is VITAL

But that said, and this is so important, everyone alive wants to be respected and represented as who they are without compromise or shame. If someone says they’re gay, bi, poly, trans, or any of the many other ways people can now express their sexual and gender expressions, they want you to know and acknowledge and understand how they want to be identified.

THAT PART IS THE HARDEST PART FOR THE “STRAIGHT” PEOPLE.

It’s somehow difficult for us to make the change from “looks like a guy so must be a guy” to “I’m Chris. My pronouns are he/him. How about you?”

This upsets people. It feels like “too much” to some people. It feels somehow offensive to some others. But that’s what needs to change. That’s where a lot of us need to grow. That’s where “the way we used to do it” no longer covers it.

I Marched So Even More Can March

It’s “easy” for me to march. I’m straight, white, and privileged. I marched because I want to bolster the ranks of those who don’t always feel safe, those who don’t always feel seen, and those who don’t often enough feel loved and accepted. I marched because the LGBTQ+ community is part of our community.

And like you and everyone else, I might get some of this wrong, say something that doesn’t line up the way everyone wishes I’d talk about it. I’m always open to learn. But I’ll tell you why I’m out here. It’s because there’s so much value in all these people who get pushed to the corners and I want them at the picnic. If you met some of the great people I met at the march, you’d want them at the picnic, too!

I work with executives and leadership teams to deliver the results you say you value in your corporate culture statements. Let’s improve collaboration and creativity and bring some of that value to your company. REACH OUT.

If I Were Selling Real Estate Today

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The world of real estate has become a lot more software driven in recent years. Sure, ultimately, a buyer interacts with a person, but with the number of real estate apps out there, a lot of up front work happens before a real estate professional is contacted. That’s not necessarily bad, but for a lot of Realtors (and other professionals in other industries for that matter), a personable connection with a buyer matters immensely as well.

If I Were Selling Real Estate Today

For years, I’ve had the pleasure of keynoting various real estate events and speaking at industry conferences. In every interaction, I found a warm, smart, driven person looking for new tools to reach and serve their buyer. My book with Julien Smith, Trust Agents, seemed to resonate with the primary challenge of “how do you build business remotely on the web?” Since that book (over 9 years have passed), I can say that the use of digital tools to evaluate real estate has only grown.

If I were selling real estate today, I’d embrace these apps and I would have a website/blog where I could add some content that my buyers might want. What would I put on that site? Oh, I’m glad you asked.

A Real Estate Professional’s Content Marketing Checklist

  1. Sure, you want to post pictures and videos about the properties. That’s a given.
  2. Take the camera on your phone and shoot a “neighborhood walk through” video.
  3. Record an audio file where you talk people through how to evaluate a home. Tell them to keep this playing in the car when they’re out hunting around.
  4. Record another video where you list out what people need to bring to closing.
  5. Find community points of interest and interview people to show off the neighbors.
  6. Shoot an autobiographical video talking about your passions for serving people and your career so far.
  7. If you have other skills/talents, like interior design, give people a video of tips for how to spruce up their place. OR, make a video to show homeowners how to prep their house for sale.

Naturally, there are plenty more pieces of content I could recommend. This is a great starter set that will keep you busy for a few weeks.

How to Go About Making All This Content

I’m sure you might have seized up a little upon seeing that list of seven ideas. The thing is, you already have the tools to make this. You have a smart phone. This comes with a video recorder and a voice recorder built in. If you feel like you have to edit the videos a little, you can record lots of little clips and dump them all into either Windows Media Maker (PC) or iMovie (Mac) and trim off the edges a bit. I promise that none of it is rocket surgery. If you know how to cut/paste words in a document, it’s almost the same thing.

Practice. That’s what I most want to share with you. Just practice.

As for scheduling, pick a weekly schedule of creating and posting that will let you take a little time to make your content, edit it, and post it. It’s that simple (but not easy).

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