Influencer Entrepreneurs: Marketing Tips to Make You More Visible

Building a Brand Online with Maya Elious

• Jenny Melrose: Business Strategist • Episode 437

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Maya Ellis joins Jenny Melrose to reveal the essential framework for building a powerful personal brand that converts followers into customers. If you've ever wondered why some entrepreneurs seem to effortlessly attract clients while others struggle despite creating mountains of content, this episode holds your answer.

At the heart of Maya's approach is a profound truth: "People want to buy from people." She explains how the rise of social media and influencer marketing has fundamentally changed how businesses connect with customers, making personal branding more valuable than traditional corporate approaches. The human element builds trust—something that's amplified when audiences can see behind-the-scenes glimpses of your authentic life.

What sets this conversation apart is Maya's practical three-pillar content strategy that transforms random posting into strategic brand building. She outlines exactly how to create content that builds trust, generates leads, and drives sales. "If your content is not tied to a sales strategy, you're only going to have so much impact," Maya explains, challenging listeners to stop viewing selling as something negative and start seeing it as creating opportunities for others to achieve better results.

For entrepreneurs struggling to compete with larger brands, Maya offers unexpected but powerful advice: focus on relationship-building and exceptional customer service. The ability to provide personalized attention creates an experience that larger brands often struggle to match as they scale. This approach not only satisfies current clients but generates the referrals that fuel sustainable growth.

The conversation takes a fascinating turn when discussing AI's role in brand building. Rather than fearing technology will replace authentic connection, Maya reframes AI as a tool that "magnifies who you already are"—making you more efficient at what you're already doing well but never replacing the human essence of your brand.

Ready to build a brand that genuinely connects with your ideal clients and converts that connection into sales? Download Maya's brand-building checklist and see how much you can transform your online presence in just 30 days. Don't miss this episode packed with actionable strategies to grow your influence and your income.

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Speaker 1:

This is the Influencer Entrepreneur's Podcast with Jenny Monroe, where I strategize with business owners on how to grow and scale their businesses to hit their income goals. This is episode 437 on the Influencer Entrepreneurs Podcast with Jenny Melrose. Today, we're going to be diving into building a brand online with Maya Ellis. I am super excited about this conversation. We are also adding in bits and pieces about our thoughts on AI and how you can utilize it to be able to help with building your brand, not replace you with it. So let's dive in. Hi Maya, welcome to the podcast. How are you? Thank you so much for having me. Hi Maya, welcome to the podcast. How are you?

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for having me. I am amazing. I'm feeling excited, feeling good, just wrapping up a three-day live event, so hopefully my voice isn't too raspy throughout.

Speaker 1:

It's perfect and I am super excited to have this conversation about building a brand online, but before we actually jump into that will you introduce yourself and your business to my audience.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so my name is Maya Elias, I'm a personal branding strategist and I'm the CEO of Built to Impact, which is a coaching company. We primarily work with women of faith and female entrepreneurs who are experts in their field and they want to learn how to position their expertise online and package up a high-ticket offer and build a six-figure business.

Speaker 1:

Fabulous. So let's kind of just jump right in. How important is personal branding versus business branding?

Speaker 2:

I think personal branding is really important because, at the end of the day, people want to buy from people, because even when you look at business brands, like larger corporations, they're leveraging people to sell their products. Years ago they would leverage models and actors and actresses, which they still do now, but since the influencer marketing space has blown up, we leverage personal brands even with business brands. So I think personal branding is so important because it builds trust instantly, because we love the humanization side of sales and marketing.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and I feel like social media has added to that so much over the years, because we're able to see so much of the behind the scenes and what is actually happening in their real life. Would you agree?

Speaker 2:

100%. I think, like remember, tabloids used to be really big you would go to the grocery store and you would see in the aisle like this person's doing this and it's like, no, no, they're not, cause we just saw them post on their stories that they're still very happy with their family. And so I think, even though it's unfortunate, because I think it creates a level of entitlement where now consumers feel like they deserve a level of access to you, but it does allow you to control your own narrative a little bit more and allows you to connect with your consumer in a more intimate way.

Speaker 1:

Yes, oh, so true. And I had to giggle when you said about the top lights, because I don't notice them as much anymore when I go through the grocery store line and I hadn't noticed that. But that makes total sense as to why I don't.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1:

So what types of content are most effective for brand building?

Speaker 2:

Oh. So when you're creating content, there are three pillars that I think about. I think about creating content to build my brand or build trust. Creating content to build my email list and generate leads. And then creating content to build my bank, meaning that I'm selling. And so when we think about building our brand, it's all about do people know who I am? Am I able to answer the three questions of who am I, who do I serve and how do I serve them?

Speaker 2:

And so when somebody goes to my Instagram page, where they're looking at my stories or they're kind of just reading through some of my posts, can they get an idea of who I am from a value standpoint, from an interest standpoint? What is Maya into outside of just what she does as an expert? People can see that I'm a romantic and I really love love and I love to travel, I love to be by the beach, I love spending time with my family, with my parents, my sister, my nieces, my nephew, and so building the brand with the human part, like we already talked about, and then building your brand by positioning your expertise. Can people see that I have evidence of what I say I'm good at If I say I'm a business coach. Are you seeing content of other clients saying that they got results working with me? Do you see content of me working with clients? Do you see content of me speaking on stages, me on podcasts? And so, first creating content that builds your brand with you as the expert and then you as the human, and then, when you want to start building your list, thinking about what free or low cost resource can I put out there? So, once people recognize my brand and they feel a level of connection and they want to be more bought in, do I have a resource for them, whether it's a free e-guide, whether it's a webinar, whether it's a way for them to book a quick 20 minute call with me?

Speaker 2:

So just being intentional about inviting people to a deeper level of intimacy and relationship with you, because that's really what content is at the end of the day, I tell my clients that content is just a conversation between you and the people that you want to serve and that you want buying from you. And for the people that you want buying from you, you need to create relationship with them. So building your list is a way to go deeper with that. And then, lastly, building your bank, really just using content that's going to convert to your products and your services. So if it's direct content that says, hey, I'm hosting a three-day live event in Atlanta, georgia. Here's what it's going to be about. If you're interested, type this keyword or click the link in my bio to go buy your ticket now. So those are the three pillars of content that I think about that allows your business to run from the trust building, the marketing and the sales aspect.

Speaker 1:

Do you feel like you go deeper into the problem that you solve as you go through those three different pillars?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's such a great question. I definitely do, especially because you know people are buying based on value, and value is going to be measured based on the depth of the pain and the ultimate desire of the consumer. And so, as I'm looking to build more trust, I need to showcase to this potential client that I understand the problems that they're dealing with, and not only do I understand it, but I have a solution for them. So I go deeper to those pain points as I'm trying to establish that trust.

Speaker 1:

When you're looking at the beginning piece, the first pillar of them, getting to know you, do you find that you have particular areas that or platforms that you use that you may even go deeper into your problems? You also obviously have social media following. Do you find that you go deeper, potentially on podcasts Like what do you see as far as your content?

Speaker 2:

For sure. I find that I typically go deeper on podcasts, on YouTube, in my emails and on webinars. Honestly, any platform where people are spending more time and they're investing more of their time to learn about you is where I want to go deeper. Of course, social media it's just going to be bite-sized things. So we have to be strategic about social media and leveraging social media to build enough trust where we can then move them to that other platform for them to go deeper, because social media is moving so quickly so they might spend three seconds reading a caption and then be like, ok, I'm done. But typically people who are listening to podcasts, reading emails, watching YouTubes, attending webinars there's a higher level of investment and that's where I take the time to go deeper.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so for those listening, would you recommend, as far as social media because it really talks about social media we talk about build brand awareness, right, make them aware of you, but it's not going to be able to necessarily get them to convert directly onto your list without next phase a podcast, a webinar, a YouTube video. So when they're thinking about where they should put in the most time, is there a particular platform that you recommend?

Speaker 2:

That's a really great question Right now. I'm currently spending my most time on Instagram organic and ads, but I'm not necessarily recommending that's where you should spend the most time. We're going to transition to putting a lot more of our time into YouTube and just long form content, because it's just a differentiator. I think there's a lot of competition and noise on social media and, just based on the algorithm, it's just not a good use of time to assume that we're going to get customers from that place. So, to your point, it's a great place to like, build your brand. If I go to, you know, speak at a conference, oh, where can I keep up with you? Go to my Instagram. It's my social media, is my social proof, but it's not really going to be the best place for me to expect to convert. And so that long form content where I know people are investing their time. Typically, if people are investing their time, then they're going to be more likely to eventually invest their money.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I think it. By talking about YouTube in particular, it adds not only them being able to see you, but also the voice right. It's that added connection, which is also why I feel podcasts are great, because it does give that voice in their ear. They feel like they know you, they hear you continually teaching and educating them on the problems that they're struggling with. So I love that. You said YouTube. I feel I see more and more people going there and I just feel like it's what's necessary because of the way social media has changed, with quick form video.

Speaker 2:

For sure. And again, with sales, it comes down to trust and, of course, fulfilling a need. But, assuming somebody sees your brand, they're like okay, I trust that she has a solution, but now I need to make sure I can trust her. When we think about sales and relationships, like typically long distance dating is going to be more challenging than if you're dating somebody that lives in your same city right, because you're able to see them every day and the rapport is there. But when we're in the online space, then we have to think what is then the next best thing if I'm not able to see them in person and build that trust in person and convert in person?

Speaker 2:

For me, the first thing it's going to be some level of live video. It's going to be webinars or live interaction. So it's going to be webinars or sales calls, like am I able to get on the phone with you and talk to you in real time? And then the level after that is going to be YouTube. I want to be able to see this person on video, watch an extended piece of content, make sure I understand the context of what she's teaching. Do we vibe, do I like his or her personality? And then it's going to be podcasting, where I'm still able to hear their voice. Maybe I'm not seeing them moving, but I've seen images of them. I've seen their content, but I'm able to hear their voice. So, again, when it comes to that trust and relationship building thing, how can I create the highest level of intimacy, within reason and boundary, of course, but doing it in the online space?

Speaker 3:

Hey there guys. My name is Melanie from Mostly Under Control, and I am a member of Jenny's Influencer Entrepreneurs Insiders membership. I've been a part of it since 2017, and over these six years, I've taken full advantage of the weekly trainings that Jenny offers and the monthly group coaching. The group coaching is probably my favorite part of the membership. Jenny has taught me so many things for my business. She helped me niche down and write and teach about what I wanted so that I wouldn't burn out. In addition to what she teaches, the networking I've done with other members has been invaluable. I recommend her membership to all of my online business owner friends because it is worth every single penny to all of my online business owner friends because it is worth every single penny.

Speaker 1:

I love that you added your three pieces and you said bank, because I think a lot of time people will start an online business and it starts off as a hobby and they're not thinking about profitability and how can they continue to grow it. So how do you turn an online brand into a profitable business?

Speaker 2:

You need to have an offer and you need to be willing to sell. And you know, I just think it's so interesting. In our minds we say I want a business. In our minds we say I want to impact people and I think we think about, just simply, content. I think we overthink content and we under-prioritize sales and I'm like, if your content is not tied to a sales strategy, you're only going to have so much impact.

Speaker 2:

And I think sometimes, when it comes to selling especially with my audience just having a high moral compass they make this assumption that selling is dirty or it's not good or it's sleazy. And I'm like, when you think about who you sold to, those are the people who have the highest level of impact. And I have to remind my clients that impact doesn't happen just from free content. Impact doesn't happen from having a signature offer. Impact happens from selling a signature offer. When I look at the people who I've impacted over the years and the clients who have had the best results, these are people who made an investment because I chose to sell something to them. And so if you're wanting a profitable business, you need to be realistic. Am I showing up and selling? Am I giving myself the opportunity to present a paid offer in front of my ideal client. So if you want a profitable business, you need to do the work of what a profitable CEO would do, which is creating an offer and then selling it and being consistent.

Speaker 1:

It is that icky feeling that a lot of women in particular get from sales, and I always try to reiterate the idea that if you're selling from a point of trying to solve their problem and be able to impact as many people as possible, it's not really sales. It's helping them, it's educating them, it's giving them the things that you want to put out online anyways. You're just making it bundled into a pretty package where they're going to get results faster, rather than trying to piecemeal everything online from little bits and pieces of content that you've put out there.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. Yeah. I just look at selling as creating an opportunity for somebody to have more or better. This person is already seeking these things anyway and I say your ideal client is actively looking to make an investment for the solution that they're seeking. So when I look at it, they're going to spend money anyway. So there's no reason for me to feel guilty that they spend the money with me if I know and feel confident that I'm able to give them the solution that they're looking for.

Speaker 2:

And I think oftentimes we also feel a little bit achy about sales because I think we over concern ourselves with what's going on in somebody else's pockets, with what's going on in somebody's bank account, and it's like it's not your responsibility to worry about how much money they have. It's your responsibility to worry about how much value you're giving. If I'm giving you the value that I have communicated for the price point that I desire, then I am operating in integrity, and so we don't need to look at sales as taking money from people. We need to look at sales as giving value, presenting an opportunity for more or better, and it's simply just an exchange. One person is giving you money in the form of, or giving you value in the form of money, and then you are giving them value in the form of a service.

Speaker 1:

Love it. So how can smaller businesses compete with bigger brands that are online? And when I say bigger brands, I'm not necessarily talking about Nike and the products that we think of. I'm thinking of someone that's getting started today and they go to social media and they see this one with 87,000 and they see that one with 5 million. How do they compete with that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, I think a couple of great ways to be able to compete is to just have a high level of intentionality of building a relationship with your client or customer.

Speaker 2:

I do find that, especially with my peers, something that we all had to learn how to navigate when we hit seven figures is scaling without losing that level of connection with our customers.

Speaker 2:

And so that's an easy way to be able to compete with another brand who has hundreds of clients, versus you're only managing two or three clients.

Speaker 2:

You're able to call them and say, hey, just wanted to check on you and see how things are going with whatever it is that you're helping them with, you're able, probably, to respond faster, have better level of customer service, and so I think the intimacy, but the customer service as well, I just think the art of excellent customer service is going down the drain and I don't know what's happening, whether it's AI, whether it's laziness, whether it's entitlement to just think we can take money from people and not show them a level of care and respect.

Speaker 2:

But just having great customer service and great customer care is going to set you apart, and great customer care can look like just intentional onboarding. Hey, I'm just checking in to make sure you receive the email so you could log into your course. Hey, I'm just making sure that you have access to the portal so you can upload your assignment. So when we have our first call that I'm prepared for you, just being very intentional about making people feel confident about the decision they made to work with you that relationship can only make it easier to be able to get more referrals from within that network of people that you're already starting to attract for sure.

Speaker 1:

Yes, 100%. You mentioned AI, so that's actually one of the questions that I have for you, because it's what everybody seems to be talking about right now. So how is AI impacting online branding and how should brands adapt?

Speaker 2:

AI is so interesting. You know, I look at AI actually almost how I look at money. I believe that money is a magnifier and it's going to make you more of who you already are. And so if you are already great at communicating with your audience, you are going to leverage AI to be a better communicator with your audience. If you are very distant and you're inconsistent and you don't know how to speak to your audience, you're going to plug things into artificial intelligence based on how you're already acting and showing up. So it's going to give you that output. And so I think AI can be very helpful and I think it can help us expedite our processes, but the process that's going to be expedited is the process that you've already mastered. Ai isn't going to make you better. It's just going to make you more efficient on what you're already doing.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I truly believe to you that, when it comes to personal branding, like we talked about in the beginning, ai can't replicate you, it can't replace you. I think that that's a fear of a lot of people is that they'll create content. Ai is going to be created and all of a sudden they're gone. Their writing isn't necessary. Their podcast voices are even being done up with AI now. But I think that, when it comes to that personal connection that you can only provide through your stories, there's no competition. It's not going to replace.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I completely agree. It's never going to replace and, you know, as a messaging expert, my clients will ask me if I use AI, and I have sometimes. Sometimes I forget that it exists because I've been so used to just using my brain and doing actual market research and, you know, having conversations with potential clients to see what is the best language for them, and so, yeah, I do think it comes down to am I using a language that is authentic and that my ideal client is going to understand? So I'm not against AI. I just don't want us to lean so heavily on it that we lose the basic foundations of messaging and communicating with our audience.

Speaker 1:

Yes, in order for AI to be effective, it has to understand you, your audience, your business, your vision, your goals for everything that you're looking to do within it. Audience, your business, your vision, your goals for everything that you're looking to do within it. Otherwise, it's just spitting out someone else's so that you can end up using it for yourself. It really has to become like that assistant to you that really knows it. You have to feed it with a lot of information and I think a lot of people forget that stuff. They'll just start asking questions without having provided it with any background information for their business and where they're trying to go.

Speaker 2:

That is so good. I think that is a great way to look at AI. Rather than looking at artificial intelligence as a resource to replace you, it should be a resource that supports you in the same way that if you were to hire an assistant, a marketing strategist, whatever. Whenever you hire, you have to be good at delegating, or else they're not going to know how to support you in the best way possible and you're going to become frustrated and there's going to be a disconnect. So if you want to leverage AI to the best of its ability, you have to be very clear with your instruction.

Speaker 1:

Yes, oh, my goodness. Yes, Because that is. I think that anytime I've talked to clients about as they start to build their team, they always struggle with. Well, she doesn't understand what I'm asking her to do. I'm always like have you fully communicated who you're, what you're trying to do, so that they understand everything? Or are we just kind of not being willing to give that piece Cause they're not going to understand the same thing with AI for sure?

Speaker 2:

A hundred percent and you 100%. I think that's been one of the most challenging parts of being a CEO is learning how to be a better leader, because, as a leader, your role is to get people to follow your vision, and people can't follow and support your vision unless you're clear on your vision and give clear instruction. And so I think if you've tried to use AI and it's not working to your advantage, you have to ask yourself am I being clear with my vision? Do I even know what my vision is? Am I all over the place? Am I relying on AI or even my team to be clear on my behalf? Because, as a CEO and as a leader, that's your responsibility.

Speaker 1:

Yes, so you have a build your brand checklist, which I feel like this is the perfect point, because if you're not clear on your brand, you're not going to be able to use these tools and be able to create that CEO role for yourself within your business. Can you tell us a little bit about it? We're obviously going to link to it in the show notes and make sure that everybody can grab it, but tell us a little bit about what they can expect to learn from the checklist.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So one day I was on a coaching call. One of my clients was like if you had to start from scratch today, building your brand, what would you do? And I put everything that I could think of inside of this checklist from getting people familiar with my brand name and my face and my headshots, to then building my list and creating content ideas to then converting. So this checklist is going to help you and I like to give tight deadlines too. So I would say go through this checklist and see how much of the checklist can you accomplish within the next 30 days. I give tight deadlines because we give ourselves too much time to accomplish something. Then, year after year, we're still trying to hit goals. So I would say, go through this checklist and see how much of it you can accomplish in the next 30 days. But it's a really great roadmap to help you move the needle forward on all of the ideas you have.

Speaker 1:

Excellent, we have that linked in the show notes. Like I said, maya, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me and share your knowledge with my audience. I truly appreciate it.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for having me. This was such a fun conversation.

Speaker 1:

Of course, all right. Well, there you have it. I really hope you start thinking about those three pillars when it comes to your content that Maya talked about. Those are so important when you're trying to develop your content and really trying to make sure that you are treating your business like a business. If you haven't already gone and grabbed her branding checklist, make sure that you do. And, like she said, she gave you a hard deadline 30 days to see what you are already applying and what you need to apply to your brand. All right, until next time. I will see you all then, thank you.

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