November 26, 2024 • 9 mins
Join us as we recount the entrepreneurial journey from academia to business, highlighting the critical role of acquiring essential business knowledge. Learn about the transformative impact of hiring an effective coach and joining supportive communities. We discuss the importance of stepping outside the academic bubble to gain fresh perspectives, build valuable networks, and appropriately value your expertise. Whether you're aiming to offer online courses or coaching services, these insights will guide you in building a robust and profitable brand. Don't miss out on actionable advice that can redefine your professional path.
Follow Dr. Sheena Howards' socials:
@drsheenahoward | Power Your Research
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you're building a brand and you're I don't know
trying to sell people youronline course or your coaching
thing or whatever it is, youneed to know how to tell a story
.
You need to know how to tellthe story behind the thing
you've created, the story behindwhy you even want to build a
brand.
So the program that I am in isnot just for writers, it's for
everybody.
I don't want my work to bestuck behind an academic paywall
(00:35):
.
I want to leave a legacy, Iwant to reach my potential and I
want to change lives.
This podcast, power yourResearch, is my attempt to help
the smartest people in the worlddo that very thing.
My hope is that you use thelessons I share to make more
money than what your higher edjob can ever pay you.
I've done it, my clients havedone it, and so can you.
(00:58):
My hope is that you'll applywhat you learn here and one day
join the Power your Researchprogram, where you can work with
me one-on-one.
The title is the Best WayAcademics Can Learn to Build
their Brand, and I teach threemain buckets in terms of
(01:22):
building your brand how toincrease your visibility,
authority and income, incomebeing the key piece, because
building a brand is notsustainable unless you're making
a lot of money doing it.
By a lot, I mean at least sixfigures.
There are three very, very,very important things if you're
struggling on your brandbuilding journey.
(01:45):
Since there's so much freeinformation out here on YouTube
and all of that good stuff, it'shard to make sense of what you
should be doing and when youshould be doing it, and if your
followership is not where it is.
Sometimes you try things and itdoesn't work, or someone
promises you a three-step systemand you do that system and then
it doesn't work, and it couldbe super frustrating and
(02:07):
confusing, and I don't want youto give up.
So here are three things that Iam going to tell you to do to
help you, as an academic, buildyour brand.
As it relates to those threebuckets increasing your
visibility, authority and incomeso the first thing is actually
taking initiative to go meetpeople outside of academe.
Now, this might sound obvious,but most of us are not doing
(02:31):
that.
So when I first started withbuilding the Power, your
Research company, I started tojust reach out to people on
LinkedIn that were doing some ofthe things I wanted to do, and
I asked to meet with them and Iwould send a message and I would
be honest hey, I see thatyou're an academic coach or an
entrepreneur or you have anonprofit and it looks like your
(02:52):
business is doing really well.
I see that you've been in yourfield for a long time.
I'm just starting this company.
I have no idea what I'm doingand I would love to just jump on
a call with you and I wouldsend them the link to my
Calendly.
Calendly is free.
You can have a free account andstart setting up 30 minute
meetings with people who arealready doing the thing you want
to do.
(03:12):
And because I was doing that sofrequently and, by the way,
when I would meet with people, Iwould say hey, I have one final
question for you.
What's one piece of advice youwould give me in terms of
entrepreneurship?
So I'd always ask at the end ofthe call, and so I would just
meet, like I would meet withpeople that own finance
companies, all types of things.
Because I'm an academic, I havea PhD, my business knowledge
(03:36):
started at zero and sometimes Ithink, because we think we have
a PhD, we can like just go doanything and you can, but you
actually have to learn how to doit, and so, because I was
meeting just all of these peopleon these Zoom meetings, they
started to connect me to otherpeople, and then that's how I
found my business coach and theUpscale your Business program.
That is the marketing agencythat makes a lot of my things
(03:58):
work.
So that leads me to the secondpoint, which is hire a coach.
There are a lot of coaches outhere selling a lot of things, so
what I'll say about hiring acoach is they're going to help
you to reach the goals you wantto reach, because they've done
it before.
I've recorded multiple videosof how to choose a coach,
because they are not all madethe same.
Just because someone's doingthe things you want to do does
(04:20):
not mean they know how to teachyou how to do it.
This is super important.
You need to hire a coach thatknows how to teach people to get
results.
So, as an academic going onthis entrepreneurship journey
because building a brand isentrepreneurship, getting media
coverage, visibility andincreasing your income is
entrepreneurship you need towork with a coach that's going
(04:41):
to show you how to do it,particularly the monetization
piece.
But if you're trying to buildyour brand, a coach that
understands how to get mediacoverage and visibility.
Hey everyone, real quick.
I don't run any ads on thispodcast, so I have to rely on
word of mouth.
If this podcast has helped youin any way, please share it with
a friend and follow me, drSheena Howard, on LinkedIn,
(05:04):
where I give more free contenton building your brand as an
academic.
If you tell me you came to myLinkedIn from the podcast, I'll
make sure I accept your request.
And then the third thing youneed to do is get into different
communities not related toacademe, because, particularly
(05:27):
for my tenure track and tenureprofessors, your community is
just the campus or theconferences that you go to every
year, and none of those peopleare entrepreneurs.
But the 99.9% of your academicpeople don't have big brands.
We're not taught to do this.
So when I say join communities,I would hear successful people
(05:47):
talk about going to mastermindgroups and joining communities,
and I got it intellectually Likeokay, yes, I know I need to
join a community, but I did notunderstand what that meant and
why that was important on thejourney.
I know that that was somethingI had to do, but I didn't know
what it meant.
And so when I say join acommunity.
(06:08):
Here are some examples.
So I belong to a couple ofcoworking spaces.
The coworking spaces arespecific niche spaces.
Particularly the one I'm in isspecifically for creative.
So I got to meet other peoplethat were creative like me, that
have connection, all types ofconnections.
They do events, they donetworking events, they do, you
(06:28):
know, including the membershipis just all of these things that
allowed me to meet more people,and nothing moves without
people.
You have to have people on thisjourney, you just have to.
Also, what I mean by communitiesthere's like a lot of
influencers on Instagram andthere are all types of people
that just have all types ofprograms with communities.
You need to join them and I'mnot saying to spend thousands of
(06:53):
dollars on them.
I'm in one community that is $5a month I'm sure everybody has
$5 a month and this particularcommunity it's called Night Owl
Nation and it teaches you how tobecome a better storyteller.
If you're building a brand andyou're I don't know trying to
sell people your online courseor your coaching thing or
(07:14):
whatever it is, you need to knowhow to tell a story.
You need to know how to tellthe story behind the thing
you've created, the story behindwhy you even want to build a
brand.
So the program that I am in isnot just for writers, it's for
everybody, right?
And in that community there's alot of different people that
I've connected with in theonline space.
(07:34):
You know, I've actually met oneof the members the other day in
person for coffee, and they'reentrepreneur and we can help
each other on the path.
And so you need to get intocommunities of people that are
not academics, which is why inthe Power, your Research program
, I connect people.
There's a community I connect.
(07:55):
Being in academia is a mindset,right?
They teach you a particularmindset that is in direct
opposition to the mindset ofwhat an entrepreneur has, and
you only learn that by being inother communities.
This is how I know thatacademics don't charge enough
(08:19):
for speaking engagements,because I'm in other communities
with people who don't have PhDsand master's degrees that
charge way more.
It's actually kind of sad, butyou need to get out of one
community into another tounderstand that, all right.
So those are the three waysthat I would suggest for you to
(08:39):
start building your brand.
If you are an academic tryingto figure all of this stuff out,
start setting up meetings withpeople, hire a coach, join some
communities outside of academia,so I hope this helps.
If you have any questions, letme know you.
If you're building a brand and you're I don't know
trying to sell people youronline course or your coaching
thing or whatever it is, youneed to know how to tell a story
.
You need to know how to tellthe story behind the thing
you've created, the story behindwhy you even want to build a
brand.
So the program that I am in isnot just for writers, it's for
everybody.
I don't want my work to bestuck behind an academic paywall
(00:35):
.
I want to leave a legacy, Iwant to reach my potential and I
want to change lives.
This podcast, power yourResearch, is my attempt to help
the smartest people in the worlddo that very thing.
My hope is that you use thelessons I share to make more
money than what your higher edjob can ever pay you.
I've done it, my clients havedone it, and so can you.
(00:58):
My hope is that you'll applywhat you learn here and one day
join the Power your Researchprogram, where you can work with
me one-on-one.
The title is the Best WayAcademics Can Learn to Build
their Brand, and I teach threemain buckets in terms of
(01:22):
building your brand how toincrease your visibility,
authority and income, incomebeing the key piece, because
building a brand is notsustainable unless you're making
a lot of money doing it.
By a lot, I mean at least sixfigures.
There are three very, very,very important things if you're
struggling on your brandbuilding journey.
(01:45):
Since there's so much freeinformation out here on YouTube
and all of that good stuff, it'shard to make sense of what you
should be doing and when youshould be doing it, and if your
followership is not where it is.
Sometimes you try things and itdoesn't work, or someone
promises you a three-step systemand you do that system and then
it doesn't work, and it couldbe super frustrating and
(02:07):
confusing, and I don't want youto give up.
So here are three things that Iam going to tell you to do to
help you, as an academic, buildyour brand.
As it relates to those threebuckets increasing your
visibility, authority and incomeso the first thing is actually
taking initiative to go meetpeople outside of academe.
Now, this might sound obvious,but most of us are not doing
(02:31):
that.
So when I first started withbuilding the Power, your
Research company, I started tojust reach out to people on
LinkedIn that were doing some ofthe things I wanted to do, and
I asked to meet with them and Iwould send a message and I would
be honest hey, I see thatyou're an academic coach or an
entrepreneur or you have anonprofit and it looks like your
(02:52):
business is doing really well.
I see that you've been in yourfield for a long time.
I'm just starting this company.
I have no idea what I'm doingand I would love to just jump on
a call with you and I wouldsend them the link to my
Calendly.
Calendly is free.
You can have a free account andstart setting up 30 minute
meetings with people who arealready doing the thing you want
to do.
(03:12):
And because I was doing that sofrequently and, by the way,
when I would meet with people, Iwould say hey, I have one final
question for you.
What's one piece of advice youwould give me in terms of
entrepreneurship?
So I'd always ask at the end ofthe call, and so I would just
meet, like I would meet withpeople that own finance
companies, all types of things.
Because I'm an academic, I havea PhD, my business knowledge
(03:36):
started at zero and sometimes Ithink, because we think we have
a PhD, we can like just go doanything and you can, but you
actually have to learn how to doit, and so, because I was
meeting just all of these peopleon these Zoom meetings, they
started to connect me to otherpeople, and then that's how I
found my business coach and theUpscale your Business program.
That is the marketing agencythat makes a lot of my things
(03:58):
work.
So that leads me to the secondpoint, which is hire a coach.
There are a lot of coaches outhere selling a lot of things, so
what I'll say about hiring acoach is they're going to help
you to reach the goals you wantto reach, because they've done
it before.
I've recorded multiple videosof how to choose a coach,
because they are not all madethe same.
Just because someone's doingthe things you want to do does
(04:20):
not mean they know how to teachyou how to do it.
This is super important.
You need to hire a coach thatknows how to teach people to get
results.
So, as an academic going onthis entrepreneurship journey
because building a brand isentrepreneurship, getting media
coverage, visibility andincreasing your income is
entrepreneurship you need towork with a coach that's going
(04:41):
to show you how to do it,particularly the monetization
piece.
But if you're trying to buildyour brand, a coach that
understands how to get mediacoverage and visibility.
Hey everyone, real quick.
I don't run any ads on thispodcast, so I have to rely on
word of mouth.
If this podcast has helped youin any way, please share it with
a friend and follow me, drSheena Howard, on LinkedIn,
(05:04):
where I give more free contenton building your brand as an
academic.
If you tell me you came to myLinkedIn from the podcast, I'll
make sure I accept your request.
And then the third thing youneed to do is get into different
communities not related toacademe, because, particularly
(05:27):
for my tenure track and tenureprofessors, your community is
just the campus or theconferences that you go to every
year, and none of those peopleare entrepreneurs.
But the 99.9% of your academicpeople don't have big brands.
We're not taught to do this.
So when I say join communities,I would hear successful people
(05:47):
talk about going to mastermindgroups and joining communities,
and I got it intellectually Likeokay, yes, I know I need to
join a community, but I did notunderstand what that meant and
why that was important on thejourney.
I know that that was somethingI had to do, but I didn't know
what it meant.
And so when I say join acommunity.
(06:08):
Here are some examples.
So I belong to a couple ofcoworking spaces.
The coworking spaces arespecific niche spaces.
Particularly the one I'm in isspecifically for creative.
So I got to meet other peoplethat were creative like me, that
have connection, all types ofconnections.
They do events, they donetworking events, they do, you
(06:28):
know, including the membershipis just all of these things that
allowed me to meet more people,and nothing moves without
people.
You have to have people on thisjourney, you just have to.
Also, what I mean by communitiesthere's like a lot of
influencers on Instagram andthere are all types of people
that just have all types ofprograms with communities.
You need to join them and I'mnot saying to spend thousands of
(06:53):
dollars on them.
I'm in one community that is $5a month I'm sure everybody has
$5 a month and this particularcommunity it's called Night Owl
Nation and it teaches you how tobecome a better storyteller.
If you're building a brand andyou're I don't know trying to
sell people your online courseor your coaching thing or
(07:14):
whatever it is, you need to knowhow to tell a story.
You need to know how to tellthe story behind the thing
you've created, the story behindwhy you even want to build a
brand.
So the program that I am in isnot just for writers, it's for
everybody, right?
And in that community there's alot of different people that
I've connected with in theonline space.
(07:34):
You know, I've actually met oneof the members the other day in
person for coffee, and they'reentrepreneur and we can help
each other on the path.
And so you need to get intocommunities of people that are
not academics, which is why inthe Power, your Research program
, I connect people.
There's a community I connect.
(07:55):
Being in academia is a mindset,right?
They teach you a particularmindset that is in direct
opposition to the mindset ofwhat an entrepreneur has, and
you only learn that by being inother communities.
This is how I know thatacademics don't charge enough
(08:19):
for speaking engagements,because I'm in other communities
with people who don't have PhDsand master's degrees that
charge way more.
It's actually kind of sad, butyou need to get out of one
community into another tounderstand that, all right.
So those are the three waysthat I would suggest for you to
(08:39):
start building your brand.
If you are an academic tryingto figure all of this stuff out,
start setting up meetings withpeople, hire a coach, join some
communities outside of academia,so I hope this helps.
If you have any questions, letme know you.
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