May 20, 2025 • 23 mins
If you want to build a meaningful personal brand online you need authenticity, gratitude, and a few other strategies. I discuss them in this episode with my guest, Vladimer Botsvadze.
Vladimer came to the United States on a work visa in 2006. He eventually moved to New York City, the best melting pot in the world. In NYC Vladimir realized how important it is to build a personal brand. He started rubbing shoulders with successful people and left no stone unturned. Vladimer became a lifelong learner, reading 400+ pages a day and working 16 hours a day. He built Twitter/X followers from zero to 57,000 in a year because he’s an authentic storyteller that loves to provide value.
The Starting Point of Creating a Meaningful Online Brand
Start small, build gradually for the long term, and give more than you take. You have an iPhone at your fingertips; you can easily record videos and upload them to YouTube to share your knowledge and your journey with your audience. Steve Jobs said the most powerful person in the world is a storyteller. He also said people that know what they are talking about don’t need PowerPoint. Be on different social media channels, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Remember, great oaks grow from small acorns. Long term thinkers give more than they take by sharing content that is in their followers’ best interests.
Many people that connect with you on LinkedIn send sales pitches. People don’t pay attention to those pitches. They pay attention to value.
How to Provide More Value to Your Social Media Audience
Give away your best advice for free. Vladimir has never charged his followers for “picking his brain”. He leads by example, not by titles. That is one of the things that sets him apart from the rest of the herd. A majority of executives lead by their titles. Gary V. leads by example, Tim Ferris leads by example because they are self-made success stories. Both are examples of why you should never give up. There is always light at the end of the tunnel if you are positive and see the glass half full.
Inspiration Along the Way
It doesn’t matter where you were born, your background or your education. If you take massive, strategic action you will succeed. Vladimer was born in Georgia and dreaming about experiencing the Western world. In the nineties he was burning the midnight oil and pursuing his dream. Now he’s a global citizen. He loves instilling confidence in other people. If he can do it, anybody can do it.
Establishing and Building Your Reputation
You start to build a robust personal brand by showing gratitude. When people leave you comments or like your social media posts you should respond to them and thank them. Vladimir did and still does consistently express gratitude to his followers. He brought and brings his followers together which built and further builds his personal brand which translates to his personal success including hundreds of endorsements on LinkedIn. He treats his followers as his friends.
You need to consistently create great content. That means creating content with authenticity, compassion, and devotion. Vladimir shares his authentic story with the world. That helps him build emotional connections with his followers.
A Cohesive Strategy for Building Your Personal Brand
You need to have a presence across a variety of social media channels. You need to create content consistently. You need to interact with your audience because a majority of people don’t consistently interact with their audiences and hence, they don’t grow their audiences. Then they complain that they have never built their personal brands because they almost never interacted. They get on their high horse while Vladimir does the opposite; he shows up and is down to earth.
You need to be curious on a daily basis. You need to collaborate with influencers. When he began his social media journey in 2014 he had the foresight to interact with big brands.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Idea Climbing podcast. If you
wanna build a meaningful personal brand online, you
need authenticity,
gratitude, and a few other strategies.
I discussed them in this episode with my
guest, Vladimir Botsvad.
Vladimir has become one of the world's top
speakers on technology. He has been booked by
Startup Grind, Digital Talk Forum,
(00:21):
AI Conversational
Summit, the Global Marketing Summit, and more. He
has earned a reputation as a standout speaker
on AI marketing and branding.
We dive into topics such as the biggest
difference between traditional
marketing and social media marketing,
how to embrace the golden age of one
on one marketing, the four components of today's
social media landscape, and how to leverage them
(00:42):
to build your personal brand, and more golden
nuggets of advice. You're gonna love this show.
Vladimir, thank you for making time to be
on the idea climbing podcast. I really appreciate
you.
Hi, Mark. It is a delight to be
a guest on your podcast. I I, you
(01:03):
know, we are on the same wavelength. I
truly enjoyed our pre call. I'm going to
share, so much with your audience today, you
know. Yeah. Just to get started, we're gonna
be talking about how solopreneurs,
entrepreneurs,
coaches, consultants can build
a meaningful key here, meaningful presence on social
media when it comes to personal branding.
Before we get into the tips, tip, tricks,
(01:25):
and strategies,
as far as your story,
what's your story? How did you get so
good at personal branding that you now speak
about it all over the world?
Yeah. So, Mark, it is a great question.
Thank you. I believe I'm a practitioner. I'm
a storyteller. I'm a long term thinker.
I build community. I brought my followers together.
(01:46):
In my community,
my followers used to make strong bonds. It
is a deep big difference between
audience and community. You know? So as I
show my heart, my smile, my face, my
passion, my compassion,
It has allowed me to build their robust
personal brands on a shoestring budget, Mark. I
only had $4,000
(02:07):
in twenty sixteen, seventeen.
I built my website with my whole heart.
Whole heart. I built my website from my
heart, not from my head. It has made
all the difference. And when you Google nowadays,
digital marketing keynote speaker,
my website, latin air botorte dot com, is
now number one on Google because I earn
trust.
(02:27):
Business worth trust.
So I have I come from Georgia. I
moved to The United States when I was,
eighteen two thousand six. I, got work permit
from the state department.
I had a j one visa. I enrolled
in a summer exchange work and travel program.
I had a week training in Washington DC
area. I worked then I worked in Manassas,
Virginia, 20 5 Minutes drive from Washington DC.
(02:50):
After two months, I moved to,
New York City, the,
the best melting pot in the world. I
started seeing the world faster, easier, clearer,
and, I realized in New York City how
important it it is to build a personal
brand.
I started
rubbing shoulders with successful people. I hitched my
wagon to a star. I, left no stone
(03:11):
unturned.
I pushed off education. I followed Warren Buffett's
advice to start reading 400 to 500 pages
a day as you become a lifelong learner.
No excuses. No excuses.
It's the last in the last nine nineteen
years, this business world, whoever is listening to
me now and watching me now should know
that I worked sixteen hours a day in
(03:32):
the last nineteen years. So nowadays,
I'm in a catbird seat. I have so
many advantages. I have so many irises of
fire because I'm a storyteller,
and I'm authentic,
and, I love providing value. So,
I also pursued my,
masters. I also lived in
(03:52):
UK, in The UAE.
I mean, I now work with Abu Dhabi
SME Hub as a mentor.
I mean, from 2014 to 2020, I was
building my Twitter from four zero followers built
to 57,000
followers. I want to reaward 2015,
number 65, b to b marketing influencer Bioanalytical.
'20 '17, among top hundred, virtual rate influencers.
(04:15):
20,
18, among top hundred, digital,
digital transformation influencer. Twenty nineteen, SYNCAS three sixty,
the first open platform for global retailers, recognized
me as number six global
AI influencer.
In 2020,
Pinnacle Pinnacle,
Mark, number one Bysynch s two sixteen. Marketing,
Bysynch,
(04:36):
worldwide. You know? Number one, global marketing software,
Bysynch s two three.
Pineckel twenty twenty one, Georgia.
At Digital Revolution Awards in The UK, I
was featured in Forbes in 2021.
'20 '20 '2, I was a guest on
20 podcast, 2023,
a judge for the Webby Awards and mentor
at Techstars,
(04:56):
and 2024.
I mean, I I, amongst the world's top
21 AI speakers by AI speakers agency
alongside,
OpenAI sales, Sam Altman. I gained momentum. I
have made breakthrough.
I have given a 50%
day in and day out, and I think
it will sets me apart. My practicality,
(05:17):
my long term thinking, my patience,
my storytelling,
my,
curiosities,
drive,
active listening, and, social leadership, Mark, you know.
So So with everything you've done, if someone's
watching and listening right now and they're thinking,
you know, I I have at least a
basic presence on social media.
What would you tell them if they say,
(05:38):
I have a basic presence, but I want
I wanna ramp it up. I wanna take
it to the next level. What's the starting
point?
As they they should start small, build gradually,
sync long term.
They need to give more than they take.
I'm I have given more than I have
taken. That is what has built my personal
brand, Mark. I'm a giver, not a taker,
(05:58):
you know. I provide value.
So,
nowadays, you can, you have iPhone at your
fingertips. You can record some videos.
Hit record. Hit save. Upload to YouTube. And
literally, 2019,
'20 '20, I uploaded 45 videos,
Mark, about my first time experience as a
social media influencer. So I was sharing my
(06:21):
knowledge, my experience with my audience,
as a social media influencer. You know?
So it has made all the difference because
I have told my stories, you know? So
this you know what, Steve Jobs said? The
most powerful person in the world is a
storyteller, you know? And another great quote by
Steve Jobs is that people who know what
(06:43):
they are talking about, they don't need PowerPoint.
So I don't need PowerPoint presentation and slides,
to read anything from slides because I allow
marketing more than bridging. I allow marketing more
than bridging. I allow technology. I love my
audience more than my life.
It is because I show my heart and,
literally, if anyone wants to build their robust
(07:05):
personal brand, they should
put their x into different baskets, not only
on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a drop in the
ocean, but also on,
x. They need to,
also,
focus on Instagram, YouTube,
TikTok,
Medium, you know? There are so many ways.
There are so many channels,
(07:26):
Mark. So I believe putting x into different
baskets, you know. I bear in mind that
a great ox grow from smaller cause. So
if they show patience, if they are
long term thinkers, if they give more than
they take, if they share content that is
in followers' best interest, not in their best
interest. Because majority of people are salespeople
(07:48):
when they connect with you on LinkedIn and
they send you sales pitches. So nobody cares.
Nobody
nobody pays attention to salespeople
because I don't have time to respond everyone's
sales pitch on LinkedIn, you know.
So what do they pay attention to? When
you say provide value, what do you mean?
Provide value. I think you need to give
away your best advice for free, Mark, you
(08:09):
know. I I have never charged my followers
for picking my brain, you know? But,
I lead by example not by titles. It
it is what sets me apart, Mark, you
know?
Majority of executives
lead by
titles. I lead by example.
Gary v leads by example. Tim Ferris lead
by example.
(08:30):
Leads by example. Do you know why? Because
Tim Ferris is self made. Tim Ferris is
a self made, you know? He made a
comeback.
He made a he he has become New
York time's
best selling author, you know? Because because
because, you know, why? Because he made a
comeback. Do you know Tim Ferriss story. Right?
Yes. Yes. Yeah. So it is a best
(08:52):
example of that you should never give up.
You should never give up, you know? There
is always light at the end of the
tunnel. If you are positive, if you see
the glass half full rather than half empty.
I have always seen glass
half full, Mark. You know? I'm optimistic. I
I believe that optimistic people create a brighter
(09:13):
future. You know?
So what example are you setting and do
you strive to to show the world?
Well, first of all, it does not matter,
where you were born. What is your background?
What is your education? If you take action,
you will succeed. You will go move forward.
You will reach new heights. You will move
up in the world, gain ground, go places.
(09:33):
So my example that I was born in
Georgia,
and I was dreaming about experiencing the Western
world in nineties
when I was burning the midnight oil. I
was
the most diligent kid. And,
God helped me that I opened The United
States door in 02/2006,
and I have become a global citizen in
(09:54):
02/2006
in New York City, New York City.
And since then that, the reason that why
I'm a guest on your podcast today is
that I'm a global citizen because I love
people, because I have, I I have, friends
all over the world, you know, because I
love I I would love to instill confidence
in other people. So if I can do
it, anybody can do it, you know.
(10:17):
So once you establish a presence, how do
you maintain it? Because it's easy to become
a blip on the radar and get really
popular really really quick and just fade away.
How do you maintain a presence once you've
built it?
It's all about show first, you start building
a robust personal brand by showing gratitude, Mark.
By showing gratitude. So when people
(10:37):
leave comments, they like your tweets, your posts,
and,
they appreciate your content. You should
show gratitude,
you know? So as I as I have
consistently,
I I consistently showed gratitude to my followers,
someone from Vancouver, Chicago,
LA,
San Francisco,
New York, Berlin, London, Stockholm, Istanbul,
(11:01):
Singapore,
Hong Kong, Sydney, paid attention to my content.
I was showing my heart. I was showing
my smile. I was showing my passion, my
compassion. I was educating audiences. So I brought
my followers together on Twitter.
So it build my personal brand.
It, it it has translate translated to my
(11:22):
success.
I have earned thousand endorsements on LinkedIn just
because I have built a robot personal brand
on Twitter. Just imagine that I have been
recommended by top executives from Mastercard, PepsiCo,
AC Milan, and big brands.
Because why? Because I lead by example, you
know. So I think the, you also need
(11:43):
to consistently create great content, you know.
So be building community. I was treating my
followers as my friends, you know, Mark.
So what you did you just mentioned you
have to make great content. What is the
criteria
for great content? What is it?
First of all,
you know, I you know, great content, it
(12:05):
means that I record five, ten minutes videos
through my iPhone x without audio engineers, without
audio,
video and audio engineers and editors, and I
upload to YouTube, and I take the speaking
world by storm. It is authenticity. It is
passion. It is devotion. It is commitment. You
know? Said, that, I share my authentic story
(12:28):
with the world that, you know, they love
beating a pass to my door that I
work now with 20 certified speakers bureaus. I'm
a mentor at Techstars. I'm a judge for
the Webby Awards. I'm a mentor at UCLA
Anderson, UCLA Innovation Enterprise. I have been going
from sexual strength because why? Because I have
shared authentic stories. Right? So I have built
emotional connection with my followers to put in
(12:49):
a nutshell, Mark. You know?
So you you you've touched on a lot
of individual points when it comes to building
a personal brand. What kind of type of
strategy? Maybe three steps to do it, whatever
it might be. What is a a cohesive
strategy for building a personal brand look like
to you?
Yeah. Okay. So so so as I mentioned
(13:10):
that you need to have your presence across
various social media channels. You need to create
content consistently.
You need to interact with your audience because
majority don't don't interact, they don't build.
And then they, complain that they have never
built their personal brand because why? They never
interacted. They, they wear on their high horse.
I'm opposite. I am down to earth. I
(13:31):
am down to earth. You know? So it
is a much difference. It is a wealth
of difference between being on your high horse
and not to to interact with your audience
and being down to airs to communicate and
show gratitude to your followers. It is what
has built my personal brand, you know. So
I think you you also need to be
curious on a daily basis. You need to
collaborate with influencers, you know. So in 2014,
(13:54):
when I started my whole journey, do you
remember Cloud Score?
Oh my gosh. That was yes.
So my Cloud Score, Mark, was 58 in
2014,
and I was working with the vengeance.
I was putting out hundred hundred pieces of
content across 18 social media channels every single
day. My cloud score reached eighteen twenty eighteen
(14:16):
because I was consistent, because I was pushing,
because I was living still no unturned. So
I was I mean, you know, I was
retweeted by economist.
I was I have been,
recommend I mean, praised by American Airlines. I
was interactive with big brands, Mark, you know?
So as I was interactive
(14:36):
with big brands, my cloud score,
was going through the roof. You know?
Well, you mentioned not getting on a high
horse. As you get more popular, you build
a strong personal brand, people start to recognize
you. How do you keep your ego in
check and not get on a high horse
like so many people do?
Yeah. It is exactly because you need to
be down to earth. You need to be
(14:57):
curious. You need to improve your,
product,
in real time,
Mark. So one on one marketing, Mark. It
is a golden age of one on one
marketing. You know? So social media. Social media
is a two way communication.
Traditional marketing is a one way communication. And
the reason why
62% of four to 500 brands disappeared since
(15:19):
2,000 on the list is that because they
did not adapt to the reality of the
marketplace. You know? So when I was working
in Manassas, Virginia,
02/2006,
'20 '5 minutes driving from Washington DC,
you know, the board members, smart people who
make billions of dollars, they said in the
board in 02/2006, they discussed, you know, we
are not going to buy Netflix for $50,000,000.
(15:42):
They disregard the consumers. They invested all their
money, bitcoin, look at the dicing. They went
out of business because adaptability,
real time listening business, any business, whether I
build my personal brand or they they run
their companies,
they need to be in the listening business,
Mark. Listening business. But majority
is 62%
of 4,500 brands disappeared since February.
(16:04):
They were broadcasters
broadcasters.
They used to send this one size fits
all marketing messaging.
Every channel that was disrespectful
to end users, so they ended up going
out of business. So social media
is a reactionary business. It's all about listening
and responding.
Listening and responding. As Elon Musk responds to
(16:25):
Tesla's owners, and for example, is the last
fifteen years,
echo echo I think as of,
December 2024, visual cap according to visual capitalists,
Tesla's
market share
was $1,400,000,000,000,
and, Toyota
was at $231,000,000,000.
(16:46):
Why? Because Elon Musk
improved,
Tesla's product in real time in the last
fifteen years without a dedicated,
advertising department. Of course, Tesla spent some millions
on advertising 02/2324,
but is the last,
fifty, year from 2010 to 2023.
(17:06):
Tesla spent $0 on advertising. So,
how many followers,
does Elon Musk have? More than two two
hundred million followers. Tesla does not need an
advertising department. So real time real time product
development is everything. It is a golden age.
One on one marketing, Mark. Only only few
(17:26):
entrepreneurs
understand the importance of one on one marketing.
One on one marketing. Majority.
Majority. Majority of entrepreneurs
are,
does they depend on advertising?
But open minded people, open
minded, forward thinkers who have a feedback loop,
they,
improve their products in real time as Brian
(17:48):
Chesky of Airbnb,
Elon Musk of Tesla,
Daniel Ekoff, Spotify. These entrepreneurs
are forward thinkers, you know?
Well, we've been talking about a lot, but
can you break down what make what are
the components of a good personal brand?
What are the components? So you need to
have your website of also, you know, because
(18:10):
because you you you invited me on your
podcast because you checked out my website, you
checked out my Twitter, you checked out my
LinkedIn. Right? You checked out my Instagram. So,
this,
ingredients, these channels allowed me to be a
guest on your podcast. Right? Mhmm.
Okay. So if if, people have their presence
only on LinkedIn, it doesn't work, you know,
(18:32):
because they say that a mouse that has
one hold is quickly taken, Mark.
Mhmm.
Yeah. So you need to have several channels.
You need to have you need to have
presence on several channels in order to maximize
your success. You know? So I think you
need to be curious. You need to have
your podcast. You need to position your personal
(18:52):
brand as a media company, Mark, media company.
You need to become the greatest publisher of
information, and you need to start,
competing with the biggest media companies because,
you need to be a a media company
instead of being an advertiser. You know?
So it's if if I hear you right,
even with bigger companies, it's about personal in
(19:12):
a personal brand. It's having
that personal touch, the personal one on one
outreach, not just advertising. Look how good we
are. Would that be right?
Yes. Because
as you know, trust,
in businesses, brands, and advertising has declined fifteen
years in a row. More than 1,000,000,000 consumers
have ad blockers. Nobody sees,
(19:33):
believes and trust those ads because advertising steals
our time.
We are in the streaming economy nowadays, and
we watch Netflix, and we watch no ads.
We listen to Spotify, and we listen no
ads. Amazon Prime, no ads. Disney plus, no
ads. Audiobooks, no ads. Podcast, no ads. Just
imagine that consumers are willing to pay more
not to consume ads. You know? So I
(19:55):
think the best deal in advertising is buying
Super Bowl ads, but I think Super Bowl
is a best ad. But,
in other cases, it's all about building authenticity.
Authenticity.
So if you want to be authentic, if
you'd if you need to have
direct communication,
eyeballs eyeballs and ears of our consumers
are going in different places, Mark. You know?
(20:17):
So
where where where consumers attention was in 2022,
nowadays, consume consumers attention is across other social
media channels. So consumer behavior is evolving rapidly.
You know? So
Internet Internet is a biggest culture sheet of
all time. So,
what is what is what is marketing today?
(20:38):
It's all about supply,
demand, attention, and storytelling. You know?
Well, we have covered a lot of ground
in a short period of time. When it
comes to building a meaningful personal brand on
social media, if you were to tell someone
listening or watching right now, if you do
above all else, at least do this one
thing, at least do this. What would you
tell them to do?
(21:01):
Sync long term. Not short term or medium,
long term. You know? Why? Because I reinvested
my last dollar into my website,
latimirbatsonade.com
in 2023.
Nowadays, Mark, if you Google if you Google
digital marketing keynote speaker, my website, VladimirBotswana.com,
is number one on Google. Number one. My
(21:22):
my website is I have built from my
heart, not not from my head. Majority
build their personal brand from their heads. They
don't succeed. They are on page seven, page
nine, page 10, page 15. But I have
built my personal brand from my heart. It
has made all the difference. Now if you
Google
digital marketing keynote speaker, my website lattebaypoisson.com
(21:43):
is now on page one because I have
built my personal brand from my heart. It
has made all the difference. You know?
That is awesome. If people wanna find it,
no. There's a lot of place we could
go, but if you could keep it to,
like, maybe two, maybe three. If someone wants
to find you online, where's the best place
or places to go?
Where people can check out my information?
(22:05):
Yes.
Yeah. So,
I think they can visit me at VladimirBoswade.com
as I mentioned.
They, can visit me on LinkedIn at Vladimir
Boswade. I'm open to new connections.
I I'm also on x Twitter, Vladimir Bozwazi,
and, Instagram at Vladimir Bozwazi. If they want
to check out my recent news, they can
(22:26):
also,
check out my medium. You know? So as
I as I speak at Global UNS, I'm
a I mentor
startups, I I'm a big guest on podcast.
I always create,
a blog post about my,
recent news, you know.
Thank you very much, Vladimir. I appreciate you
making the time for this. Thank you, Mark.
Thank you. I wish all the best.
(22:49):
And scene.
Thank you for joining us today. I hope
you enjoyed the episode. I also hope that
you'll subscribe to the Idea Climbing podcast and
rate us on iTunes.
Visit ideaclimbing.com
to learn more about Idea Climbing and hear
more episodes about mentoring,
marketing, and big ideas.
Welcome to the Idea Climbing podcast. If you
wanna build a meaningful personal brand online, you
need authenticity,
gratitude, and a few other strategies.
I discussed them in this episode with my
guest, Vladimir Botsvad.
Vladimir has become one of the world's top
speakers on technology. He has been booked by
Startup Grind, Digital Talk Forum,
(00:21):
AI Conversational
Summit, the Global Marketing Summit, and more. He
has earned a reputation as a standout speaker
on AI marketing and branding.
We dive into topics such as the biggest
difference between traditional
marketing and social media marketing,
how to embrace the golden age of one
on one marketing, the four components of today's
social media landscape, and how to leverage them
(00:42):
to build your personal brand, and more golden
nuggets of advice. You're gonna love this show.
Vladimir, thank you for making time to be
on the idea climbing podcast. I really appreciate
you.
Hi, Mark. It is a delight to be
a guest on your podcast. I I, you
(01:03):
know, we are on the same wavelength. I
truly enjoyed our pre call. I'm going to
share, so much with your audience today, you
know. Yeah. Just to get started, we're gonna
be talking about how solopreneurs,
entrepreneurs,
coaches, consultants can build
a meaningful key here, meaningful presence on social
media when it comes to personal branding.
Before we get into the tips, tip, tricks,
(01:25):
and strategies,
as far as your story,
what's your story? How did you get so
good at personal branding that you now speak
about it all over the world?
Yeah. So, Mark, it is a great question.
Thank you. I believe I'm a practitioner. I'm
a storyteller. I'm a long term thinker.
I build community. I brought my followers together.
(01:46):
In my community,
my followers used to make strong bonds. It
is a deep big difference between
audience and community. You know? So as I
show my heart, my smile, my face, my
passion, my compassion,
It has allowed me to build their robust
personal brands on a shoestring budget, Mark. I
only had $4,000
(02:07):
in twenty sixteen, seventeen.
I built my website with my whole heart.
Whole heart. I built my website from my
heart, not from my head. It has made
all the difference. And when you Google nowadays,
digital marketing keynote speaker,
my website, latin air botorte dot com, is
now number one on Google because I earn
trust.
(02:27):
Business worth trust.
So I have I come from Georgia. I
moved to The United States when I was,
eighteen two thousand six. I, got work permit
from the state department.
I had a j one visa. I enrolled
in a summer exchange work and travel program.
I had a week training in Washington DC
area. I worked then I worked in Manassas,
Virginia, 20 5 Minutes drive from Washington DC.
(02:50):
After two months, I moved to,
New York City, the,
the best melting pot in the world. I
started seeing the world faster, easier, clearer,
and, I realized in New York City how
important it it is to build a personal
brand.
I started
rubbing shoulders with successful people. I hitched my
wagon to a star. I, left no stone
(03:11):
unturned.
I pushed off education. I followed Warren Buffett's
advice to start reading 400 to 500 pages
a day as you become a lifelong learner.
No excuses. No excuses.
It's the last in the last nine nineteen
years, this business world, whoever is listening to
me now and watching me now should know
that I worked sixteen hours a day in
(03:32):
the last nineteen years. So nowadays,
I'm in a catbird seat. I have so
many advantages. I have so many irises of
fire because I'm a storyteller,
and I'm authentic,
and, I love providing value. So,
I also pursued my,
masters. I also lived in
(03:52):
UK, in The UAE.
I mean, I now work with Abu Dhabi
SME Hub as a mentor.
I mean, from 2014 to 2020, I was
building my Twitter from four zero followers built
to 57,000
followers. I want to reaward 2015,
number 65, b to b marketing influencer Bioanalytical.
'20 '17, among top hundred, virtual rate influencers.
(04:15):
20,
18, among top hundred, digital,
digital transformation influencer. Twenty nineteen, SYNCAS three sixty,
the first open platform for global retailers, recognized
me as number six global
AI influencer.
In 2020,
Pinnacle Pinnacle,
Mark, number one Bysynch s two sixteen. Marketing,
Bysynch,
(04:36):
worldwide. You know? Number one, global marketing software,
Bysynch s two three.
Pineckel twenty twenty one, Georgia.
At Digital Revolution Awards in The UK, I
was featured in Forbes in 2021.
'20 '20 '2, I was a guest on
20 podcast, 2023,
a judge for the Webby Awards and mentor
at Techstars,
(04:56):
and 2024.
I mean, I I, amongst the world's top
21 AI speakers by AI speakers agency
alongside,
OpenAI sales, Sam Altman. I gained momentum. I
have made breakthrough.
I have given a 50%
day in and day out, and I think
it will sets me apart. My practicality,
(05:17):
my long term thinking, my patience,
my storytelling,
my,
curiosities,
drive,
active listening, and, social leadership, Mark, you know.
So So with everything you've done, if someone's
watching and listening right now and they're thinking,
you know, I I have at least a
basic presence on social media.
What would you tell them if they say,
(05:38):
I have a basic presence, but I want
I wanna ramp it up. I wanna take
it to the next level. What's the starting
point?
As they they should start small, build gradually,
sync long term.
They need to give more than they take.
I'm I have given more than I have
taken. That is what has built my personal
brand, Mark. I'm a giver, not a taker,
(05:58):
you know. I provide value.
So,
nowadays, you can, you have iPhone at your
fingertips. You can record some videos.
Hit record. Hit save. Upload to YouTube. And
literally, 2019,
'20 '20, I uploaded 45 videos,
Mark, about my first time experience as a
social media influencer. So I was sharing my
(06:21):
knowledge, my experience with my audience,
as a social media influencer. You know?
So it has made all the difference because
I have told my stories, you know? So
this you know what, Steve Jobs said? The
most powerful person in the world is a
storyteller, you know? And another great quote by
Steve Jobs is that people who know what
(06:43):
they are talking about, they don't need PowerPoint.
So I don't need PowerPoint presentation and slides,
to read anything from slides because I allow
marketing more than bridging. I allow marketing more
than bridging. I allow technology. I love my
audience more than my life.
It is because I show my heart and,
literally, if anyone wants to build their robust
(07:05):
personal brand, they should
put their x into different baskets, not only
on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a drop in the
ocean, but also on,
x. They need to,
also,
focus on Instagram, YouTube,
TikTok,
Medium, you know? There are so many ways.
There are so many channels,
(07:26):
Mark. So I believe putting x into different
baskets, you know. I bear in mind that
a great ox grow from smaller cause. So
if they show patience, if they are
long term thinkers, if they give more than
they take, if they share content that is
in followers' best interest, not in their best
interest. Because majority of people are salespeople
(07:48):
when they connect with you on LinkedIn and
they send you sales pitches. So nobody cares.
Nobody
nobody pays attention to salespeople
because I don't have time to respond everyone's
sales pitch on LinkedIn, you know.
So what do they pay attention to? When
you say provide value, what do you mean?
Provide value. I think you need to give
away your best advice for free, Mark, you
(08:09):
know. I I have never charged my followers
for picking my brain, you know? But,
I lead by example not by titles. It
it is what sets me apart, Mark, you
know?
Majority of executives
lead by
titles. I lead by example.
Gary v leads by example. Tim Ferris lead
by example.
(08:30):
Leads by example. Do you know why? Because
Tim Ferris is self made. Tim Ferris is
a self made, you know? He made a
comeback.
He made a he he has become New
York time's
best selling author, you know? Because because
because, you know, why? Because he made a
comeback. Do you know Tim Ferriss story. Right?
Yes. Yes. Yeah. So it is a best
(08:52):
example of that you should never give up.
You should never give up, you know? There
is always light at the end of the
tunnel. If you are positive, if you see
the glass half full rather than half empty.
I have always seen glass
half full, Mark. You know? I'm optimistic. I
I believe that optimistic people create a brighter
(09:13):
future. You know?
So what example are you setting and do
you strive to to show the world?
Well, first of all, it does not matter,
where you were born. What is your background?
What is your education? If you take action,
you will succeed. You will go move forward.
You will reach new heights. You will move
up in the world, gain ground, go places.
(09:33):
So my example that I was born in
Georgia,
and I was dreaming about experiencing the Western
world in nineties
when I was burning the midnight oil. I
was
the most diligent kid. And,
God helped me that I opened The United
States door in 02/2006,
and I have become a global citizen in
(09:54):
02/2006
in New York City, New York City.
And since then that, the reason that why
I'm a guest on your podcast today is
that I'm a global citizen because I love
people, because I have, I I have, friends
all over the world, you know, because I
love I I would love to instill confidence
in other people. So if I can do
it, anybody can do it, you know.
(10:17):
So once you establish a presence, how do
you maintain it? Because it's easy to become
a blip on the radar and get really
popular really really quick and just fade away.
How do you maintain a presence once you've
built it?
It's all about show first, you start building
a robust personal brand by showing gratitude, Mark.
By showing gratitude. So when people
(10:37):
leave comments, they like your tweets, your posts,
and,
they appreciate your content. You should
show gratitude,
you know? So as I as I have
consistently,
I I consistently showed gratitude to my followers,
someone from Vancouver, Chicago,
LA,
San Francisco,
New York, Berlin, London, Stockholm, Istanbul,
(11:01):
Singapore,
Hong Kong, Sydney, paid attention to my content.
I was showing my heart. I was showing
my smile. I was showing my passion, my
compassion. I was educating audiences. So I brought
my followers together on Twitter.
So it build my personal brand.
It, it it has translate translated to my
(11:22):
success.
I have earned thousand endorsements on LinkedIn just
because I have built a robot personal brand
on Twitter. Just imagine that I have been
recommended by top executives from Mastercard, PepsiCo,
AC Milan, and big brands.
Because why? Because I lead by example, you
know. So I think the, you also need
(11:43):
to consistently create great content, you know.
So be building community. I was treating my
followers as my friends, you know, Mark.
So what you did you just mentioned you
have to make great content. What is the
criteria
for great content? What is it?
First of all,
you know, I you know, great content, it
(12:05):
means that I record five, ten minutes videos
through my iPhone x without audio engineers, without
audio,
video and audio engineers and editors, and I
upload to YouTube, and I take the speaking
world by storm. It is authenticity. It is
passion. It is devotion. It is commitment. You
know? Said, that, I share my authentic story
(12:28):
with the world that, you know, they love
beating a pass to my door that I
work now with 20 certified speakers bureaus. I'm
a mentor at Techstars. I'm a judge for
the Webby Awards. I'm a mentor at UCLA
Anderson, UCLA Innovation Enterprise. I have been going
from sexual strength because why? Because I have
shared authentic stories. Right? So I have built
emotional connection with my followers to put in
(12:49):
a nutshell, Mark. You know?
So you you you've touched on a lot
of individual points when it comes to building
a personal brand. What kind of type of
strategy? Maybe three steps to do it, whatever
it might be. What is a a cohesive
strategy for building a personal brand look like
to you?
Yeah. Okay. So so so as I mentioned
(13:10):
that you need to have your presence across
various social media channels. You need to create
content consistently.
You need to interact with your audience because
majority don't don't interact, they don't build.
And then they, complain that they have never
built their personal brand because why? They never
interacted. They, they wear on their high horse.
I'm opposite. I am down to earth. I
(13:31):
am down to earth. You know? So it
is a much difference. It is a wealth
of difference between being on your high horse
and not to to interact with your audience
and being down to airs to communicate and
show gratitude to your followers. It is what
has built my personal brand, you know. So
I think you you also need to be
curious on a daily basis. You need to
collaborate with influencers, you know. So in 2014,
(13:54):
when I started my whole journey, do you
remember Cloud Score?
Oh my gosh. That was yes.
So my Cloud Score, Mark, was 58 in
2014,
and I was working with the vengeance.
I was putting out hundred hundred pieces of
content across 18 social media channels every single
day. My cloud score reached eighteen twenty eighteen
(14:16):
because I was consistent, because I was pushing,
because I was living still no unturned. So
I was I mean, you know, I was
retweeted by economist.
I was I have been,
recommend I mean, praised by American Airlines. I
was interactive with big brands, Mark, you know?
So as I was interactive
(14:36):
with big brands, my cloud score,
was going through the roof. You know?
Well, you mentioned not getting on a high
horse. As you get more popular, you build
a strong personal brand, people start to recognize
you. How do you keep your ego in
check and not get on a high horse
like so many people do?
Yeah. It is exactly because you need to
be down to earth. You need to be
(14:57):
curious. You need to improve your,
product,
in real time,
Mark. So one on one marketing, Mark. It
is a golden age of one on one
marketing. You know? So social media. Social media
is a two way communication.
Traditional marketing is a one way communication. And
the reason why
62% of four to 500 brands disappeared since
(15:19):
2,000 on the list is that because they
did not adapt to the reality of the
marketplace. You know? So when I was working
in Manassas, Virginia,
02/2006,
'20 '5 minutes driving from Washington DC,
you know, the board members, smart people who
make billions of dollars, they said in the
board in 02/2006, they discussed, you know, we
are not going to buy Netflix for $50,000,000.
(15:42):
They disregard the consumers. They invested all their
money, bitcoin, look at the dicing. They went
out of business because adaptability,
real time listening business, any business, whether I
build my personal brand or they they run
their companies,
they need to be in the listening business,
Mark. Listening business. But majority
is 62%
of 4,500 brands disappeared since February.
(16:04):
They were broadcasters
broadcasters.
They used to send this one size fits
all marketing messaging.
Every channel that was disrespectful
to end users, so they ended up going
out of business. So social media
is a reactionary business. It's all about listening
and responding.
Listening and responding. As Elon Musk responds to
(16:25):
Tesla's owners, and for example, is the last
fifteen years,
echo echo I think as of,
December 2024, visual cap according to visual capitalists,
Tesla's
market share
was $1,400,000,000,000,
and, Toyota
was at $231,000,000,000.
(16:46):
Why? Because Elon Musk
improved,
Tesla's product in real time in the last
fifteen years without a dedicated,
advertising department. Of course, Tesla spent some millions
on advertising 02/2324,
but is the last,
fifty, year from 2010 to 2023.
(17:06):
Tesla spent $0 on advertising. So,
how many followers,
does Elon Musk have? More than two two
hundred million followers. Tesla does not need an
advertising department. So real time real time product
development is everything. It is a golden age.
One on one marketing, Mark. Only only few
(17:26):
entrepreneurs
understand the importance of one on one marketing.
One on one marketing. Majority.
Majority. Majority of entrepreneurs
are,
does they depend on advertising?
But open minded people, open
minded, forward thinkers who have a feedback loop,
they,
improve their products in real time as Brian
(17:48):
Chesky of Airbnb,
Elon Musk of Tesla,
Daniel Ekoff, Spotify. These entrepreneurs
are forward thinkers, you know?
Well, we've been talking about a lot, but
can you break down what make what are
the components of a good personal brand?
What are the components? So you need to
have your website of also, you know, because
(18:10):
because you you you invited me on your
podcast because you checked out my website, you
checked out my Twitter, you checked out my
LinkedIn. Right? You checked out my Instagram. So,
this,
ingredients, these channels allowed me to be a
guest on your podcast. Right? Mhmm.
Okay. So if if, people have their presence
only on LinkedIn, it doesn't work, you know,
(18:32):
because they say that a mouse that has
one hold is quickly taken, Mark.
Mhmm.
Yeah. So you need to have several channels.
You need to have you need to have
presence on several channels in order to maximize
your success. You know? So I think you
need to be curious. You need to have
your podcast. You need to position your personal
(18:52):
brand as a media company, Mark, media company.
You need to become the greatest publisher of
information, and you need to start,
competing with the biggest media companies because,
you need to be a a media company
instead of being an advertiser. You know?
So it's if if I hear you right,
even with bigger companies, it's about personal in
(19:12):
a personal brand. It's having
that personal touch, the personal one on one
outreach, not just advertising. Look how good we
are. Would that be right?
Yes. Because
as you know, trust,
in businesses, brands, and advertising has declined fifteen
years in a row. More than 1,000,000,000 consumers
have ad blockers. Nobody sees,
(19:33):
believes and trust those ads because advertising steals
our time.
We are in the streaming economy nowadays, and
we watch Netflix, and we watch no ads.
We listen to Spotify, and we listen no
ads. Amazon Prime, no ads. Disney plus, no
ads. Audiobooks, no ads. Podcast, no ads. Just
imagine that consumers are willing to pay more
not to consume ads. You know? So I
(19:55):
think the best deal in advertising is buying
Super Bowl ads, but I think Super Bowl
is a best ad. But,
in other cases, it's all about building authenticity.
Authenticity.
So if you want to be authentic, if
you'd if you need to have
direct communication,
eyeballs eyeballs and ears of our consumers
are going in different places, Mark. You know?
(20:17):
So
where where where consumers attention was in 2022,
nowadays, consume consumers attention is across other social
media channels. So consumer behavior is evolving rapidly.
You know? So
Internet Internet is a biggest culture sheet of
all time. So,
what is what is what is marketing today?
(20:38):
It's all about supply,
demand, attention, and storytelling. You know?
Well, we have covered a lot of ground
in a short period of time. When it
comes to building a meaningful personal brand on
social media, if you were to tell someone
listening or watching right now, if you do
above all else, at least do this one
thing, at least do this. What would you
tell them to do?
(21:01):
Sync long term. Not short term or medium,
long term. You know? Why? Because I reinvested
my last dollar into my website,
latimirbatsonade.com
in 2023.
Nowadays, Mark, if you Google if you Google
digital marketing keynote speaker, my website, VladimirBotswana.com,
is number one on Google. Number one. My
(21:22):
my website is I have built from my
heart, not not from my head. Majority
build their personal brand from their heads. They
don't succeed. They are on page seven, page
nine, page 10, page 15. But I have
built my personal brand from my heart. It
has made all the difference. Now if you
digital marketing keynote speaker, my website lattebaypoisson.com
(21:43):
is now on page one because I have
built my personal brand from my heart. It
has made all the difference. You know?
That is awesome. If people wanna find it,
no. There's a lot of place we could
go, but if you could keep it to,
like, maybe two, maybe three. If someone wants
to find you online, where's the best place
or places to go?
Where people can check out my information?
(22:05):
Yes.
Yeah. So,
I think they can visit me at VladimirBoswade.com
as I mentioned.
They, can visit me on LinkedIn at Vladimir
Boswade. I'm open to new connections.
I I'm also on x Twitter, Vladimir Bozwazi,
and, Instagram at Vladimir Bozwazi. If they want
to check out my recent news, they can
(22:26):
also,
check out my medium. You know? So as
I as I speak at Global UNS, I'm
a I mentor
startups, I I'm a big guest on podcast.
I always create,
a blog post about my,
recent news, you know.
Thank you very much, Vladimir. I appreciate you
making the time for this. Thank you, Mark.
Thank you. I wish all the best.
(22:49):
And scene.
Thank you for joining us today. I hope
you enjoyed the episode. I also hope that
you'll subscribe to the Idea Climbing podcast and
rate us on iTunes.
Visit ideaclimbing.com
to learn more about Idea Climbing and hear
more episodes about mentoring,
marketing, and big ideas.
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