Brand First or Fade Out: Rich Kozak on Clarity, Purpose & Real Impact

Michael Whitehouse: [: 00:00:00

So that's what we're gonna be talking about, I think. But Rich, I'm gonna hand it over to you to tell us a bit about yourself, who you are, and then we're gonna launch right into this conversation.

Rich Kozak: Thanks Michael. Um, so for the last 49 years and I'm, there'll be a lot more years, uh, I have been defining and languaging brands and launching them many of those years, decades.

ng a large agency, uh, being [: 00:01:00

Show me what you want me to do. I'm ready. And I went into show me mode. Um, individuals asked me for their help eventually, and what I realized was helping individual in the same way we help big companies. It's the same process brand, but branding is a process. It's steps, but people don't know that. And, and they don't think that, but it's steps.

nted to impact, helped align [: 00:02:00

Their brand, their language, their messages, it aligns everything with the impacts. And so hence, uh, impact driven branding. Uh, the book is coming out, impact driven branding. Seven Steps to Ensure Your Brand impacts people's lives on the world. It's handing millions of entrepreneurs worldwide. The steps.

It's a process. And so unfortunately, people misperceive misunderstand and they think a brand is something that somebody else has to slap on them, and they have to become mm-hmm. Literally, branding done right comes from inside, and so it starts with what's in your heart and what the gifts you've been given.

. We'll live longer and live [: 00:03:00

So that's what's going on. Um, and you can call it branding or you can call it evolving. How you create, how you pr, how Pete, how you create the perception of you. 'cause it's the perception is your brand evolving. How you create that perception so that you can do what you love. For more years, you have longevity.

And you step into divine purpose. So I dunno if the phrase evolving your personal brand with deep clarity, that's probably missing longevity. So you can do what you love for more decades and divine purpose resonates with you. Keep listening and there's a lot of moving parts. Just like, I mean, you, I, I read all your emails that you cover a lot of bases.

Mm-hmm. [: 00:04:00

Michael Whitehouse: And I, I think what throws people off is when they hear branding, they think corporate branding. Mm-hmm. And so when Progressive is branding, progressive is a bunch of people doing math, trying to figure out how to make the most money.

Um, so they need to create an identity around that. That's not. A bunch of people doing math, trying to make the most money, um, but is actually, you know, flow helpfully helping people to save money and protect their families and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's all veneer over a very corporate thing as opposed to solopreneurs coaches at their core.

and read their mind, they'd [: 00:05:00

Got into this because this is their calling, their purpose. And so it's very different from a corporate brand, which is masking what the corporation really is and the personal brand or a personal business brand, which is revealing and clarifying, amplifying. What it really is,

Rich Kozak: it gets to be. Yeah. And you have, you have nailed it.

Bless your heart. Okay. And, and people do, they get intimidated by branding. They confuse, they think it's complex. They don't really know it, understand it. And they don't know who can really understand them or really, you know, get them credit for what makes them outstanding. Well. Uh, that's just part of the process.

create using the process an [: 00:06:00

And you have them say it in a way that people go, oh my. Oh, I love that. I, I want that. What? Mm-hmm. What's in there? That, and you create intangible brand promise and magnet, and all it is, is helping people attract those whose lives they really most want to impact. Praise God. We all get to do that. And so, yeah.

Uh, there was this moment. I happened to be in the choir loft when it happened and it was like I was thinking about work, I was working on some individual and it, and it dawned on me that what I was doing with individuals was literally, I. Helping them envision the impacts they're clearly making and literally speeding them to those impacts.

them to stepping into their [: 00:07:00

Well, who put it in there? Well, if it's God. This isn't even my work.

Michael Whitehouse: Yep.

Rich Kozak: And that's what's going on.

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah, that's, so there you go. That's a powerful concept. Um, now, so I don't imagine we have time to explain your, your whole process. Um, but what, what are the, the key things that, that someone needs to know?

You know, someone who's kind of struggling with branding, um, they don't have a clear, unified brand, they're not getting the impact that they want. Um, what are the key things that, that a solopreneur needs to know to implement what you teach?

Rich Kozak: Well, like you said, it's out of the scope, the how is outta the scope, but I, I, I think quickly, we'll say you need four things or your brand falls flat.

Okay? So [: 00:08:00

Hmm. Number two, consistency across the board. Why? Inconsistency, breaks, trust you're screwed. Consistency across the board builds trust, how you say it, how you show up, what, what you know, how you see what you do. It's, it's, got it. Okay. Number three, unique language. That transfers energy.

Michael Whitehouse: Hmm.

Rich Kozak: Unique language that transfers energy.

one that you get known for a [: 00:09:00

You can have unique language. Oh, we call it the, you know, the Potter uranium, you know, du well. Nobody, he knows who that is. It, it, it hasn't transferred energy like, put me to sleep. Yeah. Uh, but if, but if you say the woman speaking at the next level Body Conference next year is an expert at Body Intelligent Yoga.

Oh, but oh my God, I, I, I've been doing yoga for, for 10 years. I body intelligent yoga. I want, I want that. Okay. I, you know, it's like you, you create unique language out of English. Okay. And the fourth thing. Uh, interesting that you would pick the, uh, gecko example, positive ongoing recognizability.

Michael Whitehouse: Mm-hmm.

how you hold yourself, your [: 00:10:00

Yeah. So those four things, those four things, if you don't have 'em, all the brand falls flat and most brands fall flat. So, and how do you get 'em? They're just steps. That makes sense. Yeah. It's an outcome of the steps.

Michael Whitehouse: Yep. Yeah. And and so, and, and that's the thing I find interesting is a lot of people I.

They don't understand what the word branding means. They say, oh, I've got a logo. I I've got colors.

g to this, your brand is an, [: 00:11:00

Michael Whitehouse: Mm-hmm.

Rich Kozak: But it's not your perception. Hmm. It's the perception in the mind that you shape in the mind of the target audience individual that you most want to impact and really, you know, that you care about and really want to impact.

So maybe there's 16 of those types, or maybe there're three. It's the perception you shape in the mind of those individuals you are most interested in impacting and really want to impact. That's your brand. That's what you think about your job in branding is to shape that consistent perception.

isinformation. You won't get [: 00:12:00

And you'll say, yeah, that marketing didn't work. It's not the marketing that didn't work, it's that you didn't have a clearly defined brand. Because your marketing at its best is the execution of an excellent branding strategy. And that's what people don't understand. They don't understand a brand as a perception.

They get to shape it. They think it's something somebody gets to slap on and they have to become it. Mm-hmm. It's screwed up. It's all backwards because the world makes it backwards. 'cause then they can sell you stuff. Stop it. Just stop it.

Michael Whitehouse: And I think that, that, that's a key point. That's, that's something I'm, I'm going to be, uh, if you're on the list, you'll be reading more about this soon.

advice and wisdom isn't it's [: 00:13:00

Those are both marketing. Uh, that's like, that stood the test of time. And the same thing, this idea of, you know, a brand is a logo or you need to. You need a brand that doesn't offend anybody, or you need like all these different axioms, which are just not true. Um, or you know, you need to be on every platform all the time.

Rich Kozak: And you know, it, it, maybe it's a truism, but there's a lot of opinion in the world and people won't tell you it's their opinion. Mm-hmm. They'll couch it as if they know, but they don't know. But you think because of something. They're, they're, you know, it's funny, we, we, we categorize characteristics, the descriptors of the brand and we, I'll use the word trustable and trustworthy, okay?

really know him know he's a [: 00:14:00

It's just opinion. You've got to find sources, uh, let's just call it straight talk. You can trust and deep experience you can count on, and that's what we get to do here all day long deep experience. You know? Yeah. Straight talk. You can trust and deep experience. You can count on

Michael Whitehouse: it. It is funny. One of the complaints about Cha GBT is cha g bt will never say, I don't know.

It'll give you an answer. Now it's, it's better at, at giving you a better answer or a, a obviously low information answer as opposed just making one up. But it's still, we'll never say, I don't know. Which is funny because where'd it learn that? From humans.

Rich Kozak: Remember, number three, unique language that transfers energy.

the money and time investing [: 00:15:00

That's really common and it's one of those things that you just need to stop it right now and don't ever do that.

Michael Whitehouse: Yep. Yeah, that that makes sense. Um, but it, it's just interesting how, how often these experts out there, they'll leverage, say they don't know. And, and of course, the ones who put the most into marketing, they have the ability to get more random people off the street.

So do they deliver? Yeah. It doesn't matter. We'll just get more rubes, I mean, leads. Mm-hmm. And, and get them. Yeah. So, and that's the challenge. So many people are hearing these, these things, you know, it's easy to make money, passive income.

Rich Kozak: One of my favorites is you can write a bestselling book in a weekend.

book gets, okay, there's two [: 00:16:00

So it's not just one book. One book. My establish your expertise. The next book is a bridge book. The third book is where you're really go. It's like. A books was taken to ground, so can you in an hour The other day, I literally helped a client who'd been all the way through Brand Accelerator Mastery and had done all the work.

The language is all there, outline the titles and subtitles of chapters and sub chunks in the chapters of his book. And we looked at it and went, that's a great book. How can you do that in an hour? Only because the work had been done and everything was congruent. I. Remember number one, congruent with your heart.

Mm-hmm. Or in chapter four. [: 00:17:00

Michael Whitehouse: I think that, that, that congruence is key because, you know, one of the things, um, you know, I've got the, the nine found nine foundational questions of business, and the second one is, what's your goal?

And the third one is how do you measure that goal? And the number of times I'll talk to someone. And their goal will sound like someone from a before testimonial of a marketing video. You know, what's your goal? Well, my goal is to build a seven figure business. Is it? Is it really? You want a team of a dozen people?

seven figure business, and, [: 00:18:00

They have someone else's goal, but they were told it should be their goal that

Rich Kozak: inspires them to hire the person that told 'em that so they can get there. It's like, wait a minute.

Michael Whitehouse: And of course, no one will ever tell you that a solo business on your own makes 150 to $200,000 when you get rolling, and a seven figure business makes you in your pocket.

150 to $200,000 after all your expenses, VAs team members, software marketing, except you work a lot harder for it and do a lot more risk. 'cause if something trips suddenly you're un, you're losing $200,000 not making it. Now if you're trying to scale to eight figures because you want to reach million people, and that's truly important to you, okay?

. They don't know what their [: 00:19:00

Um, and so then from there, they then try to market, they try to, they try to talk to an audience, and the audience has no idea what they're talking about. Because, uh, you know, 'cause people don't know what problem they solve. They don't know how they can help. They don't know what they stand for.

Rich Kozak: Let's take that audience thing because that is one of the, one of those things that behind the curtain, I want you to see it.

I want to pull the curtain, say like, there, it's right there. Take a look at it. Remember you saw this and it goes like this. There are two types of clarity. Remember we started to talk about clarity? Mm-hmm. There are two types of clarity that are often missing that cause brands to fall flat. And I'm talking to you, if you're listening to this, your brand will fall flat if you don't have these two types of clarity.

? When you have that clarity [: 00:20:00

Mm-hmm. But you write down three and you do the work. The clarity is tangible. It's a foundation baked into the brand. That's the number one. The other is external clarity, and I'll just paint a picture for you. You are speaking to one of your target audiences that you know. A, an individual or a group that you know you can impact and you really want to impact, and you describe what you know about them and how you've listened to them.

magnet or you fall flat. The [: 00:21:00

You know what you're gonna, you're gonna use their care about language. The thought that's in their head that they say to themselves all the time. And then they're gonna go, oh my God, he really understands me. But if you haven't done that work, you, you, you won't do it. And so those two are missing. So know it and, and, and fix it.

Um, and if you need help, just ask and. But, but don't think that it's tricks and hacks and stuff and, and, and, you know, it's just steps.

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah. No, that's, that's really powerful to, uh, understand, you know, speaking, entering the conversation already happening in the, in your prospect mind and engaging in that conversation.

for you, that's a powerful, [: 00:22:00

Rich Kozak: that then takes in that next step. That was, you know, a few spent 49 years, uh, defining and languaging brands and launching them. You'd be able to say that too. Yeah. It was like, find somebody who, who has deep experience and who doesn't wanna blow smoke.

Yeah. You know, which

Michael Whitehouse: is, uh, there's a lot of smoke out there, but there is a lot of smoke out there. And I think that actually that might be. Um, one thing that holds people back too from really getting into brand new marketing, 'cause they don't want to be like that. Indeed. They've seen Indeed, they've, they've seen these, these big players, they've seen the, um, you know, the ones who are putting on the big shows and, and then they talk to their clients.

know I don't, I don't wanna [: 00:23:00

That isn't,

Rich Kozak: I'll tell, I'll tell you what to say to him. I know a guy, this is what you say. You say, I know a guy, and you just go to his website, rich brands.org and it says, talk to Rich for 30 minutes. Do that. There we go. That's what you say. I know a guy. Straight talk, deep experience. Just, yeah. That's it.

him and Guy San Francisco in: 2020

People [: 00:24:00

The woman was born in Africa and she had left a big law firm. She wanted to help law firms build the, the diversity of their partners so they could be more useful to an increasingly diverse clientele. And somebody said to ate dinner next to her one night that knew me and said like, well, I, I, I think she should talk to Rich.

she said, look, here are the [: 00:25:00

She goes, well, you're the one I want. She called me from the cab. I got the job. Well, yeah, okay. It was a simple referral. I wouldn't have known her. She and I don't look anything alike. It's not even like sister and brother from a different mother. It's like, whoa. Different continent. It's like, man, but

what do you say about that? I mean, it's like you get to help people. You never imagine you help. I got to help her. What a blessing. Yeah. That we're in the same room doing, creating the language of. Diversity, equity, and inclusion for the next generation of corporate leaders and naming it and, and making the power of true diversity in God's eyes, not in society's eyes, you know, because it has an agenda.

was just a process that is, [: 00:26:00

Michael Whitehouse: complicated. It wasn't complicated. Yep. And so people can reach you by going to Rich brands.org. Yep. A name like Rich or set up for that one.

Rich Kozak: It's who I am and what I do. And look, you know, if you, if you want sub, I do a couple of 60 minute masterclasses.

Every month. Mm-hmm. And people can hop on to, uh, it sounds a little brutal, but Brand First or die.com will get you a free, uh, signup brand first or die.com. And I do a half day, every month called branding you with Impact. Get into that. It's very, very inexpensive, but it is. Deep in what you come out with, understanding what it means to define the language of brand.

u will bounce off. Mm, brand [: 00:27:00

And it's like they don't know branding and they don't trust it and they, it's just steps. But you must evolve the perception so that people let you in and say it. They're the one, she's the one. He's the one. It's just steps all. No, of all the perception. You might, they might bounce off. Oh yeah. It's another, you know, uh, podcast host, uh, it's another, you know, life like Yeah.

It's another financial advisor. It, you know.

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah. So we, we have come to the end of our time, but the first step with listening to this podcast done, the second step is to go to either brand first or die.com to get into some of Rich's masterclasses or go to rich brands.org and get on a call with Rich himself.

u very much for being on the [: 00:28:00

Rich Kozak: Thank you. It's great to be here with you in person instead of just reading your stuff. 'cause I do that all the time. Keep it up. You're doing great and I loved some of the things you nailed in this session.

Way to go.

Michael Whitehouse: Good. Thank you.

Rich Kozak: Mm-hmm.