Marketing Your Knowledge with Brock Johnson

Happy Friday feels, Tribe! How are you? Wherever you are today, I want to just send so much love, impact, freedom, and abundance your way!

Does the word “marketing” ever stress you out? It can seem like a scary, foreign concept for many people. Oftentimes, entrepreneurs see themselves as coaches or mentors but not marketers. But the truth is, everyone has to be a marketer at first! 

Guys, unless you are at a point in your business where you can outsource your marketing, you absolutely need to market yourself and your business! 

The good news? It’s really not as hard as it seems! And today’s guest just so happens to be an absolute marketing genius. Brock Johnson is truly exceptional. At just 23 years old, he’s already built a six-figure business, and he’s killing it in the marketing world! 

As a college freshman (and student-athlete, no less), Brock Johnson saw a simple need: Parents didn’t know how to use Snapchat and because of this, they couldn’t keep their kids safe. Brock created his first online course to teach people how to understand and use Snapchat. 

Since then, he has expanded his business to serve business owners everywhere by teaching them how to use social media as an effective marketing tool. This guy is a social media expert who is dedicated to making an impact on the world, and I know you’re going to learn so much from him!.

Today we’re talking about why it’s necessary to not try and create a perfect business, the importance of knowing your audience, why your comfort zone is a dream-killer, and so much more! I hope you have a pencil and paper because this episode is full of some amazing advice. Let’s dive in!

Who Is Brock Johnson?

Brock Johnson is a 23-year-old recent college graduate and marketing guru. When he was a freshman football player at UC Davis, he realized two things: He wanted to gain financial freedom from his parents, and he could do that through entrepreneurship. He also has a passion for helping people that drives his business every day. 

Brock stumbled into entrepreneurship with a phone camera and a purpose, which is all he needed! He filmed his first online course in a study room in his school’s library, impacting many parents who wanted to learn all about Snapchat so that they could protect their children. 

But like any smart entrepreneur — when the market changed, Brock changed with it. He realized that Instagram Stories was the way to do online marketing, so he quickly pivoted and grew a business around teaching and impacting business owners, showing them how to use Instagram to grow their businesses and impact. 

Today, Brock travels the country speaking at marketing events (and appearing on podcasts!) to spread his message and help other entrepreneurs succeed online. He has an incredibly helpful and inspiring perspective on the power of online marketing, so you are not going to want to miss this episode!

Focus on the “Why” Instead of the “How”

When Brock first started out, creating a six-figure business wasn’t necessarily a part of the plan. He just knew two main things: He wanted financial independence from his parents, and he wanted to serve other people with his skills. 

Tribe, that’s how I started out too! I remember even as a little girl, I just knew that I wanted to help people. That’s why I became a teacher for eight years before becoming an entrepreneur. Ever since Brock was six years old, he wanted to help others. 

All he needed to do was to find the right people to help. That’s when he discovered that he could teach parents how to use Snapchat so that they could stay up to date and protect their children from people who were using the app negatively. Brock didn’t know the “how,” at first, but he knew why he was doing his business, and that’s what mattered the most! 

“It just started with asking myself, ‘What am I good at right now that has some sort of a demand? …   I have this unique kind of positioning or skill right now. And there are people who want to be helped in this way.’” - Brock Johnson  

Brock started with a purpose, knowing he wanted to make an impact. Guys, knowing that purpose is so important. It is the base for everything else that you do in your business! So often, we have this dream of financial stability and impact. But we get so caught up in how to make our dream happen, that it paralyzes us from doing anything! 

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of wanting perfection in our business. But if we are too focused on making something perfect, it often never gets done in the first place. Brock decided to start his business in the campus library basement without worrying about perfection. 

“I realized that if I didn’t force myself to just get started and to realize that good enough was good enough and that it didn’t need to be perfect, it never would have gotten done. I never would have launched in the first place … with that first offering now I’ve been able to help tens of thousands of people because of just getting the ball rolling in that first session.” - Brock Johnson 

I always say, “If your ‘why’ is strong enough, your ‘how’ will reveal itself.” There are so many people that need your help. Just go for it, and put one foot in from of the other. Trust me — you’ll look back and be surprised at what you have built. 

Brock was able to create his business by having purpose and avoiding the trap of needing perfection. But he also had another critical tactic on his side — knowing his audience. Knowing exactly the niche of people who you are helping is key to being able to really grow your business, and Brock had some awesome advice about how to do this! 

Know Your Audience

When COVID-19 first hit, many people were panicking wondering how to protect their businesses. But when you know your customers well enough, you are able to market your product and address the situation regardless of what is happening in the world!

You just have to know your audience — think about what is going on in their minds and lives. Then, you can figure out how to pivot your messaging and marketing to solve their problems! Brock is an expert at knowing his audience, and he was able to fluidly work through the surprises that COVID-19 threw at him because of this: 

“Our job as entrepreneurs is not to have all of the answers, but rather to ask all of the questions. I think it's really important that we are constantly researching, analyzing our own selves, our own content, and our own messaging, so that we can look for the answers. Then, when we do find an answer, [we can] provide that to our audience … It's not like I am pretending that I knew that COVID was coming or that I know exactly what to do, but when I figure out what to do and what's working for me and what's working on an Instagram, I'll share that with my audience. … You have to know your audience … you have to know exactly who you’re going to help.” - Brock Johnson 

Brock started out with a crystal clear image of his audience — the parents of teens that he was helping with Snapchat. He knew exactly who he was trying to help. Although his audience is much broader now, he started with a niche of people and let his consumer base shift with time. 

Tribe, it’s incredible how easy it can be to lose sight of your audience. And let’s be honest — sometimes we try and bring our own perception and language into the equation too. But it’s important to remember that it’s not about us! It’s about the people we are helping. 

Brock also mentioned a similar trap that entrepreneurs often fall into when it comes to knowing your audience: a scarcity mindset: 

“I help a lot of marketers who are trying to market their business and will talk about their ideal audience or their perfect customer. And there’s kind of like a fear/scarcity mindset of like, ‘Well, I don't want to limit myself or define my audience too precisely because I want to help everyone. And yes, absolutely. That's a great moral sentiment that you want to help everyone. [But] when you niche down and you really target who is your specific person who you can help, you're actually going to be able to build much faster and then you can branch out and help more people later.” - Brock Johnson 

Guys, this is so true! When you have too broad of a target audience, you risk not knowing your audience well enough! But if you start with a very clear, specific subset of people to help, you can eventually grow and help more people in the long run. 

Brock has been able to help so many people because of his marketing prowess, and he does it with so much passion and excitement. I hope you have that paper and pencil that I mentioned earlier because he was kind enough to give us his top three tips for growing and scaling your business. 

Three Tips For Growth From a Marketing Genius

Have you ever spent so much time editing an Instagram story that you lost sight of why you were posting it in the first place? It happens to the best of us, but it’s usually better to just let something be imperfect. It’s more genuine that way!

Brock is an Instagram expert, but he didn’t get that way by obsessing over lighting. He attributes his success to focusing on documentation rather than creation, which is the first tip he has for us: 

“When you're sharing, focus on documentation rather than creation. Rather than really over- analyzing [when] curating your content, trying to perfect it and make it super edited and polished and photoshopped, I think it's really important to just focus on documenting. Focus on sharing your journey and how your journey can be used to help and serve others.” - Brock Johnson 

That goes back to focusing on your purpose, the “why” over the “how.” Trust me, it really does work, and it keeps you grounded in the impact you are trying to make! 

The second tip Brock mentioned is a phrase that should be written on your mirror or on a sticky note above your desk— it’s one of those one-liners that really hits home:  

“He who starts and fails will always be ahead of he who fails to start.” - Brock Johnson  

Guys, that’s some great wisdom and I hope it serves as a motivation for you today! We are imperfect people, and spending the effort to strive for perfection is just doing ourselves a disservice! 

Instead, just get the ball rolling. Start the project. Write the email that you have been scared to write. No matter how messy you feel like it is, it is always better to try instead of regretting what could have been. 

Brock’s third tip was just as impactful: 

“This one’s the super popular phrase … ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ … you can’t compare someone else’s chapter 17 or chapter 34 to your chapter one.” - Brock Johnson 

This advice is tried and true. I remember when I was at my first entrepreneurial event, Pays To Be Brave., I sat there and looked at the people going up on stage. And I looked at one of my friends and said, “They’re no different from us. The only difference is that they’ve been doing it longer, and they never gave up despite fear.” 

At that moment I realized that I had no room in my business for comparison. I knew I would end up where I wanted to be. I just needed some time and to focus on what I was doing instead of worrying about everyone else. 

Brock did the same thing, staying in his own lane and focusing on the way he could use his skills to problem solve and serve others. I hope you can remember to do the same!

Why You Should Listen to This Brock Johnson Podcast Episode Right Now… 

Tribe, I absolutely loved this conversation with Brock, so be sure to check out the rest of the episode! We dove into Brock’s definition of marketing, why the comfort zone is dangerous, the possibilities of creating financial freedom, and so much more! 

By creating a six-figure business while still maintaining his life as a college athlete, Brock showed the world what is possible with the right mindset. He is constantly helping people, and is so easy to find! Brock teaches online courses, reviews Instagram profiles, and also offers one-on-one coaching to help you grow your brand and marketing skills.

You can find all of this on his Instagram, and feel free to DM him there too! He is so easy to talk to,  and he loves for people to reach out. 

I hope this episode helped inspire you to fearlessly grow your marketing skills so you can increase your impact and live a life of financial freedom. And as always, share this episode with your friends, and please tag @brock11johnson and @thejennkennedy on Instagram if you loved it! 

I love you guys, and I’ll catch you next time! 

 

You May Also Like...

What Is Truly Possible In Entrepreneurship with RT Custer

Life Lessons That Will Transform Your Business

Stop Sacrificing Your Health Over a Job with Shana Robinson

Want to Have Needle-Moving

high-level, business tips, tricks & strategies delivered daily to your phone?