The landscape of social media and artificial intelligence (AI) has become integral to both personal and professional growth. As we reflect on the year, notable for its emphasis on AI, it's clear that these technologies offer both colossal potential and significant challenges. With social media becoming as crucial as a CV for professionals, understanding and mastering this domain is no longer optional—it's essential.
📈 Social Media Strategy
Building a robust online presence is critical for anyone looking to enhance their professional image or expand their business. Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube provide fertile ground for growing a following quickly.
Building Your Brand on Social Media
The importance of a strong social media presence cannot be overstated. Whether you're job hunting or looking to establish your authority in your field, social media serves as a dynamic showcase of your professional and personal brand. The key is not just to be present but to engage effectively by attracting more views, followers, and meaningful interactions.
🌍 Strategies for Growing Your Online Following
Growing a following isn’t just about posting consistently—it's also about posting wisely. Here are some strategies that can help:
Consistent Content Creation
Underpinning all social media success is consistency. The frequency of your posts can help keep your audience engaged and your profile active. Whether it’s daily shorts on TikTok or weekly posts on Instagram, maintaining a regular posting schedule is pivotal.
🎥 Leveraging Short-form Vertical Video Content
Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels have revolutionized how content is consumed. Short, engaging videos can significantly increase your visibility and attract a more extensive following quickly due to their high shareability.
Utilizing Trending Topics and Complementary Niches
To stand out, integrating trending topics into your content is crucial, alongside a strong grasp of your niche. This not only increases relevance but also ensures you are part of ongoing conversations, increasing your visibility and engagement.
Incorporating Personal Experiences and Unique Perspectives
People connect with people. Sharing your personal experiences, insights, and unique takes on common topics can help differentiate you from the masses, making your content more relatable and engaging.
🛠 Analyzing and Optimizing Content Performance
Tools like Google Trends and Answer The Public can provide insights into what your audience is interested in. Analyzing performance metrics also allows you to refine your strategy and improve content engagement over time.
The Role of AI in Social Media Content Creation
AI tools can dramatically enhance content creation—from ideation to optimization. By using AI for tasks such as brainstorming topics or enhancing visuals, creators can focus more on strategy and personal engagement.
🔍 Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Understanding the fundamentals of SEO is crucial for anyone looking to leverage digital platforms to build a following or promote content.
Organic SEO Fundamentals
From keyword research to on-page optimization, mastering the basics of SEO can significantly enhance your online visibility. This includes optimizing your content with relevant keywords and ensuring that your website's structure is search engine friendly.
📝 Content Marketing and SEO
Creating high-quality, engaging, and informative content is at the heart of SEO. Such content not only attracts more visitors but can also establish your site as an authority, enhancing both engagement and rankings.
🧠 Building a Thought Leadership Brand
Positioning yourself as an authority involves more than just sharing knowledge. It’s about crafting a compelling narrative that resonates with your audience and consistently delivering value.
💸 Monetization Strategies
While building a following, it’s also possible to monetize your influence through affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and more. Developing digital products like e-books or courses can also provide substantial revenue streams.
🗣️ Personal Branding and Reputation Management
Crafting a personal brand involves managing and optimizing your online presence. This not only enhances your professional opportunities but also helps in building lasting relationships within your industry.
🌐 Future Trends and Emerging Technologies
Staying ahead in the social media game means keeping an eye on emerging trends and technologies. From advancements in AI to new social media platforms, understanding these elements can provide a competitive edge.
FAQs
Q1: How often should I post content to build a social media following? It’s recommended to post at least once a day on platforms like Instagram and TikTok to keep your audience engaged and ensure your content stays relevant.
Q2: Can AI replace human creativity in content creation? While AI can enhance the content creation process, human creativity and insight are irreplaceable for creating genuine and impactful interactions.
Q3: What are some effective SEO tools? Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz offer comprehensive features that can help in keyword research, site audits, and competitor analysis.
Q4: How important is personal branding in today's digital age? Personal branding is crucial as it distinguishes you in a saturated market, allowing you to build trust and authority with your audience.
In conclusion, mastering social media and SEO in 2023 is about much more than keeping up with the latest tools and trends. It’s about strategically leveraging these platforms to build a sustainable and impactful presence online. Embracing AI while maintaining the human touch in your creations will ensure you not only keep up but stand out in this digital age.
Disclaimer: This summary has been written with the help of AI
AJ Kumar (Digital Marketing Expert)
AJ Kumar is a digital marketing expert who helps thought leaders systematically build fame and authority through personality-driven media companies. He is the Founder of The Limitless Company, a social media studio system that establishes influencers as industry authorities.
AJ discovered his passion for digital marketing after connecting with mentor Neil Patel in high school. He honed his skills at a San Francisco-based digital marketing agency before having a breakthrough working with author Kimberly Snyder. AJ helped transform Kimberly into a global influencer with half a million monthly blog visitors, millions of dollars in revenue and multiple NYT bestsellers.
With a track record of success helping personalities like Kimberly, AJ founded The Limitless Company in 2020 to create a scalable system for influencer brand building. He positions himself as the "Digital Maestro" conducting an integrated process of content creation, audience growth, and monetization strategy.
AJ and his team help influencers identify their distinctive brand positioning and perspectives. They develop captivating content and systematically distribute it across platforms. Data-driven optimization and a focus on converting attention to revenue power their approach.
AJ aims to establish an ecosystem of thought leaders powered by The Limitless Company. His vision is to run it as a next-generation network, with video content programs that engage audiences and drive results. AJ is fulfilling his American dream by redefining influence as making the world better through creativity and technology.
https://www.instagram.com/ajthedigitalmaestro/
🎧 Listen now on:
👉 Apple
👉 Spotify
👉 YouTube
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Paddy Dhanda: Dear friend. I hope you're having a well earned break from the daily grind of work during the festive period. And hopefully Samta delivered that much wanted present that you had on your Christmas list. 2023 will be remembered as the year of AI.
With the experts warning us of the ethical issues. It poses. It seems like a gift that we weren't quite prepared for.
There is no old Chinese proverb that states when the wind have changed, blows some build walls. Others build windmills. We can either try to ignore AI. Or embrace it and discover new opportunities to continue to thrive at work. And with the growing uncertainty on the future of work and AI.
The Importance of Building Your Brand
[00:00:50] Paddy Dhanda: One of my biggest realizations of the past few years. Is the importance of building your brand. Not just at work. But on social media too. Whether you're applying for a new job or simply looking to build your reputation as a professional, having a social media presence is just as important as your CV.
Guest Introduction: AJ Kumar
[00:01:13] Paddy Dhanda: In today's episode, I'm joined by AIG Kumar, who is a search engine optimization expert and is the founder of the limitless company. Aja and his team on a mission to help entrepreneurs in the creator economy build for profit human healing brands. AAJ helped. Corporate brands like Salesforce, mint, Intuit, and industry leading personal brands. Including Neil Patel, Nikki Haskell and Kimberly Snyder.
So if you're looking to get more tips on how you can attract more views. Followers and engagement to your social media profiles. Then stay tuned as we lift the lid on the most impactful strategies to grow your online, following.
From the city of the Peaky Blinders, Birmingham, England, I would like to introduce you to Paddy Dhanda. As the world becomes more automated and the robots take over, it's imperative that we build the right human skills for the future. So pull up a chair, grab a samosa or two, and make yourself very uncomfortable.
[00:02:29] Paddy Dhanda: I believe you are in a cool place in the world.
Would you like to share where and tell me a bit about your background, just so we get to know you a bit better.
[00:02:37] AJ: Yeah, definitely.
AJ Kumar's Journey in Digital Marketing
[00:02:38] AJ: So I'm in Los Angeles, literally right in Hollywood. I could, I can't see the Hollywood sign cause there's a dang building blocking it, but it's for sure back there. So I've been in digital marketing for like maybe about 15 years now. I had a buddy that I knew back in high school. His name is Neil Patel.
Got me into digital marketing. He really showed me the ropes. You may or may not have heard of him he owns a company called MP digital and He taught me about blogging. He taught me about Google He taught me about SEO and really got me to understand the digital world And I started working with him and his cousin Sujin and we had a an SEO agency in San Francisco back in like 2010 We worked with a lot of corporate brands helped him with SEO primarily I eventually got out of that and I gravitated towards working with thought leaders.
I started working with a person named Kimberly Snyder, who was a celebrity nutritionist. I helped take her blog from 30, 000 visitors a month to like over 500, 000 visitors a month. And that really opened my eyes up because at that time with her, I was able to develop essentially like a playbook for how to grow a brand on the internet.
And it helped her Get all that traffic, convert a lot of that traffic into email subscribers. I helped to become a New York Times best selling author three times and essentially build what is now referred to as a personality driven media company. And then as I developed that playbook, I started sharing that and helping other people.
I worked with a TV star as well as people from a variety of industries, from real estate, commercial real estate.
The Power of Social Media for Personal Branding
[00:04:14] AJ: Doctors, nutritionists, so I've been able to work in a lot of different areas and today I have a company called The Limitless Company and we specifically help our clients who are thought leaders leverage social media to get recognized, get known, and essentially convert all that attention that we're creating into opportunities, into revenue, into all the sorts of value.
[00:04:37] Paddy Dhanda: wow. I was going to say being based in LA, you may well have come across a few personalities famous celebrities who would certainly want to raise their profile. Could you share any of your other famous people you've worked with or any well known people?
[00:04:51] AJ: I can't share, like, like I have an A list celebrity that we work with. I can't share his name, but it's somebody that everybody sees all the time. And he's a really funny guy, but I come across these celebrities from time to time, and I've worked with anywhere from like D celebrities and as well as like an A list celebrity, and that's all great, but a lot of our bread and butter comes from working with people in the wellness industry.
So what I do is I work with people that are across the spectrum of. Entertainment and education and people that are more on the entertainment side We give them a little bit more educational value or people that are too much on the educational side We help them get a little bit more entertainment value.
I'm in this like field of edutainment Yeah
[00:05:43] Paddy Dhanda: I think it really encompasses. The element of fun, entertainment, as well as education. And I really like that kind of marriage of the two. So that's super cool.
[00:05:53] AJ: Yeah, it's like, I don't know if you remember people like Bill Nye, the science guy, up like a lot of people, especially here in the States, grew up watching him and you could consider him as an edutainer, one of the pioneers of them, right? Where he made a, a subject that was traditionally boring into entertaining and fun and interesting.
And now on, even on Tik Tok and social media, you come across people that are similar. People that I don't know if you've ever seen the videos on TikTok where people get stuff like elephant toothpaste, for example, and they put water on it, and the elephant toothpaste gets really huge and weird, like, so you're starting to see a lot more and more of these edutainers, and it's fun.
It makes learning fun, right?
[00:06:35] Paddy Dhanda: whenever fun's involved, I'm there.
Understanding SEO and Organic Social Media
[00:06:37] Paddy Dhanda: We were talking about, organic SEO. Could you just explain that in a bit more detail? What does that actually mean for somebody who may not be familiar with even the term SEO?
[00:06:48] AJ: Yeah, and, SEO primarily has been on search engines like Google, where Google sorts out the content that you see when you look something up in, in terms of what's most relevant to the user. And they base it off of their algorithms, which factor in hundreds of different elements.
Traditionally, like the easiest way to understand it is you have a website and other websites are linking to your website. Signifies that your website is popular, especially if those words that are linking to that website are consistent all around. And then you start to rank for something like that.
Like if you wanted to rank for something like shoes, and then you have all these other websites that are pointing to your website with hyperlinks of shoes, then you're going to probably rank for that website for shoes. So that's traditionally how Google search engines worked. Social media organic is a bit different in that you're not necessarily searching for something.
You can, but a lot of social media today is about discovering things and it's fascinating how it works because it has to do with discovering things that you are interested in and things that you may not have even known that you were interested in yet. So it's crazy how powerful things got.
Creating Engaging Video Content
[00:08:00] Paddy Dhanda: I'm actually planning for 2024 to start to do more on social media, especially video content, short, sharp videos. And I've watched some of your awesome videos actually on LinkedIn. I think I've seen them and they're super cool. And I just love to be able to impart some knowledge.
In a very small amount of time, like, keeping it quite short. So if there are other people out there that are thinking of going down that journey of doing more in that space What sort of advice would you have for them in terms
what should they think about when they're even coming up with the concepts for these sort of videos?
What could they do in terms of then helping people engage more with that content and helping push that up in terms of the social media platforms as well?
The Iterative Process of Social Media Success
[00:08:49] AJ: So I think a big part of becoming successful on social media has to do with seeing it as an iterative process. I had a advisor help me understand this idea and relate branding to like software, right? Like I've a lot of friends in software business. Neil one of my friends in software business really helped me understand this, that software evolves over time.
Even when you think about stuff like Microsoft, you have version 1. 0012, 1. 0013, and they keep iterating the software and keep updating it. When you think of your brand, you really got to think of it the same way. Because before, when people think of brand, they think of perfection, they think of Coca Cola, they think of corporations and all that kind of stuff.
And yeah, they have perfected it to such a high level. But at the same time, these are companies that are spending millions and millions of dollars on developing that brand and getting people to remember that brand even exists. Whereas the average person or like us mere mortals, personal brands, human beings, we get too caught up in like perfection and wanting to create something so perfect and only having that.
And if we don't have that, then we just don't take action on it. So I think a big part of Becoming successful on social media and even starting your journey is to think of it as an iterative process and keep releasing videos. And it's hard for people that know long form content and someone that could talk for a really long period of time versus packaging it up into something that's a little bit more bite sized.
That is the hurdle in the beginning, but it's the hurdle that most people face. And the way to really just combat that is to create videos on a consistent basis where you're trying to make it better and better each time.
[00:10:28] Paddy Dhanda: I can totally relate to that because the amount of times where I've sat down and I've thought I'm going to create some content. And then I'm like, Oh, but the camera's not right. I need a higher quality camera, or I've looked at my background and I've gone, Oh that's got to change. I've got to have a beautiful background with lots of plants behind me and all that kind of stuff.
So it often does play on your mind when you see some of these more polished videos out there.
Standing Out in the Flooded Social Media Landscape
[00:10:53] Paddy Dhanda: And I guess though, social media is flooded at the moment. Like there is just so much content out there. So how do you stand out from the crowd? What will help you
get noticed, is the question.
[00:11:06] AJ: noticed, I guess is the question? Yeah. So the way I am seeing social media, like I get like, yeah, it's flooded, it kinda works as a supply and demand.
And also to take it even one step back. The concept of social media today has evolved a lot since it, it first came about 10, 15 years ago or so, whatever it was, whereas before it was very much you're connected to people that you know, and then occasionally you discover content from people that you that you know, and they know, and it was a very slow way of discovering things.
And for a long time, it was like a novelty. Social media was very much a novelty. In the beginning, it was fun and exciting, like, oh, I get to see people from high school, and oh, I remember that guy, and then it like, went away for a while, or be it became something that people didn't care much about.
And I know this in the sense that I've come across a lot of people that have bought bots or they try to like have more followers than they really do that aren't even real because they didn't care about it. They just, everyone just saw social media as this like vanity thing. But then in the last five or six years as TikTok came into the marketplace and the whole concept of short form vertical videos came into the marketplace, it opened up this whole new opportunity.
Because now, instead of you just seeing stuff from people that you know, or that they know, you're now discovering content from people that have similar interests to you. Or they have things that you're interested in, that complement something that you're interested in. So as the creator of the content, everyone now understands the concept of niching down, especially when you're trying to become an authority on a subject matter.
But then the people that typically stand out, when you look at, In the traditional media marketplace, you have Martha Stewart, you have Oprah, you have Ellen, a lot of these influential figures, these original influencers. They don't necessarily just have one core focus, but they also share other complementary areas.
So, I'll give you an example. With Kimberly, she was a plant based nutritionist. She also liked things like spirituality and yoga, and by incorporating and blending these other complementary niches into her core focus, made her stand out in the plant based nutrition world.
The Power of AI in Content Creation
[00:13:16] AJ: It made it so that she was different, and it also allowed people from yoga and spirituality to then discover her.
That normally wouldn't have discovered her because, before, if you only have one niche, people just discover you when they're looking for that specific thing. But if you add these other dimensions to it, it makes you stand out, and it makes you more of what humans are, multi dimensional beings. So when you could communicate that effectively, when you understand your niche and complementary niches, and then you could create content, and you're iterating that content, that's how people start to See you and recognize you and realize hey, you're different.
You're not just like a robot, which I think a lot of people are
[00:13:55] Paddy Dhanda: Got it. And that's been actually a bit of a dilemma for me as well. When I started this podcast, I was talking a lot about the human side of tech and human skills. And then at the back of my mind, I was like, but maybe that's too broad. Maybe I should be niching down. Although if you look at some of the episodes, there are certain topics that I do do more on because it's something that I am more passionate about. So things like creativity, that's like a huge part of what I do on a day to day basis, but I love to be broad as well, because it helps me just learn as well. So that's always been a dilemma.
So it's really interesting. You say that bringing in these complimentary interests, and passions into your core is quite a good strategy from what you're saying.
[00:14:39] AJ: Absolutely. Because even as you as a person, you have these other areas of interest. You may get bored talking about this one thing all the time. And by you just. Adding these other things, it just helps even more of the human side of you come out, right? Like, you become more passionate about what you're talking about, it becomes different, it becomes mixed.
I always give this analogy where it's like, What happens when you take badminton, ping pong, and tennis, and put these three get pickleball. yOu get a different sport and as you could see in the world right now, pickleball is like one of the fastest growing sports.
Like it's been around for a while, but it's been pretty dormant forever. And then all of a sudden it started having this new life. And pickleball is essentially the blend of, tennis, ping pong, badminton . And you kind of take these complementary interests, you put it together and you get this whole new thing.
Similarly, on social media, you essentially have it. This infinite landscape, this digital landscape, and in this landscape are all these different areas of interest, right? Basketball, car racing, Barbie, whatever it is. And people congregate into these different interests. That's how the algorithm moves you into these different little communities that are online.
Like, essentially they're like rooms.
The Importance of Experience in Content Creation
[00:15:53] AJ: So, when you are, taking something from here, you're taking something from there, you essentially create your own niche, like you become your own niche as you blend these other niches together. And instead of competing with basketball, now you're mixing up basketball and movies or whatever it is, right?
And that helps you stand out, helps you ultimately differentiate yourself from everybody else. And that's really the key is if you want to stand out, you got to figure out what that differentiating factor is.
[00:16:21] Paddy Dhanda: You mentioned you've ended up creating a playbook for people. You mentioned sort of Kimberley's blog and how you've taken that, from 30, 000 up to, I forget the exact number, but it sounded huge.
[00:16:35] AJ: Hers was 30, 000 to 500, 000 visitors a month. That was mostly Google majority and then also social media traffic. This is in between 2012 and
[00:16:45] Paddy Dhanda: Wow. And so could you share maybe a handful of tips for anyone who's in a similar situation who's thinking about really upping their game in terms of their blog? Are there some quick wins that they can immediately start to do to start to help with that ranking?
[00:17:03] AJ: Yeah. Well, I've switched things up. Instead of focusing so much on a blog and a website to building your brand on social, if you're building your blog, ideally when you're building this brand and you're trying to build your brand on all these different channels, one, you don't own all these channels, right?
Especially social media. You're renting that. A blog and a website you do own, so it's great to have that. The other thing is trying to make it cohesive, right? Like, you gotta figure out how to share your message accordingly on Instagram, and TikTok, and YouTube, and then also on your blog, right? It's similar, but it's different, but you still want to make it all cohesive.
But the beauty is, when you are creating this content, I think starting off with video is now the fastest way for you to get discovered and get growth. I know that with a lot of the clients that I take on today, we help them achieve pretty significant results within like three to six months. By significant results, I mean like millions of views.
It doesn't happen all the time. It doesn't happen for everybody. I do work with a specific type of clientele. People that are successful in their industry. And then they're an expert at what it is that they do and I help them package up that expertise in a way and leverage social media algorithms and a content strategy in a way that helps them get discovered and helps them get noticed.
And then help them to achieve that viewership month over month. But I think right now the best thing a person could do if they're trying to build their brand, whether it's their personal brand or if it's a corporate brand, is to Become a thought leader in whatever area that you're in whatever field that you're in and leverage short form vertical video content Just because the demand is so incredibly high right now, right?
They say like the average people are spending about 2. 5 hours a day on social media And so you can only imagine How many videos a person consumes within that period of time, right? If they're 15 30 second videos a person can be consuming, 50 100 Maybe more pieces of content. So, I think the opportunity it's still massive on social right now for you to become that person in your niche, in your area and get seen.
And then it becomes more of a like, trying to keep it up. It's one thing for a person to start and then like do it for a minute, but then it's another thing for a person to do it for a year, for two years, for three years, for four years, right? That's the mindset that you really need to have because most people get burned out.
Most people stop, most people forget or don't want to do it. They get tired of it. And that's essentially why I created my company is because I realized that this is such a big problem, right? It becomes like this hamster wheel effect because it's like you're always trying to feed the algorithm and then people start blaming the algorithm and they start blaming social media.
But the reality is, social media is free, social media is a communication tool that anybody could use. And I always see it, I err on the side of like, hey, I'm grateful that this concept even exists. And that I get to leverage it. These algorithms aren't against me. Social media is not trying to like. Not make me succeed.
It wants me to succeed, right? So then it becomes more of the game of how can I package it up in a way that makes sense for the algorithm to show it to more people, right? For people to actually watch the content and then watch it as much of it all the way through because that's ultimately what it's trying to achieve.
It wants to satisfy. The users, right? Just like Google's algorithm is ultimately, they put websites at the top that satisfy the user's search result, right? They search for something, they go on the page, they take action and act, and perform activities on the page. Google thinks, hey, this website is doing its job.
It's fulfilling the satisfaction of the user. Social media is similar in that If people see your video and then they watch your video and they see it all the way through, or most of it all the way through, that counts as satisfaction. So you're essentially leveraging it to help you do it.
[00:21:08] Paddy Dhanda: Yeah, and I can absolutely appreciate the work that goes into creating content. just do the podcast and That's a big commitment, especially when you got other commitments going on, like family. we've just bought a puppy. So, you know what, he's been taking up a lot of our time and then,
[00:21:26] AJ: up a lot of our
[00:21:27] Paddy Dhanda: Trying to do the editing, trying to do all of the descriptions that's all,
[00:21:31] AJ: descriptions
[00:21:31] Paddy Dhanda: A lot of work, especially when you're doing things on a regular cadence and talking about cadence.
[00:21:36] AJ: and talking
[00:21:37] Paddy Dhanda: How regularly would you recommend, if someone's serious about this, that they should post at a minimum, especially video content?
[00:21:45] AJ: I have one client named Nikki Haskell. Her user handle is BigNickBH. She's so funny. She's 83 years
old. And she's like, she's coined as the grey influencer. And we helped her grow from nothing. Like she used to be, she used to have like a TV show back in the 70s.
And then just, lived her life and whatnot. And then met her through a mutual client and or a mutual friend. And then helped take her TikTok from like, I think it was like 7, 000 8, 7, 000, 10, 000 followers to now it's almost 400, 000 followers on each platform. And now we're getting like maybe 5 million views average a month on our channels.
And it's always great when that happens because Like, person like that has this advice and is making this kind of impact deserves to have that kind of attention. And when you have that kind of attention, then it just comes down to how you want to wield that attention and what you want to do with it.
And if it's benefiting people, if it's positively impacting people, it's what it's all about. Yeah,
[00:22:48] Paddy Dhanda: I want to meet that woman. 83 years old. She's like a legend on social media. That sounds amazing.
[00:22:54] AJ: legend social media.
It's phenomenal. And I really see that we're part of the new Hollywood, right? The digital Hollywood that exists. In traditional Hollywood, you have, you had these actor strikes and these writer strikes and from what I heard, the terms of those agreements are, for two years or for three years, because a lot of these people are afraid of AI and what it's capable of doing, because it could essentially annihilate, human creativity to some extent. I think it's going to make a bigger impact than it's already making, obviously. And now it comes down to being able to use it in a way that is helping you express your creativity even more. Which is cool. I don't know how long this is going to last.
10 years, 20 years, 50 years, to where the, this whole concept of creating art, entertaining and All this content creation is a thing, but now is the time to really maximize it, and leverage it, and take advantage of it.
[00:23:52] Paddy Dhanda: Yeah, oh, that whole debate on AI, that's a whole episode in its own right because every day I see these cool apps that people are launching and you can just do so much with them, especially on the creativity front some of the art that you can create and even the video that's being pumped out right now is absolutely phenomenal.
I have traditionally used text and used websites and blogs and things like that to get my message out. And from what you're saying is actually video content is a quicker route to start to get a following.
but if I do want to stay on that more traditional sort of platform of writing regularly.
[00:24:33] AJ: writing
[00:24:33] Paddy Dhanda: Is there advice there? So to be able to feed Google and try to still stay up in the rankings. Would you have any advice for people that want to stick with that versus the video side?
[00:24:45] AJ: Yeah, I think we're heading to an area or a period where you got to have really rich experiences. So if it's on your website, like when, even with Kimberly's brand, when I was orchestrating that a lot of the posts that went, that became really successful were things like infographics or they were.
Trends and articles about things that are happening in other parts of the world that are becoming trending now, right? Like that was in the nutrition space and we found and discovered that a lot of the trends that are happening in Europe are gonna happen in the US or Like I knew Ayurveda was gonna become more popular in the US because I already knew was popular in India, right?
So The infographics that we created just give this this whole new experience, this visual experience. And a lot of people love the visual experience. So, even if you are planning to go into the route of creating more text, and that's great, I think you still need to enhance it. You still need to enrich it.
And provide more media to it. And, right, like what you just talked about, there are all these new AI tools. If you don't want to be the face of it, or if you don't want to be the front of it, at least use these tools to make it so that The users that are reading your content are getting a more rich experience.
[00:25:54] Paddy Dhanda: like I was saying about the podcast as well, I now do use some AI tools to help with things like the show notes and then I'll refine them and evolve them. But it's a great starting point because it helps me start. Without a blank piece of paper, otherwise I'll be racking my brain forever trying to figure things out.
So, I'm sure on this episode we'll be doing the same as well.
[00:26:13] AJ: And there's also things like There's a guy named Alex Mosey who I think It was one of the, like the first guys that kind of came up with this concept, but even if you like and enjoy written content, start creating that content on X or threads as a way to get your ideas out. And then if you could get some activity on threads or X, then it gives you an indicator of the type of content that's interesting to people.
Right. It also helps like a starting point where you take ideas that you have, turn them into short dots. And then those dots can then be turned into videos. Those dots can then be expanded into more comprehensive blog posts. Right? So, that's why I'm saying all these channels could be working in tandem with one another when you do it a lot more intentionally and strategically.
[00:26:57] Paddy Dhanda: Yeah, actually, that was going to be my other question was the fact that there are just so many platforms now. And like you mentioned, threads, which is one of the new ones. If somebody was thinking about starting off on this journey, Is there one or two platforms that you would really recommend or is it very much based on your outcome that you're looking for?
[00:27:21] AJ: think it depends on different people. Like for some people, I'd be Instagram and TikTok. It's really fast, really easy to get results on that. thRee to six months of consistency and kind of getting feedback and also seeing what other people are doing. I think that's a great way to get a lot of action, a lot of activity.
Twitter or X and threads, maybe not as fast, just because the demand in social short form is so high. YouTube Shorts is also great. I think it requires a bit of a different approach. There has been what's called I think it's called like the Mr. Beastification of YouTube. So a lot of YouTube content is similar to that style and that's the kind of content that is working well.
Then there's also another play. You could have an SEO play on YouTube where you could create content so that you could reverse engineer it based off of the type of content people are searching for, right? So if And all of these are different strategies. Some of these are much more long term strategies.
Some of these are much, like, they could be short form long term strategies. You could leverage trends, what's happening and trying to package your niche into whatever that trend is. So it really just depends. That's why, it's like, in my industry, in my world right now, I see a lot of agencies.
There's a lot of video editors and a lot of people that are trying to help people on social media. But A lot of them are really just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. A lot of people aren't really thinking through strategies. And that becomes a big differentiator for the people that I work, I've been working with because I help them build strategies first and really think through and understand what the space looks like.
And then from that place we create content and then we get feedback and then we iterate it. It's not just about like, oh, just creating whatever you think is going to work, and then putting captions on top of it, and trying to make it look cool. The editing is part of it, but a really big part of what you're doing is trying to package up these ideas so that it's resonating with people today.
[00:29:20] Paddy Dhanda: Oh, great advice. And if, for example I was looking for some tools that might help me with things like the titles or descriptions and things like that to actually do the research and analysis, is there any free tools that you would recommend? Any resources that I could have a look at?
[00:29:38] AJ: You can look at things like so Neil has a tool called answer the public. That's a pretty great tool, gives you a lot of information really quickly. So that's a really strong way as a starting point. Cause you could type in keywords or phrases and then start to understand different ways people different angles for that keyword.
Right? Different ways people could look at that keyword. And that helps you understand those topics from different perspectives. And then In addition to that, you also want to search for these topics on things like TikTok. And then you could see other people that have these videos that have gone viral, or that have millions of views or hundreds of thousands of views.
And then those become indicators that, hey, this topic has a lot of potential. How can I create something that's like this, but better and different? Right? So then you continue to do that. And then you start to learn what works for you as well, because you just copying somebody else's topic isn't going to be it.
It's you understanding, Hey, there's opportunity with this topic. How could I now embrace it? How could I now deliver this information in a way that's more unique from me, from my unique experience, because in this AI world that we live in, anybody could seem like the expert. Anyone can regurgitate stuff that chat GPT or Claude or Bard spits out, but it's another thing to really understand the nuances and have actual experience.
Right, in Google land, they have something called EEAT, E E A T, Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust. And it's how Google ranks websites and basically you could take that concept of how Google ranks websites and apply it in social media land as well. So So, experience is something new that they just added to E last year and it goes hand in hand with the rise of AI.
So if everyone could spit out similar information, but if you could provide experience, something that has nuances, then that gives you a leg up. So I think now we're in this place where if you're an expert, trying to become a thought leader trying to get bigger on social media, figure out more ways to integrate your personal unique experiences and unique perspectives into the content. And then let your personality come through from that. That's what people start to attach themselves to. Now you're a personality and you're delivering this information. And now you have something to work
[00:32:03] Paddy Dhanda: Oh, great advice there. That's actually a really good tip. I was thinking about some of that as well, a while back when I was thinking about these videos, I was thinking, do I just come across as very educational, very formal, or should I be bringing some of them? Those past experiences in and adding those kind of stories as well.
And I did settle on the stories cause I can't resist telling a story so that is good to hear. And in terms of the future of social media and, this whole world of SEO. What are you seeing? What are the things that we should be aware of?
The Future of Social Media and SEO
[00:32:38] Paddy Dhanda: Are there any new developments aside from AI that you're hearing about that perhaps will completely change the game for people?
[00:32:46] AJ: I think a big thing is like, a lot of people right now are just trying to use AI and copy pasting what it saying and that's it. And there, that's the work that they think they're doing and I think that's going to work. I think a lot of people are gonna realize very quickly in the coming months that it's not an effective strategy.
I think even to like the basis of your show and what you're talking about We still have that human value that becomes a lot more leveraged so if you could utilize AI in a way where it's you know assisting you and becoming a superhuman version of yourself I think that's what you really want to focus on.
That's what you really want to develop, right? Cause I don't know if you're hearing this or you're seeing this, but a lot of people are talking about like the workforce of the future really needs to understand AI. Cause if you don't, you're probably going to be left behind. Even for me as somebody that employs people and has a team and brings people on the team, if somebody doesn't have AI experience or doesn't know how to use AI or leverage AI in some way, shape or form, It doesn't help them.
It makes them weaker in some respect, right? Whereas people that get it or are really excited about it, that I know they can, they could help move things a lot faster. So I think a lot of it really has to do with mastering AI. And I'm not just talking about prompt engineering. I'm talking about how you could take ideas and concepts in your head and leverage AI to make those real and if you could do that, then your brain and your mind starts working more effectively and it becomes a lot more sophisticated and what your output is becomes a lot more sophisticated and I think that's going to have a really big impact. And just like a little bit more of a practical thing for people that are new that are getting into this, even doing things like mind mapping, right?
Even something like creating a mind map of a topic and then using a mind map to. Understand the different aspects of that topic and using AI to help you mind map different topics, just expands what you're able to talk about and how effectively you could communicate these topics.
And I think that's what's gonna get you discovered and get more people to wanna listen to.
[00:34:53] Paddy Dhanda: So AJ, we are fast approaching time and I was going to ask you one of my favorite questions. So if I could give you any superpower in the world to abolish something or ban something in the world of work, what would that be for you?
[00:35:09] AJ: Let's ban bots. Bots are really annoying. They make things complicated and hard and it sucks when I come across clients and prospects that have bots. It just makes life a lot harder. It's like, hey, let's just get rid of the bots and let's start from scratch or let's start anew and we can get results a lot
[00:35:25] Paddy Dhanda: Got it. So we like AI, but we don't like the AI
[00:35:28] AJ: yeah, we don't like the
[00:35:29] Paddy Dhanda: Got it.
[00:35:30] AJ: We like AI helping us humans connect with each other more effectively. But If it's bots and they're spamming and that kind of junk, it's no use. Who are you trying to fool?
[00:35:40] Paddy Dhanda: I agree with you. I have to say, I do agree with you on that. I saw somebody on social media who was getting bots to post automatically likes and things like that on their own posts. And it was a bit weird because they're not real humans. And they're just getting these robots to vote for them and stuff.
And it was not a good thing.
[00:36:01] AJ: Yeah, and I guess let's specify bots on like social media. Cause I don't know, some bots, that help humans in some respect might be a good thing. I don't mean all bots. I'm specifically talking about those spam bots that like, spam your comments, or like your, like, and all that stuff that's just
[00:36:17] Paddy Dhanda: Got it. Okay. So for one whole day, we're going to ban bots and then we'll see how it goes. We'll do a quick trial on that. And AJ, if people want to know more about this fascinating world of SEO, are there any resources you would recommend and how can people get in touch with you and the great work you're doing?
Conclusion and Contact Information
[00:36:34] AJ: Yeah, so more so in the world of social media, if you want to get really known in the world of social media, then you can follow me on Instagram. I'm creating a lot more content myself. I've been working with clients and helping them, but in the recent months, I'm creating a lot more content myself.
I have a book coming out pretty soon. It's called Guru Inc. It's essentially about becoming a thought leader that everybody wants to follow. And you can visit my website, limitless. inc. Learn more about our company and how we help people build, grow, and scale their personal brands.
[00:37:03] Paddy Dhanda: Ah, fantastic. And that book sounds amazing. I will be in touch when that comes out. Do you know when it's coming out?
[00:37:09] AJ: Like mid next year.
[00:37:10] Paddy Dhanda: So we have a few months.
[00:37:11] AJ: I'm in, yeah, just finished it, now need to change up a few items and yeah, about mid next
year should
be good to go.
[00:37:17] Paddy Dhanda: Just on a side note, how did you find that experience of writing a book? Is it your first book you've written or have you done it before?
[00:37:24] AJ: It was the first book I had written. It was an interesting experience. I wasn't planning to. I was, as I was trying to find somebody to help me write like a simple e book, I can't, like some writer discovered me and just, like, pitched me on this idea of creating a much more big concept book, and that is what led me down this path.
It's been like a year ish year and a few months. It's been a little challenging because you're like in a vacuum trying to create all of this. And then I finally was able to get feedback from like real agents and stuff. And I got really good feedback and now I'm able to mold it to how it needs to be.
But, challenging. I've had writers that help me. Like they're scribes, right? Like they're all my ideas, my stories, and the writers help me package the stories up in a way that is going to be good for the reader's experience. So I don't think a lot of people understand that and It's challenging.
You could write your own book. You could get scribes to help you write your book. It's a challenging journey, but I think you got to really look at it as like more of a self discovery journey because ultimately, it helps you understand your topic, your expertise a lot more effectively.
So when you can look at it like that, it helps get you
[00:38:31] Paddy Dhanda: Oh, I love that. You've almost gone from short form TikTok to actually doing some long form YouTube stuff there from what you're saying.
[00:38:39] AJ: Yeah. And because it's like the long form. I think you do need both long form really sets you up for like that body of knowledge. And then that body of knowledge could then be like splintered into these little bits and pieces that you could share with people. And then that's how I envision people, it's like Marvel has their cinematic universe.
That's essentially how we're all creating our little, our little cinematic universes.
[00:39:01] Paddy Dhanda: fantastic. Well, AJ, it's been a pleasure getting to know you over this last hour or so. And the time has just flown by. So I really appreciate you taking the time today. And thank you so much.
It's the end of another episode. Thank you so much for listening. Please do connect with me via LinkedIn and drop me a message. And let me know your favorite takeaways from the episode. Also, don't forget to subscribe to the superpower school newsletter so that you can be notified of all future episodes. Simply visit the website, www.superpowers.school. Thank you once again
Tips to use social media to build a following and stay forever employable - AJ Kumar (Digital Marketing Expert) - Self-Help E124