Build your reputation online from scratch

 

Show Notes: 

  • (00:46): How to build an online reputation
  • (03:29): Creating content to connect with people 
  • (09:17): Attracting ideal clients using social media 
  • (14:34): Authenticity on social media 
  • (16:19): How to find your target audience
  • (20:55): Using content to attract the right client 
  • (25:37): Sharing your ideas with the audience 

Quotes: 

“Most people don’t have the attention span to go through all of your bad work and confirm that it’s bad.” – Misbah 

“Keep content going no matter what.”- Blake 

“You have to be able to get to a place where you’re, you’re realizing that it’s not foolish, or silly or impostor syndrome, or whatever you want to call it. Like to put this stuff out, because it actually is beneficial and helpful to somebody.”- Blake 

“Don’t be scared to tell people, This is what I’m really excited about. This is authentically me. And I’d love to help anybody who else finds this exciting and appealing.”- Blake 

“People are paying you to think about stuff and know it so that they don’t have to.”- Misbah

Bite-sized action items to go from dreaming to streaming your podcast.


    Transcript:

    Misbah Haque  00:00

    All right Misbah Haque here with Blake Scheidt. Today, we are excited to talk to you about a problem that, you know, we both have faced several times over the course of our fitness careers in the past, you know, eight to 12 years. And it’s this idea of how do you build your reputation online when nobody knows you, nobody trusts you, nobody has paid you. Again, I like speaking to this problem, because I was in this stage for so long. And it felt like nobody was speaking to it, everybody was giving something where you had to have a little bit of something already. And in today’s day and age, like, if you want clients online, and you want to work with people remotely, or you want that location, independence or flexibility, there’s a way to build that reputation from scratch. And I’m excited to dive into that today. Blake, how are you doing? And what are your thoughts on this?


    How to build an online reputation

    Blake  00:46

    I’m so great, man, I just got done a workout and feeling the endorphin rush here at the gym. So feeling good. I’m excited to help. And I’ve always wanted to be Marcus Philly, both his his body and his followers, but I am neither. So so how do we solve that problem? We solve that problem for ourselves and for our listeners to to be able to get clients to get to know you and have a reputation and have some credibility. So great question.

    Misbah Haque  01:17

    The obvious answer here is getting a client so that you can start to get results. And then you document those results. And then you scale that. And now you’ve got reputation building. But we’re gonna go with the assumption that the person who is listening is not even at that point yet, or does not feel confident with that yet, or hasn’t landed that first client yet. So how are you building reputation in the meantime, because you can be and I know, it feels almost impossible. But to me, if you can mentally get through that barrier of creating, you know, putting yourself out there in some way. And that means different things for different people like whether that’s sending a message to somebody you don’t know, or whether that’s publishing a piece of content on your personal feed. Like that’s daunting for a lot of people. But if you couldn’t begin to do that, you need to just hang in there long enough to where you start to see some results coming back at you. And that’s usually the hook that gets you going. All right, let me do this. But I know that feeling of like you’re trying everything. And you have you have probably some experience in the real world, like people talk to you about fitness, you may have gotten in shape, and they’re like, oh, what chord exercises should I do, and you’ve helped people out. And when you go online, though, when you open up your Instagram feed, you feel like a nobody. We feel like you exist, because you go over to your profile. There’s no profile picture, maybe there’s zero foul, you know, zero followers, and you’re following 1000 people. So you just you’re consuming everybody’s work, and you’re not creating anything. And so it’s it’s hard, especially when you have a lot of experience. I know coaches who are so smart that I trained under who in real life, they are, they are so experienced their reputation is wild, right? Online, nobody like they it’s almost as if they’re a ghost, and they don’t exist. And I can see when you make that transition, the further along you are you feel like man, I should be able to I should be able to see something out of this when I post something like How does everybody not know I’ve been doing this for 12 years or whatever? There is this issue, right?


    Creating content to connect with people 

    Blake  03:29

    So I think a couple things there that that’s just helpful to be encouraging is, so sometimes perception is everyone else is following the same people that I follow on Instagram. And that’s just not true. Like, most of my clients don’t know any of the people that I follow, right? And so it’s not content stealing, but like, if I go on and try to show someone how to foam roll on my story, because I’m having back issues and trying to help that there are going to be a couple 100 people that follow me who don’t know how to foam roll and don’t follow Kelly star at or anybody else that knows how to do that stuffvand never will and they’re going to be you’re the link to helping them fix their back right or, or getting it stronger and they need to know even more stuff. But the foam rolling was just Wow, it sounds like you you know some you think about back pain. I have a lot of back pain. I’ve been scared to go to the gym. So this is a real story that happened to me that I actually got my second client because I was coaching classes. This is about four years ago, I was coaching a bunch of classes. I had one client at the time and a lot of extra time on my hands and I decided to just start making content. I had no idea what I was doing. But I decided that I was just going to film really cool things that I was already doing in my workout and try to market it in a way that could be beneficial to someone else. I didn’t even think any further ahead than that. And I had someone hit me up two days later became my second client because I was doing some thoracic spine foam roll laying and just showing how I did that to loosen up the middle of my back, and this person had back problems and that person has been with me for four years. They’re still with Yeah, so the cool part is that you just don’t know. And you’re, you’re, you’re assuming that you’re going up against the, I’ll say him again, because we both know Marcus Phillies are people who have a huge following. And and that’s not true, there’s tons of people who don’t know who that is, and you’re going to be their, their trainer, you’re going to be the person who connects them to some of these health experiences that you have to offer and the sciences that they don’t know. And so you need to be confident in that, that it’s a real reality. There’s a lot of people out there who don’t follow any health people on Instagram, or Facebook or Twitter, that they follow you because they’re friends. And this is going to be a way that you build reputation is you’re going to just show the knowledge that you do have, not necessarily that you’re coaching anybody at that point, but that you’re trying to build reputation on that you have knowledge and you’re open to coach.

    Misbah Haque  05:59

    The first thing that pops up for me here is like my own experience with being a skinny Indian kid, I wasn’t necessarily like I was a little bit fit, right? But when you put me online against the Marcus Phillies are against all the other professional athletes who are also coaches, like, I’m a nobody. I was like, why would somebody look at me at first glance and be like, I want to work with that guy. Another thing, I came into the fitness industry when I was 17 years old, right? So being young was a constant thing that I’ve self conscious about, or whatever, which is like, why would somebody listen to a 21 year old, right? And so all of these fears that you have early on, are valid, but the only thing that moved the needle for me in terms of like getting people to look past what my body might look like, or you know that that initial judging the book by its cover was content, okay, that’s the only thing people have to judge you off of it’s the same way you go on an Instagram grid, and whether you choose, okay, do you want to follow this person? Or do I just keep scrolling? Right. And so in every arena, like it was different back then I used, you know, blogging is podcasting, things of that nature. But and years, you know, seven, eight years later, like, I can tell you, the thing that’s consistent, is whatever platform you choose, that almost doesn’t matter. But it’s your ability to almost put out 50 to 100 pieces of content. So whether that’s podcast episodes, its YouTube videos, or it’s, you know, Instagram reels. Volume is the biovision. It’s the thing that paints the like, basically, if you have, all I need is three good experiences from you, Blake, right. So if I come onto your page, and you have, you’re starting to post stuff, like you’ve got 10 posts, let’s say, right, I have out of all those, one of them is very relevant to me. It’s about kettlebells. And whatever it is, it’s a kettlebell review, because you’re setting up a home gym. Am I okay, that’s good, Blake. This guy’s smart. I really liked this guy. Okay, right. Now, what I need the only way for me to have that second and third experience where I go, Hmm, okay, I really liked this guy. Let me let me hit File, I want to see what else this guy has, right. But the only way to create that experience is going to be with another 10 and another 10 and another 10. Because not everybody is going to like every single thing you put out, some people are going to like one out of every five one out of every 10 Things that you actually release. So your job is a volume. And even if it’s bad, you have to remember this. Most people don’t have the attention span, to go through all of your bad work and confirm that it’s bad. Meaning when you move 100 episodes out, I’m not going back to your six episode to be like, Oh, that was really crappy. Like, what? I’m just going to scan the title and be like, Okay, interesting not into it. Okay, let me go find something that I am into. And I’ll find the title that I am and so if you have 100 options or 50 options for someone to kind of choose from now you can easily create three Wow experiences that results in the next step which is okay, I’m gonna I’m in your universe now. You know what I mean?

     

    Attracting ideal clients using social media 

    Blake  09:17

    I love that that’s so good. I was just thinking as you’re saying that like I think I probably so I have around 65 clients right now. And I think about 10 of them came to me because they were following my content online for a little bit and I don’t have blow you away content like MS DOS content is 10 times better than mine. Just like yeah, I could I keep my I keep my Instagram fairly steady. I’m gonna keep having my stories in front of you. I mean, it’s all health based. It’s all Fitness based. It’s all trying to be science and what I eat nutrition and, and it’s amazing how someone will get on a call with me and be like, Yeah, but following you for a while, and I finally just wanted to pull the trigger, like, yeah. And I’m like, How long have you been following, it could be six months, they could have been following me for three months. But like, it’s stuff like that, that just kept it in front of people. And I had no idea I was even doing that I just kept being faithful. So, like, number one belief that you’re not really competing against the big dogs, they’re in a dip world round doesn’t matter. Because you don’t need you don’t need that, what you need is to realize that you have plenty of people. So if you need 50 clients, you have 1000 people, probably someone in your proximity to be able to coach that could really use you, right, you just need 50 of them. So not as not the same game, don’t get overwhelmed. Number two, I would say, keep content going no matter what. Because you don’t you don’t realize how it’s your it is your credibility, it is your advertisement, that you know some stuff, okay, and that you want to be able to use that stuff. And then I would say the last one is you have to be able to get to a place where you’re, you’re realizing that it’s not foolish, or silly or impostor syndrome, or whatever you want to call it. Like to put this stuff out, because it actually is beneficial and helpful to somebody, I had someone that I was trying to help a year ago who was flirting with trying to become more of a full time coach, really great person, awesome, but had a really big deal of just feeling foolish putting stuff on their Facebook, like as if it made them look like they’re trying to be an influencer, or there’s something weird, when like, you kind of have to go to this place where, like, if people hate it, they can stop following it. But I’m not trying to be annoying. I’m trying to put some positive, good, helpful things out there. And hopefully it turns into a sale. But it’s not grimy. It’s not weird. It’s just something that’s going out there that’s trying to be helpful. So simplify it. Don’t be afraid and keep it really, really simple that you’re just trying to help people.

    Misbah Haque  11:56

    The algorithms are getting better and better. And so your stuff will never show up. For people who are not interested at all like, it’s going to show up for people who are already looking for those types of things. And a way I can prove this point is have two different YouTube channels or two different accounts or have two different Instagrams and look at your feed on each one. Go look at your feed and see how different each one is. You will never see some of the same videos and posts and people on this new Instagram account you have versus the existing one you have. So yeah, you’re I think you’re 100% right with that, know that even if one person listens, like I got a sale on a video that had seven views once one person listened, who honestly, I think didn’t even fully watch the video, they saw my email around it and like clicked it. And then that was enough to be like, oh, yeah, like, this is what I’m experiencing. And we got on a call. And you know, we kind of moved through the rest of the stages. But building your reputation online, I think comes back to if you can get 100 like even in podcasting space, a lot of nothing can get you through no matter how good it is, it can not get you that first 100 You have to put in that work and take those attempts. And yeah, I think that immediately, like, like that is credibility that is building. Even if I don’t know, even if it’s bad, like 100 episodes shows that you thought about this enough for you, you work on this, you’ve spent time on it, to where at a quick glance, because people you want to work with aren’t going to go through 100 They’re going to quickly quickly glance that stuff. And if there’s evolution, like if your stuff is bad, that’s actually good, because people can watch your growth, they can see how bad it was. And they can see oh my gosh, look at every three posts person is getting amazing. I remember some dude reaching out being like, Hey, man, I’ve been following you for a month, like your assessment getting even better and better, like love, you know, thanks for the video, whatever. And you’re not going to get that much engagement in the beginning. But you cannot let that stop or slow you down. Or because it feels like you’re publishing into the ether. But that is the only way that you can build reputation. Or one of the only ways you can build reputation online. If you’re not actually doing it through, you know, getting clients or working with them or partnering with other names. It’s a really bootstrapping self starter way to do it that I think most people will be really proud of after they do it. Like you’ll be so glad like you’re telling me right now you’re so happy you made those videos even though you didn’t know what you were doing early on.


    Authenticity on social media 

    Blake  14:34

    I think also like I just make it natural like so my content really is who I am so I don’t try to fabricate stuff. I keep it authentic and people pick that up. So like I record myself on my phone, I record myself you know with with my kids going for walks I record my coffee in the morning because I love that stuff. I record the foods I enjoy making I record my workouts because those are the things that like I record Client successes, right? That once you get there that is huge. I remember this is another good point like John Berardi said that I heard him say this like three or four years ago where it was like he said something along the lines like, hey, once you start getting into this, tell everyone about it, tell everyone what you’re doing and don’t stop, like, and I remember being like, yeah, that I don’t know why that sounded. So, like, amazing. To me. It’s super simple. But it was very profound in the sense of like, don’t like I was saying earlier, don’t be scared to tell people, This is what I’m really excited about. This is authentically me. And I’d love to help anybody who else finds this exciting and appealing. So what you’re doing is you’re winning people to not just good principles of training and good and managing their energy systems and learning how to help them think about practical nutrition, but you’re really wanting them to kind of the way you view life and how you do life. So I really do try to get eight hours of sleep every night, I really do try to drink all my water like all that. And so when I put that out there, it doesn’t feel cheesy and weird and a lie. It feels inspirational. And people people buy into that. So you’re not just selling credibility that you get tons of results. You’re selling credibility that like you do this, you believe it works because you do it. That’s one of the best ones you can do.


    How to find your target audience

    Misbah Haque  16:19

    I agree with you. And I think that something to note here, because it brought up a fear for me. I know I had and I know a lot of people listening will have this too, which is I building a reputation seems fake? It seems artificial. Like I don’t feel this way. I don’t know enough. But I am trying to make myself seem like I know enough. The way around that is to become a scientist and an explorer. So scientists never goes I know. I I master this stuff, epi genetics, I research, epi genetics, I explore epigenetics. I conduct studies on genetics, like you’re taking the stance that this is something you are learning. And that is what I did when I first started out, because I felt weird about that, too. And credibility developed from just associating myself with people who knew what they were talking about. Over time. It was like, people appreciated my willingness to be like, I don’t know this, but I want to learn, and that when someone really wants to learn something that does shine through, right, so that is an avatar and an angle, the reputation that you might be jealous of and that scares you as the people like Jocko willings. And, you know, David Goggins, who already have such a reputation that they put their first piece of content out, and it gets millions of views, right? You’re not in that position. When you’re building reputation you are being you can purely build a career out of being like, I don’t matter, I don’t know that much about fitness, I don’t get six, you know, eight hours of sleep per night. But I’m really interested in learning about how to make fitness sustainable for, you know, parents, because like we have, you know, I have four kids, and I don’t realistically, sleep more than six hours, whatever. Like, there’s an audience for that there might not be for you, if you are the one who’s like promoting, and stuff, but there is an audience for who’s looking for someone to be like, Finally, someone who also eats starbursts, right? Like, first coach I’ve met is actually under this versus like, just pushing keto on me all the time. Like, we’re looking for people to give us human details. And you kind of showcasing like, Hey, today, I don’t know that much about, let’s say, keto. I’ve been hearing a lot of people talk about it. A lot of my friends and family are asking me about it. So you know what? I decided I’m going to do a video and explore what I’m finding who’s putting content out there on keto, what are some good stuff, what are some good resources that you can check out if you want to know more, like that is value right there, even though you are just pointing people in different places, because remember, people are paying you to think about this stuff and know it so that they don’t have to. So any time you spend thinking researching, like, that’s all valuable time. And again, that stance of being a learner is easier than being like I know it all. And, you know, this is the method that I teach.

    Blake  19:12

    Yes, really good point. Very good point. And, and I love your posture there. And yes, I like starbursts, too, you know, it’s good to be real and share those things. So but I, you know, I would even go as far as to say, like, let people know you’re studying those things. Like I always this is super cheesy, but like I always took a when Misbah and I have a mentoring call, like I take a screenshot of that and put it up. Because I want people to know I have a coach and I’m trying to learn and I’m not I don’t know it all and I’m working things out with a coach. Or if I’m reading a new book, you know, it could be any kind of fitness book, John Berardi book or whatever and like I post that just let people know I’m studying. I’m reading or I’m looking at some new research here and this is very fascinating. So that’s how Another great way to show people like, oh, you might not know at all, but this person is a study or this person is a researcher, this person is someone who’s willing to get out there and figure it out. And, and be confident that because coaching is problem solving at the end of the day, right, so that is what you are doing. And that’s what you’re showing people you’re able to do. I think sometimes there’s a, there’s a, especially with people graduating college, there’s like a false premise that like you’re supposed to know it all. Yeah, and that’s not the reality, the reality is that you’re good at problem solving, and you have the resources to go figure out where to go solve those problems. That’s what you are, yeah, you’re not so so. So sell that credibility. So that credibility that you know, the resources you are studying, you are getting better, and you’re somebody who is willing, you’re worth taking a chance on, because of that hard work that you’re showing your content.


    Using content to attract the right client 

    Misbah Haque  20:55

    And that’s the beautiful part is even when you tell them, hey, I’m a beginner, hey, I’m learning, you know, but I am passionate about this. And I do want to help you at Prospect lead future client, when they go to your catalogue of content, whether that’s Instagram grid website, or podcast, and YouTube. And if they even just listen to two minutes, right, and they hear that attitude from you that you are learning, Hey, today, we’re going to be exploring this, I don’t know too much about it. But here’s you know, and then that documents a change throughout that episode, the right client for you will be attracted to that and be like, we’ll get the preview they need to the degree where like, it moves them, you know, a little bit closer to the next step, whether that’s reaching out to you, whether that’s getting on a call, whether that’s agreeing to a package, like your content truly will do the selling for you, if you structure it right, like a lot of times, the reason it doesn’t in the beginning is because your skills aren’t there. Like you don’t know how to write good titles, yet, you don’t know how to, you know, keep the episode interesting, like, and that’s the part you need to get through. Everybody has that no matter who you are, like, you have to get through your first 10 Bad reps, right? And so start creating, because everything you do put out is building a reputation. Even when you don’t know what you’re doing. Sometimes that is the best reputation because it’s showing this desire to figure it out. It’s showing change and a story. And think about it like this. We never we don’t appreciate always like documentaries and characters and movies who have it all figured out. Right? This is my, you know, list of accomplishments. I’ve never messed up ever, like you almost are like that person’s sketchy, right? There’s something going on there that I’m not aware of. You appreciate the character who lost something in the beginning of a show or a movie, to the point where you’re like, oh, man, I wonder what’s going to happen. And then they take you on the journey of change. I don’t know this thing. But now I’m gonna figure it out unexpected conflict. Okay, now resolution, what what have I come back with after putting myself out there and trying to learn this stuff? If you can take that attitude, I guarantee you, you will attract people who are in that because they will sense your passion. And you will feel less sleazy about creating content, because you’re not going to be telling it from a standpoint of like, well, here are the 10 ways that I think you should get up earlier or whatever it is like that feels forced, but it doesn’t feel forced to say yeah, you know what, I struggle with sleep. And I’m trying to figure out how to get up earlier. So here are 10 things I found. And here’s who point them to people like that. Like a lot of times you feel like you’re stealing ideas. You’re like, oh, it’s not my idea that was actually Travis mashes, he’s the one who I heard this back squat set thing from years later you find out everybody’s using this stuff, right? It’s not just this person. But if it makes you feel better, I used to over give credit to everybody else. In the beginning, I learned this one from Travis mash. I did that so so you know what it does, man? It tells people like you have a data collector in here. And you actually learn you’re like, Oh, this one I got from this thing. This one I got from this guy. And people like wow, this guy actually like is kind of well read or researches his stuff. Like how does he know all these random facts from this person’s blog or whatever? And that’s the thing most people will never go listen to that other hidden podcast episode. Yeah. So you do them the service of distilling it down.

    Blake  24:20

    Keeps you humble, too, you know, and people, people like humility, they, they don’t want to hear someone who’s a No at all, or the authoritative coach. You know, I’ve been around those guys. And I would just say, you know, kind of, in probably as we’re wrapping up and closing, you know, the coaches that make it you know, beyond 2025 clients that kind of actually start getting to where they want to be and making some some decent money in this game is are people who are willing to get out there and learn and continue to push themselves and tell people that they’re doing it. The people who sit back and kind of wait or they’re a little scared to look stupid, or they’re too heavy. tend to kind of get out there, like you said, and have their first tail 10 failed reps. They’re the people who don’t, aren’t as successful, very successful, to be honest. So there’s a there, you have to be willing, you have to be willing to put on enough weight on the bar, that it’s kind of scary. And you’re not sure if you’re gonna get or not. But that’s what this fitness fun, right? Yeah, that’s what makes this fun. So you need you need to connect it to, I can use this kind of analogy for our audience, you have to be able to put an an F on that it’s a risk. And that’s where it’s kind of sweet to see if you get it or not. And you everybody’s had both experiences, you’ve missed some and you hit it. And when you hit it, it’s awesome.


    Sharing your ideas with the audience 

    Misbah Haque  25:37

    So yeah, that’s it, man, it’s just, it’s crazy that we can do that now you can build a reputation by just noticing something useful or helpful or interesting about whatever you’re into. And if you can share that every single day, in some capacity, you will gather a small amount of people who are also into those things. And it’s trusting that and it’s being honest with yourself and asking yourself art because there has been times where I complain or, but I look at what I’m actually what my output is, and it’s not matching what I actually want, right? So you got to be able to match the outfit to the reputation that you kind of want and that’s what makes that’s what should like fire your ego up every time you hit publish, like Yeah, okay, I got one more under my belt, right? Like, get hooked on that feeling. Versus like another form of validation and gets like focused on the next video or the next podcast, the second you get done it. And before you know it, you know, you’ll have this reputation that people can communicate even better than you can you know, just from like seeing the stuff you’re into. So yeah, hopefully that was helpful. Anything else on this you want to you know, leave people with Blake.

    Blake  26:43

    I’m exhausted from getting up very early. So I hope demeanor was a little bit less energy today. That’s That’s why I had to I had to cover a coach’s 5am shift. I’ve worked really hard to not have to do those anymore. And but somebody was on vacation.

    Misbah Haque  26:57

    Bro. It’s it’s really funny how that’s real though, right? Like, that’s what people are gonna deal with. We’re gonna not always show up and have the most energy and we’ll be examples of that too. We’re going to try to keep being our best even in the tough times. So thank you for hanging out with us today. And make sure to reach out whether that’s on Instagram or link. All the links are in the description. So check that out and connect with us. We’d love to hear from you. Anything you’d love to hear about, let us know and we will definitely record some content around it.

    Blake  27:25

    Yes sir.

    Misbah Haque  27:26

    Alright guys, take care.


    If you have any questions, feel free to message me at [email protected] or visit my instagram account @podmahal

     


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