In this week's episode of The Best Guest we welcome Lauren V Davis to the podcast.

We talk about:

• Building a Real Personal Brand
• Leveraging Social Media for Connection
• The Power of Community and Networking

About Lauren V. Davis

Lauren V. Davis is the CEO of Lauren Davis Creative, a hands-on personal branding consultancy that helps superstar entrepreneurs, authors, speakers, and passion-driven individuals tell their stories on their own terms, develop personal brands that form real relationships, and increase their visibility + revenue.

The skills Lauren acquired while building a successful brick-and-mortar record store for 15+ years taught her how to see through manipulative “one-hit-wonder” marketing tactics and instead grow a personal brand that drives meaningful relationships and profits. Today, she offers that same entrepreneurial support (and of course, great music recommendations) to experts worldwide.

Lauren is a featured marketing expert in Reader’s Digest, Huffington Post, and on global top-rated podcasts. She also hosts The Real Personal Branding Podcast, a bi-weekly podcast where she uncovers the secrets of personal brand building from some of the top thought-leaders, speakers, authors, and coaches in the world.

When she’s not working, find her touring the country in her van with her partner, searching for a great cup of coffee or glass of red wine.

Key Takeaways

• Personal branding is about community building, storytelling, and fostering engagement.
• Promoting your speaking engagements before events shows excitement and approachability.
• Setting aside time before and after events to engage with your audience can boost your connection and impact.
• Following up on social media with a thank-you post after your presentation reinforces the relationship with new followers.
• Even introverts can set boundaries while effectively engaging with an audience after speaking.
• Regularly audit your brand by Googling yourself and ensuring your content reflects your current work.
• Your content should be authentic and go beyond just providing value—allow people to connect with you personally.
• It’s essential to have a simple, efficient system for proposals, contracts, and payments.
• Don’t forget to ask for testimonials and reviews; they play a vital role in building trust and credibility.

Quote

Promoting or sharing the event before you come shows your approachability and gets the audience excited about engaging with you. It’s about building relationships that last beyond your talk.

Connect with Lauren V. Davis

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ldaviscreative/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ldaviscreative/
• LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/ldaviscreative
• Podcast: https://linktr.ee/realpersonalbrandingpodcast
• Grow Your Public Speaking Business Workbook

Gifts

• Download Lauren's 100+ Social Media & Content Prompts for Professional Speakers
• Download 100 prompts for social media

Connect with Victoria Bennion

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Lauren V Davis Interview

We're here to support you on your journey, bringing you actionable tips with each episode. Now, let's begin.

Hello and welcome today. I'm really pleased to be joined by Lauren V. Davis, who is the CEO of Lauren Davis creative. A hands-on personal branding consultancy that helps superstar entrepreneurs, authors, speakers, and passion driven individuals tell their stories on their own terms.

Develop personal brands that form real relationships and increase their visibility and revenue.

Hi, Lauren, welcome to the podcast.

Victoria Bennion: I'm really excited to have you here. Now we originally met at Social Media Marketing World and reconnected this June in Newcastle, where I know we chatted about our dogs among other But for anyone what you do, I wonder if you could talk a little bit about your

Lauren V Davis: Yeah, I would love to. So I feel like I've kind of been an entrepreneur ever since the age of nine. I was starting businesses and painting rocks and doing lawn care, like whatever I could To make my own money. And I felt like that's really when that entrepreneurship, like bug really got. But then as I grew older, when I was about 19 years old, I started, I was the co owner of a record store.

How are we getting people to come into a gift shop? When in 2000, you know, six to 2009, there weren't a lot of, there wasn't a lot of people with discretionary income in the United States. was a a lot of it was a recession. It was like a big. a big deal. So I started really leaning into marketing and understanding branding and understanding how people's stories impact the purchases they make and why they choose to support this little local store over a big national store.

And as I was doing that, as I was building these relationships with businesses and learning more about marketing and learning more about branding, going back to school, getting more education about it. I really felt this calling to be able to do that for other people. So I started taking these principles that I was learning from building community within local business and applying them to speakers and entrepreneurs and authors.

Outside of the local business community, because really the same principles apply. You have to build community. You have to have engagement. You have to share your story and taking these small business concepts and bringing them to speakers helped me, um, train these speakers and help me tell their stories with them in a way that was so different from all of the noise that people were seeing online.

Oh,

Victoria Bennion: Wow, there's quite a lot that goes into building a personal brand, isn't there, as you've just covered. Um, So in terms of speaking, if you're speaking at gigs, what are some good ways to get an audience to engage with you before or after

Lauren V Davis: that's such a good question. So I'm a big fan of. Before, during and after an event, I believe that you should be engaging with the audience. So a lot of speakers, when I work with them for the first time, like, I don't know if I should share this because I don't want to seem too amateur or whatever it might be.

Make a little bit of time before and after to talk to people who are excited about your presentation or who really enjoyed your presentation afterwards. Making sure that you have the time set aside. We'll make it so you can still keep your boundaries. If you're an introvert, you can still go relax If you need to right after it like set a timer for yourself Have it go off 30 minutes later and engage for those that 30 minutes after your [00:06:00] talk.

Um, Another thing after your talk That you really want to do is you want to post and thank the organizers. Thank the event. A lot of times, if you do it well, you'll have a lot of new people who follow you from your talk to your LinkedIn page or to your Instagram page after your talk is over, when they get there, they see a post that thing.

Hi, my name is. So and so or hey, thank you so so much to everyone. I got to meet after I spoke at this event They'll feel so much more connected with you and they'll want to hold on longer They might like that post that it might open up a conversation about what they learned But definitely always share that post within I don't know maybe a couple hours of finishing up your presentation at an event It's always a great way to hold on to that engagement and start building those relationships

Victoria Bennion: Is there anyone you've seen who does this very well?

He's talked about that It is possible, even if you're an introvert, if you're an extrovert, whoever you are to spend that time engaging and I think they do that very well.

Victoria Bennion: I'm sure I'm sure they do. I do think as an attendee of an event, it really does difference, doesn't it? as you were um, to that connection that you feel to the speaker, if you enjoyed it and you send them a message and they reply, you definitely a bit learn a bit more about them, be in their world. So, um, In terms of building a strong personal uh, are there ways we can go about this on social media as well?

who, And who you want to be known as, right? Who you, what customers you want to attract. So I always walk people through this five step self assessment or audit process. And the beauty of this five step process is that you can re look at this at any time. So I usually tell or in three months, set aside some time.

And come back and look at this five step process. So the first step is, will people find you? So if you are looking at your personal brand you're thinking about if you had coffee at a coffee friend, but somebody that you just met and you talk to them and all they know when you walk away is your name and something that you said you do, they're, they're Thinking about you after this coffee shop meetup.

Some kind of keyword that they held on Oh, Lauren V Davis or Lauren Davis speaker coach or something like that. So you want to make sure that. When you go to those places that someone might search for you, or if a friend is referring you, and they're referring your Instagram or LinkedIn, are they going to be able to find you?

So, Will people find you is that first step? That means like, as a conference organizer, conference organizers, when they're going through a process like this, they ask themselves, do I know anyone that can speak on this topic? they they also ask themselves, secondly, do, does anyone I know, trust someone who can speak on this topic?

It is really important that people can actually find you. That is one of Um, And then the last thing they'll they'll try to do is just, so when you search your name and a keyword, what kind of social handles come up? What websites come up? What information lives online about you?

What articles mention you? What do you see with your outsider hat on? If you put that outsider hat on, you're like, okay, I'm looking at this as someone who barely knows me or only knows a little bit about me. What are they actually seeing? Um, Can they find you? All right, the second part is how will they experience you once they get there?

I'll go to their, they'll say like, can you please assess my social media pages or my personal brand? And I'll go to their page and I'll look through that, the links and the pictures and all of the things that they say about themselves. And I'll find that their links are going somewhere that they don't even intend their links to go.

Their link is showing a GoFundMe from like six years ago from their friend. know, Like that because they forgot to change or update the link. So make sure that your links are updated and that people can actually go where they need to go. If they are trying to find you, they know how to contact you.

You want people to trust you. the first foundational step of showing up in your business. The third part is how will they continue their relationship with you? So that's where content comes in, right? That's where content builds trust. It builds opportunity for trust, but even just simple social media posts, just Your social media.

So it's not all quote graphics, right? It's not only podcast promos, but it actually shows a little bit of you and your life and you and who you are and what your values are, what are the things you stand for, it can show up in your, you, how you build that relationship and how you build that trust can be blog posts that can be podcast episodes, it can be emails to your email subscribers or uh, your Photos showcasing how you speak or how you work with clients.

Victoria Bennion: Well, I was writing some notes actually, when you started, it um, some of the work that we do when we start working with clients on podcasts, it's host, um, we had a client who was a host and she said she received a pitch and The woman looked great, but when she Googled her, she couldn't find quickly any evidence that the woman had done the speaking engagements that she said she had.

And she said, whether that was true you know, it wasn't, you know, maybe she just not put them online on her website, but it caused that room for doubt. And as she didn't know her, she, and she was busy. She just went, no. You know, So I think all those things, they're so fundamental to get in aren't they? but as you said, so easy to forget to update links, like, but you need to, it's so important to do.

Some things you'll find you'll be like, Oh, I forgot I did that. And you can add that to the things that you talk about or something that you find you'll be like, Oh man, yeah, I was published in this magazine or I did this interview once, and that was a really good interview. And you can even use some of that to create content from, so you'll be surprised what you find, but definitely do that audit once in a while.

Should we move on to the fourth

step?

Victoria Bennion: Yeah. Go for it.

Lauren V Davis: Well, I also, I guess I want to say also that when you're creating content, And you're creating content to support and build and nurture your personal brand. You want to definitely think about your audience, right? You want to think about the people you're really serving.

Like really think about that kind of stuff because that is how you'll start to think customer in order to provide content that serves them.

Victoria Bennion: before, If you're working with someone and they say, I'm not sure I know the answers to you, what's the best thing they can do to get a bit clearer on that?

But some of the sometimes what I like to do is I like to just go to Google and type in some question that I think my pastor might have and see what some of the additional questions that Google supplies are because those types of questions are generally questions that more people are asking than not right.

How many times have you Google searched a question and then Google supplies a new question you're like, Oh, kind of want to know the answer to that too.

Right.

Victoria Bennion: absolutely. And you end up skipping down the whole list, don't you? Oh,

Lauren V Davis: Yeah, so that's a good place to find ideas. Of course. Um, You can also you lean into AI these Questions and ask AI be detailed in your request to AI about what you're asking for, and don't just take those questions at face value, say like, do you have the research to back up that?

They have the choice to pick from a million different consultants and coaches and entrepreneurs that do the exact same thing as you. And I don't mean to say that to say like you're not special, but like no one's that special at in that way, like we all have an expertise. Many of us have the same expertise at varying levels.

Victoria Bennion: that's really good advice. Thank you.

Lauren V Davis: Yeah Okay, so the fourth part And this part is based on the idea of like, when somebody has a business, they get really excited about those What is my aesthetic going to look like on Instagram? like, what are my brand colors? And what's my website going to what, what's my one liner, my, my elevator pitch.

And so the fourth step, yeah. And it's, it can be very stressful and it can feel like, Oh my God, I don't know what I'm doing, or I don't want to look unprofessional and in so many mastermind groups, I suddenly get that little thing. And Okay. How do you like, where do you guys take money?

Where do you process Like, And all of a sudden I can tell that somebody is wanting to buy from them and now they're forced to make this decision quickly. So the fourth step is, do you have a simple operating system? You need to have some kind of operating system for your business. And when I say operating system, you don't have to take that literally.

You have to have that simple operating system in order to succeed. So I always say, if someone wants to book you to speak on a masterclass, a podcast, or in front of their audience right now, what is your system? What is their journey? That is the question that you need to ask yourself. You can also think of your operating system as your system for marketing.

So how are you marketing your services? What, how are you staying consistent with content? It doesn't have to mean content three times a day or eight times on TikTok a day or anything like that. Like, how are you creating system to actually show up consistently for yourself? Your operating system can just be that whatever the operating system you need is whatever you know, are flawed work on them.

Do you want people to send email referrals your way? When people ask you how this has been a great call. Now, how can I help you? What do you say? Because that's a great opportunity to say, well, if you really liked working together on this one time call. I would love a testimonial on LinkedIn or I would a podcast review because I know that you listen to my podcast and that would mean so much to me.

Think about the ways that you want to refer people and do that.

Victoria Bennion: That's really good. I'd not thought of that before.

Lauren V Davis: thanks. Yeah, I think that if you go through these five steps and you make time to go through them often, Um, or, at at a certain time in your business journey, so like every six months or once a year, you'll be surprised at what you find and what you can either add to your content stream, add to your website, or what you can do to adjust it and just make simple changes that really make it easier for people to find you.

Lauren V Davis: Oh, yeah.

Victoria Bennion: Am I taking payments in whatever the clients?

Currency is, and this is where I ended up with a huge mistake because I had a client who was based in Copenhagen, right, it's fine. I'll just, Translate it into his currency and I did not do and and, bargain. huge bargain. And then that, but that was when I what, how am I going to take payments?

What am I going to say to people? And

Lauren V Davis: And it's good to have that process laid out or your product offerings laid out. So that way it is simple. thing Um, And you don't even have to think about and you just have it taken care of and ready to

go.

Lauren V Davis: Yeah.

Victoria Bennion: I love that.

Lauren V Davis: like, there's simple things that you can put into Like, I try to send out an email every Tuesday or every other Tuesday, or I try to, Make sure that I post one personal, like more personal update on Instagram and one more business related professional update on Instagram a week. It doesn't mean that I have to be so rigid about it because not rigid doesn't work for everyone.

Rigid works for some people, rigid does not work for other people. For me, in a more creative brain, I'm like, well, I want to do these three things every week. And so I'm going to make it happen every week. And that's what works for Um, And I usually repurpose things that I put on my podcast or on LinkedIn or on Instagram to each other and kind of make it their own on each individual platform.

Victoria Bennion: Yes. I wondered if you could talk about any common mistakes you see businesses making, particularly on social media.

Lauren V Davis: I think one we already talked about, which is like posting just quotes. Quote cards or just promos to their podcasts that have been mass produced or just value based posts because for so long people were, it was drilled into them. Like you need to be educational, you need to bring as much value as possible.

And so it's no one's fault that they're doing it that way. And chat, GVT and AI have only made it easier for people to come up with those types of But people want to see you, and they want to see the real you, and they want to see the lessons you've learned and how you've done something.

That is like the, that is basically the equivalent of one of those salespeople in your DMs and LinkedIn that just immediately pitches you without ever asking you one single question about you and then leave. Or like a podcast pitch that's clearly misaligned, that has nothing to do with your podcast.

And you're like, why does this person even pitch me? They know nothing about me and they just followed a template and plugged in the right podcast episodes, if that is the equivalent of that slimy LinkedIn sales message, right?

Lauren V Davis: Then there's the situation where somebody comes up to you and they ask you a super engaging question just to have you be like, good question.

Anything that's going to build trust. No one's ever going to say, man, I really love Lauren because she asked me about burgers or pizza once I really trust her now, it just doesn't work like that, but then there's the situation where you meet someone at a networking event and you hang out with each other all night and you clink glasses and say cheers, like much like you and I have, and you have a conversation about your dogs or about life and you talk about [00:27:00] business and then you follow up with each other later.

And you maybe get Coffee, or maybe you see each other at another conference as we did. And like, Oh, that's right. You do podcast stuff. And oh, you do personal branding stuff. And then we follow up with each other later. And we say, Oh, we should really get together and like swap podcasts or be on each other's podcast.

And then we do business together, Like That is how that's how this kind of stuff works. It's multiple touch points, and relationship building foundations over time. That make you trust people and make you want to do things with each other, make you want to do business or help each other support each other.

And when people start treating their social media or their digital landscape and their digital relationship, the way that they would treat people in real life, the way that they would treat their best friends, that's when they start seeing movement and they start seeing people who are like, Oh, I love this person.

I love the way she talks. I love the way she teaches. I love the way he talks. I love the way that he trains without any BS, but he's still warm. Like That's how people start getting to know you and feeling who you are in your energy, rather than just. Getting value or engagement all the time, and that's why I'm a big like, not paying attention to vanity metrics, the way so many people push vanity metrics on you.

Victoria Bennion: There's a lot to think about in what you've said. I like it.

Lauren V Davis: Hopefully it resonates and it helps you or anyone else think about social media in a different way.

Victoria Bennion: Yeah, it really has. . Because it is something that I struggle with. So what you're saying makes so much sense.

You feel like you're their best friend or you feel like you're connected to them personally and that If you think about the way that they are using social media versus the way that some of these like Obviously to me fake accounts that have millions of likes on every post, but they're words on backgrounds.

Like there's a big difference in how the influencers with a smaller following who are really connected to their people are actually making money versus what the other things are, which just feel like media or advertisements to me.

Victoria Bennion: Mm hmm. Yeah. For sure. Definitely.

Lauren V Davis: Cool.

Lauren V Davis: too.

Thank you. I can't wait to have you on my podcast too. So I'm excited for that. Get that all recorded and our listeners can listen to both and hear from you and all of your expertise as well.

Victoria Bennion: Yeah. , I'm really looking forward to that too. Now where can listeners go to connect with you?

Lauren V Davis: They can find me on Instagram and LinkedIn, mostly for social media. My Instagram is L Davis creative. Please come say hi. I would love to talk to you. DM I'm the only person that touches my Instagram and same with LinkedIn. Feel free to come add me on LinkedIn. Let's have a conversation. I can also give you a link to a hundred plus content ideas or content prompts for people to use really bring out their personal self in their personal brand.

I've got one for speakers and I've just got one for entrepreneurs as well.

Victoria Bennion: That would be perfect.

Lauren V Davis: Thank you so much for having me.

Victoria Bennion: Oh, you're welcome. so much for coming on. I'll put links to all of those in the show notes so that people can find you.

Lauren V Davis: Sounds good.