Social proof is one of the most important tools to grow a brand. The world's best brands use these tools every day to generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue. Apple, Amazon and Etsy use social proof every day. It influences us at every turn. But not everyone has the budget to spend on some high-priced celebrity to influence a purchase. So what tools can you use today with little to no cost? I dug deep into my own tools that I have used to show exactly how I've grown my brand to ever-increasing numbers of CEOs, brands and entrepreneurs throughout the world. FACT: We each get hit with an estimated 5,000 messages very day. How many of those messages “break through” and get more than a glance? A pathetically small percentage. With the odds stacked against you, you need every tool to make your brand stick. And generate that evasive quality of instant credibility. This outstanding presentation is by award-winning designer and brand expert David Brier who is in the top 5% of Slideshare authors. http://www.risingabovethenoise.com

1. THE ABSOLUTE POWER OF
From CREDIBLE in INCREDIBLE in 9 Steps
PROOF
by David Brier

2. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Whatifwecoulduse
9provenmethods
usedbyAmazon, Yelp,
AppleandEtsytoinspire
customerconfidenceanddrivesales?

3. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Alltohelp
raiseyourbrandfrom
credibletoincredible.

4. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
FACT:
Weeachgethitwithanestimated
5,000messagesevery day.

5. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Definition:
Socialproofis
evidence(theproof)thatothershavechosen
yourproduct/service—suchasreviews,likes,
numbersoffollowers,socialshares,testimonials
orhowmanystarstheproduct’sreceived.

6. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
This“proof”encouragesyou&metofeel
theriskisminimal
andtheoddsare
we’llbefullysatisfied
withtheproductorservice.

7. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Eventhoughthesereviewsarefrom
completestrangers.

8. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
So
howdowemovebeyond
mere testimonials
toinspire
confidence?

9. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
9Methods
tomoveyourbrand
fromCREDIBLEto
INCREDIBLE
The same ones used by the world’s most successful brands

10. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Method#1:
TheVIPEndorsement

11. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
AfteranarticleI’dwrittenon
SharkTankforFastCompany,
SharkTankstarDaymondJohn
andIconnectedviaTwitter.

12. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Thatresultedinavalued
relationship…
andastellarendorsement:
“DavidBrierisbrilliant
withbranding”whichproudly
sitsonmyhomepage.

13. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Strategy:
Connectupandestablish
relationships.Andbeverygood
andvaluabletothosecontacts.

14. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Method#2:
Findwhere
youcanshine

15. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
IknewaForbescontributorand
hadthebrightideatoreachoutto
NYTimesbestsellerandsales
guruGrantCardonetoinclude
himinavideochatopportunity.

16. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Grantacceptedand
immediatelyreciprocated
(you’llfindrealhigh-powered
VIPsmostlydo)andofferedto
interviewmeonhisshow
PowerPlayers.

17. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Strategy:
Workoutwaystohelpthosewho
arepopular,figuringoutwaysto
helpincreasetheirpopularity.

18. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Method#3:
Shineon,
youcrazydiamond
(leverageyourmoments)

19. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
OncethePowerPlayersepisode
airedonGrant’schannel,
IfollowedhowitrankedoniTunes.

20. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Withindays,ithitthe#1spoton
hispodcastoniTunes,something
Ipromotedshamelessly.

21. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Strategy:
Whenyou’vegottenexposure,
that’swhentheworkstarts
andbeveryattentive.
Leveragewhatyoudiscover.

22. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Method#4:
Controlyournumbers

23. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Themostfundamentalmetricis
somethingthatisoneGoogle
searchaway:yourdigital
footprint.

24. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Getyournumbersup
intermsoffollowers.

25. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
WhenIamapproachedby
someonewhoIdonotknow,
whetheravendororapotential
client,IGooglethem.

26. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
AndifIseelownumbersandlow
engagement,it’saredflag.

27. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Strategy:
Determinewhatsocialchannels
youneedtohaveapresenceon.
Takethenecessarystepstoget
yourrelevantnumbersup.

28. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Method#5:
Leverageyournumbers

29. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
So,let’s getpractical.
Currently,Ihavealmost
50KfollowersonTwitter,
over20KfollowersonInstagram,
thousandsofsubscriberstomyblog
and2viralvideosonYouTube
withover400Kviews
betweenthetwoofthem.

30. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Thisiswhenthe
gamestarts.
Notwhen
thegameends.

31. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
HowdoItell
thatstory?
Thatover83,000restlessand
demandingbrands,CEOsand
entrepreneurssubscribetomy
brandinginsightsandstrategies.
Worldwide.

32. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Strategy:
Onceyougetnumbers,
usethemtohelpamplifyyourstory.
Ifyoudon’ttellthemarket
thestorytotalkabout,themarket
willdefineyourstoryforyou.

33. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Method#6:
Knowwhentoshare

34. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Everythingisn’t
equally important.
WhenIwroteanarticleforFastCompany,
Isharedit.
WhenIwaswrittenaboutinYahooFinance,
Isharedit.
WhenIgotintoADWEEK,INC,Business
InsiderandHuffingtonPost,Isharedit.

35. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Strategy:
Wheninfluentialblogs,publicationsand
podcastsfeatureyou,youfeaturethem.
Mostimportantly,
thankthemdirectlyandbegracious.

36. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Method#7:
It’syourjob:addvalue.
Freely.

37. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Yearsago,
Iwrotean
eBook
called,
TheLucky
Brand.
(clickheretogetyourfreecopy)

38. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Youdohaveknowledge.
Youhavetoshareitfreely.

39. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Thepaybackisoutstanding.
Hereare3examples
ofpaybackbywritingand
providingthisfreeeBook
resultinginmillionsof
impressions.

40. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
DesignTaxi(visitedbymillionsofvisitors
monthly)wrote:
“Briergoesthrough[withhisfreeLucky
Brandebook]theevolutionofbrandsinthe
changingfaceofcommunicationandseeksto
answerthreekeyquestions:Howtostand
out;Howtobenoticedatall;andHowtobe
thoughtofwhenit'stimeforyourcustomer
tobuy.”

41. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
NYTimesbest-sellingauthor
MicahSolomonwrote:
“Absolutelyeye-openingwisdomonbranding
andmarketing.Brierdoesitagain.”

42. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
INCmagazineincludeditinitsmust-read
collectionoffreeebooks:
“Thisbookprovidesoutlinesfor10branding
strategiestohelpyourbusinessstandout
fromtherestandattractmorecustomers.”

43. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Strategy:
Offervalue.
Byprovidingvalue,
yousetyourselfasanauthorityand
youneverknowwhowillembrace
whatyou’reoffering.

44. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Method#8:
Ownyourstory

45. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Iaminthetop5%ofpresenterson
Slidesharewithover12,370 followers.
OnlybecauseIdecided
Ihadsomethingtooffer.
Nootherreason.

46. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Now,Ihave
42Slideshares
seenbyover885,000people
worldwide.

47. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Ialsowroteanddirected
twovideosthatwentviral—oneon
Innovation
andoneon
Branding
(withover300Kviews).
(Here’stheInnovationvideolinkandhere’stheBrandingvideolink.)

48. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Andtheseonlyhappenedbecause
Isawgapsininformation
GAPSTHATICOULDFILL
whichIthenchosetofill.
Bytakingthisinitiative,
Iopenedthedoortoachievesocialproofenabling
otherstodiscoverme,myskillandvalue
onanever-expandingrangeofchannels.

49. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Strategy:
Findahole.
Fillitwithoutstandingcontent.
Choosewisely.
Shareintelligently.
Beshamelesslyproudwhenothersembrace
yourknowledge.

50. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Method#9:
Realizeeverydooryou
encounterisn’tabarrier
butanentrance

51. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
You’reinthebusinessofbringingyour
talenttotheworld.
Forsome,thatmaybeaservice.
Forothers,itmaybeaproduct.
Aslongasitprovidestruevalue,
ithasaplaceintheworld.

52. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Socialproofispartofyou’reongoingstory.
Likeanything,youhavetocorrectlyestimate
howmuchyouneedtodo
tomakeadent.
Greatnesshasneverbeenanexerciseintelepathy.
Theonewiththebeststory(toldbythemostpeople)wins.

53. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Strategy:
Useyourstoryto
openmoredoors.
Andclosethedoorstoindecisionand
lostsalesandconversions.

54. from C r e d i b l e to I n c r e d i b l e
Written and Designed:
DavidBrier
www.RisingAboveTheNoise.com