Boss Your Business - The Podcast

[00:00:00] Yvonne Heimann: And welcome back to another episode of Boss Your Business, where I expose you to how my guests build the business of their dreams, or maybe you have been through nightmares. Who knows? Today I am actually joined by, oh my God, how long have we known each other? We've known each other as associates for quite a while, but it took us a little bit of work to get Ian Anderson Gray on here because He's nearly on the other side of the world.

[00:00:27] He is actually more over in my old stomping grounds and to introduce you guys, Ian is the founder of the Confident Life Marketing Academy and the host of the Confident Life Marketing Podcast. Yes, we will have links in the description, as always. He helps entrepreneurs to level up the impact, authority, and profits by using life video confidently.

[00:00:51] You are also the founder of Seriously Social, a blog focused on life video and social media tools. You're an international speaker, trainer, teacher, [00:01:00] and consultant. You have a passion for making the techno babble of life video and social media marketing easy to understand. As well as being a geek husband and dad to two kids, Ian is also a professional singer and lives near Manchester in the UK.

[00:01:19] Yeah! Welcome!

[00:01:22] Ian Anderson Gray: Thank you! It's good to be here. I'm glad we finally got here.

[00:01:26] Yvonne Heimann: It took us a little bit. It took us a little bit.

[00:01:30] Ian Anderson Gray: I know. But we're here.

[00:01:33] Yvonne Heimann: I think we actually ran for the, we probably ran into each other for the first time, social media marketing world here in San Diego. So it's been a few years.

[00:01:40] It's been before the shit hit the fan. Yes. Now, as my audience knows, I always get a little bit of information from my guests beforehand and this whole professional singer thing. I think I kind of knew that, but I kind of didn't. Which brings us to my always most favorite [00:02:00] question. How did you get here?

[00:02:03] What's, what's Ian Anderson Gray's grow up story?

[00:02:09] Ian Anderson Gray: Oh my goodness. Like, I'm sure you get so many weird stories on, on your podcast. That's why it's my favorite question. Like, you know, what we do today did not exist, 10 years ago, 15 years ago. But like, I, when I was at school, I, I was passionate about a few things.

[00:02:26] I loved music. My, my mum was an opera singer. Music was a very much a part of our house, and I used to play the cello. I used to sing. I was just like, I joined everything. I was, I loved performing. Now, even though I've always been an introvert, getting on stage, I somehow feel free and I was, and it's all about communication and communicating a story or an emotion and there's something special about that.

[00:02:53] So that was one thing I was passionate about, but I was also loved technology. And back in the early [00:03:00] eighties, this is when computers, you know,

[00:03:03] Yvonne Heimann: It was still beeping when we wanted to go on the internet back in those days.

[00:03:08] Ian Anderson Gray: Wait, when did the internet even exist? The internet didn't even exist really. You know, I've got a little, my first ever computer behind me, which I, I used to like program and, and I was fascinated by that.

[00:03:19] And then the internet became a thing. And I went to music college to train to be a professional singer. I was singing on stage and the two kind of came together. I started building websites for musicians but it was really when I set up my blog in 2011 and I was interested in social media and social media and technology and I was looking for a platform to help with social media.

[00:03:48] I came across Hootsuite and I was a really frustrated Well, I wasn't really frustrated with it But I was frustrated by the content out there because there was so much content out there that said how amazing it was And I was looking, well, [00:04:00] okay, what are the downsides to it? So I started to write a blog post looking at the downsides of Hootsuite, which became seven reasons not to use Hootsuite.

[00:04:08] And that went completely viral. I, to cut a long story short, I ended up being asked to speak at Social Media Marketing World on social media. Fast forward a few years. I was on stage at Social Media Marketing World with other musicians like Molly Mahoney, who you probably know very well, and Steve Dotto, and I was thinking, what on earth am I doing?

[00:04:31] Like, I'm on stage at a social media conference, singing, like we're singing, putting on these parody musicals. What on earth am I doing? And at the same time, live video, Facebook had launched Facebook Live. And I had this kind of epiphany moment, where I realized I could merge my teaching background, my performance background, and my love of technology into a business, which became Confident Live, Confident Live Marketing Academy.

[00:04:58] I've got this passion for... [00:05:00] Helping people who may be more introverted, who are scared of getting in front of the camera, helping them communicate because they've got, everyone has a message, but also the technology can be scary and I empathize with that, that, that feeling of trepidation. So all of those things came together.

[00:05:17] And I, yeah, it's been amazing. It's been an amazing journey speaking at these conferences, helping people all around the world. I could go on, but I'll stop there.

[00:05:27] Yvonne Heimann: I love how, how you brought it all together. And I think that's kind of like the common thread with us. Entrepreneurs where it's like, yes, the stories are fun where,

[00:05:40] oh my God, you did what, where, how, wait a second, you learn for this stuff. So this is why I always love the, the, the question because you never know the story that comes out of it. Yet it seems like every single one of my guests at some point ends up rounding up all of the things they have done. And it's [00:06:00] like a nice package and suddenly it makes all sense and it all fits together, no matter how weird it initially is like, how does that fit together?

[00:06:09] And suddenly it just.

[00:06:12] Ian Anderson Gray: It does nicely fit. I just wanted to say one thing, though, because it's not like I don't want to kind of paint this rosy picture like it was all amazing. I mean, I don't know whether you're going to ask me this anyway, but the thing I will say is that I have had some feelings of guilt, like I trained as a professional singer, and now I'm not doing it so much.

[00:06:29] So there's that feeling inside of me. Well, like, what was all that for? Like, and I know that I'm, I'm doing something really amazing and I'm helping business owners, but there's still, there can sometimes be that guilt. And I need to, this is why I've been in the last two or three years. I've been on this mindset journey, trying to sort out my head to think, to say to myself, look, Ian, like all of that training was, that was for, for now this is a purpose.

[00:06:53] And we've all got different seasons in our lives as well. So my professional singing was for them. Now it [00:07:00] is, now I'm helping my kids with their singing and I'm also able to put it into the business. So yeah, it can be hard, but it's been so amazing too. So I just wanted to just add that as well to the mix.

[00:07:12] Yvonne Heimann: And I love that you brought up the, the mental work and the growth work that you are doing that you have been doing. Are you open to sharing what kind of modalities and what kind of work you have done to, to really get yourself to the point of, and because I think we all struggle with it, it has been a big work on myself to where there's imposter syndrome, there is guilt, there's all those negative feelings of, Oh my God, I put that much money in that education and I was supposed to be this or I thought it's going to be that.

[00:07:46] What is some work? Or, or modalities or practices that have helped you. Let's be honest to get out of the bullshit, because in the end, we know, logically we know it's, it's, it's [00:08:00] bullshit. It all fits together, but that doesn't necessarily help with the emotions.

[00:08:05] Ian Anderson Gray: Definitely. Well, so there's something wonderful about working for yourself.

[00:08:12] Like this, the entrepreneurial lifestyle, it's amazing that freedom that we get, but also that is you working on your own. And sometimes we can then get sucked into our own heads. And this is why we need people so much. I've just come back from a conference in Boston and I was just reminded by the fact that we need each other.

[00:08:30] Like, yes, it's amazing to work on our own, but we need the help of other people. We need cheerleaders in our lives to not just encourage us. Boy, do we need to encouragement. We all need that encouragement. And if, if you can, if there's somebody in your life, somebody that hasn't, who has made a big impact on you, reach out to them and tell them that because you'll be surprised how many times or how little they have been told that.

[00:08:58] So that's, [00:09:00] that's, that's the first thing. So, yeah, we need those people in our lives, but also we need people to tell us the truth as well, because sometimes we need those harsh truths as well, which is, which is kind of scary, but it needs to be done in a caring way. So I, I've had a big journey. I've, I've suffered from imposter syndrome, big time, a lot of guilt, to be honest, self loathing thinking I'm just no good and on complete lies in my head, comparison syndrome, comparing ourselves with others is a huge problem.

[00:09:30] Let's face it. Most people struggle from that, struggle with that. Most entrepreneurs do. I was also diagnosed with ADHD two or three years ago, probably like most entrepreneurs, but that made a big impact on me. This, this knowledge that actually the guilt that I'm feeling, this, the feeling of procrastination, the, the, all these kinds of things, there is a reason for it.

[00:09:52] And then that gave me. It took away a lot of the guilt and it's enabled me then to look at strategies on how to counteract that. [00:10:00] So I think self-discovery, understanding how your brain works, what isn't working, and then coming up with a strategy of how to counteract those things. And the big thing for me, yes, I've done mastermind, I joined masterminds in the past.

[00:10:15] I meet up with friends of mine in the entrepreneurial space regularly. But the big thing for me was working with a business coach. Now, I have worked with business coaches in the past, but it's finding the right one. And the one I've been working with this year has been amazing. So for me, she's, the important thing for me is she is non judging.

[00:10:33] She's encouraging, yet she is not afraid to tell me when I'm stuck in my own head. And, and then it's, it's working on the thing that we're working on at the moment, which I'm really excited about is. She kind of calls it an emotional toolkit. So like the times when I'm in my head, I'm thinking in you may as well give up.

[00:10:54] It's not good. You know, you know, there's kind of negative things that are happening in your head. It's, well, what do you do in those, in [00:11:00] that state? So it's having a toolkit. Well, if, if I'm thinking that first of all, I know it's not true. Second of all, what do I do about it? And so that has been amazing and I highly recommend that kind of strategy.

[00:11:12] Yvonne Heimann: I love it. Yeah, I, I'm on a similar path right now. We're building that self esteem. I am somebody that was highly focused on external validation. I needed somebody to tell me I did well, we know how well that goes, it just goes so long, right? Yeah. And then combined with the imposter syndrome, I'm not good enough and all the things, and it's been interesting for me, one of those tools to even prevent from getting to this point for me has been doing the things I said I would do.

[00:11:52] Yeah. So now suddenly I'm not over promising myself something because I'm going to be really [00:12:00] conscious of the things that I tell myself I'm going to be doing. But I also have now that drive of going to the gym in the morning because I told myself I'm going to do it. Finishing my book yesterday because I said I'm going to write the last chapter this weekend.

[00:12:16] And it's been interesting looking back on implementing this practice. Where I'm like, I know what the hell I'm doing and there comes a pride with that of Yeah, I went to the gym. Yes. I went four times to the gym last week because I said, I'm going to do it. And I love that you brought up strategies, meaning having that toolbox of, okay, I know what that pattern looks like.

[00:12:47] I get this idea. Potentially even figure out the trigger. I just browsed Instagram again for an hour. Guess what? The trigger is going to come that I'm not as good as everybody else. We then start [00:13:00] realizing those triggers. We see the strategy that we ran looking at Instagram, feeling like crap. Now I'm gonna just loathe and eat all the crap and stay on the couch.

[00:13:10] We see the strategy, right? We all have a variation of that. But when you see that strategy, initially. And you've worked on building that toolbox. Now you can cut in. Oh yeah. I, I, I'm half an hour in into, into scrolling through Instagram reels. Let's cut off because I really don't want to feel like that.

[00:13:30] What am I going to do? Let's go half an hour for a walk, take the dog out, whatever it is. So yes, I love that you brought that up, having that toolbox, seeing those strategies, becoming aware of it and, and cutting into this.

[00:13:46] With all of your work. Personal mindset, business, what is business now? You just mentioned you were just in Boston, which was Create A Camp from Ecamm, love [00:14:00] them over there.

[00:14:01] What allowed you to just take, take pretty much a week off, close to a week and nothing burned up in flames? How, how does your business work nowadays?

[00:14:13] Ian Anderson Gray: Well, I'm in a bit of a transitional period at the moment because I'm. That's one another thing I've been working with my business coach on is diversifying my revenue streams.

[00:14:21] So traditionally, my revenue streams have been very much like a big thing has been affiliate marketing, not deliberately, but I've tools like Ecamm, StreamYard, Agorapulse, those kind of tools. When I've been talking about those tools online, other blog posts and videos. Affiliate marketing has been a big part of that, and brand ambassadorships as well.

[00:14:44] So those kind of tick along in the background. So like taking a week off as long as I'm planned, then it's okay. And I have a team. I've got a couple of VAs who helped me with that. They've also helped me create standard operating [00:15:00] procedures. So we've got, if, if, if, if I go away for a few days and I don't check my emails.

[00:15:04] You know, we, they know what to do. It's all fine. So I would love to say I'm a highly organized person. I would say I'm, I always want to be a highly organized person, but I But I have put, I get people to come into my business and help structure that and put it into place. Now, I'm not, they keep me organized.

[00:15:23] They keep me accountable because my, my zone of genius is coming up with creative ideas and, and connecting with my, my clients. And if I spend all my time trying to kind of be organized and, then it's, it's. That's going to not work for me. So they helped me be organized and actually there's no stress.

[00:15:43] It's great. And the other thing I will say is that has really helped with this is building those relationships over the years. So first of all, the, the content that I create, I focus on creating really high quality content. I go into a huge amount of detail in my blog posts and my videos. But I've [00:16:00] also gone out my own way to connect with people at conferences.

[00:16:03] Even though I'm an introvert going to these kind of conferences and seeking out people to have these amazing in depth conversations with people over the years has been amazing. And I think that's how I've got to know the people at Ecamm, the people at other tools, the other, other conferences, and that's really been amazing. And that's opened loads of opportunities to me as well.

[00:16:27] Yvonne Heimann: And I think we are pretty similar on that way. It's that, that extroverted introvert of, Hey, I love being alone at home and you all leave me alone. I, as much as I love you, but then going to a conference knowing you get to bathe in somebody else's energy.

[00:16:46] You get to, to chat up, to nerd out, to talk about all the things and it's just different. Don't get me wrong, I love a zoom call, especially when you are like a 15 hour flight on the [00:17:00] other side of the world. But it's different even for us introverts when, when we get to be in person with other people. And I'm like, we are lucky enough that We were talking in the green room about this guys where there is usually also fringe events happening.

[00:17:19] So even if you feel overwhelmed with the amount of people that social media marketing world used to be in the, in the past or VidCon huge amounts of people. You can easily either way, join fringe events, do a dinner with the people you want to meet and invite them in and also get that a little bit smaller or find a quiet corner in the hallway.

[00:17:46] Most of these events actually give you the recording so you don't necessarily have to go to the session to learn what they are teaching. Yeah. And it's like, I'm, I was after COVID, I was ready for in person events again. And I'm [00:18:00] like, I've been living online before this was a thing. So I feel you on that one.

[00:18:06] Ian Anderson Gray: Yeah. And it's like, I, it's weird. Like when I go to these events, I, it's almost like I become an extrovert. I don't, I'm not because at the end of it, I tend to crash. But what I always recommend that people are going to go to an event. Do your research first, prepare first, like reach out to people in person so that you can get all that pesky small talk out the way, you know, ask, go on a zoom call, ask them what the weather's like with them, get that out of the way.

[00:18:32] So when you meet in person, you can then actually get to the proper stuff and get into the deep conversations. And that's, that's been amazing. So like, when you go to these events, I find like, like at the Ecamm event last, last week, I was just on, I felt like I was, like full of energy because of that.

[00:18:51] And it came home and I was so excited about all these things. So yeah, connect with people beforehand so that you can get even more out of it. And also [00:19:00] don't be, you know, if you are an introvert and if you do need to get that downtime, that's okay. That's fine. You're not the only one. Just, just be yourself.

[00:19:08] Yvonne Heimann: It's okay to say no. Seriously, guys, it's okay to say no. It's like, especially with big events that go multiple days. Yeah. The first time I've done it, I was. I was afraid to say no to certain events. I just jumped everywhere. And I only said no. If, if times overlap, believe me, it's like now I'm like, guys, sorry, I'll meet you for lunch tomorrow. There is so many opportunities at these events and just do it.

[00:19:37] Now, your relationships and the things you have done actually got you in a project that was finalized this June. So if you guys are listening and watching, Ian is part of the amazing marketing, The Most Amazing Marketing Book Ever, [00:20:00] which was spearheaded from Michael Schaefer and friends.

[00:20:05] Oh, So

[00:20:10] I let Ian tell, tell the story. I'm assuming you got into this book because of the relationship you relationships you build at conferences and online.

[00:20:23] Ian Anderson Gray: Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. So like. Mark is, Mark Schaefer is one of the most amazing people. Going back to, I think it was either 2012 or 2013, I went to my first ever marketing social media conference.

[00:20:36] Like, I don't know, I kind of vaguely knew what marketing was, but not really. And I went to this conference because I was starting to be seen as, I was talking about social media, I was talking about like Hootsuite, as I said. I went to this conference in Wales, in the UK. And this guy called Mark Schaefer was there and he was, and he was, he was doing like a whole workshop and I was blown away by the guy.

[00:20:55] And not only that, he was like a really nice guy. And then I met him at [00:21:00] social media marketing world. And then we went on, we are on holiday or vacation. Well, you know, we call it holiday in the UK and we went, we went to, we went to North Carolina and I just happened to be saying to Mark, like we were doing that.

[00:21:12] He said, you should come over to, you should come over to my house. You should, and I was thinking, he's just trying to be nice. And then I've realized since that when Mark says that kind of thing, he means it. So we went over to his house and we spent some time with him and he's always been, he's the kind of person who's always there for you.

[00:21:29] And then I joined his Rise community and there's this idea of writing a book with his community, the Rise community. And I've always wanted to write a book, but the idea of actually writing a whole book has always kind of scared me. So he came up with the idea of all about getting about 30 plus authors to write a chapter, and he asked me to write the chapter on live streaming.

[00:21:54] So I did, and it's been the most amazing experience. It's actually been, it, there [00:22:00] was, it was quite challenging because it went through an editor. It had to be, I had to, had to change it a little bit. And then, but then we, we did a little audio chapter for Audible and. The, the cover has been done by AI and, and just the whole process.

[00:22:15] And yeah, it's been so exciting. It's been wonderful to be part of.

[00:22:20] Yvonne Heimann: Yeah, I, I have, I have to tell you writing a chapter rather than a whole book, I, I agree with you. I just finalized my last chapter of the book that was in the works for two years. Oh, I love this timing of us. Yeah. and it's, it's and it's not only just from the side of writing a book, because every, everybody told me just write a book.

[00:22:45] It's easy. Just publish it on Amazon. I'm like people, I love you, but you have no idea what you're talking about. At least not when it's, when it's a how to book where you have a lot of screenshots and writing the formatting behind it. [00:23:00] Yeah. I'm not going to get on my soapbox, yeah, when he did that on Instagram yesterday.

[00:23:04] Ian Anderson Gray: It's the bit after, it's the promotion, it's all, it's, you know, it's the whole thing. And so having 36 people plus Mark, that makes a difference. And so like now. Will I write a book on my, I'm not so sure. And now I know that it is. There's so much that goes into it, but yeah, I, I, I, I think, but again, going back to what I said before, you know, yes, being an entrepreneur, working on your own, having that freedom is amazing, but this is actually when coming together with other people makes a massive difference.

[00:23:37] And so one thing that we, I've been working with my business coach, I've been, I've been working a lot with AI to help me construct new ideas and new revenue streams. And I kind of came up with the idea that in a way, it's like my intelligent friend, who's guiding me through that.

[00:23:54] Not on its own, I've still got to have my brain. For my different revenue streams, [00:24:00] we're coming up with the idea of having different Groups of intelligent friends to help me. So it might be AI. It might be my friend Jeff who's going to support me with one particular endeavor. It might be a met Amanda Robinson, who's doing all the Facebook stuff.

[00:24:15] So we talked about collaborating, having a group of people that can help you on your way. You can retain your freedom and your autonomy, but work with other people who can help you through this. And I think if you're going to do a book, you do need those people to don't just try and do it on your own, because You're not, I hate to break this to you, but you're not going to be good at everything.

[00:24:35] You're going to have to get some help

[00:24:38] Yvonne Heimann: and I just said for everybody that's not watching the video and just listening and I'm, I'm, I'm sitting over here laughing. I love how the universe aligns timing because it's like, the story of my book is the whole lesson yet. However, I'm apparently more masochistic than you are because I'm already working on the next book pitch.[00:25:00]

[00:25:01] Ian Anderson Gray: You haven't learned your lesson.

[00:25:02] Yvonne Heimann: I have not learned my lesson. Fortunately, it is with a co author and it is with a publishing house. So I will never ever touch formatting a book for Amazon ever again.

[00:25:18] Ian Anderson Gray: Sounds very wise.

[00:25:19] Yvonne Heimann: But it's like, it's, it comes back down to, to the same idea of you, of you don't have to do it on your own.

[00:25:26] I, I spent the first two chapters formatting the book a little bit and then found myself somebody that is going to do the formatting for Amazon. And I'm like, I would like to keep my laptop and not burn it down to the ground and throw it off my patio. So I will just. outsource this and the next book is not going to be me alone and with that guys go grab the book I'm gonna have to remember to carry my copy around so I actually can get all the signature because there is [00:26:00] a lot of my friends in that book too with their own chapters.

[00:26:06] Now, if you want to go stalk Ian Anderson Gray, which I would recommend, especially if you're some way, shape or form online, which you are listening or watching the podcast. So that's kind of a given. We do have the links as always in the description to the book to, to easily click over and go stalk and meet Ian.

[00:26:29] He is always there to chat. Where is the easiest way to connect with you and be like, dude, I saw you on Yvi's podcast, I want to check.

[00:26:40] Ian Anderson Gray: Or like anywhere, anywhere you feel comfortable. I'm on most places. I'm not really so much on TikTok. Although I still have an account, but anywhere else, Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, just reach out to me.

[00:26:51] I'm friendly and I'd love to chat. So just reach out to me. And of course you can email me. ian@iag.me is my email.

[00:26:59] Yvonne Heimann: Oh, look [00:27:00] at that. Somebody that gives out the email though. Our emails are everywhere. Either way with that. Thank you so much. Thank you for coming on at the end of your day. And let's hope we actually going to meet up in person again at one of the conferences.

[00:27:17] Ian Anderson Gray: Definitely. It's gonna, it's gonna happen. I need to get my US fix next year. So I'll try and, yeah, we'll try and work it out.

[00:27:25] Yvonne Heimann: I'll see you soon. And for everybody watching and listening, make sure to hit that subscribe and follow button, leave a podcast review and set your alarm for the next episode. We are releasing once a week, so I'll see you there.