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I interview Kyle about the power of video storytelling. Kyle talks about how he uses video to transform the story around brands and individual people. We also discuss the importance of aligning the story around the thing that's most important to you.

Kyle Lasota helps 7 figure entrepreneurs become the category king in their niche using video storytelling.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtgIes_eJBLsm2DUZCEgPYQ

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Transcript

Frank Bria: 00:00 6 to 7 Figures Show. Episode 72, let's hit it.

Announcer: 00:04 Broadcasting from the Valley of the Sun outside Phoenix, Arizona. This is the 6 to 7 Figures Show. Tired of working so hard and having no time? Take your six figure practice and turn it to a thriving seven figure enterprise. And now your host, author, speaker, mentor, and strategist Frank Bria.

Frank Bria: 00:29 Hey everyone. Welcome to the 6 to 7 Figures Show. I'm your host, Frank Bria and today I am absolutely thrilled to be joined by my good friend Kyle Lasota, who is the expert in helping seven figure entrepreneurs become the category king in their niche using video storytelling. Kyle, welcome, thanks so much for being here.

Kyle Lasota: 00:51 Hey, thanks for having me, Frank.

Frank Bria: 00:53 So let's start off with what is a category king?

Kyle Lasota: 00:58 Great question, a category king is, think of Airbnb or think of Uber or think of these iconic brands that we now knowmaybe even as simple as Kleenex. And these companies, they didn't enter into a market trying to disrupt the market, they actually created something that never existed before and they created their own category. Essentially becoming the category King and because they created this new category, there is no competition. You know, a lot of people talk about red ocean, blue ocean, a lot of people talk about category of one. This is a whole new concept that, well listen to me, I'm such a marketer taught, right? Like the new opportunity. But it's true. There is a new opportunity. I like to think of it as a new paradigm or a new way of thinking is like, let's not compete. Let's create. And so how do we create our own category where not only do we stand alone, but we create a new need for the marketplace. And what's really interesting about the category King stuff is I did this for myself without even knowing that I was doing it. And then I read this book called Play Bigger, which is actually where that term was coined. I forget the guys' names who wrote the book, but some dudes in Silicon Valley, I read that book and they were talking about category King stuff and I was like, "Yo, this is really smart". And I had developed this for my own business without even realizing that I had done it. And then I realized that this is what more and more people, especially in the online space, especially as the marketplace gets noisier and noisier and more people trying to communicate their message, then it's more important now than ever.

Frank Bria: 02:47 Yeah. And you are emphasizing the idea that you create this category through storytelling. Why is that the, the thing? I mean, why is it storytelling instead of product quality or accessibility or price or anything else? Why is that the thing that does it?

Kyle Lasota: 03:06 Yeah, totally. That's a great distinction, and I think for me, the way that I saw it is of course it just works for what I'm doing, right? And that's what I'm selling. But what it comes down to as well is, especially now that personal branding has become more and more of an importance. And I think, eventually, is going to be leading every single company, even the biggest companies in the world, you know, you're going to have to have a big personal brand and manage it appropriately and sort of control the narrative of how people see you. To make sure that it's in alignment with the goals of the company and what you're trying to create so that the message is really congruent, not only from a top down approach, but from a bottom up approach. So with storytelling, why is that the gateway with personal branding? Well, anyone can try to compete with you on product. Anyone can try to compete with you on price. Anyone can try to compete with you on go to market strategy and no one can compete with you on your story and your message. There is no one else in the world, Frank, who has been through the experiences that you've been through and has had the revelations that you've had and has been given and gifted the purpose that you've been given and put on this planet to fulfill. So by you articulating and clearly communicating your story in a way that's authentic and genuine to who you are, you will be able to be seen by exactly the right type of people and you'll be able to stand alone in your own space and separate yourself from everyone else because you communicated your story in this way. It's going to be different than anyone else. My job as a marketer, as a, as a videographer, as a creative, is to figure out okay, I know how to tell lots of stories, but how do I see the story that hasn't been told in this context and for this person that is going to completely set them apart from everything else so that they're not competing anymore. People are going to come to you not because of even what you do or how you serve people, but because of who you are.

Frank Bria: 05:19 You know, one of the things about that that's fascinating, and for those people who don't know you, I've sat down to be able to talk with you a few times about your business and what you do, is you pull that out of people. Cause I don't know that all of us, I think we all kind of know that there probably is a story and it's probably unique and we probably have some ideas of what that is. But, I think one of the fascinating things that you do and one of the things that kind of makes you really good at what you do is that you kind of come to it a little bit with a clean slate and you're like, "Okay, well you can tell me a little bit", but you dig in and pull that really compelling story out. I've seen the work you've done with a couple of your clients, and it's fascinating because it goes way deeper than I think any of them would have expected it would have gone.

Kyle Lasota: 06:11 Yeah. So,ith that it's, I dunno, the way that I look at my process is that I can't take anyone to a place that I haven't gone. And because of my life experience and because of different things that I've been through, there was a time in my life where I suffered quite deeply and I realized that that suffering was such a gift that was given to me because it really humbled me. With that humility, sort of let go of how I judge people and I developed a much greater sense of empathy. So when I sit with someone to do this interview, I give them the opportunity to be seen without judgment and in full presence. This sounds very esoteric, but it is somewhat of like a spiritual experience, because rarely in our life do we ever get to be a witness in such intense presence. The power of what I do is capturing the essence of someone's soul, and seeing them without judgment and in full empathy and understanding for just who they are as a human being. Walking around in this existence, in their meat suit that we call the human body and I just get to capture and extract that moment in time and then encapsulate it and turn it into a beautiful piece of art that is not only reverse engineered to speak and connect directly with the ideal customer, but also represents them in the deepest and truest way possible that they didn't even know was attainable. And then turn that into a marketing message.

Frank Bria: 08:23 Yeah. That is, I think the essence of the difference, the depth that you go. I mean I almost think "videographer" is such a bad title for you, you know what I mean?

Kyle Lasota: 08:35 I've been working on my position, I've been trying to come up with a better way to say it.

Frank Bria: 08:41 I mean I get it. It's functionally accurate, but the thing is that where most people I think would, would get down to the visual aesthetics of the product and maybe some scripting and things like that, for you, the script is the person. That, I think, is fundamentally what differentiates what you do with a lot of other people. So the question I guess, cause a lot of people are probably thinking about this and obviously everyone's got a story and obviously that story is fundamental to their business, but what's the right time to engage in this journey, for lack of a better term, in the lifespan of a business? When someone's just starting out, do they have the requisite understanding of who they are and what that journey is or would they have need to have gone through some of their own entrepreneurial turmoil first?

Kyle Lasota: 09:36 So the story doesn't always have to be this rollercoaster, up and down, right? It could be a story of transformation or it could be just a story, a moment, you know? It could just be a significant moment where they had a realization or whatever, it doesn't have to be super emotional in the sense of like, "Oh, everyone's crying". It could just be, I'll give you an example of a story, right? I had a story, this summer, you know, of "I did really well in business this year for my terms". Then what I realized is that there was something that was missing, right? There was something that I had missed. My business model wasn't right cause I was getting burnt out, and if you're ever getting burnt out, then that's a signal that something is off. Right? So in the process of trying to figure this out, I just said, you know what, I'm going to put my business on hold and I'm going to just stop for six weeks and I'm going to go on vacation. When I was on vacation, I went to a mine value(?). I was listening to Vishen Lakhiani who's the CEO of Mind Valley, speak about this concept called sole print values. What I realized through doing this exercise with Vishen, is that my company didn't have my core values imbued into it. So there was a misalignment between what I was doing in business and who I was or how I was acting and behaving and showing up. So the big realization that I had when I was on vacation was that I needed to start acting in alignment with my core values through my business and in other areas of life. So when I got back, I made a declaration like, "Hey, I'm moving more and more into the health and wellness space cause that's my top value, and that's why we're going to talk about the YouTube channel, that I've got some stuff brewing over there and I'm starting to partner with companies that are in that space". The reason why that is so important to me is because wellness is such a big part of my life, and I felt like this business wasn't serving the need that I needed to fulfill through that value, and thus I was burning out. So there's a story of realization, right? That has nothing to do with like, "Oh my God, it was so tumultuous and it was so emotional". It was just like, "Oh my God, I had this awakening, wow". If someone's listening to this and they're feeling out of alignment or they're feeling burnt out, something I might have said may trigger "Oh my God, I need to go check out this thing called the Soul Print Value. So I need to go look into Vishen Lakhiani or I need to reassess where I'm at with my core values". So we can use strategic storytelling to imbue and to conceptualize an idea in someone's head. Because the only place where real learning takes place is through storytelling, right? If I tell you information, that's me giving you something right, then it's not yours, it's mine. But if I told you a story and then you decide what that means for you, then that's yours. So that's where you get to decide what something means and you get to own that idea. Until we own an idea, we'll never take responsibility for it. So that is why it's the greatest teacher and the greatest way to market, and to message, and to attract and bring people into what you're doing and to enroll them into your programs or your company.

Frank Bria: 13:22 That's a pretty convincing argument for using story as a marketing angle. I mean, I think a lot of people have heard that before and have seen people do it effectively, but you kind of mentioned this in your journey and story as well. I think a lot of us, when we start business or we start doing something or serving, it's very tactical. It's very much like, "What do I do"? "What Are my skills?" and you're making a case for identity entrepreneurship. Essentially, understanding who we are as a person and making sure that everything we do has that identity fulfillment component to it. So it's not about skills, it's not about action per se, it's about identity. It's about making sure that our company is a reflection I guess, of our own identity. That's an interesting concept.

Kyle Lasota: 14:20 Yeah. There's a distinction there too, and it's something that I'm going through right now. I just posted about it on Facebook today actually, was that it's less about who we are. Because who we are is a static, fixed idea that's made up. It's made up of beliefs of stories and events that we've given meaning to that crystallize into what we know as an identity. What my realization has become, is that it is not about who we are, or who we think we are, but it's about who we're becoming. If we want to grow, we have our current self and we have our future self, and then there's a gap in between. We will never be able to achieve what our future self is after, with who we actually are right now. The beliefs and the identity and the events and the stories and all this stuff that make up this current self, are not in coherence with the future self. So when we are trying to make change, we'll be stuck in this cycle and we'll hit a ceiling because our identity is not in alignment with where we're trying to go. So the way that we actually make that change is by intervening with new beliefs about, not who we are in the future because there's a difference there, but it's about who we can become. So as we reaffirm who we can become, then we can actually change who we are. It's not this static thing, it's this ever evolving thing. So with your core values, not only is it about who you are, but for me, I'm not anywhere near where I want to be in terms of my health and my wellness and all that stuff, but there's that aspiration. It's who I want to become. So if I don't shift things and move things in that direction towards where I'm going and who I'm trying to become, then there's going to be issues and there's going to be problems.

Frank Bria: 16:25 You know, that's a really good distinction. I was reflecting, I was thinking about this, and I'm trying to remember the author's name, but the book Atomic Habits, I think it's Charles Durning or Charles something, anyway, but he makes this distinction that you're making. That's a really good point where it'sif you want to do something, if you want to achieve something, you have to take on the identity of the thing you're trying to achieve. Which is going to be different potentially, or probably, than what you are today. So you have to start thinking about these achievements as a future self. So that's a really good distinction. I want to pivot here real quick to talk about the great stuff you're doing. You and I have chatted about the health and wellness space before, but let's catch up. What are some of the cool things you're doing in the health and wellness space from a partnership perspective? What's brewing?

Kyle Lasota: 17:15 Yeah, so I just started an engagement with a infrared sauna company and I'm going to be doing a 30 day, I dunno, I haven't decided yet. A 21 day, 30 day challenge where I take blood tests before to measure like for exampleheavy metal in my body or in my blood. Then I will do the 30 days or the 21 days, whatever, then take blood tests after to show the before and after. Then I'll review the product and show the process of me doing it the entire time and I'm going to be putting that video on YouTube. So I take a percentage of sales on the back end and they also sent me this big infrared sauna. That's kind of how I'm changing up my business model a little bitwhich is going to require me to grow an audience, which is great and I'm also excited about that. So that's one example. Another example is I'm going to Summit in LAwhich is a big event, and I'm also going to this event in Silicon Valley called Transformative Tech. I'm just getting into the network, I'm getting into where these companies are hanging out and building relationships with the most innovative health and wellness technology companies. What I realized is that I want to work with companies that have products that I would personally use. Working with experts is great and I still will continue to do that and I love them and I love all my clients. It's just, I'm not buying a bunch of coaching packages and a bunch of online marketing stuff. So even if they're doing great work, I get really excited about working with companies whose products I'm using. So that's sort of the transition I'm making. It's a slow process because I had deep ties into this one market, but I'm just slowly inching my way towards more and more of that stuff.

Frank Bria: 19:22 Well it's also an interesting, sort of, fascinating take on the business model where you're leveraging the power of storytelling and participating in the success of the story itself for this particular company. That's a really unique way to kind of change the business model to make that transition over.

Kyle Lasota: 19:44 Yeah. Well I had done something that I think is really hard for service providers to do, which is to productize your offer and make it really optimize and really sequential and super systemized, but I was so stuck in this time for money sort of trap, and project based income, and chasing the next client so I could land the high ticket deals. But it would take me a lot of time to fulfill on them and then I'd have to go back and like lead gen(?) and it was always this up and down. So I didn't really want to scale that business model, cause it didn't sound like fun. So my work around was if I build an audience, I'm using my skill set, which I'm really good at, which is communicating, and storytelling and creating compelling content along with like the marketing stuff. Using that skill set to grow an audience then I have leverage to partner with these companies and that way I can create an asset that works for me over and over again and creates MMR and I can charge higher fees on the front end. If I have a big audience, I can do much bigger deals than I was doing. So I can do a big fee and the percentage on the back end, as the audience grows. In addition to that, I could just hire maybe a couple team members, like an editor, a social media person and an admin person. Then I could have a really boutique business that does multiple, six, maybe seven figures in revenue and really high margins, and it gives me the lifestyle that I want. I get to do the types of activities I want, I get to sell products that I love and it sounds all really nice like that. It's going to be a lot of work and I'm excited about the work too.

Frank Bria: 21:32 Yeah. But it's a great case study in deconstructing a business model that you didn't feel was serving you and was hard to scale, not that it's impossible, but you recognize this doesn't sound fun, this doesn't sound like the thing I want to do. Then you've got a business model alignment, a values alignment and essentially a lifestyle alignment, where you've basically twisted the business model around to get you all three of those things all running in the same direction. That's really impressive. That's pretty cool.

Kyle Lasota: 22:07 Yeah. So my goal in the next year or two years, because everything takes longer than you think it's going to take, is just to build up a nice size audience and to do a couple deals with some great companies and sort of in the next few years replace my income with hands off revenue. So I do the project once and then it works for me for a long time and it continues to pay me out that way I'll have a little bit more sustainability in what I'm doing.

Frank Bria: 22:41 Right. Well leverage, you're not going to hear me argue with the concept of leverage. So good job. Kyle, we're, out of time and I know you're super busy. I really appreciate you taking the time for this conversation, but as folks who are listening and they want to connect with you and kind of follow this journey as you're going through, what's a great way for them to just start off that process in getting into your world here?

Kyle Lasota: 23:08 Yeah, definitely just come find me on YouTube Kyle Got Camera or connect with me on any of the social media platforms, whether it's Facebook or Instagram it's Kyle Got Camera. If you're wanting to work with me on an individual basis or for your company, then you can go to apply.kylegotcamera.com.

Frank Bria: 23:27 Great. And we've got your links there, so they're below the video if you're watching this on YouTube. If you're listening to this, review the show notes on the audio, it's there as well. If you're out and about, come on back to the show notes page and you can just click right on through. But Kyle Got Camera is pretty catchy, so you should really remember that one probably on your own. Kyle, thanks so much for being with us, really appreciate you taking the time today.

Kyle Lasota: 23:49 Yeah, thank you, Frank. I appreciate you, man.

Frank Bria: 23:52 You got it. And thank you for being here with us on this episode of the 6 to 7 Figures Show. I've been your host, Frank Bria. I love the concept of a journey and alignment of your business model with who you are as a person. Kyle does this really, really well. So take a look at some of the stuff he does, and if you haven't gotten a picture ofthat transformative story he tells, you'll see it from his YouTube channel. So check that out. Thanks so much for being with us and we'll catch you next time. Take care, bye bye.

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