From a Rockstar to a LinkedIn Master

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THIS ISSUE

1. Feature: Sam Browne had a chart topping hit song in NZ for 5 weeks but his rock band started to fall apart. He then abandoned his childhood dream and became a 7 figure entrepreneur. What can we learn from his journey?

2. The lesson today: how to get more people to give you what you want by building audiences and relationships that matter.

3. Legendary curations: Tony Robbins shares his the secret to living and more…

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FEATURE

Listen on Apple, Spotify or on the web.

Sam Browne, a native New Zealander was a bonafide rock star. His band - Black River Drive’s debut album had a #1 hit. ‘Bullet for Your Gun’ topped the charts in New Zealand for five straight weeks, beating out ACDC (watch music video here.) But his childhood dream of having a lifelong rock career disappeared as his band mates started to leave and his voice gave out after an intense season. What did he do? He pivoted and poured his energy into his side hustle.

Turns out, Sam’s creativity wasn’t just in song writing, he grew his side hustle to 7 figures and started two other businesses since his rock star days.

I reflected on our conversation and a key lesson emerged from his successes 👇🏽

❤️ Heartset

Sam shares how his first entrepreneurial venture Find A Band business blew up. Find A Band helps people book bands for live events. Think weddings, corporate gigs etc. At the beginning it was really hard to convince bands to sign up to the website. They had no credibility and no other bands on it. But he turned it around with one bold move. He gave every band a free video shoot to join his platform. Everyone said yes. He gave first in order to get.

He then did the same thing in his LinkedIn journey. He gave away free content everyday to help others grow on the platform and in doing so, he built an audience who were eager to buy his stuff and work with him.

The secret to giving more?

Give without expectations. Know that it always makes someone’s life better. The truth is you will feel better about yourself too. Especially when you think you don’t have anything to give, but once you do, you switch to an abundance mindset and it will instantly elevate your story about yourself.

🧠 Mindset

Reciprocity is a proven technique. Consider the case of Disabled American Veterans (DAV). For a long time, the organization relied on a standard form letter to reach out to potential donors, yielding a respectable 18 percent response rate. However, DAV wanted to achieve even greater results. Leveraging the principle of reciprocity, they devised a clever new approach.

Rather than simply mailing the usual letter, they decided to include a small gift—personalized address labels. This thoughtful addition paid off, boosting their response rate to an impressive 35 percent.

This simple study along with others illustrate the real power of reciprocity. Why do you think in some restaurants a tiny treat comes with the bill?

🧰 Skillset

So where can you put in the reps to give? You can probably find them anywhere. But one of the best places? LinkedIn. There are over 1 billion members and almost half of them are active monthly. That’s A LOT of people. Whether you have a corporate job or you are a business owner, there is nothing like forming win-win relationships using this platform:

• It can help you get a new job

• It can get you new customers

• It can get you new opportunities

It’s about WHO you know.

If you are a complete newbie, this is what you do:

(Listen to the podcast at 32:50, this is where Sam gives this advice.)

COMMENT

1. Find the 10 people who are most successful in your niche (e.g. Google search: who are the top experts and creators for brand strategy on LinkedIn?)

2. Find them on LinkedIn and follow them (anyone can follow, you do not need their permission, the best ones are those a few steps ahead of you)

3. Leave thoughtful comments on their posts (for the posts you find valuable, add more value to it by expanding on it)

4. Keep doing that for a month (be consistent!)

5. Then connect with them, if they start to engage with your comments

6. Proceed to forming an “offline” relationship where appropriate

By delivering value and supporting them without expectations, you leverage reciprocity.

POST

1. Start posting content (it will be daunting and uncomfortable at first)

2. Think of a question or problem you are frequently solving (could be for a customer or your team, think about who you are helping)

3. Write the answer to that question (what is the best way to teach it?)

4. Wrap a story around it (get personal by telling a story of how you discovered the solution or how it impacted someone)

You may feel uneasy because you don’t know what people are going to think. But understand the Spotlight Effect - one where we think everyone is noticing us but in actuality, most aren’t.

Next, you may feel like you’re speaking into the void. You’ll get a few likes and maybe no comments, but that’s ok. It’s about putting in the reps and becoming comfortable and better at teaching, at giving. Don’t worry, most people who see your posts won’t actually engage, but they see you.

Keep on giving.

Overtime, you will develop a following and relationships you can benefit from for the rest of your life. Trust me, the people whom you look up to will soon be in your circle.

If you want more, checkout Sam’s website.

LEGENDARY CURATIONS

🔗 3 interesting things across the interwebs inspired by Sam:

1. This is a story about giving that has stayed rent free in my head ever since I heard it. It’s from Tony Robbins when he shared his story about the secret of living is giving.

2. Read more about the Reciprocity Principle: Giving to Get on Forbes.

3. A book that I’m thinking about is Gary Vaynerchuk’s Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, in which it’s all about giving, giving, giving, then asking for the sale. In his typical over the top style Gary addresses a question from a fan about this topic which I think is so important.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s issue! As you may have noticed, I’m experimenting with some different formats for the newsletter - I want to give you the most valuable content in the shortest amount of time.

I’d really appreciate some feedback: What do you like? What don’t you like? How can I make it better for you?

I’m deeply grateful.

Make your mark, live your legend 🤘🏽,

Howie Chan

Creator of Legend Letters

​Read my story​

​Follow me on LinkedIn

SOURCES

1. Cialdini, Robert, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Harper Business Publishing, May 4, 2021 - LINK 

2. Browne, Sam, From a Rockstar with a #1 Hit Single to a Linkedin MASTER - the Secrets of Audience Building, The Legend Letters Podcast, November 12, 2024 - LINK

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