Written in partnership with Organic Clients Agency
Photo Credit: Matthew J Phillips
The 2 investments successful entrepreneurs and influencers are always looking to make are in education and branding. Examples include new strategies to pocket more deals or follower growth to secure more clout (influence or power, especially in politics or business). Matthew J Phillips plugs both demands with his two companies Organic Clients, and the Organic Clients Agency.
Let’s begin this article with two timeless quotes by, the legendary Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, that swoops into entrepreneur pages on Instagram – “A brand is simply trust”, and the owner of world renown business news outlet, Steve Forbes, with his famous quote “Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business”.
In the video “Branding Before Advertising” by Grant Cardone, Cardone says “Your brand is your business. Before you spend a dime on advertising you need to make sure your brand is set up and visible. EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME.”
And as Matthew J Phillips identifies, these are a few of many quotes from the world’s most elite businessmen and influencers regarding the importance of branding, this being a consensus in the world of business.
This very fact was what pushed him to reserve many hours in his already jam-packed week for his business Organic Clients, an educational company for coaches and clients. It was this fact that led him to launch his second business, the Organic Clients Agency, and despite the added mental fatigue, Matthew successfully launched his done-for-you branding agency for elite entrepreneurs and influencers specializing in premium press coverage and social media growth.
Matthew J Phillips left school at age 16 to become a qualified personal trainer organically growing his personal brand @matthewjphillips in the fitness industry to 50,000 followers on Instagram. This created room for monetisation as he began searching for a job at DW Sports, a large UK health and fitness franchise. Whilst searching for a job, the YouTube algorithm displayed an advert of a teen around the same age flaunting a lifestyle earned through social media marketing. And Matthew’s journey in business began.
Once Matthew discovered social media marketing he started catering to restaurants using Facebook ads to fill their seats. However, this didn’t last long as he lost the client, and rightly so, as he was an inexperienced 17-year-old placing all of his attention on sales rather than results. This diminished Matthew’s confidence to the point where he spent months doing nothing, staying home with nothing else to work on other than continue to grow on Instagram. That was until he received requests for 1-1 coaching for Instagram growth from his audience on Instagram. From age 17 to 20, Matthew grew his coaching business (Organic Clients), solidifying himself within the coaching industry and building a gallery of student success stories that can be seen on his website.
In 2020 students began to congratulate him on his Facebook verification and began to ask how he gained 23+ features and interviews across various notable news outlets, stating that it would help with credibility and authority within their market to pocket more clients. Testing the waters close to home, he began to show them the ropes of the branding industry, press coverage, follower growth through influencer marketing, and networking to land more clients. After this proof of concept was established with happy clients for branding services, Matthew Co-Founded the Organic Clients Agency with Sam L Wright.
Matthew says one of the many reasons investing in your brand is paramount for success is your social circle. High-level people work with high-level people. For those looking to excel in business or life in general, relationship building is a necessity. Scaling the status ladder to leap from clients only willing to fork out $100 to deal with those who routinely send off wires of $10,000+ requires a high status, and a trusted and respected company or personal brand, this means, quality pictures, killer content, nicely done testimonials – lots of them, global press coverage in respected outlets, an engaged, and possibly large following. All of which is required to establish yourself as a thought leader with unbreakable credibility and elite authority.
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” – Will Rogers
Leading from the previous points, regarding growing a following to assist in solidifying your brand, Matthew says when he began in the fitness industry a mindblowing physical transformation was enough to mass 1 million impressions and rack you up followers overnight. However, when he made the switch to entrepreneurship, content gradually declined. Growing an audience became far more difficult, especially if you were looking for a targeted audience to monetise. With that being said, the quickest most efficient way of exploding your Instagram following in 2021 is through Influencer Marketing. Partnering with influencers and celebrities with a large engaged following to host a giveaway and have the host require their audience to follow you to enter.
Although these followers aren’t usually targeted, they’re real and organic, ensuring a large boost in social proof, this meaning more sales for your business if you know how to leverage it or possible brand deals as an influencer. Many of Matthew’s clients opt for a mix of both, influencer marketing for the number of interactions and social proof, increasing brand status, and story ads for the targeted followers in order to monetise and bump up engagement.
He encourages every entrepreneur to think like Steve Jobs, Steve Forbes, and Grant Cardone, and not to fall into the trap of misunderstanding billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg sharing that he wears the same t-shirt every day. This should not be misconstrued as not placing any cash in branding, as investing within your image, clothing, jewelry, following count, and overall appearance can almost seem taboo in the entrepreneurial community. If done and leveraged correctly, and used to increase social status, entering social circles with clients or brands that can move more cash, bagging bigger fish can be infinitely easier.
