The Foureva Podcast
S2 E45 No Degree, No Problem: Mastering Your Dream Job & Social Media Growth!
Can you imagine landing your dream job without a college degree? Jonaed Iqbal, the mastermind behind NoDegree.com, has helped over 300 individuals achieve just that. In our latest episode, Jonaed shares his journey of growing his LinkedIn following to over 45,000 by fostering genuine connections and providing valuable insights. Whether you're looking to secure a job, grow a business, or build your personal brand, Jonaed story offers practical strategies and inspirational advice for navigating ever-changing social media algorithms and achieving personal and professional success.
Learn how to transform your online connections into meaningful offline interactions as Jonaed recounts his experiences speaking at LinkedIn events and business conferences. From Denver to Milwaukee, Jonaed reveals his strategies for leveraging LinkedIn to build a global network of friends and professional contacts. We also discuss the significant differences in support from online versus real-life communities when starting a business, sharing personal stories of entrepreneurship's financial highs and lows to shed light on the unpredictable nature of the journey.
Explore the evolving landscape of education and job qualifications with Jonaed as he delves into the acceptance of alternative education methods. Discover how creating a brand for individuals without college degrees is not only possible but also impactful. Jonaed emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, consistent engagement, and authentic interactions on LinkedIn for building a supportive community. Tune in to hear about Jonaed's impressive journey and gain actionable advice for growing your online presence and personal brand. From practical tips on managing social media interactions to the unique charm of Milwaukee, this episode is packed with valuable insights for anyone looking to enhance their career and community-building efforts.
Can you imagine landing your dream job without a college degree? Jonaed Iqbal, the mastermind behind NoDegree.com, has helped over 300 individuals achieve just that. In our latest episode, Jonaed shares his journey of growing his LinkedIn following to over 45,000 by fostering genuine connections and providing valuable insights. Whether you're looking to secure a job, grow a business, or build your personal brand, Jonaed story offers practical strategies and inspirational advice for navigating ever-changing social media algorithms and achieving personal and professional success.
Learn how to transform your online connections into meaningful offline interactions as Jonaed recounts his experiences speaking at LinkedIn events and business conferences. From Denver to Milwaukee, Jonaed reveals his strategies for leveraging LinkedIn to build a global network of friends and professional contacts. We also discuss the significant differences in support from online versus real-life communities when starting a business, sharing personal stories of entrepreneurship's financial highs and lows to shed light on the unpredictable nature of the journey.
Explore the evolving landscape of education and job qualifications with Jonaed as he delves into the acceptance of alternative education methods. Discover how creating a brand for individuals without college degrees is not only possible but also impactful. Jonaed emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, consistent engagement, and authentic interactions on LinkedIn for building a supportive community. Tune in to hear about Jonaed's impressive journey and gain actionable advice for growing your online presence and personal brand. From practical tips on managing social media interactions to the unique charm of Milwaukee, this episode is packed with valuable insights for anyone looking to enhance their career and community-building efforts.
I tell people it's like yo, you want comments, you want 10 comments, go get 50. And look, not everybody's that way, because I've had people who never give back and eventually I stop engaging with them. But what happens is algorithms always change. Right? Linkedin algorithm when I started is different and it changed all of a sudden. Oh, it's totally different. I mean it's yeah.
Speaker 1:But one of the reasons I've been sort of algorithm proof is that I've built community and no matter what platform you are in, if you truly build a strong community, it doesn't matter if algorithms change. If you have a strong community and you create good content, you'll survive. So that's why I'm like oh, my things have gone down. And I'm like yo, I'm all right Because I'm still being consistent. So many times people are told oh, you got to be this, you got to be that. But I always tell people look, you got to be what's right for you. So many people are like oh, go learn how to code. Oh, go learn how to do this, go learn how to do that. And I was like yo, listen to other people's story and look at the work, because your episode was like yo, you're doing IT.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah exactly, and I want people to actually listen to that, because it's like there's no one route that's right for you. I always tell people everybody has a different road in life, right, and you can't travel on someone else's road, right, and your road is going to be curvy, twisty, it's not just like this, but it has to be your road. And it's like I tell people listen to other people's story to figure out what's right for you.
Speaker 3:Maybe you don't have a degree and you're wondering, hey, what are the options? How do I get my dream job? What does that even look like? Or maybe you're an entrepreneur trying to grow your business and you're wondering about how do I grow on social, especially LinkedIn, what are the strategies and what are the ways that it's going to get me to that next level? Maybe you're thinking about, hey, I'm trying to grow my personal brand and how do I do that?
Speaker 3:Well, one of these amazing guests that I have on here today is Junaid Iqbal, and he is incredible, incredible human being. He's already written well over 300 plus resumes for others that actually have landed jobs. He also had a business that was doing six-figure months and he was able to actually start the business of NoDegreecom. And now he is a legend on LinkedIn well over 45,000 followers on LinkedIn. People know him for community, people know him for growing that LinkedIn audience, but not only that he actually connects in real life with people and he does amazing things. He's a speaker, he's a business owner, all around great guy. So if you're trying to actually land your dream job, trying to figure out what do you need on that resume, maybe you don't have a degree and you're struggling right now to figure out your path and you want to know what are the secrets, what are the things that actually can help me? Or maybe you're an entrepreneur trying to grow your personal brand and trying to grow on LinkedIn. How do you get to 45,000 followers? I mean, it's absolutely incredible, but even more so than the followers, he's a great human being and I can't wait for you guys to hear this one. So on.
Speaker 3:Next up is Junaid Iqbal on the Forever Podcast man. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. Man. Really appreciate it. Got my man, junaid, in the building. Man, what's up?
Speaker 1:What's up? You know it's crazy. We did not expect this to happen today. I just wanted to see you. No, no, you said podcast. I actually wanted to be on your podcast for a while. It just timed right. I'm not in Milwaukee like that. That's the power of connection, Just saying what's up.
Speaker 3:And when you hit me, I mean I got to figure something out. I'm like I got to. So, dude, I'm super excited to have you on the podcast. Man, We've been kicking it for a minute. I always love to have a story about, like, how we met. Yeah, so talk to me about, you know, Travis's B-Stacks event and what that meant for you, just to be a part of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, to go back, there was this LinkedIn creator event in Denver. One of our friends, travis yeah, shout out, travis. He chose me as a speaker and, funny enough, I had the smallest amount of followers, whatever. Yeah, and you were the emcee and that's where we met and I was like yo, this is what I'm trying to do, and you're like yo, I'm doing an event. And I was like yo, let me know, I could sleep on a couch. I want to get more speaking engagements. You know, for me, it's like I want to get myself out there. Then there was a spot yeah, and I have a friend in Milwaukee, right, right. So it was one of those things. I was like yo, let's do it. And then, you know, I used those photos for so many things.
Speaker 3:You used those photos, man of photos. Man, I'm like dude, that's dope man. Yeah, I can't see the the people.
Speaker 1:People like that photo. It's a good photo yeah, funny enough there was a water bottle in that photo and my friend removed it cropped it out adobe adobe generative ai. So you know, it just looks like yo, this is legit. Remove this, uh water bottle here, no, but I like milwaukee.
Speaker 3:Milwaukee's a cool city got a good culture yeah, that's dope man, that's dope man, that's dope. And for the event for everybody that was Lead the Movement business conference that we had last year, and Jani, just like he crushed it, he crushed it. I mean it was really good Really, like just all the speakers there were amazing and the fact that we went from like the Denver thing to the Milwaukee thing and now we're about to do some stuff in New York. Um, just super exciting, man, like just that's the power of like LinkedIn connection. But, like I just was telling somebody today, I'm like it's one thing to build a community and some stuff on LinkedIn, but you got to take it off LinkedIn if you actually want to get real results from it. Right, what has that experience been like for you to use the power of LinkedIn to like help build your business with NoDegreecom, but also, how do you build it offline?
Speaker 1:You know, take it out of the chats, out of the comments and real life. I always say that online is a starting point. Yeah, that you see a lot of people online. You're like yo, I like what they're doing, and then you see them show up in different ways. And one thing I like about LinkedIn is you get to see where everyone's at. So when I'm visiting a city in Milwaukee, I'll just go down and I'll be like yo, who's here? And they'll be like yo, what's up? I'm visiting on this day and it always leads to good things.
Speaker 3:Dude, it crushes. So, first of all, you're dropping a gem right now because I was telling people anytime I hit a city, I search. I go on the search on the top and I just type in the city Anybody I'm connected to in that city. I don't know how we got connected. Who knows you might be following me? I have no clue. We got connected. Who knows you might be following me? I have no clue. But I go and message every single person and say I'm in town from this time, this time, let's link up. Let's link up. I don't know what they do. Yep, well, who cares? Yep, something, something can come from it. Obviously you're connected for some reason. They found some interest. There's some mutual beneficial thing. So how has that been for you? When you hit cities like that and you do that like, what are the results for that man?
Speaker 1:you just meet so many friends, yeah, and the interesting thing is is, since I live in new york city, yeah, most people stop by new york city for a vacation, a business trip, so when they're in new york city they hit me up. And the very nice thing is I pretty much have an airport pickup in every city.
Speaker 2:And I do the same for my connection.
Speaker 1:I'm like yo, let me know when you're in, I'll take care of you, and you really see how global an online community can be. I'm in Milwaukee because I'm going to go to Chicago tomorrow for an event held by my friend in Australia, and we do audio events the whole time and you know it's crazy. He's doing this big event and he still is like yo, Jani, you're my first media thing. He was on a LinkedIn live and he still credits it and it's like you just meet such great people, Because one thing about when you have your own business right, you do it. The funny thing is, your online friends will support you more than your actual friends and it's something that I wish I knew earlier.
Speaker 1:So it's something that if you're starting a business and look real friends and you know it's just sometimes it's just that's the role that they play. And I find that online friends that you share a certain space, which is that online medium, whether it's LinkedIn, tiktok, instagram, and they're on there for similar things. So they're kind of doing their thing and they're supporting you, you're supporting them, and it leads to a lot of great things.
Speaker 3:Yeah, man, seriously Like it's just so important, though, to build those separate communities. You need that support system on both sides. You need your core friends and family. They're going to be there for you for almost like a different emotional support. And then you need that online community, the people that you're connected to, because they'll support you, your business, your dreams, your aspirations, what you got to do, and they also just get it. I don't know, there's like a thing where they're just connected and they get it and you don't have to explain too much, like, hey, you don't got to explain the whole thing. What do you need, man? I got you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's funny because sometimes real friends that you know in real life and on Facebook, they're like oh yeah, I see you podcast and I'm like yo, that's not a podcast, that's a Facebook Live, that's not a podcast. But you know, I don't get into that. I'm like, yeah, yeah, you know this is what I do and all that. But online people get it because they know that starting a business is not easy and eventually a point comes where it's like yo, I got to take this leap. And it's tough that people think, by watching TikToks and Instagrams and YouTube, they think like yo, you just make like $10,000, $20,000, $30,000 a month, and that's how it is. And people don't realize like, yeah, maybe you hit that and you could make zero the next month. You could lose $5,000 the next month, right, right, right.
Speaker 1:And you could have businesses like I've had a business that we hit a million in revenue. We're making like 30 to 70K a month. Yeah, and we had 100K a month. Now I had partners who had to split it and then we lost like 95% of that revenue and it is the ups and downs. I think one thing about going in things for yourself whether you're a creator, an entrepreneur or you're both. You'll have the highest highs and you'll have the lowest lows. Oh yeah, guaranteed, guaranteed. And a lot of people just think, like they think when you have your own business, that you're just chilling. Yeah, yeah, like yo.
Speaker 3:Jabbar, oh yeah, he could just. Or there's like a gradual, it just goes up and it doesn't do this. No, it's just like Because, like it's always changing, it's always changing. And so for entrepreneurship. So, like, how did you get into it for what you're doing today? And why NoDegreecom? Like, why is that? Why do you have a passion for people that don't have a degree, trying to navigate and figure out their career?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was always a hustler man. Yeah, like I remember, even as a kid I was like yo, what if I could sell ice? And then I was like that's not going to work Right, they sell ice for like $2 at the supermarket Sell ice to an.
Speaker 1:Eskimo, yeah, I was like yo in the summer I could sell ice and all that. So I always thought of different things. I like flip things, I think I like flip phones. I just did a lot. I think I like tutored for money because I wanted to have fresh sneakers in school, yeah, and then I did it.
Speaker 1:I was like I'll tutor and then my other friends would work and they were like, instead of buying two shoes, you could have six shoes yeah, you have two, I have two shoes. You could have six shoes yeah, you have two, I have two. And you could split and then we go to different schools. So nobody knows that's crazy. And I just did different things. And you know, I I worked at popeyes, I worked at, like barnes and nobles, in the cafe, and I was always reading about entrepreneurship, right. So I used to tutor in college because my parents I know they, we were all right, but they never really gave me money like that, okay, um, I think even if we had money, my dad would give me money he's like one of those dads he would not.
Speaker 3:I feel like our dads are the same in that, because my dad he's kind of uh, uh, not a hoarder of money, but he's very he's not, you know, he's very frugal. Yeah, with his money. Man, like he'll hold on to it, like what was that? The Scrooge? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:My dad's just the immigrant dad, the stoic immigrant dad, yeah, but I was always reading, I was always thinking about what can I do? Because I always thought I want to be rich, I want to be wealthy. And 10 years ago, about 10 years ago, it'll be 10 years in August someone asked for those of you without a college degree, what do you do and how'd you get the job? And then the comments were like I'm a claims adjuster, I'm a database administrator, I work in IT, I'm elevator repair and it. It's like how'd you get the job?
Speaker 1:It was like yo, my cousin, my uncle, my friend, my neighbor, my teacher, and it was all the right place at the right time, like, oh, this guy was retiring, he liked me. So I was a good kid and that's where I learned how to do yeah, machinery, this, retrofitting some parts or whatever. And then I was like yo, what if you don't have that uncle, cousin or friend? What do you do? And, funny enough, I was in getting my master at Columbia. I was interning, and I was like, let me search up tradescom. I was like it was available. But yo, you know, they're going to ask at least 100 kids. And now it's probably like several million right.
Speaker 1:Tradescom at least 100k, six figures, and now it's probably like several million, right? Tradescom? Oh man. So I put in no degreecom. I was like what about no degree? And I filled out a form and then, a few days later, someone sent an email I think I missed that one and then they was like yo, we'll sell it to you for like 1800 or something. Yeah, and I was like yo, I called some of my buddies and I think two of them and one of them was like oh okay, he wasn't really into it. Two of them answered and I was like yo, we'll split it. Like yo, 500 each, we'll split it. We'll just make a blog and be rich. You know, be rich, just be rich.
Speaker 1:You know no-transcript opportunities. So I was like first you have to know about these opportunities and then you have to have a roadmap of how do I become a welder, how do I become a plumber? Right, where do I go, what certifications do I, what courses do I need to take? And yeah, we bought it. I spent years. This is like 2014. I spent years just reading, reading, reading. You know, I was upskilling, I was working my public speaking and I was like yo, it'll be a job website, because what happens is you don't have a degree. You go to a job website. Must have degree, must have the bachelor's degree.
Speaker 1:I think one time I tried to get funding but they pulled out. You know how it is, you don't have revenue and stuff. Guys kind of knew that before, but I was like you know how it is. And then I just was like yo, you know what? I want to stay bootstrapped, because the issue is you get funding. There are other things you run into and you've heard of so many people get funding and they kind of lose their company. Yeah, and I do a lot of non-profit work, I do a lot of free work for and partnerships, and you know vcs are like yo, what's that?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah why so?
Speaker 1:it's like for me. It's like, yeah, I want to get wealthy, I want to get rich, but I want to do it in a way that I don't lose sight of the company, because so many companies, once they raise money, they lose sight of the original mission, and that's not something I want to do yeah, yeah, that's crazy man.
Speaker 3:and and and now, where is no degreecom? Where's that now?
Speaker 1:So it says 10 years to become an overnight success Only 10 years. I'm still working at it. You know it's just like when you have a business. You know I had some partners come and go. You know you learn a lot. It was my first business and it was like I was all in right, like I. I I mean it's like not everyone was on the same page. You know, I wish I had those tough conversations.
Speaker 1:We're in a good spot, yeah, because I'm like almost at 44 000 followers on linkedin. Yep, I'm like 13k on twitter and you know now I'm focused on instagram and tiktok and some youtube shorts and you just passed like 1200 subs. So that's cool, nice, but we still have a long way to go. Right, and I've got 300 recommendations on my link on my LinkedIn profile, so I just passed that. So that's cool. So we've really like I, I've written over 700 resumes, so I've really learned a lot about careers and it's. We're now we're looking for partnerships, you know, with companies. We're getting into recruiting a little more and just higher sources of revenue, because we're just going to pump that money back into content, back into growing the company, back into marketing so it's a long-term play to really just blow up the name.
Speaker 3:No degreecom, yeah. So that way people know it's that number one destination. If you don't got a degree, you go here.
Speaker 1:So my end goal is to compete with like, indeed, monster, linkedin. And all that because a lot of these, their execs don't know how it is for people without degrees. Funny enough, linkedin CEO does not have a degree, but a lot of people who work at LinkedIn have degrees. It's just they don't know how to cater to this demographic, because one of the number one search terms in the US is actually warehouse jobs. That's the number one search term Because think about it, if you're not in a big city, you're in a small city.
Speaker 1:What do you do, like after high school? If you don't go to college, you're going to go to a warehouse. So I really want to increase education because a lot of times, a lot of these sites have blogs but they're hidden, like their focus is on employers, it's not focused people. So that's why it's like I have the podcast, the no degree podcast, where you are a guest and you share your stories, and for me, it's like I want to go down the route of a media company where it's like you got the job, then you got the podcast, you got the youtube channels, you got the social and it's really just education. Yeah, come in and it's your one-stop shop of like yo, here are the resources, here's what you can do, and I try to do it in a way where it's like I can be authentic, because so many websites they just partner with boot camps and then they make their money off the boot camps and not that I'm opposed to that, but some of these boot camps are not good Right.
Speaker 1:So all they do is just push these boot camps that cost like 5K and they get their kickback of like whatever 500, 1,000. Yeah. But I want to make sure that if I promote something, even if I make money, it has to be something that's going to work. That's going to work because you've seen so many people fall into just things that say yo, you're getting ripped off, man.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah, yeah, that's dope. I love the long-term vision, man. Yeah, it's good to have big, ambitious goals. Hey, the one thing is you got that domain, I got lucky, lucky. No one can take that away from you.
Speaker 1:I got lucky, yo. I got nodegreecom, I got somedegreecom Okay, you know, associated and then I got wrongdegreecom, wrongdegreecom. Yeah, so I want to launch the Wrong Degree podcast where you interview people with degrees who's like yo I should not have made it in biology. I totally think too, with the media side, like you totally have a, an apparel play, though yeah, you know what you know, that's what I want to do because so think about it if you go to college, right?
Speaker 1:you have a hoodie you whatever harvard, whatever, they have all these hoodies, right. And what if you don't go to college? What's your college hoodie, right? So now I think like 40 percent of people go to college yeah, like that. So they have hoodies. What about the rest of the 60%? Right, I want to take that. So that's like the end.
Speaker 3:Dude, you can get that too, man, you should get that. If you had to come up with a marketing scheme to get people to wear no degree hoodies, what would it be? Do you park that joint outside the schools?
Speaker 1:You know what, go to construction sites no degree, plumbing no degree, hvac no degree, no loan, no degree. Money, like dude, I, I, I got the whole thing, got the hat, you know the nd, yeah, got the hats and all that stuff, and you know, it's interesting, people be like yo, what's that? Like? Oh, yeah, I like that. They always ask about the hat. Yeah, dude, I like that.
Speaker 3:Though, like you, go to places where people would traditionally have no degree, but there's a lot yeah, I like that. They always ask about the hat. Yeah, I like that, though, like you go to places where people traditionally have no degree but there's a lot of people that don't have a degree that are also, yeah, in the same mix of people that have degrees. So and I also think about changing the narrative of you should be proud of the accomplishments and the direction, of where you can go with not having a degree, because I feel like there is a level of almost some people like shame, or you know, like, hey, I don't have a degree, so like maybe I'm not qualified to talk about a certain topic or a position is not you know for me.
Speaker 1:You know it's crazy, like sometimes I asked someone she actually worked at Adobe. I was like yo, you want to come on a podcast? She's like yo, nobody knows I don't have a degree, ah. And she's like yo, I don't, I'm not ready for it, and it kind of makes me sad, man, like I understand what I'm saying like that's yeah, it's like uh, I don't want people to know yeah even if you have some success and really like if people know it's, I mean there's, yeah, and I landed the job and now more people are open to it.
Speaker 1:You know people are doing it as a badge of honor. And then more companies are saying like yo, if you're, dope my own research and my own due diligence on a particular topic and I'll just like become really ingrained in it.
Speaker 3:And then, while the people that got the degree, they stopped learning after they got the degree.
Speaker 1:Yep, you know, I think you know like 40 percent of people it's a huge percent of people never read a book after they go to college. Right, and you know, just because there's no degree, it doesn't mean like no books, no education, no learning. Yeah, it's like I'm pro education, I'm pro learning. I just think that there's different mediums for different people. There's different ways, man some people read, some people listen to podcasts, some people watch youtube and, at the end of the day, as long as you can apply it, yeah, it doesn't matter yeah, yeah, it totally doesn't matter.
Speaker 3:And the funny thing is too about, uh, this topic is just so interesting to me because I I do believe in the next like 20 years because it's already starting to change. So you, so because of youtube, you know, people get youtube university. So because of youtube, education and knowledge is so readily available, yeah, and it's getting really good. Like people will put full courses, yeah, out on youtube for free, yep, that you can learn all types of stuff, trades, you can go into industrial things, you can go into computer science. I mean you can literally learn how to code, yeah, through youtube university. Go through a boot camp to you know, basically quiz you, yeah, and you can get approved for a job, yeah, through that, without going to college.
Speaker 3:So I think in the next 20 years it's gonna be, there's gonna be a huge shift, man, like it's it's definitely already happening, but you don't necessarily need the degree to get the job. And I think also employers are also I've seen them start to remove that barrier or they say, or equivalent experience, yes, or equivalent experience. So it's it's like it's slow, I mean it's very slow, but it's it's like it's slowly starting to turn on its head, yeah, of where it's going. Is that how you feel?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, because, remember, it's like people are like, oh wow, I was like yo, I thought of this in 2014. Yeah, I saw the trend, so it's nice to see all these articles. And the funny thing is, even for kids who go to college, like a lot of people who major in comp, sci how do they learn? They learn from Indian guys that they watch on YouTube and that's where they get it. And a lot of people, like, when they go to college, they're learning off forums because, like, the professors give in a book, they're reading off the slides and they're studying off these other things. And even for there are a lot of free courses and even some paid courses. There are some great paid courses, some of them a couple hundred bucks, some of them a few thousand, and you get some really sharp knowledge right, like, if you want to do a photography business, you're not gonna learn really that much in college. You may have to go to like a mastermind where people really share.
Speaker 3:Like yo, this is how I did my business, especially for media because the stuff in college, I mean, trust me, I've had people, yeah, I've had, uh, previous, uh employees that have worked for for us. We've had interns that you know, maybe they just graduated and, dude, I don't know what they're teaching, but it's a lot of times it's about the history, yeah, and they got outdated equipment in these schools and by time they get out of there and then actually go for a job, they're like oh, I don't know how to operate these cameras, oh, I don't know how to deal with the situation with a client actually in the room and and how to articulate. You know, um, what we're doing and you know, like, actually direct, like actually direct, an actual shoot. So there's just so many things.
Speaker 3:They're missing also within that and so, but you're gonna learn that through a mastermind, yeah, through a boot camp, through free content on youtube. Like you're gonna learn a lot of like actual business owners that will tell you like, here's how you get a client, here's how you do a proper photo shoot, here's how it's like it's just crazy, man, it's all changing, it's all changing. I just wish that when I was growing up, it was this readily available, you know, like I mean definitely YouTube was just starting to go and like, but it wasn't as like dude, it's just so easy.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Now it's like, yeah, from your phone, people shoot on their phone. You know, it's crazy. Like my nephew, like I got a camera. And then I was like yo, you should. He started really getting into it. And then I was like yo, you know, you gotta, I'll get you a course or something. You gotta, you know, do you know this? He's like, yeah, I already know that. He's like you got to change the setting, you got to do that. And so, yo, he like shoots, takes photographs, and he's like getting really good. And then I told him I was like yo, I got this event on Sunday. And he's like yo, you know, can you come by? He's like I was like yo, why don't you send me the harness thing that yeah, buy? And he sent me that. I was like yo, I'll buy it for you. You know, it's just about. At the end of the day, it's like you just got to have that mentality of like yo, I'm gonna go and get it, I'm gonna do things yeah and I'm gonna figure it out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's a mentality. You don't need school for that mentality.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah for sure you got it. You got to be a hustler, you got to have like I just I'm going to figure this out, and you just got to work it, man. You got to work with what, what you have and and like possibilities are endless too, and like the opportunities are out there, but you got to be willing to go grab it. Yeah, a hundred percent. So I think I think, as people view you on, especially on LinkedIn, they may see a lot of the content that you put out and you said, and, like you said before, you're you're a media guy as well. Like you're, you're really pushing media, creating these environments where you're doing the LinkedIn audio stuff. You got events, the LinkedIn audio stuff. You got events, podcasting videos on YouTube like you're pushing a lot of content.
Speaker 3:If you could, just, first of all, why is content important to you? And the second thing is how did you grow on LinkedIn? So we have a lot of listeners that are entrepreneurs, executives, that are trying to grow on LinkedIn in particular, and they're maybe finding a little bit challenging. You know how to grow on there. So what's worked for you? And then, why is content important? So this has worked for me on multiple platforms.
Speaker 1:This works a little more on text-based platforms than video-based platforms. But when I started on LinkedIn and I started in in, was it 2018. No, I started 2019, so it's been five and a half years. So, february 2019, I was on quora first and I was like oh, let me answer some questions, question answer thing, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then I was like your headline will get out. But I was like yo, these dudes come up with crazy answers like two minutes after. I'm like I can't compete. This is like wild. So then I was like yo, let me try linkedin. Because I was like yo, when I comment, my headline is there, my face is there. So I was like they'll see every time I comment, someone will see no degreecom. I was like yo, let me comment 100 times a day and I've always been about community, so I would just comment 100 times a day.
Speaker 3:I checked 100 times a day. So you're you're commenting on a hundred people's posts yeah, and it wasn't just like thanks, amazing, cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would put like a sentence or two, yeah, and you know it's crazy. I checked a couple months ago you could do a export of your data. I have over a hundred thousand comments on linkedin and I toned it down, but it's like yo, you know. So I used to do a hundred comments a day. I don't do it for months and then when I first, when I did a post, yo, I got like 30k views. I mean, now it's kind of it's tougher, but yo, let's say, you know, when I started and someone did a analysis sam swirsky did an analysis- and I was one of the fastest creators to get to like 100 likes on their on a post because I was just commenting, commenting, commenting.
Speaker 1:So then when I posted people, people were like yo, that's Janiyah, let me support him, and all that. And I have a unique style. You know, I try to mix it up, I try to be funny. Yeah, and you know, when you let's say I got 10 likes, yeah, man, I would go to each of those 10 likes. I would like two to three of their posts and like two to three comments in their post. So you were in it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you're not a posting ghost.
Speaker 1:No, no, because it's like yo. I see so many people and they're like yo. I've been posting, I've been doing everything right. It's like you got three comments. You couldn't answer three comments. I get it if you get like 20, 30, 50.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, If you get a away with it. But LinkedIn is a networking platform and that's what people don't get. These other platforms like YouTube, instagram, tiktok, they're not networking. You can use them to network, but they're not networking platforms. First, linkedin is a networking platform first. So I was like yo. Why wouldn't you want to talk to them? Why wouldn't you want to talk to them? Why wouldn't you want to build relationships? Because when I see your stuff, I know you, I'm going to always comment, even if I don't got time, I'll put emojis or I'm going to put something there, just to be like yo. Because if I comment on your stuff, I'm going to help Jamar go far. I like what Jamar's about. And the same thing, I know when you see my stuff, you're like yo. Janiya's there, let me go promote him. It's like yo, he's doing cool things and that's how, what leads to collaboration yeah, there, there is a.
Speaker 3:There's a psychology around it. You know, like the fact, because a lot of times people, when they're trying to promote on linkedin in particular, they're trying to figure out the algorithm, trying to post, craft, the perfect post, but you and there is a science to that, there is. There's like you got to have your hook and like you know it's got to be engaging. But it's it's interesting that you're going more the community route. Yep, and then, knowing that, because I notice it, like when you comment on there, I mean you're, it's almost every post. I mean you're like, hey, you're dropping something. And in my mind then when I see yours'm like well, I can't just pass. Yeah, like I got to, I got to engage in some way, shape or form. So it's a psychology of like, well, this person is giving so much. Yep, I got to, I got to swing through.
Speaker 1:You know what I tell people is like yo, you want comments, you want 10 comments, go get 50. And then tell people is like yo, you want comments, you want 10 comments, go give 50. And then so, and look, not everybody's that way, because I've had people who like never give back and eventually I stopped engaging with them. But what happens is is like algorithms always change. Right, algorithm when I started is different and it's totally different, I mean. But one of the reasons, one of the reasons I've been sort of algorithm proof, is that I built community and no matter what platform you are, and if you truly build a strong community, it doesn't matter if algorithms change. If you have a strong community and you create good content, you'll survive.
Speaker 3:So that's why like, like, oh, my things have gone down and I'm like yo, I'm all right because I'm still being consistent and I understand and you've always been about community, man, ever since I've known you, and especially getting deeper into your world, like like people really do love you, man, like they got this, like they're like yo Janiyah's the boy, like when they see you and they always have like a deeper connection to you than just like hey. I've seen him at a couple of places.
Speaker 3:They either have some backstory or some like inside joke, or you know some real things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you know some real things. Yeah, because you know, you see the, the stuff I do on linkedin. Yeah, then people don't see the dms, people don't see the stuff in person. There's a lot of stuff like I don't even post just because it's like I'm busy right, right, right and like people don't realize, like people like me, because I like them too right, I generally like people and people who are supportive and I try to uplift the people around me because I'm always about a rising tide lifts all boats. Yeah, and you know one of the pieces of networking advice I don't like you know how they say it's like you're the average of the five people around yeah and it's always like oh, if you want to be rich, go hang out with five rich.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And I'm like, okay, if you're not rich and you want to be rich, they're saying, go hang out with five rich people. But why would those people hang out with you by that logic? You're bringing them down. So I've always been at the logic level, like you got a network of people at all levels people where you want to be, people where you are at and people who are sort of you know where you were at before, and you want to start lifting everyone up.
Speaker 1:And it's like, if I lift, you up, then you get opportunities and you pass them on to me. Then I lift up, I pass them on to you Right when it's like yo, I got a guest recommendation for you and too many people don't give enough, and I think that's what it's about. It's like you really like you get an opportunity, you start learning, pass it on Right. If it's not right for you, pass it on, and I've always best to do that that's super dope man.
Speaker 3:Such good advice, I mean, for everybody listening and watching like it's just incredible advice to do. It's very tactical, but it's all about giving back, give, give, give. Before you're like, hey, give me some stuff and I know already, I can already see it. Um, somebody's gonna say, well, jamar and janai, I don't have the time to comment 100 comments a day, do 10, do five. So how do you? How do you do it, though? How do you? Is it that you just tell yourself, no matter what, I'm making these 100 comments, I don't care what happens in my day, or do you like how? How are you? How are you doing? Because I know that's the counter argument. The thing is like well, I don't have all that time to sit and, yeah, comment.
Speaker 1:So look, I get 100 is like well, I don't have all that time to sit and comment so look, I get a hundred is like excessive. So that's if you want fast growth and all that stuff. But I tell people why don't you do 10? You know, I don't do a hundred comments anymore. I would love to. I'm just really busy, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And it's just hard keeping track.
Speaker 3:But just starting out, yeah, just like when I did. I did this thing where I was doing a hundred interactions a day, yeah, so, like emails, texts, phone calls, like, but I would not go to bed until those hundred interactions. So I hit out till I touched a hundred people when I was first starting my business. Yeah, if you want to grow, it's a numbers game you have. You have to put the numbers in.
Speaker 1:There's no way around it, and what I always tell people is like, do what you can and look. If you can't do anything, then I don't know how you're going to grow anything. The fact is, people will look at these YouTube channels and say, oh, I could do that and it's like yo, you can do it. Most of the time, it took time for them to get to where they are. Like they, like you're not looking at someone who did this. Yeah, there are some who blow up relatively quickly, but most it's like it's viral and then yeah.
Speaker 1:Like Marquise Brownlee, the tech guy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Like two years. He didn't blow up, it was just like practice practice.
Speaker 3:I forgot how many like one took off it was crazy.
Speaker 1:How do I do the comments? It's like yo, you're waiting online for fast food. Three comments yeah, oh, someone leaves a meeting early, someone shows up late. Two comments and you don't like you could just slowly sprinkle it out through through the day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah and it adds up and I think like on twitter, I would do 100 tweets a day, and tweets mean comments, yeah, and twitter is easy, it's just fire emojis, hundreds. So, true, cool, twitter is like a faster pace, you don't need the things. And then yo, when I tweet, like I tweeted about this, like, people will like, oh, they'll retweet, they'll do all that and it's, it's cool. But I always say, put yourself out there, start building community, because community is the most powerful thing there. There is like, if you look at most companies, right, they're trying to build communities. Yeah, right, and they're trying so hard. And I think smaller companies, that's the advantage that they have, yeah, that communities actually feel a lot more authentic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Because it's like great, this isn't a big company that solely looks at it for revenue. It's like yo, yeah, they really care about me.
Speaker 3:Yeah me, yeah, yeah. That's super interesting man, um, so switching gears slightly on. So I feel like you have a great personal brand. You know, obviously everybody is striving and trying to to reach different heights, but what, what is, uh, what is your personal brand done for you so far in your career?
Speaker 1:Oh, it just gets me into conversations I I normally wouldn't be able to get myself into. It gets me opportunity. It gets me clients. It helps me also find the right clients, cause if someone's like not trusting me, I'm like yo, you're not for me. So it. And it helps me get into great collaborations that, like I have have a cool brand, I have a cool podcast so I'm able to get on other podcasts. I think, right, I got someone who wanted to. Uh, I got someone to help me get on podcasts and, yeah, it's been like a high hit rate because I have the podcast.
Speaker 1:They see the following, they see all that so like a track record, yeah, track record and you know you got to keep doing it and it's like eventually I want to get like celebrities and rappers and all that, like the people that I used to watch growing up. And yeah, on the podcast yeah but again, it takes that time. You need to build that track record and it's like, when you get that big interview, you want to make sure, like most people think like, hey, I want my first interview to be big and it's like, yo, you want that practice, you don't want to fumble that first interview if you have someone and you want to make sure that you're you're sharp and that you can share it, and all that because you want to be ready yeah, yeah, and do you, do you know that?
Speaker 3:um, that one lady that blew up out of nowhere? Yeah, bobby atlopp, or whatever. Yeah, her first guest was like drake.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how in the world. You know, uh, her husband, yeah, was in the industry, so and that's how. But again, if you look at the comments, they're like yo, she's so boring, right. Right, she wasn't a good interviewer and it's like, but that was her whole thing though.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, that was the whole stick. It was just like a boring chick that just like it, that she like doesn't care. Now what is she even podcasting? Yeah, she's still podcasting, but now she's doing a bunch of other stuff now because she's now interviewed some of the biggest names, like in the game, you know, especially like no one gets drake. Yeah, you know, I'm saying like not even I didn't even see shaquille o'neal like interview. You know, like all of a sudden, she's like sitting in bed with like what it like blew up. I mean, it blew up, went crazy, um, but it just hit me like when you had said like you don't want your first interview to be like the biggest one yet, because for the for the most part now her whole thing was like to be boring and just not to care.
Speaker 3:But for most people they're actually gonna try. You know, and you like I tell a lot of people you need reps. Yep, get your shots up. You know a and you like I tell a lot of people you need reps, get your shots up. You know a lot of the like we try to emulate some of the best people in the world, like the top 1%, or podcasts, or maybe it's a famous NBA player that you love to watch. It's like they got their shots up, you know, and so to get to where you're trying to go is like you got to take your shots, get the reps up, um and and so for for your brand. Um, where are you? What's next for you? Like, what are you trying to take it? I'm obviously trying to get on more stages yeah, um, and do that, but like, yeah, where are you trying to take it now?
Speaker 1:so I'm really trying to grow on youtube, tiktok and instagram okay so because I've grown up.
Speaker 3:Why those platforms?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so LinkedIn is very good for business. Yeah, I get a lot of clients. I get people paying me $100 to $200, $300 an hour for the work that I do, which is cool. Now for distribution and stuff, the other platforms you can actually get faster growth. Yeah, like, linkedin actually takes a lot of time if you want to grow quick, like. I know people sometimes some people 10 plus hours a day, right, and now it's much harder than before. So with TikTok, like I've seen people grow like yo, 50k in a month Crazy. But again you have to do those reps and you get it and then once you grow that, I have a friend. He grew I think he grew a hundred thousand Instagram followers in a month or 70 something crazy. But again, it's, that's possible on LinkedIn. That's so much harder. Yeah, the other thing is LinkedIn is like the ugly cousin of the social media platform like they, be like yo you got followers on LinkedIn yeah, yeah, but it's like yo.
Speaker 1:If you said yo, I got 50k on TikTok, I got 100k on TikTok, it has some sort of brand credibility it has crazy reach too those.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because people are more just, more users, more active and they spend more time, like I think more time, yeah, linkedin is like a couple minutes a day is like the average, whereas people will be spending hours. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I want to have multi-channel approach, because some people are tiktok people, some people are instagram, some people are youtube, and then, once you start doing partnerships and once you start repurposing content, it's like yo, I could put this on tiktok, I could put this on youtube shorts, I could put this on main youtube, I could put this on instagram. Here's the linkedin version. And now it's like, when you start to pitch right to get these big guests, be like yo, I got this many followers. It's so much easier. If you say linkedin, they'd be like yeah, what like I, what like method man's not on linkedin, you know like. But it's like if you're on youtube, you're on those other platforms to be like. All right, yo, you know what.
Speaker 3:Let's talk yeah, yeah, yeah, that's cool man. So your, your focus is to to build up those platforms, yeah, and just build up an audience you know, in those for everything pretty much that we talked about for no degreecom and just funnel everything into there and then have an education platform to really inform people and help them out. That's cool man, that's cool. Well, this next segment is brought to you by visit Milwaukee.
Speaker 2:Immerse yourself in a place where bold ideas are sought after, where all are encouraged to bring their personal flourish. Here. Innovation is a way of life In this city. The beat flows Together. We're dancing to the rhythm forward. Now it's your turn to grab hold of that energy, where you'll remember not just the meals, the celebrations or the uncommon coasts. What you'll remember is how we made you feel. Come experience Milwaukee, where fresh meets fearless every day.
Speaker 3:What is your first impression of Milwaukee and what have you also heard about Milwaukee before being here?
Speaker 1:Man, I just know it from music videos and Summerfest.
Speaker 3:Okay, Right. Music videos yeah, just music. I don't know Milwaukee right.
Speaker 1:Somewhere in that suburb, probably like the only right, okay, all right.
Speaker 3:Cool Like rap music or something yeah.
Speaker 1:That's the only time, but yo, it's cool man. I've been to so many cities, yeah, and each city has its own personality, but yo, milwaukee in summers is nice. Yeah, it's definitely a place I like visiting.
Speaker 1:And you know, I find that every city it's all about the people. Yeah Right. Like if I have a friend in Milwaukee, I'm going to be there. If I have a friend like I went to Bentonville, arkansas, right, my friend's there, he said, let's go, I'll go. So I'm always about the people. So I really like the people in Milwaukee.
Speaker 3:That's cool, man, that's cool. And when you were here for the Lead the Movement events, what was just that experience about just being in Milwaukee for those few days, man?
Speaker 1:good energy, good energy, good people, people just really open, good vibe. Yeah, it's nice and the food is good.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, we were just talking that it's kind of becoming like a foodie city, you know, like there's actually a lot of, like, you know, smaller, like boutique type places, and which is just really great because it creates for, like different types of styles and cultures that will come through here and open up shops.
Speaker 1:We had good pizza. Remember that pizza shop? Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, there's a, there's good pizza, there's good uh cheese curse have you heard cheese curse here yet.
Speaker 1:No, all right.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, that's like that's like a staple. You gotta have the cheese. I don't know it's, it's like it's fried cheese, okay, but it's like you know other people have it on the menu. This is, it's like it's from here, yeah, so you can't like it's the best stuff. Okay, stuff here, stuff here, um, well, no, that's, that's cool, man, that's cool. And and now, after visiting the city for a few times, like, what do you share about milwaukee? To others, yo, that where, where did you do lead the movement that was at the summerfest grounds?
Speaker 1:so, henry meyer festival park that area is nice, yeah, yeah, Right on the lake and everything.
Speaker 1:You know. So I'm from New York City, yeah, and it's nice to get out because I find that all the cities they're just slower, but it's still cool, because New York is just like fast, like yo, why are you walking so slow? This is that truck is going Right, whereas like other cities are like walking so slow, this is that right, whereas like other cities are like, wow, this is nice. Yeah, it's like ubers are cheaper. So, yeah, I would say yeah, come to milwaukee during the summers yeah, yeah, oh, that's beautiful man.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean summers, even fall, is like perfect weather. Perfect weather, man. It's like because you were, that was like september, end of september yeah, that's when you came there for last year, so so, it was nice.
Speaker 3:And it was nice, man. I mean, the day before it did rain a little bit, but it was still nice. So nice, so no, that's pretty dope man. So, in closing, what's something, what's some advice you could give to somebody that let's do two different people, because I think you kind of have two different people that you're talking to, so Because I think you kind of have two different people that you're talking to. So one, the person that has no degree, like what do they need to do? And then the second one is a person that wants to build a personal brand, like yourself. What would you advise them to do if they're just starting out?
Speaker 1:Okay, so the first, if someone doesn't have a degree, check out the podcast Got to, got to, got to to, got to, got to. And you know why?
Speaker 1:because I I passed 200 episodes recently yeah, congrats, congrats because I interview people without college degrees and have them share their story. So here's the thing. So many times people are told, oh, you gotta be this, you gotta be that. But I always tell people what you gotta be, what's right for you. So many people like, oh, go learn how to code. Oh, go learn how to do this, go learn how to do that. And I was like yo listen to other people's story and look at the work because your episode was like yo, you're doing it yeah, yeah, exactly and I want people to actually listen to that, because it's like there's no one route that's right for you.
Speaker 1:I always tell people everybody has a different road in life, right, and you can't travel on someone else's road. Right, and your road is going to be curvy, twisty, it's not just like this, but it has to be your road. And it's like I tell people listen to other people's story to figure out what's right for you. Some people are going to go more tech route, some people are going to go more entrepreneurial, and they're all okay. What's not okay is if you're like yo jamar you got to learn how to code because that's how you got to make the money, but you hate it and you keep going down it because other people tell you that's what you need to do. So I think you have to really determine, experiment things and see what's right for you and the person, person who's working on the personal brand.
Speaker 1:What I always tell people you gotta be consistent. How many people you know that come in on linkedin hot oh man, they grow quick. And then yo, a year, two years, then they're done. Personal brand is like I have seen so many people come and go and most people like yo. You're one of the most consistent people.
Speaker 1:I've seen big creators rise up and the thing is, if you stay consistent and you stay authentic when you start doing collaborations, you can do great collaborations, because there are some people who are big, who I could have collaborated with, but I'm like yo, I don't like how they operate. And there are smaller creators who I love. I was like yo let's collab. I always tell people get out there, put yourself out there, start collaborating. And the interesting thing is is like when I was at the event, I had the least amount of followers, but I think someone said that, like yo, I love what you have to say because it was the most relatable. Oh yeah, and it's those type of things that it's like. It's just amazing because I was on that stage and I met so many people who I knew for years for the first time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was crazy.
Speaker 1:They're like yo, janiyat, let's go, let's take a picture, and all that. And it's crazy, I still see the pictures on the feed somehow.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you'll comment and it's like yo that's me.
Speaker 3:That's Janiyat.
Speaker 1:Every once in a while I'll drop one just like going through the archives again, someone else will come be like yo, jamar, I didn't know, you know, junai yeah, I was like yeah, yeah, we met up, we're about to shoot it up, and that's the power, and I think it's like just be consistent, and what I would say is focus on one platform first.
Speaker 1:Okay, the first platform is the hardest to grow, so don't try to grow tiktok, instagram, youtube all that at the same time, because I have a friend who has like 200 000 followers. He has 240k linkedin, 240k tiktok and like 180k instagram.
Speaker 1:He's actually in milwaukee, so I'm gonna see him tomorrow, oh don't right, he's we do a lot of things together and how he did it was like yo, I blew up one platform and that credibility from the neck that platform goes to the next one, and then that credibility from that one goes to the next one, and and then you have like this flywheel effect. But too many people try to spread themselves way too thin and look, it's hard enough to learn one platform.
Speaker 1:To learn another is tough. And then because when I did well on LinkedIn, then I went to Twitter, even though I had a couple hundred followers. I got on stage like yo, he got 30K followers.
Speaker 3:That's the.
Speaker 1:LinkedIn dude. That's the LinkedIn dude. And then now I ended up on black Twitter. I'm the resume guy that people tag me on Like yo Jedi. You got to talk to him about no degrees, but again that LinkedIn credibility. And then people will come from Twitter and be like yo. He got 300 recommendations. So once you start building people really start respecting it, and you know it's very hard to be multi-platform. It is and people really respect you and you have a lot more opportunity once you're multi-platform.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, for sure, man, For sure. Well, thank you so much for just dropping so many gems, man. I feel like people watching and listening are just going to walk away with some really good stuff. But you got to apply it. You got to apply it, like that is. I always tell people the people I have on this show reach out, get connected to them, but you also got to apply what you're learning. I know only like five percent are actually going to do it. You know, but they got that you have to apply this stuff and he just dropped amazing way. So if you don't have a degree, you know your first steps. If you're trying to build your personal brand, you know your first steps. You know what worked for him and you know what things you can do. You can start commenting. I mean, you just drop so many different ways of like one more, go ahead, go ahead, please so I have a master's degree in actuarial science from columbia university.
Speaker 1:So a lot of people don't know I used to be an actor and you know it's funny. Okay, since I have nocom, no one scrolls down and they assume I don't have a degree. I don't really talk about it, it's just one of those things and I kind of have to get it.
Speaker 2:I just assume that you do yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:No, dude, I got immigrant parents. They probably would have killed me if I you know so, but my personal brand gets me into rooms that my degree would never get me into. Damn, I had to end it with that that's crazy.
Speaker 3:It's so true, man, it's so true. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast. Man, where can people find you? How can they get connected?
Speaker 1:yeah, so, uh, you'll have it in the show notes, but you can find me on linkedin j-o-n-a-e-d. Yeah, iqbal, uh, check out no degreecom and check out the no, no degree podcast on your favorite platform. And you know I'm growing on the other platforms. I think on TikTok I have at no degree.
Speaker 2:I got to be with that.
Speaker 1:And then, yeah, dude, I couldn't get on Instagram. Man, this girl's sitting on it and she's not even using it. But yeah, so check those out and just reach out, Just say you listen to this podcast. I do my best to answer messages. That's something I've always done. I mean, I work seven days a week and I'll I'll spend like an hour or two answering messages every day and I really, like you know that community aspect. That's something I'll never give up.
Speaker 3:Cool man. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast. Like it's just been incredible. We actually did it, which is I didn't even plan it, but we actually got it done For everybody watching and listening. Please like and comment and subscribe to this podcast and we want to hear what your thoughts were, what your takeaways are. And, just like always, don't forget you can change your circle to change your life. Jamar Jones and I'm out, peace, don't forget to like, comment and subscribe. And don't forget to hit that notification bell for more amazing content that we're going to be putting out. And don't forget you can change your circle to change your life. You.