How to Market yourself as a dancer with Brydel Miguel

Episode of the Two Left Feet podcast

Interview with Brydel Miguel the creator of GWEPA which is a modern and creative visual production company.

Hello everyone today broadcasting to you live Francesca from two left feet podcast, the tropical storm Barry has brought around that GWEPA, Brydel Miguel from GWEPA has to talk about marketing. How to market yourself as a dancer. Your business, how important marketing is. All my god we are about to get run over. Also learned about the history of GWEPA. This is an amazing episode. Check it out.

Terence: I am now on the line with Mr. Brydel Miguel who is the currently the marketing manager for GWEPA. Is how you say it? So if I’m not mistaken, you were born in Curacao, but you currently live in the Netherlands, is that right?

Brydel Miguel: Yeah, that’s exactly right, I was born in Curacao, a small island where no more than 120,000 people in it. 265 days of, somewhere over there, now I live in Harlem up and you get 10 days of summer that it.

Terence: Real quick, for people who might not know a GWEPA is a modern and creative visual production company and you help brand and promote performers, dance concepts, Latin music as well as that in events. Is that correct?

Brydel Miguel: Exactly. Around actually there was a simpler way to say it. You want to make everybody happy and we believe that with getting everybody dancing Latin, we believe that people will get happy. That’s why we promoted it so heavily. At the end of the day, if everybody gets to know Latin and started dancing it, we believe that the world will become a better place. That’s it.

Terence: I want to ask you this real quick. I’ve never been to Curacao. Please tell me about your childhood going up to there. What was that like?

Brydel Miguel: Curacao like, I think one of the 50 nationalities. So it’s small, but it wasn’t like a hub for the slavery, back in the days. So all kinds of people live there. So basically everybody speaks at least four languages. Everybody is happy because the sun is out. Latin is like, you are born with it. It’s not something that you went to a dance school to learn it. Blue Seas, clean water like a basic tourist island.

Okay. So, yeah I’m curious. So Curacao you said it’s a Caribbean island, correct. So I guess you grew up speaking Spanish or what experience one of the languages you learned as a child?

Brydel Miguel: Yeah, as I told you, as you speak at least four languages there. So native languages Papiamento. I think not more than half a million people in the world. Speaking that language, next to that speak Standard English, Spanish and Dutch. So everybody does that. It’s not like something special for you to speak four languages there. I have to be on this also whenever you are not the doing only one thing, like in this case speaking four languages, those four languages are not on spot. So you look at somebody who started the starting the sentence in English, finishing it up in Spanish and touring a few words in their Dutch. It’s crazy what we understand each other.

Terence: That’s so cool, I’m so jealous. Because I only grew up speaking English. I would love to be multi-lingual.

Brydel Miguel:
Yeah. It has its benefits. Definitely the thing of course we can talk to actually everybody.

Terence: That’s so awesome. You have a farther outreach. You can communicate with more people. That’s cool. Tell me about your childhood. What was it like going up in Curacao?

Brydel Miguel: I think it’s like for everybody, but for us every day we outside because it’s all there, right? It’s not like Harlem on that you have a half an hour of sun every day it’s going to go outside with your son. It’s like you live outside. I been talking to this with my friends a few days back, like when you finish up, we your work at five. In Curacao, it’s like a standard thing to go grab a drink with your friends that goes to the beach and other parts of the world to just go, I don’t know, go maybe to the gym and then go home. And Netflix and couch that’s not the life we are accustomed with.

Terence: I definitely understand that. I’m curious. So you’re going up in Curacao as a child is dancing a big thing there? You know what growing up was dancing a big thing in your childhood?

Brydel Miguel: You don’t go to the dance school there to dance. You’re just born with, we don’t call it the Latin party is just a party. And actually that’s one of the main reasons we wanted to promote real Latin in to the world because when we arrived in Harlem and I started talking to one business partner, we got into Latin party this year and one of the main things it still frustrates me is like, you got four rooms, you got the Bachata Room. And nowadays you can even get like a Bachata central room, Kizomba room, Salsa room. A few years back. We went to a party, there were seven rooms. So every niche got its own room there. But the great thing that Curacao, is like if you cannot then dance Salsa, you just stand on the corner talk with each other, drink something and it’s part of the social life, when somebody that goes into a party. I think in US also, they come to a party, they pay not so much to get in and they want to dance for six hours straight without even goes to the bathroom. If DJ doesn’t play what they like, they will go to the DJ and say like, hey, that’s not what, it’s not what I like, play my tune and if you don’t like the tune, just go step to the side talk to somebody. It’s a social event.

Terence: Yeah. It’s a difference. I guess once you start paying for it, it’s a different atmosphere or what?

Brydel Miguel: I don’t think so on that. It shouldn’t be like that. When you pay for it, you expect the DJ to play only what you want. If you want to DJ to play exactly what you want, bring your own spottily list to your own living room. It’s a social gathering. So get out there and get social. So that’s one of the things you want people to know. And that’s why we started doing our own parties. I love Latin. It’s one of the first web events ever and we will take over the world with this thing.

Terence: That sounds awesome. I definitely want to get into all of that. But I want to get back to like as growing up in Curacao you say, you go to just parties, social events and everything. When you were, I guess learning to Salsa, is that just something you kind of imitated what you saw? Is that how it was back then? Everyone’s dancing. You kind of just pick it up that way, right?

Brydel Miguel: Pick it up that way. And most people learn it from their parents. So it’s again, it’s not only a social things like a found familiar thing.

You can remember dance with your mom and your sisters I guess, or your family.

Brydel Miguel: And with your aunts and there is always an uncle there that thinks that he is Michael Jackson of Latin dance. So he got the moves. You want to show it to you? Like watch me, watch me. I know how to dance most of the time and stuff like that.

Let me ask you this. How important was is music in your household or maybe in Curacao? How important is music?

Brydel Miguel: Well, if you ask any the person that lives or grow up in Curacao, they will tell you that on Sunday morning it’s no joke everybody has like a Salsa upbringing. There isn’t like a Salsa show in their Curacao and it’s like dance with his friends. And I think like every parent places Sunday early morning. It’s Salsa time.

Is it the salsa and cleanup, play music and clean away?

Brydel Miguel: Yes. When your mom cleans, it’s a put a Latin tunes on and dance while you clean. I mean most Latin people recognize that thing.

Terence: Yeah, definitely. My girl talks about that all the time. So I definitely understand that. So you’re going to go Curacao joint life. I guess what happens after you graduate high school? Like do you go to college in Curacao or what happens after that?

Brydel Miguel: Most people get to Ireland that’s why I get to Ireland also. So after high school, there are a few bachelor’s there even if you masters, but back in the days, one of the few options that you got was go to Ireland. Because if you didn’t know you Curacao it’s still a part of the Dutch kingdom. We are still part of the colonialism thing. And so we are attached to Ireland. So if you want to learn more, you go to Ireland.

Terence: And so that’s what you do at university in Ireland? I’m curious, what did you go for? What were you a majoring in? What were you studying?

Brydel Miguel: Economics and marketing. That’s it. I started out as an accountant, I couldn’t think.

Terence: Let me ask you this real quick. So going from Cortisol to Holland, what was that transition like? What was it like moving to a completely new country?

Brydel Miguel: The process was crazy in Curacao will be talking about it is because it’s like a brain drain every year. The most smart people on the island leave the island to go to Ireland in this case or nowadays even through the US, for the university. And when they get there, they get into a totally different environment. I mean when people get out, they are 18, 17 at the prime of the teenage. With the moment when you get formed for it. So when you get here again, it’s a big difference. Like when you’re playing at school, when you’re just go chill at the beach with your friends or in your garden with your friends or alone, it doesn’t matter. And 365 days or sun here if you get sun, you are lucky. And after work, go to the beach. That’s not something that you consider standards, and the way you social should contacts go over yours way different. Curacao talk to each other just because you are standing to me there is from acquired from each other. It’s just we greet here, somebody that we greet only went in actually need somebody for something from you. But it’s a different upbringings. I don’t blame Dutch people for the way they treat each other. It just the way they do it. At the end of the day, I have to be honest. I have learned how to enjoy life on yourself without to do business in here. Because those Dutch people they know how to do business.

Terence: Yeah. I definitely understand that. So I guess you go from Curacao to at Holland, you start majoring in economics and everything. I guess tell me how did you get introduced to Mr. Alexis Anthony? I believe that’s the, your co-director [Inaudible 00:16:49]?

Brydel Miguel: that’s a crazy story actually, because I have a photography company and everywhere I see this guy with this team. I was like, Wow, these guys getting my job. So after a few months of seeing him everywhere I was just started talking to him like, okay, we can go with two this like go, we have to have against each other or bumble our strengths and make something bigger. And that’s how it started actually. So after a while, his business bumped I stopped mine and we throw everything on the table. We were brainstorming this thing for at least months and after we started.

Terence: I’m very curious I guess what got you into photography? How did that come about? Is that like a hobby of you as a child or how’d you get into that?

Brydel Miguel: No. This is my ex-wife wanted to get a very expensive camera. And I told her, the only way I’m getting you that camera is if we can make a business out of it. Yeah, of course. Simple as that. So we made the business out of it were quite successful when doing it. Because I applied marketing things I saw outside of a photography and applied it.

Terence: I want to ask you this, maybe for myself and others who want to improve their marketing skills is making you give us any hints or tips on how to become I guess bit of markers of our products and everything?

Brydel Miguel:
It’s simple. The smarter thing its trick most people though don’t what trick is. So the trick is to, at first know what you’re setting. Okay. And every time I got a new client, explain Coca-Cola is not saddling black sugar water. They’re selling happiness, right? So for instance, if you got a dance school and you pretend that we’re selling dance steps, I can guarantee you that the guy around the corner, let’s test that sells happiness or familiarity or a get too into a social environment. That guy will sell out the classes and you won’t though getting for your dentist steps I can guarantee you that.

Terence: Yeah. So let me ask you this, I guess how does one, so happiness or sell a social environment, how do you go about that?

Brydel Miguel: You’ll have to ask something people, everybody has five sentences, right? So you can see, you can hear, you feel, you can taste, you can smell. So actually when you are talking along happiness you can ask yourself. Whenever I think about what happens, how am I feeling? When already think about happiness. Well, I’m spelling when I’m thinking about happiness when I’m hearing, but I’m thinking about happiness, what I was seeing. And the only thing you have to do is a wrap your product and those things that you see here, smell, touch, feel, that’s it sounds very simple now, but at the end of the day I can give you a seminar and charge your $3,000for it, but I will just give you more examples so you can understand it. But at the end of the day, it’s simple. People react most decisions, even if they tell you is not like that is based on emotions. And emotions are triggered by your sense. There is no way, it’s only triggered by your five senses you got, even the sixth sense people talk about it’s a combination of your five side. You got it. So you have to trigger though those five senses in a way and the other. And then it got clients and ask yourself. At least when you start putting out your product out there, you asked about ask yourself, I’m looking for, who are my clients, what are their problems? How can I fixed that for them? And how will people feel at the end when they consume my product? So how will their five senses react at the end when they got in touch with my product? For example, what is your main focus with this podcast?

Terence: My main focus or goal of this podcast is kind of, I wanted to give back to the dance community. So I’m doing that by interviewing some amazing people who do some amazing things with the dance community. You know, hearing their story, getting some tips and hints from their life. You know, I’m just trying to learn about them.

Brydel Miguel:
In your case, one of the first thing that people will be in tuned with when in the sense of theirs five senses is hearing? So what do you want them to hear at the end? That’s what you have to think about. What do you want them to talk about after the year? Whatever you have on your podcast, but what do you want them to see or do you, how do you want them? What do you want them to touch? You have to give them all of that for it to become a successful product. You know, Lays like in the chips. Those guys actually are giving you fried potatoes, it’s not difficult product just fried potatoes. But these guys in invest a lot of money in how the sound of the package. When you open it up, I can get rid of the, you can open up a million package of Lays. It will sound on every corner of the world. The same. Acting the same because actually they just want you to open up a pack and the feeling that you had, the tips of your mouth, you get it. That’s it. And again I cannot give you everything in 50 minutes but if you can trigger all those five sentences people keep coming back.

Terence: That does make a lot of sense. I really appreciate that. So let me ask you this. So you know, you moved to Holland, and you’re doing photography you join that with Mr. Anthony. And so do you all create a photography company? What happens when you all join that? What do y’all do?

Brydel Miguel: The idea is to create the biggest Latin dance community in the world.

Terence: So when are doing that. That’s when you’re creating a GWEPA or you were still doing photography at that time?

Brydel Miguel: We created GWEPA together, to make the biggest Latin dance community in the world. And we saw spots that had one of the biggest problem five years back was GWEPA if I’m talking marketing, if I’m talking Latin, the way you dance, you feel something. At least. Let’s talk about those five sentence in the Latin dancing. When you smell it you smell like, I smell a barbecue. Cocktails, great smell of ladies. What is moving hips, skirts, guys with a very colorful shirts. I’m talking about hear Bachata, Salsa but also people talking about, whenever you, what do you want to introduce more people to something they don’t know. You have to give it, give it to a level they are accustomed to it. Okay. So in Latin dance world’s a case five years back. [Inaudible 00:28:00] videography was not something that was standard. Like the biggest Latin dance events. Didn’t even have videographers in there. The photographers were like a friend of a friend who just made something up. The flyers when we did our research, we saw flyers made in paint. Microsoft paint. Well, it still was a lot of regression on me on that day was that I want to know how many people went to a party where the flyer made the page white. I mean, if you make nowadays a flyer with paint, I expect two people to show up. You were like, you have no respect for that thing. But back then, we go to the spark like that and you still got like 200, 300 people there and then I know like, okay, so it’s not about what people see? Whenever you get in, that’s what matters. It’s not what you see anymore. But I like all the people that got in and cannot do anything else that only dance Latin. I call them Latin junkies. I call them Latin junkies for one reason because they are don’t worry about your environment any more than only therefore the more they’re fixed. But they are, the ones will also claim that they are always seeing the same people every weekend. But that has started asking everybody, but what are you doing to reach more people? And then there are start that are talking about trying to give more classes, I mean really we can give as many three classes, if you’re a flyer to invite people to your free classes is mad in paint. Nobody will go. So that’s why we wanted to make the way you see Latin in this case with photography, videography way higher. And I’m happy about that. And I’m not saying we are the only one that got at a level, but nowadays, if you have a big event and you don’t have to be videographer for in there, you’re just lost.

Real quick, I want ask you this I’ve never been to Holland or the Netherlands. What is the dance community like over there? Is there a big Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba scene over there, or is it still a small group?

Brydel Miguel: It’s more compared to what it could be. I mean in all Holland you 17 million people. But I think that communities no bigger than 50,000. But let’s just say when you asked, right? And Europe and I’m talking about Holland, in this case, people are not a costume to dance. So then is this like an exotic thing? Its black guys that come from the Caribbean. So if those black guys that come from the Caribbean, keep it only for yourself and don’t make it attractive enough for the other people to get in, they will never come with even in touch with it. That’s why we started to grab GWEPA, because we wanted to make it like a viral thing. So people see like, okay, 250,000 people following this thing, what is it then? And then it’s following one post after that they see to achieve four or five in a day. And I don’t have to tell you, as soon as you get that GWEPA feeling, it will never leave you.

Terence: I’m very curious to hear, tell me about that beginning stage that, that first year when you both started GWEPA, what was that like, you’re opening a new business, starting a new endeavor. What was that like?

Brydel Miguel: We were one of the few first to make professional dance videos during parties. So in the first year people were very happy. I’m talking about the professional dancers we’re like, finally somebody to that shit things serious. So there was a moment as we arrived there with our crew and people will start flapping like weapon is in house to get great videos. But now that’s the standard. So there are more guys doing that and I applaud them our friends of social dance TV, a social dance worlds, Salsa malice. There’s so many. I don’t know, there are a lot of them and they do with wage job, because without them, you’re not like claiming this Latin world like I’m are here to help everybody to make this thing as sexy as possible so everybody can get in. Because our main objective is to get everybody to be at least I have the chance to get in touch with Latin dance. So then they can decide if they want it or not. Because main problem Latin dance right now, it’s that most people that don’t do it, they have never heard of it and they already do that. You may be heard as a friend of them. It’s like one of those Latin junkies, but they don’t get it. You got those means situation. This what I do is what my family thinks is for my family as well, my friends thinks. And this actually how I feel. [Inaudible 00:35:09] in our things like helping us money as many people perfect or marketing and that means everything, everything that touches those five sentences. I mean if you can fix your Instagram that was what helped us. All by all reach more people, fix your Facebook, you to get more podcasts out there. Well my thing is it’s like this, if one of your friends that don’t themselves okay that only listened to him, but for instance, just hear our story today and being, Oh, let me check GWEPA and he check GWEPA and after two, three weeks of seeing all those ladies and guys having a lot of fun on the ground. Make think like, I should check one of those parties. Hey, that’s exactly what we want.

Terence: So I guess you all, you all started out pretty much is going to social events and just, and just recording or what? Just be posting that on the page. So know that that’s the grind and the hustle right there? Exactly. And how big was Instagram for you?

Brydel Miguel: Life changing. Because when we got into Instagram, again one of the main problems Latin dance seems to have five years ago is that it was as visible or not, and this was like one big vision board. So that’s exactly what we’re looking for. And the way you can build a community there back then and still now is a way faster at any, anywhere else, any social channel out of there. So yes life changing.

Let me ask you this. I’m very interested to hear about your journey from zero followers all the way to, I believe you have 337,000 followers right now. Tell me about that journey please, it’s very inspiring for others?

Brydel Miguel:
We’ve got a question at least 20 times a day, but again, you start with two followers. In our case, it was me and Alexis. So if you started, we have a call tomorrow, it’s you and maybe your girlfriend. Everybody started with no more than 10 followers, Is what you do and what your intention is. So at first you have to decide what is the big goal. Our goal was to get as many people just to know that this Latin thing exists. Right? Build a community, that’s our second goal and bring happiness to the world. That’s our guilt towards main goal also. So we started brainstorming how can we make it visible on this vision board. And when starting as executing it, we were one of the first guys that implemented the world, a branded Hashtag thing in the main Latin thing. And it’s worked very well for us because I think last week I got the report. The hashtag was used more than 100,000 times in the past two years. So it’s not like us spreading the word anymore. It’s like everybody out there spreading it. So it started with your goal and how are you got those sentences, that those five sentences. So at the end of the day, we want to reach it GWEPA means the tastes. So it’s that in the tools, it’s not the music. What you hear, it’s what you see is Latin dance. What you will feel is the happiness. So we want to attack all those we all do trigger all those five sentences. Most people Instagram now have one problem. And actually most brands out there, it’s not even Latin dance only. It’s like most businesses out there they only do this for themselves and don’t do with other people. I don’t know. One standard Question I have for my coaching clients is like, where does money come from? Do you know that I would give you two chances give it a try.

Terence: So where does money come from? Money comes from me buying something or no. Yeah. Hold on one more. So you’re not talking about who makes the money, right? That’s not what you’re talking about, right? Didn’t want to come from, where does your money come? So I mean the treasury from the US treasury, they print all that. Right?

Brydel Miguel: That’s not true. The only entity in the world that can give you money is somebody else. Because the treasury can print it, but if nobody else give it to you. You won’t got the money. And just to keep it short, the only way somebody else will give you money is when you help them. I don’t even want to talk about the value thing I’m talking about help me. Because I want to keep it simple. I could get asked to get to help you. They know what you mean. If you ask a kid at five gives me value, they will look like, Huh what you talking about? So just help somebody else. That’s the only way to get the business going. So if I ask an artist’s why are doing this and all the reasons you are giving me is because you wanted blah. You wanted this, that. That’s the main reason why you failing. Because you not trying to helping everybody else. We’re trying to help yourself. And if you have to give yourself the money, you aren’t getting none of that because yourself more money than you have. So if you have $0 million, you will get that.

Terence: So the goal should be to try and help others. Is that what you’re saying?

Brydel Miguel: That’s it, the only thing you have to know is what their problem is and how can I help them with the skills and passion I have. If you combine your skills and your passion and ask your people what do they need for you to help them, you have the best life. Simple as that. A market thing is pretty easy because the only thing you have to ask yourself is why you do this. And tried to trigger all those five sentences.

I have to ask you, what problem is GWEPA by solving that? Is it helping market dancers and social events? Is that, was that the problem you are solving?

Brydel Miguel: The main problem we are solving is that a real problem you’re solving a lot. But the main problem you’re trying to solve is the lack of happiness in the world. Huge problem. So by using our skills, combining with all our passions for life events, we’re trying to bring this happiness to the world so more people will become more happy. But again, there are people that do know Latin dance that they are not the only ones who are our [Inaudible 00:45:01]. So the people in the Latin dance scene our thriving group also. So you can split that scene into two parts. Like the professionals and the social events, the social guys who have tried to give them as much as possible. But the professional, in this case, if you’re talking marketing wise, we’re trying to help them because if we help them, they were reached more people, they will help us reach our goal, which is got more people to get introduced to Latin dance. So more people can get happy. That’s it. So I’m trying to help more people and we are trying to help more people so they can help us achieve our goal.

Terence: Okay. I think it sounded like very like counter intuitive to what they may teach in schools, you know?

Brydel Miguel: It is. They don’t teach you this at school. Nobody asked you where money comes from. And actually if the teacher knew that movie, most of the time they won’t become a teacher.

Let me ask you this real quick. So you started GWEPA five years ago will you still in accounting at that time? I guess what, what convinced you all to go all in on this? Why did you leave your accounting job and go all in with this?

Brydel Miguel: Because it’s your calling. I’m talking the passion thing. When you close your eyes and the there is a guy talking to you in there or a girl talking to you are in there and you’re asking yourself why you didn’t go and dance more, why you didn’t help that somebody, that person, why you are at this job, that’s voice that’s god. So that voice was talking to me like this is not it. The GWEPA thing is that, but most people don’t do it because they are afraid. And it was a struggle. Sometimes it is, but we know exactly why we do it. So at the end of the day, we are here to help people as much as possible.

Terence: So tell me this, I guess what changed from when you went part time with GWEPA to have going to full time? You’re fully focused on it now and it pretty much becomes your business. So I guess what do you start to do differently?

Brydel Miguel: Okay. You already said it focus, and I don’t know if you read the book that stat when whenever you put 10,000 hours into something, you will become a master from Malcolm Gladwell. Just check it out. But again, if people and full time focus on one thing, you become a master way faster. It’s not so difficult. So actually that’s it. Just focus and people are still calling me crazy. I work too much. There is no balance. I’m working for my legacy, for our legacy to make as many people as, as happy as possibly in this world and to leave this grip a stamp on the world. And I know when off people that they have that voice that the just called god in their head, even two days before they die and when they’re lying down there, on their bed, that bad does way through to die their ask themselves. Why did I not follow my best?

Terence: So I just real quick. I guess is there anything you can say to maybe help someone take that leap of faith, pursue their dream, pursue their passion. Is there anything you can say to help them or not?

Brydel Miguel: First thing first. Don’t stop at your job as crazy It sounds counteractive to what I said before, but don’t just stop with the job. Ask yourself, what is my passion? And it’s actually really easy to know that close your eyes and that guidance that, the God voice I just called it right now that lets it talk to you. That’s what come up really fast the only probably most people ways that a thing will come up pretty fast. They will only doubt themselves. No, I cannot make that work. So stop telling yourself you cannot make it work. Listen to that. Ask yourself then what are the skills I got right now and what are the skills I need to make that dream happen? So everyone wants to become the best a dance teacher out there and you are a very good social dancer. But you know nothing about teaching. Maybe you ask to go and take some classes about teaching job before you stop at your job because when you’re passion in this case dancing and your skills of teaching match each other, then you can go outside and help as many people and very good way to teach them dance in our days what happens is there are a lot of people have like a passion for dance. They want to teach to some money but they don’t have this skill to teach. It’s not the passion thing. It’s like the dancing is a passion thing. But teaching is a skill. If you want to become a dance teacher, you ask to get the skills down first. So as soon as you want to help as many people as good as possible, because don’t forget if we’re there for business, somebody has to feel themselves helped to give you the money so you can run the business. So if you don’t have this skills to match the dancing, the dance teachers dream you out there, nobody will give you money. That’s why you’re failing. It’s one of the things. But here it goes because one the way you want to become a dance teacher, but we’ll keep it simple you need passion for dance and you need to teach teaching skills, right? If you’ve got that that you got dance teacher, you go there and help people dancing. But when you want to dance business, they need something more than dancing. And you’re teaching skills And the business skills is the mean problem right now. And I like I go out and talk a lot about the other things we went through to help each other. But one thing we know at this company is marketing, right? So I’m talking about my big dream and my skill. I’d rather try to help as many people with the marketing, which I know was one of our best skills. I know for a fact most people don’t know shit about marketing and that is the main problem because it’s most artists have this problem, like they think that when they make like a big and the best hammer out there, and in our case, let’s keep it dancing, they have the most smooth, sexy and attractive dance moves out there that the people will just come around the corner and say, “hey, I could smell that you have to dance skills”. If you don’t know how to market skills nobody will come to you.

Terence: I guess a lot of people are dancing. It’s Kind of getting oversaturated. Right? Everyone’s dancing right now?

Brydel Miguel: That’s not true, well there’s seven Billion people, I can guarantee if you go outside right now and start asking 10 people, do you dance? Nine will tell you no.

Terence: Here’s what I mean. If you go on Instagram and search dancing, you’re going to be bombarded with people dancing. That’s what I mean though.

Brydel Miguel: Again, we’re still at 6 billion but never heard of nothing before. So my problem is not that there were a lot of people doing it. My problem is in another people doing badly. So in first place they don’t have the teaching skills. So when you go there trying to learning somebody to teach, you have to know somebody to dance. You have to know the teaching skills first. And when you say you have to dance in business, in this case, please know the good business stuff to match your dream.

Terence: So I believe you are a big fan of Gary B, is that right? So I guess in that instance, say you have a passion for dancing. And you want to get into, you want to make a dance business. Would it be easier just to find someone who can do the business for you? You have to do it yourself. That’s what I mean find a business partner who you’re good at the dancing, they’re good at the business. Right?

Brydel Miguel: No. Have business partner I would tell you my hack, this helped me big time. Whenever I wants something, I will look up for somebody who already did it. I’m not talking about already talk about it. I’m talking about already did it? So if you, and this is my trick and most people will call me crazy for doing this. But this is how I do it. If I want to become dance business owner and I only have a dance teacher skills so I missed the rest, I will just go out to the guy that has the biggest dancing school business out there and within my reach, if you want to actually talk to somebody that’s within your zip code or within your state, but let’s be honest, I’m sitting now in Amsterdam, we use sitting now in Louisiana, we still talking to each item so you can get out and find somebody who already did it in the world and there will be somebody that does exactly what you want and ask them to mentor you. And if you cannot pay them, this is the big hack. I just worked for them for free. In the meantime, I’m there working with them. Just keep your eyes open, your ears open and freaking learn, work for free and learn and the mean done what ever job you out with and money you have do with it in to your skills because if you don’t have those skills, you will never get to the business. So if for instance you are lacking teachers skills go find somebody who can actually learn how to teach through, if lacking marketing skill go find somebody or I didn’t make a dancing going big and as them how’d you do it? And don’t expect them to give it to you for free because at the end of the day, they are running a business. So even if they stop doing it to help you for free, they’re losing money. Because at the mean time they could have done something else. So you have to give them something back also, that’s why when I didn’t have money, I just work for them for free. And nowadays there are a lot of courses out there. Please watch out for the courses. And when do you buy a course? Ask yourself, is that person reach the level I want to reach. So don’t go all is bike course just because it on sell you don’t have to buy it.

Terence: I believe you told me you wanted to speak about a, you know, I guess a new opportunity you offering, you were offering this new marketing for dancers, right? It’s because most understand how important marketing is.

Brydel Miguel: We are launching this thing called marketing for dancers because in the past five years a lot of things have changed, dancing has getting better if you haven’t gotten some exposure out there because you’ve got a world of dance and dance shows something you gotten better, we got helpful on social media, internet that everything out there, but you still have to know how to use them. And most people don’t know how you use them and the just doing whatever they think is best and because they don’t know enough or they don’t know nothing, they don’t move, they don’t do anything that has some impact. So one of the main things I’ve seen in the Latin dancing scene or in dancing scene in general by the way, is that artists well work on the craft, which is dance or teaching but they don’t work on the skill. How to tell people that don’t know you yet about that skill that you have, what will make you feel, see, hear how to trigger the five sentences. That’s why we started this thing. It’s will be on We are launching also on GWEPA we will start a new show called marketing tips for dancers. Watch out for that. It’s will be totally free. And if you really like it, then you see, okay, this what I think that can help me. And it sounds like bridal. Like I had somebody that knows what he’s talking about you can go to mark with checkout, whatever else we got there.

Terence: Yeah. I feel like even that can go even beyond dancers. You don’t have to be, I feel like anyone can get help on marketing. You don’t have to be specifically a dance. Stuff like that can help anyone?

Brydel Miguel: No. I know that, we have been doing that for other business as well. But our passion is dance. And I wanted to make this as specified as possible for dancers. So it will not be something like all those courses out there free talking about how you sell cars when we’re talking here where you’re trying to sell dance. So the tips and tricks you will get in there will be generic, because again, if you’re talking about social media, its social media, right? you will always get some tips in there, how you can use it as a dance teacher, dance business owner or dance as social dancer so in our world as you, as the we, you have the, this is the owners, you have the teachers and the performers. Those are the three flavors you got in there.

Terence: I want to ask you this. I want to, I want to give value to people, so I want you to, so could you give me maybe two or three tips or hints right now for dancers to improve their marketing?

Brydel Miguel: Number one stop going after the count of followers, not about how much followers you got, stop doing that stuff and I get the only very quickly. Why? Because if he just wants followers and their followers are not engaged with you, the social media algorithm, which you will hear us talk a lot about you whenever you want to know to know more about marketing, that’s one of the first things you will see there actually is the thing that decides, want to show what people on social media is it the big brother reign within the social media atmosphere. Nobody knows exactly how it works, but the guys that have been doing it for a long time can value you what has been working, what’s not. So after posting 10,000, 500 videos I can tell you exactly which we do will work.

Terence: I guess you see that pattern, right? I get as a pattern or what?

Brydel Miguel: It’s pattern and it’s still ask them to do with the five sentences. So Instagram for instance, scale that let’s keep it Instagram. Instagram for instance, is sufficient point so it’s should be very visually people we’ll design within five seconds. Actually nowadays within three seconds if they will keep watching your video. Okay? So it’s good trouble at in those slow ass intro moves that you don’t see anything happening whenever you started dancing, somebody is watching another video. They didn’t comment and didn’t do nothing on your video. So stop with those long intros. Give them the value right away. Number three and after we had the stop, but what we have to take this into consideration. Okay? Social Media, the main reason it’s there, it’s for entertainment. So when you go there, which are boring ass story, trying to convince somebody else that then say is what is out there for you. But you’re talking on speeds off of turtle and, and everybody falls asleep. Next is that jobs pops up the cats video that dances Salsa released me. Everybody will watch the cat that is in Salsa dancing cat so give people entertainment. So everyone educates the money, entertain them. Give them the information. Just reading the line. So stop doing [Inaudible 01:08:34]. This is a big scope. Whenever you are on Facebook, Youtube, your competition is not your other dance school around the corner. It’s the cat video. It’s the baby. It’s the pregnancy of the girlfriends. It’s those kinds of things. The new car that came out. The features of iPhone that is hard to you have to, that is a competition. So start watching what your competition in your head is doing, which is the dance around the corner and start watching what iPhone, what apple is doing. Start to watch. White people are watching that Salsa dancing cat for the fifth a hundred million times. White people did not watch your video more than five times. You have a problem you just boring.

Terence: I don’t think I heard it. You said you know your follower count didn’t it matter, if your follower account doesn’t matter then what metric are you looking for? Engagement is that what matters in Engagement?

Brydel Miguel:
The great thing, this is I did stop, go away after followers. If you go after engagement, your followers will come anyway, because whenever you have a higher engagement, Facebook and Instagram, the big broader thing behind the scenes we’ll start thinking like, this guy is performing very well. Don’t you have, you have to think about this, right? This platform, those platforms out there, for instance, Instagram or Facebook, they want people to stay as long as possible on their platform. So if you are putting shit content out there, sorry for my French, so people won’t engage or watch your videos. They don’t want to show with somebody else because whenever they show it to somebody else, actually they are just giving them one more reason to go out of the App. So they want to show to them only the good stuff. And the only way they measured a good staff is how many likes the video got, how many comments it got, how many save it’s got, how many times it was shared. So stop going after followers because as soon as you got the likes, the comments, the shares, the save, Instagram will work for you. So you don’t have to work as hard anymore. The trick, what do you have to do to get people to engage? Because before people have to engage. It’s a time thing, right? Again, you’re competing not only with the other desk video, but you’re competing with a Salsa dancing cats, the baby of the neighbor, the new car of your colleague and that kind of stuff. So you have to ask the right questions. You have to give them their right visuals. You have to give them the right sound. You have to give them their right tune. You have to give them the right feeling. Create your own all those five steps. So as soon as don’t regular five sentences, people won’t do it. And it’s what you want them to do.

Let me ask you this, at this stage in your career, how would you define, or what is success for GWEPA? You know, how would you say, okay, now this is successful or is it already successful for you?

Brydel Miguel: One of them first mentors told me, because I asked him what the success, you really hear this as many times as possible if you start your career. Like what does success? When I, when am I successful? He told me whenever you put on a goal and you keep on working towards that goal every day, you are successful. So that’s the first time I actually grasped the idea of being successful because actually everybody was sets a goal and go after it. Universally everyday as successful. Our main goal is to get as many people as possible to get introduced to this Latin dance thing. And that’s happening every day then every day. And then not only happening to our own platform, if I can help you fix your marketing so you are reaching more people, I’m happy about them. Exactly that’s why we’re doing this because again, I know in the world who is 7.5 billion people. Okay. If you go now on the streets in Kuala Lumpur and ask them, do you know anything Latin, I can guarantee you that 95% we’ll say Latin what’s that? Is it a good food? They don’t know what it is. So we have to help everybody else out there if we got one guy in Kuala Lumpur that he can do Salsa. I want to help that guy, fix his marketing so we can reach more people that my thing. And if he can reach more people to become more happy, the other side of the world, we got I still working with legacy.

Terence: I feel like my goal is kind of similar to yours. With me like interviewing dancers, I feel like, I’m trying to helping them reach more people as well.

Brydel Miguel: Great job man. Thank you for doing that. That’s exactly reasons why accepted this interview, a lot of people asking for it and actually this is the first time ever I did the interview on a podcast because when I ask people why did they want to do the interview, it sounded like they just want to get to pick my brain not to try to help anybody else out there. So that’s one of the first thing I asked you and you told me this. So as soon as you started thinking, helping other people, I’m there. lf you helping somebody else and I can help you help somebody else. I’m still helping myself, that’s kind of selfish I am. So if you think I’m doing this for, no. Doing this for myself, its just joke. So if you know your goal, you can, you can help others without feeling that you have that somebody stole something from you. You’re doing good things.

I want to ask you this dude, but first I want to thank you so much. You know, for taking time out of your day to talk to him. And it means a lot to me.

Brydel Miguel: No, I exactly know why I’m doing this. I’m doing for my people out there. We’re trying to reach more people and make everybody happy.

Terence: Real quick. Tell him, what are some upcoming events? Do you have anything going on in your life?

Brydel Miguel: The launch of marketing for dancers is big thing. And 24th of August, we are launching or first event ever as well, because I love Latin. The first edition will be in Amsterdam, it will be as 24th of August as is told you before. And this is like where I want everybody to come out of their shell and I’m inviting the Latin junkies and those people that don’t know Latin at all to come to a party mingle to each other. And we tried to set the stage as good as possible. So even if you can step one step of Salsa, you will still have a great time. And that’s what’s lacking now in the Latin dancing, if ask me, because if you go to a Latin dance event right now, and you cannot dance, you will have a shit time. You can be watching, but it’s not entertainment entertaining enough for you to watch because you are, you don’t, you can’t understand what’s going on. So it’s not like, there is light show going on. It’s not that the animation going on for you that you can do your Zumba kind of moved there and there’s that thing. It’s like you can dance Salsa two or Salsa one. And you should have at least gone through 15 lesson before or else just on the undecided and drink your ass off. And most of them will do that because those Latin junkies don’t talk. They don’t talk to anybody else. As soon as he starts stop dancing this song, I think even half a minute before the song stops, they’re already watching for the next one to dance with. I know always works. Those Latin junkies are not stopping or to go social with nobody else and that’s also the way the events set up. So if you got to be friends and you come four and go saying Salsa Romantica on two and they’re there is the organize equates make [Inaudible 01:20:27]. Oh, I have a moment to take a now because it Salsa, there was a Bachata of [Inaudible 01:20:39] if you don’t like Bachata so you can go to the bar or talk to your friends because they will, they were sending you five hours long of Salsa Romantica and , everybody in debts room only dance on two. So the way we set this event up is so the music will be mixing in a way that even if you don’t like Bachata you will still have a chance to dance even if you don’t like Salsa, you will still of dance that because there is enough entertainment going on and we will take this to the world. So we’ll just start in Amsterdam, New York. We are coming there, maybe getting this to Italy also. We will take this big and it will be an event for us in the Latin dancing to show the happiness we feel the people, how don’t know that Latin dancing scene yet, but is the exact event that you can bring your friend that never dance Salsa before but you couldn’t take it to your social because if you take it through social, they will look at you and say like, what is this. So you can get all your friends that cannot dance. Introduce them to this thing there will be enough entertainment. We’ll throw this party, we all even have a silent disco in there, we haven’t been trying that thing and it will work awesome. We already do it in two events before. The great thing about the silent disco is that if I don’t like what they’re playing on channel, you can still stay on the dance floor and dance whatever happen in the other channel. So if you don’t like Salsa, we still have those Latin guilty pleasures that everybody have heard on the radio. Nobody know how to sing them, but you still like them. You know like Despacito. One thing I’ve seen in outside of the Latin dance, it’s like a lot of people like the Latin fight, why they cannot go to a Latin dance party because as soon as they arrived there, they feel like, okay. It’s like I’m you at this party, but I’ve not been invited. It’s like those mean things in those, in teen movies. Can be really even be intimidating for some money coming from another country to a specific scene. Like the Amsterdam scene and everybody’s only dance with the people they know. It’s about the way the events are set up, the way the plane is put together, the way the entertainments put together. And that’s what we tried to change now and again, I’m not saying that we are going to change the world in one day, but we are trying. We started with photography. We did the [Inaudible 01:24:44] introducing this thing to a lot of people and we’re trying to get that feeling that we did all offline.

I understand that. Real quick, let me know or let the people know. How can people getting contact with you, how can they reach out to you?

Brydel Miguel: First if you really need me. Just sent an Email to one of us will read it, but if you need specific marketing tips, just watch those marketing tips with dancers videos were start coming out at the end of July. So if you are listening to this after July, 2019, go to GWEPA and check the Instagram stories, IGTV of GWEPA, because they’re relaunch it. And on Youtube, you can find it also, I give you a tip just go and look out for marketing tips, dancers on Youtube, and we will be their overload, the place with, with work tips and it will be totally free. I’ll tell you if really like what we are saying. You can get more of us, but our go to or you can still reach to me personally on Instagram. Go to bridal Miguel on Instagram and reach out to me. But the Auburn do WGU Instagram for marketing. Marketing for dancers for work.

Terence: Okay. And I guess for all the video you can just put that Hashtag #GWEPA right?

Brydel Miguel: Yeah. If you’re feeling the GWEPA, does use the Hashtag triple eight and scream it out loud as soon as you feel it, you have to scream it. GWEPA.

Terence: Yeah. I like the way you say really cool.

Brydel Miguel: Call me crazy, but they know when I close myself in the office like this and keep working tell five o’clock in the morning just to put out the content for you guys because this is not easy. If we don’t put it as money, as much content out there of value, you have to work hard.

Terence: I want to thank you so much. I really enjoyed this conversation that you dropped a lot of information, you gave a lot of value and I definitely enjoyed it.

Brydel Miguel: I hope you’re meaning that to help a lot of people soon as you help a lot of you guys. You feel helped please drop a comment in the comments box below because we want to know exactly all we helped you here. And even if you didn’t like please tell me because maybe if I change that we can help more.

Terence: Exactly. Yeah. The feedback is always important.

Brydel Miguel: I don’t mind if it’s bad or good. You ever feedback.

Terence: Yeah. That’s big. Thank you so much man. I want to say just enjoy the rest of your day.

Brydel Miguel: It’s late three here, but we are still have to grind our way to launch this thing. Thank you for the interview. It was nice to have you to be on your show. It was an honor actually. Even if you have Hurricane just a few hours. Right?

Terence: Is still going on. I supposed to go through all this weekend.

Brydel Miguel: Yeah. So this guy is sitting there this is commitment people. I want you to know. There is Hurricane and he not giving excuses and still making it happen. I pursued that.

Terence: I think it’s an honor that you came on the show, so I’m just thankful for that. Thank you so much.

Brydel Miguel: Again, if you feel it scream it, GWEPA. Please don’t take it easy either, work on goals so you can be successful. And whenever you feel like you don’t know it anymore because you don’t know how to mark the people just go to I’m still talking to you because I want people to know that it’s very important that you can be awesome at their job. But if you don’t anybody else about it? It’s kind of annoying, but if I don’t do it, nobody will do it for me.

Terence: That’s so true. That’s real talk though. Hold on go to the two left feet podcast. Go check out some amazing interviews. I have with some amazing people and amazing dancers.

Brydel Miguel: I want to say it to you at the end of the interview. I mean we have been talking for one hour now. Oh, well I heard the two left feet podcast name being dropped one time. As soon as you open your mouth to see me sitting with my two left feet podcast, you have to drop the tag line every time you talk. If you don’t do it and I’ll do it for you, and this is advice I’m giving everybody listen to us right now that want to market this stuff out there. If you don’t see it. I’m just setting the barrier out there because again, if you started seeing it with that like that like every two seconds, you dropping your rent in there, your clients will start dropping them without them knowing it. So if you have something like two left feet dance school and whatever you say that as soon as they walk out, they won’t say I just wants to dental school. I want it to two left feet dance school. I stopped talking because we have to work. But thank you.

Terence: I want to thank you so much. GWEPA Is doing major things with the dance community and two left feet podcasts doing major things as well.

Leave a Reply