And I’d like to say that one of the best books that’s ever been written about podcasting was written over 110 years ago. It’s called How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. And the reason why I say it’s a book about podcasting, because it’s really all about how you build relationships with people and create influence and you do it by taking interest in other people, featuring them, giving them the spotlight, making them feel like a million bucks, and anything that doesn’t accomplish all of this should be stripped away, you should take it, remove it, you want to make them feel amazing, you want to make them feel like you are putting the spotlight on them. Now, I will add a caveat that you do also want to share your own expertise, you want that guest walking away knowing something about you. And also having respect for what you bring to the table. So it’s okay, I think actually some of the best podcasters do a good job of weaving in their expertise and having a conversation and bringing in sharing, mentioning some of their background and history and client work that they’ve done and successes that they’ve had, in a way that isn’t obtrusive, and, and doesn’t seem obnoxious. I’ve also seen people do it, where it’s really obnoxious. And you can just tell they’re just trying to sell the guests, and it’s overwhelming. So you don’t want to do that. But most people don’t end up on that far end of the spectrum. All right, and then there’s, so there’s that piece, the experience of the interview, how they’re gonna experience it, how they’re going to go through it.
And then there’s the follow up piece after it’s over. Now, here’s where a lot of people drop the ball. How are you going to take that relationship further? I personally, you know, I don’t have a scientific system. You know, there’s some I’ve been a guest on podcast where the person afterwards follows up, it’s almost like mechanically, you know, a month, three months, six months, and it’s really quite annoying, and it doesn’t feel personal at all. So I try not to do that. I try to just follow up when I have the opportunity to when I think of a reason to follow up with that person. Now, that means that probably some people do slip through the cracks, and I don’t follow up with them as much as I should. But it’s for that reason that I actually am a big believer in maximizing what we call the post-interview collaboration conversation. So immediately when the interview is over, well, first of all, before the interview even starts, you want to make sure that you know if that guest has a hard stop, and if so when, because you need to be mindful of when that is an end the interview with enough time that you’re going to be able to have that follow up conversation. Because if you don’t, then there may never be a time or you may never get that person back on the phone. So to make sure that you know when they have a hard stop, so you can leave 10 minutes or so. So you can have that follow up conversation. And that’s when people are excited, that’s when they’re that really appreciative of you taking that interest in them. And if you’ve done it right, if you’ve shared what you do, and if that person has a need for it, or someone that they know has a need for it, then you you benefit from the principle of reciprocity, which is that people want to reciprocate with someone have done a favor for you. They don’t want to be left indebted to you. Most people will want to repay that favor in some way. And it will materialize in the form of referrals or maybe some client work. If you leave that time afterwards, you can have that further conversation. And then I think it’s a great thing to offer some additional wisdom or advice to give them some of your expertise.
I’ll give you an example. When I started doing the podcast, I was practicing law, I started by interviewing my legal clients. And oftentimes when it was over, you know, people are like, geez, well, when do I get a lawyer on the other line who’s not billing me in six-minute increments? I’m gonna ask them a question. And so at the end, they’ll be like, John, can I ask you a legal question? And I’d be like, Well, yes, you can go ahead. And you know, many times it would lead into a referral or some client work or something like that. But you can even take it further if you can, let’s say that you are a graphic design expert, graphic designer, we have a graphic design agency or something like that. You could say, Hey, you know, I was looking at your website, I noticed a bunch of the images are cut off and blurry. I’d be happy to give you some feedback on some ways in which you can improve that. In some areas in which I saw that there were some blurry images, something like that would be appreciated in many cases by guests because you’re sharing your wisdom, your expertise, or maybe you are doing some kind of consulting or whatever it is you do. So be prepared to offer something like that. I wouldn’t do a hard pitch sale ever. I think you’re going to burn your reputation if you do that. But it’s okay to offer something as a gift to that guest for being a guest on your show. Alright, so that’s it for today. Just to recap, number one, get really clear on what your goal is, what you want to do with your career or your business, what direction you’re going, because from there, you’ll be able to figure out who are the people that you want to connect with.
Number two, what is the tool or tools that you’re going to be using in order to build your network with intention? I mentioned a bunch of different alternatives, different types of tools that you can use. I personally am a big fan of using a podcast, which these days is really kind of, in many ways, merging with other technologies out there, because from the podcast, it radiates out. And you can create a lot of different other assets as well, you can push it out into iTunes and Apple podcasts and Stitcher and Spotify and Pandora, and Amazon, music, and YouTube. And you can create micro content, which you share on LinkedIn, and you share it on different social channels. So it’s, it’s that’s where you start, but then it can actually become multiple different things. Create a 1000, 3005 1000 word blog post on your website, which delivers tremendous SEO value. So those that you want to think about are the tools.
And then the next piece number three is what’s your outreach strategy? What’s your messaging? How are you positioning yourself, especially if you’re new, so that you get people saying Yes, absolutely. I would love to do it. I would love to be a guest on your show. Number four, how is the person that you are featuring experiencing going through that experience of being featured by you? Are you make? Are you putting them on a pedestal? Are you making them feel like a million bucks? Are they walking away? Thinking that was wonderful, I want to do more business with that person. And then finally, number five, what’s your follow up? How does it lead to a collaboration? How do you keep that relationship going? Do you have an offer of some sort, which is free? Where you can deliver additional value to that person? Or can you introduce them to someone else in your network that they would stand to benefit from knowing. So that’s it for now. Want to learn more could rise25media.com. Email us at [email protected] or you can email me personally at [email protected] if you have any questions, and I’ll see y’all again soon.
Outro 17:30
Thank you for listening to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast with John Corcoran. Find out more at smartbusinessrevolution.com and while you’re there, sign up for our email list and join the revolution. And be listening for the next episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast.