March 21, 2023 • 32 mins
Dan Mott joins the show this week! You might remember that Dan and I, along with Claire Davis and Matt Zaun hosted a weekly live show for entrepreneurs and business leaders called Power Hour. It ran for just about a year or so and we had a blast! So cool to reunite with Dan here.
In this episode, Dan runs us through the 5 principles he's developed for LinkedIn social selling. Here's a quick excerpt:
"You are organically finding them through content and conversation. And now we're no longer strangers on the internet. I like to use the metaphor of LinkedIn as an in-person event. You just came out of a session and you're walking up to the bar to grab a drink, and you see a person next to you ordering the same beer, and you make a comment on that. And then 10 minutes later, you're down to a discussion about how you two are in the same industry and how you could potentially work together. So it's all about this certain aspect of serendipity."
Listen in as Dan gives specifics on how to reach out to potential connections and prospects via LinkedIn tools and tactics.
Connect with Dan on LinkedIn!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Erin Geiger (00:02):
Welcome to the Small Business Big mindset
podcast, where we dive intotactical strategies to grow your
business and make an impact onthis world. A huge part of
success is keeping your mindsetand vision on track. So this is
a major part of our process. Andthis podcast. Let's do this.
(00:24):
Welcome to the Small BusinessBig mindset podcast this week we
have Dan mod founder of sixthree media Dan, welcome to the
show.
Unknown (00:34):
Thanks, Erin. I'm super happy to be here. I always love
hanging out with you andcreating content. So I'm glad we
get to do it just mano a mano amano
Erin Geiger (00:41):
how awesome. So listeners for those of you that
do not know, Dan and I used tohost a live a weekly live show
on LinkedIn called Power Hour,along with our colleagues,
Claire Davis and Matt Zhan. Sothis is like super special that
Dan and I get to kind of buddyup and chat today. So Dan, will
you let us know a little bitabout you and your background?
(01:04):
And how you got started?
Unknown (01:07):
Yeah, definitely. So I spent about 10 years in b2b
sales and marketing. Before Ifinally quit my job and started
working for myself, my first jobout of college, I worked for a
multilevel marketing firm, I wasassigned a zip code and told to
walk down Main Street and hardto close businesses in their
place of like in their office.
And I was like, sales sucks. Idon't want to do this. So I got
(01:29):
into marketing from there. And Iwas like, this is much better. I
really enjoy this. I started offas entry level marketing role, I
worked my way up in the sameagency up to Director of
Marketing, I took over a portionof the agency business. So as I
kind of like moved into more ofa management role, I kind of got
pushed back into a sales role.
(01:53):
And I just had such bad pastexperiences from it. I was like,
I don't want to do this, I don'twant to cold call people. I
don't want to like be doing allthese things. This is not
attractive to me. So I kind oflike so it was coming I prepared
myself I was like I need to Ineed to quit my job. I literally
quit my job because I hatedsales. And then I got home and I
(02:14):
started setting up in the officethat I'm standing in right now
in my home office. And I waslike, crap, I need to do sales.
Because I mean, right? If I'mgonna work for myself, I need to
support my family. If I'm gonnabe able to do that I need to
focus on building and growing mybusiness, which heavily relies
on me being able to find clientsto do so. So I you know, I quit
(02:34):
my job because I hated sales.
And I will I said, Well, how canI do this, right? I don't want
to go. cold call people. I don'twant to go use automation to
spam people on LinkedIn, or evensend like nine touch email
sequences to a list of emailsthat I scraped from off from
online. Right. So I was like,there has to be a better way.
What is that way? How can I makethis work for me? And it took me
(02:55):
a long time to figure it out.
I'd say like the better part ofthree years before I really
truly had my system dialed in.
And my focus was on well, how doI just build better
relationships? How do I use mypersonal brand? I went all in on
LinkedIn, how do we use mypersonal brand to just build
relationships, get to knowpeople that that matter, right,
that will help me right, justlike you and everyone else that
(03:17):
we've collaborated with over theyears? How did these
relationships impact me from amarketing perspective, from a
business developmentperspective, just everything, I
realized that that was the partthat hate about sales is because
I was always in bad sales roles,ones that were just kind of like
hard closing, or, like justtrying to open up conversations,
or even a one point my careermore of like an order taker. And
(03:39):
I never really had that truesales experience of being like,
I get to own relationships withpeople, I got to build
relationships with them, get toknow them more than just beyond,
like, buy my stuff, get to knowthem and their families. And
that was something that reallytruly resonated with me. And
that's what helped me kind ofovercome that thing of sales
sucks to now I'm like, sales isgreat, because it's not sales.
(04:00):
It's just networking. It's justme getting to chat with people
that I like, and work withpeople that I like and help them
because hey, here's what I'mreally great at. And here's how
I can support you.
Erin Geiger (04:09):
Yeah, and I love that. And we've had this
conversation before where youknow, you are such a you're such
a connector, right? And it'slike, and you really love
getting to know people and whatmakes them tick and the story
behind what they're doing. Youknow, and so I love that you
turn that amazing tree that youhave an interval away that can
(04:32):
grow your business, and you canhelp other people grow there. So
that's incredible. And that'sreally what we want to talk
about during this episode is itreally is social selling, right?
And so on your platform ofchoice is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is
I mean, I spend most of my timeon LinkedIn rather than than the
other platforms. You know, I wason Facebook and running Facebook
ads and then I was likeInstagrams, the thing. I'm on
(04:54):
Instagram, you know, and thenbut honestly, LinkedIn is seems
to be where it's at for Are alot more people than we're used
to be. So can we kind of diveinto there? Like, what is it
about LinkedIn? And then alsolike, you know, if you're going
to sell on LinkedIn, please,please, please, for the love of
Mike share with us like, how,like how to get started? I don't
(05:18):
know, where do you want tostart? It's such a big topic.
Unknown (05:21):
Yeah, I guess let's let's kind of like dive into
LinkedIn first. I'm with you.
I'm actually I've deleted allthe other apps from my phone. I
don't log into any other socialplatform, I exclusively use
LinkedIn. And purely why choseLinkedIn over the rest is just
because I think that LinkedInover the years, like what are
they been in business for, like,LinkedIn is been around for like
(05:42):
1215 years, something like that.
started off as like a an onlineresume, right, like, and I think
that people always kind of seeit as the same thing until they
actually kind of get involvedand start creating content and
start engaging and startbuilding a community there. But
it's, I mean, like, the onething that LinkedIn really has
going for it is the fact thatit's it's centered around
(06:04):
business, right? Like there Yes,like on Facebook, there are
definitely communities that arebusiness centric, on Twitter,
the same on any social platform.
But there's no other socialplatform that is literally
dedicated exclusively tobusiness, right, like building
promoting your business,building business, focus
relationships, finding events,well, whether it's, you know,
digitally or in person, or, Imean, everything, it's the sole
(06:25):
purpose for people to be thereis to talk about business to
talk about their business. Soit's really kind of this cool
thing that just can't beexperienced anywhere else. And
it really does. I think socialmedia does this for, like, all
social platforms do this, but itkind of lowers the barrier to
entry. Because like, intraditional sales, you talk
about like the gatekeeper. Youknow, when I used to walk down
(06:47):
Main Street, I'd walk into thebuilding, the business owner
wouldn't be sitting at the frontdesk, right, you have to talk to
the person in the front desk toget an introduced introduction
to the person in the back. Aslong as someone is active on
LinkedIn, you can build arelationship with anyone,
regardless of who they are,regardless of who you are, as
long as you say the right thing.
And that's really where thepower of LinkedIn comes from.
(07:09):
It's just like, you have accessto anyone in the world, as long
as they're on the platform,which is most people, but you
you can, you can start talkingto the CEO of Google, like you
can talk to anyone you want.
Now, obviously, it's a lotharder to get in touch with
them. But again, it goes back toif you say the right thing. And
a lot of that time that comesdown to what does that person
care about? And what do you careabout? And where do those,
(07:31):
where's that intersection? Wheredo you align? And that's not
always business. In fact, I'm anadvocate of not being business
first, because it's a lot easierto talk to someone, and then
identify like, Oh, do you dothis? I do this cool. How can we
help each other out?
Erin Geiger (07:49):
Yes, for sure. And how do you start those
conversations, you know, orlet's back up even? How do you
first you have to identify whoyou're looking for. Right? And
then once you have a solid ideaof exactly who your your target
audience is, your target contactis, you know, do you is it just
(08:10):
as simple as kind of goingthrough their profile and
picking up on anything that youguys have in common? You know,
like, and then you kind of like,start from there? Or how do you
try to frame it like when you'reteaching people how to do this?
Unknown (08:23):
Yeah, definitely. So I.
So I guess I'll kind of gothrough, there's five principles
that I've developed for LinkedInsocial selling, and the first
one is audience exactly to yourpoint, right? Like, you have to
know who you're who you're goingafter, who is your ideal client,
who are the people that youactively want to build
relationships with? Whether youare looking for a customer or a
business partner, or acollaborator or an investor,
(08:46):
right? There's, there's so manydifferent kinds of business
relationships that that we cantry and build, establish and
maintain through LinkedIn. So itreally comes down to what am I
right? Am I trying to find aclient? Or am I trying to find a
business partner? Or who am Itrying to find, so knowing who
those people are, who thosethose key influencers for your
business are, is gonna be thefirst step, because that
dictates the copy that you haveon your profile, which is the
(09:08):
second principle, the contentthat you produce, how you engage
people, and how you prospect ingeneral, which are the five
principles that I teach. Soyeah, 100% knowing knowing who
they are. Basically, it comesdown to a combination of both
creating relevant content and,and, and engaging people, both
(09:29):
privately and publicly. Soreplying to comments or sending
people DMS. So that's kind oflike the the winning formula
right there. So when you startposting relevant content,
relevant people start to engagewith you. And because they've
seen your content, it's supereasy for you to DM them and say,
Hey, thanks for the comment orlove what you said blah, blah,
and right, that's youropportunity to connect and start
(09:51):
a conversation. So rather thanjust kind of like going down,
you know, building a list andsaying like, right, these are
the people that I want to reachout to and I'm going to cold
message them. Man, tell them,here's what I do. You are
organically finding them throughcontent and conversation. And
now we're now we're no longerstrangers on the internet, were
at a very, like I always kind ofuse the metaphor of LinkedIn is
like a, an in person event,right? Like you just came out of
(10:13):
a session and you're walking upto the bar to grab a drink, and
you see a person next to you thenext you ordering the same beer,
and you make a comment on that.
And then 10 minutes later,you're down to discussion about
how you two are in the sameindustry and like how you could
potentially work together,right? So it's like, all about
this this serendipitous, likeintroductions, right, like
(10:36):
meeting people, because you weretalking about the same thing in
the same circles. So I alwaysuse that for like, that's how I
find my people, I know who I'mgoing after, I'm not going to
create the content that attractsthat type of person, or talk to
people who are saying the samethings. Because that's where I'm
gonna go find my people. And infinding them, it's through
content through conversations.
So I literally just pick upwhere I left off. It's not like
I have to try and figure outlike, what is this person going
(10:58):
to? Like? I don't have to tryand guess like, what's their
favorite sports team? Or do theyhave kids? Yes or no? Like, what
topics can I kind of say tothem, that'll that'll help me
start the conversation? They'realready engaged, like in a
conversation with other people,you're just kind of walking into
the circle and just kind oftaking you like being becoming a
part of the conversation that'salready happening. Yeah,
Erin Geiger (11:18):
that's great, because so many people will
start out as like, oh, we wentto the same school, let's start
chatting about that. But whichcan work. However, it is a
longer road, right? And so withthe way that the tactic that
you're explaining, it's like,start with the content, and then
you're already reaching thepeople you want to reach. And
then you can kind of like kickup a conversation that way,
(11:41):
rather than it's like, yes, youcan go like, Oh, go Gators, we
went to the same school and youknow, and then it kind of like,
meander your way over. And sothe part of that is, you have to
create content and post contentthat people are going to engage
with. And I think that's all alot of the battle, right, is
that you're creating thiscontent and getting people to
(12:02):
engage a lot of people arelurkers. And so you might not
know like, oh, you know, theymay not comment they might not
like the news may not share. Sowhat do you have any tips on
that? Like, you know, that'spart of social selling, right?
You got to post stuff thatpeople are actually going to
engage with?
Unknown (12:18):
Yeah, definitely. So So I'll kind of go into the the
lurkers comment because Lurker,right? There's, there's a bunch
of people who are on LinkedIndaily, who are not creating
content or even engaging, right,they're not even kind of just
reacting. And I actually do thison any other social platform. I
just sit there and I scrollfeed. That's all I do. I never I
never react. I never comment.
I'm never on there. But like,when I when I am right, that's
(12:39):
actually why I deleted them.
Because I was like, What am Idoing is a waste of time for me.
So I like I, you know, there'sthere's a lot of people who do
that, and there's no way tostart a career because you don't
know that they're there. Sothere's no way to start the
conversation. It's not like theycommented on your post or
someone else's post that youknow, and you're like, oh, I can
pick up off that, right. Sowhat's really cool about
(13:00):
LinkedIn, well, you need this isthe actually, the only reason I
can justify having a paidversion of LinkedIn is because
they actually let you see whoviews your profile. So people
can look for forever and ever.
And a lot of creators will belike, I got this message the
other day, from someone whosaid, it told me that they've
been following me for 18 months,and I've never even heard of
them before, right? Like theywere lurking, they were viewing
your content daily, constantly,but never showed up. So you
(13:22):
didn't know that they werethere. But when they come and
view your profile, they're kindof like coming out of hiding.
They're poking their head out tolike to see what's going on in
your profile. And that's whereyou can see that they're viewing
your profile. So like I have ahole, or like I simply just
message those people I quicklygo look at their profile, is
this person qualified? Do Iactually want to start a
conversation with them? Becauseif I don't think that, that I
(13:43):
can help them or they can helpme then I don't want to waste
their time or mine. So I want tomake sure they're qualified. I
know who my target market is.
Cool. Like, let me go just say,Hey, I noticed that you checked
out my profile I saw right likeI can comment on their tagline
or something that I found intheir like in their profile as
(14:05):
like kind of fodder to start theconversation. But I've done this
with literally just saying likehey, so are you checked out my
profile I did the same you opento connecting and that's still
it definitely anything that'scustomized will convert at a
higher rate. But that messagealone like will can account for
a significant amount of of newconnections who are relevant
because they viewed your profileand you qualify them as someone
who you want to be connectedwith
Erin Geiger (14:25):
and that doesn't come across as like awkward to
like oh man, he saw me lookingat his profile. I've like
Unknown (14:32):
yeah, it's it's funny because it feels awkward, right
like and I thought this toobefore I even started and then I
started doing it and no one saidanything to me no one said
anything to me. And then oneperson actually did say
something about it, but it wasmore of the fact that like hey,
like I really love the way thatyou did this. I've like always
wanted to do it but felt it wascreepy for me to reach out to
people. But now seeing you do itlike it's really not that bad.
(14:55):
So it's it's funny, right? Likeit's like in our head like it
feels weird. Like it's the likeOh, you're creeping on me. But
like, there's so many analyticstools out there and especially
like, as a marketer, like Iknow, like everything that's
going on behind the scenes. Solike it like, as long as you're
genuine as long as you're ahuman being, and this goes for
really anything across theboard. People are okay with it.
So
Erin Geiger (15:14):
cool. Okay, so you've made a connection,
whether it's through contentthat you've posted, and they've
commented on, or, you know, youget some sort of conversation
starter based upon similarities.
So when, when do you dive inwith the cell now? When do you?
Unknown (15:36):
I don't, that's my,
Erin Geiger (15:37):
so explain to us.
Yeah. Like, how then, do youkind of get to the point where
you're like, Okay, I can help, Ican help you. Maybe you can help
me, you know, that point pointof the conversation?
Unknown (15:49):
Yeah, definitely. So and then that was the biggest
thing I struggled with. Andthat's why I think it took me
real solid three years to kindof figure out how this system
works. But essentially, whatI've developed is the three
step, no pitch framework. Sobecause I had that same
question, right, like, cool, Ican have, and I've wasted a lot
of times, like, I would talk topeople for a week, right?
Because I'm, I'm like, I log inin the morning, and then and
(16:11):
then I'm kind of like, done,right? So I sometimes have
conversations for like weekswith people, because by the time
they get back to me, and then Iget back to them, and then like
one of us drops off, and then wepick the conversation back up.
You know, I can go on foreverand ever and ever. So I'm like,
Wait, how do i Where's Ray?
Like, where's the balance? Howam I focused on building this
relationship, but also makingsure that there's positive
outcomes for both of us? I don'tagain, I don't want to waste
(16:32):
their time or mine. So the threestep pitch framework was really
designed to say, Well, alright,well, how do I minimize the
amount of time that I have totalk to this person, but help
them figure it, like, help themrealize, like, Hey, you seem
cool, right? Like, you seemcool. I think that it would be
beneficial for us to connect,and like, let's see where it
goes. So it's like, how do Ikind of hyper shorten that
(16:52):
process? And I think even callit like, the, I'm cool. You're a
cool like factor. And it's justlike, if you both kind of have
the vibe of like, hey, I reallyliked this person, and I feel
like we'd get along, then mostlikely, they feel the same way.
So if I just throw it out there,and I'm like, Hey, like, Would
you be down to chat? Like, I dothis sometimes, like after just
to like two or three, back andforth? Right, like, nice, nice
intro. Like, I get to askanother question, learn a little
(17:15):
bit more about them. I've hadthem so I know that they're like
that. There's some sort ofopportunity for us to work
together in some sort ofcapacity. So I'm like, why not?
Let's just hop on it rather thanme try and like, question you
and make me feel like I'minterrogating you like let's hop
on a call, right? Like, let'slet's get to know each other. If
nothing comes out of it, then nobig deal. So then I started
(17:35):
booking a bunch of networkingcalls that ended up going
nowhere. And I was like,alright, well, I again, like
right, where am I going withthis? How do I figure this out?
Right? So I started figuring outwell, okay, I need to have
extreme structure within thiscall, right, I need to turn this
I set up this casual call, Ican't kind of like do a bait and
switch and try and turn it intoa sales call. That's never going
(17:56):
to work. So I need to have thiscall be focused on an
introduction is just networking,finding opportunities to work
together. So I started outliningWell, well, how can I actually
help this person? And I made ashortlist of like, three things
like, here are the things that Ican do to help you. Because I,
what I noticed is like, I'd beon these calls, and everyone
would ask the same question. Sohow can I help you? Right?
Everyone just wants to help eachother out. And every time I
(18:17):
tried to answer that question, Iwas like, Well, I don't, I don't
want you to help me, I want tohelp you. So it's like, it got
to this weird point, right?
Like, I was like, here are thethings I can help you so. So
rather than getting into thatpoint, I was like, Alright, I'm
gonna have extreme structure tomy call. And I learned this from
like sales processes andactually like doing homework and
like buying courses and hiringcoaches and all these things.
(18:39):
But I said, How do I take thethe bits and pieces that
actually advance theconversation, but don't make it
feel like I'm pushing someoneinto trying to buy stuff from
me, right. So basically, hop ona call set up the agenda right
off the bat. Hey, awesome, youknow, super glad we got a chance
to connect. We've got 30minutes. So I really just wanted
to kind of, you know, sit down,share my story here a little bit
(19:00):
more about you so that we wekind of get to know each other a
little bit better. And then likethe last five minutes just go
through, like, how we might beable to help each other out in
the future and what next stepslook like how does that sound to
you? So I'm doing a couple ofthings here. I'm basically
setting up the structure for thecall to set expectations to know
like, Alright, here's like howthis call can be mutually
beneficial. I'm also asking themlike, are you okay with this?
(19:23):
Does this sound good to you? Sothey get a chance to agree and
buy into it? Right? And saylike, because if people agree
upfront, they're more likely tofollow through and then the
third thing is is there anythingthat they wanted to cover right
I don't want to try and likecommand this call this is a
mutual call so what do you wantto get out of this call? Let's
let's agree established likewhat we both want to get out of
this call upfront. So we canmake this the most productive 30
(19:46):
minutes we have together. Sothen we dive into it, we spend
some time well I write like, I'mgonna exactly like I just did
wouldn't like at the beginningof this podcast, I introduced
myself, right. That's my founderstory. That's the same story
that I tell to every singleperson that I meet because it
helps me describe who I am,where I've come from, and what I
do today and how I help people.
So it's it's very non invasiveway of me being able to share
(20:07):
like, Hey, this is what I'm anexpert in and how I think I can
help you, without me trying tolike push my services or product
down someone's throat. At thatsame time, I'm getting to hear
about their story and what theydo. And I can use this as an
opportunity to actually qualifythem. Because I've already
looked at their profile, I knowdemographically, they have the
right job title, they're basedin the right location, they have
the right amount of workexperience, you know, whatever
(20:29):
kind of C's and T's you have tocross and I's you have to.in
order to get to this point. Butdemographics are one thing. And
then there's the whole thing ofpsychographics. Cool, this
person is my ideal client. Butdo they actually need my help
right now? are they strugglingto do X, Y, Z? Are they really
excited about accomplishingthis, but I think I can help
(20:52):
them get there faster, right? Soyou're using this for you're
just having a conversation,they're kind of spilling the
beans and letting you know,like, here's what I'm here's
what I'm focused on. Here's whatI'm struggling with. Here's what
I'm excited about TV, news, allthose things to help you kind of
identify. All right, I from thevery start of this call, I
wanted to get three things, hereare three ways that I think I
can help this person in themtelling me their story, I've
(21:14):
already kind of crossed off oneor two of those. So there's
really only one thing I think Ican truly help this person with.
So when you kind of get to theend of that call, you're
starting to wrap up now you knowexactly what you need to do. And
then you say, here's the waythat I think it can help you.
And it has to be value driven.
It has to be like, right, like,here is how I think it can help
you there's there's no stringsattached, there's no nothing,
(21:36):
right. So usually, that's like alead magnet or an introduction
to someone or whatever you cando, right. And I started doing
this and it started workingreally well. But I still kind of
like had this gap missing. I waslike there's there's still like
a final piece missing. And itreally was like there doesn't
need to be a sales component ofit. But it can't be a part of
(21:58):
that networking call. So I waslike, right, well, I need to
move them into a sales call. Butjust me giving them like a free
guide or something is reallyenticing enough for them to want
to be like yeah, I'd actuallylike to learn more about your
service, right? I'm still kindof having that hard step into
like, right now we're movingover to a sales conversation. So
I was like, alright, well, whatdo I do next? Right? Like how do
I how do I still make this kindof like a smooth transition into
(22:21):
to being focused around helpingyou, here's exactly how I do it
and enticing them to say likeI'm willing to invest in
something like that. So really,it's it's about kind of creating
a subtle kind of like onboardingexperience, right, like, so
you're, what you're doing isyou're offering something of
value, whether that be like, A,and I've done this a number of
(22:43):
different ways. I've done itwith like a social media audit,
or Aaron, you and I have evendone like a pro, like I sat down
and did like a profile reviewwith you. So there's a lot of
ways that you can offersomething for free, right. And
don't just call it a lot ofpeople make the mistake of
calling it like a free consult.
But like everyone offers a freeconsults. So it has to be
something specific, it has to bebranded, right, like, I'm going
to, I think I used to call itlike my my LinkedIn profile tear
(23:08):
down, right? Like it was thisbranded experience. It was this,
you know, like a checklist ofthe things that I'm going to
walk you through, here's exactlywhat we're going to do together
on the next call, and here'swhat you're going to get out of
it. And hey, it's not going tocost you anything. But if you
choose to move forward, right,here's what's kind of those next
steps are. So what you're doingis you're actually like making
them become a client for free,you're starting to walk them
(23:31):
through your onboarding processwithout any commitment to them.
Well, providing a deliverablethat they can take home
something that they canphysically write, like, here was
here was the value, you can'tsee me because we're not sharing
video, but like, I'm holdingsomething in my hands
metaphorically, right, here issomething of value that I took
away from this conversation,this discovery call this third
step the sales call. So that'swhat you kind of have to use as
(23:54):
your call to action. Right?
Like, you're DMing people, Hey,you seem cool, let's chat, you
hop on a call, you get to knowthem a little bit better, here's
how I think I can help you, it'sit's really cool process is
gonna only take you 60 minutes,we're just gonna sit down, I'm
gonna give you XYZ and at theend, you're gonna have this
deliverable that you can takehome, whether you choose to work
with me or not after that istotally up to you. But no matter
(24:15):
what, you're gonna get somethingof value that you can take away.
And by doing this, you areliterally walking people into
making this decision. Becausenow that it's like, I have this
cool thing, I really want to doit. I've spent a lot of time
with Dan, but I don't have thetime to do it myself. I'd rather
just pay you to do it. So ittakes this entire journey of not
knowing someone into buildingrelationship and adding value to
(24:36):
them to the point where theycan't see work, like not having
that value continuing being onwith you. So it's this really
kind of seamless, cool process.
It took me a long time to figureout
Erin Geiger (24:46):
no, but it makes a ton of sense, you know, because
then you're creating that trustfactor. You're increasing your
camaraderie. They're getting,you know, a deeper look into
what you can do and it'sbecoming more obvious to them of
how you know you might be ableTo, to help them as well. And
you know what I'm assuming it'slike, pick something that's
like, semi automated or semi,you know, that you've like
(25:10):
figure it out so that it'ssomething that's not going to
like, take up a ton of yourtime, right, you know, something
that's like you're giving itaway for free. So it's got to be
something that's pretty turnkey,you know, for your business,
right?
Unknown (25:21):
Yeah, the whole process really has to become that way,
right? Like, to the the veryfirst message that you send,
right, like if I have, and Ilike to customize them, but I
always have my template, right.
So the same thing I said, withconnecting with profile views.
Hey, so you checked out myprofile, I did the same, you're
open to connecting. And I cancustomize that and make them
better and increase myconversion rate. But I always
have that go to that stamped inmy head, I can type that out
(25:42):
without thinking about it.
Someone comments on my post,hey, thanks for the comment, you
open to connecting, again, I cancustomize that make it better
and increase my odds of having abetter conversation and the
likelihood that they'll respondto it. But right like it's my go
to I have it stuck in my headboom, it's there ready to go?
The same thing exactly why thethe introduction call is always
the same, you have your like,Hey, here's what we're going to
(26:03):
cover on this call. Here's theintroductions. And here's the
takeaways from that call, thatsent the discovery call that
third step of the process, samething every single time, right,
you're going to kind of pullthem into the call, you're gonna
walk them through the process,you're going to offer them give
them a deliverable and tell themexactly what next steps they can
take from there. Even the followup messages you send, you want
to make sure that all of this isrepeatable. So it's got to be
something that can be done onthe call itself. So if you have
(26:26):
like a template that you canjust like boom, copy and paste,
bring it up, share your screen,and literally fill it out on the
call with them. And if it maybetakes 510 15 minutes after the
call to kind of wrap up and sendover, that's kind of where you
want to cap out, you don't wantto spend an hour on a call with
someone and then three hourseither like preparing the report
before the call, and thenafterwards, because that's just
(26:47):
way too time consuming, right.
So it's always about like, themost efficient way through this
entire process is being able tobuild a structure that you can
use over and over and overagain, but have the flexibility
to adjust your message or yourthe way that you present it
based on the person that you'reworking.
Erin Geiger (27:04):
Now this is gold, and thank you so much for
getting super specific. I loveit. When you know, that's why
like I choose my guests wisely,because I know that people are
not going to just be like, youknow, do flat, you know, like,
oh,
Unknown (27:17):
you should post five times a week.
Erin Geiger (27:19):
Exactly. I'm like, I never hear that again. So I
really, really free.
Unknown (27:24):
I'm actually I'm trying to post last now I'm like how re
going back to efficiencies. Likeif I post if I move from five
posts a week to three posts aweek, what happens? What happens
to my views? What happens to mytraffic? What happens to the
amount of calls that I can vote?
Can I get away with doing less?
So like I'm always about? Howcan I make it?
Erin Geiger (27:41):
Exactly? You know, because why? It's like if
you're, you know, some peopleare like I post every single day
and I'm like awesome. How's thatworking for you? Besides eating
up your time? If it works great,but ya know, I love that you
just kind of like experimentingto see what works. So where can
people find you online? If theywant to work with you find our
(28:01):
you know, find more information,especially about this pitch free
framework that you went over? Doyou have that somewhere where
people can grab info about it?
Unknown (28:10):
Yeah, definitely. So the best place to connect with
me would be my obvious choicefor social media. So on
LinkedIn, I am one of severalDanmarks I connected with all
the other Danmarks I could findon LinkedIn years ago, I still
don't know what I'm going to dowith that. But it's I'm going to
do something fun with thateventually. But you should be
able to easily find me becauseAaron and I are connected. So
(28:32):
you'll see your mutualconnection. My background is
we're not sharing screen but abunch of books in the
background. Do me and told methat you found me through Aaron
and I respond to every singleone every person that DMS me
unless you send me a crappysales pitch. So you can DM me
ask any questions, feel free toreach out. I also have you could
(28:54):
links to my website as well as Ihave a free guide. And both in
there we'll kind of like startto walk you through that
framework. But the fullframework everything step by
step is built out in my coursecalled the LinkedIn social
selling place
Erin Geiger (29:08):
awesome. So on the show notes will include a link
to your LinkedIn page as well asyour website you'll get more
info. So there's something thatwe ask every single guest at the
end of every single discussion,which is if you could only
listen to one music artists forthe rest of your life who would
it be?
Unknown (29:26):
Oh my God, that's the worst question because I get I'm
like weird I get into thesemodes where like exclusively
listen to one artist orsometimes even like the same
like songs just over and overand over again. And then I get
bored and then I move on. Rightso what I would say today
wouldn't be the same like a yearfrom now. I really really love a
(29:52):
band called Moon who they are.
They started off as like streetperformers in New York City.
It's to saxophonist And adrummer. They call it cave
music, but I just call it like,the best way to describe it is
basically acoustic like housemusic. I'm gonna have to check
that out. It's like techno onlike saxophones. It's really
(30:14):
cool.
Erin Geiger (30:15):
Oh my gosh, check that out because my son plays
sax, and then Joey plays thedrums. So I'm like, I'm all over
it. Like I check it out. And wehave a playlist, the Small
Business Big mindset playlist,where I add the music that
everybody says to this question,to the playlist, and I can tell
you, that band is not a part ofit. Yes. I will add it.
Unknown (30:37):
Yeah, all of a sudden, you're gonna be like listening
down this playlist. And like,there, you know, there might be
like, a little bit of like,different and then all of a
sudden, like, you're just gonnahear like screeching horns, and
you're like, Wait a second.
What's
Erin Geiger (30:47):
this? What's the background music while I'm
working? Like no, sorry.
Unknown (30:50):
Yeah, right. Alright, hold on. I need to stop working.
And I just start dancing. Yeah,exactly.
Erin Geiger (30:55):
It's like your breakdown music. Dan, thank you
so much for taking the time Ihad such a blast chatting with
you today you shared so muchamazing things that we can
actually implement and takeaction on.
Unknown (31:08):
Awesome. I always love hanging out with you, Erin. So
thankful that you, you know tobe able to come on and, and hang
out and talk about LinkedInsocial selling, because you
know, it's one of my favoritethings and I could talk about it
all day. Thanks, Dan.
Erin Geiger (31:21):
Thanks for tuning in to the Small Business Big
mindset podcast. To keep the fungoing. Check out our Facebook
group start and scale an onlinebusiness For even more free
trainings and resources fromfellow entrepreneurs. If you
haven't already, head on over tomuscle creative.com and click
subscribe and join our emaillist for weekly updates. And if
you've enjoyed this podcastepisode, check us out on your
favorite podcast platform tofollow us and give us a review.
(31:44):
As always be authentic bringinginsane amount of value and keep
crushing it
Welcome to the Small Business Big mindset
podcast, where we dive intotactical strategies to grow your
business and make an impact onthis world. A huge part of
success is keeping your mindsetand vision on track. So this is
a major part of our process. Andthis podcast. Let's do this.
(00:24):
Welcome to the Small BusinessBig mindset podcast this week we
have Dan mod founder of sixthree media Dan, welcome to the
show.
Unknown (00:34):
Thanks, Erin. I'm super happy to be here. I always love
hanging out with you andcreating content. So I'm glad we
get to do it just mano a mano amano
Erin Geiger (00:41):
how awesome. So listeners for those of you that
do not know, Dan and I used tohost a live a weekly live show
on LinkedIn called Power Hour,along with our colleagues,
Claire Davis and Matt Zhan. Sothis is like super special that
Dan and I get to kind of buddyup and chat today. So Dan, will
you let us know a little bitabout you and your background?
(01:04):
And how you got started?
Unknown (01:07):
Yeah, definitely. So I spent about 10 years in b2b
sales and marketing. Before Ifinally quit my job and started
working for myself, my first jobout of college, I worked for a
multilevel marketing firm, I wasassigned a zip code and told to
walk down Main Street and hardto close businesses in their
place of like in their office.
And I was like, sales sucks. Idon't want to do this. So I got
(01:29):
into marketing from there. And Iwas like, this is much better. I
really enjoy this. I started offas entry level marketing role, I
worked my way up in the sameagency up to Director of
Marketing, I took over a portionof the agency business. So as I
kind of like moved into more ofa management role, I kind of got
pushed back into a sales role.
(01:53):
And I just had such bad pastexperiences from it. I was like,
I don't want to do this, I don'twant to cold call people. I
don't want to like be doing allthese things. This is not
attractive to me. So I kind oflike so it was coming I prepared
myself I was like I need to Ineed to quit my job. I literally
quit my job because I hatedsales. And then I got home and I
(02:14):
started setting up in the officethat I'm standing in right now
in my home office. And I waslike, crap, I need to do sales.
Because I mean, right? If I'mgonna work for myself, I need to
support my family. If I'm gonnabe able to do that I need to
focus on building and growing mybusiness, which heavily relies
on me being able to find clientsto do so. So I you know, I quit
(02:34):
my job because I hated sales.
And I will I said, Well, how canI do this, right? I don't want
to go. cold call people. I don'twant to go use automation to
spam people on LinkedIn, or evensend like nine touch email
sequences to a list of emailsthat I scraped from off from
online. Right. So I was like,there has to be a better way.
What is that way? How can I makethis work for me? And it took me
(02:55):
a long time to figure it out.
I'd say like the better part ofthree years before I really
truly had my system dialed in.
And my focus was on well, how doI just build better
relationships? How do I use mypersonal brand? I went all in on
LinkedIn, how do we use mypersonal brand to just build
relationships, get to knowpeople that that matter, right,
that will help me right, justlike you and everyone else that
(03:17):
we've collaborated with over theyears? How did these
relationships impact me from amarketing perspective, from a
business developmentperspective, just everything, I
realized that that was the partthat hate about sales is because
I was always in bad sales roles,ones that were just kind of like
hard closing, or, like justtrying to open up conversations,
or even a one point my careermore of like an order taker. And
(03:39):
I never really had that truesales experience of being like,
I get to own relationships withpeople, I got to build
relationships with them, get toknow them more than just beyond,
like, buy my stuff, get to knowthem and their families. And
that was something that reallytruly resonated with me. And
that's what helped me kind ofovercome that thing of sales
sucks to now I'm like, sales isgreat, because it's not sales.
(04:00):
It's just networking. It's justme getting to chat with people
that I like, and work withpeople that I like and help them
because hey, here's what I'mreally great at. And here's how
I can support you.
Erin Geiger (04:09):
Yeah, and I love that. And we've had this
conversation before where youknow, you are such a you're such
a connector, right? And it'slike, and you really love
getting to know people and whatmakes them tick and the story
behind what they're doing. Youknow, and so I love that you
turn that amazing tree that youhave an interval away that can
(04:32):
grow your business, and you canhelp other people grow there. So
that's incredible. And that'sreally what we want to talk
about during this episode is itreally is social selling, right?
And so on your platform ofchoice is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is
I mean, I spend most of my timeon LinkedIn rather than than the
other platforms. You know, I wason Facebook and running Facebook
ads and then I was likeInstagrams, the thing. I'm on
(04:54):
Instagram, you know, and thenbut honestly, LinkedIn is seems
to be where it's at for Are alot more people than we're used
to be. So can we kind of diveinto there? Like, what is it
about LinkedIn? And then alsolike, you know, if you're going
to sell on LinkedIn, please,please, please, for the love of
Mike share with us like, how,like how to get started? I don't
(05:18):
know, where do you want tostart? It's such a big topic.
Unknown (05:21):
Yeah, I guess let's let's kind of like dive into
LinkedIn first. I'm with you.
I'm actually I've deleted allthe other apps from my phone. I
don't log into any other socialplatform, I exclusively use
LinkedIn. And purely why choseLinkedIn over the rest is just
because I think that LinkedInover the years, like what are
they been in business for, like,LinkedIn is been around for like
(05:42):
1215 years, something like that.
started off as like a an onlineresume, right, like, and I think
that people always kind of seeit as the same thing until they
actually kind of get involvedand start creating content and
start engaging and startbuilding a community there. But
it's, I mean, like, the onething that LinkedIn really has
going for it is the fact thatit's it's centered around
(06:04):
business, right? Like there Yes,like on Facebook, there are
definitely communities that arebusiness centric, on Twitter,
the same on any social platform.
But there's no other socialplatform that is literally
dedicated exclusively tobusiness, right, like building
promoting your business,building business, focus
relationships, finding events,well, whether it's, you know,
digitally or in person, or, Imean, everything, it's the sole
(06:25):
purpose for people to be thereis to talk about business to
talk about their business. Soit's really kind of this cool
thing that just can't beexperienced anywhere else. And
it really does. I think socialmedia does this for, like, all
social platforms do this, but itkind of lowers the barrier to
entry. Because like, intraditional sales, you talk
about like the gatekeeper. Youknow, when I used to walk down
(06:47):
Main Street, I'd walk into thebuilding, the business owner
wouldn't be sitting at the frontdesk, right, you have to talk to
the person in the front desk toget an introduced introduction
to the person in the back. Aslong as someone is active on
LinkedIn, you can build arelationship with anyone,
regardless of who they are,regardless of who you are, as
long as you say the right thing.
And that's really where thepower of LinkedIn comes from.
(07:09):
It's just like, you have accessto anyone in the world, as long
as they're on the platform,which is most people, but you
you can, you can start talkingto the CEO of Google, like you
can talk to anyone you want.
Now, obviously, it's a lotharder to get in touch with
them. But again, it goes back toif you say the right thing. And
a lot of that time that comesdown to what does that person
care about? And what do you careabout? And where do those,
(07:31):
where's that intersection? Wheredo you align? And that's not
always business. In fact, I'm anadvocate of not being business
first, because it's a lot easierto talk to someone, and then
identify like, Oh, do you dothis? I do this cool. How can we
help each other out?
Erin Geiger (07:49):
Yes, for sure. And how do you start those
conversations, you know, orlet's back up even? How do you
first you have to identify whoyou're looking for. Right? And
then once you have a solid ideaof exactly who your your target
audience is, your target contactis, you know, do you is it just
(08:10):
as simple as kind of goingthrough their profile and
picking up on anything that youguys have in common? You know,
like, and then you kind of like,start from there? Or how do you
try to frame it like when you'reteaching people how to do this?
Unknown (08:23):
Yeah, definitely. So I.
So I guess I'll kind of gothrough, there's five principles
that I've developed for LinkedInsocial selling, and the first
one is audience exactly to yourpoint, right? Like, you have to
know who you're who you're goingafter, who is your ideal client,
who are the people that youactively want to build
relationships with? Whether youare looking for a customer or a
business partner, or acollaborator or an investor,
(08:46):
right? There's, there's so manydifferent kinds of business
relationships that that we cantry and build, establish and
maintain through LinkedIn. So itreally comes down to what am I
right? Am I trying to find aclient? Or am I trying to find a
business partner? Or who am Itrying to find, so knowing who
those people are, who thosethose key influencers for your
business are, is gonna be thefirst step, because that
dictates the copy that you haveon your profile, which is the
(09:08):
second principle, the contentthat you produce, how you engage
people, and how you prospect ingeneral, which are the five
principles that I teach. Soyeah, 100% knowing knowing who
they are. Basically, it comesdown to a combination of both
creating relevant content and,and, and engaging people, both
(09:29):
privately and publicly. Soreplying to comments or sending
people DMS. So that's kind oflike the the winning formula
right there. So when you startposting relevant content,
relevant people start to engagewith you. And because they've
seen your content, it's supereasy for you to DM them and say,
Hey, thanks for the comment orlove what you said blah, blah,
and right, that's youropportunity to connect and start
(09:51):
a conversation. So rather thanjust kind of like going down,
you know, building a list andsaying like, right, these are
the people that I want to reachout to and I'm going to cold
message them. Man, tell them,here's what I do. You are
organically finding them throughcontent and conversation. And
now we're now we're no longerstrangers on the internet, were
at a very, like I always kind ofuse the metaphor of LinkedIn is
like a, an in person event,right? Like you just came out of
(10:13):
a session and you're walking upto the bar to grab a drink, and
you see a person next to you thenext you ordering the same beer,
and you make a comment on that.
And then 10 minutes later,you're down to discussion about
how you two are in the sameindustry and like how you could
potentially work together,right? So it's like, all about
this this serendipitous, likeintroductions, right, like
(10:36):
meeting people, because you weretalking about the same thing in
the same circles. So I alwaysuse that for like, that's how I
find my people, I know who I'mgoing after, I'm not going to
create the content that attractsthat type of person, or talk to
people who are saying the samethings. Because that's where I'm
gonna go find my people. And infinding them, it's through
content through conversations.
So I literally just pick upwhere I left off. It's not like
I have to try and figure outlike, what is this person going
(10:58):
to? Like? I don't have to tryand guess like, what's their
favorite sports team? Or do theyhave kids? Yes or no? Like, what
topics can I kind of say tothem, that'll that'll help me
start the conversation? They'realready engaged, like in a
conversation with other people,you're just kind of walking into
the circle and just kind oftaking you like being becoming a
part of the conversation that'salready happening. Yeah,
Erin Geiger (11:18):
that's great, because so many people will
start out as like, oh, we wentto the same school, let's start
chatting about that. But whichcan work. However, it is a
longer road, right? And so withthe way that the tactic that
you're explaining, it's like,start with the content, and then
you're already reaching thepeople you want to reach. And
then you can kind of like kickup a conversation that way,
(11:41):
rather than it's like, yes, youcan go like, Oh, go Gators, we
went to the same school and youknow, and then it kind of like,
meander your way over. And sothe part of that is, you have to
create content and post contentthat people are going to engage
with. And I think that's all alot of the battle, right, is
that you're creating thiscontent and getting people to
(12:02):
engage a lot of people arelurkers. And so you might not
know like, oh, you know, theymay not comment they might not
like the news may not share. Sowhat do you have any tips on
that? Like, you know, that'spart of social selling, right?
You got to post stuff thatpeople are actually going to
engage with?
Unknown (12:18):
Yeah, definitely. So So I'll kind of go into the the
lurkers comment because Lurker,right? There's, there's a bunch
of people who are on LinkedIndaily, who are not creating
content or even engaging, right,they're not even kind of just
reacting. And I actually do thison any other social platform. I
just sit there and I scrollfeed. That's all I do. I never I
never react. I never comment.
I'm never on there. But like,when I when I am right, that's
(12:39):
actually why I deleted them.
Because I was like, What am Idoing is a waste of time for me.
So I like I, you know, there'sthere's a lot of people who do
that, and there's no way tostart a career because you don't
know that they're there. Sothere's no way to start the
conversation. It's not like theycommented on your post or
someone else's post that youknow, and you're like, oh, I can
pick up off that, right. Sowhat's really cool about
(13:00):
LinkedIn, well, you need this isthe actually, the only reason I
can justify having a paidversion of LinkedIn is because
they actually let you see whoviews your profile. So people
can look for forever and ever.
And a lot of creators will belike, I got this message the
other day, from someone whosaid, it told me that they've
been following me for 18 months,and I've never even heard of
them before, right? Like theywere lurking, they were viewing
your content daily, constantly,but never showed up. So you
(13:22):
didn't know that they werethere. But when they come and
view your profile, they're kindof like coming out of hiding.
They're poking their head out tolike to see what's going on in
your profile. And that's whereyou can see that they're viewing
your profile. So like I have ahole, or like I simply just
message those people I quicklygo look at their profile, is
this person qualified? Do Iactually want to start a
conversation with them? Becauseif I don't think that, that I
(13:43):
can help them or they can helpme then I don't want to waste
their time or mine. So I want tomake sure they're qualified. I
know who my target market is.
Cool. Like, let me go just say,Hey, I noticed that you checked
out my profile I saw right likeI can comment on their tagline
or something that I found intheir like in their profile as
(14:05):
like kind of fodder to start theconversation. But I've done this
with literally just saying likehey, so are you checked out my
profile I did the same you opento connecting and that's still
it definitely anything that'scustomized will convert at a
higher rate. But that messagealone like will can account for
a significant amount of of newconnections who are relevant
because they viewed your profileand you qualify them as someone
who you want to be connectedwith
Erin Geiger (14:25):
and that doesn't come across as like awkward to
like oh man, he saw me lookingat his profile. I've like
Unknown (14:32):
yeah, it's it's funny because it feels awkward, right
like and I thought this toobefore I even started and then I
started doing it and no one saidanything to me no one said
anything to me. And then oneperson actually did say
something about it, but it wasmore of the fact that like hey,
like I really love the way thatyou did this. I've like always
wanted to do it but felt it wascreepy for me to reach out to
people. But now seeing you do itlike it's really not that bad.
(14:55):
So it's it's funny, right? Likeit's like in our head like it
feels weird. Like it's the likeOh, you're creeping on me. But
like, there's so many analyticstools out there and especially
like, as a marketer, like Iknow, like everything that's
going on behind the scenes. Solike it like, as long as you're
genuine as long as you're ahuman being, and this goes for
really anything across theboard. People are okay with it.
So
Erin Geiger (15:14):
cool. Okay, so you've made a connection,
whether it's through contentthat you've posted, and they've
commented on, or, you know, youget some sort of conversation
starter based upon similarities.
So when, when do you dive inwith the cell now? When do you?
Unknown (15:36):
I don't, that's my,
Erin Geiger (15:37):
so explain to us.
Yeah. Like, how then, do youkind of get to the point where
you're like, Okay, I can help, Ican help you. Maybe you can help
me, you know, that point pointof the conversation?
Unknown (15:49):
Yeah, definitely. So and then that was the biggest
thing I struggled with. Andthat's why I think it took me
real solid three years to kindof figure out how this system
works. But essentially, whatI've developed is the three
step, no pitch framework. Sobecause I had that same
question, right, like, cool, Ican have, and I've wasted a lot
of times, like, I would talk topeople for a week, right?
Because I'm, I'm like, I log inin the morning, and then and
(16:11):
then I'm kind of like, done,right? So I sometimes have
conversations for like weekswith people, because by the time
they get back to me, and then Iget back to them, and then like
one of us drops off, and then wepick the conversation back up.
You know, I can go on foreverand ever and ever. So I'm like,
Wait, how do i Where's Ray?
Like, where's the balance? Howam I focused on building this
relationship, but also makingsure that there's positive
outcomes for both of us? I don'tagain, I don't want to waste
(16:32):
their time or mine. So the threestep pitch framework was really
designed to say, Well, alright,well, how do I minimize the
amount of time that I have totalk to this person, but help
them figure it, like, help themrealize, like, Hey, you seem
cool, right? Like, you seemcool. I think that it would be
beneficial for us to connect,and like, let's see where it
goes. So it's like, how do Ikind of hyper shorten that
(16:52):
process? And I think even callit like, the, I'm cool. You're a
cool like factor. And it's justlike, if you both kind of have
the vibe of like, hey, I reallyliked this person, and I feel
like we'd get along, then mostlikely, they feel the same way.
So if I just throw it out there,and I'm like, Hey, like, Would
you be down to chat? Like, I dothis sometimes, like after just
to like two or three, back andforth? Right, like, nice, nice
intro. Like, I get to askanother question, learn a little
(17:15):
bit more about them. I've hadthem so I know that they're like
that. There's some sort ofopportunity for us to work
together in some sort ofcapacity. So I'm like, why not?
Let's just hop on it rather thanme try and like, question you
and make me feel like I'minterrogating you like let's hop
on a call, right? Like, let'slet's get to know each other. If
nothing comes out of it, then nobig deal. So then I started
(17:35):
booking a bunch of networkingcalls that ended up going
nowhere. And I was like,alright, well, I again, like
right, where am I going withthis? How do I figure this out?
Right? So I started figuring outwell, okay, I need to have
extreme structure within thiscall, right, I need to turn this
I set up this casual call, Ican't kind of like do a bait and
switch and try and turn it intoa sales call. That's never going
(17:56):
to work. So I need to have thiscall be focused on an
introduction is just networking,finding opportunities to work
together. So I started outliningWell, well, how can I actually
help this person? And I made ashortlist of like, three things
like, here are the things that Ican do to help you. Because I,
what I noticed is like, I'd beon these calls, and everyone
would ask the same question. Sohow can I help you? Right?
Everyone just wants to help eachother out. And every time I
(18:17):
tried to answer that question, Iwas like, Well, I don't, I don't
want you to help me, I want tohelp you. So it's like, it got
to this weird point, right?
Like, I was like, here are thethings I can help you so. So
rather than getting into thatpoint, I was like, Alright, I'm
gonna have extreme structure tomy call. And I learned this from
like sales processes andactually like doing homework and
like buying courses and hiringcoaches and all these things.
(18:39):
But I said, How do I take thethe bits and pieces that
actually advance theconversation, but don't make it
feel like I'm pushing someoneinto trying to buy stuff from
me, right. So basically, hop ona call set up the agenda right
off the bat. Hey, awesome, youknow, super glad we got a chance
to connect. We've got 30minutes. So I really just wanted
to kind of, you know, sit down,share my story here a little bit
(19:00):
more about you so that we wekind of get to know each other a
little bit better. And then likethe last five minutes just go
through, like, how we might beable to help each other out in
the future and what next stepslook like how does that sound to
you? So I'm doing a couple ofthings here. I'm basically
setting up the structure for thecall to set expectations to know
like, Alright, here's like howthis call can be mutually
beneficial. I'm also asking themlike, are you okay with this?
(19:23):
Does this sound good to you? Sothey get a chance to agree and
buy into it? Right? And saylike, because if people agree
upfront, they're more likely tofollow through and then the
third thing is is there anythingthat they wanted to cover right
I don't want to try and likecommand this call this is a
mutual call so what do you wantto get out of this call? Let's
let's agree established likewhat we both want to get out of
this call upfront. So we canmake this the most productive 30
(19:46):
minutes we have together. Sothen we dive into it, we spend
some time well I write like, I'mgonna exactly like I just did
wouldn't like at the beginningof this podcast, I introduced
myself, right. That's my founderstory. That's the same story
that I tell to every singleperson that I meet because it
helps me describe who I am,where I've come from, and what I
do today and how I help people.
So it's it's very non invasiveway of me being able to share
(20:07):
like, Hey, this is what I'm anexpert in and how I think I can
help you, without me trying tolike push my services or product
down someone's throat. At thatsame time, I'm getting to hear
about their story and what theydo. And I can use this as an
opportunity to actually qualifythem. Because I've already
looked at their profile, I knowdemographically, they have the
right job title, they're basedin the right location, they have
the right amount of workexperience, you know, whatever
(20:29):
kind of C's and T's you have tocross and I's you have to.in
order to get to this point. Butdemographics are one thing. And
then there's the whole thing ofpsychographics. Cool, this
person is my ideal client. Butdo they actually need my help
right now? are they strugglingto do X, Y, Z? Are they really
excited about accomplishingthis, but I think I can help
(20:52):
them get there faster, right? Soyou're using this for you're
just having a conversation,they're kind of spilling the
beans and letting you know,like, here's what I'm here's
what I'm focused on. Here's whatI'm struggling with. Here's what
I'm excited about TV, news, allthose things to help you kind of
identify. All right, I from thevery start of this call, I
wanted to get three things, hereare three ways that I think I
can help this person in themtelling me their story, I've
(21:14):
already kind of crossed off oneor two of those. So there's
really only one thing I think Ican truly help this person with.
So when you kind of get to theend of that call, you're
starting to wrap up now you knowexactly what you need to do. And
then you say, here's the waythat I think it can help you.
And it has to be value driven.
It has to be like, right, like,here is how I think it can help
you there's there's no stringsattached, there's no nothing,
(21:36):
right. So usually, that's like alead magnet or an introduction
to someone or whatever you cando, right. And I started doing
this and it started workingreally well. But I still kind of
like had this gap missing. I waslike there's there's still like
a final piece missing. And itreally was like there doesn't
need to be a sales component ofit. But it can't be a part of
(21:58):
that networking call. So I waslike, right, well, I need to
move them into a sales call. Butjust me giving them like a free
guide or something is reallyenticing enough for them to want
to be like yeah, I'd actuallylike to learn more about your
service, right? I'm still kindof having that hard step into
like, right now we're movingover to a sales conversation. So
I was like, alright, well, whatdo I do next? Right? Like how do
I how do I still make this kindof like a smooth transition into
(22:21):
to being focused around helpingyou, here's exactly how I do it
and enticing them to say likeI'm willing to invest in
something like that. So really,it's it's about kind of creating
a subtle kind of like onboardingexperience, right, like, so
you're, what you're doing isyou're offering something of
value, whether that be like, A,and I've done this a number of
(22:43):
different ways. I've done itwith like a social media audit,
or Aaron, you and I have evendone like a pro, like I sat down
and did like a profile reviewwith you. So there's a lot of
ways that you can offersomething for free, right. And
don't just call it a lot ofpeople make the mistake of
calling it like a free consult.
But like everyone offers a freeconsults. So it has to be
something specific, it has to bebranded, right, like, I'm going
to, I think I used to call itlike my my LinkedIn profile tear
(23:08):
down, right? Like it was thisbranded experience. It was this,
you know, like a checklist ofthe things that I'm going to
walk you through, here's exactlywhat we're going to do together
on the next call, and here'swhat you're going to get out of
it. And hey, it's not going tocost you anything. But if you
choose to move forward, right,here's what's kind of those next
steps are. So what you're doingis you're actually like making
them become a client for free,you're starting to walk them
(23:31):
through your onboarding processwithout any commitment to them.
Well, providing a deliverablethat they can take home
something that they canphysically write, like, here was
here was the value, you can'tsee me because we're not sharing
video, but like, I'm holdingsomething in my hands
metaphorically, right, here issomething of value that I took
away from this conversation,this discovery call this third
step the sales call. So that'swhat you kind of have to use as
(23:54):
your call to action. Right?
Like, you're DMing people, Hey,you seem cool, let's chat, you
hop on a call, you get to knowthem a little bit better, here's
how I think I can help you, it'sit's really cool process is
gonna only take you 60 minutes,we're just gonna sit down, I'm
gonna give you XYZ and at theend, you're gonna have this
deliverable that you can takehome, whether you choose to work
with me or not after that istotally up to you. But no matter
(24:15):
what, you're gonna get somethingof value that you can take away.
And by doing this, you areliterally walking people into
making this decision. Becausenow that it's like, I have this
cool thing, I really want to doit. I've spent a lot of time
with Dan, but I don't have thetime to do it myself. I'd rather
just pay you to do it. So ittakes this entire journey of not
knowing someone into buildingrelationship and adding value to
(24:36):
them to the point where theycan't see work, like not having
that value continuing being onwith you. So it's this really
kind of seamless, cool process.
It took me a long time to figureout
Erin Geiger (24:46):
no, but it makes a ton of sense, you know, because
then you're creating that trustfactor. You're increasing your
camaraderie. They're getting,you know, a deeper look into
what you can do and it'sbecoming more obvious to them of
how you know you might be ableTo, to help them as well. And
you know what I'm assuming it'slike, pick something that's
like, semi automated or semi,you know, that you've like
(25:10):
figure it out so that it'ssomething that's not going to
like, take up a ton of yourtime, right, you know, something
that's like you're giving itaway for free. So it's got to be
something that's pretty turnkey,you know, for your business,
right?
Unknown (25:21):
Yeah, the whole process really has to become that way,
right? Like, to the the veryfirst message that you send,
right, like if I have, and Ilike to customize them, but I
always have my template, right.
So the same thing I said, withconnecting with profile views.
Hey, so you checked out myprofile, I did the same, you're
open to connecting. And I cancustomize that and make them
better and increase myconversion rate. But I always
have that go to that stamped inmy head, I can type that out
(25:42):
without thinking about it.
Someone comments on my post,hey, thanks for the comment, you
open to connecting, again, I cancustomize that make it better
and increase my odds of having abetter conversation and the
likelihood that they'll respondto it. But right like it's my go
to I have it stuck in my headboom, it's there ready to go?
The same thing exactly why thethe introduction call is always
the same, you have your like,Hey, here's what we're going to
(26:03):
cover on this call. Here's theintroductions. And here's the
takeaways from that call, thatsent the discovery call that
third step of the process, samething every single time, right,
you're going to kind of pullthem into the call, you're gonna
walk them through the process,you're going to offer them give
them a deliverable and tell themexactly what next steps they can
take from there. Even the followup messages you send, you want
to make sure that all of this isrepeatable. So it's got to be
something that can be done onthe call itself. So if you have
(26:26):
like a template that you canjust like boom, copy and paste,
bring it up, share your screen,and literally fill it out on the
call with them. And if it maybetakes 510 15 minutes after the
call to kind of wrap up and sendover, that's kind of where you
want to cap out, you don't wantto spend an hour on a call with
someone and then three hourseither like preparing the report
before the call, and thenafterwards, because that's just
(26:47):
way too time consuming, right.
So it's always about like, themost efficient way through this
entire process is being able tobuild a structure that you can
use over and over and overagain, but have the flexibility
to adjust your message or yourthe way that you present it
based on the person that you'reworking.
Erin Geiger (27:04):
Now this is gold, and thank you so much for
getting super specific. I loveit. When you know, that's why
like I choose my guests wisely,because I know that people are
not going to just be like, youknow, do flat, you know, like,
oh,
Unknown (27:17):
you should post five times a week.
Erin Geiger (27:19):
Exactly. I'm like, I never hear that again. So I
really, really free.
Unknown (27:24):
I'm actually I'm trying to post last now I'm like how re
going back to efficiencies. Likeif I post if I move from five
posts a week to three posts aweek, what happens? What happens
to my views? What happens to mytraffic? What happens to the
amount of calls that I can vote?
Can I get away with doing less?
So like I'm always about? Howcan I make it?
Erin Geiger (27:41):
Exactly? You know, because why? It's like if
you're, you know, some peopleare like I post every single day
and I'm like awesome. How's thatworking for you? Besides eating
up your time? If it works great,but ya know, I love that you
just kind of like experimentingto see what works. So where can
people find you online? If theywant to work with you find our
(28:01):
you know, find more information,especially about this pitch free
framework that you went over? Doyou have that somewhere where
people can grab info about it?
Unknown (28:10):
Yeah, definitely. So the best place to connect with
me would be my obvious choicefor social media. So on
LinkedIn, I am one of severalDanmarks I connected with all
the other Danmarks I could findon LinkedIn years ago, I still
don't know what I'm going to dowith that. But it's I'm going to
do something fun with thateventually. But you should be
able to easily find me becauseAaron and I are connected. So
(28:32):
you'll see your mutualconnection. My background is
we're not sharing screen but abunch of books in the
background. Do me and told methat you found me through Aaron
and I respond to every singleone every person that DMS me
unless you send me a crappysales pitch. So you can DM me
ask any questions, feel free toreach out. I also have you could
(28:54):
links to my website as well as Ihave a free guide. And both in
there we'll kind of like startto walk you through that
framework. But the fullframework everything step by
step is built out in my coursecalled the LinkedIn social
selling place
Erin Geiger (29:08):
awesome. So on the show notes will include a link
to your LinkedIn page as well asyour website you'll get more
info. So there's something thatwe ask every single guest at the
end of every single discussion,which is if you could only
listen to one music artists forthe rest of your life who would
it be?
Unknown (29:26):
Oh my God, that's the worst question because I get I'm
like weird I get into thesemodes where like exclusively
listen to one artist orsometimes even like the same
like songs just over and overand over again. And then I get
bored and then I move on. Rightso what I would say today
wouldn't be the same like a yearfrom now. I really really love a
(29:52):
band called Moon who they are.
They started off as like streetperformers in New York City.
It's to saxophonist And adrummer. They call it cave
music, but I just call it like,the best way to describe it is
basically acoustic like housemusic. I'm gonna have to check
that out. It's like techno onlike saxophones. It's really
(30:14):
cool.
Erin Geiger (30:15):
Oh my gosh, check that out because my son plays
sax, and then Joey plays thedrums. So I'm like, I'm all over
it. Like I check it out. And wehave a playlist, the Small
Business Big mindset playlist,where I add the music that
everybody says to this question,to the playlist, and I can tell
you, that band is not a part ofit. Yes. I will add it.
Unknown (30:37):
Yeah, all of a sudden, you're gonna be like listening
down this playlist. And like,there, you know, there might be
like, a little bit of like,different and then all of a
sudden, like, you're just gonnahear like screeching horns, and
you're like, Wait a second.
What's
Erin Geiger (30:47):
this? What's the background music while I'm
working? Like no, sorry.
Unknown (30:50):
Yeah, right. Alright, hold on. I need to stop working.
And I just start dancing. Yeah,exactly.
Erin Geiger (30:55):
It's like your breakdown music. Dan, thank you
so much for taking the time Ihad such a blast chatting with
you today you shared so muchamazing things that we can
actually implement and takeaction on.
Unknown (31:08):
Awesome. I always love hanging out with you, Erin. So
thankful that you, you know tobe able to come on and, and hang
out and talk about LinkedInsocial selling, because you
know, it's one of my favoritethings and I could talk about it
all day. Thanks, Dan.
Erin Geiger (31:21):
Thanks for tuning in to the Small Business Big
mindset podcast. To keep the fungoing. Check out our Facebook
group start and scale an onlinebusiness For even more free
trainings and resources fromfellow entrepreneurs. If you
haven't already, head on over tomuscle creative.com and click
subscribe and join our emaillist for weekly updates. And if
you've enjoyed this podcastepisode, check us out on your
favorite podcast platform tofollow us and give us a review.
(31:44):
As always be authentic bringinginsane amount of value and keep
crushing it
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