July 25, 2024 • 31 mins
Ever wondered how you can transition from an employee to a thriving business owner? Join me, Jonathan Wagoner, as I share my journey and reveal the secrets of leveraging networking to build a successful business, even on a limited budget. From attending chamber events and mixers to engaging with small marketing groups, I’ll show you how to find the perfect networking circles that resonate with your business goals. Hear firsthand how my consistent participation in organizations transformed casual encounters into meaningful and profitable business relationships.
In this episode, you'll learn why networking is more than just making connections—it's about building lasting relationships that can significantly impact your business growth. I recount a memorable encounter that turned into a highly beneficial partnership and stress the importance of seeking advice from seasoned professionals. Discover actionable strategies, including the hometown hero approach and innovative ideas like distributing homemade cookies, that can help you establish a robust network. Whether it's through social media marketing or referral strategies, I provide insights that can help you integrate both online and offline efforts to maximize your networking success. Tune in for a wealth of tips and stories designed to inspire and guide you on your own business journey.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, what's going on?
Everyone?
It's Jonathan Wagner and I amyour host of the Business Guide.
On today's episode, we're goingto talk about something that
everyone needs to know.
It is the art of networking.
This pays dividends in the longterm, in short term, but the
things that I was able to dowhen building my business and
(00:23):
businesses is having a powerfulnetworking circle.
So today's episode we're goingto go over building a business,
essentially on a budget, with anetworking strategy.
We have different marketingtypes that you're going to do
and we're really going to goover the short-term versus
long-term approach.
Now, when you're networking,obviously, in chamber events and
(00:47):
things like that, it'sdefinitely a long-term approach,
but I'm going to go over myexperience firsthand on what I
had to do to essentiallyestablish myself and how long
that took.
All right, guys.
Well, let's jump on in to thisepisode the Art of Networking,
building Meaningful and BusinessRelationships.
(01:08):
So thanks for joining us guys.
If you don't know my backgroundor this is your first time here,
I am a business owner inSouthern California.
I've been in business a littleover 12 years.
I've got a couple differentbusinesses, but mainly focusing
in a service type based business, which is a water damaged based
business.
But starting that business Iwas a carpet cleaner and kind of
(01:30):
worked my way up into thesedifferent ventures.
I am also not a professionalpodcaster, so you may see me
look off, you may see me stutter, get a little tongue tied.
It is because I am not used todoing this.
I just want to put out goodinformation for other business
owners that find it valuable andhelp them succeed.
So, without further ado, let'sget into today's episode.
(01:52):
So I think it's important to goback to the beginning days of
my business.
This is really where I was ableto set the foundation of my
business in so many differentways.
The things I did, the things Imy business in so many different
ways.
The things I did, the thingsI've tried.
But specifically in networking,I've spoken about it on the
(02:16):
podcast before, but one of myfirst things that I had to do
when I was in business, ofcourse, you spend a bunch of
money starting a business.
You don't know where your leadsare going to come in from.
You're really slowly buildingyour clientele list, and so one
of the easiest things you can doI say easiest, one of the
freest things you can do isbuild a really tight networking
group.
(02:36):
Now, when I'm talking aboutnetworking kind of in the first
years of business was going todifferent chamber events, going
to different mixers and reallysitting down and taking as much
free information that I couldand really build relationships.
So one of the first things Idid in business was this really
(02:56):
small marketing group I think itwas called Coffee and Contacts
and it met every, let's say,tuesday morning, something like
that.
Actually, yeah, it was everyTuesday morning and I stumbled
because there were a coupledifferent groups in my county.
I went to a couple of them, butthe one that I really liked was
(03:18):
in Ventura.
So getting into that networkingcircle was important.
As you start to build yournetworking circle, it's okay to
shop around, get into a groupthat you really fit in with, get
into a group where they kind ofobviously receive you and it's
okay to shop around essentially.
So I know that they're you knowat the time and there still are
(03:40):
.
But BNI is a huge one that iskind of nationwide here in
America.
It's called Business NetworkingInternational.
While I was never a BNI member,I was invited to fill in and
become a sub that's what theycalled it essentially where
another business owner maybe hadsomething else going on and you
would come in and fill in forthat business owner and then you
(04:02):
could pitch your business.
Sorry, I'm going to move this alittle bit, so if this makes a
noise, sorry about that.
So that's kind of what BNI wasabout Great people there, great
legitimate businesses.
This Coffee and Contacts wasessentially like a BNI.
It was a very small group ofpeople probably 15, 20 people
and everybody came fromdifferent walks in life.
(04:22):
Now, and everybody came fromdifferent walks in life Now, I
think what's important tounderstand is, when you're
building that first kind ofnetworking circle, you've really
got to take what you can get.
You want to build it witheverybody.
You want to understand whatthat person is doing and what
that person is selling and inreturn they're going to
appreciate that and they'regoing to then want to know what
(04:46):
you're building and what you'reselling.
So, going into these networkinggroups thinking I'm going to
make a connection with a ton ofpeople, I'm going to make a ton
of money off the first couplemonths that you're there, it's
not going to happen that way,right, you've really got to
build trust.
These people have to get toknow you and ultimately you kind
of become friends and it's nowalk in the park.
(05:08):
So I remember you know thatTuesday morning going, tuesdays
were my networking day.
So if I could run my day foryou real quick, I will.
So Tuesdays I'd start my daycoffee and contacts.
I would then go and I wouldclean carpets for probably about
an hour or two hours, dependingon how many people I could get
(05:29):
in there.
There was a lunch mixer I wouldgo to.
After the lunch mixer I wouldget back to work, try to do
another two appointments, justdepending on how my schedule
looked.
Now in the infancy days of mybusiness I definitely did not
have a lot of work, so it waseasy to make these you know
these scheduling plans.
(05:51):
Obviously, as I got busy inbusiness it was a little bit
harder and a little bit morechallenging, but so anyways, I'd
go to that lunch networkingevent.
I would clean carpets the restof the day and then I would
normally follow it up with.
There was a gentleman that hadlike a local networking group
that was a part of an expo thathe would put off, as well as
different chamber events.
(06:12):
So anything I could fit in onTuesday nights was definitely my
time.
So Tuesdays were brutal for me.
Now again, I went to theseobviously wanting business.
I think it's important tomention that I'm not in carpet
cleaning anymore, but I was ableto establish myself as a
legitimate business owner thathad legitimate services.
(06:33):
I was able to really networkand build trust with these
people and as I got into waterdamage restoration, that's
really where it paid dividends,really where it paid dividends
In water damage restorationright, you don't know if you're
going to have a water damage orfire damage or whatever it may
be versus carpet cleaning is aservice-based business.
So really anybody could haveused me.
(06:55):
They just needed to havecarpets and it needed to be time
to have those cleaned.
So I definitely got moreimmediate business on the carpet
cleaning side, but on the waterdamage business, it really it
literally took me years to buildthose relationships and then,
pivoting in my other businesses,I've been able to come back to
(07:17):
some of those people.
So definitely long-term youknow long term was, as has
proved, to pay dividends and Ididn't know that back then.
So if you're getting intonetworking, I think that it's
important for you to know youmay be an immediate hit or there
is a service that somebody canuse you immediately, but you
(07:38):
ultimately need to build trustwith these guys and these people
and these people.
So, getting into this, I made alot of friends, a lot of
connections, a lot ofconnections that I still have to
this day and they still use meand I exclusively use them.
So I partnered up with someHVAC companies.
I partnered up with someinsurance brokers.
There are so many crucialpeople that I met in those first
(07:59):
kind of days in business wherewe were able to grow our
businesses together.
So definitely a long-termapproach.
I think that when we talk abouta budget, when you're putting
out a budget for this networking, obviously the commitment is
going to be budgeting your time,not so much money.
Now, I know with like a group,like BNI, there is a set amount
(08:19):
of like a I don't want to saytuition, but a membership fee,
if you will, I'm not privy to it.
I don't know to say tuition buta membership fee, if you will,
I'm not privy to it.
I don't know.
I just know that there is amembership fee.
I knew it years ago but I don'twant to say anything now.
And then, obviously, if youhave that breakfast or lunch,
maybe some of them do dinners,but you would commit to the
restaurant or that group forthat lunch or dinner or whatever
it may be.
So you definitely want tobudget financially that money
(08:42):
when you're looking into yourmarketing budget and you need to
create your networking circlewith some budget.
But moving on from there, it'sreally your time, it's really
the time commitment that you'regoing to put forth saying, hey,
I'm the business owner and Ihave the product that I would
hope you need and this is why myproduct is better than that
(09:04):
other guys that you've beenusing for some time.
So I don't want to get too heldup on networking groups,
because they are absolutelyimportant.
I feel like I'm definitelygoing to be coming back on
another episode with this typeof networking, which is the
groups, but moving on, it's justyour overall network and making
friends.
Now there is a story that I liketo tell of you never know where
(09:29):
you're going to meet somebodythat really is going to change
the direction of your businessor be a long-term supporter of
your business, and I will giveyou two examples.
So number one infancy of mybusiness.
This is where I was kind oflaying the groundwork for my
business business.
This is where I was kind oflaying the groundwork for my
business.
I was pretty much almost aboutto take off and started carrying
some cards around tellingpeople I was offering this
(09:51):
service, but I was stillcommitted to my job at Walgreens
before.
So I was going out with acouple buddies we were actually
going out to a happy hour at thetime and I decided there was a
property management companyright in front of this
restaurant and I decided to walkin and introduce myself.
I ran into the owner.
She was super nice, superreceptive to what I was offering
(10:14):
and I would only find out laterthat this lady is so loyal so
she started using me pretty muchimmediately.
Uh, throughout the years shehas been so loyal to me and
obviously, as I mentioned, uh,you know, I, I, I did have a
service which was carpetcleaning.
She needed that and as I gotinto water damage and fire
(10:34):
damage restoration, she has usedme for that and all of my
services in in that field.
So, um, that was 12 plus yearsago and that relationship is
still strong.
So what did it take for me tonetwork there?
It wasn't going and waking upsuper early in the morning and
going to a group, it wasliterally, I was out with
(10:56):
friends, I had a couple cards onme and I wanted to go in and
introduce myself.
I wasn't shy about that.
So when you're in business, youneed to make sure that you are
not shy of putting yourself outthere.
You have to be the spokesperson, the cheerleader, the mascot
for your business.
If you're not comfortable withthat, you really need to assess
(11:17):
your business plan and bringsomebody in that is comfortable
with it, because it is a hugepart of success in business.
Another example of that buildingkind of a random relationship,
kind of on a cold call, if youwill.
In that situation it was just awalk-up, but there was a
(11:38):
situation where we were workinga project years later and this
is probably 2017.
You will meet this gentlemanlater on a podcast.
We have since become very goodfriends, but in our industry we
work with so many differentpeople and on this particular
project, I got a call from myguys and we said hey, we have a
(12:01):
public adjuster.
That is somebody in our waterdamage restoration industry that
represents the homeowner, inour water damage restoration
industry that represents thehomeowner.
They were on site and they werejust asking questions about the
project.
The homeowner called them in.
So from my interpretation at apublic adjuster at the time, it
was something that you needed tokind of shut down immediately.
You needed to almost just notreally say too much, and the
(12:22):
public adjusters are kind ofunethical and you don't really
want to work with them.
This public adjuster was verynew in business.
He decided to reach out to methat day, introduce himself and
really wanted to grab coffee thenext day.
Now, the next day it was mybirthday.
So I remember this and I tellthis story that I found it
important to show up to thisappointment and fast forward.
(12:45):
I will tell you why this madeall of the difference.
So I sat down with thatgentleman.
He said, hey, I'm new inbusiness, I've decided to branch
off of being an insuranceadjuster and wanted to start my
own business and go intoentrepreneurship.
I just wanted to throw anintroduction.
I wanted to tell you what I'mabout and I really liked the guy
.
I could tell that the guy wassincere.
I could tell he was a nicefamily man and he was really
(13:08):
looking to do right by peopleand really changed my perception
of what a public adjuster was.
That was in the middle of themonth, at the end of the month,
we had a massive wildfire justspread through our county and
immediately I needed help.
I was inundated with projects.
(13:31):
We were kind of just.
It was just all hands on deckand in that situation he had
actually called me up and said,hey, I don't have a lot of work
going on.
Remember, refer me if you needme.
But on the flip side, if youneed me, you know, in-house to
help you out, maybe write someestimates, write some invoices.
I would love to do it, love toearn your business.
That offer, that generous,generous offer, made me hundreds
(13:53):
of thousands of dollars and hejust took a simple thank you.
What an incredible guy to builda relationship.
And he knew that he had reallynothing going for him at the
time as far as leads coming in.
We started throwing out hisname as much as we could to
repay him.
But what a strategy on him.
(14:14):
In his area of or, excuse me,in his business, he was able to
say, hey, I'm here for you.
And then reach out and say, hey, I'm here for you and I'll
offer you this.
Reach out and say, hey, I'mhere for you and I'll offer you
this.
I mean, it helped me outtremendously.
And now, throughout the yearswe have been able to work so
(14:35):
closely with him where it's madeall of the difference for his
business and to this day we are.
He's one of my best friends.
He's a great, great guy.
So you never know what thatnetworking is going to look like
until you're there.
But always leave that door opento network yourself, network
(14:56):
your business, and it doesn'talways work in your favor.
In that situation he knew I wasinundated.
He knew I was going to bestrapped on cash and he said,
hey, I'm just here to help youbecause I want to build a
relationship.
Now, people can get burned bythat.
I understand that.
But in our situation he didn'tget burned and it has paid
(15:16):
dividends in what it's been ableto do for his business.
And same with me walking in andintroducing myself and having a
stack of super cheap businesscards, that has paid dividends
and has made me so much money.
So you always want to leave yournetworking open as you go into
(15:38):
these different groups, as yourun into different people, sit
down and have that cup of coffee.
Sit down and ask them if I cancome to your office when I was
first in business and I didn'tknow what I was doing.
I sought direction from peoplethat had been in business and
were successful, and thoseparticular people.
To this day now the roles haveswapped of hey, you know what
(16:00):
you're doing and I need someadvice here.
And oh, by the way, here's workfor you and in return I give
them work.
So you want to keep yournetwork open and you got to get
crafty on it Again, if you'renot good at it, that's okay.
A lot of people are not good attalking with people.
They're not good withnetworking.
You need to be really, reallygood at creating a hiring
(16:23):
process so you can attract andretain those people to help grow
your business.
So this is a huge strategy andit's a long-term approach.
Moving into the long-term versusthe short-term remember when I
cleaned carpet, there was a veryshort-term goal there hey, you
needed your carpets clean.
I had that service that I couldoffer and, of course, I'm sure
(16:43):
if I kept that business model,people would have continued to
use me.
But that was short term.
Right, they could go back totheir house, they could see
their carpets were dirty andthey could say, hey, I could
throw Jonathan the work becauseI'm already going to get this
done versus the long term of I'msorry, I didn't mean to draw a
(17:04):
blank there, but I'm trying toreference the long term of like
my property management account.
That, yeah, short term.
She started to use me right awaybut my job tickets were low.
And then when I started to getinto actually building my
business and scaling my businesswith service and people, they
were there for the life of me.
And a lot of those people thatI met in those networking
(17:26):
circles, I can tell you thatthere was a HVAC company that I
met 12 years ago and it took 12years of me throwing them work,
them throwing me a little workhere and there.
Nothing super high ticket, butenough for them to be like OK,
hey, I've got a project for youthat I would like to refer you
(17:47):
in on and that be thousands ofdollars, and that recently
happened.
So it literally took me 12years for my business to acquire
a good lead.
So the seeds that I plantedback then helped my business
thrive now, helped my revenuenow, revenue now.
(18:09):
So if you get into networkingand you think I'm going to get
into this group and these peopleare going to start referring me
right away and I'm going tomake a ton of money.
If you take that mindset intothis group or these groups, you
are going to fail.
Let me be the first person totell you don't waste your time,
because if you don't have thelong-term strategy in that goal,
then you're going to bedisappointed, you're going to
stop going and you're not goingto be successful.
(18:31):
I like to explain this and youwill hear this often, I think,
as me explaining it in thesepodcasts and these different
episodes.
But I like to treat mymarketing like a train and you
can almost.
I mean right, networking ismarketing.
So you need to pretend thatyou've got this huge train and
(18:51):
the train takes a lot of energyto get going and moving that
train.
But once the train is up tospeed, it doesn't take the same
amount of energy it did to startthe train.
But when you stop the train andthen you have to restart it,
you're using just as much energyas you did to first start the
(19:11):
train.
So you want to keep it goingand I use that kind of analogy
in marketing.
You don't want to scale back onyour marketing.
If you've got a good thinggoing, just because you're busy,
you need to pump the brakes.
Same with networking You'regoing to get where and I ended
up getting in this situationwhere, oh hey, I'm networking,
my marketing's working out, I'mfinally becoming an established
business and I'm going to slowlystart pumping the brakes and
(19:36):
not go to these networkingevents, and that only hurt my
business in the long termbecause I wasn't building those
long term relationships anymore.
Now, some of those key peoplethat originally were met yeah,
we stayed into communication.
We had a great thing going, butnow the roles have changed.
Where I don't go out andnetwork because I don't have
(19:56):
time and like mentioned to youbefore, is if you don't have the
ability of going out and doingthe marketing because you're shy
or whatever it may be, then youneed to hire the right people.
So, in our strategy is hiringthe right people to continue the
networking.
Now I will be the first one totell you and everybody you know
(20:17):
I think as a business owners andentrepreneurs, we should know
this but nobody does it like theowner does it right.
So I can't expect that myemployees are going to deliver
the same product and the samepassion to these people that I
have, but it is a crucial partof the business, so I know I
have to give way a little bit.
I have to allow these people togo out while knowing I'm not
(20:39):
going to get everything becauseI am not the owner out there.
Go out while knowing I'm notgoing to get everything because
I am not the owner out there,one of the bigger, you know.
Obviously, then, speaking on thelong-term side, as you decide
to merge into you know differentbusinesses and things like that
, you are going to see how thesepeople that have been loyal to
you for so long will jump on toyour next business venture or
(21:01):
your added on business orservice or whatever it is, and
that's been the case for me.
So some of these day one peoplethat I kind of met in the
trenches, if you will, as theywere in the trenches we've
slowly been able to grow uptogether and be established and
be able to embrace each other onnew business endeavors as well.
So creating that networkinggroup is super strategic and I
(21:25):
don't want to get into, you know, because we do a lot in my
water damage restorationbusiness.
There's a lot of door-to-doorsales on that.
In the media company there's alot of kind of cold calling
networking, if you will.
These two are two differentmarketings that I think we'll
talk about later, so I don'twant to get too tight up there.
But you really have to treat youknow you go to Google and you
(21:50):
say, hey, google, here's, youknow, $3,000 a month for my ads
or whatever it is.
You have to treat yournetworking just like that.
But you have to know Google, Imean, works around the clock for
you, putting a budget to realpeople and expecting real.
You know, making real goals forthem is something new, too
right, and it's a long-termapproach.
So successful companies have it.
(22:12):
I know that I have peoplenetworking for me and it does
pay dividends.
But you know, starting as a newbusiness, you need to roll up
your sleeves.
You got to get to work and ifyou can't do that, you need to
hire somebody to do that.
Let me switch my notes herebecause I also want to pop in.
So I think a couple free thingsthat I would suggest you do in.
(22:38):
Your networking is huge rightnow.
That wasn't so huge when Istarted.
That also does play a role inthe success of one of my
businesses, not so much my localrestoration business, but is
social media marketing.
It's creating a network withpeople that don't know you
(22:59):
showing them hey, I've got abrand you're marketing to them,
but you're also building anetwork of people.
I've connected with so manypeople that don't necessarily
need my service, but they havepeople that need my service.
So, social media marketing ifyou're not doing it, of course
there's the actual marketing ofmaybe paying for ads or going in
and doing content creation andthings like that, but you almost
(23:20):
need to treat your social mediamarketing as social media
networking and build thatnetwork of people on social
media as well.
So social media definitelyneeds to be in your back pocket.
You definitely need to leveragethat to be successful in 2024.
I would probably be.
Also, if you're newer inbusiness, I'm trying to think
(23:43):
like I don't necessarily.
I mean, you know this podcastis new, so I don't know if my
audience is more newerbusinesses or if we have
established businesses listeningto come.
Please share that in thecomments later, by the way,
because I want to know if you'reestablished or not.
I need to figure out where todirect this.
But I think that when you'redoing like referral marketing,
if we're talking, you knowreferral marketing, I mean again
(24:06):
, I'm going over marketing,which is I know it goes hand in
hand and I don't want to speaktoo much on one particular thing
, but there is also building thereferral network, which was
very successful for me when Istarted.
So I definitely built as thesepeople started to you started to
network with me and I wasgetting my information out to
them.
I was able to give them contentthat they could pass on and be
(24:29):
rewarded for ultimately growingmy business.
So I do think that you need togive time in almost like a
referral networking as well.
So, like the title of thisepisode suggests, it is the art
of networking.
I don't have black and white.
This is what you need to follow.
(24:49):
This is what you need to do.
It is literally throwingyourself out there and seeing
what works in your industry.
What works in my industriesmight not work for your industry
.
So you can't go on Google andtype in this is what I want to
do and this is the type ofservice because it might not
work for your industry.
So you can't go on Google andtype in this is what I want to
do and this is the type ofservice, because it might not
work in your industry and itmight not work in your community
.
I know that briefly.
(25:10):
For some time I completely gotout of California and I moved to
Texas and I realized in Texasthat even though I was a part of
a huge area I lived in the DFWMetroplex, shout out to
everybody there, but hugepopulation and for a
service-based business that Iwanted to place there, I was
like this is gold I've got.
(25:30):
I think it was like 8 millionpeople that I could reach out to
.
Little did I know that thelittle town that I sat in as I
was networking and building mynetworking, I was networking
with a plumber there, networkingand building my networking.
I was networking with a plumberthere and I think our city was
maybe population 7,500 peopleand he had probably about four
different vans working full time.
(25:51):
And I asked him you know whatwas his reach?
How many cities did he cover?
And he had only covered ourpopulation of 7,500 people.
And he said, look, 7,500 people.
And he said, look, everybodyuses me here.
I am the plumber that everybodygoes to.
That was foreign language to me.
(26:14):
In my county in California youhave to go into every different
city because that's what thepeople want, but in this
situation the people in hisneighborhood and area wanted him
.
So as I lived there, I noticedthat sports teams were sponsored
by him.
He had local advertising in thelocal pizza and Italian shop.
I mean, this guy was everywhereand he was really building the
(26:34):
I'm the hometown hero approachand that's how he networked.
He was very involved in thecity, the small politics that
were there, so he was able toleverage his networking with
building this hometown hero.
So again, there is no black andwhite of how you're going to do
this.
You just have to get out thereand you have to try.
I know that recently there wasan HVAC company that came into
(26:57):
my area and dropped off cookies.
They explained it was literallya door-to-door.
They didn't know I was abusiness owner, they didn't know
anything about who was livingthere, but they came out and
dropped off some cookies andsaid, hey, I live in the area,
I'm local, my family baked thesecookies over the weekend and I
wanted to share them with you,my neighbor, in hopes that you
(27:17):
could share the word about mybusiness.
What a great marketing strategy, especially if you're looking
to be that hometown hero in thatarea.
It didn't take them a ton ofmoney, maybe less than $100, to
make a ton of cookies and getsome bags, print some marketing
material up.
It looked good, it wasprofessional, it wasn't
(27:38):
something that was you couldtell was thrown together, but
they were able to go out intheir community and network with
their neighbors.
So the art of networking isgoing to be challenging for you
as a business owner to figureout what works and what doesn't
work, and you can't just trythat one thing.
That business owner I'm sure,did not just try that one cookie
(27:58):
approach.
You have to strategizethroughout literally every
approach of networking.
So, guys, at the end of the day, there's no rocket science.
It's not rocket science tostart up a business.
I like to tell people thatthere's literally like three
things you have to do.
It is answer the phone, show up.
(28:21):
When you say you're going toshow up and do what you say
you're going to do, that that'sreally at the end of this and
all these different podcastepisodes that I'll do.
That's, that's the secret rule,ok, is just take care of your
customers and do what you sayyou're going to do and answer
your phone.
Really that's at the end of it.
But to be able to get yourphone to ring and be successful
in business, you also have to doa ton of stuff and there is no
(28:45):
secret sauce.
I don't care what these fancygurus say, I don't.
You know.
I'm so tired of the spam thatcomes through the email box of
hey, I'm here to do this and Iknow you could be successful if
you do this, like people don'tknow my business.
I don't know your business, youdon't know my business.
Okay, so now that we'veestablished that, let's create a
(29:08):
marketing plan.
What is custom to ourselves andI can tell you in my businesses
and my competitors?
My competitors also don't dothe same thing that I do.
Matter of fact, when I see mycompetitors try to copy the
thing that I do, they fail at itbecause it's not theirs.
You need to be unique inbusiness, so build a super dope
(29:30):
networking circle.
Network with everyone you wentto high school with somebody to
become a real estate agent.
Network with them.
Network with your insuranceagent.
Hey, I know you might not beable to refer me, but how can I
get the work of your business,or whatever.
It may be right, that didn'treally make sense.
(29:50):
To be honest, I said sorry, see, this is where I'm going to get
tongue tied, but that last partdidn't make sense but literally
network with anybody andeverybody you can Like.
You're going to a restaurantand you stop into somebody and
say hello.
You never know where that nextopportunity is going to be.
So, guys, I really hope youenjoyed this podcast episode.
(30:12):
I'm really looking forward tocoming on here and sharing
content with you as we get going.
I would love to hear from youPlease give me a comment of what
content you'd like to see.
As mentioned earlier in theepisode, let me know if you're
an inspiring entrepreneur, ifyou're already an established
business maybe you're a smalleroperation or if you're a large,
(30:35):
successful business or just evenjust successful business owner
that's been in it a while andknows a thing or two.
I would love to know what youwant to hear on this channel,
because I would really love togive you that information.
My passion here is providinginformation to you, to where you
can come to and listen to agood podcast that gives you some
quality information withouttrying to sell you something.
So anyways, guys, thank you forjoining me on the Business
(30:57):
Guide.
I'm your host, jonathan Wagner,and until next time I'll see
you later.
Keep up the hustle.
Hey, what's going on?
Everyone?
It's Jonathan Wagner and I amyour host of the Business Guide.
On today's episode, we're goingto talk about something that
everyone needs to know.
It is the art of networking.
This pays dividends in the longterm, in short term, but the
things that I was able to dowhen building my business and
(00:23):
businesses is having a powerfulnetworking circle.
So today's episode we're goingto go over building a business,
essentially on a budget, with anetworking strategy.
We have different marketingtypes that you're going to do
and we're really going to goover the short-term versus
long-term approach.
Now, when you're networking,obviously, in chamber events and
(00:47):
things like that, it'sdefinitely a long-term approach,
but I'm going to go over myexperience firsthand on what I
had to do to essentiallyestablish myself and how long
that took.
All right, guys.
Well, let's jump on in to thisepisode the Art of Networking,
building Meaningful and BusinessRelationships.
(01:08):
So thanks for joining us guys.
If you don't know my backgroundor this is your first time here,
I am a business owner inSouthern California.
I've been in business a littleover 12 years.
I've got a couple differentbusinesses, but mainly focusing
in a service type based business, which is a water damaged based
business.
But starting that business Iwas a carpet cleaner and kind of
(01:30):
worked my way up into thesedifferent ventures.
I am also not a professionalpodcaster, so you may see me
look off, you may see me stutter, get a little tongue tied.
It is because I am not used todoing this.
I just want to put out goodinformation for other business
owners that find it valuable andhelp them succeed.
So, without further ado, let'sget into today's episode.
(01:52):
So I think it's important to goback to the beginning days of
my business.
This is really where I was ableto set the foundation of my
business in so many differentways.
The things I did, the things Imy business in so many different
ways.
The things I did, the thingsI've tried.
But specifically in networking,I've spoken about it on the
(02:16):
podcast before, but one of myfirst things that I had to do
when I was in business, ofcourse, you spend a bunch of
money starting a business.
You don't know where your leadsare going to come in from.
You're really slowly buildingyour clientele list, and so one
of the easiest things you can doI say easiest, one of the
freest things you can do isbuild a really tight networking
group.
(02:36):
Now, when I'm talking aboutnetworking kind of in the first
years of business was going todifferent chamber events, going
to different mixers and reallysitting down and taking as much
free information that I couldand really build relationships.
So one of the first things Idid in business was this really
(02:56):
small marketing group I think itwas called Coffee and Contacts
and it met every, let's say,tuesday morning, something like
that.
Actually, yeah, it was everyTuesday morning and I stumbled
because there were a coupledifferent groups in my county.
I went to a couple of them, butthe one that I really liked was
(03:18):
in Ventura.
So getting into that networkingcircle was important.
As you start to build yournetworking circle, it's okay to
shop around, get into a groupthat you really fit in with, get
into a group where they kind ofobviously receive you and it's
okay to shop around essentially.
So I know that they're you knowat the time and there still are
(03:40):
.
But BNI is a huge one that iskind of nationwide here in
America.
It's called Business NetworkingInternational.
While I was never a BNI member,I was invited to fill in and
become a sub that's what theycalled it essentially where
another business owner maybe hadsomething else going on and you
would come in and fill in forthat business owner and then you
(04:02):
could pitch your business.
Sorry, I'm going to move this alittle bit, so if this makes a
noise, sorry about that.
So that's kind of what BNI wasabout Great people there, great
legitimate businesses.
This Coffee and Contacts wasessentially like a BNI.
It was a very small group ofpeople probably 15, 20 people
and everybody came fromdifferent walks in life.
(04:22):
Now, and everybody came fromdifferent walks in life Now, I
think what's important tounderstand is, when you're
building that first kind ofnetworking circle, you've really
got to take what you can get.
You want to build it witheverybody.
You want to understand whatthat person is doing and what
that person is selling and inreturn they're going to
appreciate that and they'regoing to then want to know what
(04:46):
you're building and what you'reselling.
So, going into these networkinggroups thinking I'm going to
make a connection with a ton ofpeople, I'm going to make a ton
of money off the first couplemonths that you're there, it's
not going to happen that way,right, you've really got to
build trust.
These people have to get toknow you and ultimately you kind
of become friends and it's nowalk in the park.
(05:08):
So I remember you know thatTuesday morning going, tuesdays
were my networking day.
So if I could run my day foryou real quick, I will.
So Tuesdays I'd start my daycoffee and contacts.
I would then go and I wouldclean carpets for probably about
an hour or two hours, dependingon how many people I could get
(05:29):
in there.
There was a lunch mixer I wouldgo to.
After the lunch mixer I wouldget back to work, try to do
another two appointments, justdepending on how my schedule
looked.
Now in the infancy days of mybusiness I definitely did not
have a lot of work, so it waseasy to make these you know
these scheduling plans.
(05:51):
Obviously, as I got busy inbusiness it was a little bit
harder and a little bit morechallenging, but so anyways, I'd
go to that lunch networkingevent.
I would clean carpets the restof the day and then I would
normally follow it up with.
There was a gentleman that hadlike a local networking group
that was a part of an expo thathe would put off, as well as
different chamber events.
(06:12):
So anything I could fit in onTuesday nights was definitely my
time.
So Tuesdays were brutal for me.
Now again, I went to theseobviously wanting business.
I think it's important tomention that I'm not in carpet
cleaning anymore, but I was ableto establish myself as a
legitimate business owner thathad legitimate services.
(06:33):
I was able to really networkand build trust with these
people and as I got into waterdamage restoration, that's
really where it paid dividends,really where it paid dividends
In water damage restorationright, you don't know if you're
going to have a water damage orfire damage or whatever it may
be versus carpet cleaning is aservice-based business.
So really anybody could haveused me.
(06:55):
They just needed to havecarpets and it needed to be time
to have those cleaned.
So I definitely got moreimmediate business on the carpet
cleaning side, but on the waterdamage business, it really it
literally took me years to buildthose relationships and then,
pivoting in my other businesses,I've been able to come back to
(07:17):
some of those people.
So definitely long-term youknow long term was, as has
proved, to pay dividends and Ididn't know that back then.
So if you're getting intonetworking, I think that it's
important for you to know youmay be an immediate hit or there
is a service that somebody canuse you immediately, but you
(07:38):
ultimately need to build trustwith these guys and these people
and these people.
So, getting into this, I made alot of friends, a lot of
connections, a lot ofconnections that I still have to
this day and they still use meand I exclusively use them.
So I partnered up with someHVAC companies.
I partnered up with someinsurance brokers.
There are so many crucialpeople that I met in those first
(07:59):
kind of days in business wherewe were able to grow our
businesses together.
So definitely a long-termapproach.
I think that when we talk abouta budget, when you're putting
out a budget for this networking, obviously the commitment is
going to be budgeting your time,not so much money.
Now, I know with like a group,like BNI, there is a set amount
(08:19):
of like a I don't want to saytuition, but a membership fee,
if you will, I'm not privy to it.
I don't know to say tuition buta membership fee, if you will,
I'm not privy to it.
I don't know.
I just know that there is amembership fee.
I knew it years ago but I don'twant to say anything now.
And then, obviously, if youhave that breakfast or lunch,
maybe some of them do dinners,but you would commit to the
restaurant or that group forthat lunch or dinner or whatever
it may be.
So you definitely want tobudget financially that money
(08:42):
when you're looking into yourmarketing budget and you need to
create your networking circlewith some budget.
But moving on from there, it'sreally your time, it's really
the time commitment that you'regoing to put forth saying, hey,
I'm the business owner and Ihave the product that I would
hope you need and this is why myproduct is better than that
(09:04):
other guys that you've beenusing for some time.
So I don't want to get too heldup on networking groups,
because they are absolutelyimportant.
I feel like I'm definitelygoing to be coming back on
another episode with this typeof networking, which is the
groups, but moving on, it's justyour overall network and making
friends.
Now there is a story that I liketo tell of you never know where
(09:29):
you're going to meet somebodythat really is going to change
the direction of your businessor be a long-term supporter of
your business, and I will giveyou two examples.
So number one infancy of mybusiness.
This is where I was kind oflaying the groundwork for my
business business.
This is where I was kind oflaying the groundwork for my
business.
I was pretty much almost aboutto take off and started carrying
some cards around tellingpeople I was offering this
(09:51):
service, but I was stillcommitted to my job at Walgreens
before.
So I was going out with acouple buddies we were actually
going out to a happy hour at thetime and I decided there was a
property management companyright in front of this
restaurant and I decided to walkin and introduce myself.
I ran into the owner.
She was super nice, superreceptive to what I was offering
(10:14):
and I would only find out laterthat this lady is so loyal so
she started using me pretty muchimmediately.
Uh, throughout the years shehas been so loyal to me and
obviously, as I mentioned, uh,you know, I, I, I did have a
service which was carpetcleaning.
She needed that and as I gotinto water damage and fire
(10:34):
damage restoration, she has usedme for that and all of my
services in in that field.
So, um, that was 12 plus yearsago and that relationship is
still strong.
So what did it take for me tonetwork there?
It wasn't going and waking upsuper early in the morning and
going to a group, it wasliterally, I was out with
(10:56):
friends, I had a couple cards onme and I wanted to go in and
introduce myself.
I wasn't shy about that.
So when you're in business, youneed to make sure that you are
not shy of putting yourself outthere.
You have to be the spokesperson, the cheerleader, the mascot
for your business.
If you're not comfortable withthat, you really need to assess
(11:17):
your business plan and bringsomebody in that is comfortable
with it, because it is a hugepart of success in business.
Another example of that buildingkind of a random relationship,
kind of on a cold call, if youwill.
In that situation it was just awalk-up, but there was a
(11:38):
situation where we were workinga project years later and this
is probably 2017.
You will meet this gentlemanlater on a podcast.
We have since become very goodfriends, but in our industry we
work with so many differentpeople and on this particular
project, I got a call from myguys and we said hey, we have a
(12:01):
public adjuster.
That is somebody in our waterdamage restoration industry that
represents the homeowner, inour water damage restoration
industry that represents thehomeowner.
They were on site and they werejust asking questions about the
project.
The homeowner called them in.
So from my interpretation at apublic adjuster at the time, it
was something that you needed tokind of shut down immediately.
You needed to almost just notreally say too much, and the
(12:22):
public adjusters are kind ofunethical and you don't really
want to work with them.
This public adjuster was verynew in business.
He decided to reach out to methat day, introduce himself and
really wanted to grab coffee thenext day.
Now, the next day it was mybirthday.
So I remember this and I tellthis story that I found it
important to show up to thisappointment and fast forward.
(12:45):
I will tell you why this madeall of the difference.
So I sat down with thatgentleman.
He said, hey, I'm new inbusiness, I've decided to branch
off of being an insuranceadjuster and wanted to start my
own business and go intoentrepreneurship.
I just wanted to throw anintroduction.
I wanted to tell you what I'mabout and I really liked the guy
.
I could tell that the guy wassincere.
I could tell he was a nicefamily man and he was really
(13:08):
looking to do right by peopleand really changed my perception
of what a public adjuster was.
That was in the middle of themonth, at the end of the month,
we had a massive wildfire justspread through our county and
immediately I needed help.
I was inundated with projects.
(13:31):
We were kind of just.
It was just all hands on deckand in that situation he had
actually called me up and said,hey, I don't have a lot of work
going on.
Remember, refer me if you needme.
But on the flip side, if youneed me, you know, in-house to
help you out, maybe write someestimates, write some invoices.
I would love to do it, love toearn your business.
That offer, that generous,generous offer, made me hundreds
(13:53):
of thousands of dollars and hejust took a simple thank you.
What an incredible guy to builda relationship.
And he knew that he had reallynothing going for him at the
time as far as leads coming in.
We started throwing out hisname as much as we could to
repay him.
But what a strategy on him.
(14:14):
In his area of or, excuse me,in his business, he was able to
say, hey, I'm here for you.
And then reach out and say, hey, I'm here for you and I'll
offer you this.
Reach out and say, hey, I'mhere for you and I'll offer you
this.
I mean, it helped me outtremendously.
And now, throughout the yearswe have been able to work so
(14:35):
closely with him where it's madeall of the difference for his
business and to this day we are.
He's one of my best friends.
He's a great, great guy.
So you never know what thatnetworking is going to look like
until you're there.
But always leave that door opento network yourself, network
(14:56):
your business, and it doesn'talways work in your favor.
In that situation he knew I wasinundated.
He knew I was going to bestrapped on cash and he said,
hey, I'm just here to help youbecause I want to build a
relationship.
Now, people can get burned bythat.
I understand that.
But in our situation he didn'tget burned and it has paid
(15:16):
dividends in what it's been ableto do for his business.
And same with me walking in andintroducing myself and having a
stack of super cheap businesscards, that has paid dividends
and has made me so much money.
So you always want to leave yournetworking open as you go into
(15:38):
these different groups, as yourun into different people, sit
down and have that cup of coffee.
Sit down and ask them if I cancome to your office when I was
first in business and I didn'tknow what I was doing.
I sought direction from peoplethat had been in business and
were successful, and thoseparticular people.
To this day now the roles haveswapped of hey, you know what
(16:00):
you're doing and I need someadvice here.
And oh, by the way, here's workfor you and in return I give
them work.
So you want to keep yournetwork open and you got to get
crafty on it Again, if you'renot good at it, that's okay.
A lot of people are not good attalking with people.
They're not good withnetworking.
You need to be really, reallygood at creating a hiring
(16:23):
process so you can attract andretain those people to help grow
your business.
So this is a huge strategy andit's a long-term approach.
Moving into the long-term versusthe short-term remember when I
cleaned carpet, there was a veryshort-term goal there hey, you
needed your carpets clean.
I had that service that I couldoffer and, of course, I'm sure
(16:43):
if I kept that business model,people would have continued to
use me.
But that was short term.
Right, they could go back totheir house, they could see
their carpets were dirty andthey could say, hey, I could
throw Jonathan the work becauseI'm already going to get this
done versus the long term of I'msorry, I didn't mean to draw a
(17:04):
blank there, but I'm trying toreference the long term of like
my property management account.
That, yeah, short term.
She started to use me right awaybut my job tickets were low.
And then when I started to getinto actually building my
business and scaling my businesswith service and people, they
were there for the life of me.
And a lot of those people thatI met in those networking
(17:26):
circles, I can tell you thatthere was a HVAC company that I
met 12 years ago and it took 12years of me throwing them work,
them throwing me a little workhere and there.
Nothing super high ticket, butenough for them to be like OK,
hey, I've got a project for youthat I would like to refer you
(17:47):
in on and that be thousands ofdollars, and that recently
happened.
So it literally took me 12years for my business to acquire
a good lead.
So the seeds that I plantedback then helped my business
thrive now, helped my revenuenow, revenue now.
(18:09):
So if you get into networkingand you think I'm going to get
into this group and these peopleare going to start referring me
right away and I'm going tomake a ton of money.
If you take that mindset intothis group or these groups, you
are going to fail.
Let me be the first person totell you don't waste your time,
because if you don't have thelong-term strategy in that goal,
then you're going to bedisappointed, you're going to
stop going and you're not goingto be successful.
(18:31):
I like to explain this and youwill hear this often, I think,
as me explaining it in thesepodcasts and these different
episodes.
But I like to treat mymarketing like a train and you
can almost.
I mean right, networking ismarketing.
So you need to pretend thatyou've got this huge train and
(18:51):
the train takes a lot of energyto get going and moving that
train.
But once the train is up tospeed, it doesn't take the same
amount of energy it did to startthe train.
But when you stop the train andthen you have to restart it,
you're using just as much energyas you did to first start the
(19:11):
train.
So you want to keep it goingand I use that kind of analogy
in marketing.
You don't want to scale back onyour marketing.
If you've got a good thinggoing, just because you're busy,
you need to pump the brakes.
Same with networking You'regoing to get where and I ended
up getting in this situationwhere, oh hey, I'm networking,
my marketing's working out, I'mfinally becoming an established
business and I'm going to slowlystart pumping the brakes and
(19:36):
not go to these networkingevents, and that only hurt my
business in the long termbecause I wasn't building those
long term relationships anymore.
Now, some of those key peoplethat originally were met yeah,
we stayed into communication.
We had a great thing going, butnow the roles have changed.
Where I don't go out andnetwork because I don't have
(19:56):
time and like mentioned to youbefore, is if you don't have the
ability of going out and doingthe marketing because you're shy
or whatever it may be, then youneed to hire the right people.
So, in our strategy is hiringthe right people to continue the
networking.
Now I will be the first one totell you and everybody you know
(20:17):
I think as a business owners andentrepreneurs, we should know
this but nobody does it like theowner does it right.
So I can't expect that myemployees are going to deliver
the same product and the samepassion to these people that I
have, but it is a crucial partof the business, so I know I
have to give way a little bit.
I have to allow these people togo out while knowing I'm not
(20:39):
going to get everything becauseI am not the owner out there.
Go out while knowing I'm notgoing to get everything because
I am not the owner out there,one of the bigger, you know.
Obviously, then, speaking on thelong-term side, as you decide
to merge into you know differentbusinesses and things like that
, you are going to see how thesepeople that have been loyal to
you for so long will jump on toyour next business venture or
(21:01):
your added on business orservice or whatever it is, and
that's been the case for me.
So some of these day one peoplethat I kind of met in the
trenches, if you will, as theywere in the trenches we've
slowly been able to grow uptogether and be established and
be able to embrace each other onnew business endeavors as well.
So creating that networkinggroup is super strategic and I
(21:25):
don't want to get into, you know, because we do a lot in my
water damage restorationbusiness.
There's a lot of door-to-doorsales on that.
In the media company there's alot of kind of cold calling
networking, if you will.
These two are two differentmarketings that I think we'll
talk about later, so I don'twant to get too tight up there.
But you really have to treat youknow you go to Google and you
(21:50):
say, hey, google, here's, youknow, $3,000 a month for my ads
or whatever it is.
You have to treat yournetworking just like that.
But you have to know Google, Imean, works around the clock for
you, putting a budget to realpeople and expecting real.
You know, making real goals forthem is something new, too
right, and it's a long-termapproach.
So successful companies have it.
(22:12):
I know that I have peoplenetworking for me and it does
pay dividends.
But you know, starting as a newbusiness, you need to roll up
your sleeves.
You got to get to work and ifyou can't do that, you need to
hire somebody to do that.
Let me switch my notes herebecause I also want to pop in.
So I think a couple free thingsthat I would suggest you do in.
(22:38):
Your networking is huge rightnow.
That wasn't so huge when Istarted.
That also does play a role inthe success of one of my
businesses, not so much my localrestoration business, but is
social media marketing.
It's creating a network withpeople that don't know you
(22:59):
showing them hey, I've got abrand you're marketing to them,
but you're also building anetwork of people.
I've connected with so manypeople that don't necessarily
need my service, but they havepeople that need my service.
So, social media marketing ifyou're not doing it, of course
there's the actual marketing ofmaybe paying for ads or going in
and doing content creation andthings like that, but you almost
(23:20):
need to treat your social mediamarketing as social media
networking and build thatnetwork of people on social
media as well.
So social media definitelyneeds to be in your back pocket.
You definitely need to leveragethat to be successful in 2024.
I would probably be.
Also, if you're newer inbusiness, I'm trying to think
(23:43):
like I don't necessarily.
I mean, you know this podcastis new, so I don't know if my
audience is more newerbusinesses or if we have
established businesses listeningto come.
Please share that in thecomments later, by the way,
because I want to know if you'reestablished or not.
I need to figure out where todirect this.
But I think that when you'redoing like referral marketing,
if we're talking, you knowreferral marketing, I mean again
(24:06):
, I'm going over marketing,which is I know it goes hand in
hand and I don't want to speaktoo much on one particular thing
, but there is also building thereferral network, which was
very successful for me when Istarted.
So I definitely built as thesepeople started to you started to
network with me and I wasgetting my information out to
them.
I was able to give them contentthat they could pass on and be
(24:29):
rewarded for ultimately growingmy business.
So I do think that you need togive time in almost like a
referral networking as well.
So, like the title of thisepisode suggests, it is the art
of networking.
I don't have black and white.
This is what you need to follow.
(24:49):
This is what you need to do.
It is literally throwingyourself out there and seeing
what works in your industry.
What works in my industriesmight not work for your industry
.
So you can't go on Google andtype in this is what I want to
do and this is the type ofservice because it might not
work for your industry.
So you can't go on Google andtype in this is what I want to
do and this is the type ofservice, because it might not
work in your industry and itmight not work in your community
.
I know that briefly.
(25:10):
For some time I completely gotout of California and I moved to
Texas and I realized in Texasthat even though I was a part of
a huge area I lived in the DFWMetroplex, shout out to
everybody there, but hugepopulation and for a
service-based business that Iwanted to place there, I was
like this is gold I've got.
(25:30):
I think it was like 8 millionpeople that I could reach out to
.
Little did I know that thelittle town that I sat in as I
was networking and building mynetworking, I was networking
with a plumber there, networkingand building my networking.
I was networking with a plumberthere and I think our city was
maybe population 7,500 peopleand he had probably about four
different vans working full time.
(25:51):
And I asked him you know whatwas his reach?
How many cities did he cover?
And he had only covered ourpopulation of 7,500 people.
And he said, look, 7,500 people.
And he said, look, everybodyuses me here.
I am the plumber that everybodygoes to.
That was foreign language to me.
(26:14):
In my county in California youhave to go into every different
city because that's what thepeople want, but in this
situation the people in hisneighborhood and area wanted him
.
So as I lived there, I noticedthat sports teams were sponsored
by him.
He had local advertising in thelocal pizza and Italian shop.
I mean, this guy was everywhereand he was really building the
(26:34):
I'm the hometown hero approachand that's how he networked.
He was very involved in thecity, the small politics that
were there, so he was able toleverage his networking with
building this hometown hero.
So again, there is no black andwhite of how you're going to do
this.
You just have to get out thereand you have to try.
I know that recently there wasan HVAC company that came into
(26:57):
my area and dropped off cookies.
They explained it was literallya door-to-door.
They didn't know I was abusiness owner, they didn't know
anything about who was livingthere, but they came out and
dropped off some cookies andsaid, hey, I live in the area,
I'm local, my family baked thesecookies over the weekend and I
wanted to share them with you,my neighbor, in hopes that you
(27:17):
could share the word about mybusiness.
What a great marketing strategy, especially if you're looking
to be that hometown hero in thatarea.
It didn't take them a ton ofmoney, maybe less than $100, to
make a ton of cookies and getsome bags, print some marketing
material up.
It looked good, it wasprofessional, it wasn't
(27:38):
something that was you couldtell was thrown together, but
they were able to go out intheir community and network with
their neighbors.
So the art of networking isgoing to be challenging for you
as a business owner to figureout what works and what doesn't
work, and you can't just trythat one thing.
That business owner I'm sure,did not just try that one cookie
(27:58):
approach.
You have to strategizethroughout literally every
approach of networking.
So, guys, at the end of the day, there's no rocket science.
It's not rocket science tostart up a business.
I like to tell people thatthere's literally like three
things you have to do.
It is answer the phone, show up.
(28:21):
When you say you're going toshow up and do what you say
you're going to do, that that'sreally at the end of this and
all these different podcastepisodes that I'll do.
That's, that's the secret rule,ok, is just take care of your
customers and do what you sayyou're going to do and answer
your phone.
Really that's at the end of it.
But to be able to get yourphone to ring and be successful
in business, you also have to doa ton of stuff and there is no
(28:45):
secret sauce.
I don't care what these fancygurus say, I don't.
You know.
I'm so tired of the spam thatcomes through the email box of
hey, I'm here to do this and Iknow you could be successful if
you do this, like people don'tknow my business.
I don't know your business, youdon't know my business.
Okay, so now that we'veestablished that, let's create a
(29:08):
marketing plan.
What is custom to ourselves andI can tell you in my businesses
and my competitors?
My competitors also don't dothe same thing that I do.
Matter of fact, when I see mycompetitors try to copy the
thing that I do, they fail at itbecause it's not theirs.
You need to be unique inbusiness, so build a super dope
(29:30):
networking circle.
Network with everyone you wentto high school with somebody to
become a real estate agent.
Network with them.
Network with your insuranceagent.
Hey, I know you might not beable to refer me, but how can I
get the work of your business,or whatever.
It may be right, that didn'treally make sense.
(29:50):
To be honest, I said sorry, see, this is where I'm going to get
tongue tied, but that last partdidn't make sense but literally
network with anybody andeverybody you can Like.
You're going to a restaurantand you stop into somebody and
say hello.
You never know where that nextopportunity is going to be.
So, guys, I really hope youenjoyed this podcast episode.
(30:12):
I'm really looking forward tocoming on here and sharing
content with you as we get going.
I would love to hear from youPlease give me a comment of what
content you'd like to see.
As mentioned earlier in theepisode, let me know if you're
an inspiring entrepreneur, ifyou're already an established
business maybe you're a smalleroperation or if you're a large,
(30:35):
successful business or just evenjust successful business owner
that's been in it a while andknows a thing or two.
I would love to know what youwant to hear on this channel,
because I would really love togive you that information.
My passion here is providinginformation to you, to where you
can come to and listen to agood podcast that gives you some
quality information withouttrying to sell you something.
So anyways, guys, thank you forjoining me on the Business
(30:57):
Guide.
I'm your host, jonathan Wagner,and until next time I'll see
you later.
Keep up the hustle.
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