June 10, 2025 • 36 mins
What if the key to scaling your business isn’t another funnel or fancy strategy—but real connection?
In this episode, Tara sits down with Michael Whitehouse, author of The Guy Who Knows a Guy and founder of JV Connect, to unpack how he transformed his natural networking skills into a multi-stream business model. From affiliate marketing to his signature 8-second intro, Michael shares how to build authentic relationships that lead to growth—without the overwhelm of complexity.
Whether you’re an introvert or a social butterfly, this conversation will help you shift your mindset about what it really takes to scale through connection.
⏱️ Episode Chapters:
00:00 – Welcome + Meet Michael Whitehouse
01:00 – Starting from scratch: how Michael became “The Guy Who Knows a Guy”
04:15 – Scaling offline: networking your way to $500k in magazine sales
05:30 – Transitioning to virtual + building global partnerships
07:00 – The power of trust-based affiliate marketing
08:50 – Email marketing for connection (not just conversion)
10:20 – Why introverts make great networkers
12:00 – How bad event formats create bad networking experiences
14:00 – The biggest intro mistake most entrepreneurs make
15:00 – Michael’s 8-second intro formula (and why it works)
18:00 – Standing out in commoditized industries using better messaging
20:00 – Tara’s lightbulb moment: this has to be productized
21:00 – Creating multiple offers from one skill
24:00 – JV Connect: Michael’s signature event
26:00 – Structuring networking for introverts
27:30 – How Michael avoids complexity and stays in his zone of genius
30:00 – The book that changed everything
33:00 – Final words: Anyone can network—if you do it the right way
📌 Resources Mentioned:
- Game of Life and How to Play It: (1925) Mastering the Art of Success, Prosperity, and Personal Fulfillment
- ChatGPT
About Michael
- Michael’s website: guywhoknowsaguy.com
- Michael's free gift:https://www.guywhoknowsaguy.com/9qbook
- The Guy Who Knows a Guy (Book)
- The Guy Who Knows a Guy’s Guide to Networking (Book)
About Me:
Hey, it’s your host, Tara Bryan. And I am on a mission to help more business owners learn to infinitely scale their businesses by leveraging the power of online without sacrificing the customer experience or results.
I like to geek out on all things business strategy, marketing, interactive digital and user experience. This podcast is all about what is working, lessons learned and actionable tips to create and grow a thriving online business.
Join us each week as we dive into different strategies, tactics and tips you can apply immediately to your business.
To learn more:
Find us at https://www.taralbryan.com
Here are two ways we can help you create, grow and scale your business:
1. Want to package your expertise or become a Scalable Expert? Take our free quick assessment to see how close you are to creating a scalable business.
The Scalable Expert Assessment
2. ALREADY HAVE AN ONLINE BUSINESS & READY TO INFINITELY SCALE?
Download our free 50 Ways to Engage Your Customers guide or
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tara Bryan (00:00):
Welcome to the Scalable Expert, the podcast where we unlock
the secrets to building a businessthat grows with you, not around you.
I'm your host, Tara Bryan, businessstrategist, mentor, and creator
of the Infinite Scale Method.
If you're a coach, consultant,or service provider who's
maxed out with one-on-one work.
Overwhelmed by the grind andready to scale your expertise into
(00:20):
a business that works for you,then you are in the right place.
Each week I'll share actionabletips, inspiring success stories,
and proven strategies to help youreclaim your time, grow your income,
and create a business that deliversresults without sacrificing quality.
Let's dive in and make yourbusiness infinitely scalable.
(00:41):
Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast.
I am so excited to introduceyou to Michael Whitehouse today.
Michael, thank you so much for joining us.
To get started, tell us alittle bit about yourself and, a
little bit about your business.
Michael Whitehouse (00:53):
Sure.
Great to be here.
So I am Michael Whitehouse.
I am known to some as the guy whoknows a guy because that's what I tell
them to call me and it all startedactually exactly 11 years ago today.
March 13th is the anniversary ofmy business when I walked into
my first networking event here inSoutheast Connecticut with nothing.
(01:14):
I had no job, no business, nothing tosell, arguably no marketable skills.
I thought I had some, but in retrospect,probably not and not even an apartment.
I would move into my apartment thenext day because we were moving
to a new area and so someone hadsaid hey you should visit Eastern
Connecticut Chamber of Commerce.
They have great events.
(01:34):
So I said, okay, let's go and the onlything I had the only asset I had was a
desire to serve and the only thing I couldserve with was with other people I'd met.
So once I met one person I knew oneperson when I met a second person I had
one person I could introduce them to.
The third person, I had twopeople I could introduce them to.
(01:54):
The fourth, three.
And on and on.
And this is when I discovered thatyou can have a remarkably small
network and still deliver value.
Because even at the first event, bythe end of the two hours, I'd met,
I don't know, eight, ten people.
I'd say, well, who areyou looking to meet?
And they'd say, I'm lookingto meet a real estate agent.
So I was like, oh, I justmet a real estate agent.
Do you know that guy over there?
No?
Oh, let me introduce you.
(02:16):
And within six months I was connectingwith mayors, and chairmans, and CEOs,
and executive directors, and peoplewith all kinds of fancy titles.
Because in the local community,people are relatively accessible
if you get out there and meet them.
And, I discovered that I was doingsomething that no one else was doing.
(02:37):
And, it wasn't rocketscience how to do it.
It's just, I had the benefit of startingwith nothing and knowing I had nothing.
Most people don't think they have nothing.
Well, I know people.
I don't need to do too much.
When you know you know no one, you'relike, hey, how do I meet people?
Right?
That's why being underemployedis worse than being unemployed.
When you're unemployed, youknow you don't have a job you've
(02:58):
got to start searching for one.
When you've got a crappyjob, you're like, what?
Well, I've got a job.
It's okay.
So, I was able to leveragethat, and that's how I became
The Guy Who Knows A Guy.
And in 2017, I wrote thisbook, The Guy Who Knows A Guy.
And,
Tara Bryan (03:10):
Okay, that's good.
Michael Whitehouse (03:11):
2020, exactly six years and a day later, they
shut down the state, the world,and said, Go to the internet!
And I said, okay!
And I said, hey, this internet's global.
I'm not limited to mylittle corner of the world.
I can meet people everywhere.
This is pretty cool.
So the next five years, we're connectingwith multi million dollar entrepreneurs
(03:35):
and people in, I should count how manycountries, it's probably more than
20, definitely on all six continents.
I've met with thousands of people overthe last five years, and that's where
the next book, which I just published,which is The Guy Who Knows The Guy's
Guide To Networking came from, causethis is more of a step by step guide
of how to do all that, but so that'sthe short version of the story.
There's a longer version because it's 11years long, but that's the short version.
Tara Bryan (03:59):
Right, right.
I love it.
So, I love hearing stories about peoplewho have a superpower, a gift, an
expertise, and have been able to monetizeit and it sounds like that is exactly
what you have done, is not only are youa connector, but you are able to sort of
(04:20):
take that gift that you have, like, a lotof people don't like to talk to people,
they don't like to network, they don'tlike to meet people, and oh my gosh,
don't put me in front of people, right?
So that was obviously something thatyou were very comfortable with so you
can help other people with that, whichis your superpower and your expertise.
And so how, how did you, I mean, it soundslike it was just sort of an organic,
(04:40):
natural thing for you to connect, todo connections, and start to kind of
think about how do you connect peopletogether, but how did you go from
that to creating it into a business?
Michael Whitehouse (04:53):
So in the first phase, in the pre pandemic phase, I
leveraged my networking to generateabout half a million dollars in
sales for a local magazine, papermagazine, that I was publishing.
And that magazine is actually still there.
A lot of people think,oh, everything's digital.
Which is easy to think becauseeverything that's at hand is digital.
(05:14):
You spend a lot of timeon your phone and whatnot.
But most people don't spend anhour on their phone and say, I feel
so much happier having done that.
Whereas people do spend an hourreading a book and say, I feel so
much happier having read a book.
So people like magazines, they likepaper, they like hands on things.
But so that's what Idid in that first phase.
And at that point, I was very proudof myself, because you know, half a
million dollars in sales from networking.
(05:36):
I was effectively doing whatI call network prospecting.
I was finding my customersin networking spaces.
So it was very low level, but you know,half a million dollars, then when things
went to the virtual space, I was able toconnect with better and better people.
And I, to me, I didn'tknow what I didn't know.
(05:58):
I didn't know what I did know.
I didn't know much.
I had just as little when I entered thevirtual space as I did when I entered
the live space six years earlier.
And, from there, I was able togenerate a lot of revenue from it
through affiliate partnerships.
Tara Bryan (06:13):
Hmm.
Michael Whitehouse (06:13):
Then there's two parts to that.
One is building trust in anaudience, and then the other
part is finding good partners andpromoting quality stuff to them.
Emphasis on quality stuff to them.
That's where a lot of people get it wrong.
It's not about just, you know,buying Facebook ads and generating
a list, then driving traffic toit for whatever pays commissions.
(06:34):
It is about buildingrelationships at scale.
And, again, like most things,I stumbled into it blindly and
tripped over doing the right thing.
I was networking, I wasmeeting over 20 people a week.
And I said, I cannot followup with 20 people a week.
Because next week I'm goingto meet 20 more people.
And then 20 more, and 20 more,I'm meeting 1, 000 people a year.
I can't follow up with 20 people ayear, let alone 1, 000 people a year.
(06:58):
That's too much.
Well, there's thisemail marketing concept.
What if I created an emaillist and shared valuable stuff
with everyone I'm meeting with?
And it's always with the mindset ofwhat would everyone I've networked
with be interested in seeing?
Maybe not fascinated by,but saying this isn't bad.
I'm not going to unsubscribe.
(07:20):
And I always started from thatperspective of this is an audience
of my community, I call my emailcommunity, not my email list.
This is an audience ofmy community, my friends.
My, at least, acquaintances and what canI share with them that they will say this
is valuable and then possibly this isvaluable I'd like more and then through
(07:40):
my network I meet some really good peopleand some of those people have really good
offers so I can then say hey in additionto what I got have you met Penelope?
She's got a really great programcoming out you should check it out.
Have you met Orly?
She has an awesome master class.
You'll love it you should totallygo there and because I've developed
trust and because I don't abusethat trust by promoting junk, they
(08:03):
say, oh, that's something I need.
You're telling me that whatyou're promoting is valuable.
I'm willing to invest an hour or a dayor three days on your recommendation.
And from that I've generated,I think actually at this point,
more than half my revenues comesfrom affiliate partnerships.
Because it's, it's really.
(08:23):
It's leveraging my network to my networkand connecting them as opposed to just
saying, hey, Tara, have you met Bob?
You guys should connect.
It's hey, 3000 audience members.
Have you met Tara?
You might like what she's doing.
Tara Bryan (08:38):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And, and again, such a naturaltransition sounded like it was just
sort of like, how do I do this?
How do I monetize this?
How do I connect with more people?
And then affiliate.
Is that's a great, a great sortof parallel track to, to that,
you know, what your gift is.
So then, so you did that, you have yourcommunity, you're growing your list.
(09:00):
You're connecting peoplewith different, offers.
So how did that translate to a book?
Michael Whitehouse (09:07):
Well, so the first book, was because
I wanted to be an author.
I was a salesman working for a printshop printing company at the time.
And so people saw me as like thebusiness card order taker guy.
And I had, even at that point, a lot ofexperience having a previous business
about marketing, about kind of guerrillastyle marketing, social media, which
(09:28):
wasn't as well known at the time.
It still isn't that well known now.
And so I had all this knowledge.
Nobody cared because I was justthe business card salesman.
And I said, if I could get thetitle of author, author outrank
salesman, I'll then be an author.
So I said, what I know, I know networking.
I'll write a book about it.
Never found out if it worked because Igot a new job before I got the book out.
So that's where the first one came out.
The next book, which is,The View From The Deck.
(09:49):
Thoughts on Values, Vision and Gratitude.
I just started writing.
There was, I had some ideas.
I started writing them, and then I hada book sitting on Google Drive and I
said, this is probably better on Amazonthan Google, so let me publish it.
And it goes.
Tara Bryan (10:02):
Yeah.
Michael Whitehouse (10:06):
about networking, but isn't, if you don't know how to do it
at all, it's not a how-to guide, right?
It'd be like if you'venever cooked before.
And, you know, you read a book andit was talking about the, value of
gas stoves over electric stoves orwhy you might want to have it at
425 instead of 400 in the oven andyou're like, but what in the oven?
How long?
What are we talking about?
(10:27):
So, I put out a book that islike you, you're an alien.
You just arrived on earthand you want to meet people.
How do you do it?
Well, this is the guide to networkingand as you want to touch on one point
you made earlier, You said for people whodon't have the gift of talking to people,
The gift I had was that I could blunderinto it not knowing how and I could
succeed because for me it was enjoyablejust to be around people, so failing
(10:52):
at networking was still fun, Becausefailing at networking is still socializing
unless it's a really bad group.
If you're an introvert, failingat networking is consuming energy,
it's exhausting, it's worrying.
But that just allowed meto discover how to do it.
If you know how to doit, anyone can do it.
And the idea that you have to beoutgoing and you have to be an
(11:13):
extrovert, and you have to be...
that's all a myth.
In fact, introverts make betternetworkers than extroverts.
Because introverts don't do what I did.
What I did was I said, I wantto keep meeting more people.
I can't follow that many people.
I don't know, I'll figure out someway to follow them all at once.
An introvert would be like, I can'tfollow up with 20 people a week.
I'm only going to meet 5 people a week.
But I'm going to have reallygood relationships with those 5.
(11:35):
And I'm going to take notes.
And I'm going to remember their birthday.
And I'm going to send them cards.
And I'm going to send them a nice note.
And so you know, that person who reallypays attention to you and really knows
you well, that's probably an introvert.
Because they don't want to meet 20 people.
That's too much.
If they could meet one person aweek, then they'd be really happy.
So introverts are betternetworkers, technically, tactically.
Tara Bryan (11:59):
Once they get out
Michael Whitehouse (12:00):
yeah, once they start doing it, yes.
Tara Bryan (12:02):
Yeah,
Michael Whitehouse (12:02):
and, and so, you know, once they learn a technique.
But the reason people think they're bad atnetworking is they're taught to do it the
wrong way, and most events are terrible.
So, if you're taught the wrong techniqueand you're doing it in the wrong space,
You're gonna have a pretty bad time.
You know, if you I love using analogiesof things I don't know how to do.
Skiing, for example.
(12:23):
If, you know, you're given badequipment, you're told how to do it
wrong, and then you're sent out on aslope where the snow is all like slushy
and goopy, that's bad, I think, right?
That's what I've heard.
Tara Bryan (12:35):
yep,
Michael Whitehouse (12:36):
then you're gonna be like, Ugh, I suck at skiing.
Maybe you don't, maybe your skis arein bad condition, and the ground's
in bad condition, and we have noidea if you're any good at skiing.
So, if you go into a room, and theformat is everyone has two minutes
to talk about themselves, and thenit's done, that's a really hard
environment to operate in, right?
(12:58):
You need to know exactly what you'redoing, you need to know exactly
what you're looking for, becauseyou are filtering in real time.
And taking notes on who you're goingto follow up with in real time.
And then you have to saysomething that magically would
make other people pay attention.
And 70 percent of them can'teven parse what they're hearing.
Because it's rapid fire, oneafter another after another.
And they just can't even keep,doesn't matter what you say, you
(13:20):
need to be at an A level to say wordsthat'll snap them out of the reverie
they're in hearing all these things.
Impossible environment to operate in.
Another mistake is virtual events wherethey'll send you a breakout room, but
they'll give you an unrelated topic.
You know, hey, go into a room witha bunch of strangers and, what's
your favorite vacation destination?
I don't care.
(13:40):
If you're at a live event andthat's how you open it, but
you're gonna have follow up?
Okay, cool.
That's how you get to knowand get to know those people.
If you have one seven minutebreakout room, you shouldn't be
talking about vacation destinations.
You need to be talking about ifthis is the person you need to meet.
But so, so many of these events,they're structured in a way that
makes them really hard to operate in.
And then, we're all taught, youknow, the introduction formats that
(14:05):
I hear people taught are gibberish.
Because the way that our brains workis we think of problems and solutions.
So, and yet you see thatin good copywriting.
You know, I think of anyinfomercial you've seen.
Are you tired of never being able to findthe storage containers when you need them?
Buy StorageMax, right?
Problem, solution.
(14:27):
And yet the introductions we're taughtare, I help blah to blah because blah.
And it usually comes out because no oneknows exactly what the demographics are.
I help entrepreneurs to make more money byimproving their messaging, because they're
tired of being the best kept secret.
(14:48):
I don't know what you do.
That sounds like probably 25percent of the people you hear
in a breakout room, right?
So, we're all taught to sound the same.
So, you know, you're using a bad introin bad spaces, and then you end up having
a lot of really awkward meetings becauseyou don't know who you're meeting with.
And you don't know whatyou're trying to get.
So, yeah.
Networking's gonna comeout pretty badly there.
(15:10):
Would you like me to share?
The introduction format that I recommendthat actually hooks people's attention.
Tara Bryan (15:16):
Well, of course.
Michael Whitehouse (15:17):
All right.
So I call it the eight second intro.
It is in The Guy Who KnowsThe Guy's Guide to Networking.
Clearly shouldn't keep those right nextto me because I keep picking them up.
I'm really excited about that book.
It's the first thing because I figureif it's the only thing you read in
the book, it'll be the most impactful.
It's very simple.
It is a two sentence introduction.
(15:38):
The first sentencestarts with you know how.
And the second sentencestarts with, what I do is.
So, for me, for example, you knowhow many people are frustrated with
networking and not getting good results.
What I do is teach them effectivesimple strategies to network.
Profitably and have fun doing it.
Tara Bryan (16:01):
Mmm.
Michael Whitehouse (16:02):
So,
Tara Bryan (16:02):
I love that.
That's really good.
Okay, everybody, listen to what hejust said, and then write it down.
Rewind.
Write it down.
That was really good.
Because I think you're right.
I mean, that's one of the biggestchallenges that people have, even in
talking about what they do, right?
It's this long and my favorite is theentrepreneur who has like 12 businesses
(16:22):
and then they spend the next like 20minutes talking about all their businesses
at a networking event and you're like,okay, just really needed the soundbite
and that my friend is the soundbite.
Michael Whitehouse (16:32):
yeah, the worst one is the one who talks
about their last business.
I heard that.
Yeah.
So I trained as a chiropractorand I did that for 17 years.
I really enjoyed it.
I really enjoyed helping people, butthen I discovered AI based social
media and that was really effective.
And now I'm teaching thatand I'm like, wait, what?
I thought you were a chiropractor becauseyou remember the first thing you hear.
(16:55):
So if you open with, Iused to be a chiropractor.
You're the chiropractor.
You now need to erase what's in mybrain and put something else in.
And my brain's probably not going to putenough energy in to actually erase it.
You're the chiropractor.
Tara Bryan (17:08):
Right?
Michael Whitehouse (17:08):
Yeah, so the other thing you'll notice is in that
format, I didn't say how I do it.
I didn't necessarily say who I do it for.
I didn't say what it costs.
I didn't say how long I'vebeen doing it, who I, anything.
I said, you know how this problem exists?
What I do is solve it.
And then, you may be thinking,well, how do you solve it?
Because you're used to a two minute intro.
(17:29):
And I just did that inabout eight seconds.
Well, how do you solve it?
Who do you do that for?
Is this in groups?
Do you have a book?
So if you do this at a live networkingevent or in a breakout room that's
more open flowing, people are expectingmore and you're just like, that's it!
Then they're gonna say,well, who do you help?
Oh, I help these people.
(17:49):
Well, how do you do it?
Well, I do it in these formats.
Do you have a book?
I do Now you're being interviewed.
So instead of you trying tomonologue at them for two minutes,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,blah, they are interviewing you.
So if someone's curious, technicallythat other person's monopolizing the
conversation, asking you questions.
You're not monopolizing theconversation by talking about yourself.
(18:12):
Fun fact.
Tara Bryan (18:13):
Yeah.
Michael Whitehouse (18:13):
neurologically
Tara Bryan (18:14):
And that's where you want to be.
Michael Whitehouse (18:16):
and the more you talk the less people remember so when you
do that eight sec two lines People aregonna remember all of it because their
brains like going back and forth over it.
Did I miss it?
Did I miss whose audienceshe didn't say it?
I got they're trying to figure it outthey're missing something whereas if you
start going into and I do this I helpthese people and blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah but by the end of it ifyou were to ask someone, what did I say?
(18:37):
Like I don't know you're a chiropractorbecause your brain is trying to keep track
of the information and eventually it justgoes, and throws their hands, throws his
little brain hands in the air and givesup and waits for the next person to talk.
So the less you say, the morepeople will remember about you.
And the more curious they are,the more they'll ask and the more
(18:58):
they'll want to know about you.
And this is extremely importantin commoditized industries.
So, you know the industry where every BNImeeting you go to has the same people?
Or every chamber eventhas the same people?
And they say, I'm a financial advisor!
And you say, what makes you different?
And their answer is thesame as everyone else?
Well, we like to customize our suggestionsto the exact needs of the client.
(19:21):
I'm more like a coachthan a financial advisor.
Says every financial advisor whenyou ask them how they're different.
So, instead of saying the exactsame thing as everyone else and
answering the question of how you'redifferent the same as everyone else.
How about this?
You know how many people knowthey need to be saving more,
but are afraid to make mistakes.
(19:42):
What I do is guide people like a Sherpathrough the confusing world of finance.
Oh, well, I want to work with that guy.
That guy guides me like a Sherpa.
I mean, most financial advisorswho are worth their salt do that,
but they don't say it that way.
So when you say it that way, and somedifferentiate, like, you know, there's a
(20:03):
zillion realtors, you know, 1 percent of,of Americans have a real estate license.
But some of them arefixated on the deal, right?
They're gonna squeezeevery penny out of it.
And some of them are more about people.
They're gonna make it easy.
They're gonna be like,I'll take care of you.
So they'd have different intros.
One of them's gonna say, you know howbuying a house is the largest financial
transaction you'll ever perform.
(20:24):
What I do is make sure my clients gettop dollar when selling their house
leaving, you know, no penny left unturned.
Versus, you know how buying a housecould be one of the most stressful
experiences of a person's life.
But what I do is I make it easyand smooth, take care of all the
(20:44):
complications and let my clients worryabout their dream house and nothing else.
Very different referralsfor each of those people.
Tara Bryan (20:55):
Yeah, totally, totally.
Okay this is, this is amazing.
So, okay, now I got a wholedifferent set of questions for you.
Alright, so, this is sort ofyour expertise right here.
Michael Whitehouse (21:08):
You could say that.
Tara Bryan (21:09):
This is, this is another zone of genius right here.
So, do you have this partof your expertise monetized?
Like, do you help peoplecome up with their messaging?
Michael Whitehouse (21:18):
I have not managed to productize it yet.
So...
Tara Bryan (21:22):
Mmm, we gotta talk.
You've got to productizethat because that's amazing.
Michael Whitehouse (21:26):
Maybe it could be a thing.
Yeah.
So I do have, that's always been thechallenge with selling networking training
is, people either think they know how tonetwork, in which case they don't want
to buy it, or think they hate networking,in which case they don't want to buy it.
And so it's always been a messagingchallenge of how do I sell, you know,
(21:47):
the most powerful tool in the world.
And so, so that's
Tara Bryan (21:51):
Well you know Michael you look at it as like the problem to the
solution and then you start with thereoh, there's the mug look at that.
He is like going to the moon.
Michael Whitehouse (22:05):
I got this from the Kennedy Space Center down in Florida,
when I was down there for a, uh,
Tara Bryan (22:08):
That is,
Michael Whitehouse (22:09):
a mastermind.
Um, yeah, well, and that's
Tara Bryan (22:13):
Okay.
So yeah, so I want to hear about that.
Michael Whitehouse (22:16):
Yeah, honestly, my big challenge is, you know, I'm a
multi passionate, which is a nice wayof saying I'm into a lot of stuff.
So I know a lot of different thingsand that's, that's of course one of the
challenges a lot of entrepreneurs face.
One thing I have created issomething I call the Opportunity
Growth Academy Inner Circle.
The Inner Circle is a sub segmentof Opportunity Growth Academy.
(22:36):
And so it's a weekly opencoaching call because I know,
I've met over 3,000 entrepreneurs.
I am rarely stumped by a question.
So, it's an open call wherethe members can come in.
They pay a modest membership, 100 a month.
And they come in and ask anything.
You know, how do I set up my email list?
Or how do I improve my open rates?
Or how do I run a summit?
Or I want to get affiliate partners.
(22:56):
How should I structure things?
Whatever it is they needto know, I teach that.
And that, I built that because I said,I've got a lot of value I can share.
Let me focus on sharing that first.
I'll worry about figuring out howto optimize and monetize and turn
this from a three figure programto a four figure program to a five.
Let me start by helping people.
Because the more I'm getting in frontof actual business owners and helping
(23:20):
them and sharing knowledge with them,the more I'm hearing back from them.
The more I'm getting feedback.
That worked.
That didn't work.
I understand it, but I can't do it.
You know, those kinds of things.
And so learning where theremight be that opportunity.
And, one area I'm, I'mcurrently exploring.
I don't know how wellthis is going to age.
This being a podcast,it'll be up there forever.
What I encourage exploring isthe idea of, using being a super
(23:43):
connector as a lead generation tool.
Because if you are known as aguy who knows a guy, you can't
be the guy who knows a guy.
That's me.
But if you're a guy who knowsa guy, then people will reach
out because they need something.
So imagine a bank branch manager or amortgage originator, or Realtor financial
(24:04):
advisor who's known as a connector in thecommunity and is known that anyone can
give them a call, walk into their office,say, Hey, I'm looking for anyone in town
and they'll have someone to refer them to.
That's a powerful lead generationtool, especially for someone like
a banker, because most refer about.
Probably half the major referrals peopleare looking for are for their house,
(24:26):
which means it's something expensive.
So if someone goes to their bank branchmanager, goes to a banker or whatever
and says, Hey, yeah, I'm looking forsomeone who can pave my driveway.
I mean, it's weird to ask abank branch manager, but I'm
told you know everyone in town.
So, they'll be like, yes,actually, yeah, I know two of them.
I'll, I'll, here's,here's their contact info.
And by the way, driveways tend tocost 10 to 50 thousand dollars, do you
(24:49):
have a thought about how you're goingto be financing that when you do it?
Oh, I haven't thought about that.
All right.
Well, once you talk to these guys,if you need financing, we're a bank.
So as opposed to, you could put upsigns all over town, you know, home
improvement loans and blah, blah, blah.
It won't necessarily startthat conversation the way that
providing that kind of value does.
(25:10):
And so that's, I actually have a bookwhich is written, but not published.
On exactly that topic.
So I'm working on that.
Yes, there's a lot, a lot of areas thatare exploring another, thing that I
use, I run an event called JV connect.
And JV Connect was built to be,it's designed to be the best
networking event on the internet.
And the reason I feel like that'sattainable is most networking
(25:31):
events are not altruistic.
Most networking events arebuilt to sell something else.
Networking groups, the like onehour a week, one hour a month,
whatever, those are often the product.
But if you, if you're seeing a one dayor two day networking event, it is almost
always designed to sell something else.
(25:54):
Well, you can only focuson one thing at a time.
So if you're working on buildingthe best sales platform for the
10k program, you are not workingto build the best networking event.
You're working to build thebest networking event that
can sell a 10k program.
JV Connect, I as a networking geekwho went to all kinds of events
and said, I like this, but I don'tlike that, that could be better.
After going to a couple hundred events, Isaid, you know, what if I got rid of all
(26:16):
the stuff I didn't like, just put in allthe stuff I do like, and built that event.
So I now run JVConnect.
It is a quarterly event, and it is builtaround taking everything I've learned
from hundreds of events to design anevent that is networking on easy mode.
The shy introvert who doesn't knowhow to network can walk into this
event and leave with good connections.
(26:39):
And
Tara Bryan (26:41):
That's awesome.
Michael Whitehouse (26:42):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I do that by creating astructure where you basically can't
screw it up unless you try to.
And that's simply puttingpeople into breakout rooms for
23 minutes, 11 to 15 people.
They all do that 8 second introductionthat I already shared with you.
And then from there, the room flowsnaturally, which means the quieter
(27:02):
people will sit back and watch.
It's kind of like watching a parade ofnetworking happening in front of them.
They get to be like, Hey, Tara,I liked what you said there.
You want to get on the call?
The more outgoing peoplewill grab the mic.
Someone grabs a baton andstarts leading the room.
And it works really, really wellbecause there's enough time and space
for things to evolve organically.
(27:23):
I had one person tell me she made$20,000 within three weeks of the
event from connections she made.
Some people, I think the mostI heard of someone made like
29 meetings off the two days.
Tara Bryan (27:33):
Wow, that's
Michael Whitehouse (27:34):
that's like three months worth of networking.
Yeah.
Tara Bryan (27:37):
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
Okay, so I love all of thethings that you're doing.
You and I could probably talkall day about all of the things.
So I want to bring it back up, tokind of how do you do all of the
things that you're so passionate aboutdoing that you have expertise in and
still have time to live your life.
One of the things that we talkabout a lot as a scalable expert
(27:59):
is how do you scale past all, thethings that require your time.
So talk to us a little bit abouthow you've done that knowing that
you have, all these things thatyou're working on or building or
helping or, and all of the things.
Michael Whitehouse (28:15):
So some of it is eliminating the things I don't like doing
either by delegating or minimizing oreliminating those things, because it's
understanding that there's a lot ofthings you don't necessarily need to do.
So, one of the most valuablethings I do is write my email list.
My email, you know, themessages to my email community.
(28:35):
Because that's, I'm a pretty goodwriter if I do say so myself.
And actually other people say it,so I don't have to say it myself.
And so by writing to my emaillist, that's a high value activity.
It's also really fun.
People are like, oh, how do youdiscipline yourself to write every day?
It's like, no, no.
How do I discipline myselfto only send one a day?
That's the challenge I have.
(28:55):
Sometimes I'll be a week out andI'll be like, something else I want
to write and I can't send two emailstoday, this has to wait till next week.
So it's figuring out ways to find whatI'm excited to do, like the things that
like, if I'm tired and I'm not feelinggreat, but I was still say, but I can
still write an email, how to make thosethe profitable activities and build that.
(29:16):
So that's a lot of it.
It's focusing on makingthe things I like doing.
the things that are most effective andthen partnering with the things that I
don't like doing or not that effective at.
So for example, earlier today I hada call with someone about having them
design and manage the JVConnect website.
Because I can make a website.
(29:38):
I understand the principles.
But just to understand theprinciples doesn't mean I actually
make it look good and convert.
So I have somebody else do itwho knows what they're doing.
So I can focus on thestuff that I'm good at.
So that's the key thing is, eliminating ordelegating the stuff that you don't like.
And then, leaning intothe stuff you do like.
(30:02):
And then you get to the point wherethe fun things in your life are the
things you're doing for business.
You know, I went on acruise earlier this year.
It was the marketers cruise.
It was 450 entrepreneursfor nine days on a ship.
I can't think of a better vacation.
There's nowhere else I'd rather go thana cruise ship with 450 entrepreneurs.
(30:25):
You know, I don't want to sit on a beach.
I want to hang out withpeople like me I can talk to.
So technically that was business, but, itwas the coolest vacation I've ever had.
So, it's combining those and findingthat overlap, and then, you know,
finding ways that you can combine that.
My ultimate goal in my business, notultimate, there'll be one after it,
(30:46):
but currently, my highest goal isto get to the point where my wife
can quit her job and work with me.
Because she's smarter thanme and better than me at most
things as most good wives are.
And if I can bring her onto my team,that would be a huge force multiplier.
But also we would then bespending more time together.
Our relationship, we'veworked together before.
(31:06):
Some people like, are you sure?
You're like, yes, we'veworked together before.
It was very good.
So, you know, when we worktogether, the relationships better.
And then I, as my daughtergrows up, I want to find a way
to get her into my business.
Tara Bryan (31:17):
Yeah,
Michael Whitehouse (31:18):
you know, it's not about that like, you know, work life
balance, finding time to take off.
It's more about finding ways tomake the things that make money fun
and make the things that are fun
Tara Bryan (31:32):
right.
Michael Whitehouse (31:32):
make money.
Tara Bryan (31:34):
Yeah.
Oh, I love that.
That's awesome.
Okay, we're going to use that quote.
We're going to put that in the show notesbecause that's so powerful right there.
What you just said.
I love it.
Okay.
So what's one tool resource or,book or whatever that you can't
live without in your business?
Michael Whitehouse (31:49):
Just one.
So, I mean, my go to, and this probablysounds cliche at this point, but ChatGPT.
I go back to that for a lot of things.
Especially when overwhelmedis really handy.
Because those times when you're like,brain, not brain, the brain thing.
You can babble at ChatGPT and be like,oh, you mean this, buh, like, I don't
(32:09):
know how you got that from the words.
I just fell out of my mouth, but great.
Thank you.
So, you know, that, thatis a tremendous tool.
One book that I read that was, Ithink I'd call it life changing.
There have been a number of lifechanging books, but one of the
most powerful is a book called TheGame of Life and How to Play It.
And,
Tara Bryan (32:29):
hm, I haven't heard that one.
Michael Whitehouse (32:31):
it is 100 years old.
It's from 1925.
I'm blanking on the name ofthe author, it's three words
and they're all hard to spell.
But it's The Game ofLife and How to Play It.
It is actually old enoughthat it's out of copyright.
Which is cool because it means after youread it and say it's amazing, you can
then run your own Game of Life and Howto Play It summit and nobody can sue you.
But it is
Tara Bryan (32:50):
Hmm.
Michael Whitehouse (32:51):
an amazing book because it talks about concepts that
we think of as law of attraction,universal law, that kind of stuff.
Seventy years before anyoneelse was talking about it.
And with a Biblical foundation.
So I always just think of itas like, yeah, this is Law
of Attraction, woo woo stuff.
There's Judeo Christian religious stuff,and like, Never the Two Shall Meet.
(33:11):
And, she's explaining theseconcepts, and she's like, and
the Bible says this right here!
And it's all there, and I was like, phew!
So once I started putting that alltogether, I was like, it's all one thing!
And my ability to manifest, and tapinto my intuition, and all that after
reading that book, just leapt up.
(33:34):
And once you can tap into the universalwisdom, that unlocks a few different
things cause the entire universe isa little bit smarter than each of us.
Tara Bryan (33:42):
A
little.
Michael Whitehouse (33:44):
Yeah.
Tara Bryan (33:45):
Yeah.
All right.
That's a good one.
We're going to put that in the show notes.
All right, Michael.
Thank you so much for joining us.
What is the final word?
What other wisdom do you haveto impart on my audience today?
Michael Whitehouse (33:55):
I think the most important thing is that networking
is not a unique and specialskill that only some people have.
It is quite simple.
It's about being a good personand wanting to give value.
And if you're a good person who wantsto help the people around you, then
it's a couple of techniques and acouple of strategies to be a networker.
(34:15):
So don't assume I'm not X unlessyou're not a good person, then
you can't be a good networker.
But otherwise, if you're a goodperson and you like to make people's
lives better you're already most ofthe way to being a good networker.
Get out there, do that.
The rest is just detail.
And if you want those details,you can find them in the
guy who knows a guy's guide
Tara Bryan (34:35):
I was going to say
Michael Whitehouse (34:35):
to networking
Tara Bryan (34:36):
yeah,
Michael Whitehouse (34:37):
available on Amazon.
Tara Bryan (34:38):
I was going to say you better put that book back up.
All right, for those of you who arelistening and not actually, looking
at the screen right now, Michael,just put his book back up, which
you will find in the show notes.
So thank you for sharing that anumber of times with us today.
I'm definitely going to check that outbecause I think that everyone can always
use really solid tips and strategiesfor how to be a better networker
(35:00):
when you go to events, especiallylike, to your point, the events
that are poorly, poorly facilitated.
And so you sort of have to navigatethrough that, along with meeting
people and, and connecting.
So thank you for sharing that.
All right, so where can we findout more about you, as we dive
more into networking and all of the
Michael Whitehouse (35:20):
So my main website is guywhoknowsaguy.com.
There's no the or a atthe beginning of it.
It's just guywhoknowsaguy.com.
And from there you can find links outto JV Connect, and my summits and my
books and all the other good stuff.
Amazing.
All right, thank you so much,Michael, for being on today.
(35:41):
And in the meantime, everyoneelse have a great week.
Thank you.
Welcome to the Scalable Expert, the podcast where we unlock
the secrets to building a businessthat grows with you, not around you.
I'm your host, Tara Bryan, businessstrategist, mentor, and creator
of the Infinite Scale Method.
If you're a coach, consultant,or service provider who's
maxed out with one-on-one work.
Overwhelmed by the grind andready to scale your expertise into
(00:20):
a business that works for you,then you are in the right place.
Each week I'll share actionabletips, inspiring success stories,
and proven strategies to help youreclaim your time, grow your income,
and create a business that deliversresults without sacrificing quality.
Let's dive in and make yourbusiness infinitely scalable.
(00:41):
Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast.
I am so excited to introduceyou to Michael Whitehouse today.
Michael, thank you so much for joining us.
To get started, tell us alittle bit about yourself and, a
little bit about your business.
Michael Whitehouse (00:53):
Sure.
Great to be here.
So I am Michael Whitehouse.
I am known to some as the guy whoknows a guy because that's what I tell
them to call me and it all startedactually exactly 11 years ago today.
March 13th is the anniversary ofmy business when I walked into
my first networking event here inSoutheast Connecticut with nothing.
(01:14):
I had no job, no business, nothing tosell, arguably no marketable skills.
I thought I had some, but in retrospect,probably not and not even an apartment.
I would move into my apartment thenext day because we were moving
to a new area and so someone hadsaid hey you should visit Eastern
Connecticut Chamber of Commerce.
They have great events.
(01:34):
So I said, okay, let's go and the onlything I had the only asset I had was a
desire to serve and the only thing I couldserve with was with other people I'd met.
So once I met one person I knew oneperson when I met a second person I had
one person I could introduce them to.
The third person, I had twopeople I could introduce them to.
(01:54):
The fourth, three.
And on and on.
And this is when I discovered thatyou can have a remarkably small
network and still deliver value.
Because even at the first event, bythe end of the two hours, I'd met,
I don't know, eight, ten people.
I'd say, well, who areyou looking to meet?
And they'd say, I'm lookingto meet a real estate agent.
So I was like, oh, I justmet a real estate agent.
Do you know that guy over there?
No?
Oh, let me introduce you.
(02:16):
And within six months I was connectingwith mayors, and chairmans, and CEOs,
and executive directors, and peoplewith all kinds of fancy titles.
Because in the local community,people are relatively accessible
if you get out there and meet them.
And, I discovered that I was doingsomething that no one else was doing.
(02:37):
And, it wasn't rocketscience how to do it.
It's just, I had the benefit of startingwith nothing and knowing I had nothing.
Most people don't think they have nothing.
Well, I know people.
I don't need to do too much.
When you know you know no one, you'relike, hey, how do I meet people?
Right?
That's why being underemployedis worse than being unemployed.
When you're unemployed, youknow you don't have a job you've
(02:58):
got to start searching for one.
When you've got a crappyjob, you're like, what?
Well, I've got a job.
It's okay.
So, I was able to leveragethat, and that's how I became
The Guy Who Knows A Guy.
And in 2017, I wrote thisbook, The Guy Who Knows A Guy.
And,
Tara Bryan (03:10):
Okay, that's good.
Michael Whitehouse (03:11):
2020, exactly six years and a day later, they
shut down the state, the world,and said, Go to the internet!
And I said, okay!
And I said, hey, this internet's global.
I'm not limited to mylittle corner of the world.
I can meet people everywhere.
This is pretty cool.
So the next five years, we're connectingwith multi million dollar entrepreneurs
(03:35):
and people in, I should count how manycountries, it's probably more than
20, definitely on all six continents.
I've met with thousands of people overthe last five years, and that's where
the next book, which I just published,which is The Guy Who Knows The Guy's
Guide To Networking came from, causethis is more of a step by step guide
of how to do all that, but so that'sthe short version of the story.
There's a longer version because it's 11years long, but that's the short version.
Tara Bryan (03:59):
Right, right.
I love it.
So, I love hearing stories about peoplewho have a superpower, a gift, an
expertise, and have been able to monetizeit and it sounds like that is exactly
what you have done, is not only are youa connector, but you are able to sort of
(04:20):
take that gift that you have, like, a lotof people don't like to talk to people,
they don't like to network, they don'tlike to meet people, and oh my gosh,
don't put me in front of people, right?
So that was obviously something thatyou were very comfortable with so you
can help other people with that, whichis your superpower and your expertise.
And so how, how did you, I mean, it soundslike it was just sort of an organic,
(04:40):
natural thing for you to connect, todo connections, and start to kind of
think about how do you connect peopletogether, but how did you go from
that to creating it into a business?
Michael Whitehouse (04:53):
So in the first phase, in the pre pandemic phase, I
leveraged my networking to generateabout half a million dollars in
sales for a local magazine, papermagazine, that I was publishing.
And that magazine is actually still there.
A lot of people think,oh, everything's digital.
Which is easy to think becauseeverything that's at hand is digital.
(05:14):
You spend a lot of timeon your phone and whatnot.
But most people don't spend anhour on their phone and say, I feel
so much happier having done that.
Whereas people do spend an hourreading a book and say, I feel so
much happier having read a book.
So people like magazines, they likepaper, they like hands on things.
But so that's what Idid in that first phase.
And at that point, I was very proudof myself, because you know, half a
million dollars in sales from networking.
(05:36):
I was effectively doing whatI call network prospecting.
I was finding my customersin networking spaces.
So it was very low level, but you know,half a million dollars, then when things
went to the virtual space, I was able toconnect with better and better people.
And I, to me, I didn'tknow what I didn't know.
(05:58):
I didn't know what I did know.
I didn't know much.
I had just as little when I entered thevirtual space as I did when I entered
the live space six years earlier.
And, from there, I was able togenerate a lot of revenue from it
through affiliate partnerships.
Tara Bryan (06:13):
Hmm.
Michael Whitehouse (06:13):
Then there's two parts to that.
One is building trust in anaudience, and then the other
part is finding good partners andpromoting quality stuff to them.
Emphasis on quality stuff to them.
That's where a lot of people get it wrong.
It's not about just, you know,buying Facebook ads and generating
a list, then driving traffic toit for whatever pays commissions.
(06:34):
It is about buildingrelationships at scale.
And, again, like most things,I stumbled into it blindly and
tripped over doing the right thing.
I was networking, I wasmeeting over 20 people a week.
And I said, I cannot followup with 20 people a week.
Because next week I'm goingto meet 20 more people.
And then 20 more, and 20 more,I'm meeting 1, 000 people a year.
I can't follow up with 20 people ayear, let alone 1, 000 people a year.
(06:58):
That's too much.
Well, there's thisemail marketing concept.
What if I created an emaillist and shared valuable stuff
with everyone I'm meeting with?
And it's always with the mindset ofwhat would everyone I've networked
with be interested in seeing?
Maybe not fascinated by,but saying this isn't bad.
I'm not going to unsubscribe.
(07:20):
And I always started from thatperspective of this is an audience
of my community, I call my emailcommunity, not my email list.
This is an audience ofmy community, my friends.
My, at least, acquaintances and what canI share with them that they will say this
is valuable and then possibly this isvaluable I'd like more and then through
(07:40):
my network I meet some really good peopleand some of those people have really good
offers so I can then say hey in additionto what I got have you met Penelope?
She's got a really great programcoming out you should check it out.
Have you met Orly?
She has an awesome master class.
You'll love it you should totallygo there and because I've developed
trust and because I don't abusethat trust by promoting junk, they
(08:03):
say, oh, that's something I need.
You're telling me that whatyou're promoting is valuable.
I'm willing to invest an hour or a dayor three days on your recommendation.
And from that I've generated,I think actually at this point,
more than half my revenues comesfrom affiliate partnerships.
Because it's, it's really.
(08:23):
It's leveraging my network to my networkand connecting them as opposed to just
saying, hey, Tara, have you met Bob?
You guys should connect.
It's hey, 3000 audience members.
Have you met Tara?
You might like what she's doing.
Tara Bryan (08:38):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And, and again, such a naturaltransition sounded like it was just
sort of like, how do I do this?
How do I monetize this?
How do I connect with more people?
And then affiliate.
Is that's a great, a great sortof parallel track to, to that,
you know, what your gift is.
So then, so you did that, you have yourcommunity, you're growing your list.
(09:00):
You're connecting peoplewith different, offers.
So how did that translate to a book?
Michael Whitehouse (09:07):
Well, so the first book, was because
I wanted to be an author.
I was a salesman working for a printshop printing company at the time.
And so people saw me as like thebusiness card order taker guy.
And I had, even at that point, a lot ofexperience having a previous business
about marketing, about kind of guerrillastyle marketing, social media, which
(09:28):
wasn't as well known at the time.
It still isn't that well known now.
And so I had all this knowledge.
Nobody cared because I was justthe business card salesman.
And I said, if I could get thetitle of author, author outrank
salesman, I'll then be an author.
So I said, what I know, I know networking.
I'll write a book about it.
Never found out if it worked because Igot a new job before I got the book out.
So that's where the first one came out.
The next book, which is,The View From The Deck.
(09:49):
Thoughts on Values, Vision and Gratitude.
I just started writing.
There was, I had some ideas.
I started writing them, and then I hada book sitting on Google Drive and I
said, this is probably better on Amazonthan Google, so let me publish it.
And it goes.
Tara Bryan (10:02):
Yeah.
Michael Whitehouse (10:06):
about networking, but isn't, if you don't know how to do it
at all, it's not a how-to guide, right?
It'd be like if you'venever cooked before.
And, you know, you read a book andit was talking about the, value of
gas stoves over electric stoves orwhy you might want to have it at
425 instead of 400 in the oven andyou're like, but what in the oven?
How long?
What are we talking about?
(10:27):
So, I put out a book that islike you, you're an alien.
You just arrived on earthand you want to meet people.
How do you do it?
Well, this is the guide to networkingand as you want to touch on one point
you made earlier, You said for people whodon't have the gift of talking to people,
The gift I had was that I could blunderinto it not knowing how and I could
succeed because for me it was enjoyablejust to be around people, so failing
(10:52):
at networking was still fun, Becausefailing at networking is still socializing
unless it's a really bad group.
If you're an introvert, failingat networking is consuming energy,
it's exhausting, it's worrying.
But that just allowed meto discover how to do it.
If you know how to doit, anyone can do it.
And the idea that you have to beoutgoing and you have to be an
(11:13):
extrovert, and you have to be...
that's all a myth.
In fact, introverts make betternetworkers than extroverts.
Because introverts don't do what I did.
What I did was I said, I wantto keep meeting more people.
I can't follow that many people.
I don't know, I'll figure out someway to follow them all at once.
An introvert would be like, I can'tfollow up with 20 people a week.
I'm only going to meet 5 people a week.
But I'm going to have reallygood relationships with those 5.
(11:35):
And I'm going to take notes.
And I'm going to remember their birthday.
And I'm going to send them cards.
And I'm going to send them a nice note.
And so you know, that person who reallypays attention to you and really knows
you well, that's probably an introvert.
Because they don't want to meet 20 people.
That's too much.
If they could meet one person aweek, then they'd be really happy.
So introverts are betternetworkers, technically, tactically.
Tara Bryan (11:59):
Once they get out
Michael Whitehouse (12:00):
yeah, once they start doing it, yes.
Tara Bryan (12:02):
Yeah,
Michael Whitehouse (12:02):
and, and so, you know, once they learn a technique.
But the reason people think they're bad atnetworking is they're taught to do it the
wrong way, and most events are terrible.
So, if you're taught the wrong techniqueand you're doing it in the wrong space,
You're gonna have a pretty bad time.
You know, if you I love using analogiesof things I don't know how to do.
Skiing, for example.
(12:23):
If, you know, you're given badequipment, you're told how to do it
wrong, and then you're sent out on aslope where the snow is all like slushy
and goopy, that's bad, I think, right?
That's what I've heard.
Tara Bryan (12:35):
yep,
Michael Whitehouse (12:36):
then you're gonna be like, Ugh, I suck at skiing.
Maybe you don't, maybe your skis arein bad condition, and the ground's
in bad condition, and we have noidea if you're any good at skiing.
So, if you go into a room, and theformat is everyone has two minutes
to talk about themselves, and thenit's done, that's a really hard
environment to operate in, right?
(12:58):
You need to know exactly what you'redoing, you need to know exactly
what you're looking for, becauseyou are filtering in real time.
And taking notes on who you're goingto follow up with in real time.
And then you have to saysomething that magically would
make other people pay attention.
And 70 percent of them can'teven parse what they're hearing.
Because it's rapid fire, oneafter another after another.
And they just can't even keep,doesn't matter what you say, you
(13:20):
need to be at an A level to say wordsthat'll snap them out of the reverie
they're in hearing all these things.
Impossible environment to operate in.
Another mistake is virtual events wherethey'll send you a breakout room, but
they'll give you an unrelated topic.
You know, hey, go into a room witha bunch of strangers and, what's
your favorite vacation destination?
I don't care.
(13:40):
If you're at a live event andthat's how you open it, but
you're gonna have follow up?
Okay, cool.
That's how you get to knowand get to know those people.
If you have one seven minutebreakout room, you shouldn't be
talking about vacation destinations.
You need to be talking about ifthis is the person you need to meet.
But so, so many of these events,they're structured in a way that
makes them really hard to operate in.
And then, we're all taught, youknow, the introduction formats that
(14:05):
I hear people taught are gibberish.
Because the way that our brains workis we think of problems and solutions.
So, and yet you see thatin good copywriting.
You know, I think of anyinfomercial you've seen.
Are you tired of never being able to findthe storage containers when you need them?
Buy StorageMax, right?
Problem, solution.
(14:27):
And yet the introductions we're taughtare, I help blah to blah because blah.
And it usually comes out because no oneknows exactly what the demographics are.
I help entrepreneurs to make more money byimproving their messaging, because they're
tired of being the best kept secret.
(14:48):
I don't know what you do.
That sounds like probably 25percent of the people you hear
in a breakout room, right?
So, we're all taught to sound the same.
So, you know, you're using a bad introin bad spaces, and then you end up having
a lot of really awkward meetings becauseyou don't know who you're meeting with.
And you don't know whatyou're trying to get.
So, yeah.
Networking's gonna comeout pretty badly there.
(15:10):
Would you like me to share?
The introduction format that I recommendthat actually hooks people's attention.
Tara Bryan (15:16):
Well, of course.
Michael Whitehouse (15:17):
All right.
So I call it the eight second intro.
It is in The Guy Who KnowsThe Guy's Guide to Networking.
Clearly shouldn't keep those right nextto me because I keep picking them up.
I'm really excited about that book.
It's the first thing because I figureif it's the only thing you read in
the book, it'll be the most impactful.
It's very simple.
It is a two sentence introduction.
(15:38):
The first sentencestarts with you know how.
And the second sentencestarts with, what I do is.
So, for me, for example, you knowhow many people are frustrated with
networking and not getting good results.
What I do is teach them effectivesimple strategies to network.
Profitably and have fun doing it.
Tara Bryan (16:01):
Mmm.
Michael Whitehouse (16:02):
So,
Tara Bryan (16:02):
I love that.
That's really good.
Okay, everybody, listen to what hejust said, and then write it down.
Rewind.
Write it down.
That was really good.
Because I think you're right.
I mean, that's one of the biggestchallenges that people have, even in
talking about what they do, right?
It's this long and my favorite is theentrepreneur who has like 12 businesses
(16:22):
and then they spend the next like 20minutes talking about all their businesses
at a networking event and you're like,okay, just really needed the soundbite
and that my friend is the soundbite.
Michael Whitehouse (16:32):
yeah, the worst one is the one who talks
about their last business.
I heard that.
Yeah.
So I trained as a chiropractorand I did that for 17 years.
I really enjoyed it.
I really enjoyed helping people, butthen I discovered AI based social
media and that was really effective.
And now I'm teaching thatand I'm like, wait, what?
I thought you were a chiropractor becauseyou remember the first thing you hear.
(16:55):
So if you open with, Iused to be a chiropractor.
You're the chiropractor.
You now need to erase what's in mybrain and put something else in.
And my brain's probably not going to putenough energy in to actually erase it.
You're the chiropractor.
Tara Bryan (17:08):
Right?
Michael Whitehouse (17:08):
Yeah, so the other thing you'll notice is in that
format, I didn't say how I do it.
I didn't necessarily say who I do it for.
I didn't say what it costs.
I didn't say how long I'vebeen doing it, who I, anything.
I said, you know how this problem exists?
What I do is solve it.
And then, you may be thinking,well, how do you solve it?
Because you're used to a two minute intro.
(17:29):
And I just did that inabout eight seconds.
Well, how do you solve it?
Who do you do that for?
Is this in groups?
Do you have a book?
So if you do this at a live networkingevent or in a breakout room that's
more open flowing, people are expectingmore and you're just like, that's it!
Then they're gonna say,well, who do you help?
Oh, I help these people.
(17:49):
Well, how do you do it?
Well, I do it in these formats.
Do you have a book?
I do Now you're being interviewed.
So instead of you trying tomonologue at them for two minutes,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,blah, they are interviewing you.
So if someone's curious, technicallythat other person's monopolizing the
conversation, asking you questions.
You're not monopolizing theconversation by talking about yourself.
(18:12):
Fun fact.
Tara Bryan (18:13):
Yeah.
Michael Whitehouse (18:13):
neurologically
Tara Bryan (18:14):
And that's where you want to be.
Michael Whitehouse (18:16):
and the more you talk the less people remember so when you
do that eight sec two lines People aregonna remember all of it because their
brains like going back and forth over it.
Did I miss it?
Did I miss whose audienceshe didn't say it?
I got they're trying to figure it outthey're missing something whereas if you
start going into and I do this I helpthese people and blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah but by the end of it ifyou were to ask someone, what did I say?
(18:37):
Like I don't know you're a chiropractorbecause your brain is trying to keep track
of the information and eventually it justgoes, and throws their hands, throws his
little brain hands in the air and givesup and waits for the next person to talk.
So the less you say, the morepeople will remember about you.
And the more curious they are,the more they'll ask and the more
(18:58):
they'll want to know about you.
And this is extremely importantin commoditized industries.
So, you know the industry where every BNImeeting you go to has the same people?
Or every chamber eventhas the same people?
And they say, I'm a financial advisor!
And you say, what makes you different?
And their answer is thesame as everyone else?
Well, we like to customize our suggestionsto the exact needs of the client.
(19:21):
I'm more like a coachthan a financial advisor.
Says every financial advisor whenyou ask them how they're different.
So, instead of saying the exactsame thing as everyone else and
answering the question of how you'redifferent the same as everyone else.
How about this?
You know how many people knowthey need to be saving more,
but are afraid to make mistakes.
(19:42):
What I do is guide people like a Sherpathrough the confusing world of finance.
Oh, well, I want to work with that guy.
That guy guides me like a Sherpa.
I mean, most financial advisorswho are worth their salt do that,
but they don't say it that way.
So when you say it that way, and somedifferentiate, like, you know, there's a
(20:03):
zillion realtors, you know, 1 percent of,of Americans have a real estate license.
But some of them arefixated on the deal, right?
They're gonna squeezeevery penny out of it.
And some of them are more about people.
They're gonna make it easy.
They're gonna be like,I'll take care of you.
So they'd have different intros.
One of them's gonna say, you know howbuying a house is the largest financial
transaction you'll ever perform.
(20:24):
What I do is make sure my clients gettop dollar when selling their house
leaving, you know, no penny left unturned.
Versus, you know how buying a housecould be one of the most stressful
experiences of a person's life.
But what I do is I make it easyand smooth, take care of all the
(20:44):
complications and let my clients worryabout their dream house and nothing else.
Very different referralsfor each of those people.
Tara Bryan (20:55):
Yeah, totally, totally.
Okay this is, this is amazing.
So, okay, now I got a wholedifferent set of questions for you.
Alright, so, this is sort ofyour expertise right here.
Michael Whitehouse (21:08):
You could say that.
Tara Bryan (21:09):
This is, this is another zone of genius right here.
So, do you have this partof your expertise monetized?
Like, do you help peoplecome up with their messaging?
Michael Whitehouse (21:18):
I have not managed to productize it yet.
So...
Tara Bryan (21:22):
Mmm, we gotta talk.
You've got to productizethat because that's amazing.
Michael Whitehouse (21:26):
Maybe it could be a thing.
Yeah.
So I do have, that's always been thechallenge with selling networking training
is, people either think they know how tonetwork, in which case they don't want
to buy it, or think they hate networking,in which case they don't want to buy it.
And so it's always been a messagingchallenge of how do I sell, you know,
(21:47):
the most powerful tool in the world.
And so, so that's
Tara Bryan (21:51):
Well you know Michael you look at it as like the problem to the
solution and then you start with thereoh, there's the mug look at that.
He is like going to the moon.
Michael Whitehouse (22:05):
I got this from the Kennedy Space Center down in Florida,
when I was down there for a, uh,
Tara Bryan (22:08):
That is,
Michael Whitehouse (22:09):
a mastermind.
Um, yeah, well, and that's
Tara Bryan (22:13):
Okay.
So yeah, so I want to hear about that.
Michael Whitehouse (22:16):
Yeah, honestly, my big challenge is, you know, I'm a
multi passionate, which is a nice wayof saying I'm into a lot of stuff.
So I know a lot of different thingsand that's, that's of course one of the
challenges a lot of entrepreneurs face.
One thing I have created issomething I call the Opportunity
Growth Academy Inner Circle.
The Inner Circle is a sub segmentof Opportunity Growth Academy.
(22:36):
And so it's a weekly opencoaching call because I know,
I've met over 3,000 entrepreneurs.
I am rarely stumped by a question.
So, it's an open call wherethe members can come in.
They pay a modest membership, 100 a month.
And they come in and ask anything.
You know, how do I set up my email list?
Or how do I improve my open rates?
Or how do I run a summit?
Or I want to get affiliate partners.
(22:56):
How should I structure things?
Whatever it is they needto know, I teach that.
And that, I built that because I said,I've got a lot of value I can share.
Let me focus on sharing that first.
I'll worry about figuring out howto optimize and monetize and turn
this from a three figure programto a four figure program to a five.
Let me start by helping people.
Because the more I'm getting in frontof actual business owners and helping
(23:20):
them and sharing knowledge with them,the more I'm hearing back from them.
The more I'm getting feedback.
That worked.
That didn't work.
I understand it, but I can't do it.
You know, those kinds of things.
And so learning where theremight be that opportunity.
And, one area I'm, I'mcurrently exploring.
I don't know how wellthis is going to age.
This being a podcast,it'll be up there forever.
What I encourage exploring isthe idea of, using being a super
(23:43):
connector as a lead generation tool.
Because if you are known as aguy who knows a guy, you can't
be the guy who knows a guy.
That's me.
But if you're a guy who knowsa guy, then people will reach
out because they need something.
So imagine a bank branch manager or amortgage originator, or Realtor financial
(24:04):
advisor who's known as a connector in thecommunity and is known that anyone can
give them a call, walk into their office,say, Hey, I'm looking for anyone in town
and they'll have someone to refer them to.
That's a powerful lead generationtool, especially for someone like
a banker, because most refer about.
Probably half the major referrals peopleare looking for are for their house,
(24:26):
which means it's something expensive.
So if someone goes to their bank branchmanager, goes to a banker or whatever
and says, Hey, yeah, I'm looking forsomeone who can pave my driveway.
I mean, it's weird to ask abank branch manager, but I'm
told you know everyone in town.
So, they'll be like, yes,actually, yeah, I know two of them.
I'll, I'll, here's,here's their contact info.
And by the way, driveways tend tocost 10 to 50 thousand dollars, do you
(24:49):
have a thought about how you're goingto be financing that when you do it?
Oh, I haven't thought about that.
All right.
Well, once you talk to these guys,if you need financing, we're a bank.
So as opposed to, you could put upsigns all over town, you know, home
improvement loans and blah, blah, blah.
It won't necessarily startthat conversation the way that
providing that kind of value does.
(25:10):
And so that's, I actually have a bookwhich is written, but not published.
On exactly that topic.
So I'm working on that.
Yes, there's a lot, a lot of areas thatare exploring another, thing that I
use, I run an event called JV connect.
And JV Connect was built to be,it's designed to be the best
networking event on the internet.
And the reason I feel like that'sattainable is most networking
(25:31):
events are not altruistic.
Most networking events arebuilt to sell something else.
Networking groups, the like onehour a week, one hour a month,
whatever, those are often the product.
But if you, if you're seeing a one dayor two day networking event, it is almost
always designed to sell something else.
(25:54):
Well, you can only focuson one thing at a time.
So if you're working on buildingthe best sales platform for the
10k program, you are not workingto build the best networking event.
You're working to build thebest networking event that
can sell a 10k program.
JV Connect, I as a networking geekwho went to all kinds of events
and said, I like this, but I don'tlike that, that could be better.
After going to a couple hundred events, Isaid, you know, what if I got rid of all
(26:16):
the stuff I didn't like, just put in allthe stuff I do like, and built that event.
So I now run JVConnect.
It is a quarterly event, and it is builtaround taking everything I've learned
from hundreds of events to design anevent that is networking on easy mode.
The shy introvert who doesn't knowhow to network can walk into this
event and leave with good connections.
(26:39):
And
Tara Bryan (26:41):
That's awesome.
Michael Whitehouse (26:42):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I do that by creating astructure where you basically can't
screw it up unless you try to.
And that's simply puttingpeople into breakout rooms for
23 minutes, 11 to 15 people.
They all do that 8 second introductionthat I already shared with you.
And then from there, the room flowsnaturally, which means the quieter
(27:02):
people will sit back and watch.
It's kind of like watching a parade ofnetworking happening in front of them.
They get to be like, Hey, Tara,I liked what you said there.
You want to get on the call?
The more outgoing peoplewill grab the mic.
Someone grabs a baton andstarts leading the room.
And it works really, really wellbecause there's enough time and space
for things to evolve organically.
(27:23):
I had one person tell me she made$20,000 within three weeks of the
event from connections she made.
Some people, I think the mostI heard of someone made like
29 meetings off the two days.
Tara Bryan (27:33):
Wow, that's
Michael Whitehouse (27:34):
that's like three months worth of networking.
Yeah.
Tara Bryan (27:37):
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
Okay, so I love all of thethings that you're doing.
You and I could probably talkall day about all of the things.
So I want to bring it back up, tokind of how do you do all of the
things that you're so passionate aboutdoing that you have expertise in and
still have time to live your life.
One of the things that we talkabout a lot as a scalable expert
(27:59):
is how do you scale past all, thethings that require your time.
So talk to us a little bit abouthow you've done that knowing that
you have, all these things thatyou're working on or building or
helping or, and all of the things.
Michael Whitehouse (28:15):
So some of it is eliminating the things I don't like doing
either by delegating or minimizing oreliminating those things, because it's
understanding that there's a lot ofthings you don't necessarily need to do.
So, one of the most valuablethings I do is write my email list.
My email, you know, themessages to my email community.
(28:35):
Because that's, I'm a pretty goodwriter if I do say so myself.
And actually other people say it,so I don't have to say it myself.
And so by writing to my emaillist, that's a high value activity.
It's also really fun.
People are like, oh, how do youdiscipline yourself to write every day?
It's like, no, no.
How do I discipline myselfto only send one a day?
That's the challenge I have.
(28:55):
Sometimes I'll be a week out andI'll be like, something else I want
to write and I can't send two emailstoday, this has to wait till next week.
So it's figuring out ways to find whatI'm excited to do, like the things that
like, if I'm tired and I'm not feelinggreat, but I was still say, but I can
still write an email, how to make thosethe profitable activities and build that.
(29:16):
So that's a lot of it.
It's focusing on makingthe things I like doing.
the things that are most effective andthen partnering with the things that I
don't like doing or not that effective at.
So for example, earlier today I hada call with someone about having them
design and manage the JVConnect website.
Because I can make a website.
(29:38):
I understand the principles.
But just to understand theprinciples doesn't mean I actually
make it look good and convert.
So I have somebody else do itwho knows what they're doing.
So I can focus on thestuff that I'm good at.
So that's the key thing is, eliminating ordelegating the stuff that you don't like.
And then, leaning intothe stuff you do like.
(30:02):
And then you get to the point wherethe fun things in your life are the
things you're doing for business.
You know, I went on acruise earlier this year.
It was the marketers cruise.
It was 450 entrepreneursfor nine days on a ship.
I can't think of a better vacation.
There's nowhere else I'd rather go thana cruise ship with 450 entrepreneurs.
(30:25):
You know, I don't want to sit on a beach.
I want to hang out withpeople like me I can talk to.
So technically that was business, but, itwas the coolest vacation I've ever had.
So, it's combining those and findingthat overlap, and then, you know,
finding ways that you can combine that.
My ultimate goal in my business, notultimate, there'll be one after it,
(30:46):
but currently, my highest goal isto get to the point where my wife
can quit her job and work with me.
Because she's smarter thanme and better than me at most
things as most good wives are.
And if I can bring her onto my team,that would be a huge force multiplier.
But also we would then bespending more time together.
Our relationship, we'veworked together before.
(31:06):
Some people like, are you sure?
You're like, yes, we'veworked together before.
It was very good.
So, you know, when we worktogether, the relationships better.
And then I, as my daughtergrows up, I want to find a way
to get her into my business.
Tara Bryan (31:17):
Yeah,
Michael Whitehouse (31:18):
you know, it's not about that like, you know, work life
balance, finding time to take off.
It's more about finding ways tomake the things that make money fun
and make the things that are fun
Tara Bryan (31:32):
right.
Michael Whitehouse (31:32):
make money.
Tara Bryan (31:34):
Yeah.
Oh, I love that.
That's awesome.
Okay, we're going to use that quote.
We're going to put that in the show notesbecause that's so powerful right there.
What you just said.
I love it.
Okay.
So what's one tool resource or,book or whatever that you can't
live without in your business?
Michael Whitehouse (31:49):
Just one.
So, I mean, my go to, and this probablysounds cliche at this point, but ChatGPT.
I go back to that for a lot of things.
Especially when overwhelmedis really handy.
Because those times when you're like,brain, not brain, the brain thing.
You can babble at ChatGPT and be like,oh, you mean this, buh, like, I don't
(32:09):
know how you got that from the words.
I just fell out of my mouth, but great.
Thank you.
So, you know, that, thatis a tremendous tool.
One book that I read that was, Ithink I'd call it life changing.
There have been a number of lifechanging books, but one of the
most powerful is a book called TheGame of Life and How to Play It.
And,
Tara Bryan (32:29):
hm, I haven't heard that one.
Michael Whitehouse (32:31):
it is 100 years old.
It's from 1925.
I'm blanking on the name ofthe author, it's three words
and they're all hard to spell.
But it's The Game ofLife and How to Play It.
It is actually old enoughthat it's out of copyright.
Which is cool because it means after youread it and say it's amazing, you can
then run your own Game of Life and Howto Play It summit and nobody can sue you.
But it is
Tara Bryan (32:50):
Hmm.
Michael Whitehouse (32:51):
an amazing book because it talks about concepts that
we think of as law of attraction,universal law, that kind of stuff.
Seventy years before anyoneelse was talking about it.
And with a Biblical foundation.
So I always just think of itas like, yeah, this is Law
of Attraction, woo woo stuff.
There's Judeo Christian religious stuff,and like, Never the Two Shall Meet.
(33:11):
And, she's explaining theseconcepts, and she's like, and
the Bible says this right here!
And it's all there, and I was like, phew!
So once I started putting that alltogether, I was like, it's all one thing!
And my ability to manifest, and tapinto my intuition, and all that after
reading that book, just leapt up.
(33:34):
And once you can tap into the universalwisdom, that unlocks a few different
things cause the entire universe isa little bit smarter than each of us.
Tara Bryan (33:42):
A
little.
Michael Whitehouse (33:44):
Yeah.
Tara Bryan (33:45):
Yeah.
All right.
That's a good one.
We're going to put that in the show notes.
All right, Michael.
Thank you so much for joining us.
What is the final word?
What other wisdom do you haveto impart on my audience today?
Michael Whitehouse (33:55):
I think the most important thing is that networking
is not a unique and specialskill that only some people have.
It is quite simple.
It's about being a good personand wanting to give value.
And if you're a good person who wantsto help the people around you, then
it's a couple of techniques and acouple of strategies to be a networker.
(34:15):
So don't assume I'm not X unlessyou're not a good person, then
you can't be a good networker.
But otherwise, if you're a goodperson and you like to make people's
lives better you're already most ofthe way to being a good networker.
Get out there, do that.
The rest is just detail.
And if you want those details,you can find them in the
guy who knows a guy's guide
Tara Bryan (34:35):
I was going to say
Michael Whitehouse (34:35):
to networking
Tara Bryan (34:36):
yeah,
Michael Whitehouse (34:37):
available on Amazon.
Tara Bryan (34:38):
I was going to say you better put that book back up.
All right, for those of you who arelistening and not actually, looking
at the screen right now, Michael,just put his book back up, which
you will find in the show notes.
So thank you for sharing that anumber of times with us today.
I'm definitely going to check that outbecause I think that everyone can always
use really solid tips and strategiesfor how to be a better networker
(35:00):
when you go to events, especiallylike, to your point, the events
that are poorly, poorly facilitated.
And so you sort of have to navigatethrough that, along with meeting
people and, and connecting.
So thank you for sharing that.
All right, so where can we findout more about you, as we dive
more into networking and all of the
Michael Whitehouse (35:20):
So my main website is guywhoknowsaguy.com.
There's no the or a atthe beginning of it.
It's just guywhoknowsaguy.com.
And from there you can find links outto JV Connect, and my summits and my
books and all the other good stuff.
Amazing.
All right, thank you so much,Michael, for being on today.
(35:41):
And in the meantime, everyoneelse have a great week.
Thank you.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.