September 23, 2025 • 49 mins
LinkedIn strategist Al Kushner shares essential strategies for cutting through the noise and leveraging AI to establish yourself as a thought leader on the world's largest professional network.
• Creating an optimized LinkedIn profile is essential before any outreach
• Establishing yourself as a thought leader requires providing value, not just selling
• LinkedIn newsletters bypass spam filters and deliver directly to subscribers' inboxes
• Using AI can help craft better responses and engage with influential content creators
• Sales Navigator provides valuable insights into who's viewing your profile and who's active
• Focus on connecting with referral partners rather than direct prospecting
• Recent recommendations significantly impact how prospects perceive your credibility
• Responding to others' content is more effective than just posting your own
• Follow influencers and thoughtfully comment on their posts to increase visibility
If you want to learn more about optimizing your LinkedIn profile and leveraging AI in your professional networking, visit linkvantage.com where you can access Al's free ebook and other resources.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/al-kushner/
linkvantage.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
For me, when I've accepted a lot of connections, I
find nine of the 10 of them.
I get pitch slapped and that'ssomething.
That's something you can'tavoid.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
You just you stole that one, didn't you, chris?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
I am still that slapping Exactly.
I am not going to sign up withyou insurance guy because Al
from Boca Raton hits me up andsays, hey, can I take a look at
your insurance and help and seeif I can help you with your
insurance.
I'm like, oh, we just met dudeon the podcast, but if I've
never met you, you got zerochance of me giving you my
insurance business right.
So I mean, it makes zero.
(00:33):
If you just come out of nowhere, it's left.
There is no way.
I'm oh my God, you got me atthe right time.
I really need a new webdesigner.
Oh my God, you were right.
I don't know, because I alreadyknow 30 of them.
You're right, but you're number31.
I'm going to go with you.
Welcome to the Small BusinessSafari, where I help guide you
to avoid those traps, pitfallsand dangers that lurk when
(00:54):
navigating the wild world ofsmall business ownership.
I'll share those gold nuggetsof information and invite guests
to help accelerate your ascentto that mountaintop of success.
It's a jungle out there and Iwant to help you traverse
through the levels of owningyour own business that can get
you bogged down and distract youfrom hitting your own personal
and professional goals.
So strap in adventure team andlet's take a ride through the
safari and get you to themountaintop.
(01:25):
Hi, she's back, we're back,let's get going.
Everybody, this is going to beyour time, your time, and I said
it to my team this morning Ifyou don't learn something today,
man, that's on you.
We're going to have some fun.
Today.
We're going to talk aboutsomething that all of us need to
be in.
I don't care what industryyou're in, what you think you do
, what you don't do.
You've got to use this vehicleto understand what's going on.
(01:45):
So we have not talked aboutthis in quite a while, and I
know Alan is is really excitedabout it because it's very close
to what your business is allabout, isn't it?
I am terrified of thisconversation, terrified and
excited all at once.
Oh, is that?
Yeah, that's you.
That sounds like.
Uh, it sounds like, eyes wideshut, terrified and excited,
almost saying Brett.
But yeah, man, we're havingsome good times.
(02:08):
Uh, we are in the heat, uh, theAtlanta heat, and I, uh, I had
to go out and do some estimateslast week.
I actually am working in thebiz, uh, not getting to have a
lot of fun, but, uh, but havinga lot of fun, cause I love going
out there and talking to people.
But I go around, I'm looking atsomebody's deck outside, it's
94 degrees, it's 155,000%humidity, and these people keep
(02:29):
me right in the sun and go okay,well, what do you think?
And so I'm trying to explain tohim what's going on and I'm
telling you, dude, I burst intoflames.
I had sweat dripping down myface.
I was like this is not goingwell.
I was like why would you buyfrom somebody who's just?
I mean, when I got in my truck,I mean not only were the pits
sweating, I mean the whole thingwas.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
I mean, you can't go to your mailbox without just
having to burn your clothes.
We don't light on fire becausethey're too hot.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
How do you present a professional?
Hey, I'm different thaneverybody else Handyman
remodeling company when I'm justsitting there just bursting in
flames.
I've said that wasn't the mostprofessional, so still in the
balance.
They haven't said no to me yeton the estimate because I was in
my wheelhouse and talking aboutwhat I knew.
But I will say, of all thesales stuff that we talk about
(03:15):
here and I listen to anotherpodcast, I would not say that if
you had the video on me you'dgo.
Oh, he nailed it.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
He's like bless his heart.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Bless your heart.
Heart, you are dying, are you?
I'm like?
Yes, as a matter of fact, we amall right.
So here we are.
Al is our ai linkedinstrategist, and that's who we're
going to use him today.
Al kushner is originally frombrooklyn, new york, but he's
escaped new york and lives inbocaon, where I just got done
complaining about humidity.
But, al, talk to me, buddy,that's horrible humidity, right.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, but I think probably Atlanta, as it's known
as Hotlanta, is certainlyprobably even more humid, I
imagine.
But it's just how it is.
You got to stay indoors, keepcool, drink plenty of cold
liquids.
You know you make it throughyou know it's only through.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
You know, let's have one now.
How long shall we?
A little bourbon, let's getgoing, Al so Al, just give us a
brief history about how you gothere, so you know what'd you do,
come out of school, what wereyour jobs you did, and then
how'd you get turned on to thiswhole LinkedIn thing in thing.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I started, I would say, in school.
I had worked part-time as atelephone solicitor for an
insurance agent back when I was20 years old and decided to get
my license since that time.
And I've always beenself-employed since that point
in my life and never looked back, never wanted to work for
anybody else other than myself.
So for me it was, you know,challenging times and but I
(04:51):
found you know in my travelsthat I enjoyed sales.
I enjoyed being considered athought leader.
So I wrote some books, decidedto engage online and see about
opportunities available fornetworking beyond my geography
range, which was in New York,and of course it is quite a
(05:14):
sizable city.
But I wanted to go a little bitbeyond that.
So that's why I decided tocheck out LinkedIn and see what
it offered, and I was impressedthat the offerings were quite
numerous.
I mean, right now there's overwhat 900 million members, I
believe, on the platform, sothat's pretty impressive
statistics.
So it was suddenly a platform Ineeded to master and I wrote
(05:38):
the book the AI LinkedInAdvantage to educate people
about the things that I'velearned and help them become
better at that platform.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So go back.
Let's go back.
You were in insurance and youhad to hustle it.
You had to do the calls, youhad to do the cold calling, you
had to do the little stuff.
What of those principles didyou take to LinkedIn?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I believe it was perseverance.
For me, it was all about seeingthrough the end, and
procrastination was somethingthat I had to overcome, which I
do on occasions to come to butfor the most part it's about not
being afraid of making mistakes, because sometimes that's how
you have to grow that's how youhave to grow.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Would you start your career cold calling on the phone
for an insurance company?
The rest of the world is easy,I would say.
I mean that's about as hard ofa start as you can get.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Oh, it was different times, of course.
You know, back in the day therewas no internet and when you
can call somebody they usuallypick up, which is great.
No voicemail existed.
So those were really the greattimes, and for me it was more
like a game.
I mean, I enjoyed it.
You know, it was something thata lot of the agents didn't want
to do and they paid me money todo it for them.
So I said, okay, I'll take yourmoney, and that one.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
I would do, man, I would tell you Alan is speaking
from my heart on that one too,because you know we use the
phrase uh, us old timers, wedial for dollars.
Uh, nobody ever dials anymore.
But you literally were dialingfor dollars and doing those cold
calls and just and hammeringthem out and you get no, no, no,
you're just looking for a one.
Yes, give me a yes, give me ayes, come on, come on, give me
(07:20):
one.
So, Come on, give me one.
So, were there ever?
Every time you weren't havingfun with it?
Because I've heard so manypeople who did it and said, yes,
I've learned a lot, I'm neverdoing that again.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
You got to look at it as a game and that's how I
looked at it.
For me, it was about you knowwhat I can do.
If I could beat my average fromyesterday, I'll do it, and that
was that I developed over time.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
That's that is the thickest of thick skin.
If you ask me, I just yeah.
I mean, I think it's one out ofa thousand people can survive
in that.
Maybe one out of the thousandcan survive in it and enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
There are some people that are wired to enjoy it.
So, uh, let's talk aboutLinkedIn, because we were all
around when it first started.
When did you first adoptLinkedIn?
When did you first get yourfirst LinkedIn profile and start
using it?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
About 2006,.
I would say it was since theinception of LinkedIn and I
followed all the way throughuntil Microsoft took over, I
believe about 10 years ago.
So it really expanded theirpossibilities compared to before
.
I mean, microsoft is huge andthey invested a lot of money in
the platform and it's paid off,I believe.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
You know, we've actually I've been in a couple
of seminars where they actuallyuse LinkedIn as a corporate
entity that has it right.
They have their mission, theyhave their value system down as
a company.
They do a really good job ofleadership from the top.
But the thing for me atLinkedIn that I found
interesting is you said the samething.
It's just a lot of people.
How do you separate yourself?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
from the noise Very simple.
You establish yourself as athought leader and you write a
book.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Aha, alan, guess what ?
I'll be right back.
I have a book, aha alan, Ithink, guess what?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I'll be right back I have a book.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yes, you do.
From the zoo to the wild, goout there, everybody don't?
Uh, I have to be a thoughtleader.
I was a follower.
I told he said that first.
Oh well, but in chapter seven Isaid the well-placed at the
police works and I will tell youright now there's been a lot of
that thought it's not alwayswell placed this last couple
weeks in my biz but so you hadto be a thought leader.
So let's talk about that alittle bit more.
So you didn't say one of thethings we just talked about was
(09:29):
that you were a solicitor.
You didn't say solicitation,you said I got to be a thought
leader, I got to be.
I got to write a book, I got tobe an authority.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Talk about how.
Come listen to me.
Well, of course, back in theday, uh, publishing was more
challenging than the fact was.
Is that they didn't have whatit has right now with ebooks and
digital printing, where youprint one book at a time,
usually had to print a lot morethan that.
So, uh, it was something that Ineeded to develop, and I did.
As technology improved, Ideveloped and wrote several
books and I found I found thatthis is the only way that's
(10:06):
going to separate me from thecompetition, because the
competition really doesn't havewhat I have, even nowadays.
My book is the only one outthere currently that addresses
both AI and LinkedIn together,and the other LinkedIn trainers
are sweating because they can'treally compete with that.
And the fact is is that I usedinformation as of today or as of
(10:26):
recent to gather the latestresources that people can access
to learn about the technologyand be able to use it to their
advantage, because it makes timemuch easier on the platform,
and if you can save time andtime is money this is definitely
the way to go to use theirtechnology to your advantage.
So give us an example of whenOf the technology.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Yeah, how do I use AI in LinkedIn?
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Give me a simple one, very simple.
Let's take a look at yourprofile, all right, so you would
use something, for example, ofusing, let's say, the graphics
and background of your profileInstead of using an image.
Maybe you want to use somebullet points to kind of share
certain things that are of valuethat somebody is looking at.
(11:11):
You can use AI to focus in,because LinkedIn is also a
search engine.
So, for example, if someonewants to be a guest on your
program, they would be able tofind you.
You'd have to look at.
Well, there's nothingindicating that you know, maybe
you're accepting guests and theywould be.
They'd be able to find you.
You'd have to look at.
Well, there's nothingindicating that you know, maybe
you're accepting guests and thatwould be something you do.
That the AI could create a waythat, if you want to track
(11:32):
guests on your program, theycould put in keywords that are
searchable on LinkedIn, for thatexample.
That's a great way to gathermore interest of people,
especially if you're doing anykind of outreach.
You want to have a profilethat's optimized because you
want to be able to connect withsomeone, so you want to create
things of value, for example,recommendations.
(11:52):
You know who has used yourservices or who's been happy
with your services.
You should focus in on it.
Because a third pointendorsement is really crucial
and a lot of people really don'tlook at that as a big deal, but
it is.
I mean, you have to take a lookat, well, you know, how long
ago did you have your lastrecommendation?
Two years ago, I mean.
(12:14):
You got to be current.
Every opportunity you should dois get a recommendation.
You know someone can say acouple of kind words and that
can make a difference of yougetting the job or getting the
opportunity to connect withsomeone, because maybe they know
that person.
You know that could be aninfluencer.
These are just just some of thetips off the top that I share
in my book.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Man, he nailed it.
Obviously Al's not a politicianbecause he didn't dodge that
question.
Man, he nailed it and put itright there and said here you
want some easy stuff.
That's so easy.
Even I think I can implementsome of those things, but that's
good stuff.
Right there, the recommendationwhat's the last recommendation
you got?
It's been a while.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Oh yeah, and you're a commercial real estate agent,
I'm in commercial real estateand I don't think I have a
recommendation on commercialreal estate.
And the funny thing is, onceupon a time I felt like I
actually went to some classesyou know I've got lots of
connections, I was but then itjust seemed like, uh, I don't
know, it changed and I felt like, in order for me to put out a
(13:08):
post, I had to I don't know,it's something I got, to be
honest with you.
So I'm really struggling withthis.
So maybe you can talk about ita little bit, cause I know you
need to post regularly.
And then you've got some peoplewho are treating it like
Facebook.
You know some people who arejust in your face with promotion
.
And then you have people andI'm going to.
They're just douchey and it'slike, you know, when I was out
(13:30):
volunteering with special needskids, it made me reflect back to
the time.
You know my mentor, blah blah,blah, and I can't figure out
what my voice needs to be inthis world.
Now, was there a question?
It was a.
It was a statement that Ithought he might be able to jump
onto.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
So let me let me put that statement in the form of a
question is it is as somebodywho I, I would say and this is
not a question, well, I'm justlike you out, I cause I felt the
same thing.
I've I've used the term.
I think LinkedIn got noisy.
Um, I feel like I I getsolicitations.
I actually tried to reach outto somebody I personally know on
LinkedIn and he never responded.
I finally had to text him andsay hey, dude, I want to bug you
(14:12):
.
He goes oh, I don't look atthat stuff.
So how do you start dippingyour toe in there?
I mean, if you're like, hey,this is probably something you
should do.
But you talked about optimizing.
But now let's talk about what.
Should we, you said, be athought leader?
What should we be posting?
Or should we be interactingwith other posts?
What should we be doing?
Speaker 1 (14:30):
All right Again, once you've optimized your profile,
because I don't recommend doingany outreach until you do that,
because that's the first thingpeople are going to look at.
So once you've done that, thenyou can look at ideas to become
a leader and you start with anewsletter.
So if you have followers and Ibelieve you have several
thousand followers, I think, um,about 2,800 followers do you
(14:53):
have a newsletter at all?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
I do, Uh and and not on LinkedIn, though you know
what I need to post out there.
But I do hit everybody thatcomes on this podcast, which
you're going to be on now, Well,and I send out a monthly
newsletter talking about thepodcast coming up and some of
the thoughts that I picked upfrom the pods or what's going on
in my biz.
But you're right, I don't putit on LinkedIn.
That's a good point.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
All right, and you can use AI technology to create
content for that newsletter orideas for the newsletter.
So, instead of doing once amonth, how about once a week?
All right, you want to gettraction.
That's four times the amount ofimpressions you can reach
people.
And what's interesting aboutnewsletters on LinkedIn?
It has such a high authority.
So when someone signs up foryour newsletter, not only do
they receive a notification onLinkedIn, but they receive it
(15:35):
outside of LinkedIn, directlyinto their inbox on their email.
Okay, it bypasses spam filters.
Just think about that powerthat it gets in because of the
high authority of LinkedIn.
It just, you know, spanfieldwill say come on in you know,
share your information.
You know, and people are reallyshocked in how impressive the
newsletters work on LinkedIn andyou can do, I believe, up to
(15:56):
five different types ofnewsletters on the platform so
you can specialize.
I work with a lot of referralpartners.
I have financial planners, Ihave attorneys, I've got CPAs.
I have separate newsletters foreach of those individuals and
by specializing that, it reallygets the attention of people who
are subscribing and they lookforward every week to what uh
(16:16):
next article that could be ofvalue to them how about that,
alan?
Speaker 3 (16:22):
are you doing that now?
No, I'm not doing any of this.
I'm listening, all right, I'm.
You know what I'm reallyblowing in mind right now, guys.
Admittedly, this is a blind spotfor me, because that's why Alan
and I were so excited aboutthis.
We're both afraid, and I thinka lot of people probably are
afraid or don't see the valueshort term in it, you know,
depending on your business model.
(16:43):
So I go, do I really?
People ask me, do I getbusiness off LinkedIn?
That's B2B.
I'm like, yeah, well, but youknow what, when I was posting
and I put some stuff out thereabout the podcast, um, we
actually went and did anestimate for somebody who got my
LinkedIn, saw my LinkedInimpression, and says, hey, I
remember Chris and yeah, he's aguy that I used to know when I
was at the bank.
So I need to get some work done.
So let's do it.
(17:03):
So that's a direct one thatworked.
So don't ignore LinkedIn is whatAl's telling you, and if you're
going to do it, you got to doit the right way.
So, number one optimize thatprofile.
Al sits you with that.
Number two thought leader Thinkabout doing a newsletter, doing
stuff like that Third thing andI'd heard about this, al, and
we didn't touch on thisinteracting with other people's
(17:24):
posts.
What do you think of that?
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Yes, the key thing, of course, once your profile is
optimized, is, when you do anykind of outreach, look for
people who are influencers onLinkedIn and you can actually
program in a way that you canfollow these individuals.
I wouldn't necessarily reach outto them to connect, because
most of the time they're notgoing to accept your connection,
but you can follow them.
(17:47):
And what's interesting to noteis that they post at certain
times during the week, so youcan be notified as soon as they
post.
And when they do post, that'sthe time to strike.
You take their information thatyou got from their post, put it
into ChatGPT and ask ChatGPT torespond to this post in a
favorable light and maybe ask aquestion or two, and then take
(18:09):
that and post it underneaththeir particular thing, asking
that influencer a question thatcould be relevant to their
particular post and, guess what?
They're forced to respond to itbecause if they don't, they
don't look good.
So guess what, you're gettingan influencer responding to your
post and they could havehundreds, if not thousands, of
followers reading thatinformation that you posted, and
(18:30):
that's how you get traction onLinkedIn.
All of a sudden, you become,you know, someone of influence
because you're responding to aninfluencer and they may decide
to check out your profile.
You know, guess, what I'mbuying in.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
I'm buying into what you're saying because, uh guys,
this is, uh, I cause that's theone big thing.
I think AI was kind of like SEOback in the day when it first
became out.
Oh, it's SEO.
Oh, you don't understand it.
I understand it.
You pay me millions of dollarsor thousands of dollars and I'll
get it all figured out.
Ooh, here comes AI and Alan'sscared and I'm going to hold his
hand.
Don't worry, little buddy,you're with me, we'll take care
(19:01):
of it.
That.
But I've started to figure out.
It actually has helped me.
I would say how it's helped me.
I took two estimates that myguys had done two years ago for
a lady on three differentprojects that she asked for.
She's now ready to do it.
I went out there, I took theestimates, I uploaded them to
chat.
I did have the $20 paidsubscription.
(19:30):
I said, based on my feedbackhere and the other two estimates
, prepare an estimate for me inan editable Word doc that I can
put back in my CRM system.
Bang, done over, I was donewith that estimate.
Probably would have taken meabout two hours, took me about
20 minutes.
I didn't shortcut the words.
I didn't, because again,there's some things in there
that are always right, guys, butit is always easier to edit
than create.
It gets you out of writer'sblock, it gets you off the snide
(19:50):
, it gets you moving and start.
You start making steps forward.
And that's what al is saying.
I like that idea is.
There's nothing wrong withhaving chat.
Uh, give you an app, an idea toget going again it just seems
so wrong to me I know, I knowyou're against it.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Get off my lawn, you kids that's al I know, but it's
amazing that you can do it.
I know, yeah, read this articleand give you know, make me look
good with an idea and aquestioner to you.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
I mean, that's amazing but but it definitely
gets you off.
Like I said, gets you off thatwriter's clock, you know, and it
gets you moving.
I can't say it's 100 rightright off the bat.
You just don't cut and pasteand go hey, look at me, I'm mr
uh transparent.
I don't know what I wanttalking about chat gpt guy, but
I think he gets you movingunbelievable.
Yeah, wow, that's.
That's powerful stuff what's,what's?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
uh, I will actually phrase this in the form of a
question, chris, so you don'thave to thank you and I'll use
me.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Yes, I'm writing right now.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I'm putting it through chat I'll is your
recommendation on acceptingconnection requests.
My philosophy has always beento I only accept requests from
people I have met, know orthey're just immediately
connected in a circle that I'min.
And I actually read your blogabout responding with IDK for
(21:06):
people that you don't know.
Do you know about IDK?
No, that you don't know, Didyou.
Do you know about ID?
No, yeah, Tell me about that.
Yeah, so what do you?
What?
What is the the the bestapproach?
These?
Speaker 1 (21:16):
days.
Well, again, you may experiencea lot of people interested in
connecting with you and I askthem simply, you know, just to
follow me.
I don't have to accept aconnection.
If you're interested in, youknow connecting with me.
If I don't know you from a holein the wall, I'm not going to
accept your connection period.
But you're allowed to followand I have a lot of people that
(21:38):
are following me that I'm notconnected directly with and
that's fine.
And if they give me a reason toconnect with them, like
something.
But for me, when I've accepteda lot of connections, I find
nine of the 10 of them I getpitch slapped.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
And that's something that's something you can't avoid
.
You just you stole that one,didn't you, chris?
Speaker 3 (21:59):
I am so still that slap it Exactly.
I am not going to sign up withyou insurance guy because Al
from Boca Raton hits me up andsays, hey, can I take a look at
your insurance and help and seeif I can help you with your
insurance?
I'm like Al uh, we just metdude on the podcast, but if I've
never met you, you got zerochance of me giving you my
insurance business Right.
So I mean, if a zero, if youjust come out of nowhere, it's
(22:23):
left.
There is no way.
I'm oh my God, you got me atthe right time.
I really need a new webdesigner.
Oh my God, you were.
You were right.
I don't know, because I alreadyknow 30 of them.
You're right, but you're number31.
I'm going to go with you.
No, you've got to be thatthought leader.
You've got to be authority.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
It goes back to looking at the profile.
So whoever wants to connectwith you, I look at their
profile.
I mean, if the profile isfocusing on SEO and optimization
, all that stuff, I know I'mgoing to get pitch slapped, Okay
.
But if it's someone who's anattorney or maybe they're an
accountant and such, you know,I'll give them some slack and
accept the connection, becauseyou never know the opportunity.
So always look at you know theprofile to see whether or not
(23:02):
it's something that it's a valueto you and then you can judge
whether or not to do that.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
All right.
So go back again, optimize yourprofile, start engaging using
chat to help you engage and bemore witty than you probably are
, alan, and then we can continueon and start working through
things.
Now, one of the things that I'mafraid of is and one thing I
shouldn't say I just wishLinkedIn would give me an
intermediate step, like I boughtinto chat for 20 bucks a month.
(23:29):
It's a Microsoft product.
Come on Right.
So LinkedIn, you're Microsoft.
Why do I have to spend so muchto get the higher profile, the
higher uh accessibility, andtell us why it's worth it.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Well, I guess you're referring to the premium
services of LinkedIn.
I believe so.
There's a premium and a salesnavigator of LinkedIn.
I believe so there's a premiumand a sales navigator.
I use sales navigator and oneof the features I like about
sales navigator it allows you tofind out who is looking at your
profile, which is great.
So if someone doesn't want toconnect with you but maybe they
could be a value, you can reachout to that individual and
(24:02):
either ask to connect or, youknow, just send them a message
and say you know, we checked onmy profile, was there something
I can help you with?
So that's something that youdon't really get on the free
version of LinkedIn.
But also on the sales navigator, you can find if you're
prospecting.
It gives you an opportunity tofind out who's active on
LinkedIn, because most part, alot of people aren't active on
(24:23):
that platform.
You know the more active inother areas.
So you can find out who'sactive on LinkedIn.
If they are, within the past 30days they posted.
Then you have an opportunity toreach out to that individual
and connect with them and reallygive them a reason why you want
to connect is to craftsomething which AI technology
can help you craft a way to givethem a reason to connect with
you.
(24:48):
For example, I connect withsomeone.
I offer them, like a free ebook, you know, something of value.
I don't really offer anyservices, I just try to.
You know, keep it simple and ifthey accept, then that's great.
And then what's alsointeresting is that whoever your
existing connections, youshould also, you know, find out
when they're posting and thenreply to their posts, because
most of the time when they post,nobody really posts after them,
unless they're an influencer.
(25:08):
Nobody really cares.
Most of the posts are prettynarcissistic on LinkedIn and
it's just really got out of hand.
So, but you know, I'll respondto a post.
You know just to be kind to theperson, and sometimes they're
very happy and a lot of times ithelps me to gain business as a
result of that, because I'vegiven them some kindness.
(25:29):
You know like posting or youknow responding to their posts,
and a lot of times that helps.
So that can make a differencein getting more engagement.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
All right, you, you actually hit on something that
maybe you can help pull back thecurtain on this one.
What is active in LinkedIn?
What is the percentage ofpeople who are on it every day?
How long should I be on?
I got tons of questions on this, but let's start with is AI
able to with the sales navigator?
Can you use AI to go out thereand figure out who's on it and
who's most active?
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Well, the sales navigator allows you to find out
who's active.
There's a button in there.
So when you're doing a search,let's say, for people in a
certain geographic range thatare active on LinkedIn, you can
do that.
They'll tell you who's postedin the past 30 days.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
So back to the IDK.
I want to know the answer tothis.
Yeah, you took off.
So I get requests from peoplewho I don't know, and that's
what it stands for.
I don't know, and so basicallyyou're responding to them when I
don't know.
Is that the and LinkedIneventually will lease this
person if they're just sending alot of connection requests
(26:37):
blindly?
Is that how?
Speaker 1 (26:38):
it works.
I think it all depends on themessage that comes along with it
.
I don't usually try to use Idon't know, because no LinkedIn
deems that individual as apossible spammer and that could
hurt their account.
But if someone is going topitch, slap me with their thing
and you know I'll certainly givethem I don't know and them and
they'll usually follow you.
But if you're on the otherreceiving end of it, if you're
(26:59):
connecting with someone youdon't really know they're not a
first or second connection youshould really approach them with
a message that usually would benot salesy.
(27:19):
For the most part it's just Iwant to connect, we know such
and such and thought we have agood idea to reach out and
connect with you.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
All right.
How often should we spend timeon LinkedIn?
So this is the.
I know this is a it dependsquestion, but in general, or
give us some parameters.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
I don't know at least maybe once a day, depending if
you're active on if you'reposting.
I mean, if you're posting, youknow, two, three times a week,
you know you should at leastrespond to the post.
A lot of people just post andghost, you know they think
that's a way to engage withpeople but that's not.
You should be able to respondto someone who's posting, or
after your post and asking aquestion or whatever.
(27:59):
Just you know, respond to them.
And as far as if you're notdoing any posts at all, you
should be active and do at leastonce or twice a week and it
could be in your newsletter.
If you do it once a week, losethe newsletter, that's fine, but
at least as a minimum to showsome, some activity and um that
you have to find out what isyour strategy.
(28:20):
You know what is your, what areyou trying to accomplish?
Um, so if you're, do you havean example of an industry that
um, you guys are working withright now that uses LinkedIn?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Well, it would have to be you, al, because you know
I'm in the home servicesbusiness, so I'm here in Atlanta
.
You know I work on people'shouses.
I will tell you, having lookedat this a lot.
I'll just tell everybody again.
I think this is where you're at.
If you're not doing a monthlynewsletter and you're in home
services, you're missing yourcaptive audience, which is
people who've done work with you, and that's what I do.
Number two you should belooking at Facebook as the
(28:57):
groups and the experience andputting out pictures and
experiences within groups ofpeople who are going to be your
influencers so in my case it'smothers and if you're on
Instagram, you'd be putting outinteresting posts and pictures
that show the foreign appers andgive people ideas of what they
can do on their own.
Now on LinkedIn, I'm interestedin that because we have our
podcast.
We want to help people withsmall business.
Eventually, when I'm done withthe Trusted Toolbox, I want to
(29:20):
help people in business and dosome coaching mastermind groups
but I just haven't pushed thatbutton yet.
But if I'm in commercial realestate, isn't LinkedIn more B2B,
alan?
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Yeah, it is.
I mean we just Chad and I are ahundred percent referral and so
we kind of stay a little bitunder the radar because we don't
necessarily want tighterfigures.
And I mean, once you open, itreally is a Pandora's box of all
kinds of little Ponzi schemesand things, you know real estate
investing cults that are outthere.
(29:51):
And so I just try to figure out, like how do I, how do I
navigate this world and putmyself out there as an expert
without attracting the leghumpers?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Al, that's a question .
While I hold Al's hand, he'sworried.
He does not want the leghumpers, he doesn't want to be
pit slapped.
He's afraid to dip his toe inlinkedin what does he need to do
?
Speaker 2 (30:11):
you know, ignore him and hopefully they follow me, I
guess first thing to do is whoare your referral partners,
right?
Speaker 1 (30:20):
I mean, uh, would a realtor be a referral partner
for you, for example?
Speaker 2 (30:23):
oh, okay, I would say , you know, a commercial banker
would be top of mind.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Anybody else other than commercial bankers.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yeah, attorneys, I mean there's all kinds of things
.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Well, guess what?
These are the areas that youfocus in on and create
newsletters for those types ofreferral partners.
You got bankers, for example.
All right, no reason why youcan't create a newsletter just
for bankers.
And focusing on the homeindustry.
What are their pain points?
What are they trying to dealwith?
I mean, that's something that'sof interest to them.
You focus on the referralpartners.
(30:52):
You'll have more business thanyou can handle.
All right, because what's thebest form of advertising
Referrals?
All right, simply put.
And where are they are?
They're on LinkedIn.
So you focus on thoseindividuals.
Okay, you can use SalesNavigator to find all the
realtors or all the bankerswithin your zip code easily.
Who's active on LinkedIn andfind out when they're posting,
(31:14):
you know, and reply to one oftheir posts.
Get on their radar, okay, andguess what.
Give them value, you know.
Give them an article that maybe helpful.
Talk about a pain point.
Give a case study that youworked with a banker and how it
helped their client, you know,achieve the results they're
looking for.
This is just, alan, you do hatestories on that you do.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Oh yeah, when you tell the stories, I mean I'm
compelled.
Every time you tell this one Iwas like, wow, you're right,
because everything's well.
Nobody thinks commercial realestate's easy, anybody who's
lived that?
If they do, they're an idiot.
Yeah, but I mean it's hard.
Uh, but, but you think yeah,but when you start telling the
stories on why it getscomplicated in Harry and how you
can undo stuff and you've askedme questions before and you you
(31:54):
claim things I'm like, wow,it's.
I mean that's really, it'sdifficult and you're right, you
need to have an expert.
But what's an expert?
Look like I don't know.
I like it, but every time I goto say I'm going to go do it, I
go nah, I'm not going to do it,it's just too much.
(32:15):
You do the month, I'll do it,but do this, I'm not doing that.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
It all depends on how you're trained to do it, and
such have you ever used thepremium service at all?
Speaker 3 (32:26):
No, because even though I've stopped pulling
Alan's hand, everybody.
So now little buddy over hereis nervous because I'm afraid to
pay that money.
Well, here's an idea you neverremount.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Well, actually there's a way I can do it for
you, since I'm part of SalesNavigator and I might be able to
get you two free monthsavailable.
If you've never used it before,you know, which you give you a
chance to try it out, which Ithink is a great thing, because
that's usually it's an $80 valueper month.
Navigator for yourself andlearn about how powerful that
(33:04):
tool is, because if you want toconnect with, let's say, bankers
, uh, you'll find them easilyusing sales navigator when
they're active on LinkedIn andalso reach out in a way that uh
is going to be of interest tothem to connect with you, which
could be something as a casestudy, like an example that you
helped a particular banker in asituation.
That's something that they'relooking for, and there are a lot
of people switching jobs andthey're looking for other
(33:26):
referral partners that they canwork with, so it's a win-win.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
You know everybody, I love it.
I'm going to do it after we'redone with the podcast.
I know Alan's going to do it.
Right, Alan?
Yes, you are the little buddy,let's hand it to you Give me a
bug laying down.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Maybe I'll just say it.
Oh, my hand, let's keep going,let's say Elizabeth Al, how do
your clients work with you?
I mean, what is it specificallythat they ask you to do for
them?
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Well, it depends on the situation.
I do a lot of speakingengagements through associations
, so I'll talk to them abouttopics of interest for their
members.
I do group training as well forcorporations and helping them
optimize their profile.
Working on strategies help thembecome thought leaders.
So it all depends.
I also work on one-on-oneindividuals as well.
(34:13):
It just depends on thecircumstance.
If they're looking for a job,help them develop a profile that
makes them attractive toemployers.
If they're looking for work asan entrepreneur, how to connect
with people who want to dobusiness with them, maybe a
potential referral partner.
So these things I can help themwork on and develop a strategy
that will be effective.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
All right.
So the book doesn't.
It's not your big, it's notyour moneymaker, right?
The book, it's a.
It's the lead generator, ithelps.
So let's, Alan started downthat path.
It's the lead generator, ithelps.
So, Alan started down that path.
Let's go so for you today.
Who are you looking for?
Who is your ultimate avatar?
Who do you like working withright now?
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Well, I love working with referral partners.
I mean, I love working with.
It could be bankers, it couldbe financial planners or
accountants, attorneys.
These are all dealing withclients who have thousands of
businesses and that's anopportunity which is tremendous
because I don't have toadvertise.
I get word of mouth advertising.
So if I do, would you?
Speaker 3 (35:08):
rather do your one-on-one coaching.
Do you like doing the uhspeaking engagements or the
group trainings?
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Um, well, I like one-on-one because it's
convenient.
I can do it from the home, youknow, which is great If it's a
speak engagement, if it's someyou know exotic location, they
pay for me to go out, likeHawaii or Caribbean.
I'm happy to go there for aweek and uh, you know, we've
seen, actually, michigan.
No, uh, it depends on the timeof year, you know no, jackson,
(35:34):
not exotic.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
That's where I grew up, so I could uh, I got it All
right.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
No, that makes some sense, and so you are finding
most of your clients throughyour referral base.
Then, yeah, that's pretty muchit.
I mean it's been really helpful.
The book has been tremendous ingetting me opportunities in
front of people which never Icould have done before without
it.
So I think that's important,because I'm also in a crowded
field of dealing with people whoare so-called LinkedIn experts.
Okay, but you know, most ofthem don't have a book and most
of them don't even have what Ican offer.
You know, not the experience,but the ability to combine AI
(36:06):
and LinkedIn together to make aneffective strategy on the
platform, to save you time andto make quality connections.
That are what it's all about.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
All right, now I'm going to give you my favorite
chat AI question.
What question did I not ask you?
That I should have asked you toget a better answer.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Well where people can find me on my website link
vantagecom, and I also have afree ebook available on how to
optimize your profile on mywebsite.
So go to link vantagecom, checkit out as well, as look for my
book available on Amazon andother fine retailers.
And if you listen to audiobooks, check out Spotify it's
available on that, as well as alook for my book available on
Amazon and other fine retailers.
And if you listen to audiobooks, check out Spotify it's
available on that as well.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
And we'll say, on his website he's got a lot of great
blog articles, so you canactually be a little bit of a
stalker and and get some goodnuggets, Just uh, just looking
at that, you know.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
I think, uh, you've got a great call funnel system
because you're right, Al cancome optimize your LinkedIn rice
.
But you know you're afraid.
I mean I'm holding a littlebuddy's hand over here right now
and Alan and I are going to gooff into the sunset and make
beautiful music in LinkedIn.
But you can, you can do youroptimization.
Read his ebook and I agree withyou, I think that's the easy
(37:16):
one.
Then you start to see the valuethere, Then you start to see
what he could really unlock andwhat he could do If you've got a
big enough team, and what youcould do with that.
I've seen other guys, uh, who Iknow in the industries that I
left, that are doing a great job.
There are huge companies and Iwon't name them, Um, but their
software and they rhyme with, uh, Teradata and they rhyme with
IBM, but they are thoughtleaders in their thing.
(37:39):
And I I I reached out to theseguys.
I'm like so IBM and Teraday arecool with this?
And they're like, oh, yeah,they actually are telling me to
keep doing it because they havetaglines for being data guys.
Now they're thought leaders intheir industry, Um, and it's
also bringing in other peopleinto their world, and they're
not even entrepreneurs.
These guys are still in the big, big world doing it?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Do you have your sales guys?
I mean, do you ever focus ontheir LinkedIn profile?
Speaker 3 (38:03):
You know, we did it, uh, we did it, uh, moons ago and
I need to do it again.
In fact, that's exactly what Iwas going to take away from this
is that, uh, I'm going to gosit down with everyone and say,
guys, we have the trustedtoolbox out there.
We are your premium homeservices company Atlanta.
You should have that.
Add your tagline in yourestimated profile and you should
be engaging with people,because, you never know, people
(38:24):
will see it.
And then, yeah, I need to dobetter and I need to get my
newsletter.
So now I'm going to get thatout there with them this is an
opportunity.
Yeah, I got a lot of work to do.
Dang it, guys.
I hope he's driving around yourcar.
You know what I'm gonna have aI'm gonna have ai start leaving
my meetings.
I think those guys would itbetter.
It would be a lot less epitome.
Does AI swear as much as you do?
There's no way.
I just heard a great quotegoing through football.
(38:47):
A football player just switchedout of Georgia and he says so.
Who has a better swear game?
Your current coach or KirbySmart?
He goes, oh, there's noquestion, he goes.
Kirby Hanson.
I was like, yeah, you know whatI feel?
I feel like I'm gonna link inwith kirby and go.
I bet you I have a better sweargame, brother, because, as we
(39:07):
uh we may have heard this on oneof the past episodes I said, as
I said, I was yelling at one ofthe guys because it came to
that point.
It was just so bad I don't dothis that often and I lost it
and I uh let him have it and uh,my general manager looked at me
in the room and he said I don'tknow exactly what you said, but
you definitely got your pointacross.
(39:28):
That's not LinkedIn, al.
That's not why you're here.
So go check it out LinkedIn,linked advantage, linked
advantagecom.
You got a lot of freebies.
That's a great step up.
Get a little taste of it man,try it out a little bit and then
, if that was a good fit for you, I think he'd be a great fit to
talk to for a minute, becausethis podcast has been dynamite
man, figuring out all thislittle stuff, all the little
things you can do.
(39:48):
Let me ask you one questionbefore we go into our final four
questions the future of AI.
And I'm not talking like 10years, just give me the next six
months.
This thing is moving soflipping fast.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
Well, I think there's a lot of new technology out
there and it's always improving,and I think the idea, of course
, is to try out Start Simplewith you know whether it's a
chat, gpt or other platformsthat are using AI and it's
really been helpful in many ways.
I've known examples of peopleusing it beyond businesses.
(40:25):
I think one example was I readabout a father was looking for a
doll for his daughter which wasout of stock, and he did
something with ChatGBT or someother platform that uh contacted
various retailers, um, within a500 mile radius, to see if the
(40:46):
doll was in stock, and it did itautomatically.
He wasn't doing it himself.
The AI technology was callingon his behalf and reaching out
and asking do you have this dollin stock?
And uh, it must've went through, I don't know, over a hundred
different retailers.
We found somebody who was uhable to uh say yes, we do have
it available, and uh, sureenough, it saved him a lot of
(41:06):
time and effort and the?
Uh, the child is um forevergrateful for finding this unique
doll that is in demand and um,that's just the future right
there.
I think it's a great technologyto help you.
Speaker 3 (41:18):
After that, after that explanation, name one doll
that's come to your mind.
Right now.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
All I'm thinking about is I'm going to go hide in
my closet and suck my thumbwith it.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
You're thinking Chucky, I know you are You're
thinking that doll's going tocome out and kill me.
No, he said, he bound the doll.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yeah, it wasn't a Barbie, it was some Japanese
doll, I believe, which is realpopular on Netflix or something
I don't recall, but apparentlyit's just taking off.
It was kind of like, you know,when Beanie Babies were back in
the day, you know, real popular.
This is the new Beanie Baby.
I'll probably remember thisafter the program, but it just
shows you that the AI technologyis so advanced that it can
(41:55):
actually do calls on your behalfto reach out to people and, you
know, find out answers that youdon't have time to do it out to
people and, um, you know, findout answers that you don't have
time to do it.
So that's really great.
So I see the future as a as agreat tool.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Speaking of Beanie Babies, you know that guy made
so much money.
He owns Cousin Brad's CountryClub.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
No way, yeah, oh my God, hey, you know we had not
brought Cousin Brad back up in along time.
I know we're going to LinkedInAI and just stalk him.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
We just got a baby.
Just talk to him.
We don't even have to talk tohim you don't?
Speaker 3 (42:26):
Oh God, that'd be so great.
I'm kidding Brad, I'm kiddingbuddy.
I can't wait to talk to youagain.
It's all good, it's a great, Al.
This has been awesome, but Ithink it's time to go to our
final four questions.
Ellen, are you ready?
I am ready.
All right, brought to you byQualified Applicants, your
recruiting source for all yourneeds.
(42:46):
They've helped me for so manydifferent things.
I got another ad in here, but Iwant to plug them again.
Tina and Megan and their staffnow has been doing a great job.
They're doing it nationwide.
They're helping all kinds ofhome service companies,
professional services companiesfind the right talent, because
what they're doing is they'remarketing, not recruiting, to
get you the right person to yourjob and the person you're
(43:09):
looking for.
And they put up with you andthey do put up with me a lot.
That's a big outdoors lie.
All right back to my app times.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
Let's go to the number one question, Al, besides
your book give us a book you'drecommend to our audience, Um
Atomic Habits, I believe.
Speaker 3 (43:27):
James Cleary beautiful small stuff, little
things.
Just had Don Martell brought upagain to me, and outside I was
like holy crap, I'm, I'm exactlytwo chapters in on Don Martell.
But, um, if you knew the way Iwould did Stephen Covey and his
uh, uh, seven habits, I was twoand a half habits in for at
least two and a half years.
So, um, don't worry, I'll getthere.
(43:47):
Um, but I do need a new.
You know, can I get clip notesagain?
Uh, anyway, all right, al,great fun, that's a great one.
All right, you ready.
What's the favorite feature ofyour home?
Favorite, what feature of yourhome?
Speaker 1 (44:00):
I am a favorite feature of my.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
I want to hear about your home.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
I would say it's the view.
I mean, we have a water viewand, overlooking that, there's
kind of like a little islandwith birds on it.
It's almost like a birdsanctuary.
So we get to see that every day, which is awesome.
You see the ducks and the localflowers I mean sometimes a pink
flamingo.
We get a chance to come acrossour view, which is awesome, so
(44:26):
we just love the view.
Speaker 3 (44:27):
Dude, I'm not lying, this is the most I've seen.
Al light up the entire podcastI know Was his view.
It clearly was not talking toAl and Chris.
So thank you, al, for sharingthat and I'm glad we could bring
a little joy to you over theselast few minutes.
Oh, happy he got fired up, dude, I know I want to see that view
.
In fact, after he's going tohave to have to show us that
(44:48):
view, so maybe you can see it onYouTube.
We'll see later, guys, we'llcheck it out.
All right, let's go to thethird question, shall we?
We talk a lot about customerservice?
We haven't much today, well,but we do.
But we kind of our customerservice freaks.
Hello, let's go.
Horse kid, you got to come onhorse shultzy, I'm looking for
you, baby.
All right, what's a customerservice?
Pet peeve of yours when you'reout and you're the customer?
Speaker 1 (45:13):
um, I think a lot of times that they don't really
understand what I'm offering andthey kind of lop me together
with other salespeople andthey'll really see the value
that that I bring to the table.
And a lot of it has to do withnot really taking the time to
really, you know, invest intheir business, and a lot of
(45:35):
times that's what they do.
They don't have, they don'thave a passion for it.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
If you don't have a passion for doing what you like
to do, then it's you shouldn'thave a passion for doing what
you like to do, then it's, youshouldn't be in that profession.
Yeah, man, all right, let'stalk about the last one.
I love working on homes.
That's why I got in thisbusiness.
I, uh, was a diy-er for all mylife.
Um, not because I wanted to isbecause my dad made me and next
thing, you know, he, he did thisto me.
I'm in this business.
It's his fault.
I still blame dad.
(45:59):
Um al, I don't know how muchyou've worked on houses, but we
want a DIY nightmare story.
A contractor, because we knowwe all suck contractors.
Get better at what you're doing.
We all got to get better atwhat we're doing, but give me a
DIY nightmare story.
Speaker 1 (46:14):
Well, when I bought my home 10 years ago, it was
pretty much had to be gutted outbecause it was really I mean,
the house is from 1973, so youreally had to do a lot of
updating.
So it was a matter of hiringcontractors.
It was really a trial and errorfor the most part, and getting
(46:35):
quotes that were from outrageousto maybe conservative, but then
you know, the work with Shdy orthe individual wasn't really on
time and, um, I've had a recentwork done in the home.
That was good, but it was achallenge to find someone who
was affordable.
And, uh, I was able to use, uh,the internet to reach and
(46:56):
connect with people on aplatform called next door, I'm
sure if you're familiar withthat on a platform called
Nextdoor I'm not sure if you'refamiliar with that, but it's
kind of an app that you use andit's kind of like a Facebook,
but for local neighbors.
Yeah, we are, yeah, we use it,and I was able to find people,
what other people recommendedand connected with these people.
(47:16):
They left their phone numberand I was able to text about I
don't know 40 or 50 contractorsto get some quotes and it works
very effectively and connectwith people and find somebody
who is reasonable and was hungryfor business, and I was able to
get great work as a result.
Speaker 3 (47:35):
Good, Awesome, Al once again.
How can everybody find?
Speaker 1 (47:38):
you Go to my website, linkvantagecom.
Follow me on LinkedIn, ofcourse, happy to accept new
followers and connect with me.
It's also good too.
And check out my book.
It's available on Amazon.
It's available in Barnes, nobleall the fine retailers Like
audiobooks.
Check out on Audible andSpotify.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
All right, everybody, if you don't learn something,
that's on you.
I started out with it.
I'm going to end with it.
Alan, we have got to learnsomething.
Alan and I got work to do.
We're going to connect with Al.
We're going to go try that linkbandage.
We're going to go try outeverything else in Sales
Navigator.
Keep going up that mountain.
Go, make it happen.
Man, life isn't easy.
Business is easy.
Pick your heart, choose yourheart, make your.
Choose your heart, make yourheart and let's go win.
Yeah, go, cheers everybody.
(48:20):
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Small Business
Safari.
Remember, your positiveattitude will help you achieve
that higher altitude you'relooking for in a wild world of
small business ownership.
And until next time.
For me, when I've accepted a lot of connections, I
find nine of the 10 of them.
I get pitch slapped and that'ssomething.
That's something you can'tavoid.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
You just you stole that one, didn't you, chris?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
I am still that slapping Exactly.
I am not going to sign up withyou insurance guy because Al
from Boca Raton hits me up andsays, hey, can I take a look at
your insurance and help and seeif I can help you with your
insurance.
I'm like, oh, we just met dudeon the podcast, but if I've
never met you, you got zerochance of me giving you my
insurance business right.
So I mean, it makes zero.
(00:33):
If you just come out of nowhere, it's left.
There is no way.
I'm oh my God, you got me atthe right time.
I really need a new webdesigner.
Oh my God, you were right.
I don't know, because I alreadyknow 30 of them.
You're right, but you're number31.
I'm going to go with you.
Welcome to the Small BusinessSafari, where I help guide you
to avoid those traps, pitfallsand dangers that lurk when
(00:54):
navigating the wild world ofsmall business ownership.
I'll share those gold nuggetsof information and invite guests
to help accelerate your ascentto that mountaintop of success.
It's a jungle out there and Iwant to help you traverse
through the levels of owningyour own business that can get
you bogged down and distract youfrom hitting your own personal
and professional goals.
So strap in adventure team andlet's take a ride through the
safari and get you to themountaintop.
(01:25):
Hi, she's back, we're back,let's get going.
Everybody, this is going to beyour time, your time, and I said
it to my team this morning Ifyou don't learn something today,
man, that's on you.
We're going to have some fun.
Today.
We're going to talk aboutsomething that all of us need to
be in.
I don't care what industryyou're in, what you think you do
, what you don't do.
You've got to use this vehicleto understand what's going on.
(01:45):
So we have not talked aboutthis in quite a while, and I
know Alan is is really excitedabout it because it's very close
to what your business is allabout, isn't it?
I am terrified of thisconversation, terrified and
excited all at once.
Oh, is that?
Yeah, that's you.
That sounds like.
Uh, it sounds like, eyes wideshut, terrified and excited,
almost saying Brett.
But yeah, man, we're havingsome good times.
(02:08):
Uh, we are in the heat, uh, theAtlanta heat, and I, uh, I had
to go out and do some estimateslast week.
I actually am working in thebiz, uh, not getting to have a
lot of fun, but, uh, but havinga lot of fun, cause I love going
out there and talking to people.
But I go around, I'm looking atsomebody's deck outside, it's
94 degrees, it's 155,000%humidity, and these people keep
(02:29):
me right in the sun and go okay,well, what do you think?
And so I'm trying to explain tohim what's going on and I'm
telling you, dude, I burst intoflames.
I had sweat dripping down myface.
I was like this is not goingwell.
I was like why would you buyfrom somebody who's just?
I mean, when I got in my truck,I mean not only were the pits
sweating, I mean the whole thingwas.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
I mean, you can't go to your mailbox without just
having to burn your clothes.
We don't light on fire becausethey're too hot.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
How do you present a professional?
Hey, I'm different thaneverybody else Handyman
remodeling company when I'm justsitting there just bursting in
flames.
I've said that wasn't the mostprofessional, so still in the
balance.
They haven't said no to me yeton the estimate because I was in
my wheelhouse and talking aboutwhat I knew.
But I will say, of all thesales stuff that we talk about
(03:15):
here and I listen to anotherpodcast, I would not say that if
you had the video on me you'dgo.
Oh, he nailed it.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
He's like bless his heart.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Bless your heart.
Heart, you are dying, are you?
I'm like?
Yes, as a matter of fact, we amall right.
So here we are.
Al is our ai linkedinstrategist, and that's who we're
going to use him today.
Al kushner is originally frombrooklyn, new york, but he's
escaped new york and lives inbocaon, where I just got done
complaining about humidity.
But, al, talk to me, buddy,that's horrible humidity, right.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, but I think probably Atlanta, as it's known
as Hotlanta, is certainlyprobably even more humid, I
imagine.
But it's just how it is.
You got to stay indoors, keepcool, drink plenty of cold
liquids.
You know you make it throughyou know it's only through.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
You know, let's have one now.
How long shall we?
A little bourbon, let's getgoing, Al so Al, just give us a
brief history about how you gothere, so you know what'd you do,
come out of school, what wereyour jobs you did, and then
how'd you get turned on to thiswhole LinkedIn thing in thing.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I started, I would say, in school.
I had worked part-time as atelephone solicitor for an
insurance agent back when I was20 years old and decided to get
my license since that time.
And I've always beenself-employed since that point
in my life and never looked back, never wanted to work for
anybody else other than myself.
So for me it was, you know,challenging times and but I
(04:51):
found you know in my travelsthat I enjoyed sales.
I enjoyed being considered athought leader.
So I wrote some books, decidedto engage online and see about
opportunities available fornetworking beyond my geography
range, which was in New York,and of course it is quite a
(05:14):
sizable city.
But I wanted to go a little bitbeyond that.
So that's why I decided tocheck out LinkedIn and see what
it offered, and I was impressedthat the offerings were quite
numerous.
I mean, right now there's overwhat 900 million members, I
believe, on the platform, sothat's pretty impressive
statistics.
So it was suddenly a platform Ineeded to master and I wrote
(05:38):
the book the AI LinkedInAdvantage to educate people
about the things that I'velearned and help them become
better at that platform.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So go back.
Let's go back.
You were in insurance and youhad to hustle it.
You had to do the calls, youhad to do the cold calling, you
had to do the little stuff.
What of those principles didyou take to LinkedIn?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I believe it was perseverance.
For me, it was all about seeingthrough the end, and
procrastination was somethingthat I had to overcome, which I
do on occasions to come to butfor the most part it's about not
being afraid of making mistakes, because sometimes that's how
you have to grow that's how youhave to grow.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Would you start your career cold calling on the phone
for an insurance company?
The rest of the world is easy,I would say.
I mean that's about as hard ofa start as you can get.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Oh, it was different times, of course.
You know, back in the day therewas no internet and when you
can call somebody they usuallypick up, which is great.
No voicemail existed.
So those were really the greattimes, and for me it was more
like a game.
I mean, I enjoyed it.
You know, it was something thata lot of the agents didn't want
to do and they paid me money todo it for them.
So I said, okay, I'll take yourmoney, and that one.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
I would do, man, I would tell you Alan is speaking
from my heart on that one too,because you know we use the
phrase uh, us old timers, wedial for dollars.
Uh, nobody ever dials anymore.
But you literally were dialingfor dollars and doing those cold
calls and just and hammeringthem out and you get no, no, no,
you're just looking for a one.
Yes, give me a yes, give me ayes, come on, come on, give me
(07:20):
one.
So, Come on, give me one.
So, were there ever?
Every time you weren't havingfun with it?
Because I've heard so manypeople who did it and said, yes,
I've learned a lot, I'm neverdoing that again.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
You got to look at it as a game and that's how I
looked at it.
For me, it was about you knowwhat I can do.
If I could beat my average fromyesterday, I'll do it, and that
was that I developed over time.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
That's that is the thickest of thick skin.
If you ask me, I just yeah.
I mean, I think it's one out ofa thousand people can survive
in that.
Maybe one out of the thousandcan survive in it and enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
There are some people that are wired to enjoy it.
So, uh, let's talk aboutLinkedIn, because we were all
around when it first started.
When did you first adoptLinkedIn?
When did you first get yourfirst LinkedIn profile and start
using it?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
About 2006,.
I would say it was since theinception of LinkedIn and I
followed all the way throughuntil Microsoft took over, I
believe about 10 years ago.
So it really expanded theirpossibilities compared to before
.
I mean, microsoft is huge andthey invested a lot of money in
the platform and it's paid off,I believe.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
You know, we've actually I've been in a couple
of seminars where they actuallyuse LinkedIn as a corporate
entity that has it right.
They have their mission, theyhave their value system down as
a company.
They do a really good job ofleadership from the top.
But the thing for me atLinkedIn that I found
interesting is you said the samething.
It's just a lot of people.
How do you separate yourself?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
from the noise Very simple.
You establish yourself as athought leader and you write a
book.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Aha, alan, guess what ?
I'll be right back.
I have a book, aha alan, Ithink, guess what?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I'll be right back I have a book.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yes, you do.
From the zoo to the wild, goout there, everybody don't?
Uh, I have to be a thoughtleader.
I was a follower.
I told he said that first.
Oh well, but in chapter seven Isaid the well-placed at the
police works and I will tell youright now there's been a lot of
that thought it's not alwayswell placed this last couple
weeks in my biz but so you hadto be a thought leader.
So let's talk about that alittle bit more.
So you didn't say one of thethings we just talked about was
(09:29):
that you were a solicitor.
You didn't say solicitation,you said I got to be a thought
leader, I got to be.
I got to write a book, I got tobe an authority.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Talk about how.
Come listen to me.
Well, of course, back in theday, uh, publishing was more
challenging than the fact was.
Is that they didn't have whatit has right now with ebooks and
digital printing, where youprint one book at a time,
usually had to print a lot morethan that.
So, uh, it was something that Ineeded to develop, and I did.
As technology improved, Ideveloped and wrote several
books and I found I found thatthis is the only way that's
(10:06):
going to separate me from thecompetition, because the
competition really doesn't havewhat I have, even nowadays.
My book is the only one outthere currently that addresses
both AI and LinkedIn together,and the other LinkedIn trainers
are sweating because they can'treally compete with that.
And the fact is is that I usedinformation as of today or as of
(10:26):
recent to gather the latestresources that people can access
to learn about the technologyand be able to use it to their
advantage, because it makes timemuch easier on the platform,
and if you can save time andtime is money this is definitely
the way to go to use theirtechnology to your advantage.
So give us an example of whenOf the technology.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Yeah, how do I use AI in LinkedIn?
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Give me a simple one, very simple.
Let's take a look at yourprofile, all right, so you would
use something, for example, ofusing, let's say, the graphics
and background of your profileInstead of using an image.
Maybe you want to use somebullet points to kind of share
certain things that are of valuethat somebody is looking at.
(11:11):
You can use AI to focus in,because LinkedIn is also a
search engine.
So, for example, if someonewants to be a guest on your
program, they would be able tofind you.
You'd have to look at.
Well, there's nothingindicating that you know, maybe
you're accepting guests and theywould be.
They'd be able to find you.
You'd have to look at.
Well, there's nothingindicating that you know, maybe
you're accepting guests and thatwould be something you do.
That the AI could create a waythat, if you want to track
(11:32):
guests on your program, theycould put in keywords that are
searchable on LinkedIn, for thatexample.
That's a great way to gathermore interest of people,
especially if you're doing anykind of outreach.
You want to have a profilethat's optimized because you
want to be able to connect withsomeone, so you want to create
things of value, for example,recommendations.
(11:52):
You know who has used yourservices or who's been happy
with your services.
You should focus in on it.
Because a third pointendorsement is really crucial
and a lot of people really don'tlook at that as a big deal, but
it is.
I mean, you have to take a lookat, well, you know, how long
ago did you have your lastrecommendation?
Two years ago, I mean.
(12:14):
You got to be current.
Every opportunity you should dois get a recommendation.
You know someone can say acouple of kind words and that
can make a difference of yougetting the job or getting the
opportunity to connect withsomeone, because maybe they know
that person.
You know that could be aninfluencer.
These are just just some of thetips off the top that I share
in my book.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Man, he nailed it.
Obviously Al's not a politicianbecause he didn't dodge that
question.
Man, he nailed it and put itright there and said here you
want some easy stuff.
That's so easy.
Even I think I can implementsome of those things, but that's
good stuff.
Right there, the recommendationwhat's the last recommendation
you got?
It's been a while.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Oh yeah, and you're a commercial real estate agent,
I'm in commercial real estateand I don't think I have a
recommendation on commercialreal estate.
And the funny thing is, onceupon a time I felt like I
actually went to some classesyou know I've got lots of
connections, I was but then itjust seemed like, uh, I don't
know, it changed and I felt like, in order for me to put out a
(13:08):
post, I had to I don't know,it's something I got, to be
honest with you.
So I'm really struggling withthis.
So maybe you can talk about ita little bit, cause I know you
need to post regularly.
And then you've got some peoplewho are treating it like
Facebook.
You know some people who arejust in your face with promotion
.
And then you have people andI'm going to.
They're just douchey and it'slike, you know, when I was out
(13:30):
volunteering with special needskids, it made me reflect back to
the time.
You know my mentor, blah blah,blah, and I can't figure out
what my voice needs to be inthis world.
Now, was there a question?
It was a.
It was a statement that Ithought he might be able to jump
onto.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
So let me let me put that statement in the form of a
question is it is as somebodywho I, I would say and this is
not a question, well, I'm justlike you out, I cause I felt the
same thing.
I've I've used the term.
I think LinkedIn got noisy.
Um, I feel like I I getsolicitations.
I actually tried to reach outto somebody I personally know on
LinkedIn and he never responded.
I finally had to text him andsay hey, dude, I want to bug you
(14:12):
.
He goes oh, I don't look atthat stuff.
So how do you start dippingyour toe in there?
I mean, if you're like, hey,this is probably something you
should do.
But you talked about optimizing.
But now let's talk about what.
Should we, you said, be athought leader?
What should we be posting?
Or should we be interactingwith other posts?
What should we be doing?
Speaker 1 (14:30):
All right Again, once you've optimized your profile,
because I don't recommend doingany outreach until you do that,
because that's the first thingpeople are going to look at.
So once you've done that, thenyou can look at ideas to become
a leader and you start with anewsletter.
So if you have followers and Ibelieve you have several
thousand followers, I think, um,about 2,800 followers do you
(14:53):
have a newsletter at all?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
I do, Uh and and not on LinkedIn, though you know
what I need to post out there.
But I do hit everybody thatcomes on this podcast, which
you're going to be on now, Well,and I send out a monthly
newsletter talking about thepodcast coming up and some of
the thoughts that I picked upfrom the pods or what's going on
in my biz.
But you're right, I don't putit on LinkedIn.
That's a good point.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
All right, and you can use AI technology to create
content for that newsletter orideas for the newsletter.
So, instead of doing once amonth, how about once a week?
All right, you want to gettraction.
That's four times the amount ofimpressions you can reach
people.
And what's interesting aboutnewsletters on LinkedIn?
It has such a high authority.
So when someone signs up foryour newsletter, not only do
they receive a notification onLinkedIn, but they receive it
(15:35):
outside of LinkedIn, directlyinto their inbox on their email.
Okay, it bypasses spam filters.
Just think about that powerthat it gets in because of the
high authority of LinkedIn.
It just, you know, spanfieldwill say come on in you know,
share your information.
You know, and people are reallyshocked in how impressive the
newsletters work on LinkedIn andyou can do, I believe, up to
(15:56):
five different types ofnewsletters on the platform so
you can specialize.
I work with a lot of referralpartners.
I have financial planners, Ihave attorneys, I've got CPAs.
I have separate newsletters foreach of those individuals and
by specializing that, it reallygets the attention of people who
are subscribing and they lookforward every week to what uh
(16:16):
next article that could be ofvalue to them how about that,
alan?
Speaker 3 (16:22):
are you doing that now?
No, I'm not doing any of this.
I'm listening, all right, I'm.
You know what I'm reallyblowing in mind right now, guys.
Admittedly, this is a blind spotfor me, because that's why Alan
and I were so excited aboutthis.
We're both afraid, and I thinka lot of people probably are
afraid or don't see the valueshort term in it, you know,
depending on your business model.
(16:43):
So I go, do I really?
People ask me, do I getbusiness off LinkedIn?
That's B2B.
I'm like, yeah, well, but youknow what, when I was posting
and I put some stuff out thereabout the podcast, um, we
actually went and did anestimate for somebody who got my
LinkedIn, saw my LinkedInimpression, and says, hey, I
remember Chris and yeah, he's aguy that I used to know when I
was at the bank.
So I need to get some work done.
So let's do it.
(17:03):
So that's a direct one thatworked.
So don't ignore LinkedIn is whatAl's telling you, and if you're
going to do it, you got to doit the right way.
So, number one optimize thatprofile.
Al sits you with that.
Number two thought leader Thinkabout doing a newsletter, doing
stuff like that Third thing andI'd heard about this, al, and
we didn't touch on thisinteracting with other people's
(17:24):
posts.
What do you think of that?
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Yes, the key thing, of course, once your profile is
optimized, is, when you do anykind of outreach, look for
people who are influencers onLinkedIn and you can actually
program in a way that you canfollow these individuals.
I wouldn't necessarily reach outto them to connect, because
most of the time they're notgoing to accept your connection,
but you can follow them.
(17:47):
And what's interesting to noteis that they post at certain
times during the week, so youcan be notified as soon as they
post.
And when they do post, that'sthe time to strike.
You take their information thatyou got from their post, put it
into ChatGPT and ask ChatGPT torespond to this post in a
favorable light and maybe ask aquestion or two, and then take
(18:09):
that and post it underneaththeir particular thing, asking
that influencer a question thatcould be relevant to their
particular post and, guess what?
They're forced to respond to itbecause if they don't, they
don't look good.
So guess what, you're gettingan influencer responding to your
post and they could havehundreds, if not thousands, of
followers reading thatinformation that you posted, and
(18:30):
that's how you get traction onLinkedIn.
All of a sudden, you become,you know, someone of influence
because you're responding to aninfluencer and they may decide
to check out your profile.
You know, guess, what I'mbuying in.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
I'm buying into what you're saying because, uh guys,
this is, uh, I cause that's theone big thing.
I think AI was kind of like SEOback in the day when it first
became out.
Oh, it's SEO.
Oh, you don't understand it.
I understand it.
You pay me millions of dollarsor thousands of dollars and I'll
get it all figured out.
Ooh, here comes AI and Alan'sscared and I'm going to hold his
hand.
Don't worry, little buddy,you're with me, we'll take care
(19:01):
of it.
That.
But I've started to figure out.
It actually has helped me.
I would say how it's helped me.
I took two estimates that myguys had done two years ago for
a lady on three differentprojects that she asked for.
She's now ready to do it.
I went out there, I took theestimates, I uploaded them to
chat.
I did have the $20 paidsubscription.
(19:30):
I said, based on my feedbackhere and the other two estimates
, prepare an estimate for me inan editable Word doc that I can
put back in my CRM system.
Bang, done over, I was donewith that estimate.
Probably would have taken meabout two hours, took me about
20 minutes.
I didn't shortcut the words.
I didn't, because again,there's some things in there
that are always right, guys, butit is always easier to edit
than create.
It gets you out of writer'sblock, it gets you off the snide
(19:50):
, it gets you moving and start.
You start making steps forward.
And that's what al is saying.
I like that idea is.
There's nothing wrong withhaving chat.
Uh, give you an app, an idea toget going again it just seems
so wrong to me I know, I knowyou're against it.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Get off my lawn, you kids that's al I know, but it's
amazing that you can do it.
I know, yeah, read this articleand give you know, make me look
good with an idea and aquestioner to you.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
I mean, that's amazing but but it definitely
gets you off.
Like I said, gets you off thatwriter's clock, you know, and it
gets you moving.
I can't say it's 100 rightright off the bat.
You just don't cut and pasteand go hey, look at me, I'm mr
uh transparent.
I don't know what I wanttalking about chat gpt guy, but
I think he gets you movingunbelievable.
Yeah, wow, that's.
That's powerful stuff what's,what's?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
uh, I will actually phrase this in the form of a
question, chris, so you don'thave to thank you and I'll use
me.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Yes, I'm writing right now.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I'm putting it through chat I'll is your
recommendation on acceptingconnection requests.
My philosophy has always beento I only accept requests from
people I have met, know orthey're just immediately
connected in a circle that I'min.
And I actually read your blogabout responding with IDK for
(21:06):
people that you don't know.
Do you know about IDK?
No, that you don't know, Didyou.
Do you know about ID?
No, yeah, Tell me about that.
Yeah, so what do you?
What?
What is the the the bestapproach?
These?
Speaker 1 (21:16):
days.
Well, again, you may experiencea lot of people interested in
connecting with you and I askthem simply, you know, just to
follow me.
I don't have to accept aconnection.
If you're interested in, youknow connecting with me.
If I don't know you from a holein the wall, I'm not going to
accept your connection period.
But you're allowed to followand I have a lot of people that
(21:38):
are following me that I'm notconnected directly with and
that's fine.
And if they give me a reason toconnect with them, like
something.
But for me, when I've accepteda lot of connections, I find
nine of the 10 of them I getpitch slapped.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
And that's something that's something you can't avoid
.
You just you stole that one,didn't you, chris?
Speaker 3 (21:59):
I am so still that slap it Exactly.
I am not going to sign up withyou insurance guy because Al
from Boca Raton hits me up andsays, hey, can I take a look at
your insurance and help and seeif I can help you with your
insurance?
I'm like Al uh, we just metdude on the podcast, but if I've
never met you, you got zerochance of me giving you my
insurance business Right.
So I mean, if a zero, if youjust come out of nowhere, it's
(22:23):
left.
There is no way.
I'm oh my God, you got me atthe right time.
I really need a new webdesigner.
Oh my God, you were.
You were right.
I don't know, because I alreadyknow 30 of them.
You're right, but you're number31.
I'm going to go with you.
No, you've got to be thatthought leader.
You've got to be authority.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
It goes back to looking at the profile.
So whoever wants to connectwith you, I look at their
profile.
I mean, if the profile isfocusing on SEO and optimization
, all that stuff, I know I'mgoing to get pitch slapped, Okay
.
But if it's someone who's anattorney or maybe they're an
accountant and such, you know,I'll give them some slack and
accept the connection, becauseyou never know the opportunity.
So always look at you know theprofile to see whether or not
(23:02):
it's something that it's a valueto you and then you can judge
whether or not to do that.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
All right.
So go back again, optimize yourprofile, start engaging using
chat to help you engage and bemore witty than you probably are
, alan, and then we can continueon and start working through
things.
Now, one of the things that I'mafraid of is and one thing I
shouldn't say I just wishLinkedIn would give me an
intermediate step, like I boughtinto chat for 20 bucks a month.
(23:29):
It's a Microsoft product.
Come on Right.
So LinkedIn, you're Microsoft.
Why do I have to spend so muchto get the higher profile, the
higher uh accessibility, andtell us why it's worth it.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Well, I guess you're referring to the premium
services of LinkedIn.
I believe so.
There's a premium and a salesnavigator of LinkedIn.
I believe so there's a premiumand a sales navigator.
I use sales navigator and oneof the features I like about
sales navigator it allows you tofind out who is looking at your
profile, which is great.
So if someone doesn't want toconnect with you but maybe they
could be a value, you can reachout to that individual and
(24:02):
either ask to connect or, youknow, just send them a message
and say you know, we checked onmy profile, was there something
I can help you with?
So that's something that youdon't really get on the free
version of LinkedIn.
But also on the sales navigator, you can find if you're
prospecting.
It gives you an opportunity tofind out who's active on
LinkedIn, because most part, alot of people aren't active on
(24:23):
that platform.
You know the more active inother areas.
So you can find out who'sactive on LinkedIn.
If they are, within the past 30days they posted.
Then you have an opportunity toreach out to that individual
and connect with them and reallygive them a reason why you want
to connect is to craftsomething which AI technology
can help you craft a way to givethem a reason to connect with
you.
(24:48):
For example, I connect withsomeone.
I offer them, like a free ebook, you know, something of value.
I don't really offer anyservices, I just try to.
You know, keep it simple and ifthey accept, then that's great.
And then what's alsointeresting is that whoever your
existing connections, youshould also, you know, find out
when they're posting and thenreply to their posts, because
most of the time when they post,nobody really posts after them,
unless they're an influencer.
(25:08):
Nobody really cares.
Most of the posts are prettynarcissistic on LinkedIn and
it's just really got out of hand.
So, but you know, I'll respondto a post.
You know just to be kind to theperson, and sometimes they're
very happy and a lot of times ithelps me to gain business as a
result of that, because I'vegiven them some kindness.
(25:29):
You know like posting or youknow responding to their posts,
and a lot of times that helps.
So that can make a differencein getting more engagement.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
All right, you, you actually hit on something that
maybe you can help pull back thecurtain on this one.
What is active in LinkedIn?
What is the percentage ofpeople who are on it every day?
How long should I be on?
I got tons of questions on this, but let's start with is AI
able to with the sales navigator?
Can you use AI to go out thereand figure out who's on it and
who's most active?
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Well, the sales navigator allows you to find out
who's active.
There's a button in there.
So when you're doing a search,let's say, for people in a
certain geographic range thatare active on LinkedIn, you can
do that.
They'll tell you who's postedin the past 30 days.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
So back to the IDK.
I want to know the answer tothis.
Yeah, you took off.
So I get requests from peoplewho I don't know, and that's
what it stands for.
I don't know, and so basicallyyou're responding to them when I
don't know.
Is that the and LinkedIneventually will lease this
person if they're just sending alot of connection requests
(26:37):
blindly?
Is that how?
Speaker 1 (26:38):
it works.
I think it all depends on themessage that comes along with it
.
I don't usually try to use Idon't know, because no LinkedIn
deems that individual as apossible spammer and that could
hurt their account.
But if someone is going topitch, slap me with their thing
and you know I'll certainly givethem I don't know and them and
they'll usually follow you.
But if you're on the otherreceiving end of it, if you're
(26:59):
connecting with someone youdon't really know they're not a
first or second connection youshould really approach them with
a message that usually would benot salesy.
(27:19):
For the most part it's just Iwant to connect, we know such
and such and thought we have agood idea to reach out and
connect with you.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
All right.
How often should we spend timeon LinkedIn?
So this is the.
I know this is a it dependsquestion, but in general, or
give us some parameters.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
I don't know at least maybe once a day, depending if
you're active on if you'reposting.
I mean, if you're posting, youknow, two, three times a week,
you know you should at leastrespond to the post.
A lot of people just post andghost, you know they think
that's a way to engage withpeople but that's not.
You should be able to respondto someone who's posting, or
after your post and asking aquestion or whatever.
(27:59):
Just you know, respond to them.
And as far as if you're notdoing any posts at all, you
should be active and do at leastonce or twice a week and it
could be in your newsletter.
If you do it once a week, losethe newsletter, that's fine, but
at least as a minimum to showsome, some activity and um that
you have to find out what isyour strategy.
(28:20):
You know what is your, what areyou trying to accomplish?
Um, so if you're, do you havean example of an industry that
um, you guys are working withright now that uses LinkedIn?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Well, it would have to be you, al, because you know
I'm in the home servicesbusiness, so I'm here in Atlanta
.
You know I work on people'shouses.
I will tell you, having lookedat this a lot.
I'll just tell everybody again.
I think this is where you're at.
If you're not doing a monthlynewsletter and you're in home
services, you're missing yourcaptive audience, which is
people who've done work with you, and that's what I do.
Number two you should belooking at Facebook as the
(28:57):
groups and the experience andputting out pictures and
experiences within groups ofpeople who are going to be your
influencers so in my case it'smothers and if you're on
Instagram, you'd be putting outinteresting posts and pictures
that show the foreign appers andgive people ideas of what they
can do on their own.
Now on LinkedIn, I'm interestedin that because we have our
podcast.
We want to help people withsmall business.
Eventually, when I'm done withthe Trusted Toolbox, I want to
(29:20):
help people in business and dosome coaching mastermind groups
but I just haven't pushed thatbutton yet.
But if I'm in commercial realestate, isn't LinkedIn more B2B,
alan?
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Yeah, it is.
I mean we just Chad and I are ahundred percent referral and so
we kind of stay a little bitunder the radar because we don't
necessarily want tighterfigures.
And I mean, once you open, itreally is a Pandora's box of all
kinds of little Ponzi schemesand things, you know real estate
investing cults that are outthere.
(29:51):
And so I just try to figure out, like how do I, how do I
navigate this world and putmyself out there as an expert
without attracting the leghumpers?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Al, that's a question .
While I hold Al's hand, he'sworried.
He does not want the leghumpers, he doesn't want to be
pit slapped.
He's afraid to dip his toe inlinkedin what does he need to do
?
Speaker 2 (30:11):
you know, ignore him and hopefully they follow me, I
guess first thing to do is whoare your referral partners,
right?
Speaker 1 (30:20):
I mean, uh, would a realtor be a referral partner
for you, for example?
Speaker 2 (30:23):
oh, okay, I would say , you know, a commercial banker
would be top of mind.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Anybody else other than commercial bankers.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yeah, attorneys, I mean there's all kinds of things
.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Well, guess what?
These are the areas that youfocus in on and create
newsletters for those types ofreferral partners.
You got bankers, for example.
All right, no reason why youcan't create a newsletter just
for bankers.
And focusing on the homeindustry.
What are their pain points?
What are they trying to dealwith?
I mean, that's something that'sof interest to them.
You focus on the referralpartners.
(30:52):
You'll have more business thanyou can handle.
All right, because what's thebest form of advertising
Referrals?
All right, simply put.
And where are they are?
They're on LinkedIn.
So you focus on thoseindividuals.
Okay, you can use SalesNavigator to find all the
realtors or all the bankerswithin your zip code easily.
Who's active on LinkedIn andfind out when they're posting,
(31:14):
you know, and reply to one oftheir posts.
Get on their radar, okay, andguess what.
Give them value, you know.
Give them an article that maybe helpful.
Talk about a pain point.
Give a case study that youworked with a banker and how it
helped their client, you know,achieve the results they're
looking for.
This is just, alan, you do hatestories on that you do.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Oh yeah, when you tell the stories, I mean I'm
compelled.
Every time you tell this one Iwas like, wow, you're right,
because everything's well.
Nobody thinks commercial realestate's easy, anybody who's
lived that?
If they do, they're an idiot.
Yeah, but I mean it's hard.
Uh, but, but you think yeah,but when you start telling the
stories on why it getscomplicated in Harry and how you
can undo stuff and you've askedme questions before and you you
(31:54):
claim things I'm like, wow,it's.
I mean that's really, it'sdifficult and you're right, you
need to have an expert.
But what's an expert?
Look like I don't know.
I like it, but every time I goto say I'm going to go do it, I
go nah, I'm not going to do it,it's just too much.
(32:15):
You do the month, I'll do it,but do this, I'm not doing that.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
It all depends on how you're trained to do it, and
such have you ever used thepremium service at all?
Speaker 3 (32:26):
No, because even though I've stopped pulling
Alan's hand, everybody.
So now little buddy over hereis nervous because I'm afraid to
pay that money.
Well, here's an idea you neverremount.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Well, actually there's a way I can do it for
you, since I'm part of SalesNavigator and I might be able to
get you two free monthsavailable.
If you've never used it before,you know, which you give you a
chance to try it out, which Ithink is a great thing, because
that's usually it's an $80 valueper month.
Navigator for yourself andlearn about how powerful that
(33:04):
tool is, because if you want toconnect with, let's say, bankers
, uh, you'll find them easilyusing sales navigator when
they're active on LinkedIn andalso reach out in a way that uh
is going to be of interest tothem to connect with you, which
could be something as a casestudy, like an example that you
helped a particular banker in asituation.
That's something that they'relooking for, and there are a lot
of people switching jobs andthey're looking for other
(33:26):
referral partners that they canwork with, so it's a win-win.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
You know everybody, I love it.
I'm going to do it after we'redone with the podcast.
I know Alan's going to do it.
Right, Alan?
Yes, you are the little buddy,let's hand it to you Give me a
bug laying down.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Maybe I'll just say it.
Oh, my hand, let's keep going,let's say Elizabeth Al, how do
your clients work with you?
I mean, what is it specificallythat they ask you to do for
them?
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Well, it depends on the situation.
I do a lot of speakingengagements through associations
, so I'll talk to them abouttopics of interest for their
members.
I do group training as well forcorporations and helping them
optimize their profile.
Working on strategies help thembecome thought leaders.
So it all depends.
I also work on one-on-oneindividuals as well.
(34:13):
It just depends on thecircumstance.
If they're looking for a job,help them develop a profile that
makes them attractive toemployers.
If they're looking for work asan entrepreneur, how to connect
with people who want to dobusiness with them, maybe a
potential referral partner.
So these things I can help themwork on and develop a strategy
that will be effective.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
All right.
So the book doesn't.
It's not your big, it's notyour moneymaker, right?
The book, it's a.
It's the lead generator, ithelps.
So let's, Alan started downthat path.
It's the lead generator, ithelps.
So, Alan started down that path.
Let's go so for you today.
Who are you looking for?
Who is your ultimate avatar?
Who do you like working withright now?
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Well, I love working with referral partners.
I mean, I love working with.
It could be bankers, it couldbe financial planners or
accountants, attorneys.
These are all dealing withclients who have thousands of
businesses and that's anopportunity which is tremendous
because I don't have toadvertise.
I get word of mouth advertising.
So if I do, would you?
Speaker 3 (35:08):
rather do your one-on-one coaching.
Do you like doing the uhspeaking engagements or the
group trainings?
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Um, well, I like one-on-one because it's
convenient.
I can do it from the home, youknow, which is great If it's a
speak engagement, if it's someyou know exotic location, they
pay for me to go out, likeHawaii or Caribbean.
I'm happy to go there for aweek and uh, you know, we've
seen, actually, michigan.
No, uh, it depends on the timeof year, you know no, jackson,
(35:34):
not exotic.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
That's where I grew up, so I could uh, I got it All
right.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
No, that makes some sense, and so you are finding
most of your clients throughyour referral base.
Then, yeah, that's pretty muchit.
I mean it's been really helpful.
The book has been tremendous ingetting me opportunities in
front of people which never Icould have done before without
it.
So I think that's important,because I'm also in a crowded
field of dealing with people whoare so-called LinkedIn experts.
Okay, but you know, most ofthem don't have a book and most
of them don't even have what Ican offer.
You know, not the experience,but the ability to combine AI
(36:06):
and LinkedIn together to make aneffective strategy on the
platform, to save you time andto make quality connections.
That are what it's all about.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
All right, now I'm going to give you my favorite
chat AI question.
What question did I not ask you?
That I should have asked you toget a better answer.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Well where people can find me on my website link
vantagecom, and I also have afree ebook available on how to
optimize your profile on mywebsite.
So go to link vantagecom, checkit out as well, as look for my
book available on Amazon andother fine retailers.
And if you listen to audiobooks, check out Spotify it's
available on that, as well as alook for my book available on
Amazon and other fine retailers.
And if you listen to audiobooks, check out Spotify it's
available on that as well.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
And we'll say, on his website he's got a lot of great
blog articles, so you canactually be a little bit of a
stalker and and get some goodnuggets, Just uh, just looking
at that, you know.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
I think, uh, you've got a great call funnel system
because you're right, Al cancome optimize your LinkedIn rice
.
But you know you're afraid.
I mean I'm holding a littlebuddy's hand over here right now
and Alan and I are going to gooff into the sunset and make
beautiful music in LinkedIn.
But you can, you can do youroptimization.
Read his ebook and I agree withyou, I think that's the easy
(37:16):
one.
Then you start to see the valuethere, Then you start to see
what he could really unlock andwhat he could do If you've got a
big enough team, and what youcould do with that.
I've seen other guys, uh, who Iknow in the industries that I
left, that are doing a great job.
There are huge companies and Iwon't name them, Um, but their
software and they rhyme with, uh, Teradata and they rhyme with
IBM, but they are thoughtleaders in their thing.
(37:39):
And I I I reached out to theseguys.
I'm like so IBM and Teraday arecool with this?
And they're like, oh, yeah,they actually are telling me to
keep doing it because they havetaglines for being data guys.
Now they're thought leaders intheir industry, Um, and it's
also bringing in other peopleinto their world, and they're
not even entrepreneurs.
These guys are still in the big, big world doing it?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Do you have your sales guys?
I mean, do you ever focus ontheir LinkedIn profile?
Speaker 3 (38:03):
You know, we did it, uh, we did it, uh, moons ago and
I need to do it again.
In fact, that's exactly what Iwas going to take away from this
is that, uh, I'm going to gosit down with everyone and say,
guys, we have the trustedtoolbox out there.
We are your premium homeservices company Atlanta.
You should have that.
Add your tagline in yourestimated profile and you should
be engaging with people,because, you never know, people
(38:24):
will see it.
And then, yeah, I need to dobetter and I need to get my
newsletter.
So now I'm going to get thatout there with them this is an
opportunity.
Yeah, I got a lot of work to do.
Dang it, guys.
I hope he's driving around yourcar.
You know what I'm gonna have aI'm gonna have ai start leaving
my meetings.
I think those guys would itbetter.
It would be a lot less epitome.
Does AI swear as much as you do?
There's no way.
I just heard a great quotegoing through football.
(38:47):
A football player just switchedout of Georgia and he says so.
Who has a better swear game?
Your current coach or KirbySmart?
He goes, oh, there's noquestion, he goes.
Kirby Hanson.
I was like, yeah, you know whatI feel?
I feel like I'm gonna link inwith kirby and go.
I bet you I have a better sweargame, brother, because, as we
(39:07):
uh we may have heard this on oneof the past episodes I said, as
I said, I was yelling at one ofthe guys because it came to
that point.
It was just so bad I don't dothis that often and I lost it
and I uh let him have it and uh,my general manager looked at me
in the room and he said I don'tknow exactly what you said, but
you definitely got your pointacross.
(39:28):
That's not LinkedIn, al.
That's not why you're here.
So go check it out LinkedIn,linked advantage, linked
advantagecom.
You got a lot of freebies.
That's a great step up.
Get a little taste of it man,try it out a little bit and then
, if that was a good fit for you, I think he'd be a great fit to
talk to for a minute, becausethis podcast has been dynamite
man, figuring out all thislittle stuff, all the little
things you can do.
(39:48):
Let me ask you one questionbefore we go into our final four
questions the future of AI.
And I'm not talking like 10years, just give me the next six
months.
This thing is moving soflipping fast.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
Well, I think there's a lot of new technology out
there and it's always improving,and I think the idea, of course
, is to try out Start Simplewith you know whether it's a
chat, gpt or other platformsthat are using AI and it's
really been helpful in many ways.
I've known examples of peopleusing it beyond businesses.
(40:25):
I think one example was I readabout a father was looking for a
doll for his daughter which wasout of stock, and he did
something with ChatGBT or someother platform that uh contacted
various retailers, um, within a500 mile radius, to see if the
(40:46):
doll was in stock, and it did itautomatically.
He wasn't doing it himself.
The AI technology was callingon his behalf and reaching out
and asking do you have this dollin stock?
And uh, it must've went through, I don't know, over a hundred
different retailers.
We found somebody who was uhable to uh say yes, we do have
it available, and uh, sureenough, it saved him a lot of
(41:06):
time and effort and the?
Uh, the child is um forevergrateful for finding this unique
doll that is in demand and um,that's just the future right
there.
I think it's a great technologyto help you.
Speaker 3 (41:18):
After that, after that explanation, name one doll
that's come to your mind.
Right now.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
All I'm thinking about is I'm going to go hide in
my closet and suck my thumbwith it.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
You're thinking Chucky, I know you are You're
thinking that doll's going tocome out and kill me.
No, he said, he bound the doll.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yeah, it wasn't a Barbie, it was some Japanese
doll, I believe, which is realpopular on Netflix or something
I don't recall, but apparentlyit's just taking off.
It was kind of like, you know,when Beanie Babies were back in
the day, you know, real popular.
This is the new Beanie Baby.
I'll probably remember thisafter the program, but it just
shows you that the AI technologyis so advanced that it can
(41:55):
actually do calls on your behalfto reach out to people and, you
know, find out answers that youdon't have time to do it out to
people and, um, you know, findout answers that you don't have
time to do it.
So that's really great.
So I see the future as a as agreat tool.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Speaking of Beanie Babies, you know that guy made
so much money.
He owns Cousin Brad's CountryClub.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
No way, yeah, oh my God, hey, you know we had not
brought Cousin Brad back up in along time.
I know we're going to LinkedInAI and just stalk him.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
We just got a baby.
Just talk to him.
We don't even have to talk tohim you don't?
Speaker 3 (42:26):
Oh God, that'd be so great.
I'm kidding Brad, I'm kiddingbuddy.
I can't wait to talk to youagain.
It's all good, it's a great, Al.
This has been awesome, but Ithink it's time to go to our
final four questions.
Ellen, are you ready?
I am ready.
All right, brought to you byQualified Applicants, your
recruiting source for all yourneeds.
(42:46):
They've helped me for so manydifferent things.
I got another ad in here, but Iwant to plug them again.
Tina and Megan and their staffnow has been doing a great job.
They're doing it nationwide.
They're helping all kinds ofhome service companies,
professional services companiesfind the right talent, because
what they're doing is they'remarketing, not recruiting, to
get you the right person to yourjob and the person you're
(43:09):
looking for.
And they put up with you andthey do put up with me a lot.
That's a big outdoors lie.
All right back to my app times.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
Let's go to the number one question, Al, besides
your book give us a book you'drecommend to our audience, Um
Atomic Habits, I believe.
Speaker 3 (43:27):
James Cleary beautiful small stuff, little
things.
Just had Don Martell brought upagain to me, and outside I was
like holy crap, I'm, I'm exactlytwo chapters in on Don Martell.
But, um, if you knew the way Iwould did Stephen Covey and his
uh, uh, seven habits, I was twoand a half habits in for at
least two and a half years.
So, um, don't worry, I'll getthere.
(43:47):
Um, but I do need a new.
You know, can I get clip notesagain?
Uh, anyway, all right, al,great fun, that's a great one.
All right, you ready.
What's the favorite feature ofyour home?
Favorite, what feature of yourhome?
Speaker 1 (44:00):
I am a favorite feature of my.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
I want to hear about your home.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
I would say it's the view.
I mean, we have a water viewand, overlooking that, there's
kind of like a little islandwith birds on it.
It's almost like a birdsanctuary.
So we get to see that every day, which is awesome.
You see the ducks and the localflowers I mean sometimes a pink
flamingo.
We get a chance to come acrossour view, which is awesome, so
(44:26):
we just love the view.
Speaker 3 (44:27):
Dude, I'm not lying, this is the most I've seen.
Al light up the entire podcastI know Was his view.
It clearly was not talking toAl and Chris.
So thank you, al, for sharingthat and I'm glad we could bring
a little joy to you over theselast few minutes.
Oh, happy he got fired up, dude, I know I want to see that view
.
In fact, after he's going tohave to have to show us that
(44:48):
view, so maybe you can see it onYouTube.
We'll see later, guys, we'llcheck it out.
All right, let's go to thethird question, shall we?
We talk a lot about customerservice?
We haven't much today, well,but we do.
But we kind of our customerservice freaks.
Hello, let's go.
Horse kid, you got to come onhorse shultzy, I'm looking for
you, baby.
All right, what's a customerservice?
Pet peeve of yours when you'reout and you're the customer?
Speaker 1 (45:13):
um, I think a lot of times that they don't really
understand what I'm offering andthey kind of lop me together
with other salespeople andthey'll really see the value
that that I bring to the table.
And a lot of it has to do withnot really taking the time to
really, you know, invest intheir business, and a lot of
(45:35):
times that's what they do.
They don't have, they don'thave a passion for it.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
If you don't have a passion for doing what you like
to do, then it's you shouldn'thave a passion for doing what
you like to do, then it's, youshouldn't be in that profession.
Yeah, man, all right, let'stalk about the last one.
I love working on homes.
That's why I got in thisbusiness.
I, uh, was a diy-er for all mylife.
Um, not because I wanted to isbecause my dad made me and next
thing, you know, he, he did thisto me.
I'm in this business.
It's his fault.
I still blame dad.
(45:59):
Um al, I don't know how muchyou've worked on houses, but we
want a DIY nightmare story.
A contractor, because we knowwe all suck contractors.
Get better at what you're doing.
We all got to get better atwhat we're doing, but give me a
DIY nightmare story.
Speaker 1 (46:14):
Well, when I bought my home 10 years ago, it was
pretty much had to be gutted outbecause it was really I mean,
the house is from 1973, so youreally had to do a lot of
updating.
So it was a matter of hiringcontractors.
It was really a trial and errorfor the most part, and getting
(46:35):
quotes that were from outrageousto maybe conservative, but then
you know, the work with Shdy orthe individual wasn't really on
time and, um, I've had a recentwork done in the home.
That was good, but it was achallenge to find someone who
was affordable.
And, uh, I was able to use, uh,the internet to reach and
(46:56):
connect with people on aplatform called next door, I'm
sure if you're familiar withthat on a platform called
Nextdoor I'm not sure if you'refamiliar with that, but it's
kind of an app that you use andit's kind of like a Facebook,
but for local neighbors.
Yeah, we are, yeah, we use it,and I was able to find people,
what other people recommendedand connected with these people.
(47:16):
They left their phone numberand I was able to text about I
don't know 40 or 50 contractorsto get some quotes and it works
very effectively and connectwith people and find somebody
who is reasonable and was hungryfor business, and I was able to
get great work as a result.
Speaker 3 (47:35):
Good, Awesome, Al once again.
How can everybody find?
Speaker 1 (47:38):
you Go to my website, linkvantagecom.
Follow me on LinkedIn, ofcourse, happy to accept new
followers and connect with me.
It's also good too.
And check out my book.
It's available on Amazon.
It's available in Barnes, nobleall the fine retailers Like
audiobooks.
Check out on Audible andSpotify.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
All right, everybody, if you don't learn something,
that's on you.
I started out with it.
I'm going to end with it.
Alan, we have got to learnsomething.
Alan and I got work to do.
We're going to connect with Al.
We're going to go try that linkbandage.
We're going to go try outeverything else in Sales
Navigator.
Keep going up that mountain.
Go, make it happen.
Man, life isn't easy.
Business is easy.
Pick your heart, choose yourheart, make your.
Choose your heart, make yourheart and let's go win.
Yeah, go, cheers everybody.
(48:20):
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Small Business
Safari.
Remember, your positiveattitude will help you achieve
that higher altitude you'relooking for in a wild world of
small business ownership.
And until next time.
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