May 1, 2024 • 22 mins
Ready to unlock the secrets of transforming furlough to fortune? Ben Albert didn't just stumble upon success; he crafted it with the sharp tools of LinkedIn and podcasting, and he's here to divulge how you too can carve out a thriving business from the comfort of your home. Our candid conversation with this entrepreneurial maestro of Real Business Connections and founder of Grow Getters Only will arm you with the guerrilla tactics of social selling and the art of forging authentic relationships that are the bedrock of a booming business. This isn’t your typical business pep talk; it's a treasure map to the gold mines of networking and personal branding that Ben himself has navigated with aplomb.
As an aspiring podcaster or a business owner looking to amplify your voice, you'll be captivated by Ben's journey from launching a podcast with no listeners to establishing a network of invaluable contacts and content that he's passionate about. This episode is not about fast-track formulas to fame but the raw, unfiltered reality of building a steadfast presence through consistency and offering genuine value to your audience. So, tune in and let Ben's story inspire your strategy; his insights just might be the catalyst for your home business breakthrough.
Balbert Marketing LLC: http://balbertmarketing.com/
Real Business Connections Podcast: https://realbusinessconnections.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/realbusinessconnections
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balbertmarketing
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realbenalbert/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/realbenalbert
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCatiqMEYvn1CO_isUcb6pAQ/videos
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-business-connections-network/id1537115928
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6GIUXbsHXx0OSgPFED1sg8?si=5294f3445d964e25
Be sure to visit BizRadio.US to discover hundreds more engaging conversations, local events and more.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Hank (00:05):
Welcome to the Home Business Success Show.
Join us as we speak to homebusiness entrepreneurs for tips,
tricks, do's and even don'tsfor running a successful home
business.
Welcome everyone.
I'm Hank Eder, also known asHank the PR Guy, host of the
(00:26):
Home Business Success Show onbizradious.
All entrepreneurs, all the time.
We'll meet our guests rightafter my Two Cents Marketing
Minute.
In today's crowded marketinglandscape, podcasts offer a
powerful tool to cut through thenoise and forge deeper
connections with your targetaudience.
Unlike fleeting social mediaads or impersonal emails,
(00:51):
podcasts allow you to establisha personal rapport with your
listeners.
The intimate nature of audiofosters a sense of trust, making
listeners more susceptible notsusceptible.
Making listeners more receptiveto your branded message.
By hosting engagingconversations and interviews
(01:12):
with industry experts, you canalso position yourself as a
thought leader within your niche.
Furthermore, podcasts provide aplatform to build brand loyalty
.
That being said, I'd like tointroduce today's guest.
When COVID hit, ben Albert wasfurloughed from work, he found
himself down and out staring atan empty handle of Jim Beam
(01:36):
whiskey.
That's pretty hardcore.
He was unemployed, depressedand felt unworthy.
Hesitantly, he opened hisMacBook and started reaching out
to strangers on LinkedIn.
This spearheaded hisentrepreneurial journey.
The rest is history.
Now Ben hosts a network of fivepodcasts called Real Business
(01:57):
Connections and he runs amassively successful marketing
term Balbert Am I saying thatright?
Balbert Balbert Marketing andhas replaced his established
sales income in just over a year.
Ben found his way Once anunderdog, now a successful
entrepreneur.
Ben is passionate about helpingother underdogs find their way
(02:21):
and achieve their dreams.
Ben says he's on a mission tomove the needle on one million
lives.
Welcome to the show, ben.
Ben (02:29):
I'm excited to be here, Love that marketing minute and I
appreciate the graciousintroduction.
This is going to be fun.
Hank (02:36):
Oh, you're welcome.
It's great to have you here.
If you would please tell usabout what you do, yeah at the
core.
Ben (02:44):
The world's very disconnected in a lot of ways
and my role as a marketer is toserve as a bridge, and I do it
in a lot of different ways.
But, to simplify, it's to getthe knowledge, the wisdom, the
solutions, the services from thepeople who have it to the
people who need it, the folksthat need the wisdom, the
(03:05):
services to the people that canoffer it to them.
And I do that with onlinemarketing.
I do that with a podcast, whichis a free resource where I
bring on thought leaders andthey can transcend that wisdom
and teach others with it.
And I do that with a networkinggroup that's both free and has
a private community where we canprovide peer to peer support.
(03:27):
So if I solve any singleproblem, it's being that bridge
to solve that disconnectionissue of we want the right
clients, we want the rightsupport, we want the right
mentors.
I help people do that.
Get that.
Hank (03:40):
The business networking group that you're talking about.
Is that real businessconnections, Connections that I
see in the?
You've got a sign in yourbackground.
Ben (03:48):
Yeah, so Real Business Connections is the podcast.
Hank (03:52):
And.
Ben (03:52):
Balbert Marketing is actually going to transition to
become Real Business Connections, because I don't like that.
Balbert Marketing is all aboutme, it's about other people.
Real Business Connections is abetter brand name and it's a
podcast.
We also have podcast servicesand the networking group is
called Grow Getters Only, whichis growth-oriented go-getters
(04:14):
that want to surround themselveswith peers.
Hank (04:16):
Right, I remember now that you invited me to one of the
meetings and I found it was agreat meeting.
I met some really, really goodpeople.
And I do intend to be back, butit kind of the name Grow
Getters kind of went rightthrough my brain and slipped out
the other side.
There was an old song by Enowhere he sings perhaps my brains
have turned to sand.
Oh me, oh my, I don't know ifyou know that one.
Ben (04:40):
No, but I feel that way, and part of all the brand names
and the iterations is I'mlearning and I'm changing and
I'm focusing better and betteras I go.
Hank (04:50):
In your origin story there .
When you found yourself hittingbottom during COVID, you
started reaching out to otherson LinkedIn.
What would you say are sometips for turning LinkedIn into a
social selling tool?
Ben (05:02):
Yeah.
So, first and foremost, youalways want to connect with
someone based around some kindof commonality.
So I was a Rochester, new Yorknative.
I had a Rochester based musicpodcast that I had started in
2016.
And then it was 2020, thepandemic had hit.
I got let go from my salesexecutive role and I was
(05:25):
applying for jobs and nothingwas landing.
And a friend of mine said, ben,you have a laptop, you're a
great marketer, why don't youjust try this home business
thing?
Why don't you just try goingout on your own?
And I said, yeah, I'd love to,but I don't know how.
And I took my music podcastbackground.
I don't know how and I took mymusic podcast background.
(05:48):
Music Ben was unemployed andMusic Ben was non-essential.
There was no music.
So I kind of rebranded myselfand created Business Ben and
Business Ben's an entrepreneurand Business Ben's going to
start Balbert Marketing.
But I don't know how to start abusiness or run a business and I
don't have great connections.
I was not working locally, Iwas working nationally in my
previous firm.
So I used LinkedIn.
(06:09):
I connected on a commonality.
I reached out to Rochester, newYork business owners.
I specifically used a filterfor searching for people that
went to SUNY Brockport StateUniversity, new York, brockport.
I'm a SUNY Brockport alumni, soI looked for business owners
that went to the same universityas me and I reached out and I
(06:30):
said basically, hey, I didn'tsay I don't know what I'm doing,
but I basically didn't knowwhat I was doing.
I said, hey, I'm starting abusiness podcast.
I've hosted a music podcast inour great city.
We've had everything frommusicians to politicians on, and
now I want to highlight localleaders in business like
yourself.
Would you be open to beingfeatured on my podcast?
(06:51):
Now, what's funny, hank, is Ididn't have listeners, I didn't
have a podcast yet, but I got awhole lot of yeses because I was
reaching out to people where wehad commonalities.
We were both business ownerentrepreneurs that went to the
same school in the same city.
So that's what Ben did.
But the core lesson is simpleRead their profile, do your due
(07:13):
diligence and connect on acommonality.
Send a message.
Detach from outcome.
A lot of people said no, a lotof people didn't connect, but
send a message and I call it apossibility virus.
What if they do say yes?
What if they do connect?
What if they do work with youand Ben, who was a new
(07:33):
entrepreneur that didn't knowhow to run a business, knew how
to market, got to interviewpeople that did and ask them
questions about their CRM andask them questions about
leadership and ask themquestions about failure, and
every single day I learnedsomething new.
And without LinkedIn, thatwould have been difficult
because there was no in-personanyways, everything was closed
(07:54):
because of the pandemic butLinkedIn was that social tool
that allowed me to find thepeople that became my mentors.
Hank (08:02):
That's very cool now, when you say that people can reach
out through commonalities, thatcould be everything from a
similar type of business orperhaps a complimentary kind of
business, rather than somethingright in the same niche, or even
something to break the ice,like hobbies or sports or
(08:22):
something like that.
Ben (08:23):
Yeah, I prefer a message like hey, I see you're a roofer,
I'm a gutter person, like Idon't want something too
formulaic.
I think a fun icebreaker isbetter.
Same state, same city, sameschool You're following the same
people A great way to connectwith people.
You know it's good, good topost content.
(08:44):
I encourage people to do it.
But a lot of people postcontent but they forget about
the beauty of the commentsection.
And if you see a post you likeand comment on it and look at
other people that commented init because maybe you connect
based on a mutual friend or amutual influencer that you both
follow, I can reach out and sayhey, I saw you were commenting
(09:08):
on Hank's post.
I've been digging the rhymes aswell.
I know this is random, butwanted to connect with you
because a friend of Hank is afriend of mine.
I can, in theory, connect witheverybody that's ever commented
on Hank's post, ever, one by one, just through a simple strategy
like that.
So focus on something that'scommon and creative is better.
You know.
Show that you took the time toreally personalize your message.
Hank (09:32):
That's a beautiful strategy and there are a lot of
folks who say that if you findan influencer in your niche and
start joining thoseconversations, but not in a way
that you try to take over Nobodylikes someone who comes in and
tries to muscle their way butwhen you see a conversation
going on, if there's some valueyou can add, add the value to
(09:54):
the conversation.
Don't ask for anything at thatpoint, but add value to that
conversation.
Don't ask for anything at thatpoint, but add value to that
conversation.
And another advantage to thatis that that influencer, who may
have, you know, 100,000followers, the information not
the information, but the commentthat you just shared goes out
and is seen by many, many, manyof his audience because now
(10:14):
you're engaging him inconversation or her in
conversation.
So it's another LinkedInstrategy.
Ben (10:22):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more and I'm jumping in because the
quick example and it doesn'thappen every time, but I
commented on Neil Patel's postanother marketer and I got 44
reactions on my comment.
Hank (10:59):
I didn't document how many connection requests, but I got
reactions 44 and I got a handfulof connection requests that day
just by the luck of the luckand the brilliancy of my comment
.
I presume it helps that he'sincredibly brilliant, but he's
really built an amazing networkover time.
But I attended one of hiswebinars recently and I almost
wore my hand out taking notes onthe things he was sharing,
because he really does have alot to teach us.
He's fantastic.
Well, you're the host of anetwork of five podcasts.
(11:19):
These days, a lot of people areturning to podcasts or they're
trying their luck at podcasts,and in some cases it is just
luck, because they're notfollowing any kind of a formula
or a strategy.
Some of these really take offand others just limp along.
What are some steps that peoplecan take to harness podcasts to
(11:41):
become a greater influencer intheir own field?
Ben (11:45):
Yeah, so we could do 10 hours on just this.
So I'm going to simplify thisand give you what I believe is
the essential Enjoy the heck outof the process.
Enjoy what you do.
Enjoy your guests, the process.
Enjoy what you do.
Enjoy your guests.
Create the best quality podcastas possible and detach from the
metrics and the outcome,because most podcasts don't have
(12:09):
10,000 listens overnight.
However, we started with mystory.
I didn't have any listeners myfirst couple episodes.
The listener was me, my guestand their mom or a co-worker.
I was not getting great metrics, but as a host, I was learning
so much from my guests.
I was building relationships.
(12:29):
Those relationships led tofriendships that led to
mentorship and a lot of guestseither became a client or
mentorship, and a lot of guestseither became a client or they
knew someone in their networksix degrees of separation that
could become a client.
So my podcast gets a goodamount of listens today, but
that's like ancillary, that'sicing on the cake, since I was
(12:53):
creating content I loved.
I enjoyed what I did.
If you don't enjoy it and you'rejust doing it as a marketing
strategy, what's the point?
I enjoyed what I did.
I got to meet and learn frombrilliant people.
I got to build relationshipsthat led to income far before I
even had listeners.
(13:14):
So a big mistake I see peoplemake unless you're already Neil
Patel, unless you're already abig thought leader, don't just
do solo monologues because youhaven't built your audience yet.
Bring on guests, like you and Iare doing today and prior to the
call in our discovery session.
(13:34):
Build a relationship, formfriendships and partnerships,
and then whether or not yourpodcast is successful is
actually not that important,because that's not the number
one reason you're doing it.
You're not doing it for vanity.
You're doing it because youenjoy it, you're building
relationships and you'respeaking to people.
That million listens this yeartoo.
(13:54):
I'm going to create greatcontent that I love with people
I enjoy, and I'm confident it'lllead to friendship and business
.
If you shift that mindset,you're in the right place, and
(14:15):
if you don't have that mindset,I encourage you not to podcast,
because it's a lot of work andit's a lot of relationship
building.
But that's my thought on it.
We could go really deep intothat one topic, but mindset's
important, because if you don'thave the right mindset, you're
going to quit Right and it'llshow, it'll show.
Hank (14:32):
And, yeah, there are a lot of folks who started, or they
wanted to start, podcasting andthey put out three or four
episodes and then they didn't goviral, you know.
So they moved on to somethingelse.
But consistency in all things.
I mean I did, you know, one ofmy MC Biz Boomer raps, if my
(14:54):
audience you know I don't talkabout this a lot, but I do these
raps that are MC Biz Boomer andtheir business lessons in rap.
Just look that up, mc BizBoomer.
But the notion that thingsdon't happen overnight.
There is no overnight success,there's not overnight schemes.
And when people come to you andsay, if you just do this,
(15:15):
you're going to be making amillion dollars before you know
it or you'll have 2 millionlisteners on your podcast, those
are the things that we reallyshould run screaming into the
night from, because the onlyperson who's getting rich from
that is the person that you'reshelling out your money to.
Ben (15:31):
And yeah, so, that being said, if you want, if you want
overnight results, podcasting isthe bottom of the list.
Hank (15:40):
Yeah, I don't think there are overnight results with
anything.
You know you're not going tobuy a magic funnel that's
suddenly going to bring $600,000into your bank account in a
week.
It's not there.
You have to do the diligence,you have to do your homework,
you have to put in the work orreally nothing happens
(16:29):
no-transcript.
Ben (16:35):
Conviction high energy, be passionate, and that's not wrong
.
Passion does help.
But I think people are sick ofpeople talking about how great
they think they are.
I believe if you feeluncomfortable talking about
yourself which a lot of peopledo and the science shows it's
less persuasive just to talkabout how great you are.
(16:56):
Talk about other people.
If you want to market yourself,market other people.
If you want to help yourself,help other people.
I can make a post about how Italked to Hank today.
He was a gracious radio host.
I enjoyed the experience.
I love sharing my message and Iappreciate Hank giving me the
(17:17):
platform to do it.
And if anyone's open to a guestthat's high energy and cares
about their audience, I'd loveto be their guest.
I could make a post and thecall to action is I'd love to be
a guest on podcasts, but Idon't say listen to how great I
am as a guest, it's listen tohow great Hank is as a host.
And you can do that in anythingin life.
(17:41):
And the one example I'll give Iknow you wanted to dive in here
is providing just testimonialsand storylines of previous
successes of your clients.
Instead of talking about howcool your gadgets are just say
hey, I was working with Mark.
He had XYZ problem.
We implemented this solution.
These are the results they got.
(18:03):
I'm not trying to sell youanything, but if you have that
problem, I think it's fair toassume that my solution will
help you as well.
Again, you're not talking abouthow cool you are.
You're talking about marketingand helping somebody else.
Hank (18:16):
Exactly You're getting into what I just wanted to bring
up in the fact that you knowthe reason.
I shook my head before when yousaid that people you know go on
and they talk about how coolthey are and they talk about all
their features of theirproducts or their program.
And I shook my head.
And the reason for that isnobody really cares about how
cool you are, nobody cares aboutall your features.
(18:38):
What they care about is whatwill this do for me?
If I get this, if I jump intothis program, if I buy this
product, if I take on thisperson as a coach, what kind of
transformation will I undergo?
Because you're really sellingtransformation most of the time
(18:58):
and these decisions are madethrough emotions, not through
logic.
You really can't sell based onlogic.
You sell based on emotion.
When the person goes well, Iwant some of what he's got and
yeah.
So that's the main reason I wasshaking my head there.
You know, this time is justflying by and it does that when
(19:18):
I'm really enjoying the show andthe guests.
If you could give smallbusiness owners one bit of
advice to grow, what might thatbe?
Ben (19:27):
I'm just going to.
I could give a million.
I'm going to jump off of whatyou just said.
People don't want a six-monthdiet plan with exercise routine
and accountability and stress.
They want six-pack abs.
They want to look good in theirwedding dress.
They want to feel good andconfident when they're going
(19:49):
into their next event.
So stop talking about the nittygritty behind the scenes that
you're an expert at and you're anerd at and you want to talk
about every little detail.
Talk about what Hank just said,the solution that you provide,
and if you can get clarity onthe emotional reason that your
clients want to work with youthey don't want to go on a diet
(20:14):
plan, they just want six-packabs, they just want to look good
in the dress you can say Ipromise you I will help you look
amazing for your wedding.
Now, trust me, it's going to bea complicated process.
So you need to be engaged, youneed to be able to show up and
do the work, but if you want tolook good in that dress, I can
(20:34):
help you.
When you speak to that emotionallevel, when you speak solution
oriented rather than everydetail of the process, your
communication is more concise,it's more succinct and it speaks
to the heart of your buyer.
How communication is moreconcise, it's more succinct and
it speaks to the heart of yourbuyer.
How do people find your podcast?
So what's fun is, if I did myjob right, you can find my
podcast where you found this.
(20:55):
So like this podcast, share it,comment, subscribe, do this
while we're talking here andjust type in Real Business
Connections wherever you foundthis.
And if I failed, you just typeReal Business Connections into
Google.
You'll find me there, but showsome love to Hank and then
(21:16):
search Real Business Connections.
Hank (21:18):
What is the number one best way for our listeners to
get in touch with you?
Ben (21:27):
one best way for our listeners to get in touch with
you the way that you'll do.
I'm on a lot of platforms.
If you Google Real BusinessConnections or Real Ben Albert
or Ben Albert Marketing, youwill find me.
But the best way to get intouch is the way that you'll do.
Hank (21:39):
All right, well, thank you .
Thanks for being with us today,ben, and for our listeners.
Thanks for being with us today,ben, and for our listeners.
Tune in every Wednesday for theHome Business Success Show here
on bizradious.
Remember, you can achievesuccess, freedom and
independence in your ownhome-based business.
I've done it, ben has done it,and you can too.
I'll see you next Wednesdayhere on bizradious.
(22:02):
This is Hank Eder, wishing allof you a fabulous day of home
business success.
Welcome to the Home Business Success Show.
Join us as we speak to homebusiness entrepreneurs for tips,
tricks, do's and even don'tsfor running a successful home
business.
Welcome everyone.
I'm Hank Eder, also known asHank the PR Guy, host of the
(00:26):
Home Business Success Show onbizradious.
All entrepreneurs, all the time.
We'll meet our guests rightafter my Two Cents Marketing
Minute.
In today's crowded marketinglandscape, podcasts offer a
powerful tool to cut through thenoise and forge deeper
connections with your targetaudience.
Unlike fleeting social mediaads or impersonal emails,
(00:51):
podcasts allow you to establisha personal rapport with your
listeners.
The intimate nature of audiofosters a sense of trust, making
listeners more susceptible notsusceptible.
Making listeners more receptiveto your branded message.
By hosting engagingconversations and interviews
(01:12):
with industry experts, you canalso position yourself as a
thought leader within your niche.
Furthermore, podcasts provide aplatform to build brand loyalty
.
That being said, I'd like tointroduce today's guest.
When COVID hit, ben Albert wasfurloughed from work, he found
himself down and out staring atan empty handle of Jim Beam
(01:36):
whiskey.
That's pretty hardcore.
He was unemployed, depressedand felt unworthy.
Hesitantly, he opened hisMacBook and started reaching out
to strangers on LinkedIn.
This spearheaded hisentrepreneurial journey.
The rest is history.
Now Ben hosts a network of fivepodcasts called Real Business
(01:57):
Connections and he runs amassively successful marketing
term Balbert Am I saying thatright?
Balbert Balbert Marketing andhas replaced his established
sales income in just over a year.
Ben found his way Once anunderdog, now a successful
entrepreneur.
Ben is passionate about helpingother underdogs find their way
(02:21):
and achieve their dreams.
Ben says he's on a mission tomove the needle on one million
lives.
Welcome to the show, ben.
Ben (02:29):
I'm excited to be here, Love that marketing minute and I
appreciate the graciousintroduction.
This is going to be fun.
Hank (02:36):
Oh, you're welcome.
It's great to have you here.
If you would please tell usabout what you do, yeah at the
core.
Ben (02:44):
The world's very disconnected in a lot of ways
and my role as a marketer is toserve as a bridge, and I do it
in a lot of different ways.
But, to simplify, it's to getthe knowledge, the wisdom, the
solutions, the services from thepeople who have it to the
people who need it, the folksthat need the wisdom, the
(03:05):
services to the people that canoffer it to them.
And I do that with onlinemarketing.
I do that with a podcast, whichis a free resource where I
bring on thought leaders andthey can transcend that wisdom
and teach others with it.
And I do that with a networkinggroup that's both free and has
a private community where we canprovide peer to peer support.
(03:27):
So if I solve any singleproblem, it's being that bridge
to solve that disconnectionissue of we want the right
clients, we want the rightsupport, we want the right
mentors.
I help people do that.
Get that.
Hank (03:40):
The business networking group that you're talking about.
Is that real businessconnections, Connections that I
see in the?
You've got a sign in yourbackground.
Ben (03:48):
Yeah, so Real Business Connections is the podcast.
Hank (03:52):
And.
Ben (03:52):
Balbert Marketing is actually going to transition to
become Real Business Connections, because I don't like that.
Balbert Marketing is all aboutme, it's about other people.
Real Business Connections is abetter brand name and it's a
podcast.
We also have podcast servicesand the networking group is
called Grow Getters Only, whichis growth-oriented go-getters
(04:14):
that want to surround themselveswith peers.
Hank (04:16):
Right, I remember now that you invited me to one of the
meetings and I found it was agreat meeting.
I met some really, really goodpeople.
And I do intend to be back, butit kind of the name Grow
Getters kind of went rightthrough my brain and slipped out
the other side.
There was an old song by Enowhere he sings perhaps my brains
have turned to sand.
Oh me, oh my, I don't know ifyou know that one.
Ben (04:40):
No, but I feel that way, and part of all the brand names
and the iterations is I'mlearning and I'm changing and
I'm focusing better and betteras I go.
Hank (04:50):
In your origin story there .
When you found yourself hittingbottom during COVID, you
started reaching out to otherson LinkedIn.
What would you say are sometips for turning LinkedIn into a
social selling tool?
Ben (05:02):
Yeah.
So, first and foremost, youalways want to connect with
someone based around some kindof commonality.
So I was a Rochester, new Yorknative.
I had a Rochester based musicpodcast that I had started in
2016.
And then it was 2020, thepandemic had hit.
I got let go from my salesexecutive role and I was
(05:25):
applying for jobs and nothingwas landing.
And a friend of mine said, ben,you have a laptop, you're a
great marketer, why don't youjust try this home business
thing?
Why don't you just try goingout on your own?
And I said, yeah, I'd love to,but I don't know how.
And I took my music podcastbackground.
I don't know how and I took mymusic podcast background.
(05:48):
Music Ben was unemployed andMusic Ben was non-essential.
There was no music.
So I kind of rebranded myselfand created Business Ben and
Business Ben's an entrepreneurand Business Ben's going to
start Balbert Marketing.
But I don't know how to start abusiness or run a business and I
don't have great connections.
I was not working locally, Iwas working nationally in my
previous firm.
So I used LinkedIn.
(06:09):
I connected on a commonality.
I reached out to Rochester, newYork business owners.
I specifically used a filterfor searching for people that
went to SUNY Brockport StateUniversity, new York, brockport.
I'm a SUNY Brockport alumni, soI looked for business owners
that went to the same universityas me and I reached out and I
(06:30):
said basically, hey, I didn'tsay I don't know what I'm doing,
but I basically didn't knowwhat I was doing.
I said, hey, I'm starting abusiness podcast.
I've hosted a music podcast inour great city.
We've had everything frommusicians to politicians on, and
now I want to highlight localleaders in business like
yourself.
Would you be open to beingfeatured on my podcast?
(06:51):
Now, what's funny, hank, is Ididn't have listeners, I didn't
have a podcast yet, but I got awhole lot of yeses because I was
reaching out to people where wehad commonalities.
We were both business ownerentrepreneurs that went to the
same school in the same city.
So that's what Ben did.
But the core lesson is simpleRead their profile, do your due
(07:13):
diligence and connect on acommonality.
Send a message.
Detach from outcome.
A lot of people said no, a lotof people didn't connect, but
send a message and I call it apossibility virus.
What if they do say yes?
What if they do connect?
What if they do work with youand Ben, who was a new
(07:33):
entrepreneur that didn't knowhow to run a business, knew how
to market, got to interviewpeople that did and ask them
questions about their CRM andask them questions about
leadership and ask themquestions about failure, and
every single day I learnedsomething new.
And without LinkedIn, thatwould have been difficult
because there was no in-personanyways, everything was closed
(07:54):
because of the pandemic butLinkedIn was that social tool
that allowed me to find thepeople that became my mentors.
Hank (08:02):
That's very cool now, when you say that people can reach
out through commonalities, thatcould be everything from a
similar type of business orperhaps a complimentary kind of
business, rather than somethingright in the same niche, or even
something to break the ice,like hobbies or sports or
(08:22):
something like that.
Ben (08:23):
Yeah, I prefer a message like hey, I see you're a roofer,
I'm a gutter person, like Idon't want something too
formulaic.
I think a fun icebreaker isbetter.
Same state, same city, sameschool You're following the same
people A great way to connectwith people.
You know it's good, good topost content.
(08:44):
I encourage people to do it.
But a lot of people postcontent but they forget about
the beauty of the commentsection.
And if you see a post you likeand comment on it and look at
other people that commented init because maybe you connect
based on a mutual friend or amutual influencer that you both
follow, I can reach out and sayhey, I saw you were commenting
(09:08):
on Hank's post.
I've been digging the rhymes aswell.
I know this is random, butwanted to connect with you
because a friend of Hank is afriend of mine.
I can, in theory, connect witheverybody that's ever commented
on Hank's post, ever, one by one, just through a simple strategy
like that.
So focus on something that'scommon and creative is better.
You know.
Show that you took the time toreally personalize your message.
Hank (09:32):
That's a beautiful strategy and there are a lot of
folks who say that if you findan influencer in your niche and
start joining thoseconversations, but not in a way
that you try to take over Nobodylikes someone who comes in and
tries to muscle their way butwhen you see a conversation
going on, if there's some valueyou can add, add the value to
(09:54):
the conversation.
Don't ask for anything at thatpoint, but add value to that
conversation.
Don't ask for anything at thatpoint, but add value to that
conversation.
And another advantage to thatis that that influencer, who may
have, you know, 100,000followers, the information not
the information, but the commentthat you just shared goes out
and is seen by many, many, manyof his audience because now
(10:14):
you're engaging him inconversation or her in
conversation.
So it's another LinkedInstrategy.
Ben (10:22):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more and I'm jumping in because the
quick example and it doesn'thappen every time, but I
commented on Neil Patel's postanother marketer and I got 44
reactions on my comment.
Hank (10:59):
I didn't document how many connection requests, but I got
reactions 44 and I got a handfulof connection requests that day
just by the luck of the luckand the brilliancy of my comment
.
I presume it helps that he'sincredibly brilliant, but he's
really built an amazing networkover time.
But I attended one of hiswebinars recently and I almost
wore my hand out taking notes onthe things he was sharing,
because he really does have alot to teach us.
He's fantastic.
Well, you're the host of anetwork of five podcasts.
(11:19):
These days, a lot of people areturning to podcasts or they're
trying their luck at podcasts,and in some cases it is just
luck, because they're notfollowing any kind of a formula
or a strategy.
Some of these really take offand others just limp along.
What are some steps that peoplecan take to harness podcasts to
(11:41):
become a greater influencer intheir own field?
Ben (11:45):
Yeah, so we could do 10 hours on just this.
So I'm going to simplify thisand give you what I believe is
the essential Enjoy the heck outof the process.
Enjoy what you do.
Enjoy your guests, the process.
Enjoy what you do.
Enjoy your guests.
Create the best quality podcastas possible and detach from the
metrics and the outcome,because most podcasts don't have
(12:09):
10,000 listens overnight.
However, we started with mystory.
I didn't have any listeners myfirst couple episodes.
The listener was me, my guestand their mom or a co-worker.
I was not getting great metrics, but as a host, I was learning
so much from my guests.
I was building relationships.
(12:29):
Those relationships led tofriendships that led to
mentorship and a lot of guestseither became a client or
mentorship, and a lot of guestseither became a client or they
knew someone in their networksix degrees of separation that
could become a client.
So my podcast gets a goodamount of listens today, but
that's like ancillary, that'sicing on the cake, since I was
(12:53):
creating content I loved.
I enjoyed what I did.
If you don't enjoy it and you'rejust doing it as a marketing
strategy, what's the point?
I enjoyed what I did.
I got to meet and learn frombrilliant people.
I got to build relationshipsthat led to income far before I
even had listeners.
(13:14):
So a big mistake I see peoplemake unless you're already Neil
Patel, unless you're already abig thought leader, don't just
do solo monologues because youhaven't built your audience yet.
Bring on guests, like you and Iare doing today and prior to the
call in our discovery session.
(13:34):
Build a relationship, formfriendships and partnerships,
and then whether or not yourpodcast is successful is
actually not that important,because that's not the number
one reason you're doing it.
You're not doing it for vanity.
You're doing it because youenjoy it, you're building
relationships and you'respeaking to people.
That million listens this yeartoo.
(13:54):
I'm going to create greatcontent that I love with people
I enjoy, and I'm confident it'lllead to friendship and business
.
If you shift that mindset,you're in the right place, and
(14:15):
if you don't have that mindset,I encourage you not to podcast,
because it's a lot of work andit's a lot of relationship
building.
But that's my thought on it.
We could go really deep intothat one topic, but mindset's
important, because if you don'thave the right mindset, you're
going to quit Right and it'llshow, it'll show.
Hank (14:32):
And, yeah, there are a lot of folks who started, or they
wanted to start, podcasting andthey put out three or four
episodes and then they didn't goviral, you know.
So they moved on to somethingelse.
But consistency in all things.
I mean I did, you know, one ofmy MC Biz Boomer raps, if my
(14:54):
audience you know I don't talkabout this a lot, but I do these
raps that are MC Biz Boomer andtheir business lessons in rap.
Just look that up, mc BizBoomer.
But the notion that thingsdon't happen overnight.
There is no overnight success,there's not overnight schemes.
And when people come to you andsay, if you just do this,
(15:15):
you're going to be making amillion dollars before you know
it or you'll have 2 millionlisteners on your podcast, those
are the things that we reallyshould run screaming into the
night from, because the onlyperson who's getting rich from
that is the person that you'reshelling out your money to.
Ben (15:31):
And yeah, so, that being said, if you want, if you want
overnight results, podcasting isthe bottom of the list.
Hank (15:40):
Yeah, I don't think there are overnight results with
anything.
You know you're not going tobuy a magic funnel that's
suddenly going to bring $600,000into your bank account in a
week.
It's not there.
You have to do the diligence,you have to do your homework,
you have to put in the work orreally nothing happens
(16:29):
no-transcript.
Ben (16:35):
Conviction high energy, be passionate, and that's not wrong
.
Passion does help.
But I think people are sick ofpeople talking about how great
they think they are.
I believe if you feeluncomfortable talking about
yourself which a lot of peopledo and the science shows it's
less persuasive just to talkabout how great you are.
(16:56):
Talk about other people.
If you want to market yourself,market other people.
If you want to help yourself,help other people.
I can make a post about how Italked to Hank today.
He was a gracious radio host.
I enjoyed the experience.
I love sharing my message and Iappreciate Hank giving me the
(17:17):
platform to do it.
And if anyone's open to a guestthat's high energy and cares
about their audience, I'd loveto be their guest.
I could make a post and thecall to action is I'd love to be
a guest on podcasts, but Idon't say listen to how great I
am as a guest, it's listen tohow great Hank is as a host.
And you can do that in anythingin life.
(17:41):
And the one example I'll give Iknow you wanted to dive in here
is providing just testimonialsand storylines of previous
successes of your clients.
Instead of talking about howcool your gadgets are just say
hey, I was working with Mark.
He had XYZ problem.
We implemented this solution.
These are the results they got.
(18:03):
I'm not trying to sell youanything, but if you have that
problem, I think it's fair toassume that my solution will
help you as well.
Again, you're not talking abouthow cool you are.
You're talking about marketingand helping somebody else.
Hank (18:16):
Exactly You're getting into what I just wanted to bring
up in the fact that you knowthe reason.
I shook my head before when yousaid that people you know go on
and they talk about how coolthey are and they talk about all
their features of theirproducts or their program.
And I shook my head.
And the reason for that isnobody really cares about how
cool you are, nobody cares aboutall your features.
(18:38):
What they care about is whatwill this do for me?
If I get this, if I jump intothis program, if I buy this
product, if I take on thisperson as a coach, what kind of
transformation will I undergo?
Because you're really sellingtransformation most of the time
(18:58):
and these decisions are madethrough emotions, not through
logic.
You really can't sell based onlogic.
You sell based on emotion.
When the person goes well, Iwant some of what he's got and
yeah.
So that's the main reason I wasshaking my head there.
You know, this time is justflying by and it does that when
(19:18):
I'm really enjoying the show andthe guests.
If you could give smallbusiness owners one bit of
advice to grow, what might thatbe?
Ben (19:27):
I'm just going to.
I could give a million.
I'm going to jump off of whatyou just said.
People don't want a six-monthdiet plan with exercise routine
and accountability and stress.
They want six-pack abs.
They want to look good in theirwedding dress.
They want to feel good andconfident when they're going
(19:49):
into their next event.
So stop talking about the nittygritty behind the scenes that
you're an expert at and you're anerd at and you want to talk
about every little detail.
Talk about what Hank just said,the solution that you provide,
and if you can get clarity onthe emotional reason that your
clients want to work with youthey don't want to go on a diet
(20:14):
plan, they just want six-packabs, they just want to look good
in the dress you can say Ipromise you I will help you look
amazing for your wedding.
Now, trust me, it's going to bea complicated process.
So you need to be engaged, youneed to be able to show up and
do the work, but if you want tolook good in that dress, I can
(20:34):
help you.
When you speak to that emotionallevel, when you speak solution
oriented rather than everydetail of the process, your
communication is more concise,it's more succinct and it speaks
to the heart of your buyer.
How communication is moreconcise, it's more succinct and
it speaks to the heart of yourbuyer.
How do people find your podcast?
So what's fun is, if I did myjob right, you can find my
podcast where you found this.
(20:55):
So like this podcast, share it,comment, subscribe, do this
while we're talking here andjust type in Real Business
Connections wherever you foundthis.
And if I failed, you just typeReal Business Connections into
Google.
You'll find me there, but showsome love to Hank and then
(21:16):
search Real Business Connections.
Hank (21:18):
What is the number one best way for our listeners to
get in touch with you?
Ben (21:27):
one best way for our listeners to get in touch with
you the way that you'll do.
I'm on a lot of platforms.
If you Google Real BusinessConnections or Real Ben Albert
or Ben Albert Marketing, youwill find me.
But the best way to get intouch is the way that you'll do.
Hank (21:39):
All right, well, thank you .
Thanks for being with us today,ben, and for our listeners.
Thanks for being with us today,ben, and for our listeners.
Tune in every Wednesday for theHome Business Success Show here
on bizradious.
Remember, you can achievesuccess, freedom and
independence in your ownhome-based business.
I've done it, ben has done it,and you can too.
I'll see you next Wednesdayhere on bizradious.
(22:02):
This is Hank Eder, wishing allof you a fabulous day of home
business success.
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