July 13, 2025 • 17 mins
With so many technology hacks around, we don’t pause to focus on the soft skills aka the "simple stuff" (or maybe not so simple) so we are prepared for the challenge of running a business.
My guest is Amber Mac who is President of AmberMac Media, Inc., an award-winning content development agency, an award-winning podcaster and a bestselling author. She is also the host of The AmberMac Show podcast on SiriusXM with co-host Jeff MacArthur. Amber has keynoted more than 700 events around the world and has moderated sessions.
As a parent, she working hard every day to teach the simple stuff to her son so that he’s prepared for the world of work and the challenge of running a business.
Here is her list of "the simple stuff":
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-small-business-radio-show--3306444/support.
Listen to all the episodes of The Small Business Radio Show at www.barrymoltz.com
My guest is Amber Mac who is President of AmberMac Media, Inc., an award-winning content development agency, an award-winning podcaster and a bestselling author. She is also the host of The AmberMac Show podcast on SiriusXM with co-host Jeff MacArthur. Amber has keynoted more than 700 events around the world and has moderated sessions.
As a parent, she working hard every day to teach the simple stuff to her son so that he’s prepared for the world of work and the challenge of running a business.
Here is her list of "the simple stuff":
- Show up on time. Actually, show up early.
- Respond to people promptly.
- Be polite and communicate clearly.
- Take the time to learn how to spell and pronounce people’s names correctly.
- Send thank-you emails or texts when you finish a job.
- Pay people promptly.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-small-business-radio-show--3306444/support.
Listen to all the episodes of The Small Business Radio Show at www.barrymoltz.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Get ready for all the craziness of small business. It's
exactly that craziness that makes it exciting and totally unbelievable.
Small Business Radio is now on the air with your host,
Barry Moultz.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, thanks for joining this week's radio show. Remember this
is the final word in small business. For those keeping track,
this is show number eight hundred and thirty A. Yes,
it's been seventeen years since I started this podcast, and
what we want to talk about today is that with
so much technology hacks around, we don't pause to focus
(00:40):
on the soft skills, aka the simple stuff. So prepare
for the challenge of running a small business. My guest
is Ambermac who's the president Ambermac Media, an award winning
content development agency, an award winning podcast and best selling author.
She's also the host of the Ambermac Show podcast XM
(01:01):
with co host Jack McArthur. Amber is keynoted at more
than seven hundred events around the world. Amber, Welcome back
to the show. It was March twenty twenty, at the
beginning of COVID the last time we talked. I can't
believe that.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Wow, it has been quite a few years, and I
do want to congratulate you on having the show for
so long, it's been a nice stretch for you. That's
pretty amazing. In these media times.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Talked to a lot of really great people.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I was thinking, I talked to you during the height
of COVID and I just getting over COVID for the
fourth time this last week.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Oh no, I hope you're feeling better.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
It's good.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It get it gets better each time. Well, I loved
your post that you said you originally wrote and you
said as a parent, I'm working hard every day to
teach the simple stuff to my son, though he's prepared
for the world and the challenge are running the business
a business? Why do we miss and don't focus on
the simple stuff?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
As you say, Well, it's a really good question, I
think one of the issues, and certainly I deal with
this on a daily basis, especially in twenty twenty five,
when we have so much technology in our lives. We
have so many NonStop headlines about what's happening in emerging
technology like artificial intelligence. It's just this abundance of being
connected all the time. And my thoughts on this is
(02:16):
that the simple stuff are some of those human skills
that I think are largely ignored when we talk about
skills for the future. Those are things like showing up
on time, responding to people promptly, being polite, communicating clearly,
you know, all those really simple, simple things that again
are really human first ways of being able to engage
(02:38):
in today's high tech world. So I think there are
some situations where technology isn't always the answer.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I think that's hard for a lot of younger people
to really realize when as soon as this post came out,
I send it to my thirty seven year old sons
and they're like, Dad, we know this, And I'm like, well,
but do you practice this?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Really? I want to go through each of these and
I want you to.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Tell me why you included, why you thought it was important,
and then if you're not good at it, how do
you get better at it? So show up on time,
actually show up early. Why is that important?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Well, I think one of the things that all of
us have done over the years in business. You certainly
had a business for a long time. In terms of
running this show, is that we build reputations with people
who we work with, and that becomes kind of part
of our brand, right, And so I think one of
the key skills for the next generation and really for
all of us is to think about how we show
(03:34):
up in the world, and showing up in the world
means showing up in all cases on time. You just
don't want to be that person who's known as a
person who's always late or not dependable. And I think
in this world where we're seeing a really significant erosion
of trust due to technology, these skills become even more important.
So if the people around you can trust you, they
(03:57):
know that you're dependable, they know you're going to show
up on time and actually show up even a few
minutes early, all of a sudden, you're building these human
to human relationships that I would argue are increasingly important
in this age of AI and emerging tech.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
You know, it's funny for me because when we sit
down with our friends, we say, what do you guys
usually argue about as couples, and most of them say, well,
usual about sex, we argue about money, and my wife
and I we argue about time because I'm always on time.
It gives me a stomach ache not to be on time,
and my wife really doesn't have that same concern, let's
put it that way.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, you know, and I think that's common for a
lot of people. Right there's people who are kind of
chronically late for things. And I know this is probably
a little bit over the top, but one of the
things that I'm so proud of with my son, who
is sixteen years old and going into grade eleven, is
that he's always going to school early. When he has
exams at school, he always goes in early. And these
are really simple things. But to me, these are actually
(04:53):
just really good, healthy habits that will set him up
for the future. We all know that when you're in
those first few years of your first job and the
beginning of your career, you cannot be that person who
shows up late. I mean, that's the difference between kind
of make it or break it in those early years.
And so to me, it feels like just building these
really good habits and this is one of those simple
(05:14):
things that you can do that can really help you
along the way.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
You know. It's funny.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
When I was I just retired from being a motivational
speaker for thirty years, and I always showed up at
the events early. I always told the meeting planner when
I got into town, just so they wouldn't worry.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, Yeah, And I love that you say that, because
I actually joke all the time with my husband. I've
been also speaking professionally for almost two decades, and listen,
there are lots of fantastic speakers out there.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Oh, exactly right, But what.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
People don't talk about is the stuff that happens kind
of off stage, right, and that is responding to emails,
being really cooperative, communicating clearly, showing up early, being open
and flexible. To me, I feel like that's why I've
had such a long career in speaking. There's lots of
people who can speak, who are excellent on stage, but
a lot of the times they forget again, some of
(06:02):
these simple things that really help you to build this
long term reputation. I think that all of us want
in business.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
You know, the second one about the simple stuff you
talk about ambers that respond to people promptly. Do you
think that we've lost that skill because there's so many
ways for people to respond, or there's so many things
coming at us through technology all the time.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, I mean, I think one of the issues is
that there's just so much tech, like you say, that's
coming at us all of the time. But I think
that again, there's an opportunity to kind of sort between
the stuff that needs responses and the stuff that maybe doesn't.
Right and responding to people promptly. The one thing I
think about all the time is especially with clients of ours, right,
(06:47):
we have to be able to respond quickly. We do
a lot of podcast production, we do a lot of speaking.
I do a lot of video content as well out
of our studio. And if I have clients who are
depending on us for anything, I mean, those are the
first people that I respond to. So I think it's
really important that you learn how to respond promptly. And
(07:07):
you know, sometimes it may be that you can't send
out a response because you don't have the answer, and
I think even that's okay, right, Like even leading up
to today when we're having this conversation, we had a
couple back and forth, and my thing is like, always
just be honest and clear about what's going on. If
you don't know the answer of when you can meet,
just say hey, I need a few more days. Can
you get back in touch on Friday? Like, really good
(07:30):
communication is possible in the digital space, and it's really
worthwhile as well.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
You know you talk about also to communicate clearly, Like
for me, I'm really good at responding to people, but
sometimes my response are too short and they don't know
what it means. Right, I'll respond right away, but I
don't respond clearly. Why are we having a problem responding
clearly now? Because we're in such a rush, like I am.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's part of it is
that we are in such a rush all the time.
I think again, and there's always this expectation that you
have to get back to people really quickly. So I
would say that listen again. I think the prompt reply
is a really good idea, but only if you're able
to provide some context and clarity in terms of those replies.
So I think being polite and communicating clearly is just
(08:17):
so essential. And what I mean by that is even
just sort of repeating what the person said in their email.
So this happens to me all the time. Right, you're
messaging with someone or you're emailing with someone, and maybe
they send back like one word or a thumbs up.
One of the things I always like to do is
to say, oh, okay, does that mean that you are
free at this time on this date? Let me know
(08:37):
yes or no, and I'll see you there. So I'd
really like try to get very clear answers in writing
so that there's no confusion. The last thing you want
to do in this world of an over abundance of
information is to leave anyone in a state where they
don't really know what's happening and they're confused. So I
think communicating clearly is a really good skill to be
able to hone.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, because sometimes if I communicate with just the smiley
face or a k or thumbs up, I don't.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Really know what that means.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
You also say that people should be polite.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Now, I would say that politeness is not in fashion now,
especially with the current political situation in the United States. The
President United States is not a polite person, right unless
you really love him. So has politeness gone down because
of social media where people can rudely interact with each
other anonymously or what do you think is going on?
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah? I mean, I think one of the things that
happening right now is that the bar has been somewhat lowered,
and that is really unfortunate. And I wouldn't just, you know,
blame people in political though certainly there aren't plenty of
them to blame but I would also say in the
tech industry and in the business world, you know, you
have the elon Musks of the world who are tremendously
(09:52):
rude and abrasive, and the.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Genus, the genius jerk that we're.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Talking jerky exactly, and all of a sudden that has
become the standard in terms of what people think is okay.
Like this horrifies me to no end, because, like I mentioned,
I have a sixteen year old son at home. I
don't want him to think that, hey, you know, in
order to become president of the United States or be
the richest person in the world and have that level
(10:19):
of success, that you have to do all of these
horrible things along the way. And so I think you're right.
I think we've seen a deterioration of decency and it's
time to bring back again sort of a higher standard
of how we engage with people that actually puts decency
front and center. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
I'm hopeful of that too.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
You also talk about take time to learn how to
spell and pronounce people's names correctly. I think that is
so important because when you butcher someone else's name. I
do a lot of interviews and I'm always like ahead
of time, well, Amber Mac is really easy. But ahead
of time, I'm always like, is this the pronuncias of
your name? And I write down in mid little sheet
here the phonetic spelling of their first or last name.
(10:58):
I think it's so important because if you butcher someone
else's name, it's not a good look, it's not a
good start.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Yeah, and you know what, the good news is that
it's become easier than ever to try to at least
get things right. And certainly over the years, I mean
I've hosted lots of live TV shows, and I've done
lots of events, and there are plenty of times where
I haven't gotten someone's name right, but I really do try.
And so I'll do everything from going onto YouTube to
listen to videos about how to pronounce someone's name, and
(11:26):
then oftentimes I'll go to their LinkedIn profile. It's a
really cool feature they have on LinkedIn these days where
you can hear someone say their own name. Not everybody
uses that future, but I love it. Yeah, yeah, it's
a really really cool addition. And then finally, the third
thing I'll do is I always have a piece of
paper and pen on me. Sometimes low tech is the
way to go and I will ask someone before I
(11:48):
start an interview or a conversation, I'll say, how to
pronounce your name, and then I'll just write it out phonetically,
and that just helps me get things right. Again, I'm
not one hundred percent on this all of the time,
but I think it shows the effort right. And it's
interesting to try to learn people's names. I think, you know,
it sort of represents that you are open to learning
(12:08):
about different cultures where people are from and just trying
to get it right. I think that's really the most
important thing.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I had a client that used to start calling an
employed by the wrong.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Name, and then you knew he was going to fire you.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Oh no, that's how you knew. I guess it goes
on one of those genius jerks kinds of things. Oh boy,
A couple more you said send thank you notes and
text when you finish a job. I think, just generally
in life, to say thank you, it's so important.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
I mean, that's a simple thing you can do, right,
and it doesn't have to be a handwritten letter or
anything like that, or a card. It could just be
a simple email just to say, hey, you know, really
enjoyed working with you, enjoyed your event, enjoy that conversation,
whatever that might be. Just to sort of again, like
it's sort of part of that whole theme of trying
to be as polite as possible to ensure that you
(12:59):
are in fact putting everything into that relationship that you
have with someone. This is a simple thing. I think
that is so easy to do, and it's not necessarily
good to leave that for a few days or even
a couple of weeks. I think you want to try
to do that as quickly as possible. So listen, a
lot of us spend a lot of time, you know,
back and forth commuting to certain places, whatever that might be.
(13:21):
Use that time to send those thank you texts that
were those emails. And that's a really good thing to
teach the next generation to. My son isn't perfect at
this yet, but I always tell them, like, when someone
emails you, even if it doesn't require response, it's a
good idea to respond, say hey, thanks for your email,
got it, you know, see you there for you then
whatever that might be, And that just sort of again
(13:42):
remove removes the any potential confusion from any situation or relationship.
And I think people really are starving for clarity and
certainty in this environment.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And I the last one you had in your postage
was pay people promptly. And as a small business owner,
I'm so sensitive that I haven't paid my legal bills
like the next day versus most people, yeah, for months,
because I'm so sensitive that having my own business.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, you know, this is a big one, right, And
I run a small business. We have lots of contractors.
I would say from most of them, they are over
the moon. You know. Typically we pay within twenty four hours.
I know that's you know, pretty quick. Some people may
not have the capacity to do that, but there would
be very few cases where it would last more than
a couple of days from the time we get an
(14:30):
invoice till we pay someone. And on the flip side
is a small business owner and I certainly don't want
to call anyone out, but we spend a lot of
time chasing people for months and months. You know, we
do really great work, and then we're chasing people for three,
four or five six months just to get paid and
the process is really cumbersome. And so I think that's
one thing that I think people can really put more
(14:52):
emphasis on to try to do really clean their act
up in that space. And I mean, just how crazy
it is is it, in this world of an abundance
of technology that it's so difficult to pay people. I
find that bizarre.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
And I think they'll do a better job for you
if they know they're gonna get paid right away a
hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
And it's just listen. I always come from the standpoint
that you don't really know what someone is going through,
right And you know, my dad who unfortunately passed away
a few months ago, but he's always say this statement
to me that I'll never forget. He said, you know,
there is a big difference between someone who can't pay
(15:31):
and someone who is just waiting to pay you right.
And and you know the goal there being that you know,
there's situations where people can't afford to pay people because
maybe they're waiting on money to come in. But some
of these these larger companies and organizations that just kind
of wait this out and they have these really long terms.
I find it incredibly disrespectful to those small business owners.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Like ninety days and you're a billions home. Ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, and thanks so much for me on the show
and talking about a non technical topic to art, which
is really great. Where can people catch you in the
Ambermac Show?
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Yeah, awesoullely So the Ambermac Show Arizon Sirius x M
in the US and Canada on Tuesday at two pm
and on the weekend on Channel one sixty seven. But
we're also available as a podcast wherever you get your podcast.
We just started the show a few months ago and
we're trying to build up that subscriber base, so please
do subscribe. It's a really fun weekly show and Lut's
plan for the summer as well well.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Thanks for joining this week's radio show. I got to
thank our sponsor, Answer Connect provides around the clock customer
service support to help you get time off the phone.
Check the special fifty percent offer in the show notes.
Thanks to our incredible staff, especially our booking producer Sarah Schaffern,
our video and sound ender Ethan Moltz, our marketing manager
Courtney Gilcrest. If your serious boill be more successful in
(16:48):
twenty twenty four, you got to give me a call.
I can help you out seven seven three eight three
seven eight two five zero or email me at Barry
at Moltz dot com. Remember love everyone, try a few
and pal your own canoe, have a profitable and passionate week.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
You can find Barrymoltz on the web at Barrymolts dot com,
or more episodes of Small Business Radio at small Business
radioshow dot com
Get ready for all the craziness of small business. It's
exactly that craziness that makes it exciting and totally unbelievable.
Small Business Radio is now on the air with your host,
Barry Moultz.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, thanks for joining this week's radio show. Remember this
is the final word in small business. For those keeping track,
this is show number eight hundred and thirty A. Yes,
it's been seventeen years since I started this podcast, and
what we want to talk about today is that with
so much technology hacks around, we don't pause to focus
(00:40):
on the soft skills, aka the simple stuff. So prepare
for the challenge of running a small business. My guest
is Ambermac who's the president Ambermac Media, an award winning
content development agency, an award winning podcast and best selling author.
She's also the host of the Ambermac Show podcast XM
(01:01):
with co host Jack McArthur. Amber is keynoted at more
than seven hundred events around the world. Amber, Welcome back
to the show. It was March twenty twenty, at the
beginning of COVID the last time we talked. I can't
believe that.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Wow, it has been quite a few years, and I
do want to congratulate you on having the show for
so long, it's been a nice stretch for you. That's
pretty amazing. In these media times.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Talked to a lot of really great people.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I was thinking, I talked to you during the height
of COVID and I just getting over COVID for the
fourth time this last week.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Oh no, I hope you're feeling better.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
It's good.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It get it gets better each time. Well, I loved
your post that you said you originally wrote and you
said as a parent, I'm working hard every day to
teach the simple stuff to my son, though he's prepared
for the world and the challenge are running the business
a business? Why do we miss and don't focus on
the simple stuff?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
As you say, Well, it's a really good question, I
think one of the issues, and certainly I deal with
this on a daily basis, especially in twenty twenty five,
when we have so much technology in our lives. We
have so many NonStop headlines about what's happening in emerging
technology like artificial intelligence. It's just this abundance of being
connected all the time. And my thoughts on this is
(02:16):
that the simple stuff are some of those human skills
that I think are largely ignored when we talk about
skills for the future. Those are things like showing up
on time, responding to people promptly, being polite, communicating clearly,
you know, all those really simple, simple things that again
are really human first ways of being able to engage
(02:38):
in today's high tech world. So I think there are
some situations where technology isn't always the answer.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I think that's hard for a lot of younger people
to really realize when as soon as this post came out,
I send it to my thirty seven year old sons
and they're like, Dad, we know this, And I'm like, well,
but do you practice this?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Really? I want to go through each of these and
I want you to.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Tell me why you included, why you thought it was important,
and then if you're not good at it, how do
you get better at it? So show up on time,
actually show up early. Why is that important?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Well, I think one of the things that all of
us have done over the years in business. You certainly
had a business for a long time. In terms of
running this show, is that we build reputations with people
who we work with, and that becomes kind of part
of our brand, right, And so I think one of
the key skills for the next generation and really for
all of us is to think about how we show
(03:34):
up in the world, and showing up in the world
means showing up in all cases on time. You just
don't want to be that person who's known as a
person who's always late or not dependable. And I think
in this world where we're seeing a really significant erosion
of trust due to technology, these skills become even more important.
So if the people around you can trust you, they
(03:57):
know that you're dependable, they know you're going to show
up on time and actually show up even a few
minutes early, all of a sudden, you're building these human
to human relationships that I would argue are increasingly important
in this age of AI and emerging tech.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
You know, it's funny for me because when we sit
down with our friends, we say, what do you guys
usually argue about as couples, and most of them say, well,
usual about sex, we argue about money, and my wife
and I we argue about time because I'm always on time.
It gives me a stomach ache not to be on time,
and my wife really doesn't have that same concern, let's
put it that way.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, you know, and I think that's common for a
lot of people. Right there's people who are kind of
chronically late for things. And I know this is probably
a little bit over the top, but one of the
things that I'm so proud of with my son, who
is sixteen years old and going into grade eleven, is
that he's always going to school early. When he has
exams at school, he always goes in early. And these
are really simple things. But to me, these are actually
(04:53):
just really good, healthy habits that will set him up
for the future. We all know that when you're in
those first few years of your first job and the
beginning of your career, you cannot be that person who
shows up late. I mean, that's the difference between kind
of make it or break it in those early years.
And so to me, it feels like just building these
really good habits and this is one of those simple
(05:14):
things that you can do that can really help you
along the way.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
You know. It's funny.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
When I was I just retired from being a motivational
speaker for thirty years, and I always showed up at
the events early. I always told the meeting planner when
I got into town, just so they wouldn't worry.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, Yeah, And I love that you say that, because
I actually joke all the time with my husband. I've
been also speaking professionally for almost two decades, and listen,
there are lots of fantastic speakers out there.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Oh, exactly right, But what.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
People don't talk about is the stuff that happens kind
of off stage, right, and that is responding to emails,
being really cooperative, communicating clearly, showing up early, being open
and flexible. To me, I feel like that's why I've
had such a long career in speaking. There's lots of
people who can speak, who are excellent on stage, but
a lot of the times they forget again, some of
(06:02):
these simple things that really help you to build this
long term reputation. I think that all of us want
in business.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
You know, the second one about the simple stuff you
talk about ambers that respond to people promptly. Do you
think that we've lost that skill because there's so many
ways for people to respond, or there's so many things
coming at us through technology all the time.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, I mean, I think one of the issues is
that there's just so much tech, like you say, that's
coming at us all of the time. But I think
that again, there's an opportunity to kind of sort between
the stuff that needs responses and the stuff that maybe doesn't.
Right and responding to people promptly. The one thing I
think about all the time is especially with clients of ours, right,
(06:47):
we have to be able to respond quickly. We do
a lot of podcast production, we do a lot of speaking.
I do a lot of video content as well out
of our studio. And if I have clients who are
depending on us for anything, I mean, those are the
first people that I respond to. So I think it's
really important that you learn how to respond promptly. And
(07:07):
you know, sometimes it may be that you can't send
out a response because you don't have the answer, and
I think even that's okay, right, Like even leading up
to today when we're having this conversation, we had a
couple back and forth, and my thing is like, always
just be honest and clear about what's going on. If
you don't know the answer of when you can meet,
just say hey, I need a few more days. Can
you get back in touch on Friday? Like, really good
(07:30):
communication is possible in the digital space, and it's really
worthwhile as well.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
You know you talk about also to communicate clearly, Like
for me, I'm really good at responding to people, but
sometimes my response are too short and they don't know
what it means. Right, I'll respond right away, but I
don't respond clearly. Why are we having a problem responding
clearly now? Because we're in such a rush, like I am.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's part of it is
that we are in such a rush all the time.
I think again, and there's always this expectation that you
have to get back to people really quickly. So I
would say that listen again. I think the prompt reply
is a really good idea, but only if you're able
to provide some context and clarity in terms of those replies.
So I think being polite and communicating clearly is just
(08:17):
so essential. And what I mean by that is even
just sort of repeating what the person said in their email.
So this happens to me all the time. Right, you're
messaging with someone or you're emailing with someone, and maybe
they send back like one word or a thumbs up.
One of the things I always like to do is
to say, oh, okay, does that mean that you are
free at this time on this date? Let me know
(08:37):
yes or no, and I'll see you there. So I'd
really like try to get very clear answers in writing
so that there's no confusion. The last thing you want
to do in this world of an over abundance of
information is to leave anyone in a state where they
don't really know what's happening and they're confused. So I
think communicating clearly is a really good skill to be
able to hone.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, because sometimes if I communicate with just the smiley
face or a k or thumbs up, I don't.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Really know what that means.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
You also say that people should be polite.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Now, I would say that politeness is not in fashion now,
especially with the current political situation in the United States. The
President United States is not a polite person, right unless
you really love him. So has politeness gone down because
of social media where people can rudely interact with each
other anonymously or what do you think is going on?
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah? I mean, I think one of the things that
happening right now is that the bar has been somewhat lowered,
and that is really unfortunate. And I wouldn't just, you know,
blame people in political though certainly there aren't plenty of
them to blame but I would also say in the
tech industry and in the business world, you know, you
have the elon Musks of the world who are tremendously
(09:52):
rude and abrasive, and the.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Genus, the genius jerk that we're.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Talking jerky exactly, and all of a sudden that has
become the standard in terms of what people think is okay.
Like this horrifies me to no end, because, like I mentioned,
I have a sixteen year old son at home. I
don't want him to think that, hey, you know, in
order to become president of the United States or be
the richest person in the world and have that level
(10:19):
of success, that you have to do all of these
horrible things along the way. And so I think you're right.
I think we've seen a deterioration of decency and it's
time to bring back again sort of a higher standard
of how we engage with people that actually puts decency
front and center. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
I'm hopeful of that too.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
You also talk about take time to learn how to
spell and pronounce people's names correctly. I think that is
so important because when you butcher someone else's name. I
do a lot of interviews and I'm always like ahead
of time, well, Amber Mac is really easy. But ahead
of time, I'm always like, is this the pronuncias of
your name? And I write down in mid little sheet
here the phonetic spelling of their first or last name.
(10:58):
I think it's so important because if you butcher someone
else's name, it's not a good look, it's not a
good start.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Yeah, and you know what, the good news is that
it's become easier than ever to try to at least
get things right. And certainly over the years, I mean
I've hosted lots of live TV shows, and I've done
lots of events, and there are plenty of times where
I haven't gotten someone's name right, but I really do try.
And so I'll do everything from going onto YouTube to
listen to videos about how to pronounce someone's name, and
(11:26):
then oftentimes I'll go to their LinkedIn profile. It's a
really cool feature they have on LinkedIn these days where
you can hear someone say their own name. Not everybody
uses that future, but I love it. Yeah, yeah, it's
a really really cool addition. And then finally, the third
thing I'll do is I always have a piece of
paper and pen on me. Sometimes low tech is the
way to go and I will ask someone before I
(11:48):
start an interview or a conversation, I'll say, how to
pronounce your name, and then I'll just write it out phonetically,
and that just helps me get things right. Again, I'm
not one hundred percent on this all of the time,
but I think it shows the effort right. And it's
interesting to try to learn people's names. I think, you know,
it sort of represents that you are open to learning
(12:08):
about different cultures where people are from and just trying
to get it right. I think that's really the most
important thing.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I had a client that used to start calling an
employed by the wrong.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Name, and then you knew he was going to fire you.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Oh no, that's how you knew. I guess it goes
on one of those genius jerks kinds of things. Oh boy,
A couple more you said send thank you notes and
text when you finish a job. I think, just generally
in life, to say thank you, it's so important.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
I mean, that's a simple thing you can do, right,
and it doesn't have to be a handwritten letter or
anything like that, or a card. It could just be
a simple email just to say, hey, you know, really
enjoyed working with you, enjoyed your event, enjoy that conversation,
whatever that might be. Just to sort of again, like
it's sort of part of that whole theme of trying
to be as polite as possible to ensure that you
(12:59):
are in fact putting everything into that relationship that you
have with someone. This is a simple thing. I think
that is so easy to do, and it's not necessarily
good to leave that for a few days or even
a couple of weeks. I think you want to try
to do that as quickly as possible. So listen, a
lot of us spend a lot of time, you know,
back and forth commuting to certain places, whatever that might be.
(13:21):
Use that time to send those thank you texts that
were those emails. And that's a really good thing to
teach the next generation to. My son isn't perfect at
this yet, but I always tell them, like, when someone
emails you, even if it doesn't require response, it's a
good idea to respond, say hey, thanks for your email,
got it, you know, see you there for you then
whatever that might be, And that just sort of again
(13:42):
remove removes the any potential confusion from any situation or relationship.
And I think people really are starving for clarity and
certainty in this environment.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And I the last one you had in your postage
was pay people promptly. And as a small business owner,
I'm so sensitive that I haven't paid my legal bills
like the next day versus most people, yeah, for months,
because I'm so sensitive that having my own business.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, you know, this is a big one, right, And
I run a small business. We have lots of contractors.
I would say from most of them, they are over
the moon. You know. Typically we pay within twenty four hours.
I know that's you know, pretty quick. Some people may
not have the capacity to do that, but there would
be very few cases where it would last more than
a couple of days from the time we get an
(14:30):
invoice till we pay someone. And on the flip side
is a small business owner and I certainly don't want
to call anyone out, but we spend a lot of
time chasing people for months and months. You know, we
do really great work, and then we're chasing people for three,
four or five six months just to get paid and
the process is really cumbersome. And so I think that's
one thing that I think people can really put more
(14:52):
emphasis on to try to do really clean their act
up in that space. And I mean, just how crazy
it is is it, in this world of an abundance
of technology that it's so difficult to pay people. I
find that bizarre.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
And I think they'll do a better job for you
if they know they're gonna get paid right away a
hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
And it's just listen. I always come from the standpoint
that you don't really know what someone is going through,
right And you know, my dad who unfortunately passed away
a few months ago, but he's always say this statement
to me that I'll never forget. He said, you know,
there is a big difference between someone who can't pay
(15:31):
and someone who is just waiting to pay you right.
And and you know the goal there being that you know,
there's situations where people can't afford to pay people because
maybe they're waiting on money to come in. But some
of these these larger companies and organizations that just kind
of wait this out and they have these really long terms.
I find it incredibly disrespectful to those small business owners.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Like ninety days and you're a billions home. Ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, and thanks so much for me on the show
and talking about a non technical topic to art, which
is really great. Where can people catch you in the
Ambermac Show?
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Yeah, awesoullely So the Ambermac Show Arizon Sirius x M
in the US and Canada on Tuesday at two pm
and on the weekend on Channel one sixty seven. But
we're also available as a podcast wherever you get your podcast.
We just started the show a few months ago and
we're trying to build up that subscriber base, so please
do subscribe. It's a really fun weekly show and Lut's
plan for the summer as well well.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Thanks for joining this week's radio show. I got to
thank our sponsor, Answer Connect provides around the clock customer
service support to help you get time off the phone.
Check the special fifty percent offer in the show notes.
Thanks to our incredible staff, especially our booking producer Sarah Schaffern,
our video and sound ender Ethan Moltz, our marketing manager
Courtney Gilcrest. If your serious boill be more successful in
(16:48):
twenty twenty four, you got to give me a call.
I can help you out seven seven three eight three
seven eight two five zero or email me at Barry
at Moltz dot com. Remember love everyone, try a few
and pal your own canoe, have a profitable and passionate week.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
You can find Barrymoltz on the web at Barrymolts dot com,
or more episodes of Small Business Radio at small Business
radioshow dot com
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