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Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
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Profitable Connections, the show where we talk
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about the conversations, relationships, and follow
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-up that actually move business forward. Today's
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episode is going to hit home for every business
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owner, coach, consultant, and professional who
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has ever said, I just need more clients. Because
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the truth is, sometimes the problem is not that
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you need more people. Sometimes the problem is
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that you're not clear enough about the right
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people. My guest today helps business owners
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understand their ideal clients at a much deeper
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level, not just age, income, title, or location,
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but what they value, what they worry about, what
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they want, what they believe, and why they choose
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one business over another. We're also going to
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talk about the revenue lessons the big companies
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already understand, the kind of practical moves
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the Fortune 500 companies use every day, but
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smaller businesses often miss. This conversation
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goes way beyond marketing. It's about clarity,
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character, leadership, and service. Because when
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you truly understand who you serve, you stop
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chasing everyone and start speaking directly
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to the people you're built to help. So get ready.
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This episode may change the way you think about
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your audience, your message, your relationships,
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and your revenue. I'd like to welcome to the
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podcast today, Allison. Allison is an expert
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in everything that I had just discussed. Why
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don't you give us, Alison, why don't you give
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us the cliff notes of how you got where you are
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today? I started training in computer programming,
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believe it or not. And then I worked for the
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University of Toronto for a couple of years,
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programming their database. And then I started
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my own business, which I ended up closing down
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when I had children. But during that time of
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having my business, I trained in marketing psychology.
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And that's where this comes from. Okay. That
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sounds like a good start. But here, let me, I've
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gotten a few questions for you. And let's just
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see how you do when I bounce them off of you.
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Okay. When someone says, I serve everybody. What
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does that usually reveal about their clarity,
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confidence, and willingness to truly understand
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people? People who think they want to serve everybody
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are insecure. They think that they can be everything
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to everybody, and the truth is they can't. They
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can't solve everybody's problems all the time.
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The experts know the niche market that they serve.
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And they cater just to those people again and
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again and again and again. That's very true.
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I learned a long time ago that, listen, you have
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a lot to offer people, but pick a lane. As soon
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as you become an expert in that lane, then maybe
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you can wander off to another. But you can't
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just start off. trying to service everybody,
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because if you try to service everybody, you're
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servicing nobody. Exactly. Okay. So you end up
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spreading yourself too thin and you're helping
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nobody and you're burning yourself out. Absolutely.
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Absolutely. And that goes beside Jack, Jack of
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all trades, a master of none, but falls right
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along the same lines as that in business. So
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you really have to get. focused in on what you
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do well and expand that. Yes. Okay, so how does
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knowing your ideal client on a deeper level change
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the way you build relationships, not just the
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way you market it? It changes the way you build
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relationships because it changes the way you
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introduce yourself. It's more refined. It's more
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clear how you introduce yourself. Rather than
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saying I do marketing for everybody, I would
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say I teach people how to refine their ideal
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client so they know exactly who they can help.
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So now I'm asking you this because I'm a coach
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as well. I teach people. So that sounds very
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canned, like very rehearsed. If somebody asked
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you. What do you do for a living? How do you
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answer that? I teach people how to take everyday
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marketing tactics that the small and the big
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guys use and teach them how to apply it to their
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business. Okay. I feel that you should really
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work on that just a little bit, but let me move
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on to the next question. What do psychographics
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tell us about a person that demographics never
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will? Psychographics are the emotions behind
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why a person buys. It's the emotional driving
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force that makes you decide, yes, I want to buy
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this product. Okay. All right. Let's go back
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to the 30 -second elevator pitch. And in a world
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that's flooded with pitches, how can business
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owners use better client understanding to make
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people feel seen instead of sold to? They can
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ask them clarification questions and ask rather
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than just saying, hi, I sell phones. You can
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say, hi, I'm from Bell Canada. We're across Canada.
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sell internet and phones and cell phones. And
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you can be really specific in what you do. A
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saying comes to mind. People love to buy. They
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hate to be sold to. So you have to make the person
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feel as if you're not there to sell them, but
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you're there to explain the services that you
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may have. Or better yet, Find out what their
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problem is. Exactly. And tell them how you are
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going to solve it. Exactly. The easier you find
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out what their problem is, the easier it is for
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you to solve it. Or know that, no, you don't
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solve it, but such a body does. Here's a referral.
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But that's true. And it goes back to what you
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said originally, by asking those questions. And
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the more in depth, the more inside the person's
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head you can get, and you get a deeper understanding
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of what their problem is, the easier it is for
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you to say, I can solve that. Or I know somebody
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who can solve it. Yeah. But either way, you're
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giving them the answer. Yeah. Okay. What does
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the way we define our ideal client say about
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our values, our boundaries, and the kind of business
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we want to build? Defining your ideal client
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has little to do with values and a lot more to
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do with basically who you can help. For example,
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an ideal client for a cell phone would be somebody
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who wants to be on the phone all day. moving
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around in the car or on transit or walking around
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versus somebody who wants a landline, just wants
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to stand still while they talk. Okay, so you're
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saying that the person with the cell phone has
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the mobility to go wherever they want to and
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the landline, you're more tethered to a wall,
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to a floor, to something else. Okay, so... Fortune
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500 companies spend heavily to understand buyer
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behavior. What are they doing that small businesses
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can apply without a massive budget? One of the
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biggest things that Fortune 500 companies leverage
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on a regular basis is the media. Things like
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podcasts or newspapers or magazines or journals.
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They get articles written about them and they
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get interviews for television as well as their
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advertising. They know the secrets behind writing
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a good press release and getting picked up. If
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you write that good press release, so the whole
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goal is to have them ask you. about writing the
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article doing a podcast or something else you
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don't want to go out to them right because you
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don't want to seem like you need them so you
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want to assume or you want to go out and say
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i don't need them but listen if you want to interview
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me okay and that you want to offer your services
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and show them why you're an expert yes precisely
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precisely what is one revenue strategy Big companies
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understand that small business owners often overlook
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and they're too close to their own work. Basically,
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I think if they're too close to their own work,
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they're doing too much of their own thing and
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they're not getting out and seeing enough people
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to build the business. And that translates into
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poor revenue. It does. It does. When somebody
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just starts out. on their own, they have to do
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everything. They're a man of many hats. But they
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don't realize what I didn't realize until 30
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years later, that you do the things you love.
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The things you don't, you outsource. And it may
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cost you a little bit of money, but it's going
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to save you a ton in the future. Exactly. For
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example, in my business, I developed websites.
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When I started out, I did the graphic design,
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I did the templating, I did the programming,
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I did the testing, I did the accounting, I did
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everything. Then little by little, I outsourced
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the accounting and the graphic design, and that
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gave me a lot more value to focus on the programming
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that I loved. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's
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good that you focused in on what you were all
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about. And Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, no, it
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wasn't Cook, it was Jobs, Steve Jobs. And when
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he was building his board, the people around
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him, he didn't pick yes men. He picked people
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that did well in the areas that he did not. And
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he really did lousy. He picked the people because
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They went ahead and they went ahead with their
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vision, but together they all made one big, huge
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vision. Exactly. He didn't have to do it all.
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So it's really good. All right. At the company
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I'm at now, the CEO regularly converses with
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the financial manager of the company. to get
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this advice and that advice and how to solve
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this and how to solve that. And he comes to me
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for marketing advice and it's all that teamwork
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vibe. Teamwork makes the world go round. You
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can't do it all by yourself, right? Okay. So
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how can small business owners build trust faster
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by speaking to the real emotions, fears, goals,
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and beliefs of their audience? If you speak to
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the emotions of a person, then the emotional
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centers take over and say, yeah, I need this
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need solved now. And they're more likely to buy
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from you. Absolutely. Absolutely. As long as
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you can get to that emotion, that something that
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compels your customer, not only to buy, but to
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buy from you. That's a niche you have to figure
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out. But once you do, then you've got it made.
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Okay, so where do you see business owners confusing
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attention with connection? And how does that
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hurt their revenue? When you have somebody's
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attention, they're listening or half listening,
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if you like. When you connect with them, you've
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got their heart and soul. capturing their emotions
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and tapping into that emotional potential that
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drives them to buy. Okay. All right. So let's
00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:51.259
bring this podcast full circle. When a leader
00:13:51.259 --> 00:13:54.879
truly understands their audience, how does that
00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:57.019
change the way they show up in conversations,
00:13:57.539 --> 00:14:02.960
sales, networking, and follow -up? When an expert
00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.080
knows what they're doing, It's really easy to
00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:10.320
answer questions and solve problems. Or they
00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:13.759
also know, no, that's out of my wheelbox. I can't
00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:18.700
help you. Try this person. Okay. You know what,
00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:21.720
Allison? That was, it's great. This was a wonderful
00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:25.120
podcast. If somebody wanted to get hold of you,
00:14:25.220 --> 00:14:28.799
either to be mentored by you, trained by you,
00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:31.639
buy something, whatever, or just call you to
00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:33.899
say hi, what's the best way for them to get hold
00:14:33.899 --> 00:14:38.320
of you? They can get ahold of me by email, alisonsilbert
00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:44.860
.gmail .com. A -L -I -S -O -N -S -I -L -B -E
00:14:44.860 --> 00:14:49.059
-R -T. All right. This was a powerful conversation.
00:14:49.580 --> 00:14:52.659
Today we talked about why knowing your ideal
00:14:52.659 --> 00:14:56.379
client is not just a marketing exercise. It's
00:14:56.379 --> 00:14:59.360
a leadership decision. When you understand who
00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:02.980
you serve, what they care about, and what keeps
00:15:02.980 --> 00:15:06.370
them up at night. And what usually they are really
00:15:06.370 --> 00:15:09.570
looking for, your conversations become clearer,
00:15:09.769 --> 00:15:13.190
your message becomes stronger, and your relationships
00:15:13.190 --> 00:15:17.750
become much more meaningful. Exactly. We also
00:15:17.750 --> 00:15:20.570
pulled back the curtain on what larger companies
00:15:20.570 --> 00:15:24.009
already know about revenue. They do not guess
00:15:24.009 --> 00:15:27.570
at their audience. They study people. They listen.
00:15:27.730 --> 00:15:31.840
They pay attention to behavior, emotion. timing,
00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:35.519
trust, and decision -making. And the great news
00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:39.919
is small businesses can use many of these same
00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:43.519
ideas without a giant budget. Here's the big
00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:47.179
takeaway. Stop trying to be the fit for everyone.
00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:51.139
The better path is to become easier to recognize
00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:53.679
by the people who truly need what you offer.
00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:57.440
If this episode made you think differently about
00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:59.740
your business, your message, or the people you're
00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:03.289
trying to reach, Do not let it sit there. Take
00:16:03.289 --> 00:16:05.990
one idea and use it in your next conversation,
00:16:06.330 --> 00:16:09.610
your next follow -up, or your next piece of content.
00:16:09.909 --> 00:16:13.370
And before you go, make sure you subscribe or
00:16:13.370 --> 00:16:16.649
follow Networking Unleashed so you can keep getting
00:16:16.649 --> 00:16:19.470
the best information on networking, communication,
00:16:19.830 --> 00:16:23.190
and building profitable relationships. I'm Michael
00:16:23.190 --> 00:16:26.110
Foreman, and remember, the right conversation
00:16:26.110 --> 00:16:29.450
with the right person can open the right door.
00:16:30.110 --> 00:16:33.169
I'll see you on the next episode of Networking
00:16:33.169 --> 00:16:36.429
Unleashed, Building Profitable Connections. Allison,
00:16:36.629 --> 00:16:39.309
I want to tell you again, you're a great guest
00:16:39.309 --> 00:16:43.070
and I hope to speak with you soon. Okay. Thank
00:16:43.070 --> 00:16:47.250
you very much. Keep in touch. All right, folks.
00:16:47.669 --> 00:16:50.330
A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such
00:16:50.330 --> 00:16:53.750
incredible insights today. And of course, a big
00:16:53.750 --> 00:16:57.269
shout out to you. our amazing listeners for tuning
00:16:57.269 --> 00:17:00.090
in and spending your time with us. If you're
00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:03.350
interested in my digital courses, being coached
00:17:03.350 --> 00:17:06.390
or having me come and talk to your company, just
00:17:06.390 --> 00:17:09.109
go to Michael and fill out the request form.
00:17:09.630 --> 00:17:12.950
Remember, networking isn't about being perfect.
00:17:13.150 --> 00:17:16.210
It's about being present. So take what you've
00:17:16.210 --> 00:17:19.089
learned today, get out there and make some meaningful
00:17:19.089 --> 00:17:22.009
connections. If you've enjoyed this episode,
00:17:22.230 --> 00:17:25.170
please don't forget to subscribe. Leave us a
00:17:25.170 --> 00:17:27.769
review and share it with someone who could use
00:17:27.769 --> 00:17:30.890
a little networking inspiration. Let's keep the
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conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
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Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website, foreman
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.com slash podcasts.