Real Relationships Real Revenue - Video Edition | Invest in Relationships to Build Your Business and Your Career

Mo shares his insights from the habits of Mitch Joel. Most professionals don’t yet understand the power of digital communication and thought starters. By creating those digital assets you start to become attractive. People start sharing and want more of your content, and those people become predisposed to working with you. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your expertise is, you have a brand and you have things you want people to know about you. Pick a medium of communication that works for you, then identify your Triangle of Attention. What are three things that are unique to you that you can share information about? Pick a publishing schedule that’s consistent and stick with it. Our brains love patterns and consistency is the key. The format and style depends on you and what you’re comfortable with. You don’t have to create long form podcasts if that doesn’t fit your style. If you’re not sure what your style might be, ask yourself whether you would be excited to create something like that. Look at news and current events through the lens of your Triangle of Attention. This becomes the basis for your unique voice. Once you have those first two things established, pick a publishing cadence and stick to it. Deadlines can have the additional benefit of forcing you to act and become better over time. This digital marketing strategy is a great way to build your book of business because digital assets keep paying off over time and most professionals are not doing enough in this arena right now.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com sixpixels.com

Mo asks Mitch Joel: How do we hack our own proactive habits to succeed? We all make time for the things that are important to us. As we’ve seen from the pandemic, we can fill our schedules with anything and feel really busy. The only way to do anything really well is to make time for it. Your priorities won’t show up in your to-do list, they show up in your calendar. Scheduling is not Mitch’s main way to track his time because he prefers not being stressed out by a strict or full calendar. An alternative to scheduling the most important things is the Jerry Seinfeld approach of putting an X on the calendar when you’ve accomplished the one thing you wanted to get done that day, and then try not to break the chain. Start light and start easy. Mitch found himself struggling to get into books during the pandemic so he committed to reading just five pages a day. Little incremental wins make it more likely you’ll do more and can lead to even bigger wins throughout the day. When it comes to growing a book of business, Mitch’s advice is to focus on your zone of genius and say no to things that don’t fit within that, then be the best you can be. Be clear on who you serve and what you do, and say no to everything else.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com sixpixels.com

Mo asks Mitch Joel: What’s your best advice for professionals to deepen long-term relationships? People will not leave a relationship, even if they are paying you more than someone else, if they like you. Get people to like you in a way that’s authentic and genuine and clearly has their best interests at heart. Don’t identify as a dinosaur. Excuses like “I can’t understand this” or “I don’t do social” are holding you back. We are all dealing with fatigue and overwork, but having the dinosaur mindset is a choice. Technology has made content and communication very easy to accomplish and inexpensive to implement. There are no excuses. Take an hour and learn how a piece of technology or app works so that you can do it yourself. Mitch may get old and grey, but he will never become a dinosaur. Networking is great for creating and deepening relationships. Proactively fill your calendar with ways to connect with new people. As an example, Mitch takes his morning walks on Instagram and invites people to “walk” with him. Networking has to be something that you’re doing all the time.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com sixpixels.com

Mo asks Mitch Joel: How would you advise high end professionals to create and close more deals? Go and follow Jeffrey Gettemer and subscribe to his newsletter. Anything Mitch has learned about sales was picked up from Jeffrey. Essentially, a lot of sales is about relationship building, storytelling, not being boring, and not being caught up in our own world. Instead it is about focusing on what the prospect wants. One of the biggest mistakes in sales is thinking exclusively about your own goals and quotas, when having the vision of what the person across the table needs is where the opportunity is. Jeffrey once told the story of how his father always came home after work and voraciously wrote notes about companies and individuals and ideas so that he could better sell to them. The people who are outworking you or outselling you are just out-homeworking you. Even though Mitch is no longer in the agency business, he still collects any articles or content he finds that would be relevant to someone and sends it to them. This isn’t done to derive immediate value but it works well as a connection point and relationship builder. Don’t link-spam people. This approach is a strategy of gifting and is a customized, one-to-one touchpoint. There is a lot of power derived when you do things like this authentically and from the heart.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com sixpixels.com

Mo asks Mitch Joel: What is your big idea for getting better at retention and growth? Whether it’s digital or not, it’s all about relationships and relationships are built on the stories you tell and how you deliver on them. Most people tend to market themselves with promises instead of with their overall story. The ethos of the Madmen era of advertising still permeates the way many professionals think. You don’t have to be personal, you just have to be personable. That’s the story that is going to connect with the right kinds of customers, which is something that you need to be focused on. As professionals, we all have to figure out what kind of content we are going to create. It can come in whatever form you like, whether that’s audio, video, or written. The content you create should have a bullseye that you’re aiming for within the Triangle of Attention. Even if your approach or niche isn’t unique, you can still bring your unique voice to the table to make your brand stand out. Human beings prefer regularity. Content you create should follow an editorial calendar instead of being posted whenever you happen to feel like it. Content should be scheduled regularly and you need to stick with the schedule. Seth Godin refers to this as the “Drip Strategy.” Content is a drip and if you create enough drips they become a ripple, the ripple creates waves, and the waves fill the ocean. The vast majority of the content you create will garner virtual crickets but cumulatively over time it creates a sense of presence, social proof, and credibility.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com sixpixels.com

Ron Tite shares the insights behind the Think. Do. Say. framework and how you can use it to create an effective personal brand, do more of the work you truly care about and be more authentic. Learn the four C’s that make communicating your brand belief easy, the five questions that get a prospect’s head nodding during a pitch, and how to innovate consistently while still delivering your best work.   Mo asks Ron Tite: What’s your big idea on how the audience can grow their book of business, grow their career, and grow their relationships? The first thing is to stop gaming the system and stop looking for shortcuts to business development. You need two things: a consistent brand narrative to sell the things you have and to be entrepreneurial so you can create the resources that people need. Business development is bound by purpose, defined by actions, and adopted by other people by how you communicate it. Your purpose has to go beyond the thing that you sell that speaks to your brand belief. If you can’t articulate that, that’s where you need to start. You will be defined by the actions you take to fulfill and live up to your purpose, it’s not by the things you say. Those first two are not enough though. You can be living in your purpose authentically, but you still need other people to adopt your purpose as well if you want something to grow. Even in a retail setting, you can still act in an advisory or consultative role. REI is a good example of a company that embodies that principle as they have a purpose that is strategically aligned to where they make their money. They inspire, inform, and equip people with the proper tools to have a greater enjoyment of the outdoors. Your purpose should align with what you sell. REI also communicates its purpose in a way that conveys trust and authority, without sounding too corporate and separated from what the customers really care about. Your brand narrative flows consistently out of those three foundational ideas and is composed of these five things: What’s going on in the world through your lens? What problem does that create? What do you believe about that problem? How do you solve that problem? Why should someone believe you? This set of questions establishes your brand narrative and gets people’s heads nodding. It’s not about selling, it’s about framing the conversation around where you add the most value.   Mo asks Ron Tite: How can we get better at creating and closing the meaty work that we want to do? The first step is identifying the meaty work where you can add your best value. Ron recently had someone resign from his agency after they had a conversation about what she really wanted to do. It wasn’t until she asked herself that question did she realize that she wasn’t happy because she wasn’t doing what she really wanted to do. You need to put yourself in a position to close after building an organization that people want to work with. Who are the specific people that can best use your service and how can you put yourself into a position to win their business? In terms of communicating your brand belief to the right customers, there are four C’s: Consumption, Curation, Creation, Connection. Once you have your brand belief, you need to operationalize the strategic consumption of media that supports that. You need to consume media that makes you smarter and better. Curation is about taking the media that you find compelling or valuable and sharing it with your community. Editorialize it with your own opinion and put your own spin on it. Ron also categorizes content and insights that he finds and adds them to categories for use in his future speeches and books. At some point you have to create your own stuff and get that out into the world. The connection part is about the conversation that happens when someone challenges your thinking or adds to it. That’s where your personality shows through: it’s not in the post, it’s in the comments.   Mo asks Ron Tite: How can we deepen relationships and win the relationship advantage? If you have great relationships, know that some of them will convert, but that’s not why you invest in relationships. When Ron started his agency, his first client was a woman that he knew and had a work relationship with 15 years prior. She didn’t have a need for his agency, but she created a project for him and launched his agency. Far too many think they need to create relationships to grow their business but if that’s your primary motivation it’s not going to work. To properly build relationships you need to have a genuine desire to get to know someone as a human being. Authenticity means to be comfortable with your imperfections. Don’t show up as the stock photo version of a lawyer, consultant, marketer, or business development professional. Your imperfections are not bugs, their features and that’s what people buy. People don’t know where to look or who to trust, and if their gut reaction is that you are hiding the real you from them, it’s not a good way to start a business relationship. Ron’s background is in stand-up comedy and there is a line in comedy that comedians use; “never ignore the reality of the room”. Call out your mistakes and the reality of the situation. If you get the sense that they aren’t interested, acknowledge that. Even a catastrophe can be used as a way to stand out and be completely human. The beginnings of meetings and the ending of meetings are very important. Just like comedy, you should start with an insight and tie the ending of the meeting back to that same insight.   Mo asks Ron Tite: How do we stay on top of retention and growth activities when everything is yanking us away? In car manufacturing, there are two sides that are critical to the business. The money is made on the assembly line because that is repeatable behaviour that strips out inefficiencies over time. But if they only did assembly line work they would go out of business. The other side involves concept cars and experimentation. They have no expectation that concept cars will go into production, but it allows the assembly line to consistently innovate over time. You need to look at your day the same way. Is it a particular task assembly line work or concept car work? It’s important to innovate but you need to focus on the assembly line work without changing too much, too fast. You need to carve out time for concept car work because, like exercise, there is always something more important to do. You also have to establish metrics to evaluate the success of the experiment. Put all your effort into the concept car activity so you don’t give yourself excuses later on. Limit your concept car activities to just one at a time. This forces you to prioritize it because delivery is going to take up the rest of your day. When the business dynamic changes like it has over the past year it creates new problems. Start with thinking about what problem exists right now that no one is solving right now.   Mo shares his insights from the habits of Ron Tite. Think: What’s the thing you believe in so much that you would be happy to work on it for the rest of your working life? Do: How do you exemplify that? People don’t judge you by the things you say, they judge you by what you do. Actions are what signals what you believe deep down. Say: How do you communicate what you believe? Too many people jump to this part before figuring out everything else. Be comfortable with your imperfections. Authenticity means being okay with who you are, even when you make mistakes or ask dumb questions. Share your journey because we are all always learning. When people are focused more on progress than a result, they are more comfortable with sharing that they are not perfect and those are the kinds of people that others want to be around. Add some humour to your communication. Ron’s background in stand up comedy gives him a good foundation for making a conversation enjoyable. Be a good entertainer and great host. Don’t be so focused on the content you’re teaching or discussing that you become boring. Studies showed that if you tell a joke at the beginning of a negotiation it reaches a better result and people rate the negotiation higher. Even an attempt at humour that doesn’t hit the mark is better than being boring and dry.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com rontite.com churchstate.com

Mo shares his insights from the habits of Ron Tite. Think: What’s the thing you believe in so much that you would be happy to work on it for the rest of your working life? Do: How do you exemplify that? People don’t judge you by the things you say, they judge you by what you do. Actions are what signals what you believe deep down. Say: How do you communicate what you believe? Too many people jump to this part before figuring out everything else. Be comfortable with your imperfections. Authenticity means being okay with who you are, even when you make mistakes or ask dumb questions. Share your journey because we are all always learning. When people are focused more on progress than a result, they are more comfortable with sharing that they are not perfect and those are the kinds of people that others want to be around. Add some humour to your communication. Ron’s background in stand up comedy gives him a good foundation for making a conversation enjoyable. Be a good entertainer and great host. Don’t be so focused on the content you’re teaching or discussing that you become boring. Studies showed that if you tell a joke at the beginning of a negotiation it reaches a better result and people rate the negotiation higher. Even an attempt at humour that doesn’t hit the mark is better than being boring and dry.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com rontite.com churchstate.com

Mo asks Ron Tite: How do we stay on top of retention and growth activities when everything is yanking us away? In car manufacturing, there are two sides that are critical to the business. The money is made on the assembly line because that is repeatable behaviour that strips out inefficiencies over time. But if they only did assembly line work they would go out of business. The other side involves concept cars and experimentation. They have no expectation that concept cars will go into production, but it allows the assembly line to consistently innovate over time. You need to look at your day the same way. Is it a particular task assembly line work or concept car work? It’s important to innovate but you need to focus on the assembly line work without changing too much, too fast. You need to carve out time for concept car work because, like exercise, there is always something more important to do. You also have to establish metrics to evaluate the success of the experiment. Put all your effort into the concept car activity so you don’t give yourself excuses later on. Limit your concept car activities to just one at a time. This forces you to prioritize it because delivery is going to take up the rest of your day. When the business dynamic changes like it has over the past year it creates new problems. Start with thinking about what problem exists right now that no one is solving right now.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com rontite.com churchstate.com

Mo asks Ron Tite: How can we deepen relationships and win the relationship advantage? If you have great relationships, know that some of them will convert, but that’s not why you invest in relationships. When Ron started his agency, his first client was a woman that he knew and had a work relationship with 15 years prior. She didn’t have a need for his agency, but she created a project for him and launched his agency. Far too many think they need to create relationships to grow their business but if that’s your primary motivation it’s not going to work. To properly build relationships you need to have a genuine desire to get to know someone as a human being. Authenticity means to be comfortable with your imperfections. Don’t show up as the stock photo version of a lawyer, consultant, marketer, or business development professional. Your imperfections are not bugs, their features and that’s what people buy. People don’t know where to look or who to trust, and if their gut reaction is that you are hiding the real you from them, it’s not a good way to start a business relationship. Ron’s background is in stand-up comedy and there is a line in comedy that comedians use; “never ignore the reality of the room”. Call out your mistakes and the reality of the situation. If you get the sense that they aren’t interested, acknowledge that. Even a catastrophe can be used as a way to stand out and be completely human. The beginnings of meetings and the ending of meetings are very important. Just like comedy, you should start with an insight and tie the ending of the meeting back to that same insight.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com rontite.com churchstate.com

Mo asks Ron Tite: How can we get better at creating and closing the meaty work that we want to do? The first step is identifying the meaty work where you can add your best value. Ron recently had someone resign from his agency after they had a conversation about what she really wanted to do. It wasn’t until she asked herself that question did she realize that she wasn’t happy because she wasn’t doing what she really wanted to do. You need to put yourself in a position to close after building an organization that people want to work with. Who are the specific people that can best use your service and how can you put yourself into a position to win their business? In terms of communicating your brand belief to the right customers, there are four C’s: Consumption, Curation, Creation, Connection. Once you have your brand belief, you need to operationalize the strategic consumption of media that supports that. You need to consume media that makes you smarter and better. Curation is about taking the media that you find compelling or valuable and sharing it with your community. Editorialize it with your own opinion and put your own spin on it. Ron also categorizes content and insights that he finds and adds them to categories for use in his future speeches and books. At some point you have to create your own stuff and get that out into the world. The connection part is about the conversation that happens when someone challenges your thinking or adds to it. That’s where your personality shows through: it’s not in the post, it’s in the comments.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com rontite.com churchstate.com