Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / Making Meaningful Connections Online with Phil Gerbyshak

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Making Meaningful Connections Online with Phil Gerbyshak · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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  3, 10, 1, 0, ignition, liftoff,
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  Ending small business failure.
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  Welcome to the Small Biz Chat podcast with a number 1 small business expert Melinda Emerson.
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  Belinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
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  you need to succeed and live the life you've dream of.
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  Now here's the small biz lady herself.
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  Melinda Emerson.
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  Hi, everybody.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson.
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  Small biz lady.
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  I'm America's number one small business expert, and it is my pleasure to welcome you to small
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  biz chat and we have an amazing show for you.
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  You know, we started small business chat because my mission is to end small business
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  failure.
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  And everything we do is in support of that.
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  So with that, let me tell you a little bit about tonight's guest.
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  Gosh.
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  How do I even talk about this guy?
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  He is a social selling guru.
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  His name is Phil Gervhishek, and he's gonna be talking about about how to make real
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  connections online.
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  Phil, welcome to small fish chat live.
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  Hey, Melinda.
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  It is fantastic to be here.
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  It's great to see you again.
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  Yes.
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  Yes.
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  We love you so much.
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  We had to have you back 2 weeks in a row.
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  Right?
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  So listen.
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  I want to talk to you about making connections online because that is really I mean, I wanna
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  talk about I mean, I think we talked a little bit last time about how to make connections in
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  person.
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  But what I wanna talk to you about is how can you virtually connect with anyone online
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  anywhere?
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  Yeah.
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  So that's a great question, and I think a lot of people miss this.
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  They really think it's so much different than it is offline.
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  So first, you have to look people right in the eyes.
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  And I really mean that you pull up their profile and you look them right in the eyes and
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  you think about them.
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  They've got 2 eyes.
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  You look real deeply.
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  You really think about what do they need?
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  What are their hopes?
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  What are their dreams?
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  How can you fit into that?
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  It's really important.
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  And I mean that sincerely because often we just connect and then we don't make any sense of
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  that.
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  So that's the first thing.
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  And then we have to connect them in the eyes, the letter I.
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  So three eyes in this one.
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  The first one that's really important is in common.
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  And this is really the easiest way if this is available, this is the one we use.
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  In common means who do we know in common?
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  So if we don't know each other yet, but yet Alice knows you and Alice knows me now.
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  I can connect through Alice, and Alice can connect me to you because she's someone that
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  you trust.
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  Someone that trusts you and someone that trusts me.
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  So we can talk about that and make that in common connection really, really important to
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  do.
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  When we think more about that, right, the second eye to that is insight.
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  And this is one that a lot of small business owners forget about because they think, oh,
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  well, I just have a product or, oh, I just have a service.
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  No.
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  No.
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  You have an insight that can actually change another person's life.
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  So take the time.
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  Think about that person.
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  Again, if you look them in the eyes, like, right here first, you know what matters to
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  them.
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  So offer that insight based on your background.
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  And then the 3rd eye is interesting.
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  You have to try to be interesting.
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  You can't just be boring.
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  Do something fun.
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  Do something full of energy or do something unexpected.
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  Sometimes this means that when you're connecting with someone that you compliment
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  them on something completely unrelated to business, So be interesting and don't be like
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  everyone else.
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  Could be your headshot.
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  It could mean that you wear orange glasses.
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  Or it could just be that you have more energy or more respect than anyone else, but please
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  don't be boring.
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  So if you can mix those up, You can connect to virtually anyone by looking them in the eyes
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  and focusing on the three eyes that I just gave you.
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  I love it.
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  I love that.
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  Now let's talk about the biggest miss people make when pursuing relationships?
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  Cause I I've seen all kind of bad practices, but tell me what what is your biggest
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  bugaboodle that you see that people make mistakes with?
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  Well, the biggest thing that I see is this illusion of connection.
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  The fact that they connect to someone, and then they think suddenly we're all intimate and
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  we're really connected in I can ask you anything because, you know, you've been my
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  LinkedIn friend for months for years, but we've never had a conversation.
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  So we think because, well, I've been posting on LinkedIn.
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  I've been posting the Twitter.
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  I've been sharing on Facebook.
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  They suddenly somehow think, well, now we're buddies.
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  Now I can ask anything.
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  So Melinda.
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  Why don't you buy my stuff and click my crap and buy my junk?
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  It's like, really, dude?
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  Like, we're not even connected.
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  Right?
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  For real.
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  So that illusion of connection is is so important.
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  It doesn't mean that we're really connections, right, really big c connections.
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  Instead, We need to slow down.
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  We need to focus on the relationship and really on what the other person needs because to make
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  a sale.
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  It's not about me.
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  It's about them and meeting their needs and meeting them right where they are.
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  And that takes time.
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  Let's just be honest.
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  Relationships don't happen overnight.
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  So slow down, serve more, and you'll sell more.
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  I love it, sir.
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  More to sell more.
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  That that's tweetable right there.
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  I hope my fans out there are tweeting and sharing and leaving comments.
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  Tell us if you're liking this and what you wanna more up on small business jet lag.
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  That's awesome.
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  Alright.
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  Now, Phil, I have been told that there's no better way to find leads right now than
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  LinkedIn.
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  Like, they say LinkedIn.
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  LinkedIn sales navigator is the truth route.
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  So I I want you to tell me Is that true?
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  You know, how can people really leverage LinkedIn for sales leads?
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  Sure.
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  So what the first question you asked those to find.
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  So Absolutely.
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  That is where people are.
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  There's no question about it.
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  People are on LinkedIn.
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  You know, new person joins LinkedIn every 2 seconds.
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  All the Fortune 500 is on there, everybody, and just about every business is on LinkedIn.
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  Now just because you can find them, doesn't mean you can catch them.
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  You gotta have good bait.
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  Right?
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  So I'm not a good Fisher person, but I can tell you that I know that throwing dead bait that
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  you threw at every other fish isn't gonna catch any fish.
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  It's not gonna make you any sales and it just stinks.
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  So don't do that.
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  You gotta slow down.
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  I was actually talking to one of my coaching clients today And he said, you know, I have on
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  my profile that I run a business, but I also understand supply chain.
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  Okay.
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  So I understand that, and that's not often the case.
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  But what happens is people say that he owns a business, so they pitch him supply chain
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  solutions.
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  It's like, really pay attention.
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  Read a little further.
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  Don't use the single point of connection there.
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  The in common that I just talked about, go deep purr and don't do the same thing because if you
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  hit somebody with a dead fish, they're just gonna smell bad and wanna hit you back.
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  They're not gonna wanna buy from you.
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  They're gonna disconnect And in this guy's case, he actually actively goes out to his
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  whole network and tells people, don't do business with this person because they don't
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  pay any attention They just have the same crappy pitch to everybody that they talk to.
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  Boom.
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  Right.
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  I agree with you.
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  Are you tired of struggling in your business, not taking a paycheck, dreading dealing with
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  your business in the morning, Are you regret even starting your business in the first place?
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  Well, I know you're tired, and I also remember what that kind of tire is like.
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  But the good news is It's time to stop feeling that way.
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  Stop.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson's small business lady, and my new club of picture business is a 90 day
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  turnaround plan to get back your life and reduce chaos in your business.
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  I've been in business nearly 20 years and let me teach you how to filled a physicist that
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  works for you.
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  Grab a copy to death.
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  So if I'm I'm looking at LinkedIn, I wanna use bait that's that's not the same bait I'm using
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  for everybody else as not the bait that that worked 2 years ago when I was looking for fish,
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  How should I spruce up my approach on LinkedIn?
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  Like, how do you build relationships on LinkedIn with people you don't necessarily
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  know?
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  Well, it it starts first with your good profile, right, that you look like someone of
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  value.
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  A lot of people, they put it out there and they think that it's like a resume.
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  And, hey, if you're a business owner, you're not looking for a job.
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  So slam looking like a stinking resume.
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  Right?
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  I don't care that you're good at Microsoft Word.
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  That doesn't help your business.
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  Get the heck out of here.
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  So fix that first.
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  So second second, and this is really important Follow them on LinkedIn.
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  So LinkedIn now lets you follow people.
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  You don't have to necessarily connect because frankly, to send a connection request to
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  somebody that you don't know, you're taking a risk that LinkedIn is not gonna get you marked
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  as spam and booted the heck off the platform.
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  So so follow first.
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  And then 3rd, and this is the hard part is you gotta pay attention and add value to them even
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  if they're silent on LinkedIn.
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  So what does that mean?
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  That means if you look them in the eyes, remember we talked about this You see, this is
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  something that could be valuable for them, then send them a private message.
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  Don't embarrass them in public.
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  Send them a private message and say, hey.
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  This is valuable.
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  And if you're not connected and you don't have the ability to send them a private message, If
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  you're gonna add value, send an in mail that just adds value because the goal of an in mail
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  is not to close the sale.
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  It's to further the conversation.
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  So add value as much as you can.
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  Do those three things, and you can get connected and add supreme value to your network
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  and close more sales.
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  Alright.
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  So you alluded to this a little bit, but tell me, what is the difference between a connection
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  and a capital c connection.
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  Yeah.
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  So so a lot of people, right, they collect connections with a little c on LinkedIn.
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  I've got 30,000 connections.
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  Unconnected to 13,453 people.
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  Well, how many of them even know your face when you show up in their feed?
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  Right?
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  A capital c connection is a real person that you're really connected to.
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  I mean, Melinda, after now we've spend a couple hours together.
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  Right?
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  We're big c connected.
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  If we see each other, I'm gonna give you a big hug, and you're, hopefully, you're not gonna,
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  you know, call cops on me this time.
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  Right?
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  So that's good.
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  I appreciate that.
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  So if we think about that and we really think about if our goal is to deeply connect to
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  someone, not just lose connection, but deeply connect.
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  It means that we've added great value.
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  It means that we've might be been a just a a little bit vulnerable, not completely
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  vulnerable.
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  I don't gotta tell you about my athlete for us to be friends, right, for us to do business,
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  but a little bit vulnerable around there.
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  And we also have to be relevant And this is the thing that often people miss.
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  We're just connections on LinkedIn.
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  Who the heck cares?
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  I would much rather have a conversation with you we can get to the big c way faster, then we
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  be little c connections on LinkedIn and never talk.
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  Right.
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  No.
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  I I couldn't agree with you more.
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  I do think there's people that just collect people and they never you know, it's like, you
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  know, there the you get to the point where what is the point?
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  You know, I recently passed 10,000 connections on LinkedIn, but I actually know I would say a
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  good 75100 of the 10,000 people that have me.
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  I met them personally.
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  And so it's a different level of connection.
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  And so one of the things I'm glad LinkedIn has kinda stopped is I don't get these random
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  requests people asking me to introduce them to people, and I don't know them.
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  It's like, I gotta introduce you to the CEO, Pitney Bowes.
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  Were you crazy?
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  Why would I do that?
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  I don't know you.
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  You know?
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  So I get what you're saying about Big C Little C.
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  Now, listen, when is it too soon to ask for business?
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  Like, how far along in your building these relationships do you come in and ask for the
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  business?
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  How do you do that?
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  Well, the sooner you can take it offline, the sooner you can ask for the business.
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  So almost never.
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  Do you wanna make a public ask of, hey.
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  Buy my stuff.
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  Click my crap.
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  Now sometimes we do that with webinars, and that's okay, right, because that's still
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  valuable.
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  That's alright.
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  But usually, we then wanna take it more private, send a private message, send a private
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  in mail, and have a conversation like we're having here.
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  So if we have a private conversation and we listen and we pay attention and we connect in a
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  relevant way, anytime in that conversation when there is an opening for does it make sense to
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  go deeper and to have a real conversation about how I could help you, how my service could help
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  you, how my product could help you.
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  That's when it's soon enough.
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  So when you can take it offline, what because it's selling with social, remember, not on
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  social.
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  So once we get it off of social and we have a conversation, anytime in that conversation
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  after we've listened first, right, 2 ears, one mouth, pay attention, and then you can ask for
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  the business because then it makes sense to ask for the business based on a conversation, not
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  randomly, like, Hey, Melinda.
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  I know we haven't talked in years, but you know what?
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  I got something that's really awesome.
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  You should buy my stuff.
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  That's stupid.
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  That doesn't sell
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  exactly what I want to hear from somebody who hasn't talked to me in 5 years who wants to
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  sell me something.
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  And now
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  I'm like, ask how my kid is doing.
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  You
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  know?
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  You wanna buy a watch?
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  Like, come on.
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  Yeah.
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  No.
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  That doesn't work.
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  Alright.
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  I got one last question for you, Phil.
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  Listen.
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  What is your content formula to drive leads?
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  Everybody's doing content.
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  Everybody's doing much content.
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  There's a lot of bad content out there.
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  Do you have a content formula to drive leads?
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  Well, my content for formula, first of course, is video.
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  Right?
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  We to have some video because people need to see our energy and see if they actually like
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  our style.
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  That's really important.
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  I am not for everybody.
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  People to get scared to somebody with my energy probably aren't gonna work with me.
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  Let's just be honest.
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  Okay.
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  So that's the first thing.
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  Video is important, but then the second piece of content is actually going out and commenting
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  at other people's posts and getting in their feed because here's the thing.
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  Right?
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  If I just sit in my living room and I'm like, Well, you know, here comes some business and
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  there it goes.
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  Yeah.
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  I'm not gonna really do very well.
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  We still have to hunt.
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  The whole hunt is still important and hunt is also 4 letters.
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  Help is 4 letters.
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  So by hunting, we have to help.
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  So go out comment like share.
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  If you look at the LinkedIn feed, you don't believe me.
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  You think, oh, Bill, you should push more content.
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  Here's the thing.
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  My LinkedIn feed now, if I look at 10 posts, 3 are advertisements, 3 are video or some long
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  form post, and 4 are likes, shares, and comments.
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  If all I'm doing is producing com content, I'm only getting in the feed 3 times.
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  But if I like, I share, I comment.
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  Now I'm in the feed to seven times.
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  I have people say, dude, you're the first person that always comes up in my LinkedIn
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  feed.
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  Well, no kidding.
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  It's because, on purposely, interacting.
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  I'm not just barf and content out there.
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  I'm interacting, and the content strategy is to engage and be engaging.
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  Wow.
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  That Phil, that was that was some brilliant stuff.
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  I feel like, dang.
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  You're just really saying something.
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  You know, I you've lots of tweetable stuff out here I hope my fans out there are sharing the
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  great lessons and dreams.
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  And, Bill, thank you so much.
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  Listen, you guys I appreciate you all so much.
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  Thank you so much for joining me on small business chat.
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  We will be back next week, next Wednesday, The mission of small fish chat is to end small
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  business failure.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson's small fish lady, and I will leave you with this.
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  You never lose in business.
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  Either you win or you learn.
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  We'll see you next time.
• 16:21
  Bye bye.
• 16:24
  Thank you for listening to the Small Biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
• 16:29
  For more resources and small business success strategies, visit succeed as your own boss.com.
• 16:35
  Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and join us next Wednesday.