Latest / WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas / 113: Networking Over Followers: My Strategy for Landing Speaking Gigs and Clients

Transcript

113: Networking Over Followers: My Strategy for Landing Speaking Gigs and Clients · WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm at my parents' house again because you know I'm such a good immigrant daughter.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it's actually perfect timing that I talk about networking.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my real strategy of how I've been getting these speaking gigs and clients, and people are all the time, how are you doing this?
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: See, my parents' home, which I'm grateful for, has always been that stop where my mom's siblings would come to visit.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Growing up here, I'm actually talking my childhood bedroom.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: We'd do sleepovers, whether it's my friends, my brother's friends.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: It was just always filled with laughter.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: And the first household I grew up in was my grandma's, my nana.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is my dad's mom.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And every single time I went to go visit, and we would visit once a month, it would be a three-hour drive from LA when we were living there.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it was always an exchange of food and laughter.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And my grandma, she would have friends come over, family members come over, playing mahjong.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember like in the middle of the night, I would have to go, you know, pee, and there would be people there at 11.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Relationships and community, a village, has been the foundation of my life since I was born.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And when I got out of college, I became a grassroots organizer and fundraiser and raised 12 million dollars for campaigns and nonprofits.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not because I had the fanciest wardrobes or brochures.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: It was because I was having one-on-one coffees and meals with community leaders and donors who learn to trust me and the organization I represented to them so that they can donate.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And now in the past eight years as a business and executive coach and speaker, guess what?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: I still don't have a million followers.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't go viral on TikTok.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I don't have TikTok.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I am getting speaking gigs where I'm sharing stage with HR execs from Fabletics, Savage X Fenty, Kendra Scott, Majuri, and Signet Jewelers.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm also getting clients in person and being asked for other paid speaking gigs.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, the one question that I always get asked is, how am I getting this?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't have a big IG or LinkedIn presence.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's like 4,000 on Instagram, 3,000 on LinkedIn.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And even when I post, there's probably 10 likes.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not this perfect pitch deck I have.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: I don't do paid ads.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: I did when I first started, and then that I like wasted$30,000.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: That is another conversation.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: But it's networking, it's building relationships, and it's not the gross hand out 50 business cards at a conference kind where I'm like a sleazy car salesperson.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I just had a client who just finished working with me after two years, and I asked her what she enjoyed working about me, and she shared, you never tried to push me when our contract came up.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I really appreciated that.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I mean, this is a relationship.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not here to create a codependent relationship with my clients.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if anything, my intention is for you to fire me.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: And if, you know, I can't control what happens in your life, but if you need a tune-up just like a car, I'm here.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if not, that's cool.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: But my intention is to best serve and support you.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, and also another thing is I get the most engagement on my Instagram when I share my Thai, Thai kickboxing videos.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: That has nothing to do with business.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: I guess all of you literally like seeing me kick ass.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Literally.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: And this year alone, it is May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, when I'm recording this, I've spoken at three big events: HR Retail Conference with HR Execs, Soho Works, and the West Valley Chamber of Commerce.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I have two more lined up, and it's all coming from real intentional relationships, not viral reels.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually em seeing at the B3 conference.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's a conference to help minority-owned businesses work with corporations, and it's being sponsored by companies like Bank of America, Edison, AAG, Disney, Chase, Northrop Grimm, and more.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also doing another luncheon in July.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I know I just shared a lot of things, but here's what to expect in this episode.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'll walk you through how I actually got these gigs.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Real tips you can use, and the mindset that matters more than your following.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: All right, grab your coffee, tea, and boba and let's drop the beat.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just poor every day.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Go viral.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: I have a Canada deck with 50 testimonials.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: I used to do that.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: No, not the viral piece actually.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: I used to post every day.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: I did it for a year.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I did a live on Facebook and Instagram every single day.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: I used to share out like my client testimonials every week on Instagram.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: I actually just do it through my newsletter now, which you could join at elanelu.com forward slash join.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I was just, I was tired.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm Asian.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: I know you can't see me because you're just listening to me.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: But unfortunately, I thought I had to be performative, do all the things, check mark so I could get straight A's.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I realized I was repeating that when I start my business by going on social media all the time.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, I need to do every single homework.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Extra credit, I'll do that too.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: I was being performative online.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the reality.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we have COVID 2020, what a decade, right?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: COVID happened, everyone went online, and we have a major trust problem in today's society, in this world, in this country.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: And people are booking with people they trust, not people with the prettiest Instagram grid.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And also, people are gonna be upset with me saying this, I don't want clients who hire me because I have the prettiest Instagram grid.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: But I'll be honest, I used to because I was so focused on the metrics, the popularity contests.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I realized that people who found me on Instagram were focused on that too.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I had to ask myself, who are the type of clients that I want to work with?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted people who are intentional through my thought leadership, wanted to hire me because of my reviews.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I doubled down.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: You could check out my website.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: I have 300 plus client reviews on my website, ethanelew.com forward slash reviews.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: How I get that done is after I work with a client, do a speaking gig, I would follow up just like an SOP that we would have when we were marketing, an SOP for reviews.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure to have that.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um in my thought leadership, I have focused on my thought leadership on my conscious conversations model, where I help leaders with their teams when it comes to leading their people, which in turn improves their process and profit.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what I've been doing.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Website reviews, my thought leadership with conscious conversations, and then third, doubling down on Google SEO.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted buyers who were ready to hire me, who were doing more intentional research by looking at my website and other competitors, I hate that word anyways, as opposed to number following count.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I, if you want to hear me talk more about Google SEO and how I became number one with keywords like Los Angeles executive coach and Los Angeles business coach.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: By the way, go type that in Google if you don't believe that I'm number one or I'm probably number two or three or whatever.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: You can listen to podcast episode number 61.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I know what you're thinking, but Elaine, I see you on social media.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: You post about events that you go to.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: I use social media, but it's more like live journal and saying a hey millennials, you know what's up.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: See, I document events, people I've met with, and the value others had, but I am not doing the oh my god, what hook is gonna get me 500 likes?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And do I I need to edit this photo on Photoshop or Lightroom so the lighting is just perfect?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I need to make sure this is written so perfectly so I do get all these likes.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think of that.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: I just literally I write my thoughts, my takeaways, pictures from my iPhone, and then post.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then if there's professional photos, it's because there was a photographer and videographer at the event.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Also, I do get reviews or on LinkedIn, they're called recommendations.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: I have I think like 60 now.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have a lot.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: I have a lot on LinkedIn.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: So you can check in on my LinkedIn profile into recommendations.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then on my Instagram, I even have highlights, Instagram highlights.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: I have I have testimonials on there.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna share with you how I actually booked three speaking gigs.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Real examples and what I did.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So one of them, the recent one I did was HI Retail.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: I MC'd also moderated three panels, no, three talks.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a relationship that I've done in the past year.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: The year prior, I got asked to moderate a panel.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: I kept in touch with a senior producer.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: We stayed in touch in LinkedIn.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Then she was asking for feedback, and I provided insights and feedback based off of my experience as a speaker.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Also, me being an attendee for conferences of what to improve.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: And if you notice, I provided feedback that was helpful prior to even pitching.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then I said, Hey, it might be helpful to have an MC for your next one.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Have you considered it?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: And she said, Yeah, we're actually looking.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then I pitched myself.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I pitched myself to MC, like, great.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then she asked, and you'll love the story.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: She was like, So can you offer me a speaking reel?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, give me two weeks.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Reality, I didn't have a speaking reel.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So to the producer that's probably listening to this, yeah, I didn't have a speaking rail.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: I needed two weeks to edit it.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: What's great is though, I had clips from other past events.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I put it all together.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Jarrell, one of my old childhood friends.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think I've known him since I was eight.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Put it all together, had a speaking rail, shared it, then got the gig.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And now we are talking about me moderating our MSing next year and other conferences because she's part of a nationwide events production company.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how I built it.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was a one-year relationship in the making.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Similar to example two.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm speaking at the B3 Summit or conference, which is gonna be next week.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's a conference for certified minority business owners.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you are a minority business owner, I highly recommend you being certified.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And you can find out more information.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'll put it in the show notes on, and the website is nmsdc.org.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: N as in Nancy, M as in mom, S as in Sam, D as dog, cs cat.org.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: So you do have to be certified.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: You do pay for it, it's like a$400, it depends$400 to$1,000 year membership, depending on how much income you're bringing in.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I went to my first B3 conference last year at the SoFi Stadium.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: I was not even a member yet.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was not certified.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And in that, I actually met an entertainment company that I didn't even remember I remembered.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like I did not remember I was talking to them.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: I can't share the name of the company, just know it's very well known.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And literally a week later, they contacted me.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: We're looking for an executive coach and I asked them, How do you find me?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, at the B3 Summit.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was just me going around and connecting with people.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: But, anyways, I go to the B3 Summit.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: I met the staff members from coordinators all the way to the executive director.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I would go to other events they had, whether they were virtual or in person.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I always made sure to connect not just with the executive director, executives, but all levels of the staff.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: And they noticed me, added them on LinkedIn.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, see, I did use LinkedIn like I shared earlier, and they saw all the speaking opportunities I was doing.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: So they approached me to want to MC.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's been the past year of relationships.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: So that's another example.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: I know this episode is so good.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, how can I get more of this?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I have a newsletter that comes out every Thursday that's free, fun, and full of real talk.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's a live journal Zanga on leadership and life with actual scripts, behind-the-scenes stories, and lessons from mistakes I've made so you don't have to for work and life.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Just go to elanelu.com forward slash join.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's E-L-A-I-N-E-L-O-U.com forward slash join.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: All right, back to the episode.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: A third example, I did a talk in Chicago in front of 200 plus Fortune 500 executives.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: How I got that talk, I met someone at a certification program, the Center for Executive Coaching.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Highly recommend them if you're a coach, you want to be certified.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of certifications, but specifically through the International Coaching Federation.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's a huge association.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: And this school is called Center for Executive Coaching.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason why I decided to become certified, because let's be real, everyone's calling themselves a coach.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: I want to work with more Fortune 500 companies.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: How are they going to acknowledge me is through being certified.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: I was very intentional of what program I wanted to be a part of.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm so grateful it was part of this program because I was around current and former execs for big Fortune 500 companies.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: One of them I met, we had a virtual chat.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: We just connected genuinely, not just me to her, but her to me both ways.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, how can we help one another?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And we both wanted more speaking gigs.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we gave each other contact info.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: I referred her to something, and then she got this great opportunity.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: She just messaged me on LinkedIn.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, thank you so much for the speaking opportunity.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: I just wrapped up with them and she got paid for it.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then she offered me the opportunity to speak in Chicago.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that was a standing room.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like people were sitting down on the floor.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'll link up my podcast episode to it.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: I talked about executive presence and they had to shut people out of the talk.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: It was an incredible talk.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: But how I got that talk, that paid speaking gig was me and her connecting virtually with a simple question of how can I support you?
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: And genuinely doing it without being attached to the results.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: But here's what I want to share with all these three examples.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: It was conscious conversations and action.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Me genuinely connecting.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's something I learned when I was a fundraiser.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: See, I'm not focused on the transactional relationship.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not focused on, okay, we're gonna go from the first date to marriage right away.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm focused on, hey, first date, let's do a hopefully there's a second date, because you might usually the goal for the first date is second date.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Then hopefully engagement, then marriage.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: I focus on the long-term relationship with people that I am connecting.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to give a couple more tips, three tips actually, when it comes to networking.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: One is you're like, Elaine, how do you find these events at all or communities?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to go to events or communities where they're gonna have people of influence.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a community of people in your industry.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: Don't see them as competition.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: I will also say, like, it's important to meet with people who also do similar work to you with you because they might have a contract where they can't just do it alone and they may need a colleague like you to work with them.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: I also find when I connect with other coaches and speakers myself, I learned about trends that are happening in the industry that helps me.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Also go to a kind of similar type of industry or conferences.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: For example, as a coach, going to HR conferences is helpful.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And what I've been doing lately when I meet people is hey, do you know any events, conferences, organizations, and communities that you think I should be aware of?
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's been something I've been starting to do recently.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: So just wanted to share that as well.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: And a couple of tips before going to an event or conference.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna think I'm crazy, but how are you gonna stand out?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: So usually there's an app when there's a big event or conference, and what I would do is add everyone that's going on LinkedIn.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how I use social media.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: I do use it, but I don't use it like these big influencers.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: So usually at events there's an app and I would add each person and send a personal message.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Hey Fred, I'm so excited to see you at ABC Conference.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: I see you went to UC Irvine.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: I also did too.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you soon.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then during the event, anyone just who honestly, like, I wouldn't just like target, okay, these are the people I talk to.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I would, but I'm also seeing anyone, this is gonna sound so LA, who just has great energy.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I'm connecting with people, hearing what they need support in, just like I did in that conversation I had to get that talk in Chicago.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: And if they wanted a resource, then another type of business, then I would just follow up with them.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: So that goes to kind of my second tip is make yourself resourceful.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: What I mean here is don't just tell people, hey, can you refer me?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they need something.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Here, true story.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: So at a conference, I met an HR executive and she was going through things, and I recommended the book Rest is a Resistance as a book to read it.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't pitch my coaching, she knew I was a coach.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Then guess what?
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Two weeks later, we have a call, she becomes a client, and she's been a client for the past year.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Just because I referred that book.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't so focused on me having to pitch, it was just me being resourceful to her.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, third tip.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I'm an extrovert, but please manage your energy.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I honestly think converted to becoming an introvert.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: I've mentioned this many times in this podcast.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, two things.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: Pick and choose what events and people you want to connect with, and then to block off your calendar one to two days before and after any big event or conference.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: I had to learn this the hard way.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And look, I know what you're thinking.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Elaine, I don't have time for this.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have time to connect.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'll tell you is I used to think that too.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: I live in LA.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Look, I am driving in my car sometimes like 90 minutes to two hours one away.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: But there's nothing that beats in-person.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: And with the lack of trust that's happening in today's society, I know in-person is just more meaningful and deeper.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: I actually have friends that I have made at events, and sure, they are not paying clients, but they'll be like, hey, there's this event, you should come.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Or I have a friend who's looking for a coach.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: Can I refer you?
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: It has led me to opportunities to meet with the right people who end up becoming clients.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I just know that even hearing from colleagues of mine who are coaches, it's been harder for them in the past two years to have business.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I've had to think, okay, what has always worked for not just me, but for human nature?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's building those relationships.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: I know you're thinking, Elaine, I cannot make all these friends in person.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's way too much.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna challenge you though.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna challenge you that you can have fewer and better, deeper relationships and to be picky.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: So this past year, starting in January, I owned the fact that I only want to work with 15 B2C clients and five B2B clients.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: As a result of owning the fact that I am working with fewer clients, it is May 5th.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're five months, five days into the year, I've already hit my 2024 revenue for the year.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: There is nine months left.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna have the best revenue in my business this year, despite everything that's happening in this country.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: So if this hits home and you know what, it would be nice to connect with people.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I will say there are some days where I'm on Zoom and I'm exhausted.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: There is a thing about Zoom fatigue.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: There's research about it, and it's because when you're on Zoom on video, even right now, I actually am recording this podcast on Zoom with my camera off because I do not want to see myself.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're so focused on our facial reaction, the other people's facial reaction.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: It actually brings up a lot of energy.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I notice my energy doing Zoom calls for several hours versus going in person, and I am a lot more exhausted from Zoom as opposed to in person.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Actually get excited, like, oh, I just connected with this person.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: So if this episode hits home, send this to a friend or two who's just tired of being performative online.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if you enjoy this podcast episode, leave a five-star rating review if you feel called to.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: The reason why if you leave a rating review, it allows other incredible leaders like you to find this podcast episode.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to create a sustainable business and career, then schedule a call with me at elanelu.com forward slash call.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's E-L-A-I-N-E-L-U.com forward slash call.