Latest / Buying Local Podcast / The Power of Structured Networking: Gold Star Referral Clubs | Buying Local #64

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The Power of Structured Networking: Gold Star Referral Clubs | Buying Local #64 · Buying Local Podcast

0:00
Welcome everyone to Buying Local.
0:02
I'm one of your hosts, Mike Nelson from 5 Towers Media.
0:05
I'm also joined, of course, by the newer addition to the hosts
0:09
and being Mr. Matthew Nod. Welcome, Matthew.
0:12
Yes, Hello everybody. Thank.
0:14
You, I already told Matt ahead of time for anybody that's ever
0:18
watched my other podcast, blue collar start up, where I also
0:21
have a Co host on that show. I'm tough.
0:24
It's hard to get a word in edgewise.
0:26
I never shut up or stop talking. So I Matt and I ahead of time.
0:29
I was like, you know, I'm going to just go and you got to fight
0:32
to get in there, Matthew. So good luck today, young man.
0:36
We are. I'm excited about today's
0:38
conversation, though. I love a good round table
0:40
discussion. You know, we're going to be
0:42
talking about networking and specifically one of the the
0:45
local organizations that offers networking to the the small
0:48
business community, that being the Gold Star referral group.
0:52
We've got Sean Moody that's going to be here telling us a
0:55
little bit about Gold Star. Sean, how are you?
0:59
Doing great, Michael. Thanks for having me.
1:01
Good seeing everybody. Yeah, Yeah, you too.
1:04
And then we're going to we're going to circle back around you.
1:06
Sean, have you talked a little bit more about Gold Star?
1:08
But before we do want to, of course introduce our other two
1:11
guests that are on the show today, we've got Bob Fitch from
1:14
Bob Fitch State Farm. Bob, how we doing man?
1:17
Good. Mike, how are you?
1:18
Thank you. Absolutely, absolutely, Baba.
1:21
You want to just give us a quick rundown about who you are and
1:24
what you guys are doing over there?
1:26
Sure. Bob Fitch with the Bob Fitch
1:28
State Farm Agency. We are located in Saratoga
1:31
Springs on Maple Ave. Been 15 years with an agency and
1:36
about five years ago got involved with Gold Star and it's
1:40
been a great outlet for growing our agency, our relationships
1:43
and our community outreach. So yeah, man, happy to be here.
1:48
Yeah, excited, excited. And then our other guest that
1:51
we've gotten on with us today is Chris Luzinger from Nourishing
1:54
Minds Tutoring. Chris, how we doing, man?
1:56
Good. Mike, how are you?
1:57
Thanks for having me. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
2:00
Chris, you guys obviously you know have AI mean I think it's a
2:04
great organization. Obviously we use you a little
2:07
bit right now and plan on using you more in the future.
2:09
Can you just kind of give us a rundown who you are and what you
2:11
guys do? Sure.
2:13
Nursing Minds tutoring. We've been in business about 12
2:15
years now focusing mostly here in the Capital District.
2:19
We are a full service tutoring agency.
2:21
We can cover anything you think of education wise,
2:24
homeschooling, test prep, kiddos that just need a bit of help
2:28
with homework, whatever the case is.
2:30
But we also have one of our specialties is special Ed, and
2:34
we contract with about 16 school districts throughout the region
2:37
to help them out with some pretty, pretty intense
2:40
situations that they've got going on.
2:42
But we're always looking for more opportunities and we'd love
2:45
to help. Love it, love it, love it.
2:48
Sean. Obviously we're talking about
2:51
Gold Star today, which you kind of lead the charge here locally
2:54
for, but that's not all you do, Sean.
2:55
So do you want to tell the audience a little bit more about
2:58
who you are and what you do outside of Gold Star?
3:01
Yeah, I'd like to say I'm a serial entrepreneur.
3:04
I don't know. I don't know that's the right,
3:06
it's the right to Roger. But I'm really a, a credit
3:09
Sultan credit consultant by day. And also I got involved with
3:15
Gold Star, started the first club here in the, in the Capital
3:19
Region here in, in Albany back in 2000.
3:22
I want to say 18, So going on 8 years.
3:27
And, you know, I, I try to stay busy.
3:29
I do some real estate investing. I've got a small vending
3:31
business. So I, I try to stay busy.
3:34
But Gold Star has been integral as far as you know, staying
3:40
connected in the business community and continuing to
3:43
foster in growth both professionally and and
3:45
personally for myself and and and obviously helping others.
3:48
Yeah. So give us a, give us the
3:51
rundown, Sean about Goldstar about, you know, kind of the
3:53
format and and a little bit more about that.
3:57
Yeah. So Goldstar is an industry
3:59
exclusive networking organization.
4:01
It was started in 2007 by a gentleman, an entrepreneur by
4:04
the name of Todd Davis out in Tulsa, OK And he started with
4:09
his wife and, you know, it's since grown to, they've got
4:12
clubs across pretty much primarily in the Midwest and out
4:16
West. Not, not, not many, not not much
4:19
presence in, in the, on the East Coast.
4:20
We're going to change that slowly but surely.
4:23
But in any event, you know, it's, it's, it's really, it's so
4:27
it's a networking organization and, and we, we focus around the
4:30
givers, givers gain mentality. So, so there's a primary focus
4:34
around giving, right, as as cheesy as that sounds.
4:38
But in doing so, whether it's giving your time and sharing
4:44
your, your expertise, obviously sharing referrals, that's, you
4:47
know, we're here to grow each other's business, but also to
4:49
grow professionally as well. In doing that, you can grow your
4:52
business. And so it's a, it's a very what
4:55
I, what I like about it. It's a very straightforward,
4:58
simple process. So it's a one hour agenda.
5:03
So we meet on a weekly basis for one hour and, and again, you
5:07
know, there's, it's, it's very structured.
5:09
So we, we, we share a business tip of the week.
5:13
We also give all the members as well as guests an opportunity
5:16
to, to, to share what they do in a 62nd commercial.
5:20
So it gives you an opportunity to kind of give a quick deep
5:22
dive in what you do and also to ask for referrals, which is the
5:26
whole point of the, of the, of the meeting.
5:28
And then, you know, we share referrals at the end of the
5:30
meeting. And then every week we highlight
5:32
one member and they, they're able to do a 10 minute
5:34
presentation. So they can do a little, a
5:36
little bit more of a deep dive into what they do.
5:41
So members having a, a better understanding as far as you
5:45
know, what's the best way to help them grow their business in
5:48
the way of referrals. So that's that's basically, you
5:51
know, the long and short of it. So, you know, I want to put this
5:55
out to the, the group here and, and we'll, we'll start with you
5:58
Sean, though, you know, as far as networking organization and
6:02
groups, obviously there's, there's a few of them out there,
6:05
right? I know in our local market
6:08
there's quite a few different opportunities for networking and
6:11
some of them have, we'll say a similar format.
6:14
I, I'd love to hear from everybody, 'cause I know
6:18
everybody here does quite a bit of networking and goes to
6:21
different groups and checks different things out.
6:23
So, but we'll start with you, Sean.
6:25
What's kind of the the different of the format or feel or
6:29
structure compared to say other groups that are out there?
6:33
Yeah, great question. So you know, when I started my
6:35
business in in 2013, you know, I was, I was actually born into a
6:43
franchise and they told me, listen, you have to be very
6:45
intentional around networking. And so that was my first, I
6:48
guess, experience with networking.
6:50
And so yes, to your point, I've, I've, I've tried other
6:54
networking organizations, whether it's the BN is, you
6:56
know, you, you've got your, your chamber networking groups and
7:00
such. And what I found is it's, it's
7:03
usually, typically, it's usually one of two extremes.
7:06
Either there's a ton of structure, almost too much
7:10
structure where you know, it's, you might be in a meeting for 90
7:12
minutes and it's, you get a referral or else.
7:16
And, and it could be they can be some, some consequences if you
7:19
don't. And I've seen that first hand.
7:20
And then on the other end of the spectrum, you know, with some of
7:23
the other groups, it's more of a, you know, kind of like a
7:26
hangout vibe where there's really very little structure.
7:29
You might, you might meet for an hour or 1/2 hour, people may
7:34
come and go. You know, there's no, there's no
7:36
real consistent attendance. And so I've been, I've, I've,
7:40
I've seen that as well. What I like about Gold store, I
7:42
think it's the best of both worlds.
7:43
Again, like I said, it's a one hour, very tight agenda and I
7:48
think there, there is room for basic structure, but at the same
7:51
time, you know, there's not going to be this overarching
7:55
pressure to say you better have a referral or else, right?
7:58
You know, we, I think all the relationships, at least from my
8:00
experience, obviously, I'll let everyone else speak for
8:02
themselves, but from my experience, you know, all the,
8:05
all the relationships I've been able to build both personally
8:08
and professionally have all been, you know, it's, it's been
8:12
natural, right? And it's, it's not, you don't
8:15
have to force it. And we've done a ton of business
8:19
and, and, and I like it that way.
8:20
So, you know, I don't think everything is not for everybody,
8:24
but for me personally, like I said, I, I like, I like the, the
8:27
good balance of yes, you have your basic structure, but we're
8:29
also here to do business and we can have fun at the same time.
8:33
Absolutely, Bob. What are your thoughts on that?
8:35
What do you have to add? You know, very similar
8:38
experience, you know, with Sean. I've been in the industry now in
8:41
the insurance industry for 15 years, started the agency of
8:44
morale and when we started, same thing.
8:47
You're, you're, you're looking to network, you're looking to
8:49
grow relationships, you're looking to grow centers of
8:53
influence. And there's a lot of different
8:56
opportunity out there. And you've, you've seen the
8:58
referral groups, we've been a part of them together.
9:01
You've got leads groups where it's like you just show up and
9:04
it's like, oh, hey, I saw that there was a Dollar General open
9:07
up down the store. You should give them a call
9:09
about insurance. I took a different approach as I
9:13
matured in the industry and was looking more for an opportunity
9:17
that was going to be the right fit for me, more of a, a
9:20
relationship similar to the dating world.
9:23
You know, not every, not everyone out there is the right
9:26
fit. And when I was asked to be a
9:30
part of this group about five years ago, I had a really good
9:34
feeling within the meeting, local mortgage broker at the
9:37
time, it created our group and there was some synergy between
9:41
some of the people. And I said, you know, this is
9:43
this is a good fit. Let me give this an opportunity.
9:46
And as time progressed, the groups become more of not just a
9:51
referral group, not just what, you know, Sean was talking about
9:54
as far as, you know, giving each other business.
9:57
The structure for me, it's become something I've looked
10:00
forward to every week. It's become more of a family,
10:04
more of a, a place where you feel comfortable through trial
10:08
and error with things you're doing in your business.
10:12
We're all kind of going through the same stuff together.
10:14
So it's it's a learning opportunity too, so you can
10:17
learn from other people's mistakes, learn from their
10:20
ideas. I feel like it's brought a lot
10:23
more value to me as a small business owner in a community
10:27
and professionally and personally.
10:30
Like Sean was saying about the, the personal side too, you know,
10:34
I've created some really good relationships in the group also.
10:37
And we've also seen growth with new individuals like Matt
10:42
starting off their career who come in the group and they've
10:46
got tenured individuals that have been in his seat before.
10:50
And we're able to help guide him and, you know, help him grow as
10:55
he grows in his industry as well.
10:57
So I, I saw just a lot of value. It's a weekly motivation for me.
11:01
It's professional growth. But at the end of the day, it's
11:04
it's about the relationship and the people we surround ourselves
11:07
with. So that's my my $0.10 there.
11:11
Yeah, I love it. Let's let's jump over to Chris.
11:15
Yeah, not not to beat the dead horse.
11:17
It sucks going last, right? Well, Matt's going to go last.
11:22
That's all right. Now he's got the young
11:24
perspective, right. But I would say that my
11:27
situation is not dissimilar to to Bob's or Sean's where, you
11:32
know, I wanted to start putting myself out there and actually
11:34
Bob's the one that extended the opportunity to me to join his
11:37
Gold Star group in Saratoga and joined.
11:40
And right away from the first meeting, you could tell that
11:42
what was going on in that room was something a bit different,
11:44
right? You can tell that these people,
11:46
it wasn't what Sean was saying, right?
11:48
You you've got to give me 10 referrals this week or else
11:51
you're out. You know, we're going to have a
11:52
conversation and it's not at all like that.
11:55
You know, I think the, and it goes back to that relationship
11:59
building. I think that's the most
12:00
important piece, right? And I've always taken that to
12:03
me, the networking and relationship and everything else
12:05
is a long game, right? It's I don't, I don't ever go to
12:09
these meetings expecting people to give me referrals.
12:12
And I don't get upset if people don't give me referrals.
12:14
I feel like, what can I contribute?
12:16
You know, can I help someone else?
12:18
Can I give them a piece of advice?
12:19
Can I give them a referral? You know, one day it might come
12:22
back to me. I hope it does.
12:23
But if it doesn't, that's OK too, you know, because I'm here
12:26
to kind of build those relationships both personally
12:28
and professionally. I've had opportunities in both
12:31
professionally and personally to expand myself, expand my
12:35
horizons, get on my comfort zone.
12:36
And opportunities have come from that.
12:38
You know, you never know where the next opportunity is going to
12:40
come from. Similar to Bob, I look forward
12:43
to going every week. There's there's times where you
12:45
can go and you know, you're driving there, you're a bit
12:47
cranky. The kids have done something,
12:49
boss is late, you know, whatever it is.
12:50
Bob's smiling there. I can see him, you know.
12:53
But then you get there and you have your meeting and you, you
12:55
speak to other people that are in the same shoes as you are and
12:57
you realize, oh, that's a bit silly.
12:59
And it turns your day around, you know, So when when I talked
13:03
to Sean about having an opportunity to expand Gold Star
13:05
up into Queensbury and Glens Falls, I was kind of hoping to
13:08
replicate some of what was happening in Saratoga up there
13:12
with creating that family feel, right?
13:14
Just helping each other out. We're all here going through the
13:16
same thing, obviously in different industries.
13:19
But I think it doesn't really matter what the industry is.
13:22
We've all got something to offer each other.
13:24
The people in this meeting right now, personally, I've used every
13:28
single one of your services, you know, and I didn't know, I knew
13:32
Bob before joining Gold Star, but I didn't know you, Mike.
13:34
I didn't know Sean, Matt, you know.
13:36
So I think that's just right now, there's four or five
13:38
individuals right now that are doing better because of each
13:41
other, you know, so the trusting other professionals to to help
13:45
you. Yeah, Matthew N what do you got
13:48
to? What do you got to say for
13:50
yourself over there? What would you have?
13:51
Yeah, I mean, it's it's pretty cool coming from, you know, the
13:55
younger perspective. But First off, just well said.
13:59
Just going to piggyback mostly on what's already been covered.
14:03
But again, yeah, it's like this was my first time doing anything
14:07
like this referral groups. So I was, you know, kind of met
14:12
with welcome welcomes and, you know, open arms right from my
14:17
first meeting. But it really, really gave me
14:20
that confidence piece because, you know, like you said, we get
14:24
that chance to do the 32nd speech.
14:27
So each time, you know, the first time's obviously going to
14:30
be different from current giving your 62nd speech.
14:37
But that aspect of confidence, you know, just working at that.
14:42
But also the relationship piece, you know, I have a lot more
14:48
individuals in the groups who have a lot more experience over
14:51
me. So I get to hear their success
14:53
stories, how they've kind of navigated through the throughout
14:57
their careers. And it's again, it's, it's cool
14:59
because they like to hear from my perspective too, kind of how
15:03
things are working in my generation.
15:06
So I've seen we, we, we help each other a lot both ways, you
15:11
know, from the younger perspective and you know, all my
15:15
other colleagues who have the experience and are willing to
15:18
help me and, you know, push me to be better and connect and,
15:21
you know, just want to grow my grow my career.
15:25
So it's been awesome. That's the most politically
15:28
correct way to call the rest of us old I've.
15:29
Ever. I was going to say something.
15:33
I was like, what is that supposed to mean in the younger
15:35
perspective? It's funny when you know
15:43
everybody. It even happened this morning.
15:46
There was some reference to some movie and everybody looked at me
15:49
and was like, Matt, have you even heard about this?
15:51
Or you know. So I want to talk a little bit
15:57
about the the cross clubbing that's available with Gold Star.
16:00
So you know, obviously Bob and myself and Chris were in the
16:04
Saratoga chapter, Matt is in the Glens Falls, Queensbury chapter.
16:10
Sean, are you out of the, is it the Latham or Albany OR where,
16:13
which? Yeah, Albany.
16:15
We're meeting in Albany now. Yeah, meeting Albany, Latham.
16:18
It's all to say. Albany.
16:18
Latham. Albany.
16:19
Yep. Yep.
16:20
So, but I know that members have the ability to kind of jump
16:22
around to different meetings without having to pay additional
16:26
money and to be able to kind of explore a larger market, so to
16:31
speak. I personally have not taken
16:36
advantage of that. But Chris with Chris and then
16:40
maybe we'll go to Sean and then Bob and then Matt.
16:42
But Chris, can you tell me a little bit about the the cross
16:45
clubbing experience and and kind of what that's been been like
16:48
for you? I think that's one of the things
16:51
that's unique about Gold Star, right?
16:52
You can go, you know, to another club as part of your membership
16:56
and you can drop in. I was going quite regularly for
16:58
a while. You're almost, you know, you
17:01
think it's Sean's group, 1516 people in each of the groups
17:03
down there. You know, that's 1516 more
17:06
people in in a quick power to know about you, right.
17:11
But it's a great way to network it and it feels familiar, feels
17:14
comfortable because it's kind of similar formats or the same
17:17
formats that we're all going through and it works.
17:20
You know, I've had closed business because of the cross
17:23
clubbing opportunities I've had through Gold Star that I
17:25
probably wouldn't have had without it.
17:27
You know, it's a great opportunity.
17:29
I think that that is probably unique to Gold Star in that way.
17:35
Yeah. Everything Chris said and I, I
17:38
will tell you when, when I first, we opened our first club
17:41
a couple years ago with cross clubbing.
17:45
Before you only could cross club if your category was not
17:50
already, you know, covered in another club.
17:53
So example, if you're a realtor, so you know, the typical, no, I
17:56
shouldn't say typical, but the, the common categories like
17:59
insurance, realtor, mortgage loan officer, typically that,
18:03
that would be covered in another club.
18:04
So they couldn't cross club. So only like the unique
18:08
categories could, could cross club.
18:10
But we opened that up recently and it made sense and I was
18:13
really happy with with that because the reality is like, for
18:16
instance, we've got a banker and A, and a, a mortgage loan
18:21
officer and, and, and the club that I go to every, every
18:24
Tuesday, right? So the, but the, they work
18:26
together. You know why?
18:27
Because the mortgage loan officer doesn't do home equities
18:30
where the bank, the banker does. So now you know, so, so Bob,
18:34
there's, there's, there's deals that Bob can do as an insurance
18:38
professional, even though there's, there's an insurance
18:40
person in all the other clubs, there's certain, you know,
18:44
clients or customers that Bob can potentially service that the
18:47
other insurance person can't service.
18:48
So there's an opportunity if you have that mindset of abundance,
18:52
by the way, right? It, it does require a mindset of
18:54
abundance, like not just because someone's in, in your industry,
18:58
like I'm not the only credit consultant consultant.
19:00
And if I, if I'm going to get, you know, threatened because
19:04
there's another credit consultant in another club, I
19:06
really shouldn't be in Gold Star.
19:07
And that's what I love about it. You know, it does require a
19:09
certain mentality. And so, yeah, I really love the
19:12
opportunity. Gold Star I I've seen a ton of
19:14
business done across the region. Again, people in the same as
19:17
that category partnering together and finding ways to
19:20
help each other. I I think it's a beautiful
19:21
thing. Absolutely, Baba.
19:25
Have you done any? No.
19:27
I, I have not, I have not done any cross clubbing, but I can
19:30
tell you just from experience and what we hear on the
19:33
leadership end, you know, there's a lot of value if you
19:36
compare Gold Star to other like B and I or referral groups out
19:40
there. I really think that's the silver
19:43
bullet for individuals that are willing to put in the work, you
19:46
know, visit different groups, you can meet a lot of different
19:50
people and have a bigger impact personally.
19:54
You know, we were talking to, you know, Sean was just talking
19:56
about the, the abundance. I know a lot of the insurance
20:00
industry individuals in Gold Star and just out of respect to
20:04
them, my peers in the industry, I I haven't done much, I haven't
20:08
done much of the cross clubbing on the end.
20:12
OK, that's fair. And Matt, you, I don't think
20:14
you've done it yet, have you, Matt?
20:16
Only between just Saratoga and Glens Falls.
20:19
Saratoga and Glens Falls. Sorry, we'll talk about that.
20:24
So you know, obviously one question everyone's going to
20:26
have, right? And this is a common thing with
20:28
networking groups is, you know, what am I going to get out of it
20:32
and the return on investment, right?
20:34
It's a big piece. You're going to spend time,
20:36
you're going to spend money. Although I will say that you
20:38
know, the, the amount of money that Gold Star cost is, is not a
20:42
lot of money. And I know I can speak
20:44
personally, mainly because I just handed in numbers last week
20:48
to fill, because we track revenue.
20:51
If you're not a memory and you're not familiar with this,
20:53
we track how much revenue is getting handed back and forth
20:55
for referrals. And it's staggering the amount
20:59
of money and referrals I've gotten from Gold Star compared
21:02
to what it cost me to spend that hour each week.
21:06
And you know, the few dollars a month that it spent, it cost me.
21:10
So like I, I can speak very well to having a nice return on
21:14
investment, not to mention the fact of, you know, being able to
21:18
bring someone like Matt into the company.
21:20
He's never done this stuff before.
21:22
And being able to bring him into an organization that kind of
21:25
helps me train him right, as far as how to act and networking and
21:30
giving commercials and all that fun stuff.
21:32
So huge, huge return for me personally.
21:34
But I, you know, I'll open it up to the group and maybe we'll,
21:37
we'll start with Chris, you know, Chris, have you, have you
21:40
seen a good return on investment from, from being in the group?
21:43
Yeah, and and like I said, I would judge mine.
21:45
I think we we all smile and laugh because we all know how
21:48
much we pay Mike. So we know Bob and I know what
21:52
your numbers are. And that's just the two of us.
21:55
That's funny shows. Forum, forum.
21:59
Staggering, I'd love to say that, but I think I judge mine
22:03
differently, right? I judge mine based on the
22:05
relationships I get to forge and some of the opportunities that
22:08
have come. Yeah, definitely.
22:09
You know, I it more the return on investment more than pays for
22:13
itself. You know, financially speaking,
22:15
I bring in more money because of my direct involvement with Gold
22:18
Star than if I didn't have that. And that's, you know, through
22:20
referrals, all that kind of stuff.
22:22
But I, I try to take things like, you know, the long game
22:25
approach, right, and the relationships and opportunities.
22:29
One of the things that I think is unique on that return on
22:31
investment. My wife is not a part of the
22:34
group. She's been to like one or two
22:35
meetings, I think, when I couldn't go, she just filled in
22:37
for me. But she's had opportunities both
22:41
personally and professionally and met people that have helped
22:44
her as well. You know, she joined the board
22:46
of AIM services because of her relationship, you know, forged
22:49
in one of the groups, you know, so it's it's, you know, you kind
22:53
of get your tentacles out there and you never everything might
22:56
come. And that's kind of where I'm,
22:57
I'm taking it similar to what you said with Matt.
23:00
I recently brought on one of my staff as well to kind of go to
23:04
the Glenn Falls group with me and she's doing wonderful.
23:07
You know, she's out there, she's not worrying and she's kind of
23:10
forging forward and creating a whole new side of my business by
23:14
being involved with this. It's definitely paying dividends
23:18
for me as well. Absolutely.
23:20
Bob, what do you say about the the ROI?
23:22
Yeah, I'm, I'm with Chris on this.
23:24
It's, it's a, it's unique, you know, we're not talking, you
23:28
know, financial ROI. Yes, it is, it is great.
23:32
You know, we have brought in business through Gold Star, but
23:36
the value we're getting, you know, of building personal
23:40
relationships, building professional relationships,
23:44
myself as well. My, my team in the office has
23:48
they've been guests in the different groups.
23:51
John, our, our team lead here at our agency, he's a member of the
23:55
Glens Falls group. So it's getting him out in the
23:57
community as well, you know, forging new relationships,
24:00
growing professionally also. So financially you can't put a
24:04
monetary value on the group. I mean, you think about Mike,
24:07
you've talked about it too, the, the SEO value with Gold Star,
24:12
you know, we're getting access to Gold Star's platform online.
24:16
We're able to put all our professional information in
24:19
there. People can find us outside the
24:21
group. So there's a lot of different
24:24
value to it. I mean, you, you look at it, I
24:26
go back to the professional growth, weekly motivation and
24:30
forging new and stronger relationships with people in the
24:33
community. I mean, there's ROI right there.
24:36
Absolutely, Sean, what would you?
24:38
Obviously, you know, you see a lot of the behind the scenes and
24:43
again, we don't need to talk about people's financials, but I
24:46
do think the ROI is an important thing, especially for people
24:49
that are not currently members and are considering doing some
24:53
sort of networking organization, but not sure which one to do.
24:55
That's obviously going to be a factor in helping them decide.
24:59
Sean, what would you tell people about as far as the return on
25:02
investment for being in Gold Star?
25:04
Absolutely. Well, one thing I'd say is, I
25:06
mean, just listen to what you know, the feedback from from
25:09
Chris and Bob. I mean, you heard some common
25:11
themes there that they're looking at it's they're playing
25:13
the long game, right. They're investing.
25:15
They're not just simply saying my ROI translates to dollars,
25:20
you know, look at the, the terminology.
25:21
So, so to me, that's the special sauce, which is why I say this
25:25
is not necessarily for everybody, right?
25:27
If you're coming in and you want to, you know, you want to make a
25:29
quick dollar immediately as soon as you pay, you know, your,
25:32
your, your, your monthly, your monthly due.
25:34
This is not for you. And I and I and I, I try to
25:37
preach that to the, to all the directors.
25:39
Look, you know, we're not, we're not looking for bodies.
25:41
We want, we want thriving members that, that get it.
25:44
They want to, they want to put in the time.
25:46
It takes time to build, you know, trust or someone like, you
25:50
know, someone to know, like and trust you.
25:52
That takes, that takes time, that takes an investment of time
25:54
and you know, your, your, your expertise and, and all of that.
25:58
But going back to your question, I apologize.
26:00
Look, we've, we've got 6 clubs now with, with Chris's club
26:03
opening, actually you were 5:00. We, we have another one opening
26:07
in Troy as well, $2.3 million primarily from 5 clubs.
26:11
And we have a club that only has nine members that did over
26:13
$850,000 and, and close business.
26:18
And, and I, I will tell you we are under reporting as a, as a,
26:21
as a region. So I'm sure it's, it's probably
26:23
closer to 3 1/2 to $4 million. So, so make no mistake, even
26:28
though I'm saying yes, we, we, we're playing the long game.
26:30
There's there's money, there's there's money being made and,
26:35
and, and members are making. And this is not just, you know,
26:38
unique to our region across the across the country, you've got
26:42
clubs that are that do you know, doing multi $1,000,000 So it it
26:46
can be done. And like I said, as long as you
26:49
have that, as long as you have the like I said that that that
26:52
go givers mentality. It's it's, you know, Sky's the
26:58
limit. Yeah.
27:00
So, you know, I think we would probably be remiss if we didn't
27:03
talk about just the value of networking overall, right as a
27:07
part of this and and not just shining the light on Gold Star
27:10
as a tool for networking, but just the value in networking.
27:13
You know, it's there's ton, I mean, you look at who you see at
27:18
the chamber events, you look at who you see at a Gold Star
27:20
event. It is such a small portion of
27:22
the business community that is out there.
27:24
And I know plenty of businesses that I do not see at networking
27:28
events. And when I talk to these people,
27:31
it, you know, it's kind of a mixed bag for reasons of why
27:34
they're not doing networking, which is, I don't know, I think
27:37
it's insane to me. However, as a marketing company,
27:40
it's probably better if they're not doing networking because
27:42
they'll need marketing even more than they already do.
27:45
But let's just take a couple minutes.
27:48
We'll go around the horn and just kind of talk about the
27:51
value of networking in general, right?
27:53
And Bob, we'll start with you. You know, you're a serial
27:55
networker for that's how you and I met originally 1520 years ago.
28:01
But maybe tell our listeners, Bob, about why you do networking
28:04
in general. I know we've kind of touched on
28:06
that a little bit, so it might sound a little redundant, but
28:08
important conversation to have. Yeah, a little little redundant
28:12
if you, if you think about it in simple terms, right?
28:16
If, if I need a new person once a day, that person I'm going to
28:22
build a relationship with and then that person's going to know
28:26
other people that are going to introduce me to, and then I'm
28:31
going to get to know that next person they're going to and so
28:33
forth and so forth. So if we're sitting in our
28:36
business and we're not growing and going out there and meeting
28:39
people, you know, we're not going to grow our centers of
28:42
influence or our sphere of people and individuals and
28:47
relationships that we know. So for me, it's, it's the
28:50
growth, it's the growth model. You know, if you're looking to
28:53
grow your business, you need to meet new prospects, meet new
28:57
opportunities, meet new individuals out there.
29:02
They're going to help you grow professionally and personally.
29:05
Because I've always looked at networking is not just the
29:07
dollar sign. And I think you can see that and
29:09
hear that from what I'm saying today.
29:11
For me, it's the the value of the relationship because you
29:14
never know down the road when you're going to need something
29:17
or that person might be able to help you or your paths might
29:21
cross again. Like Mike, you and I met 15
29:23
years ago at a training and lo and behold, you know, 5-6 years
29:30
ago, our paths are just winding up together again.
29:34
And it's bringing value to both our lives personally.
29:38
So, you know, network to me is a prime example of survival and
29:44
business, but also in life too. I mean, we can't accomplish
29:48
everything you want in life, but you can learn from other people
29:51
too. So there's a lot of, I mean, I
29:53
can go on and on about positive, positive things about
29:57
networking, but it's, it's all good value.
30:02
Chris, we'll go to you next. What do you got to say about it?
30:04
Yeah, I, I would jump right in on that and say, listen, every
30:07
single person here, there's been a time where I've called you and
30:10
said, hey, Mike, I need some, I, I need a guy that does this.
30:13
Do you know anyone? And every time I've called you,
30:16
you've been like, yeah, boom, there's 2 numbers, call them
30:18
right now. Right, Sean?
30:19
Same, same thing, you know, and that's the power of networking.
30:22
I didn't know those people. They didn't know me, you know, I
30:25
called them and, and one of the guys that Mike you put me in
30:27
touch with, I just wrote them a check for $70,000.
30:30
Nice. To help me with something you
30:32
know. My Corvette first.
30:34
No, it wasn't my Corvette. But, and that's the power of you
30:39
never know, right? And if you get out there and
30:41
meet people, it happened with me last night, One of my guys at
30:45
the Firehouse is going through some stuff and he needs some
30:47
help. And I said, I got just the guy
30:49
for you, you know, and introduced them and, and away
30:52
they go. You know, hopefully they can
30:53
help each other out. And I think that's the power of
30:56
networking, right? It's the ability to put yourself
30:57
out there and two ways not being afraid to ask for help when you
31:02
need it. And and it's not necessarily,
31:05
you know, not help in the traditional sense, but like, I'd
31:08
rather call one of you guys who I trust and say, hey, I'm doing
31:11
this. What do you suggest rather than
31:13
going to the old Google search, right and not knowing anybody,
31:16
then how the hell you supposed to know?
31:17
Half the reviews you see are bots doing it anyway So you
31:20
never know. Or.
31:23
You know, conversely, just hey, you call me if you need
31:26
something, I might know some of that can help you, you know, and
31:29
again, but it goes back to that probably that common theme.
31:31
It's all about building relationships, right?
31:33
And if I can help someone else out, hopefully when I reach out
31:36
and need something, it comes back to me.
31:38
And I think in my experiences it has.
31:40
Absolutely, Matt, let's go you next and then we'll have Sean
31:44
back clean up on this question. Yeah, I mean, definitely through
31:47
my experience with value of networking, it's it's more of
31:53
using it as like Chris was saying, you know a guy or you
31:57
know, someone that could do this.
31:59
That aspect builds that trust, that credibility if maybe at
32:03
face value don't have something to offer.
32:05
But of course I have. I know someone who can do that.
32:09
And then exactly like Chris was saying, and later down the line
32:12
they'll hopefully repay you. But even through the aspect of
32:17
like with Steve and Ascent Wealth Partners and Neil, I
32:22
would have never started investing if, you know, they
32:24
didn't give me their two cents about it.
32:27
My friends, when I'm talking to them, they're not sitting in
32:29
these, you know, same round tables and really learning
32:33
business and learning how it actually goes.
32:35
So, so yeah, I've, I've really seen why they, there's a reason
32:40
behind why they say it's not who you know or it's not what you
32:44
know, it's who you know and gold stars.
32:47
It really shows me that so. There's a benefit to hanging out
32:51
with us old guys. Yeah, I learn a thing or two.
32:54
Sometimes, John, what do you got for us as far as that seeing the
33:00
value in networking or the overall value in networking?
33:03
I'll tell you one thing, I'm I'm going to dye my beard after this
33:05
Zoom call. I I got some wisdom.
33:08
Hot John. We call those wisdom highlights.
33:11
Yeah. No, but all joking aside, I I
33:14
agree with what everyone said. You know, the only thing I'll,
33:17
I'll add is that Goldstone for me, it's been, it's been a, a
33:23
necessary routine and the, the routine builds great habits for
33:28
me like, and, and then the habits, usually great things
33:31
happen if you have good, good habits in general, right?
33:33
And so, and I hate to use the word, you know, I can't even, I
33:36
can't believe it was in COVID, even though in COVID we were
33:38
meeting, we were intentional around continuing to meet over
33:41
Zoom. Obviously we couldn't meet in
33:42
person. We met over zoom for, for an
33:43
extended amount of time, right? And so it was the main way that
33:47
I stayed connected with my friends and colleagues and just
33:52
the, at first, just from a human perspective, just to stay
33:55
connected. And then secondly, let's
33:57
continue to help each other. And it, it, it was tremendous.
34:00
It, it added tremendous value to me.
34:03
I, I can't even put a, you know, a value to, to that as far, as
34:07
far as, from, from a personal and professional perspective.
34:10
And so, you know, like I said, meeting weekly, it, it, it just,
34:15
it's, it's the primary, it's one of the primary ways I make my
34:17
business because referrals is, is 100% from a, as a credit
34:23
consultant. How I make, I make business.
34:25
Yes, I, I put stuff on social media, you know, I've tried,
34:27
I've tried the Google ads, but the primary way I make business
34:30
is through referrals. And, and the only way I can do
34:31
that is by meeting more people. And the only way I can do that
34:34
is, you know, every, every week when I go to that meeting, the
34:36
way I look at it is I have the opportunity to, to, I don't want
34:41
to say train, but I to, to inform 18 of my colleagues
34:44
exactly how to help me get business and I can send them out
34:47
there versus how, how am I going to get a referral?
34:51
You know, so that's the way I look at it.
34:52
And it's it's, it's, it's served me well.
34:55
Absolutely. And I, you know, I want to add
34:57
one thing to that too based on what you just said, Sean.
34:59
And I think this is overlooked in a lot of cases when people
35:03
are thinking about networking. And it's that as a a sales guy,
35:09
I can only know so many people in my travels, right?
35:13
And, and I mean, you guys, I mean, we all know a lot of
35:15
people, right? And so the one thing that I love
35:19
about having a, a strong network is being able to say, I want to,
35:24
I want so and so as a client, but I don't know them.
35:28
And I can now reach out to my networking partners and say,
35:31
hey, does anybody know this person?
35:34
And if so, can one of you put me in touch with them?
35:37
And so I can see if they'll meet with me.
35:39
It is like the strongest part of networking from a sales
35:44
standpoint. It's not the only value in
35:47
networking, but it's a really overlooked thing.
35:49
Like the one of my goals in networking and, and I think Bob
35:53
said this first is to expand my circle of influence, right?
35:56
That's the number of people I know, but knowing that I can't
36:00
possibly get in front of everybody that I need to know.
36:03
And that's when I start to leverage my network for who they
36:05
know that I don't know. And it's such a powerful,
36:08
powerful piece to being able to grow your business through
36:11
networking. And I want to make sure that we,
36:13
that we mentioned it. So I know we're, we're getting
36:16
closer on time, but we still got it.
36:18
We got a few minutes. I think, you know, what would be
36:21
a really important piece for us to discuss today guys is what is
36:26
the, what is your method of being successful with networking
36:31
or using a, a group like Gold Star to be successful?
36:35
You know, I know there's behaviors that we all do as a
36:37
part of those groups. And I'm just kind of love to
36:40
hear about what you guys do and how you leverage those behaviors
36:45
to grow your circle of influence and you know, grow your
36:48
businesses. And Chris, why don't we, we'll
36:52
do a similar. We'll do Chris, Bob, Matt, and
36:53
then we'll have Sean back clean up again on that.
36:55
I like doing that. Sure.
36:58
One of the things we haven't really talked about is part of
37:00
the structure of Gold Star is the one-on-one meetings that we
37:04
do outside the confines of the group, right?
37:07
So that's an important way to help build that circle.
37:11
And then because what you're doing in that is you're really
37:13
getting to know the other person rather than just, hey, there's
37:15
1800 people around or you know, 10 other people around.
37:18
Let's have a chat for a minute. Let's go grab coffee, let's go
37:21
grab lunch, let's go grab whatever you know.
37:23
And now you tell me more about you.
37:24
What are you going through? What are you looking for?
37:26
Like you just said, hey, do you know any of this is what I'm
37:28
doing? Do you know anybody that can
37:29
help me? Right.
37:30
But by getting to know someone at that level during those one
37:34
to one, she developed that trust.
37:35
And then it becomes one of those things when you reach out to
37:38
someone, they've almost done the selling for you because we all
37:40
trust people in our network, right?
37:42
And when when someone says, hey, yeah, call Mike because he's
37:45
great, he does this, or call Bob, he's great because of this.
37:48
You just sold for him, right? You didn't even have to do it.
37:52
By the time they call you, they're almost ready to sign on
37:54
the dotted line, right? And and that circle of your
37:58
circle kind of the trust comes with it.
38:01
Is that kind of what you're going with there or where you're
38:03
going? Yeah, absolutely.
38:05
Bob, what do you got to add to that?
38:08
You know, the the big thing with the the group and everything is
38:11
like Chris was just talking about the one to ones meeting
38:15
outside the group. For me, being genuine in the
38:19
group, you know, really, really goes the extra mile, builds that
38:24
value, helps you grow. To me also with Gold Star and
38:31
the referral piece and networking is trusting the
38:34
process. I think Chris might have
38:36
mentioned it too, was, you know, it takes time to build the
38:39
relationships. You might not, you know, close
38:42
any business or get referrals in the first couple weeks, first
38:46
couple months, maybe even the first year.
38:49
But over time, if you stay the course, trust the process, build
38:54
the relationships and be genuine, then you see success in
38:59
networking in groups like this. I know myself and John in my
39:03
office, he'd probably say the same thing too.
39:06
There is a lot of value being genuine.
39:08
You're not trying to be something you're not, right?
39:11
You know the relationships too. I can tell you Chris loves
39:14
French toast, loves his bacon extra crispy.
39:21
So just kind of don't. Know a bit too much about each
39:23
other. We're going to show you what we
39:25
know about each other too. So it's it's a great
39:27
organization to be a part of. Matt, how about you, buddy?
39:31
Yeah. I mean definitely the one on
39:34
ones I've I've seen a lot of impact in that way.
39:38
It allows you like, like Bob was just saying to gain another
39:42
friend in that aspect. And you know, business is a
39:45
little side treat with that. Even even when I was going to
39:49
the Saratoga meetings, I still am in contact with a lot of
39:55
those individuals. Actually bringing on Karen
39:59
Carey, who's in the Saratoga group, just because, you know,
40:03
we keep a contact between and she had some opening and she's
40:08
doing some great things and thought we should cover it.
40:11
So again, that's just the relationship piece and really
40:14
sitting down, but. But being consistent with it and
40:18
and meaningful and staying on top of it once, once you do form
40:21
those relationships, because in the end of the in the end, they
40:26
they can go really far and and benefit both sides.
40:28
So. Absolutely, John.
40:32
Yeah, I, I think I would, I would add, you know, just
40:37
intentionality and what I mean by that.
40:39
Like, so for instance, when I'm in, I'm in a meeting, I want to
40:41
make sure I'm engaged and I'm present.
40:43
Like so, you know, I want to make sure I, I really, I'm
40:46
paying attention to all the six second commercials.
40:48
I'm really getting involved in listening to the 10 minute
40:50
presentation and thinking, OK, how can I, how can I help these
40:54
people? I think it's, at least for me,
40:55
it's easy to get distracted. That's just in general, forget
40:57
about business. The another piece of
41:01
intentionality is, you know, we've got members that they'll
41:04
go to mix professional mixers together different, different
41:08
events and you may meet somebody that you 9 times of the 10,
41:12
you'll meet someone that you, you may not have met before.
41:14
I, I know for me, when I go to a mixer, I'm not trying to meet a
41:16
million people. If I meet one, if I make one
41:18
good connection, I think it's a win.
41:20
And if I don't, I'm OK with that too, right?
41:22
I'm not going to force it. I, I want it to be organic.
41:25
And, and three for me, I don't take for granted top of mind
41:30
awareness. And you think about these
41:32
corporations spending billions of dollars pretty much, you
41:36
know, sharing the same message over and over again, like these
41:39
big corporations. Like for instance, I, I signed
41:41
into Facebook and I'm not on Facebook much outside of
41:44
business. And I just randomly liked a post
41:48
from a gentleman I hadn't spoken to.
41:50
Business owner in Saratoga. This is probably about three
41:53
days ago. He called me yesterday.
41:54
Hey Sean, I've been meeting to catch up with you.
41:55
I moved to Florida. I need you to help me with my
41:57
credit. Da da da da da.
41:58
I'm just like, I haven't spoken to this gentleman in like 2
42:01
years and so, and again, I don't know.
42:05
And I said to him, you know, I just, I don't know if it was.
42:07
I definitely think it's probably, I probably came to
42:09
mind because I just liked his post.
42:10
He saw Sean Moody come up. He didn't say that.
42:13
But I'm like, there's got a big connection there.
42:15
So it just reminded me, you know, the importance of, of, of
42:20
not taking for granted, you know, staying top of mind.
42:22
And it's, there's so many ways, I mean, Gold Star's just one way
42:25
we can do it. But there's so many other ways
42:27
that we, that, that as we're leading our, our, our daily
42:31
lives and, and we're out there, you know, working our, our, our
42:35
different industries and, and we have our personal relationships.
42:39
There's, there's, there's ways we can be intentional around
42:41
doing that. So, and Gold Star's an important
42:43
piece of that for me, right? So that's what I would share.
42:47
Yeah, I, I mean, listen, I, I think Gold Star is a great way
42:49
to turn complete strangers into acquaintances.
42:53
And then to everybody's point, you then do the one to ones and
42:55
those one to ones. Take those acquaintances and
42:57
they turn them into people you know.
42:59
And then through frequency of contact, the Doonan every week.
43:02
Now these people, you know, actually become friends.
43:04
You have a relationship with them.
43:05
You get to know how they like their bacon and their French
43:07
toast, you know, And then at some point in time, right, it
43:10
becomes closed business because they know who you are and they
43:14
know what you do. And someone's like, hey, I, I, I
43:16
need an insurance guy. Do you know what I mean?
43:17
And they're like, yeah, man, actually, I know a great
43:19
insurance guy. It's just such a powerful,
43:22
powerful thing if if you're using it correctly, I think.
43:26
You know, the other thing too that I would bring up is, and I
43:29
know Matt and I have talked about this, but like groups like
43:33
Gold Star make those and you kind of mentioned it, Sean makes
43:37
those, those bigger rooms a lot easier to handle, right?
43:40
Like, I go to a chamber event and I mean, now I've been doing
43:44
this for such a long time because I'm so damn old that I
43:47
know most of the people in the room.
43:48
But at one point in time, I was just like Matt and I didn't know
43:51
very many people at all, right? And I go to a Gold Star group
43:55
and I meet a couple of people and then I see him at the
43:57
networking event and I, I have someone to talk to.
43:59
I have someone that I that I know so I don't have to feel all
44:02
awkward and weird. Which brings me to the next
44:05
question is there's a lot of introverts out there and people
44:09
here networking and they get really, really scared, right?
44:13
And they're like, Oh, I know I can't do, I mean, I've literally
44:15
heard people say that, right? I can't do that.
44:18
Like I, I got to stand up in front of a room and talk to
44:20
strangers and you know that all that stuff, that head trash
44:24
starts to pop in. Sean, let's start with you and
44:27
then we'll kind of work around. But what would you, what advice
44:29
would you give to those introverted business people out
44:32
there that they need the network, but they're scared to
44:34
death of it? Yeah, so I definitely consider
44:38
myself an introverted extrovert, if that makes any sense.
44:43
I just say RIP the Band-Aid off because and and don't look at it
44:47
as the way, at least for me, the way I looked at it, especially
44:50
when I started my business, I had no clue about networking,
44:54
what that meant. I I just thought it meant
44:57
meeting people didn't know about, you know, how do you
44:59
nurture those relationships? But I guess the point I would
45:01
make is as I started getting out there, I started, put it this
45:06
way, before I started my business, I was in the corporate
45:09
world. I, I, I came to the Capital
45:12
Region in 2005 by way of Bank of America and I worked there for
45:16
eight years and I met AI, met a good portion of people in the
45:18
corporate world. After I was a a casualty of the
45:22
bank downsizing and I started my business in my first year of
45:25
business, I met more people that first year than I did the
45:28
previous eight years working at the bank.
45:31
So that so that made so it was a self relation, self realization
45:35
for me that I actually enjoyed networking.
45:37
I just didn't put the tag on it. I just enjoyed meeting people,
45:40
you know, so, so for anyone that's scared out there, I just
45:43
say RIP the Band-Aid off. I remember when I did my first
45:45
commercial, when I went to a network, I was invited to a
45:47
networking meeting when I was, I was petrified.
45:51
And I remember after the meeting, a woman walked over to
45:55
me and she said, I, I really thought you did a really, really
45:56
great job, But I'd love to sit down and, and, and, and you
46:00
know, we can maybe have a lunch meeting.
46:02
And her name is Lisa Drucci. She's now, she's been in our
46:04
club for, for eight years. She's a, she's a coach and she's
46:08
one of my great friends and mentor.
46:09
And we, and we now go to, we go to Cheesecake Factory.
46:12
That's our place. We go once 1/4 just to sit and,
46:14
and, and chat. So I would just say RIP the
46:18
Band-Aid off and just do it. You'd be, you'd be surprised.
46:20
That's that's mine. Love it.
46:23
How about you, Chris? Well, we, we, we won't, we,
46:27
we've probably got Sean beat with the once 1/4 of the amount
46:29
of time. Trying to go diner.
46:33
We we give them a solid chunk of business every so often.
46:36
But I would say, yeah, I think someone said it before.
46:40
I think Sean might have said it. Meet one person, you know,
46:43
don't, don't go to these events and think you have to know the
46:46
room and be the most popular guy in the room every time you go.
46:48
Just go with the with the intention of just being
46:51
attentional, right? Try and meet one person, make
46:53
one good connection, go back next time and now you know that
46:57
person, meet someone else, right?
46:58
Mike, you alluded to it before. It might take a bit of time, but
47:01
if you do it long enough and you're consistent with it,
47:03
you'll get to know some of the people in the room.
47:06
And that's how you can help expand your sphere, how you can
47:08
grow. Converse is that one of the
47:11
things we're doing? There's a chamber mixer this
47:13
coming Thursday and Vince Falls group is going to band together
47:18
and go. So, you know, power in numbers
47:21
kind of thing. You can, you know, for some of
47:22
those introverts, maybe you feel a bit more comfortable because
47:25
now we're all there to support each other and maybe I can make
47:28
an intro to someone else in the group and, you know, then vice
47:30
versa. So it all comes back to, you
47:33
know, to me, just get comfortable being uncomfortable.
47:36
If you want to be an entrepreneur, if you want to be,
47:38
you know, working for yourself, I think that's an important part
47:41
of it. And not being scared to put
47:42
yourself up out there. OK, So if it doesn't go your way
47:45
one day, tomorrow's a new day. Learn from it, you know, do
47:48
something different. Love it Bob, how about you up
47:51
in? The same boat as Chris, the, you
47:55
know, being comfortable, being uncomfortable.
47:58
It's kind of a phrase I've always lived by too.
48:00
But when you're talking about, you know, introverts, you know,
48:03
we know a lot even in the sales world.
48:05
And what I found in the networking world is, you know,
48:09
like Chris said, bring a friend, right?
48:11
Just bring one person, like a trusted individual, like you can
48:14
be yourself around and bring them into a room.
48:17
Then at least you have somebody there and power of numbers.
48:21
There's two of you together. You're going to meet another
48:23
person. And just like I go to and
48:25
approach, like I approach every meeting, just one take away.
48:30
So like these, like Chris has said, and Sean, you walk away
48:34
meeting one new person, you know, it's a home run.
48:36
It's a victory in my book. So for those introverts you
48:40
know, bring a friend, you know bring a friend.
48:43
Someone you feel comfortable with.
48:46
Love it Matt, how about you? Any advice for the introverts
48:48
out there? Yeah, I mean, well said through
48:52
everybody else. But I mean, I guess the biggest
48:55
thing for me would just be to kind of shift your mindset.
49:00
I think it was said, forgot who said it, but it's you realize
49:05
it's everybody's first time doing it or it's their first
49:08
time here and everybody kind of has those same, you know,
49:11
worries, anxiety. So if you kind of just realize,
49:15
you know, everybody's in the same boat as me, it kind of
49:18
takes that pressure off. And you know, at the end of the
49:21
day, you're just chatting with someone and you know, the buoys
49:26
and going with someone I found really helps too.
49:29
You know, obviously the first one that you go to may seem a
49:32
little intimidating. And I remember I walked into a
49:35
big room and was like, all right, what do I do now?
49:38
But, and then after I started talking to that first person,
49:42
that first person introduced me to their network.
49:45
And then by the second mixer or whatnot event, I, I had that
49:51
contact and then it just went up from there.
49:54
So I found. Yeah, I don't want to cut you
49:58
off, but you, you said a term in there that only, probably only
50:01
you and I know 'cause it's, it's a, a thing that I say and talk
50:05
to you about net, about networking and that's the
50:08
networking buoy. Yeah, yeah.
50:11
Can you real quick just to describe to our listeners what a
50:13
networking buoy is? Yeah, yeah, definitely.
50:17
I, yeah, I love the term. You were Yeah, the one who
50:20
brought that to my attention. But yeah, you were like, just
50:23
find that buoy. Find your first buoy.
50:25
There's going to be individuals who are, you know, kind of off
50:29
by themselves, maybe on their phone, maybe a little bit
50:31
intimidated, but hey, that was exactly how I was.
50:36
So you find that buoy, someone who's, you know, kind of
50:38
floating in the in the mix of everybody, talk to them, make
50:42
them your friend, and then you guys start floating into the
50:46
bigger groups and then that's your buoy.
50:48
And then you go to your next networking group, you see that
50:51
buoy and then maybe you expand into that.
50:54
So it's is the concept of always growing it, which which yeah, I
50:59
always find my boobies at these networks.
51:02
Yeah. And just to add a little bit to
51:03
that too, is that every time you know someone, they are a
51:08
potential buoy for you for the next time when you're all
51:10
networking. So if you're walking around a
51:12
room and you're starting to feel that panic and your palms are
51:15
getting sweaty, then you just got to look around and find one
51:18
of your buoys and go over them. They're that thing you can hold
51:21
on to for a couple of minutes, right while you while you catch
51:23
your breath. So, and, and I will also say
51:27
too, I'll, I'll issue kind of a, an offer to anyone listening.
51:31
If you're an introvert, you're thinking about going to your
51:33
first event and you get there and you're scared to death and
51:38
freaking out. If you see me or I'm sure any of
51:41
the guys that are on this video right now, if you see any one of
51:43
us come over to us, say, hey, I'm an introvert, I'm scared to
51:48
death. It's my first event.
51:49
I need some help, right? Like, and if you're
51:52
hyperventilating, probably even better.
51:54
And, and we'll, we'll take you around.
51:56
We'll we'll introduce you to people.
51:57
We'll help it make we'll help make it easier for you.
51:59
So it doesn't have to be so terrifying, but there's no go
52:04
ahead. What's that?
52:07
In a worst case scenario, I carry an AED with me everywhere.
52:10
I go, I've got one out in the truck, right guys?
52:15
I know we're we're out of time, but any closing thoughts from
52:18
anybody they want to add to to our listeners about Gold Star,
52:21
about networking in general? Come visit us.
52:24
Come see us. Come see what all the come see
52:26
what it's all about. Very nice, Sean, if people want
52:30
to find out more about Gold Star, how do they find us?
52:34
Yeah, they go to goldstarfolkclubs.com and all
52:38
the, all the information is there or certainly I'm sure
52:41
you're going to put some contact information out there as well,
52:44
e-mail or call me, call me directly.
52:46
But Michael, I want to thank you for putting together this, this
52:50
forum. I think it's, I think it's, it's
52:52
going to do, it'll be a great asset for the business
52:56
community. So thank you for doing this.
52:57
Absolutely. I mean, credit where credit's
52:59
due. I think Chris, it was his
53:00
originally, it was his idea to get this panel going.
53:04
And we of course, love it and always look and help the
53:07
business community any way we can.
53:08
And like I said, we love Gold Star.
53:10
I've I've enjoyed, I've done a ton of networking over the last
53:13
2025 years. And I don't care how big or
53:17
small my business is, I'll, I'll be in Gold Star for I'm a lifer
53:20
at this point. So appreciate what you do, Sean.
53:22
Appreciate the group. Thank you.
53:24
Appreciate you guys. Yeah.
53:25
And thanks everybody for coming on and of course thanks
53:28
everybody for listening. You know you can.
53:30
You'll find an article about this, as well as podcasts and
53:33
other things we've done at Buying Local dot US.
53:35
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53:41
hear from us next week.