Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Jermane Cheathem and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker
Transcript
- 0:15Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
- 0:18Profitable Connections, the podcast where we
- 0:21strip away the fluff and get real about networking
- 0:24fuels your business and your life. Today's episode
- 0:29is going to challenge the way you think about
- 0:31success. My guest believes that the four -hour
- 0:35workday isn't some dream. It's the standard we
- 0:39should all be aiming for. His philosophy flips
- 0:42the script on the old hustle mentality. The goal
- 0:46of business isn't a maximum growth at all costs.
- 0:50It's a minimalist freedom, building the life
- 0:54you want on your terms. And here's the kicker.
- 0:58Networking is the key to making that freedom
- 1:01possible, not by piling on more contacts, events,
- 1:04or obligations, but by creating the right intentional
- 1:08relationships that multiply your time and your
- 1:11results. So buckle up, buttercup, because we're
- 1:15about to dive into how you can design a network
- 1:18that buys back your hours, boosts your profits,
- 1:21and gives you the freedom you've been chasing.
- 1:27So let's get started. That was a bit of a mouthful
- 1:30for me, but I think I got it. I'd like to welcome
- 1:34to the podcast, Jermaine Cheatham. And I would
- 1:37like to ask you, first of all, welcome to the
- 1:39podcast. And could you give us a little bit about
- 1:42your background and how you got here today? Hey,
- 1:47Michael. Thanks, man. I appreciate you having
- 1:48me. I'm glad to be here. My background is, since
- 1:52I was young, since I was five, six, seven, I
- 1:55always wanted freedom. And that's financial freedom.
- 1:59That's time freedom. That's location freedom.
- 2:01I just wanted freedom in life in general. And
- 2:04I didn't know how to get it until I ran into
- 2:08business and sales. And that was the quickest,
- 2:13most fastest, most efficient way for me to obtain
- 2:15all those freedoms is through sales and entrepreneurship.
- 2:18And to speak to your audience is the best way
- 2:21to excel. in sales and entrepreneurship is not
- 2:25trying to reinvent the wheel. It's simply to
- 2:28connect with other people, AKA networking that
- 2:33already have your ideal client in their network
- 2:36and have their trust. And that is the ultimate
- 2:39leverage. And so that's that one idea created
- 2:44all the freedom I ever wanted in my life and
- 2:45in my business. Wow. That's great. That's great.
- 2:49So you, When did you obtain that freedom? Subjective.
- 2:57Financial freedom is a different number for everybody.
- 3:00Time freedom is a different number for everybody.
- 3:02I didn't really gain this freedom until I made
- 3:06the leap from employee. to entrepreneur because
- 3:09then i started to own my time i started to own
- 3:12all my income and i had autonomy of my life so
- 3:16that was back in 2016 when i made that leap from
- 3:20the corporate business structure working for
- 3:23somebody else to i'm doing this on my own probably
- 3:28scary also making that jump for sure but it's
- 3:34not as scary as being a slave to the day you
- 3:36die Yeah, that's so true. Listen, I'm a former
- 3:40business owner myself. I had pizzerias, restaurants,
- 3:44Ben & Jerry's. I had it all. I was in New York.
- 3:47And the fast -paced, I was all into the fast
- 3:50-paced. I moved down here to Georgia, and it
- 3:52slowed down. And I got into my own thing without
- 3:56the storefront. But that's a story for another
- 4:00day. Most people think networking is about adding
- 4:04more and more connections. more events, and more
- 4:08time spent. How does a minimalist approach to
- 4:12networking look different, and why might it actually
- 4:15be more effective? From a minimalist lens, only
- 4:20thing you're looking for is leverage. You're
- 4:23looking to put in a little bit and get a lot
- 4:25out. And so when you're thinking about leverage
- 4:27from a business context, you want to make sure
- 4:29whatever you're selling, your product or service,
- 4:32is highly lucrative. And so what I decided to
- 4:35do is get into probably the most lucrative space
- 4:38you can find, and that's financial services.
- 4:41Because it's an evergreen need for businesses.
- 4:44They always need this thing. And it's something
- 4:46that doesn't ever go out of style, regardless
- 4:48of what's going on in the economy. It's always
- 4:51in demand. That's one aspect of it, is picking
- 4:54the right... actual product or service to sell.
- 4:57That's number one. And then from that lens, once
- 4:59you find something that's highly leverageable
- 5:00and lucrative, then you figure out, I don't need
- 5:03a hundred contacts because if I have a hundred
- 5:05contacts sending me business or deals, I have
- 5:09to manage those people. I have to manage their
- 5:12protocols and their procedures and their personalities
- 5:14versus let me find 10 that actually give me the
- 5:19same amount of, say, income that the 100 would
- 5:23give me without all the headache of dealing with
- 5:2510x the amount of people, personalities, and
- 5:27procedures. So it's really about finding the
- 5:31right product or service with the right key strategic
- 5:33partners that have your ideal customer in their
- 5:37space and in their... sphere of influence and
- 5:41then leverage that relationship because the psychology
- 5:43of trust is always at play. If I. I'm friends
- 5:48with Roger and Roger knows the client that I
- 5:51ultimately want to be in touch with. Roger is
- 5:54going to put me in touch with that client and
- 5:55that client is going to trust Roger. Therefore,
- 5:57they're going to trust me. It's just how psychology
- 5:59works. This isn't rocket science. And so when
- 6:02you have a lucrative product or service and you
- 6:04have this type of flywheel where people are bringing
- 6:06you into the deals that are pre -selling these
- 6:09deals for you. The clients just sign. They don't
- 6:12ask any questions. There's no back and forth.
- 6:15It's just a seamless way to do business. And
- 6:17so that's where the leverage really lies, where
- 6:19you're not spending all day working on deals
- 6:21or prospecting. You let your strategic partners
- 6:23do all that work for you. And it's a win. Your
- 6:26product or service has to make sure it helps
- 6:28your referring partner win. It helps him sell
- 6:31whatever he's selling. And it also helps their
- 6:33clients. So you have to make sure everyone's
- 6:35rowing in the right same direction. And then
- 6:38business becomes... Simple, easy, and fun. I
- 6:42understand all of that. So you had to work your
- 6:46way through the cloud of just hit and miss clients
- 6:51to get to your 10, let's say, of those clients
- 6:56that will refer you, that will pay more attention
- 6:59to you. But how did you get through that cloud,
- 7:05that fact of you having to meet? a hundred people
- 7:08to get to the 10. Yeah. So the easiest way I
- 7:12went about doing this is number one, I checked
- 7:15on who was already in my network, who do I already
- 7:17know in my Rolodex, in my phone. And so I started
- 7:20to strategically start reaching out to people
- 7:22already new in the business, my business world
- 7:24and saying, Hey, do you know X? Do you know people
- 7:27work in X? And I wanted to get into the healthcare
- 7:30space. I wanted to get into the medical space.
- 7:32So I literally started just reaching out to people
- 7:34I knew in the business world. And hey, do you
- 7:37know people in the healthcare space? I'd like
- 7:39to meet with you and see if I can get into that
- 7:40arena. And so I met with a lady, she was a friend
- 7:43of mine. She was a marketing person here in Arizona.
- 7:46We had coffee and she's like, yeah, call Roger.
- 7:48And then I talked to Roger and obviously it was
- 7:50a warm introduction. This is networking 101,
- 7:53just talking to people, that's it. We're not
- 7:55selling anything. And so I talked to Roger and
- 7:58he tells me, hey, we're having an event. I go
- 8:00to the event and I meet all these people that
- 8:03are in the medical space that sell medical software,
- 8:06medical equipment, and all of their clients actually
- 8:09needed my financial services to help him and
- 8:13her sell their equipment and software to the
- 8:16doctors. And so my point is this, is you're just
- 8:18looking for a couple of contacts to leverage
- 8:21because Once you get in with one of the contacts,
- 8:25they have buddies. They have other sales reps
- 8:27at their same organizations that now bring you
- 8:29into the fold because, again, the psychology
- 8:31of trust. If Roger uses Jermaine, then Tim will
- 8:35feel comfortable using Jermaine, and so will
- 8:37Sarah. And then next year, I'm doing the financing
- 8:39for the entire organization. And so that's a
- 8:42simple way of how I thought about, let me just...
- 8:45try to knock over the lead domino. And usually
- 8:48that's just one person. And that was the lady
- 8:50that I met with in marketing that was already
- 8:52in my phone. That sounds strangely equivalent
- 8:57to what I go through as a speaker and as a coach
- 9:01and a trainer. I go for that keynote, that workshop.
- 9:07But when I get into the company, other people
- 9:10find out about what I am speaking about. They
- 9:14tell friends. So it sounds eerily close to the
- 9:18same type of thing. Okay. You advocate the four
- 9:22-hour workday as a standard. What role does networking
- 9:27play in creating that freedom? And how can we
- 9:30avoid letting networking itself become another
- 9:33time drain? I have one key thing about business.
- 9:41If you're working more than four hours a day,
- 9:43you are working on the wrong thing, period. You're
- 9:48not finding the leverage. And maybe that is what
- 9:50you're selling. Maybe that is who you're selling
- 9:52it to. And maybe that's how you're doing it.
- 9:55From a networking lens, what you need to think
- 9:58about is you don't want to be the expert in anything.
- 10:01Because if you're the expert in anything, that
- 10:04means you have to actually deliver the service
- 10:06or goods. You have to actually do the work. I'm
- 10:11an advocate of being just a connector, a middleman,
- 10:14a person that sits in the middle of the person
- 10:17that needs the thing and the person that sells
- 10:19the thing. And I bring you together. I don't
- 10:21do any work and I get paid for the connection.
- 10:25And so when you think about networking from that
- 10:27lens, you have to pick the right product or service
- 10:32you want to connect people with and the right
- 10:34customer you want to connect them with because
- 10:35they got to have money. They got to be in pain.
- 10:38They have to be able to afford your thing that
- 10:40you're connecting them with. And same thing with
- 10:41the service. It has to be a lucrative service
- 10:43that is evergreen. So when you think about it
- 10:46from that lens, of course, you're not working
- 10:48more than a few hours a day because you're basically
- 10:51trying to be a surgeon with a scalpel versus
- 10:54just throw stuff against the wall and see if
- 10:56it sticks. So it's about picking the right service
- 10:59and finding the right people that need that service.
- 11:01And then you're obviously flywheel is going to
- 11:04be the connectors. all need this to make their
- 11:08business work. And you're not doing the work.
- 11:10You're not delivering it. You're not doing any
- 11:13of the client work. You're just connecting people,
- 11:15wiping your hands and everyone's happy. That
- 11:19sounds, I used to be a print broker and I used
- 11:23to have clients that needed printing. I developed
- 11:27a relationship with printers and it flowed through
- 11:30me, but I didn't have to do anything, but I was
- 11:33getting paid. So it's like the same thing. Okay.
- 11:37So many entrepreneurs chase maximum growth, which
- 11:42often means constant expansion or contacts and
- 11:46commitments. How does networking shift when the
- 11:50goal is freedom instead of scale? If you want
- 11:56to scale and you want to have a billion dollar
- 11:57company, you're going to be working 16 hour days.
- 12:00That's just the reality of it. And so at what
- 12:03point are you going to be satisfied? At what
- 12:06point is enough enough? And so I realized in
- 12:09my early 20s when I started making, for me, very
- 12:13good money, $20 ,000, $30 ,000 a month, I realized
- 12:16I can't spend all this. What am I buying? What
- 12:21do I really need that's going to fulfill me?
- 12:23And you try, you experiment, you buy stuff and
- 12:26you realize that wasn't it. about making more
- 12:34money. and just working all day. Life for me
- 12:37is about personal fulfillment. And a lot of that
- 12:38means getting my time back. I like to work, but
- 12:41I don't want to work all day because there's
- 12:43so much more to explore in life. I love to exercise.
- 12:46I love to go on hikes. I love to go on vacation.
- 12:48I love to travel. I love to read. I love to explore.
- 12:51I'm okay working from eight till noon, but after
- 12:54that, I want to do other stuff. And so for me,
- 12:57I'm not looking for maximal scale. I'm looking
- 13:00for maximal personal fulfillment. From a networking
- 13:03lens, that's where I realized when I was doing
- 13:07financial services, I was like, okay, I have
- 13:09a very lucrative thing here. I don't need to
- 13:11do a hundred deals a month to make a very good
- 13:14income. I could do a handful, which will take
- 13:16a few hours. And obviously I'll have some prospecting
- 13:19and stuff and staying in touch with my clients,
- 13:20but it's not. It's a few hours a day. And so
- 13:23when I realized this thing is very valuable and
- 13:25I found out, okay, these guys that have the ultrasound
- 13:28equipment or the MRI equipment or any of the
- 13:31medical devices, they need my lending services
- 13:35to help their doctors get their devices. Plus,
- 13:38it's a tax benefit for the doctors because it's
- 13:40100 % tax deductible. The banks and the underwriters,
- 13:42they want to lend out the money. So all I was
- 13:46simply doing is staying in the middle. I'm not
- 13:47the expert. The banks are the experts. The medical
- 13:50device sales guys, they're the experts in the
- 13:52equipment. The doctors are the expert in ophthalmology
- 13:55or whatever it is, right? So I'm simply just
- 13:57bringing the bank that wants to lend out money,
- 13:59the doctor that needs the money to buy, the equipment
- 14:01seller that needs to sell the equipment. All
- 14:03together, I wipe my hands in a few hours a day.
- 14:07Then I can go to the gym, go on a walk, go on
- 14:10vacation, do this from anywhere because it's
- 14:12a digital business. It's about leverage again,
- 14:14the right product, selling to the right person,
- 14:16the right way through strategic partners. Wow,
- 14:20that's good. Okay, so what are some signs that
- 14:24someone is over networking, collecting contacts,
- 14:29but losing focus? And how can they reverse that
- 14:32into meaningful, minimalist connections? Okay,
- 14:37so number one is if you're talking to people,
- 14:40if you're chasing anybody, that's a number one
- 14:43sign. Never chase anybody. You'll know after
- 14:46the first encounter if this person is real, if
- 14:48it makes sense, if it feels right. You're going
- 14:51to have instant feedback that this is a real
- 14:52thing. That's number one. Number two is if you
- 14:56always have people trying to waste your time.
- 15:01Let's get a coffee. Let's do this. Sure, I'd
- 15:05love to have a coffee with you. But specifically,
- 15:07what do you do? How do you do it? And how does
- 15:10it align with what I do? So we're both rowing
- 15:13in the same direction. But more importantly,
- 15:15we're both getting paid sufficiently. Because
- 15:20life is short. We all die. I want to make money
- 15:23on my connections. And I want to also help my
- 15:26connections make money too. It's a two -way street.
- 15:29I want us both. to get paid. And if I don't see
- 15:33a throughput where we can get paid, there's absolutely
- 15:35no reason for us to meet unless you know somebody
- 15:38that can help me get paid and help them get paid.
- 15:40And I'm happy to pay you a commission for making
- 15:42that happen. So I think a lot of it comes down
- 15:45to you have to be direct with people. The director
- 15:48you are, the clearer and the more lucrative.
- 15:53the relationship's going to be. If you notice
- 15:55a lot of people will hem and haw and they're
- 15:57just happy and they're just, they want to be
- 15:59friendly and they're people pleasers. People
- 16:02pleasers are usually some of the worst entrepreneurs
- 16:04and salespeople. So if you see a people pleaser
- 16:06or you get that kind of vibe, run for the hills
- 16:09because they're just going to waste your time
- 16:10and they're not doing any business. People that
- 16:12are busy are doing stuff. So those are my two
- 16:15main things is focus on ignoring people pleasers
- 16:18and staying focused on who's really going to
- 16:21be able to send you business. Okay, sure. And
- 16:24those salesy type people, the people who really
- 16:27aren't doing business, they're going to your
- 16:29networking events more for social reasons rather
- 16:33than making money. And if you're a type priority,
- 16:37I have a slightly different take on a networking
- 16:39event. I go with what's called a servant's heart.
- 16:43I see what I can do for them. not what they can
- 16:48do for me. So I'm not looking for a sale. I'm
- 16:51not looking how I can strategically align with
- 16:54them. I'm just looking to put two people together
- 16:57and I walk away. I have them because in turn,
- 17:01they look at me, they say, look, Mike gave me
- 17:04a referral. So I'm going to have to give him
- 17:07one. And so it's a slightly different take on
- 17:09what you are saying, but it's along the same
- 17:11lines. Okay. In your view. What's the biggest
- 17:16myth about networking that keeps business owners
- 17:19stuck in long hours and unnecessary busyness?
- 17:26I think that they need to talk to everybody.
- 17:30You don't need to talk to anybody except for
- 17:33your ideal avatar or ideal customer. And in order
- 17:37to know who your ideal customer is or client
- 17:40or partner is. You need to know where the leverage
- 17:44is based on whatever you're selling. It's surprising.
- 17:47Sometimes you'll talk to people and you don't
- 17:49even think that they know what they even offer
- 17:52because they're not even quite sure about it.
- 17:54They're not even crystal clear about like, where's
- 17:55their value and their proposition. And so the
- 17:58clearer you are in exactly what you sell, then
- 18:01you can get laser focused on finding those type
- 18:04of partners that have. your ideal client already
- 18:07in their network and their influence. And so
- 18:09those are the only people you should focus on.
- 18:12Like for me in my financial services, I only
- 18:15focused on medical device salespeople. That is
- 18:17it. So any event, any person I talk to, that
- 18:21is the specific type of person I want to talk
- 18:24to. And that's it because they can bring me deal
- 18:26after deal that are pre -sold and pre -closed.
- 18:29Don't talk to everybody. Talk to the person that
- 18:32is your key ideal avatar. Exactly right. That's
- 18:38exactly right. Okay. How do you personally decide
- 18:43which relationships to invest in deeply and which
- 18:47to let go without feeling like you're missing
- 18:50out on opportunities? This kind of is what we
- 18:53just talked about, but not really. Number one
- 18:57is I'm a capitalist. So if it's a lucrative relationship
- 19:03and I like the person, then that's what I'm going
- 19:09to invest all my time and effort in. If it's
- 19:11a lucrative relationship and I don't really like
- 19:14the person, I'm going to try to mitigate my personal
- 19:18contact with that person and make it more transactional.
- 19:21And so I'm not really going to invest as heavily
- 19:24if we're just not seeing eye to eye on whatever
- 19:26it might be. And typically 90 % of all the relationships
- 19:31you actually have that are really good. and really
- 19:34long lasting, they're lucrative and you like
- 19:37the person. And usually the ones that those 10
- 19:39% where you really don't like the person, but
- 19:41it is lucrative, they typically fizzle out sooner
- 19:44or later because they're going to find someone
- 19:45they actually do vibe with and that's okay. But
- 19:49before you write someone off, here's one thing
- 19:51I always try to do is give the person a chance.
- 19:54Like really try to connect with them, really
- 19:56have a conversation with them, ask them about
- 19:58their family, what they're up to, and try to
- 20:00connect with them on a human level. And for whatever
- 20:03reason, if it still doesn't work, then c 'est
- 20:06la vie. It is what it is. But you have to at
- 20:08least give people an opportunity because I believe
- 20:10in every human, there's a good heart there. It's
- 20:13just sometimes maybe it's a worldview or who
- 20:16knows what it might be, a personality clash.
- 20:19I don't know. And sometimes you just don't see
- 20:20eye to eye, but you have to give it an opportunity.
- 20:24Good. Absolutely right. If someone only had four
- 20:28hours a day to run their business, what specific
- 20:31networking strategies would you tell them to
- 20:35focus on for maximum leverage? It depends on
- 20:39what they sell. I'm assuming it's going to be
- 20:41something lucrative. So if it's very lucrative,
- 20:43the only thing I'm going to find is. where is
- 20:48that client located? Who's the client? Who's
- 20:51this ideal client that would buy this thing or
- 20:53utilize this thing? And then I'm going to find
- 20:54out, okay, who already has this person in their
- 20:57network? So for example, for mine, it was medical
- 21:01device. People had all the doctors that I wanted
- 21:03to offer my financial services to buy their equipment,
- 21:05right? But here's kind of an abstract idea. What
- 21:08if I sold weight loss services or fitness services?
- 21:12How do I find... the person that wants to lose
- 21:14weight? How do I find the person that wants to
- 21:16get in shape? I have no idea. You can't even
- 21:19tell. You would have no idea who wants to do
- 21:21that. But you can make inferences based on psychology.
- 21:24Who would have people that might want to get
- 21:27in shape, might want to get stronger and look
- 21:29better physically? Probably like high -end corporate
- 21:32dating coaches because all their CEOs that are
- 21:35maybe freshly off of a divorce or they're now
- 21:38back in the dating market, they're going to want
- 21:40to look. their best, feel their best, lose 10
- 21:43pounds, put on 10 pounds of muscle. So I would
- 21:46just go to the corporate dating coaches instead
- 21:48of trying to find this needle in the haystack
- 21:50and say, hey, corporate dating coach, let me
- 21:52offer all your clients 60 days of free training
- 21:55online. And then at the end of the 60 days, they
- 21:58can decide if they want to sign up for my package.
- 22:00This is a way, it's a win for all three parties.
- 22:04That's what I would spend my four hours a day
- 22:06on is finding corporate dating coaches, or in
- 22:09my case, finding medical device salespeople to
- 22:12talk to. Or whatever you're doing, find the leverage.
- 22:15You never sell to the customer directly. You
- 22:18find the people that have their customer in their
- 22:21network, and then you leverage that psychology
- 22:25of trust. Good. Very good. You've said the goal
- 22:30of business is freedom, not growth. How do you
- 22:34build a network that actually supports your lifestyle
- 22:37goals instead of pulling you further away from
- 22:40them? Again, it starts with the product you pick.
- 22:43So you don't want to have to do 100 deals a month.
- 22:46You want to be able to do a couple. That's number
- 22:48one. Number two is you want to make sure you
- 22:51align yourself with partners and clients that
- 22:55do not waste your time. They're not messaging
- 22:59you all day long. They're not emailing you all
- 23:01day long. They're not calling you all day long.
- 23:04You want low maintenance partnerships. Because
- 23:07the truth is, the people that are making the
- 23:10most money, that are the most successful, they're
- 23:12always low maintenance for the most part. It's
- 23:15always the headaches are the quote unquote losers,
- 23:19the brokies, the people that aren't selling anything,
- 23:22the people that are stressed out, and they're
- 23:23going to take it out on you. It's always a litmus
- 23:26test. Is this person calling me three times in
- 23:29one day? Is this person emailing me four times
- 23:31with a bunch of question marks? Are they texting
- 23:33me? Are they bothering me? Because again, that
- 23:36disrupts my peace. It disrupts my freedom, really.
- 23:40And I'm fine with a phone call and an email,
- 23:42but I'll get back to you in 24 hours. I'll dictate
- 23:44what our engagement will look like. And so you
- 23:47have to sometimes fire clients, even if they're
- 23:51a lucrative client, because they're causing you
- 23:53trouble. and they're causing you problems in
- 23:56your life, and life's too short to deal with
- 23:57people you don't like and that are a pain. I
- 24:01learned that a long time ago, to fire clients.
- 24:04And people who aren't used to that say, what
- 24:06are you, out of your mind? I'm like, it's a lot
- 24:09easier just to fire them, find somebody else,
- 24:12and move on with your life. Okay, minimalism
- 24:16often means cutting the clutter. What does clutter...
- 24:21in networking look like and how can listeners
- 24:23do a clean sweep of their connections while keeping
- 24:26doors open? Here's the deal. Everyone's heard
- 24:32of the 80 -20 rule, the Pareto principle. I believe
- 24:36in the 95 -5 principle. You get almost all of
- 24:42your outcomes from five people. It's just the
- 24:45way it works. And so I would look at my Rolodex
- 24:49and be like, if this person isn't get me in touch
- 24:51with money, like actual revenue. If I've been
- 24:58talking to this person for a year or whatever
- 24:59it is, stop talking to them, quit following up
- 25:04with them because life is short and there's something
- 25:06called opportunity costs and they're big. And
- 25:09so if you're wasting your time on these 95 people,
- 25:12when you could be trying to find these five people.
- 25:16That's where all your energy and effort is. And
- 25:18what you'll notice, if you've been around the
- 25:20block enough, you've done enough deals, you'll
- 25:22start to notice the best relationships, the best
- 25:25partners, the best clients were the ones that
- 25:27were effortless. It just happened naturally.
- 25:31There was no chasing. There wasn't all this,
- 25:33let me stay in touch, let me stay in touch. No,
- 25:35you actually stayed in touch because deals were
- 25:38coming in every week, every month. That's how
- 25:41you stayed in touch. You stayed in touch at dinner,
- 25:43at lunch, at happy hour, whatever. it was almost
- 25:46like an effortless relationship. And so if you
- 25:49find yourself like scratching and clawing and
- 25:52trying and let it go, it will never, it's like
- 25:57any relationship. I don't care if it's friendships,
- 25:59romantic, whatever. If you're trying too hard,
- 26:01it isn't meant to be. And you're losing the opportunity
- 26:04cost to find something that will work out without
- 26:07any effort and it's enjoyable. All right, good.
- 26:12Okay, so let's bring this podcast full circle.
- 26:15and look a little bit into the future. If you
- 26:19had to give one piece of advice to someone who's
- 26:22currently overwhelmed by both their work hours
- 26:25and their networking efforts, what's the first
- 26:29most freeing step they should take today? The
- 26:33first thing I would examine is what are you selling?
- 26:37Like really, what are you selling? Because usually
- 26:40the time suck is either explaining what you're
- 26:43selling. doing demos on what you're saying, trying
- 26:47to convince people about what you're selling.
- 26:51If you re -examine exactly what you sell, typically,
- 26:56and you pick a better vehicle to get you where
- 26:58you want to go, that will free up 80 % of your
- 27:01time. It's usually you're just chasing your tail,
- 27:04trying to sell something that's hard to sell
- 27:06just because you've always sold it. So that would
- 27:10be the one thing I would think about is re -examine
- 27:11what you're selling. and find a better, more
- 27:14lucrative, more seamless, simple thing. Okay.
- 27:19Listen, Jermaine, this was great. It really showed
- 27:23somebody or my listeners exactly how to, not
- 27:27exactly, but almost exactly, how to trim their
- 27:30day down from 16 to 14 to 10 to 8, and hopefully
- 27:36at about four hours a day. Myself, I am not...
- 27:40I work at least 10 hours a day on one thing or
- 27:43another. I have a few hands in a few pots, so
- 27:47it's not just one business, but I understand
- 27:50what you're saying because I can't go on this
- 27:53forever. So I have to focus a little bit more.
- 27:56If somebody wanted to get hold of you, either
- 27:59to learn about the system, your hours, or to
- 28:02be coached by you, what's the best way that they
- 28:04can get hold of you? Yeah, they should go to
- 28:07my website. It's creatorslearn .com, just like
- 28:10creators of the universe, learn .com. And I have
- 28:13a mini course on there where it goes over like
- 28:15how to rethink what you sell and who you sell
- 28:18it to. And so I talk about these five characteristics
- 28:21of the ideal product or service and the four
- 28:24characteristics of your ideal client. And then
- 28:27once you figure out that, we can figure out,
- 28:29okay, where do you find your strategic partners
- 28:32to do all the selling for you, what we talked
- 28:34about here. I also have a cool dream income lifestyle
- 28:37calculator because a lot of people think I need
- 28:39to have a million dollars a year to be financially
- 28:41free. And you actually put pen to paper and actually
- 28:44have an Excel calculator that shows you that
- 28:47you can live like a king on half a million dollars
- 28:48a year, which is only 50 grand a month, which
- 28:50is not crazy. Yeah, they can check that out at
- 28:53Creators Learn. I'm very active on LinkedIn as
- 28:55well. So looking forward to connecting with people.
- 28:58Okay, great. Jermaine, thank you so much for
- 29:01coming on the podcast, and I look forward to
- 29:04speaking with you soon. Great. Thanks, Michael.
- 29:10Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere. Let's
- 29:14hear from our sponsors. David Neal, co -founder,
- 29:17Revved Up Kids. Revved Up Kids is on a mission
- 29:21to protect children and teens from sexual abuse,
- 29:24exploitation, and trafficking. They provide prevention
- 29:28training programs for children, teens, and adults.
- 29:32To learn more, go to revvedupkids .org. Henry
- 29:36Kaplan, Century 21. When it comes to making the
- 29:40biggest financial decision of your life, leave
- 29:43it in the hands of a proven professional, Henry
- 29:45Kaplan. Henry is a global real estate agent with
- 29:49Century 21, celebrating his 41st year in business.
- 29:53No matter where you're moving, Henry has the
- 29:56right connections for you. You can contact Henry
- 29:59at 561 -427 -4888. All right, folks. A huge thank
- 30:07you to our guests for sharing such incredible
- 30:09insights today. And of course, a big shout out
- 30:13to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in
- 30:16and spending your time with us. If you're interested
- 30:19in my digital courses, being coached, or having
- 30:23me come and talk to your company, just go to
- 30:26Michael and fill out the request form. Remember,
- 30:29networking isn't about being perfect. It's about
- 30:33being present. So take what you've learned today.
- 30:36get out there, and make some meaningful connections.
- 30:39If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't
- 30:42forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share
- 30:45it with someone who could use a little networking
- 30:47inspiration. Let's keep the conversation going.
- 30:51You can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube,
- 30:55or my website, foreman .com slash podcasts.