Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E70 An Interview with Clinton Holmes and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker

Transcript

Networking Unleashed: S1E70 An Interview with Clinton Holmes and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:16
  Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
• 0:19
  Profitable Connections. I'm your host, Michael
• 0:22
  Foreman, and today's episode is all about the
• 0:25
  power of relationships, that ripple effect of
• 0:28
  generosity, and how the right connection can
• 0:32
  literally change everything. My guest today is
• 0:35
  someone who just doesn't talk about networking.
• 0:38
  He's lived it for moments of transformation fueled
• 0:42
  by a single introduction. to launching Project
• 0:46
  Giveback, a platform designed to help small businesses
• 0:50
  grow without overwhelming costs. His story is
• 0:54
  a masterclass in what's possible and when you
• 0:57
  lead with value. If you ever felt stuck, uncertain,
• 1:02
  or like you're doing it all on your own, this
• 1:05
  conversation is going to inspire you to start
• 1:09
  seeking networking, not as a transaction, but
• 1:12
  as a powerful tool for growth. community, and
• 1:16
  long -term success. So let's dive in. My guest
• 1:20
  today is Clinton Holmes, and I don't want to
• 1:24
  butcher his background because he's got a great
• 1:26
  background. So I would just like to introduce
• 1:28
  Clinton and have him just give us a little bit
• 1:31
  about his background. Clinton, welcome to the
• 1:33
  podcast. I appreciate you. Thank you for having
• 1:36
  me on the item. No problem at all. No problem.
• 1:41
  Give us a little taste of your background. What
• 1:43
  brought you today? What brought me today? It's
• 1:46
  broad, so I'll try to keep it as short as possible.
• 1:49
  I, my wife and I, we were originally from South
• 1:51
  Carolina, then moved to Georgia, stayed in Georgia
• 1:54
  for about 10 years. Career opportunity, career
• 1:57
  advancement on my wife's side. She had an opportunity,
• 2:00
  a great opportunity to become a VP of operations.
• 2:04
  So moved to Florida. Big jump, obviously. That
• 2:11
  was the introduction for me to actually start
• 2:15
  my business full time because I've always had
• 2:19
  nine to five business and would work on my personal
• 2:22
  brand and personal business part time. But this
• 2:26
  gave me the opportunity to say, you know what,
• 2:28
  let's step out in faith. Let's do this thing
• 2:30
  full time. And it worked perfectly because the
• 2:33
  company that I was working for in Georgia, the
• 2:36
  company is Alcatech. Shout out to Steve Martin.
• 2:39
  an architect. It was amazing. They became my
• 2:42
  first hardcore client and that was, it was a
• 2:46
  humbling experience for them to trust me to actually
• 2:49
  continue their brand. And so it grew legs from
• 2:53
  there. But when I landed here, reality hit me.
• 2:59
  I saw a need for networking. I realized this
• 3:04
  was the first time in my life I was in an area
• 3:06
  where I knew absolutely. I got on, of course,
• 3:11
  LinkedIn and local community groups, generally
• 3:15
  the local chamber of commerce in Tavares. And
• 3:17
  I started actual networking. And it was an amazing
• 3:23
  experience because you would think it's transaction,
• 3:28
  right? You would think it's, hey, here's my business
• 3:30
  card. Hey, here's your business card. Okay, let's
• 3:33
  do some work together. It wasn't like that. It
• 3:36
  was individuals who... listened to my story celebrated
• 3:39
  gave me amazing advice and it grew from there
• 3:45
  so it was it grew from hey you're just a guy
• 3:49
  who's in a new land new place trying to grow
• 3:51
  your business to being on podcasts being on radio
• 3:55
  shows being invited to corporate events it was
• 3:59
  just an amazing experience and It wasn't the
• 4:03
  atypical transactional experience that I was
• 4:06
  told. So I had the absolute wrong experience
• 4:10
  or the wrong ideology of what networking was
• 4:14
  supposed to be. I got a real taste of pure networking
• 4:18
  and it was about connection and growth. And I'm
• 4:22
  floored. And when I ran into you, I was like,
• 4:24
  OK, I have to be on Michael's show because he's
• 4:27
  all about network. So that's why I'm here. I'm
• 4:30
  here to grow. I'm here to learn. And I'm just
• 4:33
  humbled, man. I'm really humbled. That's all
• 4:36
  fantastic. And I have found that really ever
• 4:40
  since the pandemic, that when everybody was shut
• 4:43
  indoors and they relied on Zoom and their cell
• 4:46
  phones and everything else, before then, everybody
• 4:49
  was into building their client, their customer
• 4:52
  list. But now it's more about relationships.
• 4:57
  and who you connect with and how you connect
• 5:00
  with them. And I always said that more importantly
• 5:03
  than meeting the person is the follow -up. How
• 5:08
  do you follow up with the person? So we'll get
• 5:11
  into that later on because I'm sure they'll have
• 5:13
  something to say about that. But let's start
• 5:15
  with the questions, okay? You said that networking
• 5:19
  changed the game for you. Can you take us back
• 5:23
  to a moment when a connection truly transformed
• 5:26
  your path? So, first networking event that I've
• 5:32
  been to, Cam Madison, he reached out to me on
• 5:37
  LinkedIn. And I thought it was a regular LinkedIn
• 5:41
  pitch, obviously, but it was an authentic gentleman
• 5:44
  who was doing local networking here in the greater
• 5:49
  Orlando area. So I'll never forget it. I actually
• 5:52
  went to the event. It's okay. I'll do it. I'll
• 5:55
  just break the ice. I need it. I know I need
• 5:58
  it. Let's go. Networking event. By the way, Michael,
• 6:01
  I'm an introvert. A lot of people would never
• 6:04
  know that. So networking events will break you
• 6:07
  out of that really quick. So I went there. Will
• 6:13
  Bradley. He was the first person I met. I got
• 6:18
  there first because I'm that. i'm that get there
• 6:21
  first guy so i got there first and cam was like
• 6:24
  whoa you're early that's just who i am so got
• 6:27
  there got my bearings together and will came
• 6:31
  in will happen to be in marketing as well now
• 6:34
  will does the seo the pay -per -clicks and pay
• 6:38
  dad so he's on that side of marketing i'm more
• 6:40
  so on the branding content creation side of marketing
• 6:43
  so obviously he and i it was a instant connection
• 6:49
  And the way he interacted and the way he gave
• 6:57
  me strategic advice on how to scale. And when
• 7:03
  I use the word scale, it's not about, oh, I'm
• 7:07
  at 5 ,000 a month. Okay, now I'm going to scale
• 7:11
  to 50 ,000 a month. Scale meaning, OK, this is
• 7:15
  what you can do to really maximize what you are
• 7:18
  trying to accomplish, the audience that you are
• 7:21
  trying to attract. Because will I accept a billion
• 7:27
  dollar a year companies? I sure would. But my
• 7:30
  core and my heart are for people like myself,
• 7:33
  the people that just started out or the smaller
• 7:36
  businesses. They really can't afford that 75K
• 7:40
  a year marketing guy. but they need that 75K
• 7:43
  a year marketing work. I'm the guy to intervene
• 7:46
  and help. But after talking to Will, he gave
• 7:50
  me so many different approaches and so many different
• 7:53
  strategies that I could implement. It just blew
• 7:57
  my mind. And then of course, after he and I were
• 7:59
  talking, then more people came in and every single
• 8:03
  person I talked to gave more nuggets of advice
• 8:06
  and more nuggets of knowledge. Not one person
• 8:09
  said, by the way, buy my stuff, here's my stuff,
• 8:13
  give me this, give me not one person. Everybody
• 8:17
  actually fed into me and it was amazing. And
• 8:21
  that is the best experience I've had as far as
• 8:25
  networking or my first introduction to networking
• 8:28
  that I could have hoped for. Let me give you
• 8:32
  another nugget, okay, regarding networking. Networking,
• 8:37
  if you go in with what's called a servant's heart,
• 8:41
  If you go in thinking, what can I give today?
• 8:45
  Not receive. You don't go into a networking event
• 8:48
  thinking you're going to sell anything. You're
• 8:50
  going to go in and thinking, okay, what two people
• 8:53
  can I connect? What can I give? What I usually
• 8:57
  do when I speak to somebody such as yourself,
• 9:00
  how can I make you more successful? What can
• 9:04
  I do to be a good referral source for you? And
• 9:07
  I do all this without even telling you what I
• 9:10
  do. Because I just want to know about you. So
• 9:13
  as Zig Ziglar and other major people would say,
• 9:17
  always look to give, not receive. So if you go
• 9:22
  in with that, all the pressure's off. Introvert,
• 9:25
  perfect. Not for extroverts or introverts, right?
• 9:29
  Because you're like, oh my God, who do I have
• 9:31
  to talk to? No, nothing. Go in and try to give.
• 9:34
  And once you give, people love to talk about
• 9:37
  themselves. And people love to share their knowledge
• 9:41
  with somebody else. If you ask them, because
• 9:44
  that means that they've made it and they're trying
• 9:49
  to help you. So that's a little nugget for you
• 9:52
  to remember. Okay, so what mindset shift had
• 9:58
  to happen before you started seeing real results
• 10:01
  from networking? I had to realize. I needed a
• 10:12
  different perspective in order to get to where
• 10:17
  I need to be. Does that make sense? Sure. You
• 10:21
  can build something as an individual and in your
• 10:25
  personal world, it works and you can have a little
• 10:29
  success and it works until you're placed in an
• 10:34
  environment like this. When you're placed in
• 10:37
  that right environment, the proving ground, the
• 10:39
  real testing ground. That's when it shows, oh,
• 10:44
  you missed a step or you missed this lesson or
• 10:49
  you need this strategic partner. That's the mindset
• 10:53
  shift that I've had and continue to have. I realize
• 10:58
  there's a lot of room as far as I have gone and
• 11:02
  I am so humbled and I thank God for the knowledge
• 11:05
  and wisdom that he's given me. And now I'm in
• 11:08
  a place of learning because a great part of my
• 11:12
  life, I've been the coach. I've been the mentor.
• 11:15
  And I'm 50 years old now. And it hit me. I've
• 11:20
  never had a mentor in my life. So the mindset
• 11:24
  shift that I have now is, oh, wow, now you get
• 11:29
  to have a mentor. And you need it. And now you
• 11:32
  see it. There's no more. okay, I got this and
• 11:35
  I can do this because I've been successful in
• 11:38
  my past. No, my mindset now is, okay, I am now
• 11:43
  the student. And it's humbling. And I thought
• 11:49
  it was scary at first, but it's not. That's just
• 11:52
  excitement that I'm feeling because I know where
• 11:56
  I can go from here. And so it's just taken my
• 11:59
  mind to a whole different place. So yeah, so
• 12:01
  that's the mindset shift that I have now. I've
• 12:04
  become the student now where I've always been
• 12:07
  the teacher. You don't realize how important
• 12:10
  a mentor truly is. Now, I mentor several people.
• 12:17
  I coach several people. But I am mentored by
• 12:23
  somebody else. I'm always being taught because
• 12:26
  nobody knows everything. And things change so
• 12:30
  fast. quickly and often that you can't know everything.
• 12:34
  And my mentor doesn't know everything either,
• 12:37
  but he keeps me on the right track. So that's
• 12:40
  all you're really doing. So I'm in the middle.
• 12:43
  I'm receiving and I'm giving. And I don't think
• 12:47
  I'll ever get out of that position. So always
• 12:49
  have that in mind because you can't know everything.
• 12:52
  You don't know everything. And every time you
• 12:54
  go to a networking event or something else, you're
• 12:57
  learning something. If you don't learn something
• 12:59
  every day, you're not doing your job. Exactly.
• 13:03
  Okay. So how did the idea for Project Give Back
• 13:08
  come about? And what problem were you solving
• 13:11
  for small businesses? Project Give Back. That
• 13:15
  is a love letter. It's really lovely. It was
• 13:19
  when I came here and I gave you the picture of
• 13:21
  the minor struggles, new place, new land, have
• 13:25
  to build my brand, build my business, build,
• 13:28
  scale. And then one day it hit me and I want
• 13:32
  to say it was divine. I was reminded that's not
• 13:39
  who I am. That's not my personal brand. My personal
• 13:43
  brand is giving more than I give. I've always
• 13:47
  been that person from volunteering at local parks
• 13:52
  and recreation to volunteering time at churches,
• 13:55
  helping churches grow, building, building this,
• 13:59
  building that. It's always been my passion to
• 14:01
  help people grow and then look back and say,
• 14:03
  God, thank you for giving me this knowledge and
• 14:05
  wisdom to help somebody else grow for years.
• 14:09
  And I still consider myself this. I'm more of
• 14:12
  a king maker than the king. I know how to be
• 14:15
  the king. i just choose to help other kings be
• 14:18
  kings and so project give back is just that for
• 14:23
  businesses non -profits solopreneurs entrepreneurs
• 14:28
  whoever who need help real genuine help to build
• 14:36
  their businesses i don't care if it's from the
• 14:38
  ground up i don't care if it's from an idea let
• 14:42
  me talk with you Let's walk you through some
• 14:44
  processes and show you how I've gotten where
• 14:48
  I am. And I can help you get there as well to
• 14:51
  businesses that are already established. But
• 14:54
  again, funding is a thing. It is a real thing.
• 14:57
  And lack of funding is a real thing. And a lot
• 15:01
  of times people really don't have. It's not like
• 15:04
  everyone's trying to take advantage. People don't
• 15:06
  have the funds because they pay this and that.
• 15:10
  And so Project Get Back is it. Let me. And it's
• 15:14
  not me giving money. It's me giving advice. It's
• 15:19
  me giving time. Sometimes I'll give services
• 15:22
  to companies, individuals, what have you, that
• 15:26
  need that extra help, that extra person, that
• 15:28
  extra idea, the extra consultation to help them
• 15:31
  go to the next level. I've actually helped in
• 15:34
  the past couple of weeks. I think it was about
• 15:37
  three individuals. One of them is a startup.
• 15:41
  They want to actually do a clothing brand. And
• 15:44
  so I started from ground up. Okay. First things
• 15:46
  first. What's your idea? We found out their idea
• 15:49
  and we went from there and it grew from there.
• 15:52
  And by the time we finished the session, we had
• 15:54
  already started with a concept of his design
• 15:59
  because he wanted to start off with just a logo.
• 16:01
  He said, here's my logo. And I'm throwing the
• 16:03
  shirt. I said, wow, that's scary. And he was
• 16:09
  like, wow, what's wrong? I said, Okay, I said,
• 16:12
  put it like this, a logo without a brand or identity.
• 16:18
  It's like putting a gigantic, beautiful car in
• 16:23
  the middle of the world without an engine. It
• 16:26
  won't go anywhere. People may look at it, they
• 16:29
  may not, but nobody will get in it because they
• 16:35
  can't find the doors. They can't crank it up
• 16:38
  because it doesn't have an engine. You have to
• 16:41
  build something around this logo. A logo is basically
• 16:44
  pretty paint on the building. I said, let's build
• 16:47
  your brand. And so it starts like that. So Project
• 16:50
  Give Back is just my way of saying, hey, I know
• 16:53
  a lot of people can't afford larger marketing
• 16:56
  firms, larger marketing companies. You can afford
• 17:00
  me. And hopefully they will come back to you.
• 17:06
  Look, you've given me enough information. So
• 17:09
  you know what? Let me just hire you. Just even
• 17:11
  first of all, them out. And that's the way it
• 17:14
  all starts. So it's a beautiful thing. And that's
• 17:16
  what we're talking about beforehand. Let's take
• 17:19
  this one step further. How does Project Give
• 17:23
  Back help businesses grow without overwhelming
• 17:26
  them with traditional marketing or startup costs?
• 17:29
  Now, you basically covered that just now. But
• 17:33
  how? Give me another scenario. Okay. I hope I
• 17:38
  don't offend anyone when I say this. So allow
• 17:41
  me to go granular. Sure. Typical marketing. Obviously,
• 17:45
  worry about your PPCs, your paid ads, what have
• 17:49
  you. That is not my strategy. That's a part of
• 17:53
  my strategy. Eventually. But that's not my initial
• 17:58
  strategy. My initial strategy is establish your
• 18:01
  footing. Establish your brand. Establish your
• 18:03
  identity. Your target audience, who are you really
• 18:07
  talking to? Who do you want to talk to? And then
• 18:12
  I asked the other question again, who are you
• 18:14
  really talking to? Because sometimes, and I'm
• 18:18
  guilty of this myself, I'm accustomed to wanting
• 18:21
  to be everything to everybody. And I can't do
• 18:24
  that. Even my new mentor is teaching me, hey,
• 18:29
  Clinton, bring that back in. Yes, you have capacity,
• 18:33
  but. Conceptually, your capacity is too far out
• 18:37
  there. So I help individuals with that. Once
• 18:39
  I help them with that, then I start off instead
• 18:42
  of paid ads, Google ads. I go old school. Local
• 18:48
  market. Hey, I tell you what, find a local event.
• 18:53
  Join a local chamber of commerce. Free information,
• 18:56
  free advice. Whoever was listening, free advice,
• 18:59
  free information. You would be amazed. How much
• 19:03
  resources your local chamber of commerce will
• 19:05
  give you just by joining that local chamber of
• 19:09
  commerce. And it is a fraction of the cost of
• 19:13
  paying for a paid ad. Because a paid ad, I will
• 19:17
  tell you, one, if it's not set up correctly,
• 19:19
  you are going to lose a lot of money. Two, it
• 19:24
  depends on your niche. You will not be at the
• 19:26
  top of Google. I don't care. What anyone tells
• 19:29
  you. Because again, depending on your niche.
• 19:32
  Because you have individuals and companies who
• 19:35
  have a lot more revenue and resources than you
• 19:38
  started. So you're never going to be at the top.
• 19:40
  So instead of allocating your money there, allocate
• 19:43
  your money to local sources. There you are. If
• 19:48
  you're in Orlando, focus in Orlando. If you're
• 19:50
  in Atlanta, focus in Atlanta. If you're in Florence,
• 19:54
  South Carolina, my hometown. Focus on Florence,
• 19:57
  South Carolina. Focus on your local area. Choose
• 20:01
  your local chamber of commerce. Use those resources.
• 20:05
  Start local. Then grow. That's my number one.
• 20:09
  That's Clinton Home Strategy 101. Start small.
• 20:14
  Start local. And I promise results. You know
• 20:18
  something? And you can almost guarantee your
• 20:21
  promise. Because if you start organically. You
• 20:24
  start your business organically, and then you
• 20:27
  could go for something else, but start organically,
• 20:30
  do word of mouth, go to those networking events.
• 20:33
  And just for the heck of it, there's always something
• 20:38
  called that 30 -second elevator pitch, okay,
• 20:41
  elevator speech. And people ask me all the time,
• 20:44
  what's yours? What's yours? What do you have
• 20:45
  to do? I say, look, don't. First, don't just
• 20:49
  give me a 30 -second elevator pitch because what
• 20:52
  is the purpose of that pitch? It's to get somebody's
• 20:57
  attention, to get a response from the person.
• 21:00
  So give them five seconds. Give them mainly what
• 21:04
  you do and have them respond to you like, oh,
• 21:07
  can you tell me more? Or, oh, what is that? Or,
• 21:10
  oh, that's all you're looking for. And then you
• 21:12
  go into the rest, right? So that is the way that
• 21:15
  you do it. does networking play inside of Project
• 21:22
  Give Back itself? That's actually, it's almost,
• 21:27
  I can't say almost, it is a major one. It is
• 21:31
  the key component. I don't want to say, I don't
• 21:35
  want to use the word force, but I strategically
• 21:40
  persuade the individual. Network, network. By
• 21:46
  the way, network again. Because I don't stop
• 21:51
  with me. I don't limit their resources and their
• 21:54
  knowledge with me. In fact, I teach them how
• 21:58
  to network or find connections through other
• 22:02
  sources aside from myself. I'm just a conduit.
• 22:07
  I'm the one that can teach you, hey, and again,
• 22:10
  I got to keep pointing this out. I got to keep
• 22:12
  pressing that button. Join your local chamber
• 22:14
  of commerce. i can't stress that enough that
• 22:18
  is networking by itself because what that'll
• 22:20
  do because most of those most of those chamber
• 22:23
  of commerce they have networking events and you
• 22:26
  would be amazed at the individuals that you meet
• 22:28
  and those events it could be something as simple
• 22:31
  as a dinner something as simple as breakfast
• 22:33
  or lunching and then that'll evolve into hey
• 22:37
  we have a an event we would like for you to sponsor
• 22:42
  They're not talking millions of dollars. They're
• 22:44
  not talking thousands of dollars. It may be a
• 22:46
  hundred bucks, maybe only 50 bucks. Now, guess
• 22:50
  what? Your brand, your face, your name is right
• 22:54
  there with the major player. And all you had
• 22:57
  to do, get out of your shell and network with
• 23:00
  Clinton. Oh, Clinton teaches you to network with
• 23:03
  Bob at your local chamber of commerce. Then Bob
• 23:06
  teaches you to network with this person. It is
• 23:08
  a major part. Networking is a major part of Project
• 23:12
  Give Back because in essence, I'm teaching the
• 23:16
  individuals to give back themselves. What I hear
• 23:20
  you saying is that networking is a skill and
• 23:25
  a talent. And what do you have to do to, I'm
• 23:30
  going to say perfect it, but there's no perfecting
• 23:32
  networking. Okay. You have to practice, practice.
• 23:36
  And you shouldn't be afraid, anybody that's listening
• 23:39
  or any of your first time people, you shouldn't
• 23:43
  be afraid to go out and network. Look, the first
• 23:47
  time you go out and network, you're going to
• 23:49
  suck. It's horrible. You're going to be so bad,
• 23:51
  right? But you're going to learn from it. And
• 23:54
  you take those bits of wisdom and you go to your
• 23:57
  next one and the next one. And pretty soon, you're
• 24:01
  like, hey, you know what? This networking thing,
• 24:03
  it's not so bad. It's pretty good. And once you
• 24:07
  start to enjoy it that much more, get the nerves
• 24:09
  out to you introverts, okay? Once you get the
• 24:12
  nerves out of your system, then you'll start
• 24:15
  to have fun. When you start having fun, that's
• 24:18
  when you really start to network properly. Exactly,
• 24:21
  exactly. That's key. Okay, so you've built a
• 24:26
  platform that gives first. How has that philosophy
• 24:30
  of generosity impacted your own business and
• 24:34
  relationships? I've established my place in this
• 24:42
  very congested niche. And honestly, that really
• 24:49
  wasn't the purpose because the purpose was, again,
• 24:52
  this is who I am at my core. But what happened
• 24:56
  is I established a position. In most marketing
• 25:02
  firms or most businesses, one of the key questions
• 25:05
  is, what separates you from company XYZ? What
• 25:08
  separates you from every company in your niche?
• 25:11
  I find that separate right there. That's how
• 25:14
  I found it. And it just landed in my lap. Basically,
• 25:18
  I honestly do not care about scaling. It means
• 25:25
  more to me to... build a relationship and build
• 25:28
  partnership because to me, that is worth its
• 25:31
  weight in gold. I can, again, I can have 1 .5
• 25:36
  billion, but if I don't have 1 .5 billion individuals
• 25:41
  who I've helped, then the entire market is messed
• 25:46
  up. Our entire structure is messed up. So I prefer
• 25:49
  to have more people because this world is big
• 25:51
  enough for growth. If more people grow. then
• 25:56
  we all work. If more people who actually have
• 25:59
  their ideas, put their ideas out there, the more
• 26:02
  people will say, hey, baby, I can do it too.
• 26:05
  So it has established me as an industry leader
• 26:11
  or a thought leader in what I do. And this is
• 26:14
  a very crowded niche. Once you just say marketing,
• 26:16
  it's like everybody does marketing. What separates
• 26:19
  you? What separates me is honestly, I teach people
• 26:24
  at the core level. And I teach them, you don't
• 26:28
  have to be in this gigantic box over here. You
• 26:30
  can be in this nice box right here and still
• 26:33
  help thousands upon thousands of people. Because
• 26:36
  guess what? If you have an idea, someone's just
• 26:39
  like you at one point. They have the same idea.
• 26:43
  Don't forget where you came from. Go back. Bring
• 26:46
  those people up with you. And watch what happens.
• 26:49
  Watch what flourishes. Watch how it goes. Very
• 26:52
  good. What's the biggest misconception people
• 26:56
  have about networking today, especially when
• 27:00
  they're just starting out? I want to say the
• 27:05
  misconception that most people have, including
• 27:09
  myself when I first started it, was it was transactional.
• 27:15
  I will say this, and this is how I know that
• 27:19
  what I'm doing is working. By the grace of God,
• 27:23
  it's working. I'm starting to attract those transactional
• 27:28
  networking individuals. And so it does exist.
• 27:33
  So I don't want to tell people that it doesn't
• 27:35
  exist because it does exist. But I think of misconceptions
• 27:41
  that it's all transactional and that is not the
• 27:44
  case. It is not the case whatsoever. You meet
• 27:47
  a pure person, for example, like yourself. It
• 27:51
  is an honor to be on this podcast. There are
• 27:54
  countless, countless number of people who would
• 27:59
  charge to be on an established podcast, talking
• 28:03
  with a keynote speaker, a coach, a public speaker,
• 28:07
  and you do it out of kindness of your heart for
• 28:09
  the sake of networking and exposure. And I thank
• 28:13
  you, by the way, again, I really thank you for
• 28:15
  this opportunity. I really thank you for doing
• 28:17
  this. Thank you for positioning me. What we're
• 28:20
  doing now, this is True Network. And a lot of
• 28:23
  people have the misconception that this is not
• 28:26
  what it's supposed to be. And that's not the
• 28:29
  case. What we're doing, this is what it really
• 28:32
  is. It's not the other stuff. I agree 100%. I
• 28:37
  can't agree enough because that's why I do what
• 28:40
  I do. You do what you do. And together, I'm sure
• 28:43
  that we can take care of all business in our
• 28:47
  niches, our small lane. We'll get into that afterwards.
• 28:52
  How do you encourage small business owners to
• 28:55
  network when they feel that they don't have anything
• 28:58
  to offer yet? Let me be the one to encourage
• 29:01
  you. You do have something to offer. That is
• 29:04
  the first thing. You have something. I don't
• 29:06
  have anything to offer. Yes, you do. You have
• 29:08
  something to offer. If you have an idea, you
• 29:11
  have something to offer. I remember, again, going
• 29:14
  back to that first networking event, it was a
• 29:16
  young man. He wasn't really established. He had
• 29:19
  an email address, so it was a Gmail account.
• 29:22
  But he had an idea. It was more of a naturalist,
• 29:26
  basically. He believed in a holistic style of
• 29:30
  living. He showed me pictures of the stuff on
• 29:33
  the ground that I would normally just cut because
• 29:36
  I don't know anything about that kind of stuff.
• 29:38
  He was like, oh, no, this is that type of herb
• 29:40
  because it does this. The purpose of this and
• 29:44
  the benefits are here, there, and on the side
• 29:47
  of the road is this. So he's one of those individuals.
• 29:50
  And I said, wait, stop. Did you hear what you're
• 29:53
  telling me? And you started off by saying, I'm
• 29:57
  just here. I got these papers. And he literally
• 29:59
  took his time to print out some things and put
• 30:02
  them inside of a little plastic folder. I said,
• 30:04
  look, this is presentation. I just do a little
• 30:08
  something together. No, it's not a little something.
• 30:11
  This is a lot. Don't short sell yourself. Don't
• 30:15
  shortchange yourself. You have something to offer.
• 30:19
  Now, do you want this packaged in a better bow
• 30:22
  or better packaging? Okay, guess what? I can
• 30:26
  help you with that. But right now, you have something.
• 30:29
  Don't come to this big event feeling you have
• 30:33
  nothing to offer because you do. No matter how
• 30:35
  minute you think it is, there's something to
• 30:38
  offer and you have it. That would be my message
• 30:41
  to anybody who feels they don't have anything
• 30:44
  to offer. Yes, you do. Start talking. And I guarantee
• 30:47
  you, someone with a pure heart will hear you
• 30:49
  and they'll help you. You have to realize that
• 30:54
  if you go to a networking event, you're not just
• 30:57
  talking to the people at the event. You're talking
• 31:00
  to their network of people that came to the event.
• 31:05
  So if you have 30 people that came to an event,
• 31:10
  20 of them, 10 of them, you're talking to 10
• 31:14
  of their people. So you're actually speaking
• 31:16
  to 100 people. So always keep that in mind because
• 31:19
  you never know who's going to hear you. You never
• 31:22
  know. That's a very interesting idea. Tell me
• 31:24
  more about that. And once they give you that
• 31:27
  opening, you just... It's like out of the mouth.
• 31:31
  Okay. What's one powerful connection you've made
• 31:35
  through giving that came full circle later in
• 31:38
  your business journey? I tried to narrow it down.
• 31:48
  I tried to narrow it down. Wow. That's a hard
• 31:54
  question. It's an easy question, but it's a hard
• 31:57
  question. Wow. I'm not giving. Okay. I got overwhelmed
• 32:02
  with the question. Okay, sorry. Ask me another
• 32:05
  way because you overwhelm me with that because
• 32:08
  I was like, whoa, that's too much. Okay. Okay,
• 32:10
  just give me a connection that you've made that
• 32:13
  came full circle. So a connection you've made
• 32:18
  and later on it came around and became fruitful
• 32:21
  for you. Art beats. Okay. I was like, like I
• 32:29
  said, it was too big. It was too much. Okay.
• 32:32
  Who's Art Bemis? Art Bemis. He's an older gentleman.
• 32:36
  He's from Boston. The company that I mentioned,
• 32:39
  Alcatech, who's now my number one client. Art
• 32:43
  Bemis rebranded that company. I was hired on
• 32:49
  during the same time, just before Art rebranded
• 32:55
  the company. So we're talking full circle. I
• 33:03
  gave a lot of my personal time, of course, business
• 33:08
  time, because I was part of the business. So
• 33:11
  you're paid to do this. But I gave a lot of my
• 33:13
  personal time to learn what he had to offer.
• 33:21
  He, his words, he fell in love with me. because
• 33:26
  i didn't have an ego because he's used to going
• 33:30
  into places especially in rebranding process
• 33:32
  with whoever the marketing person or the person
• 33:36
  that's in charge of designing or graphics he's
• 33:39
  used to them having an ego he's used to them
• 33:41
  pushing back i didn't push back at all in fact
• 33:44
  i was sponge that made him want to give more
• 33:49
  give back interesting And the more time we spent,
• 33:56
  he gave me. When it was time for him to leave,
• 34:00
  he said, Clint, here's my personal number. I
• 34:03
  don't give people my personal number. Here's
• 34:05
  my personal number. I want you to call me. If
• 34:10
  you run into any problems, be it here or your
• 34:14
  personal business, and he stressed that word,
• 34:17
  give me a call. The man's a genius. He matches
• 34:24
  my style because my style is minimalist. He made
• 34:30
  me feel better about that style of design, that
• 34:34
  style of branding. He said, great things don't
• 34:38
  need to be noisy. Nike. Check. That's it. Apple.
• 34:47
  Apple with a bite out of it. Clear. And it stands
• 34:51
  the test of time. If I say to you right now,
• 34:55
  you're already smiling. You know what I'm talking
• 35:00
  about. I didn't even say the brand name. So he
• 35:03
  taught me all of that. And it came from me sacrificing
• 35:08
  personal time and it swung back around. To this
• 35:15
  day, we still communicate. We still interact
• 35:17
  with each other. He has sent me personal. information
• 35:23
  via mail, like, hey, Clinton, what's your address?
• 35:27
  He said, congratulations on the move to Florida.
• 35:29
  What's your address? We have some stuff to send
• 35:31
  you. He sent me personal stuff from the family.
• 35:37
  He meant it, and it all came from me just being
• 35:40
  very humble and sacrificing my personal time
• 35:45
  to listen to what he had to say. and be open
• 35:50
  to everything he had to teach. That's one. I'm
• 35:57
  sure that's one of many, but that's very important
• 35:59
  to you because it meant so much to you, and it
• 36:05
  hit you on a personal level, and you don't have
• 36:08
  many of those connections. You don't have a whole...
• 36:13
  sackload of connections like that. But every
• 36:16
  once in a while, you get somebody that you connect
• 36:19
  with solely. And he happens to be part of a major
• 36:22
  corporation, so that helps. But he brought it
• 36:26
  down to a personal level and you two connected.
• 36:28
  And that is the most important thing. So let's
• 36:32
  bring this podcast full circle. If you had to
• 36:35
  leave listeners with one piece of advice about
• 36:38
  building a business through relationships, not
• 36:41
  just transactions, what would it be? I would
• 36:49
  say, in order to build a relationship, be transparent.
• 36:55
  It's the best start of any good relationship,
• 36:57
  be transparent. And always look for what you
• 37:04
  can do versus what you can get. So, Be transparent.
• 37:12
  Look for what you can do versus what you can
• 37:15
  get. We're going to get what we're going to get.
• 37:20
  I believe that's how the world does the exact
• 37:23
  same thing. The world revolves. Everything cycles
• 37:27
  around. So you're going to get back. But be transparent
• 37:32
  who you are and your intentions. And just find
• 37:40
  out what you can do versus what you can get.
• 37:42
  That's the secret that I kind of buy. Those two
• 37:45
  things. And that's perfect. And don't be afraid
• 37:47
  if you are talking with somebody and really from
• 37:50
  the onset that you're not going to get anything
• 37:54
  from this person or this person is just talking
• 37:57
  about something else. And you have to be able
• 38:00
  to say very politely, bow out of that conversation
• 38:02
  and go somewhere else. Okay. You have to know
• 38:05
  how to get rid of those people. and get the people
• 38:09
  around you that you truly want. That makes sense.
• 38:13
  I actually had to do that a lot in the past couple
• 38:18
  of months. Yeah, it is a real thing. I learned
• 38:22
  this because I owned a graphic design studio
• 38:25
  and I had six people technically, six people
• 38:30
  graphically. And I was taking like everybody
• 38:33
  that you, look, you're going to pay me money?
• 38:35
  Good. And somebody who I used as a mentor, even
• 38:39
  then, this is going back 100 years, of course.
• 38:42
  But usually then, he said, Michael, you have
• 38:46
  to learn how to fire your customer. Learn how
• 38:50
  to say no. And it resounded with me. It stayed
• 38:54
  with me. So that was very true. Okay. So Clint.
• 38:57
  First of all, this was a great podcast. I am
• 39:01
  so thankful to have you on because you shared
• 39:05
  some insights to networking that whether it's
• 39:09
  your project or anything else, listen, this is
• 39:12
  all about you. And you were very transparent.
• 39:16
  If anybody truly wants this type of guidance,
• 39:20
  especially in the Florida area, please call Clinton.
• 39:24
  Clinton, how can somebody, if they want to be
• 39:27
  coached by you or hire you for your services
• 39:30
  or just want to say hello, how can they get hold
• 39:33
  of you? First and first, again, Michael, I appreciate
• 39:36
  you. Yourpropertymarketing .com. You can find
• 39:40
  me at Your Property Marketing Solutions on pretty
• 39:43
  much any social media platform. You want to call
• 39:46
  me directly, 678 -920 -2542. I'm available, chat,
• 39:52
  talk. Just throwing some advice, a lot of my
• 39:56
  advice, a lot, sorry, all of my advice, free
• 40:00
  charge. I love networking with people now. I
• 40:03
  still call myself an introvert just in case for
• 40:05
  some crazy reason, my brain reminds me, oh God,
• 40:09
  you're a shy person. Please don't communicate
• 40:11
  with people. I always tell people that and everybody
• 40:14
  by the end of the conversation say. You're not
• 40:17
  an introvert. I'm like, yeah, I am -ish. But
• 40:21
  I'm breaking out of it. But the chat, when we
• 40:24
  talk, I need help. Have an idea on a business.
• 40:28
  Honestly, no idea is a crazy idea. Come on, let's
• 40:32
  talk. One of my greatest quotes or taglines that
• 40:35
  I came up with, and it's real simple, three words.
• 40:38
  Let's grow together. That's all. Let's grow together.
• 40:42
  I don't want to grow by myself. Top of the mountain
• 40:44
  is not a beautiful place to be looking at. There's
• 40:48
  nobody there or limited people there with you.
• 40:51
  Let's do this together. Let's do this together.
• 40:53
  Let's grow together. Fantastic advice. Clinton,
• 40:56
  thank you very much for coming on the podcast.
• 40:59
  Michael, I appreciate you. Thank you for having
• 41:01
  me. Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere.
• 41:05
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  -E -V -V -E -D -U -P -K -I -D -S dot org. Well,
• 42:21
  that's a wrap, folks. A huge thank you to our
• 42:24
  special guests for sharing such incredible insights
• 42:27
  today. And of course, a big shout out to you,
• 42:31
  our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending
• 42:34
  your time with us. Remember, networking isn't
• 42:38
  about being perfect. It's about being present.
• 42:41
  So take what you've learned today, get out there
• 42:44
  and make some meaningful connections. If you
• 42:47
  enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe,
• 42:50
  leave us a review, and share it with someone
• 42:52
  who could use a little networking inspiration.
• 42:56
  Let's keep the conversation going. You can find
• 42:59
  me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or my website,
• 43:04
  Michael. Remember, until next time, keep practicing,
• 43:08
  keep connecting, and keep building those relationships.
• 43:11
  This is Michael signing off. Take care and happy
• 43:15
  networking.