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The Introvert's Guide to Networking · The Daily Writer

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Are you a writer who loves people and wants to serve them, but you feel kind of bad because you're an introvert and they drain your energy?
0:08
SPEAKER_00: Well, if that describes you, you'll love this episode because I'm going to show you how to use your natural skills as an introvert to grow your network.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining me on this episode of the Smart Business Writing Podcast.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: My name is Kent Sanders, and I'm a ghostwriter and professor of communications.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: This is the show that helps you write amazing content so you can save time, stand out from the competition, and get more leads that turn into customers or clients.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: Well, you've probably heard of the famous quote by Zig Ziggler who said, You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: Success is all about building great relationships and serving other people well.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: But what if you're an introvert?
0:49
SPEAKER_00: How can you succeed in a world that is so relationship-driven?
0:54
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll be honest, this was a struggle for most of my life.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: And some days it's honestly still kind of a struggle because once an introvert, always an introvert, right?
1:03
SPEAKER_00: Well, I started out in the work world as a pastor, actually.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: And all through my 20s, I was a worship pastor at a church.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: And being an introvert was sometimes a real problem, particularly in the church world.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: So if you are a pastor or you know a pastor or you're familiar with church leadership, you know that ministry in the church world is a people-driven career.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: It's a people-driven vocation, and you're around people constantly.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's what ministry and church work is.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: It's it's people work, it exists for the people.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Well, anyway, I was a worship pastor and we had three services on Sunday morning at the church where I worked, plus a Sunday night service.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: Now, Sunday night services are not so common these days necessarily, but back in like the 90s and early 2000s, they really were.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: Well, by the time Sunday night came around and we we finished that fourth service for the day, I was so emotionally drained and so tired that many times as soon as the service was done, I would set down my guitar on the stage, I would go out the side door, actually, a door that was there behind the stage, I would go back behind there and I would take a side exit outside of the church building so nobody would see me leave.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: And I would do that really fast because I literally did not have the emotional energy or the physical energy to form the words and have a conversation with anybody.
2:23
SPEAKER_00: I know that sounds crazy, but that's just the way that it was.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: I was an introvert and I was totally fried by the time the Sunday evening came around, usually.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Now, to anybody who's listening who happens happens to be a part of that church in uh Streeter, Illinois, or was a part of the church at that time, I'm just gonna give a blanket apology for any times that I may have seemed uh not engaged after the Sunday night service.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm only kind of partly kidding, but uh that's just the way that it was.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm an introvert and people work sometimes is exhausting.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: And if you're listening to this episode, there's a really good chance that you can relate to everything that I'm saying, since I believe most writers are introverts by nature.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: Most writers write because that's the way we love to communicate.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: We love people, but quite honestly, sometimes they just drain us.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: So, how can you be successful in a hyper-connected world, in a business or a leadership environment that depends so much on networking and relationships?
3:21
SPEAKER_00: How do you get this done as an introvert without completely depleting your emotional energy and losing your mind?
3:28
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm not the world's like biggest networking expert.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I'm no networking expert on this at all, but I have found over the last few years a couple of strategies that have worked pretty well for me.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: In many ways, these strategies that I'm going to share in just a few minutes, they're designed for introverts because they involve things where introverts excel.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: For example, creating content, being detail-oriented, uh, being task-oriented, and of course, writing.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Now, certainly there are many extroverts who are great in those areas as well.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: And this is not like an introverts versus extroverts kind of thing at all.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: Don't get me wrong, but in my experience, introverts are uniquely suited to many of the strategies that I want to share in this episode as far as networking goes.
4:14
SPEAKER_00: Now, before I get into the 10 specific things that I'm going to share, I do want to set a little bit of context.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: And I think this is the most important thing.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: Here's the question: what is the purpose of networking and building relationships?
4:26
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's really quite simple, and it goes back to the Ziggler quote that I shared a couple minutes ago.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.
4:37
SPEAKER_00: So it all comes down to helping people, and this is rooted in serving, and it's rooted in generosity.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't have those as a fundamental way of living, then nothing that I'm saying is going to work.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: So please keep that in mind.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: We're all about serving and helping and being generous.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: Any success that we have in life is a byproduct of serving other people.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: We serve and we give and we're generous and we help others because first and foremost we value other people.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: And that means that whenever we serve, whenever we do our craft, whenever we write or work with clients or do whatever kind of work it is that we do, we've got to be on the top of our game.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: We have to be excellent.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: Not for the sake of ourselves or for putting on some big show or trying to impress anybody.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Our excellence is for the purpose of serving other people well and helping other people.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: The better that we are, the more helpful that we can be to others.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: So that means we're always improving, we're always trying to better ourselves, we're always learning for the purpose of serving.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: And again, our success, whether it's whatever kind of success it is, including financial success, that is a byproduct that's a result of serving other people well.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: So if we do the things that I'm gonna share on here, we will reap the fruit of success, I believe.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: But again, it's for the purpose of serving and helping others first and foremost.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: Now, with all that said, let me dive into 10 specific strategies for networking as an introvert.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: And I've ordered these from the simplest to the most complex or expensive and time consuming.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: So in other words, we're gonna start out with like the free and easy things, and we're going to gradually progress to things that are more time consuming or expensive or requires more of an investment on our part, whether that's time or money or whatever it is.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: Number one, engage with a Facebook or LinkedIn group related to your niche.
6:33
SPEAKER_00: Now, a lot of people join groups, but the critical thing here is to join a group and engage.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: You can't join a group and just be some kind of wallflower.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: You have to be part of the conversation and actually add value.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: And by adding value, I mean getting in the group, um, getting into conversations with people, being helpful, answering questions, being encouraging, and most importantly, not being spammy.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes you get in these groups on LinkedIn or Facebook, particularly Facebook, I think, is like the worst offender.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe LinkedIn is, I don't know.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm more involved in Facebook groups than LinkedIn groups.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: So that's where most of my group experience is.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes you get in these Facebook groups and you're in there and people are trying to be helpful, and then you get these other people that come in and they just want to post links to their books or podcast episodes or try to drum up business or whatever it is without first being helpful.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: And that's not cool.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: Nobody appreciates that.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: Social media gets a lot of flack for being a place where people come to do that, where people come to take and they come to argue, they come to bring conflict and drama.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: But I have found that more often than not, Facebook and LinkedIn groups, if you get in the right groups and if they're used correctly, they can be an amazing place where you can really build relationships with people.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: And I don't mean like social media shallow relationships, I mean legitimate, uh meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships with people.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: So let me speak to this from the perspective of an introvert in social media.
8:02
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna tell you firsthand that I feel sometimes a little bit overwhelmed with social media.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: I mean, aside from the fact that there's like 687 social media platforms out there, it's not only that, it's that there's so much happening on social media.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes when I just open up Facebook on my phone or on my computer, my blood pressure goes up a little bit because I'm like, oh my gosh, there's so much happening here, and there's all these notifications and everybody's posting, and I haven't posted today.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: And it's easy to get stressed out by all this, especially if you're an introvert.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: So I think the key here, and this is really the only thing that works for me, the key here, and the key to avoid getting overwhelmed is to schedule your social media times.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: So the way that I manage this, and I don't always do this perfect, don't get me wrong, but the way that I tend to do this and that I strive to do this, is that about three times a day I get on to social media, and that's when I have my concentrated times.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: I am probably more active on Facebook than LinkedIn.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: I really should be probably more active on LinkedIn and than Facebook in terms of connecting with people for my ghostwriting business and so forth.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, right now I'm probably more active on Facebook.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: I'll get on there two or three times a day and I'll I'll share posts, I'll share content, I'll comment on people's posts, I'll answer my Facebook messages and things like that.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, if you're on Facebook all day or you just leave it open all day on your computer, you've got these notifications constantly coming up, you're gonna be overwhelmed.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know how you function, but whenever I feel emotionally overwhelmed by too much going on, um it's kind of like a computer that has too many app programs open or your phone when you have too many things going on.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: Um you kind of shut down and and I get a little bit grumpy and irritable whenever I have too much going on.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: So I would encourage you to focus your social media times maybe two or three times a day, and then shut it off the rest of the time so you can focus on doing your other work.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: Now, one other thing I want to say about um engaging with groups, um, particularly as an introvert, because again, it's easy to get overwhelmed.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: I think it's important to just engage with a few groups on each platform, maybe just two or three groups max that you're really seriously engaging with.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: Not 10 or 20 10 or 15 or 20 groups, because you can't really engage with 10 groups.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's just not really possible unless you're just on Facebook all day.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: So I think as an introvert, where you're gonna add the most value is focusing on a couple things, like on a couple groups, really adding value there and just trying to make that a place where you can really connect with people.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Um so don't join a bunch of groups and just get all distracted and have these superficial conversations going on.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: Really get engaged in just a small number of things, and that way you can add a lot more value and really network and engage with people.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: Number two, share other people's posts on Facebook and LinkedIn.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: Now, this goes back to the generosity factor that I mentioned earlier.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, we all learned in grade school that sharing is caring, and the whole idea here is that you want to help other people succeed.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: Again, going back to the Zig quote, you can have everything in life you want if you will help enough other people get what they want.
11:16
SPEAKER_00: But what is it that people really want?
11:18
SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes we forget this.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: I forget this totally.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: I really do.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: But here's the deal people's number one emotional need is to feel valued and affirmed.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, all of us just want to be loved.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: We want to know that somebody notices us and they care about us, right?
11:37
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's what we want as babies, that's what we want as kids and teenagers, as young adults.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: And we never outgrow that need to feel valued by other people.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: So, one of the best ways that we can do that is simply to share other people's posts on Facebook and LinkedIn, Instagram, and wherever we are active in terms of social media.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: Comment on other people's posts and then share those posts.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh, for example, if you have a friend who has a new book that's coming out, or they posted something that's helpful, like a podcast episode or an article or something, or maybe they have an event coming up.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: Share the post that they put up and give them a shout-out.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you tag them, and then make a little comment like, hey, my friend so-and-so has this book coming out.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: It's great.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: I really encourage you to support them.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get a lot out of this book.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: Many times we think that promoting other people somehow diminishes us, but that's not true.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: Whenever we promote other people, it increases our credibility because then we're being helpful and we're being generous.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: So I challenge you every day to go into LinkedIn or Facebook or Instagram or wherever and share one to two people's posts.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: I did that just today.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm recording this on uh Saturday, September the 5th.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: Uh two or three times today, I got on LinkedIn and shared.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: I did at least one person's, uh, may have done two, I can't remember for sure.
12:57
SPEAKER_00: But I'm doing that on a regular basis where I'm just sharing people's posts and trying to help them out and trying to add value to people who are seeing that in my feed as well.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: So back to the detail-oriented thing that I talked about earlier.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: Introverts tend to be detail-oriented.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: So, one way that you can think of this that prevents you from getting overwhelmed is to think of this sharing kind of like a game or a challenge.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: Challenge yourself to do this every day.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: Or if you're a really task-oriented person, just make this one of the tasks that you do when you get on social media.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: This is something I do.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: It's just kind of part of my social media routine.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: That way it doesn't become this big overwhelming thing.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: It's just a little task that's kind of like in my social media bucket for the day.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: It just takes a couple of minutes, literally, so it's not going to wear you out.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: And the cool thing is that if you're a writer, and if you're listening to this, you are a writer, of course.
13:46
SPEAKER_00: Since you're a writer, you can craft a great comment or a couple of really well-written sentences that gives props to the person's stuff that you're sharing and just helps everybody to feel good.
13:58
SPEAKER_00: And so that's one of the cool things about being a writer is that you can really add to this conversation.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of like a value add.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: You know, like if you're sharing my post, you can add your value to it and that just and that expands the value of the whole enterprise.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Let's go on to uh tip number three, which is give referrals for other people.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I mean by giving referrals.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: We have friends who do certain types of work.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: And whenever we hear someone who needs that thing done that our friend does, then we refer our friend to the person who needs that kind of work.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: And this is important because we all like to do business with others that we know, like, and trust.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: So if we make a referral, we're passing on that trust to the person whom we are referring.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: So the person who's being referred comes to the potential client with some trust already in their pocket because essentially they're borrowing our trust, assuming that the relationship we have with their potential client is good, of course.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: Like if you're on the outs with somebody or you know you have had a business thing gone bad or you're not getting along with somebody, you're probably not going to want to refer trusted friends to that person you're not getting along with because that's not gonna be good for anybody.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: Let me give you a quick example of how this works.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: Actually, two examples.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay, example number one my friend Brian is a personal trainer, super awesome, great guy.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: And one of his clients was looking for a ghostwriter.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: And so Brian said, Hey, my friend Kent Sanders is a great ghostwriter.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: You should talk to him.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: And so Brian made the connection between me and his client who needed a ghostwriter.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: And so we chat have chatted and we may be pursuing a project together.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: So that was cool.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: Brian trusted me, and then he recommended me to his friend, and because Brian recommended me, his friend already trusted me to some degree.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: He felt like he already knew me because, in his eyes, I kind of had Brian's trust already.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: Now I do the same thing for other people.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: For example, I'm working with a ghostwriting client right now, and in fact, uh, this project is literally happening right now, and she needed a graphic designer for her book cover that I just finished writing.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I just got it back from the editor, and it's gonna be a super cool book.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it is because I'm the ghostwriter.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the downsides of being a ghostwriter is that you create these cool books for people, but you can't really share them because they're ghostwritten.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: So, but anyway, she needed a graphic designer for the book cover.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: So I referred my friend Christy Griffith to this client.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: Christy is an amazing graphic designer, and my client trusts me.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: So Christy came into this relationship already having the trust of my client because the client trusts me, and therefore, by extension, she trusts Christy because I recommended Christy.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: So whenever you make a referral, all three people win.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: In the case of my client in our book, my client wins because she gets an awesome graphic designer who is trusted.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: I win because I got to introduce these two people and their trust in me, both um, their their trust in me goes up.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: And then Christy wins because now she has a new client.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: So whenever you make these cool referrals, everybody wins.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: Everybody benefits from that.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's that's pretty cool.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: And one interesting thing about all this is that when you make these referrals and connections between people, regardless of whether it actually works out, um, it sometimes comes back to you in really interesting ways because when you are generous with those connections and when you go out of your way to help people and make those connections and bridges, uh, people remember that.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it just comes back to you in it in uh pretty interesting ways.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's go on to tip number four.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: This is a fun one.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: I love this one.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: This is post reviews for books and podcasts.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: Now, I mentioned a couple minutes ago that people's number one need is to feel affirmed and valued.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: And another great way to accomplish this is to leave a review for someone's podcast on iTunes, or leave a review for their book on Amazon or Goodreads.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: And then you take a screenshot of that review and you send it to that person, or better yet, you post that review on social media and you tag the person so that they are aware that you reviewed that.
18:10
SPEAKER_00: So you win and they win, and both of your audiences win because they're having more awareness of this person's book or this person's podcast.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: If you're listening to this episode and you're already feeling stressed out by all the things that you have to do, uh don't sweat this, don't stress out about it.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: Just make this a game.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't post reviews for books and podcasts every single day, but I do it whenever I read a good book or whenever I hear a podcast that I have not re yet reviewed.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: I just make it a course of habit to just put a review up.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: It just takes a couple minutes, literally.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I don't like make this a part of my daily schedule, but I do this whenever I come across something and I go, oh, you know what, that's a good podcast or a book.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna post a review of that.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: Then I oftentimes take a screenshot, I'll post it on social media, or I'll send it directly to that person.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: It's just a fun and simple way that you can add value to people and build those critical relationships.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: Number five, send gifts and handwritten cards to people.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: I do this all the time for my podcast guests and many others who I want to thank for any reason.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: Now, sending a card does take some time and a little bit of money because of course there's postage, but the return that you get on handwritten cards and gifts is truly amazing.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: People love getting stuff in the mail.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: They really do.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes when I send a card, I also include a little skeleton key in that card and I write something like this.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: I say, hey, here's a little reminder of your power to unlock other people's creative potential, or something like that.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: People go nuts for this kind of stuff.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: It's so simple and they're so cheap.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: I get these in bulk on Amazon.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: They're just these little uh tiny skeleton keys.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: It's a silly little trinket almost, but people really love it because it's a reminder of an important truth.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: Now, I also oftentimes send out books to people.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I just sent out about 25 or 30 books uh to podcast guest a few weeks ago.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: And one of the benefits of doing this is that people sometimes post a picture of the book or of your gift on social media.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: And that's pretty cool.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's really awesome marketing, to be honest with you.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: I mean, when people get a card from you and a book and then they post a picture of it on social media, that's really, really awesome marketing.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't do it for the marketing because obviously I don't ask them to do that, but that is a cool side effect.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, just because I was trying to be generous and serve them by sending a little something in the mail.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: Now, there's all kinds of other gifts you can send as well.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: There's like a whole science and industry to this, and I would recommend that you check out John Rulin's book called Giftology for lots of ideas on how to send gifts to people.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: So back to the the thing of being an introvert, sending cards and gifts might seem like a hassle, but the reason you should do this is because introverts are good at this kind of stuff.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: It's detail-oriented.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, you can sit down and you can think of a cool gift and you can make it something really special.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: People who are not detail oriented or they just kind of want to rush through through things are not going to do this kind of what feels a little bit like monotonous, meticulous work, but it's that monotonous attention to detail sometimes that really, really helps you to stand out.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: Because most people aren't going to mess with it, but because you're an introvert and because you're a detail person and you're task-oriented, that really lends itself to things like sending cards and gifts and doing little special things that most people just don't want to take the time to do.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: Let's go on to tip number six, which is sending personalized videos.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: Here's something that I learned from my friend Aaron Hunt, who is a personal branding expert.
21:49
SPEAKER_00: By the way, I interviewed Aaron a few episodes back on personal branding.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: So check out that episode.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: He shared a lot of really cool stuff.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: Aaron is a master at sending short, personalized.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Videos to people.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: And come to think of it, so is my friend Andy Storch.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: Both of these guys are phenomenal at this really simple yet effective form of communication.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: So here's how this works.
22:11
SPEAKER_00: Whenever you want to forge a little bit of a deeper connection with someone, use an app like Loom or some kind of similar video capturing app to record a short video and you say something about what you appreciate about that person or you answer a question or you're communicating whatever it is that you need to communicate with them.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: And then make sure and title that video with that person's name.
22:35
SPEAKER_00: For example, if I was sending a video to Andy, I would I would title it video for Andy.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, as soon as you finish recording that video, whether it's one or two minutes, that gets uploaded to the cloud immediately.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: And you can then send that link that the app is going to generate and just paste it into Facebook Messenger or an email or a text or whatever it is.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: And then when that video shows up to that person, it's going to say video for Andy or of course whatever you title it.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: Make sure these videos are short, just a one or two or three minutes.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's always better to be short if possible.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: Don't ramble on.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: But this is a very, very effective thing because video is more trouble than email or texting or you know, Facebook Messenger, but it's also way more personal.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: Whenever people see a video of you, that immediately is a much more personal connection than just words and letters, isn't it?
23:26
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I love getting videos like this from people.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: And also because most people don't want to go to the trouble of doing this, it immediately stands out the fact that you did this.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: In fact, this is how I got my second ghostwriting book deal, uh, the book that I'm working on right now.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: I sent a personalized video to this person just to say hi and what I appreciated about their work and how their work had impacted me.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: And that led to a phone call where we connected and we talked several more times, and the rest is history.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: Now, as an introvert, here's the deal.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: You probably don't like doing video, and it's probably not your medium of choice.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: Uh, writers, by definition, probably prefer to write rather than hop on video.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: But it's just like the handwritten card thing that I mentioned in the last point.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: Hardly anybody does this.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: Video is powerful and effective because it's rare and because, again, most people don't like the hassle of it.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: So I would challenge you to get comfortable on video.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: Don't stress about how you think you don't look a certain way or how you're not the world's best person on video.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: None of that stuff matters.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: Learn to make video your friend.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: People don't care if if you don't come across as like Brad Pitt and video or as this perfectly smooth, you know, video star or something.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: Just the fact that it's from you and it's authentic with all of our, you know, our warts and all, that's what makes it so powerful.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: But again, this video strategy is really, really powerful and it's very effective.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: If you're only going to do one thing from this whole list, I would encourage you to do this one because it like gets straight to the heart of what this is all about, which is serving people, making them feel affirmed and valued, and really forging a powerful emotional connection with people.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: Let's go on to number seven, be a guest on other people's podcasts.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: Now, we're getting into things that require a little bit more time or money or you know, investment on your part, but realize that the more the longer we go on this list and the further down we go on it, uh the more powerful these can become.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: Now, being a guest on other people's podcasts can require a lot of time and some strategy, but again, it's very, very powerful.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: This is a strategy I'm still working on, to be honest.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: I have not made guest podcasting a huge priority just because of time.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but that's something I'm working on.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: I know it's really, really important, but I just haven't made an effort to do that much of it.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: However, when I have done it, it's been extraordinarily powerful.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: And the reason is because this can expand your reach and your message and your influence far beyond what you can do on your own, because you're borrowing someone else's platform and you're reaching their audience.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: Now, obviously, if you're listening to this podcast, you know that I have a guest every week on the show.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: So those people are getting exposure to my audience.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: And you can do the same thing as well by guest guest podcasting for other shows.
26:15
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing if you want to use this strategy, you've got to find shows that clearly match your area of expertise, and you have to show the podcast host or the organizer that you can add value to their audience.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: And the way you do this is by pitching yourself correctly to those people.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: This is a huge mistake that people make.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: And this is a mistake that gets made to me sometimes when people pitch me to be a guest on my show.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: It's obvious that they haven't listened to the show beforehand, so their pitch is off.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, in fact, sometimes people will send me a pitch to be a guest on my show, and like they won't even use my name, they'll just say hi, then there'll be a space and there'll be a comma.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: It's like, can you put any less effort into this podcast pitch?
26:57
SPEAKER_00: And obviously, I don't let them be on the show.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: So pitch yourself the correct way.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: Show that you've listened to their podcast, you know what it's about, and that you can clearly add value to their audience.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: Now, again, this is where being an introvert can really help you.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: Being a guest on other people's podcasts requires organization, it requires keeping track of some details, and it requires strategy.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: So you can really excel at this if you put together a killer pitch and you can clearly demonstrate your value to the podcast organizer.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: And because you're good with writing, that will also open doors to podcast because that means you can put together a killer pitch.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: Number eight is join a paid community or a mastermind.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: Now, again, I mentioned a minute ago that we're getting into some areas that require more time or money.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: But as with most things, the more that you invest, the more that you're going to get out of it.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: So here's the thing with paid groups in general.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: The fact that people are paying to be part of those groups means that by definition, they're more serious about growing and learning.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: And that's a barrier to entry, which means the quality of people in the group is going to be higher than it is in just free groups.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: I mean, people join free groups all the time and never engage.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: Now, some people join free groups and they engage a lot and they add a lot of value and get a lot of value out of it and so forth.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: But really, let's just be honest, if there's a barrier to entry, if you have to pay to be a part of something, that means more than likely that you really want to be there.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying free groups are bad by any means, but if you want to accelerate your progress, join a paid community or a paid mastermind.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: Now I am currently part of four paid communities, and I'll list these off for you.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: Number one is the 48 Days Eagles community led by Dan Miller.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: Number two is the Total Life Freedom Community, led by Vincent Puglisi.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Number three is Ghostwriter School Elite, led by Nick Pavlitis.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: And number four is Building a Million Dollar Book Business led by Honore Corter.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: Each of these groups is different in the way that we interact and communicate and what's included in the group and so forth, but they're all very powerful and very, very helpful.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: The last two, the Ghostwriter School Elite and the Building a Million Dollar Book Business, the community aspect comes along with purchasing those courses.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: So it's not like a standalone community where it's just the community.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: Those courses were a part of that package deal, which I really, really love.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I think that's great if you could offer kind of an awesome course and then have a community that goes along with it, that can be very, very powerful.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Now, something else that you could do, number nine, is you can start your own mastermind group.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: I've been a part of mastermind groups for the last six or seven years, and I can tell you firsthand without a doubt that they have been a really powerful factor in my personal and my business growth.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: And as I mentioned just a minute ago, you can join a group, which I encourage you to do, but you might also consider starting one yourself.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: And the general idea with a mastermind is that you have a group of people who come together for a set purpose and you meet on a regular basis, and everyone is there to learn and to contribute.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: I think a major factor in the success of a mastermind group is the caliber of people in the group.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: I mean, after all, a mastermind is made up of people, so the quality of the people are naturally going to determine the quality of the group.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: First and foremost, these have to be positive people who are there to grow and learn and contribute.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: They need, they must be people who want to help other people succeed.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: They cannot just be in the group for themselves or, you know, it can't be one of these like networking groups where you go and you see these people who are just like throwing business cards out like ninja stars and and they just want to come and they're trying to grab all the business they can.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: That's not the kind of people you want to be in a mastermind group with because they're not going to add value.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: They're only there to take.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: Let me share just a little bit about two mastermind groups that I'm a part of right now.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: One is my Monday morning writer's mastermind, and it's been going for about six years or so, maybe seven years.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: And we've been meeting pretty much every week for you know these last several years.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: This is a great group.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: We meet at eight o'clock on Monday mornings, Central Time on Zoom.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: There's two of us in Central Time and one guy, uh, his name's Al, who's in California.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: So props to my good buddy Al for joining us at 6 a.m.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: on almost every Monday morning, you know, for all these years.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: He is a real trooper.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: He's an awesome guy.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, so that is a blast, and this is a really, really phenomenal group.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: I love these guys, they're a huge part of my life.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm also part of a local men's mastermind group, which is really focused on just becoming better men, uh, particularly becoming better Christian men.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: We're all Christians.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's several pastors in the group, several of us from a church and ministry kind of a background.
31:46
SPEAKER_00: And man, I love these guys.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: They're so wonderful.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: And it's a whole different thing than my writer's mastermind, but this is a group that has really impacted my life.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: Right now, unfortunately, I cannot meet with these guys because uh it actually conflicts with my teaching schedule.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: So I'm really excited to hopefully get back in with these guys in October when my teaching schedule changes.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: Uh, since our fall semester has been split into two and it's kind of a whole deal.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, I'm excited to get back uh with those guys.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: Now, one thing that is important to remember about mastermind groups is that you have to recognize that groups have a beginning and an end.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: And it's okay to transition away from a group if it's not a good fit for you.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: I think it's also okay to hand a group over to someone else if the situation calls for it.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: In fact, that's exactly what I did with this men's group that I'm still a part of.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: So I think it was at the beginning of this year.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: I handed the group over to one of the other guys just because I couldn't commit to the time to leading and planning for the group.
32:45
SPEAKER_00: And actually, that was a great decision because uh my friend Sterling has done a phenomenal job leading the group.
32:50
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I think it's it's a lot better than what I was leading it.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, many times we stay in these things uh because we just feel like we should and we're afraid to leave something and we don't want to hurt people's feelings and we don't want to change and all that drama.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: But the reality is that sometimes we need to make that change so that other people can step into that role and they can do something that they need to do.
33:12
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we don't want to stay somewhere we where we don't need to be any longer.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh and again, while I love this group and I love these guys, uh leading it was not something that I wanted to do any longer because I had other things that I needed to focus on.
33:24
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, there's a season for everything, and whenever seasons change, you need to be ready and willing to make that change.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: Now, I do want to say one more thing because uh before I go into number 10 here, and that is if you start a mastermind group, this is really important.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: If you start a mastermind group, make sure you have the time and the energy to devote to it and really help it succeed.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: That is really, really critical because it can be time consuming.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: You've got to put some time into planning for it and to being there for the members and to making sure everybody has a good experience.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: And if need be, um, if things kind of go south or go sideways, sometimes you have to ask somebody to leave the group or remove them from the group.
34:05
SPEAKER_00: And there's that whole dynamic to it as well.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully that doesn't happen very often.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: And I've never had to do that, fortunately, but you know, sometimes that could be the case.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: So make sure that you have the time and energy to devote to it and make it as good as you can.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, otherwise, it's not going to be successful.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: Or you could turn it over to someone else and let them lead it, as I did with our men's group.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: But that being said, um, masterminds are so powerful.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: They are masterminds and communities have been by far the number one thing that has helped me in my own mindset and my attitude and my business the last few years.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: Finally, we've made it to number 10 here.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: Number 10 is start a podcast and interview people in your niche.
34:50
SPEAKER_00: Now, podcasting is one of the strategies that I have focused on the last few years.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: Podcasting is absolutely perfect for introverts because you can do it in your own home or studio, you can do it on your own time, and you can do it in your own way.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: And the awesome thing about having your own show is that you can invite basically anybody you want to on your show.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's a limit, of course, you're probably not going to have, you know, like all these Hollywood superstars necessarily on your show, unless you're a Hollywood superstar and you have connections with those people.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: However, that being said, you would be really surprised at the caliber of people who will agree to come on your podcast if you extend a well-thought-out invitation.
35:29
SPEAKER_00: If you look at the caliber of guests that I have had on this show, you'll see what I mean.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: There are some truly stunning achievers, leaders, business people, authors, and creative thinkers that have blessed this podcast by being a guest on it.
35:44
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing about a podcast, and this is similar to what I mentioned just a minute ago about masterminds.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: And please, I want you to hear me very, very clearly on this.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: And I'm speaking from personal experience.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: So please uh take this for whatever it's worth.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: Running a podcast takes time, it takes energy, and it takes a commitment on your part.
36:05
SPEAKER_00: I dedicate, I'm gonna estimate uh anywhere from four to eight hours a week, every single week, to my podcast.
36:13
SPEAKER_00: Now, sometimes it's more if I'm batch recording and batch producing episodes, sometimes it's less if I have already gotten it out of the way.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: But week to week, this takes, I'm gonna estimate probably five hours if I had to put an estimate on it.
36:27
SPEAKER_00: I've never really sat down and tracked my time with my podcast, but I'm gonna estimate it's about five hours a week.
36:32
SPEAKER_00: So this is the better part of a whole workday each and every week for the last what, three years or so?
36:40
SPEAKER_00: Almost four years, I guess.
36:42
SPEAKER_00: I started this show in early 2017.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: I had a show actually before this one.
36:46
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's a lot of time.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: So just know up front that podcasting does take time and energy, but there's also so much potential that you can have when you're running a podcast.
36:58
SPEAKER_00: The place where people get hung up in podcasting is the production and the editing.
37:02
SPEAKER_00: By far, that is the number one place that that really where people get tripped up.
37:08
SPEAKER_00: Podcasting sounds like a lot of fun uh until you get a few episodes in, and then the reality of the workload oftentimes sets in.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: In fact, there's a thing in the podcasting world called pod fade, and that is whenever people get a few episodes in, and then it's like, oh, there's a lot of work involved in this, which is very true in podcasting.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: It's happened to me before.
37:27
SPEAKER_00: I can speak from personal experience.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: So just know that if you do a podcast, um, be willing up front to set aside the time to do it.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: I love, love, love podcasting.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: And I cannot even begin to tell you how this show has led to some really cool results and meeting some really, really awesome people.
37:44
SPEAKER_00: And indirectly, it also led to my second ghostwriting client.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: So I mentioned earlier that I had connected with this client on LinkedIn.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, the reason that I was able to hop on the phone with him and we kind of already had a connection, so to speak, was that we already had a lot of friends in common uh and I'd already interviewed a lot of his friends on my podcast.
38:04
SPEAKER_00: So we already had those connections happening.
38:07
SPEAKER_00: So if you're thinking of doing a podcast, um, I highly recommend it.
38:10
SPEAKER_00: Just know it does take some time, it's gonna take some work.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: So just be willing to commit to that up front.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: And I would also recommend, if you're thinking about doing a show, check out Pat Flynn's free podcasting course.
38:22
SPEAKER_00: Just Google Pat Flynn Podcasting course or free podcasting course, and that will come up.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: Um Pat updates it regularly, and it's really, really good.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: And I used an earlier version of that course to actually start my podcast journey several years ago.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: So it's really, really good.
38:39
SPEAKER_00: And I would just jump in and begin with that.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me give you a bonus tip here, and um then I want to go over just a couple of objections uh that you might be having in your mind, and then we'll wrap up this episode.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: So here's my bonus tip, and that is um reply to a message from an influencer's email list.
38:59
SPEAKER_00: This is kind of like a secret ninja trick that you can use, and that's is surprisingly simple and effective, but I I don't know that a lot of people actually use this.
39:08
SPEAKER_00: Here's how this works.
39:09
SPEAKER_00: Let's say you're on an email list for someone who is a big name author or an influencer.
39:14
SPEAKER_00: You get their emails on a regular basis, and you see those emails and they're producing good content, but you never reply to them.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: I mean, and it's kind of crazy if you think about it, because most of the time, if you just hit reply to one of those um, you know, email marketing things, it goes right to that person's inbox.
39:32
SPEAKER_00: Or sometimes it'll go to like an assistant or a secretary or something, but many times it goes right to that person.
39:38
SPEAKER_00: And they can be very, very popular and be very successful, and they'll still read that email.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: So all you have to do is read over the email that they sent and just reply with an interesting question.
39:49
SPEAKER_00: More than likely, that person will reply back with some kind of answer, and then you can engage with them and hopefully build some kind of relationship.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: I've actually booked several podcast interviews because of that exact strategy.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: I just sent an interesting question to uh the person whose email list I was on that replied back, and I kind of took it from there.
40:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, and honestly, this is actually a big reason why I do a podcast.
40:12
SPEAKER_00: Simply to have conversations with cool people that I would otherwise not get to talk to.
40:18
SPEAKER_00: But, you know, if you want to have a conversation with someone in real time, you've got to have some place to invite them to, which goes back to the whole value of having a podcast.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: If you want to have that conversation, you have to have a place where they can come and talk with you.
40:31
SPEAKER_00: And a podcast is the perfect place to do that.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: Now, before I wrap this up, I want to address a couple of objections that introverts might have to everything that I've said.
40:45
SPEAKER_00: These objections might prevent you from taking action.
40:47
SPEAKER_00: So I want to address these before we wrap up this episode.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: And I'm saying these objections because these are all things that I have felt before and um and sometimes uh still wrestle with a little bit.
40:58
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just kind of being honest here.
41:00
SPEAKER_00: Objection number one is you might say, I don't have time to mess with all this network building stuff.
41:06
SPEAKER_00: And yes, I totally agree that it can be time consuming, but relationships are the most important thing that you have in life.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: I mean, without relationships, you don't have a business.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: Without relationships, you don't have a family, you don't have friends.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: So relationships are the most important thing that we have in life.
41:23
SPEAKER_00: And the very reason why we need to do this networking stuff is because so few people are putting the time into it.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: Hardly anybody is thinking about this and doing it on a really truly consistent basis, especially all the introverts out there, especially a lot of writers, because you know, again, writers by definition tend to be a little bit introverted, maybe a lot, some of us.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: So writers are not doing a lot of this intentional network building, relationship building stuff.
41:51
SPEAKER_00: So because they're not doing it, that's all the more reason for you and I to do it because we can sort of take advantage of that vacuum out there and we can build relationships with all kinds of awesome people.
42:02
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's objection number two.
42:03
SPEAKER_00: You might say, I don't have the money to join a paid group or community.
42:07
SPEAKER_00: And if that's you, I get this.
42:10
SPEAKER_00: I totally do.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: I was in that place for a very, very long time where I felt like I couldn't spare anything to join something, and it would be so like disheartening because I would want to join something, but it was a paid thing, and I would be like, man, if I could just like scrape together a little bit of money to join this thing.
42:27
SPEAKER_00: But then I realized that relationships, as I mentioned, they're the key to success in life.
42:32
SPEAKER_00: They really are.
42:33
SPEAKER_00: So my question to you is what can you do to scrape together a little bit of money to engage in a community of high achievers?
42:40
SPEAKER_00: For example, Dan Miller's 48 Days Eagles community is less than 50 bucks a month.
42:45
SPEAKER_00: Vincent Puglisi's Total Life Freedom community is, I think it's still a hundred bucks a month.
42:51
SPEAKER_00: Now, to some of you that may not sound like much.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: To others of you, that may sound like a huge amount of money.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: So if that feels like a stretch, what can you do right now that would help you to get that money so you could be a part of those communities?
43:04
SPEAKER_00: Now, keep in mind I don't get anything from promoting these.
43:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm a part of these myself, and I'm mentioning these because I love them.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: But what is something you could sell?
43:13
SPEAKER_00: What is some freelance work you could do?
43:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, what is what is anything that you could do to try and get the money to be a part of those communities?
43:21
SPEAKER_00: Do whatever it takes because those paid communities are high leverage, which means that if you really engage in those communities and you you network with people and you build relationships and you use the knowledge you're getting there correctly, you're gonna get a far bigger return on your investment.
43:38
SPEAKER_00: And let me give you a perfect example.
43:41
SPEAKER_00: Last year I bought the Ghostwriter School course by Nick Pavlitis.
43:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay, you guys know that that I'm a ghostwriter.
43:48
SPEAKER_00: I've mentioned that I think on every episode.
43:50
SPEAKER_00: So I bought the ghostwriter school course by Nick Pavlitas.
43:52
SPEAKER_00: I took extensive notes.
43:54
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I took about 25,000 words worth of notes.
43:58
SPEAKER_00: Like I literally took a whole book's worth of notes on the course.
44:02
SPEAKER_00: It took a long time to go through it because it's a big course.
44:05
SPEAKER_00: But I started putting it into practice.
44:06
SPEAKER_00: I didn't overthink it, I just took action, which by the way is really against my nature to just do something and not analyze to analyze it to death.
44:16
SPEAKER_00: Um so I started putting it into practice, and this year, because of my ghostwriting clients, just over the past, you know, four five or six months, I have made the equivalent of a hundred times what I paid for the course.
44:30
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you heard that correctly.
44:32
SPEAKER_00: I have made a hundred times what I paid for the course.
44:35
SPEAKER_00: And that just goes to show you the power of investing in yourself and getting into a great community that can help you apply what you learn.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying this to brag on myself at all.
44:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh, in fact, it's kind of like the opposite.
44:47
SPEAKER_00: It's the idea that we cannot do this on our own.
44:49
SPEAKER_00: You've got to be part of a community, you've got to engage in these relationships and this networking that I'm talking about.
44:56
SPEAKER_00: And if you're an introvert, I know it's hard.
44:58
SPEAKER_00: I know sometimes you don't feel like it.
45:01
SPEAKER_00: I know life is exhausting right now.
45:03
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the last thing you feel like doing is pouring into other people and building them up and lifting them up and sharing their stuff because at the end of the day, you're just like, man, I don't have the energy to do any of this.
45:13
SPEAKER_00: But those are the things that will help you be successful.
45:16
SPEAKER_00: It's not your own talent, it's not about your own ingenuity or your own creativity or your own brilliant ideas.
45:22
SPEAKER_00: It's about other people.
45:24
SPEAKER_00: First of all, investing in them and serving them, but also letting them help you and taking advantage of their wisdom and their insight.
45:32
SPEAKER_00: And a great way to do that is just by investing in some of these, you know, lower cost communities, which are well, well worth it, I can promise you.
45:40
SPEAKER_00: By the way, if you have questions about either one of those, uh the 48 days for total life freedom, just ask me and I'll be happy to connect you with uh Dan or Vincent.
45:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh both of them have been on my podcast, by the way.
45:50
SPEAKER_00: You can Google those uh those interviews and find them.
45:54
SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, invest in yourself, get into a great community, and start to apply what you learn, and man, you can make you can really make some progress because of those connections and what you're learning from other people.
46:07
SPEAKER_00: Well, this has been a really long episode, so I'm so thankful that you've hung in there with me, but I wanted to share this stuff because I think it's really, really important, especially right now, and especially for all the introverts out there who are just like me.
46:21
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes this stuff is not easy, but it really does pay off and it really does work.
46:25
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you firsthand.
46:26
SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks so much for listening.
46:28
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you listening and hanging in there with me through this whole episode.
46:32
SPEAKER_00: And as always, remember that you can find lots more resources for writers at KentSanders.net.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: Just pick one of these strategies and put it into practice in the next 48 hours, and I bet you'll start to see some kind of results from it.
46:45
SPEAKER_00: So take care and remember that your writing has the power to change people's lives.
46:50
SPEAKER_00: I'll see you in the next episode.