Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E72 An Interview with Susie Bills and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker

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Networking Unleashed: S1E72 An Interview with Susie Bills and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

0:17
Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
0:19
Profitable Connections. I'm your host, Michael
0:22
Foreman, and today we're diving into something
0:25
that's really changing the way we work. I'm sorry,
0:29
the way we work, live, and connect, the modern
0:33
retirement revolution. My guest is on a mission
0:36
to help people escape the nine to five, build
0:39
location -independent income, and finally profit
0:43
from their expertise. And not just with digital
0:47
tools, but with the power of strategic relationships.
0:51
In a world that often glorifies hustle and isolation,
0:55
she's reminded us that success doesn't happen
0:59
in a vacuum. It happens in conversations, collaborations,
1:03
and communities. So if you've ever wondered,
1:07
is it too late to reinvent myself? Or could I
1:10
really build something online that gives me freedom
1:13
and fulfillment? Fulfillment? Stay with us because
1:18
today we're talking about how to turn your knowledge
1:21
into income, your knowledge into leverage, and
1:24
your next chapter into your best one yet. I'd
1:28
like to introduce today, her name is Susie Bills,
1:32
and she's really got an extraordinary background,
1:35
which I will let her tell you about. Susie, welcome
1:38
to the podcast. Thank you so much, Michael. It's
1:41
lovely to be here. I appreciate it so much. You
1:45
are so welcome. Do you want to give us a little
1:46
taste of your background? Sure, yes. Okay, so
1:50
in 2017, my husband and I sold our business that
1:54
we had for many years in California, and we decided
1:56
that life was too short to continue in the rat
2:00
race. We had a really dear friend of ours pass
2:04
away at the age of 40, and so it was one of those
2:06
kind of life -altering moments where we thought,
2:09
we want to live life. You never know what's going
2:11
to happen. So we just really decided to change
2:14
our whole environment. And at the time, I was
2:18
doing marketing for some other companies, so
2:21
social media content. And I loved it. I was pretty
2:25
good at it. I realized, wait, I don't have to
2:27
go into an office every day to do that. I can
2:29
literally just do it online. And so it started
2:32
with just a couple of clients, people I knew.
2:35
I started doing their social media for them,
2:37
and it just took off. And at the same time, we
2:39
took off. And so I've grown my digital marketing
2:42
agency now for the last seven years. We've lived
2:45
and worked in 14 different countries so far and
2:48
just really have been able to create this lifestyle
2:51
that we have so much freedom and choice. And
2:54
having that location independence has been magical.
2:59
And so now my agency over time has evolved into
3:04
now I help other people do that. and really understand
3:07
and build this modern retirement that I pointed.
3:11
So you can live and work, but also have time
3:14
and freedom in your life, not wait until you're
3:17
65 or 70 to retire, to then go explore and do
3:21
things. Let's do it while we're younger and have
3:25
a lot of fun. That sounds great. Funny, you mentioned
3:29
this, and I just got off the Zoom call with somebody
3:33
earlier this morning. who really felt the same
3:37
way. She picked up and she moved to Hawaii. It's
3:40
the same concept, but she feels exactly the same
3:42
way as you do. So it's very interesting. Okay,
3:45
let me jump into the questions. Okay. You teach
3:48
people how to turn their expertise into online
3:51
income. How does strategic networking accelerate
3:55
the process? If you're going to be selling your...
4:00
or expertise to people, whether that's coaching,
4:03
consulting, there's a myriad of ways you can
4:04
build an online business. But the one thing they
4:07
all have in common is you need people, right?
4:09
So we need people that we can help. And so networking
4:12
in general, right, but also strategically using
4:16
the correct social media platforms where your
4:18
ideal clients are creating content for people
4:22
that's valuable. So always being of service and
4:25
networking with that. as your North Star, that
4:28
you're here to help people, to share information,
4:31
to let people know that there are ways to do
4:35
things that they might not be aware of. And so
4:37
networking, right, is the best way that we can
4:39
connect with people and also connect with people
4:42
that we may never have connected with if they
4:46
didn't know about us. So a perfect example. is
4:49
you and I, I'm on your podcast. So people that
4:52
I don't know, but maybe we can start doing some
4:54
networking, right? And maybe we take it off the
4:56
podcast on the LinkedIn or whatever that is,
4:58
but we all need people. Yes, yes, very true.
5:03
And that's really what I base my whole business
5:05
on because I'm a public speaker and I go across
5:09
the country and I talk about networking, communication,
5:12
and I go on stages telling them, look. We can
5:16
do what we want through Zoom, but we need this
5:19
personal touch. We need to meet with the people
5:21
personally to get the vibe of the room, the vibe
5:24
of the person. You're missing out on all that
5:27
when you're just over the phone or just over
5:29
Zoom. So there's a whole lot behind what you're
5:32
saying. What role does connection play with someone
5:37
who's leaving a traditional career and stepping
5:40
into entrepreneurship? Yeah, so that's what you
5:43
did. It's a big step. And I do always, so I love
5:48
to get on calls with people that are just dipping
5:50
their toe into this whole idea, because there's
5:53
so many ways that people can monetize their expertise
5:56
and start businesses. But we need to make sure
6:00
that people understand that entrepreneurship
6:02
is very different than having a nine to five.
6:06
And there's a lot that there's a lot of personal
6:08
development. I always say that entrepreneurship
6:11
is synonymous with personal development. There's
6:13
a lot of stepping out of your comfort zone. There's
6:16
just a lot of things that happen that when we
6:19
think, oh, I'm going to start an online or I'm
6:21
going to start a business, we're not really aware
6:24
of yet because we haven't stepped into that.
6:25
But having people that have done something similar
6:28
to what you're aspiring to do, being able to
6:31
have connections with and conversations with
6:34
people that have walked the path before you.
6:37
can really shorten your learning time, right?
6:41
Because having a mentor, things like that, really
6:44
speed up the process and help you avoid pitfalls
6:50
and things that you just don't know because you
6:52
just don't know, right? Because you haven't experienced
6:54
them. So connection is everything. I will say
6:57
just a little side note. When I started my social
7:00
media business seven years ago, I didn't really
7:04
quite understand that at first. That was part
7:06
of my personal development is that I realized
7:08
that, yes, I can be online and I can set up a
7:12
funnel and I can sell my services. But the magic
7:15
comes in the conversations I actually have with
7:18
people. And so there's a lot of business models
7:21
out there where you can just set it and forget
7:23
it. And it's like a machine that's going. I have
7:26
found and with the numerous many people that
7:29
I've worked with. Having those conversations,
7:31
even if it is on Zoom, is really how that connection
7:35
is made for long -term friendships, clients,
7:38
communities, networking. It's never going to
7:42
be what you said a few minutes ago, but it's
7:43
just never going to be made without being able
7:46
to be in each other's energy and have that conversation.
7:51
So very important. It's very good. And it's that
7:55
energy that you pick up on and you can actually
7:58
say, okay, this is a person that I want to create
8:02
a relationship with, or this is somebody who
8:06
I really don't want to deal with. I'll just excuse
8:07
myself and that'll be it. And it gives you that
8:10
opportunity to pick up those feelings, that energy
8:13
level. Yeah. And knowing who you don't want to
8:16
work with is equally as bad, maybe even more
8:18
valuable than knowing who you do want to work
8:20
with. They're both equally as important. When
8:23
I own my own business, I learned a very interesting
8:28
lesson. I learned how to fire a client. Okay.
8:33
Oh, yes. So you have to know they can draw all
8:37
sorts of bad energy from you and lead you to
8:40
your nothing left. Or you can just dismiss them,
8:43
let their money go also. But you're much healthier
8:47
and better. Okay. So in the online space. It's
8:53
easy to feel like we're shouting into the void.
8:56
How can intentional networking help new entrepreneurs
9:00
cut through the noise? It's so noisy. Oh, my
9:06
gosh. Now, again, I started this seven years
9:08
ago. It wasn't as noisy, right? It was not as
9:11
noisy. It was a little noisy, but now it's just
9:13
craziness out there. And so if somebody's going
9:17
to go Google how to start an online business.
9:20
Forget about it. You will get inundated with
9:23
a million things. So again, having connections
9:27
with people, but even before that, spending the
9:30
time to be clear and get clarity around who you
9:36
want to help and how you're going to help them.
9:39
So being general these days, I'll use an example.
9:42
So when it comes to me, I work with a lot of
9:44
like health and wellness coaches, right? So they'll
9:47
want to start an online coaching business. Fantastic.
9:49
Okay, we need to narrow down who you're going
9:53
to help and how you're going to help them. Because
9:55
if we just say you're a health coach, nobody
9:58
will ever, you'll get lost in the sea of a bazillion
10:01
health coaches out there. Getting super clear
10:03
on who you want to help, what you're going to
10:06
help them with. And a lot of times that is based
10:09
on our own story or where we worked before, what
10:13
did we do before that we can now repackage and
10:18
have it be our own. So consulting is a great
10:20
example of that. I'll work with, let's just say
10:22
an example would be a lawyer. So they have a
10:25
law firm, but they're tired and exhausted with
10:27
the law firm and they want to create an online
10:30
business and create more freedom. So we can package
10:34
maybe their estate planning. We can package that
10:38
into something that can be done online, right?
10:41
And with some automation. So they're still a
10:43
lawyer, they're still helping people, but they
10:45
don't have to be. in the law firm all day. But
10:49
being very clear, that is the main focus. So
10:51
like I call Gen Xers, right? So that's clear.
10:56
If I can help anybody start an online business,
10:57
but I focus on people in my age range that want
11:02
to start an online business so they can travel
11:05
the world while they work and still make an income.
11:08
That's very clear that I help people start an
11:10
online business, which is so crazy in the online
11:14
world. So clarity will be the best friends you
11:18
can ever have. Most people do not have it, even
11:21
when they think they do. And so we'd have to
11:23
dive deep. And when I work with clients and I
11:27
come back and say, okay, let's, that's great,
11:29
but let's get even more clear. They're like,
11:31
really? That's really clear. I'm like, it's not
11:33
going to be clear enough in the crazy loud online
11:37
space. And the reason that we need that clarity
11:40
is because our messaging and how we're speaking
11:42
about how we help people. is what magnetizes
11:45
people to you. I'm sure you probably have the
11:48
experience where you've read something and you're
11:50
like, is that person talking to me? It's so clear
11:53
that they are somebody that you resonate. That's
11:57
the type of messaging that gets people that you
11:59
can connect with. The other part that I'll say
12:01
is we also don't need a huge audience and millions
12:05
of people to follow us or like us or all those
12:08
things to create a really sustainable, really
12:11
profitable business. We just need a handful.
12:14
So we don't need to be one of those people that
12:17
are shouting out into the internet world, content
12:21
all the time, showing up all the time. A lot
12:23
of people really shy away from starting an online
12:26
business because they think of social media.
12:28
They think they're going to have to be dancing
12:29
on TikTok and doing these things that are really
12:32
uncomfortable and they don't want to do. And
12:34
it couldn't be further from the truth when you
12:35
have clarity on what you're doing. No, that's
12:41
so true. The people say, and I've read before,
12:45
that the attention span has gone down to about
12:48
seven minutes. So you have the seven minutes
12:53
to really get them involved. And if you're not
12:57
clear, then they're off to another thing. And
13:00
so it's very hard to reel them back once you've
13:04
lost them. So the whole idea is to get them right
13:08
in the beginning. I would even argue and say
13:13
seven minutes is way too long. It is long. In
13:16
the scroll of like social media, it's seven seconds.
13:20
Right. Which is actually more correct, but more
13:27
correct. Because social media is that, just that.
13:30
You have about seven seconds before they flip
13:34
to the next. So you have to really be clear.
13:39
OK, so what are some common mistakes people make
13:45
when trying to build a freedom based business
13:48
and how strong relationships help them avoid
13:51
the pitfalls? Perfect. Exactly what we were just
13:54
talking about. They go into it with not enough
13:57
clarity, without being super focused. And also,
14:01
another piece of that is when you know who you
14:05
want to work with and who your ideal client is.
14:08
Then we can figure out where to find them. And
14:10
so what I mean by that is, let's say you want
14:12
to be, you like doing executive coaching for
14:14
leadership teams, we'll just say, or HR teams
14:17
or something. That's LinkedIn, right? Those people
14:19
are on LinkedIn. That is the social media platform
14:22
for that. And it's a great platform and it's
14:25
great for networking. But if you are, we'll use
14:28
the example of the fitness coach, right? And
14:30
let's say you want to help men get abs. I don't
14:34
know what you want to do with your, but you probably
14:36
didn't go to Instagram. Because that's where
14:38
they are. So we've been able to find where our
14:41
communities of people are already hanging out.
14:43
So people have one of the mistakes is thinking
14:47
you need to be everywhere all the time on all
14:51
the platforms. It's a waste of energy and focus.
14:54
And so when I work with somebody, we start with
14:56
one platform. Until we master that platform and
15:00
until we're able to connect with people and fine
15:02
-tune the communities we want to be part of.
15:05
I don't recommend that you even start a second
15:07
social media account anywhere else. Clarity,
15:09
focus, focus is the biggest thing that I see
15:13
that people don't have. And it's the biggest
15:14
thing that will make the biggest difference when
15:17
you do have it. Absolutely. It's something you
15:19
need, something you need. And that's great because
15:21
that's what you're going to help them with. You
15:23
help people identify their unique value. How
15:27
important is community feedback or collaboration
15:31
in discovering what the value actually is? So
15:37
what I typically do when we're collaborating
15:41
is we will start reaching out to people, right?
15:45
So you already have an idea. You know who you
15:47
want to work with. We know where they're at.
15:49
So reaching out to people in different communities.
15:54
offering an interview style call. So we're not
15:57
selling anything at first. We want to find and
16:01
people that we seek are ideal clients and have
16:04
conversations with them and see what they're
16:06
struggling with and see what they've tried before
16:09
and see how possibly we can be a fit. So we just
16:12
call those interview calls, right? So it's, hey,
16:14
you're struggling with high blood pressure and
16:18
you want to adopt a plant -based diet, right?
16:20
I'm conducting some interviews. Because I want
16:23
to see like where your struggles are and what
16:25
you need help with. It's not a sales pitch, right?
16:28
You'll come away with a guide on how to go plant
16:31
-based or something like that, right? So that's
16:33
not salesy. You're not selling anything, but
16:35
you are starting to build conversations with
16:38
people that you eventually can help them with.
16:42
If you decide that they're a match and you want
16:45
to start helping them with coaching or what have
16:46
you. But at first, the community piece is just
16:50
building people that you can have, really great
16:53
conversations with. And again, always starting
16:56
from that place of like service of how can I
16:59
have a great conversation with someone, leave
17:00
them with some value. And then later, if I thought,
17:04
you know what, that person would be a really
17:05
good fit for what I'm doing now, then I can circle
17:07
back and say, Hey, do you want to get on the
17:09
sales call? I'm offering something that I think
17:11
could really help you. But community at first
17:14
is really just reaching out, testing the waters,
17:18
having conversations with people. I'm not sure
17:21
what it is. But people are scared to have conversations
17:25
with people. And I think I'm pretty sure I do
17:28
know what it is now that I say that. It's because
17:30
of social media, we're able to watch a lot of
17:33
people's stories and lives and what they do and
17:36
we don't have to interact. That interacting now
17:38
and just being like a regular human that wants
17:41
to have a conversation with people is sometimes
17:43
seems like weird. I don't, I'm not sure. But
17:47
what... That's what community is about, right?
17:50
Is being able to have conversations with people,
17:52
but leaving with value. I don't want to have,
17:55
I don't want you to go in and have conversations
17:56
with people because you're thinking, what can
17:59
I get from it? It needs to be a win -win conversation.
18:03
You're asking them some questions and then you're
18:05
leaving them with some valuable information.
18:07
Who doesn't want that if they're struggling with
18:08
something? So there tends to be a, how do I make
18:14
money? Because we're starting a business, right?
18:18
So we want to make sure that when we're dealing
18:20
with a community or building our own community
18:22
or collaborating with someone in front of their
18:25
community, that we come with the energy of service
18:31
and being helpful. Because you'll find out so
18:33
much information that can then help you later
18:36
on or down the road build your business because
18:39
you've listened to people and found out what
18:41
they really need in a service. You know, that
18:44
listening aspect is so key that most people don't
18:49
even think about it. Because I call it active
18:53
listening, something I talk about. And if you're
18:57
not listening, if you're just thinking about
18:59
the next thing that you want to say and not listening,
19:02
you're not listening. You're hearing them, but
19:05
you're not listening. Because you're already
19:07
on to the next thing. That's it. Thinking about
19:09
yourself. You can't do that. You have to think
19:10
about them. It's all about them. Okay. And you
19:14
can actually, what I call serving with a servant's
19:18
heart. Okay. Looking at what to give instead
19:21
of receiving. So that's what you're after all
19:24
of their information without them even knowing
19:27
what you do yet. That's a whole other conversation.
19:31
Okay. What's the difference between growing an
19:37
audience and building a network? And why does
19:41
that distinction matter for long -term success?
19:45
It's that clarity piece again. We'll just keep
19:47
coming back to the same. All my answers are the
19:49
same. An audience, and believe me, I have worked
19:52
with people that have come to me with huge audiences
19:54
that they cannot monetize because it's so general.
19:59
And it was built because they were striving for
20:03
the vanity metrics, the likes, the follows, how
20:04
many Instagram, how... Quickly, can I grow my
20:07
Instagram? We want to build our community, a
20:11
small focused one, so we are able to monetize
20:14
that, right? And it's a win -win because we built
20:17
it with the right people. Community, again, you
20:21
know this, it's everything. It's everything.
20:23
And again, you show up with the servant heart,
20:26
like you mentioned. I also would say that when
20:29
we're trying to build a huge audience and it's
20:32
that the energy is that what can I do to get
20:35
people to like my stuff, to get people to reshare,
20:38
like this getting mentality, it's a scarcity
20:41
type mindset, right? When we're building a community
20:45
and we're sharing valuable information and we
20:48
are having great conversations with people, you
20:51
can feel even just me explaining the two different
20:53
ways, but there's a different energy involved
20:56
with that. And again, just community and being
20:59
involved and really caring about what you're
21:01
talking about and the people is everything. You
21:04
can have a million lives, but if nobody cares
21:06
what you're saying and they're not going to buy
21:07
anything from you, wow, that was a lot of work.
21:09
That was a lot of work to build that audience.
21:11
A lot of work for nothing. And it's common. Yeah,
21:15
it's very common. And it stems from that lack
21:18
of clarity on who you really want to be involved
21:21
with. Good, good, very good. Can you share a
21:25
story of someone who leveraged networking to
21:28
escape the nine to five faster or build their
21:32
business smarter? Yes. Yes. Let's see. Should
21:35
I use myself as an example or a client? Absolutely.
21:38
Whichever you want. This is all about you. So
21:43
for when I first started, this is very interesting.
21:47
So I said, I had a couple of people that I was
21:49
doing social media content for. And what that
21:51
started from is I was in network marketing. So
21:55
I worked with a company MLM, right? Like multi
21:58
-level marketing, but I was selling a health
21:59
product. And so I just started to, I didn't know
22:03
anything really about social media. So I started
22:05
doing my own and it started getting attention.
22:09
And so that's how. A couple of my teammates were
22:12
like, hey, can you do this for me too? And so
22:14
those were my first clients. However, then just
22:18
because of the network marketing is all networking,
22:21
right? There's just people, lots of people you
22:23
can network with. That's how it quickly grew
22:25
because they saw other people and they told other
22:28
people who's doing your social media, Susie,
22:30
until about two months in, the company that I
22:33
was working for actually came to me and asked
22:35
and hired me to teach groups how to do their
22:40
own social media. So that's a perfect example
22:42
of a network, right? Because I showed up and
22:46
connected with people and started working with
22:48
a few that the referrals and the conversations
22:51
would be like, oh, you need social media. Oh,
22:53
you should contact Susie. She's great. She does
22:55
a great job. That was, that's how my whole entire
22:58
business was built is because of networking.
23:01
Right there. That was it. Yep. Perfect. Perfect.
23:05
For somebody just starting out. What's more important,
23:10
building content or building connections? Or
23:13
is there a better way to approach that balance?
23:16
Yes, I think there's a better way to approach
23:18
it because you want to do both. Let's take an
23:21
example. Let's say we're on LinkedIn and we want
23:25
to start sending connection requests to people
23:28
or perhaps having comments on other people's
23:31
content, which is very valuable and needs to
23:34
happen when you're on LinkedIn. The first thing
23:36
they do is go look at your profile, right? And
23:40
the content that you've done, because they want
23:42
to learn a little bit about you. Should I accept
23:45
this person's connection request? Is it anybody
23:48
I want to be connected with? So what I'm not
23:50
saying is you don't need to be there every day
23:53
and pumping out tons of content. That's not what
23:55
I'm saying. But you do need to have a nice profile.
23:57
And it needs to be very clear on who you help
24:00
and how you help them. And you do need to have
24:02
some... content you need to show that you put
24:04
a little energy into your account you're not
24:07
just there to spam people with dms right you
24:10
created your your i look at linkedin profiles
24:14
like your storefront or your business card right
24:17
because people want to find out a little bit
24:19
about you before they decide that they even want
24:21
to connect or have a conversation um so both
24:24
is important both are important especially when
24:27
you're starting out because we want to highlight
24:29
that you have an expertise in whatever we're
24:32
eventually going to be monetizing. So you do
24:34
want to be giving valuable information over in
24:37
the content piece. Yeah, so that's my answer.
24:40
It's a double. They're both equally as important,
24:42
in my opinion. Okay, okay. What advice would
24:47
you give to someone who feels like their network
24:50
is too corporate or stale to support their entrepreneurial
24:54
journey? Yeah, so sometimes... The corporate,
25:00
you're taking what you, what your expertise is
25:02
from your corporate and you're just repackaging
25:05
it. Right. Like I talked about the lawyer, right?
25:08
Some people they're in corporate and then now
25:10
they want to be a life coach. That's very, right.
25:13
That's very different. Or teach people how to
25:15
crochet or like whatever, like it's completely
25:18
different from their life. So then we start with,
25:21
okay, where are the first, where's the audience?
25:24
Maybe your audience is not on LinkedIn anymore
25:27
because you have a new audience. If it's crocheting,
25:30
maybe they're more on Facebook. So we want to
25:32
see where the people are. And then it can be
25:35
done many different ways. If you are somebody
25:38
who wants everybody in your network to know that
25:40
you have chosen a new path and that you are going
25:44
to be doing something completely different, you
25:46
can create some content around them, right? A
25:49
lot of people will unfollow you, which is great
25:52
because they're not your people anymore. If you're
25:54
just leaving corporate and you don't want to
25:55
have anything to do with these people, unless
25:57
they want to learn how to crochet, then come
25:59
on over. This is the content I'm going to be
26:01
talking about. We can actually create a little
26:04
campaign, we'll call it, that promotes that and
26:07
announces that, which works really well. What
26:10
doesn't work is trying to do something on social
26:15
media or have your presence on social media in
26:18
corporate. And you're doing this, starting a
26:20
side business and you're trying to hide it. Because
26:23
I will just say you cannot hide anything anymore.
26:26
Everything is connected. So I wouldn't say keep
26:28
your links. If you're going to be leaving your
26:30
job, don't start talking about your new business
26:32
while you're still at that job and nobody knows
26:34
you're leaving. Like we want to make sure that
26:36
it's done above board and appropriately. And
26:39
you'll find that your network of corporate people.
26:42
In that network that you've built over the years,
26:45
you have people that know you, like you, trust
26:47
you. And by the way, they might also, some of
26:49
them want to learn how to crochet. So I love
26:52
the idea of if you're really changing to something
26:55
completely different, making an announcement
26:57
around it and making it an announcement that
27:00
doesn't have to be a big deal, but just a post
27:04
or two that really shares with what you're doing
27:07
and showing that you're on a new, exciting venture.
27:10
And that seems to be work really well, especially
27:12
if you're somebody who's built a really solid
27:15
network over the years, which a lot of people
27:17
by this age, 55, if you've been in corporate
27:20
for 20 or 30 years, you have a lot of people,
27:22
you know, right? So why not let them know what
27:25
your new adventure is? They might be inspired
27:27
to start a new adventure themselves. You never
27:29
know. You never know. You never know. Yeah. Okay.
27:34
Looking forward. How do you see networking evolving
27:37
for location -independent entrepreneurs, and
27:41
what new opportunities are emerging? How do I
27:47
see it? So I think that networking is always,
27:51
I don't want to call it old school, but when
27:54
I think of networking, before social media, right,
27:57
it was in person, which is still something we
28:00
haven't really touched on, right? Super valuable,
28:03
though. still that if you are so let me back
28:06
up here location independence doesn't mean you
28:09
need to live in your rv or travel the world it
28:13
could just mean for you that you just don't go
28:15
to an office every day and you work from your
28:17
patio or your kitchen table so if you are somebody
28:21
who is starting your own business but you still
28:24
live in your community that is Amazing and fantastic.
28:28
And that you should absolutely be tapping into
28:31
your actual community in real life. Very important
28:34
if that's part of what you can do, right? So
28:37
my husband and I, that wasn't on our thing because
28:40
we wanted to get out and go live in different
28:43
places, but very valuable. And just because you're
28:46
starting online business, you can still run it
28:49
any way and anywhere you want. New opportunities.
28:52
I just really think that the world, the internet,
28:55
even though it's crazy, like we talked about
28:57
and all of the things, it is still growing and
29:00
it is still, it's just evolving and it's massive.
29:04
And so there's so much opportunity to be able
29:07
to have a global reach for your ideal clients.
29:11
And that's one thing that people don't really
29:14
think about. We still in the US anyway, we're
29:17
still very like focused on the US, but. Over
29:21
time, I've had clients in, I think, maybe 10
29:25
different countries so far that I've worked with
29:27
that have found me just online because they're
29:29
very consistent, showing up, doing all the things.
29:31
And I'm like, hey, where do you live? Wait, what?
29:33
It's three in the morning and we're on a call?
29:35
Like, what, so you're in Scotland? So the opportunities
29:38
because of the internet and just because of Zoom
29:42
and because everybody realized during COVID that,
29:45
oh, maybe we could do things from Zoom. That
29:48
was a whole... thing. It's just really opened
29:53
up the opportunities for online businesses even
29:57
more. There's no boundary or borders, right?
29:59
And coming into that with a mindset of being
30:02
able to help people wherever they are is super
30:05
valuable and awesome. Yeah. It's one of my favorite
30:07
things about having an online business. Yeah.
30:10
And it's perfect because I'm just going to bring
30:13
podcasting into it for a second. Yes. Okay. Last
30:16
month, I had somebody from Australia, Israel,
30:20
Egypt, the UK, Mexico, Scotland, from all over.
30:27
And I had a hard time understanding the Scottish,
30:31
but beside the point, but it was just, it was
30:34
all made possible. And the time zone change was
30:37
really significant because there was like a 12
30:41
hour time zone. It's 10 o 'clock at night for
30:46
you, or it's 2 a .m. for you, and it's 2 p .m.
30:49
for me. Yeah. So it's the whole thing. Okay.
30:52
It's the whole thing, yeah. So bringing this
30:55
podcast full circle. Yes. Give us some advice
31:00
for beginners. What's your top piece of advice
31:03
for someone just starting to build their network
31:06
for an online business? You're going to get sick
31:11
of me saying this, Michael, but it's clarity.
31:14
Right? We really, because again, if you're thinking,
31:17
oh, I want to do crocheting, that's a whole different
31:20
network you want to build than if you want to
31:21
do fitness, right? So really spending some time
31:25
understanding what you want to do. What do you
31:28
have a passion or a purpose? What is that? I
31:31
also feel, and I'll just mention this, because
31:34
I specifically work with people, Gen Xers, so
31:37
like 45 and above, we've lived a lot of life.
31:40
We have a lot of experience in many different
31:43
things, right? So it doesn't have to be that
31:46
because you did corporate, you can only do corporate.
31:49
Or because you're a lawyer, you can only do something
31:51
in the law firm world or legal world. So spending
31:57
some time in inward and figuring out what do
32:00
I want to spend my time doing and talking about
32:04
and helping people with for the next half of
32:06
my life, right? Like it might not be. And this
32:10
is a scary thought for a lot of people, but it
32:11
might not be what you've always been doing. It
32:14
might be that thing that people always come to
32:16
you for advice. Maybe it is fitness or maybe
32:19
it is something different. Like you find that
32:21
people are always asking questions about something
32:23
that you do and you always consider it's like
32:26
a hobby, right? I've helped, I've worked with
32:29
many people who have turned their hobby into
32:32
what they love, right? Into six -figure businesses.
32:35
They live, they love every day because they're
32:38
talking about crocheting. Right. And they love
32:40
it. And that's their thing. So you do want to
32:45
spend some time figuring out what that is that
32:50
you want, that you could possibly monetize and
32:52
want to be doing for the foreseeable future,
32:54
because that will lead you to the type of community
32:58
with the type of people in it that you want to
33:00
start building. And then that will lead you to,
33:03
okay, where are those people now? How do I interact
33:05
with them now and start building my own community?
33:08
So you got to work from that piece first. Great.
33:13
That's great. Susie, I can't begin to tell you
33:16
how great this was to have you on this podcast.
33:19
You were a delightful guest, and I hope you get
33:24
many clients out of this. But how would somebody
33:27
get hold of you if they wanted your services?
33:31
Yes, I do have an optic. It's called monetize
33:35
your expertise. So I will give that information
33:37
to you and anybody can download it. It's a free
33:39
download and it helps people exactly what I was
33:43
just talking about. Look at what, where, what
33:46
are their expertises now? What do people come
33:48
to them for? What do they love to do? And it
33:50
just helps people start to think of that first
33:51
idea of what's possible. for them if they wanted
33:55
to start an online business. So I'd love to share
33:58
that with anybody that wants it in your audience.
34:00
I think that's great. And then at the bottom
34:01
of that, there's a calendar link that if anybody
34:04
wants to get on a 20 minute discovery call, they
34:06
can get right on my calendar and I can walk them
34:09
through that, that guide. And at the end, we'll
34:12
come up with a couple of ideas that they can
34:14
then take away and about monetizing their expertise
34:17
and kind of sit with it and see what kind of
34:19
resonates. I do not. I really. I think it's so
34:23
valuable and important for people to sit for
34:27
a little bit and like embody, like to learn what
34:31
they really want to do. Like it doesn't have
34:33
to be a big hurry. Take your time. Changing your
34:37
career, starting an online business can be done
34:41
in a very easy way as a side gig, we call it.
34:46
So a lot of my clients stay with their job. And
34:49
we build their side business until it's at a
34:52
point that if they want, then they can leave
34:54
their job because they've covered their living
34:56
expenses, et cetera. So yeah, that's how I can,
35:00
people can get ahold of me. My website is the
35:03
virtualrxagency .com or they can download that
35:07
guide that I'll share with you. You put the show
35:09
notes would be great. Awesome. Perfect. Okay,
35:12
Susie. Great. Listen. Again, thank you very much
35:16
for joining me, and I hope to talk to you soon.
35:19
Thank you so much. Have a beautiful day. Well,
35:22
hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere. Let me just
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-U -P -K -I -D -S .org. Well, that's a wrap,
36:42
folks. A huge thank you to our special guests
36:45
for sharing such incredible insights today. And
36:48
of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing
36:51
listeners, for tuning in and spending your time
36:54
with us. Remember, networking isn't about being
36:58
perfect. It's about being present. So take what
37:01
you've learned today, get out there, and make
37:04
some meaningful connections. If you enjoyed this
37:07
episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave us
37:10
a review, and share it with someone who could
37:13
use a little networking inspiration. Let's keep
37:16
the conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
37:20
Spotify, YouTube, or my website, Michael. Remember.
37:25
Until next time, keep practicing, keep connecting,
37:28
and keep building those relationships. This is
37:31
Michael signing off. Take care and happy networking.