Latest / Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson / Conquering the Business Arena with Diane Freeman: Masterful Networking, Strategic Alliances, and Trailblazing Influence

Transcript

Conquering the Business Arena with Diane Freeman: Masterful Networking, Strategic Alliances, and Trailblazing Influence · Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Ready Set Collaborate podcast with Rhonda Pearson, where we will dive deep into the world of networking, collaboration and partnership, unlocking the secrets to a successful team working within innovation.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Whether you're an entrepreneur, a creative professional or just someone eager to understand the power of networking and collaboration, this podcast is your go-to resource.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Join us as we explore the stories, strategies and insights from experts, entrepreneurs and thought leaders who have experienced the magic of networking and collaboration to achieve successful results.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Tune in to Ready.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Set Collaborate podcast on a journey towards achieving your goals with host Rhonda Pearson.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Welcome.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Welcome to Ready Set Collaborate with Rhonda Pearson.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: I am so excited to have my guest on here and we do have a different series, which is welcome to the series three, which is collaboration and connections.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: But first of all I want to actually tell you who our sponsor is, which is WD Pearson Associates.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Wd Pearson Associates actually help entrepreneurs get set business set up the right way to grow and to connect and to be able to have assets to that legal system.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: So our services with Legal Shield actually help you do that.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: That is part of what I do and I would definitely love to connect and collaborate with you to see how I can help your business grow.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Wd Pearson Associates is our sponsor business this month of the series.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: I should say so.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Now let's get on to our show with my dear friend, diane Freeman and I.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Hi, diane, hey, one dog, I'm so glad to have you on, but you've been helping me out so much and I have to tell you Diane keeps me on track.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: She's my marketing manager, she tells me what's great and she's also my client and that helps because she knows my business.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: So I love having her on and she actually helps me get that out there on social media, but we're going to have another episode with you, Diane, about marketing.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: That's going to help you as well, to help other people.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: So we have some great tips that we're going to actually go over, but Diane's title is called Navigate Authentic Connections a Month's Constant Change.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: There is always constant change, diane, as far as in the social media realm, and there's a lot of things that's happening here.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: But tell us a little bit about yourself, diane, and then I'm going to ask you some questions.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: Sure.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: So I found myself in this social media marketing sales arena long ago.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: I had a paper route when I was 14 years old and they had a contest to sell papers to win a clock radio, and I didn't have a lot of money as a kid and the only way I was going to get that clock radio was if I went and earned it.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: And so that's when I realized I really enjoyed introducing things to people that could help them.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: That's what got me into it.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: And then, fortunately, I was lucky enough to go to college and I had a marketing degree there and a lot of internships.
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: And then my career has been in sales and marketing since forever and I really love the connection and collaboration part of sales and marketing as well.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: But I really good marketing helps you get clients.
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: That's really the purpose of marketing.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: So that's why I'm here today.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and you know what I need to tell about your bio because your bio is really awesome, so that'll tell people a lot more about what you do.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: So Diane Freeman is a long time marketing professional who has worked with a variety of businesses from top 50, like Ford Motor Company, to solar peneurs like WD, pearson Associates.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Why, thank you?
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Diane is on a mission to help small businesses attract the right people, connect to them and who will convert to customers and grow their business.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: With the ever changing marketing scene coupled with AI, most solar peneurs struggle with doing it right.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: I help them get to the right connections, which is the core of how they serve and share to get paying customers.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: I can help them by doing the work for them or teaching them how you can reach Diane and I'm going to have you say this at the end at Diane, at BCN Social that's B-E-E, c-e-e-n Social mediacom she's offering a free assessment which will help them to know not only how they communicate, but will help you connect and communicate with others, and there's so much ties into what I'm talking about.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Diane, I thought you'd be a perfect guest as far as collaboration and connections, but I'm going to ask you a question first and then we're going to get into some other things here.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: So how important do you think networking is for collaboration and why?
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: Networking is essential to collaboration.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: Networking gets you out of a small group and into a large group in allowing you to meet different people and learn what they're doing out in the world and seeing how the two of you can be better together.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: And there really is not a better way than starting face to face with a somewhat planned conversation, so that you can immediately decide is this a person that is going to move me in the right direction, or is this someone that I could help guide into the right direction?
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: I think a lot of us.
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: When we get to a certain point in business, we like to help people that are newer on their journey and help them get through some of the obstacles that we got through quicker, because there really is not guidance out there.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: We don't have bosses, entrepreneurs, so we need to rely on one another to connect and then work together, make something greater as a team and collaborate.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely, and that's why, when COVID happened, diane, we actually got closer, as far as I've been going to remember you getting your LLC, and we actually learned how to work.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: The Facebook live do webinars, and that was always been my passion is to collaborate.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: How can we, as entrepreneurs, collaborate to be successful, to help one another, and that is something that's dear to my heart.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: That's why I named it Ready to Say Collaborate.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: Thanks to Diane, she helped me pick that title Ready to Say Collaborate, because that is something that we all need, and I came from corporate, like you came from corporate.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: I think, how we learned that?
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: The ground learned exactly the groundwork that we actually did with the corporate, but it helped us to be more professional entrepreneurs and to help others.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: So thank you for that answer.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: Let me ask you enough question here, and I'm going to ask you this one first, about job solopreneurs how can solopreneurs get their business scene and make the right connection when it just keeps getting more complicated and expensive?
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Do you feel that way, Wanda?
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: Do you feel like it seems to be more difficult to get your business name out there?
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Yes, I do, especially with the W, when I created my own brand, wd Christian Associates.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: I know my business is legal shield services but creating my own brand, it is more difficult to get that out there and with your help you've been helping me do that more.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: So give me some tips of what you think would make it easier.
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: So, starting with that heart of collaboration, which some of you may not know this I'm fortunate enough to know Wanda to know this but she does collaborate in her work, but she also collaborates in her personal life.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: She was a social worker in a past life.
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: There is no career path vocation that serves more than a social worker, in my opinion, and she wanted to continue serving.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: She overcame some difficulties in her childhood and she wanted to be able to share that, so she became an author and did other things, and that is so important.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: And collaborating to get through all of that noise is you need to really know who you are and who you want to serve.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: And when you know that, then anything else you do whether you're meeting face to face with people for the first time, whether you're making a video on social media, however way you're getting the information out there about your business when you know who you are and who you're talking to, you will connect with that right person.
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: So that's the way to do it Pick your lane, stay in it so you're known for that, and then, if you want to add something else, you can do that, and that's exactly what Wanda did.
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: She started off being known for Legal Shield.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: I met her networking for Legal Shield and she added WD Pearson Associates and she wanted to use this new platform to serve more and she used that as a springboard to write books Because she knew she wanted to collaborate.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: She wanted to give back and serve and that is what she's known for.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Thank you, I tell you, you just took me with my horn.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: I read that's why I love you, diane, with that and let us know about, and I love what you just said here, because it wasn't you know what.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: I keep forgetting to tell people, diane, that I am an author.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: I am a three-time author two collaborations, books with my own author.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: So thank you for bringing that up.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: And, by the way, go to her website, wd Pearson Associatescom.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: That's where you can get her book.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: You can learn more about Wanda.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: You can see some of her collaboration partners.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: You've been listening to these episodes.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: Take it the next step.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I have, and especially when I was doing COVID, with some of my webinars I was doing with other entrepreneurs to get that business out, and how we connected together to be able to offer our services and to educate.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: It's about educating and empowering other entrepreneurs.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: People who want to have a passion begin the business to become an entrepreneur.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: So that is so true.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: I love that and that.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: Actually, and you had some tips You're talking about the social media platform.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: You talk about the personality code.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: Tell us about that, sure.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: So I, like a lot of people, I'm always learning.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: I want to be able to do better for myself, for my business and for my clients, and I recently added a new certification that is helping tremendously with me helping my clients not only reach the right person and get that person to come to them, because they see how that person can help People can see how Wanda can help them.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: But when you start getting those leads and the phone starts ringing and the email starts pinging and you start to feel like, okay, I've got all these people that want to talk to you.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: How do you make like bank from that Like, how do you serve them and get paid?
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: And what I was hearing from a lot of my clients is they were getting so many leads that they almost wanted to stop their marketing because they felt like they kept appearing no when they were spinning their wheels and it felt really bad.
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: So I decided to make an investment and teach them how to learn the personality type of the person they're talking to and steer that conversation in a way that would encourage that person to buy.
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: In the case of Wanda, wanda is a yellow.
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: She's a very nurturing communication kind of person.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: So when a client would come to her that's like her.
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: They want nurturing and communication.
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: That's going to be an easy sale for Wanda.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: They're going to just love her and won't be a problem.
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: But when a personality comes to her, that is more of a blueprint personality, more of, maybe, a legal type personality.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: That person doesn't care about warm fuzzy and communication.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: That person wants to know the bottom line.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: They want you to get to the point.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: They want to know how much it is, they want to know what they're going to get out of it and they want to know how quickly they're going to see a return on their investment.
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: So being able to instantly code that person and shift your conversation in a way to help you close, that that's what I offer now as a tool.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: It increases your sales 300% and it does it in half of the time.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: So that's what I mean by the easiest cracking that code is really helpful to help you getting to that client.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: When it comes to like social media, a lot of times people come to me and they're like okay, diane, I'm on LinkedIn and I'm on Instagram and I'm on Facebook and I'm here and I'm here and I'm here and that is great.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: But the problem is you need to pick two platforms and go all in.
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: Companies that have full-time marketing agencies struggle to do well on multiple platforms at the same time.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: So don't stress yourself out learning Instagram.
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: If Instagram is not your thing, you could do better on Facebook and LinkedIn, for example.
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: So I really help people drill down.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: Where are your clients more likely to be?
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: I love that because you've been helping me with that as well, so I want to ask you another question.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: Time goes by so fast, doesn't it?
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: So can you share an example You've already talked about?
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Can you share an example of a successful collaboration that emerged from networking connections?
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: And I think that actually we emerged.
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: This is really the best, truest story to answer that question.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: When Wanda and I met, I was doing something completely different from what I'm doing right now Completely different.
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: I met Wanda networking.
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: I had seen her a couple of times and I loved her dynamic personality.
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: She used to do these really cute things that really got your attention and she got me thinking about how she could help me.
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: And with networking, you can't go in and expect that people are going to sign on the dotted line and buy from you.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: But it was seeing Wanda consistently learning the different ways that she could serve me, because when I first met her I already had my will done, so I didn't think I needed what she offers.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: But then I learned some other things and what happened was my son got to be driving age and I learned about how it could help with tickets and things.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: And thank heavens I was smart enough to sign up for it before he got the tickets, because my son got like a couple of different tickets while he was in college and legal shield attorneys went to court on his behalf.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: He only had to have a phone conversation.
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: They went to court on the first case.
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: They had everything erased, all done legally, which was a huge, wonderful, huge thing.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: The second time because he already had an infraction.
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: They couldn't erase everything, but my our biggest fear was that we couldn't afford to ensure him any longer because our insurance rates go up, especially if you get a lot of points on.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: Your license gets suspended.
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately, his wasn't that severe of an infraction, but she saved me thousands of dollars, not to mention stress and as a mom I don't know how to represent my kid like.
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: So anyway, that was huge.
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: And then keeping that and knowing that I was going to make a change and become self employed, a solopreneur, getting my LLC set up right, I met Wanda in Georgia.
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: I'm in Florida now.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: I was able to get it set up in Florida quickly, inexpensively, and now I have that ongoing and it also I've referred her to a lot of friends, family and other business owners, because it's like having insurance for the rest of your life.
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: You have the part of your life that insurance pays for, but then there's that part that you don't usually have help with.
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: When things go awry, when a contractor doesn't do the right thing or something else, somebody doesn't do the right thing you have some help with that.
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: We started off as strangers and became friends, and now we serve each other very well as collaborators.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: That's a perfect example and thank you so much for saying that because, like Diane, it's all about education and, by our services and you have them how we can actually help others to be able to connect them.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: And that is actually my next question as far as the connections, and we're winding it down here.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: So what do you think about connecting to get to know your customers very well?
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: What do you have to say about that?
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: What are the pain points to get to know your clients?
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: So when you're working to connect someone, you've met them, you want to offer them what it is that you do.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: People buy from you when you solve a problem for them, when you help them avoid pain.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: And, like the story that I just told, I recognized that Wanda could help me avoid the pain of traffic tickets for my son and my son went to a big college where there were police on every corner looking to write like, literally, the students support this little town that the college is in and tickets were.
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: They were in a ridiculous amount of tickets, so I knew they were coming.
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: So it's really understanding.
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: How can you help someone avoid pain?
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: Wanda helps you avoid pain by making sure you have affordable legal services and with a phone call away, I help you avoid pain by helping you find that right client, understanding how you serve them and helping them convert, so you're not feeling confused and going a million places trying to figure out how do I get clients.
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: Customers are the lifeblood of every business.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely Absolutely.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: That's a great example there.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: I appreciate you saying that.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: So, as we're winding down, because I want you to tell a little bit about how people can contact you, can you provide some tips for effective communication and relationships in building within professional networks and I think we talked about that a little bit anyway.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: So when it comes to networking, you want to listen is double amount the time that you speak.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: So when you are coming into a group of people that maybe you don't know have plans and an opening conversation, a conversation starters that will allow them to open up about what they do, so that you can listen and guide them and see could this be a good collaboration partner for me?
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: Because not everyone will be.
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: So let's not spin our wheels.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Everyone's feeling bad because you're not a good connection and let's bless that person.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Keep them in your mind for a referral in the future and then talk to someone else.
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: So I actually went to Experience Connections, pana Vigera today, first in-person meeting in Florida that I was a guest and not believe, and I loved it.
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: And I have this free app and I took selfies with everybody in the room.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: I used the roster and I put in their contact information on my app and I sent them the selfie that we took of one another and it automatically goes a little bit of information about me.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: So now I can easily follow up.
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: They will remember because they see my face.
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: My business information is on there and there's the picture of the two of us.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: For me today.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: That was my way of opening myself up to everyone who was at that meeting, but without being pushy, without really connecting with them and the right people will respond.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: That's awesome.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, diane, and we're winding down time here because I definitely will have.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: Well, we're going to have you back on again, but thank you so much for your knowledge and your support.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: But tell us a little bit.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Tell us how people can get into contact with you.
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: The best way to get me is to go to my website B-E-S-E-N social I-A-L media M-E-D-I-A dot com.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: If you go there, you'll see that you can get a free social media content calendar.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: If you go ahead and grab that free calendar, I will reach out to you and offer you a free assessment.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: If you would like me to take a look at your marketing and give you some free pointers to help you do it more effectively, then I also can help you crack your code while you're there, if you would like, and learn not only about yourself, but how to sell to other people that are just like you.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, diane, for being on our podcast.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: I really encourage people to really follow, share and like the podcast because we have so many wonderful guests on here that actually can give you a lot of tips, like what Diane gave.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: But also just go through.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: I've done several podcasts, but this is my episode.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: After the look at the episode 18 of my new series.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: I did the first series about networking collaboration.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: The second one is book collaboration and this is a collaboration and connections.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, but please make sure you follow me on WDPersonTheSociestcom and also on my YouTube.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: Please subscribe to my YouTube channel because we have the videos on there as well.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: So thank you once again, diane.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: I appreciate you coming on and you are a treasure for me because I tell you our connection and, like you said, the connection and the networking we met in networking, we connected and then we collaborate, so all of that is coming in together.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: So thank you so much once again for joining us on our podcast.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Wanda.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: You're a dream client.
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: You always do wonderful things.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: It feels so good to help people that help people.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, thank you so much.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Have a good day now.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: Bye-bye.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: Bye-bye, bye-bye.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning into this episode of Ready Set.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Collaborate.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: For more information about the host head to wdpeersonassociatescom and that's P-E-A-R-S-O-N.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Want to connect?
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Send an email to Wanda at wdpeersonassociatescom and, as always, stay tuned for the next episode of Ready Set Collaborate.