Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E52 An Interview with Chris Troka and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker

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Networking Unleashed: S1E52 An Interview with Chris Troka and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

0:16
Welcome back to another episode of Networking
0:19
Unleashed, the podcast where we turn conversations
0:22
into connections and connections into profits.
0:27
I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and today we're
0:30
diving into the future of networking, where strategy
0:33
meets technology. My guest today is a powerhouse
0:36
in client acquisition, known for helping businesses
0:40
create systems that bring in sales on autopilot.
0:45
We're taking AI automation and how to build real
0:48
lasting relationships in a digital world that's
0:52
changing by the second. If you've ever wondered
0:55
how to blend authentic networking with the power
0:58
of AI or how to make your client pipeline run
1:05
while you sleep, this episode is for you. Let's
1:09
unleash some next level strategies. Come on,
1:12
let's get into it. Hello, Chris. How are you
1:15
doing? I have Chris here today, and he helps
1:19
solopreneurs and small businesses save time,
1:23
nurture leads, and scale through smart marketing
1:27
and efficient automation. How's that, Chris?
1:30
How's that for beginning of a podcast? Michael,
1:33
you absolutely nailed it. Probably the best intro
1:35
I've ever had before. I'm stealing that if that's
1:37
okay with you. No problem. Go right ahead. So
1:41
excited to be on here. And I love both your intro
1:43
for the podcast, what it's about, because really
1:46
life and business is all about networking. It's
1:48
about making conversations into those connections
1:50
and how do we utilize those connections. So this
1:53
was my experience just from 11 years ago, starting
1:56
a wedding DJ business, being a solopreneur. Eventually
1:58
I grew and scaled a team. We became an award
2:01
winning wedding DJ service. And suddenly this
2:04
became my full -time income. I could quit my
2:06
job and just focus on that. During COVID is when
2:09
I... was finishing my degree in marketing. And
2:11
as we know, the world shut down, so we couldn't
2:13
DJ a lot of weddings. So that's when I shifted
2:15
and transitioned into starting the Automation
2:17
AI Technology Marketing Agency. It feels weird
2:20
to try to put it into a box because I always
2:23
feel like we're just helping our clients with
2:25
solving different types of problems all the time.
2:27
So we're just getting creative. But through that
2:29
experience, it's been incredible. I love nurturing
2:31
relationships, marketing, just business in general.
2:34
So I'm excited to nerd out about all that fun
2:36
stuff with you today. That's great. I love when
2:39
you have to nerd out of everything. Really, the
2:41
problems that you deal with, I think more of
2:44
the problems are outside the box. Nobody has
2:47
the same problem. There's always a little twist
2:50
on it. But let's kick things off. How has AI
2:53
changed the way professionals network and build
2:57
relationships today? Absolutely. So AI has been
3:00
an incredible tool. It's existed for quite a
3:03
few years, 10, 20 years in different forms. This
3:06
was more like computer machine learning and algorithms.
3:09
But just recently, we saw the introduction of
3:11
OpenAI's ChatGPT, and then many others followed
3:14
suit of these large language models where you
3:16
could basically ask. anything you wanted and
3:19
see what kind of result you could get. So first
3:22
it started creating copy, making conversation.
3:24
Then it was able to create websites and become
3:26
a programmer for you. And just recently OpenAI
3:29
released their updated. image generation model.
3:32
So I'm sure you've seen a bunch of people creating
3:34
fun little action figures of themselves, or maybe
3:37
a corporate professional headshot that takes
3:39
a regular picture and tosses a professional business
3:42
attire onto you. So it's been an incredible game
3:44
changer. And the way that we've seen this evolving
3:46
is now we can use AI to both engage in conversation
3:50
and personalized conversation. So now just as
3:54
an example, maybe you have a list of leads you've
3:56
been hoping to follow up on. Maybe your process
3:58
is that. You reach out to 10 people each week
4:01
and you probably go checked out. their LinkedIn
4:03
profile. Maybe you've scraped some data on them
4:05
so you can make them more personalized. What's
4:07
cool is that AI can now do this. So either through
4:09
a simple prompt or ChatGPT, you can do this manually,
4:12
or you can set up an automation system that is
4:15
now incorporating AI agents, LLM models to craft
4:18
the perfect opening sentence for your next email
4:21
and maybe even a personalized subject line. So
4:23
this is personalization at scale, which is really
4:25
cool. Something we haven't seen before. Of course,
4:28
we've had automation tools, MailChimp, CRMs that
4:31
would... allow us to scale, but nothing that
4:33
could really personalize this to this degree.
4:35
So it's an incredible way for people to now outreach,
4:38
connect with people, create meaningful conversations.
4:40
But I always recommend having that human touch
4:42
point follow up after. You generally don't want
4:45
the conversation to all be run by AI. Certain
4:48
instances it can, but if you're creating genuine
4:50
human relationships, there's a place for AI and
4:52
a place for the humans to take over as well.
4:55
Yeah, I know that there's... place in my heart,
4:59
of course, but where AI meets networking. And
5:02
you have to put that personal touch on it, that
5:05
relationship. If we were just client building,
5:08
AI could just hit it and let's go. But you have
5:11
to change it and do it. So you really have to
5:13
pay attention. But it's a good mix of both. You
5:17
specialize in client acquisition systems. How
5:21
important is networking in creating a lead generation
5:24
engine that runs on autopilot? Absolutely. As
5:28
a whole, lead nurturing is that middle of funnel.
5:31
This is how we get leads into the system after
5:34
that type of funnel strategy, right? So networking,
5:36
you're out there doing the groundwork, we need
5:39
you to be collecting those leads and then entering
5:41
them into the system. So that way the automation,
5:44
the AI can then take over to help you with those
5:46
touch points and follow up and nurturing them.
5:48
So we don't recommend people getting rid of traditional
5:52
networking. In fact, we want you to introduce
5:54
those leads into the automation and client acquisition
5:56
system. Just as a whole, it's a way for a business
5:59
owner to take a step back and really look at
6:01
how they nurture and bring value to their prospects,
6:04
leads, and clients. So we find a lot of businesses
6:07
are, unfortunately, their follow -ups sound like,
6:09
hey, are you still interested in buying or why
6:11
haven't you bought yet? As opposed to, I created
6:13
this blog post just for you because your story
6:16
reminded me of something or similar entrepreneurs
6:18
have this struggle. So it's just a clever way
6:21
where we can provide value. build and nurture
6:23
those relationships. And we use AI and automation
6:26
within this, but not to replace that human connection
6:29
and networking. We always recommend that as a
6:31
top funnel strategy as well. Outstanding. I couldn't
6:34
agree more with everything you just said. So
6:37
I really don't have anything else to say. When
6:39
someone is starting to automate their client
6:41
acquisition, what networking strategies should
6:45
they not forget to include in the process? Absolutely.
6:49
When we think of top of funnel strategies and
6:51
most people think of marketing, we think of advertising,
6:54
right? Paid ad placements, maybe Google putting
6:56
something up on Facebook. Those can be great
6:58
when you have a systematized process and really
7:01
dialed in on your audience, your offer and your
7:03
messaging. but that's a scaling that's a scaling
7:06
problem that you want to hit before you reach
7:09
that you really need a manual process that is
7:12
replicable already so you need to have some clients
7:15
in your system already you need to understand
7:17
what they're going through what their pain points
7:19
are so you can build this into a system now what's
7:21
cool is that at any time you can adjust and make
7:24
changes to your system as we do with many of
7:27
our automation email campaigns. Or I think this
7:29
process I feel like our clients are getting stuck
7:31
here. So I'm going to make this a little bit
7:32
easier. So we definitely recommend using these
7:35
automation tools, the CRMs, putting them all
7:37
together. But that type of funnel strategy It's
7:39
either getting found or get in front of the right
7:41
people. So getting found, you can either utilize
7:44
YouTube channels, social media, and search engine
7:47
optimization. So that way you're showing up for
7:49
the right keywords. People are researching solutions
7:51
to their problem. And if you happen to show up
7:54
and present yourself well with the solution,
7:56
now there are. they are pre -warmed and ready
7:59
potentially for that next step for you. But getting
8:01
in front of the right people can include networking.
8:03
It can include cold to warm direct messages with
8:06
a lot of individuals and businesses. Again, I
8:08
feel like if you focus on serving over selling,
8:11
you can easily find ways to provide value and
8:14
then nurture that relationship naturally. And
8:16
a lot of that can be done with AI, which is super
8:18
cool. Yeah, I always talk. Listen, I'm a public
8:21
speaker and I go coast to coast and I talk about
8:24
networking communication. But I always say, go
8:28
in with a servant's heart. Go in and say, what
8:32
can I do for you? How can I make you more successful?
8:37
And without even telling them what I do, that's
8:40
what I want to do. So that should be the beginning
8:44
of everything. You can use AI afterwards, but
8:46
after you get the feeling for the people, for
8:49
the person, then introduce AI. So it's a good
8:52
mix. It's a good mix. How can business owners
8:56
strike a balance between human connection automation
8:59
in today's AI -driven world? We just talked about
9:03
that a little bit. Absolutely. And it's something
9:06
important that we dive a bit deeper into because
9:08
I feel like today in 2025, we're almost bombarded
9:11
with AI. AI is now creating songs. AI is creating
9:14
images. It's taking a lot of the creative outlets
9:17
that we wanted. Originally, we wanted AI and
9:20
robots to do the laundry, maybe the dishes for
9:22
us. But instead, it's like writing songs and
9:24
poetry, the things that we wanted to do on our
9:26
free time instead. But again, trying to find
9:28
and strike this balance here. What's interesting
9:30
is I never imagined seeing AI. where it first
9:33
started and where it is today. I don't know if
9:36
you remember one of the first original AI videos
9:39
created, which was Will Smith eating spaghetti.
9:41
And it's probably the worst AI video you've ever
9:45
seen. Just very choppy. It's like they were copying
9:48
and pasting pictures of spaghetti into it, and
9:51
it just did not look natural. Fast forward two
9:53
to three years later, and this video is absolutely
9:56
incredible. So to see the evolution take place
10:00
over the years, but people need to be careful.
10:02
There are instances, like we mentioned before,
10:04
using human touchpoints that you can't really
10:07
replicate with AI just yet, or it needs that
10:09
human touchpoint that... ai just can't provide
10:12
yet but what's cool is that ai is more contextual
10:15
it's more flexible than previous automation or
10:18
reply follow -up systems before they would just
10:20
look for a generic keyword and maybe post in
10:23
a copy paste reply but today now it can have
10:26
natural more engaging conversations based on
10:29
previous conversations for example if you take
10:31
like you have an intake maybe you have a meeting
10:34
with a client just type their information into
10:36
a form here and now that ai when it provides
10:39
the follow -up three to seven days after, it
10:41
can use that previous chat as context to follow
10:44
up and say, oh, hey, you told me about this new
10:46
project you were working on. How is everything
10:48
going with that? So it's a great way to marry
10:50
those two elements together, but don't forget
10:52
that human connection element that needs to exist.
10:55
Absolutely. Yeah. You need that initial. natural
10:59
element just to say hello. AI can't introduce
11:03
you. On the computer, they can introduce you.
11:05
But you can't feel the vibe. Chris and I can't
11:08
go to a meeting and I can't feel the vibe of
11:11
Chris or the room and have that unique feeling.
11:15
And you pick up a lot of things from that. And
11:18
I can say, you know what, Chris, this is working
11:21
out. I'm going to go to another table and go
11:23
to another table. But in essence, it's really
11:26
that. natural feeling that AI, as of right now,
11:31
can't introduce. Totally agree. Absolutely. Can
11:37
you walk us through how a strong personal network
11:39
fuels or enhances automated sales pipeline? Absolutely.
11:45
Once you're trying to put yourself out there
11:46
and get your name out there, you start to create
11:48
these instances and examples of, okay, this is
11:51
my new process. This is who I'm helping. This
11:53
is how I help them. And these are the main pain
11:55
points they have. So it's kind of as you expand
11:57
your network and you start to learn a bit more,
11:59
you become more in tune with some of the problems
12:01
that they're experiencing, where they go to research
12:04
solutions to their problems. Where do these people
12:06
hang out? and have these conversations. So it's
12:09
just bringing this all together. So that way
12:11
you can, that way you can grow and scale your
12:13
business through, through that top of funnel
12:15
strategy. The more people you have knowing about
12:18
you and liking you, suddenly you can create some
12:20
brand promoters. These people are basically advertising
12:22
you for free and probably the best, best pre
12:25
-warmed lead other than search engine optimization
12:28
is going to be a personal referral, right? There's
12:30
less selling involved. People have already been
12:33
hyped up about who you are and how you help them.
12:36
So there's less barriers. It's less of a cold
12:38
introduction and it's way more warm. So now it's
12:40
much easier to build that relationship. But then
12:43
using that information, you can feed that into
12:45
your AI, into your LLM, into your CRM. So that
12:48
way it can. adjust itself based on maybe your
12:52
selling style, maybe your conversational style.
12:55
The best way to get a better output is to provide
12:57
examples to your LLM. So if you can provide past
13:01
blog posts that you've made, it can create a
13:03
better blog post. If you provide conversations
13:05
that you've had directly with clients, it can
13:07
better imitate and replicate your personal conversation
13:10
style. So this is a great way that we can use
13:12
kind of these top of funnel, mix them through
13:14
the community and just networking events, and
13:17
then build our better business. In the networking
13:20
world, there's a mantra. If they know you, if
13:24
they like you, if they trust you, they'll do
13:27
business with you. Right? So know you. Listen,
13:31
I know you. And we can know each other by Zoom.
13:35
But like us? No, that narrows the scope down
13:39
just a little bit. All right? And now trust,
13:42
that's the unlimiting factor. element of trust,
13:46
you can't get through Zoom. You can't get through
13:49
something else. You have to go there in person.
13:51
So know you like you, trust you, and then they
13:54
will begin to do business with you. Because you
13:56
know what? Nobody's going to do business with
13:58
you if they don't trust you. Okay? So now tell
14:02
me, Chris, now, before I finish with a few more
14:05
of my questions, you were successful. You were
14:10
successful as a DJ and successful now with AI.
14:15
Give me an idea. Give me what mistake you made
14:18
and how you overcame it. Absolutely. So throughout
14:22
business, plenty of mistakes, but through those
14:25
mistakes, those are all lessons that we can learn.
14:27
One of the biggest mistakes that I've made is
14:29
waiting too long, procrastinating with the idea
14:33
that I need to make it perfect before I launch,
14:36
or I really need some more insight, or I need
14:37
to watch one more video. I need to read one more
14:40
book from the bookshelf to really dial in what
14:42
I need to do. No, although that needs to get
14:44
thrown out the window, action is what is going
14:47
to create the end result for you. So without
14:50
the action, it's just an idea. People have plenty
14:52
of ideas and dreams that they want to implement
14:54
into business. Oftentimes, it's the execution
14:57
that is lacking. Now, I would rather see imperfect
15:00
action instead of not doing anything at all,
15:04
waiting for something to be absolutely perfect.
15:06
Because these things you learn through these
15:08
hands -on experience, you can't learn that. by
15:11
not acting on it yet. You can always update and
15:14
change things as you go along. So I definitely
15:16
promote people take action. Don't wait. This
15:19
was a mistake I made. The further you can hit
15:21
the ground running, the more hands -on experience
15:23
you'll get. And you can always adjust as you
15:25
go along. It doesn't have to be perfect. And
15:28
that's so right. When I tell people who are really
15:31
afraid to go out there and start networking,
15:34
the first thing I say is, just do it. Just go
15:36
out there and network. And listen, between you
15:39
and I, don't worry, because I know you're going
15:40
to suck. It's going to be horrible. You're going
15:43
to fall flat on your face. But the next time,
15:46
you're going to make a few less mistakes. And
15:50
then the third time, you can be a little bit
15:51
better. And a fourth time, you know what? Hey,
15:54
this is fun. I'm going to go out and try it.
15:57
You have to go through the first three times
15:58
before you get to that little bit of enjoyment.
16:02
I agree. But I think it takes the pressure off
16:05
them, too, when you just say, go get it. Don't
16:06
worry about it. You're going to fail. Hey, you
16:08
know what? Later down the road, it'll get better
16:10
and you'll improve. Look, you will fail. You're
16:14
going to suck. It's going to be horrible. Get
16:16
over it. And that's one thing you have to do
16:18
about getting over yourself. And another thing
16:21
is that will help build your confidence. So,
16:24
you know, the more confident you are, the better
16:26
you're going to be. Surprisingly motivational.
16:29
That's excellent. You're going to fail and it's
16:33
going to be great. I feel good about that. That's
16:35
right. You feel really good about that. What
16:37
role does trust and credibility play when you're
16:41
leveraging AI tools in networking or client acquisition
16:45
strategy? It's a great question. Trust and credibility
16:49
factor is huge. I'll be honest, most people don't
16:52
trust AI. Many people don't even know what AI
16:54
is or what it's capable of. So we can't trust
16:57
what we don't know. And if people are having
16:59
a... difficult time understanding or grasping
17:02
how impactful or positive it can be, or if we're
17:05
only looking at just the negatives. It's kind
17:07
of like, would I be afraid to ever fly a plane
17:09
if all I knew was plane crashes? But if you look
17:12
at statistics, say, okay, wow, probably the safest
17:15
form of travel. It's going to get me there quicker.
17:17
So I feel like AI is kind of like the plane of
17:19
modern technology now. So it's just another tool
17:22
in our toolbox that we can use to go a bit further,
17:25
a bit faster. But the trust and credibility factor,
17:28
you really, I don't know how AI and technology
17:31
incorporate specifically to that because the
17:34
trust and credibility, this is how you present
17:36
yourself. The words that you say, if you're just
17:38
a good natural person, I feel like people will
17:40
connect and resonate with that. And there's no
17:42
way that AI could really, AI can't make you a
17:44
good person. So it can make you a better copywriter.
17:47
It can make you a better programmer. It can teach
17:48
you a lot of things, but for you at the foundational
17:51
level, it really can't. change who you are, right?
17:55
That trust factor, that credibility. If you're
17:57
not trustworthy, if you don't follow through
17:58
on your promises and your word, people aren't
18:01
going to trust you going forward. But what's
18:03
cool is that the AI automation piece can help
18:05
you become more trustworthy in the way that...
18:07
If you're able to systematize your follow -up
18:09
process, now you have more time to be able to
18:12
follow up with your clients, to dive in deeper
18:14
into specific questions, to give them more attention
18:17
to detail as opposed to not having it at all.
18:20
So I feel like that's a great way they can help
18:21
build the trust and credibility aspect. But again,
18:24
you as a person, you need to put yourself out
18:26
there to build that trust. And you said so many
18:29
things that were good points that I didn't know
18:32
where to start, but where to comment. AI is a
18:35
tool. It's a tool in your belt and take it out
18:38
when you need it. And I personally have found
18:40
AI to be great. It'll free up some of my time
18:44
so I can delve a little bit further into my clients
18:48
and I can help them just that much more because
18:50
I have more time to do that. I love that. How
18:53
do you recommend using AI to stay top of mind
18:57
with connections without coming off as robotic
19:00
or salesy? Absolutely. So that natural relationship
19:04
building, I think, again, goes back to what we
19:06
discussed a little bit earlier is just the serving
19:08
over selling. When we focus on serving, this
19:11
becomes a value add. It becomes conversational.
19:14
When we're focused on selling, it comes off as
19:17
desperation. It's like, I have nothing of value
19:19
to bring to you, but I just wanted to check in.
19:21
So there's a couple of ways you can now use AI
19:23
for this. The systems that we create with AI
19:25
agents, they replicate what a person on your
19:28
sales team might do or a person in your customer
19:30
service department might do. you can preset specific
19:33
follow -up dates. I want you to follow up twice
19:36
in the first week. I want you to follow up once
19:38
in the next two weeks and then maybe a final
19:41
check -in at this point. During those points,
19:44
you can feed your AI LLM different blog posts
19:47
and content that you have that bring value to
19:50
their journey that help nurture them. And so
19:53
we can now create these AI agents that follow
19:55
up with more natural conversation specific to
19:58
that client based on the contextual conversations
20:01
that you've had, as opposed to pre -written automated
20:05
email that is written for everybody, right? I
20:07
find myself doing this with my automated email
20:10
follow -ups is it sounds like it's for everybody,
20:12
right? So you can find different ways to marry
20:15
that together. Take your regular template, put
20:18
that at the bottom. You have words that the phrasing
20:21
and how it's put that you don't want to change.
20:23
What I change is have AI craft the first two
20:26
sentences of your email and possibly the subject.
20:28
So once you have that little bit of opener, that's
20:31
how you make it sound more personalized. This
20:33
was written for me. And then the rest of the
20:35
email can then continue on into the rest of your
20:37
lead nurturing strategy. So I feel like combining
20:40
those two methods is a great way to not come
20:42
off too salesy, but be more conversational with
20:45
people. It's almost exactly how I use AI in my
20:50
emails. You're using it. I don't believe it.
20:54
You're telling them exactly what I do. I didn't
20:58
mean to give away the secrets here, but how has
21:00
it been for you? How have you seen that change
21:02
with your typical pre -templated email versus
21:05
the more contextual follow -up? The emails, it
21:08
has been crafted because it sounds like me. Okay,
21:13
so it sounds like I'm responding to their email,
21:16
but my follow -up, my secret sauce, I'll say,
21:19
is a little bit more in -depth than what you
21:24
just described and a little bit more often. But
21:28
I actually can change your follow -up to get
21:33
it from a 2 % response rate to about a 75%. Holy
21:38
cow. Yeah, it's incredible. But the response
21:42
rate, when I say response rate, it's just to
21:44
have them give you a feedback. Positive or negative,
21:48
that's feedback. But that's all that I'm asking.
21:51
It's a positive or negative. And it's about 75%.
21:54
So about 75 % of the time, you're getting feedback,
21:58
which is really good. And that I teach all of
22:01
my clients. That, when I do a workshop or something
22:05
else, this is what I'm teaching them. I've gotten
22:08
so many emails back saying, oh my God, Michael,
22:11
this is fantastic. Why haven't I done this before?
22:15
I said, because you didn't know me before. So
22:18
let me finish out these two. Tell us about a
22:21
time when networking opened the door to a major
22:24
opportunity and how you use tech to scale that
22:28
relationship. Absolutely. So a couple examples
22:31
here. One was just in -person networking. I joined
22:34
a local networking group. So this was just hang
22:36
out, have a cigar, maybe some drinks, your classic
22:39
networking group. From that, I was able to get
22:42
these new relationships that people were now
22:44
promoting my services. I was able to get one
22:47
client and one referral just from this networking
22:49
group. Now, it did take over a year. for this
22:53
relationship to form. But I think most of us
22:55
know in the B2B world, it can take eight to 15
22:57
months plus for someone to finally make a purchase
23:00
decision for your product or your service. But
23:02
this is a great example of just in -person networking.
23:05
put a proposal out there, let people know who
23:07
you're about. And when the time is ready, when
23:09
they feel like it's right, they can come around
23:11
back to you to sign up for your services. And
23:14
that has then led me into becoming a subcommittee
23:17
for a board member on a nonprofit that helps
23:20
with mental health. So that's been a great way
23:22
for me to feel like I'm doing marketing for something
23:25
good and to show how impactful that could be.
23:28
That gave me the confidence to then make a post
23:30
in a Facebook group about. being available as
23:33
a guest for podcasts. Suddenly a doctor from
23:36
a nonprofit summit reached out and said, you
23:40
sound like a great guest. You can provide a lot
23:41
of value. Would you be interested in speaking
23:43
at a virtual summit coming up in April? It's
23:45
actually this week here in April 25. So I was
23:48
like, wow, that's incredible. So this one little
23:51
opportunity that led me into some sort of interest
23:53
for continuing nonprofit work. turned into a
23:57
Facebook post that turned into a relationship
23:59
that now we're following up. So now we swap podcasts.
24:02
We're helping build and nurture each other with
24:04
our systems and relationships. So now I'm using
24:08
that as a template. How do I follow up naturally
24:10
after I meet someone in person? I created a form
24:13
and a button that gives me that context that
24:16
provides that nurturing relationship follow -up.
24:18
And then once I have more examples of working
24:20
with the nonprofits directly, I can then create
24:22
a system and template for that. So that way I
24:25
don't have to manually be doing it, but I need
24:26
that personal conversation first to know how
24:29
the conversation might go until I hand it off
24:31
to an employee or an AI. And I think you need
24:35
not the one person, but two or three. So you
24:38
get a better idea of it and then you can hand
24:41
it off and everything else. But yeah, but AI
24:43
is a tool that you're using. And that was a great
24:47
idea with Facebook, by the way, to get that.
24:50
I may have to use that. Please do. Please do.
24:53
Knowledge is power. We share it. That's right.
24:56
That's right. All right. So let's bring this
24:58
conversation full circle. Looking ahead, where
25:01
do you see the biggest opportunities for professionals
25:04
who want to build strong networks and leverage
25:08
technology for growth? Absolutely. So I think
25:11
AI and technology right now is allowing us to
25:14
produce more and go faster than we could before.
25:17
So this just means you're able to do more networking
25:19
events without having to be stuck in doing admin
25:22
work. You're able to make more attempts to outreach.
25:25
And again, like you said, improve the reply rate.
25:27
I see a lot of people, they focus on, hey, book
25:30
a meeting or do this next step when really we
25:33
just need. conversation. One, we want to confirm
25:36
that it's a real email address. Is there a real
25:38
person? And like you said, the positive or negative
25:40
reply, we just use that information to help build
25:42
and nurture. So overall, it saved me tons of
25:45
time. This has allowed me to grow a six figure
25:48
plus wedding DJ business with a team of DJs and
25:51
not feel like I'm constantly coming up for air,
25:54
like I'm drowning. This just allowed me to create
25:57
systems and templates that I use to run my business.
26:00
I use that experience then to move that into
26:02
the automation agency as well. So all of the
26:05
efforts that I've been running for 10 years with
26:07
marketing and search engine optimization and
26:09
processes, I use all that experience into the
26:12
agency and then therefore my clients as well.
26:15
So one of our clients, a dentist, she's a B2C.
26:19
her get six to eight new patients per month.
26:21
So we solve different problems as they come.
26:23
Once you got too many patients, then she was
26:26
like, okay, maybe we need to pre -qualify them
26:27
a little bit more. Or how do we follow up with
26:29
them? Because maybe the show up rate is lower
26:32
than other channels. So this is just about providing
26:35
solutions to problems that they have. So as long
26:37
as you're someone who can think outside the box,
26:39
think creatively, you're able to provide value
26:42
for others. So that's what I focus on. That's
26:44
how I'm using AI and technology. to help me build
26:47
my business better and help others as well. Chris,
26:50
that's great. And I feel as though I could talk
26:53
to you for two more hours. All right. Cause that's,
26:56
I really feel that we have a kindred, a little
26:59
kinship here. If somebody wants to get hold of
27:03
you for a number of reasons, how can they get
27:06
hold of you? Of course, people can Google my
27:09
name, Chris Troka, T -R -O -K -A. Otherwise,
27:12
people can visit my website, christroka .com
27:14
or focus -biz .com. That's great. Chris, it was
27:18
a pleasure speaking with you, and I'm sure we'll
27:21
talk soon. Sounds great, Michael. Thanks for
27:23
everything. I appreciate it. Well, hold on, folks.
27:27
Don't go anywhere. Let me just read a few of
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-U -P -K -I -D -S dot org. Well, that's a wrap,
28:45
folks. A huge thank you to our special guest
28:48
for sharing such incredible insights today. And
28:51
of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing
28:55
listeners, for tuning in and spending your time
28:58
with us. Remember, networking isn't about being
29:01
perfect. It's about being present. So take what
29:05
you've learned today, get out there and make
29:07
some meaningful connections. If you enjoyed this
29:10
episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave us
29:13
a review, and share it with someone who could
29:16
use a little networking inspiration. Let's keep
29:19
the conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
29:23
Spotify, YouTube, or my website, Michael. Remember,
29:28
until next time, keep practicing, keep connecting,
29:32
and keep building those relationships. This is
29:35
Michael signing off. Take care and happy networking.