Episodes of Wait What Really OK, the brand communications and optics podcast hosted by Loren Weisman. Messaging, optics, vetting, compliance, liability, artificial intelligence and authorship, in his own voice and dated. Every episode page is listed on the podcast page, newest first, and the written transcriptions sit alongside them.
Music Business ghost drumming. Being a ghost in the machine is the title of The Brand Communications and Optics Podcast Wait What Really OK S6.E09.N112 hosted by Loren Weisman who was a former ghost drummer at one time.
Music business ghost drumming? Yup.
Music business ghost drumming occurred very often as well as a number of other session players that were paid to track parts, be silent and have another name credited on a song or album.
On a completely different level, these ghost players not only served to help the recording, but they also served to help the messaging, the brand and the optics of the band or artist.
It took humility and it took honor. It is hard to have a whole bunch of people asking you to prove your work., For others, friends would play the guessing game. I would just stick with the, I can not confirm or deny and leave left it at that.
A centered graphic with the episode cover over the background of a recording studio.
There was also the nasty side of it. Walking in to a toxic zone where someone had been told they were not going to play on the track or album. Then you are the one showing up to do the work and while the producer, engineer and label people are happy to see you, there was some pretty raw feelings coming from the band.
In most cases for most session artists, it as never about trying to take the gig away. It was a one time job. Many session players and ghost players had that duality of being creative but also clearly understanding the music business is a business.
A recording studio int he background with 40 podcast site icons and the podcast episode graphic in the center.
Not being credited on the album did not mean you were not getting credit and building your resume.
The producers, studios, and labels were quick to learn about and keep names on files of those that could handle the work and keep their mouths shut.
Listen to the Music business ghost drumming episode here on Pandora
Your mistakes arent learning experiences if you arent learning from them.
Being a ghost in the machine.
And I noticed in replacing some of the players that just played it off like it was a simple mistake and not a big deal… that I would some times be called back for the next album under the same circumstances. It was a common occurrence of arrogance that tied to motivation. Artists making excuses for mistakes as learning experiences and yet they never learned a thing from the last time.
Your mistakes aren’t learning experiences if you aren’t learning from them.
It was a challenge and yet at the same time, some of the best times of my career. In this podcast, I dig into the concepts of music business ghost drumming, but also how many musicians served as a ghost in the machine.
I also try to dispel some of the negative connotations and how in some ways, the ghost session players can relate well to messaging and the optics of today.
An image with a drumset in a large room with the text Wait What Really OK and the cover graphic of the Wait What Really OK in the right upper corner.
Brand Communications and Optics Podcast Music Credits 1:
Opening Theme Song
“Fully Licensed Wait What Really Ok Theme Song” by RKVC.
Copyright 2016 eMbloh Music (ASCAP)/ Cienzo Music (BMI).
Administered by Ass Backwards Music (ASCAP)/Bass Ackwards Music (BMI)
RKVC Website
*
Brand Communications and Optics Podcast Music Credits 2:
Closing Theme Song
“News and Information Podcast Percussion Outro” by Doug Hinrichs.
Copyright 2016 Dig And Be Dug Music (BMI).
Administered by Bass Ackwards Music (BMI).
Doug Hinrichs Website
*
Loren Weisman is a Brand Communications and Optics Strategist focused on building truthful, transparent messaging and optics foundations so authoritative experts and organizations can stand out authentically in competitive landscapes. His methodology centers on strategic blueprinting before marketing, aligning brand strategy, messaging refinement, communication optimization, crisis communication and optics, and digital media/marketing strategy to create clear, uniform, and effective presence. His background includes participation on 700+ albums as a drummer and producer, TV production credits with ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, and TLC, and authorship of Music Business for Dummies and The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business.
Messaging Strategist Loren Weisman on success books. Looking at the issues, the contradictions, the over saturation, the scams and even some of the good that come from this genre that is pumping out new books everyday.
S7.E3.N116 Messaging Strategist Loren Weisman on success books….
take a deep dive in to a world of literature where the quantity outweighs the quality and where even the term author has seen a reduction in authority.
Success is a very personal and at the same time very subjective term. It is also an addictive one. So many have chased the ideas of success through motivation, inspiration and any success story that can allow someone to emulate or copy it for the same result or better.
One of the problems is that every path to success has many different factors and metrics to it. Many also do not fully understand the extent or involvement of others that allowed that success to happen too. Is their message clear and honed in? Is your message clear too?
Messaging Strategist Loren Weisman digs into the books further… inviting people to double check and vet the authors…
And one of the biggest problems is the author of the success book that has had no success whatsoever. They took the business guy courses, the life coaching courses and downloaded a pre written success book, added a few stories and published it as their own.
It is the responsibility of the reader or the potential reader to vet the material, the stories, the facts and the validity. Still, so many claims, so many promises, so many saying what others want to hear… the business of writing business success books has become an amazing stream to draw revenue from. But at the same time, it is a dried up well when it comes to the morals, authority and authenticity of what is being shared ethically and professionally.
Season 7. Episode 3. Number 116 of the Wait What Really OK Podcast is called Messaging Strategist Loren Weisman on Success Books.
*
Podcast Listening Links:
PandoraAmazon MusiciHeartApple PodcastsSpotifySpreakerTuneInCastboxPodcast Addict
*
Messaging and Optics Podcast Music Credits 1:
Opening Theme Song
“Fully Licensed Wait What Really Ok Theme Song” by RKVC.
Copyright 2016 eMbloh Music (ASCAP)/ Cienzo Music (BMI).
Administered by Ass Backwards Music (ASCAP)/Bass Ackwards Music (BMI)
RKVC Website
*
Messaging and Optics Podcast Music Credits 2:
Closing Theme Song
“News and Information Podcast Percussion Outro” by Doug Hinrichs.
Copyright 2016 Dig And Be Dug Music (BMI).
Administered by Bass Ackwards Music (BMI).
Doug Hinrichs Website
Messaging Before Marketing Transcription Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Messaging Before Marketing
01:07 Common Marketing Problems & Pitfalls
02:41 Why Marketing Hurts Brands Without Messaging
04:19 Building a Strong Messaging Foundation
06:48 Authenticity in Brand Messaging Strategy
08:30 Maintaining Messaging Integrity Across Platforms
10:03 Steps to Create Effective Messaging Plans
12:55 Avoiding Marketing Hype & Assumptions
15:14 Aligning Messaging with Business Goals
17:28 Compliance & Security in Brand Messaging
19:10 Engaging Audiences with Authentic Content
21:30 Messaging as a Strategic Branding Tool
24:36 Final Thoughts on Messaging before marketing
Song: Wait What Really Really Ok with your host, Loren Weisman. This is a fully licensed theme song for the show about stuff that makes you say Wait What Really Really Ok.
Loren: Hi, this is Loren Weisman. This is the Wait What Really Really Ok. Podcast, a brand messaging podcast. And today I’m talking about the concept of messaging before marketing.
Messaging before marketing, to create a sound foundation before you go to advertising, before you go to PR and before you go to marketing. I’m going to identify, and it’s not every single marketing agency, but I’m going to identify a very common, very high percentage of marketers that showcase a problem that end up hurting and harming many businesses, entrepreneurs, products, startups and even establishing establish businesses.
And then I’m going to go into a concept and an idea to consider when it comes to your messaging, that it might even be time right now, if you can, to put the brakes on a marketing campaign, to put the brakes on marketing as a whole and make sure that your messaging and the messaging palette for your business, your brand, your product, your service is there, it’s sound, it’s laid out and then the restart, the reset, re-ignition of marketing to work with maybe who you were working with already or finding the people that can market and stay on point, resonating, stay with the foundation of what you’ve created.
So in breaking this down in a couple parts, the first part is the problem. I’m going to run through some things that you might be experiencing or maybe you’ve even been questioning. There are a lot of businesses that find themselves deep into a marketing deal, deep in with a pr, a publicist, an advertising plan, and it just doesn’t feel right to them. And then they continue to move on with it because they get a lot of hearsay and they get a lot of information about, oh, we just need to do this. Oh, it takes time.
Yes, marketing does take time, but is it taking too much time? And is this marketing company person, whoever, making it almost like it’s going to take that much longer, that it’s going to be that much more challenging or at the same time harming your brand, your messaging or what you’ve created in the first place?
Messaging Before Marketing Transcription Continued:
Then I’m going to go into a couple different ideas to keep in mind to put in check, to say, do I have these things in place? And maybe they might be there on the tip of your tongue. Maybe it’s not an entire, you know, revamp.
In some cases it can be, but maybe it’s not an entire revamp. And some of the things that are just so obvious to you, adding that to your messaging, getting away from the assumptions, getting away from the issues of what you think you’re supposed to be doing, according to a lot of these hype, popular professionals that don’t necessarily know what they’re talking about has pushed your authenticity and your authority to the side.
I believe, I hope that in some of these words that they reignite words in your mind that maybe you just put to the side saying, well, I don’t need this. Maybe you do and maybe it’s right there. And then lastly, the sort of checklist, if you will, of some things to hit before you go to marketing.
And then when you go to marketing or you go to a marketing person, whether it’s online, whether it’s physical, a mix of both a publicist that you are in tune and resonating with them and understand what they’re doing with you, not necessarily what they’re doing for you. Because sometimes when you’re unaware, your reputation online can be harmed by the static template, overly hyped, spamming marketers that are doing you more harm than good. So first, let’s identify.
I call them the four A’s.
I’m not big into the whole acronyms and this and that, but here are the four A’s. Are you marketing or is somebody marketing you in authenticity and authority? Or are they marketing in the other two A’s? Assumptions and arrogance.
And many companies, many brands, they’re pushing through to marketing companies in assumptions and in arrogance. And sometimes the intention isn’t even there. The individual is saying, well, this is what we have. This is the best thing in the world. Would you want to hear somebody else say that? Could you say this is the best in front of 10 high level, relatable, comparative, competitive businesses?
It’s not losing your confidence, but it’s removing the arrogance and being as inviting and engaging to those that may be competing with you. Because there’s plenty of room in all these markets as those that you’re trying to capture. It’s hard to make mention of that right now when you’ve got so much negativity around different political campaigns where it’s, I don’t want you to vote for this person because they did this, or, you know, they’re naming out things and sometimes they’re legitimate.
Messaging Before Marketing Transcription Continued:
But it goes so incredibly negative. And even if you’re in politics, maybe it’s time to go more toward that authenticity and not come off with that arrogance still here. When you have the messaging and maybe even differentiating some marketing People say, oh, we do the messaging. What are they doing in the research of the messaging?
That’s where the number one problem I find lays. They want to look for a bio, they want to look for a poster, they want to look for a template. They want to fit you into a box so they can get to the part where they’re pushing you out via online ads, via content, via areas where, in the end, for many of these people, this is where they’re making the bulk of their money.
This creative standpoint for marketing agencies, it costs them too much. They don’t want to spend a lot of time there because they’re not making the revenues that they want. They can make a lot more money in automating a marketing campaign. And again, this is not everyone.
There are some legitimate, authentic, you know, they have integrity, they have morals, but they’re also limited and they’re a rare find. You find a lot of people, you find a lot of organizations. They just want to push and they want to get to that point. So the messaging isn’t that important.
And because it’s not that important, here’s the new tagline. What if that Tagline belongs to 20 other people? Here’s the new pitch that we’re going to do. Oh, we all loved it in this room. Okay. Everybody in the room love to pitch. How about, is that pitch similar to something else? Does it have negative connotations? Does it compare?
Does it compete with another one? Is the timing of that pitch really. Is the wording in that going to resonate? Or is it hitting with something you really don’t want to touch on?
These are some of the psychological, the strategic, and the fundamental foundational aspects that are oftentimes skipped in those marketers that claim, oh, we’ll knock out the bio. And yes, that bio can look good and it can be great and it can be in English and it might have better grammar than I write.
Still, in writing that and keeping in this closed door of marketing, the intention that you have and then aligning the intentions with a marketing agency without looking at the perceptions and all the other elements inside of an audience that’s receiving spam and advertising and marketing every day on everything, without those considerations, in some ways, you’re flying a little blind. Now, here’s some elements, and jot these down.
If, if it’s of any help. Are you identifying, auditing, and reviewing these three sections, these core discovery elements of your brand? And sometimes it may be time to get somebody else to look at. Maybe you’re too close, but you’re identifying the pros, the cons. Are you identifying the aspects and understanding the actions that have been taken to date and the mistakes that you’re not trying to shove under the rug, but recognize and see? What are we doing with these? How are we handling these?
As challenging as it can be from businesses to relationships to anything else, if we ground ourselves in the respect…
All of that comes in a great level of humility that gives information that can help, that can create the right message, that can create the right brand. And it’s not just reviewing for right now, next week, next month, it’s looking across and the next three, the core timeframes. Are you looking where you are in the present? Call it the utopian, the past, the traditional and the plan for the future. The existential.
Is your messaging in what you’re putting out, the shockwave you send out in the moment. Is that being looked at from where you came from and where things are going next? When you’re looking at the trifecta of a timeline, that consideration can be so incredibly helpful to the uniformity of your messaging.
And your messaging will change, it will shift, it will alter, things will move. But when the root and the foundation of the brand and the brand messaging and the core foundation is locked in place, then you move, you switch, you swivel, you change.
Maybe the blueprints are slightly altered for this floor, but your foundation was laid with the consideration that things would change. So it doesn’t send the entire building crumbling down. Now, the operational touch points of your messaging and even this messaging. Remember, messaging is not just the words. It’s not the bio, it’s not the cell.
It’s the messaging inside of the operational aspects of what you have, the protective, the secure aspects, the compliant aspects. Let’s look into the world of cbd. Look into the world of cannabis, thc.
Messaging Before Marketing Transcription Continued:
Look into the world right now of vaccines, different health things, how you can make claims, how things can be mistaken, misunderstood and they can come back to visit you later to create more problems.
One of the roots of foundational messaging in the compliance and the protection and the security is that element of the messaging. From the look to the feel to not only the words that are going out to the public, but the documentation from the non disclosure agreements, the confidentiality agreements.
Your messaging is bigger than marketing and knowing how you’re protected in that protection too, in how you’re protected, it can allow an investor, a sponsor, a partner to feel that much more safe to get involved with you or to gift you something or donate or invest.
That’s the messaging. That’s where it goes in to the security, it goes into the Compliance, it’s not just what you’re putting out there to the world, it’s what you have going on behind closed doors. Is your brand, your brand messaging.
The messaging that you’re putting out, the messaging internally in the company, the, the privacy, the security, the compliance, is that all set in a solid foundation that can be trusted? If it’s not, it’s going to make it, it’s going to make problems for the, the marketing, messaging and everything else that you put out.
People look, look at it from a campaign standpoint, come a circle back around to politics. How much is cleaned up in your foundation and what is prepared for if somebody is going to come at you. And there are many people that are specifically doing that. They’re attacking companies, they’re attacking products, they’re attacking brands.
People say, I don’t need these documents. We’ll deal with that later. Different companies that are sending things themselves that don’t necessarily have the liability and the delivery and return coverage of Amazon, those are spotlighted by people. They want to get a bad package, they want to insert something into it, they want to set up for a lawsuit.
You have people out there that are looking to destroy you. It’s not being overly negative, it’s not a conspiracy theory. There are specifically people out there that are thinking the best way to make money for them is to attack somebody else that can showcase a weakness. And when they identify that weakness, they’re coming after you.
And it’s not saying that you have to be perfectly strong and your foundation has to be completely done. But having that blueprint, that messaging in place before you go to marketing can set you up to be that much more secure, that much more sound and that much more strong.
Messaging Before Marketing Transcription Continued:
Looking over the methodology, the morals, and not just here are our core values. I don’t care. And many people don’t care about your core values. And this is the difference between words and messaging. Is your messaging standing in authenticity, in integrity, in intelligence?
And is that integrity, intelligence, performing across all your internal documents, your external documents, your marketing, your messaging, your advertising, your branding, when it is now you’re harmonizing in a way that’s going to be a lot more challenging to attack and at the same time, in a way that can build trust so much more organically and authentically than going to some spam campaign.
Let’s say, well, we’re going to try this and then we’re going to do this massive ad campaign, we’re just going to push here. And then, well, nothing came from it. We’ll try this differently, I like to see. And this is a very specific example, but it’s amazing to me where people will push a massive online ad and they push it everywhere. They don’t test individual markets.
Why not take that time to say, hey, I’m going to push something out in the Southwest, maybe San Diego, I’m going to do it for a week and then I’m going to try some other campaign and then I’ll do something up in Boston, the Northeast, maybe I’ll do something down in Orlando and then go up to Seattle. These small little tests. And this is a different element that comes with the metrics.
And understand also, though, let’s hit with the metrics right now. Somebody explaining when it’s time to post. Wrong answer. So, yeah, when is the best time to post? There is no best time to post. There is no best ad. Yes, certain things begin to see conversion and results. But then there’s a series of metrics that may not relate to you whatsoever.
For example, if you were to go to a local radio station, a small market, and they sit there and then their references say, well, Kia advertises with us, okay? And let’s say you’re, I don’t know, you make business cards locally. So you’re doing business cards and printing.
And here’s Kia, you have a small mom and pop shop. They are an international brand. You have a very limited amount of marketing money to spend. They’re spending on local radio, national radio, satellite, they’re spending on tv, they’re spending on print. So when they come back and say, oh, they’re great, and we really love our, our engagement with this particular radio station, are you really getting the metrics to make the best decisions for yourself?
And yes, there’ll be people that come back and state, oh, it’s amazing. And these people heard me on the radio. I would rather smaller businesses look to their comparative and their competitives and seeing where that marketing worked and where that messaging worked.
Because oftentimes it’s a lot more about the authenticity and the authority over just slamming and spamming people. This again is why the messaging is so crucial and why inside of marketing campaigns that continue to fail and that continue to cost more, it’s because the messaging was not secure enough to begin to spend and it’s going to take time and it’s going to cost.
Marketing ends up costing. But inside of planning that messaging and having that blueprint, it will cost less. It will take less. It’s still a long game. It’s not a race.
Everyone says you know, it’s a marathon. But getting away from, I call them the myths of opportunity. People see this myth of I’m just going to advertise here, or this person’s going to say this or this one thing, or I’m just going to put all my eggs in one basket.
Messaging Before Marketing Transcription Continued:
That idea. But setting up that foundation basket of your messaging, figuring out from and circling back around the morals, not just the values that you have or stating the values that you have, but getting content out that supports it.
So I don’t, like I said before, I don’t care about your core values. Tell me one of the reasons why you started this business, why you do what you do. And it shouldn’t be that it’s going to take me to get to a website and it’s going to take all this time to find that out or to actually sit down with you.
What if it came to a point where I could find a video and it talks a little and it’s on YouTube and it’s been shared through social media?
Maybe it doesn’t have all the views in the world, but the people that are getting to it and seeing it really get a sense of what your values are, what your morals are, what your approach is, what your methodology is.
Many times in marketing, and it’s interesting to me and it’s, it’s scary at the same time, so many of these certified life coach programs, certified business expert programs, they’re spending 5% of their time on templates that they want you to learn.
And they spend up to Some up to 95% of the time explaining how to market. And in that marketing, they’re sharing fear tactics, spam tactics, ways to dig in, psychological approaches.
Messaging Before Marketing Transcription Continued:
It’s a common place. It’s 5% authority, 95% going after popularity. So in your authority, inside of your authenticity, bring in the messaging and the support systems and the arms and the branches of that messaging that will be so clear for everyone else. It’s not setting up the Facebook page or the Twitter page and say, come like me here.
It’s inside of messaging. After you have the fundamentals, after you’ve covered and you’ve reviewed these elements, you’re looking at the past, the present, the future. You’re looking at the methodology, the morals, the materials, the metrics, what you’re doing, that there’s content to be found. Once someone sees an ad, the biggest execution problem that I see inside of marketing is that it is a singular linear. I’m going to have you see this ad, hear this ad See this image, see whatever, find this search and then it just leads them right to the cell.
It disrespects the audience, it disrespects the engagement inside of your core messaging. And for even his established business to circle back around. Do you have some videos talking about your methodology, about your morals, about why you started this business?
Oh, you know what? Oh, I hate when, and I get this a lot, I hate when people assume this about me or I assume this about my product. Completely understand that where online do you have anything that addresses those perceptions?
Well, I don’t.
I mean when I sit down or I talk to someone, YouTube is free. You see certain things come in, you understand, you address the perceptions. That’s positive, humble messaging that can go to the marketing so that when somebody, when you’re at that time and it’s an ad and it’s testing around with phrases and it’s moving things through different channels, that it’s not just leading someone right back to the cell, but it lets them make some choices.
It’s not well produced videos, it’s not extended podcasts, it’s not long blogs, but beginning to set the foundational blueprint.
Messaging Before Marketing Transcription Continued:
The footprint of your messaging online can then supplement the marketing that comes. So that if someone’s coming through, maybe they’re not ready to buy, maybe they don’t know yet, maybe you still sound like somebody else. But inside of the root of your messaging and the content that you distributed, they have an opportunity to find this out for themselves and find out you are different, you are what you say you are.
And the best part of it inside of messaging, that the perceptions that they begin to have are matching the intentions that you want to put out. For you to go from just your core intention and not consider the perceptions, not consider the over saturation, not consider all of those other aspects and elements that are oftentimes skipped in those marketing stages.
When you respect that audience, that audience will respect, engage and convert with you. And it’s not even necessarily trying to treat an audience inside of your messaging as come buy from me, come hire from me, come do this. But more so to engage in a time when everyone’s selling, to sit back, step back and give them reasons to engage, to learn about you not.
And in the core of the messaging, not that overly dominant, like me, follow me, find me, you know, convert here, leave a review, push, push, push. But shifting the tone to here’s a video on why I started my business.
Here’s something that I do, here’s something that I don’t do one thing I would love to see for more businesses. Here are the type of people I like to work with and here are the type of people I just wouldn’t fit well with. Instead of trying to come off like these, Sir Spamalot, grab everybody 10x your way to the top. Set your standards.
You say you have the morals. Showcase them. You say you have the authenticity. Explain it. You say, oh, once you understand this, I just, I need you to understand me. Teach them, invite them, teach them, engage them authentically.
Move them to be able to make a choice for themselves. If they want to move that much more toward you or learn more, then we go to marketing with that messaging in place. From the taglines to the bios to the understanding of the internal, the external, what you’ll do, what you won’t do. Seeing where some of these phrases have show competition, show too closely compared to something else are oversaturated.
Messaging Before Marketing Transcription Continued:
When you look at the temperature and the tone, the timing of a message, and yes, that part does shift at times. Then you create this palette of sorts. It becomes your messaging palette. It’s this personalized integrity intelligence performance guide. I’m going to say that one more time. A personalized integrity intelligence performance guide.
From discovering the elements of your messaging, of your brand, of looking a little bit deeper than just your intention of looking across a series of different discovery elements, timeframes, operational touch points, how you’re leading with your message, where you might need to shift, where you might need to protect a little more, where you might not want to go, where you might want to go.
Then in connecting with a marketing agency, you’re giving them fuel, a great amount of fuel. This means they can also go to the areas where they want to be the most, but they’ll have the best fuel, they’ll have the best ammunition.
They’ll have the best firepower to move forward and not just throw things at a wall. And again, it’s not every marketing agency that’s doing it, but I stand firm in saying it’s the majority because marketing, to a certain extent, from my experiences, is one of the biggest scams out there as a whole. It’s people that specifically don’t necessarily need to say, okay, well, you’re messaging. We’ll just keep doing this.
Oh, we’ll just keep. We have to keep switching this up. Oh, let’s try this, let’s try that, let’s try that. You’re still going to have to test, you’re still going to have to play. You’re still certain things are going to work great. Other things aren’t.
But with that foundation, that palette, and that initial guide, so that all the changes, all the shifts, all the alterations, all the adjustments still stand on the foundation that is you, your brand, and your messaging, that will allow for marketing and the execution of marketing to work that much better for you. And that’s why I believe messaging comes before marketing.
That’s why, through the Fish Stewarding Group, FSG Messaging and Optics, we believe messaging comes before marketing, because when the messaging is sound, then the marketing can resonate that much farther, that much further, and that much more effectively for you. Wait, What? Really? Okay.
First Discovery Steps Podcast Transcription Chapters
First Discovery Steps Podcast Transcription Chapters:
0:00 Introduction to Client Onboarding Discovery
0:35 Working with Loren Weisman: Process Overview
1:46 Authenticity in Client Relationships
3:05 Avoiding “Boxed In” Client Approaches
3:50 Honesty and Integrity in Messaging
5:15 Why You Shouldn’t Chase Trends
6:50 Setting Boundaries in Client Onboarding
8:31 Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
Song: Wait What Really Ok, Ok. With your host, Loren Weisman. This is a fully licensed theme song for the show about stuff that makes you say, Wait What Really Ok, Ok.
Loren:This is a mix of a podcast as well as an overview of how I do initial onboarding or starting of a discovery when it comes to working with me. And at the same time, if you’re not working with me or you’re working with someone that does messaging and optics or strategy or even for that matter, marketing, some of the things that I do, you may want to look to ask those people that you’re working with to do as well.
All too often, those that are looking to rebuild their messaging set, their branding, they’re oftentimes setting you into a template. It’s something that pre exists. It’s something to really just take, you know, as they claim, we think, out of the box, except they’re using all the same inbox terms. Something that’s very important in the initial onboarding time with me is to learn a little bit more so that the words really can reflect the individual. I feel we’ve come to a time where, and I’m sure you’ve seen the emails, it’s appear as an expert, appear as an expert, be seen as an expert.
But here’s the problem. Morally, ethically, faithfully, what if you aren’t an expert? What if they aren’t an expert? Many of these people are setting up words, framing phrases and optics to appear as something that they’re not. So if you truly have that expertise, if you genuinely have that authority, if you have real experience, to work your messaging, to work your brand foundation, to work the foundation of everything you’ll do from any kind of content to social, to press releases, to what you put on the web, to take that time to ensure it has your voice and not a voice is key.
A lot of people choose to jump away from their voice because they might not have enough to be a voice yet. So they use a lot of these tactics. I ran across someone a couple days ago. This guy had great authority, great knowledge, great background, excellent. And yet everything that he was putting out on social stuff, on his call to actions, on his, you know, the masterclass, I kind of disagreed with that thing. Masterclass thing.
He was using hype and messaging tactics of someone that had no authority. And in turn, it took down his true authority. He used hype, he used processing, he used this, you know, false involvement. And in that. And inside of those words, it took away from him.
First Discovery Steps Transcription Continued:
He didn’t need to do that. Whoever he was working with that put him into a box and took out all the elements that made him special. And in turn, he just sounded like someone else. And he sounded like someone that, for that matter, was kind of lying.
In that same case, many of these marketers are stating, this is what you say, this is how you say it. You need to do this, you need to do that. You’ve got to do this to be seen. And in many cases, when some of these tactics that they’re using are for people that don’t have the ability, the authority, or the expertise. So if you are true to heart in your word, if you are true to heart in your honor, in your morals, then it’s crucial to find your voice.
Not the voice, not a voice, but your voice, and work through the tactics and the honesty and honor and even humility. You can show off and highlight your authority without an arrogance, without making false claims, without making claims that are going to shut you down and push you out.
Think along the lines of where you come from, where you are going, what you’ve done in the past, not even necessarily trying to hide things that may be different from the given career that you’re in, because some of your expertise could have evolved, evolved from another area of expertise and that combination and that truth and that for someone to be able to vet you, would you be open inside of your messaging, inside of what you’re putting out there for your biggest hero, to see it, for the person that’s looking up to you, to see it, for a son or a daughter or a family member, or do you have certain stuff and do you find yourself switching?
First Discovery Steps Transcription Continued
But you know, depending on the audience, if you have the authority, there is a stability, and there can be that stability that can make a greater foundation for your voice for what you share. Don’t jump on the latest trending thing. I have a friend that’s a chiropractor I work with. One of the things I’ve had him stay away from is the fart joke.
I mean, it’s a fart joke. It started going a couple months ago, and it was somebody that was bending somebody and they’re. Do you hear the crack? And then all of a sudden you hear fart. And the chiropractor says, oh, that’s natural. Don’t worry about it. And then the person on the table being cracked is not embarrassed because they say, well, that was you. So that was funny the first thousand times when all of these chiropractors jumped on it. This trending copycat vibe doesn’t Bring any kind of authenticity. Okay, great. There’s a funny joke.
Okay, well, maybe my audience hasn’t seen that. Well, maybe it might honor you a little bit more to share the root content, but at the same time coming back to you to find the content that is about you, to find the message of how you deliver, that’s about you to find the right people to work with you.
Stop thinking along the lines of you need to cast the net to get absolutely everybody, because that isn’t necessarily true if you are casting the net to decide the people that you most want to work with, that you most want to sell to, and even talking about the people that, hey, you know what? This product isn’t for you. I’m not for many people.
If you don’t have that authority, if you don’t have that honor, if you aren’t prepared to be completely transparent, I’m not judging you, but I won’t work with you. I have my boundaries. And inside of setting your boundaries inside, in this initial onboarding, of knowing what you will do, what you won’t do, who you work with, who you won’t work with, what’s been done before, looking at the subjective to the objective, looking at the compliance, looking at what you’re allowed to do in a given field, especially if you fall into medical or law or other areas, to look at the complacency in a given field, to look at the competition, not to copy it, not to one up, it’s not to hype it, but to find your voice.
First Discovery Steps Transcription Continued
The cornerstone, the core cornerstone or the cornerstone of what I look for inside of onboarding is a discovery to learn an array of the individual, what they’ve learned, how they execute, how they work, all these elements that I’m talking about.
And then inside of that, building a genuine, authenticity, individualized message and messaging packet that then can be used for content, can be used for web, it can be used for bio branding, the outline of a book, setting up plans, if there’s going to be a podcast, if there isn’t, and making sure that it’s an individual journey and an individual map forward, it can align and have similarities to other things. But if you’re out there not being true to you and having to lie, deceive, copy, cheat and steal, and if that works for you, I mean, by all means do your thing.
But I know that there are a lot of people out there that genuinely want to create, connect, sell and do business from the heart and from a solid foundation. And if you do, then make it, you make it true, make it transparent and don’t buy into so much of the hype of so many people not telling the full story or claiming they have all the secrets or all the answers or exactly what you need to do to appear as something you’re not or on that same token to to hear use this to appear as an expert when you already are an expert and as opposed to using that you can build a foundation to showcase, amplify and illuminate the expert you have.
Be true to you, be true to your experience what you do, how you’ve done it, what you want to do and you may just connect then with a greater more sound individualized message that will reach the type of people you want to work with and impact them in a way where they may hear just their their ears opening a little bit more their eyes opening a little bit more to see the difference that the truth makes over the constant fails that hype marketing basically lies about.
Authentic Messaging Introductions Transcription Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Authentic Messaging
01:02 Networking Observations and Trends
02:15 Post-Pandemic Networking Dynamics
03:10 Authentic Introductions in Networking
03:58 Examples of Effective Networking Engagement
05:00 Avoiding Scripted Networking Pitfalls
05:55 Communication Strategies for Real Connections
07:00 Building Trust Through Honest Interactions
08:00 First Impressions and Perception Challenges
09:32 Managing Networking Interactions Effectively
10:30 Vetting Connections for Authentic Referrals
11:45 Time Management in Networking Meetings
13:00 Online Presence and Quick Impression Tips
14:30 Respecting Time in Professional Engagements
16:21 Maximizing Impact with Authentic Authority
18:24 Creating Positive Lasting Impressions
20:40 Engaging with Authenticity Over Hype
23:15 Strategic Networking Without Spam Tactics
26:26 Final Thoughts on Real Connections
Authentic Messaging Introductions Transcription Text
Authentic Messaging Introductions
Song:Wait What Really OK with your host, Loren Weisman. This is a fully licensed theme song for the show about stuff that makes you say Wait What Really OK.
Loren:Hi, this is Loren Weisman and this is the brand Messaging podcast. Wait What Really OK. I try to deep dive into the ideas around messaging and how messaging matters, optics, authenticity and getting to your story.
And not just a story. And this is from what you produce inside of videos, inside of audios, inside of articles, inside of interactions. It’s digging into the authenticity and talking about authority. Not the hype, not the false hustle and all of that, but the true grounded set in the solid soil, best foundation authenticity for you to grow.
Now, on the topic of growing, today’s episode is titled Authentic Messaging Introductions and Impression Perceptions. This is when it comes to growing, when you’re meeting people and what I’ve been experiencing lately, I’ve gone into a series of networking groups. I’ve been going across a number of networking groups just trying to get a tone, a temperature, a feel of how people are reacting and interacting.
I was part of one, I was part of one of these down in South Florida and I went there and would sit in the far back and I’d have my phone out and I enjoyed it. For research. It was listening and experiencing the way different people were presenting themselves, were selling themselves and were communicating.
It wasn’t about finding any given clients, but really watching how people are trying to find clients and watching how people are taking different information that they’ve been handed a great deal of it, hearsay and hype and how they go about saying, okay, this is how I’m going to communicate. This is how I’m going to draw you in. And unfortunately, a lot of the times the information and the source they were looking for, that information from was only a source and not a resource because that style of communication was just so over the top.
And now on what some people are saying, the backside or the downside of the pandemic, I’ve been seeing these networking groups are starting to come back up, both online and physically in person. So I decided over the past two weeks to do a test of sorts and to go into a whole bunch of these meetings and just experience what was going on, the interactions, reactions, how people were communicating, how people were listening, how people were engaging. We’ve come out of a time of fear and there is still aspects of fear right now. But I thought about looking at this earlier in the year, but as we hit this point of fear and we hit this point of toxicity,
I just, I Stayed away from it early when everything shut down. But now, as the country is starting to reopen, I wanted to get a vibe to see, is this the same as it was? Is there something new? Is there a better engagement? Is there better connection? And really the answer that I’ve found to date is it really depends on the person and where they’re coming from authentically.
Because the majority of these people, and I do feel safe in saying the majority, unfortunately, they are scripted, they are pushy, they are dominant, and oftentimes the ones that are saying they care the most and they want to refer your business, they are the selfish ones. Or at least from the perception, they are the selfish ones.
Right now, looking to grab every card, every connection, every contact and every name inside of your potential database to see what can happen and be done for them. Now, in not going completely negative, there are some bright spots. I’ve been a part of a couple different meetings and I’ve watched some people just shine.
They come from a place of love and not fear. Maybe they’re rebuilding their business. Maybe their business has been, you know, shut down or taken a hard hit. And watching them and watching them, whether it’s a two minute pitch or watching them in an open room where the conversation is open and it’s not all about sales. In the middle of seeing a lot of the not so good, I got to witness some amazing.
Consider providing an email frequency option when it comes to signing up for your mailing list.
I watched one particular individual, I’m not going to name him or name his product, but you could tell this guy’s taken a good number of hits in the last number of months. And just his way of asking questions, the way that he engaged others, the way he kept it moving away from a sales topic to actual networking, communication and engagement, it was outstanding. He was sitting there and I can see he was sitting there.
We were all on zoom and he was just, he was asking questions, not taking notes, not copying down something, not adding a profile, not spamming, not, not pushing. And in that, that particular individual, I remember him most in this particular room where everyone was taking a conversation, wherever it was going, it was lasso it in, pull it back, and let me tell you about my cell. I didn’t see a lot of the stewarding.
There were certain individuals. There was another woman who, she was just outstanding. She was running a room in one of these, in one of these networking groups. She was keeping the time and her entire Persona, everything. She was resonating. Again, it was coming from love. She wanted to share about her business, but at the same time she was there prepared to hear about others and not just to see if she needed it or didn’t need it, but if this was the type of person that she could recommend.
And I want to hit on that point first with the recommendations. Whether you’re meeting one on one, whether you’re meeting in one of these networking groups, this referral situation gets a little bit scary. One way to get through that, scary. One way to stay in honor, in integrity, wrap your reputation in anybody that you would refer.
Too many, refer this guy, refer that guy. I got an email from a guy through LinkedIn. I’d love to have a one on one so I can know who I can refer you to. How do you even know me? This guy was in a room and he wasn’t even in the same room as me. He sends an email, he goes, I want to have a one on one schedule on my scheduler for 30 minutes. Let’s talk. I want to see how I can help you and your business. It really didn’t feel that authentic.
It didn’t feel that organic. And the last thing it felt was anywhere coming from love. It felt like forced fear of let’s get this together, let’s see who you know so we can figure out how to help me. That’s how it came off. We come to this idea of the first impression and as the title of this episode is the impression perceptions, we’re so concerned and it might sound like a double negative or redundant, but it’s not impression perceptions, it’s creating that first impression, but understanding the perceptions of what people are seeing.
So it’s getting away from the script, it’s getting away from that Tony Robbins, Gary Vee, Grant Cardone hype. There are pieces and I’m not naming the name of who says it exactly, but they’re putting out their inside of scripts going, this is how you email, state that you want to help this. Then that person is going to get back to you, it’s going to set up a meeting and you’ll find out what this person has for you. How selfish and arrogant is that? And where is that truly authentic networking?
It’s attacking, it’s picking. There’s nothing positive or authentic that resonates in that. And at the same time, when somebody comes to me and it’s, well, let me see who I can refer you to. I know the foundation that I stand in, but at the same time, if there’s someone that’s saying, let me get on a one on one so I can know exactly who to refer you to, then I’m thinking that that individual, the perception that I have and the perception that many other people have of that.
I’m trying to figure out who I can share you to, who you can share me to. And I say this to everybody. I don’t want to be shared by the referrers or the referral people that are just pushing out everything to bring business and not taking any responsibility or accountability for information or the people that they’re sharing. And when it comes back to bite them in the rear, say, well, I didn’t know. Oh, I didn’t expect. Oh though they looked really great. I’m sorry that happened to you.
That doesn’t feel like an authentic sorry. No, you’re not. How can you do that? To be able to vet, to be able to have the time to be able to address someone, you see someone in a room, if you’re in one of these networking things or maybe you’re there in the room with them. Personally, what would draw you to a one on one? I completely disagree with the business coach model of get as many one on ones as possible, shake as many hands as possible, get as many business cards as possible, and then get back to every single one of them, add them all on your LinkedIn, follow them here, message them there, email them this way, add them to your list and funnel where is there any honor in that?
Maybe it’s even going to that idea of taking just a fine seed. Let’s pick a fruit maybe. I’m originally from western Massachusetts. We used to see the apples, a lot of apple orchards. If you take a fine apple seed and you plant that in rich soil, hydrated soil, good soil, a good tree will grow from that and good apples will then come off of that tree. Now at the same time you take that seed and you plant it in toxic soil, something with poisons around it. Maybe there’s asphalt and whatnot coming too close.
Maybe it’s not well hydrated and there’s something, whatever poison around it, the fruit that you get from that, it’s going to be bad. So in thinking that and keeping that in mind with the connections, yes, it is good to network, it is good to meet people, but it’s also good to take that extra time maybe as opposed to trying to set up every 15 and 30 minute meeting you possibly can. Maybe you take half of that time after you got that card to vet them. And yes, it’s a short vetting period. But what are they saying? What aren’t they saying? What are they tied to? Are they coming off the way that you would be happy to put your reputation behind to share with someone else?
Or is it something that could endanger you, your reputation, your authority? Because that is happening. There’s certain referral people out there, I block them at this point. I want to refer this guy to you. I want to refer that guy to you. That’s great. Well, you’re going to refer to me, you know, email back. I say, I can’t. I haven’t seen anything on your websites or on your social media showing any kind of authority or any kind of proof of what you do.
Gen U? Generation Unoriginal. A massive group made up of Gen X to Gen Z copycats, AI prompters, plagiarists and flat out thieves passing off other peoples content and authority as their own with zero honesty or accountability. Interesting times we are in.
Well, I do the best of this and I’m, I guarantee that where I don’t see the testimonials and the only testimonials that I do see come from other people that are in this business with you. So I protect my honor and I protect my reputation by taking the time to vet and I ask you to consider doing the same.
And at the same time as you’re planning to reach out, let’s set up a one on one. I saw you in this room or I saw you in this meeting or I got your business card. Why do you want to set up a one on one? Even if it’s from a referral standpoint? Take a second to look into someone. I went into one very big one last week and it was a blast of emails afterwards of I want to set up a one on one.
I want to set up a one on one. I responded to a few of them, I said, why? And the answers were borderline shocking. One guy in finance, it was just, well, and it was the same answer as other people. I want to see who I can refer you to in my network. All right, there was another guy, he was in insurance and it’s, we need to set up a one on one. And I said, okay, what would you like to discuss? I’d like to tell you right now, being very transparent and honest, I am fine with my insurance portfolio as is. I and my family are not going to be making any changes at this time. He responds, oh, that’s cool. L
et’s just set up a one on one. What do you want to talk about? Do you want to talk about branding? Brand messaging? Do you want to talk about the fish stewarding group? I got nothing. So he got nothing back from me. I’m not going to waste my time and I’m not saying that this guy is a waste, but I have nothing to go off of and I am not prepared to put the time in to someone that is just spamming and sending these same type of emails to every single person. And I ask you to consider to do the same. Your time is valuable, your connections are valuable.
And maybe as opposed to taking 20 meetings over the next week, if you take 10 or five, and you have a sense of what is being done and how you’re connecting and why you’re connecting, it starts off on a better path. Now starting there. What do you have when it comes to your business, your vision, your experience, your ability and your authority that invites someone that may want to take a fast peek, Not a deep dive, but a fast peek into you? Where can they go? One person that I asked that question to, I said, okay, maybe we should talk.
Do you have a page? Do you have somewhere where you can send me that has some short snippets or just examples of who you are beyond the sell? I don’t want to spend a lot of time. Where can you send me so I can get a brief overview of you? What was sent back to me, I don’t really have that stuff together. I’m kind of building it. Here’s a 30 minute interview and there was a part of me that was curious and in prepping for this podcast, I turned it on. I was out in less than three minutes. It was conversational, back and forth fodder.
I didn’t get anything. What I ask you to consider here is having that page, whether it’s the front of your website, whether it’s somewhere that someone can go and we honor and we give the respect to someone that right now they’re being inundated by all these people saying, look at me, meet with me, talk with me, understand me, give them a taste test, give them a sample on the front of lorenweisman.com, my website. I offer that and I ask you to consider offering something like that, something similar or the same, or if it’s not even on the front of your website, that it’s a page.
Is there a page that someone can go to and just get small pieces to get a sense about you that can entice them to learn and want to get bigger pieces and then from there to be in touch with you. Where should we. And where do we have the right as a whole to say, go look at all my stuff and my bio and this 30 minute video or this 30 minute podcast or this or that, or go search here or go check that out.
Where do we have the right when so many other people are asking for that right? If we can flip that intention, see the perception of what people are seeing and experiencing and invite them to a fast introduction. It may be that much more effective on my website when you come to lorenwiseman.com and it’s not the prettiest by far. It’s a blog site, but it’s a blog site set up very strategically for messaging. You come to the top. You know, I’m a brand communications and optics strategist.
I’m with Fish Stewarding Group and FSG Messaging and Optics. You get a sense of my basic tagline, the short touch of my bio, that I have a podcast. And then if you look down the left side, there are a whole bunch of blogs that you can click through and they’re titled right there. So you can read an article if you want. And These average between 300 words to 500 or so. I’m not pushing people into articles.
On the right side, you can see here’s a quote, and if you click through on that quote, it’ll send you to a whole bunch of other quotes. It also is a link to the podcast. That one’s a little bit longer, but it’s not saying, go listen to this. It’s saying, here’s my podcast. And you can find out more about the podcast I have. Or you can click to one of the videos in the video, the different video series.
All of those are under three minutes. And then there it’s, here are a couple social media sites I’m on what my intention and what I’ve been able to shift to the perception for others is stating or hopefully is being received as I get.
You’re busy. I get that a lot of people want you to check them out and run through and look at this and sign up. I’m not asking for the, like, the share, the comment, the subscription asking that if you’re interested in learning a little bit more, here’s a little bit.
That’s the beauty of it. It’s a little bit. And they can find that quote and they can read that little bit of the bio and then click down and read the longer bit of a bio. They can see this short video and if that short video does something for them, they can look at a longer podcast. It’s sharing the authenticity over the cell.
The above the fold is the information, it’s the integrity, it’s the authority that’s there, not the above the fold of do you need this? Or the next best thing or you’re missing out on that, or here’s everything you’re doing wrong. My intention is to showcase that I realize you’re dealing with a lot, and you’re being asked a lot. So I’m offering a little.
And I ask you to consider maybe offering a little to the people that you want to reach out to, to be able to state, here’s some information about me here on this given page. There’s some short audio, short videos, some of my quotes. Here’s my short bio. This isn’t seven pages long.
You invite them into getting a sense of you and from that standpoint, in that honor that allows that person to go, wow, I want to talk more. Because why should some of those simple points be the first part of a conversation? Why do we find so many people out there?
Let’s say they waste so much time on these one on one calls, and then it’s, oh, I wish I could gotten to this point by this much earlier. Just all this time, I don’t understand the time I’m wasting. Here’s where it’s wasted. It’s wasted in that you’re trying to make this connection so fast, you’re not realizing if it’s a connection that should even be made in the first place.
Now, it’s not saying you’re right, it’s not saying you’re wrong. But if somebody comes to my website and they disagree with the quote, or they think the video is silly or they think that a podcast is stupid, then I’m not the person for them. And I don’t need to defend that. I mean, if somebody want. If someone wants to debate it or they find that it’s interesting or.
Okay, I don’t get where that guy’s coming from. I don’t understand this. I’d like to have a discussion. By all means, let’s have that discussion. But there are a lot of people out there where their subjective opinions have shifted to objective facts that are just opinions and really not true, not substantiated.
Why waste the time? It’s not disrespecting. It’s not saying you’re better than anyone else, but it’s honoring you and it’s honoring them. Maybe there are certain people you shouldn’t get on the phone with and it will save you time and it will save you even stress. I talked to some of these other networkers out of the room.
I get really stressed out on these calls, and at certain times I just want to hang up. Why don’t you. Why not interrupt and say, I’m not resonating. I’m not getting this. This just isn’t a good call, man. I felt like I was just. This guy was pulling teeth for 45 minutes.
I read it in a book can be a very weak, unsubstantiated and unstable argument for backing up your point of view.
You let him pull teeth for 45 minutes. You allowed the call to go on. It’s not about being discourteous, it’s not about that. It’s being able to say, excuse me. And again, it can be done in a nice way. I’m not hearing or I’m not connecting or I’m not resonating with what you’re saying. I don’t believe this is a good connection. I don’t really see how I can refer you.
It’s not saying your service is bad, but through the people that I know, through the way I communicate, through what I share and through my reputation, I just can’t do this. Have a great day. You can separate. You can not be a referral and still be nice. So let’s move on to the last section. Whether you’re in person, whether you’re in one of those meetings, whether you’re on a zoom call, a lot of them have that two minute window.
And in those two minutes think. And even if it’s a, even if it’s not a spoken out rule, two minute window where you’re meeting someone or you’re meeting someone somewhere, allow it to be relaxed, to be authentic. Don’t script it, but perhaps practice it.
Maybe practice in the mirror, practice in a video. Watch yourself back. And when I say practice, take a video of yourself in these two minute things. Please don’t show me a video. Where are you? And here’s another thing. From the impression and the perceptions, I’m going to show you this quick video. I can fit this in. It’s a minute 15. I have two minutes.
So I’ll even have a little time left over. Here we go. Now the screen is a video. If you’re getting on there to share your authenticity, your authority. If you’re up there networking and you’re just using either a video that you made or a video from some company that they’re saying, get this out to absolutely everyone, then where are you? The person that can amplify and communicate if it takes a video and inside of two minutes, you’re unable to get your point across, you’re not ready to be networking that point.
Allow those two minutes to not feel rushed. You’re not going to get to say everything that you want to. And for some of these meetings where these people have meeting after meeting and they’re weekly, then perhaps it’s bringing up different points, perhaps it’s giving people a sense of how they can directly and indirectly vicariously relate to you inside of so many of the insurance salesmen and women financial advisors, what is a tip?
What is something that can be stewarded, that can be shared, that say, I never contacted you, but by going into that room, I learned something about you. You. When I went in and when they moved around and made me my. Gave me my two minutes in a couple of the ones that we did last week, it was, here’s this. And I look at authority to authenticity, subjective to objective, intention to perception. I talked a little bit about what I did, but then I spent the bulk of the time saying, think about this.
When it comes to an email, when you’re doing this with a video, consider this, okay, here’s some volatile things going on when it comes to security and the security of your message and your brand. It was gifting and giving and stewarding people information. And then in that they remember that information and then maybe they remember me. And there’s a better chance that they’re going to remember someone that is out there gifting, giving, stewarding than someone that is rushing as much material into two minutes.
That’s only directing to them and it goes nowhere. That was one of the things I noticed when I was part of some of the those South Florida networking groups. The same people would go every single week or every single month on some of these other ones. And there was one particular one in Palm Beach Gardens.
No, it wasn’t Palm Beach Gardens, it was Port St. Lucie. And they had this amazing breakfast. So not only was it great to learn and watch people with their messaging, but it was really good food, too. But I’m sorry, jumping off course here. Some of the same people would get up and they’d say the exact same thing at every single meeting.
Nothing had changed. It was only the cell. So it was a story. It wasn’t their story. I like to watch. I usually got up and I bring different tips. I bring different pieces, I bring different flavors. It was, think about that. What about that? Change up this. Consider that I’d have fun with it. And I watch people and networking can be fun.
You can have fun. You can engage with people. You can bring your story in. Think of it like that supermarket angle. Maybe you’re not going to sell someone immediately, but can you invite them to want to come look into you? And from there consider. Consider looking at the front of my web page, my website.
Can you do something like that on the front of your website or on a page alone where it invites people to this sampling menu of you that they can get through very quickly and from there make a decision as you’re inviting someone to a one on one share with them. Be that different person. I love to want I saw you here, I’d love to have a one on one with you. Here’s my scheduler.
How about I saw you here, I heard you say X, Y and Z. Or I went to this page and I loved what your comment was on this or I loved your content on that or I agree with you here or I disagree.
Would you like to continue the conversation in a one on one? Now you’re inviting, now you’re engaging, now you’re not playing the games of these business gurus that are pushing for every single person to be talked to for you to figure out what they’re worth or what they’re not worth. And that can make people feel worthless and that can make people not feel good. When I was in the music industry, I used to go to this really big event out in Anaheim, California and we used to do the pocket thing.
The people that were engaging and then they hand the cards at the end, you put them in the right pocket, those are the ones you were going to keep, the ones in the back left pocket, those were going to hit the trash.
And most of the time, even if it wasn’t a company or a situation I was involved in or needed to be involved in, the people that engaged, that were honorable, that were considerate, that had fun, I wanted to be in contact with them, I wanted to know them, I wanted to have a drink with them. And then maybe down the line I wanted to see how I could authentically and honorably helped them. And it wasn’t because of what they were selling or how they sold it.
It was how they authentically engaged their messaging introduction. The way that it was a draw and an invitation to have a conversation and not something forced, that felt, you know, scripted, saturated, spammed. That’s the beauty in it. And that’s the beauty in a true authentic introduction and a connection.
Consider stepping back of this program mindset of say, this, email this, follow this, add this person to your email list, do this, add them on LinkedIn and simplify it, moralize it, bring it to a place of honor, of attraction, of finding out, should we be in touch? Should we have the conversation? Should we not? What can I learn a little bit about you in advance so I can make that conversation as effective as possible?
What can you add inside of that two minute pitch or your original pitch that brings a piece of you into the picture and not just the big picture sell that you’re trying to create in that authenticity, in that patience, in that honor and in that integrity of you showcasing you. You’re going to attract that many more people.
And it won’t feel like it’s scripted because it’s not. And it won’t feel like spam, because it’s not. And it won’t feel fake because it’s not. What it will be is an honorable conversation, authentic networking and allowing a message to be heard just as you hear the other person’s message to decide if that conversation should continue. And from there, to see where that conversation can lead. My name is Loren Weisman.
This was. Wait What Really Ok. 123 Season 7 Episode 10 I hope you enjoyed some of these thoughts. I hope there’s some stuff in here that you might want to consider and add to your networking, your introductions, your messaging, when you’re communicating with new contacts and if you. And again, if you’d like to see an example of what I do with that simple. Learn a little bit about me quickly. It’s right there in the front on lorenwiseman.com and if you’d like to have a conversation.
If you’d like to have a discussion, not even necessarily, okay, you want to hire me or hire FSG, send me that email. Not just asking for a one on one. Tell me why you want to have a conversation.
Tell me what you’re about. Tell me where I can find out a little bit more about you. Maybe together with these emails that go out in loud spam blasts can shift to an inviting tone, an inviting volume, and an inviting element of authenticity that maybe will draw people in and make them want to connect with you that much more.
First Discovery Steps Transcription
Authentic messaging introductions transcription continued:
