1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:22,000 Hello and welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable Connections. 2 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:23,440 I'm Michael Foreman. 3 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,800 I am hosting and I just want to tell you personal. 4 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:34,160 Okay, so we're going to delve into both of those, but I have an incredible guest. 5 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:39,040 His name is Frank Agin, and let me just tell you a little bit about him. 6 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:45,400 The science of networking, big misses in networking, referral best practices. 7 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:52,160 Frank Agin is president of Amspirit Business Connections, which empowers entrepreneurs, 8 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:58,920 health representatives, and professionals to become successful and get more referrals 9 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:00,520 through networking. 10 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:10,720 He also shares information and insights on professional relationships, business networking, 11 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:17,520 and best practices for generating referrals on his networking Rx podcast through various 12 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,040 professional programs. 13 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:24,800 Finally, Frank is the author of several books, including foundational networking. 14 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,720 Seal of his books through frankagin.com. 15 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,440 So I just want to tell you, I want to welcome you, Frank. 16 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,080 And I just, just tell us a little bit about yourself. 17 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,760 Well, thank you for having me on Networking Unleashed. 18 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,040 I really appreciate, appreciate the opportunity. 19 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:43,360 I live in Columbus, Ohio. 20 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,760 I came here 40 years ago to go to law school. 21 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:51,480 I really had an intention on staying, but I got a law degree, got an MBA, met a girl, 22 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,680 and started a job in public accounting. 23 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,360 I was a tax consultant, which was a great job. 24 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:00,040 It was great pay, just a great experience all in all. 25 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,680 Michael, I didn't want to do taxes for the rest of my life. 26 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:04,520 And most people understand that. 27 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,120 I'll run into a chair where it's like, oh, why not? 28 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,000 I didn't want to do it for the rest of my life. 29 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:16,360 And so I decided to leave and go into private practice because I've always been very entrepreneurial. 30 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,320 And a funny thing happened to me when I went into private practice, and the funny thing 31 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:20,320 was that nothing happened. 32 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:22,880 I had no idea how to get clients. 33 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:26,680 They don't teach you that in school, high school, college, law school. 34 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,400 They don't teach you that in the big firms because the work is already there. 35 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,440 We just need you to come in as many days a week and stay as long as you can and just 36 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:35,440 work. 37 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,640 And so I'm out on my own trying to figure out how to make it happen. 38 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:43,400 Most states have ethical requirements for attorneys and one of them, and certainly in 39 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:44,400 the state of Ohio. 40 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:46,320 I think most states have this. 41 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,480 These really aren't supposed to call people. 42 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,760 We're not allowed a cold call. 43 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:52,680 Advertising is very restricted. 44 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:54,560 And so I'm like, how am I going to get business? 45 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:55,560 This is the mid 90s. 46 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,060 There's no LinkedIn. 47 00:02:57,060 --> 00:02:58,060 There's no email. 48 00:02:58,060 --> 00:02:59,680 There's no websites. 49 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,320 I don't even think I had a cell phone, Michael. 50 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:02,320 I really don't. 51 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:04,240 And so I was beside myself. 52 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,400 What am I supposed to do? 53 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,360 So I had lunch one day with a friend of mine and she took a different path out of law school. 54 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:15,320 There's a saying in law school that A students become professors, B students become judges, 55 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:17,560 and C students become millionaires. 56 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,760 And that's because if you're a C student, you don't get the cushy opportunities, you 57 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:21,760 got to figure it out. 58 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:26,200 And that's what she did is she figured it out right from the start. 59 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,320 But I asked her, I said, what do I need to do to become successful? 60 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,360 And she said, why don't you get into a tips club or a leads group? 61 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:36,200 I really had no idea what she was talking about, but there was an organization based 62 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:41,840 out of Pittsburgh that was starting these networking groups, if you will. 63 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,280 And through a couple of introductions, I got invited to a meeting. 64 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:45,600 They didn't have an attorney. 65 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:47,440 They were really changed everything, to be honest. 66 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,960 I showed up and it made total sense that you could lift your whole world up, just helping 67 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:53,460 other people. 68 00:03:53,460 --> 00:03:57,480 That's what you and I, that's what the whole essence of networking unleashed is, right? 69 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:02,160 Your whole, everything you do is all about this, you know what, this mentality of just 70 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,000 helping people and just trusting it's going to come back to you. 71 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,080 And that's what these groups are about. 72 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:11,520 And that really resonated with me because I'm good at talking about other people and 73 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,320 talking other people up. 74 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:21,060 If I start to talk about myself and self promote, I just, I lose steam right away. 75 00:04:21,060 --> 00:04:26,200 So I really doubled down on being successful in that group and I'll make a long story short. 76 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:30,480 I had an opportunity to buy it at one point in the early 2000s and I did. 77 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:35,000 I enjoyed practicing law, but I could build something here. 78 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,680 I could, I could, the law is always changing. 79 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:43,480 Law schools are always pooping out attorneys every year, right? 80 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:45,440 What you and I do is really unique. 81 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:50,000 It's really unique and you could really learn a craft and be unique. 82 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,920 And so I stopped the practice of law. 83 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:57,680 I started, I rebranded the business that I bought to Amspirit Business Connections. 84 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,880 Started writing books, really becoming a student of networking. 85 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:07,040 Why is it, why do some people, why are some people successful and other people not? 86 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:12,680 That person there is really outgoing, but they're still living with mom, right? 87 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:14,440 That doesn't make any sense. 88 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:18,240 And that person's a total introvert and he's crushing it. 89 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:19,640 It doesn't make any sense. 90 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,080 You and I know the answers, right? 91 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:22,560 There are answers. 92 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,480 And so I just really started to lean in and learn these things. 93 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:30,800 And then that led into me having a podcast, which I, that's how you and I met, got you 94 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,120 on and lots of other things, all things networking. 95 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:36,120 That's great. 96 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:37,120 That's great information. 97 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:43,480 The thing I've learned personally is when I go to a networking event or a networking 98 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:48,040 meeting or something, I look to give, not receive. 99 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:52,480 I look to give, I look to, I say to the person, you know what, I like you. 100 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,080 I like what you do, how you do business. 101 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,520 How can I make you more successful? 102 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,800 How can I be a good referral source for you? 103 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:05,880 And if I do that enough, well, you said what goes around comes around. 104 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,160 So it definitely comes around. 105 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:19,400 So with all that being said, what was one experience that drove you to open up your 106 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:20,600 networking career? 107 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,640 What was that one thing? 108 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:25,840 I'll be honest. 109 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:30,320 When I had an opportunity to buy this, I would go from attorney to doing this. 110 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:34,600 And I remember having a conversation with my wife and saying, you know what, if I continue 111 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:41,640 being an attorney 30 years from now, I know what I'll be doing. 112 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,600 You know, I've seen the old codgers going into the law library. 113 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,280 They don't have a law, they sure they still have law libraries, but much of it's online 114 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:50,280 anymore. 115 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:51,280 Yeah, I've seen it. 116 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:53,200 I know the end of the story. 117 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,920 But if I do this, it's something very unique. 118 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,160 And so I really embarked upon it as a business opportunity. 119 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:01,800 Like, this is something unique. 120 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:02,880 This is something I can do. 121 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,680 This is something I can build. 122 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:11,880 But what really fascinated me about the whole networking thing is that it touches every 123 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,480 aspect of life. 124 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:21,680 I have friends of my kids who, you know, they're adults now who are graduating and needing 125 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:26,680 to get jobs or have jobs and losing jobs and trying to find a next job. 126 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:29,880 And I don't get paid for this, but I can lean into helping those people. 127 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:35,240 And it's really applying the same sorts of principles to helping a small business person 128 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:36,240 get business. 129 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,680 It's, okay, this is what you need to do to find a job. 130 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:40,680 It's just networking. 131 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,000 It's just that you that we're never really taught, but we all have, we just don't know 132 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:46,720 how to deploy them in the right way. 133 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:48,920 And if you do, it's really powerful. 134 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,960 So that was really neat for me. 135 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:52,960 It's true. 136 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:59,320 And those personal skills, listen, like anything else, you have to practice, practice, practice, 137 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:00,320 practice. 138 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:05,760 And the more you practice, the better you get, the more networking meetings you go to, 139 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:12,520 the better you get, you know, but in your travels, in your experience, what's your number 140 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:14,760 one challenge? 141 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:20,480 What really challenged you throughout your career? 142 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:24,640 I think this is something that challenges everybody. 143 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,120 Is this ever going to come back to me? 144 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:28,120 Yeah. 145 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:29,120 Right? 146 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,480 Because it is a real leap of faith. 147 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:37,240 You go work for a company, you work all week, and there's a paycheck at the end of the week. 148 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:38,840 Maybe it's two weeks, but it's the same thing. 149 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:40,800 I'm working, I'm going to get paid. 150 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:43,920 The government's going to step in and help me if I don't get paid or society. 151 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,920 There's this faith that the turnaround between what you're doing and what you're getting 152 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,080 happens quickly. 153 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:57,920 And with respect to networking, as you well know, that that's not always the case. 154 00:08:57,920 --> 00:08:59,320 Sometimes it's pretty immediate. 155 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:05,000 And you and I have just met, when I say just met in the last three months, you've been 156 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,440 on my podcast, I've been on your podcast, and that's relatively immediate. 157 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:10,760 And thank you for having me on. 158 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:16,000 This is truly an honor, but it's also an asset for me because I'm out there on another platform. 159 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:17,440 So it is a gift. 160 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,600 And so there is a somewhat of an immediate return there. 161 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,340 So sometimes it's relatively immediate. 162 00:09:23,340 --> 00:09:26,880 Sometimes it might be years where somebody will come back and say, you know what, I heard 163 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:31,320 you 10 years ago talk and I need help now. 164 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:39,080 Or even with respect to friends of my kids, I run this networking organization and I have 165 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:43,680 these kids, they're not kids, they're grown adults with spouses and houses and mortgage 166 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:49,280 payments coming into the organization and being clients of my organization. 167 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,360 And it's literally been decades in the making. 168 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:55,440 Hey, you need to go and get in Mr. Reagan's program. 169 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:00,240 So that's the biggest challenge has been just having the faith that things will come back 170 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:04,440 to you and you might not even recognize that it's come back to you, but it's coming back 171 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:05,440 to you. 172 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:06,440 Yeah. 173 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:11,040 Whenever you go into a networking event or meetings, that's what I've been saying all 174 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:18,160 along, really people lost sight of what they have to do and they lost sight of how they're 175 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:19,320 supposed to do it. 176 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,080 You know, this is going to sound very sexist. 177 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:27,800 I apologize to everybody who's listening, but usually it's the woman that walks in and 178 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,960 starts talking a mile a minute. 179 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:35,920 And you know, everybody's like, whoa, you know, stop, you know, what you have to remember 180 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:44,240 to do is when you first, let's say, walk up to a table, you don't talk, you listen, you 181 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:49,120 listen for the conversation, you listen to what is this a conversation that I want to 182 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:50,640 be a part of? 183 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:51,640 Then right. 184 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:56,200 Well, or no, it's not you politely back out, you go to another table. 185 00:10:56,200 --> 00:11:01,520 But if it is, you wait for the opportunity for you to say something. 186 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:08,780 Now you've gone somewhere and you are supposedly the expert in your field. 187 00:11:08,780 --> 00:11:15,180 So what you say, I really hope is something intelligent where at least one or two of the 188 00:11:15,180 --> 00:11:20,200 people will turn around and respond back to you. 189 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:26,640 And that gives you the, opens up your opportunity to ask them what they do, how they do it and 190 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:27,640 everything else. 191 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:28,640 And remember form. 192 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:35,360 I don't know if you remember on our podcast, but form is family, occupation, recreation, 193 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:37,800 and a message you get to the same level. 194 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:42,520 Keep all that in mind and you let them talk, speak. 195 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:47,960 And after a while, you say, no, that's when you come back with the, I'd like what you're 196 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:52,720 doing, I'd like you, how can I make you more successful? 197 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:57,480 And before you realize it, they're giving you all their information. 198 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:02,040 And the best thing to do is to find a referral for them. 199 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:03,600 Best thing to do. 200 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:04,600 Yeah. 201 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:06,240 And it's really human nature. 202 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:07,240 Share a story. 203 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:11,920 This has happened a few months ago, but I retold it this morning, introducing two people. 204 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:16,160 I had met a woman down in Jacksonville, Florida, and it was very impressed with what she did 205 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:17,480 with AI. 206 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:23,000 I reached out to her and I said, Hey, would you please show me how I could be using AI 207 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,120 to do the things you're doing for your clients? 208 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:28,000 And I'm happy to pay you. 209 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:29,160 She said, don't worry about paying me. 210 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:30,840 You don't need to worry about paying me. 211 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:32,520 I'll give you an hour of my time. 212 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:36,480 You're out there doing this stuff and let's only an hour of my time and you're smart enough 213 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:37,480 to figure this stuff out. 214 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,360 If you need help beyond that, sure. 215 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:41,840 Just let's just sit and talk about it. 216 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:46,120 And I spent an hour with her and I was just blown away by the things she was showing 217 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:47,120 me. 218 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:49,400 And at the same time, we're talking. 219 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:53,440 I'm certainly listening to what she's saying and taking notes, but just intermittently, 220 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:54,440 it's okay. 221 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,000 Who do I know that could use this person? 222 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,480 Who do I know that I can introduce this person to? 223 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:04,320 When it's just, these are things that are just barking in the background in my head. 224 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:05,320 We are hardwired. 225 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:07,800 She gave me an hour of her time. 226 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:10,040 We are hardwired to reciprocate. 227 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:14,600 And so when we do these things, good things are going to come back to us. 228 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:15,600 Absolutely. 229 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:22,120 And I know being in business, it really doesn't matter what business you're in, but your referral, 230 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:24,360 your referral is gold. 231 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,480 It does nothing better than a personal referral. 232 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:29,880 So what does that tell you? 233 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:36,240 That you have to do right by whomever that you're helping and give them more and under 234 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:37,240 pay. 235 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,760 And so it's just, you give them more than what they're paying for. 236 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:48,360 And they should be so elated that you're helping them in such a way that they can't do anything, 237 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:50,680 but refer you. 238 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:54,880 And that referral say, oh, you know, so and so referred me and called you, oh, I love 239 00:13:54,880 --> 00:14:01,400 her, you know, because they, because you're putting their name on the line as well on 240 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:02,880 how you treat them. 241 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:03,880 Yeah. 242 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:08,480 I think a lot of times people run into, they have this hang up that if I do something for 243 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:12,920 someone else, I am going to be depleted. 244 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:14,840 I'm out something. 245 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:18,920 And what I share with people, I always have to preface, okay, I'm not being, I'm not getting 246 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:20,200 crazy here. 247 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:21,640 Just follow my logic. 248 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:25,520 I say, I tell them, I don't like coconut. 249 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:26,520 I just don't. 250 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:29,320 From as being a young as a kid, I just didn't like coconut. 251 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:31,400 It's, I have a gag reflex. 252 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,560 If I have coconuts, but if you hand me an almond joy bar, that's all coconut. 253 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:37,000 Even though I will not eat that. 254 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:38,000 I will not. 255 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,080 I'll probably die before I eat it. 256 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:45,640 I will take it because I know there are people in my life that love coconut and could benefit 257 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:47,200 from coconut. 258 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,800 And so I'm going to take, I'm going to collect all the almond joy bars out there and give 259 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,560 them to the people I knew who love almond joy bars. 260 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:58,000 It's certainly not depleting me because I've already said, I don't like coconut. 261 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:02,280 And the reason I'm doing that is because I'm giving these almond joy bars out and hopefully 262 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,200 they're asking what kind of candy do you like, Frank? 263 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:09,080 Because I'll keep a look out for you because they're so thankful that I've given them 264 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,240 their favorite candy. 265 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,320 And I look at that same thing with respect to other opportunities. 266 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:22,200 A lot of things come my way that don't really fit for me. 267 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,400 Somebody might have a fitness podcast. 268 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,680 That's not for me, but it's for somebody I know. 269 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,240 And so I'm going to take that in that I'm in joy bar and I'm going to hand it out to 270 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:33,480 somebody else. 271 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:34,480 And what are they going to say? 272 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,040 What kind of podcast are you looking to get on? 273 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:41,440 I'm looking to get on ones that deal with professional relationships, business networking, 274 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:42,960 referral best practices. 275 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:44,080 Oh, okay. 276 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:46,080 I'll keep a look out for you. 277 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:48,920 And it's the same thing with respect to other opportunities too. 278 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:55,880 We're all encountering things and people, somebody looking to hire a, somebody to work 279 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:56,880 in their I.T. 280 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,640 department, but I'm in marketing. 281 00:15:58,640 --> 00:15:59,880 That's an opportunity. 282 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:01,200 What type of person are you looking for? 283 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:02,200 Entry level, how many years? 284 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:06,040 I don't know if I know somebody, but I know people and maybe I can help you. 285 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,440 And so you're not depleted at all by doing those sorts of things. 286 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:16,120 You're not because even though, you know, I go on stages and I do breakout sessions and 287 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:22,240 workshops and people ask me all the time, whatever I give them an hour of my time, you're 288 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,320 giving me all of your information. 289 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:26,680 There's nothing left. 290 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,360 You know, what else could you possibly show me? 291 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:33,320 Well, there's an infinite amount of things that you can still learn. 292 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:34,320 Yeah. 293 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:40,000 But, you know, on my, on my website, I have my book, but right next to it, I have a little 294 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,840 thing called an abridged version and that's free. 295 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:50,400 It's a PDF and it gives you to the basics of my book and everything out, but it's free. 296 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,160 People say, well, why are you doing that? 297 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:57,040 Because whoever downloads it, obviously needs it. 298 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:58,040 You know? 299 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,080 But what goes around comes around. 300 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:06,160 I feel that if you give out as much as you can, it will come back. 301 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:07,160 Yeah. 302 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:12,440 It's like you have books and people say, what's the best way to sell a book? 303 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:14,160 I say, give it away for free. 304 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,760 I'm saying just get out there and just tweet little tidbits of it out there. 305 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:18,760 Right? 306 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:19,760 That's what I've done. 307 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:23,320 Here's this little reference to show the book, maybe a link to the book. 308 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:24,320 That's how I'll buy books. 309 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:25,320 Right? 310 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:26,320 I'll look at, oh, that really sounds interesting. 311 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:27,320 Perfect. 312 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:29,040 I'm going to buy that book. 313 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:35,120 And I joke and I say, if somebody was really enterprising enough, they could scour my LinkedIn 314 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:42,120 and my social channels and they could find the entire book, little bits and pieces and 315 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:43,600 plug it all together. 316 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:44,600 Yeah. 317 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:45,600 Absolutely. 318 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:51,080 Because you are giving away enough for somebody to really put together if they want to take 319 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:53,760 the time to put it all together. 320 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,200 But you might as well just go out and buy the book. 321 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,520 That's what people end up doing. 322 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:05,000 What one marketing or networking tip that you feel the most strongly about? 323 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,040 That's a great question and I have a consistent answer. 324 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,840 Find something that you're passionate about and go volunteer. 325 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:13,840 I need to get out. 326 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:14,840 I need to network. 327 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:15,840 I need to do something. 328 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:16,840 I don't know where to do. 329 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:18,880 You should go find something. 330 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:22,160 Don't be calculating these big people are here or whatever. 331 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:27,720 If it's pet charities, then head in that direction homelessness, maybe it's youth sports, just 332 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:31,480 get out there and give to the world. 333 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,400 You don't have to wear a t-shirt that has your business name on it. 334 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:36,440 You'd probably better off not doing that. 335 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:38,280 Don't be calculating like that. 336 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:39,680 People will find out. 337 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,080 I see it all the time. 338 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:42,080 What do you do? 339 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,440 You run for an insurance agent. 340 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:45,440 Yeah. 341 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:51,000 Well, you have to remember that you're not just speaking with the people that are there, 342 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:55,040 speaking with their entire network, each individual people. 343 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,920 I always recommend exactly what you just said. 344 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,400 I always recommend just go and do. 345 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:05,800 When you start doing and you start giving, the conversation is going to turn around to 346 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,920 say, what do you do for a living? 347 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:13,120 That's when you can say, well, I do this or I do that. 348 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:19,000 People say, oh, that's very interesting or that's all right, but it will advance you 349 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:25,800 not only personally, but it will advance you professionally as well as long as you learn 350 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,440 how to communicate with them. 351 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,200 When you're doing those things, you're not doing them alone. 352 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:37,280 You're doing them with other people who care about the same, whatever it is, charity or 353 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:41,400 initiative, and they'll ask about you and you'll develop a relationship with them. 354 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:46,200 Something's going to happen from that, but that gets you off of the dime, so to speak, 355 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:47,720 and just doing something. 356 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:48,720 Yeah. 357 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:49,720 It's true. 358 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:54,720 That falls into the category of giving or receiving. 359 00:19:54,720 --> 00:20:00,360 When you're there, you're going to give, give, give until somebody turns around and says, 360 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:01,360 what do you do? 361 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:03,480 Something like that. 362 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,360 That is great for your networking tactic. 363 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:12,520 Do you have a specific way that you market, a marketing tactic? 364 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,640 I know you run networking groups. 365 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:22,520 You actually have a separate networking next week, I think at four o'clock or so. 366 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,040 I have a couple of things that I do. 367 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:27,960 Again, it goes back to the whole notion of the best way to sell something is to give 368 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:29,800 it away for free. 369 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:36,040 In the early days of the pandemic, we were all a little bit, what does this mean? 370 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:38,480 What does this mean for the world? 371 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,120 We're all a little bit lonely and I discovered that you could use Zoom for something more 372 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:44,400 than talking to one person at a time. 373 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:48,640 I invited 12 people onto a Zoom call and we just had a conversation. 374 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:50,840 I said, I know none of you, people know each other. 375 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:52,240 You're all very well connected. 376 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:56,520 We each other, let's all talk about ourselves one by one. 377 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:01,640 That was born the networking hub, which is the second Wednesday of every month. 378 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:03,440 It's 7 p.m. Eastern. 379 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:04,840 You can get the link to it. 380 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:05,840 It's free to attend. 381 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:07,320 There's no commitment. 382 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:10,840 Networking-hub.com. 383 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:17,600 Then I've also started doing a referrals strategy workshop at 4 o'clock on that same day. 384 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:23,640 What I'll do on the workshop is I will bring up just... The workshop is more about hands-on 385 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,840 sorts of things with respect to referrals. 386 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:32,160 The next one, I'm going to be talking about the whole notion of what I call wholesale 387 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:33,160 referrals. 388 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:39,160 Basically, looking for people that will lead you to multiple referrals. 389 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:44,320 I'll talk on that briefly and then put people in breakout rooms and they can have a conversation 390 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:45,640 around that concept. 391 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,200 Again, free to attend. 392 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:49,200 It's interesting. 393 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:55,120 I see the people who are registering and certainly people from my organization, lots of people 394 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:56,880 not from my organization. 395 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:58,720 It's going to be a great opportunity. 396 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:00,200 Sprinting the good word about networking. 397 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:01,200 I love it. 398 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:05,320 Frank, if somebody wants to get hold of you, what's the best way that they can hold of 399 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,160 you? 400 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:08,960 Everybody communicates in their own style. 401 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:10,520 Some people love LinkedIn. 402 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:14,200 If you go to frankagan.com, you can find my email address. 403 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:18,800 You can get to my LinkedIn profile, my Facebook and communicate any of those ways. 404 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:19,900 However, works best for you. 405 00:22:19,900 --> 00:22:21,680 For me, email is the best. 406 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:26,720 It's just easy for me to catalog and color code and put reminders and things like that. 407 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:27,720 That's just me. 408 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:33,760 Frank, I have to tell you, this was a great, great experience. 409 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:39,920 Everybody wanted to know about networking or referrals or anything else, please contact 410 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:43,920 Frank and he will set you free, so to speak. 411 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:50,040 I personally will be sitting along that networking event, both at four o'clock and seven o'clock 412 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:54,400 because I'm very interested in networking because you haven't realized that yet. 413 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,960 I want to thank you and good luck with everything. 414 00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:58,960 Thank you. 415 00:22:58,960 --> 00:22:59,960 Appreciate the opportunity. 416 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:06,960 Thank you.