Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable Connections.
Welcome to the show, folks.
I'm your host, Michael Forman, and you're listening to the podcast where networking
is more than just an awkward handshake and bad coffee.
It's an art and a talent.
But here's the twist.
It's an art and a talent you can actually learn.
You even, yes, even if you're the person hiding in the corner at every event pretending
to check emails.
Networking isn't just a nice skill to have, it's a game changer.
When you get good at it, you'll wonder why you didn't start sooner.
More connections, more opportunities, more profits.
It's like unlocking a cheat code for life.
So whether you're the life of the party or the let me just stay in home and text type,
we've got something for you.
Stick around and let's turn those awkward small talk moments into big wins.
Now I have a guest.
Her name is Milly Goldberg, and she has quite a great background in network and influencing
and everything.
I wouldn't do it justice.
Let me just start out by saying Milly Goldberg is a values expert, an entrepreneur, and now
a published nonfiction business author.
She launched her first startup in 2009.
So before I go into the rest of the bio, I will say hello to Milly.
Hello, Milly.
How are you?
Hi, Michael.
Thank you for having me.
Good morning.
You're on your end, of course.
Yeah, well, it is morning.
It is morning.
But, but I know there's just so much more to your background.
And could you fill us in a little bit, please?
Sure thing.
I began my entrepreneurial career, as you mentioned, while sitting at the office listening
to other startup pitch about their video solutions to me.
And suddenly I had the entrepreneurial itch.
And so ever since I've been connecting my passion for marketing and entrepreneurship,
first was, as you mentioned, to launch one of the first influencer platforms on earth
before even Instagram was on.
So that was a bit of a challenge.
I've been privatizing the social influencer, the micro social influencer markets and ever
since, so for the past decade or so, I've been also investing in working with startups
that sound have now IPOed on NASDAQ by now.
So so so I'm very proud in order to help them fine tune their product market fit.
Market fit.
It was with the pitch.
That's how it got all combined.
And especially to help them overcome what I saw is that these to call me the messaging
doctor.
But as we dove into the messaging process says, it ended up being really a kind of alignment
that got me to sit on the beach for a year and write and write this book for which I'm
so proud of and excited about.
It should be congratulations on the book.
That is just a very good thing.
Okay, so you you network, you have an increase incredible network of people that you stay
in contact with.
So now how do you how do you remain in contact or network with these people in a digital age?
Well, that's a great question.
And I will also add something to my bio that wouldn't have been relevant until this point,
but that is the fact that I only found out that I have ADHD about three years ago.
That's a year before I decided to write a book and which helped me understand why while
I have many friends and acquaintance whom I love when I get when I connect with them.
It's always extremely authentic.
We dive deep either on the personal or business level.
We always find various connections to what we do and how we do it.
You know, we find our why's we find our why why we're connected, but then given the widespread
of communities that I'm involved in, given the various startup verticals that I've been
engaging with and the academic world and and and it became very hard for me to maintain
that level of connection on social media because to get back to messages and to create connections
that are there to last, I found I needed something different.
I needed to have that kind of connection that if you and I are not going to speak to get,
you know, we're going to go off this call and then follow up a few times, but then we'll
all you know, we'll disappear into thin digital air.
So what I keep looking for in my engagements on social media is to have the type of connection
that when I meet these people again, because it's hard for me to maintain the personal
contact in the deep way it was formed before, but it will feel for us as if we've just said
good our previous goodbyes and that the mutual connection, it'll just like, you know, like
you have these friends that you pick up your connection with them, even if you haven't seen
them for a decade, and it's like as if you just said, you're goodbyes, and that's the
kind of engagements I seek on social media.
Okay, that's great.
That's great.
You know, I profess, you know, the in person, the networking so you can feel the vibe of
the person and feel the vibe of the room.
What type of networking in person networking events do you attend?
Well, it's interesting for me, you know, these kind of questions on one hand, they're like,
okay, so I go to meetups like I go to, and when I get invited as a speaker, so I get
so excited to see the event itself and everything else.
So you know, you get to spend time with people.
On the other hand, it's, you know, for me, it's like what Brunet Brown refers to the introvert
extrovert and vice versa.
So I'm as much as I'm very passionate about what I do and about helping people and I dive
in and it's like I morph myself into being part of the room in order to better understand
the challenges I'm dealing with.
I shy away in other events.
So what kind of networking events I go to the ones that there's a bart enough.
The ones that now it's not my thing, but the ones that I can blend in and not feel uncomfortable
with, you know, not approaching people and saying, hi, my name is Nealey, how are you?
I noticed, you know, what you do that.
And I like the small and more intimate events and meetups that eventually either have breakdown
sessions or round tables.
And then I think that's a true way to get to know people.
So those are the events I would vote for.
Okay.
How about if you give me a few key elements in a key element of effective communication
in your professional network?
Some key elements.
What I would, I would, I think that my element for engaging on the professional level is
not very different from the one on the personal level because what I, what I usually aim for
is to have, you know, I've been working for so many years that I prefer, you know, only
about good conversations over just conversations.
So a good one would be, or an engagement would be on the basis of a core or core values,
which means that if you and I connect and engage and we had a few minutes to talk beforehand,
I was able to connect with you on a level of the empathy of the fact that both of us,
it wasn't just the small talk of making it our business to feel comfortable with each
other.
It's the fact that we found the way to show each other, we know each other, that we get
it.
We get a specific experience or feeling or, you know, it was even a tiny bit of, you
know, not anxiety, but anxiousness and looking forward and being very curious about every
one of us on two sides of the world about what's going to happen.
We are, we do take note of the global effects that are currently taking place on various
levels.
So that is why I feel that in addition to the world of communication, of course, I felt
that I was very much at ease to talk to you and to dive into a podcast being the introvert.
Okay.
Well, here we go.
Since you said that you were an introvert, all right, how would you recommend people
overcoming a fear or discomfort about networking?
Take a friend.
Okay.
But that, the truth is because the conversation, it's like, to me, the way to overcome the
anxiety is to make it less about me.
And in that field, everything is, any tool that I have is relevant.
So it's either I will introduce someone else into the crowd or I will create a discussion
about like blend into a discussion about something else.
So if I fear the situation of introducing myself and putting myself out there, I will
find ways to create an engagement that puts myself out there next.
I was like, oh, right.
So you ski, you do this, you're used to windsurf.
Oh, you wrote a blog.
Right.
Well, you know, it's funny you say that because listen, I was in the Air Force, so I call this
a wingman.
But when I'm up on a stage or doing a workshop or something like that, I am always asked
the difference between extroverts and introverts.
And everything we talk about is about an extrovert, nothing about an introvert.
So you know, my main thing with an introvert is listen, I mean, let me back up with an
extrovert.
I always say go alone.
This way you don't have to share your attention span with anybody else.
When you're an introvert, however, it's you bring a wingman, somebody that knows you,
that you trust, and that can introduce you to every table and everything else.
And of course, that just makes things easier.
So you're right in line with what I have been talking about.
So that's very, very good.
You know that we could also add, given your experience at the Air Force.
My experience is in the intelligence force.
So the more we do our homework, and again, to me, it's to get more of the experience,
the vibe of who are the people that I'm meeting and what kind of event I'm going to.
It helps me better set myself in advance to the vibe that I would like to be in, to put
myself in the setting that is best for me for that kind of an event and for the people
I meet.
So even if it's a networking event and you've been to a gazillion of them, the better, the
more you're prepared, the more you're going to ace it.
And if there's a specific target, then by all means, there's that movie on Apple TV
with WeWork, WeCrashed, of how the entrepreneur got the funding round from the Asian parties.
Like the second.
Exactly like that.
Knowledge is power.
So if you're going to go to a networking event, you're going to investigate all about that
event, not only the event itself, but the people that go to that event, because you
have to see whether or not it's for you.
Are you one of those people that are going to go to that event?
And you're right.
When you walk into the room and you pick up the vibe of the room, that's so important.
Now when I do anything, my wife absolutely goes crazy about this, but I do that everywhere
we go.
I always have my back to the wall.
I, you know, everything because I was a police officer with the Air Force.
I'm always armed.
So, you know, it's always, that's where my brain works.
But you have to pick up the vibe of the person you're speaking to and the vibe of the room
for it to work out.
Okay.
So what would you say is a mistake that you made in networking and how did you overcome
it?
Oh, I make so many.
That's usually the answer, but you know, let's try to narrow it down.
Oh, it's like sometimes I'm like, did you just say that?
Are you like?
I think that one of the mistakes I made a few times was the understanding of the follow-up
process.
Because on the networking front, you know, you hit and miss and then you come back for
round two, three, four, if that's what's needed.
You pick yourself up and try again, but when you leave the room, or by the way, a Zoom
call or a live call.
It's crucial to follow up in a certain way.
And in a way that, as I said previously, creates a continuum.
It continues the vibe of the previous engagement, which requires a lot of time and attention,
by the way.
So, and you know, there's that kind of cycle after a networking event, there's like the
hype.
And then it maintains for a day to five days.
And then you start, you know, spreading the follow-ups and mutual connections that you've
promised to create.
But then there's, there is that continuous follow-up of living up to your promise.
And then some, because otherwise it's transactional.
And then that is, I make my business to give value.
It's important to me.
So, I'm on the lookout for that.
It should be.
And over-delivering is the key.
The follow-up, I feel, is almost more important than actually meeting the person.
So I have a secret sauce for follow-up and for two weeks after.
And I find out, A, whether or not you're really interested or B, you just, it's fluff.
Okay.
And it's all right if you weren't really interested in what I had to say or have to
offer, because I'll put you on a drip campaign within my CRM and everything else.
But with that follow-up, it's very, very important that you follow through with your follow-up
and what you said is very important.
You have to make good on what you promise.
Because listen, know you, like you, trust you, then they'll do business with you.
And know you and like you, that's really the easy part.
Because everybody knows you, but like you, well, that narrows down the field a little
bit and trusts you, you have five seconds, 30 seconds, a minute, 10 minutes, a half hour.
You don't know what you have for them to trust you.
So when you walk up to somebody and you're letting them talk, their level of trust is
increasing and that barrier between you is decreasing.
Okay.
So I just mentioned that trust is crucial.
How do you establish and maintain authentic relationships with fellow professionals?
I say, I say what many of the relationships I have are either with founders or investors
in either private equity or VCs.
So the level of trust I have to maintain is extremely, extremely, it's very high up there
because they tell me about challenges that they're facing with their portfolio or a specific
company and I help them or the reason they're either chatting with me at an event or following
up is because they would like to get a second opinion on either, get a second opinion on
what may really be taking place there and then we, because based on the core four, there
may be misalignment inside the company between the vision and the core values or the core
values and the mission or the promise and therefore I've gained their trust by being
pretty accurate.
But they would also ask me about companies, about, you know, whether when they're contemplating
investment rounds or changes in the board or the leadership teams, that's one hand
or they call me and ask the doctor to help and then I need to gain trust from the CEO
and the leadership team because they bring me into their temple.
They take me on an offsite that is a leadership offsite and there has to be a very, very,
very strong element of trust because first of all, no one is allowed to prep for the
offsite as opposed to any other offsite in the world and no one's, you know, you don't
prepare your decks in advance and then because then it gets everybody biased and defensive
and you go nowhere there if you really want to solve a business strategic issue, not just
a cultural, you know, kumbaya kind of thing.
So I need to live up to my promises, they trust me to say what I think and to know that
it's in their favor.
So if it's not a win-win, they know I'll say it.
That's great.
That's a great answer, by the way.
Okay.
So what are, give me some common challenges that you would face and how would you overcome
them or how did you overcome them?
Are we talking networking or are we talking business challenges?
Let's stick with networking.
Okay.
So I'm sorry, I'm trying to think of something but eventually I, the challenge I always have
is approaching people and my challenge is always as much as, again, it's very personal
but it is putting myself out there.
So it's like I'm the entrepreneur who always creates a product and then as many in Silicon
Valley say, if you've launched a product you're proud of, it means you've launched too late.
So I have a gazillion products just like I wrote the book and I have tons of war-trops
that I've created and launched and worked with them but I never put myself out there
and say, hey, this is my whole portfolio and this is my umbrella because then I would feel
with, given my Russian background that I'm chasing some, you know, you don't chase in
that as opposed to the American culture that it's like, I'll put myself out there.
No worries.
So that is a continuous challenge for me and as I shared before then I either have my
wingman or my surfer dude in my case.
I love engagements with students so I teach a lot and again, I stopped making promises
that would exhaust me to live up to.
Okay, that's all right.
All right, so let's bring this full circle and give me your favorite marketing tactic.
These weren't really hard questions, I want to tell you.
So I am a very, very, very strong believer in cherry picking and it doesn't matter whether
you have, you know, you have a hundred service slots to sell in a quarter or 10 partners
or customers that you would like to serve given service businesses or product businesses
that is very scalable as opposed to the service businesses.
So that's a lot of customers.
I believe that the best way to get your customers is just like in, as we talked about before,
an electric, like a campaign.
Like if you're running for president, you're running for office, you got to shake a lot
of hands.
No more hugging a lot of babies, but you know, you got to shake.
Now the, the, any marketing tactic I use is like, even if I need to approach a hundred
thousand people, I will always start with my hit list with it, which is my 30 preferred
customers or the people I would like to serve as now with the accelerator, the core for
accelerator that we're launching.
So I create that hit list of 30 of 100 and then I test those, that audience or sometimes
I have a few of them in order to, to crystallize the promise I give them being able to deliver.
By the way, product and service alike.
So testing the audiences, but in a way that you really know those people that, that, that
if I asked my team who is John Salman, they're going to tell me exactly who he is, not just
because they're going to the CRM and see their details, but rather they've been on his Facebook
profile on Instagram, TikTok, whatever, LinkedIn, depending on the, on the target audience.
But that to me is if I had to choose one, it would bring me back to the intelligence
force.
Okay.
Kind of close to your heart.
Okay.
You make those clusters and then you can really reach a wide audience because you've already
lived up to your promise.
You know, you can keep it, then you grow.
Yes.
Absolutely.
And that goes back to keeping your promise and keeping your word and, and that's all
very important with the trust factor and everything else.
So you brought everything together, which was very, very nice.
Let me have, give me one takeaway that my listeners could use today.
Give me just a takeaway.
Many people talk about, like, I think there's this manifestation trend manifest and it shall,
you know, and, and it'll happen.
You have to vision it.
Now I'm a very strong believer in visioning because it's the, it's, it's a very substantial
part of the core for.
And that goes the same for, for the prep work I do, you know, while going up the elevator
into, into events and, and when I work either being the presenter and the keynote or the,
the offsite facilitator or as part of the networking crowd and there is that is, I do
create a vision and setting within myself of the kind of engagements I'd like to have.
So I bring my best self into the room based on person I'd like to the value I would like
to provide.
And I guess it's, I guess it's working.
Okay.
Well, that's a good thing, by the way.
Okay.
So, Nilly, if somebody wanted to get in touch with you, either use your services or learn
about you or just give me everything.
How can somebody get in touch with you?
And if there's anything else you want to add as kind of like a conclusion, please tell
me.
My conclusion is that is not a conclusion.
I think it's a blessing.
I mean, we, we, we were kicking off the year together and I truly hope that with dedication
and work, of course, we will find ourselves more at ease and in some kind of a flow state
mentally and with our business.
That's my vision for 2025.
And I, again, as I said, I would really, if, if, you know, if people get curious, I think
I respond personally to my LinkedIn profile.
So I can give you all those, the phone numbers and, and emails and, and you know, they're
all, I shared them with you, but I like getting in touch personally on LinkedIn.
Okay.
That's great.
That's great, Nilly.
And I just, I can't begin to tell you how I enjoyed this podcast listening to you and,
and everything that you're, you're doing and especially about your, your military background
because I really enjoyed that.
But I hear what.
So I'm just going to sign off and tell everybody if they want to get in touch with you, please
do so.
She's a wealth of knowledge and she has a wealth of experience.
And I just thank you again for coming on, on the podcast.
Thank you, Michael, for having me and for spending, as you can see, the evening with me.
And I look forward to sharing all of your insights and words and comments on LinkedIn
with all of my followers really soon.
I had a wonderful time.
Thank you.
My pleasure.
Well, that's a wrap, folks.
A huge thank you to our special guests for sharing such incredible insights today.
And of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing listeners for tuning in and spending
your time with us.
Remember, networking isn't about being perfect.
It's about being present.
So take what you've learned today, get out there and make some meaningful connections.
If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review and share
it with someone who could use a little networking inspiration.
Let's keep the conversation going.
You can find me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or my website, MichaelAForman.com.
Remember, until next time, keep practicing, keep connecting and keep building those relationships.
This is Michael A. Foreman, signing off, take care and happy networking.