WEBVTT 00:00:16.750 --> 00:00:21.109 Hello, and welcome to Networking Unleashed, building 00:00:21.109 --> 00:00:24.309 profitable connections. Welcome back to the show, 00:00:24.350 --> 00:00:27.230 folks. I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and you're 00:00:27.230 --> 00:00:30.350 listening to the podcast where networking is 00:00:30.350 --> 00:00:33.310 more than just awkward handshakes and bad coffee. 00:00:33.490 --> 00:00:37.030 It's an art and a talent. But here's the twist. 00:00:37.229 --> 00:00:40.049 It's an art and talent you can actually learn. 00:00:40.390 --> 00:00:43.130 Yes, even if you're the person hiding in the 00:00:43.130 --> 00:00:46.189 corner at every event. pretending to check emails. 00:00:47.229 --> 00:00:50.350 Networking isn't just a nice skill to have, it's 00:00:50.350 --> 00:00:53.310 a game changer. When you get good at it, you'll 00:00:53.310 --> 00:00:56.409 wonder why you didn't start sooner. More connections, 00:00:56.750 --> 00:01:00.770 more opportunities, more profits. It's like unlocking 00:01:00.770 --> 00:01:03.990 a cheat code for life. So whether you're the 00:01:03.990 --> 00:01:06.370 life of the party or the just let me stay at 00:01:06.370 --> 00:01:09.010 home and text type, we've got something for you. 00:01:09.469 --> 00:01:12.409 Stick around. Let's turn those awkward small 00:01:12.409 --> 00:01:17.269 talk moments into big wins. I've got an incredible 00:01:17.269 --> 00:01:21.090 guest today. His name is Jack Sederlund, and 00:01:21.090 --> 00:01:24.010 I hope I got the last name correct. Really, for 00:01:24.010 --> 00:01:27.810 such a young man, he has an extraordinary background. 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:32.799 and he's a 28 -year -old entrepreneur from Milwaukee, 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:36.260 Wisconsin, began his business journey at the 00:01:36.260 --> 00:01:40.000 age of 19 while navigating college and searching 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.459 for his life's direction. Now, I can go more 00:01:43.459 --> 00:01:46.540 with his bio, but I'll probably butcher it. Let 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:49.299 me introduce Jake, and he'll fill you in a little 00:01:49.299 --> 00:01:52.700 bit more. Jake, welcome to the podcast. Absolutely, 00:01:52.819 --> 00:01:54.719 Michael. Thank you so much for having me, and 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:58.359 I'm super excited to be here. Good. Do you want 00:01:58.359 --> 00:01:59.900 to give us a little bit more of your background? 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:04.959 Yeah, absolutely. I can talk all day about myself, 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:08.960 but I've been doing the business entrepreneurship. 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:11.439 I hate that word, but self -employment thing 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:14.740 for about 10 years now. I started in college. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.879 A big part of my introduction into that world 00:02:17.879 --> 00:02:21.259 was networking and just seeing what was out there 00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:23.580 and getting into business, seeing different opportunities. 00:02:24.569 --> 00:02:26.789 And I made a lot of good partnerships, a lot 00:02:26.789 --> 00:02:29.050 of bad partnerships, and really has led to me 00:02:29.050 --> 00:02:32.990 starting a few different, say, successful companies. 00:02:33.110 --> 00:02:35.129 Some of them have definitely been failures, but 00:02:35.129 --> 00:02:37.090 it's been a journey. I'm still here. I'm still 00:02:37.090 --> 00:02:39.550 doing it and excited to share my experience. 00:02:40.370 --> 00:02:43.330 Good. That's great. Okay, that's great. Let me 00:02:43.330 --> 00:02:47.069 start off by asking you, how did networking influence 00:02:47.069 --> 00:02:50.889 your journey in developing business growth strategies? 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:56.389 Absolutely. When I first got started, I don't 00:02:56.389 --> 00:02:59.069 come from like that business professional background. 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:01.710 I didn't have parents that are out there being 00:03:01.710 --> 00:03:05.789 like salespeople or business professionals. My 00:03:05.789 --> 00:03:08.129 mom's side, they did have a small business, but 00:03:08.129 --> 00:03:10.250 my mom's an accountant and she likes numbers 00:03:10.250 --> 00:03:12.669 and everything like that. My dad's, you know, 00:03:12.669 --> 00:03:15.530 a normal, typical corporate job. So I didn't 00:03:15.530 --> 00:03:18.030 have a lot of role models in my day -to -day 00:03:18.030 --> 00:03:20.330 life where I was like going out, making connections 00:03:20.330 --> 00:03:23.389 and shaking hands. It was something that I had 00:03:23.389 --> 00:03:26.330 to learn. I got involved first and foremost in 00:03:26.330 --> 00:03:30.430 a club when I was in college called CEO, the 00:03:30.430 --> 00:03:34.229 Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization, and 00:03:34.229 --> 00:03:37.169 really started just like meeting people, shaking 00:03:37.169 --> 00:03:39.389 hands, seeing what everybody else was doing. 00:03:39.550 --> 00:03:42.090 And at the time I was doing prototyping because 00:03:42.090 --> 00:03:44.469 I had a background in engineering. So it was 00:03:44.469 --> 00:03:46.129 like, I want to see what everybody else is doing. 00:03:46.289 --> 00:03:48.509 How are they starting their business? We're all 00:03:48.509 --> 00:03:52.680 the same age, 19, 20, 21. And then from there, 00:03:52.740 --> 00:03:55.939 it really escalated into, okay, everybody's starting 00:03:55.939 --> 00:03:58.840 out. I need to talk to people that actually have 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:01.919 real business experience. And I got really big 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:04.340 into LinkedIn and just connecting with people 00:04:04.340 --> 00:04:06.199 in the Milwaukee area. That's where I'm from. 00:04:06.620 --> 00:04:09.780 And I ended up just, I would connect with somebody 00:04:09.780 --> 00:04:11.699 and be like, hey, could I buy you a coffee? I 00:04:11.699 --> 00:04:14.449 just want to sit down and learn from you. My 00:04:14.449 --> 00:04:18.589 first year in entrepreneurship business was just 00:04:18.589 --> 00:04:21.430 doing that, just really meeting people. How did 00:04:21.430 --> 00:04:23.829 you get started? How do you run your business? 00:04:24.149 --> 00:04:26.449 Looking back at it, I was reaching out to people 00:04:26.449 --> 00:04:28.829 that were just way above my level at the time, 00:04:28.850 --> 00:04:31.649 but it really started from there. And then I 00:04:31.649 --> 00:04:34.769 got into Facebook groups and I would network 00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:36.610 in there. That's how I found my business partner 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:38.410 and really took off. So I could talk about that 00:04:38.410 --> 00:04:41.430 all day, but it really started with me on LinkedIn, 00:04:41.430 --> 00:04:44.680 just networking with individuals in my local 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:47.360 area that were clearly at a much higher level 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:50.920 than I was at the time. You always start off 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.800 with what you don't know, you don't know, right? 00:04:53.899 --> 00:04:57.819 And you didn't know where these people were in 00:04:57.819 --> 00:05:00.740 the spectrum of entrepreneurship. So you just 00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:04.519 ask them. And I'm sure most of them said, sure, 00:05:04.579 --> 00:05:07.500 I'll meet you. And that's the way you learn. 00:05:08.029 --> 00:05:11.209 I love when people would ask me, when I had my 00:05:11.209 --> 00:05:13.949 businesses and things like that, I would always 00:05:13.949 --> 00:05:17.350 have somebody coming up and asking me, how did 00:05:17.350 --> 00:05:19.410 I begin? How did I start? How did I do this? 00:05:19.870 --> 00:05:22.769 I always gave them the answers. And I always 00:05:22.769 --> 00:05:25.370 had them buy me a cup of coffee. But besides 00:05:25.370 --> 00:05:28.629 that, everything was good. All right. So how 00:05:28.629 --> 00:05:31.250 has AI changed the way you network and build 00:05:31.250 --> 00:05:34.610 business connections? Yeah, that's a really good 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:36.769 question. That's a big one for me because we 00:05:36.769 --> 00:05:40.250 do a lot with AI too in our businesses. But I 00:05:40.250 --> 00:05:43.310 think the biggest is it really automates a lot 00:05:43.310 --> 00:05:46.290 of the introductions. Before back in the day, 00:05:46.350 --> 00:05:48.810 I would be on LinkedIn. I would scroll through 00:05:48.810 --> 00:05:51.850 like search Milwaukee and then pick out the people 00:05:51.850 --> 00:05:53.430 that I wanted to connect with and just click 00:05:53.430 --> 00:05:56.990 connect. And then now with AI, I can just run 00:05:56.990 --> 00:05:59.810 an automation. AI will automatically find people 00:05:59.810 --> 00:06:03.050 that I'm interested in connecting with. And they 00:06:03.050 --> 00:06:05.189 automatically sends the first message saying, 00:06:05.350 --> 00:06:07.350 Hey, this is me. This is what I do. Would you 00:06:07.350 --> 00:06:09.970 be interested in working together? And that's 00:06:09.970 --> 00:06:13.370 the flow now. So AI is really streamlined. I 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:16.029 think a lot of the hands -on approach that we 00:06:16.029 --> 00:06:19.310 used to have to do. And then now it's just run 00:06:19.310 --> 00:06:21.350 this little software, run this program. And then 00:06:21.350 --> 00:06:24.290 when they respond, I can pick up and start engaging. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:27.639 Don't use AI to just have a one -on -one communication 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:31.019 with somebody because I think AI is not there 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:34.480 yet. But for the introduction and finding people, 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:38.300 it's definitely been a game changer for us. How 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:41.839 do you feel about that in -person networking, 00:06:42.259 --> 00:06:45.480 going to networking events or networking with 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:50.040 this person one -on -one? I think there, it's 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:54.459 an absolute, I think there's a place in everybody's, 00:06:54.779 --> 00:06:56.980 just day to day life that they should be implementing 00:06:56.980 --> 00:06:59.720 that. I don't do it enough anymore. Unfortunately, 00:06:59.939 --> 00:07:01.639 it's something that I've lost a little bit of 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:05.959 touch with. And I wish I still did. Because as 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:08.300 much as you can have meetings online with people, 00:07:08.379 --> 00:07:11.120 it's not the same as one on one networking and 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:13.519 meeting somebody in your local community. So 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:15.899 I think there's a lot of power in it. I did it 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:19.500 for a lot of years. And Unfortunately, I'm a 00:07:19.500 --> 00:07:23.220 little out of touch with it now, but I think 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:25.220 it can get you a lot farther because definitely 00:07:25.220 --> 00:07:28.220 online too, people can put on a persona that 00:07:28.220 --> 00:07:30.860 it's, I'm this person and are they really? But 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:33.000 when you're meeting with somebody one -on -one 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.819 in your local community, it's definitely more 00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:39.759 genuine. And I think it can lead to more real 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:41.939 business opportunities than somebody just trying 00:07:41.939 --> 00:07:43.980 to sell you something, which unfortunately you 00:07:43.980 --> 00:07:46.920 get that a lot online. I wholeheartedly agree 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:51.000 with you. I believe in the in -person networking, 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:53.980 go to networking events. Now, there's a place 00:07:53.980 --> 00:07:57.899 for AI and there's a place for online, but nothing 00:07:57.899 --> 00:08:02.019 takes the place of that one -on -one to feel 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:04.680 the vibe of the person, to feel the vibe of the 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:07.819 room. You don't get that energy through Zoom. 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:10.569 You say, oh. I love it. But through computers 00:08:10.569 --> 00:08:12.509 and everything. Yeah. But you don't have that 00:08:12.509 --> 00:08:15.750 feeling that and you have a feeling of success 00:08:15.750 --> 00:08:19.550 after you leave the event. Then, of course, you 00:08:19.550 --> 00:08:23.069 move on to the follow up. But it's such a bit 00:08:23.069 --> 00:08:27.170 more of a invigorating feeling when you're meeting 00:08:27.170 --> 00:08:31.430 with everybody one on one. But let's just move 00:08:31.430 --> 00:08:35.350 this on. So can you share an example of how networking 00:08:35.350 --> 00:08:39.480 led to creating a successful, irresistible, offer 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:46.580 absolutely so the biggest like game changer in 00:08:46.580 --> 00:08:49.600 my business in my career was finding the right 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:53.299 partner and for me i went into business always 00:08:53.299 --> 00:08:55.940 just really wanting to find a partner because 00:08:55.940 --> 00:08:58.460 i struggle with sales it's just not the type 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:00.960 of person i am i can do support fulfillment operations 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:04.480 systems all that stuff all day i just don't do 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:07.250 sales so I was always trying to find the partner 00:09:07.250 --> 00:09:09.769 that could fill that role. And I was in Facebook 00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:12.549 groups. I ended up networking and finding a guy. 00:09:12.769 --> 00:09:15.309 We just chatted. We chatted eventually. We were 00:09:15.309 --> 00:09:18.549 like, hey, let's do business together. And that 00:09:18.549 --> 00:09:21.070 led us into the real estate space, specifically 00:09:21.070 --> 00:09:23.029 doing marketing for real estate agents. And that 00:09:23.029 --> 00:09:26.129 was our first big business together that we started. 00:09:26.190 --> 00:09:28.929 We've went on now and started a bunch of other 00:09:28.929 --> 00:09:33.179 really cool stuff. Him having that experience 00:09:33.179 --> 00:09:35.919 in real estate, me having the marketing experience 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:38.799 and everything like that coming together and 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:42.139 really putting our brains together. I know marketing, 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:45.299 real estate, let's collaborate. And basically 00:09:45.299 --> 00:09:47.980 had all these conversations coming up with an 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:49.899 offer of what are we going to offer to real estate 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:53.299 agents? And from there, basically came up with 00:09:53.299 --> 00:09:57.460 our winning offer of at the time, which was just. 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:00.879 I call it a purple ocean offer, which it stands 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:02.940 out from what everybody else was doing in the 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:05.960 market. And together again, came up with this 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:07.779 winning offer that allowed us to have a lot of 00:10:07.779 --> 00:10:11.120 success because again, I took what I knew. He 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.759 took what he knew about real estate, meshed it 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:16.940 together. Again, created a winning offer that 00:10:16.940 --> 00:10:21.220 allowed us to scale. That's a great synergy between 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:24.139 you and your partner. You always look for that 00:10:24.139 --> 00:10:26.899 partnership where you can compliment one another. 00:10:27.289 --> 00:10:29.409 Because if you're competing with one another, 00:10:29.629 --> 00:10:33.889 that's not a good recipe for success. I happen 00:10:33.889 --> 00:10:36.350 to be on the sales side of things. I've been 00:10:36.350 --> 00:10:39.750 doing sales for 100 years. So for me, it's everything. 00:10:40.049 --> 00:10:43.570 But when you get to a partner, I would partner 00:10:43.570 --> 00:10:46.509 with a marketing person or something else like 00:10:46.509 --> 00:10:49.730 that. So that's a great synergy. How would you 00:10:49.730 --> 00:10:53.149 use your networking to stay ahead of emerging 00:10:53.149 --> 00:10:58.690 trends in business? Absolutely. So from now, 00:10:58.809 --> 00:11:02.009 from where I'm at, the biggest way that we've 00:11:02.009 --> 00:11:05.649 used networking to stay ahead of trends and just 00:11:05.649 --> 00:11:08.309 everything going on in the market. Again, I still 00:11:08.309 --> 00:11:10.789 own marketing agencies, so we're very big into 00:11:10.789 --> 00:11:14.049 what's going on in marketing, what's new. One 00:11:14.049 --> 00:11:15.769 of our biggest things over the last two years 00:11:15.769 --> 00:11:19.899 was we implemented voice AI. into our offering 00:11:19.899 --> 00:11:23.039 for our clients, which has been a success. And 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:27.080 that came from my partner was still in contact 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:29.419 with another agency, another marketing agency. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:32.899 And they just stay in contact. They, Hey, how's 00:11:32.899 --> 00:11:35.019 everything going? What are you seeing? What are 00:11:35.019 --> 00:11:37.480 the trends? How are your show rates? Are you 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.019 closing people? Are you struggling? And they 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:42.519 just constantly in communication, not every day, 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:44.759 but every month, just checking in on each other. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.750 And He actually mentioned, he sent it over to 00:11:47.750 --> 00:11:49.970 us and was like, hey, check this voice AI thing 00:11:49.970 --> 00:11:53.809 out. And at the time, it was very expensive to 00:11:53.809 --> 00:11:56.549 get into. So he was like, hey, if you guys want 00:11:56.549 --> 00:11:58.370 to hop in on this, that would be really cool. 00:11:58.450 --> 00:12:00.610 We can do something together. And we ended up 00:12:00.610 --> 00:12:04.070 buying a license together. And again, it's been 00:12:04.070 --> 00:12:07.210 impactful, not only for our business being able 00:12:07.210 --> 00:12:10.110 to offer it, but for our clients and able to 00:12:10.110 --> 00:12:13.129 actually implement voice AI to their businesses. 00:12:13.409 --> 00:12:16.759 Again, really supplementing. what assistant or 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:19.399 some kind of receptionist would be doing for 00:12:19.399 --> 00:12:21.779 their business. So that's really been the biggest 00:12:21.779 --> 00:12:24.340 thing is that we're able to stay in touch with, 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:27.000 you could say that there are competitors. At 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:29.240 the end of the day, there are peers in this industry 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:32.000 and networking with them, staying in touch with 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.120 them. And again, we wouldn't have adopted voice 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:38.580 AI so quickly if we wouldn't have had those connections 00:12:38.580 --> 00:12:40.840 and we're in constant communication with them. 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:44.519 That's all right. That's all right. So tell me, 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:48.639 as your business scaled, how did you maintain 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:54.080 and grow your professional network? Absolutely. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:58.059 So I feel like it's something that it comes with 00:12:58.059 --> 00:13:02.220 scaling because as you scale, you look for different 00:13:02.220 --> 00:13:04.779 businesses that you might want to plug in as 00:13:04.779 --> 00:13:08.139 far as contractors or hiring different employees. 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:12.860 And as we grew, we ended up just connecting with 00:13:12.860 --> 00:13:15.500 higher level individuals. We ended up one of 00:13:15.500 --> 00:13:17.679 the biggest turning points in our business was 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:21.620 hiring out a sales team. And we ended up finding 00:13:21.620 --> 00:13:23.960 somebody to build it out and implement it for 00:13:23.960 --> 00:13:27.340 us. But that connection with that person that 00:13:27.340 --> 00:13:31.100 provided that initial salesperson was and has 00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:34.259 now become like one of the leading industry experts 00:13:34.259 --> 00:13:37.870 in sales. And that was all from hiring him as 00:13:37.870 --> 00:13:40.809 part of scaling, being a client of his. And then 00:13:40.809 --> 00:13:43.590 now he's a peer. We have one -on -one communication 00:13:43.590 --> 00:13:46.210 with him. Everything that comes from scaling 00:13:46.210 --> 00:13:49.090 and in a network aspect of people I can reach 00:13:49.090 --> 00:13:52.269 out to, different resources, have just been from 00:13:52.269 --> 00:13:54.769 having different conversations about, hey, would 00:13:54.769 --> 00:13:56.429 you be interested in doing a little bit of work 00:13:56.429 --> 00:13:59.029 for us? Would you want to collaborate on this 00:13:59.029 --> 00:14:01.830 project? Hey, this is a cool offer you might 00:14:01.830 --> 00:14:04.809 be interested in. this specific thing so it's 00:14:04.809 --> 00:14:07.769 really again come from just the natural progression 00:14:07.769 --> 00:14:10.629 of growing meeting new people and entertaining 00:14:10.629 --> 00:14:12.929 different aspects in the business even if you 00:14:12.929 --> 00:14:15.610 end up working with them or not it's still somebody 00:14:15.610 --> 00:14:18.269 that i feel like at a certain level you have 00:14:18.269 --> 00:14:21.509 a mutual respect for people and you know i'm 00:14:21.509 --> 00:14:24.149 big on not burning bridges and you know just 00:14:24.149 --> 00:14:26.190 having open communication with everybody that 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:29.049 i meet and referring other people like you know 00:14:29.049 --> 00:14:31.860 connecting individuals And it's that reciprocation 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:33.919 that eventually it'll come back to you. But yeah, 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:36.399 as far as networking goes with scaling, it's 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:39.320 really just been meeting new people and staying 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:41.299 in touch with them and trying to connect individuals 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:44.639 and not burning bridges as well. Yeah, no, I 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:46.980 understand completely. That's as a corporate 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.799 speaker and I do workshops and things like that. 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:55.090 So I'm always referring. somebody to somebody 00:14:55.090 --> 00:14:58.629 else. I'm always the bridge that connects the 00:14:58.629 --> 00:15:02.250 other two people. And I do that almost for a 00:15:02.250 --> 00:15:05.049 living, because I feel what goes around comes 00:15:05.049 --> 00:15:08.889 around. But I too never burn any bridges. And 00:15:08.889 --> 00:15:10.210 you never know who you're going to collaborate 00:15:10.210 --> 00:15:14.009 with. So I'm always out there when I coach one 00:15:14.009 --> 00:15:18.870 of my students. I'm always emphasizing how important 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:22.519 that is for a relationship. And you hit the nail 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:27.940 right on the head. Okay, so what strategies do 00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:30.960 you use for effective virtual networking? Figured 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:34.720 this is right in your cup of tea here. What strategies 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:38.220 do you use for effective virtual networking in 00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:43.340 today's digital age? Absolutely. As of right 00:15:43.340 --> 00:15:46.779 now, it's been all about value. and giving value 00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:49.779 and being active as well. As an example, I'm 00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:52.320 still active in a lot of Facebook groups just 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:55.399 because that was just naturally where I was drawn 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:59.159 towards when I was first starting. And people 00:15:59.159 --> 00:16:01.799 are always asking for help, referrals, things 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:04.120 like that. And with where I'm at in business, 00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:07.700 I can, for the most part, say, hey, like check 00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:09.820 this person out if you're having issues with 00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:12.539 your email setup or if you're having issues with 00:16:12.539 --> 00:16:15.200 Facebook ads. Hey, talk to Andrew because Andrew 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:18.740 is a Facebook ads genius. And it's really been 00:16:18.740 --> 00:16:20.960 staying active. And again, like taking that whole 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:25.080 aspect of giving back, giving value, sharing 00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:28.320 wins, sharing strategies, and just implementing 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:31.299 that online. Not asking, not expecting anything 00:16:31.299 --> 00:16:34.110 in return. If I go out there and say, hey. This 00:16:34.110 --> 00:16:36.690 helped us improve our show rates for our clients 00:16:36.690 --> 00:16:40.309 by 20%. If people are, I'm just giving away value 00:16:40.309 --> 00:16:43.230 and I'm giving away the strategy. I'm not saying 00:16:43.230 --> 00:16:45.549 DM me and then trying to sell them something 00:16:45.549 --> 00:16:48.269 or it's $100 and I'll tell you what it is. Not 00:16:48.269 --> 00:16:51.230 doing that by any means. It's literally just 00:16:51.230 --> 00:16:54.320 sharing wins. Again, and taking that whole networking 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:56.720 approach that's more one -on -one and just applying 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.620 it to groups and trying to be as value as possible. 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:02.600 Now, I'm not in there every single day, every 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:05.079 hour of the day, but just checking in, seeing 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:08.200 what's going on. And again, we talked about how 00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:10.819 do you stay at the peak of your industry and 00:17:10.819 --> 00:17:12.839 seeing like what's going on in your industry. 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:15.700 That's also another way is as much as I'm giving 00:17:15.700 --> 00:17:17.900 value and I'm networking and sharing with those 00:17:17.900 --> 00:17:21.079 people. I also get to see what everybody else 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:23.339 is doing and what's going on in our industry 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:26.700 so that we can improve as well. That's good. 00:17:26.779 --> 00:17:29.680 And you hit something right on the head because 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:34.740 whenever I go to a networking event or I'm speaking 00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:37.099 at a networking event or I'm coaching somebody, 00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:40.160 I always tell them that you have to go in with 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:44.589 the mindset to give, not to receive. If you go 00:17:44.589 --> 00:17:46.170 with the mind, because some people have said 00:17:46.170 --> 00:17:48.690 to me, oh, that's crazy because you're going 00:17:48.690 --> 00:17:50.990 to a networking event. And what are you going 00:17:50.990 --> 00:17:52.309 there for? Because you're going there to get 00:17:52.309 --> 00:17:56.549 business. Yes, you are. But if you look to give 00:17:56.549 --> 00:17:59.750 rather than receive, you will get a whole lot 00:17:59.750 --> 00:18:03.130 more than when you started. It's a mindset. And 00:18:03.130 --> 00:18:06.990 that goes along with there's a mantra. There's 00:18:06.990 --> 00:18:10.210 a mantra for networking. If they know you, if 00:18:10.210 --> 00:18:13.240 they like you and trust you. they'll do business 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:16.720 with you and know you. Listen, you're very well 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:20.240 known, okay? So everybody knows you and likes 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.579 you. Well, that narrows it down just a little 00:18:23.579 --> 00:18:27.980 bit because everybody doesn't like you, but trust 00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:31.960 you. That's such a crucial factor. And if you 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:35.200 can gain their trust and you're looking to give, 00:18:35.259 --> 00:18:38.579 not receive, you'll go light years ahead of just 00:18:38.579 --> 00:18:43.690 about everyone else. Absolutely. OK, so let me 00:18:43.690 --> 00:18:46.109 ask you a question. How do you leverage your 00:18:46.109 --> 00:18:49.869 network when implementing new business scaling 00:18:49.869 --> 00:18:53.990 strategies? That's a really good question. So 00:18:53.990 --> 00:18:57.910 for me and what we've been able to do, it's two 00:18:57.910 --> 00:19:02.490 sided. So on one side of it is actually partnering 00:19:02.490 --> 00:19:05.230 with those individuals. So I'll give you an example. 00:19:05.609 --> 00:19:08.970 A little bit ago, probably like a year. ish we 00:19:08.970 --> 00:19:12.109 started a new marketing agency and we were in 00:19:12.109 --> 00:19:14.289 need of an operations manager for that agency 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:17.180 And we had done a little bit of work with an 00:19:17.180 --> 00:19:19.380 individual in the past, again, never burned the 00:19:19.380 --> 00:19:22.079 bridge, never always kept in contact with him. 00:19:22.140 --> 00:19:24.359 And we offered him like, hey, do you want to 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:27.339 come on as a partner and be the operations manager 00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:30.019 and help us build this thing? They're directly 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:32.359 that somebody and he obviously said yes, and 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:35.220 we're working together. And that was a way that 00:19:35.220 --> 00:19:38.119 we were able to leverage our network of individuals 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:42.000 to be able to scale because we're only a couple 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:44.779 people. If we can bring somebody else on that 00:19:44.779 --> 00:19:48.019 we know and we trust to help us scale that business, 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.259 it allows us to do less work. Obviously, we're 00:19:51.259 --> 00:19:53.559 giving up less profit. But at the end of the 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:56.119 day, we're able to have another successful business. 00:19:56.259 --> 00:19:59.559 So that's definitely one of the ways. It's like 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:02.900 that direct impact of having that network of 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:05.339 individuals. But then also the other way has 00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:08.940 really been. with individuals that we're able 00:20:08.940 --> 00:20:11.619 to have conversations with before we actually 00:20:11.619 --> 00:20:13.819 even start. So I'll give you another example. 00:20:13.980 --> 00:20:16.720 We were playing around with starting a LinkedIn 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:19.859 advertising agency. And it's something we obviously 00:20:19.859 --> 00:20:22.789 know we do on a day to day. But we didn't really 00:20:22.789 --> 00:20:25.730 know if that specific, because that's very specific. 00:20:25.869 --> 00:20:27.990 We didn't know if that would work. Andrew, our 00:20:27.990 --> 00:20:30.009 media buyer, we ended up having a conversation 00:20:30.009 --> 00:20:32.269 with him and really hashing it out and being 00:20:32.269 --> 00:20:34.869 like, what does this industry look like? What's 00:20:34.869 --> 00:20:37.849 our upside? What's our downside? What issues 00:20:37.849 --> 00:20:40.269 are we going to run into? So we were almost able 00:20:40.269 --> 00:20:43.509 to have like a consulting session with him in 00:20:43.509 --> 00:20:46.579 a sense. Obviously, again. We didn't have to 00:20:46.579 --> 00:20:48.640 pay him. We didn't have to just find some random 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:50.680 person. We knew who he was. We've worked with 00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:52.720 him. We trusted him. So we were able to go to 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:55.480 him as an advisor and just be like, hey, what's 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:57.319 your thoughts on this? Is this valid? Is this 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:00.279 not valid? Because when you start a business 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:02.599 or when you're doing anything just with your 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:05.700 job, you can get blinders that it's, I'm so focused 00:21:05.700 --> 00:21:07.680 in. This is going to work. This is going to be 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.240 great. But it's hard to sometimes to really look 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:13.480 at the big picture and allowing us to bounce 00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:15.900 ideas off of just our network. work in general 00:21:15.900 --> 00:21:18.819 can help us sometimes look at things from a different 00:21:18.819 --> 00:21:21.339 lens. And again, that's obviously going to impact 00:21:21.339 --> 00:21:25.779 your ability to scale. That's right. That's you, 00:21:25.859 --> 00:21:28.660 you, again, you hit on so many different points 00:21:28.660 --> 00:21:33.960 that is spot on. But you told me how successful 00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:38.579 you've become, yet you've had a series of challenges. 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:42.819 What's a significant networking challenge you 00:21:42.819 --> 00:21:45.299 faced while growing your business and how did 00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:49.759 you overcome it? Yeah, so I think it was, you 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:51.660 know, I touched on this a little bit before where 00:21:51.660 --> 00:21:54.240 I've gotten out of touch a little bit with networking. 00:21:55.210 --> 00:21:57.569 You know, now it's something that I really try 00:21:57.569 --> 00:22:00.349 to actually structure into my day to day and 00:22:00.349 --> 00:22:02.569 just reaching out to people and, you know, saying 00:22:02.569 --> 00:22:05.009 hi. Thankfully, we have an online group now where 00:22:05.009 --> 00:22:08.730 we're able to do that. But for a long time, I 00:22:08.730 --> 00:22:12.569 fell into just and again, it's not a physical 00:22:12.569 --> 00:22:14.769 hole, but it's a mental hole where you're in 00:22:14.769 --> 00:22:18.210 this room with all these walls around you and 00:22:18.210 --> 00:22:20.529 you're just looking everywhere and it's just 00:22:20.529 --> 00:22:23.759 me and I'm just building this business. kind 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:26.160 of interacting with everybody inside of our business, 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:28.779 but I'm not looking at what's outside that room. 00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:30.720 I'm not opening the door and seeing what is everybody 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:33.380 else doing? How's it going out in the real world? 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:36.880 And I fell into that trap for about two to three 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.920 years where we were just so focused on what we 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:42.319 were doing. And we weren't really, again, taking 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:44.279 a look up from our desk and looking what everybody 00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:46.980 else was doing. And I think that can be definitely 00:22:46.980 --> 00:22:49.779 one of the biggest challenges that you can face 00:22:49.779 --> 00:22:53.730 as you get into business is. Just being so absorbed 00:22:53.730 --> 00:22:56.650 in what you're doing and not really taking a 00:22:56.650 --> 00:22:59.089 step back and looking at what is everybody else 00:22:59.089 --> 00:23:01.529 doing? How's everybody else growing their business? 00:23:01.630 --> 00:23:03.269 Are there any other strategies that we could 00:23:03.269 --> 00:23:06.490 be implementing? And unfortunately, the repercussion 00:23:06.490 --> 00:23:09.430 of that is we scaled our business, but then it 00:23:09.430 --> 00:23:12.829 actually, I don't want to say failed. We had 00:23:12.829 --> 00:23:15.109 a time period of probably six to eight months 00:23:15.109 --> 00:23:17.390 where we were losing money every month because 00:23:17.390 --> 00:23:20.500 we weren't actually looking at. What was the 00:23:20.500 --> 00:23:23.059 market doing? What was the marketing industry 00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:26.519 like? And we really had to open the door of the 00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:28.759 room we were in, look around and see, okay, like 00:23:28.759 --> 00:23:31.440 we need to change things up because the marketing 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:34.900 industry moved so fast that we had become like 00:23:34.900 --> 00:23:38.259 old in a sense. Like we were doing, an example 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:40.700 would be like doing advertisements in the newspaper. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:43.799 Over those two years, we had fallen so behind 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:47.609 in what was relevant. that, again, it impacted 00:23:47.609 --> 00:23:49.789 our business. So that's probably one of the biggest 00:23:49.789 --> 00:23:53.369 examples, I would have to say. That's good. That 00:23:53.369 --> 00:23:57.009 also showed how you pulled the blinders off and 00:23:57.009 --> 00:24:01.029 you got yourself able to open the door and actually 00:24:01.029 --> 00:24:03.829 see that light that says, you know what? There's 00:24:03.829 --> 00:24:07.269 other things out there and it's working better 00:24:07.269 --> 00:24:10.970 than ours. So we have to change it, but still 00:24:10.970 --> 00:24:15.119 keep our... our name speak. But yeah, but it's 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:17.880 very good that you were able to do that because 00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:20.059 there's a lot, face it, there's a lot of companies 00:24:20.059 --> 00:24:23.779 that just have those blinders and then before 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:26.740 they realize it, they're out of business. So 00:24:26.740 --> 00:24:30.819 that's very good. Okay. So working on the AI 00:24:30.819 --> 00:24:36.039 tools, which AI powered networking tool or platforms 00:24:36.039 --> 00:24:39.799 do you find most valuable for your business growth? 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:45.380 That's a good question. So as of right now, I 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:47.660 would say, and I mentioned it before, but LinkedIn. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:51.000 And it's funny because LinkedIn back in the day 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:54.579 was like very popular and it went away for a 00:24:54.579 --> 00:24:57.839 little bit. And now it's almost become, again, 00:24:57.900 --> 00:25:00.980 Instagram is super big for like these personal 00:25:00.980 --> 00:25:03.640 brands, but LinkedIn has almost become that. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:06.119 But from a professional sense, you see a lot 00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:07.960 of people starting to give value. I actually 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:11.269 saw somebody. from college that I networked with 00:25:11.269 --> 00:25:14.269 in that CEO group back in the day. She's starting 00:25:14.269 --> 00:25:17.250 to post on LinkedIn as just giving value. This 00:25:17.250 --> 00:25:19.569 is why I bought a business instead of starting 00:25:19.569 --> 00:25:21.490 one, et cetera, et cetera. So it's really cool 00:25:21.490 --> 00:25:24.009 to see LinkedIn starting to have this comeback. 00:25:24.109 --> 00:25:27.470 So that would be my number one as of right now. 00:25:27.789 --> 00:25:31.390 And again, I, and how does that relate? It has 00:25:31.390 --> 00:25:34.289 to 100 % be. Again, automating the connection 00:25:34.289 --> 00:25:36.849 process and the conversation starting process 00:25:36.849 --> 00:25:40.809 with AI. And then obviously you pick it up after 00:25:40.809 --> 00:25:43.789 they respond or something like that. But LinkedIn 00:25:43.789 --> 00:25:46.569 has been really the biggest and the coolest platform 00:25:46.569 --> 00:25:49.109 that I've definitely been using the last year. 00:25:49.769 --> 00:25:53.690 It sounds like LinkedIn did what you did. They 00:25:53.690 --> 00:25:56.910 got so involved in what they were doing. They 00:25:56.910 --> 00:25:58.609 didn't see everybody else and they were losing 00:25:58.609 --> 00:26:02.259 traction. But then somebody. opened the door 00:26:02.259 --> 00:26:05.160 and said, look out there because they're making 00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:08.500 it and we're not. So they changed. And I was 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:11.339 aware of the change also because I'm a very big 00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:15.259 LinkedIn user. So they saw it and now they're 00:26:15.259 --> 00:26:18.680 expanding. So it was a very good thing. And rightfully 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:21.519 that you picked up on it. How do you envision 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:25.039 networking evolving for entrepreneurs in the 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:28.779 next five years, especially with the advanced 00:26:28.779 --> 00:26:34.269 AI? That's a good question. I think it'll be 00:26:34.269 --> 00:26:36.710 good for the people that use it properly. And 00:26:36.710 --> 00:26:41.769 I think there will be some bad eggs or maybe 00:26:41.769 --> 00:26:43.950 it's not bad eggs, but I think there will definitely 00:26:43.950 --> 00:26:47.430 be some ingenuine networking and connections 00:26:47.430 --> 00:26:50.529 and things like that. And where I'm going with 00:26:50.529 --> 00:26:53.690 the ingenuine part is just allowing AI to completely 00:26:53.690 --> 00:26:56.990 automate your introduction, your conversation, 00:26:57.069 --> 00:27:00.730 and there's no real meaning behind it at all. 00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:04.019 I definitely see, again, I mentioned LinkedIn, 00:27:04.099 --> 00:27:07.099 but even just on all platforms, being able to 00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:10.220 use AI to find like -minded individuals that 00:27:10.220 --> 00:27:13.000 are in the same industry that you're in and being 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:15.440 able to use AI to, again, identify them, connect 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:17.859 with them, interact with them, which I think 00:27:17.859 --> 00:27:21.039 is great. But when AI comes to that conversation 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:23.579 part and starts to take over the one -on -one 00:27:23.579 --> 00:27:27.339 conversation you're supposed to be having, I 00:27:27.339 --> 00:27:30.200 think that's where we can get down that road 00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:34.720 of, It not being the best option for us as a 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:37.299 society, especially from a networking perspective. 00:27:37.539 --> 00:27:40.480 So that's where I see it. Again, I see a lot 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:43.019 of benefits of it, but I also definitely see 00:27:43.019 --> 00:27:47.059 some potential issues. Yeah, you have to train 00:27:47.059 --> 00:27:52.119 AI to speak like you do. You can't just say, 00:27:52.220 --> 00:27:54.259 oh, look, I want to send an email out and just 00:27:54.259 --> 00:27:58.339 fix it. You have to give it very exact directions. 00:27:59.210 --> 00:28:02.470 And then you can't just post it the way it is. 00:28:02.529 --> 00:28:04.990 You have to change it a little bit so it thinks 00:28:04.990 --> 00:28:08.089 the way you do. And AI isn't there yet. They 00:28:08.089 --> 00:28:12.369 haven't. But it's a tool to help you write something. 00:28:12.509 --> 00:28:15.049 And it'll give you the gist of it. But you still 00:28:15.049 --> 00:28:20.269 have to do that writing, that main writing. Jake, 00:28:20.529 --> 00:28:24.170 I'm telling you, this was fabulous. I loved listening 00:28:24.170 --> 00:28:27.150 to everything that you went through, what you're 00:28:27.150 --> 00:28:30.160 going through. If somebody wanted to get hold 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:33.740 of you, either to buy a service or talk to you 00:28:33.740 --> 00:28:37.599 about entrepreneurship or just to call you and 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:40.140 talk to you and say, hey, I need help with something. 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:43.480 How would they do it? Absolutely. So just my 00:28:43.480 --> 00:28:46.640 name dot com. So Jake Sutterlin dot com. We have 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.960 all of our offerings, all of my social medias 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:52.250 on there. And then. phone number and email that 00:28:52.250 --> 00:28:54.329 if you want to get in contact with me, you absolutely 00:28:54.329 --> 00:28:56.849 can message in. Would love to talk to anybody. 00:28:56.930 --> 00:28:59.029 Again, always interested in growing my network. 00:28:59.210 --> 00:29:01.029 Yeah. If you want to reach out, definitely do. 00:29:01.049 --> 00:29:04.069 It's just jakesetterlin .com. That's great, Jake. 00:29:04.210 --> 00:29:06.829 Thank you so much for coming on. And I hope every 00:29:06.829 --> 00:29:09.230 one of my listeners listened to what you had 00:29:09.230 --> 00:29:12.450 to say because it was very interesting. Thank 00:29:12.450 --> 00:29:16.640 you so much, Michael. Well, hold on, folks. Don't 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:19.460 go anywhere. Let me just read a few of our sponsors 00:29:19.460 --> 00:29:23.140 that we have. Struggling to read success? Maybe 00:29:23.140 --> 00:29:26.319 it's time to quit. In Quit Your Way to Success 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:31.200 by Rodney Davis. This reveals 27 steps to breaking 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:34.180 bad habits that hold you back. This powerful 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:37.900 book helps you rewire your mindset, take control 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:41.019 of your actions, and turn setbacks into stepping 00:29:41.019 --> 00:29:44.339 stones. 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That's R 00:30:25.329 --> 00:30:33.329 -E -V -V -E -D -U -P -K -I -D -S dot org. Well, 00:30:33.490 --> 00:30:36.819 that's a wrap, folks. A huge thank you to our 00:30:36.819 --> 00:30:39.680 special guests for sharing such incredible insights 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:43.059 today. And of course, a big shout out to you, 00:30:43.160 --> 00:30:46.759 our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending 00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:50.380 your time with us. Remember, networking isn't 00:30:50.380 --> 00:30:53.019 about being perfect. It's about being present. 00:30:53.299 --> 00:30:56.059 So take what you've learned today, get out there 00:30:56.059 --> 00:30:59.339 and make some meaningful connections. If you 00:30:59.339 --> 00:31:01.839 enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:04.920 leave us a review, and share it with someone 00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:07.099 who could use a little networking inspiration. 00:31:07.980 --> 00:31:11.400 Let's keep the conversation going. You can find 00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:15.720 me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or my website, 00:31:16.019 --> 00:31:20.119 michaelaforman. Remember, until next time, keep 00:31:20.119 --> 00:31:23.059 practicing, keep connecting, and keep building 00:31:23.059 --> 00:31:25.990 those relationships. This is Michael A. Foreman 00:31:25.990 --> 00:31:29.069 signing off. Take care and happy networking.