WEBVTT 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.859 Hello, and welcome to Networking Unleashed, building 00:00:20.859 --> 00:00:24.100 profitable connections. Welcome back to the show, 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:27.260 folks. I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and you're 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:29.780 listening to the podcast where networking is 00:00:29.780 --> 00:00:32.679 more than just awkward handshakes and bad coffee. 00:00:33.100 --> 00:00:36.579 It's an art and a talent. But here's the twist. 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:39.880 It's an art and talent you can actually learn. 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:42.880 Yes, even if you're the person hiding in the 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:46.100 corner at every event, pretending to check emails. 00:00:47.020 --> 00:00:50.320 Networking isn't just a nice skill to have. It's 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:53.280 a game changer. When you get good at it, you'll 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:56.320 wonder why you didn't start sooner. More connections, 00:00:56.619 --> 00:01:00.460 more opportunities, more profits. It's like unlocking 00:01:00.460 --> 00:01:03.579 a cheat code for life. So whether you're the 00:01:03.579 --> 00:01:05.879 life of the party or the just let me stay at 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:08.519 home and text type, we've got something for you. 00:01:09.069 --> 00:01:11.450 So stick around, and let's turn those awkward 00:01:11.450 --> 00:01:16.750 small talk moments into big wins. I have a guest 00:01:16.750 --> 00:01:21.049 today, and his name is Richard Lowe, and I will 00:01:21.049 --> 00:01:23.489 tell you a little briefly about his background, 00:01:23.650 --> 00:01:26.189 but then I will let Richard take it from there. 00:01:26.870 --> 00:01:29.849 Richard Lowe is a best -selling ghostwriter who 00:01:29.849 --> 00:01:33.209 helps professionals turn their expertise into 00:01:33.209 --> 00:01:36.109 powerful books that build credibility, attract 00:01:36.109 --> 00:01:40.670 opportunities, and leave a lasting legacy. Now, 00:01:40.670 --> 00:01:43.670 before I butcher it even more, Richard, how are 00:01:43.670 --> 00:01:46.090 you? Welcome to the show. Thank you for having 00:01:46.090 --> 00:01:50.670 me, and I feel very welcome. Good. Do you want 00:01:50.670 --> 00:01:52.849 to delve into your background a little bit more, 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:55.900 or just... Yeah, I'll talk a little bit about 00:01:55.900 --> 00:02:01.000 myself. I am a ghostwriter. And yeah, I capture 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:06.519 ghosts and I write on them. I got my start in 00:02:06.519 --> 00:02:10.000 writing when I was 17 years old. And my grandfather, 00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:12.219 nobody really talked to him. They considered 00:02:12.219 --> 00:02:14.439 him weird and a little curmudgeony. That means 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:17.280 persnickety, difficult to get along with. But 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:20.729 I wanted to know him. So I talked to him. I wound 00:02:20.729 --> 00:02:22.409 up writing a book for him. Now, it was never 00:02:22.409 --> 00:02:25.110 published, but it turns out that he was a hero. 00:02:25.389 --> 00:02:28.729 He was in the Yangtze River Patrol in China before 00:02:28.729 --> 00:02:30.710 World War II. He was captured on Corregidor. 00:02:30.909 --> 00:02:33.789 He was in the Bataan Death March with 10 ,000 00:02:33.789 --> 00:02:36.530 Americans marched across Bataan, and a lot of 00:02:36.530 --> 00:02:38.370 them died. And he was in a prisoner of war camp 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:42.430 for four years. Now, I listened to him, wrote 00:02:42.430 --> 00:02:45.110 his book, and then decided he can be as difficult 00:02:45.110 --> 00:02:48.729 to be with as he wants to be here in the right. 00:02:49.299 --> 00:02:53.259 Had huge respect for him after that. They gave 00:02:53.259 --> 00:02:56.939 me the writing bug because I got to learn about 00:02:56.939 --> 00:02:58.780 somebody just through the act of interviewing 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:02.139 them and writing them. Unfortunately, I had to 00:03:02.139 --> 00:03:04.099 put it on the shelf because I had to leave home. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:08.719 It was not really a choice. I got a job, became 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:11.300 a VP of a company, and then a VP again, and then 00:03:11.300 --> 00:03:13.719 the director of computer operations at Trader 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:16.740 Joe's. And I had a family, had to deal with that, 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:19.780 a wife who was very sick. Your stepson, all the 00:03:19.780 --> 00:03:23.280 usual things, church that you accumulate over 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.080 life. And I didn't really have the time to write 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:28.319 or so I thought. I wrote a little bit at work, 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:31.139 did some columns, did some articles, started 00:03:31.139 --> 00:03:35.099 on a book 15 times. You know how it goes. And 00:03:35.099 --> 00:03:39.919 then I said, wow, I am tired of this gig. I don't 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:42.599 have a wife right now. She passed away. I don't 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:45.780 have, I have some money lined up. So why don't 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:47.860 I go do what I want to do? And what I want to 00:03:47.860 --> 00:03:52.280 do is write. So I left my job, moved to Florida, 00:03:52.340 --> 00:03:54.099 said goodbye to all my friends, which is a whole 00:03:54.099 --> 00:03:56.300 story in itself because I was a photographer 00:03:56.300 --> 00:04:01.620 and had 1 ,500 dancers and models and supermodels 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:03.620 as friends. I said all goodbye. We had through 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:07.259 a huge party on my birthday, hundreds of women 00:04:07.259 --> 00:04:10.169 there, which was interesting. I drove across 00:04:10.169 --> 00:04:12.330 the United States with my belly dancer friend, 00:04:12.469 --> 00:04:15.810 or excuse me, my Indian Barthantham dancer friend. 00:04:16.709 --> 00:04:18.410 She wouldn't want to be called a belly dancer. 00:04:18.529 --> 00:04:22.170 That's a classical Indian dancer. We drove across 00:04:22.170 --> 00:04:24.430 the United States and had a bunch of grand adventures. 00:04:24.490 --> 00:04:27.449 It was fun. And then I settled down in Florida 00:04:27.449 --> 00:04:31.350 and became a writer. And I started writing LinkedIn 00:04:31.350 --> 00:04:34.310 profiles. And then I wrote. a lot of books and 00:04:34.310 --> 00:04:37.050 things. I wrote 60 books of my own. I wrote coloring 00:04:37.050 --> 00:04:39.490 books, puzzle books. I was just experimenting, 00:04:39.709 --> 00:04:42.089 lots of other books, a couple of bestsellers, 00:04:42.089 --> 00:04:47.069 and decided to go into ghostwriting. And that's 00:04:47.069 --> 00:04:49.509 where I am now. I've been ghostwriting now for 00:04:49.509 --> 00:04:52.509 11 years. I've written 52 books for other people. 00:04:52.569 --> 00:04:54.930 My name is not on them. Sometimes it's in the 00:04:54.930 --> 00:04:57.689 acknowledgement. Some of them you probably have 00:04:57.689 --> 00:05:00.480 read or may have heard of. One of them is a science 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:02.540 fiction book for a rock star, pretty famous one. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.300 Can't say his name, unfortunately. The good side 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:09.779 is I get paid for it and he gets the glory. So 00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:15.300 there you go. So you transitioned from advertising 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:18.899 to becoming a bestselling author and premium 00:05:18.899 --> 00:05:22.480 ghostwriter. What was the biggest challenge in 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:25.540 making that shift and how did networking play 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:28.819 a role in your success? One small change there. 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:31.199 I transitioned from tech to being a ghostwriter. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:34.220 Okay. Wasn't an advertiser, but that's okay. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:38.339 Networking, especially now, plays a huge role 00:05:38.339 --> 00:05:42.120 because how do I find clients? I joined networking 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:45.629 groups. reach out to people. I formed quite a 00:05:45.629 --> 00:05:48.949 big network. I have my own podcast where I network 00:05:48.949 --> 00:05:51.370 with people and get them on there. And then we 00:05:51.370 --> 00:05:53.689 become networking buddies, so to speak, sometimes. 00:05:54.410 --> 00:05:58.129 And networking is interesting. I tend to be introverted 00:05:58.129 --> 00:06:01.170 and shy in the past. You got to get over that 00:06:01.170 --> 00:06:03.470 real fast when you're a solopreneur. If you're 00:06:03.470 --> 00:06:06.060 shy, forget it. It ain't going to work. You have 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:08.120 to put yourself out there. You have to get capital. 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:11.019 You have to talk to people. And then you wind 00:06:11.019 --> 00:06:12.680 up networking with people and you find somebody 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:14.139 who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows 00:06:14.139 --> 00:06:15.600 somebody. And finally, you got to find somebody 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:18.720 who has what you need, business or a vendor or 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:22.699 something like that. I found my marketing vendor 00:06:22.699 --> 00:06:25.040 through networking and he is awesome. He does 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.600 all my marketing stuff. Just couldn't be happier 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:31.360 with him after going through like 15 other marketing 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:35.740 groups and finally found a good one. Good. So 00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:38.620 what lessons from your background helped you 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:42.740 build connections and grow your brand as a ghostwriter? 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:47.639 Put yourself out there. That's something I learned 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:52.439 really fast. My first books came across because 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:55.100 I knew a couple people, and they knew me, and 00:06:55.100 --> 00:06:57.759 I met them. It was more chance, happenstance 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.839 is the word, than anything. But after I went 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:02.860 through those, I had to put myself out there. 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:06.899 I wasn't looking for the low end, barely surviving 00:07:06.899 --> 00:07:09.560 ghostwriting gigs. I was going for the high end. 00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:12.160 And when you're going for the high end, you got 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.100 to meet people. To meet a rock star, you got 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:15.759 to meet somebody who knows their PR agent, who 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:18.240 knows some, you can't just talk to the rock star. 00:07:18.779 --> 00:07:20.500 You want to do a celebrity, it's the same thing, 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:23.319 only harder. It can be difficult. I still haven't 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:24.980 figured out how to get through one of the influencers 00:07:24.980 --> 00:07:26.939 on TikTok because they seem to have a lot of 00:07:26.939 --> 00:07:29.740 barriers because I'd love to do some of their 00:07:29.740 --> 00:07:33.100 books. Okay. And some may not even be interested. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:37.519 in writing a book, but some may. You never know. 00:07:37.899 --> 00:07:39.579 That's the key to networking is you never know 00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:41.519 what's at the other end of the string. You're 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:43.519 basically pulling these strings and you're pulling 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:45.639 them and find, okay, there's somebody there I 00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:48.439 can talk to. Good, nice guy, but I can't do business 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:50.800 with him. We'll stay in contact, pull these strings. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:53.420 And then this guy that you talked to three years 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:56.779 ago comes back and says, hey, I just realized 00:07:56.779 --> 00:08:01.079 I want whatever you're selling. But you've ghosted 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:03.350 me for three years. I don't understand. That's 00:08:03.350 --> 00:08:09.370 networking. That's how networking works. You're 00:08:09.370 --> 00:08:12.089 dealing with people, but the people you're not 00:08:12.089 --> 00:08:14.310 dealing with just the people you're dealing with 00:08:14.310 --> 00:08:17.689 their networks and their network of people. And 00:08:17.689 --> 00:08:19.430 you never know who's going to come back to you 00:08:19.430 --> 00:08:22.269 and say, you know what? I spoke to you three 00:08:22.269 --> 00:08:25.970 years ago and I need your stuff now. And even 00:08:25.970 --> 00:08:29.290 though they ghosted you in their mind, they spoke 00:08:29.290 --> 00:08:32.960 to you yesterday. Ghosted me, no pun intended. 00:08:33.220 --> 00:08:36.659 No pun intended. How has networking influenced 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:41.700 your journey as a ghostwriter? And what did key 00:08:41.700 --> 00:08:46.019 relationships play in your success? One of the 00:08:46.019 --> 00:08:49.799 keys is people that I network with, they know 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:51.340 people that I can do business with. So that's 00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:54.480 number one. Number two is those people become 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:57.580 references. So I get testimonials from them. 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:00.490 They talk good about me to other people. They 00:09:00.490 --> 00:09:05.970 refer people to me. It becomes link. You can 00:09:05.970 --> 00:09:09.070 use social media to find business. And that's 00:09:09.070 --> 00:09:10.850 passive. You're putting out ads. You're putting 00:09:10.850 --> 00:09:12.350 out this and you're waiting for people to come 00:09:12.350 --> 00:09:15.049 to you. When you're networking, you're active 00:09:15.049 --> 00:09:16.610 and you're going out there and you're finding 00:09:16.610 --> 00:09:20.210 people. And it is much more fulfilling. It's 00:09:20.210 --> 00:09:23.450 actually much more likely to get you business 00:09:23.450 --> 00:09:27.149 or whatever you're looking for. And it's more 00:09:27.149 --> 00:09:29.850 fun. Because you're meeting people. You're out 00:09:29.850 --> 00:09:31.850 there talking to people. Even for an introvert 00:09:31.850 --> 00:09:34.610 and shy person, I'm not really shy anymore, but 00:09:34.610 --> 00:09:36.509 I am an introvert. It's much more fulfilling 00:09:36.509 --> 00:09:38.129 because I get to reach out to people. Like I 00:09:38.129 --> 00:09:39.690 have my own podcast. Like I said, I get to reach 00:09:39.690 --> 00:09:41.289 out to people. I invite them to my podcast. We're 00:09:41.289 --> 00:09:43.029 talking stuff. And then we become buddies and 00:09:43.029 --> 00:09:44.909 we're friends for the rest of the time. It's 00:09:44.909 --> 00:09:48.230 very strange to me as an introvert for most of 00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:53.330 my life. It works well. And I go on stages and 00:09:53.330 --> 00:09:57.009 I speak about keynote or breakout sessions, or 00:09:57.009 --> 00:10:00.830 I even do workshops in corporations. And I say 00:10:00.830 --> 00:10:03.970 that you may be an introvert, but you have to 00:10:03.970 --> 00:10:07.129 become, you have to have extrovert, some extrovert 00:10:07.129 --> 00:10:10.269 values or something else like that. Because if 00:10:10.269 --> 00:10:13.330 you're going to just stay within your own world, 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:15.769 you're not going to do your company any good. 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:18.200 So you have to get out there and you have to 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:21.840 network. And networking, I believe, is the basis 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:26.600 of all businesses. So hopefully that will work. 00:10:26.740 --> 00:10:30.600 What are the biggest misconceptions professionals 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:35.539 have about branding and how can networking help 00:10:35.539 --> 00:10:40.120 them refine their brands? A lot of people conflate 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:43.620 branding with sales and marketing with sales. 00:10:46.199 --> 00:10:49.720 Letting people know who you are and what you 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:51.460 are, what you believe in and all that kind of 00:10:51.460 --> 00:10:54.080 stuff, what you sell, whatever. It's the appearance. 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:58.059 So my shirts are part of my brand. It shows that 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:00.179 I'm a little casual and I'm going to create a 00:11:00.179 --> 00:11:03.440 book that's about you and it's going to be colorful 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:06.559 and have feeling. If I was in a suit that would 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:08.600 portray an entirely different brand, this is 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.700 intentional. You'll find a lot of ghostwriters, 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:14.879 they do similar things. brand to portray who 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:16.860 they are, or whether they're, if they're a mystery 00:11:16.860 --> 00:11:19.179 ghostwriter, they're going to be dressed in some 00:11:19.179 --> 00:11:22.059 kind of Mr. Like Holmesy kind of things, at least 00:11:22.059 --> 00:11:25.259 give that appeal. Maybe perhaps cozy mysteries 00:11:25.259 --> 00:11:27.159 would generally be written by women and those 00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:29.139 they would, they're going to show that brand. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:33.360 So branding is not sales and it's not marketing. 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:36.299 It actually supersedes them both. If you don't 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:39.700 have a brand, it's hard to sell. And then guess 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:44.019 what? People make it up for you. Yeah, you don't 00:11:44.019 --> 00:11:46.700 want that. You become their brand. And then again, 00:11:46.779 --> 00:11:50.039 you're passive again. When you go and you are 00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:52.840 driving and you see a billboard and you just 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:56.159 see somebody's name and what they do, there's 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:59.120 no contact information or anything. That's a 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:02.299 form of branding because that's not for sales. 00:12:02.740 --> 00:12:05.919 That's just to keep you aware that they're in 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:09.820 the business. So that's very good. What strategies 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:12.769 have worked best for you? when you're building 00:12:12.769 --> 00:12:16.570 meaningful long -term relationships in the publishing 00:12:16.570 --> 00:12:20.950 and business world. Opening my mouth and reaching 00:12:20.950 --> 00:12:22.690 out and talking to them, no matter how scary 00:12:22.690 --> 00:12:25.509 it seems. Sometimes it can be very intimidating. 00:12:25.710 --> 00:12:27.929 I try and reach out to CEOs of big companies 00:12:27.929 --> 00:12:31.129 and my mindset is they're never going to talk 00:12:31.129 --> 00:12:33.710 to me. I'm just a ghostwriter. I am just this. 00:12:34.629 --> 00:12:38.990 They're people. One of my... The person I want 00:12:38.990 --> 00:12:40.970 to contact is Bill Gates. He's done books and 00:12:40.970 --> 00:12:43.070 stuff, but I would love to just sit down and 00:12:43.070 --> 00:12:45.570 talk to him. I'd love to maybe write his book, 00:12:45.690 --> 00:12:49.009 another book for him, that fear takes over. Like, 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:51.370 why would Bill Gates talk to me? But that's where 00:12:51.370 --> 00:12:55.230 your reputation comes in and your branding and 00:12:55.230 --> 00:12:58.230 everything else, because there's probably 10 00:12:58.230 --> 00:13:00.789 ,000 people that want to talk to Bill Gates. 00:13:02.009 --> 00:13:04.889 If you have the branding, if you have the background 00:13:04.889 --> 00:13:08.409 that he's looking for, then he'll speak to you. 00:13:08.669 --> 00:13:12.190 And also the people who can recommend me. Yes. 00:13:12.289 --> 00:13:16.169 So that's the power of the network. You believe 00:13:16.169 --> 00:13:19.509 that every professional needs a book. Why do 00:13:19.509 --> 00:13:21.850 you think a book is such a powerful networking 00:13:21.850 --> 00:13:25.549 and branding tool? Let me give you a for instance. 00:13:25.710 --> 00:13:28.429 A lot of people. A lot of people are leaving 00:13:28.429 --> 00:13:30.549 their jobs now, either voluntarily or involuntarily. 00:13:30.590 --> 00:13:32.470 And a lot of them are becoming coaches because 00:13:32.470 --> 00:13:35.269 coaching is, in their minds, relatively easy 00:13:35.269 --> 00:13:38.009 to set up. They can just put out a shingle saying, 00:13:38.090 --> 00:13:39.950 I'm a coach. I can give you executive coaching. 00:13:40.110 --> 00:13:42.529 I was a CFO of this company and I can coach you 00:13:42.529 --> 00:13:44.289 on how to do that again. Sounds real simple. 00:13:44.750 --> 00:13:46.669 Problem is a lot of people are doing it. And 00:13:46.669 --> 00:13:48.710 then you've got what I call the snowflake and 00:13:48.710 --> 00:13:51.110 the blizzard problem. There are a thousand, thousand, 00:13:51.169 --> 00:13:53.029 thousand of those people out there and you're 00:13:53.029 --> 00:13:55.519 the snowflake. And I don't mean that in a derogatory 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:58.139 term. I know that has other meanings. But how 00:13:58.139 --> 00:14:00.580 do you see that one snowflake in this blizzard 00:14:00.580 --> 00:14:03.320 of snowflakes? That's what a book does. It turns 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:05.279 that snowflake red or green or blue so it just 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:08.700 stands out. That's what a book does. If you look 00:14:08.700 --> 00:14:12.659 at the coaches who've actually made it big, virtually 00:14:12.659 --> 00:14:16.279 all of them have their own book. And if you look 00:14:16.279 --> 00:14:19.580 at a lot of people who get on TED Talks, people 00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:22.740 who get on the speaking circuit, people who actually... 00:14:23.409 --> 00:14:28.350 make it in that area, especially those that have 00:14:28.350 --> 00:14:31.049 to deal with other people, they have a book. 00:14:31.590 --> 00:14:35.269 That happens to be very true. There's a golden 00:14:35.269 --> 00:14:39.049 triangle, I'll call it, people that do what I 00:14:39.049 --> 00:14:42.850 do. I'm a public speaker. And if I'm a speaker 00:14:42.850 --> 00:14:46.269 and I wrote a book and I did a TED Talk, that's 00:14:46.269 --> 00:14:49.610 a golden triangle. So that's what we'll get. 00:14:49.629 --> 00:14:53.250 That's what gets me. the people that contact 00:14:53.250 --> 00:14:55.509 me. That's what makes them look at me and say, 00:14:55.590 --> 00:14:58.049 oh, you know what? He's got all of it. Let me 00:14:58.049 --> 00:15:01.269 call him and see what he's about. What advice 00:15:01.269 --> 00:15:04.649 would you give to professionals who work to use 00:15:04.649 --> 00:15:07.409 a book to enhance their credibility and open 00:15:07.409 --> 00:15:12.669 doors to new opportunities? Who want to have 00:15:12.669 --> 00:15:17.409 a book? Exactly. They need to, first of all, 00:15:17.429 --> 00:15:19.929 they need to find the right ghostwriter. A lot 00:15:19.929 --> 00:15:21.529 of them say, I could write it myself. I could 00:15:21.529 --> 00:15:24.389 use AI. First of all, the elephant in the room, 00:15:24.450 --> 00:15:27.830 AI. It's going to write garbage book. It's not 00:15:27.830 --> 00:15:29.190 going to have any feeling. It's not going to 00:15:29.190 --> 00:15:30.590 have any passion. It's not going to have your 00:15:30.590 --> 00:15:32.649 heart in it. It's going to be a book. It's going 00:15:32.649 --> 00:15:35.529 to be, excuse the term, a crappy book. But if 00:15:35.529 --> 00:15:37.549 that's what you want, if you're worried about 00:15:37.549 --> 00:15:40.870 money, it's a way to go. You could hire a low 00:15:40.870 --> 00:15:42.309 -end ghostwriter. You're going to have the same 00:15:42.309 --> 00:15:44.490 problem. They're not going to capture you. So 00:15:44.490 --> 00:15:48.019 go out there and interview. good ghostwriters, 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:50.960 premium writers who are, they're going to cost 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.639 you some money, but it's a one -time fee. If 00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:55.360 it's for your business, it's probably, I'm not 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:57.220 an accountant, it's probably tax deductible. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:15:59.759 The government will fund half of it or part of 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:02.759 it for you because it's tax deductible. So get 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:05.019 that, find that ghostwriter that works for you. 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:07.000 Now me, I'm a ghostwriter who listens. What I'm 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:09.500 trying to do is get to the heart of the person, 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:12.460 get the spirit and put that into the words, into 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:14.419 the book so that it shines through in the book. 00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:16.240 And that's not an easy thing to do. Not a lot 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.259 of ghostwriters can do that. That's what I do. 00:16:18.980 --> 00:16:21.799 Find one that you can work with. And the most 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:24.179 important thing, find one that you have a good 00:16:24.179 --> 00:16:27.519 relationship with. Cost, that's a one -time fee. 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:30.399 A ghostwriter is going to cost less than one 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:34.899 of these newfangled electric cars. So that's 00:16:34.899 --> 00:16:36.419 the kind of cost we're looking at. What does 00:16:36.419 --> 00:16:38.960 a newfangled car cost? $60 ,000, $70 ,000? That's 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:41.019 what a good ghostwriter is going to cost you 00:16:41.019 --> 00:16:45.220 for a good book. Pay that. It's a one -time fee. 00:16:45.299 --> 00:16:46.860 It's going to be a better investment than that 00:16:46.860 --> 00:16:49.259 new car. And the government's going to fund part 00:16:49.259 --> 00:16:52.620 of it. But more important is the relationship. 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:55.039 You're going to be working with this guy or girl 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:58.759 for quite a while. And if you don't have a good 00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:00.139 relationship, you're going to get a lousy book. 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:02.120 And it's not, you're not going to be happy with 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:03.519 it. And you're going to go back and forth on 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:07.519 what I call revision hell. It goes back and forth 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:10.539 and back and forth. Okay. How can writing a book 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:13.559 create networking opportunities that might not 00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:17.819 exist otherwise? You want to get hold of somebody 00:17:17.819 --> 00:17:20.880 who's been unreachable so far. You just tell 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:24.039 them, I wrote the book on your subject, or I 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:25.440 wrote the book that you might be interested in. 00:17:25.460 --> 00:17:27.759 You give them the book, you sign it. You have 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:29.359 a speaking engagement. You got your book. You 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:32.160 sign it for everybody there. You have now created 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:35.220 some buzz and your network's going to grow. I 00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:38.579 wind up giving away more copies of my book than 00:17:38.579 --> 00:17:41.400 I do selling because I do it as a loss leader. 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:43.859 You're not going to sell a lot of copies of your 00:17:43.859 --> 00:17:46.059 book on Amazon. And that's not the point. The 00:17:46.059 --> 00:17:48.240 point is, is to use it as a networking tool or 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.359 as a tool to bring you business or whatever you're 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:54.220 looking for. Right. Very good. For someone just 00:17:54.220 --> 00:17:56.579 starting to build their network and personal 00:17:56.579 --> 00:17:59.799 brand, what are three steps they should take 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:03.900 right now? Number one, take their box and throw 00:18:03.900 --> 00:18:07.119 it away. Everybody's got a box. I got a box. 00:18:07.220 --> 00:18:08.799 We've all got a box. We've got these boundaries. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:10.480 My boundary is I'm probably never going to talk 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:12.220 to Bill Gates because he's way above my level. 00:18:12.579 --> 00:18:14.859 I need to get rid of that mindset. That's a box. 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:18.759 So get rid of the box. The second step would 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:20.660 be start putting yourself out there. If you're 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:22.940 shy and you don't know how to speak, go to Toastmasters. 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:25.859 You'll get rid of that shyness pretty quick. 00:18:26.539 --> 00:18:29.440 Toastmasters is a group where you speak a lot 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:31.319 to people and they help you get rid of the ums 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:33.799 and ahs and pauses and all kinds of things and 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:37.220 make you more relatable. And they have lots of 00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:40.000 exercise. It's a lot of fun. And for an introvert 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:46.039 like me, it was murder. It was grueling, but 00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:48.259 I got through it and I had a great time learning 00:18:48.259 --> 00:18:50.359 to talk to people. And the third one is get out 00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:52.880 there. Get out there on LinkedIn. Get out there 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:54.779 on Facebook. Start introducing yourself to people. 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:57.160 They might say, I hate you. Who cares? They're 00:18:57.160 --> 00:18:58.980 just one person. They might not want to talk 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:00.759 to you. You get ghosted a lot. Some won't answer. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:04.859 Who cares? Somebody will. And somebody, you'll 00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:06.420 try a couple of conversations and then you'll 00:19:06.420 --> 00:19:08.099 realize this person might be able to help me 00:19:08.099 --> 00:19:11.380 or I might be able to help them. The key to networking 00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:15.410 is you have to help. before you get help. The 00:19:15.410 --> 00:19:18.630 more you help, the more help you get. And there's 00:19:18.630 --> 00:19:20.329 a ratio somewhere. I think it's three to one 00:19:20.329 --> 00:19:22.069 or something. You help three and you get one 00:19:22.069 --> 00:19:24.450 back kind of thing. But you have to, that is 00:19:24.450 --> 00:19:26.490 probably the key to good networking is you have 00:19:26.490 --> 00:19:28.789 to help. You can't just go out there and network 00:19:28.789 --> 00:19:31.569 because you want things. I mean, you can, but 00:19:31.569 --> 00:19:34.210 it's far more effective if you're helping people, 00:19:34.289 --> 00:19:36.150 which is why I started my own podcast because 00:19:36.150 --> 00:19:38.769 they get the podcast, they get little TikToks, 00:19:38.769 --> 00:19:41.210 I write a little bio, they get all this stuff 00:19:41.210 --> 00:19:45.880 from it for free. And what do I get? I get to 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:47.480 meet somebody new and I get to find out all about 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:50.700 them on a podcast. It's great. You're right. 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:54.680 That's one thing that I speak about is that you 00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:56.720 have to have the mindset when you go to a networking 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:00.859 event to give. You give and not receive. Because 00:20:00.859 --> 00:20:03.440 if you're looking to give, then everything is 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:05.259 all right. Nobody looks at you like you're a 00:20:05.259 --> 00:20:08.220 phony. You're just looking to help everybody. 00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:13.240 And one line that I... usually say to people 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.900 that I want to create that relationship with 00:20:16.900 --> 00:20:22.059 is, how do I make you more successful? How can 00:20:22.059 --> 00:20:26.420 I be a good referral source for you? And that 00:20:26.420 --> 00:20:29.339 usually starts a relationship and we get on and 00:20:29.339 --> 00:20:33.680 it all works out. What's one networking lesson 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:36.980 that you wish you had learned earlier in your 00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:42.549 career? This is a big one. To network. I was 00:20:42.549 --> 00:20:45.150 super, super introverted. I was very shy, which 00:20:45.150 --> 00:20:47.349 is interesting because I was an exec. I was a 00:20:47.349 --> 00:20:50.450 C -level exec and a director of computer operations 00:20:50.450 --> 00:20:53.509 at Trader Joe's. And I couldn't talk to people 00:20:53.509 --> 00:20:55.789 except for my own team because I knew them. So 00:20:55.789 --> 00:20:57.130 if I didn't know you, I wouldn't talk to you. 00:20:57.670 --> 00:21:00.309 So when time came for the promotion to CIO level, 00:21:00.509 --> 00:21:05.269 nobody knew me. The leaders in the company didn't 00:21:05.269 --> 00:21:07.950 know who I was. They weren't going to give me 00:21:07.950 --> 00:21:11.059 that promotion. And they didn't. That's one reason 00:21:11.059 --> 00:21:14.160 why I left is I was stuck because I didn't network. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:16.180 I didn't network out of the company. I didn't 00:21:16.180 --> 00:21:17.700 work in the company because I was comfortable. 00:21:18.539 --> 00:21:20.759 That's probably actually the second lesson is 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:23.599 don't get too comfortable in your job, but I 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:26.859 was comfortable. I was happy, but I wasn't networking 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:32.400 with anyone internal or external. And I grew 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:37.240 out of that a lot. Okay. Okay. Why don't you 00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:42.900 give my listeners. One marketing tip of a ghostwriter 00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:46.180 that they can take away. And if they wanted to 00:21:46.180 --> 00:21:50.240 go into this, if they wanted to, what would they 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:56.140 do starting today or tomorrow? Take a look at 00:21:56.140 --> 00:21:58.299 their business or whatever they're trying to 00:21:58.299 --> 00:22:01.740 do from the viewpoint of reaching out to people. 00:22:02.940 --> 00:22:04.859 Because you're dealing with people. You're not 00:22:04.859 --> 00:22:06.920 dealing with money machines on the other end 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:08.220 of that. You're not dealing with an ATM machine. 00:22:08.299 --> 00:22:10.460 You're dealing with a person. You're not dealing 00:22:10.460 --> 00:22:12.220 with somebody who could cough up cash and buy 00:22:12.220 --> 00:22:14.700 your product. You're dealing with a person. And 00:22:14.700 --> 00:22:16.779 to make a business that has some legs, longevity, 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:20.839 you need to treat these as people. So when you're 00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:22.500 networking, you're talking to real people. You're 00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:25.500 not talking to somebody who can give you a publisher 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:27.960 or give you customers or something like that. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.359 You're talking to a person. And if you treat 00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:33.079 them like a person, then they will treat you 00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:36.299 like a person. And the biggest thing is start 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:41.019 planning your business like that and your brand. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:43.559 So you want your brand to be relatable. You want 00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:45.680 your brand to be comfortable to people. You want 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:48.039 your brand to show you something you're comfortable 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:50.259 with, something that promotes whatever you're 00:22:50.259 --> 00:22:55.559 trying to promote and build a plan for your whole 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:58.500 brand around that. Find an expert to help you, 00:22:58.539 --> 00:23:01.240 but be cautious. I went through. a dozen of them 00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:03.359 before I found a good one. So don't drop a lot 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:05.000 of money into them, but find one you're comfortable 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:08.180 with. And again, it's that relationship. It's 00:23:08.180 --> 00:23:11.420 always the relationship. You have to find somebody 00:23:11.420 --> 00:23:13.019 you can be in a relationship. If you're not comfortable 00:23:13.019 --> 00:23:15.180 with them, fire them and go on to the next one. 00:23:15.779 --> 00:23:17.200 You're not going to hurt their feelings. They'll 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:20.380 go on to somebody else. And don't be afraid. 00:23:20.940 --> 00:23:24.599 And don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Just go 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:27.160 out and do it. Start doing it. They're not going 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:29.630 to hurt you. And if they do, you can just cut 00:23:29.630 --> 00:23:32.490 them off, just stop. That's all you have to do. 00:23:32.609 --> 00:23:35.710 So Richard, so tell me, if any of my listeners 00:23:35.710 --> 00:23:39.109 wants to get hold of you, either to be coached, 00:23:39.109 --> 00:23:42.190 to be on your podcast, to start ghostwriting, 00:23:42.329 --> 00:23:44.650 do whatever, what's the best way for them to 00:23:44.650 --> 00:23:47.690 get hold of you? If they need white papers or 00:23:47.690 --> 00:23:50.690 case studies or a book, they could contact me 00:23:50.690 --> 00:23:54.170 at therightingking .com or ghostwriting .guru. 00:23:54.669 --> 00:23:57.289 I have two websites. My marketing person maintains 00:23:57.289 --> 00:24:00.869 one. That's who I am. So thewritingking .com. 00:24:01.089 --> 00:24:03.529 And if you want to talk, there's lots of places 00:24:03.529 --> 00:24:05.549 where you can set up an appointment. Set up an 00:24:05.549 --> 00:24:08.009 appointment and let's chat. If you have somebody 00:24:08.009 --> 00:24:10.309 who has something to say, contact me. We'll set 00:24:10.309 --> 00:24:12.009 up a time to talk and I'll put you on my podcast. 00:24:12.730 --> 00:24:16.609 And then we'll have a good time. Perfect. Okay, 00:24:16.690 --> 00:24:19.430 Richard, I can't thank you enough for coming 00:24:19.430 --> 00:24:22.549 on to the podcast. You gave us great insights. 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:25.759 on what it's like to be a ghostwriter, what to 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:28.640 do, what not to do. And I thank you very much 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.220 for your time. I'm very happy to be here. Thank 00:24:31.220 --> 00:24:35.640 you for having me on. You're welcome. Well, hold 00:24:35.640 --> 00:24:38.519 on, folks. Don't go anywhere. Let me just read 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:41.460 a few of our sponsors that we have. Struggling 00:24:41.460 --> 00:24:44.980 to reach success? Maybe it's time to quit. 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Revved Up Kids is 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:33.099 on a mission to protect children and teens from 00:25:33.099 --> 00:25:35.940 sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. 00:25:36.180 --> 00:25:38.839 They provide prevention training programs for 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:42.500 children. teens, and adults. To learn more, go 00:25:42.500 --> 00:25:47.359 to revvedupkids .org. That's R -E -V -V -E -D 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:54.559 -U -P -K -I -D -S .org. Well, that's a wrap, 00:25:54.619 --> 00:25:57.480 folks. A huge thank you to our special guests 00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:00.819 for sharing such incredible insights today. And 00:26:00.819 --> 00:26:04.200 of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing 00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:07.140 listeners, for tuning in and spending your time 00:26:07.140 --> 00:26:11.039 with us. Remember, networking isn't about being 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:14.380 perfect. It's about being present. So take what 00:26:14.380 --> 00:26:16.960 you've learned today, get out there and make 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:19.960 some meaningful connections. If you enjoyed this 00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:22.920 episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave us 00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:25.559 a review and share it with someone who could 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:28.859 use a little networking inspiration. Let's keep 00:26:28.859 --> 00:26:32.559 the conversation going. You can find me on Apple, 00:26:32.700 --> 00:26:37.339 Spotify, YouTube or my website. Michael A. Foreman, 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:41.299 remember, until next time, keep practicing, keep 00:26:41.299 --> 00:26:43.880 connecting, and keep building those relationships. 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:47.440 This is Michael A. Foreman signing off. Take 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.099 care and happy networking.