Hello and welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building
Profitable Connections. Welcome back to the show,
folks. I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and you're
listening to the podcast where networking is
more than just awkward handshakes and bad coffee.
It's an art and a talent. But here's the twist.
It's an art and talent you can actually learn.
Yes, even if you're the person hiding in the
corner at every event, pretending to check emails.
Now working isn't just a nice skill to have.
It's a game changer. And 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. Or
the just let me stay at home type. We've got
something for you. So stick around. Let's turn
those awkward small talk moments into big wins.
Now, I have a guest today. He's got quite a lengthy
background, which I will let him fill it in for
you. But Adam Chronister, correct me if I got
that wrong. You got it right. That wasn't bad.
First time out. Adam is a prominent figure in
the digital marketing industry, recognized for
his entrepreneurial skills and expertise. Now,
he has... a rather lengthy background. I'm going
to let him introduce himself and have him tell
you a little bit about his background. So Adam,
hello, welcome to the podcast. And why don't
you tell me about yourself? Yeah, thanks for
having me on. I'm looking forward to our conversation.
As mentioned, I own and operate a digital marketing
agency based in the West Coast, so we're here
in Spokane, Washington, and have been doing that
since 2009. We help clients and basically across
the board from small SMBs, small businesses,
all the way to large enterprise and have a heavy
focus on search marketing. So anything that you
would go to a search engine to look for, whether
you're looking to show up in the advertising
placement spots or in the organic results, or
even looking for that foundational architecture
on your website design and development, that's
really where we shine. And yeah, certainly looking
forward to our conversation today and seeing
where that leads. Good. I'm happy as well. So
let's just jump right into it. How has digital
marketing changed the landscape of professional
networking? Take this podcast as an example,
right? There used to be a time where it was hard
to network without actually being in a physical
room with other people, right? And that barrier
has been significantly diminished with technology.
Now, I don't think digital formats are necessarily
a replacement for meeting people at conferences,
at networking events, and all of those kind of
things. But it definitely can be a good supplement
and open up the door. I know, for instance, I've
had a lot of relationships that have been maybe
started in person and then transgressed to online
arenas, right? Or even some vice versa. If anything,
the internet and this digital era that we're
living in, from social media to podcasts to all
of those different mediums, really help us bridge
the gap. It's a fun and interesting time to be
alive because we're no longer limited by distance,
it seems. No, not at all. And you brought up
this podcast because in the last week, I've had
a guest from England, from Germany, and Australia.
And Israel. So I covered all over the world,
yet I'm doing it all from here. So it really
brought everybody together. And it's really a
good feeling when I can do that. Yeah, I imagine.
In what ways do you see AI enhancing or disrupting
traditional networking strategies? It's hard
to tell. I guess I have and haven't. obviously
utilized AI quite a bit. We utilize it quite
a bit in our business just to optimize what we
do. Where I think it helps is mostly in communication.
I think it can streamline communication, but
maybe it also, if done improperly or used improperly,
might start to degrade maybe someone's creativity
towards how they reach out to people. So I don't
know. I think it really depends on where you're
at in your usage of AI. In some cases, it allows
me to more quickly articulate a message, maybe
more in depth than I might have the time to do.
So in that case, it could be a benefit. But in
other times, maybe it can become a crutch or
an over -reliance, in which case, maybe a phone
call versus an email might be a better scenario,
right? And so I think it's hard to tell to see
exactly where it... fits into the realm of networking,
whether it's going to be a negative or positive,
but I definitely see its impact in other arenas
that might bleed over into that realm. You're
absolutely right. I happen to be a big proponent
of the face -to -face networking. And even though
we are face -to -face through Zoom, I prefer
the face -to -face. in -person networking because
I get to feel the vibe of the person, the vibe
of the room, and you pick up so much more when
you're in it rather than just a Zoom call. But
I see what you're talking about. As an entrepreneur,
what's your approach to building valuable network
from scratch? A lot of it. does involve getting
out there, right? I can attribute a lot of my
success and the network that I've built just
by going out to different events and conferences,
and not just be being a participant, but trying
to figure out ways to get involved. I remember,
man, early on in my career, I had done the work
of creating a roundup post. And I don't know
how many people are familiar with this strategy
or what a roundup post is, but basically it's
a blog post where you go and you interview or
pull different people inside your industry. They're
not as popular as they used to be. Now, podcasts
have actually filled that gap. But what I found
that this strategy did is It allowed me to add
value to other people who I admired. It then
also presented me as someone that could contribute
value to them because I'm essentially giving
them a voice. And that particular exercise actually
opened up a lot of opportunities. So I remember
a circumstance where... I was at a conference,
somebody that I had looked up to for a long time,
introduced myself, and they're like, oh, okay,
I recognize your name. You're the Roundup guy,
right? And he was referring to the Roundup post,
which many months ago, prior to that meeting,
he was featured in, right? And so that's one
example. Now things have evolved. And so whether
it's things like this, where you start a podcast
and you have guests that maybe otherwise wouldn't
probably give you the time of day, now you can
start having actual conversations. I have friends
that are starting to publish user -generated
eBooks. So essentially I was just featured in
one of these books. And that's another great
way to network outside of just the face -to -face.
But I would encourage people to not leave things
just in the digital realm if you can, right?
I think digital, podcast, virtual events, Zoom
meetings, emails, social media interactions,
all of those are great supplements, but hopefully
that's an extension to real life relationships,
right? I have relationships with people that
I see maybe once a quarter or even once a year,
but we're able to keep that foundation going
through all these other digital mediums, which
is great because it feels like the gap isn't
so far. That's so true, because if you see that
person once a year, but just stay in touch with
them through LinkedIn, Instagram, whatever, it's
like you're right there. And then it makes that
one time a year that much more special because
you've actually had that relationship with them
all throughout the year. So you're again, you're
right on point. OK, how has your network contributed
to identifying? promising investment opportunities?
I think the biggest arena for me, as far as how
networks have fit into what I do on an investment
perspective, has probably come through my relationship
with my real estate broker. And this has been
a long -term relationship. So for those that
don't know, I have, and my family have some buy
and hold properties. So both my wife and I manage
those together. But that relationship started
out as an early relationship with a broker here
in town when we were buying our first property.
And that was our live -in property. And eventually
we took the leap of starting to buy investment
properties and continued this relationship. Since
then, we've bought and sold numerous properties,
both in our hometown and here one recently overseas.
But having that long -term relationship has been
valuable because it's really a win -win because
this particular real estate broker, he's benefiting
because he knows every two, three years, I'm
going to be knocking on his door probably for
an investment. So he's always got me on his radar
and I got him on his radar. or on my radar. And
those kinds of relationships I think are invaluable.
To give you another example too, just as a reference,
I'm going to be actually on his podcast. So he
does a real estate podcast here locally. And
so here coming in a month, we'll have a time
to sit down and chat. So yeah, even somebody
like that in your personal life, whether it's
another business owner that you come across or
something like that, it's always good to figure
out how can you add value to other people? Look
to give more than you take and then usually it
will come back to you. That's kind of my philosophy.
That's a perfect philosophy because that's one
of the things that I teach is you look to give
and not receive. And I think it was Zig Ziglar
that said, as long as you keep on giving, you're
going to receive and what goes around does come
around. So that's very good and in step. But
speaking with the mutual beneficial. parties,
how would you leverage connections across different
industries for that mutual benefit? As far as
how I would leverage that across different industries,
I guess it depends. I know one of the things
that I've been interested in and still pursuant
is going out and attending conferences that are
not directly related to my industry. As a default
of what I do, I end up speaking and or attending
a lot of digital marketing conferences, which
is great. I consider it instrumental into what
I do. But one of my goals for this year and next
is to start to attend conferences in things I'm
interested in, but maybe not directly related
to my industry. So for instance, I dabble in
cryptocurrencies in addition to other investments.
And I would love to attend a cryptocurrency conference
just to figure out and learn from those other
arenas. So I think just being curious and figuring
out what is available to get out and network.
I had another opportunity here locally where
there's a small business group that meets together
with numerous people across different industries.
And so we had a networking dinner and it was
great to meet people that are... in completely
different industries than myself and just learn
what it's like to be in their shoes day to day.
That's really great, by the way. What's your
take on balancing online and offline networking
in today's digital age? To my earlier point,
just like not being overly reliant on one or
the other or too heavy in one or the other, I
think is key. I see a lot of people that are
very comfortable. online. They're comfortable
getting in front of a camera, but in person,
they can become really shy. And so I think figuring
out a good way to bridge the gap between that
digital world and in person is an invaluable
tool, right? So yeah, I think just getting out
there and attending different events, getting
a little bit outside of your comfort zone, those
kind of things can open your horizons quite a
bit. I know, not exactly related to networking,
but one of the things that my spouse and I and
our family love doing is traveling. Particularly,
we love traveling overseas. And the reason I
like it so much is it gets me out of my comfort
zone. I realize that there's a whole world and
culture that works without me in it. And that...
just opens my horizon. And so I've had a lot
of opportunities just to meet people just that
way, just by getting out of my comfort zone and
being curious and going to places and locations
where I otherwise might naturally go. Sure. Sure.
That's great. That's great. Okay. So let's move
along with the metrics side of things. How do
you measure success or ROI for your networking
efforts? There's a lot of different ways to measure
success when it comes to networking. I think
just having a catalog of people you can go to,
right? That's not always monetarily. I would
say a lot of it's actually not monetarily. It's
who can, if I have a question about an industry
that I'm unfamiliar with, right? Do I have somebody
in my network I can speak to? If I have a question
about taxes and accounting, do I have a good
person I can reach out to? If I have a question
about a weird noise that my car is making, do
I have somebody that I can speak to that I'm
not just bugging them, but they're genuinely
going to say, oh, yeah, here's what that probably
is. Here's who I recommend sending it to or what
I recommend doing. So I think just the responsiveness
in your networking portfolio and having people
you can rely on, not as an obligation, but really
as a relationship. I think that is how I would
measure a lot of those kind of things. That goes
along with the giving, not getting. If you give
yourself, you're basically, you want to become
a referral partner for everybody. I am known
in my area as putting two people together. Oh,
I really need my heating went. Wait, I've got
a perfect heating guy for you. And I do things
like that all the time. And I never look. for
anything back i never do but ultimately my name
gets referred out also sure so it's a kind of
give and take but that's a good way of doing
it can you share any ai tools or platforms that's
revolutionized your networking approach one of
the things that we're utilizing right now is
a tool called make .com which is a it's an automation
platform and basically with a tool like that
Much like Zapier and other tools that have come
before it, the sky is the limit. You're basically
limited only by your imagination and the third
-party tools you can plug in and play to automate
systems. So one of the things we're developing
right now is an intricate cold outreach system
so that we can reach people in different verticals
that we want to get in front of via email and
via social media. So that's something that we're
starting to explore and experiment with right
now, just to become more connected in different
arenas. So yeah, I recommend people take a look
at tools like that, start to look at ways to
introduce automation and AI into their business.
Okay, let's take that. Let's look to the future
just a little bit. How do you envision the future
of networking in the next five to 10 years, considering
advancements in AI? digital technologies yeah
i think one of the areas and it's still developed
i think it's still still uncharted territory
is probably with vr and augmented reality right
i know apple tried their hand at the vr and augmented
reality space with their headset which i think
flopped i don't know if it's the price point
or what but companies like meta are still very
much in that arena I think the verdict's still
out to see how comfortable the masses are going
to be with that technology. But I can imagine
a scenario where a system like that, or maybe
one that's even more scaled down as technology
grows, becomes more and more of a vertical for
connection. So instead of a, you know, a 2D screen
and a Zoom call, we might be in an immersive
VR experience where it feels like we're right
there with the person. whether it's a spatial
audio or 3D renderings of the individual. On
the flip side, on the more dystopian side, I
also see scenarios where there's going to be
segments of people that might rely or utilize
virtual avatars to the point where you might
be talking to somebody. thinking it's one person
or thinking they look one way, but it's someone
completely different. So there's some of those
kinds of things that are more yet to be uncharted
as far as what that does to traditional style
networking, but definitely something to keep
an eye on. Okay. I'll be sure to keep an eye
on it too. What are the key elements of a strong
network for entrepreneurs seeking investors and
what mistakes? should they avoid? I think for
entrepreneurs looking to get in the way of anyone
of accolade, whether it's in an investment community
or anything like that, I think you always have
to be asking yourself, what value do you provide?
Typically, the more busy someone is, it's harder
to get their time. And so really, you have to
put yourself in their shoes. If you want to a
half an hour or an hour of someone's time who
is a busy individual, maybe has already seen
a lot of success. You have to ask yourself, putting
yourself in their shoes, like what's in it for
them? Sometimes that can be as simple as, hey,
I'd love to buy you lunch. Other times it might
mean starting to develop a platform, a podcast
or an ebook or an interview type outfit in which
they feel like they benefit from that. So I think
that's the key is like, How do you add value
to them so that, you know, they're even willing
to sit down and talk to you, right? That's right.
That's right. That's good to remember. But for
early stage startups, what's the most effective
way to connect with the right people for funding
and partnerships? For early stage startups, I
would say. Figure out where the networking hubs
are in your community. I know, for instance,
here in Spokane, between Spokane and Coeur d
'Alene, Idaho, which are fairly close, 30 minutes
to an hour between those two areas, depending
on where you're from, there are at least a small
handful of communities that meet for things like
hackathons or pitch events and just about every...
metropolitan hub these days has some kind of
community where they take entrepreneurs and startups
and put them in front of people looking for investment
right so figuring out kind of who those people
or hubs or entities are in your local area i
think could be instrumental and like i said they
exist just about everywhere it's just a matter
of figuring out where they are and getting involved.
And they are, they're everywhere. They are. And
even though you may not believe it because you're
the one looking for the money, but they are everywhere
and there's organizations and you just have to
find them. That's really what the key is. Yeah.
Last but not least, bringing this podcast full
circle, can you share a personal story of how
a networking connection changed the course of
your career or business? Yeah, so I had attended,
I had been attending search engine optimization
conferences for a few years into kind of the
infancy of our agency. And there was one particular
event, it was a smaller mastermind style conference,
meaning that I think there was maybe 30 or 40
people. It was... Not overly expensive, but it
wasn't cheap either, right? It definitely wasn't
a free conference. But I had entered this conference
as an attendee. And while there, it was one of
these kind of events where the speakers, they
didn't just fly in and fly out, right? They stick
around to network and discuss with people. And
at this particular event, they had a panel where
I think I gave a short 15, 20 minute talk. wasn't
overly planned. It was just there was an opening.
And so I jumped in there. And after the event,
I started speaking with one of the individuals
who I'd been following for quite some time and
saying, and I just went up to him as genuine
as I possibly could and just said, Hey, man,
I really, I really loved your talk. I rattled
off a couple points that kind of stuck with me.
and just told this individual how much I admired
what they were doing. And to my surprise, this
individual was like, yeah, I've been following
what you've been doing for a while as well. And
I'd really like to have you share some resources
inside of this training community that I'm a
part of. And that ended up opening up doors for
me to be on stages in Vietnam and Estonia. And
ironically, the story I told earlier about the
guy that I had done in this roundup post. It
was the same guy, right? And had I not gone through
the effort of creating a platform where I could
showcase other people's work and then introduce
myself as a component of that and embedded myself
in this community and started to get to know
the players in this community, I don't think
I ever would have had the ability to be on the
stages that I've been. And I have other stories,
probably we can save for another time, but numerous
stories like that where just... Being able to
invest a little bit of time and money to be in
the right rooms has opened up doors to me that
otherwise never would have been opened. You're
willing to give it without thinking of the return.
And so I think that's the mindset that you have
to have when you're, at least when you're first
starting out, even years in, I've been 10 years
on and off stages and I still have that mindset.
You still look to give. One of my favorite things
to say to a potential client is, how can I make
you more successful? How can I make you, how
can I be a good referral source for you? And
it usually starts out very well and we usually
wind up doing business or whatever, but it's
always a good thing to give rather than receive.
Adam, I have to tell you, this was great. I feel
I can talk to you for another two hours and still
not get to the crux of what you are doing. But
if somebody wanted to get hold of you, either
to buy your services, be coached by you, or just
to talk to you, how would they do it? First of
all, I'll say I'm pretty easy to find. Simple
search for my name, Adam Chronister, you'll find
all kinds of information. But outside of that,
I encourage people to take a look at the agency
I run, which is called Enleaf. I'll spell that.
It's a little tricky name. It's E -N -L -E -A
-F. So enleaf .com or simply do a Google search
for my name. I'm pretty active on all the social
media platforms, Facebook, x .com, TikTok, you
name it, I'm there. So yeah, I'd love to chat
with anyone that has any interests or questions
for me or simply wants to connect and talk shop.
That's great. Adam, thank you so much for coming
on the podcast. Oh, my pleasure. Thank you so
much. Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere.
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right, folks. A huge thank you to our 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. If you're interested in my digital courses,
being coached, or having me come and talk to
your company, just go to Michael and fill out
the request form. 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've
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