Okay, hey everybody welcome back to networking
unleashed building profitable connections I'm
your host Michael Foreman and today we're diving
into the intersection of Technology and human
connection. Let's be honest social media is louder
than ever Google decides who gets found and now
AI is writing half the internet So where does
that leave real connection? How do we build relationships,
not just reach? My guest today knows that better
than most. He's mastered how to combine social
media strategy, Google business profiles, and
AI to protect, sorry, to help professionals stand
out, stay visible, and most importantly, stay
human in a digital world. If you've ever wondered
how to turn your online presence into genuine
opportunity, this is the episode you'll want
to lean into. So let's get into it. This, I'd
like to introduce Sean Boyle. He is my next guest
on the podcast. I am so happy to have you here,
Sean, and please introduce yourself and tell
us how you got here. Thank you, Michael. Wow.
It's quite an introduction. I appreciate that.
Yeah. Co -founder Momentum, we're a marketing
company based in Philadelphia, seven -figure
company, been around for a decade. This is actually
our one -year anniversary this month, which is
super, super exciting. And yeah, we actually
help Michael a lot of small businesses, primarily
service businesses with their overall digital
marketing. So I'm really excited to chat with
you about that today. Great. That's great. Your,
what you do is so needed in today's society because
of what's happening with AI. AI is a new buzzword
and everybody don't, they don't know how to use
it as a tool, but how to remain human. And that's
really what you're all about. So I have about
10 or so questions in an era where algorithms
decide who sees what. How can business owners
make sure real people, not just the platform,
see and connect with them? It's a good question.
If we're talking overall digital presence, I
think it really just starts from a fundamental
reason of if you need a plumber, God forbid,
if you need someone to fix your roof, whatever
it is, I think the majority of people, Michael,
are still going to Google to find that. And then
if you're able to be found on search, if I was
to do a Google search, for instance, best plumbers
in Philadelphia, right? Something like that.
And I can find a business that is having a lot
of good reviews, that's posting to the profile,
that's topical. Maybe they've won a couple of
awards and they're very high. A lot of the times
I'm actually going to contact that business first.
So it's one of those things that we can go into
it. There's so many different things that a business
can do to actually get a higher ranking locally
on Google. But I think with all this AI, it doesn't
matter really. Local search is still one of those
things that people are going to manually search
it or maybe do a voice search. And that's how
they're going to be able to be found. Do you
find that a lot of people are searching on, let's
say, chat GPT first and then going to Google?
It's an interesting thing, right? Because Google
has their own AI platform with Gemini. And if
you were to Google best plumbers in Philadelphia
with ChatGPT, it's probably going to give you
a list of about five plumbers in Philadelphia
with all their accredited ratings and whatnot.
Gemini is going to do the same thing too. And
even more, what's interesting, Gemini on Google
is going to give you the pros and the cons of
that business. Maybe there's a review that's
buried that the businesses try to cover up, which
actually is a really helpful review. Oh, maybe
they're actually not the company you thought
they were. So it's interesting, man. For ChatGPT,
People are starting to search more on AI. I personally,
and myself, I think it just has a better overall
playground of more resources. It's going to pull
more resources out there for you, obviously.
But the kingpin is still Google until ChatGPT
takes over. But I think we're heading that way.
It's really interesting. I think so. I think
we're moving closer and closer. I deal with an
AI person and his partners out in California
and everything, and I write articles for them.
He works very closely with Google and Gemini.
And he's telling me all about how people are
beginning to search on Gemini or chat GPT before
they search on regular Google. And that just
blew my mind that they've come such a long way.
OK, so you've worked with both Google business
profiles and social media. Where do you see the
biggest missed opportunity for professionals
trying to build relationships online? Not just
visibility That's a great question If you're
not just talking about visibility and you're
just trying to become more authentic I think
social media is the biggest miss on a lot of
service businesses because a lot of the time,
and I don't know how you feel about this, Michael,
but when I see a service area business, for the
most part, they're just posting pictures of before
and after photos, which are important. Don't
get me wrong. But to actually be able to have
the owner of said business make content, head
talking reels of them saying, hey, here are like
five ways you can actually save 10 grand on your
roof or something like that. Right. If they're
a roofer, that's going to mean so much more.
to build that relationship rather than just seeing
a bunch of posts, graphic design posts, static
posts that really don't do much for you. So I
think business owners need to get out of their
shell so to speak. It's funny, I was talking
to an owner the other day and the only thing
that's holding them up from doing social media
is their own fear of, oh, how am I going to be
perceived? And I told him, listen, his name's
John. I said, John, listen, man, I've probably
made a couple thousand videos and I'm not Joe
Rogan over here. I'm not the best public speaker
in the world. Far from it, but we all stink when
we first start so as soon as you can get over
that fear and just start You're going to immediately
start to improve know your cadences on how you
talk And go from there and that kind of set them
over the edge and we're going to be doing some
work with them Yeah, that's a great question.
I can't believe you said what you said because
you were so on point With it, you know, i'm a
public speaker. I go out and I teach I go into
workshops and I teach them about truly networking
and what you said falls right in line with everything
just like that. I tell everybody, look. Go out
and start networking. Just go out and start.
Doesn't make a difference how good you are because
the first and second time you go out, you're
going to suck. It's going to be horrible. You're
going to be bad, but you're going to learn from
those mistakes and you'll get better and better.
And that's why I agree with you 100 % on what
you were saying. So that's very good. Many people
post content, but never actually connect through
it. Sound familiar? What separates social posting
from social networking? And how can someone bridge
that gap? I don't know where you got your questions
this morning, but I love them. They're actually
making me think, which is good. It's a new thing.
So picking up where I left off, I think to take
it a step further, it's one thing to make that
relationship, right? But to have a networking
component to it as well. I think the next step
with social media, not just posting, is really
engaging your audience and drawing new potential
people to it. And I'm not just talking about
leads for the business, I'm talking about potential
connectors, potential partners, even just people
who are maybe entrepreneurs or people who like
your content, right? What I have done myself,
and there's really three things that I think
you can do, first thing you can do is go live.
Go live on your social media platforms. I personally
myself go live on YouTube at least twice a day.
And it's not a huge crazy audience, but it's
one of those things where I actually do love
to interact with people. I feel like you do build
a good relationship and a couple of people actually
tell their friends and then it starts to accumulate,
right? So that's the first thing. Second thing
is you got to get, you have to get in the DMS
and you have to respond to questions and build
relationships that way. I see far too many business
owners when I go to their social media profile
and they've been doing it for years. I can't
tell you how many times, Michael, I've actually
seen probably close to the dozens of messages
that are unread and non -messaged of potential
leads, potential connectors and stuff like that.
And it's absolutely crazy. And then the third
thing I think is, and this might go a little
kind of a tough to do if you're like a typical
service area business, but. host somewhat like
of a workshop. It doesn't need to be in person.
It can be like another live stream, but host
a workshop on, okay, here's exactly how you can
save money doing this, or here's where you want
to look out doing that. I think it's so imperative
to just go beyond the scope of just posting to
post. You want to put your live stream out there.
You want to connect with your audience. And I
feel as time goes on, if your content is good,
you're going to get people to talk to their friends,
talk to their family, and they're going to be
able to join your live streams and be one of
your audience members too. I absolutely agree.
Again, I absolutely agree with what you're saying
because that interactivity between yourself and
your either client or proposed client or to be
client, you have to give them a little something.
You have to give them value. You have to say
you need to trust me because of this. And how
can somebody turn around and trust you if they
don't know about you? Right. So if you do these
live workshops, you're giving them something.
Look, you're telling me how I can save money
if I change this switch out and I do it like
this. That's free. That's all the work you have
to do. But I have so much more to give you. That's
why I want you to call me. Yes, I agree 100 percent.
So if you're going to continue to do this and
I'm going to continue to do it. Agree 100%. This
is going to go nowhere. All right. So let's get
controversial here, Michael. Let's get controversial.
Okay. AI has made content creation faster than
ever, but often less human. How do you think
entrepreneurs can use AI without losing their
authenticity or voice? Can I curse in the show
or no? No. Okay. I think it's total bullshit
on how AI kind of works, man. And let me just
get this off my chest. I feel like business owners,
they rely way too much on AI to do so many different
things with the business. And let me explain.
Wanted to directly answer your question. One
of the main things that I think people miss on
is language, just personal language that we're
using now and make it feel like you're actually
talking to a human being with AI specifically.
I'll tell you, one of the clients I was just
talking today, before they came onto us, Michael,
They used every single blog and every single
webpage with ChatGPT. Now, don't get me wrong,
ChatGPT is good to have somewhat of an idea.
I'm not saying it's terrible to use, but you
do get penalized with Google. You do get, has
almost like a robotic voice. There's no personality
to it really, truth be told, in my opinion. Maybe
some of it's good, but I don't know, it definitely
could be better. I think AI is way too much overused
with that specifically. Business owners need
to use it as a little bit of a guide. And then
go back in and essentially reword certain things
to make it sound more like them. And I think
over time, I don't know, it's probably going
to be just as it's going to sound just like us.
We're going to put out the words that we use,
our cadence, our vocabulary, and it's going to
sound exactly like us. But for the time being,
I think they need to switch that a little bit.
So it sounds just a little bit better and come
off more authentic. Absolutely. AI has to be
used as a tool. right? And in our work belt.
And when we need to use AI, we can bring out
that tool, use it, but then we have to change
it. It's a good base, right? And we have to add
what we really want to do or add our own being
as part of it. And then it becomes a true article
or something that you're trying to post about.
I write for several articles on AI. It's known
throughout speaker edge .io is one of them. I
write an article for them three times a week
and it's all AI generated, right? But I have
to go out of it and I have to put in a little
bit of what I do, make it me. So it gives me
a good base, but I can't just print it and let
it go out. So it, it's very useful for what you,
for what you want to use it for. but you need
to use as a base, not anything else. And you
need to put in your own words, but that's me.
Okay. How important is Google business? Okay.
How important is a Google business profile today
for personal brands and small business owners
who rely on networking and referrals? I like
to make the analogy and this just came to me.
I really haven't used it before, but I guess
I'll use it on the show. It's like having a website
back in the 90s or early 2000s. It's one of those
things that this is, you have to have it. You
absolutely have to have a GPP. And if you don't
have it, you're going to severely get left in
the dust, right? And to use any example ever,
it's okay if you're out with your wife, girlfriend,
whatever it is, and you're looking to get a nice
Italian restaurant. I think we all like Italian
food for the most part. And if you try to find
a nice restaurant, what do you do? You go on
Google, you find a bunch of Google business profiles
that are nice Italian restaurants. You check
out the ambiance, the vibe, the food, maybe the
menu, right? And I think you can apply that to
so many other businesses. I think the thing that
I wouldn't recommend is if you have more of a
product type company, maybe you can have a Google
profile for like your HQ, which is still maybe
applicable, but I recommend everybody get one.
Truth be told, I have one. I have a Sean Boyle
one marketing consultant in Philadelphia, and
then I have a Momentum one in Philly as well.
That's like the main agency one. So if you're
an owner, specifically with marketing or anything
with like marketing or branding, I would highly
recommend it to make a company one and then potentially
even make a personal one as well. If you have
a service area business and you're not in marketing
like myself, just make one for the business and
you'll be good to go. Okay and you're speaking
basically for the owners of the business, right?
You don't want all the employees to make one
for the company also and make them make one for
themselves. So it's strictly for the owners to
do that. Am I correct? Correct. Yeah, you don't
want the employees to make their own company
profile because that's they're all going to be
suspended. You might be able to get back in the
day. You might be able to get away with that,
but not anymore. Yeah, that's a good distinction.
Yeah, Google getting a little smart for that.
OK. What does I'm sorry. What role does consistency
play in digital marketing? I'm sorry. Let me
start again. What role does consistency play
in digital networking? And what's a realistic
rhythm for busy professionals who don't want
to live online? Another good question. I'll just
tell you from my own experience, Michael, after
COVID, things got weird, right? With networking,
I think we can all agree where we have these
kind of like in the past, I would have actually
gone to your maybe studio or whatever. And this
is fine. Like, I love this kind of environment.
But what I like to do is this. I like to hop
on one digital podcast, like The Self, a great
show, every week. And then I also like to do
one networking event every single week as well.
And it just so happens there's actually an event
later on. That's why I'm all suited up. I think
it's very important to do both at the same time.
You want to leverage the technology that we have,
but you also want to get out there in your neighborhood.
You can't grow your business if people don't
know who you are. Crazy statement, right? But
it's like, you got to get out there. And post
COVID, I think so many people just rely on the
virtual. like speed networking sessions, but
it really doesn't get anywhere. Maybe it will,
but it's not as authentic as going to a bar and
having a beer with somebody, going to a restaurant
where there's an event and like eating with somebody
and actually knowing and getting to know them.
I think that's so important to be able to get
out of your shell a little bit on both sides
and do something in person and then do something
digital as well. I think that's a great way.
And when you brought up the pandemic that really,
for me as a public speaker, I use that as a line
in the sand. Before the pandemic, things were
transactional, right? You have three widgets.
I have $10. I'll buy the three widgets. I built
my customer list and things were going great.
After the pandemic, when people were shut inside
and slowly getting back out, it's become more
relational and people, you have to get to know.
I used to be in the mortgage business. And I
used to go to a networking event, come home with
a shoe box filled with business cards and say,
look how good I did. And when really it was horrible.
I have to know. And now when I teach, when I
coach people, when they go to a three hour, four
hour event, I tell them, look, come back with
15 business cards, maybe 20, because that will
tell you that you had a real conversation with
them. And there's things to do with the business
card and how to follow up. Follow up is so much
more important than actually meeting the person.
It's unbelievable. But that's where businesses
fail. They don't follow up properly. And half
of my workshop is helping them how to follow
up. But getting back to my point, the relationship
side of things. And you go out and you network
every single week. Networking is the base of
all businesses. That's how well you network.
And that's where I make my money, of course.
It's what you have to do. Let's talk connection
versus conversation. How do you design online
content that builds trust first and still drives
business? I think when I'm creating content,
I'm always trying to have my client It's mind
when I'm making content. So for instance, talking
about Google business profiles, right. For me,
you know, I don't care what really is in it.
For me, it's what's in it for the client or what's
in it for the person viewing my stuff. So I try
to make myself as valuable as possible to answer
said questions. So a perfect example of that,
Michael, would be if I'm making a reel, which
I do a lot about suspended Google profiles, right.
The most viewed. Real and YouTube video I think
I have currently on my page is talking about,
hey guys, here's a free way where you can actually
reinstate your suspended Google profile. I gave
three things. It's 10 minutes long on the video,
about 30 seconds short on the real, and it's
actual value. It's stuff that genuinely works.
I can't tell you how many times, not to toot
my own horn, I've gotten comments that say, oh
my gosh, thank you so much. I don't know what
I would be able to do. Now I'm able to get revenue.
I'm able to have the business. Before, if we
didn't have the profile, we would have been goners.
We would have been out of business. So it really
gives me a lot of joy to be able to build that
trust with somebody because I'm giving that value.
And then what I like to do is just keep adding
as much value as possible. And then at the end
of my content, which I don't do often, if people
are watching my stuff, what I'll do is I will
then say, Hey guys, if you need professional
digital marketing that you can't do yourself
because it's a time versus money thing, if you
have the time, Save your money, do it yourself.
If you don't have the time, and I think some
owner operators who run surface area businesses,
Michael, don't have that time, then it would
be a good way to explore a conversation about
marketing. And then I'll give my email and phone
number, then we'll schedule a call. So I think
that's how I like to tailor content. Way too
many people, I think, just don't. They either
do these silly TikTok trends. They focus more
on their accolades instead of actually answering
questions. And I think if the business owner
is able to pivot and add just more value and
think of the end consumer first, they're going
to be surprised how many clients they actually
end up getting. I think it's starting to move
in that direction. It's starting to move. OK,
look, I do my social media. I post on social
media four times a day. I use a program called
Opus Clips. It breaks up the podcasts that I've
been on and I break it up and I post two of them,
four posts per day. And it takes me about 10
minutes total for me to do all that posting.
So it doesn't really require a whole lot of time,
but it's me interacting, it's me talking like
with you and giving great advice and things like
that. I'm not just saying, hey, look at me. This
is me. This is a picture before and after you
don't want to see a picture before I'm horrible
But you have to realize that I say this in jest
but it's so Real because I think it's coming
around. I think business owners are looking to
it saying, okay, you know what I see this I trust
him now networking is very big Know you like
you trust you they'll do business with you Know
you as easy Everybody knows you Like you and
that narrows it down a little bit but trust you
that's a big thing and The more that the person
can trust you the more the wall between you come
down Then that's where you're gonna find your
business Okay You've been the rock you've seen
the rise of AI tools promising to automate connection
Where should we embrace automation, and where
does it destroy the human side of networking?
I think probably the biggest misfire with AI
is probably on LinkedIn. And it's tough, right?
Because for me, and probably for you as well,
like... I am inundated with messages, Michael,
on a day -to -day basis of an AI tool sending
a message through some hot woman's, hot girl's
profile that I'm like, oh, yeah, I see what they're
doing. And I've done a similar strategy in the
past. And it just, sometimes it works. Sometimes
you get people. There's, in my opinion, going
back to your point on when you're networking,
come home actually with less cards, meaning you
had more of a conversational relationship. In
my opinion, and maybe I'm a little old school
with this, for better or for worse, I like to
pick maybe whatever number you want to throw
out. And I like to just generally have a connection
with that. person and talk with them and actually
have a conversation specifically on LinkedIn.
I think for other tools like cold email, yeah,
AI is great. You can use Apollo. Apollo has a
lot of great tools. It's a cold email sender.
You can scrape data from that. That's for cold
email. I think that works and answers your question.
Fine. But specifically for LinkedIn, if you're
trying to build connections and if you really
talking about liking and trusting the person.
I'm not going to have much trust from getting
like a very generic message, and I can just clearly
see that it's AI for the most part. Now, granted,
to play devil's advocate, some of those messages
are very captivating. They are very good. They
do take time to put out. And sometimes I have
a hard time actually understanding what's AI
and what's not. But the ones that I know are
AI are really bad. They just completely turned
me off. So I think to answer your question, I
don't have Honestly, the best answer for that
on LinkedIn, I have more of a manual approach,
but I think both things are needed. I think you
need to have some AI automation, some sort of
capacity as well as the human element. So I think
we lose that with all this technology that we
have. I always found that on LinkedIn, I don't
have a very big following. I have about 9 ,000
connections on LinkedIn. And whenever I try to
approach anybody that I'm interested in, I always
try to bring value to the conversation. I never
talk business. If I'm trying to, let's say I'm
trying to get into this roofing company, I'll
always bring in, oh, here's the difference between
metal roofs and non -metal roofs. And it's a
very interesting article. I will attach that
and say, hey, I thought of you when I was reading
this, here's this information. And that's it.
And I'll do that two or three times. And then
I'll say, hey, did you like those articles? How
about a cup of coffee? You know, it's just, and
slowly work into it. I found that was the best
way to approach a business that I'm trying to
get work from. So, yeah. I think that's a great
idea. And sometimes I do too, Michael is very
much similar to what you just do is almost like
a lead magnet. Give value. Like if someone, for
instance, is maybe they're a service area business
and they don't have the best website or they
don't have the best Google profile, say Hey,
John Smith balls. Here's a quick video I made
on how to have a better Google profile. I think
you might need it. I checked out your profile
and there's a couple of things wrong. Here's
a free video where you can just do it yourself.
And I've seen a lot of people take a lot of advice
from that video and just build a better relationship
with me and be able to trust me. Yeah. I love
your strategy. It works. That works. How do you
personally use your own content and Google presence
to initiate conversations that turn into genuine
business relationships? Yeah, I like it. I'm
gonna enjoy answering this question. So I'll
give you the whole Rundown of what I do like
the whole funnel, right? So a majority of the
leads I get that are organic if they're not coming
to the website and I'm not talking about referrals
just talking about like YouTube and the content
I'm creating are from social media and YouTube
specifically YouTube in general, right? Someone
will find one of my videos using the suspended
Google business profile example They'll go to
my video They'll watch it. Perhaps maybe they'll
try the strategy and maybe a couple days later
They're like shucks. This is like really freaking
hard and I don't have the time to deal with this
Let me call Sean up. Let me see how this goes.
I'll get the phone call I'll put them into our
CRM and then i'll kind of walk them through the
next step in process and That's really what i've
done for the last kind of several years Michael
is offer that value Where people can then go
and contact me and then it's hey, like I said
earlier, it's a time versus money thing if you
have the time Go and try to do it yourself. If
you don't have that level of expertise and you
have a little bit of money, but you don't really
have that time, then let's have a conversation.
But I always try to advise on what the owner
can do for free first rather than just go and
pitch my product or service on that call. So
that's really what I do. That's a great way to
be. Great way to be. Okay. Let's bring this podcast
full circle. Looking ahead. Where do you see
the balance between AI -driven visibility and
authentic people -driven networking? And what
should professionals start doing now to stay
ahead of the curve? That's a great question.
I contemplate this a lot of what AI looks like
in the future, and it's somewhere between robots
attacking us or what we have now or something
in between. But I think really What you should
do is if you're not really up to speed with AI,
even if you don't own a business, even if you
are really in the know, get in the know because
it's going to be something very prominent that's
going to pop up. It's like the AI .com bubble.
It's like the Google business profiles and how
important that is. AI is the next thing. And
it's not just the next thing. It's going to be
with us for forever moving forward, in my opinion.
read up on articles, go on Chat GPT, and maybe
you can do this weekly. This is what I like to
do myself, Michael, to stay in the know with
my busy schedule, is I'll just type in Chat GPT,
what does AI look like in the future for 2026?
Or how is AI going to be used for Google, Meta,
Apple? How are all these things going to come
together? And maybe just one week, maybe on Saturday
morning, whatever, when you have time. drink
your cup of coffee in the morning and just read.
And I think that's one of the best ways where
you can stay informed. It's pretty obvious, but
I feel like if you don't know, one of the easiest
ways is to get informed, make your own decision,
make your own opinion and try to use AI however
you see fit. So getting in the know is the first
step in my opinion. That's great. That's great.
Okay. And there it is. Proof that real networking
isn't about chasing clicks or followers. It's
about creating connection. with intention. Big
thanks to my guests for dropping serious insights
on it today. If you found value in this episode,
share it with someone who's ready to elevate
their online presence. Make sure that you're
subscribed so you never miss what's next on Networking
Unleashed, building profitable connections. Until
next time, get visible, get connected, and go
make it profitable. So before we leave, Sean,
if somebody wants to get hold of you because
they need your wonderful marketing strategy,
how can they get hold of you? So what they can
do is just go to YouTube. It's obviously trying
to pump up my YouTube subscribers and just type
in Momentum 360 on YouTube. We've about 7000
subs. Get a bunch of free value. Watch my videos.
I put my phone number and email so you guys can
contact me if you need. But get a lot of free
value. Enjoy my content and hopefully you can
grow your business. That's great Sean and thank
you again for coming on my podcast Well, hold
on folks don't go anywhere let's hear from our
sponsors David Neil co -founder revved up kids
Revved Up Kids is on a mission to protect children
and teens from sexual abuse, exploitation, and
trafficking. They provide prevention training
programs for children, teens, and adults. To
learn more, go to RevvedUpKids .org. Henry Kaplan,
Century 21. When it comes to making the biggest
financial decision of your life, leave it in
the hands of a proven professional, Henry Kaplan.
Henry is a global real estate agent with Century
21, celebrating his 41st year in business. No
matter where you're moving, Henry has the right
connections for you. You can contact Henry at
561 -427 -4888. 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 enjoyed this episode,
please don't forget to subscribe, leave us a
review, and share it with someone who could use
a little networking inspiration. Let's keep the
conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website, foreman
.com slash podcasts.