Join Michael Whitehouse on The Guy Who Knows A Guy Podcast as he interviews Amanda Abella, an award-winning content creator and business coach. Amanda reveals how she slashed her workload by 84% through sales task automation and offers insights on cutting marketing and labor costs by 50% with improved systems. With networking expertise that led to a network of 130 referral partners, Amanda shares valuable tips on sales, communication, and leveraging technology for business success.
Transcript
Welcome back to the guy who knows a guy podcast.
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:We're so excited to be back with you.
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:And this season we are counting
down to J V connect the first of its
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:th,:
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:This is going to be an incredible
dedicated networking event, and you
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:are going to want to be part of it.
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:And this podcast here to help
prepare you to get the most
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:out of this incredible event.
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:I'm Michael Whitehouse,
the guy who knows a guy.
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:And over the next few weeks, you're going
to get to hear from some of the best
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:people in the industry about networking.
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:As well as some solo training from me.
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:So be sure to join us on December
12th to 14th for JB Connect.
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:And now, let's get to the interview.
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:Welcome once again to the
guy who knows a guy podcast.
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:I, as always, I'm your host, Michael
Whitehouse, the guy who knows a guy.
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:And our guest today is Amanda Abea.
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:Amanda is an award winning content
creator, keynote speaker and business
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:coach who specializes in helping
business owners activate their
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:persuasion prowess so they can make more
money and live a more affluent life.
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:Her clients go from hating sales
and marketing to achieving 90.
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:Is that right?
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:That's not a typo.
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:It's 90%.
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:Amanda Abella: It's 90%.
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:Yes.
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:Michael Whitehouse: Wow.
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:90 percent close rates and closing
multiple five figure deals.
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:Her work has been featured in
Forbes, Huffington Post, Business
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:Insider, Univision, and many more.
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:Prior to teaching marketing and
sales, Amanda spent a decade as a
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:financial writer and wrote content
for companies like Wells Fargo,
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:Discover, Credit Karma, Santander.
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:It's not Sant Sant Santanday.
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:I think depends on what country you're in.
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:Okay, Santander, you know which bank
I'm talking about the red one and more.
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:She's also partnered with companies
like Capital One and TransUnion
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:and financial education campaigns.
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:So welcome to the show.
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:Thank you for giving me a bio that gave
us something to talk about already.
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:And how are you doing today?
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:Amanda Abella: I'm doing super well.
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:I mean, I was like, Oh dang, I got
to add to the bio, which is now, you
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:know, I'm living in Mexico, which
I found the Santander thing funny.
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:Cause that's literally the bank I have to
go to, to withdraw cash with the lowest,
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:um, fee for American dollar to pay.
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:So, so I was like, Oh yeah, that
bank, I used to write for them and
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:I literally go there every week.
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:Michael Whitehouse: There you go.
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:Yeah.
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:Yeah.
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:I work with a credit union that I've.
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:I've done some work for them.
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:Um, not the level you have, but
I've done some networking coaching
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:for them and speaking, uh, and
like, I know most of their staff.
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:So I figure I'll bank with
the people who I know everyone
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:from the manager up to the CEO.
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:That seems like the, the way a
networker should be doing is banking.
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:Amanda Abella: Yeah, and actually
in that 1st business where I was
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:working with a lot of banks, it was
mostly networking that got me those
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:deals because none of those banks
were going to go through a funnel.
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:You know, now it's a little bit different
because I have digital programs.
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:Um, and there was a reason
for that because that business
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:model was more scalable.
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:Whereas my 1st business was not,
but in my 1st business, when I was
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:doing content marketing for financial
companies, or I would get hired as a
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:Spokesperson for campaigns like for
trans union, which you could find
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:the videos on YouTube somewhere.
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:Um, then most of that was
like, who do you know?
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:Networking.
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:There was a big event.
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:We would go to every year for money
and media and I book myself out
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:for a year, but a lot of it was
networking cold pitching good old
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:fashioned sales and relationships.
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:Michael Whitehouse: Yep.
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:So, so you didn't start
with a network, right?
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:You didn't like go to Harvard
and meet everyone you know,
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:and that, that puts you in.
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:Amanda Abella: No, I went to like some
tiny Catholic school in Southwest Florida.
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:No one's ever heard of.
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:There were 80 people
in my graduating class.
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:Michael Whitehouse: Wow.
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:So let's start from there.
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:How did you go from tiny school to
networking your way to jobs with
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:Wells Fargo and Discover and Credit
Karma and the one I can't pronounce?
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:Amanda Abella: Yeah, so funny story.
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:I graduated in:couldn't find a job.
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:So I hear a lot of the people complaining
now about all the economic stuff
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:going on in the United States, very
different hearing it when you're living
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:in another country, but I digress.
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:But I'm hearing all those stories.
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:I'm like, dang, this sounds
like:
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:again, different circumstances,
but people still struggling.
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:Um, and I, I was one of those,
like, I went six months without
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:being able to find a job.
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:I had a literature degree.
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:I'd gone to like this.
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:I, I grew up Catholic, so I got
basically sent to a Catholic school.
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:Um, and it was a liberal arts degree,
which I now realize gave me the
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:foundation to do the things that I do now.
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:Mm-Hmm.
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:But back then, right, I was like,
what the hell am I supposed to do
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:with this ? Um, so I couldn't find
a job, but what I essentially did is
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:I Googled how to make money writing.
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:That's literally how this all started.
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:It started with a Google search how to
oney writing in the summer of:
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:And it was literally just
clawing my way and like, 12 hours
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:reading everything on Google.
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:I could get my hands on and I was just
so determined to make something work
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:that, you know, 1 thing led to another.
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:I experimented for a few years,
eventually really nailed down on the
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:financial niche because I was interested.
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:In money because I sucked at it.
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:Um, and I figured, well, if I get paid to
learn about it, that sounds pretty smart.
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:So why don't I just go do that?
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:Um, and none of us knew at the time that
the financial blogging and the financial
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:writing niche was going to like take off.
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:So here's something interesting.
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:Whenever financial issues start happening
in the United States, people become
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:a lot more interested in finance.
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:So it was just kind of
a good timing thing.
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:That now I can see opportunity, but
back then I had no idea how to do that.
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:I just got lucky, I guess.
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:Um, and you know, it was just like one
and I started making friends on Twitter.
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:Twitter was like the place to be if you
were a financial blogger back in the day.
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:And then, you know, we all started
getting together, putting on
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:networking events because geeking
out over money and blogging about it.
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:And then that turned into a massive
conference that turned into, um,
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:not that I put on, but that the
community put on that turned into
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:a lot of us who had started early.
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:Literally banks were our clients.
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:I mean, it was to the point where they
would like, throw parties for us once a
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:year and then that we would like, mingle
with all the financial companies and
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:then they needed content because people
were searching for financial information.
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:And then that's how I kind of also
started learning about marketing was.
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:By doing it.
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:And what I didn't realize was
that I was doing sales, right?
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:So I was like pitching ideas.
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:I was meeting people at events.
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:I was going to every event.
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:I could get my hands
on every Twitter chat.
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:Do you remember Twitter chats?
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:Are they even still a thing?
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:Right?
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:Twitter chats.
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:Back in the day and finance were
like, you know, you would follow it.
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:It was like a certain time you would get
on Twitter and it was a certain topic and
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:then everyone would follow the hashtag and
then you would be able to follow the chat.
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:Yeah, I'm dating myself right now.
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:Right.
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:So we would do like these Twitter chats,
and I would make sure to get on every
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:Twitter chat I could get my hands on.
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:Back in the day and I made
a lot of friends, um, many
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:of which are still friends.
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:I just interviewed one of them on my
podcast and we've known each other
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:for 10 years since our finance days.
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:Um, and that's how I
built my first business.
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:It was, you know, learning content
marketing from the ground up.
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:It was sales and not knowing that I
was selling and it was networking.
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:Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.
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:And I think there's a couple
of things I hear in that.
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:The first is you, you knew
what you were trying to do.
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:So you didn't say, Oh, there's no jobs.
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:I'll just go on monster and deed again
and send out some more applications.
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:Amanda Abella: Oh, I tried that, you
know, and I did eventually get jobs
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:because I got the typical immigrant
to America story, you know, you go to
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:school and you go get a steady job.
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:I didn't know that I could
like make a whole business.
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:Michael Whitehouse: Yep.
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:Um, but yeah, obviously that didn't
get you where you were going, but, but
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:you know, you're focused on, I want to.
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:Right.
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:I want to do finance and you weren't
thinking about, okay, where can I
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:make a million dollars or where can
I, it's just, I want to do this thing.
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:You networked, you weren't
trying to sell them.
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:You weren't trying to
get something from them.
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:You're just, I'm into finance writing.
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:You're into finance, right?
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:And let's hang out and talk
about finance and writing.
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:Amanda Abella: And pretty much
that's exactly what it was.
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:Michael Whitehouse: Yep.
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:And that's, and that, that's
really powerful networking.
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:Cause you're not, you know, that's
where networking goes wrong.
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:If people come in, they're like,
buy my thing, promote my thing,
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:buy my thing, promote my thing.
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:Instead of we have this and
that in common, you know, the
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:higher levels of networking,
which is often those masterminds.
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:That's the, they're not selling to each
other and asking each other to promote.
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:They're sharing ideas.
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:They're sharing experience and knowledge.
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:And that's what you were doing.
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:Um, and, and obviously that led to a
lot more and a lot more success, but I
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:think that's a great story for anyone
listening saying, you know, well, how
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:can I network if I'm not starting with
the right, the right thing now, one
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:of the dimensions, you know, Twitter
chats, which is no longer a thing.
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:Um, so that's one of the challenges,
the, the Internet shifting.
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:So the places where
the connections happen.
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:aren't the same.
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:Um, for, for someone up and coming, do you
have an idea of where, where they might be
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:able to find connections and opportunity?
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:Amanda Abella: Well, I'd say for up
and coming, it's the same, right?
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:It's social media and it's content.
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:It's just the way in which we're using
social media and content has changed
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:dramatically since, you know, I'm
talking, I think, seven, eight years ago.
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:Yeah.
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:But the concepts are still the same.
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:Um, in fact, I would venture to say it's
probably easier now in a lot of ways,
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:because we have a lot of tools now that
can help us that we didn't have back then.
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:Um, my partner and I are in the process.
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:We're starting a 2nd brand
called entrepreneur expat.
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:Um, because we are expats and there's
been a lot of interest for my community
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:on being an expat, but we're smart
business people and we're like, oh, okay.
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:Well, only a small
portion of our community.
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:Current community is into that.
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:We're going to make a
whole separate brand.
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:For them, that's what we're going to do.
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:Um, so we're in the process of starting
the second one and we were both noting
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:because he's been in digital marketing
as long as I have, and we were both
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:noting like how much easier it is now
in a lot of ways because you have tools
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:that can tell you what keywords to use.
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:There's tons of experts that you can
follow on Instagram that tell you how
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:to put together a good performing reel.
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:To get attention.
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:None of that stuff existed back
then because it was like the wild,
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:wild West and it was a new thing and
no one knew what they were doing.
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:Yes.
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:Michael Whitehouse: Yep.
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:Yeah.
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:And as a, as a thing about it, like
you were saying, you're finding
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:these, these interest chats.
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:I feel like some of it now is in the
comments of different people's posts.
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:So if you find people or the
influencers in the space, you engage
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:in the comments and reply to people's
comments in the comments and there's no
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:Twitter chats anymore, but there are.
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:Posts with comment threads where
you can connect people there.
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:Uh, whether it's LinkedIn or Facebook
or, uh, TikTok's not quite as good
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:with 80 characters, but LinkedIn
and Facebook are pretty good for
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:those, those kinds of exchanges.
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:Amanda Abella: Yeah, I would,
I would absolutely agree.
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:I mean, a lot of the networking I've
done, you know, during the pandemic and
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:things like that, it was interesting.
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:I noticed it was like all on Facebook.
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:It was all in Facebook groups.
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:It was all in the Facebook DMs.
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:Um, even now, to a certain
degree, it is Facebook.
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:Now that I'm getting back on my
content game because I just am able to
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:breathe after this house renovation,
um, craziness going on over here.
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:Um, but I'm able to get back into
it and I'm focusing really on video.
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:So, you know, Facebook, Instagram.
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:YouTube and TikTok is my main focus
right now while we're doing video.
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:And it's to your point now, you know,
what used to be a Twitter chat is
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:now going on in comment sections.
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:Michael Whitehouse: Yeah,
that's, that's a key thing.
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:And of course you need to, you
know, sort of step over the muddy
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:puddles of the social media.
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:Um, because, you know, there's, it's
like if you're at a rowdy bar, you know,
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:having a good conversation over here and
someone has a fist fight over there and
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:someone's throwing a chair over there, but
if you just duck and the chair goes over.
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:Amanda Abella: That's a really
great way of putting it.
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:I've never heard anyone describe it
that way, but it's very accurate.
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:Michael Whitehouse: Yep.
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:Um, yeah, something else I wanted
to ask you about in the, in the
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:notes you sent ahead of time.
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:Um, when I asked you what's your best
networking tip, you said learn sales
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:and communication skills because you
calls in:
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:and 250 of them needed that advice.
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:Amanda Abella: Yeah, so one of the
things that I decided to do, um, you
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:know, after the first business, I moved
into the second business and the second
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:business, I started teaching people,
you know, how I basically how I built
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:the first one, because they were asking.
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:So I'm like, great, I'm going to start
teaching marketing and, and sales.
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:And I started becoming known as.
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:Teaching actual sales
and communication skills.
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:So a lot of people teach online
marketing and it's great, but
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:marketers don't know how to sell.
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:Um, they don't know how to have that
people conversation part of things,
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:which a lot of people are struggling
with now because they're dealing
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:with more challenges in the economy.
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:Or maybe a more jaded marketplace
or buyers in general are feeling
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:more apprehensive because they're
hearing all the world news and
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:they're realizing, oh, snap.
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:I don't know how to sell.
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:I don't know how to have a
conversation with another human being.
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:So, I became known for helping people with
that and our clients get insane results,
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:even just in the last group that we ran
of that sales training, they generated an
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:extra 6 figures in sales in a few weeks.
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:And it was, and it was from
very simple things, right?
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:Like learning how to ask the right
questions in a sales conversation.
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:Um, so that business started blowing
up like in:
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:crashed and burned and realized that
I needed to build more leverage.
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:So I had been networking and doing
the one on one stuff for a long time.
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:And I realized that it was time to
scale and kind of transition out of
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:that, um, you know, number one to
have a more sustainable business.
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:I'd gone through a lot of like
family health crisis and issues and
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:life, you know, life is life things.
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:So I was like, great.
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:I need to build in more sustainability.
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:I'm going to have to start moving toward,
you know, selling to groups or having
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:other people promote for me or using
social media more strategically instead
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:of these one on one conversations,
but there's a transition period.
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:That occurs when you're
going through that.
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:And my transition period was I want to
build a network of referral partners.
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:I want to build a network of people
who that I can rely on to promote
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:my business to their people.
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:And then it's going to
bring business over my way.
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:So, I have these advocates basically,
um, and the reason I wanted to do that
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:is number 1, you could have a bunch of
people promoting you at the same time.
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:Uh, number 2.
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:You, they can promote you over and
over and over again throughout time.
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:Number three, I don't have
to pay money in Facebook ads.
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:Number four, those guys can turn into
clients based on the conversations.
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:So there were lots of benefits to this.
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:The problem was I had to find them.
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:Um, and, uh, Really funny story.
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:Um, I was going through
a challenging time.
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:I went to dinner with a friend and, um,
he had mentioned he runs like an eight
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:figure publishing company and he mentioned
to me, hey, anything that you need,
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:just shoot me a text and I'll help you.
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:Networking.
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:Right.
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:Like you meet people like
that who want to help you.
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:So I had been approached with this
idea of doing like a joint venture with
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:somebody from back from my finance days.
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:Like, Hey, if you promote this
and we do this, I'll give you
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:a cut and we can do vice versa.
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:So I sent to this friend of mine,
a text message, the new friend.
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:And I was like, Hey, have you heard of
like referral partners or joint ventures?
328
:Like, I'm not sure how to do this.
329
:I don't know how to put this together.
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:And he's like, Oh, not only
do I know how to do that.
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:I built a 20 million company.
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:Just based on referral partners.
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:Here's my course, right?
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:And you just gave it to me for free.
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:Out of, like, the goodness and generosity
of his heart in that course, right?
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:He basically said, hey, you know, I was
doing, like, 100 meetings a week now.
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:I was like, okay, so I sort of cold.
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:It's like, if you've got a 20Million
dollar company, I'm just going to go
339
:all in and see what this is about.
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:Like, I'm a big experimenter.
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:I wasn't getting to 100 calls a week.
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:Maybe I was getting to about 50 a week.
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:Um, and I, and I would find, yes,
um, referral partner calls, right?
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:So basically getting to know them
and being like, hey, I think we
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:could make good referral partners.
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:I had no freaking idea what I was
doing, but I did know how to at least
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:have a conversation with people.
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:And I realized that if other
people really had no idea.
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:What they were doing because
I would go into these calls.
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:I mean, I was doing up to 10 a day and I
would go into these calls and I would ask
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:people like, Hey, you know, I think we
can make really great referral partners.
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:Here's what I do in my business.
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:You know, I think this is
how we can collaborate.
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:Tell me what you've got going
on in your business and they
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:couldn't answer the damn question.
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:Yep.
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:And I was like, how do people make money?
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:They have no idea how to talk to people.
359
:They don't know how to talk
about their businesses.
360
:They don't know how to
talk about what they do.
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:They don't know how to talk
about their client results.
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:They don't know how to talk about
how they collaborate with others.
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:They literally have no idea.
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:So in realizing that, I ended up
doing 400 calls, but that one of those
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:calls led to a group of joint venture
partners, and that led to another
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:group, and that led to another group.
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:I just had to go through
like 200 to find them first.
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:Um, but I got a lot of data and what
I ended up realizing, um, again, to
369
:your point is that most people do not
know how to have conversations with
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:other human beings about what they do
for a living or what they do for work
371
:or what makes them stand out or how
they collaborate with other people.
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:And I was really flabbergasted because
I was like, how do you all make money?
373
:I don't understand.
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:Like, I don't understand like
how you make, like you must
375
:make money by accident because.
376
:Like, I'm trying to have a conversation
and you can't so what ended up
377
:happening was in that process.
378
:I ended up creating, like, I
started kind of figuring out my own
379
:little process for finding referral
partners and things like that.
380
:And I put that into an 8 step
guide, everything from finding them.
381
:To how do we do this in a more leveraged
way other than DMing people on LinkedIn.
382
:To here's how you have that conversation.
383
:Here is sentence one.
384
:Here is sentence two.
385
:Here is sentence three.
386
:I mean, I broke it down to that degree.
387
:And then here's what
you do after the call.
388
:Because that was another thing.
389
:They sucked at the follow up after.
390
:So I ended up putting everything
into a guide, which everybody
391
:listening can get for free.
392
:Um, and I started experimenting
and tweaking the guide.
393
:And what I ended up, I eventually
did end up finding the right people.
394
:I built a network of about 100 referral
partners, uh, has literally kept my
395
:business doubling, uh, between that
and the automations we've built while
396
:I've been in the process of moving to
another country and renovating a house,
397
:maybe working at 10 percent capacity.
398
:The business has kept going and it's been
because of that referral partner process.
399
:And also a lot of the marketing
and sales automations.
400
:We spent a couple of years
building on the back end.
401
:Thank you.
402
:But, you know, once you finally nail
it, which my hope with that guide
403
:is that people avoid the painful
conversations I needed to have first
404
:before I found my people, before
I found the referral partners.
405
:Um, that's my hope is that you avoid all
of that and that you actually get results.
406
:But once you nail it, I mean, one of
our partners sent us 300 leads in a day.
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:Michael Whitehouse: Wow.
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:So, yeah.
409
:So, uh, you said you have, you have
over a hundred partners and one
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:thing, when people get into the jv,
the joint venture space, they often
411
:hear a lot about reciprocation.
412
:You know, you Mm-Hmm, , I'll
promote you if you promote me.
413
:And, um, I assume you're not
promoting back a hundred partners.
414
:Amanda Abella: Yeah.
415
:So it's interesting that you bring that
up because I had no idea what I was doing.
416
:I went, number one, I used sales
brain, and number two, I was
417
:like, all right, I guess:gonna be the data collection year.
418
:Because I guess because I have a
sales background, I just approach
419
:everything with sales statistics, right?
420
:So I'd already done like 200
calls and most of them sucked.
421
:So I just assumed going into these groups
that it was going to be the same thing.
422
:So what I ended up doing was I
booked like 50 calls in two days.
423
:Assuming half of them were going to suck.
424
:Um, and that's actually not what happened
because once you get into the higher
425
:level, I was literally shocked within two
weeks, I got booked out for like a year,
426
:but I was not expecting that to happen.
427
:So:experimentation year of what
428
:works and what doesn't, which
we've now put into that guide.
429
:Hey, this leads to a lot of leads,
but maybe not enough sales or this
430
:leads to less leads, but more sales.
431
:Now I have that data because I've promoted
so many people and I've also, and they've
432
:also promoted for me, or I know, hey,
this type of referral partnership works.
433
:This one does not.
434
:Now I have the data.
435
:Right.
436
:So going into:going to be more scalable about it.
437
:We're literally just making the
calendar of like, all right, this works.
438
:Right.
439
:And instead of maybe doing 1 webinar
a month for a referral partner or 1 a
440
:week for 4 different referral partners.
441
:We're going to have 15 people promoting
the same event at the same time.
442
:Yeah, that and we know exactly who
those people are going to be and it just
443
:requires more planning ahead of time.
444
:I didn't know that going into:because I just didn't have the data,
445
:but now going into:the data and I can make it more
446
:sustainable and scalable over time.
447
:Michael Whitehouse: Okay, so, so do
you promote, um, do you promote all
448
:your referral partners or is it?
449
:Amanda Abella: We try to, yeah,
we, we, Yeah, we try our best.
450
:Um, and again, I just
use sales brain, right?
451
:So I might overbook myself knowing
that like half of them are going to
452
:fall through because some emergency
happens or somebody had to push
453
:their launch back or, or something.
454
:1 thing I've noticed about when
people try and use referral partners
455
:is they don't have enough of them.
456
:Right?
457
:So they will rearrange their whole
schedule for like 1 partner, but then
458
:that 1 partner has an emergency and
your business is screwed that month.
459
:Okay.
460
:That's why I wanted over a hundred because
that's life and that's what happens.
461
:It's the same way that
you're in sales, right?
462
:You're not going to bank on one deal.
463
:You're going to have a
hundred people in a pipeline.
464
:Michael Whitehouse: But, but
how are you able to, I mean,
465
:there's 365 days in a year.
466
:So, and you obviously need to
promote your own stuff, I assume.
467
:Yeah.
468
:So how are you promoting
just by sheer volume?
469
:How are you?
470
:Promoting them.
471
:Yeah.
472
:Amanda Abella: So we've tested
different ways of doing things.
473
:One of the things that we've done, for
example, is like a joint webinar, right?
474
:So, for example, we're promoting
each other at the same time,
475
:or now going into:like a schedule we can follow.
476
:We didn't have that in:again, it was experimentation year.
477
:In:
478
:So now we have an actual schedule
where we can plug people in or
479
:another thing that we've tested is
maybe we'll mention five different
480
:referral partners in a newsletter
or we'll have them on the podcast.
481
:Like there's so many different
ways that we've learned to do this.
482
:But that's after, you know, a
year, 18 months of experimentation.
483
:And then once we experiment, now
we can create more of a process
484
:to make sure everybody is getting
handled to the best of their ability.
485
:And again, Knowing that not all 100 of
them are going to be able to do their
486
:launch next year because life happens.
487
:Michael Whitehouse: Yeah, well,
and I, I think what you just shared
488
:there, some people listening may be
like, wait, you can, that's possible.
489
:Like you could promote a
hundred partners in a year.
490
:Cause, cause the, the old, the old
model kind of what seems like the
491
:tradition, the traditional model.
492
:I mean, Nothing in the industry
is more than 20 years old, but the
493
:traditional model seems to be, you
know, this launch, it's 18 days long.
494
:It takes up your, your list for a month.
495
:And you can't possibly promote more
than nine people a year because, um,
496
:because, you know, one of the conventional
wisdoms I've heard is if you promote
497
:someone, you will lose between six and
8 percent of your list on subscribe
498
:every time you promote someone.
499
:Amanda Abella: Which it did jack up
my list in the first six months of
500
:the year until my partner and that's
part of what we figured out until
501
:we were like, okay, there's got to
be other ways that we can do this.
502
:So we found those other ways.
503
:Right.
504
:And I think that goes to your point
where people, people suck at networking.
505
:They also suck at creativity.
506
:Michael Whitehouse: Yep.
507
:Yeah.
508
:Well, and that's, that's
one thing I looked at.
509
:I'm like, I, I don't want to lose.
510
:A 12th of my list because
I promoted someone else.
511
:Maybe if someone says I'm leaving
your list, I don't like you.
512
:That's no big deal.
513
:I call that an authentic unsubscribe.
514
:I authentically don't like you, Michael.
515
:I don't want to be on your list.
516
:The inauthentic unsubscribe is I
don't want to hear about Amanda again.
517
:I'm out.
518
:I'm like, but you see the, uh, my, cause
if they got on your list, they want you.
519
:They got on my list.
520
:They want me.
521
:And so, yeah, I.
522
:I got creative to how can I promote people
and not have them fly out the door because
523
:they're tired of all these promotions.
524
:Amanda Abella: Or maybe you put
an event together or something.
525
:There's so many ways that you can
do this, but you know, people,
526
:people lack creativity because
they're trying to follow like
527
:this one set pattern of things.
528
:Um, but that's why I'm a big
fan of experimentation to see
529
:what works and what doesn't.
530
:And then you can make a plan from there.
531
:And also like.
532
:I know I'm going to drop
the ball at some point.
533
:I don't just don't make myself feel
horrible for it because that's life.
534
:Yep.
535
:Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.
536
:That that's huge.
537
:Yeah.
538
:I think that's that creativity
and experimentation thing is, is
539
:key because some people are like,
Oh, I'm going to follow them.
540
:And especially the way the economy has
changed, the way markets changing, the
541
:way technology is changing, just because
someone has an eight figure business
542
:doesn't mean there you can emulate them
because you know, maybe they made all
543
:their contacts on Twitter chats and yeah.
544
:So yeah, let's go out and
Twitter chats and, uh, and.
545
:Replicate that.
546
:Oh, you can't, you can't anymore.
547
:Huh?
548
:That's crazy.
549
:Yeah.
550
:You know, I, I used to meet all my,
uh, I used to meet everyone at Kaldor.
551
:Oh, Kaldor's closed.
552
:Amanda Abella: Yeah, and also to your
point, one of the things that we've
553
:noticed, because a part of what we
teach our clients now is how to sell
554
:one to many instead of one to one,
because once you nail it one to one,
555
:now we got to start talking one to
many, or there's only so many hours in
556
:a day and you only have so much energy.
557
:Yep.
558
:So we have to start having that
conversation and 1 of the things that
559
:we've realized we have sent over 100,
000 emails this year between ourselves,
560
:our referral partners and for clients
and we've noticed right that when it
561
:comes to the referral partner thing, uh,
people tend to screw up in a few ways.
562
:Right?
563
:So number 1, your copy sounds
like freaking everybody else.
564
:There's nothing special about this.
565
:There's nothing that exciting.
566
:You sound like every other JV.
567
:I've had.
568
:You need to go repack these emails.
569
:That's number one.
570
:Number two, there's no personal story.
571
:There's no personal like
connection really with the people.
572
:So we've noticed that's a problem.
573
:Um, and we've also noticed that the
systems on the backend just kind of
574
:suck and no one knows what's going on.
575
:No one's tracking anything.
576
:Um, and also just like the maintaining
of the relationship, people
577
:are generally not very good at.
578
:So one of the things that I love to
do, um, and this is something we're
579
:taking more seriously now in:is having JB partners on my podcast.
580
:And then they can promote me to
their list that way and drive traffic
581
:to a podcast and I can promote
them to my list that way, right?
582
:And then they get odd
eyeballs and things like that.
583
:And then number one, it's a
little bit more evergreen.
584
:And number two, it's not as assaulting.
585
:Yeah.
586
:Michael Whitehouse: Yeah, no,
that makes a lot of sense.
587
:Um, and, and yeah, those are definitely
very real, real challenge with the, with
588
:the tracking and the, I mean, I'm always
amazed by when I have to chase people
589
:down, um, for, for copy, for links, for.
590
:Amanda Abella: It's amazing how often you
have to chase people down for copy, right?
591
:And then they get mad at you when, you
know, it's like insane how like not
592
:organized people are on the backend,
but that's why I created that guide.
593
:Because that people can get for free by
listening to this because those were all
594
:the problems that I kept running into.
595
:Well,
596
:Michael Whitehouse: and even if
you have all that getting data, so
597
:I'll vote someone and did it work?
598
:I don't know.
599
:Did anyone look on it?
600
:I've, I've started using pretty links
for all of my affiliate partners,
601
:so I can check my own data and
say, how many clicks did I get?
602
:But that doesn't tell me how many
opt ins or, or anything else.
603
:Yeah.
604
:So
605
:Amanda Abella: we can help you with that.
606
:Yeah.
607
:So one of the things we've even
started suggesting to our podcast
608
:guests is like, Hey, we suggest having
like a specific link just for us.
609
:Here's some tools you can use,
and then you can track what's
610
:working and what's not working.
611
:And then you can.
612
:Double and triple down on what's working.
613
:So one of the things I've had to learn
how to do, cause I'm definitely more
614
:of a creative person is to get more
into the data and the analytics and
615
:then learning how to combine the two.
616
:Michael Whitehouse: Yep.
617
:But even if I can track the clicks,
that doesn't tell me what converted.
618
:So they may click on it cause I
told them to, but that doesn't
619
:mean they signed up for it.
620
:Cause that's one.
621
:Amanda Abella: I've got
you at the end of this.
622
:There's there's tools for that.
623
:I got you.
624
:Michael Whitehouse: So when I
promote a summit or when I, when
625
:I run a summit, I should say.
626
:Uh, I send updates to my speakers every
day for the 14 days leading up to it, and
627
:every one of them contains a link to the
document with the swipe copy and their
628
:affiliate links, because I used to do
like, I don't want to send it every day.
629
:So I'll send it every few days,
invariably, if I sent every three
630
:days on one of the two off days,
like, what's my affiliate link again?
631
:I sent it Monday.
632
:I sent it Saturday.
633
:I sent it Thursday, but now
I said it every single day.
634
:Because I understand, when I speak
on a summit, the summit's one of the
635
:things I'm doing, it's not a priority,
it's not a main focus, it's one of the
636
:things I'm doing, and I understand that
my speakers, they're not living for my
637
:summit, they're, they are, I'm giving
them exposure, they're certainly an equal
638
:exchange, but it is barely on their list
of priorities, because it's one of the
639
:things they're doing, and so I need to
send them 17 emails, To say, Hey, 17 days
640
:of the summit, 16 days of the summit,
15 days of the summit as my job to keep
641
:them engaged and keep them informed.
642
:And yeah, most when I promote people,
I regularly, I will get to a day before
643
:the thing's supposed to happen and get
that even be like, so how are you doing?
644
:Like.
645
:Who are you?
646
:What are we talking about?
647
:Amanda Abella: Yeah, exactly.
648
:You've already forgotten who they are.
649
:You've moved on.
650
:It's like a whole thing.
651
:And you could do the best that you
can to get them on the calendar.
652
:And even still, you got to go
follow up with people, right?
653
:Because they're not.
654
:And that was one of the big
issues, um, I would run into
655
:with promoting other people.
656
:And again, it's why I
put this guy together.
657
:So people don't run into those problems.
658
:Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.
659
:Yeah.
660
:You got to remember your
partner, your people promoting
661
:you, it's not their business.
662
:It's your business.
663
:You care about your business every
day, all the time, day and night.
664
:They care about your business when you
remind them for a few minutes afterwards.
665
:Like, I'm happy to promote partners, but
I got a lot of people to keep in my head.
666
:Amanda Abella: Exactly, right?
667
:There's a lot of things going
on, and there's just, with life,
668
:with business, with everything.
669
:Right?
670
:So, yeah, you know, it is a
little complicated sometimes
671
:to keep it all organized.
672
:But, you know, if you know how to
do it for sales, and you know how
673
:to stay organized with leads for
sales and CRMs and things like
674
:that, JB's is not much different.
675
:Michael Whitehouse: Yep.
676
:That's if you know how to do that,
of course, and that's that's a
677
:big if yes, but but you mentioned
organization and we mentioned the
678
:frail limitations of the human brain.
679
:Um, one thing we haven't talked
much about is automation.
680
:Modern technology.
681
:And, uh, and you know,
we have robots for this.
682
:So talk a little bit about how you use
automation to, um, see, I believe in the
683
:notes, you said you cut 84 percent of
your workload by automating sales tasks.
684
:Amanda Abella: I did.
685
:So yes, I'm a big, I'm
a big fan of the robots.
686
:So, um, when I hit my big burnout, um,
after my business started skyrocketing,
687
:doing the sales training, Um, you know,
it was, my business was exploding.
688
:My dad was in and out of the hospital.
689
:Like it just wasn't a sustainable model.
690
:I had not built in a lot of
the systems and automations and
691
:support that I really needed.
692
:So of course, Amanda crashed and burned,
um, after a six figure sales month.
693
:And, um, what I realized
I had this idea, right.
694
:And I was like, well, what if I could
just create an automated salesperson?
695
:Right, like, what would it look like
if I just took these 15 years of sales
696
:experience where I know how to pick
up the phone where I know how to have
697
:a conversation where I know how to
talk to someone in the DMS qualify
698
:them and get them booked on a call.
699
:I know all this stuff like the back of
my hand because I've done so much of it.
700
:But what if I could do that?
701
:Right.
702
:And somehow automate most of it, because
one of the things that I started to
703
:realize in teaching a lot of my client
sales is that most people just don't
704
:do enough to get the sale, right?
705
:So they'll get an email from
somebody, a bunch of automated emails,
706
:but you should be calling them.
707
:You should be texting them, right?
708
:You should be doing a lot more
than just sending a generic email
709
:campaign that everybody has.
710
:Right?
711
:So that's what I would do.
712
:I would send a DM, right?
713
:I would make a phone call.
714
:I would do a text, but I
started running into a problem.
715
:And the problem is if you get 300
leads in a day, you're not about to
716
:bang out 300 phone calls the next day.
717
:So I started running into a capacity
again, story of my life, so I had
718
:been in this process where I was
trying to figure out how to create
719
:this automated salesperson, right?
720
:Where I was like, here's all the
manual stuff that I know how to do in
721
:sales that a good salesperson would.
722
:So worth their salt should be doing to get
a deal across the table, which most people
723
:don't in the online marketing space.
724
:But I'm going to figure out a way
to automate as much of this as I
725
:can and make it sound like a person.
726
:Now, it was easier for me to make it
sound like a person because I've done
727
:so many sales calls for a decade.
728
:So I want to be clear.
729
:Do not skip that part of business.
730
:I see so many people skipping
that and then when they try to
731
:automate and scale, it doesn't work.
732
:You don't have enough data.
733
:I had a decade of data to make this work.
734
:So, um, I'd kind of tried to
figure this out on my own.
735
:And then a year ago, I met my now
partner who I'm with in Mexico
736
:through one of those 400 JV calls.
737
:Right, and we started off as, you
know, work colleagues and it turned
738
:into friends, then it turned into more
because, well, that's a whole other story.
739
:Right?
740
:But 1 of the things that
I had said to him, right?
741
:Was like, I'm really trying to build,
like, this automated salesperson
742
:and nobody seems to understand what
the hell I'm trying to do because.
743
:Online marketers don't know
sales and I come from a sales
744
:background for crying out loud.
745
:I came from finance, very traditional
sales background, and he did exactly what
746
:I was trying to do because he used to
build out CRMs as a software engineer.
747
:So I was like, um, okay, well,
there needs to be emails.
748
:And so it was a
collaborative effort, right?
749
:Where he's like, all right, well, here are
the kinds of emails that work really well.
750
:They are me, you know, 10xing
the businesses of people with
751
:100, 000 people on an email list.
752
:Here's what works really well.
753
:Let's create that.
754
:Then I was like, okay, but we
got to add in a text message, or
755
:we have to add in some sort of a
voicemail or something like that.
756
:And the beauty is that now in:we have tools to automate all of that.
757
:So the robots are doing the
work, but people think it's you.
758
:So if I get 300 leads in one day over
the course of the next week, they're
759
:going to get an email campaign.
760
:They will get a text
message within two hours.
761
:They will get a voicemail
drop to call us back.
762
:We can now do campaigns with text messages
and voicemail drops to, for example, get
763
:people, um, A conversion event, uh, our
current effortless sales engine program,
764
:which is where we teach all of these
things got filled up because of all the
765
:automations where people maybe found us
on YouTube four months ago and have been
766
:going through all these automations.
767
:Then they saw us with all
these JVs and then they were
768
:like, here's my credit card.
769
:Michael Whitehouse: Oh, okay.
770
:Yeah.
771
:And, and, well, like one thing you
mentioned there sort of almost in
772
:passing, um, is one of the things
I really believe is integrity.
773
:The fact that you use the system
to sell the system that you're,
774
:you're, you know, nowadays people
DM me and say, I'm going to teach
775
:you an amazing Facebook ad method.
776
:Amanda Abella: We eat our
own dog food around here.
777
:Huh?
778
:That's what we call it.
779
:We call it eating our own dog food.
780
:Yes.
781
:Yep.
782
:Around here.
783
:Yeah.
784
:Michael Whitehouse: Yep.
785
:Yep.
786
:The best ones is the people who DM me
to tell me that they have an amazing
787
:methods you never need to DM again.
788
:Like, yeah, can't work that well.
789
:Amanda Abella: Yeah, exactly.
790
:Can't work that well.
791
:But you know, this current, I mean,
to give you an idea of how effective
792
:this system is behind the scenes,
we're about to sell this thing out.
793
:And in the last three months, I moved to
another country was traveling because we
794
:didn't know where we were going to live.
795
:Then we had to find a house.
796
:Then we find a house.
797
:Then we have to renovate the house.
798
:We've barely been able to work.
799
:In the last three months and this thing,
I've barely been on social media and
800
:definitely not in a strategic way.
801
:And this thing is still about to sell out.
802
:And that's because of the JB partners.
803
:Like I mentioned, we're sending
traffic our way and we plan that
804
:ahead of time and the YouTube.
805
:So being very strategic with search
engine optimization and things like that
806
:and all the automations on the backend.
807
:Wow.
808
:Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.
809
:Yes.
810
:Yeah.
811
:The, the army of robots
are marching along for you.
812
:Amanda Abella: Yeah, and
that's the goal, right?
813
:Um, a lot of people talk about
ease and flow in business and, you
814
:know, just being able to relax.
815
:Well, you, it doesn't mean you got to
build the thing first and put the work
816
:up front and it's hard and it sucks.
817
:I mean, there were some moments
where we were up until, I don't know.
818
:14, 15, 16 hours trying to figure this
thing out with all the tech issues or just
819
:me experimenting with 400 calls, right?
820
:So I did all the experimenting.
821
:So our clients wouldn't have to, to
find what works and what doesn't.
822
:We have the data to prove that
this business, we're eating our
823
:own dog food has doubled month
over month in the last quarter.
824
:And we've only been able to work
at 10 percent capacity while
825
:we moved to another country.
826
:Michael Whitehouse: That is a pretty
good, uh, pretty good case study.
827
:Amanda Abella: Yeah.
828
:And, you know, now we're ready to
start sharing that stuff on social
829
:because now is when we have the time.
830
:Yep.
831
:We don't have to rewire a whole house now.
832
:It's all good.
833
:We can get back to social media.
834
:Michael Whitehouse: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
835
:What else?
836
:I liked, um, one thing you
mentioned about talking about
837
:the copy, uh, was Was a personal
stories that, yeah, a lot of copy.
838
:Um, and I, I never know exactly what
I figure on exactly what is, but it's
839
:like the, the, the sales story, if
you know what I mean, it happened to
840
:someone at some time, but it could be
anyone, but it's really no one, you
841
:know, where they say, you know, when I
was younger, this challenge happened.
842
:And then I overcame the challenge
with this amazing solution.
843
:And now you should come to my program.
844
:Like younger, like.
845
:Last week, last month,
last year, last century?
846
:I don't know.
847
:As opposed to when I see a story
that says, Last Tuesday, I was
848
:out with my dog, and, like, that's
something I try to do on my emails.
849
:Is I'll be like, here's a picture of
my dog and this thing happened with
850
:the dog and people like, oh my God,
he's a real person with a real dog.
851
:Look at that.
852
:Amanda Abella: Yeah, a real person
with a real dog, like literally one
853
:of our biggest irritations this year.
854
:And again, we've tested this with over
here's we go with the data and eating our
855
:own dog food tested over 100, 000 emails.
856
:This year alone.
857
:And that was the common issue is
everybody sounds like everybody else.
858
:And before we started recording,
you had mentioned that, um,
859
:what was it that you said?
860
:You'd mentioned that being authentic
is, um, it's like the most valuable
861
:thing people can do, but it's
not an easy, what was it that
862
:you said about being authentic?
863
:Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.
864
:So, so it was really good.
865
:Yeah.
866
:Cause you were talking about how
marketers have ruined everything.
867
:They ruined SEO and then they
ruined blogging and they ruined,
868
:and, and that's why authenticity
is becoming more and more powerful.
869
:Cause as you have more and more tools
to help you find, especially things
870
:like Tik TOK, there, there's no, you
can't game the Tik TOK algorithm cause
871
:it's AI based and it keeps moving.
872
:So it's built around.
873
:If you're authentically sharing a
message, it will find your audience.
874
:Um, and so more and more people
are sniffing through all the,
875
:all the BS and all the copy
and all the, the, the formulas.
876
:And once they see the same formula
for the third time, it's like if they
877
:went to, you know, if they went to
one Burger King and didn't like it.
878
:And they see a second Burger King, they're
like, no, I don't like Burger King.
879
:They, they read the same type of copy.
880
:They're like, Oh, I've
seen this kind of copy.
881
:I don't like that.
882
:And so, but if you're you, there's only
one of you that ever seen you before.
883
:And then back, Oh, this is new.
884
:This is interesting.
885
:Amanda Abella: It's interesting
that you bring that up because
886
:I'm like hacking Instagram right
now, because this is my, my fun.
887
:I used to be a blogger.
888
:Now I get to do this again, era.
889
:And it's interesting that you say that
because I was doing some research, right?
890
:I'm like, Hey, what's performing
well on Instagram reels.
891
:What's working, what's
trending that just studying.
892
:Right.
893
:And I saw like in three
different instances, right?
894
:So with three different kinds
of reels, I saw the same exact
895
:thing, seven or eight times from
seven or eight different people.
896
:Where were they performing?
897
:I mean, it seems that they
were performing, right?
898
:Because that's something that was
trending and it was really valuable
899
:content, but I would go to the caption.
900
:Like, this caption is literally exactly
like the caption I just read from this
901
:other person, like, five minutes ago.
902
:Michael Whitehouse: Yep.
903
:Yeah.
904
:And then it fails to, well, so that, that
thing, that's part of why people do it.
905
:Like if it's working, if, if a platform
rewards inauthenticity, which is,
906
:that's why I've, I've leaned towards
a tick tock over Instagram because
907
:Instagram rewards, um, you know,
paying the praying to the Zuckerberg
908
:God and tick tock rewards, unique,
nothing uniqueness and authenticity.
909
:Amanda Abella: Yeah, I mean I haven't
like so i've been on instagram for
910
:a while So i'm testing that one.
911
:I seem to have a rhythm going on
youtube Right, and then now, you know
912
:tiktok will be the next foray Yeah,
but to your point like literally
913
:this week while i'm creating the
marketing calendar for the next month.
914
:I ran into that very problem on instagram
915
:Michael Whitehouse: Interesting,
but I think especially with emails.
916
:Um, you know if when I open my my email
box I mean I end up on all kinds of
917
:people's lists because I meet all kinds
of people and I'm like, yeah, sure.
918
:I'll get a new list.
919
:Let's see what you're up to.
920
:And then I discovered their list
is nothing but generic, bland,
921
:sanitized marketing content.
922
:And you know, they have no opinions.
923
:They have no story.
924
:I don't learn anything about them.
925
:Um, I I've encountered partners who
you could get on this for six months
926
:and learn nothing about them because
all they did was promote partners.
927
:Because they're entirely in this
reciprocity like other people
928
:promoted them and they promote
out so there was no value content.
929
:It was just by this, by this,
by this, by this, by this.
930
:Amanda Abella: And again, that goes
back to that lack of creativity.
931
:So I'll give a little behind
the scenes if you're up for it.
932
:Sure.
933
:Of the conversation we had before we even
got here because of course you're going to
934
:e of our referral partners in:
935
:We already talked about that, but what
did I say before we started recording?
936
:I said, Hey, and this is a very
simple thing people can do and
937
:they do not do, but I learned this
back from my blogging media days.
938
:I was like, Hey, is it okay if I
record this locally on my end and I can
939
:turn this into a bunch of short form
videos and we'll promote it for you.
940
:I'll send you the folder.
941
:You can do whatever you want
with the short form videos.
942
:I'm promoting you to my people
without necessarily, you know,
943
:burning through my email list.
944
:Yep.
945
:Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.
946
:Well, that's the thing is
it doesn't burn your list.
947
:You can provide value.
948
:I promote I promote, uh, an
average of seven partners a day.
949
:So there are, I send daily emails and
in almost every one of them, there's
950
:at least seven links you could click
on that would go to some kind of opt
951
:in page, sales page, registration page.
952
:Amanda Abella: That's
another way you can do it.
953
:Right.
954
:And if that works for you, cool, because
there's a lot of email marketers out
955
:here who will say, don't do that.
956
:Don't send seven links in an email.
957
:And I'm like, do you whatever
experiment testing, whatever works
958
:for you is what works for you.
959
:Michael Whitehouse: The
crazy thing is that.
960
:One offer is a pitch,
seven offers is a catalog.
961
:So if I have seven offers there, you know,
if I come to you and I say, Hey, I've
962
:got a shirt, do you want to buy a shirt?
963
:You're like, why are
you selling me a shirt?
964
:But if I put a thousand shirts in
a building and I put a sign on the
965
:front of the building, you walk
in and say, show me your shirts.
966
:Amanda Abella: Oh, that's really smart.
967
:That's very creative.
968
:I like that.
969
:Michael Whitehouse: I learned
it from Ellen Finkelstein.
970
:So it's not original, but Oh yeah.
971
:Yeah.
972
:Nothing's original.
973
:Everything's learned from someone else.
974
:Um, but yeah, that's what I discovered.
975
:And so she teaches that method.
976
:And when I started doing it,
I called the resource letter.
977
:I can't remember if she calls it
that or something else, but when I
978
:started doing that, um, I'd send out
an email and like, Hey, let's try it.
979
:I'm promoting seven partners at once.
980
:And I got emails back saying, thank
you for providing all this value.
981
:And I'm thinking these
are all affiliate links.
982
:I'm not doing anything generous here.
983
:I'm promoting seven partners.
984
:You know, they're seeing it as this
is on seven things that might interest
985
:me, seven things that might benefit me.
986
:And also it's because it's, it's value.
987
:If you send that generic email,
that's, uh, that's, you know,
988
:You know, George had a problem.
989
:George doesn't exist, of course.
990
:George had a problem, and that problem was
really bad, but he used our system, and
991
:now he doesn't have the problem anymore.
992
:Amanda Abella: Tom makes
six figures your first year.
993
:Okay, well, that's overdone.
994
:Michael Whitehouse: Like,
there's no value in that.
995
:That's completely overdone.
996
:Yeah, that's, even when I propose
something directly, I'll share a story.
997
:I'll be like, you know, um, last
Tuesday, I was talking to Amanda,
998
:and she was telling me about her
program, and what I liked about it
999
:was, And then we talked in the podcast.
::
There's a link to the podcast.
::
And now there's a masterclass
coming up next week.
::
And you should check it out.
::
So it feels like you under
::
Amanda Abella: you understand
how to people though.
::
Yeah.
::
Right.
::
Right.
::
People who understand how to
people know how to do this.
::
They think of those little details in
order to maintain the relationship,
::
not in a way you're trying to
take from me by no means, right.
::
Or exploit me or anything.
::
Cause I know people are afraid of that.
::
It's just very simple, basic things.
::
The same way that I was like,
Hey, my team and I can turn
::
this into short form videos.
::
You can use it on your social media.
::
Here you go.
::
Have fun.
::
Right.
::
But it's these little things that
people do not think about because
::
they do not know how to people.
::
Yep.
::
Michael Whitehouse: Yeah, that was the
first thing I learned of the first thing,
::
but the thing that changed everything
with email was a shift from I'm emailing a
::
market to I'm emailing a list of friends.
::
And the fact that I built my list
through networking, like most of
::
those people I'd done one to ones with
who opted in that also affect like,
::
I don't want to burn these people.
::
I've met them.
::
Like these are real people.
::
So I thought, okay, I'm sending
an email to hundreds of people.
::
I know it's not an audience.
::
It's a community.
::
It's like, I'm sending it out to
hundreds or thousands of my friends.
::
How am I going to talk to them?
::
Well, I'm not going to
send them generic content.
::
I'm not going to cut and paste.
::
I'd never use swipe copy
because it feels plagiarism.
::
If I copy your text and put my
name under it, that's plagiarism.
::
Right?
::
Like it's inauthentic.
::
And if it's a launch and seven
other people do the same thing,
::
now we all look like schmucks.
::
Um, but even if it's by itself, you
still like, that's not what you say.
::
Is that what you sound like?
::
So now they're thinking that's my writing.
::
And that's how I'm talking to them.
::
And I'm like, that's not my writing.
::
Now, what I will do is that what I call
a JV guest letter, I will sometimes
::
take, I will quote it and I'll, I'll put
their headshot next to it and their copy.
::
And I'll say, you know, let
me share with you what, what
::
Amanda's doing in her own words.
::
And then there's four paragraphs
next to your headshot.
::
And then afterwards I'd be like, and
now you'll see why I'm so excited
::
about sharing this, go check it out.
::
So
::
Amanda Abella: yeah, see,
but that's, that makes sense.
::
That's creative.
::
There's some sort of personal story.
::
Most people are copying pasting.
::
Granted, I will call myself out.
::I did it in the beginning of:
but I was also experimenting.
::
Remember I had no data, right?
::
So I was like, let me experiment.
::
So maybe it works.
::
Right.
::
I was like, I have no data, so
I'm going to test this and see
::
what works and what doesn't.
::
And after sending those
hundred thousand emails, now
::
we have some pretty solid data.
::
That we can teach to our clients
based on us experimenting and being
::
the guinea pig and eating our own dog
food as we like to say around here.
::
But, um, to your point, yes, those
personal stories are everything.
::
I mean, 1 of the reasons we're starting
another brand called entrepreneur expat is
::
because when I started sharing that I had
moved to Mexico, I haven't even shared the
::
full on house renovation yet, but I will,
um, I will because it's a story, right?
::
It's a story and I can, and I can turn
that life story into marketing and that's
::
a whole other skill that requires a lot
of creativity and every, I feel like
::
everything that we've talked about in
this podcast episode are just skills and
::
it's skills that people need to practice.
::
It's skills that people
need to invest in learning.
::
It's skills people need to
experiment with and they just,
::
they just got to put in the reps.
::
Michael Whitehouse: Yeah, absolutely.
::
Um, so I think we've been talking
for like three and a half hours.
::
Uh, so feels like it.
::
We should probably wrap
up but but in a good way.
::
Um, we can certainly talk longer.
::
But as we record this, it's Halloween
and my daughter wants to go trick
::
or treating as people listen to it.
::
It's not Halloween.
::
So they'll be all confused.
::
Amanda Abella: But it's the mortals here.
::
They don't do Halloween.
::
They do the other.
::
Well, they kind of sort
of do Halloween in Mexico.
::
But the other was more those
is more of a thing here.
::
Michael Whitehouse: Okay,
go to Mexico someday for it.
::
Anyway, but yeah.
::
No time for that now.
::
Um, so you said, so I believe that you
have a link, which is definitely in the
::
description, although I don't have it in
my hands at this second, but it will be
::
by the time someone's listening to this.
::
Amanda Abella: And it will be
a referral partner link, so
::
you can track all the data.
::
Michael Whitehouse: So what will
people get if they go to that
::
link down in the description?
::
Amanda Abella: So, you're going to
get my free guide that explains the 8
::
steps that I use to not just find a 100
referral partners, but also manage them
::
on the back end, which has led to days
where we get up to 300 leads in a day.
::
And it's a big part of the reason why
this business is doubled month over month,
::
even while we've been barely able to work.
::
While we're in the middle of a house
renovation, so it's the 8 step process.
::
I did the 400 horrible calls.
::
So you don't have to and
gathered all the data for you.
::
So you don't have to go
through the torture that I did.
::
Michael Whitehouse: That's awesome.
::
And that's the freebie you're offering.
::
Amanda Abella: That's the
freebie I'm offering, yes.
::
Michael Whitehouse: Your
program must be amazing.
::
I assume it's taking that to the next
level and going through it with people.
::
Amanda Abella: Yeah, actually, the
woman who built Deepak Chopra's
::
sales team got her hands on it.
::
And she's like, if people followed this
guide, they would never have a lead
::
flow problem ever in their business.
::
Michael Whitehouse: Awesome.
::
Well, so definitely, and I'll probably
be sharing that out to my list as
::
well because that seems like something
my community might be interested in.
::
So
::
Amanda Abella: yeah, you do a lot of JVs.
::
They might want it.
::
Michael Whitehouse: So
that's, that is awesome.
::
So thank you very much to go.
::
So you listeners go look in the, the
description down below or wherever it is
::
on whatever platform you're watching on.
::
And if you're somehow watching this in a
platform that doesn't have it, then just.
::
comment or email me and
I'll make sure you get it.
::
So thank you so much
for being on the show.
::
Any final comments?
::
Amanda Abella: Just have fun with it.
::
I think people just take themselves
too damn seriously and then that's
::
where you have the lit lack of
creativity and the lack of people
::
and just like have some freaking fun.
::
It's not that serious.
::
Michael Whitehouse: Have fun.
::
That is a, if it's not fun, why do it?
::
Exactly.
::
Well, thanks for being on.
::
This has been fun.
::
Amanda Abella: It definitely has.
::
I look forward to your event, uh,
in December and also where this
::
partnership goes and having you
on my podcast for the part too.
::
Oh,
::
Michael Whitehouse: I
love being on podcasts.
::
That way I can talk a lot.
::
Exactly.
::
I'll see you there.
::
for joining us for the guy
who knows a guy podcast.
::
I'm Michael Whitehouse, the guy
who knows the guy, and I hope
::
you'll join us in December for the
12th and the 14th for JV Connect.
::
Go to guy who knows a guy.
::
For more details now, if it's after
December:::
this, it's okay, because we're going
to be doing this event every quarter
::
to go to guy knows a guy dot com.
::
See what's new.
::
See what's happening.
::
And of course, check the show
notes, learn about our guests and
::
how you get in touch with them.
::
Check out our next episode for
more great training, information
::
and networking tips from Michael
Whitehouse, the guy who knows a guy.