Episode 217

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Published on:

8th Dec 2023

Amanda Abella: Make Money Your Honey

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.


Mentioned in this episode:

JV Connect, December 12-13, 2023

Join us for JV Connect, the dedicated networking event December 12th and 13th, 2023 https://www.jv-connect.com

Transcript
Michael Whitehouse:

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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kind, December 12th to 14th, 2023.

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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 2010 and

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?

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Like, I'm not sure how to do this.

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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

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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.

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They don't know how to talk

about their businesses.

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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

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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

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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?

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:

I don't understand.

374

:

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.

407

:

Michael Whitehouse: Wow.

408

:

So, yeah.

409

:

So, uh, you said you have, you have

over a hundred partners and one

410

:

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 2023 is

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 2023 was like definitely the

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 2024, we're just

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 2023

because I just didn't have the data,

445

:

but now going into 2024, I have

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 2024, we have

like a schedule we can follow.

476

:

We didn't have that in 2023 because

again, it was experimentation year.

477

:

In 2023.

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 2024

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 2023,

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

:

be one of our referral partners in 2024.

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.

:

00:45:15,175 --> 00:45:16,075

There's a link to the podcast.

:

00:45:16,125 --> 00:45:18,065

And now there's a masterclass

coming up next week.

:

00:45:18,245 --> 00:45:19,735

And you should check it out.

:

00:45:19,915 --> 00:45:21,415

So it feels like you under

:

00:45:21,485 --> 00:45:23,285

Amanda Abella: you understand

how to people though.

:

00:45:23,375 --> 00:45:23,585

Yeah.

:

00:45:23,605 --> 00:45:23,825

Right.

:

00:45:25,535 --> 00:45:25,825

Right.

:

00:45:25,835 --> 00:45:28,975

People who understand how to

people know how to do this.

:

00:45:28,995 --> 00:45:32,455

They think of those little details in

order to maintain the relationship,

:

00:45:32,465 --> 00:45:35,905

not in a way you're trying to

take from me by no means, right.

:

00:45:36,155 --> 00:45:37,675

Or exploit me or anything.

:

00:45:37,685 --> 00:45:39,225

Cause I know people are afraid of that.

:

00:45:39,455 --> 00:45:41,435

It's just very simple, basic things.

:

00:45:41,445 --> 00:45:43,785

The same way that I was like,

Hey, my team and I can turn

:

00:45:43,785 --> 00:45:44,985

this into short form videos.

:

00:45:45,125 --> 00:45:46,435

You can use it on your social media.

:

00:45:46,745 --> 00:45:47,235

Here you go.

:

00:45:47,245 --> 00:45:47,755

Have fun.

:

00:45:47,985 --> 00:45:48,225

Right.

:

00:45:48,225 --> 00:45:51,985

But it's these little things that

people do not think about because

:

00:45:51,985 --> 00:45:54,015

they do not know how to people.

:

00:45:54,205 --> 00:45:54,375

Yep.

:

00:45:55,715 --> 00:45:58,065

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah, that was the

first thing I learned of the first thing,

:

00:45:58,155 --> 00:46:02,465

but the thing that changed everything

with email was a shift from I'm emailing a

:

00:46:02,465 --> 00:46:06,065

market to I'm emailing a list of friends.

:

00:46:06,775 --> 00:46:08,795

And the fact that I built my list

through networking, like most of

:

00:46:08,795 --> 00:46:12,745

those people I'd done one to ones with

who opted in that also affect like,

:

00:46:12,745 --> 00:46:13,875

I don't want to burn these people.

:

00:46:13,875 --> 00:46:14,565

I've met them.

:

00:46:14,645 --> 00:46:16,144

Like these are real people.

:

00:46:16,145 --> 00:46:19,185

So I thought, okay, I'm sending

an email to hundreds of people.

:

00:46:19,215 --> 00:46:21,285

I know it's not an audience.

:

00:46:21,755 --> 00:46:22,675

It's a community.

:

00:46:22,685 --> 00:46:26,665

It's like, I'm sending it out to

hundreds or thousands of my friends.

:

00:46:26,915 --> 00:46:27,945

How am I going to talk to them?

:

00:46:28,195 --> 00:46:29,775

Well, I'm not going to

send them generic content.

:

00:46:29,775 --> 00:46:31,245

I'm not going to cut and paste.

:

00:46:31,485 --> 00:46:34,105

I'd never use swipe copy

because it feels plagiarism.

:

00:46:34,525 --> 00:46:38,615

If I copy your text and put my

name under it, that's plagiarism.

:

00:46:39,215 --> 00:46:39,495

Right?

:

00:46:39,495 --> 00:46:40,615

Like it's inauthentic.

:

00:46:40,665 --> 00:46:44,295

And if it's a launch and seven

other people do the same thing,

:

00:46:44,335 --> 00:46:45,605

now we all look like schmucks.

:

00:46:47,035 --> 00:46:49,765

Um, but even if it's by itself, you

still like, that's not what you say.

:

00:46:49,805 --> 00:46:50,965

Is that what you sound like?

:

00:46:51,415 --> 00:46:53,165

So now they're thinking that's my writing.

:

00:46:53,635 --> 00:46:54,905

And that's how I'm talking to them.

:

00:46:55,345 --> 00:46:56,575

And I'm like, that's not my writing.

:

00:46:56,595 --> 00:47:00,595

Now, what I will do is that what I call

a JV guest letter, I will sometimes

:

00:47:00,595 --> 00:47:05,035

take, I will quote it and I'll, I'll put

their headshot next to it and their copy.

:

00:47:05,815 --> 00:47:07,975

And I'll say, you know, let

me share with you what, what

:

00:47:07,975 --> 00:47:10,085

Amanda's doing in her own words.

:

00:47:10,405 --> 00:47:12,395

And then there's four paragraphs

next to your headshot.

:

00:47:12,915 --> 00:47:15,395

And then afterwards I'd be like, and

now you'll see why I'm so excited

:

00:47:15,395 --> 00:47:16,635

about sharing this, go check it out.

:

00:47:17,745 --> 00:47:18,055

So

:

00:47:18,095 --> 00:47:20,135

Amanda Abella: yeah, see,

but that's, that makes sense.

:

00:47:20,175 --> 00:47:20,955

That's creative.

:

00:47:20,955 --> 00:47:22,575

There's some sort of personal story.

:

00:47:22,845 --> 00:47:24,275

Most people are copying pasting.

:

00:47:24,285 --> 00:47:25,895

Granted, I will call myself out.

:

00:47:25,895 --> 00:47:29,075

I did it in the beginning of:

but I was also experimenting.

:

00:47:29,085 --> 00:47:30,945

Remember I had no data, right?

:

00:47:30,945 --> 00:47:32,114

So I was like, let me experiment.

:

00:47:32,114 --> 00:47:32,955

So maybe it works.

:

00:47:33,755 --> 00:47:34,045

Right.

:

00:47:34,075 --> 00:47:36,775

I was like, I have no data, so

I'm going to test this and see

:

00:47:36,775 --> 00:47:37,825

what works and what doesn't.

:

00:47:37,825 --> 00:47:40,165

And after sending those

hundred thousand emails, now

:

00:47:40,165 --> 00:47:41,745

we have some pretty solid data.

:

00:47:42,095 --> 00:47:45,975

That we can teach to our clients

based on us experimenting and being

:

00:47:45,975 --> 00:47:50,185

the guinea pig and eating our own dog

food as we like to say around here.

:

00:47:50,465 --> 00:47:54,315

But, um, to your point, yes, those

personal stories are everything.

:

00:47:54,315 --> 00:47:58,895

I mean, 1 of the reasons we're starting

another brand called entrepreneur expat is

:

00:47:58,925 --> 00:48:03,855

because when I started sharing that I had

moved to Mexico, I haven't even shared the

:

00:48:03,855 --> 00:48:09,615

full on house renovation yet, but I will,

um, I will because it's a story, right?

:

00:48:09,615 --> 00:48:14,625

It's a story and I can, and I can turn

that life story into marketing and that's

:

00:48:14,625 --> 00:48:18,925

a whole other skill that requires a lot

of creativity and every, I feel like

:

00:48:18,925 --> 00:48:22,395

everything that we've talked about in

this podcast episode are just skills and

:

00:48:22,395 --> 00:48:24,255

it's skills that people need to practice.

:

00:48:24,255 --> 00:48:26,565

It's skills that people

need to invest in learning.

:

00:48:26,565 --> 00:48:29,635

It's skills people need to

experiment with and they just,

:

00:48:29,815 --> 00:48:31,005

they just got to put in the reps.

:

00:48:32,145 --> 00:48:32,895

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah, absolutely.

:

00:48:33,195 --> 00:48:35,545

Um, so I think we've been talking

for like three and a half hours.

:

00:48:35,715 --> 00:48:37,285

Uh, so feels like it.

:

00:48:37,745 --> 00:48:39,815

We should probably wrap

up but but in a good way.

:

00:48:40,115 --> 00:48:41,695

Um, we can certainly talk longer.

:

00:48:41,695 --> 00:48:43,905

But as we record this, it's Halloween

and my daughter wants to go trick

:

00:48:43,905 --> 00:48:45,305

or treating as people listen to it.

:

00:48:45,355 --> 00:48:46,095

It's not Halloween.

:

00:48:46,245 --> 00:48:47,665

So they'll be all confused.

:

00:48:47,855 --> 00:48:49,395

Amanda Abella: But it's the mortals here.

:

00:48:49,395 --> 00:48:50,215

They don't do Halloween.

:

00:48:50,225 --> 00:48:50,915

They do the other.

:

00:48:50,955 --> 00:48:53,075

Well, they kind of sort

of do Halloween in Mexico.

:

00:48:53,075 --> 00:48:54,905

But the other was more those

is more of a thing here.

:

00:48:54,905 --> 00:48:57,502

Michael Whitehouse: Okay,

go to Mexico someday for it.

:

00:48:57,502 --> 00:48:58,614

Anyway, but yeah.

:

00:48:59,405 --> 00:49:00,365

No time for that now.

:

00:49:00,525 --> 00:49:05,305

Um, so you said, so I believe that you

have a link, which is definitely in the

:

00:49:05,325 --> 00:49:08,355

description, although I don't have it in

my hands at this second, but it will be

:

00:49:08,355 --> 00:49:09,635

by the time someone's listening to this.

:

00:49:09,915 --> 00:49:11,745

Amanda Abella: And it will be

a referral partner link, so

:

00:49:11,745 --> 00:49:12,895

you can track all the data.

:

00:49:14,045 --> 00:49:15,895

Michael Whitehouse: So what will

people get if they go to that

:

00:49:15,895 --> 00:49:16,885

link down in the description?

:

00:49:17,295 --> 00:49:20,405

Amanda Abella: So, you're going to

get my free guide that explains the 8

:

00:49:20,415 --> 00:49:26,255

steps that I use to not just find a 100

referral partners, but also manage them

:

00:49:26,265 --> 00:49:32,355

on the back end, which has led to days

where we get up to 300 leads in a day.

:

00:49:32,635 --> 00:49:36,355

And it's a big part of the reason why

this business is doubled month over month,

:

00:49:36,355 --> 00:49:38,975

even while we've been barely able to work.

:

00:49:39,225 --> 00:49:42,455

While we're in the middle of a house

renovation, so it's the 8 step process.

:

00:49:42,745 --> 00:49:45,125

I did the 400 horrible calls.

:

00:49:45,135 --> 00:49:48,495

So you don't have to and

gathered all the data for you.

:

00:49:48,495 --> 00:49:50,765

So you don't have to go

through the torture that I did.

:

00:49:51,085 --> 00:49:51,865

Michael Whitehouse: That's awesome.

:

00:49:51,865 --> 00:49:53,695

And that's the freebie you're offering.

:

00:49:54,265 --> 00:49:56,764

Amanda Abella: That's the

freebie I'm offering, yes.

:

00:49:56,765 --> 00:49:57,825

Michael Whitehouse: Your

program must be amazing.

:

00:49:59,105 --> 00:50:02,134

I assume it's taking that to the next

level and going through it with people.

:

00:50:02,135 --> 00:50:04,795

Amanda Abella: Yeah, actually, the

woman who built Deepak Chopra's

:

00:50:04,795 --> 00:50:06,745

sales team got her hands on it.

:

00:50:06,745 --> 00:50:10,275

And she's like, if people followed this

guide, they would never have a lead

:

00:50:10,275 --> 00:50:12,409

flow problem ever in their business.

:

00:50:12,850 --> 00:50:13,280

Michael Whitehouse: Awesome.

:

00:50:13,290 --> 00:50:16,600

Well, so definitely, and I'll probably

be sharing that out to my list as

:

00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:19,450

well because that seems like something

my community might be interested in.

:

00:50:19,770 --> 00:50:20,130

So

:

00:50:20,140 --> 00:50:21,690

Amanda Abella: yeah, you do a lot of JVs.

:

00:50:21,730 --> 00:50:22,390

They might want it.

:

00:50:23,730 --> 00:50:25,430

Michael Whitehouse: So

that's, that is awesome.

:

00:50:25,430 --> 00:50:26,610

So thank you very much to go.

:

00:50:26,640 --> 00:50:31,860

So you listeners go look in the, the

description down below or wherever it is

:

00:50:31,890 --> 00:50:34,130

on whatever platform you're watching on.

:

00:50:34,720 --> 00:50:38,110

And if you're somehow watching this in a

platform that doesn't have it, then just.

:

00:50:38,275 --> 00:50:41,395

comment or email me and

I'll make sure you get it.

:

00:50:41,815 --> 00:50:43,825

So thank you so much

for being on the show.

:

00:50:43,825 --> 00:50:44,975

Any final comments?

:

00:50:46,555 --> 00:50:47,605

Amanda Abella: Just have fun with it.

:

00:50:47,805 --> 00:50:51,115

I think people just take themselves

too damn seriously and then that's

:

00:50:51,135 --> 00:50:54,285

where you have the lit lack of

creativity and the lack of people

:

00:50:54,285 --> 00:50:55,915

and just like have some freaking fun.

:

00:50:55,915 --> 00:50:57,083

It's not that serious.

:

00:50:57,083 --> 00:50:57,825

Michael Whitehouse: Have fun.

:

00:50:57,875 --> 00:50:59,935

That is a, if it's not fun, why do it?

:

00:51:00,565 --> 00:51:01,235

Exactly.

:

00:51:01,655 --> 00:51:02,525

Well, thanks for being on.

:

00:51:02,535 --> 00:51:03,415

This has been fun.

:

00:51:04,220 --> 00:51:05,290

Amanda Abella: It definitely has.

:

00:51:05,290 --> 00:51:09,290

I look forward to your event, uh,

in December and also where this

:

00:51:09,290 --> 00:51:12,430

partnership goes and having you

on my podcast for the part too.

:

00:51:12,700 --> 00:51:12,810

Oh,

:

00:51:13,100 --> 00:51:14,020

Michael Whitehouse: I

love being on podcasts.

:

00:51:14,080 --> 00:51:14,870

That way I can talk a lot.

:

00:51:15,580 --> 00:51:16,190

Exactly.

:

00:51:16,480 --> 00:51:18,189

I'll see you there.

:

00:51:18,970 --> 00:51:20,720

for joining us for the guy

who knows a guy podcast.

:

00:51:20,810 --> 00:51:22,920

I'm Michael Whitehouse, the guy

who knows the guy, and I hope

:

00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:26,820

you'll join us in December for the

12th and the 14th for JV Connect.

:

00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:28,770

Go to guy who knows a guy.

:

00:51:30,010 --> 00:51:33,470

For more details now, if it's after

December:

:

00:51:33,470 --> 00:51:37,410

this, it's okay, because we're going

to be doing this event every quarter

:

00:51:37,600 --> 00:51:39,180

to go to guy knows a guy dot com.

:

00:51:39,380 --> 00:51:40,220

See what's new.

:

00:51:40,570 --> 00:51:41,480

See what's happening.

:

00:51:41,670 --> 00:51:43,750

And of course, check the show

notes, learn about our guests and

:

00:51:43,750 --> 00:51:45,330

how you get in touch with them.

:

00:51:45,680 --> 00:51:48,770

Check out our next episode for

more great training, information

:

00:51:48,790 --> 00:51:52,730

and networking tips from Michael

Whitehouse, the guy who knows a guy.

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About the Podcast

The Guy Who Knows A Guy Podcast
They say it's not what you know, it's who you know, and it's true that a network is one of your most important assets. A network is not something you're born with. It's something you build. Every week, Michael Whitehouse, the author of The Guy Who Knows A Guy, and established connector in Southeast Connecticut will interview experts and entrepreneurs from Southeast Connecticut to share their expertise and experience with you.

He'll also answer your questions directly on topics of networking, sales, marketing, entrepreneurship and more. Email in your questions in text or audio format. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/guywhoknowsaguy/support

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Michael Whitehouse