Take Your Online Networking Strategies to an Entirely New Level

Damon Pistulka  00:02

All right, everyone, welcome once again, it is Friday and that means it’s time for manufacturing ecommerce success. Don’t you love live streaming? You just never know what’s going to happen in the, in the inter Wide World web do Yeah, it’s time for us to get started on manufacturing ecommerce success. Today we are going to have a great show today talking about taking your online networking strategies to a new level with someone that really knows how it’s done. I’m Damon Pistulka your co host right over there. That pretty gentleman Curt Anderson is going to take it away. Let’s get going Curt and have some fun.

Curt Anderson  00:43

Damon Happy Friday, dude, how are you? Man?

Damon Pistulka  00:47

I’m great. Man.

Curt Anderson  00:49

Did you get a good night’s sleep you feel rested up your Your? Your Are you? Are you sure you’re positive? You’re

Damon Pistulka  00:55

ready for you jumped out of bed early and got things going. So I

Curt Anderson  00:58

think you know one of the highest traffic a guests that we ever had, like whenever like she breaks all records. Yeah. And she’s been on multiple times. Usually she’s a co host. We now have her in a hot seat. So we’ve got Gail Robertson, the one the only. Gail now, Gail. Good morning. Good afternoon. Happy Friday. How are you?

Gail Robertson  01:18

Happy Friday. Indeed. It is a beautiful day we have here in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. We have some rain and some storms coming. But we’ve had, you know, a stellar week of some heat and sun. So now’s the time to let it rain. Well, wonderful.

Curt Anderson  01:35

And tomorrow. I think you have a long weekend. Do you not? Yes,

Gail Robertson  01:39

this is the Civic holiday weekend. And yeah, I’m actually going to be going away for I’m leaving on Sunday, though, because to avoid the traffic on Saturday. And I’m going to bid to Northern Ontario. So

Curt Anderson  01:53

Oh, wonderful. So for folks down and so your neighbors down south. Please explain what is this holiday weekend that you that you the Canadians just wonderfully get to share and spend time with family. What goes on this weekend? Well,

Gail Robertson  02:08

it’s a civic holiday weekend. And you know what it is like one of those holidays that’s to just support being our civic duty and taking a holiday Monday. So it’s not as big as we had Victoria Day weekend was in May. We had the candidate weekend in July. So you know, we needed a weekend in August. holiday weekend. So it’s a civic holiday weekend. And if anybody else and you know what I? I probably should brush up a bit more on the historical concept. But I know it’s a I think we’re supposed to be studying our civics and learning about are definitely learning more about our politics here in Canada because well, yeah,

Curt Anderson  02:49

perfect. And I’m certain that that’s exactly what you’re going to do dive in. When

Gail Robertson  02:54

I am that person that went? That’s

Curt Anderson  02:57

right, you’re gonna plunge right in because you are the recovering journalist. So alright, let’s just let’s dive right in Gail, we’ve got tons uncovered. We want to talk about online networking, building community, all these wonderful things. Now as a recovering, I want some chemists that are different, mostly as a recovering journalist. Just share a little bit on you know, your what is online networking done for you for your business? You know, you’ve really in my opinion, you are the master of this. We are excited for this masterclass right now, what do you have to let’s get things started on online networking?

Gail Robertson  03:31

Well, I think the biggest thing is when it comes to networking is that you can connect what you’re doing in real life with what’s on online and probably where things really took off. For me as well as I think for a lot of people was when, you know, when that COVID hit and everybody was on lockdown and things are shut down. You know, you had a couple of opportunities, you could just say throw your hands up and say oh my god, my business will tank What will I do or you could step into the spotlight and go online and use that as an opportunity to you know, get your messages out, connect with others. And for me that that was a big opportunity for me with my business because I had just I was relatively new after being in a corporate world starting my own consulting business. So what I did was I really focused on how to utilize the online world for a lot of businesses and that’s where I was really had a lot of success in manufacturing and getting there was one company I was working with of how to you know not throw up your hands and instead use some of the tools that the online networking held out and I mean, how I met both of you as well, right? I mean, it was all through online networking. Yeah,

Curt Anderson  04:43

absolutely. So it now you have a little tagline I believe it’s right over your shoulder there and I love this tagline. You’ve been using it for years and just you own it patented copyright all the above, right. So sign up, suit up, show up. So what was the inspiration? What was the I this just you know, and especially for you, because you’re such an introvert, right? That was.

Gail Robertson  05:06

Well, and you know, that’s a good point, because obviously showing up is so important. And but you don’t have to be an extrovert to show up. And that’s what a lot of people struggle with, because they think, well, they’re not look at what I do and go, Okay, well, I don’t want to do that. And I go, Yeah, that’s true, that’s true, you don’t have to do what I do, because that’s part of my brand. Instead, what you have to do is what is your brand. So you may be, you may not find, you know, stepping out into the spotlight as enjoyable or as exciting as some of us do. But you can still then get help with that. And you could do it in whatever way you are comfortable, it could be providing, you know, educational information, it could be doing an interview with someone else. And that’s where the live streaming comes in. Right. So if you are reluctant to step into that spotlight, the best way to do it is to drag someone along with you, and be in the spotlight with them. So so, you know, in terms of the inspiration for my three steps, and that happened to I want to give a shout out to Ingrid Roy. So Inger and I were working together and her night like she was helpful in helping me sort of work on a lot of things with my business at the time. And, you know, we always think that you know, having a process David Chrysler King a process taught me, you know, have a process. So, the signup is about mindset, that’s you have to decide, first you have to really embrace the idea of, you know, you want success, and you have to decide that in your mind. Okay, I’m gonna go after it, then the suit up is that’s where the curiosity and the research comes in. So whatever your plan is, then you have to hold on just a minute. You still there? Yeah. Okay, sorry, I just had, I don’t know why my phone came, took off the screen. So see live streaming. So the idea of, you know, research and curiosity, that’s where, I mean, once you get educated on something, it’s much easier to then you know, take that next step of showing up, because then you can show up with greater confidence. And that’s where I also come in, because I encourage people to, you know, show up in whatever way is more comfortable to them. And sometimes it’s, you need help to do that. Right?

Curt Anderson  07:29

I love you know, and I’m gonna go here for a second, if we could maybe put it out to both you, Damon and Gail, you know, let’s, let’s, let’s break down each one. Okay. And I like what you’re doing, Gail, and you know, for, you know, maybe to that introvert or the person who’s like, Man, I’m just a little bit uncomfortable, this whole networking thing, whether in person or online, on the sign up, how do you you guys have any tips advice? How do we determine what to sign up for? Right? Because sometimes, I don’t know, if you guys have you know, all sudden, I find myself I’m signing up for everything. And you get a little bit of signup, fatigue, you know, like, you know, event fatigue, or, you know, committing to different boards, or, you know, volunteering that type of thing, or business commitments, how do you do any tips or advice on what to sign up for to really move

Gail Robertson  08:11

the needle? Well, that signup is actually about signing up for yourself. So you first have to decide what is important to you. And, you know, I often say sometimes you have to say no to others to say yes to yourself. So, in my three step process, that Signing up is more about an internal look at things as opposed to going outside all the time to sign up. And you know, what is the next best thing? And so you first have to step back and say, Okay, what are my goals? What is it that I want to achieve? And how can I sign up for myself. And then, you know, you may need some help with this. And this is where it is important sometimes to go get the help and support and there are people within these networking circles that will help you. So that’s the other thing about networking is you’ll find other people that can support you lift you up. And then you do the same for them. So part of networking as well is you know, when people are in the comments, or you’re going to be part of a show, it’s really important to drop a comment to say hello to make your presence known because if you’re only sitting in the background there people won’t know that you’re there. So I do want to give a shout out Carla body is in the comments. I know Carlo from Windsor met him through jeez, aren’t even sure probably I think more in person networking than I used to see him on LinkedIn and and he just mentioned Yes, it Emancipation Day was August 1. But Carlo is very involved with Rotary. So our paths continually cross in real life networking, so so this is why it’s important when you’re talking about live streaming. You know, for anybody listening right now it’s really good. If you You can drop a comment so that people know you’re out there who you are, even if it’s just hello, this is what I do or ask a question. Because I have met so many people by just being in the comment section and commenting. So you don’t always have to, if you don’t feel comfortable yet being on a show, or even starting live streaming, the best way to learn about live streaming is coming and watching other people do it. And I know I think we’re going to talk a lot about you both have a course that, you know, explains people how to do it, which is now that’s the type of investment that is a value, right? If you can go get those tips from people that have already gone before you it’s much easier rather than stumbling along. And the other thing with live stream that’s very important too, is it gives you an opportunity to develop content. And there’s a lot more forgiveness for when you’re doing a live stream people because it’s more natural. You’re just chatting. You know, when my phone rang that time, it’s like, you know, no one has to panic. I mean, I I went oh, geez, why did that and then I realized my phone was plugged into my computer, which normally doesn’t happen. But you know, life goes on. Right? So you don’t have to necessarily you can take it in stride.

Curt Anderson  11:22

Yeah, I think that’s fantastic. Damon, you want to pull any comments up here? Yeah, I

Damon Pistulka  11:26

will. I will. So let’s start with Zara. Thanks for getting here. Garlow AI Emancipation Day is August 1. And then Sunil greetings from India. And it founder of home to read. Awesome. Awesome. And then we’ve got Carlos was talking about the amounts of progress and Emancipation Proclamation was signed in England for them in the Commonwealth. But it wasn’t recognized in us until President Abraham Lincoln brought it into law in 1863. It’s interesting, gosh. Yeah, well, we forget to I mean, a lot of us forget, I forget all the time that it that Canada and England are still connected. Oh, yes. Yeah, I just, obviously was Canada like us. We’re just like, You got our own thing. Right. Yeah, the

Curt Anderson  12:16

title. Thank you for dropping that note. Well, that’s That’s powerful. You know what, let’s sit that one second here. You know, like 30 years it took for United States to Yeah, that’s not that’s not great. So um, yeah. Let’s keep moving forward here. So

Damon Pistulka  12:29

let’s drop the comments as Gail has been significant to my growth and my career. She’s the best, she is

Gail Robertson  12:36

the best. We’ve got LinkedIn user. I’m not sure who that is. Because maybe they also talked, they might have their settings set to. Yep, yep. So

Curt Anderson  12:45

thank you for dropping that note. So again, Hey, guys, drop notes. You know, in the chat box, let us know where you’re coming from love to know that you’re here today. Please connect with gals. You will thank us later. She’s just what a dear, I can’t speak highly enough about her just a wonderful human being just a woman of integrity. Great mom. And just she’s just just wonderful. The we’re just so blessed to have her here today. Yeah, let’s keep it so we’re talking about signing up. So whether extra, you know, I love that you broke that down whether you know, you’re a little bit more on the shy side. It’s just making that personal commitment. And we’re talking about mainly online, right, like, how do you make that online commitment much more efficient, much easier? How about suiting up? Like what do we need to suit up to really move the needle on for an online networking opportunity?

Gail Robertson  13:30

Well, this is where something near and dear to my heart as well, is the encouraging of curious minds and curiosity. Because we often talk about creativity, we talk about all sorts of other traits. But curiosity is about asking all of those questions. And really looking behind what may seem you know what we just see in front of us often there’s more behind the scene. So a couple of things about that one. For anybody that hasn’t watched Ted lasso show, one of my favorite quotes from there is Be curious, not judgmental. So when we do get curious, when we start asking more questions, we can see that bigger picture we can also have greater compassion and understanding about other people as well. And in business, you want to get curious about your customers, you want to get curious about your even your competition you want to know and understand, rather than just saying, oh, like, a lot of times he will say that’s my competition. I’m not going to help them I’m not going to do anything but competition is very healthy because it helps lift everybody up. And then I’ve learned with people that are in my field, like there’s enough work and information to go around you just have to be aware that okay, what what do I specialize in? What do I bring versus what they bring to the table and when you allow for that type of competition to happen, it can actually help your business grow. So being curious as a former you know, as I call it, recovering journalist Ah, that was that’s, that’s in my DNA now to be asked questions to try to learn more. So whenever something happens, and I will say I learned this also parenting a teen, a teenage boy parenting a boy period has taught me so much. Because as I’ve listened to him more, as I’m more curious about the why, what happens is I have now learned so much more about what makes him tick. And my assumptions about things can sometimes be very wrong. So I often use that as an example, I said, when we get curious about our children and what they’re thinking, and it’s a different generation. Well, we can learn a lot so that that suit up, it’s really about, you know, asking those questions. Because as a business, the more compassion and empathy you have, you can actually grow your business to a much greater degree, if, if you see the world in a way that, that there is enough for others, then there isn’t that clamoring to, like, I’m going to hold on information and not share anything, and instead, open up those doors. And I, I am testament to this with my business, I have a very good friend of mine in marketing. And, you know, we, we find that we can share so much with each other and help each other out. And there’s, you know, we have different niches in terms of the work we do so.

Curt Anderson  16:24

Awesome. Okay, let’s dive in. So I want to take it another step further, Damon, so let’s go here, online. So let’s say there’s entrepreneurs, so entrepreneurs manufacturers out there, and you’re thinking, okay, like, alright, online networking, so we can join opportunities, right? Or, you know, hey, what if you, you know, grab the bull by the horns? And what if you go out and start creating your own opportunities? So let’s dive in. So Gail, you’ve done an amazing job. And Marie, you did a wonderful event a couple of years ago. So events, webinars, live stream, let’s dive into like, some are, what are some of the actual activities that they should be looking for? Or joining? Or even, you know, what could they create or start on their own? Let’s, let’s go there.

Gail Robertson  17:03

Well, one of the things that we’re doing right now, and I when I post about this, I said, this will be very meta, because we’re doing a live stream right now. So a lot of there can be content from here that, you know, Curt, you could pull out something, you know, Damon, I could, and you can actually do an interview with someone and then use that for your own promotional work. But you can also share it with the so if you’re interviewing someone, they will share it on their pages. So when you when you start with one foundational item, so live streaming, for example, then you can pull content out that can be used in LinkedIn posts, and Facebook posts in tweets. So you get a lot of mileage out of doing that. And you also have the benefit of inviting people, you know, into the comments. And you don’t have to worry about, you know, getting hundreds of people attending because sometimes all you may need is that one person that’s going to take action. So I do want to give a shout out I know Elizabeth showed up here. So that was a person, Elizabeth alive Fernandez. So Elizabeth is a person I was referencing also works in marketing, she’s just started a new organization called y que je green. So she’s helping support green businesses and how to avoid like the green washing. So it’s not just about oh, we’re green. And yeah, it’s also about understanding, you know, the financial aspects and how you can grow your business. That’s as she said, it’s good for the environment and good for your wallet. And so, and I was just that she’s out of town. So I was at an event recently to cover her off. And the joke was when I was there, I said, I’m Elizabeth today. So I went and help take photos and, and help with some of the networking because we have, we have a lot of similarities in terms of our our extrovert personalities. So but so really, Elizabeth is a really great example. And we met through in person, she actually, she tells this story, too, that she knew I was going to be this was back when I was working in insurance worlds, she wanted to make a connection with me. So she was got to sit at the table I was at we started chatting and then connected on LinkedIn. And that was oh, many many years ago. And now we’re not only do we do work together, but we’ve actually become great friends and helped each other out with our businesses. What’s interesting, even though she sat at the table, that that never really took off in terms of the company I was at, like things didn’t work out that way, but our friendship went in a different direction. So that’s the other thing making a connection, whether in life or whether in real life or online. You may not get that business opportunity right away, but you never know what other doors will get open. And for each of us we have helped open doors for each other. So I always tell people don’t get discouraged. You know, if you go post or you do a livestream or do something like you’re not going to have people clamoring into your DMS to do do business with you like that? I mean, it may happen. But that’s generally not what’s happening with me. It’s usually that over time people see you, they hear your messaging, and then all of a sudden, they need something and they reach out. And that is, so it’s, it’s about having patience, and it’s about understanding how networking works. It’s not this quid pro quo, like, I’m gonna go to an event, I’m gonna meet someone they’re gonna buy from me, that probably is not a real healthy way to look at networking, and probably why people don’t like it because they feel it’s so transactional. When it’s really more about relationship based, build those relationships, build those connections. And that’s how, you know, a door will get open.

Damon Pistulka  20:44

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we got Whitney stopped by today and says, Hello, Damon and Gail from Houston.

Curt Anderson  20:52

Whitney Houston,

Damon Pistulka  20:53

I got with you stopping by. But it is. And someone else said about Elizabeth. Elizabeth has also been a huge help to me as Edie of two associations. There we go.

Gail Robertson  21:04

So Nicole, the person who said So Nicole is executive director of Canadian Association of mold makers give a shout out. And so Nicole has done Nicole planet does an excellent job of, you know, really promoting that organization? And yeah, so we’ve, I’ve done some work helping her from a social media. And really, she has stepped out on LinkedIn. And I know, she could, hey, maybe she’ll even be a good interview one day, because she has many stories about how being on LinkedIn has helped connect, because you can post on the association page, right? But people want to connect with a person, right? So when she posts on her personal, that’s when people have reached out and they want to know more about the moldmaking sociation. Because they have a real person to talk to. You

Curt Anderson  21:56

know, that’s a fantastic point. Because, you know, Damon, we say it all the time, right? People do business with people. And whether it’s a business, you drive by this business, and you get like, hey, what’s under what’s behind those walls? What’s behind the curtain? What’s underneath the hood? And you know, like, in Nicole’s case, where you hear, you know, like associations, just kind of like, Oh, it’s this, this moving entity. It’s not a moving entity, there’s people behind there. And it’s like, how do you build those, those wonderful relationships? Damien, what do you want to chime in?

Damon Pistulka  22:23

I think, yeah, you’re just bringing it up here, Curt, with the the associations and in the online networking. I mean, just think the geography that most of these associations cover, you really can’t do. Or even like our friends in Alaska, we’ve been up there with them before and it’s really hard when what is it known to Anchorage as several 100 miles at least not 500 miles, you know, we’re talking great distances and hard to get to between places, if you’re not really as an association, figuring out how you can deliver value to your members online and get them engaging with each other. Because you know, I might have people in Wisconsin and wherever else in different states, but then if I can get everybody networking together online, the people that are close might meet or when there’s an association gathering, or there’s a big trade show or something, then they can get together but this it all starts in the online and really gets enhanced with the in person and I think that’s what the COVID really taught me is that hey, you can do a lot online and you can do great I mean you can do great online if that’s all your option is but when you can do online and then in person and add to it it really makes a huge difference.

Gail Robertson  23:41

Yeah, and it works both ways. Right? I mean, it used to be probably we would do the in person and then you would get the online now it’s like online Well, Damon you and I like we met through online and then when I was out in Seattle, we connect that up and I’m coming for you too so yeah,

Damon Pistulka  23:58

I mean it’s just it’s a completely different thing because you it’s almost in this is a horrible way to say it but it’s kind of try before you buy right you know it’s like okay, we can network online and it can be good and okay. Oh man. Yeah, they’re they’re cool and everything but I really not gonna go out of my way to do it well then you can choose that but if it’s really somebody that you go, wow, they’re interesting. Let’s get to know him better then you can meet them in person and and continue building those relationships.

Gail Robertson  24:25

And this is where you know, when you’re doing the live I found generally, people doing live versus video only video like doing a video interview videos are good, but I even find myself doing a video interview is different than a live interview. There’s a different energy there’s a different because you sort of think well I go back and edit that out whereas live there’s no there’s no editing out right. So I think live streaming is and it’s now there’s so many ways to do it very easily. Like we’re working on stream yard right now like it it does a lot of the work for you. Really isn’t that difficult to get to get it going and underway. And like I said, I was really excited to hear that you have a course on this because there’s, you know, it’s about taking those first steps that’s that signup. So if you’re thinking about building your brand and getting content, if you want a quick way, quick way to get content, and this is a journalist and he’s talking is duelist, you get that content because then you can do the interview, the person you’re interviewing will, you know, like, even for today’s show, I shared that on my social media, because I would I this summer have sort of taken a bit of a highest I’ve been kind of laying low other been working on with one main contact when main client. And so this was Oh, perfect. Now I have a post to do. So it was it. And then But it got me going and thinking about my I took what you wrote David. And then I thought, Okay, I’m going to do my own post, because that’s where I started with, you know, people hear what networking, they’re like, oh, and I hear this all the time. But when I usually encourage them to go, and this has happened, I said, come with me to an event. And then once they say get out, you know, get outside that comfort zone. That was something Curt, you asked way back, like, what’s one of those first steps and, you know, if we lived in our comfort zone all the time, we just, we’d never ever progress in any way in our lives. So a lot of people that I know they’re doing great things in their business, but then they hit those walls, because you’re only going to grow so far, if you’re not embracing social media in some form. I’d say for most businesses, not all there are some that and there’s some people that don’t need to use social media, and I’m like, they’re okay with where they’re at. But if you’re looking to expand and grow, you really can’t avoid social media. And that means YouTube video livestream, LinkedIn, you know, whatever platform where your audience and where your clients are, that’s where you need to be trade shows. I mean, you could do go to a trade show, but it’s so important that you also, if you’re at a trade show, to then share some of that online to let people know. Yeah,

Curt Anderson  27:05

let’s take it a step further a demo script Elizabeth’s comment, she’s gotten his comment and congratulations, Elizabeth on her business and wouldn’t go

Damon Pistulka  27:15

out to the y que green

Gail Robertson  27:18

yq g by the way is the airport code for Windsor Essex. So that’s why Kiki so Oh, yeah. Very go. Detroit a DT W so each city right how to code Yes. Y que je green south.

Curt Anderson  27:31

Yeah. Nice. Hey, cargo, just struck a little comment there. Yep. Carlos.

Damon Pistulka  27:35

Carlos says yes, Elizabeth, thanks for reminding me to thank Gail Robertson chief curiosity officer for the shout out to rotary to and you want to talk about that organization has taught so many hundreds of 1000s of people over the years million I mean, how to speak in front of crowds, get that out of you and really be able to share your, your special sauce with the world,

Curt Anderson  28:01

right? Millions and millions of people. So thank you, again, for joining us, drop us a note in the chat. We’re just we’re diving in here. So let’s go here, Gail. So you’re talking about like, you know, so we’re talking about signing up or talking about suiting up. Now we’re talking about showing up, I want to talk, you know, big buzzword these days, that thought leadership, you know, and you know, we always use that line building trust. And so I love what you’re saying, you know, you’ve got to have that online presence, you just, you know, if you don’t, you’re just, you know, you’re putting your unless you have that, that, you know, you’re at a position where you’re just crushing it and whatever you’re doing, and you can be, you know, under the under the radar or whatever. But for many of us that are not in that position. Let’s go into like some of the showing upside. Okay. What is it done for you, as far as I thought leadership or like maybe with engagement, like, you know, people connected with you, because they already know you? They’ve seen you on your lives. They’ve seen you through your events do you want to just share but like some of your experiences, Damon, if you want to chime in after but what do you think there we go.

Gail Robertson  29:01

Yeah, I mean, obviously, the more I mean, this goes back a few years when I was on Twitter back when it was originally Twitter. And I started I was at a company and that’s where I came up with my brand Gail now because I was I needed name. I’ve told this story a few times, I needed to pick a name and I was getting ready to go to this trade show. So I said, so I went well, Gail now and I thought oh, I’ll go back and change it later. But Gail now we’ll go cover off right. And, and well, it just stuck. And I can remember going to events and people would introduce me not as Gil Robertson, but as Oh Gail now. And one time I was at a hockey game because the company I work for we did some marketing with a hockey team and I was walking down this, the Concourse, and I hear this Hey, Gail knew and I looked around. And it was someone from the local media and he had he was newer to the area but he had seen me on Twitter he couldn’t he so he didn’t think I couldn’t think of my full names which is a given. We started talking And he was a great contact, because he was in more of like in the assignment site more the news, and he was going to news and the business side of things, the sales. And so he proved to be a really great contact because when I had some story ideas, and I would reach out to him, but so that’s the kind of thing when you get known because of a social media presence and people, you know, even to this day, they’ll say, oh, you know, I know, you know, I know you from social. And now I also stressed the people I said, you do know, I work in Marketing, but some people think like, my life is just cycling and events. And you know, it’s like this wonderful life. Okay, well, life is pretty good, though. That’s not all that I do, because I am in control of what I choose to share. So I’m sharing things that are obviously part of what I consider the Gale. Now brand. And Cycling has been a really big part of making connections. And what I’ve, I said, Damon and I talked about earlier this week that, you know, what I’ve learned about cycling applies to life applies to marketing, because it’s all about consistency. It’s about getting outside your comfort zone. It’s about building a team of people around you to help support you and lift you up. And all those things apply in the world of marketing. And one other thing about showing up just a minute. I have an unveiling here and it it just so this might sound this talk for me. I have to show show up.

31:27

Great, great. She

Gail Robertson  31:28

found that we were we’re big consignment store shoppers, to consignment thrifty. So she found this at a thrift store. And so and she doesn’t even live around here. She doesn’t work in this field at all. But she says Gail, I found a shirt.

31:43

So awesome.

Gail Robertson  31:46

The show up and I was like so oppressed. I’m like, oh, even she knows about by show up. Yeah,

Curt Anderson  31:52

I absolutely love that.

Damon Pistulka  31:53

So you know, and you just don’t the other thing. And I really, when you talk about showing up. When when you do you don’t know who you’re helping. Because it was it was funny. Last weekend, my wife and I were out. And we were actually listening to a band. And we had run into some people that I coached their kids in like, third grade basketball for three or four years. And he goes, the father goes, Wow, I really like your stuff on LinkedIn. It helps me a lot. They say I look at it every day. And I’m like, no kin. Like, are you? He said, Oh yeah, he said give it up. I’m like, Thank you, you know, because you just don’t know what you’re doing. And and it’s in you know, these these things like I think of manufacturing or or a lot of people they’ve got so many things in their in their head that because they’re doing them every day, but could help their customers or and you know, you think the way networking you can get out in really meet people around things. You’ve talked about molding a lot, Gail, because one of your clients and I think, you know, that’s, that’s an industry that’s been around forever. We’ve been around forever, we make a metal plate making plastic parts, and you don’t hear a lot of people talking about it. You hear about the bad of plastic, but you don’t realize that how much of an industry how technically diverse it is how, how critical is to everything we do every single day, and how much you can be sharing about that to teach people, how we can be better with plastics, how we can design better how we can you know, just so much stuff. And that’s what I think is really the cool thing about networking and these these methods, we have to be able to get out and, and teach people Curt, you say it all the time he out teach the competition. And that’s how you can build a business and create great friends.

Gail Robertson  33:52

And building upon that information and sharing because not everybody does know like I’ve worked with, you know, people that are too long in an industry they all think like, oh, well everybody knows that. No, they don’t, no one really understands the intricacies plus from a recruiting perspective, too. There’s so many job opportunities. moldmaking as an example, it’s not just the people in the shop floor. It’s not just mold makers, you know, company I work with, they’re looking for people in it and accounting, you know, in a lot of other different I mean, there’s mold designers, but I mean, a good way to start is from the shop floor, but then you can, you know, expand and explore so many different parts of that applies is with any industry. You have to find out what your passion is, and then you can pursue that and find a landing place in so many different areas. Yeah,

Curt Anderson  34:43

that’s fantastic. And you just kind of piggyback on the idea of say moldmaking for example. So say there’s a small moldmaking manufacturer you know, you’re like well, how would live streaming you know, I hear what you’re saying but you know that’s not for me like you said Gail, every you know, everybody already knows They don’t know, you know, like someone’s instead of assuming that everybody knows, I always, like I would love for how about all of us assume that everybody knows nothing. Like there’s, it’s a clean slate. And if you just dedicate yourself one thing that I love, you know, that relationship gal is like, you know, you’ve really taught me about like being that go giver, you know, and you know, just being over the top give without expectations, building this community just, you know, we’re in, you know, we’re talking about education, our teaching the competition, and when we say I’ll teach a competition, you know, taking gal strategies right there. Okay, so again, let’s, let’s use the, you know, say whether it’s was that our friend Nicole at the moment Makers Association, or your mold maker yourself, if you started a live stream show in like, Hey, what are we going to talk about today? Well, hey, what is moldmaking? Hey, what what products go into moldmaking? What industry is using, I mean, like, we could have an infinite number of topics around moldmaking. And then to get us journalists point, start bringing in other subject, bring in customers, bring in a competitor, bring in your vendors, bring in your suppliers, like just interview somebody every week, and now all sudden, like you are branding yourself as the industry, the moldmaking industry thought leader or whatever jam your is what you know, whatever solution that you provide. Gail, anything that you want to piggyback on that concept?

Gail Robertson  36:23

No, I think that, that covers it in terms of you know, we’ve covered off the three steps and I would just encourage people to really look at you know, getting out of their own damn way I put that in my post today to get out of your own damn way and I think it was to was it posted this today Eddie? solders really good me that had like, you know, here’s the manufacturing going, here’s marketing drowning over here and it says, here’s the person and then says and everything else and they’re, you know, spending time on everything else and I hear this all the time. I don’t have time I don’t you know, don’t know what to post it’s like, listen, I can help you find the time and find ideas those are things that and you can get if not myself, there’s other people that can help you do that because there’s a wealth of information and I tell you as my years as a reporter, everyone has a story a lot of stories and you just need to you know spend some time sharing that because there’s a lot of people know more than you but there’s a whole bunch of people that know a lot less than you so absolutely

Curt Anderson  37:31

it’s a great time it demon I’m grabbing here so yeah, you know what, in this whole thing is just in daemon work we’ve been talking about that a lot on the show.

Gail Robertson  37:41

Eric, I was gonna put up I was

Damon Pistulka  37:43

gonna put up a curse easily does this so of course my just intrude by doing it because I don’t know how to do it right. But this is funny. That’s the image you talked about as manufacturing marketing’s over here drowning and too, so

Gail Robertson  38:01

you got to look at it is that edge you know it because it’s so true and it’s all and you know, now it’s like oh, well the first thing we’re gonna cut is marketing. Yes, that’s so true. It’s not it’s not a good way to approach business because especially right now like now the value that you have on you know, just sharing organically forgetting about ads or paid content first just in that’s where live streaming it’s it’s a gift waiting to be opened. So

Damon Pistulka  38:34

yeah, we go into this a long ways because you know, the the the old thing was you go five six years ago before COVID Google ads were a reasonable source of of advertising right you could turn on ads and it’s not that expensive but they’ve gone up to three times what they were then and that was the route everybody took so you really have to look at how can you create organically ranking content and and stuff that organically people want to see to to get outside of just paying an extraordinary amount of money to get your stuff out there

Gail Robertson  39:12

earned media the way to go media

Curt Anderson  39:14

dropped Mike earned media gal let’s we’re gonna soccer

Damon Pistulka  39:18

professional. That’s what that is after professional.

Curt Anderson  39:25

So I know gal, you got a busy weekend ahead of you. So let’s start winding down. So any last parting first off how can everybody find and connect with you outside of just obviously LinkedIn here? Yeah,

Gail Robertson  39:37

well, they can find me on LinkedIn here. Gan Robertson, if you Google Gale, now you’ll find probably more than you’ll ever want to know about what I’m doing. I haven’t done any tiktoks for a while. It’s been kind of got a got out of that habit. But every once in a while, I’ll go back and do it just for fun.

Curt Anderson  39:55

Right? Yeah. Awesome. Okay. And so one question I would love to ask if you’re ready for this And I feel that you’ve you’ve probably covered it or answered it multiple times already, we’d love to ask, what is the best business advice that you’ve ever been given or that you would love to pass along. So like you said, you know, recovering journalist, you had a corporate career, bed and breakfast, you know, as I remember, I was thinking about you, you know, it’s your bed and breakfast. My daughter and I were out that way last summer. And so, you know, with this whole career, you launch into entrepreneurship. Were you given any, like, really profound advice that you’d like to pass along?

Gail Robertson  40:31

Probably the best part is that to really, you know, get out and use those connections because doors get open when you when you’re out meeting people, and not just in your own, like, sphere. The power comes from the further you get outside of that immediate circle. So you know, when someone asks you to go do something, or go to an event or show up somewhere, say yes.

Curt Anderson  41:01

Just say yes. And what you can do is you can sign up, then you can suit up, and then Gosh, darn it just go out. So, David, hey, we’ve got a couple of comments. Carlos dropped a couple book on comments. Yeah.

Damon Pistulka  41:15

Yeah. That did Carlos Thank you said the obstacle is the way Yeah, that’s a great yeah. And and Whitney dropped, preach. There’s so much data out there, why you shouldn’t cut marketing during times of uncertainty. And it is it is, it’s like, oh, yeah, we’re gonna cut our salespeople in our marketing because the economy’s bad. It’s like, yes, Carl said, again, the timeless art of turning trials or trails into triumph. I think it might be trials. But Carl, thanks for dropping the comment there. While we had a lot of comments today.

Curt Anderson  41:50

Awesome. Let’s wind down. And so Damon, your takeaways, you know, like we go, you’re gonna love this, Dave. And I had a conversation just earlier, like, hey, what’s something that people could do that just really scares the daylights out of them, get them out of your comfort zone, and you’ve talked about that repeatedly. So let’s, you know, you dropped all sorts of wonderful words of wisdom. I encourage anybody, everybody go back, hit the rewind button. If anything that you missed from Gail, catch that earlier, get any last words of wisdom that you want to share as we close out. Now,

Gail Robertson  42:23

I would just encourage just what you said, do something that scares you, or that makes you uncomfortable, and then find, find out how you feel afterwards. And often, it’s not nearly as scary as you might think, and bring someone along with you. You know, there’s always someone else that will ride shotgun with you. So as the buddy system,

Curt Anderson  42:43

I absolutely love it. So I guess we’re gonna wind down. And so Damon, as we wind down this wonderful, amazing, incredible week that we just shared together. What I’d love to do is just, you know, hey, we’d like to tell everybody go out there and be someone’s inspiration just like this wonderful young lady right here was it? How about if you’ve been hanging out with us for however long it’s been? How about a big round of applause, you’re going to jump out of your chair, jump on your couch, wherever you’re sitting and give Gail a big, big standing ovation, round of applause. Thank you, Gail, we appreciate you applaud you commend you, send you tons of love. We just We cherish your friendship, your support. And thank you for sharing your wisdom today. Damon, dude wants you to know when to take it away. Will you please.

Damon Pistulka  43:28

All right, well, thanks, Gail for being here today. It awesome having you as always, and dropping all that knowledge that you did? It’s, you know, we just gotta get out there. And it’s um, it’s uncomfortable for some of us. But once you once you get going and you get into a rhythm, it really becomes something that’s a powerful part of your life and your business. And so, you know, taking these online networking strategies to a new level is a good thing. So let’s let’s do this. Let’s, let’s have a great weekend. We’ll be back again next week talking about more about manufacturing ecommerce success, maybe a little live streaming, Curt and I’ve got some stuff going on. Like we said, Our course is kicking off for the first round and people were having a lot of fun with that. But we’ll be back again next week, hanging out and having some fun. See y’all on Monday.