Search Interviews:

Jeremy Weisz  7:41  

Yeah, it’s like vanity metrics, versus real metrics. So you’re saying vanity metrics of maybe likes or followers or whatever. Now, if that results in non-vanity metrics, which is actually real relationships and doing business together, then that’s totally fine. But I think oftentimes, sometimes we go after the vanity metrics when even having a small circle of five people as opposed to having 1000 people view something is way more beneficial for a business.

John Corcoran  8:17  

Exactly, you just have to be clear on what the ultimate metric beyond the vanity metric is. So you’re not just pursuing the vanity metric, I guess, would be a way to say and use it for other social platforms as well. You know, I mean, you could go and, you know, create 15 Tick Tock videos a day, or you could post 15 times to Instagram and you know, maybe it does build some kind of authority in your field if your field is active on that particular platform. But again, it’s got to lead to some kind of result. So that’s another big one. Now, let’s talk about the third point: want to make its channels so different? You want to think about what channels you can use in order to build authority, and there’s, there’s a lot of them, right? So things that build authority include a book, a book, the book builds authority, writing for publications, especially well-respected publications in your industry, in your field, speaking on stage, or virtually, so in person, or virtually, doing training or workshop helps to build your authority. And of course, podcasting, which we’re huge advocates of, as well. And I’ll just speak from my own personal experience. I’ve done just about all of those, you know, and not to denigrate those different ones. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of them. But what I found was that if you want to use your content, to build authority, and also to build your network, there were not any tools that really could hold a candle to podcasting. So for example, I wrote for Forbes one year or a couple of years. And, you know, I built some great relationships with it. I used it in order to broaden my network and connect with some people but ultimately at the end of the day, year, I found that because of the amount of effort that it took to put into it, I may be connected with a half dozen or a dozen different people because it took a lot of work to write these articles and interview people and all that kind of stuff, high-quality bar high bar for the quality that had to go in there. And ultimately found when I shifted my energy from doing that and was

Jeremy Weisz  10:19  

That real quick? Does that mean we’re talking maybe one or two articles for all that work, or what’s the kind of output?

John Corcoran  10:29  

No, it was. I actually profiled one person per article, one person got it? Yeah,

Jeremy Weisz  10:34  

so cuz I know you’ve done articles where you’ll feature like, 15 people possibly in an article before too, yeah, it probably takes a lot longer to do

John Corcoran  10:43  

it actually. I mean, that didn’t even really save time, I think it was a lot of effort doing those, even it but the individual articles were really time-consuming as well, it took hours and hours to write the articles. You know, you compare that to doing a podcast, and with the podcast, you know, you’ve got this, this great tool, and Justin crane is here, Justin, good to see you, buddy. With the podcast, you got this amazing tool. And if you do it right, if you delegate the pieces off your plate, you focus on the highest and best use of your time, which is using the podcast as a tool to have a great conversation with a great person who maybe is in your network, or maybe you never would have connected with otherwise, it is nowhere near that time-consuming. So ultimately, when I devoted my energy and attention to that, I found that over the course of a year, I was able to build my network so much greater, you know, even if you do a weekly podcast, that’s 50 people that you’re having a great conversation with, using much less time than it took to write a book or it took to write no long-form articles or any of those sorts of things. So your thoughts, Jeremy on different channels to use to build authority? Yeah,

Jeremy Weisz  11:47  

I mean, listen, I wouldn’t have even attempted what you did, because I am not huge on writing. Like, it’s just painful for me, you like writing itself. So that was probably slightly a disadvantage because you like doing it, I don’t. So I never even wanted to attempt that. So I’m also looking for the shortcut in what I’m good at, and I can have a 30-minute conversation with someone. And then you know, obviously, we have a team that helps get that and produce a nice final result that it becomes an article like, so if you think about over 10 years, twice a week, I could have 230-minute conversations, or like, two, two episodes a week. That’s, you know, that number of conversations every month, and that 30-minute conversation turns into an article, a blog post, it goes on all the podcast channels that go on all the social media channels, I would, I wouldn’t have gotten one article out the door in a year. If I were you, you know, personally. So it’s just easier, it’s just easier to have a conversation and, and that kind of brings up the topic. Sounds like Well, I’m already busy. How do I have time? Well, first of all, we should already be talking to our best relationships anyways, on a weekly or monthly basis. So I find it doesn’t take more time. Because, you know, one of our good friends, you know, I in garlic, if we’re, I’m talking to him, like every other day, possibly. So to have them on as a podcast guest. It’s like just one of those times we need to just say, okay, we’re gonna record this.

John Corcoran  13:30  

Yeah, yeah, I mean, that’s the truth. You know, there are so many ways in which it saves you time because one, you should be doing it anyways. Now there are some people who don’t, right, so then they suffer the roller coaster, the marketing rollercoaster, because they’re not doing consistent networking, business development, and they need to be doing it. So this is a way of building discipline, while also creating content while also getting personal professional development at the same time. It’s something that you know, hold your feet to the fire to do it. So I think that’s a very important point. But it saves you time because you get access to higher-caliber people than you would otherwise ever get access to. And you’re more referral I’m a big connector. I love introducing people. And it’s much easier to introduce someone who has a podcast and it is someone who doesn’t. You know, every time I try to introduce people who don’t on podcasts, they’re kind of suspicious sometimes, you know, like one of them inevitably is like, wait for a second, what why are you introducing me to this web designer? I don’t need a new web design. You know? He’s like, No, I just like you guys would get along. You know, but with a podcast. You know, there’s not that skepticism, which we naturally have?

Jeremy Weisz  14:37  

Yeah, I mean, you mentioned to jump back to one of the other points is kind of the vanity metrics versus real metrics. You know, we’ve come across people and one of my favorite John Wooden quotes is never mistaken activity for achievement. And we’ve had people who come out so yeah, like I’ve been posting on Instagram like 11 times a day and then you look and they have 100 connections on Instagram, like, Okay, well, yeah, that’s if you had a million or 10,000, or a significant amount, maybe that will make a difference. But the base they had there? It just didn’t make sense, right? They may feel good by doing some activity, but was it really leading to the end result they want? Absolutely, absolutely. 

John Corcoran  15:27  

And, you know, the final point I just want to make for everyone watching or listening to this is that building authority is about consistency and discipline, and focusing on the highest and best use of your time. Because, you know, I say to people, this about podcasting all the time, look like as a busy individual, CEO, entrepreneur, founder, executive, whatever your title is, look, you have the highest and best use of your time, the things that will actually build authority are not the things that people frequently do like you going into the backend of your website and posting something not a good use of your time, you forward the RSS feed, not a good use of your time, that doesn’t produce the authority, what produces authority is you having great conversations, and creating content, and having a great conversation with people that will lead to further collaborations, exposure opportunities, client engagements, referrals, strategic partnerships, that’s what moves the needle. And so really focusing, being consistent about it, not just doing it for a couple of months, and then giving up continuing going with it. And focusing on the highest and best use of your time is really another big point I would make for people. Final thoughts, Jeremy, anything else?

Jeremy Weisz  16:44  

No, I think you know, just choose one that resonates with you that you are comfortable with that is part of your, you know, your sweet spot. Because doing and like John said, with consistency, just choose some kind of regular schedule for yourself to do that activity, some kind of content producing activity, where and by the way, it’s also a give, whether it’s in an article or a podcast is you’re not always talking about yourself, you’re just talking about the other person.

John Corcoran  17:19  

Yeah. And so I mean, it goes back to, you know, Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, which is a tremendous book, Ken, thanks for being here. Glad to have you here. Go check out that book. Because it’s all about you know when you have an edifying conversation with someone, you take interest in that person, you showcase their idea, and it’s even better than doing it at a cocktail party or doing it over lunch, or coffee or something like that, because you’re actually taking their thought leadership, their expertise, which people aren’t always asked about, you know, depending on what field what type of person you’re talking to, taking that in and sharing that wisdom in a way that they feel edified. They feel like a million bucks. And that they can, you know, share on their own LinkedIn and their family and friends will see it and, and they just feel wonderful. And then that leverage leverages the principle of reciprocity, which is great. So just to wrap up all this Jeremy, where can people go to learn more about you and I Rise25, and learn more about how to start a thing?

Jeremy Weisz  18:21  

I want to have one last question, but we will point people to, you know, rise25.com and our about page, and that’s where I joke John shows his expertise in how to photoshop himself with every president with presidents. That’s his special skill. You just learned Photoshop, you want to build authority, learn Photoshop, and photoshop yourself in with presidents.

John Corcoran  18:44  

Yeah, I was my favorite. That one? 

Jeremy Weisz  18:49  

Well, you actually Oh, yeah. So go on the about page, check out our background check out if you have questions about podcasting, you always email us. But my last question, John, is maybe this is my last question. Like maybe you mentioned, “How to Win Friends Influence People“. Are there any other interesting books that people should check out?

John Corcoran  19:13  

I mean, your friend Perry Marshall has a great book “80/20 Sales and Marketing“. I’m probably butchering the name of it, but that’s a great one. I mean, that goes right to our point about the highest and best use of your time for sure. I’m always a big fan of “Give and Take” by Adam Grant. And, you know, in that book, he basically uses a lot of scientific research to establish that it’s the givers that rise to the top of the success ladder in life and so I’m a big fan of that book as well any and for you any others.

Jeremy Weisz  19:45  

Um, I love all the ones about the stories so “Tell to Win” is an amazing one, actually. And “Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath is also a great one about stories because I think in general everyone loves a good story, whether it’s for entertainment or business or whatever it is.

John Corcoran  20:06  

Yeah. And one more is “Double Double” by Cameron Herold another one that I was just going through recently,

Jeremy Weisz  20:14  

I think I bought all of his books on Audible and listened to all of Cameron Herald interview them as well. So yes, exactly. All right.

John Corcoran  20:22  

All right, folks, we’ll wrap things up. Rise25.com or rise25media.com or email support@rise25media.com and you can learn more about us. Thanks, everyone. We’ll talk again soon.

Outro  20:33  

Thank you for listening to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast with John Corcoran. Find out more at smartbusinessrevolution.com. And while you’re there, sign up for our email list and join the revolution. And be listening for the next episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast.