LOVE THY NEIGHBOR WITH BETTER RELATIONSHIPS

I have a vision to help us love thy neighbor. We need more relationships in our lives. And our podcasts can help us do exactly that.

PERSPECTIVE

It is funny how our attitude changes when we realize we know somebody.

Our default attitude is confrontational and offended.

Someone cuts you off in traffic and we get upset. Did they cut your off? Or maybe they didn’t realize their lane ended. It’s perspective.

Someone takes two plates through the buffet line instead of one, thereby taking more than their fair share. Or maybe they were getting a plate for their handicap spouse who can’t stand in a buffet line.

Someone left their trash all over the fast food table. Or maybe they got a frantic call that their child was rushed to the hospital. Again, perspective.

Remember, we only know what we know. And when we have strong relationships, our default tends to be forgiveness rather than confrontation.

IT’S WHO YOU KNOW

One winter we got around 12 inches of snow three weeks in a row. This was a time my attitude changed once I realized we had a relationship.

It was early January, and I was pulling into the parking lot of the radio station. It took longer than usual to get to work, because of all the snow.

When you get that kind of snow, you take it slow and exaggerate your moves. You turn slower and wider. It takes longer to stop. You ease your way through snow.

If you’ve ever lived in a cold climate, you know snow plows come down the street creating small walls of snow in front of every driveway. Nothing is more frustrating than just getting finished shoveling your driveway only to have the plow push a big wall right back into your fine work.

THE RADIO STATION

When I got to the station that morning, the plows had pushed the snow from the street right into the entrance of our parking lot. It was pretty good sized and took some effort to get through it.

As I pulled into the radio station lot just before 8 AM, I had to go around this little BMW that was high centered in the snow. He tried to take his little low profile car through the snow wall the plow had created. Not smart.

Anyone who has driven in snow knows you don’t drive a sports car in the snow. And, you surely don’t try to drive through deep snow. Common sense.

I had a few choice words under my breath as I drove around him and found my parking spot. I walked into the building as he continued to spin his tires trying to get out of the snow.

Again, anyone who has driven in snow knows you don’t spin your tires. You’ll never get out. Rock it and ease it out.

THE MEETING

When I opened my email at my desk, I saw an invite for an all staff meeting at 8:30.

At that meeting, the vice president of our company introduced our new general manager. He had just arrived from Tucson, Arizona.

And yep, he was the guy stuck in the snow in that BMW.

I probably should have helped him get unstuck. He surely didn’t know any better.

DEFAULT TO CONFRONTATION

Why do we default to irritation or confrontation? Why are we offended first?

We don’t know what we don’t know. We make assumptions about people when we really don’t know the full story.

It’s because we lack relationships. Tech makes it so easy to say things behind a screen name that we would never say to someone in person.

It is easy to send a scathing email when we would never say those same things face-to-face.

The way we act in the digital world creeps into how we act in the real world, because we spend most of our time in the digital space. It becomes second nature.

RELATIONSHIPS IN BUSINESS

It happens in business as well. We are shopping on Amazon. When getting gas we pay at the pump. We don’t talk with travel agents any longer.

With the pandemic, menus went to our smart phones with QR codes. You can even buy a car from a vending machine at those big Carvana towers.

We have no relationships in business. Rather than buying from someone you know, it has all been reduced to a battle for price. It’s a race to the bottom of the price scale.

When you can create relationships with potential clients, you are so far ahead of the competition. You can also charge much higher prices.

3% ARE BUYING NOW

In his book The Ultimate Sales Machine, Chet Holmes says about 3% of your market are buying now. These people are actively seeking a solution.

Therefore, 97% are NOT buying today. If you are only selling, you are missing 97% of your market.

When you are creating content on your podcast to help people and build relationships, you are serving all 100% of your market.

Now ask yourself, are ads on your show serving your market and building relationships? How do you feel when you’re watching a YouTube video and suddenly ads pop in and interrupt you?

Why would you do that to your audience?

If all you do is sell, you’re missing 97% of your market. When you build relationships, you are laying the foundation. When that other 97% is ready to buy, it is much more likely they are coming to you.

RELATIONSHIPS FOR A BETTER HUMANITY

Not only do I want you to create relationships for better business, I want you to create relationships for a better humanity.

Create a community. Support each other.

My kids don’t have best friends.

When I was a kid, I would wake up every summer day and take my bike up to Rick’s.

Rick and I would get on your bikes and ride everywhere all day long. We’d go to the store. We would head to the park. There were dirt roads we had never been down that we would explore.

The two of us would ride our bikes all day and get home just in time for dinner, sometimes eating at each others house.

Then we would go out and create some game in the yard. When it got dark, we’d play hide and seek with the kids in the neighborhood. We just needed to be inside before the news came on.

Rick and I knew everything about each other, because we spent everyday together. If we didn’t live it together, we told each other about it.

Today, my kids chat on their phones. They hang out with their friends virtually playing Xbox. Their friends are on the other side of their headset.

Sometimes those friends are in Minnesota. Other times in Washington. Occasionally, those friends are the next neighborhood over.

Rarely are they hanging out in person. Tech makes it too easy to not be together in person. Why get on my bike and ride up the street when I can Snapchat or FaceTime?

THE COMEBACK

I want you to bring back the relationship. Not only love thy neighbor, but love thy neighborhood.

We need relationships. Society needs relationships.

Instead of the anger and confrontation, we need compassion and understanding.

Your podcast gives you the platform to share your story and build relationships. You are in the ear of your listeners making connections and growing friendships.

People listen to your podcast while they are doing other things alone. They don’t want to be alone. You are their companion.

That companionship is why a podcast is so much more powerful than video when it comes to building rapport. The know, like and trust comes from the stories you tell and the bits of your life you share with your audience.

This week on your podcast, begin sharing a bit of yourself. Start building relationships. The world needs you.

WORK TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

When you and I work together, we first get clear on your ideal client. It is easier to build relationships when you know who you are attracting.

Next, we find those people and invite them to your show.

We craft your content to build relationships with those potential clients through the stories you tell. This is especially true if you are interviewing others.

We then connect your content to your offer. This is a matter of building a system that will get your listeners excited about working with you.

Next, we get your listener started down your funnel. Your content connects to the first step toward being a client.

Finally, we have a sales conversation and convert them to clients.

I’ve done it for years on the radio. We would create great content that would build an audience and relationships. Then, we would leverage that attention to sell advertising.

More people listened to my show than any other show in town. And, I wasn’t even on the air in morning drive.

YOU CAN DO IT

Instead of selling advertising, I want you to sell your stuff.

That’s what I help coaches like you do.

Rocky Lalvani used my coaching to double the downloads of his podcast Profit Answer Man. Rocky says, “While most people focus on equipment Erik focuses on the listener and how you can serve them.”

Greg Payne of The Cool Grandpa podcast doubled his downloads in our first month together. He doubled again the next month.

Let’s get on a call to see how I can help you use your podcast to grow your business.

If you don’t have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.