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Tips on how to build long term connections with influencers with Cloris Kylie
- Building long term relationships with influencers works because we are in the business of building relationships, right? Regardless of what you do, even if you’re not in online marketing.
- A mistake people make is, they get that interview, and they think ‘Let me try to find someone else” instead of really nurturing that relationship or finding what else you can do in the long term to collaborate with that person.
- If you really listen, and you start to feel a personal transformation too.
- It’s always about, how can I deliver value to this person in the best way possible right now?
- Now that I have this relationship with these people, I want to continue to support them. It’s about having a group of people who you can really relate to their message, and you want to stay in touch in the long term and support them as much as you can.
- But I would say don’t try to connect with a hundred people, right? Just find a small group of people. Definitely, no more than 10 to start.
- So something as simple as subscribing to their email updates will help because it will announce when they have a book coming out, when they have a new podcast, they have a new course. If it’s something that you feel could help you, join their course, give a testimonial. And then you start to build a relationship pretty quickly.
- I asked, “Why don’t I try to connect with people who have the audience I want to reach?” And that’s when things really started to change.
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HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
We are in the business of building relationships, right? Look to build long term connections with influencers, not just short term ones.
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Doug: Well. Welcome back listeners to another episode of Real Marketing Real Fast. In the studio today, we have to join me, Cloris Kylie. Now I connected with her on social media and have been following her as she’s been growing her business and I’ve seen how she connects with people and just her authentic presence and the way that she’s out to serve her audience. So Cloris has a marketing MBA and she helps business owners build their authority to grow their lists and to boost their revenue by building long term connections with influencers. She is an author and the bestselling book Beyond Influencer Marketing. She’s been featured on national television, on top-ranked podcasts, as well as YouTube, including some of the number one podcasts for entrepreneurs such as Entrepreneur On Fire. Cloris’s articles have been published on websites with millions and millions of followers such as Tiny Buddha, Mind Body Green, and Addicted to Success.
Doug: She’s also a fellow podcaster. She hosts a podcast called Beyond Influencer Marketing Podcast, and she has interviewed bestselling authors and world-class entrepreneurs such as John Lee Dumas, Ryan Laveck, Chris Brogan, Bob Burg, Dorie Clark, Neil Patel, and the three daughters of Wayne W. Dyer. So with that introduction, I’d like to welcome Cloris to the Real Marketing Real Fast podcast today.
Doug: Well Cloris, I’m super excited to have you on the podcast today. I’ve followed you for a long time on social media. We had that discussion at the very beginning that we’ve connected. I’ve watched your business grow and your success grows and your connections grow and watched you work to put your book together and get your book published. So welcome to the Real Marketing Real Fast podcast today.
Cloris Kylie: Well thanks so much, Doug. It’s such a pleasure to be here today.
Doug: Well, it’s so much fun talking to somebody else that’s in my same space where we’re doing online communications and just watching how gracious you’ve been and how articulate you are to detail when you connect with people.
Cloris Kylie: Well, I think we were talking about it offline and it’s so important to realize that we are in the business of building relationships, right? Regardless of what you do, even if you’re not in online marketing. And there’s only when you realize that things start to happen, not just in your business but in your life because you really learn from everyone you interact with if you really care. And if you really listen, and you start to feel a personal transformation too.
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HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
We are in the business of building relationships, right? Look to build long term connections with influencers, not just short term ones.
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Doug: And I think what’s interesting is I had somebody reach out to me that’s a subscriber to my email list and she said, well, I can’t believe that you took a call from me. I said, well, it’s very simple. Most people that are online or on a list won’t take any action. They’re just looking for a, hey, how can I get a quick win? How can I get a shout out? How can I sell my stuff? I said, so it’s very easy to make that offer because most people won’t take the offer and have the connection and make the conversation.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah. Yeah. So true. I get requests every day from people who they reach out to me because they know I have something they want, I have an audience they want to reach. And instead of taking the time to really get to know my work and to try to deliver value first, then they just either copy and paste some template they have and sometimes they don’t even add my name. They say hello, comma, or something like that. They don’t even take the time just to type my name. So of course, nothing comes out of it because that’s not the right way to start a relationship. It’s always about, how can I deliver value to this person in the best way possible right now? So a lot of it is about timing.
Cloris Kylie: Like for example, Ryan Lavesque, he’s the author of Ask and the creator of the Ask Method, which I use in my company. I teach my clients how to do it. So he’s been a mentor from afar. I joined his program, his mastermind. But you know, of course, so many people, there are thousands of people. So I knew I had an edge just because I had been in his program, but I still had to find that special time for me to reach out to him and have him be on my podcast. Right?
Cloris Kylie: So I noticed that he released a new book called Choose, and that’s when I said, okay, this is a time. So I reached out to him and said Ryan, you know me, I’m in your group and so forth, and I would love to support your book, so love to have you on my show. And of course, he said, yes, oh yeah, I’ll connect you with my assistant. So that’s just an example of, you approach a person with a desire to deliver value. I guess I’m helping him grow his business because his book is required reading for all of my clients. So I continue to support him. And now just having him on my show, it really elevates the show to a new level because he is a top influencer.
Doug: Yeah, you’ve interviewed some very significant guests on your Beyond Influencer Marketing podcast as well. I mean, I’m looking at JLD and Chris Brogan and Neil Patel. I’m thinking, wow. I mean, those are the big names in the industry.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah. And it is all about because I took the time to deliver value first. Like with Neil Patel for example, he has an amazing blog, so if you haven’t checked it out, I remember that’s one of the first blogs that I read when I was learning how to really get my message out. So I would read every article and post a comment with my number one take away, with whatever I thought that could deliver value to the readers. And Neil is really an advocate of comments on his blog. He actually replies to most of them. And he started to know my name just because of that. I would just post comments every time. So when I reached out to him and said, oh, I would love to have you on my show, it was a quick yes. And the same story. I would just share his message, support him as much as I could. At that time I was just posting comments and that’s how I had him on my show. Yeah.
Doug: Well that’s interesting. So you’ve given us two examples of two big names, Ryan Lavesque and Neil Patel and how you reached out to them and neither one of them involved any advertising.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah, exactly. Yes and yes, so completely organic type of outreach, which I’m a proponent of as well as to now that I have this relationship, right, with these people, I want to continue to support them. It’s not like, oh, I got what I wanted, now I’m moving on. It’s about having a group of people who you can really relate to their message, and you want to stay in touch in the long term and support them as much as you can.
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HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
We are in the business of building relationships, right? Look to build long term connections with influencers, not just short term ones.
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Doug: Well, and that’s absolutely true. Listeners, I’ve followed Cloris for a while, for quite a while, and I even remember watching you post in Podcaster’s Paradise. And so you know, I’m sure that you’re going to continue those relationships with those people, ’cause I’ve seen you do it online before. When you connect with people, you’re respectful, you respond to them. And it sounds like such common sense and I’m just not sure why people would take a different approach.
Cloris Kylie: Well you know what? I think it’s normal, and it’s human to want to get fast results, right? We want the easy and fast way to get whatever we want. So we become too impatient and then we have, the first thing we have in mind is, okay, how can I get what I want? And these are the people who can help me get what I want so I’m just going to go and go for it. Right? And because of that, then even if you understand that it’s a turnoff to do that and you try to disguise it, the other person will see right through it.
Cloris Kylie: Like, for example, I got an email a few days ago from somebody who said, oh, I really love this new show that is just released. He replied to one of the mailings that I send out to my subscribers. And I said, well, I really appreciate that you know. And then he emailed again. Oh, and by the way, I shared that on social media. I said, oh well that’s wonderful. What did you like the most about it? And he didn’t reply to that. So then I said, I don’t know. I think in a couple of days I’m going to get an ask. And I was right. That email came right after. Oh, my company just posted this article and I feel that it would be great for you to have a link to it on your website. So yes, yes, it happened. I saw it coming.
Doug: Yeah, that’s funny. It’s funny how people are so shortsighted. We’re pretty smart human beings and if there’s no connection there, you can pretty much see it coming from a mile away. So walk us through, you know, the best way. Like what are the best practices? This is your expertise and there are probably things that you really like that people do and things that you don’t like. So walk us through best practices for our listeners that are listening to you going, okay, this is a different approach. I’ve been watching all these videos talking about buying ads and sponsor this and sponsor that. And you’re saying build relationships.
Cloris Kylie: Yes, I would say it’s not like there’s no place for having an Instagram star do a shout out or to do advertising. I would say, if it’s something that you feel will help you reach your ideal audience, then go for it. Right? But it’s not smart really to rely 100 percent on it. Facebook will go away at some point, maybe, right? Or it’ll change. Or they’ll close your account or Instagram, you know, the influencer stuff will change. But what will never change is the relationships that you build. So no matter what happens with the technology and with the media and the social media, they’ll be there for you. So what I would say, some of the people become overwhelmed for, I would say, two big reasons. The first one is that they feel like, oh my God, now I have to spend six months building a relationship with this person and how many hours of the day is that going to take? And then when am I going to get results? And then what if I do all this work? And then it doesn’t work, right?
Cloris Kylie: Because that’s a fear, so then you become overwhelmed. But I would say don’t try to connect with a hundred people, right? Just find a small group of people. Definitely, no more than 10 to start. Then you can expand to 20 maybe, people who you truly admire in your space. If you don’t know exactly who those people might be yet, who reach your ideal audience, then it’s time to do the research, right? The research piece takes a little bit of time, but once you find those ideal people who you can truly relate to, who reach or your ideal audience, then it’s time to then find what is the best way to deliver value.
Cloris Kylie: So something as simple as subscribing for their email updates will help because it will announce when they have a book coming out, when they have a new podcast, they have a new course. If it’s something that you feel could help you, join their course, give a testimonial. And then you start to build a relationship pretty quickly. And I’m not saying that you have to do all this work before you do something that could benefit your business. Because for example, you could reach out to a podcaster who you have never met before to be a guest on their show or a producer from a TV show to be on that show as long as the premise is, this is the information that I know will be of value to your audience. See, it’s not like, this isn’t the information that will help you promote me, but this is information I know will help your audience and really go there with the desire to help, that person will be grateful.
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HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
We are in the business of building relationships, right? Look to build long term connections with influencers, not just short term ones.
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Cloris Kylie: And that’s the start of a relationship. And guess what? It started by them sharing your message with their audience. So I think that’s, again, don’t make the mistake, don’t become overwhelmed, just focus on a small group of people. And I would say the second mistake people make is, they get that interview, they take that first step and they get a yes and it kind of, okay, well that was nice. Let me try to find someone else, instead of really nurturing that relationship or finding what else you can do in the long term to collaborate with that person. Right? So even if you do the shout out on Instagram, just try to create a relationship with that person because there’s more than you can do in the future. It’s just like your clients, right? It’s so much easier to get the business from an existing client than from a person who has never worked with you. Same story with any relationship and influencers. If they know you already if you’ve worked together, you’ve collaborated, there’s more than you can do in the future.
Doug: Yeah, that’s funny, you bring up an interesting point and that is that we’re so busy finishing off our, in your example, our first interview, our first podcast that we run off to the next one without fully thanking the guest, or the host rather, that put that podcast together and you forget the value. The value isn’t just on being on the podcast. The value is taking that message and sharing that message to your audience because it’s somebody else having a conversation about your business.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah, yeah, exactly. It’s about that. It’s like what else can we do? For example, I had a guest on my show just yesterday. We recorded the interview and then at the end, he said, well, you know, I would really love to have you speak to my clients. Have a Mastermind and I think your message will be fantastic for them. So he immediately tried to find a way to reciprocate and then he said, okay, what else can I do for you? I’d like to stay in touch. He was so eager to help that I will never forget that person. Now I feel even more compelled to continue to support him and to support his message.
Doug: Sure. I feel that way as well. I’m still fairly new in the podcasting space, so I’m working towards my 150th episode and there’s a handful of guests that I’ve had that I really connected deeply with and, so what do I do? Every time I see their stuff, I support it, I share it, I comment it. Because there’s that connection and it’s a relationship because it’s reciprocal. That’s not why I do it, but that’s just what’s happened because we’ve stayed connected. So it’s good for everybody if you just build a relationship deeper than a transaction.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah, exactly. And again, you’ll be protected from any of the changes in the industry and social media. You never know what’s next. But again, your relationships will stay with you for the long term.
Doug: Well, I was just in an event in Redding, Pennsylvania. Never been there. I had never planned to go there, but I went there because it was somebody that I met when I was speaking at a conference that he was also speaking at, connected with him. He said I’m putting on my first event. People said, why would you go to Redding? I’d say, well, I’ve become friends with him and I want to support him. And it’s his first event. And the first event’s always a tough event. So the least I could do is hop on a plane, buy a ticket, and go support them. And it was a great event. The other thing was there was a bunch of other people that I’ve connected with on social that was there. So you’re right, there’s some stuff you can do that doesn’t take a lot of effort, it’s a business expense. We had a great time. We built some really deep connections and it was just amazing.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah, it’s true. Now that you brought that up, I remember when I had my first live event, I was so nervous, like, oh my God, people are going to show up? It’s going to be just me in this room. And I live in Connecticut. So it wasn’t hard for Connecticut, not the biggest city in the world really. And I remember this woman I had met, had been on her show, her name is Jodie Flynn. She’s also part of Podcaster’s Paradise. And Jody lives in Maine, so that’s at least maybe six, seven hours away. And she said, I’ll go, I’ll go to your event. It’s like, really? You’re going to drive from Maine? She’s like, yeah, yeah. More than happy to do it. She did it. I never forgot that. And after that, she wrote a beautiful testimonial and we’ve been good friends since then. Something I will never forget.
Doug: So I know that it’s not something that you mentioned when we talked before we got on, started recording because, for our listeners, I ask my guests, how can we emphasize their superpower, what they’re doing? And one of the things Cloris didn’t mention, she didn’t say, I want to promote my book, which is cool, but I do want to talk about your book. So I want to ask you, why you wrote the book?
Cloris Kylie: Well, I wrote it because I saw that gap that people just wanted to do transactions. They wanted to do the quick shout out and they were not really seeing that the relationship part was missing in many, many cases. So then they would be frustrated. And also, of course, I had grown my own business, thanks to my connections with influencers. I used to be one of those people who would try to do it all on her own, right? Made many mistakes early in my business, too many to count. And one of them was that. It’s like, oh, I’ll do it. I’ll write blog posts every day and somebody will find them right? I’ll publish. I published the first book. It was in personal development. I thought the book was so good that people will just find it, right? I had an online radio show. It was solo episodes, just me analyzing personal development books.
Cloris Kylie: Again, I thought I could do it and soon I realized that wasn’t the case. I was regretting moving away from the offline business I had had for years. Taking that time to develop this new online business that wasn’t working. I was overwhelmed, just working 14 hour days and not seeing really any results. I had a few people who were grateful and maybe I would say, two or three people who really appreciated my message, maybe 1,000 people reading my articles. That was it. And it was just so frustrating that I almost quit, but thank goodness I kept trying and that’s when the light bulb went on and said, you know, why don’t I welcome guests to my show? Can I actually interview people? Now why don’t I try to post my articles on other blogs, why don’t I try to connect with people who have the audience I want to reach? And that’s when things really started to change.
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HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
We are in the business of building relationships, right? Look to build long term connections with influencers, not just short term ones.
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Cloris Kylie: And it wasn’t like a change overnight because all of these realizations happened, so I did one thing. Then another idea would pop up. It’s like, oh, well maybe I can do this now. Maybe I can be on this summit and maybe I can be on this podcast. All of those things would start to come to me. And then in the end when I saw the big picture, it’s like, oh my God, without these people, I wouldn’t be here today. And I was just so inspired by that that I definitely wanted to write the book.
Doug: Well, that’s really cool. It’s a big feat to write a book. I remember listening to the statistics in the United States and I can’t remember exactly what they were, but it was something like 70 to 80 percent of the people want to write a book, and like 4 percent will. So, well, congratulations on doing that.
Cloris Kylie: Well, thank you.
Doug: Do you have a story that you want to share? Is there a story that’s really dear to your heart? Somebody that you’ve helped, where you’ve seen a major transition or a success in their business?
Cloris Kylie: Well, there’s one person her name is Terry, Terry Nicholas. She is a financial advisor and she’s one of those people who wanted to share her message out online and she said, I spent three years just trying to, not even, she wanted to figure it out, but she just couldn’t. She said it’s not like I even tried because it was too overwhelming. So you maybe read one article or take one course and it wouldn’t do anything. But then she eventually took the plunge and reached out to me and we started to work together. So as we built her foundation and now we’re ready to get her out there and being in front of all of these audiences, then she feels like it’s finally happening. She is somebody who didn’t have any presence online and now she has a complete marketing foundation.
Cloris Kylie: She is pitching, getting out there with her name out and being in front of the right audience, which for her is women who want to have a stronger financial situation. So when I see her and she says, I’ve done with you in a couple of months what I waited three years to do and thank you. Once people say that, it’s just such a great feeling. When I get letters from people who’ve read my book, I remember I got one envelope and I shared that on social media recently. Right after I published the book. And the envelope had my book in it. So I said, oh my God, somebody is just so upset. This book, they hated it. They are sending it back to me. Do you know? That’s what I thought, it’s like oh, they hated the book, but it really was somebody who read the book and he wanted me to sign it for him. So he had a return envelope, prepaid with a nice note. I was like, oh my God, I’m so glad.
Doug: That’s a great story. Yeah, that hasn’t happened yet. So I’ll be wary of that. And I hope when somebody emails me back my book, it’s not telling me to use it for a doorstopper or to start a fire. So what do you think the myths are around social and connecting? Because what you’re talking about is real relationship and organic.
Cloris Kylie: Yes, that’s right. And I would say it’s easy also to think that you need to wait till you have a business of certain size or a list of another size to reach out to influencers. That’s the only way you can really collaborate with them and deliver value. But the truth is that you’re ready today to deliver value to influencers. We talked about the whole commenting on blogs. I’ve had people on my show who started to connect with influencers just that way, just by commenting on blogs, just posting a review of the person’s book on Amazon or a review of their show on iTunes. Those are great ways to get connected. So I would say there’s always a way you can deliver value to influencers starting today. So don’t let that stop you because then it becomes an excuse. Oh, when I reach this level in my business, then I’ll do it.
Cloris Kylie: Then it’s something that you just put off, but you can take action today. So if you’re listening, I encourage you to think about maybe one influencer, just one that you’ve always wanted to connect with and I’m sure somebody you already know about. So what are they doing right now? What are they up to? Have you taken one of their courses? Have you read one of their books? And what is the next step you’re going to take with that? Are you going to create a testimonial for them or are you going to write a review? And then do it. It doesn’t take long. And just taking that first step will allow you to see that as possible. Right? So once we see that it’s possible, then we go on to the next. So you don’t let that myth stop you from taking action.
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HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
We are in the business of building relationships, right? Look to build long term connections with influencers, not just short term ones.
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Doug: I think that’s a super important point. So, listeners, this reiterates saying, so Cloris is saying start today and deliver value. And one of the things that you can’t buy, at least ethically buy, are reviews. And there’s nothing that’s more important in terms of currency than comments on a blog, a book review, a podcast review, those are huge things for everybody regardless of how big they are in terms of the influencer. And that’s a currency that helps drive their business. So you’re right, it adds value. It adds huge value to the people that you invest a few minutes and do that for. So that’s a great point. The other thing is, I often think that smaller businesses or newer entrepreneurs have an advantage. I think once you get to a certain point, you’re less likely to get local press coverage because you’re a big company.
Doug: Whereas the local press, at least the ones that are closest to you in the smaller towns are going to be more willing to have a feel-good story of a new entrepreneur or a new product that they are, pick a big brand. You know, Proctor and Gamble are not going to get any write-ups in a local newspaper. Right? Well if they are, it’s not going to be a favorable write-up, but something’s gone wrong. So yeah, leverage the advantage. Leverage who you are, where you are and just get started.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah, that’s true. What you said just brought up a memory. That’s how I first got on TV, on local TV, is because I was a local person who was doing something different that would be of interest and value to their audience. So at the time, I didn’t have any books published. I just had my little online radio show and at the time it was a new thing. Nobody had online radio shows or podcasts. So when I said, oh, I have this radio show and this is one thing you can do from our small corner of the world, and so forth, they were like, oh, that sounds fun. Yeah. Come to our show. And I became a repeat guest. I think I have 14 appearances on that same show because I became, again, an advocate of the show and created a relationship with the producers and so it was a lot of fun. Yeah.
Doug: Yeah. That’s really cool. That’s amazing. Good for you. Yeah. So, what advice would you give people that are currently getting started? So you’re saying, start with where you are. You said to pick a small group of influencers, maybe five to 10 at the most. Don’t focus on too many people and just get started. Is there anything else you want to add to that?
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HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
We are in the business of building relationships, right? Look to build long term connections with influencers, not just short term ones.
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Cloris Kylie: Well something that you need to do also is to really be ready for when that relationship actually goes to that next level and they’re ready to feature you and your message. It could be as a podcast guest or your article, whatever that is because then you need to be ready with a strong foundation. But I talked about before about my client, she didn’t have any way to grow her list. She had no lead magnets, she just had a basic website with her phone number. That was it. So are you ready with a list building system? Do you have a lead magnet that you can actually mention during the interview or part of your bio in your article that people can go to and get as a value-added after you share your message? Otherwise, then it’s nice, you say oh yeah, well you can go to X website to learn more about me.
Cloris Kylie: A few people will visit it. They’ll say, oh, that’s nice, they’ll leave. So you really want to come prepared to that presentation, whatever that is, with something of value that people can get in exchange for an email address so you can stay in touch with them. I think that’s a big mistake people make to not be really prepared for that moment. And then if they wait to the last minute, it’s too late. It’s like those people go on Shark Tank and they have these crappy websites. So when the article airs, the show airs, and it crashes, they don’t sell much so it’s the same situation.
Doug: That’s funny. Yeah, that’s true. I was listening to a YouTube video this morning as I was working away here and someone was talking about was making sure that you’re prepared and that your website is prepared because they said it doesn’t matter who you are, whether you’re speaking on a stage or meeting somebody, give your business card, in addition to going to your website, they’re going to Google you. So make sure there’s, like you said, a good foundation out there of stuff that you’ve done.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah, exactly. And it’s important that you are able to track your efforts too, so what I’m saying that there’s a pretty easy to install plugin where if you have a WordPress site, it’s called Pretty Links, and it’s basically an ability for you to create customized links for your lead magnets when you go on somebody’s show or your articles are published, whatever that is.
Cloris Kylie: So for example, I created a special link for this show just because I want to know, okay, how many people have visited my website and downloaded my lead magnet when they heard my interview with Doug? And why is that helpful? Well, first of all, you know whether the information that you shared was really resonating with the audience, right? If you see that nobody wants to check out your gift, the message wasn’t good enough, right? So it’s important that you keep track of that so you can do more of what works. And of course, stop doing what doesn’t work.
Doug: There you go. That’s great advice. Yeah, I use Pretty Links. It’s a great tool. There are a free tool and a paid version. I’ve got a paid version. I use that on all of our websites, all of our blogs as a way to create, like you said, to easily create custom URLs. And I actually used it, I had written an article that got published on an industry publication in the email space and I actually used, I created a Pretty Link for that because I wanted to see how much traffic I was driving to their posts versus how much traffic they were driving there to get an idea of what their visitors were, compared to what the responsiveness was from my social media as well.
Cloris Kylie: That’s very interesting. Love that.
Doug: So what’s one thing that you’re super excited about in the next six to 12 months?
Cloris Kylie: Well, I’m excited about the relaunch of my group coaching program is 10 influencers in seven weeks. So it’s a program I launched last year, but then, of course, I had an unfortunate accident happen and I had a big hiatus actually in my business. So now I’m back on track, ready to relaunch the program to teach people how to really connect with those first 10 influencers so they build momentum and grow their business. And then continue to improve my book, probably relaunch it to this year. So excited about that, and just continue to connect with people. I think it’s important, I would say in all businesses, to focus. Because people reach out to me with all kinds of projects and just the best solution for your business right now is this and that, and chatbots are the way to go, and you should build this new funnel, and this is a new program, and here I have a giveaway, and the do this.
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HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
We are in the business of building relationships, right? Look to build long term connections with influencers, not just short term ones.
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Cloris Kylie: So it’s so much. If I said yes to all of that, I wouldn’t be able to really reach people in the way I want to reach them. You know, for the long term, at a deeper level, I wouldn’t be able to make a difference. Really. So it’s important that you always give yourself time before you say yes. It’s easy to say, oh it sounds great. Oh yes. And then, ’cause that’s me. Right? And then the day later, a day after I’m like, okay, that was a mistake. And then –
Doug: How am I going to fit that into my schedule?
Cloris Kylie: Yeah, exactly. So always focus, focus. Say, okay, I need a little bit of time. I’ll get back to you tomorrow on that. And think about it and think if it’s something that is aligned with the goals of your business.
Doug: That’s cool. Yeah, good advice. I mean there are so many distractions out there. And then because I work in this space, I see it every day. There’s a new something, there’s somebody new in my inbox. Well not somebody, there’s normally a hundred new people in the inbox with a solution to what they think my problems are, and you’re right. If I spent all day looking at all of those and going to every webinar, I wouldn’t have any time to work, or let alone sleep.
Cloris Kylie: Oh yeah, yeah, definitely. So focus is key and you know, of course, have your content marketing platform, focus on that one, grow it, then you can expand. Social media, same thing, focus on one platform, grow it, expand. Programs, same thing. The program, make it work, get the testimonials and then create new programs.
Doug: Well, and something else you said earlier is you said make sure that you are ready for the traffic, so make sure that you can collect their email. And so whether you’re collecting the email or email and their texts, their SMS or their phone number, mobile number. So that way you own that because as you mentioned, and I’ve mentioned in previous podcast episodes, there’s no guarantee those platforms, the free platforms, the social media platforms are going to stay or the rules are going to be the way they are. But once you have that deep connection, that relationship and somebody is in your CRM, you’ve got their email and their phone number, it doesn’t matter what happens to the platform, you still have that relationship and a way to reach out.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. It’s about being prepared for the long term. That’s what it’s all about, Doug.
Doug: So ripping off a Tim Ferriss question, what’s the bad advice that you hear? So you’re out at a cocktail party, you’re at an event and you’re overhearing somebody in the room talk about influencer marketing. What’s the bad advice that you hear and just kind of cringe?
Cloris Kylie: Well, the advice is, go and send a mass email to all of these influencers, right? Oh, I have this software, I hear a lot about these LinkedIn apps or software that you can actually send mass emails to your connections. I don’t know if they are still allowed, but I said, okay, that’s not right. And even now actually, they are allowed because just, I think it was a couple of days ago, I got a message from somebody who said, you know when you have the merge tag with a first name?
Doug: Yep.
Cloris Kylie: That’s what the email said. Merge tag first name. I was just wondering.
Doug: That’s hilarious.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah. So I said, oh my God. So that’s common advice. You should just automate that thing. You know you don’t want to be sending out emails to everybody, just get this app or send mass emails to all the influencers, to all the podcasters. That’s definitely horrible advice. You won’t get anywhere like that.
Doug: That’s a good point. Yeah. And we’ve done not mailings like that in LinkedIn, but I definitely have gone out to a small group, but it’s been one on one. So go to their profile. You know, cut and paste, type in the message, I’m going to be in this area and connect. And it’s been very responsive, but it’s not hundreds or thousands of people we are connecting with, it’s a handful.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That’s what it’s all about. It’s about really knowing what you’re doing rather than just seeing people as these list of names and then sending out stuff to them. It’s the same with your subscribers. They are people. It’s like you go every week or as often as you email them, it’s like you go into this big room, they’re all there and you’re talking to them. Right? So it’s not just a bunch of names and email addresses and phone numbers. It’s the people you know. So you’re communicating with people. Yeah.
Doug: Yeah. I think we forget that. They’re people. They might have different businesses, bigger businesses. They might be taller, shorter, they might have more money, whatever. They’re still people.
Cloris Kylie: Yeah, exactly. So if you keep that in mind when you write your emails out, whether they are influencers or not, when you reach out to people on social media, then you will see the difference. You will see the difference. I guarantee it.
Doug: So I know that you’ve listened to my podcast episodes. I’m going to ask you the tough question, then I’ll ask you the fun questions. So the tough question is who’s one guest I absolutely have to have in my podcast?
Cloris Kylie: Well you should definitely have Bob Burke on your show and I’m biased. Bob was on my show. He’s one of my favorite guests. He’s the author of The Go-Giver and I’m a strong proponent of his message, which is about giving value first. So that’s another required reading for my clients and it’s Bob is just a fantastic person. So definitely have him on your show.
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HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
We are in the business of building relationships, right? Look to build long term connections with influencers, not just short term ones.
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Doug: Well, excellent. I appreciate the recommendation. And now the fun stuff. Where can people connect and learn more about you?
Cloris Kylie: Well, actually you can go to cloriskylie.com forward slash real marketing, that’s the link I created just for you, Doug, so people can get my guide with 15 ways to get noticed by influencers. Of course, my main website is cloriskylie.com. But if you go to slash real marketing, then you’ll get that guide.
Doug: There you go. We’ll make sure we share that out on the links. Any closing thoughts before we wrap up for today?
Cloris Kylie: Well, all I can say is don’t let that thought that X or Y has to happen before you take action stop you. Just ask yourself, okay, why does X or Y need to happen? Like what is it that is going to change? And then you’ll realize that maybe it’s just a crutch. Maybe you just need to take action today. Then as I said, and you are ready to deliver value now. Remember, this takes time. So to create a relationship, you got to be willing to put in the effort, to put in the love that goes in it. So go today. Just go, that influencer you want to connect with, just do something for them to deliver value to them. And you’ll see.
Doug: Excellent advice. Well. Hey, thank you so much for taking time and being so generous and sharing with our audience today.
Cloris Kylie: Thank you, Doug, a pleasure to be here.
Doug: So there you go, listeners. I’m going to strongly suggest that after you finish listening to this podcast, that you pick up your phone and you grab the name of some influencers that you want to connect with and send them a compliment, share a post that they’ve done, give them a comment on their blog or a shout out, maybe leave a comment on their Amazon for their book or on their podcasts and just start today. You could have this done in the next five minutes and you’ll be on your way to starting to build relationships by giving first. So thank you for joining us today. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I’m sure you got lots of questions. I’ll make sure that the show notes are transcribed and when it’s published, you’ll be able to see all the details, and the conversation that I had with Cloris today, as well as a link to her generous offer, and I’ll make sure there’s a link in there for her book, Beyond Influencer Marketing. She’s also a podcaster, so if you like the message that she shared with us today, make sure you connect with her and tune into the Beyond Influencer Marketing podcast. So thanks again for tuning in. We look forward to serving you on your next episode.
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HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
HOW TO BUILD LONG TERM CONNECTIONS WITH INFLUENCERS
We are in the business of building relationships, right? Look to build long term connections with influencers, not just short term ones.
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Get in touch with Cloris:
- Website – Cloris Kylie
- Cloris on LinkedIn
Find out more about Cloris:
Links to other related podcasts and or blog posts:
HOW TO USE TWITTER TO CONNECT WITH INFLUENCERS
UNDERSTANDING INFLUENCER MARKETING
