Steve's Guide to Enhanced Connections through Podcasting
Oct 14, 2023Season 2Episode 8
Shireen Botha
Imagine if a simple business tool could revolutionize the way we share information and build relationships. Today, we're thrilled to have Steve on board to discuss just that – podcasting. Steve encourages us to look at podcasts as an economical and powerful business card that can unlock a world of opportunities. As he shares his insights, you'll discover how to foster meaningful connections, harness the power of storytelling, and make impactful promises that lay the foundation for powerful bonds in both business and personal life.
But that's not all. Steve's philosophy extends beyond just business tools; he brings to light the immense potential of serving others and expressing gratitude. He challenges each of us to contemplate our approach to service and gratitude and how transforming these areas can significantly improve our interactions with others. Plus, Steve introduces us to the groundbreaking business toolpad, Infoone, that's set to change how we disseminate business information. It's an episode packed with invaluable wisdom, practical tips, and a fresh perspective on podcasting and business tools. You won't want to miss it!
Imagine if a simple business tool could revolutionize the way we share information and build relationships. Today, we're thrilled to have Steve on board to discuss just that – podcasting. Steve encourages us to look at podcasts as an economical and powerful business card that can unlock a world of opportunities. As he shares his insights, you'll discover how to foster meaningful connections, harness the power of storytelling, and make impactful promises that lay the foundation for powerful bonds in both business and personal life.
But that's not all. Steve's philosophy extends beyond just business tools; he brings to light the immense potential of serving others and expressing gratitude. He challenges each of us to contemplate our approach to service and gratitude and how transforming these areas can significantly improve our interactions with others. Plus, Steve introduces us to the groundbreaking business toolpad, Infoone, that's set to change how we disseminate business information. It's an episode packed with invaluable wisdom, practical tips, and a fresh perspective on podcasting and business tools. You won't want to miss it!
Tales from the Wild, stories from the Heart A journey into the mind and soul of fired-up business professionals, where they share their vision for the future and hear from a different non-profit organization every month as they create awareness of their goals and their needs. Dive into a world of untamed passion. As we join our host, shereen Guerta, for this month's episode of Friends from Wild Places.
Speaker 2:
Wow, wow, that's awesome. So, with the company and the podcast, kind of bridge the gap for me on that segment, because so many different industries default to different types of platforms For example, commercial right, there's radio, there's print ads, there's direct mail. How are you finding and what is it that's supporting your drive for podcasts?
Speaker 3:
Easy entry. Those other things that you mentioned are going to cost you a few bucks. 90% of the people can't do that. I might literally do my podcast. I can have people start a podcast less than $100 a month. Zoom's free. There's a couple of softwares. You guys were able to produce it, but that's what I coach people how to start there, because that's one of the thing two things, time and cost. I hear it all the time.
Speaker 3:
And you guys know you have a podcast. You don't need to buy a production company if you don't want to. So I show them to get in because it's my business card. So, for example, I met Dr Rob is on my show. His assistant heard my podcast and reached out and said Dr Rob needs to talk to you. He's all about child trauma and psychiatrist. But this guy charges $30,000 for 90 days. He's got many clients because he's really really good and I believe on the show he turned a million dollars away from Britney Spears because she's not ready to be helped. Well, we had such a great connection. We're going to partner up. This guy's big he knows some grand cardones and people like that and because we had such a great conversation and he loves my doing business with a servant's heart and changing the world. So let's work together and see what we can do. We're still working on things, but I've got many opportunities like that with people that are very high level because I brought them value and the podcast does that.
Speaker 2:
So, steve, if you go to your marketing different groups that you frequent, what is your ask? Do you have like a 30 second or a 60 second? Yeah, I want to hear it. I want to hear it. Or you could do two if you have two, but I want to hear what you say.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, Do you want to amplify your network and grow your network with high level people? I'm up for speakers, authors, coaches, consultants and agencies that we can help change their network and connect with high income people to grow their network and grow your network and build partnerships that everybody wants.
Speaker 2:
Very nice, Thank you yeah.
Speaker 4:
I like that. There's something catchy about you, steve. I love this whole serving as opposed to selling. It's really. It's a completely different heart focus as opposed to what everyone's so used to. So I absolutely love it. Steve, super excited to help you as much as I can, because you have that. I don't know about you, tanya, but just how you talk and you carry yourself, I want to help you. Where do I start? Tell me what you need, let me go and find it for you, kind of thing. I like that.
Speaker 3:
I appreciate that I'm nothing special. Anybody can do it. It's all up here, right?
Speaker 2:
So you're recording, though I know they say like in our marketing world, like specific is terrific, right. So if you could just get a little bit more specific as far as like so you, how does? If somebody's interested in talking with you, what is it that you would start them with, would you? Are you giving them information to start their own? Are you saying come on my, what is it specifically that you're offering your clients?
Speaker 3:
Fantastic question. It's twofold One. Like this gentleman, dr Roth, he never would have met me. I didn't have a podcast. That's the first thing about a podcast. It's your business card. I could reach out to Arnold Schwarzenegger, which I did. I didn't get a response, but I have no problem going on. I saw your documentary. He talked about serving people. That's what I talk about. I'd love for you to get your message out the rock. I have no problem reaching out to these people or people at this caliber, like I just had Jason Hewitt on Hewlett, who's one of the top entertainers in Vegas. He's in the hall of fame of speakers the youngest hall of famer ever and he travels around the world speaking about leadership and using comedy. He does a hundred impressions of musicians Metallica, elton John, ricky Martin, you know all these and he had to quit the entertainment side because his voice was going bad.
Speaker 4:
Wow.
Speaker 3:
And this is the thing I love about podcasts when you're a host and you guys get this because you're learning from me he taught me one thing that I'm going to use for the rest of my life Goals are easily broken. We make a goal that we want to make $500, next week we make 300. It's broken. We start over, change your mindset, start making promises. I promise I'm going to be on this show and give you my best, because that's what you guys want. If I break that promise, I've broken our bond. And when you start having bonds like that now you're building powerful relationships. That, shireen, I appreciate everything that you said. God bless you that we start building that relationship.
Speaker 3:
It becomes not hey, I just met Steve at a networking group. I just met, not Tonya, no, you got to talk to Steve. You got to talk to Tonya because they're going to help you. They're not going to sell. You See where the sermon comes back in, because I say go talk to Shireen, she's got the best book team in the world. You better buy her product today. You know, relax, man.
Speaker 2:
And, steve, I hear that your ideal clients are, you know, in a high financial bracket. What about if someone is aspiring to get there, but they're here? So what do you do with this disconnect?
Speaker 3:
I will do it. You know limited time. Shireen's a perfect example. We jumped on a call. She didn't know me. I gave her some resources at no cost. I Believe everybody in this world should be given something for free and if you're not nothing against you, but that's part of serving. You know I could have a charge, shireen some type of money and she might have paid it because she got value. But again, it's building relationships. You know I'm gonna take you two out to dinner as business partners. I'm gonna pay for your dinner. I'm gonna bring you value. Maybe next time you buy me there, whatever. But it works across the board, not just in personal relationships. It's business and we lose sight of that. Covid and the economy and the recession and interest rates. People are so fearful. Now get rid of the fear. Enjoy people like we're doing today. It's such a great show.
Speaker 4:
Right and listen, steve. There's another part of you. It doesn't end there. You're a man with many hats. And the other thing is this new infone business toolpad. Tell us a little bit more about it. Is it available to everyone and anyone?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it's a worldwide product and what we do is we've taken the virtual business card and Put it on steroids you'd say made it much bigger. Because what happens is, when I own the brick and mortar business for seven years I did recycling computers People would call me six months later go. Oh, steve, I had a project with Apple and I couldn't find your phone number. So what we do is we put all your information as a web app, so your photo becomes an app on their phone. So when they're going through their phone every day, they're gonna see your picture in your name. Steve Ramonin. Oh yeah, he's the info guy. Oh, she's the bookkeeper lady. Oh yeah, oh yeah, I just talked to somebody on networking group and I gotta refer her. So it's top of mind the ability to click a button and have access to everything. I do my podcast info by just clicking buttons and they can learn all about me, communicate with me and share my business and engage in my business.
Speaker 2:
Okay. So for the non-techy one, the question is I have issues with QR codes. Okay, so I got a share for my Miami-Dade College Partners. Out there, I was a convocation at the Kendall campus on Thursday, sitting with my colleagues, and they're like Tanya, scan the code to show that you were here. I Attempted it. It didn't work. I tried it again, it didn't work at the third time. I'm like you know what, whoever sees that I'm here, I'm here, I am struggling with these QR codes. So and you know, it's like how far do you push that question? You know, excuse me somebody, can you help me, can you? So how do you bridge the gap between the non-techy and a virtual business card?
Speaker 3:
Great question, because there are people that are not comfortable QR codes. We use a link infoco slash sr1. That would be my info. If you click on that link and open something, my info, excuse me on any device computer, phone, tablet, laptop, chromebook. It works everywhere. So if you're not QR code friendly, I call it that we send you a link and everybody knows what links are.
Speaker 2:
Now I Didn't even share this story with you. This is true. So all my stories are true. I can't make anything up.
Speaker 2:
So yesterday, actually Thursday evening, my car head issues, so I'm Depending on Uber right now. Okay, so I was at college, at the campus, yesterday, at the North Campus, which is where we have our department, and I now have my phone, my laptop. I'm on campus for my work. Okay, I have to call Uber to get home. My phone goes dead, I don't have a charger and I default to my laptop. And I said, well, let me see if I can access the Uber app on my laptop, which I could. However, it says we don't recognize you, we're gonna send you a code. I did not have the option to put in a different phone number, so they're gonna send me this code on my cell phone, which now doesn't work. So the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over it was like so now I can't even access this. So I was like Uber lists at the moment. So what I ended up doing was calling my daughter to have her get me an Uber to contact with the Uber driver.
Speaker 2:
But this is the level of Less technology. So in your world, steve, so share a little bit more. Are these Virtual business cards? Because maybe that's what I need. How are they expensive? Is there different tiers of pricing? How does that work?
Speaker 3:
One tears $199 a year, yeah, and that's just pushing buttons. So the founder of the company and my partner Thought was everybody knows how to push a button. We've been doing phones back in the 60, 70s. Atms, we push buttons. We go to the grocery store, only push buttons and all you have all the tech you need. And I had this gentleman who was 80 years old who I met for discovery of college goes right away. Hey, hey, steve, tough a tongue. Hey, uh, my son starting this business. I hear about this info. If I can't use it, you ain't getting my sale, tony, no problem, let's go through it. I said here, click some buttons, he goes. Okay, you convinced me, this is easy, I can do it. 80 years old, not a tech guy. You had a flip phone, I think. Still, it worked on his flip phone because it did internet. So it's really tech proof and that was our whole goal to make it simple for everybody. All right.
Speaker 2:
Well, I think you got a sale because I'm interested in I have to go to a convention in a few weeks and I really don't want to bring the stack of business cards Even though I still do have an old-fashioned roll of decks for the listeners out there that people are like what is that word even mean? So you guys can Google it. I'm sure it'll come up with something, or at least a visual image. But I too can appreciate with the flip phone. I still have an AOL account. I'm like the non-techy one, so I'm interested in technology and once I learn something I'm Adoptable to it. I just find like again, like the QR code issue that I just described and just other things that come very Natural to people that are techy. That's not me, so I'm the hands-on, but for $199 I think I'm gonna sign up awesome and I'm a techie guy.
Speaker 3:
I family and friends reach out all the time hey, I need help with this. I need help with this. I built my first computer in 78. I'm an old guy and I know I need that with all love, because I love being old, because I've learned so much. But I I've been interested in tech and I'm building a computer and playing football and baseball and the athletes are like what does that boxer doing? Ah, computers. I keep sports stats on there. Oh, you're an idiot, you're crazy. Well, look with. People are making millions of dollars in computers now.
Speaker 2:
Yeah yeah all right. Well, I'll take you up on your offer, but I'm a full-time job, so Full-time server.
Speaker 3:
I'll serve you all day.
Speaker 4:
I love that so, steve, along this journey of your career and as a leader, what could you say some of your biggest challenges that you have faced and how did you get past those challenges?
Speaker 3:
Building my network, working with higher-level people. The challenge for me was given away the resource I mentioned earlier and my mentor, josh, who I mentioned before. I Love the guy. He's 40 years old and built many businesses and age doesn't matter to me. You should be able to learn from older, younger, same age. If you're learning, you're growing, doesn't matter where it's coming from. And he said, steve, you're such a great networker and connector, you need to make some abundance from that. You have incredible value.
Speaker 3:
And he brought me on to his company and hired me and Said here, and he's made me more money in the last six months I've made in three or four years Because of the connections. But he saw value in me and said I want you aboard. He didn't think I would do it. He thought I'd move on and do. These is when you said yes, I was surprised. I'm like Josh this is the greatest opportunity in the world. I get to work with leaders To help change the world. And I tell people all the time this is my little phrase Tonya, steve and Shereen if we change our own little worlds and we put them together, we'll change the whole world. Me, us, we can't change the whole world, but if our worlds are better and we start adding to that everybody's better world positivity, things will change, and pretty quickly.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you really sound like you have like I'm gonna use the word like the entrepreneurial spirit. You know me, like that's what it sounds like and it's so funny because it's so different from my personality mind. I'm just much more like I would have no desire to have my own business or like this, just not my, my, but it's not. And I know friends that are like the phenomenal Entrepreneurs. One of my good friends, jim Taylor, he I mean he just will open up a business and start it and it's just, it's a Fascinating when you're not that person to observe. So would you describe yourself as that like entrepreneurial type of person?
Speaker 3:
Absolutely opportunities coming through my door. And I love what you said, Tonya, because you can be just as successful as me and as Shereen Working at the college doing what you're doing and doing the pot. Shereen's a bookkeeper. She has her own business. If you do something you're passionate about and you serve people, I guarantee you will make money. Hands down how much and when See serving is, and that's one of the other difficult things I've had to learn teaching people, you know they go, Steve. Oh, I want to serve, but how do I do it? I don't have any money. The beauty of serving you don't have to have money. Go to a food kitchen Beyond somebody's podcast. Be a great guest. Tell somebody they have a beautiful hat. Tell you know that lady, her baby is so beautiful. Because every time you do that, your universe changes. Instead of arguing with a guy in the car next to you because he got your offer, screaming at the waitress because your food was cold, Instead of going hey, Kim the waitress, you have food's cold. What can you do about that? All right, Let me get that replaced. Okay, great, it's not her problem, it was the chef and you're not going to talk to the chef, so I just served her, and it's interesting.
Speaker 3:
I'm going to write a book about customer service, but not from the business owner side, but from the customer side. How can you be a better customer? Don't yell at the person, Be kind, Be considerate. Thank that business person. For a business owner, like a manager at a restaurant. I talked to over 100 last few years. 99 of them never got a customer to tell them they did a good job. Every conversation I had was and I do it, and I do it like this.
Speaker 3:
This is such a great story. So me and my wife will sit there and eat and I'll go. Hey, Kim the waitress, come here. Can I talk to your manager? Oh, sure, Sure, Hold on. And then I'll watch her walk over and in the far corner I'll see them talking. You know they're going. What'd you do? What happened, you know? And he'll come walking up and it was named as Jim. And hey, you know. Hey, hey, there you, the manager, and says yeah, I'm Steve. Hey, Jim, nice to meet you. How can I help you? I said Kim was incredible. She talked to my wife about their kids, she got water, Our food was fast, she if I had a restaurant I'd take her. This guy goes. Oh my God, Thank you so much. I said do you ever hear this? He goes very rarely Been here 10 years, Maybe once a year.
Speaker 3:
We need to change that. We need to serve as customers, tell people they're doing good. We always say the negative, we never say the positive. And here's a challenge I'll put to the audience Today's Saturday, but start on a Monday. Every person you run into, virtually or in person, bring them value, serve them, Keep track of it. Friday, I want you to write down how you felt, how they felt, and how much your week changed. I will guarantee you it'll be increased. How much I don't know, but you'll have a better week.
Speaker 4:
Not bad, that's beautiful, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2:
That's interesting On LinkedIn, steve. I actually use the hashtag, like servant leadership, because it's exactly what we're discussing and what we're collaborating about In the fall. I actually teach funeral home management and it's all about customer service. As funeral directors, we have one chance to make a funeral right. There's no second chance. There's no making it back. Nobody's even interested in the refund that they're going to get or a free casket down the road or a free prearrangement. Nobody's interested. They want it right now. They want it 100% accurate.
Speaker 2:
You need to make it happen and you have to be able to take feedback from a family that's under grief.
Speaker 2:
So what I do, what is very inspiring to hear you as far as having that weekly gratitude, even in my management class, we start off by having our favorite brands and why things are our favorite brands, and consistency and what makes you go to the coffee shop that you choose or the gas station that you go by gas from, or whatever it is that you're purchasing regularly, and consistency. And then we actually do five-star Google reviews and I actually give extra credit for five-star Google reviews because that is a way of gratitude, and even if somebody wakes up not feeling great, having an off day, I'll say you know what, maybe some people are not meditators or not really into prayer. Spend 15 minutes and just think about people and places that you've frequented over the past week and do Google reviews. Maybe it was a nail technician, maybe it was a mechanic, maybe it was somebody that came to your home property manager, and if you do three, four, five Google reviews every day, you start having the mindset that you are describing Steve.
Speaker 3:
My heart's singing right now. It is singing a major lullaby because that is what we need to do, excuse me, and it's not hard to do Again. It's the mindset Look for the good. Everybody has good. Everybody wants to serve. I'm doing a show next to a gentleman that was in jail. It's going to be an incredible show. And he learned and brought God into his life and now he's serving with his ministry, but he's serving when he could have said screw you world, excuse my language, I'm in prison. I did something wrong, my life is over, right, and he decided to make a change. Things happen in his life. So from that extreme to you wake up. I had a bad day yesterday. I had some not a bad day, but some things happened we have in life. Some other things happened. I got upset that I went, did a show an hour later. It was one of my greatest shows ever and it changed my attitude. It was like things are great Because again I serve somebody on my podcast or I thank the clerk for bagging my groceries.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 3:
I get excited about this. Yes, yes, no.
Speaker 2:
I like it and I love the law of attraction as far as I mean, if things are wrong and you have to voice your opinion and make it right like you were describing a restaurant situation, a lot of people do that Everyone's first to complain or an airline or a phone company or a cable company, especially here in the US but also when somebody does provide you excellent or exceptional customer service, to ask to speak to their manager and make sure that you make note, not just assume, just because you got good customer service, that that's okay. So it's almost like to have a neutrality about it. If you're going to complain on one side, then when things go good we should make the extra effort. So I think by making these little shifts every day and incorporating them, that's how you start changing your mindset for abundance.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, absolutely. I'll give you a quick story, another one. I was at a grocery store a couple of years ago. It was six o'clock, busy time for a grocery store, and there was only two lines available. I think they had six spots that you could check out and then later in the back starts screaming get more people, where's the manager? Just screaming around. People were like and I just turned around. I said, ma'am, two things. One you came at six o'clock in the afternoon and it's busy. You know that. Yeah, but I got to go. I said hold on, we are not in the manager and the store's shoes. Maybe four people called in sick. Do you know that? Well, but still, no, but still we can't control that.
Speaker 3:
The manager came out and said exactly what happened. There were four people short and there were scramble and they get shelved, stocked, and I got a standing ovation. I'm not saying that for me, but people realized you should set it on you. Let's step up and say something. I didn't scream at her, I just said here and I just served that store and I said thank me. I said no, it's no problem. And we get into a spot where we're frustrated. Things happen in our life. Maybe somebody died. I understand that, but kind of bring yourself back down to earth, because that doesn't help anybody screaming and yelling and doing all that and doesn't. And the lady eventually thanked me when she walked out. She actually left and said, hey, I don't have time. I said thank you. My perspective is different. Now I'm nothing special again, but if we think that way and we all start doing that, oh my God, this world would be so much better.
Speaker 2:
You are special, Steve. I just met you when you were special. As you are to Sherene, I love that what's up Sherene. What else is next on our road?
Speaker 4:
Steve, you're talking our language, so in the same way, you're hard to see in Sarah's hours, because we talk a lot about that. It starts with the little things and this where we can actually ask how are you doing, how can I make your day better? Like you were saying earlier on, I think there's so often a lot within your relationships, within your business, where you ask how are you doing and people just go, oh, I'm fine, can I help you with anything? No, no, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. How many people do that? I think most of the population are in that habit of doing that, because maybe they don't feel like they want to be a burden to someone or whatever the reason is. But to extend that branch and go, what is the one thing that I can do for you today just to make your day better, is another way to impact someone in the most smallest of ways inside your family. Would you mind doing a load of washing? Of course, no problem. Something as small as that Smile at someone that you see that's so frustrated. Just, it's little things, and you don't need to be some amazing person to do that. So I just want to before we continue, because we're having a fantastic conversation here. I just want to slip in with a little bit of a Buzzsprout ad.
Speaker 4:
So here at Friends from Wild Places, we use Buzzsprouts. I started this podcast to share stories from other business owners and professionals A safe place to show support for other business owners and entrepreneurs all over the world. I feature nonprofits every month to try to make a difference or give a helpline to someone in need. Do you have a message you want to share with the world? Or maybe you just think it'll be fun to have your own talk show? Podcasting is an easy and expensive and fun way to expand your reach online. So to start your own podcast today, follow the link in the show notes. This let's Buzzsprout know we sent you and let's support the show. So the team at Buzzsprout is passionate about helping you succeed. Tune in next week for part three of Friends from Wild Places.
Speaker 1:
You've been listening to Friends from Wild Places with Shereen Buetta. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast from the links to catch every episode and unleash your passion.