E4: The Value of PR and Developing Your Brand with Sharon Bially and Emily Adams

Welcome to Episode 4 of the GET READY! With Tony Steuer podcast in partnership with Insurance Nerds.

“Keep your mind open to new perspectives and possibilities to help people” - Emily Adams

“For every initiative, think about how you can help others, rather than what you can get out of it” - Sharon Bially

In this episode of GET READY!, I spoke with public relations and marketings experts Emily Adams and Sharon Bially about the value of PR, earning media placement and developing our personal brand. The key to PR is about staying focused on serving your audience and clients. We also discussed how you can amplify your message and the future of marketing. 

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About The GET READY! with Tony Steuer Podcast: On the GET READY! Podcast, I’ll be catching up with inspiring professionals from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to help bring you innovative strategies to organize your financial life. GET READY! With Tony Steuer will help you be informed and financially prepared today and in the future. We’ll also talk about best practices from both the consumer and industry perspectives. 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:13

Welcome to

Speaker 2: 0:14

The get ready with Tony Stewart podcast. This episode, I'm really pleased to have on, uh, two people that have gotten to know and work with this year, uh, Sharon by Allie and, uh, Emily Adams of books, skivvy PR and thought savvy marketing, uh, welcome Emily and Sharon to they get ready to podcast. Fantastic. Um, so before we dive in, I'm just going to give everybody a little bit of background on who you are. Uh, Sharon is a founder of thought savvy marketing and book staff UPR running high impact PR and marketing campaigns for thought leaders and authors. Sharon is a seasoned storyteller and strategist with a background in international economic policy. And she's held management or leadership positions at the organization for economic cooperation and development. The OECD in Paris, the PR agency, feral Kramer communications in MBA value partners and New York investor relations firms. So Sharon brings a huge wealth of experience across the financial and, uh, marketing spectrum. Emily is a former English instructor, turned publicity strategist who has worked behind the scenes for business authors, helping them to research and write books. She's a voice behind dozens of ghost written articles, blog posts, and newsletters, Emily links, your client's thought leadership with current events that appeal to audiences particular, particularly her millennial peers. Emily has helped both authors and thought leaders get coverage everywhere from the New York times, the Washington post and NBR to Buzzfeed, cosmopolitan and courts. And I know for myself, Emily helped me get on, uh, ABC, uh, published on fast company among many other publications. So, you know, uh, both Emily and Terran bring tremendous wealth of experience and expertise in marketing, which is so important to all of us, uh, across the insurance industry and you know, every part of the financial spectrum. Uh, so let's go ahead and dive in. Um, the, do you want to share a little bit of what you both do? Um, Sharon, do you want to swing at that first?

Speaker 3: 2:43

Sure. Thanks. Um, you know, talking about what we do is so huge in a lot of ways, so I'm going to boil it down and make it really simple for, um, anybody listening. In essence, we visibility for authors and for thought leaders engaging the media and their audiences so that they can drive new business and book sales. If they have a book that is really just a thought leadership marketing, which is similar to author and book marketing

Speaker 2: 3:19

Well, fantastic. And I mean, isn't that really true that, you know, for anybody in business that they need to be thinking of themselves as the thought leader?

Speaker 3: 3:28

Yes, it really is Tony. I think there's one distinction is that in a lot of industries where industries that focus more on products and services, the thought leadership element may not be as crucial, but services and financial services, including insurance are very much service oriented in services is where it becomes really, um, crucial. The thought leadership element becomes really crucial. I think that maybe people in the insurance business often seem StoreOnce as a product, but I see it very much as a service.

Speaker 2: 4:03

Yeah. I, I agree with you wholeheartedly. And I think that's where the insurance industry really needs to go is from being commodity driven to understanding that it's a service driven industry that we serve the client and that when you take that viewpoint, rather than selling that you're servicing and working with a client as an advisor, that it, it changes the perspective and it makes it a better experience for everyone. Absolutely. Yeah. So Emily, uh, you know, talk a little bit about, you know, your perspective on what you do and how you view things.

Speaker 3: 4:39

Yeah. First, just to follow that, I mean, we've seen throughout, you know, publicizing your book, that there's actually quite a demand for people thinking about insurance as not a commodity and more as a service. And I think that was very apparent in a lot of the media interests. We true for you. So that definitely seems to be where things are heading. Um, I think, yeah, Sharon summarized it really well. You know, we want to help people get this ability. We want to help them distill sometimes big unwieldy ideas down into something that's bite-sized and usable for the media. Um, and really we want to work as partners with them in accomplishing that. So really taking on board exactly what it is that is sort of the core thought that their business and their business ethics is based around and making that into something that is legible to someone who has, you know, maybe 50 seconds. Um, so that's, I think that's feels like often the goal of my day is to, you know, help communicate those big things into small things. Um, and without while still retaining the richness of the concept.

Speaker 2: 6:03

Well, and I think that's important, um, excuse me and Sharon you've had experience working in the financial community is that I think people tend to forget how little people outside the financial services industry even understand the very basic building blocks of a financial product or service, including their insurance. I mean, is that your experience?

Speaker 3: 6:29

Yeah. And you know, one of the questions that you've, um, asked us to think about and advanced speaks directly to that, and it's, um, how does a background working in communications with financial interviews help me, or us understand how to bridge the gap between financial experts in the media. And that's really that on that point, um, in order to bridge that gap or, or any communications gap for that matter, you really have to understand the details behind what's being said. And the unique way that the given audience is going to filter the information and receive it. So working with financial organizations and experts, um, you know, is an understanding their products and services is the best way to then be able to boil things down and make it accessible to the media, but also make it something that the media and other audiences will value and want to use.

Speaker 2: 7:23

Yeah. And I would say that probably translates directly to, uh, I know my personal work, uh, you know, although I don't work with clients as much as I used to, is that that's really, the difficult point is taking, um, sorry, hold on. I'm pausing for a second. So we were discussing about, um, bridging the gap of communications, uh, with, uh, you know, between financial advisors and those with subject matter expertise and with consumers. And I think we were getting some really good points. Um, Emily, H how do you see that issue?

Speaker 3: 8:10

Um, I think I'm going to have less to say here than Sharon. Um, I think that the main point that I've taken away so far is just that consumers, again, want something that is relatable and easy to understand. And I think that one of the things I, myself, as a consumer in this space and that I've noticed in working with these types of campaigns is that people really want something plainly stated. So again, you know, to actually to borrow from one of our, uh, you know, angles in your campaign, it's kind of, it's the Marie Kondo

Speaker 4: 8:56

Approach you want to sort of get rid of everything that's extraneous and, um, make things very simple to understand.

Speaker 2: 9:05

Yeah. And I think that's a valuable lesson, especially for those of us in the insurance industry is we tend to be a very jargon, heavy, angry, and we tend to forget that in working with clients that most clients don't know what a declaration is, or what did deductible is, or any of these terms, you know, that we just throw around, you know, the, we all know so well in the industry. Okay.

Speaker 4: 9:29

I think it's hard. It's hard then to get outside of, you know, yourself when you have those, those blinders on, and to remember exactly what jargon is even being thrown around. So it's helpful to really step back and think like, how much do I need to decode here?

Speaker 2: 9:46

And I think that's where, you know, your background and experience as a teacher really, excuse me, it comes in handy. I mean, how you feel the, your experience as a teacher lends itself to the work you do now.

Speaker 4: 10:02

Yeah. This is such an excellent question, Tony. And I think that the number one thing that I've drawn from teaching is that teachers are tireless iterators, they will try something over and over again in order to reach, you know, this student or that student, um, and to help kids move along. And a lot of times that means repackaging the same idea. Many times, like meet a math teacher, you know, this probably better than I do. They have all kinds of systems and routines for explaining how a fraction works, what it is, um, and how to divide it for instance. And so I think that the bottom line is with publicity and working with big concepts, you really do have to be a tireless iterator. You have to be ready to wrestle a topic down to the ground and find the way that's going to make it palatable. As Sharon was describing earlier to the audience that you're trying to reach. And sometimes that means first getting it to a journalist. So figuring out how to make the journalist want it and see how, you know, they will understand their audience to want it. So you have a lot of different interest groups that are sort of buying for one idea. And I think it really comes down to, you know, the art and practice of repackaging things to make them work.

Speaker 2: 11:35

Definitely. And I think what you brought up there is incredibly valuable is, so let's say you have a class of 30 students is you may have to teach that same concept 30 different ways. Absolutely tell the students. And I think that's something for the insurance industry to work. The future is that, you know, the insurance industry has to move on from just selling in one particular way or framing a product in one particular way to understanding that there's a whole spectrum of learning styles out there among consumers, and that if they want to really be effective, they're going to have to adapt to different segments of the market. And I think that's such a valuable experience, uh, you know, or lesson for the insurance industry, as well as for members of the insurance industry who want media placement and which leads into, uh, you know, my next question is how do you feel that PR and media appearances, uh, compare to advertising for people there?

Speaker 3: 12:49

Yeah, that's, um, I mean, there's a huge difference. Um, PR is referred to as earned media, precisely because it is earned in that the media decides that an individual or an organization who they're going to cover or give coverage to is deemed bore that, that they like the ideas, that those ideas are valuable to them. Um, and when you're getting media coverage, you don't need to pay for that. It's because it is something that the, the outlet wants and needs for itself, and that automatically lends important third-party validation. And when you're covered. So when you're covered by the media, in an article or an interview or an interview, the implicit messages you've been vetted, they're, they're saying, you know, we, yeah, Tony, we like your message. So we're going to use it, but advertising is really different. It's a paper, paper play proposition. Wow. There's a lot of peace there. Hey, Yeah. Right by definition, you haven't been vetted and there's no real third party validation. It's it's in essence, a financial transaction that said advertising does provide visibility. And there is a small degree of vetting in that a credible media organization is not going to accept ads about products or services that they don't, um, that they really don't feel are an accurate reflection of their values. So, um, you know, ISIS is not going to place an ad in the New York times sample, but, uh, so there is that piece to advertising still. It is, it is really clear that there's advertising is simply not, um, offering validation. It's just offering the visibility. How do you feel about that,

Speaker 2: 14:52

Emily?

Speaker 4: 14:53

Yeah, I, I totally agree. And I think that, um, you know, Sharon has hit the nail on the head advertising PR well, it's true. We're coming up on, I think one of your next questions is going to be something about trends that we're seeing. And I think as I'm listening to Sharon, one thing I'm thinking is, you know, it's, this is going to be an interesting next five years, as people become more skeptical of news and news sources, you know, how far will that vetting carry us? I'm not saying that publicity is a dying art. I'm saying that I think it's going to have to transition. And, you know, we're even doing that a lot of times. And I think I'm just going to lead right into your next question, because I think it, interestingly ties in with this, so that I think the future of publicity in this sense is that, you know, what we're working on now, the projects we're working on is actually reaching people like influencers. So often we're not just pitching the media. We're also pitching people who have a different type of third party validation credit now because they're people, you know, they're kind of out there, they're doing their own rogue thing, and they're only going to support a brand that they really love, or at least, you know, this is the current, you know, understanding of the way that influencers function. And I think that one of the really important things in that space right now is really the micro-influencers. So we have begun the process often of pitching people who even do Amazon reviews for authors or, um, ups of blogs that, you know, while they may seem small, like they're only capturing 10,000 followers, they're the exact right. 10,000 followers. So I think that in terms of, you know, the difference between advertising and publicity in this time is that it's going to move even further towards publicity and potentially advertising are both going to move even further into this space of tapping into people as opposed to, you know, media brands. Um, and that I may have muddled things there, but I'm just, I'm very excited about this idea that, you know, things are becoming more micro focused and you can reach audiences on a smaller scale. And I think advertising still struggles to do that. I think there are still a lot of places where it's kind of, uh, if you take a blanket approach and you sort of get what you pay for there.

Speaker 2: 17:42

Yeah. And I think we discussed that, um, even with a PR campaign that I just have with your firm is that, uh, we got placement in a very large publication and it didn't seem like it was, uh, very helpful in terms of, uh, my book sales. And I think that'd be it, people are looking for that more personalized connection that, you know, that are you both familiar with Seth Godin marketing and how he talks about, I think it's 1000 true fans and that I think as business people and as an author is that, you know, it's looking for that smaller core of people who truly believe in what you do. Um, Sharon, do you feel that same, uh, thoughts about the trends in the industry?

Speaker 3: 18:40

So it is so true that, um, influencers are becoming King. Just one small point on that is to add is that there now people do also pay influencers on social media in particular. So even there, the lines between advertising and vetted third-party validation are blurring. So the whole world in so many ways is in complete upheaval, but one of the central pieces to this upheaval is that, and ties right back into the question at which to the point about influencers is that traditional media no longer has the dominant role at once did in providing visibility or even credibility. In some cases, um, the traditional media keeps changing. It's, it's a complete and total moving target right now. It has been for some time. I think it really has been since I've been in this field for longer than I care to admit. But, um, when I first started was before the internet upheaval of the traditional media and things were so different. So, um, ever since then it has become and keeps Reba becoming a real moving target. Um, outlet outlets are moving online. Most media outlets are now online in addition to being in print, if they're still in print and even on broadcast and ad revenue online is, is the real driving force of everything. And behind that is page views. So pretty funny outlets perspective generating page views is King and they're all constantly that's okay. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:25

I, I left that on in case it was X affinity, home security again, but it's not,

Speaker 3: 20:32

Oh boy. So, um, so, you know, even news outlets are just constantly trying to figure out and refigure figure out how to drive more views and clicks. And that means that their editorial preferences are constantly changing. So we have one day an outlet is doing book reviews. And the next day it's just writing about trends that it's seeing in new book releases and maybe mentioning a few book titles along the way. We've actually seen that with the New York times. They've, they've segwayed a lot of their book review coverage into more trends coverage, and it leaves everybody's head spinning, like what next what's going to be the next change. And, uh, article length keeps getting shorter headlines and subheads and tips and pointers keep becoming more important, but in different ways. So it really keeps us on our toes.

Speaker 2: 21:16

Yeah, well, and I think that's a trend we're seeing in the insurance industry as well, is that with the advent of technology and new methods of communication that everybody has to adjust the way that they do business. Um, so I guess that leads to the next question. I think you've both started to address it is, you know, H how does somebody amplify their message in this changing environment?

Speaker 3: 21:43

Yeah. Keep it out there. No, there's so much to say about this. Um, you know, I think first the real key point here, and this is what Emily and I do on an hourly basis every day is to make sure that your message or in our case, our client's message itself is clear and compelling and tailored to a specific audience. So you can't amplify a message without, without that piece in place. Otherwise it's just noise. And so the, so behind that is another first step, which means knowing who your audience is. And, um, and then you have to figure out where you find your audience. Are they on LinkedIn? Are they on Twitter? Are they listening to Tony's podcast? Are they hanging out at industry conferences and understanding that is going to help you understand how to best tailor the message to each of those different venues and funnel it out. And there are all sorts of ways to do that. Um, it might mean writing LinkedIn articles and cross posting them to specialized groups. It might mean boosting certain Facebook posts, and then you have to decide which ones you're going to boost. It might mean pitching yourself to be a speaker at conferences or, and or all of the above. And it all, by the way, has to sink into what to tie up with your website, where your, uh, identity and core message should of course be clear and clearly presented

Speaker 2: 23:16

Well. So in that works, especially, I would say for arch businesses, let's say an insurance company. Um, how do you feel that would translate for, you know, a small agency with two or three agents or employees? Do you feel that with translate the same way?

Speaker 3: 23:34

I think it's even better. Um, because one of the struggles with a big company is who's the real eye behind the message. Is it a company, you know, Coca Cola, for example, does Coca-Cola speak and have a voice? Is it the CEO? And if so, that person was so high level and an accessible that, um, it, it, it doesn't, it doesn't create the same type of engagement. So when you have a small company, the head of the company, you know, myself, for example, in our case, can really effectively engage with people on a one-on-one basis and feel more real and human. And then whoever is working with the person. Um, you know, my kids there's few of us and Emily is, is one and a key person, um, can also have her own voice and translate or carry the center, our central voice, but also interpreted in her own way without anything getting lost. And I think it's a lot easier when you're small to do that. I think the challenge has been building a big audience size or the right audience. It's a little more challenging for a small organization then for a huge organization whose name brand recognition is already established and followed by millions.

Speaker 2: 24:54

Yeah. Well, and I think though, you know, as you point out, there's the reverse of it too, and, you know, Emily, I'll, I'll let you take this next one I think is, is valuable for your input is, you know, as a millennial you're coming out and you know, what you know about the insurance industry is you can buy insurance from a lizard or from somebody wearing an apron, you know, how do you personalize, you know, these companies, you know, I mean, that's great that, you know, Geico's got a funny lizard, the flow's willing to help you with these things. And some other guys, you know, for farmers is sitting in the middle of traffic and his easy chair. Um, does that actually tell you anything about the insurance companies and what they do or is that just like ridiculous, fluff,

Speaker 4: 25:40

Tony? I think about this a lot and I, I'm actually in the middle of a very good and old advertising book from my library that talks about this really complex nature of making your brand funny when it's about something serious. So I'm always, I, you know, ever since I've been reading that I've been so perplexed by Flo who a very long time ago, I heard was one of the most successful advertising, um, brands like going, uh, and you know, it's weird because insurance is something that you almost, I guess, I don't know if I'm thinking about this wrong, but it's something that I feel like I don't want to have to have, you know, like it's something where it's like, it's a bad day when I'm thinking about my insurance or, you know, drawing on my insurance because it's, you know, something's going on. I there's been a flood or I'm having a medical emergency or, you know, it's not necessarily, um, a better roses. And it's interesting that they do turn to these sort of funny gimmicky, uh, very depersonalized approaches. Uh, but in the same token, I definitely remember, you know, the in good hands, right. I can think of a number of campaigns off the top of my head that feel kind of dour, I guess they feel a little sad and I mean, and maybe drawing on that wasn't effective either. And so I think one thing that I think was really important that Sharon said that, that I I'm sure all of these huge brands are using and that we use whenever we're working with a smaller brand or company, that's, that's building a platform, right. They don't have something existence. They're working on building something from scratch, or they're working on kind of really beefing it up is again, iterating, but persistence in that approach, it's really guessing and checking and trying things again and again, and having the patience to kind of, to know what you want to say and to figure out exactly how it needs to be said. Um, you know, in working on your concepts, you, the concepts were in place. We just had to figure out how to, how to make, get them across. And I think that's always the project. And so again, persistence is really key in building that sort of warm, cozy feeling around a brand. People have to see something seven times before they'll click on you, and they may not want you to be funny if you're addressing something serious. And you just have to figure that out often with guests and check.

Speaker 2: 28:31

Well, I think those are some great points, and I think you hit on something, especially with the deep personalization that gets to what we were talking about earlier about, um, the custom message and segmenting the audience, and really honing in on who you're speaking with is that people aren't communicating what their actual services. Um, you know, you're not going to have a lizard coming out to explain your homeowners insurance policy to you. Uh, and that doesn't help you. Uh, it's funny, it's engaging. I mean, I enjoy the Geico commercials quite a bit, but I don't think it lends anything to the process, nor does it make people feel like they know the insurance industry better or become more comfortable with their insurance policies or with the insurance processes. It remains the same as you pointed out is it's a deep, personalized, yucky thing that you don't really want to deal with. It's like going to the doctor for your annual checkup. It's like, well, you know, I got to do it. I would, there's about a hundred thousand things I'd rather do. Yeah. I think that's the most thing. And I know we're getting close to our wrap-up time. Um, there is something I really want to get into, uh, with both of you. And we discussed this up before the podcast, because I found this most fascinating thing in working with you. And this is an issue that many people in the insurance industry are struggling with is where you have somebody who's more experienced, uh, maybe towards the end of their career, or at least well into their career. And they're onboarding one or more younger people and to their practice or into their business is, you know, how, how do you, you know, meld your perspectives and figure out how to work together. What's worked for you.

Speaker 4: 30:37

I'm like, what do you think? Yeah, I'm happy. Um, so first off, I would just like to say that Sharon is nowhere near the end of her career. At least she better, I had to say it out loud because I, I do feel often that Sharon and I's work together is very much like it's, it's a yin and yang. Um, and, and that's, I think I've never worked in insurance, so I can't comment directly on, on how that would work, but I'm going to hazard a guess that that's actually really a positive thing because I'm pushing and she's pulling a lot of times, and it helps us arrive at something that just is it's exactly what it needs to be. It sits on its own and it works the way it's supposed to because we brought so many different perspectives into the mix. Um, and we're constantly kind of interrogating. And once we have right, you formulate a brand message and you do want to stick to it, but there's also always those moments. Again, Sharon will come in in the morning and be like, I was up all night and here's what I think. And I'm like, okay. Yeah. And then we go back and forth and things get reformulated. And, you know, the ability for us to both cogitate and come from such different places is really useful, especially when it comes to a, um, a product or a brand, you know, or a set of ideas that could really reach a broad audience. I'm most good. Um, I mean, I think, you know, with a book about insurance, I may have immediately been like, yeah, you know, it's important to reach people my age, but probably less important when in matter of fact, it actually was quite important and worked very well. Um, and so I think it takes all of that. I also think from a practical perspective, um, as we were discussing before we got on, you know, if there is also that push and pull in the way that we work and interact with clients, and I'm sure that that happens as well in insurance. And I think one thing that has been very valuable is that Sharon really puts me at the center of a project with a client, right from the jump immediately. When we onboard a client, I am introduced I'm on every phone call, I'm on every email. And then I start directing the work myself often for clients that are on my docket. And I think that really helps the clients become comfortable with the fact that, you know, I will always have less experience than Sharon. I mean, there may come a day, you know, 30 years from now after Sharon really has hung up her hat where I have as much your hands, but as long as I work with her, I will have less experience. And I think any client who didn't see that would be blind, but I do think that at the end of the day, you know, Sharon knows what I bring that's of high value, and she would not hand me off to a client without knowing that and in, so doing it creates comfortability with the client. So I really think that it's important and has been integral for us to immediately norm client relations as between both of us and something where we both take the lead. And we're both equal partners in the communications with the client.

Speaker 2: 34:11

Absolutely. And Sharon, you know, from your standpoint, um, you know, probably bringing on Emily and I know you have a couple other associates, uh, you know, I mean, did you feel that that was part of being able to expand and serve more clients, uh, having people,

Speaker 4: 34:30

Having people in general or having people, you know, at different phases in career,

Speaker 2: 34:36

Uh, you know, either one or both, but if you'd like to jump back,

Speaker 4: 34:41

No, I did want to, um, comment on what Emily just said is so true. I think that there is nothing but value in having a diverse range of experiences, backgrounds, ages, um, places on the career path. I mean, it is, I think Emily knows this, but I can't say it enough. It is. There are times when I would be lost in today's world without the input from Emily. And there's one other person on our team, Kendra, who is, um, I guess you could say a millennial, I guess. Yeah. I guess Kendra, I would be completely lost. There are times when, in fact, just before this interview, Tony, I think definitely to ask her about something about Spotify, which I'm just really not even sure. I really know what it is, but, but that's a tiny example. And I think on the flip side and it's, I wouldn't have it any other way and I don't. And on the flip side, I know that the fact that I was out

Speaker 3: 35:38

There in the workforce in the 1990s and have seen things in those years, that informed me about the, the two thousands and then the 2010s. And then, um, you know, I think that that's invaluable to the people that I work with who are younger and we, um, but overall it's, it's crucial for us. We are a team, there are four of us altogether on the core team, um, and myself, Emily, Lauren, and Kendra, who does only writing and social media with us, um, it's crucial to have all of us involved. And then there are a few others that we partner with on various project. And, uh, together we form a team in our own way that our partners in us, and it really is crucial to be able, not only to offer various, um, skills to clients, but also among each other and together to exchange ideas, experiences, knowledge, and reactions.

Speaker 2: 36:36

Yeah. And I think you hit on a super important point for people to remember is, you know, that, that it's a team function when you have, um, people that you're working with and that if you approach your business or your agency or company, or what have you, as a team, it's going to come across that way to your clients. Um, I know that in working with you is that I look at you, um, your firm as a team. And I know that, you know, w when I was looking at hiring a publicist, I was looking at Sharon predominantly in your background. However, when we got into the campaign is Emily brought certain things to the table based upon her experience and where she is, um, you know, in her career path that made it more conducive, cave, Emily handle certain components. And, and I think that's so important for people to remember is that if you're bringing in somebody into your business, into your team, is that you have to trust them and let them run with it. And that at certain point, you know, if they're involved that the clients may naturally gravitate to working with different members of your team at different points of the client relationship. And I think that's something, you know, from the outside that I found it really easy to work with your firm is to make that transition, because you're all on the same page in terms of your internal communication and for a message. And I really appreciate it. And, uh, like to ask you

Speaker 3: 38:20

Tony. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 38:22

But, uh, and I think that's important for everybody in their business as a expand and bring on new people and transition. Um, I'd like to get in one more question if we can. Uh, uh, so Karen, we'll start with you. What's your number one tip rule for success. If you had to pass on one Juul to everybody out there.

Speaker 4: 38:43

Yeah. I, my, my real deep feeling about this is that for every initiative you take, think about how you can help peop others rather than what you want to get out of it. And then go, I think that that goes for anything that we do professionally, but in marketing, it's so much more, it's even more important because marketing, despite what people might think is very much an exercise in reciprocation, it's not a hard sell. So if you're generous, if you offer tips, if you offer expertise, if you share your time and take the time to answer people's questions, it will come back and pay off in multiples. It's just not necessarily as transactional as say, Hey, I'm going to buy an ad. You know, it's not, it's not the same process. Um, and then with that, whatever you do be genuine people, people sense when you're doing something just for publicity sake or just for the sake of closing a deal, whatever it might be, and they're likely to shut down, but when you're genuine, people will genuinely want to engage.

Speaker 2: 39:46

I, I think that's really valuable advice, um, for people who are selling, because it's not about selling it's about service and providing something to clients, um, Emily, what's your number one tip rule for success that you'd like to share?

Speaker 4: 40:02

Yeah, that's a good question, Tony. I think right now the one I've been thinking about a lot is just staying open to the process. I think when I'm going to try to like unpack that a little bit, but not too much. Um, I think that sometimes people come into something with a very, um, firm understanding of the, exactly how they want something to look. So whether it be a campaign or their message, or exactly where they want to be placed, you know, I need to be in the New York times absolutely right now. Um, and, and I think this happens for every type of business. I think it happens in almost every facet of life. And the one thing that I think those very well for people that I've seen, um, in my work is when people come with a very open-minded and open ear. And again, as we have, you know, champions throughout this process, I'm sorry, throughout this podcast being hospitable to the teamwork process and staying open to a variety of perspectives, um, it doesn't mean never landing on a decision. It just means, you know, keep your eyes and ears open. You might see something or hear something that relates to your brand that makes sense or turns a light bulb on. Um, or, you know, we may, you may be pushed in one direction, you know, when working with a publicist, keep your mind open to the potential for that messaging or that idea to do well, or to influence other people. And again, to feed into exactly what Sharon said, which is to help them right in the end, that's the goal. So I think staying open and being ready to see those possibilities and let them kind of just happen is important.

Speaker 2: 41:58

Definitely. And that's, I think such a critical point for, you know, no matter the size of your business, whether you're a sole agent or you're a multinational corporation that it's really that personalization, that customer focus, having that communication. And if you're a thought leader, getting your message out there in a way that people can understand. Um, so, uh, if you want to find out more about sharing it, Emily, uh, they work with both authors and business thought leaders. Uh, their sweet spot is helping businesses grow their profile and audience by marketing their leaders expertise, uh, sets looking at you insurance company, CEOs, uh, agency, broker heads, uh, you know, anybody who wants to grow their business. I recommend it. Uh, you can find out more information about, uh, the surfaces that Sharon and Emily, uh, provide at thoughts, savvy marketing.com. Uh, that URL will be in the show notes. Uh, thank you for tuning into this episode of get ready with Tony Stewart. And thank you both. Uh, Sharon and Emily for joining me today.