The Platinum Rule for LinkedIn Connections with Bill McCormick.

Bill McCormick is a social selling trainer from Social Sales Link.

In this episode, we discuss how to create a conversation from almost every connection request you receive. It’s a great play. 

Bill has some very strong feelings about connection requests and network building which I found really easy to agree with.  

Having recently spoken to both Bill and Brynne Tillman, recently I really like the way these two keep social interaction and engagement as simple as possible. 

Why create a massive marketing or campaign strategy when we don’t need one to start valuable conversations. 

I’m 100% sure you’ll love the simplicity of Bills’ ideas. 

I’m delighted to announce a treat for our supporters and regular listeners. Bonjoro, the video application that increases your response rates by 200 x 300%, has allowed us to provide a coupon code exclusively for our BOSS listeners.  

I’ve been using Bonjoro for years and completely endorse it.

Listeners can now get a massive 20% off ANY Bonjoro membership by simply using the code BOSS20 at check out. Thanks to the wonderful crew at Bonjoro for the support. 

Now across to the conversation with Bill McCormick 

Bill McCormick
https://www.linkedin.com/in/billmccormicksocialsaleslink/ 

Social Sales Link
https://socialsaleslink.com/

 Atomic Habits
https://www.booktopia.com.au/atomic-habits-james-clear/book/9781847941831.html

 Mark McInnes
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mcinnes/

 Mark McInnes - Sales Training
www.Markmc.co

 www.Bonjoro.com
Coupon – BOSS20 

Tactical Pipeline Growth
www.markmc.co/tpg 

Catch all versions of me here.

https://linktr.ee/markmcinnes
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Transcript

BOSS EP11_mixdown

 [00:00:00] Mark McInnes:  Bill McCormick is a social selling trainer from social sells link. In this episode, we discuss how to create a conversation from almost every connection request that you were safe. It's a great play. It's really simple to implement. Bill has some really strong feelings about connection requests and network building.

[00:00:19] Which I found very easy to agree with having recently spoken about bill and bring Tillman from social sales link. I really liked the way these to keep social interaction engagement, as simple as possible. I mean, why create a massive marketing campaign strategy when we don't need one simply to stop valuable sales conversations?

[00:00:41] One-to-one I'm a hundred percent sure you're going to love the simplicity of Bill's ideas in this podcast. In other news, I'm delighted to announce a trade for our supporters and our regular listeners.  the video application that increases your response rates by 300%. The one which I use for my outreach, [00:01:00] it has allowed us to provide a coupon code exclusively for our boss listeners.

[00:01:05] Listeners can now get a massive 20% off any bonds Euro membership by simply using the code boss 20 at the checkout. Thanks for the wonderful crew up on Jura for the support. Now let's zoom across to the conversation with Bill McCormick, from social 

[00:01:22]

[00:01:22] Welcome to the boss podcast. The podcast that helps you become better at using social for sales and lead generation. Did I, we have another room. What we call our expert series. This is where we bringing in an expert. To tell us about a particular aspect of the social space or to share their very best social strategies.

[00:01:47] So of course, in order for us to do this, we need an expert. So I'm very pleased to say that today we have bill McCormick from social sales link the, to tonight. Hello bill, how are you? 

[00:01:56] Bill McCormick: [00:01:56] Hey, Mark. How are you? Thanks for having me on 

[00:01:58] Mark McInnes: [00:01:58] absolutely awesome to have you on, [00:02:00] man. I really appreciate it. I want to start with something a little bit out of left field.

[00:02:04] doing more research with. You don't own lawn as you do as a sales person, looking at your LinkedIn, let's say that we've got something in common and that is that you were a termite technician. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Very quickly? 

[00:02:15] Bill McCormick: [00:02:15] I was funny because it kind of goes with sales. I was in involved in sales, early in my career in the eighties and nineties, and that I found my way to a pest control company and I was doing commercial sales and I was so bad at it.

[00:02:29] They actually made demoted me and made me a technician. And I found out that I was really good. At selling when I could provide value to people. And one of, one of the values I provided was to be able to get rid of their termites for them. And so, yeah, so I spent many a day in a crawlspace underneath the house with a lot of chemicals and that's back in the days when they used to use chemicals to kill bugs.

[00:02:52] Oh, they don't so much do that anymore. But, uh, yeah, that, that was kind of the beginning for 

[00:02:57] Mark McInnes: [00:02:57] me. Yeah, interesting stuff. So [00:03:00] I bought a house in 2005 here in Sydney that was riddled with termites. So we did a termite detection course in termite eradication course so that I, I could see if they were going to come back and, and, and I still go down to that house.

[00:03:13] I still own that house. And I go in and crawl underneath the floor and, and have a look every now and again. Yeah. There's something crazy that we've got in common. You would never think another trick for LinkedIn. Sorry. So can you tell us a little bit, how about yourself and about your business? Sure. 

[00:03:26] Bill McCormick: [00:03:26] So, um, I've been, uh, with social sales link since 2018 since the fall, but I've been using LinkedIn since about 2014, 2015, and, uh, 2013, my wife and I started our own business in the print and promotional products industry.

[00:03:43] So yeah. You know, people are familiar with swag. That's what we did. We provided companies with, you know, tee shirts and mugs and. Writing instruments and anything that they could put their name on, but we had to start our company from scratch. My wife worked for another company and she left that company to start this one.

[00:04:00] [00:04:00] And what we discovered really quickly was that LinkedIn was where our clients were. And so we were looking for people in marketing and lo and behold, marketers love LinkedIn. And so I began to look and read anything that I could find about LinkedIn. And it led me to this really cool book called the LinkedIn sales playbook, a tactical guide to social selling by somebody named Brynne Tillman.

[00:04:26] But I'm pretty sure I didn't pronounce her name that way. The first time that I, I read it and I actually read that book cover to cover and put everything into, into practice. To the point where I contracted another LinkedIn trainer to help me at one point a little later after that. And that person looked at my in fact, I think she's been on your podcast.

[00:04:44] Vivica Von Rosen. Yep. Yep. Yeah. So she looked at my profile. She said, bill, I can't help you. You know, you've got it. Your profile is really optimized. And so what had happened was in the print promotional products industry, people began to ask me how I was building our business. [00:05:00] So, so quickly, I mean, at one point about four years in, I could look back at our sales and attribute over $400,000 in sales, the LinkedIn being part of the sales process and not to mention about 25 to 30 new clients.

[00:05:14] And so people would ask me all the time, you know, how are you doing this? So I began to consult with people at first for free. And then a buddy of mine said, Hey, he did website design. He said, Hey, why don't you make some videos? And we can sell them on a website. I'll set the website up. And, uh, you, you learn how to train.

[00:05:31] And so we, we both went out and learned our different parts of it. And we started on that road of, of selling video training, which didn't really work too well. But as a side note, 30% of our promotional products, businesses in Bermuda. So, uh, yeah, I got to go to Bermuda quite often. Still get to go down there, thankfully, except for COVID.

[00:05:55] Well, what happened was one of my clients down, there was a large bank and they knew I was doing LinkedIn training and they were [00:06:00] interested in it. And so I had no idea how to price it out. I had no idea how to do sales team training. I was very good at coaching people, one on one. So I was part of a chat group on LinkedIn that Brynn Tillman had set up.

[00:06:13] I don't know how she found me to add me to it, but she called me an expert. So I was like, I'm not gonna argue with Brynne Tillman. If she's gonna call me on LinkedIn. She know, she knows. And so in that group, I would just put it out as a general question to everyone, you know, Mark that's one of the things I love about our industry is LinkedIn trainers is we're so collaborative and we're so willing to help each other.

[00:06:34] And so I put this question out, you know, I've got this bank sales team that wants some sales string and I need help with it. And Brynn was the first one to say, Hey, let's jump on a call. I'd be happy to help. And, uh, at first we were just going to white label, her training, and we were going to do a revenue sharing, but we actually met in person down the LinkedIn offices in New York city and the empire state building.

[00:06:56] We were there for the events launched back in November of [00:07:00] 2018 or October, sometime around there and kidding around. I just said to her. Okay. So does this mean that I can put social sales link on my experience section on LinkedIn? And I was really just joking and she turned me, she said, yeah, she goes, you can join a team if you want to.

[00:07:14] And so long story short or maybe longer, you know, she invited me to join the team and I did, and we began to work together really closely. And I love it. I really don't do much now with promotional products at all, but I'm really every day working with people and working with Brynn. Uh, we're just getting ready to launch a coaching, um, a monthly coaching subscription plan, uh, in the next few weeks.

[00:07:42] Uh, her and I are partnering on and we've done some video work that lives on a few different websites. We've co-taught that together. And I just love my job and love doing that each and every day. 

[00:07:54] Mark McInnes: [00:07:54] No fantastic bill. That's such a great story and it's poking to a lot of people over the time. [00:08:00] That I've been running these podcasts.

[00:08:01] And one of the things that keeps popping up, there's variations of this story, that what would have been in fact, both you and I have got, you know, it's like we needed to start a business or drive  quickly. And we ended up on LinkedIn as the most effective. Platform available. Oh, I know when I started my business, I didn't actually have a preference for social.

[00:08:22] In fact, I wasn't very active on social media at all. It just seemed like the most effective vehicle for me to use. And again, you're saying exactly the same thing it's crazy on, and I'm still surprised that there's so many people that are, uh, embracing social, particularly when so many of their clients are on LinkedIn.

[00:08:38] It's very interesting. 

[00:08:40] Bill McCormick: [00:08:40] It blows me away that people kind of refute it or resist it so much. And I think if anything, what the last 100 days has shown us with, with what's happening with COVID and with lockdowns and quarantines, is that we have to be, while we're being physically distanced from people, we have to be [00:09:00] socially connected.

[00:09:01] And if you want to be socially connected in the end, the business, the business sales world. Then really LinkedIn is the place where you have to be, and you have to have a strong presence and you have to have a general understanding of how to use it the right way, because there's so many people using it the wrong way.

[00:09:18] Mark McInnes: [00:09:18] Yeah. So let's dig into that a little bit, if you don't mind. So what are some of the things that you see that people are doing the wrong line? 

[00:09:24] Bill McCormick: [00:09:24] One of them is they're treating LinkedIn. Like they use email back when email first came out, you know, you get email blasts from companies. Pitching their products and you've never heard of them before.

[00:09:36] So when you're doing that company to company, that's one thing. But when you're doing it person to person and that's really what LinkedIn is, w when you look at LinkedIn, you have to look at it as a personal networking room. That's got over 700 million people in it. That's open 24, seven, 365 days a year.

[00:09:53] You know, the fact that you and I can talk and I'm in Catskill, New York. And you're in Australia, [00:10:00] you know, that just blows me away, but we're talking one-on-one. And so what people are doing is first of all, they're either connecting with trying to connect with other users by pitching their product, which, because, you know, Mark, if I reach out to you to connect with you and it's all about me and my product and my service, what is the chance that you're going to actually want to even listen to me?

[00:10:24] Because all it is is a sales pitch. And so, so people are doing that. People are also connecting without a personal note. And if you happened to take the bait and accept that connection request, right, then they're pitching there. You know, look what I can do for you. Look how great my product is. Look how great my services, right.

[00:10:42] I don't think they do it because. There that aggressive in their sales. It's just that they just haven't been taught that there's a better way. I think that there's a more effective way. The leverage LinkedIn. 

[00:10:54] Mark McInnes: [00:10:54] Yeah. So do you think maybe some of the reasons why they're being pushed. Well, some of the reasons why they're doing what [00:11:00] they are, which is, you know, let's call it pitching connect for a generic term.

[00:11:04] Is it they're being pushed to generate sales from social from somewhere else? Or is it such as their boss or do you think that it's just a complete lack of a lack of awareness? 

[00:11:14] Bill McCormick: [00:11:14] I think the answer of that question is a resounding yes. All the way around that it's happening. And yeah. You know, they're pressured for their quotas.

[00:11:22] So they found this new channel. And so rather than making 10 phone calls, 10 cold calls, they can just send 10 connection requests with a pitch on it and count that the same way. Yep. And the results are probably about the same. Yep. But also their sales managers that are discovering this thing called LinkedIn and they're taking what works with email marketing.

[00:11:44] And they're trying to plug that into, into LinkedIn and they're taking what they know is social media marketing. And they're trying to, to use that or pass that office, social selling, which they're really different, what we define. I love, I love the definition that we [00:12:00] came up with for social selling, because there's a few definitions out there and it's leveraging online tools and platforms such as LinkedIn to attract, teach and engage your target and buyers.

[00:12:10] In order to have more sales conversations. And the last part is the most important, sorry. In order to have more sales conversations, LinkedIn and social selling can boost 

[00:12:21] Mark McInnes: [00:12:21] or, 

[00:12:22] Bill McCormick: [00:12:22] or I guess the word would be enhance all of your other sales activities, everything that you've been taught to do, whether it's personal meeting people, whether it's called call techniques or calling techniques or networking techniques that can all be enhanced with social selling and with LinkedIn.

[00:12:41] Mark McInnes: [00:12:41] Absolutely agree. And I think if we go back to those connection requests, a lot of people don't understand the lifespan of those poor outreaches in relation to the two party relationships. If I send you a really bad connection request or I, you and I connect, and then I pitch you straight away. When I go [00:13:00] back to your, when I want to send you a message in two years time, guess what still is.

[00:13:05] Very bad. 

[00:13:07] Bill McCormick: [00:13:07] But when you go to message me just three days later, what you're going to find out is that we're not connected because I won't connect with those people. And that's what I think one of the things that people need to understand is is you are the gatekeeper to your network. This is your personal network that you're building.

[00:13:24] And, you know, we like to say, there's the lions, you know, the LinkedIn open networkers, that'll take a connection request from anybody. And a lot of that has to do with vanity metrics and they just want to show big numbers. And that's great if that's what you're into. That's fine. You know, but then there's a purists that will only connect with people that they know only connect with people within their industry.

[00:13:45] they've got a very small network, but they know everyone. And then there's the networkers. And I believe as people in sales, we need to be networkers. But in doing that, you have to evaluate who you're allowing into your network. So when I get a [00:14:00] connection request, if it's got a note that pitches to me right away, I will typically send them back something and say, listen, this isn't how I use LinkedIn.

[00:14:08] This is all about you. It's not about me. I want to network with people and I'll send them some resources. And among those resources will be something on connections. One Oh one, which is a SlideShare. I did just I'm. Here are some tips about connecting in a better way. I'm trying not to preach it though, because I know that they don't know any better, but if they have not sent me a connection request, I'm going to send them back.

[00:14:30] I sent every single person back. The same message. This is the only automation I do on LinkedIn is I copy and paste the message from the others that I sent it to that says, Hey Mark, thanks for the connection request. I typically only connect with people I've met or I've had an engagement with your on LinkedIn.

[00:14:47] Can you tell me how you found me and what triggered the connection request? So, what I've done is, you know, if you picture playing tennis, I've hit the ball back in your court, it's up to you, what you do, and that way forces that person to tell [00:15:00] me and give me some context as to why they want to connect 

[00:15:03] Mark McInnes: [00:15:03] with me.

[00:15:03] Hey, let's take a quick break and take care of a little bit of business. We'll be right back. 

[00:15:10] Bill McCormick: [00:15:10] If you need more conversations with your ideal buyers or to simply sharpen your prospecting skills, check out Mark's latest book. Tactical pipeline growth is a complete prospecting guide. It outlines step by step of process to build a strong and healthy pipeline.

[00:15:28] Bark has included a huge amount of valuable sales material. That's just templates. Call an email script, the best cadence plans as well as social selling template for you to use and start prospecting straight away. Tactical pipeline growth is available from Amazon or directly from www dot Mark MSD. Dot D O slash TPG.

[00:15:55] Mark McInnes: [00:15:55] Okay. Let's get back into the podcast and how [00:16:00] many of those people would reply out of interest? So let's say you get, you know, 20 connection requests and 10 of them darn include a note and you send 10 nights back. What's the response rate. About 

[00:16:11] Bill McCormick: [00:16:11] six to seven, we'll send a note back and out of those, six to seven messages, two or three will be sales pitches.

[00:16:18] In fact, some have automation set up that as soon as a message is generated, it reads it as a connection request that's been accepted. So I'll get something back that says, thanks for connecting with me and it pitches their product. And then I sent another note back and say, you're obviously using automation because you didn't read that.

[00:16:36] I haven't connected with you yet. But for the most part, you know, like there'll be a few that will, you know, Hey, I saw this post that you did here, or I did some research and I found you, I found out that you help people with LinkedIn or I know brand. And so she recommended we connect and it's those people that just don't understand that you can send a note.

[00:16:57] Or LinkedIn part of the problem, because we know [00:17:00] that about 50% of the people that are accessing LinkedIn are accessing it from the mobile app. And as you know, if you click connect on the mobile app, like you do on the desktop, it sends the connection on press right away. 

[00:17:11] Mark McInnes: [00:17:11] That's correct. Yep. 

[00:17:13] Bill McCormick: [00:17:13] But what a lot of people don't understand is you can actually, if you do that, you can actually go back into the purse and the personal invite and send that note.

[00:17:21] Mark McInnes: [00:17:21] After the fact. Yeah. So I actually, one to, you want to share an example with you about automation? That's exactly what you talked, talked about and get your thoughts about that. And so I was recently sent aye connection requests. That was clearly a patient look like very looked like it was automated from a university here in Australia, trying to get me to sign up for an MBI.

[00:17:43] And there was a question at the end, you know? So you had to reply, well, are you interested? And I've replied saying, I'm pretty sure I replied saying no, thanks. And straight away, like immediately I got to another message saying that's great, Mark. When's a good time to go hookup for him conversation. Yeah.

[00:17:57] So it was clearly like an automated. So I thought, you know [00:18:00] what I'll reply back with. Yes. And see what happens. And so I replied back with yes, and it came back. That's great, Mark. When's a good time to get a meeting. And this was under one gentleman's profile. So it wasn't, you know, a corporate sponsored in Milo, but sweat side was coming from Mark McInnes, the business development manager for XYZ university.

[00:18:17] I pondered that for a while. I was like, this is really trashing this poor young man's individual profile because obviously this is being sent out to a lot of people and whoever replies gets the same message, whether your reply yes or no. And even if you're interested, you're straight away going, well, this is fairly inauthentic.

[00:18:32] Right? So lock you on a bit and can talk about some of these things. So I sent him a message and he didn't reply and not for a day or two. I thought, you know what? I'm actually going to look for his boss. And I sent a message to his boss. And of course we weren't connected as a sales manager. And what do you think the boss you said to me?

[00:18:48] Bill McCormick: [00:18:48] I don't know. 

[00:18:49] Mark McInnes: [00:18:49] Don't spam me. 

[00:18:51] Bill McCormick: [00:18:51] Oh, wow. That's 

[00:18:55] Mark McInnes: [00:18:55] so I'll send a message back and saying, let's call that his boss bill. Right? So I said, hi bill. I'm [00:19:00] not sure if you're aware, but you know, I'm pretty uncomfortable with what you're doing to Mark's profile. If these are not a real person, then you're breaching the guidelines of LinkedIn.

[00:19:07] If he is a real person, you know, this poor kid sending out hundreds of messages to people. That's automated and it makes it really difficult for him going forward. Here's a link to a couple of my webinars for free that. Talk about building a messaging structure. That's a little bit more authentic. Sorry.

[00:19:21] That was it. And his message was don't spam me. I sent a message to the marketing manager and I haven't heard back yet, but not expecting to. And last week, just to finish this off bill. I've got the same message from the same kid. Again, 

[00:19:34] Bill McCormick: [00:19:34] I'm surprised it wasn't from someone else in the, in the department, because, and unfortunately, if you're listening to this podcast and you have LinkedIn lead generation in your title, or you work for a company that does that, I don't want this to be personal, but LinkedIn lead generator and people, I do this all the time.

[00:19:52] I'll get the same automated response from one. And then as soon as I replied back and I don't. And I ignore them, then I [00:20:00] get it from another and it's like, they don't talk to each other. And you said it right? You said you talked about inauthentic and that's, I think the thing that we really need to hone in on as salespeople, as people in business development, we want to be authentic in our outreach.

[00:20:16] And when you're doing mass outreach, you're just, you can't be authentic. Like I said, the only way that I'll do automation is I'll copy and paste the same message. For people that have sent me a message and they haven't put a personal note in, but even if I'm, if even if I've done a webinar and I've got 50 or 60 followup emails to send where it would be easy to do a copy and paste email, I still try to go in and make it just a little authentic, a little bit personal, because if you don't do that, you're just like everyone else.

[00:20:50] And it's kind of sad to say that the way you differentiate yourself nowadays on LinkedIn is by being authentic. That's a sad statement. Well, 

[00:20:58] Mark McInnes: [00:20:58] yes, but it's [00:21:00] actually easier than what a lot of people think. I think people listen to us and think that, you know, with somehow got some magic tools, but I liked the, what you were doing.

[00:21:09] So people were sending you a connection request without. A message. And you were using that as an excuse to start a conversation. And if we go back, you know, what the whole concept for social selling was for you bill was, was to start a sales conversation, right? So you're staying true to that by saying, Hey Mark, you haven't sent me a general court.

[00:21:26] You haven't sent me a private message, a personalized message. Can you just give me a rundown on why you want to connect and why you didn't do that? That forces me to start a conversation. . Some of those times, not all of them, but some of those times are going to be, like you said, I really liked your post around sending a personalized connection request.

[00:21:43] And I thought I'd get more access to that information if we're going to be connected. Yeah. That's a perfect opportunity for a somewhat warm lead for you. So sure. What sort of stuff are you interested in? I've got a bunch of rooms. The resources here I can send you, or did you know about the book or whatever the case may be?

[00:21:57] So it's just a [00:22:00] really, it can be very, very simple. It doesn't need to be over-thought and I think a lot of people think that. The easiest way for them to do that is to create some sort of complicated Missy campaign. So what am I? And I'm not a fan at all. 

[00:22:12] Bill McCormick: [00:22:12] Yeah. And the thing is, is they're not the ones that are creating it.

[00:22:15] What they're doing is they're handing that whole process over to a company that doesn't know them, that doesn't speak in their language and that doesn't know their clients. And they're giving all of that to that company because that's the easy way out. Yeah. And because they think that to be active on LinkedIn, And to do really well at it.

[00:22:34] You have to spend hours and hours and hours and you don't, you know, my morning routine is look at my notifications and engage on people who have mentioned me, commented on me. Say hi to people who had birthdays and that part, then I go and I manage my network. I do just what I just, I accept connection requests.

[00:22:55] I send messages back for people, connect with us. Then I engage with people's content and [00:23:00] then I'm done now what that takes me maybe 20 minutes. And I think what it is is that people think that it has to be this long drawn out process when really what it needs to do is it needs to be consistent. And so there was a book called atomic habits.

[00:23:16] I read over a year ago by James clear, and he had one sentence that rocked my world. When it comes to LinkedIn, he said we don't rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems. And so if you have a system in place and using LinkedIn and you faithfully and consistently work that system, you're going to be successful.

[00:23:38] It's just a matter of, you're going to have that habit put into place because you work the system. 

[00:23:43] Mark McInnes: [00:23:43] Yeah, a hundred percent agree. And listeners, if you haven't read atomic habits by James clear, give it a rate. It's really a fantastic way to build in some new habits and systems. Read that up. I thought of at the end of last year, bright, bright book, I might put that book in this, in the show notes.

[00:24:00] [00:24:00] Thanks for that Rwanda. So we were talking earlier about, we've got a. Obligation to build a good network. Can you expand a little bit on that, particularly in relation to the impacts that would have on the other people in their network? Sure. So 

[00:24:14] Bill McCormick: [00:24:14] the whole idea of networking is so that you and I, so we can build this symbiotic relationship.

[00:24:20] We can build a relationship that can be mutual, beneficial, and listen. That mutual benefit benefit doesn't have to come down to just money. It can come from knowledge. It can come from, from a peer relationship. Yeah, I've been, I was a member of a BNI group, but I'm, I'm pretty sure they're in Australia, business networkers international.

[00:24:39] In fact, the web guy that suggested that I start doing LinkedIn training was my wife's BNI mentor. And one of the reasons I stayed in that group for a while was not because I was making a lot of money from Leeds, but because I had these relationships with these other business owners that understood me, like the way my other friends who had [00:25:00] normal nine to five jobs didn't understand me.

[00:25:02] So the whole idea of building a network is so that we can have this relationship. And so if you're careful about who you're letting into your LinkedIn network, then you're going to feel more comfortable, again, having a conversation around whatever it may be. I mentioned that we've done some LinkedIn training in Bermuda.

[00:25:22] So we went there, berberine and I went down and my wife joined us. We went in November and we taught up for the bank that wanted to use us. Through another relationship I had, we did a, a webinar or seminar live seminar for entrepreneurs, for a group called the ignite accelerator hub. And we got to know some people there.

[00:25:43] That relationship led me to a gentleman here in the States who has a meeting of the minds network. That's led me to probably five other people. It's one thing, touching another thing, touching another thing. The way that it works is you have to [00:26:00] start off with authenticity. And with setting a relationship in the right way and listen, it may not always happen the right way.

[00:26:08] Like if you went through the connections I've made and the people I've allowed in my LinkedIn network in the last 10 days and said, how many of heightened I've had conversations with it would only be a handful. Well, what I would tell you is that handful, it was done deliberately because either they reached out to me or I reached out to them so that we could continue the relationship.

[00:26:31] And so I'm kind of beating around it, but you asked about how that has to do with the rest of your network, right? Because LinkedIn at the heart of what it can do for you is give you warm referrals. And there are people that, you know, who know the people that you want to know. And so. What I say to everyone is evaluate every network, every networking relationship coming from LinkedIn.

[00:26:55] So if you received the connection request, you look at that person, you look at their profile. And what [00:27:00] I do is I'm, they have to give me a reason to ignore or reject their connection rate bus. And that reason typically is around. Pitching and trying to sell to me, but even if I reach out to them and they say, Oh, Hey, wow.

[00:27:11] I never thought of it that way. I've never seen, I've never seen it that way. Then I'm going to allow them in my network because I can teach them. I can provide value for them. And who knows, maybe they'll become a client, but as you're allowing people in your network, you have to realize that they're going to want to know people that you know, and you're going to want to know people that they know.

[00:27:29] And that's really the magic. I think that's what Brynne talked about when she was on just a few weeks ago, was that magic because Lee, Brent is the master at using and leveraging LinkedIn for networking. And it all starts with the network that you're building. I'm not sure if I answered your question or not 

[00:27:46] Mark McInnes: [00:27:46] that psychiatrist you've sort of talked about the good side of the network and you know, we've been talking a little bit about some of the things, what not to do, but I think there's the opposite side as well.

[00:27:54] So if you're one of those people who, and it's your network, so you can accept connection requests, you know, without [00:28:00] looking at them, if you wish it's completely up to you. I don't advocate that at all. But, you know, you mentioned that there was three types of people, people who connected with only people they shook hands with.

[00:28:09] And didn't, I did work with people who, well, network is people like you and I have built a deliberate network. I didn't know. It was people who just almost connected with anybody that sent them a connection requests. Well, I think in that last bracket, you've got it. No, you're letting a whole bunch of people.

[00:28:23] They might not have good intentions into your broader network. So if you and I are connected with that individual, and they're just connecting with everybody. That's sometimes where you get those it's in connect off for people that you don't know that they're just coming in. You know, you're running your network up basically to, to people who might not be the refresh, the riffraff.

[00:28:42] Thank you, bill. So you often find the right word. They're very well done. Yeah. So I think we've got an obligation to look out for the people that we're connected to and only let apps good people into our network because you know, we all know how the second and the third connections were on you and all I connected to a whole bunch of people.

[00:28:59] Our second connections [00:29:00] together were connected. But, you know, there'll be a whole bunch of people that now networks overlap. And if you let in a whole bunch of riff-raff thank you, you know, then I can also now see, get access to me much easier. So I think it's, we've got an obligation to do, as you said, and, you know, disconnect from them, then they're not the right people, so they don't get access more broadly.

[00:29:17] Bill McCormick: [00:29:17] Absolutely. You know, we all know the golden rule, which is treat others the way that we want to be treated. But then there's also the platinum rule. And I don't know if you've ever heard of the platinum. 

[00:29:26] Mark McInnes: [00:29:26] No. Right. So the platinum 

[00:29:28] Bill McCormick: [00:29:28] rule is that treat others the way that they want to be treated and see. So we have to start with the golden rule because if I don't know you Mark, I don't know how you want to be treated.

[00:29:37] So I'm going to treat you the way that I want to be treated. I'm going to send you a personal connection request. If you don't send me a personal note, when you're trying to connect with me, I'm going to send you a note. I'm not going to get offended by the fact that you're not sending me that note. You may not know him better.

[00:29:52] But as soon as we make a connection, once we're part of each other's network, once we start establishing a relationship, [00:30:00] now it's up to me to develop a relationship and find out how you want to be treated, whether that's in business or personal or on LinkedIn, do you want there's people at tag anybody and everybody on their posts on LinkedIn and they haven't received permission.

[00:30:17] And so that's one of the things find out, Hey, is it okay? So I'll ask you, so Mark, when I'm promoting this on LinkedIn for this podcast, are you okay if I tag you in that 

[00:30:26] Mark McInnes: [00:30:26] post, I would hope that you're doing 

[00:30:28] Bill McCormick: [00:30:28] okay. So that's good. So I think the golden rule platinum or important that we need to treat people the way that we want to be treated until.

[00:30:35] We've established a relationship with them. And then it's up to us to find out how, how they want to be treated and listen, that goes for business too. It goes with the clients that we're servicing. There was a post the other day about how do you communicate with your, with your clients? I said the way that they want to be communicated with, we've got a client down in New York city.

[00:30:53] Who's an older gentleman who hates email and he's not on any social at all. Believe it or not, when he [00:31:00] wants something, he picks up the phone and he calls us. Yep. So when we want to get information from him, we don't send them an email. We pick up the phone and we call him. So I think that that's important.

[00:31:11] I think when we start practicing the golden rule, the platinum rule, we really begin to develop a quality, the network. That, you know, has that air of reciprocity so that people are treating us the right way off. So 

[00:31:24] Mark McInnes: [00:31:24] I love that the platinum rule, I think I might use that as the headline for the podcast episode.

[00:31:29] That's awesome. A couple of quick questions for you. If you wouldn't mind, I ask everybody these two questions. The first one, do you think social is getting it beta or have we already seen the best eyes come and go? 

[00:31:41] Bill McCormick: [00:31:41] I think it's getting better. I mean, you know, Microsoft spent 26. Billion dollars. I say billion with a B the vital LinkedIn.

[00:31:49] And while there are people that are complaining about the Facebook as a nation, and, you know, there's, you have stories down there now, right? LinkedIn stories has come out in Australia. Yeah. So we [00:32:00] don't have it yet. So they're testing that. So there's those things, I think it will make it better. Well, there'll be a, will it be a quality issue in terms of content?

[00:32:10] And I think we're already seeing that there's a lot of influence influencers out there, but as long as it stays a networking site, I don't think LinkedIn or social is going to go anywhere. It's we have to find a way to adapt. So whatever changes they bring, whatever they add to it, we've got to adapt. And make that work for us.

[00:32:31] Mark McInnes: [00:32:31] Yep. I think that's, that's on the money and I think the last three months, four months made that even more concrete. 

[00:32:37] Bill McCormick: [00:32:37] Absolutely. 

[00:32:39] Mark McInnes: [00:32:39] If people are being listened to this 30 odd minutes and they were John to take one key message away. From the conversation we've had with bill McCormick, what would that be?

[00:32:47] What would you like them to do differently as a result? And I think I already know bill, but I'll let you go for it. 

[00:32:51] Bill McCormick: [00:32:51] Well, I'm split. So I have two. So if I have to pick one, I would say connect and build a network in an authentic way. [00:33:00] Take some time, and don't just connect with anyone, but really look and build your network authentically.

[00:33:06] And then the second one is be more consistent on LinkedIn. I did that really quick. Yeah. Switched. 

[00:33:11] Mark McInnes: [00:33:11] I love the way you just threw that in there. Not perfect. I've got to agree. I'm a big fan of deliberately building a network. That's going to give you some value and not disconnecting with everyone. So we are a hundred percent.

[00:33:20] Alonda now this might be a bit of a tricky question in a lot of what you've just said. We've got people that are very focused on LinkedIn and social selling. We've got some fans on this podcast. Are you interested in connecting with them or is there a way that I can get in contact with you? Can you give us some guidelines around.

[00:33:36] If we've got Mary's listening to the pod and would like more details, what's the best way to go about that? 

[00:33:40] Bill McCormick: [00:33:40] Sure. So connect with me on LinkedIn, but please send me a message and tell me that you heard me on, on the podcast. So there are a lot of bill McCormick's on LinkedIn. So if you put in bill McCormick, right, and then a comma and then capital, N a S I that's actually a, uh, an industry designation from the promotional product world.

[00:33:59] So it's bill McCormick [00:34:00] Massey. So, yeah, so I get a lot of automation. That's okay. Dear Massey. So they can do that. They can email me bill@socialsaleslinkdotcomortheycangotosocialsaleslink.com our website, and right in the middle of the front page, they can sign up for our newsletter. Well, we've got some really exciting things that are coming out in just the next few weeks that we're really looking forward to.

[00:34:24] Awesome. 

[00:34:24] Mark McInnes: [00:34:24] Thank you, bill and listeners that regular listeners will know. I say this every week. I'm not saying this for you, bill. If you want to get in contact with me, please send me a personalized connection request to tell me that you heard me on the pod. Be more than happy to connect with you, particularly if you're in sales or sales leadership.

[00:34:39] Bill McCormick. Thanks very much for joining us on the boss podcast. 

[00:34:43] Bill McCormick: [00:34:43] Great Mark. Thank you so much for having me. I had a blast. It was a great time. 

[00:34:46] Mark McInnes: [00:34:46] Good stuff. And listeners let's catch you all next week. Make sure you share this with your friends and colleagues. If you're found the value. Thank you very much and have a great diet

[00:35:00] [00:35:00] Bill McCormick: [00:35:00] please help others. Just like you find this podcast by spreading the word. If you liked this podcast, please subscribe and rate us wherever you source your podcast.  thank you for listening to the boss podcast. Join us next time for even more tactics, discussion and ideas to help you improve your social outreach. .