Mostafa Hosseini  00:02

Hello and welcome to daily confidence for entrepreneurs. My name is Mostafa Hosseini, your host for the show today and during this episode we will go over how to land hot podcasts that become your number one lead source.

We will talk about the best way to turn competitors into collaborators. So everyone wins as to things you must do on podcasts to get real leads. And why and magnetic topic is critical to getting on shows. My guest today is Melanie Benson. Welcome, Melanie.

Melanie Benson  00:33

Hello. Thanks for having me. Mostafa.

Mostafa Hosseini  00:37

Great to have you. So, as usual, please make sure to like and subscribe to the show on whichever channel you’re watching or listening. If you have any questions, put them in the comments, or put them in a form of a review. If you’re listening to the podcast, if you have a friend that could benefit from the topic, which what we’re talking about today is very valuable.

And, and when I first saw the topic, I was like, Oh, this is like on a whole new level. And that is bringing your competition in to become collaborators with you. Some people have a hard time bringing normal collaborators in nevermind your competition. Okay. So another thing we have, so I’m they’re really looking forward to this conversation. And other things we have coming up as simple marketing formula is coming up on December, during December.

And next week, I’m doing a live webinar on how to create your one page marketing plan for 2022. The reason this is something that you should do, and you absolutely must do, because I say so. I’m joking, here a couple of reasons. Number one, at the end of the year is here and 2022 is like literally a few weeks away. Number two, once you have a plan for 2022. Taking your Christmas vacation and new year vacation is going to be a lot easier and more relaxing. Because in the back of your head, you know what to do you have a strategy.

It’s simple, it’s on one page, and it’s a lot more likely to happen. So if you would like to join us on December 1, for the live webinar that I’m doing on how to create your one page marketing plan on I’m sharing the blueprint with you click on the link here and the link is procida.com forward slash simple register. It’s free, it’s complimentary, and there’s no catch, show up and we’re going to have fun, it’s going to be live and interactive.

Just training is going to be on Zoom. Okay. It’s not a webinar platform. I’m doing it on Zoom because I like interaction with people. So and I’ve said the link is in the descriptions and the comments of the show. Now let me do the proper introduction for Melanie and we’re going to dive into a very interesting conversation. Melanie Benz Benson, the authority amplifier for x x. Expert printers, shows you how to stand out in a crowded market and attract high paying clients and opportunities. Melanie has a proven track record of Excel accelerating results for her clients.

It is not uncommon to see three to 5x revenue increases in the first six month. She is the host of amplify your success podcast is author of rewired for wealth, co author of The Best Selling voice of the 21st century and entrepreneurs.com entrepreneur dot coms Startup Guide to starting an information marketing business and has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek Women’s Day and parenting. Melanie served on the women speakers Association’s executive team. Welcome, Melanie.

Melanie Benson  03:54

Thank you, Mostafa. Thanks for having me. I’m excited to talk about this today because it’s kind of an eye opener for a lot of people.

Mostafa Hosseini  04:00

Absolutely. So we’re talking about how to turn your your competition into collaborative collaborators through podcasting.

Melanie Benson  04:10

Yeah, there’s a lot of strategies I use around this. But podcasting is an easy win win ever, you know, super, like you can do it in the next 30 days kind of thing.

Mostafa Hosseini  04:21

Absolutely. So let’s dive into it. Melanie, what is your story? How did you get into what you’re doing today?

Melanie Benson  04:30

Well, there’s a lot of twists and turns that got me where I’m at right now here 21 years into business. But the fast story is, I spent about 15 years in corporate America, working for Fortune 500 companies and quickly discovered that I was around hole with a lot of shapes, but none of them that fit and I really was looking for something where I could feel my own superpowers could be monitored. eyes and make a difference in the world.

And so I started my business, wanting to help people learn how to achieve their goals faster. And along the way, I realized that I had a couple of superpowers that people really, really liked. And one of them was I was a natural collaborator, people liked to connect.

And I found that when you connect with people who serve your ideal audience, you can swing really important doors open very quickly to markets that would take you years to cultivate and build that know like and trust factor with very early on Mostafa, I came out of the corporate market knew nothing about being an entrepreneur, all I knew is I just wanted to be a coach, I wanted to help people achieve goals. And I stepped into a leadership position in the Los Angeles area, I started running a local networking group. So every month I was booking speakers and putting people in a room.

And there were these three really high profile competitors, if you will, that we naturally gravitated towards each other, we all did slightly different things. But we served a similar audience. And we very quickly realized that if we collaborated instead of competed, that we would be more successful together.

And so those collaborations were my first million dollars in revenue. And I realized later, that not everybody, it has this natural instinct to collaborate, like many people do get stuck in this idea of competition, they get stuck in this place of like, Ooh, I can’t share my audience with you, because you might take something from me. And so to be honest with you, part of my story is like I kind of stepped away from collaborating for a while.

And I was kind of in my own silo, we started focusing more on ads, and you know, building up our own traffic, and three things happened. One, I got really bored and lonely. Like I was missing that collaborative, high, if you will, there’s this natural high that happens when you’re, you know, connecting with and CO creating with other high vibration entrepreneurs and business owners. Like there’s just this something really powerful that happens between us. And to my own list got really dry. Like, I think at a certain point, we have to keep infusing new life into our email communities and to our Facebook communities.

And it’s very hard to do if you’re not collaborating with others. And third, podcasting emerged. So about 12 years ago, we all started to hear this noise about podcasts and audio platforms. This was before zoom was popular before we had webinars that were really peaking the way or webinars were really just starting to happen.

And, you know, like podcasts just kind of hit the market like a storm, right. And I recognized that podcasting was bringing a very unique opportunity to get in front of new audiences. And so those three situations that merged together, I realized, you know, what, it’s time to really bring collaboration back in and to really kind of lean into the superpower and bring it more to the front of the work that I do as a authority amplifier for expert based business owners.

Mostafa Hosseini  08:36

Love it. Love it. So I have a bunch of questions that I’m I’m gonna ask later. But what do you do today? And who do you serve?

Melanie Benson  08:46

So what I do right now is I work with people who have a business, usually it’s a service business, but sometimes it can be a product business. And it’s built around their expertise. So think, course creators, they deliver a service every month to a client, it may be retainer or by the hour. Usually, it’s a lot of coaches and consultants. And what happens is many of the people who come into my programs, they feel a bit like a best kept secret.

They’re doing a lot of things that they know are great offers, like they have clients that are awesome, but they feel slightly invisible in the market, they get passed over. So a client is weighing them against a competitor and they choose the competitor, their speaking gigs that don’t come to them. So they’re like, What is it Why am I a secret? And I teach a series of programs on how to really own your message and step into what I call this highly paid authority mindset. So that you are someone that people believe is the go to authority, and they choose you.

And so there’s a call combination of getting the message right, getting on the right stages and being consistently visible. That all comes together with the right offer and irresistible offer. And those are all the components we help people create so that they’re having a consistent flow of new clients, and many of which are willing to invest top dollar to get that expertise into their business to solve really costly problems.

Mostafa Hosseini  10:29

That’s a common issue that I think a lot of experts deal with X, especially experts that are a bit shy experts that don’t like to brag about themselves, experts that have been doing it for a long time, but are certainly not where they should be or where they want it to be. And that’s a that’s a common thing.

Melanie Benson  10:56

A common thing. You mentioned that you mentioned to me that I just want to unpack for a minute, you said people that feel uncomfortable bragging about themselves. And I think this is this taps into some mindset that goes into this idea of being visible as an authority. And so first of all, I think, and this is a writer downer, you might want to write this down.

As you’re listening in, I think sometimes we forget that authority is in the mind of the audience, right? Like it’s in the mind of the beholder. And it’s not whether we think we’re an authority, it’s whether the person who’s considering working with us or bringing us to an event considers you and authority. And there are ways that we can communicate what we do from an educational place that help people understand the value of the work we do in the world.

So when we think about like, oh, I don’t want to brag about myself, Oh, this feels like so ego, right? Like, there’s a conversation that so many of us get into our in our head about what feels appropriate. And we have to remember, it’s not how we feel about it. It’s how our audience experiences us that matters. And so what when we’re helping people recognize the value of the work we do, it’s not bragging, it’s helping them see a solution to something they are in pain about. They’re struggling with they’re actively searching for.

So you actually get to be their hero. Right? And so I like to just shift that paradigm for people because I think that’s a trap that keeps us feeling invisible. Is that fear of like, ooh, like, I don’t want people to like think I’m annoying, or, you know, all the noise we make up in our head about it’s all valid. It’s just, there are ways to do it that feel powerful and inspiring, instead of disempowering and obnoxious.

Mostafa Hosseini  12:53

Absolutely. Is there are there any other blockages that that you encounter with when it comes to establishing themselves as as an expert?

Melanie Benson  13:02

Yeah, there’s a lot of them. I think there’s a really popular one. We hear about it a lot. I’ve had several media interviews on this recently, because I guess I guess my work is getting out there rounded, and it’s called impostor syndrome. And that’s the idea that, okay, like, do I really know what I’m doing. And usually what happens is we’re, we are doing the work that we’re meant to do, but we’re taking evidence from, like, inappropriate sources.

So whether or not a launch does as well as we want, or how many people are clicking on my pot, my posts on social, which is a horrible measure of authority and success. Which, by the way, is a side note, a lot of times, the people who will buy from you will never comment. They’re lurkers, they’re watching everything you do. And when you when they hear the message that they’re waiting to hear, that’s when they reach out and hire you.

So clicks in likes and shares are not a relevant measure. And so we take these external measures, and we say, is what I do, can I really do this? Like, am I really good at I’m good at it, am I am I capable of of charging that kind of money to someone, and we let fear dictate whether or not something is possible for us. So impostor syndrome is really a version of self doubt. It’s just a worry that I don’t know if I can really do this and I think it’s heightened if you’re doing it alone.

So or you’re comparing yourself right like with so there’s so many people that look on social media, they hear people give a presentation, or, you know, they’re they’re watching something like this and they start comparing themselves and say, Ah, I’m never gonna be able to do that. There’s so much farther ahead of me.

And that comparison itis kicks in and you’re like, oh, I don’t know, I just don’t think I’m good enough. So I’m going to just do something that’s safe and comfortable that I know I can succeed at. And that’s, that’s honestly, that’s not where growth comes from.

But fine, just give a plug for coaching for a minute. This is where we need our coaches, every coach, every consultant, every service provider, you’re going to be 100 times more powerful and 100 times more capable, if you’ve got a coach in your corner, who’s helping you pull the best out of you, and shape it.

And you know, channel your focus so that it’s going to be getting attraction instead of making you feel like you’re not good enough. So there’s ways to circumvent that.

Mostafa Hosseini  15:44

One thing that I’ve seen over the years is a lot of people that are actually beyond good enough, they’re like, really, really good, are kind of shy to step forward. And I see sometimes people that are nowhere near good enough, but making a lot of noise making a killing out there. Right. So if you hear this, if you’re watching or listening to this, if you’re shy, you should definitely try it. That’s that’s my that’s my rule. It’s like if I have doubts, I should definitely do it. Anyway. So let’s get into the collaboration with competitors. Topic, why do competitors make a great collaborator?

Melanie Benson  16:33

Well, think of it like this, your competitor, they may do things that are similar to you. And they probably do some things that are different than what the way you do it. But they have already developed an audience of your ideal clients, and your competitors. If they have a podcast, they have developed loyal listeners or show like this.

So it could be an online show Facebook show YouTube show what doesn’t matter, but they have developed followers and loyal listeners and an audience of your ideal clients. So what happens in these collaborative opportunities is if we can put aside Hey, we do similar things.

And we can say, Where is there synergy? Where is there a place where we can do something that benefits the audience benefits our client bases? Why you coming in and teaching something that’s not exactly what I teach, but something different, then everybody wins. It’s the triple when you’re winning, because you’re getting tapped into a new market, the host is winning, because they’ve got great content, that’s going to make them look like a hero to their community, because they brought you in and the audience wins, because hopefully they’re getting a new idea or they’re getting solution to something they’re struggling with.

So I like to call it the triple win, because that’s what we’re, that’s what’s at with us what’s possible. When we get past that fear that a competitor is going to take something from us. And we move into could we find collaboration. I have a real life example of this Mustapha that just unfolded not too long ago, actually a couple of them. I realized that some of my competitors make my best collaborators because there’s so much synergy.

And I have a friend of mine who I’ve known for, like 15 years. And we met at some live events many years ago. And she had reached out to me and she said, Hey, do you want to find a way to collaborate, maybe you want to promote this thing I’m doing. And I realized the things she was doing was almost identical to a program I taught. And so I was like, Oh, I can’t really do it right now. It’s not a good fit. I’m promoting something super similar.

And then I moved on and was later in my promotional cycle. And I reached out to her and I said, you know, I love what you do so much. And I love your energy. And I love the way you teach it, let’s find a way to synergize and like collaborate rather than feeling like we’re doing the same thing. And we can’t support each other. And so it opened up this extraordinary conversation. And, you know, so we decided, hey, let’s talk about the subject from both of our perspectives.

So I’m actually on her show next week. And instead of feeling like there was constriction, and like not enough, we’re like, how do we create a bigger pie and more by bringing what we do together and I do this all the time. Like I’ve several competitors, we do almost the same thing. But instead of like losing that synergy, we’ve decided to be you know, open to the good that’s lurking in the in our blind spots and saying, Well, maybe more good stuff comes by us coming together.

Mostafa Hosseini  19:58

Absolutely. I love the idea. I mean, if if, let’s say, I’ve spent 10 years to establish myself with a group of people, and I have an audience, and I have an email list, and I’ve got a social media following. And for you to just tap into that, if you’re just going to buy today on Facebook, you’re going to spend 10s of 1000s of dollars, hours and hours upon hours to build that audience.

And if we have that collaboration mindset, I could just say, hey, Melanie, we seem to either compete or collaborate or complement each other. Would you be open to promote my upcoming workshop? And if it’s a yes, and if there’s synergy, like Melanie set it, you just saved 1000 hours plus probably 100 grand if added probably at a minimum. And I love that approach.

Melanie Benson  21:04

Yeah, I was also thinking about the podcasting side of it. There’s a lot I love podcasts guesting, and being a guest expert, there’s just millions of benefits. But one of the ones in this particular thing is, if you think about someone who’s got an ongoing show, they’re always looking for content, they always need a great guest. And so if you do share a similar audience, bringing someone on who you know has your same audience is, again is that win win win, it’s you’re going to get to, you know, they’re going to share the podcast episode to their audience.

That means you’re going to get new listeners, the guest is going to tap into your listeners. And it’s a it’s a way to shorten the cycle of building up new leads in and new potential clients. I want to, I want to just share something I learned though the hard way. Sure. Everything I’ve done the hard way I learned by making the mistakes and they went, Okay, there’s got to be a better way to do this. And I had been on several podcasts early on in the podcasting craze.

And all of a sudden, I realized, like, we started to go beyond the people who were inviting me and who knew me. And we were starting to pitch people to get on their shows. And I realized something that, oh, everybody’s getting pitched a lot.

There’s a lot of people that are clamoring for these spots. And this is where really understanding the synergy opportunity between you and the host, the competitor, the colleague, you know, sharing your audience is so important, is what you want to do is you want to pick a topic that complements what they’re doing, but adds major value.

So I call it creating a Magnetic Message. There’s a message like you just said, we were coming on the show today, like man, I knew this topic was going to be really hot. It’s like taking things to the next level. Because this is this is a new way to look at our competitors.

And I am very strategic. When I talk to someone who shares a similar audience or who has, who’s appear who, you know, I know we have a lot of collaboration opportunities, like I want to solve a problem, but I don’t want to be this. I don’t want to blend in with the vanilla conversations that they’ve had with a million other people. I want a topic that’s going to stand out.

And so a Magnetic Message stands out in the sea of sameness when somebody’s scrolling through a podcast or scrolling through YouTube, right. But it also sets you apart from 100 pitches that they received. And they’re like, Huh, okay, I might not know Melanie yet. Or I might not know Mustapha yet, but this topic is really magnetic, there’s something is drawing me in, I’m gonna go check it out and see if this person will be a good guest for me.

So there is a strategy to especially if you don’t already have a relationship with somebody, to getting them to pay attention and to choose you or at least have a conversation with you, that will make it easier to pitch those competitors who might otherwise just kind of put it in the Delete folder in their inbox.

Mostafa Hosseini  24:21

So Melanie, do you create, say, one good magnetic topic that everyone is going to love? Or do you research each podcast and say, Alright, here’s a hot topic that I think they’re gonna love.

Melanie Benson  24:35

Yeah. Well, so I’ll tell you what I do. And then I’ll give you the advice I give clients here because I actually have four types of topics that I keep on hold. If you go to My Media page. On my website, you’ll see we have four key topics.

 And then what I typically do was I will look at if I’m pitching them to be on their show or it’s a friend who said, Hey, you want to be on the show, just let me know what kind of topic you want to cover, I go and look at the types of things they’ve been talking about. And I pick something and I might fine tune the, the what I call the topic a little bit to fit their show. But I will typically do some research before I submit my materials to make sure that a the topic is going to stand out and be that it’s complementary to the things they’re doing.

And like there’s an audience for what I’m talking about, because I’ve had situations and Mustapha, maybe you have, and as you’re listening in, maybe maybe you’ve had this happen to where you think of topics rarely going to land. And then you realize, hmm, this didn’t do so well, because there’s the audience hasn’t been nurtured for this conversation yet.

So they have to have some context for the topic that you’re going to bring into the, into the show or the podcast. Now, if you are maybe newer this or you’ve been trying some some episodes, or some topics, and they’re not getting great traction, then what I always tell my clients is let’s fix one thing at a time. Let’s, let’s make let’s magnetized one key topic, get out there, get some real life feedback, get, get on some shows, start to see how it’s gonna work.

And then let’s go to another one that emerges. After you’ve been on a few shows, and you’re like, I cannot talk about this one more time. Like, there becomes a saturation where you’re like, I’m so bored with my own topic, I can’t talk about it anymore. And you want to have a little variety, once you have created that what I call that buzz and momentum by getting on a slew of shows, and getting that topic to create some buzz and momentum for you out there in podcast land.

Mostafa Hosseini  26:49

Got it? Okay, so you have three or four topics and you try to

Melanie Benson  26:57

try to fine tune it to the audience, your audience to the show, yeah, to the show. So that it really it has meaning and value to the culture of that podcast because every host, and I’m sure you’ve seen this Mr. But every host has a culture they create around their show. You know, they have, they have a context, they have a way that they engage with people, they have a theme that they pretty much stick to. And they typically have some an energy pattern that they bring to their show.

And so the more you can understand that which means you got to do a little research, the more successful you’ll be in your pitch. Here’s here’s my favorite thing. That is a surefire get into the Delete can is pitch me a topic that has absolutely nothing to do with the theme of my show. It’s like it tells me you have no idea what my show is about, which means you haven’t listened to any of it. You’ve done no research, and you’re not gonna get booked.

And so this is a way to not get it. That’s the way to not get booked. And so collaboration. You know, podcasting is a collaboration. You

Mostafa Hosseini  28:09

got it. So how does podcast guesting help you connect with those competitors that we’re talking about here? Yeah. So how do we? How do we get them basically?

Melanie Benson  28:25

Yeah, so there’s a couple of different strategies. And I’m just thinking to there’s something else, if we have time I want to talk about and that’s how to really maximize the ROI of being on someone show. But so just a couple of ways in if you’re in a community of other experts and people in your industry, chances are at least 30% of them have a podcast or a show of some kind. So take some time to get to know the other people in that community.

And see if they have a show that serves your ideal audience is a great way to open up a collaboration opportunity. So that’s one thing is scheduled, get to know you chats with other people and see what they’re up to. Chances are they’re going to invite you into the show if it’s a good fit, but be proactive and and start to make new connections.

Second eye if you have a podcast, go research some competitors who have a topic that might be a good fit and invite them on to your show. That activates the law of reciprocity. So when you invite people on to your show, and you you can have a conversation in the green room, and oftentimes they’ll say, hey, you know what kinds of things do you talk about?

You’d make a great guest on my show, hey, why don’t you come on my show so you can kick start those collaboration opportunities that way. The third thing that I tell people to do is go use the best search engine on the planet. YouTube, right? Go to YouTube and start researching topics that are topics that you might talk about, and see what pops up in your feed.

Most of the a lot of those YouTube channels are podcast episodes that have been repurposed. Or they’re the video that feeds a podcast. And so that’s a great way to find people who serve your audience, and are going to be looking for great guests. And third, fourth, I guess it’s worth it. Find people who actively have guests.

There’s a lot of podcast hosts that don’t have guests. There’s It makes absolutely no sense to pitch a podcaster, who doesn’t bring guests on the show? Again, it’s just, it shows that you don’t really do your homework and you don’t know the show. If you’re pitching a podcast or a show. That’s a solo show that isn’t really looking for guests. You

Mostafa Hosseini  30:50

got it. So what if you bring a guest on? And they they don’t offer to have you on the show? Do you ask them if they want you on their show? Okay,

Melanie Benson  31:00

great question. So let’s say I’m on someone’s show, and I’m getting a sensor, some great collaboration, I might outright say, Hey, I noticed you have a show. Are you looking for guests in these kinds of topic areas. But another thing I usually will do is I if I really enjoyed their energy, and I feel like there’s collaboration, I would say so. I you know, I love the conversation we had like this feels like there’s there’s some good synergy here?

Are you open to exploring some other ways that we might collaborate and connect? And so I’ll invite them into more of a conversation. Because what happens is, again, like this is all learning. I realize like, not everyone has in their DNA, that, that they’re not always looking for collaboration. They’re not always thinking, how do we reciprocate, they’re just in their their own little world going, Okay, I gotta get through the next podcast, next podcast.

And they’re being a good host for the show. And so I call this taking the lead, sometimes it’s really helpful to take the lead, and steer the conversation into a direction where that next thing can be activated, right. And so that might be a follow up conversation, or maybe there’s a few minutes there, it may not always work. But it’s worth exploring. To see if that convert, if that relationship can turn into what I call collaboration, currency, there’s more potential in there to be activated?

Mostafa Hosseini  32:36

Absolutely, absolutely. I like the fact that you said you could talk about, hey, I liked this collaboration, or I like the energy. Would you like to talk about collaborate collaborating further? Or are you interested in these topics?

And they could say your name. So normally, I have a follow up questions that that is, do you bring on guests that, you know, they’re only there to promote themselves? And they would not? Would you say no to them for those guys that are just just self promoters.

Melanie Benson  33:10

Since you’re staying I recently, about about eight months ago, I made a decision in my podcast, that we’re going to change the structure of how we let guests on special guests, I don’t know. So I’m okay with people using it for visibility.

But it is going to be a sponsored episode. So somebody’s just there for the visibility, they’re not planning on, on activating what I call the podcast, exposure, you know, the ROI, and they’re just, they’re just going to leverage my audience to fill a program or drive leads.

And I don’t already have synergy with them, then they’re going to invest in what’s called a sponsored episode. And it has to still be a good fit. I’ll never let anybody on my show that I don’t think has value to add. But I learned the hard way. That just because somebody has a high profile name, and they are really, really great at what they do, that doesn’t mean they make a great collaborator or make a great podcast guest even and so I still let them out.

I still every every single person that comes on the show, I bet them out. But if they if I can tell they’re just trying to like get on the show for exposure to sell their products. And I think it’s a good fit, then it’s a sponsored episode. So big decision we made going into 2022.

Mostafa Hosseini  34:35

You got it. I love it. Yep. If there’s no collaboration, then it’s just been sponsored. But then I guess there’s that shyness of bringing that up. Some people have a hard time bringing that up.

Melanie Benson  34:47

Oh, I don’t. Well, and so again, it’s it’s all in the positioning. And so here’s the thing, and I know where to kind of deterring a little bit and I want to come back to the ROI thing because I think the ROI is really key. As a guest Yeah,

Mostafa Hosseini  35:00

that’s my next question. Yeah, but

Melanie Benson  35:02

um, so here’s the thing, like, people come on my show, and my audience, if I, because I do a really good job of interviewing people, they get clients. So I know my podcast is a powerful visibility machine for the right types of experts. And if they didn’t get a guess, because they didn’t deliver a magnetic talk, they didn’t know how to structure the conversation in a way that was enticing and appealing and really, like, made them irresistible and desirable to my audience.

And when that’s done well, people tell me all the time, man, I got some great clients or I got a whole bunch of leads. And thank you. It’s like, it’s it is a powerful vehicle when used well. So when somebody pitches me, because I get a lot of pitches, when somebody pitches me, and they say, hey, we’d really gets somebody great for your show, or they’re like, I’d love to be on your show.

And I think it’s a good topic. What happens is my team reaches out we do the research, we see how, what kind of reach they have, we see what kind of audience they have on social, we see Do they regularly share the episode? Because that’s a key part of it. And then we will tell them what the investment is to be on the show to get the reach we have. And they could choose to be on it or not. So it’s a system rather than an emotional conversation, right? Love

Mostafa Hosseini  36:29

1. So let’s talk about maximizing the ROI of being on the show. How do we do that? Yeah.

Melanie Benson  36:35

So there’s a system that I teach, it’s called Get Magnetic Messaging. And the way I see it work the best is it starts with your topic. It then moves to having a series of what I call catchy, like hooks and formulas, like I like to do something called authority formulas where you teach a specific formula, or you have like these catchy phrases that people kind of connect to, and they realize like, Man, this is standing out in my mind.

So you want to be that like when somebody thinks of the problem, they think of you, I have had some of those catchphrases over the last 21 years. And I would have people who heard me speak on a stage like 18 years ago, and I would run into him they go, every time I have this problem, I think of the little formula that you taught me, right.

So it’s about kind of having that pneumonic, or that like memory connection for people. And then, and then the real gold is what happens after the show. So obviously, the host is going to air the episode, they’re going to put you on their social, they’re going to do whatever they do that gets the traction for the show.

But then what you do with it is a big part of how you tap into the market. So I have found that if you share a show on your own social media, not just once, but over and over again, what you do is you’re able to leverage someone else’s credibility and authority.

So I’m on your show, I’m borrowing your credibility Mustapha. And then in my social media, if I keep tagging you, every time I share the show, I’m showing up in your feed your and your I’m showing up in my feed with this high profile show daily confidence for entrepreneurs. And what happens is people who are dormant on social media, we’ll see something that’s relevant to them. After I’ve shared it the 17th time.

And it crosses that, that their vision at that one moment, they’re on social, then they watch the show, and they’re like, Oh my God, that’s brilliant Melanie. And I’m like, Man, I have aired that episode 17 times, and they now are just seeing it. So it’s the repeated repetition hearing that gets in front of the audience that needs you the most at the right time.

And now they’re like, Oh, I didn’t know that she was almost off the show. Or I didn’t know that she was on the Conscious Millionaire show or I didn’t know you were on. Entrepreneur on Fire. It’s like whatever the episode is, that moment they see it as the moment they need to see it. And that’s when they become they get out of that dormant stage and then become an active listener who wants something that you’re doing.

So not only do you get to keep building relationship with the audience, with your host audience, but you can also reactivate your own dormant followers and turn them into active leads as well.

Mostafa Hosseini  39:42

Absolutely. I think that consistency and that persistence and the repetition, over time builds the seriousness of your message. Like if you told me once that hey, listen to this. It’s important. I’ll be like, Alright, okay, I’ll get To me when I get to it, but if you told me 12 times that I’d be like, this is probably serious. I should probably look into it. Yeah.

Melanie Benson  40:07

Yeah. And sometimes it’s the relevance of the moment, right? Yeah, the problem you’re focused on right now, or the goal you’re focused on right now may not be the same when you’re focused on three weeks or three months from now.

And so seeing something, when it’s relevant to you, is very different than the moment and errors. And that’s the power of repetition, is getting that message repetitively, repetitively, repetitively. That’s the right word repetitively out in front of your audience. At the time, they’re looking for a solution. Yeah.

Mostafa Hosseini  40:39

So I think there’s the relevance. And then there there is the repetition. Like in the marketing world, we always say it takes about seven or eight exposures for them to to get it make a decision, right? Yeah. And hmm. And it’s, it’s the same for me, I don’t know if it’s relevant or not. When it comes to fundraising. I have turned to my mom’s favorite fundraiser for some charity work that she does. Because I like to think that I’m good at it.

And I’ve done it, like, it’s so many times that what we do is like, we send multiple messages to people to say, we need funds for this person that needs medication, money for their medication, right? First few messages. They don’t take it seriously. But you know, when they do when I pick up the phone, and I call them and say, Are you going to make a donation here? And there’s some personal relationships, right? But then there’ll be like, you know, I’ve been wanting to do this. I’ve been thinking of doing it. I know how much I want to do it.

And this call just made it happen. So it’s, to me, it’s that repetition and the seriousness that makes it happen. In your case, he will be like posting the episode on social media 17 times and they’re like, maybe I should consider this because I’ve seen it a million times now.

Melanie Benson  42:02

Yeah, there’s a whole psychology of why people take action and what triggers them out of their busyness and into paying attention, which is probably a whole topic in itself, but it’s so true. And it is it’s repetition, repetition of a relevant message when people need to hear it the most. So you’re dead on there. Mustapha. Alright,

Mostafa Hosseini  42:23

so here’s my next hot question. And that is how do we land the hottest competitor podcasts.

Melanie Benson  42:32

So this is what where authority comes in. i There are a lot of really high profile podcasts and everybody wants to be on them. So a, you either have a relationship. B, you have a relevant topic and our authority see you buy your way in. Those are the three ways in right now. So relationship, there’s a lot of ways to get to relationship.

You invest in someone’s mastermind, you have somebody who can make an introduction for you, those are common ways into hot hot podcast, relevance, if you are not willing to invest your way in so a lot of these really hot podcasts as I mentioned before, you know, I don’t know somebody we’re moving to a sponsored episode. John Lee Dumas, entrepreneur, fire has had sponsored episodes for a really long time. A lot of the high profile hot podcasts are moving in that direction, because it’s media and everybody wants to be on it, right?

I mean, there’s limited bandwidth. Relevance is going back to that magnetic topic. If you do a really good job of researching what the culture of a podcast is about, and what is like relevant to that community right now. And you there’s an intersection between what you’re good at, and what they’re creating a need for through the conversations they’re having on that podcast or on that show, and you pitch a what I call a rocks method.

Topic, you will find yourself getting booked, because this is where people go, ooh, that’s really unique. That’s a cool topic. And here’s the best part Mustapha, you get on a couple of those hot podcasts with a relevant hot Magnetic Message. You don’t have to work so hard to get on any other shows. You’re gonna get a ton of invitations from other podcasters to get on their shows because they’re like, That was hot. I want that on my show, too.

Can you come over and do that talk for me or can you can you take that topic and do it for for my show, too. So those are the three best ways right now.

Mostafa Hosseini  44:50

I just I just got that like there’s a guy that’s been bugging me for to show up on their show, and they just don’t give up. I’m like, wow, was it that Powerful. So it’s it’s certainly a confidence boost when people reach out to you and say, Hey, would you like share your message on my podcast? So it’s actually on my to do list to get back to that person?

So can you give us some tips on how to research someone’s audience and a good topic that we could come up with? Because quite frankly, I don’t know how to do that, myself?

Melanie Benson  45:28

Well, it’s there. So let me just say, This is not your superpower, you definitely want to get some support with it. Because the way most of us think about our our topics or not the way an audience interprets them. And so there’s a little bit of magic that goes in it. What I tell people to do, let’s take the researching first is you want to go and research people who they show up.

In a lot of your communities, they you notice, clients of yours tend to show up in their podcasts or other competitors of you are showing up on their podcast. So there’s kind of like, there’s a lot of little spider webs that you all of a sudden you’re like, Okay, this version, I think, is doing some similar things. The best way to find these podcasts is just do some Google searches, or just scroll through your peers on social media and see what podcasts they’re showing up on.

That’s how I find a lot of the podcasts that we get booked on the magnetic topic. This is where I would say guy, let’s dig a little deeper. So I mentioned the rocks method earlier, the way I develop topics for my clients is I use the rocks method. And the rocks method is our OCS relevant, outcome driven, credibility boosting specific,

Mostafa Hosseini  46:58

relevant, outcome driven credibility booster and specific,

Melanie Benson  47:03

Yep, you got it. So it’s a little formula that I just came up with to help people remember how to name things, I use it for naming everything in our company, everything I do with my clients. And it helps me just remember, like, if I’m going to create a title for something, or I want to create some like energy around something and create that viral impact, it’s got to fit inside those four components. So relevant is isn’t solving?

Is it clear that it solves a problem or helps people achieve an outcome? So relevant? You know, if we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and I’m trying to talk to you about traveling on a cruise ship, not relevant, right? So you want something that’s relevant what’s on the minds and in the hearts of the people that are your listeners right now, outcome driven?

Number one mistake most service providers make is they and by the way, we’re talking about daily confidence using this formula should give you confidence to go and pitch shows and like be a fantastic guests like I want everything I’m teaching you, I want you to really take it in and use it because it should help you feel more confident. outcome driven is instead of talking about the feature, how you do it, talk about an outcome.

An example. I have a client, and she’s super brilliant at everything she does. But she talks a lot about creating her course, or like how to create an online course. And I’m like, well, that’s great. If somebody knows they want an online course, but what if they don’t know they want an online course? What’s the real outcome you’re creating for them?

And so we started like playing around with like, profitable online course. Or like how to, you know, scale your business through online courses? So bringing in a little bit more of like, what is the thing I really want with the with the outcome. So even the topic we’re talking about today is like how to turn your competitors into your number one client lead source, that is an outcome. Instead of just like, hey, go get booked on podcasts. That’s a feature.

So outcome driven, gets more magnetic traction. Credibility boosting is obvious, right? It’s like the title should showcase that you know what you’re doing. And it should build trust and rapport, and specificity. That’s a big topic, we probably don’t have time to unpack it fully. But let me just say that the market at this time that we are airing this conversation is responding to things that have specificity over generality.

So you notice, thank you for sharing that. By the way, my gift is 17 mistakes you’re making that’s specific, right? So it’s not like here’s the common mistakes. It’s like there are 17 of them that you Make. So think about how can I bring some specificity. The other thing is specificity in a very subliminal way gives people confidence, and more. Like it kind of positions your authority. Because it doesn’t just feel like you’re making it up.

There’s a there’s a rhyme and reason to it. There’s that specificity cells. And so you study the most viral lead magnets, podcasts, topics, videos on YouTube, there’s specificity in their topics. So that’s the foundation for the way I see those magnetic titles that really get you booked. Love it. So

Mostafa Hosseini  50:41

tell us more about your gift here to 17 mistakes you’re making as a guest expert that are costing you the lead and clients.

Melanie Benson  50:50

So I’ve been podcasting for almost 10 years now. I’ve had I’ve had different kinds of online shows my entire life, probably 18 of the 21 years I’ve been in business. And what I have found is that you can really smart, really talented, and really not good at delivering a podcast interview that gets you leads. And there are certain things you have to do.

And there are some common mistakes that really great experts make that end up getting them crickets, when they show up on a show. I was talking with someone who has multiple business successes over the 30 years, he’d been in business. He’s been doing the podcast tour, and he’s like, you get clients from the episodes you’re on.

And I’m like, yeah, yeah, most of them. And he’s like, Well, what are you doing that I’m not doing? Because I’m not getting any. And I and I had him on my show. And I was like, oh, yeah, okay, he say he like made 12 of the mistakes that I cover in 17.

Mostafa Hosseini  52:00

You are the winner and

Melanie Benson  52:03

you scored the high score is not a good thing. But you know, here’s the thing. They are common mistakes. Everybody’s making somebody’s mistakes. And it’s just because most people are, they haven’t realized that this is an opportunity to attract clients. It’s not just this random winging it. Conversation. It’s like, there is a structure to what you talk about. It’s not that you’re you know, authentic. It’s like this is an authentic conversation.

But it’s like the way we communicate things is either pulling people in and attracting them and creating an irresistible, like, I want this quality, or it’s like, okay, that’s nice. And it’s like, click away, because I’m like, Okay, I didn’t get it. Like I don’t see the relevance to me. And that when you really start to recognize, okay, if I shaped the conversations in this way, my leads go up, my clients go up, when I wing it, and I don’t really have a strategy and a structure. It’s a nice conversation.

It’s great visibility, but it’s not getting results. Visibility without results is just busy work.

Mostafa Hosseini  53:06

I am definitely going to download this and see is my phone talking by itself. I’m definitely going to download this and see what kind of mistakes I’m making. If there’s 17 of them, I’m probably making at least half of them.

Melanie Benson  53:22

I’ll make one or two, right?

Mostafa Hosseini  53:24

So I’m definitely gonna check and see what mistakes I made. Cuz like you said, it is better to have a strategy instead of winging it and go out there. And sometimes we think we have a strategy, but we really don’t. Sometimes I think let me use myself, I think I’m very smart. But the results are not proving my thoughts, right.

So yeah, I’m definitely gonna check it out. And since again, if you want to get access to Mellon, his gift, the 17 mistakes that you’re making, Melanie’s is a PDF. So

Melanie Benson  54:00

what it is, is, if you go to Melanie benson.com, forward slash daily confidence, you’ll get access to it as a PDF. And what I do is I walk you through all 17 mistakes, you can self assess. And then if you’re like, Okay, definitely making some of these, there’s a bonus training that goes with it, and you can watch it, and it’ll help you like weave together.

So what should I be doing instead? And I find that when you can really tune into the intersection of what are my superpowers? What are the things that I do so well, that solve a costly problem. For an ideal client. There’s this trifecta, that if we lean on that it’s magnetic, because you’re in you’re on fire, you’re in your inspiration. The energy is high and it’s contagious and people that’s desirable for people

Mostafa Hosseini  54:51

love it. So again, again, if you’re watching or listening, go to Melanie benson.com forward slash daily confidence. Download this list. So today’s topic was how to generate leads from your competition by podcasting, this list here. This is one PDF that is worth its weight in gold. And it’s just probably few pages, but it will give you the strategy and the confidence.

To be able to come up with a strategy here are things that I’m going I am going to do, to be able to show up on podcasts, present myself, have a strategy, deliver a solid message, and more importantly, get leads and generate leads. So that dress is Melanie benson.com, forward slash daily confidence. So Melanie, can I ask you some personal questions? Sure. What are your favorite top two or three books, books that have made a massive difference in business or life or books that you have recommended a ton?

Melanie Benson  56:02

Well, my all time most impactful book was by Gay Hendricks it’s called The Big Leap. It radically radically transformed my understanding of what happens when we’re stretching outside of our comfort zone. So I give that to every single mastermind client that joins my program. I also really, really liked the magic of thinking big.

At a time when I was struggling to kind of figure out what I wanted to evolve into next, like I knew where I’d been wasn’t where I was staying. And I was kind of looking for inspiration. I read that book by David Schwartz. And I thought, Wow, this has changed everything for me. And then the third book, the third book, it was the book that introduced me to coaching.

And it was take time for your life by Cheryl, her last name is eluding me right now she’s one of the coaches that I followed for many years. But it was an older book, but it literally fell off of a bookstand walk while I was walking through a bookstore. Before I left corporate and I was trying to figure out what do I do if I don’t do what I do right now, like I was trying to find a career path that made sense for me. And reading that book, radically transformed my perspective of what my superpower was and how it could be used in the world.

And it also taught me that being a in a constant hustle and grind mode was not going to be a long term success strategy. Because at that time, I was working 100 plus hours a week, and I had very little time for myself. So it showed me how beautiful a good coach can guide you to something that you don’t even know as possible.

Mostafa Hosseini  57:53

Absolutely. Beauty. So the books are the big leap. The magic of thinking big and take time for your love your life. Yeah, amazing. Melanie, what’s one advice that made a massive change in your life or business?

Melanie Benson  58:11

Invest in the business you want. And not it not what you think you can afford. So this radically transformed again, my whole perspective of what it means to grow. And what many of us do is we play it safe, we let fear make our growth decisions. And when I discovered that there is a different way to think and a way to invest your energy in what you want, rather than what you think you can afford. Everything changed.

And it’s it’s not about going into debt to create a business. That’s not the strategy here. It’s about investing in the business you’re becoming and then working the plan to make that investment of 10x 50x 100x return on investment. And so it’s a massive shift in perspective. I actually did a whole episode on amplifier success on it, because it you know, I learned it many years ago, but I find it’s something that is worth repeating and sharing with others.

Mostafa Hosseini  59:13

So you said invest in a business that you want, not in what you think you think you can afford. Yeah. Very interesting. Very interesting. Melanie, if you had an ad, a Facebook ad or a Google Ad where everyone on earth could see everyone want internet access, what would your message be for the people of Earth?

Melanie Benson  59:40

Well, I’ll tell you what jumped into my head first is go for the bold dream. There are limits you’re meant to shatter. If I look at the work I’ve done with my clients over the 20 years, the ones that get the best results are the ones that went bold they shattered every limit they had about themselves. And let me take them where they could be not where they thought they could be.

Mostafa Hosseini  1:00:09

Love it. Very inspiring. Now, last question, what advice do you have for your 20 year old self?

Melanie Benson  1:00:17

My 20 year old self, holy moly. She was not, she was not ready for this life. I’m in now. My 20 year old self, I would say

Melanie Benson  1:00:33

like, don’t let the story in your head, dictate what you believe your worth. So I think I let there was a story that I had that emerged from my childhood and my, what my ways my parents raised me, that was very limiting. And I let it dictate my self worth for many years. And if she could learn one thing is like that story is just a story. It’s not your reality. So don’t let it dictate what you believe is possible for you.

Mostafa Hosseini  1:01:08

That’s a common common theme in a lot of people. How did you overcome that? How did you change your narrative?

Melanie Benson  1:01:18

Wow, we could probably do a whole call on that. whole episode on Yeah, this is where my I’d had no confidence at that age. And my confidence came from learning how we’re learning what my real superpower is, we’re building a business around it. But also, I had to rewire I actually wrote a book about it. It’s called rewire for wealth.

I think you mentioned it in the intro. I wrote a book about it. Because I literally had to rewire every belief system, I had to create a reality where unlimited potential was my reality, instead of limited potential. And it was, it was not the easiest thing, like I still have stuff come up from my childhood that I have to put through this process. But our stories are very limiting, usually. And they’re not our stories. They’re stories that people gave to us, or we created to protect ourselves from a reality, we had no control over. And those stories are now playing out in who we are in business.

And so I you know, a lot of the work I do is mindset first, it’s like rewiring the belief system out of the one that has limited us for so many years and into one that opens us up to what’s really possible.

Mostafa Hosseini  1:02:43

Melanie, I would, I’m going to invite you sometime down the road to talk about learning your superpowers and building your business around it. Because that that readapt that one line really jumped at me.

And so far, that’s the topic I have in mind. I don’t know what you think. Because here’s the thing, like you were saying a lot of business owners have that those are stories from their childhood from different failures, if you will, will hunt them down. And they have to deal with it. So I think we’ve got a solid episode there that I cannot wait.

And that affects our confidence on a daily, weekly, depending on when it comes up and how it pops up at a could hurt us. So, Melanie, this is what? It’s a date. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So let’s do it in 2022. Sounds I’m looking forward to that. So Melanie, this has been an absolutely amazing conversation we talked about, and why you should be on a podcast, how to establish your expertise, how to frame yourself, how to pick a topic, how to approach them, we talked about a whole bunch of different things that do affect our confidence.

I really appreciate you for that. Thank you for sharing your expertise and knowledge and wisdom. Is there anything that you would like to add that you feel like we didn’t talk about before we wrap up? Gosh,

Melanie Benson  1:04:20

we’ve covered so many amazing things. You know, I think the last thing it’s fresh on my mind because I did an interview earlier on is just know that you can’t do it all alone. Like the confidence comes by staying in your superpower and letting go of everything else. hire people to help you grow. Surround yourself with people who reflect that amazing super Bart superpower back to you. You get to choose your environment.

You get to choose who’s in it, and you get to choose who’s not. So the more you surround yourself with people that lift you up and inspire you, the more confidence you have and the more energy you have Have to go out and conquer those big goals.

Mostafa Hosseini  1:05:03

Absolutely love it. Surround yourself with people to lift you up and focusing on your superpowers is the way to go. Beautiful gang. Thank you for joining us watching, you’re listening. You’ve been listening to Episode 79 of daily confidence for entrepreneurs. My guest today was Melanie Benson, to grab her gifts 17 mistakes you’re making as a guest expert that are costing your leads and clients go to Melanie benson.com forward slash daily confidence.

As usual, please make sure you like the show, subscribe the show to the show. If you have any comments or comments about what we talked about, make sure you put them in whichever channel you’re watching. If you have questions, ask them on social media or reach out to us through the podcast platform. And we’ll get back to you answer those questions.

If you have a friend which most business owners should have a friend that could you benefit from this, please tag them in the comments on social media so they could benefit from it and share the love and other people tap into Melanie’s wisdom and all those goodies that she did share. As I mentioned earlier, we are doing a training on how to create a your one page marketing plan for 2020. True happening on December 1 The link is preside accom forward slash simple opt in and we’re going to have a live fun live session together. And that is it for me.

Thank you for joining me. My name is Mostafa Hosseini and we will see you next week. Bye now.