¶ Making Friends and Sales Everywhere
We are here for another episode of the Art of Online Business , and we're just having a good old time with , well , two people . Renee , though . Renee Rebar is our guest today , and if you already heard her on the previous episode , then you know that she has been a sales professional since 1994 .
She made her first $1 million by the time she was 25 years old , and she's gone on to sell millions more of products , and the cool thing is she actually , like , retired herself when she became a mom because she made so much money . And now she's known in the industry as just fun , energetic person who is a sales coach and leads with her heart .
She is a TEDx speaker who offers training sessions at global conferences , on-demand courses , virtual workshops , and she skillfully breaks down her decades of sales experience . True that she has decades of experience , because she started out selling pagers beepers . Beepers are pagers .
Sky pagers very fancy , like the burgeon of pagers okay .
It was great because during our last conversation in the previous episode which , honestly , if you're listening listener and you haven't heard that episode yet , go listen to that one . It's in the show notes below and it was really funny .
Renee , when you talked about sky tale , I thought of skynet , like terminator arnold schwarzenegger skynet actually , you know , and I was waiting for , like the music that's so music so anyway , also a guest on the episode , who is now the co-host and not really a guest , since you've already recorded a number one , but you're looking at .
Jamie , if you're not looking at us then you should be on YouTube . The link to that is in the show notes below . But Jamie is my wife .
She's also a Facebook ads manager and we decided to team up , so she's the co-host because she just brings a fresh perspective , having only been running successful Facebook ads for clients for like five months now recording this video and much more equipped to ask better questions than me , with fresh perspective and your intuitive insight .
And look on the last episode , renee she like got the last half of the story and I was almost going to end the episode and your question made it a way better episode and , like I'm so happy to have you here , that's why we're a good team . We are a good team . Thanks , yes , so here we go . This is the episode .
Renee , we teased this upcoming episode by finishing the last one and saying that you were going to talk about how to make friends and sales everywhere you go , plus the biggest mistake that women entrepreneurs make while selling for themselves , and what's your favorite F word is , and how it has to do with that .
So I mean , everybody knows this is a PG podcast .
It is always PG . I'm PG , okay , we are definitely .
We're even G almost . So tell us first of all , what is well , you can make us wait for your favorite F word if you need to like , give some more context . But where do we start ? What is the biggest mistake women entrepreneurs make when ? They try to sell themselves .
Yeah Well , let's talk about this from the top right . So the first question is you know how do I make friends and sales online ? When I first came in the online space , I shared back in the other episodes . So again , yes , listen , I came in through a book that I read and it was about homeschooling .
So I wasn't coming into the online space looking to you know , like , power out another empire here , like I felt like I had been there , done that . I was looking at car seat safety . You know , like that's what I want to perpetuate .
And I started to try to hire a team and I realized these people can't close me not the website designer , not the bookkeeper , not the virtual assistant .
So I actually spend a lot of time with those women in those industries in my current role and what I understood was they said I don't want to bother people , I don't want to be pushy , I'm friends with her . I'm like , okay , I mean , isn't that who we buy from ?
I mean , if I'm going to get my hair done , I'm going to go to my friend who I know isn't going to cut my hair . Crazy , right , I need my car fixed . I'm going to go to my friend who I know is going to cut me a deal Right .
If I want to go out to dinner , I want to go to the place that my friend recommended , or the place that my friend owns or works at right . I mean , I want to support my friends , so why wouldn't I want to share what I'm so excited about in my professional career with friends ? And it roots back to the very first day of every sales job .
Say , holler out there if you're listening and you've had a sales job right and I know you have right . So the first day they say wait . They say what , sit down and what ? What did they say ?
Oh , it's been a long time since I've had a sales job .
Well , I'll I'll give it to you Make a list of a hundred people that you know you .
Oh , yes , yes , definitely .
My aunt and uncle aren't going to buy anything . Hey , hey , that's fine , Just let them know what you're doing , which is true . So I didn't invent this . I'm just bringing it to the people . And so what I say make friends and sales everywhere you go .
It means you're doing other people a deficit If you're not at least sharing with them who you are and what you do . Because you own your business , you have to be the billboard . You have to be the best and most enthusiastic person about it .
It doesn't mean you have to be pounding people over the head with it , but you know , where are the t-shirt with your business name on it ? Where are the hat that says ask me about ads , why not ? Where have a bumper sticker , you know , on your car , like , where are the costume for Halloween ?
I don't know if they do that Facebook ad manager costume , but not the ones that are silly like maybe silly , but whatever it is like . Make it a part of your conversation . You know , whenever . I've never met a millionaire or anybody who's making great money who is shy about talking about their business , right ?
Right , why would you be ? You always learn . Open mouth , open business right Like people aren't going to know unless you tell them right .
And there's a , there's a there's a finesse , though , between telling them and shoving it down their throat . Right , it can't be the only thing you ever want to talk about , which is why it's friends and sales . It can't only be like hi , I'm Renee and I sell selling , you know what I mean ? Like that would be boring . They'd be like , okay , like how about ?
Hey , let's talk about yoga . Hey , let's go on a book tour . Hey , let's go on . Let's go float for wine , let's taste the newest tequila , or let's go out for a charcuterie or I don't know , let's hang out . Like there's lots of layers of you and anyone listening . You're not just one thing .
Even though you do that for a living , it's still also not the only part of you . What I'm suggesting by saying making friends and sales everywhere you go , online or in person , is don't eliminate your business from the conversation , don't block it . It doesn't mean you have to only go there for that reason .
Even if it's a professional networking event right , maybe it's BNI or Chamber of Commerce or NABO I mean , there's thousands of types of organizations , right so , but wherever you go , even if it is meant for you to talk about your business , be all of you , right , be all of you .
People know I'm a crazy New Yorker from a big Italian family and I moved to the Midwest and people don't understand how I drive or talk sometimes , and I've been here for a long time but I'm not out there being like and I was a TEDx speaker . You know what I mean , but I am going to .
You know , if people ask what you do for a living , or if I hear something that would make sense to interject into the conversation , well , that's when I would say , in a very subtle way but a very clear way well , if you've ever thought you were going to make the sale , but didn't you know we should hang out more , right , but I'm not trying to make the
whole sale the moment . I meet everybody , and that's , I think , the problem people have with it . Like , well , if I meet somebody , I don't want them to just think that's all I do . Well , yeah , obviously , but it's not obvious . This is the real thing .
So make friends , talk to them , but don't block out the fact that you also have a business and that you probably could help somebody that they know . Just because you're talking with someone doesn't mean that they know what you do . That's the other part of this . I met so many women who had great networks .
I mean , you look at their friends list or who they're talking to in Messenger or who they're chatting with on their podcast . They're doing all kinds of marketing activities and I'm like OK , so why are you struggling with sales ? You've got a great network . Well , I'm like well , what was the last time you made an offer ? Well , I made a post about it .
Ok , well , that's a great start . Let's talk about that . Show me the post . Well , I , I did make a post and I had a launch , and you know they would come to me if they needed it . And I'm saying they're thinking you would go to them if you thought they were a good fit . You're both losing
¶ Building Trust and Making Connections
. So how about this phrase ? So I give them some phrases that help them feel comfortable . One example might be hey , joanne , we've been friends for a while and I'm doing this big launch . You might be hearing about it in my newsfeed or wherever else . If you're even paying attention , that's okay if you're not , but I wanted you to at least share it with you .
Maybe someone you know might be a good fit , and I'm only looking for a few people . Can I send the link to you with the sales page so you at least you can look at it and maybe even you know , I don't know catch anything ? I might've done wrong .
Nice .
Something like that . I mean , I don't , you know , it's not that complicated .
It sounded so friendly . Do you got another one ? Do you got another one ?
Yeah , so I mean again , it's situational right . And so where are you meeting people ? Who are you speaking with ? Is it in person ? Is it online ? Under what context ? Cont context makes a huge difference .
So when I'm meeting and working with women , specifically in this case , they are selling high ticket because they typically have not fully developed their course or program yet , because they're still testing , developing their signature process . They're getting everything in order , right . They've got to fund that step . You got to build a sales team .
Or they got to , or they got to build a sales process that is automated and that is not cheap , and or they're going to go what ? Spend another few years learning how to do it . How about you make the money ? Hire a great sales manager , hire a great ads manager , hire a great copywriter . Have them build it out for you , and then sounds good .
You stay in your lane right . So that's what I mean by making sales and friends online wherever you go . So does that ? Did you feel like I've ticked that box ? How ? What do you think ? Audience I'm gonna .
I'm gonna ask one more question . I'm assuming , because all everything you're saying is like really reminding me it's just coming over and over in my head of dale carnegie's the classic how to win friends and influence people . I'm assuming you've read it because it's just like everything you're saying is just this . It's , I mean , like that's the classic .
You want to make sales , you want to do business , like , but how to do it in a in a natural way ? Right , like you know , your car's broken . You happen to meet a car mechanic . Right , like you know your car is broken . You happen to meet a car mechanic . What is he not going to , like you mention it in conversation ?
What is he not going to say , like , oh , by the way , I'm a car mechanic , you know ? Oh , actually , I can help you with that . Like , that's the natural thing when you hear that in conversation . Oh , by the way , I can help you with that .
You know , like selling is serving Boom , exactly , selling is helping . We all came in the online space or anywhere . We hung up our shingle to own a business because we were good at something and we like the feeling we get when we help people with that thing . Right , right . And so we like the feeling . This is great . I love being helpful .
It gives me endorphins , it makes me feel great about myself , makes me feel like I'm doing something in this world , I'm leaving a legacy , I'm helping other people and whenever I help them , they help two more people and it perpetuates a really positive thing in this world .
So I would do it for free , but unfortunately , you know , the bills don't come for free .
You know what I mean .
They don't give free flights for good feelings . I haven't been able to cash in my karma for my flight to Italy . You know what I my karma for ?
my for my flight to Italy .
Until then we charge . But you know you're changing the world . Charge accordingly . Right , like that's ? I mean , this is a phrase we heard . Dale Carnegie didn't make these , these , these truths up , he just organized it right . That's bread , right Like , oh I , everybody said that before , or Dale said it before . Why should I say it ? He probably said it best .
Bread aisle , like , go to the bread aisle . How , how many new types of bread are there all the time ? Yes , and there's only so many types of bread to even make , but organized . What is your organized version of that ? What is your curated version of that ? That's your special sauce . And here's the truth .
There are some people that cannot accept or hear that truth from Dale Carnegie or from me . They've got . Everybody has their own biases . They're coming to the table with good or bad , and they there are people out there just like American tale Fievel somewhere out there , like there's somebody out there wishing for someone just like you .
They just don't know you yet and when they hear you they might not even realize what they're hearing . They just know that they're hearing something that makes sense . So they lean in . And that's what's our real responsibility to say hey , listen , I see you there . Hi , how are you doing ? Come on in , the weather's nice . It doesn't want to be .
Hey , I see you . You must need a discovery call . Let me sell you something Different energy , same process . What else is our business up to , since there's many versions of us , many layers of us . It's true , I love books . It's true , I love horses . It's true , I love dogs and I love hiking and I love kayaking and all these different things .
I love the water . I love whales . I went swimming with the whales . It was freaking awesome . Like in the water with them . It was amazing . So like I can talk about all these things . So my business is me and I am my business to a certain extent , to a certain extent in terms of the brand , right ?
So wouldn't it be fun to have a I don't know an hour where anybody who wants to talk about horses ? We just come and talk about horses . But what's also happening is you're getting to know me better . I'm not going to just talk about horses , you're not going to just talk about horses .
We're also other things will get woven in naturally through conversation , and you get to know who you spend time with and you get to build that trust . And then you're like oh well , the next time I know anybody who needs that , I'm going to tell them about you , because that makes sense , right ? So I could talk about this for a long time .
I mean , I do whole hour long presentations just on how to make friends and sales .
Wherever you go , I feel like obviously I want to know the F word , but I feel like before that I want to know what do you routinely tell women who are showing up on Instagram with content that's not really moving people to do anything except for consume the content ? Your stereotypical educational content ?
Correct . So the number one problem that women have , the number one issue that they have , is they don't ask . Right , we don't ask . We would rather stick a hot fork in our eye than ask for help or ask . And it's , it's , it's a , it's a disease , really , it's chronic . We would rather we got to go from the car to the house . We've got 10 grocery bags .
I'm fine , our neighbor's right there . Do you need help ? I'm fine , I'm all set , I got it . Struggle , struggle , struggle . It's in our nature . I don't know why , but I feel it and I , I am one . I get it . So here's
¶ Creating Effective Call to Action
my encouragement . If I'm , if you're , if you're listening to this hello , and you're a beautiful content creator , but you're also an expert , you gotta ask yourself why did I want to come in this world anyway and start a business ? Is it to create content or was it to help people ? The content is not the goal , so it's helping people .
The content is meant to be a pathway , like putting lights out in front of your house if you want someone to come over , or balloons on the mailbox when you got a birthday party . Right , it's meant to let people know hey , come on in , this is going to be fun .
So there has to be an invitation , a direct invitation Like if you like this , click here , you'll love this .
And , ideally , the call to action . There has to be a call to action , exactly . Is that what you were saying ?
Yes , I didn't know how technical we were going to get . But , yes , Not that those are technical terms . But here's the fun thing I told you a lot of my clients are , you know , 20 years they've been working on themselves and they have this expertise , but they don't always use those terms right and so call to action . Well , what is that ?
It's click here , Okay , that makes sense . Well , where do I get them to click ? Well , your freebie ? Okay , what's that ? What ?
should I do ?
with that , and that's okay . I didn't know either . So we as experts , often when we start something new , it's hard for us because we think and we should all over ourselves , we think we should know . I should know that . So I don't want to tell anyone , I don't want to ask anybody for help . Well , no , how would you know ?
I mean , there's no way to know until you learned . And so a freebie , creating a freebie , I mean you can't run ads to nothing . You know what I mean . You got to run ads to something . Where's that URL , baby ?
So whether it's a landing page that you created on lead pages , or whether it's click funnels or funnel gorgeous , or pick a poison , go high level , whatever . Or your website , all I know is there's got to be one place for someone to go .
So to answer your question directly , if they've got content they've been creating on any platform LinkedIn , instagram pick a place , pick your poison , have it go somewhere , ideally to your email list . That is a quantifiable asset for your business .
And even if you're selling business coaching now and come a day when you decide you're going to sell whale tours , guess what ? You can tell your email list They'll go with you .
This is great , this is great . I'm like thinking of ways I could have you on a third episode . You're welcome . I'm serious , before we continue . I have guests who it's like , oh , you should . You're welcome , I'm serious , before we continue . I have guests who it's like , oh , you should get their lead magnet .
I'm telling the listener right now , you need to get the lead magnet that Renee has . Like , you cannot be listening to this episode and not want to increase your sales and your lead magnet , renee , is can you share ?
¶ Maximizing Connections and Follow-Through
It is all about how to get five qualified leads on the phone or I say phone because it's Zoom , whatever to start talking to you each week . So it's do we do this anymore ? Before we had Apple watches , we didn't do this either . I'm making hand signals that you know don't apply all the time .
When I was , when my kid was little , he's like I'm like I'm going to hang up the phone now . He's like where are you going to ?
hang it .
I'm like , oh , that's a good question . Old school , Some terminologies die hard . So it's a mini sales course . Really , it's everything that I've been talking about is in my freebie . People could take my freebie and just run with it and never need me . That's the goal .
But if you feel like you need help implementing , I have ways to still spend some more time together and my I'm an action focused gal , so I'm in it to win it . If I'm not , if I'm working with somebody and they're not hitting the goals their revenue goals that they've set , then I can't sleep at night .
So my clients are always like you just voxed me and then they're like you know , I was trying to hide from you . I'm like it's not going to happen . I will hunt you down and you will make it . I know your home address Don't make me , don't make me come to your house .
You're like the cell phone of that duolingo owl that keeps reminding you to learn the language for today .
Because we do . It's more comfortable to rewrite our website homepage . It's more comfortable to as hard as that is . It's more comfortable to tinker over here than get out in the front and start actually doing the thing that will move the needle that you said you wanted . Right , you said you wanted to help people . They're not back here , they're out there .
Why do we hide ?
behind those actions , then why ?
are we so free ? It's a lifelong question . There's probably a lot to unpack there .
Right , right .
But you know we have to really examine that , and so you know this is why I practice yoga . This is why , you know , I continually seek instruction , and there's different reasons for different people at different times of the day . So pick your poison .
The listeners are like but you still haven't told us that favorite f word yet renee okay , so let's say so .
I hope you should be able to guess . But it's follow through , not follow up the follow through . So follow through on what you said you wanted . Number one , that you said you wanted these , these revenue goals , because you wanted to help people and you charge this amount and that's what that would equate to great . Let let's do it .
Let's just follow through , let's just finish what we said we were going to do . If nothing else , let's do that . Or you meet somebody at a networking event or online and you're like that person was so cool , we should hang out more . And then nothing .
You have a stack of business cards that go from your pocket to your desk and then from your desk to the drawer and then eventually the drawer to the car . The garbage .
I just threw a stack of business cards in my kid's bathroom garbage .
And it's human nature and it's okay . We have to forgive ourselves for what we think are capital crimes . They're not . It's our nature to not want to do it . So know thyself and protect yourself . So what I always say is , before I even go to the event , I've got a plan for what my call to action is going to be right .
So I go to the event and before I go , let's say I'm going , you know , I'd say I'm going next week . I am going to an event next week and so I have already a plan of all . Right , I'm going to do a Zoom after party of the event , cause the event is full of lots of programming and lots of people like lots of people .
So I know I'm going to meet lots of people . I'm not going to be able to keep track of everybody in my head , so I try to take pictures . Thank you for giving me a studio in my pocket . I take pictures helps me remember , cause I'm a visual person . I try to tag them or like hey , can you tag yourself real quick ? I'm going to put this on LinkedIn .
You know what I mean . So this helps me . It says know thyself .
And because I'm meeting people fast , right , these , these local in-person events are like fast , and so I'm like , hey , listen , now that I have your picture , I'm going to send you an invite to this after party Cause I know we're all learning tons of stuff and I want to get to know you better , but I just not enough time .
So so let's hang out together in a Zoom room for 30 minutes next week and kind of unpack the event , and I bet you each of us are going to have really cool takeaways and then we'll you know , we'll help each other . Now that is a horizon event , as I would call it . It's follow through . What also happens is they registered for my Zoom call .
I have their email , I get to send them emails , I get to know about , I get to ask them questions and it's guess what ? It's not me , it's pre-written , it's pre-sent , it's automated , but it feels really personal because I met them in person .
And it .
I mean , it is personal , I did write it . I just didn't write it that day yeah , Because I know when I get home I'll be tired . Plus , I get home Even if I've only been gone 24 hours . It feels like Did you guys do anything around here when I was gone ? What Horrible . My husband is the best . He's really amazing .
Shout out to the fabulous husbands there .
It's a different world when he's in charge Lightly . It's okay , it's all good . It's all good , it's just you know you come home and it's not going to be restful , so give .
Hey , hold on a second .
It's going to be . You know you have to unpack and do the laundry or get everything sorted and organized again and again . It's okay , just don't expect yourself to like hop right back into . Yeah , when I get home I'm going to ding , ding , ding , ding ding . Let's say you go to an afternoon event , right ? So again , f word is follow through .
One of the best pieces of advice I was given and I give it to my clients is , before you get home , park at like a Tim Hortons or a Dunkin' Donuts or someplace that's safe , that you can park your car and sit and do all the follow-up before you get home ? Ooh , just right there .
Because , you're away , you've left , so they're not like knocking on your door , like what are you doing here ? But you've left . But you found a midpoint . So again , premeditate what is that midpoint ? I'll treat myself to a nice beverage or something , whatever that feels like that day , a nice chai latte or something I don't know .
And just take those business cards that I've gotten . Look at the people I've taken pictures of , make sure I've sent them . You know the LinkedIn information . I might've most likely said , hey , I'm doing this event . After this Zoom event next week , you should come . So then I'll start to DM them and say , hey , it was so great meeting you .
I've been thinking about our conversation and I can't wait to get to know you better . Next week , when we're all hanging out in that Zoom room talking about the event , I'm excited to get to know you better . So , even if it's not me that they want to hang out with , I'm excited to get to know you better .
So , even if it's not me they want to hang out with , I'm like we right , we all the people that I met . So it's not like , hey , we should hang out more . And it's weird , it's not awkward then you know it's it's weird . You know what I mean .
It's like a little bit easier than like hey , let's go on a date , versus like hey , I'm having a house example , but follow through . A lot of people will climb over perfectly good leads to get to some new , fresh market Not that there's never a time for a new fresh market there is . But don't forget about who's already met you .
Right , there's a nursery rhyme , right , make new friends , but keep the old . One is silver , the other gold . I mean , they're both valuable , but don't forget about those first 100 people that you met or that you knew and you probably heard in the online space . You know your , you know your dream 100 . To me , that's that's the people that you already know .
Day one , make a list of 100 people who know your name and , in terms of dream 100 , there is no one that's ungettable . There's no one that's ungettable , especially with what you're doing here with the podcast . It's brilliant . It's exactly what I started my whole business with on the online space is interviewing people .
I didn't know how to do a whole podcast production thing , so I was just like I'm just going to interview people on Zoom , publish it on Facebook business page Seems good , and that's exactly what I did and it has served me for a long time . I have a podcast now , but that does that . I still do regular interviews and it's a great connection strategy .
I don't know the person . We didn't know each other before today really . I mean we sort of did , but it's kind of like I know you , but like we never really had a conversation . You know , and the great thing about what you're doing and this goes for you listeners , if you hear this do what he's doing , interview people .
And this goes for you listeners , if you hear this do what he's doing , interview people , because it's the same as a discovery call . We got to know each other better than if we were on a discovery call . Right , right .
Not what I'm doing . That's what I'm doing . That's what I'm doing .
There's nothing wrong with that , because it's not when you are on a discovery call with someone . You're getting to know someone . It's not just like how can I sell them something You're figuring out . Where does this person fit in my life ? I'm a big believer that every person you meet is valuable and I have this saying called everybody's one of the three Cs .
They're either a client , a connector or a collaborator . Everybody , everybody's one of those . Where they are right now could depend on what you say . But here's what I also believe is , if you maintain the relationship which does not take much right Let email help you , please automate They'll become one of , they'll become all three Eventually .
Eventually I've got clients , I mean that come to me years later . I've got people that quote , unquote , drop from the sky and they're like you know , you met me and we talked at an event like four years ago and I saw you speak at this thing five years ago , and they're like I knew I needed to have you as my coach .
I'm like thank you , but they were on my email list and I make sure that my email list gets emails , I make sure that they're segmented , I make sure that I have ads running so I don't disappear off their radar . You know . So I can't be personally touching everybody , but I have certain sales mechanisms in place , and follow through is my favorite F word .
Oh shoot , that's really good . That was really good .
Yeah , we're going to end right here . We're going to end right here . I'm going to ask the listener , listener follow through . It's the lead magnet , first of all , and then continue the journey with Renee . Which Renee ? Where would that be if somebody wants to learn more from you ?
Well , the entry point is always going to be my freebie . Like , start there , I don't care if you don't want one more freebie , but here's the coolest part Once you enter my freebie , right , you're on my email list . If you hit reply to any email I ever send you and you ask me something , I will personally answer it .
So start there and we'll continue the conversation . If you're on my email list , you'll hear about other ways .
Awesome . Well that is www . Reneerebar , but there's a silent H . That's H-R-I-B-A-Rco . Forward slash training to get the free sales mini course . To get five qualified leads on the phone . This week you got to figure out how to get her on the third episode .
This was really .
This was really good and fun .
I think my main takeaway is that those three C's I liked those at the end .
Everyone is a connector , a client connector or collaborator . That's really good .
See how good you are . Yeah , right , right , we've got the benefit .
We're just going to scrub back to the beginning of the episode right now . That like friendly phrase to hop . Wow , that was just too good . Thank you for being here , renee .
Thank you . So glad for all the listeners that you've gotten experiences and keep listening because there's some great people on here .
I've been watching till the next time you hear from us or see from us .
Take care , be blessed and we'll see you in the next one .
Bye .